ADAM ABEL: OR, Vain Man.  
A DISCOURSE Fitted for Funeral Occasions, BUT Serviceable to Men in all Ages and Conditions of Life, to make them humble and Heavenly-minded.  
By SAMVEL SHAW, Minister of the Gospel.  PSAL. XXXIX. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 
London: Printed for Tho. Parkhurst, at the Bible and 3 Crowns in Cheapside, 1692.   

Reverendo in Christo Patri, THOMAE TENNISONO, D. Episcopo Lincolniensi. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
ERuditionem multifariam, & virtutes, quae D. Opt. Max. Gr. in te plurimae sunt (ornatissimae praeses) celebrare vel celibratum ire, esset culpâ deterere ingeni. Gratias agimus Deo misericordi, & vicegerenti ejus serenissimo Guilielmo, qui te tuique similes Ecclesiae nostrae praefecerint. Diu intersis & praesis populo Anglicano 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, & serus in coelum redeas. Visum sit humanitati & benignitati tuae, lucubrationibus hisce qualibuscunque patrocinari: Quae licet non olent lucernam, coelum tamen & immortalitem spirant, & genium licet non ingenium sapiunt. Dulce & decorum est pro patria mori: At multò certè dulcius & decentius, moriendo ad patriam remigrare. Oh quam juvat videre animam (origine planè divinâ) in carceratam pulvere, vanitatem suam agnoscentem, mundanas sordes excutientem, patriae suae coelesti 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 inhiantem, & in intimos & artissimos centri sui amplexus trepidantem. Habeat Ecclesia Romana suos Quietistas: Sed habeat Ecclesia reformata animas planè inquietas, donec revertantur in sinum patris coelestis! Cujus amori suavissimo, & omnipotenti gratiae, quam humilimè commendat reverentiam tuam  
Cultorum tuorum summus licet infimus, S. SHAW. Ashby de la Zouch, Mar. 16. 1691/ 2.   

Adam Abel, OR, VAIN MAN, etc.  PSAL. xxxix. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Profecto vir ambulat in imagine. Surely every man walketh in a vain show. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. 
I Do not know of any one Temptation, that in all Ages has more solicited and perplexed the Minds of Good men, than that which springs from the Prosperity of the Wicked; a Scandal that the best of Men have been ever apt to take against the Dispensations of God himself; Quod malis bene fit, & bonis bene; it hath therefore pleased God, in compassion to the● 〈…〉, frequently to obviate this Temptation, by causing many parts of holy Scriptures to be written purposely upon this Argument, amongst which this 39th Psalm is one, the main Proposition of which is, an Exhortation, that we beholding the Prosperity of the Wicked, do not doubt of the Divine Care and Providence: Be not broken in our Minds, do not murmur against God, nor fall away from him, but patiently endure Adversity, and hold fast our Profession. I shall not spend time to analize the Psalm, and show the methodical and artificial Composure, but directly fall upon the Illustration, Confirmation, and Application of the Words.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Profectò, surely or verily; an Adverb of Asseveration. But what, is not every Word of God sure and true, and equally true? What then needs any Note of Asseveration to one more than another? Though every Sentence of Scripture be equally true, yet some Sentences are harder to be received and believed than others; Durus hic sermo, said the Disciples, Joh. 6. 60. concerning the Doctrine of spiritual Manducation; and some are of greater weight and importance than others. In these two Cases especially the Adverb of Asseveration is wont to be prefixed, as may appear by many Texts, both in the Old Testament and the New; you have an Example of the first Case in Mat. 26. 34. Peter was confident of his own faithfulness and steadfastness, and would not believe any thing to the contrary; Though all men should be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended: To whom our Saviour answers with this Asseveration, Verily I say unto thee, that this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. Of the latter Case there are abundance of Examples; in the Old Testament, take that famous Text, Psal. 58. 11. Verily there is a reward for the righteous; verily he is a God that judgeth in the Earth. And in the new take that as famous, Mat. 18. 3. Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. This most important Doctrine is twice again ushered in with the same asseveration, Joh. 3. 3, 5. Verily, verily, except a man be born again, etc. And upon both these accounts it is well used here, for there is no Doctrine that vain Man is slower to believe, nor more necessary to be believed; than the Doctrine of his own Vanity.  
[Man] i. e. every man. By a Hebrew Idiom Man is put to signify any man, or every man. Thus both the words, Ish and Adam, are used. So that Man here is no less than Mankind, or, as it is rightly translated in the Text, Every man. So Job 14. 1. Man that is born of a Woman is of few days, and full of trouble. The Greeks imitate the Hebrew Idiom in this, as in many other things. What is a man profited if he should gain the whole world and lose his own Soul? Mat. 16. 26. And again, Mar. 8. 36. What shall it profit a man, & c? In short, it cannot be better expressed in English, than by every man, or by Mankind, which comprehends Women as well as Men. Surely all Mankind walketh in a vain show, Betselem, in imagine, in a show or shadow. This word is put in opposition to substantialness or to duration; in both senses, man walketh in a vain show. He seems to be something when indeed he is nothing. We talk much of Apparitions of the Dead; certainly every living man is but an Apparition, he comes upon the Stage of the World, and acts one part or other, but he is not that which he seems to be: And as to his duration, he is a show or a shadow too, soon passing away Apparentia subito evanescens, says the learned Ravanellus, He fleeth as a shadow, and continueth not. That Text of the Apostle, 1 Cor. 7. 31. comprohends both these senses, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Fashion or Scheme of this World passeth away. It is but a Scheme, a Draught, a Resemblance of something, and that soon passes away too: So that there is neither reality nor durability in Mankind.  
[Walketh]. This in the Hebrew Idiom signifies lives or converses, and the word here is of a conjugation that makes it signify very briskly; it is verbum, not only efficax, but frequentativum, and is as much as to be busy, and make a great bustle, even as when Jupiter, in Homer, looked down upon Men conversing upon Earth, and saw them buying, selling, working, playing, trading, fight, etc. thought they resembled a company of Pismires running to and fro about a Hillock: So indeed it is, Man bustles, and makes a mighty stir about just nothing, and wearies himself in very Vanity.  
This word Walking comprehends the whole Way and Work of Man, and may be reduced, for method sake, to three Heads, to what he is, to what he has, to what he does.  
There are a great many men in the World, concerning whom every one that sees them may say, They walk in a vain show. The fool, says Solomon, Eccles. 10. 3. when he walketh by the way, his wisdom fails him, and he saith to every one that he is a fool: So I may say of these men, they proclaim their own Vanity. There are those, saith Solomon, that make themselves rich, and yet have nothing, Prov. 13. 7. There are a great many confident Pretenders to Piety, Learning, and other Accomplishments, who indeed are but a sounding Brass, or a tinkling Cymbal, as the Apostle phrases it, 1 Cor. 13. 1. There are many bold Huffs, that look big, and talk loud, and run down the modester sort of Mortals, when indeed vox sunt praetereaque nihil; or, in the Apostle Peter's Phrase, Wells without Water: But I speak not of these, who do loudly proclaim their own Folly and Vanity, to make it notorious to all men; but I am speaking of the Condition of Mankind in general; surely every man walketh in a vain show, or, as it is in the Verse going before my Text, Verily, every man at his best estate is altogether Vanity. Every word has an emphasis with it: In the Hebrew it is very elegant, Col hebel col Adam, omnimoda vanitas est omnis homo. Adam called his Son Abel, but David here calls every. Adam an Abel, elsewhere he speaks more particularly, That so neither great nor small may excuse themselves, Surely men of low degree are Vanity, and men of high degree are a Lie; to be laid in the balances, they are altogether lighter than Vanity, Ps. 62. 9 Solomon the Son, is of his Father David's Mind, Eccles. 1. 2. Vanity of Vanities, saith this Preacher, Vanity of Vanities, all is Vanity. See also Eccles. 6. 12. All the days of his vain life, etc.  
But, let us a little more distinctly view Man in the several Ages and Conditions of his Life.  
Every Age of Man is vain, and walketh in a vain show.  
Childhood. We are born into the World like wild Asses Colts, rude and ignorant, nay, more infirm, naked, and helpless than they; when we have, to the great toil, trouble, and weariness of our Nurses, past our Infancy, how light and vain, toyish and unprofitable is our Childhood, how fickle and unconstant are we, hugging and rejecting in the same instant, — Hodie mihi Jupiter esto, cras mihi truncus eris ficulus, inutile lignum; we hug that in our Bosoms to day, which we despise and are ready to throw into the Fire to morrow.  
Youth is nothing but a further degree of Childhood, grown yet more vain, by the addition of wildness, wantonness, and untractableness.  
And, what is Manhood but a little graver sort of Childhood? There is no more real solidity in Bags and Lands, in order to true Happiness, than there is in Pins and Points: There is but little more consistency in the Delights of Men, than in the Raptures of Children. He was past a Child, that confessed his own Levity in these words, Romae Tybur amo ventosus, Tybure Romam.  
We laugh at Children running after Butterflies, and following Crows, testaque lutoque, with Clods and Stones. And what is building and planting, fight and toiling, but a graver sort of Vanity, commonly attended with a great deal of Sin and Wickedness.  
Old-Age is Childhood of the second Edition, and that oftentimes auctior, much augmented, for this frequently adds Morosity to Vanity, and Wilfulness to Unsatisfiedness.  
But Decrepit Age, what is it but the mere Carcase of Man, Life drawn off to a caput mortuum.  
Every Condition of Men is also Vanity.  
Rich men indeed do think themselves to be something real; they sure are more than a show, they are substantial parts of the Creation, they therefore call their Estates Substance; as if nothing but Riches were substantial: But indeed, these Riches are so far from being Substance, that they are in Scripture-phrase a kind of a Nonens; the Spirit of God does not allow them so much as a Being, before a man can well say they are, they are gone, Prov. 23. 5. Wilt thou set thine Eyes upon that which is not? For Riches certainly make themselves Wings, they fly away as an Eagle towards Heaven. Our Saviour indeed ranks Riches amongst the least of good things, Luke 16. 10, 11. He that is faithful in that which is least, etc. and then he explains himself, ver. 11. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous Mammon, who will commit to your trust the true Riches? But Solomon goes further, and disparages them much more now, by discarding them out of the number of Being's, Wilt thou set thine Eyes upon that which is not?  
Honours, Grandeur, and Pomp, what! they are but a bubble, a mere shadow. The Honour that is received from Men is but popularis aura, the Breath of the People, and that commonly a stinking Breath too, proceeding from Inwards corrupted and putrid, which is the rotten Constitution of all those, who, as the Apostle phrases it, have men's persons in admiration because of advantage. That which we call Grandeur, and translate by Pomp, Acts 25. 23. the inspired Penman of that Book calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, with much Fancy, much Appearance. It could not have been more fitly translated, than by the words in the Text, with a vain show: And the Apostle Paul uses a word much like it, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Fashion of this World: As if all sublunary things were nothing but Apparitions. A Sceptre has really no more substance in it than an ordinary walking-Staff; fine and costly Apparel are but a show, and indeed for that end are they mostly made and wore. A splendid Retinue is a fine Show too, but it is a vain one, to maintain them and command them is more Cost and Trouble than Worship: And the meanest ragged or leathern Saint that goes abroad continually with his Lifeguard of Angels, those menial and ministering Servants of the Almighty is better guarded. What a vain Show was Herod's Royal Apparel, when it could not stave off the Lice and Vermin from eating him up alive? What a vain show was the Gospel-Rich-man's Purple and fine Linen, which could neither preserve him from Death nor Hell; when Lazarus, notwithstanding his Rags and Sores, has a Convoy of Angels into the Bosom of Abraham? And is not a Table richly furnished with costly Dishes and variety of delicious Far a vain show, when it serves no more for Health, nor the strengthening of the Constitution, than the Prophet's Cake and Cruise of Water, in the strength of which he travelled forty days and forty nights, to Horeb, the mount of Gad, 1 Kin. 19 7. King Solomon is the most competent Judge in this case of any man that ever lived; for, besides the great Ingenuity he had to contrive, and the vast Power and Wealth he had to purchase all the Delights of the Sons of men, (such as stately Houses, fruitful Vineyards, pleasant Orchards and Gardens, abounding with all sort of Fruits, Pools of Water, Servants, and Maidens, great and small , Men-singers and Women-singers, as you may read in Eccles. 2. and 2 Chron. 9) I say he not only had all these things, and many more, but also a vast largeness of Soul, and Wisdom put into him from above, beyond all men upon Earth, whereby he was able to make a right estimate, and give a right Judgement of things, and yet after all this, passes this Verdict upon them all, they were all Vanity and vexation of Spirit, Eccles. 2. 11, 15, 17, 19— And now having proved, that the Rich and the Grandees of the World, with all their Wealth and Grandeur, do walk in a vain show, it is no great matter for speaking of the Poor, for if the Rich be Vanity, certainly the Poor are lighter than vanity; they stand for Ciphers in the World, whereas the Rich seem to make some Figure: Poor men are the Picture of men, without the Respect of men. There is no Advantage (alas!) for which men should have their persons in admiration. Where is the man that honours God in a poor man? Where is the man that regards or reuerences an immortal Soul, if the same happen to be caskt up in an unseemly Body, especially if that also be hooped in filthy Rags? Let the poor man be industrious and laborious, he is therefore valued as an Ox or an Ass is valued, and no more: Let him be stout and courageous, he shall meet with no Preferment but what the valiant Vriah met with, to be set in the forefront of the Battle: Nay, let him be wise and ingenious, so wise as to preserve the Island, so wise as to deliver the City, yet he shall be rewarded as Solomon's poor wise man was, in Eccles. 9 15. the poor man's Wisdom is despised, and his Words are not heard.  
Men in a conjugal state walk in a vain show, molested with Family Cares, distracted with domestic ill Accidents or Broils, and a man is at variance with his Father, the Daughter with her Mother, the Daughter-in-law with her Mother-in-law, and a man's Enemies are frequently those of his own House; there is either Disloyalty, Undutifulness, Idleness, Profuseness, Unagreeableness of Tempers, Unsuccessfulness of Undertake, or one thing or other, that imbitters that state also. At best it is but a poor and a mean Union, in comparison of what the rational Creature is capable of.  
The Single Life is no less molested with Desires, than the Conjugal is with Cares; yea, this does with as much Vanity seek to get into the Net as the other to get out of it. If that Precept of the Apostles, 1 Cor. 7. 27. (Art thou bound to a Wife, seek not to be loosed: Art thou loosed from a Wife, seek not a Wife;) were to be accommodated to these times (as I suppose it is not) I believe it would be as hard a Command to observe as any in the Gospel.  
Kings and Princes are not exempted from Vanity. King Solomon complained of the vanity and emptiness of things more than any man: Our Saviour, a man of Sorrows, and acquainted with Grief, wore a Crown wholly made up of Thorns. But I suppose there is no man upon Earth wears a Crown, but there are Thorns in it: If they be severe in ruling, they will be feared, and consequently hated; if gentle and merciful, they will be contemned and disobeyed: If they make chargeable Wars, perhaps they may get the Necks of their Enemies, but then they lose the Hearts of their Subjects: If they be peaceable or cowardly, they may possibly preserve the Persons of their Subjects, but then they betray their Liberty and Estates, and make them a Prey to foreign Princes. In a word, all Crowns are lined with Cares, and edged with Fears, and perhaps an ordinary Felt sits easier upon the Head. At best, men's ruling over one another, whether they be Kings or other inferior Masters, is but a semblance, a show of Rule; the meanest Saint whom Christ Jesus hath washed in his Blood, and made a King and a Priest to God and the Father, has a more real, glorious, durable Dominion than they upon that account.  
When we consider the wise Counsellors and profound Statesmen upon Earth, and how often and strangely they are hallucinated, baffled, and infatuated, we cannot but say they walk in a vain show. Let Achitophel the Gibonite bear witness for this sort of men, whose Counsel was overthrown by Hushas, and himself by a Halter. If you will, you may help out his Testimony by the Examples of some late Judges and great Ministers of State of those amongst ourselves. How often have we seen these men falling by the fury of an enraged People, whom they had for some time ridden, and been made a Sacrifice to those to whom they had been a Terror.  
The foolish and ignorant look like Men, when indeed they are excelled by the Ox that knows his owner, and the Ass that knows his Master's Crib, Is. 1. 3. The Psalmist therefore joins these two together, Psal 73. 22. So foolish was I, and ignorant, I was as a beast before thee. Sine doctrina vita, est quasi mortis imago, without Wisdom men may rather be said to be dead than alive.  
The wise and the learned walk in a vain show; they trouble their Heads with many Thoughts, and disquiet themselves in vain, seeking to come to the Knowledge of many things, and the Causes of things, which they shall never attain to, and give themselves a great deal of Torment to little or no purpose. If they do find out some things, they find them out to their cost, and to their grief; He that increaseth Knowledge increaseth Sorrow; he comes to know many things which afterwards he could wish he had never known. Our Mother Eve coveted to know Good and Evil, and so she did, but it was sorely to her Cost, and to ours too; in her much Wisdom she found much Grief, which is entailed upon Us her Posterity to this day. Eccles. 1. 18. Much study is a weariness of the flesh, Eccl. 12. 12. That you will say is Vanity; yea, but there is Vexation also added to it; for, Would it not vex any man, to study hard only to know what abundance of things there are that he is guilty of?  
The idle, slothful, and unconcerned, walk in a vain show, if indeed they may be said to walk at all; these are unprofitable Burdens to the Earth, — Numeri sunt fruges consumere nati; They only serve for tale, to make up a Number, and devour the Fruits of the Earth; they are asleep all their days, and what is a man good for when he is asleep?  
The active, brisk, and lusty walks in a vain show; he is up late and early, makes a bustle and clatter in the World, disquiets himself and all his Neighbours, defrauds his Carcase, troubles his House with restless Motion and Business, and all this is but as children's sweeting and running after a painted Butterfly; he is always catching at something or other, in which he is commonly disappointed, and cannot catch it; and if he do happen to catch it, he opens his Hand to view it, and behold, it is a Fly.  
Bad men are but like men, even as Nabuchadnezzar, who had the Heart of a Beast, under the Shape of a Man.  
Yea indeed, and Good men too, in this World, walk in a vain show. How ignorant of many things are the wisest of men? How uncertain and fickle in their Resolutions? how uneven in their Tempers? how ebbing and flowing in their Devotions, are the Best of men in this World?  
And although Religion be something solid, real, and substantial, yet it is but a shadow of what is to come. The best men are but like good men in this World. It is but a kind of typical Religion that we have here. What a scant Resemblance is the holiest Life upon Earth, to the Life of the other World? We rather make a show of performing religious Duties, than perform them. As Angels sometimes make a show of eating and drinking, and sitting and walking, and doing as we do, so we make a show of serving and praising God, and doing as they do. This Knowledge of ours is but seeing in a Glass, like a Fable or Parable, in comparison of the intuition and vision of the other World. Our Love is but like a going Fire, in comparison of the Ardours and Amours of that World. As men laugh at little Children when they measure heights, so shall we hereafter disdainfully look back upon our dwarfish stature of this present World. The whole Life of the best man upon Earth, is but a Dream in comparison of that state that we shall be in when we awake in the Resurrection. Read 1 Cor. 13. 9, 10, 11, 12.  
Every man walketh in a vain show. Walks, I told you, according to the Hebrew Idiom, is as much as lives or converses, and comprehends whatsoever a man is, has, or does. I come now therefore to speak particularly to these.  
First, It relates to what he is. Every man is but a Show, a Resemblance, a kind of an Apparition. Tselem, the word in the Text, signifies the Image or Resemblance of a Body, which doth not exist truly and really, but in the Fancy only. Thus the Psalmist uses it, Psal. 73. 20. As a dream when one awaketh, so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image; i. e. them who are rather a Resemblance of something, than truly or really any thing. To the same purpose speaks Sophocles, in his Ajax, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We mortal men are nothing more than Images or light Shadows. Man is a Shadow, as to any Reality or Substantialness; and also as to duration, he is fickle and slitting, evanid as a Vapour, Jam. 4. 14. as a Bubble, as a Person that comes upon the Stage, and represents a King, or a Peer, or a Peasant, for a short space, and then disappears. He is a Flower, a pretty thing to look on, for a time, but heunimium breves rosae. Alas, how short lived are Roses! Man cometh forth like a Flower, that is sweet and is out down; that is sad, Job 14. 2. yea, he fleeth as a shadow, and continueth not. The eloquent Prophet uses the same elegant comparison, Isa. 40. 6. The voice said. Cry; and he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is Grass, and all the goodliness thereof as a flower of the field: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it; surely the people is grass: The Apostle James applies the comparison to Rich men, Jam. 1. 10. 11. As the flower of the grass he shall pass away; for the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat; but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth, so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways: But the Apostle Peter applies it to them in particular, and also to all in general, 1 Pet. 1. 24. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass; the grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away. The Heathen Sages used the same comparison, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Poor Man is no better than a Garment fretted and half eaten with Moths, which, you know, is then no better than a Rag; he dwelleth in a House made of Clay, whose Foundation is in the Dust, and is crushed before the Moths, Job 4. 19 he consumeth as a rotten thing, as a Garment that is Motheaten, Job 13. 27. The greatest Bravery of Man is but like a Moth, a thing that men always kill by crushing it; it needs no Knife to shed its Blood, no Halter to strangle it, no Axe to behead it, no, nor so much as a Woman's Nail to dispatch it; do but catch it and crush it, and it ceases to be; Ps. 39 11. When thou with rebukes dost correct man for iniquity, thou makest his beauty to consume away like a moth: Surely every man is vanity. They speak of the Apples of Sodom, fair and beautiful to look upon, but touch them and they drop into Ashes. Such a comely Vanity is Man, do but touch him, and he drops to Dust in his Body, and his Soul takes its flight into another World; so vain a thing is Man, as to his duration. But this Doctrine of Man's frailty, flittingness, and undurableness, is so well known to all men, and so readily confessed by all, that I think I need not further insist upon it, though it opens to any man a great Field of Discourse, at the very first view. A little therefore to reassume the former Argument concerning Man's seeming to be something, when indeed he is nothing. I say therefore, there is no solidity, no consistency in Man.  
His Beauty is but a Paint, a Varnish, in comparison of true and substantial Amiableness, and falls as far short of it as a patched and painted Face falls short of of the native loveliness and sweetness, which is to be discerned in the Complexion of a pure uncorrupted Virgin, or the Virginity of a Damask Rose The Beauty of this corruptible Body is no more to be compared to the sweetness and lustre of the glorified Body, than Moses' Sunburnt Face, when he was Shepherd to Jethro the Midianite, was to be compared to his shining Face, when he came down from the Mount of God, and was fain to put a Veil upon it, that the Children of Israel might behold him; or indeed, no more than the glistering of a Glow-worm is to be compared to the bightness of the Sun at midday.  
His Strength, alas! it is but weakness and rottenness. Men, especially youngmen, are apt to glory in their strength, and to pride themselves in their running, riding, wrestling, and fight; whereas the ablest, stoutest, strongest of the Children of men, is a mere Child, in comparison of one of the Angels of God, yea, or of one Devil either; yea, I may add, in comparison of any Child of the Resurrection; for, these Bodies of ours are buried in Weakness, but shall be raised in Power, 1 Cor. 15. 43. Besides, this Strength of his, which he pretends to, has no duration with it, it vanishes away in a moment, and Man as a rotten thing consumeth, as a garment that is motheaten, Job 13. 28. Who could choose but pity Peter, stretching out his Hands to be bound and carried away whither he would not, who had formerly seen him girding himself, and walking whithersoever he would; or Samson grinding in the Prison, who had formerly seen him carrying away the Gates of Gaza upon his Shoulders, Doors, Posts, and Bar and all? Who, I say, can choose but bewail the vain show that the strong man makes, who sees his Iron Sinews become like Straw, and his Brass Bones turned into rotten Wood, as the Almighty loftily expresses it in the 41st of Job. And as his Beauty is but a Paint or Varnish, his Strength but Infirmity and Rottenness, so  
His Valonr is but a Flourish, and a mere Vapour. The bombast words, and profane brags of the Philistine-Champion Goliath, who defied the Armies of the living God, and disdained the little Champion of Israel, Come unto me, and I will give thy flesh to the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field, proved to be nothing but the blasphemous Bravado of an uncircumcised Tongue, which was presently silenced, and carried away with the wicked Head that contained it, and his mighty brandished Blade was wrapped up in a Clout, and laid behind the Ephod in obscurity. Besides, this Valour and Prowess will, in a short time, be turned into such Cowardice and Dastordliness, that it will not dare to encounter, no, not so much as the Worms, that will crawl and feed upon the valiant Hero, and then he that sees it will wonder, and say, Lo, here's all that remains of great Saladine; or, Lo here that Limb of a man, who is now a Worm, and no Man. His Valour is but a Flourish and a mere Vapour.  
His Constancy and Faithfulness is but a show of Steadfastness: Ten thousand Instances do tell us how frail, fickle, and deceitful the Affections, Words, Promises, Oaths and Vows of the Children of Men are; they love to day and hate to morrow, and the Hatred with which they hate, perhaps, is greater than the Love wherewith they loved. Ammon is sick for his Sister Tamar to day, to morrow, having spoiled her of her Glory, he is as sick of her; Arise, be gone, 2 Sam. 13. 15. And again, Put now this woman out from me, and bolt the door after her, v. 19 Though all the world should deny thee, cries Peter to his Master, yet will not I deny thee, I will die with thee rather, Mat. 26. 33, 35. But before morning his note is changed, ver. 72. I know not the man: And ver. 74. He began to curse and swear, saying, I know not the man. Peter, I warrant ye, thought he had a substantial steadfastness, but see what a vain show it proved to be. It seems, by the Apostle Paul, that the Purposes and Promises that are made according to the Flesh, i. e. according to men in the Flesh, are doubtful and unstable, on and off; they are yea, yea, and nay, nay, 2 Cor. 1. 17. And indeed, there is so much lightness and unsteddiness in humane Minds and Resolutions, and so much variableness in their Affections, that their Constancy is no more to be compared to substantial Steddiness, than the levity of a Feather to the stability of a Mountain.— Besides, let men be never so firm, faithful, and constant in their Affections, alas, their time comes presently, when all their Thoughts perish: Let them be never so just, punctual, and true to their Word, their Breath, and with that all their Words, will vanish into Air in a short time; so vain a thing is Man: Surely every man walketh in a vain show.  
His Patience is but a show of Patience, mingled with a great deal of Impatience, and soon worn out too. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, says the Apostle James; yes, so we have, and we have heard of his Impatience too, witness the third Chapter of his History, when he opened his mouth, and cursed his day;— (read the Chapter). We have heard of the Meekness of Moses too, who was the meekest man upon Earth, Numb. 12. 3. but we have heard of his Passion too, and rash Anger, Psal. 106. 32, 33. It went ill with Moses for their sakes, because they provoked his spirit, so that he spoke unadvisedly with his lips. And be Man's Patience never so pure, it is rare to find it have its perfect Work; one Evil after another, one Battery upon the back of another, will shake it, if not demolish it. Elijah long endured the Perverseness of Israel, the Affronts and Gainsaying of Ahab and Jezabel; but when word was brought him, that notwithstanding all his good Offices, Jezabel would have his Head to morrow, he arose, and went for his Life, and prayed in the anger and anguish of his Spirit, that he might die, saying, It is enough, now, O Lord, take away my life, 1 Kin. 19 4. His Successor Elisha patiently endured many Provocations and Persecutions from that idolatrous Generation in which he lived; but when the wicked and ungrateful King of Israel, for whom he had done so many good Offices, sent a Messenger to take away his Head, he falls into a sit of Impatience, 2 Kin. 6. 32. See ye how this son of a murderer is sent to take away my head: And still worse, in ver. 33. he said, Behold, this evil is of the Lord; what should I wait for the Lord any longer? Loesa patientia fit furor.  
And as the Patience, so the Charity of Man upon Earth is imperfect, it is but a show of Charity, in comparison of the pure Kindness and Benevolence of the Angels of God, or of the Spirits of just men made perfect. Alas! how great an Alloy, a mixture of Bitterness, is to be found in the sweetest Temper upon Earth? The Children of Men indeed, so far forth as they are Children of God, i. e. followers of him, are Children of Love, for God is Love. But alas, the most God like, and the best-natured of them, do love but in part; they have Gall mingled with their Honey, the root that beareth gall, as Moses calls it, Deut. 29. 18. is not perfectly eradicated, no, not out of the Trees that are of the Lord's own planting. Paul and Barnabas were men beloved of God and his Church, Lovers of God and of his Gospel, great Lovers one of another, constant and dear Companions in Travel, in Preaching, in Persecution, yet for a small matter (one would think) this loving pair sell out, and the Controversy grew so hot and, fierce, that they parted one from the other, when indeed they had more need to have gone together, Acts 15. 39— Besides, this very Charity, as it is imperfect, so it is evanid, and apt to decay, whilst men are in this Bodily state. Be it a holy Fire, kindled from above in the Souls of men, yet the very Fire of the Altar will decay, if Fuel be not administered to it. Distance of Place, want of Interviews and Correspondence, the decay of that which we apprehend lovely, any apprehension of Affront, or so much as a Neglect, with many an other Accident, is apt to quench this Flame, or at least abate the heat of the Passion. How often do we hear Men complaining of their conditions, which sometimes they seemed well pleased with, Husbands saying to their Wives, and Wives to their Husbands, I would we had never met together; the Father saying to his Son, I would I had never begotten thee; and the Mother to her Daughter, Woe is me, that ever I brought thee forth; so poor, impure, imperfect, and unconstant is this Passion, which yet certainly is the noblest that belongs to the human Nature.  
View poor Man in any of his Ages, Conditions, Qualifications, Passions, or the effects of them, and you will find him vain, and walking in a vain show: What's his Mirth, but a light and empty Jovialty, without any real Content or solid Satisfaction? We may all justly say as Solomon said, Eccl. 2. 2. I said of laughter it is mad, and of mirth what doth it? What doth it indeed? for the very contrary to it is commended above it, and preferred before it, Eccles. 7. 2. It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: And then, v. 3. Sorrow is better than laughter: And again, v. 4. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools in the house of mirth: And again, v. 5. It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than to hear the song of fools; for, as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of a fool; loud perhaps, but it is but a blaze, neither of any use, nor for any duration. And if man's Mirth be so vain, that even Sorrow itself is preferred before it, it might be worth the while to inquire wherein lies the solidity of Sorrow, and to say of this also, What doth it? For, what doth it profit a man to sorrow for the Losses that he cannot retrieve, the Disappointments that he cannot amend, for things past that cannot be recovered; for things present, that cannot be remedied; for things to come, which cannot be prevented? Sorrow is an unhinging of the Soul, and why should Man disquiet himself in vain? And how much of the strength of their Souls do men misspend in sorrowing? They oftentimes grieve for an Evil which really was not befallen them, and oftentimes for a thing, which though it was befallen them, was not really evil. Did not old Jacob walk in a vain show, when he walked heavily and mournfully many years, for the Death of his dear Joseph, who was at that time Lord of all Egypt. And suppose he had known that he was sold into Egypt, I warrant he would nevertheless have grieved, although really it was no evil to Jacob that he was sold thither. Marry was troubled that she could not find her dead Lord in the Sepulchre, when indeed it was good for her that he was risen, and was not there: So vain, venturous, and foolish a thing is the Mirth and the Sorrow too of the Sons of men.  
Poor man, Is he awake? By Seeing or Hearing he is continually betrayed, or at least molested: He is either apt to speak what he should not, or sure to hear what he would not; he is either dissolved in Pleasure, distracted with Cares, or tired with Business; either vexed with seeing other men do amiss, or envies them doing well; he is either wearied with very Idleness, and having nothing to do, or surfeited with doing the same things over and over again, all the days of his life. He is (forsooth) ever and anon hungry or thirsty, or weary, and a great part of the waking time of his life is spent in relieving these Necessities.— Well then, may some one say, Commend me to Sleep, for this frees the poor Mortal from all these Inconveniences. True indeed; But then (alas!) what is he good for? Then the Wise differs nothing from a Fool, nor the Champion from a Child. As the Grave is, so is the Bed, and all lie down alike in both, and Sleep like Death sweetly feeds upon them all. There is an old Question in the Schools, An proestat miserum esse an non esse? One might almost interpret and illustrate it by waking and sleeping, whether is better, to be awake and be disquieted, or asleep, and not to be at all. That so great a part of our little Age passes away so unsensibly, and is spent so unprofitably, must needs trouble any wise man, who reflects upon it when he is awake. But, alas! there is somewhat worse than Unprofitableness in it. If it were possible for men to be asleep, and yet awake at the same time; I mean, if we did know how our time is spent, and how it goes on when we are asleep, it would add Shame to our Trouble, and Vexation to the Vanity. Many men do dream, even waking, the whole life of the greatest part of Mankind is nothing but a Dream; but the best and wisest of men dream sleeping, yea, and so dream, as that in the morning they have cause with shame to confess, it was no part of their Goodness or Wisdom either. Other while poor men are affrighted with Visions or strange Apprehensions in the nighttime, so as that their sleep itself is not sweet unto them: The Inconveniences and Evils of the Night are so many, that it may well be doubted whether any man living (if a man asleep may be said to be alive) do pass any one night of his life in that Peace and Purity as he desires, and as becomes his noble Nature.  
And now I am speaking of Man, as to what he is, and that therein he walks in a vain show. I may fitly consider also what he knows, he walks in a vain show as to that also. As his Beauty is but a Paint, his Valour but a Flourish, his Strength Rottenness, his Constancy, Patience, and Charity but a Resemblance of some such things, so indeed that wherein he is so very apt to glory,  
His Knowledge, is but a Conjecture: He thinks he knows many things, which indeed he does but guests at; And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know, 1 Cor. 8. 2. To know things is properly to know the causes of things; and, alas! how little is there of this sort of Knowledge, that a modest man dare pretend to? We all allow Solomon to have been a wise and knowing man, and yet who is there that confesses his Ignorance more plainly and frequently than he, as appears by that form of speech that he so often uses, Who knoweth, and who can tell? Who knoweth whether his heir shall be a wise man or a fool, Eccl. 2. 19? Who knoweth the spirit of a man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast, that goeth downward to the earth, Eccl. 3. 21? Who knoweth what is good for man in this life, Eccl. 6. 12? Who knoweth the interpretation of a thing, Eccl. 8. 1? Who can tell a man what shall be after him under the sun, Eccl. 6. 12? Who can tell him when it shall be, Eccl. 8. 7? And what shall be after him, who can tell. Eccl. 10. 14? Our knowledge of things past is by Tradition, of things present many of them by Hear-say, and of things to come by mere Conjecture: And is not all this very uncertain? How vastly do the Sentiments of the men of this Age vary from the Sentiments of the men of the last Ages? and it is very likely, that many of the Opinions and Doctrines, both in Philosophy and Divinity, which this present Generation embraces, will in the next Age be rejected and exploded: Nay, the same man, in different stages of his own Age, and different circumstances of his own Life, varies from himself. Who can choose but wonder and confess, that man walketh in a vain show, as to his Knowledge, who shall look into a Church in the beginning of an Age, and find it wholly Calvinistical, and look upon it again towards the end of the same Age, and find it almost wholly Arminian, or Bellarminian, the Schools then wholly Aristotelian, and now mostly Cartesian. How easily and suddenly does Worldly Interest alter the Minds of men, who force themselves to believe certain Propositions or Doctrines, because it is for their secular advantage to profess them. Add to this Vanity the Vexation that attends Man as to his Knowledge; this might be made out in many particulars, some few of which I touched upon before. To say nothing therefore of those, consider a little the vexatious Vnresolvedness that attends the most ingenious and inquisitive of the Sons of Men; and this Vexation does most haunt the finest Heads, and the tenderest Hearts. They that are most conscientious, are careful to act judiciously, that their Consciences may not condemn them, as to the things wherein they allow themselves; which whilst they seek to do, that they may approve themselves to God, they make many Inquiries, beat their Brains, turn over their Books, summon all the Powers of their Souls to give a right Verdict in the case. In this Contest many poor Souls spend all their days, and can come to no Resolution, but fluctuate to and fro, like Waves tossed with the contrary Winds, and never arrive at true Rest, Resolution, and Satisfaction of Mind all their life long. When after all (if after all) they seem to arrive at some satisfaction, and as King Agrippa says, are almost persuaded, then presently arises some Storm, some Blast from some Author or Argument or other, and shakes their not well fixed Resolution, ravels all again, and drives them back into the same Perplexities as before; so that their Minds are restless and raging, one while affirming, another while denying, but always in some degree doubting. And is not this Vnresolvedness a vexatious Vanity, wherein men, yea, the best of men, do walk: Which so troubled the modest Philosopher of old, that he cried, Hoc tantum scio, me nihil scire.  
A man may, upon the whole matter rather be said to seem to be, than to be any thing that is good.  
In short, if there be any thing solid or substantial in Man, it is that whereby he denies himself to be any thing, and empties himself of himself.  
And yet this is but very imperfect neither; for, our very Self-denial is mingled with much Pride and Selfishness, whilst we are in this poor Pilgrim state.  
And so I come to consider, that Man walketh in a vain show, as to what he hath or possesseth. The Possessions of this World are but a show, a shadow of good things, in both the forementioned respects, but empty and fleeting; they are thin and meager, have no bulk, weight, nor substance in them, nor any considerable duration. In short, they have neither solidity nor stability. All Earthly Possessions, even the finest, sweetest, and bravest of them, are cried up, or cried out on rather for Vanity, by the most competent Judge that ever lived upon Earth; read Ecc. 2. And what can be lighter and emptier than Vanity? And it is but an imaginary kind of Happiness, which the Rich, the Honourable, the Learned, the Valiant, and Victorious do enjoy. So then both the Possessions themselves, and the delight that is taken in them are both Vanity; Surely every man walketh in a vain show.  
The Possessions themselves.  
Riches are but a shadow of some substantial and durable Good; they are but a Fancy. Abstract them from the Love of God, separate them from their End and Use, and they are as mere Husks, as those that the Prodigal in the Parable fed upon, in comparison of the Bread of his Father's House: I say, separate them from their End and Use, for what is a Coffer of Gold better than a heap of Counters, if no body may touch it nor use it? What is a rich Palace better than a heap of Rubbish, or a Castle in the Air, if no man may be permitted to inhabit it? What is costly Apparel better than rotten Rags, if no one may be suffered to put it on? Well, suppose this Wealth to be used, it is a thousand to one but it is abused and misspent upon vain Pleasures, unprofitable Curiosities, or needless Superfluities. The Paint and Pictures of a House render it never the more safe nor strong: The costly Apparel of Scarlet and Velvet keep the Body no warmer than the Prophet's Girdle of Leather, or the Baptist's Coat of Camels Hair.— Again, abstract Worldly Wealth and Riches from the Love of God; i. e. Suppose a man to have much Gold and no Grace, much Wealth and no Virtue, much of Earth in his Hands and nothing of Heaven in his Heart; suppose his Riches to be gotten by Fraud or Violence, by wicked Cunning or Covetousness; suppose them to be given him for a Curse and a Snare, and an aggravation of his Condemnation, does not this man walk in as vain a show as those Slaves that are continually emyloyed in the Mines of Silver and Gold, carrying many a heavy load for the service of their Masters, themselves all the while remaining miserable Slaves for all that?— Again, compare this Worldly Wealth with the true Riches, with Grace and Glory, which do enrich and adorn the Mind; and, what shall we call it then? Let the Prophet speak for me, and tell you, Hab. 2. 6. it is thick Clay; Woe to him that ladeth himself with thick clay. Thick Clay! this is Substance indeed, but it is dirty and nasty for a Soul to wallow in, fit for a Swine than for a Soul. Let another Prophet speak, Zech. 9 3. Tyrus heaped up silver as the dust; and fine gold as the mire of the streets. Or, let holy Job speak, Job 27. 16. He heaps up silver as the dust, and prepares raiment as the clay.— Nay again, we will suppose that Riches be made use of, yea, and good use of, (which is the best that can be supposed) yet when Goods increase, they are increased that eat them; and What good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes, Eccl. 5. 11? In a word, there is a Curse entailed upon all that covet after Riches, which does avoidable light upon them all, viz. they shall go on still hungering and gaping after more, and shall never be filled, Eccl. 5. 10. He that loveth silver shall not not be satisfied with silver, nor he that loveth abundance with increase. And then he adds, as with good reason he might, This is also vanity. The worth of these things is placed principally in the Fancies of Men. You have heard perhaps of some Rich men, who under a melancholic Distemper have fancied themselves to be very Poor, and I wonder then what good their Riches do them. And I have read of a poor man, who in his merry Melancholy would stand upon the Shore and clap his Hands, and laugh and rejoice at the coming in of the Merchant's Ships, fancying them all to be his own. And I wonder what he could have done more, if they had been all his own indeed: And is not that a Vanity, that a man may fancy himself into, or out of, when he pleases?— Besides, in the latter sense, these Riches are Vanity too, because they soon vanish; They take to themselves wings, and fly away, as Solomon, expresses it, yea, and that swiftly and irrecoverably, as an Eagle towards Heaven. Now these Wings are made up of many sorts of Feathers, such as Thiefs, Knaves, violent Enemies and Oppressors, false and deceitful Friends, Fire, Sword, Wind and Tempests, Suits at Law, Forgery, Perjury, Moths and Rust, and I know not how many more. I will quit this point, leaving with you that good and grave Advice of your best Friend, Mat. 6. 19, 20. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon Earth, but lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thiefs do not break through nor steal.  
Friends are a Worldly Possession, highly prized by some, and indeed needed by all: They are a very precious Possession, a very great, but a very rare Treasure. True Friends are seldom acquired, hardly kept, and with great Grief parted with. There are so many things go to the making up of a true and rightly-accomplished Friend, that it may well be doubted, whether every thousandth man in the World have one. They that live in populous places have many Neighbours, the Rich have many Servants, the Eloquent have many Auditors, the Learned have many Pupils and Clients, the Honourable and the Worshipful have many Flatterers, and perhaps not one of these has a true Friend; for neither Affinity, Riches, Eloquence, Learning, Honour, or Grandeur can purchase true Friendship: And indeed, there are few men in this depraved state of Mankind fit to make Friends of. If a man be foolish or false, if he be covetous or selfish, if he be cowardly, proud, or passionate, if he be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, selfconceited, humorous, inconstant, or an intemperate self-lover, he cannot be made a Friend of. And (alas!) where is the man that is not some of all this?  
To keep a Friend is no less difficult than to get one. The tenderer any part of the Body is, the sooner it is hurt, and the easilier-offended. Friendship is a tender and delicate thing, and easily grieved; every small Infirmity, Passion, or so much as Neglect, is apt to wound, if not to violate it, and Friendship, when it comes to be suspected is half broken. If no man can be properly called a Friend, but such an one as Solomon describes, Prov. 17. 17. Who loveth at all times, I doubt there will very few be found, so inconstant is all human Love, so apt to be abated, if not abolished. Is this thy kindness to thy friend, said Absalon jeeringly to Hushai, because he did not willingly go with his Friend David into Banishment, why goest thou not with thy friend, 2 Sam. 16. 17? How often have all men cause to reflect as tartly upon their pretended Friends, upon the account of some Commission or Omission or other? Is this your Kindness to your Friend? Why did you not go hither or thither? Why did you not do this or that? Why did you not speak thus or thus for your Friend? Friends were ordained for a time of Adversity, but (alas!) they will not abide it, few of them are Adversity-proof.— But, at best, Friends must part. If they have lived lovingly and faithfully all their days, (which is rare to be found) yet Death, worse and crueler than the Whisperer that Solomon speaks of, will separate the chiefest Friends that ever loved or lived together, and then behold what Lamentation and Mourning; The beauty of Israel is slain; O Jonathan, thou wast slain in thy high places: I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan; very pleasant hast thou been unto me, thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women, 2 Sam. 1. The taking away of such a Friend, is like the rending of Limb from Limb, or the violent tearing of Soul from Body. Oh the desire of mine Eyes, cries one; Oh the delight of my Soul, cries another; how art thou taken away as with a stroke, and hast left me to grapple with the Misfortunes of an injurious and vexatious World alone! Surely every man walketh in a vain show.  
Children are a pleasant Possession. With what Ardours of Soul, with what unparallelled Ravishments are these embraced? These are Images of ourselves, nay, Parts indeed rather than Pictures; these are, in a sound Sense, Bone of our Bone, and Flesh of our Flesh; in them we enjoy ourselves whilst we live; in them we live when we are dead. Well, all this, and a great deal more may be said concerning this Darling of human Nature, but does not poor Man walk in a vain show as to this Possession too? After they are begotten and born in Sin and Sorrow, and nursed up with much Wakefulness and Wearisomeness, they become pretty Playfellows, and enchant the fond Parents with their sweet Smiles and lisping Rhetoric, and every little Trick, that is any thing akin to Wit or Ingenuity. In the midst of these Charms, it may be, comes some Disaster or other, and breaks a Leg or an Arm, an Ague, or the Worms, and deprave the Constitution, or the Small Pox, and quite spoil the Complexion; nay, it is great odds, but some of these prove fatal and mortal, and the Child never lives to see itself a Man or Woman, but is quite taken off the Stage of the World, before it was able to take a turn upon it, or knew how to walk before the Living: Oh then, what bitter lamentation, mourning, and weeping is there! If the Child be sick, we have David fasting, and lying upon the Earth, and in the anguish of his Soul refusing to eat Bread, 2 Sam. 12. 16, 17. If the Child die, than you have Rachel weeping and wailing, ready to tear her Hair, yea, her very Heart, and refusing to be comforted, Jer. 31. 15.— Well, but suppose they escape this first Rencounter, and grow up to be young Men and Women, then behold what Perplexity follows, about their Education, and disposing of them into a settled Condition in the World; what perpetual Care and Fear for them, lest they should be infected, ensnared, depraved, lest they should take bad ways, or come to any bad end. Alas! how many prove to be the greatest Heart-breaking to their Parents, in their Manhood, who were the desire of their Eyes, and delight of their Hearts in their Childhood? They please our Eyes when they are Children, and when they are grown up, are oftentimes as Smoke to our Eyes. We play with them at Two or Three, and it may be weep over them at Twenty or Thirty: We dandle them in our Hands at first, and afterwards wring our Hands over them. Children are commonly said to be the Staff of their Parent's Old-Age, and yet how often do we see Men beaten with this Staff of their Old-Age? If they prove bad and useless, we are ready to wish we had never been the Instruments of their Being. If they prove good and useful, oh then how are we tormented with Fear, lest they should die before us, lest the Increase of our House should fall in the Flower of their Age. If they be wicked, and yet live on, it is but to consume the Parents Eyes, and grieve their Hearts: If they be cut off in their Wickedness, Enemies to God, and unprepared for another World, then, O my son Absalon! O Absalon my son, my son, 2 Sam. 18. ult. If they be good and useful, and yet cut off in the flower of their Age, than there is the greatest Complaint, and the bitterest Cry of all, I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning, Gen. 36. 35. If Children die before the Parents, there is a sad loss and disappointment; if they survive, yet the Parents are not free from Fears or Jealousies, so long as they live, For who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool that shall be after me, yet shall he have rule over all my labour? This is also Vanity, Eccles. 2. 19  
Yet on the other hand, As to be full of Children is to be full of Folly, Fear, Care, and Anxiety, so to be Childless, is to be full of Envy and Discontent, and Unsatisfiedness: This is also Vanity. There is one alone, and there is not a second, says Solomon, he hath neither Child nor Brother; q. d. he has no body to take care of, or to provide for, yet there is no end of all his labour, neither is his eye satisfied with riches, neither saith he, for whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This is also Vanity, yea, it is a sore Travel, Eccles. 4. 8. See the grievous Vanity of Humane Life in that one Instance of Rachel; before she had Children, she was carried away with Envy and Anger, Give me children, or else I die, Gen. 30. 1. Well, she has them, but take them away, and then she is transported with bitter Grief and inconsolable Sorrow; she weeps for her Children, and would not be comforted for her Children, because they were not. To have Children puts us to trouble to get Estates for them, whilst we live: To have none, puts us to trouble how to dispose of our Estates when we die. — Surely every man walketh in a vain show.  
And what shall we say of Victory and Success in Warlike Actions? Why, I say, it is a pretty kind of Pageantry, a vain show, like all the rest. What a rare sight is it to see one man beat another? a rare thing for a rational Soul to contemplate, two silly Mortals striving upon the Stage of the World, and one too hard for the other. That which one man carries away from another is but a shadow of Victory, in comparison of that Victory which the diligent and watchful Soul gets over itself and its own Passions and vile Affections: And in a short time, the brave victorious Hero, that now carries his Head so high, must lay down Head and Hands and all, at the Feet of Worms and Vermin.  
And what shall we say of Reputation and Credit? Solomon indeed says, A good name is better than precious ointment, Eccles. 7. 1. Well, be it so; yet precious Ointment itself is but a Vanity: Let but a few dead Flies fall into it, and it makes it send forth a stinking Savour: So doth a little Folly, a small Mistake, quite spoil the man that is in much Reputation for Wisdom and Honour, Eccles. 10. 1. One false Step taken, one Error committed, one malignant But clapped in, spoils the Beauty and Braveness of a man's Character. Naaman the Syrian Prince had a brave Character, Naaman Captain of the host of the King of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria; he was also a mighty man in valour. This was a noble Character indeed, and yet all blurred with one mischievous But, But he was a leper, 2 Kin. 5. 1. What pity was it that this fair Portraiture should all be dashed with one Blot, But he was a leper? This very good Report or Reputation is so ensnaring a Vanity, that the Apostle Paul, found there was need to watch against it, as well as against bad Report, 2 Cor. 6. 8. It is so vain a show, that our Saviour tells us, that the more universal and  it is, the more dangerous and mischievous it is, Luke 6. 26. Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you. The Approbation and Praise which is solid, and makes men happy, is of God, and not of men, as the Apostle phrases it, Rom. 2. 29.  
In a word, whatever Solidity or Substantialness may be fancied to be in any of these Worldly Possessions (as certainly some do bid fairer for it than others, yet their flittingness, vanishingness, and want of Duration, renders them a vain show after all. The things, all the things that are seen are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, temporary; but the things that are not seen, these are eternal, 2 Cor. 4. 8.  
I told you, that both the Possessions themselves, and the Delight and Content that is taken in them, are a vain show. Having spoken to the first of these, I now come to speak a word or two to the latter, viz. the Delight of the Sons of men do take in these Possessions. I am wont to distinguish between Possessions and Enjoyments, though in ordinary Discourse men are apt to confound them; for I can make good these two Propositions, viz. That many men possess many things which they do not enjoy.  
As the covetous Worldly-minded man possesses Bags of Gold & Silver, which he dares not touch, except it be to count it, and lay it up again, and many other sorts of Riches, which he dare not make use of, either for his own Relief, or the Relief of the Poor.— Secondly, That some men enjoy many things which they do not possess. He that is so refined and spiritualised, as to view all things in God, and to take notice of the Goodness, Sweetness, and Bounty of God in the whole Creation, and has such an Interest in Christ Jesus, and in the Love of GOD, as to enable him to say, All things are mine; and so much Charity, as to delight in the Good of his Neighbour as his own, enjoys even the very Possessions of other men, and all that is sweet and excellent in them, as truly, and more purely, than if they were his own. As the little Bee, that flies from Flower to Flower in any man's Garden whatsoever, and sucks out the sweetness thereof, so does the Chemical Soul extract true sweetness out of all the Works of God, though they be the Possessions of other men, and by this rare Art makes them his own, at least takes more Pleasure in them than the Owner.  
But this is a Digression not here to be handled, and perhaps too curious to be well understood; to return therefore,  
The Delight and Pleasure that is taken in Worldly Possessions is but fanciful and imaginary; the Fancy is tickled, but the higher Powers of the Soul are not really satisfied, nor indeed pleased. As the Sports and Delights of Children are inferior to the Sensations and Satisfactions of grown Men; and as the Laughter of Fools differs from the Pleasure and Contentment of Princes; as the crackling of Thorns under a Pot differs from a Fire made of a good substantial pile of Coals; as the uncertain, unsteady, and smoky light of green Wood differs from the strong, steady, and pure flame of the dry Tree; so much do the Relishes, Pleasures, and Delights which men have and find in sublunary Vanities, fall short of the true, pure, perfect Satisfactions and Ravishments which are the Entertainment of the other World. As the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of a fool: this also is vanity, Eccles. 7. 6. Yea, Solomon was no Fool, yet he said in his Heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure; and behold, this also is vanity, Eccles. 2. 1. In the midst of this fanciful Laughter the Heart is often sad, sorrowful, pinched, and pined; and generally the occasion of our sensual Merriment, if it were well considered, deserves indeed to be the cause of serious Grief and Sorrow.  
And this imaginary kind of Pleasure and Delight that we take in Earthly Possessions, is flitting and evanid too. The Pleasure that the greatest Sensualist in the World takes in his Meat or Drink, or any other sensual Entertainment, lasts no longer than whilst the Necessitys of Nature are in supplying, or the Appetites are gratifying. When the Appetites and Cravings of Nature are once gratified, then farewell all Pleasure, no more Delight, no more Relish remains: And till these Appetites and Cravings are renewed, all sensual Pleasure and Delight is wanting; and, Who would desire to be hungry on purpose, only that he might have the pleasure of eating? Surely every man walketh in a vain show. As to what he possesseth, and as to the Delight he takes in those Possessions, they perish with the using.  
And so I come to the third Head, Every man walketh in a vain show, as to what he does or undertakes.  
Under this Head I comprehend all humane Plots, Projects, and Contrivances, as to all which one may safely say, Man walketh in a vain show. There are many Devices in the Heart of Man, which ought not to be there, and there are many there that never prosper, many that do take effect, and it had been better they had been abortive: And after all, in a short time, this plotting Head is laid in the Dust, and all Man's Thoughts do perish with him.  
There are many proud, revengeful, ambitious, covetous Devices in the Heart of Man, which ought not to be there. I am resolved what to do, says the Rich man in the Gospel, I will pull down my barns, and build bigger; and I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years, take thy ease, eat, drink, and be merry, Luke 12. 18. q. d. I am resolved now to lead a merry Life for many years. What a vain Conceit, what an infirm Device this was, the next words declare; Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee, etc. Therefore we read of an heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, Prov. 6. 18. and of the Heathens, that were vain in their imaginations, Rom. 1. 21. and of imagining a mischievous Device, Psal. 21. 11. Such a mischievous Device was that of Esau against his Brother Jacob, The days of mourning for my Father are at hand; then will I kill my Brother Jacob, Gen. 26. 41.  
Again, There are many Projects and Devices in the Heart of Man, which never prosper; according to that of Solomon, Prov. 19 21. There are many devices in a man's heart, nevertheless the counsel of the Lord that shall stand. Balaam plotted and conspired, and used all Charms imaginable against Israel, to curse and destroy them, and yet it came to this at last, Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, nor divination against Israel, Numb. 23. 23. Nay, honest Plots, and innocent Contrivances, which men, yea, good men, employ their Heads and Hearts about, often prove abortive; yea, when they are, as one may say, come to the birth, there does not prove to be Strength enough to bring forth. Jonathan set his Heart upon making David King, and promised himself a great Contentment in it, because he loved him, and knew that he was wonderfully and passionately beloved of him; Thou shalt be King, and I shall be next unto thee, 1 Sam. 23. 17. A very fair and probable Plot, a very likely Conjecture; but alas, it miscarried: David indeed lived to be King, but Jonathan never lived to see it. Let a Project be spun as fine as a Spider's Web, a little Accident, some small Circumstance no bigger than a Bee may break it.  
Again, There are many Projects and Devices in the Hearts of the Sons of men, that do take effect, and it had been much better they had been abortive, and these purposes frustrated. Who knoweth, says Solomon, what is good for man in this life, all the days of his vain life, which he spendeth as a shadow, Eccles. 6. 12? Who knoweth? Indeed many men have thought they have known, but they have been miserably mistaken. It had been a thousand times better for many men to have had their Plots and Contrivances frustrated and disappointed, than gratified or performed. Amnon consulted with his Cousin Jonadab, and subtly contrived to fulfil his incestuous Lust upon his Sister Tamar; And Jonadab, says the Text, was a very subtle man, 2 Sam. 13. but Jonadab had better have been a Fool, than to have given such Counsel; and Amnon was a Fool for following it, vers. 13. Thou shalt be as one of the fools in Israel. And indeed by this subtle Plot he lost not only his Reputation, but his Life too, ver. 28, 29. Haman the Agagite plotted and contrived cunningly against Mordecai, by obtaining a Decree from the King for the murdering of a whole Nation at once, for so he knew that Mordecai could not escape. Well, he obtained the Decree, and thought to glut his Eyes with their Blood, little thinking that the Queen herself was a Jew, and that unhappy Mistake brought him to the Gallows. What Contrivances and Plottings are to be found every where, for the procuring of Places, the getting of rich Matches, the establishing of Trade, the increasing of Riches, which after a short time the Projectors wish had rather been frustrated and disappointed than accomplished.  
And lastly, After all, vain Man lays his plotting Head in the Dust, and then, at least then, all his thoughts perish, Psal. 146. 4. His Breath goeth forth, he returneth to his Earth, in that very day his Thoughts perish. Sennacherib plots against poor helpless Judah, and makes himself sure of her; With the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall Cedar trees thereof; and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders, and into the Forest of his Carmel, 2 Kin. 19 23. Well, the next News is, It came to pass that night, that the Angel of the Lord went out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand, ver. 35. The King himself returned (with shame enough you may imagine) and whilst he was at his Idol-worship, his Sons smote him with the Sword; ver. 37. Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee, and then, etc.  
And so I come to consider Man as to what he enterprises and undertakes, and to show, that therein also he walketh in a vain show. Solomon was a man of the greatest Undertake that the Sun ever saw: You may see an Epitome of his Labours and Undertake, and the many things that he set his Hand unto, Eccles. 2. and after all, he turned himself, and looked on all the Works that his Hand had wrought, and on the Labour that he had laboured to do, and behold, all was Vanity, and there was no profit under the Sun, ver. 11. As to that which Man undertakes, he disquiets himself in vain, says the Psalmist here in the Text; the Verb is of the plural number in the Hebrew, because of the Collective Ish, or every man, going before, and is translated tumultuantur, turbantur, perstrepunt: They make a great deal of bustle and clutter, and disquiet themselves, and indeed they disquiet the neighbouring World round about them, as Alexander the Great did of old, and Lewis the Fourteenth does at this day, and all in vain. Surely every man walketh in a vain show, they disquiet themselves in vain.  
It would be endless to run through all the Actions, Undertake, and Erterprises of men in the World in particular. In general, there is a great deal of bustle, commotion, disturbance, distraction, made by this silly Animal called Man, upon the Stage of this World, and all to no purpose.  
One arms himself and all his Vassals cap-a-pee, and goes out into the Field, to amaze and affright the impotent and on-looking World, he wins Towns and Countries, he adds Kingdom to Kingdom, enlarges his Dominions, spreads his Language, advances his Name, erects Statues and Trophies, and yet this great Undertaker obtains no real Interest, Love, or Honour in the Hearts of his fellow-Creatures, he does not approve himself to God, he has no Favour from his holy Angels; His exalted Name will soon be forgotten, his stately Trophies in a short time demolished, and himself to the end of the World confined to a few feet of Earth; and after all, the great Hero shall be judged as another man, as the meanest private Centinel.  
Another is continually contriving for his Appetite, how to gratify that; he searches the Air, the Earth, the Seas; he ransacks the World for Meat for his Belly, or Sauce for his Meat, or curious Cookery for both. These Dainties are hard and costly to be gotten; when they are gotten, they gratify but for a Meal, they perish with the using, and lose all their sweetness, after the cravings of this silly whining Appetite are once gratified. After these, fresh Entertainments must be sought out, and after those still new ones, or else the childish whimpering Appetite cannot be quieted: In all which much Money is spent, many Hands employed, much of Man's vain short life wasted, and great Estates many times exhausted, many men feeding their Capons with Currans so long, till themselves have not a Capon nor so much as a Hen to feed upon. In the mean time the Stomach is rather cloyed than truly gratified, and the Constitution rather surfeited and depraved, than nourished or strengthened; and after all, that heavy Doom of the Apostle takes place, 1 Cor. 6. 13. Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats, but God shall destroy both it and them. And the Worms will make no distinction, nor find no difference between their Carcases and the Flesh of meaner Mortals.  
Another runs up and down the World, catching here and there, goes into this City, and that Country and Kingdom, to buy and sell, and traffic, and get Gain; where there is any Market, or Fair, or concourse of People for Trade, there is he. His whole Enquiry is, Who will show us any Good? and his whole business to acquire it. The whole design and business of his vain and vexatious Life is to gather Riches, and yet (see how he walks in a vain show!) perhaps he can no more catch these Riches than a man can catch a Shadow; or if he do catch them, they are but a Shadow still: And to whom he shall leave them he cannot tell. Perhaps (I say) he can no more catch them than a Man can catch a Shadow. Riches in this respect are much akin to Honour, of which it uses to be said, Sequentem fugit fugientem sequitur; it flees him that follows it, and follows him that flees from it. They look for Riches; they look for much, but lo, it comes to little; and if they bring it home, the Providence of GOD, the Blast of the Almighty bloweth upon it! Haggai 1. 9 Or, as the same Prophet speaks, ver. 6. They sow much and bring in little, eat and have not enough, clothe them, but there is none warm, earn wages, and put it into a bag with holes. Laban the Syrian, a plodding Mammonist, left no Stone unturned, no way  to multiply his Flocks, and grow very pecorose; he changed his Servants Wages ten times; he required the stolen and the torn at the Hands of his Shepherd; but Heaven found out a way to frustrate him, and after all, his Shepherd died as rich as he.  
Or if he do catch them, they are but a shadow still, no substance, weight, or solid worth in them, no Virtue to fill the Soul, to satisfy the Desires, to still the Cravings, or allay the raging Appetites of a Worldly Mind. It is with vain Man in this respect, as the Prophet elegantly expresses it, Isaiah 9 20. He snatcheth on the right hand, and yet is hungry; he eats on the left hand, and is not satisfied. The Desires and Cravings of Minds and Spirits can be no more satisfied with Gold and Silver, than the Hungering of the Body can be allayed with Words, or satisfied with Notions and Speculations. Solomon, that had all things, was satisfied with nothing, but still cries out, All is vanity; and there is no profit under the sun. He that loveth silver, shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he that loveth abundance with increase, Eccles. 5. 10. Nay, it is a thousand to one but Vexation is added to the Vanity. Worldly Wealth does only not satisfy, but oftentimes molesteth the Owner, tempts him to Pride, Security, Forgetfulness of God, and disdaining of Men; exposes him to Envy, and that lays him open to Thiefs, and abundance of Snares and Dangers, makes him lead an unquiet life, anxious days, and wakeful nights, whilst he is solicitous how to keep them whilst he lives, and how to bestow them when he dies: And it's ten to one, he is as much hated or laughed at when he is dead, as he was envied whilst he lived; which brings me to the third thing.  
To whom he shall leave them he cannot tell. If he have no Child of his own Body begotten, he is all his Life time solicited by his own, or it may be his Wife's Relations, and at his Death he is solicitous how to distribute his Wealth; if he give all to one, the rest will judge him unnatural, and be ready to curse his Ashes; if he distribute it amongst many, it spoils the great design of making one only very great and rich, and the pretty Plot of keeping up the Name and Grandeur of a Family. If he have an Heir of his own Body to transmit his Wealth to; then if it be a Daughter, he fears her great Portion will betray her to some idle swaggering Gentleman or other, that will first impoverish her, and then hate her; first get rid of what she has, and then seek to be rid of her too. If it be a Son, still (alas!) who knows whether he shall be a Wise man or a Fool, whether he will be industrious or profuse? This fretted King Solomon whilst he was alive, Eccles. 2. 18, 19 I must leave it unto the man that shall be after me; and who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? And indeed (as Job speaks) the thing that he feared came upon him; for his Son and Heir Rehoboam foolishly forsook the Counsel of the grave Senators, and followed the rash Advice of his giddy beardless Courtiers, and in one day lost ten parts in twelve of that great Estate which his Grandfather with so much Hazard and Courage had purchased, and his Father with so much Care and Prudence had so long preserved. Was not this a foolish Prodigal Son, who at one sitting rend off ten parts in twelve of a Kingdom, which his Father had kept together forty years? And does not this sort of men walk in a vain show?  
Another plods day and night, spends his Time and Strength in endless Inquiries after Knowledge, which Inquiries are sometimes bootless, commonly painful, and always imperfect.  
They are sometimes bootless; for, how often do poor Mortals search for the hidden Treasures of the knowledge of many things both in Nature and Divinity, which they find out even as they find out the Philosopher's Stone, sought by many, but found by none; who whilst they seek an Art to turn all things into Gold, only find a way to turn all their own Gold into nothing. The Apostle, I remember, speaks it to the reproach of some silly Women, that were always learning, and never yet were able to come to the knowledge of the Truth, 2 Tim. 3. 7. I believe the Character may as well be applied to foolish and vain men, as to silly Women; for how many industrious men are to be found in the World, who by the most diligent search could never arrive at the knowledge of many things which they desired; and because God did not reveal it to them, resolved to consult the Devil, and make him their Intelligencer and Interpreter? Certainly the Thirst after Knowledge is no less vehement than after Silver and Gold: I doubt not, but that many curious, inquisitive, and fine Minds are as earnest and vehement in this Case, as the Merchant that we read of in the Parable, who sold all his Possessions to buy the Field in which was the Pearl of great price: As appears by the Saying of a young Nobleman of this Kingdom (not then Two and Twenty years old) in a Book entitled Seraphic Love, that he would gladly exchange all the Honour and Estate that he had in this World, for the knowledge of Natural things, and their Causes.  
These Inquiries after Knowledge are commonly painful; to which I may add costly. The knowledge of things indeed by Inspiration, may seem to be easy, (and yet the inspired Priests and Priestesses of the Heathen gods laboured under great Distress and Difficulty, whilst they were pleni deo, as they called it, and in plain English, besides themselves). This Knowledge (I say) by Inspiration, may seem to be easy; but yet Solomon, who himself was also sometimes (at least) inspired, tells us, That much study is a weariness of the flesh, Eccles. 12. 12. And the expense of the Animal Spirits, and the fatigue of the Brain, is confessed by all men skilful in human Bodies, to be greater than the travel of the Feet, or the labour of the Hands. To speak nothing of the costliness of enquiring after Knowledge, in some respects, (though the charge of Education, Books, and Travels might be reasonably suggested) the most studious and inquisitive men do find to their Cost and Vexation of Mind, many things, which they may wish they had been ignorant of, and by the pretence of knowing many things, come to this miserable pass, to be forced to confess their own Ignorance, and to acknowledge, that they know nothing. But of all the Painfulness and Vexation which belongs to the Inquiries after Knowledge, nothing seems to me to be a greater, than the Vnresolvedness and Vnsatisfiedness of men's Minds, after they have made all these Inquiries. After all, to hesitate and be doubtful, and to cry out in the anguish of ones Mind with Solomon, Who knows, and who can tell? Lord, what a Disease is this in the human Nature, and what a state of Vanity does it argue! but this I pass by, as having spoken something of it before.  
Lastly, This Knowledge we get by all our Inquiries is very poor, mean, and imperfect, in comparison of the Visions and Intuitions of the other World, when we shall see as we are seen, and know as we are known, feast upon Truth itself, and behold all things in God, and him in the pure Rays of his own Divinity. The Apostle Paul knew much, but he did not know the whole, and that which he did know he knew but in part, 1 Cor. 13. 9, 10. We know in part, but when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. But this also I touched upon before.  
What shall I say of vain Man? It is impossible to enumerate his Fatigues and Vanities. In short therefore,  
Does he work? Then he wearies himself, and exhausts his Strength. Does he play? Then he forgets himself, and emasculates his Spirits.  
Does he Trade by Land? Then he is either tempted to cheat, or liable to be cheated, either to get another man's unduly, or to have his own got from him deceitfully.  
Does he Traffic by Sea? He may indeed see the Wonders of the Lord in the Deep, but no greater Wonder, than that he himself is not there. Who but vain Man would expose his Life to so eminent Dangers, for things not necessary to Life, yea, some that are more hurtful than useful; and all the Sweets of his Family and Country for a few foreign Spices?  
Does he go into Wars? He lies at the Mercy of every random bit of Lead, shot by a Fool, or a Child, or a Madman: If he conquer and kill, here is no cause of glorying, one would think, to have sent his Brother's Body to the Grave, and, it may be, his Soul to Hell.  
Does he purchase? He is either mistaken in the Title, abused by the Law, envied or hated by his Neighbour. However, would he but be patiented, and stay a while, he should have Earth enough to serve his turn, without any Cost or Charge at all.  
Does he marry? He does certainly fall into Encumbrances. Does he vow a single life? He does as certainly fall into Snares. If he marry, he is fain to endure the Yoke; if he do not, he has much ado to endure to be curbed.  
Does he study Day and Night? Poor man! with a great deal of Pain and Weariness he comes to understand, that all things are Uncertainty and Vanity, a thing that one had better never to have known. And after all, How dyeth the wise man? even as the fool dyeth, Eccles. 2. 16. Does he arbitrate differences, and make peace? blessed is he, saith Christ: But for all that, he shall be sure to meet with many a Curse. To go about to please both Parties, is as if a man should undertake to serve two Masters; which no body can well do.  
Does he court the Favour of great men by Fawning and Flattery? It is a great Slavery to an ingenuous and generous Mind; the Favour of wise Princes will not be so gotten: And if they be foolish and inconstant, it will be soon lost.  
Is he active, and brisk, and a lover of business? He disquiets himself; yea, active Tempers, that cannot manage their own Metal, many times disquiet the World about them. He that does much, will certainly sometimes do amiss; if he should do all things well, he will yet be accounted a Busybody.  
Is he idle, careless, and unconcerned? He is then a selfish Sot, an unprofitable Member of the Universe. He that regards nothing, does not himself deserve to be regarded.  
In a word, Cast your Eyes over the World, and behold the Diseases and Distresses of some, and what will you call it but an Hospital? Behold the Distractions and Disorders of all the rest in one kind or other, and what will you call it but a Bethlehem?  
And so I come, in the last place, briefly to consider Man in the highest acts of Human Life, viz. his religious acts, and to show, that even in them also he walketh in a vain show; or, to give it you in the Psalmist's words elsewhere, Every man at his best estate is altogether vanity.  
Now, these Religious acts are either outward or inward. As to outward acts; Men do not only work and trade, but even pray and come to Church in a vain show. Not only Markets and Fairs, but even religious Assemblies and Congregations are a show too, which men walk in, whilst they pretend to walk with God. Those make a great noise in the Ears of Men, and these are little better than a noise in the Ears of Heaven. Who can deny, but that the Worship of the Profane is a vain show, who to day swear by the Name of God, and to morrow call upon the Name of God; to day eat unto Gluttony, and drink unto Drunkenness, to morrow eat the Flesh and drink the Blood of the Son of God; to day pray to God to damn them, and to morrow pray him to save them; to day behave themselves so reverently, as if God were in the Head, and to morrow live as if there were no God in Heaven? Who can imagine but GOD and Men too must loathe such impious Vanity as this is? Who can deny, but that the Idolatrous and Superstitious Worshippers walk in a vain show, who worship either they know not what, or they care not how, offering up strange Fire to God, and indeed affronting him, whilst they pretend to adore him? Who can deny, but that the Worldling, who has set up the World in his Heart for his Idol, walks in a vain show, who sits before God as an attentive Hearer of his Word, and makes much love to him with his Lips, when his Heart is far from him, and runs after his Covetousness? Who can deny, but the Hypocrite walks in a vain show, who comes with his God I thank thee, in his Mouth, when he has no love for him in his Heart, who confesses the Sins which he has no mind to part with; who begs the Grace which he has no mind to receive, who seems to condemn and humble himself before God, in the mean time is great in his own Eyes, and ceases not upon all occasions to magnify and applaud himself before men.  
But some one will say, All men are not profane, worldly, idolatrous, hypocritical, there are some substantial Worshippers, that worship the Father in Spirit and Truth.  
Answ. It is true indeed, The father seeketh such to worship him, Joh. 4. 23. but I doubt he findeth few; for (not to strain the Apostle's words to the utmost and most uncharitable sense, 1 Joh. 5. 19 Totus mundus positus est in maligno) though Profaneness may be easily discerned, yet sure I am, predominant Worldliness and Hypocrisy are in many Hearts, where they are not discovered; nay, it is to be feared, the false Heart itself will not be convinced of them. And as for Idolatry, though the foreign Reformed Churches do all put it off from themselves, to the Heathen and Antichristian Nations, yet I fear, concerning some of them, one may take up Samuel's words to Saul, If ye have indeed destroyed Idolatry utterly, what▪ means this bleating of the sheep, and lowing of the oxen which I hear? If any one should answer as Saul did, we have reserved these innocent, safe, and significant Ceremonies, to sacrifice to the Lord, to adorn and grace the Worship of God; it will perhaps be replied, as Samuel replies, Obedience is better than Sacrifice; or, as another Prophet expresses it, Quis ne quisivit hoec?  
I answer further, What man is there upon Earth, in whom these Sins are not found in some degree or other? And so far as they are found, they do pollute the Worship, and subject it to the denomination of Vanity.  
But I answer, thirdly, That the word Tselem in the Text does not signify a vain show properly, but a show, a resemblance, a representation, or image, in opposition to substantial; as the Picture which we see in a Looking glass is the representation or resemblance of the Face that looks into it. And so every man, without exception may be said to walk betselem in imagine, in a show, as to his religious acts; which I shall further explain under the next Head, viz. his inward religious acts.  
The internal actings of Grace are but a show, a resemblance of some such thing, in comparison of what they were in Man innocent, or shall be in Man glorified. The inward pious acts of our Minds do make us approach the nearest to Substance of any thing that we have or do: For as a man thinketh in his heart, saith Solomon, so is he. If any thing will denominate a man a substantial Christian, it is these inward Acts of the Mind, the Acts of Faith, Hope, and Love, the Acts of Self-denial and Contempt of the World, and of the whole Creation in comparison of the Creator: And yet even these are but a show, a resemblance of something rather than any thing substantial.  
The Love that the most affectionate, devout, and refined Soul exercises towards GOD in this mixed state, is but a shadow, a resemblance of Love, in comparison of the Ardours of another World. I love thee, said Peter, I love thee, yea, Lord thou knowest that I love thee, John 21. 15, 16, 17. Poor Peter! I believe in a degree he did love him; yet I believe he was grieved that he could love him no better. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind, with all thy strength, Mark 12. 30. This is the first and great Commandment; a great one in deed! 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; And who is able to perform it? How many Alls are here? All and All, and All and All. Lord, what mortal man can with any Modesty pretend to such a generous Love as this is? Every man that has his Senses exercised, to discern between Good and Evil, will confess that this Command is just, equal, and reasonable, yea, and very pleasant too, (for what is, what can be sweeter than a Life of Love?) But yet the most devout, the most amorous and ardent Soul that this day inhabits a mortal Body, must needs confess his Straitness, and bewail his Unaffectionateness; and though he may seem to be drenched in this holy Passion, yet has cause to pray, Lord, shed abroad the Love of God in me. Perfect love (says the loving and beloved Apostle) casts out fear, 1 John 4. 18. Alas! Where is this perfect Love then? for Fear, yea, some degree of slavish Fear, is found in every Heart of Man; yea, though he love GOD sincerely and ardently too, yet he is apt to fear he does not love him enough: The hottest of our Love is cold, the strongest is weak and faint, in comparison of what Adam's once was, and Abraham's now is. We call it Love indeed, but it is rather Liking than Love, rather hankering than either. It is but a going Fire, a Glow-worm, at best but a Blaze or a Blazing-Star, in comparison of the Fervors, the Delights, the Complacencies of the Spirits of Just men made perfect. The greatest zeal of mortal Man for GOD, (which yet is the Flower of Love) is in comparison of the angelical Ferver, but as a Fire painted upon the Wall, in comparison of that which burneth upon the Hearth. The Apostle Paul was as zealous for his Lord, and did and suffered as much for him as any of his Disciples whatsoever, so that in nothing was he behind the chiefest Apostles; yet he esteemed himself as nothing, which is not so much as a show, 2 Cor. 12. 11.  
How weak and tottering is the Trust and Confidence in GOD, which the most steady Soul can pretend to in this World, in comparison of the unmixed and unshaken Affiance in him, which constitutes the Joy and Security of the other World? The three unmartyred Martyrs in Dan. 3. are renowned for their Faith and firm Dependence upon their GOD, ver. 17. He will deliver us out of thy hands, O King. This was their Confidence in GOD; but it had its If for all that, ver. 18. But if not, be it known to thee, O King, etc. But the Affiances and Assurances of the other World are above all Butts and Ifs: The stoutest of our Confidence here, is but a shadow of that Confidence, which shall have no shadow of turning. What fear of miscarrying can there possibly be to him, who perpetually walks in the light of God's Countenance? what Danger, what Suspicion can there be of being plucked from thence, to a Soul folded in the Arms, and wrapped up in the Bosom of the Almighty?  
And what is our Hope in this mortal state? A poor languid thing, a faint Velerity, a dull yawning, rather than a greedy gasping, a lifeless stretching forth the Hands towards, rather than an eager laying hold upon Eternal Life. It ought to be an earnest and vehement Longing, and alas! it scarce amounts to a sincere Desire or Expectation.  
And what are our Acts of Self-denial, in comparison of the exinanition of the glorified Saints, who cast down their Crowns before the Throne, Rev. 4. 10.— What is our Contempt of the World, in comparison of that Disdain with which refined and glorified Souls behold all earthly Possessions, eyeing and enjoying all things in GOD alone? Alas! what mortal man can oculo irritorto spectare acervos, with an Eye altogether undazzled, or with a Heart altogether unaffected and disengaged, contemplate the Bravery and Grandeur, the precious and glistering Possessions of this World, (whether his own or other men's) perfectly free from Enchantment; I mean, who can do it, and neither dote nor envy? But they that are got above the Sun, and look down with the Eyes of Angels, do see all things under the Sun to be a contemptible Vanity, a sore Vexation and Labour, and that there is no Profit in them, as Solomon expresses it.  
How pinched and narrow are the most enlarged and capacious Souls upon Earth in their Thanks and Praises to the Almighty Goodness, in comparison of the noble Raptures and Ravishments of glorified Spirits, who never cease to chant forth the Praises of God, singing the Song of Moses, and saying, Blessing and honour, and glory, and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, Rev. 5. 13. Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might be unto our God for ever and ever, Rev. 7. 12.  
In a word, How poor and insipid, how dull and stagnant are the Joys and Delights of the best assured and most satisfied Souls upon Earth, in comparison of the pure, strong, active, and ravishing Complacencies which are the Portion of the Spirits of just men made perfect; when all their Faculties are filled up to the very brim of their respective Capacities, with the Communications of Divine Grace, Light, Life, and Love, and the blessed creature is made all that which the ever blessed Creator is, so far as his finite and limited nature will permit. How mean is the Satisfaction that imperfect Souls do reap, who sit down by the Streams, and drink a little to allay their Thirst, in comparison of the Solaces of glorified Souls, who are always in an ecstasy of fresh and unfading Joys, who are still drenching themselves in Fullness of Joy, and bathing themselves in Rivers of Pleasure, which are at God's right hand for evermore. It was properly said therefore to the good and faithful Servant, Mat. 25. 21. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord, because it was impossible that the infinite Joy of his Lord should enter into him.  
But here some one will be apt to cry out with the passionate Psalmist, complaining of his own and the Church's Afflictions, Psal. 89. 47. Lord, wherefore hast thou made all men in vain?  
To this I answer, GOD made Man upright, holy, blessed, and substantial, but Sin hath brought Vanity upon Mankind; yea, the whole Creation is thereby subjected to Vanity. Man, in departing from his GOD, who is Life and Substance, is become vain, and whatever he is, has, or does, is but imperfect, is but a show. But yet GOD has not made all Men in vain neither, because he has yet ordained for all believing Souls a substantial and durable state of Happiness; so that though they be mean and imperfect in this World, they shall be perfect and complete in another.  
Let us rather cry out with the same Psalmist, when he was in a more serene and undisturbed Temper, Psal. 8. 4. Lord, what is man, that thou art mindful of him, or the Son of man, that thou visitest him? What is poor Man, whom his Sin and Apostasy has made so vain and despicable, that thou after all this shouldst think Thoughts of Love towards him, and prepare such excellent Honour and Happiness for him? How great cause have all the poor crippled Souls of Men to admire the infinite Bounty of the Great King, and to cry out with lame Mephibosheth, in 2 Sam. 19 28. we were all but as dead Souls before God, yet has He set us amongst the Angels of Heaven, and will entertain us with them that eat at his own Table.  
And this indeed might serve for one use that I would make of this Doctrine, but this is not all; therefore,  
Secondly, This may serve to humble the Children of Men, to pull down their proud Crests, and to reduce them to a sober Temper. This is one of the most notorious and odious Vanities of vain Man, that he does think highly of himself, and magnifies himself in his own Eyes, and is ambitious to be Great in the Eyes of other men. There is nothing more miserable than the Devils, and yet nothing prouder than they. Even Simon Magus himself, the Sorcerer, that Child of the Devil, was desirous to be accounted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, some great one amongst his Neighbours. It is a common and true Observation, that by how much the less worth any man has, the more he is conceited of his own Worthiness, and seeks to put off himself in the estimation of the World: Whereas the Wise and the Good, suâ se virtute involvunt, are satisfied in and from themselves, and are sufficiently defended by a conciousness of their own Worth and Innocence, and goodness of their Cause, and had rather be accounted to have nothing to say, than to answer Fools according to their Folly; had rather forseit their Reputation than their Discretion. Now, what can be thought of more effectual for the correcting the Insolence of vain Man, than to be throughly convinced of his own Vanity? If the Bubble could be persuaded it was but a Bubble, surely it would swell no more. If Man could be persuaded, that he was a Worm, and no Man, he would be content with a humble crawling upon the Earth, and not magnify himself, as if he were not a creeping thing. If any thing in the World can ennoble Man, and make him something, it is Humility; and if any thing in the World can humble him, it must be the consideration of his own Vanity and Nothingness. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was justly esteemed by the wise Greeks as a Voice from Heaven, as an Oracle of God, è coelo descendit; and I think the Christian Divinity acknowledges the same. When the noble Souls of men do consider their own original, how pure and excellent it was, how they are now sunk into Prisons of Flesh, and inverst in Sense and Sensuality, how dark they are in their Apprehensions, how unsteady in their Resolutions, how uncertain in their Knowledge, how irregular in their Affections, how boisterous and unreasonable in their Passions, how easily carried away to Vice, how imperfect in Virtue, how weak, distempered, and diseased in Body, how disappointed in Relations, how vexed, tired, deceived, or oppressed in their Estates, how perplexed in this World, and how doubtful of a better; in a word, what a bundle of Vanity Mankind is become, how can it be, but that it must needs make him sober and humble, and consequently contribute something to the restoring of him to his primitive Excellency; Nam quò minus sibi arrogat homo, eò evadit clarior & nobilior; The less Man arrogates to himself, the more excellent he is.  
Thirdly, Let this Doctrine of Humane Vanity affect our Hearts compassionately towards the miserable apostate Sons of Men. Of all Sights in this World, this is the saddest, and most to be lamented; Nations unhinged, Kingdoms weltering in Blood, the most devilish Plots, the most unnatural Wars, the most barbarous Persecutions that ever the Eye of a Spectator beheld, or the Pen of an Historian recorded, if they were all registered, would not make up such a tragical Volume, as the third Chapter of Genesis alone does. We pity the Wounded when we see their Wounds bleeding, and their Limbs broken; we pity the Sick, when we see their restless and painful state, and hear their lamentable Shrieks and deadly Groans; we pity the Poor and the Forlorn, the Fatherless, Motherless, Friendless, Harbourless, Helpless, when we see them with naked Feet, and half-naked Bodies, in the pinching Severity of Frost and Snow, seeking their Bread in desolate places; we pity poor Prisoners, that lie in Dungeons, are bruised with Irons, sink in the deep Mire, or else are made fast in the Stocks, said with black Bread and cold Water, lodged on a little Litter amongst Toads, and Newts, and noisome Vermin; we pity poor banished men, driven out of their own sweet Country, and from amongst their dear Relations, wand'ring amongst wild Beasts, or barbarous men, more savage than Beasts, enjoying no Liberty, except it be that of wand'ring from one Cave or Den or Desert to another; we pity unhappy Princes, whose Crowns are fallen from their Heads, and the Children of prodigal Gentlemen, Lords of Towns, who come to be relieved by the Towns whereof their Fathers were sometimes Lords. Oh! but how much more reason have we to pity and bewail vain Mankind, the miserable Posterity of Adam, wounded in Soul with a most deadly wound, all their Bones broken, sick of the most painful Disease and loathsome Leprosy, poor and desolate, naked and forlorn, Slaves and Prisoners in the Dungeon of the Body, and under Satan their Jailer, bunisht from Paradise, estranged from God and his holy Angels, and wand'ring in the Wilderness of this World in a thousand Wants, Necessities, Dangers, Uncertainties, and Perplexities, degraded from their excellent Honour and Dignity, and now feeding upon Husks ordained to be Mentivole for Swine! When Peter and John saw the lame man that could not walk at all, they pitied him and healed him. When we consider poor Mankind walking in a vain show, though we cannot heal them, let us pity and pray for them, and bewail our own and their Degeneracy. Nay,  
Fourthly, Let us not only bewail the Vanity of Mankind, but be in a godly sense weary of our vain Life. The highest pitch which most men aim at, is but this, to be desirous to live, and content to die: But the Apostle Paul was of a higher form, he was only content to live, but desirous to die, desirous to departed, and to be with Christ, because it was far better, Phil. 1. 23. Possibly you will not allow me to argue from the Prophet Elijah, 1 Kin. 19 4. Lord, take away my life; nor from holy Job, chap. 7. 15, 16. My soul chooseth death rather than life; I loathe it, I would not live always, for my days are vanity. Perhaps you will say, these holy men were either in a Passion not to be justified, or in a Rapture not to be imitated; but yet sure, in good earnest, and in sober Temper, without either Passion or Ecstasy, the consideration of our poor imperfect state, and vain life, aught to beget in every Pilgrim Soul a holy and comely weariness of this state of alienation and elongation from its GOD; I dare not venture to call it the Grace of Discontentment, because the Grace and Art of Contentment has obtained so great a Name in the World, but methinks a degree of Weariness or Discontentment, may well enough stand with a predominant submission to, and satisfaction in the Will of God. One thing cannot be desired, (especially not with such a desire as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 imports) but the contrary to it, must be in some degree rejected or undervalved: So that I suppose the Apostle Paul's desire to departed comprehends in it a kind of weariness of Commoration in the Body. And indeed, who can reasonably blame a man that is weary of a state of Bondage, Banishment, Imprisonment, Poverty, and Vanity, and desires a state of Liberty, Enlargement, and Perfection? Which brings me to the last thing.  
Fifthly, Study, covet, love and long after things durable and substantial. As we ought with a holy kind of Weariness to lead 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a life void of Pleasure in things here below, so ought our life to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a flight of our Souls to God alone. The whole Creation is subjected to Vanity, but the Creature shall be delivered from the Bondage of Corruption; therefore the whole Creation groaneth and travaileth in pain, Rom. 8. 20, 21, 22. And shall not we much rather long to be delivered from our state of Vanity? Can we seriously think of our Vanity, Misery, and Indigency, and not cry out, Oh that we were as in times past, when we came out of the Hands of God at first! or, Oh that we were as we shall be in time to come, when we shall be put into the Hands of God again. It is lawful, it is reasonable, it is safe, it is seemly, to look for and long after a state of Purity and Perfection, a state of complete Health and Liberty, a Reunion with our God and Centre, to be absent from the Body, and present with the Lord. It is most natural and comely, for every thing to tend to its own Perfection; and the most healthful Constitution of a Soul, is to be sick of Love. The description of regenerate and sanctified Souls is, that they love the appearing of Christ, 2 Tim. 4. 8. that they look for his appearing, Tit. 2. 13. that they look for, or long for the Mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto Eternal life, Judas, ver. 21. that they look for, and hasten to the coming of the day of God, 2 Pet. 3. 12. And so we find they have done, Paul desiring to departed and to be with Christ, and David longing for the Salvation of God, Psal. 119. 174. his Soul breaking for very longing, Psal. 119. 20. waiting for the Lord more than they that watch for the Morning, I say, more than they, Psal. 130. 6.  
To conclude, Lament not intemperately the removal of any out of this state of Vanity and Vexation of Spirit, into a state of satisfaction and perfection of Spirit. Rejoice not immoderately in the fairest and sweetest Circumstances of this present life, but live under a painful sense of your own Indigency, breathing after a state substantial and durable, blissful and eternal: And God of his infinite Mercy grant, that we always endeavouring to perfect Holiness in the fear of God, at our removal hence, may have an abundant Entrance administered unto us, into the Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ;  
To whom, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, be all Praise, Honour, and Glory, for evermore. Amen.   

ERRATA.  
PAge 1. line 8. read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; p. 2. l. 4. r. male; p. 29. l. 19 r. in 3 p. 100 l. 7. r. requisivit; p. 106. l. 8. 8. velleity.   

A Catalogue of Books printed for Tho. Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheapside.  

Books in Folio.  
RIchard Baxter's Catholic Theology, plain, pure, peaceable, for pacification of the Dogmatical Word-Warriours. In three Book.  
Methodus Theologiae Christianae: By Mr. Richard Baxter.  
Sixty one Sermons, preached mostly on public Occasions. By Adam Littleton D. D. Rector of Chelsey in Middlesex, etc.  
One Hundred select Sermons upon several Texts, Fifty upon the Old Testament, and Fifty on the New.  
Choice and Practical Expositions on Four select Psalms. These two by the Reverend and Learned Tho. Horton, D. D. late Minister of Great St. Helen's, London.  
A third Volume of Sermons preached by the late Reverend and Learned Tho. Manton, D. D. In two parts, the first containing Sixty Six Sermons on the Eleventh Chapter of the Hebrews: With a Treatise of the Life of Faith. Part the second▪ A Treatise of Self-denial; with several Sermons on the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and other occasions; with an alphabetical Table to the whole.