c 2 Sam. 15.6 stole the hearts of the people of Israel from his father Divers other qualities might be produced which abstract Love from others but these shall serve for this time Sixthly The effects of Love are either Good or Bad according to the end of it for if the end of mens Love be Good the effects of it are always comfortable but if the end of their Love is to satisfie their lust it is always destructive and fatall and so proved the love of d Gen. 34.2 Sechem to Dinah and the love e 2 Sam. 13.14 28. Homers Illiades Livius Decade 1. lib. 2. of Amnon to his sister Tamar and the rape of Helen by Paris was the cause of the ruine of Troy the Rape of Lucretia by Tarquinus was the cause that Rome from a Monarchy fell into a Democracy the violence committed by the f Judg. 19.25 Gibeathites to the Levit's Concubine was the cause of the death of fourty thousand Israelites and almost of the utter ruine of the whole Tribe of Benjamin and the love of Antonius to Cleopatra was the cause of their lamentable end but sith a volume would not contain all the examples that might be produced of the evil effects of lust varnished over with the name of Love I will now speak of the effects of true Love first See Plutarch in the two young Graccus lives The love of Tiberius Graccus towards his vertuous wife Cornelia was such as he slew the male Serpeut and spared the femall on purpose that he might save her life by the loss of his own secondly The love of Antonio Perez's wife to him was such as she ventured her own life to save his See the Spainsh History in the raign of Philip the second thirdly The love of Portia daughter to famous Cato and wife to Martius Brutus was so vehement and passionate that being informed of his death at the battell of Philippi See Bâ—utus life in Appian she smothered her self by casting a handful of burning coles into her mouth fourthly The love of Artemisa Queen of Caria towards her beloved husband Mausolus was so violent that being dead See Plutarchs Morals it could not suffer his body to have any other grave then her own bowels for she caused the same to be burned and drank a portion of his ashes at every meal in commemoration of their constant love See the Italian History fifthly The love of an Italian Gentleman to his betrothed Mistress is to be commended for hearing she had been taken at sea by some Pirats of Tunis and sold for a Slave he went over into Africa and redeemed her with an incredible sum of money sixthly The incredible love and fidelity of Damon and Pythias two Sicilian Noble men is to be admired for Dionysius the Elder King or Tyrant of Syracuse having upon some jealousie of state caused Damon to be cast into prison and to be condemned to death Damon presented a petition unto him desiring to have leave for eight days to go into the Countrey to set his houshold in order See old Dionisius life promising to return Dionysius granted the same upon this condition that some other Noble man of his means and degree should bail him body for body and life for life and should remain in durance untill the day appointed for his return Pythias his intimate friend bailed him of his free accord and yeelds himself prisoner in Damons stead but the day being come and almost the hour appointed at hand and Damon not appearing Dionysius began to deride Pythias for his credulity of the constancy of his friend yet before the hour went out Damon came in and presented himself to the King desiring his friend might be discharged at whose love fidelity and constancy Dionysius was so astonished that he set them both at liberty and required to be accepted for the third of their society yet all these admirable effects of Love are as much inferior to the Love of God towards man as the finite is inferior to the infinite as it will appear by the insuing Discourse Seventhly The Love of God towards men is altogether incomprehensible as it will appear by these expressions of the blessed Spirit For God saith St. Iohn g Ioh. 3.6 so loved the world that he gave his onely begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life and Christ saith himself h Ioh. 10.10 That he is the good Shepherd who hath given his life for his sheep And St. Iohn saith i 1 Ioh 4 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Beloved let us love one another for love cometh of God and every man that loveth is born of God he that loveth not knoweth not God for God is Love In this was manifested the love of God towards us because that God sent his onely begotten Son into the world that we might live through him Herein is love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins Beloved if God so loved us we ought also to love one another no man hath seen God at any time if we love one another God dwelleth in us and his love is perfected in us hereby know we that we dwell in him and he in us because he hath given us of his spirit And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world These words of St. Iohn and divers others to the later end of this Chapter do confirm the Point that Gods Love is the Adamant stone that draweth our love to him and that we cannot of our selves love him before he be pleased to love us Eighthly As for the love of man towards God it comes infinitely short of Gods love towards them for if any love God it is a gift of his free grace and God hath loved his elect before the creation of the world and St. Paul a Rom. 9.13 doth give us a clear instance for it Rom. 9.13 For God saith he loved Jacob and hated Esau from their mothers womb and the heart of b 1 Sam. 13.14 David was framed after Gods own heart and that is the reason why this holy man hath such rare expressions in his Psalms of his unfained love towards God And to confirm the choise and election of Gods faithful ones we have divers instances of it in his Word for Moses c Numb 16.5 was a chosen servant of the Lord as it appears by these words Even him whom he hath chosen will he cause to come near unto him And Aaron d Deut. 18.5 was a chosen servant of the Lord as appears Deut. 18.5 And Cyrus King of Persia e Isai 44.28 was a chosen servant of the Lord to execute his will as it appears Isai 44.28 And St. Paul f Act. 9.15 was a chosen vessel of the Lord as it appears Act 9.15 But
Sam 23.8 to 39. from the 8 verse to the 39 verse Many other testimonies might be produced out of ancient Histories to prove that divers of the Heathen have attained to honor by their strength as three or four of the Hercules Hector Aiax Milun and divers others but in regard that the naturall strength of men is little accounted in these days when a youth of fifteen years of age can with a musket shot kill the strongest man upon earth I will onely say That strength is meer vanity and that honor obtained by it can not be grounded but upon a sandy foundation The third means to attain to honor is Beauty and Comliness sith strength is subject to many accidents and mutations For the third which is an extraordinary stature comliness and Beauty divers have attained to honor by these gifts of Nature l Sam. 10.23 24. Saul for his extraordinary stature and personal parts was chosen King of Israel as it appears in the tenth of the first of Samuel 23 24. verses And they ran and fetched him thence and when he stood among the people he was higher then any of the people from the shoulders upwards and Samuel said to all the people See ye him whom the Lord hath chosen that there is none like him among the people And all the people shouted and said God save the King but for as much as the personal representation of the body without the gifts of the minde is not sufficient for the discharge of the honorable function of a King it is said in the 9. verse that God was pleased to adorn him after he was chosen with the spirit of Government viz. with Prudence and Wisdom the chiefest ornament of a Prince And it was so that when Saul had m 1 Sam. 10.9 turned his back to go from Samuel God gave him another heart Contrarily it might be proved by divers instances that the deformity of body a small stature and the want of personal representation is a great impediment to Princes because the common people do always more regard the outward gifts then the intellectual as it doth appear in the lives of n See Plutarch and Quintius in their lives Agisclaus of Leonidas Philopoemen all wise and valourous Princes and Commanders that were despised of the vulgar sort because they were of a short stature and of no representative Majestie but the comliness of Alexander Alcibiades and of Pompeius the great made them to be honored and respected above others o 2 Sam. 14.25 Absolom was also much beloved of his father and honored of the people of Israel for his comliness and natural indowments for from the soal of his feet to the grown of his head there was no blemish in him And the comely feature and excellent beauty of p Esther 1.1 and 2.17 Esther made her from a Captive attain to that superlative honor to be the Queen of the great King Ahasuerus who raigned from India even to Ethiopia over one hundred and twenty seven Provinces and the King loved Esther above all the women and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more then all the Virgins so that he set the royall Crown upon her head and made her Queen in stead of Vesta It is then apparent that personal representation comliness and beauty are means whereby men and women attain to worldly honors but how sandy the foundation of these honors is I leave it to the consideration of the Reader for nothing is more casuall and subject to mutation then comliness and beauty and therefore these honors are meer vanity and vexation of spirit Fourthly The fourth means to attain honors is by riches Riches are an ordinary means in this vicious age whereby men attain to worldly honors for honors that are the onely recompence of wisdom prudence fidelity and valour are now sold for ready money and the honorable titles of Earls Barons Knights Esquires and Gentlemen are obtained for a lump of clay gold or silver the base excrements of the earth this is one of the secondary causes of all our distractions and present miseries and hath ever been the overthrow of Kingdoms and Common-weales as long as the Roman civil Magistrates Senators and Commanders of Armies were chosen in to such places of honor and trust for their noble q See Livius Decades descent their prudence and valour their State did flourish and did inlarge its dominions more in one century of years then it did in three after these places of honor became to be venal and purchased by concession for then men of no parts were for money promoted to highest dignities whereupon civill contentions were fomented factions increased and continuall bloudy r See Appian in the Roman civil wars intestine wars maintained by which the ancient liberties of that State were suppressed and the last government of it changed into an Imperiall Monarchy As long as the chiefest Officers of the Crown of France and the places of Judicature of the Realm were given by Charls the fifth surnamed the Wise to men of learning of wisdom and valour in recompence of their loyalty vertue and merits that Kingdom did flourish with peace honor and prosperity and the Courts of Å¿ See the History of France Parliaments of France had the honor for their Justice and Equity to be the Arbitrators and Umpires of all the differences that hapned in those days between the greatest Princes of Christendom but when these places of honor and trust were made venal in the reigns of Francis the second Charls the ninth and Henry the third and sold for ready money to such as gave most for them then was Justice and Equity banished and that flourishing Kingdom reduced to the brim of ruine and desolation by variety of factions and a bloody civill war And the selling of places of honor and Judicature of late years in this Kingdom hath been the spring of all the discontents divisions and distractions which have somented this unnatural war because of the injustice rapines and oppressions that followed at the heels the sale of these places of honor and trust for such as bought them by the great sold them to their Clients by retail whereby it appears that honors bought for money are destructive to the Sellers to the State and to the Buyers and that such as injoy them carry upon their foreheads rather ignomy then honor For the fifth Concerning favors many have been promoted to worldly honors The fifth means to attain to honors is by the favor of Princes by favor of the Prince or such as are in authority for their vertue and merits but of these commendable favors I intend not to speak of as being out of fashion in these days but undeserving favors proceeding from vicious services t Esther 3.5 Haman the son of Amedatha the Agagite was promoted by King Ahasuerus to the greatest honors of his Court for he advanced him and set his
hundreds over fifties and over tens to disburden himself of the heavie burthen he had taken upon him to Judge the people of Israel for by this councel he eased Moses and the people and made the Elders of Israel to be sharers with him in the honor of the rule and government of the Commonweal whereby he was much beloved and honored of all the people It was a wise Policy and and a wholsom counsel that the wise g 2 Sam. 20.16 22. woman of Abel gave to her Citizens to cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri and to cast it over the wall to Joab for by it she preserved the whole City from sack and ruine that might justly have been destroyed by Joab if they had persisted to be the abbettors of the rebellion of Sheba who received but a just reward for his treachery and rebellion for endeavouring to raise a new War against his lawful Prince the anointed of the Lord. And it was a Councel grounded upon true prudence and policy which was given to h See the French History in the life of Charls the seventh Charls the seventh King of France by his grave and faithful Counsellors of State to conclude a peace with Philip Duke of Burgundy although he should yield into his hands his Favorites who had by his assent murthered the Duke John of Burgundy father to Philip as he was treating a reconciliation with the said King about the murder the said John had committed upon the Duke of Orleance the Kings Uncle for by this counsel the Kingdom of France was preserved from ruine and restored again to its former flourishing condition and the murtherers had but their due deserts it being more just that half a dozen of guilty persons should perish then a whole Kingdom should be undone these Counsellors justly maintaining that these Favorites were not to commit such an act although they had a Warrant from the King Subjects being not bound to obey the commands of their Prince in things that be contrary and forbidden by the Law of God as murder is and so these Counsellors were for ever after much honored of the King and of the whole Kingdom for their wisdom and fidelity It was a wise Counsel grounded upon humanity and sound Policy that the Bishop of i See the History of Spain in Charls the fifth's life Osma gave to the Emperor Charls the fifth after Francis the first King of France became his Prisoner at the battel of Pavia that he should for his own glory and the future good of Spain set the said King of France at free liberty without ransome or capitulations at all and have him conducted with an honorable Train to the Borders of his own Kingdom but this good counsel being traversed by the Machavilian policy of the Duke d'Alva they made a prey of the said King which was the cause after the Kings release of a bloody war that was fatal to the Emperor and the Kingdom of Spain whereby it appears that by Prudence and just Policy men may attain to worldly honors and that Machavilian policy is ever destructive and subject to shame and ignominy For the eighth and the last which is Valour it hath ever been one of the first steps to worldly honors and is a commendable means so mens valor be exercised in the service of their Prince and propagation of the true Protestant Religion and for the desence of the Liberties of their native Countrey for by their valour in such cases they attain to the personal Nobility which is as I have said before the spring of the Nobility of race or descent for the Nobility obtained by valour in any of these three cases is the most honourable Nobility of all neither is it true valor to kill any one in duel but rather an effect of an inconsiderate wrath and of a desperate vindication and a meer murder in the sight of God for true valor appears onely in the Field against an open enemy and not to kill our friends for a word spoken unadvisedly or unawares and it hath been observed that these k Roarers are 〈◊〉 vâ—liant roaring Gallants that make a trade of killing of men for punctillios of honor in duels are commonly cowards and are the first that trust to their spurs in a pitcht Field by which it appears that their valor is rather a raging Passion then a vertuous valor which is always guided by Reason and Judgment Now by these eighth means by which minds most commonly attain to honour in the world the Reader may judge whether there by any probability that worldly honors should afford men any true content sith the means by which they are obtained are subject to so many accidents and are so vain and full of vanity and vexation of spirit For the second branch of this Discourse concerning the persons that deserve to be honoured I will be very brief because all rational men are acquainted with this duty first in the first of S Peter Chap. 2. ver 17. there is a general charge Honor all men love the brotherhood fear God and honor the King and Solomon in his l Prov. 39. Proverbs goes further for we are not onely to fear God but we are also to honor him Honor the Lord saith he with thy substance and with the first fruits of all thine increase and next to God and the King we are to honor our Parents m Exod. 20 12. Honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee God to induce men to honour their Parents makes here a precious promise to obedient and respective children the next to our Parents we are to honor civil Magistrates and the Messengers and Ministers of God and next to them the grave and ancient men n Levit. 19.32 Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head and honor the face of the antient and yet who are more despised then old men in this corrupt Age for young men are now preferred to places of Dignity Profit and Trust contrary to former Ages for Solomon by these words As snow in Summer and rain in Harvest so is honor not seemly for a fool intimates that young men are not to be honored with places of Trust in Church or Commonweal because they are for want of experience no better then fools and yet they account themselves generally out of a vain presumption wiser then old men whom they call doting fools for want of the knowledge of this Proverb Before Honor is Humility for were they truly wise they would be humble and not presumptuous for presumption is the companion of Folly besides vertuous learned wise prudent and valiant men are to be honored I distinguish Learning from Prudence and Wisdom because learned men are not always wise nor prudent although Learning is a means to attain to Wisdom but Learning is the theorical part of Wisdom and without a
long practical experience a Learned man cannot attain to Prudence or Wisdom As for rich men which are above all others honored in these days except they be Magistrates or publike Officers or have any of these qualities above spoken of I see no reason why they should be honoured above the common civility for their Riches yet an ancient Greek Philosopher being demanded which of the two the Rich or the Wise should be most honored answered The wise yet saith he I see both the learned and the wise court and attend upon the rich but above all other the true sanctified children of God should be honoured because they are the onely o Psal 16.3 excellent upon earth For the last Branch of this Discourse which is the joy and comfort that men reap from spiritual honors 1. They that will attain to spiritual honor must above all things honor God for if they honor any above him they shall be lightly esteemed this is confirmed in the first of Samuel Chap. 2. vers 30. When the Lord by one of his Prophets reproved Eli for honoring of his sons above him I said indeed that thy house and the house of thy p 1 Sam. 2.29 30. father should walk before me for ever but now the Lord saith Be it far from me for them that honor me I wil honor and they that dispise me shall be lightly esteemed 2. They q Prov. 3.7 are to fear the Lord and to depart from evil 3. They are to r Exod 20.6 Deut. 5.10 trust in the Lord with all their heart and lean not to their own understanding 4. They must Å¿ Exod. 23.25 love him and keep his Commandments that he may shew them mercy unto thousand generations for Love and Obedience are inseparable companions 5. They are to serve the t 2 Chron. 20.21 Lord their God that he may bless them 6. And lastly They are to praise the Lord for his mercy endureth for ever and in so doing they shall be honored of him and be as his precious Jewels Men in these days account it a great favor to be honored of a King but to be honored of God who is the King of Kings it is a superlative favour and honor Nay to be so beloved of God that hath not u Rom. 8.32 spared his only Son but hath delivered him up to the death of the Cross to redeem them that truly love and honor him this is an unparalleld love and honor or to make some out of his free grace x 2 Tim. 2.20 vessels of honor when he might have made them vessels of dishonor this is a superlative love and honor Now what greater joy or comfort can men attain unto then to be assured to be the adopted children of so loving and gracious a God and to be his pretious y Mal. 3 17. Jewels and reputed by him as the only z Psal 16.3 excellent upon earth and in whom is all his delight This is then the onely honor they should strive to attain to for it is permanent and eternal but worldly honors vanish away like smoak and are meer vanity and vexation of Spirit CHAP. III. Of the vanity of worldly riches THere are two sorts of riches the one worldly and the other spiritual the spiritual are the immediate gifts of God and by consequence superexcellent but the worldly are meer vanity and vexation of spirit subject to divers accidents and changes Wilt thou saith Salomon a Prov. 23.5 set thine eyes upon that which is not for riches make themselves wings they flye away as an Eagle toward heaven notwithstanding men make an Idol of riches and will venter their lives and hazard their souls to obtain and enjoy them Now as comparing two objects together it is easie to discern which is the most excellent of the two so by the comparing of the imperfections of the worldly riches against the perfections of the spiritual the excellency of the last will be more visible to the Reader I will therefore begin with the worldly and for method sake observe these four Particulars first how they are obtained secondly how they are perserved thirdly how they are lost fourthly how they are to be dispensed For the first Worldly riches are of an indifferent nature and by consequence become good or evil by accident I mean that they are either a blessing or a curse by the evil or good acquisition and dispensation of them They are called the gifts of fortune because they are more proper to the undeserving then to the well-deserving men for fortune being blinde doth commonly distribute her gifts more by chance then by judgement And daily experience doth shew that the wicked abound in worldly riches and the righteous are poor and needy Wherefore do the wicked live become old yea are mighty in power saith Job Their seed is established in their sight with them Job 21.7 8 9 10 11 12 13. and their off-pring before their eyes Their houses are safe from fear neither is the rod of God upon them Their bull gendreth and faileth not their Cow calveth and casteth not her Calf They send forth their little ones like a flock and their children dance They take the Timbrel and Harp and rejoyce at the sound of the Organ And spend their dayes in wealth The reasons why ungodly men do out-strip the godly in Riches may be these 1. Because they have a larger conscience then the godly 2. Because they account worldly Riches as their supream good 3. Because they erroneously conceive that they were created for no other end then for to enrich themselves whereas the godly make conscience of enriching themselves by any indirect means hold the love and favour of God their supream good and are confident that they were only created to propagate the honour and glory of their Creator The main end of the ungodly being then to enrich themselves it is no wonder if they out-strip the godly in wordly riches Psal 37.35 and flourish in this life like a green Bay-tree But the end of the godly being only the advancement of Gods glory and to make their calling and election sure they value not these momentary riches Math. 6.21 knowing that wheresoever their Treasure is there will their heart be also But to return to the point in hand worldly riches are obtained 1. By the immediate hand and blessing of God 2. By hereditary succession 3. By activity and diligence in our calling 4. By indirect and unlawful means And of these I will speak in order For the first The riches of Abraham Isaac Jacob and Job did immediately proceed from the hand and blessing of God for their innocent vocation did depend only upon the blessing of God Gen. 26.12 and not upon the art and industry of man Therefore God was pleased that the earth should bring forth a hundred for one Gen. 30.43 and that their Cattel should multiply extraordinarily
the Lord said unto him Go thy way for he is a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name fore the Gentiles and Kings and the children of Israel Now this incomparable love of God towards St. Paul in converting of him to become from a persecutor one of the greatest instruments of Gods glory that ever was did kindle in his brest such a flame of fervent love towards God g Phil. 1.23 that he often desired to be dissolved and to be with Christ and wished h Rom. 9 3. himself accursed from Christ for the increase of Gods glory confirming our blessed Saviours saying i Luke 7.47 For he loveth much to whom much is forgiven as appeared by Mary Magdalen And the Prophet David k 2 Sam. 12.13 who after the pardon of his two abhorred sins of Adultery and Murder did so fervently love God that all his delight was to meditate l Psal 1.1 2. day and night in his Law and to magnifie his love towards him m Psal 18.1 Psal 116.12 as it appears in the 18. Psaim ver 1. I will love thee O Lord my strength and in Psal 116. ver 1. I love the Lord because he hath heard my voyce and my supplications because he hath enclined his ear unto me therefore will I call upon him as long as I live To conclude Carnal love is but vanity and vexation of spirit but the love of God towards man and the love of man towards God doth fill their hearts with joy and comfort for t in this life and will crown their soul with eternal glory in the life to come CHAP. VII Of the vanity of the passion of Hatred THis Passion is the opposite of Love and yet without Love and it nature could not be perfect nor the world subsist for if the divine Providence were not pleased to make use of the Natural aversion that is between the Elements this universal Fabrick of the World would soon return to its first Chaos And without this passion of Hatred men might justly complain of Nature to have onely given them an inclination to pursue the good and not an aversion to eschew the evil Divers men conceive this passion to be the greatest Antagonist of mankinde and repute it as a Monster in Nature but it is out of ignorance and for want of divine knowledg for all the handy works of God were created perfectly good as the blessed Spirit doth confirm it by these words And God saw every thing that he had made a Gen. 1.31 and behold it was very good but since the fall and disobedience of Adam men have abused the good that was in the creatures and by a pernitious transmutation have made those which were created for their good to be the Agents of their corrupt inclinations And would they make use of Hatred for the end it was created they would finde it a most useful passion for the propagation of a godly life as it will appear at the end of this Chapter but for the better description of this passion I intreate the Reader to observe these insuing particulars as they are set in order 1. The definition of Hatred 2. How many sorts there are 3. The Causes of it 4. Who are most addicted to it 5. The nature and bad effects of it 6. The use that may be made of it First for the better description of the nature of this passion I will set down divers definitions of it according to the different opinions of the best Authors Hatred is an aversion and a detestation or horror that men have against all such things as they conceive in their imagination to be contrary to their good and opposite to their content The Bishop of Marseilles pag. 175. Or Hatred is a detestation or horror of the sensitive appetite against such things as it conceives to be hurtful and distastful to the Senses and to its content or destructive to its Beeing even as the Hatred or antipathy there is naturally between the Sheep and the Woolf. As Love saith another is a certain sympathy of the Sensitive appetite with such things as are sutable and convenient to Nature even so Hatred is an antipathy of the Sensitive appetite against such things as are distastful to the Senses or contrary to mens good or destructive to their Beeing And as Love is of two sorts viz. The first True Love and Amity Theophrast Boju in his Commentaries upon Aristotles Phys called the love of Friendship Secondly Vicious Love called Lust so there is two sorts of Hatred viz. The hatred of Detestation or Horror secondly the hatred of Enmity the last being far inferior to the former for to detest and abhor is the highest degree of Hatred Senault saith That Hatred is nothing else but a meer aversion in us from whatsoever is contrary unto us or an antipathy of our appetite to a subject which displeaseth it Senault pag. 244. all which definitions come neer unto one and the same sense Secondly The Moralists are of opinion there is four sorts of Hatred first The Vegetative secondly The Brute thirdly The Melancholick fourthly the Humane but the Divines add to these four the Spiritual Hatred of which I shall speak towards the later end of this Chapter first The Vegetative is apparent in the Plants as between the Cabbage and the Vine and between the Oak and the Ivy secondly The Brute is to be seen between the Sheep and the Woolf between the Cock and the Lyon and between the Basilisk the Panther and Mankinde See Plinius in his Natural History for the Naturalists say That if a man see a Basilisk that the Basilisk dies by the glance of his eyes but if the Basilisk see the man first he falls down dead And it is Recorded that the Panther doth so detest and abhor man out of a natural hatred that the Hunters that seek after him do commonly set the Picture of a man against an Oak and behinde it their snares to catch him for he hath no sooner discovered this Picture but with a fierce violence he runs towards it and so is insnared and taken thirdly The Melancholick Hatred is not naturall but accidental for it doth proceede from an Adust or burned Choler residing in the blood but specially in the Mesentery veines who cast ill and virulent vapors up to the brain that begets Chimaeraes and strange phansies that makes men sometimes abhor their Parents nay their Wives and children and this Melancholy begets such a hatred in Timon the Athenian against mankinde See Plutarch in his Morals that he caused Gibbets to be erected and set up in his Garden and proclaimed through the streets of the City That whosoever would come and hang themselves they might fourthly The Humane and Natural Hatred proceeds from an antipathy of Affections that is between some men and between men and women as the extraordinary antipathy which was between the affections of Mark Antonius See
men hath been pleased to furnish them with arms to oppose their greatest enemies of which the passion of Cupidity is one of the most implacable for of all the passions it is the harder to be subdued because it is the most successful snare of Satan for the increase of his kingdom of darkness by it sin came first into the world and hath infected like a contagious disease all the race of mankinde For by the eye which is the spring of mens desires Eve seeing the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledg of good and evil to be beautiful she coveteth the same as it appears by these words Gen. 3.6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good and that it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree to be desired to make one wise she took of the fruit thereof and did eat and gave of it also to her husband with her and he did eat and so by her Cupidity and Adams Credulity men have been brought under the bondage of sin Now against this great enemy of mankinde God hath been pleased to arm them with this passion of Flight the great Antagonist of all covetous desires that as he had given men an inclination to desire such things as seemed good to their eyes and phansies they might also have an aversion to fly from such things as seemed to traverse their good and beeing otherwise they might have seen their enemies coming upon them when they had no arms to defend themselves nor power to eschew or fly from their apparent danger and had been inforced to cherish vices and sinful courses because they could not eschew or fly from them and to harbor a Guest whom they abhorred and detested This passion being then so useful to men and specially for the propagation of a godly life give me leave for the better description of it to speak in order of these particulars 1. Of the definition of Flight 2. Of the objects of it 3. Of the causes of it 4. Of its proprieties 5. Of its effects 6. Of the uses of it First Flight or Eschewing is a passion The definition of Flight or aversion that induceth men to avoid or fly from all things that seem to be evil or inconvenient to them or that may traverse their good and annihilate their beeing Flight is the cosen German of Hatred for they have many qualities alike and is incident to the Concupiscible appetite and the violent enemy and great opposite to the passion of Cupidity the spring of all covetous desires But men are to be cautious how they make use of this passion or aversion for otherwise they may flee from such things as are good instead to eschew those things that are evil for such is the depravation of this age that Vertues are called Vices and Vices are varnished over with the names of Vertues and true and sincere Piety is called Hypocrisie and real Hypocrisie is termed godliness and Sanctity They must then be as harmless as Doves Matt. 10.16 and as wise as Serpents to make use of this passion aright and then they will avoid and detest sin as the greatest of all evils and love God the perfection of all good and happiness Secondly The objects of Flight The chiefest objects of this passion are the guilt and punishment which are often taken one for the other some men taking the guilt for the punishment and the punishment for the guilt but guilt is the greater of the two because the punishment is but an effect of the guilt and without guilt there would be no punishment and yet because death is commonly comprized under the punishment for as St. Paul saith Rom 6.23 The wages of sin is death men most commonly strive to avoid and flee from the punishment and with great eagerness pursue the guilt I mean they run chearfully after sin and fly with fear from the punishment and so pervert the use of this passion that was given unto them by their Maker on purpose to flee from sin that draws with Cart-ropes the wrath and judgments of God upon all Nations and particuliar men that impenitently go on in their sins Men commonly fly from Serpents Dragons Lyons and Tygers and from the contagious disease of the Plague but they seldom flee from sin although it be more dangerous and destructive to their souls then any of these things above related can be to their bodies for they can but deprive them of this temporal life but sin without the special grace of God will cast them body and soul into the everlasting flames and therefore let men fly from sin if they intend to make a perfect use of this passion and let them not as our blessed Saviour saith of Fear Flee from them that can kill the body Matt. 10.28 but are not able to kill the soul Thirdly The causes of Flight are so numerous The causes of Flight that they would be over-tedious to relate I wil therefore speak but of some of them first Men if they could would fly from death because death is a most horrid thing specially to the Reprobate and Nature doth hate and eschew all things that may annihilate its beeing secondly Fear is an ordinary cause of Flight for many great Armies have fled upon a panick fear as Titus Livius Records in his Decades but there be Instances for it in the holy Scriptures as it appears 2 Kings Chap. 7. Vers 6. When the Lord made the host of the Assyrians to hear a noise of chariots 2 Kings 7.6 and a noise of horses even the noise of a great host and so raised their siege from Samaria and fled away leaving their tents full of riches and all manner of provisions thirdly The Prophet Ionah fled from the presence of the Lord Jonah 1.3 and Cha. 4.3 not to avoid evil but to commit evil in disobeying the Commandment of the Lord because he knew that God was a gracious and merciful God slow to anger and of great kindness A great weakness in a Prophet to be passionate and angry because God was pleased to be merciful to the Ninevites and a greater infirmity to flee to Tarshish from the Lord because he was assured that God would repent of the evil intended against them upon the sight of their repentance fourthly Absolom fled from the presence of his father King David 2 Sam. 13.28 after he had slain his brother Amnon at a Banquet under colour of love and hospitality and went to Geshur and was there three years till his fathers wrath was appeased fifthly Jeroboam the son of Nebat 1 King 11.40 fled from the presence of Salomon went into Egypt and staid there with Shishak King of Egypt till after Salomons death for Salomon sought to kill Ieroboam because he had been informed that the Prophet Ahijah had anointed him King over Israel sixthly Joseph the supposed father of our blessed Saviour and the Virgin Mary Matth. 2.12 with
Christians have with their gracious God by contemplation meditation or fervent prayers The first is a sudden and violent motion of the heart that causeth a great alteration in the body The definition of Joy See Theuphrast Boju in his Commentaties upon Aristotle Phys fol. 727. proceeding in the opinion of the Moralists from the possession or fight of some object much desired which is really good or reputed to be so by the imagination of men yet it will appear by the proprieties and effects of it that it doth not always come from the possession or injoyment of a beloved object or from an imaginary good but sometimes from relations scurrilous speeches ridiculous postures and deformedobjects for Joy is as I have said before an affection of the minde and is rather infused in the Heart by the Eye and by the Ear then by any of the other three Senses for those are more proper to the passion of Volupty of which Delight or Delectation is a branch however it is the fifth passion incident to the Concupiscible appetite and proceeds from divers causes as it will appear in the next Discourse Secondly The causes of worldly joy are either Publick or Private the Publick proceed commonly from the immediate hand of God or from his favor or by his permission and of these I shall speak in the first place first It was a great cause of publick joy proceeding from the immediate hand of God to the people of Israel presently after their coming out of Egypt to see the sea go back Exod. 14.21 to 31. and make a free passage for their host to pass through the midst of it and when they were all safe come to dry land to see the rowling waves of the sea to turn back and overwhelm Pharoah and all his Army secondly It was a cause of publick Joy when it pleased the Lord to deliver the people of the Iews from that bloody decree obtained by Haman from the great King Ahasuerus against the whole Nation of the Iews Esther 3.4 The causes of publick joy that were scattered through the one hundred and seven and twenty Provinces of the said Kings Dominions for which admirable deliverance the people of Israel made the 15th and 16th day of the moneth Adar days of Thanksgiving and of Feasting and Rejoycing from one generation to the other which were called the days of Purim See the Spanish and Turkish History thirdly It was the cause of publick joy to the Venetians and to all Christendom when God was pleased to give unto the Christian Fleet such a memorable victory over the Turkish Navy at the Battel of Lepantho for which after thanks given to God many days of Feasting and Rejoycing were kept at Venice and other parts of Christendom fourthly See Speed in the life of King James It was an incredible cause of publick joy for England when the Lord was pleased to deliver this Nation from the devillish plot of the Gunpouder Treason for which miraculous deliverance after hearty thanks given to God great Feasting Bond-fires and other expressions of joy were made in London and through the whole Land 1. It was a cause of private joy to the old Patriarch Jacob to hear by the report of his sons that his beloved son Joseph Gen. 45.26 who he thought had been devoured by wild beasts was chief Governor of Egypt and the next man in honor to the King 2. It was a cause of private joy for old Iesse The causes of private joy 1 Sam. 16.12 to see his youngest son David from a Shepherd to be promoted to be King of all Israel and specially to be reputed by God himself to be a man after his own heart 3. It was a cause of private joy for old Mordecay to see his Neece Esther Esther 2.16 from a Captive to be exalted to be the wife of the great King Ahasuerus and the greatest Queen in the world 4. It was a cause of incomprehensible joy to the Virgin Mary and to all mankinde to hear the blessed and glad tidings that the Angel Gabriel brought her from the Lord saying Behold Luke 1.26.46 thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son and shall call his name Jesus He shall be great and shall be called the son of the Highest and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David whereupon the Virgin Mary transported with joy and ravished in spirit sung some dayes after this excellent Song My soul doth magnify the Lord beginning at the fourty sixt Verse of the first Chap. of St. Luke Here was a true and real Cause of Spiritual Joy not onely for the Virgin Mary but also for all the Elected of God who by free grace have part in the merits of Christ By these Instances it appears that these causes of joy did proceed from the seeing and hearing which are the two Senses most proper to the passion of Joy There are divers other Causes of worldly joy which are not so well grounded as these but are most vain and ridiculous and they are these following The joy of private and worldly men suits with their inclinations first The Ambitious will rejoyce in the increase of their honors secondly The Covetous men in the abundance of their riches thirdly The causes of private mens joy The Voluptuous men will rejoyce in the injoyment of their pleasures fourthly The Merchants and Trades-men in the increase of their Trade fifthly The Lawyers in the multiplicity of their Clients and in the discord of their neighbors sixthly The prophane and Libertine in all manner of ridiculous Sports scurrilous Songs lewd Musick Dancing Valting and in lascivious Pictures and Postures and in Chambering Gluttony and Drunkenness and these are the common and ordinary causes of the joy of worldly men Let the Reader judg then whether carnal joy be not meer vanity and vexation of Spirit for the great vanity of it moved Solomon to say I said of laughter Eccles 2.2 it is mad and of mirth what doth it and the very truth is that men transported with immoderate joy are like fools and mad men Thirdly The proprieties of worldly joy are these first Worldly joy is of hot temper secondly It is of a dilative or spreading quality and these two proprieties are the cause that sudden joy doth bereave men of life for when some beloved object or glad tidings are unexpectedly represented to the eyes or ears of men this causeth a violent alteration in all the parts of the body but specially in the heart by means of the hot and dilative quality of this passion of Joy because the blood and the vital spirits that reside in it are with great violence driven from the inward parts to the extremity of the members of the body The proprieties of worldly joy whereby mens hearts are deprived of their natural heat and of their vital spirits and so fall into a swoon
Grief and Sorrow some say it is a passion of the soul proceeding from some sensible loss or displeasure received others say it is a perturbation of the minde and an anguish of the body others that it is a passion afflicting the soul by the apprehension of present and future evils but this last opinion seemeth to be the best The definition of Dolour according to the Bishop of Marseillis pag 302. Dolour is a passion of the soul proceeding from the dislike that men receive from the objects represented to their imagination by their Senses which are averse to their inclinations and irksome to their bodies Moreover It is the last passion incident to the Concupiscible appetite and the root of divers other passions and the great Antagonist of worldly Joy because all carnal Joy doth end in Sorrow there being none so pure but it leaves in the soul a sting of remorse and repentance but Spiritual Sorrow is one of the greatest motives that men have to induce them to beate with fervency the ways of righteousness For godly sorrow 2 Cor. 7.10 saith St. Paul worketh Repentance to salvation not to be repented of but the sorrow of the world worketh death Secondly There are divers sorts and degrees of Dolour for the very word of Dolour doth signify Anguish Grief and Sorrow and every one of these have their degrees Anguish doth properly signifie the Dolours Pains and Torments of the Body whether they be natural or accidental and Grief doth signify the Dolour of the Minde and Sorrow is an invetered grief of the Minde which is by long continuance turned into an habit of Sorrow The first of these which is Anguish hath a secret reflection to the Sensitive appetite of the soul by means of the communion there is between it and the senses yet the seat of Anguish is in the body or in some of the members of it but the seat of Grief and Sorrow is in the Minde The three different sorts of Dolour and this kinde of Dolour is invisible to the eyes of men because it is intellectual and hath but little reflection to the body except it become excessive in degree but when the grief of the minde is by long continuance turned into an habit of Sorrow then it hath a great influence upon the body for by flow paces and degrees it consumes the body the radical humor and the very marrow in the bones and therefore the inveterate Sorrow is accounted the worst Dolour of the three because it is in a maner incurable for it doth ordinarily reject all remedies that might ease and cure the same as for Anguish and Grief they are easily cured by removing of the cause of them the symtomes of the first being always visible and apparent by the paleness or the high colour of the face by the inflammation of the parts by the distemper of the pulse or by the pains that are felt in any of the members of the body to which remedies may be applied by learned Physitians and as for the grief of the minde which is recent and not yet inveterate the cause being known by such as frequent or are familiar with the grieved and afflicted party such arguments and seasonable consolations may be used that they may stifle this Cockatrice in the shell Thirdly The causes of these three different sorts of Dolour may be reduced to these Heads first To Publick secondly To Private thirdly To Natural fourthly To Accidental 1. The Publick causes of Sorrow should be more sensible to men then any other yet in these days they are not regarded although there never was greater cause first It was a cause of publick sorrow to the People of Israel when they were informed of the cruel and bloody decree that Pharoah King of Egypt had made to cast all their male children into the River Fxodws 1.22 that the Hebrew Nation might by degrees be utterly destroyed secondly It was a great cause of publick sorrow of weeping and lamentation for the whole Nation of the Jews Publick causes of of sorrow when they were advertised that their good and religious King Iosiah had been mortally wounded in the battel 's fought in the Valley of Megiddo against Necho King of Egypt 2 Chron. 35.23 and all their Army routed and defeated thirdly It was a great cause of publick lamentation and sorrow for the people of Israel when they saw before their eyes the Temple of the Lord to be burned the City of Ierusalem to be sacked 2 Chron 36.19 20. and the rest of the people to be carried captives into Babylon by the King Nebuchadnezzar for which great desolation the Prophet Ieremiah did wish that his head were waters Jer. 9.1 and his eyes a fountain of tears that he might weep day and night for the slain of the daughters of his people fourthly It was a great cause of publick sorrow for the people of the Iews that were scattered through the hundred and twenty seven Provinces of the great King Ahasuerus dominions Esther 3.12 13 14 15. when they were informed of the cruel decree that Haman their mortal enemy had obtained to put them their wives and children to the sword for which there was great mourning and lamentations in the said Provinces but specially in the City of Shushan 2. It was a private cause of sorrow to the old Patriarch Iacob when he was informed that his dear and beloved son Ioseph had been slain and devoured by wilde beasts Gen. 37.33 although he was living but had been sold by his brethren out of envy as a slave to the Ishmaelites Merchants that were travelling down into Egypt secondly Private causes of Sorraw It was a cause of private sorrow for King David to hear of the Rape of his daughter Tamar who was ravished by his own son Amnon and again of the murder of the said Amnon committed by his darling son Absolon 2 Sam. 13 14 and 29. in vindication of the Rape of his sister Tamar thirdly It was a cause of private sorrow for King Ieroboam and his Queen to see the best of all their children Abijah their elder son to be taken away by death in the flower of his age and the more because it was by a judgment of God 1 King 14.12 for the Idolatry of Ieroboam fourthly It was a cause of private sorrow for the great Emperor Augustus Cesar that his daughter Iulia by her impudicity was banished and that none of his grand children were thought worthy to succeed him in the Empire because of their vitious miscarriages but was inforced to adopt See Tacitus and Suetonius in his life or elect Tiberius Nero his wives son the worst of men for his Successor in the Empire 3. The causes of dolour of the Minde The causes of Dolour or Sorrow of the Minde may be these first The privation of the injoyment of mens desires may be the cause of their sorrow
make golden bridges for their enemies to retreat then by despair to enforce them to fight To conclude Despair is a dangerous passion and Self-murdering Despair is to be abhorred of Christians for it doth not onely destroy the body but it doth also cast mens souls into the pit of eternal wo. There is also another sort of Despair which I have not as yet spoken of which proceeds from natural infirmities as from burning Feavers Frenzies and Madness but the evil effects which proceed from these are rather to be imputed to keepers of the Patients then to themselves or to the fury of the disease and therefore cannot come within the compass of Self murder The Remedies against which horrid sin are contained in the insuing Discourse Fifthly Six remedies against Despair The Remedies to prevent the evil and most pernicious effects of this dangerous passion of Despair which is one of the strongest temptations of Satan may be these and such other passages of Scripture a Psal 5.2 Hearken unto the voyce of my cry my King and my God for unto thee will I pray for constant and fervent prayers are able to cast back this temptation like filth in Satans face and to obtain of the Lord these supernatural graces whereby Christians will be inabled to defie and overcome Despair first Faith as a shield wherewith men shall be able saith St. Paul to quench all the fiery b Ephes 6.16 darts of the wicked And to say with Iob in the greatest tribulations that can befall them in this life Though he slay me yet will I c Job 13.15 trust in him secondly Repentance for it is a pretious Antitode against the venom of Despair What had become of St. Peter for denying his Lord and Master three times before the Cock d Matth. 26.75 crowed once if by the bitter tears of Repentance he had not obtained mercy Nay the very temporal and fained Repentance of Ahab King of Israel moved God to transfer or remove the execution of his wrath e 1 Kings 21.27 28 29. from him to his children And it is conceived by the best Divines that if Iudas who betraied our blessed Saviour had repented of his horrid sin he had not faln into f Matt. 27.5 despair for the compassions of the Lord are incomprehensible and his mercies are infinite as it appears by his towards Manasseh g 2 Chron. 33.12 13. King of Iudah who had committed all the wickedness that could be imagined by the hearts of men for he caused the Prophet Isaiah to suffer a most cruel death by sawing his body in the midst with a Saw and he turned aside from the Lord to commit Idolatry and caused his son to pass through the fire and dealt with Familiar Spirits and made the streets of Ierusalem to overflow with the innocent blood he caused to be spilt and yet when he humbled himself by an unfained Repentance before the Lord God was so gracious as to shew him mercy and from a miserable Captive he restored him to his royall dignity thirdly Patience is a special remedy against Despair for it preserved Job in the midst of his greatest temptation nay when his wife that should have been his greatest comforter said unto him Dost thou still retain thy integrity Curse h Job 2.9 10. God and die He answered with an admirable meekness of Spirit Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh What Shal we receive good at the hand of God and shall we not receive evil And this onely consideration That all things work for good to them that i Rom. 8.28 love God should keep men from Despair when they are in a maner overwhelmed with the greatest afflictions that can befall them in this life fourthly Confidence in God is an excellent remedy against Despair for such as trust in the Lord may say with the Prophet David I will not k Tsal 3.6 be afraid of ten thousands of people that have set themselves against me fifthly Hope is a powerful remedy against Despair for if men say with the Prophet David The Lord is my Rock l Psal 18.2 and my Fortress and my Deliverer for my m Psal 39.7 hope is in thee sixthly Fortitude is an excellent remedy against Despair for it is able to dash and overcome all the evil apprehensions that beget Despair and check mens pusillanimity with these words of the Prophet David Why art thou cast down O my soul and why art thou n Psal 42.11 disquieted within me hope thou in God for I shall yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God By these and the like passages of Scripture men may prevent the dangerous effect of Despair Nay draw unspeakable comforts out of the very Causes that beget Despair which passion is full of vanity and vexation of spirit c. CHAP. XIV Of the vanity of the passion of Vndantedness IF Diamonds were as common as Pipples and Vertues as natural to men as Vices they would not be so precious nor valued at so high a rate as they are in these days for it is the rarity of things more then their goodness that makes them to be esteemed among men for Instance Bread is the only staff of mans life and the best food that Nature hath appointed for his subsistence and yet because it is common it is little regarded for Beggers will hardly give men thanks if they give them nothing but dry bread But this passion I am to speak of is not onely rare sith one man among one hundred is not indowed with it but also good and excellent and therefore the more to be esteemed and valued of men as a rare and precious Jewel By it mens hopes are attained all fears expelled and despair suppressed and were it not a Passion I should call it a Vertue because of the resemblance it hath with Fortitude For Undantedness is the Spring of all true Valour and manly courage and by it all the generous actions that have been acted since the Creation till this day have had their beeing and successful end And therefore most judiciously and properly placed by the Moralists after Despair and before Fear to mitigate by the excellent proprieties of it the evil qualities of the two others for were it not for this passion men would be diverted from undertaking any noble design by Fear and Despair who have a natural propriety to withdraw the vitall spirits into the Center of the body which hinders the natural faculties to do and execute their functions and makes men timerous and remiss to undertake any noble action but Undantedness causeth the blood and the vital spirits that reside in it to dilate themselves to the utmost parts of the members of the Body and so gives them life and vigor and makes men apt and fit to undertake and execute all noble enterprizes Now for the better description of this noble Passion I will
drinking of it become worse then bruit Beasts because they deprive themselves of Judgment and Reason The Viper is naturally rank poyson and yet the Mithridate and other Antidotes against venoms are composed of it even so this passion of Fear is much abused and made worse then it is although it proceed from an evil spring I mean the weakness and infirmity of men yet God is pleased to make good use of it to convert sinners and to make them prosecute with greater fervency then they would otherwise do the ways of Righteousness Divers conceive Fear to be a Feminine passion and unworthy to be harbored in a Masculine Brest yet it maketh the proudest of men to be cautious and circumspect in their undertakings and clips the wings of their vain hopes and ambitious designes Tacitus saith See Tasitus in the life of Nero. That it serves as a curb to the licentious will of Princes and of all others that are in power and authority and for instance saith That as long as Agrippina the mother of the Emperor Nero lived of whom he stood in fear his actions were not so exorbitantly wicked as after her death but he having like a graceless son deprived her of life took free liberty to commit the greatest impieties that his heart could imagine And Joash King of Juda did the like for as long as Jehojada the high Priest lived whom he feared he seemed to love the Lord but soon after his death he gave himself over to Idolatry and cruelty for like an ungrateful wretch he caused Zechariah 2 Chro. 24.17 22. the son of Jehojada to be slain because he onely delivered unto him the message he had received from the Lord. Divers prefer Love before Fear but there cannot be any true Love without Fear Others say it is better to be feared then beloved but it is better to be equally loved and feared for men without Love endevor to be rid of the object of their Fears But if men be beloved and feared this composure keeps off all danger and begets security and obedience Neither can there be any filial obedience without Love for the obedience that proceeds from Fear is not free Prov. 1.7 and 20.2 but forced The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledg And the fear of a King is as the roaring of a Lyon who so provoketh him to anger sinneth against his own soul How much more should men be afraid to provoke Gods wrath by their sins and yet that is one of their least fears for they fear those things which they should not fear and fear not to sin which they should most fear But sith the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and of all saving knowledg which knowledg doth teach men to be afraid of sin which is the greatest evil Give me leave to inlarge my discourse upon these ensuing particulars that you may know to fear nothing but sin 1. On the definition of Fear 2. On the Nature of it 3. On the causes and remedies of mens fears 4. On the evil and good Effects of Fear 5. On the Spirtiual use of Fear The Moralists do vary in opinion Boujou in his Commentaries upon Aristotles Phâ—s lib. 16. cap. 6. concerning the definition of this Passion of Fear Fear saith one is a passion and apprehension of an evil that is to come but near at hand and looked for and unlikely to be avoided Fear saith another The Bishop of Marseille p. 408. is nothing else but a Grief and Dolor of the soul apprehending an evil at hand in which men see little probability it can be eschewed although it aims at the annihilation of their Being or to some dismal disgrace that threatneth their life or estate Yet it will appear by the nature the proprieties and effects of Fear that men are rather transported with Fears of imaginary Evils then of real and that mens fears do but rarely proceed from the annihilation of their Being However it is the fourth passion incident to the irrascible Appetite and the opposite and great Antagonist to the noble passion of Undantedness Secondly The nature of Fear is different from the nature of Joy for Joy dilates the blood and the vital spirits residing in it from the heart to the utmost parts of the body contrarily Fear withdraws the blood from the extreams of the body to the heart because Fear is a cold passion and the heart finding this cold to oppress it withdraws and calls as it were the blood and vital spirits from the further parts of the body to his ayd that by their natural heat he may be revived and cherished And that is the reason why divers men and women have been deprived of life by a sudden fear or fright because this cold passion congealeth the blood about the heart as a great frost congealeth water into Ice but if the Fear be not so violent yet it produceth a great alteration in the body for mens and womens faces will become as white as a cloth and sometimes all their members will tremble as a leaf and the motion proceeding from this alteration is so swift and forcible that women great with-childe miscarry by it nay it doth oftentimes turn the childe in their womb which depriveth the mother and the childe of life But Fear and Dolor have a great resemblance one with the other for they have both this withdrawing quality and are both of an extream cold and dry nature and therefore Fear and Sorrow are compared to the Winter Season and Joy and Delectation to the Spring and Summer in which the vegetative Creatures sprought and spring out their branches leaves flowers and fruits but in Winter time they withdraw their sap which is their life into their Roots as Fear and Sorrow doth draw the blood and vital spirits about the heart that is the essential cause and motion of mens lives Having both one and the same end the vegetatives to preserve themselves from the Frost and Snow and the heart to warm and cherish it self against these cold and frosty passions of Fear and Sorrow Thirdly The causes of mens fears are many and of several natures and by consequence their remedies must be proportionable unto them I will therefore speak first of the causes and to every cause apply the remedy but as I have said a little before mens fears do oftner proceed from imaginary evils then from the real and the worst propriety of this passion of Fear is That it anticipates and creates Fears in the Minde the real effects of which evils oftentimes are not like to trouble such as apprehend them nor their childrens children which kinde of Fear proceeds from a distrust of Gods providence and therefore as odious to God as any other kinde of Fear as it shall be proved when I come to speak of the effects of this passion First Worldly men Fear to loose their honors and dignities Secondly Their treasures and riches Thirdly
The enjoyment of their delights and pleasures These three fading and vanishing things are the most common causes of mens fears The remedies against these are First to consider that there are not many noble called 1 Cor. 1.26.28 and that the things which are most despised God hath chosen Prov. 23.5 Secondly That riches certainly make themselves wings they flie away as an Eagle towards heaven Thirdly That pleasures are of no continuance and leave a sting in the conscience at their departure Eccles 2.11 and are but meer vanity and vexation of Spirit Fourthly Men fear Poverty and to prevent the same addict themselves for the greater part to unlawful courses of gain remembring not this wise saying of Solomon Prov. 28 2â— He that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent Poverty is no Vice and yet men abhor Poverty more then any Vice nay more then Sin the worst of evils The remedy against Poverty is Contentedness for many beleeve they are poor when they are rich and many think themselves rich when they are poor As Christ said to the Angel of the Church of the Laodiceans Because thou sayest I am rich Revel 3.14 and increased with goods and have need of nothing and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blinde and naked Contentedness is a gift and grace of God for if men be never so rich and want that grace they are but poor and miserable and like Cormorants that can never be satisfied This Fear also proceeds from Distrust and the remedy of it is to relie upon Gods providence and on this precept and promise of our blessed Saviour Which of you by taking thought Matth. 6.27 28 29 31 33. can adde one cubit unto his stature and why take ye thought for rayment Consider the Lillies of the field how they grow they toyl not neither do they spin And yet I say unto you That Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these And in the 31 33. Verses Therefore take no thought saying What shall we eat or what shall we drink or wherewith shall we be clothed But seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you Fifthly Men fear to lose their wives women their husbands Parents their children and children their Parents and one friend another But this Fear proceeds from the want they conceive they will have of their help and assistance The remedy to this Fear is this consideration That all men are mortal and that all are of the dust Eccles 3.20 and all turn to dust again And let not Christians have less constancy then a Heathen to whom tidings being brought Plutarch in his Morals that his onely son was dead he answered I knew he was not begotten to be immortal and to utterly root out this Fear which proceeds from the distrust of the want of their ayd or assistance let men have always in their minde Rom. 8.28 this saying of Saint Paul All things work together for good to them that love God Sixthly Men fear persecutions tribulations and afflictions This Fear proceeds from the infirmity of the flesh and from the pusillanimity of mens mindes and from an antipathy of nature who abhorreth Anguish and Dolor The remedy of this Fear is Fortitude and an undanted Courage with this assurance That by tribulations and crosses God is pleased oftentimes to call his children to repentance and make them more fervent and zealous in the ways of Righteousness As the Prophet David saith Psal 119.67 Before I was afflicted I went astray but now I have kept thy word Seventhly Men fear banishment and long imprisonments This Fear also proceeds from want of a Masculine courage for a Heathen could say when he was banished Plutarch in his Morals That the whole world was his Native Countrey The onely remedy against this Fear is Patience and as the prison doth retain mens bodies so it may if they make good use of their banishment and imprisonment refrain them from sin and increase their Moral vertues and Spiritual Graces Acts 16.25 Paul and Silas prayed and sung Psalms and praised God in prison And Sir Walter Rawleigh and La Nove have made themselves famous by the learned Works they have written in prison See Plutarch in their lives And Solon and Cicero did improve their learning and Moral vertues in their exile or banishment Eightly Men fear lingring and tedious Diseases as the Consumption of the Lungs the Hectick Fever and the wasting of the Liver But this Fear proceeds from their natural infirmitie that is impatient of pain for lingring Diseases prepare men for repentance whereas sudden diseases deprive them oftentimes of that Grace The remedy against this Fear is to seek to the Lord before men seek after the Physitians for the issues of life and death are in his hands Ezekiah 2 Kings 20.2 6 7. King of Judah was soon cured of his Mortal disease because he called and prayed unto the Lord with an unfeigned sincerity of heart Ninthly Men fear to fall into a decrepit age A vain and ridiculous Fear sith the oldest man alive doth commonly hope and desire to live a yeer longer It is true that if decrepit age and poverty do meet it may be called The Misery of Miseries for besides the many infirmities that are incident to decrepit age the waywardness common to it is the most insupportable for it maketh all things distastful unto them and being deprived by Poverty of all worldly comforts this aggravates far more the misery of decrepit age The remedy of it is to attend with patience the time appointed by the Lord of the separation of the body and soul and to say with old Simeon Luke 2 29. Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word for mine eyes have seen thy salvation Tenthly and lastly Men are afraid of death and especially the wicked because it deprives them of their honors riches and pleasures the injoyment of which is their Paradise upon Earth and ferries them over to the eternal woes But death is welcom to the children of God for they account death as their deliverer who frees them from the continual miseries and afflictions of this world who are commonly their portion in this life for they are assured that the sting of death hath been taken away and that the redemption of their sins hath been purchased at a dear rate viz. By the sheding of the precious blood of the onely Son of God our blessed Saviour Jesus Christ And therefore defie death and say to her face O death where is thy sting 1 Cor. 15.55 O grave where is thy victory The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the the Law but thanks be to God which giveth us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ Fourthly The Effects of this Passion of Fear are of
and thirst to obtain by the merits of Christ eternal life Fifthly The spiritual Uses of Fear may be these 1. Men are not only to fear The spiritual uses of fear but also to love God that their fear may not be a servile but a filial fear for the Divel himself fears and trembles at the very name of God yet doth he not love but hate and detest him 2. Men are not only to fear to disobey God but they are also to endevor to do his will and to perform his commandements that they may neither commit sins of commission nor sins of omission for it is not sufficient for them to eschew evill but they must also endeavor to do good 3. Men are not only to fear and to love God but they are also to love and to fear to offend their neighbors that they may fulfill the second Table as well as the first and observe this precept of our blessed Saviour Math. 7.12 Therefore all things whatsoever you would that men should do to you do ye even so to them for this is the Law and the Prophets 4. Men are not only to love and fear God but they are also to love fear honor and respect his Substitutes or Deputies upon Earth I mean the supream and subordinate Magistrates to whom he hath given the sword of Justice in hand for to preserve the Innocent and to punish the wicked Rom. 13.1 For there is no power but of God the powers that be are ordained of God 5. Men cannot fear God except they fear to commit sin because there is nothing more odious to God then sin and such as fear God do hate and abhor sin for the fear of the Lord doth always precede the hatred of sin as it appears by this saying of Solomon Prov 10 27. â— Fear the Lord and depart from Evil Intimating that men cannot depart from sin before they fear the Lord And how pleasant acceptable this fear is unto God it may be collected by these sayings of the Prophet David Psal 61.5 Thou hast saith he given me the heritage of those that fear thy name meaning that such as fear the Lord have a most excellent Heritage as it is by him confirmed by these words Psal 16.6 The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places yea I have a goodly Heritage And in another place he saith that God is the help and shield of those who fear him Again Solomon saith Psal 115.11 The fear of the Lord prolongeth days Prov. 10.27 but the days of the wicked shall be shortned Whereby it appears that such as fear the Lord have most excellent prerogatives 6. The fear of the Lord is the rarest jewel under the Sun for King Solomon after he had shewn in his Book of recantations that all things under the cope of Heaven were but meer vanity and vexation of spirit he concludes That to fear God Eccl. 12.23 and to keep his Commandments is the whole duty of man And I conclude with him that all fears whatsoever except it be the fear of God and the fear of sin are meer vanity and vexation of spirit CHAP. XVI Of the vanity of the passion of Wrath. IN the former Ages of the World They only were accounted generous and of a masculine courage that could with patience endure all manner of injuries and suffer with meekness all kinde of reproaches that were done or said unto them without being moved or distempered with this fiery passion of Wrath as it may appear by these ensuing Instances that have been recorded by the Ancient Authors in the praise and commendation of such Princes and private men See Plutarch in his Trearise against Wrath. that have been endowed with this rare vertue of Fortitude It is recorded that Antigonus King of Macedonia walking one evening thorow his Camp heard some of his Souldiers to curse him bitterly but he with an admirable patience without being moved or distempered pray'd them lovingly to go a little further that the King might not hear them See Sueto mus in Augustus life And the Emperour Augustus Caesar being earnestly entreated by his Son-in-law Tiberius Nero to punish severely the Author of divers scandalous Libels that had been dispersed through the Streets of Rome against him Answered without being moved with anger That the greatest correction he could inflict upon him was to disdain to take notice of his calumnies And King Philip Father to Alexander the Great See Plutarch in Alexander and in Demosthenes lives being entreated by one of his Courtiers to punish severely an Athenian Orator that made him odious to the Greeks by venting in his publike Declamations bitter invectives against him answered without being distempered with wrath It may be said he I have not as yet done him any good as I have done to many others that deserved not so well as he whereupon he sent him a present of two Talents in Gold that made this Nightingal to change his tune to exalt the Liberality and Heroical Vertues of the King as high as the Skie And Philip being informed of it told his Courtier that he was a better Physitian then he to cure the malignancy of evil-tongued men See the French History And Lewis the Twelfth King of France being perswaded by some of his Peers to avenge himself of some affronts and injuries done unto him by some great Officers of the Crown in the dayes of Charls the Tenth his Predecessor when he was onely Duke of Orleans answered with an admirable magnanimity of courage That it was unseemly for a King of France to revenge himself of the injuries done formerly to the Duke of Orleans But in this decrepit Age of the World wherein we live They only are reputed generous and of a manly courage that are addicted to wrath and apt to vindicate themselves for the least offence and injury which are done unto them although it be done unwillingly And this is one of the causes of all the Divisions that reign in this Commonwealth Give me leave therefore to enlarge my discourse upon these particulars to shew you the evil Nature Proprieties and Effects of this furious passion of Wrath. 1. Upon the definition of Wrath. 2. Upon the causes that move Wrath. 3. Upon the Nature and Proprieties of it 4. Upon the evil and good Effects of the same 5. Upon the Remedies of it The Moralists do vary in their Opinions concerning the definition of this Passion Senalt and others maintain it hath an opposite but the Bishop of Marseilles and Theophraste Boujou Lord of Beaulien in his Commentaries upon Aristoles Physicks maintains the contrary to whose Works I refer the Reader for brevity sake To come to the definition it self Wrath saith Boujou Boujou fol. 723. is a Passion intising men to vindicate themselves for some injury received or for having been hindred to attain to some good by them prosecuted and desired Wrath saith Senault
unto him why speakest thou any more of this matter I have said Thou and Ziba divide the Land 2. Wrath begets contention and strife betwixt the cheifest vessels of grace for it wrought such a contention between S. Paul and Barnabas that it made Paul to associate himself with Silas and Barnabas with Mark and so divided one from the other these two famous Instruments of the propagation of the glory of God 3. Wrath enticeth men to cruelty and is often the cause of the ruine and desolation of great and Populous Cities The Emperor Frederick was so transported with wrath by an Affront done by the People of Milan to the Empresse his wife that he caused his Army to sack the City of Milan and to put all the Inhabitants of it to the Sword See the Fcclesiastical history and afterwards to burn the same to the ground And the Duke Charls of Burgundy moved to wrath by an injury done to himself by the Citizens of Dinan See Philip de Commines caused all the Inhabitants to be slain by the Sword and the City to be burned to ashes salt to be sown in the fields of it to make them for ever barren 4. When men are transported with Wrath they have no regard to Father Mother nor Brethren Gen. 4.8 Cain slew his Brother Abel Nero his Mother and Selymus poysoned his Father out of wrath proceeding from ambition So that Wrath is the cause of much Blooshed and unparalleld Evils Miseries and Desolations The good effects of Wrath are these 1. It makes Cowards to become valiant The good Effects of Wrath. for the greatest Coward in the World being transported with Wrath becomes as bold as a Lyon 2. Wrath inciteth Christians to a Godly Indignation when they see the Worship and Glory of God abused and this is the onely commendable effect of Wrath for the which Phineas the Son of Eleazar the Son of Aaron the high Priest obtained this following Blessing of the Lord for having slain Zimri and Cozbi in his wrath proceeding from a fervent Zeal to Gods glory Wherefore the Lord said Behold I give unto him my Covenant of Peace And he shall have it Numb 25.12 13. and his Seed after him even the Covenant of an everlasting Preisthood because he was zealous for his God and made an attonement for the children of Israel 3. The moderate Anger and Wrath of Parents towards their Children and of Masters towards their Servants is oftentimes of great use to keep them in due obedience and to make them more diligent in the performance of their duty 4. The Wrath of God is of great use to bring Impenitent Sinners to repentance For when they hear that his Wrath burns like fire Psal 89.46 and that it is like a whirlwind which turneth upside down the highest mountains it makes them put their hands upon their brests and acknowledge with the penitent Publican Luke 18.10 that they are not worthy to look up to heaven And I am perswaded considering the perverse inclinations of men that more are converted by the apprehension of his Wrath then by the gracious invitations of his Love are Promises yet happy and blessed are they who are drawn near him by his incomprehensible Love in Christ Jesus towards them and that fear more to displease him out of a sincere and filial Love unto him then out of a servile apprehension of his Wrath. To conclude it appears by the Nature Proprieties and Effects of Wrath that it is a passion above all others that men should most endevor to subdue and keep subordinate to Reason And to that end observe these ensuing Remedies that are to be used to hinder this stubborn Passion to obtain the Mastery over Men. Fifthly The Remedies to curb and keep under subjection this ragefull and furious Passion of Wrath may be reduced to these Four heads 1. Four Remedies against the venom of Wrath. Humility 2. Patience 3. Prudence 4. Charity For the First Humility is an excellent Remedy to asswage the fiery rage of Wrath Prov. 15.1 For as Solomon saith A soft Answer turneth away Wrath but grievous words stir up Anger And as fire goeth out of it self if it be not nourished by some Combustible matter so Wrath will vanish into smoak if it be not fomented and encreased by ill Language or by insolent Postures and Misdemeanors Abigail by her humble gesture and gentle speech did suddenly pacify the fiery Wrath of David that had been kindled by the churlishness of Nabal 1 Sam. 25.22 24. and prevented the execution of the rash Decree that David had pronounced against Nabal and all his Family Nay Humility is so powerfull and acceptable to God that it is able to appease his Wrath as it appears by Gods gracious and mercifull Carriage towards King David himself after the commission of the two abhorred sins of Adultery and Murder for he had no sooner acknowledged his sin with an unfained Humility 2. Sam. 12.13 but God was pleased to pardon him the guilt although he inflicted a heavy Punishment upon his Family for it For the Second Patience is an approved Remedy to appease the rage of Wrath as it appears by the Counsel that Athenodorus gave to his Pupill Augustus Caesar whom he knew naturally addicted to Wrath. At the first motion of this Passion said he to him See Sueton. in August life You must endevor to crush this Cockatrice in the shell but if it cannot be break the fury of it by Patience And before you decree any thing in your Anger count upon your fingers ends the four and twenty Letters of the Greek Alphabet For by this small intermission of time your Reason and Judgement will come to it self again that hath been perverted by the fury of this Passion of Wrath. It is Recorded that Plato upon the Relation of an unpleasant Message was something moved with Wrath whereupon he rose from his seat to fetch his staff But another Philosopher seeing it said unto him It is unseemly for you Plato to be thus moved with Wrath as to fetch your staff to beat a Messenger See Plutarch in his Mor. You are deceived said he It was to burb and beat mine own Wrath that began to be Master over my Reason Thirdly Prudence is a soveraign Remedy against Wrath For Solomon saith He that is slow to Wrath Prov. 14.28 is of great understanding but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly Whereby it appears that such as are apt to be transported with immoderate Wrath are like fools or mad men and that there is none truly wise but such as can pacify their Wrath. And that was the reason why Socrates was judged by the Oracle of Apollo to be the wisest man of all the Greeks See Plutar in his Mor. in his Treatise against Wrath. because he could not be moved to Wrath for had not he been patient and prudent he and his wife had
intellectual Adultery of the heart committed in the Matrimonial Bed which is as odious to God although it be not censurable by men because it is invisible as the actual Adultery with a strange woman This should move all true Christians who through a filial fear are timerous to offend God to be cautious of their ways that they be not ensnared by their deceitful hearts and the temptations of Satan in this kinde of Adultery or if they be that they may unfainedly repent of it before death part their soul from their body otherwise without the special mercies of God their souls may run as much hazard by this sort of Adultery as by the actual Secondly men are to endevor to attain to an habit in Temperance and Sobriety vertues or graces opposite to the vices of gluttony drunkenness two of the greatest provokers to Lust These are also distinguished by corporeal and Intellectual The corporal Temperance may be acquired by Moral Precepts but the Intellectual is an immediate gift of the Sanctifying Spirit of grace and cannot be obtained but by Prayer for God is the only giver of it And it is properly called Meekness of spirit and the inseparable companion of the grace of sanctification The proprieties and effects of which are apparently seen in the carriage and replies of Job Moses Ely David and Hezekiah 1. When the Messengers came suddenly after one another to acquaint Job of the loss of all he had and of the death of his Children he replyed with an admirable meekness of spirit Job 1.21 The Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken blessed be the name of the Lord. 2. Moses with the like meekness did patiently endure the false and offensive reproaches of his own brother and sister Numb 12.3 for the which he is called by the Holy Ghost the meekest man upon earth 3. Eli with the same meekness of spirit answered the Prophet Samuel when hd had acquainted him of the will of the Lord 1 Sam. 3.18 concerning the death of his two sons and the casting off of his Posterity from the High-Priests office it is the Lord let him do what seemeth good unto him 4. When King David heard the bitter Curses of Shimei for the which Abishai would have slain him he answered with the like meckness of spirit 2 Sam. 16.9 10. Let him curse because the Lord hath sayd unto him curse David who shal then say Wherefore hast thou done so 5. When the Prophet Isaiah was sent to King Hezekiah to denounce the heavy judgement of God against Jerusalem and his posterity he answered with the like meekness of spirit Isal 39.8 The word of the Lord is good which thou hast spoken Whereby it appears that the temperance of the minde is a great curb to bridle the violence of the Passions of men for the Answer that Joseph gave to his lewd Mistress when she tempted him to lie with her did proceed from the same root and from the filial fear he had of God Gen. 39.8 9. Begold my Master knoweth not what he hath in the house but hath committed all he hath into my hands there is none greater in the house then I neither hath he kept any thing from mee but only thee because thou art his wife How then can I do this great wickedness and so sin against God But such is the depravation of this age that I have heard some Voluptuous men call continent Joseph a very Sot for having rejected the lascivious Summons of his Mistress and neglected through a Puerile Fear the Time Place and Opportunity to enjoy the pleasures of her embracements As for the Corporeal Temperance and Sobriety the Heathens have also excelled most of the Christians of these days in that noble vertue as it shall appear by these Instances 1. King Cyrus being demanded by his Steward Where and What he pleased to have for his Supper Answered I will sup by the River-side and have only for my Diet Bread and Salt for Drink we shall have enough out of the River 2. The Queen of Caria having sent to Alexander the rarest Cooks that were in Asia he sent them back unto her with this Message that he had no need of Cooks as long as he did observe the Precepts of his Tutor Leonides who had charged him to exercise his body in the Morning in running of Races on foot or in the mannaging of his War horse to give him a stomack to his Dinner and to walk two or three miles in the Evening to have an Appetite to his Supper 3. Phocion one of the Governors of the Athenian Commonwealth was found at Dinner by the Embassador that Alexander sent to him with a Present of ten Talents with one single dish of meat See Plutarch in his Life and having demanded of the Embassador the reason why Alexander did send him such a Present he answered Only for your integrity vertue Let him leave me so said Phocion for this Gold will make me unjust and vitious and so with thanks sent the present back to Alexander 4. Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus See Livy in his 1. Decade Dictator of the Roman Commonwealth was found at Dinner with a small piece of meat and a dish of Turnips by the Embassadors of the Samnites that were sent unto him with a great sum of Gold to induce him to shew them favor in the obtaining of a Peace which they required of the Roman Senate Whereupon Cincinnatus shewing them the frugality of his Diet said unto them Tell the Samnites that he that can be contented with such Fare needs no Gold and therefore carry it back for if their request be just they shall have my favor without it There are evidences of the Temperance of the ancient Persians Greeks and Romans concerning the passions of Avarice and Volupty But as soon as the Persians by Cambises and the Greeks by Alcibiades and the Romans by Lucullus were allured to desire riches and pleasures See Herodotus in Cambises Life they became the most covetous and voluptuous Nations of the World and all their former Vertues were turned into Vices Therefore I conclude that Temperance and Sobriety are the inseparable companions of Continency and sanctification And that Riches Gluttony and Drunkness are the greatest Provokers to lust and carnal Volupties And this Passage of S. Paul doth confirm the same They that sleep saith he 1 Thes 5 7 6. sleep in the night and they that are drunken are drunken in the night But let us which are of the day be sober Therefore let us not sleep but let us watch and be sober Intimating that none are more fit to attain to holyness then those who are temperate and sober And none more adverse then drunkards and voluptuous men Thirdly men are to endevor to attain to an habit in Fortitude called by some a vertue but when it is accompanied with Faith it is a grace of the sanctifying Spirit 1. By it
Spanish History 8. Philip the Second King of Spain caused Prince Charls his eldest Son to be put to death by the Inquisition of Spain out of an ambitious jealousie that he did aspire to bereave him of his Crown Seventhly The Effects of Ambition are worse then the Proprieties of it for Paracidies Murthers Rebellions Mutations of States Annihilations of Laws intestine and forraign Wars with all the desolations and mischiefs that follow them at the heels are the fruits of mens ambition and of these I will speak in order and by instances confirm the same For the first Andronicus the younger See the History of the Emperor of Constantinople See the Turkish History out of ambition to raign did most cruelly put out the eyes of his Grandfather and famished him to death in Prison 2. Sylimus out of ambition to raign did most unnaturally poyson his Father Bajazeth and flew all his brethren 3. 2 Chron. 2.10 Athaliah out of Ambition to raign slew and destroyed all the Seed-Royal of the House of Judah 4. Richard the Third King of England out of Ambition to raign See the English History caused his two Nephews to be murthered in the Tower and in hope to settle the Crown upon himself and his Posterity he put his Wife to death to marry the Lady Elizabeth his own Niece Incests being accounted no sin by ambitious men So they may as the House of Austria do daily uphold and advance by it their ambitious designs For the Second 2 Sam. 3.27 Joab out of ambition to remain still the Commander in Chief of the men of War murthered perfidiously under colour of friendship Abner and Amasa by stabbing of them under the fifth rib 2. Baasha out of ambition to raign murthered Nadab his Lord and King 1 King 15.27 3. Zimri out of ambition to raign murthered Ela his Lord the Son of Baasha 1 King 16.10 1 King 16.18 4. Omri out of ambition to raign rose up against Zimri and enforced him to burn himself in the Kings Palace For the Third Absolom out of Ambition to raign rebelled against his Father King David 2 Sam 26.21 and did endeavour to deprive him of life from whom he had his being 2. Zedechiah out of ambition to raign as an absolute King rebelled against his benefactor King Nebuchadnezzar 2 King 24.20 which was the cause of his miserable end 3. Otho out of ambition to raign rebelled against Galba who had made him his second favourite See Tacitus 4. Pippin the short out of ambition to raign rebelled against his Lord King Childerick and by force and violence caused him to be shaven as a Monk See the French History and to be shut up into a Monastery For the Fourth The ambition of Nebuchadnezzar was the secondary cause of the destruction of the Assyrian Monarchy And the ambition of Cyrus was the cause of the overthrow of the Babylonian Monarchy And the ambition of Alexander was the cause of the annihilation of the Persian Monarchy And the ambition of the Roman Commanders was the cause of the utter subversion of the Greek Monarchy See Sir Walter Rawleighs History of the World And the ambition of Caesar was the cause of the mutation of the Democratical Government of Rome into a Monarchical And the ambition of the Rulers of the Gauls Goths Visgots Vandals and Lombards of the utter ruine of the Roman Monarchy for they rent the same in pieces as a Kite rends a young chiken I say the secondary Cause for the secret will and Decree of God is the first and efficient cause of all the mutations of States or Monarchies And that is the reason why Saint Paul giveth this charge Rom. 13 1. Let every soul be subject to the higher powers for there is no power but of God the powers that be are ordained of God For the Fifth From the mutations of one kinde of Government to another Government See Plutarch in Caesars Life and Caesar in his Commentaries proceeds annihilation of the antient Laws of either of them It hapned so at Rome upon the change that Caesars ambition brought in that Commonwealth for the ancient Laws were annihilated and new Laws were established and likewise after the coming of William the Conquerour into England the antient Brittain Laws were annulled See Speed in his Historie of England and the Norman Laws confirmed This proverb being not more common then true viz. From new Lords new Laws and this might be proved by divers instances out of the antient and modern Histories but these two alledged will serve for brevity sake For the Sixth Ambition breeds divisions and divisions beget intestine and forraign Wars and from these Wars proceed the mutations of States and Monarchies and from these mutations the Annihilation of antient Laws Now the inseparable companions of forraign and intestine Wars are Atheism Schisms in the Church and a Laodicean luke-warmness in Religion and great effusions of blood injustices oppressions and desolations And all these mischiefs proceed from the exorbitant and irregular ambition of men and therefore I conclude that the passion of ambition is nothing but vanity and vexation of spirit and more destructive to mankinde then any other passion But before I speak of the means which are to be used to restrain the fury of this violent passion give me leave to examine the justice or injustice of the Wars which have been meerly undertaken out of an ambitious desire of vain-glory It is certain that if the actions of the most ambitious Princes and Common-wealths that have from the creation to this day bin upon the Earth were examined without prejudice or partiality that they would be found more injurious then just If men set aside the secret will Decree of God who had ordained from the beginning that these four great Monarchies here spoken of should be so successful in their encrease they would wonder how injustice and oppressions could have such prosperous events I will only speak of the Actions of the Romans and Greeks 1. Because they have been more clearly demonstrated to us by their Authors then the actions of the other two 2. Because the Actions of the Assyrians and Babylonians were guided by a special providence of God for the punishment of the sins of his own People the Jews As for the Actions of the Romans men may clearly see that from their very beginning until the days of Caesar they have for the greater part been unjust oppressive and injurious although they with much cunning and art did palliate them under the cloak of Justice and the right of the Laws of Nations And as for the Civil War undertaken by Caesar against his native Countrey it was voyd of all humanity and Justice and Ambition only gave him the audacity to resolve to enslave under his yoak those to whom he had been a servant for seven years together Nay with that very Army that they had given him and