ADVICE TO Young Persons, Relating both to Faith & Practice: Contained in some Plain Directions how to Demean themselves.  
Together with some few Motives to the Observation of what is here recommended.  
Wherewithal shall a Young Man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy Word, Psal. 119. 9  
London, Printed for Brabazon Aylmer, at the Three Pigeons against the Royal Exchange in Cornhill. Price 2d.   

To his much Honoured Patron: The Author.  
THo' it is our great Calamity to live in a most corrupt Age, Yet by the Influence of the Alwise, and All powerful God, (who can derive good out of Evil) you are so Prudent, as to make an Advantage of it: and to raise the value of your Virtue, and to add to the Lustre and Worth of your Reputation and Family, by being untainted in the midst of most dangerous Temptations.  
SIR, I might tell the World, that the following Lines were drawn as a faint Copy from the fair Original which you give, and that the ensuing Precepts are taken from your Pattern: But lest I should call up the Blood into your Cheeks by offering Violence to your singular Modesty, or throw myself under the Suspicion of Flattery, I will convert my just Praises of you, into earnest Prayers for you, that that good God who hath hitherto preserved you, would still preserve you, that you may go on by an Unspotted Life still to glorify him; and by your most agreeable Temper, to win over others to Piety and Virtue: and to answer the Care and Kindness of that Learned and Worthy Person, by whom your tender Mind was informed, and your early Manners cultivated; from whom (in your Minority) I received the largest share of what I have; and so stand perpetually obliged to return the most grateful Acknowledgement. And lastly, That you may grow in Grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, until you come to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. This is the earnest Prayer of, Sir,  
Your most Obliged, Most devoted, and Most Humble Servant.   

ADVICE TO Young Persons.  
FOrasmuch as 'tis generally acknowledged, that to persuade Young Persons to be Dutiful and Good, would prove an Effectual Means to recover Souls out of the hands of Satan, to reform the World, and to retrieve Religion and Virtue: therefore this small Treatise is sent abroad on purpose to exhort, and (if it be possible for it) to persuade those, who in their younger days are more especially beset with Temptations, and more easily invited into a compliance with them; that they should by God's Grace preserve their standing: Or if fallen, that they should speedily rescue themselves out of their Slavery, and henceforward fear the Lord always, and keep his Commandments. And may that same Good God, who puts into our hearts good Desires, by his continual help, make us to bring them to good Effect, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.  
First then, Let me persuade young Persons to lay such a steady and Unshaken Foundation of Faith, that the Gates of Hell may never prevail against it. For them who design to answer the main End of Christianity, this Advice is always seasonable. But never was this Advice more seasonable than it is in our present Age, An Age, wherein almost every particular Person is ready to broach some particular Opinion; Insomuch that the old Landmarks of Faith are removed, and the main Principles of the Gospel of Grace and Salvation by Christ, doubted of, disputed, and denied.  
O let it be your great concern then,  
First. To believe in God the Father, who hath made you, and all the World. Secondly, in God the Son, who hath redeemed you, and all mankind. Thirdly, in God the Holy Ghost, who sanctifieth you, and all the Elect People of God.  
First then, let it be your Concern to believe in God the Father, who by the Son, Heb. 1. 2. and by the Efficacy of the Holy Ghost, Gen. 1. 2. Made the whole World, Heaven and Earth, and all created Being's which are contained therein. And upon this Belief let it be your Business to give God the Father that Reverence that is due unto him, as our Wonderful Creator. This is that great Lord who made Heaven and Earth, and the Sea, and all that in them is, Acts. 4. 24. This is our Father which is in Heaven, Mat. 6. 9 In his Hand are all the Corners of the Earth, and the strength of the Hills is his also, the Sea is his and he made it, and his hands prepared the dry Land: And therefore, O come let us Worship, and fall down, and kneel before him! Psal. 95. 3. And say with the Psalmist: I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvellous are thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well, Psal. 139. 14.  
Secondly, You are steadfastly to believe in God the Son; For that he is truly God the Apostle expressly declares, Rom. 9 5. where speaking of Christ he saith, that he is over all God Blessed for ever; and so St. John, we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ, this is the true God, and Eternal life, 1 John. 5. 20. But we are not only to believe this Son to be God, but also that he redeemed us, and all mankind. And that this Son of God paid the Price of Redemption for all Mankind, who can doubt that believes the Scripture? for there is one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a Ransom for all, 1 Tim. 2. 5, 6. And again, he tasted Death for every man, Heb. 2. 9 And here common Gratitude prompts and directs you to your Duty. For since ye were bought with a Price, even with the Price of the most precious Blood of the Son of God, You are (strongly obliged) to glorify God in your Bodies, and in your Spirits, which are his, 1 Cor. 6. 20.  
Thirdly, You are faithfully to believe in God the Holy Ghost, who sanctifies you, and all the elect People of God, that the Holy Ghost is God, is plain from Acts the 5th. verses the 3 d. and the 4th. in the 3 d. verse St Peter proposed this Question, Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost? and because Ananias thus lied to the Holy Ghost, he tells him verse the 4th. Thou hast not lied unto Men, but unto God. Nay, before that, when the Pharisees (upon our Saviour's casting out a Devil) ascribed the operation to Belzebub the Prince of Devils: our Saviour called this Sin, that Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, which shall never be forgiven. By which words (the most Learned and Reverend Bishop Pearson observed, amongst several other Arguments to that purpose, that) it appeareth, that there is a Sin or Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost distinct from all other Sins and Blasphemies committed against God the Father, or the Son of God; that this Sin hath an Aggravation added unto it beyond other Sins and Blasphemies: But if the Holy Spirit were no Person, the Sin could not be distinct from those sins which are committed against him whose spirit he is, and if he were a Person created, the sin could receive no such Aggravation beyond other Sins, and blasphemies. and consequently it remains that he is God.  
But we are not only to believe this Spirit to be God, but also that he is the Sanctifier of us, and of all the elect People of God. For what can be more positive and plain, than that the Sanctification of God's people is ascribed to this Holy Spirit? for thus it runs in the words of the Apostle, Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctification of the spirit, 1 Pet. 1. 2. And therefore from this Principle of your Belief, you cannot but infer this to be your Duty, that since ye are a chosen Generation, a Royal Priesthood, an Holy Nation, a peculiar People, you are obliged to show forth his Praises, who hath called you out of darkness, into his marvellous light, 1 Pet. 2. 9  
Thus then in the Divine Essence which is but one, there are three distinct Persons viz. the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, thus plainly distinguished by their peculiar Properties. Nay, the Scripture does not only mention these Properties, but also proceeds to the exact numbering of these Agents or Persons in the Divine Essence, For there are three that bear Record in Heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one, 1 John, 5. 7. and so again, Jesus when he was baptised, went up straightway out of the Water: and lo, the Heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the spirit of God descending like a Dove, and lighting upon him. And lo, a voice from Heaven, saying, This is my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, Mat. 3. 16. 17. I mention no more Places to this purpose (tho' many occur) lest I should swell this little piece beyond its designed bounds: but that of St. Matthew. Chap. 28. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, Baptising them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. And yet notwithstanding this Distinction of Agents, or Persons there is but one entire Essence; for there is none other God but one, 1 Cor. 8. 4. and the Lord our God, is God only, Deut. 6. 4. And now, O young Man! since here is a main Principle of thy Profession, here comes in a main Rule for thy Practice. since there is a God, since there is but one God, therefore thou shalt Worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve, Mat. 4. 10.  
But that the Father is God, the Son God, and the Holy Ghost God, and yet that there is but one God; how thus it is, and as to the manner how these things can be, this falls not within the Comprehension of thy Reason here on Earth; but hereafter in Heaven will (in all probability) be the subject of a most pleasant and endless Entertainment. Thou mayst with far more sense, offer to contain all the Waters of the vast Ocean in the hollow of thine hand, than pretend to measure such unfathomable and infinite Mysteries, by thy dark, and narrow, and shallow Understanding. No, all that thou hast to do in this case, is firmly to believe these, and all other Divine Revelations and Principles of thy Holy Profession, as the Resurrection of the Dead, and eternal Life, and the like; and instead of prying too narrowly into these unfathomable Depths, which the clearest and most enlarged Understanding of Mortals cannot bottom or find out, thou art to proceed to Practice. For secret things belong to God, but revealed things to us and to our Children, Deut. 29. 29. and if thou canst not take measure of one of the Divine Attributes, nay, if to unfold the manner of thine own Existence would puzzle thee, O never pretend here to discover the exact manner of the Being of a God And yet; if upon the exercise of thy Sense and Reason, thou believest the Existence of the one viz. thine own Being: then upon the truth and goodness of God, and the exercise of thy Faith, believe the other; and so I pass forward from Faith, directly to Practice, which is the Second thing I proposed.  
First, Then let me advise all Young Persons, as a main Spur to all Goodness, as a strong Safeguard to all their Virtues, and as a powerful Antidote against, and restraint upon all Vices, to have an awful Regard, and constant Remembrance of the Divine Omniscience and Omnipresence, and the power of the Almighty. O consider that God's eyes are over all your ways; and that his eyelids try the children of men, Psal. 11. 4. That he is about your Beds, and about your Paths, and spieth out all your ways. and that there is not a word in your tongue, nor a thought in your heart but he knoweth it altogether. Alas! 'tis in vain for thee to offer to draw the Curtain betwixt this allseeing eye, and thy Deeds of Darkness: for the Darkness with God is no Darkness at all, but the night is as clear as the day, the Darkness and light are to him both alike, Ps. 139. 12. All thy wanton and foolish Extravagancies and Rambles, all thy stiffness and stubbornness to all thy natural and political Parents, nay to thy spiritual Pastors and Teachers, all thy head strong and untamed Passions in the full career of Lust and Licentiousness, all thy forgetfulness of thy God and thy Duty in the days of thy Youth, all the strong Biasses that thou art ready to clap upon thy Soul, bearing thee down to Sensuality and Sin, all thy jests upon Religion, and matters of the greatest moment, and things of the most serious and an eternal Concern, all thy trifling with, and turning thy back upon the best of Friends, Friends that offer thee the most wholesome Counsel, and the safest Advice, Advice that (if followed) will preserve thee from Danger and Evil, and counsel that (if observed) will enrich thee to all Eternity; all thy backwardness to do good, and all thy promptness and aptness to do evil, all the wind and fold of thy heart, all thy figleaved excuses for thy past Iniquities, and all thy pretences for and palliations of thy present Transgressions; thy God plainly observes, he clearly beholds.  
Nay consider, that as this all-searching Eye beholds and observes all these things; so this  God is able to punish thee to the Uttermost, and none can stand before him when he is angry. He is able to consume thee with the least breath of his displeasure, and to post thee away to Hell in the midst of thy sins, in the midst of thy strength, when (as Job speaks) thy breasts are full of milk, and thy bones are moistened with marrow, Job. 21. 24. And thou who canst not now endure the least of thy fingers to continue in a flame, how wilt thou then abide the consuming Fire, how wilt thou be able to dwell with everlasting burn! Isa. 33. 14.  
But then on the other hand thou who mindest thy Duty for thy encouragement, consider that this is the eye that neither slumbers nor sleeps, but is continually intent upon all thy holy Works, all thy pure Words, all thy pious and chaste Thoughts and Purposes: and this good God registers all thy good Deeds in the Book of his eternal Remembrance. And he is not unrighteous to forget, he is not unable to recompense and repay thee for all thy labours, for all the Talents which thou hast employed and husbanded to his Honour, and to thine own Advantage. As God sees, and so will punish the wicked; so the Lord beholdeth the Righteous, and his Portion shall be with Plenty and Peace. And therefore, to restrain thee from Sin, and to push and spur thee on to Virtue and Goodness, O remember thy Creator, (this allseeing and  God) in the days of thy Youth, Eccl. 12. 1.  
Secondly, Consider, ye Young Persons, the Boundless Love of your most Gracious God towards you. He raised you up into Creatures of a sublime and noble Being, whereras he might have made you mere Stocks and Stones, or Creatures more deformed and ghastly than they. He paid a Ransom for you of inestimable value, even the Blood of his only begotten Son, a Gift as great as Heaven could bestow, or man receive. Nay your Lot (to whom I writ) is fallen in a wealthy Place, and you have a goodly Heritage, it is the kindness of good Fortune, nay of a good Providence, and of tender Compassion, that you are born of Christian Parents, that you are received into the Bosom of the Church, that you are entered into Covenant with God, and have vowed Obedience to him, and have put yourselves under his Divine Protection, and the Promises of his Grace. Nay more, you are now grown strong, and fit for God's service, and the Discharge of Duties. And now shall he that bestowed on you Life, He that hath ransomed you from eternal slavery with the Sacrifice of his only Son, He that gives you Temporal and spiritual health and strength; shall he have no Return for these many, these endearing Uouchsafements? Certainly you are of better Dispositions than to requite so good a God so foolishly, so unworthily, so Ungratefully. Certainly you would not deal thus with your natural Parents, with your fellow Brethren, with your hired Servants, and much less surely with your God, Who gives you life, and breath, and all things, the mercies of the right hand, and of the left, the Blessings of this present life, and the Overtures of another, and a far better. O often reflect and meditate upon the Love of God and then if there be the least spark of Grace, of good nature in you, it must needs draw you on to serve the Lord, and to keep his commandments.  
Thirdly, Let me persuade Young Persons to live in a cheerful Obedience to them that are set over them. Now those that are set over them are their Temporal, or their Spiritual Governors. Their Temporal Governors are the King and those commissioned by him, or their natural Parents, or Masters. And O how inviting and endearing, how pleasing and praiseworthy is an humble, and Obedient deportment to each of these! Nay 'tis not only endearing and praiseworthy, but also attended with the Blessing of God, and crowned with temporal comforts. And as they who make little or nothing, of the Breach of this great Duty many times suddenly perish, and come to a fearful end: so, (that, the God of Order may signalise his Divine Providence in the World) those that hono'r their Father and Mother, their days are often prolonged here: or if sometimes they fall short of that, they are lengthened out in an eternal Canaan, in the City of God, in the Land that the Lord giveth them. Nay 'tis a common Observation, that as stubborn and contumacious children often come to be whipped in their own Rod, and to read their sin by their punishment, by having children of their own as stubborn and stiffnecked, as they were to their Parents: So obedient children have a full Recompense returned into their Bosom, by having afterwards children as observant of, and as Dutiful to them, as they were formerly obedient to their Parents. Or if herein they fall short, God makes up the want in some more signal, and supereminent Grace, and Favo'r. As ever therefore you hope to gain the good Opinion of men, the Grace and Favo'r of God, and to have Obedient children and submissive Servants show yourselves submissive, and obedient to your Temporal Governors. Honour thy Father and Mother, which is the First Commandment with Promise, Eph. 6. 2.  
But besides these Temporal Parents, there are your spiritual Pastors and Teachers; and let me persuade you young Persons to carry it to these with a due Respect, and esteem. The same God who is the God of Order hath appointed these to watch for your souls, Nay these are the Ambassadors of Christ, 2 Cor. 5. 29. But tho' they are thus appointed, tho' they plainly prove their Commission from Christ, tho' they preach nothing but sound words and the Will of God, nay more, tho' they labour in the Word and Doctrine: yet if thou despise their Labours, and take up low Opinions of their Abilities and Endowments; you then frustrate all their Pains and Patience as to yourselves; and their Prayers, (as to you) and exhortations, and the word preached will be of none Effect; not being mixed with Faith, (and esteem) in them that hear it. Those ministers therefore that are chosen by God, that are selected and set apart by the Pastors of the Church, that are established by the Laws of the Land and set over you; as long as you may obtain the means of salvation under them, as long as they preach nothing contrary to a holy Faith, and good manners, and as long as there's nothing sinful in their communion; O keep ye steadfastly to them, and encourage their Labours by your constant communion with them! and by this means, you'll highly contribute to the preserving of Peace in the Church, in the state, in your Neighbourhood, and in your private Families. I conclude this head with the words of the Blessed Apostle, 1 Thes. 5. 12, 13.  
I beseech you Brethren (even you young men as Brethren) to know them (i. e. to own and acknowledge them with respect) which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you: and to esteem them very highly in love for their works sake, and be at Peace among yourselves.  
Fourthly, Let me advise young Persons to weigh and consider things, before they are too intent upon them, and too eager in the pursuit of them. Youth indeed is the peculiar Age, and scene of much haste and Precipitancy: and consequently of Wisdom and prudence not over much. How many Young Persons have done that by one overhasty Act: Which they have repent of afterwards, all the days of their Life? How many have done that with more haste than good speed; Which they could not but repent of all the days of their Life? How many by a wild Debauch have broken their healthful, and strong Bodies in pieces, and ever after carried crazy constitutions along with them even to the Grave? How many upon a Venturous Resolve have thrown away upon the turn of a Die the largest Demesnes; and ever afterward either shabbed upon their Relations and Neighbours, or else have taken desperate Courses, or down right Beggary for their Ordinary Companion, and common course of Life? How many by a sudden fit of Anger have broached their Brother's blood, and thereby so blotted and blurred their own Escutcheon, that all the Waters of Repentance afterwards could never wash out the stains? Nay how many out of an eager thirst of Revenge, have found themselves most miserably disappointed: and instead of ridding the world of their Adversary, have sent away their own souls at the point of their enemy's spear? these and the like are the rash attempts of youth: and these and the like Consequences are the fruits of their Folly. O let me advise you then, before you put your self upon these, or the like desperate Attempts, seriously to consider what the end of these things will be. O weigh your Pleasures and your Pains in an equal Balance, and for a minute of mistaken joy, never truck away an Eternity of solid satisfaction! O never show yourselves so foolish, as for once gratifying of your Bodies, of your passion: to ruin and damn both soul and body for ever! O show yourselves to be persons of more sense and Reason, and where there is the deepest and most lasting sorrow shun it; where there is the most perfect and long-lived Pleasure pursue it; and take the Advice of the excellent Son of Syrac: Ecclesiasticus the 7 th'. 36. Whatsoever thou takest in hand remember the end, and thou shalt never do amiss.  
Fifthly, Let me persuade Young men to mind, and to be diligent in their respective Vocations and callings, this is the very Age that is most proper for labour, and is peculiarly adapted for Business. Children indeed have neither strength nor Understanding for the dispatch of Business: and old Age is commonly attended with that feebleness, and those Infirmities which are inconsistent with heavy Burdens, and hard Toil. No, 'tis you, (who have vigorous spirits, and strong sinews) that are to bear the burden, and heat of the Day. And for you then to fold up your hands with the Sluggard, and to cry out a little more sleep, a little more slumber, Prov. 6. 10. when the Task is required of you in the midst of your spring: What is this but to defame, and to darken your Glory; by showing your self to be lazy sots, and drowsy Drones? Nay let me tell you, that in this Age, your spirits are so brisk and active, that you cannot but be intent upon some Action or other: Either busy you must be, with those things that are Virtuous and good: or else your minds will be bend upon those things that are base and Vicious. Nay he that in this Age stands in the market Place all the day idle: he exposes himself as a chapman to Satan. And whereas the Devil goes about the Earth to and fro' seeking whom he (may entangle and allure,) devour and destroy, 1 Pet. 5. 8. This silly Soul is taken Captive by him at his Will, and does the Devils Work to his hands, and falls a Victim to him, without the pains of a purchase. 'Tis sad to consider (but a most certain as well as a much to be lamented truth) that Idleness is the very Mother and Nurse of much Evil. And that when we have nothing to do, I mean when we will have nothing to do: Then the Guards of our Souls are taken off, and then the Young Man lies open to all the Instigations of Satan, and to all the Allurements of all the Devils Factors and Agents. And then we are easily drawn in to Company keeping, and from that, we are wheedled to Drunkenness and Debauchery, and so forward, to gaming and Lewdness: and often, too often to those Courses, which bring a Man to Temporal Death too soon, as well as to eternal. O if these things are dreadful to be the entertainment of your Thoughts: See that ye kill the Cockatrice in the shell, and shun the Cause and occasion, that so ye may more easily avoid the dismal consequence and Effect! And be not slothful in Business, Rom, 12. 11.  
Sixthly, Let me beseech Young Persons not to busy their Fancies about Modes and Fashions: but to apparel themselves in modest attire. I well know that 'tis easy and common to reply in this Case, that Pride is lodged in the heart: and so is not to be learned or known from the outward habit. And that some Beggars are as proud of their shreds and rags, as other Persons of Worth and Honour are of their distinguishing Garments, and their gorgeous attire. I grant indeed, that as there are Distinctions of men; so there should be Distinctions of Apparel: and that such a Garb which would be too fine and splendid for one; would be a suit too forbid and mean for another. I grant also that as Distinction of sexes ought to be showed by Garments, so also different Ranks, and peculiar Persons and Officers are to be known by distinguishing habits, Since these things are agreeable to the Laws of that Great God who is the God of Order. Nay I grant still further, that Pride lies in the heart, and not in the outward habit, and that one man may carry an humble and lowly Soul in a rich Dress, Whereas another may have a lofty and exalted Spirit even in a borrowed, or unpaid-for Garment. But still let me advice thee who aboundest with these expressions, and Excuses for thy gay clothing; to have a great Jealousy, and a strict watch over thy heart and ways. Thy Saviour tells thee, that the Tree is known by its Fruits, Luke, 6. 44. And our Desires and Affections are discovered and remarked by our words and Actions. And there's scarce any plainer Indication of the Levity (I had almost said of the Wantonness) of our Minds; than by the Levity and Gaudiness of our Garbs. Away then with those Excuses that thou mayest be lowly, and that thou art humble at thy heart and Soul when at the same time thou deckest thy Body with a Garb which is not suitable for, but Vastly beyond thy Birth and Rank. Nay how wilt thou answer it to thy great Creator who made thee thus and thus? Whereas thou offerest to disguise, to correct his Workmanship; and in effect sayest unto him, Why hast thou made me thus? How canst thou imagine that he will own thee for his Creature? When thou offerest to Mould thyself as it were into another Figure by thy strange Guises, which neither tend to the preserving of health, nor to the differencing of Sex, nor the distinguishing of Order. O show thy Humility of mind by thy works and decent Apparel! and instead of these florid Fashions Which one Flower in thy Garden, one single Tulip far outshines: be clothed with Humility, 1 Pet. 5. 5. and put on the Ornament of a meek and quiet Spirit, Which is in the sight of God of great Price. 1 Pet. 3. 4. And since Garments were given as a covering of Nakedness, Gen. 3. 21. O Never make thy shame thy Glory, and be not Proud of thy loss and want of Innocence and Perfection!  
Seventhly, Let me persuade Young Persons carefully to avoid evil Company: And to join themselves to the Society of such as Serve God. As ever they value their Reputations, as ever they tender the Welfare of their Souls and Bodies, as ever they mean to secure their safety, as ever they design to promote their temporal and their Eternal Interest: this is a Duty which is principally to be regarded. Evil Company is the very Bane and Rust of Religion and good morals. And all the seeds of Virtue which Christian Parents have most carefully sown, (though having taken Root, and grown up into a Strong blade, yet) they have often been soon blasted and consumed, by a swarm of these worse than Egyptian Locusts. O what but wicked Company hath made Young Persons who have afforded the most promising hopes of an enriching Crop and harvest, most fatally to miscarry: and to become twice the Children of Hell more than they that inveigled them! O let the sad Misfortunes, and lamentable Ruins of such, make thee to shun their steps, since the end of those ways is Death! And tho' their Conversation be never so accomplished, Witty, and inviting: yet eat their fellowship as much as thou wouldst avoid his, who tho' he may be smooth and seems endearing, yet hath the spots of an infectious Plague upon him. And that thou mayest do this effectually, join thyself to, and enter into close fellowship with them that love, and serve God: Where thou mayest be Religious at an easy Rate, and gain not only plain precepts, but also inviting Patterns to goodness, which will silently slide into thy Soul, and almost insensibly draw and carry thee on, and convey thee into the Land of the Living. These will whet thy Desires, and sharpen thy Appetites, and inflame thy long after God and Goodness, and strengthen thy Resolutions, and abett and improve thy Christian Courage, and show thee how to be an hardy Soldier of Christ Jesus, and make thee more than Conqueror through Christ that loves thee. O keep that Company that shall be instilling some good Lesson, some excellent Advice into thee, and that shall prescribe a good Example: But eat that Society that infuses Poison into thy very Vitals, and corrupts thy precious Soul by their Words and Works, by their ill Counsels and worse Conversations. And always remember the Words which the Apostle recites, ● Cor. 15. 33. Evil Communications corrupt good Manners.  
Further, Let me persuade Young Persons to be Courteous and Obliging, in each Relation wherein they stand. Are your Fortune's fair, and your Estates large, show yourselves to be such as are Free born: by such a carriage as may loudly proclaim your Birth and Education. Or are your Estates confined in a narrow Compass: you have much less Reason to boast, and to bear high, to disoblige and to provoke: since you know not how soon Poverty may steal in upon you and how soon you may stand in need of the help, of the Relief of those very Neighbours whom you now despise. Nay you own yourselves to be Christians, and therefore learn of the Holy Jesus to be meek and lowly, Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again, when he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him who judgeth righteously, Heb. 12. 3. He was so suffering, and so kind in his sufferings, that he died for his Enemies that they might live for ever. And for those enemies which put him to Death he thus prayed, Father forgive them for they know not what they do, Luke, 23. 24.  
And now canst thou read, canst thou hear this Passage with any Roughness, or Impatience upon thy Spirit? with any Anger or Indignation against those who affront, or scourge thee? O since the Holy Jesus my Innocent Saviour thus suffered (mayst thou say) who never did, nor spoke, nor thought any thing amiss, Well may I justly smart, who act, or speak or design few things well. And since he bore his Burden patiently, and prayed even for his Persecutors, for his murderers: O 'tis much more my bounden Duty to forgive, as I have great, and often need to be forgiven myself; and to be obliging, pitiful, and Courteous, 1 Pet. 3. 8.  
Lastly, Let it be your daily Business as it is your Duty, to pray earnestly to God, to work in you both to Will and to do according to his good Pleasure. Never think that either you or your Teachers are able to give you Grace, or to secure your Virtues: without the helping Hand of Heaven, that giveth to all liberally that ask him: Or without that Watchful Eye that neither slumbers nor sleeps. No, every good and Perfect Gift cometh down from above, James, 1. 17.  
And Paul may Plant, and Apollo's may Water: But still it must be God that gives the increase, 1 Cor. 3. 6. And therefore that the hand of God may hold you up, that his watchful Lie may be over you, that he may Guide you into the ways of Truth and Peace, and that he may Strengthen, Establish, Settle you, it is your Interest no less than your Duty, to beg his Grace. Nay it is your Honour, no less than your Interest and Duty, thus to repair to your God. For you who are dust and Ashes to speak unto the Lord, for you, who are worthless Being's to have free Recourse to a Principle of absolute Perfection, for you, who are notorious Sinners to draw nigh unto the Holy Lord God of Hosts, for you, who are the meanest of Subjects to unbosom yourselves to, and to beg Boons and Favor's of the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords: this is so great a Privilege and Hon'or, that (methinks) it needs no further Motive to enforce it. Only let me remind you, that the manifold, and great Temptations which your Age exposes, and too often inclines you to may justly make you to cry mightily unto your God, and often; and earnestly to beg saying; Save Lord or ●●● perish, Mat. 8. 25. Often pray for the Pardon of your Sins past, and for the Supplies of God's Grace for the time to come.  
And now in a Word, that I may not omit recommending any important Duty which appertains to you, Often consider, and duly weigh those short, but most comprehensive lessons drawn up for you in your Church Catechism: which I desire you frequently to peruse, and faithfully to remember; now there you thus read. My Duty toward God, is to believe in him, to fear him, and to love him with all my heart, with all my Mind, with all my Soul, and with all my strength: to Worship him, to give him thanks to put my whole trust in him, to call upon him, to hono'r his Holy Name and his Word and to serve him truly all the days of my Life.  
And my Duty towards my Neighbour is to love him as myself, and to do to all men as I would they should do unto me. To love, honour and secure my Father and Mother. To Honour and obey the King, and all that are put in Authority under him. To submit myself to all my Governors, Teachers, Spiritual Pastors and Masters. To order myself lowly and reverently to all my betters. To hurt no Body by Word or Deed. To be true and just in all my Deal. To bear no Malice nor Hatred in my heart. To keep my Hands from picking and Stealing, and my Tongue from Evil-Speaking, Lying and Slandering. To keep my Body in Temperance, Soberness, and Chastity. Not to covet no● desire other men's Goods; But to Learn and Labour truly to get min● own living, and to do my Duty in that State of Life unto which it shall please God to call me.  
And now I pass on directly to the last thing which I proposed, and that is: to lay before you a few General considerations, on purpose further to promote the Practice of that Advice which I have already given.  
First, Consider how easy 'tis for you, in comparison of some others, to be Religious and good. Whilst you are untainted, whilst the Powers and Faculties of your Souls are Vigorous and Lively, whilst you have not accustomed yourselves to any evil way, whilst you are strangers to the fashionable sins of the Age, whilst you have not run with others to the same excess of Riot, whilst the Hellish Language of Oaths and Curses is terrible to you▪ and all manner of profaneness appears to you in a Monstrous and ghastly Shape: it must needs be easy to restrain you from what you dread and abhor. Nay if you have sometimes fallen, and received some few bruises, yet how far more easily may you recover yourselves than those who for many years have lain wallowing in their filthiness? Moreover, to your great encouragement consider, that now your Souls are active, and your limbs strong, to run with patience the Holy Race that is set before you: and you may well fight with the greatest Assurance the good fight of Faith: Now ye are strong, and may easily overcome the wicked one, 1 John 2. 14.  
Secondly, To move you the more, consider how acceptable your early Piety will be, to that God which ye Worship. Your remembering your Creator in the days of your youth, and your first fruits will be a Sacrifice wherewith God will be well pleased. Whereas the Oblation only of dry bones, and decayed sinews, especially such bones as have been drained by sin, such sinews as have been enfeebled by Iniquity, will be only an abomination unto the lord If ye offer the blind for Sacrifice is it not evil? and if ye offer it now unto thy Governor: will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy Person saith the Lord of Hosts? Malac. 1. 8. Now if a Temporal Prince will reject such a present with a most fiery Indignation: With what confidence then can we lay such a Sacrifice upon the Altar of the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords?  
But this is not your Case at present ye Young men: and God Grant that hereafter (when old) it may never be your Fate. Now you need not to doubt, but that if you offer up the strength and Beauty of Holiness, it will be accepted. If now with the wise Virgins you get oil, and trim your Lamps: you will ere long be received into the Bridegrooms Chamber.  
Thirdly, Please to consider how much your remaining life depends upon your present Religious Efforts: and how gradually you'll go on, when you are once well begun. How easily will you damp and dispirit all the enemies to your salvation, and under what Discomfiture and despair will you send them away, when you baffle and rout them in the first Assaults that they make upon you? Nay how much may your early and firm Resolutions tend to the reclaiming of this degenerate Age, or at least to the reforming of the next Generation? If the skill and conduct of one man made way for his Son to conquer all the parts of the world which he became acquainted with: how far then may your united Forces extend to the pulling down of the strong holds of Satan, and the subduing of the powers of darkness: to the vanquishing of Sin, and to the raising and establishing of the Throne of Virtue? O consider how far you may spread these Spiritual Victories and Triumphs, and may make your Companions and those that come after you, more than Conquerors!  
Fourthly, please to consider, that you (notwithstanding all your health and strength) may soon be called away to another stage, either of endless weal or woe. Go and take the Dimensions of the Graves in your Church Yards, and you'll find many of a shorter size than yourselves. And I am sure that you had not, nay that you have not a more certain Lease of your lives, than they had. O therefore make no long tarrying to turn unto the Lord your God, and put it not of from day to day; lest your Fate, lest your God come suddenly, and snatch you away and there be none to deliver you. Consider that Time and Opportunity will soon be no more. And therefore instantly make it your business to spend your days to good purpose, in reading the Word of God, in pious and profitable meditations, in reflecting upon and renewing your Baptismal Covenant, and in frequent receiving the Holy Communion. And above all, labour to be true, and just, and good at your very hearts and Souls; and industrious, and Useful, and beneficial in your Generation. And strive earnestly to fit and qualify yourselves for an Eternity of the purest Pleasures: that so you may relish the joys of Heaven whenever you shall be received into those everlasting mansions, and may delightfully feast upon that fullness of joy which is in the presence of God, and with continual desire drink of those Rivers of Pleasure which flow at his right hand for evermore. And may be meet to be partakers of the Inheritance of the Saints in light, Col. 1. 12. And in the prospect of these enriching possessions, of these never fading Pleasures break off all delays, throw aside all hindrances and excuses, and say not, I will begin to be good, when I begin to stoop towards the Grave, and when old age tells me that I must soon leave this World, then will I prepare for the next; and when I feel this earthly Tabernacle to tremble and ready to dissolve, and to be taken in pieces: then will I seek out for another Fabric, an house not made with hands, eternal in the Heavens. But instead of these uncertain, frivolous, and foolish Delays: to day if you will hear God's voice harden not your hearts. And remember that the wisest Man in the World is not able to foretell what one day may bring forth. Ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even as a Vapour that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away, James 4. 14.  
Since then the day of your departure is so uncertain, be ye always ready: that so when the King of Terrors shall seize you, he may not with astonishment surprise you; but that Death (being disarmed of its sting) may serve to compose you for the Sweetest sleep, and so you may lay you down in Peace and take your rest. O watch continually, for ye know not at what hour your Lord will come, Mat. 24. 42.  
Lastly, For a full inducement to the Practice of these Precepts, and for the Observation of whatever is good: often remember, that the more Religious you now are, and the more that you influence others to be Religious here: the more you shall be rewarded hereafter. Know and be assured that if you carefully husband, and industriously (by God's Blessing) improve your talents, you shall receive a proportionable Recompense of Reward from your Gracious Lord and Master, Mat. 25. 21. And let the words of the prophet Daniel continually dwell with you, Dan. 12. 3. They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the Firmament: and they that turn many unto Righteousness as the Stars for ever and ever.  
These things out of pure tenderness to your immortal Souls O ye young Persons! I recommend to you. And now God of his infinite Goodness give you Grace to observe them, that so ye may reap the Rewards of your Religion, and be happy for ever.  
To God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost be all Honour and Glory, both now and evermore, Amen.  

PRAYERS.  
ALmighty and Everlasting God, who hatest nothing that thou hast made, and dost forgive the Sins of all them that are penitent, create and make in me a new and contrite Heart, that I worthily lamenting my sins, and acknowledging my wretchedness, may obtain of thee the God of all mercy, perfect Remission and forgiveness, through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen.  
ALmighty and Everlasting God give unto me the Increase of Faith, Hope, and Charity; and that I may obtain that which thou dost promise, make me to love that which thou dost command, through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen.  
O God who hast prepared for them that love thee, such good things as pass man's Understanding; pour into mine heart such love towards thee, That I loving thee above all things, may obtain thy Promises, which exceed all that we can desire, through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen.  
ALmighty God, who seest that we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves; keep me both outwardly in my Body and inwardly in my Soul: that I may be defended from all Adversities which may happen to the Body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the Soul, through Jesus Christ our Lord Amen.  
O God the Creator and Preserver of all mankind, I humbly beseech thee for all sorts and conditions of men, that thou wouldst be pleased to make thy ways known unto them, thy saving health unto all nations; more especially I pray for the good Estate of the Catholic Cburch, that it may be so guided and Governed by thy good Spirit, that all who profess and call themselves Christians, may be led into the way of truth, and hold the Faith in Unity of Spirit, in the Bond of Peace, and in Righteousness of life, finally I commend to thy Fatherly goodness all those who are any way afflicted, or distressed in Mind, Body or Estate; that it may please thee to comfort and relieve them according to their several necessities, giving them Patience under their sufferings, and a happy issue out of all their Afflictions. And this I beg for Jesus Christ his sake Amen.  
ALmighty God Father of all mercies, I thine unworthy Servant do give thee most humble and hearty thanks, for all thy goodness and loving kindness to me, and to all men. I bless thee for my Creation, Preservation, and all the Blessings of this Life. But above all for thine inestimable love in the Redemption of the World by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of Grace, and for the hope of Glory. And I beseech thee give me that due sense of all thy mercies, that mine heart may be unfeignedly thankful, and that I may show forth thy Praise, not only with my lips, but in my life, by giving up myself to thy service, and by walking before thee in Holiness and Righteousness all my days, through Jesus Christ our Lord; to whom with thee and the Holy Ghost be all Honour and Glory, world without end. Amen.  
LOrd of all power and might, who art the Author and giver of all good things: graft in my heart the Love of thy Name, increase in me true Religion, nourish me with all Goodness, and of thy great mercy keep me in the same, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  
GRant O Lord, that as I am baptised into the Death of thy Blessed Son our Saviour Jesus Christ; so by continual mortifying my corrupt Affections, I may be buried with him, and that through the Grave and Gate of Death, I may pass to my joyful Resurrection, for his merits who died and was buried, and risen again for us, thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.  
PRevent me O Lord, in all my do, with thy most Gracious Favour, and further me with thy continual help, that in all my Works begun, continued, and ended in thee, I may glorify thy Holy Name and finally by thy mercy may obtain everlasting Life through Jesus Christ our Lord, in whose Name and words I call upon thee further, saying Our Father which art in, etc.  
The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Love of God, and the Fellowship of the Holy Ghost, be with me now, and evermore Amen.   
FINIS.   

ERRATA.  
IN page 10. l: 24 for thou, read you; p 23. l 20. for advice, r. advise; p 34 l. 1. after offer, r. the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it p. 36. l. 19 for beneficial, r. beneficial.