have so often seen these Properties of his exemplified to others and to your selves so many wonders of Providence done in your remembrance that ye your selves must be the greatest wonder in case you do not believe and trust him When your Soul is cast down you may do as David did remember God from the Land of Iordan and of the Hermonites from the Hill Mizar that is you may review the help and comfort which you have had in this and the other place of your Pilgrimage and so hope still in God that the Help of his Countenance will be the Health of yours Psal. 42. 5 6 11. Learn therefore this life of Faith and endeavour as you grow weaker in body to grow stronger in Faith. 1. For Temporal mercies You may be tempted to fear want in your Old-age here 's now occasion for Faith whereby you are firmly to believe either that you shall want nothing or else no good thing Psal. 34. 9 10. That the Lord will either supply your wants or inrich you by your wants It was a memorable saying of an Ancient pious Woman I have made many a meal upon the Promises when I have wanted bread And Christ hath said it that Man lives not by bread only but by every word that cometh out of the mouth of God Matth. 4. 4. So that a child of God shall never want a livelihood so long as there is a Promise in the Book of God. But then he had need of Faith and the stronger the faith the chearfuller life he lives For as by it he injoyes God in all things in case of plenty so by it he injoyes all things in God in case of want 2. For Spiritual blessings it concerns you to live by Faith to wit for Pardon Grace and Comfort You have bin long conversant with the Promises of God for these mercies and have had often Experiences of the Grace and Mercy of God unto you and so may conclude with the Psalmist The Lord hath bin mindful of us be will bless us Psal. 115. 12. He that forgave you ten thousand talents upon your first Repentance will readily forgive an hundred pence upon your second And he that gave you good Desires when you were not worth a good thought will surely give you your Desires of more grace when your hearts are now fully set upon it And he that spoke Peace to your Consciences when you were younger will restore unto you the joy of his Salvation as soon and as far as is good for you now you are older though at present you walk in darkness and see no light For an old servant he never utterly casts off Cast not you away therefore your confidence which hath great recompence of reward the dimmer the eye of your sense grows the clearer let the eye of your Faith become by which you may see as Moses did on mount Pisgah into the promised Land and may Comfort your hearts with the foretasts of Glory By this Faith it was that Isaac when he was blind through Age blessed Iacob and Esau concerning things to come By this Faith Iacob when he was dying for Age blessed both the Sons of Ioseph and worshipped leaning upon the top of his Staff Heb. 11. 20 21. In short nothing is more needful for the Old person whose limbs are weak eye-sight weak memory all weak than a strong and lively Faith. And this you must labour for by earnest and frequent Prayer for every one that asketh receiveth and he that seeketh sindeth Cry out therefore with the Apostles Luk. 17. 5. Lord increase our faith and when you find it waver then cry again with the man Mark 9. 24. Lord I believe help mine unbelief Wee 'l relieve a poor Old man when we pass by the younger and he that hath planted that Compassion in us hath much more in himself And then consider often of the Truth and Faithfulness of God whose Word is as sure as Deed. For all his promises are Yea and Amen in Christ. Which Promises you ought to store up and study instead of counting over your Coyn or surveying your Bonds review the rich and precious promises of God and clear your Interest in them and they will beget new blood and spirits in your Souls so that your youth will be renewed as the Eagles And as long as ye are able attend upon the Preaching of Gods Word for as Faith comes so it comes on by hearing The same Texts the same Truths the same Promises which you have often read and heard will still afford new strength to your Faith and Hope as long as you live SECT III. THE Third Grace proper for Old-age is Wisdom which we take here in the largest and yet truest sence not once regarding that meer worldly wisdom which is not only earthly and selfish but wicked and devilish that is only skill'd in getting an Estate by hook or crook and in keeping it without respect to God or our Neighbour No this cannot in any tolerable sence be called Wisdom It 's absolute folly to lose yea to venture a Soul for what may be utterly lost to morrow But I speak here of true Wisdom in its latitude teaching men to live safely and comfortably here and happily hereafter as it fixes upon a right End and chuses and uses the proper Means to attain it This Grace directs a man to make choice of God for his Happiness and then diligently to apply himself to know love serve and enjoy him This also guides him in all his imployments in this world to attempt nothing but what is possible honest and useful to chuse the fittest means for the attainment of his just ends to place his words and actions in their proper circumstances not alwayes to take the next but the safest way to his desires and in short to order his affairs with discretion And this is the crown of Old-age Every Aged person is or should be truely wise multitude of years should teach wisdom Iob 32. 7. The crown of youth is their strength but the glory of Old-age is their wisdom And wisdom is better than strength Eccl. 9. 16. VVisdom strengtheneth the wise more than ten mighty men in a city Eccl. 7. 19. By this the Aged are better inabled to discharge their duties to Husbands Wives Children Servants and Neighbours than ordinarily younger people are to dispose Spiritual and Secular duties in their right places to temper and guide that zeal and affection which without it is foolish and dangerous The Rashness of young Counsels is evident in the case of Rehoboam 1 King. 12. who following the heady and fierce advice of his Young Courtiers lost ten Tribes in one day which the sage Counsel of his Old Counsellours had certainly preserved And it is known how often the Common-wealths of Athens and Rome were indangered by the folly and rashness of young heads had they not bin ballasted by the Sober and wary Interposition of graver persons Younger people
Holy course doth contribute to this end 1. In a Natural way And that 1. By Mortifying and discarding those Sins which do more directly hurt the Body Such are those Passions and Excesses above-named such is Anger Envy Covetousness Ambition and many such like which like wind in the Intrails of the Earth do rend and shatter it I think there is no Sin whatsoever but it hath a malignant influence upon the Body either to disorder and inflame it or to macerate and dispirit it Now the Fear of God obliges a man not only to restrain but to pluck up all such by the Roots Those are the Weeds which both rob the sweet Flowers of their nourishment and also depauperate the soil where they grow which being cast out the whole man fares the better after them And 2. True Piety refresheth the Body with the Comforts of a good Conscience That Peace that Hope that Joy which result from a Conscience that is pacifi'd by the Blood and purified by the Spirit of Christ do most efficaciously cherish the whole man they daily feast him This is that merry Heart that is called a continual feast Prov. 15. 15. And that doth good like a Medicine Prov. 17. 22. There is that Intimacy between the Soul and the Body that whatsoever refresheth the one doth also cheer the other Whereupon the Learned have judged that Hope Love and Ioy are great prolongers of Life by the influence which these have upon the Humours and Spirits in the Body much more when these Affections have heavenly and eternal things for their Object and the Holy Scripture speaks that way when it saith Prov. 19. 23. The fear of the Lord tendeth to Life and he that hath it shall abide satisfied 3. True Piety is the best Preservative against Old-age in a Spiritual way to wit by Procuring the Blessing of God. For when the Body is consecrated to him and imployed for him we may expect it to be blessed by him it is under his peculiar care and Providence When it is united to Iesus Christ it will receive influence from Him for its good So that true Religiousness tho it more immediately tend to the recovery and felicity of the Soul yet it is really most friendly also to the Body He that feareth God and walketh in his ways shall see his Childrens Children Psal. 128. last And on the other hand all those destroying and life-shortning Diseases mention'd Deut. 28. 27. 61. even every sickness and every plague are denounced to the ungodly And fully Eccl. 8. 12 13. Tho a Sinner do Evil an hundred times and his days be prolonged yet surely I know it shall be well with them that fear God which fear before him But it shall not be well with the wicked neither shall he prolong his days which are as a shadow because he feareth not before God. Therefore you that would protract the time of your flourishing strength learn to love and fear God devote your selves to him bestow your Hearts upon him imploy your time and strength to please and honour him abide not in a State of ungodliness rest not with a form of Godliness but resolve upon that Real Holiness which will produce a long and happy life in this World and a longer and happier life in a better 2. The Second Preservative against Old-age which indeed is contained in the former is Temperance and Sobriety I mean that gracious Vertue which retains the Sensitive Appetite within the bounds of Reason and Religion whereby we keep a Mediocrity in the use of Meats both in respect to their Quantity neither loading nor pining the Stomack and in respect of their Quality neither debauching it by too much Variety nor injuring it by things noxious The same care in Drinks lest the Quality of them be pernicious or the Quantity of them prejudicial That the Marriage-bed be moderately used so that the vital Spirits be not exhausted Now mans sinful Nature above all other Creatures inclines to excess in all these and it is pleasant to the Flesh but it is the pleasure of poyson At last they bite like a Serpent and sting like an Adder Prov. 23. 32. not the Soul only but the Body They do insensibly but infallibly weaken nature disorder the Harmony of the parts breed the most fatal distempers and render him as we may daily observe old in infirmities that is but young in years So that if they who give themselves up to Gluttony Drunkenness or Lasciviousness did truly love their own Souls or yet their own Bodies they would bridle their unruly Appetites for their own sakes and not pay so dear for that which must be repented of And as a plain and even way is much more delectable than always to be going up Hill and down so certainly there is a thousand times more ease and sweetness in an even and temperate course than in the perpetual unevenness of intemperance How should that body hold out that is daily clogg'd and inflam'd with preternatural excesses The intemperate man is constantly feeding an Enemy whom it is charity to starve and deals with his Body as the Ape who is said to hugg her young to death Whereas a wise Sobriety is health to the Navel and marrow to the Bones by it the Humours the Blood the Spirits are all maintain'd in order and in vigour His meals are pleasant and his sleep is sweet and he is a Stranger to those crudities and consequent distempers which pester others Thus Plato by his careful temperance spun out his life tho a great Student till he attain'd above fourscore and Galen to above sevenscore years and Seneca concludes that there is no way to retard Old-age like a frugal Sobriety Let me then persuade all such as are lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God or of their own Souls to have some pity on their poor Bodies O break off your destructive Course sow not the Seeds of consuming Maladies in your own Flesh. Be not among Wine-bibbers amongst riotous eaters of Flesh. Put a Knife to thy Throat if thou be a man given to Appetite Prov. 23. 1. 20. Give not your Strength unto Women nor your ways to that which destroyeth Kings Prov. 31. 3. Let not the Beast captivate the Man nor your Reason be enslav'd by Sense but recover a just dominion over your blind and brutish affections that your days may be long and lively in the Land which the Lord giveth you If it be here Objected that the most Religious and temperate persons grow old as soon as others It is Answered that tho in these external things all things come alike to all there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked yet every wise man will take the likeliest course for the blessing he desires Tho some Children that have had no good Education nor good Example have afterward proved eminent men yet who but a desperate man will hereupon resolve I will take no care about the
That 's the happy man either young or old who is like Athanasius Magnes Adamas of a temper and converse to attract Love and Respect and yet of Principles and Resolutions to withstand in a good cause all opposition The weakness of your Limbs and Senses should be compensated with stability and strength in your Spirit The Aged mind alone grows young We faint not saith the Apostle but as the outward man perisheth so should your inward man be renewed day by day 2 Cor. 4. 16. For this purpose you should weigh and examine your Principles well Those of Religion by the Rule of the Scriptures those of humane Life in the scales of Reason and having once well fixt them alter them not upon every Suggestion The manifest cause of most mens Unstedfastness both in Iudgment and Practice is their rash embracing of those Points that should have been well weighed at the first for what they have swallowed down by Wholesale they will Vomit up again by Retail in time of tryal My Lord Verulam's observation is very true He that begins in doubts will end in certainties and he that begins in certainties will end in doubts Add to this a conscionable Practice of your sound and honest Principles This will acquaint you with that comfort and sweetness which will stablish your mind in them more and more A rotten Heart is apt to produce a giddy Head whereas righteousness both directs and keeps him that is upright in the way Prov. 11. 5. with chap. 13. 6. All the parts and learning in the World will not fix the Head and Heart like Sincerity It is good that the Heart be established with Grace Heb. 13. 9. Experience in Religion will make you stedfast in Religion And lastly Pray earnestly unto God to make you stedfast See how emphatically the Apostle Paul mentions this 2 Thes. 2. 17. Now our Lord Iesus Christ himself and God even our Father stablish you For we are weak Creatures yea Knowledge and Grace are but Creatures but earnest Prayer will ingage the help and support of Almighty God who can and will stablish strengthen settle you 1 Pet. 5. 10. SECT VI. THE Sixth Grace wherein Old-age doth or snould excell is Temperance and Sobriety That 's the Injunction of the Apostle Tit. 2. 2. That the Aged men be sober grave temperate By this Temperance I understand that Fruit of the Spirit which bridleth our inordinate affections in all outward mercies or more strictly which observes a right mean in desiring and using the Pleasures of the Senses and so in respect of Meat it is Abstinence in respect of Drinking Sobriety in respect of other carnal pleasures Chastity All these the Temperate man curbs by holy Reason and by holy Force Hereby he stiâ—…es the inordinate Desire and restrains the Use within its due bounds he mortifies the unlawful and moderates the lawful pleasures and recreations of the Body He neither absolutely refuseth them nor inordinately desireth or useth them Now this Grace is very proper tho not peculiar to Old-age They especially do or ought to excell herein There is indeed a Proverbial saying that Wine is the Milk of Old-men some intemperate men there may be of every age but God forbid that this Proverb should be adaequate to Old-age True it is that where there be the decays of Nature there is more need of reparation and that the most reviving means are expedient for that end Whereupon Plato permits ancient persons to drink more liberally to alleviate their troubles and to soften their Spirits as Iron is softned by the Fire But commonly the Aged are by Gods Grace weaned from the excesses of Youth The Lusts of the Flesh the Lust of the Eyes and the Pride of Life have too usually their distinct Seasons of rule or at least molestation in the Soul of man. And the First having had its course in the time of Youth its reign is expired and the Aged must now combate thâ—… other Two as well as he can The Decays of natural strength are great helps to the Old-mans Temperance he cannot if he would Eat and Drink and act his Lust as heretofore and altho this Inability doth not make him a Temperate man yet hereby the Discontinuance of the Acts weaken the Habit and his contentedness therewith and his hearty thankfulness for this reformation may be accounted real Temperance especially when he can reflect upon his former disorders with Grief Hatred and Shame Now they find by experience that a man may live more comfortably and healthfully with less Meat less Drink and less Sleep than young people indulge themselves withal and other carnal pleasures are indifferent to them because desire doth fail and it is much better and easier to want desires than to fulfill them as it is far better not to Itch than to have the pleasure of scratching where it itcheth But now the pious Old person hath really crucified the Flesh with the Affections and Lusts His Sins did not leave him but he hath left them They have not heard and read the Scripture so long in vain which every where disgraceth and condemneth all excess and riot all Chambering and Wantonness and obligeth all Christians to deny themselves and to pluck out the right Eye that doth offend them They have found by experience that as true Vertue so true Satisfaction is only found in a Mediocrity and that all extremes and inordinacies are offensive both to the Mind and Body I said of Laughter it is mad and of Mirth what doth it Eccles. 2. 2. This was the Verdict which wise Solomon brought in his Old-age when he had not withheld his Heart from any joy c. yet then he concludes all was vanity and vexation of Spirit and there was no profit under the Sun Eccles. 2. 10. Besides they who have lived long have seen the woful Effects of Drunkenness Uncleanness and Luxury how many Bodies they have destroyed how many Estates and Families they have ruined and what small pity the miserable Spend-thrift meets with in those persons and places where he hath consumed his substance These and such like observations have contributed to the Aged mans Sobriety they have been Pillars of Salt to him So that any Licenciousness in a person of Years as it is most pernicious to him so it is intolerable to him It makes them the objects both of laughter scorn and detestation Every excess in them debilitates their Nature sullies their Reputation and shakes their Grace exceedingly When Old people fall they fall with a great weight and are crush'd more than younger people and perhaps they have more difficulty to rise again Far more excuses are found for the Lapses of young people than can be pretended by the Aged their faults are crimes and their crimes are prodigies As their Diseases so their Exorbitances are far more dangerous Let it therefore be your constant care to keep your selves within the bounds
will the keepers of the house tremble that is the arms and hands which defend the Body will by reason of their cold and dry temper shake and quiver And the strong men will bow themselves that is the thighs and leggs which have strongly born up the structure of the Body will be weak and need the support of a staff to assist them And the grinders will cease because they are few that is the Teeth which chew and grind our meat will break rot and fall out so that being reduced to a few they will be unable to do their office And those that look out of the windows will be darkened that is the Eye-sight will fail the Organs of the Eye through which as through a window the Soul looks out being dried up and weakned And the doors shall be shut in the streets that is the Lips and Mouth will be disabled from speaking or eating When the sound of the grinding is low that is Digestion which is furthered by chewing and perfected in Chylification Sanguification c. will be obstructed And he shall rise up at the voyce of the bird that is our Sleep will be so shallow that the least noise will awake us and so short that it will prevent the Cock-crowing And all the daughters of musick shall be brought low that is our Ears will grow dull so that as we cannot so we care not for the sweetest musick Also they shall be afraid of that which is high that is we shall by reason of weariness dizziness or short-windedness be afraid of mounting up to high places and attempting such high things as in youth we adventured upon And fears shall be in the way that is we shall be afraid of and in our Iourneying lest we dash our weak and weary foot against a stone And the almond-tree shall flourish that is our Head will grow hoary like the almond tree which soon ripens And the grashopper shall be a burden that is the least weight shall load our infirm Body yea we being then like enough to grashoppers will grow burdens to our selves and others And desire shall fail that is our Appetite to meat and our desire to Marriage-imbraces will be cooled and cease by degrees At length the silver cord will be loosed that is the Chine-bone with its marrow and the Nerves and Fibres thereunto belonging will be resolved and weakned And the golden bowl will be broken that is the vessel and membrane that contains the Brain which is aptly called golden both for its colour and value will at last be shattered And the pitcher will be broken at the fountain that is the Veins will cease from doing their office at the right Ventricle of the Heart which is the fountain of life and so our blood stagnating we are soon extinguished And the wheel will be broken at the cistern that is the great Artery which is knit to the left side of the Heart by which the Blood is derived into the parts ceases its action and the Pulse with it which are the immediate forerunners of Death And then the Dust returns to the Earth as it was and the spirit returns unto God who gave it Thus you see Mans Body like some curious Edifice first battered by various Storms at length the Roof and Walls decay and at last falls to the ground but our Blessed Redeemer hath provided for the Inhabitant an house not made with hands eternal in the Heavens SECT I. AND now let us more distinctly survey the Inconveniences of Old-age the chief whereof are these following First The Aged are Deprived of many Pleasures They cannot divert themselves by Hunting Hawking Fishing They can neither well ride abroad nor walk about home They have done with Visits and Feasts and Musick All the recreations of sense are generally tastless to them Yea they have scarce any pleasure in their meat and drink and sleep So that their Condition seems to be sad and lamentable And we have the substance of all this confessed by an Old man himself namely Barzillai 2 Sam. 19. 35. I am this day fourscore years old and can thy servant tast what I eat or what I drink can I hear any more the voyce of singing men and singing women q. d. These things will signifie nothing to me they have forsaken me and I value them as little Here you have the Verdict which Barzillai brings in the Case Yea instead of Pleasure a constant Sadness takes place in their Countenance without and as may be judged in their Hearts within Sobs and sighs are the accent of their language and their complaints are frequently mixt with tears Their Condition then must needs be miserable when they have such constant heaviness within and no recreation without to alleviate it Company burdens them and Solitariness saddens them Yea they are loth that any body should be merry about them So that they seem to lead a dolorous life and to be estranged from all manner of Pleasure Now Pleasure is the life of Life What is Life without Delight why do men toyl to get Estates but for the pleasure they take in them why do others hunt for Applause and climb for Honour but to please their fancy and their humour even the Schollar would take leave of his Books if he had not Delight in them So that Pleasure acts all mankind and rules the world Now those years are lamentable wherein a man shall say I have no pleasure in them And this makes some Old People weary of their lives they reckon that a Life stript of joy and comfort is not worth the keeping Nevertheless Old-age may support it self very well under this Inconvenience Inasmuch as the Pleasures they are deprived of are in themselves and to their experience dangerous Injoyments For nothing is more apt to disorder and fully the Soul than carnal Pleasure Those very Recreations which may be harmless in themselves yet too commonly lead to Intemperance to Lasciviousness to Quarrels and other mischiefs Now if a Dish be never so palatable yet if there be but danger of Poyson in it no wise man will meddle with it Therefore Tully brings in Cato congratulating with himself that he was delivered from the slavery of Pleasure and concludes that it is a singular Priviledge of Old-age that it frees us from that which is most pernicious in youth And whatever regard weak men may have to these Vanities the wisest among the very Heathens have concluded that there is no plague so deadly to man as the pleasures of the body And that comes to pass through the depravation of our Natures whereby we can hardly enjoy them but we run mad upon them we exceed the limits and miss the ends which should be observed in the using of them Wherefore Cicero tells of Sophocles who being askâ—…d whether he did still converse with Womankind answered The Gods have done better for me I have willingly left that furious Master Indeed the greatest
Experience goes further in all these things than Learning For the Aged and Experienced person having seen such great mistakes in himself and others is cured of that vain Credulity which hath ruin'd young people and having met with so many disappointments in the World is well freed from that carnal Confidence which hath undone others And yet their great Experience of the power and faithfulness of God is a mighty Bulwark to their Faith. As they have heard so have they seen in the City of God what he hath done to vindicate his Attributes and to verify his Promises Hence holy David Psal. 37. 25. I have been young and now am old yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken nor his Seed begging Bread. This was the advantage he had by his Old-age to trace out the Providence of God towards the posterity of good men that walking in their Parents steps they were seldom or never reduced to want at least to common beggery or if so yet were never quite forsaken of God as himself found when though 1 Sam. 21. 3. and 25. 8. he was glad to ask supplies of men yet was he still supported and owned of God. The good Old man can say Thou art my King of old O God Psal. 74. 12. He can say I remembred thy judgments of old O Lord and have comforted my self Psal. 119. 52. And thus he may direct others I will guide thee with my Eye Psal. 32. 8. And thus a man may vindicate and honour God Concerning thy Testimonies I have known of old that thou hast founded them for ever Psal. 119. 152. The unexperienced Newness of any case or trouble is apt to stagger the strongest faith or courage Such things assault a man by way of Surprize but when we have had an experience of them we are corroborated to grapple with them No doubt the first Night was a strange thing to them that had seen nothing but Light before but when when they found by Experience the return of the Light again they could brook it well enough So the Burden that did at first affright us by often carrying it we easily bear it Psal. 63. 7. Because thou hast been my help therefore in the shadow of thy Wings will I rejoyce And it is conceived that this caused David to speak so of Goliahs Sword 1 Sam. 21. 9. There is none like that give it me He might have found another Sword of equal mettle but he had Experience of the goodness of that and so there was none like that From this long Experience the Aged person not only contemns many things which others admire but grows able to give a great guess concerning future events both in publick and particular Cases So that such persons may well be resorted unto as to common Oracles if they have treasured up wisdom according to their years To conclude this there lies a double Duty upon Aged persons in reference hereunto the One is to take due Notice of all such passages of the Providence of God or the Improvidence of men that come within the sphere of their Cognizance and not heedlesly to neglect them another is to store up in their memories such Observations For experience is made up of divers Memories of the same things Psal. 143. 5. I remember the days of old I meditate on all thy works I muse on the work of thy hands And then to produce these in time and place convenient either for their own or others direction caution or consolation SECT III. THirdly another Priviledge of Old-age is That it is freer from Sin. The Corruption of Nature and the Fruits thereof are the great blot and woful plague upon mankind and the first thing which every person arrived at the use of Reason should seriously set about should be to be healed of it But instead of that most people meeting with temptations without them and finding Strength and Youth within them forget the care of their Hereditary Disease and pursue their iniquities with greediness Some are tickled with applause and so they hunt after an airy renown and an ungrounded reputation others let the reins loose to sensual delights and wallow in the pleasures of Sin for a Season Others setting aside all fear of God and love to their Neighbour are set upon Revenge and will run down every one that stands in their way and others hoping for that fatisfaction in Riches which they will never find set their minds to grasp after a plentiful Estate by hook or crook Now tho some young people do happily escape these snares as was the case of Obadiah and some Old people are unhappily intrapt in them as was the case of Solomon yet most commonly Youth by reason of it's inexperience and unmortifiedness is full of Sin. Iob could reflect on the Sins of his Youth and David saw cause to cry for the pardon of those offences Hence Aristotle would scarce admit them capable of Moral Lectures And indeed that ardour and vehemence which is almost inseparable from that age makes them an easie prey to many Temptations Now when Old-age takes possession the proud the furious and the wanton spirits are spent As Wine at first is mixt with dregs till by time it settles and is refined so the Passions of youth if they be not mortified by the Grace of God yet they are weakned and deaded by the age of men As Tully hath it when Pleasures have almost depraved both body and mind then age comes and cures that which VVisdom could not and it is an happiness to be rid of such unruly Guests any way But you will say though one sort of sins are gone yet others succed in their room and it is too evident by what hath been said before that Old-age hath it's sins as well as Youth The Objection must be answer'd with Tears No age in this World without it's temptations this Leprosy will not be fully cleansed until the House be taken down but yet as we find Children and Youth more apt to breed vermine than aged persons so there are fewer Enormities in this age than in that For Transgressions do generally proceed either from Ignorance which Old-age doth usually inform and heal or from the strength of Passions which are much rebated and represt in Old-age or from Malice now the wiser a man is grown the less likely he is to chuse evil the more divine Strokes and Iudgments one hath seen upon evil doers the more he should be afraid of tampering with it the nearer a man is to his end the more in all reason he will beware of clogging his Conscience so that dying lusts are fittest for a dying Body and an holy Heart for an hoary Head. And this is a great Priviledge for as much as Sin is the Disease of the Soul and the greatest Evil in the World so that that State of life which is freest from it must needs be the happiest For it is this that helps to compleat our