Imprimatur.  
Feb. 6. 1690/ 1. Z Isham, R. P. D. Hen. Episc. Lond. à sacris.   

AUTARCHY: OR, THE ART OF Self-Government, IN A MORAL ESSAY.  
In Three PARTS.  
First Written to a Gentleman in the University, and since fitted for Public Use.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  Epict. 
LONDON, Printed for Dorman Newman, at the King's Arms in the Poultry, 1691.   

TO THE Right Honourable JOHN EARL of Bridgwater, Viscount Brackly, and Baron of Eltesmere, Lord Lieutenant of the County of Bucks, etc.  
My Honoured Lord,  
AFter so many Years Labours in explaining and inculcating the Christian Religion, I doubt the true Notion of it is still unknown (I am sure the Power of it is) to the common sort of Christians: Some confine it to this Party, and others to that; and many place it in a Theory of Doctrines never reduced into practice, unless it be in starched Hypocrisy, in affected Tones, extemporary Effusions, enthusiastic Inspirations, loud Prayers, and long Preach; and the running after such Men, and having their Persons in Admiration, is that which these Men take to be Religion. And most make such a noise about Religion, which is the Means, that they have no regard to that which is the End. Mean while there is one thing agreed to by all, of what Sect or Faction soever, as necessary, though most of all neglected, and that is Morality. And though this Word is vulgarly taken to signify nothing but a kind of Heathen Honesty; yet I shall not fear to say, That it is the Essential Part of that which we call Religion, and the End of all our Writings and Disputes about it. For the Christian acceptation of the Word Morality is nothing else, but the Conformity of our Manners to the Rules of Jesus, and living as Christians are taught to do by the Principles of their Religion. And this respects a Threefold Object, God, our Neighbour, and ourselves. To God we own Devotion, and the highest Fear, Love, etc. To Man an universal Love and Charity: and to ourselves Temperance and Sobriety. And this was the Sum of Practical Religion in the Old Testament (as appears by Micah 6. 8.) and in the New, as St. Paul will inform us, Tit. 2. 12. These were the Duties taught by God to the Gentiles under the Law of Nature, and to the Jews under the Mosaic Dispensation; and afterwards refined, exalted, and spiritualised by our Blessed Lord, and imposed upon his Disciples in all Ages under the Christian. These are absolutely necessary for every Christian Man; and whatsoever Allowances will be granted to our Weakness and Blindness, in the other World (which will be Answerable to God's infinite Goodness); yet I am sure, there will be none for our impenitent Immoralities.  
This may plead my Excuse for making Morality my subject, and then for that particular part of it which consists in governing a Man's self, I need premise nothing to what you will find in the following Papers; but that it is the Instrument of all the rest, without which they cannot be exercised, and which therefore ought to be first learned. It virtually, at least, contains all, or most Morality in it; and, if it were well practised, in all its Parts and Branches, it would soon abate the Spirit of Pride, Bitterness, and Malice which rages in the World; and teach Men, Love, Kindness, Sweetness of Conversation, Meekness, and Humility. It would make Men happy in themselves, and happy in one another.  
Whilst others therefore (My Lord) have been fiercely disputing and wrangling about the Government of the Nation, the Humble Author hereof, sitting under Your Shadow in peace, thought it his greater Concern to turn his Thoughts inward, and study the Government of of himself; whose Meditations, from a very small beginning, sent to his Friend, have extended themselves to the Dimensions You here find them in; and, wrapped up in these Papers, are laid at Your Lordship's Feet, not so much to inform your Understanding, as to beg Your Protection.  
My Lord, the Author is sensible, and the World must confess, That You want not these Instructions. God hath given You and Your virtuous and happy Consort (the true Partner of Your Joys and Griefs) the victory over Your Passions and Appetites; and having exercised You Both in an unheard of Affliction, hath now returned in Mercy, and hath more than built up Your Breaches. All which hath (I doubt not) taught You to look upward to God in all his Dispensations, to look inward and govern Yourselves, and to look downward and despise the World, keeping Yourself unspotted from its Vices.  
Though therefore these Papers should be of no use to You, yet if You shall honour them so far as to place them in Your Library among the Learned, and shall commend them to the Perusal of my Young Lord, and the rest of Your Children when they come to Years of discretion, and are fit to entertain such Thoughts as these, the Author shall have his End in this Dedication.  
May Your Lordship's Issue be numerous, and grow up like Olive-Plants round about Your Table: May They be Good as well as Great, and increase in Virtue and Piety so fast, that They may anticipate these Counsels, and render all the following Arguments useless. Which is the daily Prayer of,  
My Noble Lord, Edlesb. Jan. 12. 1690/ 1. Your Lordship's most Humble Servant, and Chaplain, G. B.   

A Praemonition TO THE READERS.  
THO' the Form of this Essay is Epistolar, and was directed to a Young Gentleman in the University, as the Title informs you; yet the Author now, by its Publication, designs it for every Man, and desires each Reader to imagine himself to be the Dorotheus therein mentioned. And though it concerns young Men especially (because it ought to be their great Care, who are hereby prepared against a numerous Army of Fleshly Lusts, ready to assault them; and they of all Men should lay a good Foundation of Virtue and Piety, and remember their Creator); yet those that are aged must not think themselves unconcerned, unless they have finished this great Work, or made some tolerable Progress in it: For as their Means are greater (having passed by the Importunities of Youthful Lusts, and seen their Vanity) so their Need is greater; having passed great part of their Journey, and so are nearer their End, and the Account they must give to their Creator.  
The whole was written originally for the Use of a Scholar, and so may perhaps smell too much of University Learning; yet it hath been much allayed for vulgar use: and if here and there it doth retain any Signatures of its original, yet most part is plain, and fitted for common Readers.  
The general Subject of it is, Morality, or the Practice of Virtue and Piety, which is the Essence of true Religion. And if there be any Notions in the First Part out of the common Road, they were thought necessary, in the first draught, to give a tolerable account of the Reasons of the Conjunction of the Two Natures in us, and of the Goodness of our Creator, in ordering it to be so: and they are still retained for the same reason. And the vulgar Reader may (if he please) pass them over to that which is more useful for him.  
The particular Duty explained and pressed, he calls Autarchy or Self-Government, which is the restraining part of Virtue, or the Power it has to curb our Appetites and Passions. A Lesson which he commends with so much Zeal, because no Virtue can be long practised without it.  
The Way that he hath taken is instructive in the First Part, and persuasive in the Two other: for it seems a natural Method, first to explain and then persuade. And all Three are laid before every Man that will give himself but leave to consider, Wherefore he is sent into this World? and Wither he must go when he leaves it? And the Author can only add his Prayers that they may have their Effect, in discovering the Fallacies of Sensuality, and in turning the Sinner from the Error of his Way.   


THE CONTENTS OF THE FIRST PART. CONTAINING The Nature of Autarchy (or Self-Government) and the Rules of its Exercise.  
THE miserable Apostasy of Christians in general, from the Practice of their Holy Religion. §. 1, 2.  
The Reason of this is the Predominancy of our Lusts and Appetites, and the want of their Regulation. §. 3.  
The Advantages of their Regulation, and the Possibility of it. §. 4, 5.  
The Design of the Author in order hereunto. §. 6  
Of the Two Natures in Man, the Spiritual and the Carnal. §. 7.  
Their Conjunction, and the Reasons of it. §. 8, 9, 10.  
Why God did not limit our Appetites to Good only. §. 11.  
Their Contrariety. ibid.  
The Heathens account of the Two Nature●. §. 12.  
What the Superior Faculties require of us, and our Duty thereupon. §. 13, 14.  
What Autarchy is, and wherein it consists. §. 15.  
St. Paul's account of it. §. 16.  
The Excellency of Autarchy. It is a sure Sign of a Child of God. The Foundation and Perfection of all true Religion. §. 17, 18.  
Six Rules of Autarchy, adapted to those that are not yet enslaved to the Tyranny of their Appetites. §. 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24.  
Some Considerations offered to the Habituated Sensualists, (who have lived long under the Slavery of their Appetites) in order to their Freedom. §. 25.  
A short Commendation of Autarchy. §. 26.   

THE CONTENTS OF THE SECOND PART. CONTAINING A Vindication of the Pleasures of Autarchy, etc.  
THE Preface. §. 1.  
Religion founded upon Spiritual and Inward Advantages, and the Promises of the Life to come, and is not so concerned in Weakness of the Arguments for its Outward Pleasures, which yet make it more acceptable. §. 2.  
The Complaints of the Sensualist against Religious Severities. §. 3  
An Examination of the pretended Pleasures of Sensualists. §. 4  
Of the Expectation of Sensual Pleasures. §. 5.  
Of their Fruition, and St. John' s Analysis of Sensuality, 1 Joh. 2. 16. §. 6.  
Of the Lusts of the Flesh. Of Gluttony, Drunkenness, and unlawful Lust. The Vanity of them. §. 7, 8.  
Of Covetousness. §. 9  
Of Ambition. §. 10.  
The Shortness, Uncertainty, and Dissatisfaction of Sensual Fruition. §. 11.  
The End of Sensual Enjoyments calamitous, etc. §. 12, 13.  
The Pleasures of Autarchy positively demonstrated. §. 14.  
It's outward Pleasures, and the Enjoyments of Regulated Sense. §. 15.  
The Objection from Poverty, etc. considered. §. 16.  
The inward Pleasures of Autarchy, and how it has Influence upon the Soul. §. 17.  
The inward Peace of the Soul obtained by Autarchy. §. 18, 19  
The pretended difficulties of Autarchy considered. §. 20, 21.  
Of the super-additional Miseries pretended to be laid upon all Pious Men. §. 22. to the End.   

THE CONTENTS OF THE THIRD PART. CONTAINING The Outward Advantages of Autarchy.  
THE Preface. §. 1.  
Of the threefold Advantage of Autarchy, viz. A Healthful and Long Life, Competency of Estate, and Respect and Honour. §. 2.  
Of Health and Long Life, and the natural Desire we have of it. §. 3.  
That it is the Gift of Autarchy, and that Sensuality destroys the Body. §. 4.  
The Objection concerning Mortification, Abnegation of the World, and the early Death of Good men, answered. §. 5.  
Of the Second outward Advantage of Autarchy, viz. Competency of Estate, and Sufficiency of Riches. How Autarchy conduces to outward Riches. §. 6.  
The Objection, concerning the Poverty of some Good men, and the Wealth of the Wicked, considered. §. 7.  
Two strange Effects of Autarchy, about Worldly Estates, that abundantly make Compensation. ibid.  
Of the Third outward Advantage of Autarchy, viz. A Good Name, Respect, and Honour. §. 8.  
Vice most dishonourable, proved in several Instances. §. 9  
Virtue and Wisdom exalts Men. §. 10.  
An Objection prevented. §. 11.  
Some other Benefits of Autarchy. §. 12.  
A Peroration and Review of all the Three Parts. Together with the Application to the Reader in several Particulars. §. 13.  
Autarchy not to be deferred or delayed, upon Five Considerations. §. 14.  
A Serious Exhortation to Autarchy. §. 15, 16.    

AUTARCHY: OR, THE ART of Self-Government.  
The First PART.  
WHEREIN The Nature of Autarchy is Explained, and the Rules of its Exercise laid down.  

§. 1. THO' the Religion that the Holy Jesus brought down from Heaven seemed contrived by Infinite Wisdom and Goodness, and adapted to render us innocent here, and happy hereafter; yet if you look into the World (into which you are, most dear Dorotheus, now ere long to enter, and in which you must live) you will find that most of those that havereceived, and do still zealously own this holy Profession, do yet live in the greatest opposition to it. Religion possesseth the Head, and not the Heart, and Men are mightily concerned about its Doctrines, but not at all about its Duties. It's power over Men, as to the conformity of their Lives, is much weakened and decayed, and the Spiritual Life ready to expire. Some Duties, 'tis true, are observed, out of Design; and its Outside, for some political Reasons, maintained; but if you draw the Curtain, and look into the inside of Men's Practice, there is little but what is counterfeit and Representations, Scenes and Shows. All the Noise that it makes, is from Men's loud Disputes, and its being bandied backward and forward betwixt opposite Parties; but for any real Use that there is made of it, there is little, but that it is made to be a stalking-horse for Ambition; to sanctify a bad Cause, and a cloak for its Deformity. It's holy Doctrines are silenced and laid to sleep; only now and then one taken up, and awakened to serve a Party, and then laid down again, when no longer useful.  
Nor is the Law of Christ only (the Perfection of all Laws) but that of Nature and common Equity also violated amongst us. Property and Selfishness hath engrossed all Hearts, so that whatsoever can be got either by Fraud or Violence, and possessed without danger of the Law, is counted our own; and what we account to be out own, we think we may use as we please. Indeed there is a rude notion of Justice among the Vulgar, but it is only pleaded when they think they are injured; and exerted when they are like to be Gainers by it: But as for Truth (a piece of Justice we own to all Men) there is little or no regard to it (especially in deal); but Men swear, lie and dissemble, and will maintain that there is a necessity so to do. Hence it is, that Oaths (which were of old Sacred) are now of no Validity; yea, and the common use of Speech, in bargains, is to no purpose: Lying is become so clamorous, that it hath took away our Senses, and we had as good be deaf and dumb as hear and talk among Men: And then for Charity (that Godlike Virtue) the highest notion of it is quite lost amongst us, and we never give but when natural compassion wrings it out of our hands.  
Mean while Ambition is restless, and rages so in the World that it overturns whole Kingdoms, and buries thousands in their Ruins: and Pride (that reigns among all Sects and in all shapes) will not suffer us to know ourselves, or be quiet with others: And besides these, there is such a deluge of inhuman Vices (for so I call those that are unworthy of Man, and below the Beast) broken in upon us from Hell, that no Pen is able to describe, no Virtue oppose: for Man is become the greatest Enemy to himself, and cruelly wounds his own Being; so that the Love of ourselves can serve no longer as a rule to measure our Love to others by, and the Apostle's assertion (No man ever yet hated his own Flesh) seems not to hold in our times. In a word, we are sunk below Heathenism, while Turks and Infidels upbraid us. Impiety hath overrun the World, and our blessed Lord's Prophecy is too much verified, Matt. 24. 10, 11, etc. 'Tis time than that those days should be shortened, that any Flesh should be saved; and that he should hasten his coming, for he shall hardly find his Faith upon the Earth.   

§. 2. And yet after all, it must be confessed that this general Apostasy of the greatest part of Mankind cannot be laid to the charge of God, or to any defect in revealed Religion. He hath fenced and cultivated his Vineyard, though it brings forth▪ wild Grapes, and hath used all means possible to save us but one, and that is such an irresistible Grace upon all Men, which some have fancied to be bestowed upon those that are effectually called; such I mean as would carry us to Heaven by force, and save us whether we will or no. His Precepts are holy and just, and require of us nothing but what is reasonable to be exacted, and feasible to be done: besides, his Commands are certainly our Interest as well as Duty; they are such as would settle Peace and Prosperity amongst Men, restore the golden Age, and make every Man happy with his Neighbour and happy in himself; they enjoin nothing but Love, Peace, Meekness, Long-suffering and Courtesy amongst all men, and would necessarily banish Hatred, Malice, and revenge, and all the inimical Vices from humane Society: And to render him happier yet, by Sobriety and Temperance they would settle Health in his Body, and Peace and Contentment in his Soul. All this the Christian Religion doth upon great and precious Promises, both of this Life and of that which is to come, and upon Threats proportionable to its Promises; by which Means, and by the powerful Ministry of those appointed to this Service, God hath secured to himself in all Ages some Witnesses of the inherent Power and Energy of Piety; which like so many stars, adorn and enlighten our dark Times.   

§. 3. It may now be justly enquired into, why so amiable and reasonable a Religion, so profitable to every Man, and suited to his true Interest, should not have the same Influence upon all, and captivate every understanding? Why the same cause should not have the same effect, and the same Means prove successful to every one that uses it? especially seeing there is no fatal sentence to the contrary, nor do any labour under eternal Fetters, which binds their Hands from receiving what is offered to them? One would think that the same advantageous Pardon should be embraced by every rational Creature, and the same Word prove alike; not the savour of Life to some and of of Death to others. And certainly the fault must be in ourselves only, and in the indisposition of the Patient, which may produce contrary Effects: For thus, the same Heat melts down Wax and hardens Clay. Nor is this Indisposition generally in our Reason and Understanding, but in our Affections. We all know the Will of God and our own Interests well enough, and accordingly we should resolve upon a new Life, and perform our Resolutions; but, alas! Man is not usually Master of himself, and of his own Intentions. The Government that God hath settled in us is sore shattered, if not quite dissolved. His Viceroy (Reason) is under confinement; and the Senses seduced from their duty; the Appetites (like dissolute Janissaries in an Interregnum) domineer and carry all before them; and the Passions, like the Mobb, pretend to settle the State, and make such a Noise, that the soft Messages of Peace, though from God, cannot be heard: for, First, Man is usually brought under bondage to the Earthly part, and the higher Faculties captivated by the lower; he is carnal and sold under Sin, and so cannot do what he would: The Fall of Adam has weakened his spiritual Powers, and brought them down, so that they stand upon even ground with the lower Appetites; and Custom and a slavish yielding up our native Freedom have made us absolute Slaves to our sensual Part. And hence it is, that though we are convinced of the Necessity and Benefit of Virtue before, and of Repentance after we have offended, and promise, and (perhaps sincerely) intent to act accordingly, yet after all we fail in our Performances, and break our Resolutions. The next Temptation bears all our Vows and Faith away with it; we have disabled ourselves, and (being under a kind of Confinement) can promise much, but perform nothing. And then, Secondly, Sensuality being got into the Throne fortifies itself there, with specious declarations of the lawfulness of its Title; and possesses the poor deluded with the mighty hopes of its Profits, Pleasures, and Advantages. It represents the Comforts of Eat, Drink, and be Merry, to the utmost advantage: It cries up the Felicity of sinful Freedom, and is always inculcating the Severities and Chains of Virtue. It represents Religion, sour and austere, and draws her picture, like Magdalene, always weeping. By these her false Representations, and the Echoes of the Appetite, poor Reason cannot be heard. Hence it is that we first entertain, and (by conversation) begin to love, and then  on, and at last espouse our Vices, not to be separated as long as the Body and Soul hold together. Thus we are fallen since we came into this World as well as before, and Adam was not the only Betrayer of himself and his Posterity.   

§. 4. In this Condition, 'twould be a great piece of Charity and Justice to restore the Captive Prince, and break those Fetters wherewith the rational part is bound up; to restore the Man to that state that God made and intended he should live in; that the Soul might govern the Body, and the reasonable Will the Appetite; so that he might live as a rational Creature, and act as one that is moved upon future Hopes and Fears, and not upon present Enjoyments without respect to the fatal Consequences thereof: For, if the Man were but brought to himself, and to the use of his Understanding, Virtue and Piety would find as ready entertainment as now Vice doth. He would then exercise his Reason instead of Sense, and consider the end of vicious Actions; the present Enjoyment and future Reward would be brought into the Balance, and Hell and Heaven considered as well as present Earth. The Inclinations to sin would be less forcible, and the propensities of Nature which arise out of Appetites would draw but moderately, and tho' they had a proper Motion, yet they would submit to the stronger Power of the first Mover. Righteous Reason would then sit enthroned, and give sentence according to our true Interest present and to come, and the Will having once determined, whole Nature would move forcibly towards the Object; there would be no hanging back towards Sodom, or hankering after the fleshpots of Egypt: Men would go on in Piety cheerfully, and run the way of God's Commandments having their Hearts enlarged. 'Tis the Empire of the Soul, and the Power of managing the Body to our spiritual Advantages, with its attendant Desires (whichin the ensuing papers I would to the utmost of my power contribute to) that can only restore Piety and Innocency to the World. For Autarchy is a preparation of the heart for Virtue, and cultivates, tills, and sweetens this our spiritual Ground towards an Increase of manifold.   

§. 5. Nor is this Lesson so hard, much less insuperable, but what is and must be daily practised in secular Affairs of this Life, so that we cannot be Men, or live without it. We cannot enjoy all things, and therefore must deny ourselves many things: and what is done upon worldly considerations, may sure be done more easily upon those that are spiritual, by how much these are more considerable than the other, and God is more ready to serve us with his assisting Grace in this his own Work. Besides, this cannot be difficult to Youth, who having not contracted any inveterate habits of Sensuality, are more at liberty: Nor can it be unattainable to Manhood, who, having passed over the Vanities of Youth, commonly choose what is profitable; much less to Old-Age, who have now no delight in Vanities, nor pleasure in them. Thus every Age hath its advantages as well as disadvantages, that no Man may complain that Self-Government is absolutely impossible. However let every Man of what Degree or Age, consider that this Duty is necessary, not only to this Life, but to that which is to come; and that the Grace of God (that bringeth Salvation) teaches us that we should deny all Ungodliness and worldly Lusts, and live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present World.   

§. 6. This then (my Dorotheus) being my present work, the end of this triple Essay, and the mark which each Discourse aims at: I shall,  
I. Explain the Nature of this Duty, and lay down the Rules of its Practice.  
II. Vindicate it from the Imputations of Austerity, Sourness, Tyranny, and other the accusations of Voluptuousness. And if I act not only defensively but offensively, and make now and then an Incursion into the Territories of Sensuality, carry away her Pretences captive, and expose them to Contempt; it will conduce to the Establishment of Autarchy in every Man's Heart, who shall be open to receive her.  
III. I shall consider the outward Advantages of Autarchy, and settle her right to all things which are desirable in this World. All which put together will be a sufficient Explanation and Defence of Autarchy, whose Cause I have undertaken. And this I shall include in Three Letters, which shall be as Three several Stages; at the end of each of which the Reader may sit down, rest himself, and consider what hath been taught him.   

§. 7 I. To begin with the Nature of Autarchy, or Self-Government. That I may lay a good Foundation and view the Fountain of these sweet and bitter Waters that flow from the same Composition; you must know, that as every Man is made up of a double Nature, the Soul and Body; so he may find in himself a twofold Principle of Apprehension, Understanding and Sense; as also, of Inclination and Tendency, the Will and the Appetite; the First proceeding from the Spiritual, the Second from the Carnal part; that truly Angelical, this common with us to the Beasts below us.  
The First, is the Heavenly or Spiritual Part of Man, the chief Faculty of which is the Understanding, which the Greek Philosophers call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Imperial or Governing Faculty, because its Office is to guide the blind and heedless earthly Part, with its Lusts and Appetites, as the Rider doth the Horse with Bit and Bridle, or the Mariner doth the Ship with the Helm and Compass. This is the celestial Part, and directs us to desire nothing but what is really good for us, both as to the present and future time; I mean, to fear our Creator, keep his Commandments, live virtuously and soberly here, and, consequently, happily hereafter; and, for the attainment of future Happiness, to deny ourselves such Pleasures and Enjoyments as would in the end endanger it. Thus we are taught to abhor Poison, though made up in the most sweet and delicious Potion: And even the Vulgar (though otherwise sufficiently inclinable thereunto) shall, upon these grounds, deny themselves Mirth, Leisure, Jollity, and other Delights of the Body; and, instead of these, apply themselves to Labour and Hardship, till they have made them habitual; and this, not because they hate the the first, and love the latter, but because they are sensible that their Purse or Body will not hold out in their pursuits. And thus also the Christian (governing himself according to the dictates of the Spiritual Nature, and acting as a rational Creature, upon Arguments drawn from future Hopes and Expectations, as well as from present good) abstains from un●ust Gains and unlawful Pleasures, and bridles his Natural Inclinations to any thing that may offend his God or his Neighbour. And this he continues to do, till he hath at last broken a Feral Nature to the Bit and Bridle, and made a kind of Habit of Piety.  
The Second is the Sensual Nature arising out of the counterpart of Man, the Body. This is the Terrestrial Part, and incites us to desire present Pleasure (or at least that which seems to be so to us) without any consideration of its Consequents or Effects: For the brutish Part ●n Man is the same with that in Beasts; uncapable of the future Prospect of Good and Evil, and fully satisfied with what is present. So truly Bestial is this lower part of our Nature, that it admits not of Hopes or Fears, but tends greedily to present Enjoyment. This is that Conduit, by which the Devil conveys his Temptations into us, and the Instrument by which we destroy ourselves: Hence it is, that we know no Moderation in the use of animal Pleasures; but run into that Excess, from whence proceeds the dreadful Catalogue of Crimes which St. Paul enumerates as The Fruits of the Flesh, Gal. 5. 19, 20, 21.   

§. 8. It may be here questioned, by some, (with more Curiosity, perhaps, than Profit, were it not that we should be jealous over every thing that might eclipse the Divine Goodness) Why th● ever Gracious and Merciful Deity should infuse the Pure Spirit, fresh, new-created, and immaculate into the defiled Vessels of the Body? Why should he join such 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, such disagreeing Natures, the Heavenly to the Earthly Vehicle, there to lose not only its Glory but Innocency? For what is this, but Mezentius like, (might Atheism object) to join the living and dead Bodies together, that the one might die leisurely, but infallibly, by the Putrefaction of the other? or, to put an undefiled Virgin (innocent and unknowing of Sin) into the Stews, where she shall meet with Temptations of all sorts to solicit her Chastity, and from whence, morally, it is impossible for her to escape unpolluted?  
'Tis true, the Doctrine of the continual Creation of humane Souls, and their Infusion into Bodies, is obvious to these and other mighty Prejudices, as that of their Traduction is to greater; and therefore some thoughtful Men have revived a long-since-forgotten Hypothesis of the Creation of all humane Souls, together with the Angels, and other invisible Being's before that of the visible, of their Lapse from their Primitive Integrity (as likewise did the Angels, and Mankind after both) and (after a long time of Inactivity) of their being sent down to Bodies diversely circumstantiated according to their several demerits, there to grind in their Prison-houses till Time had worn out, and the Divine Pity forgiven them their Crimes; till Grace and the Exercise of Virtue had revived the Celestial Fire, and the lost Image of God in them, etc. This is the Prae-existentian Doctrine, which, (they say) would fitly solve all the doubts about the Goodness of God in our Origination, and dissolve all that Darkness that seems to obscure the Face of Providence. I mention not this Opinion because I would oblige any Man to believe it, but for its Novelty as to most Men, and for its Ingenuity; nor would I persuade you to it, if you can clea● the Divine Goodness or Justice without it: For it is not only the Privilege of the Schools to dispute, but of every Christian modestly to opine freely of things undefin'd by God and his Church. B●● seeing this Hypothesis receives so littl● Light from revealed Religion that it i● generally looked upon as the Product o● Fancy, I shall endeavour to untie th● Knot in plainer Terms, and upon mor● allowed Principles; wherein I must ye● run back as high as the Fall of Angels.   

§. 9 When Heaven, by the Lapse o● so many of its Inhabitants, first, into a state of Sin, and then, into that o● Punishment (bound up in everlasting Chains against the Judgement of the grea● Day) became something empty, and the Celestial Powers were reduced to a lesser Number; it pleased the Creator of al● things, in order to the filling up of those Vacancies, to make a Race of Creatures of a mixed and middle Nature, a little lower than the Angels, and yet higher than the Beasts that perish: Man I mean, Partaker of both the Heavenly and Earthly Natures united together; that the Earthly Part might teach him Humility, to avoid the aspiring thoughts, and so the Fate of the lapsed Angels; and that the Heavenly Part might exalt his Thoughts, and lift them up to God his Creator: As his Strength and Endowments were lesser than those of the Angels, so were his Failures less fatal than theirs: He was placed in a state, (not of Condemnation, in case of disobedience, as they were; but) of Falls and Recoveries, of Sin and Repentance: His Station was not so high as theirs, lest, if he fell, his Fall might prove (like theirs) Final; and yet high enough to make his Recovery a Work, not a Pastime; and a Work of that Difficulty, to require the Help of a Divine Saviour. Thus his very Composition became his advantage; and his Earthly Part, with its attendant Lusts and Temptations, became accidentally the Cause of all the Mercies he hath received ever since. To which I may add—  
That as he consists of two opposite Principles, so each must have its peculiar Law or Inclination in opposition one to another. That of the Spirit and that of the Flesh, each tending, as it were, to its proper Centre; the one inviting him upwards, the other downwards: For each Nature would be incomplete, without its attendant Inclinations and Fruitions to caress it: The Spiritual would be as good as dead, without its Intellect and Prospect, and consequently, Desires of Future Good; and the Earthly part had as good cease to be, as cease to be sensible of Earthly Pleasures. If we could not experiment the Delights of Seeing, Hearing, Tasting, etc. how dull and flat would our Lives be? like a Play without Scenes or Intrigue, without the Passions of Love or Hatred, or any thing to move the Spectators. 'Tis then not only out of a Principle of giving each Nature its Perfections, but also for the Comfort of both, that God hath endued us with Sense and Appetite, as well as Reason: For these take off the Acerbities of Life, and render it tolerable; they support the Body and Mind under all the Pressures that God lays upon both under the Sun. Without these Life would not be worth the Acceptance when proffered, or Preservation when accepted of.   

§. 10. And that which perfectly rebates the Objection against the Goodness of God, is this, That there is no necessity of Sinning intended to be imposed upon us: for our Appetites and Passions are not sinful in themselves, nor directly and simply incite us to it; but by accident, when put in a Commotion and Rage, and when the Reins are lose and broken, like the Horses of the Sun, when a foolish Phaeton undertakes their Management, which would otherwise bless that World with Light and Influence, which it now burns up: Or like the Blood in a ferment, that sometimes destroys that Body it daily nourishes. 'Tis their Nature, 'tis true, to desire to be satisfied, and move strongly towards that Object they would enjoy, (else we should have no Love or Hatred) but they are designed for Subjection, and not for Government; to hunt after that Game to which illuminated Nature directs them and to be called off, or hastened when a Superior Power shall think fit: For, when under subjection, they may become subservient even to Religion itself, and, like the Gibeonites, they may be Hewers of wood, and drawers of water for the House and Altar of God.  
This aught to satisfy every modest Enquirer, who, though he cannot comprehend the exact reasons of his own Origination (alas how should he!) must confess that he is not only fearfully and wonderfully, but graciously made, and a Monument of God's Bounty and Mercy. That his Creator is good to him in particular, as well as to all things in general; and that his tender Mercy is over all his Works. I have taken the more pains to remove this Stumbling-block from the Entrance of this Discourse, which yet St. Paul doth in fewer words, with this short unanswerable Question (for the Christian Romans in those times were not so full of Cavils as we are) Shall the thing form say unto him that form it, why hast thou made me thus?   

§. 11. If it be further questioned, Why God did not limit our Passions and Appetites when he first bestowed them upon us, so as to make it not possible for them to hurry us into any Sin or Danger? The Answer will be short and easy. We are made Men and not Angels, and placed in a mutable condition, capable of Bliss and Misery; and if God had so bounded our Appetites, that they were incapable of Excess, we should have been in an Immutable condition, like those confirmed, blessed Spirits above; a Privilege that they themselves were not thought worthy of, till they had been tried, and had resisted the Temptations and Threats of Lucifer and his Apostate Angels. There is no free Nature but must have a time of probation, before it be rewarded or punished. Our Life here is like the Children of Israel's; we are led through the Wilderness of this World, attended by our Folly and our Fears on our left hand and our right, to prove us, and to know what is in our Heart, whether we will keep the Commandment or not. And when this time of exercise and probation is over, we are called off the Stage, and are either freed or condemned. Besides, were there no possibility of Sin, there could be no Virtue, and so no Reward as well as Punishment: For if there were no Tempter or Enemy, there could be no Trial, no Fight, no Victory, and so no Reward; nor could even a St. Paul have challenged his Crown of Glory, but upon the account of his having fought a good Fight, finished his Course, and kept the Faith. No wonder than that Man should have Enemies within him as well as without; these serve to awaken his Care, make him stand upon his Guard, and fight the good fight of Faith. Thus the Children of Israel had the Canaanites to be their near Neighbours, and the same Land (like Humane Nature) maintained two contrary Inhabitants.  
And as there was no League made to be betwixt these Nations, but a continual War, so there is between the two Natures in us; the Spirit wars against the flesh, and the flesh against the Spirit, which St. Paul elegantly describes, in his own Name, under the Person of one unregenerate, and in the state of Nature, in the seventh Chapter of the Romans. Indeed Advantages may, and must be taken; the Canaanite must be subdued and brought under Subjection. And though (to carry the Parallel a little higher) all Commerce with the seven Nations were forbidden, and a total Abolition of their Name from under Heaven, was enjoined at the first time; yet when the Israelites had once declined to favour their Idolatry, the Angel of God brings this sorrowful Message to Bochim, That now they must not be totally driven out, but remain as Thorns in their sides, and their Altars as snares unto them; and this to prove them and try their Integrity: So since the fall of Adam, and the degeneracy of his Posterity, no lasting and final Victory can be obtained; nor can corrupt Nature be absolutely rooted out, till Mortality be swallowed up of Life, and Death delivers us from the body of this Death. The Seeds of Vices must remain even in the Regenerate and the Fire of Concupiscence, though allayed of its Heat, and covered up in its Ashes: For all that Piety can do in this life, is to keep it down, and make it a useful Servant; to regulate it, and render it beneficial to us. And as in every Kingdom Plots and Cabals will be, and some Dissatisfactions, Commotions, and Tendencies to Rebellion; so must the Man of God stand upon his Watch, and be prepared to suppress every Emotion; if he can break the strength of the Foe, and scatter his troops whensoever they make head, 'tis as much as God (whose Deputy he is) requires of him; and this during his whole Life, till Death (calling him off his Watch) relieves him.   

§. 12. Of this continual War in Man, not only the Philosophers of old, under the state of Nature have taught much and excellently; but even the Heathen Poets (the most ingenious, but boldest and worst of Men, that durst represent the Deity more vicious and brutish, perhaps, than themselves) have taken notice of it: And therefore, according to their witty way of Allegory, they called the Higher Faculties Prometheus, and the Lower Epimetheus, and of them they tell us this pleasant but instructive Fable. 
* Hesiod. op. & dies.  That, (once upon a time) this Prometheus stole Fire from Heaven (viz. Wisdom and Knowledge) to enliven the Man of Clay that he had made; upon which Jupiter was very wroth (though I cannot understand why, unless he were envious at Man's good, a Character good enough for a Poet's Jupiter) and sent Pandora (viz. Pleasures) a beautiful but deceitful Female, to Epimetheus, his younger Brother, with a fine Box or Vessel as a Present; Prometheus foresees the fraudulent malice of Jupiter, and advises him to send back his Present with the false Bearer of it, the one being as deceitful as the other; but Epimetheus, greedy of the Beauty and Jewels both, that he might at once sacrifice both to his Lust and Avarice, receives the Woman and accepts her Present; which when he had opened, out flew all the Evils both of Body and Mind, which have ever since afflicted poor Mankind. I have mentioned this Fable in a Serious Discourse, because the true History of it seems to be the Fall of our First Parents, and the Moral of it the State of every sensual, sinful Man; of him, I mean, whose Epimetheus governs, and contrary to the Monitions of the Superior Faculties, entertains the Woman, opens her Box, and let's lose those Plagues that must worry him.  
But, without a Fable, (though in one) Ovid brings in his Medea thus complaining of the Torture she endured in this Conflict:  — Trahit invitam nova vis, aliudque cupido, Mens aliud suadet; video melier a proboque, Deteriora sequor, etc. Met. l. 7. 
Which is almost in the same Words, and altogether in the same Sense with that of the holy Apostle. That which I do I allow not; for what I would do, that do I not; and what I hate, that do I. Rom. 7. 15.   

§. 13. And now (after a long, but I hope not tedious, Discourse of the Opposition of the two Natures, that make up our compositum, and the Reasons thereof) 'tis but time to draw nearer that I chief aim at, and to let you know what your Superior Faculties (or rather God by them) require of you: and this is no other but the subjugating of your Passions and Appetites in order to your threefold Duty, to God, to your Neighbour, and to yourself. Whey prohibit you (in the First place) all those Pleasures, Diversions, and Alienations of Mind, which usually obstruct the Love of God, his Fear, and Honour. They forbidden (in the Second place) all immoderate Desires of Gain, which may tempt you to break the Laws of Justice and Charity, and will teach you to deny yourself those things which stand in opposition to either. But their chiefest concern is (Thirdly) in the regimen of yourself (which is the ground of both the other) that you observe the great Duty of Moderation and Temperance, be guided by your Reason, and that you be able to make Resolutions and observe them when they are made.  
For these Ends and Purposes, as a rational Creature and a Christian, you are to settle in yourself this high Court of Judicature, and a constant, firm Resolution of submitting yourself to its Determinations. 'Tis a great Virtue to resolve well, but 'tis a greater to be able inviolably to observe our Resolutions. It is the greatest part of Wisdom, and requires our utmost force and strength to stick to a Resolve well taken. This is indeed our common Failure, and yet he is not a Men that cannot do this: A Man cannot be just to himself who is unconstant to his own Purposes; the Will originally is the Follower of the Understanding, and it is as good (nay better) to be without an Intellect (as the inferior Creatures are) than to ask her Advice and not to follow it. The only hindrance to this great Duty is the Importunities of Sense, and the Pleas of Pleasure, Profit, and corporeal Satisfaction. Let these be kept under and in obedience, and then you will be capable to observe this great and necessary Rule following. Resolve on nothing but by the Advice of righteous Reason, and when you have resolved once, let nothing in Nature be able to divert the execution, but a countermand from the same Authority.   

§. 14. Whensoever therefore you are invited to any Action contrary to the Laws of God or Man, your great care must be suppress and conquer that Motion; and that as speedily and zealously as you would Fire in your house, or a Rebellion breaking out in your Kingdom; as tending immediately to the destruction of the whole. To this purpose you must stop every wand'ring or wanton thought, every inconsiderate word, and every intended Action, (for surely if Words are to be considered twice, according to the Grecian Orator's Rule, Thoughts deserve one, and Actions three Examinations) and bring it before the supreme Bar of Righteous and Impartial Reason. The Rules of Examination are the Laws of God and Man, which are, in respect of Morality, plain and easy: And here the Golden Rule (that general Director of all our Actions, among Men especially) with which our Lord concludes his divine Sermon in the Mount, is of universal Use, Whatsoever ye would that Men should do to you, do you even the same to them; for this is the Law and the Prophets. Matt. 7. If your deceitful Heart disguise the Action, consult a rectified Conscience, and apply this (Lydius Lapis) this Touchstone to it, and the counterfeit will soon appear, and you may make a discovery. If you find it an Amalekite, spare it not for Favour or Affection; no nor upon the Account of Religion itself, but utterly destroy it. Without a metaphor, suppress both your Passions and Appetites whensoever you perceive them to interfere with your Duty and lead you into any Sin. This is that which the Greeks call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, as if nothing were true Wisdom but this. The Latins call it Temperantia, Temperance or Government. The first of these (Wisdom) is usually taken in a larger Signification, and comprehends this and other Duties: The latter (Temperance) signifies, in common use, but a part of this Duty, the moderate use of Meats and Drink, etc. And therefore I have made bold to introduce two 
* Autarchy, Autocracy.  Words into our Language comprehensive of the Duty I teach you, and which will include the Regimen of the irascible and concupisciple Passions, I mean Autarchy and Autocracy, both which signify Self-Government.   

§. 15. Autarchy then is no other but the exercise of that Power that the Soul hath over the Body, and the higher Faculties over the lower Appetites in order to the Practice of Virtue and Piety: As it respects our Duty to God it is subservient to Devotion, and, by its Punishments and holy Revenges upon the rebellious Appetites, it performs the severest part of the great Duty of Repentance. As it respects our Duty to our Neighbour, it represses the Emotions to Covetousness, and teaches us to know what is that which is sufficient for us: It rebates all Inclinations to Injustice, and obliges us to the Golden Rule; it abates the Swell of Self-conceit, and Philauty, and consequently keeps Peace amongst Men; for Pride and Selfishness are generally the Causes of all Wars and of Quarrels, Dissensions, yea and of all the Schisms in Religion, of all the evil Words and invidious Actions with which foolish Mortals torment themselves and others. And lastly, in respect of ourselves, it teaches us to measure ourselves by just Rules and Proportions, and not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think, but to think soberly: to judge meanly of ourselves and of our own Endowments and Deserts (for we are, or may be too well acquainted with our own private Failures and Lapses) and charitably of other Men, because we know not theirs; and thus it lays the Foundation of Humility that great Christian as well as moral Virtue. It represses Anger, prevents Malice, and regulates the irascible Passions; and so is nothing less than Meekness and Lowliness, the two specific Graces of the Holy Jesus. It quenches the Heats of Lust, and defends us from those Legions of Tormentors, that are Consequents of it. It makes us to possess our Vessels, the Body, in Sanctification, not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 (as the Original words it) in the Passions of furious and unbridled Desires. It guards us from Gluttony and Drunkenness, and (teaching the right use of Meats and Drinks) prescribes the necessary Rules of Quantity and Quality. Briefly, there is no Virtue or Grace but what it labours for, and which doth not stand in need of its Assistance, and no part of Religion but what it serves.— And all this it doth by watching over the Passions, to prevent Tumult, and punish Insurrections; by keeping the rain in the mouth of the Beast, and the Appetites in due subjection. Thus Autarchy is Custos Pacis, the Keeper of the public Peace in the little World, the Defender of Virtue, and a Magistrate bearing the Sword of Punishment (where it governs) not in vain.   

§. 16. This is that Christian Duty that St. Paul calls Mortification or killing of the deeds of the Body, through the help and power of the Spirit, Rom. 8. 13. in order to the Heavenly Life. And these Deeds or Actions of the Body which are to be mortified, are in another Place called our Members that are upon the Earth, Coll. 3. 5. because the Earthly part useth them as Members of the Body of Sin, and operates by them: Of these he reckons there only the concupiscible Passions, when contaminated and ungoverned, as Fornication, Uncleanness, inordinate Affection, evil Concupiscence, and Covetousness which is Idolatry: and the Irascible, in the eighth verse following. This is the Crucifixion of the old man, [called so, because we brought it into the World with us, whereas Regeneration and the Spiritual Life begin in Baptism] and the destruction of the body of Sin. Rom. 6. 6. This is the Crucifixion of the Flesh, or earthly Part, with its Affections and Lusts, which he mentions to his Galatians, c. 5. v. 24. By all which words (viz. destroying, mortifying, crucifying, etc.) he means no other than keeping the Body in subjection, and the exercise of the Duty of Autarchy. To which purpose he gives you his own Example, 1 Cor. 9 27. I keep under my Body, [by Fasting, and other Spiritual Exercises] and bring it into subjection [to the Soul, the Heavenly Part, whose Office and Charge it is to govern], lest while I preach to others, I myself should become a Castaway.  
And indeed as this our Apostle laboured more abundantly than all the other; so were his Sufferings proportionable, both by land and water, of strangers and of his own Countrymen; yet his Autarchy or Self-Government was that which made him endure all, not only with Patience, but with Glory. He used his Body to suffering, whihc made it become habitual to him; and amongst all those Pressures that he underwent for Christ, (some of which he himself mentions, 1 Cor. 11.) those he imposed upon himself, (because he imposed them upon himself, and voluntarily chose them) were so much the more glorious. Thus he was crucified with Christ, before he was beheaded at Rome; and was made a Partner in his Sufferings, and conformable to his Death, though never crucified. Thus he was not only able to do, but to suffer all things, through Christ that strengthened him; and his Conquest of himself first, made him more than Conqueror. This was the Original from whence the first Christians took the Copy of all their Fast, Discipline, and other voluntary Severities they put upon themselves: Exercises now quite out-dated, nay ridiculed, and called superstitious by an impious Pretence to Christian Liberty: Their Austerities and Fast, their Penances and holy Revenges, their Retirements and Self-denials were only to dis-arm the Enemy within, and to render the Fleshly part unable to hinder their Course of Piety; and that which they all their lives aimed at, and which we should also (if we would be as happy as they) was only Autarchy.   

§. 17. This is not only the great duty and end of all Moral Philosophy, and Practical Divinity, but a certain Sign of True Piety: Others are sometimes false, sometimes frivolous; this cannot deceive us. Men miss commonly in the Notion of Religion, and, leaving the Essence of it, follow its Shadow, and dote upon its Counterfeit: For if a Man can but express an outward Zeal, though it be nothing in comparison of the Pharisaic Order of old for the Law of Moses; if he can but look demurely, and counterfeit a Seriousness; if he can pour out abundance of bold talk about God (though it be hardly Sense); lament the Iniquity of the times (that is, slander and backbite his Superiors); and sanctify all his Raillery with shaking his Head, a Sigh, or a Groan; if a Man can do this (I say) he must be a Saint, an elect person, holy and beloved, etc. though, in the mean time, his Heart be as full of Extortion and Excess, as the Pharisees, those painted Sepulchers, were of old; though he can give his Tongue liberty to slander, and his Heart to envy; though his Passions be untamed, his Appetites unrestrained every where but in publicls. The truth is, Autarchy (when exercised for the sake of Religion) is a certain Sign, and the distinguishing Property of a Child of God, and all other Signs are delusive: no Man can be either religious or wise without it. For true Religion gins within, and subdues the Passions and Affections; is not clamorous, rash, fierce or envious (as well as) not voluptuous, wanton or unclean; The Wisdom which is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of Mercy and good Fruits, and without Partiality or Hypocrisy, Jam. 3. 17. He that brings his Body with its Lusts and Appetites into Subjection to the Spirit, (so that he allows of nothing either unlawful or inconvenient) he that endeavours above all to obtain a pure Heart, and a right Spirit, and to this end purifies himself as God is pure; that visits the Fatherless and the Widows in their Affliction, and keeps himself unspotted from the World (which is St. James' Notion of True Religion and Undefiled before God); this Man (notwithstanding some Errors in his Judgement, and Heterodoxes in Opinion) can be no other but a Son of God, and an Heir of Heaven: for they are Christ's that have crucified the Flesh, with the Affections and Lusts.   

§. 18. And as Autarchy is a sure sign, so it is the Foundation and Beginning of all true Religion; whatsoever is not built upon this is founded upon the Sand, and will fall in time of Temptation: Profession without this is like an Impostume, it looks red, big, and fiery, and is a mighty Pain to the Professor, but within it is full of crude Humours and Impurities which will at last break out into an Ulcer. Nay I will go further, and venture to say, That it is not only the Bottom, but the Top of all Religion, and its Perfection. Go, sell what thou hast (saith our blessed Lord to the Youngman in the Gospel, who bragged of keeping all the Commandments from his Youth up to that time) and give the Money to the Poor, if thou wouldst be perfect. Try whether thou canst deny thyself and part with thy beloved Mammon upon the Hopes and Promises of Possessions that are above? Whether thy Soul or thy Body, thy rational Faculties, or thy Appetite govern in thee? Whether thou canst so far conquer as to deny thyself this World for the next? For if thou canst do but this one thing, there will be nothing wanting, but thou shalt become perfect, and my Disciple indeed, etc.  
And if Autarchy be such as I have represented it, no wonder that it seems hard: Difficulty puts a price upon Virtue, and even Heaven would not be so, were it of easy Ascent, and the acquest of every idle Drone. Autarchy is too great a Duty to be the work of every common Pretender to Christianity; and yet it is not hard but easy, easy to him that is resolute and faithful to his best Thoughts, easy to him that is exercised therein; of which more (it may be) hereafter. In the mean time let this be your Comfort, That it is not so hard but it is easily practicable, and that it makes all other Duties easy.  
And now to apply all this to yourself and all others (for whose sakes I have thus at large traced the Hostilities originally founded in our Nature and our Duty thereupon.) 'Tis certainly every Man's Interest as soon as he comes to the stature of a Man, and to years of Understanding, to consider what he is? and why sent hither? that so he may lay the Foundation of a wise and honest Life, and give a good account thereof to his Creator. And that you may do this the better, I will, in the Close of this Paper, commend unto you and all other Readers, these Rules and Cautions.   

§. 19 First, You are therefore, in the first place, to maintain religiously the Rights of the supreme Judicature, and submit to it: And this by a firm and fixed resolution worthy of the Courage of a Man, acting according to the Dictates of his Understanding and not Sense; for such a Man will die, rather than desert his Reason; but of this before, etc. Consent not therefore to any thing that your Reason condemns, either as unlawful or inconvenient, though ever so delightful or advantageous, let the Importunities of Sense be ever so great, that of Friends ever so earnest, or Example ever so general. Some Men are of a Nature, stiff, morose, and resolute, not without a seeming Mixture of Pride and Contempt; these are hardly to be advised or persuaded; and they would in this respect be happy, if they could always take up the best Resolutions, because they are best able to keep them: Others are of a soft, easy, and bashful Nature, apt to be persuaded, and to comply with Customs and Counsels, though to the prejudice sometimes of their Reason; they are loath to deny and afraid to disoblige, being too good Natured to strive as well in Virtue as other things: The first are like hard Wax, not to be dissolved but by Force of fire; the second, like that which is soft, are apt to be worked into any shape by warmth and kindness. Though the first be deservedly abhorred as an Enemy to common Courtesy and humane Nature; yet considering the Policy of the Devil and his Instruments, it were to be wished that our Nature be not so sweet and pliable as to ruin us, but had (at sometime especially) something of Sourness and Morosity. If therefore you find yourself too apt to yield and melt into a Compliance, you ought to borrow a little Boldness, Self-Opinion, and Contempt of others, to fortify yourself against their Seductions. The Question is only whether you will be governed by your own Reason, or others Folly, and there is no question to which of these you ought to adhere: even Shame and Modesty have their Evils and Extremes, and something of Confidence is requisite to Constancy; do not therefore disparage your own Prudence so much, as to steer after every pretended Mariner's direction, but pursue the Methods of your own Reason; let others do as they please, do you act according to the dictates of your own Judgement, and take heed of being self-condemned: For if you act conscientiously, and according to your best Light, without any sinister ends, I will not say you cannot err, but this I am confident of, That God will not condemn you if you do, though it be much. I don't know but I may extend this Rule to Opinions and Controversies in Religion, but at present I intent it of moral Actions in Opposition to the Seducements of Sense. 'Tis hard (you'll say) to take up, and harder to keep a Resolution in opposition to the Solicitations of Pleasure and Profit, yea and of a Man's Native Inclinations. 'Tis so, I confess; and yet sure this would not prove so hard a Work, if you take care in the second place to   

§. 20. Secondly, Begin betimes to subdue your Appetites, and use them to the Yoke, from your Youth; you well remember the Example of bending a twig whilst it is such, and the Lesson that is inculcated from thence of early Exercise. The Sensual part when reduced into subjection young, doth become tractable and obedient, and will grow so; whereas, when it hath gotten strength it becomes restiff, and stubborn. You have not wanted either Education or Example; and if you had, you are young enough to begin this Glorious Work. It is, in my Judgement, an excellent Method to make now and then an Experiment upon yourself, in things that are lawful: deny yourself the Enjoyment of some Pleasures for a short time, which may be lawfully used at any time, especially then when you perceive Sense to become most importunate. By this Means you will make a trial of your Strength; if you are foiled it will be no Sin; if you conquer you may know your own Strength, and keep that in subjection, which may at last prove your Enemy. And if there were no other use of the Fasts of the Church, I suppose this only were sufficient to commend them to practice.   

§. 21. Thirdly, Endeavour to support your superior Faculties, and assert their Authority by Arguments drawn from the Nature and End of that Action to which you are invited; examine whether it be convenient, if not sinful? or whether some Evil may not be the consequent of it? Some Actions are apparently good, so that we need not dispute of them; others are evidently evil; but there are Actions of a third sort, which are indifferent, and though they partake in their own Natures of neither good nor evil, yet (as they are used) they may tend to either; these are they that are to be weighed in the Scales, and Resolutions taken accordingly. Besides, there are some Evils in disguise, and plead Innocency, and those would be brought under Examination and Discovery.   

§. 22. Fourthly, Avoid carefully all those things that abate the Strength and undermine the Government of your superior Faculties. Such as these are, profane Discourses, evil Examples, debauched Companions, lascivious Songs, and evil Communications which corrupt good manners: There is surely a kind of Infection in these, and they are catching especially in some Constitutions; they infect the Soul through the Ear, pollute the Mind, and propagate Vice like a spiritual Pestilence; they serve for no other use but to emasculate the Spiritual part, weaken her Powers, defile her Purity, debauch the Mind, and set up Sense in the Throne of Reason. But as the greatest evil of all (which for a while disables the whole Man, the Soul in its Faculties, and the Body with its Members) avoid Drunkenness. This is a Sin which (when in intense degrees) brings a kind of Death upon the Body as well as Mind, and so intermits the Exercise of both Judicatures; but every Tendency to it, more or less, undermines sober Reason, slackens the Reins of her Government, blinds the Understanding, and by degrees casts her into a deep sleep; and, thus weakened, lets lose the Philistines upon her. And though, I confess there be different degrees of this Sin, and different Constitutions of Men, so that some are made more wicked by it than others; (and thus some excellent Natures may be free from its usual Attendants, the greater Crimes I mean, in the use of it;) yet no Man, I'm sure, can retain his Wisdom and Discretion. You cannot but remember the old Proverb to this purpose, Inebriari simul & sapere ipsi Jovi non competit, Drunkenness makes all Men Fools, most Beasts, and some Devils: And what it naturally tends to, learn from the Mouth of the wise Solomon, who describes its Effects so sensibly and truly as though he had tried it, and observed it often. Prov. 23. 29. to the end of that Chapter. Let your Intellect therefore prescribe the Times, Methods, and Measures of your Feast, Mirth, Diversions, and Compotations; consult not Sense about these her near Friends, to whom she is so much allied, lest she deceive and betray you.   

§. 23. Fifthly. If, by the Importunity of the sensual Part, the Persuasion of those falsely termed Friends, or the Example of others, you have been seduced to do any thing unworthy of yourself, and thereby have proved Rebel to your better Part; upon the first return of your Reason, and the recovery of your Understanding from its Eclipse (for the opacous Body will soon remove, and righteous R●●son shine out again, and by its Light show you your Sin): I say, than your great care must be immediately to fall down upon your Knees, and humbly implore Forgiveness of your Creator, for this Offence committed against him and his Vicegerent. At which time you are not only to renew your Resolutions of Amendment, and fortify yourself against ensuing Temptations, but also to inflict some Penance upon yourself for your defection. This cannot but be pleasing to Almighty God, when he observes how you not only pass sentence, but do execution upon yourself, and thereby anticipate his Judgements: Besides, it will prevail with the Divine Benignity, for a supply of extraordinary Aids for the future; make you more circumspect over yourself (when you know that you must suffer for it) and satisfy your own Conscience of the Truth of your Repentance.   

§. 24. Sixthy, and Lastly, (because in many things we offend all, and so must & shall do, during this state of Imperfection) above all things beware of the Habits of Vices, and that you do not give 〈◊〉 ●ensual Part (at least) the usual 〈◊〉. Habits (you know) of all things, especially of Vice, stick hard, and are not easily removed. Sensuality a little encouraged will grow strong, insolent, and play the Tyrant, and warmed, with the Snake in the Fable, gins to hiss, gather Poison, and keep Reason out of doors; the longer we delay to humble him (which yet must be our Task, at one time or other, unless we resolve to be miserable for ever) the harder our work will be. And believe me, a Man besotted to his Vices, or (in the Apostle's Phrase) dead in Trespasses and Sins, is, next the damned, the most lamentable Spectacle; and the direct way to this Condition, is to gratify our Appetites so long, till we must deny them nothing; yea, and at last destroy Appetite itself, by pleasing it: And though this may seem strange, yet 'tis the true end of all Debauchery; for Sensuality doth at last devour itself, and the inferior Soul, if let alone (like the Worm in the Fruit) will become its own Executioner.   

§. 25. But this case is (God be thanked) not so common: Such a Man must have lost all Sense of Virtue, be fully reconciled to his Vices, though never so destructive, and resolved on his own Ruin: He must be deaf to all Counsel, hardened beyond all Impressions of Reason and Conscience: The Spiritual Life must be totally swallowed up of the Sensitive; and he must be a hardened, impenitent, and contented Sinner; content to lose Heaven, and endure Hell. If he hath any apprehensions of his Sin and Danger, he is not irrecoverably lost, but may admit of Help. To which Purpose, I will, in the Close of this Discourse, lay down these Rules for his Recovery.  
I. Let him be truly convinced of his Condition, his present and future Miseries, his unworthy, Bestial, and Brutish Life, and the Sorrows to which he is posting: For if he can be but made sensible of his Condition so as to desire Help, he is capable of it, and may have it. The Understanding must be cleared, and the Will rectified, and the Man made throughly willing to be cured. Wilt thou be made whole, saith our Lord to the impotent Man, that had lain at the Pool of Bethesda thirty and eight Years; and having understood his willingness, he received the powerful Command of, Rise, take up thy Bed, and walk.  
II. Let him then leave off all the Incendiaries to Vice, as Wine and Strong-Drink, and the Converse, Company, and Society of those Betrayers of Souls, (those Panders for Hell) which have hitherto accompanied him into Debauchery; and let him frequent the Society of Wise and Virtuous Men, who will direct and encourage him by their Advice and Example.  
III. Let him call upon God, who is always ready with his Grace to assist Pious Eneavours; who gives liberally, and upbraids no man.  
iv Let him begin with the Outworks of Sensuality, deny himself in smaller Matters first, and retrench himself by degrees. If he can conquer in a little, he may be sure to proceed; and the more he prevails, the more he shall be enabled, till at last he becomes more than Conqueror, and can do all things through Christ that strengthens him.  
V And for his Encouragement, let it be considered that the old habituated Sinner's state is not so desperate, but that he also hath some advantages of Piety: his Lusts and Appetites, by continual fruition, are become tired, nauseate, and, (by the decay) less importunate. His Heats are cooled, his Rashness moderated, and Righteous Reason is ready to convince him, That all sinful Enjoyments are but Vanity and Vexation of spirit, That the days are come in which he can find but little pleasure in them: For a Young man may, in some measure, be excused, but an Old man cannot; because even Nature joins with Grace to sound a retreat; his Appetites are ready every foot to leave him, and he is fain to use Arts to keep them; his Lusts slight him and deceive him, and he hath nothing but a sinful vitiated Will, and a polluted Fancy left, which yet makes him ridiculous, and exposes him. His Lust's first seduced his Mind, and now a defiled Mind is forced to caress them; like an outworn Mistress once adored, now slighted by her old Servants. 'Tis but time, certainly then, to retire, when we can pursue our pleasures no longer: when Providence hath taken away the Temptation, we ought not to make to ourselves Images and Shadows of that which hath forsaken us. This is the Order of Nature, and thus Days speak, (if we would hear) and multitude of Years would teach us Wisdom.  
Lastly, Let him endeavour to obtain a true Estimate of the different Pleasures and Advantages, the Ends and Consequences of Virtue and Vice, and by comparing them together, become satisfied how much better 'tis to live the Life of a good Man, and a Christian here, and to be received into Bliss hereafter; than to be a Sot, a Slave, a Fool, for a few days, and afterwards to be damned.   

§. 26. This is the great Truth which the two following Essays do endeavour to illustrate, and which, I hope, your Experience will one day convince you of. In the mean time, let me only tell you, That the Sensualist, for all his gay Colours and fine Shows, is but a poor miserable Slave, and enslaved to that which every good and wise Man keeps in Subjection; I mean his Brutish Part, his Lusts and Appetites. Whilst the Man that keeps his Liberty, and rules within himself, that uses Pleasures as a Cordial not continual Nourishment, and takes only what will agree with his Spiritual Advantages; the Man that can learn and practise this short Lesson of the excellent Moralist of old, sustine & abstine, suffer and abstain; suffer with Patience and Resignation what Providence lays upon thee; and abstain from every thing which may be hurtful for thy Body or Soul: This mighty Man, I say, this more than Emperor, reigns a Soveragin in himself; is invulnerable and unconquerable; he falls into no sin, nor runs into any Danger, but is the Favourite and Care of Heaven here and hereafter. And thus much of The Nature of Autarchy, and Rules of its Practice, with which I shall conclude the First Part of this Essay, and am,   
Yours, etc.   

ἈΥΤΑΡΧΊΑ· OR, THE ART of Self-Government.  
The Second PART.  
BEING A Vindication of the Pleasures of Autarchy, compared with those of Sensuality.  

§. 1. AFTER a curious Search into the Original of Corrupt Nature, the Reasons of its Conjunction with the purer Spirit, and the Rules to make it serviceable to Religion, which was the Argument of my former Discourse (my Dear Dorotheus) you may perhaps think it unnecessary to write a Second time, or add any thing to that Subject. And truly after I had finished the Former Letter, I became inclinable to that Opinion myself, till (besides my Promise) I had considered, that it is easy to give, and hard to take such Counsel, that Autarchy is the most difficult, and perhaps in some Sense, our only Duty, and that Sense will become importunate, especially when it hath Health and Youth to be its Advocates. And truly when I find so few Men, even in their best Age, and most vivid Exercise of their Reason, able to tame the Wild Beast within, I must confess I cannot rigorously exact it of Youth. My Business therefore shall be in the following Papers, to work upon your Affections; I mean, to engage myself in the Cause of the superior Faculties, and endeavour to convince you that they are not rigorous, nor exercise any Tyranny over us; but that by a wise and sweet Conduct they would (if permitted) gently and carefully pilot our crazed Vessel through the turbulent Sea of this World, to the Haven of Happiness; and this not only when the Rules are drawn by Morality, but by the strictest Religion. If this can be made out, Self-Government will be your Choice not your Yoke, and you will find it your great Duty and greater Interest.   

§. 2. And because there be several sorts of Judgements as well as Constitutions, so that some will be convinced with that Argument, which others cannot Apprehend or count ridiculous: Lest from hence, Autarchy and its Virtues should be disparaged, by a real or seeming poor Apology, I must here premonish you, that its Exercise doth not merely depend upon those outward Encouragements which follow. Morality is our Duty and our Interest, though never so ungrateful; and its great Obligations arise from Spiritual Promises and Rewards in this Life, and the Eternal Joys of the Life to come; and tho' she were ever so sorrowful, hirsute, and Squalid; yet those inexpressible Joys she inspires into the Soul in this Life, and those she reserves for the future state, are abundantly sufficient to subdue any rational Understanding. Even Afflictions themselves may be eligible, when, being light and Momentary, they work for us a far more exceeding weight of Glory. The End makes Sufferings tolerable; and we see in Temporals, Men are very willing to be sick for future Health, to serve a severe Apprenticeship for a lasting Freedom, to labour, toil, and sweat for an approaching Harvest, and to hazard the dangers of the Seas for Merchandise, and of War for Glory: These are common Practices, founded upon rational Conjectures. And why should not Religion engage us upon greater and more certain Motives? The Arguments then that follow are not necessary but ex abundanti; If they convince, they will sweeten the Methods of Providence, reconcile the Sons of Sense to Virtue, answer the Objections of the Sensualists, and remove some Stumbling-blocks that offend the Carnal minded; if not, know yet that Religion stands upon eternal Foundations, and remains secure, as having no need of outward Rewards; though it may yet receive some encouragements and advances in Minds not so defecate and stripped of the World, as ours must needs be while we live with Flesh and Blood. And indeed the Prejudices of Sensualists are so many, loud and clamorous, and improved to that degree, that I thought it worth my time to search into the matter, and consider whether Piety makes all her Votaries in this Life most miserable: For Men mostly prefer present to future Comforts, and these short Joys in a Vale of tears, to those of the Regions of Happiness which are above. If I therefore can demonstrate, that Religion hath its present Comforts, and perhaps greater, and more substantial than Sensuality can pretend to; all these Prejudices will vanish, and Men will entertain it for its present as well as future Reward.   

§. 3. And here I expect to meet with great Disadvantages by reason of those Prejudices, which seem to be congenite and twisted into humane Nature; for the Pleasure of Self-denial (which must accompany Autarchy) are looked upon as a Paradox, and Men bear a kind of antipathy to restraining Virtue; when it puts the Roins into the Mouth of Appetite, 'tis thought imperious, and its Government intolerable. We have a natural Inclination to please our worse part, which even a mortified St. Paul was forced to complain of; this is the common Murmurer which looks back towards Egypt; and, like the Spies sent to search Canaan, brings an evil Report of that good Land; The Land (say they) is indeed good, but their Cities are walled up to Heaven, and defended by Giants, the Sons of Anak, to whom we are but as Grasshoppers. See how Fear augments things, and what Hyperboles Infidelity can fancy to itself, for the Walls were not so high, nor the Giants so terrible. Thus the Sensualists will describe the Selfdenying part of Religion; 'tis confessed (will they say) all things considered, that it were best if we could govern ourselves, and restrain our Passions, and they are certainly happy that can obtain that Power, but the number of such have been but small; some select Saints of old, who had, as it were, put off Humane Nature, and were extraordinarily endued with Strength from above; but who amongst us, and in these degenerate times of Sin and Death, can throw down the Strong-holds of Sin, and conquer those gigantic Appetites that defend them? this would be to turn Angels before our time, and put off that Humanity, that we must at the same time carry about us. Nor is this Warfare only difficult but painful, nay a kind of Death, to die daily, I mean to mortify ourselves, and kill all those dispositions and tendencies to Sin implanted in us. 'Tis certainly a harsh Lesson which our Lord teaches us tho' by way of Metaphor; to cut off an offending Hand, and pluck out a wanton Eye; by which is implied at least (alas that it should be so!) the Difficulty and yet Duty of Seeing and not Desiring. For why have we Senses given us if we may not use them? or why have these Senses any Influence upon our Desires, if they may not be gratified? This is to exact an impracticable Work of us, and excercise a Tyranny that would justify even a Rebellion: For we can never become so unkind to our own Inclinations as thus to mortify them, and under pretence of Religion act a kind of Martyrdom. Alas! the Scripture hath expressed this Work in frightful Terms; and Mortification, Circumcision of the Heart, and the Death of the Body of Sin, are words that carry Terror in them: Besides, as though the ordinary Exercise of Religion were not bitter enough, God hath infused more Gall into it by his Dealing towards his Servants, and Providence seems to exercise them above others with Afflictions. What means else those Sorrowful Predictions, by which our Blessed Lord forewarns his Disciples of Persecutions which they should suffer, and which his Apostle, St. Paul, seems to entail upon Christianity itself, 2 Tim. 3. 12. That all that will live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer Persecutions. I will therefore (saith the Sensualist) lay aside this difficult, this painful Work, and depend upon Mercy for Heaven; for if God had expected better things from me, he would have made me better. Heaven is, I confess, worth the pursuit; but 'tis an Estate that may be long before it falls, nor know I whether all my Sorrown and Sufferings in the Pangs of the New-birth, will at last entitle me to it.— Or if this Resolution be too daring, I hope I may yet adjourn this bitter Cup, this painful Task to Old Age, which is the only time proper for Penance and Mortification; Pleasures will then be denied me by Nature, and then (and not till then) I will deny them. Appetite must at last cease, and then I will resolve no longer to gratify it. It is best parting by mutual Consent, and when my beloved Vices and I can keep company no longer; then, and not before then, we must part for ever.—  
Thus pleads the Sensualist, and so puts off this necessary, this pleasant work till Death comes and snacks him off the Stage, and then his Thoughts and Designs perish. Or if he lives to Old Age, his sinful Habits are become inveterate and fixed beyond the possibility of a Removal; so that Age finds him and leaves him, a hardened and contented Sinner. All which (yea, and the punishments of the other World that follow after) proceed from this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, this Fundamental Error, That Autarchy is a harsh, unpleasant work, and her Government Tyrannical.   

§. 4. It is now therefore my Task to combat the Sensualist with his own Weapons, and in his own Way, and to vindicate the Duty that I commend, which is looked upon as the severest in the Christian Religion, (being no less than Self-Denial) from the evil Report that Sin and Satan would needs fix upon it. To do this I consider, That there are but two Qualifications that can commend any thing to our Observation; viz. Pleasure and Profit: Pleasure is the peculiar Dalilah of younger, and Profit of older Years. These are the two boasted Advantages of Sensuality, for which the deluded Wretch pawns both Body and Soul, and the only Spoils he can aim at. If I can therefore demonstrate, That there are equal, if not better Pleasures, and as much Profit to be found under the Government of the Spirit, as there is under that of the Flesh; I have mine end, nor will the want of these be an Argument against Autarchy. This is the remaining part of my Task, and the Province that I have undertaken, which (though it look like a Paradox) I hope to perform with that Evidence, that to an understanding and considerative Person, it shall reach even to a Conviction.  
The only thing I desire of you (my Dorotheus) is to strip yourself of all Prejudices, and lay aside the Love of Carnality; to clear your Mind of all gross Matter, and to consider Enjoyments abstracted from your natural Inclinations to them, and as they are in themselves; and thus qualified, I shall not fear to make you judge in this present Controversy, while I weigh the present Advantages of Virtue and Vice in the Balance of Reason, and thence evince that Autarchy is neither so difficult or unprofitable a work as it has been hitherto represented to you: That the Spiritual part lays no heavy Burdens upon men's Shoulders grievous to be born, but that Christ's heaviest Yoke is yet easy and his Burden light. And this I shall do by examining the Pleasures of Sensuality in the first place; and, stripping off its Paint and Garniture, compare them with the more solid and substantial Pleasures of Virtue. And then, having made some suitable Observations upon the Difficulty and Misery which are supposed to attend a pious Life, conclude the trouble of this Letter, and leave the other outward Advantages of Autarchy for the Subject of the Third Part.   

§. 5. I am not here obliged to maintain That there are no such things as sinful Pleasures, no more than with the Stoic deny that there is Evil in Pain and Torture. I know very well, that whatsoever pleases is a Pleasure, and that every Man is sensible of so much in sensual Enjoyments; nor am I for the destroying the Appetites, but for regulating them. This is that which I assert, and shall endeavour to evince, That the Pleasures of Sensuality are few, poor, and despicable in comparison of those which are to be enjoyed in the practice of Virtue, (which is something more than what I promised before) and, consequently, That 'tis an absolute cheat put upon us, when these are made an Argument for Debauchery. This will appear if we take, in the first place, a general View of the Pleasures of Sensuality, and make as we pass along particular References.  
In every sinful Enjoyment there are Three things to be considered,  

1. The Expectation.  
2. The Fruition.  
3. The End.   
Each of which are pretended to have its peculiar Pleasures, and therefore deserve our particular Examination. I began with the First of these, Expectation.  
And here I need not use many words; for every Man must be sensible to how great a height the Hopes of vain Man is raised by the Delusion of the Devil and his own Fancy. The approaching Enjoyment is represented through a magnifying Glass, and seems great and glorious: The Bubble of Fancy struts and looks big, and we expect mighty matters. Can I but possess such an Estate, or enjoy so charming a fair One, etc. Voluptuousness hath certainly two Faces, she turns the Young Face, and smiles upon those that expect her, but looks Old and Withered upon those that have enjoyed her. Each Circumstance of approaching Good is thought a Bliss, which yet vanishes in the Embrace; so that if the Votary to Sin had so much Wit, he would stop at Expectation, and go no further. He might then indeed continue enamoured with the Child of his own Fancy, and worship the Idol of his own making, without Remorse or Repentance, when it is too late. But his Unhappiness is, That the same Expectation which deludes him, urges him on to destroy itself, and so to put an end to his Hopes and Fears together, by a nearer Advance, which we call Fruition, and comes next to be considered.   

§. 6. Secondly. Expectation then being confessed by all to be only an imaginary Good, swelled out with Hopes and Fears, 'tis Fruition alone that must crown the Sensualist, and make him happy. But even Fruition itself is experimentally proved to be so vain and empty, and next to nothing, to have so little of real Satisfaction, and so much of Cheat in it, that after a Man sits down and calmly considers what he hath done, 'tis a great Question whether he will not repent of his Credulity, rail at the Delusion, and prefer even Expectation itself to it. For he shall then find that he hath embraced a Cloud, and fished all night for Pleasure, but caught nothing but Shame and Sorrow; that he hath been notoriously cheated; and having sown the Wind, he hath reaped the East Wind; that he hath pursued a Phantom, and having hunted after Vanity, hath at last overtook Vexation of Spirit: For, the Pleasures of Sensual Fruition are indeed but Shadows of those of Virtue, and want their Invigorations and Comforts: They are as short of these as the Image of the Sun, represented in a Mirror, is of the Light, Heat, and Influence of that glorious Luminary. That this may sensibly appear, I will endeavour to wash off the Paint from the Faces of these Counterfeit, and examine the matter of Fact, and compare the Pleasures of the Fruition of Vice and Virtue together; Instances will have here their Use, bring the Matter nearer the Eye and illustrate it. And, to this purpose, I will use St. John's Analysis of Sensuality, in his tripartite Division, into that (1.) of the Lust of the Flesh, (2.) that of the Eye, and (3.) that of the Pride of Life. 1 Joh. 2. 16.   

§. 7. And in reference to the First of these, Consider seriously with yourself, and then tell me (if you can) wherein consists the true Pleasure of those Vices, which we call Gluttony and Drunkenness; that Pleasure I mean that is peculiar to these Excesses besides and above what is found in the limited Use of Meat and Drink. Is it in the stuffing up of the Body, or the vitiating of the Palate, in the distempering of the Taste, or the disordering of the Stomach? Is it found among the Ruins of the Understanding, or the Laxation of the Members? Surely no Man can take any true Pleasure in playing the Fool or Madman, or in turning Beast beyond the Example of Nabuchadnezzar. I never yet knew any Man that delighted in making Experiments upon himself, to procure a voluntary Epilepsy or Syncope. Men are not usually so fond of the Image of Death! and yet this, and no other is the Drunkard's Fruition, which is yet so unaccountable, that the poor deluded seems to be under a kind of Fascination, to dote on that which must end in Loathing, if not in Sickness and Death. Sure I am there can be no Fruition in either, but the momentary Touch of the Meats and Drinks upon the Nerves of the Tongue, and yet even this is not peculiar to Excess, but is rather an Attendant of Sobriety. The Sober person hath generally the quicker Palate and most Delight, though with a Dinner of Herbs and Small-beer; and if any Man enjoys himself and his Friend, 'tis only Herald   

§. 8. And then for unlawful Lusts, (the other Species of Carnality) I may put the same Question, with as great, and perhaps greater Advantage. Where are the Pleasures peculiar to the Fruition of unlawful Love? Or, what doth the Adulterer enjoy above, and besides what is to be found in loving and lawful Marriage? If there be any such Pleasures, sure I am, they must be imaginary and next to nothing. And that you may make a true Estimate of these and such like inferior Enjoyments, I must let you know (once for all) that we descend therein much below our immortal part, and equal ourselves to the Beasts that perish. Nay more, this way the silly Ass may outrival the Man, and the impure Goat be more happy than he; that you will find them much below your Expectation, if not mere Cheats, the Mistress of Debauchees, the Shame of Wise men, and the Pursuit of Fools; too commonly a Sin, and always a Shame, and the Sign and Cause of our Mortality. For the Propagation of our Like, both shows us approaching Death and hastens it, and we diminish our own Lives to give Life to others. But be it what it will, I have nothing to say against it, in respect of Morality, when it is regular; I mean, when the Matrimonial Vow hath sanctified it, and the Transmission of our Nature hath made it necessary; the strictest Cato will then allow it, the modest and chaste St. Paul command it, and the Spiritual part consent to it. This for the lawful Use of it, for which Nature hath provided animal Pleasures proportionate to its ends; but if you can fancy any other Pleasures peculiar to the sinful use of it (which sure is something hard to do) turn but your Eyes and Thoughts upon those rotten Carcases, those walking Sepulchers, which Lasciviousness hath made its Martyrs; see there the Relics of its Tyranny, when it hath exhausted the Spirits, darkened the Understanding, weakened the Senses, and putrified the very Soul by the Contagion of the Body, not to be purified but by the Flames of Hell: And when you have duly considered this, then let the Adulterer boast of his stolen Pleasures. These are the chief kinds of the Lust of the Flesh, which is the eldest Daughter of Sensuality.   

§. 9 The Lust of the Eye holds the next place, by which I presume St. John meant Covetousness, whose right to Pleasures comes next to be examined. And if those I have spoken of, had great Pretences to great Pleasures, I'm sure, this hath none at all: For, Covetousness is confessed by all to be a wretched Plague, or rather a Madness; and the Man that is enslaved to it, seems possessed, and is rightly Termed a Miser. But (because Money answereth all things) if you can imagine that there is any Pleasure in looking upon Bags of Gold and Silver (that is, White and Yellow Earth) reflect a little upon the Fate of a Tantalus, and think what it is to have, and yet not enjoy, great Abundance. If there be any hidden charms in Cares and Fears; in watching Riches, lest they take wing, and fly away, or (in the best Effect of it) in being honoured and feared; yet I'm sure the Happiness of the liberal Soul which shall be made fat, and the sweet content of him that is satisfied with Food convenient, doth far surpass them all.   

§. 10. The Ostentations and vainglorious Boastings proceeding from the Fumes of Ambition is the Third kind of Sensuality in St. John's Method. And here I cannot but think that the strutting Gallant must be conscious to himself of his own Emptiness, and that he should take little Pleasure in cheating others, when he knows he doth but cheat himself. And for the desire of being great I would fain know where's the Pleasure of forcing a Man's Way through the Briars and Thorns, the Dark Methods of Secret Plots, and the Labyrinths of Infernal Combinations? When by many dangerous Steps he is arrived at the unsteady Seat of Greatness, and has put on the (Incendialis Toga, the) poisonous Robe of Jealousies and Fears; When he is hated by some, and feared by others, and made a common Curse by most, Is this that which you call a state of Happiness? His Port deprives him of Society, and the distance that he must keep, renders his Life solitary and uncomfortable; and yet, (which is very remarkable) he is troubled with Company, and his Attendants will not give him the Liberty of an Hour's Privacy and Recess. So that indeed a great Favourite, a Statesman, can neither be familiar or retired, nor can enjoy himself alone or his Friends in Company, but must be confined to the Bedlam of Buffoons and Parasites. If this be then such a Pleasant Life, per me licet, let those that will run the danger, enjoy the Benefit of being great and hated, of breaking the wild Beast to an easy Pace and Mildness; they had need to have Returns answerable to their Dangers. And yet after all, I will produce more Safety, Satisfaction and sweet Content in a mean Estate, and among the Country shades, than in all their Glory.  
'Tis true, we that move in a lower orb, look up and gaze upon Greatness with Admiration, and think a Phaeton a happy Man because he sits so high, and amongst so much Brightness; but alas! we know not what Furies carry him on, 〈◊〉 what Dangers attend him. Every Man is uneasy in his own Condition, would be greater, and has a Tincture of Ambition, and that makes us not know our own Happiness, even when we are possessed of it. In the mean time, did we seriously consider the state of Greatness, we should find St. James' description of our Lives to be adapted to his: A Vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away: A Cloud, that looks gloriously towards the Sun, and by the Reflection of his Beams, carried aloft by a superior Influence, for a short time, and then it dissolves in Tears.   

§. 11. I have at large examined the Pretences of those Three sorts of Sensualities, to that which we call Pleasures, and, setting them in a true Light, have exposed their Delusions; so that upon the whole matter, we may justly conclude, That their Pleasures are not so surprising and extraordinary; nor indeed have they any at all peculiar to themselves, but what is common to Virtue and Moderation, or rather what proceeds from them: For Virtue dwells in the Centre, and is the Original of all true Pleasure; and Vice in the Extremes, where she receives and reflects back some of the Emanations which proceed from the Middle; but has none of her own but what she borrows or counterfeits. Thus (that I may use an apt Similitude) the Sun, from the Centre of the World, shines by its own Light, whilst the Planets, as so many dark Bodies, are whited over, and shine by Reflection only.  
But because this is not a common Notion, and obvious to every Apprehension, I will bestow some short Reflections upon the Vanity of Fruition, in respect of its Shortness, Uncertainty, and Dissatisfaction; Appendages which alloy it to that degree, that it is not worthy of the pursuits of Good and Wise Men.  
First. For, First, every Sensual Enjoyment is Momentary and Transient; It ceafes as soon as perceived; and, like the Lightning, is gone before we are ware of it. I have here a large Field of Discourse before me, but I need not stay to confirm what is confessed, and at the same time, lamented by the greatest Sensualists.  
Secondly, It is uncertain; we lose it oftentimes in the Embrace, and it vanisheth in our Arms. The whole Life of Man is but an Aggregate of indivisible Instants of Time, and every one of these may rob us of it; the Revenge of Saul was prevented when he had got David even in his Net; and Herod's Divinity vanished in the midst of his Adorers, when the invisible Hand consigned him to Worms. Every day gives us Examples of the inconstancy of Worldly Pleasures, and we are commonly carried up aloft by them, and then let shall, and so broken to pieces; thus Alexander, in the midst of his Victories, Feasts, and Triumphs, was called off the Stage; and so was the Rich Man in the Gospel, amongst his Designs of Ease and Fruition. Nay more than this, a vain and needless Fear destroys all our Enjoyments, and they are so much the Creatures of Fancy, that they vanish and disappear, upon the least alteration of it.  
Thirdly, It is at best but dissatisfactory; every Sensual Enjoyment is a cheat, false as Hell, whose Interest it serves; and as Visionary as the nightly Feasts of Witches: As these imagine that they eat and drink, and yet still find themselves pursued by the same hunger and Misery; so Voluptuousness leaves us as empty as before, and raises a greater Thirst than it allays; nay more, it is lost by Usage, and the poor deluded loathes what he hath, admires what he hath not, is always to seek, and is never satisfied; he pursues an Airy Expectation, and courts a Mistress, that when once enjoyed inspires him with new Wants, and puts him upon fresh Quests and Dangers. Thus the Slave to his own Lusts, rowls the stone of Sisyphus, and carried by the Gyre of his untamed Desires, moves an unconstant constant Round, till Sickness or Age disables him, and Death arrests him, and carries him to the Infernal Prisons, where only he becomes Stationary.  
And thus I have made some Reflections upon that Men call Fruition, or Sensual Enjoyment. And I have been the longer, because if there be any Pleasure in Sensuality, it must be in this: By what has been said, it will appear, That there is not a greater cheat imposed upon Mortals, or rather that they impose upon themselves: And I will be bold to conclude, That Sin gins and proceeds by Delusion, and ends in Misery; That Voluptuousness is a Masque acted by Furies in disguise, which, towards the end, they throw off, and appear in their proper Shape. For this is the true End of all Sinful Enjoyments, which I must next demonstrate.   

§. 12. There is a way that seemeth right unto a Man (saith the Divine Preacher) but the End thereof is the ways of Death. Prov. 14. 12. The End of Voluptuousness is always calamitous, and that commonly in this Life. Sin brings forth Shame and Sorrow, and forbidden Enjoyments tend to the Destruction of that Body they are brought to gratify. Thus Intemperance weakens the Appetite, and consequently the Body: Thus Lust incites Ammon even to incest, and then to hate even to Death, till Drunkenness and the Sword of Absalon hath cut him off, and so put an end to both Passions. And as Sin, at last, brings a dismal Catastrophe upon itself; so each Crime hath its particular Nemesis even in our own Conscience. And I dare appeal to Experience, whether (when a Man's Passion is over, and he is at leisure to consider calmly what he hath done) he feels not Shame invade him, and a natural Horror dart through his Soul? Whether he doth not run, as it were, from the Presence of God (as Adam, his Forefather, did) as ashamed of his Nakedness, or sow some thin Fig-leaves together, some poor Excuses to cover it? Thus 'tis at first, till Conscience is seared or lulled asleep, and so becomes senseless: Custom will take off the Dread of Punishment, and because Vengeance seems to slumber, the hardened Sinner removeth it far out of his Sight; and yet for all this commonly Conscience at last awakes and laying before him the things that he hath done, arraigns, and condemns him: the black Fumes of Atheism, which hitherto have hid his Sin and Punishment, will at last withdraw; and the Deity, just and terrible, discover himself to his Soul, and then learn, from his own mouth, the Agony of his distracted Mind; when he considers that he must leave all his Pleasures, Friends, and Acquaintance, and be carried alone into the dreadful unknown Abyss of Eternity! When he gins thus to question with himself, What if now at last there should be a God, which I have not only provoked, but denied; a Heaven, which I have slighted; and a Hell, which I have not only chosen, but made it my Business, and taken pains to procure? What if this God shall meet me in the other World and convince me of his Being, by his Justice; in what a Condition shall I be then? Why, no worse than eternally and irrecoverably miserable! And is it so? I find than I have lived to a fair purpose! I have enjoyed some few shadows of Pleasures, and suffered many real Griefs! I have been cheated all my Life time with Hopes, Fears, and Expectations, and found all at last both Vanity and Vexation of Spirit! And now I can perceive no glimpse of Joy, no comfort to my Soul; but a Darkness, and Horror, and the Expectation of a dreadful Sentence when I shall departed hence! But Oh sacred Virtue! and you hospitable Graces of Integrity, and Innocence! who alone are able to banish these dreadful Apprehensions, and bring home in Peace, how have I slighted and despised you!— This is very probable to be the End of the Voluptuous, because the nearer he approaches to his Death, the clearer are the discoveries of his Misery; yet I know very well that some die, as well as live, senseless and unapprehensive of future Danger; but then their Condition is never the better, because their Despair as well as Punishment are transferred to the other World. The Rich man in the Gospel was never the happier in Hell, because he perceived it not, before he opened his Eyes in its Flames!   

§. 13. I have led you (my Dorotheus) through the Folly to the Misery of Sensuality; of living in Rebellion against the higher Powers of the Soul, and working Wickedness with Greediness. You may easily perceive, upon the whole Matter, That there is much Sorrow and very little Pleasure in Debauchery, and that Hell stands at the end of it; That those poor Pleasures that are enjoyed, are little else but Cheat and Delusion, and at last leave us not only disappointed but miserable. Happy is the Man that can see through the Disguise, and apprehend the Deformity and End of Vice. Happy is he, that by an early Conquest of himself and his Earthly part, makes himself capable of the Pleasures of Autarchy; of those that are to be found in the Paths of Virtue and the Regimen of the upper Soul. And these are they which come next to be considered.   

§. 14. It was the wise Epictetus that reduced all Morality, and his Readins thereupon to these two words (mentioned in the end of the former Part) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, suffer and abstain. These two enfold the whole Duty of Autarchy, and regulate, at once, our irascible and concupiscible Appetites. The First of these tells us we must suffer Injuries, Reproaches, and Slanders patiently: The Second enjoins us Abstinence, from Sin, I mean, and from all Occasions and Appearances of it. These two were the constant Doctrine of our Lord first, and then of his Disciples; only he went beyond Epictetus, refined and exalted these Duties, and made the first especially, (the hardest of the two) one of the Beatitudes, Matt. 5. Blessed are ye when men shall revile and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my Names sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your Reward in Heaven; for so persecuted they the Prophets, that were before you. The Conquest of ourselves, the Exercise of Self-denial, and the patiented bearing of Injuries, is a present Blessedness as well as a future: This cannot be discerned, I must confess, by the most part of Mankind in a degenerate Age, which will admit of no Happiness which is not carnal. We put Sensuality in the Chair, and make her. Judge of the Pleasures of Autarchy; and she will not fail (without all question) to give sentence on her own side, in her on Case; viz. That Self-Government is a painful, and a miserable sort of Life. Whereas, let enlightened Reason be placed on the Tribunal, and you shall hear (that which Solomon long-since noted, even to a Proverb) That her Ways are Ways of Pleasantness, and all her Paths are Peace.  
I have already, I hope, sufficiently proved, That there is no considerable Pleasure appropriate to Sensuality, but what she borrows of Temperance and Moderation, and then dishonestly claims to be her own; and, That her End is Sorrow and Shame. This were enough to obtain my Point, and make Autarchy (the severest of all Virtues) much more eligible; but I shall proceed to confirm the same thing more directly and positively, and that whether we consider those Pleasures that are outward or inward, those that concern the Body or the Soul. For though I have appealed from the Sentence of Sensuality, in this Case; yet I will admit of the Evidence of the Senses, when not either disordered or bribed into a false Information.   

§. 15. And here I dare challenge all the Sensualists in the World to show, in all their boasted Enjoyments, any thing equal to the Delights of Moderation; or any Delight that doth not take its Original from thence: For Animal Pleasures arise first out of the Temperate use of Nature, and when they are used beyond this, they become weak, decay, and die. Sure I am, that the Pleasure of Tasting (and so of all the other Senses) is more vivid, quick, and lasting, and consequently greater, in the Temperate Person, than in the Glutton: Debauchery feeds upon, and devours itself by being gratified; The full Soul loathes the Honeycomb, but to the hungry even bitter things are sweet: The frequent Use of any thing takes away its Pleasure, and it dwindles to nothing. Expectation, Art, and Fancy may support it for a while, but at last it dies, and is utterly lost by Enjoyment; whereas, he that governs himself by Rules and Measures, reaps all the Delight that Nature hath provided for him: For, whilst Riot makes Men dull, stupid, and insensible; Moderation keeps up, and maintains the Vigour of the Senses, and consequently their Pleasure. Thus Virtue takes the best Course to propagate Youth, and continue it; her Servant is not usually dim, nor is his natural Force (by Disorder, etc.) abated; such is he, or such would he be, if Autarchy might have its Effect.   

§. 16. Nor can Poverty (Infoelix Paupertas, as the Poet calls it, the Unhappy Poverty) or Meanness of Birth or Fortune diminish these; I mean, the outward Pleasures of the Autarchist; his Dinner of Herbs tastes as well as a fatted Ox upon the Rich Man's Table: He needs no Sauces to commend his Meat to his Palate, or Varieties to delight him; Hunger and a good Stomach makes his Food (be it ever so mean) pleasant, and Nature supplies him with the same, or at least as delightful, Rarities, as Art doth other Men. And here give me leave, a little to vary from my Argument, and make a short digression in favour of that we call Poverty: For if we search into things themselves, and lay aside the accustomary abuse of Words and Titles, we shall find that Heaven's Bounty is not so unequal, nor that there is so much Difference betwixt Men, in respect of outward Blessings, as the World judges. For, First, we are all equally Rich in the common Blessings of Nature, and the Heavens and Earth, with all the good things of each, are bestowed upon every Man: The Sun, Moon, and Stars, and their Light, Heat, and Influence is every Man's Propriety; and the Hills, Rivers, Woods, and Plains, with all the other Varieties of Nature (Objects more August than Art can frame) are all exposed to his View, to delight and serve him. Secondly, The Great Man hath no more from all his Superfluities than the Poor Man from his Necessaries: All the Revenues in the World, will but allow the Owner Food and Raiment (his Family and Servants devour the rest); and all his stately Buildings will but give him shelter from the Extremities of Heat and Cold; and the Poor Man hath that which affords him both these, and commonly with more Peace and Safety. Thirdly, The Greatest Person cannot appropriate his Riches to himself; but other Men, (even the meanest) shall (in spite of Covetousness) share with him: He may indeed look upon his Palaces, Buildings, Aqueducts, etc. with Delight and Admiration (and so may the meanest of his Servants; and Strangers with greater Admiration than either): He may call them his own, and pride himself in his Magnificence; but I do not see, but (to most Intents and Purposes) they are as much his Servants as his. Indeed there is this difference betwixt the legal Owner and others; he may pass over his Right to others, and leave them his Heirs, (to he knows not whom) which another cannot. He hath the Care and Trouble of them, which a Stranger hath not; but as to the Profits and Fruits of his Possessions, though he hath the First Choice, yet his Inferiors must share with him, and enjoy it to as good Effects as he.  
This that I have said, is not to detract from Worth and Nobility, but to comfort those that are esteemed the Drudges and Slaves of this World. We have all enough, if we could comprehend God's Bounty and be contented. If we could but govern ourselves, and regulate our Desires, we might be Rich enough: For than we should prise the Music of the Birds, and value the Odours of the Flowers, above artificial Perfumes; we should think ourselves loaded with the Blessing of Nature, were we apprehensive of them, and could we view them with an intellectual Eye; we should then find the Blessings appropriate to a middle Estate, as well as those of a greater, and though our Commons be not great nor costly, we should find Satiety. This is not altogether alienate from the Subject in hand; for it shows the outward Pleasures of Self-Government, even in low Circumstances, and that whilst the Voluptuous studies to gratify his decayed and outworn Senses, the Autarchist enjoys the Caresses of Nature, and there can be no innocent Epicure in the World but only he.   

§. 17. Nor is the Influence of Autarchy confined only to the outward Senses, but it reaches the inward; yea, and the Operations of the Soul also: For though the Soul be a Substance distinct, yet she is much influenced by the just and due Temperament of the Body, and hath no Converse with things without but by the Mediation of the Senses. And though, according to the Notion of the Platonists, she be imprisoned in these walls of Flesh, and has no Liberty to walk abroad, only she may look out of the Windows of her Gaol, till Death comes and unlocks the Doors, unlooses those Bonds that fasten her to the Body, and sets her at Liberty; yet, during this Life, she contracts a kind of acquaintance with her Prisonhouse, and a Love to her Fetters: She is courted, and sometimes seduced by external Objects, she partakes of Angers, Fury, and loves Fondness; and forgetting her native Country, and her Heavenly Nature; dotes oftentimes upon low and base Objects in this strange Land. In this present Condition Temperance opens and clears the outward Windows, and Knowledge regulates her Perceptive Faculties, and both these strengthen and preserve the superior Faculties; which shows her her Error, and helps her to avoid it. Hence the Charms of Voluptuousness are dissolved, her Enchantments ended, and the Soul recovers her primitive Light and Purity. Thus the Understanding becomes enlightened, and the Candle of the Lord burns without the Interposition of the Clouds of Ignorance. Thus the Memory is purged of polluted Images, and made a Treasury of such useful Ideas as Nature first designed it. And thus the Will becomes regular; the Desires limited to that which is good; the Heart pure; and the Spirit rectified, from whence proceeds Innocency and Peace, which is the special Gift of Autocracy, and deserves our further Consideration.   

§. 18. What the Ancient Pythagoras said of Piety in general, may be affirmed of Autarchy in particular, when he says it is, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, A Peace in the whole Soul, with Cheerfulness. For Sensuality fills us full of Fears and Jealousies, Expectations and Disappointments; and is like the Lower World, the Seat of Storms and Tempests; whilst Piety would render our Minds as the pure Aethereal Regions, above all Winds, Meteors, and Alterations, quiet and at rest. The Mind of a pious Man is a Heaven upon Earth, and presages to what place he must ascend: His meek and innocent Conversation produces outward Peace amongst all (for who would disturb him that wrongs no Man, nor gives any Offence by word or deed?) And as he is guilty of no Crime, so he fears no Danger, but is at peace with himself: No Heavy and Dismal Clouds of Despair obscure the Serenity of his Soul. His Mind is always temperate, free from torrid Desires, and frozen Desponding: He knows not the Terrors of a guilty Mind, and is ignorant of Fears, because he is ignorant of Sin: His Conscience is void of offence towards God and Man, and therefore under no dread from either: He is contented with his present Condition, and therefore feels not Fear's Ague nor Envy's Consumption: Briefly, he is in a continual Calm (though in a stormy World) and whilst others fret themselves under their Load, and struggle in their own Toils, he is contented with his Lot, and at rest.   

§. 19 Thus for the Concupiscible; and then for the Angry Passions, he governs them also. Hence it is that Abuses and Raillery move him not, and he distinguishes betwixt the effects of Madness (for such he takes Rage to be) and the friendly Rebukes of a Wise Man: He hears the Taunts of the Scornful unconcerned as he doth the Barking of a Dog, and only takes care that he be not bitten. He looks upon a dissolute Tongue with pity, and is more troubled at the Commendations of some Men, than at their Abuses.  
And certainly there is nothing so undecent and ill becoming (as well as troublesome); nothing that makes us more ridiculous, or that gives an Enemy greater advantage, than unbridled Fury; nor can any Plague torment the Soul and Body, and prey upon both, more than secret Malice: Whereas 'tis a Godlike thing to forgive; It elevates us above humane Nature, may I not say above the Angelical? Besides 'tis the truest pleasure to be able to pardon. To deserve well, and yet suffer patiently without Reward, is a part of Greatness unknown to any but the Autarchist. To suffer wrong silently, and being injured to seek a Reconciliation. 'Tis more generous, sure, not to seek Reward, but to receive it, and save ourselves the trouble of pursuing that which will be forced upon us; for rewarded here or hereafter we must and shall be, as long as our Lord's Promise stands good, Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your Reward in Heaven. And as there is a future, so there must be a present Reward, which is Peace and Joy in the Holy Ghost. An internal Comfort, an ineffable Pleasure which arises out of a clear Conscience, which is a continual Feast: This is a Treasure far surpassing all the Riches of Nature and the Pleasures of Sin, though dressed up to the utmost advantage; for they are but for a Season, but this shall not be taken away from us. Joh. 16. 22. Deny me (O Lord) Riches, Health, Prosperity, Liberty, or whatsoever else is most dear to the Animal Life, only deny me not this. Exercise me in what Trials, and with what Afflictions thou pleasest, only allow me this Cordial, and I shall be sufficiently happy! This will be a sufficient Compensation for all Sufferings, and Support in them all: It will be a Light to guide us in this dark Sphere, and a Defence against all Dangers: It is an internal Armour which will render us unconquerable, till we have passed all the Perils of this World; and are arrived at Heaven, where confirmed and never-ending Joys attend us.— For the proof of all which, I appeal to the Experience of every Man that hath been acquainted with Virtue and Piety, and observed their Effects: I appeal to the Noble Army of Martyrs and Confessors, who suffered in their Quarrel, and became by this more than Conquerors. See then the different ends of Vice and Virtue! The First presents you with some Shadows of Pleasures which prove both Vanity and Vexation. This Second bestows upon you True Pleasures, both outward and inward, solid and durable; which neither Pain nor Sickness nor Death itself, armed with all its Terrors, can deprive you of; and which will never forsake you, till they have brought you to that place where there is fullness of Joy and Pleasures for evermore.   

§. 20. I have at large discoursed of the true Nature of the Pleasures of Sensuality, that cheat so many into their Ruin; and, after an impartial Discovery of their Inside, I hope I have sufficiently exposed their Falsehood, Vanity, and Insufficiency. I have added to this an imperfect Account of the Pleasures of a well-governed and virtuous Life. Imperfect I say, for they are to be felt, not expressed. I have nothing to add to this Letter, but some few Reflections upon these Two Heads. I. The Difficulties; and, II. The Miseries, that (in the beginning of this Discourse) were objected to attend this Duty: And then conclude the trouble of this Letter, etc.   

§. 21. As to the pretended Difficulties of Autarchy, I have this Answer.  
1. That Autarchy in itself is neither hard nor ungrateful, but easy and natural. Its Regimen was settled by our Creator in the beginning and first origination of Mankind; and therefore not difficult to him who institutes his Life according to the Order of Nature: For indeed all manner of Intemperance is a violence and rape upon our Nature, and we find that (till she is conquered by long and customary Force) she both abhors and resists it. Thus, for instance, Gluttony presses her down, and Drunkenness strives to stifle and drown her, whilst she (poor Wretch!) struggles with all her force, throws up the unconcocted load, the same way it was imposed upon her, and in resentment of this Violence pines herself sometimes several Days afterwards. This, I say, is the true state of virgin, and undebauched Nature. And therefore Self-Government is her Guardian; nor can it be difficult originally, but natural, and consequently easy. But then—  
2. As it cannot be denied, but that this among many other things is now grown difficult to us, so it must be confessed, That this Difficulty is the Effect of long and customary Habits of Licentiousness; nor can it be wondered, that a Man habituated to a sinful Course of Life, and used to be carried about by his unruly Passions, should find some uneasiness in the first entrance of a regular and stayed Conversation; no more than that an untamed Horse should at first time regret the Bridle; or the young Bullock the Yoke that is laid upon his unaccustomed Neck. All Changes, from one extreme to another, prove troublesome, and in every Alteration of Life we may observe the like. The beginnings of things must be difficult, especially to a prejudiced Nature; and he that is accustomed to Extravagance must resent a Restraint. The Neophyte cannot but expect some trouble in the Government of his Passions and perverse Nature; and the young Practitioner will be weary of his New Work; but he that has used himself to it, finds the Sweet of it; and he that is exercised therein shall find its Delights.  
3. And then, for those affrightful Names of Mortification, etc. they were at first given with respect to the Removal of inveterate Habits, and the trouble it puts an old Sinner to. As for the things themselves, they are not simply necessary to the Duties I commend, nor indeed to Christian Religion, no more than Physic is to our Mortal Bodies. Not simply necessary, but only by way of Consequence, and by reason of those Diseases of the Mind which we have contracted. When Piety gins to decay through the Weakness of the Powers of the Soul, and the Prevalency of the Appetite; then the Spiritual Pill becomes necessary; and if it be unpleasant to the Taste, or makes us sick in its Operation, we may thank our Diseased Minds for it. Corrupt humours cannot be evacuated without Pain, nor can the dumb and deaf Spirit (much less that which is raging mad) be cast out without sore Convulsions of Mind, and a renting of the Heart, even to a seeming Death. But all this is but accidental to Religion, which in itself is an easy Yoke, and a light Burden; a sweet and delightsome Employ, and requires none of these Severities: For to a Man that hath been trained up in Subjection to the Heavenly part, and hath lived so till he hath become capable of sensing the Pleasures of the Divine Life, there is no need of Mortifying of Lusts and Appetites; these have been regulated long ago, ab initio, bred up in Obedience, and taught Submission from his Birth.  
I shall only add two things more upon this Head, and could wish that they might be as seriously considered as they must be confessed. The First is, That the strictest Precepts of Christianity, such as Self-denial, and taking up the Cross (the severest Doctrine of the severest Religion) hath its peculiar Pleasures and comforts, and that in proportion to its Hardships. Secondly, That Vice is the greatest Slavery, and brings greater Mortifications and Hardships upon the Body (yea, and upon the Appetites themselves) than the most restraining Virtue, and consequently that Men usually take more pains, and suffer more to go to Hell, than is required in order to Heaven and a Blessed Eternity.   

§. 22. As for the Miseries that the Beginning of this Discourse seems to entail upon Piety, whether they are ab extrà or ab intrà, I answer briefly,  
1. That God is not severe or cruel to any Man, much less to his Servants. He is good unto every Man, and his tender Mercies are over all his Works: He is slow to Anger, of great kindess, and repenteth him of the evil.  
2. That he punishes them, or suffers them to be afflicted, arises out of other Causes; as, First, To prevent Sin and the Doting upon this World, by letting them see their own Frailty, and the World's Deceitfulness: To take down Temptations, and abate the Lusts of the Flesh, etc. Secondly, To punish Sin in this World, that their Souls may be saved in the World to come. Thirdly, To bring them to Repentance, and recover their Spiritual Health. As a careful Physician, a severe Schoolmaster, and a loving Father who chasteneth every Son whom he loveth, and scourgeth every Son whom he receiveth. And thus Afflictions are real Blessings, and the End changeth the Means into tokens of Love and Mercy. Fourthly, To make them Instances of the Divine Goodness. Thus Job stands a Monument, not so much of Humane Integrity, as of God's Justice and Mercy; his Justice in punishing his Creature, which, for all his Integrity, had some time or other deserved as much as this; (and God may justly withdraw the Blessings of Health and Riches from Job which he had given him) and his Mercy in returning them double to him. Besides, he is an ancient Example of the Power of Divine Grace, as also of Humane Imbecility. And the same or the like Account may be given of the Apostles and the First Christians, who remain Evidences of the great Love of God to Mankind, who spared neither his Son to procure us a better Covenant, or his Servant's Blood to seal to the Truth of it. And therefore—  
3. As to those 
* Vid. Matt. 10. 17. & 24. 9 Luk. 21. 12. Joh. 15. 20. 1 Thess. 3. 3, 4. 2 Tim. 1. 8. & 3. 12.  Texts where our Lord warned his Disciples of Sufferings; or those of his Disciples to the Primitive Christians, of the Afflictions and Persecutions which they must expect: They are not universarily applicatory; for their Case was extraordinary, and they were fitted with Divine Gifts accordingly. And those Texts do more particularly point out those calamitous Times, and cannot be applied to those times in which the Church had peace and rest from her Labours. Their work was in the heat of the Day, and God that called them to such a mighty Work, first enabled them, and then crowned them for it; but as for us, we labour in the cool, nor can we expect any Opposition but that of our carnal Lusts and Appetites. Piety is commanded, and Virtue is encouraged and rewarded, and Religion is not now to be espoused in Chains but upon the Throne. So that notwithstanding the extraordinary examples of some of God's dear Servants in the Old Testament, and of many more in the New, I am bold to conclude, That Autarchy tends naturally and of itself, to present as well as to future Pleasures, whether it be of the Mind or a Regulated Body, and to make us happy here and hereafter.  
And thus, having made what Observations and Reflections I thought suitable upon the Vanity of the pretended Pleasures of Sensuality; having pleaded the Cause of Self-Government, and vindicated it from the Acccusations of Tyranny or Cruelty over the Body or her attendant Passions, I will reserve her Outward Advantages to be the Subject of the Third Letter.    

ἈΥΤΑΡΧΊΑ· OR, THE DUTY of Self-Government.  
The Third PART.  
Of the Outward Advantages of Autarchy; and an Exhortation thereunto.  

§. 1. I had not long finished the Second Part of this Moral Essay (in which, I hope, I have somewhat contributed to the allaying the Heats of your Sensual Desires, and rebated your Prejudices to the Oeconomy of Self-Government) but I be thought my self of my Promise made in the Conclusion of it, to treat of the Outward Advantages of Autarchy. 'Tis true (my Dorotheus) the inward Pleasures mentioned in my last, of Joy, Peace, and the Testimony of a good Conscience are the greatest Blessings we are capable of on this side Heaven; but then the other outward Blessings are not to be despised. As long as we are here we all naturally desire those Delights that caress Humane Nature; and he must be more than an ordinary Philosopher that can overlook all corporeal Pleasures. He is happy that can gratify his Soul, but yet he is thought more happy that can gratify his Soul and Body both, and yet preserve his Innocency. If then Autarchy be a Friend to both these, its Government sure cannot be refused. What it is in respect of Pleasures, hath been the Subject of the former Paper, and what it is in respect of all Outward Advantages, shall be the Subject of this. After which I shall draw up all the Premises into one conclusion; and, tying a Knot upon it, leave it with you to the judgement of after Experience.   

§. 2. The Outward Advantages of Autarchy, which I have not discoursed of in my former, may be reduced to these Three Heads:  

1. A Healthful and Long Life.  
2. A Competent Estate, or Sufficiency.  
3. Honour and Respect from all Men.   
These are the Three Principal Favourites of the Body, and are courted as our greatest Happiness, while we are here. A sickly long Life is therefore thought so much the more miserable, because it is long, and a Healthful Short Life miserable by reason of its Shortness. And both Health and Length of Life cannot make us happy, according to the vulgar Opinion; if we are condemned to Poverty, and to eat the Bread of Carefulness. And there be many that will not be satisfied without a third accessional, I mean Honour and Respect. And there is no Man, but the highest Christian, that can wholly lay them all aside, and say, with St. Paul, That he counts all things but dung and loss, so that he may win Christ. I cannot expect you should arrive at this Spiritual Life, this Perfection of Wisdom these many years. It will be sufficient if you attain it at last with all the Aids of Morality, and Religion. In the mean time it will be sufficient to alliciate a young and unexperienced Nature by that which seems most inviting in this World, (though it be but as Children with Toys, and such are most of us in a spiritual Sense) I mean with Earthly Blessings such as Life, Estate, and Honour. My Business therefore shall be to demonstrate to you (not that Autarchy will infallibly make you live long Healthful, Rich, and Honourable, or instate you presently in the Possession of these Three Blessings; for there may be many Circumstances which may hinder the Effect, and God may not prosper the Means for the Ends designed: nor do I intent to affirm that this Duty will enfeoff you with the intense degrees of each, i. e. that it will make you live to threescore years and ten or fourscore, and all that while in abundance of outward Prosperity, Riches, and Grandeur; for this is not entailed upon any Duty, but) That it is the readiest Way, and the most probable Means to obtain a convenient portion of each, and enough to ascertain an outward Happiness: That it naturally tends to long Life, and Health, Sufficiency of Estate and Respect; and, where it is not hindered of its effect, will ensure them. Thus, as the Reasons of the former Paper will make you a Votary to the Spiritual Government as a Christian and a Philosopher, so those of this may work upon you as a Man. I begin with the first of its Temporal Advantages, A Healthful and Long Life.   

§. 3. Of all the outward Blessings that God usually crowns Man with in this World, Health and Long Life ought to be first named, because most desired. The First begets the Second, and they mutually caress each other, and would do so eternally. When things are as they should be, Nature abhors an Alteration for fear of a Dissolution. The sullen Rocks cling together and oppose Separation; and the soft Waters which are dashed into a thousand pieces against them, reunite their Parts, which will not separate till Gravity and the indispensible Laws of the Universe compel them. The Vegetables, though they die at Winter, do yet retain the Seeds of Life against their Resurrection in the Spring, and accordingly appear again in their various Figures and Colours: The Birds and Beasts labour night and day, to preserve a beloved though (to themselves) an unprofitable Life, and when they can no longer escape the Snares of the cunning Fowler or cruel Hunter, they mournfully utter out their resentments of Man's Tyranny in their inarticulate Rhetoric. Man, the Lord of the visible Creation, preserves his own Life by destroying others, and pays Nature in himself what he has robbed her of in other Creatures. We are apt to admire the Happiness of Methusalah, and (if we thought it to any purpose) would desire to live as long as he. We complain of Nature's unequal bounty to the Antediluvian World, whilst she confines us to Threescore or Fourscore Years. To live long, and see many happy, or (rather than die) unhappy days; to live, though old, lame, decrepit, and despised (much more when young, healthful and strong) is the universal desire of deluded Mortals, enamoured of their Sorrows and besotted of their Chains: Nor can Reason, Counsel, or Experience (without a Diviner Ray darted from Heaven into their Souls) undeceive them. And after all, it is something unaccountable to find that, though most Men make Long Life the chiefest Petition in all their Addresses to Heaven, yet there are few that will confess they have received it, though they have passed their great Climax. So great is our aversion to Death, our greatest Friend that would put an End to our Troubles, and lay us up in Peace. Young men put it far from them; and Old men do not care to hear of it, though descending down towards their Grave. And I have experienced in myself, now entering into my Declination, a kind of Reluctancy to be told I was so far on my Journey: I conclude therefore that there is something in Nature (some Relict of the Old man) that is afraid of Death, though she carries it within her; and thus perhaps it will be with you, and therefore to please the lower Soul, and reconcile it to the Government of the upper, I shall endeavour to show that it is the usual Gift and natural Consequent of Autocracy.   

§. 4. To this Purpose it will suffice to propose this one Consideration. viz. That,—  There is nothing that can conduce more directly to the Health of the Body (and consequently to its Preservation to Old Age) than the regular Use of Meat, Drink, and animal Pleasures, which Self-Government enjoins. 
This alone is able to preserve Health, and to recover it when lost, and (if some Original Distemper or fatal Providence interpose not) to convey it down to Old Age; to procure the Vigour of Youth in Age, and a healthful and strong Constitution, and consequently a Long Life, etc.  
This Truth is self-apparent, and shines by its own Light; for most Diseases are confessed to be the Effects of Intemperance. Vice tends to our Ruin from its first Entertainment; and the Body of Sin naturally leads us to the Body of Death. Excesses bring Sickness, and Surfeiting will turn to Choler. By surfeiting many have perished, but he that taketh heed prolongeth his Life: saith the wise Son of Sirach, Ecclus. 37. 30.  
Instances will best illustrate this Truth for their Conviction.  
For thus the Glutton lives to eat, not eats to live but to die; when by contrarieties of Meats and Drinks he hath vitiated his Appetite, and collected a Mass of Crudities in his Stomach, the morbific Matter which at last sends him out of the World. Thus the Drunkard drowns himself in a Dropsy, or by a Collection of Adventitious Heats inflames his Blood into a Fever; when he shall call for Drink without Satisfaction, and use it without Offence. And I wish it were seriously considered how peculiar an Enemy this Sin is to our Lives, and of how many sad Accidents it is the cause, some times fatal to Body and Soul; of which we have too many Examples: So false is that flattering Proverb, A Drunkard never takes hurt. And indeed Drunkenness is a kind of Daemoniacism, and taking away the use of the Members of the Body, and Operations of the Soul; the evil Spirit casts him sometimes into the Fire, and sometimes into the Water. Nor is it a wonder that when the internal Principle of Direction, the Understanding, is destroyed, the Guardian Angel driven away, and kept at a distance, the Devil should take the advantage to do a Man a Mischief. In a word, Intemperance is such an universal Purveyor for the Grave, that it is become long since a Proverb, Plures gulâ quam gladio, etc. The Throat is the greatest Enemy as well as Preserver to itself, and destroys more than the Sword.  
Thus the impure Slave that with an Adulterous Eye pursues every Woman (besides his Fears and Dangers) wears out his Body, and twists up his own Scourge. A Disease, I mean, that destroys his Form and Beauty, torments him with Pains when he should take his rest; makes him water his Couch with his Tears, and his Bed to be the Place of his Punishment, because it was the Place of his Folly; and at last consigns him over to Rottenness, and to become his own Sepulchre. And if Whoredoms and Adulteries do not always produce such Tragedies, 'tis because they are, in some Measure, restrained, and so it is the Effect of Autarchy.  
Nay those immaterial Diseases, those of the Mind I mean, that are not so conversant with gross Matter, even these become prejudicial, if not fatal, to our Lives and Health. Covetousness pines and withers the Body; Envy dries it up, and makes it pale; and Pride begets Quarrels, Contentions, and Wars, that send thousands to the Grave together. I need not instance in more, for 'tis the Confession and Complaint of emasculated Debauchees, that their Vices have been their Enemies, and contributed to their Destruction. So that there is a natural Reason as well as Providence in the Sentence of the wise Solomon, Evil shall pursue the Sinner, and he shall not prolong his days. Prov. 10. 27. & 13. 21. Eccles. 8. 13. 'Tis Autarchy alone that prescribes Moderation; that distinguisheth betwixt the Abuse and Use, betwixt the Poison and Nutriment of Meat and Drink; that maintains a due Temperament, and satisfies that Nature that she preserves.   

§. 5. And here I cannot conceive what Sensuality hath to say for itself, and in its own defence; unless it is by way of Recrimination: Unless she leads you to the Cells of Asceticks, and the Oratories of Recluses, and shows you the pale and lean Effects of Fasting and Mortification; the Skeletons of some few Saints, who chose to anticipate Death and die whilst they lived. See there (will she say) the Effects of Bigottism and Religious Frenzy, what she would reduce the World to if she could procure once a perfect Empire there! And what can Luxury itself do more? Besides thou mayst observe that Wise men die as soon and as well as Fools, and the Righteous fall promiscuously with the Wicked. Alas! Death makes no difference; nor can Integrity, Wisdom, Valour, or Parts oppose him. The End of Man is determined, and then why should the Means be blamed; he was to die at that time, and therefore why should his Vices be accused for bringing him thither? Thus Sin is ready to excuse itself, though she lays the Fault at God's door, and on his everlasting Decrees.  
To all which I answer briefly.  
First. Waving the Question about the determination of our Lives (of which I shall find occasion to give you mine opinion towards the end of this Discourse) I say, as to the Hardships, Fast and Mortifications of restraining Virtue, I cannot find (as I noted before) that Autarchy absolutely and universally prescribes them, but only where our particular necessities require them. God hath given his Creatures richly (though moderately) to be enjoyed, and having given us his Son, with him hath given us all things. But when the Beast within (the Sensual part) gins to wax fat, and kicks against its Master and Maker both; there is then but too apparent Symptoms of a Spiritual 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, an evil Habit of Mind; and then Fasting and other Ghostly Exercises become our Duty: For it is Physic to the Body as well as Soul, and serves mutually their Necessities. Besides, I do not find any Command, even in that Case, to make ourselves sick, or to impair our Healths, for the sake of Religion.  
Secondly. As for the Oratories of Recluses, and the Cells of Anchorites, I know not where we shall find them in Europe, unless we travel to Mount Athos in Greece in quest of them. And as for those Multitudes in the Roman Church, that pretend to leave the World, and undertake the Vow of Coelebacy and Poverty, most of them (I will not say all, for some Orders perhaps still retain their original Strictness and Abnegation of the World: most of them I say) have miserably degenerated from the pretended Sanctity of their Founders. 'Tis true, there was such a sort of People of yore, and all Christians were in ancient times extremely careful to keep themselves unspotted from the World, and some perhaps even to a kind of Superstition. But this was then, when Religion possessed the Hearts as well as the Heads of its Professors; and when the Breath of the Holy Jesus was yet warm upon the Heads of his Disciples and the Primitive Christians. But, in these wretched times of Sin and Death, 'tis more than we can do to persuade Men to a Recession from the World, in prohibited degrees and a sinful Converse: and therefore this Instance is (especially with us) utterly impertinent.  
Thirdly. As for those good Men that die Young: It proceeds not from any defect in Autarchy, but from other causes. Perhaps from some Native Distemper, which they receive by Traduction, twisted up in their very Essence: From the original Weakness of the Contexture of their Bodies, made at first, and intended by Nature for a Tent, not a continual Habitation for the Soul: Or, if the Pillars of the Body were ever so strongly built up, yet some accidental Emergency, some hidden Train may suddenly blow up the Fort; and God, by his providential order of Second Causes, may concur to its dissolution: Perhaps out of Judgement, as in the Instance of the disobedient Prophet, that was sent to declare against the Altar at Bethel, and in his return was delivered up to the Lion that slew him, 1 King. 13. Perhaps out of Mercy, when living well and longer are inconsistent, and when the righteous are taken away from the Evil to come. These and such like may be the Causes of the early Deaths of some sober and regular Sons of Virtue, which yet their Temperate Life naturally tended to prevent. So that, notwithstanding some particular Instances, we may safely conclude, That Sensuality is destructive to Humane Nature; which Autarchy, by its Rules and Directions, would long preserve; or in the Words of the divine Preacher, My Son, forget not my Law, but let thine Heart keep my Commandments. For Length of Days, and Long Life, and Peace shall they add to thee. Prov. 3. 1, 2.   

§. 6. The Second outward Advantage of Autocracy is, A competency of Estate or Sufficiency of the bona Fortunae, as we commonly call Riches. And when I have said this, I mean not that it will infallibly and suddenly instate you with Abundance, or that there is no other way to become Rich; but that it is the only lawful way to a worldly Estate, and a probable way as well as lawful. It will defend you from Poverty, and feed you with Food convenient, if not with Superfluities: It is the proper and natural Means to obtain and increase an outward Fortune, and where Providence interposes not, it will attain that end. This must be confessed by him that considers that it enjoins, 1. Parsimony and Temperance, whereby we become the best Husbands of what we have, and avoid all needless Expenses, the Effects of Pride and Prodigality, and the Consumers of mighty Estates. 2. Justice and upright Dealing, which will procure us credit with all Men, and preserve what we have gotten: For let Men take what Measures they please; yet they will not deny, but that Honesty is the best Policy: For Justice doth attract the Love and Favour even of the Unjust; and upright Dealing will find a present as well as future Reward. With the same Measure you meet withal it shall be measured to you again. 3. Care and Industry, which engage us by all lawful Ways, Means, and Measures both to get an Estate and increase it. For if we search into the Causes of Want and Poverty, we shall commonly find Idleness or Debauchery at the Bottom of it; and most Men must accuse their own want of Providence, not the Providence of God, for their Wants and Indigency. 4. Liberality, Charity, and Mercy, which are so far from being Enemies to Estates, that they augment them; for the liberal Soul shall be made fat, and he that watereth shall be watered. Prov. 11. 25. Besides they call down the divine Benediction upon our selves and our Endeavours. To him that seeks the Kingdom of God, and his Righteousness, all things shall be added. Matt. 6. And he that casts his Bread upon the waters shall find it again with increase: We may reasonably expect to reap what we sow, and receive by the same Measure that we meet to others. Luc. 6. 38. 'Tis our Lord's rule that cannot, will not fail, us if we do not prevaricate with ourselves. Give, and it shall be given unto you, good measure pressed dowm, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your Bosoms. Nor can this Promise become ineffectual, but by our own Fault, our Covetousness, Hypocrisy and Infidelity.  
And now I dare appeal to the Judgement of any Man, whether there can be a more probable way to an Earthly Estate, than to be industrious in ourselves, to have credit with others, and the Blessing of God to crown our Endeavours? And whether it be not as evident on the other side, that Sensuality makes Men Prodigal, Debauched, Spendthrifts, Unjust, Fraudulent, Creditless, Unmerciful and Cruel, and so to inherit nothing but the Curses of Men, and the Vengeance of God?   

§. 7. But here I must walk cautiously, lest the Sensualist take the Advantage, and prevent the usual Objections which he will make to what has been said upon this Head. It is confessed therefore, that sometimes all these means fail: That Virtuous Men continue poor, whilst Violence, Oppression, and Cheatery thrive and grow rich: For God hath his secret Ends and Purposes, and may make what Exceptions he pleases from this general Rule, viz. The hand of the Diligent maketh rich. Prov. 10. 4. There is a secret Providence that order every Man his quota: And thence is that which Solomon observed long ago, There is (saith he) that scattereth and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. Prov. 11. 24. And yet this is no impeachment of the general Rule, viz. That Autarchy naturally tends to Riches, or at least to Sufficiency. But if this be further pressed (though I know no reason for it) I must not omit two mighty and almost miraculous Effects of Autarchy, which will sufficiently supply that Defect and make a Compensation.  
1. The First is that of making the Poor Man rich, above what Care, Labour, or the Philosopher's Stone can do. For when God, for Reasons best known to himself, denies him Abundance, Autarchy teaches him to supply that defect, by a willing Submission to Providence, and a full Contentment with his small Portion, as that which God sees to be best for him: For he only knows what Measures are fit for us, and where to place the Two, as well as the Five and Ten Talents. Some Vessels are not fit to be filled with strong Liquors lest they burst, and every Man cannot bear the Temptation of Riches. God designs the Salvation of all Men in the first place, and to that great end proportions the Means thereunto. These, and such like Considerations make him sit down fully satisfied with his share, and thus at least he is Rich, and having nothing doth yet possess all things.  
And here I must tell you (my Dorotheus) that it is not a great Estate that always makes a Man Rich; for there may be great Poverty amidst great Abundance. It was a sore Evil which Solomon saw and lamented long ago, A man to whom God hath given Riches, Wealth, and Honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his Soul of all that he desireth; and yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it. Eccles. 6. 2. And what is he better for that which he hath, or rather seemeth to have, who either not uses it, or abuses it? Or wherein consists the Happiness of that Man whose Riches are given him out of Judgement, not Love; and to be snares of the Devil, not helps to Charity? An Estate may be acquired, 'tis true, by Fraud or Violence; but than it proves a continual Worm to the Conscience, a Plague to the Mind, and a Consumption to the Body. When a Father must run the danger of Damnation to convey an Estate, with a Curse, down to his Son, and capacitate him to run the same Hazard; will you call such a Man Rich and Happy? No, certainly, he is Poor, Miserable, and a Wretch! whose mistaken Love to his Son, hath induced him to sell his own Soul to buy him an Estate, and made himself miserable in the other World, to procure his Child a Shadom of Happiness in this. Whereas he that can conquor his Desires, and subdue his Passions; that is contented with his honest Lot, is rich towards God, and communicative towards his Fellow-Creatures; That Man, I say, is richer than Croesus the Lydian King, or Crassus the wealthy Roman Subject.  
2. The Second is that of sanctifying our Riches, and making it serviceable to our Eternal Concerns. A strange Property sure to convert Poison into Food; to heal the unwholesome Waters, and of the Snares of the Devil, to make a Jacob's Ladder! And yet this is true: For our Lord tells us, that this Mammon of unrighteousness may be so rectified and distributed, that it may and will procure us Everlasting Habitations. And Autarchy alone (which forbids us to imprison it in our Chests, or consume it on our Lusts; but use it for our honest Necessities) doth teach us this mighty Work. Thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the Cable-rope is untwisted to that fineness that it will perforate the Eye of a Needle, according to Theophylact's Sense of the Word; or else the Eye of the Needle is so expanded, and enlarged to that dimension, that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Camel may easily pass through it. Vid. Annot. in Matt. 19 24.   

§. 8. The Third outward Advantage and Gift of Autarchy, is, A Good Name, Reverence and Esteem with Men. And this is evident by the Respect and Veneration which is given by the worst as well as by the best of Mankind to Virtue wheresoever it is found. Thus a sober Person shall be revered by the most profligate, and the temperate admired (though envied) by the most debauched. The chaste Virgins, who keep their Innocence against many Temptations, shall at last be honoured as the Vestals were of old; their very Company shall i'll and quench the fiery Emotions of Voluptuousness: for Virtue bears a Majestic Grace with it, whilst Vice sneaks into dark Corners: it carries a secret Awe with it, and checks the Attempts of Sensuality.  
'Tis true, there want not some, that from the Seat of the Scornful can scoff at Virtue, and ridicule Piety (the peculiar Talon and Character of the last and worst of Times) but then, take notice, it is not when in its own Shape, but when misrepresented. They give it disgraceful Names, and dress it up in a monstrous Shape, and then rally upon it. Thus Temperance is traduced under the notion of Covetousness, and Piety is first termed Hypocrisy and then exposed as such. The patiented Man is said to be a Coward; and the provident a poor narrow-souled Fellow: The chaste is called coy and Proud; and the pious and devout is termed superstitious and popishly affected. Thus Vice claps a Sambineto upon Virtue before she is to be executed; and, like her Primitive Votaries, she must be deformed in the Skins of wild Beasts, before even the Dogs will fasten upon her. But otherwise it stands a universal Rule, that Goodness commands the Respects of all, and her Godlike Majesty shines even to the dazzling of her Enemies: for so did her great Master's Divinity overthrow those that came to seize him, and the invisible Rays of his Godhead dart them down backwards that came to bind him: Every one applauds Virtue, though few follow her: And all men call her Blessed, though she has few that will imitate her. The greatest Debauchees will commend her to be Guardianess of his Children after his Decease, and while he lives condemn that in them which he practices in himself. This he doth while he lives, and when he dies, his Relations (if of Ability) build him a Monument and a Pillar, and record upon it all the good Works that he did, but none of his Vices. Hence are those lying Epitaphs, and pompous Commemorations with which the Tombs of some are adorned, whose Names yet stink worse than their Carcases; and the Canonization of some Saints to Heaven, whose Souls are (I fear) long since consigned to Hell. This is Demonstration sufficient to convince us, that nothing can consecrate our Ashes, and give us a kind of Immortality here, but Virtue.   

§. 9 On the other side, there is nothing more dishonourable than Impiety, or unman-like than Sin. For instance: How shameful a thing is it to see a Creature, dedicated to the Service of God, study nothing but the Satisfaction of his Belly? For a Man made for noble Thoughts and Contemplations, to sink below the Beasts, and become a drivelling Sot, and covetous of that which his Nature cannot bear! To see the glorious Image of God and Man both defaced, his Beauty clean gone as well as his Reason, and himself a Companion to the Dog in his vomit, and to the Sow in her wallowing in the mire! To see a rational Being without Sense, and a Man without Understanding, even beyond the Example of Nabuchadnezzar.  
How much below common Truth doth he descend that can swear to that, which his own Conscience (at that very instant) tells him is damnably false; or that can fawn upon him that he hates to death? That can dress up an Ape with gaudy Titles; and cringe, and bow to him, whom yet he will aside call a golden Ass? How cowardly a thing is it to be forced to dissemble hidden Treachery; to flatter an Enemy, and so take advantage of his Security, that he may mischief him in secret, whom he dares not meet publicly? How unworthy a thing is an insidious Parasite?  
What can be more sordid, than for a Man of Reason, and a Professor of the Christian Religion, (a Religion that exalts Reason, and directs us to the Angelic Life) to dote upon Gold or Silver, that is, white and yellow Earth; and to prefer a piece of Money to a Heavenly Virtue? What can be more foolish than to sell a Man's Soul, (that is, himself) for a Bubble; or be condemned to the Galley all his life, that he may be said to die rich? To be always fearing Want, in the midst of Plenty; and to hanker after more, when he hath already more than enough? What more deplorable than to choose a Fever, that he may have the pleasure of drinking and dying; to slave himself for fear of Want, and die for fear of Death?  
What pity is it to see a Gentleman, otherwise completely endowed with the Gifts of Nature, to turn Slave to his Lusts, and Fop to the Humours of a Proud Woman? To see the Imperial Darius fawn upon Apame his imperious Concubine, and him that governed so many Gallant Men, governed himself by an inferior Harlot? To see a Man forsake his loving Yoke-Fellow (that bears up one end of all his Cares and Fears,) and all the Pledges of their mutual Loves, for the Embraces of a Strumpet, who loves him not but for his Money; who will first consume his Estate and then his Body, and at last leave him to run the risk of his broken Fortunes, not to be repaired without fresh Sins and Dangers!  
And, that I may say all in a word, to see a Christian, made at first but a little lower than the Angels, and instructed in those Mysteries which were hid from them; to see such an one (I say) degenerate below the Beasts, and seek his chiefest Happiness with the worst of them! Thus every Sin draws after it the tail of a Serpent, Disgrace and Shame; and no sooner did it enter into the World, but it made the guilty Adam hid himself from the presence of the God of Purity. Nor has it got any great repute (though many Followers) ever since. It is naturally ashamed of itself, blushes at its own Deformity, and usually walks abroad in disguise, under borrowed shapes, and better names to conceal it. Thus the Prodigal must be called generous, the Covetous provident, the Lascivious complaisant, and the Debauched a Good Companion. Thus Singularity and Faction were termed Zeal; Disobedience tenderness of Conscience; and Murder, Rapine, and Ambition blended together, were called the Cause of God, and Reformation.— 'Tis a hardened Sinner indeed that will not blush to hear in public what he doth in private, and a patiented one that will not highly resent it: For tell but a common Harlot what she is, and you move a nest of Wasps; and the Adulteress will take the advantage of the Law against you. Shortly, Every Sin is a reproach to Humane Nature, a disgrace to Reason, and an indignity to the Order of the Creation. Sin and Shame are inseparable.   

§. 10. On the other part, (that I may look into the other Scale) Wisdom exalts them that are of low Estate, promotes them, and brings them to Honour. It lifts up the poor out of the dust, and the needy out of the dunghill, that he may set him with Princes, even with the Princes of his People. It is a portion more precious than Gold; than the Onyx, Saphires, and Rubies: It is the Original of all true Nobility, and supports their Titles and Dignities, which Debauchery would destroy, and so pulls 'em down into the order of the Vulgar. For Virtue is the true Nobility, the Palladium, or (that I may use a Christian term) the Guardian Angel of Greatness: She ennobles her Servant, and, not only himself, but his Posterity; without this, Grandeur is but a swelling Bubble, a Cloud without Rain; or, rather, a blazing Comet that shines with borrowed Rays, and attracts the wonder of the Vulgar, and yet is in itself an unlucky Omen to the World; and though its dismal Effects may continue long, yet it soon vanisheth. Wisdom first founded the World, and hath preserved it ever since, and as for the several Governments of it, they have been all continued by Autarchy: For Self-Government is the Foundation of all others, and he that will rule others must first learn to rule himself; his own Passions and Affections require his first care, and after that then those of other Men. If a man cannot rule his own house, how should he take care of the Church of God, saith the Apostle? And I add, If he cannot govern himself, he can govern neither: For it is the surest way to begin at the bottom, to lay a good Foundation, and so build gradually. The best ordered Governments choose their Generals out of those that have gone through all the Degrees of Discipline in the School of War.   

§. 11. And yet, after all, it must be confessed (and I note it here to prevent an Objection) That Desert is not always rewarded, nor Merit crowned, in this World. Some precious stones must lie buried in the Earth. 'Tis not fit Nature should be quite rifled of all her Treasure at once, and have all her Rarities shown together: For if she had no reserve, she might be bankrupt, and her Treasures would be soon exhausted. There is not Reward enough perhaps in the World to satisfy all Rivals; and the Fountains of Honour are not infinite, but have their Bounds: besides it is but reasonable that some things should be reserved for the Rewards as well as Punishments of the other World, and we may well imagine this to be the design of Providence when it seems not to regard Virtue or Vice in this. All that I have hitherto pleaded for, is, That Virtue is usually rewarded in this Life, and that with Honours; or, at least, Reverence as part of its Portion. That the Autarchist, (the good Man that can govern himself) is usually thought the fittest to govern others; and that such a Man shall be esteemed and revered, even by the most disorderly. But if at any time it falls out otherwise, if Providence (for reasons best known to itself, perhaps for our own Good) shall so far alter the course of Nature and dispositions of Mankind, as to suffer Desert not to meet with due Respect; be not you (Dorotheus) yet discouraged in your Race of Virtue, for the more is reserved for you when you arrive at the End. Be content therefore to be a Jewel, though sometimes you lie neglected in the Dust; and to shine, though none takes notice of you. 'Tis a greater thing to deserve to be a Prince, than to be one actually; and he is indeed a King that reigns over himself and his own Appetites, though he hath none other Subjects. Remember that Virtue is its own Reward here, though it had neither Riches nor Honours attending; besides it must be rewarded hereafter. Those internal Blessings of Peace and Joy are its own, and, when it hath no other Reward in this World, (which is very seldom) God takes notice of it, and his Reward is with him, and the greater because deferred. And therefore upon the whole matter, I must conclude, That Autarchy is the only way to true Glory here, and Immortality hereafter.   

§. 12. By this time you must confess that Godliness (and Autarchy is nothing else, but the Power it exerts over the furious and raging Passions) hath usually the promise of this Life, as well as that which is to come. That her outward Advantages are great as well as her inward. Her ways are ways of Pleasantness, and all her paths are Peace. Length of days are in her Right hand, and in her Left Riches and Honours. These are the Privileges that Solomon annexes to a Heavenly Wisdom, of which Self-Government is the greatest and hardest part. I might here further add to its Advantages that of outward Peace with Men, (for Peace of Mind was proved to be her gift in the last Discourse) the quiet I mean, Good Will and Neighbourhood, she would settle in the World; and the Dissensions she would banish out of it: It would restore the terrestrial Paradise again, together with its pristine Innocence, and make that a Tempel of God, which is now become a den of Thiefs: It would cast out the Devil of Hatred and Malice, of Self-Love and Covetousness, of Pride and Revenge (those Fiends that will not suffer us to live in Peace) and restore Love, Meekness, and Humility to bring the Frame of Nature in order again. Thus it would make us all happy if we would accept of Happiness; and we should, while we live here, have some Fore-tastes of the Felicity we are to receive hereafter. These are some of the Advantages of Autarchy: I might add many other, and make many ingenious and surprising Observations thereupon. But it is time to retire, and try to practise mine own advices: Besides, I have in some measure discharged the Promise made in the First of these Essays, and therefore after a brief review of the whole, I will descend to the Conclusion.   

§. 13. You have heard therefore (my studious Dorotheus) in the First Paper the Doctrine of Autarchy explained, together with the several Rules of Practice. In the Second I have, I hope, satisfied, you that its Pleasures are true, substantial, and durable; whilst those of Sensuality are delusive, uncertain, and unsatisfactory: That its regimen is not so grievous or difficult as the World would persuade you; but that it is attended with the best inward and outward Pleasures. In this Last I have endeavoured to show its outward Advantages, as Health, Long Life, Riches and Honours in this World, as well as Eternal Life in the World to come; if it fails in any outward Blessing, 'tis but in order to a greater; it naturally leads to 'em, and if it sometimes miss let not that be your discouragement: Food may, by accident▪ cause Diseases, and that which is the means of Life, cause Death. However, it cannot fail of Life with the Ancient of days, and the Riches and Honours of a Heavenly Kingdom. This is the Argument of what I have writ upon this Subject; and my Design and great End in all this, is to excite you to the Practice of those Virtues included under the Notion of Autarchy; and such are Patience, Meekness, Humility, Temperance, Continency, Charity and such like. And to this End, I will commend to you these Considerations.  
I. It is a Duty not only according to original and incorrupt Nature (in which the lower part is designed to obey the upper, and joined to it for its service) but also worthy of it. It is the peculiar Character of a good and wise man, of him that lives the Life of Angels here, and is designed to live with them hereafter: It is the only way to restore the defaced Image of God, recover our lost Integrity, and the Aethereal Seats from whence we are fallen, which is our business in this World; for we are sent hither to be exercised in Virtue, that we may be fitted for Light and Glory: And he that doth not answer this end of his Creation in this Life, shall sink down in the next; he shall have cause to lament that he had any Being here, and shall be so much the more miserable, by how much he might have been happy.  
II. It is an Exercise that hath the reality of all the true Pleasures that God usually bestows upon the Sons of Men, in this Vale of Tears; whilst the Pleasures of Sin are false, counterfeit, and momentary: Besides, it is a Preparative for future and greater Joys, when God shall lift up our poor dejected Souls out of their terrestrial Prisons, to the Aethereal Seats and Offices nearer to himself. To which add, That it hath (as you have heard proved) all the outward Advantages we can expect in this state of Darkness and Death. For it hath been evidenced, That nothing can tend more to Health and Long Life, Riches, Credit, Respect; yea, an immortal Name (if any such thing can be obtained here, or is worth the pursuit,) than this Great Duty. Thus 'tis an Aggregate of all the poor present Joys of these lower Regions; and an earnest of those of a higher; and if any thing can make us happy here, 'tis only this.  
III. It is an Exercise that the World, as well as Religion, will in some sense exact of us: For though Christianity requires stricter Rules of Discipline for the Body, by how much its Principles are higher, nobler, and more removed from Corporeity; yet Autarchy is daily (and in some respects must be) used in every condition of Life. Every prudent Man must use it, and so hath done from the beginning; and that Man doth not live who denies himself nothing. If mortal Desires were all to be satisfied, they would be soon too clamorous to be endured, and would, in a short time, destroy themselves as well as us. We daily deny ourselves some thing, and look upon it to be no burden, but are content so to do. Subjects deny themselves the Pleasures of Regality, and Princes willingly relinquish the Liberty and Recesses of Subjects. The poor are contented ●o far hard, and be without the Varieties of the Rich Man's Table, and the Rich Man is forced to want the Appetite and Freedom of the Poor. We look upon it to be our Fate to be without many things, upon prudential and secular Accounts. The World will enjoin Self-Government, without the censure of Tyranny, and why may not Religion? Be but then as wife for your Soul as you are for your Body or Estate, and you need no more. The other World may sure engage you as far as this.  
IU. And Lastly (that I may come nearer yourself, and your present Circumstances), It is an Exercise that can only suit with your Education under the best Discipline and the most learned place under Heaven▪ It is the true End of all your Studies at School and in the University. It is the Aim of those excellent Men that have the educating of Youth, the cultivating of Natures, and the dressing of Souls in every Seminary of Learning. It is the End of your Friends Cares and Fears for you; of the Sciences that you have studied, and the Degrees you have taken: and particularly of the highest and most useful Science, called Moral Philosophy. As to Physics, there be many things in Nature inexplicable, and so are like to remain till this Dream of Life is over: And other things are explicated several ways, by several Men, endlessly confuting each other (so that some have concluded to sit down with a Resolution to profess to know nothing;) but Morality, or the Doctrine of conforming our Manners to the Rules of Virtue, is plain, easy, and certain. And while other Sciences may be perverted to vain and sinful Ends and Purposes, the Morality of the Schools is the Handmaid to that of Divinity, and leads to that we learn of Christ. It has an inherent holiness in it, and is not subject to Perversions; and the Moralist shall he still accounted (as he was once by the Oracle) the wisest and the best Man: For this Learning (especially that part that teaches you to govern yourself) è coelo descendit, descended from above, and directs us thither.   

§. 14. Nor are you to defer the Duty of Autarchy, or the governing yourself till Old Age or a fiter Season in your Judgement, but set yourself to the present Practice of it. And against the delaying of this or any other Duty, I must lay before you these Five Considerations.  
1. Our Life is uncertain, neither have we here a continuing City, but must, we know not how soon, be turned out into the vast Abyss of Eternity to seek one. In all the Periods of our Time, Death attends us as well as in Old Age, and our last Day is both certain and uncertain to us: For God, when he sent us hither, allotted us our times, long or short, according to his Will and our Necessities, and in proportion to our Wants and his Goodness. And he hath wisely hid the Bounds and Limits of these our times in Darkness and unknown Futurity; so that we cannot find them out till we have passed them: And this the rather, that no Man might presume upon his remaining Sand, defer Repentance, or depend upon any but God for Life. That we might always expect, what (for aught we know) may befall us at any time, and make every Day our last, because it may prove so.  
2. Though we cannot find out the Dimensions of our Lives, which are hid with God, and beyond which we cannot pass, as Job tells us, Job 14. 5. Yet, I suppose, it lies in our own power to shorten them, and so curtail that Blessing that Heaven designed for us: For I conceive, that those Terms and Limits are assigned Conditionally, and upon supposition of our using the best Means and right Management of ourselves. And, consequently, in these licentious Times, few Men reach those Bounds set by God and Nature: And though, it may be, we cannot enlarge those Terms set for us (which I am apt to believe, in compliance with Job's Words ;) yet it doth not follow but we may shorten them. Thus Excesses carry us off betimes; and Debauchery dispatches us in a few Years: the Sword hath slain its thousands; but Sensuality its ten thousands. It is beyond the power of Physic to restore what we consume and destroy; and we are most of us at all times, and all of us at some time or other (God forgive us) a kind of felo de ses, or Self-Murtherers. Autarchy must therefore be begun betimes, because it can then only bring us to our Journey's end, and save us from the imputation of contributing to our own Death.  
3. 'Tis a foolish and dangerous thing to put off that which we must, not only begin, but perfectly exercise at one time or other, or else be miserable. It is contrary to all the Methods of Wisdom and Prudence in the world, to defer a thing of that infinite concern to us, as Salvation, or the Means requisite thereunto. Procrastination may possibly make us miserable in a moment, but it can never do us the least good.  
4. God, with whom are the Measures of Life, and the fatal Bounds which we may not pass, may justly resent our delay, and offer us his Grace no more. He that slights his great Concerns in this World, when he hath Opportunity, may justly have that Opportunity taken away from him; and who knows but God may enlarge or abbreviate our Lives, according as we use or abuse his Tenders of Grace. However, the Door may be shut, and the day of Salvation may end before that of Nature. The Scripture tells us, To him that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance; but from him that hath not, shall be taken away that which he seemeth to have.  
5. And Lastly, Procrastinators seldom begin, much less finish any Religious Work. And there is this reason to be given for it, The same Cause which makes you defer a thing to day, will to morrow, and so forward. And if Difficulty, Idleness, or Want of Inclination be that cause to day, it will be more to morrow, and so forward. The longer the work of Self-Conquest is deferred, the harder it will grow, till it becomes insuperable, and the more will be your Aversion to it. The Flesh, which at first is tractable and tender, will (if left to its own Management) become stubborn and hard to be bowed. And therefore it hath been observed, That Procrastination is not only a Sign but a Cause of final Impenitency. Remember, therefore, the Sentence with which a late pious Author concludes his Book, out of the Mouth of the wise Siracides. Make no tarrying to turn to the Lord, and put it not off from day to day. Ecclus. 5. 7.   

§. 15. The Conclusion of all shall be hortative, and (that it may have the more Effect) in the words of the divine Psalmist quoted and approved of by St. Peter; and so declaring the Sense of the Old and New Law about the Duty of Autarchy, and its present Reward. Psal. 34. 12, etc. and 1 Pet. 3. 10, etc. What Man is he that desireth Life, and loveth many days, that he may see good? Keep thy Tongue from evil, and thy Lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil and do good, seek peace and ensue it. For the Eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his Ears are open to their prayers; but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. In which words the great Duty is Autarchy, which consists (1.) in the Government of the Tongue, from Raillery and Falsehood; (2.) of the Actions, in declining every evil Act, and doing that which is good; (3.) of the Mind, that it be free from the unruly Passions, peaceable in itself, and peaceable with all men. Thus for the Duty; then for the Reward, It encloses the Duty on all sides, that one may not be seen without the other. It promises (1.) Temporal Blessings, as most agreeable and taking with flesh and blood, viz. Long Life, Many Days, and Enjoyment of Good in them: And then adds. (2.) Spiritual Blessings, and these follow the Duty; God's Eyes, i. e. his gracious Aspect or Providence, watches over the righteous, and his Ears are open to their Prayers; whereas, on the other side, he sets himself in opposition to them that do evil, his Face or Countenance is against the Sensualist, not only to cut him off from the earth; but the very Memory of him, his place and name, so that they shall no where be found.  
You see then (Dorotheus) both your Duty and Reward. And what now can be expected from you, upon the whole matter, but that you should act like yourself, as a Man of Reason and Understanding; and, having the Candle of the Lord for your Guide, that you follow its Light in all things. Do nothing therefore, unworthy of your Knowledge and Learning; and entertain no Thought that may be a shame to either. Bring every intended Action to the Test, and examine it before the upper Court of Judicature. Avoid Self-condemnation as the greatest evil; and scorn to do that in private, which you dare not own in public. Eschew not only every sinful, but every unworthy Action; and abstain not only from Evil, but from the very appearance of it. Desire nothing but what is necessary and proper for you; and suspect every Licentious Act, though there appears no present Sin in it. Use your Body to some Discipline, and accustom it to Disappointments now and then, that it may the easier bear the non-enjoyment of things prohibited. Keep it and its Appetites at a distance and under the rod; and if it rebels, exercise it with Fasting and Abstinence. In a word, Be absolute in yourself, and tolerate no Resistance there.   

§. 16. Thus taught Socrates that living Image of Wisdom, and Plato the Godlike, and the rest of the wise and obedient Sons of Nature, enlightened only by the glimmering Candle-light of its Laws. Nay, thus taught and lived the Holy Jesus, and spent his time here in Fasting, Prayer, and other spiritual Exercises, not out of any necessity in respect of himself, but that he might give us an Example: He willingly chose Sufferings and Poverty rather than Empire, and preferred Sorrow to Mirth, as more proper for a Vale of Tears. Thus lived and taught his holy Apostles and first Followers, denying themselves, chastising their Bodies, and keeping them under, and that not only for Cure, but for Prevention. And thus lived and taught the Primitive Saints for some hundreds of Years; till Iniquity began to abound and the divine Love to wax cold: Many of whom (that they might be more than Conquerors, show the Power they had over themselves, and avoid Temptations) chose to prevent Death, and die whilst they lived; leave the World, I mean, and all its Vanities and Follies, abandon Delights, renounce all humane Conversation, deny themselves even innocent Entertainments, and shut themselves up from the power of Vainglory and all Society. And this was the Original of a Monastic Life.  
I know very well that there is no Necessity of going thus far, and that even this sort of Desertion of the World hath degenerated into Hypocrisy. That the blackest Crimes have been acted in the dark, and the greatest Licentiousness under the Monk's Cowl and Hood. I know likewise that no Man is necessitated to take upon him the Vow of Coelibacy, or to forsake the World in that Sense. Our Lot is easier than theirs, who were forced to fly to the Mountains, and spend their times in Solitudes. Religion is (God be thanked) both commanded and rewarded; and Autarchy admired by all, though used by few. But this is that I have and must maintain, That we must keep ourselves unspotted from the World, and the sinful Lusts of the Flesh. And, in order thereunto, That we must learn the Art of Self-Conquest, by the most convenient and suitable Methods; and that we ought to be prepared to suffer, though we have no present Enemy or outward War. That Christianity is a spiritual Warfare; and that we have the Devil, and our own Lusts to combat and conquer. And, finally, That those good and wise Men, which like so many Stars illuminate these dark Regions of Sin and Ignorance, aught to be Autarchists.  
Shine then (my Dorotheus) amongst these few: for thus only shall you ensure inward Quiet and Peace amongst the Uncertainties of an unconstant World; you will experiment true external Pleasures, besides the Comforts of a pure Conscience, which nothing can take from you; you will find inward Pleasure and Peace, if not that which outward, and probably Long Life, Health, Credit, Respect, and many good days. The straight Gate will grow wider, and the narrow Path broader, and Autarchy will at last prove your Reward as well as Duty: You will begin here to live the Spiritual Life, the Life of Angels and beatified Souls; which, as you grow older, will become more and more delightful; till at last you meet Death disarmed of all its Terrors, lovely and charming, because it will conduct your willing Soul to the Regions of Bliss, and to the Company of Angels. Which is the daily Prayer of your Friend, and the Design of these Papers.    
FINIS.  

A Catalogue of Books Printted for Dorman Newman.  
THE Way to Health, Long-Life and Happiness: or, A Discourse of Temperance, and the particular nature of all things requisite for the Life of Man: as all sorts of Meats, Drinks, Age, Exercise, etc. with special Directions how to use each of them to the best advantage of the Body and Mind. Showing, from the true ground of Nature, whence most Diseases proceed, and how to prevent them. To which is added a Treatise of the most sort of English Herbs, with several other remarkable and most useful Observations, Very necessary for all Families. The whole Treatise displaying the most hidden Secrets of Philosophy, and made easy and familiar to the meanest Capacities, by various Examples and Demonstrations. By T. Tryon. The Second Edition, with Amendments. Also the other Works of the Author.  
A Brief Exposition of the Church-Catechism, with Proofs from Scripture. By Dr. Williams. The Third Edition.  
The Penitent Lady: or, Reflections on the Mercy of God. Written by the Famed Madam La Valliere, since her retirement from the French Court to a Nunnery. Translated from the French, by L. A. M. A. The Second Edition.  
Contemplations on the state of Man in this Life, and in that which is to come. By Bp. Taylor.  
A Golden Chain, to link the Penitent Sinner unto God. Whereunto is added a Treatise of the Immortality of the Soul.  
A Moral Discourse of the Power of Interest. By David Abercromby, M. D. and Fellow of the College of Physicians at Amsterdam. The Second Edition.  
Letters of advice from two Reverend Divines, to a young Gentleman, about A weighty Case of Conscience. And by him recommended to the serious Perusal of all those that may fall into the same Condition. Fly youthful Lusts. 2 Tim. 2. 22.  
Dr. Willet's Synopsis Papismi: or, a general View of Popery. Wherein the whole Mystery of Iniquity, maintained by the Church of Rome, is Confuted by Scripture, Fathers, Councils, Imperial Constitutions, Pontifical Decrees, Their own Writers, Our Martyrs, and The Consent of all Christian Churches in the World. Divided into Five Books or Centuries, containing so many Hundreds of Popish Heresies and Errors. Together with the Life and Death of the Learned Author. This Book hath been Five times Printed, and contains near 400 sheets in large Folio; there being a small number left, they are proposed to be sold at 7s. 6d. in Sheets, or 10s. bound.  
Shelton's Art of Shortwriting, both sorts, Tachygraphia and Zeiglographia.