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
Quality contains within it either Natural Dispositions or Habits Habits may be either Vertuous or Vicious Virtuous Habits are either Theological Intellectual Moral or Divine And these are branched into so many Kinds of Vertue as followeth THE Theological Vertues are generally divided into Three Faith Hope and Charity which are called Theological because they have GOD for their Principal Object and are in a peculiar manner taught by his Word among the Mysteries of Religion To which we may add Repentance forasmuch as this Virtue tho it be occasioned by sin is chiefly taught by the Word of GOD and respects GOD as its Principal Object For which reason we shall account the Theological Virtues to be four Faith Hope Charity and Repentance to which if we making them more we may add Obedience Devotion Godliness THE Intellectual Vertues are generally reckoned to be five Intelligence Wisdome Science Prudence Art Which forasmuch as the Distinction between them is over-nice and curious at least too obscure for vulgar Apprehensions we shall reduce them perhaps to a fewer number INTELLIGENCE is the Knowledg of Principles Science the Knowledg of Conclusions Wisdom that knowledg which results from the Union of both Prudence and Art have been more darkly explained The Objects of Wisdom are alwayes Stable Prudence is that knowledge by which we guide our selves in Thorny and uncertain Affairs Art is that Habit by which we are assisted in composing Tracts and Systems rather then in regulating our Lives and more frequently appears in Fiddling and Dancing then in noble Deeds were it not useful in Teachers for the Instruction of others we should scarce reckon it in the number of Vertues ALL these are called Intellectual Vertues because they are Seated in the Understanding and chiefly exercised in Contemplation The Vertues that are brought down into action are called Practical and at other times Moral Because they help us in perfecting our Manners as they relate to our Conversation with Men. THE Moral Vertues are either Principal or less Principal The Principal are four Prudence Justice Temperance and Fortitude Which because they are the Hinges upon which our whole Lives do turn are called * Cardinal and are commonly known by the name of The four Cardinal Vertues They are called Principal not onely because they are the chief of all Moral Virtues but because they enter into every Vertue as the four Elements of which it is compounded THE less Principal Vertues are Magnificence and Liberality Modesty and Magnanimity Gentleness of behaviour Affability Courtesie Truth and Urbanitie all these are called less Principal not because they are indifferent or may be accounted useless for then they would not be Vertues but because tho their Practice be of extraordinary Importance in their places they are more remote and less Avail in the Way to Felicity and are more confined in their Operations DIVINE Vertues which we put instead of the Heathenish Heroical are such as have not only GOD for their Object and End but their Pattern and Example They are Vertues which are seen in his eternal Life by Practicing which we also are changed into the same Image and are made partakers of the Di Knowledge and Truth in the Sublimest Height we confess to be Three but we shall Chiefly insist upon Goodness and Righteousness and Holiness All which will appear in Divine Love in more peculiar manner to be handled BESIDES all these there are some Vertues which may more properly be called Christian because they are no where Else taught but in the Christian Religion are founded on the Love of Christ and the only Vertues distinguishing a Christian from the rest of the World of which sort are Love to Enemies Meekness and Humility ALL these Virtues are shut up under one common Head because they meet in one common Nature which bears the name of Vertue The Essence of which being well understood will conduce much to the clear Knowledge of every one in particular VERTUE in General is that habit of Soul by force of which we attain our Happiness Or if you please it is a Right and well order'd Habit of mind which Facilitates the Soul in all its operations in order to its Blessedness These Terms are to be unfolded 1. VERTUE is a Habit All Habits are either Acquired or Infused By calling it a Habit we distinguish it from a Natural Disposition or Power of the Soul For a Natural disposition is an inbred Inclination which attended our Birth and began with our beings not chosen by our Wills nor acquired by Industrie These Dispositions because they do not flow from our Choise and industry cannot be accounted Virtues T is true indeed that vertuous Habits are sometimes infused in a Miraculous Manner but then they are rather called Graces then Vertues and are ours only as they are Consented to by our Wills not ours by choise and acquisition but only by Improvement and exercise Tho they agree with Virtues in their Matter and their end yet they differ in their Original and form For as all Humane Actions flow from the Will and the Understanding so do all Vertues when they are rightly understood whereas we are Passive in the reception of these and they flow immediately from Heaven AND it is far more conducive to our Felicity that we should conquer Difficulties in the attainment of Vertue study chuse desire pursue and labour after it acquire it finally by our own Care and Industry with Gods Blessing upon it then that we should be Dead and Idle while virtue is given us in our Sleep For which cause GOD ordered our state and Condition so that by our own Labour we should seek after it that we might be as well pleasing in his Eys and as Honorable and Admirable in the Acquisition of vertue as in the Exercise and Practice of it And for these reasons GOD does not so often infuse it and is more desirous that we should by many repeated Actions of our own attain it GOD does sometimes upon the General Sloth of mankind inspire it raising up some persons thereby to be like salt among corrupted men least all should putrifie and perish Yet is there little reason why he should delight in that way without some such uncouth and Ungrateful necessity to compell him thereunto FOR any man to expect that GOD should break the General Order and Course of Nature to make him Vertuous without his own Endeavours is to Tempt GOD by a presumptuous Carelesseness and by a Slothful abuse of his Faculties to fulfil the parable of the unprofitable Servant THE Powers of the Soul are not vertues themselves but when they are clothed with vertuous Operations they are transformed into Vertues For Powers are in the Soul just as Limbs and Members in the Body which may indifferently be applied to Vertues and Vices alike be busied and exercised in either AS the Members are capable of Various Motions either comely or Deformed and are one thing when they are
Christian ETHICKS OR Divine MORALITY Opening the WAY to BLESSEDNESS By the RULES of VERTUE AND REASON By THO. TRAHERNE B. D. Author of the Roman Forgeries LONDON Printed for Jonathan Edwin at the Three Roses in Ludgate-street 1675. TO THE READER THE design of this Treatise is not to stroak and tickle the Fancy but to elevate the Soul and refine its Apprehensions to inform the Judgment and polish it for Conversation to purifie and enflame the Heart to enrich the Mind and guide Men that stand in need of help in the way of Vertue to excite their Desire to encourage them to Travel to comfort them in the Journey and so at last to lead them to true Felicity both here and hereafter I need not treat of Vertues in the ordinary way as they are Duties enjoyned by the Law of GOD that the Author of The whole Duty of Man hath excellently done nor as they are Prudential Expedients and Means for a mans Peace and Honour on Earth that is in some measure done by the French Charron of Wisdom My purpose is to satisfie the Curious and Unbelieving Soul concerning the reality force and efficacy of Vertue and having some advantages from the knowledge I gained in the nature of Felicity by many years earnest and diligent study my business is to make as visible as it is possible for me the lustre of its Beauty Dignity and Glory By shewing what a necessary Means Vertue is how sweet how full of Reason how desirable in it self how just and amiable how delightful and how powerfully conducive also to Glory how naturally Vertue carries us to the Temple of Bliss and how immeasurably transcendent it is in all kinds of Excellency And if I may speak freely my Office is to carry and enhance Vertue to its utmost height to open the Beauty of all the Prospect and to make the Glory of GOD appear in the Blessedness of Man by setting forth its infinite Excellency Taking out of the Treasuries of Humanity those Arguments that will discover the great perfection of the End of Man which he may atchieve by the capacity of his Nature As also by opening the Nature of Vertue it self thereby to display the marvellous Beauty of Religion and light the Soul to the sight of its Perfection I do not speak much of Vice which is far the more easie Theme because I am intirely taken up with the abundance of Worth and Beauty in Vertue and have so much to say of the positive and intrinsick Goodness of its Nature But besides since a strait Line is the measure both of it self and of a crooked one I conclude That the very Glory of Vertue well understood will make all Vice appear like dirt before Jewel when they are compared together Nay Vice as soon as it is named in the presence of these Vertues will look like Poyson and a Contagion or if you will as black as Malice and Ingratitude so that there will need no other Exposition of its Nature to dehort Men from the love of it than the Illustration of its Contrary Vertues are listed in the rank of Invisible things of which kind some are so blind as to deny there are any existent in Nature But yet it may and will be made easily apparent that all the Peace and Beauty in the World proceedeth from them all Honour and Security is founded in them all Glory and Esteem is acquired by them For the Prosperity of all Kingdoms is laid in the Goodness of GOD and of Men. Were there nothing in the World but the Works of Amity which proceed from the highest Vertue they alone would testifie of its Excellency For there can be no Safety where there is any Treachery But were all Truth and Courtesie exercis'd with Fidelity and Love there could be no Injustice or Complaint in the World no Strife nor Violence but all Bounty Joy and Complacency Were there no Blindness every Soul would be full of Light and the face of Felicity be seen and the Earth be turned into Heaven The things we treat of are great and mighty they touch the Essence of every Soul and are of infinite Concernment because the Felicity is eternal that is acquired by them I do not mean Immortal only but worthy to be Eternal and it is impossible to be happy without them We treat of Mans great and soveraign End of the Nature of Blessedness of the Means to attain it Of Knowledge and Love of Wisdom and Goodness of Righteousness and Holiness of Justice and Mercy of Prudence and Courage of Temperance and Patience of Meekness and Humility of Contentment of Magnanimity and Modesty of Liberality and Magnificence of the waies by which Love is begotten in the Soul of Gratitude of Faith Hope and Charity of Repentance Devotion Fidelity and Godliness In all which we shew what sublime and mysterious Creatures they are which depend upon the Operations of Mans Soul their great extent their use and value their Original and their End their Objects and their Times What Vertues belong to the Estate of Innocency what to the Estate of Misery and Grace and what to the Estate of Glory Which are the food of the Soul and the works of Nature which were occasioned by Sin as Medicines and Expedients only which are Essential to Felicity and which Accidental which Temporal and which Eternal with the true Reason of their Imposition why they all are commanded and how wise and gracious GOD is in enjoyning them By which means all Atheism is put to flight and all Infidelity The Soul is reconciled to the Lawgiver of the World and taught to delight in his Commandements All Enmity and Discontentment must vanish as Clouds and Darkness before the Sun when the Beauty of Vertue appeareth in its brightness and glory It is impossible that the splendour of its Nature should be seen but all Religion and Felicity will be manifest Perhaps you will meet some New Notions but yet when they are examined he hopes it will appear to the Reader that it was the actual knowledge of true Felicity that taught him to speak of Vertue and moreover that there is not the least tittle pertaining to the Catholick Faith contradicted or altered in his Papers For he firmly retains all that was established in the Ancient Councels nay and sees Cause to do so even in the highest and most transcendent Mysteries only he enriches all by farther opening the grandeur and glory of Religion with the interiour depths and Beauties of Faith Yet indeed it is not he but GOD that hath enriched the Nature of it he only brings the Wealth of Vertue to light which the infinite Wisdom and Goodness and Power of GOD have seated there Which though Learned Men know perhaps far better than he yet he humbly craves pardon for casting in his Mite to the vulgar Exchequer He hath nothing more to say but that the Glory of GOD and the sublime Perfection of Humane Nature are united in
Vertue By Vertue the Creation is made useful and the Universe delightful All the Works of GOD are crowned with their End by the Glory of Vertue For whatsoever is good and profitable for Men is made Sacred because it is delightful and well-pleasing to GOD Who being LOVE by Nature delighteth in his Creatures welfare There are two sorts of concurrent Actions necessary to Bliss Actions in GOD and Actions in Men nay and Actions too in all the Creatures The Sun must warm but it must not burn the Earth must bring forth but not swallow up the Air must cool without starving and the Sea moisten without drowning Meats must feed but not poyson Rain must fall but not oppress Thus in the inferiour Creatures you see Actions are of several kinds But these may be reduced to the Actions of GOD from whom they spring for he prepares all these Creatures for us And it is necessary to the felicity of his Sons that he should make all things healing and amiable not odious and destructive that he should Love and not Hate And the Actions of Men must concur aright with these of GOD and his Creatures They must not despise Blessings because they are given but esteem them not trample them under feet because they have the benefit of them but magnifie and extol them They too must Love and not Hate They must not kill and murther but serve and pleasure one another they must not scorn great and inestimable Gifts because they are common for so the Angels would lose all the happiness of Heaven If GOD should do the most great and glorious things that infinite Wisdom could devise if Men will resolve to be blind and perverse and sensless all will be in vain the most High and Sacred things will increase their Misery This may give you some little glimpse of the excellency of Vertue You may easily discern that my Design is to reconcile Men to GOD and make them fit to delight in him and that my last End is to celebrate his Praises in communion with the Angels Wherein I beg the Concurrence of the Reader for we can never praise him enough nor be fit enough to praise him No other man at least can make us so without our own willingness and endeavour to do it Above all pray to be sensible of the Excellency of the Creation for upon the due sense of its Excellency the life of Felicity wholly dependeth Pray to be sensible of the Excellency of Divine Laws and of all the Goodness which your Soul comprehendeth Covet a lively sense of all you know of the Excellency of GOD and of Eternal Love of your own Excellency and of the worth and value of all Objects whatsoever For to feel is as necessary as to see their Glory The Contents CHAP. I. OF the End for the sake of which Vertue is desired Chap. II. Of the Nature of Felicity its excellency and perfection Chap. III. Of Vertue in general The distribution of it into its several kinds It s definition Chap. IV. Of the Powers and Affections of the Soul What Vertues pertain to the estate of Innocency what to the estate of Grace what to the estate of Glory Chap. V. Of the necessity excellency and use of Knowledge Its depths and extents its Objects and its End Chap. VI. Of Love and Hatred The necessity and sweetness of Love It s general use and efficacy The several kinds of Love Of the power inclination and act of Love its extent and capacity Chap. VII What benefit GOD himself does receive by his eternal Love That when our Love is made compleat and perfect it will be like his and the benefit of it will be eternal Chap. VIII Of the excellency of Truth as it is the object and cause of Vertue The matter and form of Vertuous Actions That their form is infinitely more excellent than their matter and the Heathen Morality infinitely defective and short of the Christian. Chap. IX Wisdom is seated in the Will it attaineth best of all possible Ends by the best of all possible Means Chap. X. Of Righteousness how Wisdom Justice and right Reason are shut up in its Nature What God doth and what we acquire by the exercise of this Vertue Chap. XI Of Goodness natural moral and divine its Nature described The benefits and Works of Goodness Chap. XII Of Holiness Its nature violence and pleasure It s beauty consisteth in the infinite love of Righteousness and Perfection Chap. XIII Of Justice in general and particular The great good it doth in Empires and Kingdoms a token of the more retired good it doth in the Soul It s several kinds That Gods punitive Justice springs from his Goodness 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 Chap. XV. Of Faith The faculty of Believing implanted in the Soul Of Nature its Objects are The necessity of Faith Its end its use and excellency It is the Mother and fountain of all the Vertues Chap. XVI Of Hope It s foundation its distinction from Faith its extents and dimensions its life and vigour its several kinds its sweetness and excellency Chap. XVII Of Repentance It s original its nature it is a purgative Vertue its necessity its excellencies The measure of that sorrow which is due to Sin is intollerable to Sence confessed by Reason and dispensed with by Mercy Chap. XVIII Of Charity towards God It sanctifieth Repentance makes it a Vertue and turns it to a part of our true Felicity Our Love to all other objects is to begin and end in God Our Love of God hath an excellency in it that makes it worthy to be desired by his eternal Majesty He is the only supream and perfect Friend by Loving we enjoy him Chap. XIX Charity to our Neighbour most natural and easie in the estate of Innocency Adams Love to Eve and his Children a great exemplar of our Love to all the World The sweetness of Loving The benefits of being Beloved To love all the World and to be beloved by all the World is perfect security and felicity Were the Law fulfilled all the World would be turned into Heaven Chap. XX. Of Prudence It s foundation is Charity its end tranquility and prosperity on Earth its office to reconcile Duty and Convenience and to make Vertue subservient to Temporal welfare Of Prudence in Religion Friendship and Empire The end of Prudence is perfect Charity Chap. XXI Encouragements to Courage It s Nature cause and end It s greatness and renown Its ornaments and Companions Its objects circumstances effects and disadvantages how Difficulties increase its vertue Its Victories and Triumphs How subservient it is to Blessedness and Glory 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
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
Splendor of the whole World would vanish upon the Extinction of the Sun And one Instants Cessation from the Emission of its Beams would be its Extinction A Soul is a more Glorious Thing than the Sun The Sphear of its Activity is far Greater and its Light more Precious All the World may be filled with the splendor of its Beams Eternity it self was prepared for it Were there but one Soul to see and enjoy all the Creatures upon the suspension of its Light all the Creation would be rendred vain Light it self is but Darkness without the Understanding THE Existence of many Souls is so far from abating the value of one that it is by reason of their multitude more useful and Excellent For the value of the Objects imputes a Lustre and Higher value to the Light wherein they are enjoyed And if Souls themselves are more excellent than all other Creatures and arewith and above all other to be enjoyed that Power whereby this Soul is able to enjoy them is more to be esteemed upon the account of those Souls than for all the other Creatures which are made for the same GOD himself and his holy Angels are Objects of the Understanding Those Felicities and Glories which the Sun cannot extend to the Soul can comprehend All which since their Fruition depends upon that Act of the Understanding by which they are considered reflect a Lustre and add a value to that Knowledge by which the Soul does attain them Whereupon it follows that the infinite value of all these is seated in the intellect and as the Power so the Act of Knowledg on which their Fruition dependeth is of infinite use and Excellency As the loss is infinite when the Soul is bereaved of them so is the mage which it suffers by failing of its Light whether that Defect be voluntary or imposed by some outward Impediment AS for the Use of Knowledge it is apparent enough For the Relation between the Use and Excellency of things is so near and intimate that as nothing Useless can be at all excellent so is every Excellence in every Being founded in its usefulness The use of Souls is as great as their Excellency The use of Knowledge as endless in Variety as in Extent and Value KNOWLEDGE is that which does illuminate the Soul enkindle Love excite our Care inspire the mind with Joy inform the Will enlarge the Heart regulate the Passions unite all the Powers of the Soul to their Objects see their Beauty understand their Goodness discern our Interest in them form our Apprehensions of them consider and enjoy their Excellences All Contentments Raptures and Extafies are conceived in the Soul and begotten by Knowledge all Laws Obligations and Rewards are understood by Knowledg All Vertues and Graces of the Mind are framed by Knowledge all Advantages are by it improved all Temptations discerned all Dangers avoided all Affairs ordered all Endowments acquired all the Ornaments of Life all the Beauties of the inward Man all the Works of Piety are affected by Knowledge In the Light of knowledge all Pleasures arise and as Fruits and Flowers are begotten in the Earth by the Beams of the Sun so do all kinds of Joy spring from the Creatures and are made ours by the help of that Knowledge that shineth on them its last Off spring are Eternal Thanksgivings and Praises The Divine Image and the Perfection of Bliss are sounded in Knowledge GOD himself dwelleth in the Soul with all his Attributes and Perfections by Knowledge By it we are made Temples of the Holy Ghost and Partakers of the Divine Nature And for this cause it is that St. Paul prayeth That we might be filled with the Knowledge of his Will in all Wisedome and Spiritual Understanding that we might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing being fruitful in every Good Work and increasing in the Knowledge of GOD strengthened with all Might according to his glorious Power unto all Patience and long-suffering with Joyfulness giving Thanks to the Father who hath made us meet to be Partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in Light who hath delivered us from the Power of Darkness and translated us into the Kingdom of his Dear Son THE Sun is a glorious Creature and its Beams extend to the utmost Stars by shining on them it cloaths them with light and by its Rayes exciteth all their influences It enlightens the Eyes of all the Creatures It shineth on forty Kingdomes at the same time on Seas and Continents in a general manner yet so particularly regardeth all that every Mote in the Air every Grain of Dust every Sand every Spire of Grass is wholly illuminated thereby as if it did entirely shine upon that alone Nor does it onely illuminate all these Objects in an idle manner its Beams are Operative enter in sill the Pores of Things with Spirits and impregnate them with Powers cause all their Emanations Odors Vertues and Operations Springs Rivers Minerals and Vegetables are all perfected by the Sun all the Motion Life and sense of Birds Beasts and Fishes dependeth on the same Yet the Sun is but a little spark among all the Creatures that are made for the Soul the Soul being the most High and Noble of all is capable of far higher Perfections far more full of Life and Vigour in its uses The Sphere of its Activity is illimited its Energy is endless upon all its Objects It can exceed the Heavens in its Operations and run out into infinite spaces Such is the extent of Knowledge that it seemeth to be the Light of all Eternity All Objects are equally near to the splendor of its Beams As innumerable millions may be conceived in its Light with a ready capacity for millions more so can it penetrate all Abysles reach to the Centre of all Nature converse with all Beings visible and invisible Corporeal and Spiritual Temporal and Eternal Created and Increated Finite and Infinite Substantial and Accidental Actual and Possible Imaginary and Real All the Mysteries of Bliss and Misery all the Secrets of Heaven and Hell are Objects of the Souls Capacity here and shall be actually seen and known hereafter WERE Almighty Power Magnified by filling Eternity with created objects and were all the Omnipresence of God full of Joys it is able when assisted by his Divine Knowledge to look upon all and tho every one of them should have an infinite Depth within an Endless variety of Uses a Relation to all the rest of the World the Soul as if it were able to contract all its strengths from all the expansions of Eternity and space and fix them upon this Moment or on this Centre intirely beholding this alone in all its fulness can see its Original its End its Operations Effects and Properties as if it had nothing to consider but this alone in a most exquisite and perfect manner IT is not to be denied that every Being in all Worlds is an Object of the Understanding
exclude GOD out of their Thoughts and Considerations Who is alone the Fountain of all the Beauty in every Vertuous Deed and the proper fulness Cause and End of all its Perfection HOW Ambitious we ought to be of Knowledge which is the Light wherein we are to adorn and compleat our selves we may learn and collect from all that is said It is rightly called the Key of Knowledge it admits us into the spacious Recesses of every Vertue openeth the Gate by which we enter into the Paths of Righteousness that lead to the Temple and Palace of Bliss Where all the Treasuries of Wisdome are exposed to the Eye of the Soul tho hidden from the World How Great and Amiable every Vertue is how Great and Perfect it may be made is only discerned by the Eye of Knowledge It is by this alone that men come to discern how full of Reason Religion is and with what Joy and Security and Sweetness it may be practised CHAP. IX Wisdom is seated in the Will it attaineth best of all possible Ends by the best of all possible Means KNOWLEDGE how excellent soever it may be conceived is without Wisdome like skill without Practice which whether it be in Musick or Painting or in any other Art as Government Navigation Preaching Judicature is altogether vain and fruitless if it be not reduced into Act and Exercise For Wisdome is that Excellent Habit of Soul by which we chuse the most Excellent End of all those which may be Known and actually prosecute it by the best Means that are conducive thereunto TO Know the best of all possible Ends and not to embrace it is the greatest folly in the World To chuse and embrace it without Endeavouring after it is a folly contending with the other for Eminence To chuse any means less then the best in Order thereunto is a new piece of solly even then when we pursue what Wisdom requires For no less than the best of all possible Means is requisite to the Acquisition of the best of all possible Ends. And by all this we discern that Wisdome is not a meer Speculation of Excellent Things but a Practical Habit by Vertue of which we actually atchieve and compleat our Happiness For it is impossible for the best of Means when they are well used to fail we may grow remiss and suspend our Endeavor which is another Kind of folly and so be diverted from the best of all possible Means by some strong Temptation or cease from using them through our own Inconstancy or yield to some Light and easie Allurement or be discouraged by some terrible Danger â—nd thus may abandon the Best of all Ends but without some such folly it can ever be lost POSSIBILITIES are innumeraâ—le so that nothing less than infinite Wisdome can find out that which is â—bsolutely the Best But when the best â—f all possible Ends is by infinite Wisdome sound out it is an Easie thing for Wisdome to discover that End to the Knowledge of others to whom it is able to communicate it self by way of Gift and Participation WHAT the best of all possible Ends is only GOD fully comprehendeth But in General it is such that it includeth all Kind of Goods in the highest Perfection infinite varieties and Degrees of Possibility turned into Act all Sweetness and Beauty Empire Dominion and Power all Riches Pleasures and Honors Victories and Triumphs and Possessions will be in it and nothing possible or Desirable be wanting to it GOD alone is the Best of all possible Ends who includeth all things in himself as then Cause and End the Perfection of his Will is his Blessedness and Glory and his Essence the only Means by which he can attain unto it By himself it is that we come unto him in a manner afterward more fully to be explained His Essencâ— is the Best of all possible Means by which he attains himself and by which he is enjoyed Our Conformity to hâ—â— Essence is our Way by a Wise Application of our Souls to that Eternal Aâ—â— which is his End THAT Sweetness and Beauty are Attributes of the best of all possible Ends is evident and clear As it is also that these must be infinite in their Degree and Measure because nothing but what is infinitely convenient is absolutely Eligible Now what is infinitely convenient is infinitely Sweet and Beautiful What is infinitely Desirable is infinitely Good because it is Agreeable to that Love wherewith every Existence intends it self and pursues its own sublime Happiness IT is easie to conceive how GOD should be the End of his Creatures but how he should really be his own End is difficult to understand Because his Creatures are Defective and have something besides themselves to aspire after but GOD from all Eternity is infinitely perfect and being all that he can be needeth nothing that he can endeavor to attain But if we consider the nature of Wisdome which is a voluntary Act we may be freed from the Despair of understanding the Mystery For Wisdome must of necessity intend it self in its Operations because it becometh Wisdome by doing the Best of all Excellent Things and doth them all that it may be Wisdome or Wise in doing them It implies Deliberation and Freedome being a Vertue seated in the Will and Understanding It implies a Power of Knowing and Chusing and Doing all Things it consisteth not in the Power of Knowing only nor in Power of Chusing nor in the Power of Doing Nothing else is Wisdome but to chuse and do what we Know is absolutely most Excellent Wisdome then is founded in the Act of Doing nay it is the Act of Doing all that is Excellent And if it be a free and voluntary Act as it must needs be because nothing is Wisdome but that which guideth it self by Counsel freely to a Known End which it discerneth to be most Excellent it implies an Ability to forbear in him that is wise by chusing to do what he might forbear Had it forborn to do what is most Excellent it had turned into folly because it had by that means lost the most Excellent End but by chusing to do all that was best it became an act of Wisdome which being most Lovely it chiefly desired to be And so by Chusing and Doing the most Excellent of Things begot it self and by it self proceeded to all its Operations which must needs be infinite if Wisdome be so because any thing less would if rested in be infinitely Defective THAT Riches and Pleasures may be infinite is evident from the Nature and extent of space which is illimited and Endless from the Omnipresence and Eternity of GOD in which there is infinite Room for innumerable varieties especially from his Wisdom and Goodness which are Infinite Treasures It appears also from his Almighty Power which is able in all Parts of his Omnipresence and Eternity to work without any Bound or Period without cessation at once to work in all Places of his
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
impossible that he by determining their Wills should make them the Authors of Righteous Actions which of all things in the World he most desired There is as much Difference between a Willing Act of the Soul it self and an Action forced on the Will determined by another as there is between a man that is dragged to the Altar whether he will or no and the man that comes with all his Heart with musick and Dancing to offer sacrifice There is Joy and Honour and Love in the one fear and constraint and shame in the other That GOD should not be able to deserve our Love unless he himself made us to Love him by violence is the Greatest Dishonour to him in the World Nor is it any Glory or Reputation for us who are such sorry Stewards that we cannot be entrusted with a little Liberty but we must needs abuse it GOD adventured the possibility of sinning into our hands which he infinitely hated that he might have the Possibility of Righteous Actions which he infinitely Loved Being a voluntary and free Agent he did without any Constraint Love and desire all that was most high and Supreamly Excellent of all Objects that are possible to be thought on his own Essence which is a Righteous Act is the Best and the Righteous Acts of Saints and Angels are the Highest and Best next that which Creatures could perform The very utmost Excellence of the most noble Created Beings consisted in Actions of piety freely wrought which GOD so Loved that for their sake alone he made Angels and Souls and all Worlds These Righteous Actions he so Loved that for their sake he prepared infinite Rewards and Punishments All the Business of his Laws and Obligations are these Righteous Actions That we might do these in a Righteous Manner he placed us in a mean Estate of Liberty and Tryal not like that of Liberty in Heaven where the Object will determine our Wills by its Amiableness but in the Liberty of Eden where we had absolute Power to do as we pleased and might determine our Wills our selves infinitely desiring and Delighting in the Righteous use of it hating and avoiding by infinite Cautions and Provisions all the unjust Actions that could spring from it If we Love Righteous Actions as he does and are holy as he is holy in all manner of Wisdome and Righteousness then shall we delight in all Righteous Actions as he doth shall Love Vertue and Wisdome as he doth and prefer the Works of Piety and Holiness above all the Miracles Crowns and Scepters in the World every Righteous and Holy Deed will be as pleasing to us as it is to him all Angels and Men will be as so many Trees of Righteousness bearing the fruit of Good Works on which we shall feast in Communion with GOD Or if our Righteous Souls be vexed as Lots Soul in Sodom was in seeing and hearing the unlawful Deeds of the wicked they shall be recreated and revived with the sight of GODS most Righteous Judgments and with the Beauty of his holy Ways by which he rectifies the Malignity of the Wicked overcomes the evil of their Deeds and turnes all the vices of men into his own Glory and ours in the Kingdome of Heaven The Delights of Wisdome and Righteousness and Holiness are suitable to their Nature as those of Goodness are to the nature of Goodness Which no man can enjoy but he that is qualified for them by the Principles of Goodness and Holiness implanted in his Nature For as he that has no Eys wanteth all the Pleasures of sight so he that has no Knowledge wanteth all the pleasures of Knowledge he that is void of Holiness is void of the Sence which Holiness inspires and he that is without Goodness must needs be without the Pleasures of Goodness for he cannot delight in the Goodness of GOD towards other Creatures To be Good to be Holy to be Righteous is freely to delight in Excellent Actions which unless we do of our own Accord no External Power whatsoever can make us Good or Holy or Righteous because no force of External Power can make us free whatever it is that invades our Liberty destroys it GOD therefore may be infinitely Holy and infinitely desire our Righteous Actions tho he doth not intermeddle with our Liberty but leaves us to our selves having no Reserve but his Justice to punish our ofences CHAP. XIII Of Justice in General and Particulars The Great Good it doth its Empires and Kingdoms a Token of the more retired Good it doth in the Soul It s several Kinds That GODS Punitive Justice Springs from his Goodness THO following the common Course of Moralists in our Distribution of Vertues we have seated Justice among the Cardinal Moral yet upon second Thoughts we find reason to reduce it to the number of Divine Vertues because upon a more neer and particular Inspection we find it to be one of the Perfections of GOD and under that notion shall discover its Excellence far more compleatly then if we did contemplate its Nature as it is limited and bounded among the Actions of Men. THE Universal Justice of Angels and Men regards all Moral Actions and Vertues whatever It is that Vertue by which we yield Obedience to all righteous and Holy Laws upon the Account of the Obligations that lye upon us for the Publick Welfare of the whole World Because we Love to do that which is Right and desire the fruition of Eternal Rewards There is much Wisdome and Goodness as well as Courage and Prudence necessary to the Exercise of this Vertue and as much need of Temperance in it as any For he that will be thus just must of necessity be Heroical in despising all Pleasure and Allurements that may soften his Spirit all fears and dangers that may discourage and divert him all inferior Obligations and Concernes that may intangle and ensnare him he must trample under foot all his Relations and friends and particular Affections so far as they incline him to partiality and sloth he must be endued with Great Wisdome to discern his End great Constancy to pursue it great Prudence to see into Temptations and Impediments and to lay hold on all Advantages and Means that may be improved he must have a Great Activity and Vigor in using them a Lively sence of his Obligations a transcendent Love to GOD and felicity a mighty Patience and Long-suffering because his Enemies are many his Condition low his Mark afar off his Business manifold his Life tho short in it self yet long to him his undertaking Weighty and his nature corrupted THEY otherwise define Justice to be that Vertue by which we render unto all their Due Which is of large Extent if the Apostles Commentary comes in for Explication For this Cause pay you Tribute also for they are GODS Ministers attending continually on this very thing Render therefore to all their Dues Tribute to whom Tribute is Due Custom to whom Custom Fear to
but the Greatest of these is Charity CHAP. XX. Of Prudence It s Foundation is Charity its End Tranquillity and Prosperity on Earth its Office to reconcile Duty and Convenience and to make Vertue subservient to Temporal Welfare Of Prudence in Religion Friendship and Empire The End of Prudence is perfect Charity CHARITY is that which entereth into every Vertue as a main Ingredient of its Nature and Perfection Love is the fountain and the End of all without which there can be no Beauty nor Goodness in any of the Vertues Love to one self Love to GOD Love to man Love to Felicity a clear and intelligent Love is the Life and Soul of every Vertue without which Humility is but Baseness Fortitude but Feirceness Patience but Stupidity Hope but Presumption Modesty but Simpering Devotion but Hypocrisie Liberality is Profuseness Knowledge vanity Meekness but a sheepish Tameness and Prudence it self but fraud and Cunning. For as all other Vertues so is prudence founded on Charity He that is not Good can never be Prudent for he can never benefit himself or others For the Designes of Prudence are to secure one self in the Exercise of every Vertue and so to order the Discharge of ones Duty as neither to hurt a mans self in his Life Estate Honour Health or Contentment nor yet to fail in the Attainment of that Worth and Beauty which will make our Lives Delightful to others and as Glorious to our selves as Beneficial and Delightful PRUDENCE hath an eye to every Circumstance and Emergence of our Lives It s Designe is to make a mans self as Great and glorious as is possible and in pleasing all the World to order and improve all Advantages without incurring the least inconvenience To reconcile our Devotion Obedience and Religion to our Interest and Prosperity in the World To shun all extreams to surmount all Difficulties to overrule all Disadvantages to discern all Opportunities and lay hold on all Occasions of doing Good to our selves It s Office is to consult and contrive and effect our own Welfare in every Occurrence that can besal us in the World and so to mingle all Vertues in the Execution of our Duties that they may relieve and aid and perfect each other in such a manner as at once to be pleasing to GOD profitable to his Creatures and to our selves To take heed that we do nothing out of Season nor be guilty of any Defect or Excess or Miscarriage All the Vertues are United by Prudence like several Pieces in a Compleat armour and disposed all like Souldiers in an Army that have their several Postes and Charges or like the several Orders and Degrees in a Kingdom where there are Variety of Trusts services to be done and every Man has his Office assigned by the King and knows his own work and is fitted for the same FOR as no one man is sufficient for all the same person cannot be chief Priest in the Temple and General in the Army and Admiral at Sea c. So neither can every Vertue serve for all purposes but there must be several Vertues for several Ends. AS the King ordereth and directeth all his Officers and subjects in their several Places if they do their duty in their own sphere the Great End is attained by all which no one of them alone was able to Effect so here one Vertues supplies the Defects of another and tho every one of them moves in his own Precincts and does not at all intermeddle with anothers charge yet the Work is done as effectually as if any one Vertue did all alone WHILE all the Vertues conspire to supply what is wanting in each other Prudence is the general Overseer and Governour of all which while every single Vertue is ignorant of what the other are doing fits and proportions the subservient Ends to which every one of these Directeth its Care and Labour and Skill to the Great and last End of all the intire Perfection and Glory of the Kingdome So that here upon Earth Prudence seemeth to be the King of Vertues because we have such a Multiplicity of Concernes and Affairs to look after that it is impossible for any one Vertue but Prudence alone to attend them all THIS discovereth the Excellency of Vertue detected a very great Error to which we are liable while we are prone imprudently to expect more from any Vertue than it is able to perform We are apt to believe that in every Vertue there is an infinite Excellency And this great Expectation of ours is a good opinion of Vertue yet turneth not seldome to its Disgrace and Infamy For when we look upon any single Vertue and see it so Defective that it scarce answereth one of many Ends because we find our selves deceived in our expectation of its perfection and the Service of that Vertue so Curt and narrow which we thought to be infinite we are distasted at its Insufficiency and prone to slight it as a poor inconsiderable Business infinitly short of our Hopes and expectations Nay and to be discouraged from the practice of it because we find it attended with many Difficulties and inconveniences which it is not able to remedy or answer Thus are we deterred from Liberality for fear of the Poverty to which it exposeth us from Meekness because it encourageth all People to trample us under feet from Holiness because it is scorned and hated in the World from Fortitude and Courage because of the Perils and Hazzards that attend it from self-Denial because of the Displeasures we do to our selves in crossing our Appetite Nay sometimes men are so wicked as to hate to be obliged for fear of the Inconveniences of Gratitude and are much Prejudiced against Fidelity and Love and Truth and Constancy For all these Vertues can answer but one exigence for which they are prepared especially in our Daily Conversation with men and a mistake in one of them doth expose us to more Inconveniences then its Benefit is worth THIS is the Offence and the Truth is no Vertue is of any Value as cut off from the rest We may as well expect all Beauty in a Nose divided from the Face or an eye pluckt out of the head all Perfection in an Ear or a tongue cut off all serviceableness in a Hand or Foot dismembred from the Body as a full and perfect Security from any one Vertue whatsoever If one were sufficient the rest would be Superfluous Mans Empire and Dominion would be a very narrow Thing at least a very Empty and Shallow thing if any one Vertue were enough for his Felicity As his Exigencies and Concerns are Innumerable so are his Cares and Endowments his Honors and Pleasures his Offices and Employments his Vertues and Graces His Offices and his Vertues must be at least so many as will serve to regulate all his Concerns And if any be so comprehensive as to cure many Exigencies at the same time his Vertues are the Greater
in force and Extent but the fewer in Number Their perfect sufficiency is to be measured by the ends for which they are prepared and their Beauty Consists like that of an Army with Banners in the Proportion and Symmetry of the entire Body the mutual Supplies and Succors they afford to one another the Unity of such a Great Variety of things in order to the Attainment of the same great and ultimate end the full and compleat Number of Offices and inferior Ends and the Extream Providence wherewith they are reducible to one supream End which is most High and Excellent It is enough for the Ear if it can hear well tho it is no more able to See or Taste than a Stone it is enough for the eye to see well tho it is no more sensible of Noise then a Rock or a Tree The Office of the Tongue is to Tast well of the Nostril to smell well c. and there is no Defect in any of these because they are every one sufficient for its own immediate end and also tempered and united together that the rest are Supplies to make up the Defect of every single Sence and Organ and altogether perfectly subservient to the whole Man for whose sake they were prepared that he might enjoy the benefit of them all The eye sees for the Ear and the Tongue and all the rest of the Members of the Body the foot supports and carries the eye the hand defends and feeds the Eye the Ear instructs and Counsels the Eye the Nostrils smell for the eye and the Tongue tasts and talks for the Eye which the eye cannot do for it self because it was made to need the assistance of the rest the eye directs all these in Liew of their Services and is of far greater Value then if a man had no other Member but an eye alone For the Eye is the Light of all the members and Great in its Relation to the whole man It sees for the Ear and the Hand and for all and is to all these after some manner Beneficial but without these would be to no purpose There is an infinite Excellency in every Vertue but it is to be sought in its Relation to all the Rest. It is Good for nothing in its Place but for that Particular End to which it is assigned in attaining that end it is subservient to all other Vertues and while it serves all is aided by all The other Virtues remedie the inconveniences to which this doth expose us and being all joyned together earry us safely and securely to our Last end Because the Influence of every one passeth thorow all every single Vertue is Pleasing to God and a means in its place of our whole Felicity The Beauty of all the Vertues is to be sought in Prudence for there they meet in an intire Body their Correspondence and convenience their Symmetry and proportion their Unity and Variety their ful and perfect Harmony makes up the features of the Soul and compleats its Graces just as the Diversity of Members perfects the Body Knowledge gives Light to Love but Love gives Warmth and Feeling to Knowledge Love may perhaps like a Separate Soul dwell in Heaven alone and yet even then it must include all Knowledge and Righteousness and Wisdome and Holiness for if Love know not how to guide it self it will never attain its End nor be a perfect Vertue But here upon Earth t is like the Soul in the Body it must Eat and Drink and see and hear as a thousand Works to do and therefore standeth in need of many Vertues Love without Goodness is perhaps a Thing impossible because it always designs well But Love without Wisdome is a Common Thing for such is all that mistakes its End Love without Discretion is a mischievious Thing Love without Prudence an Helpless Thing Love without Courage a feeble and Cowardly Thing Love without Modesty an impudent and Troublesome Thing Love without the Fear of GOD is Lust and Wantonness and if the most Great and Glorious of all the Vertues stands in need of all its Companions The less and inferior must needs be lame and maimed without the residue especially without the Superior UPON this account it is that so much Care and Study goes to the making up of a Vertuous man All kind of Vertues must concur to Compleat his Perfection The Want of any one Denominates a Vice and makes him Vicious Nay the Want of any one destroys the form and Essence of the rest Vertue is not Vertue but in order to felicity If it hath lost its force it hath lost its Nature As a little Poyson turnes the best Meat from Nourishment into Poyson so doth one Vice cherished and allowed corrupt and viciate all the Vertues in the whole World Hence it is that the Phylosophers say all the Vertues are linked together in the golden Chain of Prudence And that a Thing is made Good by all its Causes Evil by the least Defect For as one Tooth wanting in a Clock makes all the other wheels and Materials Useless tho the frame be never so Elaberate and Curious so doth the abscence of the smallest Vertue make void and frustrate all the residue A man of a Kind and Bountiful Disposition that is loose and intemperate may ruine his Estate and dye like a Prodigal and vain-glorions fool A stout Couragious person that is proud and debauched will be little better then a Souldierly Russian and Live if not like a Thief for Want of Honesty yet like a Swaggering Hector for Want of Discreetion A Man endued with all Kind of Learnning may be Morose and Covetous and by one Vice lose all the Benefit of his Education A Religious Votary that is Splenetick and Revengeful brings a Disgrace upon his whole Profession But he that is Wise and Learned and Holy and Just and Temperate and Couragious and Kind and Liberal and Meek and Humble and Affable and Cheerful and Prudent and Industrious shall be serviceable and Honourable and delightful to others profitable to himself and alwayes Triumphant Especially if he be so discreet and Prudent as to make all these Vertues move like the Stars in their Courses and knows how to apply and manage their Excellencies in their due and proper places upon all occasions for they are so many different in nature that some of their Influences will hit every business and all of them together pass a Grace and Lustre upon each other so Divine and Heavenly that they will make their owner Venerable in the Eys of the World and correct the Malignity of the most injurious and Censorious Which moved our Saviour to exhort us to be Wise as Serpents Innocent as Doves to joyn many Vertues together And occasioned that of the Apostle He that will love Life and see good Days let him refrain his Tongue from Evil and his Lips that they speak no Guile let him eschew Evil and do Good let him seek Peace and
the World are regulated they are as our Savour calleth them Good or Evil Treasures out of which proceeds Murders Adulteries Thefts Slanders c. Or Praises Honours Preferments Riches Pleasures all kind of Gifts and Benefits And the prudent mans main Business is to make himself intirely beloved by all the World which can never be without great Fidelity Courage Goodness Prudence and Dexterity Flattery and Base compliances makes a man Odious THE Last End of prudence is Eternal Happiness and Glory to which it moveth by crooked Meanders and windings out as occasion requireth It is a strange Vertue for its Conversant amongst Terrene and inferior Objects and yet a far more Difficult Vertue then Wisdom it self Wisdome is a more High and Heavenly Vertue but its Rules are always fixed and its objects Stable where as Prudence hath no set and Stated Rules but in all occasions is to mould and shape it selfe it knows not which way till it comes to Action Its Paths are in the Deep and mighty Waters among Storms and tempests CHAP. XXI Encouragements to Courage It s Nature cause and End Its Greatness and Renown Its Ornaments and Companions Its objects Circumstances Effects and Disadvantages how Difficulties increase its vertue It s Verand Triumphs How subservient it is to Blessedness and Glory LOVE and Prudence are the parents of Courage A Feeble Hen a Timerous Mother will Sacrifice their Lives for their young ones And he that forgetteth all his own Interests divests himself together with them of his Fears and despising Death first easily slighteth all other Things Even a Coward by Nature is made more Bold and confident by Skill at his weapon And he that is always assured of the Victory can never be afraid of the Encounter or the Enemy He that is Dexterâ—ous at the use of all Vertues and knows how to apply them so as ever to come off more honourably will laugh at the Trial of his own Innocence and make a Game of Difficulties and Terrors VALOUR is a right and strong Resolution of the Soul whereby it dare encounter with any Difficulty and Trouble for Vertues sake It is the Armour of the Soul against all Impressions of Fear its Effect is an Equal and uniform stayedness of Mind against all Dangerous and Terrible Accidents It containeth Magnanimitie Patience Constancy Invincible Resolution Boldness and Industry in its Nature It s cause is the Love of Vertue and the sence of Honour Indignation against any thing that is Base and vile a High Ambition and desire of Glory It s End is the preservation of a Mans person and Honesty the Conquest of all Opposition in the Way to Bliss the Destruction or Subjection of Enemies Triumph and Conquest the Establishment of Peace the Attainment of Liberty and Glory Its Attendants are Prudence Justice and Temperance the principal Ornament and Grace of valour is Worth and Goodness its Aids and Encouragements are insinite it groweth Great and High by making use of all the Causes of Hope and Confidence Conflicts and Dangers are the Element in which it lives It owns its whole being to them for without Causes of Fear there could be no courage in all Nature The Knowledge of GOD is the root of Divine Valour and Fidelity to his Laws its Commendation The Assurance of his Love and all those Things that serve to beget and confirm it are subservient to it It draws in strength and Encouragements form all Obligations and Rewards from all Great and Holy examples from the Knowledge of its own Sublimity from the Greatness of Felicity from the Omnipotence and Omnipresence and Providence of the Deity from his Truth and Goodness and from all those Things wherein he has manifested his Love above the Heavens OF all the Vertues in greatest Estimation this is most renowned For its Prerogative is so great that it is simply called VERTUE Vertue being the Word to express and signifie Valour among the Latines because the Force and Efficacy that is in it is most visible and Apparent and by that all other Vertues are secured vindicated Exercised and made Useful It is stiled Manhood among the English with a peculiar Emphasis As is the Essence of a man was founded in Courage because his Vigor is emasculated and his Dignity lost that is Effeminate and Timerous for he is scarce a Man that is a Coward WHAT a Glorious and incomparable Vertue this is appeareth from the Baseness and Ineptitude of its Contrary A Coward and an Honest Man can never be the same a Coward and a constant Lover can never be the same a Coward and a Brave Man can never be the same Cowardice and Wisdome are as incompatible forever as Love and Wisdom were thought toâ— be of Old A Coward is always despicable and Wretched because he dares not expose himself to any Hazzards nor adventure upon any Great Attempt for fear of some little Pain and Damage that is between him and an Excellent Atchievment He is baffled from the Acquisition of the most Great and Beautiful Things and non plust with every Impediment He is conquered before he begins to fight The very sight of Danger makes him a Slave He is undone when he sees his Enemy a far off and wounded before the Point of the Sword can touch his shadow He is all wayes a Terror and Burden to himself a Dangerous Knave and an useless Creature STRANGE is the Vigour in aâ— Brave Mans Soul The Strength of his Spirit and his irresistible Power the Greatness of his Heart and the Height of his Condition his mighty Confiedence and Contempt of Dangers his true Security and Repose in himself his Liberty to dare and do what he pleaseth his Alacrity in the midst of Fears his invincible Temper are advantages which make him Master of Fortune His Courage fits him for all Attempts renders him serviceable to GOD and MAN and makes him the Bulwark and Defence of his King and Country LET those Debauched and unreasonable men that deny the Existence of Vertue contemplate the Reality of its Excellency here and be confounded with shame at their Prodigious Blindness Their Impiety designs the Abolishment of Religion and the utter Extirpation of all Faith and Piety while they pretend the Distinction between Vertue and Vice to be meerly feigned for the Awing of the World and that their Names have no foundation in Nature but the Craft of Politicians and the Tradition of their Nurses Are there no Base fellows nor Brave Men in the World Is there no difference between a Lion and a Hare a faint hearted Coward and a Glorious Heroe It s there Nothing Brave nor vile in the world What is become of these Rodomontadoes wits Where is the boasted Glory of their Personal Valour if there be no Defference but Courage and Cowardize be the same thing HOW empty these Self but shallow conceited Ranters are is evident by their short and narrow measures They place all Gallantry and Worth in Valour all the
Vertue of a man they think seated in this They forget that Policy and Learning and Prudence and Gratitude and Fidelity and Temperance and Industry and compassion and Bounty and Affability and Courtesie and Modesty and Justice and Honesty are Vertues and that in every one of these there is something fitting a Man for the Benefit of the World Nay they have lost the Notion of Vertue and know not what it is Those things by which a man is made serviceable to himself and the World they think not to be Vertues but imagineâ— Chimeraes which they cannot see then deny they have any Existence A Man is capable of far more Glorious Qualities then one of them And his Courage it self may be raised to far higher Ends and purposes then Buffoons and Thrasonical Heroes can dream of IT is to be noted here that any one of those Things that are called Vertue being alone is not a Vertue It is so far from aiding and setting us forward in the Way to Happiness that oftentimes it proveth a Great and intollerable Mischief and is never safe but when it is corrected and guided by the rest of its Companions To stir no further then Courage alone What is Courage in a Thief or a Tyrant or a Traytor but like Zeal and Learning in a pernicious Heretick YOU may note further that Goodness is a principal Ingredient in the excellency of this Vertue tho it be distinct in its Nature from the Being of Courage A brave man will expose his Life in an Honest cause for the Benefit and preservation of others tho not for the Dammage or Destruction of any He will slight his own safety and despise his Repose to make himself a Saviour and a Benefactor A true Courage holdeth Vertuous Actions at such a Price that Death Imprisonment Famine Dishonour Poverty Shame Indignation all Allurements and Temptations are nothing compared to the Performance of Heroick Deeds He exceedeth all constraint and walketh in the Glorious Liberty of the Sons of GOD. THE last note which I shall offer to your Observation on this Occasion is this for the Illustration of the Reason and excellency of GODS Dispensations The Great End for which GOD was pleased not to seat us immediately in the Throne but to place us first in an estate of Trial was the Multiplication of our Vertues For had we been seated in the Glory of Heaven at the first there had no such Vertues as Patience and Courage and Fidelity been seen no Faith or Hope or Meekness no Temparance or Prudence or self Denial in the World Which Vertues are the very clothes and Habits of the Soul in Glory The Graces and Beauties of the Soul are founded in the exercise of them Actions pass not away but are fixed by the permanent Continuance of all Eternity and tho done never so long ago shall appear before the Eye of the Soul for ever in their places be the Glory of their Author the Lineaments and Colours of his Beauty seen by GOD and his holy Angels and Delightful to all that love and delight in worthy things Our Life upon Earth being so diversified like a Sphere of Beauty so variously adorned with all sorts of Excellent Actions shall wholly and at once be seen as an intire Object rarely and curiously wrought a Lively Mirror of the Nature of the Soul and all the Elements of which it is compounded all the Parts that conspire in its Symetry all the Qualities Operations and Perfections that contribute to its Glory shall afford wonder and pleasure to all Spectators While every Soul shall be concerned more in its Actions then in its Essence indeed its Essence how ever considerable is of little or no Value in Comparison of its Operations Every Vertue being the Natural Off-spring and production of the Soul in which its Vigor principally appeareth an effect discovering the Nature of the cause and the sole occasion of its shame or Glory For if the Essence of the Soul be all Power and its power exerted in its operation the Soul must needs enter into its Actions and consequently be affected with all that befalls its Operation All Acts are Immortal in their places being enbalmed as it were by Eternity till the Soul revive and be united to them Then shall it appear in its own Age and in eternity too in its last life enjoying the Benefit of its first And in that sence is that voice from Heaven to be understood which commanded the Divine to write Blessed are they that die in the Lord from henceforth yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their Labours and their Works do follow them For the Glory of the place is nothing to us if we are not endued with those Glorious Habits which will make our Souls all Glorious within We must be Glorious and Illustrious our selves and appear in Actions that will Beautifie the Throne to which we are exalted THAT these Actions may be Great and Amiable manifold and Excellent is the desire of every soul the natural Wish and Expectation both of Reason it self and of self Love HOW Glorious the Counsel and Design of GOD is for the Archieving of this Great End for the making of all Vertues more compleat and Excellent and for the Heightening of their Beauty and Perfection we will exemplifie here in the Perfection of Courage For the Hieght and depth and Splendor of every Vertue is of great Concernment to the Perfection of the Soul since the Glory of its Life is seated in the Accomplishment of its essence in the Fruit it yeildeth in its Operations Take it in Verse made long ago upon this occasion For Man to Act as if his Soul did see The very Brightness of Eternity For Man to Act as if his Love did burn Above the Spheres even while its in its Urne For Man to Act even in the Wilderness As if he did those Sovereign Joys possess Which do at once confirm stir up enflame And perfect Angels having not the same It doth increase the Value of his Deeds In this a Man a Seraphim exceeds To Act on Obligations yet unknown To Act upon Rewards as yet unshewn To keep Commands whose Beauty 's yet unseen To cherish and retain a Zeal between Sleeping and Waking shews a constant care And that a deeper Love a Love so Rare That no Eye Service may with it compare The Angels who are faithful while they view His Glory know not what themselves would do Were they in our Estate A Dimmer Light Perhaps would make them erre as well as We And in the Coldness of a darker Night Forgetful and Lukewarm Themselves might be Our very Rust shall cover us with Gold Our Dust shall sprinkle while their Eyes behold The Glory Springing from a feeble State Where meer Belief doth if not conquer Fate Surmount and pass what it doth Antedate THE Beatifick Vision is so sweet and Strong a Light that it is impossible for any thing that Loves it self
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
or too dull or too feeble and impertinent but all its faults are avoided by a fit Temperance of Words and Materials Temperance every where yields the Pleasure And Excess is as destructive as Defect in any Accomplishment whatsoever Vertue being seated in the Golden Mean It is by an Artificial limiting of Power that every Thing is made as it ought to be Compleat and Perfect All kind of Excellence in every sort of Operation springs from Temperance A curious Picture a melodious Song a delicious Harmony by little invisible motions of the Pen or Pencil or by Ductures scarce perceivable in the throat or fingers finisheth the Work where Art is the only power of performing WE know that upon Mens Actions far more does depend than upon Dancing and Painting their Wisdom and Vertue their Honour Life and Happiness And therefore more Care ought to be exhibited in the Actions of which their Conversation is made up and accomplished In their Meats and Drinks and Recreations it is apparent that without Temperance there can be no Success or Order The best Wine in the World makes him that is lavish in the use of it a Sot The most wholsom and delicious Meat upon Earth by excess in eating may turn to a Surfeit If Sports and Recreations take up all a mans Time his Life is unprofitable their End is lost and their Nature changed for instead of recruiting they consume ones Strength and instead of sitting a Man for it devour his Calling AN exact hand over all our Passions and a diligent Eye to extravagant Actions tend much to our Welfare Repose and Honour Loose and impertinent Laughter excessive Cost in Apparel a Lascivious wandering of the Eyes an ungoverned Boldness which turns into Impudence an extremity of Fear which degenerates into Baseness a Morose and sour Disposition Anxiety and needless Care immodest and violent strivings after Things we too eagerly desire inordinate Love too keen and bitter Resentments a fierce and raging Anger a blockish Stupidity a predominant Humour of Melancholy too much Sloth and too much Activity too much Talk and too much Silence all these are diligently to be ordered and avoided for upon the right Temperament of these we are made Acceptable and Amiable and being so are full of Authority and can do within the compass of Vertue and Reason all that we desire among our Friends and Companions for our own good or the benefit of others And by this means also we shall be admitted to the society and friendship of Great men where a Nod or a Word is able to prevail more than the strength of Oxen and Horses among the dregs of the People But for lack of tempering these Ingredients aright and as we ought we become odious and insupportable lose all Esteem and Interest are rejected and trampled under feet as vicious and deformed HERE you may observe that all the qualities and dispositions in Nature are ingredients and materials in our Lives and Conversations and for the most part it is their Excess or Defect that makes the miscarriage when we erre in the Measure There is a certain mixture of Gravity and Chearfulness Remisness and Severity Fear and Boldness Anger and Complacency Kindness and Displeasure Care and Carelesness Activity and Idleness Joy and Sorrow Forwardness and Reservedness nay of Envy Pride and Revenge in every Mans life as well as of Selfishness and flowing Courtesie Plainness and Policy at least the grounds of these things which are neither Vertues nor Vices in themselves yet make Conversation transcendently Vertuous when they are wisely tempered and united together I do not look upon Ambition and Avarice nay nor upon Envy and Revenge as things that are evil in their root and fountain If they be Temperance has a strange vertue in its Nature for as Chymists make Antidotes of Poysons so doth this vertue turn the Matter of all these into a Quintessential perfection Nay Selfishness and Pride it self escape not its influence A little touch of something like Pride is seated in the true sence of a mans own Greatness without which his Humility and Modesty would be contemptible Vertues In all baseness of Mind there is a kind of folly and Cowardice apparent and more veneration follows an humble Man that is sensible of his Excellency An aiery Humor without something of the Melancholy to ballast it a little would be light and trifling And a melancholy Humor without something of Air and Jovialness in it too sour and disobliging Anger without Softness is like untemper'd Steel brittle and destructive and a plyant Humor without some degree of stiffness too near to Flattery and Servility Anger is the matter and fuel of Courage and its appearance afar off puts a Majesty into Meekness that makes it redoubted A sorrowful Humor neatly allayed with a mixture of sweetness begets a tenderness and compassion in the Spectator that turns into a deeper and more serious Love A little Selfishness puts our Companions in mind of our own Interest and makes them perceive that we understand it which adds a lustre to our Self-denial and renders our Liberality more safe and precious Plainness without Policy is downright Simplicity and Policy without Plainness void of Honesty The one makes us Crafty and renders us suspected the other exposes us and makes us Ridiculous but both united are venerable and prudent By the appearance of Revenge in its shady Possibility a man that never does other than Actually forgive does oblige for what is past yet threaten and discourage from the like Offences All these are the Subjects of Temperance A little spice of Jealousie and Emulation are advantagious in the midst of our Security and Resignation They give a relish to our Confidence in and Prelation of others and make our Security and Civility taste of our Love to the Person we prefer and of our Love to Vertue There is not one Humor nor Inclination nor Passion nor Power in the Soul that may not be admitted to act its part when directed by Temperance NOR is it unlawful to alter the Natural Complexion by Care and Study I know very well that the Complexion of the Body can hardly be changed by the strongest Physick and that Choler and Phlegm and abundance of Blood will where they are have their Natural Course without any remedy But the Humors of the Soul are more tractable things they are all subject to the Will in their operations and though they incline yet they cannot act but by consent and permission I know furthermore that Custom and Habit is a Second Nature what was difficult at first becomes at last as easie in its Exercise as if it were innate and that the Soul of a Vertuous man does in process of time act by a new Disposition I know further that all vertuous Operations are free and voluntary and that the office of Vertue is to correct and amend an Evil Nature Let no man therefore be disgusted because a Made-up man is
Artificial and not Natural for when the Conversation is sincerely guided to a good End the more free and voluntary it is it is the more Noble the more Industry and Desire a man expresses in attaining all these measures and perfections they are the more Vertuous and the Probity of his Will is to be the more accepted For Vertues are not effects of Nature but Choice Which how free soever it may appear is as stable as the Sun when founded on Eternal principles it secures any Friend in the good and amiable Qualities he desires in his Beloved as much as Nature it self could do though they depend upon the Will which is capable of changing every moment This of Temperance in the Government of our Humors I shall add but one Note more and that is That a wise man discards the Predominancy of all Humors and will not yield himself up to the Empire of any for he is to live the life of Reason not of Humor Nor will he have any Humor of his own but what he can put off and on as he sees occasion He will cleave eternally to the Rules of Vertue but will comply in his Humor so far as to make his conversation sweet and agreeable to every Temper Religion and Charity as well as Courtesie and Civility prompt to this and where these concur with his Reason and favour his Interest he may well do what S. Paul taught him become all things to all men that he might gain some And this encouragement he hath A man by sacrificing his own may comply with the satisfaction of all the World and find his own far more great and honourable and sweet and amiable in the End far more high and blessed in the Love and Esteem he shall obtain thereby than if he had gratified his first inclination without any respect to the Prelation of others It will bring him to the fruition of Pleasures far greater than those he despised TEMPERANGE in the full composition and use of Vertues is far more sublime and more immediately approacheth the end of Vertue than any Temperance in Meats and Drinks It is resident nearer the Throne of Felicity and seateth us by her You may see its Task as it is prescribed in Prudence But for Example sake we will instance it in Meekness which of all the Vertues is the most weak and naked A meek Spirit receiveth its Temper its encouragement strength and facility from the union and concurrence of all the Vertues Knowledg is its light and Love the principle of its life and motion Wisdom guideth it to the highest End Righteousness is a great incentive thereunto while it teacheth us to esteem the favour of God and the excellency of those Souls whose value maketh us tender of their Repose and prone to honour them with a due esteem as well as to desire their peace and salvation Holiness maketh us to delight in our Duty Goodness inclines us to sacrifice our own to the welfare of others Mercy leads us to pity their Infirmities and more to compassionate their Misery than to be provoked with their Distemper Justice makes us to pay our Saviours Love and Merits what we owe unto him All these establish the habit of Meekness in our Souls Fortitude does several waies conspire thereunto for it makes us to adventure upon any Trouble that we can fall into thereby and puts a lustre upon us in the act of Meekness Patience habituates the Soul to Afflictions and makes our sence of Injuries easie Repentance minds us of other employments than Anger and Revenge even a contrite Sorrow for our own Offences Humility gives us a sence of our own Unworthiness and a willingness to be yet more low than our Enemies can make us It inclines us also to confess that we have deserved far worse and more bitter Evils and to despise our selves which when we truly do no Injuries or Wrongs can move us Faith carries us up to higher Enjoyments Hope hath respect to the promised Reward Our Love towards GOD enflames us with Desire to please him Charity to our Neighbour is prone to forgive him Prudence teacheth us to expect no Figs from Thorns nor better entertainment from Briars and Brambles but rather to right our selves by improving their Wrongs and to turn their Vices into our Vertues Magnanimity despiseth the Courtship of Worms and scorneth to place its rest and felicity in Trifles Liberality is industrious to find out occasions of Obliging and Conquering Contentment is fed by higher Delights and beautifies our Meekness with a chearful Behaviour Magnificence carries us to the most high and illustrious Deeds and by very great and expensive Methods to multiply favours and benefits on our Beloved for all are our Beloved whether Friends or Enemies Temperance it self takes off the stupidity and sluggishness of our Meekness puts activity and vigour into it that it may not be a Sleepish but Heroick Vertue nay adorns secures and perfects it by the Addition and Exercise of all these and by giving to every other Vertue its Form and Perfection makes them more fit and able to aid and assist us here It moderates our Passions and puts a better dose of Life into our Consideration If there be any other Virtue it is not so remote but that it may lend us its helping hand and be subservient to the perfection of our Love and Meekness Which however simple it may appear in Solitude is very strong and irresistable amazing as far from Contempt as the Sun is from Darkness when it is animated with Courage and made illustrious by Love enriched with Liberality and made bright by Knowledg guided by Wisdom to the highest End and by Prudence to well-known and advantagious tho inferiour Purposes When the Soul appeareth neither foolish nor Cowardly nor base nor soft but High and Magnanimous in its Operation Meekness is redoubted IN the Throne of Glory all the acts of Faith and Hope and Repentance shall be for ever perfected or swallowed up in fruition The fruit of all occasional and transient Vertues shall remain the Divine Vertues shall be so firmly united that in their Act and Exercise they shall be one for ever By Knowledg we shall see all that the light of Heaven and Eternity can reveal By Love we shall embrace all that is amiable before GOD and his holy Angels By Wisdom we shall use the most glorious Means for the attainment and enjoyment of the highest End which is GOD in all his Joys and Treasures in the use of those Means we must actually enjoy all Blessedness and Glory Righteousness and Holiness and Goodness and Charity shall with all the rest be the Lineaments and Colours of the Mind the Graces and Beauties of the blessed Soul They shall shine upon its face and it self shall be glorious in the perfection of their Beauty as GOD is It s Goodness shall make it a fountain of Delights to all the other Creatures It shall be all Humility yet all
Enjoyment Amazed at its own Nothingness and Vileness yet ravished with wonder and the height of its Felicity For the lower it is in its own Eyes the more Great doth the Goodness of GOD appear and the more transcendently Sweet is its Adoration and Satisfaction By its Gratitude it sacrifices it self Eternally to the Deity and taketh more pleasure in his Glory than its own It is all Godliness and Contentment All these Vertues are exercised together in the state of Glory not so much by our own Temperance as by the Infusion of his most Heavenly Grace who fills us with his own Fulness and Perfection by way of Reward and causing us to enter into his Eternal Rest maketh us to cease from our own Works as he also did from his by inspiring us with his own Wisdom Life and Strength and actuating all our Powers by his own for ever That we by vertue of his Grace infused may live in the Image of his Eternal Moderation and attain that extremity of Bliss and Glory which he hath exceeding his Almighty Power by an exquisite and mysterious Temperance in all his Operations Divinely attained CHAP. XXIII Of Temperance in GOD. How the Moderation of Almighty Power guided in its Works by Wisdom perfecteth the Creation How it hath raised his own Glory and our Felicity beyond all that Simple Power could effect by its Infiniteness IF Moderation hath such happy effects in Men where the Strength is small the Wisdom little the Matter base the Occasion low as in divers Instances it is manifest it hath how glorious must this Vertue be where the Power is Almighty the Wisdom Infinite the Subject-Matter Perfect the End and the Occasion most Divine and Glorious IT would seem a strange Paradox to say That Almighty Power could not exist without Infinite Wisdom but it is infinitely true For the Wisdom and Power of GOD are one No Blind Power can be Almighty because it cannot do all that is Excellent That Power would without Wisdom be Blind is as evident as the Sun the want of that being as great an impediment to its Operations as the lack of Eyes is to a Man upon Earth which so Eclipseth and darkneth his Power that he cannot perform those excellent Works to which Light is necessary There is no Blind Power in GOD and therefore no Power distinct from his Understanding By his Wisdom he made the Heavens by his Understanding be established the Earth By his knowledge the Depths are broken up and the Clouds drop down the Dew Wisdom is the Tree of Life which beareth all the fruits of Immortality and Honour Inartificial Violence will never carry it There is a Mark to be hit and that is in every thing what is most fair and eligible It may be miss'd as much by shooting over it as by falling short of it Naked Power cannot tell what to propose as its Aim and Object Only that which is able to contrive is able to effect its Desire in the Work it conceiveth most fit and excellent for its Power to perform IT is a stranger Paradox yet That Power limited is Greater and more Effectual than Power let loose for this importeth that Power is more infinite when bounded than Power in its utmost liberty But that which solveth the Riddle and removeth the Inconvenience is our Assurance of this That GOD can do nothing but what is Wise and that his Wisdom therefore is all his Power And of this it followeth That nothing is possible with GOD but what is infinitely Excellent for to do any thing less than the Best is unwise and being so is contrary to the Nature of Wisdom which is his Power THE Will of GOD is his Wisdom By the meer Motion of his Will he Created all things and therefore it is his Power his Power and his Wisdom meet in his Will and are both the same By his Word he made the Worlds and his Eternal Word is his Eternal Wisdom ALL this I speak because it is the Office of Wisdom to propose the most excellent End and to pursue it by the most efficacious Means And because the Wisdom of GOD will be found one with his Eternal Moderation THE utmost End of all that is aimed at is indeed illimited It is the Best and Greatest Thing that infinite and Eternal Wisdom could conceive but being out of all measure High and Excellent it includeth innumerable Varieties that are shut up in bounds for their greater Perfection Whereupon it followeth that GOD hath attained a more excellent Effect than if he had made any one Thing singly infinite HIS Love being Infinite and Eternal in sacrificing it self in all its Works for its Objects welfare became an infinite and eternal Act Which was not contented unless in all its Works it added Art unto Power and exerted its Wisdom in all its Productions Had it made one Infinite some are of Opinion it had exceeded it self at least done all that was possible both for it self and for its Object and that one Infinite being so Created must be its only Object For more than Infinite what can be We are apt to think that nothing can be beside But to shew that GOD is infinitely more than what we conceive while we think him infinite and that we infinitely wrong him while we limit his Essence to one single Infinity Who is every way Infinite in Himself in all his Works in all his Waies in all his Counsels in every one of his Perfections He hath made every thing either Infinite or better than so For by variety of Effects he hath attained an End in the Beauty and Correspondence of all his Productions far more Amiable and Divine than any one Effect is capable of being All Things by a kind of Temperance are made and ordered in Number Weight and Measure so that they give and receive a Beauty and Perfection every thing to and from all the residue of inestimable value in relation to the Goodness and Love of their Creator I doubt not but GOD would his Wisdom have permitted such a thing could have made an infinite Object For whereever GOD is he is able to Act and his Omnipresence is infinite Wisdom and Power which filling Infinity is able to exert it self beyond all the bounds of Space in an infinite Manner all at once If it so do it cannot rest in a less Attainment than one that answers the measure of its Operation if it did that Attainment would be infinitely defective For infinite Wisdom could certainly conceive one infinitely Better But this I will aver that GOD hath wrought abundantly more than if he had made any one single Effect of his Power infinite He hath wrought a Work that pleaseth him infinitely Better and so will it please us when we are Wise as he is HAD he made any one single Infinite it must be either Corporeal or Spiritual Be it either there is room enough in his Understanding and Omnipresence to receive it Empty
and Eternal Reason The similitude of which Reason being the Essence of the Soul all these things fall out for our glory and satisfaction also NOW if GOD himself acquired all his Joyes by Temperance and the glory of his Kingdom is wholly founded in his Moderation We may hope that our Moderation and Temperance in its place may accomplish Wonders and lead us to the fruition of his by certain steps and degrees like those that are observed in the Womb towards Manhood and in the School of our Childhood towards perfect Learning TOO much Rain or too much Drought will produce a Famine the Earth is made fertile by a seasonable mixture of Heat and Moisture Excess of Power may overwhelm but moderation is that which perfecteth and blesseth the Creation ALMIGHTY Power is carried far beyond it self or really is made Almighty by vertue of that Temperance wherein Eternal Wisdom is eternally Glorified IF any thing be wanting to the full demonstration of the perfection of GODS Kingdom it is the consideration of his Delay for we are apt to think he might have made it Eternally before he did But to this no other Answer is necessary though many might be made then that all Things were from all Eternity before his Eyes and he saw the fittest Moments wherein to produce them and judged it fit in his Wisdom first to fill Eternity with his deliberations and Counsels and then to beautifie Time with the execution of his Decrees For were there no more to be said but this his Empire is eternal because all Possibilities nay and all Impossibilities are subject to his Will But if it be confessed that Eternity is an everlasting Moment infinite in duration but permanent in all its parts all Things past present and to come are at once before him and eternally together Which is the true Reason why Eternity is a standing Object before the Eye of the Soul and all its parts being full of Beauty and Perfection for ever to be enjoyed IF any man be disposed to cavil further and to urge that GOD might at the very first have placed Angels and Men in the state of Glory the Reply is at hand that GOD very well understandeth the beauty of Proportion that Harmony and Symmetry springs from a variety of excellent Things in several places fitly answering to and perfecting each other that the state of Trial and the state of Glory are so mysterious in their Relation that neither without the other could be absolutely perfect Innumerable Beauties would be lost and many transcendent Vertues and Perfections be abolished with the estate of Trial if that had been laid aside the continual appearance and effect of which is to enrich and beautifie the Kingdom of GOD everlastingly That GOD loveth Man far more than if he had placed him in the Throne at first and designeth more Glory and Perfection for him than in that dispensation he could have been capable of all which springeth from the Restraint of his Power in some occasions that it might more fully be exerted in the perfection of the whole and of all things that were possible to be made might end in the Supream and most absolutely Blessed Therefore upon the whole Matter we may conclude with solomon Happy is the man that findeth Wisdom and the man that getteth Understanding For the Merchandize of it is better than the Merchandize of Silver and the Gain thereof than of fine Gold She is more precious than Rubies and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared with her Length of Daies is in her right hand and in her left hand Riches and Honour Her Waies are waies of Pleasantness and all her Paths are Peace She is a Tree of Life to them that lay hold upon her and happy is every one that retaineth her The LORD by Wisdom hath founded the Earth by Understanding hath he established the Heavens My Son let not them depart from thine Eyes Keep sound Wisdom and Discretion Wisdom is the principal Thing therefore get Wisdom and with all thy Getting get Understanding For the same Wisdom which created the World is the only Light wherein it is enjoyed CHAP. XXIV Of Patience It s Original How GOD was the first Patient Person in the World The Nature and the Glory and the blessed Effects of his Eternal Patience The Reason and Design of all Calamities Of Patience in Martyrdom The extraordinary Reward of ordinary Patience in its meanest obscurity PATIENCE is a Vertue of the Third estate it belongs not to the estate of Innocence because in it there was no Affliction nor to the estate of Misery because in it there is no Vertue but to the estate of Grace it appertains because it is an estate of Reconciliation and an estate of Trial wherein Affliction and Vertue meet together In the estate of Glory there is no Patience THIS is one of those distastful Vertues which GOD never intended It received its bitterness from Sin its life and beauty from GOD's Mercy If we dislike this Vertue we may thank our selves for we made GOD first to endure it And if all things are rightly weighed no Creature is equal to GOD in Sufferings We made it necessary for the Eternal GOD-HEAD to be Incarnate and to suffer all the Incommodities of Life and the bitter Torments of a bloody Death that he might bear the Penance of our Sins and deliver us from eternal Perdition THE Corporeal Sufferings of our Saviour are not comparable to the Afflictions of his Spirit Nor are there any Sufferings or Losses so great as those we cast upon the GOD-HEAD He infinitely hateth Sin more than Death and had rather be Crucified a thousand times over than that one Transgression should be brought into the World Nothing is so quick and tender as Love nothing so lively and sensible in resenting No loss is comparable to that of Souls nor any one so deeply concerned in the loss as GOD Almighty No Calamity more peircing than to see the Glory of his Works made Vain to be bereaved of his Desire and frustrated of his End in the whole Creation He had rather we should give him the Blood of Dragons or the cruel Venom of Asps to drink than that we should pollute our selves or his Kingdom with a Sin Nay it were better if without a Sin it could be done that the whole World should be annihilated than a Sin committed For the World might be Created again with ease and all that is in it be repaired with a word but a Sin once committed can never be undone it will appear in its place throughout all Eternity Yet is so odious and so infinitely opposite to the Holiness of GOD that no Gall or Wormwood is comparable thereunto To see his Beloved blasted his Love despised and his Son rebellious to see the most amiable Law in the World broken his Kingdom laid waste and his Image defaced to see all his Labour marred and spoiled his Benefits slighted
we are in our own till we are gone a little further but on the other side of all this Baseness we find a better Life in Communion with the Deity For asmuch then saith St. Peter as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh arm your selves likewise with the same mind for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of Men but to the will of GOD. For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles when we walked in Lasciviousness Lusts Excess of Wine Revellings Banquettings and abominable Idolatries wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of Riot There is a motion from Vice to Vertue and from one degree of Grace to another by which we leave the phantastick World with all its Shews and Gauderies and through many Afflictions and Persecutions come to the real and solid World of Bliss and Glory WHAT hand Humility has in leading us through all Afflictions and in facilitating the way of Pressure and Calamity I need not observe I shall note the Errour which men incur by their Weariness and Haste who because they do not immediately see the Bliss of Humility and Patience if they do not curse yet they boggle at all Calamity These men ought to be informed that the middle of the Way is not the place of Rest and Perfection They must pass thorow all these things to the further Regions of Clarity and Glory Men are not to stick in Calamities themselves but if Humility lead them to suffer all Indignities with Patience it must lead them further to the bottom of their estate and condition to the true light and to the clear and perfect sight of their own Vileness In which they shall see their Original their Misery their Sin their Glory their GOD and themselves their Bliss and their Forfeiture their Recovery and their Saviour their Hope and Despair their Obligations in the height of eternal Love and Bounty and their shame and confusion in the depth of their Apostasie and Ingratitude their infinite demerit and GODS infinite Mercy the riches of free Grace and their own Unworthiness And in all these the length and breadth and depth and height of the Love of GOD which passeth Knowledge that they might be filled with all the Fulness of GOD. HUMILITY makes men capable of all Felicity All deep Apprehensions and great Resentments all extents and distances of things all degrees of Grace and Vertue all Circumstances that increase the guilt of Sin all Adorations Prostrations Admirations Debasements Thanksgivings Praises Exaltations are founded in Humility All the Fulness of all Estates all Honour and Obedience all Devotion and Worship all the beauty of Innocence all the deformity of Sin all the danger of Hell all the cost of our Redemption all the hatred of our Stupidity and Perverseness all the hope of Heaven all our Penitence and Grief all our Fear and Expectation all our Love and all our Joy are contained in Humility there they are expressed there they are exercised There they are enlarged and beautified in like manner There they grow deep and serious and infinite there they become vigorous and strong there they are made substantial and eternal All the Powers of the Soul are employed extended and made perfect in this depth of Abysses It is the basis and foundation of all Vertue and Gratitude whatsoever It is in some sort the very fountain of Life and Felicity it self For as nothing is great but in comparison of somewhat less so nothing is sweet but what is New and Eternal All Life consists in Motion and Change The pleasure of Acquiring is oftentimes as great and perhaps alwaies greater than that of Enjoying The long possession of that which we have alwaies had takes away the sence and maketh us dull Old and Common things are less esteemed unless we rub up our Memories with some helps to renew them and our sences together Gifts are alwaies sweeter in the coming than in the abiding with us And if what I observe in the course of nature be of any force there is no possibility of enjoyment at least no perfection in fruition without some relation to the first Acquisition Old things are apt to grow stale and their value to be neglected by their continuance with us I have noted it often in the joy that young Heirs have when they first come to their Estates and the great felicity which Lovers promise to themselves and taste also when they meet together in the Marriage-bed The pleasures of all which pass off by degrees not solely by reason of our dulness and stupidity but far more from a secret in the nature of things For all Delight springs from the satisfaction of violent Desire when the desire is forgotten the delight is abated All Pleasure consists in Activity and Motion While the Object stands still it seemeth dead and idle The sence of our want must be quick upon us to make the sence of our enjoyment perfect The rapture proceeds from the convenience between us the marvellous fitness that is in such Objects to satisfie our Capacities and Inclinations The misery and vacuity must needs be remembred to make that Convenience live and to inspire a sence of it perpetually into us The coming of a Crown and the joy of a Kingdom is far more quick and powerful in the surprize and novelty of the Glory than in the length of its Continuance We perceive it by the delight which Lovers taste in recounting their Adventures The Nature of the thing makes the memory of their first Amours more pleasant than the possession of the last There is an instinct that carries us to the beginning of our Lives How do Old men even dote into lavish discourses of the beginning of their lives The delight in telling their old Stories is as great to themselves as wearisom to others Even Kings themselves would they give themselves the liberty of looking back might enjoy their Dominions with double lustre and see and feel their former Resentments and enrich their present Security with them All a mans Life put together contributes a perfection to every part of it and the Memory of things past is the most advantagious light of our present Condition Now all these sparkles of Joy these accidental hints of Nature and little raies of Wisdom meet together in Humility For an Humble man condescendeth to look into his Wants to reflect upon all his Vices and all his Beginnings with far deeper designs than is ordinarily done WE recount these ordinary discoveries of the inclination of Nature because Humility is if I may so speak the Rendezvous of their perfection All the stirrings of Grace and Nature all the acts of GOD and the Soul all his Condescensions and beginnings to advance us all his Gifts at their first coming all the
comparison of which all other Powers are but poor and feeble To speak with the tongue of Men and Angels to move Mountains or turn them into Gold to raise the Dead to command the Sun are common things The power of creating Worlds is but vain without the power of enjoying them All Honour Pleasure and Glory are shut up in Felicity Had we a power of Creating and enjoying all Worlds it were infinitely short of the power of enjoying GOD because he is infinitely greater and higher than all the Creating Power is superfluous to us because all is most exquisite and perfect already The fools Wishing Cap and the Philosophers Stone are but trifles All things that are not gold are better than gold Felicity giveth us the power of enjoying all even GOD himself all Angels and Men and all Worlds nay all their Riches Splendors and Pomps in their places which is the most amiable and desirable the most sweet and profitable Power of all other BUT when we are Contented there is another Power worth the having which Felicity giveth us It enables us to despise the Menaces and Anger 's of Men it setteth us above their reach and inspires us with a comely boldness to dare to do any thing that is good as well as with ability to dare to suffer any thing that is evil He that is secure and he that hath enough is independant and bold as a Lion And besides all this he has a certain lustre in his Actions that gives him authority and power over others to intercede and prevail in his requests to live in honour and good esteem and to make many subservient to his best occasions He is great in Heaven and whatever he asks of his eternal Father in his Sons Name with Wisdom and Piety shall not be denied him He can touch the hearts of millions by his Fathers Mediation For the hearts of Kings are in the hands of the Lord to turn them as the Rivers of water He made his people to be pitied of all them that carried them away Captive and gave them favour in the sight of the Egyptians And this secret alone is of more value then we can well describe To receive power from Heaven to be Vertuous to delight in Vertue to be irresistible and invincible in the practice of it is a very divine and glorious Priviledge Felicity it self is the fountain of this Power and the knowledge of its greatness that which enflames us with the love of it Felicity is excellent not only as it is the end of Vertue but the encouragement of it He that is Content has a great advantage above all other men because he moves with greater ease and passeth through all difficulties with greater pleasure A general of an Army that works with the Common Souldiers in the Trenches does the same work but with more honour and less labour He is not servile in it as the rest are but his pleasure is to do it for all their encouragement He does it in the quality of a Prince and with less molestation he has higher Incentives and more sublime Rewards Yet he does it too with greater merit and acceptance A man that sees and knows the glory of his high and heavenly Estate does all things triumphantly The sweetness of his Bliss alters the very nature of his Fights and Battles He does all things in the light without groaning and reluctancy He marches on with dancing and melody and chearful looks and smiles and thanksgivings whereas they that know not the glory of Felicity groap in the dark they that are discontented move heavily and are in all their proceedings lame and maimed THE way to attain the felicity of Contentment is to attain Felicity that we may be contented True Felicity is the source of Contentment and of all Vertue It is never to be gotten but by digging after Knowledge as for hidden Treasures Praying for it is a good way but Prayers without Industry is a meer mockery Industry on the other side without Prayer is loose Presumption For a man to pray to GOD to make his Field fruitful without ploughing and sowing is madness and to expect all from his own labour without GOD's Blessing impiety But GOD never yet said to any of the seed of Jacob Seek ye my face in vain WHEN Contentment is gotten it must be secured by the same means by which it was obtained Care in fencing is as necessary as Care in ploughing and there is Labour too but sweet and delightful even in reaping in the Harvest But all the work is reduced into narrow room Thou hast no charge over any other than thine own Vineyard When thou hast gotten the knowledge of Felicity and thy self the grand means of Contentment is continually to enjoy it With all thy getting get Wisdom and with all thy keeping keep thy Heart For out of it are the Issues of Life and Death Nothing can waste thy Conscience but Sin and nothing trouble thy Repose but what disturbs thy Conscience Let Vertue and Felicity be thy only good and believe firmly that nothing can hurt thee but SIN alone One evil action done by thy self is more mischievous to thee then all the Calamities and Sufferings in the World CHAP. XXVIII Of Magnanimity or Greatness of Soul Its Nature It s Foundation in the vast Capacity of the Understanding It s Desire Its Objects are infinite and eternal Its Enquiries are most profound and earnest It disdaineth all feeble Honours Pleasures and Treasures A Magnanimous Man is the only Great and undaunted Creature MAGNANIMITY and Contentment are very near allyed like Brothers and Sisters they spring from the same Parents but are of several Features Fortitude and Patience are Kindred too to this incomparable Vertue Moralists distinguish Magnanimity and Modesty by making the one the desire of greater the other of less and inferiour Honours But in my apprehension there is more in Magnanimity It includes all that belongs to a Great Soul A high and mighty Courage an invincible Patience an immoveable Grandeur which is above the reach of Injuries a contempt of all little and feeble Enjoyments and a certain kind of Majesty that is conversant only with Great things a high and lofty frame of Spirit allayed with the sweetness of Courtesie and Respect a deep and stable Resolution founded on Humility without any baseness an infinite Hope and a vast Desire a Divine profound uncontrolable sence of ones own Capacity a generous Confidence and a great inclination to Heroical deeds all these conspire to compleat it with a severe and mighty expectation of Bliss incomprehensible It soars up to Heaven and looks down upon all the dominion of Fortune with pity and disdain Its aims and designs are transcendent to all the Concerns of this little World Its Objects and its Ends are worthy of a Soul that is like GOD in Nature and nothing less than the Kingdom of GOD his Life and Image nothing beneath the Friendship and
all things mightst see him This is the Good of GOD his Vertue is this to appear and be seen in all Things This is the bottom of all other Greatnesses whatsoever GOD is infinitely communicative infinitely prone to reveal himself infinitely Wise and able to do it He hath made the Soul on purpose that it might see him And if the Eye that was made for the World being so little a ball of Earth and Water can take in all and see all that is visible if the sight of the Eye be present with all it beholdeth much more is the Soul both able to see and to be present with all that is Divine and Eternal I know very well that a Man divided from GOD is a weak inconsiderable Creature as the Eye is if divided from the Body and without the Soul but united to GOD a Man is a transcendent and Celestial thing GOD is his Life his Greatness his Power his Blessedness and Perfection And as the Apostle saith He that is joyned to the Lord is one SPIRIT His Omnipresence and Eternity fill the Soul and make it able to contain all Heights and Depths and Lengths and Breadths whatsoever And it is the desire of the Soul to be filled with all the fulness of GOD. Magnanimous desires are the natural results of a Magnanimous Capacity The desire of being like Gods knowing Good and Evil was the destruction of the World Not as if it were unlawful to desire to be Like GOD but to aspire to the Perfection in a forbidden way was unlawful By Disobedience and by following our own Inventions by seeking to the Creature to the stock of a Tree to make us Like GOD that is erroneous and poor and despicable but to know our selves and in the strait and divine Way to come immediately to GOD to contemplate him in his Eternity and Glory is a right and safe Way for the Soul will by that means be the Sphere of is Omnipresence and the Temple of the God-head It will become ETERNITY as Trismegistus speaketh or ONE SPIRIT with God as the Apostle And then it must needs be present with all things in Heaven and in the Earth and in the Sea as GOD is for all things will be in it as it were by Thoughts and Intellections A Magnanimous Soul then if we respect its Capacity is an immovable sphere of Power and Knowledge far greater than all Worlds by its Vertue and Power passing through all things through the Centre of the Earth and through all Existencies And shall such a Creature as this be contented with Vanities and Trlfles Straws and Feathers painted Butterflies Hobby-horses and Rattles These are the Treasures of little Children but you will say a Man delighteth in Purses of Gold and Cabinets of Jewels in Houses and Palaces in Crowns and Scepters Add Kingly Delights and say he delighteth in Armies and Victories and Triumphs and Coronations These are great in respect of Play-things But all these are feeble and pusillanimous to a great Soul As Scipio was going up to Heaven the Earth it self seemed but a Nutshel and he was ashamed of all his Victories and Triumhs amazed at his madness in Quarrelling and fighting about Territories and Kingdoms contracted to a Star and lost into nothing the whole Earth is but one invisible Point when a man foareth to the height of Immensity and beholdeth and compasseth its everlasting Circumference which is infinite every way beyond the Heavens It is the true and proper Immensity of the Soul Which can no more be contented with the narrow confinement of this World no more rest in the Childishness of all the noise of the Interests of Men be no more satisfied with its Earthly Glories than the SUN can be shut up in a Dark-Lanthorn It is true indeed it would desire to see as the Angels do the least and lowest of all the Creatures full of the Glory and Blessedness of GOD all Wisdom and Goodness in every thing and is apt to complain for want of some eternal and Celestial Light wherein to behold them but if all the expansions of Time and Eternity should be void and all the extents and out-goings of Infinity empty round about them though things upon Earth nay and things in the Heavens should be never so Rich and divine and beautiful yet such is the Magnanimity of a Great Soul that it would hugely be displeased its loss and its distaste would be alike Infinite Infinite Honours infinite Treasures infinite Enjoyments things endless in number value and excellency are the Objects of its Care and Desire the greatness of its Spirit leads it to consider and enquire whether all the spaces above the Heavens and all the parts of GOD's everlasting Kingdom be full of Joyes whether there be any end or bound of his Kingdom whether ther there be any defect or miscarriage any blemish or disorder in it any vile and common thing any remissness or neglect any cause of complaint or deformity As also whether all the Ages of the World are Divine and Sacred whether after they are gone they abide in their places whether there be anything in them to entertain the Powers of the Soul with delight and feed them with satisfaction What end what use what excellency there is in Men Whether all the waies of GOD are full of beauty and perfection all Wisdom Justice Holiness Goodness Love and Power What Regions eternal Blessedness is seated in What Glory what Reason what Agreeableness and Harmony is in all his Counsels Whether those durations of Eternity before the World is made are full or empty full of bright and amiable Objects or dark and obscure Whether the government of the World be perfect whether the Soul be Divine in it self whether it be conducive to its own felicity or to the happiness of all those in whom it is concerned Whether the World shall end If it shall after what manner whether by Design or Accident Whether All Ages and Nations shall rise from the Dead Whether there shall be a general Doom or a day of Judgment Whether I am concerned in all the transactions and passages at that day Whether all Mankind shall be united into one to make up one compleat and perfect Body whereof they all are the fellow-Members What shall be after the End of the VVorld Whether we shall live for ever Whether we shall see GOD and know one another Whether we shall reign in eternal Glory Whether in the Confusions of Hell there be any Beauty and whether in the Torments of the damned we shall find any joy or satisfaction Whether all the Riches Customs and Pleasures of this World shall be seen Whether in the World to come any fruit shall appear and arise from them for which they shall be esteemed to have been not in vain but profitable in relation to all Eternity What kind of Life we shall lead and what kind of Communion and fellowship Angels and Men shall have with each other
the Soul of Liberality Paradice and Heaven are better to be given than Gold and Silver And every Good man will imitate the Apostle who was ready not to impart the Gospel of GOD only but his own Soul to the benefit of those for whom Christ died THIS one thing further I desire you to note He that soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly but he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully In the Kingdom of Heaven every man receiveth his Penny because all their Joyes are common and equal Their Treasures shall be the same but they will differ in Glory The same GOD the same Angels the same Men all the same Objects shall be round about every man Every man shall see and enjoy all the Glory of his eternal Kingdom because every ones life and felicity shall be perfect But yet their works follow them and every man shall be cloathed in the beauty of his own actions Vertues and Graces There may be twenty Children in the same family yet all of several Features There may be a thousand Trees in the same Orchard yet all of different kinds The same brightness and glory may be round about them the same skie cover them the same Earth support them the same Stars serve them the same Sun shine upon them the same Sea the same Dew the same Air and Nourishment feed them and yet the one be more fair and honourable and excellent than the other All the World does know that a Tree laden with Fruits and Blossoms is far more beautiful than a Tree that is barren and unfruitful And the degrees of Beauty are according as the Fruits are more or less And as the Fruits they bring forth adorn them so do their own works praise them in the Gates Heaven as it is a Kingdom of Light and Knowledge is a Kingdom of Perfection Righteousness and Justice flourish there in their fulness and every several degree of excellence is entertained with an answerable degree of esteem according to the number and greatness of their Vertues every one is honoured by Saints and Angels NOW least these Fruits should receive any impediment by the Vices and Corruptions of men order is taken that we should love our Enemies bless them that curse us do good to them that hate us pray for them that despightfully use and persecute us By which means it is that a Liberal man surmounts all obstacles whatsoever lives among Dragons as if he were surrounded with Doves and though he be environed with Devils is as if he were conversant with Angels Because he takes no notice of any Vice in any man to stop him but is as Liberal as if all were full of worth and vertue Nay he is more good and more miraculous Their Vices their Provocations their Disorders cannot stain or imbitter his Nature but he will be alwaies chearful and bright and fair and free and perfect To love the amiable and be kind to the beautiful is natural and easie It is not given to the Angels but to visit the Faithful and the Penitent But to love the Evil to be kind and good and serviceable to the Deformed and the Odious to the Injurious and Ungrateful is somewhat more than Angelical We learn it not of them but of GOD and of his eternal Son who hath commanded us to be the Children of our Father which is in Heaven for he maketh his Sun to rise on the Evil and on the Good and sendeth rain on the Just and on the Unjust Even Publicans and Sinners do in some manner as much as Angels love them that love them In Heaven they have no malignity or malice or wrong to overcome all that they love is Beauty and Goodness unless they learn of Jesus Christ and imitate him here on Earth towards us Sinners But our duty is far greater and our opposition more Which is intimated also in our Saviours words For if ye love them which love you what reward have you Do not even the Publicans the same And if ye salute your Brethren only what do ye more than others Do not even the Publicans so Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect In the Close of all I beseech you to consider this one most cogent and weighty expostulation It is the beloved Disciples If a man say I love GOD and hateth his Brother he is a Liar for he that loveth not his Brother whom he hath seen how can he love God whom he hath not seen Our Neighbours are not only the representatives of GOD but they are here upon Earth are visible are present with us are Corporeal as we are and alwaies near us our actions among them are palpable and our Conversation with them real GOD is invisible and absent from us he is afar off in the highest Heavens Incorporeal and Incomprehensible If we are remiss and careless in our duty towards our Neighbour all our devotion towards GOD will be but imaginary our Religion will degenerate into an idle and vain Chimera become a weak and feeble shadow be seated in the fancy and dwindle away into an aiery Speculation The reality of Religion consists in the solid practice of it among the Sons of men that are daily with us The difficult and serious actions of our Lives abroad feed our Meditation in all our retirements and infuse a reality and strength into our Devotions which make them solid and substantial CHAP. XXXI Of Magnificence in GOD. Its resemblance in Man The chief Magnificence of the Soul is Spiritual It is perfectly expressed in the outward Life when the whole is made perfect and presented to GOD. GOD gives all his Life to us and we should give ours all to him How fair and glorious it may be GOD being proposed as the Pattern of our Liberality and Kindness by our Saviour the nature of his Bounty is sit to be considered for our Information which is great and publick and advantagious to many In some of his private dispensations it walks under the notion and form of Liberality as it giveth food and Rayment Gold and Silver Houses and Lands to particular persons But in other effects of his eternal love which are great and publick its nature is changed into the highest Magnificence MAGNIFICENCE is a Vertue scarcely to be found but in Kings and Emperours It is busied in erecting Temples and Triumphal arches Magnificent Theatres Colledges and Universities Aquaeducts and Palaces Royal Momuments and Pyramids Marts Havens Exchanges and all those other great and mighty things wherein the glory of Imperial Power is made conspicuous and whereby whole Nations are benefited and Kingdoms adorned GREAT Power Riches Wisdom and Goodness must concur in the effect which is truly Magnificent It must be of great lustre and glory as well as of publick use and benefit and as it is wrought with great labour and expence be imparted by a great Soul and freely given to the good of the People For Magnificence