ENCHIRIDION MISCELLANEUM.  
Spare Hours Improved in MEDITATIONS Divine 

Contemplative  
Practical   Moral 

Ethical  
Oeconomical  
Political    
From the Piety & Learning of 

F ʳ: Quarles &  
A r: Warwick   Gent:  By it They being dead, yet Speak (Heb. XI. 4) 
The 12 Impression.  
Amsterdam, Printed by Stephen Swart Bookseller, at the Crowned Bible, on the West-seide of the Exchange. 1677.   

ENCHIRIDION. Cent. I.  

CHAP. I.  
PIety and Policy are like Martha, and Mary, Sisters: Martha fails, if Mary help not: and Mary suffers, if Martha be idle: Happy is that Kingdom where Martha compla●●● of Mary; but most happy where Mary complies with Martha: Where Piety and Policy go hand in hand, there War shall be just; and Peace honourable.   

CHAP. II.  
LEt not civil discords in a foreign Kingdom encourage thee to make invasion. They that are factious among themselves, are jealous of one another, and more strongly prepared to encounter with a common Enemy: Those whom civil commotions set at variance, foreign Hostility reconciles. Men rather affect the possession of an inconvenient Good, than the possibility of an uncertain Better.   

CHAP. III.  
IF thou hast made a Conquest with thy Sword, think not to maintain it with thy Sceptre: Neither conceive, that new favours can cancel old injuries: No Conqueror sits secure upon his new-got Throne, so long as they subsist in power, that were despoiled of their possessions by his Conquest.   

CHAP. IU.  
LEt no price nor promise of Honour bribe thee to take part with the Enemy of thy natural Prince: Assure thyself who ever wins, thou art lost: If thy Prince prevail, thou art proclaimed a Rebel, and branded for death: If the Enemy prosper, thou shalt be reckoned but as a meritorious Traitor, and not secure of thyself: He that loves the Treason hates the Traitor.   

CHAP. V.  
IF thy strength of parts hath raised thee to eminent place in the Commonwealth, take heed thou sit sure: If not, thy fall will be the greater: As Worth is fit matter for Glory; so Glory is a fair mark for Envy. By how much the more thy Advancement was thought the Reward of Desert; by so much thy fall will administer matter for disdain: It is the ill fortune of a strong brain, if not to be dignified as meritorious, to be depressed as dangerous.   

CHAP. VI  
IT is the duty of a Statesman, especially in a free State, to hold the Commonwealth to her first frame of Government, from which the more it swerus, the more it declines: which being declined is not commonly reduced without that extremity, the danger whereof rather ruins than rectifies. Fundamental Alterations bring inevitable perils.   

CHAP. VII.  
THere be three sorts of Government; Monarchical, Aristocratical, De mocraticall; and they are apt to fall three several ways into ruin: The first, by Tyranny; the second, by Ambition; the last, by Tumults. A Commonwealth grounded upon any of these is not of long continuance; but wisely mingled, each guard the other, and make that Government exact.   

CHAP. VIII.  
LEt not the proceed of a Captain, though never so commendable, be confined to all Times: As these altar, so must they: If these vary, and not they, ruin is at hand: He lest fails in his design, that meets Time in its own way: And he that observes not the Alterations of the Times, shall seldom be victorious but by chance: but he that can ●ot alter his course according to the Alterations of the Times shall never be a Conqueror: He is a wise Commander, and only He, that can discover the change of Times, and changes his Proceed according to the Times.   

CHAP. IX.  
IF thou desir'st to make war with a Prince, with whom thou hast formerly ratified a league; assail some Ally of his, rather than himself: If he resent it, and come, or send in aid, thou hast a fair Gale to thy desires: If not, his infidelity in not assisting his Ally, will be discovered: Hereby thou shalt gain thyself advantage, and facilitate thy designs.   

CHAP. X.  
BEfore thou undertake a War, let thine Eye number thy forces, and let thy judgement weigh them: if thou hast a rich Enemy, no matter how poor thy Soldiers be, if courageous and faithful: Trust not too much the power of thy Treasure, for it will deceive thee, being more apt to expose thee for a Prey then to defend thee: Gold is not able to find good Soldiers; but good Soldiers are able to find out Gold.   

CHAP. IX.  
IT the Territories of thy Equal Enemy are situated far South from thee, the advantage is thine, whether he make offensive, or defensive war; If North, the advantage is his: Cold is less tolerable than heat: This is a friend to Nature; that, an Enemy.   

CHAP. XII.  
IT is not only uncivil, but dangerous for Soldiers, by reproachful words, to throw disgrace upon the Enemy. Base Terms are Bellows to a slaking Fury, and Goads to quicken up revenge in a fleeing Foe: He that objects Cowardice against a failing enemy, adds spirit to him, to disprove the aspersion, at his own cost: It is therefore the part of a wise Soldier to refrain it; or of a wise Commander, to punish it.   

CHAP. XIII.  
IT is better for two weak Kingdoms rather to compound an injury (though to some loss) than seek for satisfaction by the sword; lest while they two weaken themselves by mutual blows, a third decide the Controversy to both their Ruins. When the Frog and the Mouse could not take up the quarrel, the Kite was Umpire.   

CHAP. XIV.  
LEt that Commonwealth which desires to flourish, be very strict, both in her punishments, and Rewards, according to the merits of the Subject, and offence of the Delinquent: Let the Service of the Deserver be rewarded, lest thou discourage worth; and let the Crime of the offender be punished, lest thou encourage Vice: the neglect of the one weakens a Commonwealth; the omission of both ruins it.   

CHAP. XV.  
IT is wisdom for him that sits at the Helm of a settled State, to demean himself toward his subjects at all times, so, that upon any evil accident, they may be ready to serve his occasion: He that is only gracious at the approach of a danger, will be in danger, when he expects deliverance.   

CHAP. XVI.  
IN all designs, which require not sudden Execution, take mature deliberation, and weigh the convenients, with the inconvenients, and then resolve; after which, neither delay the execution, nor bewray thy intention. He that discovers himself, till he hath made himself Master of his desires, lays himself open to his own Ruin, and makes himself prisoner to his own tongue.   

CHAP. XVII.  
LIberality in a Prince is no Virtue, when maintained at the Subjects unwilling Cost. It is less reproach, by miserableness, to preserve the popular love, then by liberality to deserve the private thanks.   

CHAP. XVIII.  
IT is the excellent property of a good and wise Prince, to use War as he doth Physic, carefully, unwillingly, and seasonably; either to prevent approaching dangers, or to correct a present mischief, or to recover a former loss. He that declines Physic till he be accosted with the danger, or weakened with the disease, is bold too long, and wise too late. That Peace is too precise, that limits the justness of a War to a sword drawn, or a Blow given.   

CHAP. XIX.  
LEt a Prince that would beware of Conspiracies, be rather jealous of such whom his extraordinary Favours have advanced, then of those whom his pleasure hath discontented: These want means to execute their pleasures; but they have means at pleasure to execute their desires: Ambition to rule is more vehement, than Malice to Revenge.   

CHAP. XX.  
BEfore thou undertake a War, cast an impartial Eye upon the Cause: If it be just, prepare thy Army; and let them all know, they fight for God and thee: It adds fire to the spirit of a Soldier, to be assured, that he shall either prosper in a fair War, or persh in a just Cause.   

CHAP. XXI.  
IF thou desir'st to know the power of a State, observe in what correspondence it lives with her neighbouring State: If She make Alliance with the Contribution of Money, it is an evident sign of weakness: If with her valour, or repute of forces, it manifests a native strength: It is an infallible sign of power, to sell friendship; and of weakness to buy it: That which is bought with Gold, will hardly be maintained with Steel.   

CHAP. XXII.  
IN the Calms of Peace it is most requisite for a Prince, to prepare against the storms of War, both Theorically, in reading Heroic Histories; and practically, in maintaining Martial discipline: Above all things, let him avoid Idleness, as the Bane of Honour; which in Peace, indisposes the Body; and in War, effoeminates the Soul: He that would be in War victorious, must be in Peace laborious.   

CHAP. XXIII.  
IF thy two neighbouring Princes fall out, show thyself, either a true Friend, or a fair Enemy: It is indiscretion, to adhere to him whom thou hast least cause to fear, if he vanquish: Neutrality is dangerous, whereby thou becomest a necessary Prey to the Conqueror.   

CHAP. XXIV.  
IT is a great argument of a Prince's wisdom, not only to choose, but also to prefer wise Councillors: And such are they, that seek less their own advantages, than his; whom wise Princes ought to reward, lest they become their own Carvers; and so, of good Servants, turn bad Masters.   

CHAP. XXV.  
IT much conduces to the dishonour of a King, and the ilfare of his Kingdom, to multiply Nobility, in an over-proportion to the Common people: Cheap Honour darkens Majesty; and a numerous Nobility brings a State to necessity.   

CHAP. XXVI.  
IT is very dangerous, to try experiments in a State, unless extreme necessity be urgent, or popular utility be palpable: It is better for a State to connive a while, at an inconvenience, too suddenly to rush upon a Reformation.   

CHAP. XXVII.  
IF a valiant Prince be succeeded by a weak Successor, he may, for a while, maintain a happy State, by the remaining virtue of his glorious Predecessor: But if his life be long; ordying he be succeeded by one less valiant than the first, the Kingdom is in danger to fall to ruin. That Prince is a true Father to his Country, that leaves it the rich inheritance of a brave Son. When Alexander succeeded Philip, the world was too little for the Conqueror.   

CHAP. XXVIII.  
IT is very dangerous for a Prince, or Republic, to make continual practice of cruel exaction: For where the Subject stands in sense, or expectation of evil, he is apt to provide for his safety, either from the evil he feels, or from the danger he fears; and growing bold in Conspiracy, makes Faction, which Faction is the Mother of Ruin.   

CHAP. XXIX.  
BE careful to consider the good or ill disposition of the people towards thee upon ordinary occasions: if it be good, labour to continue it; if evil, provide against it: As there is nothing more terrible than a dissolute Multitude without a Head; so there is nothing more easy to be reduced; (if thou canst endure the first shock of their fury;) which if a little appeased, every one gins to doubt himself, and think of home, and secure themselves, either by flight, or Agreement.   

CHAP. XXX.  
THat Prince who stands in fear more of his own people, than strangers, aught to build Fortresses in his Land: But he that is more afraid of Strangers than his own People, shall build them more secure in the Affections of his Subjects.   

CHAP. XXXI.  
CArry a watchful Eye upon dangers before they come to ripeness, and when they are ripe, let lose a speedy hand: He that expects them too long, or meets them too soon, gives advantage to the evil: Commit their beginnings to Argus his hundred Eyes, and their ends to Briareus his hundred Hands, and thou art safe.   

CHAP. XXXII.  
OF all the difficulties in a State, the Temper of a true Government most felicifies and perpetuates it: Too sudden Alterations distemper it. Had Nero turned his Kingdom as he did his Harp, his Harmony had been more honourable, and his Reign more prosperous.   

CHAP. XXXIII.  
IF a Prince, fearing to be assailed ' by a foreign Enemy, hath a well-armed people, well addressed for War, let him stay at home, and expect him there: But if his subjects be unarmed, or his Kingdom unacquainted with the stroke of War, let him meet the enemy in his Quarters. The farther he keeps the War from his own Home, the less danger. The Seat of War is always miserable.   

CHAP. XXXIV.  
IT is a necessary wisdom for a Prince to grow in strength, as he increases in Dominions: it is no less virtue to keep, than to get: Conquests not having power answerable to their greatness, invite new Conquerors to the ruin of the old.   

CHAP. XXXV.  
IT is great prudence in a Statesman, to discover an inconvenience in the birth; which, so discovered, is easy to be suppressed: But if it ripen into a Custom, the sudden remedy thereof is often worse than the disease: in such a Case, it is better to temporize a little, than to struggle too much. He that opposes a full-aged inconvenience too suddenly, strengthens it.   

CHAP. XXXVI.  
IF thou hast conquered ' a Land, whose Language differs not from thine, change not their Laws and Taxes, and the two Kingdoms will in a short time incorporate, and make one body: But if the Laws and Language differ, it is difficult to maintain thy Conquest; which that thou mayst the easier do, observe three things: First, to live there in person, (or rather send Colonies:) Secondly, to assist the weak inhabitants, and weaken the mighty: Thirdly, to admit no powerful Foreigner to reside there: Remember Lewis the thirteenth of France; How suddenly he took Milan, and how soon he lost it.   

CHAP. XXXVII.  
IT is a gracious wisdom in a Prince, in civil Commotions, rather to use Juleps, than Phlebotomy; and better to breathe the distemper by a wise delay, then to correct it with too rash an Onset: it is more honourable, by a slow preparation to declare himself a gracious Father, than by a hasty War to appear a furious Enemy.   

CHAP. XXXVIII.  
IT is wisdom for a Prince in fair weather to provide for Tempests: He that so much relies upon his people's faith, to neglect his own preparation, discovers more Confidence than wisdom: He that ventures to fall from above, with hopes to be catched below, may be dead ere he come to ground.   

CHAP. XXXIX.  
HE that would reform an ancient State in a free City buy's convenience with a great danger: To work this Reformation with the less mischief, let such a one keep the shadows of their ancient Customs, though in substance they be new: Let him take heed when he altars the natures of things, they bear at lest the ancient names. The Common people, that are naturally impatient of innovations, will be satisfied with that which seems to be, as well as that which is.   

CHAP. XL.  
UPon any difference between foreign States, it is neither safe nor honourable for a Prince, either to buy his Peace, or to take it up at interest: He that hath not a Sword to command it, shall either want it, or want Honour with it.   

CHAP. XLI.  
IT is very requisite for a Prince, not only to weigh his designs in the flower, but likewise in the fruit: He is an unthrift of his honour that enterprises a design, the failing wherein may bring him more Disgrace, than the success can gain him Honour.   

CHAP. XLII.  
IT is much conducible to the happiness of a Prince, and the security of his State, to gain the hearts of his Subjects: They that love for fear, will seldom fear for love: it is a wise Government which gains such a Tie upon the Subject, that he either cannot hurt, or will not: But that Government is best and most sure, when the Subject joys in his obedience.   

CHAP. XLIII.  
LEt every Soldier arm his mind with hopes, and put on courage: Whatsoever disaster falls, let not his heart sink. The Passage of providence lies through many crooked ways; Adespairing heart is the true Prophet of approaching evil: his actions may wove the webs of fortune, but not break them.   

CHAP. XLIV.  
IT is the part of a wise Magistrate to vindicate a man of power or State-employment from the malicious scandals of the giddyheaded multitude, and to punish it with great severity; Scandal breeds Hatred; Hatred begets Division; Division makes Faction, and Faction brings Ruin.   

CHAP. XLV.  
THe strongest Castles a Prince can build, to secure him from Domestic commotions, or foreign Invasions, is in the hearts of his Subjects; And the means to gain that strength is, in all his actions to appear for the public good, studious to contrive, and resolute to perform.   

CHAP. XLVI.  
A Kingdom is a great building, whose two main supporters are the Government of the State, and the Government of the Church: It is the part of a wise Master to keep those Pillars in their first posture, irremovable: If either fail, it is wisdom rather to repair it, than remove it: He that pulls down the old, to set up a new, may draw the roof upon his head, and ruin the foundation.   

CHAP. XLVII.  
IF is necessary wisdom in a Prince to encourage in his Kingdom, Manufacture, Merchandise, Arts, and Arms. In Manufacture lie the vital spirits of the body politic: In Merchandise, the spirits natural: In Arts and Arms, the Animal: If either of these languish, the Body droops; As these flourish, the Body flourishes.   

CHAP. XLVIII.  
TRue Religion is a settler in a State, rather than a Stickler; While she confirms an established Government, she moves in her own Sphere. But when she endeavours to alter the old, or to erect a new, she works out of her own Vineyard: When she keeps the Keys, she sends showers of Milk: But when she draws the Sword, she sails in Seas of Blood: Labour therefore to settle Religion in the Church; and Religion shall settle Peace in thy Land.   

CHAP. XLIX.  
IF thou entertain any foreign Soldiers into thine Army, let them bear thy Colours, and be at thy Pay, lest they interest their own Prince: Auxiliary Soldiers are the most dangerous: A foreign Prince needs no greater invitation to seize upon thy City, then when he is required to defend it.   

CHAP. L.  
BE cautious in undertaking a design, upon the report of those that are banished their Country, lest thou come off with shame or loss, or both. Their end expects advantages from thy Actions, whose miseries lay hold of all opportunities, and seek to be redressed by thy Ruin.   

CHAP. LI.  
IF thou endeavourest to make a Republic in a Nation where the Gentry abounds, thou shalt hardly prosper in that design: And if thou wouldst erect a Principality in a Land, where there is much equality of people, thou shalt not easily effect it. The way to bring the first to pass, is to weaken the Gentry: The means to effect the last, is to advance and strengthen ambitious, and turbulent spirits; so that being placed in the midst of them, their forces may maintain thy power; and thy favour may preserve their Ambition: Otherwise there shall be neither proportion nor continuance.   

CHAP. LII.  
IT is more excellent for a Prince to have a provident Eye for the preventing future mischiefs, than to have a potent Arm for the suppressing present evils: Mischiefs in a State are like Hectic Fevers in a body: In the beginning hard to be known, but easy to be cured; but, let it alone a while, it becomes more easy to be known, but more hard to be cured.   

CHAP. LIII.  
IF a Kingdom be apt to Rebellion, it is wisdom to preserve the Nobility and Commons at variance: Where one of them is discontented, the danger is not great: The Commons are slow of motion, if not quickened with the Nobility; the Nobility is weak of power, if not strengthened by the Commons: Then is danger, when the Commonalty troubles the water, and the Nobility steps in.   

CHAP. LIV.  
IT is very requisite for a Prince to have an Eye that the Clergy be elected and come in, either by collation from him, or particular Patrons, and not by the People; and that their power hold dependence upon home, and not foreign Authority: It is dangerous in a Kingdom, where the Crosiars receive not their power from the Regal Sword.   

IT is a perilous weakness in a State, to be slow of resolution in the time of War: To be irresolute in determination is both the sign, and the ruin of a weak State: such affairs attend not Time: Let the wise Statesman therefore abhor delay, and resolve rather what to do, than advise what to say: Slow deliberations are symptoms, either of a faint courage, or weak Forces, or false Hearts.   

CHAP. LVI.  
IF a Conqueror hath subdued a Country, or a City abounding with pleasures, let him be very circumspect to keep himself and his Soldiers temperate. Pleasures bring effoeminacy; and effoeminacy foreruns ruin: such conquests, without blood or sweat, sufficiently do revenge themselves upon their intemperate Conquerors.   

CHAP. LVI.  
IT is an infallible sign of approaching ruin in a Republic, when Religion is neglected, and her established ceremonies interrupted: let therefore that Prince that would be potent, be pious; and that he may punish looseness the better, let him be religious: the joy of Jerusalem depends upon the peace of Zion.   

CHAP. LVIII.  
LEt that Prince that desires full sovereignty, temper the greatness of too potent a Nobility: a great and potent Nobility quickens the people, but presses their fortunes: it adds Majesty to a Monarch, but diminishes his power.   

CHAP. LIX.  
IT is dangerous for a Prince to use ambitious Natures, but upon necessity, either for his Wars, or to be instruments for the demolishing insolent greatness: and that they may be the less dangerous, let him choose them rather out of mean births then noble; and out of harsh natures, rather than plausible. And always be sure to balance them with those that are as proud as they.   

CHAP. LX.  
LEt Princes be very circumspect in the choice of their Counsellors, choosing veither by the greatness of the beard, nor by the smoothness of the face: let him be wise, but not crafty: active, without private ends: courageous, without malice: religious, without faction: secret without fraud; one better read in his business, than his Nature: and a riddle only to be read above.   

CHAP. LXI.  
IN a mixed Monarchy, if the Hierarchy grow too absolute, is is wisdom in a Prince, rather to depress it then suppress it: all altertions in a fundamental Government bring apparent dangers; but too sudden alteration threatens inevitable ruin: when Aaron made a molten Calf, Moses altered not the Government, but reproved the Governor.   

CHAP. LXII.  
BEfore thou build a Fortress, consider to what end: if for resistance against the Enemy, it is useless; a valiant Army is a living Fortress: if for suppressing the subject, it is hurtful: it breeds Jealousies, and Jealousies beget hatred: if thou hast a strong Army to maintain it, it adds nothing to thy strength: if thy Army be weak it conduces much to thy danger: the surest Fortress is the hands of thy Soldiers, and the safest Citadel is the hearts of thy subjects.   

CHAP. LXIII.  
IT is a Princely Alchemy, out of a necessary War to extract an honourable Peace, and more beseeming the Majesty of a Prince to thirst after Peace, than conquest: blessedness is promised to the Peacemaker; not to the conqueror: it is a happy State, whose Prince hath a peaceful Hand, and a Martial Heart, able both to use Peace, and to manage Warr.   

CHAP. LXIV.  
IT is a dishonourable thing for a Prince to run in debt for State-service; but to pay it in the pardon of a Criminal Offence, is most dangerous. To cancel the faults of subjects, with their deserts, is not only the symptom of a disordered Commonwealth, but also of her Ruin.   

CHAP. LXV.  
LEt not a Commander be too forward to undertake a War, without the person of his Prince: it is a thankless employment, where mischief attends upon the best success; and where (if a Conqueror) he shall be in danger, either through his onwn Ambition, or his Prince's suspicion.   

CHAP. LXVI.  
IT is great oversight in a Prinnce, for any respects, either Actively, or Passively to make a foreign Kingdom strong: he that gives means to another to become powerful, weakens himself, and enables him to take the advantage of his own weakness.   

CHAP. LXVII.  
WHen the humours of the people are stirred by discontents, or popular grief, it is wisdom in a Prince to give them moderate liberty to evaporate: he that turns the humour back too hastily makes the wound bleed inwardly, and fills the body with malignity.   

CHAP. LXVIII.  
IF having levied an Army, thou findest thyself too weak, either through the want of men or money; the longer thou delay'st to fight, the greater thy Inconvenience grows: if once thy Army falls asunder, thou certainly losest by thy delay: where hazarding thyfortunes betimes, thou hast the advantage of thy men, and may'st by fortune win the day: it is less dishohour to be overcome by force than by flight.   

CHAP. LXIX.  
IT is the part of a wise Commander in Wars, eether Offensive or Defensive, towork a necessity of Fight into the breasts of his Soldiers: Necessity of action takes away the fear of the Act, and makes bold Resolution the favourite of Fortune.   

CHAP. LXX.  
CLemency and mildness is most proper for a Principality, but reservedness and severity for a Republic; but moderation in both: Excess in the one breads contempt: in the other, Hatted; when to sharpen the first, and when to sweeten the last, let Time and Occasion direct thy judgement.   

CHAP. LXXI.  
IT is very requisite for a Prince that desires the continuance of Peace, in time of Peace to encourage, and respect his Commanders: When brave Spirits find neglect to be the effect of quiet times, they devise all means to remove the Cause, and by suggesting inducements to new Wars, disturb and unsettle the old Peace, buying private honour with public danger.   

CHAP. LXXII.  
BE not covetous for priority in advising thy Prince to a doubtful Attempt, which concerns his State; if it prosper, the Glory must be his; if it fail, the dishonour will be thine: When the Spirit of a Prince is stopped in the discharge, it will recoil and wound the first Adviser.   

CHAP. LXXIII.  
IF being the Commander of an army, thou espiest a gross and manifest error in thine Enemy, look well to thyself, for treachery is not far off: He whom desire of victory binds too much, is apt to stumble at his own Ruin.   

CHAP. LXXIV.  
IT is the heigh of a provident Commander not only to keep his own designs indiscoverable to his Enemy; but likewise to be studious to discover his: He that can best do the one, and nearest guests at the other, is the next step to a conqueror. But he that fails in both, must either ascribe his Overthrow to his own Folly, or his victory to the Hand of Fortune.   

CHAP. LXXV.  
IF thou be ambitious of Honour, and yet fearful of the Canker of Honour, Envy; so behave thyself, that Opinion may be satisfied in this, that thou seekest Merit, and not Fame; and that thou attributest thy Preferment rather to Providence, than thy own Virtue: Honour is a due debt to the deserver; and who ever envied the payment of a debt? a just advancement is a providential act of Providence.   

CHAP. LXXVI.  
IT behoves a Prince to be very circumspect before he make a League; which, being made, and then broke, is the forfeiture of his Honour: He that obtain's a Kingdom with the rapture of his faith, hath gained the Glory of a Conquest, but lost the honour of a Conqueror.   

CHAP. LXXVII.  
LEt States that aim at greatness, beware lest new Gentry multiply too fast, or grow too glorious; Where there is too great a disproportion betwixt the Gentry and the common Subject, the one grows insolent; the other slavish When the body of the Gentry grows too glorious for a Corslet, there the heads of the vulgar wax too heavy for the Helmet.   

CHAP. LXXVII.  
UPon the beleaguering of a city, let the Commander endeavour to take from the Defendants, all scruples which may invite them to a necessity of defence: Whom the fear of slavery necessitates to sight, the boldness of their resolution will disavantage the assailants, and dissicilitate their design: Sense of necessity justifies the War; and they are hopeful in their arms, who have no other hope but in their ams.   

CHAP. LXXIX.  
IT is good for States & Princes (if thy use ambitious men for their advantage) so to order things, that they be still progressive, rather than retrograde: When ambitious men find an open passage, they are rather busy than dangerous; and if well watched in their proceed, they will catch themselves intheir own snare, and prepare a way for their own destruction.   

CHAP. LXXX.  
OF all Recreationis, Hunting is most proper to a Commander; by the frequency whereof he may be instructed in that necessary knowledge of situation, with pleasure; which, by earnest experience, would be dearly purchased. The Chase is a fair Resemblance of a hopeful War, proposing to the Pursuer a flying Enemy.   

CHAP. LXXXI.  
EXpect the army of thy Enemy on plain and easy ground, and still avoid mountainous and rocky places, and strait passages, to the utmost of thy power: it is not safe to pitch any where thy forces cannot be brought together: He never deserved the name of good Gamester, that hazards his whole Rest, upon less than the strength of his whole Game.   

CHAP. LXXXII.  
IT matters not much whether in government, thou treadest, the steps of severe Hannibal, or gentle Scipio, so thy actions be honourable, and thy life virtuous: Both in the one, and the other, is both defect and danger, if not corrected, and supported by the fair Repute of some extraordinary Endowments: No matter, whether black or white, so the Steed be good.   

CHAP. LXXXIII.  
IT is the safest way in a Martial expedition, to commit the main charge to one: Companions in command beget confusion in the Camp: When two able Commanders are joined in equal Commission, each is apt to think his own way best, and by mutual thwarting each other, both give opportunity to the Enemy.   

CHAP. LXXXIV.  
IT is a high point of Providence in a Prince to observe popular Sects in their first Rise, and with a severe hand, to nipp them in the Budd: But being once full aged, it is wisdom not to oppose them with too strong a hand; lest in suppressing one, there arise two: a soft Current is soon stopped; but a strong stream resisted, breaks into many, or overwhelm's all   

CHAP. LXXXV.  
IT makes very much to thy advantage to observe strictly the Nationall virtues, and vices and humours of foreign Kingdoms, whereby the times past shall read useful Lectures to the times present: He that would see what shall be, let him consider what hath been.   

CHAP. LXXXVI.  
IF, like Manlius, thou commandest stout and great things, be like Manlius stout to execute great commands: it is a great blemish in Sovereignty when the Will rores, and the Power whispers: if thou canst not execute as freely as thou commandest, command no more than what thou mayst also freely execute.   

CHAP. LXXXII.  
IF one Prince desire to obtain any thing of another, let him (if occasion will bear it) give him no time to advise: Let him endeavour to make him see a necessity of sudden resolution, and the danger either of Denial, or Delay; He that gives time to resolve, gives leisure to deny, and warning to prepare.   

CHAP. LXXXVIII.  
L Let not thine army at the first encounter be too prodigal in her strength for a dead lift: When the enemy hath abated the fury of his first heat, let him then feel thou hast reserved thy forces for the last blow; So shall the honour he hath gained by his valour increase the glory of thy victory: Fore-games when they prove are speediest, but after-games, if wisely played, are surest.   

CHAP. LXXXIX.  
IT is very requisite for a Prince to keep the Church always in proportion to the State. If the Government of the one be Monarchical, and the other democratical, they will agree, like Metal joined with clay, but for a while. Durable is that State, where Aaron commands the people, and where Moses commands Aaron: But most happy in the continuance, where God commands both.   

CHAP. XC.  
LEt not the Covetousness of a Captain purloyn to his own use, or any way bereave his soldiers of any profit due unto their service, either in their means or spoils: Such injuries (being quickened by their daily necessities) are never forgot: What Soldiers earn with the hazard of their lives, (if not enjoyed) prophesies an overthrow in the next Battle.   

CHAP. XCI.  
IF a Prince expect virtuous Subjects, let his Subjects have a virtuous prince; So shall he the better punish the vices of his degenerate Subjects; So shall they trulier prise virtue, and follow it, being exemplified in their Prince.   

CHAP. XCII.  
IT is the property of a wise Commander, to cast an eye rather upon Actions, than upon persons; and rather to reward the merits of men than to read the Letters of Ladies: He that for favour, or reward, prefers a worthless Soldier, betray's a Kingdom, to advance a Traitor.   

CHAP. CXIII.  
WHere Order and Fury are well acquainted, the War prospers, and Soldiers end no less men than they begun: Order is quickened by Fury, and Fury is regulated by Order: But where Order is wanting, Fury runs her own way, and being an unthrift of its own strength, failing in the first assault, cravens; and such beginning more than men, end less than women.   

CHAP. XCIV.  
IT is the quality of a wise Commander, to make his Soldiers confident of his wisdom, and their own strength: if any danger be, to conceal it; if manifest, to lessen it: Let him possess his army with the justness of the War, and with a certainty of the victory. A good cause makes a stout heart, and a strong arm. They that fear an overthrow, are half conquered.   

CHAP. XCV.  
IT is requisite in a General to mingle love with the severity of his Discipline: they that cannot be induced to fear for love, will never be enforced to love for fear: Love opens the heart, Fear shuts it: That encourages, This compell's: And victory meets encouragement, but flees Compulsion.   

CHAP. XCVI.  
IT is the part of a well advised State never to entrust a weighty service, unto whom a noted injury or dishonour hath been done; He cannever be zealous in performance of Service, the height of whose expectation can rather recover a lost name, than gain a fresh honour.   

CHAP. XCVII.  
THree ways there be to begin a Repute, and gain dignities in a Commonwealth: The first by the virtue of glorious Parents, which, till thou degeneratest too much, may raise thee upon the wings of Opinion: The second is by associating with those, whose actions are known to be eminent: The third, by acting some exploit, either public or private, which in thy handhath proved honourable. The two first may miss, being founded on Opinion: the last seldom fail'es, being grounded upon Evidence.   

CHAP. XCVIII.  
IF thou art called to the Dignity of a Commander, dignify thy place by thy Commands: and that thou mayst be the more perfect in commanding others, practice upon thyself: Remember, thou art a servant to the public weal and therefore forget all private respects, either of kin or friend: Remember thou art a Champion for a Kingdom; forget therefore all private affections either of Love or Hate: He that would do his Country right, must not be too sensible of a personal wrong.   

CHAP. XCIX.  
IT is the part of a wise Commander to read Books, not so much as Men; nor men so much as Nations: He that can discern the inclinations, conditions, and passions of a Kingdom, gain's his Prince a great advantage both in Peace and Warr.   

CHAP. C.  
ANd you most High and Mighty Princes of this lower World, who at this intricate and vatious game of War, vie Kingdoms, and win Crowns; and by the death of your renowned Subjects, gain the lives of your bold-hearted Enemies; Know there is a Quo Warranto, Whereto you are to give account of your Eye-Glorious actions, according to the righteous rules of Sacred Justice: How warrantable it is to rend imperial Crowns from off the Sovereign heads of their too weak possessors; or to snatch Sceptres from out the conquered hand of heaven-anointed Majesty, and by your vast ambitions still to enlarge your large Dominions, with Kingdoms ravished from their natural Princes, judge you. O let your brave designs, and wellweighed actions, be as just as ye are glorious; and consider, that all your Wars, whose ends are not to defend your own Possessions, or to recover your dispossessions, are but Princely injuries, which none but heaven can right. But where necessity strikes up her hard Alarms, or wronged Religion beats her zealous Marches, Go on, and let both Swords and Stratagems proclaim a victory, whose noised renown may fill the world with your eternal Glory.   
The End of the first Century.   

ENCHIRIDION. The Second Book. Cent. 2.  

CHAP. I.  
APromise is a child of the understanding and the understanding begets it, the will brings it forth: he that performs it, delivers the mother: he that brerks it, murders the child. If he be begotten in the absence of the understanding, it is a Bastard; but the child must be kept. If thou mistrust thy understanding, promise not; if thou hast promised, break it not: it is better to maintain a Bastard then to murder a child.   

CHAP. II.  
CHarity is a naked child, giving honey to a Bee without wings: naked, because excuseless and simple; a child, because tender and growing: giving honey, because honey is pleasant and comfortable: to a Bee, because a Bee is laborious and deserving; without wings, because helpless, and wanting. If thou deniest to such, thou killest a Bee; If thou giv'st to other than such, thou preservest a Drone.   

CHAP. III.  
BEfore thy undertaking of any design, weigh the glory of thy action with the danger of the attempt: if the glory ontweigh the danger, it is cowardice to neglect it: if the danger exceed the glory, it is rashness to attempt it: if the Balances stand poised, let thy own Genius cast them.   

CHAP. IU.  
wouldst thou know the lawfulness of the action which thou desirest to undertake? let thy devotion recommend it to divine blessing: if it be lawful, thou shalt perceive thy heart encouraged by thy prayer: if unlawful, thou shalt find thy prayer discouraged by thy heart. That action is not warrantable, which either blushes to begs blessing, or having succeeded, dares not present thanksgiving.   

CHAP. V.  
IF evil men speak good, or good men evil of thy conversation, examine all thy actions, and suspect thyself. But if evil men speak evil of thee, hold it as thy honour, and by way of thankfulness, love them, but upon condition, that they continue to hate thee.   

CHAP. VI  
IF thou hope to please all, thy hopes are vain; if thou fear to displease some, thy fears are idle. The way to please thyself is not to displease the best; and the way to displease the best, is to please the most: if thou canst fashion thyself to please all, thou shalt displease him that is All in All.   

CHAP. VII.  
IF thou neglectest thy love to thy neighbour, in vain thou professest thy love to God: for by thy love to God, the love to thy neighbour is begotten, and by the love to thy neighbour, thy love to God is nourished.   

CHAP. VIII.  
THy ignorance in unrevealed Mysteries, is the mother of a saving Faith; and thy understanding in revealed Truths, is the mother of a sacred Knowledge: understand not therefore that thou mayst believe, but believe that thou mayst understand: understanding is the wages of a lively Faith, and Faith is the reward of an humble ignorance.   

CHAP. IX.  
PRide is the ape of charity, in show not much unlike; but somewhat fuller of action. In seeking the one, take heed thou light not upon the other: they are two Parallels; never but asunder: charity feeds the poor, so does pride: charity builds an Hospital, so does pride: in this thy differ: charity gives her glory to God; pride takes her glory from man.   

CHAP. X.  
HAst thou lost thy money, and dost thou mourn? another lost it before thou hadst it; be not troubled: perchance if thou hadst not lost it, now it had lost thee for ever: think therefore what thou rather hast escaped then lost: perhaps thou hadst not been so much thy own, had not thy money been so little thine.   

CHAP. XI.  
FLatter not thyself in thy faith to God, if thou want'st charity for thy neighbour; and think not thou hast charity for thy neighbour, if thou wantest faith to God; where they are not both together, they are both wanting; they are both dead, if once divided.   

CHAP. XII.  
BE not too slow in the breaking of a sinful custom: a quick courageous resolution is better than a gradual deliberation: in such a combat, he is the bravest soldier that lays about him without fear or wit. Wit pleads; fear disheartens; he that would kill Hydra, had better strike off one neckthen five heads: fell the Tree, and the Branches are soon cut off.   

CHAP. XII.  
BE careful rather of what thou dost, then of what thou hast: for what thou hast is none of thine, and will leave thee at thy death, or thou the pleasure of it, in thy sickness. But what thou dost, is thine, and will follow thee to thy grave, and plead for thee or against thee at thy Resurrection.   

CHAP. XIV.  
IF thou enjoyest not the God of love, thou canst not obtain the love of God, neither until then canst thou enjoy a desire to love God, nor relish the love of God: thy love to God is nothing but a faint reflection of God's love to thee: till he please to love thee, thy love can never please him.   

CHAP. XV.  
LEt not thy fancy be guided by thine eye; nor let thy will be governed by thy fancy: thine eye may be deceived in her object; and thy fancy may be deluded in her subject: let thy understanding moderate between thine eye, and thy fancy; and let thy judgement arbitrate between thy fancy and thy will; so shall thy fancy apprehend what is true: so shall thy will elect what is good.   

CHAP. XVI.  
ENdeavour to subdue as well thy irascible, as thy concupiscible affections: to endure injuries with a brave mind, is one half of the conquest; and to abstain from pleasing evils with a courageous spirit is the other: the sum of all humanity, and height of moral perfection, is Bear and Forbear.   

CHAP. XVII.  
IF thou desire not to be too poor, desire not to be too rich: He is rich, not that possesses much, but he that covets no more: and he is poor, not that enioy's little, but he that wants too much: the contented mind wants nothing which it hath not: the covetous mind wants not only what it hath not, but likewise what it hath.   

CHAP. XVIII.  
THe outward senses are the common Cinque-ports where every subject lands towards the understanding: The ear here's a confused noise, and presents it to the common sense. The common sense distinguishes the several sounds, and convey's it to the fancy: the fancy wildly descants on it: the understanding (whose object is truth) apprehending it to be Music, commends it to the judgement: The judgement severally and jointly examines it, and recommends it to the will: the will (whose object is good) approves it, or dislikes it; and the memory records it, And so in the other senses according to their subjects. Observe this progress, and thou shalt easily find where the defect of every action lies,   

CHAP. XIX.  
THe way to subject all things to thyself, is to subject thyself to Reason, thou shalt govern many, if Reason govern thee: wouldst thou be crowned the Monarch of a little world? Command thyself.   

CHAP. XX.  
THough thou givest all thou hast for charity sake, and yet retainest a secret desire of keeping it for thy own sake, thou rather leavest it then forsakest it: He that hath relinquished all things, and not himself, hath forsaken nothing; he that sets not his heart on what he possesses, forsaketht all things, though he keep his possessions.   

CHAP. XXI.  
SEarch into thyself before thou accept the ceremony of honour: if thou art a Palace, honour (like the Sun beams) will make thee more glorious: if thou art a Dunghill, the Sun may shine upon thee, but not sweeten thee. Thy Prince may give thee hononr, but not make thee honourable.   

CHAP. XXII.  
EVery man is a King in his own Kingdom. If Reason command, and passion obey, his government speaks a good King: if thine inordinate affection rules, it shows a proud Rebel; which, if thou destroy not, will depose thee: there is no mean between the death of a Rebel, and the life of a Prince.   

CHAP. XXIII.  
AVouw, promise, and a resolution, have all one object, only differ in respect of the persons to whom they are made; the first, is between God and man. The second, between man and man; the third, between man and his own soul; they all bind, if the object be lawful, to necessity of performance: if unlawful, to the necessity of sin: they all take thee prisoner: if the object be lawful, thy performance hath redeemed thee; if unlawful, blood and tears must ransom thee.   

CHAP. XXIV.  
IF thou hast any business of Consequence in agitation, let thy Care be reasonable, and seasonable: continual standing bent weakens the Bow: too hasty drawing breaks it. Put off thy cares with thy colaths: so shall thy Rest strengthen thy labour; and so shall thy labour sweeten thy Rest.   

CHAP. XXV.  
WHen thy inordinate affections do flame towards transitoty happiness, quench them thus: think with thyself; if my Prince should give me what honour he hath to bestow, or bestow on me what wealth he hath to give, it could not stay with me, because it is transitory; nor I with it, because I am mortal: then revise thy affections, and weigh them with their object, and thou wilt either confess thy folly, or make a wiser choice.   

CHAP. XXVI.  
WIth three sorts of men enter no serious friendship: the ingrateful; man; the Multiloquious man; the Coward: the first cannot prise thy favours; the second cannot keep thy Counsel; the third dare not vindicate thy Honour.   

CHAP. XXVII.  
IF thou desire the time should not pass too fast, use not too much pastime: thy life in Jollity blazes like a Taper in the wind: the blast of honour wastes it, the heat of pleasure melts it; if thou labour in a painful calling, thou shalt be less sensible of the flux of Time, and sweetlier satisfied at the time of Death.   

CHAP. XXVIII.  
GOd is Alpha and Omega, in the gre●t world; endeavour to make him so in the little world; make him thy evening Epilogue, and thy morning Prologue; practice to make him thy last though at night when thou sleepest; and thy first, thought in the morning when thou awakest; so shall thy fancy be sanctified in the night, and thy understanding rectified in the day; so shall thy rest be peaceful, thy labours prosperous, thy life pious, and thy death glorious.   

CHAP XXIX.  
BE very circumspect in the choice of thy company. In the society of thine equals thou shalt enjoy more pleasure; in the society of thy superiors thou shalt find more profit: to be the best in the company, is the way to grow worse: the best means to grow better, is to be the worst here.   

CHAP. XXX.  
THink of God (especially in thy devotion) in the abstract, rather than the concrete: if thou conceive him good, thy finite thoughts are ready to terminate that good in a conceived subject; if thou think him great, thy bounded conceit is apt to cast him into a conprehensible figure: conceive him therefore, diffused goodness without quality, and represent him an incomprehensible greatness without quantity.   

CHHP. XXXI.  
IF thou and true Religion be not as yet met; or met, unknown; by these marks thou shalt discove it. First, it is a Religion that takes no pleasure in the expense of blood. Secondly, it is a Religion whose Terents cross not the book of Truth. Thirdly, it is a Religion, that takes most from the creature, and gives most to the creatout: if such a one thou meet with, assure thyself it is the right, and therefore professit in thy Life, and protect it to thy Death.   

CHAP. XXXII.  
LEt another's passion be a lecture to thy reason, and let the Shipwreck of his understanding be a Sea-mark to thy passion: so shalt thou gain strength out of his weakness; safety out of his danger; and raise thyself a building out of his ruins.   

CHAP. XXXIII.  
IN the height of thy prosperity expect adversity, but fear it not; if it come not, thou art the more sweetly possessed of the happiness thou hast, and the more strongly confirmed; if it come, thou art the more gently dispossessed of the happiness thou hadst, and the more firmly prepared.   

CHAP. XXXIV.  
TO tremble at the sight of thy sin, makes thy faith the less apt to tremble: the Devils believe, and tremble, because they tremble at what they believe; their belief brings trembling: thy trembling brings belief.   

CHAP. XXXV.  
AUthology is the way to Theology: until thou seest thyself empty, thou wilt not desire to be filled: he can never truly relish the sweetness of God's mercy, that never tasted the bitterness of his own Misery.   

CHAP. XXXVI.  
IS any outward affliction fallen upon thee, by a temporary loss? advise with thyself, whether it be recoverable, or not: if it be, use all such lawful and speedy means (the violence and unseasonableness whereof may not disadvantage thee in the pursuit) to recover it; if not recoverable, endure with patience what thou canst not recure with pains: he that carnally asslicts his soul for the loss of a transitory good, casts away the kernel, because he hath lost the shell.   

CHAP. XXXVII.  
Natural anger glances into the breasts of wisemen, but rests in the besom of fools: in them, it is infirmity; in these, a sin: there is a natural anger; and there is a spiritual anger; the common object of that, is the person; of this, his vice: he that is always angry with his sin, shall seldom sin in his anger.   

CHAP. XXXVIII.  
IF any hard affliction hath surprised thee, cast one eye upon the hand that sent it; and the other, upon the sin that brought it; if thou thankfully receive the message, he that sent it will discharge the messenger.   

CHAP. XXXIX.  
ALl passions are good or bad, according to their objects: where the object is absolutely good, there the greatest passion is too little: where absolutely evil, there the  passion is too much: where indifferent, there a little is enough.   

CHAP. XL.  
WHen thou dost evil that good may come thereby, the evil is surely thine: if good should happen to ensue upon the evil which thou hast done; the good proceeds from God; if therefore thou do evil, thereby to occasionate a good, thou layst a bad foundation for a good building; and servest the Devil that God may serve thee: where the end of evil is good in the intention, there the end of that good is evil in the extension.   

CHAP. XLI.  
BE as far from desiring the popular love, as fearful to deserve the popular hate: ruin dwells in both: the one will hug thee to death; the other will crush thee to destruction: to escape the first, be not ambitious; to avoid the second, be not seditious.   

CHAP. XLII.  
WHen thou seest misery in thy brother's face, let him see mercy in thine eye; the more the oil of mercy is poured on him by thy pity, the more the oil in thy Cruse shall be increased by thy Piety.   

CHAP. XLIII.  
REad not books alone, but men, and amongst them chief thyself: if thou find any thing questionable there, use the Commentary of a severe friend, rather than the gloss of a sweet-lipt flatterer: there is more profit in a distasteful truth, then deceitful sweetness.   

CHAP. XLIV.  
IF the opinion of thy worth invite any to the desire of thy acquaintance, yield him a respect suitable to his quality: too great a reservation will expose thee to the sentence of Pride; too easy access will condemn thee to the censure of Folly: things too hardly endeavoured, discourage the seeker: too easily obtained, disparage the thing sought for: too easily got, is lowly prized; and quickly lost,   

CHAP. XLV.  
WHen conveniency of time hath ripened your acquaintance, be cautious what thou sayest, and courteous in what thou dost: observe his inclination: if thou find him weight, make him thine own, and lodge him in a faithful bosom: be not rashly exceptious, nor rudely familiar: the one will breed contention; the other contempt.   

CHAP. XLVI.  
WHen Passion is grounded upon Fancy, it is commonly but of short continuance: Where the foundation is unstable, there the building is not lasting, He that will be angry for any Cause, will be angry for no Cause; and when the understanding perceives the cause vain, than the judgement proclaims the the effect void.   

CHAP. XLVII.  
IF thou desire to purchase Honour with thy wealth; consider first how that wealth became thine: if thy labour got it, let thy wisdom keep it: if Oppression found it, let Repentance restore it: if thy parent left it, let thy virtues deserve it: Solet thy virtues deserve it: So shall thy honour be safer, better, and cheaper.   

CHAP. XLVIII.  
SIn is a Basilisk whose eyes are full of Venom, if the eye of thy soul see her first, it reflects her own poison and kills her: if she see thy soul, unseen, or seen too late, with her poison, she kills thee: Since therefore thou canst not escape thy Sin, let not thy Sin escape thy observation.   

CHAP. XLIX.  
IF thou expectest to rise by the means of Him, whom thy Father's greatness rais'd'from his service to Court preferment, thou wilt be deceived: For the more in esteem thou art, the more sensible is He of what he was, whose former servitude will be Chronicled by thy advancement, and glory obscured by thy greatness: However he will conceive it a dead service, which may be interpreted by thee, as a merited Reward, rather than a meritorius benefit.   

CHAP. L.  
TRust not to the promise of a common swearer, for he that dare sin a 'gainst his God, for neither profit nor pleasure, will trespass against thee for his own advantage. He that dare break the precepts of his Father, will easily be persuaded to violate the promise unto his Brother.   

CHAP. LI.  
LEt the greatest part of the news thou hearest be the  part of what thou believest, lest the greatest part of what thou believest be the  part of what is true. Where lies are easily admitted, the Father of lies will not easily be excluded.   

CHAP. LII.  
DEliberate long, before thou consecrate a Friend; and when thy impartial judgement concludes him worthy of thy bosom, receive him joy fully, and entertain him wisely: impart thy secrets boldly, and mingle thy thoughts with his: He is thy very self; and use him so: if thou firmly think him Faithful, thou makest him so.   

CHAP. LIII.  
AS there is no worldly gain, without some loss; so there is no worldly loss without some gain. If thou hast lost thy wealth, thou hast lost some trouble with it: if thou art degraded from thy Honour thou art likewise freed from the stroke of envy; if sickness hath blurred thy beauty, it hath delivered thee from pride; Set the allowance against the loss, and thou shalt find no loss gre●●; He loses little or nothing, that reserves himself.   

CHAP. LIV.  
IF thou desire to take the best advantage of thyself (especially in matters where the Fancy is most employed) keep temperate diet, use moderate exercise, observe seasonable, and set hours for Rest; Let the end of thy first sleep raise thee from thy Repose: Then hath thy Body the best temper; Then hath thy Soul the lest incumberance: Then no noise shall disturb thy Ear; No object shall divert thine Eye: Then, if, thy sprightly Fancy transport thee not beyond the common pitch, and show thee not the Magazine of high invention, return thee to thy wanton Bed, and there conclude thyself more fit to wear thy Mistress' Favour, than Apollo's Bays.   

CHAP. LV.  
IF thou art rich, strive to command thy money, lest she command thee: if thou know how to use her, she is thy Servant: if not, thou art her Slave.   

CHAP. LVI.  
BRing thy daughter a husband of her own Religion, and of no hereditary disease; Let his wisdom outweigh his wealth: Let his parentage excel his person, and let his years exceed hers: Let thy prayers recommend the rest to providence: if he prove, thou hast found a Son: if not, thou hast lost a Daughter.   

CHAP. LVII.  
SO use Prosperity, that Adversity may not abuse thee: if in the one, Security admits no fears; in the other, Despair will afford no hopes: He that in Prosperity can foretell a danger, can in adversity foresee deliverance.   

CHAP. LVIII.  
IF thy faith have no doubts, thou hast just cause to doubt thy faith; and if thy doubts have no hope, thou hast just reason to fear despair; When there fore thy doubts shall exercise thy faith, keep thy hopes firm to qualify thy doubts; So shall thy Faith be secured from doubts: So shall thy doubts be preserved from despair.   

CHAP. LIX.  
IF thou desire to be truly valiant, fear to do any injury: He that fears not to do evil, is always afraid to suffer evil: He that never fears is desperate: And he that fears always, is a Coward: He is the true valiant man, that dares nothing but what he may, and fears nothing but what he ought.   

CHAP. LX.  
ANger may repast with thee for an hour, but not repose for a night: The continuance of Anger is Hatred, the continuance of Hatred turns Malice. That anger is not warrantable, which hath seen two Suns.   

CHAP. LXI.  
IF thou standest guilty of oppression, or wrongfully possessed of another's Right; see, thou make Restitution before thou givest an Alms: if otherwise, what art thou but a Thief, and makest God thy Receiver?   

CHAP. LXII.  
WHen thou prayest for spiritual Graces, let thy prayer be absolute; When, for temporal Blessings, add a Clause of God's pleasure: in both, with Faith and Humiliation: So shalt thou undoubtedly receive what thou desirest, or more, or better; Never prayer rightly made, was made unheard, or heard, ungranted.   

CHAP. LXIII.  
He that gives all, though but little, gives much; because God looks not to the quantity of the Gift, but to the quality of the Giver; He that desires to give more than he can, hath equalled his Gift to his desire, and hath given more than he hath.   

CHAP. LXIV.  
Be not too greedy in desiring Riches, nor too eager in seeking them: nor too covetous in keeping them; nor too passionate in losing them: the first will possess thy soul of discontent; The second will dispossess thy body of Rest; The third will possess thy wealth of thee; The last will dispossess thee of thyself: He that is too violent in the concupiscible, will be as violent in the irascible.   

CHAP. LXV.  
BE not too rash in the breaking of an inconvenient custom: As it was gotten, so leave it by degrees. Danger attends upon too sudden Alterations: He that pulls down a, bad building by the great, may be ruined by the fall: But he that takes it down Brick, by Brick, may live to build a better.   

CHAP. LXVI.  
IF thou desire that inestimable Grace of saving Faith, detest that insatiable vice of damnable Covetousness: it is impossible, one heart (though never so double) should lodge both: Faith possesses thee of what thou hast not; Covetousness dispossesses thee of what thou hast: Thou canst not serve God, unless Mammon serve thee.   

CHAP. XLVII.  
BEware of him that is slow to Anger: Anger when it is long in coming, is the stronger when it comes, and the longer kept. Abused patience turns to fury: When Fancy is the ground of passion, that understanding which composes the Fancy qualifies the passion; But when judgement is the ground the Memory is the Recorder.   

CHAP. LXVIII.  
HE that professes himself thy open enemy, arms thee against the evil he means thee, but he that dissembles himself thy secret Friend, strikes beyond Caution, and wounds above Cure: From the first, thou mayst deliver thyself: From the last, good Lord deliver thee.   

CHAP. LXIX.  
IF thou hast wronged thy brother in thought, reconcile thee to him in thought; if thou hast offended him in words, let thy reconciliation be in words: if thou hast trespassed against him in deeds, by deeds be reconciled to him: That Reconciliation is most kindly which is most in kind.   

CHAP. LXX.  
NOt to give to the poor is to take from him: Not to feed the hungry, if thou hast it, is the utmost of thy power to kill him: That therefore thou mayst avoid both Sacrilege and Murder, Be Charitable.   

CHAP. LXXI.  
SO often as thou remember'st thy sins without Grief, so often thou repecaest those sins by thy not grieving: He that will not mourn for the Evil which he hath done, gives earnest for the Evil he means to do; Nothing can assuage that fire which Sin hath made, but only that Water which Repentance hath drawn.   

CHAP. LXXII.  
LOok well before thou leap into the chair of Honour: The higher thou climbest the lower thou fallest, unlesh Virtue preserve thee: if Gold or Favour advance thee, thy Honour is pinned upon the wheel of Fortune: When the wheel shall turn, thy Honour falls, and thou remain'st an everlasting Monument of thy own ambitious folly.   

CHAP. LXXIII  
WE are born with our temptations: Nature sometimes presses us to evil, sometimes provokes us unto good, therefore thou givest her more than her due, thou nourishest an enemy; if less than is fufficient, thou destroyest a friend: Moderation will prevent both.   

CHAP. LXXIV.  
IF thou scorn not to serve Luxury in thy Youth, Chastity will scorn thy service in thy Age; and that the Will of thy green years thought no Vice in the acting, the necessity of thy grey hairs makes no Virtue, in the forbearing: Where there is no Conflict, there can be no Conquest; where there is no Conquest, there is no Crown.   

CHAP. LXXV.  
THou didst nothing towards thy own Creation, for thou wert created for thy Creator's glory; Thou must do something towards thy own Redemption, for thou wert redeemed for thy own good: He that made thee without thee, will not save thee without. thee.   

CHAP. LXXVI.  
WHen thy tongue and heart agree not in confession, that confession is not agreeable to God's pleasure: He that confesses with his tongue, and wants confession in his heart, is either a vain man, on an Hypocrite: He that hath confession in his heart, and wants it in his tongue, is either a proud man, or a timorous.   

CHAP. LXXVII.  
GOld, is Caesar's Treasure, Man is Gods: Thy Gold hath Caesar's image, and thou hast Gods; Give therefore those things unto Caesar which are Caesar's; and unto God, which are Gods.   

CHAP. LXXVIII.  
IN the Commission of evil, fear no man so much as thy own self: Another is but one witness against thee: Thou art a thousand: Another thou mayst avoid, but thyself thou canst not; Wickedness is its own punishment.   

CHAP. LXXIX.  
IN thy Apparel avoid Singularity, Profuseness, and Gaudiness; Be not too early in the fashion; nor too late: Decency is the halfway between Affectation and Neglect: The Body is the shell of the Soul; Apparel is the Husk of that Shell; The Husk often tells you what the Kernel is.   

CHHP. LXXX.  
LEt thy recreation be manly, moderate, seasonable, lawful; if thy life be Sedentary, more tending to the exercise of thy Body; if active, more to the refreshing of thy mind: The use of Recreation is to strengthen thy Labour, and sweeten thy Rest.   

CHAP. LXXXI.  
Be not censorious, for thou knowst not whom thou judgest; it is a more dextrous error to speak well of an evil man, then ill of a good man. And safer for thy judgement to be misled by simple Charity, then uncharitable Wisdom: He may tax others with privilege, that hath not in himself, what others may tax.   

CHAP. LXXXII.  
TAke heed of that Honour, which thy wealth hath purchased thee, for it is neither lasting, nor thine own. What, money creates, money preserves: if thy wealth decays, thy Honour dies; it is but a slippery happiness which Fortunes can give, and Frowns can take; and not worth the owning which a night's Fire can melt, or a rough Sea can drown.   

CHAP. LXXXIII.  
IF thou canst desire any, thing not to be repent of, thou art in a fair way to Happiness; if thou hast attained it, thou art at thy ways end; He is not happy who hath all that he desires, but that desires nothing but what is good; if thou canst not do what thou needest not repent, yet endeavour to repent what thy necessity hath done.   

CHAP. LXXXIV.  
SPend a hundred years in Earth's best pleasures; and after that, a hundred more; to which being spent, add a thousand; and to that, ten thousand more; the last shall as surely end, as the first are ended, and all shall be swallowed with Eternity: He that is born to day, is not sure to live a day; He that hath lived the longest, is but as he that was born yesterday: The Happiness of the one is, That he hath lived; the Happiness of the other is, That he may live; and the lot of both is, That they must die: it is no happiness to live long, nor unhappiness to die soon: Happy is he that hath lived long enough, to die well.   

CHAP. LXXXV.  
BE careful to whom thou givest, and how: He that gives to him that deserves not, loses his gift, and betrays the giver. He that conferrs his gift upon a worthy receiver, makes many debtors, and by giving, receives. He that gives for his own ends, makes his gift a bribe, and the receiver a prisoner: He that gives often, teaches requittance to the receiver, and discovers a crafty confidence in the giver.   

CHAP. LXXXVI.  
HAth any wronged thee? Be bravely revenged: Slight it, and the work's begun; Forgive it, and it is finished: He is below himself that is not above an injury.   

CHAP. LXXXVII.  
LEt not thy passion miscall thy Child, lest thou prophesy his fortunes: Let not thy tongue curse him, last thy curse return from whence it came: Curses sent in the room of blessings are driven back with a double vengeance.   

CHAP. LXXXVIII.  
IN all the Ceremonies of the Church which remain indifferent, do according to the constitution of that Church where thou art: The God of Order and Unity, who created both the Soul and the Body, expects Unity in the one, and Order in both.   

CHAP. LXXXIX.  
LEt thy religious Fast be a voluntary abstinence, not so much from Flesh, as Fleshly thoughts: God is pleased with that Fast which gives to another, what thou deniest to thyself; and when the afflicting of thy own Body, is the repairing of thy Brothers. He fasts truly that abstains sadly, grieves really, gives cheerfully, and forgives charitably.   

CHAP. XC.  
IN the hearing of Mysteries keep thy tongue quiet: five words cost Zacharias forty week's silence: In such heights, convert thy Questions into Wonders; and let this suffice thee, The Reason of the Deed, is the power of the Doer.   

CHAP. XCI.  
DEride not him whom the loser world calls Puritan, lest thou offend a little one: if he be an Hypocrite, God, that knows him, will reward him; if zealous, that God that loves him, will revenge him: if he be good, he is good to God's Glory: if evil, let him be evil at his own charges: He that judges, shall be judged.   

CHAP. XCII.  
SO long as thou art ignorant, be not ashamed to learn: He that is so fond modest, not to acknowledge his own defects of knowledge, shall in time, be so fond impudent to justify his own ignorance: ignorance is the greatest of of all infirmities; and, justified, the chiefest of all Follies.   

CHAP. XCIII.  
IF thou be a Servant, deal just by thy Master, as thou desirest thy Servant should deal with thee: Where thou art commanded, be obedient: where not commanded, be provident: Let diligence be thy Credit; Let faithfulness be thy crown: Let thy Master's credit be thy care, and let his welfare be thy content: Let thine Eye be single, and thy heart humble: Be Sober, that thou mayst be circumspect: He that in Sobriety is not his own man, being drunk, whose is he? Be neither contentious, nor Lascivious: The one shows a turbulent Heart; The other an idle Brain. A good Servant is a great Master   

CHAP. CXIV.  
LEt the Foundation of thy Affection be Virtue, then make the Building as rich, and as glorious as thou canst: if the Foundation be Beauty, or Wealth, and the building Virtue the Foundation is too weak for the Building; and it will fall: Happy is he, the Palace of whose affection is founded upon Virtue, walled with Riches, glazed with Beauty, and Roofed with Honour.   

CHAP. XCV.  
IF thy mother be a widow, give her double honour, who now acts the part of a double Parent. Remember her nine month's burden, and her tenth month's travel: forget not her indulgence, when thou didst hang upon her tender breast. Call to mind her prayers for thee before thou cam'st into the world; and her cares for thee when thou wert come into the world. Remember her secret Groans, her affectionate tears, her broken slumbers, her daily fears, her nightly frights. Relieve her wants; cover her imperfections; comfort her age: and the widow's husband will be the Orphan's Father.   

CHAP. XCVI.  
AS thou desirest the love of God & man, beware of Pride: it is tumour in thy mind that breaks and poisons all thy actions; it is a worm in thy treasure which eats and ruins thy estate: it loves no man; is beloved of no man; it disparages virtue in another by detraction; it disrewards goodness in itself, by vain glory: the friend of the flatterer, the mother of envy, the nurse of fury, the bawd of luxury, the sin of devils, and the devil in mankind: it hates superiors, it scorns inferiors, it owns no equals: in short, till thou hate it, God hates thee.   

CHAP. XCVII.  
SO behave thyself among thy children, that they may love and honour thy presence: be not too fond, lest they fear thee not: be not too bitter, lest they fear thee too much; too much familiarity will embolden them; too little countenance will discouragethem: so carry thyself, that thy may rather fear thy displeasure, than thy correction; when thou reprov'st them, do it in season; when thou correct'st them, do it not in passion: as a wise child makes a happy father, so a wise father makes a happy child.   

CHAP. XCVIII.  
WHen thy hand hath done a good act, ask thy heart if it be well done: the matter of a good action is the deed done; the form of a good action is the manner of the doing: in the first, another hath the comfort, and thou the glory; in the other, thou hast the comfort, and God the glory: that deed is ill done wherein God is no sharer.   

CHAP. XCIX.  
Wouldst thou purchase Heaven? advise not with thy own ability. The prize of Heaven is what thou hast? examine not what thou hast, but what thou art: give thyself, and thou hast bought it: if thy own vileness be thy fears, offer thyself and thou art precious.   

CHAP. C.  
THe Birds of the air die to sustain thee; Beasts of the field die to nourish thee; the Fishes of the Sea die to feed thee. Our stomaches are their common Sepulchre. Good God with how many deaths are our poor lives patched up! How full of death is the miserable life of momentany man!   
The end of the second Century.   

THE Third Century.  

CHAP. I.  
IF thou take pains in what is good, the pains vanish, the good remains: if thou take pleasure in what is evil, the evil remains, and the pleasure vanishes: what art thou the worse for pains, or the better for pleasure, when both are past?   

CHAP. II.  
IF thy fancy, and judgement have agreed in the choice of a fit wife, be not too fond, lest she surfeit, nor too peevish, lest she languish: love so, that thou mayst be feared; rule so, that thou mayst be honoured: be not too diffident, lest thou teach her to deceive thee, nor too suspicious, lest thou teach her to abuse thee: if thou see a fault, let thy love hid it; if she continue it let thy wisdom reprove it: reprove her not openly, lest she grow bold: rebuke her not tauntingly, lest she grow spiteful: proclaim not her beauty, lest she grow proud: boast not her wisdom, lest thou be thought foolish; show her not thy imperfections, lest she disdain thee: pry not into her Dairy, lest she despise thee: profane not her ears with looss communication, lest thou defile the sanctuary of her modesty: an understanding husband makes a discreet wife; and she, a happy husband.   

CHAP III.  
WRinkle not thy face with too much laughter, lest thou become ridiculous; neither wanton thy heart with too much mirth, lest thou become vain: the suburbs of folly is vain mirth, and profuseness of laughter, is the City of fools.   

CHAP. IU.  
LEt thy tongue take counsel of one eye, rather than of two ears; let the news thou reportest be rather stale then false, lest thou be branded with the name of liar. It is an intolerable dishoneur to be that which only to be called so, is thought worthy of a Stab.   

CHAP. V.  
LEt thy discourse be such as thy judgement may maintain, and thy company may deserve. In neglecting this, thou losest thy words; in not observing the other, thou losest thyself. Give wash to swine, and wort to men; so shalt thou husband thy gifts to the advantage of thyself, and shape thy discourse to the advancement of thy hearer.   

CHAP. VI  
DOst thou roar under the Torments of a Tyrant? weigh them with the sufferance of thy Saviour, and they are no plague. Dost thou rage under the Bondage of a raving Conscience? compare it to thy Saviour's passion, and it is no pain. Have the tortures of Hell taken hold of thy despairing soul? compare it to thy Saviour's torments, and it is no punishment: what sense unequally compares, let faith interchangeably apply, and thy pleasures have no comparison. Thy sins are the Authors of his sufferings; and his hell is the price of thy heaven.   

CHAP. VII.  
ARt thou banished from thy own Country? thank thy own folly: hadst thou chosen a right home, thou hadst been no Exul: hadst thou commanded thy own Kingdom, all Kingdoms had been thy own: the fool is banished in his own Country; the wiseman is in his own Country, though banished: the fool wanders, the wiseman traruls.   

CHAP. VIII.  
IN seeking virtue, if thou find poverty, be not ashamed: the fault is none of thine. Thy honour, or dishonour is purchased by thy own actions. Though vettue give a ragged livery, she gives a golden Cognizance: If her service make thee poor, blush not. Thy poverty may disadvantage thee, but not dishonour the●.   

CHAP. IX.  
GAze not on Beauty too much, lest it blast thee; nor too long, lest it blind thee; nor too near, lest it burn thee: if thou like it, it deceives thee; if thou love it, it disturbs thee; if thou lust after it, it destroys thee: if virtue accompany it, it is the heart's paradise, if vice associate it, it is the souls purgatory: it is the wiseman's Bonfire, and the fools Furnace.   

CHAP. X.  
IF thou wouldst have a good servant, let thy servant find a wise master: let his food, rest, and wages be seasonable; let his labour, recreations, and attendance depend upon thy pleasure: be not angry with him too long, lest he think thee malicious; nor too soon, lest he conceive thee rash; nor too often, lest he count thee humorous. Be not too fierce lest he love thee not; nor too remiss, lest he fear thee not; nor too familiar, lest he prise thee not. In brief, whilst thou giv'st him the liberty of a servant, beware thou losest not the Majesty of a Master.   

CHAP. XI.  
IF thou desirest to be chaste in Wedlock, keep thyself chaste before thou wedd'st: he that hath known pleasure unlawfully, will hardly be restrained from unlawful pleasure. One woman was created for one man. He that strays beyond the limits of liberty, is brought into the verge of Slavery. Where one is enough, two are too many, and three are too few.   

CHAP. XII.  
IF thou wouldst be justified acknowledge thy injustice: he that confesses his sin, gins his journey towards salvation: he that is sorry for it, mends his pace: he that forsakes it, is at his journey's end.   

CHAP. XIII.  
BEfore thou reprehend another, take heed thou art not culpable in what thou goest about to reprehend. He that cleanses a blot with blotted fingers, makes a greater blur.   

CHAP. XIV.  
BEware of drunkenness, lest all good men beware of thee; where drunkenness reigns, there reason is an Exul; virtue a stranger; God an Enemy; Blasphemy is wit, Oaths are Rhetoric, and Secrets are Proclamations. Noah discovered that in one hour, drunk, which sober, he kept secret six hundred years   

CHAP. XV.  
WHat thou givest to the poor, thou securest from the Thief, but what thou withhold'dst from his necessity, a Thief possesses. God's Exchequer is the poor man's Box: when thou strik'st a Tally, he becomes thy debtor,   

CHAP. XVI.  
TAke no pleasure in the folly of an Idiot, not in the fancy of a Lunatic nor in the frenzy of a Drunkard. Make them the object of thy pity, not of thy pastime; when thou beholdest them, behold how thou art beholding to him that suffered thee not to be like them There is no difference between thee and them, but God's favour.   

CHAP. XVII.  
IF being in eminent place, thou hast incurred the Obloquy of the multitude, the more thou endeavourest to stop the stream, the more it overflow's; wisely rather divert the course of the vulgar humour, by divulging and spreading some ridiculous novelty, which may present new matter to their various fancy, and stave their tongues from off thy worried name. The first subject of the common voice, is the last news.   

CHAP. XVIII.  
IF thou desire to see thy child virtuous, let him not see his father's vices: Thou canst not rebuke that in them, that they behold practised in thee; till reason be ripe, examples direct more than precepts: Such as thy behaviour is before thy children's faces, such commonly is theirs behind their parents backs.   

CHAP. XIX.  
USe Law and Physic only for necessity; they that use them otherwise, abuse themselves into weak bodies, and light purses: they are good remedies, bad buisnsses, and worse recreations.   

CHAP. XX.  
BE not over curious in prying into mysteries; lest, by seeking things which are needless, thou omittest things which are necessary: it is more safe to poubt of uncertain matters, then to dispute of undiscovered Mysteries.   

CHAP. XXI.  
IF what thou hast received from God thou sharest to the poor, thou hast gained a blessing by thy hand; if what thou hast taken from the poor, thou givest to God, thou hast purchased a Curse into the Bargain. He that puts to pious uses, what he hath got by impious Usury, robs the Spittle to raise an Hospital; and the cry of the one, will out-plead the prayers of the other.   

CHAP. XXII.  
LEt the end of thy argument be rather to discover a doubtful Truth, than a commanding Wit; In the one, thou shalt gain substance; in the other, Froth: that flint strikes the steel in vain, that propagates no sparkles; covet to be Truth's champion, at lest to hold her colours: he that pleads against the truth, takes pains to be overthrown; or, if a conqueror, gains but vainglory by the conquest.   

CHAP. XXIII.  
TAke no pleasure in the death of a creature, if it be harmless or useless, destroy it not: if useful, or harm full destroy it mercifully: He that mercifully made his Creatures for thy sake, expects thy mercy upon them for his sake. Mercy turns her back to the unmerciful.   

CHAP. XXIV.  
IF thou art called to the dignity of a Priest, the same voice calls thee to the honour of a Judge; if thy life and doctrine be good, thou shalt judge others: if thy doctrine be good, and thy life bad, only thy : if both be good, thou teachest thy people to escape condemnation: if this be good, and that bad, thou teachest God to condemn thee.   

CHAP. XXV.  
IF thou be not a Prometheus to advise before thou dost; be an Epimetheus to examine when thou hast done: when the want of advice hath brought forth an improvident act, the act of examination may produce a profitable Repentance.   

CHAP. XXVI.  
IF thou desire the happiness of thy soul, the health of thy body, the prosperity of thy estate, the preservation of thy credit, converse not with a Harlot: her eyes run thy reputation in debt; her lips demand the payment; her breasts arrests thee; her arms imprison thee; from whence, believe it, thou shalt hardly get forth till thou hast either ended the days of thy credit, or paid the utmost farthing of thy Estate.   

CHAP. XXVII.  
CAarry a watchful eye upon those familiars that are either silent at thy faults, or soothe the in thy frailties, or excuse thee in thy follies; for such are either cowards, or flatterers, or fools: if thou entertain them in prosperity, the Coward will leave thee in thy dangers, the Flatterer will quit thee in thy adversity: but the fool will never forsake thee.   

CHAP. XXVIII.  
IF thou hast an Estate, and a son to inherit it, keep him not too short, lest he think thou livest too long; what thou allowest him, let him receive from thy hand, as gift; not from thy Tenants, as Rent: keep the reins of thy Estate in thy own hand, lest thou forsaking the sovereignty of a father, he forget the reverence of a child: let his liberty be grounded on thy permission, and keep him within the compass of thy instruction: let him feel, thou hast the Curb, though occasion urge thee not to check. Give him the choice of his own wife, if he be wise. Counsel his affection rather than cross it, if thou be'st wise; lest his marriagebed be made in secret, or depend upon thy grave. If he be given to lavish company, endeavour to stave him off with lawful recreations: be cheerful with him, that he may love thy presence; and wink at small faults, that thou mayst gain him: be not always chiding, lest thou harden him: neither knit thy brow too often, lest thou dishearten him: remember the discretion of a father oft times prevents the destruction of a child.   

CHAP. XXIX.  
IF thou hid thy Treasure upon the Earth, how canst thou expect to find it in Heaven? Canst thou hope to be a sharer where thou hast reposed no stock? What thou givest to God's glory, and thy soul's health, is laid up in Heaven, and is only thine; that alone, which thou exchangest, or hidest upon Earth is lost.   

CHAP. XXX.  
REgard not in thy Pilgrimage how difficult the passage is, but whither it tends; nor how delicate the journey is, but where it ends: If it be easy, suspect it; if hard, endure it: He that can not excuse a bad way, accuseth his own sloth; and he that sticks in a bad passage, can never attain a good journey's end.   

CHAP. XXXI.  
MOney is both the generation and corruption of purchased honour: honour is both the child and stave of potent money: the credit which honour hath lost money hath found: When honour grew mercenary, money grew honourable. The way to be truly Noble, is to contemn both.   

CHAP. XXXII.  
GIve not thy tongue too great a liberty, lest it take thee prisoner: A word unspoken is like the sword in thy scabbard, thine; if vented, thy sword is in another's hand: if thou desire to be held wise, be so wise as to hold thy tongue.   

CHAP. XXXIII.  
IF thou be subject to any great vanity, nourish it not: if it will be entertained, encourage it not: if it grow strong, more strongly strive against it; if too strong, pray against it; if it weaken not, join fasting to thy Prayer; if it shall continue, add perseverance to both; if it decline not, add patience to all, and thou hast conquered it.   

CHAP. XXXIV.  
HAth any wounded thee with Injuries? meet them with patience; hasty words rankle the wound, soft language dresses it, forgiveness cures it, and oblivion takes away the scar. It is more noble, by silence to avoid an injury, then by argument to overcome it.   

CHAP. XXXV.  
BE not instable in thy resolutions, nor various in thy actions, nor in thy affections: so deliberate, that thou mayst resolve; so resolve, that thou mayst perform; so perform, that thou mayst persevere: Mutability is the badge of Infirmity.   

CHAP. XXXVI.  
LEt not thy good intention flatter thee to an evil action; what is essentially evil, no circnmstance can make good; it matters not with what mind thou didst that, which is unlawful, being done: if the act be good, the intention crown's it; if bad, it deposes thy intention: no evil action can be well done.   

CHAP. XXXVII.  
LOve not thy children too unequally; or, if thou dost, show it not; lest thou make the one proud, the other envious, and both Fools: if Nature hath made a difference, it is the part of a tender Parent to help the weakest. That trial is not fair, where affection is the judge.   

CHAP. XXXVIII.  
IN giving of thy alms, inquire not so much into the person, as his necessity: God looks not so much upon the merits of him that requires, as into the manner of him that releiv's: if the man deserve not, thou hast given it to Humanity.   

CHAP. XXXIX.  
IF thou desirest the Eucharist should be thy Supper, let thy life be thy Chaplain; if thy own worthiness invites thee, presume not to come; if the sorrowful sense of thy own sins forbidden thee, presume not to forbear; if thy faith be strong, it will confirm it; if weak, it will strengthen it: He only that wants Faith is the forbidden guest.   

CHAP. LX.  
WOuldst thou traffic with the best advantage, and Crown thy virtues with the best return? Make the poor thy Chapman, and thy purse thy Factor: So shalt thou give trifles which thou coul'st not keep, to receive treasure which thou canst not lose: There's no such Merchant as the charitable man.   

CHAP. LXI.  
FOllow not the multitude in the evil of sin, lest thou share with the multitude in the evil of punishment: The number of the Offenders diminisheth not the quality of the offence: As the multitude of Suitors draw's more favour to the Suit; So the multitude of Sinners draw's more punishment on the Sin: The number of the Faggots multiplies the fury of the Fire.   

CHAP. XLII.  
IF thou be angry with him that reproves thy Sin, thou secretly confesseth his reproof to be just: if thou acknowledge his Reproof to be just, thou secretly confessest thy anger to be unjust He that is angry with the just Reprover, kindles the fire of the just Revenger.   

CHAP. XLIII.  
Do well while thou mayst, lest thou do evil when thou wouldst not: Pe that takes not advantage of a good Hour, shall lose the Benefit of a good Will.   

CHAP. XLIV.  
LEt not mirth be thy profession, lest thou become a Makesport. He that hath but gained the Title of a jester, let him assure himself, The Fool's not far off.   

CHAP. XLV.  
IN every Relative action, change conditions with thy brother; Then ask thy conscience what thou woudest be done to; Being truly resolved exchange again, and do thou the like to him, and thy Charity shall never err: it is injustice to do, what without impatience thou canst not suffer.   

CHAP. XLVI.  
LOve thy neighbour for God's sake, and God for his own sake, who created all things for thy sake, and redeemed thee for his mercy sake: If thy love have any other Object, it is false love: if thy object have any other end, it is self-love.   

CHAP. XLVIII.  
LEt thy conversation with men, be sober and sincere: Let thy devotion to God be dutiful and decent: Let the one be hearty, and not haughty; Let the other be humble, and not homely: So live with men, as if God saw thee; So pray to God, as if men heard thee.   

CHAP. XLVIII.  
GOd's pleasure is the wind our actions ought to sail by: Man's will is the Stream that Tides them up and down; if the wind blow not, thou mayst take the advantage of the Tide; if it blow, no matter which way the Stream runs, if with thee, thy voyage will be the shorter; if against thee, the Sea will be the rougher: it is safer to strive against the Stream, then to sail against the Wind.   

CHAP. XLIX.  
IF thou desire much Rest, desire not too much: there is no less trouble in the preservation, then in the acquisition of abundance; Diogenes found more rest in his Tub than Alexander on his Throne.   

CHAP. L.  
Wouldst thou multiply thy riches? Diminish them wisely: Or wouldst thou make thy Estate entire? divide it charitably: Seeds that are scattered, increase; but hoarded up, they perish.   

CHAP. LI.  
HOw cam'st thou by thy Honour? By Money: How cam'st thou by thy Money? By Extortion: Compare thy penny worth with the price, and tell me truly, how truly Honourable thou art? It is an ill purchase that's encumbered with a curse, and that Honour will be ruinous that is built on Ruins.   

CHAP. LII.  
IF thy Brother hath priyately offended thee, reprove him ptiyately, and having lost himself in an injury, thou shalt find him in thy forgiuness': He that rebukes a private fault openly, betray's it, rather than reproves it.   

CHAP. LIII.  
WHat thou desirest, inspect throughly before thou prosecute: Cast one eye upon the inconveniences, as well as the other upon the Conveniences. Weigh the fullness of the Barn with the Charge of the Plough: Weigh Honour with her Burden, and Pleasure with her Dangers; So shalt thou undertake wisely what thou desirest; or moderate thy desires in undertaking.   

CHAP. LIV.  
IF thou owest thy whole self to thy God for thy Creation, what hast thou left to pay for thy Redemption, that was not so cheap as thy Creation? In thy Creation, he gave thee thyself, and by thyself to him: In thy Redemption he gave himself to thee, and through him restored thee to thy : Thou art given and restored: Now what owest thou unto thy God? if thou hast paid all thy debts, give him the Surplusage, and thou hast merited.   

CHAP. LV.  
IN thy discourse take heed what thou speakest, to whom thou speakest, how thou speakest, and when thou speakest: What thou speakest, speak speak truly; when thou speakest, speak wisely. A Fool's heart is in his Tongue; but a Wise man's Tongue is in his heart.   

CHAP. LVI.  
Before thou act a Theft, consider what thou art about to do: if thou take it, thou losest thyself; if thou keep it, thou disenablest thy Redemption: Till thou rest or'st it, thou canst not be restored; When it is restored, it must cost thee more pain, and sorrow, than ever it brought thee pleasure or profit. It is a great folly to please the Palate with that which thou knowest must either be vomited, or thy death.   

CHAP. LVII.  
SIlence is the highest wisdom of a Fool, and Speech is the greatest trial of a Wise man, if thou wouldst be known a Wise man, let thy words show thee so; if thou doubt thy words, let thy silence feign thee so. It is not a greater point of Wisdom to discover knowledge, then to hid ignorance.   

CHAP. LVIII.  
THe Clergy is a Copy book, their Life is the Paper, whereof some is purer, some Courser: Their Doctrine is the Copies, some written in a plain Hand others in a Flourishing Hand, some in a Text Hand, some in a Roman Hand, others in a Court Hand, others in a Bastard Roman: if the choice be in thy power, choose a Book that hath the finest Paper, let it not be too strait nor too loosely bound, but easy to lie open to every Eye; follow not every Copy, lest thou be good at none: Among them all choose one that shall be most Legible and useful, and fullest of Instructions. But if the Paper chance to have a Blot, remember, the Blot is no part of the Copy.   

CHAP. LIX.  
Virtue is nothing but an act of loving that which is to be beloved, and that act is Prudence, from whence not to be removed by constraint is Fortitude; not to be allured by enticements is Temperance; not to be diverted by Pride is justice. The declining of this act is Vice.   

CHAP. LX.  
REbuke thy Servants fault in private: public reproof hardens his shame: if he be passed a youth, strike him not: he is not fit for thy service, that after wise reproofs will either deserve thy strokes, or digest them.   

CHAP. LXI.  
TAke heed rather what thou receivest, than what thou givest; What thou givest leaves thee, what thou takest, sticks by thee: He that presents a gift buys the Receiver; he that takes a gift sells his liberty.   

CHAP. LXII.  
THings Temporal, are sweeter in the Expectation: Things Eternal are sweeter in the Fruition: The first shames thy Hope, the second crown's it: it is a vain Journey, whose end affords less pleasure than the way.   

CHAP. LXIII.  
KNow thyself that thou mayst Fear God: Know God, that thou mayst Love him; in this, thou art initiated to wisdom; in that, perfected: The Fear of God is the beginning of Wisdom: The Love of God is the fulfilling of the Law.   

CHAP. LXIV.  
IF thou hast Providence to foresee a danger, let thy Prudence rather prevent it, than fear it. The fear of future evils brings oftentimes a present mischief: Whilst thou seekest to prevent it, practise to bear it. He is a wise man that can avoid an evil; he is a patiented man that can endure it; but he is a valiant man can conquer it.   

CHAP. LXV.  
IF thou hast the place of a Magistrate, deserve it by thy Justice, and dignify it with thy Mercy: Take heed of early gifts: an open hand makes a blind eye: be not more apt to punish Vice, then to encourage Virtue. Be not too severe, lest thou be hated, nor too remiss, lest thou be slighted: So execute Justice, that thou mayst be loved: so execute mercy, that thou mayest be feared.   

CHAP. LXVI.  
LEt not thy Table exceed the fourth part of thy Revenu: Let thy provision be solid, and not far fetched, fuller of substance than Art: Be wisely frugal in thy preparation, and freely cheerful in thy entertainment: If thy guests be right, it is enough; if not, it is too much: Too much is a vanity; enough is a Feast.   

CHAP. LXVII.  
LEt thy apparel be decent, and suited to the quality of thy place and purse: Too much punctuality, and too much morosity, are the two Poles of Pride: Be neither too early in the Fashion, nor too long out of it, nor too precisely in it: what custom hath civilised, is become decent, till then, ridiculous: Where the Eye is the Jury, thy apparel is the evidence.   

CHAP. XLVIII.  
IF thy words be too luxuriant, confine them, lest they confine thee: He that thinks he never can speak enough, may easily speak too much. A full tongue, and an emty brain, are seldom parted.   

CHAP. LXIX.  
IN holding of an argument, be neither choleric, nor too opinionate; The one distempers thy understanding; the other abuses thy judgement: Above all things decline Paradoxes and Mysteries: Thou shalt receive no honour, either in maintaining rank falsehoods, or meddling with secret truths? as he that pleads against the truth, makes with the mother of his Error: so he that argues beyond warrant, makes wisdom the midwife of his folly.   

CHAP. LXX  
DEtain not the wages from the poor man that hath earned it, lest God withhold thy wages from thee: If he complain to thee, hear him, lest he complain to Heaven, where he will be heard: if he hunger for thy sake, thou shalt not prosper for his sake. The poor man's penny is a plague in the rich man's purse.   

CHAP. LXXI.  
BE not too cautious in discerning the sit objects of thy Charity, lest a soul perish through thy discretion: What thou givest to mistaken want, shall return a blessing to thy deceived heart: Better in relieving idleness to commit an accidental evil, then in neglecting misery to omit an essential good: Better two Drones be preserved, than one Be perish.   

CHAP. LXII.  
THeology is the Empress of the world; Mysteries are her Privy Council; Religion is her Clergy; The Arts her Nobility; Philosophy her Secretary: The Graces her Maids of Honour; The Moral virtues, the Ladies of her Bedchamber; Peace is her Chamberlain; True joy, and endless pleasures are her Courtiers; Plenty her Treasurer; Poverty her Exchequer; The Temple is her Court: If thou desire access to this great Majesty, the way is by her Courtiers; if thou hast no power there, the common way to the Sovereign is the Secretary.   

CHAP. LXXIII.  
IT is an evil knowledge to know the good thou shouldst embrace, unless thou likewise embrace the good thou knowest: The breath of divine knowledge, is the bellows of divine love, and the flame of divine love, is the perfection of divine knowledge.   

CHAP. LXXIV.  
IF thou desire rest unto thy soul, be just: He that doth no injury, fears not to suffer injury: The unjust mind is always in labour: It either practices the evil it hath projected, or projects to avoid the evil it hath deserved.   

CHAP. LXXV.  
Accustom thy palate to what is most usual: He that delights in rarities, must often feed displeased, and sometimes lie at the mercy of a dear market: common food nourishes best, delicates please most: The sound stomach prefers neither. What art thou the worse for the last years plain diet, or what now the better for thy last great Feast?   

CHAP. LXXVI.  
WHo ever thou art, thou hast done more evil in one day, than thou canst expiate in six; and canst thou think the evil of six days can require less than one? God hath made us rich in days, by allowing six, and himself poor by reserving but one; and shall we spare our own flock, and shear his Lamb? He that hath done nothing but what he can justify in the six days, may play the seventh.   

CHAP. LXXVII.  
HOpe and Fear, like Hypocrates Twins, should live and die together: If hope depart from fear, it travels by security, and lodges in presumption; if fear depart from hope, it travels to infidelity, and Inns in despair the one shuts up heaven, the other opens hell; the one makes thee insensible of God's frowns, the other, incapable of God's favours; and both teach God to be unmerciful, and thee to be most miserable.   

CHAP. LXXVIII.  
CLose thine ear against him that shall open his mouth secretly against another: If thou re●eive not his words, they ●●ie back, and wound the Report●●: If thou receive them, they flee forward, and wound the receiver.   

CHAP. LXXIX.  
IF thou wouldst preserve a sound body, use fasting and walking; if a healthful soul, fasting and praying; Walking exercises the body, praying exercises the soul, fasting cleanses both.   

CHAP. LXXX.  
Wouldst thou not be thought a fool in another's conceit? Be not wise in thine own: He that trusts to his own wisdom, proclaim's his own folly: He is truly wise, and shall appear so, that hath folly enough to be thought not worldly wise, or wisdom enough to see his own folly.   

CHAP. LXXXI.  
Desirest thou knowledge? know the end of thy desire: Is it only to know? Then it is curiosity: Is it because thou mayst be known? then 'tis vanity: If because thou may'st edify, it is charity: If because thou may'st be edified, it is wisdom. That knowledge turns to mere excrement, that hath not some heat of wisdom to digest it.   

CHAP. LXXXII.  
WIsdom without innocency is knavery; Innocency without wisdom is foolery: Be therefore as wise as serpents, and innocent as doves: The subtlety of the serpent, instructs the innocency of the dove: The innocency of the dove, corrects the subtlety of the serpent: What God hath joined together, let no man separate.   

CHAP. LXXXIII.  
THe more thou imitatest the virtues of a Saint departed, the better thou celebrat'st that Saint's day. God is not pleased with surfeiting for his sake, who with his fasting so often pleased his God.   

CHAP. LXXXIV.  
Choose not thy serviceable soldier out of soft apparel, lest he prove effeminate, nor out of a full purse, lest he grow timorous: They are more fit for action, that are fiery to gain a fortune abroad, than they that have fortunes to lose at home. Expectation breeds spirit; Fruition brings fear.   

CHAP. LXXXV.  
GOd hath given to mankind a common Library, his creatures; and to every man a proper book, Himself, being an abridgement of all the other: If thou read with understanding, it will make thee a great master of Philosophy, and a true servant to the divine Author. If thou but barely read, it will make thee thy own Wise man, and the Authors fool.   

CHAP. LXXXVI.  
DOubt is a weak child lawfully begotten between an obstructed judgement, and a fair understanding. Opinion is a bold bastard gotten between a strong fancy, and a weak judement; it is less dishonourable to be ingenuosly doubtful, then rashly opinionate.   

CHAP. LXXXVII.  
AS thou art a moral man, esteem thyself not as thou art, but as thou art esteemed. As thou art a Christian, esteem thyself as thou art, not as thou art esteemed: Thy price in both rises and falls as the market goes. The market of a moral man is wild opinion. The market of a Christian is a good conscience.   

CHAP. LXXXVIII.  
PRovidence is an exercise of reason; experience an act of sense: by how much reason excels sense, by so much providence exceeds experience. Providence prevents that danger, which experience reputes: Providence is the rational daughter of wisdom: experience the Empirical mistress of fools.   

CHAP. XXXIX.  
HAth fortune dealt thee ill Cards? let wisdom make thee a good Gamester: in a fair Gale, every fool may sail; but wise behaviour in a storm commends the wisdom of a Pilot: To bear adversity with an equal mind, is both the sign and glory of a brave Spirit.   

CHAP. XC.  
IF any speak ill of thee, flee home to thy own conscience, and examine thy heart: if thou be guilty, it is a just correction: if not guilty, it is a fair instruction: make use of both, so shalt thou distil Honey out of Gall, and out of an open enemy, create a secret friend.   

CHAP. XCI.  
AS the exercise of the body natural is moderate recreation, so the exercise of the body politic, is military discipline: by that the one is made more able; by this, the other is made more active: Where both are wanting, there wants no danger to the one, through a humorous superfluity; to the other, by a negligent security.   

CHAP. XCII.  
GOd is above thee, Beasts are beneath thee: acknowledge him that is above thee, and thou shalt be acknowledged by them that are under thee: Whilst Daniel acknowledged God to be above him, the Lions acknowledged Daniel to be above them.   

CHAP. XCIII.  
TAke heed whilst thou showest wisdom in not speaking, thou betrayest not thy folly in too long silence: if thou art a fool, thy silence is wisdom; if a wise man, too long silence is folly; As too many words from a fools mouth, gives a wise man no leave to speak; so too long silence in a wise man, gives a fool the opportunity of speaking, and makes thee guilty of his folly.   

CHAP. XCIV.  
COnsider what thou wert, what thou art, what thou shalt be: What's within thee, what's above thee, what's beneath thee, what's against thee: what was before thee, what shall be after thee; and this will bring to thyself humility, to they neighbour charity, to the world contempt, to thy God obedience: He that knows not himself Positively, can not know himself Relatively.   

CHAP. XCV.  
THink not thy love to God merits God's love to thee: his acceptance of thy duty crowns his own gifts in thee: Man's love to God is nothing but a faint reflection of God's love to man.   

CHAP. XCVI.  
BE always less willing to speak then to hear; what thou hearest thou receivest; what thou speakest thou givest. It is more glorious to give, more profitable to receive.   

CHAP. XCVII.  
SEest thou good days? prepare for evil times: No Summer but hath his Winter: He never reaped comfort in adversity, that sowed it not in prosperity.   

CHAP. XCVIII  
IF being a magistrate, thou connivest at vice, thou nourishest it; if thou sparest it, thou committest it: What is not, by thee, punished in others, is made punishable in thee. He that favours present evils, en tails them upon his posterity: He that excuses the guilty, condemns the Innocent.   

CHAP. XCIX.  
TRuth haunts no corners, seeks no byways: If thou profess it, do it openly: if thou seek it, do it fairly: he deserves not to profess Truth, that professes it fearfully he deserves not to find the Truth that seeks it fraudulently.   

CHAP. C.  
IF thou desire to be wiser yet, think not thyself yet wise enough: and if thou desire to improve knowledge in thyself, despise not the instructions of another: He that instructs him, that thinks himself wise enough, hath a fool to his scholar: He that thinks himself wise enough to instruct himself, hath a fool to his master.  
The end of the Third Century.    

THE Fourth Century.  

CHAP. I  
DEmean thyself more warily in thy study, then in the street. If thy public actions have a hundred witnesses, thy private have a thousand. The multitude looks but upon thy actions: Thy conscience looks into them: the multitude may chance to excuse thee, if not acquit thee, thy conscience will accuse thee, if not condemn thee.   

CHAP. II.  
OF all vices take heed of Drunkenness; Other vices are but fruits of disordered affections: this disorders, nay, banishes reason: Other vices but impair the soul, this demolishes her two chief faculties; the Understanding, and the Will: Other vices make their own way; this makes way for all vices: He that is a Drunkard is qualified for all vice.   

CHAP. III.  
IF thy sin trouble thee, let that trouble comfort thee; as pleasure in the remembrance of sin exasperats Justice, so sorrow in the repentance of sin mollifies mercy: it is less danger to commit the sin we delight in, than to delight in the sin we have committed.   

CHAP. IU.  
THe way to God is by thyself, The way to thyself is by thy own corruptions: he that balks this way, errs; he that travels by the creatures, wanders. The motion of the Heavens shall give thy soul no rest: the virtue of Herbs shall not increase thine. The height of all Philosophy, both natural and moral, is to know thyself, and the end of this knowledge is to know God.   

CHAP. V.  
INfamy is where it is received: if thou art a Mudd-wall, it will stick: if Marbl, it will rebound: if thou storm at it, 'tis thine: if thou contemn it, it is his.   

CHAP. VI  
IF thou desire Magistracy, learn to forget thyself; if thou undertake it, bid thyself farewell; he that looks upon a common cause with private eyes, looks through false Glasses. In the exercise of thy politic office, thou must forget both Ethics and Economics. He that puts on a public Gown, must put off a private Person.   

CHAP. VII.  
LEt the words of a Virgin, though in a good cause, and to as good purpose, be neither, violent, many, nor first, nor last: it is less shame for a Virgin to be lost in a blushing silence, then to be found in a bold Eloquence.   

CHAP. VIII.  
ARt thou in plenty? give what thou wilt: Art thou in poverty? give what thou canst: as what is received, is received according to the manner of the receiver; so what is given, prized according to the measure of the giver: he is a good workman that makes as good work as his matter will permit.   

CHAP. IX  
GOd is the Author of Truth; the Devil, the Father of Lies: If the telling of a truth shall endanger thy life, the author of Truth will protect thee from the danger, or reward thee for thy damage. If the telling of a Lie may secure thy life, the father of Lies will beguile thee of thy gains, or traduce the security. Better by losing of a life to save it, then by saving of a life to lose it. However, better thou perish than the Truth.   

CHAP. X.  
Consider not so much what thou hast, as what others want: what thou hast, take heed thou lose not. What thou hast not, take heed thou covet not: if thou hast many above thee, turn thy eye upon those that are under thee: If thou hast no Inferiors, have patience a while, and thou shalt have no Superiors. The grave requires no marshal.   

CHHP. XI.  
IF thou seest any thing in thyself, which may make thee proud, look a little further, and thou shalt find enough to humble thee; if thou be wise, view the Peacock's feathers with his feet, and, weigh thy best parts with thy imperfections. He that would rightly prise the man, must read his whole Story.   

CHAP. XII.  
LEt not the sweetness of contemplation be so esteemed, that action be despised, Rachel was more fair, Lea more fruitful: as contemplation is more delightful, so is it more dangerous: Lot was upright in the City and wicked in the Mountain.   

CHAP. XIII.  
IF thou hast but little, make it not less by murmuring: if thou hast enough, make it not too much by unthankfulness: He that is not thankfully contented with the  favour he hath received, hath made himself incapable of the lest favour he can receive.   

CHAP. XIV.  
WHat thou hast taken unlawfully, restore speedily, for the sin in taking it, is repeated every minute thou keep'st it: if thou canst, restore it in kind: if not, in value; if it may be, restore it to the party; if not, to God: the Poor is God's Receiver.   

CHAP. XV.  
LEt the fear of a danger be a spur to prevent it: He that fears otherwise, gives advantage to the danger: It is less folly not to endeavour the prevention of the evil thou fearest, then to fear the evil which thy endeavour cannot prevent.   

CHAP. XVI.  
IF thou hast any excellence which is thine own, thy tongue may glory in it without shame; but if thou hast received it, thy glory is but usurpation; and thy pride is but the prologu of thy shame: Where vainglory commands, there folly counsels; where pride Rides, there shame Lackeys.   

CHAP. XVII.  
GOd hath ordained his creatures, not only for necessity, but delight; since he hath carved thee with a bountiful hand, fear not to receive it with a liberal heart: He that gave thee water to allay thy thirst, gave thee wine to exhilarat thy heart. Restore him for the one, a necessity of thanks, return him for the other, the cheerfulness of prais.   

CHAP. XVII.  
IF the wicked flourish and thou suffer, be not discouraged: thy are fatted for destruction; thou art Dieted for health; they have no other Heaven but the hopes of a long Earth; thou hast nothing on Earth but the hopes of a quick Heaven: if there were no journeys end, the travel of a Christian were most comfortless.   

CHAP. XIX.  
IMp not thy wings with the Church's feathers, lest thou fly to thy own Ruin: impropriations are bold Metaphors; which continued, are deadly Allegories: one foot of land in Capite, encumbers the whole estate: The Eagle snatched a coal from the Altar, but it fired her Nest.   

CHAP. XX.  
LEt that table which God hath pleased to give thee, please thee: He that made the Vessel knows her burden, and how to ballast her; He that made all things very good, cannot but do all things very well; If thou be content with a little, thou hast enough: if thou complainest, thou hast too much.   

CHAP. XXI.  
Wouldst thou discover the true worth of a man? Behold him naked: dis-treasure him of his illgot Wealth, degrade him of his dear bought honour dis-robe him of his purple Habit. Discard his pampered body; then look upon his soul, and thou shalt find how great he is: Natural sweetness is never scented but in the absence of artificial.   

CHAP. XXII.  
IF thou art subject to any secret folly blab it not, last thou appear impudent; nor boast of it lest thou seem insolent: Every man's vanity ought to be his greatest shame: and every man's folly ought to be his greatest secret.   

CHAP. XXIII.  
IF thou be ignorant, endeavour to get knowledge, lest thou be beaten with stripes: if thou hast attained knowledge, put it in practice, lest thou be beaten with many stripes: Better not to know what we should practise, than not to practise what we know; and less danger dwell's in unaffected ignorance, then unactive knowledge.   

CHAP. XXIV.  
TAke heed thou harbour not that vice called Envy, lest another's happiness be thy torment, and God's blessing become thy Curse: virtue corrupted with vainglory, turns Pride: Pride poisoned with malice, becomes Envy: join therefore Humility with thy Virtue, and Pride shall have no footing, and Envy shall find no entrance.   

CHAP. XXV.  
IF thy endeavour cannot prevent a Vice, let thy Repentance lament it: the more thou remember'st it without heart's grief the deeper it is rooted in thy heart: take heed it please thee not, especially in cold blood: Thy pleasure in it makes it fruitful, and her fruit is thy destruction.   

CHAP. XXVI.  
THe two knowledges, of God, and thyself, are the high way to thy Salvation; that breeds in thee a filial love; this a filial fear: The ignorance of thyself is the beginning of all sin, and the ignorance of God is the perfection of all evil.   

CHAP. XXVII.  
RAther do nothing to the purpose, then be idle, that the Devil may find thee doing: the Bird that sits is easily shot, when fliers 'scape the Fowler: idleness is the dead Sea that swallows all Virtues, and the Self-made Sepulchre of a living man: the idle man is the Devil's hireling; whose livery is rags whose diet and wages are famine, and diseases.   

CHAP. XXVIII.  
BE not so mad as to alter that Countenance which thy Creator made thee: Remember it was the work of his Hands; if it be bad, how darest thou mend it? If it be good, why dost thou mend it? art thou ashamed of his work, and proud of thy own? he made thy face to be known by, why desirest thou to be known by another: it is a shame to adulterate modesty, but more to adulterate nature. Lay by thy art, and blush not to appear what he blushes not to make thee. It is better to be his Picture than thy own.   

CHAP. XXIX.  
LEt the ground of all thy Religious actions be obedience, examine not why it is commanded, but observe it, because it is commanded. True obedience neither procrastinates, nor questions.   

CHAP. XXX.  
IF thou wouldst buy an inheritance in Heaven, advise not with thy Pursenet, lest in the mean while thou lose thy purchase: The Widow bought as much for two mites, as Zaccheus did for half his estate: the prize of that purchase is what thou hast, and is not lost for what thou hast not, if thou desire to have it.   

CHHP. XXXI.  
WIth the same height of desire thou hast sinned, with the like depth of sorrow thou must repent: thou that hast sinned to day, defer not thy repentance till to morrow: he that hath promised pardon to thy Repentance, hath not promised life till thou repent.   

CHAP. XXXII.  
TAke heed how thou receivest prais from men: from good men neither avoid it, nor glory in it. From evil men, neither desire it, nor expect it: To be praised of them that are evil, or for that which is evil, is equal dishonour: He is happy in his worth, who is praised by the good, and imitated by the bad.   

CHAP. XXXIII.  
PRoportion thy chatity to the strength of thy estate, lest God proportion thy estate to the weakness of thy charity: Let the lips of the poor be the trumpet of thy gift, lest in seeking applause, thou lose thy Reward: Nothing is more pleasing to God than an open hand, and a close mouth.   

CHAP. XXXIV.  
DOst thou want things necessary? Grumble not: perchance it was a necessary thing thou shouldst want: Endeavour lawfully to supply it; if God bless not thy endeavour, bless him that knoweth what is fittest for thee. Thou art God's Patient: Prescribe not thy Physician.   

CHAP. XXXV.  
IF another's death, or thy own depend upon thy confession, if thou canst, say nothing: if thou must, say the Truth: it is better, thou lose thy life, than God his Honour: it is as easy for him to give thee life, being condemned; as repentance, having sinned: it is more wisdom to yield thy Body, than hazard thy Soul.   

CHAP. XXXVI.  
Cloth not thy language, either with Obscurity, or affectation: in the one thou discover'st too much darkness, in the other, too much lightness: He that speaks from the understanding, to the understanding, is the best interpreter.   

CHAP. XXXVII.  
IF thou expectest death as a friend, prepare to entertain it: If thou expectest death as an enemy, prepare to overcome it: Death has no advantage, but when it comes a stranger.   

CHAP. XXXVIII.  
FEar nothing, but what thy industry may prevent: Be confident of nothing but what fortune cannot defeat: it is no less folly to fear what is impossible to be avoided, then to be secure when there is a possibility to be deprived.   

CHAP. XXXIX.  
LEt not the necessity of God's decree discourage thee to pray, or dishearten thy prayers; do thou thy duty, and God will do his pleasure: if thy prayers make not him sound that is sick, they will return, and confirm thy health that art sound: If the end of thy prayer be to obtain thy request, thou confinest him that is infinite: if thou hast done well, because thou wert commanded, thou hast thy reward in that thou hast obeyed. God's pleasure is the end of our prayers.   

CHAP. XL.  
MArry not too young, and when thou art too old, marry not, lest thou be fond in the one, or thou dote in the other, and repent for both: let thy liking ripen before thou love: let thy Love advise before thou choos; and let thy choice be fixed before thou marry: Remember that the whole happiness or unhappiness of thy life depends upon this one Act. Remember nothing but death can dissolve this knot. He that weds in haste, reputes ofttimes by leisure: And he that reputes him of his own act, either is, or was a fool by confession.   

CHAP. XLI.  
IF God hath sent thee a Cross, take it up and follow him: use it wisely, lest it be unprofitable; Bear it patiently, lest it be intolerable: Behold in it God's anger against sin, and his love towards thee; in punishing the one, and chastening the other: if it be light, slight it not; if heavy, murmur not: Not to be sensible of a judgement is the symptom of a hardened heart; and to be displeased at his pleasure, is a sign of a rebellious will.   

CHAP. XLII.  
IF thou desirest to be magnanimous, undertake nothing rashly, and fear nothing thou undertakest: Fear nothing but infamy: Dare any thing but injury; the measure of magnanimity is, neither to be rash, nor timorous.   

CHAP. XLIII.  
PRactise in health, to bear sickness, and endeavour in the strength of thy life to entertain death: He that hath a will to die, not having power to live, shows necessity, not virtue: It is the glory of a brave mind to embrace pangs in the very arms of pleasure: What name of virtue merits he, that goes when he is driven?   

CHAP. XLIV.  
BE not too punctual in taking place: If he be thy superior, 'tis his due; if thy inferior, 'tis his dishonour: It is thou must honour thy place; thy Place, not thee: It is a poor reward of worth that consists in a right hand, or a brickwall.   

CHAP. XLV.  
PRay often, because thou sinnest always: Repent quickly, lest thou die suddenly. He that reputes it, because he wants power to act it, reputes not of a sin: for He that wants power to actuate his sin, hath not forsaken his sin, but his sin him.   

CHAP. XLVI.  
MAke Philosophy thy journey, Theology thy journey's end: Philosophy is a pleasant way, but dangerous to him that either tires or retires: in this journey it's safe, neither to loiter, nor to rest, till thou hast attained thy journeys end: He that sits down a Philosopher, rises up an Atheist.   

CHAP. XLVII.  
FEar not to sin, for God's sake, but thy own? Thy sin overthrow's not his glory, but thy good: He gain his Glory not only from the salvation of the Repentant, but also from the confusion of the Rebellious: There be vessels for honour, and vessels for dishonour, but both for his honour. God is not grieved for the glory he shall lose for thy improvidence, but for the horror thou shalt sinned for thy impenitence.   

CHAP. XLVIII.  
INsult not over misery, nor deride infirmity, nor despise deformity. The first, shows thy inhumanity: the second, thy folly; the third, thy pride: He that made him miserable, made thee happy to lament him: He that made him weak, made thee strong to support him: He that made him deformed, gave thee favour to be humbled: He that is not sensible of another's unhappiness, is a living stone; but he that makes misery the object of his triumph is an incarnate Devil.   

CHAP. XLIX.  
MAke thy recreations, servants to thy business, lest thou become slave to thy recreations: When thou goest up into the Mountain, leave this servant in the Valley: When thou goest to the City, leave him in the Suburbs. And remember, The servant must not be greater than his Master.   

CHAP. L.  
PRaise no man too liberally before his face, nor censure him too lavishly behind his back; the one savours of flattery; the other, of malice; and both are reprehensible: The true way to advance another's virtue, is to fellow it; and the best means to cry down another's vice, is to decline it.   

CHAP. LI.  
IF thy Prince command a lawful act, give him all active obedience: if he command an unlawful act, give him passive obedience. What thy well grounded conscience will suffer, do cheerfully without repining; where thou mayst not do lawfully, suffer courageously without Rebellion: Thy life and livelihood is thy Princes, Thy conscience is thy own.   

CHAP. LII.  
IF thou givest, to receive the like, it is Exchange: if to receive more, it is covetousness: if to receive thanks, it is vanity: if to be seen, it is vainglory; if to corrupt, it is Bribery; if for Example, it is formality; if for compassion, it is Charity; if because thou art commanded, it is obedience: The affection in doing the work, gives a name to the work done.   

CHAP. LIII.  
FEar death, but be not afraid of Death. To fear it, whets thy expectation: To be afraid of it, dulls thy preparation: if thou canst endure it, it is but a sleight pain; if not, it is but a short pain: to fear death is the way to live long; to be afraid of Death, is to be long a dying.   

CHAP. LIV.  
IF thou desire the love of God and man, be humble; for the proud heart, as it loves none but itself, so it is beloved of hone, but by itself: The voice of humility is God's music, and the silence of Humility is God's Rhetoric: Humility enforces, where neither verrue nor strength can pravail, nor Reason.   

CHAP. LV.  
LOok upon thy burning Taper, and there see the Emblem of thy Life: The flame is thy Soul; The wax, thy Body, and is commonly a span long; The wax, (if never so well tempered) can but last his length; and who can lentghen it? If ill tempered, it shall waste the faster, yet last his length; an open window shall hasten either, an Extinguisher shall put out both: Husband them the best thou canst, thou canst not lengthen them beyond their date: leave them to the injury of the Wind, or to the mercy of a wasteful, hand, thou hastnest them, but still they burn their length: But puff them out, and thou hast shortened them, and stopped their passage, which else had brought them to their appointed end: Bodies according to their constitutions, stronger or weaker, according to the equality or inequality of their Elements, have their dates, and may be preserved from shortening, but not lengthened. Neglect may waste them, ill diet may hasten them unto their journe's end, yet they have lived their length; A violent hand may interrupt them; a sudden death may stop them, and thy are shortened. It lies in the power of man, either permissively to hasten, or actively to shorten, but not to lengthen or extend the limits of his natural life. He only, (if any) hath the art to lengthen out his Taper that puts it to the best advantage.   

CHAP. LVI  
DEmean thyself in the presence of thy Prince with reverence and cheerfulness: That, without this, is too much sadness; This without that is too much boldness: Let thy wisdom endeavour to gain his opinion, and labour to make thy loyalty his confidence: Let him not find thee false in words, unjust in thy actions, unseasonable in thy suits, nor careless in his service: cross not his passion, question not his pleasures, Press not into his Secrets; Pry not into his Prerogative: Displease him not, lest he be angry; appear not displeased, lest he be jealous: the anger of a King is implacable: the jealousy of a Prince is incurable.   

CHAP. LVII.  
GIve thy heart to thy Creator, and Reverence to thy Superiors: Give diligence to thy Calling, and ear to good Counsel: Give Alms to the poor, and the Glory to God: Forgive him that ignorantly offends thee, and him that having wittingly offended thee, seeks thee: Forgive him that hath forcibly abused thee, & him that hath fraudulently betrayed thee: Forgive all thine enemies, but lest of all, thyself: Give and it shall be given thee: Forgive, and it shall be forgiven thee. The sum of all Christianity is, Give and Forgive.   

CHAP. LVIII.  
BE not too great a niggard in the commendations of him that professes thy own quality: if he deserve thy praise, thou hast discovered thy Judgement; if not, thy modesty: Honour either returns to, or reflects on the Giver.   

CHAP. LIX.  
IF thy desire to raise thy Fortunes encourage thee to place thy delights a'midst the casts of Fortune, be wise betimes, lest thou repent too late; What thou gettest, thou gainest by abused Providence; what thou losest, thou losest by abused Patience; What thou winnest is prodigally spent; what thou losest is prodigally lost: it is an evil trade that prodigality drives: and a bad voyage where the Pilot is blind.   

CHAP. LX.  
BE very wary for whom thou becomest Security, and for no more than thou art able to discharge, if thou lovest thy liberty. The borrower is a slave to the lender: The Security is a slave to both: Whilst the Borrower and Lender are both eased, the Security bears both their burdens: He is a wise security that secures himself.   

CHAP. LXI.  
LOok upon thy affliction as thou dost upon thy Physic: Both imply a disease; and both are applied for a Cure; That, of the Body; This of the Soul: If they work, they promise health: if not, they threaten death: He is not happy that is not asslicted, but he that finds happiness by his affliction.   

CHAP. LXII.  
IF the Knowledge of Good whet thy desire to good, it is a happy Knowledge: if by thy ignorance of Evil, thou art surprised with Evil, it is an unhappy ignorance. Happy is he that hath so much Knowledge of Good, as to desire it, and but so much Knowledge of evil, as to fear it.   

CHAP. LXIII.  
WHen the flesh presents thee with delights, then present thyself with dangers Where the world possesses thee with vain Hopes, there possess thyself with true fear: When the Devil brings thee Oil, bring thou Vinegar. The way to be safe, is never to be secure.   

CHAP. LXIV.  
IF thy brother hath offended thee, forgive him freely, and be reconciled: To do Evil for Evil, is human corruption: To do Good for Good is civil retribution: To do Good for Evil is Christian perfection: The act of Forgiveness is God's Precept: The manner of Forgiveness is God's Precedent.   

CHAP. LXV.  
REverence the Writings of holy Men, but lodge not thy Faith upon them, because but men: They are good Pools, but no Fountains: Build on Paul himself no longer than he builds on Christ: if Peter renounce his Master, renounce Peter: The word of man may convince Reason; But the word of God alone can compel conscience.   

CHAP. LXVI.  
IN civil things follow the most; in matters of Religion, the fewest; in all things follow the best: So shall thy ways be pleasing to God; so shall thy behaviour be plausible with men.   

CHAP. LXVII.  
WHat counsel thou administrest to thy Brother under any loss or misery, register carefully and when the Case is thine, follow it: So shall thy own Reason convince thy passion, or thy passion confess her own unreasonableness.   

CHAP. LXVIII.  
WHen thou goest about to change thy moral Liberty into a Christian Servitude, prepare thyself to be the world's laufing-stock: if thou overcomest her Scoffs, thou shalt have double Honour: if overcome, double Shame: He is unworthy of a good Master, that is ashamed of a bad Livery.   

CHAP. LXIX.  
LEt not the falling of a Salt, or the crossing of a Hare, or the crying of a Cricket trouble thee: They portend no evil, but what thou fearest: He is ill acquainted with himself that knows not his own Fortunes more than they: If evill-follow it, it is the punishment of thy Superstition; not the fulfilling of their Portent: All things are lucky to thee, if thou wilt, nothing but is ominous to the Superstitious.   

CHAP. LXX.  
SO be have thyself in thy course of life, as at a banquet: Take what is offered with modest thankfulness: And expect what is not as yet offered with hopeful patience: let not thy rude Appetite press thee, nor a sleight carefulness indispose thee, nor a sullen discontent deject thee; Who desires more than enough, hath too much: And he that is satisfied with a little hath no less than enough: Benè est cui Deus obtulit parcâ, quod satis est, manu.   

CHAP. LXXI.  
IS thy Child dead? He is restored, not lost: is thy treasure stolen? it is not lost, it is restored: He is an ill debtor, that counts repayment loss: But it was an evil chance that took thy child, and a wicked hand that stole thy Treasure: What is that to thee? it matters not by whom he requires the things from whom he lent them: What goods are ours by loan, are not lost when willingly restored, but when unworthily received.   

CHAP. LXXII.  
CEnsure no man, detract from no man: Praise no man before his face; traduce no man behind his back: Boast not thyself abroad, nor flatter thyself at home: if any thing cross thee, accuse thyself: if any one extol thee, humble thyself: Honour those that instruct thee, and be thankful to those that reprehend thee: Let all thy desires be subjected to Reason, and let thy reason be corrected by Religion: Weigh thyself by thy own Balances, and trust not the voice of wild opinion: Observe thyself as thy greatest enemy, so shalt thou become thy greatest friend.   

CHAP. LXXIII.  
ENdeavour to make thy discourse such as may adminster profit to thyself, or Standards by, lest thou incurrthe danger of an idle Word: Above all Subjects, avoid those, which are Scurrilous, and obscean; Tales that are impertinent, and improbable; ard dreams.   

CHAP. LXXIV.  
IF God hath blest thee with a son, bless thou that son with a lawful calling: choos such employment, as may stand with his Fancy, and thy Judgement: His country claim's his ability toward the building of her honour. If he cannot bring a Cedar, let him bring a shrub. He that brings nothing usurps his life, and robs his country of a Servant.   

CHAP. LXXV.  
AT the first entrance into thy Estate, keep a low sail; Thou mayst rise with Honour; Thou canst not decline without shame: He that gins as his Father ended, shall end as his Father begun.   

CHAP. LXXVI.  
IF any Obscure Tale should chance to slip into thine Ears, among the varieties of Discourse (if opportunity admit) reprove it: if otherwise, let thy silence, or change of countenance interpret thy dislike: the attentive Ear is Bawd to the lascivious Tongue.   

CHAP. LXXVII.  
BE more circumspect over the works of thy Brain, than the Actions of thy Body: These have infirmity to plead for them: but they must stand upon their own bottoms: These are but the objects of few; They, of all: These will have Equals to defend them: they have Inferiors to envy them; Supeperiours, to deride them; all to censure them: It is no less danger for these to be proclaimed at Paul's Cross, then for them to be protested in Paul's Churchyard.   

CHAP. LXXVIII.  
USe Common place-books, or Collections, as Indices to light thee to the Authors, lest thou be abused: He that takes Learning upon trust, makes him a fair Cupboard with another's Plate. He is an ill advised purchaser, whose title depends more on Witnesses than Evidences.   

CHAP. LXXIX.  
IF thou desire to make the best advantage of the Muses, either by Reading, to benefit thyself, or by Writing, others; keep a peaceful soul in a temperate body: A full belly makes a dull brain; and a turbulent Spirit, a distracted Judgement: The Muses starve in a Cook's shop, and a Lawyer's Study.   

CHAP. LXXX.  
WHen thou communicatest thyself by Letters, heighten or depress thy stile according to the quality of the party and business; That which thy tongue would present to any, if present, let thy Pen represent to him, Absent: The tongue is the minds Interpreter, and the Pen is the Tongues Secretary.   

CHAP. LXXXI.  
KEep thy soul in exercise, lest her faculties rust for want of motion: To eat, sleep, or sport too long, stops the natural course of her natural actions: To dwell too long in the employments of the body, is both the cause, and sign of a dull Spirit.   

CHAP. LXXXII.  
BE very circumspect to whose Tuition thou committ'st thy child: Every good Scholar is not a good Master: He must be a man of invincible patience, and singular observation: he must study children that will teach them well, and reason must rule him that would rule wisely: he must not take advantage of an ignorant father, nor give too much ear to an indulgent Grandmother: the common good must outweigh his private gains, and his credit must outbid Gratuities: he must be deligent, and sober, not too familiar, nor too reserved, neither amorous nor fantastic: Just, without fierceness, merciful, without fondness: if such a one thou meet with, thou hast found a Treasure, which, if thou knowst how to value, is invaluable.   

CHAP. LXXXIII.  
LEt not thy laughter handsel thy own jest, lest whilst thou laugh at it, others laugh at thee: neither tell it often to the same hearers, lest thou be thought forgetful, or barren: There is no sweetness in a Cabage twice sod, or a tale twice told.   

CHAP. LXXXIV.  
IF opinion hath lighted the Lamp of thy Name, endeavour to encourage it with thy own Oil, lest it go out and stink: The Chronical disease of Popularity is shame: If thou be once up, beware: From Fame to Infamy is a beaten Road.   

CHAP. LXXXV.  
CLeans thy morning soul with private and due Devotions; till then admit no business: The firstborn of thy thoughts are God's, and not thine, but by Sacrilege: think thyself not ready till thou hast praised him, and he will be always ready to bless thee.   

CHAP. LXXXVI.  
IN all thy actions think God sees thee; and in all his actions labour to see him; that will make thee fear him; this will move thee to love him; The fear of God is the beginnining of Knowledge, and the Knowledge of God is the perfection of Love.   

CHAP. LXXXVII.  
LEt not the expectation of a reversion entice thy heart to the wish of the possessors death, lest a judgement meet thee in thy expectation, or a Curse overtake thee in thy fruition: Every wish makes thee a murderer, and moves God to be an Accessary; God often lengthens the life of the possessor with the days of the Expectour.   

CHAP. LXXXVIII.  
PRize not thyself by what thou hast, but by what thou art; he that values, a Jewel by its golden frame, or a Book by its silver clasps, or a man by his vast estate, errs: if thou art not worth more than the world can make thee, thy Redeemer had a bad penny worth, or thou an un-curious Redeemer.   

CHAP. LXXXIX.  
LEt not thy Father's, nor The Fathers, nor the Church, thy Mother's belief, be the ground of thine: The Scripture lies open to the humble heart, but locked against the proud Inquisitor; he that believes with an implicit Faith is a mere Empiric in Religion.   

CHAP. XC.  
OF all sins, take greatest heed of that which thou hast last, and most repent of: He that was last thrust out of doors, is the next readiest to crowd in again: and he that thou hast forest baffled, is likeliest to call more help for a revenge: it is requisite for him that hath cast one devil out, to keep strong hold least seven return.   

CHAP. XCI.  
IN the meditation of divine Mysteries, keep thy heart humble, and thy thoughts holy; let Philosophy not be ashamed to be confuted, nor Logic blush to be confounded; what thou canst not prove, approve; what thou canst not comprehend, believe; and what thou canst believe, admire; so shall thy ignorance be satisfied in thy Faith, and thy doubts swallowed up with wonders: the best way to see daylight, is to put out thy candle.   

CHAP. XCII.  
IF opinion hath cried thy name up let thy modesty cry thy heart down, lest thou deceive it; or it thee; there is no less danger in a great name than a bad; and no less honour in deserving of praise, then in the enduring it.   

CHAP. XCIII.  
USe the holy Scriptures with all reverence; let not thy wanton fancy carve it out in jests, nor thy sinful wit make it an advocate to thy sin: it is a subject for thy faith, not fancy; where Wit and Blasphemy is one Trade, the understanding's Bankrupt.   

CHAP. XCIV.  
DOst thou complain that God hath forsaken thee? it is thou that hast forsaken him: 'tis thou that art mutable: in him there is no shadow of change, in his light is life; if thy Will drive thee into a Dungeon, thou makest thy own darkness, and in that darkness dwells thy death; from whence, if he redeem thee, he is merciful; if not, he is just; in both, he receives glory.   

CHAP. XCV.  
MAke use of Time, if thou lov'st Eternity: know, yesterday cannot be recalled, to morrow cannot be assured: to day is only thine, which if thou procrastinate, thou losest; which lost, is lost for ever: One today, is worth two to morrows.   

CHAP. XCVI.  
If thou be strong enough to encounter with the times, keep thy Station; if not, shift a foot to gain advantage of the Times: He that acts a Beggar to prevent a Thief, is never the poorer; it is a great part of wisdom, sometimes to seem a fool.   

CHAP. XCVII.  
IF thou intent thy writings for the public view, lard them not too much with the choice lines of another Author, lest thou lose they own Gravy: what thou hast read and digested being delivered in thy own Style becomes thine: it is more decent to wear a plain suit of one entire cloth, than a gaudy garment chequered with divers richer fragments.   

CHAP. XCVIII.  
IF God hath blest thee with inheritance, and children to inherit, trust not the staff of thy family to the hands of one: Make not many Beggars in the building up of one great heir, lest if he miscarry thro' a prodigal Will, the rest sink thro' a hard necessity. God's allowance is a double portion: when heigh blood, and generous breeding break their fast in plenty, and dine in poverty, they often sup in Infamy: if thou deniest them Falcons wings to prey on Fowl, thou givest them Kites stomaches to seize on Garbage.   

CHAP. XCIX.  
BE very vigilant over thy child in the April of his understanding, lest the frosts of May nipp his Blossoms. While he is a tender Twig, straighten him; whilst he is a new Vessel, season him; such as thou makest him, such commonly thou shalt find him. Let his first lesson be Obedience, and the second shall be what thou wilt. Give him Education in good Letters, to the utmost of thy ability, and his capacity. Season his youth with the love of his Creator, and make the fear of his God the beginning of his knowledge: If he have an active spirit, rather rectify than kerb it; but reckon idleness among his chiefest faults: Above all things, keep him from vain lascivious and amorous Pamphlets, as the Primmers of all Vice. As his judgement ripens, observe his inclination, and tender him a Calling, that shall not cross it: Forced Marriages and Callings seldom prosper; show him both the Mow, and the Plough; and prepare him as well for the danger of the Skirmish, as possess him with the honour of the prize: If he choose the profession of a Scholar, advise him to study the most profitable arts: Poetry, and the Mathematics, take up too great a latitude of the Soul, and moderately used, are good Recreations, but bad Callings, being nothing but their own Reward: if he choose the profession of a Soldier, let him know, withal, Honour must be his greatest wages, and his enemies his surest Paymaster: Prepare him against the danger of a War, and advise him of the greater mischiefs of a Garnison; let him avoid Debauchedness, and Duels to the utmost of his power, and remember he is not his own man, and (being his Country's servant) hath no estate in his own life: If he choose a Trade, teach him to forget his Father's House, and his Mother's Wing: Advise him to be conscionable, careful, and constant: This done, thou hast done thy part, leave the rest to Providence, and thou hast done it well.   

CHAP. C.  
COnvey thy love to thy Friend, as an Arrow to the Mark, to stick there, not as a Ball against the Wall, to rebound back to thee: that friendship will not continue to the End that is begun for an End.  
MEditation is the life of the soul; Action is the soul of Meditation; Honour is the reward of action: So meditate, that thou mayst do; So do, that thou may'st purchase Honour: For which purchase, give God the Glory.   
FINIS.   

Spare-Minutes; Or RESOLVED MEDITATIONS And REMEDITATED RESOLUTIONS.  
Written by ARTHUR WARWICK.  
— Ego cur acquirere pauca Si possim invidetur.  
The sixth Edition.  
AMSTERDAM, Printed by Stephen Swart, Bookseller, at the westside of the Exchange, at the Crowned Bible. 1677.   

Resolved MEDITATIONS And Premeditaded RESOLUTIONS.  
IT is the over curious ambition of many, to be best or be none: if they may not do so well as they would, they will not do so well as they may. I will do my best, and what I want in power, supply in will. Thus lest I pay in part, I shall not be a debtor for all. He owes most that pays nothing.  

CHAP. I.  
PRide is the greatest enemy to reason, and discretion the greatest opposite to pride. For lest wisdom makes art the ape of nature, pride makes nature the ape of art. The Wiseman shapes his apparel to his body, the proud man shapes his body by his apparel. 'Tis no marvel then, if he know not himself, when he is not to day, like him he was yesterday: and less marvel, if good men will not know him, when he forgets himself, and all goodness. I should fear, whilst I thus change my shape lest my Maker should change his opinion: and finding me not like him Honorio made me, reject me, as none of his making. I would any day put off the old cause of my apparel, but not every day put on new fashioned apparel. I see great reason, to be ashamed of my pride, but no reason, to be proud of my shame.   

CHAP. II.  
The reason that many men want their desires, is, because their desires want reason. He may do what he will, that will do but what he may.   

CHAP. III.  
I Should marvel that the Covetous man can still be poor, when the Rich man is still covetous, but that I see, a poor man can be content, when the contented man is only rich: the one wanting in his store, whiles the other is stored in his wants. I see then, we are not rich or poor, by what we possess, but by what we desire. For he is not rich that hath much, but he that hath enough: nor he poor that hath but little, but he that wants more. If God then make me rich by store, I will not impoverish myself by covetousness: but if he make me poor by want, I will enrich myself by content.   

CHAP. IU.  
Hypocrisy desires to seem good rather than to be so honesty desires to be good rather than seem so. The worldlings purchase reputation by the sale of desert, wisemen buy desert, with the hazard of reputation. I would do much to hear well, more to deserve well, and rather lose opinion then merit, I shall more joy me, that I know myself what I am, than it shall grieve me to hear what others report me. I had rather deserve well without praise, than do ill with commendation.   

CHAP. V.  
ACoward in the field is like the Wiseman's fool, his heart is at his mouth, and he doth not know what he does profess: but a Coward in his faith, is like a fool in his wisdom; his mouth is in his heart, and he dares not profess what he does know. I had rather not know the good I should do, than not do the good I know. It is better to be beaten with few stripes, than with many.   

CHAP. VI  
Each true Christian is a right traveller: his life his walk, Christ his way, & Heaven his home. His walk painful, his way perfect, his home pleasing. I will not loiter, lest I come short of home: I will not wander, lest I come wide of home, but be content to travel hard, and be sure I walk right, so shall my safe way find its end at home, and my painful walk make my home welcome.   

CHAP. VII.  
AS is a wound to the body; so is a sinful body to the soul: the body endangered till the wound be cured, the soul not sound till the body's sin be healed, and the wound of neither can be cured without dressing, nor dressed without smarting. Now as the smart of the wound, is recompensed by the cure of the body: so is the punishment of the body sweetened by the health of the soul Let my wound smart by dressing, rather than my body die; Let my body smart by correction, rather than my soul perish.   

CHAP. VIII.  
IT is some hope of goodness not to grow worse: it is a part of badness not to grow better. I will take heed of quenching the spark, and strive to kindle a fire. If I have the goodness I should, it is not too much; why should I make it les? If I keep the goodness I have 'tis not enough: Why do I not make it more? He ne'er was so good as he should be, that doth not strive to be better than he is: He never will be better than he is, that doth not fear to be worse than he was.   

CHAP. IX.  
Health may be enjoyed; sickness must be endured: one body is the object of both, one God the Author of both. If then he give me health, I will thankfully enjoy it, and not think it too good, since it is his mercy that bestows it: if he send sickness, I will patiently endure it, and not think it too great, since it is my sin that deserves it. If in health; I will strive to preserve it by praising of him: if in sickness; I will strive to remove it, by praying to him. He shall be my God in sickness and in health, and my trust shall be in him in health and in sickness. So in my health, I shall not need to fear sickness, nor in any sickness despair of health.   

CHAP. X.  
IT is the usual plea of poverty to blame misfortune, when the ill finished cause of complaint is a work of their own forging. I will either make my fortunes good, or be content they are no worse. If they are not so good, as I would they should have been, they are not so bad, as I know they might have been. What though I am not so happy as I desire? 'Tis well I am not so wretched as I deserve.   

CHAP. XI.  
THere is nothing to be gotten by the world's love, nothing to be lost (but its love) by its hate. Whey then should I seek that love that cannot profit me, or fear that malice that cannot hurt me? If I should love it, for loving me, God would hate me, for loving it, If I loathe it for hating me, it cannot hurt me for loathing it. Let it then hate me, and I will forgive it, but if it love me, I will never requite it. For since its love is hurtful, and its hate harmless, I will contemn its hate, and hate its love   

CHAP. XII.  
AS there is a folly in wit, so there is a wisdom in ignorance. I would not be ignorant in a necessary knowledge, nor wise above wisdom. If I know enough I am wise enough, if I seecke more I amfoolish.   

CHAP. XIII.  
IT's no marvel that man hath lost his rule over the creature, when he would not be ruled by the will of the Creator. Why should they fear man, when man would not obey GOD? I could wish no creature had power to hurt me, I am glad so many creatures are ordained to help me. If GOD allow enough to serve me, I will not expect that all shoult fear me.   

CHAP. XIV.  
NO affliction (for the time) seems joyous, all time in afiliction seems tedious. I will compare my miseries on earth with my joys in Heaven, and the length of my miseries, with its eternity, so shall my journey seem short; and my burden easy.   

CHAP. XV.  
THere is nothing more certain than death, nothing more uncertain than the time of dying. I will therefore be prepared for that at all times, which may come at any time, must come at one time or another. I shall not hasten my death by being still ready, but sweeten it. It makes me not die the sooner, but the better.   

CHAP. XVI.  
THe commendation of a bad thing, is its shortness, of a good thing its continuance: it were happy for the damned, if their torments knew end, 'tis happier for the Saints that their joys are eternal. If man, that is born of a woman, be full of misery, 'tis well that he hath but a short time to live: if his life be a walk of pain, it's a blessing, that his days are but a spann long. Happy miseries that end in joy: happy joys that know no end: happy end that dissolves to eternity.   

CHAP. XVII.  
HAd I not more confidence in the truth of my Saviour, than in the traditions of men, poverty might stagger my faith, and bring my thoughts into a perplexed Purgatory. Wherein are the poor blessed, if pardon shall be purchased only by expense? Or how is it hard for a rich man to enter into Heaven, if money may buy out the past, presend & future sins of himself, his deceased and succeeding progeny? If heaven be thus fold, what benefit has my poverty, by the price already paid? I find no happiness in Room on earth. 'Tis happiness for me to have Room in Heaven.   

CHAP. XVIII.  
THere is no estate of life so happy in this world, as to yield a Christian the perfection of content: & yet there is no state of life so wretched in this world, but a Christian must be content with it. Though I can have nothing here that may give me true content, yet I will learn to be trevely contented here with what I have. What care I though I have as much as I desire, if I have as much as I want, I have as much as the most, if I have as much as I desire.   

CHAP. XIX.  
IT is the greatest of all sins always to continue in sin. For where the custom of sinning waxeth greater the conscience for sin grows the less: it is easier to quench a spark, than a fire; I had rather break the Cockatrice's egg, then kill the Serpent. O daughter of Babylon, happy shall he be that taketh thy children whilst they are young and dasheth them against the stones.   

CHAP. XX.  
NAture bids me love myself and hate all that hurt me, Reason bids me love my friends and hate those that envy me, Religion bids me love all and hate none. Nature showeth care, Reason wit, Religion love. Nature may induce me, Reason persuade me, but Religion shall rule me. I will hearken to Nature in much, to Reason in more, to Religion in all. Nature shall make me careful of myself, but hateful to none; Reason shall make me wise for myself, but harmless to all; Religion shall make me loving to all, but not carls of myself. I may hear the former, I will hearken only to the later. I subscribe to some things in all, to all things in Religion.   

CHAP. XXI.  
Abundance is a trouble, want a misery, honour a burden, baseness a scorn, advancements dangerous, disgrace odious. Only a competent estate yields the quiet of content. I will not climb, lest I fall, nor lie in the ground, lest I am trod on. I am safest while my legs bear me. A competent heat is moast health full for my body, I would desire neither to freeze nor to burn.   

CHAP. XXII.  
A Large promise without performance is like a false fire to a great Peice, which dischargeth a good expectation with a bad report. I will forethink what I will promise, that I may promise but what I will do. Thus whilst my words are led by my thoughts, and followed by my actions, I shall be careful in my promises, and just in their performance. I had rather do and not promise, than promise and not do.   

CHAP. XXIII.  
THe good meaner hath two tongues, the Hypocrite a double tongue. The good man's heart speaks without his tongue, the Hypocrites tongue, without his heart. The good man hat oftentimes God in his heart, when in his mouth there is no God mentioned: the Hypocrite hath God often in his mouth, when the fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. I may soon hear the tongue, but safest the heart, the tongue speaketh loudest, but the heart truest.   

CHAP. XXIV.  
THe speech of the tongue is best known to men: God best understands the language of the heart: the heart without the tongue may pierce the ears of heaven, the tongue without the heart speaks an unknown language. No marvel then if the desires of the poor are heard, when the prayers of the wicked are unregarded. I had rather speak three words in a speech that God knows, then pray three hours in a language he understands not.   

CHAP. XXV.  
MEditation is the womb of our actions, action the midwife of our Meditations. A good & perfect conception, if it want strength for the birth, perisheth in the womb of the mind, and, if it may be said to be born, it must be said to be stillborn: a bad and imperfect conception, if it hath the happiness of a birth, yet the mind is but delivered of a burden of imperfections, in the perfection of deformity, which may beg with the cripple at the gate of the Temple, or perish through imperfections. If I meditate what's good to be done, and do not the good I have meditated, I loof my labour, and make cursed my knowledge. If I do the thing that is good, and intent not that good that I do, it is a good action, but not well done. Others may enjoy some benefit, I deserve no commendations. Resolution without action is a slothful folly, Action without resolution is a foolish rashness. First know what's good to be done, then do that good being known. If forecast be not better than labour, labour is not good without forecast. I would not have my actions done without knowledge, nor against it.   

CHAP. XXVI.  
IT is the folly of affection not to reprehend my erring friend, for fear of his anger: it is the abstract of folly, to be angry with my friend for my errors reprehension. I were not a friend, if I should see my friend out of the way, and not advise him: I were unworthy to have a friend, if he should advise me (being out of the way) and I be angry with him. Rather let me have my friend's anger than deserve it; rather let the righteous smite me friendly by reproof, than the precious oil of flattery, or connivance, break my head. It is a folly to fly ill will, by giving a just cause of hatred. I think him truer friend that deserves my love, than he that desires it.   

CHAP. XXVII.  
WHen children meet with primroses, nuts, or apples in their way, I see those pleasures are oftimes occasions to make them loiter in their errands, so that they are sure to have their parent's displeasure, & oftimes their late return finds a barred entrance to their home, whereas those who meet with dangers in the way, make haste in their journey, and their speed makes them welcomed, with commendation. Nature hath sent me abroad into the world, and I am every day travelling homeward: If I meet with store of miseries in my way, discretion shall teach me a religious haste in my journey: And if I meet with pleasures, they shall pleasure me only by putting me in mind of my pleasures at home, which shall teach me to scorn these, as worse than trifles. I will never more reckon a troublesome life, a curse, but a blessing. A pleasant journey is dear bought with the loss of home.   

CHAP XXVIII.  
WHen I see the fisher bait his hook. I think on Satan's subtle malice, who sugars over his poisoned hooks with seeming-pleasures. Thus Eves Apple was candied with divine knowledge, ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil. When I see the fish fast hanged, I think upon the covetous Worldling, who leaps at the profit without considering the danger. Thus Achan takes the gold and the garment, and ne'er considers that his life must answer it. If Satan besuch a fisher of men, its good to look before we leap. Honey may be eaten, so that we take heed of the sting: I will honestly enjoy my delights, but not buy them with danger.   

CHAP. XXIX.  
I See, when I have but a short journey to travel, I am quickly at home, soon out of the pain of my travel, soon into the possession of my rest. If my life be but my walk, and Heaven my home, why should I desire a long journey? Indeed knowing my home so pleasand, I would not be weary with a long walk, but yet the shorter my journey, the sooner my rest.   

CHAP. XXX.  
I Cannot see two sawyers work at the pit, but they put me in mind of the Pharisee and the Publican: the one casts his eye upward, whiles his actions tend to the pit infernal: the other standing with a dejected Countenance, whiles his hands and heart move upward. 'Tis not a shame to make show of our profession, so we truly profess what we make show of: But of the two, I had rather be good, and not seem so, than seem good, and not be so. The Publican went home to his house rather justified then the Pharisee.   

CHAP. XXXI.  
WHen I think on the Eagls carrying up of the shell fish into the air, only to the end he may brak him by his fall, it puts me in mind of the devil's costly courtesies, who out of the bounty of his subtlety, is still ready to advance us to destruction. Thus more than once he dealt with my Redeemer, no sooner had he raised him to the top of an high pinnacle, but strait follows, cast thyself down; and having placed him on an high mountain, let him fall down and he shall be largely rewarded with his own. If advancement be so dangerous, I will take heed of being ambitious. Any estate shall give me content: I am high enough if i can stand upright.   

CHAP. XXXII.  
WHen i see leavs drop from their trees, in the beginning of Autumn, just such think I, is the friendship of the world. Whiles the sap of maintenance lasts, my friends swarm in abundance, but in the winter of my need, they leave me naked. He is an 〈◊〉 happy man that hath a true friend at his need: but he is more truly happy that hath no need of his friend.   

CHAP. XXXIII.  
I Should wonder, that the unsatiable desires of ambition can find no degree of content, but that I see they seek a perfection of honour on earth, when the fullness of glory is only in Heaven. The honour on earth is full of degrees, but no degree admits a perfection: Whereas the glory of Heaven admits of degrees, but each degree affords a fullness. Here, one may be lower than another in honour, and yet the highest want a glory: There, though one Star differs from another in glory, yet in the fullness of glory they all shine as Stars. Here the greatest may want, there the least hath enough: Here, all the earth may not be enough for one; There, one Heaven is enough for all Lord let me rather be least there, without honour here, than the greatest here, without glory there. I had rather be a dorekeeper in that house, than a ruler in these tents.   

CHAP. XXXIV.  
When I see the heavenly Sun buried under earth in the evening of the day, & in the morning to find a resurrection to his glory, Why (think I) may not the Sons of heaven buried in th' earth, in the euning of their days, expect the morning of their glorious Resurrection? Each night is but the pastdayes' funeral, and the morning his resurrection: Why then should our funeral sleep be other than our sleep at night? Why should we not as well awake to our Resurrection, as in the morning? I see night is rather an intermission of day, than a deprivation, and death rather borrows our life of us than robs us of it. Since then the glory of the Sun finds a Resurrection, why should not the sons of glory? Since a dead man may live again, I will not so much look for an end of my life; as wait for the coming of my change.   

CHAP. XXXV.  
I See, that candle yields me small benefit at day, which at night much steeds me: and I know, the cause is not because the candle's light was les at day, but because the day's light is les in the evening. As my friends love to me, so mine to my friend may be at all times alike; but we best see it, when we most need it: and that, not because our love is then greater, but our want Though then i welcome a courtesy according to my want, yet i will value a courtesy according to its worth. That my fortunes need not my friend's courtesy, is my happiness: should my happiness slight my friend's courtesy, 'twere my folly.   

CHAP. XXXVI.  
I See that candle makes small show in the day which at night yields a glorious lustre, not because the candle has then more light, but because the air hath then more darkness. How prejudicial then is that ambition, which makes me seem less than Jam, by presuming to make me greater than I should be. They whose glory shines as the sparks amongst stubble, loose their light, if compared to the Son of glory. I will not seat myself higher than my place, lest I should be disgraced to an humility, but if I place myself lower than my seat, I may be advanced to the honour of, Friend sit up higher. I had rather be exalted by my humility, then be brought low by my exaltation.   

CHAP. XXXVII.  
I See that candle which is as a Sun in the darkness, is but as a darkness in the Sun: the candle not more lightning the night's darkness, than the Sun darkening the candle's light. I will take heed then of contention, especially with great ones. As I may be to strong for the weaker; so I must be to weak for the stronger. I cannot so easily vanquish mine inferiors, but my superiors may as easily conquer me: I will do much to be at peace with all men, but suffer much ere I contend with a mighty man.   

CHAP. XXXVIII.  
I See when I follow my shadow it flies me, when I fly my shadow it follows me: I know pleasures are but shadows, which hold no longer than the sun shine of my fortunes. Lest then my pleasures should forsake me, I will sorsake them. Pleasure most flies me when I most follow it.   

CHAP. XXXIX.  
It is not good to speak evil of all whom we know bad: it is worse to judge evil of any, who may prove good. To speak ill upon knowledge, shows a want of charity: to speak ill upon suspicion shows a want of honesty. I will not speak so bad as I know of many: I will not speak worse than I know of any. To know evil by others, and not speak it, is sometimes discretion: to speak evil by others, and not know it, is always dishonesty. He may be evil himself who speaks good of others upon knowledge, but he can never be good himself, who speaks evil of others upon suspicion.   

CHAP. XL.  
A Bad great one is a great bad one. For the greatness of an evil man, makes the man's evil the greater. It is the unhappy privilege of authority, not so much to act, as teach wickedness, and by a liberal cruelty, to make the offenders sin not more his own than others. Each fault in a leader is not so much a crime, as a rule for error: And their vices are made, (if not warrans, yet) presidens for evil. To sin by prescription, is as usual as damnable: and men run post in their journey, when they go to the devil with authority. When then the vices of the rulers of others, are made the rules for vices to others, the offences of all great ones must needs be the greatest of all offences. Either then let me be great in goodness, or else it were good for me to be without greatness. My own sins are burden too heavy for me why then should I lad myself with others offences.   

CHAP. XLI.  
TO speak all that is true, is the property of fools, to speak more the● is true, is the folly of too many. He that spends all that is his own, is an unthrifty prodigal: He that spends more than his own, is a dishonest unthrift: I may sometimes know what I will not litter, I must never utter what I do not know. I should be loath to have my tongue so large as my heart, I would scorn to have my heart les than my tongue. For if to speak all that I know, shows too much folly, to speak more than I know shows to little honesty.   

CHAP. XLII.  
It is the ambitious folly of too many, to imitate rather greatness than goodness. They will sooner follow the example of their Lord, than the precepts of their God. I will always honour greatness, I will only imitate goodness: & rather do good without a pattern, then commit evil in imitation. 'Tis better to be sived without a precedent, then to be damned by example.   

CHAP. XLIII.  
THere is no security in evil society, where the good are often made worse, the bad seldom better. For it is the peevish industry of wickedness, to find, or make a fellow. 'Tis like, they will be birds of a feather, that use to flock together. For such commonly doth their conversation make us, as they are with whom we use to convers. I cannot be certain, not to meet with evil company, but I will be careful, not to keep with evil company. I would willingly sort myself with such, as should either teach, or learn goodness: and if my companion cannot make me better, nor I him good, I will rather leave him ill, than he shall make me worse.   

CHAP. XLIV.  
TO teach goodness is the greatest praise, to learn goodness, the greatest profit. Though he be wisest that can teach, yet he that doth learn is wiser. I will not therefore be unwilling to teach, nor ashamed to learn. I cannot be so ignorant, but I may teach somewhat, nor so wise but I may learn more. I will therefore teach what I know, and learn what I know not. Though it be a greater praise to teach, then to learn, yet it is a lesser shame to learn then to be ignorant.   

CHAP. XLV.  
AS there is a misery in want, so there is a danger in excess. I would therefore desire neither more nor less, then enoug. I may as well die of a surfeit as of hunger.   

CHAP. XLVI.  
IT is the apish nature of many, to follow rather example than precepts: but it would be the safest course of all, to learn rather by precept then example. For there's many a good Divine that cannot learn his own teaching. It is easier to say this do, then to do it. When therefore I see good doctrine with an ewil life. I may pity the one, but I will practise only the other. The good say belong to all, the evil actions only to their authors.   

CHAP. XLVII.  
THere are two things necessary for a traveller, to bring him to the end of his journey; a knowledge of his way, a perseverance in his walk. If he walk in a wrong way, the faster he goes the farther he is from home: if he sit still in a right way, he may know his home, but ne'er come to it: Discreet stays make speedy journeys, I will first then know my way ere I begin my walk the knowledge of my way is a good part of my journey. He● that faints in the execution looseth the glory of the action. I will therefore not only cnow my way, but also go on in my way: I had rather my journey should want a beginning, then come to an untimely end. If Heaven be my home an● Christ my way, I will learn to know my way, ere I haste to travel to my home He that runs hastily in a way he knows not, may come speedily to an hom● he loves not. If Christ be my way, an● Heaven my home, I will rather endure my pain full walk, then want my perfect rest. I more esteem my home the my journey; my actions shall be led b● knowledge, my knowledge be followe● by my actions. Ignorance is a ba● mother to devotion, and idleness a ba● steward to knowledge.   

CHAP. XLVIII.  
I Cannot but wonder at the folly 〈◊〉 those hearts, who are like to kill themselves with the fear of dying, making the news of an ensuing mischief, a worse mischief then that they have news of: whereas the foreknowledge of an approaching evil, is a benefit of no small good. For if it cannot teach us to prevent it by providence, it may show us how to sustain it by patience. I may grieve with the smart of an evil, as soon as I field it: But I will not smart with the grief of an evil as soon as I hear of it. My evil when it cometh may make my grief too great, whey then should my grief before it comes make my evil greater?   

CHAP. XLIX.  
AS I see in the body, so I know in the soul, they are oft most desperately sick, who are least sensibl of their disease: whereas he that fears each light wound for mortal, seeks a timely cure, and is healed. I will not reckon it my happiness, that I have many sores, but since I have them, I am glad they greve me. I know the cure is not the more dangerous, because my wounds are more grievous; I should be more sick if I plained less.   

CHAP. L.  
IT is one, not of the least evils, not to avoid the appearance of evil, which oft makes the innocent justly punished with undeserved suspicion. I would desire to be thought good, but yet I had rather be so. It is no small happiness to be free from suspicion, but a greater to be void of offence. I would willingly be neither evil nor suspected: but of the two J. had rather be suspected and not deserve it, then deserve evil and not be suspected.   

CHAP. LI.  
I Know but one way to Heaven, I have but one Mediator in Heaven, even one Christ: and yet I hear of more ways, more Mediators. Are there then more Christ's? Are the Lords ways as your ways that we must go to the King of Heaven as unto a King on earth? Or if we must, yet if my King bid me come shall I send an other? If he bid me come unto him, shall I go unto another? If he bid me ask for peace only in the name of the Prince of peace, why should I mention the Lady Mary? If I shall be heard only in the name of his son, why should I use the name of his servants? Were it a want of manners, or a want of obedience to come when I am bid? Is another better, or am I too good to goe-in-mine own errants to the Almighty? Because the son was worse used than the servants on earth, shall the servants therefore be sooner heard then the son in Heaven? There are still unjust Husbandmen in the Lord's vineyard, who not only abuse the servants, but kill again the son, and rob him of his due inheritance. When the Lord therefore of the Vineyard cometh, what will he do to these Husbandmen? I do not envy your glory ye Saints of God, yet I will not attribute the glory of my God to his Saints. How shall my God glorify me, if I should give his glory to another?   

CHAP. LII.  
TO be without passion is worse than a beast, to be without reason, is to be less than a man. Since I can be without neither, I am blessed, in that I have both. For, if it be not against reason to be passionate, I will not be passionate against reason. I will both grieve and joy, if I have reason for it, but not joy nor grieve above reason. I will so joy at my good as not to take evil by my joy: so grieve at any evil as not to increase my evil by my grief. For it is not a folly to have passion, but to want reason. I would be neither senseless, nor beastly.   

CHAP. LIII.  
IT is the folly of wit in some to take pains to trim their labours in obscurity. It is the ignorance of learning in others, to labour to divest their pain by bluntness; the one thinking he never speaks wisely, till he goes beyond his own, and all men's understandings: the other thinking he never speaks plainly, till he dive beneath the shallowest apprehension, I as little affect curiosity in the one, as I care for the affectation of baldness in the other. I would not have the pearl of Heaven's Kingdom so curiously set in gold, as that the art of the workman should hid the beauty of the jewel: nor yet so slightly valued, as to be set in lead: or sobeastly used as to be slubbered with dirt. I know the pearl how ever placed) still retains its virtue, yet I had rather haveit set in gold, then seek it in dunghill. Neat apparel is an ornament to the body, but a disgrace, if either proud or slovenly.   

CHAP. LIV.  
I See corruptionr so largely rewarded, that I doubt not, but I should thrive in the world, could I get but a dispensation of my conscience for the liberty of trading. A little flattery would get me a great deal of favour, and I could buy a world of this world's love, with the sale of this little trifle Honesty. Were this world my home, I might perhaps be trading: but alas, these merchandiz yield les than nothing in heaven. I would willingly be at quiet with the world, but rather at peace with my conscience. The love of men is good, whiles it lasteth, the love of God is better being everlasting. Let me then trade for those heavenly merchandiz if, I find these other in my way, they are a great deal more than I look for, and (a little) more than I care for.   

CHAP. LV.  
AS faith is the evidence of things not seen: so things that are seen are the perfecting of faith. I believe a tree will be green, when I see him leafless in winter: I know he is green when I see him flourishing in summer. It was a fault in Thomas not to believe till he did see. It were a madness in him not to believe when he did see. Belief may sometime exceed reason, not oppose it, and faith be often above sense not against it. Thus whiles faith doth assure me that I cat Christ effectually, sense must assure me that I taste bread really. For though I oftentimes see not those things that I believe, yet I must still believe those things that I see.   

CHAP. LVI.  
THere is none so innocent as not to be evil spoken of, none so wicked as to want all commendation. There are too many who condemn the just and not a few who justify the wicked. I oft hear both envy & flattery speaking falsehoods of myself to myself, and may not the like tongues perform the like tasks of others to others? I will know others by what they do themselves, but not learn myself by what I hear of others. I will be careful of mine own actions, not credulous of others relations.   

CHAP. LVII.  
THe Cross is but a sign of Christ Crucified, Christ Crucified the substance of this Cross. The sign without the substance is as nothing, the substance without the sign is all things. I hate not the sign, though I adore but the substance. I will not blaspheme the Cross of Christ, I will not but worship Christ Crucified. I will take up my Cros, I will love my Cros, I will bear my Cros, I will embrace my Cros, yet not adore my Cros. All knees shall bend in reverence to his name, mine never bow in Idolatry to his image.   

CHAP. LVIII.  
IT is the nature of man to be proud, when man by nature hath nothing to be proud of. He more adorneth the Creature, than he adoreth the Creator: & makes, not only his belly his god, but his body, I am ashamed of their glory, whose glory is their shame. If nature will needs have me to be proud of something. I will be proud only of this; that I am proud of nothing.   

CHAP. LIX.  
AS the Giver of all things, so each receiver loveth a cheerful giver. For a bargain is valued by the worth of the thing bought, but a gift by the mind of the party giving: which made the widow's mite of more worth, than the riches of superfluity. I see then, he gives not best that gives most, but he gives most, that gives best. If then I cannot give bountifully, yet I will give freely, and what I want in my hand, supply by my heart. He gives well, that gives willingly.   

CHAP. LX.  
I See at a Feast, that others feed hearty on that dish which perhaps would not suit with my appetit, whilst I make as good a meal on'those cates, that perhaps their palates could not relis. I will not therefore think I do well because my actions please not others, nor be confident that my actions are good, because my do please myself: but be more careful to provide what is good at a feast, then what's delightful: and more study to express what is honest in my actions, than what 〈◊〉 pleasing. So, if sick stomaches cannot relish my sound meats, the fault shall light on their ill appetits: and if unseasoned judgements like not my honest intentions, the fault shall fall on their ill relished apprehensions. It would please me well to have praise when I deserve it; but joy me more to deserve praise when I have it.   
FINIS.   

Resolved MEDITATIONS And Premeditated RESOLUTIONS. The Second part.  

CHAP. I.  
WHen one ascends from the ground to an higher room, I observe with what contempt he insults and tramples on the stairs by which he riseth, and how he first and most durteth that step by which he first stepped from the dirt. Which putteth me in mind of the practice of the aspiring ambitious, who, to get up to their wished height of honour, bedurt with scorn, and neglect those by whose shoulders they were first mounted, and exalted, I hate that ambition which enforceth ingratitude; which, being the beasest of vices, can not but soil and disgrace a man graced with such honours, I am not preferred with honour, if debased with ingratitude.   

CHAP. II.  
HE that will not be persuaded to leap down from an high chamber at once, cometh willingly down by the stairs: and yet the declining degrees of his winding descent make it not les down ward to him, but les perceived of him. His leap might have brought him down sooner, it could not have brought him down lower. As I am then fearful to act great sins, so I will be careful to avoid small sins. He that contemns a small fault commits a great one, I fee many drops make a shower: and what difference is it, whether I be wet either in the rain, or in the river, if both be to the skinn? There is small benefit in the choice, whither we go down to Hell by degrees or at once.   

CHAP. III.  
THe gentle and harmless sheep being conscious of their own innocency, how patiently, how quietly, do they receive the kneif, either on the altar, or in the shambles? How silently and undaunted do they meet death and give it entrance with small resistance? When the filthy loathsome and harmful swine roar horribly at the first handling, and with and hideous crying reluctancy, are haled, and held to the slaughter. This seems some cause to me, why wicked men (conscious of their filthy lives, and nature) so tremble at the remembrances, startle at the name, and with horror roar at the approach of death: when the godly quietly unclothe themselves of their lives, and make small difference twixt a natural nights short sleep, and the long sleep of nature. I will pray not to come to an untimely violent death, I will not violently resist death at the time when it cometh. I will expect and wait my change with patience, embrace it with cheerfulness, and never fear it as a total privation.   

CHAP. IU.  
IT is no small fault to be bad, and seem so: it is a greater fault to seem good, & not be so: The cloak of dissimulation is a main part of the gearment spotted with the flesh. A vice thus covered is worse than a naked offence. There is no devil to the Hypocrite.   

CHAP. V.  
WHen I see the Larkers day-net spread out in a fair morning, and himself whirling his artificial motion, and observe how by the reflecting lustre of the Sun on the wheeling instrument, not only the merry lark, and fearful Pigeon are dazzled, and drawn with admiration; but stouter birds of prey, the swift Merlin, and towering Hobby are enticed to stoop, and gazing on the outward form, lose themselves Me thinks I see the devil's nightnets of enticing harlots fully paralleled, spread out for us in the vigour of our youth; which with roeling eyes draw on the lust fullness of affection, and betray the wantonness of the heart, and with their alluring glances often make to stoop within danger of their fatal nets, not only the simple and careless, but others also, men otherwise wary and wise: who coming within the pull of the net lie at the mercy of that merciless fowler, to their certain destruction. Hence I resolve when I see such glasses, to shun such motions, as assured that those glasses have nets adjoining; those nets a fouler attending; that fowler a death prepared for me, than which I cannot die a worse I may by chance, I must by necessity, at sometime come within their view: I will at no time come within their danger. I cannot well live in this world, and not see them at all, I cannot live well in this world, nor at all in the better world, if I be caught in their fatal nets.   

CHAP. VI  
THere be that make it their glory to feed high, and far deliciously every day, and to maintain their bodies elementary, search the elements, the earth, sea, and air, to maintain the fire of their appetits. They that thus make their bellies their gods, do make their glory their shame. I distaste a sordid diet as unwholesome, I care not to taste and feed on variety of delicates as unhealthful. Nature conted with a few things, is cloyed, and quelled with overmany: and digestion her cook employed in the concoction of so much variety at once, leaves the stomach too foul a kitchen for healt to abide in. Since than so to feed may the sooner end my life, and the end of my life is not so to feed, I will be taught by Grace not to live to eat, but eat to live; and maintain health by a competent diet, not surfeit with excess.   

CHAP. VII.  
HE that too much admires the glory of a Prince's Court, and drawn up thither (by his ambition) thinks high places to be the highest happiness; let him view the foggy mists, the moist vapours, and light exhalations drawn up from the earth by the attractive power of the glorious Sunn-beames: which when they are at highest, either spend themselves there in portnding meteors, to others terror and their own consumption; and either by resolution are turned into rain, or congelation unto hail or snow, which sink lower into the earth at their fall, than they were at their ascending. For my part, I may admire such a glowing coal. I will not with the satire kiss it. As I think it not the least and last praise to please Princes; so, I know, it is not the least danger of times to live with them, procul a jove, procula fulmine. He presumes too much of his own brightness that thinks to shine clear near the Sun; where, if his light be his own, it must be obscured by comparison; if borrowed from the Sun, then is it not his, but an others glory. A candle in the night's obscurity shows brighter than a torch at noonday. And Caeser thought it a greater glory to be the first man in some obscure town, than the second man in Rome the head City of the world.   

CHAP. VIII.  
IT is a common custom (but a lewd one) of them that are common lewd ones, by custom, to wound the fame, and taint the reputation of their neighbours with slanders; and having no les impotency in their tongues, than impurity in their hearts, form both opinions and censures according to the mould of evil in themselves. And this they do, either with the Lapwing to divert, by their false cries, the travelling stranger from finding the nest of their filthiness, or with the curtailed Fox in the Fable, to have all foxes cut-tayld: or, with the fish Sepia, to darken with the pitchy ink of aspersions, all the water of the neighbourhood, that so themselves may scape the net of Censure, justly cast to catch them. Or else, to have themselves thought as good as any other, they will not have any thought good, that dwells near them. I will therefore suspect him as scarce honest, who would (with a slander) make me suspect an other as dishonest. I will not presently disrespect him as dishonest, whom a lewd person dishonesteth with suspicion. The devil is not more black-mouthed than a slanderer; nor a slanderer less malcious than the devil.   

CHAP. IX.  
WHen I see the Sun rising from the East in glory, like a giant ready for the course, within an hour's space obscured with mists, darkened with clouds, and sometimes eclipsed with the Moon's inferior body: and however, without these, after noon declining, clining descending, setting, & buried under our horizon; I seem to see an earthly King mounting his throne in glory, yet soon clouded with cares, and sear of dangers: sometime darkened in honour by the malicious enury of his subjects; sometimes eclipsed in his dominions by the interposition of foreign powers; and however, without these, in a short time descending and setting at the evening of his life, and seldom passing the whole day thereof in perfect continual glory. Then think I, O the odds of comfort in that heavenly and these earthly kingdoms; O the comfort of this odds: There each Saint is a glorious King each King hath his incorruptible Crown; each Crown a boundless, fearless, endless kingdom. Let me strive for the glory of such a kingdom only, which is a kingdom of such glory.  
Felice's animae quibus haec cognoscere sola,  
Inque domos superûmse scandere, cura fuit.   

CHAP. X.  
THe Laws in themselves are the scales of justice, the wronged poor-man's shelter, the pillars of the Commonwealth: but the abused practice makes those scales unequal, that poor-man's shelter a man's poor shelter for his wrongs. The proof of this, appears with the Juries at the Assizes in their proofs: when one may often discern perjury usher in the evidence to the jury, and injury follow with the verdict. I admire with reverence the justice and wisdom of the Laws: I deplore with compassion the abused practice of the Laws, and resolve, rather to bear with patience and hayleshower of injuries, than to seek shelter at such a thicket, where the brambles shall pluck of my fleece, and do me more hurt by schratching, than the storm would have done by hailing. I care not for that physic, where the remedy is worse than the disease.   

CHAP. XI.  
HOw cunningly doth the Prince of darkness take on him the form of an Angel of light? How often have seeming saints proved devils? even in those things (lightly) most faulty, which they make a show of being most free from: Some more proud of being thought plain, than a flaunting gallant in his new fashion. Others refusing a deserved commendation, only with a desire to be commended for refusing it: The one hating pride with a more proud hatred, the other shunning praish with a greater vainglory. It is bad to have vices, worse to dissemble them. Plato possessed his rich bed with less pride than Diogenes trampled on it.   

CHAP. XII.  
I Meet sometimes with men whose crazed brains seem soldered with quicksilver; the strains of whose Actions run only in odd crotchets; whose judgements being hoodwinked with their own opinion, and passion, admit of I will not therefore ambitiously beg their voices for my preferment; nor weigh my worth in that uneven balance, in which a feather of opinion shall be moment enough to turn the scales, and make a light piece go currant, and a currant piece seem light.   

CHAP. XV.  
THere are a sort of men which are kind men to me, when they expect some kindness from me: who have their hands down to the ground in their salutations, when the ground of their salutations is to have a hand at me in some commodity. But their own ends once served, their kindness hath its end a● once: And then it seems strange to me, how strange they will seem to grow to me; as if the cause (their desire) being removed, the effect (their courtesy) must strait cease. I will not acknowledge such my friends but their own; and when ever I see such insinuating palpation, I will betink me what the author's would have of me. And with a thrifty discretion, rather deny such their requests, then in a prodigal kindness become their friend, more than mine own.   

CHAP. XVI.  
I See a number of gallants every where, whose incomes come in yearly by set numbers, but run out daily, sans number. I could pity the cases of such brave men, but that I see them still in brave cases. And when I see them often foxed; me think the Proverb suits, those suits, What is the fox but his case? I should think them to be Eutrapelus his enemies whom he clothed richly to make them spend freely, and grow debauched. I will do those men right, and wonder at them, because they desire it. I will not wrong myself to envy at them, because they deserve it not, nor to pity them, because they scorn it. I know that gorgeous apparel is an ornament to grace the Court, for the glory of the Kingdom, but it is no ornament useful in the Kingdom of Grace, nor needful in the Kingdom of Glory. A rich coat may be commendable in the Accidents of armoury only, but it is not the only substance of a commendable Gentleman, I will value the apparel, by the worthiness of the wearer; I will not value the worthiness of the wearer, by the worth of his apparel. Adam was most gallantly apparelled, when he was innocently naked.   

CHAP. XVII.  
THE men of most credit in our time, are the Usurers. For they credit most men: And though their greatest study be security, yet is usually their fortune to be fullest of care. Time is precious to them: For they think a day broke to them, is worth a brokeage from their Creditor. Yet this they find by use, that as they have much profit by putting out, so must they have much care to get it in For debtors are of Themistocles his mind, and take not so much care how to repay all, as how they may not pay at all their creditors, and make this their first resolution, how they may make no resolution at all. I envy not therefore the Usurer's gains, but considering they (as Merchant-adventurers) send abroad their estates in uncertain vessels, sometime into the bankrupt rivers of prodigality, and unthriftines, sometimes into the sea of casualties, and misfortunes, that many times their principal comes short home, I think, with myself, Let them gain much by the adventure, that adventure so much to gain. I will make this use of those uses, as to claim no interest in their gains, nor to owe any thing to any man but love. If I lend where need is, and receive my principal again, I will account that my principal gain, and think my courtesy but a commanded charity.   

CHAP. XVIII.  
INgratitude is the character of an ill nature in ourselves, a canker of friendship with others, and the very poison that kills charity in the embryo, being but newly conceived in the pregnant minds of good men, and causing an abortion of liberality,  it comes to its intented birth. For who will sow those barren sands, where he knows he must not only not expect a good harvest, but be sure to lose his seed and labour? Yet in these times what is more common or more practised than this ingratitude? For in receiving benefits, who will not (with Euclio in Plautus) find a third hand to reach out to take them? But in requiting, who is not more maimed than the statuas of Mercury, which Alcibiades so mangled that he scarce left them a finger to point out the way to travellers? It is ten to one, but we all desire to be cured of the leprosies of our wants: yet scarce one of ten of us returns to give thanks for the cure. I will not think myself so enriched by receiving a courtesy, as engaged to be thankful for it. I am not left a free man at my liberty, by taking a man's free liberality: but I sell my freedom for his benefits. I cannot deserve to be gracious with my friend, if, with the Graces, I look not with two faces back to requite, as well as with one forward to receive:   

CHAP. XIX.  
I Will not much commend others to themselves, I will not at all commend myself to others, So to prais any to their faces, is a kind of flattery: but to prais myself to any is the height of folly. He that boasts his own praises, speaks ill of himself and much derogates from his true deserts. It is worthy of blame to affect commendation.   

CHAP. XX.  
MErrily and wittily said Plautus, that was one of the merry Wits of his time, I would (said he) by my will have tale bearers and tale-hearers punished; the one hanging by the tongue, the other by the ears. Were his will a law in force with us, many a tattling gossip would have her vowels turned to mutes, and be justly tongue tied that desires to be tied by the teeth at your table; where with Thominus his tooth, she gnaweth on the goodname of her neighbour: And many hungry Parrot, whose belly is his artsmaster, would cease to second his ave to his Lord with depraving tales called news, and make his grace after dinner the disgrace of some innocent: And most men would give them course entertainment, that come to entertain their ears with discourse of defamative reports. I will be silent and barren of discourse when I chance to hear a tale, rather than go with cild therewith, till another's ears be my midwife, to deliver me of such a deformed monster. I may hear a tale of delight, and perhaps smile at an innocent jest, I will not jest, nor joy at a tale disgracing an innocent person.   

CHAP. XXI.  
WHen I see a gallant ship well rigged, trimmed, tackled man'd and munitioned with her top and top-gallant, and her spread sails proudly swelling with a full gale, infaire weather putting out of the haven into the smooth maine and drawing the spectators eyes, with a well-wishing admiration, and shortly hear of the same ship split against some dangerous rock, or wracked by some disastrous tempest, or sunk by some leak sprung in her by some accident, me seemeth I see the case of some Court-favourite, who to day like Sejanus dazzleth all men's eyes with the splendour of his glory, and with the proud and potent beak of his powerful prosperity cutteth the waves and ploweth through the pres of the vulgar, and scorneth to fear some remora at his keel below, or any cros-winds from above, and yet to morrow on some storms of unexpected disfavour, springs a leak in his honour, and sinks on the Syrteses of disgrace, or dashed against the rocks of displeasure is split and wracked in the Caribois of infamy, and so concludes his voyage in misery and misfortune. I will not therefore adventure with the greedy shepherd to change my sheep into a ship of adventure, on the sight of a calm sea. 
 pelago suadetuo etiam retinacula solvas  
Multa tamen latus tristia pontus habet.  I will study to deserve my Prince's favour, I will not desire to be a Prince's favourite. If I fall whence I am, I can raise myself, but to be cast down thence were to be crushed with a desperate down-fall. I prefer a mediocrity, though obscure, yet safe, before a greater eminency with a fare greater danger.   

CHAP. XXII.  
WHen a storm drives me to shelter me under a tree, I find that if the storm be little, the tree defends me, but if the storm be great, the tree not only not defends me, but poureth on me that wet which itself had received, and so maketh me muth wetter. Hence instructed, I resolve that if improvidently I fall into some small danger of the laws, I will presume to seek shelter under the arms of some potent friend, but if the tempest of my trouble be too potent for my friend, I will rather bear all myself, then involve my friend in the danger. It would be bad enough for me to be drenched with or distressed by the storm of the laws anger only; It would be worse to be drowned with the anger of my storming friend also. My conscience of my ill deserving toward the laws would enforce a patience: my remembrance of my well-deserving to my friend would make the just addition of his anger intolerable.   

CHAP. XXIII.  
COntent is the mark we all aim at, the chief good and top of felicity, to which all men's actions strive to ascend: But it is solely proper to God's wisdom to ingroes all true content into his own hand, that he may sell it to Saints by retail, and enforce all men to buy it of him or want it. Hence is it that a godly man in his mean estate, enjoys more content in God, than a King or Emperor in his earthly glory and magnificence. I will then strive to purchase me a patent of content from him that hath the monopoly thereof: and then, if I have little in estate, I shall have much in content Godliness shall be my great riches, whiles I am contented with what I have.   

CHAP. XXIV.  
AS in the greater world for man, so in the little world of man, as in the outward riches of the one, so in the inner treasures of the other, many posses much and enjoy but little, many have much, and use but little, others use much, and but little well. I shall not so much endeavour to have much wherewithal to do, as to do much, with that little I have. It shall not so much grieve me, that I am a poor treasurer, as joy more, if I have been a good steward. I could wish I had more to use well, but more wish well to use that I have. If he were so blamed that employed not one talon well, what would become of me, if I had ten, and abused them?   

CHAP. XXV.  
POpular applaus, and vulgar opinion may blow up and mount upward the bubbl of a vain glorious mind, till it burst in the air, and vanish: But a wise man builds his glory on the strong foundation of virtue, without expecting or respecting the slender props of vulgar opinion. I will not neglect what every one thinks of me; For that were impudent dissoluteness. I will not make it my commoncare, to hearken how I am cared for of the common sort, and be over-solicitous what every one speaks of me, For that were a toilsome vanity. I may do well, and hear ill: And that's a Kingly happiness. I may do ill, and hear well: and that's an hypocrites best felicity. My actions shall make me harmony in my hearts inner chamber: I will not borrow the Voices of the vulgar to sweeten my Music.   

CHAP. XXVI.  
THe rancour of malice is the true nature of the devil, and the soul possessed therewith is his dearest darling. For where envy, hate, and revenge take up the whole heart, there God hath no room at all lest to be in all his thoughts. I may meet a mad man, and avoid him, I may move a choleric man, and pacify him, I may cross a furious drunkard, and shun him, but a malicious man is more dangerous, implacable, and inevitable than they all. Malice omits no occasion to do mischief: and if it mis thy body & substance, it prosecutes thy shadow, Visam fera saevit in umbram. My soul come not thou into their secrets, unto their assembly, mine honour be not thou united. I must not turn anger out of my nature, I must not turn my nature into anger, I must give place to Wrath, but not a resting place, but a place to let it pasby, that I may let go displeasure. I may give entrance to anger on just cause, I may not give it entertainment on any cause, till it sour with the leaven of malice. I must be angry with sin, but I must be angry and sin not.   

CHAP. XXVII.  
WHen I plant a choice flower in a fertile soil, I see nature presently to thrust up with it, the stinging nettle, the stinking hemlock, the drowsy poppy, and many such noisome weeds, which will either choke my plant with excluding the Sun, or divert its nourishment to themselves: But if I weed but these at first, my flower thrives to its goodness and glory. This is also my case when I endeavour to plant grace in the fertile soil of a good wit. For luxurious nature thrusts up with it, either stinging wrath, or stinking wantonness, or drowsy sloth or some other vices, which rob my plant of its desired flourishing. But these being first plucked up, the good with produceth in its time, the fair flower of virtue. I will not there fore think the best wits, as they are wits fittest to make the best men, but as they are the best purged, best wits. The ground of their goodness is not the goodness of their wits ground, but the good weeding and cleansing it. I must first eschew the evil, ere I can do good, supplant vices, ere I can implant virtue.   

CHAP. XXVIII.  
AS it is never too soon to be good: so is it never too late to amend. I will therefore neither neglect the time present, nor despair of the time past. If I had been sooner good, I might perhaps have been better. If I am longer bad, I shall (I am sure) be worse. That I have stayed long time idle in the marketplace deserves reprehension, but if I am late sent into the vineyard, I have encouragement to work, I will give onto this last as unto thee.   

CHAP. XXIX.  
WHen I see the Husbandman well contented with the cold of frost and snow in the Winter, because, though it chilleth the ground, yet it killeth the charlock, though it check the wheat somewhat in growing, yet it choketh the weeds from growing at all: Why should I be moved at the winter of affliction? Why vexed at the quaking fit of a quartan ague? Why offended at the cold change of affection in my Summer-friends? If as they seem bitter to my mind or body, they prove healthful to my bettered soul. If my wants kill my wantonness, my poverty check my pride, my disrespected slighting quell my ambition and vainglory, and every weed of vice being thus choked by afflictions winter, my soul may grow fruitful for heaven's harvest, let my winter be bitter, so that I be gathered with the good corn at reaping time into the Lord's barn.   

CHAP. XXX.  
AS oft as I hear the Robin-redbreast chant it as cheerfully in September, the beginning of Winter, as in March the approach of the Summer, why should not we (think I) give as cheerful entertainment to the hoary-frosty hairs of our age's winter, as to the Prim-roses of our youth's spring? Why not to the declining sun in adversity, as (like Persians) to the rising sun of prosperity? I am sent to the Ant, to learn industry; to the Dove, to learn innocency; to the Serpent, to learn wisdom; And why not to this bird to learn equanimity and patience; and to keep the same tenor of my minds quietness, as well at the approach of calamities winter, as of the spring of happiness? And, since the Romans constancy is so commended, who changed not his countenance with his changed fortunes, Why should not I, with a Christian resolution, hold a steady course in all weathers, and though I be forced with cros-winds, to shift my sails, and catch at side-winds, yet skill fully to steer, and keep on my course, by the Cape of good hope, till I arrive at the haven of eternal happiness?   

CHAP. XXXI.  
THe same water which being liquid is penetrated with an hors-haire, will bear the horse himself when it is hard frozen. I muse not then that those precepts and threats of God's judgements enter not into the hardened hearts of some old men, frozen by the practice of sin, which pierce and penetrate deep into the tender hearts and melting consciences of younger folks thawed with the warmth of God's fear. Hence see I the cause why the sword of the Word so sharp that it serveth in some to divide the joints and marrow, in others glanceth or reboundeth without dint or wound, from their crystal frozen and adamantin hearts. I cannot promise my selves to be free from sin, I were then no man; but I will purpose in myself to be free from hardness of heart, by costum and continuance in sin, I may err in my way, I will not persist & go on in my errors, till I cannot return again into my way. I may stumble, I may fall, but I will not lie still when I am fallen.   

CHAP. XXXII.  
WHen I see two game-cocks at first sight, without premeditated malice fight desperately and furiously, the one to maintain the injury offered, the other to revenge the injury received by the first blow, and to maintain this quarrel, not only die the pit with their blood, but die in the pit with their mutual bloody wounds, me thinks I see the success of those duëllers of our time; which being ambitious of Achilles his praise, Pelidis juvenes cedere nescij, desperately and furiously adventure their lives here, and endanger their souls hereafter only for the vain terms of falls honour. I will not say but that being flesh and blood I may be careless of my flesh and blood to revenge injurious indignities offered me: yet since as a tenant my soul must answer her Land lord for reparations of the house she dwells in, and I have no warrant of God or man for such revenge, I will not kill my own soul to kill an other man's body. I will not pull the house of my body on my souls head in a fury, that God may make them both fuel for the fury of hell fire.   

CHAP. XXXIII.  
When I view the heavens declaring the glory of God, and the firmament showing his handy work, and consider that each little numbered star even of the sixth magnitude, containeth the earth's dimension 18. times in bigness by Astronomers conclusions, I easily descend to consider the great difference of earthly men's glory, and that weight of glory afforded the Saints in heaven. For what a poor ambition is it to be the best man in a City? What's a City to a Shire? What a Shire to the whole Island? What this Island to the Continent of Europe? What Europe to the whole Earth? What that Earth to a Star? What that Star to Heaven? and that to the Heaven of Heavens? And so by a retrogradation how little? How nothing is this poor glory. I find many which say, hoc nihil est aliquid: I find in myself cause to say, hoc aliquid nihil est. If I needs will be somebody by my ambition, I will be ambitious to be ranged with the Saints in Heaven rather then ranked with the Kings on earth: since the least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than they.   

CHAP. XXXIV.  
I Saw once a Jerfalcon let fly at an Heron, and observed with what clamour the Heron entertained the sight and approach of the Hawk, and with what winding shifts he strove to get above her, labouring even by bemuting his enemy's feathers to make her slaggwinged and so escape: but when at last they must needs come to a necessitated encounter, resuming couroge out of necessity he turned face against her, and striking the Hawk through the gorge with his bill fell down dead together wihth is dead enemy. This fight seemed to me the event of a great suit i● Law, where one trusting to his cause potency more than his causes equity endeavours to disinherit his stubborn neighbour by colourable titles to hi● land. Here may you hear the clamorous obloquys of the wronged and se● the many turn and winding Meanders in the Law sought out to get above his adversary. And lastly when the issue must come to trial, oftentimes in the grapple they both sink to beggary by the Law whiles lawfully they seek to get a-above each other. Hence warned against potent enemies I will always pray, Lord make me not a prey unto their teeth, and against an equal or inferior I will not borrow the laws extreme right to do him extreme wrong: nor fall to law with any body till I fall by law, to be nobody. I will not do that to have my will, which will undo myself of what I have, by my wilfulness.   

CHAP. XXXV.  
THe Psalmist doth not slander the slanderers, when in a good description of their bad natures, he saith, their throat is an open sepulchre, etc. the poison of Asps is under their lips. For what more loathsome stench, and noisome smells can a new opened sepulchre belch out, than these venomous open throated slanderers? And well may their lips contain the poison of Asps, of which Lucan saith, in nulla plus est serpent venent when a few words of theirs shall (like a Witches spell) charm and strike dead a man's dearest reputation. I will therefore endeavour to make my actions of that virtue, that as an antidote of Mithridates his best confection, they may repel the worst infection those Serpents shall spit at me. And albeit I cannot be free from their assaults (from which none is freed) yet I will not with Cleopatra set those Asps so near my heart that they may stop my vital spirits with their poison. And since I must pass through this Africa of monsters and harmful beasts, I will carefully fear and shun the worst of tame beasts the flatterer, and of wild beast the slanderer.   

CHAP. XXXVI.  
MEditation is a busy search in the store-house of fantasy for some Ideas of matters, to be cast in the moulds of resolution into some forms of words or actions; In which search when I have used my greatest diligence, I find this in the conclusion, that to meditate on the Best is the best of Meditations: and a resolution to make a good end is a good end of my resolutions.   
FINES.