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
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
the Childe Christ Jesus were commanded by an Angel of God to flee into Egypt for fear that Herod would seek after the young childe to destroy him whereby it appears that the cause of mens flight doth commonly proceed from the fear of death and not to avoid sin But if men to avoid lust would flee from their beloved object Gen. 39.12 as Ioseph did fly from his lewd Mistress out of fear to offend the Lord it were the onely way to quench their lascivious desires for in the passion of true love between parties of unequal degree there is not any better remedy to asswage and extinguish the flames of love then to make the Lovers to absent themselves one from another at a far distance and for some continuance of time for sith the dropping of a gutter doth in continuance of time blot out any characters graven upon a Marble stone there is more probability that the impression of that object of beauty hath made in the imaginaon of men or women wil sooner be worn out with a long absence and it is daily seen that the last object of a beauty drives out of mens mindes the former impressions of another beauty and daily experience doth shew that to appease wrath the onely remedy is to flee from or to eschew the presence of him that is transported with that passion for the cause being taken away the effects cease so the object being removed which did cause the distemper in the soul the passion by degrees doth vanish away Fourthly The proprieties of Flight are as numerous as the causes of it and there is as great a similitude between Hatred and Flight The proprieties of Flight as there is between Love and Desire first it seemeth to fly from evil and doth aim at the good secondly Flight in outward appearance seems to be a coward and yet it is as generous as the Desire for to fly from sin is a greater valour then to fight in the field with a valiant enemy Sith it cannot be denied that he that hath the mastery over his own passions and can mortifie the cupidities of his desires is a greater conquerer then Cesar thirdly As the Desire calls Hope to its aid when it cannot obtain that which is difficult so Flight calls to its aid Fear and Hatred that it may with swifter wings fly from the evil that is overpowerful fourthly As the desire is a sign of indigence poverty and want so Flight is an evidence of Impatiency and Imbecillity and as men obtain by the prosecution of their desires such things as they want so men by flight free themselves of those things they most abhor and detest fifthly The propriety of Desire is to open and dilate the heart to make the same more eager after the prosecution of the good it aims at so Flight shrinks up the heart and debars sin from coming in to it sixthly As men by the means of the Desire injoy and possess the good even so men by the help of Flight preserve themselves from evil In a word Desire and Flight are the two Champions of Love and Hatred Desire and Flight are the two faithful Champions of Love and Hatred for as Love cannot execute any generous achievement without the aid of the Desire so Hatred cannot perform any noble exploit without the help of Flight Fifthly the effects of Flight The effects of Flight tend either to the preservation of the body or of the soul I will then first speak of that of the body and acquaint you that all horrid and terrible things that may procure the annihilation of mens beeing or deprive them from the good they aim at inticeth this passion either to eschew or fly from them 1 Sam. 18.11 and 19.10 It moved David to avoid the Javelin that Saul threw at him with an intent to smite him even to the wall but David fled and escaped again when he was informed by Jonathan that Saul his father did seek after his life then he fled again to Nob to Ahimelech the Priest and divers other times when he was in danger he fled from the presence of Saul and all to preserve his life And St. Paul being at Damascus and hearing that the Jews had set wait for his life and. watched the gates day and night to kill him Act. 9.23 24 the disciples took him by night and let him down by the wall in a basket preserving his life by his flight It appears then by these two Instances that the effects of Flight tend specially to the preservation of mens beeing and when they fly from sin to the prevention of the danger of their souls for they have no better remedy as it hath been said already to free themselves from lust and from all lascivious desires then to flee from the objects that engender the same But why they fly sooner from the punishment of evil then from the guilt of sin I will hear enlarge my self and intreat the Reader to take notice that it is onely the natural men that do so much abhor the punishment Why men fly from the punishment rather then from the guilt of sin and are so eager to preserve the guilt for the true children of God do more detest the guilt then the punishment for they know the punishment of sin is as inseparable from the guilt as the shadow is from the body and they fear more to offend their gracious God then the punishment of sin but the wicked who have their portion in this life are afraid of the punishment more then of the guilt because their supream good is in this life which punishment seems to interrupt but the children of God carry their Cross and have nothing but disgraces trouble and vexations in this life and expect their supream bliss and happiness will be in the world to come and are confident and assured that the corrections and punishments that God inflicts upon them because of their sins are but so many evidences that their heavenly Father doth love and hath a care of them and so do adore the arm and kisse the hand of God that is pleased to chastise them For whom the Lord loveth saith St. Paul Heb. 12.6 he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth but the wicked murmur at the least corrections they receive from the hand of God and say with the two men that were possessed with evil spirits Matth. 8.29 What have we to do with thee art thou come to torment us before the time for so they injoy the pleasures of this life they care not what will become of them in the world to come being of this minde That one bird in the hand is better then two in the bush But to return from whence this digression brought me one of the chiefest effects of Flight is that it is the protector of Womens and Virgins Chastity and makes yong men free themselves from vitious and debausht company which they
are to flee from as from a contagious Air or from the sight of a Serpent for ill company are Satans Panders and the corrupters of youth and as men cannot handle Pitch without soiling their hands so young folk cannot haunt ill company without they blemish their reputation and defile their maners nor remain in their innocency for they are the Schools of Sin and sin draws the wrath of God upon men from whose wrath it is impossible to flee as the Prophet David saith Whether shall I go from thy Spirit Psal 139.7 8 9 10. or whether shall I flee from thy presence If I ascend up into heaven thou art there If I make my bed in bell behold thou 〈◊〉 there If I take the wings of the morning and dwel in the utmost parts of the sea even there shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold me Now sith it is so that sin draws upon men the wrath of God that cannot be eschewed nor avoided because it is a consuming fire For a fire saith Moses is kindled in his anger Deut. 32.22 and shall burn unto the lowest hell and shall consume the earth and set on fire the foundations of the mountains how careful should they then be to eschew and fly from sin Sixthly The use that men should make of this passion of Flight should be to flee from all appearance of evil as well as from sin and not transfer their own sins upon others as Adam did upon Eve The woman saith he to the Lord Gen. 3.12 whom thou gavest to be with me she gave me of the Tree and I did eat Much less to charge and accuse men of sins of which they are most guilty themselves for this kinde of sin is altogether in fashion in these days neither must men make conscience of one sin and make none of another some will make scruple to swear but they will make no account to lye a hundred times in a day so they may with these lyes delude their brethren and attain to their own ends Others will forbear to eat Fish upon a Friday but will make no account of drabbing and whoring others will flee from one sin and will run eagerly after another In a word there never was an age more addicted to painting then this for the most notorious sins are so varnished and painted over that men take Vices for Vertues And that is the reason why I said in the beginning of this Chapter that men should be cautious how they make use of this passion for fear they flee from the good in lieu to eschew the evil or get an habit of aversion against the good in stead to have it against the evil but if this passion of Flight be applied against its right object it will prove to be of great efficacy to the propagation of a godly life for it is impossible to love and affect the good unfainedly before men have obtained a strong aversion against the evil and therefore to attain to that blessed condition that the Prophet David speaks of in the first Psalm they must flee from all maner of conversation with the wicked Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly Psal 1.1 2. nor standeth in the way of sinners nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful but his delight is in the Law of the Lord and in his Law doth he meditate day and night Pro. 4.18 And Salomon secondeth him thus Enter not in the path of the wicked and go not in the way of evil men avoid it and pass not by it turn from it and pass away This triple gradation of Salomon sheweth with a great Emphasie how necessary it is for men to flee from the conversation of wicked men and from all appearance of sin and yet there are too many that add sin to sin and so fall under this censure of the Prophet Isaiah Isai 31.3 Wo to the rebellious children saith the Lord that take counsel but not of me and that cover with a covering but not of my Spirit that they may add sin to sin To conclude It is apparent that the passion of Flight except it be to flee from sin is but vanity for Gods wrath can over-take and finde out as it hath been shewed impenitent sinners wheresoever they flee CHAP. X. Of the vanity of the passion of worldly joy AS Laughter is an expression of Joy so Weeping is an evidence of Sorrow but these two proprieties are onely peculiar to mankinde because the Ape that seemeth to laugh doth but grin and the Crocodile that seemeth to weep doth but mone for Joy and Sorrow are affections of the minde and therefore the unreasonable creatures are incapable of them Notwithstanding some Moralists conceive that the passion of Joy and the passion of Delight which the French call Delectation is but one and the same passion which cannot certainly be because Delight is common to men and beast so is not Joy for Delight proceeds from the pleasures of the Senses and Joy from the contentedness of the minde and our blessed Saviour while he was upon earth shewed that these affections did reside in him as it may appear by these words Joh. 15.11 These things have I spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might be ful this confirms his affection of Joy and these will verifie his affection of Sorrow Ioh. 11.33 34. When Jesus therefore saw her weeping and the Jews also weeping which came with her he groaned in the Spirit and was troubled and said Where have ye laid him They say unto him Lord come and see Iesus wept Now Christ being the purity it self it is impossible he should have had any affections proceeding from the Senses And therefore it is certain that Joy and Delight are two distinct passions This sweet and comfortable passion of Joy was given to the reasonable creatures by their gracious and merciful Creator for to sweeten and temper the bitterness of their Sorrows that come upon them as thick as a storm of Hail under the burden of which they would undoubtedly have fainted if God had not been pleased to afford them this cordial of Joy for although Joy be pleasant to Nature yet it is a meer stranger to it but Sorrow which she abhors is her constant guest and for one dram of joy that men have in their life time they have a pound of Sorrow yet because Joy is the comforter of mens lives for without it they could not subsist observe for your better information of the qualities of it these particulars 1. The definition of Joy 2. The causes of it 3. The proprieties of it 4. Its effects 5. The bad and good use of it 6. The excellency of spiritual Joy First There are two different sorts of Joy the one is Worldly and the other Spiritual the last is a rapture or ravishment of the Soul by an intimate familiarity that true
an account of his Journey whereby he did prevent the evil effects that such a loss might have caused by a sudden impression in his Princes heart therefore the mitigation of the violence of the passions of Joy and Sorrow is of great use whereas if they be not moderated they are dangerous and destructive It may then be collected by these discourses that worldly joy is but meer vanity and vexation of spirit for as Job saith The triumphing of the wicked is short Job 20.5 and the joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment The Spiritual Joy doth as much excel the worldly Joy as the Light doth Darkness it ravisheth the soul and fills it with unspeakable pleasures the nature of it is incomprehensible neither can the superlative excellency of it be expressed nor described by the Tongue nor Pen of men for our blessed Saviour himself saith St. Paul a Heb. 12 2. For the joy that was set before him endured the Cross despising the Shame and is set down at the right hand of God and for and by that joy all the Martyrs have despised the burning flames nay some have kissed the stakes where they were to be burned and their greatest torments seemed unto them when they were upon the torturing racks as if they had been upon a bed of roses The excellent effects of spiritual joy This joy is the true Or-potabily which can as Physitians feign cure all diseases for if a Christian hath but a grain of this joy the greatest torments and the greatest persecutions that ever were invented and exercised by the cruel and blood-thirsty Tyrants will not dant them but they will bear them with an incredible fortitude of spirit And St. Paul to manifest the excellency of spiritual joy saith in the fourteenth Chapter and the seventeenth Verse of his Epistle to the Romans That in b Rom. 14.17 righteousness peace and joy in the holy Ghost doth consist the Kingdom of God And in all his Salutations and Wishes to the Churches and Saints he conjoyns Joy with Peace c Rom. 15.13 Now the God of Hope fill you with all joy and Peace in believing And St. Iohn in his first Epistle Chap. 1. and verse 4. making a relation of the excellent Mysteries of eternal life manifested by the coming and incarnation of Christ concludes with these words And these things write we unto you that d 1 Joh. 1.4 your Ioy may be full intimating that mens joy cannot be ful nor perfect but in the meditation of the Mysteries of their salvation And St. Peter in his first Epistle Chap. 1. vers 8. speaking of the triall of the faith of the true children of God saith Whom having not seen ye love in whom though now you see him not e 1 Pet. 1.8 yet beleeving ye rejoyce with joy unspeakable and full of glory Sufficient proofs that mens chiefest joy doth consist in a true faith in Christ and in the delight they take in the reading and meditating on the Law of God And that is the reason that the Prophet David breaks out in this expression Be glad in the Lord f Psal 32.11 and rejoyce ye righteous and shout for joy all ye that are upright in heart for this spiritual joy is onely peculiar to the true children of God impenitent sinners being incapable of it and therefore the Prophet David after his grievous sins of Adultery and Murder feeling that this excellent joy was departed from him doth earnestly intreat the Lord in the 51. Psalm to make him hear joy and g Psal 51.8 gladness that the bones which thou hast broken saith he may rejoyce And after a heavy burden of sorrow that he had carried in a penitent way for these abovesaid transgressions which had in a maner broken his bones and dried up the marrow that was in them he breakes out again with this expression Restore h Psa 51.12 unto me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me with thy free Spirit To conclude Blessed are those who prefer the good and wellfare of i Psal 137.6 Ierusalem above their chiefest joy and unhappy are they that make worldly joy that is nothing but vanity and vexation of spirit their supream good c. CHAP. XI Of the vanity of the passion of Dolour or Sorrow SOme Moralists are of opinion that Adam in the state of Innocency was free from this passion of Dolour and that it was after his Fall inflicted upon him as a punishment for his disobedience against his Maker because this passion is so common to men that it followeth them at the heeles as the Spaniel doth his Master their lives being but a continual succession of anguish grief and sorrow from their very Cradle to their Grave Which unparallel'd misery could not consist say they with that blessed condition in which man was created at the first yet I rather conceive that all the passions that are at this present incident to men were in our first father in the time of his innocency and that God was pleased then to give him the power and ability to keep them obedient and subordinate to his Will and Reason which power was taken away from him for his apostacy and presumptuous rebellion against the special charge and * Gen. 3.6 7. command given unto him by his Creator and was not onely deprived of this power but also of that royal Prerogative that God had given him over the beasts of the Field the fowls of the Air and the fishes of the Sea so that ever since his Fall his seed hath had enemies within and without to punish and correct them for the transgression of their first Parents and their own actual sins against their gratious God who had created all things perfectly a Gen. 1.25 good and submitted the most fierce and cruel beasts of the Field the devouring fowls of the Air and the monsters of the Sea to be subject and subordinate to the will of man But he having first of all rebelled against his Maker his own passions and the bruit creatures by the just judgment of God have also b Gen. 3.18 shaken off the obedience and respect they did ow unto him yet the unreasonable creatures are his meanest enemies for by that small spark of knowledg and divine Power and Majesty that is left in him he doth daily finde out means to curb their fury and rage but wants power and ability to regulate the exorbitant distemper of his own passions of all which Dolour is one of the most irksome Now for the better description of it I will speak of these particulars in order 1. Of the definition of Dolour 2. Of the different sorts of it 3. Of the causes of it 4. Of its nature and effects 5. Of the remedies of it 6. Of the use of spiritual sorrow First The Moralists are of different opinions concerning the definition of this passion of Dolour under which is comprised Anguish
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
Eccles 8.5 Give not thy soul unto harlots that thou loose not thine Inheritance Prov. 8.6 Look not round about thee in the streets of the City neither wander in the solitary places thereof Eccles 8.7 Turn away thine eye from a beautifull woman and look not upon anothers beauty for many have been deceived by the beauty of a woman For herewith Love is kindled as a fire Sit not at all with another mans wife nor sit down with her in thy arms and spend not thy mony with her at the wine lest thine heart incline unto her and so through thy desire thou fall into destruction Eccles 8.10 A man that breaketh wedlock saying thus in his heart Who seeth me I am compassed about with darkness the walls cover me and no body seeth me What need I to fear The most High will not remember my sins Such a man only feareth the eyes of men and knoweth not that the eyes of the Lord are ten thousand times brighter then the sun beholding all the ways of the sons of men This man shall be punished in the streets of the City and where he suspecteth not he shall be taken Eccl. 23.18 19 21. By these and many other places contained in the Word of God it is apparent that the lascivious Passion of Volupty is more destructive to men then any other Passion whatsoever Therefore it behoveth all sorts of men whether they be yong or old to be cautious of their ways that they may not by their own corruptions set on fire by the temptations of Satan be ensnared in this horrid sin of uncleanness And specially that it turn not by a continued custom into an habit For if it doth it will cost them rivers of bitter tears before this spirit can be expelled Because the best Divines hold that an old Voluptuous sinner is harder to be converted then any because the sin of Volupty is so sutable with the natural inclinations of men Yet if yong men would always have this Saying of Solomon in their mind Eccle. 11.9 Rejoyce O Yong man in thy youth and let thy heart chear thee in the days of thy Youth and walk in the ways of thy heart and in the sight of thine eyes But know thou that for all these things God will bring thee to judgement And Old Voluptuous men this Saying of the Prophet Isaiah Isal 55.6.7 Seek ye the Lord while he may be found call ye upon him while he is near Let the wicked forsake his ways and the unrighteous his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon There is no doubt but God out of his infinite mercy would have compassion of them and hinder that Satan should not tempt so many Voluptuous Old men to Despair as he doth by suggesting falsly that their sins are unpardonable And so inticeth them to put violent hands upon themselves which is to commit a sin that is Cousin-german to the sin against the Holy-Ghost Therefore when Old men who have from their Youth been addicted to Actual Fornications and Adulteries and by an habit in these sins do impenitently continue in their decrepit Age by the instigations of Satan in the intellectual Fornications and Adulteries of the heart let them cast I say these false Suggestions of Satan like dung into his face For to despair of the Mercy of God is to yield him up their Spiritual weapons and to commit an unpardonable sin For were their sins greater then the sins of Manasseh King of Judah and equal with that of Judas who betrayd his Lord and Saviour yet if they despair not of Gods Mercy they will undoubtedly find Mercy God being pleased sometimes to magnify his unparalleld Mercy by calling some impious sinners into his Vineyard at the last hour of the day and to give them out of his free grace the same wages as he had agreed to give to those who had born the burden and heat of the day Math. 20.12 CHAP. XVIII Of the vanity of the passion of Avarice DIogenes the Cynick being demanded why Gold was of so pale a yellow Answered ingenuously that it was out of fear because all men did run after it to make it their captive or rather their god For it is daily seen that avaritious men are the slaves of their riches and that Gold is their only Deity But the Poet Simonides being moved by a friend of his to resolve him which of these two viz. of Wisdom or Gold was to be most desired and pursued Answered Wisdom saith he for she is the Mistress and Gold is her Hand-maide Notwithstanding said he I see daily the wisest men court wait and attend upon the Gold-mongers and rich men of these days so little is Vertue regarded and Vice so highly esteemed Whereas in the judgement of King Solomon riches are nothing but vanity and vexation of Spirit And to this purpose he gives this caveat to avaritious men Labor not to be rich Prov. 23.4 5. wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not for riches certainly make themselves wings they flie away as an Eagle towards heaven Prov. 8.11 But Wisdome saith he is better then Rubies and all things that may be desired are not to be compared to it But these sayings of Solomon seem to be paradoxes to avaritious men for the glistering lustre of their Gold hath dazled the eyes of their judgement to conceive erroneously that Gold is a soveraign remedy for all diseases For it can say they deliver them from all danger raise them to honours and give them the fruition of all the delights of this life so they become more eager after the purchase of these momentary riches then sincere and zealous Christians are fervent active and diligent after the acquisition of the spiritual Treasures Now because this vitious passion of Avarice is extraordinarily predominant in this Age and enticeth many to undertake strange projects and practice undirect means to hoard up Gold and Silver to the undoing of the Common-wealth and the destruction of their own souls Give me leave to enlarge my self upon these particulars to shew you the virulency of this sordid passion 1. What is properly called Avarice 2. How it is composed 3. Of what nature it is being thus mixt 4. What kinde of men are most addicted to it 5. The causes moving men to affect the same 6. The pernitious proprieties of it 7. The destructive effects of the same 8. The considerations inducing men to allay the fire of it First What men properly call Avarice The definition of Avarice is only an exorbitant and insatiable desire to hoard up Gold and Silver Secondly This desire is never free from fear and self-love so that Avarice is a composed passion of fear love and desire Thirdly Being thus mixt Of what passions Avarice is composed it is of a violent nature by the means of love that is