Christ is an incredible mystery to them that do not consider the Love of GOD towards Men in the Creation of the World But they that measure it by his Laws and works and see it in the value of their own Souls would think it very Strange if that Love which appeareth so infinite in all other things should be defective only in its Ways of Providence They easily believe it may express it self in the Incarnation Especially Since all Ages are Beautified with the Effects and Demonstrations of this verity that GOD so Loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have Everlasting Life For Love is apt to transform it self into all shapes that the necessity of its Object requires and as prone to suffer as rejoyce with it as apt to suffer for it as with it Many fathers have died for their Children many for their Country but the Love of GOD exceedeth them all To be beloved in our Guilt is exceeding Wonderful but this also is in the Nature of Love it may be provoked with the Guilt or moved with Compassion at the misery of a Sinner WHERE the Love is extreamly violent and the weak Estate of the Object fit for Compassion it is more inclined to Pity than Revenge Tho where the Object is strong and endued with all advantages it is more offended at the Outrage of its Rebellion WHETHER we consider the Nature of Man or his Estate before the Fall we have some reason to believe that he was more Beloved then the Holy Angels for there was more exquisite Care and Art manifested in the Creation of his Person and his Condition was fitted for a more curious Tenderness and Compassion if he offended IF you look into the Nature of Angels and Men you will find this mighty Difference between them Angels are more Simple Spirits Men are Images of GOD carefully put into a Beautiful Case Their Souls would seem equal to the Angels were they not to live in Humane Bodies and those Bodies are Superadded certainly for unspeakable and most Glorious Ends the visible World was made for the sake of these Bodies and without such persons as men are it would be utterly useless The Hypostatical Union of two Natures so unspeakable different as the Soul and Body are is of all things in the World most mysterious and Miraculous Man seems to be the Head of all Things visible and invisible and the Golden clasp whereby Things Material and Spiritual are United He alone is able to beget the Divine Image and to multiply himself into Millions His Body may be the Temple of GOD and when it pleased GOD to become a Creature he assumed the Nature of Man Angels are made Ministring Spirits for the sake of Man and by him alone GOD and his works are United IF you respect his Condition he was made a little lower than the Angels that he might be crowned with Glory and Honour Lower for a Time that he might be Higher for ever The Angels were placed in such an Estate that if they fell it would be with more shame yet if they stood it would be with less Glory For having the Advantages of Greater Light and strength to Sin against them was more Odious and to stand in them less Wonderful While man being more remote from GOD was more Obnoxious to Dangers and more Weak to resist them His Want of Clear Light if he fell would lessen his offence And the Difficulties wherewith he was surrounded if he stood would increase his Vertue which by consequence would make his Obedience more pleasing and much augment his Eternal Glory All which put together when Angels and Men both fell fitted Man rather to be chosen and redeemed he being the Greater Object of Compassion and Mercy THE Degrees and measures of that Mercy which was shewn to Man in his Redemption are very considerable When he was Weak and unable to help himself when he was Guilty when he was an Enemy when he was Leprous and deformed when he was Miserable and Dead before he desired or Thought of such a Thing God freely gave his Son to die for his Salvation and condescended to propose a reconciliation Which should teach us tho higher then the Cherubims and more pure then the Light tho our Enemies are never so base and injurious and ingrateful nay Obstinate and Rebellious to seek a reconciliation by the most Laborious and Expensive Endeavors to manifest all our Care and kindness toward them pursuing their Amendment and Recovery For the same Mind ought to be in us that was in Christ Jesus who being in the form of GOD thought it no Robbery to be Equal with GOD yet took upon him the Form of a Servant and being found in fashion as a man humbled himself to the Death of the Cross Wherefore GOD also hath highly exalted him and given him a Name above every Name that at the Name of Jesus every Knee might bow The very reason why we so infinitely adore him being the incomparable Height and Perfection of his Mercy expressed in his Humiliation and Abasement for us If we would enter into his Glory we must walk in the Way which he hath trod before us for that only will lead us into it THO GOD hath in his infinite Mercy redeemed us from the unavoidable Necessity of being Damned yet hath he with infinite Prudence ordered the Way and Manner of our Redemption in such sort that we are not immediately translated into Heaven but restored to a new Estate of Trial and endued with Power to do new Duties as pleasing to him as those which he required from us in Eden For he Loved a Righteous Kingdome from the Beginning wherein his Laws were to be obeyed Rewards and Punishments expected and administred in a Righteous manner THE Great and necessary Duties in this second Kingdome are Faith and Repentance introduced by his Wisdom and occasioned by Sin necessary for our Justification and Sanctification and Superadded to the former THIS Kingdome of Evangelical Righteousness being founded on the Blood of Christ is by Death and Sin and by the Supernatural Secrets of Love and Mercy made infinitely more Deep and mysterious than the former CHAP. XV. Of Faith The Faculty of Believing implanted in the Soul Of what Nature its Objects are The Necessity of Faith Its End Its Use and Excellency It is the Mother and Fountain of all the Vertues FAITH and Repentance are the Principal Vertues which we ought to exercise in the Kingdome of Evangelical Righteousness because by them alone a Sinner is restored to the Capacity and Power of living in the Similitude of GOD in the Practice of his Divine and Eternal Vertues For without Faith it is impossible to please GOD because we can never believe that he is the Rewarder of all those that diligently seek him without that Credit which is necessary to be given to the Discovery of his Love to them that are
they are freely given are not to be despised THAT which I desire to teach a man is How to make a Good use of all the Advantages of his Birth and Breeding How in the Increase of Riches and Honors to be Happy in their Enjoyment How to secure himself in the temptations of Affluence and to make a man glorious in himself and delightful to others in Abundance Or else if Affliction should arise and the State of Affairs change how to triumph over adverse Fortune and to be Happy notwithstanding his Calamities How to govern himself in all Estates so as to turn them to his own advantage FOR tho felicitie be not absolutely perfect in this World nor so compleat in Poverty as in a great and plentiful Estate you are not to believe that wealth is absolutely necessary because sometimes it is requisite to forfeit all for the sake of Felicity Nothing is absolutely necessary to Bliss but Grace and vertue tho to perfect Bliss Ease and Honour be absolutely necessary THERE are many degrees of Blessedness beneath the most Supream that are transcendently Sweet and delightful And it sometimes happens that what is most bitter to Sence is pleasant to Reason RATHER then make Shipwrack of a good Conscience we must do as Mariners in a storm cast our riches over board for our own Preservation It is better losing them then our selves VERTUE is Desirable and Glorious because it teacheth us through many Difficulties in this Tempestuous World to Sail Smoothly and attain the Haven CHAP. II. Of the Nature of Felicity its Excellence and Perfection THE Peripateticks so far forth as they contemplated the Nature and Estate of man in this World were Wise in defining the Goods of the Body Soul and Fortune to concur to Mans perfect Happiness For Difficulties and Conflicts are not Essential to the Nature of Bliss nor confistent with the fruition of its fulness and Perfection THERE is the Way and the journeyes end IN the Way to Felicity many things are to be endured that are not to be desired And therefore is it necessary to make a Distinction between the way to Felicity and the Rest which we attain in the end of our Journey THE Goods of the Soul are absolutely necessary in the Way to Happiness the Goods of the Body are very convenient and those of Fortune Commodious enough But the latter of these are not with too much eagerness to be pursued THE Goods of the soul are wisdom Knowledg Courage all the Virtues all the Passions Affections Powers and faculties And these you know are absolutely necessary THE Goods of the Body are Health Agility Beauty Vivacity Strength and Libertie and these shall in Heaven it self together with those of the Soul he enjoyed By which you may discern that the Goods of the Body are real Parts and Ingredients of Happiness THE Goods of Fortune are food and Rayment Houses and Lands Riches Honours Relations and Friends with all those convenient Circumstances without the Body that are subject to chance By which vertue is assisted and of which a noble use may be made in Works of Justice Hospitality Courtesie and Charity which may redound to our greater Felicity here and in heaven THE more Honor and pleasure we enjoy the Greater and more Perfect is our present Happiness Tho many times in the Way to Felicity we are forced to quit all these for the Preservation of our Innocence GALLANT Behavior in flighting all Transitory things for the Preservation of our Virtue is more conducive to our future Perfection then the greatest ease imaginable in our present condition IT is incumbent upon us as a special part of our Care to take heed that we be not ensnared by the easiness of Prosperity and that we do not set up our Rest in the Way to Happiness nor deceive our selves in thinking the Goods of Fortune Essential nor discourage our selves by thinking it impossiable to be Happy without them Our Thoughts and Affections must be always disentangled that we may run with Alacritie the Race set before us and close with the Sublimest Perfection of Bliss as our only portion and Desire FELICITY is rightly defined to be the Perfect fruition of a Perfect Soul acting in perfect Life by Perfect Virtue For the Attainment of which Perfection we must in the Way to Felicity endure all Afflictions that can befall us For tho they are not Parts of Felicity themselves yet we may acknowledge them great Advantages for the Exercise of Virtue and reckon our Calamities among our Joys when we bear and overcome them in a virtuous Manner because they add to our Honor and contribute much to our Perfection both here and hereafter FOR this purpose we are to remember that our present Estate is not that of Reward but Labour It is an Estate of Trial not of Fruition A Condition wherein we are to Toyl and Sweat and travail hard for the promised Wages an Appointed Seed Time for a future Harvest a real Warfare in order to a Glorious Victory In which we must expect some Blows and delight in the Hazzards and Encounters we meet with because they will be crowned with a Glorious and joyful Triumph and attended with ornaments and trophies fa r surpassing the bare Tranquillity of idle peace WHEN we can cheerfully look on an Army of Misfortunes without Amazement we may then freely and Delightfully contemplate the Nature of the Highest Felicity ARISTOTLE never heard of our Ascension into Heaven nor of sitting down in the Throne of GOD yet by a lucky Hit if I may so say fell in point blanck upon the Nature of Blessedness For a perfect fruition by perfect virtue is all that can be thought of It implies our Objective and our formal Happiness OBJECTIVE Happiness is all the Goodness that is fit to be enjoyed either in GOD or in his Creatures while Formal Happiness is an active Enjoyment of all Objects by Contemplation and Love attended with full Complacency in all their Perfections PERFECT Fruition implies the Perfection of all its Objects Among which GOD himself is one Angels and Saints are next the World also with all the variety of Creatures in it the Laws of GOD and his wayes in all Ages his Eternal Counsels and Divine Attributes are other Objects of our Content and Pleasure Unless all these be perfect in their Nature Variety Number Extent Relation Use and Value our fruition cannot be simply perfect because a Greater and more perfect fruition might upon the production of better Objects be contrived and no fruition can be truly perfect that is not conversant about the highest things The more Beautiful the Object is the more pleasant is the enjoyment But where Delight may be increased the Fruition is imperfect A Perfect Soul is a Transcendent Mystery As GOD could not be Perfect were it possible there could be any Better Essence then he so neither would the Soul be perfect could any more Perfect Soul be created IT is a Soul
in which no Defect or Blemish can be discerned perfect in the variety and Number of its Powers in the fitness and Measure of every power in the use and value of every Endowment A perfect Soul is that whereunto nothing can be added to please our Deâ—â—re As all its Objects are perfect so 〈◊〉 it self It is able to see all that is to be seen to love all that is Lovely to hate all that is Hateful to desire all that is Desirable to honour all that is Honorable to esteem all that can be valued to delight in all that is Delightful and to enjoy all that is Good and fit to be enjoyed If its Power did fall short of any one Object or of any one Perfection in any Object or of any Degree in any Perfection it would be imperfect it would not be the Master piece of Eternal Power PERFECT life is the full exertion of perfect power It implies two things Perfection of Vigour and perfection of intelligence an activity of life reaching through all Immensity to all Objects whatsoever and a freedome from all Dulness in apprehending An exquisite Tenderness of perception in feeling the least Object and a Sphere of activity that runs parallel with the Omnipresence of the Godhead For if any Soul lives so imperfectly as to see and know but some Objects or to love them remisly and less then they deserve its Life is imperfect because either it is remisse or if never so fervent confined PERFECT Fruition as it implieâ— the Perfection of all objects more nearly imports the intrinsick Perfection oâ— it s own Operations For if its Object be never so many and perfect in themselves a Blemish lies upon the Enjoyment if it does not reach unto all their Excellence If the Enjoyment of one Object be lost or one Degree of the enjoyment abated it is imperfect PERFECT Vertue may best be understood by a consideration of its Particulars Perfect Knowledg is a thorow compleat understanding of all that may be Known Perfect Righteousness is a full and adequate Esteem of all the value that is in Things It is a Kind of Spiritual Justice whereby we do Right to our selves and to all other Beings If we render to any Object less than it deserves we are not Just thereunto Perfect Wisdome is that whereby we chuse a most perfect end actualy pursue it by most perfect Means acquire and enjoy it in most perfect manner If we pitch upon an inferiour end our Wisdom is imperfect and so it is if we pursue it by feeble and inferior Means or neglect any one of those Advantages whereby we may attain it And the same may be said of all the Vertues NOW if all Objects be infinitely Glorious and all Worlds fit to be enjoyed if GOD has filled Heaven and earth and all the Spaces above the Heavens with innumerable pleasures if his infinite Wisdome Goodness and Power be fully Glorified in every Being and the Soul be created to enjoy all these in most perfect Manner we may well conclude with the Holy Apostle that we are the children of GOD and if Children then Heirs Heirs of GOD and joynt heirs with Christ if so be that we suffer with him that we may also be glorified together That our light Affliction that is but for a Moment worketh out for us a far more exceeding and eternal Weight of Glory That beholding as in a Glass the Glory of the Lord we shall at last be transformed into the same Image from Glory to Glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord. For all his Works of which the Psalmist saith They are worthy to be had in remembrance and are sought out of all them that have pleasure therein are like a Mirror wherein his Glory appeareth as the face of the Sun doth in a clear fountain We may conclude further that Vertue by force of which we attain so great a Kingdome is infinitely better then Rubies all the Things thou canst desire are not to be compared to her So that with unspeakable comfort we may take Courage to go on not only in the study but the Practice of all kind of Vertues concerning which we are to treat in the ensuing Pages For as the Apostle Peter telleth us He hath given to us all things that pertain to Life and Godliness through the Knowledge of him that hath called us to Glory and virtue whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious Promises that by these you might be Partakers of the Divine Nature having escaped the Corruption that is in the World through List. And besides this saith he giving all diligence adde to your Faith vertue and to vertue knowledge and to knowledge temperance and to temperance patience and to patience godliness and to godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness Charity For so an Entrance shall be Ministred to you abundantly into 〈◊〉 everlasting Kingdome of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Which Kingdom being so Divine and Glorious as it is we have need to bow our Knees to the GOD and father of our Lord Jesus Christ of whom the whole Family in Heaven and Earth is named that he would grant us according to the Riches of his Glory to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inward Man that Christ may dwell in our Hearts by Faith that we being rooted and grounded in Love may be able to comprehend with all Saints what is the Breadth and Length and Depth and Height and to know the love of Christ which passeth Knowledg that we may be filled with all the fulness of GOD. TO be Partaker of the Divine nature to be filled with all the Fulness of GOD to enter into his Kingdom and Glory to be transformed into his Image and made an Heir of GOD and a joynt Heir with Christ to live in Union and Communion with GOD and to be made a Temple of the Holy Ghost these are Divine and transcendent things that accompany our Souls in the Perfection of their Bliss and Happiness the Hope and Belief of all which is justified and made apparent by the explanation of the very nature of the Soul its Inclinations and Capacities the reality and greatness of those Vertues of which we are capable and all those objects which the Univers affordeth to our Contemplation CHAP. III. Of Vertue in General The Distribution of it into its several Kinds its Definition BEfore we come to treat of particular Vertues it is very fit that we speak something of VERTUE in General VERTUE is a comprehensive Word by explaining which we shall make the way more easy to the right Understanding of all those particular Vertues into which it is divided Forasmuch as the Nature of Vertue enters into knowledge Faith Hope Charity Prudence Courage Meekness Humility Temperance Justice Liberality c. Every one of these hath its essence opened in part by the explication of that which entreth its Nature which is VERTUE in General THE Predicament of
when we see all these Virtues in their several Places and Offices their Objects and their Uses the Ends for which and the occasions on which they were introduced all are Delightful to the Reason of mans Soul and highly Eligible while GOD is adored and admired for the depth of his Wisdom and Goodness and beloved for the Equity and Excellency of his Proceedings For all these Occasional Vertues are but Temporary when our Life and this present World are past and gone as a Dream Love and Joy and Gratitude will be all that will continue for ever in which Estate Wisdom and Knowledge Goodness and Righteousness and True Holiness shall abide as the Life and Glory into which the Souls of all that are Blessed will be transformed Repentance shall be gone and Patience cease Faith and Hope be swallowed up in fruition Right Reason be extended to all Objects in all Worlds and Eternity in all its Beauties and Treasures seen desired esteemed enjoyed Let it be your Care to dive to the Bottom of true Religion and not suffer your Eyes to be Dazled with its Superficial Appearance Rest not in the Helps and Remedies that it bringeth but search for the Hidden Manna the substantial Food underneath the Satisfaction of all Wishes and Desires the true and Coelestial Pleasures the Causes of Love and Praise and Thanksgiving founded in the Manifestations of Gods Eternal favour especially in the Ends for the sake of which all Helps and Remedies are prepared For it is exceeding true that his Laws are Sweeter then the Hony and the Hony Comb and far more precious then thousands of Gold and Silver CHAP. V. Of the Necessity Excellency and Use of Knowledge its Depths and Extents its Objects and its End KNOWLEDGE and Love are so necessary to Felicity that there can be no Enjoyment or Delight without them Heaven and Earth would be Dark and obscure Angels and Men vain and unprofitable all the Creatures base and unserviceable Felicity impossible were there no Knowledge Nay GOD himself without Knowledge and Love could not well exist for his very Essence is seated in infinite Knowledge GOD is Light and in him is no Darkness at all He is Love by nature and there is no hatred in his Essence His very Godhead is all Perfection by the infinite Knowledge and Love in his Nature THE Original of our Knowledge is his Godhead His Essence and his will are the Fountain of it and the stream so excellent that in all Estates it is for ever to be continued as the Light and Glory of the whole Creation THE understanding Power which is seated in Soul is the Matter of that Act wherein the Essence of Knowledge consisteth Its form is the Act it self whereby that Power of knowing apprehendeth its Object IT S nature is invisible like that of all other Spirits so simple and uncompounded that its form and matter are the same For all Powers when transformed into Act are Acts themselves And the faculty of understanding in a Compleat and Perfect Act of Knowledge attains its Perfection and is Power exerted or an Act in its Exercise For every Act is Power exerted THE Power of Knowing is vain if not reduced into Act and the Soul a melancholly and Dreadful Cave or Dungeon of Darkness if void of Knowledge Had GOD himself a Power of Knowing Distinct from its Operation if he never exercised that Power it would be useless to him His Glory and Blessedness are seated in the Light of that Knowledge whichto us upon Earth appeaeth Inaccessible IF we would be perfect as our Father which is in Heaven is perfect our Power of knowing must be transformed into Act and all Objects appear in the interior Light of our own understanding For tho all Eternity were full of Treasures and the Whole World and all the Creatures in it transformed into Joys and our Interest to all never so perfect yet if we are Ignorant of them we shall continue as poor and Empty as if there were nothing but Vacuity and Space For not to be and not to appear are the same thing to the understanding WERE a Man a Seraphim by his Essence or something by nature more Glorious and Divine then the Highest Order of the most Blessed Angels nay the greatest Creature that Almighty power was able to produce his Soul and Body would signifie nothing if he were unknown to himself and were not aware of his Excellence IF you would have a solid Prospect of any Vertue you must understand that Vertues are Powers transformed into right wise and regular Acts avoiding all extremes of remissness on the one hand and excess on the other The Extreams of Knowledge are Ignorance and Error FOR ought you know Heaven and Earth are as full of Treasures as Almighty Power was able to create them and you by Nature the best and highest of all possible Creatures made like GOD for the highest and best of all possible Ends and called to live in Communion with him in all his fruitions but being vilely corruptted you have lost the sence of all these Realities and are ignorant of the Excellences of your own Estate and Nature I am sure that GOD is infinite in Wisedom Goodness and Power and nothing is wanting on his Part to perfect your Desires But yet you may be blind and idle and ignorant and dead in a manner while you are wanting to your self and have need of nothing but clear and perfect apprehensions but because they are Sottish and Erroneous at present they may make you miserable and Poor and Blind and Naked IF Sin had been like Circe's Cup and changed the shape of Mans Body to that of a Swine or Dragon the Depravation of his Nature had been plain and visible yet without knowing what kind of Form he had before it would not appear because we should be unsensible of his first Form and unable to compare the one with the other But Sin is a Moral Obliquity and the change it produceth in the Soul is Spiritual It makes a man to differ far more from himself than any alteration of Body can do but withal so blinds his Understanding that he does not remember what he was in his first Parent Tho the first Man who had experience of both Estates was able to compare them because in his Corruption he might possibly retain a Sence of that Nature and Life which he enjoyed in his integrity Yet all his Posterity that are born Sinners never were sensible of the Light and Glory of an Innocent Estate and for that cause may be wholy ignorant both of GOD and themselves utterly unable to conceive the Glory of the World or of that Relation wherein they should by Nature have stood towards all the Creatures IT is impossible to conceive how great a change a slight Action may produce It is but pressing the Wick a little with ones Finger and a Lamp is extinguished and Darkness immediately made to overspread the Room The Glory and
kinds of love Of the Power Inclination and act of Love Its extent and capacity BECAUSE Love is the most Desirable Employment of the Soul the Power of Loving is to be accounted the most High and Noble of the Faculties It is not seated by it self in the mind but attended with a mighty Proneness and Inclination THERE is no Creature so unsociable and furious but it is capable of loving something or other Wolves and Tygres live at peace among themselves Lions have an Inclination to their Grim Mistresses and Deformed Bears a natural Affection to their Whelps expressed in their Rage when they are bereaved of them Things must either be absolutely Dead or live in misery that are void of love Whatsoever is endued with Life and sence delights in easie and grateful Operations Love is a necessary Affection of their Souls because it is impossible to apprehend any thing Delightful but it must be pleasing and what is Pleasing must be Lovely For to be Pleased and to love are the same thing If there be any difference the pleasure we take in any Object is the root of that Desire which we call Love and the affection whereby we pursue the pleasure that is apprehended in it is part of the Love that we bear unto it the end of which is the Completion of that pleasure which it first perceives All is Love variously modified according to the Circumstances wherein the Object is represented AS Love is the only Easie and Delightful Operation so is Hatred of all other the most troublesom and tormenting Displeasure and Enmity are the Ingredients of its nature and the fruits of it allyed to their Root as Bitter as Gall and Wormwood Murder and Vexation and Grief are the off-spring of the one with Separation Contention and Horror Peace and Embraces are the Fruit of the other with Praises and Complacencies Honors Services Benefits and Pleasures These are the little Cupids that flie about this coelestial Venus when it is what it ought to be the Mother of Felicity and the Daughter of GOD. ALL Creatures that are sensible of Pain or pleasure must of necessity be addicted to Love and Hatred to the Love of what is pleasing to the Hatred of what is Painful And if any Question be made which of these Twins is the First born the answer is that they may seem Twins in respect of Time but in nature Love is the first born and the Mother of Hatred For where nothing to be hated does at all appear pleasant Things are Beloved for their own sake whereas if there were no pleasant thing to be beloved nothing could be hated because nothing could be Hurtful which appeareth by this because where there is no Love there is no Interest and where there is no concernment there can be no Affection no Fear or Hope or Joy or sorrow AS Fire begets Water by melting Ice so does Love beget contrary passions in the soul of a living creature Anger Malice Envy Grief and Jealousie not by its own nature but by the accidental Interposure of some Obstacle that hinders or endangers the fruition of its Object Were there no Love of Ease and Pleasure there could be no Anger or Quarrel between Competitors no Emulation or Desire no Aversion or Endeavour All Enmity and Hostility Springs from a Contention who shall enjoy what is Desirable or from some other Principle of Envy or Revenge in relation to what is Good as is Obvious to Daily Experience LIFE and Love are so individualy united that to live without Loving something is impossible Even in Hell where their whole Life seemeth to be spent in Detestation and Hatred and actual Love is like fire under those Embers covered and continued Could they put off self Love all Love of Felicity and Interest their Torments would be gone Punishments and Rewards are things impossible where there is not selfLove For without Love to something Pains and Joys are equally Grateful AS Love is the Root of Endeavor so is it the Spring of all the Passions They all depend upon Love alone We are Angry at that which stands in our Way between our Love and its object We Desire an absent Good because we Love it We Hope for it when we conceive its Attainment feasible We rejoyce in it when we have it We fear to lose it we grieve when it is gone we despair if we cannot get or recover it We hate all that is opposite to it And for this Cause is our Love when well regulated the greatest Vertue because upon the right Choise of its Object and true Goverment of it self all the Powers and Affections of the Soul are well employed and when we Love all that we ought as we ought to do we fulfil all Laws Hope and Fear and Hate and Grieve and Desire and Rejoyce and do every thing in a regular Manner THERE is a Sensual and Brutish Love there is a Humane and Divine Brutish Love is of two sorts the one Springs from a Harmony of Complexions and a Sympathy of Bodies the other from the Consideration of Pleasure abstracted The First of these is occasioned by a secret and unexpressible Agreement of Tempers by which upon the presence of each other the Senses are delighted we know not why it being a mystery in nature and perhaps founded in a grateful Transpiration of Spirits from one to the other THE Consideration of Beauty seemeth peculiar to the Love of Men because no Beast is observed to make any Distinction between Lineaments and Features nor upon any account of shape and Colours to be delighted with each other Wherein Man exceeds the Capacity of Beasts in being able to note and admire the Workmanship of GOD in the decent Order of Symmetry and Proportion HUMANE Affection and Divine Love are near allyed yet of several Kinds If you take the Love of Reason in its utmost Height it is always Divine For it is comformable to the Love of GOD in its measures and Degrees in its Effects and Causes For the Love of GOD is it self the Love of perfect Reason And as the Reason of his Love is Infinite and Eternal so is its Operation But in a lower Acceptation Humane Love differs from Divine it being founded upon Temporal Causes Vivacity Wit Learning Beauty Behaviour Moral Honesty Fidelity Kindness Goodness Power Majesty Wealth Nobility Worth Vertue and the like But all these may be exalted when they are Sanctified and made Divine by the superadded concurrence of Coelestial Causes For when a Man loves another because he is made in the Image of GOD and by the Beauty of his Soul is something more than Humane this Love is made Sacred and receives a Grace from the Influences of Religion DIVINE Love strictly so called is founded on Eternal Causes agreeable to the Life of Heaven Delightful to GOD and Pleasing to the Angels IF Divine Love be taken in the highest Sense there is none but in GOD. For it is his Peculiar Prerogative
fear he did not understand it As Seneca luckily hit upon that saying Deus me solum dedit toti mundo totum Mundum mibi soli GOD gave me alone to all the World and all the World to me alone yet could not understand it For had he Known what it was he said he would have made a better use of it and been more copious and explicite in the Illustration An actual Respect had to infinite Obligations and Rewards a Desire in every action to please an infinite and eternal Lover to Glorifie a Divine and Endless Benefactor to bring forth the fruits of infinite Benefits and to be truely Grateful for all the Advantages of a mans Creation that is made to have Dominion over all the World these are higher and better Qualifications of those Vertuous Actions which Christians perform than Heathens understood And yet if nature were divested of its Corruption the Natural Man that is no Christian might by the Light of Nature be fitted to understand them And the Truth is I wonder much the World being so Beautiful and Glorious in every Eye so really deep and valuable in Worth so peculiarly applied to the use and service of every person that the Heathens did miss the fruition of it and fail to measure themselves and their Felicity by the Greatness of its Beauty and the Joy which all the Creatures ought to produce in the mind of Man by their real Services For the Earth is really better than if all its Globe were of beaten Gold the Seas are better than if all their Abysses were full of Diamonds the Air is better than if all the space between us and the Skys were full of Scepters and the Sun alone a greater Treasure then all the wealthy Mines in the Indies every man is surrounded with all the Light of their Advantages and so much served by them as if no man but himself were alive in the World So that it is a natural and easie Investigation even for Heathens themselves to discern the mystery of Bliss and to discover the misery of Humane Nature to be founded in some Disease of the Will or Understanding And to return from Inadvertency and Sloth to Truth and Righ Reason which was the ready Way to true Felicity For they Knew not the Arcanum or Hidden mystery of Divine Laws nor the Excellency and Perfection of immortal Souls which make every one a Soveraign and Transcendent Creature yet they might easily observe the miserable Effects of Eternal Solitude and in external Services how useful and comfortable men were ordained by Nature to be to one another EVERY man Loves to have many Eys fixt on his Beauty and to have many Delightful Objects and Transactions for his own Be the Theatre never so Magnificent the Actions and the Actors are more Delightful to the Spectators than the Gildings and Dead Engravings Were all other men removed out of the World to make room for one the empty Theatre would remain but the Spectacle be lost all the Cities and Kingdoms and Ages would be removed with all that was lively and rare and Miraculous in all their Occurrences Palaces and Temples had been prevented Houses and Villages Fields and Vineyards The World had been a Wilderness overgrown with Thorns and Wild Beasts and Serpents Which now by the Labor of many hands is reduced to the Beauty and Order of Eden It is by Trades and Occupations that a man gets him Corn and Wine and Oyl c. all which he would have been without had he never seen any Company but himself condemned to Idleness and melancholly Vertues and Praises had been things unknown Admiration and Honor Love and Knowledge the mysteries of Religion and Piety all the speculations of Wisdom for want of Education had been lost at least the Sence and Exercise of these Bright and Glorious Things for wont of Conversation Corrupted Nature being prone to afford no other fruits but Barbarism and Ignorance in that Solitary Condition For the Powers of the Soul are improved by Tradition and it is by the Information of others that our minds are awakened to perceive the Dignity of our own Nature the Value of all the Creatures and our Interest unto them But Religion teaches us far more the Beginning and the End of the World how highly we are honored and beloved of GOD the Manner wherein we are to converse with him the transcendent Excellency of Souls and the Divine Perfections of the Deity What his Omnipresence and Eternity is how we are to be enlarged in our Apprehensions and Desires and prepared for infinite and Eternal fruitions in what Quality and Capacity we are to live in the world and Exercise Vertue how we are to spend our Time and employ our Powers on all Objects every one as Lord of the Creation and the friend of GOD How all Angels and Men are commanded to Love us as themselves and by that Love to serve and delight us more than by all other Actions and Offices whatsoever That every Soul is a more excellent Being than the visible World more nearly allyed to God and more precious in it self than any Treasure whatsoever That it is endued with Powers Inclinations and Principles so fitly subservient and conducive to Blessedness that any one of these is more Delightful then all inanimate Things in the Contemplation and Enjoyment of which we may justly be lost in Wonder and Extasie All this by the Light of Nature is asserted but covered with so Gross a vail that we discern it not till it is newly revealed by the Ministery of Men. And upon all these Accounts are Men themselves which are generally mistaken to be Impediments Means Assistances of our Happy living BUT however familiar and near and easie these Great and evident Truths appear it so happened that the Heathen Philosophers were Blind unto them and in the midst of their Searches after Felicity failed of the Discovery they became vain in their Imaginations placing felicity in a meer Apathy or conceited 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a self-sufficiency or in a brave Contempt of all misfortunes in a forced Contentment Dark and empty or in Sensual Pleasures or in the Goods of fortune either alone or conjoyned with those of the Soul and Body which they lamely enumerated and knew not how to imploy as if the Discovery of the highest and best Truths in nature had been reserved for him that redeemed Nature and the Plainest Truths had been appointed to honor and attend that Religion which brought supernatural My steries to Light by the Preaching of the Gospel BY this last the Qualifications of an humble and pious Soul a Penitent and Grateful Person sensible at once of his infinite Guilt and Grandure were introduced Another foundation laid upon the Meritorious Death and Passion of GOD the Son of GOD a Second Love continued in the Deity to the miserable after an infinite forfeiture all the Oracles and Visions and Miracles by which the Nature of Man
your Power and to neglect his Treasures but it is infinite VVisdome by the best of all possible Means to embrace and enjoy them Because an infinite End is thereby attained even GOD himself who is thereby made the portion of the Soul and its Reward forever THE best of all possible Means whereby we can acquire his Eternal Treasures is to imitate GOD in our Thoughts and Actions to exert our Powers after his Similitude and to attain his Image which is after GOD in Knowledg Righteousness and true Holiness For by Knowing all Things as GOD Knoweth them we transform our Souls into an Act of Knowledge most Bright and Glorious By Loving all Things as GOD Loveth them we transform our VVills into an Act of Love which is most Sweet and Blessed VVe enrich and Beautifie our selves with the Image of his Goodness while we communicate our Souls in our Powers to all Objects in his whole Eternity VVe magnifie our selves by magnifying Him in all his Works We do right to our selves by doing right to GOD and all other Things VVhich for as much as we must here on Earth learn by Degrees and can never perfectly accomplish the VVork till it is given us in Heaven it is VVisdome to walk in the Paths of Righteousness as far as we are able and to do those Things here tho small and defective which he will recompence with a Reward so perfect hereafter IF ever we be so happy as to come to Heaven his VVisdome shall be our VVisdom his Greatness our Greatness his Blessedness our Blessedness his Glory our Glory All his Joys and Treasures shall be ours his Life and Love ours and Himself ours for evermore HIS VVisdome is made ours because it is the Light in which we shall see Light and learn thereby to inherit all Things the Exemplar and Original of our VVisdome the Fountain and Patern of all our Joys the Author and Inventor of all our Delights the End and Sum of all our Desires the Means of all our Felicity our very Blessedness and Glory CHAP. X. Of Righteousness How Wisdome Justice and Right Reason are shut up in its Nature What GOD doth and what we acquire by the Exercise of this Vertue RIGHTEOUSNESS and VVisdome are neer allyed For to be Just towards all Objects is to render them their spiritual Due their Due Esteem It is VVisdome because thereby we attain our End and enjoy their Excellency It is Right Reason because to value all Things just as they are tendering to them neither more nor less then they deserve is to do Right to our selves and them it is a Vertue because by force thereof we attain our Happiness For the better understanding of this Vertue we must Know that there is a Righteousness of Apprehension a Rightteousness of Esteem a Righteousness of Choise and a Righteousness of Action Righteousness of Thought is that Habit by Vertue of which we think aright forming and framing within our selves aright Apprehensions of all Objects whatsoever This tho it be the First and smallest Part of Righteousness is of Great importance because no man can use that aright the Nature of which he does not apprehend He that mistakes his Hand for his Meat will rise hungry from Table He that mistakes a Fiddle for an Axe will neither cut Wood well nor make good Musick The Misapprehension of Great and Transcendent Objects whether visible or Spiritual is not perhaps so Gross but more pernicious and Destructive He that apprehends GOD to be a Tyrant can neither honour GOD nor Love him nor enjoy him He that takes Vertues to be vices and apprehends all the Actions of Religion unpleasant will loath and avoid them He that conceits Nothing in the World to be his own but his low Cottage and course diet will think it needless to praise his Maker and will deny himself to be happy in those narrow and Mean enjoyments He that thinks all the wealth is shut up in a Trunk of Gold will little regard the Magnificence of the Heavens the Light of the Sun or the Beauty of the Universe RIGHTEOUSNESS in esteem is that Habit by Vertue of which we value all things according as their Worth and Merit requires It presupposes a right Apprehension of their Goodness a clear Knowledge of all their excellencies It is a Virtue by which we give to every thing that place in our Soul which they hold in Nature It is wonderful both for its extent and Value For there is Room enough for all Objects in the esteem of the Soul and it is by esteem that they are honored perfected and enjoyed A wise man will actually Extend his Thoughts to all Objects in Heaven and Earth for fear of losing the Pleasure they afford him which must necessarily spring from his esteem of their excellency HONOUR and Esteem are neer a kin How the Creatures are honoured by esteem needeth not to be unfolded but how they are perfected by it is a little Misterious A thing is then perfected when it attains its End Now the End for which all things were made is that they may be seen and enjoyed They are seen that they may be esteemed and by an intelligent and right esteem are all enjoyed In our esteem therefore they find and attain their end and by attaining that are consequently perfected The Application of Actives to Passives is a mystery in Nature of very great and General Importance In all Pleasures Cures and Productions All satisfactions Joys and Praises are the happy off-spring of Powers and Objects well united Both the one and the other would lie void and barren if they never met together and when they meet their Union must be regular wise and holy GOD is an Object of Mans Esteem Which unless it were able to render him his Due and Quadrat with his Excellencies a man could never be Righteous towards GOD. For that Esteem is void of Righteousness that either exceeds or falles short of its Object If it becometh us to fulfil all Righteousness it becometh GOD to endue us with the Power of Esteeming all that is Good and Excellent according to the Worth and Value thereof For which cause he enables us to Esteem all that we can see in Heaven and Earth and in the Heaven of Heavens For this Esteem is the Foundation of that choise which is the Original Spring of all excellent Actions Even GOD himself meeteth his Honour in the esteem of our Souls He is injured by the Sacrilegious Impiety that robs him of his Esteem being infinitely Quick and Tender in apprehending he is more jealous of his Honour and more grieved when he loseth it then any other His Wisdom and his Love are infinitly offended when they are slighted and profaned but pleased extreamly when they are sanctified and honored and that they are by a just Esteem And for this cause he hath made us able to attend him in all his Works and in all his ways and to have Communion with him in
and Displeasure Because he is infinitely Offended and displeased at Evil Deeds he guards and fortifies his Law deterres men from displeasing him by the fear of infinite Punishments Encourages men to please him by proposing infinite Rewards and the Truth is the infinite Approbation and Esteem which he hath for Wise and Holy Deeds produceth a Delight and Complacency in them which is the principal Part of the Reward Nothing is more honourable then to be Praised and honoured by the King of Kings The infinite Hatred of Evil Deeds is the very Torment it self that afflicts the Wicked T is but to see how much we are hated of GOD and how base the Action is no other fire is needful to Hell The Devils chiefest Hell is in the Conscience They are obdurate and feared that cannot discern and feel The Wound which they inflict on themselves who grieve and offend their Creator It is easie to see the Necessity of that Justice which springs from Holiness and that GOD could not be infinitely Holy were he not infinitely Just in like manner THAT his Punitive Justice springs from his Goodness is next to be observed He punishes them that are hurtfull to others He is most severe in pleading the Cause of the Fatherless and the Widow Himself is persecuted when his Saints are molested and he faults for which the untoward servant was punished are particularly those of beating his fellow Seruants A good man by how much the more tender and compassionate he is by so much the more is he provoked at any gross Affront or abuse of the Innocent Every soul is the Bride of GOD and his own infinite Goodness which deserves infinite Love is infinitely Beloved by him He infinitely tenders it and avoids its least Displeasure but its Displeasure is infinite at every Sin and consequently his Anger when such a Sovereign Beauty as his infinite Goodness is offended by it THE foundation of his Righteous Kingdome and of the Room prepared for his Eternal Justice to act in is infinitely deeper and must in other Discourses more full and copious on that Theme be shewn And to those we refer you All we shall observe here is that this Punitive Justice being GODS infinite Zeal whereby he vindicates his abused Goodness His Goodness must of necessity proceed it and be abused before he can be Angry and before his Anger can be accounted Justice His Dominion is infinite but cannot be Arbitrary in a loose Construction because it is infinitely Divine and Glorious CHAP. XIV Of Mercy The indelible Stain and Guilt of Sin Of the Kingdom which GOD recovered by Mercy The transcendent Nature of that Duty with its Effects and Benefits SUCH is the infinite Justice of God and the Severity of his Displeasure at Sin his Holiness so Pure and his Nature so irreconcilable his Hatred so real and infinite against it that when a Sin is committed his Soul is alienated from the Author of the Crime and his infinite Displeasure will ever see the Obliquity and ever loath the Deformity therein THE Person of a man is concerned in and always represented in the Glass of his Action Union between him and his Deeds is Marvellous T is so close that his Soul it self is hated or Beloved in his Actions As long as it appeareth in that deed which is Odious and Deformed he can never be Beloved HOW slight soever our Thoughts of Sin are the least Sin is of infinite Demerit because it breaketh the Union between God and the Soul bereaveth him of his Desire blasteth his Image corrupteth the Nature of the Soul is committed against infinite Goodness and Majesty being as the Scripture speaketh Exceeding sinful because it is committed against infinite Obligations and Rewards displeasing to all the Glorious Angels abominable to all the Wise and Holy utterly against all the Rules of Reason and infinitely Opposite to the Holiness God who is of purer Eys then to behold the least Iniquity So that unless there be some way found out to deliver the Soul from the Guilt of Sin to blot out the Act and to purifie it from the Stain there can be no Reconciliation between GOD and a Sinner That an offence so infinite should be Eternally punished is the most reasonable thing in the World NOTHING but infinite power and Wisdome is able to wash away Leprosie of guilt and to restore the Soul to its former Beauty and Perfection Without which all Pardon is vain and the Soul dishonourable and sick unto Death as long as the shame and Confusion of its Guilt does lie upon it Which cannot be removed by feeble Tears nor by Acts of Indignation against our selves nor by any Penitence or Sorrow of ours For if these could prevail the Divels might repent and be cleared of their Trespasses long agoe THAT no Law of Works can justifie Sinners is evident enough from that of the Apostle For if there had been a Law given which could have given Life verily Righteousness should have been by the Law GOD was not so prodigal as without an infinite Cause to expend the Blood of his Son And the principal Cause for which he came was that he might be made a Curse and Sin for us that we might be delivered from the Curse of the Law and be made the Righteousness of GOD in him THE reason why the Devils cannot he saved is because the Son of GOD took not upon him the Nature of Angels but the seed of Abraham And there is no other name given under Heaven among men whereby we may be saved but only the name of Jesus who offered up himself a sacrifice for us that he might purifie to himself a peculiar people Zealous of Good Work He pacified the Wrath of God by his Death and satisfied his Justice in our nature and washed us in his Blood and made us Kings and Priests unto GOD. To him be Glory and Dominion forever Amen IT was the Design of Christ and it became the Mercy of GOD in our redemption to take away all the filth and Deformity of Guilt in which the Perfection of his Love and Power appeareth Even as Christ also Loved his Church and gave himself for it that he might Sanctifie and cleanse it with the washing of Water by the Word That he might present it to himself a Glorious Church not having Spot or Wrinkle or any such thing but that it might be holy and without Blemish For the Church of GOD being his Bride and we Members of his Body and of his Flesh and of his Bones it was meet that we should be restored to the Perfection of Beauty and if not recover the same enjoy a Better Righteousness than we had before THE Light of Nature could discover nothing of all this and therefore it was taught by Revelations and Miracles and Oracles from Heaven AS all things before his fall were subservient to mans Glory and blessedness so all things after his fall became opposite to him
one the other is Dead The Works of Love are the End of all Miracles and more Blessed then they Nay Love is the End of Faith as well as it is of the Law for the Apostle saith The End of the Commandment it Charity out of a pure Heart and of a good conscience and of Faith unfeigned It is the End of the very Creation of the World of all Gods Labors and Endeavours of all his Ways in all Ages all the faculties and powers of the Soul the very End of the Redemption of Mankind the End of the Jewish Oeconomy under the Law the End of all the Dispensations of Grace and Mercy under the Gospel the End of our Saviours coming down into the World the End of all his Miracles Tears and Blood the End of the Holy Ghosts appearing upon Earth the End of all the Means of Grace and in some sort the very last End of all Rewards and Punishments whatsoever The everlasting Continuance of this Love is the End of Eternity it self in a manner and if our Love be not the End of GODS Love his is of ours And if the Truth be deeply inquired into the Intermixture is so sweet that his is the End of ours ours of his For he Loveth us with the Love of Benevolence that we may Love him and he desires to be beloved of us that he may Love us with another Kind of Love distinct from the former even that of Complacency Which Love of Complacency is the Crown of ours and so Delightful to us that it is the very End of our Desire and begetteth in us a new Love of Complacency fitly answering his unto us NOW if Love be the End of all the laws Works and Ways of GOD of all our Saviours Labours and sufferings of our souls and Bodies of the whole Creation of all the Endeavours and Desires of the Deity in all the Dispensations of his Grace and Providence there must be something in its Nature Equivalent to all these Transcendent Undertakings to justifie the Wisdom that selected Love for its Sovereign Object for it is the office of Wisdome to suit the means and their End together so that the Excellency of the one may be worthy of all the Cost and Difficulty of the other For it is a foolish thing to pursue a base and feeble End by Glorious and Wonderful Methods because its Vileness will Disgrace the Design and with it their Beauty their very Grandure will be absurd where their Issue is but contemptible The Apostle therefore telleth us that Love is the fulfilling of the Law and that it is the Bond of Perfectness And pursuing its properties a little more Ample he saith Charity suffereth long and is kind Charity envyeth not Charity Vaunteth not it self is not puffed up doth not behave it self unseemly seeketh not her own is not easily provoked thinketh no evil rejoyceth not in iniquity but rejoyceth in the Truth beareth all Things believeth all things hopeth all things endureth all things Charity never faileth c. IT is one noble Effect of Charity that it suffereth afflictions cheerfully and patiently for the sake of its Beloved Another is its Kindness to its Object its sweet and Courteous inclination to do all manner of Good Another for which it is highly valuable is that it envieth not the Felicity or Glory of its Beloved but taketh Pleasure to see it far higher and greater then its own is not apt to vaunt and brag of its Perfections but hath an humble Esteem of all its Atchievments doth not behave it self in distasteful manner but studies and designes the Honour Benefit and satisfaction of its Object But that which of all other is its greatest Perfection is that it seeketh not its own it is not Mercenary or self ended but truly Generous and Heroick in its Performances It Sacrificeth it self and all its interests to the Advantage of its Object it preferreth the person it Loveth above it self desires its Exhaltation and delights in its Glory more then its own It is not easily provoked because it puts the best sence upon all that is done by its Object Thinketh no evil is not suspicious or malevolent or censorious but frameth honourable and fair Ideas of all that is thought or done by its Beloved Hateth all Impurity that may displease its Object all black and crooked Apprehensions that may wrang and disguise it beareth all with Hope and Equanimity because it believeth its Object to be Good and Wise till it must of necessity change its Opinion and entertain a Judgement tending to its condemnation It is no longer Charity then but dislike and aversion when it ceaseth to think well of its Object for it is another Principle or distinct in Nature from Love as its Actions are from the Actions of Love the diversity of the Effects evidently proving a Difference in their Causes THE Quality by which Charity rejoyceth in the Truth is an incomparable excellence and commendation of its Nature Because the Truth is GODS infinite Goodness and Love and Providence which are exercised in preparing Delights and Treasures for his Beloved The truth is the Felicity and Glory of the Soul And if it be true that all Eternity is full of Joys and all the World enriched with Delights that a man is infinitely beloved of GOD and made in his Image on purpose that he might enjoy all the Best of all possible Treasures in his similitude he may well rejoyce in the Truth because no Truth can be greater or more delightful than that himself is exalted to the Throne of GOD and ordained to live in Communion with him BUT that Quality by which the Soul believeth and hopeth all things that concern the Honour and Fidelity of its Beloved is yet more acceptable and delightful than the former For a good opinion of the Nature and Intention of the Person with whom we are united is the Basis and Foundation of all our Respect the Cement of our Peace and the Life and Soul of all that Honour that is paid unto him The very Grace and Beauty of all our Conversation dependeth upon it and if it be true that we are more to love GOD for the intrinsick Perfections of his Essence then for all his Gifts the chief Business of our Knowledge is to Frame glorious Apprehensions of his Nature and to Believe him in all things so Kind and Wise that he is True and Faithful in all his Declarations and most fit to be Honoured in all the Dispensations of his Providence because he is ever mindful of his Protestations and Promises For then we can believe that all things shall work together for our Good can safely trust our selves and all that is ours in his hands resign our selves up to his Disposal with Joy and say Thy Will be done for it is Holy Good and acceptable Thy Will alone is of all other Wilis most Perfect and Desirable There are on Earth indeed more nice Emergencies many Obscurities and
example not to fear because he has overcome the World we may safely sing O Death where is thy sting O Grave where is thy Victory And challenge all the powers of Heaven Earth and Hell to the combat Which for one single person to do against all the Creation is the most Glorious Spectacle which the universe affords Who shall separate us from the Love of Christ shall Tribulation or Distress or Persecution or Famine or Nakedness or Peril or Sword as it is writen for thy sake we are Killed all the day long we are accounted as Sheep to the slaughter Nay in all these things me are nore then Conquerors through him that loved us For I am perswaded that neither Death nor Life nor Angels nor Principalities nor Powers nor things present nor things to come nor Height nor Depth nor any other Creature shall be able to separate us from the Love of GOD which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. A REMARK To be Couragious is the Easiest thing in the World when we consider the certain success which Courage founded on Goodness must needs attain For he that makes his Fortitude subservient onely to the excess of his Love has all the Powers of Heaven and earth on his side and the Powers of Hell that are already subdued are the only foes that are to be vanquished by him To dare to be Good is the Office of true and Religious valour And he that makes it his Business to oblige all the world he whose design it is to be delightful to all mankind has nothing to overcome but their error bitterness which by meekness and Kindness and Prudence and liberality will easily be accomplished For they all love themselves and cannot chuse but desire those that are kind and Serviceable to them and must so far forth as they love themselves honor delight in their Benefactors So that Courage thus guided by Prudence to the works of Charity and goodness must surely be safe and prosperous on earth its Admirableness and its Beauty being a powerful Charm an Invincible Armour CHAP. XXII Of Temperance in Matters of Art as Musick Dancing Painting Cookery Physick c. In the works of Nature Eating Drinking Sports and Recreations In occasions of Passion in our Lives and Conversations It s exercise in Self-denial Measure Mixture and Proportion Its effects and atchievments PRUDENCE giveth Counsel what Measure and Proportion ought to be held in our Actions Fortitude inspires Boldness and Strength to undertake and set upon the Work but it is Temperance doth execute what both of them design For Temperance is that Vertue whereby the actions of Prudence and Power are moderated when they come to be exerted IT is the Opinion of some that as Patience respects Afflictions so Temperance is wholy taken up in moderating our Pleasures and hath no employment but in the midst of Prosperities But since there are certain bounds which Fear and Sorrow ought not to exceed Temperance hath its work in the midst of Calamities and being needful to moderate all our Passions hath a wider sphere to move in than Prosperity alone its Province is more large and comprehensive including all estates and conditions of Life whatsoever OTHERS there are that admit of its use in all Conditions but confine it to one particular employment even that of enlarging or bounding the Measure of every Operation but in real truth it has another Office and that more deep perhaps and more important than the former For Actions are of two kinds either Mixt or Simple Where the work is single and but one it is exprest in nothing else but the Measure of the Action that it be neither too short nor too long too remiss nor too violent too slow nor too quick too great nor too little But where many things are mixt and meet together in the Action as they generally do in all the affairs of our Lives there its business is to consider what and how many things are to enter the Composition and to make their Proportion just and convenient As in preparing Medicines the skill whereby we know what is to be put in and what left out is of one kind and that of discerning how much of every Ingredient will serve the turn of another The skill of Mingling is like the vertue of Prudence but the actual tempering of all together exhibits the vertue of Temperance to the Life because it reduces the Skill to its operation It s End is the beauty and success of our Endeavours OF what use and value Temperance is in our Lives and Conversations we may guess by its necessity force and efficacy on all Occasions THE fit mixture and proportion of the four Elements in all Bodies is that upon which their Nature Form and Perfection dependeth Too much of the Fire too much of the Water too much of the Air too much of the Earth are pernicious and destructive There is an infinite wisdom exprest in the Mixture and Proportion in every Creature BEAUTY and Health Agility Repose and Strength depend upon the due Temperament of Humane Bodies The four Humors of Choler Melancholy Flegm and Blood are generally known But there are many other Juyces talkt of besides by the discreet and accurate mixture of which the Body of a Man or Beast is perfected Some great inconvenience alwaies follows the excess or defect of these Disorder and Disproportion go hand in hand and are attended by Sickness and Death it self IN matters of Art the force of Temperance is undeniable It relateth not only to our Meats and Drinks but to all our Behaviours Passions and Desires All Musick Sawces Feasts Delights and Pleasures Games Dancing Arts consist in govern'd Measures Much more do Words and Passions of the Mind In Temperance their sacred Beauty find A Musician might rash his finger over all his strings in a moment but Melody is an effect of Judgment and Order It springs from a variety of Notes to which Skill giveth Time and Place in their Union A Painter may daub his Table all over in an instant but a Picture is made by a regulated Hand and by variety of Colours A Cook may put a Tun of Sugar or Pepper or Salt in his Dishes but Delicates are made by Mixture and Proportion There is a Temperance also in the Gesture of the Body the Air of the Face the carriage of the Eye the Smile the Motion of the Feet and Hands and by the Harmony of these is the best Beauty in the World either much commended or disgraced A Clown and a Courtier are known by their Postures A Dancer might run into Extreams but his Art is seen in the measure of his Paces and adorned with a variety of sweet and suitable Behaviours A Physician may kill a man with the best Ingredients but good Medicines are those wherein every Simple hath its proper Dose and every Composition a fit admixture of good Ingredients A Poem an Oration a Play a Sermon may be too tedious
that though the disproportion between them and their Assurance or Hope or Desire seem infinite and the end which they aim at by their Magnanimity is judged impossible though their attempt appear a ridiculous madness to them to whom the Verities of Religion appear incredible yet they are no whit discouraged or disheartened at the matter but stoutly march on being animated by the alarum of such a Trumpet such a Drum as Magnanimity is His Faith is more Divine by conquering the discouragements of the World than if he met with no censure or opposition IF you would have the Character of a Magnanimous Soul he is the Son of eternal Power and the Friend of infinite Goodness a Temple of divine and heavenly Wisdom that is not imposed upon by the foul and ragged disguises of Nature but acquainted with her great Capacities and Principles more than commonly sensible of her interests and depths and desires He is one that has gone in unto Felicity and enjoyed her beauties and comes out again her perfect Lover and Champion a Man whose inward stature is miraculous and his Complexion so divine that he is King of as many Kingdoms as he will look on One that scorns the smutty way of enjoying things like a Slave because he delights in the Celestial way and the Image of GOD. He knows that all the World lies in Wickedness and admires not at all that things palpable and near and natural are unseen though most powerful and glorious because men are blind and stupid He pities poor vicious Kings that are oppressed with heavy Crowns of Vanity and Gold and admires how they can content themselves with such narrow Territories yet delights in their Regiment of the World and paies them the Honour that is due unto them The glorious Exaltation of good Kings he more abundantly extols because so many thousand Magnanimous Creatures are committed to their Trust and they that govern them understand their Value But he sees well enough that the Kings glory and true repose consists in the Catholick and eternal Kingdom As for himself he is come unto Mount Sion and to the City of the living GOD the Heavenly Jerusalem and to an innumerable Company of Angels to the General Assembly and Church of the First-born which are written in Heaven and to GOD the Judge of all and to the Spirits of Just men made perfect and to JESUS the Mediatour of the New Covenant And therefore receiving a Kingdom which cannot be moved he desires to serve GOD acceptably with reverence and godly fear And the truth is he can fear nothing else for GOD alone is a consuming fire He very well understands what the Apostle saith and dares believe him I cease not to give thanks for you making mention of you in my Prayers that the GOD of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father of Glory may give unto you the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the knowledge of him the eyes of your Understanding being enlightened that ye may know what is the HOPE of his Calling and what the RICHES of the GLORY of his INHERITANCE in the Saints And what is the EXCEEDING GREATNESS of his POWER to us-ward who believe according to the WORKING of his Mighty Power which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own RIGHT HAND in the HEAVENLY places far above all Principality and Power and Might and Dominion and every Name that is named not only in this WORLD but in that also which is to come And hath put ALL THINGS under his feet and he gave him to be HEAD over all Things to the CHURCH which is his BODY THE FULNESS OF HIM THAT FILLETH ALL IN ALL. Now to him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the Power that WORKETH in us Unto him be Glory in the Church by Christ Jesus throughout all AGES World without end Amen A great and a clear Soul knoweth that all these intimations must needs be true for it is an amazing Miracle that they should be otherwise Infinite Love and Eternal Blessedness are near allyed and that these should cease is contrary to all Nature in GOD in the Soul of Man in Heaven in Earth in the order of the Universe and contrary to all that VISIBLE GLORY which in the World appeareth CHAP. XXIX Of Modesty It s Nature It s Original Its Effects and Consequences MODESTY is a comely Grace in the Behaviour of a Man by which he piously dissembleth his own Perfections and blusheth at his Praises It springeth from a certain fear and sence of his Imperfection 'T is the shadow of Guilt and a beautiful cover of Original Corruption It is sometimes Natural and which is contrary to all other Vertues more truly vertuous for being so For then it is Simple Genuine and Real but studied Modesty is affected and artificial yet where Nature has not been so obliging as to give the endowment 't is not altogether to be condemned since it is agreeable to the best of our conditions in this World and supplies a defect in his Nature that is born without it IT is akin to Shame yet increases the honour of him that wears it it is the shade of Vertue yet makes it brighter It is a tincture of Humility visible in a vermilion and deeper die and the more natural and easie the more sweet and delightful IT charms the Envy of those that admire us and by seeming to extinguish our worth gives it a double beauty It reconciles a man to the Enemies of his Grace and Vertue and by a softness irresistible wins a Compassion in all Spectators It is a Vertue which by refusing the honour that is due unto it acquireth more a real Counterfeit and the only honest and true dissimulation It is an effeminate yet a laudable quality a spice of Cowardice more prevalent than Courage a Vertue by which we despise all meaner Honours while we are ambitiously carried to the highest Glory It seemeth inconsistent with Magnanimity yet is her youngest Sister IT hath not many Objects nor are its Aims apparent nor its Ends conspicuous It is the Mother of fine and delicate Resentments its strength consisteth in tenderness and fear He that is Magnanimous in one respect may be modest in another Praises and Commendations are the fuel of its Nature it feedeth upon them while it grows by rejecting them It delights in what it feareth and is full of discords but more full of harmonies It is pleased in its displeasure and alwaies fighteth with its own Repugnancies It is a Vertue mixt of Sence and Reason its region is in the Body more than in the Soul and in all its Spiritual motions it is attended with Corporeal impressions The Blood and Spirits dance in the Veins as if Nature were delighted with its own Confusions By captivating the favour of Men upon Earth it affecteth the very Angels in Heaven with much of pleasure It