characters of vertue and vice described in the persons of the wise-man, the valiant man ... attempted in verse from a treatise of the reverend joseph hall, late lord bishop of exeter / by n. tate. tate, nahum, 1652-1715. 1691 approx. 35 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 19 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a45166 wing h372 estc r3871 11953770 ocm 11953770 51485 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a45166) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 51485) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 815:17) characters of vertue and vice described in the persons of the wise-man, the valiant man ... attempted in verse from a treatise of the reverend joseph hall, late lord bishop of exeter / by n. tate. tate, nahum, 1652-1715. hall, joseph, 1574-1656. characters of vertues and vices. [4], 32 p. printed for francis saunders ..., london : 1691. reproduction of original in duke university library. bishop hall's "characters of vertues and vices" was published in 1608. tate here paraphrases 10 of hall's 26 "characters". created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng characters and characteristics. virtue -early works to 1800. vice -early works to 1800. 2002-02 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2002-03 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-04 tcp staff (michigan) sampled and proofread 2002-04 john latta text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-05 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion characters of vertue and vice . describ'd in the persons of the wise-man , the valiant man , the truly noble , the patient man , the true friend , the hypocrite , the superstitious , the profane , the busy-body , the envious . attempted in verse from a treatise of the reverend ioseph hall , late lord bishop of exeter . by n. tate . london , printed for francis saunders , at the blue-anchor , in the lower walk of the new-exchange , 1691. preface . the representing of vertue and vice in their respective beauties and deformities , is the genuine task of poetry : the true and proper themes of panegyrick and satyr . the giving precepts of morality was originally the employment of the muses , and establish'd their first reputation . few poets have excell'd who merited not the character ascrib'd by horace to homer : qui quid sit pulchrum , quid turpe , quid utile , quid non , pleniùs ac meliùs chrysippo & crantore dicit . it was for useful prescriptions of politie and private life , that orpheus and amphion were celebrated , and the faculty it self reputed sacred : sic honor & nomen divinis vatibus atque carminibus venit . if the virgil's and horace's of our age could have been prevail'd with to have adorn'd the following subjects , it had sav'd my imperfect performance . but i could not refuse the temptation , when it was propos'd to me to proceed upon the hints and groundwork of a treatise written by the ingenious and learned d r hall , bishop of exeter ; by which means my reader would be secure of good sense in the version . if i have added no grains , i hope that , at least , i have lost nothing of the oar in melting it down . the character of some vices will naturally run into humour , requiring instances and expressions that are familiar , and sermoni propiora . in a word , i am sufficiently sensible of my imperfections in this essay , but comfort my self with the hopes that abler performers may be incited , in meer compassion , to rescue such worthy subjects from so ill hands . the man of wisdom . the man that 's wise to know all things aspires , but first the knowledge of himself desires : how far the compass of his strength can go ; but his own weakness studdies most to know . he reasons more by practice than by rule ; his logick's learnt in observation 's school . taught by experience truly to reflect , can first himself and then his friends direct . he ne'er suspends but in a doubtful case ; ne'er doubts where resolution should take place . of ev'ry needful thing just care do's take , but most concern'd for his immortal stake . without that scope counts fruitless each endeavour , nor would be happy once , if not for ever . himself best knowing best himself can trust , others so far as he has prov'd them just. the world may him deceive but ne'er abuse , who trusts no more than he can bear to lose . while close retirement is to him a skreen , himself looks through and sees the world , unseen : yet shews , when forc'd the day-light to abide , prudence , not affectation , made him hide . does never , causeless , from his purpose range , when reason calls , he never fears to change. while th' ablest master he 's allow'd to be , no scholar more dispos'd to learn than he. from ev'ry thing instruction he can draw , and from him each instruction is a law. to ages past his nimble thoughts can climb , in things to come prevent the speed of time. unborn events by past events forestall , and in conjecture be prophetical . his passions he ne'er suffers to rebel , or hastens their first mutiny to quell . by honour's light in all his projects sails , and boards a second when a former fails . makes disappointment but improve his skill , and fetches strength from what succeeded ill . some wrongs he sees not but with silent art , dissembles wounds too pow'rful foes impart . loves to owe less in good turns than he may , for bad wou'd be in debt and never pay . censures , unjust or just , alike to him ; those he deserves not , these he can contemn . slights scandal , lays no violent hands on blame , gives slander scope till it expire with shame . his joy no fears , his hope knows no despairs , safe in the circle of his own affairs . from others strife he timely do's retire , nor thrusts his hand into a needless fire . he best the purchase of his wit can tell , and how to value , keep and use it well . himself his own best lawyer , and his skill , his readiest and most faithful oracle . consulted , he 's in no man's business blind , but in his own of more than eagle-kind . the valiant man. bold without rashness , without fury , warm : he long consults , but do's with speed perform . he seeks not dangers : when on him they press , he bears 'em down with courage and success . arm'd death enthron'd on slaughter he can spy , march on , and with a scornful smile pass by . forecasts the worst events , and in his thought , before one stroke exchang'd , the battle 's fought . if unexpected ills his heart surprize , one minute to disperse 'em will suffice : with instant sally he prevents the blow , and turns amazement back upon the foe . ne'er seen to fly , but from some foul offence , and fears no strength below omnipotence . peace he wou'd chuse , and when the sword he draws , he looks not on his hand but on his cause . nor weighs what succors wait to take his part , how strong his arm , but innocent his heart . o'erpower'd may fall , with numbers vanquisht be , and leave the foe to blush at victory . call'd out by honour to some bold attacque , his hearts blood may be seen , but ne'er his back . on base conditions he disdains to live , and what he asks , would to the vanquish'd give . ne'er known the blood of innocents to shed , on carcases , or suppliant foes to tread ; he 'll rather stifle wrongs he might resent , than take revenge upon the impotent . nor can determine which he 'd rather be , of cowardice impeach'd , or cruelty . his sparing words no room for boast affords , his readiest language is , his hand and sword. by action heard , whose never-ceasing force , keeps every talker furnish'd with discourse . not idlely prodigal of life or blood , but sparing neither for his countrey 's good . while fate does noble means of life supply , he lives ; but those refus'd , can bravely dye . his pow'r ( to which his reason still gives laws , ) it 's right confest , the exercise withdraws . thinks he does then the greatest triumph gain , when he can hurt , yet from revenge abstain . without servility he can obey , and in command no tyranny display . he courts not fortune's smiles , nor fears her hate , nor can she change his mind with his estate . that his high spirit still o'erlooks mischance , springs not from senselesness nor ignorance ; but th' utmost pow'r of fate computing first , he knows her strength , and bids her do her worst . in purpose cool , in resolution fir'd , in enterprizes , daring and untir'd ; glorious , though not successful in design , and when o'ercome , his heart does last resign . the truly noble . advantages of ancestry and birth , he counts but fortune's gift , and borrow'd worth : what he atchieves he only calls renown , and honour purchas'd by himself , his own. if short his glory's estimate be found of what his noble ancestors had crown'd , the bright inheritance but proves his shame ; not rais'd , but burthen'd by descended fame . no greatness makes him scorn or pride express , still higher rais'd he still wou'd seem the less . life from his soul as soon divorc'd may be , as from his manners native courtesy : which for no servile or ambitious end of popular applause he does extend , but from the genuine sweetness of his frame , and noble justice to himself and fame . his hand is open , yet his glory still is govern'd by his fortune not his will. and wisely bounteous can distinguish right , betwixt a friend and fawning parasite . most men their favours sell , exchange , or lend , he only does his kindnesses expend . he wou'd no licence from his greatness gain , and without goodness counts his titles vain . from pow'r no priv'lege claims to be unjust , nor makes prerogative a bawd to lust ; conscience and honour both his actions bind , by eminence to stricter laws confin'd . each vertue has it's ornament and use in his just notion , and no vice excuse . he no man guilty makes to make him great , and ev'n his creatures with respect can treat . oblige , yet not on liberty intrude , or turn dependance into servitude . he seeks no forg'd pretence , without reward an old and worn-out servant to discard : their duty , faith , and diligence to bind the sweetness of his service makes 'em find . for him , no vassals can their toil repent , their industry's not lost , but only lent. the difference 'twixt his wealth and honour , is , that , in receiving stands , in giving , this. he 'll be oblig'd to few ; but does not care how large the number that his favours share . asks who wants most , not who can best repay ; and ne'er repines at favours cast away . can constancy in all estates express , himself a-like to peace and war address . then , most his countreys servant he is found , when she to his command has set no bound . more pleas'd true worship to his god to give , than civil honours from mankind receive . for fame , relies not on the world's applause , but what from heav'n it 's approbation draws . of true nobility conceives this sense , the blood its body only to dispense ; the soul derives from vertue 's eminence . descended honours he reputes to cease , unless his nobler deeds the tale encrease , that glory does admit no careless heir , and not t' improve the stock is to impair . the patient man. the patient man has so much strength attain'd , and o'er himself so large a conquest gain'd , that safe from foreign wrongs he does remain ; they came too late to conquer him again . boldly to suffer , is his valour 's test , he 's most victorious when he 's most opprest . while under mountain-loads himself he rears , of more than humane courage he appears , and is , if rightly we his sufferings scan , 'bove nature rais'd while he seems less than man. his love and charity are ever bent to construe all things with a fair intent . to small and doubtful injuries he 's blind , gross wrongs he 'll think not done , or not design'd ; not meant , or not to him ; if both appear , from malice still his injuries he 'll clear ; he 'll say mis-information caus'd th' offence , and when it cannot bear so mild a sense , call 't rash , and with the hasty fault dispense . patient he is , but yet not tame or base : he wants not courage but abounds in grace . to take revenge for harms , as man he dares ; resents as man , but as a christian spares . he 's god's best witness , and before the bar for truths fair sake , undaunted can appear ; hear unconcern'd the false accuser's voice , receive , and in his unjust doom rejoice . a prison is his palace , and to him pages of honour all his jaylors seem , the dungeon his retiring room he counts , and to the rack as to a throne he mounts ; his torturers worst cruelty disdains , suffers his own , and baffles all their pains . just pity the beholders does inspire , unpitying and remorseless foes , admire . his hopes to no discouragements can yield , they still advance , or keep at least the field . where once the path of kindness he has trod , no obstacles can make him quit the road. if no impression his first favours make , he still redoubles till he wins the stake . can after shipwrack try the sea , and beat at the deaf door he ne'er saw open'd yet . different events alike to him befal , he sees the hand of providence in all. when that protects , he pays his grateful vows , and when it strikes , to just correction bows . can vertue from necessity produce , and with strange , art put evil to good use. in conquest does beyond the warriour go , the surest friend , the latest easiest foe : than others so much happier does appear , as he can more and worse mis-fortunes bear . the true friend . united , yet divided is his breast ; half by himself , all by his friend possest . his choice by sympathy of souls is bred , by worth and vertue , not by int'rest led . he pays affection 'cause the debt is just , and loves because he ought , because he must . contracts with caution , and considers long , but once agreed , no bargain is more strong . he chuses so as he may ne'er complain , like one that never meant to chuse again . and e'er his love can vary one degree , his friend quite alter'd from himself must be : let just occasion his submission move , a servant to his equal he can prove . to serve him condescends with greater joy , than his inferiour's service to employ . advanc'd to pow'r his friendship still is found in it's old garb , familiar , plain , and sound . for his friend's sake with honours he complies , yields to be great to help his friend to rise . his friend expir'd , his self 's but half alive , his friendship only do's his friend survive . death to his love no dissolution brings , it but divides the stream to sundry springs . for now the tender orphans , left too young to know their father's worth , to him belong ; adopted his , the burden of his cares , his heart 's near kin , and his affections heirs . he 's so much stricter , and more nicely just , for having lost the witness of his trust. where honesty or nature can comply , he grants a frank and full community . to friendship 's entrance leaves an open field without reserves , but what were sin to yield . no longer can enjoy that thing whose use he thinks would more to his friend 's good conduce . his charity does still a cloak provide of secrecy , his friend's defects to hide . much by concealment from the publick view , by close reproof more proves his friendship true . and when the watchful kindness of his friend finds just occasion him to reprehend , he thanks his frank chastiser on that score , more loves him as he makes him smart the more . to him as to the closet of his cares , with doubts , complaints , his wellcome friend repairs ; unburdens there the secrets of his mind , leaves all lock'd up , and as he leaves may find . let grief at once his friend and him surround , his sense still quickest for his friend is found ; bleeds in his own , but smarts in his friend's wound . no hour's unseasonable , no pains displease , no cost can grievous seem to give him ease . no envious lookers on can baulk his zeal , but what he does he rather wou'd conceal , best pleas'd when a good office he can steal . favours receiv'd , in memory's book he sets , what he bestow's as zealously forgets . he 's sorrow's comfort , difficulty's guide , the joy of life , earth's treasure , and its pride ; an angel cloath'd in flesh , and near to god ally'd . the end of the characters on vertue . the hypocrite . the hypocrite to sadness can convert his looks , while mirth is rev'lling in his heart , then jugler-like with pleasure does retreat , to think how smoothly he has pass'd the cheat. how with false stamps of vertue on his face , the miscreant passes for a babe of grace . with early patience waits at the church door , and e'er half enter'd he salutes the floor , but still observing with a transvers'd eye , what passenger does his devotion spy . if cognizance to take he none perceives , ftets inward , and at his lost labour grieves . looks round with admiration on the crowd ; of frozen charity complains aloud . takes care to have his pew plac'd best in sight , in hast plucks forth his tables as to write some sermon-note , mean while does only scrawl , forgotten errands there , or nought at all : then with a noise whisks his boss'd bible o'er , where he for some quotation seems to pore ; and glancing from one chapter to a next , folds down the leaf as he had found the text. enquires the preacher's name , stays last i' th' church , to con him thanks , and waits him to the porch . when of his youth he speaks , his tears flow fast ; not for his youth's sins , but because 't is past. his lesser vices frankly are confest , all but the reigning belial of his breast . gives publick alms , and those but when he must , nor without witness god himself will trust . with usuries , superfluity he gilds extortion , and an hospital he builds . and thinks th' injustice largely is repaid , to keep ten beggars for ten thousand made . from flesh on friday with a greater dread he does abstain than from his neighbour's bed. to swear by god's name rather will allow , than at the name of jesus not to bow. to him when fustian poet reads his stuff , he begs a copy , cryes 't is censure-proof . finds nothing that 's amiss while th' authour stays , and nothing , when the fop's withdrawn , to praise . by his step-mothers sick-bed he can weep , wish her sound rest , that is , eternal sleep . i' th' street he greets his friend with chearful eyes , and hugging close , when will you come ? he cries . but curses him in 's heart if he complies . small fare affords , yet ev'n that small does grutch , close-frowning on his wife , that 't is so much . for what he seems and says , he well might pass , himself 's the very worst thing that he has . his neighbours nuissance , and the strangers saint ; or in a word , his character to paint , angel abroad , at home a spirit evil , and when an angel worse than when a devil . the superstitious . what monster , superstition , is like thee , thou godless zeal , devout impiety . the superstitious wight is folly's heir , fond in observance , servile in his fear . he worships god but as he lists ; in what is not requir'd , he 'll supererogate . give more , give all , except what god demands , and makes more duties than the ten commands . till cross'd and sprinkl'd dares not stir abroad , comes back if but a hare run thwart his road. if he but trips at door , or on his way , but recollects it was no lucky day of setting out , ( though all 's estate depend ) turns back in sight of his long journey 's end. if salt fall tow'rds him he looks pale and red , stares as the house were tumbling on his head. nor can recover breath till that mis-hap be purg'd by shedding wine into his lap. if he but sneeze , his eyes around he sends , thinks them who don 't uncover , not his friends . to judge the weather walks betimes abroad , and hearks if even the crow cry , or odd. if but a raven croak in dead of night , he makes his will as he had heard a spright . or if a dream shall in his brains ferment , a garden , or departed friend present ; his senses are into confusion hurl'd , bespeaks his coffin , and takes leave o' th' world. on such days only he 'll set out by water , nor for the world without his erra pater . st. paul's day for his oracle does take , and swythin's is his surest almanack . no sin afflicts him on his dying bed , but having once of flesh on friday fed . he thinks the rest can no repentance need , and no repentance can for that succeed . his dreams , for sure predictions must avail , and if th' event his exposition fail ; his wits are then on new solutions bent , and he expounds according to th' event . old wives and stars are all his councellors , for recipe's 'gainst sickness , charms he wears ; for tooth-ach paracelsian characters . impossibilities the credulous elf calls miracles , and streins to cheat himself . let him but hear that in a distant soil , some sacred block does speak , move , weep , or smile ; he bare-foot hies his off'ring there to pay , and if a danger miss him in the way ; if he but scape the muting of a crow , the timber-saint a miracle did show . some roads he baulks , for goblins there he feigns , each lanthorn's will o' th' wisp , and ev'ry noise of chains . his custom ( for what cause he ne'er cou'd know ) is , with some little compass still to go ; here to pass nimbly , there to make a stand , and ever leave the cross on his right hand . his method has no reason ; yet no force threats nor entreaties make him change his course . if he have thum'd his beads , and pray'd his tale , he 's safe enough ; it matters not for zeal . and lastly , with respect to heav'n , might he the carver of his own obedience be , god never cou'd a better servant have , but , as he is , has no perverser slave . the profane . in mad extreams the superstitious own too many gods , but the profane has none : unless himself his deity he make , and for his fanci'd heaven , the world does take . he breaths and moves , but to religion dead , all sense of fear , of love , or care is fled . his heart without impression does remain , tir'd conscience there repeats her strokes in vain . custom of sin this senselessness has wrought , inur'd , and to the anvils hardness brought . long rooted vice admits of no redress , he pleads prescription now for wickedness . ( by slow ascents these impious heights we gain , are sinful born , but make our selves profane : ) through carelessness his vicious course begins , he sins at last , and knows not that he sins . reason too late her counsel wou'd afford ; she 's now his slave , and appetite his lord. sense is his only creed ; if so it chance , that piety his int'rest may advance ; a cloak of sanctity he can provide , and what he counterfeits at once deride . does sacrifice to 's nets : when projects hit , he either thanks his fortune , or his wit ; but providence must nought have there to do , he 'll rather make false gods than own the true. when ought miscarries , destinies to blame , on heav'ns unkindness he does then exclaim . reviles the pow'r , to whose indulgent sway he wou'd not be beholden if he may . oft-times his conscience fain with him wou'd speak , he sets the day , but does th' appointment break . and when aloud she does for audience cry , he drowns the noise with rev'ling company . god's name does never but in oaths express , and never thinks of him but in distress : and then his thoughts in dark confusion sink , cause he but then begins of him to think . his maker he 'll accuse himself to free , and charges all his guilt on god's decree . ingratefully thinks his condition hard , to be from pleasures poyson'd sweets debarr'd . does goodness , minstrel-like , for sport bring forth , and sacred things are still his choicest mirth . to mimickry turns grace , and vertue 's rules , and best diverted with religion's fools . a slander for each vertue can invent , and in false colours ev'ry vice present . he boasts of his young sins , and past offence , with cold remembrance feeds his impotence . enormous crimes the libertine has wrought , ambitious , yet more wicked to be thought . a lewder than himself can grieve to see , and in damnation grudge precedency . hell does in him less fear than death create , as being sure of this , and doubting that . to th' church as to a theater resort , for custom , company , for sleep , or sport. self-love is all he ever understood , nor that enough to seek his own true good. he breaks through gratitude and friendship 's ties , nor cares on whom he treads , so he may rise . his life does one licentious practice seem , and ev'ry vice its centre has in him. god's hatred , and his curse ; a mass of evil , in body only diff'ring from a devil . the busy-body . his own estate 's too narrow for his mind , and room in other men's affairs he 'll find . in friend and strangers business he will move , and ever with the same pretence of love. no news can pass his door , and , good or ill , he cannot know the thing he does not tell . he knows the rates of traffique to a hair , what forces the confederates can prepare , how swedeland , and how denmark will declare . though trav'ling on affairs of life and death , he 'll stop the post , and talk him out of breath . and if his humour , or his hast refuse , ride back with him , and piece-meal catch the news . and if through speed th' intelligence does fail , his wit supplies , and makes a perfect tale. then woe to the next man that he comes near , blow , rain , or lighten , he must stay to hear ; and hear him out , while in a tedious round , the listner and himself he does confound . disjointedly each sentence does express , with long successions of parentheses . retrencht , to let his stream of matter run , but vows to fill 'em up e'er he has done . if two together in the street he views discoursing closely , he concludes strange news . but if a letter be produc'd , he 's charm'd , and of the secret begs to be inform'd . deny'd , it serves his turn almost as well , if him of wonders they 'll permit to tell . then with a scotish mine he does begin , of a whole shoal of whales come up at linn . thank him , a thousand times your thanks repeat , all 's one , his tongue it 's larum must compleat . you 'll name no undertaking which he 'll baulk , but all concludes , where it commenc'd , in talk. he 'll teach another what himself ne'er knew , and be a guide in ways he ne'er pass'd through . look in at 's neighbour's window , and demand the reason why his servants idle stand . call'd to another's table , 't is his way to slander some third person , and convey the tale to him that 's wrong'd , whom having sworn to secrecy , with speed he does return to his first host , and this dark practice ply , till both are set on fire they know not why . his ears are quick , and no less quick his eyes , to imperfections these , and those to lyes . he stops another's servant , takes him in , treats him , and does his master's health begin ; thence slily falls to ask of his affairs , what sort of company t' his house repairs ; what is their usual fare , and what discourse passes at meals . thus does th' extorter force ; but , soon as drein'd , the guest his leave must take , and room for fresh intelligencers make . this man thinks constancy a dull disgrace , and still is shifting of his work and place ; but of no place can half so weary seem , or half so soon , as is the place of him. in each acquaintance he has got a foe , for not to hate him you must him not know . he toils unthank'd , he talks without belief , living has no man's love , dead , no man's grief ; unless by chance the last defect's supply'd , and some may grieve that he no sooner dy'd . the envious . the envious feeds upon his neighbours ills , and no disease , but others wellfare , feels . god's benefits perversly does destroy ; with company no blessing can enjoy . wou'd rather have superiours in distress , than equals in a common happiness . he 's an ill prizer of his neighbour's store , and yet , his own computing , he errs more : on neither the just value will bestow , for , that he rates too high , and this too low. he asks in what repute his equals live ; about his betters more inquisitive . if just report his envious search defeat , in closer terms his question he 'll repeat . and when his spight can fasten on no flaw , his snakes turn back his own rank heart to gnaw . with god he quarrels , if his neighbour's field with better tillage , fairer grain does yield . for one chance-blight he murmurs and inveys , for ten successive crops no thanks repays . whom openly he dares not to traduce , with short or over-praise he will abuse . allows his rival all things but his right , and most in commendation shews his spight . if courteous his competitor appear , he 's then inveigling , crafty , popular . if bountiful , a faction is design'd , to which with bribes he does his clients bind . and if in war his rival has success , he 's so much more a dang'rous man in peace . by industry in wealth , or power grown strong , he 's hoarding up of means for future wrong . thus does the envious man distort and force true worth , and turn each vertue to a curse . in his religion policy still lurks , and by submission his ambition works . no law , that had the publick good enclos'd , can pass , because by him not first propos'd . not his own int'rest for that time he weighs , but suffers , to defraud another's praise . if evil of his rival , fame report , he cryes she 's partial , and of truth comes short . what prejudice relates , as being worst , in his recital he still mentions first : knowing that gentler truth too slowly treads , and that the first ill rumour farthest spreads . he 'll stab i' th' dark , and then with pitying voice bemoan the fate that makes his heart rejoice . of his ill deeds his nature is the cause , the good he acts is only for applause . and that which cannot to his share befal to do , he still takes care no other shall . of his best skill he just enough will show , to let the world perceive what he does know ; his med'cine's sov'raign use he will reveal , the art to make 't , does ev'n in death conceal ; pleas'd that he can a prize from mankind steal . god's blessings , if beside himself they fall , his curses prove , and make him burst with gall. yet after all there 's none can grudge the elf his diet , for the miscreant eats himself . to turn a devil he waits but his life's end , till then a carcase quicken'd by a fiend . finis . the life of alexander the great , written in latin by quintus curtius , translated into english by several hands , and now dedicated to the queen . by n. tate . the golden meane lately written, as occasion serued, to a great lord. discoursing the noblenesse of perfect virtue in extreames. 1613 approx. 68 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 69 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2003-01 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a07373 stc 17757 estc s102688 99838459 99838459 2839 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a07373) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 2839) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1475-1640 ; 815:15) the golden meane lately written, as occasion serued, to a great lord. discoursing the noblenesse of perfect virtue in extreames. ford, john, 1586-ca. 1640, attributed author. aut stafford, anthony, attributed author. aut [8], 126 p. printed [by h. lownes] for jeffery chorlton, london : 1613. attributed to john ford and to anthony stafford--stc. printer's name from stc. reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng moderation -early works to 1800. virtue -early works to 1800. 2002-04 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2002-04 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2002-05 tcp staff (oxford) sampled and proofread 2002-07 apex covantage rekeyed and resubmitted 2002-08 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2002-08 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2002-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the golden meane . lately written , as occasion serued , to a great lord . discoursing the noblenesse of perfect virtue in extreames . london : printed for ieffery chorlton . 1613. to the best vvorthy reader . syr : ( as for any other nobler titles they are but separable accidents ) if vertue be not too partially ouerswayed by fortune , i haue heere cast into a small volumne a large summe of loue. such a loue as is rather warranted by a dutifull obseruance then any shadow of complement . i may once open my selfe when either opinion is without eares , or suggestion without eyes . heere you may view and read vertue personated in moderation : heere you may know and proue moderation to be the life of vertue . bee a president to your selfe what you should bee ; as you are a president to others of what you are . it sufficeth me that i maske in the true simplenesse of a loyall honesty , and there shall no time steale from my remembrance , wherein i will fayle to witnesse the payment of a due debt of thankfulnesse to one principally great in beeing nobly stiled in his owne worthinesse . the golden meane . men , as they are all the sons of their mothers , are all the subiects of misery ; borne to liue few dayes in many dangers whose glory ( if they were monarches of their owne desires ) may be well compared to their shadowes in the sunne ; for , as the bodies shadow is at morning before vs , at noone beside vs , and at night behinde vs ; so is earthly glory , at morning or in the prime before vs , in a goodly lustre ; at noone or in the full , besides vs , in a violent heat ; at night or in the wane , behinde vs , in a neglected pitty . the difference is amongst some , that at noone , or in the meridian of their greatnes , in stead of hauing their glory beside them , they are beside their glory . but such vndoubtedly , are rather strangers to the bloud of vertue , then any way indued with the spirit of perfect noblenes . but so vnsetled are the grounds of frailties courses , as here is yet not the totall sum of being miserable . if men could as well frame their mindes to their change of fortunes , as their change of misfortunes doth corrupt their mindes , greatnesse would as truely welcome calamitie , as the base doe reioyce in being great . heereunto not the outward actions of the body , but the inward remper of the minde must be framed , since the first are but hand-maides to the latter . euen as one lying in the bed of visitation & death , doth not therefore die because hee is sicke , but because he liues ( for the depriuation of life is death , not sicknesse ) so the minde of man diuided by the consumption and disease of humor , being touched with affliction , is not therefore miserable because it suffers misery , but because it hath once tasted ( and bin lifted vp to ) happinesse . the golden meane , so aunciently commended , is onely there perfectly obserued , where true wisedome and true nobilitie are the speciall ornaments of a prepared minde : in which , if those two meet , is figuratiuely included an allusion to the sea : which , though clouds raine downe into it waters from aboue , and waters send flouds here beneath , yet doth it retayne all , either without iosse of saltnesse , or any shew of ouerflowing : the minde of a wise and noble man is such , that what or how many gusts and tides of aduersity assault him , they may at all times rather arme , then at any time oppresse him , since his resolution cannot ouerflow with the rudenesse of passion ; for that his excellent and refyned temperature will euer retaine the salt of iudgement and moderation ; the one prouing a wise , the other a noble man. in sorrowes or aduersities nothing is so fearefull as feare it selfe ; which pashion of weakenesse is so below the heart of vertue , that a minde trained vp in the exercises of honour , cannot as much as let fall one looke to behold it . if it be inquired what it is , or to what vsefull ende , either of ease or pollicy , it may be imployed ? in the first will be found little lesse then a desperate basenesse ; in the latter nothing more then an vngrounded desperatenesse . a man in the float of prosperitie to feare that he may fall , argues both the distrust of his owne merite , or the danger of his disposition . a man in the ebbe of his plenty , to feare a worse mischiefe then that of being poore or despised , argues both his vnworthinesse in procuring , & his impatiencie in bearing his fortune . feare with hope , is the readie witnesse of basenesse : feare without hope , the proclaimer of folly . and if there can be any miserie superlatiue , or if it were possible that there could be an extreame in measure , it is in the feare of those twaine ; yet doubtlesse the heauiest of the two torments is to feare without hope . either of which , to a minde noble & vertuous , are so much a stranger , as there cannot be found an interpretor , who to an honourable resolution can inforce either the construction or vnderstanding thereof for it is as meerely impossible for a great and excellent spirit to conceiue thoughts tending to basenesse , as for the base to apprehend the singular designes belonging to the noble minded . soone then it is to be obserued ; that the distinction betweene a worthy and a seruile person , must be rather sound out in the qualitie of their mindes , then the command of authority and complement . in which it is also further to be obserued , that in the composition of their mindes , there is as great and exquisite choise to be made , aswel how as wherein the excellency of such a composition must bee remarked . the seruile weakenes of such , whose education , nature , experience , and wisedome cannot claime any prioritie in desert , is so great , as it onely shewes that it distasteth not calamitie , so long as it is full fed with the happinesse of plenty and ease . in the worthy and desertful it is nothing s●… : for they truely considering the custome and necessitie ( as they are men ) of feeling change of states , doe euer arme their resolution before it come for calamitie , as when it comes , in it , against calamitie ; wherein if the great and vertuous accidentally ( not to speake of diuine prouidence ) fall , they therein chiefly shewe the vertue of their greatnes , and the greatnes of their vertue , in that they know they then feele no more then at all times they were ordained to beare . such referre all accidents of infelicitie , to the incidence of their frailtie ; measuring that being men , they are but the miseries of men that befall them . it was ( not to be tedious in examples ) a wonderfull noblenesse and constancy in ●…socacius , a chiefe man of antioch , who standing at the barre of iudgement , was spoken too by posaeus the soueraigne , who said ; seest thou not isocacius in what plight thou art ? isocacivs answered him , i see it ( qd . he ) and maruell not ; for since i am my selfe humane , i am come into an humane miserie . rare and wonderfullwas the courage and temperance of this vnimited nobleman : and surely , where the minde is conformable to remember it is carryed in a body of flesh , discretion is the plotter , and moderation the actor of a notable worke . this worke , as it is to be continued with singular fortitude , so must there a foundation be layde of an especiall wisedome ; for he who will climbe to the full height of deserued glory , must ascend by the degrees of deseruing fore-cast : which fore-cast , is euen the ground-worke or basis of perfect vertue in extremitie . it behoueth then a noble and wiseman so to order the frame of his minde , that in what sun-shine of greatnessoeuer he be , he may euer expect a storme to onercloude his eminence . and this is to be done by iudicially examining , what the greatest temporal blessings a pproued by the vulgar opinion , in their owne properties are , and how subiect to monthly , daily , hourely alteration : as what riches are they ( as wealth is vnderstood ) whom pouertie and famine may not suddenly follow ? what honour is that ( as pollitique dignitie is vnderstood ) whose power , whose largenesse , whose dependences may not be followed by blemish , by enuy , or by extreame contempt ? what kingdome is that ( as commaund and worldly gouernement is vnderstood ) to which may not ruine be ordained , depopulation , and mischiefe ? prosperitie and aduersitie are not by long times often sundred ; for sometimes is scant an houres difference betweene a ihrone and a cottage : whereby all men may know that the condition of euery man is changeable ; and the wise may know that whatsocuer may happen to another , may happen to himselfe . in auncient records pompey for wealth , seianus for honour , ptolomy for kingdomes , are memorable : yet was pompey for all his wealth poore , & begd . seianus for all his honour disgraced and executed : ptolomy for all his kingdoms forgotten & extinguisht . if we would inquire into our owne moderne chronicles ; we may read of vvoolsey the cardinall , abounding in riches and abounding in miserie : robert , earle of essex , propt vp in honours , and cast downe by enuie . many of the henries , kings of much power and small fortune : other our histories mention , who might as fitly be heere induced , but that those beeing freshest in memorie , and all within the compasse of one age , will sooner stirre vp our hearts , and worke an impressiō in our beliefes , then others who are with vs of lesse credite , because of more antiquitie . another effectuall consideration to the building of this excellent worke of a resolued and prepared minde , is euen in the foundation to be thought on . for if there be no certaintie in vvealth , in honour , in soueraignty ( in the fruition of whom , chiefely , if not onely , resteth the paradice of an earthly heauen ) much lesse assurance may be dream't of in any inferiour pleasures : for which a wiseman ( who is the true nobleman ) ought thus to resolue , that he is not lord of his owne mind who is vndaunted , as long as his fortunes are ministers to his will : but when he is cast downe , or rather cast away in his hopes , vndone in his expectation , set below his owne heart , vnfriended , and the subiect of vncomforting pittie : hee then who now witnesseth by his moderation in those sadnesses , the courage of his noblenesse , by the noblenesse of his vvisedome , is both perfectly wise in being so couragious , and as perfectly couragious in beeing so noble . it was well said of one , that a calme sea and a faire vvinde proues not a sailers skill . a sure pilot is proued in a doubtfull storme , and a wise noble minde is truely tried in the storme of aduersitie , not in the calme of felicitie . fortune enuies nothing more then a setled and well gouerned resolution ; and such a marriner deserues remembrance to posteritie , who in shipwracke dies , imbracing the maste , rather then hee who faintly for feare of drowning leapes into the sea. lastly , if neither the respect of the instabilitie of humane endowments , neither the regard of honor , being prone to fall , nor the vnstaidnesse of kingdomes ( the scepter beeing the highest flight of ambition ) cannot imprint in the minde an abandoning of itselfe , by reputing earthly delights and acquisitions to be in their owne nature , as in their owne nature they are , passable and vncertaine ; yet may the surenesse of paying a debt ( which cannot be excused ) to death , be a mayne and singular motiue to a noble and wise man , for sufferance of all changes of conditions and estates , with the sweetely-vnited blessings , iudgement and content . he that remembers that hee liues a life , cannot but forethinke that hee must dye a death : if hee looke into what life it selfe is , hee shall finde ( by experience of the past , and proofe of the present age ) that it is none other but a iourney to death . if a man examine the scope of his owne desires , they will fall out to be a desiring to hasten to his graue death and the graue ( two tortures to the memory of worldly foolish men ) are the onely principa●…l ends to which the vanitie of pleasures runne at : for men in wealth , in honour , in gouernment , desire the time to come ; the one in hope of increase of his gaine , the other of his greatnesse , the third●… of empyre . so what else doe they but couet by growing elder in dayes , to flye to the full race of their liuing , which is death ? of this a 〈◊〉 noble-man should-not ; and a true wise man cannot feare . it was an answer ( worthy the fpeker , ) of the philosopher , who hearing of his sonnes death said : when i had begotten him i well knew hee should dye : and who would be so ignorant as not to confesse that whosoeuer is brought out of the wombe is destined also to the sepulchre of the earth ? to a man prepared by the light of the minds vertue , this is euer seeming necessarie , as well willingly to restore that when it is required of him , though it were by death , as to enioy that which is giuen him if it were his life , since one being borne into the one , cannot escape the other . the minde should euer keepe measure , what of necessitie it must suffer let it not feare : what is doubtfull that it may suffer , let it alwayes looke for : so shall it not be afflicted before afflictions doe come ; nor vnprouided when they are come . all men , yea all things , must be freed by an end , though the end bee not a like to all , neither in manner or time ; some forgoe their liues in the middle of their time , some in the dawning of their life , some liue till they are euen weary of liuing , some dying naturally , some violently , others enforcedly , many ( in respect of men ) casually , but all at some time dying . in this kinde then it is questionable , whether it bee more foolish not to know , or more shamefull not to imbrace nature : hee that liues well needeth not to feare the vglines of death appearing in any forme , or in any disguise ; if he first resolue , that whensoeuer or howsoeuer hee comes , yet it is but death , and it must come . some one that is to trauaile of necessitie vpon the hazard of his life , vnto constantinople by land , being vnexperienc't in the dangers , and the many miseries of his ioumey , for his better instructions , seekes comfort in the councel of another , who hath bought knowledge of the way with the price of many weary and distressed paces , and being come , learnes this for an app●…ued certainty , that first the iourney it selfe is long and tedious , the way troublesome and vneuen , the change of ayres infectious and vnhealthy , the desarts wast and vncomfortable , directions chargeable and vncertaine , here theeues prepared to spoyle , there beasts set all on rauine , surety no where , danger on all hands , and what is the worst of these aduentures ; if hee obtaine the scope of his desires , and arriue euen to the furthest of his iourney , yet shall he there finde a turke that is emperour , cruell in nature , boundlesse in command , faithlesse of truth , treacherous and full of the bloud of christians : what comfort resteth to bee hoped for from this afflicted trauailler , or what should he doe ? to goe is the hazard of life , to stay the certainty of death : now the noblenes of wisedome must direct , & the vertue of noblenesse incourage his resolution , to resolue a steaddines of minde to countermaund the heauinesse of both fortunes : and it behoues such a man , so trauailing , to be prepared , aswell to beare danger when he mee●…es with it , as to be instructed before , that there is danger to be met with . in like manner is euery man borne to greatnesse , so likewise borne to iourney to death . to which ere he come , ( death being the furthest home of all our trauailes ) wee must know that wee are to passe through the miseries of mortallity , and particularly informe our selues that life it selfe ( how short soeuer ) in respect of it's frailty , is long and tedious , the manner of liuing troublesome and vneuen , the change of estates infectious to the minde , vnhealthy to the soule , the wildernesse of opinion and iudgement wasted by the cause , and comfortlesse in the effects of folly : directions to reformation chargeable , if wee respect our ignorance , vncertaine if wee remember our wilfulnesse : here on the one side are theeues , euen our affections to spoile vs of vertue ; there on the other side beasts , which are defects of reason , set on to deuoure vs ; euen our manner of liuing is a baite to allure vs from the surety of life , and when wee are come to the deadly sickenesse that must finish our course , the worst of euill is , that hauing past all the quicksands and perils of life , wee haue within vs death it selfe in our owne consciences to bring vs to death . nothing is left therefore to a man borne to liue , but a stayed and a sure resolution to be armed to die . in which hee is to care , not where hee shall die , or in what manner , or in what estate , but that hee must die , and in what minde , and in what memorable vertues . heere , the foundation to the erecting the master-piece of the golden meane being layd now vpon these or some other considerations , not much differing from these ; a noble wise man is then to know his owne worth , wherby calamity may not cast him so downe , as that hee cannot call to minde that hee hath beene once happy ; as greatnes might not so lift him vp as that hee should be secure that he could neuer be vnhappie . it is much needfull that worthy personages hauing merit to commend their bloud , and birth to make goodly their merit , should in such sort be both knowers and directors of their own vertues , as neither honorable estimation should so purchase the opinion of vanitie , to be blowne vp with the simplicitie of pride ; neither a too low discent to the weakenesse of seruilitie , that they are become the miracles of pittie . he that knowes himselfe , not that he is so much a great man as a good man ; knowes likewise it is a labour of as rare desert to preserue goodnesse , as to finde it ; as on the other part , the meerely ambitious rather studie to finde greatnesse , then being found and enioyed to preserue it . such principles ingenerall , being by a discerning iudgement cont●…iued , the contriuer cannot be far from the parts that leade to this golden meane . it is many times seene that those who leade their liues according to the measure of their will and power , doe not measure their will and power according to the frailtie of their liues ; yet certainely they lead an euill life who are still beginning to liue , for that life is euer vnperfect which hath learned but the first onely rule to goodnesse : certaine other , then chiefly begin to liue when they are certaine to end the race of so liuing by death ; and some also there are , who end their liues before they can well be said to haue begunne to liue . most men subiect to those vnhappinesses , like things floating on the water , doe not goe , but are carried ; not the counsell of prouidence directs their steps to goe by the staffe of discretion , but they are wholly rather carried by the violent streame of opinion and conceit , precisely termed humour . to vnmaske the vizour that hides the deformitie of this customarie vilenesse , much guilt is to be laid on the change of the times , or indeed on the change of men in the times . for , whiles the world was yet in her infancie , neither was such plenty of temptation to inuite , neither was vanity so plentifull to tempt the happinesse of that age to the miseries of this : but as dayes grow more numberles in number , so men in those dayes waxed more irregular in manners : which irregularitie of manners , increased by the deprauation of reason in men of all conditions ; in fooles euer , in the wise often ; for euen the wise do themselues , not seldom suffer an eclipse of reason . the difference that is , is for that such a defect proceeds rather out of the firmitie of nature , then out of any subiection of the minde : for , where the minde is subiected to the grossenes of errour , there doth the man so for the time ( so subiected ) forsake the course of wisedome , which like a fixed starre should ( how soeuer the heauens moue ) be vnmoueable , and vnmoued in the center of his place ; and such as so is , is truely said to be true noblenesse , true vertue , true wisedome . euen as one that is to frame a goodly building on a delightfull plot of ground , doth first prouidently forecast aswell of the hazards and hinderances that may come , as the charge which daily must come . amongst which must principally be considered , the title of the right , and what claime may belayd thereto , and what meanes may be vsed to remoue that claime . then the necessitie of prouision , the casuall change of weather , the wearinesse of working ; for all which , if interaccidents of extremity should happen remedies for the same must be thought on . so a man in his minde wisely resolued to the building of this excellent frame of the golden meane , on the plot of a prepared resolution , must endeuour to prouide cures against the fates of extremitie . a few of which extremities that doe many times assault the temper of a noble vertue , it shall not much differ from the purpose and present to point at . with men of honour and nobilitie , the chiefe misfortunes that can , or doe vsually , happen , are either disfauour , neglect , forfeite of estate , banishment , imprisonment , or death . the remedies against all which , shall easily in perticular bee subserted . disfauour , often times comes either through priuie malice , selfe-vnworthynesse , enuie , or sometimes through the variablenesse of an vnguided prince inclination : to each 〈◊〉 those , a wise man may , and a good man will soone apply a medicine , and in tha●… a recouery . to deser●… the grace of a prince is an●… honorable happines ; yo●… is not the losse of it ( being once deserued ) a misery ; especially to wise men , since vvise men may bee made subiect , but neuer subiects to misery : calamity may exercise , but not ouersway their vertues : misfortune may bee an vsurping tyrant to paine them , but neuer a receiued soueraigne to command them : if the prince his gracious fauour be lost through the priuie malice of some , who fill the eares of maiestie with the dis●…ord of slander and vntruth , grounded vpon the sandy foundation of vncertaine discontent , or dishonourable reuenge , then hath a wise noble man , out of those very wrongs , strong arguments to perswad his reason , that there is much reason why hee should be perswaded to moderation : for being innocent of any voluntary action or intent that might make his faith questionable , or his serui●… dangerous , or his merit 〈◊〉 lesse value then a voy●… of generall commenda●… , hath formerly 〈◊〉 , his owne cleerenes●… may euer rest vpon the vnmoued pillars of his own●… noble integritie . where a man in grace with his soueraigne falls from it by a selfe-vnworthynesse , it is far otherwise : & vndoubtedly , whosoeuer is so impoisoned with the diseases of his minde , or the infirmity of his body hath great & principal causes to moue him to seeke for remedy against the dispertion of the one , & the asper●…ion of the latter . to this ●…elfe-unworthynes , either in ●…inde or body , may be re●…erred ambition , the mo●…her of disloial plots & practises : discontent , the nurse 〈◊〉 conspiracies ; couetous●…es , that kindling fires with the fuell of monopolies , is inforced to quench them with the teares of disgrace , and that which soone followes thereon , contempt . ●…aine-glory , or pride , which whiles with pompeys minde it cannot brooke the title of a superiour , is with pompeys fortunes cast down beneath the pittie of their equals . faction , vvhich like foolish flye in the cand●… labours her owne dea●… with other diseases , 〈◊〉 many to be tediously rected : or to this self 〈◊〉 , through the infi●…mitie of the body , which more especially consists in action , may bee referred ryot , in all men a madnes , in noble men a blemish , and to good princes most displeasant ; or quarrelling , which euer brings danger , with too late repentance ; or wantonnesse , the ouerthrow of many goodly kindreds and familyes ; or scurrilitie , with other such like . since when mention was made of the unworthi●…esse of body , it is not any defect in nature , or naturall proportion , but in manners outwardly acted : for many times it is commonly seene , that where nature hath fail'd in some parts of the outward man , shee hath oftentimes supplyed those wants with a pregnancy of minde . a president whereof is ( not to borrow of auncient histories , ) euen in the chronicles of our present memories , in the person of robert , the late earle of salisbvry , a man whose vneuenes 〈◊〉 shape was perfected with the perfect furniture of 〈◊〉 reaching and industrio●… wit. so was the crookedness of aesape made straight in the sweetnes 〈◊〉 his inuention . and scorates , that odde man of athens , is said to haue said of himselfe , that education & art in him , had changed the course of natures vnfurnished workmanship . of these , and such imperfections of body , 〈◊〉 is not heere intended , but of such as by their owne selfe-vnworthines in body in minde , & often in both , doe loose the intrest , their blood , birth , and noblenesse ( being noble indeed by those both ) hath in their princes opinion . a remedy against self-unworthinesse ; must be found out in a selfe-reformation ; which being sincerely performed , the follyes of the past times belong not to the reformed . if one should call such a one ( as hath bin knowne for a notorious robber . ) theefe , being certainely sorrowfull , penitent , and accomptable for all his errours in that kinde , doubtlesse it were much indiscretion in the agent to speake so to him , & more in the patient to esteeme it as spoken of him , since wise and good men as they do not repute those things theirs which they haue not done , so must they neither acknowledge for theirs which they now presently doe not . non vocamus ●…nostra quae non ipsi fecimus , at quae non ipsi facimus , as the right sence of the olde verse contayneth . so then : hath a great peere loft his princes fauour , because he deserued to loose it ? let not this deiect or caft him downe in mind , since as by a change from good to worser hee forewent his princes loue , or rather his princes louehim ; so yet by a change from bad to better , he still is worthy of a repossession of that loue , though hee repossesse it not : and what worth cannot be seen by the publique little eye of the great world , by reason of his being clouded from the sunne of his life and glory , his prince ; let it bee so much the more seene by the priuate great eye of his own little world ( euen himselfe and his owne comforts ) and teach him to know the difference betweene a great and a good man , the one preferring vertue onely for greatnesse , the other preferring greatnesse for the greatnes of vertue onely . another cause , which not seldome procureth disfauour from the prince , is that old enimie to desert enuy , who is so auncient a courtier , and so tryed in the passages of all ages , that such a man as is in fauour with his soueraigne , deseruing so to be , and imagining himselfe to bee without the compasse of enuy , is too securely , & in that security , too simply armed against his owne ruine . heere now is a broad path , leading , or more truely teaching the ready course to the excellent meane of temperance and moderation . euery man ought to reioyce and solace himselfe in his owne perfections : for it is as beast-like not to know his proper value at all , as it is diuellish to know it too much . humble-pride is a proud humilitie , and such as exercise it with innocence rather then curiositie , doe but shew the difference betweene a nobly and generous , and a basely fantasticall nature . whereby then should a man be perswaded that he is an imbracer of vertue , more then in that hee is prosecuted by the restlesse venome of the enuious . hath this secret mischiefe displaced any desertfull fauorite of the benefite of the fauour royall ? assuredly hee hath little cause to distaste it any thing , or to be moued from the commendation of a resolued minde , that as hee shall by tempering his disgrace vvith sufferance , increase the honor of his merit , so shall hee giue matter still of more enuie to the enuious , who are oftentimes as much afflicted with the patience , as they are with the prosperitie of the party enuied . it is better to be enuied then pittied : pitty proceeding out of a cold charitie towards the miserable : enuie out of a corruption of qualitie against the vertuous : if it be obiected that the losse of a princes fauour , through the instigation of some enuious opposite , hath most cause to afflict a noble minde , in that his enemie hath preuailed against him ; the same reason may be answered with the same reason . that such an enemy cannot be said to preuaile , who fights with the weapons of a dishonourable treachery ; and what greater triumph or conquest can a wise or a noble man wish to enioy , then to torment his aduersary with the perfections of his vertue ? but in the meane time enuy ouer-rules ? true , and heere is an inducement to a steady moderation , in that it is but enuy . but the princes fauour is by this meanes lost ? so is a noble mans selfe-worthinesse by the same meanes found : and it is a greater blemish to the iudgement of a prince so traduced , not to examine the particulars why he doth reiect a worthy subiect , then to the subiects worthinesse , without particular examinations from his prince to be reiected . so , neither then should enuy remoue , but for that it is enuy , confirme and strengthen a noble resolution . sometimes the variablenesse of the princes inclination , his addiction to change from royall vertues to horrible vices , is the reason of his disfavour with those who are of the best desert : such and of such conditions were ill england , richard the second , in rome , nero , in sicile , dionisivs , and such are for the most part all tyrants , who if they exercise not their 〈◊〉 ouer the liues , yet certainly exercise it ouer the harts of their faithfullest subiects . such princes are rather vvanton in their fauours then iudicious , and the weakenesse of vertue is the cause of that depriuation of iudgement . how happy is that man who hath lost that grace ( with a prince of that condition ) which he may rest confident he neuer surely had ? and aboue many other motiues , this is most generall and most effectuall to rectifie a wise mans minde , for such a one as layes the foundations of his hopes on the moueable sandes of his princes fauour , is like a foolish marchant that aduentures all his substance in a broken vessell : and hee that relyes on the vnhappinesses of such fauour , must of necessitie banish al noble resolutions from his dissignes , for it is a headlong folly , and a wilfull detraction that such a one seekes , if he doe not aswell resolue to endeuour to preserue and continue his princes grace , as to finde and enioy it . now this is a direct , or indeede indirect running away from the maine worke of goodnesse : for to as many vices as the nature & life of a wicked man may be inclined , to 〈◊〉 many must he addresse ●…imselfe to be a bawd , if not an actor in them ; and of all vnhappines this is the first . certainly good clarkes haue said , and experience doth vvitnesse , that an exact courtier is ●…eldome a good man ; for not to speake of generall enormities in particular ; courtiers are most times giuen ouer to those two wonderful madnesses pride and riot , pride countenancing their riot , and riot making glorious their pride . what a blessing ( for it is more then a happinesse ) the 〈◊〉 of those common errors 〈◊〉 the wiseman will acknowledge , and the fortunate noble may proue . princes sometimes an●… vnguided in their dispositions , and then he●… who is neerest in fauo●… is in greatest danger of his place , which happening many times , puts him in many feares , in so much as euen the ground work that beares vp his ambition is shaken with euery breath of an vnpleasant word : and what miserie then can that be , to be out of this miserie ; especially when the prince is of a changeable and deuided minde ? so that hee that will ingeniously looke into the worst of a princes dis●…auour ( himselfe not detected of vnworthynesse ) may likewise ingeniously confesse that there is much gaine in such a losse . of other miseries ( which are so reputed amongst men ) that may happen to 〈◊〉 noble 〈◊〉 , neglect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 another , that 〈◊〉 , when his seruice for his 〈◊〉 , or aduise for the 〈◊〉 , or indeuours to 〈◊〉 his soueraigne , are 〈◊〉 not commended , or 〈◊〉 least not rewarded ; here is required indeede much vertue to conquer that part of man vvhich is meerely man , and to stand resolute vpon the gard of his owne worthynesse . this neglect in a prince , comes from an insensible ingratitude , or want of 〈◊〉 quicknesse in the faculties of his soule . if from ingratitude , ( a sinne 〈◊〉 full in all men , but in kings , estates , or 〈◊〉 nours horrible ) then 〈◊〉 fortune , or ( if you so 〈◊〉 to terme it ) misery of 〈◊〉 is 〈◊〉 to be 〈◊〉 for by how much a 〈◊〉 is vnt hankfull in rewarding the seruice of his subiect , by so much the more is hee ingaged to all memories of being a dishonorable debtor . and though a man is bound to pay the best of his seruice either to his king or covntry , in the safety of the one , and preseruation of the other , and dutie to both , yet so are both his king and country interchangeably bound to fauour , cherish , and respect worth in a worthy deseruer . but if neglect proceede out of a want of iudgment , or a decerning vertue , then hath the neglected much mo●… cause to beare that iniu●… a man is not to expect thankes from a oxe , or horse , for feeding , 〈◊〉 ring , dressing and smoothing of him , because it is an oxe or a horse 〈◊〉 whom hee doth it . truel●… a gouernour of people that can eate , clothe an●… feede another mans labours , and cannot giue acknowledgement at least to him who by the working of his braines , expence of his bloud , and consumption of his estate , or such like seruices , doth in peace feede and clothe his king and country , such a ruler ●…ffers , in this , little from a ●…east , that hath not rea●…on , or at least the vse of ●…eason . but if neglect come ●…om the vnsteddinesse of ●…he common people , then 〈◊〉 is nothing strange : for 〈◊〉 they are wonne in an ●…oure , so are they lost in a minunte ; & whosoeuer co●…etech popular applause , ●…or depends vpon the 〈◊〉 of the vulgar , doth with the dogge in esope , 〈◊〉 carnes , captare vmbres ; ●…imbrace clouds , and beget centaures ; and doth iustly deserue no commendations at all for so seeking to be commended . if yet it be fit to inqui●… further into the maine construction , what , or of what value and , moment this neglect is , experience 〈◊〉 others will learne vs to be schoole-masters to our selues ; for let a man be n●…uer so iminent in authoritie vnder his prince , let him haue what greatnesse he can imagine , and what adoration and reueren●… the humilitie of the publique wonder can giue●… let his words be obserued as oracles , his commands as lawes , his displeasure ●…s death , yet with the flight of a thought if vpon some dislike grounded or vngrounded , the king at any time shorten his royall fa●…our , or the law in any point take hold on him , ●…hereby hee appeares to ●…he iudgement of the world , to bee entring into ●…he way of miserie , how ●…ensibly and how soone 〈◊〉 all hefeele an alteration of those large flatteries which the seruilitie of the ●…ncertaine people promi●…ed ? a witnesse hereof in his time was , and in this time may be , iohn , that great and last duke of no 〈◊〉 thvmberlan 〈◊〉 whose pride and 〈◊〉 were at once hastened by the too much confident he had in the harts of the cominaltie ; with what speed was hee disgran●… of his soueraigne , 〈◊〉 of the lords , and 〈◊〉 of the multitude 〈◊〉 who is onely couetous of any 〈◊〉 , though 〈◊〉 be change from the good to the worst ? a iust man therefore ( whose soundnesse of minde like 〈◊〉 centre of the earth 〈◊〉 euer vnmoued ) by the light of those few 〈◊〉 dent reasons may vnderstand how easie it is for the popular iudgement as ●…ell in distinctions of mi●…eries as of happinesse to ●…rre : for as they account ●…states and conditions miserable , which are not 〈◊〉 with the vanitie of outward glory , or fulnesse of substance ; so doe they likewise reckon that felicity the truest happinesse , whose dignitie and migh●…inesse is like the blazing starre , for the present , as strange as fearefull : and for a wise , a good ●…noble spirit to be 〈◊〉 with the neglect of 〈◊〉 in such creatures , would be strong proofe that hee neuer 〈◊〉 the perfect relish eythe●… of perfect wisedome , perfect goodnesse , or perfect nobilitie . like as hath before beene said of neglect , 〈◊〉 much or more may be inferred of that misery called the forfeiture 〈◊〉 estate , that is , of all 〈◊〉 plenty or fulnesse of temporall substance , as with worldly men the name and possession of riches doth include . of all 〈◊〉 ther miseries this in th●… iudgement of such as 〈◊〉 not truly directed by true●… iudgement of such as are not truely directed by truest iudgement , is reputed the most miserable : insomuch as most men thinke , and so thinking , so resolue , that death , in any forme , is much more tollerable then beggary ( for so they terme pouerty ) by any casualty . one example or president to both noble and vnderstanding men , of what commendation the abandoning of rich fortunes , being reported by quintus curtius , may be remembred with immortall glory , of abdo-hominas , a poore man ; rich in all plenty , except plenty of riches , to whom alexander of macedon , profferring the kingdome of sidon to him , who was beefore but a gardener , was by him refused , who replyed that hee would take no care to loose that which hee neuer cared to enioy . the historie is worthy , & the answere full of obseruation , and will bee euer memorable . of all other things , free spirits & wise men should least respect the losse of temporall wealth , which is no part of a man. riches were fitly by the philosophers called bona fortunae , vncertaine endowments ; to figure vnto vs , that as fortune is euer variable , so should her benefits bee reputed but vnconstant friends : in regard whereof they were excluded from the gifts as well of the body as of the minde , that is , neither health , beautic or vertues of any sort , did neede the ornament of those gifts of fortune . a good man , if of his owne industrie and merit , hee hath purchased vnto himselfe wealth , hath little reason to grieue at the losse of them , since he remaines still as perfect in the cunning of gayning as when he first began : but another of more aboundance , whose possessions come to him by inheritance , without any care of his owne , he hath no reason at all to distaste the seizure of his estate , since he doth forgo but that which hee neuer laboured for . truly in respect of this it behoueth euery resolued minde to beare the courage of the wise man of greece , that said , he at all times carried all what was his with him wheresoeuer he went. wisedome , temperance , valour , iustice , are the substance and hereditary possessions of a perfectly happy man , and these riches cannot bee forfaited , except by a decay of vertue , they cannot be seized except the owner cast them off , they cannot suffer contempt so long as they bee nourished in a noble minde . indeede riches are to a good man like a light silken cloake vpon his backe , who is else prouided against the extreamitie of colde with warme furres : so hee that hath his owne goodnesse and resolution to warme him in all winters of aduersitie , needes wealth but as a thinne silken cloake vpon a furred gowne , rather to shew the vanitie of his disposition , then any vsefull imployment to the sustenance of life . if nature be prouided for against hunger with meate ; against frosts with apparell ; against contempt with comelinesse , the desire of money or large lordships , argues but the base filthinesse of an vnsatisfied couetousnesse . there may be obiected , that ô my estate being forfeited , mine heires are beggard , and the antiquitie of my ancestors house made the spectacle of ruine . this being admitted , it is soone answered , that the houses of most continuance , and personages of noblest births account that antiquitie of best estimation which is deriued from the longest discent , in which they shall finde , that the first of their honors were gotten by him , who was in as low an ebbe of fulnesse , as hee is now at the present : for all greatnes had a beginning , and the beginning of that greatnesse is desert . am i noble , let me know that this noblenesse is the least part of mine ; for my fathers wonne it by their vertue , they had the glory , but i enioy the titles . haue i robd mine heires of those titles , honours , or possessions ? let them striue to haue more honour in deseruing more , that their successors may asmuch remember their vertues , as i haue remembred the vertues of my ancestors . questionlesse howsoeuer the reputation of a continued family in ancient honours , be preferred aboue any men of latter greatnesse , of some whose worth hath raised his house to a noble stile , yet is it in the lawes of reason most reasonable ; that hee should deserue more respect , that by his owne atchiuements hath purchased dignitie , then others that onely haue it by the priuiledge of bloud , since the one weares but the shaddowes of his predecessors triumphes , the other the substance of his owne pouerty is no burthen to them as can susteine it , is no enemy to such as will imbrace it : he is only miserable that knowes not to be content with his fortune , especially if his fall be procured by his owne errours . then the surest , the noblest , the only meanes to redeeme publike calamitie , is by a publike ( and yet inward profession of sufferance ; for in all persons and personages , reformation of folly is a worke of more praise then the working of folly is a cause of disgrace . what misery can it then be to be eased of that care , which onely brings care in the possession . of all mischiefes , the greatest mischiefe is to be a rich man , with a rich mans minde . there is no more reason why a meerely couetous man should loue gold , but for that it is yellow or faire ; pastures , because they are greene ; and so hath the enuious much more reason to co●…uer abundance of wealth , because other men should want it . a couetous miser , is rightly a malicious consumer , for in heaping for himselfe , he consumes the maintenance of the needy : yet it is to be noted , that plenty is not alwayes to be dispraised , if the hauing of it doe no●… procure a scarcitie . but what losse is so great in a worldly estate ( considering how weake it is more then in opinion ) which a wise man should not beare with moderation ? it is a misery to want , but a greater misery to haue too much : but for a good man to hugge the loue of abundance , that he should imagine the losse of it , should make him miserable , i must conclude this point that he hath neither goodnes nor resolution : if goodnesse , his content should be his best estate ; if resolution , his want cannot be esteemed the worst pouertie , since extremity is a singular teacher to learne vs that we are men , and that there is both a diuine power and a prouidence aboue vs ; the one consisting in being a god , the other in hauing a god-head . the difference between a wise man , reformed by counsell and instruction , and an ignorant man , informed in will and folly , is , that the wife will make good vse of all aduersity , when the ignorant thinks all aduersitie intollerable . this is proued in the greatnes of a noble courage , when it is enforced to forsake ( either vpon publike disgrace , or some priuate causes ) the comforts of his friends and countrie , which men of low hearts ) doe account a misery of mischiefes , and reckon that banishment is a bad kinde of torture . it may not be denied but that such may be the vnworthinesse of the action for which a man is banished , that his owne conscience will in all places be a tormentor to his memory , and then the wound which he beares with him can neuer by change of place or time be wholy cured . such a one , another of this latter times , well compared to the wounded doe in virgill , who ( as the poet sayes ) fled ouer hils and mountaines to escape death , but all in vaine ; for still in her sides the bow-mans killing arrowe sticks . so , those men who haue the arrow of some mischieuous art , piercing their afflicted hearts , although they be banished from the place where they haue committed villanie , yet they doe but goe from it , they cannot forget it . they flie the detraction of their sin , but cannot shunne it ; or if they could shun the deed ( as they cannot ) what can that auaile when the doer is the man himselfe ? in good men , who through diuers misfortunes are sequestred from their natiue countries vpon wrongfull or sleight occasions it is nothing so : for to them if they rightly ( as beeing good they will ) instruct themselues in the first rules of wisedome , all countreyes are a home . a noble and free resolution is a stranger no where ; in which respect men perfectly wise , are said to be perfectly valiant , since as true wisedome is perfect vallour , so is true vallour perfect moderation . many men haue abandoned their countries , & made themselues voluntary exiles vpon a desire and greedy hope of gaine , or better prosperitie : such haue beene the romans , romulus and aeneas ; of the patauynes , antenor ; of the britaine 's ( if the history bee of credite ) euen our owne brute ; yet truely the end of those men was no●… vvay glorious ; for they may more rightly be called fugitiues and 〈◊〉 , then exiles or trauailers . he deserued well of the common-vvealth of athens , who hauing instituted excellent lawes for th●… state publique , tooke oat●… of the magistrates tha●… his lawes should be day●… and duely practised , 〈◊〉 his returne from a iourne●… vvhich hee vvas to vndertake : the oath being receiued , the good man freely liued banished from his country , neuer returning , that for the safety of his country , his lawes might ●…ee kept inuiolable : yet ●…as this wise man so farre in this banishment from reproofe , that his action and memory in his action , will neuer be forgotten . of all accidents that can happen to a prepared minde , this of banishment hath little cause to trouble the quiet calme of a steady resolution . it is often seene that sundry persons for rarities sake , for morall instruction in complement or in behauiour , willingly some times trauaile into forraine lands , and there spend their time for three , sixe , tenne yeeres or more with great delight , taking pleasure and content in so growing old : euen so 〈◊〉 like manner let a good man resolue him selfe tha●… this hard word of banishment is but a iourney of pleasure into some outlanding country , not proposing or limitting to the minde a time of comming backe , but alwayes minding some fit imployment why hee should goe : as if ●…ee were but ambassador from his owne to some vnknowne prince : and with what dishonor can an ambassadour be blemished , who in the seruice of his soueraigne leaues his life as a pledge of his dutie ? it may be in the bondes of nature , some man will esteeme it an heauy misfortune to forsake , or ( as in the vvorst sence they terme it ) to be thrust from the fruition of the comfort of his friends , children , allyes , and kinsfolkes : such a thought can no more moue the temper of a resolued minde ; the●… it should doe if hee were to leaue the world , since in dying , and in being banished , heere is the difference , that the one necessitie is commanded by an vnchangeable decree from heauen , the other by a seuere imposition of man ; both being a seueration of old friends . what a madnesse were it in any to repute death ( being thereto naturally called ) a misery ? euen so let him thinke of banishment , and withall , compare the great fortunes that some haue attained vnto in that estate of 〈◊〉 , with the possibilitie of his owne . thomas mov●…ray , duke of norffolke , in the reigne of richard the second , being by the said king , by reason of the kings youth and indiscretion ; and in regard of some other differences between mowbray and other princes of the bloud , vpon an appeale of treason , banished ; was so far from being heerewith deiected , that adding practise to the noblenesse of his courage , hee vndertooke a glorious warre in the land of palestine , against the common enemie of god and truth , the turke , and willingly made his bloud a sacrifice to the redemption of his fame . happy man , that sought out death with victorie , before that death could make him vnhappy by finding him out with ouerthrow : happy banishment , which hath beene the meanes of such a memory , and happy cause of banishment that was the first occasion to such meanes of being memorable . in like manner , hem●… of richmond , being for his interest in the crowne by that monster of men and kings , richard the third , found ( by his euen carriage and vvell tempered moderation ) such fauour and loue in the courts and hearts of forraine princes , as that being strengthened with their strengths , and encouraged by his owne right and vertue , he not onely returned to challenge but to recouer his owne , and to purge the land of so intollerable mischiefe as the gouernement of that cruell vsurper and bloudy king had made it sigh vnder . happy banishment , in so glorifying that prince : happy prince , in so disposing that banishment : for it is certainely true , that not any accident of misfortune ( as the world accounts ) but the minde of the patient in suffering , or not suffering , makes it a misery . if examples be of any force ( as they must be ) by the president of former times to instruct the present , then may pompey for greatnesse , affricanus for counsell , hanyball for courage , and ouid for wit , tell vs that banishment doth not alwayes happen to miserable men , except their owne impatiencie worke their owne calamitie . in short , a vvise and noble man , by what hath beene said , may consider what might more haue beene said , to the building in this life this structure of the golden meane against the stormes and infelicitie of being a banished man , since a wise man resolued in all trials , is neuer confined within the limits of place , but vpon all necessary occurrents doth repute himselfe euen in his birth to be the worlds citizen . heere yet followes imprisonment ; which often happening to men of great place and qualitie , is not thought the least kinde of miserie , which men of such mindes doe with their bodies restraint locke vp and imprison all the best faculties of their reason , forcing reason to be a slaue to fortune , and rewarding the excellent dignitie of the soule , with the corruption of iudgement and nature . such a man as is kept within the inforcement of restraint , must imitate that daedalus whom the auncient poets faine to haue wings , with which he fled from that inaccessible castell where he was detained with his son icarus a prisoner . the morall cannot but giue matter of note and application : lcarus the son betokens or may betoken the incapacitie of mens bodies , and daedalus the quickenesse of minde : both which , being the one with the other imprisoned ; the one , which is the body , personated in icarus , for want of moderation falls into the attempt of escape : the other , which is the minde , pattern'd in dedalus , conquers aduersitie by flying from it in bearing it : the golden meane super at ferendo ; tryumphs on the rigour of imprisonment by the freedome of a noble minde . to a man arm'd in his extremities , often trials are but as many often praises , and euery triall giues a seuerall crowne of commendation in bearing many troubles with one and the selfe-same resolution . if the vse of imprisonment be but onely a little made vse of , it will be found that there is no means vnder the ordinances of heauen so auaileable for a man to consider the miserie of greatnesse , as the feeling the miserie ( so mistermed ) of imprisonment . men , accompanied with the imployment of worthy thoughts , are neuer lesse idle then when they are alone , neuer more seriously busied then when they are onely busied ( and haue time so to be busied ) with remembring that they are men : not that such a remembrance should cast them lower then the consideration of frailtie , but raise them higher then the acting of folly ; not to depresse the motions perswading temperance , but to rectifie the perswasions mouing to vertue : hee is stronger that conquers his owne passions , then hee that after winning many countries , becomes a passionate conquerour . the life of instruction is reading , and leisure the life of reading , and a retired restraint the life of leisure : which restraint is onely terrible in being called imprisonment . one that for a great some of money would pledge himselfe to liue in a chamber a ye●…re or two , or seauen , will not thinke such an indurance a misery , because the hope of gaine doth lessen or rather annihillate the seuerity of that iniunction . miserable men , and miserable mankinde that will vndertake such an affliction for bettering of their temporall estates , which being imposed for the bettering of the estate of their reason and iudgment , they account insufferable . basenesse of nature that suffers that for greedinesse , which being had , is not certaine one houre to be possessed , and yet will in the same kinde forgoe that which being once possest is neuer lost ; o the furniture of the minde , vvhich being indeede the true lasting and onely best riches ! variety of bookes are sweet companions , and plenty of noble thoughts happy recreations : if i be a prisoner i will either talke with my library , or sport with my thoughts , since one being learned , will proue sure instructers , the latter being noble , vvorthy delights . a man that is restrained from liberty , hath the liberty of retaining his owne worthynesse , as worthily may be seene in massinissa vvho being made captiue to scipio , told him , thou must scipio ( qd . he ) enioy the benefit of thy fortune , by taking from me my life , or of thy mercy by lo●…sing my bondes : take my life thou freest mee from bondes , free mee from bondes , thou bindest mee in bondes of loue ; but if thou lettest me liue a cap tiue , know scipio i haue a heart that did neuer , nor euer can seele seruile capti●…ty . it is certaine that such as see their friends in bondage and in durance , who haue noble mindes , see them , and see them not : they see them as men , but not as they are more then men . imprisonment is an excellent preparation to goodnesse , since euer after , in all fortunes , a man that hath beene a prisoner may knovv by himselfe hovv subiect a humane estate is to the brittlenesse of alteration ; and he that doth not much amend his errors by this kinde of triall , is neither destined to be an attemptor of any notable vertue , or a desire of any vertuous note . it is a milde tutor , to teach as vvell how to gouerne as how to serue ; for he who can serue aduersitie with meekenesse , can guide prosperitie with discretion . hee who is a prisoner , hath herein great cause to finde his friend , for such as are ingaged in a promise of loue , that loues not the person for his fortune , will shew likewise that they feare not his misfortune , because they loue his person . the saying is old , and verified in this age of the vvorld , that a man may haue many friends and yet little friendship : but here a man shall soone be taught to distinguish the difference betvveene friendship and friends , although it is not to be vrged that therefore it is fit that euery one who vvould know truely his friends , should make himselfe , or bee made a prisoner ; but that euery one beeing a prisoner should then haue fit time to know how hee is esteemed . imprisonment is not of such vertue in it selfe that men should seeke to be prisoners , thereby to be happy , but being by casualtie enforced vpon any , the vse thereof may be so happy , that hee who is imprisoned may not think himselfe miserable . euen as hee who being followed by the memory of some euill act , though he haue his body at libertie , yet is still imprisoned in the guilt of his 〈◊〉 so hee that reformeth the crookednesse of his condition , by the imitation of goodness , though his body be imprisoned , hath by the selfe-same reason the freedome of the minde . imprisonment is a gentle sickenesse , not to kill , but to chasten the patient : and as men naturally proud may be humbled , but will neuer be humble , so men of a meeke condition may be launced for the recouery of health , but not wounded to the hastening of death : which a wise and noble man , well fore-casting , may arme himselfe against reputed miseries , and amongst them all , against this one of imprisonment , that whensoeuer it should come to him , it should come to him rather to exercise then to ouerthrow him . finally , amongst such men , whose reason is ouerswayed by nature , death is reckoned for a misery , and is to them a misery indeed , but to others guided by the refined light of iudgement : it is esteemed ( as it is ) the onely remedie and securest ease against misery . death to a wiseman cannot come vnlooked for , nor to a good man vnwisht for : since the wise , knowing that they must die , know likewise that resolution is the best comfort to welcome death , and the good being confident of their owne innocencies , desire the change of a better life . he that will ouercome affliction by sufferance , beare calamitie with courage , weary out feare with hope , let him be resolute , that the worst of trials is death ; and for that be armed whensoeuer it shall come , and be ready to imbrace it . if a noble or a wise man after disfauour of his prince , neglect of his countrey , forfeiture of his estate , banishment from his friends , imprisonment of his person , or any other esteemed extreames bee threatned , with the losse of his head , or execution in any manner , certainely hee hath great cause to reioyce ; for he is not worthy to see any end of his sorrowes , who is not prepared to meet it with a merry heart . the end of all sorrowes is death , if the party to die be truely reconciled to his god and to his conscience . the old poets did fitly faine death to be the childe of the night , and sleepe to be the sister of death ; wisely including , that as night and sleepe wrap vp all in stilnesse , so should death more perfectly finish the course of euils , by burying them in a graue , neuer to arise . and no doubt , but heerein death and night haue much affinitie , that as the night is fearefull , because darke ; but sweet , because giuing rest : so is death in his shaddowe ( which is the night of opinion ) before it , comes full of horrour , but in substance ( which is the quickening to a better life ) when it comes , full of ioyes . it may be here obiected , that to die for some supposed offence by an enforced death , is scandalous , and therefore miserable . but it may be answered , that such an obiection betokens but the feare of frailty . for if it be examined , we must consesse that the houre of death ●…uen to them that most ●…oke for and desire it , is ●…ncertaine , and they cannot be so prouided at an ●…stant as others that ●…now the instant when they are to suffer . heerein men destined 〈◊〉 death for some offence , ●…re ( as it may seeme ) ●…ore happy in their end , ●…hen they are vnhappy in their disorder of liuing ●…hat hath brought them 〈◊〉 that end . men , appointed to die , knowing the time certain , haue reason , and no doubt , doe accordingly fit themselues to forsake and cast off all those parts and thoughts that might make them mortall , then others who onely dreame of a dying time , but not resoluing that they draw neerer to the time , are many times suddenly taken in the fulnesse of their filthinesse , and in the high tide of acting vnlawfull pleasures or abuses : and here surely betweene the manner of dying , the last is most fearefull , since the former , knowing the minute in which they are to depart from the world , doe by the stroake of iustice enioy that benefit which wise and good men doe in mercy sigh and hope for . death is a happy hauen , and men shipwrackt in the sea of this earth cannot but couet it : it is a safe inne , and men poasting in the iourneyes of wearinesse , cannot but seeke it : it is a path to blessednesse , and such as are good will finde it : it is a banquet of all goodnes , and such as be blessed haue found it . hee is vnworthy to liue that is not worthy inough to dye , and hee is not vnworthy to dye that hath liued worthily . the woman that demaunded of iupiter that hee would giue to her two sonnes the greatest happinesse that could bee bestowed from heauen on men , had the same night her sonnes both dead , as if the greatest humane felicitie were to bee freed from beeing humane . to conclude ( for something hath beene said of this before ) he which will wisely and nobly practise the obseruation of the golden meane , and shew the greatnesse of vertue in extreames , must keepe truce with his passions , & prepare his courage with this resolution , that misery is no misery ; for that is onely a misery which is lasting , and thought so : and reputed misery is not lasting , because death out vveares it ; is not thought so because death vvill finish it : in the resoluing on the one wisedome will proue a noble minde , in the other noblenesse will patterne out a wiseman : for moderation in extreames make perfect both . in the view of vvhat hath beene said , vnder the titles of a wise and a noble man , are comprehended all men , of all degrees and fortunes , whose vertues doe make them wise ; as their wisedome doth make them noble . for vvisedome consisteth not onely in gray heads , but in a steady prouidence hovv to doe , and noblenesse consisteth not onely in an honorable race ; but in a prudent resolution what to doe . wisedome informes the minde , and noblenesse commends the actions ; in somuch as euery one who can act wisely , and deliberate nobly , squaring his resolution to resolue steaddinesse in both fortunes , may of merrit be inrolled amongst the memorable : and bee remembred by the desertfull to bee truely wise because noble : to bee perfectly noble because wise . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a07373-e140 sixe miseries that may befall a noble man. 1 disfauor . priuie malice 1. cause of disfauour . selfe-vnworthynes , 2. cause of disfauour . enuy the 3. cause of disfauour . the princes inconstancy , the last cause of disfauour . quinquennium neronis . of neglect . forfeiture of estate . of banishment . lipsius . of death . a moral paradox maintaining, that it is much easier to be vertuous then vitious / by sir george mackeinzie. mackenzie, george, sir, 1636-1691. 1667 approx. 76 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 43 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; 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(eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a50672) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 93165) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 696:29) a moral paradox maintaining, that it is much easier to be vertuous then vitious / by sir george mackeinzie. mackenzie, george, sir, 1636-1691. 87, 30 p. printed for robert broun ..., edinburgh : 1667. imperfect: 30 p. at end lacking in filmed copy. reproduction of original in union theological seminary library, new york. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng virtue. 2004-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-03 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-04 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2004-04 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-07 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a moral paradox : maintaining , that it is much easier to be vertuous then vitious . by sir george mackeinzie . jer . 9. 5. — they weary themselves to commit iniquity . edinburgh , printed for robert broun , and are to be sold at his shop , at the sign of the sun , on the north side of the street , a little above the cross , anno dom. 1667. to sir robert murray , one of the honourable members of the royal society . sir , though i cannot but with much thankfulness resent your favours ( wherein ye did both prevent , and out-do my wishes ) yet it were a disparagement to them , that i should look upon my self as your debtor for them , seing ye bestowed them so freely , that they appeared gifts , not obligations . and so in this dedication , i design to pay , not them , but my respects . neither intend i by it , to recommend you to posterity , for in that i would disoblige fame , which hath resolved , by speaking truth of you , to repair and atton its former guilt , in having so oft ly'd of others . but , sir , i have chose you to be the patron of this book , because your practice is the strongest argument , whereby i can evince what is undertaken in it , which is to prove , that there is more ease in vertue then in vice. and seing to undertake the proof of this , were the next crime to the doubting of it : and since your worthiness , and my esteem of it , are much rais'd above the frail helps of complement , or a wearying dedication , let me assure you , and the world of both , by the innocent vanity i take in the title of your sincere friend , and humble servant , geo. mackenzie . it is easier to be vertuous then vitious . as these spyes deserved ill of the israelitish camp , who having inflamed their breasts with desires of conquering canaan , by presenting them of it's vines , whose each cluster was a vintage , and each grape a bottle ; did thereafter , by a cruel paricide , destroy these same inclinations which they had begot , by telling those their hopeful brethren , that the countrey was as unconquerable , as pleasant ; and that it's men were giants , as well as it's fruits . so by the same measures we have reason to fear , that these divines & moralists , are unhappy guides to us poor mortals , who after they have edged our inclinations for vertue , as the most satisfying of all objects , do thereafter assure us , that it is attended with as much difficulty , as it is furnisht with pleasure : and that like some coy lady , it possesses charms , not to satisfie , but to exact our longings . this infortunat error hath in all probability , sprung either from the vanity of these bastard philosophers , who having cheated the people into an esteem for themselves , as vertuous , resolved by a second artifice , to highten that esteem , by perswading these their admirers , that vertue was a work of as much difficulty , as it met with praise . or else from the zeal of some preachers , who , to make us antedate our repentance , resolved to perswade us , that faith and these other spiritual vertues , could not but be hardly attainable ( as certainly they are ) when moral vertue , which is a lower story of perfection , was of so difficult an ascent . or ( which is yet most probable ) our laziness , and vitious habits being called to an account for these misfortunes , which they occasion , have run themselves under the protection of this defence , that vertue is most difficult and uneasie , and is destitute of both pleasure and advantage : by which conceit , many are diswaded in this age , from undertaking a resolution of being vertuous , though otherwise they much honour it ; and wickedness is not only furnish'd by this , with an excuse to detain such as it hath already overtaken , but with charmes to intangle these who are yet stated in an indifferency for either . and though the heat of zeal in preachers , should not be too much disproved in this age , where in the coldnesse of their hearers charity , needs those warmer influences , and though they may be allow'd to bend our crooked humours to the contrary side of what they incline to , of design to bring them to a desired straightness . yet if we consider that infallible theology delivered by our saviour , we may find , that he invited his disciples , by assuring them , that his yoke was easie , and his burden very light , and by upbraiding them , for wearying themselves with their sins , and for troubling themselves about many things . and since the former artifice , hath either by being too familiarly preached , lost its operation , with such as love curiosity , or by being too severely prest , discouraged too much these who love too well their own flesh and blood , to welcome any doctrine that stands so opposite to it : i wish these same preachers would now endeavour to reclaim mankind , by assuring them , that vertue is much easier , and much more advantagious then vice. imitating in this their great master , who , after his disciples had wearied themselves with catching no fish all the night over , did , by perswading them to throw out their nets upon the other side of their boat , put them upon the way of catching more at one draught , then they had catcht in their former whole nights fishing . but leaving ( with much resignation ) my ghostly fathers to manage the course of our devotion , as their knowledge and piety shall judge most fit ; i shall endeavour to clear from reason and experience , that moral vertue is of lesse fatigue , and suits better with our natural inclinations , then vice , or passion doth . and although i fail in an undertaking which is too noble an enterprize , to receive its accomplishments from so weak a hand , yet if i shall excite others , out of pity to me , or glory because of the subject , to defend what i could not , or to love that vertue which i recommend , i shall rest satisfied with a return , which because it will be above my merit , i have already placed above my expectation ; and so i may meet with a foil , but cannot with a disappointment . all creaturs design ease , and for this , not only bruits do toil , but inanimat things likewise show ; for it so much of inclination , that they will destroy all intermediat objects , that hinders them from joyning to their center , to which they have no other tendency , but because there they find that ease , which is desired by their nature : and because all things find ease in it , therefore all things flee thither , as to the loveliest of all stations . and that happiness consists in ease , is clear from this , that either we want that we need as the accomplishment of our nature , and then nature most move towards the acquisition of what it wants ; or else we want nothing , and then nature will enjoy it self without any further motion , nam natura nihil agit frustra ; and it were most frustraneous for nature , to seek what it wants not : from which we may conclude , when we see any creature restlesse , and in motion , that certainly it either wants something to which it moves , or is opprest by a surcharge of somewhat , from which it flies . this hath made philososophers conclude , that all motion tends to some rest ; lawiers , that all debates respect some decision ; statesmen , that all war is made in order to peace ; physitians , that all fermentation and boiling of the blood or humours , betokens some dissatisfaction in the part affected ; ( and to show how much happinesse they place in ease , they term all sickness diseases ) which imports nothing more , then the absence of ease , that happiest of states , and root of all perfections ; and that divinity may sing a part in this requiem , scripture tells us , that god hallowed the seventh day , because upon it he rested from his creation , and that heaven is called an eternal sabbath , because there we shall find ease from all our labours , there god is said , when well pleas'd , to have savour'd a sweet savour of rest , and he recommends his own gospel as a burthen that is easie . that then wherewith i shall task my self in this discourse , shall be to prove , that vertue is more easie then vice. for clearing whereof , consider , that all men who design either honour , riches , or to live happily in the world , do either intend to be vertuous or at least pretend it ; these who resolve to destroy the liberties of the people , will stile themselves keepers of their liberties ; and such as laugh at all religion , will have themselves beleeved to be reformers ; and of these two , the pretenders have the difficultest part , for they must not only be at all that pains , which is requisit in being vertuous , but they must superadde to these , all the troubles that dissimulation requires , which certainly is a new and greater task then the other ; and not only so , but these most over act vertue , upon design to take off that jealousie , which because they are conscious to themselves to deserve , they therefore vex themselves to remove : moses the first , and amongst the best of the reformers , was the meikest man upon the face of the earth ; but iehu who was but a counterfit zelot , drove furiously , and called up the by-standers to see , what else he knew they had reason not to beleeve ; and the justest of all israels chair-men , took not so much pains to execut justice , as absolon , who is said to have staid as long in the gates of ierusalem , as the sun stay'd above them , informing himself of all persons and affairs , though with as little design to redresse their wrongs , as he shewd much inclination to know them ; and all this , that the people might be gained to be the instruments of his unnatural rebellion ; and such is the laboriousnesse of these seeming coppiers of vertue , that in our ordinar conversation , we are still jealous of such as are too studious to appear vertuous , though we have no other reason to doubt their sincerity , but what arrises from their too great pains , from which we may conclude , that these who intend to be vertuous , have a much easier task then these pretenders have , because they have not their own conscience , nor the jealousness of others to wrestle against ; and which is yet worse , these want that habit of vertue , which renders all the pains of such as are really vertuous easie to them , and what is more difficult , then for these to act against customs , which time renders a second nature ; and which , as shall be said hereafter , is so prevalent , as to facilitat to vertuous persons the hardest part of what vertue commands : besides this , these dissemblers have a difficult part to act , seing they act against their own inclinations , which is to offer violence to nature , and the working not only without the help of that strongest of all seconds , but the toiling against it , and all the assistance it can give : which how great a torment it proves , appears from this , that such as have as much generosity , as may intitle them to the name of man , will rather wearie out the rage of torture , then injure their own inclinations . i imagine that haman was much distrest , by being put to lead mordecai's horse in complyance with his masters commands ; and one who is obliged by that interest , which makes him dissemble to counterfit a kindness for one whom he hates , or emit an applause of what he undervalues , is certainly by that necessity more cruciat by a thousand stages , then such as intend upon a vertuous account to love the person , and really to praise that in him , which they are forc'd to commend ; which is so far from being a torment , when it is truly vertuous , that that real love makes him who has it , hungry of an occasion to shew it , and to pursue all means for hightning that applause , which torments the other consider what difficulty we find in going one way , whil'st we look another , and with what hazard of stumbling that attempt is attended , and ye will find both much difficulty and hazard to wait on dissimulation , wherein we are tyed to a double task , for we must do what we intend , because of our inclinations , and what we pretend , because of our professions ; and if we fail in either , which is more probable , then where simplicity only is profest , ( two tasks being difficulter then one , ) then the world laughs at us , for failing in what we propos'd : and we fret at our selves , for failing in what was privatly design'd ; and not only does dissimulation tye us to a double , but it obliges us to two contrary tasks , for we needed not dissemble , if what we intend , be not contrary to what we pretend ; and thus men in dissimulation do but ( like penelope , ) undoe in the night , what they were forc'd to do in the day time . dissimulation makes vice likewise the more difficult , in that dissemblers are never able to recover the losse they sustain by one escape , for if they be catcht in their dissimulation , or dogg'd out to be impostors ( which they cannot misse , but by a more watchful attendance , then any that vertue requires ) then they of all persons are most hated , not only by these whom they intended to cheat , but by all others , though inconcerned in the crime , and both the one and the other do yet hate it , as what striks at the root of all humane society : and for this cause , murther under trust , is accounted so impious and sacrilegious a breach of friendship , that lawiers have hightned its punishment , from that of ordinar murther , to that of treason ; and the grossest of politicians have confest this dissimulation to be so horrid a crime , that it was not to be committed for a lesse hire then that of a kingdom : whereas vertuous persons have their escapes , oftner pitied then punished , both because these escapes are imputed to no abiding habit , and because it is not to be feared that they will offend for the future , seing what they last failed in , was not the effect of any innate and permanent quality , but was a transient and designless frailty . dissimulation is from this likewise more painful then the vertue which it emulats , that the dissembler is oblidged not only so to dissemble , as that these whom he intends to cheat , may believe him serious ; but so likewise , as that others may understand that he is not serious : thus i have my self seen a gentleman , who dissembled a love and fondness for one whom he was oblidged to perswade that she was his mistriss , act so ccovertly that perfidious part , that his real mistriss , was really jealous that he dissembled with her , and not with the other : and to remove this , put the gallant to as much new pains as his former cheat had cost him . and i have heard of the like accidents , though in different actions ; as of a rebel , who counterfeited loyalty so , that his complices did really distrust his fixedness to these damn'd principles which he still retained . and in ordinary conversation ye will often find , that in dissembling with the one party , ye lose still the other ; and it is impossible to regain them who are so lost , but by a shamefull discovery of the former cheat : and after all that losse , this doubt is still left , how can i know but this man dissembles with me , who is so exquisite in that art , as even to have made me jealous , that his dissimulation was not counterfeit ? let us a little consider how few instruments vertue requires , and we will find it easie to be vertuous : it requires no arms , exchequer , guards , nor garrison ; it is all these to it self , in every sense wherein it needs them : whereas vice is a burden to its votaries , as well in the abundance of those attendants which it requires , as in the difficulty of those attainments which it proposes . and this is that happy topick , from which our wise saviour reproved martha , when he told her , that she wearied her self about many things , whereas there was one thing necessary . by which , seing he commended devotion , i may well press from it the excellency of moral vertue . the ambitious man is obliged to have his house planted with a wood of partizans , as well to secure that condition which so many envy and rival , as to magnifie himself by so unequall'd attendance . this desire to command , made hannibal force a passage through the rocky alps ; cesar to commit himself to the mercy of a stormy sea , and so many weary journeys . this obliged xerxes to entertain vast navies . and darius such armies , as reduced all mankind into one incorporation . and so much doth ambition tie its dependers , to depend upon such numbers , that though that armies of laquays which attend them , signifies no more then so many following ciphers ; yet the substracting of any one of these , doth by so much lessen the value of what they follow . doth not pride require flatterers ? and these flatterers salaries , and the provision of these salaries , much pains and anxietie ? doth it not require precedency , a suitable estate and applause ? and are not these inattainable , without more toil and fatigue , then any thing that vertue enjoynes ? covetousness requires assiduous drudgery , and mines as bottomless as the desires which craves them : it craves every thing which others have , and every thing which it self can imagine . luxury seeks only after what is unusual , and what is rare . it must in apicius , crave food from the indies , fetcht to rome , in heliogablus fishes when far from the sea , and more for one belly , then might enrich thousands of nobler creatures . lust requires plurality of women , abundance of strength , numbers of pimps , and much money . whereas vertue craves only what is fit , and perswades us to believe that only to be fit , which is absolutely necessary ▪ cato's table is compleatly furnished with one dish , and his body with one vesture . huic aepulae vicisse famem . and the philosopher going by well and rich furnish'd shops , could cry out with pleasure , oh! how many things are there , of which i stand not in need ? not only are these many instruments troublesome , because they are superfluous , but likewise , because by their number they add to these natural necessities , under which even vertuous men are weighted , as long as they are men . these who have so numerous families , cannot remove when their necessity calls them , but they must expect till their retinue be ready , and when these are prepared , it is no easie clogg to draw so many after them ; or when any misfortune overtakes any of these many , they must suffer in these , as oft as each of these suffers in themselves ; and their miseries are augmented by every new increment that is added to their fortunes . a great treasure is not only an incitement to make its master be assaulted , or betrayed , but is likewise uneasie to be transported : and cresus many baggs are overtaken , when moneyless solon escapes with safety . i shall then conclude , that vertue is easier then vice , because it requires fewer instruments . cause it cannot find them at home . covetousnesse must scorch in the indies its suiters ; it must freez them in nova zembla ; it terrifies them at sea , and shipwracks them upon the shore . whilst vertue recommends to us , to seek our happiness in no forraign pleasures : and diogenes finds without danger in his tubb , what these sailers pursue in their dangerous bottoms . but vice might plead it self less guilty , if its designs were only difficult , but difficulty is not all , for vice either requires what is impossible , or what by not being bounded , may very easily become so . covetousness makes nothing enough , and proposes not only what may satisfie , but what may be acquired . ambition likewise will have every man to be highest , which is impossible , because there cannot be many highests ; and the first attainer leaves nothing to his implacable rivals , but the impatience of being disappointed , which not only disquiets their present ease , but begets in them projects of attaquing him by whom they conceive themselves vanquisht . and these designs being formed , by persons whose judgements is much disordered by interest ( which like fir'd powder , flees out , not alwayes where it should , but where it may ) and against persons already secured , by power , fame , law , and other advantages , they ripen into no other issue , then a last ruine to these , who were so foolish , as not to satisfie their present humour with their present fortune . philosophers have divided all vices into these , which consist in excess , and these which imply a defect , the one shooting as far over the mark as the other comes short of it ; and if we compare vertue with either of these , we will find it more easie then either , for as to these which over-reach vertue , they must be as much more uneasie then it , as they exceed it ; for having all in them which that vertue possesses which they exceed , they must require either in acquisition or maintenance , all the pains that the exceeded vertue exacts . thus prodigality requires all the spending , and pains that liberality needs , and running equally with it all it's length ; it begins to require more pains and travel where it out-shoots the other , and thus prodigality bestowes not only enough as liberality does , but it lavishes out more then is fit , taking for the standard of it's bounty , all that it hath to bestow , and not either what it self can spare , or what it's object needs : jealousie pains it self more , then true love , with all those extravagancies , which are so unsufferable to the party loved , and so disquieting to the lover himself , that physitians have accounted this a disease , and the law hath made it a crime . as to these vices , which by being placed in defect , seem to require as much lesse trouble then the vice they fall short of , as the others require more , because of their excess ; yet so uneasie is vice , that even these though they exceed not vertue in their measures , do yet exceed it in their toil : for nature designs accomplishment in all it's productions , and therefore frets , and is disquieted at these immature effects ; and is as much more wounded by these , then by vertuous productions , as the grafts are by being spoiled of their greener fruits , or as a women is by her too early birth . we see a miser more cruciat by his scanting penuriousnesse , then a noble person by his generous liberality , for these are oblieged to keep themselves out of these occasions of spending ( a task great enough ▪ because all men endeavour , both out of envy , and out of humour and sport , to draw them unto these snares ) and when they are within their own circle , they are forced by that restlesse vice , to descend to thousand of tricks , which are as wearieing , as unhandsome . i have seen some so careful of their estates , that they brook'd better to have their names and souls burden'd then these , and to preserve which they were at more trouble then any can have the faith to beleeve , besides these who had the humour to do so : if to hold or draw with our full force be a trouble , both these are the posturs of covetousnesse , where-with it is kept upon constant guard , and in continual employment ; and if at any time they remit any thing of that anxiety , they repine at their own negligence , and imagine that they lost as much as they hoped once to have gain'd . fear is the defect of courage , but yet it is more uneasie then courage , and really this alone has more uneasienesse , then all the fraterny of vertues , for vertue is at worst bussied about , what is ; but fear bogls at what is not , equally with what is . vice likewise is therefore lesse easie then vertue , because it proposes only an aime , which is fixt and stable , whil'st vice and fancy leavs us to an indetermination , that is uneasie as well as dangerous , when it hath prest us , to make armies fall as sacrificed to the idol of our ambition , and for humouring of that passion , to bring cities as well as men level with the ground : then it will in the next thought perswade us , even to laugh at our ambition , and to exchange it for love to a mistriss or companionrie as it once serv'd the otherwise great alexander . as vertue makes good neighbours , so all the vertues are ●o far such amongst themselves , that not only they interfeer not with one another , but the exercise likewise of the one , facilitats the practice of the others ; thus whilst we practice temperance , we learn to be just , because temperance is the just measure of enjoying , and using all contingents ; and we learn by it to be patient , patience being a temperance in grief , sorrow or affliction : patience is likewise the exercise of fortitude , and fortitude is a just proportion of courage , and a temperat exercise of boldnesse . and this occasion'd the philosophers to terme this noble alliance , the golden chain of vertue , each being linkt with , and depending upon it's fellow . but if we turn the prospect , we will find that though dissention be a special vice so character'd , yet all vices , have somewhat of that ill natur'd humour in them ; and agree in nothing , besides that each of them disagree with each other , which makes the practice of them both tedious and disagreeable , for all of them consisting , the one in excess , the other in defect ; they cannot but disagree , excess and defect being in themselves most contrary : thus prodigality opposes avarice , cowardlieness courage , and fondnesse hatred ; and as vertuous persons have a kindness for one another , because the object of their love requires , as well as admitts rivals , so vice endeavouring to engrosse what it pursues , makes rivals altogether unsupportable . ambition pouses on each of it's dependers to be chiefe , and yet allows only one of these many to enjoy , what it makes all of them desire . thus avaric's task is to impropriat the possession of what was created , and is necessary to be distribute amongst many thousands : and envy will not only have its master to be full of applause , but will likewise starve the desires , and merits of others , judging that it self cannot be happy if others be . vice then must be less easie then vertue , because it hath moe enemies then vertue ; and because the vertues are more harmonious amongst themselves , then vices are . vices not only make enemies to themselves , but by a civil war ( as a just judgement upon them ) they destroy one another , providence intending thereby , to hinder the growth of what , though it prosper not well , yet is already too noxious to mankind ; and upon the same principle of kindness to what bears his image , god almighty , and his providence , do design the unsuccesfulness of vice , as being obstructive of his glory , as well as destructive to his creatures , being equally thereto engaged , by a love to his own honour and service , and by a hatred as well to these who commit vice , as to the vice which is committed . thus god confounded those tongues who had spoke so much blasphemy against him , whilst they were endeavouring to raise a tower as high as their sins . and when david intended to spill nabals blood , god is said to have stopt him from being an unjust executioner , whom he intended to make a most just judge . and since balaams asse opened its mouth to speak this truth , they must be more stupid then asses , who will not believe it . the law likewise by its punishments , contributes all its endeavours to crush vice , and to arrest its success , forbidding by its edicts , any person to assist it , and making not only assistance , but counsel ; not only counsel , but connivance ; not only connivance , but concealment of it , to be in most cases so criminal , that all the honours which vice promiseth , or the treasures it gives , cannot be able to redeem those who are found to have slighted this prohibition . must it not then be difficult to be vitious ? where assistants and counsellours are so over-aw'd , and the intenders so terrified , that few will ingage as instruments ? and these who do , are so disordered by fear , that vitious projecctors are as little to expect success , as vertuous persons are to wish it for them . and to evidence how much opposition the law intends for vice , it not only punishes vice with what it presently inflicts , but it presumes it still guilty for the future , semel malus , semper praesumitur malus ; and upon that prsumption many vitious persons have suffered for that whereof they were otherwayes innocent . though rebellion hath promising charms , to allure the idolaters of ambition and fame , yet the law doth so far stand against it , that few will concur with the contrivers , except such fools as have not the wit to promote it , or some desperat persons , with whom few will joyn , because they are known to be discontent , & though revenge relishes blood with a pleasing smack ; yet the severity of excellent laws cools much of that inhumane heat , and lessens the pleasure , by sharpening the punishment . vice then must be uneasie , seing the law opposes it , and renders its commission dangerous , as well as odious . men likewise joyn with god and the law in a confederacy against vice , and though they too oft approve it in the warmnesse and disorder of their passions ; yet in their professions and conventions they laugh at it , and inveigh against it ; and though the pressure of a present temptation , overcomes them so far as to commit what they dissallow , yet they do it but infrequently and with so many cheks from within , as that it's commission cannot be thought easie : consider , how amongst men , we hate even these vices in others , which we are guilty of our selves , and how we even hate these vices in others , by which we our selves reap no small advantage . alexander gloried to destroy that base person , who had murthered his greatest enemy darius ; and david is commended , for having caused kill him , who but said , that he had killed saul ; who will employ one who is perfidious ? and so uneasie is vice , that much pains and discourse will not perswade us to beleeve one who uses to lye , whil'st we will soon beleeve what is really a lye from one who uses not to abuse our trust ; few judges are so pointedly just , as not to think that they may favour a vertuous person ; good men do likewise reward such as own an interest so allowable , and wicked men own such as are vertuous out of design , thereby to expiat their former vice , and to perswade the world , that they are not really vitious , though they be esteemed so : so that seing reward as well as inclination , and just men as well as injust advance vertue , and oppose vice , vice cannot be but be more uneasie then vertue , which is all is to be proven . i am from reflecting upon the progress and growth of vice , convinc'd very much of it's uneasieness ; if we look upon rebellion , revenge or adulteries , we will find them hatcht in corners as remot from commerce as those vices are themselves from vertue , and as black as the guilt of their contrivers , and almost as terrifying as the worst of prisons are to such who are but in any measure vertuous ; none of the contrivers dares trust his colleague , and which is yet worse , none of them hath courage enough to reflect upon what he is to do ; he most be too ill to be successfull who is so desperatly wicked , as not to tremble at the wickednesse he projects , and these blushings which adorn the face , when they are the motions of modesty , become stains and blemishes , when they are sent there by fear , or a troubl'd conscience ; and it is very pretty to observe with how much art and pains , such as are guilty of vice , endeavour to shun all discourses , that can renew to them the least reflection upon their former failings , and how they most often times disobliege their own envy and malice , in not daring to vent or reproach others with that guilt , which might be easily retorted ; and thus vitious men have as many masters , as their vices have witnesses : and though they are bold enough to commit vice , yet they often times want the courage to own it ; and servants , if conscious to these crimes , become thereby necessar to their masters , nor do wicked and vitious persons fear only such as do , but ( which is more extensive ) such as may know their vices , and tremble at 't is memory , as if the sun or moon would divulge their secrets , and by accident they have oft confest crimes upon mistakes , and have made apologies for that whereof they were not accus'd , which hath made the confessors to be laught at for their error , as well as hated for their crimes . another argument to inforce that vertue is more easie then vice , is , that seing nature is the spring of all operations , certainly that must be most easie , which is most natural ; and when we would expresse any thing to be easie to a person or nation , we say , it is natural to them , and miracles are uneasie and difficult , because they run the counter-tract of nature , being either above , against or beside it's assistance : but so it is that vertue is a more natural operation then vice , both because it lesse infests nature then vice does , and because nature discovers more of a bent to act vertuously then vitiously , which are the only two senses in which any thing is said to be natural . that vertue of these two prejudges nature least , is clear from this , that sobriety cherisheth it , when it is run down by intemperance , murder kills it , gluttony choaks it , and jealousie keeps it not alive but to torment it ; and generally when ever nature is distrest , it flyes to vertue , either for protection , as to courage , justice and clemency , or for recovery , as to temperance , industry and chastity : few gray hairs owe their whitenesse , except to that innocence whose livery it is , rapine , oppression , and these other vices , hightening their insolence against man , to that point , that he must serve them in being his own burrior , to be commended for nothing else , save that they rid the world of such who came only to it , to deface that glorious fabrick , whereof the almighty resented so the pleasure of having created it , that he appointed a day of each seven to celebrat its festivals . are not some sins said to be sins against our own bodies ? not because all are not so in some measure , but because some are so in so eminent a measure , that the apostle , who knew much of all mens inclinations , thought that there being so much such , was enough to restrain such persons from committing them , as were yet so wicked , as not to obey a saviour who died for them . and why is it that laws are so severe against vice ? but because it destroys and corrupts the members of the common-wealth ? i have oft , notwithstanding of the precepts of stoicisme , which forbids me to be so effeminat , as to pity any thing , and notwithstanding of the principles of justice , which forbids me to pity persons who are flagitious , yet been driven to that excess of compassion for the state of vitious persons , that i have no more remembred even the wrongs that they have done me , to see the pox wear out a face which had been so oft fairded , and the gout felter feet , that as the psalmist says , were swift to do ill , are but too ordinary encounters to excite compassion : but to see the wheel fatned with the marrow of tortured miscreants , and the rack pull to pieces these receptacles of vice , are great instances how great an enemy vice is to nature ; under whose ill conduct , and for whose errors it suffers torments , which are much sooner felt then exprest . since then nature is so oppos'd by vice , it cannot be it self so unwise in the meanest of these many degrees which we ascribe to many creatures whom it makes wise , if it disposed not mankind to entertain an aversion for vice , which is so much its enemy . shall the sheep , the silliest of all animals , or the earth , the dullest of all the elements , flee from its oppressors ? and shall nature , which should be wiser then these , because it bestowes these inclinations upon them , which makes them pass for wise , be so imprudent , as not to mould men so , as to incline them to hate vice , which so much hurts it ? is there any vice committed , to which we may not find another impulsive cause then nature ? and are not most vices either committed by custome , by being mistaken for good , by interest , or inadvertence , as shall be shewed in the close of this discourse ? and seing nature designs to do nothing in vain , it is not imaginable that it should prompt us to vice , wherein nothing but vanity can be expected , or from which nothing else can be reapt . these who are so injurious to nature ( because it appears nature hath been less liberal to them , of understanding , then to others ) as to fasten this reproach upon it , of inclining men to vice , do contradict themselves , when they say that nature is satisfied with little , and desires nothing that is superfluous ; whereas all these vices which consist in excess , do stretch themselves to superfluity ; whilst upon the other side , these vices which consist in defect , are yet as unnatural , because in these the committers deny themselves what is necessary for them , and so are most unnatural : nature desiring to see every thing accomplish'd in its just proportions , and satisfied in its just desires . all vices have their own peculiar diseases , to which they inevitably lead ; envy brings men to a leanness , as if it were fed with its masters flesh , as well as with its enemies failings ; lust the pox and consumptions ; drunkenness catarhes and gouts , and rage , feavers and phrensies ; which is a demonstration of their uneasiness , and incommodiousness : and i might almost say , that those vices are like frogs , lice , and other despicable and terrible insects , generated and kneaded out of excrementious humors ; lust is occasioned by the superfluity and heat of the blood ; drunkenness by a dryness of the vessels ; and rage by the corruption and exuberancy of choler . consider how much the grimaces of anger disfigures the sweetest face , how much rage discomposes our discourse , and by these and its other postures , ye will find vice an enemy to nature : so that in all these , nature labours under some distemper , and is distrest in its operations , and acts them not out of choice , but as sick men rise to hunt for what their physitians deny them . and from all this it follows , that vice is neither natural in its productions , nor in its tendencies , not being designed by nature in the one , nor designing to preserve nature in the other . i confesse there is a rank of vertues , which are supernatural , such as faith , hope and repentance , but either there could be no contradistinction of these from such as i treat of , else these of which i hear speak , must be natural ; to deny our selves , if we will follow christ ; and that flesh and blood did not teach peter , to emit that noble confession of christs being the son of the eternal god , proves that some spiritual truths , are above the reach of reason , yet with relation to those other moral vertues , that same inspired volumne assures us , that the gentiles , who have no law , do by nature the things contained in the law , these not having the law , are a law unto themselves , which shew the work of the law written in their hearts , the conscience also bearing witnesse , and their thoughts in the mean time accusing , or else excusing one another ; and elsewhere the wicked are said to be without natural affection , are not all sins even in the dialect of philosophers and law-givers , as well as in the language of canaan termed unnatural ? what is paricide , ingratitude , oppression , lying &c. but the subversion of these lawes , whereof our own hearts are the tables ? doth not nature , by giving us tongues to express our thoughts , teach us , that to disguise our thoughts , or to contradict them , is to be unnatural : and seing the not acknowledgement of favours , obstructs the future relief of our necessities , it must be as unnatural to be ungrate , as it is natural to provide supplies for our craving wants . i will not fully exhaust the miseries that wait upon vice , by telling you , that no man who is really vitious , sinneth without reluctancy in the commission ; but i must likewise tell you , that though all the preceeding disadvantages were salv'd , yet the natural horrour which results from the commission of vice , is great enough to render it a miracle , that any man should be vitious , our conscience can condemn us without witnesses , though we bribe off all witnesses from without , or though by sophistry and art , we render their depositions insuccessful : and though remissions can secure us against all external punishments , yet the arm of that executioner cannot be stopt ; and if ye consider how men become thereby inconsolable , by the attendance of friends , and the advantage of all exterior pleasures , ye cannot but conclude that vice is to be pitied , as well as shun'd , and that this alone makes it more uneasie then vertue , whereby the greatest of misfortunes are sweetned , and outward torments , by having their prospect turned upon future praise and rewards , rendered pleasures to such as suffer them ; and are lookt upon as ornaments , by such as see them inflicted , and draw praises from succeeding ages . — hic murus ahaeneus esto . nil conscire sibi , nulla palesscere culpa . was the determination of a pagan , who could derive no happinesse from these divine promises upon which we are obliged to rely for rewards ; which though they be too great to be understood by the sons of men , yet are not so great , but that they may be expected by us , when we shall be adopted to be the sons of that god , whose power to bestow , can be equal'd by nothing , but by his desire to gratifie . after successe hath crown'd vitious designs , yet vice meets with this uneasinesse of remorse , wherein the souls of men are made to forget the pleasure of successe , and are punished for having been successful : and these will either not remember their successe , in which case they want all pleasure , or if they think upon them , that thought will lead them back to consider the guilt and basenesse to which they owe it , which will vex and fret them . vertue afflicts at most but the body , and in these pains , philosophie consols us , but vice afflicts our souls ; and the soul being more sensible then the body ( seing the body owes its sensiblenesse to it . ) certainly the torments of vice must be greatest , and this seems the reason why our saviour , in describing the torments of hell , placeth the worm which never dies , before the fire that never goeth out ; and that the rebukes of a natural conscience , are of all torments the most insupportable , appears from this , that albeit death be the most formidable of all torments ( men suffering tortures , physick , contumelies , poverty , and the sharpest of afflictions , to shun its encounter ) yet men in exchange of these , will not only welcome death , but will assume it to themselves , adding the guilt and infamy of self-murder , the confiscation of an estate , and the infamous want of burial , to the horrours of an ordinary death ; and al this to shift the present gnawings of a conscience . the horrours likewise of a guilty conscience doth in this appear most disquieting , that those who have their conscience so burden'd , do acknowledge , that after confession , they find themselves as much eased , as a sick stomack is relieved by vomiting up these humours , whose disquietnesse maks such as suffered them , rather sick persons , then patients : whereas what ever be the present troubles which ariseth from vertue , yet if they continue not , they are tolerable ; and if they continue , custome , and the assistance of philosophy will lessen their weight , and at best , the pain is to be but temporary , because the cause from which they descend is but momentany : if they be not sharp and violent , they are sufferable ; and if they be violent , they cannot last , or at least the patient cannot last long to endure them . whereas these reflections that disquiet us in vice , arising from the soul it self , cannot perish whilst that hath any being . and so the vitious soul must measure its grief by the length of eternity , though vice did let out its joys but by the length of a moment , and did not fill even the narrow dimensions of that moment , with sincere joy ; the knowledge that these were to be short lyv'd , and the fear of succeeding torment , possessing much of that little room . the first objection whose difficulty deserves an answer , is that vertue obliges us to oppose pleasurs , and to accustome our selves with such rigors , seriousnesse and patience , as cannot but render it's practice uneasie ; and if the readers own ingenuity supply not what may be rejoyn'd to this , it will require a discourse , that shall have no other design besides its satisfaction , and really to shew by what means every man may make himself easily happy , and how to soften the appearing rigours of philosophy , is a design which if i thought it not worthy of a sweeter pen , should be assisted by mine , and for which i have in my current experience gather'd together some loose reflections and observations , of whose cogency i have this assurance ; that they have often moderated the weildest of my own straying inclinations , and so might pretend to a more prevailing ascendent over such ▪ whose reason and temperament makes them much more reclaimable : but at present my answer is , that philosophy enjoyns not the crossing of our own inclinations , but in order to their accomplishment ; and it proposes pleasure as it's end , as well as vice , though for it's more fixt establishment , it sometimes commands what seems rude to such as are strangers to it's intentions in them . thus temperance resolvs to highten the pleasurs of enjoyment , by defending us against all the insults of excesse and oppressive loathing ; and when it lessens our pleasurs , it intends not to abridge them , but to make them fit and convenient for us , even as souldiers , who though they propose not wounds and starvings , yet if without these they cannot reach those lawrels , to which they climb , they will not so far disparage their own hopes , as to think they should fix them upon any thing whose acquist deserve not the suffering of these . physick cannot be called a cruel employment , because to preserve what is sound , it will cut off what is tainted ; and these vitious persons , whose laziness forms this doubt , do answer it when they endure the sicknesse of drunkennesse , the toiling of avarice , the attendance of rising vanity , and the watchings of anxiety ; and all this to satisfie inclinations , whose shortness allowes little pleasure , and whose prospect excluds all future hopes . such as disquiet themselves by anxiety ( which is a frequently repeated self murther ) are more tortour'd , then they could be by the want of what they pant after ; that long'd for possession of a neighbours estate , or of a publick employment , maks deeper impressions of grief by their absence , then their enjoyment can repair ; and a philosopher will sooner convince himself of their not being the necessar integrants of our happinesse , then the miser will by all his assiduousnesse gain them . there are but three instances of time , and in each of these , vitious persons are much troubled ; the prospect of usual insuccessefulness , difficulties or inconveniences do torment before the commission ; horrour , trembling and reluctancy do terrifie in the act , and conscience succeeds to these after commission , as the last , but not the least of these unruly torments . and as to the pleasurs of vice , it can have none in any of these parcels of time , beside the present , which present , is by many philosophers scarce allowed the name of time ; and is at best so swift , that it's pleasurs most be too transient to be possest . i confess that revenge is the most inticeing of all vices , and so much so , that a wicked italian said , that god almighty had reserv'd it to himself , because it was too noble and satisfying a prerogative to be bestowed upon mortals ; yet it discharges at once it's pleasure with it's fury , and like a bee languishes after it hath spent it's sting , and when it is once acted , which is oft in one moment , it ceaseth from that moment to be a pleasure and such as were tickled once with it , are afraid of it's remembrance , and think worse of it , then they did formerly of the affront , to expiat which , it was undertaken ; thirty pieces of silver might have had some letchery in them at iudas first touch , but they behooved to have a very unresembling effect , when he took no longer pleasure in them , then to have come the next week to offer them back : and because they were refused , to rid himself of his life and them together . the pains of vice may be conluded greater then these of vertue , from this , that vertuous persons are in their sufferings assisted by all the world , vitious persons doing so to expiat their own crimes , and vertuous persons doing the same , to reward the vertue they adore : and if these endeavours prove insuccessful , every man by bearing a share in their grief , do all they can to lessen it ; but vitious persons have their sufferings augmented by the disdain , and just opprobries thrown upon them by such as were witnesses to their vices ; and such as had any inclination for them , dare not appear to be their well-wishers , least they be repute complices of their crimes . i need not fear so much weaknesse in this my theam , as to bring up a thousand of these instances to its aid , that ly every where obvious to the least curious observation . what is more laborious then pride ? wherein by robbing from others what is due to them , the acquirers are still obliged to defend their new conquests with more vigilance , then vertue needs ? the proud man must be greater then all others , and so must toil more then they all , his task being greater then all theirs joyntly . and the jealous man must never be satisfied , till he know not only what is truth , but what he fears to be so , being most unhappy in this , that if he get assurance of what he suspects , then he is made really miserable ; or if he attain not to that assurance , he must still toil for it , and must make himself miserable by his pains , till he become really so , by being inform'd of what at one instant he wishes to be false , and endeavours to make true . revenge is most painful , both in perswading us that these are affronts , which of their own nature are no affronts , and then in bringing on us much more hazard then their satisfaction can repay : for one word spoke to us , which ( it may be ) the speaker intended as no injury , how many have by murdering the speaker , or some such rash attempt , deprived themselves of the priviledge of seeing their friends without horrour , or of coming abroad without imminent danger , skulking in dens like theeves , imprisoned for fear of prison , and dying daily to shun the death they fear . whereas socrates , by laughing at him who spat in his face , had then the pleasure to see himself at present satisfied , and did foresee the hopes of future praises . guiltinesse must search out corners , it must at all rates secure favorits , it must shun to meet with such as are conscious to its guilt , and when ever two men speak privatly in presence of such as are vitious , they perswade themselves that somewhat is there spoke to their disadvantage ; and like one who labours of a sore , they must still be carefull that their wound be not toucht . to conclude then this period , consider , that every thing that is uneasie must be unpleasant , and that vice is more uneasie then vertue , appears from the whole foregoing discourse . i hope the preceeding discourse hath cleared off all these doubts that can oppose this ( though new ) yet well founded truth , leaving only this objection here to be answered . if vice be lesse easie , and lesse natural then vertue ; why do the greater part of mankind range themselves to its side ? leaving vertue as few followers , as it professes to desire admirers ? in answer whereto , i confesse that this objection proves men to be mad , but not vice to be easie ; even as when we see men throw away their cloaths , run the fields over , and expose themselves to storms , leaving their convenient homes , and kind family : we conclude such as do so to be mad , but are not induced to believe that what they do is easie . and certainly vice is a madness , as may appear convincingly from this , that when we see others run to these excesses ( which we thought gallantry in our selves , when we were acting the like ) we ask them seriously , what , are ye mad ? and hazael , when the cruelty he was to ( and did ) commit , was foretold him by the prophet , did with admiration ask , what ? am i a dog , that i should do these things ! and the prodigal , when he freed himself from these vitious roavings , is said to have come to himself ; by which word madnesse is usually exprest : men are said to be mad , when they offer violence to their body ; and it is a more advanc'd degree of madnesse , to offer violence to our souls , which we then do ( besides the ruining of our bodies ) when we are vitious . and to such as prefer their bodies to their souls , i recommend the survey of such bodies , as have wasted themselves in stews and taverns , or have left limbs upon the field where they last quarrelled after cups , for vanity , or mistrisses . the second answer is , that men mistake ofttimes vice for vertue , and are inticed to it by an error in their judgements , rather then any depravedness in their affections . thus drunkenness recommends it self to us , under the notion of kindness ; and prodigality , under that of liberality : complacency likewise is the great pimp of much vitiousness to well disposed persons , and many are by it inticed to erre , to gratifie a mistake in their friendship , for they are perswaded that friendship and kindness are so innocent and sweet qualities , that it cannot command what is not as just as it self . custome also , as it is a second nature , so it is a step-mother to vertue , and whil'st we endeavour to shune the vice of being vain , and singular , we slip into these vices which are too familiar to be formidable , and which we would not have committed if the mode and fashion had not determin'd us thereto against our first and pure inclinations ; thus the germans beleeve drinking to be kindnesse , and the italian is by the custome of his countrey induc'd not to tremble at , but to love sodomie . we have interest likewise to blame , for much of that wickednesse , which we falsly charge upon nature : for this brib's us to oppose what naturally we would follow , but above all want of consideration , is the frequent occasion of many of these disorders , so that vertue is not postpon'd by choice , but by negligence ; neither would it be more difficult for us to be vertuous in many of our actions , then it would be for us to consider what we are about to do . and i may seal up this period with the blunt complaint made by a poor woman , who after her affection and interest had forced from her many passionat regrates against her sons debordings , concluded thus , alace ! my son will never recover , for he cannot think : therefore i must conclude , that seing it is easie to think , it must be likewise easie to be vertuous . it is indeed hard for one who is drunk to stand upright , or for one who hath his eyes cover'd with mire to see clearly ; and yet , standing upright , or seeing clearly , are not in themselves difficult tasks : just so vertue is easie in it self , though our pre-ingagement to the contrary habit , rather then to the vice it self , renders it's operations somewhat uneasie ; whereas , if we had once imbued our souls with a habit of vertue , it 's exercise would be far easier to us , then that of it 's contrary ; for it would be assisted by reason , nature , reward and applause , all which oppose the other . he who becomes temperate , finds his temperance much lesse troublesome , then the most habitual drunkard can his excess ; who can never render it so familiar , but that he will be constrain'd to make faces when he quaffs off a tedious health , and will at some times find either his quarrels , the betraying his friends secret , or his crudities to importune him . no lyar hath so much accustomed himself to that trade , but he will discover himself sometimes in his blushes , and will be oft distress'd , to shape out covers for his falseness ; whereas he who is free from the bondage of that habit , will alwayes find it so easie , that he will never hear a lie , without admiring with what confidence it could have been forg'd . whereas to know the easinesse of vertue , we need only this reflection , that every vitious person thinks it easie to conquer the vice he sees in another : he who whoors admires the uneasiness and unpleasantness of drinking ; and the drunkard laughs at the fruitless toil of ambition , which shews that vice is an easie conquest , seing the meanest persons can subdue it . though truth and newness do of all other motivs court us soonest to complacency , and that my present theme can without vanity pretend to both ; yet so studious am i of success , where i have a tenderness for the subject for which i contend , that for further conviction of it's enemies , i must recommend to them to go to the courts of monarchs , and there learn the uneasiness and unpleasantness of vice , from it's splitting those in oppositions and factions , which affoord the reasonable on-lookers as disagreeable a prospect , as that of a ship-wrackt vessel . and when faction has once dismembred a society , is it not strange to see what pains and anxiety must be shewed by both opposites , to discover and ruine each others projects ? other men toil only to make themselves happy , but those must labour likewise to keep their opposites from being so ; they must seek applause for themselves , and must stop it from their enemies ; they must shun all places where these are entertained , and all occasions which may bring them to meet though inclination or curiosity do extreamly bend them to go thither : they must oppose the friends of their enemies , though they be desirous and oblieg'd upon many other scores to do them good offices : they grow pale at their appearances , and are disordered at what praise is given those , though bestowed upon them for promoving that publick good wherein the contemners share for much of their own safety : and it is most ordinar to hear such factious zealots swear , that they would choise rather to be destroyed by a publick enemy , then preserv'd by a rival . from all which it is but too clear , that all vitious persons are slaves ; which as it is the uneasiest of states , so to shun a loss of liberty , most men refuse to be vertuous . if we go to physitians we will find their shambles hung round with the trophies of vice : for temperance , chastity or the other vertues send few thither , but wantonness repayes there it's one moments pleasure with a years cure , and makes them afraid to see that disfigured face , for whose representation they once doted upon their flattering mirrours . there lye such prisoners as the drunken gout hath fetter'd , and there lye louring such as gluttony hath opprest . let us go to prisons and scaffolds , and there we will see such furnisht out with the envoyes of injustice , malice , revenge and murders . let us go to divines , and they will tell us of the horrid exclamations of such , as have upon death-bed seen mustered before them , those sins , which how soon they had their vizards of sensuality and lust pulled off , did appear in figures monstruous enough to terrifie a soul which took leisure to consider them . juvenal hi sunt qui trepidant , & ad omnia fulgura pallent . and though the consciences of souldiers have oft-times their ears so deafned with warlike sounds or welcome applauses , that they cannot hear ; and their eyes so cover'd with their enemies gore , that they cannot see these terrifying shapes of inward revenge : yet , if we believe lucan , neither could the wrongs done to caesar so far legimate his fury , nor the present joy or future danger so far divert him from reflecting upon his by-past actions : nor could the want of christianity ( which enlivens extreamly these terrors beyond the creed of a roman , who believ'd , that gallantry was devotion ) so far favour his cruelty , but that he and his soldiers were the night of pharsalia's battle thus disturb'd ; lucan , book 7. but furious dreams disturb their restless rest ; pharsalia's fight remains in every brest ; their horrid guilt still wakes : the battel stands in all their thoughts ; they brandish empty hands , without their swords : you would have thought the field had groan'd , and that the guilty earth did yield exhaled spirits , that in the air did move , and stygian fears possest the night above . a sad revenge on them their conquest takes , their sleeps present the furies hissing snakes , and brands ; their country-mens sad ghosts appear : to each the image of his proper fear ▪ one sees an old mans visage , one a young , anothers t●rtur'd all the evening long . with his slain brothers spirit ; their fathers sight daunts some : but caesar's soul all ghosts affright . but that i may rest your thoughts from the noise and horrour of these objects , let me lead them into a philosophers cell or house ( for vertue is not like vice , confin'd to places ) and there ye will see measurs taken by no lesse noble or lesse erring pattern , then nature . his furniture is not the off-spring of the last fashion , and so he must not be at the toil , to keep spies for informing him , when the succeeding mode must cause these be pull'd down , and needs not be troubled , to fill the room yearly of that contemn'd stuffe he but lately admir'd . he is not troubl'd that anothers candlesticks are of a later mould , nor vext , that he cannot muster so many cabinets or knacks as he does . he spends no such idle time as is requisite for making great entertainments , wherein nature is opprest to please fancy , and must be by the next days physick tortur'd to cure its errors : his soul lodges cleanly , neither clouded with the vapours , nor cloy'd with the crudities of his table ; he applyes every thing to it's natural use , and so uses meat and drink not to expresse kindnesse ( friendship doing that office much better ) but to refresh , and not to occasion his weaknesse . his dreams are neither disturb'd by the horrid representation of his last days crims , nor by the too deep impressions of the next days designs , but is calm as the breast it refreshes , and pleasant as the rest it brings ; his eyes suffer no such eclipse in these , as the eyes of vitious men do , when they are darkened with drunkennesse or excessive sorrow , for all his darknesses succeed as seasonably to his recreations , as the day is followed in by the night in his cloaths , he uses not such as requires two or three hours to their laborious dressing ▪ or which over-awe the wearer so , that he must shun to go abroad to all places , or at all occasions , least he offend their lustre ; but he provides himself with such as are most easie for use , and fears not to stain these , if he keep his soul unspotted : he considers his body and organs , as the casement and servants of that reasonable soul he so much loves ; and therefore he eases them , not upon design to please them , but to refresh them , that the soul may be thereby better serv'd ; and if at any time , he deny these their satisfaction , he designs not thereby to tortoure them , for gratitude obliges him to repay better their services ( and a man should not be cruel even to his beast ) but he does so , lest they exceed these measours , whose extent vertue knowes better to mark out then they ; or else he finds that during the time he ministers to these appetites , he may be more advantagiously employ'd , in enjoying the pure and spiritual pleasurs of philosophy . but leaving this utter court , let us step into a philosophers breast ( a region as serene as the heaven whence it came ) and there view , how sweet vertue inspires gentle thoughts , whose storms raise not wrinckles like billowes in our face , and blow not away our disobliged friends . here no mutinous passion rebells with successe , and these petty insurrections of flesh and blood , serve only to magnifie the strength of reason in their defeat . here , all his desires are so satisfied with vertue as their reward , that they need , nor do not run abroad , begging pleasurs from every unkown object : and therefore it is that not placing his happinesse upon what is subject to the empire of fate , capricious fortune cannot make him miserable , for it can resume nothing ▪ but what it hath given , and therefore , seing it hath not bestowed vertue and tranquillity , it cannot call it away ; and whilst that remains all other losses are inconsiderable , and as no man is griev'd to see what is not his own destroy'd , so the vertuous philosopher , having alwayes considered , what is without him as belonging to fortune , and not to him , he sees those burnt or robb'd with a dis-interested indifference : and when all others are allarum'd with the fears of ensuing wars and invasions , he stands as fixt ( though not as hard ) as a rock , and suffers all the foaming waves of fate and malice to spend their spit and froth at his feet : vertue and the remembrance of what he hath done , and the hopes that he will still act vertuously , are all his treasures , and these are not capable of being pillag'd ; these are his inseparable companions , and therefore he can never want a divertising conversation : and seing he is a citizen of the world , all places are his country , and he is alwayes at home , and so can never be banished ; and seing he can still exercise his reason equally in all places , he is never ( like vitious persons ) vext that he must stay in one place , and cannot reach another ; like a sick man , whose disease makes him alwayes tumble through all the corners of his bed . he is never surprized , because he forecasts alwayes the worst ; and as this armes him against discontents , so if a milder event disappoint his apprehensions , this heightens his pleasure . he lives without all design , except that one of obeying his reason ; and therefore it is that he can never be miserable , seing such are only so , who are cross'd in their designs ; and thence it is , that when he hears that his actions displease the world , he is not troubled , seing he design'd not to please them and if he see others carry wealthy pretences to which he had a title , he is little troubled , seing he design'd not to be rich . the frowns or favours of c●andees alter him not , seing he neither fears the one , nor expects promotion from the other . he desires little , and so is easily happy , seing these are without contraversie happy who enjoy all they desire ; and that man puts himself in great debt , who widens his expectations by his desires : thus , he who designes to buy a neighbouring field , must straiten himself to lay up what will reach it's price , as much as if he were debtor in the like sum ; and desire leaves still an emptiness which must be filled . he finds not his breast invaded ( like such as are vitious ) by contrary passions , envy sometimes perswading , that others are more deserving , and vanity assuring that none deserves so much . his passions do not interesse him with extream concern in any thing ; and seing he loves nothing too well , he grieves at the loss of nothing too much ; joy and grief being like the contrary motions of a swing , or pendula , which must move as far ( exactly ) to the one side , as it run formerly to the other . he looks upon all mankind as sprung from one common stock with himself , and therefore is as glad to hear of other mens happiness , as others are to hear of their kindred and relations promotion . if he be advanced to be a states-man , whilst he continues so , he designes more to discharge well his present trust , then to court a higher , which double task burdens such as are vitious ; and having no private design , if the publick which he serves find out one fitter for the employment , he is well satisfied , for his design of serving the publick is thereby more promoved . and if he be preferr'd to be a judge , he looks only to the law as his square , and is not distracted betwixt the desires to be just , to please his friends , to gratifie his dependers , and to advance his private gain . the philosopher is not rais'd by his greatness above , nor deprest by his misfortunes below his natural level : for , when he is in his grandure , he considers that men come to him but as they go to fountains , not to admire it's streams ( though clear as crystal ) but to fill their own pitchers ; and therefore , he is neither at much pains to preserve that state , nor to highten mens esteem of it ; but considers his own power as he does a river , whose streams are always passing , and are then only pleasant when they glide calmly within their banks . injuries do not reach him , for his vertue places him upon a hight above their shot , and what calumnies or offences are intended for him , do but like the vapo●rs and fogs , that rise from the earth , not reach the heaven ; but fall back in storms and thunder upon the place , from which they were sent : injuries may strick his buckler , but cannot wound himself , who is sensible of no wounds , but of those his vices gives him : and if a tyrant kill his body , he knows his immaterial soul cannot be stabb'd , but is sure it will flee as high as the sphears ( nothing but that clog of earth hindring it to move upward to that it's centre ) and that from thence , he will great pompey ( in lucan ) smile down when he shall see with illuminat eyes his own trunck to be so inconsiderable a peece of neglected earth . and to conclude , the philosopher does in all his actions go the straightest way , which is because of that the shortest , and therefore the easiest . when i have constellat all these touring elogies , which gratitude heaps upon it's benifactors , which foolish youths throw away upon their mistresses , and which flatterers buzze into the deprav'd ears of their patrons , when i have impoverisht invention and empty'd eloquence of their most floury ornaments . when i shall have decocted the pains of a whole writing age , into one panegirick , to bestow a complement upon vertue , for the ease it gives us , and the sweets of it's tranquillity ; i shall have spent my time better , then in serving the most wealthy or recreating vice ; and yet i shall obliege vertue by it lesse , then by acting the least part of what is reasonable , or gaining the soonest reclaimable of such as are vitious . and therefore i shall leave off to write , that i may begin to act vetuously ; though one of my employment may find a defence for writing moral philosophy , in the examples of cicero , du vair that famous french president , the lord verulam , and thousands of others . i have ( to deal ingenuously ) writ these two essayes , to serve my country , rather then my fame or humour , and if they prove successful , heaven has nothing below it self , wherewith it can more bless my wishes : but if these succeed not , i know nothing else wherewith i would flatter my hopes ; and so whatever be the event of this undertaking , ( as my resolutions stand now form'd ) adieu for ever to writing . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a50672-e210 numb . 13 ease commended . vitious persons most dissemble vertue , which is difficulter then to be vertuous . vertue requires fewer instruments then vice vice in defect and in excesse are equally uneasie . vices oppose one another , whereas each vertue assists its fellow . the practice of one vertue facilitats other vertues providence resists vice the law makes vice uneasie . men are in interest oblig'd to oppose vice and so it is uneasie vice mak● us fear all men . it is more natural to be vertuous then vitious each vice brings a special disease . rom. 2. 14. rom. 1. 31. the horrour of conscience makes vice uneasie . vertue si more pleasant then vice. why most men are vitious . 2 kings 8. 13 luke 15 17 these proves the uneasiness also of private quarrels and ill humors , the character of a philosopher and his ease . characters of vertues and vices in two bookes: by ios. hall. hall, joseph, 1574-1656. 1608 approx. 89 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 96 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2005-12 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a68130 stc 12648 estc s103620 99839369 99839369 3779 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a68130) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 3779) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1475-1640 ; 724:13, 1142:4) characters of vertues and vices in two bookes: by ios. hall. hall, joseph, 1574-1656. [16], 176 p. printed by melch. bradwood for eleazar edgar and samuel macham, and are to be sold at the sign of the bul-head in pauls church-yard, london : anno 1608. the first leaf is blank except for signature-mark "a"; the last leaf is blank except for marginal rules and page numbers. each book has separate title page; pagination and register are continuous. this edition has "ios. hall" on the general title page; c3v line 1 has "sauior". identified as stc 12648a on umi microfilm reel 1142. reproductions of the originals in the henry e. huntington library and art gallery and the folger shakespeare library. appears at reel 724 (henry e. huntington library and art gallery copy) and at reel 1142 (folger shakespeare library copy). created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng characters and characteristics -early works to 1800. virtue -early works to 1800. vice -early works to 1800. 2005-01 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2005-04 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2005-05 emma (leeson) huber sampled and proofread 2005-05 emma (leeson) huber text and markup reviewed and edited 2005-10 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion characters of vertves and vices : in two bookes : by ios . hall . london , printed by melch. bradwood for eleazar edgar and samuel macham , and are to be sold at the sign of the bul-head in pauls church-yard . anno 1608. to the right honorable my singvlar good lords , edward lord denny baron of waltham , and iames lord haie his right noble and worthy sonne in lavv , i. h. hvmbly dedicates his labor , devoteth himselfe , wisheth all happinesse . a premonition of the title and vse of characters . reader , the diuines of the olde heathens were their morall philosophers : these receiued the acts of an inbred law , in the sinai of nature , and deliuered them with manie expositions to the multitude : these were the ouerseers of maners , correctors of vices , directors of liues , doctors of vertue , which yet taught their people the body of their naturall diuinitie , not after one maner ; while some spent themselues in deepe discourses of humane felicitie and the way to it in common ; others thought best to applie the generall precepts of goodnesse or decencie , to particular conditions and persons : a third sort in a mean course betwixt the two other , and compounded of them both , bestowed their time in drawing out the true lineaments of euery vertue and vice , so liuely , that who saw the medals , might know the face : which art they significantly termed charactery . their papers were so many tables , their writings so many speaking pictures , or liuing images , whereby the ruder multitude might euen by their sense learne to know vertue , and discerne what to detest . i am deceiued if any course could be more likely to preuaile ; for heerein the grosse conceit is led on with pleasure , and informed while it feeles nothing but delight : and if pictures haue beene accounted the books of idiots , beholde heere the benefit of an image without the offence . it is no shame for vs to learne wit of heathens , neither is it materiall , in whose schoole we take out a good lesson : yea , it is more shame not to follow their good , than not to leade them better . as one therefore that in worthy examples hold imitation better than inuention , i have trod in their paths , but with an higher & wider step ; and out of their tablets haue drawen these larger portraitures of both sorts . more might be sayd , i denie not of euery vertue , of euery vice : i desired not to say all , but enough . if thou do but read or like these , i haue spent good houres ill ; but if thou shalt hence abiure those vices , which before thou thoughtest not ill-fauoured , or fall in loue with any of these goodly faces of vertue ; or shalt hence finde where thou hast anie little touch of these euils , to cleere thy selfe , or where any defect in these graces to supply it , neither of vs shall need to repent of our labor . the svmme of the whole . first booke . the prooeme . pag. 1 character of wisdome . 5 of honestie . 13 of faith. 19 of humilitie . 27 of valor . 33 of patience . 39 of true-friendship . 45 of true-nobilitie . 51 of the good magistrate . 57 second booke . the prooeme . 67 character of the hypocrite . 71 of the busie-bodie . 79 of the superstitious . 87 of the profane . 93 of the male-content . 99 of the inconstant . 107 of the flatterer . 113 of the slothfull . 119 of the couetous . 125 of the vain-glorious . 133 of the presumptuous . 141 of the distrustfull . 147 of the ambitious . 153 of the vnthrift . 161 of the enuious . 167 the first booke . characterismes of vertues . london , printed by m. b. for eleazer edgar , and s. macham . the prooeme . vertve is not loued enough , because shee is not seene ; and vice loseth much detestation , because her vglinesse is secret . certainly , my lords , there are so many beauties , and so many graces in the face of goodnesse , that no eye can possibly see it without affection , without rauishment ; and the visage of euil is so monstrous , through loathsome deformities , that if her louers were not ignorant , they would be mad with disdaine and astonishment . what need we more than to discouer these two to the world ? this worke shall saue the labour of exhorting , and dissuasion . i haue heere done it as i could , following that ancient master of moralitie , who thought this the fittest taske for the ninetie and ninth yeere of his age , and the profitablest monument that he could leaue for a fare-well to his grecians . loe heere then vertue and vice strip't naked to the open view , and despoiled , one of her rags , the other of her ornaments , and nothing left them but bare presence to plead for affection : see now whether shall finde more suiters . and if still the vaine mindes of leaud men shall dote vpon their olde mistresse , it will appeare to be , not because she is not foule , but for that they are blind , and bewitched . and first behold the goodly features of wisdome , an amiable vertue and worthy to leade this stage ; which as she extends her selfe to all the following graces , so amongst the rest is for her largenesse most conspicuous . character of the wise man. there is nothing that he desires not to know , but most and first himselfe ; and-not so much his owne strength , as his weaknesses ; neither is his knowledge reduced to discourse , but practise . he is a skilfull logician not by nature , so much as vse ; his working minde doth nothing all his time but make syllogismes , & draw out conclusions ; euery thing that he sees & heares serues for one of the premises : with these he cares first to informe himselfe , then to direct others . both his eyes are neuer at once from home , but one keeps house while the other roues abroad for intelligence . in materiall and weighty points he abides not his minde suspended in vncertainties ; but hates doubting where he may , where he should be resolute : and first hee makes sure worke for his soule ; accounting it no safetie to be vnsetled in the foreknowledge of his finall estate . the best is first regarded ; and vaine is that regard which endeth not in securitie . euery care hath his iust order ; neither is there any one either neglected or mis-placed . he is seldome ouerseene with credulity ; for knowing the falsenesse of the world , he hath learn'd to trust himselfe alwaies ; others so farre , as he may not be dammaged by their disappointment . he seeks his quietnesse in secrecy , and is wont both to hide himselfe in retirednesse , and his tongue in himselfe . he loues to be gessed at , not knowen ; and to see the world vnseen ; and when hee is forced into the light , shewes by his actions that his obscuritie was neither from affectation nor weaknesse . his purposes are neither so variable as may argue inconstancy ; nor obstinately vnchangeable , but framed according to his after-wits , or the strength of new occasions . he is both an apt scholar and an excellent master ; for both euerie thing hee sees informes him , and his minde inriched with plentifull obseruation can giue the best precepts . his free discourse runnes backe to the ages past , and recouers euents out of memory , and then preuenteth tyme in flying forward to future things ; and comparing one with the other can giue a verdict well-neere propheticall : wherein his coniectures are better than anothers iudgements . his passions are so many good seruants , which stand in a diligent attendance ready to be commanded by reason , by religion ; and if at any time forgetting their duty they be mis-carried to rebell , hee can first conceale their mutiny ; then suppresse it . in all his iust and worthy designes he is neuer at a losse , but hath so proiected all his courses , that a second begins where the first failed ; and fetcheth strength from that which succeeded not . there be wrongs which he will not see ; neither doth he alwayes looke that way which hee meaneth ; nor take notice of his secret smarts , when they come from great ones . in good turnes he loues not to owe more than he must ; in euill to owe and not pay . iust censures hee deserues not , for hee liues without the compasse of an aduersarie ; vniust he contemneth , and had rather suffer false infamie to die alone , than lay hands vpon it in an open violence . he confineth himselfe in the circle of his own affaires , and lists not to thrust his finger into a needlesse fire . he stands like a center vnmoued , while the circumference of his estate is drawen aboue , beneath , about him . finally , his wit hath cost him much , and he can both keepe , and value , and imploy it . he is his owne lawyer ; the treasurie of knowledge , the oracle of counsell ; blinde in no mans cause , best-sighted in his owne . the characterisme of an honest man. he looks not to what hee might doe , but what hee should ; iustice is his first guide , the second law of his actions is expedience . he had rather complaine than offend , & hates sinne more for the indignitie of it , than the danger : his simple vprightnesse workes in him that confidence , which oft-times wrongs him , and giues aduantage to the subtle , when he rather pities their faithlesnes , than repents of his credulitie : he hath but one heart , and that lies open to sight ; and were it not for discretion , hee neuer thinks ought , whereof he would auoid a witnesse : his word is his parchment , and his yea his oath , which he will not violate for feare , or for losse . the mishaps of following euents may cause him to blame his prouidence , can neuer cause him to eat his promise : neither sayth he , this i saw not ; but this i sayd . when he is made his friends executour , hee defrayes debts , payes legacies , and scorneth to gaine by orphans , or to ransack graues ; and therefore will be true to a dead friend , because he sees him not . all his dealings are square , & aboue the boord : he bewrayes the fault of what he selles , and restores the ouerseene gaine of a false reckoning . he esteemes a bribe venomous , tho it come guilded ouer with the colour of gratuitie . his cheeks are neuer stained with the blushes of recantation ; neither doth his tongue falter to make good a lie with the secret glosses of double or reserued senses ; and when his name is traduced , his innocencie beares him out with courage : then , lo , hee goes on the plaine way of truth , and will either triumph in his integritie , or suffer with it . his conscience ouer-rules his prouidence : so as in all things , good or ill , he respects the nature of the actions , not the sequell . if he see what he must do , let god see what shall follow . he neuer loadeth himselfe with burdens aboue his strength , beyond his will ; and once bound , what he can he will do ; neither doth he will but what he can do . his eare is the sanctuary of his absent friends name , of his present friends secret ; neither of them can mis-carry in his trust . hee remembers the wrongs of his youth , and repayes them with that vsury which he himselfe would not take . he would rather want than borow , and begge than not pay : his faire conditions are without dissembling ; and hee loues actions aboue words . finally , hee hates falshood worse than death : he is a faithfull client of truth ; no mans enemie ; and , it is a question , whether more another mans friend , or his owne ; and if there were no heauen , yet he would be vertuous . the characterism of the faithfull man. his eyes haue no other obiects , but absent & inuisible ; which they see so cleerly , as that to them sense is blind : that which is present they see not ; if i may not rather say , that what is past or future is present to them . heerin he exceeds all others , that to him nothing is impossible , nothing difficult , whether to beare , or vndertake . he walkes euery day with his maker , and talkes with him familiarly , and liues euer in heauen , and sees all earthly things beneath him : when he goes in , to conuerse with god , he weares not his owne clothes , but takes them still out of the rich wardrobe of his redeemer , and then dare boldly prease in , and challenge a blessing . the celestiall spirits do not scorne his company , yea his seruice . he deales in these worldly affaires as a stranger , and hath his heart euer at home : without a written warrant he dare doe nothing , and with it , any thing . his warre is perpetuall , without truce , without intermission ; and his victorie certaine : hee meets with the infernall powers , and tramples them vnder feet . the shield that he euer beares before him , can neither be missed , nor pierced : if his hand be wounded , yet his heart is safe : he is often tripped , seldome foiled ; and if somtimes foiled , neuer vanquished . hee hath white hands , and a cleane soule , fit to lodge god in , all the roomes wherof are set apart for his holinesse : iniquitie hath oft called at the doore , and craued entertainment , but with a repulse : or if sin of force will be his tenant ; his lord hee can not . his faults are few , and those he hath , god will not see . he is allied so high , that he dare call god father , his sauior brother , heauen his patrimonie , and thinks it no presumption to trust to the attendance of angels . his vnderstanding is inlightened with the beames of diuine truth ; god hath acquainted him with his will ; and what hee knowes hee dare confesse : there is not more loue in his heart , than libertie in his tongue . if torments stand betwixt him and christ , if death , he contemnes them ; and if his owne parents lie in his way to god , his holy carelesnesse makes them his footsteps . his experiments haue drawen forth rules of confidence , which hee dares oppose against all the feares of distrust ; wherein hee thinkes it safe to charge god with what he hath done ; with what hee hath promised : examples are his proofes ; and instances his demonstrations . what hath god giuen which hee can not giue ? what haue others suffered which hee may not be enabled to indure ? is he threatned banishment ? there hee sees the deare euangelist in pathmos cutting in pieces : hee sees esay vnder the saw . drowning ? hee sees ionas diuing into the liuing gulfe . burning ? he sees the three children in the hote walke of the furnace . deuouring ? hee sees daniel in the sealed den amids his terrible companions . stoning ? hee sees the first martyr vnder his heape of many graue-stones . heading ? loe there the baptists necke bleeding in herodias platter . he emulates their paine , their strength , their glorie . hee wearies not himselfe with cares ; for hee knowes hee liues not of his owne cost : not idlely omitting meanes , but not vsing them with diffidence . in the midst of ill rumors and amazements his countenance changeth not ; for hee knowes both whom hee hath trusted , & whither death can lead him . he is not so sure he shall die , as that hee shall be restored ; and out-faceth his death with his resurrection . finally , hee is rich in workes , busie in obedience , cheerefull and vnmooued in expectation ; better with euils , in common opinion miserable , but in true iudgement more than a man. of the humble man. he is a friendly enemy to himselfe : for tho hee be not out of his owne fauor , no man sets so low a value of his worth as himselfe , not out of ignorance , or carelesnesse , but of a voluntary and meeke deiectednesse . hee admires euery thing in another , whiles the same or better in himselfe he thinks not vnworthily contemned : his eies are full of his owne wants , and others perfections . he loues rather to giue , than take honour , not in a fashion of complementall courtesie , but in simplicitie of his iudgement ; neither doth hee fret at those , on whom hee forceth precedencie , as one that hoped their modestie would haue refused ; but holdes his minde vnfainedly below his place , and is readie to go lower ( if need be ) without discontentment : when hee hath but his due , hee magnifieth courtesie , and disclaimes his deserts . hee can be more ashamed of honor , than grieued with contempt ; because hee thinkes that causelesse , this deserued . his face , his carriage , his habit , sauor of lowlinesse without affectation , and yet he is much vnder that he seemeth . his words are few & soft , neuer either peremptory or censorious ; because he thinks both ech man more wise , and none more faulty than himselfe : and when hee approcheth to the throne of god , he is so taken vp with the diuine greatnesse , that in his owne eyes he is either vile or nothing . places of publique charge are faine to sue to him , and hale him out of his chosen obscuritie ; which he holds off , not cunningly to cause importunitie , but sincerely in the conscience of his defects . hee frequenteth not the stages of common resorts , and then alone thinks himselfe in his naturall element , when he is shrowded within his owne walles . hee is euer iealous ouer himselfe , and still suspecteth that which others applaud . there is no better obiect of beneficence , for what hee receiues , hee ascribes meerly to the bountie of the giuer ; nothing to merit . he emulates no man in any thing but goodnesse , and that with more desire , than hope to ouertake , no man is so contented with his little , and so patient vnder miseries , because he knowes the greatest euils are below his sins , and the least fauours aboue his deseruings . hee walks euer in awe , and dare not but subiect euery word & action to an hie and iust censure . he is a lowly valley sweetly planted , and well watered ; the proud mans earth , whereon he trampleth ; but secretly full of wealthie mines , more worth than he that walks ouer them ; a rich stone set in lead ; and lastly , a true temple of god built with a low roofe . the character of a valiant man. hee vndertakes without rashnesse , and performes without fearer● he seeks not for dangers ; but when they find him , he beares them ouer with courage , with successe . he hath oft times lookt death in the face , and passed by it with a smile , & when hee sees he must yeeld , doth at once welcome and contemne it . he forecasts the worst of all euents , & incounters them before they come in a secret and mentall warre ; and if the suddennesse of an inexpected euill haue surprized his thoughts , & infected his cheekes with palenesse ; he hath no sooner digested it in his conceit , than he gathers vp himselfe , and insults ouer mischiefe . he is the maister of himselfe , and subdues his passions to reason ; and by this inward victorie workes his owne peace . he is afrayd of nothing but the displeasure of the highest , and runnes away from nothing but sinne : he lookes not on his hands but his cause ; not how strong he is , but how innocent : and where goodnesse is his warrant , he may be ouer-maistered , he can not be foiled . the sword is to him the last of all trials , which he drawes forth still as defendant , not as challenger , with a willing kinde of vnwillingnesse : no man can better manage it , with more safety , with more fauor : he had rather haue his blood seene than his backe ; and disdaines life vpon base conditions . no man is more milde to a relenting or vanquish't aduersarie , or more hates to set his foot on a carcase . he had rather smother an iniurie than reuenge himselfe of the impotent : and i know not whether more detests cowardlinesse or crueltie . he talks little , and brags lesse ; and loues rather the silent language of the hand ; to be seene than heard . he lies euer close within himselfe , armed with wise resolution , and will not be discouered but by death or danger . he is neither prodigall of blood to mis-spend it idlely , nor niggardly to grudge it when either god calles for it , or his countrey ; neither is hee more liberall of his owne life , than of others . his power is limited by his will , and he holds it the noblest reuenge , that he might hurt and doth not . hee commands without tyrannie & imperiousnesse , obeies without seruilitie , and changes not his minde with his estate . the height of his spirits ouer-looks all casualties , and his boldnesse proceeds neither from ignorance nor senselesnesse : but first he values euils , and then despises them : he is so ballanced with wisdome , that he floats steddilie in the midst of all tempests . deliberate in his purposes , firme in resolution , bolde in enterprising , vnwearied in atchieuing , and howsoeuer happy in successe : and if euer he be ouercome , his heart yeelds last . the patient man. the patient man is made of a mettall , not so hard as flexible : his shoulders are large , fit for a load of iniuries ; which he beares not out of basenesse and cowardlinesse , because he dare not reuenge , but out of christian fortitude , because he may not : hee hath so conquered himself , that wrongs can not conquer him ; & heerin alone findes , that victorie consists in yeelding . hee is aboue nature , while hee seemes below himselfe . the vilest creature knowes how to turne againe ; but to command himselfe not to resist being vrged is more than heroicall . his constructions are ouer full or charitie and fauor ; either this wrong was not done , or not with intent of wrong , or if that , vpon mis-information ; or if none of these , rashnesse ( tho a fault ) shall serue for an excuse . himselfe craues the offenders pardon , before his confession ; and a slight answer contents where the offended desires to forgiue . hee is gods best witnesse , and when hee stands before the barre for trueth , his tongue is calmly free , his forhead firme , and hee with erect and setled countenance heares his vniust sentence , and reioyces in it . the iailers that attend him are to him his pages of honour ; his dungeon the lower part of the vault of heauen ; his racke or wheele the staires of his ascent to glorie : he challengeth his executioners , and incounters the fiercest paines with strength of resolution ; and while he suffers , the beholders pitse him , the tormentours complaine of wearinesse , and both of them wonder . no anguish can maister him , whether by violence or by lingring . he accounts expectation no punishment , and can abide to haue his hopes adiourned till a new day . good lawes serue for his protection , not for his reuenge ; and his own power , to auoid indignities , not to returne them . his hopes are so strong , that they can insult ouer the greatest discouragements ; and his apprehensions so deep , that when he hath once fastened , hee sooner leaueth his life than his hold . neither time nor peruersnesse can make him cast off his charitable endeuors , and despaire of preuailing ; but in spight of all crosses , and all denials , he redoubleth his beneficiall offers of loue . hee trieth the sea after many ship-wracks , and beates still at that doore which hee neuer saw opened . contrarietie of euents doth but exercise , not dismay him ; and when crosses afflict him , he sees a diuine hand inuisibly striking with these sensible scourges : against which hee dares not rebell , not murmure . hence all things befall him alike ; and hee goes with the same minde to the shambles and to the folde . his recreations are calme and gentle ; and not more full of relaxation than void of fury . this man onely can turne necessitie into vertue , and put euill to good vse . hee is the surest friend , the latest and easiest enemie , the greatest conqueror , and so much more happy than others , by how much hee could abide to be more miserable . the true friend . his affections are both vnited and diuided ; vnited to him he loueth ; diuided betwixt another and himselfe ; and his one heart is so parted , that whiles hee hath some , his friend hath all . his choice is led by vertue , or by the best of vertues , religion ; not by gaine , not by pleasure ; yet not without respect of equall condition , of disposition not vnlike ; which once made admits of no change , except hee whom hee loueth be changed quite from himselfe , nor that suddenly , but after long expectation . extremity doth but fasten him , whiles he like a well-wrought vault lies the stronger by how much more weight hee beares . when necessitie calles him to it , he can be a seruant to his equall , with the same will wherewith he can command his inferior ; and tho he rise to honor , forgets not his familiarity , nor suffers inequalitie of estate to worke strangenesse of countenance ; on the other side , he lifts vp his friend to aduancement , with a willing hand , without out enuie , without dissimulation . when his mate is dead , he accounts himselfe but halfe aliue ; then his loue not dissolued by death deriues it selfe to those orphans which neuer knew the price of their father ; they become the heires of his affection , and the burden of his cares . he embraces a free communitie of all things , saue those which either honesty reserues proper , or nature ; and hates to enioy that which would do his friend more good : his charitie serues to cloake noted infirmities , not by vntruth , not by flattery , but by discreet secrecie ; neither is hee more fauourable in concealement , than round in his priuate reprehensions ; and when anothers simple fidelitie shewes it selfe in his reproofe , he loues his monitor so much the more by how much more he smarteth . his bosome is his friends closet , where he may safely lay vp his cōplaints , his doubts , his cares , and looke how he leaues , so he findes them ; saue for some addition of seasonable counsell for redresse . if some vnhappy suggestion shall either disioint his affection , or breake it , it soone knits againe , and growes the stronger by that stresse . he is so sensible of anothers iniuries , that when his friend is stricken hee cries out , and equally smarteth vntouched , as one affected not sympathy , but with a reall feeling of paine : and in what mischiefe may be preuented he interposeth his aid , and offers to redeeme his friend with himselfe ; no houre can be vnseasonable , no businesse difficult , nor paine grieuous in condition of his ease : and what either doth or suffereth , he neither cares nor desires to haue knowen ; lest he should seem to look for thanks . if hee can therefore steale the performance of a good office vnseene , the conscience of his faithfulnesse heerein is so much sweeter as it is more secret . in fauours done his memorie is fraile , in benefits receiued eternall : hee scorneth either to regard recompence , or not to offer it . he is the comfort of miseries , the guide of difficulties , the ioy of life , the treasure of earth ; and no other than a good angell clothed in flesh . of the truly-noble . he stands not vpon what he borrowed of his ancestours , but thinks he must worke out his owne honor : and if he can not reach the vertue of them that gaue him outward glory by inheritance , he is more abashed of his impotencie , than transported with a great name . greatnesse doth not make him scornfull and imperious , but rather like the fixed starres , the higher he is , the lesse he desires to seeme . neither cares he so much for pompe and frothie ostentation , as for the solid truth of noblenesse . courtesie and sweet affabilitie can be no more seuered from him , than life from his soule ; not out of a base and seruile popularitie , and desire of ambitious insinuation ; but of a natiue gentlenesse of disposition , and true value of himselfe . his hand is open and bounteous , yet not so , as that he should rather respect his glorie , than his estate ; wherein his wisdome can distinguish betwixt parasites and friends , betwixt changing of fauors and expending them . he scorneth to make his height a priuilege of loosenesse , but accounts his titles vaine , if hee be inferior to others in goodnesse : and thinks hee should be more strict , the more eminent he is ; because hee is more obserued , and now his offences are become exemplar . there is no vertue that hee holds vnfit for ornament , for vse ; nor any vice which he condemnes not as fordid , and a fit companion of basenesse ; and whereof he doth not more hate the blemish , than affect the pleasure . he so studies as one that knowes ignorance can neither purchase honour , nor wield it ; and that knowledge must both guide and grace him . his exercises are from his childhood ingenuous , manly , decent , and such as tend still to wit , valor , actiuitie : and if ( as seldome ) he descend to disports of chance , his games shall neuer make him either pale with feare , or hote with desire of gaine . hee doth not so vse his followers , as if he thought they were made for nothing but his seruitude ; whose felicitie were onlie to bee commanded and please : wearing them to the backe , and then either finding or framing excuses to discard them emptie ; but vpon all opportunities lets them feele the sweetnesse of their owne seruiceablenesse and his bountie . silence in officious seruice is the best oratorie to plead for his respect : all diligence is but lent to him , none lost . his wealth stands in receiuing , his honour in giuing : hee cares not either how many holde of his goodnesse , or to how few hee is beholden : and if hee haue cast away fauours , he hates either to vpbraid them to his enemie , or to challenge restitution . none can be more pitifull to the distressed , or more prone to succour ; and then most , where is least meanes to solicit , least possibilitie of requitall . he is equally addressed to warre & peace ; and knowes not more how to command others , than how to be his countries seruant in both . he is more carefull to giue true honor to his maker , than to receiue ciuill honour from men . hee knowes that this seruice is free and noble , and euer loaded with sincere glorie ; and how vaine it is to hunt after applause from the world , till he be sure of him that moldeth all hearts , and powreth contempt on princes ; and shortly , so demeanes himselfe , as one that accounts the bodie of nobilitie to consist in blood , the soule in the eminence of vertue . of the good magistrate . he is the faithfull deputie of his maker , whose obedience is the rule whereby he ruleth : his brest is the ocean whereinto all the cares of priuate men emptie themselues ; which as hee receiues without complaint and ouerflowing , so he sends them forth againe by a wise conueyance in the streames of iustice : his doores , his eares are euer open to suters ; and not who comes first speeds well , but whose cause is best . his nights , his meales are short and interrupted ; all which hee beares well , because hee knowes himselfe made for a publique seruant of peace and iustice . hee sits quietly at the sterne , & commands one to the top-saile , another to the maine , a third to the plummet , a fourth to the anchor , as hee sees the need of their course and weather requires ; and doth no lesse by his tongue , than all the mariners with their hands . on the bench he is another from himselfe at home ; now all priuate respects of blood , alliance , amitie are forgotten ; and if his own sonne come vnder triall , hee knowes him not : pitie , which in all others is woont to bee the best praise of humanitie , & the fruit of christian loue , is by him throwen ouer the barre for corruption : as for fauour the false aduocate of the gracious , he allowes him not to appeare in the court ; there only causes are heard speake , not persons : eloquence is then only not discouraged , when she serues for a client of truth : meere narrations are allowed in this oratory , not proemes , not excursions , not glosses : truth must strip herselfe , and come in naked to his barre , without false bodies , or colours , without disguises : a bribe in his closet , or a letter on the bench , or the whispering and winks of a great neighbour are answered with an angry and courageous repulse . displeasure , reuenge , recompense stand on both sides the bench , but he scornes to turne his eye towards them ; looking only right forward at equitie , which stands full before him . his sentence is euer deliberate and guided with ripe wisdome , yet his hand is slower than his tongue ; but when he is vrged by occasion either to doome or execution , he shewes how much hee hateth mercifull iniustice : neither can his resolution or act be reuersed with partiall importunitie . his forhead is rugged and seuere , able to discountenance villanie , yet his words are more awfull than his brow , and his hand than his wordes . i know not whether he be more feared or loued , both affections are so sweetly contempered in all hearts . the good feare him louingly , the middle sort loue him fearefully , and only the wicked man feares him slauishly without loue . he hates to pay priuate wrongs with the aduantage of his office , and if euer he be partiall it is to his enemy . he is not more sage in his gowne than valorous in armes , and increaseth in the rigor of his discipline as the times in danger . his sword hath neither rusted for want of vse , nor surfeteth of blood , but after many threats is vnsheathed , as the dreadfull instrument of diuine reuenge . he is the guard of good lawes , the refuge of innocencie , the comet of the guiltie , the pay-maister of good deserts , the champian of iustice ; the patron of peace , the tutor of the church , the father of his countrey , and as it were another god vpon earth . the second booke . characterismes of vices . london , printed by m. b. for eleazar edgar , and s. macham . the prooeme . i haue shewed you many faire vertues : i speak not for them , if their sight can not command affection , let them lose it . they shall please yet better , after you haue troubled your eyes a little with the view of deformities ; and by how much more they please , so much more odious , and like themselues , shall these deformities appeare . this light contraries giue to ech other , in the midst of their enmitie , that one makes the other seeme more good , or ill . perhaps in some of these ( which thing i do at once feare , and hate ) my stile shall seeme to some lesse graue , more satyricall ; if you finde me not without cause iealous , let it please you to impute it to the nature of those vices , which will not be otherwise handled . the fashions of some euils are besides the odiousnesse , ridiculous ; which to repeat , is to seeme bitterlie merrie . i abhorre to make sport with wickednesse , and forbid any laughter heere , but of disdaine . hypocrisie shall lead this ring ; woorthily , i thinke , because both she commeth neerest to vertue , and is the woorst of vices . the hypocrite . an hypocrite is the worst kinde of plaier , by so much as he acts the better part ; which hath alwayes two faces , oft times two hearts : that can compose his forhead to sadnesse and grauitie , while hee bids his heart be wanton and carelesse within , and ( in the meane time ) laughs within himselfe , to think how smoothly he hath couzened the beholder . in whose silent face are written the characters of religion , which his tongue & gestures pronounce , but his hands recant . that hath a cleane face and garment , with a soule soule ; whose mouth belies his heart , and his fingers belie his mouth . walking early vp into the citie , he turnes into the great church , and salutes one of the pillars on one knee , worshipping that god which at home hee cares not for ; while his eye is fixed on some window , on some passenger , and his heart knowes not whither his lips go . hee rises , and looking about with admiration , complaines of our frozen charitie , commends the ancient . at church hee will euer sit where hee may bee seene best , and in the midst of the sermon pulles out his tables in haste , as if he feared to leese that note ; when hee writes either his forgotten errand , or nothing : then he turnes his bible with a noise , to seeke an omitted quotation ; and folds the lease , as if hee had found it ; and askes aloud the name of the preacher , and repeats it , whom hee publikelie salutes , thanks , praises , inuites , entertaines with tedious good counsell , with good discourse , if it had come from an honester mouth . hee can commaund teares , when hee speaks of his youth , indeed because it is past , not because it was sinfull : himselfe is now better , but the times are worse . all other sinnes hee reckons vp with detestation , while hee loues and hides his darling in his bosome . all his speech returnes to himselfe , and euery occurrent drawes in a storie to his owne praise . when he should giue , he looks about him , and sayes who sees me ? no almes , no prayers fall from him without a witnesse ; belike lest god should denie , that hee hath receiued them : and when hee hath done ( lest the world should not know it ) his owne mouth is his trumpet to proclame it . with the superfluitie of his vsurie , hee builds an hospitall , and harbors them whom his extortion hath spoiled ; so while hee makes many beggers , he keeps some . hee turneth all gnats into camels , and cares not to vndoe the world for a circumstance . flesh on a friday is more abomination to him than his neighbours bed : hee abhorres more not to vncouer at the name of iesus , than to sweare by the name of god. when a rimer reads his poeme to him , he begges a copie , and perswades the presse ; there is nothing that hee dislikes in presence , that in absence hee censures not . he comes to the sicke bed of his stepmother , & weeps , when hee secretly feares her recouerie . he greets his friend in the street with so cleere a countenance , so fast a closure , that the other thinks hee reades his heart in his face ; and shakes hands with an indefinite inuitation of when will you come ? and when his backe is turned , ioyes that he is so well rid of a guest : yet if that guest visit him vnseared , hee counterfeits a smiling welcome , and excuses his chere , when closely he frownes on his wife for too much . he shewes well , and sayes well ; and himselfe is the worst thing he hath . in briefe , hee is the strangers saint , the neighbors disease , the blotte of goodnesse ; a rotten sticke in a darke night , a poppie in a corne field , an ill tempered candle with a great snuffe , that in going out smelles ill ; an angell abroad , a diuell at home ; and worse when an angell , than when a diuell . the characterism of the busie-bodie . his estate is too narrow for his minde , and therefore hee is faine to make himselfe roome in others affaires ; yet euer in pretence of loue . no newes can stir but by his doore ; neither can he know that , which hee must not tell : what euerie man ventures in guiana voyage , & what they gained he knowes to a haire . whether holland will haue peace hee knowes , and on what conditions ; and with what successe is familiar to him ere it bee concluded . no post can passe him without a question , and rather than he will leese the newes , he rides backe with him to appose him of tidings ; and then to the next man hee meets , hee supplies the wants of his hasty intelligence , and makes vp a perfect tale ; wherewith he so haunteth the patient auditor that after many excuses , hee is faine to indure rather the censure of his maners in running away , than the tediousnesse of an impertinent discourse . his speech is oft broken off with a succession of long parentheses , which he euer vowes to fill vp ere the conclusion , and perhaps would effect it , if the others eare were as vnweariable as his tongue . if hee see but two men talke and reade a letter in the street , hee runnes to them , and asks if he may not be partner of that secret relation ; and if they denie it , hee offers to tell , since hee may not heare , woonders : and then falles vpon the report of the scotish mine , or of the great fish taken vp at linne , or of the freezing of the thames ; and after many thanks and dismissions is hardly intreated silence . hee vndertakes as much as he performes little : this man will thrust himselfe forward to be the guide of the way hee knowes not ; and calles at his neighbors window , & asks why his seruants are not at worke . the market hath no commoditie which hee prizeth not , and which the next table shall not heare recited . his tongue like the taile of sampsons foxes carries fire-brand , and is enough to set the whole field of the world on a flame . himselfe beginnes table-talke of his neighbour at anothers boord ; to whom he beares the first newes , and adiures him to conceale the reporter : whose cholericke answer he returnes to his first host , inlarged with a second edition : so , as it vses to be done in the fight of vnwilling mastiues , hee claps ech on the side apart , and prouokes them to an eager conflict . there can no act passe without his comment , which is euer far-fetch't , rash , suspicious , delatorie . his eares are long , and his eyes quicke , but most of all to imperfections , which as he easily sees , so he increases with intermedling . hee harbours another mans seruant , and amiddes his entertainment asks what fare is vsuall at home , what houres are kept , what talke passeth their meales , what his masters disposition is , what his gouernment , what his guests ? and when hee hath by curious inquiries extracted all the iuice and spirit of hoped intelligence , turnes him off whence he came , and works on a new . hee hates constancie as an ear-then dulnesse , vnfit for men of spirit : and loues to change his worke and his place ; neither yet can hee bee so soone wearie of any place , as euerie place is wearie of him ; for as hee sets himselfe on worke , so others pay him with hatred ; and looke how manie maisters hee hath , so manie enemies : neither is it possible that anie should not hate him , but who know him not . so then hee labours without thanks , talkes without credit , liues without loue , dies without teares , without pitie ; saue that some say it was pitie he died no sooner . the superstitious . svperstition is godlesse religion , deuout impietie . the superstitious is fond in obseruation , seruile in feare , he worships god but as he lifts : he giues god what he asks not , more than he askes ; and all but what he should giue ; and makes more sinnes than the ten commandements . this man dares not stirre foorth till his brest be crossed , and his face sprinckled : if but an hare crosse him the way , he returnes ; or if his iourney began vnawares on the dismall day ; or if hee stumbled at the threshold . if he see a snake vnkilled , hee feares a mischiefe ; if the salt fall towards him , hee lookes pale and red , and is not quiet till one of the waiters haue powred wine on his lappe ; and when hee neeseth , thinks them not his friends that vncouer not . in the morning he listens whether the crow crieth eeuen or odde , and by that token presages of the weather . if hee heare but a rauen croke from the next roofe , hee makes his will , or if a bittour flie ouer his head by night : but if his troubled fancie shall second his thoughts with the dreame of a faire garden , or greene rushes , or the salutation of a dead friend , hee takes leaue of the world , and sayes he can not liue . hee will neuer set to sea but on a sunday ; neither euer goes without an erra pater in his pocket . saint pauls day and saint swithunes with the twelue are his oracles ; which he dares beleeue against the almanacke . when hee lies sicke on his death-bed , no sinne troubles him so much as that he did once eat flesh on a friday , no repentance can expiate that ; the rest need none . there is no dreame of his without an interpretation , without a prediction ; and if the euent answer not his exposition , hee expounds it according to the euent . euery darke groaue and pictured wall strikes him with an awfull but carnall deuotion . olde wiues and starres are his counsellers ; his night-spell is his guard , and charmes his physitians . he weares paracelsian characters for the tooth-ache , and a little hallowed wax is his antidote for all euils . this man is strangely credulous , and calles impossible things , miraculous : if hee heare that some sacred blocke speakes , moues , weepes , smiles , his bare foot carrie him thither with an offering ; and if a danger misse him in the way , his saint hath the thanks . some wayes he will not go , & some he dares not ; either there are bugs , or hee faineth them ; euery lanterne is a ghost , & euery noise is of chaines . he knowes not why , but his custome is to goe a little about , and to leaue the crosse stil on the right hand . one euent is enough to make a rule ; out of these rules he concludes fashions proper to himselfe ; and nothing can turne him out of his owne course . if he haue done his taske hee is safe , it matters not with what affection . finally , if god would let him be the caruer of his owne obedience , hee could not haue a better subiect , as he is he can not haue a worse . characterisme of the profane . the superstitious hath too manie gods , the prophane man hath none at all , vnlesse perhaps himselfe bee his owne deitie , and the world his heauen . to matter of religion his heart is a piece of dead flesh , without feeling of loue , of feare , of care , or of paine from the deafe stroakes of a reuenging conscience . custome of sinne hath wrought this senslesnesse , which now hath beene so long entertained that it pleades prescription , and knowes not to be altered . this is no sudden euill : we are borne sinfull , but haue made our selues prophane ; through manie degrees wee climbe to this height of impietie . at first hee sinned , and cared not ; now hee sinneth , and knoweth not . appetite is his lord , and reason his seruant , and religion his drudge . sense is the rule of his beleefe ; and if pietie may be an aduantage , he can at once counterfeit and deride it . when ought succeedeth to him hee sacrifices to his nets , and thanks either his fortune or his wit ; and will rather make a false god , than acknowledge the true : if contrary , he cries out of destiny , & blames him to whom hee will not bee beholden . his conscience would faine speake with him , but he will not heare it ; sets the day , but hee disappoints it ; and when it cries loud for audience , hee drownes the noise with good fellowship . he neuer names god but in his oathes ; neuer thinks of him but in extremity ; & then he knowes not how to thinke of him , because he beginnes but then . he quarrels for the hard conditions of his pleasure , for his future damnation ; and from himselfe layes all the fault vpon his maker ; and from his decree fetcheth excuses of his wickednesse . the ineuitable necessity of gods counsell makes him desperately carelesse : so with good food he poisons himselfe . goodnesse is his minstrell ; neither is anie mirth so cordiall to him as his sport with gods fooles . euerie vertue hath his slander , and his iest to laugh it out of fashion : euery vice his colour . his vsuallest theme is the boast of his yoong sinnes , which he can still ioy in , tho he can not commit ; and ( if it may bee ) his speech makes him woorse than hee is . hee can not thinke of death with patience , without terrour , which he therefore feares worse than hell , because this he is sure of , the other hee but doubts of . hee comes to church as to the theater , sauing that not so willinglie , for companie , for custome , for recreation , perhaps for sleepe ; or to feed his eyes or his eares : as for his soule hee cares no more than if hee had none . he loues none but himselfe , and that not enough to seeke his true good ; neither cares hee on whom hee treads , that he may rise . his life is full of licence , and his practise of outrage . he is hated of god as much as hee hateth goodnesse , and differs little from a diuell , but that he hath a body . the characterism of the male-content . he is neither well full nor fasting ; and tho he abound with cōplaints , yet nothing dislikes him but the present : for what hee condemned while it was , once past hee magnifies , and striues to recall it out of the iawes of time. what hee hath hee seeth not , his eyes are so taken vp with what he wants ; and what hee sees hee cares not for , because hee cares so much for that which is not . when his friend carues him the best morsell , hee murmures that it is an happie feast wherein each one may cut for himselfe . when a present is sent him , he asks is this all ? and what no better ? and so accepts it as if hee would haue his friend know how much he is bound to him for vouchsafing to receiue it . it is hard to enterteine him with a proportionable gift . if nothing , he cries out of vnthankfulnesse ; if little , that hee is basely regarded ; if much , hee exclames of flatterie , and expectation of a large requital . euery blessing hath somwhat to disparage & distaste it : children bring cares , single life is wilde and solitarie ; eminency is enuious , retirednesse obscure ; fasting painfull , satietie vnweldie ; religion nicely seuere , libertie is lawlesse ; wealth burdensome , mediocrity contemptible : euerie thing faulteth either in too much or too little . this man is euer headstrong , and selfe-willed , neither is he alwayes tied to esteeme or pronounce according to reason ; some things he must dislike hee knowes not wherefore , but hee likes them not : and other where rather than not censure , he will accuse a man of vertue . euerie thing hee medleth with , hee either findeth imperfect , or maketh so : neither is there anie thing that soundeth so harsh in his eare as the commendation of another ; whereto yet perhaps he fashionably and coldly assenteth , but with such an after-clause of exception , as doth more than marre his former allowance : and if hee list not to giue a verball disgrace , yet hee shakes his head and smiles , as if his silence should say , i could and will not . and when himselfe is praised without excesse , hee complaines that such imperfect kindnesse hath not done him right . if but an vnseasonable shower crosse his recreation , he is ready to fall out with heauen , and thinkes hee is wronged if god will not take his times when to raine , when to shine . hee is a slaue to enuie , and loseth flesh with fretting , not so much at his owne infelicitie , as at others good ; neither hath he leasure to ioy in his owne blessings whilest another prospereth . faine would he see some mutinies , but dare not raise them ; and suffers his lawlesse tongue to walke thorow the dangerous paths of conceited alterations , but so as in good maners hee had rather thrust euery man before him when it comes to acting . nothing but feare keeps him from conspiracies , and no man is more cruell when hee is not manicled with danger . he speaks nothing but satyres , and libels , and lodgeth no guests in his heart but rebels . the inconstant and hee agree well in their felicity , which both place in change : but heerein they differ ; the inconstant man affects that which will be , the male-content commonly that which was . finally , he is a querulous curre , whom no horse can passe by without barking at ; yea , in the deepe silence of night the very moone-shine openeth his clamorous mouth : he is the wheele of a well-couched fire-worke that flies out on all sides , not without scorching it selfe . euery eare was long agoe wearie of him , and he is now almost wearie of himselfe . giue him but a little respite , and he will die alone ; of no other death , than others welfare . the vnconstant . the inconstant man treads vpō a mouing earth , and keeps no pace . his proceedings are euer headdie and peremptorie ; for hee hath not the patience to consult with reason , but determines meerelie vpon fancie . no man is so hot in the pursute of what hee liketh ; no man sooner wearie . he is fiery in his passions , which yet are not more violent than momentanie : it is a woonder if his loue or hatred last so many dayes as a wonder . his heart is the inne of all good motions , wherein if they lodge for a night it is well ; by morning they are gone and take no leaue , and if they come that way againe they are entertained as guests , not as friends . at first like another ecebolius he loued simple trueth , thence diuerting his eyes hee fell in loue with idolatrie ; those heathenish shrines had neuer any more doting and besotted client , and now of late hee is leapt from rome to munster , and is growen to giddie anabaptisme : what he will be next , as yet he knoweth not ; but ere hee haue wintred his opinion , it will be manifest . hee is good to make an enemie of ; ill for a friend ; because as there is no trust in his affection , so no rancour in his displeasure . the multitude of his changed purposes brings with it forgetfulnesse ; and not of others more than of himselfe . he sayes , sweares , renounces , because what hee promised hee meant not long enough to make an impression . heerin alone he is good for a common-wealth , that hee sets manie on worke , with building , ruining , altering ; and makes more businesse than time it selfe ; neither is hee a greater enemie to thrift , than to idlenesse . proprietie is to him enough cause of dislike ; each thing pleases him better that is not his owne . euen in the best things long continuance is a iust quarrell ; manna it selfe growes tedious with age , and noueltie is the highest stile of commendation to the meanest offers : neither doth he in books and fashions aske how good , but how new . varietie carries him away with delight , and no vniforme pleasure can be without an irksome fulnesse . hee is so transformable into all opinions , maners , qualities , that he seemes rather made immediatly of the first matter than of well tempered elements ; and therefore is in possibilitie any thing , or euerie thing ; nothing in present substance . finally , he is seruile in imitation , waxey to persuasions , wittie to wrong himselfe , a guest in his owne house , an ape of others , and in a word , any thing rather than himselfe . the flatterer . flatterie is nothing but false friendship , fawning hypocrisie , dishonest ciuilitie , base merchandize of words , a plausible discord of the heart and lips . the flatterer is bleare-eyed to ill , and can not see vices ; and his tongue walks euen in one tracke of vniust praises ; and can no more tell how to discommend , than to speake true . his speeches are full of wondring interiections ; and all his titles are superlatiue , & both of them seldome euer but in presence . his base minde is well matched with a mercenarie tongue , which is a willing slaue to another mans eare ; neither regardeth hee how true , but how pleasing . his art is nothing but delightfull cozenage , whose rules are smoothing and garded with periurie ; whose scope is to make men fooles , in teaching them to ouer-value themselues ; and to tickle his friends to death . this man is a porter of all good tales , and mends them in the carriage : one of fames best friends , and his owne ; that helps to furnish her with those rumors , that may aduantage himselfe . conscience hath no greater aduersarie ; for when shee is about to play her iust part , of accusation ; he stops her mouth with good termes , and well-neere strangleth her with shifts . like that subtle fish he turnes himselfe into the colour of euery stone , for a booty . in himselfe hee is nothing , but what pleaseth his great-one , whose vertues he can not more extoll , than imitate his imperfections , that hee may thinke his worst gracefull . let him say it is hote , hee wipes his forhead , and vnbraceth himselfe ; if cold , he shiuers , & calles for a warmer garment . when he walks with his friend hee sweares to him , that no manels is looked at ; no man talked of ; and that whomsoeuer hee vouchsafes to looke on & nod to , is graced enough : that he knoweth not his owne woorth , lest hee should be too happie ; and when he tells what others say in his praise , he interrupts himselfe modestlie , and dares not speake the rest : so his concealement is more insinuating than his speech . he hangs vpon the lips which hee admireth , as if they could let fall nothing but oracles , and finds occasion to cite some approoued sentence vnder the name he honoureth ; and when ought is nobly spoken , both his hands are little enough to blesse him . sometimes euen in absence hee extolleth his patron , where hee may presume of safe conueiance to his cares ; and in presence so whispereth his commendation , to a common friend , that it may not be vnheard where he meant it . he hath salues for euery sore , to hide them , not to heale them ; complexion for euery face : sin hath not any more artificiall broker or more impudent band . there is no vice , that hath not from him his colour , his allurement ; and his best seruice is either to further guiltinesse , or smother it . if hee grant euill things inexpedient , or crimes errors , he hath yeelded much ; either thy estate giues priuilege of libertie , or thy youth ; or if neither , what if it be ill , yet it is pleasant ? honesty to him is nice singularitie , repentance superstitious melancholie , grauitie dulnesse , and all vertue an innocent conceit of the base-minded . in short , he is the moth of liberall mens coats , the eare-wig of the mightie , the bane of courts , a friend and a slaue to the trencher , and good for nothing but to be a factor for the diuell . the slothfull . he is a religious man , and weares the time in his cloister ; and as the cloake of his doing nothing , pleads contemplation ; yet is hee no whit the leaner for his thoughts , no whit learneder . he takes no lesse care how to spend time , than others how to gaine by the expense ; and when businesse importunes him , is more troubled to forethinke what he must doe , than another to effect it . summer is out of his fauour for nothing but long dayes , that make no haste to their eeuen . hee loues still to haue the sun witnesse of his rising ; and lies long more for lothnesse to dresse him , than will to sleepe : and after some streaking and yawning calles for dinner , vnwashed ; which hauing digested with a sleepe in his chaire , he walks forth to the bench in the market-place , and looks for companions : whomsoeuer he meets , he stayes with idle questions , and lingring discourse ; how the dayes are longthened , how kindly the weather is , how false the clocke , how forward the spring , and ends euer with what shall we doe ? it pleases him no lesse to hinder others , than not to worke himselfe . when all the people are gone from church , hee is left sleeping in his seat alone . hee enters bonds , and forfeits them by forgetting the day ; and asks his neighbour when his owne field was fallowed , whether the next peece of ground belong not to himselfe . his care is either none , or too late : when winter is come , after some sharpe visitations , hee looks on his pile of wood , and asks how much was cropped the last spring . necessitie driues him to euerie action , and what hee can not auoid , he will yet defer . euery change troubles him , although to the better ; and his dulnesse counterfeits a kinde of contentment . when he is warned on a iurie , hee had rather pay the mulct , than appeare . all but that which nature will not permit , he doth by a deputie , and counts it troublesome to doe nothing , but to doe any thing , yet more . he is wittie in nothing but framing excuses to sit still , which if the occasion yeeld not , he coineth with ease . there is no worke that is not either dangerous , or thanklesse , and whereof he foresees not the inconuenience and gainlesnesse before he enters ; which if it be verified in euent , his next idlenesse hath found a reason to patronize it . he had rather freeze than fetch wood , and chuses rather to steale than worke ; to begge than take paines to steale , and in many things to want than begge . hee is so loth to leaue his neighbors fire , that he is faine to walke home in the darke ; and if he be not lookt to , weares out the night in the chimney-corner ; or if not that , lies downe in his clothes to saue two labors . he eats , and prayes himselfe asleepe ; and dreames of no other torment but worke . this man is a standing poole , and can not chuse but gather corruption : hee is descried amongst a thousand neighbours by a drie and nastie hand , that still sauors of the sheet ; a beard vncut , vnkembed ; an eye and eare yellow with their excretions ; a coat shaken on , ragged , vnbrush't ; by linnen and face striuing whether shall excell in vncleanlinesse . for bodie hee hath a swollen legge , a duskie and swinish eye , a blowen cheeke , a drawling tongue , an heauie foot , and is nothing but a ●older earth molded with standing water . to conclude , is a man in nothing but in speech and shape . the couetous . hee is a seruaunt to himselfe , yea to his seruant ; and doth base homage to that which should be the worst drudge . a liuelesse peece of earth is his master , yea his god , which hee shrines in his coffer , and to which hee sacrifices his heart . euery face of his coine is a new image , which hee adores with the highest veneration ; yet takes vpon him to be protector of that he worshippeth : which hee feares to keepe , and abhors to lose : not daring to trust either any other god , or his own . like a true chymist hee turnes euerie thing into siluer , both what hee should eat , and what he should weare ; and that hee keepes to looke on , not to vse . when hee returnes from his field , he asks , not without much rage , what became of the loose crust in his cup-boord , and who hath rioted amongst his leekes ? he neuer eats good meale , but on his neighbors trencher ; and there hee makes amends to his complaining stomacke for his former and future fasts . he bids his neighbours to dinner , and when they haue done , sends in a trencher for the shot . once in a yeere perhaps , hee giues himselfe leaue to feast ; and for the time thinks no man more lauish ; wherein hee lists not to fetch his dishes from farre ; nor will bee beholden to the shambles ; his owne prouision shall furnish his boord with an insensible cost ; and when his guests are parted , talkes how much euery man deuoured , and how many cups were emptied , and feeds his familie with the moldie remnants a moneth after . if his seruant breake but an earthen dish for want of light , hee abates it out of his quarters wages . he chips his bread , & sends it backe to exchange for staler . he lets money , and selles time for a price ; and will not be importuned either to preuent or defer his day ; and in the meane time looks for secret gratuities , besides the main interest ; which he selles and returnes into the stocke . he breeds of money to the third generation ; neither hath it sooner any being , than he sets it to beget more . in all things hee affects secrecie and proprietie : hee grudgeth his neighbor the water of his well : and next to stealing hee hates borrowing . in his short and vnquiet sleepes hee dreames of theeues , & runnes to the doore , and names more men than he hath . the least sheafe he euer culles out for tithe ; and to rob god holdes it the best pastime , the cleerest gaine . this man cries out aboue other ; of the prodigalitie of our times , and telles of the thrift of our forefathers : how that great prince thought himselfe royally attired , when he bestowed thirteen shillings & foure pence on halfe a sute : how one wedding gown serued our grandmothers , till they exchanged it for a winding sheet ; and praises plainnesse , not for lesse sinne , but for lesse cost . for himselfe hee is still knowen by his fore-fathers coat , which he meanes with his blessing to bequeath to the many descents of his heires . he neither would be poore , nor be accounted rich . no man complaines so much of want to auoid a subsidie ; no man is so importunate in begging , so cruell in exaction ; and when hee most complaines of want , hee feares that which he complaines to haue . no way is indirect to wealth ; whether of fraud or violence : gaine is his godlinesse ; which if conscience go about to preiudice , and grow troublesom by exclaming against , he is condemned for a common barretor . like another ahab hee is sicke of the next field , and thinks he is ill seated , while he dwelles by neighbours . shortly , his neighbors doe not much more hate him , than he himselfe . he cares not ( for no great aduantage ) to lose his friend , pine his bodie , damne his soule ; and would dispach himselfe when corne falles , but that he is loth to cast away money on a cord . the vaine-glorious . all his humour rises vp into the froth of ostentation ; which if it once settle , falles downe into a narrow roome . if the excesse be in the vnderstanding part , all his wit is in print ; the presse hath left his head emptie ; yea not only what he had , but what hee could borrow without leaue . if his glorie be in his deuotion , he giues not an almes but on record ; and if he haue once done wel , god heares of it often ; for vpon euery vnkindnesse he is ready to vpbraid him with his merits . ouer and aboue his owne discharge hee hath some satisfactions to spare for the common treasure . hee can fulfill the law with ease , and earne god with superfluitie . if hee haue bestowed but a little sum in the glazing , pauing , parieting of gods house , you shall finde it in the church-window . or if a more gallant humour possesse him , hee weares all his land on his backe , and walking hie , lookes ouer his left shoulder , to see if the point of his rapier follow him with a grace . hee is proud of another mans horse ; and well mounted thinks euery man wrongs him , that looks not at him . a bare head in the street , doth him more good than a meales meat . hee sweares bigge at an ordinarie , and talkes of the court with a sharpe accent ; neither vouchsafes to name any not honorable , nor those without some terme of familiaritie ; and likes well to see the hearer looke vpon him amazedly , as if he said , how happy is this man that is so great with great ones ! vnder pretence of seeking for a scroll of newes , hee drawes out an handful of letters endorsed with his owne stile , to the height ; and halfe reading euery title , passes ouer the latter part , with a murmur ; not without signifying , what lord sent this , what great ladie the other ; and for what sutes ; the last paper ( as it happens ) is his newes from his honourable friend in the french court. in the midst of dinner , his lacquay comes sweating in , with a sealed note from his creditour , who now threatens a speedie arrest , and whispers the ill newes in his masters eare , when hee aloud names a counseller of state , and professes to know the imployment . the same messenger he calles with an imperious nod , and after expostulation , where he hath left his fellowes , in his eare sends him for some new spur-leathers or stockings by this time footed ; and when he is gone halfe the roome , recalles him , and sayth aloud , it is no matter , let the greater bagge alone till i come ; and yet againe calling him closer , whispers ( so that all the table may heare ) that if his crimson sute be readie against the day , the rest need no haste . he picks his teeth when his stomacke is emptie , and calles for pheasants at a common inne . you shall finde him prizing the richert iewels , and fairest horses , when his purse yeelds not money enough for earnest he thrusts himselfe into the prease , before some great ladies ; and loues to be seene neere the head of a great traine . his talke is how many mourners hee furnish't with gownes at his fathers funerals , how manie messes ; how rich his coat is , and how ancient , how great his alliance ; what challenges hee hath made and answered ; what exploits he did at cales or nieuport : and when hee hath commended others buildings , furnitures , sutes , compares them with his owne . when he hath vndertaken to be the broker for some rich diamond , he weares it , and pulling off his gloue to stroke vp his haire , thinks no eye should haue any other obiect . entertaining his friend , he chides his cooke for no better cheere , and names the dishes he meant , and wants . to conclude , hee is euer on the stage , and acts still a glorious part abroad , when no man carries a baser heart , no man is more so . did and carelesse at home . hee is a spanish souldier on an italian theater ; a bladder full of winde , a skin full of words , a fooles wonder , and a wise-mans foole . the presumptuous . presumption is nothing but hope out of his wits , an high house vpon weake pillars . the presumptuous man loues to attempt great things , only because they are hard and rare : his actions are bolde , and venturous , and more full of hazard than vse . he hoiseth saile in a tempest , & sayth neuer any of his ancestours were drowned : he goes into an infected house , and sayes the plague dares not seaze on noble blood : he runnes on high battlements , gallops downe steepe hilles , rides ouer narrow bridges , walks on weake ice , and neuer thinks , what if i fall ? but , what if i runne ouer and fall not ? he is a confident alchymist , and braggeth , that the wombe of his furnace hath conceiued a burden that will do all the world good ; which yet hee desires secretly borne , for feare of his owne bondage : in the mean time , his grasse breaks ; yet he vpon better luting , layes wagers of the successe , and promiseth wedges before-hand to his friend . he saith , i will sinne , and be sory , and escape ; either god will not see , or not be angrie , or not punish it ; or remit the measure . if i doe well , he is iust to reward ; if ill , he is mercifull to forgiue . thus his praises wrong god no lesse than his offence ; and hurt himselfe no lesse than they wrong god. any patterne is enough to incourage him : shew him the way where any foot hath trod , hee dares follow , altho hee see no steps returning ; what if a thousand haue attempted , and miscarried ; if but one haue preuailed , it sufficeth . he suggests to himself false hopes of neuer too late ; as if hee could command either time or repentance : and dare deferre the expectation of mercy till betwixt the bridge and the water . giue him but where to set his foot , and hee will remoue the earth . he foreknowes the mutations of states , the euents of warre , the temper of the seasons ; either his olde prophecie telles it him , or his starres . yea , hee is no stranger to the records of gods secret counsell , but he turnes them ouer , and copies them out at pleasure . i know not whether in all his enterprises hee shew lesse feare , or wisdome : no man promises himselfe more , no man more beleeues himselfe . i will go and sell , and returne and purchase , and spend and leaue my sonnes such estates ; all which if it succeed , he thanks himselfe ; if not , he blames not himselfe . his purposes are measured , not by his abilitie , but his will , and his actions by his purposes . lastly , he is euer credulous in assent , rash in vndertaking , peremptorie in resoluing , witlesse in proceeding , and in his ending miserable ; which is neuer other , than either the laughter of the wise , or the pitie of fooles . the distrustfull . the distrustfull man hath his heart in his eyes , or in his hand ; nothing is sure to him but what he sees , what hee handles : hee is either very simple , or very false ; and therefore beleeues not others , because he knowes how little himselfe is worthy of beleefe . in spirituall things , either god must leaue a pawne with him , or seeke some other creditour . all absent things and vnusuall , haue no other , but a conditionall entertainment : they are strange , if true . if he see two neighbours whisper in his presence , he bids them speake out , and charges them to say no more than they can iustify . when he hath committed a message to his seruant , he sends a second after him , to listen how it is deliuered . he is his owne secretarie , and of his own counsell , for what he hath , for what hee purposeth : and when he telles ouer his bagges , looks thorow the key-hole , to see if hee haue any hidden witnesse , and askes aloud , who is there ? when no man heares him . he borrowes money when hee needs not , for feare lest others should borrow of him . hee is euer timorous , and cowardly ; and asks euery mans errand at the doore , ere he opens . after his first sleepe , he starts vp , and askes if the furthest gate were barred , and out of a fearefull sweat calles vp his seruant , and bolts the dore after him ; and then studies whether it were better to lie still and beleeue , or rise and see . neither is his heart fuller of feares , than his head of strange proiects , and far-fetcht constructions ; what meanes the state , thinke you , in such an action , and whether tends this course : learne of mee ( if you know not ) the waies of deepe policies are secret , and full of vnknowen windings ; that is their act , this will be their issue : so casting beyond the moone , he makes wise and iust proceedings suspected . in all his predictions , and imaginations , hee euer lights vpon the worst ; not what is most likely will fall out , but what is most ill . there is nothing that he takes not with the left hand ; no text which his glosse corrupts not . wordes , oaths , parchments , seales , are but broken reeds ; these shall neuer deceiue him ; he loues no paiments but reall . if but one in an age haue miscarried , by a rare casualtie , he misdoubts the same euent . if but a tile fallen from an hie roofe haue brained a passenger , or the breaking of a coach-wheele haue indangered the burden ; hee sweares hee will keepe home ; or take him to his horse . hee dares not come to church , for feare of the croud ; nor spare the sabbaths labour for feare of the want ; nor come neere the parliament house , because it should haue beene blowen vp ; what might haue beene , affects him as much as what will be . argue , vow , protest , sweare , he heares thee , and beleeues himselfe . hee is a scepticke , and dare hardly giue credit to his senses which hee hath often arraigned of false intelligence . hee so liues , as if he thought all the world were theeues , and were not sure whether himselfe were one : hee is vncharitable in his censures , vnquiet in his feares ; bad enough alwaies , but in his owne opinion much woorse than he is . the characterism of the ambitious . ambition is a proud couetousnes , a dry thirst of honor , the longing disease of reason , an aspiring , and gallant madnesse . the ambitious climes vp high and perillous staires , and neuer cares how to come downe ; the desire of rising hath swallowed vp his feare of a fall . hauing once cleaued ( like a burre ) to some great mans coat , he resolues not to be shaken off with any small indignities , and finding his holde thorowly fast , casts how to insinuate yet neerer ; and therefore , hee is busie and seruile in his indeuours to please , and all his officious respects turn home to himselfe . he can be at once a slaue to command , an intelligencer to informe , a parasite to sooth and flatter , a champian to defend , an executioner to reuenge ; any thing for an aduantage of fauour . he hath proiected a plot to rise , and woe be to the friend that stands in his way : hee still haunteth the court , and his vnquiet spirit haunteth him ; which hauing fetch 't him from the secure peace of his countrey-rest , sets him new and impossible taskes ; & after many disappointments incourages him to trie the same sea in spight of his shipwracks ; and promises better successe . a small hope giues him heart against great difficulties , and drawes on new expense , new seruilitie ; perswading him ( like foolish boyes ) to shoot away a second shaft , that he may finde the first . he yeeldeth , and now secure of the issue , applauds him selfe in that honour , which hee still affecteth , still misseth ; and for the last of all trials , will rather bribe for a troublesome preferment , than returne void of a title . but now when hee finds himselfe desperately crossed , and at once spoiled both of aduancement and hope , both of fruition and possibilitie , all his desire is turned into rage , his thirst is now onely of reuenge ; his tongue sounds of nothing but detraction & slander : now the place he sought for is base , his riuall vnworthie , his aduersarie iniurious , officers corrupt , court infectious ; and how well is he that may be his owne man , his owne master ; that may liue safely in a meane distance , at pleasure , free from staruing , free from burning . but if his designes speed well ; ere hee bee warme in that seat , his minde is possessed of an higher . what he hath is but a degree to what he would haue : now he scorneth what hee formerly aspired to ; his successe doth not giue him so much contentment , as prouocation ; neither can he be at rest , so long as he hath one , either to ouerlook , or to match , or to emulate him . when his countrey-friend comes to visit him , hee carries him vp to the awfull presence ; and now in his sight crouding neerer to the chaire of state , desires to bee lookt on , desires to be spoken to , by the greatest , and studies how to offer an occasion , lest hee should seeme vnknowen , vnregarded ; and if any gesture of the least grace fall happilie vpon him , he looks backe vpon his friend , lest hee should carelesly let it passe , without a note : and what hee wanteth in sense , he supplies in historie . his disposition is neuer but shamefully vnthankfull ; for vnlesse he haue all , he hath nothing . it must be a large draught , whereof he will not say , that those few droppes do not slake , but inflame him : so still hee thinks himselfe the worse for small fauours . his wit so contriues the likely plots of his promotion , as if hee would steale it away without gods knowledge , besides his will ; neither doth he euer looke vp , and consult in his forecasts , with the supreme moderator of all things ; as one that thinks honor is ruled by fortune , and that heauen medleth not with the disposing of these earthly lots : and therefore it is iust with that wise god to defeat his fairest hopes , and to bring him to a losse in the hotest of his chace ; and to cause honour to flie away so much the faster , by how much it is more egerly pursued . finally , he is an importunate sutor , a corrupt client , a violent vndertaker , a smooth factor , but vntrusty , a restlesse master of his owne ; a bladder puft vp with the winde of hope , and selfe-loue . hee is in the common body as a mole in the earth , euer vnquietly casting ; and in one word is nothing but a confused heape of enuie , pride , couetousnesse . the vnthrift . he ranges beyond his pale , and liues without compasse . his expence is measured not by abilitie , but will. his pleasures are immoderate , and not honest . a wanton eye , a lickerous tongue , a gamesome hand haue impouerisht him . the vulgar sort call him bountifull , and applaud him while he spends , and recompence him with wishes when he giues , with pitie when he wants : neither can it be denied that he raught true liberalitie , but ouer-went it . no man could haue liued more laudably , if when he was at the best , he had stayed there . while he is present none of the wealthier guests may pay ought to the shot , without much vehemencie , without danger of vnkindnesse . vse hath made it vnpleasant to him , not to spend . he is in all things more ambitious of the title of good fellowship than of wisdome . when he looks into the wealthie chest of his father , his conceit suggests that it cannot be emptied ; and while hee takes out some deale euery day , hee perceiues not any diminution ; and when the heape is sensiblie abated , yet still flatters himselfe with enough : one hand couzens the other , and the bellie deceiues both : he doth not so much bestow benefits , as scatter them . true merit doth not cary them , but smoothnesse of adulation : his senses are too much his guides , and his purueyors ; and appetite is his steward . he is an impotent seruant to his lusts ; and knowes not to gouerne either his minde or his purse . improuidence is euer the companion of vnthriftinesse . this man can not looke beyond the present , & neither thinks , nor cares what shall be ; much lesse suspects what may be : and while he lauishes out his substance in superfluities , thinks hee onely knowes what the world is woorth , and that others ouerprize it . hee feeles pouertie before he sees it , neuer complaines till hee be pinched with wants ; neuer spares till the bottome , when it is too late either to spend or recouer . hee is euerie mans friend saue his owne , and then wrongs himselfe most , when he courteth himselfe with most kindnesse . hee vies time with the slothfull , and it is an hard match , whether chases away good houres to worse purpose ; the one by doing nothing , the other by idle pastime . hee hath so dilated himselfe with the beames of prosperitie , that he lies open to all dangers , and cannot gather vp himselfe , on iust warning , to auoid a mischiefe . hee were good for an almner , ill for a steward . finally , he is the liuing tombe of his fore-fathers , of his posteritie , and when he hath swallowed both , is more emptie than before he deuoured them . the enuious . hee feeds on others euils , & hath no disease but his neighbors welfare : whatsoeuer god do for him , he can not be happie with companie ; and if hee were put to chuse , whether hee would rather haue equals in a common felicitie , or superiors in miserie , hee would demurre vpon the election . his eye casts out too much , and neuer returnes home , but to make comparisons with anothers good . he is an ill prizer of forraine commoditie ; worse of his own : for , that , he rates too hie , this vnder value . you shall haue him euer inquiring into the estates of his equals and betters ; wherein he is not more desirous to heare all , than loth to heare any thing ouer-good : and if iust report relate ought better than he would , he redoubles the question , as being hard to beleeue what hee likes not ; and hopes yet , if that be auerred againe to his griefe , that there is somewhat concealed in the relation , which if it were knowen , would argue the commended partie miserable , and blemish him with secret shame . hee is readie to quarrell with god , because the next field is fairer growen ; and angerly calculates his cost , and time , and tillage . whom hee dares not openly backbite , nor wound with a direct censure , he strikes smoothly with an ouer-cold praise ; and when hee sees that hee must either maliciously oppugne the the iust praise of another ( which were vnsafe ) or approoue it by assent , he yeeldeth ; but showes withall that his meanes were such , both by nature , and education , that he could not without much neglect , be lesse commendable : so his happinesse shall be made the colour of detraction . when an wholsome law is propounded , he crosseth it , either by open , or close opposition ; not for any incommoditie or inexpedience , but because it proceeded from any mouth , besides his owne ; and it must be a cause rarely plausible , that will not admit some probable contradiction . when his equall should rise to honor , he striues against it vnseene ; and rather with much cost suborneth great aduersaries ; and when hee sees his resistance vaine , he can giue an hollow gratulation in presence ; but in secret , disparages that aduancement ; either the man is vnfit for the place , or the place for the man ; or if fit , yet lesse gainfull , or more common than opinion ; whereto he ads , that himselfe might haue had the same dignitie vpon better termes , and refused it . hee is wittie in deuising suggestions to bring his riuall out of loue , into suspicion . if he be curteous , he is seditiously popular ; if bountifull , he bindes ouer his clients to a faction ; if succesfull in war , hee is dangerous in peace ; if wealthie , hee laies vp for a day ; if powerfull , nothing wants but opportunitie of rebellion . his submission is ambitious hypocrisie , his religion , politike insinuation ; no action is safe from a iealous construction . when hee receiues an ill report of him whom hee emulates ; hee saith , fame is partiall , and is wont to blanch mischiefs ; and pleaseth himselfe with hope to finde it worse ; and if ill-will haue dispersed any more spightful narration , hee layes holde on that , against all witnesses ; and brocheth that rumor for trust , because worst : and when he sees him perfectly miserable , he can at once pitie him , and reioyce . what himselfe can not doe , others shall not : he hath gained well , if hee haue hindred the successe of what he would haue done , and could not . he conceales his best skill , not so as it may not be knowen that he knowes it , but so as it may not be learned ; because he would haue the world misse him . he attained to a soueraigne medicine by the secret legacie of a dying empericke , whereof he will leaue no heire , lest the praise should be diuided . finally , he is an enemie to gods fauors , if they fall beside himselfe ; the best nurse of ill fame ; a man of the worst diet ; for he consumes himselfe , and delights in pining ; a thorne-hedge couered with nettles ; a peeuish interpreter of good things , and no other then a leane and pale carcase quickened with a feend . philosophicall fancies. written by the right honourable, the lady newcastle. newcastle, margaret cavendish, duchess of, 1624?-1674. this text is an enriched version of the tcp digital transcription a53057 of text r202988 in the english short title catalog (wing n865). textual changes and metadata enrichments aim at making the text more computationally tractable, easier to read, and suitable for network-based collaborative curation by amateur and professional end users from many walks of life. the text has been tokenized and linguistically annotated with morphadorner. the annotation includes standard spellings that support the display of a text in a standardized format that preserves archaic forms ('loveth', 'seekest'). textual changes aim at restoring the text the author or stationer meant to publish. this text has not been fully proofread approx. 124 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 60 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. earlyprint project evanston,il, notre dame, in, st. louis, mo 2017 a53057 wing n865 estc r202988 99863099 99863099 115281 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a53057) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 115281) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 189:e1474[1]) philosophicall fancies. written by the right honourable, the lady newcastle. newcastle, margaret cavendish, duchess of, 1624?-1674. [24], 94, [2] p. printed by tho: roycroft, for j. martin, and j. allestrye, at the bell in st. pauls church-yard, london : 1653. partly in verse. the last leaf is blank. annotation on thomason copy: "may. 21.". reproduction of the original in the british library. eng conduct of life -early works to 1800. mind and body -early works to 1800. knowledge, theory of -early works to 1800. good and evil -early works to 1800. virtue -early works to 1800. a53057 r202988 (wing n865). civilwar no philosophicall fancies. written by the right honourable, the lady newcastle. newcastle, margaret cavendish, duchess of 1653 18822 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 a this text has no known defects that were recorded as gap elements at the time of transcription. 2000-00 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2001-00 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2001-00 tcp staff (michigan) sampled and proofread 2001-00 tcp staff (michigan) text and markup reviewed and edited 2001-11 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion philosophicall fancies . written by the right honourable , the lady newcastle . london , printed by tho : roycroft , for j. martin , and j. allestrye , at the bell in st. pauls church-yard , 1653. a dedication to fame . to thee , great fame , i dedicate this peece . though i am no philosopher of greece ; yet do not thou my workes of thoughts despise , because they came not from the ancient , wise . nor do not think , great fame , that they had all the strange opinions , wich we learning call . for nature's unconfin'd , and gives about her severall fancies , without leave , no doubt . shee 's infinite , and can no limits take , but by her art , as good a brain may make . although shee 's not so bountifull to me , yet pray accept of this epitome . an epistle to time . swift , ever-moving time , i write to thee , to crave thy pardon , if ill spent thou be . but i did chuse this way , thinking it best : for by my writing i do none molest . i injure none , nor yet disturb their way , i slander none , nor any one betray . if i do wast thee in a musing thought , yet i take paines , my braines constantly wrought . for in three weeks begun , and finisht all these philosophicall fancies , which i call . if thou thinkst much , that i should spend thee so , to write of that , i can but guesse , not know ; i le tell thee time , thou mayst bee worser spent , in wanton waies , which some call merriment . let me tell thee , this better pleaseth me , then if i spent thee in fine pageantry . a request to time . time , prethee be content , and let me write ; i le use thee better then the carpet knight , or amorous ladies , which doe dance , and play , casting their modesty , and fame away . i humbly cast mine eyes downe to the ground , or shut them close , while i a fancy found . and in a melancholy posture sit , with musing thoughts , till i more fancies get . besides , deare time , nature doth not me give such store of health , to hope i old shall live . then let me give my youth the most content , which is to write , and send it to the print . if any like my fancies when they 'r read , my time 's rewarded , though my body's dead . if they do not , my son'e will lye at rest , because my life did think , what 's harmlesse , best . an epistle to my braine . i wonder , braine , thou art so dull , when there was not a day , but wit past , through the yeare . for seven yeares 't is , since i have married bin ; which time , my braine might be a magazine , to store up wise discourse , naturally sent , in fluent words , which free , and easie went . if thou art not with wit inrich'd thereby , then uselesse is the art of memory . but thou , poor braine , hard ftozen art with cold , words seales , of wit , will neither print , nor hold . an epistle to a troubled fancy . fancies in sleep are visions , dreames we call , rais'd in the braine to sport themselves withall . sometimes they take delight to fright the minde , taking strange shapes , not like to natures kinde . after the soule they hunt , and run about , as from the body they would thrust it out . but if they are in humour kind , and good , in pleasing shapes before the minde they stood . an epistle to contemplation . i contemplating by a fires side , in winter cold , my thoughts would hunting ride . and after fancies they do run a race , if lose them not , they have a pleasant chase . if they do catch the hare , or kill the deere , they dresse them strait in verse , and make good cheere . an epistle to my musefull thoughts . thoughts , trouble not the soule with falling out , siding in factions , with feare , hope and doubt . but with the muses dance in measur'd feet , taking out all the fancies as you meet . some fancies are like wilde , and toyish girles , and some are sober , grave ; others are churles . let those that sober , sad , a pavin measure , corantoes are the lighter fancies pleasure . let churlish fancies dance with crabbed feet , in numbers odd , not even , smooth , nor sweet . another to the thoughts . my thoughts lye close imprison'd in the minde , unlesse through strange opinions passage finde . but when they finde a way , they run so fast , no reason can perswade to stay their hast . then they strait seek a credit for to win , perswading all they meet to follow them : and with their rhetoricke hope they to grow strong , striving to get beleife , as they go on . if contradiction chance to stop their way , they strait flye out , and oft times run away . and seldome they do back return again , to rally , or to muster in the brain . but the weak braine is forc'd more thoughts to raise , striving to get a victory of praise . reason , and the thoughts . thoughts , run not in such strange phantastick waies , nor take such paines to get a vulgar praise . the world will scorne , and say , you are all fooles , because you are not taught in common schooles . the world will think you mad , because you run not the same track , that former times have done . turn foolish thoughts , walke in a beaten path , or else the world ridiculously will laugh . reason forbeare , our study not molest , for wee do goe those waies that please us best . nature doth give us liberty to run , without a check , more swift far then the sun . but if we jar , and sometimes disagree , by thy disputes , we run unevenly . but prethee reason trouble us no more , for if you prate , wee 'l thrust you out of doore . to sir charles cavendish , my noble brother-in-law . sir , to forget to divulge your noble favours to me , in any of my works , were to murther gratitvde ; which i will never be guilty of : and though i am your slave , being manacl'd with chaines of obligation , yet my chaines feele softer then silke , and my bondage is pleasanter then freedome ; because i am bound to your selfe , who are a person so full of generosity , as you delight in bounty , and take pleasure to relieve the necessitated condition of your friends ; and what is freely given , is comfortably receiv'd , and a satisfaction to the minde . for , should a bountifull hand be joyn'd to repining thoughts , it would be like a gilded statue made of rotten wood . but your minde is the mint of virtues , which makes them currant coyne ; which i will never clip with a silent tongue , nor change with an unthankfull heart ; but locke it up with the key of admiration , in the chest of affection . i shall not feare to be turn'd out of your favour , though my deserts make me not worthy to dwell therein ; because you are so constant to charity , and so compassionate to misery ; so adverse to covetousnesse , so arm'd against mis-fortunes , so valiant in friendship , so victorious in naturall affections , as you are the conquerour of all merit . and may you ride in triumph on fame round the vniverse , untill the expiring thereof . thus doth your humble servant joy in your love , proud of your favour , glorie in your fame , and will die in your service . m. n. to the reader . noble readers , if this worke is not so well wrought , but that you may finde some false stitches ; i must let you understand it was huddl'd up in such hast , ( out of a desire to have it joyned to my booke of poems ) as i took not so much time , as to consider throughly ; for i writ it in lesse then three weekes ; and yet for all my hast , it came a weeke too short of the presse . besides my desire ( to have those works printed in england , which i wrote in england , before i leave england ) perswaded me to send it to the presse , without a further inlargement . but i imagine my readers will say , that there is enough , unless it were better . i can only say , i wish it were so good , as to give satisfaction : howsoever i pleased my selfe in the study of it . the table . of matter , and motion , page 1. of the forme , and the minde , 2. of eternall matter , 3. of infinite matter , 4. there is no proportion in nature , ib. of one kinde of matter , 5. of infinite knowledge , ib. there is no judge in nature , ib. of perfection , 6. of inequalities , ib. of unities , 8. of thin , and thick matter , ib. of vacuum , 9. the unity of nature , ib of division , 10 the order of nature , ib. of war , and no absolute power , 11. of power , ib. similizing the spirits , or innate motion , of operation , 13. of natural , or sensitive war . 14. of annihilation , ib. of life , 15. of change , 20. of youth , and growth , 21. of increasing , 22. of decay , 23. of dead , and death , 24. of locall shapes , 25. this visible motions in animals , vegetables , and minerals , 26. of the working of the severall motions of nature , 27. of the minde , 30. of their severall dances , and figures , 31. the sympathy , and antipathy of spirits , 33. the sympathy of sensitive , and rationall spirits in one figure , 36. the sympathy of the rationall , and sensitive spirits , to the figure they make , and inhabit , 37. of pleasure , and paine , 38. of the minde , ib. of thinking , or the minde , and thoughts , 41. of the motions of the spirits , 42. of the creation of the animall figure . 45. of the gathering of the spirits , 47. the moving of innate matter , 49. of matter , motion , and knowledge , or understanding , 52. of the animall figure , 54. what an animall is , 55. of sense , and reason , exercis'd in their different shapes , 56. of the dispersing of the rationall spirits , 63. of the senses , 64. of motion that makes light , 65. of opticks , ib. of the flowing of the spirits , 66. of motion , and matter , 67. of the braine , 68. of darknesse , ib. of the sun , 69. of the clouds , ib. of the motion of the planets , 70. of the motion of the sea , ib. i speak not here of deiaticall infinites , but of grosse infinites , such , as philosophers call chaos . of matter and motion . there is no first matter , nor first motion ; for matter and motion are infinite , and being infinite , must consequently be eternall ; and though but one matter , yet there is no such thing , as the whole matter , that is , as one should say , all . and though there is but one kinde of matter , yet there are infinite degrees of matter , as thinner and thicker , softer and harder , weightier and lighter ; and as there is but one matter , so there is but one motion , yet there are infinite degrees of motion , as swifter and slower ; and infinite changes of motion : and although there is but one matter , yet there are infinite of parts in that matter , and so infinites of figures : if infinite figures , infinite sizes ; if infinite sizes , infinite degrees of higness , and infinite degrees of smalnesse , infinite thicknesse , infinite thinnesse , infinite lightnesse , infinite weightinesse ; if infinite degrees of motion , infinite degrees of strengths ; if infinite degrees of strengths , infinite degrees of power , and infinite degrees of knowledge , and infinite degrees of sense . of the form , and the minde . as i sayd , there is but one matter , thinner and thicker , which is the forme , and the minde , that is , matter moving , or matter moved ; likewise there is but one motion , though slower or swifter moving severall wayes ; but the slower or weaker motions are no lesse motion , then the stronger or swifter . so matter that is thinnest or thickest , softest or hardest , yet it is but one matter ; for if it were divided by degrees , untill it came to an atome , that atome would still be the same matter , as well as the greatest bulk . but we cannot say smallest , or biggest , thickest or thinnest , softest or hardest in infinite . eternall matter . that matter which was solid , and weighty from all eternity , may be so eternally ; and what was spungie , and light from all eternity , may be so eternally ; and what had innate motion from eternity , may be so eternally ; and what was dull without innate motion from eternity , may be so eternally : for if the degrees could change , then there might be all thin , and no thicke , or all thicke , and no thin , all hard , no soft , and fluid , or all fluid , and no solidity . for though contracting and dilating may bring and joyne parts together , or separate parts asunder , yet those parts shall not be any other wayes , then by nature they were . of infinite matter . infinite matter cannot have exact forme , or figure , because it hath no limits : but being divided by motion into severall parts , those parts may have perfect figures , so long as those figures last ; yet these parts cannot be taken from the infinite body . and though parts may be divided in the body infinite , and joyned severall wayes , yet infinite can neither be added , nor diminished ; yet division is as infinite , as the matter divided . no proportion in nature . in nature there is no such thing , as number , or quantity ; for number , & quantity have only reference to division : neither is there any such thing as time in eternity ; for time hath no reference but to the present , if there be any such thing as present . of one kinde of matter . although there may be infinite degrees of matter , yet the nature , and kind of matter is finite : for infinite of severall kindes of matter would make a confusion . of infinite knowledge . there can be no absolute knowledge , if infinite degrees of knowledge ; nor no absolute power , if there be infinite degrees of strength : nor present , if infinite degrees of motion . no judge in nature . no intreaty , nor petition can perswade nature , nor any bribes an corrupt , or alter the course of nature . justly there can be no complaints made against nature , nor to nature . nature can give no redresse . there are no appeales can be made , nor causes determined , because nature is infinite , and eternall : for infinite cannot be confined , or prescribed , setled , or altered , rul'd , or dispos'd , because the effects are as infinite as the causes : and what is infinite , hath no absolute power : for what is absolute , is finite . finite cannot tel how infinite doth flow , nor how infinite matter moveth to and fro . for infinite of knowledge cannot guess of infinite of matter , more , or lesse : nor infinite of causes cannot finde the infinite effects of every kinde . of perfection . in infinite can no perfection be , for why ? perfection is in unity ? in infinite no union can combine , for that has neither number , point , nor line ; though infinite can have no figure , yet not lye all confu'sd in heaps together . of inequalities . if infinites have infinite degrees , and none a like to make equalities . as if a haire be cut with curious arts , innumerable , but unequall parts , and that not any part alike shall be , how shall we joyn , to make them well agree ? if every one is like it selfe alone , there cannot be , unlesse three equal ones . if one , and one make two ; and two , and two make foure , yet there must be two equall ones to make two , and two equall twos to make foure . and as two and one make three , yet there must be two equall ones joyned to a single one , to make three , or three equall single ones to joyn in three . the like is in weight , and measure , in motion and strength . of unities . in infinite if infinite degrees , then those degrees may meet in unities . and if one man should have the strength of foure , then foure to equal him will be no more . as if one line should be in four parts cut , shall equall the same lino together put ; so two and one , though odd , is three ; yet three and three shall equall be . like those that equall spaces backwards go , to those that 's forward , equalls them we know . like buckets in a well , if empty be , as one descends , the other ascends , we see so motions , though they 'r crosse , may well agree , as oft in musick make a harmony . there is no vacuity . in nature if degrees may equall be , all may be full , and no vacuity . as boxes small , & smaller may containe , so bigger , and bigger must there be again . infinite may run contracting , & dilating , still , still , by degrees without a separating . of thin , and thick matter . thus may thin matter into solid run , and by its motion , make thick matter turne . in severall wayes , and fashions , as it will , although dull matter of it selfe lye still : t is not , that solid matter moves in thin , for that is dull , but thin which moves therein . like marrow in the bones , or bloud in veines . or thinner matter which the bloud containes . like heat in fire , the effect is strait to burne , so matter thin makes solid matter run . of vacuum . if infinite inequallity doth run , then must there be in infinite vacuum . for what 's unequall , cannot joyned be so close , but there will be vacuity . the unity of nature . nature tends to unity , being but of a kinde of matter : but the degrees of this matter being thinner , and thicker , softer , and harder , weightier , and lighter , makes it , as it were , of different kinde , when t is but different degrees : like severall extractions , as it were out of one and the same thing ; and when it comes to such an extract , it turnes to spirits , that is , to have an innate motion . of division . the severall degrees of matter cause division by different motion , making severall figures , erecting , and dissolving them , according as their matter moves , this makes motion , and figure alwayes to be in war , but not the matter ; for it is the severall effects that disagree , but not the causes : for the eternall matter is allwayes in peace , as being not subject to change ; but motion , and figure , being subject to change , strive for superiority : which can never be , because subject to change . the order of nature . the reason , that there is not a confusion in nature , but an orderly course therein , is , the eternall matter is allwayes one , and the same : for though there are infinite degrees , yet the nature of that matter never alters . but all variety is made according to the severall degrees , & the severall degrees do palliate , and in some sense make an equality in infinite ; so as it is not the severall degrees of matter , that strive against each other , but severall motions drive them against one another . of war , and no absolute power . the reason , that all things make war upon one another , is , the severall (†) degrees of matter , the contradiction of motion , and the degrees , and the advantage of the shapes of (†) figures alwayes striving . of power . there is no absolute power , because power is infinite , and the infinitenesse hinders the absolutenesse : for if there were an absolute power , there would be no dispute ; but because there is no absolute power , there would be no dispute ; but because there is no absolute power , therefore there are disputes , and will be eternally : for the severall degrees of matter , motion , and figure strive for superiority , making faction by (†) sympathy , and fraction , by (†) antipathy . similizing the spirits , or innate matter . the spirits , or essences in nature are like quick-silver : for say it be fluid , it will part into little sphaericall bodyes , running about , though it be nere so small a quantity : and though they are sphaericall , yet those figures they make by severall , and subtle motion , may differ variously , and infinitely . this innate matter is a kind of god , or gods to the dull part of matter , having power to forme it , as it please : and why may not every degree of innate matter be , as severall gods , and so a stronger motion be a god to the weaker , and so have an infinite , and eternall government ? as we will compare motions to officers , or magistrates . the constable rules the parish , the mayor the constable , the king the mayor , and some higher power the king : thus infinite powers rule eternity . or againe thus , the constable rules the hundred , the mayor rules the city , the king the kingdome , and caesar the world . thus may dull matter over others rule , according as 't is † shap'd by motions tool . so innate matter governs by degree , according as the stronger motions be . of operation . all things in the world have an operative power ; which operation is made by sympatheticall motions , and antipatheticall motions , in severall figures . for the assisting operation is caused by one , the destructive operation by another ; like poyson , and cordialls , the one kills , the other cures : but operations are as infinite , as motions . naturall , or sensitive war . all naturall war is caused either by a sympatheticall motion , or an antipatheticall motion . for naturall warre , and peace proceed from selfe-preservation , which belongs only to the figure ; for nothing is annihilated in nature , but the particular prints , or severall shapes that motion makes of matter ; which motion in every figure strives to maintaine what they have created : for when some figures destroy others , it is for the maintenance or security of themselves : and when the destruction is , for food , it is sympatheticall motion , which makes a particular appetite , or nourishment from some creatures to others ; but an antipatheticall motion , that makes the destruction . of annihilation . there can be no annihilation in nature : not particular motions , and figures , because the matter , remaines hat was the cause of those motions and figures . as for particular figures , although every part is separated that made such a figure , yet it is not annihilated ; because those parts remaine that made it . so as it is not impossible but the same particular figures may be erected by the same motions , that joynd those parts , and in the matter may repeat the same motion eternally so by succession : and the same matter in a figure may be erected , and dispersed eternally . thus the dispersing of the matter into particular figures by an alteration of motion , we call death ; and the joyning of parts to create a figure , we call life . death is a separation , life is a contraction . of life . life is the extract , or spirit of common matter : ( † ) this extract is agile , being alwayes in motion ; for the thinnesse of this matter causes the subtelty of the quality , or property which quality , or property is to work upon all dull matter . this essence , or life , which are spirits of sense , move of themselves : for the dull part of matter moves not , but as it is moved thereby . their common motions are foure . atractive . retentive . digestive . expulsive . atractive is that which we call growth , or youth . retentive , is that we call strength . digestive is that we call health , that is an equall distribution of parts to parts , and agreeing of those sprits . expulsive is that which we call death , or decay . the attractive spirits gather , and draw the materialls together . the digestive spirits do cut and carve out every thing . the retentive do fit , and lay them in their proper places . the expulsive do pull down , and scatter them about . those spirits most commonly move according to the matter they worke on . for in spungy and in porous light matter , their motion is quick ; in solid , and weighty , their motion is slower . for the solid parts are not onely dull , and immoveable in themselves , but they hinder and * obstruct those spirits of sense , and though they cut and peirce through all , yet it is with more labour , and slower motion ; for their motions change according to the quantity and quality of that matter they meet with ; for that which is porous and spungy , the figures that they forme that matter in , are sooner made , and suddenlier destroyed , then that which is more combustible . this is the reason mineralls last longer then vegetables and animals , because that matter is both tougher and harder to worke on , then vegetables and animals are . these sensitive spirits we may similize to severall workmen , being alwayes busily imployed , removing , lifting , carrying , driving , drawing , digging , and the like . and although these spirits are of substance thinner then dull matter , yet they are stronger by reason of their subtlety , and motion , which motion gives them power : for they are of an acute quality , being the vitrioll , as it were , of nature , cut and divide all that opposeth their way . now these spirits although they be infinite , yet we cannot thinke them so grosse an infinite , as combustible matter , yet those thinner infinites may cut , and carve the thicker infinites all into severall figures : like as aqua-fort is will eate into the hardest iron , and divide it into small parts . as i have sayd before , the spirits of life worke according as the matter is , for every thing is shap'd according to the solidity of the matter ; like as a man which builds a house , makes the beames of the house of such wood , which is tough , and strong , because he knows otherwise it will breake , by reason of the great weight they are to bear ; but to make laths he takes his wood and cuts it thin , that the nayls may easier passe through , so joyning and fitting severall forts to proper uses to build his house . or like a cooke when he 's to raise a pye , must take stiffe dough ; for otherwise it will not onely fall before it be finished , but it cannot be raised , and to make the lids to cover his pye , hee must use a softer paste , otherwise it will not rowle thinn ; thus a stiffe paste is not fit for a lid , nor a thinner paste for to raise a pye ; it may make a cake , or so . so the spirits of life must make figures , as the matter is fit , and proper thereto , for the figure of man or the like ; the spirits of life take the solid and hard matter for the * bones : the glutinous matter for the sinews , nerves , muscles . and the like ; and the oyly matter for flesh , fat , marrow . so the fluid for blood , and such like matter . and the spirits themselves do give this dull matter , motion , not onely in the building of the figure , but to make the figure move when it is built . now the spirits of life , or lively spirits do not onely move dull and in moving matter , but makes that matter to move , and worke upon others ; for some kinde of figures shall make † another to resemble it selfe , though not just be as it selfe is made , but as the shadow like the substance ; for it workes as a hand that is guided by another , and not of its owne strength : that is the reason , arts have not so much persection as nature . the copy is not so lively as the originall ; for the spirits of life move , and work of their own strength , and the dull matter by the strength of the spirits . of change . the change of motion in severall figures makes all change and difference in the world , and their severall properties and effects thereto . and that which we call death , or corruption , is not * an absence of life , but an expulsive motion which doth annihilate those figures , that erecting motion hath made . so death is an annihilation of the print , not of the mould of figures ; for the moulds of those figures of mankinde , beast , or plant , of all kinds whatsoever , shall never be annihilated so long as motion and matter last , which may alwayes be ; for the mould of all figures is in the power of motion , and the substance of matter . of youth , or growth . thus spirits of sense work according to the substance of the matter : for if the matter be porous and light , they form those figures quicker , and dissolve them suddenly : but if their matter be solid and hard , they worke slower , which makes some figures longer ere they come to perfection , and not so easily undone . and if their strength be too weake for the matter they worke upon , as wanting helpe , then the figure is imperfect , and mishapen , as we say . this is the reason animals & vegetables , which are young , have not so great strength as when they are full growne ; because there are fewer spirits , and the materialls are loose and unsetled , not knockt close : but by degrees more spirits gather together , which helpe to forward their worke , bring in materialls by food , setling them by nourishment , carrying out by evacuations that matter that is unusefull , and that rubbish and chips , as i may say , which would hinder their motion . if they bring in unusefull matter , their figure increases not , as we say , thrives not . and if they carry out the principall materials , the figure decayes , and falls downe . but those parts of matter which are not spirits , do not carry that part of matter which is spirit , but the spirits carry the dull matter . thus the spirits , the innated matter , move in dull matter , and dull matter moveth by the spirits ; and if the matter be fine , and not grosse , which they build withall , and their motion be regular , then the figure is beautifull and well proportioned . of increasing . the reason that the corruption of one figure is the cause of making of another of the same kinde , is , not onely , that it is of such a tempered matter that can onely make such a kinde of figure ; but that the spirits make figures according to their strength : so that the spirits that are in the seed , when they have undone the figure they are in , by a generall expulsion , which we call corruption , they begin to create againe another figure of the same kinde , if no greater power hinder it . for the matter that is proper , to make such like figures , is fitted , or temper'd to their strengths . so as the temper of the matter , and the strength of the spirits , are the erectors of those figures eternally . and the reason , that from one seed , lesse , or more numbers are increased and raisd , is , that though few begin the work , more will come to their help ; and as their numbers are increased , their figures are more , or lesse , weaker , or stronger . of decay . when spirits of life have created a figure , and brought it to perfection ; if they did not pull it down again they would be idle having no work to do ; and idlenesse is against the nature of life , being a perpetuall mption . for as soon as a figure is perfected , the spirits generally move to an expulsive motion . this is the reason , that age hath not that strength as full-growth : but like an old house falling down by degrees , shed their haires or leaves , instead of tiles , the windowes broke downe , and stopped with rubbish . so eyes in animals grow hollow and dimme . and when the foundation of a house is loose , every little wind shakes it . so when the nerves being slack , and the muscles untyed , and the joynts unhing'd , the whole body is weak , and tottering , which we call palsies : which palsies , as the wind , shakes . the blood , as the springe dries up , rheumes as raine fals down , and vapours , as dust , flye up . of dead , and death . dead is , where there is a generall alteration of such motion , as is proper to such figures . but death is an annihilation of that print , or figure , by an expulsive motion : and as that figure dissolves , the spirits disperse about , carrying their severall burthens to the making of other figures . like as a house that is ruin'd by time , or spoyled by accident ; the severall materials are imployed to other uses ; sometimes to the building of an house again . but a house is longer a building then a pulling down , by reason of the cutting , carving , laying , carrying , placing , and fitting every part to make them joyn together ; so all the works of nature are sooner dissolv'd then created . of locall shapes . some shapes have power over others , but t is not alwaies in the size , or bulck of the figure , but in the manner of their formes that gives advantage , or disadvantage . a little mouse will run through the snowt of a great elephant : a little flye will sting a great figure to death ; a worm will wind through a thick body ; the lions force lies in his clawes , the horses in his hoofe , the dogs in his teeth , the bulls in his hornes , and mans in his armes , and hands ; birdes in their bills , and talons : and the manner of their shapes gives them severall properties , or faculties . as the shape of a bird causes them to flye , a worm to creep , the shape of a beast to run , the shape of fish to swim ; yet some flye swifter , and higher then others , as their wings are made : so some run nimbler then others , according as their limbs are made ; and some swim glider then others , according as their fins are made . but man surpasses the shape of all other creatures ; because he hath a part , as it were , of every shape . but the same motion , and the same matter , without the shape , could not give such externall properties ; since all internall properties are wrought out of dull matter . so as it is their shapes , joyned with such motions proper thereunto , that give strength , & agilenesse . but the internall qualities may be alike in every figure ; because rationall spirits worke not upon dull matter , but figures themselves . the visible motion in animals , vegetables , and minerals . the externall motions of animals are , running , turning , winding , tumbling , leaping , jumping , shoving , throwing , darting , climbing , creeping , drawing , heaving , lifting , carrying , holding , or staying , piercing , digging flying , swimming , diving . the internall motion , is , contriving , directing , examining , comparing , or judging , contemplating , or reasoning , approving , or disapproving , resolving . from whence arise all the passions , and severall dispositions . these , and the like , are the visible , internall motions in animals . the internall motions of vegetables , and minerals , are in operation ; as , contracting , dilating ; which is attractive , retentive , digestive , expulsive . the vegetables externall motion , is , increasing , decreasing , that is enlarging , or lasting ; although there may be matter not moving , yet there is no matter , which is not moved . of the working of severall motions of nature . motions do work according as they finde matter , that 's fit , and proper for each kinde . sensitive spirits work not all one way , but as the matter is , they cut , carve , lay . joyning together matter , solid light , and build , & form some figures streight upright ; or make them bending , and so jutting out : and some are large , and strong , and big about . and some are thick , and hard , and close unite ; others are flat , and low , and loose , and light . but when they meet with matter , fine , and thin , then they do weave , as spiders when they spin : all that is woven is soft , smooth , thin things , as flowry vegetables , & animall skins . observe the graine of every thing , you le see , like inter-woven threads lye evenly . and like to diaper , & damask wrought , in severall workes , that for our table 's bought . or like to carpets which the persian made , or sattin smooth , which is the florence trade . some matter they ingrave , like ring , and seale , which is the stamp of natures common-weale . t is natures armes , where she doth print on all her works , as coyne that 's in the mint . some severall sorts they joyn together glu'd . as matter solid , with some that 's fluid . like to the earthly ball , where some are mixt of severall sorts , although not fixt . for though the figure of the earth may last longer then others ; yet at last may waste . and so the sun , and moon , and planets all , like other figures , at the last may fall . the matter 's still the same , but motion may alter it into figures every way : yet keepe the property , to make such kind of figures fit , which motion out can find . thus may the figures change , if motion hurles that matter of her waies , for other worlds . of the minde . there is a degree of stronger spirits then the sensitive spirits , as it were the essence of spirits ; as the spirit of spirits : this is the minde , or soule of animalls . for as the sensitive spirits are a weak knowledge , so this is a stronger knowledge . as to similize them , i may say , there is as much difference betwixt them , as aqua fortis , to ordinary vitrioll . these rationall spirits , as i may call them , worke not upon dull matter , as the sensitive spirits do ; but only move in measure , and number , which make figures ; which figures are thoughts , as memory , understanding , imaginations , or fancy , and remembrance , and will . thus these spirits moving in measure , casting , and placing themselves into figures make a consort , and harmony by numbers . where the greater quantity , or numbers , are together of those rationall spirits , the more variety of figure is made by their severall motion , they dance severall dances according to their company . of their severall dances , or figures . what object soever is presented unto them by the senses , they straite dance themselves into that figure ; this is memory . and when they dance the same figure without the helpe of the outward object , this is remembrance when they dance figures of their owne invention , ( as i may say ) then that is imagination or fancie . understanding is when they dance perfectly ( as i may say ) not to misse the least part of those figures that are brought through the senses . will is to choose a dance , that is to move as they please , and not as they are perswaded by the sensitive spirits . but when their motion and measures be not regular , or their quantity or numbers sufficient to make the figures perfect , then is the minde weak and infirme , ( as i may say ) they dance out of time and measure . but where the greatest number of these , or quantity of these essences are met , and joyn'd in the most regular motion , there is the clearest understanding , the deepest judgement , the perfectest knowledge , the finest fancies , the more imagination , the stronger memory , the obstinatest will . but sometimes their motions may be regular ; but society is so small , so as they cannot change into so many severall figures : then we say he hath a weak minde , or a poor soule . but be their quantity or numbers few or great , yet if they move confusedly , and out of order , wee say the minde is distracted . and the reason the minde , or soule is improveable , or decayable , is , that the quantity or numbers are increaseable , or decreaseable , and their motions regular , and irregular . a feaver in the body is the same motion amongst the sensitive spirits , as madnesse is in the minde amongst the rationall spirits . so lkewise paine in the body is like those motions , that make griefe in the minde . so pleasure in the body is the like motions , as make delight , and joy in the minde , all convulsive motions in the body , are like the motions that cause feare in the minde . all expulsive motions amongst the rational spirits , are a dispersing their society ; as expulsity in the body , is the dispersing of dull matter by the sensitive spirits . all drugs have an opposite motion to the matter they work on , working by an expulsive motion ; and if they move strongly , having great quantity of spirits gathered together in a little dul matter , they do not only cast out superfluous matter , but pul down the very materials of a figure . but al cordials have a sympatheticall motion to the matter they meet , giving strength by their help to those spirits they finde tired : ( as one may say ) that it is to be over-power'd by opposite motions in dull matter . the sympathy , and antipathy of spirits . pleasure , and delight , discontent , and sorrow , which is love , and hate , is like light , and darknesse ; the one is a quick , equall , and free motion ; the other is a slow , irregular , and obstructed motion . when there is the like motion of rationall spirits in opposite figures , then there is a like understanding , and disposition . just as when there is the like motion in the sensitive spirits , then there is the like constitution of body . so when there is the like quantity laid in the same symmetry , then the figures agree in the same proportions , and lineaments of figures . the reason , that the rationall spirits in one figure , are delighted with the outward forme of another figure , is , that the motions of those sensitive spirits which move in that figure agree with the motion of the rationall spirits in the other . this is love of beauty ; and when the sensitive motions alter in the figure of the body , and the beauty decaies , then the motion of the rationall spirits alter , and the love , or goodliking ceases . if the motion of the rationall spirits are crosse to the motion of the sensitive spirits , in opposite figures , then it is dislike . so if the motion be just crosse , and contrary , of the rationall spirits in opposite figures , it is hate ; but if they agree , it is love . but these sympathies , which are made only by a likenesse of motions without an intermixture , last not longe ; because those spirits are at a distance , changing their motion without the knowledge , or consent of either side . but the way that the rationall spirits intermix , is , through the organs of the body , especially the eyes , and eares , which are the common doors , which let the spirits out , and in . for the vocall , and verbal motion from the mouth , carry the spirits through the eares down to the heart , where love , and hate is lodged . and the spirits from the eyes issue out in beames , and raies ; as from the sun , which heat , or scorch † the heart , which either raise a fruitful crop of love , making the ground fertile , or dries it so much , as makes it insipid , that nothing of good will grow there , unlesse stinking weeds of hate : but if the ground be fertile , although every crop is not so rich , as some , yet it never growes barren , unlesse they take out the strength with too much kindness ; as the old proverb , they kill with too much kindnesse ; which murther is seldome committed . but the rationall spirits † are apt to take surfet , as wel as sensitive spirits , which makes love , and good-will , so often to be ill rewarded , neglected , and disdain'd . the sympathy of sensitive , and rationall spirits in one figure . there is a stronge sympathy , and agreement , or affection ( as i may say ) betwixt the rationall spirits , and the sensitive spirits joyned in one figure : like fellow-labourers that assist one another , to help to finish their work . for when they disagree , as the rationall spirits will move one way sometimes , and the sensitive spirits another ; that is , when reason strives to abate the appetite of the senses ; yet it is by a loving direction , rather to admonish them by a gentle contrary motion for them to imitate , and follow in the like motions ; yet it is , as they alwayes agree at last ; like the father , and the son . for though the father rules by command , and the son obeies through obedience , yet the father out of love to his son , as willing to please him , submits to his delight , although (†) it is against his liking . so the rationall spirits oftimes agree with the motions of the sensitive spirits , although they would rather move another way . the sympathy of the rationall and sensitive spirits , to the figure they make , and inhabit . all the externall motion in a figure , is , by the sensitive spirits ; and all the internall , by the rationall spirits : and when the rationall , and sensitive spirits , disagree in opposite figures , by contrary motion , they oft war upon one another ; which to defend , the sensitive spirits , and rationall spirits , use all their force , and power in either figure ; to defend , or to assault , to succour , or to destroy , through an aversion made by contrary motions in each other . now the rationall spirits do not only choose the materialls for their defence , or assault , but do direct the sensitive spirits in the management thereof ; and according to the strength of the spirits of either side , the victory is gain'd , or lost . if the body be weak , there is lesse sensitive spirit , if the direction be not advantageous , there is lesse rationall spirit . but many times the alacrity of the rationall and sensitive spirits , made by moving in a regular motion , overcomes the greater numbers , being in a disorder'd motion . thus what is lost by scarcity , is regain'd by conformity and unity . of pleasure , and paine . all evacuations have an expulsive motion ; if the expulsive motion is regular , t is pleasure , if irregular , t is paine . indeed , all irregular , and crosse motion , is paine ; all regular motion is pleasure , and delight , being a harmony of motion , or a discord of motion . of the minde . imagine the rationall essence , or spirits , like little sphericall bodies of quick-silver several ways (†) placing themselves in several figures , sometimes moving in measure , and in order , and sometimes out of order : this quick-silver to be the minde , and their severall postures made by motion , the passions , and affections ; or all that is moving in a minde , to expresse those severall motions , is onely to be done by guesse , not by knowledge , as some few i will guesseat . love is , when they move in equall number , and even measure . hate is an opposite motion : feare is , when those small bodies tumble on a heap together without order . anger is , when they move without measure , and in no uniforme figure . inconstancy is , when they move swistly severall wayes . constancy is a circular motion . doubt , and suspition , and jealousie , are , when those small bodies move with odd numbers . hope is when those small bodies move like wilde geese , one after another . admiration is , when those sphericall bodies gather close together , knitting so , as to make such a circular figure ; and one is to stand for a center or point in the midst . humility is a creeping motion . joy is a hopping , skipping motion . ambition is a lofty motion , as to move upwards , or * higher then other motions . coveting , or ambition is like a flying motion , moving in severall figures like that which they covet for ; if they covet for fame , they put themselves into such figures , as letters do , that expresse words , which words are such praises as they would have , or such figures as they would have statues cutt , or pictures drawne : but all their motion which they make , is according to those figures with which they sympathize and agree : besides , their motion and figures are like the sound of musick ; though the notes differ , the cords agree to make a harmony : so several symmetries make a perfect figure , severall figures make a just number , and severall quantities or proportions make a just weight , and severall lines make an even measure : thus equall may be made out of divisions eternally , and infinitely . and because the figures and motions of the infinite spirits which they move , and make , are infinite , i cannot give a finall description : besides , their motion is so subtle , curious , and intricate , as they are past finding out . some naturall motions work so curious fine , none can perceive , unlesse an eye divine . of thinking , or the minde , and thoughts . one may think , and yet not of any particular thing ; that is , one may have sense , and not thoughts : for thoughts are when the minde takes a particular notice of some outward object , or inward idea ; but thinking is only a sense without any particular notice . as for example ; those that are in a great feare , and are amazed , the minde is in confus'd sense , without any particular thoughts : but when the minde is out of that amaze , it fixes it selfe on particulars , and then have thoughts of past danger ; but the minde can have no particular thought of the amaze ; for the minde cannot call to minde that which was not . likewise when we are asleep , the mind is not out of the body , nor the motion that makes the sense of the minde ceast , which is thinking ; but the motion that makes the thoughts therein work upon particulars . thus the minde may bee without thoughts , but thoughts cannot be without the minde : yet thoughts go out of the minde very oft , that is , such a motion to such a thing is ceast ; and when that motion is made again , it returns . thus thinking is the minde , and thoughts the effect thereof : thinking is an equall motion without a figure , or as when we feele heat , and see no fire . of the motions of the spirits . if it be , as probably it is , that all sensitive spirits live in dull matter ; so rationall spirits live in sensitive spirits , according to the shape of those figures that the sensitive spirits form them . the rationall spirits by moving severall waies , may make severall kindes of knowledge , and according to the motions of the sensitive spirits in their severall figures they make , though the spirits may be the same , yet their severall motions may be unknown to each other . like as a point , that writes upon a table-book , which when the letter that was writ thereon , is rub'd out , the table is as plain , as if there was never any letter thereon ; but though the letters are out , yet the table-book , and pen remaine . so although this motion is gone , the spirit , and matter remaine ; but if those spirits make other kindes of motions , like other kindes of letters , or language , those motions understand not the first , nor the first understands not them , being as severall languages . even so it may be in a sound ; for that kind of knowledge the figure had in the sound , which is an alteration of the motion of the rationall spirits , caus'd by an alteration of the motion of the sensitive spirits in dull matter : and by these disorderly motions , other motions are ru'bd out of the table-book , which is the matter that was moved . but if the same kind of letters be writ in the same place again ; that is , when the spirits move in the same motion , then the same knowledge is in that figure , as it was before ; the other kind of knowledge , which was made by other kind of motion , is rub'd out ; which severall knowledge is no more known to each other , then severall languages by unlearned men . and as language is still language , though not understood , so knowledge is still knowledge , although not generall ; but if they be that , we call dead , then those letters that were rubbed out , were never writ again ; which is , the same knowledge never returnes into the same figure . thus the spirits of knowledge , or the knowledge of spirits , which is their severall motions , may be ignorant , and unacquainted with each other : that is , that some motion may not know how other motions move , not only in several spirits , but in one and the same spirit ; no more then every effect can know their cause : and motion is but the effect of the spirits , which spirits are a thin , subtle matter : for there would be no motion if there were no matter ; for nothing can move : but there may be matter without selfe-motion , but not selfe-motion without matter . matter prime knowes not what effects shall be , or how their severall motions will agree . because † t is infinite , and so doth move eternally , in which nothing can prove . for infinite doth not in compasse lye , nor hath eternall lines to measure by . knowledge is there none , to comprehend that which hath no beginning , nor no end . perfect knowledge comprises all can be , but nothing can comprise eternity . destiny , and fates , or what the like we call , in infinites they no power have at all . nature hath generosity enough to give all figures case , whilst in that form they live . but motion which innated matter is by running crosse , each severall paines it gives . of the creation of the animall figure . the reason , † that the sensitive spirits , when they begin to create an animal figure , the figure that is created feels it not , untill the modell be finished , that is , it cannot have an animall motion , untill it hath an animall figure ; for it is the shape which gives it locall motion : and after the fabrick is built , they begin to furnish it with † strength , and inlarge it with growth , and the rationall spirit which inhabits it , chooseth his room , which is the head ; and although some rationall spirits were from the first creating it , yet had not such motions , as when created : besides , at first they have not so much company , as to make so much change , as to take parts , like instruments of musick , which cannot make so much division upon few strings as upon more . the next , the figure being weak , their motions cannot be strong ; besides , before the figure is inlarged by growth , they want room to move in . this is the reason , that new-borne animalls seeme to have no knowledge , especially man ; because the spirits do neither move so strong , nor have such variety of change , for want of company to make a consort . yet some animalls have more knowledge then others , by reason of their strength , as all beasts know their dams , and run to their dugs , and know how to suck as soone as they are borne ; and birds and children , and the like weak creatures , such do not . but the spirits of sense give them strength , and the spirits of reason do direct them to their food , (†) & the spirits of sense give them taste , and appetite , and the spirits of reason choose their meat : for all animall creatures are not of one dyet , for that which will nourish one , will destroy another . the gathering of spirits . if the rationall spirits should enter into a figure newly created , altogether , and not by degrees , a childe ( for example ) would have as much understanding and knowledge in the womb , or when it is new-borne , as when it is inlarged and fully grown . but we finde by experience there are severall sorts and degrees of knowledge and understanding , by the recourse of spirits : which is the reason , some figures have greater proportion of understanding and knowledge , and sooner then others ; yet it is increased by degrees , according as rationall spirits increase . like as children , they must get strength before they can go . so learning and experience increase rationall spirits , as food the sensitive : but experience and learning is not alwayes tyed to the eare ; for every organ and pore of the body is as severall doores to let them in and out : for the rationall spirits living with the sensitive spirits , come in , and go out with them , but not in equall proportion , but sometimes more , sometimes fewer : this makes understanding more perfect in health then in sicknesse , and in our middle age , more then in the latter age : for in age and sicknesse there is more carryed out , then brought in . this is the reason , children have not such understanding , but their reason increaseth with their yeares . but the rationall spirits may be similized † to a company of good fellows , which have pointed a meeting ; and the company coming from severall places , makes their time the longer ere their numbers are compleated , though many a braine is disappointed ; but in some figures the rooms are not commodious to move in , made in their creation , for want of helpe : those are changelings , innocents , or naturall fooles . the rationall spirits seem most to delight in spungy , soft , and liquid matter ; as in the blood , brain , nerves , and in vegetables ; as not only being neerest to their own nature , but having more room to move in . this makes the rationall spirits to choose the head in animals , for their chiefe room to dance their figures in : (†) for the head is the biggest place that hath the spungy materialls ; thus as soon as a figure is created , those rationall spirits choose a room . the moving of innate matter . though motion makes knowledge , yet the spirits give motion : for those spirits , or essences , are the guiders , governours , directers ; the motions are but their instruments , the spirits are the cause , motion but an effect therefrom : for that thin matter which is spirits , can alter the motion , but motion cannot alter the matter , or nature of those essences , or spirits ; so as the same spirits may be in a body , but not one and the same knowledge , because not the same motion , that made that knowledge . as for example ; how many severall touches belong to the body ? for every part of the body hath a severall touch , which is a severall knowledge belonging to every severall part ; for every severall part doth not know , and feele every severall touch . for when the head akes , the heele feels it not , but only the rationall spirits which are free from the incumbrance of dull matter , they are agile , and quick to take notice of every particular touch , in , or on every part of the figure . the like motions of a paine in the body . the like motion of the rationall spirits , we call a griefe in the mind ; for touch in the body , is a thought in the mind ; and to prove it is the like motion of the rationall spirits to the sensitive , which makes the knowledge of it , is , that when the rationall spirits are busily moved with some fantasmes , if any thing touches the body , it is not known to the rationall spirits , because the rationall spirits move not in such a motion , as to make a thought in the head , of the touch in the heele , which makes the thoughts to be as senselesse of that touch , as any other part of the body , that hath not such paines made by such motions . and shall we say , there is no sense in the heele , because no knowledge of it in the head ? we may as well say , that when an object stands just before an eye that is blind , either by a contrary motion of the thoughts inward , by some deep contemplation , or otherwise : we may as well say there is no outward object , because the rationall spirits take no notice of that object ; t is not , that the stronger motion stops the lesse , or the swifter , the flower ; for then the motions of the planets would stop one anothers course . some will say , what sense hath man , or any other animall when they are dead ? it may be answered , that the figure , which is a body , may have sense , but not the animall ; for that we call an animall , is such a temper'd matter joyn'd in such a figure , moving with such kind of motions ; but when those motions do generally alter , that are proper to an animall , although the matter , and figure remain , yet it is no longer an animall , because those motions that help it to make an animall are ceas'd : so as the animall can have no more knowledge of what kind of sense the figure hath , ( because it is no more an animall ) then an animall , what sense dust hath . and that is the reason , that when any part is dead in an animall , if that those motions that belonged to the animall , are ceas'd in that part , which alter it from being a part of the animall , and knowes no more what sense it hath , then if a living man should carry a dead man upon his shoulders , what sense the dead man feels , whether any , or no . of matter , motion , and knowledge or understanding . whatsoever hath an innate motion , hath knowledge ; and what matter soever hath this innate motion , is knowing : but according to the severall motions , are severall knowledges made ; for knowledge lives in motion , as motion lives in matter : for though the kind of matter never alters , yet the manner of motions alters in that matter : and as motions alter , so knowledge differs , which makes the severall motions in severall figures , to give severall knowledge . and where there is a likenesse of motion , there is a likenesse of knowledge : as the appetite of sensitive spirits , and the desire of rationall spirits are alike motions in severall degrees of matter . and the touch in the heel , or any part of the body else , is the like motion , as the thought thereof in the head ; the one is the motion of the sensitive spirits , the other in the rationall spirits , as touch from the sensitive spirits : for thought is only a strong touch , & touch a weake thought . so sense is a weak knowledge , and knowledge a strong sense , made by the degrees of the spirits : for animall spirits are stronger ( as i sayd before ) being of an higher extract ( as i may say ) in the chymistry of nature , which makes the different degrees in knowledge , by the difference in strengths and finenesse , or subtlety of matter . of the animall figure . whatsoever hath motion hath sensitive spirits ; and what is there on earth that is not wrought , or made into figures , and then undone again by these spirits ? so that all matter is moving , or moved , by the movers ; if so , all things have sense , because all things have of these spirits in them ; and if sensitive spirits , why not rationall spirits ? for there is as much infinite of every severall degree of matter , as if there were but one matter : for there is no quantity in infinite ; for infinite is a continued thing . if so , who knowes , but vegetables and mineralls may have some of those rationall spirits , which is a minde or soule in them , as well as man ? onely they want that figure ( with such kinde of motion proper thereunto ) to expresse knowledge that way . for had vegetables and mineralls the same shape , made by such motions , as the sensitive spirits create ; then there might be wooden men , and iron beasts ; for though marks do not come in the same way , yet the same marks may come in , and be made by the same motion ; for the spirits are so subtle , as they can passe and repasse through the solidest matter . thus there may be as many severall and various motions in vegetables and mineralls , as in animals ; and as many internall figures made by the rationall spirits ; onely they want the animall , to expresse it the animall way . and if their knowledge be not the same knowledge , but different from the knowledge of animalls , by reason of their different figures , made by other kinde of motion on other tempered matter , yet it is knowledge . for shall we say , a man doth not know , because hee doth not know what another man knows , or some higher power ? what an animall is . an animall is that which wee call sensitive spirit ; that is , a figure that hath locall motion ; that is , such a kinde of figure with such kinde of motions proper thereunto . but when there is a generall alteration of those motions in it , then it is no more that we call animall ; because the locall motion is altered ; yet we cannot knowingly say , it is not a sensitive creature , so long as the figure lasts : besides when the figure is dissolved , yet every scattered part may have sense , as long as any kinde of motion is in it ; and whatsoever hath an innate motion , hath sense , either increasing or decreasing motion ; but the sense is as different as the motions therein , because those properties belonging to such a figure are altered by other motions . of sense and reason exercised in their different shapes . if every thing hath sense and reason , then there might be beasts , and birds , and fish , and men : as vegetables and minerals , had they the animall shape to expresse that way ; and vegetables & minerals may know , as man , though like to trees and stones they grow . then corall trouts may through the water glide , and pearled menows swim on either side ; and mermayds , which in the sea delight , might all be made of watry lillies white ; set on salt watry billows as they flow , which like green banks appeare thereon to grow . and marriners i th' midst their shipp might stand , in stead of mast , hold sayles in either hand . on mountaine tops the golden fleece might feed , some hundred yeares their ewes bring forth their breed . large deere of oake might through the forrest run , leaves on their heads might keepe them from the sun ; in stead of shedding hornes , their leaves might fall , and acornes to increase a wood of fawnes withall . then might a squerrill for a nut be crackt , if nature had that matter so compact : and the small sprouts which on the husk do grow , might be the taile , and make a brushing show . then might the diamonds which on rocks oft lye , be all like to some little sparkling flye . then might a leaden hare , if swiftly run , melt from that shape , and so a (†) pig become . and dogs of copper-mouths sound like a bell ; so when they kill a hare , ring out his knell . hard iron men shall have no cause to feare to catch a fall , when they a hunting were . nor in the wars should have no use of armes , nor fear'd to fight ; they could receive no harmes . for if a bullet on their breasts should hit , fall on their back , but strait-waies up may get . or if a bullet on their head do light . may make them totter , but not kill them quite . and stars be like the birds with twinckling wing , when in the aire they flye , like larks might sing . and as they flye , like wandring planets shew , their tailes may like to blazing comets grow . when they on trees do rest themselves from flight , appeare like fixed stars in clouds of night . thus may the sun be like a woman faire , and the bright beames be as her flowing haire . and from her eyes may cast a silver light , and when she sleeps , the world be as dark night . or women may of alabaster be , and so as smooth as polisht ivory . or , as cleer christall , where heartes may be shown , and all their falsehoods to the world be known . or else be made of rose , and lillies white , both faire , and sweet , to give the soule delight . or else bee made like tulips fresh in may , by nature drest , cloath'd severall colours gay . thus every yeare there may young virgins spring , but wither , and decay , as soon agen . while they are fresh , upon their breast might set great swarmes of bees , from thence sweet honey get . or , on their lips , for gilly-flowers , flies drawing delicious sweet that therein lies . thus every maid , like severall flowres shew , not in their shape , but like in substance grow . then teares which from oppressed hearts do rise , may gather into clouds within the eyes : from whence those teares , like showres of raine may flow upon the bancks of cheeks , where roses grow . after those showres of raine , so sweet may smell , perfuming all the aire , that neer them dwell . but when the sun of joy , and mirth doth rise , darting forth pleasing beames from loving eyes . then may the buds of modesty unfold , with full blown confidence the sun behold . but griefe as frost them nips , and withering dye , in their owne (†) podds intombed lye . thus virgin cherry trees , where blossomes blow , so red ripe cherries on their lips may grow . or women plumtrees at each fingers end , may ripe plummes hang , and make their joynts to bend . men sicomores , which on their breast may write their amorous verses , which their thoughts indite . mens stretched arms may be like spreading vines , where grapes may grow , soe drinke of their own wine . to plant large orchards , need no paines nor care , for every one their sweet fresh fruit may beare . then silver grasse may in the meadowes grow , which nothing but a sithe of fire can mow . the wïnd , which from the north a journey takes , may strike those silver strings , and musick make . thus may another world , though matter still the same , by changing shapes , change humours , properties , and name . thus colossus , a statue wonderous great , when it did fall , might strait get on his feet . where ships , which through his leggs did swim , he might have blow'd their sailes , or else have drown'd them quite . the golden calfe that israel joy'd to see , might run away from their idolatry . the basan bul of brasse might be , when roare , his mettl'd throat might make his voice sownd more . the hil , which mahomet did call , might come at the first word , or else away might run . thus pompey's statue might rejoyce to see , when kill'd was caesar , his great enemy . the wooden-horse that did great troy betray , have told what 's in him , and then run away . achilles armes against ulisses plead , and not let wit against true valour speed . of the dispersing of the rationall spirits . some think , that the rationall spirits flye out of animals , ( or that animall we call man ) like a swarm of bees , when they like not their hives , finding some inconvenience , seek about for another habitation : or leave the body , like rats , when they finde the house rotten , and ready to fall ; or scar'd away like birds from their nest. but where should this swarm , or troop , or flight , or essences go , unlesse they think this thin matter is an essence , evaporates to nothing ? as i have said before , the difference of rationall spirits , and sensitive spirits , is , that the sensitive spirits make figures out of dull matter : the rationall spirits put themselves into figure , placing themselves with number , and measure ; this is the reason when animals dye , the externall forme of that animall may be perfect , and the internall motion of the spirits quite alter'd ; yet not absent , nor dispersd , untill the annihilating of the externall figure : thus it is not the matter that alters , but the motion and forme . some figures are stronger built then others , which makes them last longer : for some , their building is so weak , as they fall as soon as finished ; like houses that are built with stone , or timber , although it might be a stone-house , or timber-house , yet it may be built not of such a sort of stone , or such a sort of timber . of the senses . the pores of the skin receive touch , as the eye light , the eare sound , the nose scent , the tongue tast . thus the spirits passe , and repasse by the holes , they peirce through the dull matter , carrying their severall burthens out , & in , yet it is neither the burthen , nor the passage that makes the different sense , but the different motion ; † for if the motion that comes through the pores of the skin , were as the motions that come from the eye , eare , nose , mouth , then the body might receive sound , light , scent , tast , all over as it doth touch . of motion that makes light . if the same motion that is made in the head did move in the heele , there would appeare a light to the sense of that part of the figure ; unlesse they will make such matter as the braine to be infinite , and onely in the head of an animall . opticks . there may be such motion in the braine , as to make light , although the sun never came there to give the first motion : for two opposite motions may give a light by reflection , unlesse the sun , and the eye have a particular motion from all eternity : as we say an eternal monopoler of such a kind of motion as makes light . of the flowing of the spirits . the spirit 's like to ants , in heapes they lye , the hill they make , is the round ball , the eye . from thence they run to fetch each object in , the braine receives , and stores up all they bring . and in the eares , like hives , as bees they swarm , buzzing , and humming , as in summers warm . and when they flye abroad , they take much paine , to bring in fine conceits into the braine . of which , as wax , they make their severall cells , in workes of poetry , which wit still fills : and on the tongue , they sit as flowres sweet , sucking their honey from delicious meat . then to the nose , like birds they flye , there pick up sweet perfumes , in stead of spices stick . of which within the braine they build a nest , to which delight , or else to take their rest . but in the porous skin , they spread as sheep , and feeding cattell which in meadowes keep . of motion , and matter . why may not vegetables have light , sound , taste , touch , as well as animals , if the same kind of motion moves the same kind of matter in them ? for who knowes , but the sappe in vegetables may be of the same substance , and degree of the braine : and why may not all the senses be inherent in a figure , if the same motion moves the same matter within the figure , as such motion without the figure ? of the braine . the braine in animals is like clouds , which are sometimes swell'd full with vapour , and sometimes rarified with heat , and mov'd by the sensitive spirits to severall objects , as the cloudes are mov'd by the wind to severall places . the winds seem to be all spirits , because they are so agile , and quick . of darknesse . to prove that darknesse hath particular motions which make it , as well as motion makes light , is , that when some have used to have a light by them while they sleep , will , as soon as the light goeth out , awake ; for it darknesse had no motion , it would not strike upon the optick nerve . but as an equall motion makes light , and a perturb'd motion makes colour , which is between light , & darknesse : so darknesse is an opposite motion to those motions that make light ; for though light is an equall motion , yet it is such a kind , or sort of motion . of the sun . why may not the sun be of an higher extract then the rationall spirits , and be like glasse , which is a high extract in chymistry , and so become a (†) shining body ? if so , sure it hath a great knowledge ; for the sun seemes to be composed of purer spirits , without the mixture of dull matter ; for the motion is quick , and subtle , as wee may finde by the effect of the light , and heat . of the cloudes . the cloudes seem to be of such spungy , and porous matter , as the raine , and aire , like the sensitive spirits that form , and move it , and the sun the rationall spirit to give them knowledge : and as moist vapours from the stomack rise , and gathering in the braine , flow through the eyes ; so do the clouds send forth , as from the braine , the vapours which do rise in showres . of the motion of the planets . the earth , sun , moon , the rest of planets all are mov'd by that , we vitall spirits call . and like to animals , some move more slow , and other some by quicker motion go . and as some creatures by their shapes do flye , some swim , some run , some creep , some riseth high . so planets by their shapes about do wind , all being made , like circles , round we find . the motion of the sea . the sea 's more quick , then fresher waters are , the reason is , more vitall spirits are there . and as the planets move still round about , so seas do ebb , & flow , both in , & out . as arrowes flye up , far as strength them lend , and then for want of strength do back descend . so do the seas in ebbes-run back againe , for want of strength , their length for to maintaine . but why they ebb , and flow , at certain times , is like the lungs that draw , and breath out wind . just so do seas draw back , and then do flow , as constant as the lungs do to and fro : alwaies in motion , never lying still , the empty place they leave , turn back to fill . we may as well inquire of nature , why animals breath in such a space of time , as the seas ebb , and flow in such a space of time . i could have inlarged my booke with the fancies of the severall motions , which makes the several effects of the sun , planets , or the suns ( i may say ) as the fixed stars : and whether they have not cast knowledge , and understanding by their various , and quicke , and subtle motions ; and whether they do not order and dispose other creatures , by the power of their supreamer motions . what motions make civil wars , and whether the aire causes it , or not ? whether the stars , and planets work not upon the disposition of severall creatures , and of severall effects , joyning as one way ? what motion makes the aire pestilent , and how it comes to change into severall diseases ? and whether diseases are just alike , and whether they differ as the faces of men do ? why some figures are apt to some diseases , and others not ? and why some kinde of drugs , or cordialls , will worke on some diseases , and not on others ? and why some drugs have strong effects upon some humours , and not upon others ? and why physicke should purge , and how some cordials will rectifie the disorderly motion in a distemper'd figure ? why some ground will beare some sorts of seeds , and not others ? why same food will nourish some figures , and destroy others ? how naturall affection is bred in the wombe . what makes a naturall aversion from some creatures to others , and what causes an unnaturalnsse to their owne kind and breed ? what motion makes thunder , lightning , vvinde , earthquakes , cold , ice , snow , haile , rain , what motions makes drought , heat . why the sun should give light , and not the other planets . what motions make fire , aire , water , earth . what manner of motions make sense . why some have haire , some wool , some feathers , some scales , and some onely skin . and why some vegetables beare some leaves , some none , some fruit , some none . and what motion makes particular taste , scent , colour , touch ; and why all do touch , not taste alike : and whether they be inherent , or not ; and how they may be inherent in every figure proper thereto , and yet another figure receive them in another sense : and how it comes , that some figures have more of some sense , then others , and what makes the society of every kinde of figure , and what makes the war with others , and amongst themselves : and how such degrees of matter with such kinde of motions , make the difference in vegetables , minerals , and animals ; and why such shapes must of necessity have such properties , and why some shapes have power over other shapes ; and why some shapes have power over some motions , and some motions over some shapes , and some motions over other motions , and what the severall effects are of severall shapes , and severall motions . what makes that which is fulsome , and nauceous , pleasant , and savory ; whether they are inherent , or not , whether they are in the contained , or the containing ; or whether a sympathy or likenesse from both , and so of all the senses ; whether the outward motition cause the sense , or the inward motion ; or whether the inward motion moves to the inward matter , or with the outward matter , and inward matter , agreeing in the like motions . and what the reason may bee , to make some creatures agree in some element , and not in others : as what 's the reason a beast , or a man , or fowles , cannot live in the water , or fish live long out of the water . and whether there may not bee a sympathy naturally betwixt some beasts , to other , although of a different figure , more then to others , by some secret , and obscure motions ; and whether the severall dispositions of men , may not have a naturall likeuesse , or sympathy to the severall dispositions , and natures of beasts . what causes the severall sorts of creatures to keep in particular societies , as in commonwealths , flocks , heards , droves , flights , covies , broods , eyes , swarmes , sholes , and of their particular enmity from some sorts to others , and their affections , love to others , their factions , side-takings , and disagreeings in their owne society , their craft and policies of selfe-love , and preservation , and their tender love and assistance to their young . what makes superstition : and many more . but fancy , which is the effect of motion , is as infinite as motion ; which made me despaire of a finall conclusion of my booke ; which makes my booke imperfect , and my fancies unsettled : but that which i have writ , will give my readers so much light , as to guesse what my fancies would have beene at . a dialogue between the body , and the minde . i write , and write , and 't may be never read ; my bookes , and i , all in a grave lye dead . no memory will build a monument , nor offer praise unto the soules content . but howsoever , soule , lye still at rest , to make thy fame to live , have done the best . for all the wit that nature to me gave , i set it forth , for to adorne thy grave . but if the ruines of oblivion come , t is not my fault , for what i can , is done . for all the life that nature to me lends about thy worke , and in thy service spends . but if thou thinkst , i take not paines , pray speake , before we part , my body is but weak . soule . braine thou hast done thy best , yet thou mightst go to the grave learned , their subtle tricks to know : and aske them , how such fame they do beget , when they do write , but of anothers wit . for they have little of their owne , but what they have from others braines , and fancies got . body . o soule ! i shall not need to take such paines , the labour will be more then all the gaines : for why ! the world doth cosen and so cheat , by railing at those authors wits they get ; muffling & hiding of their authors face , by some strange language , or by some disgrace . their wit into an anagram they make , that anagram for their owne wit they take . and here , & there they do a fancy steale , and so of strangers make a common-weale . tell to the world they are true natives bred , when they were borne all in another head . and with translating wit they march along , with understanding praise they grow so strong , that they do rule , by conquering fames great court : from whence they send out all their false report . this is the way my soule that they do use , by different language do the world abuse . therefore lye still thou troubled restless spirit , seek not for fame , unlesse thou hast a merit . soule . body , when thou art gone , then i dye too , unlesse some great act in thy life thou do : but prethee be not thou so wondrous nice , to set my fame at a great merits price . body . alas , what can i do to make thee live , unlesse some wise instructions thou canst give ? can you direct me to some noble act , wherein vain-glory makes no false compact ? can you direct me which way i shall take , those that are in distress , happy to make ? soule . no , that 's unpossible , unlesse all hearts could be divided into equall parts . body . then prethee be content , seek thou no more ; t is fortune makes the world to worship , and adore . a request to my friends . when i am dead , and buried lye within a grave ; if friends passe by , let them not turn away their sight , because they would forget me quite : but on my grave a teare let fall , and me unto remembrance call . then may my ashes rise , that teare to meet , receive it in my urne like balsome sweet . o you that are my dearest friends , do not , when i am dead , lye in the grave forgot , but let me in your mind , as one thought be ; so shall i live still in your memory . if you had dyed , my heart still should have been a room to keep , and hang your picture in . my thoughts should copies pencill every day , teares be the oyle , for colours on to lay . my lips shall mixe thy severall colour'd praise , by words compounded , various severall waies . innocent white , and azure truth agree , with modest red , purple in grain to bee . and many more , which rhetorick still can place , shadowes of griefe , to give a lively grace . an elegy . her corps was borne to church on gray goose wing , her sheet was paper white to lap her in . and cotten dyed with inke , her covering black , with letters for her scutcheons print in that . fancies bound up with verse , a garland made , and at the head , upon her hearse was laid . and numbers ten did beare her to the grave , the muses nine a monument her gave . i heare that my first booke was thought to be none of mine owne fancies ; onely , i owne it with my name . if any thinke my booke so well writ , as that i had not the wit to do it , truely i am glad , for my wits sake , if i have any that is thought so well of ; although mistrust lies betwixt me , and it ; and if it be so little wit in it , as they mistrust it was not mine ; i am glad they thinke me to have so much , as i could not write so foolish . and truely for any friend of mine , as i have none so cowardly , that dare not defend their honour , so i have none so foolish , as to be affear'd , or asham'd to owne their owne writings . and truely i am so honest , as not to steale anothers work , and give it my owne name : nor so vaine-glorious , as to straine to build up a fame upon the ground of another mans wit . but be it bad , or good , it is my owne , unlesse in printing t is a changeling grown . which sure i have no reason for to doubt , it hath the same mark , when i put it out . but be it faire , or brown , or black , or wilde , i still must own it , 'cause it is my childe . and should my neighbours say , t is a dull block , t is honestly begot , of harmlesse stock . by motion in my braine t was form'd , and bred , by my industrious study it was fed . and by my busie pen was cloathd , though plain the garments be , yet are they without stain . but be it nere so plain , not rich , and gay , phantasticall t is drest , the world will say . the world thinks all is fine , that 's in the fashion , though it be old , if fashion'd with translation . they nere consider what becomes them best , but think all fooles , that are not courtly drest . o nature , nature , why dost thou create so many fooles , and so few wife didst make ? good nature , move their braine another way , and then as beasts as beasts , perchance they may . lord how the world delight to tell a lye ! as if they thought they sav'd a soule thereby . more lyes they tell , then they will prayers say , and run about to vent them every way . some bragging lyes , and then he tells how free the ladies were , when he 's in company . or else what such a lord did say to him , and so what answer he return'd to them . or any action which great fame hath won , then he saies streight , t was by his counsell done . when any wit , that comes abroad in print , then he sayes strait he had a finger in 't : how he did rectifie , and mend the same , or else he wrote it all , or gav 't a name . thus in the world thousands of lyes are told , which none , but fooles , their words for truth will hold . but in the world there are more fooles then wise , which makes them passe for truth , when all are lyes . j begun a booke about three yeares since , which i intend to name the worlds ollio , and when i come into flaunders where those papers are , i will , if god give me live , and health , finish it , and send it forth in print . i imagine all those that have read my former books , wil say , that i have writ enough , unless they were better : but say what you will , it pleaseth me , and since my delights are harmlesse , i will satisfie my humour . for had my braine as many fancies in 't , to fill the world , would put them all in print . no matter whether they be well exprest , my will is done , and that please woman best . a farewell to the muses . farewell my muse , thou gentle harmlesse spirit , that us'd to haunt me in the dead of night . and on my pillow , where my head i laid , thou sit'st close by , and with my fancies play'd : sometimes upon my eyes you dancing skip , making a vision of some fine land-skip . thus with your sportings , kept me oft awake , not with your noise , for nere a word you spake : but with your faiery dancing , circling winde , upon a hill of thoughts within my minde . when t was your sport to blow out every light , then i did rest , and sleep out all the night . great god , from thee all infinites do flow , and by thy power from thence effects do grow . thou order'dst all degrees of matter , just , as t is thy will , and pleasure , move it must . and by thy knowledge orderd'st all the best ; for in thy knowledge doth thy wisdome rest . and wisdome cannot order things amisse , for where disorder is , no wisdome is . besides , great god , thy wil is just , for why , thy will still on thy wisdome doth rely . o pardon lord , for what i here now speak , upon a guesse , my knowledge is but weak , but thou hast made such creatures , as man-kind , and giv'st them something , which we call a minde ; alwaies in motion , never quiet lyes , untill the figure of his body dies . his severall thoughts , which severall motions are , do raise up love , hopes , joyes , doubts , and feare . as love doth raise up hope , so feare doth doubt , which makes him seek to finde the great god out . selfe-love doth make him seek to finde , if he came from , or shaell last to eternity . but motion being slow , makes knowledge weake , and then his thoughts 'gainst ignorance doth beat . as fluid waters 'gainst hard rocks do flow , break their soft streames , and so they backward go . just so do thoughts , and then they backward slide unto the place where first they did abide . and there in gentle murmurs do complaine , that all their care , and labour is in vain . but since none knowes the great creator , must man seek no more , but in his goodnesse trust . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a53057e-140 reason . thoughts . notes for div a53057e-6090 i mean of forme , dull matter . some think there was a chaos , a confused heap . the readers may take either opinion . severall motions , and severall figures . (†) not the matter , but the degrees (†) not the bigness of figures , but the manner of shapes : which makes some shapes to have the advantage over others much bigger , as a mouse will kill an elephant . (†) which is in likenesse . (†) unlikenesse . one shape hath power over another ; one minde knowes more then another . either by growth , or sense , or reason . for when matter comes to such a degree it quickens , that it begins to move , & motion is life . * i meane when i say obstruct , that it either turnes their motion another way , or makes them move slower . * i do not say that bones are the solid'st matter in nature . † as the figure of man. * all motion is life . i mean the figure of dul matter as a plentifull crop , or a great brood . these degrees are visible to us . dancing is a measur'd motion . † scorching is , when the motion is too quick . † that is , when there come so many spirits , as they disagree , pressing upon one another . (†) those degrees that are neerest , have the greatest sympathy . (†) like chess-men , table-men nine-pins , or the like . * i say higher , for expressions sake . † nothing can bee made or known absolute out of infinite and eternall . † though it may have other motions , yet not the animall motion . † the figure might bee without an animall motion , but an animall motion cannot bee untill there is an animall figure (†) which food is when such materialls are not proper for such a figure . † the greater the number is , the more variety of motion is made , which makes figures in the braine . (†) in animall shapes . (†) a pig of lead . (†) the huske . † to prove that it is the several motion , is , that wee shall have the same sense in our sleep , either to move pleasure , or feele paine . (†) like glass . moral gallantry a discourse, wherein the author endeavours to prove, that point of honour (abstracting from all other tyes) obliges men to be vertuous and that there is nothing so mean (or unworthy of a gentleman) as vice / by sir george mackenzie. mackenzie, george, sir, 1636-1691. 1667 approx. 123 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 71 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2004-08 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a50634 wing m175 estc r19878 12043511 ocm 12043511 53048 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a50634) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 53048) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 570:15) moral gallantry a discourse, wherein the author endeavours to prove, that point of honour (abstracting from all other tyes) obliges men to be vertuous and that there is nothing so mean (or unworthy of a gentleman) as vice / by sir george mackenzie. mackenzie, george, sir, 1636-1691. [2], 136, 87, 30 p. printed for robert broun ..., edinburgh : 1667. first edition. marginal notes. imperfect: "a moral paradox" [87 p.] and "a consolation against calumnies [30 p.] lacking in filmed copy. reproduction of original in bodleian library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng virtue -early works to 1800. ethics -early works to 1800. 2004-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2004-03 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2004-06 melanie sanders sampled and proofread 2004-06 melanie sanders text and markup reviewed and edited 2004-07 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion moral gallantry . a discourse , wherein the author endeavours to prove , that point of honour ( abstracting from all other tyes ) obliges men to be vertuous . and that there is nothing so mean ( or unworthy of a gentleman ) as vice. by sir george mackenzie . seneca . though god could not know , nor men would not punish vice , yet would i not commit it , so mean a thing is vice. edinburgh , printed for robert broun , and are to be sold at his shop , at the sign of the sun , on the north side of the street , a little above the cross , anno dom. 1667. to his grace john earl of rothes , his majesties high commissioner , lord high chancellour , lord president of his majesties exchequer and council , and general of his majesties forces in scotland , &c. may it please your grace , my obligations to you are such , as may excuse real passion in a stoick , and seeming flatteries in a philosopher ; and my gratitude deserv'd not to aspire to that name , if it should not like them want measures . but , seing your modesty makes you think even what is justice to your merit to be flattery , as the greatness of your merit keeps the highest elogies i can give you from being so ; i shall retain my respects for you in a breast , which may dispute sincerity as to your interests , with the first of those who pretend to it : with which i shall the sooner rest satisfi'd , because no paper nor any thing else except the heart , which sends you this , is capable to retain or expresse that kindnesse it feels for you . in the above-written enumeration of your titles , i have neither design'd to flatter you , or to contribute to your fame ; but rather to remember you how much you are debtor to providence for it's kindness , and we to you for your repeated cares , that thereby ye may be thankfull to it , and we to you . in order to which , i have presented you and my country with these discourses , which by inciting both to be vertuous , will not allow either to be ungrate : and therein if i evidence not abilities , i will at least kindness and respect ; which cannot but far out-value the other , seing the last relate to you , and the first respects only my self . since then holy altars have not disdain'd to offer up pigeons , and such like value-lesse things , which nothing but the sincerity of the offerer could render considerable , refuse not to accept and revise these , though unfiinsht discourses : and if a mans last words may be believ'd , i ( who am to make these my last words in print , and confine my thoughts for the future to my ordinary employment ) do assure you , that they are presented with all imaginable respect and zeal , by your graces most humble servant , george m ckenzie . to the nobility and gentry . my lords and gentlemen , having lighted this , though the smallest and dimmest of vertues torches , at honours purest flame ; i thought it unsuitable to place it under the bushel of a private protection , but rather to fix it upon such a conspicuous elevation , as your exalted names , that vertue might lance out from thence its glorious beams more radiently , and the better direct these who intend to be led by it . narrower souls then yours , have not room enough to lodge such vast thoughts , as vertue and honour should inspire : and that which raised you to that hight , which deserves this complement from vertue , does deserve that ye should not , when ye have attained to that hight , neglect its address , though sent you by the meanest of it and your servants . ye may ( my lords and gentlemen ) make your selves illustrious by your vertue ; and which is yet nobler ( because more extensive ) ye may illustrat vertue by your greatness , and as the impressa of a great prince , makes gold more current , though not more pure ; so your patrocinie and example may render vertue more fashionable and useful then now it is . undervalued vertue makes then its application to you , as to those whom , or whose predecessors it hath obliged ; and persecuted vertue deserves your patronage , as rewarded vertue is worthy of your imitation . and seing it did raise your families , and offers still to raise monuments for your memory , ye do in that assistance but pay your debt , and buy fame from succeeding ages . and as what is ingraved upon growing trees , does inlarge it self as the tree rises , so vertue will be serious to advance you , knowing that it will receive extension accordingly as ye are promoted . vertue is nothing else , but the exercise of these principles which respect the universal good of others ; and therefore , nature out of kindness to its own productions , and mankind in favour to their own interests , have ennobled and adored such as were strict observers of those . the only secure and noble way then to be admired and honoured , is to be vertuous ; this will make you as it did augustus , the ornament of your age , and as it did vespasian the delight of mankind . this is ( though to my regrate ) the way to be nobly singular , and truly great . for men follow you , when ye are vitious , in complement to their own depraved humours , but when they shall assimulat themselves to you in your vertues , they will shew truly their dependence , and that they follow you and not their own inclinations . in vice ye but follow the mode of others , but in re-entring vertue into the bon-grace of the world , ye will be leaders ; by this your lives will become patterns , and your sentences lawes to posterity , who shall enquire into your actions , not only that they may admire , but ( which is more ) that they may imitat you in them . i intend not by this discourse ( my lords and gentlemen ) that all vertues should shrink in to the narrowness of a cell or philosophers gown . no , no , publick vertues are in their extension as much preferable to private , as the one place is more august then the other , of which to give you but one instance ( for the principle is too well founded to need moe ) there is more vertue in relieving the oppressed , then in abstaining from oppression , for that comprehends this , and adds to it the nobleness of courage , and the humanity of compassion . the one is the employment of philosophers , but the other of that omnipotent god , whom these philosophers with trembling adore : in the one we vanquish , but in the other we only fly temptations . vertue then has employment for you , great souls ! as well as for retired contemplators , and though justice , temperance , and these vertues wherein none share with you , be more intrinsecally noble , then the atchieving the greatest victories , wherein fate souldiers and accidents challenge an interest ; yet vertue loves to bestow lawrels as well as bayes , and hath its heroes , as well as philosophers . rouse up then your native courage , and let it overcome all things except your clemency , and fear nothing but to stain your innocence ; undervalue your ancestors no otherwise , then by thinking their actions too small a patern for your designs ; and assist your prince , till ye make the world ( which is washt by the sea on all quarters ) that isle which should acknowledge his scepter ; your time makes the richest part of the publicks treasure , and every hour ye mispend of that , is a sacrilegious theft committed against your countrey . throw not then so much time away , ( though some be allowable ) in hunting and hauking which are not the noblest exercises , seing they favour alwayes the strongest , and do incline men ( though surdly ) to oppression and cruelty ( for which reason ( i beleeve ) nimrod the first tyrant , is in scripture observed to have been a mighty hunter ) and with lucullus that glorious roman think it the noblest hunting , to pursue malefactors by justice in peace , and irreclaimable enemies by armies in war. raise siege from before these coye ladies ( i speak no● of the nobler sort , for to court such will obliege you to learn witt , liberality , patience and courage ) who do highten their obstinacy of design to make you lengthen your pursuites , and lay it down before these strong cities , which are by no forc'd metaphor called the mistresses of the world , level their proud walls when they refuse your just commands , with the ground whereon they stand , and leave it as a doubt to your posterity , when they see ruines , to judge whither your fury or the thunder has lighted there . but if ye will justifie your complements to deserving beauties , employ your courage , as well as affection in their service ( for till then ye serve them but by halfs ) and as cesar at his parting told cleopatra , think your selves unworthy of them , till ye have raised your own value by such exploits , as courage has made great , and vertue has made generous . court them as he did her , with no other serenades , then the pleasant noise of your victories ; and after ye have returned , covered not with perfumes , or tissue , but with deserved and blossoming lawrels , then that same vertous courage , which hath forced a passage through walls and ramparts ( piercing where shot of cannon languisht , or gave back ) will find an entry into the hardest heart , which if it yield not to those gallant importunities of fate and fame , it is certainly more unworthy of your pains then ye of its choice . but forget not amidst all your trophees , rather to chastise pride , then to be proud of any your plumpest successes ( which become cheats , not victories , when men are vain of them ) for by so doing you shall become vassals to it : whilst ye toil to enslave others to you , endeavour rather to deserve , then to court fame : for in the one case ye will make it your trumpet , whereas in the other it will become your imperions mistriss ; and ye will thus oblige it to follow you , whereas otherwayes you may weary your selves in following it . the noblest kind of vanity , is to do good , not to please others , or to expect a reward from them , ( and fame is nothing else ) but do so of design , to gratifie your own gallant inclinations , judging that the having done what is good and great , is the noblest reward of both , and scattering , like the sun , equal light , when men look , or look not upon it . the noblest kind of detraction , is to lessen those who rival your vertue , not by obscuring their light , as the dull earth eclipses the moon ; but by out-shining it as the sun renders all these other stars inconspicuous , which shine , but appear not at the same time with it . raise your spirits by these heroick efforts , to so generous a pitch , that ye need not think heaven it self too high for you : and as if all things here below were too unworthy a reward for that courage , to which all those things do at last stoop . attempt heaven ( if ye will be truly couragious ) which the scripture tells us , is taken by violence , and the violent take it by force . and when vertue hath made you too great for this lower world , the acclamations and plauditees of such as consider the heroickness and justice of your actions , shall be driven upwards with such z●●l and ardor , that they shall ( as it were ) rent the heavens , to clear an entry for you there . where when ye are mounted , though cesar , or augustus , alexander , or antoninus , were adorning the skyes , transformed into stars , as their adorers vainly imagined ; yet ye may with pity look down upon them as spangles , which at best do but embroider the out-side of that canopie whereupon ye are to trample . ye shall there have pleasure to see our blest saviour interceed for such as were vertuous , and welcome such as come there under that winning character ; and shall from these lofty seats , see such terrestrial souls , as by their love to the earth , were united , and transformed into it , burn in those flames which took fire first from the heat of their lusts here : which though it be an insupportable punishment , yet ceds in horror to these checks they shall receive from their conscience , for having undervalued , or oppressed that vertue which i here recommend . the authors design and apologie . though i can by no other calculation then that of my sins , be found to be old ; yet in that small parcel of time which i have already transacted , i have , by my own practice , been so criminal , and by my example adopted so many of other mens sins into the number of my own , that though i should spend the residue of my allowance without one error ( which is equally impossible and desireable ) yet that negative goodness being a duty in it self , it could attone my foregoing sins no more , then the not contracting new debts , can be accounted a payment of the old . the consideration of which prevailed with me , to endeavour to reclaim others from their vices , by discourses of this tenor , that in their prosolited practice i might be vertuous , as i have been vitious in the practice of such as have followed my example ; and that i might in the time they should imploy well , redeem what i my self had so mispent . in order to which , i did resolve to address my self to the nobility and gentry , as to those whose reason was best illuminated ; and by prevailing with whom , the world ( who imitats them as they depend upon them ) may be most compendiously gained to the profession of philosophy , and to such as have most leasure to reflect upon what is offered , and fewest temptations to abstract them from obeying their own perswasions : and as physitians do judge their medicaments will be most successfull , when they rather second , then force nature . so i resolved to use the assistance of their own inclinations in my discourses to them , laying aside an enemy , and gaining thus a friend by one and the same task . wherefore finding , that most of them were either taken by an itch for honour , or a love to ease , i have fitted their humors with two discourses ; in the one whereof , i endeavour to prove , that nothing is so mean as vice ; and in the next i shall prove , that there is nothing so easie as to be vertuous . i had , i confess , some thoughts of this discourse , when i first undertook the defence of solitude , but i thought it fit to acquaint my self with writing , by writing to privat persons , before i attempted to write to such as were of a more elevated condition : and that it was fit to invite all men first to solitude , which i prefer as the securest harbour of vertue . but if some would pursue a publick life , as the more noble , i thought it fit to demonstrate to them , that there is nothing truly noble , but what is sincerely vertuous . i doubt not but some will out of mistake ( i hope few will out of malice ) think that the writing upon such forreign subjects , binds this double guilt upon me , that i desert my own imployment , and invades what belongs to those of another profession : but if we number the hours that are spent in gaming , drinking , or bodily exercises ( at none of which i am dexterous ) if we consider what time is spent in journeys , and in attending the tides and returns of affairs , we will find many moe vacant interluds , then are sufficient for writing ten sheets of paper in two years space , especially upon a subject which requires no reading , aud wherein no man can write happily , but he who writes his own thoughts . with which , pardon me to think him a sober wit , who cannot fill one sheet in three hours ; by which calculation there needs go only thirty select hours to ten sheets : and his life is most usuriously imployed , who cannot spare so many out of two years to his divertisements ; especially where the materials are such daily observations , as are thrust upon me and all others by our living in the world , and are so orthodox and undeniable , that an ordinary dress cannot but make them acceptable . and so few ( i may say none ) have written upon the subject , that i am not put to forge somewhat that may be new : but what ever others judge of this or me , i find that it is a part of my imployment as a man and christian , to plead for vertue , against vice. and really , as a barrister , few subjects will imploy more my invention , or better more my unlabour'd eloquence , then this can do . and i find , that both by writing and speaking moral philosophy , i may contract a kindness for vertue , seing such as repeat a lye with almost any frequency , do at last really believe it . neither is there any thing more natural , then to have much kindness , for either these persons , or sciences wherewith we are daily conversant : and by this profession and debate , i am obliged ( though i fear that i satisfie not that obligation ) by a new and strong tye to be vertuous ; lest i else be inconsequential to my own principles , and so be repute a fool , either in not following what i commend , or in commending so much what by my practice i declare is not worth the being followed : and therefore if i cannot pleasure others ( which is my great aime , and will yeeld me great satisfaction ) i will at least profit my self : which , because it is more independent , is therefore more noble , and so will suit best with my subject , though the other would suit better with my desires . a discourse , endeavouring to prove , that point of honour obliges men to be vertuous ; and that there is nothing so mean as vice , or so unworthy of a gentleman . by how much the more the world grows older , by so much ( like such as wax old ) its light grows dimmer ; and in this twilight of it's declining age , it too frequently mistakes the colours of good and evil , and not infrequently believes that to be the body , which is but its shaddow . but amongst all its errors , those which concern honour , are the most ( because conspicuous , therefore ) dangerous ; every fault being here an original sin , and becoming , because of the authority of the offender , an law , rather then an example . some conceive themselves obliged in honour to endeavour to be second to none , and therefore to overturn all who are their superiors : others to think every thing just whereby they may repay ( though to the ruine of publick justice ) the favours done to their private persons , or fortunes . some imagine that they are in honour bound to live at the rate , and maintain the grandour of their predecessors , though at the expence of their starving creditors ( obedient to nature in nothing oft-times , but in this fantastick keeping of their ranks ) and there want not many , who judge it derogatory to theirs , to acknowledge these errors of which they stand convinced . young gallants likewise look upon vertue , as that which confines too narrowly their inclinations , judging every thing mean which falls short of all the length , to which power or fancy can stretch it self : and as a gentile wit hath handsomly exprest it , they believe that honour is nothing but an itch of blood , a great desire to be extravagantly good . and thus whilst every man mistakes his fancy for his honour , they make honour to be like the wind ( from which at that rate it doth little differ ) then which nothing sounds higher , and yet nothing is less understood . to vindicate honour from these aspersions , and reclaim persons otherwayes noble from these errors , i have undertaken this discourse : the nobleness of whose subject deserves , that it had been illuminate by the victorious hand of mighty cesar , and to have been writ by a quill pluckt from the wing of a fame . but i hope the readers will consider , that seing i am able to say so much upon it , that more sublime wits would be able to say much more . and as in refining of mettals , the first work-men require usually least skill ; so i hope that after i have digged up with rather pains , then art , the first ore , it will hereafter be refined by some happier hand . i have in great esteem these honours which are derived from ancestors ( though that be to be great by our mothers labours , rather then our own ) and to those which princes bestow ( though that be but to be gallant in livery ) and i believe that we may justly interpret nebuchadnezzars image ( whereof the head is said to have been gold , the breast silver , the belly brass , the legs iron , and the feet clay , to be a hierogliphick of this lower world , wherein nature hath imprest the several ranks of mankind , with gradual advantages suitable to their respective imployments ; the meaner sort falling like dregs to the bottom , whilst the more refined spirits do like the cream rise above ; these like sparkles flying upward , whilst the others do like the contemned ashes lye neglected upon the level . and seing the wise former of the world , did design by its fabrick , the manifestation of his glory ; it is most reasonable to conclude , that he would adorn such as are most conspicuous in it , with such charms and accomplishments as might most vigorously ravish the beholders into the admiration of that glorious essence they represent . the almighty being hereby so kind to such whom he hath deprived of the pleasure of commanding others , as to give them the pleasure of being commanded by such as they need not be ashamed to obey , and so just to those whom he hath burdened with that command , as to fit them for it by resembling indowments : and as by the heroickness of these who represent him , he magnifies his own wisdom in that choice ; so by their publick spiritedness , he manifests his love to these who are to be governed . thus as amongst the spheres , the higher still roll with the greatest purity : and as in natural bodies , the head , is as well the highest as the noblest part of that pretty fabrick ( from being vain whereof , nothing could let us , but that , as the apostle sayes , it is given us , and is not our own workmanship ) so amongst men ( each whereof is a little world , or rather a nobler draught of the greater ) the highest are ordinarily the more sublime ; for such as attain by election to that hight , must be presumed best to deserve it , such as force a passage to it , could not do so without abilities far raised above the ordinary allowance , and such as by their birth are accounted noble , have ordinarily ( like water ) their blood so much the more purified , by how much the further it hath run from its first fountain : antiquity is an abridg'd eternity , and that being one of gods attributes , these do oft resemble him most in his other attributes , who can pretend with greatest justice to this . and as in natural bodies , duration doth argue a fineness , and strength of constitution , so we cannot but acknowledge that those families have been most worthy , who have worn out the longest tract of time without committing any such enorme crime , or being guilty of either such rashness , or infrugality , as moth away these their linages , which like jonahs gourd , rather appear to salute the world , then to fix any abode in it . yet there is a nobility of extraction much raised , above what can owe its rise to flesh or blood : and that is vertue , which being the same in souls , that the other is in bodies and families , must by that analogy surpasse it as far , as the soul is to be preferred to the body , and this moral honour and nobility prizes its value so far above all other qualities , that the stoical satyrist following the dogma's of that school , is bold to say , that nothing but vertue deserves the name of nobility , nobilitas sola est atque unica virtus . and in opposition to this nobility , but most consequentially to that doctrine , seneca a partisan of the same tribe , doth with a noble haughtiness of spirit tell us , that licet deus nesciret , nec homo puniret peccatum , non tamen peccarem ob peccati vilitatem , though god could not know , nor man would not punish vice , yet i would not sin , so mean a thing is sin . for proving of which , i shall advance and confirm these two great truths , that men are in point of honour obliged to be vertuous , and that there is no vice which is not so mean that it is unworthy of a gentleman ; and shall lead you unto that seraglio of privat vices , of which , though the weakest , seem in our experience to have strength enough to conquer such who pass for great geniouses in in the world : a philosopher will yet find , that these defeats given by them to noble spirits , do not proceed from the irresistableness of their charmes , but from the inadvertance of such as are captivat , and is rather a surprize then a conquest . for these great souls being bussied in the pursuit of some other project , want nothing but time to overcome these follies , or else these vices and passions ( which is a great argumemnt of their weakness ) do then assault such heroes , when they are become now mad with their prosperity . but if we will strip vice or passion of these gaudy ornaments , which error and opinion lends them , or advert to our own actions , we will find , that these overcome us not , but that we by our own misapprehension of them overcome our selves , as will appear , first , by some general reflections , to which in the second place i shall subjoyn some particular instances , and shall by a special induction of the most eminent vertues and vices clear , that there is nothing so noble as vertue , nor nothing so mean as vice. as to the general reflections , i shall begin with this , that if advancment be a noble prize , doubtlesse vertue most by this be more noble then vice , seing it bestowes oftest that so much desired reward . for further proving of which from reason , consider , that no man will cabal with vitious persons ( without which no project for advancement can be promoved ) for , who will hazard his life and fortune with one whom he cannot beleeve ? and who can beleeve one who is not vertuous ; trust fidelity and sincerity , being themselves vertues ? or who should expect to gain by favours , the friendship of such as by their vices are ingrate to god and nature ? who have been to such liberal , infinitly far above humane reach ( and thus likewise vitious persons are contemptibly mean seing they are so infinitly ingrate ) and in this appears the meannesse of vice , that it can effectuat nothing without counterfitting vertue , or without its real assistance : when robbers associat , they entertain something analogical to friendship and trust , else their vices would be but barren ; and without humility shewed to inferiors , the proudest men and tyrants would owe but little to the greatnesse of their spirit : when undertakers league together , either they trust one another , because of their oaths or because of their interests only ; if the first , they owe their success to vertue ; if the second , then they never fully cement , but assist each others by halfs , reserving the other half of their force to attend that change , which interest may bring to their associats , and do such as fight for hire ( interest being nothing else ) acquit themselves with such valor ? as those , whose courage receives edge from duty , charity , religion , or any such vertous principles ? vitious persons have many rivals , and so meet in their rising with much opposition : the covetous fear the promotion of him who is such , and the ambitious , of him who is of the same temper . but because , all expect civility from the debonair , and money from the liberal ; they therefore wish their preferment , as what will contribute to their own interest , and princes are induc'd to gratifie such , as knowing that in so doing , they transmit to their people what they bestow upon such favourits , and that they preclud the challenges of these who repine at their favours as misplac't when not bestowed upon themselves . if there be any thing that is noble or desirable in fame , vertue is the only ( at least as the straightest so the nearest ) road to it , posterity taking our actions under their review , without the byasse of prejudice , passion , interest or flattery , and of such as story cannonizes for its grandees . alexander is not so truly glorious , for defeating the indians , as for refusing to force darius fair daughters ; for in the one , a great part is due to the courage of his souldiers , and the brutishness of his opposers , whereas in the other he overcame the charms of such , as might have overcome all others , and was put to combat his own youth , which had gained for him all his victories : the meanest of his souldiers could have forc'd a prisoner , but fame reserved it as a reward worthy of alexander in this chastity to vanquish a monarch and to gratifie a generous lady ; to displease whom , was as great a crime as it was to ravish others . nor was william the conqueror more honoured , for subjecting a war-like nation , then for pardoning gospatrick and eustache of bulleign , after so many revoltings : for in the one he conquered but these who were lesse then himself , but in the other he conquered himself , who was their conqueror . aristides was esteemed more noble , in under-going a patient banishment , then these usurpers who condemned him to it , whose names remain as obscure as their crimes are odious , whilst his is the continual ornament of pulpits and theaters : and all the roman glories do not celebrat neroes memory to the same pitch with that of seneca's , who did ( like the sun ) then appear greatest , when he was nearest to the setting . alexander is only praised , when we remember not his killing parmenio , and the famous hugh capet of france ends his glory , where we begin to talk of his usurpation : and ( to dispatch ) this is one great difference betwixt vertue and vice , in relation to fame , that vice like a charletan is applauded by the unacquainted ; or like rotten wood may shine in the dark , but it 's lustre lessens at the approach of either time or light ; whereas , though vertue may for a time ly under the oppression of malice ( which martyrdom it suffers only when it is mistaken for vice ) yet time enobles it , and light does not lend it splendor , but servs only to illuminat it's beholders : and so to enable them to discover what native excellencies it posesses . if amphialaus or orondates had been charged in these romance , ye so dote upon with drunkenness oppression or envy , certainly it had lessened their esteem , even with such as most admire , though they will not imitat these vertues . and to shew how much kindness vertue breeds for such as possesses it , consider , how though ye know these to but imaginary ideas of vertue , yet ye cannot but love them ( as ye can love them for nothing else ) seing they never , obliged you or your relations ; and since abstract vertue conciliats so much favour , certainly vertue in you will conciliat much more : for besides that idea which will be common to you with them , some will be obliged thereby to love you , as their benefactors , and others , because they know not when ye will become so . and at least they will honour your vertue , as that which will secure them against your wrongs , and which will assure them of your good wishes , if you cannot lend them your assistance . would not the most prostitute ladies hate statira , or parthenissa , if they had been represented under any one of these their own vices , whose number can find their account no where but in the moments they live , nor excuses no where but in the madness of such as commit them ? and would not our gallants think it ridiculous to see these hero's brought in by or the authors of cassandra , or parthenissa glorying in having made their comrades brutish by drinking , or poor maids miserable by uncleanness , and though whoring be cryed up as one of these gentile exercises , that are the price of so much time and pains ; yet we hear of none of these , who are so much as said to have had a whore , beside to glory in it . but to turn the medal , consult your own experience , and it will remember you of many hopeful gentlemen , whose advancement hath been so far disappointed by these vices , that they fell so low as to become objects of pitty to such as feared them once , as their accomplisht rivals . and to let us see the folly of sin , i have known such as hated nigardliness so much , as that to shun it , they spent their abortive estates before they were full masters of them ; brought by that excess to flee creditors , starve at home , walk in raggs , and which is worse , beg in misery , and so to fall into the extremity of that vice , whose first , and most innocent degrees they laught at in others : and when they beg'd from these who were both authors and companions in their debordings , ( expecting to be supplied , as well by their justice as their compassion ) did get no return but that laughter which was a lesson taught by themselves ; or at best , a thousand curses , for having bred them in a way of living , that did naturally occasion so much mischief . if then poverty be mean and ignoble , certainly vice must be so too , seing beside sickness , infirmity and infamy , it hales on poverty upon such as intertain it . when the world was yet so young , as to be led by sincerity , in place of that experience , which makes our age rather witty then honest . its hero's , who equally surpassed and ennobled mankind by their vertue , were for it deified , even by these their contemporaries , who in possessing much more both riches and power then they , wanted nothing but this vertue to be much greater then they were . and thus nimrods kingdom could not build him altars , though sincere rhadamanthus had fire kindled on his , by the heat of their zeal , who knowing him to be mortal , could not , even in spight of his dying , but worship that immortal vertue which shined in him . and as cicero informs , these gods of the pagans were at first but illustrious hero's , whose vertue , rather then their nature rendered them immortal , and worthy to be worshipped , even in the estimation of such undisciplin'd bruts , as thought the laws of nature a bondage , and the laws of god a fable . we find though licurgus in lacedemon , aristides in athens , and epamenondas in thebes , were not born to command , yet their vertue bestowed on them what their birth denyed , and both without , and against factions , they were elected by their citizens to that rule , which they did not court , and were preferred to such as both by birth and pains had fairer pretences to it . and whilst greece flourished , reges philosophabant , & philosophi regebant : these common-wealths being more numerous then their neighbours , in nothing but their vertues , and stronger then they in nothing but in the sincere exercise of reason : and when tyranny and pride had by wasting these common-wealths , made place for the roman glory , nothing conquered so much the confiners of that glorious state ( whose center was vertue , and circumference fame ) as their vertue . thus the phalerians are by plutarch said to have sent ambassadors to rome , resigning themselves over to the roman government , because they found them so just and noble , as to send back their children who had been betrayed by a schoolmaster : when pirhus was advertised by the romans to beware of poyson from one of his own subjects , who had offered to dispatch him , he did then begin to fear that he should be conquered by their armes , who had already subdued him by their civilities . and such esteem had their justice gained them , that they were chosen umpires of all neighbouring nations , and so gained one of the opposites , first to a confederacy , and then to a dependency upon them . and attalus king of pergamus , did in legacy leave them his kingdom , as to these whose vertues deserved it as a reward ; which occasioned st. augustine to fall out in this eloquent expression , because god ( saith he ) would not bestow heaven upon the romans , they being pagans , he bestowed the empire of the world upon them , because they were vertuous . and many have been raised to empires , by no other assistance then that of their vertue . as numa pompilius , marcus antonius , pertinax and vespasian , whilst the want of this , hath in spight of all the power with which vicious governours have been surrounded , degraded others from the same imperial honours , as tarquinius superbus , domitian , comodus . and generally there is but one emperor to be seen in that long roman list , who was unfortunate , being vertuous : and not one whose vice was not the immediate cause of ruine to its author . antiquity hath also transmitted to us the memory of socrates , zeno , and other philosophers , under as obliging elogies , as these of the most famous emperors , whom vertue ( to let us see that riches and honours are but the instruments of fame , and not the dispensers of it ) hath , without any assistance , raised to this pitch , above these princes , that they have conquered our esteem , without the aid of armies , treasures , senats , or flattering historians ; and cease not like them to command when they ceas'd to live ; but by their precepts and discourses , force worthy souls yet to a more intire obedience , then the others did whilst they were alive , by their sanctions and penal statutes . for princes govern but a short time one nation : and by these laws , they aw but such vitious persons , whom it is more trouble then honour to command . but these illustrious philosophers , and such as imitate their vertue , have thereby attained to a soveraignty over both the wills and judgements of the best of all such as are scattered amongst all the other kingdoms of the world. and marcus aurelius , who was one of the greatest emperors , doth recommend to kings as well as subjects , to think , that one of these philosophers is beholding all their actions , as a most efficacious mean to keep men in aw , not to commit that vice to which they are tempted . i have seen very great men shun to owne even their beloved vices in the presence of such as they needed not fear for any thing but their vertue : and it is most remarkable , that nero , who exceeded all who then lived in power , and all who shall live ( i hope ) in cruelty , did still judge himself under some restraint , whilst seneca was at court to be a witness to his actions . and every vitious person must flee publick , and the light ( which showes the meanness and cowardliness of vice ) when he is to resign himself over to any of these criminal exercises , by which likewise when committed , men become yet more cowards ; for who having spent his life at that unworthy rate , will not ( if he be master of any reason ) tremble and be afraid to venture upon such exploits ? as by taking his life from him , may , and will present him before the tribunal of that god whom he hath offended ; and from whom ( which will not a little contribute to his cowardliness ) he cannot expect that success , vvhereof the expectation lessens , or hightens to its own measures , the courage of such as are engaged . we may easily conclude the meanness of vice from this also , that servants , without pains or art , equal us in them ; for these can whore , drink , lie , and oppress : but to be temperat , just and compassionat , are qualities whereby we deserve , and are by such as know us not , judged to be masters and well descended . and have not servants reason to think themselves as deserving persons as their masters , when they find themselves able to equal , or surpass them , in what they glory in as their great accomplishments ? seing what is imitated , is still nobler then what imitats , certainly vice must be the less noble , because it but copies vertue , and owes to its mask , and our errors , what it possesses of pleasure or advantage . cruelty pretends to be zeal , liberality is counterfeited by the prodigal , and lust endeavours to pass for love. is there any thing more ignoble then fear , which does as slaves , subject us to every attempter ? and have not all vices somewhat of that unmanly passion ? in covetousness we fear the want of money , in ambition the want of honour , in revenge the want of justice , in jealousie rivals ; and when we lie we fear to speak openly . is there any thing more mean then dependence ? and maks not ambition us to depend upon such as have honours ? covetousness upon such as have riches ? and lust upon the refuse of women ? whereas vertue seeks no other reward , then is paid in doing what is vertuous , and owes it's fee only to it's self , leaving vice in the servile condition of serving for a fee even those whom it most hates . and generally in all vices we betray a meannesse , because in all these we confess want and infirmities : in avarice , we appear either fools , in desiring what is not necessar and in dissoblieging friends , hazarding our health , and other necessars for what is not so it 's self or else we confess that our necessities are both greater , and more numerous , then these of others , by heaping together riches and money , which serve for nothing , when they serve us not in supplying our wants . in ambition we confess the want of native honour and excellency , in lust want of continency , in anger we want command of our selvs , and in jealousie we declare we think not our selves worthy of that love alone , wherein we cannot fear rivals upon any other accompt ; and in jealousie men likewise wrong their own honour , in suspecting that of their ladies or friends ; whereas vertue perswads us , that our necessities may be confin'd to a very small number , and that these may be repaired , without any loss of friends , and but little of time : it teaches us that riches were created to serve us ; and that therefore we disparage our selves , when we subject our humour to our servants . and from it we learn , to rate so justly the excellencies of that rational soul , which is the image of god almighty , as to expect from it , and no where else under the sun , any true and solid happinesse : and to accompt nothing more noble then it , except the almighty god , whose offspring it is , and whom it represents . there is nothing more mean then to be cheated , and all vices cheat us , treason promises honour , but leads to a scaffold ; lust pleasure , but leads to sickness , and flattery cheats all such as hear it , and such as are proud are doubly miserable , because they are both the cheaters , and the persons cheated . thus vice cannot please without a crime , and these are even then gaining the hatred and contempt of others , when they are enquiring , or hearing from flatterers , that the people seek no where without them objects of love and admiration . whereas , sacred vertue allows us to admire our selves , and which is more , to beleeve that all these things for which vitious men neglect the care of their souls , are unworthy of our re-search ; and certainly the soul is a more noble creature then that earth , or mettal , which we stain our souls to get : for , our souls do censure all these things ; it finds defects in the noblest buildings , and shews by desiring more , an unsatisfiablenesse in all extrinsick objects ; it determins the price of all other creatures , and like the magistrat in this common-wealth , assigns to every thing it's rate ; to day it cryes up the diamond , and to morrow it allows preference to the rubie : these treats , and colours , which ravish this year , passe the next for no beauty . red hair pleases the italian , and our climat hates it , and it is probable , that this change of inclination , is not a culpable inconstancy in man , but a mark of his soveraignity over all his fellow-creatures . vertue teaches him not to owe his happinesse to the stars , nor to be like some foolish emperours , so fondly vain , as to think that he shall have no other reward for his vertue , then the being transformed into one of these lesser lights , which he knowes to have been created only for a lantern to him , or at best but to adorn , with their numberless associats , that firmament which was created to be one of these least arguments , whereby he was to be courted into a beleife of , and love for that god , who thinks him so excellent a creature , that he is said to be glad at the conversion of a sinner , and to grieve at his obstinacy ; and if we will consider the miraculous fabrick of our bodies , which though we be but dull , yet we may see to be all workmanship ; and wherein the number of wonders , equals that of nervs , sinews , veins , bones or ligaments , the curious fabrick of that brain , which lodges ( without croud or confusion ) so many thousands of different and noble thoughts , the artifice of those various organs , that expresse so harmonious airs and ravishing expressions , the charmingnesse of these lynes and featurs in ladies , which like the sun scorch as well as illuminat the beholders . we may conclude that our soul must be a most excellent piece , seing all this contexture , is appointed to be but a momentany tabernacle for it , when it is in its lowest and unworthiest estate ; and which when the soul deserts , is thrown out with all it's wonders , least it should by its stink trouble the meanest of these senses , which servs the souls of these who are alive . consider how this soul grasps in one thought all that glob for which ambitious men fight , and for some of whose furrowes , the avaritious man doth so much toil . consider , how it despises all that avarice has amas'd , how it is pleased with no external object , longer then it fully considers it , and what a great vacuity is left in our desirs after these are thrown into them ; and by all this we will learn , that vice disparages too much the soul , when it imagins , that any finit thing can bound it's thoughts , and we are but cheated when we listen to these proffers , which vice makes use of honour , pleasure or advantage : for who can be so mean , to think that all these faculties were bestowed upon our souls ? these featurs upon our bodies , and so much care taken of both by providence , for no other end , then that we should admire that wine which peasants make , those colours which prostitute whoors weare , that we should gain fortunes , which serve too oft to corrupt these for whom they are prepared , or respect from such , as bow not to us , but to our stations ? having thus overrun these general considerations , whereby men who are gallant may be courted to a love for vertue ; my method leads me now to fall down to those instances of particular vices and vertues , wherein i may make nearer approaches to the actions of mankind : and seing there is too much of ease , and too little of cogency , in writing full and tedious essays upon these common theams , i shall consider them only as they relate to gallantry , promising no other tract of art in all this discourse , but that i shall pursue my design so closely , as not to imploy any argument against vice , nor assist vertue with one thought , but such as may decry the one as mean , and cry up the other as gentile and handsome . we owe that deference to great men , that even their vices should have the precedency of all others , and therefore i shall begin this invective with dissimulation , which is peculiarly their sin , for when the meaner sort are guilty of the same thing , it is in them called falshood , from which dissimulation differs nothing , but that it is the cadet of a nobler family . and this evinces what an ugly and ungentile vice dissimulation is , seing he is no gentleman who would not choise rather to die , or starve , then to be thought false : all dissemblers shew an inability to compass without these pitifull shifts , what in dissembling they design , for this is the last refuge , and by this courage becomes unnecessary , and we oft see that cowards dissemble best , gallant men laying that weight upon their courage , vvhich the others do upon dissimulation . and at this unworthy game , it is not requisite to be gallant , providing men be vvicked . dissimulation is but a courtly cowardliness , and a stately cheat : and certainly , he is too much afraid of his own , either courage , or fate , and values too much his prize above his honour , or innocence , who can stoop to play this under-boord game : whereas a gallant and generous soul , will not fear any event so much , as to leave his road for it ; and will owne vvhat is just , vvith so much nobleness of resolution , that though fate should tumble down upon him mountains of misfortunes , they may perhaps overwhelm , but they shall never be able to divert him . where are then these gallant resolutions of our fore-fathers ? who scorned even victories gained by teachery , falshood , poysons , and such other unhandsome means ? where is the roman fortitude ? which advertised pirhus of his physicians offer to poyson him , though their greatest enemy , and which caused marcus regulus choise to return to be a martyr for vertue , rather then stain the roman faith ? where are these resentments of the lie in frivolous cases , when great men magnifie in their dissimulation what is in effect lying and treachery ? to deceive one who is not obliged to believe us , is ill ; but to cheat one whom our own fair pretences have induced to believe us , is much worse , for this is to murther one whom we have perswaded to lay aside his arms. and as dissimulation thrives never but once , so to use it cuts off from the dissembler that trust and confidence vvhich is necessary in great undertakings ; for , who will depend on these whom they cannot trust ? and after dissemblers are catcht ( as seldom they escape ) the abused people hate and persecute them as violators of that without which the world cannot subsist . i appeal to the reader , if he hath not heard enemies lov'd for their ingenuity ; and if he hath not seen these cut-throat lights blown out , and end in a stinking snuff : and as if every man had escaped a cut-purse , if every man did not bless himself , and rejoyce to see these dissemblers fall . and i may justly say , that dissimulation is but the theory of cut-pursing , and assasination . consider how unpleasant any thing appears that is crooked , and ye will find an natural argument against dissimulation , and though it hath great patrons , and can pretend to an old possession , and much breeding at some courts ( though all who are gallant there hate it ) yet it is never able to gain esteem , and can defend it self no other wayes , then by a cowardly lurking , and shunning to be discovered . neither can there be so much wit in this art as can justifie its error ; for women , and the meanest wits are oft-times most expert in it : all can do it in some measure , and none ever used it long without being discovered ; and such only are rendred its prey , as make it no great conquest , they being either our friends , who expected not our invasion ; or fools , who are not worthy to be gloried in , as our trophees . there are none of these vices which rage amongst men , more destructive to either their honour , or to the honour of that common-wealth which they compose , then envy , and ( which both follows it , and aggravats its guilt ) detraction . envy is mean , because it confesses that the envyer is not so noble or excellent as the person envied : for none are envied , but such as possess somewhat that over-reaches , or excells what is possest by such as do envy . this vice acknowledges , that he who useth it , wants much of what is desireable , and which is meaner , much of what another possesses , and as if we despair'd of rising to anothers hight , it makes us endeavour to pull him down to the stature of our own accomplishments . most men essay to imitate the actions of these whom they envy ; so that in detracting from these , they leave others to undervalue what they themselves design ardently to perform . and thus , if these detracters be so much favoured by fate , as to atchieve any such great action , as that is which they undervalue in others , they get but a barren victory , and which is more insupportable , they see themselves punished by their own vice. and to convince us how mean vices , envy and detraction are , we may observe , that such as are victorious , judge it their honour to magnifie these who were vanquisht ; and men wound extreamly their own honour , when they detract from persons who are more deserving in the eyes of the world then themselves , for they force their hearers to conclude , that the detracters themselves must be undeserving , seing these who deserve better , are by their confession , cry'd down as being of no merit , which remembers me of this excellent passage in plinius the second , tibi ipsi ministras in alio laudando , aut enim is quem laudas , tibi superior-est , aut inferior ; si inferior & laudandus , tu multo magis ; si superior , neque jure laudandus , tu multo minus . thou serves thy own interest when thou praises others , for either he whom thou praisest , is thy inferior , and then if he deserves to be praised , much more thou , if he be thy superior , and deserves not to be praised , much less thou . all men are either our friends , or our enemies , or such who have not concerned themselves in our affairs . we are base , because ingrate , when we detract from our friends , and we assert our own folly , when by detraction , we endeavour to lessen the worth of those whom we have chosen for such : we lessen likewise our honour , when we detract from our competitors , and enemies , because to contest with undeserving persons , is ignoble , and to be vanquisht by them , has little of honour in it ; whereas , as all events are uncretain , if we be overcome by such as our detractions have made to pass for undeserving , our overthrow will by so much become the more despicable , and to detract from such as expected no wrong from us , and who are strangers to us and our affairs , is not only imprudent and unjust , but is as dishonourable and little gallant , as that is to wound one who expects not our aggression , and whose innocency , as to us , leaves him disarm'd ; and the word backbiting clears to us , that detraction is a degree of cowardlienesse , for it assaults only such as are unprepared , or absent , which is held dishonourable amongst the least of such as have gallantry in any esteem . he who praises , bestows a favour , but he who detracts , commits a robbery , in taking from another what is justly his ; and certainly to give , is more noble then to take . envy is also most prejudicial to great undertakings , seing such as are engaged , must resolve either not to act , what is necessar for compleating so great projects , or if they do , to fall under the envy of these for whom they act them , and the undertakers do obstruct by envy their own greatnesse , because they are by that vice , perswaded to crop such as but begin to perform in their service , attempts worthy of the being considered : how destructive likewise this vice is to the glory of kingdoms , and common wealths , does but too clearly appear from this ; that all who are in them , are either despicable , by not being worthy of the being envyed , or else will be destroyed by that vice , which levells it's murthering engines at such only , who are the noblest spirits , and who deserve most promotion from their countrey . carthage was destroyed by the envy which hanno and bomilcar , bore to hannibal ; who by denying him forces , to prosecut his italian conquests , did involve themselves with him in the common ruins of their countrey ; which shews the dishonourable folly of envy in conspiring against it self , with these who being enemies to both the opposits , sides first with the one , in gratifieing his envy , and then destroyes the other , whose passion it first serv'd . pitifull examples whereof , our own age affoords us , wherein many great men were by envy driven to oppose principles , whereon they knew the publick safety , and their own private interest to depend . flaminius the roman general endangered rome , and terentus varro did almost losse it out of envy to fabius maximus ; and such was the force of envy , that it did defeat the great scipio , and banished him from that rome which he had made both secure and great ; and did by his example cool the zeal of such who retained their blood in it's veins , as in an arsenal , for no other end then the service of their countrey , as a consequence of which envy , it was observ'd , that in the next age most of rome's citizens declin'd rather to entertain that fame , which the former courted , then to be exposed to the cruelty of that envy , which did usually attend it . detraction brings likewise these great disadvantages to our reputation , that it engages both these from whom we detract , and their friends partly out of revenge , and partly for self defence , to enquire into our errors and frailties , and to publish such as upon enquiry they have found , or to hatch calumnies , if truth cannot supply them : and in that case , rate of game obliges us to favour the counterer , for we defend what may be our own case , in favouring what is at present but the defence of others . it legittimats likewise these calumnies which are vented of us , by such as our detraction hath not yet reacht , who will think it their prudence ( like these who fear invasion ) to carry the war into the territories of such , from whom they do upon well founded suspitions expect acts of hostility . if then our own honour be dear to us , we should not invade the honour of others : for , revenge , the activest of passions ( when added to that love of honour which is equal in us and them ) will obliege them to do more against our honour , then we can do in it's defence . whoring renders men contemptible , whilst it tempts them to embrace such as are not only below themselves in every sense , but such as are scarce worthy to serve these handsomer ladies , whom they either do , or may lawfully enjoy . doth not this vice perswade men to ly in cottages ? with sluts , or ( which is worse ) strumpets , to lurk in corners , to fear the encounter of such as know them , and to bribe and fear those servants , who by serving them at such occasions , have by knowing their secrets , attained to such a servile mastery over them , that i have been ashamed to hear gentlemen upbraided by these slaves , in terms , which were the adequat punishment , as well as the effect of their vice. men in whoring must design either to satisfie their own necessities , or their fancy ; if their necessities , then as marriage is more convenient , so it is as much more noble then whoring ; as it is more gentile for a person of honour , rather to lodge constantly in a well appointed pallace , then to ramble up and down in blind ale-houses ; in the one a man enjoys his own , whereas in the other he only lives as theeves do , by purchase : if to satisfie fancy , certainly it should please more , at least it is more honourable to be secure against rivals , then to be sure to be equal'd by them who will fancy a divided affection ? and who can be sure ? that she who destroys her honour for us , will not risign the same to a second , or third ? for besides the experiment we have of her change , oaths , honour and obligations can be no convincing evidents of , or sureties for what she promises , seing she is then breaking these , when she gives strangers these new assurances . and this makes me laugh to hear women so foolish , as to rely upon such promises as are given by men who destroy their nuptial oaths , when they make them . and if women be such excellent persons , as to deserve that respect , and these adorations , which are passionat enough to be payed before altars ; certainly every man should endeavour to secure the esteem of one of these rare creatures , which is more noble , then to rest satisfied with a tenth , or sixteenth part , like men sharing in a caper . and therefore , seing fancy nor honour allow no rivals , i am confident that no man can satisfie his fancy , or secure his honour , in preferring a whore to a wise , or in using whores when he wants one . have not whores ruined the repute of some great men who entertained them ? by causing them neglect to pursue their victories , as thais did to alexander , and cleopatra to mark anthony ? have they not betrayed these secrets wherein their same was most interessed , as dalila did to sampson ? and there is nothing more ordinary , then to hear such ( like herod ) swear that they dare not refuse their mistrisses , what ever is within their reach ; and thus , they must either prove base , in perjuring themselves , if they think not what they say ; are contemptible slaves , both to their passions , and to these who occasion them , if they resolve to perform what they promise : which makes likewise these to be dangerous masters , who depend upon the humour of a woman , and so concluds them unfit to be great . it were then a generous expiation of this vice in such as are opprest by it , to use it ( not it's objects ) as mahomet the great , did his gallant mistriss irene , whose life and head he sacrificed to the repinings of his court , and jannisars , who challeng'd him justly , for loving rather to be conquered by one silly woman , then to conquer the world , wherein she had many , but he no equals . it is noble to deliver ladies out of danger , but not to draw dangers on them , and to punish such as scoff at them , rather then to make them ridiculous ; and what thousands of dangers , are drawn upon ladies , by being debauched , when married , and if they be not married , are they not thereby made the proverb of all such as know them : and to these i recommend tamars words , who when ammon offered to ly with her , told him , thou shalt be as one of the fools in israel , and i whither shall i cause my shame to go ? and after this let them remember , that when he had satisfied his lust , then he instantly ( as is too ordinar ) despised her person . and since ladies will not stain their honour with this vice , till they be married , i conceive they should much lesse after , for there the obligation is doubled . from all which it followes , that lust is equally base and ignoble , whither it discharge it self upon equals or inferiors , betwixt which two , there is only this difference , that it is brutal in the one case , and cruel in the other . there is no vice whereby gallantry is more stain'd , then by breach of promise , which becoms yet more sacrilegious , when ladies are wrong'd by it . and of this , whooring makes men likewise guilty , when it robbs from ladies their husbands , robbing likewise such upon which it bestowes them , both of their honour and quiet . and thus , though it makes such as use it barren ( god in this resistig the propagation of sin ) yet it self brings forth it's faults in full clusters . and nathans parable to david , proves it likewise to be so high an oppression , that no man of honour would commit it , if he would but seriously reflect upon his own actions ; from which parable , this new observation may be likewise made , that though david was guilty of murther and whooring , yet the prophet made choice only of this last to astonish this warlike monarch , and raise his indignation against this vice , when shaddowed out under a forreign and borrowed representation . though murther be so barbarous a crime in it self , that the barbarians did instantly conclude paul guilty of it , when they saw the viper fasten upon his hand . the unjustest caprice of lust is that whereby men contemn such as become their wives , though they admir'd them when they were their mistresses , for in this they confess , it is a meanness to be theirs ; for since that time , the neglecters thought them amiable , they , sweet creaturs have oft contracted no guilt , nor lessen'd the occasion of that esteem no otherwise , then by marrying their inconstant gallants , who seemed to have so warm a passion for them . and it is strange , that men should admire their own eloquence , courage , estates , and all things else they possesse , for no other cause , then because they are their own ; and yet should undervalue their wives ( the noblest thing they possesse ) upon this and no other account . i cannot think nature such a cheat , as that if women had not been the excellentest of creatures , it would have beautified them with charms , and armed their eyes with such piercing glances , that to resist them is the next impossibility to the finding a creature that is more accomplisht then they ; and i confess , the love we bear them , is not only allowable in it self , as an inclination that is of its own nature noble and vertuous , but likewise , because it obliges such as are engaged in it , to despise all mean vices , such as avarice , or fear , and is incompatible with all dissingenuous arts , such as dissimulation , or flattery . and though such as are guilty of whoring , do justifie their debordings by a love to that glorious sex , yet by this pretext they are yet more unjust and vitious then their former guilt made them ; for by roaving amongst so many , they intimat that they are not satisfied with their first choice ; and that not only there are some of that sex , but that there is none in it who deserves their intire affection . or else , by dividing them amongst so many , they think their kindness sufficient to make numbers of ladies happy ; by both which errors , they wrong not only themselves by swearing otherwayes to the ladies to whom they make love , but they wrong likewise the innocence and amiableness of that sweet sex , in whom no rational man can find a blemish , besides their esteem for such persons , as these , who indeed admire them no where but in their complements , and who are oft so base , that not only their society is scandalous , but they are ready to tempt , such as they frequent ; or if they fail in this , are oft so wicked , that they , to satisfie either their revenge , or vanity , do brag of intimacies , and allowances which they never possest . if then gallants would be loved by their mistrisses , they must be vertuous , seing such love only these who are secret , many things passing amongst even platonicks , which should not be revealed . these who are couragious , seing this is appointed to be a protection to the weakness of their sex , and these who are constant , seing to be relinquisht , inferrs either a want of wit , in having chosen such as would quite them without a defect , or else that they were abandoned because of defects , by such as the world may justly from their first ardency , conclude , would never have abandoned them without these : what lady without a cheat , will be induced to love one wasted with pox and inconstancy ? one whom drunkenness makes an unfit bedfellow , as well as a friend ? and though some worship the reliques of saints , yet none but these who are mad , as well as vitious , will worship the reliques of sinners . neither is the meanness of this vice taken off , by the greatness of these with whom it is shar'd : which may be clear from this , that either affection , interest , or ambition , are in the design of these offenders . if affection , it should excuse no more her who is whore to a monarch , then her who is such to a gentleman ; for affection respects the person , but not the condition of such as are lov'd : and it is certainly then most pure , when it cannot be ascribed to , nor needs the help of either riches to bribe , or power to recommend it . but if riches be design'd , then the committer is guilty both of avarice and whoring , and she is not worthy to be a mistriss , who can stoop to a fee like a servant . and she who designs honour and repute by these princely amours , is far disappointed : for though she may command respect , yet esteem is not subject to scepters : and i am confident , that lucretia , who choos'd rather to open her veins to a fatal lance , then her heart to the embraces of a soveraign , is more admired then thais , poppaa , jean shore , and madame gabriel , whose obedience to their own kings , was a crime in them , though it was loyalty in others . blushes are then the noblest kind of paint for ladies , and chastity is their most charming ornament : and if these would send out their emissaries , to learn by them how to reform their errors , as they oft do to inform their revenge , they would easily perceive , that loose men laugh at their kindness , vertuous men undervalue them , and it . and when ever any judgement is poured out upon the kingdom , or misfortune overtakes these minions , then all is ascribed by divines , to their looseness ; and it is one of the allowablest cheats in devotion , to invent miraculous resentments from heaven upon their failours . young ladies , to recommend their own chastity , are obliged , in good breeding , at least to say they hate them ▪ such as are married , are bound by their interest to decry such as may debauch their husbands ; and these who are old , rail against them , as those who place all happiness in what , because of age , they cannot pretend to : whereas such as are chast , are recommended with magnifying praises , for patterns to such as are vitious , and are coppied as admirable originals , by such as are vertuous . and i cannot omit this one reflection , that chast women are more frequently tainted with pride , then with any other vice ; nature , as it were , allowing to them to raise their own value far above others , whom they have ( almost ) reason to contemn , as persons who prostitute themselves ( which , and the word humbling , are the lessening epithets of whoring ) and as such who are nasty , spotted and unclean . lust and obscenity in discourse , run in a vitious circle , and by an odious incest beget one another ; for as lust prompts men to obscenity , so obscenity pimps men in to lust ; but in this , obscenity is more culpable then lust , that in the one , men alledge a natural advantage , and some a necessity ; but in the other , they have no temptation , and so fall under that curse , wo unto them that sin without a cause . in the one , men sin covertly , making by their blushes , as by a tacit confession , some attonement for their guilt ; but in the other , men divulge their sin , and by graceing it , with what , if the subject were honest , might pass for wit , do invite such as wish to be repute wits , first to admire , and then to imitat them in their sinning ; and the best of such as use that eloquence , become thereby most ignoble , being in effect but cooks , who prepare sawces for provoking a lustful appetite in their hearers . and i admire , that seing comedians are hist off the stage , when they attempt it , that such as are so far greater then these , as masters are above buffons , should imagine they can magnifie themselves by it . this vice may well enough be ranged under one of the species of sodomy , seing such as use it , employ in their lust these members , which were so far from being destinat for so low uses , that the psalmist in saying , he will praise god with his glory ( which interpreters render to be the tongue ) doth shew us , that our tongues are amongst the noblest parts of our body . and when i consider how melodious it is in its harmonies ; how eloquent in its expressions ; how whole multitudes are reclaimed from their greatest furies by it ; and how cicero is in spight of all his other faults , so admired for it , that thousands sweat and toil daily , to make one in that number , wherein he is acknowledged to be by them all , far the first . when i consider how miraculously it expresses , with the same motion , so varying sounds , that though mankind be innumerable , yet each in it hath his distinct tone and voice , and how , with little different positions , it signets the same air with words so extreamly differing , that one may think that each man hath a spirit speaking out of him . i must fall out in regrates and wonders , that , and how , so excellent a faculty is so much abused ! neither must we conclude , that because such go away unanswered , that they owe this to the sharpnesse of their wit , but rather to the depravednesse of its subject , wherewith the greatest part of accurat spirits are so little acquainted , that some know not the terms , and others know them only to hate them . we must not think that we admire for wits , such still , at whom we laugh : and i believe many laugh at such as are prophane , as they do at such as they see slip and catch a fall , though never so dangerous . i regrate in this vice , both to see sharp men so vicious , and so much wit so missimployed ; for though we may say here , that materiam superabat opus , yet such is the abjectnesse and worthlessenesse of the matter , that it is not capable of ornament , no more then excrements are to be admired , though they were gilded , and carv'd out by the most curious hand ; and their wit is at least to be charged with this error , that it choises not subjects worthy of their pains : for whereas the quaintnesse of fancy doth , when imployed about indifferent subjects , beget its masters respect ; and when upon excellent admiration , all that it can do here is but to excuse the faults it makes , and so at least is so beggerly an imployment , that it is scarce able to defray its own charges . i account him no wit , who cannot deserve that name , though he be barr'd any one subject , especially such a subject as obscenity is , wherein former trafficquers have been so numerous , and so vacant from other imployments , that as nothing which is excellent , so little that is new can be said upon it ; and what is said , is transmitted from ear to ear , with so much of secrecy , that as no historian will write it , so fewer will know it , then will know any of these witty productions of learning , or moral philosophy , which all men indifferently desire to read and repeat , whereas this will be altogether supprest from succeeding ages , and of the present ladies , states-men , lawers , divines and phisicians are not allowed to give it audience . i have heard women , though loose , say , that they loved none of these who published their shame , though they satisfied their lust ; and that such did oft evaporat their lust in these raileries , or design to supply their defects in such discourses . and i know that lackeys , or bawds , will be more accurate in that kind of eloquence , then the noblest of such as use it ( if any who are noble use it at all . ) men must either think women great cheats , in loving what they weep or blush at , or else they are very cruel , in tormenting their ears with so grating sounds . and if women be such excellent creatures , as mens oaths and complements make them , certainly obscenity must be a mean vice , seing of all others , such decry it most . for complyance with whom , it is strange that these who offer to die , will not much rather abandon a piece of imaginary wit ; and which passeth not even for such , but amongst these who are scarce competent judges . it is most ungentle many for such as frequent ladies , to spend so much time in studying a kind of wit , that not only cannot be serviceable , but which cannot in any case be acceptable , or recreative to these lovely persons , for whose divertisement and satisfaction , even these obscene ranters do pretend that they imploy all their time and pains , and whom they will doubtlesse at some occasions offend , by slipping into one of these criminal expressions , which custome will so familiarize , that it will be as impossible for them to abstain , as it will be for these others to hear what is so spoke , without trouble and dissatisfaction . such as have their noble souls busied about great matters , find little time to invent expressions , or mould thoughts concerning such pittiful subjects ; and i appeal to the worst of these , if they do not abominat such as are in history noted for obscenity , and if they would not hate any , who would adorn their funeral harangue , with no other praises , but that they were so wittily prophane , that they would force ladies to blush , debauchees to laugh , states-men to undervalue them , and chase divines from their table . avarice is so base a vice , that the term sordid is improperly used in morality , when it is otherwise applyed , and by terming one a noble person , we intend to signifie , that he is liberal : this is that vice , which by starving great designs , hinders them to grow up to their full dimensions . none will carry about dismembered bodies , and wear scarres in their service , or to gain victories for these , whose avarice will so little reward their pains , that they oft-times refuse to supply these necessities which were contracted in their own imployments . no great man can have both the hearts and the purses of his inferiors : and few have been famous , or prosperous , but such as have been as ready to bestow riches upon their friends , as they have been ready to take spoil from their enemies . themistocles finding himself tempted to look upon a great treasure , blush'd at his error ; and turning to his servant , said , take thou that money , for thou art not themistocles . rome then begun to be jealous of cesars greatness , when he begun to put the army in his debt ; it was said of that noble duke of guise , that he was the greatest usurer in france , for he laid out his estate in obligations ; and tacitus observes , that vespasian had equal'd the greatest of the roman hero's , if his avarice had not lessen'd his other vertues : which is the observation made by philip de comines , upon lewis the 11 th of france . perseus , out of love to his treasures , lost both his kingdom and these , being as a punishment to his avarice , led in triumph in the company of his coffers , by a roman general , who gloried , and is yet famous for having died almost a beggar . the world love , esteem , and follow such as are liberal ; historians celebrat their names ; souldiers fight their battels , and their beeds-men importune heaven for success to their arms ; but no man can have a kindness for such as will prefer to them a little stamped earth , or value no obligations , but these which bind to a paying of money . and it is well concluded by the world , that no vast soul can restrict all its thoughts to that imployment , which is the task of porters and coblers . in this vice we make our souls to serve our riches , whereas in its opposite vertue , riches and every thing else ( whose price these may be ) are by such as are truly liberal , subjected to the meanest imployment , to which the soul can think them conducive : and the soul is too noble and well appointed an appartment , to be filled with coffers , baggs , and such like trash ; which even these , who value them most , hoord up in their darkest and worst furnisht rooms : and such as are liberal , are the masters ( for it belongs to these only to spend ) whereas the avaricious are in effect but their cash-keepers , who have the power to keep , but not the allowance to spend what is under their custody . i am confident , that zeno is more famous ( and to be rich serves for nothing else ) for throwing away his money , when it begun to trouble his nobler thoughts , then cresus , whose mountainous treasures served only to bribe a more valiant prince , to destroy them and it . and marcus crassus , the richest roman , was so far undervalued by julius cesar , that he said he would make himself richer in one hour , then these riches could their master , which came accordingly to pass , when by his liberality he gained the roman souldiery , and they gained for him the empire of that world , whereof cresus estate was but a small one , though his avarice made it a great spot in him . this vice implyes a present sense of want , and a fear of future misery , to be hoording up what serves for nothing else , except to prevent , or supply us in these conditions . but noble spirits , who design fame and conquests , vertue and religion , raise their thoughts above this low vice , and design not to gain riches , but men , who are masters of these ; and with whom when gain'd , thy can soon bring all things to their devotion : and therefore in point of honour we are obliged to hate avarice , and cherish liberality . though treason cheats with fair hopes of glory and advancement , and at least this vice pretends to have whole woods of lawrels at its disposal , yet the most ordinary preference it gains men , is the being first amongst fools and vicious persons ; for they are then wronging both that honour they possess , and that to which they aspire , when they by their usurpation learn others how sweet it is to rebel against their superiors . and such as imploy the commons against their soveraign , must expect to allow them greater liberty then suits with the honour of governours , and must stile themselves the servants of the people ; how meanly must these flatter that unreasonable crew ? swear friendship with such as have wronged their honour , lye , dissemble , cheat , beg , meet in dark corners with their associats , and suffer as much toil and misery , as wants nothing but the nobleness of the quarrel to make them martyrs . it is not safe for any man in point of honour , to undertake designs wherein it is probable he will fail , and wherein if he fail , it is most certain that his honour will suffer : and there is no crime wherein men are more like to fail , then in this , the rable whom they imploy , being as uncertain , as they are a furious instrument : and like the elephant , ready still to turn head against such as imploy them in battel ; and who will trust the promise of these leaders , ( for without large promises , rebellion can never be effectuat ) who in these promises are betraying their own alledgeance ? and such as these imploy , will ( at least may ) consider , that how soon they have effectuat these treacherous designs , they will either disdain the instruments , as useless , or destroy them as dangerous , and as such , who by this late experience , are abler to ruine them , then they were their predecessors . and when such traitors are disappointed of their designs , they are laught at as fools ( for nothing but success can clear them from that imputation ) and exposed to all the ludibrie , and thereafter to the tortures of enemies , who cannot but be violent executioners , seing their ruine was sought by the rebellion . is there any thing more ignoble then ingratitude ? and these traitors are ingrate , seing none can pretend to these arts but such as have been by the bounty of these , against whom they rebell , advanced to that hight , which hath made them giddy ; and to that favour with the people , upon which they bottom their hopes . and do not men and story talk more advantagiously of footmen and slaves , who have relieved their masters , then of the greatest of such as have rebelled against their princes ? all mankind being concerned to magnifie that wherein their own safety is concerned , and to decry these arts , whereby their ruine is sought . that same people who cut sejanus in as many pieces as he had once favorites , did raise a statue to pompey's slave , for staying by the carcass of his dead master . and as alexander hang'd bessus , who had betrayed to him his master spitamenes and antigonus caused massacre these hygeraspides , who had betrayed the gallant eumenes : so charles the ninth of france , did refuse to punish such as had opposed him , when he was in rebellion ; for , said he , such as have been faithfull to the king , against me , when i was but duke of orleans , will be faithfull to me , when i am raised from being duke of orleans , to be king of france . inconstancy is likewise an ignoble vice , seing it shews , that either men were foolish in their first choise , or , that they were foolish in relinquishing it ; it shews that men are too much subject to the impressions of others , and small or light things are these which are soonest blown off from their first stations : whereas vertuous and constant persons do shew their greatness in the impossibility of their being removed . this vice likewise is unfit for such as design great matters , seing no party will care much to gain such for friends , whom they cannot retain ; and when they tell you that such are not worth their pains , they tell you how mean an esteem they put upon inconstancy . all affairs in the world are subject to change ; and it is most certain , that some occasion , or other , will somewhat raise all parties : to be constant then to any one , will gain him who is fixt , the honour of being sure to his friends , which will magnifie him amongst such as are indifferent , and procure him respect even from his enemies , who will admire him for that quality , which by ensuring their own friends to them , will advantage their interest more then they can be prejudg'd by him , as their enemy , how considerable soever he be ▪ augustine's greatness cannot perswade the world to pardon him this fault , nor can cato's severity ; nor self-murther , disswade them from admiring that constancy , which had as much extraordinary gallantry in it , as may be a remission for his crime : besides , that it made cesar ( even when his victories had raised him to his greatest hight and vanity ) regrate the losing an opportunity to gain so great a person . there is amongst many others , one effect of inconstancy , which i hate , as mean , and unworthy of a gentleman , and that is , to alter friendships upon every elevation of fortune ; as if ( forsooth ) men were rais'd so high , that they cannot from these pinacles know such whom they have left upon the first levell : but really this implyes a weakness of sight in them , and no imperfection in their friends , upon whom they cast down their looks , and who continue still of their first stature , though the others eyes continue not to possess the same clearness . a generous person should not entertain so low thoughts of himself , as to think that what is the gift of another , can add so much to his intrinsick value , as to make him confess in the undervaluing of his former friends , the meanness of his own parts , and former condition : and he obstructs extreamly his own greatness , who obliges his friends to stop , and retard it , as what may be disadvantagious to their interest , by robbing them of so rare an advantage as is a friend . whereas the noblest trial of power is , to be able to raise these whom men honoured formerly with that title : for by this , others will be invited to depend upon them , and they may thereby justifie their former choice , and let the world see , that they never entred upon any friendship that was mean , or low . friendship , the greatest of commanders , hath commanded us to stay by our friend , and he who quites the post assigned to him , is either cowardly , or a fool ; and a gentleman should think it below his courage , as well as his friendship , to be boasted from a station which he thought so advantagious , out of fear of either fate , or interest : which recommends much to me that gallant rant in lucan , when after he had preferred cato to other men , he , in these words , extolls him above the gods , victrix causa diis placuit sed victa catoni . the gods did the victorious approve , but the great cato did the vanquisht love . but lest my tediousness should make the constancy i plead for , seem a vice , i shall say no more of a subject , whereof i can never say enough . drunkennels is so mean a vice , that i scorn to take notice of it , knowing that none will allow it , but such as are mad ; and such as are mad are not to be reclaimed by moral discourses . yet i cannot but press its meanness from this , that though noah was a person of the greatest authority , his once being drunk , is remarked in scripture , to have made him despicable in the eyes even of his own children ( whom he had also lately obliged to a more then natural respect , by saving them from that deludge , which drowned in their sight the remanent of mankind . ) and yet he might have excused himself , more then those of this age , as not knowing the strength of that new-found wine : and having been drunk but once , might have defended himself by curiosity , which too few now can alledge . it is a mean and mad complement , to requite the kindness of such as come to visit us , with forcing them ( after the fatigue of travel ) to drink to such excess , that they commit and speak such follies , as make them return home from that strange place , without being remarked for any thing else , then the ridiculous expressions they vomited up with their stinking excrements . why are servants turn'd out of doors , and each man ( which is very mean ) obliged to serve himself , when men enter upon that beastly imployment ? is it not , that servants may not hear , or see , what extravagancies are there to be committed ? and is it not an ignoble part in persons of honour , to do resolutely what they dare not owne before the meanest who attend them ? men by this vice bring themselves to need their servants legs to walk upon , and their eyes to see by ; but which is worse , they must be govern'd at that time , by the servile discretion of such ( who will be emboldned by this , to undervalue both them and their commands ) and these masters are accounted wisest , who do most submissively follow their directions . judge if that exercise can be noble , which in disabling us to serve our friends , makes us uncapable to discern the favours they do us , and measure its disadvantages by this , that when men have their senses benighted with the vapours of wine , they are thereby unfitted to lead armies , to assist at councils , to sit in judicatories , to attend ladies , and differ nothing from the being dead , but that they would be much more innocent if they were so . men are then very ready to attaque unjustly the honour of others , and most unable to defend their own : and such as they wrong then , do with a scornful mercy pardon their failings with the famness of disdain , which makes them forgive fools , or furious persons : and that in my judgement should be the most touching of all affronts . and if we esteem roots according to the prettiness of these flowers they display ( as if they would give a grateful accompt to the sun , of what its warmness has produc'd ) certainly we will find drunkenness ( as the apostle speaks of avarice ) the root of all bitternesse . for this is that vice , which keeps men at present from attending such of their own , and of their friends interests , as concern most their fame : and as to the future , begets such diseases , and indispositions , as makes their bodies unfit instruments for great atchievments . and seing to talk idly , is the most pardonable of its errors ( which is so unworthy a character , that no gentleman would suffer another to give it of him , without hazarding his life in the revenge ) it 's other madnesse must be beyond all remission . by this , men are brought to disgorge the deepest buried secrets , to reveal the intimacies , or asperse the names of ladies , to enter upon foolish quarrels , and the next morning , either to abjure what they said , or fight injustly their commerads ; and victory is not in that case rewarded with fame , but is tainted with the aspersion of a drunken quarrel , and is ascrib'd not to courage , but to necessity . i confesse , whooring is in this a more extensive vice , then others ; that it corrupts still two at once , for no man can sin so alone , but drinking ( as if it scornd not to be the greatest vice ) does surpasse it in another quality , which is , that one vitious person can force , or tempt whole tables , and companies to be drunk with him : and if great men should be known to love this vice , all such as have need to accoast them , would be in danger , either by complacency , or interest , to plunge themselves into this miserable excess . in other vices , men debauch only their own rational souls ; but here men add to that , the ingratitude of imploying against god , and nature , these rents and estates , which were kept by providence , from more pious persons , that great men might by that testimony of his kindness , be engaged to a religious retribution . so that such as employ their estates , in maintaining their drunkennesse , commit almost the same sacriledge with beltshazzar , who was terrified by a miraculous hand upon the wall , delivering him his fatal sentence , for carousing with his nobles in the sacred vessels , that were robb'd from the temple of jerusalem . my employment , as well as philosophy , oblidges me to implead injustice as the worst of vices ; because it wrongs the best of men , and the best of things ; the best of men , seing they have still the best of plea's . and so , injustice can only reach them , and these will not by flattery , bribing , or cheats , conciliat the esteem of such , as have a latitude to return them this unjust advantage ; which good men neither need , nor will accept . injustice likewise , debauches the law , which is the best of things ; and in affronting whereof , of all others , great men are ( when guilty ) most ungrate : because , it is their guardian , & fence by which they exact respect and treasures from others ; and without which , such magistrats are unjust , could not escape these hourly massacres , which a robb'd and opprest people would poure upon them . and though such , as are generously injust , intend thereby to complement their friends , or repay old favours ; yet in effect , this requital , is as base , as if one should rob a church , to pay his particular debts . he is not worthy of your friendship , who will expect such returns : and vertue is not like vice , so penurious or poor , as that it cannot build upon any other foundation , then the ruins of another . such as intend by their injustice to gain esteem , from the party advantag'd thereby , are much mistaken ; for though , they should gain the esteem of one thereby , yet they would lose that of many thousands ; and he who is wrong'd , will disclose the injustice done him , more then the other dare brag of the favour . and i have my self heard , even the gainer hate and undervalue his injust patron , loving not the traitor but the treason : considering , that by that precedent , himself was laid open to more hazard , then he thereby reapt of advantage ; for that same injustice , which ensured him of his late conquest , made him unsure both of it , and all that he had or should gain thereafter . and to be injust for a bribe , is as mean , as to serve in the worst of employments for a fee , it is to be as base as a thief , and lesse noble then a robber ; and it deserves all these base reproaches , that are due to avarice , lying , flattery , ingratitude , treachery and perjury : all which , are sharers in this caper when it prospers , and when it prospers not , it leads to these ignoble ports , infamy , poverty , the scaffold , pillory or gibbets . though my having usurp'd so far upon the readers patience , makes all i can say for the future , criminal , yet such respect i owe , and such i bear , to the memory of these noble patriots , who have by their publick spiritednesse , settled for us that peace , whose native product , all our joyes are : that i cannot but recommend , that protecting vertue to such as live now , for the noblest ornament of a great soul , and if our actions be specified and measured by their objects , certainly these souls must be accounted greatest , which center all their cases upon the publick good , scorning to wind up their designs upon so small a bottom , as is privat interest . by this , the heathens became gods , and christians do by it ( which is more ) resemble theirs . this is the task of kings and princes ; whereas privat interest is the design of churles and coblers : who can so justly expect universal praise , as these who design universal advantage ? and none will grudge , that riches should be carried into his treasurs , who keeps them but as joseph did his corn in granaries , till others need to have their necessities supplied . these are deservedly stiled patres patriae , and it is accounted moral paricide , to wound the reputation of such as the common-wealth terms its parents . and when these treasures which privat interest have robbed from the publick , shall , after they have stain'd the acquirer with the names of avarice and crueltie , invite posterity to recall them from his offspring , as not due to them ; then such as have like providence toiled only for the good of their countrey , and mankind , shall find their fame like medals , grow still the more illustrious , by all accessions of time ; and that the new born generations shall augment the numbers of their admirers , more then following years can moulder away these heaps of coyn , which avaritious men raised as a monument for their memory . epaminondas is more famous and admired , then cresus ; and fame may be better believed concerning him , seing he left neither gold , nor money , to bribe from it a suffrage . and albeit he was so busied in raising the glory of his countrey , that he had no time to gain as much money , as to raise the meanest for his own ; yet we find him at no loss thereby , seing ▪ each theban assisted at his funeral , as a mourner : and nature lays it as a duty upon all whom it brings to the world , to magnifie him who endeavoured to resemble it , in the universalities of his favours . that glorious roman , who threw himself into the devouring gulf , to avert the wrath of the gods from his countrey , did , in exchange of a few years ( which he but might have liv'd ) add an eternity of fame to his age ; and by the gloriousness of that action , has buried nothing in that gulf , but his personal faults . and brutus , by dying for his countrey , is not more justly called the last of romans , then he may be called the first of men . and for my part , i think that he sacrificed cesar , rather as a victime to his injur'd countrey , then to his private malice . for as mr. couley well remarks , the pretext of friendship ▪ can be no reason , why a man should suffer without resentment , his mother to be violated before his eyes . paul likewise , whom grace had raised as much above these , as reason had raised these above others , was so zealous in this vertue , that after he had known the joyes of heaven more intimately , then others , who had not like him traveled through all these starry regions ; yet such was his affection to his ▪ countrey , that he was content , to have his name deleted out of the book of life , that room might be made for theirs . but if men will love nothing but what will advance their privat interest , they will at least , upon this score , love their countrey , because , when it becomes famous , they will share in the advantage : as the being a roman , was sufficient to make one terrible , when rome flourished . and i imagine , that it was sufficient to incite one of that glorious re-publick , to undertake , or suffer the hardest of things , to remember him that he was a roman : and at all times the unacquainted still esteem us , according to the presumptions they can gather from our countrey , race , and education . for besides that a hawk of a good nest is still preferred : we see , that example and emulation , are the strongest motives that can either induce , or enable men to be noble and valorous ; and though some term this but a fancy , yet , granting it were no more , it is such a fancy , as tends much to our honour , because it hightens in others a fear of us , and lessens in us the fear of them . i may then conclude with this , that as the rays of the sun are accounted a more noble light , then any that is projected from a private candle . and as amongst perfumes , these are accounted noblest , whose emanations dart to the greatest distance ; so amongst souls , these are the most excellent , which respect most the advantage of others . i confess there are some vices , which by shrouding themselves under the appearance of good , do advance themselves too far in ill govern'd esteems , as we see in ambition , and revenge ; yet to our severer inquiries it will appear , that ambition is ignoble , seing such as desire to be promoted , confess the meanness of that state they press to leave . this vice oblidges men to serve such as advance its designs , exchanging its present liberty , for , but the uncertain expectation of commanding others ; and paying greater respects to superiors for this expectation , then it will be able to exact from those whom it designs to subject . what is advancement , but the peoples livery ? and such as expect their happiness from them , must acknowledge , that the rable is greater and nobler then themselves ; and by exchanging their natural happiness , for that which is of its bestowing , they confess their own to be of the least value ; for no man will exchange for what is worse . a courtier admiring the philosopher , gathering his herbs , told him , that if he flattered the emperor , he needed not gather herbs ; was answered , that if he could satisfie himself with herbs , he needed not flatter the emperor ; and without doubt , flattery inferrs more dependence , then gathering of herbs . and in the dispute for liberty , diogenes had the advantage of the stagarit , when he told him , diogenes did dine when it pleased diogenes , but aristotle not till it pleased alexander . vanity is too airie a vice to be noble , for it is but a thin crust of pride , and but a pretending cadet of that gallant sin ; it is i confess , lesse hurtful then pride , because it magnifies it self , without disparraging others , ( for if we admire others when compar'd with our selves ; we are not vain , but proud ) and it is oft the spur to great actions , being to our undertakings , what some poysons are to medicins ; which , though they be hurtful in a dose apart , yet make the compounds they enter , more opperative and pointed . and i have heard some defend , that vanity was no sin , because , in admiring our selves , at a greater rate then we deserv'd , we without detracting from our neighbour , hightned our debt to our maker , which might be an error , but was no fault . but vanity , being an error in our judgement , it cannot but be mean , as all errors are ignoble : and he is avery fool ( which is the ignoblest of names ) who understands not himself . he who understands not his own measurs , cannot govern himself , and so is unfit to govern others ; and it is the employment of a great soul , rather to do things worthy to be admired , then to admire what himself hath done ; but leaving to pursue the croud of it's ill effects , i shall single out some of these i judge most enemies to true gallantry , amongst which , i scruple not to prefer inmeanesse , the being vain of prosperity , and derived power : which shews , that we prefer , and admire more what others can bestow , then what we possesse our selves . whereas , vertuous persons , may justly think , that nothing can make them greater , and to be vain of prosperity , shewes we cannot bear it ; and so concludes us under a weakness : to take advantages of others , when we are more powerful then they , is as base , as it is for an arm'd man to force his enemie to fight , when he has no weapon : this is cowardlienesse , not courage , and who defers not his revenge , till his rival be equal with him , implys a fear of grapling upon equal termes . that one expression , of one of the kings of france , that he scorn'd when he was king of france , to remember the wrongs done to the duke of orleans , makes his name grateful in history , and if great men would reflect seriously , how a word from him they serve ( though but a man who must himself yeeld oft times to a mean disaster ) or how the least error in their own conduct , can overturn the fixtest of their endeavours , and make them in being unfortunat , ridiculous withal , certainly they would call this presumption , rather madnesse , then vanity ; and would conclude it more gallant , to bear adversity , with a generous courage , then to be a fool or flattered by prosperity , which vanquishes as oft , these for whom , as these against whom it fights . neither can i leave this period , till i inveigh against that meannest of vanities ; whereby , men are vain of estates and territories : for , seing man is born lord of all the world , why should he retrinch his own right , by glorying in so little a part of it , that his share will escape an exact geographer . i wish such would remember , that pompey bestowed kingdoms upon his slaves , and yet epictetus , who was a slave , is more admired , then he ; and yet admired for nothing , but his vertue : and why should men be proud , of enjoying that , upon which the meanest begger pours out his excrements if these be vain , because they may call it their own , what hath the master but that ( as solomon says ) he beholdeth it with his eyes , and at this rate , i may glory , in that the glorious heavens are spread over me , for i may behold the one , with as impropriating eyes , as he can do the other . and he who wants a tomb , which these have , have the heaven for a vault and burial place — coelo tegitur , qui non habet urnam . but if the answer be , that these rents will allow them the keeping of a table for their grandour ( which i wish , were the only excuse ) that answers makes them servants , and burdens them with a necessity , to provide for such as they entertain ; and so they are vain of being servants , and servants to such , as will rise from their table , to read and admire above them , plato , socrates , or which is lesse , the author of a well contriv'd play ; but to leave this folly , these may have some pretext , for preferring their own estates , above these of others , but why should they admire themselves for their estates ? which is no part of themselves , and so they should not in reason think better of themselves then others for it . under the same condemnation fall such , as are vain of theis horses , lackeys , or such like things , which is most injust , except their horses and they were all one . such as crust themselves over with embroideries , and after they have divided their time , betwixt their comb and their mirrours , are vain of these silly toyes , which are the creaturs and workmanship of servants , must be certainly very low , and mean spirited , when they imagin to add to their natural value , by things that have no value in them , but what our fancy ( which is the most despicable quality of that soul they neglect ) gives them . and do not they amongst the rest of mankind , disparage very much even these mistrisses upon whom they bestow these adorations ? which they deny their mighty maker , when they imagine by such contemptible means , to scrue themselves into their esteem . how ignobly undervalue they their own thoughts , the noble conversation of excellent men , and accurate books ( to write some whereof , cesar , and the greatest of the emperors have laid aside their swords ) when they impend upon ribbans , and laces , that age of time , which would be missimployed , though it were let out but in moments , upon such womanly exercises . but if ladies , or their suitors , will magnifie these handsome shapes and colours , which are too often bestowed upon them , to repair the want of these noble qualities , of which those who are masters may be more justly vain : why are not they afraid ? by whoring , fairding , drinking , gluttony , or macerating envy , to blast these florid advantages upon which themselves do , and would have others to dote . i must here endeavour to subdue one error , which is by so much the more dangerous , that it wears the fairest mask of all other vices : and this is that whereby men are induced to believe , that true honour is but an appanage of preferment , and that preferment is seldome without honour , but honour comes never without preferment ; and not only are the lees of the people taken with this opinion , but the gallantest of men , who are spheared far above those , do in this , slide easily into the sense of the neighbourhood . yet it remains still an error , for true honour is an innat elevation of the soul , whereby it scorns every thing which is more mortal then it self , and nothing is more frail then preferment ; whose paint is washt off by the least storm , and whose being depends upon the fancy , or humour of others : whereas true honour is independent , and as it cannot flow from any other , so cannot stoop to them . he is truly gallant , whose innocence fears not the jurisdiction of men ; and who looks upon scepters , and such gilded trifles , as impertinent toyes , when they are not sway'd by the hand of vertue ; and who would not value power for any other end , but to be a second to these inclinations which are so reasonable , that they should not need power to make them be obeyed ? tyrants can bestow the tallest preferments , but they cannot make men truly honourable ; which shews that these two differ . and heliogabulus cooke was still but a base fellow , though his masters doting made him as great , as were his own vices ; a statue becomes not taller by the hight of its basis , nor a head more wise , or noble , for being adorned with a shaggie plummage . julius cesar , though no emperor , has a more lasting glory then tiberius who was so . and cato gloried more in that the people asked why he was not preferred , then he would have done in enjoying the greatest honours these had to bestow . preferment is but the creation of men , but true honour is of gods own creation ; and as we should esteem this last as a piece done by the nobler master , so we should love it best , because it is more our own , then what rises from anothers favour . greatness , when most advantagiously bestowed , can but produce love , or fear ; to beget fear , is not noble , because the devil doth this most , and these who come next to him in baseness , come nearest him in this brutes , savages and mad-men , have sufficiency enough for that undertaking ; but to beget love , is peculiar to true honour : and so generous a passion is love , that it is soonest elicit , when least commanded . a vertuous person is likewise a greater governour , then he who suffers himself to be commanded by a vicious woman ; a thirsty appetit , then that king who suffers himself to be led by the ears with flatterers , and to be forced by his own pride to disobey his reason , by which alone he is truly great , and which when any man disowns absolutely , he is to be thrown into a dungeon , or bedlame : preferment leaves and obliges us to bow to others , for satisfying our interest , so that interest is confest by great men , to be greater then they . but vertue and true honour teacheth us to subject our interest to our selves , and puts it in our own power to make our selves happy . and what a pilot is in the ship , a general in an army , the soul in the body , that is a philosopher amongst these with whom he converses . necenim nunquam in tantum convalescet nequitia , nunquam sic contra virtutes conjurabitur , ut non virtutis nomen venerabile & sacrum maneat . sen. epist. 14. to which purpose i must cite statin . silv. vive mide gazis , & lido ditior auro , troica & euphrate supra diademate foelix quem non ambigui fasces , non mobile vulgus , spemq●● metumque domas , vitio sublimior omni . exemptus fatis . in revenge , we must use instruments , who exact more , and will upbraid us more then the law will do , when it satisfies us our wrongs . and does not the philosopher , who denys that he can be wrong'd more nobly ? then he who confesses , that he is both subject to wrongs , and hath received so great a one , that he cannot but pursue it's revenge ? he who con●eals his wrongs , is only wrong'd in privat ; whil'st he who revenges his wrong , is wrong'd in publick : and certainly , the publick wrong is more ignoble . and seing we conceive our selves concern'd in honour , to punish such as would divulge an affront , that was smothered , as soon as given : we can not but be said to wrong our own honour , when we in seeking revenge , proclaim such wrongs , as had else either evanisht , or been lessened by the concealment ; which remembers me of a story , that goes of an old man , at whose bald head , a rotten orange being thrown in the street , clapt his hat upon it ; and said , i shall spill that villans sport , who expected to see me come shewing my head all besmeared over , and complaining of the injury . it is one of the most picquant revenges , to undervalue our enemies so far , as not to think them worthy of our noticeing , and we shew our selves to be greater then they , when we let the world see , that they cannot trouble us , when children and fools do us the same things , that we fret at in others of more advanced years , we passe them without a frown ; which shews , that it is not the acts done us by our enemies , but our own resentment , which in effect injures us ; so that it is still in our power to vex such as design to affront us , by laughing at , or undervaluing these , and such like little endeavours as what cannot reach our happiness . he who pardons , proclaims that by so doing , he fears not his enemies for the future ; but revenge implyes a fear of what we desire upon that account to lessen . thus cowards , and none but they , are cruel , seing they then only account themselves secure , when their enemies have lost all capacity to resist . in revenge , we act the executioner , but we personat a prince when we pardon ; in the one , we bestow a favour , and so are noble , but in the other , we disclose our infirmity , which is ignoble . i admire passive courage , as a vertue which deserves its palms best of all others , because it toils most for them , honours and rewards are but gifts to them , but they are conquests to it : and it merits as much praise , as it meets with injuries . avida est periculi virtus , & quò tendat non quid passura sit cogitat , quoniam & quod passura est , gloriae pars est : this vertue hath rather a greediness for , then a desire to find dangers ; and seing its sufferings make the greatest part of its glory , it runs out to meet them , thinking that to attend them , is a degree of cowardliness . and if we remark narrowly , we will find that all other vertues owe their gallantry to this : and have no other title to that glorious quality , but in so far as they borrow excellencies from it . friendship is then only gallant , when to gratifie our friends , we expose to injuries for them , either our persons , or interest . gratitude is then noble , when we consider not what we are to suffer ; but what we owe , or ( which is more gallant ) what is requisite for the service of such as have obliged us . justice is alwayes excellent , but is then only most to be admired , when we resist temptations , and when we resolve to suffer for having been just ; the envy and rage of these , who consider only how much they have been prejudged , but not how much the publick good hath been thereby advanced . by this it is that a vertuous person shews how great he truly is , and that power and command were the instruments only , but not parts of his former worth . he who yeelds to affliction , shews that those who inflicts it , are greater then himself ; but he who braves it , shews that it is not in the power of any thing but of guilt , to make him tremble . it is easie for one who is assisted by power and fate , to urge these advantages , but to dare these , shews a pitch beyond them : and this induces me to think , that passive courage is more noble then what is active : for one who fights gallantly in an open field , and in the view , or front of an army , is assisted by the example of others , by hope of revenge , or victory , and needs not much fear that death which he may shun , as probably as meet : but he who in a noble quarrel , adorns that scaffold , whereupon he is to suffer , evinces that he can master fate , and make danger less then his courage , and to serve him in acquiring fame and honour . but this vertue deserves a larger room , then my present weariness will allow it in this paper : and therefore i will leave it for praises to its own native excellencies . i shall ( my lords and gentlemen ) leave these reflections to your own improvement , for i am confident that the heat of your own zeal for vertue , will kindle in your breasts such noble flames , as that by their blaze , ye may see further into this subject , then i can discover : and in this essay i desire to be esteem'd no otherwayes presumptuous , then a servant is , who lights his master up these stairs which himself intends to mount . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a50634-e540 native honour commended . dan. 2. vertue contributes more to advancment then vice can do . vertue is more conducive to fame then vice. au argument from romances . vertue railed the grecian and roman empires . vertue hath made philososophers to be admi red above princes . vice must lurk , and is cowardly . servants equal masters in vice. vice but coppies vertue . all vices imply fear . all vices make us depend upon others . vertue allows us a just value of our selvs . dissimulation . envy & detraction . vvhooring . obscenity . avarice and liberality . rebellion and perfidie . inconstancy . an invective against unconstant friendships . ` drunkenness . injustice . publick spiritednesse . ambition is a mean , vice . vanity . the meanness of being vain of riches and eestates . the meaness of vainity in apparel . preserment is not still honourable . the ignoblenesse of revenge the gallantry of patience ▪ the divine epicurus, or, the empire of pleasure over the vertues compos'd by a. legrand ; and rendred into english by edward cooke. le grand, antoine, d. 1699. 1676 approx. 181 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 69 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2009-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a50012 wing l949 estc r25451 08959767 ocm 08959767 42113 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a50012) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 42113) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 1288:19) the divine epicurus, or, the empire of pleasure over the vertues compos'd by a. legrand ; and rendred into english by edward cooke. le grand, antoine, d. 1699. cooke, edward, fl. 1678. [6], 128 p. printed by h. bruges for m. widdows, london : 1676. reproduction of original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng virtue. 2006-08 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-09 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-08 john pas sampled and proofread 2008-08 john pas text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion the divine epicurus , or , the empire of pleasure over the vertues . compos'd by that most renown'd philosopher , mr. a. le grand ; and rendred into english by edward cooke esq 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . isocrates in nicocle . london , printed by h. bruges for m. widdows at the green-dragon in st. paul's church-yard , 1676. licensed november the 29th . 1675. roger l'estrange . to robert coke of norfolk , esq a member ●o the honorable house of commons . sir , being sensible how prevalent the censures of envy and ill nature are almost over every thing that once becomes publique , i thought it my prudent'st course before hand to provide my self such a shelter , as might , if not wholly keep off the effects of their malice , at least render them little prejudicial to me . immediately therefore i was carried away by a force of nature impossible to be resisted , to beg leave that i might have your protection for my sanctuary , being very well assured your name is amulet enough against all the despiteful outrages of perverse dispositions . and indeed to whom could i with more reason dedicate a book composed by that famous philosopher mr. anthony le grand , and consequently of a most elevated dignity , then to your self , who not only most delights in the vertues of it , but at large possesses them . persons of your quality , sir , can very seldome fix their vertue , and make it regular ; the impetuous tumults of a giddy world are so violent upon their sences , that they are quickly hurrican'd out of course by them : but the debauches of an impious and degenerate age have no in●luence upon your steddy mind ; you injoy an undisturbed composure , notwithstanding all the attacques of others to divert the channel , and are not like those bodies , whose complexions follow the nature of their climates ; for you live in the continual exercise of vertuous actions , amidst those who make it the chiefest of their practise to stifle and oppress them . as heaven has been very prodigal of its bounties to you , it has likewise instructed you how to injoy them ; and you do it in so noble , generous , and exalted a manner , that all mankind who have heard of your fame , are forced to acknowledge you best deserve them : and instead of envying your affluence , they have more reason to wish that you may dayly meet with new accessions . your greatness has not the power to make you superciliously haughty ; you receive all addresses with such a familiarity and easiness of nature , that plainly shews 't is vertue only magnifies you : and the qualities you have made natural to you are so excelling , that as evil men can find nothing in them to maligne , so good men cannot see any thing but what they admire and doate upon . let me then in all humility implore your patronage of what is so much your own : ther 's none will doubt the value of any thing which shall have the happiness of pleasing you : and in it i shall not only have my greatest security , but shall find also my extreamest obligations to be all my life , sir , your most devoted , most humble , and most obedient servant , edward cooke . the divine epicurus , or the empire of pleasure over the vertues . the first treatise : of pleasure . the first discourse . the opinion of epicurus concerning pleasure . peace , when considered as the reward of warr , which returns with u●ury the pains and toyl of conquerors , is the desire of all soverains : even the most barbarous as well as civilized people give honour to her , and none will refuse her entertainment in their kingdomes , but who are reputed salvage , yea the very antipodes and opposites of nature . no nation whatsoever will proclaim a warr , but they propose her to themselves before any ingagement with their enemies , whose promising results are so large and considerable , that they never scruple the hazarding whole states and kingdomes for her acquest . 't is true , there is no affinity betwixt a quiet repose , and a troublesome and bloody battle , nor is it imaginable , that a man should have thoughts of peace at the very time he is sacking of towns , dispeopling provinces , committing murders , and laying all places in ruine and desolation through which he passes . yet is this the language of all soverains , who say they never begin a warr , but upon the presumption and hopes of peace , nor do they ever labour the subduction of their enemies , but that their first amity and alliance may be more strongly renewed . what peace is in the politique , that is voluptie or pleasure in the moral ; she is the end of all humane actions , and when philosophers do ingage against vice , making use of virtue to combat with it , they propose not to themselves any other happiness then its enjoyment : they account the difficulties of vertue delightful , because of the pleasure she promises to them , the hopes of which cause all their resolutions and fidelity , and questionl●ss they would be disengaged from the cares and troubles of being possest with her , were they not transported with her charms and delicacies . epicurus , who has openly declared himself as well the defender as lover of pleasure , never had a thought to be injurious unto virtue , when he presented her with it for a companion or a mrs. for as he observed all our actions inclined to pleasure , that we had a natural aversion to grief and vexation , that the former concluded our desires , the latter opposed them ; he was persuaded that pleasure was our cheif felicity , that we might enjoy it in nature , and that it was an innocent aspiring to the condition of the gods , to share with them in a quality which made them happy his enemies , who either have not had a right conception of his thoughts , or have dissembled and put a false gloss upon his designs , on purpose to serve for an occasion to oppose them , have imagined that he has sided with the body against the mind , that he has established his felicity in the sence , and as if he had rejected the immortality of the soul , he had jumbled together in a mixt confusion the pleasures of mankind with those of the most infamous beasts . from which surmise have proceeded so many bitter invectives against voluptie , that even all their writings are stuff'd with his disorders , and that calling of it sometimes the pest of mankind , anon the destroyer and enemy of reason , they have caused the greatest part of the philosophers to have a nauseating and horrour for it . i acknowledge , that that which only respects the body , and concludes all its dominion in the sence , is dangerous unto man , often debauching his reason , abating his courage , darkning his judgement , and making virtue to be of no value in his breast , when that before hand is possest of the chair . if some philosophers may be credited , it is the cause of all disorders in the world , and is no less the destruction of whole estates , then it is the ruin of particular families . 't is she has so often mingled the poyson with the drink , made subjects rebels , caused soldiers to keep secret correspondencies with their enemies , and oblig'd children to give death to those from whom they themselves have received life . in short , voluptie belyes its name , since it never affords us true and real pleasures , but hurts us in its flateries , makes martyrs of its slaves , and indeed bestowes nothing less upon its votaries , then what it makes them hope for . i should be ashamed to defend the opinion of epicurus , did i seriously think it was the protector of so infamous a felicity , and that the original of all its good things had their source from all our evil ones . but his philosophy to me seems too rational to approve of such extravagancies , and he hath sentiments too noble to authorize in publique that which the most impudent and shameless themselves condemn in secret . those , who will take the pains accurately to consider and weigh his writings and narrowly search into his thoughts , may observe that he had no other intention , when he spake so to the advantage of pleasure , then to make his wise man happy , to loose his body from griefs and troubles , to fill up his mind with delight , and to render them both equally satisfied . those who have thought otherwise , have scandalized his innocence , and can find no other wayes to please his disciples , then in the publication of their malice or their ignorance . for what stoick is there that does not desire to be exempted from cares and troubles ? and what philosopher thinks himself unhappy , because he enjoyes a perfect health , sees his mind free from sorrowes , and distempers at a good remove from all the parts of his body ? what favourable opinion soever we receive of the merits of virtue , yet would she be but little grateful to us , if alwayes she appeared perverse and froward , only giving us an entertainment of her miseries , without ever rendring the enjoyment of her , pleasant and agreeable . she ought to make a discovery of her charms , as well as beauty , to oblige us to be in love with her , and to promise us full contentment and satisfaction , to ingage our affections to an earnest pursuance of her . though good be the object we are naturally most inclined to , yet it never at●racts our affections , but when it discovers unto us something particular of beauty in it ; and we look upon it as an indifferent thing all the while that it does not appear to us pleasant and agreeable , as well as profitable , and of advantage . this is the common sentiment of all men , and it is sufficient only to consult our own inclinations to be persuaded of this truth . now if this desire be just , and it be permitted us to follow it , since it is natural , why should epicurus be condemned because he has advanced the glory of pleasure , by the fastening it unto vertue , and by rendring this noble habitude agreeable to procure her admirers ? if there be such ill persons in the world that make an ill use of her , and who leave the mistriss to pay their courtships to the waiting-gentlewoman ; this mischeif ought to be attributed to their disorderly temper , and should be no more wondred at , then to see impious men prophane sacred things , and mercenary ones quit their adored divinity , wholly to be taken up in her favors . there can be nothing more rational , then the passion and love of saints , who love the almighty from the bottom of their hearts , who seek him in their actions , who suffer all things for his love , and never do esteem themselves happier , then when they may testify to him their affections by their suffering . yet it is permitted for these jealous ones of their master's glory , to consider the happiness that they wait for , to love under the hopes of recompence , and regard the lawrels that must one day crown their labours . this mighty king , in whose person both valour and piety are united , and who has as much signaliz'd himself by his devotion , as his victories ; professes loudly that he looks for the reward of his justice , that his hope begins and ends all his actions , and that he is never more animated to the practice of vertues , then when he sets before him that pleasure which must render him for ever glorious in immortalitie . after this allowance , we cannot blame the followers of epicurus , but we must do an outrage to the innocence of the saints , and make these unjust , as we would condemn the former as guilty . both of them aspire after pleasure , and look upon vertue as the mean to arrive to it , and to have a different faith , makes them not contented with the same aims and designs . if the stoicks have cryed them down , and condemn'd their doctrine in all their works ; we must attribute this judgment to the severity of their sect , who acknowledging no other felicities then those of vertue , reject all things that may make it in the least suspicious . though the philosophy is more pompous , 't is not therefore the more plausible , and it would be easy for me to reject their maxims , had i not been on their side in my book entituled the man without passions ; and if i had not discovered according to their sentiments , that the advantages of the soul make all its grandeurs , that others are strangers to it , and that to render a wise man perfect , it is but necessary to render him vertuous . but to make an accommodation betwixt these enemies , and cause them to enter into a good understanding and intelligence , we must acknowledg that their aims are at one and the same end , and both are rivals to the same mistriss , though indeed it is under different pretexts . the stoicks regard vertue as an honest good , and the epicureans as a delectable ; those content themselves with possession of beauty , these latter are taken up in the pleasures she creates in the hearts of those that are her captives . the second discourse ; that voluptie or pleasure is natural to man. nature is so prudent in her conduct , and so regular in all her works , that we cannot be beside the cushion in our pursuit after her ; she is the guide of the universe , the soveraign of creatures , and the invisible light that superintends all our actions . all philosophers approve her inclinations , and as they are assur'd that she derives her origine from heaven it self , without any difficulty in the case , they make choice of her for their mistriss . all who observe her laws are accounted happy by them , her hatred and her love excite all their passions , and they do not shun evil , and imbrace good , but because she has inspired them with an aversion for the one , and a ready complacence for the other . epicurus , who is rendred famous in his school , by making a narrow scrutiny into all her secrets in his remarks upon her movements ; has oblig'd us to revere volupty , because she is * her glory , and that this interessed mother makes a general communication of it to all her children . in short , all animals are capacitated for it , they seek it as soon as they do come into the world , and by their industry after it , they make a publick indication how much they are inclined to her . the little infants that are hanging at their mothers breasts , and whose reason as yet lies buried in the flesh , are fearful of grief , and in love with pleasure , bemoan themselves when the former touches them , and are in an expansion of joy , when the other gives a flattery to their sences . when a more ripen'd age has refin'd their faculties , and the objects they entertain themselves with , have discovered to them their beauties , their thoughts are wholly busied after their prosecution , their reason contrives ways how to acquire them , and following the instinct of nature , they do what they can to satisfie their desires and give their minds contentment . the poets , imitating the oracles by their frequent hitting upon truths in their verses , have fained that orpheus drew beasts to him through the sweetness of his voice , that those who shunn'd the sight of men were easily brought over by his elevations and cadences , that their wild and savage dispositions was forgotten by his melody , and that by this kind of mirth and pleasure he made those creatures become familiar which he could no wayes reclaim by his address . the politi●ians , acknowledging this secret , and learning by experience the efficacy and power of pleasure , have made use of it in all their designs ; by it they have kept the people in obedience , put a stop to rebellion in states and kingdome , and have kept off those dangers that have threatned ruine . the republique of athens owes its conservation to the divertisments of her poets , and their playes have won them over more subjects , then the happiness and success of their arms. for combating with the peoples passions , they have pre●tily stollen into their minds duty with pleasure , the same scenes which have diverted them , have taught them virtue , and they have carryed away that from the theater , which they could never get from philosophy . the lawyers , who are so expert in their decisions , and ought to know the properties of every thing to determine our differences , accord with the sentiments of nature , in saying that man is alwayes inclined to pleasure , that the privation of it is sufficient to cause him to break his promises , and that he may permissively fail in his word to a young lady , when sickness has spoilt the body , and left a visible deformity upon the face . it seems a shock to the inclinations of this common parent , that a man should be obliged to marry her who ceases to be delightful to him , and that she should unjustly exact the continuation of his love , when she has lost that attraction which begat it in him . almighty god , who prescribes an end in all his actions , and who often makes known his designs by those circumstances that are attended upon them , has given us this assurance , that pleasure to a man is natural , since he created him in a place of delicacies , and afforded him a paradice for his first habitation . if we may credit the ancient fathers in their descriptions of it , the earth did never bring forth any thing more beautiful , since all things that was there plac'd conspired to his felicity . 't was the very mansion-house of all imaginable charmes , the retrait in which all happyness was circumscribed , and the inchanted castle of the poets . the fountains that gently fell from the small declining hills , the streams which made their intricate but pretty meanders over the flourishing meadows charm'd his ears with the delightful and purling noise of their waters , the trees did charge themselves with fruits for the pleasing of his taste , all things he could look upon ravish'd his sight , the beasts were no less his domestiques then his slaves ; and as the former was the agreeable supporters of his life , so these respected his orders , and shew'd their obedience to his commands . all the seasons were in a delicate confusion with the spring , the cold did never freez up his members , the sun warm'd , but had no power to burn him , and the stars were to surround him with their most benign influences . the earth , from whose bosom he receiv'd his being , gave him a share of all her treasures , she covered her self with flowers to be a delight to him , and in her verdant and forrest tapistry , invited him to his repose , and if at any time she took away any of her beauties , it was only to present him with a greater variety far more agreeble . in a word , pleasure and man are born together , it is the end of all his operations , and he may be said to have obtain'd it , when once he comes to enjoy it . it would be needless for me to make use of other arguments to enforce this truth , and as it would be to no purpose to prove the fire heats , the earth is heavy , and all the starrs are incircled with light ; so it shall suffice me to say that pleasure is common to all creatures , that man seeks it as his happiness , that nature diffused it in all her parts , and that god himself did give him his creation in an earthly paradice , for his assurance that it was natural to him . but as no maxim is so sollid as not to meet with its adversaries , and that even those themselves who love the truth , yet do sometimes persecute it ; they give out that this sentiment is an enemy to vertue , that it shocks modesty , and is not to be defended without bringing confusion into the world. for if volupty be natural to us , and if we are permitted to follow its motions , who will not presently cry out , and think that we may lawfully commit whoredoms , without any punishment carry away our neighbors wives , and make marriages the occasion of our libertinage and sensuality . this objection , he , that speaks much to , will be impertinent to very little purpose ; nature does not oppose her self to the laws of god , she abhorrs whatever he forbids , and as all her light springs from him , she adores his will , and observes his ordinances . all that displeases him , is an offence to her ; and he has never yet forbid any thing , which she has not inspired into us an horror for , and aversion to do it . does he detest the adulterer , she looks upon him as a monster , and gives all the nations in the world an abhorrence of him . if he makes pleasures unlawful , she condemns them likewise ; she persuades all her children to fly from them , and as she is obedient , she observes all the commands of her soveraign . the third discourse . that good , honest , and profitable , is inseperable from pleasure . as qualities have their oppositions , so have they likewise their resemblances ; logick , which seperates their properties , can never divide their essence , and they agree in unity , although they are composed of different species . the mistery of the trinity which astonishes all theologie , and has made all ages sweat about the discovery of it , concludes in one and the same nature a pluralitie of persons ; the father is not the son , and the holy spirit is different from them both . as they make diverse species , their proprieties do no whit agree together , the passive generation cannot be attributed to the father , nor the procession to the son , without confounding the power of the father , the wisdom of the word , and the love of the holy spirit . yet notwithstanding , they are all three reconciled in one and the same divinity , and the diversity of their persons is no hindrance at all to the unity of their nature . what appears so difficult to the conception in theology , seems evident in the morall . the good that is the object of it , and which makes the glory of all its instructions , is expanded in all its branches , its division stands not in opposition to its unity , and if it makes use of different names , it neither changes quality or condition . it is every way agreeable , the pleasure makes its principal difference , and it never does attract the mind , before it has stirr'd it up by its surprising charms . vtility which is as the soul of polititians , appears always under its habits , and philosophers are not such courtiers of honesty , but that they hope from it to receive satisfaction . but the better to mix this confusion , we must observe that the desire is continually under disquietudes , that its violence keeps us in suspence , and its languishing does often equal the vigor of the most rigorous distempers . for it is as shame-fac'd , as it is cruel , and we ought to confess our miseries , as oft-times as we make any wishes . nothing , but their accomplishment , can afford us satisfaction , and put us into a sedate and quiet temper . indeed we swim in pleasure , when our desires change into effects , when we possess whatsoever we did propose for our content , and when we see our fears vanished , and our hopes established . but this joy is of no longer a continuance , then whilst we are ingaged in the search of a good ; it lessens it self by its possession , and we cease to be satisfied and contented , as soon as we see our greedy desires in repose , and our ambitions have their satisfaction . he , who to secure himself from poverty , passes the seas , despises dangers , finds out lands incognito with the hazard both of his safety and his life , and all to get him riches , is no longer affected with the pleasure of them , then whilst he is heaping them up , and as the profitable gain does charm his travels , so is his delight of them lost and gone , as soon as they are lo●k'd up in his coffers . he languishes after the treasures he has not , and disregards what are in his own possession , and only those good things which he hopes for can give his thoughts contentment . the ambitious man is as much unhappy as him that is covetous ; for when he is sweating with the pains he takes to get himself honors , imploying the credit of his friends hat so he may come to be above them , and often taking on him an undecent humility , that at last he may arrive at some eminency in the world , the glory only then appears delightful to him , when he beholds it as the recompence of all his labors and humiliations . but no sooner are his desires accomplish'd , and he has made his inferiors of his equals , but he languishes in the midst of his honors , he only regards those that are yet wanting to him , and being push'd on by the inquietude of his desires , he does acknowledg no other happiness , then that which promises him the dignity and preferment he earnestly thirsts for . what is the joy of a philosopher , when he is become conqueror of his passions , and master of those slaves that would oppress his liberty ? he does no violence to himself but such as gives him pleasure , all his pains are agreeable to him , and he reckons all his combats happy ones , since they lead him unto victory . but has he excluded vice from his breast , is the object of his affection become that of his hate , and has he subjected that which before did tyrannize over him ? his vertue is forsaking him , his pleasures dwindle , and he must combat with new difficulties , if he would procure to himself delights . this principle granted , it is no hard task to prove that honesty and profit are in affinity with pleasure , and it is only she that ingages us in their pursuit . for the profitable good is not disireable only for its self sake , since that the possession of it is sterile , and gives no satisfaction to those who are once made masters of it . it must be pleasure that moves them to it , representing it under a form that is agreeable , and appearing beautiful as well as profitable , to make one be in love with it . eating , which is so necessary to man , is ever follow'd with pleasure , and i doubt whether we should be at the trouble of self-preservation if we were not invited to it by the contentment , as well as by the necessity . riches , which are made the divinities of the world , and which most men idolize , would be in little esteem amongst us , if they did not discover the pleasures they give to those that have them , aye● and flatter them with an assured felicity . for they display all that possibly can make them divertive ; they show them stately structures , rich habits , tables spread with all the varieties capable to please their tast , advan●agious marriages , and a vast retinue of servants , who attend their persons , and observe their commands . all this pompous gayety ravishes their affections , and makes them without any difficulty , consecrate their cares and diligence in the acquest of those goods which promises them so many advantages . 't is true , the seeking of that good , we call honest , is more pure , it is not beholding to strange ●avors to satisfie its lovers , and it is to do an injury to its merit , to desire any thing above its self . but yet it ceases not to have its charms , as well as profit , it is the glory as well as the ornament of those who possess it , all mankind has a reverence for it , and as it has the wicked for its admires , so all good men too load it with their panegyricks . honor is its appanage and portion , all persons that regard it , give it their praises , and those spectators must become enemies to it , that can refuse it this recompence . knowledg , which is one part of it , does it not create a bundance of delight and pleasure in the learned ? and can they mount up into the heavens , make a discovery of the stars , sound nature , and penetrate into the abysms of the earth , without a transport ? as she is the light of our understanding , she with it infuses joy into our souls , exalts us above our self , and without ever changing our condition , the seems to make us pass out of darkness into light , from a prison unto freedom , and from death to life . none , but those who are ignorant , can question this truth , and who having never been exempted from the phlegmy conceits of their dull and gross bodies , are not sensible of its sweetness and delight . the fourth discourse . that pleasure is the soul of morral vertues . nothing is so great a scandal to the stoicks , as the low and petty rate that is put upon vertue , they look upon all those little less then sacrilegious , that do dishonor her , and never think any punishment too rigorous to chastise their insolence . as they are inamoured with her love , they call her the divinity of the earth , they make her the standard of all their noble actions , and they wish monarchs would as well relie upon her conduct , as the meanest of their subjects . epicurus , who is just of an opposite sentiment , and who has given pleasure the preference to vertue , is reckoned among them no better then a monster ; they have thought a man must quit his reason to side against her , and prostrate a soveraign unto her whom she disdain'd to accept of for a slave . but without doubt those philosophers are too severe in their condemnation , which makes me think they have not sufficiently conceiv'd the meaning of their adversary , in that they have charg'd him with so many reproaches . for did they take the pains to examine soveraign good in its nature , they would find themselves in no disagreement at all with him , they seek that in effect which they blame in appearance , and are no otherwise enemies to him , but in their way of expression . for if they affirm that vertue is contented with her own perfections , that she despises all advantages that are forrein to her , and only to be possest of her , is sufficient to make one live happy in the world . the epicureans likewise will yield this g●ory to her , and make their protestations , that they look upon her as the most profitable of al good things . but they will never acknowledg , her to be man's felicity , since she only conducts him to it , and never makes her self desirable , but for the love of that pleasure which she promises . for that happy life which they would have begin from an enjoyment of her , is nothing but the pleasure which they establish , and which , seperating the means from the end that leads to it , they are oblig'd to prefen● to vertue . indeed pleasure seems natural to the vertues , the most severe of them do seek her , as well as the most diver●ive , and though their contentment is more reserv'd and hid , it is no whit the less true and real . as she is the chief and peculiar good of man , clearing up his reason , and fortifying his will , she very agreeably slides into his soul , and if she somtimes amazes her spectators ▪ she still affords her admirers most plentiful delights and satisfaction . those heroes , who make fortune their diversion , and laugh at it , contemning her power , and with an equal unconcern beholding her favors and affronts , have done well to acknowledg that there is a certain pleasure in the vertue that charms them , since they preferr its injoynments to riches and honors : accounting themselves happy in their poverty , and extracting glory from that which makes others miserable . that philosopher , who has made himself tamous in history in his choice of a tubb for his mansion house , and so as it were to bury himself alive in the midst of athens , speaks but the satisfactions that he there received , and though he was depriv'd of all things , he did not forbear disputing his felicity with the most pompous and lofty soveraigns . his abode was more pleasant to him , then their pallace , he considered it as a temple from whence he deliv●red his oracles . and depising the ornaments of rooms of entertainment , he look'd upon his own as very well accommodated , since it had vertue for its hostess , the water that quench'd his thirst , and the dry parched bread that satisfied his hunger , he thought , need give no place to to their delicacies , and as they did purely satisfy nature , they left no disgusts which are the usuall punishments of their extravagant seeding . he got the conquest of all the passions that insulted o'r kings ; fear and grief were banished from his soul , and while these lament the loss of battles , and afflict themselves with the revolt of their subjects , and groan under the weight of their diadems , he enjoy'd a sweet repose , and liv'd in a profound and undisturbed tranquility . if he shun'd the courts of princes , it was because he knew the troublesom cumber and distraction of them ; if he refus'd publick dignities , it was because he counted them as specious servitudes ; and if he preferr'd the caelibate life to marriage , it was because the name of zantippe was odious to him , and that he look'd upon the society of women as such , who would always be commanding , though they were born to obey . in short , this philosopher enjoy'd a perfect freedom : his miseries were only in appearance , and contemning the grandeurs of the world , he could boast in this of being the most happy man amongst all the philosophers , and the most puisant of all kings . if pleasure has triumph'd over poverty in the person of diogenes , if its sweetness has overcome its cruelty , and has put an agreeableness into the most incompliant and unwelcome of all vertues ; it has no less empire over the rest of her companions . those that seem to be the most dis-interessed , do propound her to themselves i● all their enterprizes , and though they would be tho●ght to shun her , yet they take their measures by her movements . friendship , which derives all her glory from the sincerity of her affections , has yet a passionate earnestness for her , it loves it in the object it reveres , its presence contributes to her happiness , and she never makes her approaches to it , but to receive from thence satisfaction . there is nothing more pure then the vertue of the ancients , who have expos'd themselves to dangers , not valuing their lives , but choosing an inevitable death to preserve their countries from those mischiefs which have threatned them . it seems those generous spirits had no other sentiments then those of honor , they had only a regard to vertue , when they made themselves victims to her . notwithstanding we may say that pleasure was the life and soul of all their actions , they stirr'd not but as she did move them , and though they sought out miseries , they were not less the slaves of pleasure . they imagined that posterity would give them elogies , that their children would become the peoples love , histories would publish their valour , their statues would be ornaments and decorations of publick places , and all mouths expanded in the celebration of their names , and all pens imployed in relating their merits . death , which is so terrible to the cowardly did appear to them but a petty evil in comparison of the honors they promised to themselves ; and as they were animated by the desire of glory , they only considered the immortality that would crown their actions . justice , which pleases it self with rigour , and most of her time is taken up in the chastisements of criminals , has not any sentiments more pure and re●in'd . when a father is inrag'd against his son , and favors his accusers , and becomes his persecuter as well as his judg , making his natural affection give place to that of his country , and condemns him to a shameful death ; one may well say he is enrag'd with himself , he punishes himself in the person of this mallefactor , and he feels by anticipation , those torments that should put an end to his life . for who can imagine that a seperation so sensible , and touching , should be accompanied with contentment , and that any man who has a love for his children , can become their parricide with satisfaction . yet we may be assur'd that he receives joy from it , that by taking away his son's life , he renders himself famous in the world , that by this rigor he acquires to himself the title of just , that he has ridd himself of a person that would have blemish'd his reputation , and whose crime would have been an eternal blurr upon his family , had he not wash'd it away in his blood . as his int'rests are fastned to those of the publick , and none can attacque his country , without intrenching upon his libertie ; he studies its conservation in that of his nations , he is satisfied that the one cannot be destroy'd , but the other must lie grovelling under its ruines , and that all those are his enemies , who have a design at her overthrow . what has been said of poverty , force , and justice , might with much more ease be attributed to the other vertues , since they do more agreeably insinuate themselves into our breasts , without opposing the inclinations of nature , to make themselves masters of it . there is but therefore one difficulty behind to be remov'd upon this subject , to clear up epicurus , and to justify him against the reproaches of his adversaries . if that pleasure be so link'd to vertue , that she and it are inseperable , why does she oppose it , and declare her self its enemy wherever she meets it ? temperance keeps her in awe and subjection , and will not suffer her to make any sallies , and as if she was the shame of nature , she condemns all her escapes and extravagances . prudence blames the use of her , and discovering what disorders she causes in her slaves , obliges us to shun all her approaches . this objection stands in need but of a slight answer ; in saying , that vertue does not reject all manner of pleasures , but if she condemns those that are infamous and criminal , she permits on the other hand , all those that are natural and innocent . she allows the temperate man to take delight in his sobriety , the judg , to be pleased in the equity of his decrees , the philosopher , to extract his joy from the conquest he gets over his passions , and the politique states-man to hugg himself in the happiness that favours his designs , when he sees his desires accomplish'd . evil is not always the object of our hatred , and if it afflicts us when we feel its first assault , we are well pleas'd when we behold it flying away from us , and discomfitted . the second treatise of moral vertues . the first discourse . of the nature of prudence . no part in man's body is acknowledged so useful , as that of the sight , 't is the noblest of all the sences , the theatre of the soul , the inspiration of passions , and the instrument to instruct and help us in the discovery of all arts and sciences . astrology , which despises the beauteous glories of the earth , to take her full contemplation of those higher ones of the starrs , and which inferrs so often from their motions , the symptoms of our distempers , would have been unknown in the world , if the sight had not given it its birth and origine , and if she had not discover'd to her , all those pompous principles from whence she draws her conclusions . the eye which is the organ of it , is a contraction of miracles , and if we will give any credit to the anatomists , nature never made any thing so full of delicacy and magnificence . 't is plac'd in the head as in a throne , its pallace is environ'd with glass and chrystal , and the water there , is so curiously mingled with the fire , that its light is conserv'd in it without losing any thing of its substance . nature , which knows the value and worth of all her works , has ordered all the members that are neighbors to it , to serve as guards and barrs , the dust falls downwards to secure it from danger , the eye-brows stand up for its defence , and the tunicks are hardened that they might withstand the often changes of the air , as well as the violence of heat . but admit , the sight should not have all these advantages , it would be sufficiently considerable in its discoveries of the wonders of the universe , measuring the distance of the starrs , observing their motions , and reading therein , as in a book , all the characters which become the destiny of mankind . if the eye be the light of the body , prudence is that of the mind ; it is a lustre that dissipates its darkness , a flame that clears it up in all its designs , and which seperating the good from the bad , creates in it , a love for the one , and honor for the other . as she is active , and interessed in her good success , she regulates all its motions , and will not permit it to take resolutions to its disadvantage . she prescribes such a comely moderation to its sallies , that it sets about nothing but by the order of reason , her judgment is dependant upon its advice , and discovering to it the nature of ev'ry thing , puts it out of danger of choosing doubtful good things , for certain ones , and those which are only appearing for true and real . the vertues , that are the daughters of the will , fetch all their light from this sun , she is their perfection as well as guide , and as they are animated by her light , they are observant to all her commands . those , who forsake her conduct , do easily change from being natural , and degenerate into vitious , they become the shame or the punishment of their slaves . temperance ceases her empire over the passions , when she leaves off being ruled by prudence , her moderation is turn'd to excess , and following the vain fancies of imagination , she lets her self be carried out to extremities that are very hurtful and prejudicial . justice loses its name , and takes that of its contrary , when it is abandoned by prudence ; all its sentences are either too remiss through fear , or cruel ; and not well weighing the greatness of the crime and its merit , it often punishes the innocent , and absolves the guilty . valour is converted into weakness or ●emerity , when it has once left off to depend upon her succour , all that it attacques , does either injure or provoke it , it is always faint-hearted or insolent , and does nothing that is not a reproach to its cowardize or its presumption . this glory cannot be disputed with prudence , without being ignorant of ●●s puissance ; for as she is the soul of the active , civil , and politique life , she is extended over all the actions of mankind , she gives the lively and perfecting touches to what science and knowledg have but rough-drawn , and making their general principles become particular , she discusses all the circumstances that may be either a ●●op or an advance to her designs . that she may happily succeed in this purpose , she lets nothing escape her sight , she considers upon all the differences of time , and comparing the future with what is past , she judges of the event of affairs which she has been meditating on . making use of the memory to learn the conduct of our ancestors , correcting her faults by their errors , and taking advantage from their loss and damage . things present , little touch her , for as they are easy to discern , and there needs but a mean capacity to judg of them , she troubles not her self but with futurities , she thinks upon what may happen , though the events may sometimes betray her designs , we can't condemn either her consultations or fore ●ight . she is even-pois'd in all her enterprizes , the evil t●rns of fortune do make not her alter her advices , but she dares undertake to defend them though all the world condemn her of blindness . she is assur'd that her knowledg of things can't prove deceitful , since they are grounded upon so many precautions , and she never undertakes any thing without having the judgment for her arbitrator , reason for her mistress , and the memory for her warrant . the first discovers to her the nature of things , separating the false from what are true , and serving her as a light , and guide , will not permit her to be mistaken in her choise . reason instructs her in what she ought to choose , and pasting from discourse to actions , she applies the general maxims to particular accidents . the memory makes her reflect on what is past , she presents to her view all that has any likeness to her enterprizes , and consulting the actions of predecessors , she draws from thence her examples and copies . but though all these particulars go to the making up of prudence , she seems to have her most absolute dependance on the last , and is more redeveable for her clear perspection into things to the faithfulness of the memory , then to the discernings of judgment , and the persuasions of reason . for as the affairs of the world are as it were chain'd and link'd one to another , and the last ordinarily depending on those precedent to them , she regards the things that are past and gone , and comparing them with these present , from thence gathers considerable advantages . past events are to her instead of premisses , and she grounds her conclusions on their evidence ; as our understandings never make a judgment before they be clear'd up and enlightned , so she never makes any resolutions , but what she draws from those of former times . she consults the annals , and remarques the accidents that fall out in them , she examines the counsels of princes , and soveraigns , and according to the designs projected by her , approves or condemns them . in short , she runs through all the differences of time , and appearing as an hieroglyphick of eternity upon earth , she regards past ages , instructs her self of the present , and fore-sees what will be the future . now , epicurus having well known the merit of this vertue , has made of it the principal instrument of man's felicity , and would have her , as she is the queen of vertues , always to begin and end her happiness . we do not approve of the medicine but for the health's sake it procures to us : that art which has instructed us to sail upon the seas , is not commendable , but for its usefulness to us , and by giving an equal satisfaction to the greedy desires of covetous persons , and to the ambition of conquerors . so we esteem prudence , adoring it as a divinity , because it bestows upon us abundance of delight and pleasure , and bannishing from our breasts the ugly forms of fear and sadness , she is in a continual engagement about our happiness . the second discourse ; that prudence advises the wise man to a retreat . though our own interests commonly make us blind , and the love we bear our selves is oft-times pernicious to us ; yet it ceases not to be legitimate , and we are suff'red to love our selves without transgressing the ordinances of our creator . this affection is born with us , it grows up with our age , and never leaves us till we come to our graves . for as our perfections do dazle us with their lustre , we are apt to look upon our selves as the little demy-gods of the earth , we make every thing serviceable to our conservation , whatever is out of us does not at all affect us , and good or evil must make an impression upon our body or mind , if it would testify the complaisance or the aversion we have for either . the friendship we bear to our neighbor , is grounded upon this natural inclination , we love him in reflecting on our selves , and as the ●ear● does not emit any heat into the other parts of the body till after that it is well warm'd with it it self , so we have but little kindness for our friends , before we have discovered that they have some for us . prudence , which accounts it her glory to regulate our life , acts always according to this apprehension , she consults our inclinations when she would conduct us to some kind of living , and examining our ability and our desires , she invites us to undertake nothing that may oppose or jussle with them . she would have us follow our genius in all our enterprizes , and that nature should be as well our guide as reason . from thence it happens that she persuades the sturdy and couragious to warlike exercises , and causes those men of blood to find abundance of pleasure in carnages and murders . and thus husbandmen are in love with the toils and labours of the cart and plow , these happy slaves preferr their thatch'd cottages to the splendour of the richest pallaces , and their plow-tail is before the battoons of marshalls , and the scepter of princes . from thence it comes to pass , that she stirrs up the ingenious to learning and sciences , and that according to their inclinations she animates them to the study of the secrets of nature , or to the clearing up to us the mysteries of our faith. as she well knows that the court is an enemy to vertue , and that none can live there long , but they must either become criminal or unfortunate , she persuades the wise man to a retreat , and courts him to get out of a place that may tempt his innocence , alter his purposes , and debauch his purity . she makes him see that it is as inconvenient to represent the person of a favorite , as that of a king and that he ought to avoid as well the ambition of the one , as the pride of the other . as he understands not the art of ●lattering , but his tongue is always the interpreter of his heart , and as little knows how to commend a crime , as to blame a vertuous action , she will not suffer him to expose himself to danger , and run the risque of wronging his conscience in playing the courtier . she instructs him that fortune is blind , and as unjust in her favors as in her outrages . that he must act below himself to submit to her empire and governance , and make a divinity of an imaginary idol . ●na word , he ought not to regard the court but as the enemy of wisdom , and as a theatre , whereon he cannot appear but he must lose his liberty , hazard his conscience , and abundantly derogate from his honor. but his labor will be still imperfect , if after he has estrang'd himself from court , he does not retire from the noise of the world , and if having disengaged himself from one peril , he is abandoned to another . for the populace is not more just then those of a prince●s ●rain , their sentiments though more generally received , are never the more reasonable , and if we love our own repose , we should most fear how we please many persons . the multitude is always dangerous , what ever vertue we bring to them , we hardly ever carry away agen pu●e and entire ; our manners alter by the company of men , and either the ●vil insects those that come near them , or an i●●●nious complaisance gives it is entrance , we still go from them less innocent or more disordered . vice , there appears commendable , because it has always there some to approve it , the pomp wherewith it discovers it self , begets in us a high esteem of it , and judging its worth by the number or quality of its authors , we receive it with satisfaction . it often steals into us without ever staying for our consent , all its approaches corrupt our heart , and only to present before it an object that is agreeable and pleasant , is enough to ingage it to an earnest search and diligence . on the other hand , there is little trouble in a shady solitude , as one sees there , no rich gayeties , so the desires are kept regular and orderly . impurity is banish'd where one can meet with nothing to entertain it , and ambition ceases to be our torment , when honors have left off dazeling our eyes , and our actions are no more to have spectators and witnesses . as one cannot be near the ●ire , but the heat must be felt , so likewise cannot we be conversant with mankind , but we must blurr our innocence , and share in their defilements . if they find they have courage enough tooppose their charms or their efforts , they scarcely will be able to shun their derision , they think them bruits when ever they divide from their sentiments , and we must resolve to become their enemies , if we would not be their picture to resemble them in imitation . the wise man , knowing his vertue cannot be in safety amidst so many dangers , and that t is hard to converse with the impious and prophane without contracting their vices ; flyes their company , and mistrusting his own strength to resist , thinks it better to make an honorable retreat , than to hazard his innocence . he seeks his ●elicity in his solitude , he retires from the world to enjoy himself , and his vertue being all his treasure , he believes himself sufficiently happy in his having it for a companion . he regards it as a good that will never forsake him , but be his shadow when ever he is pleas'd to be the substance , and which is never more faithful to him then when he is a recluse to t●e world , to become her most humble and passionate servant . the volupty he receives from it , is an effect of prudence , he is indebted to the sincerity of his counsels for the tranquillity of his soul , and it may be said that she is the cause of all his happiness , since she discovers to him the miseries of the court , and the injustice of the people to ingage him to a retreat . the third discourse . that prudence instructs men to rule their families . if oeconomie be not the most noble , she is the most antient of empires , fathers of families were seen before kings , and the first who have set themselves over the liberty of the people , were but as prentices to them . their rules have serv'd them for instructions , they have got from these sources wherewithal to govern their states , and have learnt the politiques in observing the maxims of particulars . if the conduct of families has not so much of pomp in it as that of a kingdom , it has not less of difficulty , and i question which is the easiest , to command subjects , or to keep a wife in her duty , and children in their obedience ? the ill humor of the one , and extravagence of the others , put a whole house into disorder , correction and chastisement are oftentimes little profitable to them , and the fear that assures their estates , almost continually puts their persons into danger . therefore does prudence boast of her assisting us in our necessities , because she counsels us not rashly to ingage our selves in marriage , but to consider well beforehand the dispositions of that person one designs for a wife , and rather to be affected with the perfections of her soul , then the charms of her face . it tells us that beauty is but seldom innocent , that pride is inseperable to it , that the fair are always scornful , and commonly despises the company of their husbands to entertain themselves with that of their adorers . that the rich are imperious , that they love to command , but will never obey , that they must not be contradicted in their will without making them angry , and that we must resolve to bear with their insolence , if we would be quiet in our house . to make our marriage happy , she would have our conditions equal , our humors of a pretty near resemblance , our love mutual , and she does not aim so much to unite our bodies , as our minds and affections . when heaven smiles upon our choice , and we find all these qualifications in the person of her we court , she obliges us to consider her as our spouse , and not as our friend only , to receive her into our counsel , to make her share in our secrets , and to conceal nothing from her that may give her a suspicion of our mistrust . t is to sollicite her to abate her kindness , to doubt of her discretion , and to reveal all that is not committed to her fidelity . love suffers no partage , all that divides it is its bane and ruine , and it changes its nature and languishes when it ceases to be communicable . the way to ingage a wi●e to silence , is , to think her faithful , to assure her of the good opinion we have conceiv'd of her vertue , and to testify to her that we believe our secrets as secure in her breast as in our own . if there be some opportunities that dispence with this obligation , and suffers us not to declare our secrets , there are none that disengage us from our promises ; the faith that knits the marriage is sacred , and not to be violated without committing a sacriledg . the law that favors men , cannot absolve them from injustice , when they difile the nuptial bed , and leave their wives company , to throw themselves into the arms of an adulteress . nature , knows no difference of sex , what is forbid the one , is not permitted to the other , and he unjustly exacts ●idelit in his spouse , who prophanes that he has promised her by illegitimate and blamable conversations . yea , he does as it were make himself the bawd to his wife , by his ill example , and sollicites her to the sin by the corruption of his own loose carriage , and authorizes her flyings out and reproachful liberties , when he approves of them in his own person . he ought to be chaste , if he would have his wife continent , and to have his life exempt from scandal if he would with justice oblige her to an honest innocence . when heaven blesses their marriage , and bestows upon them children to continue their family , nature charges them to take care of their nurture , and to keep them after they have brought them into the world. when age has loosned their tongue , and reason begins to discover its vivacity , and renders them capable of instruction , they ought to labor their education , and imprint upon those young plants , piety and vertue . those that are failing in this duty , may very well pass for their enemies , and it may be doubted if they think them legitimate , since they so shamefully abandon them in their necessity . an infant receives nothing from his father , but his body , his soul is god's production , the estate he ought to inherit , is often fix'd to his cradle , and that person does but imperfectly deserve the name of father , that does not improve his mind , and implant commendable sentiments into his understanding and judgment . if nature , has been niggardly in her favors to him , and denied him this address , which is so necessary to the education of children , he ought to have recourse to the pruden●e of others , to make choise of masters of whose conduct he appro●es , and whose life is as void of unworthy imputations as are his manners . nothing , makes a deeper impression on our soul , then that which is pour'd into it in our youth , whatsoever is then sow'd takes root , and as the young twiggs of trees bend according to the motions of the hand which turns them either up or down , so without any difficulty do we pursue the instructions of masters who govern us . their words we make our oracles , we reverence all that comes from their mouths , and considering them as representing the persons of our fathers , we imitate their actions , and often become their copies and images . though servants are strangers in houses , and they may rid themselves of them when ever they become unprofitable , yet they make themselves a member thereof , as well as the children , and though they are their inferiors , they may in some measure boast of being their equals . the patres familias are oblig'd to feed them , they are as well their procurators , as their masters , and they must provide for them necessaries , if they would get any service from them . also those that consider well their conditions , look upon them as men , and not as slaves , they converse with them as with friends of an humble and contracted fortune , and considering that their servitude is equal , and their dependance mutual , they do not so much make use of fear , as love , to keep them to their duty . they know that their birth , though more obscure , is not more vile then their own , and that those parents who brought them into the world , might be as free and unrestrained , as rational . that they liv●d under the same constellations , that heaven is their country , that air and 〈◊〉 arth are equally common with them , and that death , which puts no differences between princes and porters , crumbles into dust , the masters and the servants . familiarity , makes them faithful , those who speak at their tables are silent in their troubles , and do not fear to expose their lives in concealing their masters secrets . too much rigor abates their courage , and they will not be concern'd in the interests of those who are too insulting and imperious over them , or who mistrust them of their fidelity . but if they are found such as domineer over their masters , and abuse their goodness to whom they owe respect , they must repress their insolence with address and cunning , and make them know they do not so much dislike their persons as their ill carriage . to rule and govern this sort of people by harsh and rugged means , except one has a recourse to prudence , and takes its measures , one may easily fall into dangerous extremities . the fourth discourse . that the art of governing states and kingdoms has its dependance upon prudence . vve can never see any thing more illustrious in the world , then kings ; they are the suns of the earth , the arbitrators of mankind , the rulers of their people , and the visible divinities whom they adore . fortune , seems to betyed to their wills , and according to the passions that animate them , they make their kingdoms miserable or fortunate . their anger is constantly the fore-runner of death , and if they are offended , 't is the sacrifice of some life that must appease them . but their goodness makes the subjects felicity , they esteem themselves happy under a prince's conduct that is mild and courteous , they receive his commands with respect , and his words are no less sacred to them then his laws and injunctions . nothing can be seen in their persons , but what begets veneration , and represents this puissance primitive from whence they borrow their authority . but to administer so absolute a charge , as to render ones self worthy the name of a soveraign , it is requisite that there be qualities more then ordinarily eminent in him , that he exceed the rest of men in his perfections as well as in grandeur . the examples of princes is a light that shines into all their subjects , a burning mirroir that reflects upon their hearts , filling it with vertue or vice , as they themselves are , just or debauched . for what people is there that count it not their glory to imitate their soveraigns ? and reckon lawful and authoritative whatsoever they remark in his person ? as they believe he is the soul of the republick over which he rules , they admit of all his movements , and count it an honor that it is permitted them to imitate his actions . do we not see the imperfections of princes become the faults of their subjects , what offends the one , wounds the other , the evil that gives the former a diversion , is agreeable to the latter , and not distinguishing between good and bad actions , they think they may close with any thing that they authorize by their example . it concerns kings to be vertuous , if they would not bring down upon their heads the curses of heaven , and render themselves responsible for all the disorders of their people . but piety would be little benificial to them , if they were not just and upright , and did not observe the faith giv'n to their nieghbor , after they had paid their duties to their creator . perfidiousness , is the crime of base spirits , never entring but into the hearts of infamous persons , and for any to be unfaithful to their promises , they must first absolutely renounce their honor. every time a prince goes aside from his word , or finds out any circuitous tricks and evasions to null his contracts , he showes a vanity that lesse●s his grandeur , and discovers his fear , or want of power . who will give any heed to their promises , that have once found them false and deceitful ? and how can they assure their people that they will support them for the future , if they are accounted faulty in their opinions ? truth is the appanage of crowned heads , kings ought to be the lovers as well as the defenders of it , and they no less hazard their reputation when they are unfaithful to their enemies , then to their allies . if they write patents with their own hands , who will credit them ? or , who will receive them , if they send embassadors ? 't is hard to deal with persons that have no faith , and that esteem nothing honorable , but what is for their advantage . fraud , is unworthy the majesty of kings , and they cannot make use of it , but they must betray their fear , or else acquire to themselves the ignominious title of a lyer . they must be of the nature of scorpions that hide their venome in their tail , and have their after thoughts and mental reserves when concerned to treat with honor. if princes ought to be true in their words , they ought not to be less just in their actions ; their authority does not exempt them from the laws , and though they be the authors of them , they cannot violate them publickly without incurring the indignation of their people . the excess of their power is a mark of their dependance , and if they may execute whatever they have a mind to , it is forbidden them to will any thing but what they ought . justice , has an excellence above that of diadems , it judges of kings as well as of their subjects , and appeals always from their tribunals to themselves , when they have offended it . it behoves them to follow the orders they have made , if they will command with equity ; to submit to the laws that they have prescribed to others , and to establish them in their hearts rather by their example then by their words and writings . they would easily execute this design , would they but reduce their ordinances to a reasonable number , and not multiply them without an evident necessity . laws , are the medicaments of states , and as the quantity of remedies disorder the natural bodies , so multitude of laws bring confusion to the bodies politique . t is their excessive number that begets all our quarrels , which ingages us in tedious suits , and often causes our ●euds to be perpetual . t is their number that feeds the avarice of lawyers , and that furnishes these blood-suckers with tricks and devises to filch our purses . t is their number authorizes injustice in magistrates , that stagger judges , and makes them find in their codes and pandects matter enough to favor the most feeble and guilty causes . t is their number depopulates countries , wasts armies , decayes and ruins traffick to fill up the courts of justice , imploys so many loose fellows in jarrs and bramblements , and renders tribunals , the retreats of pyrates and robbers . the excess of good things is not always wholsom , and i question whether vice is more pernicious to a common-wealth , then multitude of laws . both do debauch consciences , corrupt manners , trouble society , and raise up disorders and enmities in states in the midst of peace . it were well then that a monarch suffered but few laws in his kingdom , if he would avoid all these disorders , and content himself with those he has received from his ancestors , if he would keep his subjects in good intelligence . but as justice is the happiness of states , and laws the more sacred , the less profitable to it , if not executed with rigor and severity , princes ought to watch over their majestrates , and see if those subalterne powers do act with equity . they ought to bethink themselves that they are god's ministers , that they hold his judgments in their hands , and are not exalted above the quality of other men , but to chastize offences and exercise justice . this is an imployment annex'd to their puissance , and they cannot discharge themselves thereof without renouncing their dignity . they ought to fillet down their eyes to have no respect to persons , but whosoever should dare to sin against them , ought to be esteem'd their enemies , and they prophane their majesties in their partiality , by making one and the same action in two different persons , become both innocent and criminal . the third trea-tise . of temperance . the first discourse . of the nature of temperance . the inferior sort of people could never yet conceive that wise men got any advantage by afflictions , that they received any satisfaction at its approach , and that those which griev'd the body , could transmit delight and pleasure into the soul. what● say they , have contraries allyed themselves in his person , and do torments cease being sensible , because they are supported and upheld by vertue ? effects have still relation to their principles , and 't is to mistake the nature of things , to make 'em depend on causes to which they are opposite . some philosophers have had the same sentiments of temperance , they can scarce comprehend that it produces pleasure ; since it is still opposing of it , and labors as much as can be to o'rthrow and ruin it . but yet these two paradoxes are true , and it will be sufficient to give a cursory explanation of them , that their evidence might be the more clear and manifest . the wise man is sensible of joy in the midst of torments , because he is wholly retired in his soul , does not at all communicate with his body , and places all his glory and felicity in his vertue . temperance , gives birth to his contentment , in her resisting of pleasure , retrenching of disorders , and submitting her self to the laws of reason . for , temperance is nothing else but a controuling power that she as soveraign has over the concupiscible appetite , which governs those passions that are most agreeable , and which gives us satisfaction from their moderation or their overthrow . she represses the desires , and suffers not those rovers to take their flights out of our selves . she restrains hope , and does not permit the ambitious seeking of goods , which are prejudicial or unprofitable to us . she retains love , prescribes laws to that tyrant , and qualifying its fury , she keeps it from raising up tempests that might be a trouble to our repose . but her chief work is to oppose pleasure , to suppress its unjust violence , and to hold the most dangerous of our passions to its duty . she is a persecuter of infamous pleasures , and knowing they are scandalous , and dare not produce themselves , she chastizes them in the persons of their slaves , she moderates the lawful ones , and forbids the too frequent use of them , and prevents those things that are permitted us from ingaging us in sin. the husband is not always in safety in the embraces of his wife , the excess of his lo●e may render him criminal , and it matters little that marriage authorizes his liberty , since that intemperence may make him impudent , he ought to love her , but not to be her idolater ; it is fit his approaches be as respectful as they are free , and that he pursues in his entertainments , the rules of moderation , and not the motions of lust and concupiscence . he runs the risque of wounding his conscience , when he is immoderate in his pleasures , and of losing the name of a husband , and taking up that of an adulterer . shame is ne●ver seperable from moderation ; 't is her defence as well as her friend , and she is easily turn'd into stupidity or impudence , when she is depriv'd of her succour . a civil behavior makes up a great part of her glory , it inspires in her , an aversion to every thing that offends it , and does not suffer her lovers such pleasures as may oblige them to repentance . so that we must be afraid of infamy if we would be temperate , and have an horror to do any thing in secret , which would shock our modesty and orderly deportment . as temperance imitates prudence in her conduct , showing us the good things we ought to choose , and the evil things it would become us to avoid ; she would have our resolutions firm , and not to make any proposals to our selves , but such as we fully purpose to accomplish . many have ingag'd themselves in shameful pleasures , because they flatter their designs , and have made them unchaste by being desirous to combat with volupty . they have submitted to that they thought to conquer , and not fore-seeing the mischiefs that might befal them , they have made of their pretended slaves , their true lords and masters . distempers are for the most part the fruits of this imprudence ; 't is that which fils hospitals , and discovers there so many repr●achful martyrs , and which obliges all men to detest their vi●es , and have a horror for their persons . reason , is the directress of pleasure , we must follow her rules to injoy it without regret , and look upon as unlawful for us , whatever she condemns or disapproves . the privation of pleasure is often advantagious to us , and as there are but few reasonable ones , we dai●y find great satisfaction in conquering and subduing them . from all this discourse it is easy to conclude , that we love temperance , not because she is austere , and in perpetual war with pleasure , but because she is the tutress of prudence , that cuts off those pleasures that are either superfluous or criminal , and instructing us how to stand out against them , she makes our joyful satisfaction arise from our victory , the second discourse ; that sobriety maintains the health of the body with pleasure . if eating to excess be not the greatest of vices , it is the most infamous and shameful ; it brings man to become bestial , it takes away liberty after it has rob'd him of his reason , and some have justly questioned , if that person still deserv'd to bear the name of a man , who has taken upon himself the qualities of irrational animals . for as he is always bowing down towards the earth , he has no other thoughts but for things below , his belly is the divinity he ●everes , and he counts nothing deserves his diligent search but what will glut and satisfy his sordid desires . but that which contents him , dishonors him also , the excess of his eating and drinking , renders him stupid , and blinding his reason , equals his condition to that of loathsom beasts . though these reproaches are shameful , he nevertheless would have them true , and that man should be more irregular in his inclinations , then the bruit beasts in their appetites . those eat not but when they are oppress'd by hunger , nor do they drink , but when heat has caus'd a drowth in their bodies ; and all objects become indifferent to them , when they cease to provoke their desires . but man is an unsatiable monster , he is never wearied but perpetually cramming , he is still calling for his viands though he is but just before sated with them , and the wine he is continually swilling himself with , does not so much serve to content his passion , as to sharpen it . an acre of land is sufficient to nourish many oxen , and those beasts that are eating most part of the day , can find enough in one field of a small compass to sustain their lives . one wood keeps many elephants , and those heavy lumps of flesh , that have so vast a paunch , meet there with food enough to fill them up . but nothing is capable to satisfy man's hungry appetite ; after he has depopulated the earth , forc'd its entrails to afford him viands and turn'd its excrements into nurture , he is presently for the sea , penetrates into the abysms of it , and spares nothing of all that nature has there hid , to satisfy and appease his insatiable gluttony . temperance , which glories in attacquing this monster , instructs us to reform these disorders , and not to extend our desires beyond things necessary . she would have nature be our mistriss in the management of our lives , not to set about any thing that she disapproves , but let her conduct be our instruction , and as she rejects those services of meats that are superfluous , we should be contented with her provision for us . she condemns debauches , for they destroy the health , change the temper and constitution of the body , and cause disorders in all its parts . impudicity , is , a thing annexed to this immoderate feeding , those two vices are never seperated , and it is almost a prodigy , to see a man chaste that is a lover of good-cheer . diseases proceed from the inordinacy of feeding , the crudities of the stomach , the pains of the head , and the dizziness of the brain , would be unknown in the world , if feasts and banquets were not the unhappy causes of them . on the contrary , sobriety smothers these vices in the cradle , it prevents their disorders , and is equally the defence of chastity , and the companion of an honest and vertuous life . it keeps the body in health , maintains a good intelligence between its members , and according to its humors , it makes its passions become obedient and orderly . maladies have only respect to those that live not according to its rules ; grief and pain is the partage of those that are intemperate , and when infirmities weaken man's body , the gout torturing his nerves , the feaver filling his veins with burning fire , the chollick tormenting his bowels , we may justly say , that he himself is the cause of all these evils , or that he does derive them from his ancestors . wine is a gift from heaven , as well as a present from earth ; the poets make it the parent of pleasure , the enemy of sadness , and an innocent magician , that enlightning their minds , serves them as a guide to discover the wonders of nature . it s heat contributes to the conserving of our health , its spirits animate and enliven our bodies , and moderating the qualities of those elements of which it is made , keeps its strength with delight and pleasure . but the immoderate use of it o'rthrows all this beautiful and comely order , it destroys the memory , and causes this guardianess of sciences to lose the deposita which it was intrusted with . it darkens the judgment , perverts the understanding , and those messengers which are so acquir'd to us then , give us but unfaithful accounts , when they are obfuscated by those vapours . the blood that nourishes our bodies , becomes then a contagion , it corrupts all the members that it gives heat and warmth to , and leaves in it nothing that it does not weaken , if not consume . someties it begets in us such flames as prove our destruction , by engaging us into infamous enormities that are not to be mentioned but with horror . a drunkard is the most unhappy of all men , if sometimes he is exempt from crimes , he is not free from the torments that accompany them . he is agitated by furies even when he sleeps , his repose is interrupted by phantasms and apparitions , all that appears to him , affrights and terrifies him , and one needs not trouble themselves with chastising his intemperance , since that he bears his executioner in his own breast . if the excess of eating and drinking alter the disposition of his body , if debauches do disorder his temper , and produce all these maladies to carry him to his grave ; the delicacy of his viands is not more pernicious to him , and though it is the more to be excus'd , t is not the less dangerous . those dishes drest with so much cost and sumptuousness , decay the natural heat , and spreading a malignant fiery influence into all the veins , consume that radical moisture which is the principle of life . who is ignorant that the weakness of the body , paleness of the face , and stinking breath are not the effects of delicacies , which depraving the stomach , leaves therein such superfluities as do infect it ? health is the daughter of abstinence , one ought to be sober , to be full of strength and vigour , and he very unprofitably hopes to see the heat agree with the moisture and coldness of his body , who is never but filling it with curious and studied rarities . how happy was the age that knew no cooks , but look'd upon them as the adulterers of nature , as the enemies of health , and the sorcerers that inchant men to destroy them . how pleasantly would he live that contented himself with the provisions of the earth , that made his meals of common viands , and that fed himself on what he found without search and difficulty , and what he might purchase without artifice . as his body is dispos'd , that the functions of his soul should be sedate , he wants no potions to purge him , sobriety is to him instead of physick , and without any succour then that of nature , it conserves his health , and cures him of all sorts of maladies . that which advances a sober man's happyness , and puts him above the powers of the earth , is , that he is unapprehensive of the disgraces of fortune , and that he is as steady and assur'd in poverty as when he does abound in riches . for what has he to fear , that studies , but to satisfy the necessities of nature , and in all places finds enough wherewithal to quench his thirst , and appease his hunger that is pressing upon him ? none but the effeminate are afraid of misfortunes , and who never think themselves happy unless they swim in delights and pleasures . the third discourse . that the coelibate or single life is accompanied with pleasure . the world owes its conservation to marriage ; 't is that which began humane society , which has populated countries , filled cities , formed states , and given inhabitants of the most remote parts of the earth . our first parent was ingag'd to it a little after his creation , his alliance preceded his consent , and no sooner was he establish'd in his earthly paradice , but he saw himself oblig'd to have one part of him the object of his affection . almighty god , who wrought this miracle , fetch'd the woman from his side during his extasy , that so those two persons should make but one and the same all , that their bodies should be but one and the same flesh , and that their minds should aspire but to one and the same felicity . marriage is an image of the divinity , the unity does not derogate from the plurality of their persons , they are but one though they be two , and though they are of a different sex , they still have the same nature . this advantage heightens the glory of marriage , and there is no person but would boast that he resembled his creator , if he was not pursued with so vast a retinue of miseries , and if there was not an absolute necessity to be miserable , because he was of the number of those that were married . the wife is as it were , the bought servant of her husband , she loses her liberty in becoming his spouse , and she obliges her self to serve and obey him , from the time that she promises her self to be faithful to him . as she makes but one and the same substance with him , she ought to observe all his motions , be pleas'd in his joys , griev'd in his afflictions , and be a faithful mirroir to represent in her person all the passions that influence him . the portion she brings exempts her not from this servitude . she is poor as soon as she renounces her liberty , and unjustly usurps the name of mistriss , since she has nothing in her dispose . that which still increases her unhappiness , and renders her poverty more evident , is , that she is forbid to receive any presents but in the presence of her husband , and must not accept of any private sacrifices without making her self suspected , and hazarding her repution . but though this restraint should not be fixed to her condit●on , and this alliance she contracts with her husband should not prejudice her liberty ; yet she cannot secure her self against troubles , her being great with child , is incompatible with her health , she is exposed to a thousand dangers during the time she carries her fruit , she runs the ●isque of losing her own life as often as she gives it to her child . the vows she makes for her deliverance , and the horror the name of mother gives her , are the irreproachable evidences of her apprehensions , which make her often repent her wishes , and preferr sterility to a fruitfulness that carries along with it so much both of pain and danger . but consider her in some estates , and she is never freed from the suspitions of her husband ; he narrowly pries into her actions , he examines the sence of her words , he watches the motions of her eyes , and often makes innocent divertisements to pass for criminal and blameable entertainments ; oh! what slavery is it to be oblig'd to live constantly with a man who is possest with the spirit of jelousy , that mistru●●s her fidelity , fears her being unconstant , and often teaches her to be unfaithful to him by his diffidence ? that person must needs be an enemy to liberty that is in love with servitude , and must hate her self , to be willing to be put into the puissance and governance of another . though the husband take on him the grandeur of a soveraign , yet is he not in a more happy condition then his wife ; if he sets her laws , he is often constrain●d to receive some too , and if he lays commands upon her , he is forc'd to be subject to her humors , if he would have them fulfilled . pride is natural to that sex , and cannot be suppress'd but by violence , he must either become her slave or her tyrant , to render her obedient . though her perfections are charming , yet to be constantly possest with them , they become unattractive , and cease to be pleasing when the man must be forc'd to have no other entertainment . whatever beauty he brings into his house , he quickly spies some blemish in it , her brisk and airy humors proves troublesom , and he very indifferently looks upon her who before was the object of his felicity . marriage is like old age , all wish to arrive ●o it , and as they think that wisdom is a label fixt to the number of years , so they reckon that pleasure is the heritage of married persons . but scarce have they committed matrimony e'r they condemn their vows , and are mad almost to see them change into effects , and desire to be delivered from a society which is as disadvantagious to them , as it is importune and troublesom . now continence happily frees both persons from these miseries , and leaving them in a natural condition , she assures them against all things that may prejudice their liberty or repose . it discharges them from the concerned care of bringing up children , of providing masters to instruct them , of finding them callings according to their humors , and of keeping them in respect after they have left them to themselves . none doubts the pleasure there is in being deprived from so many disquiets , and that a man may count himself happy , who has no wife to please , no children to bring up , nor family to take care for . some persons have thought that viduity was a martyr , that the pleasure which preceded it was its torment , and it was difficult to abstain from a delight to which one was accustomed , without a great affliction . that a woman might pass for a prodigy , that is chaste after marriage , who circumscribes her affection to the tomb of her husband , and yields not her self up to the prevalency of her frailty , all the while that the blood runs warm in her veins , and her age authorizes a second alliance . in short , it seems that nature is her tyrant , the pleasure she has tasted becomes her enemy , her inclinations exercise the office of executioners , and her most agreeable motions conspire to be her torment . but the reasons that are brought to forbid a second marriage , are but little better then insignificant and non-sence , to give epicurus satisfaction ; this philosopher condemns it in all his writings and though he believes it may be permitted , yet he neither judges it honest or reasonable . he can never persuade himself that a woman had any affections for her former husband , who ingages her self to another , and he accounts her infamous every time that she proves unfaithful to him . he instances to us in beathenish women , who have preferr'd death to the bonds of marriage , and chosen rather to burn in the fire , then to lose their liberty a second time . 't is to be ignorant of the miseries of her first condition , to aspire at the same again , and to be insensible she has ever been unhappy to entertain the addresses of her new votaries after she has once been re●eased from the grievances of marriage . but peradventure her first affections have been very fortunate , and she found in the person of her husband rather an amorous ga●lant then a domi●eering master : who then can assure her that he who shall succeed him , will have the same passion for her ? since that which ought to feed it , will be dying dayly , her charms will diminish , her beauty languish , and all the pains she can possibly be at to conserve it , have not power enough to keep her from growing old. a husband looks not upon another's leavings but with disgust , and he without any regret can see that face decay , of which he has not cropt the flower . if her marriage has been unfortunate , dares she venture her person a second time , and run the risque of being miserable all the days of her life ? surely she must have lost her sences that is in love with slavery , and purchase the pleasure of a beast at the expence of her liberty . if heav'n has given her children , let it be all her care to bring them up , and be afraid always to give them an enemy instead of a cherishing and tender father , and to make a tyrant succeed her and their lawful soveraign . let her reckon that those she will have by a second husband , will be continually making a division in her house , the former will be still an eye-sore to them , and she 'll often be oblig'd to hate them for fear of being suspected that she has yet a kindness for the father of them . how happy then is the coelibate life , if compared to marriage , and how redevable are those persons to the goodness of heaven , who are exempt from those frailties which ingage even the greatest part of mankind to it ! for if virginity be a grace , continence is a vertue , it is an aspiring to that sanctity that preferrs the spirit to the flesh , and to conte●n the inhabitants of the earth , to pursue the intelligences which the hea●'ns are imploy'd in . this happiness did seem so considerable in past ages , that women were seen to defend it at the perill of their lives , who ha●e been less afraid of the company of executioners , then of that of their lovers , and who have chosen a shameful death , rather then fall into their embraces . marriage is the partage of those who are either incontinent or slaves , and that person must needs lose his liberty , or his reason , who will ingage himself to it , without an unavoidable necessity . the fourth discourse . that there is a great glory and satisfaction in forgiving injuries . vvhat high opinion soever i have conceived of the doctrine of aristotle , and what esteem soever i make of the judgment of his disciples , i cannot yet be persuaded that the passions can be profitable to man , and that those which so often make revolts against reason , can favor the party and side of vertue . for as they have no other guide then opinion , they easily slip into disorders , and following the counsels of this fantastical and hair-brain'd mistress , they almost continually ingage those whom they possess into dangerous extremities . love , even brings us to become foolish , it seduces our judgment after it has abused our credulity , and overturning the order of nature , it submits us to a sex that is inferior to us , griefs , are the abaters of our courage , and exasperating the causes of our vexations , they insensibly conduct us to despair . envy makes us miserable , it gives us our punishment in the prosperity of our neighbor , and by an ingenious tyranny , it makes the cause of our grief to proceed from the occasion of his love. but of all the motions of our soul , none is more cruel then revenge ; it is an aspick that gna●s our heart , a fury that bewitches our spirit , and that makes us taste the greatest part of the poyson we prepare for our enemies . joy steals softly into our souls , and we think our selves happy when it arrests the violence of our desires . hope entertains us not but with good things to come , and it leaves off solliciting us to their pursuit , when they cease to be further useful or agreeable to us . jealousy and grief , have charms to draw us ; if they afflict us , they likewise comfort us , and know so well how to flatter our inclinations , that we become their slaves with pleasure and contentment : but revenge is always fell and cruel , it gets possession of our soul with violence , nor stays it there but with dispite and spleen , and animated with the fire that consumes it , it thinks of nothing but murders and homicides . the vertue that keeps passions from taking root , and that represses these indiscr●et sallies which transform themselves so oft into vices , arrests the fury of vengeance , and equally condemns its insolence and baseness . it teaches us that offences are but imaginary , and we must be very weak or proud to be sensible of the outrages of impious persons , and though injuries should be done us , and the authors of them should be our professed enemies , yet should we be obliged not to hate them , but to stifle in us all thoughts of revenge . genero●ity invites us to pardon ; it is a mark of courage to forget outrages , and to do voluntarily and out of kindness , what soveraigns often do by constraint and compulsion . they never punish an affront done against their proper persons without infamy ; the judgment they give upon it , dishonors their puissance , and they lose the name of judges , to take that of culpable , when they discend from their grandeur to revenge themselves of particular injuries . if they are generous , they love their enemies , their vertue makes them respected , and with out any difficulty do they raise them up to publick charges and employs , after they have treated them like rebels . they judg of their fidelity , by what they have testified to their adversaries , and turning their aversion into love , they recompence their rebellion and their infidelity . porus had not obtain'd alexander's friendship but by this way , and he had not seen his empire enlarg'd but because he had before opposed his victory . this conqueror let himself be wholly vanquish'd by his valour , he lo●'d a man that had indeavor'd what he could to destroy him , and following the motions of his generosi●y , he made his favourite of the most opiniastre of his enemies . this action we admire in this conqueror , and which has procur'd him so many elogies in history ought to be the common practice of christians , they should cherish those that persecute them , and look upon with the same eye , both favors and outrages , and deceiving the sentiments of nature , make the object of their hatred , the subject of their love. the gospel subsists but by the observance of this maxim , we must forgive , to be imitators of the son of god , and do good to his calumniators , if we would hope to have a part in his glory . faith is unprofitable to us without this perfection , its light serves but for our ruin , and if not animated with charity , it is not so much our guide as our condemnation . but though the gospel should be unknown in the world , and that this god-man , who came into it to establish peace , should not have commanded us this vertue , nature ought to make it familiar to us , and to learn us that revenge is nothing else but the vice of the cyclops and charybdes . man naturally is an enemy to cruelty , he cannot enter into choller and rage without doing himself a violence , and he degenerates into bestial , and takes upon him those qualities every time he breaks forth into fury against his neighbor . there is glory in pardoning an offence , when it is weakness and cowardize to revenge it . this ambition is commendable , and that person may boast that he is above his enemies , who despises their injuries . it is true , this perfection is not much relieved , and there wants but a mean vertue to receive with indifference an outrage coming from the mouth or hand of a wicked person : but generosity goes further , it would have us do good to those that have hurt us , to oblige them to repentance by our favors and kindness , and to make their malice be the rule of our liberality . man ought to be a friend to clemency , and to persuade himself that he labors his happyness , when he remits an injury , that pleasure is fix'd to vertuous actions , and that none is more solid then that he derives from the love of his enemies . that wise king who is so celebrated in the scripture , for having triumph'd over his passions , and taught moderation to his subjects by his own example , was of this opinion , when he recommended the life of ab alom to his soldiers , and forbad them to touch his person in their re-encounters , or in the battle . this insolent son , after he had abus'd his power , embrued his hands in the blood of his brother amnon , forced the pallace royal , and obliged his father to a shameful flight , had yet so much temerity as to have designs upon his life , and to meditate a parricide to set the crown upon his own head . and yet david did command joab the leader of his army to spare him , to have a care of his life , and to put him safe again into his arms. he had learnt the great advantage there was to be conquer'd by mildness , that revenge is always infamous , and one cannot be cruel to his enemy , without offending his conscience or reputation . nature does not oppose this sentiment but in the minds of those that are weak and cowardly , and notwithstanding some difficulties that may be met with , they are easy to be overcome by those who are lovers of vertue , and who have prov'd its force and power . the fourth treatise . of force . the first discourse . of the nature of force . if nothing in the world is more bloody and cruel , then victory , there is not any thing more splendid and glorious . all orators are busied in making its panegyrick , and those persons that are so lavish in their praises , would be very barren and narrow in their expressions , if they had no battles to relate of , no overthrows to describe , nor triumphs to proclaim . conquerors look upon it as the fruit of their travels , they speak of it as the master-piece of their courage , and of a good they bring clear away from their enemies , through their prudence and conduct . polititians consider it as the support of states , the glory of their army , the defence of their frontiers , and as the inhancement of their reputation , and wealth . but as this advantage is pompous , so it is difficult to acquire , to deserve the name of victorious , we must ingage our selves in wars , expose our persons to infinite dangers , and abandon to the discretion of fortune , both our liberty and life . now force and magnanimity ●urmounts all these difficulties , it glories in seeking out the enemy , in setting upon afflictions , in faceing death , and in making up to whatever appears terrible in the world . i● we will credit a roman philosopher , it is a generous vertue exalting us beyond a capacity to ●ear : a science that teaches us to beat back dangers , contemn travels , and provoke unto sufferings and calamities . for evil is the object of this noble habitude , and it cannot be said to subsist in nature , if it has not enemies to combat with , and difficulties to conquer . some have confounded force with valour , they have thought that courage was reserv'd for conquerors , and that one ought to be constantly in battles , and gaining kingdoms , to merit the name of mighty and victorious . but certainly they have but imperfectly known the nature of force ; the most glorious actions are not always the most dangerous . an affliction is often more difficult to get the master of , then an enemy ; and i question if a man deserves not more to be renown'd for induring death with a firm resolution in his bed , then for despising it in a battle . who is there but knows that the valour practised in armies , is more ●ure and true in beasts then in men ? that those of the female kind are as capable of it as the males ? and that both of them do strive with as earnest a contention for the possession of a meadow , as kings do for the conquest of a nation ? but there is this difference , that the force of beasts is true and real , and that of men oft-times but in shew and appearance , the one is natural , the other is mixt with artifice , the one purely regards profit or glory , the other ingages us in perils , but ●●ough the fear of death , or apprel 〈◊〉 of the poverty which threatens us . who observes the addresses of humane valour , wil●●te that it is but a sage dejection and weakness of mind that fore-sees the danger , so as to avoid it , that overcomes one passion by another , and that suffers one mischief to secure himself from a greater . to what purpose serve the managing of horses , and the hall of arms , but to teach us how to turn tail with a good grace , and to become an honorable coward ? there 's no doubt but a shop-prentice might overcome the most couragious , if that valour consists in taking his time , keeping himself in posture , and in observing all those rules that teach us to beat back our adversary . but true valour despises artifice , it considers it to be the evil , but not the means of escaping , and it is as little accustomed to ward off blows as to fear them . the lacedemonians have bannish'd all masters of arms out of their states , and chose rather to be redevable for their victory to nature , then industry . there is none but will commend the valour of that person who dares ingage with a bear , cope with a lyon , and grapple with a wild boar that is coming with full force and power upon him ; because art and cunning has no part in this combat , but he makes an abso●ute exposal of himself to the fury of his enemy . as valour rejects all craft , so it is an enemy to all circumventions ; it will not have a victory that shall be dishonorable , it fancies it derogates from its grandeur when it has recourse to fraud for the obtaining of it . it hopes to conquer , as soon as it begins its combats by counsel & arms , and looks upon it self inferior to its adversary , to make use of stratagems to subdue him . fraud is a discovery of weakness , and we must confess our selves conquer'd when we are fain to use shameful means to arrive at our designs . if force should be without disguise , and if it should contemn those low subtleties that may give it advantage , it is also necessary that it should be illuminated in its conduct , that it should know the danger it has to surmount the difficulties that may hinder its victory , and that it find out ways of vanquishing , or at least diverting them . for force is not a blind temerity that loves danger , or that ingages its self in it , but upon necessity ; but a science that teaches us to distinguish evils , to seperate them from their contrary , and to preferr the imaginary and apparent ones to those that are effectual and true . that man is not to be accounted valiant , that 's push'd on by the violence of his choller , or relying upon the strength of his body , praecipitates himself into dangers , and seems to be afraid of nothing , only because he would be thought above the power of being frightned and shaken ; but well may he , who , knowing the evil , and abhorring it , does yet attacque it with courage , and put himself in a posture of giving it a repulse , according as it needs , and the occasion will suffer him . a valiant man's ingagements ought also to be just , he should not fight but for the defence of equity , and he should rather regard the subject of his enterprizes , then their recompence . victory is not always the reward of valour , the most couragious are generally the most unfortunate , and oft-times they are forc'd to yield to their enemies , who have neither their conduct nor courage . to teach us that true valour resides in the heart , that it is rather a product of the soul then body , and that he may call himself no longer victorious , then whilst he is braving of dangers , despising death , and making head to his enemies . from all that has been said , it is easy to inferr that force as well as what accompanies it , is obtain'd for pleasure , that it does not give battles but to obtain it , that it is as well its end as its recompence , and that it never attacques troubles but to procure us pleasure . for evil is odious , it shocks our inclinations instead of drawing them , and we should never resolve to destroy it , if we did not promise to our selves joy and satisfaction from the defeat , death is the terriblest of all evils , it makes a seperation between the soul and body , it breaks the most strict and perfect friendships that ever were in the world , and taking upon it the state of a soveraign , it brings down the goodliest works of nature to the dust and nothing . this snatches the dear wise from the arms of her most affectionate husband , robs the father of his * only son , and brings sadness into families , and desolation into kingdoms . but , have we overcome the fear of death , then will this monster appear to us as a favor from heaven , and we shall look upon it as a way that leads us to felicity . our repose begins from its contempt , and we derive our pleasure and contentment from having obtained a preheminence over an enemy that triumphs over victors and conquerors . the second discourse ; that the sufferings of martyrs are mingled with abundance both of profit and pleasure . those that are idolizers of their bodies , and think they offend a divinity when they do any thing to hurt them , cannot be persuaded that parricide can be innocent among christians ; that a man may lawfully conspire against his own person , and expose his life for the glory of his creator . they condemn all those of simplicity and folly , who render themselves up to this generous passion , and who abandon themselves to executioners upon the hopes of recompence . what , say they , is god become a tyrant , since he has sent his son upon the earth ? has he , who has saved us , now a design to destroy us ? and will he have us dye because he has given us our lives ? he suffered for all men , his death procures their happiness , and we but unprofitably aspire to be martyrs , since he has expiated upon the cross all our offences by the sacrifice of himself . god is not delighted with cruelty , he refuses the blood of bulls and goats , and he is satisfyed when he finds repentance in our hearts , and hears his praises in our mouths . these reasons , though they have some semblance of truth , only content base and abject spirits , who have a horror for all things that may incommode them , and who reject the martyr , because they know not his advantages and his pleasure . but those , brought up in the school of the son of god , know that martyrdom is a favor and not a cruelty , that if he is bleeding , yet he is dutiful , that he comes to help our weaknesses , that he wounds us but to heal us , and that he does not give us death , but to lead us to a life of immortality . tyrants are the ministers of heaven , the blood they draw from our veins , open to us the gates thereof , and makes us enter into it with violence . also god proposes martyrdom to us under the name of a combat , that so we may vanquish the demon that has overcome us , beat down him that has defeated us , and cause glory to succeed infamy and servitude . vertue is the dispensatrix of honor , she distinguishes the orders of the happy , seperates the widdows from the virgins , and establishes the martyrs in a throne above the confessors . but where should be this diversity , if there was an equality of merits in heaven ? and how would these starrs differ between themselves , if they had all one and the same beauty and lustre ? preference is the mark of merit , not to be obtain'd but by force and sufferings , life must be despised here on earth , if we will pretend to injoy an honorable place in heaven . so that martyrdom is an ingenious tyrant that kills us to save us , and an innocent crime , that o'rwhelms us with confusion , to crown us with glory . if we will believe tertullian , it is an obliging cruelty that tears away our life to give it us again , that despoils us to make us rich and that , making us to be the imitators of the son of god , assures us to have a part in his felicity . in short , tyrants rather deserve the name of benefactors , then enemies , since they oblige in persecuting us , and it is more for our advantage to have their hatred , then their kindness and their promises . for all the cruelty they can invent conspires to our happiness ; torments stifle our passions , flames kindle our charity , their rage is the beginning of our merit , and carries us up to heaven to receive its recompence . from thence it is that we call the passion of martyrs their birth-day , because it ingenders them to life , in engaging them to death , and causes them to begin an eternity , in ending their miserable life . but that which still he igntens the glory of martyrs , and renders their death more illustrious , is , that they seem to add a perfection to the passion of jesus christ , and to end what he begun on the cross . st. paul presum'd to boast of this honor , he was assur'd that his afflictions were the accomplishment of his torment , and that his dejections and his miseries deriv'd their elogies from his sufferings . he knew his actions were valuable only from the motives that begat them , that his passion might dispute preheminence with his , since the cause of it was more noble and lofty . st. paul suffred for jesus christ , and jesus christ suff'red but for the world. st. paul was persecuted for his saviorus sake , but the son of god indur'd death for the sake of rebels . st. paul combated for the glory of his master , and jesus christ was expos'd to infamy and death to give liberty to slaves . tertullian likewise , whose sentences are so pompous , and weighty , has said , the passions of martyrs might be desir'd by those in bliss , that the son of god might wish for them in heaven , and that their wounds were capable of making him jealous , if he was susceptible of this passion . then if sufferings are so advantagious to martyrs , they are not sure less agreeable to them , if they exercise their courages , they charm their wills , and if they cause pa●n and anguish in their bodies , they fill their souls with delights and pleasures . they rejoyce in the midst of torments , because they rest upon their soveraign's word , whom they know is as true as he is powerful , and that he who is a spectator of their combat , will be the glory and recompence of it . they know that what they indure , is nothing comparatively to what they hope for , that their pain is short , and their happiness will be eternal ; that their torments are not of many moments continuance , and the reward they look for , will be more lasting then all the ages yet to come . this hope relives their courage , charms their griefs , confirms their constancy , and renders them victorious in the midst of all their afflictions . this pleasure then must needs be mighty , since it works such strange effects , and makes these champions contemn all the sentiments of nature . for as if pleasure had inchanted their minds , they still are preferring infamy to honor , they go into prisons as into places of safety , they receive stripes as favors , they are thankful to those executioners that tear them in pieces , lye down on burning coals as on beds of roses , and with joy they suffer the plucking out of their eyes , cutting off their arms , and the distilling of their bodies drop by drop upon flaming coals . the grace that works all these miracles , is a charm that elevates their minds , increases the strength , excites their courage , and causes them without pain , to triumph over the cruelties of their tormentors , over the malice of demons , and over the extremity of their tortures . though the quality of a martyr be so illustrious , and that almighty god hath reserv'd it for these heroes whom he has brought into the world , to make his power be admired and dreaded ; yet notwithstanding all the faithful may acquire it , every christian is permitted to be his own executioner , and without swerving from his duty , to be his own tyrant and persecuter . t is not a small torment for a man to conquer his passions , to pacify his choller , to put out those impure flames that consume him , to bring down and humble his pride , and to stifle in his breast the desire of riches and honors . it is not the shedding of blood only that compleats martyrdom , other evils dispute this glory with it , and that person may very well boast his being in the list and number of martyrs , that afflicts his body , that contends with infamous pleasures , that patienly suffers pains and miseries , and that readily submits himself to that justice that punnishes him . the third discourse . that patience conceals a real joy under apparent miseries . if patience be not the most attractive and glorious of vertues , it is that which is most necessary ; it gives life to all the other , it assists them in their enterprizes , and those that cause wonders in the world would be unprofitable or languishing , were they not aided by the power of this . faith , which is the basis of religion , and which leads our mind to the first truth , owes its discoveries to patience ; the patriarchs became faithful in suff'ring , and those men , whose memory is so sacred to us , would have been unknown in the world , had they not purchas'd their faith by their travels . hope charms afflictions by her presence , and injoys in some measure , the happiness she wishes for when she attends it with resignation . charity is grounded upon constancy , she has all her beauty and merit from it , and one may assure themselves of her faithfulness when she surmounts the difficulties that combat with her . repentance slackens , when deprived of her company , and easily falls under the weight of its afflictions , when it is destitute of her succour . chastity is indebted to her for her glory , she only by her favor and indulgence triumphs over her enemies , and 't is not somuch an effect of modesty as patience , when she resists the weaknesses of the body , or rejects the shameful sollicitations of the dissolute and wanton . so that patience is the perfection of vertues ; and to possess it , is sufficient to make one just and faithful , chaste and penitent . but as religion and a holy life is almost continually miserable , and calamities seem to be annexed to vertue , its spectators have a horror for it , those who revere it , shun it likewise , and judging of its worthiness by outward appearances , they do suspect it of hipocrisy or superstition . it is a hard thing to make them believe that man , whom almighty god loves , should be the object of his wrath , that he should persecute an innocent instead of obliging him , that he should turn his love into cruelty , and only heap up miseries and afflictions upon him , whom he consigns for happiness in heaven . but those who are brought up in the school of piety , know that the suffering of the righteous are but in appearance , that their representation takes away their nature , and that they have nothing less then what they make the greatest outward shew of . the wise man glories in his afflictions , and terms those favors which others possibly call by disgraceful appellations . that holy pride he discovers in his actions , and that joy which almost continually possesses his countenance , is an evidence of the tranquility of his mind ; tempests do not disturb his repose , and he seems to be never more unshaken , then when most of all he is tost up and down . all things have their changes in nature , and those bodies which are so necessary to the conservation of others have their vicissitudes and their periods . the earth does tremble under our feet , and the fire or wind which moves its bowels , puts divisions between its parts . the sea is an image of inconstancy , it is scarce ever at quiet with its self , whether the moon causes the motion of its waters , or whether it be the winds which it conceals that stirr it , it never holds long in one and the same posture . the sun has its eclipses , and that planet which is the parent of life , is somtimes reduced to a disappearance and an agony . the seasons of the year are not always equal , if there be some fruitful sommers , there be those likewise that are st●rill and barren , and if there be very sharp and severe winters , there are some also so mild , that they resemble the pleasantness of the spring . we have never yet beheld any thing constant in the world , all that appears in it dissolves its self , and one need not much to wonder at it , since even the same principles that make them submit , conspires likewise to their ruin . but the joy of a wise man is stable and permanent , it is as equal in all disasters , as in prosperity ; if that accidents approach him , he is not much concern'd , and what violence soever they exercise upon his person , they do not so much move his courage , as they strengthen and confirm it . he resembles those stars that never change their lustre , but are as bright in the most tempestuous as in the clearest and calmest nights , and which abate nothing of their beauty though they are berounded with clouds and foggy exhalations . nothing is capable to trouble his repose but sin , he looks upon health and riches , no otherwise then as goods that do not concern him , and as he does establish all h●● happiness in himself , so he derives the greatest part of his glory from their contempt and slight , let fortune force his riches from him , let it reduce him to his scrip and wallet , and oblige him to begg his bread at the gates of those that have been his servants , he knowes his treasures are hid in heaven , and that it is not in the possibility of mankind to take them from him . let a tyrant bannish him out of his country , let him seperate him from his parents and kindred , he has this assurance in him to meet with one more happy and glorious in heaven , and there to have god for his father , the saints for his brethren , and angels for his friends . let injustice condemn him to the prison ; and load his body with heavy chains and shackles , he knowes his soul has ample liberty , that it can get through iron-gates and chink-holes , and that all the diligence of jaylers can never keep it from ascending up to heaven . let cruel executioners dismember him by piece-meals , and tear away his life by exquisite tortures , he knowes his body shall resume its former order , that he shall rise again with the happy , and that glory shall be the recompence of all his sufferings and afflictions . who questions but that a man is fill'd with joy , when he does conquer such cruel enemies , and that it is patience that renders him victorious over misery , captivity , sufferings , and death . vertue is inseperable from pleasure , the evils which attacque it were never yet capable to part them , but she is happy though judg'd most miserable . those who fly from affliction , very much resemble those children who are terribly frighted with the sight of those they love , because they have got vizards on , and not considering their persons , mind nothing but the visage , which makes them tremble . miseries are no otherwise then imaginarily austere , they conceal the pleasure under an appearance of evil , and he is unacqainted with their merit , who looks upon 'em but as the enemies of his happiness . infamous pleasures convert themselves into torments , and our nature must needs be under a great depravation , not to be sensible of their afflicting circumstances . but the christian makes sufferings become pleasurable , he esteems himself happy when he is accounted worthy to suffer any thing for his saviour , and patience animating him for induring , gives him a fore●ast of that joy he looks for in heaven . when the son of god sent his apostles to the conversion of the world , he call'd them his sheep , and said he was their good shephard , he would have them receive this mission as a favor , and not as they were for it so much redevable to their merit as to his goodness and bounty . yet notwithstanding he sent these sheep among wolves , he expos'd them to the unmerciful fury of tyrants , he promised them nothing but * deaths and tortures , and to incourage them in this office , he assured them that the executing it would cause the loss both of their honor and their lives . to teach us that persecution is not without its delights , that miseries are the nourishment of the faithful , that torments keep vertue alive , and in breath , and that infamy makes up the happyness of those that are miserable . the fourth discourse . that there is satisfaction in supporting ones self up under the deformities of the body . vvhat invectives soever have been made against the beauty and comeliness of the body , and whatever reasons have been deduced from the writings of philosophers to abase its pride ; it has been yet impossible to persuade the women that it is dangerous , and that that which does appear as a divinity to our eyes , can be destructive and pernicious to humane society . they have recourse to the commendations of their idolaters to authorize its empire , they say that it is an emanation of the soveraign-good , it is the beginning of love , and it has never yet met with any other enemies in the world , then those that are bizarre and blind . the law allows its address , and obliges us in some measure to preferr beauty to deformity ; if we will believe plato who was its panegyrist , love is not happy , but because she is the object of its entertainment , and does pleasantly flatter the sences by insinuating its self into the mind . but what praises soever may be given to beauty , we must acknowledg that it is not without its blemishes and imperfections , and that the philosophers were not altogether void of reason , when they many times preferr'd even unhandsomness to its perfections . for not to instance that it is a frail gift of nature , which decays with time , deceives its admirers , and is in the power of the least distemper to do it outrage : besides how it is fain to borrow the greatest part of its charms from the opinion of the beholders , that its puissance is malignant , that it makes impression only upon the purblind , and its possession is not so much a true , as it is an imaginary good . it persecutes the subject whose glory her self is , and as if it had conjured his ruin , it troubles his repose , robs him of the greatest part of his life , and fills him with thoughts only after infamous or criminal things . it is an enemy that accompanies him wherever he goes , that torments him in his retreat as well as in pu●lick , and that after it has hood-wink'd his ●yes , will not suffer him to discern between truth and false-hood , nor to distinguish the vice that flatters him , from the vertue he ought to aspire to . also those who are acquainted with its vanity , with satisfaction suffers its loss , and no whit are troubled to be deprived of an ornament so prejudicial to their felicity . they judg their body ought to be without attraction , since it is the vilest part of them , every day tending towards corruption , and that it is but justice it should be humbled , since it was born to obey . reason is man's only good , it is an advantage that he can dispute with all other creatures , and he may esteem himself happy , being reasonable . beauty is a stranger to it , that gives place to flowers and birds , and we see even insects dispute it with the most charming and powerful beauties on earth . as homeliness is a remedy against love , it puts out , and extinguishes concupiscence , and by a wretched kind of happiness , makes us often disesteem those persons we cannot affect without doing violence to our selves . the deformity of the body is not an enemy to the beauty of the mind , the most precious things are ordinarily such as are most hidden , and they are most valuable from the obscurity of the places where they lye in . pearls are shut up in shells of fishes , chrystal is buried in stones and rocks , gold is lockt up in the barren ground , and the earth produces nothing that is choise and curious , but what is embowelled in dirt and filth . the mind is oft-times retired under a frightful deformity , and if we will take antiquity for our warrant , the subtle philosophers have made their wisdom shine forth through the casements of most dreadfully hideous and deformed bodies . he , who made the beasts to speak , and who in one little volume has coutched up all humane pollicy , was a monster in appearance , and approached nearer the shape of a bear then of a man , and if his reason should not have broke forth at his tongue , he might have been taken for the debauch of a disorderly father . it does not depend upon us to be handsom , but it is in our power to be good ; honesty is fixt to our will , and whatever defects may happen to our bodies , they cannot hinder us from being vertuous . that person who does aspire to this glorious title , can easily laugh at the advantages of the body , and as he knows that the mind is above that gross and heavy lump , he contemns its imperfections , that he may seek his soveraign . we have beheld some virgins , who have disfigur'd their fa●es to conserve their chastity , and have chosen rather to make themselves hated by men , then to get them be their humble servants . if nature has rendred us deformed , it has delivered us from this trouble , it was willing to be her self the tutress of our vertue , and to learn us purity by depriving us of the means that might put it into hazard . it is always less glorious to be born beautiful then to become so ; since the one is only the work of fortune , but the other is the production of our industry , the one comes to us without any trouble , the other is only valuable from the choise of our will. vertue has the preheminence of fortune , it does not relieve us from its empire , but it deserves as much respect in a diseased body , as in one that is sound and healthy . laelius his raillery was unjust , when he said that the wi● of galba was ill-lodged , since the house contributed nothing to the glory of its host , and as a robust and strong man may come out of a sorry cottage , so may a frail and deformed body contain in it a firm and generous mind . wholly to be fastened to the body , is to become too sensual , and to value ones self only upon these vain appearances which can do nothing but arrest our eyes . vertue stands in no need of ornaments , it is august and splendid in what place soever it is to be beheld , and it is to be ignorant of its merit to think it can borrow any perfections from the beauty of so vile a matter . blindness seems to be most insupportable , and a man may be said to be reduced to his last misery when he has lost the use of his sight . what pleasure can it be for him to live in the world when the light does not affect his eyes when he sees no starrs but in imagination , when his days are confounded with his nights , when the sun warms him , but not inlightens him , and when more unfortunate then moles and 〈◊〉 , he sees as little in darkness as he does in the noonday-light . and yet there have been men that have preferred blindness to sight , and who have looked upon it as a means that leads to wisdom . they have been persuaded that being not able to see heaven , they could more freely contemplate upon its creator , that this exchange was more advantagious to them , since they did cease from beholding these created things , to entertain themselves with the soveraign of the world . they had questionless learned by experience that folly is the regent queen of the world , that all one meets with in it , is nothing but extravagance , and that it is a kind of consolation not to be obliged to consider those actions which shock the maxims of reason . who knows not that vices have their rise from the eyes ? and that they would have a long time been bannished from the earth , if they had not been conserved in it by their means . cove●ousness would never make men fordid , but that they discover to them the pompe and splendor of riches , and make them believe there is a world of satisfaction in keeping the preciousest of mettals close prisoners in their coffers . impurity steals in its poyson throw the looks , and women could never make the hearts of men their captives , if the eyes did not plead the cause of the most fair and charming . envy has its beginning from the eyes , and could never torment the base and unworthy , but that the sight furnishes them with occasions for their torture . in short , most sins would not have the vogue and sufferage of mankind , were they but blind ; and they would be obliged to acknowledg the mercifulness of nature , for having deprived them of a good which is the beginning of all their evils . it cannot but be a great satisfaction to be deliv'red from those things that are prejudicial to us , to be disingaged from any farther concern with those guides that have betray'd us , and to have the loss of those lights that have led us into places of darkness . vertue has no need of light to produce its self , and if we will believe the poets who have described them , even the most excellent among them all are blind . faith sees not but by the ears , hope has no other organs but the hands . love knows nothing but by the means of the heart ; and if justice its self had eyes , they ought to be hard bound down with a fillet , to oblige its lovers to despise the things of the earth , and to exalt their thoughts to those of heaven . if nature has deny●d us the use of sight , it is tomake us of the houshold of god , to rank us in the number of the vertuous , and to make us pertakers of the glory of happy souls . the fifth treatise . of justice . the first discourse . of the nature of justice . the prophane historians never give us more pleasing charms , then in their descriptions of the golden age , and in making us to see the innocence and pleasure of that happy state. if we will take their words , the earth was a mansion of delights , it produc'd all things without the trouble of cultivation , the laborers did not ripp up its entrails to get its nourishment from it , and it was so orderly and regular in its works , that it satisfied their necessities according to the seasons of the year . temperance was so natural to its inhabitants , that they took for favors whatever the sun and the rain gave unto them ; their productions made them neglect the creatures of the field , and they thought it a desilement to their consciences to embrue their hands in the blood of innocents . the waters of the fountains supplied their thirst , and they as yet were unacqainted with that liquor which disturbs our intellects , and makes those who drink of it to excess , become stupid or mad . all men lived in a profound tranquillity ; fewds and contentions had not as yet made a division in their families , and as they were just in all their actions , they were fearless of judges or magistrates . love had not yet corrupted their inclinations , they were faithful to their wives as well as children , and adultery was as much abhorred by them , as incest and homicide . every one observing the laws of nature was honest without artifice , and as they never made any unjust vows , so they were afraid of nothing to shock them . but as soon as this community was driven out of the world , that ambition succeeded modesty , that the rich made their attempts upon the goods of the poor , and that tyrants climbed over the heads of them that were their equals , it was then necessary for to have laws found out , to conserve right and property to every one , and to maintain humane society among so many divisions . so that justice took its origine from our disorders ; and as first the distempers ought to be known , before any suitable remedies can be applied to them , so our outrages and irregularities have preceded our laws , and have oblig'd men to make edicts for their repression . for justice according to our civil lawyers , is a constant and immutable will of rendring to every one what of right does belong to him : or to speak more clearly , it is an idea in the soul , that prescribes things just , and forbids those that are dishonest . but as self-love is the rule of that which we have for our neighbor , this virtue obliges us to begin at our selves , every man to be first equitable towards himself , and not to commit any thing that may trouble the repose of his conscience . it would have reason to be our guide , and us to submit our passions to its conduct , and not to undertake any thing it does not command or approve of . it ingages us to bring down our flesh , to rebate its insolence , to submit it to the judgment , and to keep it from such exorbitances that are disadvantagious to it . it teaches us to make our interest stoop to our duty , to prefer innocence to our reputation , and more to be afraid of our own conscience , then the presence of judges and soveraigns . it obliges us to be circumspect in what we choose , to make a good use of our judgments to prescribe to us such objects as ought to imploy them , and not to let them seduce us by their unfaithful relations . but as man is not only born for himself , but nature has allied him to his fellow creatures , and he ought to live in community with them ; justice prescribes him different duties , and obliges him to satisfy every one of them according to his condition . it shows him the difference he ought to have for his superiors , the love he should bear towards his equals , and the empire he ought to keep over those that are subject to him , the patience he should exercise towards his enemies , the charity and consolation he ought to render to the poor and afflicted . from thence it came that a philosopher did confound justice with the other vertues , and that he imagined it sufficient to be aquitable to become prudent , valiant , and temperate . t is that wh●ch conserves the harmony between the soul and its faculties , which guides it in its operations , which submits the sensitive appetite to reason , and which shows to the will , the good it ought to choose , and the evil it ought to avoid . 't is that which procures the body health , which moderates the elements that compose it , and that so exactly adjusts its parts that it causes the astonishment of all its beholders . 't is that which governs the universe , which gives laws to monarchs , which maintains love between god and man , and which obliges him to regard his creatures as his children , and them to revere god as their soveraign . 't is that which continues peace in cities , which keeps husband and wife in perfect accord , which inspires that respect in servants they owe unto their masters , and which creates a union between people most remote and distant . the master-pyrates who live in a kind of war in the midst of peace , and get their livelyhoods by the goods of their neighbors , are constrained to keep it in their thefts ; and to be just in their distributions to their assistants . they hazard their lives every time they falsify their words , and withhold the recompence due to their toil & travel . but that which still advances the merit of justice , and which exalts its majesty , is that it imitates almighty god in its procedure , that it admits of no distinction of persons , and has as little consideration for relations as enemies . it would be thought to betray the truth it defends , if it loved the one and hated the other ▪ or if it apportion'd its favors with an inequality . it has a resemblance to the ●arth which upholds the sick and diseased as well as the healthy , which nourishes he poor and oppulent , and which is as favorable to salves , as to princes and monarchs . it is not to be doubted but that a vertue so august and splendid , should give a great deal of pleasure to the persons that possess it , and that labors to conserve union and peace among his fellow creatures . for what can stand in his way to oppose his happiness , who is right and at peace with god , who is afraid of none upon earth , and whose actions are above the surprises of his enemies . a man esteems himself happy , so long as he lives honestly , that he gives offence to none , and that he renders to every one his proper due . the second discourse ; that piety has a respect to pleasure as its last end . as we have our being from god , so we are redevable to him for all that we are . 't is to offend his majesty to divide our affections , and to give to creatures what is only due to their soveraign . love takes upon him the state of a mo●arch , it suffers him not to have a companion in its empire . but as almighty god governs the world without any dependance , so he has an absolute influence and regency over man , who is the epitome and contraction of it . he requires the affections of our hearts , because we are his creatures , and obliges us to consecrate ourselves wholly to him , because he is the only good that can be our satisfaction and contentment . he looks upon him adulterous , who inclines himself to prophane objects , who quits heaven to admire earth , and who prefers a transient beauty to that happiness he promises to those that love him . this obligation seems but just and reasonable , since that god has no equal in the world , his charity is infinite , his power uncontrouable , and his glory beyond both our merits and apprehensions . we must be ungrateful not to acknowledge his benefits , and doubt his greatness not to offer to him all its puissances . this principle supposed that almighty god is the ultimate end of intelligent creatures , and that all our inclinations must terminate in him as in their center . if our love ought to be disinteressed , if all the movements of our hearts ought to be referred to him , and we ought purely to desire his glory without any reflections upon our selves ; who will presume to defend that pleasure is the term and result of our actions , & that in loving god withal the extent and powers of our soul , we may have designs for the pleasure that we expect and wait for in heaven ? never theless we must acknowledg that natural piety is inseperable from this sentiment , and man never acts so purely , but has some respect to his own person . the scripture is pregnant with passages for the proof of this truth , which assures us that god is the recompence of his servants , that his favors are the motives of their affections , and they love him either because he has remitted their sins , or made them to overflow with his graces and benefits . hope oft-times causes the love of the faithful ; if they contemn hunger , suffer troubles and 〈◊〉 , or expose themselves to death , 't is because they know that heaven shall give an end to their miseries , that life shall succeed death , and that their torments shall be changed into ravishing delights and pleasures . if they exercise charity , relieve the poor , visit hospitals , and enter into prisons to get the miserable out of them , 't is because they have regard to the crown of justice , which has been promised them from the beginning of the world. christians are permitted to sigh after the mansions of happy souls , to have respect to those delights that wait for them in heaven , and to desire to come to the injoyment of him whom they loved and serv'd upon earth . if 't is objected that we are the children of god , that the eternal father has admitted us into his family , and that it only belongs to slaves and hirelings to look for the price of their labors , we shall not offend the sentiments of nature , if we say a child loves his father with so much the greater affection , as the favors he has received have been multiplied upon him , and as he promises himself after his death the possession of his estate . a slave would dispute this glory with him , had he but the same assurances from his master , and possibly this son , whose affections seem so sincere , would convert his love into hatred if his father should drive him out of his house , and make a shew of deputing another to be heir in his place . in short , who would trouble himself with adoring god , if he did not take care of his creatures ? why should we bestow on him our affections , since he neglects to take any cognisance of them ? and why should we afflict our bodies , and curb our inclinations , and imploy our whole life in the defence of his interests , if our combats were to have no rewards , and our victories no lawrels ? also almighty god , who knows our weakness , and that we act but through interest , allures us by the hopes of felicicy , he promises his glory to those who will keep his commands , and he ingages himself to make them pertakers of his happiness . he assures his votaries that all the powers and faculties of their souls shall be satisfied , that their understandings shall behold the truth of what they have believed , that their minds shall injoy the good they have sought after , and that their memories shall be filled with the bounties they have been entertained withal , during the time of their residence upon earth . but though we should have sentiments sufficiently purified , as not to consider the glory that attends us in heaven , that all our desires were terminated in god , and that we hoped for nothing from him , but only the honor of giving him our whole love , we could not deny but there was abundance of sweetness and contentment in this duty , that his commands are mixt with pleasures , and that he , who obliges us to render him our affections , does invite us to it by innocent and harmless delights . he assures us that his law is very agreable , that there is great satisfaction in the doing of his will , and that peace and glory ever do attend those who ingage themselves in his service . the charity he influences in our hearts , and the grace whereby he prevents our desires , give a charm to the difficulties which are incountred by us , they make our fear give place to love , and thrust us on to imbrace with eagerness and pleasure , that which nature looks upon with horror . there is nothing able to astonish us when we are seconded by his power , and can see him as coadjutor in all the rencounters of our life . martyrs do laugh at tyrants , and contemn the cruelty of butcherly executioners , when they are animated with his spirit . they account their punishments in the number of their greatest favors , and are so charm'd with the pleasure it pours into their souls , that they are often fearful , least the mildness of their passion should be a prejudice to their merit . we see them likewise extended upon the cross as upon a throne , imbracing their tormentors as their benefactors , acknowledging the indulgence of their tyrants when they are sentencing them to death , and preferring the most violent torturs to those that are most gentle and easy . 't is this same pleasure that takes away children from the arms of their parents , that makes them choose a cloyster , to be buried there alive , to be spoil'd of their rich and costly habits to cloth themselves with cords and sack-clothes , and to quit their delicate and sumptious dishes only to feed upon roots and pulse . 't is this innocent satisfaction and pleasure that animates christians against themselves , that obliges them to the mortifying of their bodies , to bring them unto the subjection of the mind , which stirs them up against their proper passions , and which forces them with much agreeableness to make an absolute and intire sacrifice of themselves for the glory of their redeemer . the yoke of jesus christ is only uneasy to sinners , the hardness of their hearts makes the weight of it heavy to them , and they do not account his commands grievous , but because they are the vow'd slaves of the devil . but have they broken off with this enemy of mankind , has grace taken possession of their hearts , and are they left charm'd by its attractions ? then they perceive their pains converted into delights , what seem'd before impossible to observe , appears now facile and easy , and they are amaz'd that they have stood out so long the bearing of a burden which gives them such pleasure and contentment . love finds nothing difficult to be conquer'd , it charms the affliction that attacques it , and as if it had borrow'd the secrets of magick , it changes pains and miseries into very pleasing and agreeable divertisments . it meets with sweetness in suffering , it treats its persecutors with the name of friends , and never reckons its self more happy then when it becomes passive for the cause that it reveres . it is delighted with difficulty , because it is a proof and tryal of its constancy , the labors and travel it indures , relieves its faithfulness , and the joy it looks for from its possession , shall compleat and end its happyness . the third discourse . that repentance is a chastisement very agreable and advantagious . there is no necessity at all to have a notable piercing and discerning judgment to find out that sin is the greatest of all evils , that it perverts the nature , changes the man to become bestial , and makes of a child of god , the slave of the devil . neither need we be learned in theology , to know that malice is prejudicial and bloody to the soul , that it reduces it to nothing , and brings death to a spirit that god hath made immortal . holiness , which is the form of it , quits it as soon as it receives this monster , and makes a divorce with grace , to fall into the embraces of its enemy . it s empire would be eternal , if that almighty god did not come to our succour , and furnish us with weapons to expell this usurper . oft by an excess of bounty , he adds his favors to our deliverance , and renders us happy after he has redeemed us from servitude . for repentance which abolishes our crimes , stifles our evil inclinations , and reinstates us into grace and favor with our maker , does contribute our felicity , and obliges us to call our faults happy ones , because it changes our pride and insolence into modesty , causes innocence to succeed our malice , and equals our condition to that of the greatest things that ever have been upon the face of the earth . the holy scripture observes none more famous then st. john the baptist , according to its language he was the greatest and most holy of the sons of men , and though he was conceived in sin , we have this assurance that he never bore the quality of a criminal in the world . he was a virgin to the death , and impurity never made a breach upon his so●l . he was a martyr , and lost his head in the defence of justice . he was an anchorite , and past the greatest part of his life in desarts . in short , he appear'd as an angel upon earth , and living amongst men , he entertain'd himself with those in happiness . repentance causes part of all these advantages unto sinners ; it changes their wantonness into continence , and teaches them to become virgins after they have lost their c●asti●y . it makes them martyrs , and causes them to feel the pains and miseries of those generous champions , who are dead for the cause of the son of god. it renders them hermits in banishing them into solitudes , and making them find a retreat in their hearts in the midst of their cumbers and troubles in the world . it exalts them to the quality of angels , it teaches them purity , sanctifies their dispositions , and gives them a foretast of the pleasure of happy souls . though the crime be always odious , and it is not permitted us to commit a fault that so we may reap advantage from it , yet it is certain repentance gives a new birth to our former vertue , derives good from our sins , and adjoyns a fresh sanctity to that which those had ravish'd from us . † this apostle , whose avarice had fixt him to a table , who deceiv'd almost all who came to him to inrich himself , who was reckoned as a publick robber , and who even suck'd the blood of the poor by his extortions , has deserved the name of the first of the evangelists , his penitence acquired him that honor , and he became as famous in merits , as he had been execrable in his usurious dealings . the church universal is redevable to his labors , his writings are become her oracles , she reveres all the words that are there recorded , and he , who was known for an imposture among his citizens , is become the assurance of the highest misteries of our faith. his repentance rend'red him in some measure presumptuous , and made him aspire to a dignity which faith and hope could not dare to promise him . who can believe adam and eve were ambitious amidst their tears , and that those who had their mouths open only to breath out sighs , who covered their shoulders with sack-cloth , who wet the bread they did eat with their weeping , could have thoughts for grandeur ? yet those glorious slaves had hankerings after liberty , and remembring the honors they had lost , they essay'd the utmost they could to recover them by their repentance . the torments they exercised upon their bodies , the sobbs they sent from their hearts , made them hope to re-enter into their former rights and priviledges ; they assured themselves that original justice would follow their repentance , and they should regain the good affections of that god whom unhappily they had offended . this hope was not utterly temerarious , since that almighty god shows such favor and mercy to the penitent , that he always hearkens to their prayers , and does more usually honor the repenting then the innocent person . when the evangelists exhort us to appease divine justice by grief and sorrow , and to punish upon our bodies the sin we have committed , he does not put us in the middle between penitence and the kingdom of heaven , but inseperably unites this vertue to glory , and seems to prefer the grace bestow'd upon us through our affliction , to that which we have conserv'd by our innocence . but though penitence should not work this miracle , should add nothing to our first grandeur , nor make us dispute with the saints the qualities that render them famous in the church , yet should we be oblig'd to acknowledg , that in remitting our sins , it puts us in a state above calumny ; and has freed us from the blame which consequently would have follow'd them . it makes us to hold up our heads in the midst of our enemies , renders us insensible of all their reproaches , and does not suffer us to pass for criminals , though we have been culpable . indeed it is to be unjust towards ones self to revive a crime which we have wash'd away with our tears , and to refresh our memories with what god himself has pas'd over with forgetfulness . 't is to be severely malitious to our selves to ripp up a fault which divine justice has abolished and cancell'd , and to give an infamous name to that which has left off being in nature . there is nothing more dreadful then to fall into the hands of the son of god , the scripture speaks of him , as of an inexorable judg , and as if it had a mind to inhance and amplify the severity of his decrees ; it gives him all the qualities that may render him rigorous . it calls him a living god when he punishes the guilty , and as if his justice exceeded his mercy , and that he was more set upon the chastising of offences , then recompencing good works , it says he acts freely , that he is the absolute master of his creatures , that his power is above all their laws , and that he follows no other motions then those of his will in the exercise of his justice : yet his rigour does not extend its self but to actual faults , it condemns only those who persevere in wickedness , who seek still to offend him after death , and who still keep affections for sin , though they are under a state of disability to commit it . he will not be ma●ful of past faults , for fear of being injurious to penitence , and of reviving those offences which grief has detested , tears washed away , and punishments abolish'd . from thence is it that the prophet esaias promises those who subdue and mortify the body , and who by repentance appease the anger of god whom they have provoked , that their sins shall be changed from their nature , they shall become white as snow , and soft as wool , and what ought to tumble them down to hell , shall raise them up among the blessed . for as all things co-operate to the good of those that love god , their malice shall be turned into piety , their sins which merited eternal punishments shall bring upon them as ample recompences , and grace taking away what was horrible in them , makes thereof the occasion of their felicity and glory . there is no person but receives an extream joy and satisfaction when he finds himself clear from servitude , that his tyrants cease to persecute him , his vices are vanishing , and innocence taking new possession in his heart . who does not leap with joy when he sees his safety arise from his ruin ? his miseries to be the cause of his happiness ? and that his crimes which rank him in the number of those to be reproved , crown him in heaven ? penitence still produces these wonders in the church , and animating sinners against themselves , it gives them a blessedness in heaven , after it has made them martyrs , and anchorites , virgins and angels upon earth . the fourth discourse . that friendship augments the happiness of a wise man. the wise man now is become so advanced above the dominion of fortune , and the vertue which causes his happiness , is so little depending upon its empire , that he may very well glory in the contempt of all its favors . the brightness of honors , the pomp of riches , the charms of pleasures and delights no whit concern him , and if at any time they strike his imagination , they have never power to imprint themselves upon his will. he is content with those goods nature has given him for his own , all his glory springs from his advantages , and he esteems himself a happy man so long as he has the liberty to converse with himself . but yet he does not reject the conversation of a friend , the severity of his disposition does not render him rude , and savage , and though he be satisfied with his own perfections , he will avow that the company of a person he honors , may inlarge and heighten his happiness . indeed nothing seems more profitable in the world , then i●riendship ; 't is the bond of nature , the support of humane society , the sweetness of life , and the most reasonable pleasure we meet with here below . nothing is more essential unto man then unity , 't is the difference that seperates him from all those of his species , and according to the language of logitians , it ceases to subsist in the world as soon as it is confounded in their community . and yet does friendship every day overthrow this principle , it unites the souls of those who are in love one with another , distance of places does not hinder their approaches , and we may affirm they are inseperable though they are at a great remoteness each from other . their number does not at all combat with their unity , and they do but one and the same thing , though they be of different natures . though their riches do replenish their outward man , yet have they no assured master , those that share in their friendship , may pretend some kind of right in them , and presume to dispose of that which their affection has acquired to them . their goods and their evils are common , what wounds the one grieves the other , and their wills are in so strict a union , that even one and the same thing does equally both rejoyce and afflict them . they are ignorant what dissimulation is , their words are the interpreters of their thoughts , their heart makes its residence upon their tongue , and if they but conceal the minutest secrets to themselves , they believe that they betray that vertue which unites them . some have ( most unwisely ) thought that friendship was the only consolation of reasonable and intelligent creatures , that darkness was preferrable to its absence , and that they ought rather to desire they might be deprived of the light of the sun , then to live and not be friends . the malice of an enemy may render them blind , justice may bannish them into obscure holes , and bury them quick under earth . but miseries can make friends flock together , they support and stay themselves in what place soever they find them , the diversity of their conditions does no whit alter their virtue , but they do cherish them under misfortunes as well as in prosperity . what is there can befal a man more to his heart's desire , then to have a confident to whom he may discover his thoughts ? who knows his secrets are safe in his breast , who less fears his friends conscience then his own , and who is assured that he as much interesses himself in his disgraces as happiness . yet we meet with but a few of this sort of people in the world , and i dare affirm , it is long since that true affection has been bannish'd from it , orestes and pylades are dead , and those who would succeed them to this day , are no otherwise then apes and imitators . flattery now among us , keeps the place of sincere and loyal friendship , and that person seems to enter farther into our interests , who can best accommodate himself to our inclinations . as vices are ingenious , they are brought in among us under the guise of vertue . fear imitates prudence , temerity takes upon it the name of valour , and avarice covers it self under the mantle of oeconomy ; flattery borrows the attractions of friendship , it insinuates it self into the souls of those that harken to it , and renders it self so much the more agreable as the venom that it infuses into it is dangerous . it is hard to know an enemy that carries himself towards us with an obliging respectfulness , and who makes it the greatest part of his study to please us . the praises they give us are always dear and charming to us , we easily swallow the belief that we are vertuous , that honesty is born with us , and that prudence is familiar and at home in us , and that no person comes near us but is sensible of our liberality , though we know their words bely their thoughts , and our conscience reproaches us for our injustice , our indiscretion , and our avarice . fatterers , who may very well be called the impostors and pests of humane society , have corrupted even the justest men , and have in sinuated into their hearts both insolence and presumption . princes , who have hearkened to them , have oft-times changed their empire into tyranny , and ingaging themselves in unprofitable wars , have hazarded their persons and their states . they have broken the peace that was necessary to the conservation of their subjects , they have attacqued enemies , whom policy has obliged them to respect , and have yielded themselves rather to be overcome , then forbear pursuing their enterprizes . to conclude , the flatterer is a devil that troubles the soul of all those he approaches , that disposes of their wills , and inspi●es them but with the motion of pride and vanity . but the true friend is sincere in his words , he discovers his sentiments without constraint , he regards the advantage of him he loves , and not his pleasure and satisfaction ; and he should think himself unworthy of that name he bears , if he should rather have a consideration for his fortune then his person ; he should believe he defended his faults , if he permitted them ; and did render himself responsible for all the mischiefs that befell him , if he did not oblige him to follow reason rather then the motions of that passion which possesses him . as he is a faithful councellor of the person he loves , and interesses himself wholly in his happiness ; he rejects not his advice , but becomes without trouble his disciple after he has been his director : and receives his advertisments with the same tranquillity and ease of mind , as he had given them to him . from thence it is that friendship is not found but among the good , and there is nothing but vertue can make one soul pass into two different bodies . as love according to plato , is the bond of the universe , and causes that good intelligence to arise , which is observed in each of its parts ; friendship has not its subsistence but through vertue , it derives all its glory from its merit , and ceases being true as soon as it leaves off further converse with it . the antients , whose ignorance and infidelity had buried them in darkness , had of it but an imperfect shadow , and the cause of its birth , being wanting to them , they could never ingage themselves but into affections that were illegitimate . but as soon as the eternal wisdom dissipated their darkness , that faith began to cast its beams into their hearts , friendship was re-established in the world , men lived in a community , their thoughts were no more divided then their goods , and all agreeing in one and the same principle , they discovered in their republick the image and representation of an eternal peace . so that vertue is the soul of friendship , it is requisite that the knot which unites the hearts should be sacred , and derive its force from piety , to become true and real . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a50012-e420 sapientes pacis causâ bellum gerunt , & laborem spe otij tolerant . clemens alex and strom . 2d . voluptas in omnibus nobis in●levit , & circa volupt●●es & d●lores totum n●gotium 〈◊〉 & civilis versabitur . a●ist . mor. nicom . lib. 2. cap 3. bonum nisi etiam delecter , non suscipitur . august . li de spir. & litt●ra . cap. 3. inclinavi cor meum ad faciendas justificationes tuas in aeternum propter retributionem . psal . 118. de torrente voluptatis ●otabis eos . psal . 36. * natur●'s . qui jura●vit cum muliere contrahere , potest eam r●pellere propter sup●●v●nientem de●ormitatem cap. quemadmodum de jurejur . delectatio est mensura bonitatis actionis , quia illi●s sinis est , i● quo quiescit . s. tho. 2. 2. q 30. henestum cum utili convenit , atque jucundo in rebus , quae post earum absolutam acquisitionem jam possidetur . leo heb. de amore. dial . 2. vi tus 〈…〉 . ci● . ipsum diag●a●m quid iliud quam voluptas coniecit nam licet 〈◊〉 & 〈…〉 tyr. max. prudentia recta regula actionum humanarum , & vitae anima . arist . mag . moral . l●b . 1. cap. ult . prudentia informat , actuat , & applicat quae scientia & sapientia cognoscendo invencrum cassian . coll . 1. 〈…〉 〈…〉 ver●ari a●las regum , quia ibi nec veritas nec trq●●uillitas sed simulatio . marsil . fi●i●us . 〈…〉 aut imprimit . sen. epist . 7. nihil sore , nihil● impo nihil 〈◊〉 〈…〉 de popul● , im●● unicum negotium mihi est , nihil aliud n●●c ●aqu●m ●e●ar●m . ter●u●● . 〈◊〉 . de pal li● . nemo sibi bla●diatur , de legibus hominum , omne stuprum adulterium est , nec virolicet , quo●● mulicrinon t●cet , eadem avi roqu●●e ab uxore deb●tu● , ca●●●monia . d. ambrose , lib. 1. cap 4. de a●raha . facilè l●nera conciliantur ingenia , ad honesti amorem . sen epist 50. quo semel est imbuta recens serva bit odorem — testa diu . hor. qui regit , majestatem suam tuetur non tam severitate vultus , quam morum rectitudine . august . lib. 5. de civit . dei. non decent stultum verba composita , nec principem labium m●ntiens . proverb . 7. qui regit , majestatem suam tuctur non tam severitat● vult●●s quam morum rectitudine . august . lib. 5. de civit , dei. hos ventr● obedientes , animalium loco numeremus , non hominum . senec. epist . 60. monstrum habetur libido sine gula . tertullian , lib. de jejunio . mulieri quoque dixit , multiplicabo aerumnas tuas , & conc●ptus tuos ; sub potestate vi●i eris , & ipse dominabitur tui . gen. 3. bini sunt cum uxore jucundissimi di●s , alter quo ducitu● , alter quo mortua essertur . hipponactes , apud stobaeum se● . 69. quid som nias teneros a●●us , & exquisi i●s edu●●tos d●lici●s longum 〈◊〉 s●r●e ma●●imo ●um . 〈◊〉 epist. 41. aegrum curavit , ac si pro 〈◊〉 pugnisset , mox don● vit ampliori regao quam tenuit . curtius . servate mihi puerum absalon . validum quid est veritas . & dolus imbecilis ubi . que. theophilac . ad luc . 12. fortitude est virtus justa contemnens : aut scientia periculorum repellendorum , ex●●piendorum , provocan . lorum . sence . de ●●n●fic . lib , 2. cap. 34. * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sapi●ntia immo lavit victimas suas , vel fi ios suos , sapi●nter jugulavit in vitam , & 〈…〉 . advers gnosticos . ad impleo ●a quae desunt passionum christi in came meâi . st. paul. ad colloss . cap. 1. cicatrices illae utique invidiosae apud christum . ter. lib. de pudicit . g●udent pati●ntes apostoli , quia fidentes passion●s ad voluntatem dei pertinere . ter. lib. advers . gnosticos . superabundo gaudio in omni tribulatione nostrâ . st paul. 2 ad cor. cap. 7. maior est re●●ibutio l●gen●is quam pauperis & mitis : plus enim gaudere in r●gno quam habere . st. tho. clo. sup . mat. * des croix . specios as personas accipere deb●mus clarissimas u●riu●que sexûs . lib. 100. 〈◊〉 . de ve●bor , sig●i● . in galham 〈◊〉 eloquentia 〈◊〉 , sed gibb● deform●m ita lusit laeli●● , ut dic●r●t i●ge●ium gal●ae ma●è habitare . thrin . i● ap●fg . justitia est per●etua & constans voluntas sus suum ●uique tribuendi lib. 10. de just . & jur. totum quod est homo , & ●otum quod potest , & quod habet ordinandum est ad deum . st. thom. 1. 2. q. 2● . laetentur omnes qui sperant in te , in aeternum exultabunt & habit abis in cis . psa . 5. in eo quod amatu● , aut non laboratur , aut labor ●●se amatur . august . de bo● . viduit . † s math. cap. 9. v. 9. consuevit deus ho●o rare poenite●●es magis quam ●●nocentes p. damian serm. 56. discedite à me qui operamini iniquitat●m . math. 7. in societate & communion● posita est amicitia . arist mor. lib. 8. c. 12. adulatio quam similis est amicitiae , non imitatur tantumillam sed vincit & praeterit . sen , epist . 45. ve●a amicitia tantum inter bo●os prosicit , inter optimos consummatur . cassiod . sup. psal . free thoughts in defence of a future state, as discoverable by natural reason, and stript of all superstitious appendages ... with occasional remarks on a book intituled, an inquiry concerning virtue, and a refutation of the reviv'd hylozoicism of democritus and leucippus. day, robert. 1700 approx. 208 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 58 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; 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(eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a37289) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 54733) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 24:21) free thoughts in defence of a future state, as discoverable by natural reason, and stript of all superstitious appendages ... with occasional remarks on a book intituled, an inquiry concerning virtue, and a refutation of the reviv'd hylozoicism of democritus and leucippus. day, robert. [4], 111 p. printed for dan. brown ... and andr. bell ..., london : 1700. attributed to robert day. cf. halkett & laing (2nd ed.). errata: p. [4]. reproduction of original in union theological seminary library, new york. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng future life. virtue. hylozoism. 2006-09 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-09 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-07 taryn hakala sampled and proofread 2008-07 taryn hakala text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion free thoughts in defence of a future state , as discoverable by natural reason , and stript of all superstitious appendages . demonstrating against the nominal deists , that the consideration of future advantages is a just motive to virtue ; of future loss and misery , a powerful and becoming restraint of vice. with occasional remarks on a book intituled , an inquiry concerning virtue . and a refutation of the reviv'd hylozoicism of democritus and leucippus . london , printed for dan. brown at the black swan and bible without temple-bar , and andr. bell at the cross-keys and bible in cornhil . m. dcc . advertisement from the publisher . the author of the following sheets , being engag'd to no sect nor party of men , nor biass'd by any particular system of philosophy , has had no other aim , than to serve the interests of virtue and truth : but because there are so very few that labour the same thing with so unprejudic'd a mind , he forgoes all the pleasing hopes of having his essay generally well accepted , and requests me to publish a short word to save him from the calumnies of some angry brethren of his , who engage their faith to any thing rather than plain dry reason ; and being blinded by a jealous zeal , know not what is said for or against them . let the reader take notice then , that our author has not disputed from scripture , whence it is obvious to prove more than he has here asserted , not out of any contempt of that authority which he reverences as he ought , but only because the persons with whom he disputes , dare to call that authority in question ; the vindication of which the world now expects from the ablest hands . errata . pag. 9. line 5. put a comma after purpose . p. 16. l. 27. put a full stop after immoralities . l. 28. dele the semicolon . p. 71. l. 29. r. galaxy . p. 76. l. 21. dele not . p. 79. l. 22. r. roscius . p. 91. l. 14. after they insert to . p. 96. l. 15. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . l. 23. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . free thoughts in defence of a future state. honoured friend ; i remember some parts of the discourse which we had last tuesday night at mr. n's , and the next night at your house . i am now minded to reconsider the same . i will speak to passages , as they occur to my memory , without regard to order or method ; for i always suspect my abilities , and fear that what i can offer , will not be thought by any other person worth the while for me to labour to digest it regularly : besides , i have not time to digest my thoughts so as to please my self . among other things which the ingenious and learned mr. j. a. was pleas'd to assert , the import of one was this : that no action could be properly call'd virtuous , which was done in prospect of advantage to be had in a future state. in answer to this strange assertion , i aim'd to speak to this sense : he that takes an honest care of the interests of his own person , family , friends and country in this life , according to his best judgment of the course in which things are likely to run , must be acknowledg'd to act rationally and wisely : so he that takes a diligent care of his own interests , and the interests of others in a future state ( according to his sense of that matter after serious deliberation ) must be acknowledg'd to act rationally and wisely ; and to act rationally and wisely , is to act virtuously . the prospect of worldly advantage to be gain'd by this or that honest action , is so far from taking from that action the praise of wisdom , that it rather is the chief reason for which the action may be denominated wise : wherefore why should the prospect of advantage in a future state , acquirable by wise , i. e. virtuous actions , take from those actions the praise of wisdom and virtue ? some that are much in mr. j. a's sentiments , are wont with railery , and ( as they think ) argument mix'd together , to plead , that to do those actions which are accounted virtues , in prospect of advantage to be gain'd by them , is mercenary and base . let us examine this objection , which has an air of wit , and see whether there is any solid reason underneath . mercenary is an english word made from a latin , signifying wages , or hire , payable for labour or work to be done . militari mercede , is to fight for pay : and whosoever fights for pay in a good cause , works or labours for hire , wages , in an honest way , deserves his wages , hire , pay ; nay farther , ought rather to be commended than reproach'd for doing his duty . mr. j. a. and some others seem to think , that because a mercenary souldier happens to be commonly esteem'd a term of reproach , that therefore moral virtue must be utterly disgrac'd by the epithet mercenary . but we beg leave to examine this matter thorowly . the reason why a mercenary souldier happens to be commonly esteem'd a term of reproach , i take to be this : the mercenary souldier is commonly hir'd by an ambitious prince , to raise the power of the prince that hires him , above law , and oppress a free people : whereas a prince that is contented to be just what the choice of the people , and the rule of the law makes him , knows that his people are best govern'd , and most safely defended by the militia of the country . in the case stated , the militia-man is honourable , and the mercenary souldier base . nay in this case , the more strenuously the mercenary souldier fights , the worse man he is : but when the mercenary is engag'd where honour and conscience justifies him ( which sometimes , tho but rarely happens ) his valour , is true virtue ; his pay , a reasonable encouragement of his valour : and it would not be valour , but rashness for a martial man , whether of the mercenary or the militia order , to offer himself to dangers , where he had no advantage to make , nor interest to defend . the militia-souldier if he does not fight for pay , yet he does to defend the country whereof he is a citizen , and in which he has a private interest . the security of his private interest in the defence of his country , is the merces , the pay , the hire , the wages for which he fights : and in the truth and reality of the thing , such a person is as much a mercenary , as any swiss , who with his masters consent is hir'd abroad in a just war ; or any poor stroler at home , who having nothing else to fight for , fights for bread. the short of this is , he is a base mercenary that does an ill thing for gain : he is a worthy mercenary that does a justifiable thing for gain . the prospect of advantage in one kind or other , is the motive of all the deliberate actions of a rational man : and he that has no such thing in his eye , is an unthinking person ; and therefore the prospect of advantage , whether in this or a future state , cannot take from a moral action the praise of virtue . a friend of mine ( inclin'd to the sentiments which i labour to refute ) is wont to insist much on the glorious saying , that a good man loves virtue for its own sake . when i press him to explain clearly what he means , he is wont to enlarge elegantly and well upon the agreableness and fitness of virtue ; for instance , of justice , charity and mercy : and thus far he is very right ; justice , charity and mercy are the most agreable and fit things in the world for a rational man to practise . but now let me ask , what is it which makes these virtues so agreable to human nature , and so fit to be practis'd by rational man ? or i am strangely mistaken , or all that can be assign'd , is , the natural tendency which they have to benefit mankind , and to establish the foundations of society firm and sure . if so , then i must observe , that every good man who loves virtue for its own sake , i. e. for its agreableness to human nature , i. e. for its tendency to benefit mankind , and establish the foundations of society ; he loves virtue mercenarily , for he himself is a member of the society , and his private benefit is included in that of the publick . but my friend tells me , and i believe him , that in acts of justice ( which he always ) in acts of charity and mercy ( which he frequently performs ) he has no regard to any advantage , upon those accounts likely to accrue to him either in this present or a future state. i answer , that to a man in easy circumstances , the practice of these virtues yields an immediate and a very great pleasure ; and they may be practis'd by an habitual good man ( such as i reckon my friend ) without any regard had to the future advantage and farther pleasure which may accompany them . an habitual good man may be so taken up with the present satisfaction of virtuous deeds , as that he shall be frequent in the practice of them , without giving himself time to consider , whether he may not reasonably hope for a future compensation . but then it ought to be taken notice of , that a great part , perhaps much the greatest part of virtue , consists in doing good at the price of suffering evil : and few , very few ( in my poor opinion ) would practise virtue under severe present discouragements , if they had no hope beyond this life . i am not surpriz'd to read in antient story that men of the fairest fame , as soon as advanc'd under some princes , have chang'd their manners , and lost their reputation : for when there 's no keeping an honest reputation , and a gainful post of honour both , it must be hope in a future state , or nothing that can perswade them to take care of the former , and let the latter go . i confess it is easy for a man to be good in easy circumstances ; to be just , when he is not very poor ; to be charitable , when he has more than a competence ; to be merciful , when he is likely to gain friends and fame by it : but he that is content that virtue should never be practis'd but in such cases , is content that the world should be much more wicked than it is , and every good man more uneasy and more unable to do the good to which he is inclin'd . in this place i think it proper to transcribe some lines from bishop taylor in his ductor dub. ( not that i hope to gain my point by his authority , tho i can't but be pleas'd to find so wise a man in my sentiments , yet let the reader only weigh what is said ) it is impossible a man should do great things , or suffer nobly , without consideration of a reward ; and since much of virtue consists in suffering evil things , virtue it self is not a happiness , but the way to one . he does a thing like a fool that does it for no end ; and if he does not choose a good one , he is worse : and virtue it self would in many instances be unreasonable , if for no material consideration we should undertake her drudgery . i omit his quotation from st. austin , and give his next words with some little addition : sensual pleasures , those sensual pleasures which trespass on the rights of others , are ( while they can be made to consist with the safety of our persons , and the health of our bodies ) highly eligible , and all difficult virtue to be avoided , if in this life only we have hope . the author i have quoted , assigns two causes of amability , and says there are no more , viz. perfection and usefulness . i think there is but one cause of amability , and that is usefulness : for perfections which do not relate to me , i may admire ; but nothing can attract my love , and prompt my desires , but that which i know to be useful to me at present , or hope to find so hereafter . the reason why a thinking person loves and desires to practise virtue , is , because he tastes pleasure now , or expects it hereafter . perhaps the present pleasure may effectually recommend some easier instances of virtue in happy and blessed times to the practice of well-dispos'd men : but in most cases , and to the many , virtue will ever need to be recommended by the reasonable hopes of a better portion in a future state. let me put a case , which i fancy does sometimes , tho but rarely happen : a married man loves his wife ; first for the sake of her friends , or her fortune , or her agreable features , or his own solemn vow ; but afterwards he loves her for her own sake , finding her to be good-natur'd and fruitful , obedient and wise . now meaning no more than that he admires these great perfections , that is not , in strict speaking , loving them , or the wife because she possesses them ; then only the husband may be properly said to love these amiable perfections , and his wife who is mistress of them , when he considers that he is delighted and pleased with the perfections of his wife , and made happy by her . in short , let us speak strictly and properly , and then we must affirm that love is relative . i may admire what i am never like to be the better for : but what i love , i love because i find great satisfaction in it at present , or hope to do so hereafter . the present pleasures of virtue are not sufficient to recommend it so much , as but a tolerable condition of the world does necessarily require : and if we endeavour to disprove the reasonableness of future hopes , we open a flood-gate to a world of iniquity more than abounds at present , and trouble our own enjoyments and ease , as well as the welfare of the publick . i would be glad to be taught how men may be perswaded to difficult virtue ; for instance , to do their country service , to preserve it , or deliver it from slavery , when they are like to ruin themselves and their families by it . indeed i read of one codrus , who by his own death purchas'd a happy victory to his people : but the historian says , athens never had another king after him , because they never expected another codrus . i may say of men , that dare be good whatever it cost them , as virgil concerning the scatter'd trojans , apparent rari nantes in gurgite vasto ; plainly there 's so very few of them , that to keep the world in no worse a condition , than that in which it now stands , it is necessary to take in their aid , who may be prompted to virtue by future hopes . i will not here dissemble what has bin sometimes objected to me by some deists ( to whom yet i can hardly allow that name ) they have asserted that the world is preserv'd in that tolerable order which we see , by sense of honour , and fear of the civil magistrates vengeance : good men are mov'd to be so by sense of honour ; and the wicked are restrain'd from that wickedness from which they are restrain'd , by fear of the civil magistrates vengeance : so that there 's no need of future hopes , or fears for one thing or other ; but they that pretend to be influenced by them , are either hypocrites , or deceiv'd by not examining the causes of their actions throughly . this objection has several parts , which must be answer'd one by one . good men , they say , are mov'd to be so by sense of honour . by sense of honour i suppose they do not mean so low a motive , as the esteem which accompanies virtue , the reputation and praise which good men gain by the practice ; tho this is a very material thing , and not so airy as 't is often represented : for whom others highly esteem , to him upon occasion they are ready to be kind and useful . but by sense of honour , i rather think they mean a consciousness that it is the most becoming and honourable thing in the world , for reasonable men to practise virtue , because the practice of virtue is beneficial to mankind in general , and the chief support of society . by the way i take notice , that this very sense of honour , this being virtuous because virtue is beneficial to mankind , and the chief support of society , does prove that the expectance of advantage does not take away from the worth of a virtuous action , does not make a moral action unfit to be call'd virtuous : for every man knows that by doing good to others , he not only contributes to the ease of his own mind , but also lays up a reputation , that for ought he can promise himself , he may live to need ; and by contributing to the security of the body-politick , he contributes to the security of his private interest . but this only by the way , tho it serves to strengthen something i have before answer'd : to my purpose it shall be allow'd , that sense of honour will carry well-dispos'd men a great way many times in the practice of virtue ; but for want of education , and by means of ill education , and ill examples , the bulk of mankind are always ill-dispos'd ; and even of the well-dispos'd , but very few are able to maintain their character in a crooked and perverse generation ; and fewer yet would do it , were it not for future hopes . further , it is too boldly said , and can never be made out , that the generality of good men are mov'd to be so merely by sense of honour secular , honour which relates to this world only : and as to future happiness ( be there any such thing or no ) 't is notoriously unreasonable to conclude , that no men are powerfully prompted to virtue by the desires and hopes of it , especially when they solemnly protest both living and dying , that they are prompted to it by those motives . i would not leave any thing unanswer'd , which has fall'n under my notice , by reading or conversation , and may seem to have the face of good argument , in favour of the sentiments of the objectors ; therefore i will here reply to a reflexion which i lately met with in a private ms. the anonymous author says , that to do good in hopes of reward hereafter , increases the vitious principle of selfishness . before i answer directly , i will premise something concerning this term reward , of which the adversary hopes to make some advantage . there are some good men , who are firmly perswaded that that thinking principle , which we call the soul , shall after this life exist again ; and yet believe that rewards and punishments are not the most proper words to express the different portions in that life . these men observe that the satisfactions and pleasures of sense are not equal to the satisfactions and pleasures of the mind ; the satisfactions and pleasures of the mind are created by virtue . to have sober and temperate , just , charitable , merciful and holy affections , regular passions , love , desire and joy ; dislike , hatred , anger , fix'd on proper objects , and exerted in due measure , according as best befits the several degrees of goodness or badness , which may happen to circumstantiate those several objects : this is to be vertuous , and this creates in the mind greater satisfactions and pleasures than the satisfactions and pleasures of sense . it were easy to demonstrate and illustrate this , but the men i have to deal with grant it . i hasten : the noblest idea , imagination , conception , which we can frame of future happiness , is to have our good affections improv'd and most intense , our passions most wisely directed , and most exactly regular : for , from this most excellent temper of mind , must needs follow the highest happiness , such happiness ( as the scripture phrases it ) which hath not enter'd into the heart of man to conceive ; i. e. we cannot conceive , as our passions and affections are now , what will be the happy consequences of their improvements to perfection hereafter . on the other side , the pains of the mind which it feels from reflection , after it hath bin engag'd in wickedness , are far more cruciating , than the pains which are caus'd by hurting the organs of the body , according to that of the scripture , a wounded spirit who can bear ? to have horrid , monstrous , and unnatural affections , passions misplac'd , irregular and extravagant ; this is to be very vitious , and this makes the vitious man miserable in this life . the most dreadful idea , imagination , conception , which we can frame of future misery , is to have our affections in the highest degree horrid , monstrous , and unnatural ; our passions in the highest degree misplac'd , irregular , and extravagant : for from this most wicked temper of mind , must needs follow the extremest misery , which ( if the pains of the body are less cruciating , than the pains of the mind ) fire can but faintly emblem . such happpiness and such misery which i have now mention'd , some good men , no sceptics as to our future existence , think to be improperly denoted by the terms rewards and punishments . but why should we contend about words ? i think they ought to allow us these scripture-terms , when we do not condemn this their description of heavenly happiness , and hellish torments . i have now made my way to the anonymous author's reflexion , who opposing the belief of a future state , says , that to do good in hopes of reward increases the vitious principle of selfishness . my reply is , 1. that selfishness is a principle which all other living creatures partake of in common with man. every one has it implanted in his nature , and cannot divest himself of it . even they that lay violent hands on themselves , are acted by this principle of selfishness : for they put an end to their own lives , because they hope that way to retire from the evils which they have not patience to endure . 2. this principle of selfishness is not in its own nature vitious , but becomes so only by being pursued irregularly . the laws that are in all nations made to determine and ascertain property , do plainly declare it to be the common sense of mankind , that it is not only lawful , but natural and necessary for a man to be selfish , to take care of his own rights : if so , then it can become vitious only by undue circumstances . man , as he is a member of society ▪ has giv'n up several of his natural rights , for the better preservation and security of what he has not given up . in this state he is , in many instances by the express words of positive law , and in more by reason and conscience , bound not to be selfish at the hazard and detriment of the publick ; not to pursue his private interest , when he cannot do so without visible prejudice to the body-politick , whereof he is but a single member . farther , a private man , who has a competence for himself and family , is bound in reason and conscience , not to pursue his own interest to the prejudice of another person who has not a competence , but is in straits . no one must question this , who approves ( which i hope we all do ) that excellent rule which makes a part of natural as well as reveal'd religion , viz. do as you would be done by . to be selfish farther than this excellent rule will allow , is a vitious principle : but to be selfish as far as this rule will allow , that is , when neither the publick , nor any private person is against reason damag'd thereby , is natural , necessary and honest ; and he that is not selfish , that does not pursue his private interest in such a case as this , must be ▪ a fool or a madman . the prospect of reward , where neither the publick nor any private person is , against positive law or right reason , injur'd , is no circumstance that can make selfishness vitious , but rather commends it : for a man cannot do himself too much good , if in doing himself good he does others no injury . the next part of the objection is , that the wicked are restrain'd from that wickedness from which they are restrain'd , by fear of the civil magistrates vengeance . that the fear of the civil magistrates vengeance is a great restraint of wickedness , is what no person will question ; but that it should be the only restraint , and that men ill-inclin'd , or dangerously tempted , are aw'd by nothing else , is a bold assertion , impossible to be made out , highly improbable , and particularly unreasonable for the objectors to assert . it is a bold assertion , because it is impossible to be made out ; it is impossible to be made out , because it is impossible for the objectors to know the hearts of men , and discern by what principles their actions are govern'd : it is highly improbable , for the many have either had no education , or so unhappy an one , and have been engag'd so much among the worst examples , that their minds are oftner govern'd by weak and false principles , than by sound and true : not that i think the apprehension of misery , which in a future state will be the consequence of wickedness with impenitence , a weak or false principle , but it is so in the opinion of the objectors ; and i argue , supposing that it really were so , yet the apprehension we speak of , shall still have its influence on the minds of the many . it is particularly unreasonable for the objectors to assert , that men ill-inclin'd , or dangerously tempted , are aw'd only by the civil magistrates vengeance , because these very objectors do commonly impute many of the foolish and wicked practices of men to their unhappy education , to the ill company they frequent , and to their superstitious principles . possibly the objectors may be here ready to interpose and tell me , that a weak argument should not be made use of to an honest and noble purpose . to admit this for the present ( tho i think there may be many cases , in which 't is reasonable to use an argument likely to prevail , tho in its own nature weak ) yet i judg the misery which will hereafter fall on the impenitent wicked , to be a good argument for the restraint of wickedness : but be it good or bad , it has its influence , and therefore the fear of the magistrates vengeance is not the only restraint of wickedness : that it has its influence , the objectors ought not to deny , because , as abovesaid , they know not the hearts of men , and can't discern by what principles their actions are govern'd ; and because they do grant , that the many are as often govern'd by weak and false principles , as by sound and true . 't is not my business in this place to prove the apprehensions of misery , threatning impenitent wickedness in a future state , to be a sound principle for the restraint of wickedness ; but if it does restrain , then the objectors are in the wrong , who would put upon us , that the fear of the civil magistrates vengeance is the only restraint . i have bin often studying to find out , what should lead the objectors to such a strange assertion , as that , the fear of the civil magistrates vengeance is the only restraint of wickedness : the only thing that i can imagine is this ; perhaps they observe that very many who profess to believe a future state , wherein the impenitent wicked shall exist miserable , are yet , notwithstanding such their profession , as much addicted to wickedness as any of the most ungracious unbelievers , and make as little conscience at least of some immoralities , as any of them who are either downright atheists , or so reputed . observing this , perhaps hence they conclude , that none of all them who profess the same , are aw'd by that their notion . but may not i as well conclude , that no men are aw'd by the penal laws of the land , because so great numbers who have read or bin told , and are firmly perswaded , that the law condemns petty-larcenary to the whipping-post , pillory , or hot iron ; felony and treason to the gallows and the sled , do yet daily pilfer , cheat , and break houses , rob and murder , deface and counterfeit the king's coin ? it is as plain that wicked men , who suffer under this law , are not aw'd by it , as that wicked men , who are perswaded of the future danger of immorality , are not aw'd by that ; and it is as good a consequence , that the knowledg of the penaltys annexed to human laws , restrains no wickedness , as that the persuasion of the future danger of wickedness does restrain none . so then by the same argument that the objectors would prove , that the persuasion of the future danger of wickedness has no influence on the minds of men , they prove that the knowledg of the penalties annex'd to human laws has no influence on them ; and so there 's an end of all laws whatsoever . by this reasoning the laws of god wrote in the hearts of men , and the laws of men wrote in books , are both made insignificant and useless , good for nothing but to prove a defect of wisdom in their authors . but among those who question the future state , some there are who willingly grant that the fear of the civil magistrates vengeance , and the fear of future misery , have both of them an influence to restrain men from sin ; but to abstain from sin , out of fear of the one or the other , is , they say , servile and base . to this i reply : it must be granted that the wise heathens , who had form'd their virtue on the noblest principles , the love of god , and the joys of a conscience exercis'd in all manner of well-doing , have justly condemn'd that abstinence from vice , which is enforc'd merely by a dread of the rods and axes of the civil magistrate , as servile and base : for he that keeps his hands from stealing and striking , his tongue from slandering and bearing false witness , merely that he may avoid the penalty of human laws , is not advanc'd the least step towards virtue : he has all the love of iniquity still about him ; and even of that which he does not actually practise , must be deemed guilty in the accounts of god and wise men , because his desires are towards it . no manner of praise can be justly ascrib'd to him , who would transgress the law , but that he is afraid to purchase his transgression at the price of a present severe penalty . this man's nature is wicked , while his actions are under restraint . this drew that saying from st. paul , the law ( meaning the law of the civil magistrate ) is not made for the righteous but the wicked . the righteous abstain from sin because of the baseness thereof , the wicked only for fear of the penalty ; the fear of the penalty keeps their hands , but not their hearts from mischief , therefore still they are wicked men. but there is another kind of fear , some call it a fear connate , born with us : but that my discourse may not lie expos'd to exceptions , i call it a fear which the exercise of reason in meditating and reflecting begets ; a fear of doing that which is odious in the sight of god and good men , destructive of our own greatest happiness , and injurious to others . this fear is a powerful restraint of sin , and a good advance in the ways of virtue . human nature is so fram'd by the great god , that every thinking man not habitually debauch'd , has an aversion against all vile immoralities in his first wicked sallies ; his face is cover'd with shame , and his heart shook with fear . in his first wicked sallies the man is fearful for his present reputation , and fearful of what may be the fatal future consequences . now to be asham'd of being ill thought of , and to be afraid of deserving a miserable condition , these are degrees of virtue ; for thus a man takes an honest care of his own interest , every man owes this honest care to himself , 't is no little fault to neglect it : now the doing of that which it were a great fault to neglect , cannot but deserve the name of virtue . it is true , that fear which has for its object only the sword of the magistrate , is servile and base ; and such a man when he has the tempting hopes of concealing his breach of the law , will be sure to break it : but a fear of doing that which is odious in the sight of the most holy being , and of them who are most like him , is mix'd with some regard to virtue in its very first original ; a fear of doing that which is destructive of our own peace of mind , future hopes , and also injurious to others , is mix'd with a wise care of our own honest interests , and a love of just and righteous dealing , and therefore cannot justly be reproach'd as servile and base . to return from this digression : the next part of the objection is , that there 's no need of future hopes or fears for one thing or other , i. e. to keep men innocent , or to make them virtuous . it is true , there were no need of them , if they had no influence on men ; but i think i have prov'd that they have , and i will now essay to prove one thing more , viz. if a man believe that after death he shall never more exist again , he is not like to become virtuous or innocent either . the schemes which some christians frame to themselves of a future state , are as extravagant and improbable as the impostor mahomet's paradise . i am far from thinking such schemes necessary or useful to virtuous ends and purposes : but i look upon the doctrine of a future state , wherein it will be well with the virtuous , and ill with vitious men , as the only sure foundation , which can firmly bear the whole superstructure of morality , and make it appear to be every man's interest to be sober and chaste , just and merciful , charitable and holy , in the worst of times and most unhappy circumstances . it may seem perhaps to some , that my former discourse contradicts what i here advance : for i have admitted that the pleasures of a good conscience , the joys of a mind reflecting on its own virtuous disposition and beneficial actings , are far more pleasant and joyous than the joys and pleasures of sense ; and that the torments of a mind reflecting on its own criminal disorders , irregular and unnatural passions and affections , are far more punishing than the pains of a wounded or diseased body . now judging at first sight this may be mistaken for a good argument , it is most probable that the bulk of mankind should be virtuous , because in this life there 's most to be got by virtue , most to be lost and suffer'd by being vitious . but if this matter be farther look'd into and consider'd as it deserves , it will plainly appear , that the man who questions his existence in a future state , is still most likely to indulge his sensual appetite , and prefer such pleasures before those of a good conscience : for we are not masters of the power of reasoning in our first years ; we are born indeed with a docility above all other creatures that we know of , with a capacity of learning to reason ; but we learn it by slow degrees : a long while we live only the life of sense , and then our choice is govern'd wholly by our sensual appetites ; and we have no regard to any but our selves , except to them who gratify our desires : nay , which is worse than all this , they that have the most careful education , do not miss the sight of many vitious examples . to prefer our selves before all others , and indulge our sensual appetites , can hardly fail of growing habitual to us , before we are masters of so much reason , as to consider how much the practice of virtue in some denial of our selves and senses , tends to promote the comforts of this life : and when we come to be able to consider this , and actually do consider it , 't is none of the easiest things imaginable to overcome an habitual contrary inclination . they are far the lesser number who are ever won to wise consideration and virtuous practice ; but if the present advantages of virtue and disadvantages of vice were all the argument propounded , it is mighty probable that the sensual livers would be harder to be reclaim'd than they now are ; it is mighty probable they would with strange accord tell their grave advisers , they did not know but virtue might have many charms , and vice some immediate troubles and imminent dangers ; but they could be content a while with the pleasures of sense , bear the troubles and venture the dangers ; 't would be seasonable to be sober and chaste , when they shall be grown impotent and old ; to be good-natur'd and obliging , when they shall want power to bear up their high minds , and make themselves rever'd : to be just and charitable when they shall abound . will the opposers of a future state tell these men , that if they indulge their sensual appetites till nature begins to fail , it will be then out of their power to shift their course , and experience the comforts which largely flow from well-doing , because their vitious inclinations will outlive their vitious powers ? alas ! this will but tempt them to have a greater opinion of their vice ; for they may reason thus : the thoughts of that thing can never be punishing to them , from which they cannot withdraw their affections ; therefore except a very painful sickness , or a more than ordinary misfortune befal an immoral man , i can't see how any argument drawn from the nature of things in this life can possibly reclaim him : but it is possible that such a one may be reclaim'd by the considerations of a future state ; for this is an argument , which if adverted to , must needs at least disturb the joys , the foolish and mischievous joys of the most prosperous libertine . it is granted , that generally speaking , virtue is its own reward , the virtuous man meets many present advantages by being virtuous : but then there are some instances of virtue , that sometimes happen to engage men in unwelcome sufferings ; now what shall persuade these persons to practise virtue in such circumstances , if they disbelieve the future state ? again , it is granted , that generally speaking vitious men are greatly punish'd by their own vices ; but then we cannot deny but that with some men some vices agree better . some know how to manage their vices with a sort of discretion , and while they sooth their senses , take care of their health and fame also . now what shall perswade these men to quit those vices which agree well enough with them , if they fear no miserable event in a future state ? as i said before , the doctrine of a future state is the only sure foundation which can firmly bear the whole superstructure of morality , and make it appear to be every man's greatest interest to be sober and chaste , just and merciful , charitable and holy , in the worst of times and most unhappy circumstances . the author of the inquiry concerning virtue having advanc'd several notions ( in my opinion ) contrary as well to the interests of virtue , as to the short discourse of mine concerning the future advantages of it , i purpose now to write brief notes on that book , and hope at one and the same time to correct his mistakes , and justify my own sentiments . by the way , the inquiry concerning virtue is the tract i have refer'd to , having formerly had a sight of the ms. tho yet ignorant of the author . p. 3. religion and virtue are very rarely consider'd apart , or distinguish'd from one another . i will not dispute this with our author ; but then since he does consider them apart , i think it an omission that he has not particularly and distinctly defin'd them : possibly the definitions of them may be made out from the course of his reasonings ; but sure they ought some where or other to have bin particularly and plainly set down , especially because he himself professes , that the subject he enters upon needs a very particular explanation of things , and more than ordinary clearness of terms . p. 4. we may do well to consider , what it is that we call atheism , and what virtue , and afterwards examine the consistency of these two together . this is very incautiously and offensively worded , but i will wait till he openly declares what he calls atheism , and what virtue , before i pass my censure . p. 5. if every thing that exists , be according to a good order , and for the best , by being in the wisest and just est manner , then is there of necessity no such thing as real ill in the vniverse , nothing ill with respect to the whole . it shall be granted that there is nothing ill with respect to the whole , but still there may be that which is ill , real ill , with respect to some great and noble part of the whole , and no reproach to the wise and just disposer of the whole neither ; because that which is real ill with respect to some great and noble part of the whole , shall after some revolutions of time , appear to have contributed to the most wise and just disposal of the whole . let thus much for the present be said in general ; when our author speaks more particularly by instance , i will come up more closely to him , and more particularly speak my mind . p. 5. whatsoever in the order of the world is called ill , supposes a possibility in the nature of the thing , to have bin otherwise contriv'd , or order'd by some wisdom or other . the whole might for all that we know have bin otherwise contriv'd and order'd than it is , but we do not know how it could have bin contriv'd and order'd better ; nay indeed we do not know how the whole is contriv'd and order'd , our knowledg extends but to some parts of the whole , and sees not thro them neither : but that which i admit to be real ill , with respect to some parts of the whole , being only so for a time , and with respect to some parts only , is not real ill with respect to the whole . p. 5. if the order of all things be such that nothing can be thought of or imagin'd more wise , perfect , and just , then it is impossible but that there must be wisdom , vnderstanding and design in the whole . i grant the order of all things with respect to the whole , to be most wise , perfect , and just ; in the whole there is wisdom , understanding and design , and that in the perfectest and highest manner and degree . but then from hence i argue thus : if there be perfect wisdom , design , and understanding in the whole , then there must be a most wise , designing , and understanding being , in which perfect wisdom , design , and understanding exists . our author's words seem to incline to that old pagan doctrine , that the whole is god ; that the whole system of nature is the only wise , understanding , and designing being , which to me is perfect nonsense : for , the wisdom , understanding , and design which our author speaks of , as existing in the whole , can be nothing but the congruity and mutual serviceableness of the parts ; but the whole , the whole system of nature cannot be properly said to be the cause of the congruity and mutual serviceableness of the parts which compose the whole . p. 6. if there be any thing ill in the universe from design , then that which is the cause of , or which disposes all things , is no one good designing principle . tho there be nothing ill in the vniverse , with respect to the vniverse , from design ; yet there may be something temporarily ill in the parts , which after some revolutions of time shall appear to have contributed to the perfection of the universe ; and therefore that being from whom the design came , temporarily ill with respect to some part , may nevertheless be one good designing principle or mind . i will give instance here , tho our author speaks only in general . if we consider only that part of the universe which mankind makes , and that short time which men live , it is ill , real ill , that the man who does good should suffer evil , and that the man who does evil should not suffer proportionably to the evil which he does : but if we consider this with respect to that state which probably shall be hereafter , with respect to the advantages which the former shall then probably reap , and the loss which the other shall then probably incur , then there appears no such thing as real ill in the universe . p. 7. whatsoever is superiour in any degree over the world , or that rules in nature with discernment and a mind , is that which we call god. i do not approve of our author's definition of god ; i would rather , keeping as near to his phrase as i can , define thus : whatsoever does exist , having supreme power over us and all things else , is that which we call god. pagan philosophers , the most of them , as well as the vulgar , paid religious worship to many suppos'd powerful inferiour gods ; but most of the vulgar , and all the philosophers almost to a man , acknowledg'd one single supreme intelligent being ; for proof of this i refer to dr. cudworth's intellectual system . p. 8. to believe no one supreme good designing principle or mind , but several , is to be a polytheist . this was not well consider'd by our author : for if nothing makes a man a polytheist , but to believe no one supreme good designing principle or mind , but several , then there never was a polytheist in the world. he that understands the sense of the word supreme , cannot but perceive , that it is impossible there should be more than one such . the old polytheists believ'd and worship'd many superiour powers , but they nor did nor could imagine more than one supreme . sect. 2. p. 12. there is in every creature a certain interest or good , which is an end in that creature ; and to which end , if any thing either of his appetites , passions , or affections be not conducing , but the contrary ; this is ill to him , and in this manner he is ill , with respect to himself , as he is said to be ill also with respect to others , when any such appetites or passions make him injurious to them . questionless the chief good of every creature , is the chief end of every creature ; the end which he ought , and which he is naturally dispos'd to pursue ; and which when he does not pursue , his natural constitution is vitiated . to apply this to the rational creature : if we allow free will to man ( which i suppose our author does , because else 't is nonsense to talk of virtue and vice ) then that man is a good man , and acts well and wisely , who imploys his thoughts , and directs his practice for the attainment of his own chief good . farther , such is the constitution and frame of man , and such his chief end or good , that his pursuing the same can never make him injurious to other men ; but on the contrary , his pursuing his own chief end or good , tends very much to the promoting the chief end or good of his brethren . what our author discourses concerning the animal system and animal nature , whether it be accurate and exact , i shall not at present concern my self ; but the distinction i admit , and thus much i grant him , that no part of the universe is of it self compleat , but every part has a relation to the whole , whereof it is a part ; and that there is no part but contributes to the perfection of the whole , tho consider'd with less general respects , it may be for a time ill to some other part , and also to it self . p. 17. nor do we say a man is a good man , when his hands are ty'd , which hinders him from doing the harm that he has a mind to do , or ( which is near the same ) when he abstains from executing his ill purpose , thro a fear of some impending punishment , or thro an allurement of some private pleasure or advantage , which draws him from his ill intention . our author here is making his way to the main purpose of his book , which being the introducing of a doctrine that i take to be not only erroneous , but also discouraging to virtue and destructive to society , i shall therefore watch his approaches , and make my remarks upon his specious artful insinuations . to speak exactly , he that nor does nor means harm , ought to be denominated innocent ; and only he that does or is ready to do good , virtuous . but by our author's favour , not to be able to do the harm which one has a mind to do , and to abstain from executing an ill purpose thro fear of some impending punishment , or thro allurement of some private pleasure or advantage , is not the same , nor near the same thing : for in the one case , the ill-minded man is wholly govern'd by his irregular passions and affections , and restrain'd only by force exterior from the evil act ; but in the other he makes some use of his reason , and by that use which he makes of his reason ( tho not the best which might be made ) he abstains from the evil act. i will grant our author that the man who abstains from executing his evil purpose , only thro fear of impending punishment , or thro allurement of some private pleasure or advantage ( meaning by punishment , the punishment which human laws threaten to evil actions , and by pleasure or advantage , sensual pleasure and secular advantage ) has not well consider'd things , nor exercis'd his reason so far , as to form those true notions in his mind which are requisite to set a value upon his abstinence from evil ; nor would i call such a man innocent . but then there are other fears , and other hopes to which men may owe their abstinence from some evils , and no disparagement to their innocence neither : for instance , i presume it were an injurious evil thing , for a physician to try an experiment upon a poor patient , without the knowledg and consent of his patient , merely to improve his own knowledg ; but this a physician may have many opportunities of doing , and that with all imaginable safety to himself , so that not so much as his skill shall be call'd in question , tho the experiment fails , and the patient miscarries ; for so patients every day do under the ablest physicians , proceeding by common methods : and yet a physician that has no fears from without to restrain him from trying an experiment , may be restrain'd by the fears of doing a base thing , by the fears of that uneasiness which his considering mind , conscious to the evil deed , may create him : and whenever such fears keep a man free from the evil act , his abstinence from it is praise-worthy , and he is of right to be deemed innocent . upon the same score , a due regard had to the pleasures of a good conscience , has a great influence to keep a man , in such like circumstances plac'd , innocent , and does not depretiate the innocence which it preserves . our author should not talk in general of punishments and advantages , the objects of our hopes and fears , without specifying what kind of punishments and advantages he means , when he lays down such and such propositions . i am of the mind , that when we act rationally , we are always influenc'd by some one or other hope or fear : indeed a man may arrive at a habit of well or ill-doing , and then not advert to the special motive in every particular act ; but all momentous actions , and the original of the good or ill habit proceeds from some hope or fear . what signifies the decor facti so much talk'd of , the comliness and fitness of the action call'd virtuous , but the advantageousness thereof to one's self , country , neighbourhood , near relation , friend , acquaintance ? from hence the action has its comliness and fitness , from hence it is denominated virtuous ; and he that does it , does it with this prospect . what i would conclude hence is , that hope and fear , which are the springs of all action , render an action good or ill , according to the nature of that thing which is the object of our hope and fear . but our author seems to lay a stress upon that distinguishing epithet private , private pleasure or advantage , which otherwhere he calls private good , self-good ; but in this matter he does not deal distinctly enough neither : for i will grant him , that there are some kind of private pleasure or advantage , private good , self-good , such as profit , pleasure , honour , all secular satisfactions , which if they are the chief designs and purposes of the agent , they depreciate that action which is really advantageous to the publick , and perhaps to the doer also , farther than he might hope ; but a regard had to the private chief good of every man , is that which sets the high value upon his actions , and gives them that excellence , because of which they may fitly be called virtuous . to speak my sense in every thing as plain as i can : a man 's chief good i allow to consist in just and equal affections , whereby he is dispos'd to take a wise care of his health , a duly proportion'd regard of his secular interests , and to imploy a constant study and labour to do good to all mankind , as far as his abilities can reach , and in the order as this or that society or person most reasonably calls for a prior regard . these just and equal affections create to a man greater happiness than can accrue to him from secular satisfactions . now if the mind of man shall exist again ( as we think it most probable , and mean to give our reasons ) it shall exist with these just and equal affections , in beneficent degrees still improving , more useful to others , and more happy in it self ( for even in this life as a good man increases in his good affections , so his fervour and his joys daily advance ) a regard had to this hope is proper to regulate our judgment and affections , and dispose us to virtue more powerfully than the consideration of the happiness which virtue creates to us in this life . now no man's chief private good can be separated from the good of others , tho his secular private good may : whatsoever is of honest advantage to one's acquaintance , friend , relation , neighbourhood , country , mankind in general , has a tendency to one's own chief advantage , and many times to some inferiour advantages of one's own also ; but no man could at all endeavour the advantage of others , if it tended to his own greatest loss . there is implanted in mankind a strong principle of self-love prior to all kind respect towards others : we cannot but love our own honest secular interest , before the honest secular interest of another man ; our private self-good future , more ardently than the private self-good future of another man. we do ill only when we prefer a small secular interest of our own before a weighty interest of another , whose condition is sad and piteable , or before a weighty certain interest of the publick , or before a probability that we may happen to have in our hands of promoting the interests of virtue . and this i think is speaking something more distinctly than our author has done , and more according to verity . i said i would assign my reasons why i thought it most probable that the mind of man should exist again after death , ( at what time , as to me is most probable , his regular or irregular affections shall create his happiness or misery ) i will not defer the making good that promise ; only let it be consider'd 't is high probability , not sensible demonstration that i pretend to , tho i have a temptation to pretend even to that , which temptation i have from the reasoning of that noble philosopher mr. lock , i quote it in the words of mr. wynn's abridgment , p. 200. the idea of a supreme being , infinite in power , goodness and wisdom , whose workmanship we are , and on whom we depend , and the idea of our selves as understanding rational creatures , would , i suppose , if duly consider'd , afford such foundations of our duty and rules of action , as might place morality among the sciences capable of demonstration ; wherein i doubt not but from principles as incontestable as those of the mathematics , by necessary consequences , the measure of right and wrong might be made out to any one , that will apply himself with the same indifferency and attention to the one , as he does to the other of these sciences . but of what i have to say let the reader judg . i will use the word mind or man promiscuously ; for it is the reasoning principle which we call mind , that does distinguish , and constitute us what we are . if in the universe every thing is according to a good order , and the most agreable to a general interest that is possible , so that nothing could have bin contriv'd more wisely , and with more advantage to the general interest of beings , or of the universe ( which our author seems to admit , and affirms to be perfect theism , p. 7. ) then man or human mind must exist again after this life ended : for , that order of things in which man 's future existence is not suppos'd , is not the best order which we can imagin ; but we have the idea in our minds of a juster and wiser contrivance . in defence of the doctrine which i now impugn , some have bin pleas'd to say , that every sin meets with adequate punishment or pain in this life , and every good deed with adequate reward or advantage . were this true , i must confess i could not pretend that any thing is amiss in that order of things , in which man 's future existence is not suppos'd . but i hope to make the contrary appear to an impartial deliberate considerer . there are some sins , which , as it often happens , do not meet with punishment , or pain adequate in this life ; and the most difficult instances of virtue , which ever and anon call for our practice , do not create present joys equal to the labours and dangers thereof . i do not expect to carry my point by my bare assertion ; nor do i allow any thing to the authority of my adversaries , however in learning my superiours : therefore i will offer instance , and reason the matter with them as well as i can . what a world of barbarous injuries has a certain mighty potentate caus'd to be committed for the enlargement of his dominions , and the increase of his glory ? what wondrous successes has he sometimes cunningly bought , sometimes fraudulently surpriz'd , and sometimes by over-powering numbers forc'd ? with what odious insolence has he treated not only independent states and commonwealths , but also crown'd heads , in point of due honour his equals ? how has he slighted his holy father , and made a mere property of the head , as they call him , of the catholick church ? how has he triumph'd in all these iniquities , bribing blasphemous panegyricks , and monumental proud inscriptions ( the wit of hungry priests , expence of servile courtiers ) to his immortal manship ? he has bin for a long time flatter'd , if not belov'd , by crouching slaves and conquer'd nations , and fear'd by states inferiour in their numbers , or unequal thro their own divisions far and wide , which are the two things the most agreable to an ambitious soul. he has never wanted women witty , fair , and easy to excite and answer his lust ; whatever his appetite has coveted , or his health needed for its support , has bin ready for him upon all occasions . but where 's the adequate punishment or pain all this while ? no such thing has as yet befall'n him ; not but that he has met with crosses and disappointments in his well-laid ill designs , which may have giv'n him an hour's vexation in his closet , but no long disquiet : for he never was long without taking new measures to retrieve the old game , and those new measures rais'd new hopes , and those new hopes brought not more uneasiness than an ordinary patience might well enough undergo . but ( it may be said ) he has bin often compell'd to re-deliver his rapine . indeed much of this is true , and it could not but sit heavy on a great heart ; but then he never re-deliver'd the whole , and by redelivering but part , he gain'd something of a specious title to what he retain'd : and then too he assum'd to himself the glory of that peace which himself most wanted , and never condescended ( as he loves to speak ) to a peace , but to get new breath , and divide his united enemies ; one point of which he was always sure of , and seldom miss'd the other . now all this while where 's the adequate punishment ? hitherto all the misfortunes he has met , have bin no more painful and punishing , than just to give a better relish to his tyrannick pride and successful depredations ; if there be one single sin of his that has bin adequately punish'd , it must be his — but i will not speak of lawless love or — for some men , beside that they count it no sin , prefer the pleasure to the pain . but it may be by way of objection reply'd to me , mark the end of this man , conclude not that he shall not , because he has not as yet , paid the price of his crimes . well! i cannot promise my self to live so long as to mark his end , but i will suppose it as much as can be to the disadvantage of my cause , tho no one can presume , but that it may be so honourable and so easy , as still to mend my argument . suppose then that his armies on all sides shall be repuls'd and beaten , his asses grow weary of their burden , and sick of their driver ; his domesticks that eat of his bread , forsake him : suppose that in the midst of his distress , wandring , despis'd , and hated , no one shall love him so well , or hate him so passionately , as to rid him of his wretched life ; but that he must be beholden to his own right hand , or to the anguish of his disorder'd mind : who would call this adequate pain or punishment , for millions of murders , and remorseless villanies ; fruitful countries laid waste , temples thrown down , and sepulchers digg'd up ; the bold breach of faith sworn , all manner of laws and rights , for a long course of early , young , and of vigorous manly years , insulted : does all this deserve no more than that a heavy misfortune fall upon the guilty wretch in his old and decaying age ? i wonder how any man can pretend that this would be adequate punishment , and yet 't is a hundred to one but the mighty sinner goes off the stage suffering little or nothing of all this . it were not hard to give numerous instances of vile men , that have revell'd long in all abominable , and cruel lewdness and injustice ; who notwithstanding have dy'd without notable misfortune , or tormenting regret . i have selected one that possibly has done the most evil of any name , that is to be met in history , and hitherto he has come off cheap ; and if it appears , tho but in a single instance , that all sins are not adequately punish'd in this life , i presume it must follow , that that order of things in which man 's future existence is not suppos'd , is not the best and wisest order that can be imagin'd . but farther to evince that all sins are not adequately punish'd in this life , let it be consider'd , that many times , persons whose crimes are hainous , find means to escape the vengeance of the magistrate , while they who are less guilty , are very severely dealt with : nay and the former , so it often happens , go on rejoycing in their crimes , while the latter venture on evil actions , not without great trouble and anxiety of mind . now let my adversaries call what they will adequate punishment , i am sure it is not the wisest order of things imaginable , that the less guilty suffer most , and the most guilty least , or not at all . i will dismiss this argument with the brief mention of an instance or two from antient story . cesar was in many a conspiracy against the liberty of his country ; at last he absolutely inslav'd it to his own arbitrary will , and three years injoy'd the success of his unrighteous usurpation : at the end of that term brutus and cassius , &c. dispatch'd him of a sudden . if this was adequate punishment , then subjugating a free people is a light injury . orestes slew his mother , and was all his life-time troubled in conscience for it ; suppose this now was adequate punishment : but nero slew his mother , by whose means he got the empire , and never was troubled for the matter : he dispatch'd also his wife octavia , and his master seneca ; he spar'd no person that gave him offence : his end indeed was tragical , but it was sudden and quick , no way adequate to his horrid life . i presume i have now made it appear to an impartial equal considerer , that there are some sins , which ( as it often happens ) do not meet with punishment , or pain adequate in this life : i hope to make it appear as plainly , that the most difficult instances of virtue , which ever and anon call for our practice , do not create present joys equal to the labours and dangers thereof . generally speaking , such is the nature of virtue , that it is fitted not only to promote the good . ( as our author phrases it ) of the private system , but also of the publick . virtue naturally tends to the benefit of every particular man , and also of all mankind united in societies . temperance conduces to the health of the temperate man , to the health of his body , and to the health of his mind ( from the health of both which arises the greatest good which he is capable of at present ) and also to the enrichment of the publick ; for , the less is consum'd at home of any thing serviceable to life , the more remains to be exported abroad by way of trade ▪ justice and charity are immediately , visibly beneficial to society ; and they purchase to the just and charitable person , not only the agreable comforts of a good reputation , but great measures of security to be treated with justice again , and reasonable hopes to find a return of charity in time of need . now such being the nature of virtue , so proportion'd and fitted to all the honest desires and nobler ends of mankind in this state , it would become a wise man in some cases to practise it , even tho he were sure there were no reward , nothing to be got by it hereafter : but then there are other cases in which virtue ( tho always serviceable to society ) may accidentally happen to be unserviceable to a private man , and wholly unable to create him present joys equal to the labours and dangers thereof . nay , there are cases , in which some virtues , aiming at the service of the publick , may become effectual to the utter ruin of a man's fortunes , friends , health , life . now if it is ever odds against a man , that his virtue shall not be successful to the publick according to his desire , but on the contrary , prove an occasion of ruin to his fortunes , family , friends , health , life ; how the reflexion on his virtue can create him joy greater , or but equal to the pain which these misfortunes will cause , while he believes no future state , i cannot divine . if it should be objected , that i suppose a case which ought not to be suppos'd ; i reply , that this very case has , within our memory , befall'n several worthy persons in more than one country , upon their opposing the arbitrary designs of tyrannizing princes . their honest endeavours to preserve their country from poverty by loss of trade , from slavery , and its numerous attendant mischiefs , have cost several the loss of high honours , and valuable profits , wasted their estates , reduc'd their families to hardships , broke their health in close prisons , and sometimes put an end to their days by ignominious punishments . there is not one instance of virtue more widely beneficial , and more truly glorious , than a wise and resolute use of all lawful likely means to preserve to that society whereof we are members , the safe and secure enjoyment of their trade and liberties . the satisfaction and pleasure of mind in labouring this thing , will not be denied to be as great , if not greater , than that which proceeds from any other instance of virtue : but to be ( tho accidentally , and by means of consulting the publick good ) the occasion of great misfortune , not only to some dependants , acquaintance , and friends , but to wife and children also ; to the ruin of ones own health , and shortning ones days ; this , in my opinion , cannot but make the most virtuously dispos'd man , who believes no future state , very uneasy , and hinder him from relishing the satisfactions which otherwise his virtue might create to him . i do now , only for argument sake , suppose a man , who believes no future state , capable of serving his country at the price of these difficulties and sufferances ; but , that being suppos'd , i contend that these ▪ difficulties and sufferances cannot be more painful , than the consciousness of his virtue can be joyous . and methinks this may be made out even to a full and fair demonstration . unexpected disappointments , and losses , the falsness of an intrusted servant , the ingratitude of an oblig'd friend , want of many necessaries , and undeserv'd reproach , these are heavy weights , and no little power have they to disorder the thoughts of the mind ; it must yet more sensibly touch a man ( especially believing no future state ) if his concern and labour to serve his country brings ruin on the wife of his bosom , and his children , the pledges of their mutual love ; and i question very much , whether ever any man , who believes no future state , did despise ( the melancholy prospect being before him ) his dear wife and children , and undauntedly practise the dangerous virtue : but a prison has still a more afflicting influence on the mind of a well-dispos'd man ; and by that time restraint and barbarous usage has broke his health , his spirits must fail , his mind must needs languish together with his body : and when a man is in continual pain , tho he does not utterly lose the consciousness of his integrity , yet what comfort can he take in it , when he sees that it has undone , not only his dearest relatives , but himself also ; and considers that himself undone is dying , dying for ever , and never like to be the better for his virtue hereafter ? i think our preachers do not exact the words of paul literally , when he wish'd that curse on himself for the sake of his brethren the jews : and in my judgment , as no man can wish to be miserable hereafter , that others may be happy hereafter ; so no man who looks upon this life as the end of all things to him , can be content to be miserable in this life , in hopes to make others happy in this life . if any adversary shall oppose his denial to what i have here determin'd , then he must be forced to assert , that man is a creature in whose composition there 's no such thing as self-love , or reason ; but this is extremely absurd , and therefore my determination must be allow'd . it may be easily understood , how it is possible for a man to give up all that is near and dear to him , nay his very life , for the service of his country , or for the sake of a friend more serviceable to his country than himself , if he believes that he shall exist again after death , and then either receive a recompence of reward , or find it in his increasing virtuous affections : but to sacrifice himself and his nearest and dearest relations for the service of his country , when he believes that both he himself , and they whom he sacrifices , shall exist no more , is not possible to be done , in my judgment , by any but a humorous man , whose fancy is over-heated with metaphysical lofty unaccountable extravagancies . i remember , i confess , that tully , in his book of offices , says , that to contemn life for the interest of the publick , magni & excelsi animi est , is the part of a great and gallant mind : and i am told by them that have read tully with more care and heedful observation than i pretend to , that tully never made that notion of a future state an argument to enforce the practice of virtue : if so , then i may gather that tully did not give any credit to that notion ; and then it will follow , that his doctrine , viz. to contemn life for the interest of the publick , is the part of a great and gallant mind , is contrary to mine : but 't is reason i require , and not authority . yet i do not grant that tully never made the notion of a future state an argument to virtue . i will not forget to examine that assertion before i finish these papers . i am much told also by some , who differ with me in these speculations , as much as they agree with me in friendship , that it is most just , fitting , reasonable , the publick should be prefer'd before the private . but i desire these my friends to tell me , if they can give any reason why the publick should be prefer'd before the private , besides this which i now give , viz. every private member of the society has agreed to do it , and has an interest in doing it . if they can give me no other reason , which i am perswaded they cannot , then i note , that when a private good man has no interest in the publick , he has no obligation to the publick . i word it , that when a private good man has , &c. for i grant that a justly condemn'd traitor , who has no longer an interest in the publick , is yet in conscience bound quietly to suffer the penalty of the law by him broken ; and not only so , but because he expresly or tacitly consented to the law by which he dies , he ought for the common good to discover his traitorous accomplices . i restrain my note to a good man , whose virtue , through the iniquity of the times , and the unrighteous administration of the executive power , might , by accident , fatally endanger him . such a man is not bound to strive against the stream for his country's good , to his own ( in all probability ) utter ruin . i take this to be manifest , tho 't is ( before i was aware ) something more than the position which i undertook to make good , oblig'd me to meddle with ; for i was only to prove , that there would be more pain than pleasure in such a virtuous labour , supposing it possible to be attempted , and i think i have prov'd it : and if there be more pain than pleasure in some virtuous actions , then there 's an end of the excellence of those virtuous actions ; then they have not that worth , as that they should be lov'd for their own sakes . thus upon the supposition of no future state , it appears that it is not reasonable to practise virtue , whenever it is likely to rob us of our fortunes , fame , health , or life : and on the contrary , if it be reasonable to practise virtue in such difficult cases , then it must be so on this ground , because it is very probable that we shall exist again in a future state. thus have i expatiated upon one reason why i think it most probable that the mind of man shall exist again after death . i shall now assign another , and treat of it more succinctly , because what i have insisted on already makes way for it , and helps to illustrate it . that belief , which is generally necessary for the tolerable well-being of the human system , must needs be a belief of things certainly true : and on the contrary , that belief which is apparently destructive of the tolerable well-being of the human system , must needs be a belief of things absolutly false . but the belief of a future state , wherein the virtuous shall be happy , the vicious unhappy , is generally necessary for the tolerable well-being of the human system , and therefore it is a belief of what must needs be true ; and the belief , that after this life ended men shall exist no more , is apparently destructive of the tolerable well-being of the human system , and therefore it is a belief of what must needs be false . to do our author justice , he does grant , p. 63 , 64. that the belief of future reward and punishment is capable of raising men to virtue , and of saving them from falling into a licentious and vicious practice ; tho , i know not how , p. 68. he says something in abatement , viz. the doing any thing on the consideration and foresight merely of reward , is no virtue ; nor can the endeavour after virtue , the setting about to make one's self virtuous on that score , be any virtue . i look upon our author to be a man of virtue and probity , but i am fully satisfied , that this latter passage does not at all serve the cause of virtue , nor the former so much as i could wish : for i reckon , that i have prov'd , that the taking prudent care of a man's private interest must needs be first in his thoughts , and is truly virtuous ; not to injure others , is innocence ; to do them all good , is the perfection of virtue . i am pleas'd that our author grants , that the belief of future reward and punishment is capable of raising men to virtue ; but i contend farther , and now hope to make it appear , that the belief of a future state , wherein the virtuous shall be happy , the vicious unhappy , is generally necessary for the tolerable well-being of the human system . it is to this belief we owe , that those who are virtuous in difficult times and instances ( how few or how many soever they are ) do not run with a multitude to do evil . it is to this belief we owe , that such men do not sit still satisfied with their particular unmolested condition ; but generously venture all their secular interests to maintain the cause of virtue , to promote the practice of moral goodness , and to redeem the liberty and welfare of their country : and if there were not a considerable number of these in all , as yet free kingdoms , and commonwealths , long e're this there had been no such thing as commonwealth or kingdom free : and if there were not some such as these in kingdoms and commonwealths inslav'd , the administration there would be yet more tyrannic and mischievous than it is ; the people in those commonwealths and kingdoms much more abus'd and wasted than they are . it is to this belief we owe the generous offices of humanity , of love , and charitable supports , which even in our late times we have known dealt to many innocent persons , when they were miserably harass'd by a power that overbore the law to ruin them . it is to this belief we owe much , perhaps the greatest part of the honesty which is in trade ; for tho false dealing is common , yet honest dealing is not so hard to be found neither as some would perswade us , who both vilify human nature , and deny the future state. by the way , it is not well done of them denying the future state , at one time to speak of noble virtuous tempers , that are such without regard to what may be hereafter , at another time to insinuate , that all men would be rogues and knaves had they the secure opportunity , and agreable temptation . i return . honest dealing , infrequent as it is , would be yet more infrequent , if some men were not influenc'd by future hopes and fears . who would not use false arts and ways in trade , at least so long till he had provided a competence sutable to his desires , for himself and family , if he believ'd that death was the end of all things ? indeed reputation on the one hand , and the danger of penal laws on the other , may prevent much fraud ; but i now speak only of that fraud which might be secretly and securely practis'd . no secure opportunities of unjust gain would ever be let slip , by a man of a fortune but moderate , or low , if he had no prospect of being the better for his virtue hereafter : for tho we are naturally dispos'd to help our kind , yet i think not till we have first provided what we judg we shall need for our selves . he that fares very hardly , when he might accommodate himself better by a fraud , which may chance to ly both out of the reach of the law , and out of the danger of discovery , can be prompted to detest such a tempting injustice , only by his perswasion of future existence ; at what time his patient enduring of hardships , his abstinence from secure lucrous injustice , his inexpugnable virtue shall make him inconceiveable amends . in short , if it were not for this belief of a future existence , we should seldom or never have any thing great and good , useful and praise-worthy said or done : suspicions , jealousy , and diffidence , would encrease to such a height , as to leave no possible room for friendship , one of the greatest pleasures of life ; we should have nothing practis'd among men , but that honesty which they did not lose by , or could not avoid , with a little cheap and easy , cold and cautious civility thrown in upon occasion . i think i have now made it appear , that the belief of a future state , wherein the virtuous shall be happy , the vicious unhappy , is generally necessary for the tolerable well-being of the human system : now thence i gather , that it is a belief which must needs be true ; and on the other side , the belief , that after this life ended , men shall exist no more , being destructive of the tolerable well-being of the human system , it follows that it is a false belief : for tho it may often happen in particular cases , that the leading a man into the knowledg , and perswading him of the truth of a thing , may prove detrimental to him , yet this is but by accident , thro some weakness and indisposition of the mind , or pravity of the temper of the person , who is perswaded and let into the knowledg of truth : truth in its own nature has no unhappy detrimental tendency , or to particular men , or to mankind in general . now the belief of what i have bin discoursing , is of most wide , is of universal , most useful , and advantageous influence to all and every man ; and therefore i conclude , it must needs be a true belief : the contrary belief is of most wide , is of universal , most pernicious , and destructive influence to all and every man ; and therefore i conclude , it must needs be a false belief . i am strongly perswaded , that hardly any man will dare to say , that a perswasion universally pernicious and destructive , may possibly prove true ; that a belief universally useful and advantageous , may possibly prove false : but i am sure our author cannot say it , who , in the beginning of his book , affirms that all things in the universe are according to a good order , and that nothing could have bin contriv'd more wisely , with more advantage to the general interest of beings : for it is no good order , but diametrically contrary to the general interest of rational beings , that truth should be , of its own nature , mischievous ; falshood , of its own nature , useful and advantageous . as i once said before , i look upon our author as a man of virtue and probity ; he grants much of what i have said concerning the usefulness of the belief above-mention'd , and of the mischievousness of the contrary : for by the belief of future advantages to virtue , he says , p. 75. that a man may keep himself virtuous , where an atheist cannot . i advance farther , and infer , from the concession , the truth of that belief , which is able to keep a man virtuous , where the atheistical belief cannot . and when any person shall shew me the weakness of my inference , i promise to revoke it . in the mean time i cannot but wonder at what has fall'n from our author's pen , p. 51. religion ( according to the kind it may be of ) is capable of doing great good , or great harm , and atheism not any positive good or harm . i grant the former part of this assertion , religion ( according to the kind it may be of ) is capable of doing great good or great harm : but then i contend , that atheism is incapable of doing positive good , and capable of doing nothing but positive harm . the reason which our author brings for his offensive doctrine , is , for however it ( atheism ) may be indirectly an occasion of mens losing a good and sufficient sense of right and wrong ; yet it will not , as atheism merely , be the occasion of setting up false right and wrong , which only fantastical reasoning , ill custom , or ill religion can do . to this i reply , that atheism , as atheism merely , tho it tends not to any religion at all , yet it does lead men to ill custom , and fantastical reasoning , which our author admits likely to be the occasion of setting up false right and wrong , and consequently of doing no positive good , but much positive harm : for if the atheist is capable of doing any positive good , it must be only then , when his circumstances in the world are easy , and to his hearts content ; but at every other time , if he has an inviting great probability of success and secrecy , he cannot restrain himself from making his circumstances easy , and to his hearts content , by doing positive harm . this i have prov'd in what went before ; i only now add , that i am strongly of the opinion , that were our author to choose a servant with whom he must intrust a considerable stewardship in the east or west-indies , where he had no means narrowly to inspect his management , or punish his mismanagement , he would rather choose a servant of good reputation in the belief of a future state , than a servant of good reputation in the atheistick belief . p. 53. it is possible for a creature capable of using reflection , to have a liking or dislike of moral actions , and consequently a sense of right and wrong , before such time as he may have any notion or sense of god at all : this is what will hardly be question'd . by several passages which follow , i cannot but allow , that our author has no ill meaning in this ; but then it has so untoward an air , and is liable to so obvious and unhappy misconstruction , that i think fit to descant upon it ; but this i shall do with all candour . that a creature capable of using reflection , may have a dislike of moral actions , before he has any notion or sense of god at all ; thus much of the remark is by me wholly granted to our author : for , nothing can contribute more to a dislike of moral actions , than the utter want of all notion or sense of god. but what degree of liking of moral actions , what measure of sense concerning right and wrong , a creature capable of using reflection may have , before he has any notion or sense of god at all , ought to be carefully examin'd and distinctly weigh'd , before any deduction be made or intimated from such a remark as this . with our author's leave thus much i will presume to determine and make good , viz. it will not only be question'd , but absolutely deny'd by the generality of thinking men , that a creature capable of using reflection , can have so just a liking of moral actions , and so true a sense of right and wrong , before he has the notion and sense of god , as he ought to have , and cannot but have , using reflection , when he has once learn'd the notion , and becomes affected with the sense of a god. indeed moral actions are altogether agreable to a rational nature , or ( as our author phrases it ) to a creature using reflection : but the exercise of his reason , or his using reflection will lead him to the notion of a god , and that notion will make his sense of right or wrong more correct , and give it a larger scope , give it a wider field to exercise it self in ; that notion heedfully adverted to , will raise his liking of moral actions far above what it could arrive at without it . and this our author seems to grant , p. 59. if there be a being conceiv'd all-intelligent and all-seeing , of infinite power , wisdom , and goodness , the belief of such a being must of necessity be highly effectual to the creating or farthering of good affections , and to the removing of contrary ones , by rendering every thing that is of virtue more lovely , splendid , and attractive ; and every thing that is of vice , more ignominious and deform'd . but without the notion of a being all-intelligent , all-seeing , of infinite power , wisdom and goodness , the rational or reflecting creature 's liking of moral actions , will show it self only in some cheap and easy instances , and be very apt to be diverted or abated by the secular interest of the private system . in few and plain words , this matter may be thus sum'd up : a man that has no notion nor sense of a god may possibly like and practise moral actions , when he has no beloved lust to gratify , nor dreaded danger to avoid , the one of which may be easily gratified , and the other securely avoided by actions immoral : but when he has a beloved lust to gratify , which may be easily gratified , or a dreaded danger to avoid , which may be securely avoided , and no notion nor sense of god at all to influence him , he will at that time be sure to gratify his lust , and do what he can to avoid his danger , tho the means to be us'd for such ends be never so immoral : the reason of this is , because in all creatures , especially the rational , self-love is the predominant principle . a rational creature who believes a god , and expects a future existence , may generously prefer the noble interests of society before wealth and health , and even his life it self , if the case so require , because he expects hereafter to find an inconceivable advantage in so doing : but there is no argument in nature , no reason , nor shadow of a reason to perswade a rational man who knows nothing of god , and expects no future existence , to venture the loss of his life , or but of his estate ( without which he cannot provide necessaries for his wife and children ) for the service of his country , when the laws and liberties thereof are in danger either from crafty priests imposing gainful doctrines for necessary faith , or arbitrary princes dispensing with the laws which they swore to maintain . p. 81. it will appear that one who has not the opinion or belief of an intelligent principle , or god , may , tho very difficultly , and at a great hazard , be capable of virtue , so as to have an honesty , a faith , a justice , perhaps of great note and worth ; may have many generous and good passions , and possibly that of love to virtue for its own sake , as well as for being believ'd advantageous . i am not willing to quit the respect which i have , and think i ought to have for our author ; yet i cannot but declare that he has here made a very erroneous and pernicious conclusion , which neither does appear from the reasons by him offer'd , nor can it be made to appear from any thing which the wit of man can offer : indeed he has cautiously worded his conclusion , and wisely guarded himself . he has wisely guarded himself in this prefatory induction — if the reasons i have offer'd be found of any weight . i am glad that he is not confident of having prov'd so erroneous and pernicious a doctrine . he has worded it very cautiously , viz. in these phrases and terms of abatement , may , tho with great difficulty , and at a great hazard , — may perhaps , — may possibly . but contrary to what he has thus concluded , i have already prov'd , and shall now essay farther to confirm it , that one who has not the opinion or belief of an intelligent principle or god , can by no means be capable of such a virtue , as to have an honesty , a faith , a justice of great weight and worth . i take my rise for what i have now in my thoughts , from a passage of our author , according to him , p. 59. the word god imports no less than a being all-intelligent , all-seeing , of infinite power , wisdom and goodness . the belief of such a being ( he says ) must of necessity be highly effectual to the creating or farthering of good affections , and to the removing of contrary ones , by rendring every thing that is of virtue more lovely , splendid and attractive ; and every thing that is of vice , more ignominious and deform'd . now the loveliness of virtue consists wholly in its advantageousness , advantageousness of one sort or other , or else 't is an empty phrase , mere insignificant cant. such as the advantageousness of virtue is , such , and no other , is its loveliness : and on the other side , answerable to the disadvantageousness of vice , is its ignominy and deformity . by the belief of a being all-intelligent , all-seeing , of infinite power , wisdom and goodness , a rational creature becomes perswaded of a greater advantageousness in virtue , disadvantageousness in vice , than he could possibly be perswaded of without it . the belief of a being with the abovementioned perfections makes man's future existence credible ; for , i have already prov'd that all things are not according to a good order , if man shall not exist again . i add now , if man's future existence be necessary to justify god's wisdom , it is not hard to be conceiv'd how the same is as necessary to justify his goodness : for , the worldly prosperity of free agents , who make the worst use of their free will , and the worldly adversity of free agents , who make right use of it , are as unanswerable arguments against the goodness , as against the wisdom of god , if free agents must not exist again . i need not make words to show , how the omnipotence , and omniscience of god join with his infinite wisdom and goodness to ascertain us of our future existence . now if there be a god , who is ( as our author allows the word to signify ) a being all-intelligent , all-seeing , of infinite power , wisdom and goodness ; then we shall exist again , and after this life receive rewards , or ( to speak with them whose nicer philosophy excepts against that term rewards ) we shall become inconceivably happy by our virtue , and unexpressible losers by our vice. and this perswasion is evidently powerful to engage men to the practice of the most difficult virtue , and to restrain them from the most pleasing , secret , and secure vice. such a man as this may have , nay , using reflection , cannot but have honesty , faith , and justice of the greatest note and worth , cannot but have many generous and good passions , not without a love to virtue for its own sake : but he that has not the opinion or belief of an intelligent principle or god , may perhaps be capable of some cheap and easy virtue , such as sutes best with his natural temper , and does not much trouble the condition of his affairs ; but is certainly incapable of that more noble , and more difficult virtue , which threatens ruin to his fortunes , or an untimely end to his life . i determine thus , because there is in every creature ( to use our author's phrase ) a certain interest or good , which is as an end in that creature , to which god or nature design'd him . that certain interest or good , to which god or nature design'd his rational creature man , man is bound in duty to pursue : to this end , if his passions and affections are wisely , primarily directed , it is his duty , it is that which he ought to do , and for which he ought to be commended . if there be any such thing as god , or virtue , then there must be a future state : this consequence i have in some measure already prov'd , and mean to confirm it further , but i will take no advantage of it now . if there be any such thing as a future state , then it is the duty and virtue of a rational man primarily to direct his passions and affections for the securing his interest in that state , because his interest in that state ( supposing such a thing ) is immensly more considerable than his interest in this : but if there be no future state , then the certain interest , or good , or chief end of man , is such as his nature is capable of in this life ; and his pursuing that is what he ought to do , is his virtue , or else virtue is but a name , of which no body knows what to make . if man's chief interest , good , or end be in a future state , then he ought not , cannot dispense with his care to purchase that , for the sake of any interest of any others . if man's chief interest , good or end , be in this present life , then he ought not , cannot dispense with his preferring that before any interest of any others ; and thence it will undeniably follow , that he is utterly incapable of practising any instance of noble and difficult virtue , which happens to threaten ruin to his fortunes , and an untimely end to his life . but i will search into this matter yet more nicely , that i may take from my adversaries all subtil specious pretence of reply . the chief interest , good or end of man in this life is either corporeal , or mental ; if the mind be a principle distinct from body , then this distinction is just , and ought to be admitted , and may be thus desin'd , or describ'd : mental interest is the pleasure which the mind receives by reflecting on its virtue ; corporeal interest is the pleasure which the mind tasts by mediation of the senses . if the mind is not a principle distinct from body , then all our interest in this life is only corporeal , and all pleasure no other than bodily pleasure ; and then a man ought to prefer his bodily pleasure before any interest of any others , because if there be no future existence , bodily pleasure is his chief interest , good or end. but perhaps some friends of our author , tho they admit nothing but body in nature , and esteem thinking , and arguing to be the effects only of matter and motion , may yet distinguish as i have done , and make the pleasure which human nature is capable of , twofold ; the pleasure which is tasted by means of the senses , and the pleasure which is tasted by reflection . hereupon perhaps they may say , that the pleasure which is tasted by reflection ( which they will call too , the pleasure of the mind ) is the chief interest , good , or end of man ; and then conclude , that tho the pleasure of the mind , which is tasted by reflection , cannot but be prefer'd by a reasonable man before all other considerations whatsoever , that may happen to come in competition with it ; yet corporeal pleasure , the pleasure which is tasted by mediation of the senses , is a meaner interest and end , which a reasonable man ought not to pursue before the interests of society , tho there be no life after this . these gentlemen ( and i think our author accords with them throout his second book ) determine that the present mental satisfaction , which good men receive by reflecting on their virtuous actions , is sufficient to perswade all considering persons to the practice of virtue , tho there be no life after this . i reply , it may be sufficient to perswade the most considering persons in most cases , but in all cases it is not so . i have given some instances , i am able to give many more , and shall if that be stood upon ; but , thinking it may not by impartial readers , i chuse to argue closely , and carry on my reply : that consideration which is not sufficient to prompt thinking persons to virtue in all cases , does in effect , if there be no other to be offer'd , betray the cause of virtue ; for if the necessity of virtue be not in all cases as well as in some , in the most difficult cases as well as in the most common and easy , provided for , the cause of virtue is as good as given up : for , who shall draw the line , and measure distances , set out the exact bounds , and nicely determine , that if circumstances be so and so discouraging , dangers so and so pressing , a good man need not hazard his fortunes or his life , to serve his friend , the starving mobility , or the liberty and property of the freeholders of his country ; but in all cases one moment less discouraging , less pressing and hazardous , it becomes him to be resolutely virtuous , honest and good . 't is precarious impertinence for any man to pretend any thing of this nature ; for , the reasonableness of being true to one's friend , just to all persons , charitable to the necessitous , and bold in the defence of liberty and property , is not at all alter'd by the different circumstances of times , things or places , but remains always one and the same , be they more or less discouraging , pressing and hazardous , without any alteration , unless that it greatly becomes a virtuous , honest and good man , when his duty happens to be more difficult and dangerous , to exert himself so much the more . and to do this , he shall never want motive sufficiently powerful , if he be throly convinc'd of the certainty of a future state : but if he be not , a cheaper , easier virtue shall content him . now to prevent an objection which i suspect , and to take away all ansa of cavil , i own , that now and then an eminent person may in an odd humour , and in an unthinking heat , venture on a glorious action , that not only looks well , but is also highly useful , and beneficial to the publick , which may cost him his honourable station in the commonwealth , the loss of his fortunes , and perhaps of his life , tho he believes no future state : but i positively affirm , that this can be done by no man who disbelieves a future state , when he acts deliberately ; and i defy all my adversaries round , together with the author of the inquiry , and his favourers , to assign a reason sufficient to prompt a deliberate thinking man to do it . i have discours'd with some of them , men of as singular learning , and of as acute parts perhaps as any that now live ; and nothing could i ever hear from them as an argument for virtue , the future state not being suppos'd , but that virtue was its own present sufficient reward , which , as i have shewn , holds but in common cases . i have also shown to how little purpose they affect the use of that fam'd saying , virtue is its own reward , and to be lov'd for its own sake . to love virtue for its own sake , as the brave heathen philosophers us'd to speak , and to love god for his own sake , as we now commonly word it , signifies nothing but to love god without low secular regards : to love virtue , when it is discountenanc'd , when it is the enemy of a man's temporal ends and prosperities ; this he only can constantly do who believes a future state. but i am amaz'd to hear our author expose his own argumentation as he does in the close of the passage by me last cited . a man ( says he ) who has not the belief of a god , may possibly love virtue for its own sake , as well as for being believ'd advantageous . can any thing deserve to be lov'd for its own sake which is not advantageous ? if so , then our author will incur this gross absurdity , that a thing may deserve to be lov'd for its own sake , which is not at all lovely . certainly this is the oddest distinction that ever was coin'd by a man of letters and good sense , which every one that reads our author 's inquiry concerning virtue , must grant him to be . if advantageousness be not that which makes virtue deserve to be lov'd for its own sake , then , for ought i know , vice may deserve to be lov'd for its own sake , in which there is nothing truly advantageous . but i leave it to our author's second thoughts , whether he will forgo this distinction , or explain it ; for my part , i know not what to make of it as it lies . just at this moment , a gentleman , that knows what subject i am writing upon , and has seen some of my papers , is pleas'd to tell me , that i have imitated an absurd practice of the papists , proving one doctrine by another that needs proof . the papists ( says this gentleman ) having a gainful interest in the doctrine of praying to saints , and thereupon a great inclination to believe it , did defend the same , when the protestants objected that the saints could not hear prayers , by this invention . the saints understood all things , viewing them in the mirror of divinity ; or as others are pleas'd to phrase it , in speculo trinitatis , in the looking-glass of the trinity : so i having an inclination to believe a future state , and not being able to demonstrate it by direct proof , endeavour to make it good by this fetch , there must be a future state , or there can be no such thing as virtue . now by the favour of this gentleman , whose singular learning i highly honour , i shall show that there is no manner of similitude between the practice of the papists in the instance before us , and mine in managing the argument i have attempted . there might be a similitude perhaps , if he would put it thus : the papists prove that saints ought to be pray'd to , because else there 's no such thing as a mirror of the divinity , or looking-glass of the trinity , wherein all things are visible to them : and i prove the truth of a future state , because else there 's no necessity of virtue . but then i desire this gentleman to consider that both he and i laugh at the mirror of the divinity , or speculum trinitatis , as much as at the doctrine of praying to saints ; whereas tho he questions the future state , yet we both admit the necessity of virtue : therefore if i show that there is no argument sufficient to prompt men to virtue , and restrain them from vice in the most difficult times and places , but the belief of a future state , i appeal to all impartial judges , whether i don't gain my point . one of my friends , who is , as i am , fully perswaded that we shall exist again in a more blessed or sad state , according as we frame our spirits , and demean our selves in this life , did once let me know that he had some meditations in hand , whereby he thinks he shall demonstrate the immortality of the soul : but what he has farther than such moral demonstration as i have offer'd , demonstration from the generally receiv'd idea of god , and from the concessions of all men of sense , who are not such enemies to virtue , as in some cases to free mankind from the obligation ; also what he has farther than high probabilities from topics philosophical , with regard to which men of sense are in prudence bound to act , i cannot conceive : and to speak ingenuously , i do not think it agreable to the infinite wisdom , which we acknowledg in god , to have made the notions of a future state , and the immortality of the soul , so clear , obvious , and certain , as to put them beyond dispute . for where notions are but high probabilities , or such moral demonstrations as require thought and labour to make out ; attention and quitting all prejudices before they can be admitted , there is room for the exercise of consideration , prudence , and industry : but were all bright demonstration concerning the notions of future state , and the soul's immortality , the matter is so vastly , so immensly momentous , that we should be irresistibly carried to secure our chief interest , without reasoning and considering upon it ; and then our happiness would be our fate , not the attainment or reward of our wise meditation , and virtuous rational choices . if it be agreeable to the infinite wisdom of god to create a creature with the powers of considering , thinking , and reflecting , and to leave him much in the hands of his own free will , so that he may consider , think , reflect , and act wisely , or let it alone ; then to me it seems necessary , that the notions of future state and immortality of the soul , should be no clearer , nor more obvious , nor more certain than they are , i. e. but demonstrably certain upon the supposition that all men are oblig'd to be morally honest in all times , circumstances , and places ; and also but highly probable from philosophical arguments . the use that i make of this , is , that i hope my adversaries will not deny , but that all men are oblig'd to be morally honest in all times , and circumstances , and places ; and that it becomes wise men to consider , think , and reflect ; and that where they are not govern'd by the greatest probabilities , there they are not wise : and if they can give me a cogent argument , which shall oblige men to virtue , and restrain them from vice , in all times , circumstances , and places , a future state not being suppos'd , i promise to discard it . our author in the 2 d part of his book professedly proposes to show what obligation there is to virtue , and how any one may have reason to embrace virtue , and shun vice. in this part he ingenuously and appositely to this design expatiates upon many useful notices , which have no small influence to perswade to virtue , and restrain from vice , but offers at no reason which comes up so high ; as to perswade men to the one , and restrain them from the other , in those difficult cases which i have stated . now tho i think that i have sufficiently secur'd my discourse already , from what might be objected out of this author ( for his 2 d book has no new notions in abatement of what i have advanc'd concerning a future state ) yet i purpose to look into this second part , that i may not seem knowingly to have overlook'd any obligation to virtue , which might perhaps be thought powerful enough to influence considering persons in all times , circumstances , and places , without the intervention of a future state. p. 83. his preface , in short , runs thus : to be virtuous , is for a rational creature , in the use of good vnderstanding and judgment , to have the disposition and temper of his mind sutable and agreeing with the good of his kind . a rational creature , whose affections are sutable and agreeing to the good of his kind , has also other affections towards the private nature or self-system ; and in following the first of these , the creature must often contradict and go against the latter : it may seem therefore that the pursuing the common interest or good of his kind , is a hindrance to the attainment of private good. i do here , and shall abridg , keeping very close to his phrase , not in the least varying his sense . p. 85. affections to the good of the publick do often expose to hardships and hazards , by over-ruling their opposites , the self-preservative passions , and by necessitating the creature to self-denial , and , as it were , self-desertion . well! the truth of this we subscribe to , but now we want to know what that is , setting aside the notion of a future state , which has a force of sound reason powerful enough to perswade considering men to cherish their good affections to the publick , when the doing so exposes them to hardships and hazards , and forces them to deny themselves , and quit their self-preservative passions ( which , by the way , is self-desertion with a witness , self-desertion , without the abatement in that phrase , as it were . ) to solve this difficulty , after some amusements , our author addresses himself thus : p. 90 , 91. the natural affections towards the private system , or self , may be in a too great , and therefore vitious degree ; they may also be too weak , in a degree too low and vitious that way . he makes this out by several instances ; but i need not trouble my self with his instances , for i admit the notion : natural affections to the private or self-system , may be too strong , or too weak , and then are vitious . this being laid down , i was expecting how he would manage it , in proof of this difficult proposition which lies upon his hands , viz. that a man was oblig'd to cherish good affections towards the publick , when the doing so would expose him to hardships and hazards , force him to deny himself , and quit his self-preservative passions ; but instead of this , all that our author proposes to himself to prove , is , p. 101. that to have excellent affections ( such as have bin mention'd , just affections both to publick and private ) is to have the chief enjoyment of life . 2. to have the self-passions excessive , and beyond a just degree , is injurious to the creature , and of self-ill . 3. to have no affections towards the kind , nor self-ones , is prejudicial to the creature . now let all these propositions be granted him , i do not see that he has made the least step towards solving the difficulty which he had rais'd : he offers not one word to prove , that a man ought to cherish good affections to the publick , when the doing so will expose him to hardships and hazards , and make him quit his self-preservative passions : all that i can collect from the whole course of his reasonings in what follows , is , that a man's affection to private good , is too high , or too low , and thereby irregular and vitious , when his serving and taking care of himself takes off his affection from the publick ; i. e. in short , according to our author , whenever publick and private good come in competition with one another , a man is in duty bound to undergo hardships and hazards , to deny , to desert himself , to quit his self-preservative passions , and labour the good of the publick . now i may take up the words of the rich man in the gospel to our lord christ , who had recommended to him a doctrine of self-denial , tho not of quitting his self-preservative passions : this is a hard saying , and who can bear it ? wise lawgivers use to enforce their precepts with promises and threats ; so our lord : and in the old testament this is the language of the law , do this and live : but who ever heard of such a law-giving language as this , do this and die ? quit your self-preservative passions , and consult the good of the publick , tho you lose your fortunes , health , and life by it ; when the good of the publick is in danger , let the private system be sacrific'd ; 't is a man's duty then to dy , and there 's an end of him . as the apostle spake of himself and fellow christians , so i of such as cherish good affections to the publick , if in this life only they have hope , they are of all men the most miserable . but who shall perswade men to submit to the miseries of which we have spake , if there be no hope beyond this life ? our author must not undertake it , for i find he is furnish'd with no arguments to that purpose . his arguments prompt to virtue only in common cases . one that has no other nor better , can have ( to use our author's phrase and reasoning , p. 116. ) only a partial affection to virtue , an affection only to some particulars , which is an inconsistency and contradiction ; this partial affection has no foundation or establishment in reason , but depends solely on capriciousness and humour . i might dismiss our author now , and think of concluding this ( such as it is ) defence of the notion of a future state. but i must confess i am perswaded that several of the most speciously said things which are behind , are so unhappily worded and dispos'd , that they tempt , or at least leave room for opinions inconsistent with the universal necessity of virtue ; i therefore think it meet not to pass them over altogether without animadversion : it looks well what he says , p. 106. to have the natural affections , such as are founded in love , complacency , good will , and in a sympathy with the kind or species , is to have the chief enjoyment of life . but as far as i can perceive , he takes it for granted , that a man who disbelieves a future state , may yet have the natural affections , such as are founded in love , complacency , good will , and in a sympathy with the kind or species , in as high a degree as any one else , and by that means be happy in the chief enjoyment of life . now this i find fault with : for tho i grant , that a man who questions the future state , and has his natural affections beneficently dispos'd to the good of his kind , partakes largely of the chief enjoyments of life ; yet i have already prov'd that such a one cannot in all difficult circumstances so effectually exert his beneficent affections , as he that believes a future state : and now i farther add , that the man who cannot in all difficult circumstances so effectually exert his beneficent affections , cannot have that high degree of inward satisfaction and joy as the other : for , the wider the extent , and the higher the degree of virtue is , the more satisfying and joyous are the reflexive thoughts in the mind of a virtuous man ; and what is still more , the bare consciousness of meriting and possessing the esteem and love of others , cannot possibly be so satisfying and joyous , as when it is join'd with the comfortable assurance of having done that which is well-pleasing to god , and with the expectance of being the better for it , not in this life only , but also in the life to come . it looks very well what he says , p. 139. that to want the natural affections ( the above-mention'd beneficent affections ) is to be chiefly miserable . and upon this head he very truly and pathetically describes the disorders and mischiefs of excessive , irregular , selfish passions , the torments of unnatural and horrid affections ; the pain , anxiety , misery which are consequent to vain fear , fierce anger , luxury and lust , pride and ambition ; envy , hatred and malice , revenge , cruelty , and tyranny : but all this while he forgets to take notice of what i have already mention'd , viz. that tho generally speaking vitious men are greatly punish'd by their own vices , yet some vices at some opportunities agree better with them ; some vitious men know how to manage their vices with a sort of discretion , and while they sooth their senses , and wrong their neighbour , take care of their health and fame . now nothing can make this sort of men uneasy , but the consideration of what may be hereafter . now this topick our author has not insisted upon , i cannot say he has not touch'd it , but he has touch'd it at such a rate , that without doing him injury , i may venture to say he does not seem over-earnestly concern'd to have it believ'd that the man whose affections are vitious , ought to fear what may befal him in a future state. let the reader judg . p. 193. what enjoyment , or what rest is there for him , who is not conscious of the merited affection or love of any human soul , but on the contrary is conscious of merited hatred , not only from every fellow-creature , but from every thing in the universal nature ? what ground of horrour and despair ? what foundation of fear , and continual apprehension from mankind , and from superiour powers , whenever any such are credited , or but suspected ? upon this passage i shall make no worse reflection than this : tho the thoughts of an ill man reflecting on his criminal actions , do naturally create him much misery ; yet that discourser , who treating upon this argument , leaves him room to doubt of a future state , does , against the interests of society and government , ease him of too much of the burden : for , whatever cause he has to be troubled in mind , it is a great abatement to think , that when he dies there 's an end of it . fear and shame are the only restraints of an evil inclination ; but set aside the notion of a future state , and from some persons in some cases you remove these restraints : for , some persons are too big for laws , and no man , at least no infidel to that notion , blushes in the dark . a standing army and the inquiry concerning virtue , will compleat a tyrant by freeing him from the fear of god and man ; the latter alone will finish a libertine . this may seem too severely said , because i have acknowledg'd , that the inquiry offers many excellent arguments for virtue , and against vice. but since those excellent arguments are partial , of force only in particular , and not serving in all difficult cases ; since no turpitude , no dangers are mention'd , causing fear or shame to the vitious , but what are of no longer duration than this short life ; the mighty and the wary sinner are really tempted to indulge their irregular passions and affections . i dismiss our author ; and now it comes into my mind to talk , as i promis'd , with that very learned acquaintance , who would bear me down that tully never made the notion of a future state an argument for virtue . my reading has been narrow , and my memory such , as to have little of what i have read at command ; but examining it at leisure , i remember something in tully's tract wrote to pomponius atticus , titled cato major , de senectute , which , if i am not greatly mistaken , disproves his assertion . the discourse is dialogue ; but what is said under the person of cato was the sense of tully , as is plain from these words of his : ipsius catonis sermo explicabit nostram omnem de senectute sententiam ; cato's discourse will declare my whole sense concerning old age. now not to take advantage of the dying speech put into the mouth of cyrus by xenophon , which tully under the person of cato recites with approbation , let the reader judg of this passage , so remarkable , that it has been almost as much cited as any text in the bible . o praeclarum diem , cùm ad illud divinum animorum concilium , coetúmque proficiscar , cúmque ex hac turba , & colluvione discedam ! proficiscar enim non ad eos solùm viros , de quibus ante dixi ; sed etiam ad catonem meum , quo nemo vir melior natus est , neque pietate praestantior ! o blessed day , when i shall arrive at the divine assembly of souls , when i shall leave this vile crowd and earth behind ; for there i shall meet not only those [ noble romans ] whom i just now mention'd , but also my cato , than whom a more worthy and pious man the world has not known ! now that which gave tully the confidence of expecting to be happy after death in the company of those gallant men , who , as he , had deserv'd well of the age they liv'd in , was this : he was not asham'd of the life he had led , but was conscious to his own merit . non me vixisse poenitet , quoniam ita vixi , ut non me frustra natum existimem . towards the end of this book he adds , quod si in hoc erro , quòd animos hominum immortales esse credam , lubenter erro : nec mihi hunc errorem , quo delector , dum vivo , extorqueri volo . if i mistake in thinking the souls of men to be immortal , i mistake with delight ; nor would i have this mistake , with which i am pleas'd , torn from me as long as i live . i had almost overseen the smart reflection which follows : sin mortuus ( ut quidam minuti philosophi censent ) nihil sentiam , non vereor ne hunc errorem meum mortui philosophi irrideant . but if , when i am dead , i become nothing but sensless matter ( as some silly philosophers think ) those silly philosophers will become sensless matter too , and so there will be no danger of their hitting me in the teeth with this my mistake . by this it appears to me , that this prince of philosophers , and true father of his country , this venerable master of righteous morals , now with his dear cato , the noble scipio's , his friendly fannius , laelius , and scaevola , sustain'd his honest mind under all the labours and difficulties of virtue , by contemplating the infinite advantages he should reap in a future state : and surely while he acquaints others with what expectations he was influenc'd , he may justly be look'd upon as one that seriously endeavour'd to influence them by the same . it is true , he does not speak of the immortality of the soul , and the blessedness which waits the virtuous , with that confidence which is peculiar to christians ; but he speaks of it as of a thing so very probable , that he thought it highly became him to express his regard to it , by a virtue so settled and firm , as no adversity could shake . one thing more i desire of my acquaintance ( whose singular parts and learning make me that i cannot argue against him , without fear and suspicion of my self ; tho let me do what i can , i am not able to complement him with submitting my understanding ) i. e. that he would a little consider the design and purpose of tully in that golden fragment of his sixth book , somnium scipionis , the only valuable remain of six books de republicâ ; the loss of which i should infinitely regret now , as men of sense and probity have done formerly , were it not for the incomparable discourses concerning government , which that wise , learned and truly noble gentleman algernon sidney hath left us . tully's dream in the person of scipio is so fine a piece , i can hardly forbear translating the whole : the reader i hope will forgive me , if i take it from the beginning , and go as far as the passage i shall chiefly insist on . when i came into afric , colonel ( as you know ) of the fourth legion under marcus manilius , i made it my business to meet masanissa , a king , who for very good reasons was much a friend to our family : i no sooner came to him , but the aged prince took me in his arms , and wept ; a while after recovering from his transport , he lifts up his eyes to heaven , and breaks out into this exclamation : o thou great god , the sun ! and you the rest inhabitants celestial ! i bless and praise you all , that once before i dy , i have the happiness to behold within my own dominions , and under this roof , p. cornelius scipio , whose very name i love to hear ; so dear , and so well fix'd in my mind is the memory of that most excellent and invincible man. then i ask'd him some questions concerning his kingdom ; he me some concerning our commonwealth . this kind of discourse took up the whole day ; in the evening we were royally entertain'd , and continued our discourse till midnight . he dwelt upon the name of africanus , and talk'd much of the great things done and said by him : after this we withdrew to rest . travelling and sitting up late laid me in a profound sleep . and here ( for it often comes to pass , that the thoughts and discourse of the day produce in sleep something like that which ennius writes of homer , whom he read and studied so long till he dream'd that himself was homer ) africanus appear'd to me in that form , with which , not the remembrance of his person , but the idea of his statue made me acquainted . i knew 't was he , and stood amaz'd : but he bid me quit my fear , and , with a presence of mind , heed what he should say to me . see you that city ( showing me carthage from a high starry radiant place ) which i taught to obey the romans ; she the old war renews , and has not the wit to be quiet . you come now to fight against this city , tho hardly of age to command ; two years hence you shall be consul , and take it , and so deserve the honourable sirname , which by adoption you inherit : but when you have ras'd carthage , and triumph'd ; when you have discharg'd the high office of censor , and gone embassador over egypt , syria , asia , greece , you shall be again , tho absent , chosen consul , finish a long war , and destroy numantia . but when in your triumphal chariot you shall be carried up to the capitol , you 'll find the state in confusion by the seditious management of my nephew tiberius . and now africanus , inheritor of my name and virtue , you must stand by your country with all your wisdom and courage : and doubtful at this juncture will your own fate seem ; for , when your age hath measur'd eight times seven annual courses of the sun ( both which numbers are full and mysterious ) a momentous critical period to you , the eyes of the senate , and all good men of our confederates , and all that own the latin name will be set on you alone , their hearts all turn'd towards you ; you are the man on whom the safety of the city then relies , and you being dictator ( if so be you luckily escape the treachery of your impious kinsmen ) shall preserve and settle it safe . here laelius and the rest surpriz'd , show'd their concern ; but scipio gently smiling said , let me dream on , and all will be well ; listen then to what follows . that you , africanus , may be more vigorous in defence of the government , know of a certain , that for all them , who have sav'd their country from ruin , signally serv'd its interests , amplified and better'd the condition thereof , there is a determinate seat in heaven allotted , where they shall enjoy an everlasting age of bliss . without going any farther , i can't but conclude , that this waking dream of tully under the person of scipio , speaks the sense which tully had of a future state , as plainly as it shows his wit and judgment . it is to me an amazement , that any men should think , as i am told some do , that tully is in jest here , and devis'd this ingenious dream , not to give the romans a true account of the real sense of his mind , but only to cozen them into a zeal for their country , whenever it should be dangerous to appear in defence of its interests ; into a love of justice , and moral honesty , when the practice was like to be detrimental to a man's affairs in the world. indeed this great man had not the very same sense of a future state , with respect to all circumstances , as perhaps the jews of old had , or some christians since his time : tho by the way , it is not very plain in the old testament , that the jews had any notion at all of a future state ; i deny not but that they did believe it , for they might gather it from the same principles of reason which we do : but it does not appear to me in those books , that their prophets plainly taught it them . the most learned among christian doctors freely grant that the promises and threatnings in the old testament look not beyond this life , tho ( they say ) relatively consider'd , they denote more , and serve as types of gospel-revelations . as for some christians , they have drawn a scheme of future state , not only without , but directly contrary to the lines of the gospel : what the gospel says of this matter , if rightly understood , is not contrary to reason : but tully had not that light , yet his reason led him to the knowledg of a future state , wherein good and bad men meet with duly proportion'd fruits of their good and bad way of living , tho he incumbers the notion with philosophical fables . but if it could be made out that tully did not believe this notion , which in his dream he makes an argument for the most difficult virtue , viz. that of serving one's country in a time of imminent danger ; yet thus much i shall incontestably gain , viz. that in tully's opinion there was no argument but this of force to perswade men in that case : and then he is with me thus far , that a general reception of this notion is necessary for the tolerable well-being of society . but i will not yet dismiss this fictitious dream , dream'd by a wise man , when his eyes were open , his mind present with it self , studious and serious ; it may be worth our while to translate a little of macrobius's elegant exposition upon it . between the books of plato and tully concerning government , this difference appears at first sight : plato describes that form which was most necessary for the ends of government ; tully that which was antiently instituted among the romans . plato , by means of a quick and piercing genius , seeing thro the nature and reason of things , perceiv'd that all his discourse concerning government was to no purpose , unless the minds of men were possess'd with a love of virtue ; without which , not only a great commonwealth , but every lesser society , and indeed every private house is obnoxious to the most destructive disorders . to possess men with the love of virtue , so necessary to the well-being of all societies in general , he saw that nothing would conduce so much , as the making it appear that the advantages of virtue were not terminated with the short life of man : this prompted him to essay the proof of the immortality of the soul. having prov'd that ( by such arguments as in those days went for apodictic ) he look'd upon it as a necessary consequence , to assign to souls , freed from the prison of the body , divers habitations , with respect to their good or ill deserving , in the future state : this he has done in his phaedo , and in his gorgias , sweetning his graver morals with the pleasantry of the wise socrates ; but this he has done more especially in those volumes in which he form'd his scheme of a commonwealth : and this order and method , so wisely design'd by plato , tully with no less judgment has imitated . to this purpose macrobius in his first chapter . the title of the fourth is , what may be the purpose and scope of this dream , where he speaks thus : towards the end of the sixth book , when laelius wonder'd that no statues were erected to scipio nasica , as a reward of his publick service in slaying one of the seditious gracchi ; scipio replied , tho the consciousness of their worthy deeds be the highest reward of virtue , yet that divine virtue ( viz. of slaying tiberius gracchus , who troubled the peace of the state , and affected tyrannick power ) covets no erected statues , nor triumphs with fading lawrel crown'd , but some more stable and flourishing rewards . laelius asks , what are those ? scipio replies , suffer me to pursue what i have to say farther , and so falls into the story of his dream , showing that those were more stable , and flourishing rewards which were laid up in heaven for the defenders of their country ; as appears from these words , quo sis , africane , alaerior , &c. that you , africanus , may be more vigorous in defence of the government , know of a certain , that for all them who have sav'd their country from ruin , signally serv'd its interests , amplified and better'd the condition thereof , there is a determinate seat in heaven allotted , where they shall enjoy an everlasting age of bliss . and a little after , declaring what sort of seat that was , he says : and so , scipio , after the example of your grandfather , and of me who begat you , live justly and piously . it is a piece of justice and piety to be useful to parents and relations : but to be useful to one's country , that 's the greatest justice and piety , that 's the way to heaven , and the company of those worthies who have finish'd their course , and now inhabit that place which you see , pointing to the gallery . there is another beautiful place in the dream , which confirms me , both that tully did really believe a future state , and thought it the only argument for difficult virtue . igitur altè spectare si voles , &c. therefore if you will lift up your eyes and thoughts towards this eternal seat , seek not the applause of the vulgar , nor place all your hope on those rewards which men bestow on men. you must be won by the charms of virtue alone ; as to what others talk of you , let them look to that , but talk of you they will. the opinion of the world concerning us is bounded within the compass of these countries which we know : no one's fame can be everlasting , it lessens by the death of succeeding generations , till with late posterity 't is buried . he had no sooner finish'd this admonition , but i replied : well africanus ! if heaven is open to those who deserve well of their country , i shall now , tho i always trod in my father's and your steps , and never degenerated ; i shall now , having an eye to the reward before me , contend more earnestly to obtain it . upon this he urg'd : be sure you do so , and reckon that it is not you who are mortal , but only your body ; for , it is not the form and figure that appears , which constitutes a man what he is , but it is the mind which is the man : know then that thou art a god , at least , if that be a god which lives , and has sense , which remembers , and takes care of things to come , which rules , commands , and moves the body over which it is set , as the great god moves , commands and rules the world. just at this period i am told , that from this very dream it may be made appear , that tully did not believe the future state : i have now read it over again and again , and am amaz'd at the strangeness of the assertion . indeed tully says , that souls do move themselves by an interior motion of their own ; and thence he concludes that they had no beginning , but ever did exist , and ever shall . but then it is plain he holds , that they have existed in another state before this , and shall exist in another after this . and that the state after this , was a state wherein all souls were not like to be in the same condition , he sufficiently intimates , by putting those words into africanus's mouth : hanc tu exerce , &c. exercise this your immortal soul in the best works : the best are , an endeavour to serve your country , with which your soul is exercis'd , and thereby shall sooner ascend to this happy dwelling . i shall move no more words concerning tully's sense of this matter , which might be farther confirm'd from multitudes of passages in his works . yet let me refer my reader to what the author of the letter to the deist , p. 105. has taken notice of as quoted by my lord herbert of cherbury , in his treatise de religione gentilium . i mean now to cast my eye on those places in tully , wherein some have told me , he directly denies the future state. let the reader allow me to introduce the first passage objected against me , with a short prefatory account of the occasion and subject of the oration , where it is to be found . clodius a wild young noble roman in love with pompeia the wife of cesar , found means to get into cesar's house in woman's habit , on a solemn festival , when the ladies were celebrating a secret service ( at which men were never present ) to the goddess ceres . he carried his disguise so aukwardly , that it was discover'd : the story taking air , he was accus'd by one of the tribunes for profaning the lady's religion . he pleaded for himself , that he was absent from rome on the day the fact was charg'd : tully strengthened the evidence against him , deposing that on that very day clodius had bin at his house . this notwithstanding , clodius , bribing his judges , was acquitted , but never forgave cicero his deposition . by the same means he gain'd his absolution , he soon after procur'd himself to be chose tribune , and by the help of the consuls gabinius and piso , he perswaded the people to banish cicero , then demolish'd his country seats , burn'd his house in the city , and on the ground built a temple to liberty . but clodius his insolence increasing , pompey found it his interest to have cicero recall'd ; the people unanimously voted it , and order'd his houses to be rebuilt at the common charge . when clodius could not stem this tide by bold force , he labour'd to give his prevailing adversary what trouble he could under the colour of religion ; it was impossible , he pleaded , for cicero to be reinstated in his city dwelling , because on the very ground , on which the same stood , a temple had bin built to liberty . cicero pleads his right , and overthrows the cheating pretence of religion , in his oration pro domo sua ad pontifices . he lays open the craft of the ministers of religion , and exposes clodius farther , in his oration de haruspicum responsis ; and there having recounted the many villanies , and odious lewdness of his adversary , he proves him to be miserable , tho his corrupt judges had absolv'd him : for he stood condemn'd in his own mind , and in the opinion of all good men , the consciousness of which was the most severe of punishments . he flourishes upon this topick thus : tu cùm furiales in concionibus voces mittis , cùm domos civium evertis , cùm lapidibus optimos viros foro pellis , cùm ardentes faces in vicinorum tecta jactas , cùm aedes sacras inflammas , cùm servos concitas , cùm sacra ludosque conturbas , cùm uxorem sororemque non discernis ; cùm quod ineas cubile non sentis ; cùm baccharis , cùm furis , tum das eas poenas , quae sunt solae hominum sceleri a diis immortalibus constitutae . when you harangue the people with malicious eloquence , when you demolish the houses of citizens , when with stones you pelt and drive the most worthy senators from the forum , when set fire to common dwellings , and sacred temples ; when you stir up slaves to sedition , and disturb the celebration of religious ordinances ; when you know no difference between your wife and your sister , and matter not whose bed you defile ; when you lewdly revel , and outragiously debosh , then you suffer those pains , which are the only that the gods have ordain'd to punish the wickedness of men. now this is one of the places represented to me , as a plain declaration of tully's opinion against a future state ; and the representer is in doubt whether he shall look upon me as dull of understanding , because i do not conceive it to be so , or obstinate for not acknowledging it . well! i cannot help what any man thinks of me : nay , tho i am really desirous to be well thought of , and would give something for the representer's good word ; yet in this case i cannot think , as he would have me , because in truth the matter appears otherwise to me than it does to him . i am indeed convinc'd from this place , that tully believ'd none of the snakes and burning torches of the infernal furies , so much talk'd of by the poets ; none of the material fire , scorching flame , and stifling smoke , which some of the more ignorant christians take into their description of hell : but as i conceive , he might for all that he has here said , really believe a future state , where the punishment of evil deeds shall be the same in substance , tho not in degree , as it is here . tully's business in this oration was to paint out clodius in his true colours , to let people see into the hands of what an ill man they had giv'n the power of a tribune , to let his judges see what a guilty wretch they had absolv'd ; to convince his whole audience , that a villain absolv'd by corrupt judges could not yet but be miserable , thro the irregularity of his passions and affections , and the consciousness of his misdeeds : pursuant to this purpose it was proper for him to distinguish between the punishments exacted by men , which were sometimes bought off , and those inflicted by the gods , which were never to be avoided ; the one reaching body and goods , the other the mind . the gods interpose not in what concerns the former , their inflictions are laid on the mind . self-consciousness and reflection are the ministers of their vengeance , they make use of no other to punish wickedness . this is all that tully says ; and many good men , as well christians as deists , who believe the future state , will say upon the matter the same thing . but tho according to tully the gods have ordain'd only self-consciousness and reflection to punish wickedness in this life ; may they not have ordain'd this also , tho this only , to punish it hereafter ? i say not everlastingly , for tully had other notions of the gods than that comes to ; but so long at least , till the punishment shall work a change of mind in the sufferer , and then the punishment cannot but cease . i interest not my self in the case , but take it for granted that tully could not make the gods authors of no punishments , but what were design'd for the amendment of the sufferer , and the instruction of the beholder . but farther , tully was a man that knew how to praise and dispraise , none better ; when he pleads for archias the poet , ligarius , or milo , his decorations have all the life and force that wit and friendship can give them ; and when he accuses catiline or clodius , piso and gabinius , his accusations have all the weight and bitter vehemence that wit and anger can give them . his talent was to move the affections of his hearers , in order to which he did not so much consider what was nicely true , as what was proper to be said for the end he aim'd at . now if he had not believ'd a word of a future state , he would not yet in this oration have denied it , because it was improper , and very contrary to the end which he aim'd at to do so . when the orator with flowing merciless eloquence was exaggerating the torments which clodius could not but suffer , tho his judges had absolv'd him , through his sense of the odium which he had incurr'd from all true lovers of their country , and conscious reflection on his demerits ; was it not , i appeal to the reader , was it not very improper for him to tell his auditors that the vile man would be tormented by his evil conscience while he liv'd , and no longer ? could tully be so weak , when he labour'd to perswade the citizens that clodius was very miserable , tho not condemn'd and punish'd according to the laws of his country , as to profess that after a little while he must pass into the same state of eternal forgetfulness , as the worthiest senator of 'em all ? they must have a mean conceit of the orator that put this upon him ; but however , i am sure his words will not bear it . yet one remark farther : tully was not like to deny the future state in his invective against clodius , because whatever his rhetorick might be able to perswade the people , that clodius suffer'd by his consciousness of his villanies , yet it did not appear that clodius had suffer'd more vexation of spirit than tully who declaim'd against him . tully was witness against clodius in the matter of his trespass on the lady's religion , mov'd to do it by his imperious wife terentia , who hated clodius , because her husband was to have married his sister : hence began the difference between them , for before they had bin friends . by bribery and popular arts clodius became a tribune ; cicero fear'd his power , was cheated by his seeming reconciliation , forsook his advantage of commanding under cesar , meanly sollicited his own cause in mourning habit with long neglected hair , attended by 20000 gentlemen , enough to have defended him , had not the mind of their leader bin full of confusion and fear . clodius insulted him till he fled , pursued him with the votes of the people , oppos'd his return with armed force , and after that boldly stood his ground , till he fell by the hands of milo , a tribune of as great resolution as himself . now an equal considerer of this story will be apt to suspect that the honest man had more trouble and vexation of spirit , during the contention , than the violent , leud and unjust tribune . indeed when the stream was turn'd , and the favour of the people again came about to tully , he bore hard upon clodius with the best weapon he had , his eloquent tongue ; but he could not get his publick acts rescinded , even cato oppos'd that , nor his person condemn'd ; this disturb'd his thoughts , and heated him into that satyrical harangue which labours to prove the man to be miserable , tho he had scap'd his revenge . but when all is done , cicero that was concern'd to have it believ'd that clodius was severely punish'd by his guilty conscience , was not so weak as to add , he was not like to be punish'd by the same hereafter . i will add but one note by the way , and i have done with my reply to this objection : disorders and trouble of mind are commonly consequent to those vile deeds which clodius committed , but they are not always so , nor does it plainly appear that clodius suffer'd those torments ; more likely it is , that his mind was lifted up with the thoughts of having pretty well weather'd the storm : but if wicked men are to suffer nothing after this life , a great many will go off , as clodius did , with suffering little or nothing at all . another passage objected against me , to prove that tully was an absolute infidel to a future state , is this , in his oration against calpurnius piso : i will briefly recite , and reply . me tamen fugerat deorum immortalium has esse in impios & consceleratos poenas certissimas constitutas . nolite enim putare , p. c. ut in scena videtis homines consceleratos , impulsu deorum , terreri furiarum taedis ardentibus ; sua quemque fraus , suum facinus , suum scelus , sua audacia de sanitate ac mente deturbat ; hae sunt impiorum furiae , hae flammae , hae faces . i did not consider , that these ( speaking of the torments of a guilty mind ) were the certain punishments awarded by the gods against vile and profligate men : for i would not have you think , o conscript fathers , that wicked men , as sometimes on a stage , are by the impulse of the gods , terrified with the burning torches of the furies ; every ones own fraud , his own wickedness , his own villany , his own desperate boldness , puts him beside himself , and disorders his thoughts ; these are the furies that torment the wicked , these the flames , and these the torches . a very like passage to this occurs in his oration for ruscius ; and if this had not bin objected against me , i might have bin apt to have quoted it in proof of tully's belief of a future state : for furies , flaming torches , and all that , were in those days part of the description of future punishments . now tully here seems to admit the notion of future punishments , only he corrects a popular mistake concerning the nature of them . furies and flames are metaphors of real evils ; and devils are no such idle stories , unless fools and knaves have the painting them . they now range up and down the world ( for ours is not the age in which any of them are to be chain'd up ) seeking whom they may devour . there 's the devil of pride , the devil of cruelty , the devil of bigotry , and that grand devil the father of these , the devil of ill nature , noon-day devils most an end , so far are they from flying when the early dawn breaks : but there 's the devil of envy , the devil of treachery , the devil of fraud , and the devil of lust , sneeking devils , that choose rather to walk in darkness ; legion may well be their common name , for there 's no counting their number ; and vast havock do they make , both in church and state , perhaps they know not that distinction ; but 't is certain they never mind it : nay they pursue all vile wretches into the other world also , such is their implacable malice ; and all they who carry irregular passion , and base affections with them out of this life , carry these devils with them into the next ; and till they recover an honest mind , by them they are like to be tormented . i know nothing that tully has advanc'd against these notions , but i am much mistaken if right reason does not favour them : yes , and revelation also ; else what mean those words of the apostle st. james , god tempts no man , but every man is tempted , when he is drawn away of his own heart's lust and entic'd . all temptations come from some devil or other , who takes up his seat in the heart of a vile man ; but whatever devils there are in the heart , this is a comfort , it is possible they may be exorcis'd , sometimes by the rational discourses of a virtuous monitor , sometimes by the woful experience of the possess'd ; and he must have a very unreasonable prejudice against scripture , that thinks none of them can be ejected nor by prayer , nor by fasting . tully somewhere has these words , qui requirunt , quid quaque de re ipsi sentiamus , curiosius id faciunt , quam necesse est . they who search what is our particular opinion about every thing are more curious than is necessary . he means , i suppose , that in many points his particular sentiments are not easy to be discover'd ; but if they be harder to be discover'd in one place than another , i take them to be so in his orations , for there he ever exerts all the mighty powers of his commanding eloquence , and says all that can be said to serve his friend and plague his enemy , without tying himself up to the strict rules of truth , or keeping an exact constant agreement with his own philosophical notions . he was of the mind as the well-spoken men of his profession still are , viz. that the cause , whose patronage they undertake , ought not to suffer for want of speaking up for it : but in his divine ( i had almost said inspir'd ) books of offices ( they are inspir'd with a spirit of honesty and goodness , with a spirit of wisdom and truth ) in those books wrote when civil broils had thrust him out of all publick business ; in his discourses concerning the nature of the gods , and in his tusculan questions ; in these pieces or no where we may expect to find the heart and soul of the man. but even in these a learned acquaintance would bear me down that tully discovers his disbelief of a future state : i press him to cite some passage to that purpose ; he offers me these words , me verò delectat ( animae credere immortalitatem ) idque primùm ita esse velim , deinde etiamsi non sit , mihi tamen persuaderi velim . cicero in tuscul . quaest . 1. paulo inferius . feci mehercule ( platonis sc . evolvi librum de animâ ) & quidem saepius , sed nescio quomodo , dum lego , assentior cùm deposui librum , & mecum ipse de immortalitate animorum coepi cogitare , assensus omnis illa elabitur . it delighteth me ( viz. to believe the immortality of the soul ) and first i wish it may be true , and then should it not be true , i wish i may be persuaded that it is . a little after . i have done it often ( i. e. i have often read plato's book of the soul ) but it happens , i know not how , that while i read him i assent to what he says ; but when i have laid the book aside , and begin to consider with my self concerning the immortality of the soul , all that assent vanishes . i am very glad of this objection , 1. because i take it to be as good as any he can produce in favour of this assertion , that tully did not believe the immortality of the soul , nor consequently a future state. 2. because ( tho i am far from being convinc'd by it , and dare hardly hope to convince him ) the examining of this passage will , in my opinion , utterly shame his assertion before all impartial considerers . in order to do this fairly and fully , first , i call to mind , that i have heard him sometimes reprove the ignorance or prevarication of sundry writers who quote for tully's sayings those words which he speaks , not of himself , but only puts into the mouth of a third person against whom he disputes . now i must observe to my acquaintance , that these two passages which he has quoted , as testimonies that tully disbeliev'd the immortality of the soul , and consequently a future state , are not spoken by tully as from himself , but are the words which he puts into the mouth of a third person against whom he disputes , which i prove thus : tully makes his way to the first of his tusculan questions concerning the contempt of death , by giving an account how he came to exercise himself in weighty philosophical questions ; then he tells his friend brutus , to whom he writes , that this was the method which he took , ponere jubebam de quo quis audire vellet , & id aut sedens , aut ambulans disputabam , itaque dierum quinque scholas ut graeci appellant , in totidem libros contuli ; fiebat autem ita , ut cùm is , qui audire vellet , dixisset quid sibi videretur , tum ego contradicerem . i bid him ( i. e. the person with whom he confer'd ) to set down that point or question , concerning which he would gladly hear ; and then sitting , or as i walk'd , i discuss'd the same : so the schola's , as the greeks call them , the conferences of five days i disposed into five books ; and thus were the conferences manag'd , when he that desir'd to hear the question discuss'd had said what he thought good , then i on the other side spake my mind . from these words in the preface to the first dialogue , it is beyond controversy plain , that the words spoken by atticus , or the hearer ( as are those objected against me ) represent not the mind of tully , but what marcus ( the other fictitious name in the dialogue ) replies ; that , and that only can fairly be charg'd on him : which being very material , i crave leave to set before the reader some remarkable portions of it . n. 27. vnum illud erat insitum priscis illis , quos cascos appellat ennius , esse in morte sensum , neque excessu vitae sic deleri hominem , ut funditus interiret : idque cùm multis aliis rebus , tum è pontificio jure , & ceremoniis sepulchrorum intelligi licet : quas maximis ingeniis praediti , nec tanta cura coluissent , nec violatas tam inexpiabili religione sanxissent , nisi haesisset in eorum mentibus , mortem non interitum esse omnia tollentem atque delentem , sed quandam quasi migrationem commutationémque vitae , quae in claris viris & foeminis , dux in coelum soleret esse : in caeteris humi retineretur , & permaneret tamen . it was with those antients whom ennius calls casci , as a natural sentiment , that death did not bereave a man of all sense , nor make an utter end of him : which , among other things , appears from pontifical laws , and from sepulchral rites , which men of the best sense had never so carefully observ'd , nor enforc'd with so fatal penalty , but that it was a settled principle with them , that death was not the end of all things , but a certain removal as it were , and change of one life for another , by means of which famous men and women were translated into heaven , others left below , but still left in existence . n. 30. firmissimum hoc afferri videtur cur deos esse credamus , quòd nulla gens tam fera , nemo omnium tam sit immanis , cujus mentem non imbuerit deorum opinio . multi de diis prava sentiunt : omnes tamen esse vim & naturam divinam arbitrantur . nec vero id collocutio hominum , auc consensus efficit , non institutis opinio est confirmata , non legibus . omni autem in re , consensio omnium gentium lex naturae putanda est . this seems a strong argument why we should believe the being of gods , because there is no nation so wild , no man so savage , whose mind is not indued with an opinion of gods. many men have an unworthy opinion of gods , but all judg that there is a nature and power divine ; and this is not the effect of conference and friendly agreement , it is not owing to customs or laws : but that thing , whatever it is , which has the consent of all nations , is to be deem'd a law of nature . n. 31. maximum vero argumentum est , naturam ipsam de immortalitate animorum tacitam judicare , quod omnibus curae sunt , & maximè quidem , quae post mortem futura sunt . but 't is a very great argument that nature it self gives a silent verdict for the immortality of the soul , because all men are concern'd , most highly concern'd about what shall be hereafter . n. 33. nemo unquam sine magna spe immortalitatis , se pro patria offerret ad mortem . licuit esse otioso themistocli , licuit epaminondae , licuit ( ne & vetera & externa quaeram ) mihi , sed nescio quomodo inhaeret in mentibus , quasi saeculorum quoddam augurium futurorum , idque in maximis ingeniis , altissimisque animis , & existit maximè , & apparet facillimè ; quo quidem dempto , quis tam esset amens qui semper in laboribus , & periculis viveret ? none ever without a strong hope of immortality , would venture his life to save his country . themistocles might have liv'd at ease , so might epaminondas , and ( not to hunt after old and foreign examples ) so might i my self , but that i know now not how , there is inherent in our minds , a certain foreboding of a life to come ; and that same foreboding is most busy , and does most plainly appear in men of the best wits , and most discerning minds ; which notion being set aside , who would be so mad as to live in continual labours and dangers ? he pursues this point by taking notice what respect several orders of men , poets , mechanicks , philosophers , have to this notion ; and then has these words : sed ut deos esse natura opinamur , qualesque sint ratione cognoscimus ; sic permanere animos arbitramur consensu nationum omnium : qua in sede maneant , qualesque sint ratione discendum est , cujus ignoratio finxit inferos , easabque ; formidines , quas tu contemnere non sine causa videbare . but as by nature we are inclin'd to think that there are gods , and by reason learn what to think of them : so by the consent of all nations we are mov'd to believe that souls remain after death : in what place they remain , and what nature they are of , 't is reason must teach us ; the ignorance of which thing ( viz. the nature of the soul ) invented the inferi , and those bugbears , which you not without cause seem to despise . here again tully owning his belief of a future state , discovers that his thoughts concerning it were widely different from the fancies of poets , and dreams of priests ; but tho he was free from the errors which they had introduc'd into natural religion , and above the imaginary fears which , he says , were wont to afright women and children , especially when a pale ghost was brought on the stage , with a dreadful verse of homer in his mouth , whose hollow noise proclaim'd i know not what about fell acheron , gloomy caves , cragged impending rocks , and pitchy darkness ; yet he is far from setting aside that great restraint of secret dishonesty , the apprehension of being in a worse state for it hereafter . of this we have a manifest testimony in what follows . our excellent author having run over several philosophical arguments for the immortality of the soul , seeks to credit his discourse by a very remarkable account of the words and actions of dying socrates — his & talibus adductus socrates , nec patronum quaesivit ad judicium capitis , nec judicibus supplex fuit , adhibuitque liberam contumaciam a magnitudine animi duetam , non a superbia : & supremo vitae die de hoc ipso multa disseruit ; & paucis antè diebus , cum facile possit educi ex custodiâ , noluit : & cum pent in manu jam mortiferum illud teneret poculum , lo●utut ita est , ut non ad mortem trudi , verum in eoelum videretur ascendere . ita enim censebat , itaque disseruit duas esse vias , duplicesque cursus animorum ● corpore excedentium : nam qui se humanis vitiis contaminâssent , & se totos libidinibus dedissent , quibus caecati velut domesticis vitiis , atque flagitiis se inquinâssent , vel in rempublicam violandam frandes inexpiabiles concepissent , iis devium quoddam iter esse , seclusum a concilio deorum : qui autem se integros castosque servassent , quibusque fuisset minima cum corporibus contagio , seseque ab his semper sevocâssent , essentque in corporibus humanis vitam imitati deorum , his ad illos a quibus essent profecti reditum facilem patere . socrates , by these and the like arguments perswaded , neither demanded to have council allow'd him , when his life was so nearly concern'd , nor with humble deference courted the favour of his judges , but us'd a free and undaunted boldness before them , which proceeded not from vanity and pride , but from the just greatness of his mind . also he discours'd of this very thing ( viz. the immortality of the soul ) on the day he died . and a few days before , when he might easily have bin convey'd out of prison by his friends , he refus'd . when he was just ready to take the deadly hemloc-potion in his hand , it appear'd by his discourse , that he did not look upon himself as a criminal going to suffer a violent death , but as a just man ascending up to heaven . such was his perswasion , and therefore he declar'd that when souls depart out of the body , there lay two ways before them ; they who defil'd themselves with vices common to men , who gave themselves wholly up to lustful passions and affections , by which being blinded , dishonesty became familiar and habitual to them , or who by conspiring against the laws and liberties of their country had contracted an inexpiable guilt , all of this sort took a by way secluded , and fenc'd off from the happy assembly of the gods : but they whose wiser care had preserv'd themselves pure and virtuous , whose minds were never poison'd with corporeal pleasures , but always restrain'd their affections from such objects , and , while in the body , liv'd the life of gods , all they after death took the road leading to the good gods whence they came . by this it plainly appears that tully believ'd a future state , such a future state in which there was a good and a bad , that to be enjoy'd , this to be suffer'd by men , according to what they do in the body : so little is the difference between this honest pagan theist , and a sober christian ; and perhaps if things were equally weigh'd , it might appear much one and the same thing to all the purposes of virtue , whether wicked men shall hereafter find a hell to punish their misdeeds , or carry it with them . but if i should leave my last citation thus , and pass on to something else , i doubt not but one or other of my adversaries ( who are now and then kindly visiting , and freely objecting against me ) would tax me of disingenuity , and dissembling , of designedly over-looking that which makes against me , and i know nothing is got to a good cause by such a conduct ; therefore i will read on , and consider what may be made of those words , which seem not of a piece with the rest . itaque commemorat , ut cygni , qui non sine causâ apollini dicati sunt , sed quòd ab eo divinationem habere videantur , quâ providentes quid in morte boni sit , cum cantu , & voluptate moriantur ; sic omnibus & bonis & doctis esse faciendum : nec vero de hoc quisquam dubitare possit , nisi idem nobis accideret diligenter de animo cogitantibus , quod iis saepe usu venit , qui acriter oculis deficientem solem intuerentur , ut aspectum omnino amitterent . sic mentis acies seipsam intuens , nonnunquam hebescit : ob eamque causam contemplandi diligentiam amittimus . itaque dubitans , circumspectans , haesitans , multa adversa revertens , tanquam ratis in mari immenso nostra vehitur oratio . therefore he ( socrates ) remarks that as swans , not without reason sacred to apollo , from whom they have the gift of divination , foreseeing the good there is in death , dy with joy and singing : so should the virtuous and the wise , men of good sense and learning do ; of this there is no doubt to be made , unless that should befal us thoughtfully considering the nature of the soul , which commonly happens to them who gaze on the sun in eclipse , till they can see no longer ; for so the sight of the mind , turn'd upon it self , and intently examining its own nature , grows dim , by which means we lose all the expected fruit of our diligent contemplation : so while i my self doubt , and look round the thing in question , while i demur , and consider once and again what may be said pro and con , my discourse is like a floating vessel tost to and fro in the wide sea. i must confess , that from this passage one might be apt to imagine , that tully , even in the most serious matter , was a little addicted to the academic wanton rhetorical way of talking all that came into his thoughts , what side soever of the question was serv'd or prejudic'd by it : he had giv'n occasion to be suspected of this vanity once before . n. 49. praeclarum autem nescio quid adepti sunt , qui didicerunt , se , cum tempus mortis venisset , totos esse perituros ; quod ut ita sit ( nihil enim pugno ) quid habet ista res aut laetabile aut gloriosum ? they have discover'd a worthy secret indeed , who have learn'd , that when they die , they must wholly perish and be no more ; which to suppose it true ( for i dispute not against it ) what have they rejoice at , and be proud of ? but now i answer ; 1 st , that perhaps there is more of a rhetorical apophasis , than academic scepticism in both these passages . tully delights much in this figure apophasis , which promises not to mention those things which are most industriously mention'd and offer'd to the hearers consideration . in the latter of these passages he says , that he would not dispute against them who pretended to have discover'd that death was the end of all things , and yet in the very next words he does dispute against them , and that sufficiently to the declaration of his own opinion upon the question , if not to the conviction of his adversaries . n. 49. nec tamen mihi sane quicquam occurrit , cur non pythagorae sit & platonis vera sententia . and yet i know no reason but that the opinion of pythagoras and plato may be true ; which was for the immortality of the soul. and a little after , neque aliud est quidquam , cur incredibilis his animorum videatur aeternitas , nisi quod nequeunt qualis animus sit vacans corpore , intelligere , & cogitatione comprehendere . nor is there any thing else in the case , why they ( his adversaries ) could not believe the immortality of the soul , but because they can't conceive how the soul can subsist without the body , and think , and by thinking understand ; and yet they understand nothing of the nature of the soul in the body . much more to the same purpose follows . 2 dly , as to that reflection which tully makes , after the account which he had given of socrates , viz. that his discourse was like a floating vessel toss'd to and fro in the wide sea : i answer , that notwithstanding this comparison , suppos'd to savour so much of the old academic uncertainty , he continues his discourse , perswading to the practice of virtue , and to the contempt of death , because of the advantages which good men should find thereby hereafter . and 3 dly , what is still more , he always brings in atticus , the other person in the dialogue , as convinc'd by what he offers , and fully satisfied concerning the truth of the immortality of the soul : by which the orator enforces what he says concerning the contempt of death , and the practice of virtue . 4 ly . to put this matter out of controversy , and make it incontestably manifest , that tully was not such a sceptic in the question concerning the immortality of the soul , as one or two of my acquaintance contend ; at the latter end of a set speech which plato puts into the mouth of dying socrates . n. 99. sed tempus est jam hinc abire me , vos ut vitam agatis : vtrum autem sit melius , dii immortales sciunt , hominem quidem scire arbitror neminem . but 't is now time that i go hence and die , do you my friends live on : but which of the two is best , that only the gods know ; i am of the mind that no man living does . upon these words the orator has this reflection . etsi , quod praeter deos negat scire quenquam , id scit ipse , utrum melius ; nam dixit ante ; sed suum illud , nihil ut affirmet , tenet ad extremum . tho , that which he says none but the gods know , he himself knows well , he knows which is better ; he had before declar'd which is better ; but that way of his ( that way afterwards call'd academic ) of determining nothing , he holds to the end . here tully plainly reproves that foolish philosophical humour , which obtain'd so much , of talking off and on , in matters of moment ; and declares it as his opinion , that however socrates in his last words did seem to play fast and loose , yet he was in his own mind sufficiently convinc'd of the immortality of the soul , and the future state , on which account it was better for injur'd good men to die than to live . i hope this labour , to prove that tully did not disbelieve the immortality of the soul , consequently nor a future state , may not seem to the reader tedious , or impertinent : for if it could be made out , that the wisest of the heathens rejected these notions , and never us'd them as arguments to encourage virtue , and restrain vice , it would be a prejudice against my discourse , who have endeavour'd to gain some credibility to these notions from the principles of natural reason . it would be a prejudice , i say , against , not an utter subversion of my discourse ; for my adversaries must show where i have argued wrong , and not tell me of great authorities against me , if they mean utterly to subvert it . but if , when they object great authorities against me ( which i acknowledg to be a prejudice , for how can i hope to see farther than such a man as tully ? ) i give a fair answer , and make it appear , that the citations which are objected against me are by my adversaries mistaken , and misapplied ; and that the same , if rightly consider'd , are so far from contradicting , that they favour the doctrines which i defend , by the acknowledg'd principles of natural reason ; then , i think , i have been all this while strengthning those doctrines , not spending my time in an impertinent labour . i have this to say further for my self , i have not only answer'd the objections which have been offer'd by my learned acquaintances , but i have also accounted for those difficulties which i my self chanc'd to meet with while i read those tracts of the great orator , whence their objections were taken . for , i will never contend for any opinion , against which i know of an objection , which appears so considerable , that it is the interest of the opinion to have the objection pass'd over , without any notice taken of it . if i could not have solv'd those difficulties , which i my self chanc'd to meet with , i would have given up the authority of tully , tho the objections of my adversaries were not of strength sufficient to oblige me to it . in pleading a cause at the bar in our courts of judicature , the lawyer will answer what he can , but to be sure start no objection against his client , which is not easily answer'd ; and possibly sometimes he may win the day by taking no notice of some circumstances which the adversary oversees : but in our disputes concerning philosophical truths , a man must leave no objection without reply ; for these causes are try'd over and over again every day , and he that takes no notice of a considerable objection , will be found out by one or other , and suppos'd to have silently pass'd it by , as being conscious of the weakness of his cause , and unable to answer it . again , in answering i have answer'd fairly ; i have not by a cheating translation or otherwise , misrepresented the author to serve the ends of my discourse , which is a method but too frequent with them who dispute for religious opinions , but thereby they do their cause , be it good or bad , a great disservice : for a bad cause by dissembling artifices is render'd more odious in the eyes of all prudent men who search diligently into the nature of things ; and a good cause by such poor methods is brought under deserv'd suspicion . i will give one instance of this , which shall not be an invidious one , from a writer now living , nor shall it be off from our purpose . mr. stanley in his life of socrates , represents that renowned philosopher ( very truly in my opinion ) as a man perswaded of the immortality of the soul , and of a future state : but he overdoes the thing by dissembling artifice , in a prevaricating translation of a passage from plato , as if the truth of the immortality of the soul , and the future state were in danger of finding no acceptance among thinking men , unless socrates spake up to these notions with as full assurance , and in as plain and positive words , as any christian whatsoever . the passage in plato is this : pla. phaed. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . for a translation of this paragraph mr. stanley was pleas'd to give his readers these words : truly did i not believe i should go to just gods , and to men better than any living , i were inexcusable for contemning death ; but i am sure to go to the gods , very good masters , and hope to meet with good men , and am of good courage , hoping that something of man subsists after death , and that it is then much better with the good than the bad . but this is not a fair rendring of this passage which plato ascribes to socrates . if there be nothing alter'd nor left out , this speech ( which plato relates as the speech of socrates , or makes for him , agreable to the sentiments he suppos'd socrates to entertain ) in plain english sounds thus : for did i not think to go , o simmias and cebes , first to other gods wise and good , in the next place to men deceas'd better than those here among the living , i should offend in being so willing to die . but now well you know that i hope to go to good men , tho of this i have not all the confidence imaginable : but that i shall go to the gods very good masters , of this you well know that i have as strong a confidence , as of any such like thing ; so that for this cause i am not so much troubled to die , but i have hope concerning the dead ; and as it was said of old , it shall go better with the good than the bad . this is the picture which plato draws of socrates ; the bolder strokes which mr. stanley gives to it , may perhaps grace it , but then they misrepresent it . according to plato , socrates did think the soul was immortal , socrates was perswaded that there was a future state. he hop'd it should go well with him after death , nay he had a confidence of these things ; not indeed all the confidence imaginable , not such a confidence as men have of a mathematical demonstration ; but yet such a confidence as was sufficient to make him content to dy rather than do a base or a mean thing to save his life . after all that i have now said and answer'd , both to the author of the inquiry concerning virtue , and to the occasional objections of others , in justification of that grand motive to virtue , the hopes of future advantage , and in proof of the immortality of the soul , and the certainty of a future state , i do freely confess that if any person has thrown off a conscientious sense of the necessary obligation which lies upon all rational men to be virtuous in private , as well as publick ; in the most difficult , as well as the most easy circumstances , then have i said nothing which can much affect him : but then i please my self to think , that if a man does not look upon himself as freed from such obligation , if he does not own himself a dangerous member of society , unworthy to be lov'd as a friend , unfit to be trusted in any matter of moment , where he may be tempted to be false , with probable hopes of concealing the crime , he will hardly be able to get rid of the moral demonstrations which i have made out , evincing the immortality of the soul , the certainty of a future state , and the wisdom of living so in this world , as men that expect to receive hereafter endless advantage by their virtue . but what , it may be said , if a man positively denies the immortality of the soul , and esteems the future state as a fable ; if he looks upon virtue as obligatory , only while it serves the necessities and comforts of this life present , have we no arguments to evince the erroneousness of that mischievous opinion ? yes surely ; but in order to do it , we must consider what particular system of universal nature those men frame to themselves against whom we dispute . the very learned dr. cudworth in his intellectual system , for a fuller confutation of atheism , pretends to examine , and refute all the various forms thereof : now tho i would not subscribe to all which that most highly deserving author urges against the several forms of atheism ; yet i am persuaded most of his materials are proper and serviceable , only i am inclin'd to think , they are capable of still farther improvement . the democritic and epicurean atomic hypotheses ; also the anaximandrian or hylopathian , and that wild fancy of corrupted stoicism , which supposes the world to be one huge plant or vegetable , having a plastic nature , orderly disposing the whole without mind or understanding ; these the doctor thinks are by sagacious moderns laid aside as indefensible : but the boldest and most dangerous hypothesis which is now reviv'd , is that of strato lampsacenus , which he calls the hylozoic hypothesis , that ascribes to matter , life and perception . the moderns who take up with this scheme , assert that the whole mass of boundless mattter hath existed from all eternity , mov'd , as now , from all eternity , and by its various , natural , and necessary motions has produc'd and will produce all that ever has bin , and that ever shall be produc'd ; that human cogitation is nothing but local motion , yet all motion not cogitation , but only motion so circumstanc'd , in bodies so modified . against this bold and precarious hypothesis , the doctor disputes in the close of his 3 d chap. and partly in the 5 th . but without wrong to him , i may venture to affirm that he has not said all which may be said ; and one thing i wish unsaid , viz. that the hylozoic philosophers are not fit to be disputed with any more than a machine is , p. 846. l. 5. for , this has the face of an ingenious reflection ; but then it is also liable to be suspected , as an artifice of a disputant that is at a nonplus , and has no convincing argument to offer against his subtle adversary . yet this may be pleaded for the learned doctor , that he did not turn the hylozoics off so , whatever he contemptuously and angrily replied , when he was surpriz'd with the thoughts of their strange and precarious assertion , which makes cogitation to be nothing but local motion : for in the above-cited place , and elsewhere , he disputes against this assertion . one thing he observes very well , viz. that which inclines the hylozoics to their hylozoicism , is , because they are sensible , that if there were any other action beside local motion , there must needs be some other substance beside body , p. 845. it is one good step towards the cure of a disease , rightly to understand the nature of it , the causes whence it sprang , and the fuel with which 't is fed ; but after that , a particular skill is necessary to work the cure. the learned doctor in his preface , where he gives an account of his book , affirms that it is as certain to him as any thing in all geometry , that cogitation and understanding can never possibly result out of magnitudes , figures , sights , and local motions . i am as much perswaded as he , that cogitation and understanding cannot result from these principles ; but i wish he had pointed his finger to the place where he has made this as certain as any thing in all geometry . but yet i will not say that a geometrical certainty of this truth is not to be had ; what one man has not demonstrated , another may . mr. abbadie among a great deal of lumber , has some excellent materials ; i will select what i judg most conclusive , and not scruple to alter what i hope to dispose to better advantage . matter acquires not thought by motion , because in motion there are but three things which can be consider'd : the thing mov'd ; the place from whence 't is mov'd ; the place to which it comes . now thought is none of all this . if it be said that thought is the effect of some particular motion , then it will follow , that that effect is nobler than its cause ; and not only so , but likewise that it is an effect quite of another nature than its cause . bare motion does not produce thought , because all matter does not think . different kinds of motion do not produce thought , because that which makes motion different is only slowness or swiftness , directness and obliquity , with which thought has no more affinity , than with motion consider'd abstractly . it is not barely matter which acts when we think , because the parts of matter may act , and be reflected on upon another ; but 't is impossible that any of them should act or be reflected on themselves ; whereas that thinking principle which is in us reflects on it self , on its own actions , thoughts ; and on the manner of its actings and thinking . matter and motion act only on objects present and contiguous : but thought flies over the wide ocean , pervades the earth , and reaches the stars ; reviews past things , and makes useful conjectures at futurities ; reflects , provides against accidents that may or may not happen . by diseases men sometimes have their heads so disorder'd , that their imaginations are confus'd , and things appear to them otherwise than they really are , while their understandings remain clear , and they argue justly upon those false appearances , being very sensible that their diseases occasion those false appearances of things ; thence it seems natural to conclude that their reasoning principle , which is not so easily hindred in its office by diseases , is something distinct from matter . these are the most considerable philosophic arguments , which i remember to have read against the hylozoics : i hope i have not spoil'd them in my recital ; but the reader may consult the french author translated by lussan . i have nor health , nor time , nor yet learning enough to make the most of a philosophic argument drawn from the acknowledg'd principles , laws , and powers of matter against these hylozoics : but i beg leave to offer one or two thoughts , such as they are , against these bold and precarious philosophers . the first shall be argument ad hominem : if i should assert , that the table on which i now write , does understand and think , the hylozoics could no more demonstrate the contrary , than i can demonstrate that matter , however mov'd , is incapable of thinking . but , 2. this seems to me demonstration : if thought be nothing but matter mov'd , it is impossible for us to conceive a thought of a thing which is not matter . again , if matter of itself does not think but as 't is mov'd , then 't is motion , not matter , which is thought , or the cause of thought : but how extravagant and contradictious is it to affirm , that an accident which relates to matter is a real thing , or the cause of a real effect , which is of another nature , and more noble than matter ? 3. there can be no such thing as free will in man , if there be nothing but matter in the world : for , the laws of matter are constant , one and the same without variation ; and if there be no such thing as free will in man , then there 's no such thing as virtue or vice. now i am of the mind , that he who without prejudice seriously considers this argument , will be abundantly satisfied that matter , however mov'd , is incapable of thinking , tho he has not a geometrical certainty , or intuitive knowledg of the same . if i had a good benefice instead of a lean vicarage , i could be content with a parliamentary right to the tithes of my parish , and let the jure divino right go : so i think , an honest good man may be satisfied , safely satisfied , that matter , however mov'd , cannot think ; because if there be no free mind able to alter the natural and necessary motions of matter , then there 's no such thing as right and wrong ; and to talk of regular and irregular passions and affections , is a jest . but i leave the prosecution of this subject to the abler pen of a worthy friend , whose meditations i long to see . but i hope the reader will allow me to have sufficiently prov'd what i first undertook , viz. that the prospect of future advantage does not take off from the praise of virtue : also that he who believes there is no god , or who calls the immense body of universal matter , god ; that he who denies the immortality of the soul , and expects no future state , does thereby disown the most powerful obligations to virtue , makes himself unfit to be lov'd intirely , or trusted confidently : for men of common sense will ever choose to love and trust him , who looks upon himself under the highest obligations and most forcible motives to be grateful and faithful ; and be apt to neglect him , whatever virtue he professes , or is by nature and education inclin'd to , who owns no obligations nor motives to virtue , besides present usefulness , which in some cases it has not , and no restraint of pleasing vice but human laws , which reach not a world of cases . postscript to a friend , who dissuaded the printing of the foregoing sheets . sir , you are pleas'd to allow the strength of my argument thro this whole discourse , but you would not have me publish my papers , because you can see little in them , beside what you met with some years since in a judicious and solid small tract , intitled , a letter to the deists . this is very friendly , and i own the obligation ; but i were unworthy of your friendship , if i should subscribe to your judgment , because you are my friend : and i were still unworthy , if denying to be govern'd by you , i should refuse to give my reasons . i am not of the comic poet's mind , from whom we have the proverb , nullum est jam dictum , quod non dictum fuit prius . i rather fancy , since the universe has no bounds , that there may be eternal progressions in reasonings , eternal advances in knowledg : so that if perhaps i have wrote nothing but what has bin wrote before , yet there 's no cause to imagin the subject to have bin so copiously and clearly handled already , that nothing of moment can be added by the study of them who come after . upon which account i had reason on my side , thus far at least , viz. that i endeavour'd to give some new accession of strength to those foundations of natural religion , without which i don't see how difficult virtue can subsist . let me digress so far as here to call in a few words , which should have bin inserted in my dissertation , being part of a letter wrote to me , by one that uses me kindly as you do . it seems plain , that no man loves misery , no nor labour to no purpose ; and he that thinks he shall cease to be after this life , must think he shall cease to exercise virtue , his chief delight , or his all : so he has no motive to dy for the sake of his country , or on any noble account whatsoever ; and at last will come to this result , that self-preservation is the truest virtue , tho on the meanest terms . but to return , that i have troubled the press with nothing but what the letter to the deist made publick some years past : this i think i may , without departing from the rules of modesty , positively deny . but not to offend the reader with a crambe bis coctâ , i shall only note , that it must be granted me , i did not borrow from that letter all which i have offer'd in defence of this doctrin , that the hope of future reward is not a base mercenary , but a reasonable and just motive to virtue . 2. nor thence have i borrow'd what i have answer'd to the objections of nominal deists drawn from the writings of moral heathens : for i met those objections in conversation , not books . 3. what i have oppos'd to the author of the inquiry concerning virtue , could not be borrow'd from the letter to the deist , which was wrote before it , but must needs be as new as the inquiry : and if the inquiry be an ingenious , subtle , erroneous , and dangerous book , then it will be farther granted , that a solid good answer comes seasonably and usefully : whether my answer be such , the reader must judg ; but for your part , sir , you have approv'd it , and therefore if you agree with your self , you must not blame my printing . now as to those particular arguments , the substance of which i confess my self to have in common with the letter to the deist ; i will not say as hierom's master donatus commenting on the above-cited verse from terence , pereant qui ante nos nostra dixerunt ; confounded be all they who said the things which i have said , before i said them : no , i had rather go into that better natur'd defence ; non quicquid cum antiquis convenit , ex antiquis sumptum : upon which lemma , paschasius has this witty epigram , tho he points it with a little of donatus's assuming waggish self-love . plurima me veterum sensa expressisse fatebor , ne fatear , fursim , vel furiosus ego . multa sed ex aliis falsò sumpsisse putabis , quae mea percupiam dicier , & mea sunt . conveniunt tamen haec antiquis : dî male perdant antiquos , mea qui praeripuere mihi . i gave these lines to be translated to my second son , the boy you took such a fancy to . often on antient fancies have i hit , and for this luck must i be call'd a cheat ? they err who say i steal the antients fame ; for i no more than what 's my own do claim : in mine , and theirs , if you no difference see , blame th' antients for their stealing mine from me . now my hand is in to you , it comes into my mind , that you once acquainted me , that some of my learned acquaintance dislik'd this essay : but this i am far from putting off with that old hypocritical saw , no man can have a meaner opinion of my performance than i have my self ; because their dislike , whereof i have bin all along conscious , prompted me to consider the matter again and again ; and that repeated consideration has confirm'd me in my sentiments , and made me in love with them : so that if these acquaintances can still be my friends notwithstanding their dislike , i will thank them for their dislike , as well as for their friendship . this notwithstanding , i am not so vain as to reckon that i have , borrowing or not borrowing , exhausted the argument ; or said half which their singular parts and attainments might have help'd me to have said : no , for even my present mediocrity could and would have added some method , and farther strength to it ; but my much business , and many infirmities made me willing to put such an end to it as you see . i have now one favour to beg of you , and i take leave : pray thank my adversaries in my name for their opposing the sentiments in this dissertation defended ; thank them heartily . i really hold it a very singular good office to have my sentiments seriously and strenuously oppos'd : for , no longer than i can defend , will i retain them . old as i am , i am not so afraid of altering my opinions , as not to listen to reason whoever offers it : he that convinces my understanding , shall , while i live , lead my affections ; but if what is offer'd has not evidence enough to convince me , they use me very hardly who will not admit me into their friendship , because i am not their proselyte . i am pleas'd to be seriously and strenuously oppos'd by them who best can do 't , even tho they go for hereticks , that so i may go upon the surer ground . and for this cause i much wonder , that the best reformed church should have any of her sons desirous to put a restraint on the press : for all truths , the more they are impugn'd , the surer they are establish'd ; and the more the press is restrain'd , the more our articles will be suspected , whether there be any other just cause of suspicion or no. there 's ten thousand to one against a man who takes doctrines upon trust , and assents to this or that scheme with faith implicit ; but that which he suffers to be examin'd , to be sifted , and which he himself considers over and over again , in that it is impossible he should be deceiv'd , unless it be a matter wherein he may be mistaken innocently , and without prejudice to his future hopes . i thought i had done , but one thing more comes in my way . you once let me know that i was suspected to favour heretical opinions . to this i answer , i hope it is no fault not to run from the converse of men of learning and probity ; but from the persons you nam'd i do assure you i differ , and that in all points that can be insimulated of heresy : particularly i think the socinians in the wrong , and never was of their congregation ; i do not know the names of three socinians , nor the persons of any two such ; but i confess i look upon them as men of learning and probity . allow me but to have charity for all honest men however differently perswaded , and you will have no cause to deny me being a not unworthy member of the church of england . and pray observe one thing more , their conversation is very narrow , who are perswaded altogether as the men they converse with . i take it , that a free conversation is the most useful thing in the world , and that their company is worth nothing who will not endure contradiction . they whom i converse with , know , and are not angry with my church-sentiments ; i know , and will never persecute their dissent : for , non eadem sentire bonis , de rebus iisdem , incolumi licuit semper amicitia . finis . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a37289-e380 abbadie of the truth of christian religion . an inquiry concerning virtue in two discourses, viz., i. of virtue and the belief of a deity, ii. of the obligations to virtue. shaftesbury, anthony ashley cooper, earl of, 1671-1713. 1699 approx. 263 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 102 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2009-03 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a59472 wing s2892 estc r21267 12296519 ocm 12296519 59040 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a59472) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 59040) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 193:5) an inquiry concerning virtue in two discourses, viz., i. of virtue and the belief of a deity, ii. of the obligations to virtue. shaftesbury, anthony ashley cooper, earl of, 1671-1713. 199 p. printed for a. bell ... e. castle ... and s. buckley ..., london : 1699. attributed to anthony ashley cooper shaftesbury. cf. halkett & laing (2nd ed.). an unauthorized ed., published by john toland. shaftesbury bought and destroyed most of the copies. errata on t.p. verso. advertisement on p. [1] at end. reproduction of original in british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng virtue -early works to 1800. religion -early works to 1800. vice -early works to 1800. 2007-06 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-07 apex covantage keyed and coded from proquest page images 2008-03 john latta sampled and proofread 2008-03 john latta text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-09 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion an inquiry concerning virtue , in two discourses ; viz. i. of virtue , and the belief of a deity . ii. of the obligations to virtue . honestum igitur id intelligimus , quod tale est , ut , detractâ omni utilitate , sine ullis praemiis fructibusve , per seipsum possit jure laudari . quod quale sit , non tam definitione , quâ sum usus , intelligi potest ( quamquam aliquantum potest ) quam communi omnium judicio , & optimi cujusque studiis , atque factis : qui permulta ob eam unam causam faciunt , quia decet , quia rectum , quia honestum est ; etsi nullum consecuturum emolumentum vident . — cic. de fin. b. & m. lib. 2. london , printed for a. bell in cornhil , e. castle near whitehal , and s. buckley in fleetstreet . m. dc . xc . ix . errata . page 11. line 18. read , as when there are other minds , besides one chief one ; but. lin . 21. r. as when there are , besides one chief good principle , several principles . p. 22. l. 22. r. in himself . p. 35. l. 7. r. to their . p. 69. l. 11. r. are those . p. 79. l. 2. r. ill occurrence . p. 83. l. 2. r. is , and. p. 104. l. 29. r. degrees . p. 105. l. 26. r. from hence . p. 146. l. 9. r. order , set . p. 154. l. 29. r. content . p. 163. l. 17. r. perpetual satiety . p. 182. l. 13. r. and are . p. 185. l. 5. r. losing . p. 187. l. 20. r. highly reigning . p. 197. l. 1. r. the natural . book the first . of virtue , and the belief of a deity . sect . i. religion and virtue , as they have near relation one to another , and are ever presum'd to reside together ; so they are very rarely consider'd apart , or distinguish'd from one another . however , since there have bin instances of some , who having great zeal in religion , have yet wanted even the common affections of humanity , and have bin extremely vitious and corrupt ; and since others , even amongst those who have scarcely own'd a deity , have bin seen to practise the rules of morality , and have seem'd to act with good meaning and affection towards mankind : it has given occasion to several to enquire how far virtue alone could go ; and how far religion was either necessary to support it , or able to raise and advance it . and since by the example of others we have bin engag'd in an enquiry of this kind , and are now about to enter upon a subject where there is need of a very particular explanation of things , and of a more than ordinary clearness in terms ; we may do well first of all to consider what it is that we call atheism , and what virtue : and afterwards we may examin the consistency of these two together . first , then , as to atheism . and here it cannot justly be wonder'd at , if the method of explaining this appears unusual and strange , since the subject it self , and the question here treated of , has , perhaps , so little enter'd into consideration , and is a matter of so nice and dangerous speculation . but to begin , therefore , according to the best of our reason ; the judgment of which is submitted to others . in the whole of things ( or in the universe ) either every thing is according to a good order , and the most agreeable to a general interest that is possible : or every thing is not according to a good order ; but there is that which might possibly have bin better , more wisely contriv'd , and with more advantage to the general interest of beings , or of the whole . if every thing that exists be according to a good order , and for the best , by being in the wisest and justest manner ; then is there of necessity no such thing as real ill in the universe , nothing ill with respect to the whole . whatsoever , then , has such an existence or being as that it could not have bin better , or better ordered , is perfectly good. whatsoever in the order of the world is call'd ill , supposes a possibility in the nature of the thing to have bin otherwise contriv'd or order'd by some wisdom or other : for if it could not have bin better made , or any otherwise have bin better , by any suppos'd order or regulation ; it is perfect , and in no wise defective or ill . whatsoever is ill therefore , must be caus'd or produc'd , either by design ( that is to say , with knowledg and judgment ) or through want of design , from chance . if the order of all things be such , that nothing can be thought of , or imagined , more wise , perfect and just ; then it is impossible but that there must be wisdom , understanding and design in the whole ; and that in the perfectest , and highest manner and degree . whatsoever is from design implies a mind , discernment , and intelligence . if there be any thing ill in the universe from design ( and it must be , if at all , either from design , or from chance ) then that which is the cause of , or which disposes all things , is no one good designing principle . for either there is but one designing principle or mind , and that corrupt ; or if there be one that is good , there is another in being which operates contrarily , and is ill . if there be any thing of ill in the universe from chance , or which was not design'd , but accidental ; then a designing principle or mind , whether good or bad , cannot be the cause or guidance of all things . and if there be a designing principle which is the cause of good , and is good , but cannot prevent the ill which happens from chance , or from a contrary ill design ; then is there no such thing as a supreme good design or mind but what is impotent and defective : for not to correct , or totally exclude that ill of chance , or of a contrary ill design , must proceed either from impotency , or ill will. whatsoever has intelligence , and is a mind , having a superior power over us , or having any eminent place , direction , or controul in nature , is that we call god , or deity . for , tho a people believe and worship that which they think neither perfectly good , nor perfectly powerful , nor yet eternal ; it is a deity or god still , tho an imperfect one , which they worship : or whether they think fit to worship or no , still they believe a god of some sort . whatsoever therefore is superior in any degree over the world , or that rules in nature with discernment and a mind , is that which we call god. if there are several such superior minds , they are so many gods. but if that single superior , or those several superiors are not in their nature necessarily good , they rather take the name of daemon . for remove all good from either of those beings , and we shall immediately pronounce it a devil . to believe therefore that every thing is govern'd , order'd , or regulated according to the best , by a designing principle or mind , such as is good and eternal , is to be a perfect theist . to believe nothing of a designing principle or mind , nor any cause or measure or rule of things , but chance ; so that in nature neither the interest of the whole , nor of any particulars , can be said to be pursu'd , design'd , or aim'd at ; is to be a perfect atheist . to believe no one supreme good designing principle or mind , but several , is to be a polytheist . to believe this one single mind , or these many minds , are not absolutely and necessarily good in their nature , but are vitious and unjust , is to be a daemonist . for , to believe any thing of beings , or of a being which dos universally superintend , which governs all things by his power and will , but not with that obligation and necessary confinement to good , and to what is best , is to believe an infinit devil , and not an infinit god. to believe this supreme mind , or these supreme minds good , and not the cause of ill ( if real ill be allow'd ) is to allow some other cause , which is either design or not design . if it be design , and of consequence a malicious and ill design ( that is to say , if it proceed from the prevalency of an ill mind or minds ) then is this in reality being a daemonist in some degree . if it be from no design , but from chance ; so that a mind prevails but in some things , and chance in others ; then is this to be an atheist in some degree , or in as far as chance is thought prevalent and unsurmounted by the power and wisdom of any supreme mind or minds . there are few men who think always consistently , or according to one certain hypothesis upon any subject so abstruse and intricate , as this concerning the cause of all things , and the oeconomy or government of the vniverse . for it is plain in the case of the most devout people , and by their own confession , that they have times when their faith only supports them , and that they are ready to judg ( that is to say , that their reason inclines them to judg ) to the disadvantage of a providence and a just rule . that alone therefore is to be called a man's opinion , which is of any other the most habitual to him , and occurs upon the most occasions . so that it is hard to pronounce of any one , that he is an atheist ; because , unless his whole thoughts do at all times carry him against all design , or government of a mind , he is no perfect atheist : for , to believe any thing of design , or government of a mind , tho limited , and not infinitly powerful , is to believe something of a god. and that this is a proper way of speaking , and a necessary one , appears from this ; that otherwise if no one were to be stiled a theist in any degree , who permitted any thing to chance ; then likewise would no one be to be stiled a theist who permitted any thing to a contrary ill principle , as those do , who believe a devil or daemon , opposit to god ; or that there is any such thing in the universe , as real ill , which is neither from chance nor from god. but if any one believes more of chance and confusion than of design ; then is he more an atheist than a theist , from that which most reigns with him , and has the ascendent . as on the other side , if he believes more of the prevalency of an ill designing principle than of a good one , he is then more a daemonist than he is a theist , and may be called a daemonist from the side to which the balance most inclines . all these sorts both of daemonism , polytheism , atheism , and theism , may be mixed : as thus . 1. theism with daemonism : 2. daemonism with polytheism : 3. theism with atheism ; 4. and so daemonism with atheism ; 5. and so polytheism with atheism . 6. theism ( as it stands in opposition to daemonism , and denotes a goodness in god ) with polytheism : 7. and that part of theism and daemonism , together with polytheism ; 8. or with polytheism and atheism . 1. as when the one chief mind or soveraign being is divided betwixt a good and ill nature , by being the cause of ill as well as good . 2. as when there is not one , but several corrupt minds that govern ; which may be call'd polydaemonism . 3. as when chance is not excluded ; but that god and chance divide : for instance , jupiter govern'd both the gods and men , but could not prevent the ill fate of his son sarpedon , nor the growth of the titans , who sprung not from him , but from chance , and fought against him to gain the sovereignty . 4. as when an evil daemon and chance divide . 5. as when many minds and chance divide . 6. as when there are more minds than one , but agreeing in good , and with one and the same will and reason . 7. as when there is 〈…〉 good principle , and an ill principle ; or several such principles or minds , both good and bad . 8. as when the last is together with chance . religion excludes none of these except perfect atheism . undoubtedly perfect daemonists there are in religion ; because we know whole nations that worship a devil or fiend , to whom they sacrifice and pray , only to prevent the mischief he would do them . and we know that there are those of some religions , who give no other idea of their god , but of a being arbitrary , violent , causing ill , and ordaining to misery ; which is a devil in the place of god. now as there are all these opinions concerning a god ; and that there are some who have no opinion at all , either through scepticism , and a doubt which to assent to , or by having never thought at all , so as to be influenced by any belief in religion , or any opinion in philosophy as to this matter ; the consideration is , how any of these opinions , or this of having no constant opinion , or no opinion at all , dos consist , or is inconsistent with virtue . sect . ii. but to examin now concerning virtue . there is in every creature a certain interest or good , which is as an end in that creature ; and to which end if any thing either of his appetites , passions or affections be not conducing , but the contrary , this is ill to him : and in this manner he is ill with respect to himself ; as he is said to be ill also with respect to others , when any such appetites or passions make him injurious to them . and if , by the natural constitution of any rational creature , the same irregularities of appetite which make him to be ill towards others , make him to be ill also as to himself ; and that the same regularity of affections which makes him to be good in one sense , makes him to be good also in the other ; then is that goodness by which he is thus useful to others ( if this perhaps be what we call virtue ) a real good to himself . whether this be so or not , is reserv'd to be consider'd afterwards . our present design is , to examin separatly the good of virtue to society . if any one will maintain that a creature well constituted as to himself , may yet be contrariwise towards others ; then , notwithstanding a creature be thus good for himself , this is not enough to make it be said of him that he is a good creature ; unless he could be understood to be absolute and complete in himself , and without any real relation to any thing in the universe besides . for if there be any where in nature a system of which this living creature must be consider'd as a part ; then , if the creature be to carry the name of good , he must be such a part as makes to the good of that system or whole . now if there be any thing in the structure of a particular animal more than what has relation to himself , or his own privat system or nature , and by which he has an absolute relation to some other thing , or other system or nature without him ; then is this animal but a part of some other system : for instance , if an animal have the parts of a male , it is with a relation to the female ; and the parts both of the male and female have a relation to another thing besides the system of themselves . so that they are parts of another system : which system is that of a particular species of living creatures that have some one common nature , or are provided for by some one order or constitution of things subsisting together , and uniting to that end , of their support . in the same manner , if a whole species of animals be such as contribute to some other thing ; and that their existence has a necessary relation to something else , or to the existence of some other species of animals ; then is that whole species but a part of a system . for instance , to the existence of a spider , the existence of such animals as flies is made to be necessary : so that the fly has a relation to the spider , as the web of the spider , and the spider it self have relation to such animals as flies . and thus , in the structure of one of these animals , there is absolutely as apparent and perfect a regard and relation to the other , as in the system of our selves and in our own body there is a relation of parts one to another ; as of the stomach to the limbs : or , as in the branches or leaves of a tree , we see a relation to a root and trunk . in the same manner are flies necessary to the existence of other creatures , both fowls and fishes . and thus are other species or kinds subservient to one another ; which is being parts of a certain system , according to which the nature of animals is disposed . so that there is a system therefore of all animals together ; an animal system , and an animal nature , or a nature common to all animals . in the same manner if the whole system of animals , together with that of vegetables , and all other things in this world of ours ; that is to say , if this whole system of the earth has a relation to , or a dependence on any thing else whatsoever ( as it has , for instance , with respect to the sun , and planets round that sun ) then is the earth but a part of some other system . and since there must be a system of all things , a universal nature , or nature common to the whole ; there is no particular being or system which must not be either good or ill in that general system of the vniverse : for if it be insignificant and of no use , it is a fault or imperfection , and consequently ill in the general system . therefore if any being be wholly and really ill , it must be ill with respect to the universal system ; and then the system of the universe is ill or imperfect . but if the ill of one privat system be the good of other systems , and be still the good of the general system ( as when one creature lives by the destruction of another ; one thing is generated from the corruption of another ; or one planetary system or vortex may swallow up another ) then is the ill of that privat system no ill in it sell ; more than the pain of breeding teeth is ill in a system or body , where without that occasion of pain , the body would suffer worse by being defective . so that we cannot say of any being , that it is wholly and absolutely ill , unless we can positively shew and ascertain it , that that which we call ill is not good in some other system , nor in the whole . but if any intire species of animals be destructive to all the other species , then is that to be call'd an ill species , as being of ill in the animal nature or system . and if in any species of animals ( as in men , for example ) one man is such as to be of a nature pernicious to the rest , then is he an ill man. but we do not say a man is an ill man , because he has the plague-spots upon him , or because he has convulsive fits which make him strike and wound those that come near him . nor do we say a man is a good man , when his hands are ty'd , which hinders him from doing the harm that he has a mind to do , or ( which is near the same ) when he abstains from executing his ill purpose , through a fear of some impending punishment , or through an allurement of some privat pleasure or advantage , which draws him from his ill intention . so that in a sensible creature , that which is not done through any affection ( and consequently with no knowledg , consciousness or perception at all ) makes neither good nor ill in the nature of that creature , according to the sense we speak in , when we say a creature is a good or an ill creature . and whatever is done either of good or ill , otherwise than as through good or ill affections in that creature , it is in the nature of that creature neither good nor ill , according to the common understood sense of a good or ill creature , a good or ill man. a creature in this sense is only good therefore when good or ill ( that is to say , a good or an ill to his system , or to that which he has a relation to ) is the immediat object of some affection moving him : it being then only to be truly said that he has good affections , good inclinations or passions , a good nature , or a good soul. for if a creature that is mov'd by a passion of hatred to his own kind , be by a violent fear of something hurtful to himself , mov'd so as to do that good which he is not inclined to , by any affection to the good it self ; it is not good ( that is to say , good as above ) which is the object of the affection moving him : for that which moves him is no affection relating to any good of his species , or of that which he is joined to , or is a part of : and therefore there is no goodness there ; that is , there is nothing which takes from , or abates any thing of the ill nature or ill disposition ( which is the true illness of the creature ) altho the effects of that ill nature or ill disposition be accidentally prevented , or that some good come accidentally to be wrought by that creature , without good nature , good disposition , or good intention . if there be any affection towards privat good , which is for the good of the species in general that every individual should have , this cannot be other than a good affection ; 〈…〉 it be not for such affection as this , that a creature is commonly called good . if there be any affection towards privat good which is not really consistent with such privat good or happiness ; this , as being hurtful to the creature , and being superfluous , and such as must detract from , anticipate , or prevent the other good affections , is vitious and ill . if there be any affection towards privat or self-good which is consistent altogether with real privat good or happiness , but is inconsistent with that of the other kind , the public good or good of the species ( which whether a thing possible to be suppos'd or no , will be afterwards consider'd ) this must be ill and vitious in the common sense of illness and vice ; for altho profitable to the particular creature , it is injurious to the society or whole . if the affection , by being only in a moderate degree , be agreeable to the other general good ; but by being immoderate , is the contrary ; then is the immoderate degree of this affection vitious , but not the moderate . and thus , if there be any thing which is the occasion of a more than ordinary self-concernment or regard to separat and privat good , or of an over-great extension of the appetite 〈…〉 attention of the mind towards what is merely of self-good , or reputed self-good ; this , as being detracting from the affections towards other good , and inconsistent with just and equal concern for the species , or towards public good , must necessarily be ill and vitious : and this is what is called selfishness . now , if there be any affection towards self-good , or towards pleasure , which is in it self contributing to the other good , that of the species or system ; then is that affection so far good , as that it is absolutely necessary in order to constitute a creature good . for if the want of such an affection ( as for instance , of that towards self-preservation , or towards generation ) be of injury to the species or system ; then is it vitious in some degree to want those affections , or to have such as are contrary : as no body would doubt to pronounce , if they saw a man who minded not any precipices that lay in his way , or who had a disposition that rendred him averse to any commerce with woman-kind , and of consequence unfitted him through illness of temper ( and not merely through a defect of constitution ) for the propagation of his species or kind . so that the affection to self-good or privat good , may be a good affection or an ill affection . for if the affection towards self-good be too strong ( as for instance , the love of life , which by being over-great , unfits a creature for any generous act , and hinders him in the doing his part ) then is it vitious ; and if vitious , the creature that is mov'd and acted by that , is vitiously mov'd , and can never be otherwise than vitious in some degree , whilst mov'd by that vitious affection . therefore , if through such an over-great love of life and being , a creature be accidentally induc'd or engag'd to do a good thing , or several good things ( as he might be upon the same terms induc'd to do ill ) he is not any more a good or a virtuous creature for this good he dos , than a man is so much more a good man for pleading a just cause which he is hired to , or for fighting in a good cause against a tyrant whom he happens to have a privat quarrel with , and whom he fears or hates on that account only . whatsoever therefore is done that happens to be of good to the species , or to the system as above , through this affection towards self-good , or separat privat good , dos not imply any more goodness in the creature than as the affection is good . and if that affection in it self be not to be stiled a good or virtuous affection ; whatsoever happens through it , is not goodness nor virtue , nor the creature any more a virtuous or good creature : but let him do whatsoever good , if it be only that vitious affection of exorbitant selfishness , or an excessively extended appetite towards self-good , which moves him ; and that there be wanting therefore to move him any good affection , such as ought of right to do it ; the creature is in it self still vitious , and will always be so in some degree , whilst the passion towards self-good , tho ever so moderate and reasonable , is in any degree his motive in the doing that which a natural affection to his kind should have mov'd him to ; but , which natural affection is wanting in him , or so weakly implanted as to be insufficient to move him without help from the other . nor indeed can there be any goodness till it comes to be a part of the natural temper of a creature , such a one as is mov'd by affections , to be carri'd by some immediate affection , directly and not consequentially or by accident , to good or against ill : that is to say , till some good or ill ( which is a good or an ill as above ) come to be the object of his affection , either as towards it , or against it ; and that such affection become part of his natural temper : for in the instance of fear beforemention'd , where through fear a creature hating his own kind , is kept from hurting them , or is even induced to do them good ; in this case the fear of self-ill or privat ill , or love of self-good or privat good , is part of the natural temper : but the fear or abhorrence of other ill , or love of other good ( which is requisit in a good creature ) is no part of the natural temper , but far the contrary . so , let the creature act how it will , or whatever way it is casually mov'd by those affections which regard merely privat or separat good or ill ; it will not have any thing more of true goodness on that account , but will be still vitious and depraved , unless the natural temper come about , and the nature of its affections change . for instance , if a creature naturally fierce and cruel , lose that fierceness , and is made tame , gentle and treatable ; then is his natural temper chang'd . suppose now that the creature has indeed a tame , gentle and mild carriage , but that it proceeds only from the fear of his keeper ; which if set aside , his other passion instantly breaks out ; then is that mildness not his natural temper : but his natural temper is what it was , and the creature still as ill a creature in its own nature . suppose on the other side , that a creature be naturally inclin'd towards the preservation of its young ; but that the terror of the hunters , or of an enemy in some extraordinary case , cause it to abandon them : in this case the temper of the creature remains still what it was , and is not prejudic'd or impair'd , tho hindred from operating by a strong passion suspending it for the time . but if by any operation of outward things , or by any thing from within , that passion or affection towards the young comes to grow weaker , so that other passions may more easily prevail over it ; then is the natural temper chang'd in some degree , and the creature not so good a creature . nothing therefore being properly either goodness or illness in a creature , but what is from his natural temper ( or from those passions or affections which constitute natural temper ) as it respects that good or ill of his kind or species ; a good creature or a good man in such a one as by his affections or natural temper , is carried primarily and immediately , and not secondarily and accidentally , to good and against ill ; and an ill man the contrary : who is wanting in right affections of force enough to carry him towards good , and bear him out against ill , or who is carried by his natural affections just contrarywise ; to ill , and against good. if the natural temper be vitious , the man is vitious in the same degree : and so if the natural temper be good , he is in the same degree good . if a man be by his natural temper just , equitable , kind ; but that his natural temper towards ambition fights against his other temper , but not so as to conquer it ; in this case he is good still by natural temper ; the better natural temper being that which is prevalent in him , and has the mastery . when in the general , all the affections or passions are suted to the good that we have spoke of ( the good of the system to which man relates ) then is the natural temper , and consequently the man , chiefly good . if any such passion or affection be wanting , or any passion or affection be redundant and over and above , or too little and weak , or repugnant , or any way such as to be unconsonant to that good , and disserviceable and contrary to that end ; then is it vitious . i need not instance in rage , revengefulness , and other such ( where it is so obvious ) to shew how they are ill , and constitute an ill creature : but even in kindness and love , tho rightly plac'd , and towards a proper object ( as when it is that sort of love of a creature to its young ) if it be immoderate and beyond a certain degree , it is vitious . on the other side , not to have it at all , or not to have it to a certain degree , is a vice in the temper : and not to have it at all towards this object , but to some other which is improper ( as when a fantastical woman is fonder of a toy , or of some tame animal , than of her child ) this is a double vice. but where the good passion is too intense and eager , as where love to the young , or pity is in that degree ; it is both hurtful to the creature , and disserviceable to that end it carries to : for so over-fondness is destructive to the young , and excessive pity uncapable of giving succor . thus the excess of motherly love is a vitious fondness ; over great pity , effeminacy and weakness ; over great concern for self-preservation , meanness and cowardwise ; too little , rashness ; and none at all , or that which is contrary ( viz. a passion or passions inclining to self-destruction ) a very great depravity . in a creature capable of forming general notions of things , not only the sensible things that offer themselves to the sense , are the objects of the affection ; but the very actions themselves , and the affections of pity , charity , kindness , justice , and so their contraries , being brought into the mind by reflection , become objects ; as even that very thing it self of a good and virtuous life , or the part of a good and virtuous creature , having a thorow good affection , or intire good affections : so that , by means of this reflected sense , there arises another kind of affection , which is towards the very affections themselves that were first felt , and are now the subject of a new feeling , when either they cause a liking or aversion . and thus the several motions , inclinations , passions , dispositions , and consequent carriage and behavior of creatures in the various parts of life , being in several scenes represented to the mind , which readily discerns the good and the ill towards the species or public ; it proves afterwards a new work for the affection , either virtuously and soundly to incline to , and affect what is just and right , and disaffect what is contrary ; or , vitiously and corruptly to affect what is ill , and disregard or hate what is worthy and good . and in this case alone it is that we call any creature virtuous , when it can have a notion of good , and can make goodness and illness an object , or have the speculation or science of what is morally good and ill , of what is admirable or blameable , right or wrong : for tho we may call a horse a vitious horse ; and so in the case of other animals and things ( as a vitious medicin , a vitious stomach ) yet we never say of a good horse , or even of an idiot or changeling , tho ever so well natur'd and good , that he is virtuous . so that if a creature be generous , kind , constant , compassionate ; yet if he cannot reflect on what he dos , nor approve of what he dos or sees others do , by observing what that thing is that is generous , just , or honest ; and making that idea or conception of goodness , or a good action done through good affection , to be an object of his affection , he has not the name of being virtuous : for thus , and no otherwise , he is capable of having a sense , in any kind , of what is right or wrong ; that is to say , of what is done through just , equal , and good affection , or what is not so . if any thing be done through an affection which is not just , equal , and universally conducing to the good of the species or system to which man belongs ; this is certainly of the nature of wrong . if the affection be equal , sound , and good , and the subject of the affection such as may with advantage to society be ever in the same manner prosecuted or affected ; this cannot but be right . for , wrong is not barely such action as is the cause of harm ( for thus a son striking to kill an enemy , but killing with that blow his father , would do wrong , which is not so ) but that which is done through insufficient or unequal affection ( as when a son has no concern for the safety of a father , or prefers the safety of an indifferent person to the safety of his father ) this is of the nature of wrong . by unequal affection is meant affection unproportionably or unequally applied , not towards the object as it always actually exists or is ( for then the running to save a father in distress , but taking a wrong man for him , would be unequal affection , and consequently wrong ) but towards the objects or object , as it appears to be , as it is the object of the mind , and as represented by the senses . for in this instance last mentioned , the affection was , according to this meaning , rightly applied to the object ; so that the affection was not unjust , but equal and right , tho the sight perhaps were ill ; and that it were a purblind man who thus mistook a stranger for his father . neither can any weakness or imperfection of this sort create wrong , as occasioning the unequal application , abuse or prostitution of the affection , so long as the object , in the manner that it is taken or apprehended , is neither absurd nor improper , but sutable to , and worthy of the affection or degree of affection applied to it : for if it be possible to suppose a rational creature who has an intire and forcible affection towards right and good , and who never fails in a just and right degree of affection towards every object presenting it self , but that his memory or parts fail him ; and that the objects are through the senses , as through ill glasses , falsly conveyed and represented to him , not as they are actually , but after a different manner ; the person thus failing , since his failure is not in the affection , but elsewhere , is only vitious where his defect is ; that is to say , in his senses ( as in his hearing , seeing , &c. ) or in his memory : but it being not for ill memory , or ill organs of sense that a man is called vitious , this is not vitiousness or wrongfulness in one thus defective . but as the extravagance of opinion and belief is such , that in some countries we have known that even monkeys , cats , crocodiles , and such like animals , have bin held for deities ; should it appear to any one of the religion and faith of that country , that to save such a creature as a cat , before a parent , was right ; and that the cat deserved the greater affection of the two ; this would be wrong , notwithstanding the appearance of the thing , or any appearance or belief in the world. so that whatsoever is the cause of the misconception or misapprehension of the worth or value of any object , so as to raise an affection or degree of affection towards it , such as ought not to be ; this must be the occasion of wrong , as it is the occasion of an inequality or disproportion in the affection towards the object represented or appearing . for thus he who affects or loves a man for the sake of something which is reputed honorable , but which is in reality vitious , is himself vitious and ill : as when an ambitious man , by the fame of his high attempts ; a robber or a pyrat by his boasted enterprizes , raises in any others an esteem and admiration of himself , and of that immoral and inhuman character which deserves abhorrence . but on the other side , he who loves and esteems another , as believing him to have that virtue which he has not , but only counterfeits , is not on this account wrongful , vitious , or corrupt . so that a mistake in fact ( where there is due advertency ) being no cause of , nor any ways implying ill affection , can be no cause of wrong . but whatsoever is a mistake of right ( that is to say , of the worth of the object represented ) this being the cause of unequal or unproportioned affection , is the cause of wrong . but as there are many occasions where the matter of right ( that is to say , the worth of the object represented ) may even to the most discerning part of mankind appear difficult and of doubtful decision ( as when a man amongst several relations or friends about to perish , doubts whom he shall first succor ) it is certain that the very least mistake in this way , the least wrong preference , tho in a matter the most intricate , is in strictness of speaking an injustice or wrong : yet however , as to that name or appellation of a worthy or good man , or man of integrity , it is not the very least error of this sort , or the slightest inequality or disproportion of the affection , through a mistake of judgment , which takes away that denomination , and makes a man to be esteemed a vitious or ill man , whilst the aim and intention is still good , and the affection strong and of full force towards public good , justice and equity . tho on the other side , where this good aim is ever so much ; and where the affection towards right is ever so strong ; yet if through superstition or strange custom and vogue , or through any wildness or extravagancy of opinion , there come to be very gross mistakes in the assignment or application of the affection ( as when human sacrifices or bestiality are practised as worthy and right ) this cannot but be wrong and vitious ; and must denominate a man ill : and the same when the mistakes are less gross ; but so complicated and frequent , that a creature cannot well live in a natural state ; nor with due affections , so as to perform his part even but tolerably well towards his society or system . and thus we find how far virtue ( which is goodness or soundness of affection in a rational creature ) depends on a right knowlege of what is right and wrong , and on such a right use of reason as may give ground to a right application and exercise of the affections ; that nothing horrid or unnatural , nothing unexemplary , nothing contrary to , or destructive of that natural affection by which the species or society is upheld , may on any account or principle whatsoever , through any notion of honor , or on any pretence of good to mankind , or of obedience to supreme powers , be at any time affected or prosecuted as a good and proper object of inclinable affection , love , and esteem . for such an affection as this must be wholly vitious : and whatsoever is acted upon it , can be no other than vice and immorality . and thus if there be any thing which teaches men either treachery , ingratitude , or cruelty , tho under the color and pretence of religion , or of any present or future good to mankind or society ; if there be any thing which teaches men ( as amongst some indians ) that to torment captives of war in sport , and to eat their flesh , is a thing very plausible ; or that to eat the flesh of enemies ; or that to cut and slash themselves in a religious fury before their god ; or to commit all sort of bestiality , is excellent or lovely in it self , or conducing to his particular nation or society , or to society in general , or to the interest or honor of the deities , and as such , praiseworthy and honorable ; be it what it will that teaches this ; be it custom that gives applause , or religion that gives a sanction ; this is not virtue , nor ever will be of any kind , or in any sense ; but is still horrid depravity in these men , notwithstanding any custom or religion of their country , which may be ill and vitious it self , but can never alter the eternal measures and true nature of virtue . to conclude therefore , upon this matter , from what has bin said before . as to those creatures who are only capable of being moved by sensible objects ; they can only be either good or vitious ( for we cannot say they are virtuous or vitious ) as those sort of affections stand . a creature on the other hand , capable of framing in his mind those other rational objects of moral good , of justice and right , of what is generous , worthy , and becoming ; altho his other affections towards the sensible objects may , any of them , remain ill ; yet if they do not prevail over him , because of his good affections to the other sort ( that is to say , to goodness and virtue , as they are objects of his reason ) then is his natural temper good in the main ; and the person esteem'd-virtuous by all people , according to that natural temper which is the test still , and by which every thing of goodness or virtue is measur'd . now , if by natural temper any one is passionate , angry , fearful , amorous , or the like ; but that he resists these passions , and keeps to virtue , notwithstanding all their impression and force , we say commonly in this case , that the virtue is so much the greater : and we say well . tho if that which keeps the person virtuous , in opposition to these dispositions , be no good affection elsewhere in the temper towards goodness or virtue ; but that it be only some affection towards privat good or self-good ( as hope of reward , or dread of punishment ) then is this not so much as any virtue at all , as has bin shewn before . but this still is evident , that if an angry temper bears , or an amorous one refrains , so as that nothing of severity , nor any action immodest or irregular can be drawn or forc'd from such a one , thus strongly tempted ; we applaud the virtue of the person , above what we should do , if he were free of this temptation and these propensities : tho , at the same time , there is no body will say that a propensity to vice can be any way understood to be an addition to virtue , or helping to complete a virtuous character . but thus it is . if there be any part of the natural temper in which ill passions or affections are stir'd , and which is consequently vitious ; but that in another part of the natural temper the affections are so vastly forcible towards good ; and that the sentiments of right and wrong , of a virtuous life , and of integrity , are so strongly fixed , as to master these other attempts , of a contrary vitious temper ; then is this the greatest proof imaginable , how strong the principle of virtue is in such a person , and how much a thorow good affection toward good and right ( which is the true principle of virtue ) is strongly fixed in and possessed of the natural temper . whereas if there be no such ill passions stirring in the natural temper , a person may be much more cheaply virtuous ; and may live virtuously without ▪ having so much of a virtuous principle as this other . but if this other , who has the principle of virtue so highly and so strongly implanted , be without , or do lose these natural impediments ; he certainly loses nothing in virtue , or is wanting in any manner to virtue ; but losing that other part which is vitious in his natural temper , is more entire to virtue , and has it in a clearer and higher degree . however ill the natural temper be with respect to the sensible objects ; as for instance , however passionate , furious , lustful or cruel any creature naturally be ; yet if there be any attractiveness or prevalency in those rational objects of justice , generosity , gratitude , or any other image or representation of virtue , so as that it draws an affection towards it ; there is however some virtue here . and on the other side , however vitious the mind be ; or whatever ill rules or principles it goes by ; yet if there be any flexibleness in the temper towards the sensible objects of moral good or ill ( as when there is any such thing as mercy , compassion , bounty ) still there is some good left in that creature ; and he is not wholly unnatural and depraved . thus a ruffian who refuses to discover his associates out of a sense of fidelity and honor of any kind whatever ; and who rather than betray them is contented to endure torments in a dungeon , and there expire , has something of the principle of virtue , and may be call'd virtuous in some degree : and so in the same manner that malefactor who rather than do the office of executioner to his relations , chose to be executed with them . in short , therefore , it is hard to pronounce of any man , that he has no virtue , or that he is entirely vitious ; there being few even of the horridest villains who have not something of virtue , or some goodness . nothing being more just than what is a known saying , that it is as hard to find a man wholly ill , as wholly good : because wherever there is any good affection left , there is some goodness or some virtue still remaining . and , having consider'd thus as to virtue , what it is , we may now consider how it stands with respect to the opinions concerning a deity , as above-mention'd . sect . iii. the nature of virtue consisting ( as has bin explain'd ) in just and equal affection , which we may hereafter call a due sense of right and wrong , as comprehending in one the soundness both of judgment and affection ; nothing can in a creature capable of such a sense , exclude a principle of virtue , or can obstruct or make it ineffectual , but what 1. either wholly , or in some degree , excludes or takes away the sense of right and wrong . 2. or causes a wrong and disturb'd sense of what is right and wrong . 3. or , tho there be a sense of right and wrong , is the means however of guiding the affection to what is contrary . as when a man knowing any action or . behavior to be morally ill and deform'd , yet through some violent passion , as of lust or anger , or through love of some imagined good , he notwithstanding commits ▪ the ill or unsociable action . and so , on the other side , nothing can be assistant to , or promote virtue , but what either in some manner nourishes and supports that sense of right and wrong , or preserves it from being false and imaginary , or causes it , when sound and genuin , to be obey'd and submitted to , by subduing and subjecting the other affections to it . upon this account therefore , we are to consider , how it is that any of these opinions about the subject of a deity do affect in these cases , or cause any of these three things . i. as to the first case , the taking away the notion or sense of right and wrong . it will not be imagin'd , that by this is meant the taking away the notion or sense of what is good or ill for the species , or in society , since this is what no rational creature can be unsensible of : but , it is then that we say it of a creature , that he has lost the sense of right and wrong , when being able to discern the good and ill of his species , he has at the same time no concern for either , nor any sense of excellency or baseness in what relates to one or the other . so that except merely with relation to privat or separat good , there is nothing which gains any estimation or any good affection towards it ; nothing which is thought right , or worthy in it self of admiration , love or good affection ; nor any thing on the other side which is accordingly dislik'd or hated , as morally ill , be it ever so horrid or deform'd . there is in effect no rational creature whatsoever , but knows that when he offends or dos harm to any one , he cannot fail to create an expectation or fear of like ill , and consequently a resentment and animosity in any creature looking on ; and therefore must be conscious to himself of being liable and exposed in some manner to such a treatment from every one , as if he had in some degree offended all . thus offence and injury is always known as punishable , and claiming punishment from every one ; and equal behavior , which is therefore called merit , as rewardable and well deserving from every one . this is no more than what the wickedest creature imaginable has , and cannot but have a sense of . so that if we have any farther meaning in this , of a sense of right and wrong ; if there be any sense of right and wrong which an absolute wicked creature has not , it can be only the hatred and dislike of what is accounted morally ill ; hatred of offence and injury , as such merely , and the love of , or approbation of what is accounted morally good ; love of equal behavior ; equal and kind affection as such merely , and not because of consequent punishment or reward , which implies only love of privat good , hatred of privat ill , and not of any thing farther , as in it self amiable or detestable . so that sense of right and wrong , as here treated of , is nothing but the very affection it self of kindness or dislike to such objects of moral good or ill , as above explain'd . it is scarcely to be conceiv'd , that any creature should be at the very first so ill , and of so curst a nature , as that if it be merely a sensible , not a rational creature , it should as soon as it comes to be try'd by objects , have no one passion of goodness towards its kind , no foundation in its temper of either pity , love , succorableness , or the like : or if the creature be more than sensible , and be a rational creature , that it should as soon as it comes to be try'd by rational objects , as of justice , generosity , and other virtue , have no inclining affection , no kind of liking towards these , or dislike towards what is on the contrary side cruel , horrid , base , villanous , or the like , but so as to be of absolute indifference towards any thing of this kind ; this is in a manner impossible to suppose . sense of right and wrong therefore being as natural to us as natural affection it self , and being a first principle in our constitution and make ; there is no speculative opinion , perswasion , or belief , which is capable immediatly , and of it self to exclude or destroy it : and it being it self an affection of first rise and production in the affectionate part , the soul or temper ; nothing but contrary affection , by frequent check and controul , can operate upon it so as to make it cease to be ; since that which is of original and pure nature , nothing but contrary habit or custom ( a second nature ) is able to displace : for , where the mind is the most earnestly bent , merely against any bodily gesture or meen , either natural or by habit acquir'd , and would endeavor to break it , so as to remove it wholly out of the carriage ; it is not by such an immediate and sudden disapprobation , or contrary bent of the mind that this can be remov'd ; neither can that affection in the soul , of hatred to inhumanity , love of mercy , or whatsoever else in a rational creature implies a sense in some degree of right and wrong , be instantly , nor yet without much force and violence effac'd or struck out of the natural temper , even by the means of the most pernicious opinion and belief in the world . but this mischief being not to be effected directly through any opinion , but in consequence and by effect of untoward and opposit affection ( which may often be owing to , and occasion'd by opinion ) we may then speak of it more particularly when we speak of the ill operation of other affections , set in opposition to that of a sense of right and wrong . ii. as to the second case . if there be a sense of right and wrong , but that it be more or less mistaken and confounded , as in the case of those barbarous nations , as above ; it often happens that it is no opinion at all about the subject of a deity which influences in this place : for it is frequently nothing else but the custom of some countries , and the force of education against nature , where such and such things are repeatedly view'd with applause and honor accompanying them . so that it is possible that a man forcing himself , may eat the flesh of his enemies , not only against his stomach , but against his nature ( if i may so speak ) and yet think it very right and honorable , as being of considerable service to his community , and capable of advancing the name , and spreading the terror of his nation . but to speak of the opinions relating to a deity , and what effect they have in this place , which is our business . as to atheism , it dos not seem that it can directly have any effect at all here towards the setting up , or making of a false species or shew of right or wrong . for tho a man by ill practice , which may be occasion'd by atheism , may come to lose , in a manner , all sense of right and wrong ( that is to say , all sense of good or ill , amiableness or deformity in any moral action , as above ) tho atheism , thus , may be the occasion of an almost thorow selfishness , as when a creature has scarcely any thing that attracts him but what is of a selfish kind , and what relates to a deliberat self-end , the satisfaction of some lust , or the security of the animal state ; yet it dos not seem that atheism should of it self be the cause of any such estimation , or valuing of any thing as noble of performance , generous , self-worthy and deserving , which was just the contrary : so as that it should be thought that the being able to eat man's flesh , to commit bestiality , or any such like actions as have bin mention'd , were after the same manner , good and excellent in themselves . but this is certain , that by means of ill religion , or superstition , many things the most horridly unnatural and inhuman , come to be receiv'd as most excellent , good and laudable in themselves : for , where the commiting bestiality is taught as a religious practice , there it is generally in high esteem , and thought to be in it self a thing excellent : for if any thing that is abominable and horrid be injoin'd by religion , as the suppos'd command of some deity ; if the thing be not taken for good and excellent , but for horrid and abominable , then must the deity be taken for such , and be thought of as a being odious and malignant ; which every religion forbids to believe . therefore whatever teaches the love and admiration of a deity , that has any character of ill , teaches at the same time a love and admiration of that ill , and causes that to be taken for good and amiable which is horrid and detestable . so that if the praise and love of a deity be that which is proper to every religion , there is no religion where god is not represented intirely good , and free of malignity , injustice and cruelty , but what must make that sort whatsoever it be , of malignity , injustice , or cruelty , to be applauded and taken for good and right ; and must be the cause therefore of mens acting against natural affection , and of their growing malignant , unjust , cruel , and the like . for instance ; if jupiter be he that is ador'd and reverenc'd ; and that the history of jupiter makes him to be lustful , and to satiate his lust in the most loose and exorbitant manner ; then is it impossible but his worshipper believing this history and character , must be taught a greater love of lustful actions . if there be a religion that teaches the adoration and love of a god , whose character it is to be full of jealousy , captious , and of high resentment , subject to wrath and anger , furious , revengeful , and revenging injuries on others than those who did injury ; and if there be added in the character of this god , a fraudulent inclination , incouraging deceit and treachery , favorable to a few , and that for slight causes or no cause , and cruel to the rest ; it is evident in the case of such a religion as this , that it must of necessity raise even an approbation and respect towards the vices and imperfections of this kind , and breed accordingly that parallel disposition , that unsociable and jealous temper , partiality , selfishness , moroseness , bitterness and revengefulness , as well as treachery and inhumanity : for whatever is of this nature must in many cases appear noble to him who views these things in that being to which he gives the highest honor and veneration . but , if it be suppos'd , that in the worship of such a god , there is nothing besides what proceeds merely from fear and aw , without the least esteem or love towards him , as to one suppos'd amiable or excellent ; then is not any one indeed by this opinion , misled as to his notion of right and wrong , of what is amiable or detestable in actions . for if in following the precepts of his god , or doing what is necessary towards the satisfying of such his deity , he be compell'd only by fear , and act against his inclination the thing which he dislikes as barbarous , unnatural , or any other way ill and odious ; then has he a sense of what is ill , and of what right and wrong is , and is sensible of ill in the character of his god : however nice he be in pronouncing any thing concerning it , or in not daring so much as to think formally about it out of a superstitious fear or shyness . for whoever pretends to believe that there is a god , and that god is just and good , must mean that there is such a thing as justice and injustice , right and wrong , according to which he pronounces that god is just : for if the will of god , or law of god alone , be said to be that which makes right and wrong , then must this be a name only for what is or is not his will : for thus if by his will one person were to be punish'd for anothers fault , this would be just and right ; and so the same , if arbitrarily and without reason , some beings were made to suffer nothing but ill , and others only to enjoy good ; which to say is just , is to say nothing , or to speak without a meaning . and thus it ever is , and must be an ill consequence in false and ill religion , that where there is a real reverence , esteem and worship of a supreme being , represented not as absolutely just and perfect , it must occasion the loss of rectitude in the creature so worshipping and adoring , and who is thus immorally religious . to this i need only add , that as the character of a vitious god ( or rather daemon or idol of the mind ) dos injury to the affections of men , disturbs and impairs the sense of right and wrong ; so on the other hand , it must highly contribute to the fixing of right apprehensions , and a sound sense of right and wrong in men , to contemplate , respect , and adore a god who is ever , and on all accounts represented to them so as to be actually a true model and example of the most exact justice , and highest goodness and worth ; and who by a constant good affection express'd towards the whole , must of necessity engage us to act within our compass , or in our sphere or system , according to a like principle and affection : and having once the good of the species or mankind in view , and as our end or aim , it must be with difficulty that we can be misguided to a wrong sense of what is right or wrong . nor can any thing more prevail on men , or more naturally form their minds to a union with virtue and excellence , than an establish'd opinion , such as this , concerning a supreme deity . but of this afterwards . as to this second case therefore ; religion ( according to the kind it may be of ) is capable of doing great good or great harm , and atheism not any positive good or harm . for , however it may be indirectly an occasion of mens losing a good and sufficient sense of right and wrong ; yet it will not , as atheism merely , be the occasion of setting up false right and wrong , which only fantastical reasoning , ill custom , or ill religion can do . iii. as to the last case , the opposition of other affections to those virtuous ones , which create a real sense of right and wrong ; it is to be consider'd that a creature having this sort of sense or good affection in any considerable degree , must necessarily act according to it ; if this affection be not oppos'd either by some interesting affection towards a contrary imagin'd self-good and privat advantage , or by some strong and forcible passion , as of lust or anger , which may not only overbear the sense of right and wrong , but even the sense of privat advantage too , and overrule even the most settled opinion of what is conducing to self-good . nothing therefore can overcome or suppress this sense we speak of , or injure the integrity of such a creature , but what either raises or affords growth to those strong and obstinat passions ; or otherwise causes an imagination of some interest or self-advantage in opposition to this affection of virtue ; so as to cause this good disposition to be resisted and gone against deliberatly , and in cool judgment . whatsoever is of this kind , besides that it turns a creature towards vice in spite of this other good disposition● it must in time also even wear out that good disposition it self , and so leave the creature in a manner totally resign'd to vice. now , in this former part of our inquiry , our business is not to examin ( as we afterwards shall ) all the several ways by which this corruption is introduc'd or increas'd : but we are to consider how the opinions concerning a deity do influence one way or another in this place , or cause this corruption whereby we act in contradiction of good and right affection , and which is follow'd by the loss of that right affection , or sense of right and wrong . and this being after this manner complicated , we shall treat it more openly and at large . that it is possible for a creature capable of using reflection , to have a liking or dislike of moral actions , and consequently a sense of right and wrong , before such time as he may have any notion or sense of god at all ; this is what will hardly be question'd : it being a thing not expected , or any way possible , that a creature such as man , arising from his childhood slowly and gradually , to several degrees of reason and reflection , should at the very first be taken up with those speculations or more refin'd sort of reflections , about the subject of god's existence . but to make this more plain ; let us suppose a creature wanting reason , or unable to reflect at all , who notwithstanding has many good qualities and affections ; as considering only that one of pity or compassionatness : it is certain that if you give to this creature a reflecting faculty , it will at the same instant approve of charity and pity , be taken with any shew or representation of pity , and think pity amiable and good , and cruelty the contrary : and so the same in case of any other passion or affection . and this is to be capable of virtue , and to have a sense of right and wrong . before therefore that a creature may be suppos'd to have any notion or opinion one way or other , concerning the subject of a god , he may be suppos'd to have a sense of right and wrong , and to have virtue and vice in different degrees ; as we know by experience of those who have liv'd in such places , or in such a manner as never to have enter'd into any thoughts or opinion at all in that matter ; who yet are very different amongst themselves , as to their honesty , good nature and virtue . but whether we suppose in a creature but the least part of this good disposition or virtuous principle ; let us consider what it is ( as to any of these opinions concerning a deity ) that can , or is likely to raise any affection in opposition ; or on the other side , may be able to prevent and hinder any such opposit affection , subdue it , or make it less . now , as to the belief of a deity , and how men are influenc'd to yield obedience , and act in conformity to such a supreme being ; it must be either in the way of his power , as expecting advantage or harm from him , or in the way of his excellency and adorable perfections , as thinking it the perfection of nature , and highest glory and honor to follow and imitate him , or to be approv'd by him . if ( as in the first case ) there be a belief or conception of a deity , who is fear'd as one that will punish such or such a behavior ; and if upon this account , through the fear of such a certain punishment , the creature be restrain'd from doing that particular ill , which he is not otherwise in any manner averse from ; this is not , nor ever can be , as has bin prov'd , any virtue or goodness , any more than as it may be said perhaps , that there is meekness and gentleness in a tyger chain'd up , or innocence and sobriety in a monky under the disciplin of the whip . for however orderly and well those animals , or man himself upon like terms , may be brought to act , while the mind or reason is not gain'd , nor the inclinations carri'd that way ; but that aw alone is that which prevails and forces obedience ; the obedience is but servil , and all that is done through it merely servil ; and the greater degree of such a submission or compliance is but the greater servility towards whatsoever subject it chance to be . for , whether such a creature have a good master , or an ill one , he is not less servil in his own nature : and tho the master or superior so fear'd be ever so perfect , and of so excellent a nature , yet the greater and more prostitute submission that is caus'd in this case , and through this principle or motive only , is but the lower and more abject servitude , and implies the greater wretchedness and meanness in the creature , as having those passions of self-love , or towards self-good so much more strong and excessive , that is to say , more faultily and vitiously ; as has bin explain'd . so that this belief of a god dispensing rewards and punishments according to such and such actions , is not of it self directly the cause of virtue ; tho it may be perhaps of a virtuous-like behavior . but if it be the character of a religion , to injoin not only the good action , but the affection , such as charity and love ; and that in reality it be the effect of such a religion , to make men endeavor all they can to create in themselves such free dispositions to goodness : then is a person by this means made to have virtue in any particular , when he begins to act through such sincere and sound affection . and thus the fear of punishment and hope of reward may be understood to be the occasion of virtue , when it gives rise to another principle than it self , and is at length the occasion of doing good out of some other affection than either that towards reward , or that of apprehension and dread of punishment ; there being no such thing possible as either actual love , charity , or goodness , till such time . if ( as in the second case ) there be a belief or conception of a deity , who is admir'd and ador'd , as being understood to have the most high and glorious qualities ; such as of infinit power and wisdom , which make him conspicuous and cause him of necessity to be reverenc'd and held in veneration ; and if in the manner that this soveraign and mighty being is apprehended , or as he is related and describ'd , there appear in him a high and eminent regard to what is good and excellent , a concern for the good of all , or an affection of kindness and love towards the whole ; such an example as this ( of the good of which we have already spoken ) must certainly help to raise and increase the affection towards virtue , and help to submit and subdue all other affections to that . and if join'd to this , there be an opinion or apprehension of the superintendency and all-seeingness of such a supreme being ; as one who is a witness and spectator of human actions , and conscious of whatsoever is felt or acted in the universe ; so that in the perfectest recess or deepest solitude there is not wanting one closely join'd to us , whose presence singly is of more moment than that of the most august assembly on earth , or of all mankind overlooking , before whom as the shame of guilty actions must be the greatest shame , so the honor of well-doing , even under the unjust censure of a whole world , must be the greatest honor and applause ; in this case , it is to the commonest view apparent how far conducing a perfect theism must be to virtue , and how much want there is in atheism . therefore , if there be a being conceiv'd , all-intelligent , and all-seeing , of infinit power , wisdom and goodness ; the belief of such a being ( which is barely the theistical belief and no more ) must of necessity , thus , be highly effectual to the creating or furthering of good affections , and to the removing of contrary ones ; by rendring every thing that is of virtue more lovely , splendid , and attractive , and every thing that is of vice more ignominious and deform'd . what the fear of future punishments , and hopes of certain future rewards , may farther do towards the promotion of virtue ; and of what benefit this accession of belief may be to virtue , we shall further consider as we proceed . but this in the mean while is certain , that neither can this fear or hope be of the kind of those affections which we call good affections , as being the springs and sources of all actions truly good . nor yet can it , as has bin prov'd , so much as admit of a thorow good affection , where it stands as essential to any moral performance , or where it has to do , as but in part a motive to that which some other affection ought alone to have bin a motive full and sufficient : so that it is therefore not only not the cause , but is exclusive in some degree , of any virtuous action , and must withal , as it increases , strengthen the vitious principle , that of excessive selfishness , or habitual earnest attention of the mind , and application of the passions towards self-good ; which principle as it is improv'd and made stronger every day , by the strong exercise of the passions in this subject of more extended self-interest , must spread it self through the whole life ; and by causing a greater attention to self-good in every thing else , must of necessity take off from , and diminish the affections towards other good , that is to say , public and extensive good , or good of the system , as above ; in short , must destroy more and more true generosity and virtue , and introduce meanness and narrowness of soul. thus if true piety be esteem'd a love of god for his own excellency , it will follow , that as this solicitous regard to privat good expected from him , is greater or lesser ; so it will prove either more or less a diminution to the love of god for his own excellence , and consequently prove a diminution of piety : because whilst god is belov'd only as the cause of privat good to any one , he is belov'd but as any other instrument or means of pleasure by any vitious creature : and when there is more of this sort of passion or affection towards privat good , there is less room , as has bin shewn , for the other towards more general good , or towards any deserving object worthy of love and admiration for its own sake ; such as is god. in the same manner , if the love and desire of life , or prolongation of being , be remarkably strong in any creature ; the stronger it is , the less he is able to have true submission or resignation to providence , or the rule and order of god , and consequently the less is his piety . and if his resignation depends wholly on that expectation of infinit reward , the meaning of his resignation , whatever the appearance be , is only this , that he resigns all other things upon a condition of that which he himself confesses to be much beyond an equivalent , viz. eternal living , and in a state of highest pleasure and enjoyment . but , notwithstanding this , it is certain that altho the principle of virtue cannot in its own nature but suffer diminution by whatsoever is of that other kind ; as by eagerness of reward ( which by it self , and in the room of better affection is mercenariness ) and dread of punishment ( which is in the same sense servility : ) and altho as any such ardent pursuit of pleasure , or over-great attention of the mind to self-concernment increases , the principle of generosity , magnanimity and virtue , must suffer and decrease ; yet it is certain that this principle of fear of future punishment and hope of future reward may indirectly , and in particular circumstances , be the occasion of great good and advantage to virtue ; and what this may be , we shall to the full endeavor to shew . it has bin already consider'd how , that notwithstanding any implanted sense of right and wrong , or any good affection towards society , yet by violent passion , as by rage or lust , this other good affection may be frequently control'd and overcome . where therefore there is nothing in the mind capable to make such passions as these the objects of its aversion , and to cause them earnestly to be oppos'd and struggled against ; in this case , if there be any thing in religion which creates a belief that passions of this kind as well as their consequent actions , are the object of a deitys animadversion , it is certain that such a belief must be allow'd beneficial to virtue , as it will be allow'd to tend to the calming of the mind , and to the disposing or fitting the person to a better recollection and observance of that other good and virtuous principle , which by being unobstructed must the more increase . this also may be said as to the support which this belief of a future reward and punishment may prove to virtue ; that as it is capable of raising men to virtue who were at first in a manner strangers to it ; so where men are already in a virtuous course , it may prove that which alone can save them from falling off from the virtue they possess , into a licentious and vitious practise . to prove how this may be , we may consider the thing thus . a person who has much of goodness and natural rectitude in his temper , being sensible of poverty , crosses and adversity ; and being perhaps of a nature too sensible towards some certain pleasures , as of fame or reputation , ease , indolency or repose ; it is certain that the meeting with any of these first , or the being disappointed in any of these latter , must give a sourness and distaste to the temper , and make it averse to that which is the occasion of such ill . now if the person be so affected as to think his honesty or strict integrity to be at any time the occasion of this ill ; it is likely he may be made dissatisfi'd with his good disposition and principles . and if his own thoughts , or the corrupt insinuations of other men still present this to his mind , that his honesty is the occasion of this ill to him , and that if freed from this restraint of virtue and honesty , he might be much happier ; 't is very obvious that his love and relish towards virtue and honesty , must every day diminish , as the temper grows uneasy and quarrels with it . but if he opposes to this the consideration , that honesty carries with it , if not a present , at least a future recompence , so as to make up that loss to privat or self-good which he repines at ; then may this injury to his good temper and honest principle be prevented , and his love or affection towards honesty and virtue remain the same . in the same manner where there is not a love , but a sort of aversion towards what is good and virtuous , as towards lenity and forgivingness , and that there is a love of its contrary , revenge ; it is possible and very natural , that by the consideration that lenity is , by its rewards , made the cause of a greater self-good ; that very affection of lenity and mildness may be industriously nourish'd , and the contrary depress'd ; so that the good affection may come at last to be seated in the temper , and the good and proper object to be belov'd , as by a creature well affected , when no punishment or reward is thought of . thus we see that in a state or public , a virtuous and good administration , and an equal and just distribution of rewards and punishments is of service , not only to restrain vitious men , and to make them act usefully to the public ; but , by making virtue to be apparently the interest of every one , it removes all prejudices against it , creates a fair reception for it , and leads men into that path which afterwards they cannot easily quit . for , thus a people made virtuous by the long course of a wise and just administration , when ever this happens to be interrupted by some sudden tyranny or usurpation , they will on this account rather be raised to exert a stronger virtue . and even , where by long and continued arts of a prevailing tyranny , they are at last totally oppress'd , the seeds of that virtue will still remain , and for some ages afterwards shew themselves not wholly extinct . but this withal we must here observe , that it is example which chiefly works these effects ; for a virtuous administration is seldom but accompanied with virtue in the magistrate . nor is it so much the reward it self , or the punishment which dos this , as the natural estimation of virtue , and shame of villany which is excited and mov'd by these expressions of the hatred of mankind towards injustice , and their approbation of goodness and virtue . for even in the suffering of the greatest villains themselves , we see generally that the infamy of their act , the odiousness of their crime , and their shame towards mankind , contribute more to their misery than all besides ; and that it is not so much death it self which creates their horror , as that kind of death they undergo . it is the same in privat families : and here tho the slaves and mercenary servants , restrain'd and made orderly by punishment , and by the severity of their master , are not on that account made good or honest ; yet the same master of the family using proper rewards and punishments towards his children , teaches them goodness , and by this help instructs them in a virtue which afterwards they practise upon other grounds , and without thoughts of reward . if by the thoughts of future reward , or what regards another state , be understood the love and desire of virtuous enjoyment , or of the very practice and exercise of virtue in another life ; the expectation or hope of this , must not only be a great encouragement to virtue ; but it appears plainly , that the very following of virtue in hope to obtain that supreme happiness which consists in the perfection of it , is of it self a degree of virtue , a proof of the sincere love we have for it , as for its own sake ; and cannot be call'd a motive of self-interest or selfishness : for if the love of virtue be any thing distinct from that which we mean by common and narrow self-interest , then the love and desire of life ( when lov'd and desir'd for the sake of virtue alone ) must also be distinct . but if the desire of continu'd or prolong'd life , be only through the violence of that aversion which is towards death ; if it be through the love and desire of something else in life , than virtuous affection and practice , and through the unwillingness of parting with something else than what is purely of this kind ; then is this no longer any virtue , or sign of virtue . whoever therefore ( from what has bin said before ) is after any manner , or in any way at all perswaded or induc'd to think that honesty and virtue have their rewards ; such a one is capable of being led to a virtue which he already is not arriv'd at ; tho yet his doing any thing on the consideration or foresight merely of such reward separate from virtue and of another nature , is no virtue ; nor even that thing of setting about to make himself virtuous on that score , can be any virtue . for tho he may intend to be virtuous , he is not become so , for having only intended , or for only intending to be so , because of the rewards of virtue : but as soon as he is come to have one single good affection , any affection towards what is good and worthy , sociable , human , or any way morally good , as liking and affecting this for its own sake , and as good and amiable in it self ; then is he in some degree good and virtuous , and not till then . upon the whole therefore , one who has not any reason or belief to hinder him from thinking that virtue is the cause of misery , and is of self-ill , such a one must be subject to lose much of his virtue and good disposition . and one who has a contrary reason and belief , which makes him think virtue to be his good , or a cause of good to him , has an inducement to virtue , and an assistance in it which the other has not . whoever thinks always consistently , or according to one fix'd or settled judgment , that virtue causes happiness , and vice misery ; or whoever there is , who , as they say commonly , feels by himself , that he can never be happy , if he quits his integrity and innocency ; either of these persons carry with them that requisit security , and that assistance to virtue abovemention'd . or if there are such who have not such thoughts , nor can believe that virtue is their interest in life , except they are otherwise rewarded ; yet if they believe a god dispensing rewards and punishments in this present , or in a future state , to virtue and vice , they carry also this security and assistance to virtue along with them ; whilst their belief continues thus , and is not in the least either wavering or doubtful . for it must be observ'd here , that whensoever the dependence upon this is exceeding great , it very much takes off from any other dependence or encouragement ; for , where high rewards are inforc'd , and the imagination strongly turn'd towards them , the other natural motives to goodness are apt to lose much of their force , whilst the mind is thus transported and taken up in the contemplation and pursuit of a highly elevated self-interest , and in a concernment of such infinit importance to our selves in particular , that on this account , all other affections towards friends , relations , or mankind ( mere worldly objects ) are slightly look'd upon ; the interest of our soul being so far superior . and we know this by experience , that the persons who are the most highly devout , are , from the contemplation of the high enjoyments of another state , accustom'd to undervalue all other earthly advantages of goodness ; and in the same religious zeal are often carri'd to decry all other natural benefits of virtue : so as to declare , that except only for the sake of that supreme reward , they would devest themselves of all goodness at once , and should think it their greatest advantage to be vitious . so that there may be nothing more fatal to virtue , than the weak and uncertain belief of a future reward and punishment ; for , having laid the stress wholly here , if this come to fail , or loosly to waver , it must prove a betraying of virtue , and must prove , if not the ruin , at least of mighty prejudice to mens morals . but to return to our argument ; the belief of a god therefore may supply that defect in the thought or opinion concerning the want of happiness in virtue , which atheism has no remedy for . altho it be not otherwise imply'd , but that without an absolute and clear assent to that hypothesis of full and compleat theism ; the other opinion , or the other thoughts as to the happiness of a man with good affections , and the misery of a man with contrary ones , may possibly be establish'd in the mind ; and so virtue be esteem'd good , or the means of good ; and vice always the contrary . tho yet the natural tendency of atheism be very different ; since besides the unaptness and disproportion of such a belief as that of atheism , to the apprehension or imagination of any thing in such just order , and according to so admirable a disposition as that would be , were virtue always the good , and vice the ill of every creature : it must be besides confess'd too , that there is a great deal wanting in this belief towards the promotion of that particular good affection of love to virtue ; which love however when at its height , and when forcibly felt , is the chiefest thing that can make the happiness of virtue to be well credited : for it is almost impossible constantly and firmly to retain this opinion of the great happiness arising from virtue it self , without conceiving high thoughts and estimation of the pleasure and delight resulting from the very love of virtue ; from the contemplation of what is worthy in it self , as well as from the mere conveniences of a virtuous life : which sort of pleasure and delight is likely to gain but little opinion or credit where it is not highly experienc'd . the chief ground and support , therefore , of this opinion , of the constant happiness of virtue , must be from the powerful feeling of this affection , and the knowledg of its power and strength . but this is certain , that there must be but little encouragement or support of any such affection as this , or of liking and affecting any thing as in it self good and beautiful , where there is neither goodness nor beauty allowed in the whole it self ; nor any perfect or wise direction for the good of any thing , nor any good affection of a supreme mind or will towards the good of all in general , nor any consciousness in such an all-knowing and perfect mind , of the virtue and good affection of particulars . this must tend rather to the cutting off of all love , veneration or esteem of any thing decent , just or orderly in the universe , to the weaning of the affections from any thing amiable or self-worthy , and to the suppressing even of that very habit and custom of contemplating with satisfaction and delight the beauties that are in nature , and whatever in the order of things is according to a harmony and proportion the most resulting to sense . for how little dispos'd must such a person be , either to love or admire any thing as orderly and comly in the universe , who thinks that the universe it self is nothing but disorder ? how unapt to reverence or respect any particular or subordinat beauty ( such as is part of the structure ) when the whole it self is thought to want perfection , and to be only a vast and infinit deformity ? and when we consider further concerning such an opinion of the whole as this is , and the thoughts of living in such a distracted universe , from which so many ills may be suspected , and in which there is nothing good , nothing lovely to be contemplated , or that can raise any affection towards it other than that of hatred and aversion ; it will seem hardly possible for us to think otherwise of such an opinion as this , than that it must by degrees imbitter the temper , and not only make the love of virtue to be less felt , but help to impair and ruin natural affection and kindness . so that as there is nothing so exalting to virtue , or so hightning to the pleasure deriv'd from it , as a pure and perfect theism ; so on the other side a perfect atheism is that which must tend exceedingly to destroy all ground of delight in virtue , and even that very principle it self of all virtue , viz. natural and good affection . but now on the other side ; neither is it impli'd that every one whosoever that believes a god , believes to this effect , and with this advantage to virtue ; or that whoever believes both a god , and rewards and punishments dispens'd either in this present , or in some future state , believes to this effect . for if he believes that these rewards and punishments are tied to , or follow something else than good or ill affections ( as they do , who believe rewards for simple actions or performances irrational , and without account ; or who believe such rewards and punishments as are tied to things casual and accidental , as the being born in such a place , or of such parents ) then may the affections grow ill and vitious without hindrance , or rather with help , as has bin shewn ; because of the suppos'd want of rectitude in the ador'd sovereign being . whoever therefore has a firm belief of a god whom he dos not merely call good , but of whom in reality he believes nothing but what is good , and is really sutable to the exactest character of justice ; such a person believing rewards and punishments in another life , must believe them rewards and punishments of virtue and vice merely , and not of any other qualities or accidents , which make them either rewards for ill , or for nothing ; and therefore not properly rewards , but capricious distributions of happiness or vnhappiness to creatures . and such a person as this has the advantage spoken of , and can grow to be , or can keep himself virtuous where an atheist cannot ; in case there be a failure , as abovemention'd , in the thoughts or opinion as to the happiness of virtue in it self , and that it come to be believ'd the contrary way , that virtue is an enemy to happiness , with respect to this life merely : which that it is so in the main , is an opinion that only an atheist or imperfect theist can have . for whatever be decided as to that of any life after the present one , and of rewards and punishments to come , he who is a perfect theist , and who believes an eternal universal mind , reigning sovereignly and through all things , and with the highest perfection of goodness , as well as wisdom and power , cannot but believe that virtue is made the good or advantage of every creature capable of having virtue . for what could be more an unjust ordinance and rule , or be imagin'd more a defective universe and ill constitution of things , than if virtue were naturally made the ill , and vice the good of every creature ? thus therefore there is an advantage to virtue necessarily suppos'd in perfect theism , which is not in the atheistical belief : on the contrary it is , tho not wholly impossible , yet very rare and difficult , that through all the ill chances to which a virtuous man may be expos'd , the certain remembrance and belief that virtue is the best or only means of happiness , or the consciousness of his not being able to recede from it , without falling into greater misery , and a more deplorable state , should be able to keep it self a firm principle in his mind , if he be one who has no opinion at all of any wisdom or order in the government of the universe ; no example above himself of any goodness or good affection , and whose natural reflections on this subject cannot well be other than melancholy and disgustful . now , if there be wanting in a mind that which can more kindly dispose the temper , and is able to raise the affection to a greater admiration and love of virtue ; then is there much wanting of what should make the happiness of virtue credited ; since nothing is more assistant to this belief than the full experience of those better and kinder affections , and of that satisfaction enjoy'd in the love of virtue it self . and now in the last place , there is yet greater advantage to virtue , in that opinion of perfect and compleat theism , which we will endeavor to explain ; tho the matter it self be of that kind which is nicely philosophical , and may be thought , perhaps , to be so overmuch . there is no creature , according to what has bin prov'd above , but must be ill in some degree , by having any affection towards , or against any thing in a stronger degree than such as is sutable to his own privat good , and that of the system he is join'd to : for , in this case the affection is an ill affection . now if a rational creature has that degree of aversion which is requisit against any particular ill ( as suppose that ill of being overcome , banish'd , or ruin'd in fortune ) this is regular and well . but if after the ill happen'd , his passion of aversion proves such , that he still rages at the accident , and is in continual abhorrence towards his fortune or lot ; then will this be acknowledg'd vitious in it self , and further prejudicial to temper , and to all virtue : as on the other side , the patient endurance of the calamity , and the support of the mind under it , must be acknowledg'd virtuous and preservative of virtue . now altho that which atoms and chance produce ( supposing no other principle besides ) need not give occasion to that excess of abhorrency , violent rage and anger , which is what a tolerably rational man may allay by considering , that what is done is neither meant nor design'd , but is from atoms and chance only ; yet if there be nothing at the bottom , nor any rule or reason besides chance and atoms , there can be no satisfaction at all in thinking upon what they alone produce : for if the thing seems ill , and be ill felt , it cannot be admitted in that hypothesis , ( or in the atheistical one whatever it be ) that this ill is a real good elsewhere , and with respect to the whole of things , as being according to the wisest and best design that is conceivable . now that which is thought ill , and altogether unaccountable and without reason , cannot but raise some degree of aversion towards it . but in another hypothesis ( that of perfect theism ) the affirmative of this , that whatever happens is good , must necessarily ( as has bin prov'd ) be the belief . therefore in the course of things in this world , whatsoever ill occurring would seem to force from a rational creature a censure and dislike , or whatsoever may happen to be his privat lot ; he may not only acquiesce in it , and have patience , which is but an abatement of the natural anger and dissatisfaction , but he may make the lot or part assign'd to him , an object of his good affection in some sort , as having a good and kind affection in general towards all that is produc'd in the universe , as coming from the most perfect wisdom , and being perfectly good : which affection , since it must in a much greater degree cause a good support of whatever is endured for virtue , or in any state of sufferance ; and since it must cause a greater acquiescence and complacency with respect to ill accidents , ill men and injuries ( and consequently a greater equality , meekness and benignity in the temper ) ; so it must of necessity be a good affection , and the creature that has it , so much the more a virtuous and good creature : for whatsoever is the occasion or means of more affectionatly joining or uniting a rational creature to his part in society , and causes him to prosecute the public good or good of the system he is join'd to , beyond what he would otherwise do , is undoubtedly the occasion or cause of greater virtue in him . now if the subject of such an affection be not just or deserving , if no such hypothesis is to be admitted as that of perfect theism ( so that there is real ill continually produc'd in the course of things in the universe , and no good intelligent and powerful principle able to exclude such ill ) yet notwithstanding this , the affection towards this false subject ( if it be to be suppos'd false ) must be so far good , as that the having of it will be the occasion of greater strengthning and forwarding of virtue , as has bin shewn . but if the subject be just ; that is to say , if every thing which the universe produces be according to all reason the wisest and best of what could be imagin'd , and be therefore the most worthy of admiration , applause , and all good affection of rational creatures , as coming from a most perfect , wise and good principle ; then dos such an affection become due and requisit in every rational creature , so as that it must be vitious to want it . on which it may be grounded , that the relation which virtue has to piety is such , as that the first is not compleat but in the latter : and that where this latter is wanting , there cannot be the same benignity , perseverance , the same good composure of the affections , nor so good a mind . to conclude then : having consider'd how any opinion about the existence of a god can have influence on the manners of men , and cause either virtue or vice ; if the reasons we have offered be found to be of any weight , it will appear in resolution of the question which has bin treated of : that one who has not the opinion or belief of an intelligent principle or god , may , tho very difficultly , and at a great hazard , be capable of virtue , so as to have an honesty , a faith , a justice perhaps of great note and worth ; may have many generous and good passions , and possibly that of love to virtue for its own sake , as well as for being believ'd advantageous : but that in the other belief , there are not only greater securities and advantages to virtue , but there is besides a degree of virtue which the opinion contrary to it cannot admit . so that the chiefest security , the perfection and the highest degree of virtue , must be owing to the belief of a god. book the second . of the obligations to virtue . sect . i. we have already consider'd what virtue is , who may be allow'd in any degree virtuous . it remains now to shew , what obligation there is to virtue , and how any one may have reason to imbrace virtue , and shun vice. we have seen that to be virtuous and good , is for a rational creature in the use of good understanding and judgment , to have all his natural affections ▪ or better passions , his dispositions of mind and temper sutable and agreeing with the good of his kind , or of that system ( as explain'd before ) where he is included , and of which he is a part . so that to have all these affections right and intire , by which we are kindly and naturally join'd to our part in society ; this is nam'd rectitude , integrity : and to want any of these , or to have their contraries , such as alienate from hence , is depravity , corruption , nature vitiated . that in the passions and affections of particular creatures there is a relation to the interest of a species or common nature ( as that there is an affection towards the propagation of the kind , towards the nurture of the young , towards mutual support and succor ) this is not deniable , neither will it be denied ; therefore , that such an affection as this of a creature towards the good of that common nature , is as proper an affection , and as natural to him , as to any member of a body to work in its own way , as to a stomach to digest , as to other intrails to perform their other offices , or as to any other part in an animal body to be so affected , and to operate so as is appointed to it in its system . it is certain also , that a creature having such affections as these towards the common nature , or system of the kind , at the same time that he has those other affections toward the privat nature or self-system , ( as in the case of self-preservation , self-support and maintenance ) it must happen that in following the first of these affections , the creature must often contradict and go against these latter ; as in the instance so often before us'd , where the love to the young makes every other affection towards privat good give way , and causes a total neglect of self-interest or concernment ▪ it may seem therefore in this place , that there is a perfect opposition between these two ; as if the pursuing or being carried towards the common interest or good , by such affections as are suted to that common interest , were a hinderance to the attainment of privat good , as being a hinderance and check to those passions which aim thither . and it being found that hazards and hardships make but ill for the animal state , in the privat system ; these other affections towards another good ( that of the kind , or public system ) being such as do often expose to hardships and hazards , by overruling their opposites , the self-preservative passions , and by necessitating the creature thus to self-denial , and , as it were , self-desertion ; it may be concluded , perhaps , from hence , that it is best for the animal to be without any such affections at all . so that that love which joins us to others of the same kind ; that reconciling affection towards a species or fellowship of creatures with whom we are bred , and live ; that social kindness , or whatever else , be it what affection soever that goes against that other principle , takes the place of the self-interesting passions , and draws us as it were out of our selves , so as to make us disregardful of our own convenience and safety ; whatever is of this kind should be abolish'd ; love to the young , tenderness and pity abolished ; in short , all natural affections should thus be extinguish'd and rooted out , as dangerous , tormenting and destructive . according to this it would seem to follow , that in the constitution of that order or system of a kind or species , the part is ill affected , and in an ill state as to it self , which is naturally and well affected towards the whole : and the only natural and good state of the privat nature or single part , as to it self , is to be in an unnatural and ill state towards the common nature or whole . a strange constitution indeed ! in which it must be confess'd that there is much disorder and untowardness ; but which in nature is no where observ'd besides : that in a system , as in a tree or animal body , any part or member should be in a good and prosperous state as to it self , which was under a contrary affection , and in an unnatural operation as to its whole . that this is otherwise , i shall endeavor to demonstrate , so as to make it appear , that what seems thus to be an ill order and constitution in the universe , ( and which , if true , would necessarily make natural rectitude the ill , and depravity the good of every creature ) is in reality according to a wise and excellent order in the universe ; insomuch that for every particular in its system , to work to the good of that system or public , and to its own good , is all one , and not to be divided . by which means natural rectitude or virtue must be the advantage , and vice the injury and disadvantage of every creature . it has bin shewn before , that no animal can , as an animal , be said to act in any manner but through affections or passions , such as are proper to an animal : for in convulsive fits ▪ where a creature strikes either himself or others , it is a simple mechanism , an engine , or piece of clock-work that acts , and not the animal . whatsoever therefore is done or acted by any animal as such , is done and can be done only through some affection or passion , as of fear , love or hatred , moving him . and as it is impossible that the weakest affections should overcome the strongest ( as that a lesser love should overcome a greater love , a lesser fear a greater fear ) so it is impossible but that where the affections or passions are strongest , or where they make the strongest side , either by their number or force , thither the animal must incline , and by that be govern'd and led to action . the affections or passions which must influence and govern the animal are either , 1. the natural ones towards the kind , or which carry to the good of something beyond the privat system . 2. or the self-ones , which carry to the good of the privat system , as towards self-preservation , self-nourishment or support , self-defence , or repelling of injury . 3. or such as are neither of these , and neither tend to any good of the public or privat system . and it is through these several affections or motions that a creature must be good or ill , virtuous or vitious . but , before we come to speak of these separatly , it may be convenient to premise some few things in general , in order to clear some matters which may create a doubt and disturbance . when in a rational creature , any thing is done with real and full intention towards public good , and with that just and excellent natural affection which leads towards the good of society ; if there be any failure in the judgment , which notwithstanding guides and directs amiss ; how far this may be vitious , has bin before mention'd , so as not to need any thing farther in this place , nor is this worth insisting on : it having little to do with the essential part of vice , and that which is with most reason complain'd of in the world , as creating those disorders we see . for where there is in a rational creature an inclination and strong affection towards virtue , superior to all other affections , prevalent over all obstructions , and freed from the ill influence of any unnatural passions , such as those raised from superstition , and horrid custom before spoken of ; there is little fear of failure through wrong choice or preference in moral actions , or through want of a right knowledg of duty when rightly and sincerely sought : but if notwithstanding such a search , it be however miss'd in any small degree , the misfortune or self-injury is , as the vice it self , very slight and of little moment . the natural affections separatly consider'd , as either pity or compassion , love to the young , and such like , however excellent they are , they may notwithstanding be in a too great , and therefore vitious degree : as when pity is so overcoming as to destroy its own end , and prevent the succor and relief requir'd ; or as when love to the young is such a fondness as disables from rightly taking care of the young , or such as destroys the parent , and consequently the young too . and tho it seems harsh to call that vitious which is but an extreme of some natural and kind affection ; yet the thing being rightly consider'd , it is apparent , that wherever any single affection of that kind is over great , it must be worst for the rest , and take off from their operation : for a creature possest with such an immoderat and excessive passion , must of necessity allow too much to that passion , and too little to others of the same note or character , and equally natural and excellent as to their end ; so as that this must be the occasion of partiality and injustice , whilst only one duty or natural part is earnestly follow'd , and other duties neglected , which should accompany , or perhaps take place and be prefer'd . now as natural affection of this sort may be too high , so may the affection towards the privat system , or self , be too weak . for if a creature were self-negligent ▪ insensible to danger , or wanted such a degree of passion in any kind , as was necessary to preserve , sustain , or defend it self , this would be a vice or imperfection in the natural temper , with respect to the privat system , and the design of nature in the animal constitution ; in the same manner as it would be a vice or imperfection in that single part an eye not to shut of its own accord and unknowingly to us , by a natural caution and timidity ; which , were it , wanting , however we might design the preservation of our eye , we should not preserve it by any observation or steady intention of our own ever so good towards the preserving it . and thus tho the passions of this kind do not immediatly regard , nor have for their object the good of the kind , but a self-good ; and altho no creature be ( according to the common way of speaking ) called good and virtuous for having any of these : yet since it is impossible that the public good , or good of the system , can be preserved without these ; or that it should be well with the particulars , if these were wanting , which are for the good of the parts , and of the whole together ; it follows that a creature wanting any of these , and being wanting to it self and to the whole , is in reality wanting in some degree to goodness and natural rectitude ; and may thus be said to be defective or vicious , tho this be not what is commonly call'd so . 't is thus that we say of a creature that he is too good ; when he either has his affection of any sort towards the kind so violent , as to carry him even beyond his part ; or that it happens that he is really carried beyond his part , not by a too highly kindled passion of that sort , but through want of some self-passion to restrain him in some bounds . it may be objected here , that this of having the natural affections too strong , ( where the self ones are overmuch so ) or of having the self ones thus defective or weak ( where the natural ones are weak ) may often prove upon occasion the only reason of a creature 's acting honestly and well . for , thus possibly , a creature insensible to some self-interesting passion ( as suppose he were altogether indifferent to life ) may even with the smallest degree of some one natural affection , do what the highest affection of that kind should or can perform : and thus a creature excessively timorous may by as exceeding a degree of some one natural affection , do that which requires the perfectest courage to perform . to this i answer ; that when we say of any passion that it is too strong , or that it is too weak , we must speak with respect to a certain constitution or oeconomy of a particular creature , or species of creatures . for if a passion carrying to any right end , be only so much the more serviceable and effectual , for being strong ; if the violence of it be no way the cause of any disturbance or distraction within , or of any disproportionableness between it self and other affections ; then consequently the passion , however strong and forcible , cannot be blam'd as vitious . but if to have all the passions in equal proportion with it , be what the constitution of the creature cannot bear or support ; so that one or more passions are perhaps rais'd to this height , but that the others are not , nor can be in the same proportion ; then is it to be said of those more than ordinary forcible passions , that they are excessive : for , notwithstanding that they may be such as the creature can well bear , that they agree with his frame and constitution , and that they are no ways an obstruction to their own end ; yet these passions being in unequal proportion to the others , and causing an ill balance in the affection , must be the occasion of inequality in the conduct , and must incline to a wrong moral practice . but to explain a little further this of the oeconomy of the passions , by what we may observe in other species or kinds . as to those creatures that have no manner of power or means given them by nature for their defence against violence , nor any thing by which they can make themselves terrible to such as injure or offend them ; it is necessary that they should have very great and extraordinary fear , but little or no animosity or passion , such as should cause them to make resistance , or should delay their flight , which is their only sasety , and to which the passion of fear is useful and of help . it is thus that timorousness , and an habitual and strong passion of fear may be according to the oeconomy of a particular creature , both with respect to himself and his species : and that on the other side , courage may be vitious . even in one and the same species this is by nature differently order'd , with respect to different sexes , ages , growths . at a time when the whole herd flies , the bull alone makes head against the lion , or whatever other invading beast , and shews himself conscious of his part ; for so nature has made him to be : and should he lose this generous passion and animosity , he would be degenerate . even the female of this kind is , we see , arm'd by nature in some degree to resist violence , so as not to fly a common danger . as for a hind , a doe , or any other inoffending and defenceless creature ; it is no way unnatural or vitious in such a one to desert the young and fly for safety : for to do otherwise would be contrary to the oeconomy of the creature and species . but for those creatures that are able to make resistance , and are by nature arm'd ( as those savages of the wood ) with that which can mortally offend ; it is natural in one of these to be rouz'd with fury , and to oppose it self to death against its enemy or invader ; by which known passion in the creature its species is secur'd : since such a one can hardly on this account be assaulted , or injur'd with impunity , and that a creature , such as this , sells his own and offspring's life at so dear a rate . to do less therefore than this , is in such a one unnatural and degenerate , and is a betraying of his species . and of all other creatures man is in this sense the most terrible : since if he thinks it just and exemplary , he may in his own , or in his countrys cause , revenge an injury on any one living ; and by throwing away his own life ( if resolute to that degree ) is almost certain master of another's , tho ever so strongly guarded : of which several examples given , have served to deter those in power , and restrain them from using the utmost outrages , and urging men to extremity . but to come to what was said : no passion therefore , which carries to a right end , and which is such as a creature in his constitution can bear , without the desorder or sufferance of his body or mind , and which is no other than proportionable with respect to other passions , such as are suted likewise to the oeconomy of the creature , and of the species in which he is included ; no passion such as this can be too strong or too forcible a passion . but whatever passion ( tho of the sort of those we call the natural affections , or affections towards the kind ) is overstrong in proportion to any other affection , this is immoderate passion , and in too high a degree . and in answer therefore to the objection made : tho it be true that this of having a self-passion too weak , or a natural affection too strong , may occasion virtue in one place , and cause one virtuous action ; yet , with respect to the whole of life , it is what must create confusion and disorder , and must occasion too ( as has bin shewn before ) partiality and injustice . but , to express this all at once , under an easy and very familiar comparison . it is the same with the passions in an animal constitution , as with the cords or strings of a musical instrument . if these , tho in ever so just proportion one to another , are strained however beyond a certain degree , it is more than the instrument will bear ; and by this the instrument is abused , and its effect lost : on the other side , if while some of the cords are duly strained , others are not wound up to their due proportion ; then is the instrument still in disorder , and its part ill performed . the several species of creatures are as different sorts of instruments : and even in the same species of creatures ( as in the same sort of instrument ) one is not intirely like the other ; nor will the same cords fit each : the same degree of strength which winds up the cords of one , and fits them to a harmony and consort , may in another burst both the cords and instrument it self . thus men who have the liveliest and exquisitest sense , and who are in the highest degree affected with pleasure or pain , have need of the strongest ground and foundation of other passion , as that of natural affection , sensibleness to friendship , love , pity , and the like , in order to keep a right balance within , and to preserve them in their duty , and the performance of their part ; whilst others , who are more flegmatic , heavier , and of a lower key , need not , nor are made for the feeling those other passions in altogether so high a degree . it would be agreeable enough to inquire thus into the different tunings ( if one may speak so ) the different structures and proportions of different men , with respect to their passions , and the various mixtures , temperatures and allays , which make that which we call temper , according to which the goodness and worth of any creature is esteemed . but here we should have too large a field : tho however we may , in passing by , observe , that whilst we see in all other creatures around us so great a proportionableness , constancy and regularity in all their passions and affections ; so great a harmony , and such an adherence to nature ; no failure in the care of the offspring , or of the society ( if living in society ) ; no prostitution of themselves , nor no excess in any kind ; whilst we see those creatures who live as it were in cities ( as bees and ants ) never to go out of that constant train and harmony , nor contradict those affections which carry them on to operate to the public good , the good of their whole ; and that even those beasts that live the farthest out of society of that sort , maintain however a conduct one towards another , such as is exactly well fitted for the good of their own species ; man in the mean time , vicious and unconsonant man , lives out of all rule and proportion , contradicts his principles , breaks the order and oeconomy of all his passions , and lives at odds with his whole species , and with nature : so that it is next to a prodigy to see a man in the world who lives naturally , and as a man. thus having clear'd this part , and having explain'd what is meant by having any passion in too high or too low a degree ; and how that to have any natural affection too high , or any self affection too low , is ( tho not so called ) a vice and moral imperfection , and is prejudicial both to the privat and public system ; we come now to that which is the chiefest and most considerable part of vice , that which alone is call'd vice and illness . the several senses in which a creature may be said to be ill or vitious , are , first , when the affections are all orderly and right ; but that through want of judgment , any error is committed in the choice of moral objects . of this there is no need to speak more than we have done . all other vice or illness besides , must be through the immediat disorder of the affections themselves ; as when the natural affections are too strong , or the self affections too weak : tho nothing of this hitherto be what we ordinarily call illness or vice. that which remains of any way or sense , in which a creature may be ill , or can possibly act ill , is either through the want of natural and good affections , and the having no such thing at all to move him , or that is sufficient to move him ; or , through contrary passions or affections moving him to what is wrong , and overcoming those others , whensoever there are any of those to make opposition . that is to say , either by having the natural affections weak or deficient : or by having the self passions too strong : or by having such as are neither natural affections , nor self ones ; and of which the smallest and moderatest degree is not tending to the support or welfare of either the species or privat system . other wise than thus it is impossible any creature can be ill or vitious . and if it may be proved that it is the interest of the creature to have his passions or affections never thus , but contrariwise ; it will then be proved , that it is the interest of a creature to be , and keep in that state in which he cannot but be good or virtuous : so that virtue , then , can never be but his good , and the contrary his ill. our business therefore will be to prove , 1. that to have those excellent affections ( the kind and natural ones , such as have bin mentioned ) is to have the chief enjoyment of life ; and that to want them , is , and must be , besides the loss of that good , the occasion of farther and greater ill. 2. that to have the self passions excessive or beyond such a degree in which they cannot but of necessity yield , as is fitting , to the natural ones , whenever they meet or are opposed to each other , is also injurious to the creature , and is of self-ill . 3. and that to have the other sort of passions , those which are neither natural affections towards the kind , nor self ones , of which the least degree is essential or requisit in the constitution or oeconomy of the creature , is prejudicial to the creature . sect . ii. there are few , who when they think of such a creature as is void of all natural affection , all social inclination , friendliness , complacency or love , but think of it as in a condition miserable enough as to it self , without regard to the ill terms upon which such a creature must live with those that are his fellow creatures : 't is generally thought , i believe , that such a creature as this feels but a little part of the satisfaction of life , and relishes but little those few enjoyments which are left with him , those of eating , drinking , and the like ; when those others of sociableness , kindness and love , are substracted . it is well known , that to such a creature as this , it is not only incident , to be morose , rancorous and malignant ; but that of necessity a mind or temper thus destitue of all mildness and benignity , of all kind and indulgent inclination , sense or feeling , must turn to that which is contrary , must be agitated and wrought by passions of a different kind , and be a continual seat and lodgment of those bitter , hateful and perverse ones , made from a constant ill humor , frowardness , and disquiet , in an uncalm , unaffable , and unloving temper ; and that the consciousness of such a mind or nature , thus dissociable , obnoxious , and averse to all humanity , hating and hated of mankind , must overcloud the mind with dark suspicion and continual jealousy , alarm it with fears and horror , and raise in it a continual disturbance and disease , in the most appearing fair and secure state of fortune , and in the highest outward prosperity . this , as to the perfect immoral or inhuman state , is generally notic'd : and where there is this absolute degeneracy , and a total deprivation of all humanity , love , or natural affection , there are few who do not see and acknowledge the misery of such a state , when at worst as here suppos'd . the misfortune is , that this escapes us , and is not perceiv'd in less degrees : as if to be fully and perfectly horrid , unsociable and inhuman , were indeed the greatest misfortune and misery that could be ; but that to be it in a little degree should be no misery nor harm at all : which is as reasonable as it would be , to allow that it is the greatest ill of a body to be in the utmost manner distorted , maim'd , and in an absolute disuse or perversion of all its organs ; but that to lose the use of one limb , or to be impair'd in some one single member , is no inconvenience or ill at all . the parts and proportions of the mind , their relation to , and dependency on one another , the connexion and frame of those passions which constitute the soul or temper ; in short , the whole order or symmetry of this inward part being no less real and exact than that of the body , yet by not being obvious to sense as that other is , it comes not into consideration . so that tho the greatest misery and ill is allow'd to be from the mind or temper , which it is own'd may suffer by abuse and injury , as the body dos ; yet it is not known by what means this former suffers , how it receives abuse or injury , or at what rate and in what degrees it comes to be impair'd ; it is not known nor though of , what it is that should maim or offend any particular part ; or how it should happen to a temper or mind , that ▪ being wounded or hurt in any one particular part , the whole should be the worse for it . on the contrary , we think that a man may violate his faith , commit any wickedness unfamiliar to him before , engage in any vice or villany by which a breach is made on good affection , to the furtherance and promotion of what is contrariwise malignant , horrid and enormous , and all this without the least prejudice to himself , or any misery following from the ill action merely . 't is thus that it is often said , such a one has done ill ; but what is he the worse for it ? and yet we say of any nature savage , curst , and throughly inveterate , that such a one is a plague and torment to himself . and we allow that by certain passions , and merely by temper alone , a man may be fully miserable , let his circumstances , as to other respects , be what they will. now did it appear that this fabric of the mind were such , that it was impossible to remove from thence , or out of the natural temper , any one good or orderly affection , or introduce any ill or disorderly one , without danger of ruin and fatal destruction , without drawing on in some degree that horrid and detestable state , and making in part that havock and confusion , which at its height , or but in some particular occasion , is observ'd and justly confess'd to be so miserable ; were this made appear from the oeconomy of the mind , or of those passions which constitute the natural temper or soul , it would then be confess'd , that since no ill , immoral , impious , or unjust action could be committed , without a violence committed here , without either a new inroad and breach on the temper and passions , or a farther advancing of that execution already begun ; whoever did ill , or acted in prejudice of his virtue , integrity , good nature , or worth , acted in the same manner towards himself , but with less mercy , than he who with his own hands should wound or any way destroy or ruin his own body . i. but to begin now in the first place with this proof , that to have the natural affections ( such as are founded in love , complacency , goodwill , and in a sympathy with the kind or species ) is to have the chief enjoyment of life ; and that to want the same affections is to be on the other hand as miserable . we may consider , first , what those are which we call pleasures or satisfactions , from whence happiness is reckon'd and esteem'd . they are satisfactions or pleasures ( according to the common distinction ) either of the body , or of the mind . that the pleasures of the mind are greater than those of the body , is allow'd by most people , and may be prov'd by this ; that whensoever the mind having a high opinion or feeling of some excellence ( be it in what subject it will , either where worth or excellence is , or is not ) has receiv'd the strongest impression , and is wrought up to the highest pitch or degree of passion towards the subject ; at such time it sets it self above all bodily pain , contemns torture and racks : for thus we see indians , barbarians , malefactors , and the very horridst and most execrable villains in the world , oftimes , for the sake of a particular gang or society , or out of some cherish'd notion or principle of honor , of revenge , of gratitude , or something of that kind with which they are taken , embrace any manner of hardship , and defy torments and death . whereas on the other hand , a man being plac'd in all circumstances of outward enjoyments , surrounded with every thing that can allure or charm the sense , and being then actually in the very moment of such an indulgence ; yet no sooner is there any thing amiss within , no sooner has he conceiv'd any internal ail or disorder , any thing inwardly vexatious or distemper'd , but instantly his enjoyment ceases , the pleasure of sense is at an end ; and every thing that is a means of that sort becomes ineffectual , and is plainly rejected as uneasy , and giving distast when offer'd . the pleasures of the mind being allow'd , therefore , superior to those of the body , it follows , that whatever can create to any intelligent being a constant flowing , a series or train of mental enjoyments , is more considerable to his happiness , than that which can create to him the same constant course or train of sensual ones of the body . the mental enjoyments in a great measure are actually the very natural affections themselves , in their immediat operation . or , they proceed from , and are caused by natural and good affections . how much the natural affections themselves are really pleasures and enjoyments , cannot but be own'd by any one who knows the condition and feeling of the mind under a lively and forcible affection of kindness , love , gratitude , bounty , succor , or whatever else is of a generous , sociable , or friendly kind ; and who is sensible of what pleasure the mind perceives when it is imploy'd in acts of that nature , and is touch'd and mov'd in that sort . the difference we find between a solitude and company ; between a common company , and the company or merely the sight of those we love ; the reference of almost all our pleasures to society , and the dependence which they have either on society it self immediatly , or on the imagination and supposal of it , as present ; all these are sufficient proofs , or rather experiences and inward convictions of the truth of this . that the pleasures of this sort are thus forcibly felt , and are even superior to those of any bodily kind , may be known too from effects ; not only from this ( tho this withal may be remark'd ) that the very outward features , the marks and signs which attend this sort of joy , are expressive of a more intense , clear , and undisturb'd pleasure , than those which attend the satisfaction of thirst , hunger , lust , and the like ; but it may be known with certainty from the prevalence and ascendency of this sort of joy over any other ; from the silencing and appeasing of every other motion of pleasure where this presents it self ; and from the preference which is apparently given by every nature almost , at some time or other , to this feeling or affection , which has the power of drawing from every other ( as in the case of love to the young , and a thousand other instances ) or of so engrossing the whole temper , as to render it , in the midst of all other pleasures , sensible in a manner only to this alone , which remains as master of , and superior to the rest . there is not any one who , by the least progress in science or learning , has come to know barely the principles of mathematics , but has found that in the exercise of his mind , or the discoveries he there makes , tho merely of speculative truths , he receives a pleasure and delight superior to that of sense . but this again , how great soever the pleasure may be , must of necessity be infinitly surpass'd by virtuous motion or exercise , where , together with the strongest delightful affection of the soul , there is an approbation given by the mind to what is acted in consequence of that motion or affection ; and where there is the fairest matter of speculation , the goodliest view and contemplation on earth , which is that of a beautiful , proportionable , and becoming action , self applicable , and of which the memory and consciousness is of any other thing the most solidly and lastingly pleasing . in the passion of love ( we mean of that sort which is between the sexes ) in which there is a mixture of the strongest sensual affection together with natural affection , or affection of kindness ( such as is in that case towards the object belov'd ) it so far appears that the sense or feeling of the former , and the pleasure enjoy'd in it , is outdone in this latter , that it is commonly known how that often , through that affection of kindness , and for the sake of the person belov'd , when in any danger , or any ways expos'd , the greatest things in the world have bin done , and are so every day ; the greatest hardships submitted to , and even death it self voluntarily embrac'd , without any desired or expected compensation ; not here in this world surely , for death puts an end to all ; nor hardly , i suppose , hereafter , for there are few who have ever thought yet of providing a heaven or future recompence for the suffering virtue of lovers . but what is more yet , as to the excellence of these natural affections , and their agreeableness to our natures ; not only the natural affections of this kind , when joy , sprightliness and gaity are mixt with them , have real enjoyment and happiness above sensuality , or the gratification merely of sense ; but even that natural affection which is clouded and under the worst appearance , the very sorrow and grief ( if one may say so ) which belongs to natural affection , to a generous , humane and kind concern ; tho it may be thought contrary to pleasure , is yet for contentment and satisfaction far above those other pleasures of indulg'd sense . and where a series or continu'd succession of these motions or affections can be carried on , even through fears , apprehensions , alarms , doubts ( the object virtue being still kept in sight , and its beauty appearing still in the midst of the surrounding calamities ) there is inseparably join'd to this a contentment and satisfaction of the highest sort ; insomuch that when by mere illusion , as in a tragedy , the passions of this mournful kind are artfully excited in us , we prefer the enjoyment and pleasure to any other entertainment of equal duration , and find by our selves that the moving our passions in this sort , the engaging them in the behalf of merit and worth , and the exerting of that goodness that is in us , tho there be nothing more remote from sensual or bodily pleasure , is yet of exquisit sensation , and to such as are refin'd enough to feel it , more moving , and of greater enjoyment than any thing of the other kind abstracted intirely from this . and after this manner it may appear how much the mental enjoyments are actually the very natural affections themselves . how much they proceed from , and are caused by natural affection , we have now to consider . that the affection of love , kindness , and bounty , is it self of the highest degree of mental pleasure , has bin shewn . the effects of love or kind affection in a way of mental pleasure are , a delight in , and enjoyment of the good of others ; a receiving it , as it were , by reflection , so as to participate in the joy , pleasure , or prosperity of whom we love or kindly affect ; and a pleasing consciousness of love or approbation from others , or of our meriting it from others . there is nothing plainer than that both these satisfactions and delights , viz. joy in , and participation of the good of others ; and pleasing consciousness or sense of merited love from others , can possibly be nothing else but the effects of love in us ; and that they increase and decrease , as their cause diminishes or grows . so that where no love or natural affection is , or where it is but weak or unsound , there the consequent pleasures cannot be at all , or at least must be but weak and unsound . now the pleasures of sharing good with others ; of receiving it in fellowship and company ; of gathering it from the pleased and happy states of those around us , from accounts and relations of such happinesses , joys , deliverances ; from the very countenances and pleased looks even of creatures foreign to our nature and kind , whose signs of joy and contentment we can discern or understand ; the pleasures or delights of this sort are so infinitly spreading and diffusive through our whole lives , that there is hardly such a thing as pleasure or contentment , of which this is not a part , and which , if this were taken away , would not totally sink and be corrupted , or at least lose its chiefest vigor , that which made its refinement , and without which it would be dross . and thus in the same manner , as to the other pleasure , that of sensibleness to the love of others , and consciousness of merited esteem and love ; which in as far as it is a pleasure , must be wholly the effect of love , and cannot be felt where natural affection is not felt . how familiar and natural it is to us , continually to be drawing some sort of satisfaction from hence ! how frequent and habitual it is with us , and how great a part of our enjoyment of life , to be in joy and delight , as either well satisfied in the consciousness of merited esteem and kindness from others ; or as flattered by the imagination of it ! what wretch is there , what open violator of the laws of society , destroyer or ravager so great , who has not a companion , or some particular set , either of his own kindred , or of such as he calls friends , with whom he shares his good , in whose welfare he delights , and whose joy he makes his joy ? who are there amongst these that are not flattered by the kindness of some that are near them , and sensibly moved by the affection which they apprehend is bore to them , even by such as are no way capable of assisting them , or serving their interest ? it is to this that almost all their actions have reference ; and without this there are few even of these ununiform and inconsistent livers , who would not find themselves in an unsupportable solitude and desertion , and think life it self a torment to them . it is this that goes through our whole lives , and mixes it self even with most of our vices . of this , vanity , ambition , luxury , have a share , and many other disorders of our life partake . so that were pleasure to be computed in the way that other things commonly are , it might be said , that out of these two branches would arise more than nine tenths of all that is enjoyed in life . now there is not , nor can be any thing of this kind which dos not immediatly depend on the having natural and kind affection . and as natural affection is narrow , broken , or imperfect , so must be the content and joy arising hence . for , first , partial affection , or natural affection in part , and only to some particulars , is an inconsistency and contradiction : and as it has no foundation or establishment in reason , so it must be easily removable and subject to alteration without reason . now the variableness of such sort of passion , which depends solely on capriciousness and humor , and must undergo the changeable successions of alternate hatred and love , aversion and inclination towards the same object , must not only in the end diminish natural affection , and together with it the pleasures enjoyed from reflected good , or good of participation , as above ; but must create continual disturbance within , unquietness , disgust , and give an allay to whatsoever is actually enjoy'd in the way of natural and social affection . whereas on the other hand intire affection ( which is throughout , and equal towards the society , or whole , wheresoever any relation lies ) as it is answerable to it self , duly proportion'd , rational , and accountable ; so it is irrefragable , solid , and lasting . and as in the other , every deficiency elsewhere , and every exorbitancy in the affection , dos in some manner resist and disturb the present and immediat feeling of social and friendly affection ; so in this , every other good affection , and the consciousness of integrity and soundness , casts a good reflection , and an addition of contentment on every particular affection felt , and makes it of more inward pleasant feeling in the soul , and more satisfactory and rejoicing in the mind . thus he who is least selfish , and can , according as there is merit , love another with most sincerity and strongest affection , dos not only enjoy most by division or sharing of good , and by communicating and imparting of it ; but through the consciousness of the justice , beauty and excellence of that love , of its proportionableness to all his other affections , and of the sutableness of those affections to nature , and to the whole , he enjoys a satisfaction vastly above what is receiv'd from that limited , entangled , and much corrupted pleasure of imperfect , partial , and unintire affection . and in the last place , as partial affection is fitted but to a small enjoyment of those pleasures of communicative and reflected good above-mention'd ; so neither is it capable of extracting any thing considerable from that other principal branch of human happiness and delight , the being sensible to the love and esteem of others , and the being conscious of that which merits it . for in the same manner as the affection it self is narrowly limited , infirm and changable ; so accordingly is the merit arising hence very imperfect , and of little account . and , as the merit is but low and inferior , whilst only towards some mean and inconsiderable part of mankind , and not towards society and the whole ; so , accordingly , the consequent pleasure of the mind must below and defective . and as it is not possible that any who esteem not , nor love according to virtue , should in the number of their so beloved and esteemed friends find either those in whom they can so constantly and throughly rejoice , and have satisfaction in meriting from , or whose reciprocal love , esteem , or merited approbation , they can equally and constantly prize and enjoy ; so , they of necessity must fall short in this other part of mental enjoyment . nor can the pleasures gather'd from self-flattery in that unsound esteem and love of those who are neither rightly nor constantly esteemed or loved , be any other than unsound , disorderly and disturbed . whereas on the other hand , intire affection has all the opposit advantages ; it has applause and love from the best ; and , in disinterested cases , from the very worst of men : and of this we may say , that it has a consciousness of merited love and approbation from all society , from all intelligent creatures , and from that which is the highest and supreme of all intelligences . and the satisfaction which attends this intire affection , is full and noble in proportion to its ultimate and final object , which carries all in it self , and contains all perfection , according to that sense of theism above establish'd . this is the result of virtue : and to have this intire affection , or integrity , is to live according to nature , and the dictates and rules of supreme wisdom ; this is morality , justice , piety , and natural religion . thus therefore it is evident that by reason of the effects of natural affection in reflected good from the joy and good of others , and in that of sensibleness to kindness and love from others , the chiefest of mental pleasures ( which are the chiefest of all pleasures ) are deriv'd from , and owing to natural affection . and to shew by farther instance yet , how much the mental pleasures proceed from , and are caus'd by natural affection ; let any one consider , that all those pleasures which a man can have in any other besides a merely sensual way , all those pleasures receiv'd from converse , familiarity , society , in privat contemplation , thought and retirement , in mirth and entertainment , or whatsoever they be of that species and kind of mental pleasures ; they are wholly in a manner founded in the having as well dispos'd and easy temper or spirit , free of harshness , distast , sowerness , turbulence ; and in having a mind or reason in good order , reconcilable to it self , such as creates it self no unpleasant views , nor is of ill reflection . now such a mind and such a temper as this , which must fit and qualify for the enjoying of the pleasures mention'd , is , and must be owing to the natural and good affections . as to what relates to temper ( which we will consider first ) and how a temper of that happy sort comes to be really owing to natural affection ; it may be consider'd thus . there is no state of health or prosperity so great , where inclination and will are always answer'd , fancy and humor pleas'd ; where there are not hourly almost some stops , impediments or crosses to the intention , appetite or liking ; some accidents or other from without to check the licentious course of the desire ; or something from within , from the disposition of the body , the humors , or what else is common in the ordinary course of a constitution , which must occasion distast and vexation , and cause a habit of that kind , where there is nothing to oppose it , so as to stop the progress of it , and hinder its gaining upon a temper . now the only thing that can be oppos'd to this , is some natural and kind affection : for if the mind by reflection resolves to suppress this ill at any time when risen in the temper , and that it thinks fit to do it in good earnest on any account , it can no otherwise effectually and really do it but by introducing into the soul , or passionat part , some affection of love , some motion of kindness , affectionatness or candor , to allay and convert that motion of impatience and discontent . for , if it be not done this way , the countenance may indeed be counterfeited , but the heart not chang'd : and if it be done only by the power of immediat fear or apprehension , or by the power of any other affection than such as is by nature opposit and contrary ; the ill passion is suspended only during the time which that fear lasts , but is not subdu'd or in the least debilitated against the next occasion , nor hindred therefore as to its progress or gaining over the temper . so that where an affable , benign , and kind disposition reigns not ; where there is not a mildness and serenity spread through the whole temper , so as to render it of easy acceptation , and fair construction , compliant , easily conceding , charitable and good ; there can be but little of an easy and free spirit long remaining , and consequently but few and slender enjoyments of a mental kind : for in a temper where the slightest thing diseases and provokes , where displeasure and offence are always ready to arise , and nothing kind and reconciling to allay and turn those motions ; but where bitterness and choler in a manner swim at the top and over all , and where something of a froward and malignant kind is ever stirring and active ; in such a temper as this there can be but little reception for any of those mental pleasures , which in this case can be but very rarely experienc'd , must be very faint , and of small continuance . but , to press this further yet : it is most certain that by what proportion the natural and good affections are lost or wanting in any creature , by that proportion the ill and unnatural ones must prevail . it is the nature of every passion by use and exercise to grow stronger and more confirm'd . there are in every life , even in the most prosperous ( as has bin said already ) continual sources of displeasure and uneasiness , either from inward bodily constitution , variety of disposition , or the unconformity of things without to fancy , humor and will : and if those who are in the highest circumstances of fortune seem to come off the easiest , it is to be consider'd that the most humor'd and indulg'd state is what receives the most disturbance from every disappointment or smallest ail . now since besides what is of the kind of natural affection , there is nothing of any kind else which can hinder the course and growing habit of impatience , discontent and vexation ; much less can any thing else besides natural and kind affection , resist the more violent motions of anger , rage , revengefulness ; and , where provocations , offences and enmities arise , ( as there are subjects infinit ) be able to correct the virulence and malignity of those passions once kindled , and to expel that which is infective in them , and poisonous to the temper : so that the forward , prone and sudden passions of resentment , pique , vexation and frowardness , which are sure to be mov'd on a thousand occasions , and which arise in a manner of themselves , without any apparent subject , having no check or controul ; but , being left masters and possessors of the soul ( when there is nothing there either of human or good affection to resist or make a stand ) and growing thus by use and exercise into greater strength and prevalence , they cannot but cause a settled inveteracy and rancor , and make this the ground and bottom of the whole temper . but , of the misery of this we shall speak when we come to consider of the unnatural state. in the mean time it seems to have bin prov'd , that all those mental pleasures of converse , mirth , familiarity , and the rest , depend upon a mind and temper properly dispos'd ; and that the temper which produces these is and must be owing to the natural and good affections . now as to the other part , a mind or reason thus dispos'd and in good order , reconcilable to it self , and of good reflection ; and upon what account this is , and must be owing to natural affection , we may consider it after this manner . whatever creature has intelligence and reason in the manner that we have it , and who from several degrees of reflection has risen to that capacity which we call sense and understanding ; such a creature as this , in the very use of his contemplative or reasoning faculty , is forc'd to receive reflections back into his mind of that which passes in it self , of the actions of his will , and of his foregoing behavior in the common course of his natural temper towards his fellow creatures , as well as in all occasions besides . and tho we say of some giddy and heedless people , that they live without reflection , it is not that they are exempt from this sort of feeling , or have not this consciousness with them as others have ( for their memory is as good , and the necessary occasions are as many of remembring and calling to mind what they did or felt before ) but they are said to have no reflection , because they do not designedly , or with any service or help to themselves in their conduct , call to mind any number of circumstances to draw inference from thence to what is present or future . now to such a reasoning or reflecting creature as this , who is forc'd of necessity to endure the review of his own mind and actions , and to have representations of himself and his own affairs constantly before him , obvious to him , and passing in his mind ; to such a creature as this there are two things which must be horridly offensive and agrieving ; to have the reflection in his mind of any past action or behavior which he likes not should be imputed to him , which he knows odious , and feels to be of ill merit : or , to have the reflection in his mind of any thing foolishly done ( either as supinely and negligently , or as rashly and extravagantly ) in the prejudice of his own interest and good. conscience is one or other , or both of these . for the fear of future evils or of eternal ill inflicted at the will of some superior and supernatural power , is to have aw and terror of the deity , but dos not imply conscience , any more than the fear of those evils which are apprehended from spirits , enchantments , and such like , dos imply conscience : for to fear the devil and to fear god would ( as to conscience ) be then all one ; and to fear god in any other manner than as in consequence of some justly blameable and imputable act , is to fear a devilish nature , or devil in the stead of god : so that conscience may even be where sense of future divine punishment is not . nor dos the terror of hell , or a thousand other terrors of the deity imply conscience except in this case , viz. where there is ill reflection in the mind of what is wrong , odious , morally deform'd , and ill deserving ; or of what was committed contrary to wisdom , and unaccountably : and wheresoever this is ( whether join'd or not join'd with any positive fear of future divine punishment to be inflicted ) there conscience is , there conscience accuses . and thus there is besides a religious conscience that which we may call moral or natural conscience : altho that also may be call'd religious conscience which regards the odiousness of any act with respect to the all ▪ seeingness of the deity ; who being so highly thought of as to all excellence and greatness , it cannot otherwise be , but that in the conceiv'd presence of such a being , the shame of villany or vice must with great forcibleness be felt , even independently of that apprehension or sense of any future punishment of positive infliction . as for a rational creature therefore , such as man , who whilst he continues to be rational and to have a mind , must of necessity through the course of his life be conscious of , and have before him still , the results of that mind , the determinations and actions of his will , and the effects of his natural temper and affections in his foregoing life : if there be any action which , having proceeded hence , is odious of imputation , and of ill reflection , it must be discomposing and afflicting to him , as being acted against natural conscience . there is no sensible creature who maliciously and intentionally dos ill , who is not sensible likewise that he deserves ill : and in this sense every creature has conscience . for , with all mankind , and all intelligent creatures this must ever hold , that what they know they deserve from every one , that they necessarily must fear and expect from every one : and thus suspicions and ill apprehensions must grow , and terrors arise both of men and of the deity . but besides this , and over and above the very return and punishment which is fear'd , there must , in almost every rational creature , be yet farther conscience , from sense of deformity in what is thus ill-deserving and unnatural , and from the consequent regret and hatefulness of incurring what is odious , and moves aversion . there scarcely is , or can be any creature whom consciousness of villany as such merely dos not at all offend ; nor any thing opprobrious or hainously imputable , move or affect : or if there be such a one , it follows then , that with such a creature as this all things that are of a moral kind , or relate to either the good or ill of the species , must be equal and indifferent in the affection ( for if it were not so , but that any thing of that kind were odious , it must be most of all odious of imputation or self ▪ application . ) if this be so , then neither can there be any natural affection : if not that , then neither any pleasure of society , or mental enjoyment , as above ; but instead of that , all manner of horrid , unnatural and ill affection ; of the misery of which we are to speak distinctly under our last head . so that not to be sensible to the odiousness or mere deformity of crime and injustice ( which is to have no sense of the goodness or illness of any act , nor any natural affection at all ) and to be so far without conscience , is to be most of all miserable in life : but where conscience or sense of this sort remains , there it follows , that whatever carriage , action or deed , is contrary to the sense of goodness and deservingness , and is therefore odious of imputation , unbecoming , and of ill consciousness , this must of necessity , by means of reflection , be continually grievous and offensive . a man who in the height of anger and fury happens to kill another , dos , as we often see , relent immediatly at the very sight of what he has done , and only by beholding the miserable state of a dying creature , in that spectacle of death which he himself has caus'd : for this he suffers agony ; the subject of this continually occurs to him in his mind ; and of this he must have ill memory and consciousness . if on the other side , he dos not relent nor suffer any concern at all , then , either he is such a one as has no sense of deformity , of crime and injustice , no natural affection , and consequently no happiness or peace within : or if he have sense of moral goodness or illness , but that in this or any particular , he affects that as noble , gallant or worthy , which is the contrary ; it must follow , that as there is no proportion , aptness or fitness but in virtue alone to esteem , approbation , or good consciousness ; he must either through the inconsistency , contradictoriness and absurdity of such an unlasting and unaccountable esteem and approbation , and through the ill influence it must have in time upon his temper , come to lose at last even this remaining imperfect conscience ; or , if he still retains it in any degree , it must follow that through the same unsutableness of approbation or esteem to any thing of a contrary nature to virtue , there must be great confusion and disagreement in life , and continual disturbance and dissatisfaction in the service of such a principle . for it is impossible that a murderer , or one of the banditi , a pirat , or any confederate cheat or ruffian , or in short , any one who is false to the society of mankind in general , and contradicts natural affection , should have any principle that holds throughout , any fix'd standard or measure upon which he can regulate his approbation or esteem , any reason or rule for his approbation of any one action moral ; if any thing morally good or ill , amiable or detestable has place with him : so that the more he engages in the love or admiration of any thing as morally worthy , which is morally ill and detestable ; the more self-contradiction he must meet with , the more dissatisfaction and self-disapprobation in the main , through the perpetual variableness and instability of that rule by which he approves and disapproves , and through the irreconcilableness of his mind and reason to it self . and there being nothing more certain than this , that no natural affection can be contradicted , nor no ill one advanced ( as by false applause it is ) without a prejudice in some degree to all the other natural affections ; it must follow that natural deformity growing greater by the incouragement of unnatural affection in any particular , if at the same time there remains a sense of moral good or ill ; there must be of necessity more work created for ill conscience , more subject of ill consciousness ; and the matter or ground of self-disapprobation or self-dissatisfaction in life , must be more increas'd , as irregular and ill affection increases . in short , there is no transgression , loss or violation of natural affection in any degree , without ill conscience of the first sort , viz. of ill merit or ill deservingness , such as loses us that supreme happiness of rest , and security of mind in a freedom from ill apprehensions and suspicions ; and such as must draw on , necessarily , that contrary habit of mind which causes us to live in terrors of mankind , and of all credited , or but suspected superior powers : from which fears we are by innocence and good consciousness so much deliver'd , and by that means plac'd in such security and ease . if there be no farther conscience than this , if there be no conscience at all from sense of deformity in moral ill , and consequently no natural affection ; then is the mind farthest of all from being at ease , by being ( as it must necessarily be , when natural affection is lost ) in the horridest state of savageness , immanity and unnatural passion . if there be indeed farther conscience , as from a sense of moral deformity and excellence , then there being certainly no durable or consistent self-approbation from any thing besides what is of virtue ; there is ground of constant self-accusation or dislike from whatsoever is contrary to , or is a defect in natural affection : as on the other side , there is ground of thorow self-approbation , joy and contentment , wheresoever there is integrity of life , and adherence to natural and sound affection . this also is to be consider'd , that when any one by an immorality or injustice offends his conscience , and goes against natural affection , or sense of right and wrong ; he cannot possibly see a reason in himself , why he should not be carried further into all manner of villany , or why he should not esteem himself as a person liable and open to all crime and wickedness , even that which is as yet unknown to him . and this is a reproach which a mind must of necessity make to it self upon the least offence of conscience , and where any thing is committed in contradiction to a sense of right and wrong , that is , of an amiableness or deformity in moral actions . as for that other part of conscience , viz. the ill remembrance or ill reflection of what is unreasonably done , and in prejudice of interest or happiness : this must follow still and have effect , wheresoever any action has given occasion to sense of deformity contracted by crime and injustice : or where there is not the ground of any such sense ; yet there must follow still an ill conscience from sense of ill merit with respect to men , and to the deity . or tho there be a possibility ( which is hard to suppose ) of excluding for ever all thoughts or suspicions of any superior powers , yet it is impossible but that an almost total defect in natural affection , which no dissimulation can long conceal , must occasion a sensible loss to us in the confidence and trust of men , and consequently in interest and happiness . and the sense of this great disadvantage is what can never fail to occur to us , when we see ( as we must be forc'd to do with envy ) the better and more grateful terms of friendship , trust , love and esteem , on which those who have not renounc'd their good and natural affection , live with the rest of mankind . where natural affection therefore is not ; yet by immorality , happening through want of such affection , there must be disturbance from conscience of this sort , viz. from sense of what is committed unwisely , and contrary to interest and safety : and this too , notwithstanding any security in which men may live against the apprehensions of a superior and animadverting power . from all this we may conclude , that a mind and reason , well at ease , orderly , reconcilable with it self , and of good retrospect or reflection ( on which , and on a temper such as we have spoken of , all those mental pleasures before enumerated do in a great degree depend , and are founded ) is owing to natural and good affection . so that if the chiefest happiness be from the mental pleasures , and from the constantest succession or series of such in life ; and that the chiefest mental pleasures are such as we have treated of , and are founded in natural affection ; it follows , that to have the natural affections , is to have the chiefest enjoyment , possession , and happiness of life . now as to the pleasures of the body , and the satisfactions belonging to sense ; it is evident , that they cannot possibly have their effect , or be of any valuable or delightful enjoyment , but by the means of natural and social affection . if from the highest voluptuousness in eating or in drinking , the circumstances of a table and companions were withdrawn ; so that all possible means of enjoying these delights in fellowship , all occasion for social feeling or affection were deny'd ; there would be hardly any pleasure remaining that were worth acceptance , even in the opinion of the most debauch'd themselves : and if there are any of those sensualists who can be sensual by themselves , who can be contented to take these satisfactions when perfectly alone , and can indulge themselves in the same manner , and eat and drink with the same relish then as at another season ; there is no body who thinks the pleasure of these persons to be very refin'd , or that they are so much as capable of enjoying it , so as to be reckon'd upon as men of pleasure . the very notion of a debauch ( which is a sally into all that can be imagin'd of pleasure and voluptuousness ) carries with it an apprehension of reference to society , or to a gang , or something of fellowship : it may be call'd a surfeit or excess of eating and drinking , but hardly a debauch of that kind , when the excess was taken separately , out of society or reach of people : and one that uses himself in this way , is often call'd a sot , but never a debauchee . the courtezans , and even the commonest of women , who live by prostitution , know very well how necessary it is , that every one whom they entertain with their beauty , should believe that there are satisfactions reciprocal , and that pleasures are as well given as receiv'd : and were the imagination of this to be wholly taken away , there are hardly any of the grosser sort of mankind who would not think the remaining pleasure to be gross and sordid , and of very imperfect injoyment . who is there that can well , or long enjoy any thing when alone , and abstracted perfectly even in his very mind and thought , from any thing of society ? who is there that on those terms is not soon cloy'd by any sensual indulgence , and that is not uneasy with his pleasure , however exquisit it be , of sensation , till such time as he has found a way to impart it , and make it truly pleasant to him , by communicating his joy , and sharing it at least with some one single person ? let men imagin what they please ; let them suppose or believe themselves ever so selfish ; or desire ever so much to follow the dictates of such a principle , and to bring nature under restraint ; nature will break out , and in agonies , disquiets , and a distemper'd state , demonstrate evidently the ill consequence of such violence , the absurdity of such a device , and the punishment which belongs to such a monstrous and horrid endeavor . thus , therefore , not only the pleasures of the mind depend on natural affection ; but even the pleasures too of the body do in so far depend , that where natural affection is not , they not only lose their force , but are in a manner converted into disturbance , uneasiness and disgust : so as that the matter which should feed joy , contentment and delight , feeds rather discontent and sowerness , and breeds a nauseating , wearisom and restless disposition , by reason of the absolute incapacity in any thing sensual to please , or give any lasting or thorow contentment , where it is not mixt with any thing of affable , kind , or social affection . and thus both with respect to mental enjoyment , and to the enjoyments of sense also ; to have the natural affections , is to have the chiefest satisfaction and happiness of life . now on the other side , that to want the same natural affections is to be chiefly miserable , appears first from the loss it implies both of the mental and bodily pleasures ; and also from its carrying with it the horridest of pains , those of the mind : of which sort if ( by what shall further be prov'd ) those deriv'd from unnatural and horrid affections appear to be the very worst ; it will follow that since ( according to what has bin prov'd already ) unnatural and horrid affection is and must ever be consequent to the loss of natural and good ; that therefore to want natural and good affection , is certainly to incar the greatest of torments and diseases . but , before we conclude as to this of natural affection , we may add something in general , of the balance of the affection ( of which we gave some hint before ) and by this endeavor to demonstrate how that for want of a due proportion or balance in natural affection , a creature is at a loss and uneasy , disturb'd , and ill affected in his other passions . there is no body who has consider'd ever so little the nature of the sensible part , the soul or mind , but knows that in the same manner as without action , motion and employment , the body languishes and is oppress'd , its nourishment grows the matter and food of disease , the spirits unconsum'd help to consume the body , and nature as it were preys upon it self ; so also that sensible and living part , the soul or mind , wanting its proper and natural exercise , is burden'd , and diseas'd ; and its thoughts and passions being unnaturally witheld from their due objects , turn against it self , and create the highest impatience . for the mind or soul , which more than the body requires agitation and exercise , cannot be but in a state of feeling or passion , of some kind , and under some certain affection or other : if not under such affection as may fitly employ it in proportionable and fit subject ; yet however under such as will make it a burden , disease and torment to it self . in brutes , and such as have not the use of reason or reflection ( at least not after the manner which mankind has ) it is so order'd in nature , that between their daily search after food , their application and intention towards the business of their own immediate support , or towards the affairs of their kind , almost their whole time is taken up , and they fail not to find full imployment for their passion , according to that degree of agitation and vigor to which they are fitted , and which their nature requires . if it happens that any one of these be taken out of a natural and laborious state , to be plac'd in the midst of ease , and of a plenty furnishing abundantly to all his appetites and wants ; it proves , that as his circumstances are luxuriant , his temper and passions grow so too ; and that coming to have these accommodations at a cheaper rate , with respect to labor and imployment , than was intended him by nature , he is made to pay dearer for it in another sense , by losing the good disposition of his temper and passions , and the orderliness of his kind or species . it happens with mankind , that some by necessity are ty'd to labor , whilst others are provided for in an abundance of all things at the expence of the labors of the rest . now , if amongst those of this easy sort , there be not something of fit and proper imployment rais'd in the room of what is wanting by such a vacancy from common labor and toil ; if there be not an application to some sort of work , such as has a good and honest end in society , as letters , sciences , arts , husbandry , public or privat oeconomy , or the like ; but that there be a settled idleness , supiness , and a relax'd and dissolute state ; it must needs produce ( as is always seen ) a total disorder of the passions , and must break out in the strangest irregularities imaginable . it is not thus with those who are taken up in honest and due imployment , and have bin well inur'd to it , as amongst the industrious sort of common people ; where it is rare to meet with any instances of those irregularities of affection that are known in courts and where idleness reigns . neither may it be improper here , to remark what many have done in advantage of imployment and application ; that where a person necessitated from his youth to a life of the most laborious sort , has on a sudden chang'd his circumstances and become rich , he has found in himself the uneasiness and ill operation of that ease and rest he so much wish'd for , and having no other proper imployment to turn himself to , he has again betaken himself to that life out of choice , to which before be was only driven and necessitated . there is no need of going about by farther instances , and argument , to prove , that as motion and exercise is of absolute necessity to the good state and welfare of the body ; so it is to that of the mind and affectionate part . now nature having ( as we see evidently in creatures ) made it so great a part of the natural imployment and exercise of the mind and passion , to be applied and bent towards the species : and having suted and fram'd the rest of the passions , the whole constitution and oeconomy of the creature to this ; it cannot but follow of consequence , that where this social bent and affection is wanting , the mind and passionat part must suffer much by the want of it ; being sure to create to themselves unusual and unnatural exercise , where they are cut off from such as is natural and good . and thus in the room of social and natural affection , new and unnatural ones must be rais'd , and all order and oeconomy be thus destroy'd . it is to have a very imperfect idea of the order of nature in the formation and structure of animals , to think that so great a principle , so fundamental a part as that of natural affection in the soul , should be possibly lost or impair'd without mighty disorder , calamity and injury to the creature . in the structure of the body , where all is so aptly adjusted , there is not any of all those which are call'd the noble or principal parts , that can be wounded or hurt without the immediat disorder and sufferance of the whole body . nor is this otherwise in the structure of the passions and affections , which are with equal art and exactness suted and fram'd to one another , to every different creature and different sex ; since we see the whole so nicely built , that the barely extending of one passion but a little too far , or the continuance of it too long , is able to overturn all , and bring irrecoverable ruin and misery , by distraction . how is it possible , therefore , that in a system such as this , a principle of life and motion so great as that of natural affection , so interwove with all the other faculties , and suted to the other motions within , should possibly be injur'd or lost , without the sufferance and ruin of the inward part , and a total intanglement , torture , and perplexity of inward disposition ? we see in the example of castration , how a small bodily alteration has an effect upon the passions , so as to take away those appetites and affections that are the proper ones of the sex , and how great a disorder this breeds ; how man himself no less than other creatures , is render'd by it unsound , imperfect , deform'd , and miserably disposed in his passions and affections as well as in outward figure ; how impotent of mind , and how weak , untoward and wretched in his whole state . it is the same thing when without any change in the bodily organs , and only by the force of unnatural education , practice , or use , any natural passions are remov'd which are of the oeconomy and order of the creature . a man effeminatly bred and us'd , tho not an eunuch , nor by any metamorphosis chang'd into woman , yet becomes a kind of woman in part , and is the same disfigur'd creature as to his passions and inward composure , as that other sort of monster and creature of neither sex. who is there that can think of any creature that becomes degenerate , and loses any principal feeling or passion which is of the character of his species ( as of a lion that should lose his courage , a bee his industry , a turtle his tender , and as it were conjugal affection ) without having the idea of an untoward imperfect being , and of a creature that for his own sake had better not be ? can any one think either of a male that passes into any of the passions or affections proper only to the female ; or of a female that loses the proper and peculiar softness belonging to the sex , and becomes masculine , without being offended , and without judging very readily , that as there is a different order of life , a different oeconomy , different capacities of pleasure , and enjoyments of life ; so there is a different order set , and oeconomy of passions assign'd in the same manner to the one , different from the other ? for , where the faculties , the habitudes or affections belonging to the male , are join'd to other affections which are proper only to the female ; this being disagreeable , preposterous , and of disturbance to the smooth and regular course of the passions , must be of necessity a torment and disease . now if for any animal , even of the brutish kind , to lose any one of those affections proper to his species and to the character of his kind , or of his sex only , be of so great an injury to him ; what must it be for man to lose that sense and feeling which is proper to him as a man ; which is his proper character , his make and genius ? what must it be for man ( whose dependence on , and relation to society is yet greater than in any of those other creatures ) to lose any thing of that natural affection by which he is carried on to the good of his species and society , and of which passion he has naturally so much more than other creatures , that he , of any other , can least bear solitude or an intermission of social enjoyment which he is still seeking after , and if long depriv'd of , is hardly able to endure his being ? nor is any thing more apparent than that there is naturally in every one such a degree of social affection as necessitates and drives him to seek the familiarity and friendship of others , amongst whom he may let loose a passion which wants to be employ'd , and which when it is suppress'd , creates a sadness , dejection and melancholy in the mind , as great as is on the contrary that healing and enlivening joy it brings when acting at its liberty and with full scope ; as at that time we may see particularly when the heart is open'd , and the secrets of the breast unfolded to a bosom-friend . this we see confirm'd in persons of the most elevated stations , in princes , monarchs , and those who seem by their condition to be above ordinary human commerce , and to affect a strangeness and distance with mankind . for altho the wiser and better sort are perhaps out of a jealousy rejected by them , as not fitted for their intimacy or secret converse ; yet there are those substituted in the room , who tho they may have the least merit of any , and are perhaps the most vile and contemptible of men ; yet serve however to that end of friendship , and are so much the subjects of a kindness and social affection in these great ones , that for these we can see them often in pain and in concern ; in these they easily confide ; to these they can with pleasure be open , free , kind , succorable and bountiful , as rejoycing and taking delight in it , having no intention or aim beyond it , and their interest ( in respect of policy ) often standing contrary to it . in persons of but an ordinary good disposition , no better than what is common to the generality of mankind , it is discernable how much they are press'd with this necessity of entertaining friendship and familiar commerce , and how much these social affections want ( if i may say so ) their daily exercise and discharge . how heavy dos life grow when without it ? and how plain is it , that after a long absence , and a sort of abstinence in this way , after a banishment from the company of near friends , and a disuse of society but for a small time , the mind is in distress , the temper discompos'd ; and that no sooner is the man restor'd to the means of his former enjoyment , but he takes new pleasure , receives additional delight , and enjoys more than before the freedom , intimacy , and all those circumstances of friendly commerce , and of an inward society from which he was separated ? and thus it may appear how much natural affection is predominant in us ; how it is inwardly joined to us , and implanted in our natures ; how interwove with our other passions , and how essential to the regular motion and course of all our affections , on which our happiness and self-enjoyment so immediatly depends . thus much as to the system and constitution of the inward part , and as to that natural balance of the affections ; which may not be thought ( we hope ) so odd or unjustifiable a way of speaking , after what has bin said . as to both those ills which follow the ill balance and defect of natural affection , viz. the enlargement and extention of the selfish passions ; and the growth of the unnatural and horrid ones ; how and in what degree these consequences are miserable , we come to speak in what follows upon each of those heads , which make the second and third part of this examination . and thus it appears , that as to have the natural and good affections is of the chiefest enjoyment of life ; so to want them is of the highest disorder and misery . ii. we are now to prove , that by having the self-passions too intense or strong , a creature is miserable . we have already consider'd in some measure of the passions and affections of this kind , as they are good and useful for the creature , with respect to his privat interest and self-oeconomy . now these , if they are moderate and in a natural degree , are no ways inconsistent with the effects or right operation of natural affection ; which will prevail still where it ought , and in every fit occasion take place of any of those other affections whilst thus moderate , and make them to be no obstructions : for thus in a creature who has a natural affection towards its young , the affections towards privat good or safety , tho abiding still in the creature , are yet no hindrance to his operation towards public good , or good of his kind , even where sufferings and violences are to be undergon , and life it self comes in question : and this is according to a right balance and proportion . but if the passions of this kind toward privat good , or the regards to privat good are excessive and beyond a certain degree ; then is this operation hindred , and the effects of natural affection towards public good prevented : and thus is the balance broken , and oeconomy destroy'd . therefore if it be suppos'd conducing to the interest of any creature , to have these self-passions thus violently strong , and the balance to be after this manner ; then it must be according to his interest resolutely to go against those natural affections . but if ( as we think it will appear ) it can never be for the interest of a creature to have his self-passions thus strong or violent , so as to make this ill balance ; then it must be always at his own disadvantage , and not according to his interest , to go contrary to natural affection , through that which we call self-love . if there were any of these self-passions , which for the good and happiness of the creature might be set in opposition to natural affection , and deserv'd a degree of strength able to over-balance it ; the desire and love of life would be the most likely . but it may be found perhaps that there is no passion which ( by having so much allow'd to it ) is the occasion of more disorder and misery . there is nothing more certain , or that is more universally consented to and confess'd by every one , than this ; that life may sometimes be even a misfortune and misery ; and that nothing can be more desirable than to lay it down and withdraw from under the heavy burden . to cause , or any way inforce the continuance of life in creatures reduc'd to a certain extremity , is esteem'd the greatest cruelty : and even there where any religious faith forbids , as a thing heinous and sinful , that any one should be his own reliever ; still , if by any fortunat accident death offers of it self , it is embrac'd as highly welcom , and as a blessing . and on this account the nearest friends and relations often rejoice at the release of one entirely belov'd . even tho he himself may have bin of so weak a mind as to have declin'd death , and endeavor'd earnestly the prolongment of his own uneligible and wretched state. since life therefore may frequently prove a misfortune and misery , and that even naturally it becomes so by being only prolong'd till it reaches the infirmities of old age ; and since there is nothing more commonly known than the instances of life overvalu'd , where , out of an eager desire of life , men purchase it at an overrate , and at such a cost as hardly any life can be thought worth ; it follows evidently , that that passion or affection of love of life , and abhorrence or dread of death , if it be over great and exceedingly prevalent , and over balancing in the temper of any creature , must be the means of carrying him directly against his own interest and good , and must make him in occasions , such as are of the last importance , to become the greatest enemy to himself that can be , and necessitate him to act as such . but in the next place : tho it were always the interest and good of a creature , by all courses and means whatsoever , at any price or at any rate , to preserve life ; yet according to this , it is not for the interest of a creature to have this passion over great : for thus it will be ineffectual , and not conducing to its end . various instances need not be given : for what is there better known , than that at all times an excessive fear betrays to danger , instead of saving from it ; and that it is impossible for any one to do the least thing serviceably or well for his own preservation , or in his own defence , when strongly press'd with such a passion : insomuch , that on all extraordinary emergences , courage is that which chiefly saves , whilst cowardice robs us of the means of safety , and not only deprives us of our defensive faculties , and hinders us from acting as we should do to that end of our defence ; but even runs us into the mouth of ruin , and makes us meet that evil which we scarce needed to have shun'd ? and now tho in neither of these senses it could be call'd an ill , to have the affection of this sort thus strong and prevalent ; yet the affection it self , when in this degree predominant in any one , must be the cause of misery , if it be misery to have a thorow cowardice , and to feel those horrors that are proper to the character of one who lives under a constant dread of death . for , in a rational and reflecting creature ( to whom the thoughts and imagination of death are continually in some manner or another presented ) an inherent passion of this sort must be the occasion of the greatest agonies and torments , such as must enter at all times into the pleasantest parts of life , so as to corrupt and poison all enjoyment and consent . and thus by reason of this passion alone , such a life as this , if inwardly and closely view'd , would be found to be one of the most miserable , tho attended with all other circumstances that should in all appearance make it happy . but when we add to this the meannesses and base condescensions occasion'd by such a fear of death , and which necessarily follow from such an eager desire of retaining life ; when we consider how we are debas'd and sham'd by it , when driven to actions which we cannot view but with dislike ; when the life we thus cherish , is by this means grown to be of so unpleasing reflection , sulli'd , deform'd , and forc'd by degrees into still greater crookedness and perplexity ; in this case i think there is no body ever so little ingenuous but feels that life sits heavily upon us , and is worn uneasily : whilst all that is kind and social , the chief pleasure and good of life , is for the sake of life abandon'd and given up , and things submitted to , for which nothing in life besides can make amends . in short , is there any thing more miserable than the condition of a thorow timorous nature , where the terror of dying is always a close and pressing passion ? and what fortune , what outward state ever so secure , can deliver from this ? to what is not such a one necessitated and driven , who lives under a more than ordinary fear of this sort ? what torturing and endless work is still growing upon his hands , who out of an earnestness to retain life at any rate , renders it so much the more expos'd , as he is forc'd more and more into those indirect courses upon which such a passion runs him ? on the other 〈…〉 , is there any one who will not esteem the life of a person more easy towards this subject , to be a life capable infinitly of greater happiness and enjoyment ? is not the very consciousness and feeling it self of such an ease and indifference as this , an infinit satisfaction in a world of occasions ? and is not the effect of it an augmenting and heightning to our pleasures , and to the enjoyments we take in life ; as the contrary passion is by its effect destructive to the pleasures of life , and an allay and bitterness amidst all that is injoy'd of that sort ? and thus therefore , upon the whole , it seems evident , that to have that affection of desire and love of life , or abhorrence of death , too intense and beyond a certain degree , is against the interest , good and safety of a creature , and is opposit to the happiness he injoys in life . in the same manner as this passion of fear ( under a certain degree ) is necessary to self-preservation , and to the avoiding of what is destructive ; so is there another passion as preservative to us , and as useful to our safety , by assisting us not to fly , but to repel injury , and resist violence when offer'd . it is by this that a creature offering an injury , is deter'd from it , as knowing by the very signs which accompany this passion whilst it is rising and gathering strength , that the injury will not go with impunity . and it is this passion which , when violence is actually us'd , assists us more effectually to struggle against it , and adds a force to us , both in supporting it , and in returning it on the inflicter . for thus , as rage and despair increase , a creature grows still more and more terrible ; and being urg'd to the greatest extremity , finds a degree of strength and boldness unknown till then , and which had not risen but through the height of provocation . as to this passion therefore of anger ( for i know no other word for it ) tho its immediat aim be indeed the ill or punishment only of another , and not the good of self ; yet it is plainly one of those passions ( of which we are now discoursing ) that tend to the advantage and interest of the self-system , the animal himself : since a certain degree of that passion ( whether that degree be properly call'd anger or no , it matters not ) is most certainly requisit in the creature for his performance even of the better sort of moral actions , whether tending to the good of society , or to his own preservation and defence . for , who can resolutely enough divide from , or resist ill and detestable men ; or who can fight either singly against a privat enemy , or for the public against a public one , without feeling in some measure , and being arm'd as it were with a certain degree of this passion ? but , on the other side , there is hardly any need that we should explain how mischievous and destructive anger is , if it be what we commonly mean by that word ; if it be such as denominates an angry temper , and be either hasty , rash , and violent in the instant of provocation only ; or if it be of that kind which imprints it self deeply , and for a long season , and causes revenge , and a vindicative bent and resolution . what can be a sorer or deeper wound , a closer grief , or more sensible misery , than to be agitated by this fierce passion , and carry this sting within ? and what wonder is it that so much is done out of revenge , and in the fury of anger , when the relief and satisfaction found in that indulgence is really the asswaging of the most torturous grief and pressing sensation of misery ; which being remov'd , or for a while alleviated or abated , by the accomplishment of the desire in the ill of another , leaves behind it ( as a rack newly quitted ) the perception of the greatest comfort , and an overflowing of soft and pleasing sensation ? from hence are those untoward delights of perversness , and of an habitual froward , envenom'd and malignant disposition acting at its liberty : for this is a perpetual asswaging of anger perpetually kindled , and always renewing ; which is the same as to be perpetually stung , and still curing of the sore . thus a thorow home revenge being rais'd once to a high pitch , rests not till it attains its end ; and that attain'd , is easy and reposes : making the succeeding ease and relief to be by so much more enjoy'd as the preceding anguish and incumbent pain was of long duration , and of bitterest impatience . and certainly if amongst lovers , and in the language of gallantry , the success of ardent love is call'd the asswaging of a pain ; this must be by far yet , more justly term'd so . and surely , however pleasing that other pain may be said to be , this can be no pleasing one , nor can be any other than sound and thorow wretchedness , a grating and disgustful feeling , without the least mixture of any thing soft or flattering . to speak any further of this passion of anger ; to shew the ill effects of it as to our selves , our minds and bodies , our condition , and circumstances of life with those around us ; or to shew on the other side , the good effects as well as happy feeling of a mild condescending temper , easy of contentment , such as not easily takes offence , and easily forgives ; to shew how much this is sutable to interest , to health and contentment , to easy and pleasant living ; and how much the contrary is embroiling , dangerous , exposing , and of perpetual disturbance , inconvenience and misfortune , would be i imagin needless . what has bin said , may be enough to make this be understood , that to be subject to such affection of anger of any kind , as we have bin mentioning , is to suffer under a worse sort of disease , and to be subject to no small misery . we are now to speak concerning other self-passions that are of the oeconomy of the creature , as love or appetite to nourishment ; love of , and concern for those conveniences by which we are well provided for and maintain'd ; love and desire of reputation , authority , and power of some kind , which advance our welfare , good establishment and condition of living . now these affections of desire or appetite towards what is self-advantageous , and of self-good , if they are moderate and in certain bounds , are such as are not blamable , by being any ways injurious to social life , or a hinderance to virtue : but being in an extreme degree , they become luxury , avarice , ambition , and are known vitious and ill with respect to society . how it is that they are ill also with respect to the privat person , and are his loss and injury as well as the society's , we may thus consider . as first in that of luxury . were it true ( as has bin prov'd the contrary ) that the most considerable pleasures were such as came in by the sense ; and were it true also that these pleasures of the sense lay in such certain outward things capable and sure to yield always a due and certain portion of pleasure according to their degree and quality ; it would then follow , that the certain way to procure happiness would be barely to procure largely of these subjects to which happiness and pleasure were thus annexed ; and by using or consuming the most of these , make sure of most enjoyment . but in what sense soever it be that this is call'd to live , and to live fast , as if this were to make the most of life ; it will hardly be found that the inward faculties ( such as are the cause that any thing of pleasure is conceiv'd ) are able to keep pace with these outward supplies . and if the natural disposition and aptness from within be not concurring , it will be in vain that these subjects are thus heap'd on , and multiply'd with eager intention and desire . now if those inward dispositions ( such as of a stomach towards nourishment ) be disorder'd , overturn'd , and ruin'd by excess , then is there no longer the same enjoyment to be receiv'd from any thing ; but all is in a manner ruin'd , and the capacity of real pleasure lost , whilst that which remains is rather a sore and a disease : as may be observ'd in those who have gain'd a constant nauseating , tho with a cravingness of stomach ; or who have contracted a continual , eager , and insatiable thirst . but how much better dos nature , that has so well and easily provided for our pleasure , dictate also and prescribe to us for the enjoyment of it ? and who by quitting nature e'er made advancement or improv'd in pleasure ? was it ever known of any one , long us'd and accustom'd to an active life , and to exercise begetting health , and a kindly vigorous appetite , that having then experienc'd the gratefulness of food , even of the plainest kind ; it ever came into his thought , upon a following change of life and diet , to compare or bring in competition the pleasures receiv'd from all those delicacies of luxury , and of a continual solicited and forc'd appetite , with those former remember'd satisfactions of a homely and common diet , prepar'd by chearful and wholsom labor , and preceded by due abstinence , and a sutable kind and natural appetite ? on the other side , has any thing bin more known , than the instances of people bred to a life and diet just the contrary , us'd never to wait , but to prevent appetite , and accustom'd to contend with an almost perpetual society ; who when by accident or choice they came to fall into that other more natural course of life , or but for a while ( as on a journey , or a day of hunting ) came to experience once the satisfaction had from the plainest food , have afterwards with freedom own'd , that it was then that they receiv'd the greatest contentment and delight of that sort , and such as was infinitly above what arose from all those studi'd pleasures of variety and excess ? it is plain , that by pressing on and urging nature thus , and by forcing continually the appetite and sense , the keeness and edg of those natural sensations are by degrees lost : and tho by vice and habit the same things may be sought after with equal violence as before ; tho the impatience of being without them may be greater and greater ; yet the joy in having them is lessen'd and brought almost to nothing . the accompanying palls and nauseautings which continually intervene , are of the worst and most hateful sensation that can be ; and hardly is there at last any thing tasted wholly free from something of this ill relish and untoward feeling : so that instead of a constant and flowing delight to be reckon'd upon as belonging to this state ; the state it self is a perpetual sickness or infirmity , a corruption of pleasure , and cannot so much as admit of any thorow kind , natural , and agreeable sensation , even of the very sort of those it so earnestly seeks and aspires to with such eagerness . as to the consequences of such a pernicious greediness , and excessive desire towards indulgence of this sort ; how fatal to the body , and to the health and vigor of the manly frame ; how ruinous by diseases , such as are the most tormenting , and of the acutest pain and longest duration ; all this needs scarce to be repeated : nor how on the other side , the reverse of this , a temperate life , and desires moderated , afford every thing so happily contrary , by making life so much more lasting , vigorous , and so infinitly more delightful , and of more pleasing inward sensation and lively feeling , proper always to that full healthiness of a temperate state ; as a contrary torpor and heavy wearydness is proper to a debauch'd state , and is spread still through the senses of one used to continual excess . as to the consequences with respect to the mind , the difference here between temperance and intemperance ; which of the two is the most thriving state for the mind , and which injurious and destructive , is superfluous to mention . nor needs it be told , that as there is a vigor and alacrity gain'd to the mind by temperance , so in the very practice of what is thus beneficial both to the body and mind , and advantageous so many other ways besides , there is a peculiar joy and satisfaction . the consequences as to interest are plain enough . the misery of such a state of impotence and unforbearance , whilst it subjects us to the lowest and meanest carriage and dependence , as well as to all profusion , to all irregularity and extravagance of conduct ; the injuries too , which even knowingly they do themselves , who out of an impotence of this sort , and an impossibility of restraint , forbear not what even they themselves declare they know to be destructive to them ; all this , and more of this nature is obvious enough . and from less than what has bin said , it would be easy to conclude , that to have this violent love , this luxurious and high desire towards the sort of pleasure mention'd , is to be highly inconvenienc'd and prejudic'd as to interest , happiness of life , and enjoyment of real pleasure . now as to those other excesses of the self-passions , such as mention'd , as of regard towards the outward conveniences of life ( which in an extreme degree is covetousness or avarice ) and that of inclination and good liking towards what is of reputation and authority ( of which the extreme is ambition and vanity ) how far the first of these a coveting or avaritious temper is miserable , needs not that one should go about to explain . who is there that knows not how little a portion that is , which is agreed by all to be sufficient for a man's single use and convenience ? and how much may even this be reduc'd still , and brought into a narrower compass , if all superfluity being cut off , temperance and a natural life were follow'd with near that application and earnestness that sumptuousness and luxury is practis'd by some , and studi'd as an art or science ? now where temperance is found thus advantageous , and the practice as well as the consequences of it so pleasing and happy , there is little need to mention any thing of the miseries attending those covetous and eager desires after things that have no bounds or rule , as being out of nature , beyond which there can be no limits or moderation set to desire . for where shall we once stop when we are over this , when we are no longer contain'd within the bounds of nature ? how shall we any way fix or ascertain a thing wholly unnatural and unreasonable ? or what method or regulation shall we set to excess or exorbitant fancy , in adding expence to expence , or possession to possession ? hence that natural restlesness of coveting and eager minds , in whatever state or degree of fortune they are plac'd ; there being no thorow or real satisfaction , but a kind of natural insatiableness belonging to this condition , whence it comes that injoyment is hinder'd : since it is impossible that there should be any real enjoyment but of what is in consequence of natural and just appetite . nor do we readily call that an enjoyment of wealth or of honor , when through covetousness or ambition , the desire is still forwards , and rests not as satisfi'd with its gains . but of this vice of covetousness , and the misery of it ( especially of that sort which is mere avarice ) there is enough said in the world ; and in our common way of speaking , a covetous and a miserable temper has often but one and the same meaning . neither is there less known or said as to the ills of that other aspiring temper , and the self-torments of a swoln pride and ambition ; which would be indeed but little felt in the world , if those passions were as much fought against and controul'd within , as they are condemn'd abroad , and own'd by every body to be unfortunat and tormenting . but when one considers the ease , happiness , and the thousand advantages and securities which attend a satisfied temper , a free and easy spirit , such as can be accommodated on easy terms , is fitted to society and fellowship , and can sute it self with any reasonable circumstances ; it will not be necessary any further to suggest the excellence and good of moderation , and the mischief and self-injury of immoderat desires , and of a mind that covets eagerly fame , honor , superiority , or power . this too is obvious in this place , that as the desires of this kind are rais'd and become impatient , so the aversions and fears of the contrary side grow in proportion strong and violent , and the temper more subject to apprehensions from all events , and more uncapable of bearing the least repulse or ordinary loss or disappointment . and thus all quiet , rest and security as to what is future , and all peace , contentedness and ease as to what is present , is forfeited by having desires of this kind , and by having appetites thus swelling and immoderat . there is a temper which is oft-times consider'd as in opposition to these eager and aspiring aims of which we have been speaking ; not that it excludes the passions either of covetousness or ambition , but that it is the hindrance of their effects ; and that by soothing of the mind , and softning it into an excessive love of rest and indolence , it makes the attempts of those passions to be impracticable , and renders the difficulties of their painful and laborious course towards wealth and honors to be insuperable . now tho an inclination towards ease , a love of moderate repose and rest from action , be as natural and useful to us as that inclination we have towards sleep ; and that to want such an inclination would be in the same manner an ill , as if we had not at proper times a strong and pressing inclination to sleep ; yet notwithstanding this , an excessive love of rest , and a contracted hatred and aversion towards action or employment , must be greatly injurious , and be a disease in the mind equal to that of a lethargy in the body , and no less destructive of it by keeping it in a perpetual dulness and in-action , than the other , by keeping it in a perpetual slumber . how much this of action or exercise is necessary for the body , let it be judg'd by the difference we find in the constitutions that are accustom'd , and those that are wholly strangers to it ; and by the different health and complexion which labor and due exercise create , in comparison with that habit of body which we see consequent to an indulg'd state of indolence and rest . it is pleasing to observe what eager and impatient appetite towards exercise nature has given to youth of all kinds , in that desire of play , which is no other than the instigation or incitement of nature to such an extraordinary motion of the body as is at that time chiefly requisit . afterwards , when grown up , and no longer in their parents but their own care ; when the subjects of labor increase , and self-defence , self-maintenance , search of food , and venery , the consequent charge of the young , and other affairs begin to give them imployment in abundance ; then is ease and quiet more injoy'd , and love of rest increas'd , as toil and business increase , and the vigor and eagerness of youth abates . but where through a corruption of nature , sloth and laziness is ingendred : where it is contracted as a habit that slackens and enervates the mind , and infeebles , and as it were dissolves the body ; it is not only ruinous of the body's health , and destructive in the end , or by its consequences ; but the immediate feeling of it , and the sensation it self becomes no other than a lingring , drooping pain and heavy oppression : it being impossible this way ever to feel ( as those who live naturally ) either the sprightly joy of vigorous and manly exercise , or the succeding refreshment , and the pleasures of a natural and wholsom rest after due labor and imployment . so that in the room of the pleasures of a double kind that are thus parted with , there is nothing gain'd but a dull and heavy feeling more weighty and tiresom than any labor whatsoever ; a sort of languishing disease prejudicial to all other enjoyments of a vigorous and healthy sense , and injurious both to the body and to the mind : in which latter it is the occasion of worse disturbance , and of a more immediate spreading corruption ; for however the body may hold out , it is impossible that the mind in which the distemper is seated , can escape without an immediate affliction and disorder . the habit begets a tediousness and anxiety which infects the whole temper , and is the occasion of converting this unnatural rest into an unhappy sort of activity , such as that of vexatiousness , ill humor , and a preying active spleen . and in the same manner as in the body , where no labor or natural exercise being us'd , the spirits that want their due imployment prey upon the body , and find work for themselves in a destructive way ; so in a mind unexercis'd , and which languishes and faints for want of due action , the passions which should have an equal and apt imployment , and be taken up in a settled application to some sit work and business in life , being thus cut off from their course of action , find work themselves , and turning inwards , raise disquiet in the mind , and an eagerness and irritation in the temper , which becomes loosen'd towards passion , is render'd more impotent , more incapable of moderation , and like prepar'd fuel , is made apt to take fire by the least spark . thus therefore by reason of the injuries that this habit brings both to the body and to the mind , and to the pleasure and real ease of both ; it is plain , that to have this overgreat inclination towards rest , this slothful , soft or effeminate temper , averse to labor and imployment , is to have an unavoidable mischief and attendent plague . as to interest , how far it is here concern'd , how wretched that state is , which by this habit a man is placed in towards all the circumstances and affairs of life , when at any time he is call'd to action ; how subjected he must be to all inconveniences wanting to himself , and depriv'd of the assistance of others ; whilst being unfit for all offices and duties of society , he yet of any other person most needs the help of society , as being least able to assist or support himself ; all this is obvious , and need not to be explained . there remains still one passion more to speak of , which yet we can scarcely call a self-passion , since the sole end of it is the good and advantage of the kind . but whereas all other social or natural affections are join'd only with a mental pleasure , and sounded in a kindness and love only ; this has more added to it , and is join'd with a pleasure of sense , and a necessity in some degree of indulging the appetite which is towards it , for the ease and welfare of the creature . and tho the necessity be not absolute here , as in the cases of eating , drinking , rest and sleep ; yet to abstain wholly from the use of venery ( which is that we are speaking of ) can hardly be without the sufferance of the body in some degree : nor can the prejudice to the constitution be absolutely avoided , without the assistance of art , and a method and rule of living , as is observable even in the female sex ; where notwithstanding the toil and sufferance of breeding and bearing the young , the natural consequences are rather worse to the constitution from being totally witheld , and never serving to that use and design of nature , tho through so much labor and fatigue . such concern , therefore , and care has nature shewn for the support and maintenance of the several species , that by an indigence and a kind of necessity which we are thus cast in , it is made an immediate self-interest to us , with respect to our bodily state , to work towards the propagation of our kind . the passion therefore which carries us to this service and good to our species , is made as it were a self-passion , and is accompanied not only with an affection of kindness and love towards the female , but with a desire of self-ease , and towards what is of use to the privat animal nature , and a satisfaction and indulgence of sense . now whether or no it be the interest and good of the animal to have this indigence and need beyond a natural and ordinary degree , and to have this appetite towards venery more eager , impatient , and more extended than of course it usually is in nature , where no additional incitement or provocation is used ; this is what we may consider . having said already so much concerning natural and unnatural appetite above , there needs less to be said in this place . if it be allow'd that to all other pleasures there is a measure of appetite belonging , which cannot be exceeded but with prejudice to the creature , even in his very capacity of enjoying pleasure : and if to have either a ravenous appetite , such as is a disease , and has a peculiar name ; or to have that other sort of exorbitant appetite ( no less properly call'd a disease ) which we see in the luxurious , be both of them unfortunate , and of prejudice even to the very right enjoyment of the pleasures deriv'd from those senses , it will hardly be thought that there is no limit , bound , or certain measure of this other appetite towards venery : as if this were independent of nature , and might extend to infinite , and still be the occasion of greater and greater pleasure ; which is too great an absurdity to go about to confute . there are other sorts of ardent sensations and eager incitements of flesh , which we accidentally sometimes experience in our selves , and which are acceptable perhaps whilst in a certain degree ; but which as they increase , grow intolerable . even laughter provok'd by titillation , grows an excessive pain , tho it retains still in a great degree the same features of delight and pleasure . and altho in the case of that particular kind of itch which belongs to a distemper that has its name from that effect , there are some found so sensually inclin'd , that they esteem the continual allaying of that ardor , however eager and fierce , to be acceptable and delightful , yet it would hardly be reputed so amongst the more refin'd sort , even of those who make sensual pleasure a study . now if there be a certain height , a certain pitch or degree of the other ardor , which by being further advanc'd , is so much less consistent with the pleasure of that sensation , and is rather a sort of rage and sury ( like that which is rais'd by certain poisonous medicaments and incentives to lust ; ) and since there is a necessity of stopping somewhere , and fixing some boundary , where can that possibly be done but where regard is had to nature , beyond which there is no measure or rule of things ? now nature may be known from that which we see of the natural state of creatures , and of man , when unprejudiced by unnatural provocation and youthful incitements of a vicious education . where it happens that we see any one bred to a natural life , inured to honest industry and sobriety , and unaccustom'd to any thing immoderate or intemperate ; it appears always that such a one as this , when at full age , has his desires and inclinations of this sort at command , and no ways enflam'd , till by force upon himself , and by giving into debauch and excess , he strains and widens his appetite to a new and unnatural degree . but if such excesses are never us'd , the desires contain themselves in their just limits . but when we reflect upon what is customary to almost all the youth of human kind , especially of those who are above the laboring sort , and at what early years they are familiariz'd to the licentiousness of this passion ; when we consider to what obscenities the ears of our youth are accustom'd ; how their inclinations are vitiated , and every day fed ; and what practices are us'd to urge and precipitate nature ; we need not find it strange that men are so corrupted , and their appetites so exasperated and enflam'd to such a degree beyond all natural temperature . all other creatures in the world are for their orderliness in this , a reproach to man ; since they , of what kind soever they are , have regular and proportion'd appetites , and have the use of venery according to fit and proper seasons and subjects ; whilst man alone knows neither season , nor bound , nor fitness of subject , but breaks into all horridness of unnatural and monstrous lusts , regarding neither sex nor species ( tho of this latter the instances are less common : ) and all this through that inflammation of the desire and appetite , which , being swell'd beyond a natural size , cannot be answer'd by plain and natural means . so that neither ought it to be thought strange , if what has bin said in relation to that of meats and drinks , be said to hold good , and be the same in this : and that altho such an abandon'd indulgence as this is sure to bring a greater indigence and need on the body , and fix a greater lust and cravingness in the mind ; yet this is so far from resembling natural appetite ( which by being greater , is the occasion still of greater pleasure ) that the more these excessive desires are thus encreas'd , and the unnatural appetite fomented , the less is there of a real pleasant sensation , and the more mixture there is of allay . for thus , as we have shewn already , a sensation which seems to hold all of pleasure , often by a small and almost imperceptible extension runs into pain , and grows insufferable . so nearly bordering and related are these two things , even so as to be almost confounded with one another , which yet are really so distinct , and in appearance so very contrary . but on the other side therefore , by due abstinence , and more moderate use , the pleasure spoken of is much clearer , and more enjoy'd . so that were both these sensations to be compar'd , that of a virtuous course which belong'd to one who liv'd a natural and regular life , and that of a vicious course which belong'd to one who was relax'd and dissolute ; there is no question but it would be pronounc'd in favor of the former , without regard to consequences , and with respect only to the very pleasure of sense perceiv'd from hence : for it would be found , that a man thus superior to his appetites of this kind , had yet no less a share of satisfaction from them in that more sparing use , nor less pleasurable enjoyment in the whole , than he who liv'd in a manner only in the service of these appetites , and who indulging the most that could be to this sense , and seeking a perpetual support in it , had nothing else to do but to force and solicit nature to the highest degree , and struggle against a perpetual satiety , and against the heavy and dull intervals of a surfeited sense , and of a mind and body unnaturally held , and as it were benum'd , and drooping in this imprisonment and restraint from other natural action . as for the other sex ; altho there be less of this satiated feeling experienc'd perhaps in them , yet they having once abandon'd themselves , are capable of the same inconstancy and desire of change , as being weari'd of the present . but it is enough to say of this sex , that having once forsaken modesty , and given scope to their desire and appetite , beyond a duly restrain'd temperat and honest way , they grow insatiable and monstrous , and fall into a state which even they themselves , till grown into it , detest and think horrid . as to the consequences of this vice with respect to the body ( the health and constitution of which is so much impair'd , and so often wholly destroy'd by it ) there is no need to mention any thing . the injuries it dos to the mind , tho less notic'd , are yet in proportion much greater than those which the body suffers . the prejudice to the parts and intellect , the wretched wast of time , the effeminacy , sloth , supiness engender'd ; the disorder , loosness , and impotence of a thousand passions , through such a relaxation and enervating of the mind ; all these are the effects of this vice , and are apparent when but reflected on . nor is it less apparent how much is suffer'd as to interest , and to what multipli'd inconveniences he is subject , who is under the power of such a passion as this . what irregularity of life , and disturbance of affairs ; what animosity , war , and contention must he undergo , who is thus addicted , and who has this temper to such excess , as to be a rage possessing him , and ruling his conduct ? what trust or dependence is there on one of such a character and fame ? and how must such a person stand with respect to friends , relations , the public and general society of mankind , in an ordinary way of living and conversing ? on the other side ; how fair and recommending is the contrary character and habit of virtue and continence ? how advantageous to all oeconomy , and management of privat and public affairs , in all the duties and offices of friendship , and of a civil life ? how promotive of society , and conducing to all ease , prosperity , commodious and happy living ? thus have we consider'd of those which we may call self-passions ; and what the effect is of having them beyond a moderat degree ; which when they once exceed , when once grown imperious and high , are the occasion that a creature is mean and low , are the ground of that which we call selfishness , so much detested in creatures . tho yet it be the misfortune of some men , in their way of reasoning upon these subjects , not to reckon upon such selfishness as a real ill , or a misfortune , except only so far as it happens to be known and mark'd , as a just object of peoples aversion , and of the contemt and hatred of mankind ; not as if in it self it did imply any misery or disease : whereas there can be nothing so miserable in it self , and so wretched in its consequence , as to be thus impotent in temper , thus master'd by passion , and to serve such a slavery to things of such mean and wretched dependence , and from the contemt of which the greatest satisfaction and self-enjoyment arises , and all generosity and magnanimity depends . it is by such a slavery as this that we lose at last all true esteem both with our selves and others ; that we lose all character , authority and respect ; that we disagree and are at perpetual variance with our selves as we alternatly serve and submit to these opposit affections , so inconsistent with one another , and so utterly irreconcilable : and it is by this that we lose even the faculties of our minds , which can never be so inlarg'd , and in such a way of improvement towards knowledg , as in conjunction with temperance , where there is a constant attention and obedience to reason practised and establish'd ; and where , in the same manner as the body by good use is fitted to its proper exercise , so the mind is render'd apt and dispos'd by right disciplin and rule to its proper exercises and imployment . but besides what we have mention'd of the privat ill and self-injury of every such self-passion in particular ; all these irregular and vitious affections have this necessary effect in general , that they are ruinous also of the natural affections , and by making them give place , by long suppressing and controling them , must at length sink and destroy them . as indeed who is there that knows not , and is not ready to own , that a creature who is in a way of growing every day more selfish , and of having those passions still in a higher degree , is in a certain and unfailing way of growing more and more unnatural , unkind , unaffectionate , and more out of all friendly and social feeling ? who knows not that by the increase of selfishness , and of that subtilty and feignedness of carriage which it brings along with it , the candor and ingenuity of our natures , the ease and freedom of our minds must be forfeited ; all trust and confidence in others , familiarity , inwardness , and heartiness with others must be in a manner lost ; and suspicions , jealousies , hatred and enmity succeed , and be in the room ? besides , a creature us'd to reflection , who by an ill use of reason confirms himself in selfishness , and who in a settled manner is come to think it to be his good not to allay or correct , but to indulge and satisfy such appetites as these , must by certain consequence industriously strive to silence and check his natural and good affections , those that would carry him to the good of his kind , and of society , against the interest which he conceives he has elsewhere and in a contrary way . and this must work to the subversion of all good affection in him , and to the forming of a profligate , inhuman and savage nature . now if these passions , besides what other ill they are the occasion of , are withal the occasion and means of destroying and loosening the natural affections ; then , by what has bin prov'd before , they must be the certain means of losing us the chief and best enjoyment of life , and consequently too ( as has bin prov'd ) of making us to incur those horrid and unnatural passions , and that savageness of temper which makes the greatest of miseries and the most wretched state , as we are going in this next place to make appear . so that we have seen thus , how that by a wrong balance in the affections of this sort , and by having these self-affections too intense or strong , a creature is miserable . iii. the passions that are now left to speak of , are those that carry neither to a public nor a privat good , and are founded neither in any advantage to the species nor to the self-system : for were there no such passions as these , what then could be the meaning of that unnatural and barbarous delight in beholding torments , and in viewing those spectacles of horror with that satisfaction and joy which is sometimes known , and which has bin the reigning passion of many tyrants , and barbarous nations ? to see the sufferance of an enemy with cruel delight , may be from the height of anger , revenge , fear , and other extended self-passions : but to delight in the torture and pain of other creatures indifferently , of slaves , of such as are unknown ; to feed upon death and dying agonies ; this has nothing in it accountable in the way we have bin speaking , but is wholly unnatural , as being of a kind of which not the least degree can be said to aim at , or tend to the good or interest of the particular creature , and much less of the species , or of society . there is another affection nearly related to this , which is a gay and frolicsom delight in what is injurious to others ; a sort of wanton mischievousness and pleasure in what is destructive ; a passion which instead of being restrain'd , is usually incourag'd in children : so that it is no wonder if the effects of it are very unfortunatly felt in the world. for i think it will be hard for any one to give a reason why the same temper that was wont to delight in disorder and ravage when in a nursery , should not afterwards find delight in other disturbances and imbroils , and be the author of as much mischief in privat families , amongst friends , and in the public . but of this passion there is no foundation in nature according to that sense above explain'd . malice or ill-will , such as is grounded on no self-consideration , and where there is no subject of anger or jealousy , nor nothing to provoke or cause such a desire of doing ill to another ; this also is of that kind of passion . envy too , when it is such as arises from the prosperity or happiness of another creature no ways interfering with ours , is also of this kind of passion . there is also amongst these , a sort of hatred of mankind and society ; a passion which has bin known perfectly reigning in some men , and has had a peculiar * name given it . we may add likewise to the number of these , all those passions which are rais'd from superstition ( as mention'd before ) and from the custom and usage of barbarous countries ; all which are too horrid and odious in themselves to need any proof of their being miserable . there might be other passions nam'd , as that of bestiality , and of another sort of perversion of the venereal appetite within our own species ; which are both of them in the same manner unnatural : of the misfortune of which depravity of appetite we need not speak , after what has bin already said on that subject . such as these are the only passions we can strictly call unnatural , tho there are others which are indeed so much beyond the common bent of any self-passion , that tho they may have their foundation thence , and be deriv'd from several of those combin'd ; yet they so exceed all ordinary appetite of that kind , and are so directly opposit to all natural affection , that they are called and may be reckon'd unnatural and monstrous : for instance , such an enormous pride or ambition , as that which would willingly leave nothing eminent , nothing free , nothing prosperous in the world besides ; such an anger as would sacrifice every thing to it self ; such a revenge as is never to be extinguish'd , nor ever satisfied but with the greatest cruelties ; such an inveteracy and rancor as seeks , as it were , occasion to exert it self , and lays hold of the least subject , so as often to make the weight of that malevolent passion fall even upon those who are mere objects of pity and compassion . these are in that other sense unnatural : and of these therefore we may speak in conjunction with those others , since they are such as join with those to make up that horrid and monstrous state above describ'd . it may be said here , that these passions , unnatural as they are , carry still a sort of pleasure with them ; and that however barbarous a pleasure it be , yet still it is a pleasure and satisfaction which is found in that of pride , of tyranny , of revenge , of malice , or of cruelty exerted . now if it be possible in nature , that any one can feel a barbarous or malitious joy of this sort but as in consequence of the perfectest of tortures ( that of a rancorous and malignant disposition ) then may this perhaps be call'd pleasure and enjoyment , like those pleasures of the body which depend still upon some preceding uneasiness . but if to love , and to be kind , to have natural affection , complacency , good-will , be in its own nature happiness ; and be as it were original joy and delight , as depending on no preceding pain or uneasiness perceptible , and as operating to pleasure and joy only ; and that on the other side , hatred , animosity and bitterness , be always original misery and anguish , always operating to ill , and never producing any satisfaction , but as that torture and inflammation is as it were cool'd and respited by something that looks like success in the fulfilling of the horrid desire and monstrous appetite attending this affection ; then is the barbarous delight improperly call'd satisfaction or pleasure ; or if it must be call'd so , it is of the same nature in the mind , as that pleasure in the body which ( as we had occasion to say before ) is owing to racks , wheels , and other engins of torture , or to the acutest diseases which admit of sudden intervals . however strong therefore these pleasures may be said to be , they do but the more imply the misery of that state which produces them . for as the cruellest bodily pains do by intervals of asswagement , produce the highest of that sort of bodily pleasure thence rais'd ; so the fiercest and most raging torments of this sort in a mind , are those which by certain moments of relief , afford the greatest of those seeming mental injoyments . if those who know but little of this untoward disposition , and who are most easy in their temper , find themselves however but too sensible of what happens to them in a way of disgrace or injury ; if even these better tempers are acquainted with the heavy disturbances which small occasions are apt to give ; if they know the weighty pressure of an ill humor ( tho such as comes but seldom ) and the ill moments that are passed when the temper is thus unquiet , fretted , or ever so little gall'd or diseas'd ; if this be in reality so great a sore , and so great a part of thorow misery ; after what rate then must they be miserable who hardly know any better hours in life , and who for the most part are agitated by a more active spleen , a closer , bitterer malignancy and passion of hatred ? how lively must be the sense of every thwarting and controling accident ? how great must be the shocks of disappointment , the stings of affront , the gripes and gnawings of a working antipathy and strong hatred , at either the real or fancied presence of the objects that give offence ? nor can it therefore be wondred at , if to such persons as these who are thus oppressed , thus agitated and wrought , it seems a high and exquisit delight to appease and allay for the while these furious and rough motions , by an indulgence of their passion in mischief and revenge . but now are we come to that which is easiest of proof , that which indeed scarce needs an explanation ; for who is there but knows that to hate , to be envious , to be enrag'd , to carry bitterness and malice , is to suffer ? this it is which we properly call displeasure ; and to conceive hatred or displeasure , is all one as to conceive pain , anxiety , misery . whosoever has ill meaning , and an inclination or appetite to do hurt , it is through hatred thus conceiv'd , and through brooding passions of this rancorous kind . now whoever hates , whoever is angry , or feels rancor , is wounded , distress'd , aggriev'd ; this cannot be otherwise in its own nature . so that whoever has ill will , and is carried to the injury , harm or sufferance of others , suffers within himself , and carries a wound within : and where the passions of this horrid kind are deeply infixt , there the heart is ulcerated , the wound kept open and not cured ; and the horridest of tortures are thus made perpetual . now as to one who has in this manner lost all what we call nature , and who has these horrid affections ; how such a one as this must stand towards the society of mankind , and how he feels himself in it , as conscious of his affections towards others , and of what the affections of others must be towards him , this is easily conceiv'd . what enjoyment , or what rest is there for him who is not conscious of the merited affection or love of any human soul ; but on the contrary is conscious of merited hatred , not only from every fellow-creature , but from every thing in the universal nature ? what ground of horror and despair ? what foundation of fear and continual apprehension from mankind , and from superior powers , when ever any such are credited , or but suspected ? how thorow and deep must that melancholy be , where there is nothing softning or pleasing from the side of friendship to allay or divert it when once risen ; no flattering view or prospect of that chearful and reviving sort , not so much as from the fancy or imagination of kindness or affection from any part ; but where every thing around is gastly and horrid , every thing in appearance hostile , and , as it were , bent against a privat and single being , who is divided from , and at war with the rest of nature , in a disagreement and irreconciliation with every thing , and with the order and government of the universe ? 't is thus at last that a mind becomes a wilderness where all is laid waste , every thing fair and goodly remov'd , and nothing extant but what is dismal and horrid . now if any thing that but looks like desert , or that feels like banishment or expulsion from human commerce , be so heavy to bear ; what must it be to be thus estranged from mankind , and to be after this manner in a desert , and in the horridest of solitudes , even when in the midst of society ; and to live with mankind as with a foren species , and as with those creatures that are most remote from man , and such as he has the most cause to fear ? were we to form a hell in our imaginations , we could by nothing so well represent it , as by those terrors , despondences , and horrors which attend this dark state of a mind revolted from nature , in no concord or unity with any thing , but every way desperate ; viewing its own deformity and disagreement ; and as conscious of universal ill merit , so conscious of universally merited hatred , and punishment accordingly due , and ever to be expected from every hand . and thus therefore it appears that the greatest of miseries is that state which is consequent to the loss of natural affection ; and that to have those horrid , monstrous , and unnatural affections , is to be miserable in the highest degree . conclvsion . thus have we endeavour'd to prove what was propos'd in the beginning . and since in the common understood sense of vice and illness , no one can be vicious or ill , but either , 1. by the deficiency or weakness of natural affections ; 2. or by the violence of selfish ones ; 3. or by having those unnatural ones that carry to no end either in the privat or public system : it must follow that if each of these are pernicious and destructive to the creature , insomuch that his completest state of misery is made from hence ; to be ill or vitious , is , and must be ever , to be miserable and unhappy . and since every vitious action must more or less in proportion help towards this mischief and self-ill , it must follow , that every vitious action must be of self-ill , and never but be to the injury and sufferance of the creature . for , whatsoever is committed or done , that either goes immediatly to the impairing of the unnatural affections ; or to the promoting of the unnatural ones ; or to the widening and extending of the self-passions , by an encouragement of those lusts which overturn all order of life , and are as much enemies to the ease and pleasure of the body , as to that of the mind ; this must ever be esteemed injurious , and against the greatest interest which a creature can possibly have . for how can there be an indulgence of those irregular appetites , without a greater inflammation of them ? and how can such an inflammation work , but to the disorder of the soul , and to the corrupting of sound and natural enjoyment , even in a way of sense , as well as to the corruption of the affections , the dissolution of the temper , and the distortion , rack and misery of the mind ? which way therefore can it be said , that any one thorow self-interest can act either vitiously or unsociably ; since to do any thing through an imagination of self-interest or pleasure , that is contrary to natural or social affection , or out of the just limits of natural appetite and self-inclination , is and must be of self-injury , to that degree as has bin shewn ? thus have we computed , in the best manner we were able , the good and interest of mankind , by enumerating and casting up all those particulars from whence , as by way of addition or subtraction , that sum or general account of man's interest or happiness in life , is either swell'd or diminish'd : so that the method here taken may perhaps for this reason be call'd a sort of moral arithmetic , and be said to have an evidence as great as may be found in numbers , and equal to mathematical demonstration . for it seems to us , that there has not bin any degree of certainty wanting in what has bin said concerning the preferableness of the mental pleasures to sensual ; and even of the sensual ones accompani'd with good affection , and under a temperate and right use , to those sensual ones that are no ways restrain'd , and are supported by nothing social or affectionat . nor is that ( as we conceive ) less just and real , which has bin said of the united structure and fabric of the mind , and of those passions which constitute the temper or soul , and on which its happiness or misery so immediatly depends . it has bin shewn , that in this constitution the impairing of any one part must go to the disorder and ruin of other parts , and of the whole , through the necessary connexion and balance of the affections ; that those very passions through which men are vitious , are of themselves a torment and disease ; and that whatsoever is done that is knowingly ill , must be of ill consciousness , and must in proportion , as the act is ill , impair and corrupt social affection and enjoyment , and destroy both the capacity of kind affection , and the consciousness of meriting any such : so that neither can we in a manner participate thus in joy or happiness with others , or receive satisfaction from the expressed kindness and love of others ; on which however the greatest of all our pleasures are founded . if this be so , and that the state which is consequent to this defection , and which immediatly succeeds to the loss or ruin of natural affection and integrity , be a state of all others the most horrid , oppressive , and miserable ; then it will appear , that to yield or consent to any thing ill or immoral , is a breach of interest , and leads to the greatest ills : and that on the other side , every thing that is an improvement of virtue , and that is establishing to right affection and integrity , is an advancement of interest , and leads to the greatest and most solid happiness and enjoyment of life . thus the wisdom of what rules , and is first and chief in nature , has made it to be according to the privat interest and good of every creature , to work towards the general good ; which if that creature ceases to promote , and to be useful to , he in so far ceases to be kind and useful to himself , and is his own enemy , as being no longer good to himself than whilst he is such as to be good also to society , and to that whole of which he is a part . so that virtue , which of all excellences and beauties is the chiefest and most amiable ; that which is the prop and ornament of human affairs , which upholds societies , maintains union , friendship and correspondence amongst men ; that by which countries , as well as privat families , flourish and are happy ; and for want of which every thing comly , conspicuous , great , and worthy amongst mankind , must perish and go to ruin ; that single quality , thus glorious in its effects , and of this good to all society , and to mankind in general , is , after this manner , equally a happiness and a blessing to each creature in particular possessing it , and is that by which alone man can be happy , and without which he can never but be miserable . and thus virtue is the good , and vice the ill of every one . the end . books lately published . an account of the first voyages and discoveries made by the spaniards in america ▪ containing the most exact relation hitherto publish'd , of their unparallel'd cruelties on the indians , in the destruction of above forty millions of people . with the propositions offer'd to the king of spain to prevent the further ruin of the west-indies . by don barthol ▪ de las casas , bishop of chiapa , who was an eywitness of their cruelties . illustrated with cuts . to which is added , the art of travelling , shewing how a man may dispose his travels to the best advantage . price in calf 4 s. the grounds and occasions of the controversy touching the unity of god , &c. the methods by which it has bin manag'd , and the means to compose it . with some account of the late mr. thomas firmin and other unitarians . by a divine of the church of england . price 12 d. johannis clerici ars critica , in qua ad studia linguarum i atinae , graecae & hebraicae via munitur ; veterumque emendandorum , & spuriorum scriptorum a genuinis dignoscendorum ratio traditur . in 2 vol. price 5 s. the art of memory . a treatise useful for all , especially those that are to speak in publick . by marius d' assigny b. d. price 12 d. an account of the taking of carthagena by the french , in the year 1697. containing all the particulars of that expedition , from their first setting out , to their return into brest . by monsieur de pointis , commander in chief . illustrated with a large copper plate , describing the situation of carthagena and parts adjacent . done out of french. will very shortly be publish'd by sam , buckley , at the dolphin over against st. dunstan's church in fleet-street . 1698. notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a59472-e350 * misanthropia . a modest discourse, of the piety, charity & policy of elder times and christians. together with those their vertues paralleled by christian members of the church of england. / by edward waterhouse esq; waterhouse, edward, 1619-1670. 1655 approx. 378 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 139 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2008-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a96073 wing w1049 thomason e1502_2 estc r208656 99867584 99867584 119900 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a96073) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 119900) images scanned from microfilm: (thomason tracts ; 192:e1502[2]) a modest discourse, of the piety, charity & policy of elder times and christians. together with those their vertues paralleled by christian members of the church of england. / by edward waterhouse esq; waterhouse, edward, 1619-1670. [4], 271, [1] p. printed by a.m. for simon miller, and are to be sold at his shop at the star in st pauls church-yard, london, : 1655. annotation on thomason copy: "may. 14". reproduction of the original in the british library. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng church of england -early works to 1800. virtues -early works to 1800. 2007-03 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2007-03 aptara keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-07 jonathan blaney sampled and proofread 2007-07 jonathan blaney text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion a modest discourse , of the piety , charity & policy of elder times and christians . together with those their vertues paralleled by christians members of the church of england . by edward waterhouse esq conscientiae satis faciamus nihil in famam laboremus , sequatur vel mala dum bene moerearis . london , printed by a. m. for simon miller , and are to be sold at his shop at the star in s t pauls church-yard , 1655. to my most dear and indulgent father , francis waterhouse of grenford in the county of middlesex , esq ; . sir , i would fain testifie my reall duty and observance of you by some action that most speaks me grateful to god and you for your extraordinary affection to me ; and since it is not my happinesse to command an opportunity wherein i might expresse the honest ambition i have to shew ( to that degree i know becomes me ) my sense of your favours , yet my confidence is that you will accept the humble tender of him who now and ever craves your blessing , and subscribes himself , sir , your dutifull and obedient son , e. waterhouse . a short view of antiquity and elder times and christians . it was an old and true complaint , that truth hath ever been crucified between two thieves , those i count superstition and innovation , the churches scylla and carybdis , at which in all her voyages thorow-the severall centuries of the world she hath been bulged , and sometimes neer to a fatall miscarriage , while she is threatned by the two rigid adhaesion of her professors ; who as the jews of old , prefer abraham before christ , antiquity before verity ; and had rather have no religion , then not that they have been bred in and accustomed to , though it be like the gibeonites bread dry and mouldy , and clouted with unnecessary and vain ceremonies : another while she is in a storm from those wanderers , who will seek abroad , when there is bread enough in their fathers house , being discontented at any thing which is not new , and desirous of every thing but what is old : the vanity of these excesses ( the utmost angles beyond which mans pride and petulancy cannot go ) god hath in mercy to his church , and in right to his own glory ( passive under their tyrannies , ) discovered in all ages , setting notable brands of his displeasure on the ringleaders , and impudent chieftains in this wickedness ; some of them he hath suffered so to be swollen with pride , that the earth hath not been able to bear their burden : others he hath so flatted by detecting that brazen face , that to cover its effrontery had the veyl of virgin verity , jacobs voice but esau's rough hands , that like decryed actors , and bankrupt mountebanks , they departed the stage with a stink , and lost their course in that fog by which they designed to annoy the church . as the best state of man , innocency ; and the best place , paradise , was chosen by satan to act his first and greatest craft in , so ever since hath he taken the purest times of the church , as his harvest and gainfullest season of temptation , vitiating and annoying them most dangerously with suppurated opinions , and ulcerous doctrines ; he thought that the way to overcome adam was by eve the weaker vessell ; and the tyrociny and nonage of the church , he took for the fittest time to sowe his tares in , because he expected less resistance from infancy then from further growth . even in our lords time , the devils chappel goes up by gods church , simon magus peep● forth ; and no sooner our lord ascended , but his disciples have beasts to contend with after the manner of men ; then came in damnable haeresies , such as that of elymas in claudius his time , of menander under titus and other following emperours , of ebion , cerinthus and others , in which ecclesiasticall writers are copious . notwithstanding which torrent of evil , it pleased god to raise up many valiant and pregnant assertors of truth , who with great courage confronted these affronters of faith , and rendred them so despicable , that no man who would be thought any body consorted with them , but avoided them as the first-born of satan , sent abroad to pervert souls and subvert christianity it hath been observed , that the authours of errours and scismes in the church , have been church-men , either grosly weak , or proudly wilfull , whose ignorance or pertinacy , hath wooed them to forsake the wholsome form of words , and to take up new methods both of language and doctrine , under which canting drolleryes they utter the devices of their own brains , gain credulous proselytes , and dishonour all who differ from them where they themselves disagree with truth and order ; that as agrippinus of old perswaded those which he condemned , that it was best for them to be condemned , for ( said he ) i do not give sentence against them as an enemy , or one that would ruin them , but as a good guardian , who dispatcheth them out of that life , which they cannot live but in misery ; so do these seduce and lead away silly souls , and yet possess them that the only way to finde heaven above is to lose the church below , and that christ is not in his word , but in their fictitious dreams , where he hath not appointed men to seek for , nor promised men to finde him . thus as c. curio the plebeian tribune is charged by paterculus to be the firebrand of romes civil wars , bold , prodigal of his own and others modesties and fortunes , ingeniously wicked , and able to publique mischiess , so may these most justly be stigmatiz'd for the infamous , lewd boutefeues of the churches peace and purity , and therefore praied against in the prophets words , let them be as chaffe before the winde , and let the angel of the lord chase them , let their waies be dark and slippery , and let the angel of the lord persecute them , psa . 35. 5 , 6. and as all things produced are of the nature of their producers , as is the artists skill such ordinarily is the artifice , so happens it with errours and disorders , mostly they resemble their patrons ; crafty heads look before they leap , and design their march by steps and grand paws , setting up as it were with pinns and points the little baubles of their aymes , and as those vent so marshall they out greater and more : they know forbidden wares must not be sold in market overt , therefore skulk they into bye-streets , and lodg they in the suburbs out of the freedom , where the lewd varlets of wander lye ; there and to those they put their tinsil follies , and with those cheap and new , do they outbrave the truth , which covets no greater honour then the touch : some mens eyes fail them , they beleeve every thing gold that glisters , because they are moon-blind , and rather dark then clear , with such these crafty merchants bartar freely , taking souls in exchange for their cheats ; these principled to purposes of seduction , like blind stallions , accost all comers , hit or miss ; and most an end succeed best with the multitude * , for the blind must lead the blind , how else will they fall into the pit that is digged for them by him , who deceitfully cries o coelum , but steereth to that infernall center of which he is prince , namely the bottomless pit ? but with others of a more florid and accurate nimbleness , he deals under-board , making them unawares theomachize , turn the levell of their parts against heaven , thus became the philosophers patriarchs of haeresies , and disturbers of truth by their corrupt doctrine , as jerom upbraids them ; thus coggs he many into his lure , by prevailing with them to be instruments in division and unsavoury opinions , making beleeved and received truths , as questionable as guy of warwick , don quixot , which many believe fancies , and reducing them to they may and theey may not be , and by crying up rationall and plausible axioms , for dogmatick credends , as if god were accountable to man , and the altar religion not sacred , unless the gold of humane reason sanctified it , or as if humane and depraved reason were the standard , to which the things of god are to be reduced , and to which conformed : that as the tyrant stretched every one he took upon his bed , and fitted them to his beds proportion , by cutting them shorter if they were too long , and stretching them longer if they were too short ; so these resolve every mystery of christianity by that rule , which is too weak to warrant them , too narrow to limit it . these errors that have marched under the white banner of reason , as they have been most plausible , so strook they most dangerously at the root of christianity , endangering the fall of that tree , which with incomparable procerity reacheth heaven , serving the church for a ladder of ascent thither ; other opinions and heresies inchoated from immoralities , and seconded by persons debauched and profligate , like boorish uproars , soon decline and come to nothing ; blasphemous tenents need no confutation , they fall by their own weight , the eunomian , arian , macedonian haereticks , though they differ in name yet agree in mischief ; yet s t jerom sayes , they dealt plainly with the world , and there needed no confutation more then they gave themselves . but the pelagian haeresie , that keeps it self covert , does the mischief , this flies about and chatters in every corner , and hath so many secret evasions , that 't is hard to charge it with any fault , to cover which it hath not a curious and well contrived black patch : there is no church-traytor so horrid , as he that gives himself and his opinions , as caligula , did the lovely titles of pious , great , good , whenas he was rather a monster then a prince ( they are suetonius his words , ) so those opinions are rather blasphemy then piety ; these adamites figleaves never long covered their nakedness , nor have the misling showers of their oratory wet to the root of sober mindes , soon they have ripened , and as soon have been rotten again ; but those errors that have been dyed in the grain colour of reason , cladd in the purple and noble vest of an exact liver , dress'd with the garnishes of achitophels brain , have harmfully passed currant , not only with the vulgar , whose faith is pinned usually upon their rulers sleeve , their religion mercenary to his pleasure , and their souls at his service ; but with those that boast they have the discerning of spirits , and can judg the pearl of truth from the pibble of trash : upon this hank , novatus a crafty perjurious and inhumane fellow withdrew many excellent presbyters , such as maximus , vrbanus , sydonius , celerinus , who yet were called off from him , and sisinnius the novatian bishop , by his noble carriage and pleasant wit beloved of all , and thought the most excellent man of his time ; yet being a heretick did much hurt , and proved a great trouble to s t chrysostom . as in all courses of life labour tends to rest , and the weary traveller longs for his inne , so in the mindes navigation there is a port wished for , solomon gave himself to know wisedom and folly , but when he had wearied himself with disquisition , he concludes all vanity ; making that the ararat on which his floating ark rested ; knowledge hath its bounds beyond which it must not go ; god often suffers pride to border upon parts , that carthage might be rome's alarum to watch ; since she hath a politique foe , and there is no impossibility of surprisall , the love of god is more seen in keeping his from the danger of a fall , then in suffering them to behold the glory of this world in the vast speculations of their minde , and to be on a pinacle dangerously precipitous to gain the prospect ; and if he that gave himself to know every thing , when he knew most knew too little of himself , may we not fear that many men of great parts often pry so farre into the book of eternity , into the cabinet of wisedom , into the counsels of providence , that at last they come away leprous , and prove infectious to others as well as uncomfortable to themselvs ? he was a good man that cried out , scientia mea me damnat . as stars differ one from another in glory , so errours have been different in their influence and malignant aspect on the church , some errours have been of the first magnitude , errours in the foundation , those of cerinthus , montanus , arius , donatus , and others : these with others little lesse vexatious , had their broach from men proud and discontented with their condition ; arius was a presbyter in the church of alexandria , and became so great a pest to the church meerly out of envy against and ill will to alexander bishop of that sea , who was preferred before him , against whose life and doctrine he could take none advantage , and novatus because he would but could not be a bishop set on foot that great mischief which bore his name , and not only so , but the devil took advantage to seduce men of great parts to this design of errour in the church . socratos tels us of dorotheus and timotheus two arian bishops , great clerks , ( who revived arianism when it was almost dead ) yea , to perfect his policy he takes women into the plot , and makes them his lying spirits , proctresses to his hellish incantations ; i have it from s t jerome , who reports that simon magus was aided by helen the harlot , nicholas of antioch by the women he brought into common use there , marcion by one he sent before him to rome , apelles by philomenes , montanus by prisca and maximilla , arius by constantia sister to constantine the great , donatus by lucilia , zoroastes by galla , and elpidius by agape ; it seems 't is a credulous world that takes womens words in matters of this moment , and a crafty devil that knows the cogent argument is from that charming instrument woman . i need not recite the cursed machinations they set forth to serve their designs , what politick practiques they enfranchised , what desperate untruths they hatched , what glorious lights they obscured , what goats-hair and badgers skinnes they used to attire their monster in , to name is to blemish them enough . nor will it be usefull to tell the number of their names , the times of their regency , the severalties of their poysonous tenents , these are at large contained in the church-stories , elder and later ; my drift only is to be antiquities samaritan , and to give bail to that action brought against her by ignorance , which indites her of many guilts which i hope will be easily expiated for , and she appear to these later times tanquam inter stellas luna minores . and here with the curious painter i must borrow colours from flints and pibbles , and so work them into a compliance , as that they may answer the requiries of what i intend , a lovely portraiture , which ( when the utmost art of my pensill is evidenced ) will be but imperfect , and complain that it hath not to its lively depiction a saint ierome who might raise a blush in their faces that disparadge , and a confidence in their countenances that dare own it ; i am not ambitious to make this as he did the buckler of minerva , which he made , and in which he so cunningly inserted his own name , that it could not thence be taken but with injury to the sculpture of that incomparable shield : no , it is the least part of my thoughts to evidence any thing in this beyond an honest heart , which i hope god will give me ever grace to shew towards the church and state wherein i live , and in which i hope to die a true and christian man ; this only i to all the world publish , that if ( as 't was said by the orator of phydias he was an excellent artist at any statue , but chiefly about the gods ) mine excellency were in any thing , i would have it more exact and signall when 't is exercised about ought which concerns the church ; for true is that of a great preacher , our hands if skilful to write , should be employed as sacretaries to the church , our feet as messengers of the church , our tongues as advocates for the church , our wisedom and learning as councellors for the church , our wealth as stewards and almoners for the church . and well fare those excellent christians who made church-work the labour of their lives , and church-charity their heirs at death , and that upon grounds of faith and holy love , not merit or hope of supererrogating by them . i do not here mean to collect all those severall virtues that those glorious golden ages of the church excelled in ; as their diligent reading the scriptures and hearing the word preached , their devout prayers for those in authority , their loving and forgiving enemies , their modesty and calmness of conversation , their fidelity to their relations , their ministring to the necessities of the saints in wants , and visitings of such in prison ; their exact continence , their care lest in habits they gave scandal , their courage for the truth , their serious observation of oathes , their industry in their callings , and those many other excellencies in them ( though by degrees allayed with much frailty , ) least i should swell my design into an unwelcome greatness ; my scope is to cull out such of them as most seem to rebuke those bravadoes of men in this age , who with hyper-pharisaicall pride , commend their own piety from the dishonour cast upon elder times and elder christians , who were in no instance of true devotion behind them . i know there were blemishes in antiquity , the ancient fathers tell us of many ridiculous follies in use , as vanity in clothing and habit , in baths , in observation of the nativity of their children , in being present at sports and interludes ; their accompanying with pertinacious haereticks ; and sundry other such follies , which here i defend not ; for their virtues i appear against those that mistake antiquity , misnaming it for a pedlars pack , in which to one pure venice glass , there are wooden kanns , horn cupps , trifling rattles , and many such ignoble trashes , as if it were a mint of forgeries , the womb of monsters and sier of legends , terming its religion policie , its charity meritmonging , its unity combination , its government a trap to catch men in who were not one with it ; and it s all , a wilderness in which were more beasts of prey then birds of paradise ; s t jerom spake of such long since , the world , saith he , produceth many monsters , centaurs , syrens , owls , stymphalidae ( birds whose nature is to darken the sunne rayes ) the eremanthean boar , nemaean lyon , the chimaera and many headed hydra ; and he tells us spain produceth some of them , only gallia hath no monsters , but abounds with most eloquent and warlike men : and happy had it been if vigilantius had been dormitantius , and never been born , rather then prove a scar in that face which before it produced him was lovely . it was the fault of that pern vigilantius , to turn every way and at last to break out against the inoffensive honour of church reliques then in account , and not abused to superstition , as since they have shamefully been : and it shall be mine endeavour ( with gods blessing ) to bespeak due veneration of such things as are fit to be respected and retained in gospel times , and to be defended by christian magistrates . i mean not herein to revive that interim of charls the fift , by making a medley of differences ; nor will i take upon me to deal with men of all sides , least that befalls me which usually trips up the heels of such endeavours ; all agree to oppugne , and every one rests more obstinate in defending his own party : nor will i approve , nay i do sadly lament the preposterous folly of those , who make men hereticks , and blazon them enemies to christ , for every difference almost , though not in points essentiall , but circumstantiall and rituall , as if they picked quarrels with their brethren out of choice : the ancient church in england did not so , for bede tells us , sese invicem venerabantur licet dissimiles caeremoniaes observarunt , sic aidam episcopus , quamvis more scotorum pascha celebraret , tamen ab h●norio cantuariensi & felice orientalium anglorum episcopis , in honore est habitus . cent. 7. c. 7. p. 119. this cachexie hath been the churches trouble and pest too long ; thanks to those hot heads , who cry out , curse ye meroz against all that crow not to the same tune with them ; these have made more hereticks and disloyall sonnes to the church , then ever gained sober and submiss children : to these that of baro the dalmatian to the emperour tyberius is applicable , when having asked , why his countrytrymen had been long and so desperate enemies to the romans ? he replied , ye your selves are in fault , who send to your flocks , not sheepheards and doggs , to keep them , but wolves : i wish it were well weighed by some ; for as albergatus that great polititian , wrote to the cardinal nephew to pope greg. 13. sometimes the heat and precipitances of men , exasperate small and composeable breaches , into great and uncloseable gapps ; by which ill offices of simplicity , if not design , hoped and prayed for peace and union is defeated . my prayer to god is for humility and moderation ; i will not judge any thing rashly , nor before the time , since the lord is at hand ; i wish the definitive sentence , of this or that , which is under a problem and disputable , might be referred to the just judg , and that those that agree in the unity of faith , may hold the bond of peace . novit deus qui sunt ejus , novit qui permaneant ad coronam , qui permaneant ad flammam , novit in arca sua triticum , novit paleam , novit segetem , novit zizania , caeteris autem est illud incognitum quae sunt columbae & qui sunt corvi , s t august . in 11. johan . i account the church a vineyard , wherein the grapes of love , faith , patience , selfdeniall , are to be gathered , to christians comfort and refreshing , rather then a threshing-floore , on which the flayls of furious smitings , and boisterous baitings and boylings of passion are frequent . for my part as i have ever yet , so i hope by the assistance of god i shall still offer my mite to the churches treasury , and make my prayer an offering for her peace , accounting it a greater honour to speak for her , now she is like rachel blubbered , then if she had more outward lustre : and i wonder christians should be otherwayes minded , who know christ is in his church , and his word and sacraments in his church , nay heaven ( in a kind ) in the tenure of the church ; whose sinnes ye remit they are remitted , the church being the tyring room in which we furnish our selves for eternities halelujahs . to those that are of other judgement , i shall say in dyonisius his laconick cook his words , when making by command of his master a laconian bisque , which dyonisius disrellished , as unsavoury ; replied , i have not such ingredients here as the laconians have ; o quoth dyonisius , wee l have them sent for , and i le see them prepared and compounded : i but replied the cook , ( sir ) you do not get a stomack by exercise , nor do you bathe in the river eurota as they do : my meaning is , the reason why the church is no more their darling is , because they are sick of sloth , abounding with full humours , and do not bathe themselves in those refreshing streams of pious counsel and comfort , which the church as the spouse of christ , le ts runne at wast to her children . what then i have to write shall be short ; considering most readers impatience , which loathes to view any thing that 's long . — cíto dicta percipiunt dociles animi , retinentque fideles . for i have ever held , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . when i propose antiquity my theme , i mean not antiquity in the latitude , that is god himself , he is the ancient of days , he is from everlasting to everlastiug , he is veritas entis & radicis , this would be emptying the sea with a cockle-shell , t would be to attempt with icarus his waxen wings to fly ore the sea , and deserved his misfortunes in those waters . in this , who at any time hath known the mind of god , or who hath been his counsellour ? this is a noli me tangere , which i hope thy restraining grace o lord will ever forbid me attempting : that antiquity and those elder times i drive at , is , that which is opposed to yesterday , or later times ; antiquity , not as before the flood , the prints of that are perished with the old world ; antiquity not as amongst the jews , old things ( in that sense ) are past , all things are become new : but antiquity since apostolick times , till these last , and i pray god not worst times , that is the antiquity i recommend . i must do as one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , having but a ridg to walk safely on , look least i tripp ; there are many detractors , who like kerns in woods , are ready to snap , yea often their malice breaks out and their trap falls , while good meaning is but nibling at their baits , and not caught by them in their ginn of surprise . since i would not pay the tribute of my pen to any party , but only to truth , they are not ingenuous , who rather wish for then pardon my failings ; god forbid i should honour my saviour more amongst the doctors disputing in the temple , then in the manger ; or think him less the sonne of god , who inviteth little children to come to him , and perfecteth praise out of their mouthes , as well as greater scholers , gaining glory by their elaborate tongues and penns ; the pen that blemishes christ in the least of his distributions , ought for ever to be execrable ; let o lord that right hand ever forget its cuuning , 't is a weapon formed against thee and must not prosper : my drift is , to shew to the praise of antiquity , not only what from the apostles time hath been laudably practised , in the great matters of moment to a christians security and comfort , but also in many advantageous and necessary things civil , whose influence reacheth to those that were without , in the conservation of things and persons , in their respective nature and kind praiseworthy : i know there are those , that since they question every thing , will not let my card by which i must steer ( church story ) pass their torture and exception ; they make ecclesiasticall writers judg and party , therefore grumble they much , for a good enquest ; those that would have every thing new , would have new stories made , as well as a new heaven and a new earth , in which they would neither admit , nor continue any thing that is old ; if these taskmasters deny me straw i can make no bricks ; if they will not be tried by good men and true , and hear those that are secondarily apostolick , i must be plain with them in those words s t jerom used about traditions , where they do not oppose truth , they are to be embraced , notwithstanding the endeavours of any to the contrary , by their leave then i will use church-stories , and those as little suspected as may be , for i love not hagar while sarah is in place , nor need i court zipporahs where so many daughters of ' beauty suffragat . first , i find christian antiquity vehemently contesting for the reverence of the holy scripture , as the perfect rule of faith , neither adding to , nor detracting from the canon , not only asserting it their tether and boundary , but exalting it as a rampire against the invasions and intrusions of crafty men , and craftier satan , who endeavoured to entice the sonnes of god by the daughters of men , and to make traditions , the copper of demetrius , pass for the currant coyn of jesus , and this in them was not only zeal but holy policie ; the sacred scriptures were the wells out of which they drew their comfort , their armories , whence they took forth their weapons of spiritual warfare , lights for their direction , and salt for their seasoning ; should these have been pudled , and robbed from them , how unprovided would the church have been ? she might well have complained , her veil was taken from her ; had this ark been taken by the philistims , the glory had been departed from the israel of gods church : how much prophane mirth would the sonnes of error have made with these songs of zion , had god given them up into their power ? but blessed be god the church hath ever had ane held the scriptures in high value , though not admitted all parts of it for canon at one and the same time ; sometimes they found parts of it not in good hands , as they thought ; other parts by hereticks were corrupted , and handed to them not as they were in the autographon , but with emendations , to which were added many spurious and rejectitious gospels , prophecies and epistles , fitted to answer the lying divination satan had no foot ; other parts of scripture not primariò authenticae , the ancients allowed to be read , sub regulâ morum , but not as a rule of faith a , but such only as were received from prophets , and allowed by christ jesus b , his apostles , and their scribes and schollers , and their successors , hath the church owned and adhered to , and those are the books in the canon of our holy mother the church of england ; not that all mouthes have been stopped , or all christians agreed in the harmony , no all have not beleeeved gods testimony in the churches report and traditional fidelity : s t jerom tells us , that it was usual with hereticks to corrupt catholick authors ; the eunomians dealt thus with clemens the elder , and ruffinus is not behind-hand for this trick , while he prefixed the name of a holy martyr to a book of arrianisme ; and evagrius charges them of entitling their hereticall books , with the names of holy , orthodox men , such as athanasius , gregorius , thaumaturgus and julius : in brief , theodoret is round with them , telling us , they cared not what law they broke , what boldness and freedom they took for maintenance of their wickedness ; nay oftentimes they made it the master-piece of their blasphemy , to violate the holy law of god. as men in groves cut this stick and that wand they like , and leave the rest , so pick ( erroneous men ) this book and that passage here and there , and leave the rest as useless ; whatever is contrary to their device , and casts dirt in their face , they reject and disown , their darkness and the light of scripture agrees not ; light is au ill guest to an ill conscience ; and because scripture troubles their owle eyes , and dismantles their impostry , they cannot away with it : tertullian perstringes the valentinians for their clucking into corners , and their sculking up and down , and sayes , our doves-coat hath no guile , is open and visible to all comers , who have liberty to see and hear what we do : and 't is a note unimprobated , that patrons and professors of error , and none but such , have ever dishonoured scripture , or questioned its authority ; nor have ever any who had a grounded hope of heaven by gods mercy , held themselves above ordinances , as the means of attaining it ; nor have they ever pick'd and choos'd , cull'd and refus'd this and not that ordinance , but had respect to all gods commands , and equally adored all his dispensations : charge an holy soul with queaziness in this kind , object to it , that it loves not to be limited and enlarged by the word , not to humble it self to god in prayer , not to obey authority for the lord and for conscience sake ; and it answers in hazael's word , am i a dog that i should do this ? no , this spot is not the spot of gods people , 't would be a sully which mountains of niter could not cleanse : 't is true indeed in the interpretation of this or that particular scripture , there hath been , yet is , and ever will be to the end of the world , different opinions , and many passions have lathered so high , that charity hath often layen in the suds , as is the proverb ; even amongst men otherwayes without exception , as between s t augustine and s t jerom , in the exposition on the second chap. of the galatians , yea and in many things and under many temptations , some of you have lived and spoken somewhat against the majesty and authority of the holy scripture , as origen by name , who therefore confessed his errors , and publikely retracted them , as appears in his epistle to fabian , and as s t jerom testifies in his epistle to pammachius and oceanus . and therefore legends canons and traditions brought into some churches , as grounds of belief , and made obligatory to the conscience , as onely the holy scriptures ought to be held , are but of late date in the christian church ; for s t jerom , or epiphanius in him writes thus to theophilus , that thou mindest us of church-canons we thank thee ; but know this , that nothing is so antique as the laws and rights of christ : and father marinarus in the counsel of trent , denied that the fathers made traditions to stand in competition with scripture , but good man he was born down with the many voices that decried his sound assertion , as that which better beseemed a colloquie in germany then a counsel of the universal church ; but what he said was nevertheless true because disliked by those vipers ; for as they then , so their predecessors long before cried up traditions , and perhaps they had it from the jews ( or rather from the devil , the author of it both in jews and others . ) our lord jesus arraigns the jews , for making void the commandements of god by mens traditions , and transgressing the commandements of god by traditions , yea of rejecting the commandements of god to fulfill them : and the apostle s t paul reproves this and cautions against it , beware ( saith he ) least any man spoyl you through philosophy and vain deceit , after the tradition of men , after the rudiments of the world , and not after christ . where the apostle doth not simply dehort from traditions in affirmance of scripture , or civil custom , but from such use of traditions as tends to the eclipse of the testimony of truth in the word written , which is transcendently above the witness of man ; and therefore i cry out to all those new-lights as s t jerom did , spare your pains , hug not the cloud of your conceits instead of the juno truth : why do you bring that to sale , which the primitive church for four hundred years never heard of ? why take you upon your shoulders , that task which peter and paul never taught , nor were they now alive would own ; untill this day the christian world hath been without this doctrine , and i in mine old age will profess that faith in which i was born , and into which baptized . would s t jerom have been stanch , had he lived to these times , wherein old and sound religion , is like wormeaten lumber cast into the outhouses ? or like unfashionable furniture , turned out of the chambers of note , to adorn the nursery , or the chaplains lodgings ? i trow he would ; and had he , he must have reproached many professors , who now would pull out the eyes of those their teachers , for whom , not many years since , they would have pulled out their own . but enough of this . i return to traditions , which , while they contend with scripture , or are made as supplements to inch out scripture ( thought too short , ) i wholly disallow . though i confess , i love ingenuous freedom , and i beleeve religion is not in many things so stiffgirt , as some ridgid people suggest , while they portray it clubsisted , ready to smite every one it meets with , nay in a keenness , like peters sword , strait out , and off with the ear of every opponent ; yet do i not comply with the judgment of some , who rest on a counsel-canon as on gospel , and make less difference between them then is almost discernable ; because i fear it hath somewhat of a popish smatch in it , for were not the popes infallibility , and the popes virtuall presence and authoritative influence in counsels in part leaned to , some of our profession would be more nice in that kinde then they are ; i will contest in reverence and duty to holy counsels and synods , lawfully called and convened , with any he that 's most a servant to them ; god forbid i should depraetiate worth in any man , or judge my self fit to censure , and not rather to be censured ; but this i say , da mihi magistrum christum , da mihi regulam s. scripturam , in matters of this weight i 'le to the beam of the sanctuary ; no master will i own ( as to imperation over my faith ) but christ ; i like not to crave mens pardons , as the sicilian ambassadors did pope martin the fourths blasphemously , agnus dei qui tollis peccata mundi miserere nobis : while they speak according to scripture i 'le obey them , and take heed not to offend them , but if they prove illuminates , and eccentrically wilde , that they tell me christ is in this enthusiasm , and that new light , which neither i nor they understand , nor doth gods word clear out to me , they are to me but as tinkling cymbals , i neither care for their euge's , nor fear i their anathema's . whatever then becomes of other writings , my zeal and vote shall be ever to preserve the renown of the holy books of the old and new testament , let loose persons call them by those profane nick-names of lesbiam regulam , evangelium nigrum , theologiam atramentariam , nasum cereum , and let atheists deride them , they are the christians magna charta for heaven , cursed be he that violates them to profane uses , they are the christians canaan . let profane worldlings look with bloody gardner's eyes upon it , & not endure to see the book called verbum dei , yet the sincere christian values it as his canaan , the milk and honey of which refresheth him against his tedious march in the wilderness of this sinful and sorrowful life , accounting all other books as egypts garlick and onyons , to its manna and quails . this , this is full of the dew of heaven as was gideon's fleece ; when all other writings profit nothing , but are dry and sapless , 't is the iliads , which every devout alexander ( who by faith overcomes the world ) lodgeth in his noblest cabinet , his heart : 't is the tree of life , on which hangs the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil ; 't is the ark of god , in which ( as it were ) is the pot of manna and aaron's rod , comfort and correction , therein are gods staves of beauty and bonds , his binding and his drawing cords ; yea , therein the whole duty of man both to god and his neighbour is comprized . now judge , o man , what could god do more for his vineyard the church , then he hath done ? in giving her such an oracle for her doubts , such a light against her darkness , such a touchstone of her purity , and her rivals adulteration . and what can the church do less in return to god , then by signal fidelity maintain the honor and authority of this canon deposited with her ? let that blasphemous new light , m r edwards mentions , call the scriptures the golden calf and brazen serpent , that set at variance king and parliament , and kingdom against kingdom ; that things would never be well till the golden calf and brazen serpent were broken to pieces ; yet ( next to heaven ) i will venter all i have in the holy war for scripture ; he that comes to surprize that capitol , shall have my life his sacrifice , and my prayers his curse : and let all christian people say , amen , amen . this is the first jewel in antiquities crown , her zeal for the reverence of the holy scriptures . secondly , the elder church christian was express about a ministry and the right qualification of ministers , according to the holy institution of our lord jesus , the great head , doctor and bishop of his church , who left her not as common , in which every christian ( as to the publick use of gifts ) had alike right , but separated some to instruct , to exercise power of the keys , to continue succession , and to minister the holy things of the gospel , by virtue of an infallible promise of his cooperation with them to the end of the world . this separation has been for many hundred yeers declared by imposition of hands , which the church calls ordination , and has apostolique practice to warrant it . in acts 6. 6. stephen is mentioned to be a man full of faith and of the holy ghost , yet did he not execute any ministerial office ( upon account of his gracious qualifications ) till he was presented to the apostles , they had prayed for him , and laid their hands on him ; a scripture well to be weighed by men of contrary judgement , especially since backed by the general practice of the church catholique . for if the churches fidelity in this gospel tradition and universally received ordinance should be questioned , the canon of holy writ , and all the doctrines and practises of christianity will become litigious , since the church as the pillar and ground of truth , is the deliverer and declarer of them . and we are not to doubt , but that the holy ghost , who leads into all truth ▪ hath rightly guided the catholique church to this belief , since all holy men , of all times and churches , how different soever each from other in rites and situation , have agreed upon it , and accordingly declared themselves , and nothing hath ever been found against it , worthy the sway of our assents in contradiction to so oecumenical an acknowledgment . and truly i much wonder any should be of contrary judgement , who ought to know the validity of antiquities , consent echoing to scripture ; were scripture silent , had the practice of antiquity no footing therein , i should be as unwilling to follow it , as any he that is most against it . for that of reverend calvin is most true , si in sola antiquitate , &c. if antiquity be only the judge , then prodigious heresies which brake out in apostolique times , will become catholique faith . but when the word of god gives rise to what in this kinde antiquity embraceth , and becomes precept or president to its practice , then is the church to be followed in such her warrantable customs and observations . in the 28 chapter of s t matthew , our lord jesus is mentioned to have ascended ; in the 16 th verse the eleven are said to go away into galilee unto a mountain where jesus had appointed them , there he appears to them in a glorious condition , which caused them to worship him as emanuel ; god , man , mediator . in the 18 th verse our lord owns the donation of all power to him both in heaven and earth , before this christ is not mentioned so solemnly to transfer power ministerial to his apostles ; he asserts his own authority before he gives them theirs ; that done , go ye therefore and teach all nations , follows , which compared with that other passage , as my father hath sent me , so send i you , fully cleers to me , that transferrency of power ministerial from god the father to god the son , and from god the son to his apostles , and to their successors in the ministry , who in tertullian's phrase are the hereditary apostles and disciples of christ . i do not affirm , there is an equality of spiritual power in ministers now to that in the apostles , no more then in the apostles to that in christ , all vessels are not of a capacity ; if the spirit were on him without measure , and upon apostles and ministers restrained , and as they could bear , then we must allow a disparity in the degree , god gave him a name above all names both in heaven and earth , saith the apostles , and no creature must contend with its maker . but this i dare affirm , that the power spiritual and ministerial which the a-apostles expressed by imposition of hands , and since in conformity to them , and upon the same ground they do carry on , who are lawfully called to the ministry in the church christian , is as truly spiritual power in them , as in their head from whom they received it ; and that the church has now as clear a charter for her orders , as the apostles had for their apostleships , the great d r of us gentiles is my author , god hath set in the church , first apostles ; secondarily prophets , thirdly teachers , &c. prophets and teachers , that is , ministers as well as apostles ; both fixed by christ as necessary to carry on his spiritual building the church ; both ministring spirits for the good of the elect , both his good angels , to summon from all quarters his chosen ones , both usefull , one to lay the foundation , and the other to perfect the structure . i write not this to ingage my self in controversies , i shall ever indeavour to decline them , as well knowing they account nothing to church peace , or religions purity ; but this i must profess , that my judgement is flatly against entrenchment upon church offices ; let christians imploy their gifts soberly , and instruct themselves and their families thorowly , and they will finde enough of that task . if our lord had laid the right of teaching in mens readinesses , or their talkative abilities , he would have appeared to those multitudes of people , whom he in the course of his life and ministry taught , fed , and cured of infirmities , and from whom he had approbation to do and speak , as never man did or spake ; it 's probable he might have found as nimble orators , as pregnant gifted men in prayers , as great measure of self-denial in some of the people , as was in peter , james , john , or the rest of the apostles : but he appears to the eleven met according to his appointment , and them he culls out of the mass of the multitude to be the churches faetificators ; and he bids them as ver . 19. go ye therefore , &c. ye , an exclusive phrase as well as a personal ; not onely ye as well as others , but ye only and above others , ye as the grand masters and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of church edification ; lay ye the foundation , let all the after-building be according to your pattern from my prescript . and teach all nations . these metropolitans had large diocesses ; eleven to preach the world over ; this commission must be largely taken , not restrained to their personal but doctrinal visits , not to their lives , but to the perpetuity of their succession , ministerial not apostolique , for can we think those few could peragrate the universe , into many parts of which there was then no means of convoy or transport ? or that the hour-glass of their lives did not speed too fast , for them to sow the seeds of grace in , to so many several and various people , and nations ? or can the apostles in any sense natural be said to continue to the end of the world , till when christ promises to be with them ? i tro no : most of the apostles died within the first century ; if christs promise was to continue them so long as he continued concurrence with them , then must they not have seen death till the end of the world , for so long he saith he will be with them . and if they died so soon after , and the world has yet lasted above 1500 yeers , and how long further it may last , god onely knows : the promise must be understood to the orderly succession of the ministry in all the ages of the church , who are to carry on the apostles office of teaching and exercising discipline in it , to the end of the world . and this the apostles understood and followed in their practice , for though judas fell from his apostleship , yet the eleven by prayer and calling on god , were directed specially to compleat their number by the admission of matthias , act. 1. 15. remembring that christ jesus had a work to carry on in the world , which required the full help he had in his life time assigned to it ; and though the apostles admitted none into the priviledge of their order , but upon special direction of the holy ghost , as in the forementioned case of matthias and s t paul , whom the holy ghost commanded to be separated as ministers , yet were disciples , evangelists , bishops and presbyters , by them chosen , and from them sent ; who in their succession carried on the work to this day , and those learnedly bred , and humbly submitting themselves to church-approbation , were accounted worthy to labour in the word and doctrine , as pastors , able to feed the people with knowledge and understanding , as the prophet hath it , jer. 3. 15. yea , and such men as s t paul exhorts timothy to be , 2 tim. 2. 15. study , saith he , to shew thy self a workman , that needeth not to be ashamed , rightly dividing the word of truth . the consideration of this , made ministers anciently very modest to offer themselves to this weighty charge , and the fathers and bishops very precise and scrupulous in admitting any unto the care of souls , but such as were well reputed , and had great knowledge both in humane and divine learning . saint jerome plainly tells us , that in his time the church was so well served , that it was hard to tell whether the clergie excelled eruditione seculi an scientia scripturarum , and s t cyrill says , humane learning , est catechismus ad fidem . i will not deny , but that great parts are often hinderances to the work of grace in the soul , men will not come off to christ without great ado who are wedged to the wisedom of this world , which contradicts the wisedom of god in the foolishness of preaching ; learned pharisees are apt to reproach saint paul's with the titles of bablers ; ministers like him in erasmus , who being 80 yeers of age , knew nothing higher in their calling , quam in scholis dialecticam ac philosophicam vel docere vel decertare palestram , hîc sine fine , garrire , ad predicandum christi evangelium elinquem , &c. are in a kinde monsters , these set the ass upon christi , not christ upon the ass ; this to tolerate , is as campanella well notes , to measure christs rights by our straight and narrow model , to hide as heathens do the light of scripture under an aristotelique bushel , for surely the work of a minister of jesus christ is , to preach the word in and out of season , to treat of the mysteries of faith , not to trade in frivolous questions and nice subtilties , to acquaint the soul with what is gods command and mans duty , by prayers to move god to mercy , and by tears to prevoke men to pity themselves , to raise a holy flame in the heart to god , and to every thing that bears his likeness . this , as erasmus appositely notes , is the work of a minister . and if some ministers would consider this , and more endeavour to be what god requires them , their success would be greater then now it is ; for when people see such ministers catching at this , and hunting after that advantage , instead of being crucified to the world , and dead to the desires of it , crucifying the world by their discourses , which preface it to bonds and blood , when they see them chemarims , whose fiery zeal and devout outsides serve onely to palliate covetuousness and pride , they are much offended at , and less resolute for the honour and estimation of the ministry . and alas , it is no new thing to see religion passive under politick projects , in coyning which to the churches dishonour as well as christs , his pretended vicar is not behinde hand ; for since pride and state hath bin incathedrated , the priest is so confounded in the prince , the christian simplicity so over-winged by politick craft , that they not onely forget to be humble , which erasmus notes , nostri temporis episcopi quidem suos habent pro servis emptitiis imò pro pecudibus ; but also charge the church with the burden of their spurious productions , and deny her the ordinances which christ hath indulged her . a learned father of our church , in his notable treatise of scisme , lately come forth , hath furnished me with a very pat and pregnant instance to this point ; the pope ( as head of the church ) to use their words , is to supply the church with all necessaries to doctrine and discipline , and to the preservation of a succssion in the church , to do which , he is to propagate the episcopal order , in all places under subjection to him ; upon the revolt of portugall , he refused to admit any new bishops there , and the reason he gave , was , lest by that he should acknowledge or approve the title of the present king against his catholique son of spain ; by which neglect of his , the episcopal order in portugal and the dominions annexed to that crown was well neer extinguished , and scarce so many bishops were left alive , or could be drawn together , as to make a canonical ordination ; the three orders of portugal did represent to the pope , that in the kingdom of portugall , and the algarbians , wherein ought to have been three metrapolitans , and suffragans , there was but one left ; and he by the popes dispensation non-resident , and in all the astatique provinces but one other , and he both sickly and decrepit ; and in all the aphrican and american provinces , and the island , not one surviving , so that as zealous as his holiness is for successions maintenance , he can be contented to endanger it to take a revenge , or to shew a displeasure . thus between those who deny ordination , and others who for private ends disuse it , the church suffers , and christs holy ordinance hath not its due reverence , which the elder christians provided against , this made them nourish up young plants to supply the decay of old standard ; they knew that dangerous men and errors would come in when apostolique men departed ; and as old ely nursed up young samuel , so did they cherish the youth of after hopes . 't was a good note of s t cyprian , that the devil has no greater envie against any , then men in place and eminency in the church , ut gubernatore sublato , atrocius atque violentius circa ecclesiae naufragia grassetur . in the emperour adrians time , when men were giddy , and had more itching ears , and inquisitive heads then before , egesippus notes a crowd of errors forced the church , and he assigns this for reason , men of apostolique abilities being dead , and those who succeeded them being not so qualified to resist them by argument and the sacred force of reason and scripture , they broke in , tanquam in vacuam domum & custode suo privatam . an argument perswasive enough to christians , that a learned ministry , and schools of institution , are necessary and usefull , since nothing more disorders then error , nothing sooner discovers it then art rightly used , and carried on by the blessing of god. alas error comes with a top-sail charged with the colours of truth , and so dexterously is the craft of this pyracy couched , that none but an exact artist can discover it . the arians and orthodox differed but in one letter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , yet upon that depended the honour of christs coaequality and coessency with the father ; how easily might zealous ignorance have dispensed with an iota , upon which so great a point of faith depended , and so have given way to christs dishonour , had not the fathers learnedly and with athanasian mettle withstood it ? o christians , there is more goes to make up the churches and religions prosperity then good meanings , there needs sound heads as well as honest hearts , to make her terrible as an army with banners ; satan hath more sophistry , then a sigh , or an elevation of the eye ( both good , both beseeming ) will enodate . his craft winds it self into company with the sons of god , and ought he not be a notable craftsman who can cull the scabbed sheep out of the flock of faithful ones ? lord what baits has he to beguile us with , an apple for eve , a look-back for lots wife , a bathsheba for david , a witch of endor for saul , self-love for jo●as , and fear for peter's temptation . and when he is most swollen with malice , then his masque is holiness ; servetus , that blasphemous spaniard burnt at geneva , called his errors , the restitution of christianity . and others , that are wanderers , hope to steal upon truth undiscerned by the conduct of new words , and unused phrases , and ever when men in their nomination of things do vary from the law , which is the quintessence of reason , they do it in a humour , which is the quintessence of fancy ; and when men suppress their opinions till they see a fit season , 't is a sign they are more factors for fame then lovers of truth , and have a design of self , to which the night of this or that policy , not the sun-light of an honest and open ingenuity must give furtherance . the right reverend and learned deceased bishop of salisbury tels us , that in the synod of dort , when the fourteen divines that had subscribed their opinions in affirmance of arminius his doctrine , first were demanded by the synod severally , whether they now acknowledged for their doctsine , that which formerly they had set down in collatione hagiensi , and published in print ? not one of those fourteen could be drawn to say in plain and expresst terms , that he either held that doctrine for true , or he held it not ; but as s t jerome wrote to pammachi us concerning john bishop of jerusalem , i cannot brook ambiguous words and sentences that bear two senses , truths are best in their open dress ; what he accounts simplicity , i call the malice of his stile , loc that beleeves aright , ought not to speak in a phrase unusual , unapproved by true beleevers , and orthodox christians , alas words are cheap ; when boner was elect of london , he said , he blamed stokesly bishop of london his predecessor for troubling those who had the bible in english ; saying ▪ god willing , he did not so much hinder , but i will as much further it , yet he proved a most bloudy wretch ; and he can do little to his advantage that hath not his quiver full of them , and disperses them not about to the credulous vulgar , who are in some tempers and on some occasions , so devoted to charity , that they give themselves up to beleeve whatever is communicated to them , in a serious manner , with invocation of god , and seeming self-denial . when nestorius ( after sisinrius ) became bishop of constantinople , he made an oration to the emperour , in which he blasphemously said , o emperour , clear the world of heresie , meaning the orthodox belief , and i will give thee heaven for thy reward ; yet when this man had his preferment , he proved as great a plague to those cacodox christians who were not of his minde , as to the orthodox , for within five daies after he was setled in his see , he decreed demolition of the arians church , and soon after vexed the novatians because paul their bishop had a good name , and was thought a pious man ; when once men swerve from catholique tenents and phrases , they run into a cyclops den , both of infernal pride , and confusion , and without great mercy , never return thence by repentance , but perish in their gainsaying , for true is that of tertullian , quod apud multos unum invenitur , non est erratum sed irradiatum . and therefore as the sceptiques of old by their upstart pedantism , endeavoured abolition of all good learning , turning all into utrum's and questionary debates ; and for that reason were opposed by the ancients and their followers , with great mordacity ; 〈◊〉 ought these in their new systems , 〈◊〉 divinity to be treated as persons that have somewhat to vent contrary to the received faith , who word it contrary to the received phrase ; and those ( saith a learned bishop ) that will arrogate to themselves a new church or new religion , or new holy orders , must produce new miracles , new revelations , and new cloven tongues for their justification : till when , i shall joyn with the church of christ in the belief , that the spirit of the prophets is subject to the prophets , and that the schools of the prophets are most probable to acquaint men with truth and peace , and to disseminate it amongst the people , as that which will at once make happy both church and state. and though as the jews in christ's case , and the heathens in christians cases , bitterly inveighed , sharpening powers against them , as stirrers up of the people to mutinies and rebellions , so it be common now also to possess governours with ill principles in distrust of pious and regular ministers and professors , yet will it be found upon search , that nothing laies so strong a ground of just government as true religion ; for besides that gods restraint is upon them , and they dare not do that in his eye , which will be rebuked by his word , and punished by his hand of justice , they cannot be ill subjects upon the account of retaliation ; for where they receive protection , they ex debito owe subjection , and are injurious and ingrateful if they pay it not : and no magistrate is so merciless to his own fame , as he who neglects to be a nursing father to the church , and a patron to her schools of learning , digna certe res in qua totum occupetnr parliamentum , nisi enim haec semina dostrinae teneris animis tempestivè sparsa fuerint , quaenam in republica vel exoriatur spes , vel adolescat virtus , vel effloreseat pura religio , & vera faelicitas ? as the university of oxford phraseth it in their letter to the marquess of northampton , temp . edw. 6. for take away the encouragements of learning , what despicable combinations of men will common-wealths be ? what shall we do for learned politicians , skilful physicians , subtil lawyers , reverend antiquaries , polite orators , acurate logicians and schoolmen , and facetious poets , non omnis fert omnia tellus — god , and nature ( by his leave ) makes us men , but 't is learning and art renders us wise and worthy ; houses of learning are the palaces in which these royal wits are educated , and the world is as the field in which they scatter their seeds of renown , and the stock on which they graft their noble cyons ; and therefore as s t jerome after he had writ that summary of ecclesiastical writers from christ's to his time , breaks out , discant ergo celsus , porphyrius , julianus , rapidi adversus christum canes , &c. let them know ( quoth he ) who think the church of christ produces no eloquent writers , that they are deceived , for there hath ever been a number of such who in all times have ●lourished in her , and her have vindicated from that imputation of rustical simplicity , that those ethniques have charged on her . so must i brand these enemies of schools and learning , as underminers of order , civility , and all good institution , and endeavourers to surprise the capitol of our faith , when learned men , as the watch thereof are drawn off and discharged ; and therefore i appeal to such as prosecute learning with contempt , in s t jerom's words to jovinian , when rehearsing that of the apostle , they are clouds without water , he says , nonne tibi videtur pinxisse sermo apostolicus novam imperitiae factionem , aperiunt enim quasi fontes sapientiae qui aquam non habent doctrinarum , promittunt imbrem velut nubes propheticae , ad quas perveniat veritas dei , & turbinibus exagitantur demonum & vitiorum . so he . alas , they are in a devious road to fame who endeavour learnings ruine , and deserve no nobler a memoriall then * scylla had , whose evils were so great , that there was neither le●t place for greater , nor number for more . that wise man of the garamantes spake truth to alexander , glory ariseth not from violent substraction of what is anothers , but from bestowing on others what is our own : the best way to be remembred for gallant , is to write our memoriall in the table adamant of a charity and bounty that may outlast us . i love aemilius his gravity and imitable worth , his vertuous minde and learned head , better then aristippus his rapacious heart , though it had to friend a grave countenance , and a purple robe : the lord deliver the learned from those men , who would have the name of learned perish , and their seed begg their bread , and give and preserve to them such kings and protectors , as may speak comfortably to them as god did to his , he that toucheth you , toucheth the apple of mine eye . thirdly , antiquity and elder times have been zealous for government and order in the church , as the church of christ hath no custom for contention , so not for co●fusion : god is order , and good discipline is one way to make men conform to god as orders law-giver . s t cyprian one of the first fathers and a noble martyr , defines discipline , the keeper of hope , the conservative of faith , a good conductor in our race of christianity , a benefit reaching forth security and increase to those that embrace her , and portending destruction to those that refuse or neglect her : and calvin when he disownes all church usurpation , yet concludes , that the church hath laws of order , to promote concord and defend government . and reason it should be so ; for if god be order , and his administrations be orderly as himself , then disorder , as nothing of his , ought to be kept out of the church , to which it is peculiarly an enemy . the church is a treasury , disorder robbs it ; 't is a clear stream of living water , disorder puddles it ; 't is a fair and bright heaven , disorder clouds and inlowers it ; 't is a chart virgin , disorder is an impure raptor and corrupts it ; 't is a precious orb of spicknard , disorder like dead flies putrifies it . the foresight of this made our lord jesus bespangle his church with gifts to all purposes of order and ornnament . he hath set ( sayes s t paul ) in the church first apostles , secondarily prophets , thirdly teachers ; then gifts of healing , helps to governments , diversities of tongues . and now i have found church and government both in a scripture , i hope i may without offence joyn them together , church-government ; and assert that of divine institution . i think most parties are agreed , that government ecclesiastique as well as civil is of god : all the litigation is , what this ecclesiastique government which is of god , is ? by what name and title it is distinguished and dignified ? and god wot , the heat and humour of peevish brains , have set paul and barnabas ( as it were ) asunder , nay hath made such a crack in christian eutaxie , ' that as bernardas dyas bishop of calatrore said of the church of vicenza , that may i of this chuach of england , it is so disordered , that it requireth more an apostle then a bishop . orpheus sooner charmed pluto and proserpina to part with his eurydice , then men amongst us be perswaded to part with their passions , though all their swellings and monstrous impregnations , like that of the mountains , produce only a mouse , a most ridiculous and inglorious scabb of self-conceited leprosie . one party will have church-discipline so precisely set down in the word of god , that nothing is left to christian prudence to alter . others are diametrall to these , and make , with cardinall cusanus , government accountable to the times , as he said scripture was , and therefore to be expounded according to the current rites , and yet ( forsooth ) it is not to be meant as if the church at one time expoundeth in one fashion and at another time in another sort ; a riddle ! the scripture must be expounded according to the times , and the times according to which scripture is to be expounded , are now this , an on that ; and yet the church must not be meant to expound it in one fashion at one time , and in another fashion another time . there are a third sort who fix the essentials of government in scripture , and the collaterals they admit as left to the order of the particular churches of christ : this i take to be most safe and moderate ; and this s t augustine delivers as his opinion to januarius long ago . these things ( quoth be ) are left free ; there is no appointment by god concerning them , prudent christians are at liberty to conform to whatever church they come , and in which they live ; for whatever is enjoyned not contrary to faith and good manners , ought to be submitted to for peace and civil societies sake , and i ( saith the father ) diligently considering this thorowly , do deliver this as an oracle receiving confirmation from god. and truly this i judge to be the meaning of those brotherly expressions that have and ought ever to ebbe and flow from christian churches to each other , and from the protestant churches especially : for if the church of england when it was under episcopacy , saved the rights of other churches which were disciplinary , and condemned them not , but held correspondency with them , giving them the right hand of fellowship , and the other forreign churches published their candor and approbation of episcopacy where it was constituted , and pressed obedience to it , witnesse reverend n calvi● in divers places and on divers occasions , learned zanchy * , grave bucer . o , eloquent beza p , profound m●uline q , accomplisht chamier r , yea , and multitudes of others of note in the reformed churches ; then doth this arise from that apprehension , that the generals of government being one and the same under both disciplines , charity ought to passe the rest , to the least injury of christian concord . farre be it from me to part whom god hath joyned together : wherein the churches agree , let them mind the things that tend to piety and unity , the rest god will reveal in his good time ; for as calvin . after s t augustine determines it , let every church observe her own customs ; it is profitable sometimes that religion should have some variety , so there be no ●mulation , and new things be not introduced for novelties sake . the churches of christ then have agreed upon government as appointed by god , yea and about the persons interessed in it , those bishops , presbyters and deacons , they never owned armilustra's in which souldiers were priests , nor gifted men , unordained , for church officers , this is of late date , and no pedigree hath this presumption beyond our times . and i wish that these men who arrogate to themselves ▪ the office of the priesthood , would consider how unqualified they are to it , and return to their callings , for by reason of these wandrings , all the grand renown of antiquity is blemished : for they to gain a name so themselves , reprobate all church uses and church-stories , and make them matters of superstition and offence to tender consciences ; so wise are the children of the world in their generation . but for all their confidence , the church of christ will glory in that they count her infirmities ; she will preserve her catalogues of martyrs , confessors , bishops , presbyters ; she will own churches and oratories set apart for her use , before dioclesians time called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , which daily increased in number and magnificence . she will own lyturgies and set forms of devotion , and can instance s t james chosen bishop of ●erusalem by the apostles , called jacobus liturgus from a liturgie he made for the use of that church ; maronita asserting litnrgies made by the apostles for the eastern and western churches ; origen speaking of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , and eusebius of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 used by the good emperour constantine in his court , by justin martyr , cyprian and others , upon which the painfull centurists conclude , without doubt ▪ certain forms of prayers publick they then had ; and they adde , not to know and rehearse those forms of prayer , was in a kinde to disown the name of christian ; for as s t augustine said of the donatists , then they ceased to be o●r brethren , when they said not , our father which art in heaven . and if set forms be erroneous , and to use them be an error , 't is an error of the purest times , and purest christians ; so long as christians have christ jesus for their patron and pattern , they may use holy set forms , not neglecting their exercise of graces in due time and place , with much benefit . i and the church will avow set forms of faith ; creeds and systems of sound doctrine and belief , such as were the creeds which they and we call the apostles , the athanasian , the nicene creeds , yea and those of tertullian , origen , gregorius , niccaesariensis , nazianzen , victorinus , hylarie , basil epiphanius , da●asus and others ▪ and singing of psalms in her meetings ever since ignatius his time ; witness also plynie's epistle to the emperour trajan , which eusebius records , l. 3. c. 27. and sundry other things of like nature she owns without blushing , wondring that any should distaste her for her fidelity . and that order may appear to be the more conservative of whatever falls under its empire , i cannot but observe , how precisely the heretick church imitated the orthodox , and so notably did they ape it , that thereby they gained much consistence to themselves , and gave much grievance to the christians of more purity then were they . the arians had their bishops and presbyters , eight of them were in the famous counsel of nice , nestorius was bishop of constantinople , and there is mention made of paul a novatian bishop and others , they had their places of meeting , in which were scriptures read , and sacraments administred , their creeds , yea and their martyrs , such as metrodorus , themison and alexander , eusebius tells us that the montanists boasted of their martyrs , and no worder , for s t chrysostome gives us the reason , the devil , saith he , hath his humble and meek , chast● and charitable , his fasters and prayers ; of every good thing that god made to mans salvation , he hath a shew and semblance , which he imploys to seduction to the end , that there may be no distinction between real and seeming good , that plain-hearted men , who are artless in distinguishing , may be caught by the snares of those whom they mistake for the faithful servants of god. thus that father . and may we not fear this old serpent hath been too busie in the differences in religion , not onely abroad in the world , but also at home in this church , while he hath made divisions amongst brethren , such as no age or story exceeds ? o lord jesus , how sad is it to think , that the legacy of peace , which thou bequeathedst to thy church is expended , nay defrauded , and lost in the crowd and throng of private passions and private insolence ! and that out of this church should come evil instruments , who not like theeves only steal grapes out of the vineyard , but like wilde ▪ asses tread down all the vines ; such as boner who when truth is backed by power , shews himself a very exemplary protestant , but when the lord cromwell was dead ( who preferred him for what of god he thought was in him ) then he proves the most pernicious papist , and bloody fiend that the papacy here had : and truly i think there is no church-enemy so great as a waverer , who is not much beneath an apostate , for he that is any thing to gain an interest , will soon be nothing indeed to preserve it . and in all this coyle and hurry in this hinnon of distasts , wherein our children of prudence have been offered in sacrifice to the molech of passion ; and contest were carried as suid●s sayes , those were between dorotheus and ma●inus , both arrians , more out of pride then piety , to advance their own wills rather then to polish truth to a pervious clarity , for what is the matter ? speak conscience , be ingenious , their faces will gather blackness of reproach at the last day , whose have not now the blush of full and free confession . was christ and his cause , holiness and her rights the main drift , the cause of mounting the scaling-ladder against the church ? speak ye sons of levi , whose thunderbolts not long since rent all in sunder , and whose virulent irritations made such wide breaches in charity . there was i confess , ● time when priests were ingaged in wars , but not with their brethren , but midianites , not by choice but command of god. ye grave men of the clergie , who dissented from what was established by law , and hoped to have had your judgements answered to their latitude in the change of church-polity , suffer me , i beseech you , to bemoan that ye should rise up in prosecution of your spiritual fathers and brethren , whose blemishes that evangelique piety should have covered , and for whose reformation , not ruine , ye should have strove in prayer with god , and by petition to men , did ye well to be angry ? have ye comfort in those reproaches that some cast on you , when yo●r frailty is displayed in the escocheon of your punishment ? when reuben grows unstable as water , and goeth up to his fathers bed , no wonder jacob condemns him not to excell , though once he were the excellency of dignity and of power ; ought ye not ( o holy and pious souls ) to have stood between the living and the dead , and said to the destroyer ( when he was no adder to your voyce ) it is enough ? how comes it to pass that ye call christ lord , and do not as he commands you ? forgive your brethren , not to seven , but to seventy times seven , as oft as they offend you ? 't is sad , that christs banner should be the standard of church-discord , and that offences should so abundantly germinate , that every thing of order and decency must be censured and suppressed . i have heard many of you offended with bishops , from some of which order divers of you had little encouragement , more injury and hard dealing , but did you well therefore to punish the demerits of a few , with the disgrace and vituperation of a whole order ? must episcopacy be antichristian , because some bishops were ( in a sort ) unchristian , in imposing more upon you then the canons of the church required from you ? was there no correction for innovation and arrogance , but extirpation and abhorring ? could not the faedity of ely's sons be charged on the priesthood , to determine it ? and shall the peevish tartness of some bishops perswade you to labour annihilation of episcopacy ? truly this seems to be hard ; but god hath begun with his sanctuary , and i appeal to ye grave , learned , and sacred presbyters , ye siltrumpets to the more numerous rams horns , whose clamorous ravings have thus stuperated church affairs . is single and pristine episcopacy against the word of god , or the use of the purest church ? i know ye that are wise and worthy own not such assertions ; that which in episcopacy offended you was praelature ; and why , i beseech you , should the bounty of kings and princes be your exception ? have secular honors bestowed on clergie-men original sin ? do they defile all , men and all administrations ? may not rich men preach the gospel , as well as poor men receive it , since mercy makes no distinction , that it may justifie its freedome and bounty ? may not great titles , ampl● revenues , full tables , minister to christ , where well used ? yea is not religion more advantaged when the professors of it are thus accoutred to all purposes of eminency ? o but say some , the bishops were idle , belly-gods , disfavourers of good men , lords over gods heritage ; god forbid any should be such , and have ●ontinued bishops , and god forbid any hereafter shall be permitted to be such , when god shall put it into the heart of our governours to bring home the banished ark with triumph . i am for bishops who would make the church happy , and religion flourish , such as are for age fathers , for wisdome senators , for gravity st●iques , for light angels , for innocency saints , for industry labourers , for constancy confessors , for zeal martyrs , of whom that may be said as of our bishop grindall , his books were his bride , and his study his bride-chamber . and some such we had , who might deservedly have this said of them , that s t bernard said of the ancient bishops of rome , fuerunt ante te qui se totos pascendis ovibus exponerent , &c. that is , there were ( o eugenius ) bishops thy predecessors , who gloried onely in their tending their flocks , faithful pastors , who thought nothing unworthy them , which made for the safety of their charge , such as enriched not themselves with the spoyles of the widow , nay of christ himself , but contented with little , as freely they received , freely they gave . and were not such worthy honor , and liberal maintenance ? or can these be carped at for unworthy or unsufficient , unless envie and ill will be attorney-generall , and draw their indictment ? would it not be a paradox , to discard ministers because frier bacon said long ago , some of them were better lawyers then preachers , more industrious farmers , then conscientious husbandmen in gods spiritual husbandry ; honestly pay their landlord rent for his house in which they dwell , but allow not the lawful incumbent , ( whom for the imputation of malignancy they enter upon and eject , ) not the fifths allowed by powers , no nor any thing if they can avoid it though they eat his bread , while he starves and cries to god out of anguish . consider this , ye heretofore erring sons of the church , whom it concerns rather to be oakes then willows , burning and shining lights , not portentuous planets , and passionate blazes , and search whether ye your selves were not as guilty of lack of humility , as your discarded fathers for too much pride . for had ye thought every one better then your selves , ye would not have snuffled against what is the honor of christians to submit to , governments ; and to pardon and not revenge injuries ; for , as that sad , rollock hath well observed , only in the school of jesus , onely in the gospel , this point of doctrine is taught and learned ▪ that men should not do evil for evil , but good for evil . indeed if there had been no other way to christs● triumph then by trampling upon rejected bishops and presbyters , it had been fit his hosanna's should have been given him , though their skulls and bones had paved the way to his procession ; yea , i hope their piety would have been such , to have licked willingly the dust of their own confusion , and to have cleared him when thus they were judged ; but when he delights in mercy rather then burnt-offerings , to think to please him by entring into the gate of your brethren in the day of their calamity , or to lay hands on their substance in the day of their calamity ▪ which god charged on edom as their sin ▪ will never be approved by god or men as a virtue . ought ye not rather to have mourned in secret , and prayed that the iniquity of mens hearts might have been forgiven them ; and dealt with them in that gospel-way of admonition , and spiritual conviction , considering that the ways of god are secret , and his purpose of good not ever to be discerned by us ; that many belong to god , who are missed , and will be recalled in gods time ; and that to cause them to wander further , by oppression upon them , is a kinde of accessariness to their sin of intemperance ? so long as god has left such presidents of calling s t anthony kingston a commissioner at m r hoopers death to be his convert , and bishop latimer from being cross-keeper at cambridg , and a violent opposer of famous m r stafford , to be a glorious confessor of his truth , ye should have forborn tartness against those , who differed from you but in trifles : abim●l●ch was more just then abraham , when abraham would rather study his own outward peace , in regarding his life , more then in guarding his wives modesty . mistake me not ( ye reverend ministers of christ whom my address in this kind concerns ) i am not discontented with you , i am no rejoycer in your failings , god knows i daily bemoan you in private , and as occasion is , defend your calling and rights to my utmost power , and so by gods grace , i hope ever to do ; i am none of the generation of those , who gave rise to that too true speech , profectò laici semper sunt inimici clericis . my desire is to honour your persons and employment , yea to serve you hip and thigh ; yet can i not forbear mention of some of your mistakes , by which , you have caused many to wander out of the way , and made your selves objects of reproach . i know god has yet reserved in the church , many grave and learned presbyters , who may justly be called burning and shining lights ; yet i conceive , he hath trodden under foot many of the mighty men in the midst of her : and if god hath heretofore suffered a spirit of delusion to be upon some of his prophets of old , for some time , and upon some occasions , and given some of his servants up to great fondnesses , and caused the vision to cease to them : if men of rare parts be permitted to lose themselves for a while in errors , as did that famous divine of peru , the oracle of the american world , of whom , the learned sonne of a learned father , tells us out of acosta , that he grew so wild in his divinity , that he averred his holiness to be granted him above angels and apostles , that he was proffered hypostaticall union with god , but refused it , with sundry other such blasphemous passages . or to admire their own conceits above what they deserve , and think they see more into the cryptick parts of theology , then truly they do ; as did napier the lord of marchiston , terming his book , a plain discovery of the revelation of s t john ; and forbs another scot , his book , an exquisite commentary upon the revelation of s t john ; when the greatest schollars , with castalio , profess their non intelligo of the thousand part of that book , and with junius , deodate , and bp ▪ andrews , declare , the mysteries in it are very , hard , reserved under gods secret seal , and beyond their reach : yea those that wade deepest therein , do but besmear themselves and lose credit by their confidence , as did arias montanus the spaniard , and johannes brocardus , who lost himself in the exposition of that book , who thought to finde venice there : and a belgick doctor in the synod of dort , who thought to finde grave maurice there ; and m r brightman , who beleeved ( as saith mine author ) not only to finde england , but also his two friends cecil and walsingham there ; if i say such mistakes have betided learned and good men , why may not many of you have been mistaken also ? and why may it not become you soberly to confess as did the holy prophet , thou hast deceived us o lord , and we are deceived ? 't is worth ▪ o ye ministers of the lord , 't is worth your tears , to bewail and your serious thoughts to consider , for there ▪ is great offence taken by many poor souls , upon your violent courses against your fathers and brethren , who were more wounded by your sermons and exhortations , then from the secular severity of magistrates who would have been lesse strict towards them , had ye not sharpened the instruments of their dispatch ; and therefore i beseech you hear my motion to you seconded by two men of your own coat , every way without exception , the first my right worthy and meriting friend d r gawden , whole words are these , i desire both my self and others of my minde and profession may by an ingenious acknowledgement of our failings be fitted for god and mans absolution ; both in present and after ages , that it may not be said that the ministers of england erred greatly and were punished sharply , yet knew not how to repent humbly and truly , every one palliating their own errors and transferring the blame and guilt upon others , when themselves were in some things more blameable then any men ; and merited in their own censures , to be esteemed the chief of sinners . thus he . the other to the same tune , is learned m r. baxter , who writing to the ministers has this passage , have not some of you so led the way to seecet and open vilifying , deriding , contemning and aspersing your brethren , that you , even you have been the means of raising those calumnies you cannot allay ? have you not had yet time and means enough to observe , how god hath been offended with your unpeaceable proceedings , seeking to suppress and subdue each other by force , rather then to win each other by love and evidence of truth ? and in another place ; for my part ( saith he ) i daily look death in the face , and live in a constant expectation of my change , and therefore have the better assurance of being faithfull to my conscience ; and i must needs profess , that when i look back upon my life , i have more comfort in the least means that ever i used for the churches peace , then in all my most zealous contentious engagements . thus he . and what can be more fully written to their honours , and the shame of those whose high stomacks incubate their confessions ? but i know the wise in heart will consider this , and for the rest , i pity , not reproach them ; zacheus is as well to be imitated in restauration , as in his taking from men their rights , &c. thus much of the head of goverment , though i conceive it necessary to add somewhat concerning ceremonies ; such i mean as are decent , and not supernumerary ; i know this is a noli me tangere , , and perhaps may be born out of time ; but yet since my aime is to please no party by a base parasitism , nor to provoke any by a sarcastique freedom ; i think fit to insinuate ( with all humility and submission ) my thoughts about ceremonies , which i look upon as flesh and skin to the soulary part of religion , as mounds and fences , to the granaries of sound doctrine ; i know as life , so religion may be preserved by plain clothes , and fewer rites , as well as by richer and more numerous ; therefore i offer my conceptions not as a peremptory dictator , but as a petitory monitor ; i confesse the primitive times had little of ceremonies , they were in persecution , and the christians in them under restraints , not owned by magistrates , nor in any polity for a great while , aliud fuit tunc tempus & omnia suis temporibus aguntur , saith s t augustine , but so soon as the condition of the christian church grew better , and emperours and great men shewed themselves propitious to her , then prudence dictated somewhat more lustrous and suitable to the prosperous condition of the fixed church , which ought not to be considered less then the garden of god , wherein are things of variety and virtuous delight , as well as of absolute necessity ; and though i know all things in the church should be done to edification , yet do i not believe it unedi●ving to have in the church various expressions of gods gifts to me● , all which tending to the admiration of god , call man to be edified in the high and holy contemplation of his infinite greatnesse , who ( ●owithstanding his so liberal indulgence to man ) is yet compleat and inexhaust ; and therefore as reverend calvin well saies against versipellis , whatever is pertinent to beauty and order , we are not to account of humane appointment but of divine approbation ; so say i in the case of ceremonies , so far as they relate to the usefull order and ornament of the church , they are not only not to be contemned , but honoured and kept ; and these that are hotly violent against them quâ such , had best consider , that there may be use of them to do the drudgery of worship , and to stave off prophanesse , and when they are emploied but as cryars of courts of justice are , to minde men of their reverence to what is sacred , and to learn them to be bare and submisse to their betters , there is no ill construction can be reasonably made of them . i know they have and ever will be ( while men are ignorant , ambitious , and worldly ) subject to be abused , partly by the ignorance of superstitious people , and partly by over activity of men of note in the church , who of good purpose introduced them , as did s t chrysostome church-musick into the church at constantinople , to prevent the arians withdrawing of the orthodox to their church or oratories in which they had such musick : i know ( i say ) that by this and other means the number of ceremonies grew so great , that the church was not able to abide them , that s t augustine and many others greatly inveighed against them , and wished correction of them . and therefore as all things of discipline and order , constituted by man , may ( upon just cause ) be ordered and altered , as to prudence shall seem most meet , provided it be done in lawfull manner , and by persons lawfully called thereto ; so endeavoured many in the church , to put a stop to this evil , and to offer a remedy thereto . but alas ! it was a disease past cure , men of estimation hugg'd their own apes , and in the customes and rites of their own initiation , hung up trophees and banners to their memories , happy was he thought that could travell farthest in this wildernesse of imagination , and have the remarque of adding something to church-solemnity , under pretence of some notable zeal , noble charity , devout-rapture , matchlesse self-deniall ; so that at length the ceremonies grew to have no name but legion for they were many , which made many holy men cry out against them , and some professe , that the soul of religion was overlaid by the body , yea , every thing so out of order , that even pope adrian the 6. in his instructions to his legate , professed , scimus in hac sancta sede aliquot jam annis multa abominanda fuisse : nay , for many years before him holy s t bernard cried out against some of place , as more proggers for their own advantage then the glory of christianity ; vides omne ecclesiasticum zelum ●ervere sola pro dignitate tuenda , honori totum datur , sanctitati nihil aut parum . lib. 4. de consid . ad eugenium . heu , heu , domine deus ipsi sunt in persecutione primi qui videntur in ecclesia primatum diligere ! yea , even in the councel of trent ( about the gathering and managing of which more carnal policy was expressed then comported with the simplicity of christ ▪ and the reall honour of his pretended vicar ) there was a loud out cry againsi extravagant ceremonies ; and that from the mouths of learned prelates and friars of the papacy , insomuch that langi archbishop of saltzburg said , it was but reasonable to be disburthened of them ; but the pope and his party had too much gain by this craft to part with them cheaply : the colledge of parish ● priests at rome is now become a conclave of cardinals , and hath church-princes , and the pope head of the church , to rule it which way it will : yea , his palace the commonwealth of christians , as albergatus his words are to the cardinall nephew to gregory the 13 th ; they i say becoming so great must have support . and finding this among the politique accoutrements of the papacy , could not give ought but a deaf ear to those endeavours , nothing obtaining audience at rome but what hath the oratory of gain , or the impulse of invincible necessity : the crys and humble remonstrances of the waldenses , nicholaus clemingius , petrus de aliaco , humbertus de romania , gulielmus parisiensis , petrarch , bernard , adrian the 6 th , cornelius , antonius , picus mirandula , lawrentius cardinal of ratisbon , gilbertus the monk , durand the schoolman ; all which ▪ in their times importuned reformation , produced nothing , those addars of rome would not hear the voice of these charmers though they charmed wisely ; till luther broke out no general councel could be gained , and when that was brought about , there was such tricks , such postings from trent to rome , such designing things to crafty and secular ends , such tying up of the fathers and prelates there convened , that some of the braver spirits muttered , that the pope did but hold the world in hand , that he called that councel to reform the church , but that he ins●nded nothing lesse , which made the french embassador protest in the name of his master and the french church , that they would not obey any thing co●cluded there , for as much as they were the decrees of pope pius the fourth rather then of the councel , all things being done at rome not at trent . now ( as it were ) the axe is laid to the root of the tree , germany reaks on t the heat luther had roused up in her ; many of the prelates ( faithfull enough to the papacy in spiritualibus ) are not displeased at the cheque , that this new appearance is expected to give to the career of the conclavique policy , and divers princes not only not oppose luther , but openly mediate for him , and at last prove protectors of him : the germans naturally sturdy and rough enough , adore this new risen star , and use pretences of zeal for warrànts to violence and extravagancy ; religious men and houses go to wrack , and all the symptoms of popular dirity and confusion are visible . many partiall reformations there were in some parts of germany and france , and sundry princes favoured luther , wherein his enterprises gratified their interests , as to supremacy and justification of princely authority against the popes usurpation , the emperour charles the 5 th the then king of france , and henry the 8 th of this land , found not themselves aggrieved , vnus in mundo sol , vnus in regno rex , vna in religione religio , ne ubi non una , ubi multa , nulla fiat , saith the politique marselaer , as luther by distracting the papal affairs did them no disservice , so silently they applauded him : but when once religion grew concerned , then all of them fell foul upon him , henry the 8 th wrote against him , and the other two princes prosecuted the lutherans severely ; so god calling up luther , and calling out of this life henry the 8 th , and the crown of his land descending to his son and heir edw. the 6 th ▪ reformation began to be in credit here also ; in the short reign of this blessed josiah , by the counsell of his godly uncle ( the protector of his person and government ) and by learned bishops and presbyters , both of this and other churches , the scheme of our church-service and decency was ordered , and to such a degree refined , that spalatenses a forreign cals our old praier-book , breviarium optimè reformatum : and no otherwise thought our parliaments of those times , as 5. & 6. ed 6. c. 1. 1. eliz. c. 2. 8. eliz. c. 1. call it a godly and virtuous book , and a means together with the preaching of the word , and administration of the sacraments of the pouring forth of the blessings of god upon the land ; yea , when the popish parliament of pr● q. mary repealed the act of the 6. ed. 6. by which this uniformity of worship according to the common-praier-book was setled ; the stat. of 1 el. c. 2. saies , that repeal of q. mary was to the great decay of the due honour ●f god , and discomfort to the professors of the truth of christs religion : but we are wiser in our generation then those fathers of light our worthy progenitors ; we are more holy then they , because lesse orderly , lesse solemn in our service of god then they , yea , to excuse our selves ; we pretene their reformation was but partiall , whenas , god knows , there are who wisely beleeve that their settlemenrs were such as will not be bettered by any their successors . for although they appointed set forms of devotion for the publike as a help to their weaknesse who could not pray without them , and as a prudent entertainment of the congregation , while it was gathering , which in great parishes was long , and unto servants who came late , beneficiall , for by that means could they get time enough to sermon , yet intended they it never to justle out the gifts of men , whom god had specially enabled to extemporary praier , who therefore were left free to use their gifts both in their families and before and after their sermons , nor to soothe up people in ignorance , or so to accustome them to forms that they should never endeavour by seeking more interest in god , to receive more ability from him . nor did they appoint holy dayes to be kept in obedience to any popish canon , or in memory of saints , but upon civil reasons , thereby to give people ease from their hard labours , and to call them to the service of god , in prayers and praising of him , as sayes the statute of 5 , and 6 ed. 6. c. 3. neither hath this church kept decent habits for her ministry , out of a desire to symbolize with popelings ; but according to the wisedom of the first reformation , confirmed by the 30 th injunction of queen elizabeth , wherein habits for order and distinction sake , were enjoyned ministers in their universities and churches ; these i say , though carped at by many , were harmlesly setled , and some think might usefully have been continued : but they are disused now , and how much purer our religion hath been since they have been voted down , let the world judg . — nunc seges ubi troja fuit . only if good pretentions were enough , the donatists had them as much as the orthodox ; yet 't was observed justly of them , that their designs were brought forth by passion , nourished by ambition , and confirmed by covetousness . i will not say any thing of those , who whe●● they had place , misplaced things well ordered , let god plead his own cause . aliter hominum livor , aliter christus judicat , non eadem est sententia tribunalis ejus & anguli susurronum , multae hominibus viae videntur justae quae postea reperiuntur pravae , saith s t jerom , let men of fury and passion rave as they list , being as s t gregory stileth them appositely , bellonae sacerdotes , non eccle●iae , martis faces & tibicines , non evangelii lumina , cometae infausti , pestis & dira omnia , non stellae salutares christum pronunciantes ; yet my judgement shall be ( with gods leave ) calm and moderate . i will pray for a peaceable temper , and till i know better , conclude that councel , concerning forms and order in the church , good , which reverend calvin wrote to the protector forementioned , vt certa illa extet a qua pastoribus disc●dere non liceat : i crave leave of the reader for this excursion , which i thought necessary , and i hope he will not condemn as offensive ; a plain ingenious freedom best befits me , who am to act no part but that of a good christian , and therefore it shall be my constant resolve , to rank flatterers , as erasmus did eriers , inter falsos fratres , who the more holy they pretend to be , are the more execrable , for , nihil turpius sanctis parasitis . but i leave them to their proper judge , and make to the third head of antiquities piety , which consists in care to countenance truth and censure errors . and here is good reason for this , if we consider the nature of truth , which makes the soul free , not only in professing , but also in not fearing what may be the consequence of boldly owning it , which armed the martyrs with invincible courage , and made them , more then conquerours over their fears and persecutors . there is also much to be said for care to prevent growth of error even from the nature of error , which ( in the words of constantine the great ) makes those in whom it raigns , enemies to truth , promoters of dissention , and often of assassination , counsellours to every thing contrary to truth , favourers of dangerous and fabulous evils ; in a word , being under a shew of piety great offenders , and contagious to all that border on them . the good emperour by sad experience knew , what shifts and deluding courses the arians took , to bring to pass their designs : therefore laid he load of reproach on them ; and that not without cause ; for first they conveyed their poison under gilded pills , and in not to be understood expressions ; and to such a clymax of vanity ascended they , that they would allow none of the ancient fathers to be compared to them , but appla●ded themselves to be the only knowing men , the only men of self-deniall , the only men to whem jesus christ was revealed , and to whom such mysteries were made known , as never came into the thought , or under the experience of any men before them , that as mahomet made use of an epilepticall distemper in which to arrogate to himself divine authority , so did these of an over self-conceit and pride of soul , to be the only illuminates of their time . nay when arius was called to account for his errors , he averred , he had rejected them , and denied those to be his belief or doctrine , swearing that he beleeved as did the orthodox in the nicene counsell ; yet for all this , holy macarius made it his prayer to god , to take arius out of the church , least errors and heresies spawned too much for truth to overcome or outlustre them . and good man it fell out as he feared ▪ for though the good emperour took away from them their meeting places , and commanded their return to the church , though they were condemned and banished by the emperour and counsell of nice , and their books commanded to be burned , that there might be no record kept , neither of arius nor his corrupt doctrine ; yet after the death of constantine , they rallyed , and made a most dangerous charge on the church , obtained ( by fraud ) bishopricks in the most eminent cities , gather counsels by power , abrogate and constitute what laws they pleased , though contrary to the laws of god , and the nicene councell ; deprive the good bishops and banish them ; falsiy accuse blessed athanasius , and in short prosecute generally the orthodox , by banishments , whippings , and exhaeredations more like barbarians then christians . the world then may view the tricks of these degenerous church-wolves , who are all for ruin and blood , whose moderation is utmost mischief , and whose mercy is cruelty : such an one was the varlet hacket , who in a private injury was so merciless , that as he was embracing an engenious schoolmaster , who came to be reconciled to him , bit off his nose ; and being intreated to restore it , that it might be sown on the face while the wound was green , he refused , and like a dog devoured it . what would this fellow extraordinarily called from god ( as he and his accomplices gave out ) have done had he had people and power , would he not have been a john of leyden , a ket , an every thing of menace and ruin ? there are no enemies so pestilent to the church as apostates ; which made plinius secundus a witty man cull out such as had been revolted from the faith twenty years , and before his face sacrificed to the gods , and worshipped the emperours image , as informers against the church , lib. 10. ep . 79. i am not for fire and sword , verberari christianorum proprium est , flagellare christianos , pilati & caiphae est officium , yet am i of the minde of cardinal richlieu , whose note is notable ; tolerata a regibus religio , legitimum regem vix tolerabat . i beleeve god is not ever in the thunder and lightning of severity ; but i know he is second to a thorow-paced and rightly religious courage for him . it was no argument of henry king of navarr's zeal , who being a protestant , and pressed by beza to appear for those of the religion , made answer , that he was their friend , but he resolved to put to sea no further then he could return again if a storm arose . religion ever hath a still fire to try and refine , though not ever a piercing one to melt and dissolve . the least holy magistrates can do , is to disown error , and to keep it under , that it say not as did the bramble in jothams parable , i will be king. holy s t augustine cannot hold , but he professeth , he knowes no reason but the church may compell prodigals to return , as well as those miscreants compell others to accompany them in their mischief : and a little after he gives this caution , sic enim error corrigendus est ovis , ut non in eo corrumpatur signaculum redemptoris , that is , so the error of the sheep is to be corrected , that the mark of the owner may not be defaced : 't is good to be scrupulous in punishments , and i shold ever desire to erre of the right hand , that is , by moderation . i like not passionate revenges acted upon pretensions of zeal for god. nor ought life and death to hang upon the thin twine of mistakes , where first comes to hand goes to p●t ; he that passes sentence of reprobation on any man upon a bare difference in opinion , is as rash a christian , or rather as unchristian , as he was a rude rash knight , provost-marshall to ed. 6. his forces in the west ; who hearing a miller had been very active in the western rebellion , came to his mill , and called for the miller who then was abroad ; his man came and made answer ; quoth the marshall , are you the miller of this mill ? yes quoth he ▪ how long have you lived here ? about three years : come along then sirra , quoth he , to yonder tree , you shall be hanged as a notable traytor ; but the fellow cried ( sir ) i am not the miller but his servant ; the marshall hangd him for his falseness notwithstanding : and when it was told him by some , that he was not the man aymed at , but his servant ; he put them off with this jest ; can he shew himself a better servant , then in being hangd for his master ? had the braving knight had sentence from the divine law , he that thus causelesly shed mans blood , should have had the law of retaliation . what powers and judiciall magistrates may do , is too high for me to determine ; but my conscience according to gods canon , must be the rule of my particular . i do not find craft and cruelty in the catalogue of virtues ; god sealed in rev. 7. of all tribes but only of dan , now ● dans character ( gen. 49. ) is to be a serpent by the high way , an adder by the path , that biteth the horse heel , so that his rider shall fall backward . s t jerom blames theophilus for too much easiness , and layes the increase and expatiation of error to his lenity ; adding , that such persons are never afraid to offend , where 't is but ask and have pardon ; and good men are much discouraged , when patience gives aid to the factions of error , and by not disturbing , encourageth them . i know 't is hard to please parties , and almost impossible to be a good christian in difficult times ; i do as little beleeve god to be in the flaming bush of fierce and disorderly zeal , as in the soft prefaces of flattery . that german prince , who in the quarrels about religion in germany , was tormented so much with the importunities of calvinists and lutherans , each desirous to gain him , that he professed , quid faciam nescio quo me vertam non invenio , tells me the ridg they go upon , who are in high esteem , in ticklish times ; the esaus and jacobs in nations wombs , put the rebeckahs of integrity to grievous straits , and hard throbbs : christ● commands to put out the right eye , and cut off the right hand that offends us , and we would fain please our selves in moderation ; 〈◊〉 would have the younger blessed , and we would fain blesse the elder : holy abraham makes as bold with god as he may in the case of sodom , and i cannot blame him for his prayer for ismaell , that he might live in his sight : they are not sonnes of zyon , that cry down , down with enemies , even to the ground ; that make men offenders for words , that spoile a man and his her●tage , and can never forget and forgive an injury . it shall be my everlasting practice , to be tooth and nail for candor ; where i my self am concerned , no malice i hope can provoke me to revenge , orobdure me against preterition of enmities : but where injuries veirg upon christ , where they encroach upon his seigniory in my soul , i le not displease my lord by concealing what 's an injury to him ; error is a purpresture , which the tenants of the lord of glory ought to present as a grievance ; i must not cut large thongs out of christs leather ; the churches and every christians power , is by and under , not besides or above christs , i finde amongst the ancients two chief practises for est●●ishment of truth and conviction of error : one was to preach and write truth , taking all opportunities to call their auditors and disciples together , and when their own parts were ripest , and their hearers in fittest temper to be wrought upon , then they catechized them , they explicated scripture to them . in many of the fathers we finde homilies for every day almost , especially at some times of the year , as also upon feasts and great solemnities . and as their preachments were frequent ; so were their lives continued sermons ; those pilgrims and strangers here l'ved as having their conversation in heaven , as bringing themselves under subjection , as dis●ntangled by the world ; i ever think moderate and unengaged men competentest judges ; anchorites are likest to give the truest account of divine contemplation ; they who care not to die , are most valiant for the truth , and value not those theeves of fear and flattery , that misguide the most , to their own infamy and other mens seduction . i read in s t jerom , of anthony , hilarion , paul and malchus , who left the world out of zeal to serve christ in a severity of life : and in the church story , there is frequent mention of ignatius , polycarpus , athanasius and others , whose whole lives were spent in circuit of doing good , instructing the ignorant , convincing the obstinate , confirming the wavering , comforting the dejected , reclaiming the exorbitant , and restoring the lapsed christians . not solliciting their own gain , not labouring their own preferments , not jubilating their own praises , not seen in princes courts ; not the parasites of their tables , not partakers of their pleasures , not busie at publike conventions of state , and seducing this and that mans soul , by the tickle of his ear : no , this is the traffick and guise of pieties apollyons , of court sollicitors , jesuited spirits , such as philip the second of spain , called clericos negotiatores , such as marcus antonius columna viceroy of naples , described to have la mente al cielo , le mani al mundo ; l'anima al diavolo , not of church-men , men sacrated to god : the old fathers were in fastings often , in prayings often . much upon the pearch of holy meditation ; these elijahs had left the mantle of earthly care , when they passed to heaven in the whirl of a holy rapture : o hearts set on fire by divine charity ! o hands elevated in zealous oratory ! o eyes fixed on heaven in devout confidence ! o souls in your saviours bosom while in your own breasts ! what seek ye ? for whom are ye pleaders ? if ye ask grace , ye have it ; 't was that which moved you to ask it : if ye seek a kingdom , 't is yours , you have the prelibation in assurance , aud ete long you shall have the possession ; are ye not contented to be happy your selves , but would ye have others also joynt partakers with you in your crown ; o inculpable ambition ! o immitable love ! o grace like the giver of it , free and indeterminable . but if these church-champions saw error come in like a mighty flood , daring with goliah any to encounter it , then they took up the sword of the spirit , and bestir'd themselves with all their might . s t jerom mentions not only athanasius encountring arius , and after him eustathius bishop of antioch , but origen taking celsus to task , and methodius , porphyrius : so s t augustine the pelagians and manichees , s t cyprian the jews and novatians . and if powers menaced rhem as the proconsul did s t cyprian , that he will write the christians rules of obedience in his blood , all they make of it , is , the will of god be done : they had no cursings and anathema's , no bloody execrations , or unchristian imprecations on governours , but holy submissions to that power , before which they had the honour to make their confessions ; christ bore a highher price in ancient times , then a little pelth , or a breath of favour , or a small compass of land amounted to : s t jerom tells of famous apollonius a roman senatour , in the time of the emperour commodus , who being by his servant discovered to be a christian , and asked by the senate whether he were so , in all hast replied , yea , producing a large confession of his faith , which before them all he read ; and by their decree was put to death , according to an old custom among them , that no christian convented before them , ever came off with his life , without deniall of his faith . o glorious conquest of faith over frailty , when never men with more animosity contested for temporall crowns , then these for martyrdom ; never pusillanimy more willing to save life , then these martyrs daring to lose it for christs sake ! o stupendious masteries of nature , when destroying flames were to christians , as jubilees to bondmen , that day of death , beyond this of life ? lord what fair copies have our foul lives and faint deaths ! how farre short ought we to come of martyrs crowns ? who have not in our selves the courage to dare , nor deserve to have from god the honour to die for his cause . o antiquity , our shame , our accuser , how art thou acclamated by the mercuries and orators of ages , for thy piety , charity , zeal , order , there is no blemish in thee , thou art all lovely compared to us ; who envy thy praise , but follow not the pattern . let then the world hang out what trophies it will ; let the grandees and excellentissimo's of it dream with julius coesar , that they are joyning hands with jupiter , and making a league offensive and defensive between their two great monarchies of heaven and earth , the church will glory in nothing but the cross of christ , and in her cross for his sake ; her peace is founded upon the blood of her saviour , and her encrease owns much the bloud of martyrs , as s t jerome elegantly . religion for above a thousand years together was ( next to gods mercy ) supported by praiers and tears , it never leaned on these worldly props of power , 't was never a bond of iniquity or a holy league of disloyalty , holy men never attempted to resist authority , though they had number to make good their opposition ; their faith in god put them upon praier for their princes , though persecutors . we pray ( saith tertullian ) for emperours , that they may have long life , peaceable raigns , orderly courts , valiant armies , faithfull councels , discreet , subjects , and all the world in amity with them : yea , so true were christians to heathen governours , that they served them faithfully both in armies and councels ; eusebius tels us of marinus a christian in great command in the roman army , and of astyrius a christian , who was a romane senator , so much meditated they on that scripture , there is no power but of god , and he that resists the power resists the ordinance of god , and he that resists shall receive to himself damnation . this o princes and rulers was the honour of ancient christianity , that it subjects to every ordinance of man for the lords sake , that is , if it cannot lift up the hand to assert , it will lay down the neck to suffer ; if it say not go up and prosper ( as it cannot to a bad cause , because it dare not disobey god in calling evil good , ) yet it will pray that god would overrule mens designs and out of them modell his own glory , for as tertul. said well long ago , god forbid , those should contrive their advancement by force whose glory it ought to be to suffer , and thence to have the testimony of their fidelity ; for christians ought not to obey powers as those heretiques called sataniani did the devil , ne noceant , but out of conscience , because power is of god , and conscience is gods deputy to keep man from misrule . thus much briefly for the piety of elder times in order to god , now somewhat of their charity in order to themselves and others . first , elder christians abounded in love one to another , our lord gave the rule , joh. 13. 35. by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye love one another ; time was when it passed proverbially , ecce quam diligunt christiani ; when s t cyprian was led to martyrdom , the whole people ran with him crying , let us die together with the holy bishop ; and when christians were sick , though of diseases infectious , yet christians would go to them and tend them , though they died with them : a christian must not be waspish , the nettle of humour , that harms every one that toucheth it is a weed in christs garden , but all love , even to enemies for his sake , who loved us when enemies ; so much and no more know and beleeve we of god as we love him for his own , and our neighbour for his sake ; let men talk as they will , yet if they have a spirit of opposition and cannot walk peaceably with their brother , yea , and in a great measure with those without , i shall not think their condition ever the better : if their principle be to be singular and unsociable , vae soli , for as the father hath it , cum deo manere non possunt qui esse in ecclesia dei unanimes noluerunt , ardeant licet flammis , & ignibus traditi vel objecti bestiis , animas suas ponunt , non erat illa fidei corona , sed poena perfidiae , nec religiosae virtutis exitus gloriosus , sed desperationis interitus , occidi talis potest , coronari non potest . there is nothing more reproachful to man then disunion ; we are all natures progeny , and we should not strive to the distemper of the womb that nourisheth us to production ; the sociable soul that god hath infused into us , seems our director , that we should agree to serve our creator , yea and one another in all reasonable offices of civility ; we see the harmonij in nature , and that the drift of every thing is to accomodate the end of god , in the inferiority and superiority of things , there is no mutinies amongst the creatures sensitive and vegetative , the supream lawgiver hath implanted his soveraign will on the instinct of every creature , and it acts as and no otherwise then according to that limitation and designment ; only rationall being are frayers and breakers of the peace : 't was an ill spirit in a brother to imbrew ( even in the beginning of time and penury of men ) his hands in his brothers bloud , yet cain did this , but he had a mark of vengeance set upon him for it : and 't was fit he should be branded for a butcher who had no provocation but piety , no person but a brother to act his murtherous villany upon : how much more divine was the soul of abraham who would have no contention with lot , for , quoth he , we are brethren ; who put himself upon a holy colluctation with god for sinful sodom , and would not be denied till mercy had put importunity to blush . s t bernard ep. 6. writes to bruno to deal with certain monks who had deserted their order , and he prescribes the method , flectere oportet precibus , ratione convincere , & columbinam eorum simplicitatem prudentiâ instruere serpentinâ , ne putent obedientiam inobedienti adhaerere , &c. yet alas ! we are at but a word and a blow , we make men offendors for words , for a trifle , a misplaced phrase , a mistaken sence , a petulant carriage , cursing one another as jews and samaritans did , morning and evening in their orisons . the judicious s t edw. sandys notes , that do the psaltsgrave and lantgrave whatever they could by inhibiting the lutherans to rail against the calvinists , yet would they not be restrained but professed openly , that they would sooner return to the papacy then admit sacramentary and predestinary pestilence , meaning the calvinist . so in the conference of mompelgart when frederick earl of wertonburg exhorted nis divines to acknowledge beza and his company for brethren , and ro declare it by giving them their hand , they refused it utterly , saying , they would pray to god to open their eyes , and would do them any office of humanity and charity , but they would not give them the right hand of brotherhood , because they were proved to be guilty errorum teterrin●orum , that was the doctrine of election and reprobation : a blemish which ancient christianity knew not , nay , which the protestant religion is now much reproached for , i wish we were not so ambitious to be more wise and learned in arts of reviling then our forefathers were , and if there must be a triall of wits , would to god the subject and matter of it may be somewhat else then the life and honour of peace and christian charity : for in most church-contentions it hath fallen out , that one errour opposed hath brought up as great an one even from the opposition : i know not what many think of contention and brawls , but s t paul cals it a fruit of the flesh , and makes it exclusive of heaven , and s t john saies , he that loves not his brother whom he hath seen , cannot love god whom he hath not seen . in pure times christians reckoned their love to christ by their love to his members , whom they relieved , as that excellent bishop chrysanthius did , out of his own estate , and by their sound knowledge and skill in the things of god , accompanied with justice , modesty , patience under the hardest trials , and advancing his glory , as they had opportunity to do it , they evidenced their love to god , and to their brethren for his sake ; this was the aemulation those holy men had to glorifie god by holy lives , that those that saw them might be ashamed of their contradiction and persecution of them ; primitive bishops were simple-hearted , not crafty and insighted in worldly policies , but abounding in the work of the lord , rich in faith and scripture-knowledge , ready to do good , and to suffer evil for so doing ; alas , alas , it is not grace but perverse nature that byasses men to varnish over their rotten posts with the gold and azure of the sanctuary ; holinesse loves not the periodiques , how intentions and anon remissions of zeal ; it loves not salutations of markets , not the highest seats at feasts , not the title of rabbi , not the shouts of popular madnesse : 't is delighted in converse with and likenesse to god ; 't is counting its glory from its stripes above measure , its imprisonments , its labours , its watchings , its fastings , and is cleared up to be what it is by its purenesse , knowledge , long-suffering , kindenesse , by the holy ghost , and by love unfeigned , 2 cor. 6. 5 , 6. how do the primitive times upbraid us , who yet boast that christ is more set up now then ever , while never any age gave greater testimony to self-admiration then this doth ! the apostolike counsell was , let every one prefer another before himself , now christians think of nothing but their own advantage ; nemo eorum coelum putat , nemo jusjurandum servat , nemo jovem pluris facit , sed omnes apertis oculos bona sua computant . when cardinal caraffa a man of a strict life and humble diet , comes to be pope , then no dyet would serve his turn but that befitted a prince , no ordinary solemnity at his coronation , but an unusuall pomp must be expressed , then his way is in all actions , to keep his degree with magnificense , and to appear stately and sumptuou● , then the humble priests words are ▪ that he was above all princes , that he would not have any prince his companion , but all subjects under his feet , — o prelate oblivious of the masters mandate , it shall not be so amougst you ; o mortall , prodigiously elated , and hellishly intumour'd by worldly ambition to a contempt of those whom thou oughtest to honour ? o antichristian monster , that thus confrontest thy lord , whose vicar thou pretendest to be , but yet wilt be loftier then was he , who took bread and fish not only before but also after his resurrection , joh. 21. 13 , 14 and who washed his disciples seet , when thou countest princes worthy only to be thy footstool , whom god hath elected to power and place inferiour only to himself ! how unfit art thon to rule the church of christ who knowest not the mean of self-government ? how unlike is thy tongue to be infallible which hath deceived thee in this over-valuation of thy self ! but thanks be to god though paul the 4 th be such a spirit , yet all popes affected not that vanity : 't is said of adrian the 6 th , that he was never so taken with the popedom but he preferred a private life above it . gregory the great would not be called vniversall bishop , cel●stine was loth to come from his wildernesse , and when he was forced to rome , was thought , for his humility , unfit to stay there , and therefore retired again to his solitude ; marcellus the second would not change his name l●st the world should conclude honours had changed him ; groperus coloniensis refused the cardinals cap , and would not , from the favor of paul the 4 th , receive either the title or ornaments : when i see men in holy orders greedy after prefermeuts , ravelling out their lives in progging after great friends and fortunes , as if godlinesse were a bustrophe , a course of going forward and backward , to the right and left hand , for advantage sake : i think of that speech of the lord bardolf to hubert archbishop of canterbury made chancellor to k. john : sir , quoth he , if you would well consider the dignity and honour of your calling , you would not yeeld to suffer this yoak of bondage to be laid on your shoulders , and for my part it shall be ever my judgment to shun seekers of preferment of men least worthy for , and least fitted to them : fides integra non manet , ubi magnitudo quaestuum spectatur . in the time of king rufus there was an abbots place void , and two monks of the covent went to the court , resolving to bid largely for it ; the king perceiving their covetise , looked about his privy-chamber , and there espied a private monk that came to bear the other two company , whom eyeing he guessed a more sober and pious man ; the king calling him asked him , what he would give to be made abbot of the abby : nothing sir , quoth he , for i entred into this profession of meer zeal , to the end that i might more quietly serve god in purity and holinesse of conversation ; saist thou so , replied the king , then thou art he that art worthy to govern the house : honest men cannot with marcus arethusius do the least evil to gain advantage , nay , to save life dare not flatter as did teridates , when he came to nero as to his god , and worshiped him as he did the sun , for a petty crown under him ; no , they are contented to be in their stations , and to walk before god in the light of their own candle , to keep within the warrantable circle of their vocation , and if they see dangerous honours pursue them , they fly it , and wish in davids words , that they had the wings of a dove that they might fly away and be at rest ; thus did holy moses disable himself being willing to be excused from rule , exod. 3. 11. god will send moses , and moses cries , lord who am i that i should go to pharaoh , and bring forth the children of israel out of egypt ? god tels him , he will be with him , it matters not much how weak the instrument be which god employs on his embassies , since power goes along to perfect weaknesse ; moses demurs yet , nature will have a miracle ere it resigns its doubtings ; whom shall i say hath sent me ? what is thy name ? v. 14. god gives answer , that he by whom pharaoh is , and is king of egypt sends thee , i am that i am sends thee : o but my lord , what if the egyptians will not beleeve me upon my bare word ? cap. 4. v. 1. god tels him he shall go provided , the rod in his hand shall become miraculous , and his call to that office appear divine from the signs that god gives of his extraordinary power , his rod turns into a serpent , and returns into a rod again , v. 3. his hand put into his bosome whole becomes leprous , and put into his bosome again returns perfect and sound flesh , v. 6. & 7. and if these two miraculous indigitations of gods powre prevail not , then a third is appointed for moses to convince them by ; take of the water of the river , and pour it upon the dry land , and it shall become bloud upon the dry land , v. 9 , one wonld think now moses is at a non-plus , modesty ought not to diffide it self where god by miracle affists , and by election witnesseth sufficiency , but nothing will satisfie moses but self-disablement , o lord , cries he , i am not eloquent , neither heretofore nor since thou hast spoken to thy servant , but i am slow of speech and of a slow tongue , v. 10. and though god convince him , that all utterance and enablement is from him , and promiseth him his might shall accompany him , yet moses not out of restive renitency but ingenious humility , abaseth himself , o my lord ( saith he ) send i pray thee by the hand of him thou wilt send , v. 13. 't is time for moses to desist reasoning with majesty , when the anger of god began to be kindled against him , as it was , v. 14. so the prophet jeremy when god tels him he had appointed him a prophet unto the nations , jer. 1. 4. replies v. 6. ah lord god , behold i cannot speak , for i am a childe : as if god knew not what he did in choosing him his messenger : but god soon silenceth that modesty , ver . 8. be not ( saith he ) afraid of their faces , for i am with thee : o the force of worth in an ingenious soul , which inclines to depreciate rather then extoll it self , moses was therefore fit for power before it sought him not he it , and jeremy qualified to serve on gods errand because he entred on it with humility . and truly it hath been noted that those who have been least desirous and gaping after trusts , but rather avoided them as matters of trouble , have proved best executors and feoffes of trust , and with clearest conscience discharged them . when s t athanasius was to be made a bishop , sozomen tels us , he hid himself ; and when alexander the then dying bishop of alexandria called out for him , as his successor designed by god , athanasius could not be found till by a speciall providence he was discovered : so chrysanthius the novatian bishop in constantinople was taken from the court , where in his younger years he had been an officer , and constrained to be a bishop , yea , and that in his old age , after he had been lieutenant in italy , and deputy in brittain for theodosius the emperour , and though he fled to avoid the call of sisinius who nominated him his successor , yet the people never gave over search of him till they compelled him to take his charge , and he well deserved it , for he was a man famous above most both for prudenec and humility . i know the bravest spirits have been engaged in affairs of government , 't is fit starres of the first magnitude should enamell the firmament of rule , and lead the lesser lights their march of service ; and plain it is , that to be a moses to israel , and a joseph to egypt , to have every sheaf bow to our sheaf , carries much of cogency in it : most listen to so pleasing a temptation as honour and profit , few with joseph turn their ears from the sweet musick of advantage ; this helen inebriates great , wise , valiant men , with the wine of her intoxication . but yet there have been those , who with the olive , figg-tree and vine , valued their contented meanness above greatness , to which is ever entailed envy and trouble : and therefore a wise man concludes , bono viro ad conscientiam satis est non affectasse publicam curam . it is ( i confess ) somewhat questionable , how men extraordinarily qualified , and duly called to publike trusts , can in duty to god and men quit them to avoid their own trouble , since all men owe themselves to providence , and should not , aut deo , aut patriae , aut patri patriae deesse ; but rather with codrus , offer themselves the price of their freedom . but it is without all doubt , that he who doth take rule , though he may be good to others , will hardly bring good to himself , unless he be an audax , in his element , when out-facing troubles : crowns and robes of state have their burthens and terrors , and those who accept them are ill appaid , if they have not subsistance and reverence by them . 't was a wise speech of marius , to those that envy great men their honor ; let them envy them their burthens . men in power and place must expect people murmuring against and often complotting the subversion of them ; and they who have principles of rule in their mindes , are disturbed by mens envy , no more then mountains reel at the casting of moles , or rocks melt away by the dashing of waves against them . and if god the most soveraign and diffusive good , be invaded by the deicidiall sinnes of men , and threatned as much of destructive insolence , as mortall worms can marshall out against him ; men , like themselves , how worthy , how noble soever , must not go scotfree . the consideration of which , puts those that accept rule , upon courses of self-preservation , and therein of generall peace , little perhaps to the genius of their mindes , were they in a private sphear , and makes them accounted by some rather principes necessarii quam boui ; and dreaded as was marius , of whom tully said , consulem habuimus tam severum , tamque censorium , ut in ejus magistratu , nemo pranderit , nemo coenaverit , nemo dormierit . since then the end of every government is peace and order , piety and property , the promoters of these are to be honoured , and the impugners of them severely dealt with , not only in the state but in the church ; for heresie , error and scism , are the forlorn hope to civil broyls and disturbances . and though god in mercy bring the grapes of piety from the thorns of presumption , and make the figgs of courage sprout out of the thistles of contradiction , yet the naturall child of church busle , is irreligion and barbarism , or at best but superstition ; so true is that of s t augustiue , nunquam . faelix nunquam ferax dei ecclesia fuit , vel in diluvio noachi , vel in dispersione abrahamitarum , vel in egyptiaco exilio , vel in persequtione jezabelis , vel sub jugo hieroboamitico , vel sub tyrannide manasses , in sola davidica familia remansit ecclesia christi . so that father . were this beleeved , we should have fewer differences in the church then we have , less smiting of the tongue and pen , then is in use ( most unhappily ) amongst us . as children learn gaming by pinns and farthings , and after by habituating themselves to play , stake pounds and hundreds , mannors and lands ; so men begin to carp at their brethren who vary but in expressions , and at last differ toto coelo from them , and ( as much as in them lies ) rend them from the body of christ : if there be but the least dissent , presently he is to them as a hea-and a publican . alas , the ancients were more zealous but less touchy then we ; they made men not offenders for thoughts , and opinions in lesser matters ; we , we are the generation of those enthusiasts that claim kin with the knowledg of the almighty , who would fain be thought to set an end to darkness , and to search out all perfection ; the hearts of men pass us not , but we dive into them ; such a man is a malignant in his heart , secretly disaffected to us , hath a pope in his belly : these uncharitable pryings into men , have been and yet are frequent amongst us ; from these brambles , fire hath come out and devoured the cedars of lebanon , as the phrase ls , judg. 19. 15. and to what end ( i pray ) this curiosity ? not to amend them , if evil , by good counsel , earnest prayer , civil carriage towards them , but to take the advantage to triumph over , and to endeavour the ruin of them : the saints of god should be doves , ( that creature the father saith , is harmless , neither hath gall , nor does injury with its bill , ) and not as was the assyrian , rodds of gods wrath ; or as those in the psalm , swords in gods right hand ; or if such , yet very warily and upon sound warrant such ; so sayes a man of breadth amongst us ; gods people must be wary whom they curse , and take heed lest trifles cause their curse , and not impenitent and implacable enmity against christ : because no man knowes the mind of god , every one must use holy moderation in censure ; but if some had not contradicted in their practise such good doctrine , venting not hilastique but sarcastique divinity from their pulpits , we had not seen such confusion in the church , nor heard such different notes amongst church-men , as we have . what had been amiss had wisely been amended , and those in the ministry who had been insufficient or immoral , admonished or rejected w th some reasonable allowance to their families ; 't is hard measure , that the utmost farthing of a families felicity , should be paid for the spot of the male of the flock . in primitive times , all those who professed christianity held communion together as one church , notwithstanding difference of judgment in lesser things , and much corruption in conversation . so say the the learned ministers of london , in their vindication of presbyteriall government , p. 139. what fronton a heathen said to nerva , that say i in the case of liberty , 't is an ill government which gives no liberty , but much worse which gives all liberty ; man must not binde or loose where god hath not : 't was holy nazienzens observation long ago , that antichrist would gather strength by the dissentions of christians , and it is a thing i have ( ever since these differences in our church ) feared that the violence of parties would much endanger the surprise of our religion , because of the mountain of zyon which is desolate , the foxes walk upon it , lam. 5. 18. in the netherlands difference , all things accounted more to parties then peace ; the papists cruelty and the reformists violence , ended in a petulancy destructive to the church , for all that was the churches , was swallowed up between them ; granuell bishop of arras and the cardinal of lorrain , promoted persecution of the reformists , pretending the cause to be , zeal for god , and advancement of his religion , but the truth was , they aymed to be enriched by the spoyl of those that were condemned of heresie . on the other part , those of the religion , begin their outrages with churches , break down the utensils of service in them , carry away with them what was in them moveable , frighten the religious men from their houses and cloysters ; leave no church in cities fit for devotion , rifle libraries and burn books . i will not say as s t bernard of old , and luther from him , now domini sed daemonis haec pascua , hi pastores . but this i will pray as good jacob did , into such secrets let not my soul enter , mine honour be not thou joyned to such assemblies ; for they who dare make the things of god their prey , will make nothing of devouring the lives , liberties and formtunes of their brethren . oh the divisions of levi amongst us , w ch have not only caused great thoughts of heart , but also broken out into bigge words ; like the horses in s t johns vision , rev. 9. out of whose mouthes have come forth , fire , and smoak , and brimston , and from whose pens , bitter lines both of defiante , and unkind crimination each of other . he that reads but the books of their furious encounters , shall satisfie himself , that ephraein hath been against manasses , and manasses against ephraim ; and i pray god that of salvian be not applicable to us all , quid prodesse nobis prarogativa illa religiosi nominis potest , quod nos catholicos dicimus , quod fideles esse jactamus , quod gothos & vandalos haeretici nominis exprebatione despicimus , cum ipsi haeretica pravitate vivamus ? i wish that they who talk so much of heresie , making every dissent an error , would consider that mortals intellects differ as do their faces , and that the beauty of god is more or less in every creature and its capacity , that in matters of this moment 't is not safe to be ●ash , but to consider the spirits , whether they be of god or no , and them to try by that tryall which the law appoints tryall of heresie , the scriptures and the four first generall counsels accordant with scripture . for my part i will not with philastrius , pronounce any man hereticall for varying from me in opinion no more then any man dumb whose language i hear not , nor when i hear understand ; but rather pray , that god by his grace will so direct me , that i practise what i know , and endeavour to know what may be usefull to my self and others : did this spirit possess many , they would have more comfort from the small violits of sincerity , then the great garnishes of religions tulips , which offer much content to the sense , but less answer the 〈◊〉 noble part of a christian : then would our light rise out of obscurity , and our darkness break forth into the brightness of noon day ; then would one thought of charity chase a thousand , and a thousand put ten thousand misprisions to flight ; then would our spiritual oxen be strong to iahour , then would the church be at unity within it self ; no axe or hammer of passion be heard in her , but the oyl of compassion distill from her , to heal the wounds and close the breaches of her children . but o lord who shall live when thou dost this ? by whom shall jacob arise , for he is small ? tell us , we beseech thee , how the bones which thou hast broken shall rejoyce , that we may pray for the churches jubilee , and fast to entertain so blessed a feast as would be that epiphane ; for as pomponius laetus well writes , christianos omnes sub un● signo crucis militare , nostram religionem unicam esse rempublicam , unicam ipsius dei urbem cujus nos cives sumus , & bellum inter nos esse non posse , nisi civile but alas , the church christian hath long been in her wasting fits , the watchmen have smitten her ; novelties , words and projects have committed ▪ wast , and we may well bring a devastavit against them . against them . s t jerom of old complained , nunc sub religionis titulo exercentur injusta compendia , & honor nominis christiani fraudem , magis facit quam patitur , intus nero , foris cato , totus ambiguus ; the wits of rome were smart , when they added , to the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of zeno , the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of heraclius , the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of constance ; the interim of charls the fift , as of no better import to the church then those imperiall constitutious : and with leave of god and wise men , i think , i may add reformation , as sometimes it hath been managed , for no less a damager to the state ecclesiasiasticall , then any open violence whatsoever . let the times of h. 8. be considered , what vast possessions lost the church , by his opposition to the pope , and the effects of it ? and in ed. 6 th his raign , more went from the church ; yea there is who tells us , that one of the visitirs of oxford in ed. 6. time , did so cleerly purge the vniversity library of all monuments of superstition , that he left not one book init of all those goodly manuscripts , with which by the manificence of several benefactors , that place was amply furnished . so true is that of trully , no injustice so gross , as that which they do who will be accounted good , that they may by that means be more evil . while i forget not paulus cremensis a legat sent hither from pope honorius the second , to redress the vices of the clergy , and chiefly their lechery , whenas he himself next day after he had bitterly inveighed against them , was found abed with a common strumpet , i shall fear there may b● errors in the greatest pretenders , and look upon remedies as possible to exceed diseases in their ill consequence . for in publike outrages , not only constantinus pontius confessor to charls the fift ; in his retyred life a brave and holy man , is commanded to prison immediatly upon his lords death , and that upon suspition of heresie , but when dead , his statue is demolished and disfigured by k. philip of spains mandate . rutilius the roman . consul , destroys the temple of lucina , because his daughter while she was there worshipping brings forth a dead child ; numa must be without a monument of his piety , and lucina without a temple for her worship ; but is was noted an ill time in rome , when status cujusque dei in senatus aestimatione pendebat . all men naturally love themselves , and few scruple any thing that answers their ends ; satan is an industrious droll , cogging us into designs of evil , upon pretences fair but not altogether warrantable . consuetudinis est saecularium hominum , ut cum honorem adipisci desiderant , caeteros fibi prius per amorem acquirunt , cum vero adepti fuerint , elati potestate eos ipsos , per timorem sibi postmodum , subjiciunt quibus prius privati , non terrorem sed amorem exhibuerant . if timotheus aelurus have desire to be bishop of alexandria , and proterius stood in his way , he will so order the matter , that before the see be void , the monks shall each of them be visited in the night , by one in grave habit and of angelique speech , calling them by their respective names , and in the name and by the spirit of god ( as is pretended ) admonishing them to decline adhaesion to proterius , and to joyn themselves to timotheus . henry the eight cleared the point , that power would command any thing . even papists , such were the parliament , for their ease to avoid citations and charges from rome , divest the pope of his headship to place it on their prince . revenge is a great spur to bad actions , as well as is ambition . there is a notable vilany fathered on the franciscans at orleance , discovered in anno 1534. after this manner : the chief judg of orleance his wife dying , requested of her husband , that she might be buried in the church belonging to the franciscans ; this was done , and the franciscans presented by the praetor the deceaseds husband with six pistols ( a bribe farre beneath their avarice ) but they resolved to have a better gratification from a fall of wood of the praetors , out of which they desired some trees , which he denied them ; that defeat so inflamed the franciscans , that they plotted to bruit it abroad , that his wife was damned for ever : to carry on this villany undiscern'd , they suborn a young man to act his part so notoriously , that by hideous noyses , at time of publike devotions , he should cause disturbance , and be prologue to the tragedy ; a doctor of that order and an exorcist , whose plot this was , ( for he daily used these cheats ) so designed the scene , that no answer was to be made by the young man ( if any question were asked of him ) but only by signs , which the exorcist only understood having preappointed them ; and so could report to the auditory : when the young man had amused the people with dismall and ununderstood notes , the exorcist boldly asked him , whether he were a spirit or not ? if a spirit , whose spirit ? relating the names of all such as had been buried there : and when he named the praetors wife , the young man gave sign that he was the spirit of that lady : then the exorcist asked , if she were damned or no , and for what offence ? whether for covetousness , or lust , or pride , or for want of practicall charity , or for the upstart heresie of lutheranism ? and what he meant by those clamours and unquietnesses ? whether the body there buried should be digged up and carried elsewhere or not ? to all which he by signs answered affirmatively , which they prayed the congregation there present to take knowledg of : yet upon the praetors complaint to the french king and parliament of paris , and commission issued forth to report the truth hereof , the wickedness of this contrivance came to light , and the parties actors in it were severely sentenced according to their deserts . i finde another story of the dominicans as vild as this , acted at bern in switzerland : there being a great heat between them and the franciscans , about the virgin marys being conceived in original sinne ; one affirmiug , and the other denying it ; the dominicans , to determine the controversie , purposed to evidence the truth of their opinion by miracle : four of the prime of their order were privy to the contrivance , one of which was subprior , a magician , who called up an evil spirit to assist them in the more effectuall conduct of this undertaking : the spirit appeared to them in the shape of a moor , and promised his assistance , provided they gave him an instrument signed with their own hands and names written in their own bloods , in testimony of their compact with him ; which done , the evil spirit appeared an assertor of the dominicans doctrine , threatning purgatory to their opponents , and overthrow to the city , unless they cast out the franciscans thence ; much more of like trumpery there was discovered , to the shame of the dominicans that were privy to it : and therefore 't is good to search the spirits , whether they be of god or no. there is no action so vild but hath a fair mask on it . there was a famous cheat plotted by romish priests in staffordshire , much of kin to this , and discovered by the grave bishop of durham , and all to make way for the popish doctrine of miracles . 't is satans artifice to steal his surprise in at some port of pleasure or profit ; the statues of kings , the miters of popes , and the arms of states , sometimes hang out at common houses , and those often of no good report ; 〈◊〉 i have seen the holy lamb , sign to a place of tipling . good men are often deluded by their own presumption , and lead into a fairer belief of themselves then they deserve : we are all in love with our own apes , and we often hug them , till we smother reason the most beauteous child of nature ; yea there are no greater follies acted by any , then those that do vow and declare most against them . peter was a bold assertor of his fidelity ; though all forsake thee , yet will not i , i le die with thee , lord jesus ; matth. 26. 35. yet he denied and forswore him for fear . in the troubles of the netherlands , the confederates protested before god and the world , nihil omnino velle , hoc foedere nostro moliri quod vel ad contemptum dei , vel ad diminutionem authoritatis & dignita tis regiae statuumve suorum tendere posfit : but it fell out otherwise , for when they had power , reason of state , and necessity of self-preservation , made them do what they ( as they published ) at first did not intend . as in growth of bodies there are degrees , so in mischiefs there are the tender plants of blushing , before the full years of sturdiness , uemo repente fit turpissimus : 't was a good prayer of david , who knows how oft he offends , keep me from presumptuous sinnes : man is never neerer miscarriage then when he least fears it , nor is the heart ever more treacherous , then when it sollicits with greatest earnestness , to lend an ear to the delusion of a sycophant , or hearken to the propensions of our nature to accommodate our ends . what plots did gardiner and the lords of h. 8. council lay for cranmer ? wricthsly and others for q. katherine parr ? yea and tottis a priest , to prove that the pater noster might be said to saints , made a blasphemous exposition thereof , contrary to the sense of christ jesus . katherine mary dutchess of mompensier , sister of the deceased duke of guise , was so horribly transported with malice against the protestant party , and had so great a desire of revenge upon the king of france , that notwithstanding her nobler endowments , she dishonoured her self with that jesuited varlet clement ( his murtherer ) the more to encourage him in the accomplishment of his villany , and to give him assurance of her acceptance of that treasonable assassination . opinions and parties are humble at first , but when they are entred they like ill humours in the body , steal away the nutriment , and force judgement into some little angle and petty principality , whereas it ought to rule the whole continent , and command in chief ; opinion does by reason , as empericks by people , fits with tricks quick and grosse , to please all seasons and companies , sometimes it curdles reason and makes it shrivle up into uncomely narrownesses , another time like a thriftlesse housekeeper , it opens doors for all comers ; and as that friar refused none an alms that asked for the virgin maries sake , so if holinesse to the lord be upon the surface of it , the cry is , come in thou blessed of the lord. men are ( pardon the phrase ) jaels in this , and these sisera's they court into their hearts , offering them not the cold comforts of hammers and nayls of dispatch , nor the pulse of slender welcome , but the royall fare of their fancy , yea , they dance about the may-poles of their late acquaintence and guests , as david did before gods ark with all their might ; but 't is pity they should want michels to scoff at them , who are so taken with novelties , and so pleased with nothings ; lord what mushromes and cocks combs are cooked to the gust● of the curious pallated world ? and how greedy are men not only to devour a well-sauced poyson , but to applaud the cook that tempers that circoean cup of their inchantment ? how many hopefull and virtuously disposed mindes may observing men view deflowred , whose parts ( as moses's rod ) have become serpents , not to win peevish natures to truth , but to further craft and harmful subtlety , which never return'd again into their native purity , whose eloquent tongue like the beauties of the old world have seduced well-inclined and easie christians , to follow them into the deluge of errors , and to scoff at the ark of truth , the church , as a mentitious sigment ; he was a wise man in his time who said , pruritus disputandi scabies ecclesiae , opinions and disputations have begat one another to the end of the chapter of church-peace , so that religion is wholly drowned in opinion ; men are grown monsters like that in praepontis , which had a great head but shriveled members ; ancient , sober , practical piety is almost lost , and men come to such an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of speculation , that they are perswaded to be too wise for instructors , too holy to observe scripture-rules , too contentious to be endured almost in civil societies : hollerius his italian hath spawned such scorpion'd brains , that 't is daugerous to converse with them lest we be infected by them ; so that as pomponius laesus said of the christian quarrels , that may we say of active spirits amongst us , viri sacrilegi mo●tuos quiescentes turbant , templis minime parcunt ●avidi sanguinis civilis & praedae , mali daemones sic implicuere nostras mentes ; ●ut relictis veris hostibus , quos longa pace frui permittimus , in nos nostrorumque membra armatas & sang●inolentas convertamus manus . how careful were ancient christians to avoid all things that tended to offence ? what tendernesse expresseth the holy apostle , when he professed , he would rather never eat then offend his weak brother ? and the glorious saints of pristine piety and courage , when they denied themselves to gratifie the consciencious scruples of weak christians ! when they with tears bemoaned the inadvertency of some to give , and the peevishnesse of others to take offence ? optatus was much troubled that the church should be disturbed by the orthodox licet , and the donatists non licet ; and tertullian did not approve that christians should be called either by the name of albinians , or nigrians , or cassians , but that which is their proper name , christians . 't is satans project to exartuate religion by new names and new factions amongst her professors , and to weaken the power of godlinesse by introducing argumentation and debate , the pleasure of wits , and the pensioner of carnal policy : that as ingenious florists , to pick the purses of witty persons , delighted with their art , have so heightned flowers by transplantations , preparations of mold , adumbrations of them at unbenign seasons of the year , by cutting their roots , and sundry such , not uncommendable feats of their skill , that out of one single root of a lilly hath come forth 122 blowings , and amongst roses , gilly-flowers , and pionies , incredible varieties ; so out of the glorious and pure doctrines of faith , which the apostles and their followers comprised in repent and believe , there is put forth such an ocean of points of religion , and all of them pressed on the people to be believed , that it is hard to finde truth in the crowd of contests about her , and easie to mistake as mary did the gardiner , for christ , error for truth , both pretending their jus divinum's their authoritative confidences , as their just titles to mens beliefs , and blaming men as restive and sottish if they resigne not themselves to a sensless and universal credulity . in the mean time things of greater concernment are neglected , and the things god slubbered over , and made to run counter one to another ; disuse of church-government hath made every man a micah , an appointer to himself of whatsoever likes him best , and a neglecter of those services that the christian church thorow out the world imbraced ; there are many that make preaching like the lean kine in pharaoh's dream , to eat up all other church-ordinances , though never so beauteous and well-favoured ; publick prayers , and publick confessions of faith , even that which our lord jesus taught us in the gospel , as the form of prayer of his own dictation , hardly passes current ; no nor is that creed which bears the name of the apostles creed , ( which this church hath ever received , and her martyrs in queen mary's days , by name bishop farrar , hooper , the bishops of worcester and glocester , taylor , philpot , bradford , cromt , rogers , saunders , lawrence , coverdale , owned , as that they believed generally and particularly , censuring those to erre from the truth who do otherwise ; and judicious calvin says , was the form of confession which all christians had in common amongst them , as writ from the mouths of the apostles , or faithfully collected out of their writings . ) this creed , i say , many think unfit to be rehearsed in congregations , and some are suspected to villifie it ; yea the sacraments of christ are almost obsoleted amongst us , in some parishes neither sacrament , in others but one , and if that , so restrained to particular persons , that there seems to be a tacite reproach laid on those who are not of the number of communicants , who therefore become enemies to ministers and their messages , because they are in a kinde cut off from the congregation . i confess it is fit that holy things should be given to holy men , and it were to be wished , all the congregation were holy ; but if perfection be reserved for hereafter , ministers must bear with the imperfections of their people , as well as people with the over-rigidness of their ministers . if people be not scandalous , the church never denied them the benefit of sacraments ; and if ministers be not over-scrupulous , they will not begrudg men their saviours allowance . in my opinion it seems but reasonable , that people should give a sober & free account of their faith to their lawfull pastor , in a loving and unimperious way desiring it of them ; but then churchmen should be advised what is competent knowledge in a christian , and propose such questions to them , as argue not a design rather to blunder them , then satisfie themselves of their understanding . ministers are fathers , and must bear with the infirmities of their flocks , they must not be brambles , rending and tearing the people committed to their charge , but fig-trees , vines , and olive-trees , yeelding them fatness , sweetness , and fruitfulness . to such as these , i am perswaded no sober christian dare deny an account of his faith ; for if the apostles charge be , to be always ready to give answer to every man that askoth you a reason of the hope that is in you , with meekness and fear , then much more to the embassadors of christ , his ministers : his ministers , i say , by church mission , and canonique authority ; not presumers , who come unsent ; for , as the civilians well observe , non sunt successores in officio qui ad officium accedunt alio modo quam institutum est , to such ministers as are truly called , no man ought to deny a declaration of his faith , as competently he is able . and with such discoveries i think ministers ought to rest satisfied , and the ignorance of their parishioners to pity , pray for , and by their best instruction to amend . and those ministers whom a parishioners sober account and inoffensive conversation will not convince to admit as worthy to communicate , may be feared to have somewhat more in their design , then the glory of god , and the good of souls ; and if they will not give testimony of their candor while they live , their death-beds will tell tales to the world , little to their credit or comfort . learned d r reynolds reports , that luther when he lay upon his death-bed acknowledged to melancthon , in negotio coenae nimium esse factum , yet , saith the learned ( sir simon d'ewes ) taking counsel rather of men theu gods word , for fear lest if he retracted them , the people would suspect the rest , and so return to popery , he accounted it best to declare his judgement in private . thus he . well fare the ancient fathers , who valued truth above credit , yea conscience above life . ruffinus tells us , that s t clement in his apostolique epistle , counsels all his fellow christians , rather to forsake him , then to part with the peace of the church , and to incur the danger of division . and s t aug. tells us , that in his time by the turbulencies of some in the church , many orthodox and excellent bishops and presbyters were cast out of the church , and separated from their charges , yet they bore the disgrace and persecution patiently , never making schism or starting up heresie to annoy christianity therby . docebunt homines quam vero affectu & quanta sinceritate charitatis deo serviendum sit , hos coronat in occulto pater , in secreto videns . rarum hoc videtur genus , sed tamen exempla non desunt , immo plura sunt quam credi potest . these mens demeanours ( quoth he ) teach the world , what the power of grace and sincerity is in the soul , and how god is to be waited upon even while he hides his face from the seed of jacob. but though these ( quoth the father ) be rare examples of self-deniall , yet such presidents there are , and those more then can be almost believed . for , as the same father proceeds , true religion is neither to be found in the confusions of pagans , nor in the purgings of hereticks , nor in the feebleness of schismaticks , nor in the blindness of jews , but amongst those who are orthodox and catholick christians . and therefore the differences in this church , upon these small grounds that appear to us , were in no sort worth owning ( by sober men ) especially to the degrees they are ascended to , but rather are to be deplored with tears of blood ; for those that have true christian charity , would sooner part with much of their own interest , as did the true mother , 1 king. 3. 27. then have the church divided : let astrologers , not knowing the true cause of the coelestiall motions , to salve the appearances , tell us of eccentriques and epicicles ; and philosophers , when they are at a stand , pray aid from their occulta qualitas ; and lawyers , when they know not well how to give things a bottom , tell us they are in abaiance : and some late divines fill our heads with dreams of the churches outward pomp here , that the saints must be the great men of the world , and must trample down every thing of order and antiquity : let them tell us of new heavens and new earths , whereinto are received such as the old never willingly bore ( for lucifer was cast from heaven for pride , and corah and his company were swallowed up by the earth , for mutiny against magistracy , ) and let them bespeak mansions in that novus orbis , let them be masters of rule in the world in the sunne , and precious men in the moon of their fancies , and there promise themselves coelestial clarity , i shall neither envy nor admire them the more , but fear them as such as salvian speaks of , apud nonnullos christi nomen non videatur jam sacramentum esse sed sermo , and i shall pray that they may see their wandrings in time ; and as the father sayes well , secundas tabulas habere modestiae , qui primas non habere sapientiae . for let them cry out never so bitterly against regulations , and orderly forms and establishments , yet they will hold tack , when their tabernacles of ill-mixed altogethers dissolve and become vain . for as a learned bishop of the church hath lately observed ; if foundations which were in their own nature good should be destroyed for accessary abuses , and for the faults of perticuler persons , we should neither leave a sunne in heaven , for that hath been adored by prgans , nor a spark of fire , or any eminent creature upon earth , for they have all been abused . and since it is the will of god that heresies and offences must be , let all good christians patiently abide gods triall by them . for as wise master-builders out of the chaos of rubbish raise beautifull frames of structure , so god out of the janglings of christians , by infinite and matchless wisedom compiles his glory . vtitur gentibus ad materiam operationis suae , hereticis ad probationem fidei suae , schismaticis ad stabilimentum doctrinae suae , judaeis ad comparationem pulchritudinis suae , as s t augustin pithily . let then the devout christian , not so much study policy as piety , not more endeavour after power then peace ; let the ministers of god rather seek to deny , then gratifie themselvs in any thing that is worldly , let the world alone to those whose portion it is , they are greedy enough after it . aurelian would never take it for his glory , to have the children sing it and salute him with an applause of his valour , for sla●ing thousands of the sarmatians : vnus homo mille , mille ; mille decollavimus ; and adding mille , mille , mille ; vincit qui mille mille occidit , tantùm vim habet nemo quantum fudit sanguinis , if he were not wedded to the world , and resolved that power was his heaven . god forbid holy souls should when they see preferment shun them , and the world frown on them , cry out as eli's daughter in law did , 1 sam. 4. 21. when the ark was sursurpris'd , my glory is departed , the ark of my safety and content is taken : let those delight in it , and boast of it , whose wisedom is carnall , and opposite to god ; who venture the double ducket of aeternity against this single penny of earth ; which that french king would not , when his brother counselled him with small forces to sally out of towers , upon the great army of the duke of mayne . let politick richlieu profess , that his desire to be cardinall , duke and peer of france , was but to shew the world , what and how great his king and master was , since he the cardinal how conspicuous soever ; was but a ray from the kings sunne , and a rivulet from his ocean : yet god sees another motive in the heart , then the tongue mentions : no secret excludes the sunne of righteousness from view , nor any shift the god of truth from weighing the temper of spirits , and discovering them to be what they are , though with balaam , they shift from place to place , and thing to thing , to gain a subterfuge and opportunity of serving themselves most advantagiously , yet at length god meets with them ; and when their glasses are runne , which cannot be long , that glory which maketh worthy men live for ever , dieth with such , and their memory of honour is enterred with them . and though the most of men are convinced of the truth of this , yet how greedily do such great spirits gullop down the world , and with what eagerness do they profecute it , by a dangerous hospitality , which entertains devils oftner then angels ! what noble paradoes doth self-love make , forcing religion to be chaplain to bless their banquets of ambition , unto which they invite all their admirers , and to warrant which they have such musters of scriptures ( though misapplied and misunderstood ) that they look like the archangel michael and his forces , advancing to discomfort , as it were , the devil and his angels , of contrarients diffidence , we know who said , behold my zeal for the lord of heasts , 2 king. 10. 16. yet ver . 18. & 31. his zeal was murther and idolatry . am i come up without the lord against this place to destroy it , the lord said to me , go up against this land and destroy it , were the words of rabshecah , 2 king. 18. 25. yet god in chap. 19. ver . 28. interprets this a rage and tumult against him , and sayes , he will put his hook in his nose , and his bridle in his lips , and turn him back by the way by which he came : yea by an angel destroy his hoast , and defend jerusalem , as it is ver . 34 , 35. i love not their principles , who make religion usher to lyon-like practises , as doth the spaniard in the indies , which they by force possesse , and in which they have put to the sword and other butcherly torments , millions , it is thought , both at cuba , hayta , peru , panama , mexico , and all under pretence of planting the catholick faith , and placing christians in the room of infidels : such courses may thrive for a while , but in the end god will pluck up those poysonous roots for medicine to others , that they may hear and fear , and do no more presumptuously . i cannot blame heathens , who know and hope for no other heaven but that of temporall felicity and worldly greatness , to aym at it . i wonder not at mahomet the second the first turkish emperour , whom story tells us to be of no religion but a meer atheist , worshipping no other god but good-fortune , thinking all things lawfull that agreed with his lust , and keeping no league , promise or oath , longer then stood with his profit or pleasure . no marvell though they think so well of themselves , who dare as did alexander , command their own deificacations ; in dayes of their triumphs , with octavius , remove the statues of the nations god : not only weep upon view of the image of one that lived before , and had been conquerour beyond him ; but also dream , i and have the confidence to tell the dream , that he had committed a rape upon his mother , as did julius caesar , which the standers by interpreted to portend his empire over the world ; or to disown manhood , and to profess openly , ira dei ego sum & orbis vastitas , as that eastern temires said of himself . these i say may not be wondered at . but for christians , who beleeve in a crucified saviour , and expect a kingdom not made with hands , but eternall in the heavens : for them to take such bye pathes , and forsake the way of christ jesus , who bids us , strive to enter in at the narrow gate , and decline the broad way which leads to destruction , is much my wonder . for as gregory nazianzen piously writes ; let thrones , princedomes , greatness , riches , fortunes adiew , as vild and contemptible glories , and theatrique follies , which perform nothing of what they promise : it is the christians part to make gods word his delight , and to study communion with god , as that which can only and lastingly make him happy , &c. for christianity is no abrodiaeton , wherein is professed pleasure and delicacy , but mortification and self-deniall yet not so strange as true ; for there have no greater practiques of sensuall pollicy been acted by any , then christians in name , and in profession such . pope alexander warres against the french , and rather then that warre should not be followed ; invites the turk to his ayd , and consents , that the money gathered in spain for a crociata against the infidels , should be imployed against the french. coesar borgia maligned his brother bastard the duke of candy , because he was corrival with him in his mistris , and for that their common father pope alexander the 6 th had bestowed great dignity on the duke , hereupon borgia caused him to be murthered one night as he rode thorow the streets of rome , and after to be cast into tyber . the same borgia desired a match with the daughter of frederick king of naples , and to have in dower with her the principality of taranto , not by that alliance to strengthen the interest of declining frederick , but that thereby he might be the better able to justle him out and distress him . mauregat the 7 th king of oivedo and leons , about the year after christ 383 , that he might hold his kingdom under the moors who had invassail'd all , made himself a tributary to abdiramis their king in spain , and though he were a christian , yet consented to a tribute uuworthy any christian , namely to yeeld him yearly 50 damsels of noble extract and linage , and as many other meaner mens daughters , and them to send him as a present to his lust . nicholaus catalusius prince of mytelene , turned turk , to gain the favour of mahomet the great and save his life ; after he was circumcised , mahomet caused him to be apprehended and put to death . henry the second of france , burned many protestants upon pretence of heresie , and in favour of true religion , as was said , but untruly , for it was but to fill the purse of diana valentina the kings mistris of pleasure , to whom he had given the confiscation of all goods for heresie throughout his dominions . vladislaus king of hungary , concluded a very noble peace with amurath , and swore to it with very great solemnity , yet afterupon pretensions of very great disadvantage to the christians by that peace , and by solicitations of cardinal julian , he broke it most barbarously , and was well paid for his faedifragousness , in the loss of the battell of varna . when the turk in charls the 5 th , his time invades transilvania on the one side , and ferdinand arch-duke of austria puts hard for it on the other side , promising to keep it for the young sonne of john vayode , george martinaccio bishop of veradino a man of excellent wisdom and great reputation in that countrey , willing to keep it in freedom ; and being unable to wage warre both with the turk and arch-duke at one time , adhered to the arch-duke , which the austrians knew would effect their purpose ; they , to oblige the good bishop , promised a pension of 80000 crowns , and the emperour obtained of the pope a cardinals cap for him ; but when the anstrians discovered , that nothing wrought with martinaccio , to prefer the house of austria above his native countrey , some of the arch-dukes ministers had command to murther him , and they did 10 , and the bruit was , that he held intelligence with the turk ; whenas , good man , he had nothing but honour and honesty in his eye , and they blood in their hearts and on their hands . but these are but pettytoes to the great goliah richlieu the late french cardinall , against whom the blood of many cries ; but in chief that of monsieur le thou , the famous historian and most accurate scholer , whose memoriall published in the names of all the grandees of europe , remembers great dishonour to his once eminence . the words , as i finde them in a notable author , are these ; sub fortunatissimo rege , nuper malis artibus fascinato , ob reginae , filiorum , parentis jura , summo studio , contra nefarios ausus , secundum regni leges adserta , ob expetitam regalis familiae dignitatem libertatemque franciscum augustum thuanum , magnis adhuc in juventa virtutibus illustrem , baestia sevissima de arena saphistica , latro cardinalis , hostis senatus , pestis patriae , dedecus ecclesiae , per tyrannicae potestatis satellites , subornata judicio trucidavit , omnes europâ tota optimates praestantissimi , thuani desiderio , maestissimt posuere . i forbear his projects on both the queen-mothers , let s t germine blazon them , though methinks one hath already fully done it , in these few words , reginae matris beneficiis ditatus , curis prometus , & potestate potentior factus , illam gratiâ regis , libertate , bonis , galliâ , & demùm exulem coloniae vita privavit , ne mortuae parceret , supr●mas ejus voluntates rescendi , & insepultum cadaver per quinque menses ( post quos ) ipse extinctus est , incubiculo relinqui voluit : thus my author , but i enlarge not this , nor do i call to memory the deaths of memorancy , and many others , of which he is said to have been notoriously guilty ; that exquisite revenge on puyleaurens , gives an essay of the man ▪ and tells us he was none of those that did aperto vivere voto . no marvell though a man of those tricks were termed seculi sui tormèntum non ornamentum . he must needs be covetous of glory , who was not ashamed to boast in print , volui fidelitatem necessariam esse non liberum , docui obedientiam caecam , atque in hâc parte penè religiosos volui esse francos , perturbavi madritensem sapientiam , &c. who besides the violence acted at home , discovered spanish counsels before taken , revealed their secrets before machinated , brought madrid to paris and kept paris at its own distance from madrid , terrified italy , shook germany , vexed spain , supported lusitunia , lotharingia and catilonia , supplied sweden , spoyled flanders , troubled england , yea and made a disport of europe , & utinam non & faxsit sibi alio in orbe , qui in hoc europae suit ; as that author hath it . ex pede herculem ; let men judge then what tenebrious souls those men have , who will be the gundomars and protopoliticoes of their ages ; such i mean as lewis debonair , charls the bald of france , the great evan vasilowick of muscovia , don pedro of castile , and others ; these are monsters , not men , whodesign every minute for mischief to all that they think disaffected to them . as did the forementioned cardinall , of whom one saith , ainsi non seulement la royne mere du roy , matis tout les grands du royaume sont criminels , pour rendre le cardinal innocent tout ainsi que sur les ruines de s. m. & de la plus grande partie des princes de france , il a basli sa fortune , il faut aussi qu'on fonde sa gloire sue le des-honneur de tout ceux que'il a persecuté , who refuse nothing which accomodates their ends . i have it from lottinus a man well versed in this trade , nullam quidem tantum est vitium quod non tolerabile aliquando existimetur , & pro minùs malo accipiatur , ita suadente rerum statu & semper sive occasione , que quidem inconficiendo quolibet negotio ; utramque , quod dicitur paginam implet . no wonder then the death-beds of statesmen wrings from them great pennances , while they bemoan with henry the fift of this land , that they have wonne the courtesies of mens knees , with the loss of many mens heads , nay of their own souls . the confessions of two eminent in their times are very remarkable ; one cardinall woolsey , whom charls the fift called the butchers curr , that had worryed the fairest buck in christendom : and was so great as never any man before him , a subject , was in this land ; ruled all , knew all , enjoied all that heart could wish , yet lived to see himself accused of treason , seized upon , forsaken of his friends ; insomuch that he cried out bemoaningly , if i had served god as diligently as i have done the king , he would not have given me over in my gray hairs ; but it is the just reward that i must receive for the diligent pains and study that i have had to do him service , not regarding my service to god , but only to satisfie his pleasure . thus the cardinall . there is a second , a man of great experience and business , s r thomas randolph , who had been thrice embassadour to the peers in scotland , thrice to john basilides emperour of russia , thrice to queen mary of scotland after her return from frrnce , seven times to james the sixth of scotland , once to charls the ninth , once to henry the third of france ; yet this gentleman writing a letter to secretary walsingham a little before his death , mentions how fit and necessaay it was , that one ( meaning walsingham ) should leave off the tricks of a secretary , and the other ( meaning himself ) of an embassadour , and employ their time before their death , in repentance for the sinne of their life : which occasions my mention of a passage in s t germaine , where comparing the death of the queen-mother with the cardinall her enemy , he sayes here was the difference que nostre princesse a acheueé la fienne en royne tres chrictienne & que son per sequuteur cest retire eu homme politique . so true is that of the emperour otho , i had rather be mucius , decius , regulus , or any other worthy and unwanting private citizen of rome , then marius , or cinna , or sylla , or any of the other most potent men of that commonwealth . the consideration of this presses hard upon all men to do good while they have opportunity ; all things here are casuall , no man knows what a day may bring forth . 't is a true note of causabon , dies hora , momentum , evertendis dominationibus sufficit quae adamantinis credebatur radicibus esse fundatae . therefore wisedom layes up against an evil day , ( versa rota fortunae , ante vesperum potest esse miserimus , ) looks at nothing so much as what is the most reall and catholique good . all christians are to serve god , and their relations in their sphere , and according to their proportion ; but princes and governours chiefly are concerned to do worthily , their families , their fames are at stake , yea their subjects weal or woe is moulded according to their care or neglect : is it not a happy thing to rule and live so as to deserve inscriptions on our monuments as constantine had , restitutor humani generis , propagator imperii , ditionisque romanae , & fundator eternae securitatis , as claudius had , cujus vita probitas omnia quae in republica gessit tantam posteris famam dedere , ut senatus populusque romanus , novis eam honoribus post mortèm affecerit . it was a princely vertue in a vicious man galba , veterum morem obstinatissimè retinet ; and he deserves the top step of the ascent of honour , who , dum privatus fuit major privato visus , as tacitus says of one : they have too narrow souls for soveraignty , who think ought worthy their endeavour , but piety and power , and preserve those darlings by any thing but justice ; which severus said was dearer to him then kindreds and alliances . justice is the great basis of government ; as it forbids governours to be mock-shews , sorting the purple robe with the reed ( no emblem either of state or might , ) so it presents as amiable moderation ; ( aureliane clementer te age , si vis vincere , was the philosophers speech to aurelian the emperour ; ) calling for distinction between offences of infirmity , and malicious contrivance ; and awes from picking quarrels upon words and trifles , and on grounds which may as well not be taken notice of , as remembred : it was no inconspicuous vertue of alexander severus before-named ; who sent no man sad from him , gave access to the meanest , expressed affability to all , yet with success enough man aged his affairs : nor have princes shewed themselves wiser in any thing , then by giving fair termes to enemies , rather then either to hazzard successes ; or wast their own dominions to obtain victory . dioclesian said not amiss when he answered , that bounty and mercy were the proper qualifications of princes , and where these are not , ducem esse debuisse non principem . philip the second of spain , none of the most vertuous princes , but fouly stained in glory , yet had this fore-thought to declare in the case of the netherlands ; that it should be lawfull for any that would not embrace the romane religion , to depart from thence whethersoever they would , or else to sell their estates , or to receive the profits of them whereever they were . and not many years after he gave liberty to the mahumetan moors of spain amounting to divers thousands , to depars freely thence , into any province of africa , there to enjoy freedom from the bloody inquisitors ; and with his own shipping conveyed many of them safe into france , thorow which by the gracious permiffion of h. the great , they had safe and free passage . charls the ninth of france , did by his agents earnestly solicit lewes de clermont prince of conde , and jasper de coligni earl of castilion , admiral of france , being chief directors and commanders of the protestants affairs , to depart france with the rest of the religion , and that they might begin a plantation in the island of florida in america , he not only gave leave to the first expedition , which was undertaken by in o ribald in ann o 1562. but also at the admirals intreaty did very largely contribute to the second navigation , which was entred upon by landover and other protestants . and were there no other motive to moderation then that of the apostle , the lord is at hand , it were enough ; a cogent argument to christians ; as if the apostle had thus said ; manage power wisely , use advantages warily , be thrifty stewards of your talents while ye are in office , the audit day is neer , god is entring on his circuit to enquire how his miuisters have discharged their trust : he will have no pity on that servant , who when he had his fellow-servant on his knee beging pardon for his sake , refused him . it is a shrewd brand of ignobleness in the counsel of h. 8. who when they had , as they thought , the good archbishop cranmer on the hip , and that he was accused of demerit against the state , suffered him to stand without doors among the lacquies and serving-men for the space of half an hour . brave spirits pity , not rejoyce over the ruins of their betters ; 't is good for every one to remember , the measure we mete to others will be measured to us again , therefore let your moderation be known unto all men . this also calls upon men in rule , to remember posterity by imitating elder christians , in raising , supporting and adding to things of publike and lasting piety , and unquestioned charity . in this sense that of the apostle is very pressing . to do good and distribute forget not , for with such sacrifices god is well pleased : in this methinks 't is good to begin with god , and to remember what he increpates hag. 1. 4. is it time for you to dwell in your seiled houses , and to let this house ●ye waste ? m r ca●vin notes well upon these words , that much time had pass'd , and now god had given them peace , he expected that they should not lye still , but build his house ; but ( saith he ) the jews were so indulgent to their private advantages , to their ease and delight , that they thought the worship of god not worth looking after , so they had sacrifices and an altar , it mattered not where or what the place be in which they serv'd god : this was the cause that the prophet had command from god so tartly to reprove them . and truly the good man comes home to us ; nuuc , saith he ; quis gratis accendit dei altare , &c. who amongst us takes care of gods altar ? every one looks after his advantage , in the mean time the interest of god suffers , no zeal for , no care of god ; yea , what 's worst of all , multi lucrum captant ex evangelio , perinde ac si ars esset quaestuosa , that is , many drive a subtle and gainfull way of religion , making it serve their turns , and speak their language ; thus he . much more pure and daefecated was christianity in those ages ( which many amongst us called blind ) but their deeds shew otherwise : then churches and chappels , houses ( in their intent ) for religion and the honour of god , were erected and liberally provided for , by their care and charity to the worlds end : for my part i must judg faith by works , and if living charity appear , i will not judg that a dead faith which moved it ; they must have somewhat to say in extenuation of other mens charities , who never mean to be renowned by any of their own . famous wickliff magnifies the bounty of princes to the church , but he blames highly , the rapines and damages done to them by unworthy popes and particular interests . farre is it from any sober mind , to censure those who not only appropriated the tenth to god , but endowed him with all ( in a kinde ) tbat they did possesse , who cloathed naked christ ( with reverence be it written ) in their best vests , and never thought themselves richer then when they had expended all they had to puchase him a rich seat , and prepare for him a goodly retinue , at whose tables he in his members fed , and by whose bounty their necessities were supplied , it is a sure fign of devout times , when churches have their reverence and decent attire as well as courts of state and law , when the rights of god and religion are inviolate as well as those of men ; for as a right reverend father of our church long ago published , the two estates civil and ecclesiastical make the main angle in every government : god himselfe hath severed them , and made these two to meet in one , not one to malign and consume the other ; and the happy combining of these two is the strength of the head and of the whole building ; if it bear but upon one of them , it will certainly decay ; it did so in sauls time , he little regarded the ark , and lesse the priests ; david saw sauls error , and in this psal . 75. 3. where he sings ne perdas to a commonwealth , promiseth to have equal care of both piliars , and to uphold them both . thus the bishop . it was reckoned also a sign of calm times and to the praise of government , when publike buildings were raised , and decayes provided against . vespasian is commended for a brave prince , in that he gave liberty & encouragement to build , in those wast places of rome , which fire and sword had deformed ; and at his own charge repaired the capitoll , the temple of peace , and the monument of claudius , yea in all places of the roman dominion , erected some trophie of publique use and ornament , and paulus diaconus tels us , that as emperours have been good or bad , so have publique buildings been either preserved or neglected ; and guevaera asserts it the duty of good governours not only to exterminate vices their countreys , but also to adorn them with famous structures , a token that they are good fathers of their people , who by their liberality to posterity declare the duty of a noble prince to extend to the weal of government first , and next to his own preservation by it ; octavius might well justifie himself no unprofitable shepherd ; when in his reign rome had changed her russet for purple ; in stead of clay become marble , and trajan deservedly hath the honour of dions pen , while he writes both in times of peace and war ; he was a most eminent builder and repairer of high-waies , gates , watercourses , guilds , to accomplish which his way was only that of vertue , he shed no mans bloud by the gain of whose estate he might defray his expence , ( for he was naturally what a prince should be ) magnifique , and of a great soul , he envied , he ruined no man , but encreased the honour and dignity of worthy persons . and it is no lesse a note of religious times and princes ; when rescue is made of houses of god in possessions of men , and when those that are ruined may own powers their benefactors . solomon the wisest of princes was a temple-builder , and those glorious ones whom god will own for his and blesse as his , are described ; not to be transformers of churches into barns and stables , nor demolishers of houses fit for mens habitation , but such as shall build the old waste places , such as raise up the foundations of many generations , such as shall be called ( not in complement but justly ) the repairer of the breach , the restorer of paths to dwell in , isa . 58. 12. in psal . 74. 5. a man was famous according as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees , but now ( saith the psalmist v. 6. ) they brke down the carved work thereof with axes and hammers , &c. and i am of the opinion , that man which dares prophane any thing that relatively is gods , though at greatest distance , hath some more then ordinary tincture of atheism in him , and durst he , he would , and when he sees time he will shew it : julian derided churches and priests , and not long after blasphemed christ himself ; for our lord who ( by an heroique act ) cast out buyers and sellers out of the temple , will not approve those who buy and sell temples : if he permitted not sellers of doves in the temple , though it was very opportune for the sacrificers , then not those who sell the temple in sacrifice to other ends then those of religion , which buys to dedicate , not sels what is dedicated to god. there is somewhat sacred in places consecrated to god , even by the light of nature , for the heathens who had no revelation held it so , which made them avoid all injurious carriages to places of divine designment ; as they thought no wealth more thriftily expended then that which was laid out either in purchase of ground on which , or in building and adding to places built and dedicated to their gods , so did they highly reproach all outrage on those places or on any thing that related to them . therefore they acknowledged temples sacred , and punished most severely those that did violence to them . in the law of the twelve tables , 't is said , let him that steals away any holy thing , or dedicated to a holy use , be punished as a parricide : and the aethiopians had a law , that if any were convinced of that crime amongst them , there was a potion given him to drink made of compound poyson , which they had no sooner drank off but they rid themselves of their lives , as conceiving they were stung with all kinde of serpents . s t augustine tels us , that when the city of rome was sacked by the goths and the barbarous nations , omnis humanitatis expertes , ad caedem alias natae , yet they did not only spare the temples and churches , sed etiam ethnicis & omnibus promiscué qui ad christianorum templa confugissent ; yea , so far were they proceeded in adoration of them , that they thought the ground on which they stood , holy ; though the building were erased , and the use interdicted , which is affirmed by trajan , whom pliny brings in averring , licet aedes collapsa sit religio ejus occupavit locum , therefore is it that i reade of no religious or civil man , much lesse christian , ever allowing himself or others in the demolition or expilation of any place or thing devoted to god , but exploding it as that which he abominates and dare not practise nor approve of , when and by whomsoever practised . learned bucer hath a chapter which he entitles , de restituendis ecclesiarum ceremonijs & sanctificatione templorum , and therein he hath this further passage , templa vocari in scripturis domus dei & domus oratinis atque hinc agnoscere , quam horrendam ij faciunt divinae majestati contumeliam , qui templa domini habent pro deambulacris , locisque tam prophanis ut in illis quaevis impura & prophana cum similibus , suis garrient & pertractent . i reade indeed of a sicilian king , that to inlarge his palace pulled down an old temple , but the good emperour marc. anton. was much offended at this fact , calling it a beastly and lewd action , not to be spoken of without shame , protesting it was a matter of wonder to him , and of scandal , not only to the whole city , but to the sacred senate ; and stories tell us of gripple men that have made the things of god their prey , and suffered highly for their insolence : xerxes sent 4000 men to destroy the delphique temple , and bring away the precious things that there were , but his whole army was destroied by thunder and lightning from heaven , caepio the roman consul ransacked the church of tholouse , but the historian tels us , that all that fingred the gold thence taken , lived and died miserably ; marcus crassus after he had taken 2000 talents of gold out of the temple of jerusalem which pompey left there , was no sooner past over the river euphrates but his whole army was routed by the parthians , and part of the gold which he caused to be carried out of the temple , was melted , and powred into his mouth after he was slain , with these words , now surfet of gold after thy death , wherewith thou couldest never be satisfied all thy life long . the japyges thought to be the cretians , grew so wanton and proud of their successes , that they despised the gods , brake down their images , and destroied their temples , as things needlesse and superfluous , but at last they were slain by brazen bals of fire from heaven : herod hearing that vast summes of money were laid up for safety in the temple , and hid in the sepulchre of david , sent men of war to rifle the place , who in digging as they came near the coffins of david and solomon , were destroied by a fire that brake out of the cave , and burnt them to ashes . there are many other parallel stories , not onely of belshazzar , leo copronymus , julian of the east , felix , but also of rotman , knipperdoling , muncer , phifer , and others of later times . and truly as s t augustine complains of the donatists , that they in their outrages exceeded the very heathens , whose cruelties to theirs were mercies , so may the church say , the nearer the church , the farther from god in goodnesse : how little is god beholding to men when they keep up houses for their habitations , and rooms they use properly , but suffer churches to fall down , or abuse some of them to other uses then they were designed for . how much was dioclesian discommended , who contested for the priviledges of his palace , but cared not what became of the places dedicated to god ; and nero who as much as in him lay , butchered christianity , decried not only the ordinances , but the feasts and solemnities of the religion , yet then institutes his juvenalia , feasts in memory of his beard then first cut ; and to make the folly more pompous , the hairs of it ( forfooth ) must be put into a case of gold , and be consecrated to jupiter ; aelia catula , an old noble matron , aged 80 years , dances for triumph , and those that do least , make merry by singing and dancing . it is no sign of great piety , when men are bold onely upon the things of god. when the world was under the power of arians , church-plate and treasure was seized upon , and no place will serve the tyrant julian to piss against , but the communion table ; nay , when the bounty of a constantine and constantius shall be scoffed at by an apostate foelix in these words , see how sumptuously the son of mary is served . and no less impiety is it to rifle from the church-man his maintenance , which some of late endeavoured , but god brought their counsels to nought , and their devices to none effect . and just it was with god to scatter and disappoint them , qui quaerunt mercedem phineae sed operantur opera zimri , that is , who cry up christ , and cry down his servitors , who ought to live upon his patrimony , and who are to receive maintenance from the altar which they tend : yea and exclame against magistrates who ought and do defend them . there is no need to dispute the right of tythes qua maintenance the christian church in her purer times , ever held ministers worthy of maintenance , and of double honour for their calling sake , and feared much to detain or curtail their dues , or to alter the species and manner of conveying it to them . those christians were ever carefull to give the labourer his hyre , and to minister temporals to such as to them imparted spirituals . and therefore till the time of h. 8. i finde no act of parliament in this nation , that prescribes punishment for non-payment of tythes , the people held it so right a due to the church-man , that they made no scruple of it , but if they failed , the law-spirituall punished them by pennance ; which they dreaded so much , that they did seldom incurre it : after that h. 8. had broke with the pope , and brought the church-man under his lash , then every one trampled upon the conquer'd worm : the parliament of the 27 th of his raign seeing the inconvenience , declared by statute their judgment of such as refuse payment of tythes . and so they hold to this day , and i hope ever will : for caesar ought to be a sonne of the church , christ only is lord and master of it : and let carnall and worldly spirits sleight the church and her servitors , yet they will in conclusion finde , that whensoever the churches last day shall be at hand , the evening thereof will bring in the states ruin and dissolution : so true is that of the wiseman , he that robbeth his father and mother , and saith it is no transgression , the same is the companion of a destroyer . i know there are many who think sacriledg no sinne , and the absorption of tythes no sacriledg , the clergyman amongst those supernumeraries that ought to be disbanded ; and they would laugh to see powers as dreadfull to the clergy , as was king john , who accounted all spirituall m●n his enemies , and was himself an enemy to them : or such times as that after when the lord chief-justice declared openly , yee sirs that be attorneys of my lords the archbishops , bishops , &c. and all other the clergy , declare unto your masters and tell them , that from henceforth there shall no justice be done them in the kings courts , for any manner of thing , although never so heynous wrong be done to them ; but justice shall be had against them , to every one that will complain and require to have it : there are some i fear , who would make the portion of god , not benjamins , a worthy portion ; but an ishmaels , an issacars porton , a mean and worthless trifle ; so good patriots they are , that they would dare god to curse the nation as he did the jews in mal. 3. for exceeding the deeds of the wicked , in robbing their god , by taking away tythes and offerings , ver . 8 , and 9. on which words calvin presents god speaking thus to the jews ; compass ye the whole world , go into the most barbarous nests of the heathens , ye shall finde no such gross licentiousness as is amongst you : for those nations barely by the light of nature , give reverence to their gods , and abhor to take sacrilegiously what is devoted to them : but ye make no matter of defrauding me of what is mine own , am i inferiour to idols ? is my prerogative less dear to you , then that of false gods to those nations ? such it is plain there are , but blessed be god , i hope they will never prevail . for if pharaohs divinity , and josephs true piety abhorred to sell the priests lands , god forbid that either their lands or tythes should be alienated in days that give themselves the name of reformation . and it ought seriously to be weighed by men in power , that besides the comeliness and piety of supporting those that are gods messengers , whose errand is to save our souls , and the gratitude that ought to be expressed towards them , that are our instructors in good letters ( as generally clergy-men are ) and the greatest masters of art : there is much worldly wisdom evidenced in countenancing the clergy ; magistrates are in nothing more self-preserving , then while they make the ministry of their party , and by protection of them conjure them their humble servants in all wayes of honour and honesty . and i think that if search be made in stories ; the clergy , one time with another , have been as faithfull and forward in all worthy enterprises both of counsell and action as any ; which made charls the great ( no mean politician ) take their counsell and consent in all his warres and expeditions . i do not say but that the spirituality may sometimes oppose the civil authority , and employ their interests as they did in henry the second of france his time for the pope against him . prudence in that case may hinder such unkindness , and punish it , by preventing addition of what is combustible ; state injunctious ought to repress causes of disturbance in any ; for magistrates must not bear the sword in vain ; but when the church-man is quiet , and minds his ministration , when he meddles with no secular things , any further then they entrench upon gods peculiar , and exalt themselves against what is called god , then to be narrow towards him , is no argument of christian ingenuity . i know there also are some , who think the clergy of this nation hardly dealt with , when not only their preferments ecclesiasticall , but their votes in convocations and synods contemporary with parliaments , and wontedly convened as they , are also not allowed them : nor hath their body ( which for number and nature is very considerable , ) any suffragans in the lay counsels of the nation , levi hath none of this inheritance among their brethren . i confess i am one that think somewhat of this unreasonable , especially since they are subjects , considerable both for number and quality . but i would humbly beseech the ministry to adore gods justice in this case . some of them looked out false burthens and causes of banishment , as the phrase is lament . 2. 14. now all they can expect , is food convenient for them , and the crown of glory hereafter prepared for them . i wish them the patience of saints , and the victory of martyrs . it will become none of them to use luthers cedo nulli , but holy bishop jewels couragious sobriety : i deny my living , i deny mine estimation , i deny my name , i deny my self , but the faith of christ and truth of god i cannot deny : and when god sees this temper in our prophets , he will return , make up their breaches , and heal their wounds ; yea he will perswade powers to set the ark in its proper place , and referre debates in religion to religious and learned men ; pontifices religionis sunt judices legis senatores , was a maxime of the heathens : for as a noble wit said in parliament , was it ever seen that laymen should determine upon doctrinall points of divinity , divines alone excluded ? theologie is not so low , so facile a trade ; let us maintain the doctrines that are established ; to declare new , is not fit for our assembly . so he . and till it come to pass , that what concerns religion , be considered by grave bishops and presbyters , who in full convocation propose things orderly , debate them scholastically , moderate them candidly , and report their conclusions to superiours faithfully , i expect no peace in the church , no nor unity in the civil body ; we shall still be ismeals to each other , every ones hand will be against his neighbour ; the hur● of the daughter of our people will be healed slightly ; though some may cry peace , peace , there will be no peace , as it follows , c. 8. v. 11. for matters of religion are tender things and to be handled gently ; proper for the debates of an vsher , a hall , a morton , a bromrigg's chayr , environed with learned and reverend assessors , the choice of the order of presbyters ; these well countenanced , may by gods blessing , bring church-confusion into form ; from other then such as these , i look for nothing but wander ; nor do i expect this nation will long be renowned for learning , unless not only those poor encouragements that yet continue , but greater advantages be setled as rewards of learning . lectius . and spanhemius both professors at geneva , much admire our church-honour and orde , praying the continuance of it , as that which by its liberall encouragement of learning , highly contributes to the multiplication of truths-champions ; and good men , they may well commend it , from the sad consequence they finde of the contrary in their own countrey and other nations ; whenas so grand a master among them as calvin , was ( for ought appears ) kept so short , that all the gains of his life , left not ( books and all ) at his death , above 40 lb sterling : sure god was his library , as the ravens were elijahs purveyors , a miracle alike in both . mine humble prayer therefore to our governours is , that they would consider the church-man , and think how better to encourage learned men . if in the military trade were no offices of command , which have great pay annexed to them , who would covet to be more then ordinarily expert ? who would venture life if his general had not power to reward him ? in state-affairs who spends his whole life and pains , where places of honour and trust are not to be obtained ? men that have great spirits , love ( as s r john perot said of s r christopher hatton ) to come to court in masks , and to dance galliards by which they c●per to their after-greatness . who planteth a vineyard and eateth not of the fruit thereof ? who maketh an experiment , and carrieth not away the secret and advantage of it ? only in church-service there must be no advance , be the parts and pains never so eminent . alas they see little , that see not ministers men as well as others , that know them not to have children and families which require supplies , as other mens do ; that finde not amongst them many pregnant wits and great spirits , that with the marigold love the warm beams of power , and glitter best in the sun-shine of favour ; whom a sprig from the plume of royalty much becomes and enlivens . in the firmament all the starres are , yet are not all of a use and magnitude , their influence is according to their composition , situation , and the nature of the subjects under their dominion . so in the church , all ministers are not all of one size , or one way gifted , yet all usefull in their orb , shining bright when set in the proper candlesticks of their own genius and naturall addiction . in the souldiery , some are excellent for the field , others for siedges , some for designs , others for action , some for horse conduct , others for foot ▪ some desperate in single service , others with company ; excellent generals proportion to every one that command in which they are best versed . the lawyer is no less renowned that forms a pleading skilfully , that draws a deed advisedly , that resolves a case maturely , then he that pleads aptly , and evidenceth to a jury eunningly : in the court , he is as well thought fit to be employed in negotiations with forraign states , that speaks little , but thinks more , plodding through the touch marches of his intrust , as he to be sent on courtly congies , and politick ceremonies ; who hath no parts more noble ▪ then to know the rule of civility , and after what rate the exchange of ceremonies are ? and in what garb state-ministers are to be treated and accosted . the phisitian that is skilfull in anotomy , and knows the severall vitiosities and atrophies that the body is subject to and decayed by , is as much admired , as he that casts an urine well , and concludes by the symptoms and his experience what a disease is , and after writes ▪ with quickness a recipe to cure it . in mechanique arts , all are not alike excellent ; some masons excell for water-work , others for land : some smiths are rare for locks , others at barrs , and guns , and instruments of battery : some gardiners have rare faculty in improving flowers ; others no less in ordering plants and trees : shall we count no man a complete mariner , but he that with s r francis drake hath compassed the world . a good pilot is eldest brother to the greatest captain ; and he that can keep his vessel from the bishop and his clerks ▪ not less an arts-man , then be that goes a greater voyage . if in these cases , diversities of gifts are honoured and rewarded , why not in ●ee church-man , where there are as great variety as in any artist . whatsoever ? if gifts are from god , why are we partiall , and esteem no gift but that of the tongue ; if a man have language to preach nimbly , and pray fluently , hee 's presently qualified ; as if god did , or men ought to choose preachers as they do parrots by their l●quacity : if all talents are from god , then to be valued by us , as bestowed by him for the churches use . if the bishop of great years , and having a great charge , the care of his diocess ( and performing that conscientiously and vigilantly according to his duty both by the sacred and canonick laws ) do not preach constantly , or but seldom , then the cry is , belly-gods , idle : truly i am positive a bishop ought to have a gift of preaching , and to use that gift as frequently as he may , and mostly where in his diocess there is greatest want , and the constanter and abler our bishops were in this kind , the greater hath been their renown , and the more the shame of those that reproach them ; yet is not preaching the sole work of a bishop , he must take account of errors in doctrine and manners , which many have found when they have worthily discharged it , a great burthen : if god hath set in his church governments , 't is a labour which equals any other : if there be any man not so extraordinarily gifted to a quick preaching as are others , though he be vir omnium horaiu● ▪ a cock for his early rising to his study , an apollos ; mighty in argum●nt and writing , an universall languager , that can read all originals , and usefully impart them ; yet this gift of god must brand them to a reprobation : as if there were not gain-sayers to be provided against , and hereticks to be silenced by disputation , as well as affections to be warmed and understandings to be informed by frequent preachings . our religion hath gained much by books of dispute against the romanists , as well as by preaching practicall doctrine . o but they say , let every one be provided for properly : i say so too : but how ? but where ? mens geniuses are directed by god when they tend to vertuous studies , and the door is open to all that come and are fit for admission into the ministry . if there be a gracious heart and a competency of learning , who can forbid marriage to his order . and when men are in a function must they not live by it ? if all preferments in the church are reduced to tythes , all ministers must to preaching , or rest unpreferred , perhaps starve . while there were preferments and other courses of support , many whose talents were to more knotty studies , turned that way , and performed such parts of service as they themselves were best qualified for , the rest by deputies ; ( and they had been sufficient ones ) for ought i know the church might have fared never the worse , the spirit of eliah is sometimes doubled upon elisha . but now those helps are removed and alienated , what shall those usefully gifted men do : put some of them are out of their livings and fellowships . qualified many people say they are not to the work of the ministry ; truly i think they are not fit for those heavy ears , which deserve not the alarums of silver trumpets . what then ? must they be exposed to shame , and want , and servitude ? god forbid these vessels of gold , which the liberality of heaven gave in ornament to this church should be transplanted , and others of no nobler mettle be set in room of them : i know there are some oaks , nay a great many , blessed be god , who have kept their stations in this great fall of church-timber , who are very able master-builders , and highly deserve of the church of god ; these cannot but grieve to see , when those that fed delicately are desolate in the streets , they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghils , lam. 4. 5. to hear the bels of aaron in such discord : yea they must needs lament , to see that the fire of destruction , rather then that of purifying , hath passed upon their brethren of the clergy , many of which were holy and good men though of different judgments . my prayer to god is , that our governours may consider the great scandall that religion is under , while by our indignities to the clergy , that are not all of the current opinion , we not only turn a base calumny of our jesuited countreyman campion into a prophecy ; but also help to fulfill it ( nihil putidius clero anglicano , saith he , ) what a jubilee doth this cause to our adversaries , when they see the horsmen of our israel dismounted , and the chariot of government overthrown , at least disordered ; and our garments of beauty like a beggars vest , patched and clouted with shreds of all sorts and colours ; o what advantage do we give our adversaries , when our variances fill us fuller of animosity then holy zeal , which bright sun is seldom in the souls firmament contemporary with the moon of sensual passion : i wish that some would give way , and others not take the way of their brethren , but all endeavour to excell one another in humility . in moderateness : no mans humour is valuable with church peace : they who will carry all with high hand , and not bear with their fellow christians in lesser things , should consider the demeanour of their lord christ ; ille servare docendo homines studuit , hi perdere armia satagebant , that is , in scripture phrase , he came to do the will of his father , and to bear the reproaches of sinners , when they must have their wills , or we no peace with their consents . it was an excellent spirit of that gallant archbishop of colen in charls the fifth his time , and well were it if it were diffused amongst us ; for he ( good man ) when the emperour resolved to put prince adolph . in his place , making great warlike and invasive preparations against his territories , which would not only have wasted them but the neighbouring countries , by which thousands of innocent people would suffer ; generously , to prevent that mischief , absolved his subjects from their oaths , and resigned his right . if they that are eager to propogate their own tenents ▪ and cry up themselves for men extraordinarily illuminated , would think themselves less , and others more worthy then themselves , they would with jonah , indure any danger and diminution , rather then imperill multitudes of souls : in this case that of the poet is not true , solàmen miseris socior habuisse doloris . but i hope god will perswade lyons and lambs to lye down together ; and use learning and calm breeding as an instrument ( subservient to his grace ) for effecting here of ; for as the poet said — didicisse fideliter artes , emollit mores nec sinit esse feros . this made elder christians to their love one to another , adde a second expression of charity , con●isting in care of educating youth , and nourishing learned men in all sciences , as their tutors and conductors . for as the best built vessels will miscarry if they have not good pilots , and able steers-men , and the gainfullest ports are lost , if the seasons of making them be not observed : so are the greatest wits confounded by want of method , and all their promised usefulness immerged in their misconduction . charls the great was a prince of prudence and royal grandeur , aiming to raise pyramids of renown to his memory , and to be called the patron of learning , of him mutius reports , that he endowed men of science , and eminent artists , with honorable pensions , and gave them personal respect . and in the imperial laws there are numerous constitutions to this purpose . yea lupoidus de babenberg tells us , that the old germune princes , and those potestates of the roman empire , held themselves in honour most bound ( next the immediate service of god ) to encourage and disperse learning thorowout their territories . and though i doubt not but mercy hath rewarded that charity which is from them accepted , and there can be no addition to them by our eulogium's , yet that their examples may animate others to do worthily , and rest renowned , as they , i shall enumerate such instances of charity as i judge pertinent to my purpose . for i hold it very uncomely , that such worth ( as was in a brave soul , the jewel of his time , ) an aurelian , who made the world roman , learned and civil , should be concealed . it seems to be a monstrous ingratitude , that such a fautor of learning as maecenas , should have no writer of his praise . if the jews presented the builder of a synagogue amongst them , as worthy christs compassion , i will be bold to tender noble emperours , christian kings , learned popes , puissant princes , charitable subjects , founders of schools of learning , in all quarters of christendome as worthy of due honour and mention . i mean not to mention those asian schools which we reade of in eusebius and others , because i have elsewhere touched on them . nor can it be expected , those vo●illating times could afford such liberall charities , as since peace and settlement hath blessed the world with ; those academies were rude , because the times were barbarous ; but when christianity became epidemical , and power was baptized into the name of christ , then charity displayed her self this way : no nation ▪ but has her academies and schools publick , besides their private gramman-schools . i f●●de about 20. academies in germany , one of which is that of vienna , founded in an. 1239. by the emperor frederick the second , to the end , that he might leave to his son and successor contrade , an orderly empire abounding with learned men , and being environed wi●● heir . counsels b●●ght be invincible . in italy twelve , of which bononia is most ancient , founded by theodo sius junior , in anno : 420. in the charter whereof is this passage , if any one be so bold and haughty , injuriously to offend any student going to or coming from this vniversity , he shall be punished with death . in france 16. in the netherlands 6. in denmark and poland 5. in spain , arragon , casteele and portuagall , abo●t . 16. all which owne for their founders , men of piety , bounty , and blood. nor have our worthy ancestors been remiss in this kinde ; for the two sisters ; whose milky breasts have nourished such multitudes of learned children , leave testimony from a learned man and a forraigner , to have in them more commodities to encourage is 〈◊〉 men , then all the world besides : he that considers their great revenues , august stru●●ures , ample priviledges , prudent statutes , orderly government , frequent exercises , will confess that their founders were wise and noble , that their improvement ought to be suteable , and so blessed be god it hath : what brave princes they have educated , what noble statesmen they have compleated , what renowned church-men they have instructed , what able countrey-gentlemen they have accomplish'd , yea what catholick-artists have there studied ; the nation , the world knows , and to the nations honor owns ? do not the foundations there perennate the name of their founders ? are they not lasting pedegrees of honor to their families ? surely yes . we that are living ought to praise god for their bounty , and to mention them with gratitude , i will not repeat what elsewhere i mentioned ; onely know all men , that the clergie have not been sparing in their bounty to our universities , no nor have the nobility and gentry withdrawn their helping hand . by the noble kings edward the second and third was kings college began and finished ; elizabeth , queen to edw. the 4 th and henry the 6 th , founded and inlarged queens college ; elizabe●h countess of clare , founded clare hall ; margaret countess of richmond and darby , stipended a professor of divinity , and added much to christs and s t johns college ; john keyes founded keyes college ; king hen the 8 th , and his daughter queen mary , founded trinity college ; and frances sydney countesse of sussex founded sidney college ; and the last , but not the least , is emanuel college , founded by sir walter mildmay k t , chancellor of the exchequer , and one of the privie councel to queen elizabeth , of late and famous memory ▪ whose zeal to god in that glorious work , hath been rewarded in the success of mens studies there , and their usefulness after in the church and state ; in the number of which , the grave and pious b● of norwich yet , living deservedly is reckoned , and it ●●●ely had one , though not bred in it , yet head of it , ( o mihi locum ▪ suavem ubi incipit occasio sio memorandi & nom●●andi suavissimi odor is virum , ) dr richard holdisworth , a man of holy life , pure belief , matchless industry , profound speculation , fitted both for the ghaire and pulpit . but alas , he is dead , and it also must decay and come to a period ; but o lord cause the sun that threatens its ruine never to arise ; may that day never come , wherein good men say , we have no pleasure in it ; let it ever yield faithfull and usefull persons both to church and state ; let no son of violence come neer it ; peace be within its walls , and prosperity be to all its members and b●●ne factors ; for it hath been a fruitfull mother of many beauteous and admirable , virtuous and learned children ; quid faciam ? vocem pectori negare non valeo , amor ordinem nescit . nor hath oxford been without her number of noble benefactors ; of the clergy i say here nothing , because they are otherwhere remembred : amongst the laity , baleol king of scots whilehe was prsoner here founder of baleol college ; s r william peter secretary to edw. 6 th , augmenter of exeter college : s r thomas white alderman of london , restorer and augmenter of s t johns : d r hugh price founder of alban hall : and m r wadham founder of wadham college , are ( with all due veneration ) to be remembred : nay i could wish , our emulation were to excell them , in this or some such kind of bounty ; men live in a charity longer then in children , and obtain a name better then those of sonnes and daughters ; but if we be too cold and chill to be provoked to do good , i pray god never to permit us to do evil ; if learning be not advanced , let it never be injured by us : 't was a brave speech of h. 8 th in the parliament house anno 37 regni , if i contrary to your expectation , should suffer the ministers of the church to decay , or learning which is so great as jewel to be minished , or poor , or miserable , to be u●relitved ; you might say that i were no trusty friend to you , nor charitable to mine , even christian , neither a lover to the publike wealth , nor yet one that feared god. and it is the glory of the medicean family , that they have ever loved learning , and cherished learned men , for which they are noted to be blest with riches and honour above most houses fn europe . let men in place and powe● take heed , all they do to inoculate their names into the stock and rolls of royalty , amounts to nothink if they disoblige the learned ; for though prowess and hardiness , diligence and wealth , are great advancements to glory , yet they are things perishable , and have no influence on succession ; when the lyon is dead or disarm'd , then every body beards him , ( and goliah deserves to be infulted upon , who defied , when in his array , and in the head of philistims , both israels god and israels host : ) but he that hath been a bounteous and brave prince , good in office to religion and learning , may expect after his death to live in the eternity of historians pens and orators tongues , and have encomiums like that of leo the tenth ; thou o learned leo , art the worlds darling ; all man-kind are enamoured with thee , as the restorer of peace , the determiner of warre , the establisher of safety , the calmer of strifes , the father of studies , and the fosterer of student , the great patron of ingenuity . and for my part i almost think cardinall richilicu half recompenced for all the invectives against him , in that epitaph the schoo●s of sorbon made upon him ; i le mention but part of it to avoid prolixity . hic oriundus a regibus aut pro regibus , superavit seipsum , major aliis & semper se minor , &c. and then concludes ; though richlieu be dead , yet his wisedem lives to move europe ; yea he lives in the schools of sorbon , in which nothing dies , but hath immortality of fame : the knowledge of this hath so convinced great spirits , that they , next to the gods , have been awed by nothing more then the fear of being disgusted by men of learning ; though caesar made great changes in rome , yet he not only dealt gently , but liberally with learned men . omnes medicinam romae professores & liberalium artium doctores , quo libentius & ipsi urbem incol●rent , & caeteri appeterent , civitate donavit . there are other instances of the charity of elder times , to poor of all sorts , whether of noble houses decayed , or ingenious callings antiquated , or the like , but i pass them by ; concluding , that no encouragement to art answers those of rewards and honours : for as s r edward deering witily wrote , great rewards do beget great . endeavours : and certainly when the great bason and ewer are taken out of the lottery , you shall have few adventurers for small plate and spoons only : if any man could cut the moon all out into little starres , although we might have still the same moon , or as much in small peeces , yet we shall want both light influence . thus much of the second head , under which i reduced the glory of elder times , their charity . i come , now to the last , the policie of former times ; not that policie of circum vention , but of government , by which laws , honesty , property and civil order were immured . i do not propose any scholasticall or nice stating of these severalities , under heads precisely to their nature , but so i rank them , as may give me method to write of , and the reader some little delight to read them . as then the foundations of buildings are first to be well laid before the superstructure can go forward ; so in affairs of government , the reason and method is univocall ; laws are the supports of government ; which made the philosopher say , no laws no cities : laws , are the boundaries of lust and lawlesness , without them lust ( saith m r pym ) will be a law , covetousness and ambition will become laws : laws are as necessary to polities , as physitians to naturall bodies , and as cyrus said well , they must needs be unjust , who will not be obsequious to laws , which are beneficiall to all ; and when they are just and lasting , equally respect all that are to be bound by them . it is the frailty of our nature to trespass upon lenity ; therefore wise men care not how severe magistrates are when they are just , because they resolve not to provoke . governours that are prudent , consider laws under two regards , as initiall and constitutive , as subsidiary and establishing what is already well disposed ; for changes seldom advance peace , but multiply the care and insecurity of the changers ; to prevent which , governours eye disorders at that distance , in which they are least dangerous , and put irons in them , ere they break prison to publick annoyance ; as an advised physitian , who sees a disease in the matrix of ill humours , when ( as it were ) the materia ex qua is hardly massed , long before it be articulate and quick ; or as apelles , who saw protogenes his art in the carriage of his pensill but half a line : laws , like nets ought to lye round , to compass all offenders : and those who ( being subjects ) hope by their greatness to be priviledged from the command of them , either meet with no governours worthy their place , or no laws worthy their name : the generall end of laws is order , for all laws are either mandative of duty , or tuitive of property , or remunerative of vertue , or punitive of vice , all which tend to order , and order is then rightly cared for , when to superiors duty , to equals love , to inferiors pity , and to all justice is given , and whereever these are in any sort omitted , either the law is too short , or the executioner too remisse . god as he is the first in order and dignity , so the great and supream law giver , when first he permitted mans prog up and down the world for a livelihood , he gave him his credentials according to which he should negotiate , this was the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the unwritten law , graven by the finger of god in the tables of mans heart , though blurred by sinne , yet never so to be erased , but that it had power of accusing or condemning , so said the apostle , for when the gentiles which have not the law do by nature the things contained in the law , these having not the law are a law unto themselves , which shew the work of the law written in their hearts , their conscience also bearing witnesse , and their thoughts accusing or excusing one another . what this radical law was , and how farre it reached is somewhat above me to determine : but this is plain , that from the right use of this law there is enough to make us know god , our selves , and our neighbour , and to abhor injury to any of them . 't is true , god explained this law by superadded laws which he gave his people the jews , and according to the equity of which we christians proceed , but he never superseded or nulled that primitive law ; but rather strengthens it by these latter . though the fairest draught of this law was that on the heart of adam , yet the remains of that divine art is admirable in the heart of every man , who from that is taught to love and fear god as the most excellent good , and to do every thing as in his sight , yea , not to do wickednesse because of the divine adversation to it . there are amongst the learned those that specifie the heads of this law written in the heart ; our late deceased selden out of the rabbins reduces them to six heads , idolatry , blasphemy against god , shedding of bloud , incest , theft , judiciall proceedings , and they farther say , that after the floud there was added a seventh against eating of bloud . i purpose not to say any thing of this further then to shew the necessity of laws to keep nature in awe , and the great use of them ; for what saint chrysostome saith of governours that say i of laws , their right hand , if people had no rulers and magistrates , men would have lives lesse calm then wilde beasts do , and would not only snarl at but wholly devour one another . as god commended the use of laws by his first compiling of them , so hath he principled man with dispositions desirous of and conformable to laws ; no family , no combination , no number of men but have their laws , customes , and usages according to which in matters of all natures they proceed ; if there be any casus omissi , they consult about them , and make prudent provisions concerning them for the future . the law of nature is the generall law of mankinde ; a law immutable hath been and ever will be what it was till it cease by dissolution ; what was to adam a sin by the light of nature , is no lesse a sinne to us by light of the same nature : to disobey our creator , to forget reverence to our own selves , to do injury to those that live with us ; these and sundry such things are abusions to nature , and against the law of it . upon this text of nature , men in all ages have largely commented , and the severall laws of nations are as so many pandects and multiform cases upon the institutions of god in nature , god hath given man understanding to proportion government to the best advantage of civil society ; the authority to rule is gods , the frame of government mens ; they at first order it as seems best to the advantage of them and their people . in all governments there hath been great care to compile laws with advice , and to execute them answerably ; therefore the more innocent times and people resigned themselves and theirs to the pleasure and conduct of their religious and holy men , or to such martiall spirits as yet were guided by them , and wholly rested on their sagacity for conduct : it was no vulgar policy to possesse people that law-makers had colloquy with the gods in the contexture of their laws , the nature of man by a voluntary and yet in a sort awed propension , believing best of that which came from the divine supervising : and indeed there were no laws ever made or continued good , but such as have their patern from that lustre and equity which is in the divine law , whether in pure nature or in sacred writ ; for while law-makers consulted with themselves and endeavoured to enter●ize their powers , and entail to their families the glory of soveraignties , they were apt to embase laws by mixtures of injury , which lacquied to their usurpations ; and while they had rewards and honours to bestow , wanted not parafites to excite them thereto , and orators to defend them , with pretended reason for so doing ; but when they consulted with right , equity and justice , and considered that to oppress others to right ones self was injury , and a plausible ground of the oppresseds conspiracy against their oppressors , and that they ought not to do as they would not be done by , then they betook themselves to equaller distributions , or to such designs of prudence as gave them honourable establishments by consent ; and so volenti non sit injuria . of all the law-givers that i reade of none more absolute then moses , yet none more ingenious , the nobility of his minde and the tendernesse of his conscience would not permit him to fix rule upon his family , he left the dispose of it to god whose it was . there is a second much to be admired , it was mycithus servant to anaxilaus tyrant of the rhegini , who had by his dying master commended to him the government of his kingdom and children ; but he carried himself so gently and justly all the time of his viceroyship , that the people thought themselves governed by a person neither unmeet for rule , nor too mean for the place ; and when his regency grew out by the full age of his masters children , he resigned his power to them , and therewith the riches he had accumulated , accounting himself only their steward , and contented himself , parvo viatico , living at olympia to old age , very privately , but with great respect and serenity ; a great temptation to be other then he was , but a greater vertue to be as he was . these two ( i say ) denied themselves much , and were excellent rulers , but for the most part law-givers have done otherwise , fuerunt bona principia quod oppressam voluit defendere civitatem , mali eventus quod superatis dominis & ducibus savis graviùs ipse civitatem quassavit , qui se publicae calamitatis fore promiserat defensorem . and many times in so doing not amisse ; for where no injury is done who so fit for government as those who know the rule of government , and will use what means conduceth to the preservation of government against all who either by fraud endeavour to subvert , ot by hostility to vanquish it as a subject to their levelling triumphs . of all the heathen worthies none more famous for their laws then lycurgus among the greeks , and numa in the romane common-wealth , the former wrote his laws in bloud , having the sergeants of death attending those that violated them , and but requisite it was he should so do who had fierce and fallacious greeks to deal with : where sampsons of destruction are there must be cords of adamant to keep them under with : the latter was so milde , that next to the care of the gods , for he was ( religion● deditissimus ) he thought nothing more precious then perswasion or compulsive on men then a convicting moderation ; and so often as i reade of his politique laws , i am amazed to think how he that never did any warlike thing , or ever had any powred force about him , should do and settle as he did , a●d never be opposed in it ; but then was then , government as an ordinance of the gods was honoured , and men were not so hardy to provoke de●ties , but zealous by all means they could to appease them , and preserve them tutolar of them ; this made government easie , and laws fewer in number and lesse tart in their nature . the adaptation of laws to persons and times , explorates notably the counsel of law-makers . all nations are not to be indulged or prohibited alike , nor at all times , nor in all methods and waies ; as in language and habit so in conversation , governours are in policy to comply somewhat with their subjects ; rattles please children , and small concessions people , who if enraged will rest satisfied with nothing beneath their own will , and perhaps their magistrates ruine , but yet that is sometimes to be withstood when they ask what is neither fit for the magistrate to grant or them to have . of all laws those of justinians methodizing commonly called the civil laws or laws of nations , are the largest for extent , as the common laws of england are the most free in their concessions and indulgence ; of the first to say much is needlesse , there are infiuity of volumes in commendation of them : indeed the peace and communicat●e sociablenesse of one nation with another , the stability of their pacts and amities , the bounds of mine and thine so justly kept , are testimonies more then can be refuted : somewhat then of the chief heads of the goodnesse of ancient laws and canons . 1. they established propriety , and declared the rule of justice , not only between man and man , nation and natio , but also between subject and soveraign , yea , in a sort betwixt god and man. by laws canonique and civil were religious men and religious things set apart continued and preserved to religious uses . had it not been for good magistrates such as constantine , theodosius , and later as worthy ; there had been a seisure of all the houses of god in the world to the use of prophanesse , priests might have wandred in wildernesses , sabbaths have given way to wakes , sermons to interludes , sacraments to bacchanalian feasts . had it not been for laws the strongest had been the best , and the wickedest the wisest man , for such sometimes thrive most : the beggar would have praied no dole at the rich mans gate , nor the rich man have had out of which to bestow an alms , nor yet to relieve himself : had it not been for laws vices would have been vertues and vertues have heard the reproach of pusillanimity . were not laws , small offences would be beneath and great above punishment ; nay , what could be an offence when there was no rule against which it was an offence ? it were well for nero and his sect of monsters if there were neither clerk to recor nor law to bound their follies : but it is to the good of humane society , that there is this restraint upon exorbitancy , and this encouragement to good and order . the ancients were very zealously addicted to their laws and customes , not more out of superstition then policy , they knew that uno dato absurdo , mille sequuntur , therefore when they saw mischief bold and menacing , they gave it , if not the ill welcome of a sturdy allay , yet of a taunt and scornfull invective , sometimes the cry is fures privatorum furtorum in nervo atque in compedibus vitam agunt , fures publici auro atque purpurâ , sacrilegia minuta puniurtur magna in triumphis feruntur , and when vertues declined , and outrages plaied their prize , but for triall of activity , yet were they punished with much useful severity , cato vticensis his son was banished but for breaking the pitcher of a girl that brought it by him with water , which she had drawn for her use ; and the son of famous cinna but for robbing an orchard , and yet both these offendors were children under 15. years of age apeece . acrius illo aevo in errata joco admissa , quam hodiè in flagitia seriò , & ex destinato facta . and when changes for the worse grew epidemicall , then even milde marcus antoninus gravely and resolutely censures them : so ( my pollio ) let the immortal gods love me , so may my hand be prosperous in warre as i judge rightly , that he who in this time is of most exemplary conversation , hardly is compararable to the most dissolute of former times . and in another place bemoaning rome he ●anches out into this pathetique , can this be beleeved to be rome , in which anciently and in the golden age lived venerable fathers , modest young men , well-disciplin'd souldiers , most just senators and censors ; is this rome nothing losse so farre from what wontedly it was , that it hath no footstep , no shadow , no appearance of old rome . and paterculus seconds him , rome is not what it was , watchings are turned to dead sleeps , courage is drowned in effaeminacy , industry invaded by idlenesse . o the happinesse of those ages wherein scipio aemilianus lived , who said , thought , or did nothing but what was praiseworthy : and aemilius paulus , a man as fully meriting praise as vertue could make him ; and cate one most like vertue and in wisedom liker a god then man , who never did well for vain-glory but because he could not doe otherwise , who judged that most reasonable which was most just , whose minde was ever under the power of vertue , and concluded that best which was his part to undergo . or livius drusius whom paterculus cals the most noble , the most eloquent , the most devout of men . well might those be called the gemmy ages which abounded with such not almost to be credited worthies , the least flaw in the manners of men will appear , when such polisht tables of crystall stand amongst them , who both have wisedome to make laws , and credit enough with the people to sway them to obedience to them so made . and as their laws were dear to you , so was every thing of order and honesty much in their eyes to preserve and deliver over to posterity , what care took they to keep up the pale of distinction ? how unwilling to suffer ataxie to peep through the least cranny of government ? what exemplary outsides did they speak by to after ages ? how observant were they of gestures and habits , which if not comely and according to warrantable and customary mode , heard ill ; there was no rank of persons but kept precisely to their fashions and robes , and were ridiculous out of them : how vehemently did s t cyprian and tertullian inveigh against christian women , imitating heathens in their attire , recalling them from their vain tricking and trimming , their embroideries and costly arrays to the wonted way of matron-like modesty ? and in a perswasive and oratorious addresse courts them to bedeck , themselves with vertues beseeming them ; to be loyall and loving to their husbands , to be houswisly , to keep home , to clothe themseves with the scarlet and purple of sweetnesse , piety , modesty more becoming them then gold and persumes , concluding so set out , even god will be in love with you : and this they did not only in order to god whom christians ought not to displease no not by appearance of evil , but to avoid the scandal of contrary doing , and to signifie that this world and the vanities of it were no further usefull to them , nor valued by them , when it fitted them , for running their race with patience , that so they might reach the reward with certainty : a good lesson for sober ladies to learn , for certes that of the civilians is most true , no action of inquiry lies in soro saeculi , for attempting the chastity of a woman , if she be habited as a lewd person , and not as a grave and civilly fashioned woman . nor are we to think habits of light and impertinent consequence , since antiquity eyed them as suspiciously dangerous to steal in vices by their excess , and to import more then they seem upon the first examen of them to do . the romans honoured cato for his grave habit : and the satyrist upbraid one that was vian that way . non pudet ad morem discincti vivere nattae ? and sulla in suetonius counsels the senate to beware of julius caesar , as one that was ominously clad . yea maecenas the favourite of augustus , is by the poet blamed as is believed under the name of malchinus . malchinus tunicis demessis ambulat . and nothing had like to have ruined alexander so much , as that mutiny in his army about change of his macedonian habit and manners for the persian . i know god is no respecter of persons and habits , he views the heart , and if that be upright , all is well towards him : but man who judgeth by the judgement of discretion and visibility , cannot but conclude a weighty mind concerned to express it self in an unantique habit , for cloathes and company tell tales in a mute but significant language . as to the stating of fashions i pretend nothing , nor think i there is any precise rule to be observed ; it is one of those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and arbitrary things which prudence and custom justly may be dictator of : only the restraint is against vanity and affectation of what is not sutable to our station and condition , to our sex and age : vests of youth ill beseem backs of age , and as badly suit , as esaus rough hands with jacobs smooth voice ; or as instruments , which by their discordant notes , unadapted to answer each other , are wide from making up a consort : observation and conversation are the best conductors herein : religion hath no rule to prescribe in lesser things , where conveniency , and a due proportion to our condition is studied , and offence not vainly given . only methinks it is not fit that persons whose ancestors were as it were anonymous , should arrogate paragaudae's , which became only those whose families were supream , and whose commands were soveraign . i wish christians to study the adorning of their souls , and to look that they abound in faith and good works . hic est habitus victoriae nostrae haec palmata vestis , as tertullian said alluding to the garments of triumph used by the heathens . and after that not to despise things of civil distinction , but advance them . for order and honorary differences are morall and universally owned by mankinde , and not cancelled by christianity , which corroborates , and to all worthy ends , improves them . next , the ancients were full of ingenuity disdaining to molest neighbours ; and inferre violence upon no grounds of provocation , they thought nationall compacts too sacred to be violated upon reasons unreasonable in the judgement of honour and conscience . the historian tels us , the romans alwaies took arms upon weighty and just grounds . force is ill imployed , when injuries may be recompensed upon the demands of the sufferer , and as harsh doth it seem to generous ears , to buy victory rather then win it . i know the common rule is that which livy reports of the grecians , who held it more glorious to outwit then out fight an enemy . and this adgandestricus a prince of the catti knew well , which made him profer his service to the romans to poyson ariminus their enemy , which they bravely refused , saying , the romans did not use private means to dispatch enemies , but to reduce them by force in the field . and truly it befitted roman spirits to do nothing in the dark , for by how much the more their craft , by so much less their prowess wherein they chiefly gloried , appeared ; according to that of aurellius , who tels us , that amongst them was counted generous and gallant , which was obtained by courage : when men were loather to incurre the shame of an ill accomplisht victory , then undergo the penance of an honest misfortune ; when leagues were not beleagured , and victor'd , by unjust sollicitings of advantage to the prejudice of right . let the consul pius be a warning to all men in command , by commission from romans , for he overcame the sarmatae by wine , whom he should have dealt with by battel ; and though he saved roman blood , yet he lost roman glory , for which he was adjudged to lose his life , and the reason the senators ordered to be epitaph'd , upon him was , hoc voluere patres romani extare sepulchrum . vt ducibus foret ▪ exemplum speculumque futuris . nam justis hostes precibus placare vel armis vincere non vitiis , his deliciosa decorum est , vna quibus cordi est , romanae gloriae gentis . further they were very express in asserting the honour and rights of magistrates , and defending them as the defenders of church and state ; for since government is of god , governours , while such , are to be reverenced by men under their subjection : and well they deserve it : for true princes are as he in stobaeus said of them , not swayed by avarice but reason , favour honest freedom , practise magnanimity , and contemn neither the meanest friend , or abjects foe . but remember to take and consider . agatho●s counsell , that they rule men : ought to rule according to law : and must not ever rule . this well digested will make them glorious in the catalogues of fame , and only covetous to deserve of their dominions , 't will intitle them to the blessing that attends peacemakers and peacepreservers . for what argues greater policy or merit in princes , then to keep their countries peaceable . in peace the learned thrive , and the ruder are instructed . in peace the gentleman keeps hospitallity , and the pesant gains wealth . in peace the merchant sends to sea roundly , and the lawyer quotes his books and presidents boldly . in peace both minister and people frequent their churches , not fearing to have their blood mingled with their sacrifice . in fine , peace assures men the command of their own , and gives a generall content , because a generall good . the historian giving an account of blessed times in rome , summes them up thu● , t●●c finita sunt bellae civilia ; sepulta exter●a revocata pa●● sopitus ●bique a●morum furor , restituta vis legibus judic●●s authoritas senatui majestas , redi●t cultus agris ; sacris honos , securitas hominibus , certa cuique rerum suarum possessio . and if the magistrate be the instrument of so great emolument to subjects , if he mannage his affairs with clemency , shunning cruelty as the falsest guards of government ; if he prevent factious and uproars , which sometimes make such havocks of men , as would force a compassionate patriot to cry out with me●●●rates , o unhappy country which within thy self hast destroyed so many worthy men as would have sufficed to conquer all the nations barbarous . wherein can he be loved and encouraged beyond his deserts ? kings , princes and fathers of their countries must have the honour of reverence to their persons , of obedience to their laws , of patience to their punishments , of maintenance to their estates , and of fidelity to their crowns : and if governours be lesse carefull and obliging , to pray for their amendment , is more christian , then to contrive their ruine . god hath armed his saints with prayers and faith , by which they overcome the world and all the injuries of it . and good men own gods will , confining and concluding theirs : what they want in the hands of force and power ▪ they have in the wings of faith and prayer ▪ and by how much the liker men they are who revenge injuries ▪ the more of the likeness of god they have who pass them by as unworthy their revenge . next elder times were considerable in their care to educate their children , which luther saith , is res seria & quae christi universaeque christianitatis plurimum intersit , not lightly and to antique frolicknesse , but to the precise square of vertue , and in proportion to their fut●re probabilities and dispose of life : c●to would do nothing before his children but what he would do before the vestall nuns ; and good parents will not permit children to do ought in their sight which is ●ncomely without reproof and high disallowance ; there is nothing so great a f●et to the mindes nobility as idlenesse and inoccupancy , which made the elder ages educate their children thriftily , and in some kinde of toil : the patriarchs and their posterity kept flocks , watching them by day and night ; and most of the nations eastern and northern busied their youth in some art manual , not only to keep their fancy from wander , but also to be a hidden stock for them whatever distresse god should cast them into ; it is a good proverb amongst us , breeding is no burthen ; if many mens hands a●d arts had not ministred to their necessities , they might have begged their bread , and been bare-back'd for want of cloathing : it was a notable providence of ethelward the grandchilde of great alfred the saxon , who had many children , sons and daughters ( all after great pri●ces and princesses ) yet thus they were brought up ; his daughters he set to spinning , and to the needle , his sons to the study of learning , vt quasi philosophi ad rempublicam gerendam non jam rudes procederent , a very noble president worthy the imitation of every one , who ( as the proverb saies ) knows his beginning but not his ending , and may be brought to a condition so abject and necessitous , that he may wish he had been the childe of a corydon rather then heir to a greater person : that may befall any one which reproachfully is written of cardinal richlieu , parvus cinis modo est qui magnus ignis fuit , teter fumus nunc est ▪ qui nuper coruscans splendor , ●omnium oculos perstringebat . inheritances are no durable freeholds of mortality , riches have wings , and that which hath wings will away ; honours are the bitter sweets which choak more then they make happy ; in the court of h. 8. was a noblemans son that said , it was enough for noblemens sons to winde their horn , and carry their hawk fair , and that study was for children of a meaner rank ; to whom doctor pace nobly replied , that then noblemen must be content that their sons winde their horns and carry their hawks , while meaner mens sons do wield affairs of state. those only are praearm'd against changes who rest upon this world but as uncertain , and know how to lay their mouths in the dust , when there is onely hope for them in their humiliation , and to earn their bread by labour when toyl and travell is by god designed their portion and penance ; let no man disdain poverty and reproach the abjectnesse of that condition , lest he curse himself and his posterity , who may time enough , and sooner then they expect , come to ecclipse ; families have ebbs , and honours have their syncope's ; sad is the story of the great warlike belisarius who served the emperour justinian , and wanted nothing that this world could present to his accomodation , whom his master loved , and his souldiers so respected that they would not disobey his commands in any thing , suidas sets him out as a guard to property , none of his souldiers durst violate any man , nor take any fruit from the trees in their march , so valiant and expert in conduct that with 8000 greeks he chased almost 200000 goths out of italy , recovered all asia from the vandals , and by a grave and resolute epistle to totilas the goth , diverted his course against rome , and prevented its ruine ; yet this man after all his merit is by the power of trebonianus chancellor to the emperour ▪ reduced to such a condition , that he was not only ( as write some ) strip't of all , and a guard set upon him , as a publique enemy , but ( as others report ) had his eyes put out , and was reduced to such want , that he was enforced to get a little shed by the high-way sideclampt up , wherein he kept , making moan to the passers by , and praying them thus , date stipem belifario , quem rerum prosperè gestarum magnitudo extulit , & nec error , sed livor , & inimicorum invidentia excoecavit . there is then policy in parents to breed children thriftily and to industry , and prudence in children while they may , to take it , and to imbibe it with all greedinesse ; forasmuch as the evil day may come wherein what we can do will more steed us then moneys , lands , friends , times may come that will try the greatest and dismount the proudest , happy he that hath his quiver full of those artifices that may befriend him in his want , which idlenesse and vain education will not doe . i will conclude this head of elder times policy in writing of books warily , and cautioning that books of publique offence to true religion , be either not written , or when written suppressed , or at least stigmatiz'd ; there is nothing more to the honour of god then to propagate his gospel by pen , and to confute gainsayers at distance and by argument , and by nothing is errour more wo●nded then when it is denied safe conduct , when it passes by chance and as a spy , not by license ; s t augustine tels us of imperiall laws made against both heathen worships , hereticall writings and outrages ; and i reade of marcianus his edict against nice and uselesse disputations of divine mysteries , yea honorius and theodosius commanded the books of prophane men written against the honour of religion , and in defiance of the church , to be burned ; in s t jeroms time origens book 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was ill resented by the orthodox ; ruffinus and pammachius carp at the father for translating it , and charge the errors therein upon him , as making them legible by his edition of them , which otherwise would not have been understood ; and s t jerom is forced to answer it thus , what i did i did to discover truth , do you think me an interpreter ? proditor fui , prodidi haereticum ut ecclesiam ab haereticis vindicarem . ruffinus is charged by pope anast●sius to have affixed a martyrs name to an hereticall book , on purpose to have it take more and spread farther ; the book of the trinity charged on tertullian was not his , no nor s t cyprians , but a novatians : it hath been ever a course in the church of god to censure and inhibit books and disputations which tend to destruction and not to edification , and is so farre from being , an entrenchment on christian liberty , or a burthen to tender consciences , that it argues a high and holy zeal well becoming christian polities and governors , 't was good counsel maecenas gave augustus , vt ipse deos moribus patriae receptos colat & ad eundem cultum alios compellat , nec deorum contemptorem qu●m permittat , aut prestigiatorem tolerot haud dubium nihil magni futurum qui deos contempserit . having thus shortly given a touch upon some of the most remarkable vertues of antiquity and elder christians ; my conclusion aims to draw an humble parallell to these excellent presidents from the notable christians and christian practises of this once glorious church the church of england : i know , comparisons are odious , and it ill becomes us to vye with fathers and martyrs , whose lives have been lights , and deaths harvests to after-times , yet in this case i conceive it pardonable to advance the mercy of god to us by this just and warrantable vindication , and the rather because our mothers miseries seem to be a most triumphant gratification to her enemies , making them conclude her forsaken of god because smitten by men , and advantageth the interest of the papacy , as cardinall sfondrato upon the like grounds in his negotiations with charles the fifth ▪ noted : to give then this inflammation some lenitive , and to return their insultation a gentle refutation ; i shall hope by gods leave to present her as famous for order and enconragement of learning , and her professors as remarkable for their piety , charity , and policy as any christians that preceded them , and that not only before but also since the reformation of this church in the abjuration of popery . first then , the church of england since the reformation hath had sundry pious princes and prelates , who have with warm zeal maintained the honour of scripture , allowing it the only rule of faith both in the direct precepts and necessary divine consequences drawn from it , forbidding all traditions in competition with it , all adulteration in allay of it , and commanding its translation purely out of not understood tongues , into the mother language , that people might know and hear the will of god i● his word declared to them , and celebrating all church-services , so as people may be most edified by them ; this was no small advance from popery that religion grew english ▪ that care was taken that in the lessons and liturgies of our service pure scripture was read ; and if any of the apocrypha , which but rarely , yet that only which was morally virtuous , and least to be suspected or offensive . in this church , not only martyrs in the daies of queen mary died , but also bishops and presbyters numberlesse ever since , have preached and wrote for the honour of holy scripture , as that which contains all things necessary to salvation , so declare the articles of our church . and though ( with grief i write it ) all of place and learning amongst us , have not given scripture that testimony in their lives , but that a morall epictetus , or a seneca might upbraid them : yet the church in her aggregate consideration , and thousands eminent in her , have personally attested their obedience to scripture , and brought all doctrines to the test of it , according to that of the prophet , to the law and to the testimony , if they speak not according to that , 't is because there is no light in them . therefore in the stat. 1 eliz. c. 1. not the pope , not partiall and factious conventions , but the scripture is the judge of heresies , and counsels rightly convened , judging according to it . this the laity declared not but upon serious consultation with the clergy in convocation , that so every sanction might have its due weight . i know there have been those that contrary to scripture have brought in , though ( blessed be god they had no rooting ) dangerous doctrines and practises , threatning overthrow to our well-ordered discipline , by their innovating pragmatiqueness , but these were not owned by any publique canons or state laws , but upbraided as encroachments , and openly disgraced as scarres to our religion ; and some of those that furthered this have accounted to god and men , and therefore are to be passed over without further censure . the church hath ever been stanch and her doctrine apostolique , barked at by many , but overturned by none : traduced for new and worthless , but upon search found to be , as the apple trees among the trees of the wood , shady and fruitfull , comfortable in life , and pleasant at the hour of death . this made the l. cromwell in h. 8. time , in his last speech neer his death , call to the people to bear witness , that he died in the catholique faith , not doubting in any article of his faith , no nor doubting in any sacrament of the church : and all this , because the articles of faith were not founded upon s t francs , s t dominick , this pope , or that councill , but upon the scriptures , upon prophets and apostles , jesus christ being chief corner stone . 2. this church hath answered primitive times in care of government ecclesiastique . no nation in the world had a more thriving church then we : in none more purity , state , decency , learning then we : in no church the clergy more honestly priviledged and respected , then in ours ; wherein government was not at the ordinaries pleasure , but limited and confined by laws , and fettered to prevent impertinent domineering . in this government , according to the pattern of elder times was avowed the power of rulers and princes over all persons within , and pretenders from without their dominions , though not their power in sacris , yet circa sacros , & in sacros , which every person in orders was to subscribe to ; 1 eliz. c. 1. confirmed by 5 eliz. 1. so canon . 1. convocat . anno 1640. in this was maintained the antique episcopacy , as of divine right , and of annexed prelacy as of civil foundation and regall bounty : the sacred order of presbytery and the validity of ordination by imposition of hands , and holy separation to to the ministry . thirdly , this church of england hath answered antiquity in countenancing truth and opposing errour both in doctrine and manners : it hath ever yielded stout princes , who have been warm and kindled in the cause of god , against errours of all sorts . prelates and preachers have flourished in it , whose breasts and brains by constant reading and meditation became christs libraries . as s t jerom saies of nepotian , they that consider but the expences and rewards given by ed. the 6. to learned men sent for hither to assist in our refinement ; the grave councill took in the declaring of the christian faith , and doctrine of the sacraments , for avoiding of diversity of opinions , and for establishing of consent touching true religion , the zeal and open protestation of many of our prelates and professor● against toleration of popery : by name ▪ the not long since deceased primate of england , archbishop abbot , m r powell chaplain to the then bishop of london , d r su●liff dean of worcester , d r willes , d r hackwell and others : yea all the archbishops and bishops of ireland , as appears by the instrument read and pronounced by the then famous b. of derry , doctor downham , before god and the whole estate of ireland , at the cathedrall of dublin : the proceedings of king james with the states of holland in the case of vo●stius , and against others in the synod of dort , the synod of this nation in anno 1640. can. 3 ▪ & 4. against socinianism , yea and the judgements against ham●unt , 21 eliz. anno 1579. and lewis , 25 of the same queen , and hacket with others ; together with the many excellent laws , and prudent sanctions , for promoting the honour of god , by incouraging preaching , praying , and holy exercises , by commanding sanctification of the lords day , and prohibiting any servile work therein , with sundry other provisions of like nature . they ( i say ) that well weigh these things cannot but commend our churches well-grounded zeal . i wish those that rend from her would consider what s t jerom said to some in his time , segregas te cúm tuis vermulis , & nov●m balneum aperis , si te angelus aliquis aut apostolus rebaptizavit , non infringo quod sequeris ; si vero in sinu meo natus , si uberum meorum lacte nutritus , adversum me gladium levas , redde quod dedi , & esto si potes aliter christianus . fourthly , this church of england hath had the blessing of god accompanying her in her waies of study and practise , of general learning , and holy preaching : 't were endless to enumerate the learned bishops , laborious presbyters , renowned physicians , accomplisht lawyers , florid philologers , and practicall clerks bred up in her : yea so great , so considerable they were , that the whole body of the university of oxford , in an. 1603. published , there were then more learned men in the ministry in this land , then were to be found amongst all the ministers of the religion , in france , flaunders , denmark , germany , poland , geneva , scotland , or all europe beside . this touch concerning the piety of our church . no less her charity : this church was much at unity with it self , few snarling or factious spiritati's in her , all her notes were by the book : her language canonique , things were so carried , as offence to tender consciences might be as much as possible avoided ; i know there were ever , and ever will be smaller differences in the church , and who can help it , since god concludes them necessary , that those who are approved might be made manifest , &c. i am not ignorant that many bitter invectives and hot ragings were currant between the disciplinarian and conformable party , but yet ( i trust i may say ) they kept the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace , and were not alienated in affection each from other . nor were they wanting in works of charity to the poor , gods poor , and the nations poor , to both there are instances of charity , since the reformation and extrusion of the pope . i 'le begin with the renowned liberality of king ed. the 6. who by the advice of that after famous martyr , d r ridley , then lord bishop of london : and after his sermon preached at the court upon mercy and charity , was moved to found the hospitals of christ , for poor orphans , and of s t thomas and s t bartholmews for diseased people , besides which he gave great relief to house-keepers at their own houses : to perfect which charity the bishop travelled greatly , and brought the citizens of london into the work : to them and their successors for ever he gave the charge thereof , and on them setled lands to the value of 100 l per annum , with license to take lands in mortmaine to the yearly value of 4000 mark : all which he setled not above two daies before his death . at which time in the hearing of his councill he uttered these words , lord god , i yield thee most hearty thanks , that thou hast given me life thus long to finish this work to the glory of thy name . the greatest and most noble work that ever i read of done by one man , and he a subject , was that of the memorable gentleman m r thomas sutton ▪ the princely founder of the charterhouse , for the entertainment of youth and decayed gentlemen , who by maims in the warres , or other casualties had been ruined . the provision there is so bounteous , that it hath scarce a match to it in europe , the very house and appurtenances cost ▪ him to purchase 13000 l , which he endowed with five mannors in essex , two in lincoln , and eight in wiltshire , besides very many rich pasture grounds of near 4000. acres in that county , two in cambridgeshire ▪ besides his lands in hackney marsh and tottenham in the county of middlesex , and with all and singular the woods , reversions , presentations , and rights of him the said thomas sutton in any the aforesaid mannors . over and above this he hath given great gifts to poor towns , to mend high-waies , to loans of young men to set up trade with gratis ; to the prisons , to certain colledges , to make additions to his hospital ●5000 lb , and to the treasury of the house to defend their right , if need were 1000 lb and other gifts he hath given right liberally . next the royal foundations of the exchange for the meeting of persons of trade and business , and gresham college by s r thomas gresham , in part of which poor people are lodged and provided for , and in the rest lecturers in all the arts are allowed , is a most memorable act of charity and bounty . so also is that of s r thomas white lord mayor of the city of london , who first purchased glocester hall in oxford , and then founded and endowed s t johns college , built also grammar schools at bristol , reading , and a college at higham ferryes ; gave great legacies to poor clothiers , good stocks to 18 great towns in england ; and other things he did of like remark . but give me leave to mention the charitable foundation of sion college , which truly was a very gallant work and much an ornament to this metropolis , and would be a greater , were the library ( capacious enough to contain books ) more filled with them , and when i consider the diffusivenesse of such a work , and how much to oblige the publique a bounty of this nature doth import : i cannot but much encourage men to think no expence of money more provident for preservation of their memory then this , i judge men to live in the fame of a bountifull charity , more then in children or in any escocheon of honour . but i proceed to the numerous hospitals and houses of relief in the trust of the most faithful trustees of this nations charity , the worthy societies of london , the charitable distributions that they make , the compassionate hearts they expresse to their poor , precisely according to the will of the testators , and the bounty of their legacies encrease , testifies their fidelity ; i should swell too bigge to name the charities of the lord viscount cambden , sir john ramsey , m r kenrick , m r lamb , m r randolph , alder. hayden , m r blundell , m. chilcot , m r rogers , m r fuller , m r russell , m r gale , m r palin , m r d●ve , m , iones , m r goddard , m r aloworth , sir william cockain , and memorable s t paul pindar ; and herein they shame those of whoever they are who distort things charitably given to other uses then the donor appointed , which causes that of ennius to be verified , benefacta malè locata , malefacta arbitror . this for a short view ef reformation-charity . i come now to assert the reformations imitation in point of policy , policy , not of fraud , but necessary preservation , and that in the point of laws which are the tropicks upon which weal and woe wheel and move , wisedom commended and made , and courage preserved them so made from contempt ▪ that i have to adde is my observation , that good laws were chief in the care of the best times , it was wont to be the ambition of governours to serve the church first , and respect her security most ; the learned vivaldus speaking of the excellency of the kings of france saies , semper pro legibus & juribus ecclesiae dei , summorumque pontificum soli fideliter decertarunt , and in times past with us acts of parliament began with something like this , in honorem dei & sanctae matris ecclesiae statuimus : so begins ( in effect ) magna charta , pr o west . 25. ed. 1. 1 & 2 ed. 3. the 5. 15. 25. 28. ed. 3. and many others : yea , to secure the church was the first care of the parliament , ed. 6. ann . 1. c. 1. 1 el. c. 2. 1 k. james 4. 3 of the same king c. 4. & 5. and it was a brave speech of sir edward deering in the parliament 10 nov. 1640. had it been hearkened to ; let the sword reach from the north to the south , and a general perdition of all our remaining rights and safety , threaten as in open view , it shall be so farre from making me to decline the first setling of religion , that i shall ever argue and rather conclude it thus , the more great , the more eminent our perils of this world are , the stronger and quicker ought our care to be for the glory of god and the pure law of our souls . i neither may wholly omit nor shall i write much of our laws , though i think they make the best judgement of happiness who rely on that foundation which the experience of many hundred years hath given proof of , and deservedly ought they to be admired , while they assert property and abhor injustice : yea , when they are so necessary to keep subjects up to the duty of loyalty ▪ that a great master of them wrote not long since , he that takes away the laws takes away not the allegiance of one subject alone but of the whole kingdom ▪ and therefore corrupt judges and he●dy parasites who desgrace the good laws of this nation ▪ and misguide governours ( who with reason and warrant enough enquire of and are conducted by them as men of skill , and as they think conscience ) have ever been severely punished , and by few ●ober persons pitied , as by name hubert de burgh , pierce , gaveston and the spencers , trifilion and the earl of oxford , henry de la pool , lord hastings , catesby , and the duke of buckingham , empson and dudley , card. wolsey , yea , for injustice all the judges in h. 4. time but m●tingham and beckingham were removed and f●ned , so that he that considers the punishment of trea●on● , murther , rapes , riots , and all kindes of injury , that weighs ▪ the ●ecurity of trials for life and livelihoods by juries of gentlemen and free-holders of fortune and fidelity ▪ he that views the judges in their circuits , the justices of peace in their shire● , mayors and bayliffs in their corporations , and constables in their liberties , would wonder any disorder should arise , much more passe unpunished . but alas men are but men , and god suffers some to give their conscience challenge to disturb them : judges who are men of years , fortune , and learning , sworn to do right and to preserve men in so doing , are highly accountable to god , if fear or favour make them warp : they should remember what that noble virgin queen said , when her attorney generall came near her , and the lord burleigh told her , here is your graces attorney general , qui sequitur pro domina regina , no , said she , i 'le have the words altered , qui sequitur pro domina veritate : and when they do not as they ought between prince and people , man and man , they deserve the judgement which judge belknap spake of , and which they often adjudge lesser offenders to then themselves , and if by craft or the favour of men , they escape punishment here , god sometimes suffers them to run the course of morgans and hankeford , and others , yea , of one who a little before his end dreamed , that he saw all the devils in hell haling and tugging him in peeces , and all those whom he had murthered crying out for vengeance against him , which the historian saith , non esse somnium sed conscientiam scelerum . i know there are great temptations on brave men , even in the best times ▪ man is altogether vanity , and acted by motives altogether unworthy him , yet ought good men to eye god and consider his commands , which bound governours to rule justly and soberly , as well as subjects to obey loyalty and will take account of the errors in both , and in both punish them ; thus m●ch for the goodnesse of our laws and the zeal of our countreymen to them . after the example of antiquity this nation hath been very observant of their habits , not so changeable as the french , nor so austere as the spaniard , but between both , the dresse of wise men being ordinarily such as hath least of prodigality in the matter , and affectation in the manner of setting it forth ▪ i know it was an old itch of this nation to affect the guises of other people ; andrew bord an english priest going about to paint an english man , drew divers designs of him , at last was fain to draw him a naked man with a pair of sheers in one hand and cloth in another , as who should say , fashion your garment to your own minde , for none can please you ; and upon this reason were there divers acts of parliament in ed. 3. & ed. 5. h. 8. p. & mary , & q. elizabeth reigns , made against excesse of apparel , but by the 1 jacob , all were repealed , so that now i thin● no act is in force for apparell , yet 't is pity we of this nation are not of our selves more regular then we are : the best cure for excesse herein is governours presidents : how are things altered since h. 6. time , when that renowned prince did wear his gown of lesse value then 40 s , but we take a greater swinge , & forma vestium deformitatis mentium & morum est indicium , saith the father . further , this nation hath ever been observant of leagues with forrain princes , promissa sunt servanda is a maxime in every nation that is just , and they that herein deserve the stigma of falshood need no additional infamy ; for articles of peace and war ought to have audience above all pleas of private profit and advantage , and therefore the ancient honour of us is very great abroad : our princes did not like julius caesar more eye greatnesse then veracity , but precisely kept them to the conditions agreed upon , and from them varied not , for as they who have fortunes will take heed to enter into bonds because they have solvent estates , so princes of honour will not break the confederacies they make upon slieght grounds , because their reputation is built upon their fidelity . the faithfulnesse of god is one of his glorious attributes , and the truth of a prince one of the prime ornaments in his crown , for the throne is established by righteousnesse . but above all , our loyalty to our princes for the most part hath been notorious and imitable , we have recognized their crowns , supported their estate , obeyed their laws , defended their persons , affronted their enemies , praied for their lives , and not rejoyced in their deaths or ruines , and that not only when they have been octavius's perpetuò sani , so benign that they might deservingly be called patrons of generall peace , and such as by the change they brought , occasioned not the people to repent their power : but when with bassiaenus they proved princes of fury and extraordinary frailty , then even then we honoured them as gods vicegerents , and were so far from derogating from their dignities , that we paid indisputable and legall obedience to them ; the daily praiers of our church were for deliverance against all sedition and evil conspiracy , as well as false doctrine and heresie , hardnesse of heart and contempt of gods word and commandments ; and therefore i pray that all men in power may ever rule justly , and men under power obey readily ; for jealousies in states do but provoke governours to get and preserve high power , and nourish thoughts in subjects how to dissipate and scatter it . nor have we deceived the expectations of our following the good patern of elder times in education of youth , for although the vanity of some is so great and unreasonable that they think no condition of life honourable and ingenious but that of idlenesse and violence , yet the sober englishman hath a very friendly eye on callings that employ younger children , and augment families to a very conspicuous magnitude : and if we view the great families of nobility and gentry in this nation , who now for the most part have the great estates and most prosperous fortunes , many of them will be found within less then 200 years to have been the products of men of laborious professions , by which chiefly if not altogether their ancestors accumulated that fortune upon the tiptoe of which they overlook others of greater antiquity though now lesse conspicuous ; and though i know many would tugg much to have their pedigrees rifled , and the top of their descent to be from the city and the innes of court , yet i will not doubt to assert , that as many of the new great ones have come thence as from court or camp , or schools , or all . god hath commanded men to labour , and condemned him to toyl as the punishment of his sin , and the apostle saies , he that will not labour let him not eat ; there is no bread so sowr and innutritive as that of idlenesse , no labour so uncomfortable as that of being illaborious , for besides that it brings nought home , and clothes a man with rags , yea , makes him uselesse in his generation , it is accompanied with many dangerous vices , and prostituting debaucheries , the minde● of man like places constagnated contract filth for lack of motion ; as vessels decay more by disuse then by age ; this makes the thrifty father dispose his son to a profession which will both advance his preferment and secure his vertue , there is no course of life but if in it god blesseth honest endeavours , will yield a livelihood , though some by a secret hand of god to shew his power ( that the race is not to the swift , nor the battle to the strong , nor bread to the wise , nor riches to men of understanding ) miscarry and bring their noble of wit to a nine-pence of wealth ; but yet callings are not to be neglected , for they have fruitfull wombs , and nourish men to a very great growth of eminency . let every artist then be encouraged ; but in some cases there is a great lamentation to be taken up , the differences amongst us have anticipated a great part of the nation , who by precended disaffection , or real disgust , are either forcibly excluded , or voluntarily withdraw themselves from publick view and service , so that multitudes of them will be exposed to want , or to what 's second to it obscurity , and be forced to retreat out of fight , that no body see their reduced penury , to contemn them rather then pity it . and some i doubt will be tempted to courses of desperation , to the dishonour of their families and parts . to prevent which it were well worthy governours , to give all the liberty of life and lustre they ( with security to their own power ) may , that so hopes of subsistence may bayle indigent men , if of parts , from impatience , and ingaging in vilanous actions , and encourage them to be civil and orderly in expectation of the good angel that may stir the healing waters , into which for cure they desire to be cast . for surely there is no labour base which relieves nature and answers need , no calling but comports with honour , where it supports it , and without which honour would be honourless ; and he is much to be pitied , who hath hands and head , and has not taught them some subserviency to his necessities ; 't is a loose breeding and degenerous , which provided not some stay against an evil time . the learned and worthy s r in o cheek , tutor to edw. 6. being one of those that avowed the title of the lady jane , for which he was fain upon queen mary's coming to the crown to fly , was glad to take up his old trade , and relie upon that hidden treasure of parts , which rendred him fit to be chosen professor of the greek tongue at sirasburg . they are too coy , who wholly trust on lands and moneys , and cannot labour , not want , but are miserable when they miss a ceremonious folly ; they never mean to be martyrs , or be prescribed , or suffer under the force of barbarous rebels , as the irish nobility and gentry have done a long time , who can do nothing but eat , and drink , and sleep , and play , and talk . it is good to be clerkly and acquainted with business , to be handy and disposed to country thrift ; a very great wisdome to be able ( thorow gods blessing ) to do somthing towards subsistence , quaelibet patria ingenioso patria , ingenuity and courage has given entertainment to great minds and persons , when their friends and tenants have disowned , and their lands yeelded them no bread . i will conclude the parallel of the church and professors of england , with those of elder times , in writing books warily , and so as truth had honour by them : and the better to promote this , here was ever an imprimatur to pass upon all books publickly to be vented ; and the licensers were bound to take notice exactly of all things that went under their eye , as they would answer the neglect upon their censure , and great displeasure of authority . i know that books have stollen into light , which had they received their deserts , should have been , as vives saith , cum authoribus suis ex toto consortio humani generis eliminandi & deportandi in insulam ubi solae degunt ferae , aut in illas africae desertas arenas , ubi nihil nascitur praeter venena , books derogatory to god , to government , to civil property , profane , scurrilous , and every way detestable , they are not to be charged as faults on our supervisors , so long as they declare against them when they see them , or would proceed against the authors of them , if they could be discovered . but in books of controversie , our church hath been exact , and allowed those her best champions , who have least wandred from sound authours and doctrines . a just weight and ballance gives adversaries least advantage . some in controversie are so rigid , that they give no way , keeping so high a dam , that all bursts in pieces by their severity . others yeeld so far , that they are at last nonplust how to make an honourable retreat to their party , and not lose what may give their enemy the boast of conquest . ex utroque periculum , in rough seas shores are safe , so rocks be avoided . passion is an ill ingredient to contests , especially when it is permanent , and such as doth not suit viro constanti , therefore those who have with least acrimony entered the lists of controversie , have been most success full ; for 't is easie in an humour , or out of high animosity , to say that which shall disadvantage a whole profession . but this , god be blessed , few of our church have done ; we have in all controversies so carried arguments , that there hath no blemish rested on us , but that which we account our virtue , that we are constant . and as our polemiques so our practical books have been rare , and by all christians that could reade and understand them requested : what accounts has our nation had , and yet has , from her preachers and writers of the treasures of art and holy theologie ? what rare discourses are there extant in all sciences , on all subjects , for all seasons ? the world judgeth our church and nation learned to a wonder , and yet some amongst us ( who know better ) prefer forreign counsels and models above those at home , which i think ( with submission to their better judgements ) will appear when moderated most convenient and usefull to carry on peace and piety amongst us ; indeed i should rejoyce to see beauty and order in church-matters , and i blesse god for so much of it as yet there is : that which grieves me is , that the charret-wheels of our settlement go so slow , that passions are more in request then praiers and tears , and that men fear not to run mad when ( to use a womans phrase ) they bark against the crucifix , and revile the spouse of christ , of whom they ought not to speak but calmly and with reverence ; it is no good argument of gods being amongst us , when we are thus broken in judgement , and so evil-eyed to one another ; but i hope god will send peace and truth in our daies ; i trust to see religion and learning a praise in the earth ; my ambition is to finde that in christians now adaies , that baroniu● notes was soon after christs time ; it was ( saith he ) christians praise tc have little to do which arose to a debate , but if casually christians were at variance , care was to take it up and avoid scandal . for our lord hath given the rule , to be at peace one with another . finis . errata . page 14. marg . reade m. marshall . p. 43. l. 21. r. to the ministry , p. 76. l. 15. r. infesti . p. 82. l. 22. r. versipelles . p. 90. l. 9. r. pretend . p. 92. l. 20. r. omina . p. 93. l. 17. r. there . p. 95. mar . r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . p. 96. l. 15. r. ingenious . p. 98. l. 15. r. should . p. 121. l. 27. r. feoffees . p. 125. l. 18. for presumption r. persecution . pag. 126. l. 20. r. teechy . p. 128 l. 2. r. it . p. 138. l. 20. for purposed r. proposed . p. 153. l. 19. r. habuere p. 162. l. 25. r. austrians . p. 192. l. 6. r. ismaels . p. 199. l. 3. r. horarum . l. 9. r. him l. 28. r. that . p. 199. l. 11. r. had they . p. 204. l. ult . r. vacillating . p. 208. marg . r. bernardus . p. 223. l. 19. r. communicative . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a96073-e220 john 8. josn . 9. 5. quia progrediendum a facililioribus . acts 8. 9. 1 cor. 15. 32. euseb . hist. l. 2. e. 12. & l. 3. c. 20 , 21 , 23. histor . magdeb. ceut . 1. l. 2. c. 7. p. 368 , 371. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . stob. serm. 147. p. 488. vir nobilis , ●l●quens , audax , suae alienae & fortunae & pudicitiae prodigus , homo ingeniosissimè nequam , & foecundus malo publico . paterc . l. 2. p. 450. edit . sylv. * nihil novi asserunt , quin hujusmodi applaudente sibi perfidi● simplices quidem & indoctos decipiunt , sed ecclesiasticos viros qui in lege dei die & nocte meditantur decipere non valent . s. hyeron . ad ctesiphont . adv . pelagianos . philosophi patriarchae haereticorum ecclesiae puritatem perversa maculavere doctrina , idem eodem loco . hi sunt fumi , hae caligines quibus ex oculis hominum conaris lumen auferre . s. hierom. advers . ruffin . apol. 3. tom. 1. p. 672. edi● . parisiens . non necesse habet convinci quod suâ statim professione blasphemum est : eunomiani , ariani , macedoniani , nominibus seperati , impietate concordes nullum notis laborem faciunt , loquuntur enim quod sentiunt . sola haec haeresis ( pelagiana ) quae publicè crubescit loqui quod secretò docere non metuit . hyeron . ad ctesi . adv . pelagian . to. 1. p. 815. pius , optimus , maximus , &c. monstrum non princeps . sueton . in calig . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . euseb . de vit . constant . l. 3. c. 21. euseb . l. 6. c. 31. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . socrat. eccles . hist . 6. c. 20. eccl. 1. 17. eò acriores inimicitiae quò injustiores . theod. l. 1. c. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . l. 6. c 35. ●ocrat . l. 7. c. 6. ad ctesiphont . adv . pelagianos . sententias vestras prodidisse superasse est : patet prima fronte blasphemia , s. hier. ad ctes●phont . to. 1. p. 815. dijs quae hominibus conficiendis melior . quint. marshall serm. curse meroz . p. 49. disciplina jubemur deligere inimicos quoque orare pro eis qui nos persequuntur , &c. tertul. ad scapulam . s. cyprianus l. 3. ep . 10. tert. l. de mar. multa in orbe generata sunt monstra , centauros , syrenas , vlulas , &c. sola gallia monstra non habuit , sed viris fortissimis & eloquentissimis semper abundavit . epist . 55. adv . vigilant . hist . counsel trent . p. 295. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . dion : l. 55. p. 570. nam aliquando tam inepti insamique homines inveniuntur ut iis quae parva sunt & facilia , magna & arduae videantur , acerbasque res saevis modis exasperent , neque negotium ullum proponere se callent , quam finistro , & inepto more illud corrumpant & infaus●●um reddunt , fab. albergatus de diss . imper eccles . cura . p. 389. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , stobaeus serm. 117. p. 373. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , apollodorus . horat. non minus placet deo hosanna puerorum quam hallcluja● virorum . b● andrews in prefat to the command . o praecidendam linguam a medicis , immò in●anum 〈◊〉 caput , ut qui l●qui nescit discat reticere , s t hieron . e● 55. advers vigilant . traditiones ecclesiasticas praesertimquae fidei non officiunt , ita observanda ut a majoribus tradita sunt , nec aliorum consuetudinem aliorum contrario more subverti ad lucinium ep . 28. scripturae quidem perfectae sunt , quippe a dei verbo & spiritu ejus dictae , ●iraeneus l. 2. c. 47. cant. 5. 7. 1 sam. 4. 21. euseb . l. 3. c. 3. euseb . l. 3. c. 19. a vtiles quidem & commodi sunt , sed in numerum receptorum non referuntur . epiphanius . b lege athanasium in synopsi div . script . epiphanius lib. de mensura & pondere . see cent. 4. c. 4. p. 172 , 173. hist . magd. lib. 2. apol. adv . ruffin . apol. l. 3. to. 1. p. 782. paris . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , l. 3. c. 31. tom. 2. p. 562. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . theod. l. 2. c. 31. gravis mal● conscientiae lux est . senec. ep . 122. nostrae columbae domus simplex , etiam in editis semper & apertis , & ad lucem adv . valent . c. 3. psal . 119. 1 king. 8. 17. see their epistles in the 5 t centuar . c. 8. p. 440. hist . magdeburg . origines in ep. ad fabian . romanum . quod de canonibus ecclesiasticis mones gratias agimus , sed tu scito nihil nobis esse antiquius quam christi jura serv●●c . ep. 68. hist . p. 152. matth. 15. 3. mark. 7. 9. col. 2. 8. quisquis es asserior novorum dogmatum , quaeso ●e ut parcas humanis auribus , ut pareas fidei quae apostoli voce lauda●a est , cur post quadringentis annis ●ocere nes niteris , quod ant● nescivimus ? cur profers in medium quod paulus & petrus edere noluerunt ? vsque ad hunc diem fine istâ doctrinâ mundus christianus fuit , illam senex tenebo fidem in qua puer , natus sum , s t hyeron . ep . 65. gal. 4. 15. quid est aliud ecclesiae ( romanae ) potestas quae hodiè jactatur quam licentiosum & fine lege modoque in animas imperium , quod eas miserrima servitute opprimat . calvinus de ncess . reform . ecclesiae . john 13. 13. hist . cons . tr. p. 161. si pro oraculis , habenda sunt quaelibet eorum placita , ubi nulla exceptio , illi● infinitum imperium : calvinu● lib. de necess . refor . eccles . lege humphredum in puritano jesuitismus , p. 86 , 87. acts and monuments , old edit . p. 140 2. judges 6. gangraena , p. 54 iraen ad victor . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 per omnia debemus ecclesiae catholicaeunitatem tenere nec in aliquo fidei & veritatis hostibus cedere , s. cyprianus ad quirinu●● . respons . ad versipellem . haereditarii christi discipuli . philip. 2. 9. 1 cor. 12. epist . ad magnum orator . romanum . lib. 1. contr . iulianum . in lib. de ratione i heologiae . in apologia pro galilaeo p. 26. lib de rationa ver theologiae in lib. ratio ver . theolog. doctor bramhal bishop of derry , p. 194 , 195. balatus oviu●● p. 2 , 3. lusitaniae gemitus , p. 20. epist . 3. lib. 1. ad cornel. theod. l. 2. c. 6. answ . to gods love to mankinde . p. 41. molo verborum ambiguitates , nolo mihi dici quod & aliter possit intelligi revelata facie gloriam dei contemplemur , quam'ille simplicitatem v●cat , ego malitiam interpretor , persuadere mihi vult quod purè credat , pure etiam & loquatur . ep 61. ad pannuch . socr. eccl. hist . l. 7 c. 29. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . idem codem loco . socra . l. 7. c. 29. treatise of schism . p. 159 lib. de script . eccle. li 2. adv . jov. * tanta fuer● syllana mala ut nihil addi posse videretur . non paratur gloaia aliena au●erendo & rapiendo , sed pria dilargiendo . guev . horolog . l. 1. c. 33. vixis inter nos non consuetudi●e peregrina sed gravitate . romana cassiod . l. 2. ep . 3. in purpurâ sub magna gravitatis superficie nepotatur . tert. apol. 4. lib. de habitu virg. disciplina custos spei , retinaculum fidei , dux itineris salutaris , fomes atque nutrimentum bonae indolis magistra virtutis , facit in christo manere semper . lib. de ver . ecc. reform ratioue . leges non alia tulit unquam vera dei ecclesia nisi qu●e ad retinondum ordinem ad fovendam concordiam ad tuendam disciplinam facerent . 1 cor. 12. 28. council of trent hist . p. 252. hist . council trent p. 159. epist . 118. ad januarium . totum hoc ge●●e rerum liberas habet observationes nec disciplina ulla est i● his melior gravi prudentique christiano quam us eo modo aga● , quo agere videret ecclesiam ad qu●●cunque fort● devenerit ; quod enim neque contra fidem , neque contra bonos mor●● inj●●gitur ●●diferenter est babendum & corum inter quos vivitur societate servandum , ego vero de haec s●utentia etiam atque etiam cogitans ita semper habui , tanquam eam coelesti oraculo susceperim . n in opusc . conf. gallic . p. 110. si● in ep. ad regem polon . * in thesibus de re●or . eccl. rat . & in epist . ad grindal . o lib. de regno christi . p ep. 23. ad grind ▪ epis . & ep . 12. ad fratris quosdam a●glicanos . q thes . de notis eccles . par . 2 d● thes . 33. r de papali monarchia l. 3. c. 14. &c. 5 art . 6. in respons . ad versipellem . hist . magdeb. i. 3. c. 6. cent. 5 ▪ c ▪ 6. tert. lib. 2. ad vxorem . vide aegesippum . li. 6. adv . cels . ds vita constant . l ▪ 4. c. 17. cent. 2. c. 6. cent. 7. c. 6. in psa . 32. conc . 2. tom. 8. socr. l ▪ 6. c. 8. sanctus hieronymus adv . luciferianos . euseb . de vita constant . l. 4. c , 63. sanct. hyeron . de ▪ pastoribus to 4. cent. 6. c. 9. &c. 12. cent. 2. p. 287. eus . l. 5. c. 15. to. 7 ▪ in math. homil ▪ 4. ad ●iu . acts a●d mon. old ed. p. 1061 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . suidas in verbo ▪ ar●ani . numb . 31. 2. gen. 49. 3 ▪ 4. lib. 4. de con●i . ad eugenium . in his lect. 23. on 1 thes . 5. p. 288. obad. ver . 13. acts and mo● . old ed p. 1525 pag. 986. lam. 1. 31. d. merick causabon in treat . enthusiasm . p. 77. see pref. to the revelation revealed . apology for the ministry , p. 17. christian concord . p. 96 pag. 99. ep. 50. bucer . in resp . ad hopperum . scimus quaecunque ad decorem & ordinem pertinent , non habenda esse prohumanis placitis , quia divinitus approbantur , in respons . ad versipellem . cent. 5. c. 6. p 361. goldastus part . 〈◊〉 p. ●9 , 31. ep. 33. ad maurit . l. 4. b● derry of scisme , p. 161. dissert . de imper . eccles . p. 392. humphredus in puritano jesuitismus , part . 2. p. 354. goldastus , tom. 3. p. 571. lib. 2. de legatis , dissert . 29. nihil vid●o in libro esse descriptum quod non sit ex divinis literis desumptum , si non ad verbum ut psalmi & lectiones tamen sensu ut sunt collectae . bucer . in censur . ord. ecc. in a●g . p. 456. vide bucerum libro de regno christi & in resp. ad hop . ep. 39. ad virgines hermo●enses . epist . ad protectorum . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , euseb . de vita constantini . l. 4. c. 62. theod. l. 1 c. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . theod. l. 1. c. 4. lib. 1. c. 14. socrat. eccles . hist. l. 1. c. 22. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . theod. l. c. 14 euseb . in vita ejus , c. 63. socrat. l. 1. c. 5. sozom. l. 1. c. 19. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , loco precitoto . th●●d . l. 2. c. 31. p. 88. to. 2. l. 2. c. 15. & c. 30. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , theod. l. 4. c. 19. & l. 2. c. 8. brow●s ann . q. eliz. p. 49. see tertull. apolog . advers . gent. athanasius . in testam . politico . cur ergo non cogeret ecclesia perditos silios ut redirent , si porditi filij coegerunt alios ut perirent . ep. 50 ad bonif. comit. in anglorum controversiâ moderationem tenui , cujus me non poenitet . calv. in epist . hollingsh . p. 1007. super ●efaria haeresi quod multam patientiam geris , & put as ecclesiae visceribus incubantes tua posse corrigi lenitate , multis sanct is displicet , ne dum paucorum paenitentiam praestolaris , nutrias audaciam perditorum & factio rebustior fiat . ep. 68. gen. 25. mat. 5. 29. gen. 17. 18. psa . 74. 7. mic. 2. 2. solos credit habendos — quisque deos quos ipse colit . juven . sat. 15. sic ●igile● tolera●tia ut non dormiat disciplina . aug. l. 17 de verb. apost . phil. 3. 20. 1 cor. 9. ult . nudas latrones non time● ; quia mori paratus sum ideo latrones non tim●o . hi●ar . eremita apud sanctum hier. in vita ejus . monachus in oppido ● was as strange as piseis in arid● . apolog. 3. adv . ruffin . p. 798. to. 1. edi. par. faciam ut in sanguine tuo caeteri discant disciplinam , respondisse dicitur sanctus cyprianus fiat voluntas domini . panam de adversis mundi ille sentit cui & laetitia & gloria omnis in mundo est , ille moeret & deflet , si malè sibi sit in seculo , cui benè non potest esse post seculum . cyp. contra demet. trast . 1 veteri apud eos obtinente lege , absque negatione non dimitti christianos , qui semel ad eorum judi●i● protracti essent . sanct. hieron . de script eccles . viget apud nos spei robur , & firmitas fidei . & inter ipsas seculi labentis rui●as , erecta mens , & immobilis virtus , & nunquam nisi laeta patientia , & de deo suo semper anima secura . s. cyp. tract . 1 contra demet. alias cum jove dextras j●ngere . sueton. in vita ejus . p. 16. fundendo sanguinem & patiendo magis quam faciendo contumelias christi sundata est ecclesia p●rsecutionibus crevit martyrijs coronata est . ep 62. ad theo. quamvis nimius & copiosus noster sit numerus . ter. ap. cypr. contra demetriad . see history of those of meridol & cabriers acts & mon. in apol. c. 30. precantes sumus pro imperatoribus , vitam prolixam , imperium securum , domum tutam exercitus fortes , senatum fidelem , populum probum orbem quictam . lib. 7. cap. 14. vt aut igne humano vindicetur divina secta , aut doleat pati in quo probatur . in apolog. moriamur sim●l cum sancto episcopo . in vit . cypr. cen. 3. l. 6. p. 97. tra. 3. de simp praelatorum . maledic domine nazaraeis &c. & e contra . surv. western religion . p. 172. pag. 566 , 567. b. salisbury's reply to gods love to mankinde , p. 45. sixtus senensis praef. in l. 5. biblioth . sanct. p. 1. & 2. ardebant veteres tanto flucerae pietatis ardore , ut dum unum errorem omni virium conatu destruere anuituntur , saepe in alterum oppositum errorem vel deciderint vel quodammodo decidisse videantur . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . socr. l. 7. c. 12. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , & o. euseb . l. 1. c. 4. eus . l. 6. c. 30. tels us , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. petron. satyr . admonebo populares meos , ut illos populares caveant & fugiant qui 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 solent ▪ & fimiarum more blandiuntur , omnesque gestus effingunt , interim tamen v●lut flabella seditionis circumcursant & ubique locorum populum concitant . humfred . in ep. dedicat. ante puritano jesuit . hist . councel of trent . p. ●91 mat. 20. 26. nunquam ei in pontificata ita benè fuisse annotari poterit , quin intra privatam vitam consistere , multo malle videretur . platina de adriano 6● p. 383. sic de pio secundo d. 329. platina . platina p. 83. platina in vita ejus . p. 243. hist . councel of trent . p. 390 395. holling . p. 159 quid aliud cunctorum negotiantium vita nisi fraus & perjurium . salv. tacitu● annal. hollingsh . p. 18 , 19. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . dion l. 63. p. 717. psa . 55. 6. de honeribus profiteor , admisi dignitates non ambivi , mereri eas volui prius quam assequi , nee tamen post meritum honores admisissem , nisi ut honorarum ludovicum . c. richlieu in testamento christiano . lib. 2. c. 16. socr. l. 7. c. 12. judg. 9. sym. l. 10. c. 15. invident honori invidcant & oneri . apud . salust . ars prima regni posse te invidiam pati . seneca her. fur. guil. parisions . trebell . pollio c. 7. p. 257. edit . silburg . epist . ad vinc. neminem judicames , aut a jure communionis aliquem , si diversum senserit , amoventes . conc. carthag . de bapt. haeret. job 28. simplex animal , solle caret , rostro non laedit . s. bern. serm. purific . isa . 10. 5. psa . 17. 13. m. marshall in his sermon curse ye meroz . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . dion l. 68. p. 769. orat. 14. exacerbatis utrique animis 3● nihil lene ac moderatum qu erebatur , & non minor insolentia reformatorum quam pontificiorum severitas & in utrisque petulantia summa visebatur , dinothus . de bello belgico . l. 1. c. 46 hist . council . trent . p. 413. dinothus lib. 1. p. 47. de conpier . ad eugen. l. 4. lib 7. de gubern . dei. vt multa facies sic corda diversa . s t hyeron . multa a philastrio inter hareses numerari quae verè hareses non sunt . bellarmin . de script . eccles . ad ann . 380. bochartus geogr . sacra . p. 71. isa 5. 8. 10. p. 534 edit . sylburg . eccl. 5. 7. ep. ad rustic . hist . counsel . trent . p. 289. preface to s t tho. cheeks true subject to the rebell . nulla est capitalior insustitia quam eorum qui tum cum maximè fallunt , id agunt , ut viri boni esse videuntur . 4. catilin . holing shed . p. 42. counsel trent . p. 417. s t bern. 〈◊〉 serm . serm. 6. theodor. lector . collect. eccles . hist . l. r. lavater de spectris . c. 8. p. 35. sleidau . l. 9. lib. de spectris . c. 7. p. 27. see wilso●● hist . great brit. p. 108 , 109 , 110. dinothus . l. 1. p. 14. psal . 19. 13. john serres in ann. 1589. pomponius latus notes , that stipatores & ●ustodes principum iosos principes ad omne genus sevitiae armabant , in constantio chloro . p. 233. edit . ●lyburgit . exod. 7. 9 , 10. sr. henry w●ston . edit . sylburg . p. 534. tertull. ad scapulam . joh. 20. 15. divinae legis sententils quasi quibusdam velleribus sese obvolventes . vincent . lyrinens . judg. 17. 5. gen. 41. 20. fox acts and mon. p. 1400. old edit . in opuscul in ca●●ches . parv . o quot manipulos tritici eradicavit , qui ante tempu● zyzania a tritico discernere festinat . ex epist . leodiens . advers . paschalem papam . vindic. presbyt . govern. p. 88. pastorcsesse bonos vicarios suos christus jussit non voraces lupos . ulricus huttenus in praefat. ad leonem decimam pontisicem . 1 pet. 3. 15. proelect . 4 2 in apochryp . p. 53. col . 1. treatise primit . pract. pres . truth . p. 3. lib. 1. c. 2. s t aug. lib. de vera religione . neque in confusione pagnerum , neque in purgamentis haereticorum , neque in languore schismaticorum , neque in caecitate judaeorum , quaereuda est religio , sed apnd eos solos qui christiani eatholici vel orthodoxi nominantur , id. eod . 〈◊〉 . salvian . lib. 4. b● derry in his treatise of schisme . p. 38. lib. de vera religione . flavius vopisc . p. 272. vt scirct orbis qualis & quantus est ludovicus , cujus radius & rivus est richilius . in testam . christ . numb . 23. knolls in turk . hist . p. 337. edit . 1631. simulachrum dei detraxit suetonius in octavio . p. 21. orbis terrarum arbitrium portendi interpretantes , suetonius in jul. caesar . p. 2. filesac . in selecter . l. 1. p. 142. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , &c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . epist . 57. mari●a hist . hisp . ad an . 383 turk . hist . p. 364. conc. of trent p. 387. turk . history . p. 294. ad 298. counsel trent , pag. 373. mercurio de vittorio siri to. 2. lib. terzo . p. 1234. recueil de pieces pour la defense de la reigne m●re , imprimée a anvers . an. 1643. in testam . poli. galliam subegit , &c. angliam turbaevit . europam lufit . in testam contrario in oodem vittorio syri . rarissimus innocentiae & popularitati locus in summa administratione relinquitur . sabellic . l. 8. c. 2. scir germain en recueil de pieces . p. 12. de sacris cardinal , comitijs in thesauro politico . p. 462. hollingsh . p. 713 hollingsh p 917 browns annals q. eliz. p. 38. pa. 27. ad finem 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . dion . l. 64. p. 732. s. wa. rawleigh pref. to his hist . of the world. pomponius laetus p. 535. edit . sylburg . trebellius pollio in claudio . p. 267 sueton. in galba hist . lib. 1. carior est mibi tota respublica consanguineis . alex. severus apud lamprid. flavius vopisc . in a●rel . p. 277. moderationis tantae fuit ut nemo unquam ab ejus latere submoveretur ut omnibus se blandum effabilemque praeberet . idem . pompon . laetus in titulo de nemefi dea. p. 431 comp. rom. hist . prim. practise preserv . truth . p. 58. see m. fox in his life . heb. 13. 16. judaeos ita addictos esse suis domestacis commodis suae quieti , suis etiam dilicijs , ut cultum dei fere pro nihilo ducerent . haec causa est cur tam severè illis succens●at propheta . calvin . in loc . de fundationibus ecclesiarum & dotationibus per principes honorificè loquitur , de rapi●is autem & expilationibus earum per papas justissimè quaeritur . humfred . puritano jesuitismus . p. 304. b. andrews serm court christmas day an. 1610. p. 30 hic romam deformem incendijs veterib●s ac ruinis permissa si domini deessent aedificandi copiâ , capitolium aedem pacis , claudij monumenta reparavit : multaque nova instituit , per omnes terras , quae jus est romanum renovatae urbes cultu egregio . aurel. victor , in epit. de vespafian . prout imperatores vel boni vel mali evaserint , ita minutebantur vel augebantur aedificia . lib. 6. de gestis rom. landatorum principum est , vitia rerumpublicarum plurima extirpare & abolere , & praeclaris pae●riam ornare aedificijs . l. 1. c. 16. inveni lateritiam reilqui marmoream . sueton. in octa . p. 24. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . &c. dion . l. 68 p. 772 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , id. ut supra . apollonius cum templum jovis olympij essit ingressus , salve inquit bone jupiter qniusque adeo bonus es ut teipsum nobis communices , apud philostratum . sacrum sacrove commodatum qui rapsit parricida esto . cicero pro rosc . facet & exemplum sacrilegi ophiusam bibere cogantur qua po●a , terrores minasque serpentum observari aiant , ita ut mortem fibi ex metu consciscant . apud d. ●eatly dip. dipt p. 214 de civit. dei. l. 1. c. 1 , 2 , 3. lib. 1. de regno christi . c. 10. p. 45. res foeda . turpis , non exponenda sine pudore & illi maximo stupori , urbi universae offendiculo , & senatui sacro-sanctae affendiculo : gueu l. 1. c. 18. xerxes ante navalem congressionem 4000 armatorum delphos ad templum apollinis diripiendum mifit , quae tota manus nubibus & fulminibus deleta est . justin hist . l. 2. ipse & quicunque ex ed direptione aurum attigisset mis●ro , cruciabilique exi●● perierunt . liv. l. 67. steph. in verbo . ecce in regione nostra hipponensi quoniam cam barbari non attigerunt , clericorum donatistarum & circumcellionum latrocinia , sic vastant ecclesias , ut barbarorum fortasse facta miliora sunt . ep. 122. ecelesiae facultates in alienos usus converti● sacrilegium esse dicunt aessentior . calvinus ad carolum quintū de refor . eccles . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dion . l. 61. ad finem . p. 698. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . theo. hist. eccles . l. 3. c. 11. hist . counc . of trent . p. 281. prov. 28. 24. hollingshi . p. 172. idem p. 302. e●●e circuite totum mundum , non reperietis tam effraenem licentium in gentibus qualis inter vos grassatur , illae enim obsequium aliquod reddunt dijs suis , & sacrilegium illis est abominabile , vos autem me fraudatis : an ago inferior sum idolis vel deterior est mea conditio quam illoru● . calv. in loc cent. 8. cap. 6. p. 224. 1 chron. 15. 1. sir edw. deering his speech against taking away bishops votes , p. 91. jer. 6. 14. praescript . theol. l. 2. dubia evang. 3. p. in ep. ded. beza in vita calvini prope finem . frgm regal . egregios invitant praemiae more 's . hinc priscae redeunt artes , foelicibus ind● , ingeniis aperitur ●ter , dispectaque musae colla levant . claud. in paneg. ●1 . in ●tilicon . rocks on the western coast in southwales . par. 1. vowell p. 78. mutius in vita ejus . cent mag deb . ● . p. 6. p. 226. lib. de zelo vet . ger. princ. c. 9. ergo thersiten , simonem ●oeteraque prodigia vetustatis & nos benè sci●●● & posteri frequentabunt , divum aurelianum , clarissimum princip●m , severissimum imperatorem , quem totus romano nomini orbis est restitutus , posteri nescieus . tiber. apud vopiscu● . solus maecenas vir clarissimus summè cruditus deque bonis literis & earum cultoribus optimè meritus musarum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nominem virtutum suarum preconem scriptoremve potuit invenire . meibonius in vita ejus . p. 7. lege prefat . ad lud. liter . stur . vt fitio & haeredi suo conrado imperium benè ordinatum , & doctis instructum & munitum illorum consilijs possidendum relinqueret . si quis tantae fit audaciae &c. cambridge oxford . nullae in orbe christiano vel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ha●●nt ad ●●●par●●d●s ecclefia●● minist●●s commoditates quentus anglia , bucer . l. 2. c. 6. de reg. christi . in my apolog for learning and learned men . cambridg● . sanct. bernadus l. 4. de go●fr●do carnol us episc . sanctus hieron , ad cromatium alios . oxford . hollingsh p. 971 f●lic●m igitur hanc domum quae juvandis instituta est literis , cui a teri etiam debentur seculi hujus dotes ? cujus alterius beneficio revocatae ab interitu graecae pariter ac latinae sunt litera . huttonus in praefat. vallae ad leon. 10. pontif. roman . tu ille orbis amor illud humani gencris delicium restorator pacis , belloru● extinctor , author securitatis , turbarum sedator , pater studiorum , fomes literarum , opeim ●rum artium , foelicis ingeni●rum cultus reparator . idem eodem loco . vittoria syri mercur. suctonius in vita ejus p 9. edit . sylburg . pag. 112. demosthenes saith well . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 stob. serm. 143. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 demosth . m. pym earl of straffords case . pag. 4. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . nisi potestas publica esset alter alterum vivum degluitiret . prov. hobr. apud grot. de jure belli & pac . l. 1. p. 92. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . apud stobaeum serm. 143. apelles ex unicae lineae ductu , solo protogeni tunoiuit . plin. l. 37. c. 18. rom. 2. 14 , 55 cap. 2. de synedriis judaeorum . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . steph. in verbo . macrob. satur. l. 1. c. 11. julius exuperantius in opus . de sylla . aul gell. l. 11. c. 18. seneca cp . 88. ●pist . ad poll. ita me ( mi pollio ) dij ament immortales , ita manū in bellis mavors meam regat , ut qui nostro aevo habetur , &c. gu●v . cap. 2. p. 9. hanecine romam illam esse credis ? vbi priscis temporibus , & in aurco illo saculo senes erant honoratissimi , &c. p. 15. l. 1. c. 3. in somnum a vigiliis , ab armis ad voluptates , a negotiis ad ociū conversa civitas . l. 3. c. 3. qui nihil in vita nisi laudandum , &c. pater . l. 1. de sc. aem. virum in tantil laudandum , in quantùm virtus intelligi potest , & cato , homo virtuti simillimus & per omnia ingenio diu quam hominibus propior , qui nunquam rectè . &c. paterc . p. 37. vir nobiliissimus eloquentissimus , sanctissimus . p. 28. vestis aspera , zona peuic a , cibus locustae melque silvestre . omnia virtutu● continentiae preparata s. hier. ep . 4. ad rustic . s. cypr. ac heb virgin , tert , dr hab. mulier . caput maritis subijcite , & sati● orua●ae eritis , manus lanis occupate pedes domi figite , & plusquam in auro fulgebunt , vefilte vos ser●co probitatis , byssino sanctitatis , purpura pudicitiae , taliter pigmentatae , deum habebitis amatorem . lib. de cultu foeminae . si quidem meretricia veste faeminae , non matrum familiarum vestitae fuissent . salmuch . in paneicoll . li. 1. tit . 45. perseus satyr . 3 vt malè prescinctùm puerū caverent . sueto . in julio ca●sare . horat. l. 1. satyr . 11. merbomius de maecen . p. 119. lib. de coron . militis . fallax hostem quum vi superare gloriosiùs duxerant . l. 42. non fraude neque occultis sed palàm populum romanum hostes suos ulcisci solere . nobis non placet praecio aut praemio aut dolis pugnare . lib. 3. c. 9. malo me fortunae paenitcat quā victoriae pudeat , curtius v. 4. sum●a faederum roma●orū religio est . florust . 1. c. 6. nemo human● potestatem nisi qui prius divinam contempsit . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . serm. 142. p. 527. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . idem p. 152. paterculus . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 . plutarch . apot. p. 191. lib. de instit . p●erorum ad magist . germ. fox mon. old edit . p. 149. johan . de reg. in epitaph . advers . zonar . tom. 3. annal . in justin . procopius & crini●us de hon . disciplin . l. 9. c. 6. epist . 48. de correct . donatist . l. 17. l. 5. de sum. apol. hieron 1. advers . ruffin . epist . ad episc . johan . hicron . apol. l. 2. si quid d●trimenti passa est religio , ille non intulit qui prohibuit . car. richli●us in testam . christ . meibgnius p. 35 nostris peccatis barbari fortes sunt nostris vitiis romanus superatur exercitus . s. hiero. ep. 3. de morte nepot . hist . councel of trent . p. 275 ▪ art. 39. isa . 8. 20. non facit ecclesiastica dignitas christianum , non omnes episcopi sunt episcopi , attendis petrum , sed & judam considera ; stephanam suspicis , sed & nicholaum respice . sanctus hieron . ad heliod . ep. 1. ep. 3. ad heliod de morte nepotiani lectione assiduae● & meditatione diuturna pectus suum bibliothe●am fecerat christi . 13 eliz. c. 12. 39 articles . in his letter to k j. against a toleration about the spanish match . about anno 1603. holingshed . p. 1299. adv. luciferian ▪ answ . to the nonconform . petition , p 31. sic sententiam temperasti ut nec simplicibus displiceres , nec tuos offenderes . sanctus hyer . de epiphanio . nemo urgetur in aspera quae ferre non potest nulli quod recusat imponitur , nec ideo condemnatur a caeteris quod in eis se imitandis fatetur invalidum , charitati virtus , charitati sermo charitati vultus aptetur coitur in unam conspiraturque charitatem hanc violare tanquam deum netas ducitur . sanctus aug. de moribus vest . eccles . c. 32. & 33. holingshed p. 1082. survey london p. 479 , 480. suttons hospitals case . 10. report . surv. p. 91. book speeches pag. 8. l. ch. justice st johns arg. e. strafford . p. 60. sir. ed. cook p. instit . instit . p. 224 , 225. & 146 , 147. 3. instit . p. 79. hollingsh . p. 456. pag. 1100. p. about 10 ed. 4. 1458. 1459. polidor . virgil. in r. 3. hollingshed . par . 1. p. 172. cook 3. instit . p. 199. s. bern. l. 3. c. 5. de consid . si violandum est jus , &c. aliis rebus pictatem colas . sueton. in jul. caes . p. 6. edit . sylburg . ut optimi status author dicar sueton. in ost , p. 24. edit . sylburg . erasm in praef . ad script . rom. 1 thes . 3. 10. see his life printed 1641. vives in praefatione ad vigiliam scipionis , p 68. maledicta ista charitas sit quae servatur cum jactura doctrinae fidei , cui omnia cedere debent , charitas , apostolus , angelus è coelo . lutherus in ep. ad galatas . fox act. and mon. hist . of merind . and cabriers . ad ann . 57. p. 437. tom. 1. praeclara christianitatis lau● estcum nullo habere negotium , quod si ex aliqua vexatione & tentatione lis alicui oriatur curer ut ea transigatur , etiamsi detrimentum pati debeat . an admirable treatise of solid virtue ... by antonia bourignon ; written in 24 letters to a young man, who sought after the perfection of his soul ... ; translated from the original french. traitté admirable de la solide vertu. english. bourignon, antoinette, 1616-1680. 1693 approx. 538 kb of xml-encoded text transcribed from 156 1-bit group-iv tiff page images. text creation partnership, ann arbor, mi ; oxford (uk) : 2008-09 (eebo-tcp phase 1). a28888 wing b3840 estc r8922 12641542 ocm 12641542 65025 this keyboarded and encoded edition of the work described above is co-owned by the institutions providing financial support to the early english books online text creation partnership. this phase i text is available for reuse, according to the terms of creative commons 0 1.0 universal . the text can be copied, modified, distributed and performed, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. early english books online. (eebo-tcp ; phase 1, no. a28888) transcribed from: (early english books online ; image set 65025) images scanned from microfilm: (early english books, 1641-1700 ; 345:5) an admirable treatise of solid virtue ... by antonia bourignon ; written in 24 letters to a young man, who sought after the perfection of his soul ... ; translated from the original french. traitté admirable de la solide vertu. english. bourignon, antoinette, 1616-1680. [60], 251, [1] p. by henry wetstein, at amsterdam : [1693 or 1698] translation of: traitté admirable de la solide vertu. date apparently altered from 1693. "catalogue of books composed by mrs. antonia bourignon": p. [59]. reproduction of original in union theological seminary library, new york. created by converting tcp files to tei p5 using tcp2tei.xsl, tei @ oxford. re-processed by university of nebraska-lincoln and northwestern, with changes to facilitate morpho-syntactic tagging. gap elements of known extent have been transformed into placeholder characters or elements to simplify the filling in of gaps by user contributors. eebo-tcp is a partnership between the universities of michigan and oxford and the publisher proquest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by proquest via their early english books online (eebo) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). the general aim of eebo-tcp is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic english-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in eebo. eebo-tcp aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the text encoding initiative (http://www.tei-c.org). the eebo-tcp project was divided into two phases. the 25,363 texts created during phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 january 2015. anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source. users should be aware of the process of creating the tcp texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data. text selection was based on the new cambridge bibliography of english literature (ncbel). if an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in ncbel, then their works are eligible for inclusion. selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. in general, first editions of a works in english were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably latin and welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so. image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in oxford and michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet qa standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. after proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of tcp data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a tcp editor. the texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the tei in libraries guidelines. copies of the texts have been issued variously as sgml (tcp schema; ascii text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable xml (tcp schema; characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless xml (tei p5, characters represented either as utf-8 unicode or tei g elements). keying and markup guidelines are available at the text creation partnership web site . eng bourignon, antoinette, 1616-1680 -bibliography. virtue -early works to 1800. 2006-05 tcp assigned for keying and markup 2006-12 spi global keyed and coded from proquest page images 2007-03 celeste ng sampled and proofread 2007-03 celeste ng text and markup reviewed and edited 2008-02 pfs batch review (qc) and xml conversion an admirable treatise of solid virtue , which the men of this generation know not , seeing they take the appearance of virtue , for true virtue , taught by jesus christ , in these words , learn of me , for i am meek and lowly , and humble of heart ; as well as in the other salutary doctrines , which he hath given for true christians . by antonia bourignon . written in 24. letters to a young man , who sought after the perfection of his soul. teaching him , that it consists in the knowledge of our selves , and the mortification of our five natural senses . translated from the original french. at amsterdam , by henry wetstein . 1698. which jesus saith both reveals and judges mens hearts . how much of this divine truth is in these epistles the more upright the soul is , it shall more discover ; and how much of this upright sincerity is in the soul the same epistles will detect . here the most earnest hunger shall be adequately satiated , and the most stupid inappetency ( unless it be voluntarily habitual and perversly obstinate ) may be awakened to an earnest search of that virtue by the genuine representation of its inestimable value and ravishing beauty ; and the easie , plain and sure means of attaining it here held forth : but being a little may be by farr too much in the ordinary ( yea , i had almost said universal ) way of talking much like a perroquet of virture , without any living sence of it in the spirit , its best not to divert the reader from that fountain where it flows living ; i mean , that speaker who can truely in a most ample sence say with david , credidi propter quod & loquutus sum ; i believed , and therefore i have spoken : and with the master of virtue , verba quae loquor non mea sunt sed patris qui me misit ; the words which i speak are not mine , but the fathers which hath sent me . only this being likely the first that hath appeared in our language of the writings of that extraordinary organ of god's spirit , antonia bourignon , it may be both suitable and acceptable to give the curious searcher of solid truth some entry into the unparalelled greatness of the thing , by a brief recital of some memorable things of that person , and of the thoughts of some few of them , whose souls that same spirit touched by that person and her doctrine , who was the spring and life of both . to begin with the last , mr. grellot , an ancient protestant minister , expresses the sense of his soul first to his friend mr. p. and then to mrs. a. b. her self . in his to mr. p. i have long ago resolved for my self to endeavour to gain my living by the most abject and contemptible works and employs in the world ; and i have reason to lay my acount so ; for certainly , if i preached in a church where there were persons , how ever little more knowing , or of more worldly power than here ; i would never be suffered , only because i manifest the deceipts that reign in religion and in sects . i most willingly leave that precious soul mrs. bourignon to sleep and rest in jesus christ , therefore i dare not nor will not pray you to salute her in my name ; i pray god only ratifie the salutation and divine benediction that you tell me she wishes to me — — i marvel not at what you write of the spirit of god which is in mrs. bourignon , that they who are with you will judge and think and cabal with the spirit of zelots , seeing i find no true knowledge of god , nor of his son , nor of the holy spirit in men . seeing god shews the mercy and grace to you and to me , to see and feel that the spirit of god is in her . ( — pauci quos aequus amavit , jupiter — ) god give also grace , that it may be for the greater glory of his name , and to our souls salvation . though before i said i durst not nor would not have you to salute that child of god mrs. bourignon from me , yet do it if you can conveniently ; i desire earnestly to see mrs. bourignon while she is yet alive ; for men are not worthy that she should be so long . i know not what to make of the ministry : i have long deplored the imprudence i had when i engaged in it . his letter to mrs. bourignon . mistris , it is now three years since mr. p. began to address your writings to me . i had no sooner seen or read them , but i judged you were of god. i received the truths of them the rather , because god had already told me several like or near unto them . since that time i have been fully perswaded in my interiour , and am so dayly more , that you are wholly filled with the holy spirit : and nothing is capable to make me believe the contrary , although i were the only person in the world of that mind : and i think not strange that you are wholy filled with it , seeing you have employed so many years to attain it : i mean , that you practise holiness , and have given your self to the purifying of your soul , and the other things that obtain it from god. i see , you possess alone all the truths whereof all the other sects and religions of christians have only a part ; and that you have them in your soul , and in your books , without any mixture of error : whereas on the contrary , i see no sect that hath not more or less of errors , as their authors did more or less come near to god internally . you alone discover fully the false piety , wherein the devout of this world are deceived . as i do firmly believe then , that being filled with god , he wills that you be a chanel and conduit , through which he will flow into the souls of them that are disposed and fitted to receive him : i desire that he may flow from you into me , and that being in me , he put there the fruits of his spirit — adducing , the sense of his own abjectness and indignity , the multitude of her letters and writings already dispersed , the grace and spirit of god not restricted to particulars , as retarding his writing to her : he proceeds . — yet mr. p. my friend , among other things he wrote to me from you , having saluted me in your name two different times : i desired and prayed , that these salutations might be ratified by god ; and thereupon i have resolved to represent unto you something for the good of my soul . which i do most humbly and before god. i see also , that many good souls from divers places desire to become yet better , some by your letters , and the rest by coming as near unto your person as they can ; and that you have the charity to stretch forth your arms unto all of them . i hope also you will hold them forth to me the more willingly , because i am afflicted with the sense of my sins , and for my not having love enough to my god , and that there be yet many things to be amended in me , if i may bear the image of god or of jesus , as i desire . i ought the rather to do so , even with great conviction and sbame , that god hath replenished my spirit with several most rare graces and unknown lights ; which will render me so much the more damnable before him , if he have not mercy on me . i own , that all the knowledges which god hath for so many years , and does continue dayly to pour into my soul , as that of the new jerusalem , of the conversion of jews and pagans , of the destruction of antichrist , of satan reigning in all states and conditions , sects and religions under the name of christ , the vanity of human literature , or that which they call theologie , whether studying , or composing books ; which i see by the light of faith to be meer delusions of satan , and so many other secrets which god speaks often in the ear of my soul ; are all nothing in respect of the holiness it must be filled with , that it may see god. and that if it have not the last , though it did divinely possess all these others , satan might well entertain it therein , and even teach it more , provided he might keep it always captive under one or more sins . it was upon that very foundation that i did passionatly love and study human literature , in which satan would willingly have nourished me , and entertained my spirit all my life , in detaining me thereby from the search and from the true adoration of god in the soul. so i was already in the profession of the ministry , even for some years , that i had not any true knowledge of god , and most ignorant of true religion . these things could get no entry into my vnderstanding , finding it so full of prejudices in favour of the reformed religion , and against all other sects , as also addicted to books and worldly sciences . this is it that made me leave the romish church , in which i was born , and lived to the age of 22. or 23. years , apprehending that i should perish if i died in it , believing also that the reformed church was altogether holy , i was abused or imposed on therein . from one babylon which i left i 'm come into another . if i were yet in that of my nativity , i would no more leave it , but with my soul and spirit , and would sanctifie my self there as well as in so many other sects , which i perceive now to be all but works or idols of mens hands . so many pantings , prayers , studies and other things which i have employed to attain to the quality of minister , i had employed them to the sanctifying of my soul . also i know that the charge of pastor , which i have exercised more than these ten years , is a charge meerly politique and human , and that has nothing divine nor of god , but vain in the persons exercising it , and in them that yield themselves the subjects of it . and although for some years i have preached truths unknown unto me , and also which men cannot nor will not know , to wit , that god is a spirit , and that he is to be worshipped as such : yet i find it is a subtil deceit to pretend to sanctifie men without being holy our selves , and that these good wills do not always come from the holy spirit : hence i am perswaded , that as long as ministers are not holy , god will not work any thing by them : and that i do firmly believe , that god hath at present in his anger cursed the ministers and ministry of the reformed churches . i say farther , that it is impossible for a good man to exercise it after god without partaking with mens sins . this is one of the reasons that oblige me to write to you ; and because i believe you give no counsel but after god's mind , i desire your advice herein , and wish god give me grace to follow it : namely , the ministry being both in me and in others , such as i have just now described it , if i should continue in it , or not : that is , i desire to know by you what is gods will concerning me ; many reasons oblige me to leave it off ; and i cannot tell what other points of conscience do yet retain me in it . if it were god's will that i should forsake it , it would be in the desire of coming as near unto you as i could , especially if i were assured to be in the least usefull to aid you as much in the glorifying of god ( i mean in carrying that new and everlasting gospel unto the world , ) as i should hope you would be unto me for my souls welfare . another reason obliging me to write to you is , that notwithstanding so many graces that god hath put into my soul , yet i am not satisfied in my conscience : i am yet wrathful , and am carnal in marriage . these two sins have very sore and often afflicted my soul ; even i dare not promise unto god that i will not commit them any more : for i have promised too often to him , and have fallen therein too too often again . my soul has been in great sorrow for it , and has learnt thereby , to put it self below all gross sinners ; also god would so humble me thereby , that i never reprove sin or sinners , nor ever speak of them , but i fall into greater my self . it is in this and in other things that you shall judge proper , that i desire you would give me some rules to lead my life after god , in the things of god , and in the things of the world : would to god it may be to my salvation . but there is enough said and asked for the first time : i am in the bottom of my soul , and desire to be yet more , mrs , your most humble , most obedient and most obliged servant antoni grellot . minister of the french church of outreberg . at outreberg in the electoral palatine the 6-16 . novemb. 1677. she received a letter from a gentleman of london , the stile and genius giving reason to expound the r. b. that subscribes it to be the famous and honourable robert boyle . a vowing her writings most praise-worthy and of so sweet an odour , that he caused translate them into english , with design to cause print them in that language ; and signifying his most ardent desires to know of her state and her other writings , so far as god should encline her heart , and so rejoyce extremely his spirit , because with her a lover of the holy truth and of the life of which she gives testimony unto others and to him : wishing her all good , and loving her in the love which is life it self . r. b. the inscription : to the most noble virgin antonia bourignon in her lodging , amsterdam . see the veneration with bleeding regret of that just penetrating spirit sir george makenzie , late lord avocat to his majesty , in a treatise , de imbellicitate ratiocinationis humanae , published last year by grevius at vtrecht ( page 49. ) having said , that we should employ our reason in warring against vice , and in attaining to virtue , and that there is nothing more just ; adds : tanta est ratiocinationis hujus efficacia , ut etiam in aetatis diluculo infantes illustrare , adultisque ad subtilia ineptis persuadere valeat . cujus exemplum paucis ab hinc annis nobis tulit flandria in virguncula infante septimum aetatis annum nondum egressa , quae cum vitam hanc spatio brevem & curriculo miseram satis cerneret , mortales tantopere ea capi obstupuit : & cum jesum christum vitam immortalem suis acquisivisse audivisset , enixe & continuo parentes rogavit ut se in christianorum regiones ducerent ; cum autem ipsi christum in flandria coli responderent , hoc incredibile exclamavit : christum enim paupertatem laudasse , illis autem nummos numen esse ; illum dignitates sprevisse , illos autem has ambire flendo arguebat et — quis talia fando temperet a lachrymis — that is ; such is the efficacy of this reasoning , that it is able to illuminate infants in the dawning of their age , and to perswade aged people , that are not apt or disposed for subtil thoughts , whereof flanders hath a few years ago furnished us an example in an infant girle , not past the seventh year of her age , who when she perceived well this life to be of a short continuance and miserable course , was astonisht that mortals were so much taken with it : and having heard that jesus christ had purchased eternal life for his followers , she earnestly and continually asked her parents , that they would take her into the country of the christians ; and when they answered , that christ was worshipped in flanders ; she rejected that as incredible , and argued with tears , christ commanded poverty , but they loved money as their god ; he despised honours , but they coveted them : and who could relate or speak of these things without weeping . i add one a. de h. which may be something of a directory to those in the like case with the writer , a renowned phisitian in the town of middleburg in zealand , whose former writings communicated to the world , give testimony how just and penetrating his spirit is , when he had well begun to make the matter in question , the object of its consideration gives his rawest thoughts in a plain familiar letter to mr. p. thus : reverend sir ; after by your counsel and recommendation i began to read mrs. antonia bourignons writings , i felt as it were a fighting against them , and they seemed to me not to deserve so much praise ; yet considering that your esteem must depend on a well-grounded knowledge , because you knew the gentle-woman , you conversed with her , and have accurately examined her writings : hence i began to read more attentively : whence immediatly a sublim wisdom laying open man's interiour displayed it self . the numerous difficulties that occurred in the beginning , do evanish as my reading is with more attention . yet i cannot as yet assent unto all , perhaps because i have read only few of them , and have put fewer of them into practise , without which these vritings seem not understandable , as also the intelligence of holy scripture , is promised only to them who obey the will of god. that seems to me the greatest difficulty , that practice may keep pace with knowledge ; which to overcome , we must seek strength from the father of lights , which is seldom done according to his will. our corrupt nature lays many obstacles in the way , and the seducing world strengthens it : especially in the art to which i have ( perhaps without god's conduct ) addicted my self , in which a thousand distractions do dayly occur , an act so uncertain , and so filled with deceipts , that i doubt if it may be exercised with a safe conscience , before i would demonstrate and amend its errors ; but i know not the source of errours , sin. and in vain is the redress of evil sought from him who is in evil. i readily assent to mrs. antonia bourignon , that christians must live otherwise than men do now adays . thoughts of this sort , sir , have exercised me since i read your divine oeconomie and mrs. bourignons writings , and had given me occasion to speak with you if my intended journey into holland had succeeded ; but that being hitherto hindered , i would give you these lines , to the end you may give me counsel , to the reading of these writings with the greatest fruit , and to overcome the corruption of my nature . i willingly grant there are so many wholsome counsels in them , that it may seem superfluous to desire more . if you think so , i am content : and recommending my self to your prayers , that god would perfect the work he has begun in me , i shall remain reverend sir , yours in christ . a. de h his succeeding letters so much breathed out conviction of sin , righteousness and judgment , as might stumble worldling hearts . but why ? it were a work beyond a volum to alledge all that might be adduced of the mighty power and efficacy of her writings , in allarming the consciences , enlightening the minds , and inflaming the desires , to the overturning of the works of darkness , and contempt of all worldly things , to seek only eternal ones , and all such as it were to attribute robbery to another power than that of the adorable majesty of our god , and that in all ranks and sorts of persons of different countries , professions , capacities and tempers , and of all religions and sects , and generally all that seek god in truth and sincerity in whatever circumstances , have to the measure of that truth and sincerity joyned hands , embraced , approved and acquiesced in the substantial essence of the words and way of eternal life here , every where , and only recommended ; many of which have been and are impartially speaking the most sound and profound spirits of the age , at least in the european world , and as far as the latin tongue serves to propagate the communication of thoughts , and that as well in the general quality of a solid judgment and penetrating spirit , as in the specification by determining the same to particulars , subjects , and studies , whether theologie , or law , or phisick or philosophy ; in all of which some sufficiently attested to the literate world capable of its greatest attempts , yet in them god hath reserved that candour that they would not be disobedient to the heavenly call , but counted all loss and dung for the excellency of the knowledge of christ ; though alas ! the number of such is lamentably small in all sorts . in fine ; let whosoever is weary and heaven loaden come resolutely , absolutely , and constantly hither , and he shall assuredly by divine assistance find rest to his soul , and the peace which the world cannot give , nor take away , even amidst all outward adversities , yea and inward tentations , beyond the reach of all the rhetorique in the world , yea and all the force and cunning of earth and hell , to unstable the foundation either means or end , if he continue faithful under christs yoak . to pass further to a brief touch of a few of the many memorable things in her life from her own manuscripts , and from the faithful and judicious record of her life continued . antonia bourignon was born in the city of lisle in flanders , on the 13 th . of january , 1616. of honourable parents . as her spirit and tongue began to be loosed from the sleep and silence of infancy , the first expression she was capable to give of what impression her soul received , was a grain of admirable and divine wisdom , which fructified unto everlasting life . at the age of four years , her parents having instructed her piously in the gospel and life of jesus christ , she asked still , where are the christians ? let us go to the place where christians live : where are they whom jesus christ taught ? take me to them that live as jesus christ : o most profound and divine ! they in their worldly wisdom would undeceive her , saying , that there in flanders they were christians , and followed christ . she said , that could not be ; for christ commended poverty , they were altogether for riches ; christ despised honours , and pleasures , choosing meanness and trouble : but they were earnest for what he rejected , and shunned his choice , ( that they lived no ways like christ ) o great god! (a) out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise . (b) thy words and thy entertainments enlighten and make wise even little children ; when great doctors , growing old in their studies , with all their followers , are in darkness , blind and naked , without knowing it . lo a little child , her eyes and mouth scare opened , discerning a worldly life from a christian , and far beyond the old philosophy studied procedure , seeking a man among men , most natively tattling out , where are the christians , amidst christians ? men fight and dispute , and write and preach , and what not , who shall have the best religion , and christianity most pure and flourishing : lo god will bring them to agreement ; and how he sets a girle of four years old amidst them , and puts in her little mouth these stammering words , where are the christians ? let us go to the country where christians live ; words ( duely considered ) of a profound divine wisdom , of more saving light and profit than millions of lifeless sermons , and volums of rational speculations : and this is the grain of seed which fructified unto all the fruit of her life , which was only a continued urging , advancing , pressing and increasing that first thought and desire . it is true in the old and new testament , that god will perfect his praise out of the mouth of babes : but in the world we must expect the truth and praise of god from a mouth that can speak latin , or even greek and hebrew ; and for the more assurance , there must be a great many of these wise heads assembled to make a synod or council , not to sleight our theological doctoralities and masterships by giving heed to this babe . so they laughed her iterated and earnest demands to silence ; yet neither that nor the ruder treatment she met with , as it encreased , were so far from extinguishing that divine spark god had kindled in her , that they served still to encrease its flame : for this first repulse made her turn more in to god in her own heart , detecting the vanity of worldly things , she sought of him the grace to live as christians did , and even then every thing was to her occasion of turning to him with different prayers , suitable to him who was her only councellour and companion , until her sister , much addicted to the vanities of the world , would needs have her follow , she said to every body , she had no spirit to converse and accommodate her self to others ; and by that artifice the devil prevailed so far as to make her follow the company and mode of the youth of the world , only to please them , to shew that she had spirit enough to appear brisk ; in which she succeeded so well , or rather so ill , that quickly she obscured her sister , gaining the favour and goodliking of all , and pleasing her parents extreamly , being of a meek , humble , affable and jovial humour , and a good spirit , that her father employed her in his affairs , which she managed with a great deal of dexterity and industrie . but all this cost her the loss of that communion she had formerly with god , as familiar as one child with another . yet god had pity on that poor creature wandring from him , he gave her often inward invitations , even amidst her divertisments , and will you then leave me for another ? shall you find a lover more perfect and faithful than i am ? this pierced her heart so as to make her flow into tears ; but upon occasions she would charm her serious thoughts , and the habit of vanity , and tentations got the ascendant on her : at length god sent more assistance to his call , by filling her spirit with the terrible thoughts of death , judgment and eternity . sometimes she would regret , rent her cloaths , and detesting her vanity , throw away all her ornaments of folly ; again she would yield to the tentation of company and divertisments . in these conflicts god fortified her , she became pierced with so great fear of the judgment of god , that she durst not shut her eyes because of her sins , which she thought were so great that no body ever had committed the like ; not that she had done any evil or unhonest thing after the world , whose honesty is consistent with turning away from god , and going to all the devils provided regularly and in form with approbation and priviledge : but because she had left her sweet entertainments with god for worldly divertisments , after she had received so many graces from him , she saw that so great a sin that hell and all the pains of hell were not sufficient to punish her ingratitude . god seeing her correspond to the tracts of his divine mercy , redoubled them on her , that she was swallowed up of contrition , passing the whole nights on her knees , crying from the bottom of her soul , lord , what wilt thou have me to do ? ah! lord , what shall i do that i may be acceptable to thee ? my god , my god! where art thou ? what shall i do that i may find thee again ? after she had tasted long and deep of that bitter desolation , wherein the soul finds it self as abandoned and rejected of god , which they that have tasted call the pains and sorrows of hell , as job and david , and other saints , god began to heal : the first return she had of god into her soul was ( in answer to that continual prayer , lord what wilt thou have me to do ? ) the whole of the gospel , these words , forsake all earthly things ; separate your self from the affection of the creatures ; renounce and deny your self . her vicissitudes of desolation and consolation succeeded until god purified her from all task or stain of her vain conversation ; and usually these inward piercing afflictions were preparatives to some particular graces or favours of god. and it is incredible what floods of tears and of contrition it cost her before she recovered her former familiarity with god , and her no less incredible strict severe austerity in a mortifying life , which she continued many years by a principle of justice , and its first mover was the love of god : until god appointed her to return to an ordinary way of living , while god's extraordinary divine communications to her flowed more and more , during all her life , like a stream , still encreased until its ending a mighty river into the vast ocean , which in the same degree encreased in her soul that constancy , divine love and all virtues and graces as not moved were more established by all the assaults which the craft and malice of hell did eagerly spue out all her life while she pursued her first search of true christians : which when she could not find any true knowledge of a christian life and self-seeking among all the devout and religious persons , whose earthly-mindedness she easily discovered through all their fair pretexts , she turned the more in to god in her heart , where he trained her in the true christianity , and told her , she must not seek it in the world , but in her own heart with god , and in solitude ; whereupon she did over the belly of all opposition , tentations , allurements of friends , riches , and all worldly advantages , most generously and constantly forsake all , seeking that beloved solitude where she might enjoy god without disturbance . god gave her a spiritual solitude , retiring her heart and soul from all that was not himself , yet retained her from other to make her a light to lead other good souls out of the egypt of this world , into the same wilderness of heavenly-mindedness . the traverses she met with , her constant advance , and all the steps of her conduct so signally disposed by the immediate hand and councel of god , as its unaccountable and vast , so it is beyond the bounds and design of this short preliminary to insist on ; who desire a more satisfying account , may be satisfied by the history of her life , written partly by her self , partly by a faithful and judicious eye and ear witness . her desire was to be unknown and unnoticed ; yet many persons of good-will of several sorts came to her acquaintance , who owed and owned unto her ( as the instrument of gods spirit ) their conversion , their enlightening , their inflaming in divine love , their comforting and strengthening , and their eternal life ; testifying , as they were living and standing testimonies , that her words , her writings , her works , and all her life had an unutterable divine efficacy and power of converting and saving souls that were well disposed , infinitly beyond all the enervate and lifeless means and ordinances in the hands of the most elaborate and erudite heads , exercising that trade for their dayly bread , without the spirit of it ; under which , alas ! its too visible , and by all that have but the least spark of ingenuity confest , and of sincerity regreted that we live most part so little or not at all moved from our earthly biass of self , which declines us so much to hell , that if we get but a little survey of the earth , we never attain , nor it may be seek , any true glimpse of heavenly things : which gives us to notice the same proportion of illuminating , enlivening and invigorating force of painted preachings to real ones , as there is of the sun painted on a board to that in the firmament . several who with good applause had long exercised the function of conducting and directing souls , as ministers and fathers in the church , not of the least erudition , but of the most uprightness , made it their happiness to learn at this illiterate maid the empty vanity of their former fruitless labours , and to begin again from the a , b , c , of solid virtue , under her direction , owning more solid light and divine life from some few rays of her spirit , than from all their schools and books , studies and preachings . notice only one notable matter in the way ; in an hospital of poor girles she charitably governed , she discovered them all to be witches in express compact with the devil , and that a vastly surprising greater part of the world than is usually by the innocent thought , are such , by evidences satisfying and convictive to the most doubting that will not be obstinate . passing from her first appearance in the world to her first publique appearance to the world. on the second of december 1667. she departed from mechline in flanders , and came to amsterdam , with design to satisfie the solicitation of her friends , and god's will of having the truth promulgate and known by the printing her writings , entituled , the light of the world ; and at the convenient season of sailing to go for holstein , where in the isle of nordstrand she had bought a farm from mr. de cort , the director of the said isle , and proprietor of most of it , who was going with her . in honour and imitation of the obscure mean life of jesus christ , that she might be unknown , she hired a little house by the shore , in a very retired place ; but falling soon into a sore and dangerous sickness , she was obliged to yield to mr. de corts bringing a physitian of his acquaintance , who with another he had told of her , coming to know her , could not abstain from telling others , that quickly her fame was through all the country ; and one of her letters to the dean of lille , which is the 5 th . letter in the second part of light arisen in darkness , and is the first of all her works that was printed , coming out in the beginning of the year 1668. made her so famous , that every one was earnest to see her , and converse with her . she seeing it god's will to manifest her , resolved to give free entry and audience to all that pleased . she was then visited for about a year and a half from all places by persons of all sorts of professions , religions and opinions , by theologues , phylosophe's , rabbins , imaginary prophets , and all the most curious and expert in all arts and sciences . almost all did easily discover in her the divine light whereby god would revive his love in their souls , with most sensible and convincing touches and motions of his spirit ; but they could not come to the marriage of the lamb for their farms , their merchandises , their offices and callings , their wives and children ; and the love of the world and the things of the world were in them , and stiffled the love of the father , and all the protestations they had made to follow christ , forsaking all for him , excepting two or three , who forsook all , and followed the truth of god in her to death . of the many memorable things passed in these visits , you shall be diverted but with two or three . before she had any acquaintance or visits there , mr. de cort told her , that the anabaptists were good and pious men , having a great esteem of the graces which god bestowed on her ; and that they protested , if they might come to her , it should be in humility , as little children , submitting to the light of god : she answered promptly , that is not true , these are great men , who will hardly submit themselves to the truth , and become little children ; god revealing their disposition to her better than themselves knew it . and they shewed at first to be touched ; but no sooner did she , without designing any person , discover the nature and properties of hypocrisie , and the general corruption even in the most devout and holy , but they finding themselves pinched , rose all up against her by the artifices descried in the letters she wrote then in the 3. part of light arisen in darkness , and 2. and 3. part of the funeral of false theologie . mrs. b. in one of her letters to them , having written ( not considering ) when she sought after them , that there were no more true christians , and god told her she should be the mother of true believers . lest that especially that mother of true believers should stumble these erudide heads , she would score it out ; but god said to her , what 's written , let it stay written : and indeed no sooner had they that in their hands , but they made such a dirty hubub , her pride , her pride , that though her after-writings satisfie any that have common sense on that head , these men have not yet come to themselves . mr. serrarius famous enough for his correspondencies and his writings , was of the first that knew and recommended her every where ; he would lead her every where as a living gospel , that should enlighten all the world ; he would cause print all her writings , and even of his titles and prefaces to them yet extant : but seeing at length that she would not swerve from the pure truth god revealed in her , to second his particular opinions of the restoring a levitical worship of the jews , and his esteem of a certain seducer at that time arisen in palestine , he rejected her for his own imaginations . mr. comenius , so famous among the learned , his learning not having puft him up , as it does ordinarily , fell out with mr. serrarius because of his injustice against mrs. bourignon , and retained a veneration for her all the rest of his life , and on his death-bed desired a last visit of her : saying , o that holy maid ! where is she then ? may i be so happy as to see her yet once before i die ? all the knowledge and sciences i have attained , are but productions of reason and of human spirit and study ; but she has a wisdom and light that come only from god immediatly by the holy spirit . after she had seen him , and was gone , he said of her with transports of joy to them that visited him , i have seen an angel of god! god has sent me his angel to day . god did also let her see how far the best cultivated human spirit is blind , and far from the kingdom of god , by conferences she had with some cartesians , both divines and meer phylosophers : she had a discourse with the professors heydan and burmannus ; but nicodemus was too great a doctor , to understand christs language or learn of him ; though so blind as to deny that the spirit blows where he lists at present , and his voice to be heard , to infer that we must not abandon our vessel to the conduct of his divine inspirations , but steer by human spirit and reason . she wrote to him on that occasion letter 12. of the first part of the funeral of false theologie . the phylosophers would perswade her that she came near to their principles , but god shewed her their nullity and errour . she told them their disease , that they would comprehend all by the activity of human reason , and not give place to the illumination of divine faith , which requires a cessation of our reason and spirit , that god may display that divine light , which gives the only true knowledge of god ; but the mean pass that reason with all its equipage of ideas and clear and distinct conceptions will be at to defend or regulate it self before god at death felt a cartesian gentleman even in this life , who in the profound stupid security they are all leavened with after their once doubting to the full , scorned mrs. bourignons admonitions , saying , laughing ; you call your self the mother of believers by the truths you say you perswade and make them believe ; and i who have clear and evident demonstrations , by which i can perswade reasonable spirits , and make them believe much better ; i shall be the father of believers . but this poor father of believers , who was otherwise a man of spirit of a good beneficent nature , and a person of quality , being a little after in a deadly disease , in the flower of his age , god opened his eyes to see his poor state , and lament his error ; he began to cry with tears night and day , o my understanding ! my understanding ! whereto hast thou brought me ! alas ! my reason i relied so much on , what assistance canst thou give me now ? thou canst not now give me salvation , nor the hope of it ! i must be damned , there can be no mercy for me . a friend comforting him the best he could , he wholly disconsolate asked continually , think you than there is yet any mercy to be hoped for my soul ? and then looking and tossing about cryed again , my understanding ! my understanding ! alass ! whereto hast thou led me ! then to the first friend , go tell desire that good soul ( mrs bourignon ) to pray to god for me ; that i may obtain pardon of that sin : for otherwise i am damned ; or i must suffer a flul long purgatory : o! if i could recover from this disease , i would turn wholly to god , and would follow altogether another way : but when he told mrs. bourignon of it , she answered : he shall not recover , but he shall die ; for if he did recover , he would fall deeper in that pernicious error . as in effect he did , in a good and sound judgment , in great contrition , adoring jesus christ crucified ▪ god having shown her experimentally by that frequent conversation , how little hope remains of converting the world , by the little welcome , and less correspondence the truth met with , even with the best and wisest of all sorts ; he brought her with the two or three , that , seeing the means of purifying their souls to the love of god , and working out their salvation , in her company , would sell all for that pearl of great price , maugre the tentation that lost the young man in the gospel ; for they had great riches and reputation too : i say , he brought them from holland to holsatia . and as from the beginning , god did in all her after course unto himself , serve himself of the manifold malice and persecutions of satan against the truth and light of god , to confound that blackfiend and all his hellish works of darkness ; his violent persecutions to extinguish it , served but as wind to kindle it ; his attempts to cut off the messenger of it in one place , served but to carry her further to more places and persons , as with a general embassage , his secret blows god did more secretly often forewarn her of in spirit ; his outward open violences he often no less wonderfully averted ; his calumnies and accusations of heresie did but bring the truth to more admirable and dazling evidence and bring to light more and more divine and saving mysteries , which ript up all his hellish heresies and mysteries of iniquity , to the gnawing of his malicious spirit , and all the like instruments of his fury , while the bread of life was aboundantly dispensed to hungry souls , whom it shall nourish unto eternal life , when all the wicked shall be cut off , and the meek shall inherit the earth . for the more particular account of her divine pilgrimage , see the history of her life , and take here a short bill of that heavenly chear now dispensed in her writings , that took up the spare hours of her many diversions at amsterdam . the funerall of false theologie ; in the first part of which she shews the confusion , the ignorance , corruption , insensibility and foundamental errors of christians , and even of conductors and modern divines . in the second , their presumption , envy , pride , obstinacy , and head strongness . in the third , that all their theorie and practices are no more but pharisaical , without divine faith. in the fourth , that the devil has great power over men ; over the wicked and even over the best , whom by these other he turns away from following god , and engages them to co-operate to the evil of others , and makes them draw back after they have abandoned the world. that is a work of singular efficacy and profit . scarce did ever man read it without being touched in his soul , even the most wicked , who became pale , and as struck dead with it . upon occasion of some converse she had with some cartesian philosophers , she composed the holy perspective ; wherein she shews , that men , and particularly christians , have lost the light of god , which is true and divine faith , to be led by corrupt reason , and by a false or most faint light they draw from nature , so perverse , brutish , carnal , and gross as it is become by sin : that this is it that has destroyed all christian-religion , and brought it to the blindness and darkness wherein it is immersed : and that god may restore it its first state , there is no other way but to abandon that false guide of reason , and to resign our selves to god , that he may himself revive in us that divine light of faith which we have extinguished . the new heaven and new earth : in which is shewn , in what glory the world and man were created : how they have miserably faild from it ; how they entertain and even encrease their misery ; and by what means they ought to return into the disposition god requires to restore them to their first glory , and renew all the world . god showed her in spirit the glory and beauty of the first world , not supportable by corporal eyes . all was bright , transparent , shining with light and unspeakable glory . god's last mercy : in which by a reason enlightened by faith , not perverted by human studies and prejudices , she leads every man of good judgment to a conviction of the spiritual things which faith discovers , and unto which every man's reason , when conducted by a person that is illuminated by faith , renders so convincing testimonies , that they who will yield themselves to its touch , are moved and pressed to ask of god a saving and divine knowledge of them by the light of faith. with all these are intermixed many other divine lights and profound mysteries , which god had reserved to this end of the last hour , able to enlighten , to quicken , to inflame to strengthen , to encourage , and to ravish any that have not renounced all interest in heavenly things . if any find difficulties in her writings , consider , that she having no further human learning than that having learnt it , she did once read the new testament , and finding it the same with what god spake in her soul , she closed the book to apply seriously to the doing of it , seeking no more reading , meditation , conferring or other study , than that of purifying her soul from earthly affections and sins , in following jesus christs doctrine and example . she could not speak after the rules and with the cautions of human literature , far less by the pedantry of the schools ; it were then most cruel injustice to judge her by them . again , we must not suppose when she treats of a matter , what she does not mention in that place , that she denies it , nor require her to treat so fully ( more than her scope there requires ) as the scholastiques , who handling a matter at their tour , adduce all they can relating to it . in the third place , to understand her writings , as all others divinely inspired , the key is a good will , humility and prayer : to a malign , a corrupt , proud , self-wise and self-powerful reader no entry in them , no favour from them , but that of death . and the center , end and aim of these writings being the love of god , by renouncing our selves , the creatures and sin , the devil , the world and the flesh ; the farther we are from this , the greater discord and contradiction between these writings and our corrupt hearts and blind spirits : and if ever we will be reconciled , it must be by valuing , loving , esteeming , and submitting to them , as they are conducive to these ends , and the difficulties will all quickly evanish : this way the disciples of christ , of prophets and apostles entered into their masters doctrine . to conclude with the zealous and sincere author of her life . lord , thou hast yet manifested the words of eternal life in these last days , and our ears have heard and our hands have handled the word of life , which thou hast put into her ; these words of life which are originally in thee , we have seen and heard them , and we bear testimony that thou hast manifested them to us , and our testimonie is most true before thee , and before whosoever will open the eyes of his conscience to consider it in thy divine presence . yes lord , my god , creator and inspector of my heart , who hast given me to love thy divine truth more than the sciences and the advantages of egypt ; thou knowest that i hate lying and falshood , and that i would not for any consideration recommend untruth . i cannot deny that i have obtained of thy grace to discern the truth from falsehood , and that i have done it in this work , thou knowest o lord. thou knowest , my god , that if after all possible application of spirit i could find in the intentions , in the end the writings , and the practice of antonia bourignon , thy creature , any thing contrary to thy glory , that rendered thee less worthy of the infinite and eternal adoration , love , and praises due unto thee ; if any thing favouring corruption and sin , and that might contradict thy holy image and the doctrine and life of thy christ ; if any thing dangerous for mens salvation ; thou knowest i would abhor that , that i would detest it , that i would curse it . is it not true , o searcher and judge of my thoughts , that this disposition is most really in the bottom of my soul ? is it not in the deepest and final sincerity of my heart that i protest openly , that the words of eternal life were with incomparable purity , evidence , clearness , and solidity in that soul which thou didst sanctifie , and are yet in her holy writings ? in truth , the way that is there recommended as necessary to salvation , is the only and the true way ; there is no danger to abandon our selves wholly and entirely in it : for it is the very truth : it is the truth it self . it is the pure truth . there is none , lord , there can be none other in heaven nor in earth . there is none other way unto eternal life than that which thou hast put into the mouth , in the writings , and in the life of thy most holy hand-maid antonia bourignon . i praise and bless , and thank thee , o my god , that thou gave me to know the same , and hast opened and enclined the ear of my heart thereto . give me grace to love , to observe and to maintain that heavenly truth unto death . happy he that should lose a thousand lives for so worthy a subject : happy he who shall never for any consideration leave the practice of it ! let me by thy divine grace be of that number , that after this short life of tryal , that most certain and most infallible mean , make me enjoy my soveraign end , which is to have the happiness ever to adore and praise thy great majesty , o jesus eternal god , creator , saviour , and redeemer of the world , while with the father and holy spirit thou shalt reign gloriously in all eternity . amen . revelation , ch. 3. he that hath ears to hear , let him hear . the preface of the publisher . this treatise consists of two parts ; whereof the one may be called [ extructive ] which builds or establishes ; and the other [ destructive ] which destroys or everts . for the first ten letters are adapted to the planting of virtue , and all the rest to evert and root out what may hinder its increase . to recommend virtue is taken the precept of him who is the master and example of it ; by which is made an introduction , shewing , what virtues we must in the first place embrace , and by what meanstend to them , which is , by obedience , and renouncing our own will , unto the meekness , lowliness and humility of heart of iesus christ , ( see let. 1 , 2 , 3. ) the nature of which humility is explained , and the means conducing to the attainment of it , viz , the knowledge of our corruption , and the miseries which our bodys and souls ly under ( let. 4 , 5 , 6. ) which ought to produce in us the effect , of renouncing our natural senses , and ( being content with what is of meer necessity ) we should flee all pleasure and proper satisfaction , ( let. 7 , 8. ) which emptying of our selves , will be accompanied with the love of god , which incontinently possesses the heart , from which vitious affections are expelled , because of the near relation and sympathy between them , as between the creature and its natural element . in which love consists the essence and complement of all virtue , and all good ( let. 8 , 9 , 10. ) concerning the overturning and resisting the impediments , and tentations of satan is treated ( let. 11. ) whether they be offered to our imagination , or sensibility even spiritual , ( let. 12 , 13. ) or to the understanding making us rest in the naked knowledge of the truth . ( let. 14. ) or exciting us to external acting or internal , with vain glory ; or by dejecting us through immoderate mortifications ; or in unseasonable good works spiritual or corporal toward our neighbour ( let. 15 , 16. ) or in regard of the devil accusing him too much , or too little of our sins . ( let. 17 , 18. ) whether these tentations affect the will , whose godly fervour satan would extinguish by grief , spiritual negligence and self-love , as shew ( let. 19 , 20 , and to the end . ) there is briefly represente the whole subject handled in this divine treatise ; which is more specially noted at the beginning of each letter , that you may , kind reader , view as in a table , and beter retain in your memory the divine instructions , therein delivered . moreover you may with us well admire the infamous audacity of some , as the church-men in holsatia , whereby some years ago they caused , that these so wholsome instructions , while under the press in the german and low dutch tongues , were taken away by force and violence , and rent . while i consider these obscure enemies of the truth that scripture offers it self to me ; that , every one that doth ( and will do ) evil , hateth the light ; and cometh not to the light , lest his deeds be reproved : and this is the condemnation , that light is come into the world ; and men love darkness rather than light , because their deeds are evil. it is far otherwise with him who doth ( and will do ) the truth ; for he cometh to the light , that his deeds may be made manifest , because they are wrought in god , joh. ch. 3. i pray the god of truth , that he graciously please to instruct and lead you in the way of truth , that you never refuse to come to the light. farewell . to the reader . friendly reader , i cannot abstain from imparting unto you , these twenty four letters ; which i have written to one of my particular friends , where i shew him what solid virtue is : because it is a matter so necessary for the present time , when we see false virtue reign , or such as is only apparent to the eyes of men ; and while so many persons deceive themselves , perswading themselves that they have true virtue ; whereas they have nothing but fine speculations . they think themselves humble , when they can talk well of humility ; and think they have the love of god , when they desire to have it : notwithstanding they have in effect only the love of themselves : and it is but deceit and falshood , when they say they have the love of god. they do not so much as know the corruption of their nature ; seeing they think they may follow that corruption without sinning , provided they do no evil reproveable before men , and have a will to do well and love god. which notwithstanding is not sufficient to be saved ; for good desires without effect , are nothing before god. they are indeed foundation stones , serving to the building of true virtue : for without good desires we cannot do good works . we must first have the desire , and after put it in execution ; which is wanting to many persons of a good will ; who content themselves to be of a good will , and hope with that , all shall go well ; without considering , that the holy scripture says to all in general , depart from evil , and do good. now the evil is in our corrupt nature , which no person ought to ignore : yet few depart from that corruption , and most love and follow it . thinking they do well : which is a great abuse and presumption of spirit ; for we cannot do good , except we depart from evil ; and he that does not resist that corrupt nature , and renounce it , cannot acquire true virtue , which few persons comprehend : and thence is it that they have only apparent virtues , and no real ones . therefore is it that i have resolved to cause print these twenty four letters , which treat of virtue ; that they who aspire unto it , may see the state wherein they are , and also if they have acquired any degrees of it : or if their virtues be only imaginary . i do not present this matter of true virtue to all in general ; since many should find it too difficult to be observed : for such as yet love themselves , or the things of the earth , cannot have all their mind bent to acquire this virtue ; nor tend to the spiritual diligence , which it requires . but i speak to the free and generous souls , who have abandoned the world to follow jesus christ , and such will easily understand me ; for none is better disposed to understand me , than he that will practise true virtue . and others , who have not that desire , may content themselves to know the commands of god in general , seeing they aspire not to a greater perfection . so i say to them , as st. john to the soldiers , use no violence nor fraud to any person ; and be content with your wages . he said so to them , because he found them not disposed for greater perfection . and every one is free , to tend to what degree of perfection he will : so st. john chooses of two evils the least , in councelling the soldiers , to be content with their pay , and do no violence : but if these soldiers had tended unto christian-perfection , doubtless st. john had counselled them , to cease from being soldiers , and to forsake all that they possessed , as jesus christ did to the young man in the gospel , after he said he had kept the commands of god. i say the very same to them to whom i present this matter of true virtue , in these twenty four letters , ( which is but the beginning of my designs ) to shew wherein it consists in every thing . to these , namely , who will follow it , and to none other : seeing that were to cast pearls before swine , or the childrens bread unto dogs . those are souls yet earthly and attached to the honours , pleasures and goods of this life ; and consequently are not in a disposition to put true virtue in practice . it seems enough to them not to transgress grossly and externally the commands of god ; because they know no other evils , but what are expressed in these commands . but the souls who have abandoned the world , to follow jesus christ , and to revive in his spirit , must labour with all their force to acquire this true virtue , in renouncing the corruption of their nature . and they may well be assured , that they can never arrive at a truely christian life , unless they have overcome the inclinations of that corrupt nature . therefore must we labour with diligence in the mortification of our senses , that we may carry the victory over that corruption , which sin hath brought unto human nature ; without that our virtue is false , or only apparent , and in no wise virtue before god. for if you shew me a person , sober , and chast , and upright in his business , who imparts his goods to the poor , who fasts at appointed times , with many other good deeds ; and yet follows the motions of corrupt nature : i esteem nothing all these virtues , if there is not a renounciation of his corrupt nature , and he hath not entirely renounced his own will : for all these things together come not near the victory , which is in mastering the motions of corrupt nature . and st. paul names yet greater virtues , than these i have named ; when he says : if i had the gift of prophecy , and faith that could remove mountains , and gave all my goods to nourish the poor , i am nothing if i want charity . now charity is nothing else but the love of god , which we cannot obtain but in renouncing self-love , and hating the corruption of our nature : for we can never do good except we first depart from evil ; and all sorts of evil are contained in the corruption of our nature , since it is fallen into sin . so that we can never arrive at true virtue , but by renouncing that corruption ; nor at the charity of which the apostle speaks , without having overcome it . so i say with him , unto all that would attain to true virtue , that all other good actions shall be nothing , until we have surmounted and overcome the corruption which sin hath brought unto humane nature , since all sorts of evil spring thence ; and therein can no good be found . though the blindness of men , makes them presume that they can do all well , yet they do altogether evil , so long as they act according to the motions of corrupt nature . and it is only arrogance and presumption of spirit , that they think themselves wise , and willing to do all good . for if man were wise , he would always distrust himself , nor dare undertake any thing ; fearing to do evil ; since that is in him ; and there cannot proceed out of a vessel , other than what is in it . when man was newly created by god , in the state of innocence , he was full of all good , and all sorts of good proceeded from him : but since he is fallen into sin , he is filled with all evil , and there can nothing proceed out of him , but all evil . that is a general rule , and by it ought every one to regulate his life , if he would be saved : for there is no exception : seeing all men have been corrupted by adam's sin , and consequently are filled with evils , none excepted . it is true , mens natures differ , in manners and conditions : one is meek , another harsh ; one is proud , another humble : but that is from their natural temperament ; because man being composed of four elements , water , fire , earth and air ; his manners naturally are disposed with proportion to the element , which predomines in him . for every one hath in his nature divers dispositions . he that in the forming of his body hath contracted more of fire , than of the other elements , will be more cholerique , and luxurious , because the fire hath more power in him , than the air water or earth . another who in his formation hath contracted more of water , will be more dull in his manners , slow in comprehending any thing , and less couragious . he that in his formation hath received more of earth than of other elements , shall be more heavy , lazy and rude in his manners . finally , he that in his formation hath contracted more of air than other elements , will be in his manners more light , and inconstant , and more active in spirit , and prompter to good , or evil : and by these natural temperaments , all men are of divers complexions and different manners , according as they have contracted of their parents the intemperature of the elements , of which their body is formed . but in respect of grace , they are all of a like nature ; and are by sin all fallen into the same corruption , one as well as the other ; and so they all need to combate that corruption ; since they are all equally corrupted by sin , which they must master , if they would be saved , without going to perswade that one is better than another , because he hath in his nature a better temperament . for that nature is nothing as to grace ; and sometimes he that hath more of fire , will be more virtuous , then he that hath more of water ; seeing in case he serve himself of that natural heat , to love god , he will love him so much the more : and if he employ his anger , to defend justice and virtue , he will do much more good than a phlegmatick person , who ordinarily loves only his ease . it is the same with them , that in the intemperature of their nature , have contracted more air , than other elements ; for they will always be more subtil , to discover evil , and more prompt to do good ; when they will apply themselves to the search of true virtue . as he that hath more of earth , then other elements , will be more posed and grave ; and if he apply himself to the service of god , he will be more constant and persevering in it , than the other three . and so every one may be agreeable to god in the state and condition wherein he is produced ; provided he apply the talent which he hath received , to the glory of god , and the salvation of his soul. therefore says david : let all spirits praise the lord. that ●s not as if he would say , that the devils and wicked men praise the lord , seeing these blaspheme him : but he gives to understand , that all spirits , that will become true christians , praise the lord , though they be all of divers natural complexions ; seeing god is no respecter of persons , and does not regard whether we have more of fire , or of water , or earth , or air , in our natures , but with what affection every one will love and serve him . which i regard also in writing of solid virtue : i mean not to make it heavy and difficult : i would only make it known , to them that will follow and practise it ; because i love such : so i cannot leave them in ignorance , nor let them perish , amidst their good will , for want of knowing wherein true virtue consists . that is it , which hath engaged me to deduce that matter at length , lest these souls , which are so dear to me , should perish by ignorance ; as many have already , who thought they had acquired true virtue : while they had only apparent ones , or curious speculations of virtue ; not knowing that it consists in the overcoming of corrupt nature , in true humility , and voluntary poverty . though jesus christ hath so much taught it by word and works , yet it is not followed in the practice ; for want of good explication , and the light of the truth . which god having given me , i will willingly impart it to others ; in sending to light this first part of true virtue . and with time and opportunity , i shall present more , to the glory of god , and the salvation of souls , who aspire after true virtue and perfection . what i offer them at present is with good heart , as a present come from heaven , which shall shew them the light of the truth , and manifest the deceits of false virtue , as also the means to arrive at that which is solid and true . this first part discovers ▪ amongst other things , how the devil attempts always to divert souls from true virtue , by so many wiles and different means . and finally it is a school , where you may learn , to deny your self , take up your cross , and follow jesus christ . as he hath taught unto all that would be his disciples , in the perfect sense and true explication . receive it therefore with as good heart , as i present it you by christian charity . who remain friendly reader , your well-affected in jesus christ , antonia bourignon . index of the contents of the first part. letter i. we must learn of jesus christ , meekness , lowliness and humility of heart . written to one desirous of true virtue ( also all the following are addressed to the same ) shewing , that to attain thereto , we must have submission and obedience , by which we may begin to learn , meekness , lowliness and humility of heart . page 1. ii. we must learn of jesus christ meekness , lowliness and humility of heart . showing wherein meekness and lowliness consists , which are fruits of the holy spirit ; and cannot be obtained unless we renounce our own will , submitting to the will of god. p. 10. iii. men can sufficiently know the will of god , if they would perform it . shewing , ( him that perswaded himself that the will of god is not manifest in every thing that we might accomplish it , denying our own ) that it may be known , and is sufficiently manifested in the commands of god , which jesus christ proposes so clearly , saying : learn of me , for i am meek and lowly and humble of heart . p. 18. iv. humility is acquired by the knowledge of our selves . shewing what humility of heart is , what the marks of it , and how we should endeavour to attain it , by the knowledge of the infirmities and miseries of our souls and bodys , and blindness of our minds . p. 25. v. humility is acquired by knowing ones self . shewing , that the true knowledge even of things most esteemed by men , ought to serve to humble them ; such as the honours , riches , and pleasures of this life : that all these are vain , disquieting , unsatisfying and hurtful . p. 32. vi. humility is acquired by knowing ones self . admonishing to learn humility by knowing the truth of our corruption , and sin ; which is the disorder of our five natural senses . p. 40. vii . he that serves the lusts of his senses thereby actually renounces the love of god. exhorting to the effects of humility , the renouncing of our senses : shewing , that none can follow them , but he thereby renounces the love of god , which is the end of our creation , and the essence of true virtue . p. 47. viii . it is easier to love god than any thing else . shewing , that we must renounce the abuse of our senses , and that the right use of them should be referred to god : that it is possible , reasonable , and necessary to love god with all our heart . p. 57. ix . it is easier to love god than any thing beside him . shewing , that it is most easie , sweet , profitable and honourable to love god , and keep his commands , for him that will deny himself ; but that it is blasphemy to say , that it is impossible to love god with all our heart . p. 65. x. the love of god is easie , and renders all things easie . shewing , that the love of god is in it self most easie to be acquired : whence the difficulties proceed which we find them ; and how they should be removed : that this love admirably makes the inconveniences of this life , and the keeping of the commands of god , and the councels of the gospel , easie and pleasant . p. 74. xi . we must always proceed in virtue , whatever impediments occur . giving encouragement in the way of virtue ; although the beginning be difficult , because of the tentations , by which the devil vexes them that have resolved to embrace true virtue . p. 83. xii . the devil , the enemy of true virtue , opposes it by all manner of devices . that it is necessary to know the wiles of the devil , which he opposes to virtue , that we may evite them , which are recited in this and the following letters ; as 1. that the devil mixes himself in what is sensual in man. 2. that he accommodates himself to the inclinations and impulses of every one , leaving all the rest in quiet . p. 93. xiii . whatever is sensible to nature , is not the work of grace or virtue . discovering a third artifice of the devil , whereby he perswades men , that they may satisfie their senses in a slate of regeneration , and praising god , a 4. by which he affixes the heart to spiritual pleasures and delights , wherewith the followers of virtue are affected . p. 102. xiv . the devil transforms himself into an angel of light. discovering a 5. and 6. artifice of the devil , by which he causes men to apply themselves to the study of the truth , and mystical and spiritual things . ( 5 ) that they may comprehend and understand them . or 6. that they may unseasonably instruct others . p. 111. xv. the devil instigates unto good , that he may bring evil out of it . a seventh deceit of the devil is , to carry us out of our selves , to compare our good works with others , that we may draw : vain glory from our virtue . an 8. whereby he excites us to immoderate mortifications and macerations of our body . and a 9. whereby he excites us to immoderate spiritual good works toward our neighbour ; as to desire to instruct , convert , reprove or correct him unseasonably . p. 121. xvi . the devil mixes himself in our good works . a tenth artifice of the devil , in our corporal good works , which the devil often turns to his own honour . yet we must not therefore cease from them , but joyn moderation , and avoid human respect and considerations and pride ; which insult over us in this time of tryal . p. 130. xvii . sin proceeds from man's free will. an eleventh tentation is proposed , by which we impute the guilt of our sins to the devil , to excuse our selves : it is shewed , that the devil cannot bring man to sin , nor do him any hurt , without his own free consent . p. 139. xviii . the good and evil spirit are known by their fruit. proposing the signs , to know whether we are ruled by the instinct of the good spirit , or of the evil. a 12. artifice of the devil , by which he causes , that we impute our vices , to our natural inclinations , without suspecting him to lurk therein , that he may remain undiscovered . p. 149. xix . we cannot in this life be free from tentations . shewing ( to him that was afflicted , that the devil hath power so variously to tempt us ) that a 13. artifice of the devil is , to break the firmness and strength of our mind , by grief . also that tentations are necessary and profitable to try and purify us . p. 158. xx. spiritual diligence is necessary to salvation . a 14. impediment of the devil , more pernicious than the rest , is , spiritual negligence . moving also unto spiritual diligence , by consideration of the care usually bestowed in worldly things , which the children of this world manage with more prudence and care , than the children of light do their business . p. 168. xxi . spiritual diligence necessary beyond all other virtues . shewing how necessary spiritual diligence is , for confirming the mind in virtue , and to remove two more impediments of the devil ; viz. 15. sins of omission , with which the devil tempts good men : and 16. self-love , which insinuates it self in all , and is a continual sin . p. 177. xxii . spiritual diligence necessary to salvation . exhorting unto spiritual diligence , because , without it none can persevere in the service of god ; nor overcome corrupt nature and self-love . p. 186. xxiii . spiritual diligence necessary to salvation . shewing the necessity of spiritual diligence ; to watch over all the actions of our corrupt nature and proper will , and to acquire the knowledge of our selves : that spiritual negligence is a fountain of all evils , and is alone sufficient to damn us ; since it renders our souls rude , and like uncultivated and cursed ground , which brings forth noehing but bryars and thistles ; and so is far from meekness , lowliness , and humility of heart . p. 194. xxiv . men are idolaters of their own corruption , and enemies of true virtue . shewing , that the continuing of this subject is hindered , by the devils exciting the wise of this world , who are enemies of virtue , and friends of corrupt nature ; to distract the mind of the writer , by their disputes , lies , calumnies , and all manner of persecutions . p. 202. an extract of some of the works of mrs. a. bourignon , belonging to some most essential matters of christianism and health : being a letter written to one of her intimates , mr. van de velde , concerning toleration ; that it ought never to go the length of communicating with sin , directly or indirectly . of the essential and of the perfection of christianity . of religions , worships and ceremonies ; and their use . p. 220. some conferences taken out of the third part of the light of the world , viz. conference xi . how we must be regenerated to enter into the kingdom of heaven : and that we must return into the dependance of god ; which is the only thing which god requires essentially of man. p. 219. conference xii . that there is but one only thing to be done to be saved . p. 226. conference xvii . being a collection of all the preceding matters ; their end and use . p. 235. conference xxvi . declareth the necessity of becoming a child to enter into the kingdom of heaven , renouncing all worldly wisdom , and all human abuses . p. 245. a profession of faith and religion made publick by mrs. antonia bourignon . i. i am a christian , and i believe all that a true christian ought to believe . ii. i am baptised in the catholique church , in the name of the father , in the name of the son , in the name of the holy spirit . iii. i believe the twelve articles of the credo , or apostles creed , and do not doubt in any article of it . iv. i believe that jesus christ is true god , and that he is also true man ; and that he is the saviour and redeemer of the world. v. i believe in the holy gospel ; in the holy prophets ; and in all the holy scripture , both of the old and new testament . i will live and die in all the points of this belief , which i protest before god and men : to all whom it may concern . to the faith whereof , i have subscribed this my confession with my hand , and sealed it with my seal . sleeswick 11. march 1675. sealed and subscribed ( l. s. ) antonia bourignon . a catalogue of books composed by mrs. antonia bourignon . i. the life of mrs. a. bourignon ; wherein is ( 1 ) an apologie for her person and for her doctrine ; ( 2 ) her inward life , by her self . ( 3 ) her outward life , by her self . ii. her life continued until her death , by a person of her acquaintance . iii. god's call and mens refusal , in two parts ; with a treatise of the solitary life ▪ and gods last mercy . iv. light arisen in darkness , in four parts . v. and vi. the funeral of false theologie , in four parts . vii . the light of the world , in three parts . viii . the accademy of learned theologues , in three parts . and confusion of the builders of babylon . ix . a treatise of solid virtue , in two parts . x. advertisment against the sect of quakers . and the persecution of the righteous . xi . the testimony of the truth , first part. xii . a collection of testimonies given unto a. bourignon . xiii . the testimony of the truth , second part. and innocency avowed and truth discovered . xiv . the touch-stone . and the morning-star . xv. the blindness of the men of this time , in two parts . xvi . antichrist discovered , in three parts . and the holy perspective . xvii . the renewing of the gospel spirit , in three parts . xviii . the new heaven and new earth . and the stones of the new jerusalem . xix . wholsome advices . all these books are originally in french : the greatest part of them are translated into high and low dutch. solid virtue 1 part , the touch-stone , and the gospel spirit 1 part , are translated into latin. and are all to be sold by henry wetstein , bookseller at amsterdam . ad solidae virtutis amicum , ejusdemque hostem , alloquium , totius libelli ideam exhibens . discere virtutem , lector , sine fraude doloque vis ? liber hic monstrat , christum panditque sequendum . (a) pare , teque nega , mitesce , dejice temet ; (b) mens ignara tibi est , cor pravum , corpus iniquum et cujus pudeat miseri , (c) ne tu illius ergo sensibus indulge , satis esto necesse , repelle cetera : (d) replet amor vacuas , sacer , almaque virtus . (e) ast non una manet te crux , non pugna reposcit te semel . assiduos versas , o orce , labores (f) mox sensum mulces ; mox ludis imagine mentem , (g) jam specie veri noti : (h) jam gloria pellit te motore animum ; vis mox in corpore regnet saevitia ; utve alios jam passim , mens pia curet (i) jam , te astute reum fers intus ; mox sine culpa ut lateas fueris : (k) jam mentem sanguine tetro obruis & laxas , eam ut aut ignavia perdat , perdat amorve suus . sic sunt fraudesque dolique orce tui . patet ars tua sic ; patet & modus illam frangendi . (l) rabiem fundis , nec miror , in ista quae docet , haec sacro 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 numine virgo . the first letter . that all christians ought to learn of jesus christ meekness , mildness , gentleness , and lowliness of heart . written to one desirous of true virtue : shewing him , that to attain thereto , we must have submission and obedience , by which we may begin to learn meekness , lowliness and humility of heart . my dear child ; i perceive you have not yet comprehended well what jesus christ teaches ; saying , learn of me , for i am meek and lowly , and humble of heart : because upon occasion you do not exercise it enough ; but yield loose reins to your nature : for when it enclines to anger , you speak harshly ; and sometimes use force and violence to fulfil what you have resolved , as well in small matters as in great : which does not testify humility of heart , seeing the humble heart yields willingly to another in things not evil , and does not imagin that another ought to follow our will. but it is always willing to follow anothers will in whatever is not contrary to god , and the perfection of its own soul i suppose you may well have observed that in me ; for ordinarily i inform my self of the will of my brethren , to know what they love best in indifferent things ; and i have more contentment to do any thing after their desires , than after my own ; for that yields me more quiet and inward peace , feeling a certain satisfaction to see them content and joyful . and even my nature enclines to it , by the habit which i 've used to resist my own will in every thing : and being overcome , it rules over all things , and has no grudge for whatsoever comes contrary to it , provided it be not against the glory of god or the love of our neighbour . all beside is indifferent to me ; if it is rain , or fair weather ; if i eat harsh meats or sweet , when they wrong not my health ; if i be alone , or in company , so that the one be as wholesome as the other : and finally , i 'm as well content to be in one countrey as another ; providing i have the same occasions to live well . and so i am comforted in every event : whether i be sick or in health , i have no choose , in case i honour god as well in one state as in another : it is all one to me , and i would never choose any thing , so that i receive from the hand of god whatsoever comes to pass : and so i as always content and joyful . if you knew but to learn that method , you would be very happy , and continually in quiet : whereas now , fretting and discontent , you disquiet and trouble your spirit , and are burthensome to others , and so hinder mutual love : for a bitter word is pleasant to no body , and a mild one mollifies the heart , even of a furious person . i know your heart is good ; and that you hate no person , notwithstanding to judge by the tone of your voice , one would say , that you are envious , and they that know not your heart , think you are in rage : you must know , that they are not always disposed to bear with you , and that may marr the peace , and diminish charity , which jesus christ hath so much recommended to christians ; saying , if you love one another , thereby shall all men know that you are my disciples ; i believe you love the brethren in the bottom of your heart ; but sometimes you speak to them , as if you hated them , and would not hear them speak . if they spoke as you do , you would have difficulty to suffer them : so you ought to consider that they have much to suffer that you speak so harshly . they do very well in suffering you , but it is no advantage for your soul : for if all the world should bear with you , that will not justifie you before god , nor will your nature for that change its evil inclinations ; but be strengthned in them : and so you shall be in danger to live and die imperfect ; which you would regret much before god , when too late . therefore it is much better , to endeavour now to overcome that bilious humour , which is in your nature ; than be slave to a wrathful passion , which masters you , whereas you should govern it : and use it only when it concerns the maintaining the truth and defence of the glory of god. then is it that there is place for anger , as the scripture also says , be angry , and sin not . but we must never be angry for things indifferent , and of small import ; much less speak harshly , because jesus christ says , we must be meek and lowly of heart . that is a lesson he gives to all christians ; and exhorts them to learn it of him ; rather than the other marvellous things he did on earth . he does not bid them learn to raise the dead , to heal the sick , or to do other miracles . but expresly to learn of him to be meek , lowly and humble of heart . and therefore is it ( my child ) that i counsel you to labour to acquire that meekness , since it is good , wholsome and taught by j. chr. himself , who practised it ; and tells , that we should learn it of him . i know very well that you will find some little repugnancy to it , and that you must do violence to your nature , seeing it inclines always more to harshness than to meekness , but we must take the kingdom of heaven by force ; for it is written , that the violent take it by force . eternal life deserves well a little suffering , and also the violence which we must use to resist our evil habits ; for these sufferings are but of short continuance , whereas the eternal joy they purchase shall never end . these considerations may well make the greatest afflictions we can endure in resisting our selves , appear but light . therefore resolve with your self to overcome that passion of anger , it is it which torments you most , and giveth the devil most advantage against your soul . watch over your self therefore , that you may resist it upon occasion ; for the first motions of anger are not in your power , because of the evil habit , which your parents have not correcterd in your youth : and so it is become as natural to you , and is stirred up almost at every occasion . you ought therefore to use continual prayer , to resist these continual motions . the sin is not to feel them , but to consent to them : and therefore when you feel the motions of anger , give not place to them ; but return in to your self , and pray to god for strength to resist them . in that case hold your peace , because you would not speak meekly as jesus christ teaches you should : and when others speak what you are unwilling to hear ; with-draw , rather than answer them . so shall you by little and little overcome that inclination ; and become meek and gentle . as for humbleness of heart , it consists in submitting willingly to the will of others in all good , or indifferent things . and believe assuredly , that so long as you find a repugnancy to yield to anothers will , it s a token that your heart is not humble : since it would have another to yield to it , and will not yield to him . an humble heart always distrusts it self , and desires rather to obey than to command : it submits always its opinion to that of others , and will not contend to maintain its own ; esteeming it the least of any , and therefore yields willingly to every body in matters good , or indifferent . my child , if you had that humility of heart which j. ch. requires , you would be happy , and content ; for nothing would ever arrive against your will : which being submitted to god , would always receive every thing from his hand , although they came by wicked men , or the devil himself , which could not hurt you when you refer them to god. and the devil will not long vex a humble heart ; for humility displeases him ; he flyes from the humble , because he cannot gain upon them : and he searches out the proud , because they are more liker himself : as the birds of one feather flock together . therefore if you will be free from the devil , be humble of heart ; for so soon as you 've learnt that vertue , he will insensibly flee from you , and at length strive no more against you ; but you must have a true humility of heart , not consisting in humble outward actions , but in the inward motions of your heart , which from the bottom ought not to desire to be esteemed and honoured , far less followed and obeyed : but a humble heart honours and esteems others and obeys them willingly , seeing there 's nothing gives more quiet to man than obedience ; for he that has no more to do but obey , needs not devise in his mind what to do or speak ; he hath but to hear what is said to him , and follow it ; living so as a child , without care , except that of pleasing god , which should yield great quiet outward and inward . i suppose no body ( even naturally ) can desire to command , at least without he have a proud and arrogant heart , desiring dominion over others ; for submission and obedience is pleasant and agreeable ; and we find by experience , that he who takes his own will , hath often regret and dissatisfaction after , and is discontent for doing so . which flows thence , that our proper will is corrupted by sin ; and so produces all sorts of noxious corruption to him that follows it . how many have ruined and made themselves miserable for all their life , by following their own will ? one hath engaged himself in some marriage to his hurt ; another follows the wars , taken some charge ; or undertaken some business which hath empoverish't and rendred them miserable : yea and by grief and melancholy caused their death . and all this , because they would follow their own will ; without taking counsel , or submitting to any person . and such are forced to suffer and endure the adversities which their own wills have caused ; but he that can find a disinteressed person , and obeys him according to god ; is most happy and content : as the proverb is , he that plays the fool by counsel does it well . that is , not that any folly is good , but to show that he who submits his will to god and the gospel councels ; does always well , alhough men should judge it folly ; as most part do at this day judge it to follow these councels expresly according to the letter . so it is folly to human sence , to despise the goods , riches and pleasures of this life , to become humble and mean with jesus christ ; but he that playes the fool at that rate , fool 's well . not that i would counsel you ( my child ) to be submissive and obedient in matters of importance to men , that live yet after their proper wills ( as well as you ) for that would oft times be evil , the corrupt will of another being evil as well as yours . yet it will be profitable for your perfection to obey them in things indifferent , or of small consequence , when they do hurt to no person : and thereby you shall overcome your own corruption ; and shall accustom your self to submit to what is well-pleasing to god , voluntarily ; for habit changes into nature ; and he that accustoms himself to submit to men for his own perfection ; it will be easie and pleasant to him to submit to god for the same , doing it without any repugnance of his nature : which being accustomed to obey in indifferent things , will find pleasure to obey in good things ; and hence your heart may find always quiet and contentment . but so long as you shall be unexercised in this obedience and submission of your spirit , you will have troubles and debates in your self , and shall not be loved of others , nor united in the same will with them : as god hath commanded us ; saying , be united together in one will : which we do not yet observe ; for our wills are as diverse as there as different persons of us , which testifies a pride of heart in all , far from observing the counsels which j. c. teaches : viz. to learn of him , who is meek , and lowly , and humble of heart : that lesson ought to be well kept , and practised upon every occasion . we have subject enough : for being an assembly of persons that endeavour after perfection , there is no fear of doing evil in obeying one another ; as it often happens in the world , where we cannot submit to any person without offending god , seeing they are all full of sins and evil inclinations ; which we must resist rather than obey : for many well-enclined persons , have lost themselves by endeavouring to please the wicked , and by that means had part in their sins . we are by the grace of god free of that danger , seeing all our company are persons of a good will and labour for the perfection of their souls ; so that you cannot do it to yield to them in indifferent , and principally in good things . examin always if what they counsel or propose be good , and when you cannot assuredly find that it is such ; examin if it is evil , if it may do hurt , or bring prejudice to any body : and if you think so , you must excuse your self from yielding with all the mildness you can : and so you shall irritate no body , though you follow not their will : but if you resist them with harsh and piercing words , designing to correct or rebuke them , you had better hold your peace as speak . but i 'm unwilling to believe , that such cases will happen in our company ; because i trust none of them will ever give himself to evil things ; they may well afford occasion one to another to exercise patience ; for being all imperfect , every one hath his own failing which christian-charity ought to support : and that should perfect you together : for if you had nothing to bear with in your brother , you should never know how far you have advanced in virtue , seeing the heart of man is deceitful , and flatters it self always , and knows not it self till the emergents and occasions offer , which try how much meekness and humility it hath , which it would not know other ways : and consequenly , you should love the opportunities of suffering ; that you may be exercised in christian perfection . you will not always have so much opportunity , as now , while all the brethren are yet so imperfect , and humility of heart so little put in practice . so let not the present occasion escape ; for what is past , is not in your power ; and what 's to come is uncertain . there is only the present moment , we have to use for perfecting our selves . look not to the failings of others ; for every one must labour for his own advancement , and not render an accompt of his brother . do so as having nothing else to do , but to perfect your soul , and fulfil the will of god ; for there is only that which concerns you : for if all the men in the world were saints , and you not , their virtues would not in the least profit you ; and also if you be virtuous , and all others vicious , that will not diminish your virtue : for god will not require an accompt of others from you ; but will judge every one according to his works . so that when you have overcome your self , you overcome all the world , and nothing can let your perfection ; for even the faults of others , will serve you , as a means to exercise your patience , and become meek , mild and humble of heart , as j. ch. counsels : and the virtues of others will excite you to greater virtue ; so that you shall rule over every one ; for he that hath overcome his passions , is king over all the earth , and hath subjected all things to himself ; not being moved for whatsoever happens . behold a blessed state , and yet easie to be attained , provided they embrace the means . they may overcome one passion at once ; and so get over them all in the end . i counsel you to begin with obedience , seeing with it you may overcome divers of your passions at once . for i shall frequently order you things which your nature has a repugnancy against ; and if you perform them without gain saying , you shall so overcome its corruption , although they be but small inconsiderable matters , you obey in : for it is the fault of that corruption , not to yield willingly to another , and would always be in the right , and thinks it hath reason in all it imagins : which proceeds from the haughtiness of heart , that would always have deference , and will yield to none : it thinks always it self wiser and clearer-sighted than another . and from that you must disengage it , and oblige it to submit to every one in things good or indifferent . as for me , i did so ; and have thence found great advantages for the perfection of my soul ; i submitted always my self to whomsoever i conversed with ; and have endeavoured from the beginning to discover their inclinations , that i might conform my self to them ; and i did it so absolutely , that sometimes i perceived not the evil that was in them , to oppose it : but since , that god has given me more light , i obey not men , but in things that are good or indifferent . and i exhort you , my dear child , to do the same ; that you may become by little and little agreeable to your heavenly father . which is the earnest desire of her who loves your soul , to render it unto god , unto whom it belongs . in holstein near gottorp castle this 12. jan. 1672. old stile . antonia bourignon . the ii. letter . that all christians ought to learn of jesus christ meekness , lowliness and humility of heart . shewing wherein consists meekness and lowliness ; which are fruits of the holy spirit ; and cannot be obtained , unless we renounce our own will , submitting to the will of god. my dear child ; i perceive you have not yet comprehended the words of j. christ , where he says : that we must learn of him to be meek and lowly , and humble of heeart . therefore you must know what that meekness is , otherwise you cannot love it ; for one cannot have a perfect love for what he does not at all know ; and the reason why true virtue is so little loved , is because it is so little known : many think it is a visible , material and bodily thing , and thence is hypocrisie bred in mens hearts ; who perswade themselves , that they are virtuous , because of doing some external good works : whereas there is nothing of the essence of virtue in them : for true virtue is a spiritual thing , which should possess the hearts of men ; and it cannot be seen nor felt , but by the operations it produces , springing from the bottom of the heart : and if these operations proceed not from that bottom , but are only studied , or practised to please men , or for our proper satisfaction ; they are but moral and temporary virtues , which add nothing to our souls , and cannot have the recompense of eternal life . they may indeed be a mean to attain to true virtue , when our design is to aspire and arrive at it ; but the misery is , that many rest at these means and external virtues , as if that were the end . and so they think they have virtue indeed ; whereas they have it only in shadow , not in reality . and therefore is it , that i teach you what true virtue is , and particularly what is that meekness which j. ch. says we must learn of him . it is nothing else but a peace , quiet , and tranquillity of spirit , which resides in the bottom of our soul ; and all these are spiritual qualities , which cannot be seen or felt but by their outward operations . but the essence of that virtue of meekness is a divine quality , and you cannot judge by the outward actions if one possesses it : for one may well learn to speak mildly , without having the mildness which j. ch. says we must learn of him . we may learn meek words like a perroquet , and speak so perhaps for civility or by hypocricy : for i have known persons that appeared most meek in their carriage , who inwardly were wicked and arrogant . and therefore we must not amuse our selves at that outward mildness which is often deceitful , and but natural : for there are persons so faint-hearted that they fear to speak a harsh word , left it give themselves trouble by as harsh an answer : and that sillyness makes them mild and calm both to good and evil . and yet such dare believe , that they have the virtue of meekness , when it is only a vice of sloath and injustice ; which makes them yield to the sin of others , instead of resisting it with diligence and courage ; but they will not take so much trouble . it is not then that false meekness , which i exhort you unto , my child ; for so you should not learn that which j. ch. teaches : but i would gladly make you comprehend what is that true meekness , that you might love and follow it . it is then an inward peace , a quiet of conscience , and tranquillity of spirit , which dwells in the bottom of our soul : behold what that meekness which j. ch. recommends to learn of him , contains ; himself practiced that meekness all the time of his mortal life : and you may observe from that , if there be at present any souls possessed by his spirit ; that is , who have effectually those three qualities in their souls ; for otherways they cannot be possessed of the holy ghost . observe well in me , if i have peace in my soul , quiet of conscience and tranquillity in my spirit : and if you discover in me these qualities , believe assuredly that you may obtain them also ; for god refuses not his graces to them that ask and desire them : and he will be loath to refuse that of meekness when j. ch. says , that we must learn it of him ; for he will not command us to learn , that which is impossible . god is just , and therefore he hath not taught us any thing by jesus christ , but what he will readily give us . that spirit of meekness and gentleness is the holy spirit ; which j. ch. says shall not be refused to any ; bringing us this comparison , to the purpose ; who is he of you , who when his son asks bread , will give him a stone ; or if he demand fish , will give him a serpent ? and he draws this conclusion ; if you then being evil , know to give good things to your children , how much more shall not your heavenly father give the holy spirit to them that ask him ? all the evil consists in that we do not desire him ; and that desire cannot be great in us , as long as we do not know him . many say , that the holy spirit does not work in souls now adays as he did in the days of j. christ rand his apostles ; because they do not see him in form of a dove , as he appeared at the baptism of j. chr. or as tongues of fire , as on the apostles at pentecost , which is a very feeble argument : for the holy ghost is not limited to times , being an eternal god , who gives his gifts and bears his fruits at all times ; and will do to all eternity , seeing he can never be barren nor idle , operating always in the souls that are disposed thereto : and if we see not now these tongues of fire , that dove , or other external signs , it is because we need them no more now , the gospel law and the doctrine of jesus christ being sufficiently confirmed ; at least there is no christian ( as i believe ) that calls it in question . moreover , these external forms added nothing to the souls of those that received the holy ghost : but served only to convince the hard-heartedness of the incredulous . and therefore true believers have no need to see external figures , to believe that the holy spirit dwells yet in the soul of him that is thereto disposed . they can well examin it themselves knowing but what the holy spirit is , what are his gifts , what his graces , and what his fruits : of which the meekness we must learn of jesus christ is one : and though it be declared in divers places of scripture , yet it is all the same thing . for j. ch. says , learn of me , for i am meek and lowly ; and st. paul puts among the twelve fruits of the holy spirit goodness and benignity ; which is the same thing pronounced in different words and is in substance , the peace , quiet , and tranquillity of spirit , residing in the soul , that hath these three internal qualities . these signs are assured testimonies of the habitation of the holy spirit . for the natural spirit cannot give true peace , nor true quiet , nor true tranquility of spirit , as give the meekness and lowliness which j. christ says we must learn of him . i suppose by these , my child , you comprehend sufficiently what is that meekness and lowliness which j. ch. teaches . and also that you have remarked enough , that i possess it in my soul : seeing you see me in inward peace , quiet of conscience , and tranquility of spirit , without notable change ; but yet you know not how you may come to feel the effects of that meekness of j. ch. in your soul . i know certainly you love them so far as you know them , but you know not how to attain to them : which i shall also teach you , if you will give good attention , and follow my counsel ; for it is very easie to obtain the meekness which j. ch. teaches , if you will empty your soul of what hinders it , and absolutely become a disciple of j. ch. and follow his doctrines . and if you feel not in your soul , true inward peace , quiet of conscience and tranquility of spirit , you may believe you have not yet learnt of j. ch. his meekness and lowliness ; and so you must embrace the means to attain to it . the first and fundamental means is absolutely to will and desire it ; which i believe by the grace of god you do . in the 2d. place you must endeavour to remove all impediments , which retard that peace , quiet , and tranquility of spirit : these impediments are in our corrupt nature ; for from sin men are fal● into a continual trouble , war and disquiet ; and our passions being disordered , breed all these ; and they cannot be governed , ordered and kept in peace except we have resisted and overcome them , and also altogether renounced our natural inclinations : and then is it that we find peace , quiet and tranquility of spirit , and not before . behold wherefore it is , that j. ch. says , we must deny our selves if we would be his disciples ; for that renouncing of our passions alone , is the true means to attain to that peace , quiet , and tranquillity of spirit : for since sin came , our passions bereave us of these ; which before sin , were well regulated , and temperate , bringing joy , peace and tranquility to our souls ; whereas now we feel the quite contrary : for if we suffer our passions to rule , they will lead us to intemperance , sadness and disquiet of spirit . so that it is impossible for one that lives according to his natural senses , to learn the meekness and gentleness which j. ch. teaches us . and it is for that he adds the gospel doctrine : that we must deny our selves . for th' one cannot be without the other : if we will be meek and lowly , as j. ch teaches , we must of necessity deny our selves ; seeing our nature hath nothing but harshness and fretting , which causes trouble of spirit , and disquiet in the will , and contention with our neighbour : for he that has not meekness in himself , cannot have peace with his neighbour ; except it be a dissembled or civil peace ; which yields not inward quiet , nor tranquillity of spirit . as i believe , my child , you feel in yourself ; for though you have a quiet of conscience , because you have abandoned the world , and the occasions of sin ; yet you have not that inward peace which would render your spirit tranquile and peaceable . for you act yet with disturbance , which proceeds from corrupted and distempered passions . so if you knew to vanquish that , and calm these unprofitable agitations , it were your great advantage , and you would easily obtain the meekness which jesus christ teaches : as also lowliness , and gentleness ; seeing these two are knit together : meekness of heart engenders gentleness toward our neighbour : for he that is tranquile and peaceable in himself , will not trouble his neighbour , nor give any occasion of fretting ; seeing the meekness of the good , quenches the wrath of the wicked . and though one that has learnt the meekness and gentleness of jesus christ were surrounded with troubles of all sorts , he will yet keep a tranquile spirit . because he does no more follow the motions of his corrupt nature , and so retains peace , quiet and tranquility of spirit , where it is obtained by the meekness and gentleness of j. chr. my child , if you would also learn that lesson , endeavour to deny your self , and not follow your own will in any thing . for since it was corrupted by sin , it always enclines to evil ; suspect whatever proceeds from your own will , and follow it in nothing ; it is it which bereaves you of the meekness and gentleness which jesus christ teaches ; and we have no greater enemy in the world than our proper will. if you could well comprehend that truth , doubtless , you would not follow it in any thing ; and you would distrust even your good wills and intentions , and suspect them ; but because you know not yet well , that your proper will is so evil , you do not distrust it : notwithstanding is betrays you often ; and it leads you to do evil often when you would do good ; your bottom and inward intention is good , but your proper will opposes your good desires , and makes you often do the contrary of what you have well resolved . if i were in your place , i would not follow my own will in any thing , and hold all my own best wills for evil ; seeing there can never come good out of what is altogether corrupt ; as our will is become through sin , so that no good can proceed from it . whatever is good , must proceed from god : and whatever is evil , from the devil , and the corrupted will of man. it is as a fire , which kindles in our nature luxury , anger , and all sorts of intemperance : it is insatiable ; never satisfied ; ever desiring what it hath not ; restless in its desires ; turbulent in its searches ; ever panting , and never refreshed nor content ; in the end our proper will creates us more evil than the devil himself ; who could in no wise hurt us , if our proper will did not consent thereto . so that when we have overcome our own will , we have overcome the devil also . for he can never make us sin , but in moving our will to submit to him : it is for that , that i said , man can never have a greater enemy than his proper will ; and consequently every one in particular , and all men in general , ought to make war with their proper wills : yet how few esteem it their enemy , and a great many idolize it ; esteeming themselves happy that they can follow it in every thing , without considering that it brings death to the soul ; and hinders the will of god to be fulfilled in us . for he that follows his own will is not subject to the will of god ; seeing these two are always contrary . so that he who will accomplish the will of god must of necessity renounce his own will ; and who will learn of j. christ meekness and lowliness , must refuse every thing to his proper will : and so be shall possess in his soul peace , quiet and tranquility of spirit ; which i pray god grant you by renouncing your proper will ? which is the only means to make you happy in this world , and to all eternity ; as wishes she that desires your salvation . holstein . near gottorp castle , 5 feb. 1672. antonia bourignon . the iii. letter . men can sufficiently know the will of god if they would perform it . to the same ; shewing him ( while he perswaded himself that the will of god is not sufficiently manifest in every thing that we might accomplish it , denying our own ) that the will of god may be known , and is sufficiently manifested in the commands of god ; which jesus christ proposeth so clearly : saying , learn of me , for i am meek and lowly , and humble of heart . my child ; i believe you understand sufficiently by my former what that meekness and lowliness is which we must learn of j. ch. how it is pleasant to obey ; how mans proper will is corrupted by sin ; and how we must now fight with and overcome it , if we will find peace in our souls , quiet of conscience , and tranquility in our spirit . but you cannot comprehend how you may so know the will of god in every thing , to follow it , in quitting your proper will. believe me , that scruple proceeds from your corrupt nature , which would willingly be dispensed , or excused from being obliged to renounce your proper will , which it loves and would follow , if it can escape the obligation of resisting it ; and so perswades it self , that it does not know the will of god in every thing , to do it . the heart of man is even so deceitful , that it perswades its proper understanding that we know not the will of god , and consequently cannot follow it in every thing . but that is a deceit invented by satan , to amuse us by false reasons and fine appearances of truth : which are in effect but wicked falsities . for all christians can know the will of god if they take pains to inform themselves ; but for the most part they are willing to be ignorant of it , because they have not a mind to accomplish it when they do know it ; and they do certainly beyond doubt know it ; but the love they bear to themselves , and the little love they bear to god , makes them say , that they know not his will ; & sometimes they have the confidence to say ( lying ) they would do it if they knew it . for that is false ; but mans heart deceives sometimes it self , so that it self does not know the deceit ; and gives it self to believe that its falshoods are truth , which causes several to live in quiet , believing themselves assured in the midst of perils of their salvation . therefore we may well desire to discover the truth in a matter of so great concern , on which depends our eternal happiness : and never sleep upon a false bolster of deceiving suppositions ; for he that sins ignorantly , goes ignorantly to hell . seeing all christians are obliged to know the will of god , which is also clearly manifested to them by his commands , and yet more particularly by the doctrine of j. ch. for there be few christians that know not that god hath commanded men to love him with all their heart , and their neighbour as themselves ; and there are yet fewer that observe these commands ; and with that they say , if i knew the will of god , i would follow it ; and so they lie to god and to themselves , perswading themselves they speak truth : so great is the darkness in which men live at this day , in regard of their salvation . we may truly say , that it is at this day that they are abandoned to the spirit of error and wickness ; and that the scripture says with good reason , that all men are liars : seeing they now lie to themselves to the prejudice of their eternal salvation ; and that sometimes without knowing it . for in that they say , if they knew the will of god , they would follow it ; is falshood , both in the well-intentioned and in the wicked ; since we see in effect , that neither the one nor the other do it , in the first command , viz. to love god with all our heart , and our neighbour as our selves . for to love god with all our heart , we must love nothing else but him only ; otherwise our heart were divided and parted : instead of being whole in the love of one god : so that if we love riches , and the pleasures of this life , and honour , &c. we do not love god with all our heart ▪ though we know that to be his will. and when we envy the happiness of our neighbour , and do not assist him in his need , we do not love him as our selves ; and we often do to him what we would not should be done to our selves . wherein we do not the will of god , though we know assuredly , that his will is , that we love our neighbour as our selves ; and so we do not practice the will of god which we know : but we seek beside that so clearly revealed , a more particular will in things little needful ; and neglect to do his will in that which regards our eternal salvation . it is therefore much to be feared , that we would not do the will of god in small things , though we did know it ; seeing we do it not in things so great and so advantagious to our eternal salvation . so that it were to tempt god , to ask what is his will in all things , while we do not fulfil it in the principal things , as are his express commands and saving ordinances . i hear sometimes said , that it is a very sweet thing and great happiness to have the will of god discovered in every thing ; esteeming that a particular grace and extraordinary happiness . and yet if that mercy were given them ; it is to be feared it would turn to their greater condemnation ; for he that knows the father's will , and does it not , shall be beaten with many stripes . and the reason why god does not communicate himself to all christians , is , because they are not ready nor disposed to perform his will when it shall be contrary to their own . and therefore every one ought to endeavour to fulfil the will of god which he knows by his commands ; rather than go to and demand of god particular things , so long as he does not perform the principal things , as are the commands of god or the counsels of j. ch. and these counsels explain yet more particularly the will of god , than did the commands in general . for j. ch. deduces particularly all what we ought to do and leave , to fulfil that command of loving god with all our heart , and our neighbour as our selves : saying , learn of me , for i am meek and lowly ; which teaches the love of god and of our neighbour : for the meekness signifies love of the goodness of god , and lowliness the love of our neighbour . meekness or goodness is one of the essential qualities of god , which seems to surpass his other qualities : it is like oyl among other liquors , which swims always above ▪ for we see in a●l gods works his goodness superabound over his other qualities ; though that goodness be never seperated from his justice and truth , yet it excels over them . for we see in many things where god hath stayed his wrath to give place to his mercy , when men would turn ; as he did to the people of nineveh , who by their sins had justly merited that gods justice should be executed against them . yea , and the truth of god had foretold their destruction within forty days : but as soon as that people returned to repentance , the goodness of god gets uppermost , and swims above his justice and truth , and pardons them by his great meekness and goodness ; so that we may with truth say , that the goodness of god is over his other qualities . and seeing j. ch. exhorts us , to be perfect as our heavenly father is perfect : we must labour particularly for that virtue of meekness and lowliness which jesus christ teaches to learn of him : that we may tend to that perfection of our heavenly father ; and when we have in the bottom of our soul justice and truth for a foundation to christian perfection , we must build upon that , meekness and gentleness ; seeing that virtue will make us fulfil the command , of loving god with all our heart , and our neighbour as our selves , wherein the scripture says , all the law and the prophets are contained : and that because justice and truth respects god ; but meekness and goodness respects also our neighbour . and although one were just and true before god , he must also be meek and good ; otherways he loves not his neighbour as himself ; seeing he gives not that testimony of his love which that command requires : and because only god knows the heart , it is not enough that goodness be in any , it must also be testified outwardly by gentleness , or else our neighbour should not be edifyed thereby : and therefore is it that j. ch. says , we must learn of him meekness and lowliness or gentleness : he spoke no superfluous word in distinguishing meekness and gentleness ; but he gives us to understand , that it is not enough to have goodness within us , but we must also testify it outwardly by meekness and gentleness toward our neighbour . therefore , my child , exercise your self in that virtue , and pray to god that you may attain meekness and gentleness : he will never be wanting on his part to give you his grace to practise them , if you will not be wanting on yours . it is one of his commands , and he will never fail to afford grace to obey in what he hath commanded ; otherwise j. ch. would not bid us learn of him to be meek & lowly , if he knew not very well that god will surely give these virtues to them that seek and desire them : and if you do not feel them yet in your soul , it is a token , you have not yet enough demanded and desired them . and it is perhaps because you have not till now discovered that they are necessary to salvation , and contained in the commandments of god , and so have not laboured to your power to acquire them : but you have simply followed the motions of your nature , which does not encline to meekness and gentleness , but to harshness and fretting . but our nature is as a horse , to which sometimes you must use a bridle , sometimes spurs , to make it turn and march where it is needful . and though it have repugnance to act contrary to its motions and inclinations ; we must not for that give it free bridle to go where it pleases , because our proper will is always evil ; since it was corrupted by sin ; and is no more capable to make one good determination ; but it ought to be kept in with a bridle , and governed by reason , as they do a horse with a bridle , otherwise it would precipitate our souls into hell . now your reason can easily perceive , that you must keep the commandments of god to be saved ; and follow the counsels of j. ch. to be a christian . it is then the duty of that reason to bridle and lead your nature into the way of salvation , and sure path of the gospel law , seeing you would be a christian , and save your soul . you must not then obey the motions and inclinations of your nature , but god , who hath shown us particularly what is his will , by the gospel advices which j. ch. hath given us ; saying , learn of me , for i am meek and lowly , and humble of heart : he could not better express what god requires of us , than by these express terms of meekness and lowliness , and humility of heart . for every one can understand by these terms what is the will of god , and what he requires of all christians . endeavour first of all to acquire these virtues : and after , if you need other particular knowledge to discover his will , without doubt , he will reveal them to you in due time , and will never be wanting to reveal to us , what we have a desire to obey ; no more than he will be wanting to give his graces necessary to attain to christian perfection . for he desires our perfection more than our selves do ; and so is far from refusing his graces , that we may arrive at it , if we will but ask them with humility of heart . for without humility of heart , no prayers are acceptable to god : and our meekness and gentleness cannot be good , if it is not accompanied with humility of heart . for one may be meek and gentle by nature , dissimulation , or hypocricy , which is often sin before god in lieu of virtue . for that apparent and pharisaticall lowliness is not praise-worthy but before men , and j ch tells us , except our righteousness exceed that of the pharisees , we shall not enter into the kingdom of god. that we might understand , that no moral virtues , that proceed not from the bottom of our heart , and ingendred there by a divine faith , can have an eternal recompense ; and are recompensed only by the praise of men , who being material judge by appearance ; but god searches the hearts and tryes the consciences . and therefore it is that jesus christ says , we must have humility of heart , with meekness and lowliness : as being three things knit together , which cannot be separated one from the other ; no more than the three qualities of justice , goodness and truth , which correspond to the three persons in the trinity , and are always joyn'd inseparably in all his works , whereof if one were wanting , his work would not be perfect . even so meekness and lowlyness should be imperfect if they were separated from humility of heart , which should beget infallibly true meekness and lowlyness ; for an humble heart is always meek and lowly . see , my child , by that touch-stone , if you are arrived at that humility of heart ; and endeavour to obtain it of god , and then you shall assuredly be meek and lowly , which is the desire of holstein near gottorp castle 9 feb. 1672. stile vel . antonia bourignon . the iv. letter . humility is acquired by the knowledge of our selves . to the same , showing him what humility of heart is ; what are the marks of it ; and how we should endeavour to attain it , by the knowledge of the infirmities and miseries of our souls and bodies , and the blindness of our minds . my dear child ; i exhorted you by my last to humility of heart ; but i know not if you understand well what that humility of heart is , wherein it consists , and by what means you may discover if you have it , or not ▪ and therefore i have resolved to speak very particularly to you , that you may discern in every thing true virtue , from false and only apparent virtue : and to lay in your soul a good foundation , of solid virtue : without amusing you ( as do now adays so many persons of good-will ) with apparent or imaginary virtues , which before god are of little or no value . you have now sufficiently heard what is that meekness and lowliness , which jesus christ teaches we must learn of him : endeavour now to discover what is that humility of heart which he teaches in that same counsel : for i shall show you particularly what it is , what need we have to possess it , and what profit it brings to our souls , that you want it not through ignorance . humility then is the foundation and accomplishment of all virtues , and ought to be esteemed above others ; and so we ought to labour more to attain it , than any other virtue ; seeing it begets of it self several others , and banishes several vices , which cannot abide in an humble heart ; as pride , presumption , avarice , pomps , and vain glory , and many other sins , which proceed from pride of heart : but when it becomes humble , then are all these vices banisht . and to know what that humility of heart is essentially , you are to believe that it is a perfect knowledge of ones self . for he that knows himself well , can never be proud , nor have an esteem of himself . he will not glory in the praises and honours of men ; he will not desire riches , to be adorned or served ; for an humble heart believes that it deserves nothing , and the least things content and satisfie it . an humble heart is not in wrath for being abased or despised , because he seeth in knowing himself , that he deserves nothing , but is worthy of all contempt . and whereas that is not practised among men , it is because they know not themselves , and so esteem themselves worthy of esteem , and honour , riches and service : and that makes them proud. for if they observed well whence they are , what they are , and what shall become of them ; it were impossible that they should in the least esteem themselves ; on the contrary , they would see that they deserve all sort of contempt , because they are , as to the spirit , frail , ignorant , and unconstant ; and as to the body , full of miseries , infirmities and diseases , liable to death and corruption . all these things should not give matter of exalting himself to man's understanding , or to make him esteem himself in any wise : but rather ground to humble and abase himself before god and men , because of his infirmities and miseries : and yet we see they make themselves great , are arrogant , esteem much of themselves , and in fine , believe themselves worthy of all sorts of honours , pleasures , riches , and services ; every one advancing himself with all his power , all that proceeds from thence , that men know not themselves ; for if they did , they would be ashamed to glory in their miseries , folly and ignorance : for man hath nothing else in himself ; and all these defaults are annexed to his corrupt nature . if you open but the eyes of your understanding , you shall see abundantly the miseries of your spirit , and how it is agitated by divers motions and intemperate passions . also , as soon as you open the eyes of the body , you see the bodily miseries under which all men lye : and if you reflect whence the body of man proceeds , and of what substance it is formed , you shall find that he proceeds of an unclean and putrid matter , and from those members of his parents bodys which are the most shameful . and thence he hath no subject to glory or esteem himself in his origin , seeing it is from so vile and base things , which ought to give him occasion of confusion and humility . and even beasts have more estimable qualities than men as to the body . for he would presently be stifled in the filth accompanying his nativity , if he were not delivered by the assistance of others ; and he would presently starve with hunger and other necessities , if care were not taken to sustain him : whereas the beasts can help themselves so soon as they come into the world . and if man will look forward into his life , he shall find that it is but a mass of miseries , linked one to another : what feebleness is in man's body ? he can endure neither too much heat nor too much cold , a little over , in exercise , and he is wearied ; he must rest and sleep , or he looses his strength and health ; he must be cloathed and alimented , cleaned , and cherished ; whereby his understanding is occupied in care , travail and disquiet all the days of his life to relieve the infirmities of his body . and how many sorts of diseases afflict the body of man ▪ they are almost innumerable ; and they say , tha● the eye alone is liable to fifty sorts : what then o● all the other members ? when every one hath its particular ones , beside the disordered motions of th● passions ; as of fear , terror , sadness , melancholy , anger , jealousie , and such other sorts of evils , to which man is subject during this miserable life ! where he hath no subject of glorying and esteeming himself ; but great reason to abase himself in the view of so many miseries to which his sin hath reduced him : which gives him good cause of submission and humility before god and men ; feeling himself miserable and infirm both in soul and body : for the spirit hath its diseases as well as the body ; for do but take heed to yourself , and you shall find your spirit agitated by various superfluous desires , and useless thoughts which carry it away often against its intention , as the apostle testifies , that it is not in the power of man to order his thoughts : which every one may feel . for when we would fix our heart on prayer , or other good exercise , it wavers here , and there , that we cannot retain it . so that we may truly say , that it is not in man's power to contain his thoughts : so infirm is his spirit , that his reason hath not the force to stay the course of his thoughts ; which often sway the reason whither it would not . so that man's spirit is captivated under the tiranny of his disordered passions , which often lead him into great evils , even contrary to his will : whereof the apostle says : i approve not what i do , because what i would not , that i do ; and what i would , that i do not : to prove how many evils the spirit of man is subject , as well as his body ; and that there is no subject of glorying in the one or th' other ; seeing they are equally infirm and miserable , changeable and inconstant . for what mutations feel we not in our spirit ? the variety and changing in one day , of joy , sadness , hopes , displeasures and desires are scarce numerable ; how many diverse thoughts ? we love at one time , what we hate at another ; what we desire one day , dissatisfies us another : so that we know not our selves sometimes what we would be at ; and are often afflicted for having what we had desired . and if one should write all the thoughts and desires which pass in the spirit of a man , himself would be ashamed of his inconstancy and instability , and would be far from haughtiness for the qualities of his spirit , no more than for those of his body ; but would see ground of humility for his miseries : for there is nothing can elevate the heart of man in an esteem of himself , but a blast of wind , which the devil inspires into his spirit , to precipitate him into the sin of pride by sottish imaginations , which proceed from that air ( which is in effect nothing ) wherewith he is filled : for even all the sciences of man's understanding are but figures formed of that wind ; as we see figures in the air by the clouds , appearing sometimes as if we saw mountains moving , or houses , and armies , all which notwithstanding are but clouds agitated by the wind , and representing such figures to our eyes . it is even so with mens sciences , who fancy themselves wise , when they are very ignorant . for i do not believe that they have yet truly discovered one science , even natural ; and how can they then in mystical ( or spiritual ) things ? that is what jesus christ said to his disciples , he that seeth me , seeth my father ; but you know neither me nor the father . notwithstanding we will often search curiously the profound mysteries and divine secrets ; and we know not natural things , which we see and handle . one will vaunt in being a doctor of medicine , another in theology , another will be an astronomer , and so of other sciences ; although they be all alike ignorant of what they profess , and think they know well . and that proceeds from that airy pride which the devil hath inspired in to their spirit ; perswading them , that they are wise , and worthy of honour and esteem ; though they be in effect ignorant and worthy of contempt . we see that physicians esteem themselves wise , because they have read medicinal authors ; and these authors are often as ignorant as they that read and follow them : because all they have written is but vanishing figures , which waver in the air of their imaginations ; and what the ancients have written , is followed by their posterity : and so they think to cure the sick by remedies coined in the air of mans imagination ; who seem to have divers sciences and remedies , while they do but guess and hazard the lives of the sick : and i believe the physicians have killed many more than they 've cured ( to reckon the most common and ordinary ) and that because they have not discovered the secrets of nature , and know not the constitution of man's body , nor the origin of his diseases ; and consequently cannot exhibit proper remedies for them ; but often give what proves poison , to kill men , instead of curing them . and therefore there is no subject of glorying for being called a doctor in medicine : but rather of abasement and confusion for their great ignorance to the hurt of the patient they take care of . and as that ignorance is great , in regard of bodily medicine ; it is yet greater in regard of the spiritual ; which is theology ; for it kills many more souls than medicine does bodies : and so th' one hath not subject of glorying of his skill , more than th' other ; being they are equally ignorant , which do not add nor pare the one from the other , having each great ground of humility . if astrologers also knew , how far short they are of the knowledge of the heavens , they would be ashamed to bear the name , and would acknowledge all their wisdom in that to be but folly and fancies of men , who have not attained to the truth of that science : and what they have written are but imaginary suppositions , far from being truths . and upon like imaginations , are founded also all other human sciences , which they learn by reading and study . for when they are not founded 〈◊〉 the truth of god , they are altogether vain and false ; and are only fit to deceive men , who by them deceive one another , and hinder each other to come to the knowledge of the truth of god and wisdom of the holy spirit : which is the only true wisdom , and before which all the wisdom of men is but folly , to blind our spirits , that they should not come to the knowledge of themselves . in which consists true humility of heart , which jesus christ says , we must learn of him : which to do , she prays you , who loves the perfection of your soul . your well-affectioned in jesus christ , antonia bourignon . in holstein , near gottorp castle , jan. 18. 1672. st. vel. the v. letter . humility is acquired by the knowledge of ones self . to the same , showing him , that the true knowledge , even of things most esteemed by men , ought to serve to humble them ; such as the honours , riches and pleasures of this life . that all these are vain disquieting , unsatisfying and hurtful . my dear child ; you have seen by my last , what humility is ; where i have shown you , that it consists in the knowledge of our selves ; and that no person can ever be proud , but for lack of knowing himself ; for in knowing themselves , they will find subject enough to humble themselves , by seeing their infirmities and miseries both of soul and body : for he who will reflect seriously upon himself , he shall not only discover his own nothingness ; but will judge himself much worse than nothing ; and consequently will be far from esteeming and magnifying himself , unless he be altogether a fool , and void of all reason and understanding . for if he judge by an upright judgment , what he is , he shall see nothing but misery and infirmities in his nature , and ignorance and disorder in his spirit ; for a beast knows more than he , for the conduct of its life ; and is more moderate in eating and drinking , and other natural things , than man : and we see him frequently exceed in these things , which beasts do not . thence is it that man is much more subject to diseases than the beasts , because they commit more excesses and intemperances , than they . and when man finds himself more disorderly and foolish in the conduct of his life than the beasts , ought he not to humble himself before god and men , as worthy of all confusion ? seeing god hath given him a spirit , more perfect than any beast ; and yet he knows not to apply it to rule his passions and appetites , which often causes to him great evils , and sometimes death . which ought to be a great subject of humility and contempt of himself : he can never , knowing that , magnify and esteem himself ; if it is not because he is void of judgment and reason ; which he looses as soon as he gives entry to the vanities which the devil inspires into his spirit to esteem himself . then he goes from one error to another , because fallen from the light of the truth , and knows nothing but falshood , which that evil spirit makes him believe , and inspires into his spirit , that he is worthy of honour for his wisdom , or riches , or virtue ; though he be contemptible even in all these very respects . for his wisdom is but folly before god ; and his riches are but weighty charges , painful to be born , and cause trouble and disquiet to preserve them ; and his virtue cannot be other than feigned , seeing it is not founded on the knowledge of his nothingness , and truth of his miseries . and therefore vain-glory and esteem of our selves can never be other than meer folly , which satan inspires and foists into mens spirits : seeing there is in them nothing esteemable , as to the corrupted nature ; but aboundance of miseries worthy of contempt and scorn . so that we may truly call a proud man a very fool , because he glories of his miseries , and judges his ignorance , wisdom , and his troubles , riches , for such are temporal riches , which create continual troubles and disquiet , with a thousand cares both to acquire them and to conserve them . some of the pagans having discover'd that , threw all their gold and money into the sea , to be freed from the care and disquiet of keeping it , and live with liberty of spirit . which should confound the christian , who employs all the force of his body and industry of his mind , to acquire riches , so burthensom to have and troublesome to keep : when the pagans by the light of nature have had them in contempt , and thrown them from them , which they did because they had a true knowledge of themselves and of natural things . and thence also did they despise the honours and pleasures of this life ; and seeing them so miserable , and of so short continuance , one counted it not worth the pains to build a house to lodge in , being content with a barrel to defend him from sun and rain : another seeing that he could conveniently enough carry water into his mouth in the hollow of his hand , would no more use a cup. so firmly have these pagans despised this present life , that they would not take any pleasure therein , nor use created things but for urgent necessity , and the least that might be , rejecting what 's more . and so they did , because they knew that all the pleasures and honours of this world are vain , false and deceitful ; that they might obtain true ones , which are eternal ; they longed therefore to be delivered from this miserable life , which they esteemed a prison , a valley of tears , as in truth it is . but men now adays discover not that : they esteem themselves happy in their miseries , and rich in their poverty ; they delight in their chains and bonds by blindness of spirit , and for want of knowing themselves , and the things they so prise ; and so they esteem him happy who can take his pleasure in eating and drinking , recreations , and other carnal satisfactions . yet such are abundantly more miserable than those that live soberly and chastly , and in poverty : he that can content himself with little , hath no need of much , and is more joyful in his retiredness of spirit , than if he were in the midst of pleasant and divertising company . beside , he needs not use much labour or trafique to gain money : also he that lives soberly is better content with his course fare , than they that follow their appetites , which are insatiable by all their dainties . and he that lives chastly , keeps his liberty , and the repose of his conscience . and he that does not delight in company and divertisments , does not fear displeasing men , nor studies anxiously to be acceptable to them , as others who take delight in them . they must be cloathed , and behave themselves after the fashion of the world ; and for that they must gain money , that they may be well treated as others ; which requires a continual care to provide all , that nothing be wanting , that they may appear like others ; and that is a slavery from which we cannot be delivered , but by quitting the world. for he that will please the world , hath lost his liliberty , and cannot serve himself : he is as a hired servant , subjected to all sorts of vanities , to the great ones and wise ones of the world ; whom he fears and respects more than god himself : and withal , that they reckon themselves happy to be so engaged and bound to the world and its vanities , to which they willingly yield themselves slaves . for if they would retain their liberty , they would disengage themselves from these human regards , and withdraw from worldly creatures , without yielding their spirit to be bewitched , in thinking its slavery to be a liberty , and its fetters to be chains of gold for ornament ; which is meer falshood and vanity : for , to serve god only , is to reign ; and to serve the world , is to be a slave . which these wise pagans knew well , and therefore contemned the world and its honours and pleasures . yea some of them cared not to be visited by kings and emperors ; so that one of them desired , and bid a king that came to visit him , stand by , and be gone , complaining , that he kept from him what he could not give , namely , by interrupting from him the sun-shine , which he esteemed more valuable than all the kingdoms of the world. for which they had good reason ; for the greatest charges afford also the greatest troubles ; and he that is over others , is servant of all ; for he must take care of them , and rule and govern them as he will answer to god ; which may disquiet and vex him all the days of his life , and puts in hazard his eternal salvation . for he must not only reckon for himself , but also for all that have been under him , and bear for and with them the punishment of all that they have done amiss ; by order , sufferance , or for want of instruction , and correction , according to the justice of god. therefore is it that a superior is more miserable than another , in time and in eternity , which we may observe even in the master of a family , who must take care , and travail to entertain his wife ; children and servants , while they are often without care , knowing that their master must feed and cloath them in due time , that they want nothing : in which they are much happier than their masters ; for they have only one service to perform , and their master is burthened with several . yet such is the blindness of men , that every one desires charges , estates , superiorities and masterships , which they could not desire , if it were not by an air of pride , which the devil hath inspired into their minds , otherways it were impossible that men should seek after charges , but do their utmost to evite them . as several saints have done formerly , some lest they should be obliged to undertake the charge of bishops that was offered to them , retired privately to evite it ; and even one of the popes , considering the heavy burthen of his charge , exchanged his popedom for a desart . so afflicting are charges and superiorities for them that have attained to know the truth of things ; and their own misery and frailty : and so they have contemned them , and thought it enough to see to themselves , and desired not a posterity to succeed to their miseries , which they knew too well to desire them for their posterity . they loved rather to live chastly , than to procreate children so miserable as themselves . in which they were very wise , being we see that in effect men wax worse every day , and the children are worse than their fathers , and childrens children yet worse , because of the great corruption that is now among men , which augments even visibly . so that he that knows the truth , will be loath to multiply this perverse generation , but will expect that men resume a true christian life , and so may multiply in the spirit of jesus christ a holy generation . lo , what they that are wise desire , but the ignorant think it a happiness to produce children heirs of their miseries , because themselves do not know them ; and so glory in their shame , without perceiving it : they would willingly be great and rich , that they may have means to please their senses ; and these pleasures ruin soul and body . for since nature was corrupted by sin , all the senses of man are become brutish and insolent , and know no more what is good or evil for them , intemperate , without order or measure ; and therefore the scripture says , that the eye is never satisfied with seeing , nor the ear with hearing ; to show how our senses are disordered and insatiable : the more the eye sees , the more it would see , and so the ear hear , and they are never satisfied . it is the same with the feeling , smelling and taste , the other three senses . for whenever a man gives himself to satisfie his senses , he is never fully satisfied nor content : for in every place he may find something that smells unpleasantly ; and though he carry about musk and civet , that will not hinder that he breath not in the bad exhalations and vapours of the air , caused by the corruption and filth of the bodies of men and beasts , although he had but the stink of his own body , since all that proceeds out of it is nasty and putrid , which cannot satisfie his smell , which desires always good smells and agreeable ; and in loving that , we can never be content nor satisfied . and yet less can we satisfie the sense of feeling , it being insatiable . they would have fine linnen , silks , soft beds , smooth coverings , and other things agreeable to the touch , which is not content with things that are sufficient . but the sense of taste exceeds all the others in disorder and intemperance . for he that will satisfie his taste and delicacy , renders himself miserable , and in continual dissatisfaction : for when he hath one food that is good , he desires another as better ; the wine is too sharp or stale for him , the beer is too sweet for his delicate taste : he longs always for what he hath not , and what he cannot get : so insolent are mans natural senses , that they often tyrannize over the spirit with a thousand tortures of desires , intemperances , lusts , excess and gluttony , which bring diseases , poverty and death . and yet they call him happy who hath the means to satisfie his senses , without discovering that they are corrupted by sin , and therefore they beget all sorts of evils ; which she prays you to discover , who wisheth your good . holstein near gottorp castle 15. febr. 1672. st. vet . antonia bourignon . the vi letter . humility is attained by knowing our selves . to the same , who is admonished to learn humility by knowing the truth of our corruption and sin , which is the disorder of our natural senses . my dear child ; i cannot entertain you too much of the corruption of man , and the miseries to which he is subject during this miserable life , to prevent your ever placing your affections on it ; but that you may learn the humility of heart which jesus christ teaches , which will follow upon the knowledge of your self : but you shall never attain it unless you examin in retail the miseries and infirmities of your body and spirit , since it is that knowledge which should teach you the humility of heart which jesus christ requires . for if you remain in the general ignorance of men , you shall never attain to it : you will always think you deserve honour and esteem , seeing others like your self honoured and esteemed ; and that they also take their pleasures and sensualities , more than you do . but trust me ( my dear child ) that conduct proceeds from the blindness of their minds , and from the profound darkness in which they are , without perceiving it : and they blind one another still more by their practice ; for one thinks he is as good as the other , and that he may do what another doth ; and so one follows another blindfoldly , and thinks he doth but what is suitable for an honest man to do . but however great the number of blind are , that will not help you in particular ; and that broad way will always lead to perdition , tho many tread it . the great number of miserables will not lessen your condemnation ; on the contrary , it will augment your pains and miseries , far from any ways mitigating them . therefore is it that you must not regard if others be blind , and know not themselves , esteeming themselves , and following their sensualities ; for you shall not give an accompt for them . there shall only your own works follow you at death , and according to them shall you be judged . god affords you now the occasion of discovering the truth of all things ; beware of neglecting it ; but bless the lord ; for it is a great mercy he shows you beyond so many thousands of persons , who perish for want of knowing themselves , and for having never discovered the truth of things as they are before god. they amuse themselves to look one to another , without penetrating into the state of man , and what he is , whence he is , and whither he tends ; though it is a thing of so great import , on which our eternal salvation depends . therefore i exhort you to lay to heart the knowledge of your self , seeing that must rule all your actions , and make you become humble of heart , as jesus christ teaches us to be . the truth of all things should deliver you from all evil ; that is also the mistress of virtues ; for if you possess the truth of god , that shall teach you all virtues , and deliver you from all vice : for the cause why man is vicious , and not virtuous , is because he knows not the truth of things ; and takes the shadow for the body , the bark for the wood ; and so goes from evil to worse . for if he knew truly what sin is , and what virtue , he would deliver himself from the one to attain the other : since he would see clearly that sin is a meer tyrant , which tortures soul and body ; and that virtue is beautiful , good , sweet , and pleasant . and so he could not retain himself from hating sin , and loving virtue , seeing that is good and equitable ; but for lack of knowledge of things , they love what they should hate , and hate what is lovely : and to show you what sin is , know , that in it self it is nothing but a disorder of corrupted nature . for when god created man , he was well ordered , temperate and regular in all his natural functions : and he might enjoy the pleasure of all his senses without doing evil ; because all that god made was good ; and he created beautiful things to please his sight , and all the melodies of beasts , men , and all melodious things to afford pleasure to the hearing ; and all flowers and pleasant smells for his smelling ; and all smooth and agreeable things for his feeling ; and all good and savory things to afford pleasure to his taste : so that he could allowably enjoy the pleasures of all his five natural senses ; because all the other creatures were created for the pleasure and recreation of man ; who was so perfect , that he used all these things only for his recreation , with just order , weight and measure ; in praising his and their god : and in that state he could not be disagreeable to him . but after that he would abandon his dependance on god , and become wise in himself ; he hath overturned all that beautiful order establish't by god ; and hath brought into his nature all sorts of evil , disorder and corruption ; and that is called sin : which is nothing else but a disorder of the five senses , which man can no more satisfie without sinning , they being corrupted and disordered : for if the eye please it self now in looking on beautiful and pleasant things , it is only to satisfie it self ; and not to refer them to god their author , as he did before sin : and if he hears melodious sounds and harmonies , it is only to delight and recreate himself , and that in this valley of miseries , where he ought rather to mourn in embracing the chastisements of god because of sin : and if he will satisfie his smell by good odours , it is to repel the putridity which sin hath brought upon nature : and if he will satisfie his feeling , it is but to defile his soul by unlawful pleasures , which he takes in feeling ; for it is not allowable for him to take pleasure in any of his senses after by sin he hath overturned the order which god established . and if he will satisfie his taste , he will fall into all sorts of evils ; for giving up himself to his palate , that brings intemperance , gluttony , poverty , sickness , and death ; as also avarice , deceit , riot , and other sins ; which proceed from the pleasure in taste , which is as a mother , which engenders all sorts of evil . for a glutton must needs covet riches to satisfie his appetite ; and if he hath them not of his own , he endeavours to get them by any means he can , if it should be falsehood or robbery . for the taste is insatiable , and is not content with a few things . i have known persons addicted to the pleasure of taste , who spent upon dainties great riches which they possessed : and yet were never content , but continually desired what they had not ; and having gotten what they desired , perhaps would not taste it ; but send again to seek some other thing ; and so consumed and ended their life in poverty , and without satisfaction . i have known others , that would come that length to take the goods of others , to satisfie their delicacies ; and said to me , that their tongues could not be deprived of the pleasures of taste , and they must needs satisfie it . i suppose there are more such , though not known by me ; for the appetite of taste is so bound up with the flesh , that it is hardly overcome , having once got entrance , and being accustomed to please their taste . and this pleasing the taste begets lust also , by the affinity of the belly with the genital parts , which are stimulated according as the belly is well pack't . moreover , the appetite breeds gluttony ; for when it find's food agreeable , it devours to excess and intemperance ; which causes several diseases , and sometimes death . for we see by experience , that several have become sick , and even died , by too much eating or drinking , or gluttonously eating things contrary to their health ; which falls out but too frequently . and notwithstanding all this , we see so many follow this sense of taste , which begets so many evils in prejudice of soul and body , and that because they know not the truth of things , and have imagined a pleasure and contentment , where there is nothing but displeasure and miseries . for if they knew truly what is in the five natural senses of man , they would see nothing there but vanity and misery , since they were corrupted by sin : and consequently would never follow them , but resist them in every thing , seeing they are truly vain ; which they may see that will examin them narrowly : for what is in the sense of seeing , but a pleasure which is past in a moment : if , for example , looking on a beautiful thing , you shut your eyes , in that instant you see it no more , and in your regard , it is no more ; and if after by opening your eyes , you see it again , that sight adds nothing to your soul or body , which cannot be nourisht by sights if you should continue them from morning till evening ; all that cannot nourish nor fill us , nor give any thing but an airy pleasure to our eyes , which also will not be refresht by these sights ; for the more they see , the more they would see . wherefore the scripture says , the eye is never wearied with seeing , nor the ear with hearing ; for these two senses are insatiable , and never satisfied ; for the hearing is as vain as the sight , and seems even of less consideration ; because it hath less impression upon the mind , and passes as a blast of wind which we neither see nor feel more when it is gone . it is even so with harmony and sounds ; for it is but a body of wind formed in the air , and dissipated in it , and leaves nothing in him that hath heard it . no more does also the sense of smell , yielding only a small satisfaction to the nostrils , and flys away with the wind , without leaving any thing in him that felt it , who is as ready to be filled again with stink as he was with perfume . so that we may see by experience , that the five senses are truly vain and unworthy to be followed and affected by persons of judgment , and that would come to the knowledge of the truth : for one must be a fool and blind to place his affections in things so unworthy of man , as are the pleasures of his senses , which pass like smoak ; and cause so great evils to them that follow them , both spiritual and temporal : for he that will give his senses their pleasure , wounds body and soul , and renders himself miserable in all his life ; for he cannot have satisfaction and compleat contentment by all the world ; and he wasts his goods to please his senses ; wounding his health by intemperance , and killing his soul by sin ; which is the disorder of his natural senses . for since they were corrupted , they have engendred death , bodily and spiritually in man , who cannot love his sensualities without turning away from god , and consequently deprive themselves of all good , and subject themselves to all sorts of evil ; for there can be no good without god , but all sorts of evil . and it is that ( my child ) which i entreat you to consider , that you may never place your affections but in god ; and may renounce your senses , seeing they are corrupted , and contrary to the will of god , and in themselves evil and vanity . for what is in feeling but a sensual softness , which adds nothing to man , and is so mean and unworthy of a man , that he would never seek pleasure therein if the devil did not perswade him that there is something in it ; it is so frail and contemptible , that it is not worthy a man's notice , or that he should account it pleasure , since it is but imaginary , not real . the sense of taste seems to have some pleasure in it , seeing there are persons that have no greater pleasure in the world than to eat and drink well ; and that sense adds somewhat to mans body : yet it is more replenisht with miseries than the other four , because it hurts more both the soul and body of man ▪ seeing it causes so many diseases , and even death , by its excesses ; and also , so many souls damn themselves in striving to satisfie the pleasure of taste , which leads them to several other sins ; and withdraws them assuredly from the love of god , who requires to have our affections alone ; for he is a jealous god ; and notwithstanding we place them in things vile and corruptible , as are meat and drink . for what is more naughty than meat and drink ? they have scarce past the throat but they become putrid and corrupt , and especially the more fine and delicate corrupt more than the courser . and for all that people love them , bestowing pains and travail to attain them ; which is a gross blindness of mind ; from which i pray god preserve you , that your love may remain in god only , and you may know the truth of all salutary things ; in the desire whereof i remain your well-wisher in jesus christ . antonio bourignon . holstein near gottorp castle 17. febr. 1672. st. vet . the vii . letter . he that serves the lusts of his senses , by that same renounces the love of god. to the same , exhorting him to the effects of humility , by the renouncing of his senses ; showing him , that no man can follow them , unless thereby he renounce the love of god , which is the end of our creation , and the essence of true virtue . my dear child ; i deduced to you in my last , how vain and miserable are the pleasures of the senses ; and have shewed you the truth of several things , that you might arrive to the humility of heart which jesus christ requires . it is much to understand well these things ▪ but also you must set about the practice ▪ and embrace in good earnest the mortification of your senses , following the truths you have known : otherways it s a small matter to know the truth , if you put it not in practice : knowledge is very good : for you cannot practise what you know not : but if that knowledge be not fruitful , it cannot serve for our salvation . we must needs put to our hand , and war against our corrupt nature ; otherways we must die the eternal death after the temporal . which may easily be conceived , since mans nature is corrupted by adams sin ; and hath quitted dependance on god , to depend of it self . it must then of necessity remain in that corruption and sin , until every man for his own particular have overcome that corruption and disobedience which he hath contracted against god : or else he abideth in death , and dies damned eternally . for although adam had not sinned , all men in general and every one in particular , could have sinned and corrupted his way , by leaving dependance on his god ; and that because , all the men that were , or shall be , are all created free , and can continue in the dependance of god , and also recede from it , if they please : for god forces no person . so that he that is arrived to the use of reason , hath the same liberty to sin , and retire from dependance on god , that adam had before his sin : yet with this difference , that adam at the beginning had not in his nature that frailty and inclination to sin and evil which men have ; who proceeded from him after his sin : for they have contracted that frailty and inclination to evil from their first father , and also the infirmities of body which we see in all men , and feel in our selves ; for no person is exempt from the evils which sin hath caused in man's nature : though it is free to all men to follow that inclination to evil , which they feel in themselves ; as also , they can , by the grace of god , overcome their infirmities , and the corruption of their five senses ; in not following them , but fighting against them . and it is in that , that jesus christ says , we must take the kingdom of heaven by force , and the violent take it so : that is , not that we should fight by force to gain the kingdom ; for god created it for us , and he gives it us freely : but it is , that we must resist with force the corruption of our nature , that we may enter into the kingdom of heaven : and so that we approve not in us , the sin which adam committed , and do not of our own proper will retire from dependance on god. therefore it is the scripture says , our life is a continual warfare : for we must continually combat the corruption of our senses ; without that , we can never return to dependance on god , from which adam's sin hath withdrawn us ; seeing our senses ( being corrupted ) beget all sorts of evil ; and there needs no more but to follow them , and their inclination to turn us away from god , and remain in the way of damnation . for no sooner loose we the reins to our sight , but it pleases it self to behold beautiful or curious things ; and no sooner have we considered them , but we covet them . and if we yield to the sense of hearing , the heart delights in it , and the affection is drawn to it . it is even so with smelling , where the sensitive part takes pleasure . and if we please our selves in taste , all our care and study are put to search means to satisfie it and that sense is more insatiable than any other , and precipitates into all sorts of sins . moreover , it excites the sense of feeling ; for he that pleases his taste , seeks also to satisfie his feeling with pleasure and satisfaction . even all the five senses are moved only by the love we carry to our selves , and desire of affording our selves pleasure . all these things with-draw us assuredly from god , and dependance on him ; and he hath commanded us , to love him with all our heart . so that he wills not that we fix our heart on things so frail and vile , as are the sight , hearing , smelling taste , and feeling : for it is unworthy of a divine soul , which god hath given us , capable of loving an eternal god , who desires and commands that we love him with all our heart . so that the man that hath affection for his senses , quits voluntarily the dependance of god , seeing he does not submit himself to his will , who demands that , we should love him with all our heart . and that is , from the disorder which the devil hath caused in man's nature , when he made it turn the affection upon the creatures , which is due to god alone . in which consisted the first sin which man committed , and thence all other sins draw their origin . for nothing can be evil or sin , but what is committed against the will of god : and there is nothing but that can be evil , as nothing can be good but what is done by his will. so the devil laboured violently from the beginning of the world to pervert man from the will of god , who had created him to delight himself with him , and willed for that , that he should love him with all his heart . there cannot be delight but with what is beloved ; and therefore will god be loved of man with all his heart ; and that he place his affections in nothing else but in him only . the devil no sooner perceived that , but he enticed him by the five natural senses ( which are as the five windows of our heart ) to withdraw his heart and affections from god , and to place them on visible and sensible things . the devil then first moved adam's heart to regard the beautiful creatures , which god had created for him ; he moved also his sense of hearing , to give attention to the false perswasions of that old serpent ; who made him believe , that he should know good and evil , if he did eat the fruit of the tree which god had forbid him to eat of . he moved him to put his hand to touch that apple , his smelling to smell it , and his taste to eat it : and by that means the devil carryed adam's heart and affection to the creatures , and turned him away from the love he owed to god. if the devil could have drawn man's heart directly to love him , he had done it : but because he is an invisible spirit , he could not move the five natural senses of man to love him . and therefore he served himself of visible and sensible creatures , to get himself indirectly loved by man ; that by moving man to self-love , and to use all the other creatures to satisfie his self-love , and consequently withdraw him from the love of god , which he hath done with too much success , seeing he hath caused adam , and all that were to proceed from him , to disobey against god : and so made him abandon that dependance , that he would no more depend but upon his own will , and love nothing but himself . behold the miserable fall into which the devil caused all men to fall into in adam : and they all in general are born in that misery and disobedience since the fall of adam ; and come into the world with that evil inclination to love themselves , and follow the corruption of their senses , which breeds all sorts of sins , because they are now moved by an evil spirit , which is the devil ; whence no good can proceed : for the privation of all good is the possession of all evil . so that he that hath rejected the love of god , and would not renounce himself , hath deprived himself of all sort of good , seeing there is no other good but god ; and is fallen into all sorts of evil , that is to say , into the privation of all sorts of good. god never created any evil , but man produced it when he deprived himself of the love of god , in which alone consists all sorts of good. and that is the thing they call sin , which signifies to turn away , and desert god , who is all good ; and in the privation of him is all evil . so that he that hath withdrawn his affections from god , to place them in the love of himself , or of any other creature , hath abandoned all good , and embraced all sorts of evil. for there can be no other evil but the privation of all good ; into which man engages himself , when he carrys his love and affections to any thing else than god. and what adam did once by the instigation of the devil , men do it for their own particular as often as they set their affections on any thing beside god only . observe a little , my child , how often you have fallen into the same sin with adam , and loved any other thing than god alone : and also , if you are not actually addicted to your self-love , and retired from the love of your god : but i am not surprised at it , because you never knew that sin consisted in that , and no person hath taught you it : for the men of this time are ignorant of that truth , as well as you ; and they that are esteemed the most virtuous , are full of self-love , though they think themselves free from sin , so far does the heart of man deceive it self . but for your part , be wiser ; for though all men should go to perdition , you must endeavour to save your own soul. the great number of damned would not diminish your torments if you should be damned with them , but rather augment them , by the augmentation of crys , blasphemies , and noysomeness of fire and brimstone , which shall augment in hell with proportion to the number of damned . and therefore i counsel you to leave that common tract of the blindness of men , which esteem nothing sin , but the material things which they have prescribed one to another to be evil . things which god regards little , seeing he is a pure spirit , whom not only these gross material things offend , as they decifer sins ; as drunkenness , robbery , whoredom and other material sins , blameable before men : but god is offended to see the heart of man cleave to and love things so vile ; since he created him to love his god only , who will delight himself with him : and yet man deserts god to delight himself in the satisfaction he takes in eating , drinking and cloathing , and recreation with any other creature . which hugely displeases god , and man becomes his enemy by disobedience , while he acts against the designs god had in creating him after his own image and likeness , to take his delights with him : notwithstanding man , against the intention of god , delights in himself , and the creatures that are less than himself . for whatsoever is created under heaven , is much below man , who is as the head and principal of all the works of god , and was established over all the other inferiour works of god ; being made as a little god in his divine nature , which is enclosed in his humanity . but the devil , envious of his happiness , from the instant of his creation , strove to make him lose that part of the divinity which god had bestowed on him , he rendered him sensual and earthly , to make him leave the love of divine and heavenly things , which alone he ought to have loved ; and by that means he had enjoyed all the other creatures at pleasure ; as master and lord of all that was subjected to him . but the proud devil could not suffer man in dominion over the other creatures , he being rejected and banisht from the friendship of god , deprived of all good , and replenisht of all evil ; so he by rage and envy attempted to destroy man with himself , and make him companion of his miseries : and seeing man composed of a body and a spirit , he insinuated into his spirit , endeavouring to unite himself with him , under pretext of procuring good to him ▪ and so made him imagin that he should know all things as god , if he would eat the fruit god had forbid him to eat of ; and these thoughts being entred into adam's spirit , gained his affection , and made him forget the love and obedience which he owed to god ; beginning to love himself , and search the means for his own satisfaction . now god had given man five natural senses , that he might prove all that god had created for him , provided he praised and thanked the creator for so many good things : but he began to use his senses to please himself , and attribute to himself the favours and graces god had bestowed on him , as if they had been his own , and he the soveraign , independent on god : for he pleased himself to see so many beautiful creatures , and attributed them to himself ; and also to hear the pleasant melody which god produced in nature , pleasing himself in hearing them , without referring them to god ; the same did he in smelling , taking his contentment in all the good odours which god had made to show unto man his liberality ; giving him not only the things neeful for the sustenance of his being , but also delectable things to procure him pleasure : as are the objects of sight , hearing , and smell ; and man could well have subsisted without the pleasures of these ; but god would oblige him to love him by excess of benefits : and so created so many good and beautiful creatures , only for pleasure to man , having created all sorts of delicious fruits for his nourishment , and so many other creatures to satisfie his feeling ; that he might lack nothing for sustenance , and pleasures , which he could use at pleasure , provided he blessed the lord who had made them for him . but ingrate man falls from that acknowledgment of his god , and takes all his gifts for his proper satisfaction : and so he left the love of god , and hath turned to love himself ; which hath necessarily rendred him an enemy to god ; for such ingratitude is insupportable , though it were but committed by one man to another . for what man would be satisfied , to have desired the friendship and fidelity of another , having with that aim bestowed his goods on him in abandance , and procured him all sorts of pleasures and recreations , that he might faithfully keep friendship ; if that ingrate wretch forsook his benefactor , to take his pleasure in these same goods which he had so freely received ; how much more then should god resent the ingratitude of man , while he places his love and affection in the things which god hath so liberally bestowed on him , to oblige him to love him ? and yet man hath forsaken him , and pleases himself only in self-love . that you ought to consider well , my child , that you render not your self guilty before that great majesty , and discover , if you be not obliged to embrace voluntarily , adam's penitence ; since you have fallen so often in the same sin , in quitting the love and dependance of your god , to love your self , and depend on your proper will. so resolve to renounce your five natural senses , which are assuredly actuated by the devil : for since he got power over adam's spirit , he hath after had it over that of all men ; and will have it so long as they continue to live in their corrupt nature : from which i pray god deliver you , and i remain forever your well-wisher in jesus christ . antonia bourignon . holstein near gottorp castle 18. febr. 1672. st. vet . the viii . letter . it is easier to love god than any other thing . to the same ; to whom is shown , that we must renounce the evil use of our senses ; and that the right use of them ought to be referred to god : also that it is possible , equitable , reasonable and necessary , to love god with all our heart . my son ; i will not believe , that you are one of those evil advised persons , who say , there is little evil in following the motions of corrupt nature . god created nature , say they , and cannot be offended that we follow it . several of my aquaintance have been of that mind ; they were given to lasciviousness , and told me , that god would not punish them for that , seeing himself had given them such a nature ; and that it was needful to use it to multiply the world : so flattering themselves in their sins , to satisfie their senses ; and more , say they , god hath given all these to man , and we cannot be without seeing ; hearing , smelling , feeling and tasting : that 's all true ; but they had not light enough , to discern the miserable state into which man is fallen , by sin , from that happy one into which god had created him . for then in that state man could enjoy the pleasures of his five senses ; provided he loved and blessed god. but since he hath fallen into sin , he can no more enjoy them without offending god ; because all the pleasure he now takes in his five senses , is only to satisfie himself for his own glory and advantage : but before sin was , the satisfaction of his senses served only to bless , praise and glorify the lord for the benefits and mercies he received of him . so that he no sooner saw these beautiful things , but his heart was elevated to praise god , who had given him these beautiful objects , these melodies , fragrant odours , delicious tastes , and feelings . so that whatever he saw or perceived good or pleasant , was to him matter of blessing god , and magnifying him for his benefits . but since man is fallen into sin , the same things are to him matter of offending god : for if he sees any beautiful thing , he covets it to satisfie himself , and that self-love retires him from the love of god : and that is it which makes sin , seeing he hath commanded us to love him with all our heart ; so that we cannot love these beautiful things , without infringing that command ; seeing all our heart cannot be in the love of god , when a part of it is upon beautiful things , fine odours , melodies , delights of the taste and feeling : for that 's a heart divided into as many parts , as there are different things it loves ; and consequently far from being intire in the love of god , as he hath commanded us . but men are so blind , and do so blind one another , that every one perswades himself that he loves god , while he loves only himself . it is as if they thought to please god with words , in saying with their mouth that they love him : but they deceive themselves ; for as long as they will satisfie their five natural senses , they will not love god , seeing these being corrupt , will engender all sorts of sin , and consequently the death of the soul. notwithstanding no man values these evils , and they think it is allowable to satisfie their senses , and so follow them ( often as much as they can ) without believing they do evil , and not apprehending that there is nothing more deceitful than the heart of man ; which often flatters it self to its own destruction . but you , my child , be more wise , learn the truth of things , without yielding your self to be deceived by false appearances . never believe that it is allowable to take any pleasure out of god , and far less that there is no evil in following your five natural senses , since that cannot be without sin : for though we give our affections but for an hour , to any thing that is not of god , we are for that hour turned from god to the creatures , which is sin , since we do in that , what god hath forbid , viz. we cease to love him with all our heart . for we ought to love him always without interruption ; and therefore is it , we must refrain our senses , and give them laws , that they take no other liberty but to follow the will of god. we may well use these five natural senses , and employ them to the glory of god who gave them : for we cannot be without seeing , hearing , smelling , feeling , and tasting ; but we must not take pleasure in these for our proper satisfaction : we must employ them only on things necessary ; and those that may serve to the glory of god , and the good of our neighbour . for example , man is made up of soul and body ; he hath need to employ all his five natural senses for the conservation of the one and th' other : he must see and behold all things that may serve him for the perfection of his soul , and hear , touch , taste and feel them , loving them as the means of his salvation : he must also look upon all things that he needs for entertaining his body ; to which his natural senses can afford him much help : for he must see things necessary , as a house to dwell in , cloathes to cover him , food to nourish him , all that must be lookt on . he must hear the means to obtain them ; smell them , that he take nothing hurtful in his aliments ; touch and taste them for that same end . for all things necessary are good ; and it can never be sin , to use them for necessity : but it is always evil to use them to satisfie our sensual pleasures or self-love ; because that is an affection we carry to our selves : and our affection and love ought to be to god alone ; not to things so base and vile , which we may well use , but never love ; seeing god will have our heart entirely . which was figured by the earthly paradise , where god placed man at the beginning of the world : he gave him a full liberty to eat of all sorts of delicious fruit ; but reserved that of one only tree , of which he forbad man to eat : and that to let us understand , that god does permit us to use all the creatures , which he hath created for us , provided we keep our affection for himself only : so he forbids us to place it on any thing else ; as marks the first command , to love god with all our heart ; that is , that our heart ought not to be divided , and parted to something else , but be altogether to him . but men do not penetrate that , as they ought ; they perswade themselves , that it is allowable to love divers other things with god : in which they grievously deceive themselves , while the command , of god expresses punctually , viz. thou shalt love the lord thy god with thy whole heart : if then it had been permitted , to love other things with god , he had not added with all thy heart . we make questions and disputes upon so many mysteries of our faith , and so many degrees of virtue ; and we leave behind the principal piece , in which consists all faith and virtues . for what shall it profit a man to have penetrated all the secrets of nature , and even all the doctrines of deep and mysterious theology , if with all that he fulfil not the command of loving god with his whole heart ? and have his heart divided into many divers affections , all his knowledge will profit him nothing ; we must then fulful that first commandment , to love god with all our heart . i know well there are several glosses to explain how we must love god with all our heart ; one says , we must love him above other things , and where we have an ounce of love to our money , honour , pleasures , parents , or even our self , we must have a pound for god ; and that so we fulfil that first command , and love god with all our heart . others say , we must love him so , that if the case were we must lose god , or our goods , parents or any other thing ; that we should lose all rather than quit god. others say , it is impossible to fulfil that command . and so every one attempts to extinguish in the spirit of man , the knowledge of the necessity of loving god with our whole heart : which is much to be lamented , and afflicts the heart , seeing so many men prefer the glosses and sentiments of men , to so express ordinances of god. he had added in vain , the words , with all your heart , if we might put a part of our affections or of our heart in the creatures : yet god never did any thing in vain . if he had not intended to show , that men ought to love him , with all their affections indivisibly , he had not added with all your heart . consider a little ( my son ) with your self , by his grace , if god does not well deserve that we love him with all our heart : our being , and all that we have , is from him ; that whole heart , with which he will be loved , he gave it us ; should not that be great ingratitude to refuse him , the heart he gave us himself , to the end it might be for himself alone ? he gives us to enjoy so many creatures , provided we keep our heart for him , which is the only forbidden fruit . is not that the least god could demand of man , in bestowing so many benefits on him ? ought not man of himself to offer unto god his heart ; with all other things although he were not commanded . whatever we have or can have comes immediately from him , and consequently all ought voluntarily to be offered unto him , without constraint . moreover , on whom can we better bestow our heart than on god ? and who can render it more happy than he ? if we bestow it on our parents or friends , they cannot render it happy and content , even in this world . if we place it in the riches , honours and pleasures of this world , all these cannot satiate it , seeing they are like salt-water ; the more our heart drinks , the more it is parched . and therefore man is very unprovident to place his affections in any other thing than in god. there is nothing but him that can satisfie and render us happy and content ; seeing in god alone is all sorts of good , and out of him all sorts of evil. never rest then ( my son ) on mens discourses ; for they are liars and deceivers ; and their glosses are invented only to flatter their looseness , and that of others , who have no internal light. so they say , it is impossible to keep that command of loving god with all our heart ; and they say so because they have no will to do it . but god can never command things impossible : beside , mans spirit can easily comprehend , that it is not impossible to love god with all our heart ; for there is nothing more natural to man than love ; and there is no object more lovely than god. all that we see and know in nature , hath some defect ; fire is good , in that it warms and enlightens ; but evil , in that it burns and smoaks : water is good , in that it refreshes and quenches thirst ; but evil , in that it is crude and cold ; the air is good for respiration , and to purge bad vapours ; but evil in that it hath tempests : the earth is good , for producing fruits ; but evil in that it is miery , and that it produces pricking thorns and thistles : gold , silver , and other metals are good , in that they serve mens commodities ; but evil for their heaviness and obscurity : all the plants and fruits of the earth have something of good and something of evil ; and also all beasts of the earth , the air , and the water ; and man especially is composed of good and evil . so that there is nothing amiable but god alone , since there can never be evil in him ; and out of him nothing good to be loved , all being accompanied or mixt with evil . evil is not an object of love , nor worthy of our affection . man then is created to love , and there 's nothing more natural to him than love : he must needs love something : for he may be as soon without life , as without love ; for there 's nothing but death puts an end to the love of earthly things ; but the love which is in his nature can never end . it is created of god , who is eternal ; it shall also endure eternally : but that love can have divers objects : one loves good things , another evil , a-third things mixed of good and evil . now he that loves good things , loves god , since there is nothing good beside him , and all the good that is in the creatures comes from him : he that loves evil things loves the devil , seeing there is nothing evil , but what comes from him . for god hath not created evil , nor any thing evil , it is the devil alone , who hath produced all evils , in separating himself from all good , and is by consequence fallen into all evil , which is nothing else but the privation of all good . and he that loves the creatures , loves an object composed of good and evil ; for god created them all good , but the devil by his subtil malice hath insinuated the evil into the good when he gained man's will , who consented to that mixture of good and evil . for god had created man free , so he would not hinder him to use that liberty , which he had once given him . and therefore man is free , during this life , which is his time of tryal , where he may choose one of these three objects , viz if he will love god , or the devil , or earthly creatures . now there is no doubt but god is the most lovely object , who hath nothing of evil . wherefore then should it be impossible , to love god with all our heart , as he hath commanded ? there is nothing so lovely as him ; and beside , that love brings us all sorts of good ; for god is as powerful as lovely , and can render man happy in time and in eternity : o what quiet , joy and contentment even in this world hath a person that loveth god ? and how much shall these goods be augmented in eternity ? what disquiet grief and trouble inwardly hath a man that loves the devil ? for let him do all the evil he can , he is never pleased nor content : his conscience can never be in quiet ; and his joy can be only false and apparent , because of the sadness which sin infallibly brings . for evil blinds the soul , fills the heart with dark and melancholy thoughts , dulls the spirit , and tortures the conscience as soon as the pleasure of the evil is over . and after these temporal evils , he must look for greater and eternal ones ; because he hath loved the devil , who can give nothing but torments , having nothing else in his power . so that evil object , is as little profitable as lovely . it is the same with the creatures , while we cannot love them without the evils which they carry mixed with the good which god had put in them : and all the creatures of whatever nature , have no power to render us happy neither in this life nor in that to come : for if we love riches ( which are so much loved now adays ) we are their slaves , because of the travail we must use to get them , and the care and disquiet to preserve them : nor can they afford us more than a little nourishment for our bodies , and cloaths to cover us , which the poor can have also , and with less trouble : and if they think themselves happy , because they can satisfie their taste in eating and drinking deliciously , that is only a greater misery , causing infirmities and diseases , from which they that live soberly , are free : and if we love some human creature , we are yet more miserable , seeing we so sell our liberty , and become subject to the passions and inclinations of another . so that there is no happiness for the man , that loves the creatures ; seeing they have no power to make us happy in this world , and far less in eternity . and therefore there is nothing but the love of god , which is profitable and amiable for man ; and no other object : we must then conclude from thence , that it is very possible to love him ; and beside that , it is profitable and necessary both for our temporal and eternal happiness , which i pray you to believe . your well-affectioned in jesus christ , antonia bourignon . in holstein , near gottorp castle , april 20. 1672. st. vel. the ix . letter . that it is easier to love god than any thing else . to the same ; to whom is shown , that it is most easie , profitable , honourable , sweet and pleasant to love god , and keep his commands , for him that will deny himself : it is blasphemy to say , that it is impossible to love god with all our heart . my dear child ; never suffer your self to be perswaded , that it is impossible to love god with all our heart , as these ignorants falsly say : for there is nothing more easie , sweet , pleasant , honourable , and profitable than to love god with all our heart . first , it is most easie , seeing man is created to love , love is the strongest passion he hath in his nature , so that he can no more be without love , than without life ; consequently it is very easie to follow that natural inclination , where there in no need to do any violence , seeing the bent and inclination of man tends thither of it self ; and that its easie to follow a love which is engraven in all both soul and body . no person then need doubt that it is most easie for him to love . but some doubt if it is easie to love god , being he is an object invisible to nature , and we cannot love what we know not but with great difficulty . that sentiment is altogether brutish , and cannot be in the mind of a reasonable man , who by his reason can see ; that there is a god , author of all things ; and that there is no creature that hath not its origine from a supreme cause , who is its author and creator : or else they could not have being nor existence . for although man be above all the other creatures , yet he cannot give light nor heat to the sun , nor sustain the waters in the firmament , nor fructtifie the earth . all that must needs be from a supreme cause , whom he may know by his operations , his understanding can see clearly , even by his bodily eyes , in contemplating the beautiful order which is in all nature : we need but consider the distinction of seasons , the production of herbs , plants , beasts , and of men . and though we cannot see the author of all these things , yet we can see his works palpably and visibly the savage pagans did both know and confess , that there is a god , author of nature : and there are christians at present so unnatural that they dare say , they know not god , because they see him not with their fleshly eyes . and from that they will argue , that they cannot love him , because they know him not . they render themselves in that like to the beasts which have no spirit to perceive other than natural things , and see them as though they subsisted by themselves . but men , having a spirit more noble than beasts , comprehend even by their natural spirit , that there is a god , author of nature : which engaged some pagans to set up altars to the unknow god. some other of them at the death of our saviour jesus christ said , either nature is a dissolving , or the god of nature suffers . these things ought to make the christians of this time blush for shame , who say , they cannot love god whom they see not : so they shall be more punished in hell , than the pagans that have applyed their spirit to know god , by nature . whereas on the contrary , these christians do not at all study to know him , neither by nature nor by grace , which they have received in the evangelical law ; beside that which god gave to moses . these brutish christians , must neither believe nature , nor the law of god ; to say , they cannot love god with all their heart , whom they do not know : for though they knew not god by his works , which yet they see and touch ; they should at least know him by the law of god , which would not enjoin to love god if he were not . seeing then there is a god , there is consequently an object amiable above all things ; and man being full of love , ought to be easily carryed to love him : for love is always carryed to good and beautiful things ; so that nothing should be more easie to him than to love god , who is the source of all good and beauty . but all the difficulty man finds now to love him with all his heart , comes hence , that he doth not apply his spirit to discover and meditate the works and marvelous things of god ; and so cannot know nor love him : but he gives himself to regard the earthly creatures in themselves , and attributes to themselves the little of good and beauty that is in them , and by that means carrys his affections to love the gross objects , which are visible and sensible to his stupid senses . it is difficult for such persons to love god ; they cannot love heavenly objects , while they regard only earthly ones : as they cannot comprehend eternal things , because they contemplate only transitory . and that is not because of their incapacity , seeing god hath made them capable of loving him : but because by their free will , they choose to love the vile creatures more than him : and it is that vitious choise makes them say , that it is impossible to love god ; and themselves make that impossibility . they are like persons , who staying in a valley full of snow , complain that they are cold , and that they cannot be warmed among that snow ; which is very true : but if they would walk a little to get out of that snow , and get up to the mountain , they should well feel , that it is full easie to become warm , where the sun bestows his rays . it is even so with earthly men , who please themselves in the snow of worldly lustres : they say and think , it is impossible to be warmed by the love of god , which is also very true , so long as they remain in the affections of the pleasures of this valley of tears . for nothing can warm them in the love of god , while there ; all is but snow , which cools them . he that hath his pleasures in carnal things , cannot have them in spiritual : and he that puts his affections in perishing goods , cannot have them in eternal ones : and he that takes his pleasures here in sensualities , cannot have them in spiritual things ; seeing all these things are contraries , which can never abide together . so long then as a man feels himself cold in the love of god , it is a token that he lives yet in affection to the things of this valley of snow , which are quenchers of the love of god. he cannot then feel in himself other than an impossibility ( or at least , great difficulty ) to love god with his whole heart . but if they would quit their affection to this valley of misery , and mount up to the consideration of eternal things ; they should soon feel the sun of righteousness warm our soul , and the love of god fill our heart , which would not only find facility therein , but also sweetness , pleasure , honour , and profit : seeing in effect there is nothing more pleasant than to love god. for me , i have experienced , that all love to the creatures , is bitter , and that the love of god only is sweet and pleasant : for when i loved riches , they gave me aboundance of trouble to preserve them ; when i loved honours , i found there many bitter and piercing displeasures , when i was not esteem'd or honour'd as i wished ; so that sometimes one sleight caused me more pain than a hunderd honours had given me contentment : when i loved the pleasures and delights of this life , i found there great bitterness , because there is none of these pleasures that carry not its own pain with it : for the pleasures of the taste breed poverty and diseases , and are insatiable ; they never satisfie : no more than those of the flesh , which resemble salt-water , the more one drinks , the more drought . i have remarked that in several carnal persons , who ( after having ruined their body and health in satisfying their concupiscence ) used all means to cure their infirmities ; and that to the end they might wallow yet more in their nasty pleasures . and when i have loved any human creature , it was always painful for me to satisfie and please them ; and the fear of offending or loosing them , was unto me a continual anxiety . so that there is nothing but god alone whom it is easie and sweet to love . nothing is more pleasant : for all other loves have grief mixed with their greatest pleasures ; we see young people marry with joy ; there is nothing but mirth , plays and dances ; but the wedding is scarce over , and sometimes sooner , when we see them sad and afflicted , pensive and melancholy ; diseases attacque them , the care of their affairs and houshold disquiets them , fortune is against them , and in the end their pleasures terminate in divers griefs ; the pleasures of the flesh in pains , those of the pallate into diseases , honour into contempt and slights ; even as haman's pleasure , when invited to the queens banquet , changed into grief , when he saw that mordecai would not render him the honour he desired ; so do all earthly pleasures terminate in displeasure and sadness . so that we can find no other true pleasure in the world , but to love god only ; which is full pleasant , and also honourable : for what honour is man capable of , approaching unto that of loving a god so mighty ? who created heaven and earth , and all other things ; and sustains them by his almighty power ; and who can give unto men eternal salvation . if we count it honour that we love a king , a prince , or other person in authority ; how much ought we to think us honoured that we may love a god who is incomprehensibly good and wise ? and what honour is it for a small worm of the earth , such as man is , that he may love god , who desires to be loved of him ; and even commands him to love him with all his heart ; as if god delighted to honour man ; by requiring to be loved of him . and the honour of loving god is so considerable , that it passes all that man is capable of in heaven or on earth . moreover , it is also profitable for him , seeing that love can render him happy in this world and to all eternity . whereas all the creatures together cannot procure us the one nor the other . what profit can we draw from the creatures ? who are unable to give us a day , yea an hour , or even a moments life . what could they then to give us eternal life ? all the advantage men can draw one from another , is a little money , honour , or pleasure , which vanish , and most part ends in pain and grief , as i have before shown . and therefore we cannot truely call pleasures the advantages and profits that men cause one to another . no more ought we to esteem honours , which are but a blast of wind , which vanishes in the air of a small disgrace , and so leaves nothing in the person honoured , but a piercing grief , that he is no more honoured . what profit is it for a man to get of his fellow a little more money ? it is only a more weighty charge to bear in this world ; where the richest are the most miserable ; for they can never have more of their riches , but a little necessary nourishment and cloathing to cover them : all the rest is superfluous to them , and should serve others , seeing he must not take for himself , but for pure necessity . what 's over gives only the disquiet , care and trouble of dispensing or bestowing it . so that a lacquey is happier than his master ; he hath no care but for himself ; but the master must care for himself and all under him , and see that nothing be wanting to them , or else his servants will upbraid or despise him . is not that a poor advantage , a little money that men can afford ▪ and yet he that receives it , is obliged to a thousand thanks ; and beside , to take a more honourable state ; which brings him more care and disquiet than he had before he was so rich . that testifies that nothing in this world can advantage man , or give him true honour , pleasure , or content . and so there is nothing but god , can render man happy in this life , and that to come : seeing all the advantages men reap one from another , serve but for their damnation . their pleasures retire the soul from god ; their honours cause them to fall into pride , and their riches into avarice , which leads them to the broad way of damnation ; and notwithstanding they fancy themselves happy , for having the good will of men ; which is cause of their eternal misery . but so great is their blindness , that they cannot see these miseries , however evident ; they perswade themselves , that they are happinesses , that their disquiets are peace , and their displeasures , contentments . for how many persons are there in the world , who study all the days of their life to perfect themselves in some science , to be esteemed of men ? how many that labour , travail , and put themselves in several hazards to gain a little money ? and how many , that expose riches and life too , to preserve their honour ? although all these things be vain , yet they love and esteem them , often more than they do god : for we see them not do for him what they do for the creatures ; they render to them painful and hard services ; and imagin to themselves that there is more difficulty to love god , than to love the world. notwithstanding the love of god is easie , sweet , pleasant , honourable and profitable ; as i have shown : but the love of the world is disquieting , sad , without repose , honour or profit , for time and for eternity . which you may remark ( my child ) by the reasons i have above deduced to you ; which should open your eyes , to discern falshood from truth : that you may never give place to the false perswasions , which the blinded christians would establish . they say , it is impossible to love god with all our heart ; and so blaspheme against him . for god could not command an impossibility : but all that he commands is good , easie , and pleasant . and if you consider narrowly his ten commands , you shall find but two of action , viz. that of loving god ; and the other to honour father and mother . the other eight are but prohibitions to do evil : as not to kill , steal , bear false witness , and the rest . is it then impossible to abstain from committing these evils , that these blinded minds say it is impossible to keep the commands of god ? believe not these falshoods , but constrain your self to get out of that valley of snow , which is the riches and pleasures of this life ; and ascend to the mount of consideration of things eternal , and you shall find it pleasant to love god : to which you shall have the helping hand of her who is your well-affectioned in jesus christ , antonia bourignon . holstein near gottorp castle 25. april 1672. st , vet . the x. letter . the love of god is easie , and renders all things easie . to the same , to whom is shown , that the love of god is in its self most easie to attain ; whence proceed the difficulties that occur in it , and how to be removed ; that this love wonderfully lightens the incommodities of this life , and renders the observing the commands of god and the gospel-advices easie . my dear child ; believe firmly that the words of jesus christ are true , viz. that his yoak is easie , and his burthen is light ; and take his counsel in taking his yoak , which you shall feel to be such , if you will take it on . i experience it daily more and more ; believe that you shall experience it , as i do , if you continue in the resolution to follow jesus christ , and become his true disciple . i will not promise that you shall have in his service sensual pleasure , or worldly riches , and vain contentment : but i promise you assuredly quiet of conscience , tranquillity of spirit , an inward peace and contentment in your soul : which are things far more estimable than the vain pleasures and impure contentments , and aboundance of the riches of this world ; which can never satisfie our souls , being they are spiritual , and cannot consequently be satisfied with material things . therefore is it that there was never any man perfectly content and satisfied in this world , unless he loved god with his whole heart . there is no other but such an one who can be entirely content : for only the love of god is capable fully to satisfie our souls ; for they are little divinities which cannot be fully contented out of god , from whom they proceeded . therefore must you ( my child ) labour to attain to that love : for when you have truely found it , you shall have all things , and you shall reign over all the world , having in contempt all that is not god. and you have no violence to use with god to obtain his love , seeing he gives it liberally and freely , to all that desire and ask it : and even compels men by an express command which he hath given them : but you must do a little violence to your self to obtain that love ; because your affections are carried to other things than him , so you must reclaim them , and constrain them to return to their god , and in that , you shall have so many combats , as you have habitudes to love other things than god. if you be then strongly addicted to self-love , or love of other creatures , your combats shall be so much the greater . but the business deserves suffering well , seeing after we shall enjoy so great good temporal and eternal , we should spare nothing to gain such a treasure ; the pain shall pass swiftly , and the joy endure eternally . and therefore you must suffer willingly , to retire your affections from earthly things , and place them in god alone . i have sufficiently shown you in my last , that , that is good , pleasant , honourable and profitable . it remains for you now to put it in practice . examin once , what it is that you love beside god , and then detest that love , and withdraw from it your heart : if you love objects without your self , flee from them , as the enemies of your good ; loose from them your heart , and desire no more to see them . and if your affections be occupied in self-love , remove them from an object so little lovely , to place them in god , who only merits your affections , and nothing else . protest then against that natural inclination of self-love , and yield no more any thing to that nature , but things purely necessary ; for it is your greatest enemy , to which you must not furnish arms to fight against you the better . you must know , that corrupt nature wars against the love of god , as far as you yield to it ; so give it the least satisfaction you can , even till you have overcome it : withdraw then from it your affections ; you must restrain it as a horse with bridle , that it kick not ; nor attempt , but to serve the master you love . behold the means to render you free to love god with your whole heart : for as soon as your affections are retired from all creatures , they will be assuredly carryed to love god their creator ; because the love of god is the element of our soul ; in which only it can live , recreate and repose it self . that love of god is the true center of our souls , whither they fall of themselves so soon as they are disengaged of other affections , which are all vain . it is as with a stone thrown into the air , which will not rest till it fall on the earth , which is its center , unless it be retained with bonds or other thing . it is the very same with man's soul , which is thrown into the air of the vanities of this world ; it cannot find rest there : if we did not retain it by force , by baits and allurements of affection for earthly things , doubtless it would presently fall into the love of god , which is its center and element ; where it can rest and recreate it self to satisfaction ; because the soul hath nothing more suitable to its nature , than god , from whom it proceeded ; and it can never repose till it be returned to him ; and when it is compelled to remain out of its element ; it is as a fish which by nets and lines is forced out of the water : which is to it very disagreeable , and causes to it death , if it be not quickly returned into the water . the same happens to the soul , when it suffers it self to be entangled in the nets of earthly affections ; it must quickly die , because it cannot find there an element suitable to its divine nature , and so it languishes , withers , and dies an eternal death ; unless it break the nets of earthly affections , to return to its element , which is the love of god. you must , my son , labour that you may break all the bonds of earthly affections : and so soon as you feel affection for any thing , that is not god , rescind it quickly ; for it is a chain which retains you out of your element : and though it should be painful for you to loose your heart , from any thing to which it enclines , these pains shall quickly change into consolations : for you shall no sooner be returned into the love of god , but you shall bathe in ease and pleasure , as fish newly returned to the water , which is its element . it is for that jesus christ says , that his yoak is easie , and his burthen light. he calls a yoak our natural inclinations , because we must constrain and retain them ; and they are troublesom and grievous to bear . for if we follow them , we precipitate our selves into a thousand evils ; seeing nature , being corrupted by sin , enclines always to evil . and these evils are often troublesom and weighty to bear . i know well , that to us it seems grievous , that we may not in any thing follow our natural inclinations : but if we take on that yoak for the love of god , it will become light and easie to us , as jesus christ hath taught . no person can dispence or excuse himself from bearing it , since our first father adam laid it on the shoulders of all his posterity ; all men in general , and every one in particular , are charged with the miseries which sin brought upon human nature . they are all subject to heat , cold , intemperance of the air , hunger , thirst , infirmities and diseases of the body , to ignorance , and inconstancy of spirit , and the disorderly motions of passions ; for sin hath brought all these things upon man's nature , which god created altogether perfect : but since all men have pertaken of adam's sin , they are also subject to his penitence . that is the yoak which god hath given man to satisfie his divine justice : so that all men coming into the world must bear that yoak ; will they or not , none can evite it . and it is a happiness which man hath had above the angels , while he can have pardon of his sin , for a small time of repentance , as is this short life : for the disobedient angels were confined to hell without remission : whereas man is only sent for a small time to this world , to do penitence , and after return to god , whence he proceeded . and therefore men ought voluntarily to embrace that penitence , to satisfie the justice of god , when it is so light and short , in regard of eternal damnation ; to which the angels were condemned when they disobeyed god. and that penitence is light and easie , when we will bear it as a yoak , which god hath given us for our sins . therefore also jesus christ calls it his yoak , and not ours ; to make us understand , that all the miseries of this life are light and easie , when we receive them from the hand of god , and to satisfie his divine justice : but that same yoak , the same miseries are full heavy and grievous , when we bear them grudgingly , or seek to be delivered , and discharged of them ; which cannot be in this valley of tears , which is only a prison of penitence , where we must stay , until the time of our penitence be over , to some longer then to others , according to the sentence of the great judge . but if we will take this life of penitence for a time of delights and pleasure ; we must make an eternal penitence , which shall never end , and begins even in this life : for although we should employ all the powers of our spirit , and forces of our body , to charm our miseries or evite sufferings ; they will not leave us for all that . and whatever we do or say , we must always feel heat and cold , diseases of body and troubles of spirit , the changing of seasons , and revolutions of times , and so many other accidents which befal man , during the course of his life : all that must be troublesome and painful to him , if he take it not as the yoak of god : but if he embrace it affectionably as jesus christ did , all shall be light and easie to him ; as were unto our saviour miseries , persecutions , torment , and even death : not that his nature was insensible of the pains and torments which they caused him ; but he suffered all for the love of god , which made the most heavy burdens , and the bitter gall of his cruel passion appear to him easie , light and pleasant . if you will , my son , be his disciple , and become a true christian , embrace with him all the miseries of this present life : suffer patiently what ever befals you contrary to your will ; and above all , deny and renounce your self , as jesus christ your captain taught and practised . he warred against the inclinations of corrupt nature in every thing . for because they tend always to greatness and to receive honour , he choosed meanness and contempt : because they tend always to covet riches , he would be poor : and because they seek always their ease and pleasure , he chose uneasiness and sufferings . so that he always crushed the inclinations of corrupted nature ; constraining it by the bridle and yoak of the love of god , doing every thing contrary to the inclinations of that corrupted nature . behold your captain , who marches before you , and calls you to follow him ; saying , if any man will come after me , let him take up his cross , and deny himself , and follow me . you must not , my son , seek any other master , nor hear other doctrine ; for men deceive and are deceived ; who will take another way , than jesus christ took ; or will enter into life eternal , by means quite contrary to those which he used himself . if there were another way of salvation , jesus christ would have taught us it , and had followed it himself ; seeing all he did upon the earth , was to give us an example that we might follow and imitate him . if then there were any thing better than to renounce our corrupt nature , doubtless he had taught us it . never go to perswade your self , that men are too frail to observe the law of god and the gospelcounsels ; seeing the one and the other was given us only for our frailty : for if we had been perfect , we had not needed any laws : it is sin which hath brought these laws upon man. yet you must not believe that the laws are evil , seeing they are very good , and are the true means of our salvation : for without them man had never known his sins , and had insensibly abandoned god ; living without stop , worse than a beast , not feeling nor knowing his misery . you must know , that adam was not ashamed to see himself naked , before god called him , asking him , adam , where art thou ? yet he had sinned , and his wife also , in the absence of god ; and lived still freely after their sin , as they had done before : but so soon as god called them , they began to fear and tremble , and be ashamed : which made them flee and hide themselves from him , not daring to appear before him as formerly . the same effect did the law of god in mens minds in moses's days ; for then also had they quite forsaken their god , and lived without minding their duties , giving themselves up to all sorts of sins , without knowing them ; and for that would god give them a law , that by it they might know their sins , and so abstain from committing them . that law was composed of ten commands , or ten things that they were to observe . it is not a burthen laid upon men by god , as some ignorants say , blaspheming god. he hath not given them commands which are impossible for them to observe ; for these things were to be observed in all times , although they were not distinctly commanded or forbidden . natural reason ought sufficiently to have taught man , that he should not kill , steal , commit adultery , bear false witness , covet his neighbour's goods , nor take the name of his god in vain : and that same natural reason was sufficient to show them , that they ought to love god with all their heart , since they had received of him their being , and all other things , and received continually benefits for their sustenance . the same natural light was sufficient to show to man that he should honour his father and mother ; since they have brought us up , cared for us , nourished and taught us in our tender age . for ingratitude is an unnatural thing ; for even the most savage beasts acknowledge their benefactors . so that the law of god , hath not charged man with any thing , that he was not obliged to in all times . for from his creation , he was obliged to love god with all his heart , and to honour father and mother ; which are the two things commanded in the ten commands : the other eight are only prohibitions of doing evil ; which man was always obliged to abstain from , and ever shall . and the cause why god hath declared these things in form of commands , is man's infirmity ; who had so forgotten his duty , that he committed evil without knowing it ; and should become still worse , if the law of god had not been given him , as a voice to reclaim him , and to ask him , as to adam , where art thou ? for without that law , he had not known his sin . it is given him as a light in the midst of his darkness , and as a medicine , for his evils : but men now adays call these mercies weighty charges , yea insupportable to their frailty : which is a gross ingratitude , and deserves to be punisht , and that god should withdraw his mercies from these ingrate and stupid persons , seeing they overturn the benefits of the law of god , and the sweet and light yoak of the evangelical law into chastisements and insupportable burthens ; saying , that it is impossible to observe them : and so they belie the word of jesus christ , viz. that his yoak is easie , and his burthen light. believe your saviour , my son , and hear not these lying men , that say the contrary : abandon your self to god , embrace the evangelical law ; and you shall know by experience , that his yoak is easie , and his burthen light . which she assures you of , who remains your well-affectioned in jesus christ , antonia bourignon . holstein , near gottorp castle , april 20. 1672. st. vet. the xi . letter . we must always advance in virtue , whatever impediments come in the way . to the same , who is encouragad in the way of true virtue ; although the beginning be difficult , because of the temptations with which the devil vexed them that have resolved to embrace true virtue . my son ; never weary in the service of god ; the beginning of it is the difficultest . you know that rose-bushes bear thorns before they bear roses : it is the same with true virtue . it begins with thorns , a little pricking to corrupt nature : but beautiful roses will come in their season . true virtue hath nothing pricking in it , no more than the rose ; for it is altogether sweet , beautiful and fragrant ; nothing is sweeter than virtue . it gives peace and pleasure to the soul ; for peace and joy are fruits of the holy spirit . o what peace and contentment hath a virtuous soul ! it seeks nothing , fears nothing , nor hopes nothing , but in the promises of its god. it acquiesces in his providence . it yields it self to be conducted sweetly at the will and pleasure of the lord. it is not disquieted nor straitned by any thing , but in peace expects what god will dispose . it affects nothing , precipitates nothing ; knowing that patience and long-suffering are the fruits of the holy spirit . it is meek in it self , and toward its neighbour : for goodness , meekness , and gentleness are also fruits of the holy spirit , which he produces outward in the soul he possesses . a virtuous soul is always modest and moderate in all its actions , chaste , continent and full of charity ; because the holy spirit , who produces in it true virtue , produces also his twelve fruits , which are sweet and agreeable to god and men. so that true virtue , is desirable , for the sweetness it carries in it self : it is desirable for its . beauty ; for nothing is more agreeable and beautiful , than true virtue ; for all good persons esteem and honour it , seeing it is more estimable and honourable than all created things . it can well abide a narrow search and near view ; for the neavrer we approach it , the more we discover its beauty . it is also fragrant , as the rose ; for true virtue relishes in the nostrils of every one ; even of the wicked , who often are engaged to esteem it , although they will not follow it . and if we hear sometimes well inclined persons , despise true virtue , it is because they know it not , and have been often deceived with apparent virtues , wherewith the men of this time are filled , which causes that the true is not so relished as it should : but though it be not known nor esteemed among men , yet it is sweet , pleasant , and savoury unto god , who loves true virtue as his spouse , because it is united inseparably with him . and therefore ( my child ) you must endeavour to acquire that beautiful rose of true virtue ; although you should feel the pricking of thorns in the plucking it . these pains will quickly pass , but the beautiful rose of virtue will never fade . it shall be eternally beautiful , and of a good savour before god : so you must spare nothing , to acquire true virtue . if you feel pains therein , they shall change into repose : if you feel grief , it shall turn to joy : if repugnance , it shall be changed into contentment : for there is only the beginning which is difficult in the acquest of true virtue . the reason is , because it is then the devil uses all means to divert us from it : he knows well that he can gain nothing upon us when we have acquired it ; and so he uses all his forces at the beginning , to hinder us from arriving at it : that is the reason , why the scripture says , my son , if thou wilt embrace true virtue , prepare your heart for temptation . but the devil leaves them in quietness , who have only apparent virtues ; or those that have only good desires ; because he can ensnare them at his pleasure : the first by presumption of their salvation , because of apparent virtues ; and the others in precipitating them unto death , before they have brought their good desires to effect : knowing well , that hell is paved with good-wills , which men had in this world , without putting them in practice : and therefore he leaves all such persons in peace , as well as the worldlings ; knowing well , that he shall not miss them at one time or other : and so he leads them softly to hell , with a silken rope , without vexing or tempting them much . but such , as have truely resolved to follow jesus christ , and embrace true virtue ; he labours night and day to tempt them , and by all means , because he knows , that he needs not pretend more to it , when they have arrived at true virtue . then they shall laugh at him and all his assaults ; and so he attempts to shake them at the beginning , and to make them lose heart in considering the difficulty there is in acquiring true virtue . first he shows them the pains and thorns , which they shall find in the mortification of their senses : after he represents an impossibility to attain to so great perfection : he shows them also the example of other persons , whom they esteem good persons , and tending to true virtue . for it is enough to them to make a morally good outside , without being at the trouble to mortifie their five natural senses , nor to renounce themselves : and the devil perswades them , that that is not necessary for their salvation ; but he is but a deceiver and seducer of souls , that he may in the end render them partakers of his miseries . keep your self , my son , from his deceipts , and give no ear to his suggestions ; nor to the infirmities of your nature . for neither the one nor the other can hinder you to arrive at true perfection ; provided you have a firm resolution , god will assist you , and give you all that you need , if you remain faithful to him : and after you shall see , that through god you can do all things , and shall say with david , with my god i leap over walls . for so great is the power of true virtue , that it makes appear light the things that are most grievous to nature . that is it which jesus christ intended by the comparison , if you had faith as a grain of mustard-seed , you should remove mountains : it was not so marvelous a thing to remove mountains of sand and stone , seeing that would add nothing to our soul : but he speaks of mountains of difficulties , which we find in the acquisition of true virtue . it appears at the beginning as an inhabitable mountain , whither one can never arrive . but if the soul persevere faithfully in its good resolution , it will revive by faith in the promises of god ; and with it will remove all these mountains of imaginary difficulties ; since in effect there is no difficulty in the acquiring of true virtue we have no sooner abandoned earthly affections , but we mount with ease unto true perfection ; for all the difficulties we apprehend , are but false visages , which the devil hath placed , as vizards to frighten them that begin in true virtue . but we need not fear , for the mask being taken off , we find true virtue , which is sweet , pleasant and agreeable . and he that hath once discovered and known it , finds no difficulty in it afterward ; but on the contrary much quiet and consolation . though the devil will never cease to tempt and pursue us . he tempted jesus christ , and pursued him even to the desart , whither he had gone by the conduct of the spirit of god. therefore we must not be shaken , by the tentations which the devil makes us ; but we must despise him , as an enemy of god , and who hath no power over man , but what himself gives him : otherways the devil is in his nature meer impotence , who could not lift a pile of straw from the ground , if man do not permit him . so man , when he is in the grace of god , may well mock at the devil ; seeing then he cannot hurt him . he waits and goes about him indeed who is in the grace of god , but cannot hurt him ; unless he fall from that grace , or that he consent to the tentations and suggestions of the devil . it is nothing to feel tentations , though they should continue all the days of our lives , provided we do not consent to them . it is but a smoak , which dissipates in the air ; it is not very agreeable ; but it cannot hurt him that does not approach it : even so is it with the tentation of the devil ; it vanishes , if we do not follow it . it is the devil's work to tempt , but man's to resist thereto . therefore says st. peter , my brethren , watch and be sober , for your enemy the devil goes about like a roaring lion , seeking whom he may devour . resist him therefore , continuing firm in the faith. he says so to teach us , that we must not sleep in the service of god , nor give up to follow our appetites ; but that we must be sober , and watch with perseverance ; for we have an enemy who never sleeps . we must overcome him by the strength of faith , which is able to transport the greatest mountains of difficulties , that can ever present to our understanding . and if the devil should tempt us night and day , he cannot hurt our soul , provided it remain in faith , which begets hope in the promises of god : he hath said , come unto me all ye that are heavy laden , and i will give you rest . he excepts none ; but calls all men in general , and every one in particular ; saying , they must come to him if they be heavy laden ; and he promises to ease us . what surer caution would we have ? we have there the promise of god himself ; for he says , that he will comfort us , if we go to him in need . i am willing to believe ( my son ) that you are burthened with tentations of the devil ; for he sees that you seek after true virtue ; and so he will not fail to attacque you in the beginning , and so much the more as you have given him advantage over your soul by your former sins . he will not quit that fortress , but by force , seeing he hath so long been ruler and governour there . you must now then chase him by force ; it is in that only that the kingdom of heaven suffers violence , and the violent take it by force . for we are the children of god , and consequently heirs of his kingdom ; so we have no need to take that kingdom by force . it is given us freely of god. but we must use great force to resist the devil , and our corrupt nature , which are the two enemies of our salvation , who would rob our souls of that kingdom , though it belongs to us , as the inheritance of our heavenly father : and that is the reason why he says , that the violent ravish it , and that we must take it by force . it is not , that we must fight with weapons of iron , to gain that kingdom : for all the bodily force of nature together could do nothing to the gaining it : but we must fight our enemies with spiritual weapons , of which the chief is faith ; seeing it begets love , and hope toward god , the two bucklers to defend us against all sorts of enemies . for he that loves god , fears nothing ; seeing , love is strong as death ; and he that putteth his trust in god , shall never be confounded . so that the devil shall never have power over him that resists him , by faith . so , my son , fear nothing ; persevere in the good resolution of attaining true virtue . give all your affections to love god , and you shall be strong as death . place your hope in god alone , and you shall never be confounded , nor deceived . for having these arms , you need not fear the assaults of your enemy the devil . he is as a chained dog , and can go no farther than goes the chain of man's consent . if he come to vex you in the night , during sleep , that cannot hurt you , seeing man does not use his free will while he sleeps , and so cannot consent to the tentation of the devil , which he knows full well : but he comes to vex man in sleep , that he may get him to consent ( when awakened ) to evil suggestions , which he excited in his spirit while asleep : for a man asleep , sins not . but be prompt to evelate your spirit unto god as soon as you awake , and then the tentation shall vanish as smoak . but if you begin to agitate in your spirit , the things which you dreamed , by the tentation of the devil , and give your consent thereto , or take pleasure in it : then you fall into sin , and shall consent to the devil ; who is never more overcome than when we despise him . therefore i advise you never to regard dreams , or evil thoughts which he represents to you asleep ; nay nor those which he offers when you are awake : because you cannot sin , so long as you do not take pleasure in , or consent thereto . although you should be tormented all the days of your life by evil thoughts , that shall not make you lose the grace of god , so long as they displease you . yet you have cause , to humble your self before god , for your former sins : for if you had never sinned , and willingly given entry to evil thoughts , the devil would not have had the power to cause you to have them after against your will. but what is past is no more in your power : it remains only that you strive for the time to come , never more to return to them . remain then faithful to god , and persevere in your good resolution which you have taken to find true virtue . never weary in that search ; it deserves well that you endure some trouble : for even the worldlings endure yet much more in the service of the world . for what disquiets , cares and travails does not a merchant suffer to gain a little money ? what pains must not a gentleman take , to preserve his honour ? what fatigue and toil hath the labourer and tradesmam to gain their food , which you have in the service of god without trouble ! will you not suffer a little tentation of the devil , to arrive at true virtue , which is to buy at a very easie rate ? for all that the devil can do to you is inconsiderable , in respect of the joy which attends you in heaven : if you endure with perseverance , he may well disturb your spirit with divers tentations ; but can never cause you to fall into sin , without that your own will consent to him . for when you have rendred your will to god , he will keep it well , and not permit that the devil gain to make it consent unto evil. and what more the devil can do is but a small matter . he should have no power over your will , if he had not had so formerly , so he could not have troubled you so often . for i perceive often his contradictions against me , by you , against your will. he knows that i belong to god , and follow his will , which he contradicts to his power ; but he cannot hinder that i know and practise it ; and so hinder that you should follow it , and causes you to contradict it often in small things , because he cannot obtain that you should oppose it in great things . he gains always a little , when he cannot gain much . i know well that is against your will , and what comes to pass against it , comes assuredly from the devil : for a man cannot be contrary to his own proper will : what he wills , he desires ; and what he desires , effects it so far as he can : and therefore it is the devil that does in him whatever he does against his own will. if you comprehended well that , ( my son ) you would resist him more , and would no more cause me so much pain , by the contradictions you make to the will of god ; which , by his grace , i know in things great and small ; and it you must follow to your power . but you have not yet sufficiently discovered the subtil snares of that old serpent ; nor overcome your self , nor human considerations , which are the chains that yet hinder your flight to god : but do not lose courage . if i have overcome the world , you may also overcome it , and shall become master of the devil and of your self . god is not partial , nor an accepter of persons . he bestows his grace upon all them that seek and desire it in truth . i wish you these desires , and remain your well-affected in jesus christ , antonia bourignon . holste in near gottorp castle 27. april 1672. st. vet . the xii . letter . the devil , the enemy of true virtue , opposes it with all manner of devices . to the same , to whom is shewn that it is necessary to know the wiles of the devil , with which he opposes true virtue , that we may evite them , which are shown in this and the following letters : as 1. that the devil insinuates himself into what is sensual in man. 2. that he suits himself to the impulses and inclinations of every one , leaving the rest in quietness . my son ; i spake much to you in my last of the tentation of the devil , because it is as necessary for you to know , in order to your salvation , as it is to know true virtue . for if you know only the good , you shall easily fall into the evil , even without perceiving it : and so shall sometimes follow evil , thinking that you do well . but since i have undertaken to teach you all things necessary to salvation , i must speak to you of the malice of the devil , and how he tempts men to lead them to perdition : as he hath already led many , even such as have never discovered , that is was the devil who incited them to do evil , and so have suffered themselves to be seduced insensibly by him ; though they have been persons well enclined , yet have they been lost by ignorance . for ignorance does not excuse ; before god. every one is obliged to know what he ought to do and leave , that he may please the lord. if then i should now speak to you only of the beauty and excellency of virtue , and you knew not the wiles of satan , whereby he attempts to hinder men to arrive at it ; doubtless you should never enjoy it ; he would stop you in the way by one means or other . so that i judge it more necessary , that you know the malice of the devil , and the power he hath over men , when he is unknown to them , than to teach you the deepest mysteries of divinity . for all sciences together could not make you holy ; but the malice of the devil should lead you to damnation if you knew it not . therefore , i pray you to apply diligently your spirit to comprehend , that all sorts of evil come from the devil ; as all sorts of good comes from god. there is only these two things that are good and evil . so that whatsoever is good , in heaven , or on earth in all the creatures , in every place , proceeds immediately from god : and all that is evil in every thing , comes from the devil . for he being by his sin separated from god , is fallen into all evils : there is no good but in god alone ; and in the privation of good consists all evil . all that is infallible . evil then is no real thing , and god never gave it a being , but all good things come ever from god ; whence it follows , that the privation of all good , is all evil . so that , the devil being seperated from god , ( who is all good ) is consequently fallen into all evil , which is nothing else but a privation of all good . that miserable nothing is the devil , who by his free will would separate himself from all good : and it is that separation which makes all evil . there can be no other evil , but the want and deprival of all good , seeing god never created evil. now nothing can have a being , but what god created ; and having never created evil , it cannot be other thing , but a cursed nothing ; which we call evil . and that evil is in its essence in the devil , as good is in god , without mixture : for there can be no evil in god ; and there can be no good in the devil . but we find a mixture in the other creatures , which have partaken of good from god , and evil from the devil ; and so they can be mixed of these two things : and are good or evil in proportion as they partake of the one or the other . god gave unto man all sorts of goods in aboundance , since he had the power to give them . and the devil ( that impotence ) hath given nothing to man , but so much evil , as he hath obtained consent from the free will of man , and no more : for he is nothing but miserable impotence . and to know , that the malice of the devil , and the sin of man , are but nothings , you need but consider , what we see and touch in nature . for we see assuredly that hunger and thirst , is but the want of meat and drink ; cold is but the privation of heat , and death the privation of life ; and so is it with all other sorts of evils , which befal man ; which are only the privation of the goods which he needs for his sustenance , temporal and eternal . for , though we say , that there are in hell , pains and torments , fire , ice , sadness , bitterness and all sorts of pains . all these are nothing in effect but the privation of the goods , which man should have had , to be happy , viz. all sorts of contentments in god , all pleasure , all satisfaction and delight , refreshment , peace and joy eternal . but the privation of all these things , makes the torments and sufferings of hell ; without need that there should be material fire , ice , or famin. it is enough , that the soul of man be deprived of all good , to suffer all sorts of evil . we may see that yet more clearly in a new born infant , if it be left without the good of assistance , it is reduced to all sorts of evil , and will die , without our touching it , to do it any evil ; for we deprive it of life in depriving it of assistance . it is the same with the malice of the devil , and the sin of man. they are only privations of good , which notwithstanding cause pains and torments incomprehensible to mans soul . and all that is represented to us by fire , hunger , and other torments of hell ; which is nothing , in regard of the reality of the pains and torments , which a soul suffers that is deprived of the grace of god. for that soul is not only fallen into the cold of ice , and heat of fire , but also into all other sorts of torments ; because the privation of the grace of god , is the possession of all sorts of evil : and seeing that grace causes us all sorts of good , its privation must needs throw us into all evil . now whatsoever lives in nature , generates always , because there is in it a bent and inclination to produce its like . herbs and plants yield their seeds and sprigs or branches ; nothing remains unfruitful , that lives in nature ; every kind produces its like to its power . beasts produce after their kinds ; men produce human creatures ; spirits , spirits ; every one according to their nature . the good spirits , which are the angels of god , produce always good spirits ; the evil , which are the devils , produce evil . the one and th' other of these spirits , attempt to produce in the souls of men , their own sort . and as men are the noblest of all the creatures , there is neither angel nor devil hath power over him , but so far as man gives them . the good angels always incite men to good : the evil , who are the devils , to evil . and that by the desire that each of these spirits hath , to render men like to themselves ; the devil endeavours to render the souls of men devilish , and the good angels to render them angelical . man in the mean while remains free to yield himself to be begotten unto good , or evil : for none of these spirits can force man : they can but incite him . every one attempts to render him of his own party : but since the devil hath corrupted man's nature , he hath also more power over it than the good angel , which hath not advanced it to good as the devil to evil . all the good in man comes from god only , and not from the angel , who being a pure spirit , hath not power , but over the spirit of man , in representing to him good things : but the devil , as a subtil spirit , hath insinuated himself into the spirit of man , by means of the human nature . and as the vital spirits in man are in his blood dispersed throw his whole body ; so does the spirit of the devil mix and disperse it self with the vital spirits of man ; and works much more upon his nature , than the good angel ; who cannot joyn with the corruption of that nature , because he is a spirit altogether pure ; but the devil is impure , and accords well with the impurity of our corrupted nature . and therefore he is always more united with us than the good angel , who does not delight but in the pure spirit of man : for he finds nothing conform to his angelick nature , but the spirit of man ; because our human nature is too gross and earthly , to be united with the angelick nature . but the devil , as an impure beast , wallows freely in the flesh and blood , that he may gain the soul of man. he so mixes himself with the blood of man , that he easily moves all the parts of his body to do evil ; but man knows not that it is the devil : for he is so united to corrupt nature , that though we feel his motions , we think that they proceed but from our own nature . which is because man cannot comprehend , that the devil should so mix with flesh and blood , since he is only a spirit without body , as he is truely : but the devil hath that subtilty to joyn himself to the vital spirits of man , to move the flesh to luxury , wrath , and other vicious passions . you may see that , my son , by your proper experience : for if you mark well the disposition of your sentiments , you shall find that you have been often carryed away with vicious passions , even against your will ; and that you have perceived them with regret , which cannot proceed from your self , for your will cannot contradict it self . if you had naturally a will to the pleasure of the flesh , it would not displease you , but contrariwise you would take pleasure in it , and be glad that you might effectuate it . but when that carnal thought or desire displeases you , and you regret it , that is a token that it comes from a spirit which is without you , and yet is in you , without that you know how he is there . yet you see well , by the operations which he does there , that that proceeds not from your own will , which cannot desire what displeases it , but it complains with st. paul , where he says , the good that i would , i do not ; and the evil that i would not , that i do : and that to show us , that there is in us an evil spirit , who is the devil , who often acts in us contrary to our will. which is but too true , and what every one may experiment in himself ; provided he will examin himself narrowly . for though the devil be an invisible spirit , yet he renders himself visible by his operations . and since there is no other evil but the devil , we must conclude , that all the evils we do against our will , proceed from him only . for he endeavours always to cause us to sin , and to lose the grace of god , that he may have us companions of his miseries , by causing us to lose all good , which consists in the grace of god ; to cause us to fall into all sorts of evil , which is the privation of all sorts of good. the devil is in that state , and so attempts to beget others miserable as himself ; and that with as much care , labour , and desire , as men can bestow to beget their like . behold the cursed instrument which acts always in man , to make him lose the grace of god : which you must know ( my son ) if you will arrive at true virtue . for if the devil remain unknown to you , he will gain you by one means or other : it is all one to him , provided he catch men ; and he hath divers sorts of snares , proper for the condition of every one . he spies out the inclinations of every man , that he may attaque him where he is weakest . when he sees one addicted to covet the riches of this world , he will give him prosperity , that he may fix his heart thereon . if that succeed , then hath he gained the man ; seeing his affections cannot be unto god , so long as as they are in his money . not that the devil can give men riches ; for he is but a poor wretch , who hath nothing but miseries : but he hath power over the minds of many men , whom he moves to labour and give profit to such , as he hopes to gain by addictedness to riches . so that he brings forth occasions to make them prosper by his adherents . now they that know not the wiles of the devil , think that it is the blessing of god , when they so prosper : the devil so blinds their understanding , that they discover not even that these prosperities cause them to fall into several sins . for he that is rich , becomes ordinarily proud , he exceeds in pomp , vanity delicious fare , idleness , luxury , and divers other excesses , which he could not commit before he was rich : so it is easie to conjecture , that it could not be by the blessing of god he acquired these riches . but men are at present so blind in that point , that they attribute to god what the devil does to draw them to hell ▪ one by oneway , and another by another ; for he is so subtil that he will be loath to tempt one by things contrary to their inclination . if he sees one liberal , and that covets not the riches of the world , he will make him exceed in liberality , in giving , prodigueing and neglecting what is necessary for himself : and so he will make him give his riches to them that will offend god , by what he gives them . and if he see another addicted to luxury , blasphemies , or drunkenness , he is often content with some of these sins , and lets him do well in other things . for it is enough to the devil , if he hold us bound by one only sin , wherein we have our affections that is enough to keep us out of the graces of god ; seeing we must not with-draw our heart , to place it in any thing , but in god alone . yet the devil always incites man to do all the evil , he can : but there are many , who would not give themselves to many vices , though they be addicted to some one : such sorts of persons are not much molested by tentations of the devil ; but he lets them rest quietly in the sin to which he sees them most addicted , without tempting them by others . when then he hath no hope to carry men to greater evils , he contents himself to keep their souls fast by one chain until death , that he may after drag them to hell with him . the misery is , that men will not be aware ; for they that are not addicted to many sins have always hopes of their salvation . i confess , says one , i'm enclined to luxury ; but i bestow much on the poor , and will wrong no man. another says , it is true , i 'm given to drinking ; but i am kind and obliging to my neighbour . a third , it 's true , i love riches , and honours ; but i also attend the service of god , i go frequently to church , and to solemnities and devotions . a fourth says , i 'm given to feeding and delicacy ; but i hate no person . and so with a thousand excuses they think to evite damnation , and to abtain salvation , while they are not addicted to many vices and sins . but the devil , derides all these excuses ; he would have of all sorts of persons in hell : them that commit more sorts of sins , and those also that are addicted to one or two sorts . for there are in hell all sorts of states and degrees , even as there is in the world : where one is of higher condition than another . those that have here committed more sins , shall be in greater damnation in hell , than others . i pray god deliver you from that unhappiness , and remain your well-affected in jesus christ , antonia bourignon . holstein near gottorp castle 29. april 1672. st. vet . the xiii . letter . whatever is sensible to nature , is not the work of grace or virtue . to the same ; to whom is shewn a third artifice of the devil , whereby he perswades men that they may satisfie their senses in the state of regeneration , and praising god. and a fourth , by which he affixes their minds to the spiritual sweetness and delights , wherewith they that desire to follow virtue are affected . my son ; i have not yet sufficiently detected to you the devils cunning craftiness ; although i have shown you , how he useth to tempt men , by the things they are most enclined to , which i hope you now understand well . but you know not yet , how he tempts spiritual persons , and them that seek after true virtue : he uses more endeavour to gain these ; than for them of the world ; for these he leaves to do as they please , knowing well , that they need but follow their corrupt nature , to damn themselves , without his tempting of them much . for the corruption of nature comes from the devil , and we need but follow it to become little devils : as if we but follow the light of god , we shall become little gods : for the good spirit and the evil also beget always their like when joyned and united to the soul of man. they produce always fruits of their own nature . when man 's will then joyns with the corrruption of his nature , it needs no other devil from without to tempt it ; having in it self that little devil of corruption , which the great one hath engendered there . and when it obeys that corruption , it obeys the devil himself : for the corruption of nature and the malice of the devil are the same thing , even as a man's child is another man. men are grosly ignorant in that they think they are not tempted of the devil , when they do not feel in themselves preter-natural evils : and they call the malice of their nature , a fragility , without having ever seriously considered , whence that natural wickedness comes to them . god never created evil ; but he made man altogether perfect , and with an inclination and will to good , without knowing any thing of evil : and therefore of necessity the wickedness and inclination to evil , which man feels in his nature , must come from the devil : and it self may be called a devil , seeing there is no other evil but him , as there is no other good but god. so that they that follow the inclinations of their corrupt nature , march quietly to eternal damnation . and the devil does not drive such with tentations ; but stands afar off to see them go on , knowing well , that they shall become dayly worse , if they but follow simply the inclinations of their corrupt nature . which few are aware of ; but they will find themselves deceived at death ; for during their life they think it is no evil , to follow their natural inclinations : yea , say some , god created nature , and cannot be offended that we follow it . that is one of the greatest tentations , and is a sentiment which opens a door to all sorts of evils . it is true , god created nature , and wills that man use it ; but the devil hath so corrupted nature that man can no more use and follow it without sinning , since it is corrupted . man cannot even do any natural function now , without sinning against god ; and that as long as he hath not overcome the corruption of his nature . for if the natural man eat and drink , he does it with affection : now that affection ought to be carryed to god alone ; so he sins , when he turns it elsewhere : and when he gives his affection to see , hear , smell , taste , or feel ; he loves something else than god. but he ought to love him with all his heart , and not place his affections on other things , beside him alone : and so long as man puts his affection on eating , drinking , cloathing or lying , &c. he is turned from all good , which is god , and turned to all evil , which is the privation of all good . it is the same if we love our riches , honours , and pleasures ; for we are turned from god , unto the love of our selves ; when we love the pleasures of the flesh , and not those of the spirit ; and that exchange of affection causes us to fall into all evil , seeing it deprives us of all good . if then we will depart from all evil , and possess all good , we must of necessity resist and overcome the inclinations of corrupt nature : otherwise we shall insensibly fall into all sorts of sin . for it is enough to carry us to hell , to follow corrupt nature . and therefore ( my son ) you must die to your self first , if you would arrive at true virtue : seeing as long as corrupt nature is not entirely mortified in you , you cannot live in the spirit of jesus christ , because for that you must become a new creature , and detest that old corruption , which the devil hath intruded into the works of god ; for it s that is our enemy , and causes us all sorts of evil. notwithstanding the ignorant think it a happiness when they can follow their natural inclinations , although it is in effect the source of all evils . which you may well see , by the reasons which i have formerly deduced . for although god hath created nature , and ordained that it should be sustained , by aliments , and also re-produce it self by generation : yet he would always have the heart and affections of man to himself entirely , without parting . god willingly permits that man eat , and drink and generate , and use his five natural senses for his necessity : but he will also that we place not our affections and heart on these , which he requires to be preserved for himself only indivisibly . we may then well use all these things , but not fasten our heart on 'em . for when in the beginning man was created in grace , he did eat , drink , generate , and use his five natural senses : because he could do all that with thanksgiving to god. when he tasted of good things , he praised god , who had made them so savoury for him : when he saw beautiful things , he praised their author in admiring those beauties . if he smelled good odours , or heard pleasant melody , or touched smooth and pleasant things ; he rejoiced in god , blessing him , in that he had not only given him the things necessary for entertaining his life , but also for pleasure and delight . all these things then served man only to bless their creator , and glorifie him in his creatures . and man desired not generation , but to encrease the praises and thanksgiving which they owed unto god. behold how man used all these things well , before the devil had corrupted his nature : but since he is turned from god to carry his affections to himself , as he does at present ; he desires not generation but for his own satisfaction , and not for augmenting the glory of god , but to wallow in concupiscence ; for they have more inclination to enjoy the pleasures of the flesh , than to produce children to glorifie god. and when men enjoy the pleasures of their senses , and use the beautiful and good creatures , it is more to satisfie themselves , than to bless and magnifie god , who gives them : so esteeming more the gift than the giver . from all which we see , that what served unto man for blessing , when he was in grace , serves now as a means of sinning , and losing the grace of god. yet we find men so blinded with self-love , that they perswade themselves , they can see , hear , smell , taste , and feel , all that is good and pleasant , and praise god in the mean while : which is but falshood . for since man's nature was corrupted , it no more refers any thing to god ; but in all these things pleases it self ; and uses them as if it were worthy of them , as it was before sin . but that is a gross error ; for corrupt nature cannot seek the glory of god ; it seeks only its own , and hath no intention to bless and praise god for what it posesses . this desire of satisfying the five senses , is common to all that live according to corrupt nature , none excepted . therefore those that say , that they know to use good and pleasant things , in praising god , do but flatter themselves . for , to do that , they must have overcome corrupt nature : which they have not yet done , since we see them search after good and pleasant things for their satisfaction . but if they had overcome corrupt nature , they would no more satisfie it in any thing ; for that corruption is never so mortified in this life , but it would soon revive , if they granted to their nature eases and pleasures . but the soul that is regenerated in jesus christ , knows well , that nature must be kept under subjection and restraint , during this short life , which is a time of penitence ; where we must suffer , if we will enjoy after . which shews , that those , who say , they may enjoy all beautiful and good things here , praising god ; are very ignorant , and deceived by the devil . for they think themselves to be regenerated in the spirit of jesus christ ; which is false : seeing his spirit doth not teach that we should taste the pleasures of this life , and use all that 's good and pleasant : but he teaches penitence , and renouncing our selves ; to be poor in spirit ; to forsake all that we have ; to watch and be sober . all that is not to enjoy whatever is good and pleasant . for jesus christ teaches to take the least , and to choose the lowest place . if then these persons , had but attained however little of the spirit of jesus christ , they would be far from saying , that they have overcome the corruption of their nature , and are renewed in the spirit of jesus christ , while they do things quite contrary to what he did and taught . for if it were permitted to the regenerate , to take their pleasure , and to enjoy whatever is good and pleasant in nature ; doubtless jesus christ would have done so : seeing there was never any person regenerated , and had overcome the corruption of nature , so perfectly as he : and yet he speaks of nothing but suffering , becoming poor , bearing the cross , and denying our selves : these imprudents must think themselves more perfect than he , seeing they say , they may well taste all what is good and pleasant in nature , provided they thank god. notwithstanding our lord deprived himself of all these things , to give us example . do you not see , my son , that it is a cunning device of satan , to deceive them that aspire unto virtue ? for he fills their spirit with presumption assoon as he hath got them to digest some curious speculations of the spiritual life . they imagin that they are already regenerated in the spirit of jesus christ , although they live altogether according to the corrupt nature of the old adam . such persons are very far from true virtue : and it is to be feared , that they shall never arrive at it , seeing they think themselves in it already ; but they are far from it , and they had better never have begun to be virtuous , than to take up false virtues . these sins are worse than others because of their hypocrisie . they think themselves virtuous , and they are yet full of vices and sins . i despair more of these apparent devout persons than of the persons of the world , who have any fear of god ; for they have the beginning of virtue ; which th'others have not , who cannot fear god , believing themselves regenerated in the spirit of jesus christ . they fancy themselves to be in assurance , and they are in the midst of perils and dangers of losing their souls , by presumption , and the delusion of the devil , who attempts always to turn aside them that desire to follow true virtue . he first by some inward consolation and sweetness endeavours to fix them on it by self-love ; for corrupt nature loves to be comforted . but the new beginner no sooner takes his pleasure in these sensible sweetness and consolations , but he falls . the reason is , that he will not mind his duty in resisting the corruption of his nature , when he is fastned to these sensibilities : but will think he hath already overcome it , when he feels delight , and consolation in spiritual things ; whereas before he felt none , but in natural things : and that makes him believe that he is already at the height of perfection , though he be not yet at the first degree ; which is the tears of penitence , and regret for offending god , and the desire to walk henceforth in his fear , which is the beginning of all virtue . but the devil diverts that fear , and perswades them , that they are already virtuous , because they desire to become so . and so does the devil amuse those that begin ; and he would willingly keep them all their life with sweetness & inward consolations , which the devil can give , and also man 's own nature . for as soon as they with-draw from the vanity of the world , they find great quiet ; since it is a slavery to serve the world. there they torture and rack their understanding by care to maintain themselves well in honour and reputation , to be well cloathed and adorned , and to be followed and esteemed . what diligence must not a worldly person use to please men ? what fear of incurring disgraces ? how must he dissemble , and suffer to have mens favour and keep it ? how much toil to gain sufficiently to maintain him honourably ? what device and cunning must he use to get esteem , and to avoid contempt ? in fine , he that serves the world , hath nothing but toil and disquiet : but he that hath resolved to quit it , to serve god , begins to be loosed from the weighty yoak of pleasing the world , and to find himself in much more quiet and contentment . which is pleasant to nature ; but if it please and fix it self upon these pleasures , it will not advance in virtue ; but live in self-love , instead of the love of god ; and in that the devil forwards nature mightily , in augmenting these sweetnesses and inward consolations , to fix the person the more to them . god bestows also sweetness and consolations upon them that begin , to draw them the more easily from earthly affections , to the love of himself , by sensible consolations , which the soul finds in his service . but whencesoever they come , we must never rest thereon , nor take pleasure in any thing , that is not god : for all sin came into the world by man's loving the creatures , and taking his pleasure in them . and when we take pleasure in inward consolation , we turn from god , in loving that sensibility : it is permitted to feel and perceive them , since god gives them sometimes , but we cannot addict our selves to them , without sinning , no more than to other things beside god : for our whole heart ought to be employed in the love of god only . i know well the devil attempts to turn us from that love by all sorts of occasions ; and he no sooner sees one retire from the love of the world , riches , honours and pleasures ; but he attacques them by the affection of virtue , and inward consolations , to with-draw their hearts thereby from that pure love of god. be then upon your guard , my son , lest the devil ensnare you , under pretext of virtue : which care she wisheth you , who remains , your well-affected in jesus christ , antonia bourignon . holstein near gottorp castle may 3. 1672. st , vet . the xiv . letter . the devil transforms himself into an angel of light. to the same ; to whom is discovered a fifth and sixth artifice of the devil , by which he causeth men to apply themselves to the knowledge of the truth , and mysterial and spiritual things ; to the end that ( 5 ) they may comprehend them , or ( 6 ) that they may unseasonably instruct others . my son ; i have not yet exposed to you all the wiles and devices of the devil ; as it is impossible for me to discover them all : but i shall yet tell you of more , which i have experimented my self , and also such as i have seen in others . you must then know , in what manner he treats with spiritual persons ; otherwise he might seduce you without your knowing it ; and you should sometimes take for operations of god , what were operations of the devil . for he transforms himself into an angel of light , and does in us almost the same things which the spirit of god does ; he gives light to our understanding , and makes it conceive mystical things and deep divine mysteries ; for having been an angel of god , he knew his will , but did not put it in practice . he attempts to cause men to do the very same . he does not hinder them to read mystical things , and to take pleasure in them , while they are in themselves beautiful and pleasant . he gives also curiosity to desire to understand them , that they may be able to speak well of them : but he hinders with all his might , that they should bring them into practice . for he knows well that it is written , that he that knew the will of his father and did it not , should be beaten with many stripes . his malice is so great , that it is his satisfaction to see man in the greatest miseries ; and the deeper he sees man precipitated in damnation , the more he rejoiceth ; and for that is it he excites always to do more evil : and knowing that it is a greater evil to know mystical things , and not practise them ; than to be ignorant of them , or unable to know them : he gives light to the man's understanding , to make him understand and comprehend well these divine things , and so much the more as he reaps his advantage ; seeing he that understands nothing of these , will be always more humble , than he that does understand them well . for he boasts and glories without reason ; but the other fears god because of his ignorance , and accounts himself unworthy to receive his graces while he can say nothing in divine things : whereas the other , because he can , thinks himself a saint . i have known several in that state , whom i could not help , because they thought themselves wiser than me in mystical things : yea , i have seen clearly that the devil teaches mystical things . for divers sorcerers have told me , that the devil taught them divine things , and catechized them even as a missionary : and i found in effect that they understood as much of divinity as some divines who have studyed in it all their life . i knew in particular one man , who spoke as divinely as an angel of heaven could ; and when i heard him at first , i thought to have found another self , and remained several years in that opinion . for i had never heard any speak so profoundly of the internal and mystique life , as him : but at length he discovered to me that all was but hypocrisie . which i could hardly believe , because of the good opinion i had conceived of him , and his inward disposition : so i asked him , where he had learnt those profound secrets of the inward and mystique life , seeing he had not studied , nor understood latin ? he answered that he had an ambition to be esteemed of men ; and to effect it , he had neither birth nor money , being a poor countreymans son , but seeing that virtue was esteemed among persons of virtue and honour , he conceived that by learning it , he should be esteemed of such persons ; which did also succeed to him . for every one esteemed him as a saint , as he had in his discourse and outward comportment the appearance of it . he was modest ; walked among men without regarding them ; he was always the first at church on days of solemnities , and devotions ; he gave liberally to the poor ; and sometimes put off the cloaths of his own body , to cover some miserable body he saw naked , because he had no substance to give them money ; he ate and drank soberly ; sincere and true in his words ; shewed to be in continual communion with god. and with all these fine apparent virtues , he was by compact joyned to the devil ; as he confessed several times himself at the end of his life ; and died enraged , renouncing god , and calling upon the devils , of whom he complained because of the torments they caused him to suffer . behold how men deceive themselves , in believing them to be virtuous , who can speak well of virtue : and the devil himself teaches his adherents to talk well . for that man told me , that the devil incited him to buy several good books , as taulerus , cantsvelt , johannes a cruce , and other good mystique authors ; that by reading them , and retaining what he read , he might speak like them ; and by such discourse be esteemed one enlightned of god. notwithstanding that light came from the devil ; which befalls also many others , who are but beginners in virtue , even against their intention , and without that they perceive it ; and that , to stay them in these lights , and pleasant speculations of divine things . therefore ( my son ) be never curious to know much , nor that you may be able to talk well of virtue : but be careful to practise well what you know . for god will call you to an accompt of it : seeing much shall be required of him to whom much is given . be faithful to the first light god gives you ; and he shall give you more afterward . go not out of your self to communicate it to others , before you have put it in practice your self . the devil uses also that deceit , and thereby turns away many from following true virtue : for he gives them at the beginning a certain fervour and desire to convert all the world. and that assoon as they have in themselves any sensible joy and sweetness , or have received some particular light from god , or have taken the resolution to abandon the world to serve god ; they would gladly impart all that to others , before they have received sufficiently themselves ; and by that means the devil distracts their minds , and makes the little they had to vanish , without any profit arriving to others . it is of such persons , the scripture says , that they rise too early in the morning . for they cannot give true virtue to others , while they have it not themselves . and so all goes away in words and distractions : and in the end themselves remain with empty souls , from which by little and little is dispelled all the humour they had tasted of virtue . they think to do good to others , and they profit no person , but lose their time unprofitably . be aware of this deceit , my son , and go not out from your own heart before you be sent . there are enough , who make it their trade to teach others : but very few that teach themselves . if it come that you have some grace from god , keep it hid until it be god's will that you should discover it : otherwise you put your self in peril of committing several sins , while you shall not perceive it . for there can easily slip into your heart some vain-glory , when you have received any particular grace : and even when you have only the desire of forsaking the world , the better to serve god ; that can give you to esteem your self more than another : heware also of publishing it , before you have done it . it is best to do , and be silent : for to speak of these things , gives satisfaction to your nature ; for it is much pleased to speak of good things ; so it is best not to give it matter of vain complacency ; but to suffer the good seed which god hath cast into your soul to spring up secretly , until it bud , and send forth branches outward , springing from the root within ; and in the end bear fruit ; whereof every one may gather without your loss or hurt . which will come , when you have overcome all human considerations , and vain-glory ; and then shall true virtue appear sufficiently in all your works , without needing to make your trade to teach others . then shall your actions teach them : and works are much more effectual sermons , than words . for it happens often , that they that speak well , do evil . and for that words effect nothing in the souls of others , though good , unless they know that these words come from his heart that pronounces them : and then they have more force to work in the souls of others : but to speak of divine things and of virtue , without the practising of them , is as tinkling brass sounding , or as a perroquet that speaks without reason : and beside , the uselesness of these words to others , they endanger their own soul by vain-glory. for the ignorant esteem for virtue , virtuous words , and praise them , as if it were reality ; though they be not at all estimable ; for the devil himself can speak well of divine things , as sometimes persons whom he possessed have said unto me . i heard a story , how one time the devil took the form of a human body , and a religious habit , and in that equipage came and presented himself to a monastery , where there was kept a great solemnity : and because of the feast , a great concourse of people . now the preacher of the convent fell suddainly sick ; whereat the prior was much vexed , having no person to preach ; but at that instant it was that the devil came in his religious habit and knokt at the gate , and asked liberty to lodge in the convent : and when he presented himself before the prior , to have his blessing ( as do ordinarily the religious strangers ) he askt the reason of his sadness ? who answered , it was because of the suddain sickness befallen the preacher , that was to preach at that hour ; and that he feared the murmur and scandal which that might cause , because there was no preacher to supply the want . the devil answered , that he would willingly make the sermon : which rejoyced much the prior , thinking god had sent him that minister in his necessity . the devil then going up unto the chair , preached so powerfully and so wisely , of the judgment of god , of the state of the blessed , and that of the damned , that most of the hearers wept with compunction , and were astonished to hear so clear a deduction of all these things . but a simple religious person of that convent had a revelation from god , that it was the devil ; whereof he advertised the prior , who having ended his functions , caused the preacher to come before him , and conjured him by god , to tell who he was . he answered , that he was the devil . the prior askt , how it was possible , that he could preach so beautiful truths , and so profitable for the salvation of souls . to which he answered ; i reap my advantage by that ; for those that have heard me speak these truths , can find no more cloak of ignorance . i have declared to them the state of the blessed and that of the miserable , and the just judgments of god : and they were all moved . but they are so addicted to self-love and the love of earthly things , that they will not put into practice what i have taught them : but on the contrary . will follow their old customs , and forget the truths which i have preached to them : and after that he vanisht like smoak , in presence of the prior , and some other of the religious ; leaving a noysom stink behind him . this history shews enough , that the devil can well speak the truth , and good things , when he sees he can make his advantage of it ; and therefore should we not esteem it a virtue to be able to talk well of good things ? virtue consists only in the practice : and so imagin not , that you shall do well to study much , that you may speak advantagiously of virtue : that would be but vanity without profit . but endeavour to study well the knowledge of true virtue , to the end you may put it into practice ; and your practice shall teach others . never read any thing to learn to talk well : but read the books which teach the practice of virtue : such as is that of thomas a kempis , or other such like . for the high and difficult questions cannot make you holy : but will inspire your heart with vanity and pride . now , seeing we ought to evite even the shadow of evil , we must consequently beware of reading unprofitable things , or elevating matters of controversie and hidden mysteries ; seeing all these things do no more but fill our spirit with wind , not bringing any profit to the soul , but much hurt . for as a vessel filled with some liquor ; cannot receive any other thing , without mixing with what is in it or spilling it over ; it is the same with our understanding , when it is replenished with curious studies of whatever matter : for then the light of the holy spirit cannot be poured into it pure . it is mixed with our proper thoughts , and so there is nothing but confusion . and in that confusion , as in troubled water , the devil fishes , and dissipates quite that light. and therefore it is that so few souls receive purely the light of the holy spirit . they are not empty ; but filled with fine speculations of mystique things ; others have their minds filled with medecine ; others with astrology ; and so of other studies . they cannot comprehend why they should not have the light of the holy spirit , as well as some other particular souls , which they see and know to possess it . but they need not be astonisht at that ; for the holy spirit cannot enter into a soul filled with something else : it must be altogether void of it 's own curiosities , before it can be disposed to receive the wisdom of the holy spirit . it should then desire to know nothing , beside what god wills that it should know : and consequently should not apply it self to read any book , but such as enlightens the understanding in the knowledge of true virtue . neither must you read these things curiously , or much at a time ; you should pause , and consider what you find there profitable for your soul . i would not altogether stop the curiosity you have , to read my writings , or those of others , who treat of solid virtue : for that curiosity is necessary at the beginning ; for you cannot learn if you be not curious to know . we must know before we can love . if then you knew not the truths which i write , you could not practise them . so we may give liberty to that curiosity , to know good things . you must not read only to nourish , or satisfie it : but to learn the truth . you cannot discover it too much ; though some natural satisfaction mix it self , it shall not hurt you , provided you rest not on that pleasure . they tell us , that mary magdalene went to jesus christ because they said to her that he was a beautiful man , and spoke well . notwithstanding that vain curiosity led her to the knowledge of the truth . but after her first curiosity vanishing , she gave her self to the practice of the truths which she had heard from him . do you the same , my son. search curiously the books which treat of solid virtue ; and neglect no occasion to find them ; seeing they serve as means to know the will of god ; and because god often speaks to the soul by the means of a good book , moving the heart to the affection of eternal things , and contempt of temporal ; you must only discern , whether you read divine things for your own satisfaction , or if you do it only to enlighten your soul in the knowledge of the truth of god. if it is for the last , there is no evil , that you give your self to long reading . stay your self only on the matters , which move your heart to the love of god ; without going further , until you have found means to practise it well . i did that in my young years , when first i saw the new testament ; and when i understood thereby what a gospel life was , i closed the book for twenty years , and exercised my self to practise what is contained in it . and so i found the light of the holy spirit , without using books to instruct me . in which you may imitate me , when you have sufficiently read what may avail to the perfection of your soul . which she wishes to you , who remains your well-affectioned in jesus christ , antonia bourignon . holstein , near gottorp castle , may 5. 1672. st. vet. the xv. letter . the devil incites to good , that he may bring evil out of it . to the same , discovering to him a seventh wile of the devil , by which he carries us out of our selves ; that comparing our works with those of others , we may from our virtue contract vain-glory . and an eighth , by which he incites us to immoderate macerations and mortifications of the body . and finally a nineth , in which he excites us to immoderation in spiritual good works toward our neigbour ; as unseasonably to instruct , convert , reprove or correct him . my son ; i must discover to you yet another device of satan , by which he does gain several well enclined persons , even such as have a good will , who are not only resolved to labour for the knowledge of true virtue , but would also put it in practice . for when he cannnot amuse them by fine speculations , and curious searches to be capable of talking well of spiritual things , because they have discovered , that to talk well of and understand well a virtue , is but vanity , when it is not put in practice : and that so they have absolutely resolved to fall to the practice , in the exercise of good works . then comes he to tempt by virtue it self , and by the practice of good works . he endeavours to intrude vain-glory upon true virtue ; and secretly justles in self-esteem and contempt of others with good works : none is exempt from that vanity at the beginning of their conversion . for all men carry in them an inclination to pride , when they come into the world , and also every one must combat and oppose it , if he would attain to salvation . but this pride is harder to be discovered , when it furrs it self into virtue , lurking in the heart without appearing outwardly ; as does that which proceeds from plenty of riches , and the honours which men give . for that vanity shews it self sufficiently outwardly ; for he that is proud of his riches , will shew to the world his riches and liberality : by prodigality in several things , as in moveables , cloaths , meat , and drink , willing in every thing the best and dearest , to satisfie his vain-glory ; and must also be served with pages and servants . so that his outward actions discover sufficiently the pride of his heart : but spiritual pride keeps it self hidden even under a cloak of humility . for we see ordinarily beginners in virtue give themselves to fasting , watching and prayer , to humility in their cloathes , to ly on hard beds , and other macerations of their body ; and also to exercises of works of mercy spiritual and corporal . into which the devil easily intrudes himself ; for if he can gain nothing by vain-glory in our good works , because the man overcomes it by the grace of god : he attaques us by excesses in them ; and moves us to fast to excess , that it may ruin our health or unfit it for necessary labour : and to obliege us after to substantious or delicate food , and so precipitate us again into delicacy . lo ! how the devil attempts to sway us from one extreme to another , and especially him that is not well acquainted with his wiles . he hath brought some to death by excess in fasting , and maceration of the body : i know that is rare in the time we live in , when none will embrace penitence , most part loving sensuality . yet among the small number of penitents , the devil insinuates himself , causing them to exceed . for when he can no more make them fall by ease and sensualities , he does it by excess in good works . and prayer being the best of all , he causes them to tye themselves to a number of vocal prayers ; to over-charge them , and disquiet them , when they have not time to wait and fulfil these ordinary prayers ; which makes the man sorrowful and dissatisfied , thinking he does not please god , when he does not fulfil all his ordinary prayers by custom : and in that thought he is sad and pensive , and uneasie to them he converses with . the devil draws his advantages from excess in prayer ; for it hurts the head when too vehement , and brings often confusion in their affairs and housholding : i have known women so addicted to their prayers and devotions , that they neglected their families to go to church frequently at solemnities and devotions ; and with all they thought they did well , without discovering the cunning of the devil , who made them sin instead of doing good . for god is a god of order , and not of confusion ; and he says expresly , that our prayers should not be as those of the pharisees , who use many words , seeing the lord knows what we have need of before we ask it . and if we think to gain time for prayer by watching , the devil will disturb our spirit , for want of sufficient sleep , that he may weaken us , and in short time destroy us . i have experienced all these things , and sometimes fallen into so great extremities , that if god had not marvelously maintained me , i should have been dead long ago , by excess in fasting , watching , and lying hard ; which god hath since shewen me to be but a disorderly fervour , which cannot be long continued ; and that the devil finds his advantages in it , and easily insinuates therein thoughts of vain-glory ; because they think themselves better than others , while they use these mortifications of the body , though they be no more , but means to mortifie our intemperances and luxury . for if we were well disposed , we should not need watchings , fastings , and other macerations of the body . it is not our flesh that can sin , but the will only , which we must compel more to do well than our flesh : seeing this is but as a horse which ought not to be whipt when he rides willingly ; which he does as well covered with a sadle of leather , as with one of velvet ; and contrariwise . even so our heart may be as virtuous , when our body is covered with velvet as when with leather : seeing the outward habit brings nothing to the soul. beside , a simple habit covers often hypocrisie , and causes pride in the heart . and therefore we must never be tyed to these outward things ; for the devil thereby finds opportunity . but we must be tyed to god alone , on whom the devil hath no power ; as he hath on all our outward actions , even the best . for the devil furrs himself into works of spiritual mercy and charity ; he perswades us , that it is well done to instruct the ignorant , and admonish the faulty ; which in effect profits no more in this miserable time , when men perish not by ignorance , but by pure malice . for every one would profess to teach virtue , and very few will practice it . i exercised my self about nine years in teaching of the ignorant , without profiting any thing in the salvation of their souls . on the contrary , i had the dissatisfaction to hear some of them say , to whom i had shewn the christian doctrine and virtue , that they could now do greater evils , than they could do before ; because now they could cover their wickednesses with feigned virtues , which they could not do before they learn't to talk of virtue . so it is not advisable that we distract our selves to go and teach others , unless we see that our teaching will be profitable to their salvation whom we would teach : and we must use in this great discretion , otherwise the devil vould amuse us all our life in teaching the ignorant , thinking we did a work of spiritual mercy , which yet should be no profit to others , and much hurt to our selves . we must indee●●ave charity to teach our neighbour ; but not exceed therein , nor have an indiscreet zeal toward such as search not after the salvation or perfection of their souls themselves . for the devil himself would feign ignorance , and desire of us instruction , to distract us from our own perfection . i have known persons possessed of the devil , who went continually searching pious souls , to be instructed in christian perfection . these are such as the scripture calls silly women , ever learning , and never come to the knowledge of the truth . for they care not to put it in practice , although they knew it ; but seek only to amuse us , and cause good persons to lose their time , who cannot advance in virtue while they are attempting in vain to procure it to others . there is the profit the devil draws from works of spiritual mercy , both in instructing ignorants and admonishing the faulty : for so evil is our time become , that we can no more resist the evil ; it is enough to endure and suffer it with regret . if you should speak to admonish men for their oaths , whoredoms , robberies , lies , and infidelities , and other gross sins ; they would leap in your face , curse you , despise you , calumniate and hate you . so that instead of doing them any work of mercy , you should excite them to greater sins , and put your self in danger of being abused and persecuted , without any profit . as i have known persons zealous for the glory of god , who could not suffer the wicked in their presence ; and reproved their vices , and admonished them upon occasions ; and these have often run the hazard of being killed by them they admonisht ; the devil attempting so to extirpate them . which also happened to one of my friends , who was poisoned for being over-zea●●●● for the glory of god , and over-fervent in opposing evil : and therefore we must in all things use discretion , if we would evite the snares , which the devil spreads every where , to catch souls . yet we must not therefore neglect to instruct the ignorant , and admonish the faulty , when we find persons disposed to profit thereby . yea , we must have in our heart the charity of st. paul , who wished to be accursed for his brethrens salvation . which appears to be an excessive zeal ; but it proceeded from the charity of his heart toward his neighbour , and forgetting of himself : for he regarded more the glory of god than his own salvation or advantage , seeing he was but one person to glorify god , and his brethren a great number . so that excess could not come of the devil , seeing he had no interest or profit by it . he knows that god does the will of them that he loves , and so he might foresee , that st. paul would obtain the prayer which he made for his brethren ; he knew also that god would not damn st. paul for his great charity which he carryed to his brethren , offering his own salvation that they might be saved . he could have no extrance there , seeing charity is god himself , on whom the devil hath no power : but he hath much over all our external actions , when they are done without discretion . therefore was it st. anthony said , discretion is the greatest of all virtues ; seeing they are disorderly when not regulated with discretion : for fastings , watchings , prayers and works of mercy , and other virtues , are not good when discretion is wanting . it is good to admonish and instruct our neighbour in a fit season , and when he desires it ; but when he does not seek it , or will not suffer it , we must withdraw testifying that their imperfections and sins displease us , without going to correct or restrain them authoritatively . for god hath not given us our brother in charge ; he is left free as well as we : so we ought not to help him but by charity as far as he hath need , and desires it ; not farther . god does equally the same with all men ; he pleased to have them free , and so constrains them in nothing . now we must not presume to be more just or charitable than god , in willing to obliege our neighbour to do well by force , and forsake his sins and vices , if he does not of himself entreat us to counsel and admonish him , when he fails . for one man ought never to go to compel another in what regards his perfection , since god hath created us free , and will not that we should be slaves ; but wills that our souls should be his spouses , to yield themselves voluntarily to his love : but all constraint is slavery : so we must never use rashness to force men to do well , or constrain him to forsake his sins . god will have us free during the time of our tryal , which is this short life . and it is the pride and presumption of our selves , to go to instruct or correct our neighbour by authority ; who is sometimes better before god than our selves , though he have not so many moral virtues , or outward appearance of good : which we often learn and observe , that we may be agreeable to men ; who despise always what is reprehensible before them . that is the reason of politique persons abstaining easily from gross and external sins , that they may appear good ; which is often less virtue , than that of such as speak rudely , and commit open evil . the best is to teach and preach to our selves , and to have piety and charity for others , when we think they do evil , and we cannot hinder them . it belongs to judges to repress external malifices , to preserve good policy . but you , who are a free person , take not the charge of others , but labour to learn well true virtue , and to put it in practice : for the devil cannot deceive you there ; as he can easily in the exercise of external works of mercy bodily or spiritual , which you would do : but he insinuates himself more easily in the bodily , than spiritual , being more sensible and visible , and so more praised and applauded of men ; who esteem nothing more than liberality . when then they see one that feeds the hungry , gives drink to the thirsty , cloaths the naked , lodges strangers , visits the sick and buries the dead : they hold him for a saint . but it is rare to find such now adays , in the miserable age wherein we live . for generally men are filled with avarice and covetousness ; and seek only their own proper interests , without troubling themselves with the necessities of their neighbour . charity is cold in mens hearts , and they esteem him virtuous , who gives a little out of his superfluities to the poor , or does any other outward merciful work . now the devil easily furrs himself into all these things ; and if we discover not his subtilties , we may do many works of corporal mercy which shall turn to his honour . for he that does these things to be esteemed of men , is a hypocrite , as were the pharisees , to whom jesus christ so often upbraided their vice : they did truely many works of mercy spiritual and corporal ; but those did not save them . for jesus christ despised them , calling them so often hypocrites , notwithstanding all their good works . and even though we do them not to be seen and praised of men , yet the devil can find his advantage therein by the vain complacency which we take from them within our selves . for it is always more honourable to give than to receive . and there are some so naturally given to liberality ; that they will readily give what they have need of themselves , only to satisfie their natural inclination . others are so disposed naturally to action , that they will willingly incommode themselves , to give meat and drink to the hungry and thirsty , to lodge strangers , cloath the naked , visit the sick , and bury the dead ; and that by a natural inclination they have to do so . and therefore , my son , you ought well to discern the spirit which moves you to do works of mercy , as well spiritual as corporal : for the devil often moves our hearts to multiply them , and do them to excess , to distract us from inward entertainment ; and to hinder us , that we may never attain to true virtue ; and that so we may rest upon virtues , which men esteem such , as are external works of mercy , which are generally praised without discernment . but they can well be sins , instead of virtues : from such , my son , you must keep you well , that the devil deceive you not . which you are advertised of by your well-affected in jesus christ , antonia bourignon . holstein , near gottorp castle , may 5. 1672. st. vet. the xvi . letter . the devil corrupts our good works . to the same ; shewing him a tenth artifice of the devil , in our corporal good works taward our neighbour ; which he often brings about to his honour : yet we must not therefore cease from them , but joyn moderation in them , and put away human considerations , and pride , which attacque us in this time of tryal . my son ; i believe it surprises you , that i said in my last , that works of mercy are often done to the honour of the devil . yet it is most true ; but for want of thoroughly considering the matter , that offends the tender-conscienced , and them that by a natural easiness accounts all good , they believe blindly , that all that 's called good is so , and that all sort of good works are agreeable to god , which is false . for the devil insinuates himself into our best actions , to render them evil : and he hath done so from the beginning of the world , bringing evil into all the works of god , which were all created good . we may find that in our selves ; for though god created man altogether good and perfect , yet we feel that he is now evil and imperfect . he was created to honour god ; and most men honour the devil , and obey him in every thing , instead of obeying their creator . all judicious persons see that in the conduct of men now adays to be true . and yet they will not believe , that mens good works are done to the honour of the devil : and so they there that they esteem more their good works , than those of god. for man , though created of god altogether holy and perfect , serves to the honour of the devil : and wherefore should we not believe , that men's good works serve thereto ? so such persons , though otherways judicious , here fail grosly . but that is not strange , seeing the devil blinds their understanding , that they should not see the truth of things , but be led by their own inclinations and simplicity . for it is much more agreeable to nature , to believe that we do good , than to think that we do evil ; and that our good works serve to the honour of god , and not to that of the devil . for man feels in himself a satisfaction when he does well , and he hath an ambition to tend to do what is most estimable . then being more honourable to serve god , than the devil , men perswade always themselves , that they serve god , especially when they apply themselves to works of mercy , notwithstanding the devil reaps often the glory , more than god. so when the devil sees any turn from sin , and keep himself from evil doing , to which he can no more engage him ; he induces him ordinarily to do many good works , that he may have esteem and satisfaction in himself ; and by that he renders the good work evil ; or he causes the merciful persons to be much esteemed and honoured , that he may make them fall into vain-glory . the devil hath also the art to disquiet our spirit , by the care of merciful works both spiritual and corporal ; and i was exercised my self with that temptation . for in my youth i took care of the poor sick , i visited them frequently , i helpt and served them to my power ; and also i assisted all sorts of poor and necessitous persons ; i endeavoured to reconcile them that were at variance ; and to engage the slothful to labour ; and in short , i laid these rhings so much to heart , that i sustained the cause of all sorts of afflicted that askt my aid . and i was grieved to send any away unrelieved . i but i found my self at length so occupied , that my spirit had no more recollection . and i was so importuned by these poor , that i behoov'd to abstain from helping them more , and that partly to recover commerce with god , which i had lost by the voluntary distraction , which these poor gave me : and partly because i discovered daily their wickedness and deceits . for aboundance sought my help , only that they might live more at their ease , and to commit more sins ; as in effect they did . i gave often alms , which the poor used in drunkenness , gluttony and luxury ; and they became idle and lazy . for when they had not so great necessity to labour , they neglected to undertake any work , for their entertainment ; because the alms gave them it with less care and pains . also i found them liars and deceitful ; for they often feigned necessities , diseases or infirmities , when there was no such thing . and so i saw my assistance gave them more matter of sinning . they studied to lie cunningly to get wherewith to live in idleness . but when my design was to do all that i could for the glory of god , and found that these works of mercy , turned to that of the devil , by the inward indisposition of those i would have assisted , now i cannot do any work of mercy spiritual or corporal , before i know , if it shall be for the glory of god or not . for i love far rather to cease , than to do evil ; not that i fear doing evil upon my part , in assisting my neigbour in all sorts of occasions , generally , and without exception of persons . for i know that god regards always our intentions , and sees whether they be upright , and aim at his glory , or at our own , but my fear is in regard of the poor , who receive our assistances unworthily ; and employ our benefits only to the honour of the devil : and it is so that i understand , that works of mercy are done to his honour . i know that seemed strange to you , my son ; but you had not well considered my reason . for if you will examin the state of men now adays , you will find it so corrupt , that it is impossible more to exercise works of mercy , without sinning in those to whom they are done . for most part are covetous , unjust , deceiveas , and filled with all sorts of sins . and assisting and sustaining them , we co-operate to their sins . which we can do in nine manners , as i have elsewhere shewn , viz. in councelling , assisting , defending , contributing , not hindering , ( when able , ) not accusing to them that would hinder it , partaking , praising , or flattering evil . now all these ways of sinning are in part committed when we assist the wicked , which we know to be such . for if you know that one covets earthly goods , and give him of them , you co-operate to that covetousness , whether the person be poor or rich : the quantity of goods makes nothing to the sin , which is committed within the heart , and it is it which cleaves to the goods of this world , instead of cleaving to god : and sin is nothing else but that turning from and abandoning god. if then we turn from him , for much money or for little ; that does not diminish the sin of concupiscence in the heart . it is the same with a proud person : for if you give him goods or ptofits , you maintain his pride , and become partaker of his sin , which shall be charged on you . also if you give to a glutton , or a sloathful person , you contribute to all the sins which he shall commit with your gifts . you sin also if knowing a liar , or thief , or unfaithful person , you praise him , instead of declaring his wickedness to others : for you render your self guilty of all the evils which he shall do , because others are not advertised and aware of his wickedness ; which were it not dissembled or excused , could not hurt so many persons who are deceived because they are ignorant of it ; and so they yield to him without knowing that they do evil . and therefore , my son , i would advertise you , that you let not your self be deceived ignorantly , and for not knowing the subtil crafts of the devil ; for so he makes himself to be honoured , and brings his own glory out of mens best actions , when he can no more bring them to evil actions . it is all one to him , if he ensnares us by things good , or evil : he does as he that would draw one out of the water ; for it is all one if he get hold of his hand or his arm ; he takes hold where he can most easily ; and when he cannot draw him so , he draws by his feet , head or hair , without considering much if he takes him by the one or the other . the same does the devil with our souls , which are in peril of drowning in the raging sea of this world : god will save them by true virtue : and the devil draws contrariwise with all his might . for when he sees he cannot draw them to him by manifest sins , he draws them by virtue it self , and by works of mercy , which are done most part to his honour and glory , unless we be strictly on our guard , and discover his deceits , that we may evite them . so we must purifie our intentions , and seek nothing in all our good works but the glory of god alone : resisting all the tentations the devil can make us ; protesting against vain-glory , and all human considerations . and so it is that we may evite all sorts of excess and confusion ; and proceed always with discretion to regulate our good works . behold the means to do them not to the honour of the devil ; for i would not say , that we should cease from good works ; we cannot do too many , if we do them with discretion . but we must labour that the devil or sin be not mixed with them ; as it ordinarily happens ; because men are not wary enough lest the devil should mix himself into things that are good and holy in themselves . he was not wanting to tempt jesus christ during his fast in the wilderness , although nothing could be more holy and perfect than that retreat , whither the spirit of god had led him , that he might entertain himself with his heavenly father , free from all distraction : and nothing more pure than the intentions of our saviour : he says : he came not into the world to accomplish his own will , but the will of him that sent him . notwithstanding the devil had the impudence to go to tempt him several times : by vain-glory , in presenting to him the kingdoms of the world ; as also the stones to convert into bread , for his hunger : he tempted him also by the scripture , saying , that be should throw himself down from the pinacle of the temple , because it is written , that the angel shall preserve us , &c. are not these full cunning wiles of the devil , while he uses the most holy things to tempt jesus christ ? he attempts to catch him , by his fasts , his confidence in god , and by glory in presenting him all the kingdoms of the world. how then should he leave untempted frail and imperfect creatures , like us ? for what is man there that must not confess himself far short of the least of jesus christ his perfections ? who is he that retires to the desert , to give himself to entertainment with god , out of the dangers and divertisments of the world ? who refuses the kingdoms and riches of the earth ? who is he among the spirituals , that does not tempt god by his temerity and presumption ? for they no sooner receive any particular light or grace from god , but they glory and esteem themselves , beyond others and no sooner do they forsake sin , to give themselves to works of mercy , but they think god is beholding to them , and that every body should esteem them : which happens to all that begin to serve god and follow true virtue , excepting none , because of the corruption of our nature . he that says or believes the contrary is deceived , and walks not in rhe truth and the knowledge of himself . for all men in general , and every particular , brings these natural inclinations with him , coming into the world ; they are all proud , presumptuous , covetous of honour , riches , and pleasures ; always prefer themselves to others , and esteem themselves worthy of all goods and honour : yea they think god oblieged to them for the least good action they do ; because the devil hath furred into mans nature that pride of life , which inflames the heart of man , and hinders him to abase himself and acknowledge his faults . we see that even adam , did not humble himself after his sin , but endeavoured to excuse it , saying , the woman which thou gavest me , tempted me to eat of the apple ; and she said , the serpent beguiled me . all which proceeded from the pride which the devil had already planted in the heart of our first parents , and consequently in the hearts of all men that were to proceed from them . for all are stained with that sin of pride ; and so they will not acknowledge their faults , but defend them to their power ; which also remains with them till death : unless they overcome that corruption of nature by true virtue ; and when they arrive at that , they overcome the devil . for he hath no power but over his own works , or the corruption which he hath caused in our nature . that being once overcome , we revive in the strength of the grace wherein adam was created . and when man finds himself united to god by the love he hath to him , then he scorns at the devil , and becomes a new creature : and so will no more have any fellowship with that corruption , wherein he was born . yet such an one must be upon his guard ; for the devil , who seduced our first parents , when in the state of grace may well seduce a man that is regenerated in it ; so long as he lives in his time of tryal , which is this miserable life ; for god will prove mans fidelity to him : he created him free ; that liberty then must needs be proved , otherwise it should be constraint . for if god had willed absolutely to constrain him to love him , he had been happy , as gods slave : but he would honour man much more , in creating him free , that he might entertain himself with him . he would then choose the soul of man for his spouse ; and not his slave ; and therefore it must have a time of proof or advisement to resolve , if it would joyn and unite with its god , or not . now this time of tryal was this present life , in which adam should have given testimony of his fidelity to his god. notwithstanding he was so imprudent , as to break the fidelity he owed to the spouse of his soul ; would go joyn himself to creatures , unworthy of his love : and so he interrupted the covenant and fellowship which god would make with his soul , even until his sin and infidelity were purged by repentance . that is the reason why his time of tryal was turned into one of penitence , which adam underwent faithfully all the time of his life : but the pride which his first sin hath planted in our hearts ; makes us often depise him , and wish evil to him because of the hurt he caused us : as if he were the cause of our damnation , which is a great error . for although adam had never sinned , yet other men might always have damned themselves by their own sins during their time of tryal . for each one for himself should in this time have given testimony of his fidelity to god ; since all men and every one in particular were of the same nature and condition , and also in the same state , with adam before his sin . and there is at present no other difference betwixt the state of man now , and that of adam ; but that since sin came , men are born with an inclination to evil , whereas adam had inclination to good only when he was created . with that exception we are of the same condition with adam , and created for the same end ; that our souls should be spouses to god , provided we remain faithful to him during the time of our tryal and penitence , which we must attend in this life ; which is full short in regard of that of adam . but if we knew the truth of things , and discovered the snares of the devil , to shun and evite them in our good actions ; we might hope to attain again to an eternal union with god. for adam's sin cannot damn us , if our own sins do it not ; seeing god hath pardoned adam's sin , in case he fulfilled his repentance . and he hath also pardoned all other men upon the same condition : but the misery of men now adays is , that they know not those things ; and will here enjoy instead of suffering . which is a false perswasion of the devil , who insinuates himself into the holiest things , while we perceive it not . which is a truth , she exhorts you to believe , who is careful of your soul. holstein near gottorp castle may. 8 , 1672. st. vet . antonia bourignon . the xvii . letter . sin proceeds from man's freewill . to the same ; shewing him an eleventh sort of tentation , whereby we lay the blame of our sins upon the devil , to free our selves ; where is cleared that the devil cannot draw man to sin , nor do him any hurt , except man give his own consent . my son ; in my former , i set before your eyes , how the devil tempts men many ways , and insinuates himself into virtue it self , that he may direct our good works to his own honour and glory : which very often comes to pass . but i fear lest by yet another sort of tentation , he catch you ; which you could not discover if you were not forewarned of it . to wit , when you have well considered the power and wiles of the devil , and find in your experience , that it is he who incites you to do evil , it is to be feared that you will lay the blame upon the devil , because sometimes you do evil against your will. for mans heart is so proud , that he will not confess his fault , and so seeks for the cause of his sins without himself . which you may the rather do because i have deduced to you at length , that all evils come from the devil , and all good from god : but though that be most true , we must not therefore imagin , that the devil of himself can ever force us to do evil . for he is a miserable impotency , who hath no power over our souls , hearts and wills , but so much as we give him . the devil may well represent evil to our spirit , and incite our wills to follow it ; and incite our corrupt nature : but he can never force us , so long as our will remains firmly resolved not to consent to evil . the devil is as a chained dog , who can go no further than his chain permits him ; and god will give him no more power than the will of man desires . for though he permitted him to tempt job , by the loss of his goods , children , friends , and health ; he did not permit him to cause him to fall into sin . and although job cursed the day of his nativity , he did not herein offend god , nor fall into any sin ; for he cursed only the malediction which sin brought into human nature ; which all men have reason to do , in feeling the pains and sufferings which sin hath caused to us . for before sin , man was not subject to any evil ; and he enjoyed all good , without mixture of evil ; he was not annoyed with hunger or thirst , heat or cold , he had no labour to weary him , he needed no sleep , nor had any alteration in soul or body , was not subject to diseases nor death . so that man had enjoyed all sorts of delights in this world ; and the time of tryal being over , confirmed in grace , he had lived eternally happy and blessed . but sin hath deprived him of all that happiness , and hath reduced him to all sorts of suffering and misery . which job considering in the midst of his miseries , he had reason to curse the day of his birth , when he saw himself in inevitable miseries . you must consider that job did not curse the day that god created him in ; on the contrary , he blessed him for all , because he was his faithful servant , and so he desired to satisfie divine justice for all his sins , which he had committed . now because he so desired , god permitted the devil to tempt him in divers manners , that job's faithfulness might be manifest before all men , and the devil himself . but they that understand not the way of god , judge that job was impatient ; which is false : for his soul rejoyced , in that god pleased to use him as a mirrour of patience , to confound the devil ; who could never make him fall into sin , though he essayed it so many several ways . god knew that job's heart was submitted to his holy will , and that he offered himself continually to him , to be proved in what manner it pleased him . and because of these wishes , god permitted that the devil might tempt him . now if the devil had had power over man , he had not needed to ask god's permission to tempt job ; for he would have done it of himself , without any permission . but he hath no power over man , save what he by his own free will gives him . besides , god can never do any evil to man , nor permit that it befall him , without the consent of his free will. so if we commit sin , it is of our own free will ; as also when we damn our selves : for god can never damn any person , without doing the greatest evil that ever was : which cannot proceed from god , who can never do any evil . but it is our sins that damn us , and not god : for if there were no sin , there should be no damnation : and sin depending on man's free will , we must not attribute our damnation , either to god , or to the devil : seeing god gives us always grace in aboundance to save us ; and the devil hath no power to damn us . so that man alone is truly blameable for the sins which he commits ; and ought never to attribute the fault to the devil , because he cannot wrong us , if we will not . he may well bark , as the chained dogs , but he cannot bite us , unless we approach him : and therefore , my son , you ought never to believe that the devil is the cause of your evil doing , though all evils come from him ; he cannot effect them in us , without our consent . he may well afflict our body or spirit ; when we desire to purge our souls by suffering . then god suffers him to tempt us , by the most salutary things : as he may permit the devil to bring to poverty a good man , when he sees that he would forget himself by worldly goods ; god loving his soul , so takes away his riches as the occasion of the damnation of his soul. sometimes also he takes away his honour , or his health , lest these should hinder the perfection of his soul. and it is not always directly mans will that these things should be taken away from him ; for he complains sometimes of it : but when god takes them away , it is always with the indirect will and consent of man. for example , the person does not desire to be poor , afflicted , or sick ; but desires that god send him every thing that is necessary for his salvation : and god regarding that good will , removes from him whatever might hinder the advancement of the desired salvation . and that is a fatherly love which god bears to man , and not a punishment , as the natural sense takes it , and complains of it : but it is truely what the person desired in the bottom of his soul , viz , salutary things . and the prophet even prays god , that he would constrain his rebellious will. by which we may see , that god never afflicts a person , without his will and consent direct or indirect . because he created him altogether free , he cannot be touched to good or evil : no more by god , than by the devil , who can never cause man to sin against his will direct or indirect . but man does not always know the indirect will he hath to sin , and for that says or believes , that it is the devil that makes him sin , against his will ; but that is only an excuse for their sin . 't is true , the devil can tempt man against his will , but cannot make him sin against his will ; he may trouble his spirit , and make him remember what he should forget , and forget what he ought to mind : but if the person be well upon his guard , and will not do evil , he shall discover easily that that comes from the devil , being against his will ; and so will betake himself to continual prayer to god , which jesus christ hath so much recommended to us , as most necessary for our salvation . since we have continually an enemy to combat , we must continually have arms to defend us : and that will be necessary all the days of our life : that is it which the apostle counsels us , to pray always , without ceasing : because we have always need of divine succour and help , against the continual assaults which the devil gives us . for it is his business and employ to do the most evil he can ; and as a merchant accounts himself happy to gain much money by his trafick , or an artist by his labours ; so also the devil accounts himself happy in gaining many souls to himself , that he may exercise on them his cruelty and malice . and therefore he never ceases for his part to labour , and invent new snares to catch the soul of man. and when we shut the door of our heart to him on one side , he attempts to enter by some window on the other . so that , all human wisdom is not able to discover all the subtilties of satan ; who being a most subtil spirit , surpasses in subtilty the capacity of man's spirit . and therefore is it that he must of absolute necessity use continual prayer , to discover the tentations of the devil , which he cannot know without a divine light ; and yet less hath he power to resist them , without the assistance of god : whom he ought continually to invocate , and call for help , without intermission ; seeing the devil never sleeps , and watches over us when we rest . but the strength of faith , and hope in god , can make us overcome the devil , and despise him , as but miserable impotence : seeing he can never make us fall into any sins , without the consent of our own will , which refusing him , he can in no wise hurt man , although he should tempt him with all his might , during all his life . these tentations serve only for greater and true virtues to the man : because he passes the time of his tryal , in testifying his faithfulness to god ; while he does not consent to the tentations the devil offers . and i account it a much happier state to be tempted , than not to be so , while we resist the tentations , seeing they purge our souls , and satisfie the justice of god , who hath in justice enjoyned penitence for our sins , which we must needs accomplish , during the time of our tryal , which god hath limitted since the creation of man. and if we will not voluntarily suffer the tentations of the devil now , we must suffer aboundantly more sensible pains after our death , when the soul ( being separated from this mortal body ) feels more vividly the separation from his god , than it does when joyned with its mortal body , which diverts the sense of that separation by its five natural senses , which seeing , hearing , tasting , smelling , and feeling , gross and earthly things , are suspended and amused , that he cannot feel so lively the separation of his soul from god ; and so charms his great misery , with the amusements of earthly things . which are nothing but truely charms and bewitchings : for though we see by experience , that never any person in the world , was fully satisfied and content with earthly things , although enjoying all they could demand of them ; so love we them , and that love ruins us from the love of god , without that we feel the pain of it . but after death all these gross and earthly things being ended as to us , thence shall we feel vividly the absence of god , because not diverted more with other things ; and that shall endure until the time of our tryal shall be past , which god alone knows how long it shall endure . but it is most certain , that he that will not voluntarily endure the tentations of the devil in this present mortal life , shall assuredly suffer them more sensibly after death ; seeing no evil shall remain unpunished , and no good without recompense . and he that does the good of resisting the devil , in not following his tentations , must expect an everlasting reward ; and therefore methinks , not to be tempted in this mortal life , is the greatest of all tentations . since it deprives us of the good of satisfying the justice of god , and oblieges us to suffer afterward more sensible pains . and therefore , my son , be not offended to feel the tentation of the devil , but resist it valiently , for the glory is in the combat , and not in idleness and rest ; seeing while we feel not tentation , it is a sign that the devil holds us in a lethargique sleep , to cause us to die an eternal death insensibly and without pain . but when he combats us with all his forces , it is a sign that he does not hold us , and that he fears to lose us . therefore take courage , and pray god with an humble heart , that he may give you strength , to overcome the enemy . but never say , it is the devil makes you do evil : but smite on your breast , and confess your guilt ; since the devil cannot compel you to do evil , but only your perverse will , when it consents to his tentations . for if the devil could speak , when you say that it is he made you do evil , and sin , he would give you the lie ; and say , that it was not he that made you sin ; but that it was your own will , without the consent of which , you cannot sin . you may well sin , without the devil ; for his malice hath entered into us by adam's first sin : but the devil cannot bring forth sin in us without our consent . you are always free to do evil , though the devil do not tempt or compel you ; because your nature was corrupted by the first sin , and thence all men from adam bring with them in their nativity that corruption and inclination to evil . but when man is arrived to the use of reason , he ought thereby to discern good from evil : and choose which he will follow . yea , he hath a natural instinct , which makes him discern evil from good ; for we see often a child without any discretion , be ashamed for having done evil ; and his countenance testifies sufficiently that he knows when he commits evil : and therefore we ought never to believe , that we cannot discern good from evil , to make choise : for that is but to flatter our selves . for lo ! the wickedest man in the world , however blinded in his sins , knows assuredly well enough when he does evil : but he hath no will to change his wickedness into good , or he hath not the courage to resist the devil , and that because he hath given him so much power over his spirit . otherwise man hath in him a good judgment , beyond any other creature : and by that judgment he can assuredly know and discern good from evil : and it is free for him to choose the good and hate the evil , by an absolute act of his will , which the devil cannot hinder . and moreover , he hath power to resist the devil by faith , and hope in god , who never fails , to come to the relief of a man who asks and desires it . and therefore , my son , you must never say , that the devil made you do any evil : which were to make you his slave , and testifie your subjection to him , as are the sorcerers , who have given him their souls , and promised to obey him . for such have truely oblieged themselves to do all the evil he pleases : and when they do it not , he beats and abuses them . but you being a child of god , and voluntarily subject to him , you must nor fear that the devil can constrain you to sin against your will , and so never attribute to him the fault you commit your self . it is true , the devil first incites good persons to sin ; but they should despise him , and not follow him , yea , and mock at his tentations . but we must always watch over his surprisals , and never sleep in the way of true virtue . believe then the apostle's counsel , where he says , my brethren , be sober , and watch , for that very reason , because the devil goes about us like a roaring lion , seeking to devour us . we must resist him couragiously ; and not say , i was not thinking of the devil , when i fell into evil . for he desires willingly that we do evil without thinking on it . that is his best recreation . for it does not fall out that good persons do evil , but while they sleep , and think not of evil : then is it that the devil acts most in us , and causes that we think not of it , till after the evil is committed . but our negligence or sleepiness will not find excuse before god , seeing we are oblieged to watch always , if we would arrive at true virtue . to which , she exhorts you , who careth for your soul . holstein , near gottorp castle , may 13. 1672. st. vet. antonia bourignon . the xviii . letter . the good and evil spirit are known by their fruit. to the same , giving him the signs to know , whether it is the good or evil spirit that moves us : shewing also a twelfth artifice of the devil , by which he causes us to impute our vices to our natural propensions , without suspecting him to lurk therein , that he may remain unknown . my son ; i see yet one difficulty which occurs to your spirit : to wit , how you should discover , when the devil insinuates himself into your good actions ; and how you shall know that it is he that moves you to do good , that he may catch you ; or to cause that what you do with a good intention , turn to his honour . for you protest , that you will not obey him , nor follow his tentation in any thing , when you discover and know that he tempts you . believe me , my son , that is most easie to discern ; provided you have an absolute will to resist the devil . it is very good and most easie to discover , if it is the good or evil spirit , who moves us in all our actions and words , to do or say any thing , small or great , because these two spirits have their qualities and conditions quite different , and work in us quite contrary operations , and dispositions . so that you may as it were feel with your finger , if it is a good or an evil spirit , which moves you to say or do any thing , by the dispositions you shall feel in your soul. for the good spirit produces in our souls charity , joy , peace , patience , long-suffering , goodness , bounty , meekness , chastity , faith , continence , and modesty : and the evil spirit on the contrary produces therein self-love , sadness , trouble , impatience , rashness , wickedness , fretting , pride , despair , intemperance , inequality , unconstancy , and impurity : which are all things contrary to the fruits of the good spirit . and as the tree is known by its fruit , so may we know the evil spirit by the fruit he produces in our souls : and therefore we must always examin , if our enterprises or the will or intentions we have to do or leave undone any thing , produce in our souls charity , peace , faith , joy , and the rest : and then we may be assured that our enterprises and wills are from god ; seeing they bring unto us the fruits of his spirit . but if on the contrary , we feel in our souls self-love , sadness , impatience , and the rest ; we may well be assured that our desires and enterprises are excited by the devil . which is a firm and sure rule . we need not then amuse our selves at fine speculations , to discover if we be moved by the devil to do or leave undone any thing , while we feel in our selves the effects of a good or an evil spirit . for the devil will never incite to charity , seeing it is a divine quality , which the devil hath not in his power , and which unites souls to god : but he draws from self-love all manner of advantage , and declines the soul from the love of god. for he that loves himself , covets pleasures , honour and riches , and all that is not god ; and so he is sad , and is not in the capacity to acquire true virtue , for he hath not courage to resist the tentation of the devil ; but suffers himself rather to be overcome by dark melancholy thoughts . but the good spirit banishes these thoughts by the joy which it brings to the soul : and although there were all sorts of occasions of sadness externally , even for our sins ; that good spirit comforts and rejoyces the bottom of the soul amidst the most sensible troubles and pains . when we have then inward joy in the midst of sufferings it is an assured testimony that the holy spirit dwells in us . which hath often rejoyced me in the midst of suffering and persecutions : i felt therein a great joy in the bottom of my soul , in lamenting my sins ; and i thanked god that he gave me these tears of repentance . but the devil gives only counterfeit and external joys , which afflict and grieve the heart when they are over : that is the cause why we see worldly persons always search after new recreations and divertisements : for th' one is no sooner gone , but melancholy and sadness seises the heart , who would so divert himself : and for that he hunts insatiably after new divertisments , without finding withal true contentment , which we cannot have but by the joy of the holy spirit , and that joy is not to be found among the divertisments of the world. i was astonisht , to hear one day of a person , who would re-establish israel , that he searcht for a great house with a garden , to divert himself and walk therein , as also that he must sometimes go to walk in the field , or go in a barque of pleasure or boat , to divert himself ; which gave me enough to understand , that the holy spirit had not yet brought forth his fruits in his soul , though he was accounted a saint . for then should he not have needed human divertisments to be joyful by . as for me , i know by experience , that i have more joy and contentment in my soul , in solitude , and far from human divertisments ; than i have in mens conversation , or amongst the most divertising objects . which gives assurance , that my joy proceeds from the holy spirit . it must needs be that it comes not from human means : for it were my consolation , never to come out of my closet , and to hear nothing but in my own heart and inner man. but the joy which proceeds from the evil spirit , terminates and ends always in sadness and melancholy , with an earning after new divertisments , to divert that sadness ; so that it is most easie to discover , if it is the good or evil spirit ; which dwells in our souls , by the dispositions and operations which we feel in them ; when we have the desire to do or say any thing , we need not so much go to consider if it is in appearance good , or indifferent , to know if it comes from god , as to examin the disposition which that desire brings into our soul : to wit , if it is in peace , and waits for the effect of its desires with patience and long-suffering . for that is a sign the spirit of god hath given us that desire , and that it is his will that we effect it : but if we perceive that that desire to do or say any thing marr our peace ; and disturb our spirit with impatience , and attempt to precipitate us before the time of fulfilling our desires ; that is a sign that it comes from an evil spirit : and if the desire , or thing is good in it self , it is a sign that the devil would mix and insinuate himself into that good work , to reap his glory thence . however , we must not cease to do or speak what is good in it self , but we must be on our guards , that we suffer not the devil to insinuate himself in it . we must then use continual prayer , to have god's succour and assistance , and strength to overcome the tentation , which the devil offers us , while we are doing good . we must never cease from doing good works , because of the tentation of the devil ; for he would gladly always hinder them if he could ; but we must examin well the inward disposition of our souls , to discover if the devil does not insinuate himself therein , that we may purifie our intentions , and beware that the devil find no advantage therein . and if you will know , my son , when it is god that inspires any thing to you ; remark always if it is accompanied with goodness , benignity , faith , continence and chastity : for god never gives inspirations that are not accompanied with these conditions : but the devil often gives inclinations to do good with fretting , malice , despite , dispair , inconstance , levity , and impurity . i have seen sometimes persons that gave to the poor by despite and fretting , upbraiding and reproaching them , without any faith of an eternal reward . i have seen others assist at publique devotions with insolence and lightness ; and now adays almost all marry by incontinence and impurity . all these things , though good in themselves , are induced and excited by the evil spirit ; since they tend to an evil end , though good in appearance . and therefore must we always be upon our guard , and watch against so powerful an enemy , who attempts to surprise us in all our actions , both good and indifferent , that he may render them evil : therefore we must study well to discern the good spirit from the evil : which we may do , seeing there are assured marks to know them . never say then , my son , that you know not if it is god or the devil who moves you to do or omit any thing : but rather acknowledge with humility of heart , that you are not vigilant enough and diligent to discover that evil spirit , who dazles your understanding that you should not know him . for every word you speak or action you do , you may discover if it comes of the devil , provided you make a serious reflection upon your self ; but the misery is , that we are distracted and wandering , and the devil makes us forget what we should remember , and puts in our mind what we should forget , that he may bring confusion in all our behaviour . remark well that advertisment , and you shall find by experience , that it is but too well grounded ; for since the devil can no more make you fall into manifest sins , he will always endeavour to make you contradict the holy spirit , which you do not yet know well . you have indeed resolved in general to obey him , and follow him ; as you have done in abandoning the world , in loosing your affections from earthly goods , and desiring to follow jesus christ in his lowness and humility . all that proceeds from the spirit of god , who hath governed you in the most important things , and the devil could not hinder it . but now he attacques you in small things and of little import , that he may hinder you to do the will of god in every thing ; and often he gains your will to make it contrary to the will of god in common and ordinary things . for if you reflect upon your self , you shall find there a certain opposition to whatever i propose to you , which comes often even contrary to your will ; yea , you are vexed that you should have so opposed or contradicted me . yet on the first occasion you do it again : which cannot proceed of your self , since you are displeased at it . now it is a firm and true rule , that whatever evil we do against our will , comes of the devil ; and not of our selves . i know that spirit of contradiction which you have against what i desire , comes not of your own will. for you would gladly obey me in every thing , seeing you know that i never desire any evil : but you cannot in effect obey me in things good and salutary , which comes assuredly of the devil , who is a spirit directly contrary to the spirit of god , which governs me . for he moves as soon as i speak , and brings some contradiction or opposition to what i propose ; he is troubled enraged and frets , and would cause among us thunder and lightning , as heat and cold do which occur in the air ; which you do often , and know not to help it , because you have not sufficiently discovered that it is the devil does it in you against your will : for you alledge sometimes reasons , as if you would sustain his quarrel , and shew that you have reason to contradict me ; which you could not do , if you believed that i have the spirit of god , from whom no evil can proceed : but the devil makes you forget that , and excite in you a spirit of contradiction : to which your nature is also enclined , which is the cause you discover not sufficiently that it is the devil ; and attribute it to your natural inclination . which yet is not so , though it mix it self with the devil's motion . it is his custom , to follow every ones natural inclination , to cover himself the better that he be not known . and by that device , he remains unknown , each attributing his fault to his nature , one would be supported in his anger ; another in his sadness and morosity ; another in his lust . saying often , i cannot help these things , it is my nature . that is a language the devil hears gladly ; because so he lurks unknown , and makes us go from evil to worse unto death : but they that have esteemed the malice and wickedness of the devil , natural weakness and infirmities , shall see clearly at death that it is devilish malice which mixes it self with every ones natural inclination . and the devil labours always to discover these natural inclinations , that he may the better play his part , and remain unknown under that covert of natural infirmities . and so he amuses many , that they never think it is the devil , because he is so straitly united with their natures : and that is his subtility . he knows well , he should not be so much obeyed , if he gave tentations contrary to ones natural inclinations , and so he follows always every ones nature , and augments the inclinations which he finds there . if he meets with a cholerique person , he stirs him up the more to anger . if a luxurious , or sad person , he augments their luxury or sadness to gain them all on the weakest side ; he does as an enemy , that would attacque a city , he will not assault where it is fortified , but where it is weakest ; if he find some corner of the wall broken , he attempts to break it more , that by it he may enter the town ▪ being the most advantagious entry for him : and the devil our town enemy does the very same ; he cannot surprise us in things wherein we are on our guard : so he attacques us where we do not expect it : and by that means he gains easily our will , and makes it obey him in what we have inclination to . we must then always make a serious reflection on all our words and actions , and then we shall easily discover , what comes from the devil ; seeing it hath always his qualities , and produces within us the fruits of envy , trouble , impatience , sadness , and others which i marked above . we may also remark enough the qualities of the things the devil causes us to do ; for if you will examin your self narrowly , you shall always find something in your words untrue or dissembled , or spoke by vain complacency to please men : which makes that there is not always justice in your words ; for he that speaks by the good spirit , is true in the bottom , and never speaks any thing to please or flatter men : but declares natively the truth of things ; as well what is contrary to himself , as what is advantagious : seeing he seeks only to please god alone . to know if our actions are excited by the devil or not , you need but mark , if they be done for the glory of god , or for your own , and if you seek not your self therein . for the devil will always incite us to seek our selves in all that we do . he knows well that self-love mars the love of god : and so he excites our understanding to consider , if what we do or say shall be advantagious to us , if it shall give us pleasure , honour or profit : and when we observe none of these advantages in it , he slackens our courage , that we do not accomplish our undertaking , nor prosecute our work . the good spirit on the contrary incites always to labour for the glory of god , and assistance of our neighbour : and so he that is guided thereby does nothing for his own proper interest , but endeavours to his power to assist his neighbour in need : because the charity , which that good spirit carries in it , attends more the common good than his own particular . by that , my son , you may observe all your words and actions , to know if they are excited by the good or evil spirit ; for these are infallible marks to discern the spirits , if from god , or the devil , without amusing you to speculate or seek to discover the devil in himself , since he is an invisible spirit , and incomprehensible to your understanding : but you shall always discover him infallibly by his qualities , and the fruits which he produces in your soul , and your inward disposition will tell you it . which she assures you of , who is your well-affected in jesus christ , antonia bourignon . holstein near gottorp castle 15. may 1672. st. vet . the xix . letter . we cannot , in this life , be free from tentations . to the same ; who was grieved , for that the devil hath power to tempt us so variously . a thirteenth artifice of the devil is shown him , wherein he breaks the firmness of the mind , by sadness . that tentations are necessary and profitable to try and purifie us . my son ; i see you are grieved in spirit because the devil hath power to tempt men so many divers ways ; but you should rejoyce , while you learn the truth of every thing . for if you knew it not , the devil would seduce you by ignorance , as he hath done so many thousands who have obeyed him , because they did not know it ; they thought to follow the will of god , while they followed certainly that of the devil , and so have perished insensibly . for before god ignorance does not excuse sin ; every one is oblieged to know what he ought to do and omit , to attain to salvation . we need not think to say to god after death , lord , i knew not this or that ; or i thought not i did evil in that ; for all excuses will be uncurrent coyn , which will not be received nor approved of him ; seeing we have aboundantly the means to find , if we have the desire to seek . what should we say , to see a man poor and miserable , overcharged with his enemies , when he will not be at the pains to labour or seek a better way of living , and would needs sleep and rest at his ease , though he knew himself to be surrounded by his enemies ? we should certainly say , that man were the cause of his own miseries , and of all the evil that may befal him . and why will you not judge also , that he who neglects to search the means of his salvation , and to discover the wiles of the devil his enemy ; is the cause of his own damnation ? for it can be imputed only to our selves , seeing we have aboundantly the means to find if we had a true desire to seek . tell me , i pray you , what cause of ignorance can a christian pretend , who reads and hears the gospel , and the teachings of jesus christ and his apostles ; to which he gives credit , and accords that they teach that there is a devil who is our enemy , and who seeks to devour us ; that our life is a continual combat ; that we must watch and pray , that we enter not into tentation . notwithstanding men will not do either the one nor the other ; but live at ease , without fighting ; they remain in quiet amidst the danger of their enemies . and which is strange , when any would waken them out of that lethargique sleep , they are grieved and dissatisfied , notwithstanding that sleep will assuredly procure them eternal death , if they do not awake to fight their enemies . we cannot hinder that these enemies assail us every where : but they are unwilling to be discovered , because an enemy discovered is half vanquisht . and therefore , my child , you ought to rejoyce rather than be sorrowful , that god permits that i now discover so many wiles of the devil ; for you cannot make that he be not wicked , and that all manner of malice proceeds not from him ; nor can you hinder that he tempt men , since our first parents have given him that power : and if they had not done it , we give him dayly the same power over us , which he got over them , by the consent of our will to his tentation ; it being so , we must fight , or render to him ; which were lamentable . for we were created true children of god , after his image and resemblance : and we should become by our sloath , children of the devil ; which you must never suffer ; but endeavour to discover the evil , and resist it to your power : and bless god also , that he sends you his light , that you may know it , and beware of it ; without afflicting your self so much because the devil hoth power to tempt men . for tentations purifie the soul , and render it agreeable to god : he takes pleasure to see us fight his and our enemies : and he gives us strength and aid if we persevere constantly : yea he hath prepared for us triumphant lawrels and eternal rewards of victory . therefore you must not give place to that feebleness of spirit ; to languish because the devil hath power to tempt men , since it is not in you to take it from him : he hath too long possessed it . for since he made himself the enemy of god , he hath had power to do in himself all the evil he pleased ; although his evil cannot hurt man unless he consent . for man hath full liberty to resist him ; as the devil hath full liberty to tempt us . if that were not true , he could never have tempted adam our first father , who was altogether holy and perfect at his creation ; and had not in his beginning given any occasion to the devil to tempt him . but the devil being created free , as well as man , he had power to do all the evil he pleased in himself . for he would even be equal with god , which is a greater evil than to tempt adam in his innocence : and that of tempting men now is yet far less , seeing they are corrupted by the first sin ; and it is yet less when he tempts them , that have so often consented to him with deliberate will. and therefore , my son , you have no ground to fret because the devil hath power to tempt you ; but you ought truely to regret , that you have by your past sins given him so much power over your soul . resolve now to war against him with manly courage , and hinder that he get more power over your soul , by resisting his tentations ; for that is a holy and salutary resolution . but that grief which you conceive because the devil hath power to tempt you and others , comes from him . he makes us always desire things impossible , and such as are not in our power , that he may afflict and discourage us . for he knows well , that a grieved and discouraged person , is not well fitted to resist his tentations , and that in that state he can easily lead him from one evil to another . and therefore he often causes vain griefs ; such as is that , which proceeds from that the devil hath so much power to tempt men , and also the disturbing grief for our sins past , which are no more in our power . these are extremities into which the devil attempts always to precipitate us . it is true , we ought to regret that we have willingly given the devil so much power over us ; and more lament our by past sins : but we must not therefore rest in these griefs , seeing they would mar the graces of god in us . it is better to go to god by love and amendment of life , than by melancholies , which proceed from the devil : for before his entry there was nothing but all joy in the world and in the heart of man. so that sadness is truely a quality of the devil ; and so man ought to despise it if he seeks after true virtue . he ought indeed to have a sincere regret from his heart , that he hath offended god , and beg pardon of him as often as he remembers his sins : but he ought never to suffer himself to be overcome of grief , since what 's past is not in his power ; and though he should destroy himself , he can never make that what is past should not be . he ought then for penitence of his by-past sins , endeavour a true conversion to god ; departing from evil to do good , detesting sin to embrace true virtue . which is a true contrition , much more solid , than tears and immoderate sadness , which the devil ordinarily gives them that begin . of which you must beware , my child ; for god would be served with a ready and joyful heart : and he says , that he treats with the converted sinner , as if he had never offended him . you should then rejoyce for the grace god hath given you to forsake the world , and to turn from vanity unto the truth , which you now discover ; and not afflict your self , because the devil hath so much power to tempt men ▪ seeing that power cannot be exercised , but on those that give or have given him their full consent : and that all things turn to good to them that fear god. when the devil tempts you , remember that he cannot hurt you without your own consent ; and your resisting his tentation renders you agreeable to god. for your soul must be proved , as gold in the furnace , which grows still the purer by continuing in the fire . even so is a soul purified by long tentation , if it remain firm in resisting ; and nothing can hurt it , but sin ; from which if it abstain , it carries the victory over its enemies ; and all they can do against it are but false allarms , which try its fidelity and vigilancy . and therefore , we must not desire that the devils power should be taken from him ; but earnestly pray to god for strength to resist him , and fight until death . for jesus christ in the prayer which he left to christians , hath not asked to be free from tentation ; but only not to be led to follow the tentation , and to be delivered from evil : and since there is no other evil but sin , we pray only to be delivered from it , and not from tentation ; which is often profitable and salutary for us ; yea , sometimes necessary to our frailty . for our nature is so feeble and corrupted , that it could not remain faithful to god out of tribulations ; forgetting ordinarily it self in too much prosperity ; we see daily among men , that he that prospers , becomes proud , and fixes in the world as in a place of abode , and permanent : and on the contrary , that he that is in adversity and tribulation , becomes humble , and hath his recourse to god. i speak of such as are well-meaning and pious ; for to the wicked all turns to evil : if they prosper , they offend god the more ; if they are in adversity , they blaspheme him , and despair . and all these things arrive in temporal prosperities and adversities ; so do they also to them that seek after true virtue : for not being tried by tentations and sufferings , they should not persevere in virtue . although they were arrived at the profounest knowledge of divine mysteries , had the gift of prophecying , and doing miracles ; all that should vanish into smoak , except they pass through the furnace of tentations , and afflictions . for we cannot in this life arrive at that degree of perfection , in which adam was at his creation : who yet fell full sordidly into sin against his god. he forgot god , and turned himself to the creatures ; for he had all sorts of prosperity , joy , content and pleasure , and knew not evil ; he could not imagin that his turning from god , would render him so miserable , having never felt any misery . but after he was tempted of the devil , and saw by experience , that earthly pleasures and contentments had rendered him so miserable ; he was loath to stay longer in them , and loved rather to embrace sufferings , and patience , as he did all the time of his life , as to remain in the pleasures of an earthly paradise : which had made him forget his god , by sensible pleasures . and if adam a creature so noble , so holy and so perfect as god created him , could not remain constant in the fidelity which he owed to his creator , before his tryal of tentations , as he certainly did after them , how should we , contemptible and frail creatures , born with a propension to evil , be able to remain faithful to god , without being proved by tentation ? our souls should be like wood silvered on the out-side , which rusts with a little rain : but we must endeavour to render them silver or gold , purified by the fire of tentations and afflictions ; otherwise we can never arrive at true virtue , to which you , my son , aspire . and therefore , rejoyce , rather than afflict your self , because the devil hath power to tempt you ; for his tentations serve to perfect your soul , and to acquire true virtue ; at which you cannot arrive , without passing through the furnace of tribulations and tentation of the devil . that furnace is an instrument most necessary for the perfection of your soul . so constrain your self to embrace them , as st. andrew embraced the cross , saying , o good cross . say also , o blessed tentation ! seeing by it i shall become more agreeable to god. you have perhaps when in the world , loved your mistresses favours or colours : shew now that you have chosen jesus christ for your lover , love and carry willingly his colours and livery , esteem as love-favours all the tentations which the devil gives you : because jesus christ was cloathed all the days of his life with tentations and sufferings , both from devils and men. you must then wear his livery if you will be his servant . do you not feel , my son , that the devil tempts you every day ? yea , every hour and moment ; and for that you have need to fight and resist continually , if you would be saved . it is a good sign , that you perceive and feel the tentation : for many feel it not at all , and follow in every thing the tentation of the devil . would you willingly be seised with that lethargy ? and would you wish that the devil should tempt you no more ? that were an evident sign , that he held you as his own ; for ordinarily he tempts but little the persons that do his will easily . he leaves such in quiet , and they are well content not to be vexed with tentations . they imagin themselves to be then in a good state , though they be in effect in the greatest of all tentations . but god hath delivered you from that danger , in making you know and feel the tentation ; so you can no more be ignorant of it . for i have shewed you it too plainly ; and you feel it also upon occasion . i see by the eyes of the spirit , that the devil moves your passions , so soon as i open my mouth to speak to you ; and i feel , that your inward motions are stirred up to oppose and contradict mine : which cannot proceed from your self ; for you have resolved assuredly to follow and hear me ; because , you are convinced in your conscience that the spirit of god governs me ; and yet you cannot do it upon occasion ; and you feel fightings against what-ever i propose to you . now if you will not resist thereto , you shall always follow the will of the devil , which you desire not to do . you must then watch continually ; and be never weary to resist the devil , no more than he is to tempt you . the greatest assault he gives you now , is to make you contradict and oppose my will and desires . and that because he sees , that if you follow my will , you follow assuredly the will of god , seeing i have no other will but his : and therefore it is that he acts continually in you to contradict me ; and your spirit strives against mine , as gabriel did with lucifer . you must resolve to which you will give the victory . if you will that the spirit which is in you have the victory , that shall be the devils will : but if you will that the spirit which is in me , carry it ; you must combate your own , and hold it suspect in every thing . for from a spirit that is evil can nothing good proceed . now you cannot doubt but the spirit which is in you is evil , seeing it opposes it self to mine , and does the things which you would not of your own will do ; and that you have displeasure from the bottom of your soul , that you contradict me , and are not conformed to my will. for your own will cannot be contrary to it self , and cannot will that which it wills not . and so we must conclude , that it is the evil spirit who acts in you , contrary to your own will : and since you will not obey him , you ought to be very glad that i resist him upon occasion . for i hold him for my enemy , and will oppose him with all my power in every one in whom i perceive him , all i do in you . i am then sure that it is the devil , that evil spirit , who gives and inspires in you these oppositions to my will ; for if it were not he that opposes , you would follow all my will and desires with joy . resist then valiently all your proper inclinations , and hold suspected all the motion of your corrupt nature ; to which the devil is united , and by these motions he acts in you : but receive my sentiments , and follow that which i encline to , and you shall follow assuredly the spirit of god : so shall you carry the victory over that evil spirit , who troubles you now . ply and submit your understanding under the holy spirit , and never believe your self wiser than him in any thing . for men are now abandoned to the spirit of error ; and their best sciences are but ignorance , their wisdom folly ; and although you think sometimes to have reason to contradict me , do it not : and after you shall see that your reason cannot be better than mine , which you may experiment , while i remain . your well-affected in jesus christ , antonia bourignon holstein near gottorp castle may. 19. 1672 , st. vet . the xx. letter spiritual diligence is necessary to salvation . to the same ; to whom is shewn a fourteenth snare of the devil , more pernicious than the rest , viz. spiritual negligence : he is moved to spiritual diligence , by consideration of the diligence usually bestowed on temporal things , which the children of this world administer with more care and prudence than the children of light do spiritual things . my son ; i perceive , it appears some what difficult to you , to watch continually so narrowly over all your words and actions : but believe me , if you do it not , the devil will assuredly surprise you in every thing : and you shall obey him without knowing it . for he is a most cunning spirit , who watches always , without rest . and therefore it is necessary , despising all difficulties to resolve absolutely for the combat , if you will obtain salvation , and tend to true virtue . for without fighting , there is no victory ; and except you apply your spirit , to watch diligently over all your actions and words , you shall fall into all sorts of evil . and therefore is it , that they call negligence a mortal or capital sin . now negligence is not understood to be a mortal sin , as signifying the want of bodily travail and labour : for many persons are not oblieged to bodily labour , having other occupations of body and spirit more profitable and necessary sometimes than bodily labour : and when they apply themselves to those good and useful things , they fall not into that sin of negligence , which is called mortal ; for every one ought to occupy himself in different things , according to his condition or disposition . a sick person cannot labour bodily , and sometimes also not in spirit neither , because of his infirmity , and so he falls not into the mortal sin of negligence : for he may by acting resignation to the will of god , be more diligent , than one that labours both in spirit and body . a good master of a family labours often more in eying and watching over his servants , than he that delves the ground . an artist labours more by ordering well the building of a house , than the workman that builds it ; and so with other persons , who perform their duty , every one in his state and vocation . so that we must not believe , that that sin of negligence is committed by them that labour not corporally , but by all them that neglect to watch over their souls , and to discover the tentation of the devil : seeing such neglect their eternal happiness , and consent tacitly to the tentation of the devil ; which is certainly a mortal sin , and causes eternal damnation : that is it , wherefore this negligence is accounted among capital sins , and ought to be called mortal , since it causes death to the soul. for he that , through negligence , does not resist the devil , he leaves his soul a prey to him ; and he that searches not all means to find true virtue , shall never obtain it ; but dying without it , shall never come to eternal happiness : and therefore you must of necessity have spiritual diligence , if you would be saved ; for it were but flattering of your self to think , that god will receive your excuses , when you shall say , i did not know that the devil had so much subtilty and power over us to tempt us : or if you should think to excuse your self before god by your frailty and weakness , you could not abstain from sin , and could not attain to true virtue , because you could not find the way . for all these excuses and false reasons god will not accept , because he searches the reins , and tryes the consciences , and sees the least motions of our wills ; and he knows ( without needing witnesses ) what diligence we have given to watch over our souls , and what diligence to evite sin , and follow true virtue . for god is not as men , who amuse one another by the false philosophy which they 've learnt in the schools : which serves only to maintain wickedness , and excuse the malice of their likes . they invent smooth words , to make wickedness appear truth , and please themselves with these fine words , and suffer themselves to be perswaded , that falshood is truth , when adorned with the fine terms and words of their false philosophy . but god regards the essence and reality of the thing , and sees even to the bottom of our souls ; and so he knows if we have done all diligence in earnest to discover the deceits of the devil , and find the means to arrive at true virtue ; and finding that we have done neither the one nor th' other we are condemned , without place for excuses . and so my child , you must not be deceived : think not to find excuses before god , when you have lived in spiritual negligence ; for he will not accept them . he hath given you a body and spirit , and that to apply them both diligently to eschew evil and follow good . but the misery is , that men now adays are fallen into so profound an ignorance , that they employ body and soul in care and diligence to acquire the things of the earth , and render themselves by that means incapable of having spiritual diligence : for when a vessel is filled with dung , there can be nothing that is good put in it . alas ! what are all the cares of the business and affairs of the world , other than dung , which hath filled your spirit ? you were a diligent merchant ; and your care and diligence hath heaped up money to you : but now what will you do with that money ? you cannot expend it for meat and drink and cloathing , nor can you carry it with you at death ; and if you leave it to your relations , they shall thereby become more vicious , and proud . so that every way you must acknowledge , that your spirit hath been always filled with the dung of cares and diligence for earthly things ; and it is no wonder that so you could not discover the wiles of the devil , nor the means which advance unto true virtue , because your diligence was employed about other things . but now , when the goodness of god hath discovered to you the truth of these things , you must endeavour to use that diligence to discover the tentations of the devil , and the means to arrive at virtue , which formerly you used in your temporal affairs . i believe you would not then let slip any occasion , wherein you saw any profit , without accepting it ; and that you suffered not your self to be deceived , when you could discover the deceits they would put on you . now if you had such vigilance , for the goods which pass away so swiftly , and can give no help at death : how can it now be difficult for you to use the same diligence to discover the devil , and the sure way of true virtue , that you may thereby gain goods that shall never end ? ought you not rather to double your diligence , care , and study to acquire eternal goods , than to find difficulty in it ; which you found not to acquire the goods of this world . think you them more worthy than the eternal ? i do not think so of you , seeing there is no comparison betwixt them . for temporal goods afford nothing to our souls , but care to preserve them , and regret to leave them : whereas vigilance to acquire eternal goods , brings an inward joy , hope in god , and repose in the soul : and beside , we cannot live in spiritual negligence , without being in that mortal sin of sloath . i know you desire not to live in sin : but you have not sufficiently discovered in what that sin of sloathfulness consists . it appears to you a repose , to live without tentations , and without watching so precisely over your words and actions : but that small repose you might have in this life , should cause you eternal disquiet . for we are not come into this world to rest , but to be careful , to watch and to labour for our salvation ever until we have obtained it . we must not then go to change the order of god. he hath sent us into this world , as unto a place of banishment , or into a prison of penitence , to satisfie his divine justice : and we would yet live here in ease , without care , or diligence , or watching against our enemies . though worldly persons watch sometimes night and day , to gain a little money , some vain and empty honour , or infamous pleasure . believe me , these worldlings shall rise up against us in the day of judgment , and confound us , that they have watched , laboured and cared more in the service of the world , than you have done in the service of god. apply your self then to the diligence necessary for discovering the wiles of the devil your sworn enemy ; for he will not cease to tempt you , and endeavour to surprise you , as long as you live in this world ; so you must not cease to watch over your actions and words , that you may resist him always : and that is the reason , why the scripture says , our life is a continual warfare . nor must you take that spiritual diligence for a difficult thing , for it will become easie by use : and it is most necessary , useful , and profitable , far beyond that of things temporal and corporal ; as things durable and eternal , are much more estimable , than transitory and mortal ones : and yet we see the men of the world take so much care for the present life , which is of so short continuance . for a gentleman will take heed to all his words and actions , that he do or say nothing against his reputation : he hath also always his spirit occupied to perceive if others carry that respect and honour to him , which he desires ; and all his care is intent to perserve his reputation in this world , neglecting no occasion to maintain it . he exposes sometimes even his life for a point of honour ; or takes away the life of another , of whom he thinks he hath received some affront . and what care , study and fatigues do they take who would perfectionate themselves in some sciences , whether in divinity , law , or medecine ? what frequenting of schools ? how many books must they buy , and how many masters must they seek ? and care to observe things well , to come to some reputation of a learned man ? now though all such honours be vain and perishing , yet you know , my son , how much care a merchant must adhibit to order his affairs : there are many who neglect often their eating and drinking and sleeping to attend constantly their profit . how much care takes a labourer or tradesman , to gain their food ? and god gives you yours so liberally , without care or trouble , that you may the better take care of your salvation , and labour the more for the perfection of your soul . is it then just that you should complain of a little difficulty you have to watch over all your words and actions , to find true virtue and discover the snares of the devil ? methinks that is the least a christian can do to attain to eternal life and happiness . for man is created for no other end but that happiness and eternity . if then he is capable ( as it appears that he is ) to watch & be careful , and labour for things temporal and transitory , how much more ought he to do the same for eternal things ? we see that merchants go by sea and land , and put their life in hazard to gain a little money . we see tradesmen pained and sweeting by excessive labour , and that they do mean , abject and nasty works , to gain their poor nourishment . we see hired servants subject to the will of their master , and watch and attend with diligence the services they owe them , and that to gain a small wage or fee. and a christian will not do all these things , to keep himself out of the snares of his enemy , and to acquire true virtue , which conducts his soul to eternal life : were it not a great weakness to say , that it is difficult to watch always over our words and actions , to become agreeable to god ? while we see all men doing the same thing , upon accounts that no way deserve it . how much care takes a faithful page to serve his master ? hee 'l study almost night and day to do what he knows is pleasing to him : and performs with diligence what he knows to be his will ; and when he hath served him well and gained his friendship , he obtains nothing but a pitiful temporary wage . i have heard a story related of a servant , who had faithfully served a prince , so that he was well satisfied with him ; and for that promised that he would give him , whatever he should demand . it happened a long time after that promise that the servant fell sick , and was in great danger of death , and when he felt himself at the extremity , he entreated earnestly to be visited by his prince . the prince being come to his bed-side , askt him , what he would demand of him . the servant demanded , that he might not die of that disease , and that he might live yet some years . the master answered ; that it was not in his power , and that he must demand of him something else . after the servant demanded of him one years life , or a moneths , or in end one days life ? but the prince continued to answer , that he could not do what he demanded , since it was beyond his power , and that he must demand of him things possible , as money , medecines , or other benefits , that were in his power . but the servant replied , that he needed neither money nor other service , nor medecines , which could not prolong his life one day : and so he demanded of him assurance of his salvation , since he could not prolong his life ; that if he must die , he might do it with peace , and in assurance to die happy , and to be saved . that demand afflicted much the prince , and made him answer , that his salvation depended upon the grace and mercy of god , and consequently it was not in his power to promise and far less to give it him . which grieved the servant so exceedingly , that turning away from his prince , and turning his face to the wall , he said , o miserable man that i am , have i passed all the days of my life to serve and please a master , who is not able to assist me in my greatest need , nor give me one hours life ? i will not henceforth serve so impotent a master . and in that resolution he made a vow to god , that if he would restore him his health , that he would forsake men , and retire to the desert , to serve god alone , and attend the perfection of his soul , and so give himself to a lord , that could give him life and salvation . which he did in effect ; for god having restored him to health , he retired to the desert , and there lived a good life during some years , and in the end died well . does not that history open your understanding , to understand the blindness of men , who spare nothing in the service of the world ; but bestow therein their care and labour without scruple to please men such as themselves , or to gain a little earthly goods ? for although that story were not true : ( as i believe firmly that it is ) yet we see dayly that every one cares and labours for a little money , or a little favour , which they expect from men ; though it is most certain , that they can give us nothing that 's solid , and that they leave us at death , not having the power to give us an hour of life . ought we not to have shame and confusion , to say or think , that it is difficult to watch always over our words and actions to discover the snares of the devil , and the means to attain true virtue ? while thereon depends our eternal happiness ; and there is nothing can concern us so nearly as that . for the devil snatches all occasions to surprise us : and if we are not well on our guard , we shall not speak one word , nor do one action , whereby he will not cause us to sin , although we do not perceive it . for he will make us speak , what we ought to keep in silence ; and be silent of what we ought to speak ; to draw thence his advantage , and to bring disorder , and confusion in all , to make us sin , or others by our means . and therefore , pray i you , to be diligent and to watch over all your actions , that you may overcome the devil , and arrive at true virtue . which she wishes you , who loving your salvation , remains forever . your well-affected in jesus christ , antonia bourignon . holstein near gottorp castle june 1. 1672. st. vet . the xxi . letter . spiritual diligence necessary , beyond all other virtues . to the same ; shewing him how necessary spiritual diligence is , to confirm the mind in virtue ; and to remove yet two impediments of the devil , viz. ( 15 ) sins of omission wherewith the devil tempts good persons : and ( 16 ) self-love , which every-where mixes it self and is a continual sin . my son ; you must know that spiritual diligence is the most necessary of all the virtues , without which you cannot persevere in any virtue ; and the devil will always labour to cause you to lose them by degrees , if you keep not firmly that of spiritual diligence . for if he see you to have obtained the virtue of humility , he will excite occasions of pride , as the praises of men , prosperity in temporal goods , and such like , to make you lose your humility , which you have already obtained , by the grace of god. be always on your guard then , with spiritual diligence , otherways you shall insensibly loose humility , before you be aware . which befel my self ; for after god had given me the virtue of humility , i felt again pride rise in my heart . i felt a dissatisfaction when men gave me no title of honour or respect , but called me simply by my name . i even murmured at their incivility ; and though i testified nothing of it outwardly , my humility was notwithstanding weakened inwardly . so that if god had not given me spiritual diligence , to watch continually over my soul , i had assuredly lost that comely virtue of humility , as also that of voluntary poverty . for after i was entirely freed from the covetousness of this worlds goods , and had effectually forsaken them , i felt covetous thoughts many years after : for certain pious persons having demanded of me , to put some money in fellowship with them in their businesses ; which i did with intention to bestow all the gain upon the poor ; but after i had made that resolution , i began to argue with my self ▪ if it was not enough to leave them the half of the gain , or some part of it , and keep the rest for my self . but examining my conscience with spiritual diligence , i discovered , that the devil intended by that to cause me to relapse into the covetousness of the goods which by virtue i had abandoned : which befel me also again after many years . one time while i was at malines about some business , i conceived a desire to buy some laces ( which are made there in aboundance ) with design to sell them dearer at lisle , and so save the expense of my voyage . now after i had boughr them , and saw appearance of gain i thought i might well keep that gain for my self , though i was then in a house of poor , which i had undertaken to govern for charity , and to employ thereon all my labour and industry , for entertaining those miserable girles , without seeking my own particular interest . but the devil endeavours always to surprise persons of a good will by most subtil snares , unless they remain firmly fixed in spiritual diligence , and watch over all their words and actions . for though it seemeth often that our actions are good , reasonable , and for a good end ; yet the devil furs himself therein ; and attempts to get his advantage . and when he cannot gain much , he contents himself with little , but yet brings always some hurt to the perfection of our souls , or that of others . so that we must be diligent , that he may gain nothing . for he cannot hurt us when we perceive it , and have our wills fixed on god , and a resolution to tend to true virtue . for when we discover the snares of the devil , we shall assuredly resist them : but if we fall into spiritual negligence , hee 'l ensnare us in all things ; and i believe we shall not speak a word , from which he shall not draw some advantage against our souls , or those of others . for he will make us be silent of what we should speak for our advancement spiritual or temporal , or for the good and edification of our neighbour . in all such cases the devil will play the dumb , and keep us silent , when we should speak : at another time hee 'l play the orator , making us speak and discourse , what we ought to be silent of , and so will draw from our words great sin . for both good and evil persons are often offended at our words . if we speak the truth , they are not capable to hear it . for it is as a two-edged sword , and so even pious persons themselves cannot support it while it reproves , since correction is never agreeable in the time when it is administred : but if we speak falshood , or say any thing to please men , the wicked as well as the good shall be thereby stumbled ; for our example will fortifie the wicked in their wickedness and falshood ; and the good shall be offended that we who profess virtue are not true in every thing , and will yet please the world and worldlings : so that on every hand we give advantage to the devil ; in speaking or keeping , silence ; and that as long as we have not obtained spiritual diligence , to watch over all our words and actions . for if you will , my child , reflect upon your self , you shall experience , that you do or say nothing without sinning . but because the devil holds you yet in spiritual negligence , you perceive it not but by chance . for he obscures your memory , that you should not remember what 's necessary ; and represents to your mind what you ought to forget : and by that makes you do his will , as well in spiritual as in temporal concerns ; for it is indifferent to him by what he ensnares you : but he will be loath to tempt by evil actions , such as seek to become jesus christ's disciples ; he tempts them but by omissions , knowing that they will not follow his suggestions in evil things , though readily in omissions : and so he makes them forget , or neglect the things that are for the glory of god , and the salvation of their souls , or that of others . now he gains much more with good persons , by these omissions , than he could do by actions : seeing evil actions displease welmeaning persons , and are reprehensible before men : and therefore they would not commit them , although the devil did tempt them ; if it were only for avoiding a bad example , or scandalizing their neighbour . but sins of omission are more secret and difficult to discover , and consequently more dangerous for souls , which have not spiritual diligence . for they fall insensibly , and without perceiving it in spiritual negligence ; and when they are fallen therein , they often know not that they have sinned : attributing that neglect to the weakness of their memory or infirmity of their understanding ; without perceiving , that the devil occasions the forgetting of things necessary for the soul and body of man : which is a subtil snare of satan . so , my son , you must watch well , lest he surprise you ignorantly . for it will not be enough before god to say , i thought not of it , or i forgot ; seeing we are always bound to think of , and remember the things that are necessary , and salutary : hence is the proverb , he that sins ignorantly goes ignorantly to hell : and it is said somewhere , that ignorance does not excuse sin. to shew that spiritual diligence is especially necessary for him that would work out his salvation ; and that god admits no excuses , in what man is oblieged to do . i believe among men , every one will be ready to justifie and excuse himself ; for being all frail and imperfect , they flatter and excuse also such as are like themselves when they love them . then they attribute to fragility what proceeds from spiritual negligence ; but god who tryes the reins , and searches the consciences , makes another judgment of our actions and omissions . he will condemn for sin , whatever we have neglected to do , for his glory , and our salvation , or for the salvation of others , when it was in our power . it will not be enough to say to god : i have not found ; if you have not done necessary duty to search . there are persons so imprudent to believe , that god will not take an accompt of them , for what they have not known . in which they shall find themselves far deceived at death . for we are always oblieged to search , what we need to find : and we should absolutely know the means by which we may arrive at salvation : as are the commandments of god and the gospel precepts : and he that performs not what is there ordained , cannot be saved . it will not be enough for him to say , i did not know what god required , nor the gospel-law , seeing he is oblieged to know both ; and to do all possible diligence to learn them , that he may do them . if then we have not that spiritual diligence for our salvation , we shall never obtain it . for we are oblieged to know what is necessary to salvation : and the ignorance of these things will not excuse the sin : so much the rather , because jesus christ says , seek and you shall find ; pray and you shall receive ; knock and it shall be opened to you . * which is not to say , ( as many ignorants alledge ) that jesus christ hath satisfyed all for us : seeing he exhorts us to seek the kingdom of heaven , to pray , to knock , and to do all that we can to obtain it : teaching thereby that that spiritual diligence is necessary to salvation : and these perswade themselves that they shall obtain it by the diligence of another . which is but a flattery to destroy us : while the apostle admonishes us so much , to watch and pray , that we enter not into tentation . for if the merits of jesus christ had satisfied all , what need had we to watch and pray ; we needed but to remain in ease and quiet , in expecting that jesus christ had satisfied all for us . then we needed not to do any thing . for it should be in vain to knock , pray , and search , if all were found and obtained by the merits of jesus christ ; which may well let you see , my son , that men are at present given up to a spirit of error , and that they know not the truth of things : for they make one another believe falshoods for truths , and would by their glosses annul the doctrine of jesus christ and his apostles . but that doctrine excites always unto spiritual diligence : for jesus christ says , we must pray always , and without ceasing . that is to say , that we must always be diligent to watch over all our words and actions : otherwise we shall not speak one word without committing sin , nor do any action that shall not be defiled ; so long as we remain and live in corrupt nature , wherein we are born . for that corruption loving it self turns to its own glory and profit all that we do or say : which is a continual sin , which we cannot evite but by spiritual diligence , or continual prayer , which is the same thing . for being continually attacqued by sin , we must continually combat it , or yield and rendet our selves its slaves : and though there were no other devil , but the corruption of mans nature ; we behoved notwithstanding to combat it continually : seeing that corruption is as much an enemy of our salvation as the devil . if you will , my son , examin well your own self , you shall find by experience , that you do not one single action which ( though good in it self ) is not defiled with self-love and self-seeking ; and that you speak not one word , which you aim not for your own advantage , or praise , or to excuse and justifie your self . for self-love searches always his own ease and satisfaction , and will not have the blame in any thing . yea it would appear innocent in the most manifest faults it commits ; it speaks to excuse them , reasons to maintain its opinions , or what it hath fancyed or undertaken to maintain . in fine , it employs all the forces of body and spirit to disown its guilt . so proud is that corrupt nature , that it will not be blamed in any thing , if it can evite it . now all these things are manifest sins , which rob our heart of the love and honour of god , to make us love and esteem our selves ; and so infring the command , to love god with all our heart : while we love our own glory , and esteem our selves with all our heart . i have often declared , that the ressence of sin consists , in that man retires his affections from god , to place them in any thing else beside him : so we must conclude , that man falls so often into sin , as he turns to love himself ; and he falls so often into the love of himself , as he will justifie or excuse himself ▪ since there is nothing just or excuseable in his corrupt nature . it is by sin become altogether evil ; and cannot of it self do any good , spiritual or temporal ; but is filled with all sorts of evils , from which no good can proceed . that is a truth , to which all the world would readily acquiesce , if they were disengaged of self-love ; for then should they see , that they are slow to all good , and bent to all evil . that they are ignorant , impotent , and in short , all that we do in this life is only to be esteemed , or to evite the contempt and humiliations that may befal us . which proceeds from that pride of life , which sin hath planted in the bottom of the hearts of all men that come into the world . they bring with them that pride which makes them live in continual sins , if they do not resist it continually by spiritual diligence , and watch not over all their words and actions to limit and regulate them by the law and will of god ; which cannot be done without that spiritual diligence , which ought to rule all our words and actions , if we would attain to salvation . which she wishes you , who loves your soul , antonia bourignon . husum jan. 27. 1674. the xxii . letter spiritual diligence is necessary to salvation . to the same ; exhorting him to spiritual diligence , because without it none can persevere in the service of god , nor overcome his corrupt nature and self-love , my son ; i cannot over much explain the worth and necessity of spiritual diligence ; since it does occasion your eternal salvation , and all the good things we attain in this life and that which is to come . consider well that necessity , that you may apprehend it , and put it into practice ; since thereupon depends your eternal happiness . for though you had acquired several other virtues , yet the devil could easily ensnare you by spiritual negligence ; and suffer you to do well for a time , that he might ensnare you after . he hath not been able to hinder you to forsake the world , to give your self to the service of god ; seeing that was your absolute resolution . neither could he hinder , that you have detested sin , and undertaken to follow true virtue . but he attends you in the passage , that he may stop your course and hinder your perseverance by divers tentations , and by occasions which he will excite , to withdraw you from your good purpose . he will excite men of good will to render your resolution suspect , even upon pious pretext . hee 'l make you sometimes doubt , if you should not do better to remain in the world , and make your light to shine to others , to enlighten them again ; he will represent to you , if you had not better yet merchandise , that you might assist your neigbour out of your superfluity or by your good example . for the devil tempts by all sorts of means ; and when he cannot bring us to evil actions , he insinuates himself into our good works ; yea even into our good intentions , and mixes therein some of his venom , a little when he cannot much . he gives sometimes a weariness in the way of virtue , and makes appear burthensom what is in it self light : giving the soul a backwardness or difficulty in well doing , or in overcoming it self . also he takes away the hope of surmounting our imperfections , and arriving at true virtue , that he may render our souls slack and lazy , because they see not the means whereby to arrive at true virtue . so that he confounds our spirits , that they may not discover the truth of things as they are before god : but that they should occupy themselves always with apparent virtues , and curious speculations . and therefore is it we have need of continual prayer , and spiritual diligence , if we would persevere in the service of god , otherwise the devil would gain us by the one or other way , let us then watch always , that he make not our first fervour cool , and slacken our good resolution of embracing solid virtue . he will attempt , even when we have obtained true virtue , to lead us into spiritual negligence ; perswading us , that we may well rest at ease , seeing we have acquired it , and that we cannot advance further . i have known such persons , as said to me , that they were arrived at the highest degree of perfection , to which they could attain . and they said so because they had read all they could read ; and so they judged , that to read more , was but to repeat what they had already read and understood : which was to me a great pride , and a spiritual negligence , which the devil had planted in their heart , to make them perish by that negligence . for not to advance in virtue , is to fall back and recoil ; seeing man never attains that perfection that he ought . it is written in the holy scripture , be ye perfect , as your heavenly father is perfect : to teach us , that we should tend to the perfection of god , and never rest in the way of virtue ; but always tend to a higher degree of perfection ; even to the last moment of our life , to follow the nearer the perfection of our heavenly father . but the devil , envious of our happiness , endeavours to his power to divert us . he serves himself of spiritual negligence , when he cannot prevail by evil desires and actions . it is alike to him by what means he ensnare our souls , provided he can in the end retain them to himself , be therefore upon your guard , my son ; and before all embrace spiritual diligence , as that which is most necessary for the perseverance of your virtue , for though there were no other devil to tempt us , but the corruption of our nature , it is sufficient to give continual exercise , to combat it . for it is so corrupted by sin , that it produces continually evil effects in our soul , to cause it to perish eternally ; we need but follow that nature to be damned , as i have else where told you . the reason is , because it neither wills nor desires , but what is evil , and tends to self-love . it is true , man was created by god perfect , and in that state of perfection he did all good , blessing and honouring god ; and so enjoyed every thing without sinning : but since man abandoned that state of perfection by his sin , he is become so corrupted , that whatever he does or says , tends only to his own glory , or satisfaction , which is to sin : seeing all glory belongs to god alone , and man ought to seek nothing , but to please him ; and as often as he does otherways , he offends him : and therefore must you have that spiritual diligence , to watch over all your words and actions , except you would live in continual sins . for if we eat and drink , it is ordinarily to please our taste , and sensuality , instead of taking these necessary things with praising the lord , who made them . if we cloath our selves , it is also for our own satisfaction , ease , and glory , instead of cloathing our selves in humility , and with confusion , because our sin made us ashamed , and necessitated us to cover our body , to preserve us from the injuries of the air , which the same sin rendered intemperate in heat , cold , and tempests . for before sin , man was altogether naked , without shame , and had no necessity to cloath himself , being cloathed only with glory and light. he was lord and governour over all the elements , which were submissive and obedient to him , encompassing him only for his contentment and pleasure . but now , that is , since sin hath corrupted human nature , man cannot take pleasure in walking on the earth , in the refreshing of the wind or water , without sinning ; because he does all these things , only for his own satisfaction , instead of doing them to satisfie god alone . if man study , labour , or undertake any thing , it is always for his own glory and proper satisfaction or profit : instead of undertaking all these things for the glory of god only ; and to apply all the forces of his body , and powers of his spirit , to glorify god , who gave us them . he also does often glory vainly in the gifts and talents which he hath received of his god , and attributes them to himself ; as if he were the proprietary of them , and independent of the author of all good : and so forgets what is written , viz. that every good gift is from above , and cometh down from the father of lights . they come not then from man's power , who inclines to nothing , but to do evil : and consequently , if man can labour , study , or do any other good and necessary thing ; these are graces and favours , which god hath given him , and can take from him in a moment . and therefore man hath not reason of glorying , or to attribute to himself the least good thing ; which he does notwithstanding , either through ignorance or malice : so he hath need to watch continually , if he would abstain from sin : otherwise he shall fall every moment , without perceiving it . for since he is corrupted by sin , he cannot have a good thought , nor speak one word that is not defiled , and mixed with self-love , or self-esteem : which i could shew you , my son , in your own experience , if you were capable : but all your thoughts and words are mixed with impurity . i know well , you are resolved in the bottom of your soul , in general , to please god , and no more to sin ; yet you do it as often as you seek your own satisfaction . you do it through ignorance , because you have not sufficiently discovered how much human nature is corrupted by sin ; and you have not esteemed it evil to follow it . on the contrary , you , and all other men , who live according to their corruption , have held it for a good thing , to follow their own wills , as far as they did not induce them to do any thing evil and reprehensible before men . for every one walks in his darkness , and have no light to know their miseries , and the state into which sin hath brought them ; and that ignorance makes them live at ease in their self-love , without holding it for sin ; though in effect that self-love is the essence of all sorts of sins . for if man kill , steal , commit adultery , or do any other thing , forbidden in the commands of god : it is only to satisfie his self-love . if he seeks his profit , pleasure , or ease , if he esteem or boast of himself , it is all to satisfie that love ; the same if he seek the honours and pleasures of this world . in fine , self-love is the womb in which are engendred all sorts of sin ; and it entriely robs our heart of the love of god : which being pure , cannot remain with the impure love of our selves . therefore is it that it need not appear strange to any , that they cannot obtain the love of god , though they desire it : for they can never obtain it , while they continue in the love of themselves . and they should rather account themselves unworthy of the love of god , than rashly to desire that god should come to reside in a heart filled with self-love , and polluted with sins . they that would have the love of god , and will not forsake that of themselves , are very imprudent ; seeing they would make so unsuitable a match , as is that of the love of god ( in which consists all sorts of good ) with self-love ( in which consists all sorts of evil ) which is intolerable , and unworthy of good reason : for it is the same as if they would joyn heat and cold in the same place , which is contrary to nature , which will never suffer that ; but these two contraries shall so wrestle together , that the stronger shall hold the place alone . for if we put fire in the water , it is extinguished , when it cannot overcome the water : but if the fire is so great that it can consume the water , it becomes victorious , and destroys the water . it is even so with the soul that desires the love of god. it is the place where is the cold of self-love , and the heat of the love of god : and when that self-love is the stronger , it extinguishes entirely the fire of the love of god. but if the love of god kindle more in the soul , it banishes quite self-love . which arrives unto the purified souls , which scarce feel any more their self-love , when that of god hath gotten the upper-hand in the soul . they live and die in that love , and despise self-love . but he that lives in self-love , is a slave of sin , and commits it upon all occasions . but he that would evite these perils , should have spiritual diligence , to watch over all his words and actions , to resist the corruption which sin hath brought unto human nature ; which is so corrupted by sin , that it can produce no more any good , temporal or spiritual , since retired from the love of god , wherein is all good ; it is fallen into self-love , wherein is all evil ; which produces always its like . so that whatever we do by our natural motion , it is altogether evil and sin : and if you could well comprehend that truth , as it is , you should always distrust your self : and never dare to do or undertake any thing , if you would not do evil , and fall into sin . but man's rashness , and ignorance renders him bold , to undertake things spiritual and temporal : as if he were wise and free of corruption ; which often precipitates him into great faults and sins : which they do not perceive until after they are committed ; and so cannot be helpt , i believe , my son , that you have often experienced that in your self , without knowing whence these faults proceeded , seeing your will was to do all well : believe me , they proceed all from spiritual negligence , and because you know not yet sufficiently the corruption of your nature , which you have followed while in the world , you thought your self full wise , when you could order your temporal affairs to your profit : you have not perceived , that the devil could well help you in that ; that by procuring you prosperity , he might detain you always in the affection of earthly things ; and that you should neglect eternal ones , as other merchants , of your profession , do yet : who instead of labouring for the gospel-pearl , labour to follow the will of the devil , the enemy of their souls , without perceiving it . yea , they think it a blessing of god that they prosper in temporal affairs : but it is often a curse , seeing god gives his friends temporal adversities , and reserves for them eternal joys . but to men that have done some temporal good in this world , but have not overcome the corruption of their corrupt natures , god recompences the temporal good they have done in this world , with temporal prosperities , because god leaves no good without recompence , nor evil without punishment . wherefore i pray you , my son , to watch over your soul with spiritual diligence , that you let not one word or action escape , that proceeds from your corrupted nature : seeing it produces all sorts of sins , which would finally lead you to eternal damnation . but labour to resist manfully the corruption of your nature , by a spiritual diligence . so you must always watch over your words and actions , that the devil gain you not by spiritual negligence , which she wishes you , who loves your soul . husum , febr. 1. 1674. s. vet . antonia bourignon . the xxiii . letter spiritual diligence is necessary to salvation . to the same ; to whom is shewn the necessity of spiritual diligence , to watch over all the actions of our corrupt nature , and proper will , and to acquire the knowledge of our selves . moreover , that spiritual negligence , is a fountain of all evils , and is alone sufficient to damn us ; because it renders our soul rude , and like to a cursed ground , which bears only thorns and thistles , and so , is far from meekness , lowliness , and humility of heart . my son ; i have entertained you largely of the necessity of spiritual diligence , which we must have in this perilouslife . i have shewn you how necessary it is unto salvation , and that without it none can be saved , because of the many enemies we have to war against . i must now shew you all the evils , which spiritual negligence causes ; it is a pest in the good air of virtue : for although you had acquired a great number of virtues , they could not subsist in your soul without spiritual diligence , seeing in this world we cannot be free of enemies , who attacque us continually . we might well be for some time , in repose in virtue : but that repose should be the most dangerous combat of our souls , which thinking to take rest , as did the rich man in the gospel , who had his granderies filled ; but it was said unto him , thou fool , this night thy soul shall be required of thee , and whose shall then these things be ? the same shall be said to them , who think they have acquired so many virtues , and yet have not spiritual diligence . for they shall find themselves deceived at death , because they have not watched over their virtues , having suffered the corruption of their nature to reign . for if you be not diligent in virtue , to watch and be aware , that vain-glory insinuate not it self ; it will take away all the force and merit of your virtue : seeing god says , sacrificespb . so he hath no need of our virtue , when it is accompanied with esteem of our selves , or with vain-glory , as when we artribute any good unto our selves ; seeing we are truely filled with all evils , where is no good . for man's nature is so corrupted by sin , that there remains to him no good spiritual or temporal . so that we may with truth say , that there remained nothing in man after sin , but ignorance , malice , and power to do evil . i know my son ; you have to oppose , that man by his nature can do some good ; as we see the wicked do in regard of their temporal affairs ; they gain money , and assist their neighbour . one can write well , another make accompts , one can paint well , another is a good carpenter , or other mechanique , which is good and necessary for the present life : how then can we say with truth , that man can do no good , even in temporals : it appears necessary that i should explain my self , that i be not argued of falshood ; i know that all men in general , and every one in particular ▪ believe that they have something good in themselves , and that they can do well according to their knowledge . which is also true in regard of some , even imperfect before god ; such are they that have the skill to exercise some art , or trade which they have learnt . i experienced that in the girles of my hospital at lisle ; for they did very well what i had taught them ; though otherways i knew , that they had given their souls to the devil , and were joyned to him by explicite compact . that did not hinder , that they should learn well to sew , cleanse , spinn , read and write , and manage housholdrey , and several other things which they did very well . so that it would appear not to be true , which i averred , viz. that man hath nothing good in him , and can do no good . for we see they do several goods things , even to the view of men . but you must know , that all the good they do , proceeds not from them , but from god , who hath bestowed it on them by particular grace and mercy , or else they have learnt it of other men . for it is a certain truth , that man hath not of himself any thing but sin , and that he can do no good spiritual or temporal ; since all good comes from god ; and all evil from man , and the devil : but when one hath learnt any good from god , he can teach it to his neigbour . but he cannot have that good of himself , because sin hath filled him with all evil , and deprived him of all good . and we cannot bring out of a thing , what is not in it . for if the fire were not latent in the flink , it would not come out , by striking on the iron , and if virtue were not in a soul , it would not appear upon occasion . so as it appeared in job , in the midst of so many tentations : for he blessed god , saying , when he was informed of the death of his children , god gave them , and god hath taken them ; blessed he his holy name . which was a grace ; which he had received of god , it was planted in his soul , and so produced fruit in its reason . but he that lives yet in the corruption of his nature , can produce nothing but sins , and evil , since he hath nothing but that in him ; and no good can proceed out of his soul , because there is none in it . therefore man is sottish to believe that he can do good temporal or spiritual , seeing in effect , he ruins whatever he touches , and can do no good , but by the particular grace of god. but because man does not sufficiently study spiritual diligence , that he may come to know himself , he easily perswades himself , that he is wise to do things , spiritual and temporal , without noticing , that his nature is altogether corrupted by sin . he speaks , works and acts of himself , as if he knew to do any good , though all that proceeds from the corruption of our nature is evil . man then ought always to have that distrust of himself , that he never follow his own proper will ; for whatever proceeds from it is evil ; and he that believes not that truth , shall fall into many excesses and sins . therefore is it that jesus christ hath taught christians to deny themselves ; and more , he gives himself an example of that denial : saying , i am not come to do my own will , but the will of him that sent me . now if there could in all the human nature , be a good will , it was assuredly that of jesus christ ; and we learn in the gospel , that he renounced altogether his own will : saying to his father , not my will , but thine be done . and he said so because he knew , that the wills of all men were corrupted by adam's sin ; and consequently cannot be followed , without doing evil . and therefore jesus christ himself would not follow his own will , knowing well , that ( as to his mortal nature ) his own proper will was evil ; * as are those of all other men , unto whom he would make himself like , when he put on our mortality . now if jesus christ prays his father , that his proper will , be not done ; how much more ought man , corrupted by his own sins , beside the corruption of adam's sin , which all men have contracted from him ? it is thence that their wills are become evil ; and so produce all sorts of sins ; which we cannot evite , but by a spiritual diligence , watching continually over the motions of our proper will , that we may resist sin . for if we fall into spiritual negligence , our own will shall always have the upperhand , and govern all our words and actions , which shall be always evil ; and so we shall commit continual sins , without perceiving it ; and it is by that spiritual negligence alone , that souls perish insensibly , and from which all sorts of evil proceed . we may see that truth in temporal and corporal things ; for when they are neglected , they catch always hurt . if we neglect a new born infant , it must of necessity die for lack of vigilance : if we take not care after to teach it , in speaking , walking and labouring , it shall grow up like a beast ; and when it is come to the use of reason , it must labour , trade , or study , if it would subsist , and have necessary aliment . so that , all sorts of evils should befal it by that negligence , in things corporal ; and it would even rot and be eaten of vermin , if neglected to be cleansed . what evils does not negligence bring in civil matters ? countreys and citties are ruined by want of fore-seeing ; for if a lord or governour of a countrey , be not diligent to watch over what he hath in charge , his enemies will surprise him , and he will lose his honout , and goods , while asleep . and if the magistrate of a city , be not diligent to watch over his citizens they shall forget their duty , and introduce into the republique evils which after they cannot remedy : and that because they have by their negligence suffered them too long . the same is it with the master of a house or society : if he neglect to watch over his subjects , he shall find himself oppressed with confusion , which he cannot redress afterward . negligence in business , empoverishes many , and loses their honour by infamous banquerupts . also by negligence , are lost the grain and fruit of the earth ; when we do not sow and reap them in due season : it destroys the houshold provision ; brings rust on the iron ; moths in cloaths ; and rotting in linnens , and in fine , negligence brings many rich men to poverty ; disgraces those that were in honour and reputation , it brings damage and evil unto every thing , even to the smallest things . for if but one stitch in your stockings slip , and you neglect to mend it , that stitch will quiekly become a great hole , and in the end rent the whole stocking , which your diligence might have preserved for some years . it is even so with many other things which diligence preserves in good order , whereas by negligence they are destroyed , and brought to confusion ; yea , it often causes death . for if a disease were well attended at the beginning , it were often easily cured : but negligence renders it difficult , and sometimes incurable ; as if a pleuritique be let blood too late , he must die : and if the nature of the sick be not known to apply timely suitable remedies for his indisposition , he must die . that is the reason , that men now adays live so short a while , in regard of adam and his successors , who lived to several hunderds of years , because they knew the disposition of nature better ; each knew what was good and needful for himself on every occasion : but now , while men are ignorant of nature , they take often remedies contrary to their evils , and neglect such as might cure them . but this corporal or civil negligence , though it causes so many evils , is nothing in regard of spirituall negligence : seeing the first causes only temporal and transitory evils ; and the other , eternal ones . it deprives man of all sorts of good , and subjects him to all sorts of evil , which is eternal damnation . for he that hath not spiritual diligence to watch against the enemies of his soul , and for the means he should embrace to his salvation , he must perish by that only negligence , though he committed no other sin ; for it is of our souls , that the scripture says , in the perfect sense , the ground that is not laboured , shall bring forth thistles and bryars : because the ground of our souls became cursed by sin , and being fallen into that curse , it can no more bear any wholsom fruit , without bestowing on it a great diligence . we must trench and till it with the iron of penitence , to tilk the tares , and bad weeds of corruption , which have sprung up in the earth of our souls , for if these be not rooted out , they shall suffocate always the good grain of true virtue , which should thereby be stifled , though sowed in good quantity in our souls : we must maintain it by a continual diligence , otherwise it will bear no fruit ; we must watch over our enemies ; we must always resist the inclinations of that corrupt nature ; and finally , we must continually study the knowledge of our selves . for he that knows not himself , is ignorant of all , and cannot arrive at the virtue to be meek and lowly and humble of heart which jesus christ says , we should learn of him . no other means can be found than that , he that knows not the miseries , ignorance , and malediction , wherein sin hath brought us , cannot be meek . he shall on the contrary be fierce and arrogant , and presume to be worthy of honour and esteem : which shall also take away and hinder his meekness toward his neighbour ; and also his humility of heart . for he that knows not himself ▪ thinks he hath need of no person , and consequently will not be meek nor kind toward his neighbour ; and yet less humble of heart : which comes for want of knowledge of his misery , and the miserable estate into which sin hath reduced him : and so he cannot humble himself , according to the doctrine of jesus christ which is so good and salutary , unto which i exhort you , my son , that you follow it to your eternal happiness . and i am your well-affected in jesus christ , antonia bourignon . husum feb. 3. 1674. st. vet . the xxiv . letter . men are idolaters of their own corruption , and enemies of virtue . to the same ; advertising him , that the continuation of that subject is interrupted by the devils exciting the wise of this world , enemies of virtue , and friends , of corrupt nature , to distract the mind of the writer by their disputes , lies and calumnies , and all manner of persecutions . my son ; i have yet many things to say to you , of solid virtue : but the time is wanting to me at present , seeing my enemies are all earning to hinder it . i doubt not but it is the devil , our common enemy , who will not suffer that we speak of solid virtue beside , he keeps men at present in spiritual negligence , with apparent virtues ; and they take them for solid and true ones , therefore would he make them rest in the love of themselves , without arriving at solid virtue . now while he cannot hinder that i should discover it , because god discloses it to me ; he endeavours to his power to hinder its being published : he induces divers persons to write against me , to take up my time , in answering them ; and to entertain me with matters of contention , instead of that of solid virtue . which bereaves me of my time , and gives me the displeasure of leaving this treatise of solid virtue . yet i must apply my self to repel the calumnies and lies which they have dispersed against me in divers places . as some in england have also done , so i was obliged to write a large advertisment against them ; for if i did not give testimony to the truth , against so many fall accusations and sies , which they 've made ; i should be guilty of the sin which these false accusations produce ; and should be the cause , that good persons did not follow the truths which i propagate from god. for so many false reports would render them suspect ; the rather when i am not attacqued by the common people ; but by the ministers and learned , which are esteemed worthy of credit . these wise and learned strive at present to kill the spirit of jesus christ , as such like before killed his body ; you have seen the defamatory treatise , which john berckendal , in name of the ministers of calvins reformation , in altena , hath composed against me . and i was obliged to give testimony to the truth , against so many falshoods , by a great teatise ; whereto are joyned the testimonies of a great many persons , yet alive , and worthy of credit . that work hindered me from writing more to you of solid virtue : though i know that to be very profitable and necessary for you , and for all that desire and aspire at becoming true christian as you do . there are at present so many persons deceived by apparent virtues , and who learn always and never come to the knowledge of the truth . they think they are already in true virtue ; whereas they are yet altogether in the love of themselves . therefore is the devil so angry , when i write of true virtue ; lest the deceit of the false be discovered by the true . but the devil cannot hinder me to know it , since god discovers it to me : so he attempts to bereave me of the time to write it , that neither you , nor other souls that aspire after it , should know it . that is the cause why he incites divers persons to write against me , that so i may not have time to write of solid virtue . he labours to occupy me always in opposing slanderers . but he deceives himself : for among the refutations of the calumnies of my enemies , i intermix always something of solid virtue . it ought to be unto you , my son , a discipline to regulate well your life , and become a true disciple of jesus christ . examin well then all that comes from my pen , and you shall always find therein more and more enlightning and wholsom instruction ; which you shall find principally in the ( 23 ) letters which i have written last to you , concerning the words of jesus christ , learn of me , for i am meek and lowly , and humble of heart : all that matter shall suffice for aliment to your soul , until i can write more unto you , which i shall do when i have answered two treatises , which the disciples of labadie have composed against me . i have not yet had leisure to read them ; but i conjecture that they shall be , as the rest , full of errors and calumnies . and that , because all they that follow the motions of corrupt nature , are in error and falshood , and are not in quiet nor at peace with the truth ; because these are two contraries , which always exclude one th' other . and therefore is it , that all these learned schollars oppose the doctrine which i advance . it is not such as they have learnt in the schools , besid● neither will they approve any thing but what maintains them in honours , profit , eases , and commodities of this life . to which the doctrine of jesus christ is quite contrary : for it speaks of nothing but poverty , contempt , sufferings , and persecution for righteousness sake ; and by consequence , the doctrine of the learned now adays , is altogether antichristian ; that is to say , contrary to that of jesus christ . not that their words are dissonant ; for they read the same gospel which jesus christ and his apostles taught ; but they gloss and explain so the words of the gospel , that they bring forth a quite perverse sence ; notwithstanding they live in quiet ; though all their actions , manners , and desires be quite contrary to the gospel doctrine . for every one now idolizes his own proper will ; and jesus christ said , that we must renounce it . methinks all christendom is become at present the people of ephesus , which adored the great diana ; with this difference , that christians now adays adore the corruption of the flesh , whereas those adored a statue of gold or silver . for we see these learned strive who can best find out subtil inventions , by which they may flatter men in their sins , or perswade them , that they may well follow the motions of their corrupt nature , and withall attain to salvation ; so that every one follows that doctrine , without perceiving that it is evil . that is the reason , why every one adores that diana of corrupt nature as a goddess ; and so they bestow all their time and goods to nourish , honour , and satisfie corrupted nature . and more , they think , there is no evil in so doing , while the ministers and learned do the same ; and promise salvation to the people that live in that idolatry . but they ought to teach in effect , the mortification of their senses , the corruption of their natures , how much it is ruined by sin , and finally , the necessity of denying our selves , to be saved ; as jesus christ taught by word and works . but these savage pastors will not teach so unto their flocks ; and will yet less put it in practice themselves ; yea , nor will not suffer another to teach these christian truths . it is for that , they pursue me every where , and would gladly exterminate me because i have written of true virtue . the same befel st. paul by them of ephesus , who would exterminate him , when he taught the truth : saying one to another , that they should lose their gain if they suffered paul to continue preaching jesus christ : that he would ruin the worship of the great diana , and cause that the goldsmiths should gain no more in the workmanship of the image of diana . it goes just so with these learned ones , who are as the masters of the great diana of corrupt nature ; which every one adores for his own particular . but the learned are the masters , to gain money by the worship and adoration of corrupt nature : so they speak and teach the people such things as please their corruption ; and endeavour to please men , that they may receive advantages of them , which they will not lose . when then i begin to speak of true virtue , they are all allarmed against me , as they of ephesus were against st. paul : but these learned take also the judges to their assistance , and persecute me , that i should be banisht , or be discharged to write or speak of true virtue . some wish me dead , others burnt , others that i were thrown in the midst of the sea , that i might speak no more of solid virtue , and so their gain and trade be not diminisht , and their shops become unfrequented ; that is , that they sell no more their frivolous discourses to please men . it is that , which at last allarm'd them so at flensburg , whither i had gone about some business ; for the ministers no sooner had any suspicion , that i was in their town , but they preached in divers churches , that i am an arrant and pernicious person , that i have a devilish doctrine , and finally no person should lodge me . so that i behoved to come out secretly , lest i should be massacreed by the rable and children : whom the preachings of the ministers had animated against me : for they had spoken of me with great spite and horrours , proclaming publickly , that my doctrine is worse than that of the jews : adding beside , that my doctrine is a mass of all the old heresies that ever were in the world . yet i will not teach any thing , by my writings or discourse , but what jesus christ taught ; and if there is any thing contrary to that in them , i detest and revoke it ; as i have often offered to revoke , all that they would shew me to be contrary to the holy scripture . but it is not for errors they persecute me , or any evil in my writings ; seeing they can shew me nothing such therein , they persecute me then because i declare truely , what is true virtue , and how a true christian should live , to be a disciple of jesus christ . i know well they mask these things ; saying , that there are errors in my writings : but no person shews me these errors . they know not what to say , to contemn the truths which i maintain ; for the learned said first , that i bring nothing of new ; and that they taught and preached tho same things twenty years agot : but when they saw in the book entituled , the testimony of the truth , particulars and truths more clear in divine mysteries , than those they learnt in the schools ; they say presently that they are errors ; and that never any person wrote such things . so that , it behoved , that god should regulate all according to their studies ; and should not give any new graces to men now adays : but that he should measure his light by the rule of their scholastique doctrine ; and should , not send the holy spirit , promised by jesus christ who shall teach all truths . men then resist that holy spirit , and will not hear of other truths , but those they have learnt in the schools . it is every lamentable to see men such enemies of their eternal happiness , in rejecting the light of the truth , which comes in this last time : as the prophets of god have fore-told : that he will pour out his spirit on all flesh , and that your sons and daughters shall prophecy , and the old men see visions . now because i repeat the same things , with many others from god , they would kill me , as was done to the ancient prophets : they think to hinder by that , that true virtue should be known and far more , practised . but though they should kill me , the spirit of god shall not die for that ; and rhe truth shall always be true . for if i should not speak it , the dead would speak or the stones , to declare it unto men : and tho , these ministers put me to death ; god hath yet more than a hunderd millions of persons , whom he can use to declare the same truths , which i advance . and therefore , my son , i exhort you to retain them well , and put them in practice : for though i were not in the world , you must nevertheless save your own soul ; cost what it will , if you will enjoy god to all eternity . which she wishes you with all her heart , who loves your happiness . husum , febr. 5. 1684. st. vet . antonia bourignon . the end of the first part of the treatise of solid virtue . extracts of some of the works of mrs . antonia bourignon . belonging to some most essential matters of christianism and health . letter i. of toleration ; that it ought never to go the length of communicating with sin , directly , or indirectly . of the essential , and of the perfection of christianity . of religions , worships and ceremonies , and their use . this letter was written to one of her intimate's , mr. van de velde , and is the second of light arising in darkness , 3. part . sir , 1. i know you seek the perfection of your soul , and that you aspire after god i know also that he hath imparted of his grace to you , and particularly taught you his will in some things : but i know also that you have not yet received the holy spirit , which should teach us all truths , seeing you discern not yet well evil from good , and love all indifferently by a natural goodness , as did adam , who knew very well the consolation and quiet which a soul finds in entertaining it self with god ; but knew not what evil was , because he had never proved it . he was created in pleasures and delights , and conversed with his god , in peace ; without apprehending the evil which might come upon him , in abandoning god to please himself with the creatures ; and therefore did he so easily fall into sin , before he perceived the mischiefs and miseries it would cause him . 2. and almost the same is befallen you , my dear brother ; for when you enjoyed sweet entertainment with god , you remained in the sensualities of corrupted nature , by which you have insensibly lost commerce with god ; because so soon as he sees one take pleasure in any thing else but himself , he retires by little and little , and leaves the soul to live to it self , which precipitates it self often into divers evils , because our proper will engenders death , since it was corrupted by sin . 3. you did love good , and do yet love it , but you have not enough hated evil , because you did not well know it , perswading your self , that you did well enough , when you supported it in others , not perceiving that we can sin in another nine ways ; the first is in consenting thereto : 2d , in councelling it ; 3d. in tolerating it : 4th , in assisting it : 5th , in defending evil : 6th , in commanding it : 7th , in partaking with it : 8th , in not hindering it when in our power : 9th , in hiding it from him that would hinder it . 4. all these are not enough considered , and we easily fall into them without considering it . although we desire to please god , the devil often surprises us by sins without us , when he perceives that he cannot prevail to get us to commit them in our selves ; for he hath as much power over us by the sins which we commit in another , as by them we commit in our selves ; seeing they shall both alike be imputed to us ; and if i did not advertise you of it , you might easily fall into them without perceiving it . for example ; you converse with persons that are avaritious , proud , or stained with any other sins : they ate subject and inferiour to you as your wife and children , or your men or maid-servants : or hirelings , or whoever they be over whom you have authority , notwithstanding lest you should displease them , or lose their friendship , you consent to their committing of sin , without daring or willing to resist it . all these sins which are committed with your consent , shall assuredly be imputed as if you had committed them your self : to councel to do evil , that you will not so long as you fear god ; but for suffering it , in others i doubt you do it sometimes , because you have not enough of hatred to sin ; as when you see one deceive in selling to or labouring for you , and yet continue to buy of him or employ him in labour , that is assuredly to suffer the evil which he commits . 5. it were better to be in necessity , without dealing with them that sell or labour by avarice , fraude or deceit ; for the soul is more precious than the body , which ought rather to endure its necessities , than to supply them to the prejudice of its soul , which is assuredly defiled by suffering the sins of another , and yet more by assisting and helping evil , as he that would give goods to one that is avaricious , gluttonous , proud , slothful or a drunkard , would assist him to go on in his sins , and commit more with the gifs and assistances he affords him : and if we defend or excuse the evil of another , we also become guilty of the same ; for we ought never to excuse or defend it , lest we so maintain the evil-doer in his sins , to commit which our corrupt nature needs no encouragment , and whoever affords it , is partaker of the sin of the other . although it is commonly said , that we should excuse the faults of other , and assist sinners ; that is a false theologie , very hurtful to the upright , who are often deceived by evil for lack of knowing it . 6. also you are not in hazard to command evil , so long as you fear god , neither would you ever partake with manifest sin , as with robbery ; for god hath delivered you by his grace from avarice ; yet you must take care to hinder evil when in your power , or else the omission would render you partaker of the evil committed ; and even so when you do not declare it to them that would hinder it . all these sins or part of them may be committed by good men , who aspire after perfection , particularly when they are of a good disposition naturally they take all in good part . i have sometimes slipt into some such faults by too much natural goodness or human regard ; but after god shewed me clearly these sins which we commit in another , which i impart to you because i love your perfection as much as my own by a true christian charity ; seeing that you aspire unto its perfection , which i will also shew wherein it consists ; for the darkness of this world is at present so great , that the souls that are well enclined know nor whither they walk in regard of perfection , taking often the false for true , and imperfect for perfect , and that because they have now taught so many divers means to perfection , that one knows not which to take for the surest . * one says we must go frequently to church , and frequent the sacraments . another places christian perfection in entering into some religious fraternity or convent . others in fastings and macerating the body . all these things were good if well used , but these are not the end , nor that wherein christian perfection consists ; for these may be performed by them that shall never attain to salvation : because no external thing perfects the soul , nor can they defile it . they are only the means whereby we more easily attain to virtue , or by abuse fall more easily into sin . 8. every soul in particular ought to use the external means which excites them most to christian virtue ; and evite also things that engage them unto sin ; for it is written , whoso loveth hazard , shall perish in it . so that he that feels himself so weak in chastity that he hath not the force to look upon woman , without lust , he ought not to look upon one ; and he that drinks drunk when he hath wine , ought also to abstain from it : and so of all other things , though in themselves they be not evil , because of our infirmity they cause evil ; as others occasion good and virtue in our soul , when these means of perfection are used for their end . 9. for example , if you find by a true experience , that you are more united to god in going to church , or frequenting the sacraments ; you are obliged to use these means as much as possible : for every one ought always to seek his own further perfection : but if those means effect nothing in your soul , you should not use them ; and if you return better into god , in being shut up in your closet , you are obliged to remain there , and not divert your self by going to church ; and if your soul feels more union with god in solitude than when you seek that union by frequenting the sacraments , you ought to keep you solitary , and there feast inwardly with your god ; for a good conscience is a continual feast ; where the soul reposes and recreates it self with his god. and therefore it hath not always need of external means to excite it self to that union . 10. for often god prevents it with a spiritual joy and contenrment : without that it knows whence that joy had its origin ; for god is a spirit no ways tyed to material things , neither to time , places , nor any means whatsoever ; he being a spirit , and the soul a spirit , they comunicate in spirit : and he that hath need to seek god in different religions and fellowships , is not very far advanced in the knowledge of god , and knoweth not yet the place where he feedeth at noon , nor where he resteth at night : for if he knew that , he would not run from one religion to another to find god ; but would remain fixed in himself , because the center of our hearts is the palace of honour , where god rests and takes his delights . all the fraternities and religions in the world cannot give that union with god ; we must find it in our selves ; and though the perfectest societies , may well serve as means to lead us to christian-perfection , yet they cannot save us without the inward virtues . 11. one boasts that he is a catholique , another that he is reformed , others will be spiritual , because in orders , or of the reformation of menno : truely , my dear brother , all those things are not good , and can yield no perfection to our souls : to build our salvations upon any religions , is to deceive our selves ; seeing none of them can save us without having in our souls true christian perfection . 12. † if the rules or statutes of any religion serve us as means by which we experiment , that they unite us to god , we are obliged to embrace and follow them ; for we must esteem the means as one would esteem the sheath of a sword of grear price : but never esteem the sheath so precious as the sword , which is within , seeing it can never serve us to fight against our enemies , nor make them retire from us . the devil , the world and the flesh are our three sworn enemies , which continually attacque our souls , whom we must fight with the sword of faith and the buckler of charity ; for if we think to overcome them with the outward sheath of our religions , the devil should laugh at us ; we should laugh at a souldier , who would fight his enemy with the sheath of his sword : it is yet more ridiculous to see how christians would gain the kingdom of heaven , by their religions , which cannot save them without the love of god and charity to their neighbours . 13. * it is nothing but amusements and folly , to fix themselves upon such an order , or such a religion , or to believe that they shall be saved for being enrolled in the most perfect order or religion in the world . if you think to be saved for being of the catholique religion , without a living faith , hope in god , and charity to your neighbour , you are deceived ; for no person is truely catholique , but he that is in the communion of the saints ; seeing to be catholique is nothing else than to be united in heart and will with all the souls that are united in the spirit of jesus christ . behold what makes the communion of saints and the assembly of catholiques . but if you see and feel that the rules of the catholiques , lead you unto god , you must observe them faithfully , and rather die than slip from them : for as it is certain that he that loves peril shall perish therein ; so is it certain , that he who embraces faithfully the means of his perfection , shall be perfected : by reason of the infirmity of our nature it must always be aided and sustained by the means that can strengthen it . 14. but if our souls were arrived at union with god , they should no more need to use any means ; because then love is a law unto it self ; and that union overcomes all the motions of corrupt nature , to which we have then no more need to resist by fastings or other macerations of the body , which means are good for those that have given loose reins to their sensuality in eating and drinking , or have allowed their body other carnal pleasures , the habit of such ordinarily not yielding , but by doing things quite contrary : because our nature is as an undaunted horse , which is not tamed , but furious and unruly , which we cannot tame after we have let him follow his liberty , but by the bridle and spurs of mortifications of the flesh . 15. see there , my dear brother , how you may learn to regulate well your soul , and discern wherein perfection consists , that you take not apparent virtue for real ; for ours is that dangerous time whereof jesus christ prophecyed , saying , that we must take heed , and that many false christs and false prophets shall arise , and shall do great signs and miracles . i know you are fallen into evil insensibly , and by little and little have lost entertainment with god , by ignorance , and for not having enough hated evil , nor known the sins which you can commit in another ; but you must resume courage , and begin anew , considering more narrowly in what consists christian perfection ; that as adam did no more fall into sin , after he knew the evil it had brought on him ; so you fall no more into the sensualities of nature ; but follow the conduct of the motions of the holy spirit , as adam did when he knew them : for his whole life was a continual penitence and regret for having deserted entertainment with god. 16. and if you have that perfect regret , it will be impossible for you to relapse again into natural sensualites , seeing that they have interrupted yout communion with god : that regret will purge your soul , and dispose it to recover that union , while i shall endeavour by mine that shall follow , to shew you what true virtue is , and of whom you are to learn it , that you be not deceived by any body , and that you may discern truely between true and false perfection , in which many well-meaning persons are deceived of themselves and others ; and your self has not yet gotten that light of true discerning to know things as they are before god , taking them only as they appear to mens judgments , who often deceive ; for it is written , that all men are liars ; yea we lie often even to our selves , perswading our selves that we know and understand mystique things , while we are wholly ignorant of them . here follow some conferences , taken out of the third part of the light of the world . conference xi . declares , how we must be regenerated to enter into the kingdom of heaven : and that we must return into the dependance of god , which is the only thing which god requires essentially of man. i asked her , how that regeneration could be performed for persons already advanced in age and doctrine ? she said , sir , we must take wholly a new life , as if we were newly born to day : because all the good which we esteem our selves to have done heretofore is evil , or at least good for this life : for all our good works have always been accompanied with self-love , or with human considerations , (a) which can never be recompensed in eternity , because we have here received their reward . what we do by self-love is recompensed by our satisfaction : and what we do by human considerations is recompensed by the complacency of men : so that we can never in justice pretend any thing else , being fully satisfied in this world after the pretensions and ends which we have had in doing our good works . although they have been covered with the cloak of the glory of god , or charity toward our neighbour , all hath been in effect but vanity . therefore is it that he who will be converted , must assume (b) a life wholly new , and believe that he hath never done one only action purely for the love of god. which he shall know sufficiently by examining all the sins against the holy spirit , and them which we commit in another , with the eight beatitudes , and the other solid virtues . every one may thereby see how far he is alienated from the state of the blessed , which jesus christ hath declared in these eight beatitudes ; and if he hath the will to acquire them , how he must take up a wholly new life , and become as a child newly born , who suffers himself to be governed by his heavenly father . neither age nor learning can hinder that we abandon our selves unto god , suffering our selves to be ruled as it pleaseth him : because the more we are advanced in age , the more must we make haste to recover our salvation , because we have but the small time that our life endures . the conversion of persons in age should not be deferred one day , lest their life escape , and there be no more recovery , because (c) after death there is no more remission . the learned must also acknowledge , that all their wisdom is but ignorance before god , which is often an impediment unto his graces : and that the time is come , (d) when he will destroy the wisdom of the wise ▪ and abolish the prudence of the prudent , that (e) all may receive the kingdom of heaven as little children . i said unto her , that it was very desirable to be of the number of them who shall be converted ; and that i would be the first to abandon my self wholly unto god as a little child . she said : sir , no person can be entirely converted if he do not know the sins ; and also the true vertues . these two things are necessary : for otherwise men should think they were converted , while they were yet full of sins , and had not yet acquired any solid virtues . therefore is it that i have spoken unto you so particularly , that you should not remain in the darkness which invirons all the men in the world. there should yet be found many who would turn and be converted : but very few who know their internal sins , and yet fewer who know what true virtue is . all these would make conversions false before god : for if they do not know their hidden sins , they cannot amend them ; and if they do not know what true virtue is , they cannot practise it . the ignorance of these two things hinders that they cannot be converted unto god , nor yield themselves to be governed by him . that then must be learned first of all , to know the state of their soul , in what degree of sin it is , and also in what degree of true virtue . if these things were known , there should be yet many who would embrace the spirit of penitence , and abandon themselves unto god as little children : but because they know not the state of their conscience , many perish insensibly , (f) not knowing their miseries . if you will , sir , be abandoned unto god as a child , think that all that you have done hitherto is of no value ; and cast your self (g) in gods arms , who is your father , as a child who cannot speak , that he may teach your every thing . he shall do it assuredly : for it is his desire , (h) that we be converted unto him : when we withdraw from him by our sins , he suffers it , because he will not retract the free will which he hath once given us : for he is (i) immutable in all his works : but so soon as we return unto him by penitence , he receives us as the father did his prodigal child , (k) accepts us for his child , and heir of his glory . but if you think to continue in your proper wisdom , you shall never receive the holy spirit : you must become simple as a child , and not will any more to use your proper will , remitting and reposing it wholly in gods hands , giving him the reins of your proper will , that he may guide it , and conduct it whither he pleaseth , and that you may no more be able to abuse it , as hitherto you have done : which you must confess with regret : for if our will had been ruled by god , we had never come into such extremities of all evils . i said unto her , that i must confess that my will had not been ruled by god , because i had not known as at present the manner of abandoning my self unto god. she said : sir , no man can ever be saved unless he know that he must be entirely abandoned unto god : because that is the first and last commandment which he hath given unto man : and to speak better , it is the only thing which god requires of man. if we would absolutely depend upon god we should fulfil all the law and the prophets . that is the only thing necessary . all that i can ever have said , sir , is comprehended in the dependance which we ought to have upon god , because he hath never required any thing else of man , ( and also shall never for the future so long as the world lasts ) but that dependance which he owes unto god. it is a very small matter that he requires of us . it is also great ingratitude (l) that we deny him that dependance upon him : seeing he is the lord and creator of every thing , that he hath created us of nothing , and giveth all that we have , to enjoy it in full liberty , provided only we have always the acknowledgment that we depend upon him in every thing . could that great god demand less of a little earth-worm , than the acknowledgment of the dependance of his god ? it is athing so just , that although god had never testified that he desired that of man , he was obliged always to acknowledge it ; seeing all came truely-from him , and he had enriched him with so many graces and prerogatives , which obliged him unto a continual acknowledgment , even although he had never had more than a natural reason : for they say , that brute and cruel beasts have acknowledged some good deed of men all the days of their life ; and man with an understanding so compleat will not acknowledge the dependance which he hath upon god , nor submit his will un-unto that of god , although he be so good (m) as to desire it : for if god were not an excess of goodness , he would rather disdain men , of so little worth , than to permit them to unite their will unto his . nevertheless he permits and desires it , yea threatens and rejects them who will not do it , as jesus christ threatened st. peter (n) when he would not be washed by him . if we had but a very little judgment , we should say unto god , that he should not permit only our will to be united unto his ; but rather , that ours should be wholly annihilated , and he exerce his over us only and absolutely . i asked her , how she understood that , in saying , that the acknowledgment of the dependance of god , was the only commandment of god , seeing he hath made so many divers ones . she said : sir , there is only that commandment alone essential ; all the others are accidental . for when god had created adam , and all men in him (o) he gave him the power over all subordinate things , having subjected all living creatures unto him , that he might rule over all as a little god , without reserving any thing , but that he should always acknowledge the dependance which he had upon his creator ; beside that , that he might , rule over every thing as a dependent deity : and to denote that dependance , he forbids him to eat of the fruit of one only tree ; permitting him to taste all the others : which signified , that man might use , enjoy , and rule over every thing , provided that he always acknowledged his dependance upon that supreme deity , of whom he held every thing : and if adam had not forgotten himself , in forsaking that dependance , to depend upon himself , he had never received any other commandment from god , nor all other men after him ; but the justice of god was obliged to make other commandments unto him for penitence of his disobedience : he enjoins him (p) to labour the earth , and gain his living with the sweat of his face ; which was the second cummandment which god made unto man , which yet is only accidental by adam's fall , and not essential by the will of god , who loved well to see him free , without subjecting him unto any thing but himself alone . and when he made the commandments given unto moses for the people of israel , that was also by accident ; for if they had not forgot themselves in so many divers sins , which withdrew them from the dependance of god , he had never given them divers commandments ; but fearing lest his people should perish through ignorance , he gave them always commandments , that by means of them they might know their sins , and amend them , otherwise god had never constrained man unto any thing else , but to acknowledge him as superiour of all thing : because god had created him to (q) take his delights with him , in full liberty , and without constraint , not willing to subject him unto any other law than that (r) of love : whence appears that all these other commandments are but accidentally appointed , because of the sins which men have committed in divers times , who if they would yet at present reassume that dependance upon god , they should not need all the other commandments nor precepts : because all are but means to attain unto that dependance of god ; and that we might see and know all the things which hinder us to abandon our will unto that of god ; and that knowing them by the commandments , we might remove and correct them , that we might be able to enter again into that dependance which was first enjoyned unto us , as the only thing necessary unto our salvation : as it is yet at present even as then . conference xii . declares , that there is but one only thing to be done , to be saved . i said unto her , that it was very agreeable to hear that there was but one only thing to be done to be saved ; that i would gladly take that short way . she said : no , sir , (ſ) there is nothing but one only thing to be done for salvation : but there are many to be omitted , which give us great impediments and disturbances . we omit to do what serves us as means to arrive at that dependance , and we do what mars it . the penitence which god gave unto adam to gain his living with the sweat of his face , is very little observed by men at present . every one will live without labouring , and they account it a happiness to have riches to live at ease . that is very far to contradict the means which god hath taught us so salutarily . after adam had sinned , and all men in him , he had by his free will departed from that dependance upon god , to become wise of himself : he had rendered himself with all his posterity miserable : because all the miseries which we endure are engendered by willing to do our own will. we must not impute all our miseries unto adam , but only unto our own faults , which we our selves commit . if we had only adam's sin , we should only have the penitence to labour for our living , and endure the intemperance of the elements ; but our own sins cause unto us a thousand other sorts of sufferings . if we would labour , and endure heat and cold , or other intemperances of the said elements , and remit the dependance of our will unto that of god , (t) we should quickly return into the blessed state wherein adam was created ; for our penitence should be accomplished in this short life , which is much shortened by the mercy of god ; and then we should enjoy an eternal beatitude , which should never end : but since our proper actual will would not depend upon god , but upon it self , following its proper inclinations , it hath caused us many other evils , which we attribute unto god , or unto adam ; and if we regarded them truely , we should see that they take their origin and reign from our proper will , and nothing else : for our diseases are often caused by our intemperance in eating and drinking , or other excesses of the body , which we commit to satisfie our proper will , which precipitates us sometimes into some state that causeth us a thousand pains , or some employment , or traffique , which lead us into great troubles of processes , quarrels , disquiets , or other poverties and miseries : and all that proceeds from that we would not submit our will unto that of god , who would have ruled us as a good father his child , having loved rather to follow our own will , and undergo all manner of calamities in this world , and be in peril of suffering after greater ones , which shall never end : because he that will not be guided by god , can never be saved : seeing our proper conduct shall lead us into abyses of all manner of evils , temporal and eternal : because our proper will is ignorant , precipitant , never satiated nor satisfied , not staying for any sorts of evils : although it discover its miseries , it does not amend them , but attributes them unto another , to adam , or else to god : and so flattering themselves always in their own will , they persist therein until death , which gives beginning unto eternity of misery : because no person can be saved of himself , and if they will not give their will unto god , from whom can they expect salvation ? it is great blindness , sir , not to know these truths , which are so evident ; seeing we feel our impotency , and know that we have received all from god , and cannot hope for any thing but from him . and with all these considerations , we will not abandon our will into his , loving rather to be miserable and perish in the end by following our own . we are ingrate unto god , and cruel unto our selves : for it is very great ingratitude to refuse god the only thing that he requires , of our proper will , having given us all the rest ; and great cruelty unto our selves in withdrawing from the dependance of god , to subject our selves unto so many sorts of evils . i asked her , how it was possible that men should refuse god their proper will , seeing all belonged unto him ? she said : sir , all the world does that by effect ; and i know not one only person upon earth who will depend on the will of god : because every one will follow his own proper will : great and small , none excepted , will not abandon their will unto that of god , but will all depend upon their own . is it any wonder that i have said unto you formerly , that none can be saved in the manner that they live at present ? it is an infallible truth , which none have yet discovered , because of the universal darkness which is at present in the world : every one imagins to himself that he will abandon himself unto god , when there is nothing like it : for if that were true , we should not see men so earnest to negociate , or traffique , nor run through cities and countrys to gather money , nor also to solicit for offices , states , or benefices ; because every one remitting himself into the dependance of god , would labour to have only his necessities , and no more , knowing well that this life is short , and that the necessity sufficeth unto a sojourner , who will be loath to burthen himself with things useless or superfluous unto his voyage , which would be a burthen to him . all mens cares , goings & comings , or pretensions for things present , are as many witnesses which affirm that they will not abandon their will unto god , but will follow their own proper will , leaving the penitence which god hath enjoyned , to exalt themselves into states , honours and dignities , seeking to live at our ease , instead of labouring to fulfil the penitence due unto our sins . we act directly contrary unto the will of god , because we cannot be ignorant that he requires that submission and penitence of us . and with all that we say by word , that we are abandoned unto god , and look upon it as a thing impossible , that we should refuse him our will ; which discovers always the more our blindness . i said unto her , that there was truely horrible darkness over the universal world ; and that i my self was environed with them , in believing that i would be abandoned unto god , while i had yet many cares for this life . she said : sir , you see well that your abandon is not true , so long as there are yet cares for this life . it were to have great distrust of god , that after we were abandoned unto his governing , we should yet have cares for temporal things . god , who hath created all things for man , can he refuse him his necessities , when he were abandoned unto him ? if he (u) nourisheth the birds of heaven , who labour not , should he not nourish men in labouring ? we are exceeding full of false perswasions , which flatter us to our ruin . for it is assured , that he who hath resolved to abandon himself unto god , seeks no more earthly things , but those which are eternal . god makes him see sufficiently , that what is here below are but transitory things , which the servant of god should not touch but with the extremity of his foot , because they are unworthy of a soul dedicated unto god , which regards no more any thing but to please him . and if you , sir , have other cares , believe assuredly , that you are not yet abandoned unto him : because that abandon consists in a cessation from every thing , to receive from god only ; and the less self acts , the more we receive . there needs no more but to cease , and to receive . for all our cares and disquiets , or activity for the things of this life , are all impediments , which extinguish the operations which god would produce in our soul. we must cease and rest , to let the holy spirit act alone . if our will be abandoned unto god , he will (w) rule it wisely . let us yield our souls unto his government , and let us labour for accomplishing the penitence due unto our sins , that we may have things necessary for the entertainment of our body : and then we may truely say , that we are abandoned unto god , not before : because the states , cares , and affairs of the world , are all impediments unto that abandon : yea , even so many divers means of devotion as men practise at present are all great impediments , since there is only that abandon alone necessary . i said unto her , that that little word abandon comprehended great things ; that it was nevertheless the philosophers stone to discover the eternal treasures , unto which i aspired . she said : sir , that word of abandon unto god comprehendeth (x) all things : for he that is abandoned unto him , knows him and loves him , and knows also true virtue to follow it , and the falsity of vices to evite them : because god abandons himself unto the soul which is abandoned unto him , and the holy spirit lives in it ; and remaining with it , replenisheth it with his gifts to know every thing , and with his fruits to entertain it : so that all our happiness depends on abandoning our will unto that of god ; and not in many divers things , as men imagin . there needs no more but that abandon to be reunited in grace and favour with god , entirely converted unto him , and out of all sorts of dangers . if you (y) be guilty , abandon your self unto god , he shall presently receive you , and convert you unto himself ; and if (z) you be in fear of his judgments , and of this dangerous time , abandon your self unto him , he shall preserve you , and save you . there is nothing to be done but that alone , to abandon your self unto god , and remain under his dependance . is not that a thing most reasonable , that a creature remain under the dependance of its creator ? must there be commandments and constraints to oblige him unto a duty so just , so good , and so advantagious ? there is no right , divine , human nor civil that can dispense us from so just a thing . notwithstanding we rebel against all manner of rights to adhere unto our proper will , which is so wicked and insolent , which percipitates us into so many sorts of evils ; for all the miseries which we find in this life , proceed from our proper will : and as the abandoning of it unto the will of god , (a) is the accomplishment of all good ; so the possession of it is (b) the consummation of all manner of evils ; so that he who will be converted , needs nothing else but to remit his will into the power of god : in doing that he fulfilleth all the law and the prophets : because they teach us nothing else but means to attain to that abandon . i said unto her , that being supposed , as it is most true , that in acknowledging always that we depend upon god in every thing , we need no other precept nor commandment ; that it was a marvel that she had taught me so many means . she said : sir , i have spoken to you of the state of the world and of the church , that you refer no more thereto by pious beliefs . i have also told you , that we are arrived in the reign of antichrist , lest you should be deceived ; and also that the world is judged , that you flatter not your self by false hopes , believing that it shall yet endure , to continue in negligence . i have also shewed you true virtue , that you be not deceived by that which is only apparent ; having also declared unto you the sins against the holy spirit , and them which we commit in another , that you might be ignorant of nothing that should hinder your abandoning unto god : for the ignorance of good and evil would destroy us insensibly ; and as we are fallen in the time of universal darkness , the common enemy might very easily deceive you , as he doth all the world , perswading you that you are abandoned unto god , when you lived yet wholly unto your self . for that have i explained so many things particularly to you , that you might make a good discretion of the truth from falshood : and that you might assuredly abandon your self unto god according to your desires . and as you can never do good (c) without departing from evil , nor depart from it without knowing it ; i have therefore laboured to discover unto you the good and the evil which reigns at present in the world , to give you the assured marks to know if you are abandoned unto god in truth , or not ; and as the commandments of god are given us to discover unto us what hinders us to be abandoned unto him , and also the evangelical law , that by means thereof we might remove all the impediments of our abandoning us unto god : voluntary poverty being the means to disengage our proper will from desiring perishing goods ; chastity to disengage the same will from desiring the pleasures of the flesh ; and obedience to disengage our desire from accomplishing our proper will ; so all the other evangelical councels , which teach us to omit the things that hinder our abandoning our selves unto god : so i judged it necessary to declare unto you all the things which give let unto that abandon unto god , and also them that may serve us as means to facilitate unto us that abandon , which is the only thing essential (d) which god requires of all them who will be saved . i asked her , if it was sufficient to resolve absolutely , that i will from henceforth absolutely depend upon god , and no more use my own proper will in any thing ? she said : sir , that resolution is a great beginning ; but it were to be feared , that we should not effectually put it in practice through our evil habits so long inveterated . our proper will having always ruled , how can it be entirely subjected , unless by the means which jesus christ hath denoted us in his gospel , which are as so many degrees or steps to mount unto that abandon ? for otherwise we might yet make false suppositions ; as we have done heretofore until now . but when we put in practice the evangelical doctrine , we shall thereby discover , how far we are advanced in that abandon unto god : for if our frailty had not needed these means , god had not taken human flesh to come and teach us them : because he can do nothing unprofitable . you must then stay upon that , sir , and take up simply that evangelical doctrine , which shall teach us all things palpable unto our senses ; which following , we shall assuredly arrive at that abandon : for that is the true way , the most short , and most sure way . although god hath in divers times sent prophets and holy persons to tell men by what means they might recover that abandon unto god , yet have they never done it in such perfection as jesus christ when he was upon earth : because he hath omitted nothing , but hath taught all , so punctually , that men shall never need other instructions : because that is the last mercy which god will exercise toward men , who must expect nothing after the doctrine of jesus christ ; and what hath been taught before or since , hath been nothing comparable unto that evangelical doctrine : we must embrace and follow it , if we will be saved , because it teacheth us all the means of accomplishing the law of god. conference xvii . is a recollection of all the preceding matters ; their end , and use . i rendered her many thanks for the goodness which she had to tell me so many things profitable unto my salvation , promising to practise them as much as it were possible for me . she said : sir , in the practise consists your salvation : for it is a very small matter to know all the conduct of the world , with all its sciences and secrets : if all that do not serve you as means to work out your salvation , all (e) is vanity and delusion : yea , wisdom shall be unto our greater condemnation , when we do not put in practice the good which we know , and do not flee and hate what we know of evil. i had not enlarged to declare to you so many things of good and evil , if i had not remarked that you desire to put them in practise : for to know the essence of virtue without practising it , is nothing else but vain speculations ; and to know the evil without eviting it , is a worse curiosity , which fills our understanding , without fruit . i have spoken of true virtue , that you might follow it rather than the false ; and also of the romish church , that you might not follow it as holy . i have spoken unto you of the reign of antichrist , that you be not deceived by its false appearances of piety : declaring unto you that more then three fourth parts of the world are of his compact , that you might work out your salvation with fear , and might not trust your self unto any person , because the most wicked are the greatest hypocrites , that they may the better deceive . i have told you , that we are in the judgment , and that the last plagues are begun : that you might not refer your salvation unto another time : because that which remains unto us is short . i have told you , that jesus christ shall come upon earth to judge the good and the wicked , and shall there exterminate all evils ; that you might aspire after that felicity , and depart from the misery of them who shall be sent to hell. i have told you , that jesus christ shall remain upon earth to reign there with all the righteous eternally ; that the expectation of that glorious coming might give you strength to sustain with patience the plagues and tribulations which must shortly arrive , the like whereof have not yet been seen . i have told you , that the world shall endure eternally , and that none of the creatures shall perish in their kinds : that the hope of your felicity might not be founded upon imaginary goods , and that we may in some manner comprehend what contentment the souls and bodies of the blessed shall have when all malignity shall be removed from every thing ; that all the elements and other creatures shall then serve for delights unto man , who shall rule over all , united unto jesus christ in body and spirit ; and that , that you might contemn the pleasures of this present life by the hope of these to come . i have told you , that the jews shall turn unto god , and be his people ; and that the catholiques shall be rejected and abandoned : that you might never despise any person ; for the jewish people , the most contemned of all nations , shall be the most exalted ; and (f) of stones shall be made children of abraham ; and that you might willingly leave the maxims of the romish church , which shall for its evil-doings be quickly extermined . i have told you , that man is created for no other end , but to take his delights with god ; that you may no more seek any thing upon earth , and contemn every thing , to enjoy that entertainment with god ; having also told you , that this present life is only a time of penitence ; that all your labours be performed in that spirit of penitence , unto which god hath subjected all men for their sins . finally , sir , i have told you , that all the laws , the prophets , and all virtues consist in the abandon of our will unto that of god : that you be not distracted by so many other divers things ; but might pass your life joyfully under that dependance of god , which is the least thing we could render unto god for so many benefits which we have received of him , which he permits us to enjoy , provided we depend upon him in all things : having also shewed you , that so many divers means which the priests , monks , and religious teach us as means to procure our salvation , are things that withdraw us therefrom , by which we are seduced and deceived : because they make us refer more to men than unto god : which is an idolatry that hath infected all christendom , in which none study to abandon their will unto the will of god ; but every one enjoys and disposes of it at his own pleasure , as if every one were soveraign of himself . one will be great , and another rich ; one will rule over others , and be followed and served ; one goes in a chariot , another upon horseback ; finally , every one will follow his solace and pleasures after his proper inclinations , believing with all that to work out their salvation , because the priests and religious promise it to them . these are new gods and new saviours , who have changed unto us the order established by god , our father and creator , and the practice which his son jesus came to teach us . they conduct us by the way of hell , perswading us , that it is that of paradise : with these perswasions every one suffers himself to be deceived and seduced , there being no person in christendom that believes that he cannot be saved without abandoning his will unto that of god : which is nevertheless an eternal truth , which shall never change , whatever man do : if he do not acknowledge the dependance which he hath upon god in every thing , he shall never be saved ; and if he do not assume the evangelical councels as the true means taught by god for returning into that dependance , he shall never be save : because god teacheth nothing unprofitable , but only things expressly necessary , unto which all the world must yield : which no person doth , believing men more than god : though the most part be ruled by the devil , who gains unto himself the most part of men by means of these savage pastors , who abandon the sheep in the power of the infernal wolf , to make them perish with themselves eternally , in retiring them from god to attract them to themselves . i have also told you , that there are no more any true christians upon earth : that you might become one , and should not suppose blindly to be such : because there can be no christians , but they who follow the doctrine of jesus christ : all others are deceived in believing it : for god doth not change for the changing of men : we are at present as much obliged to depend upon god as adam , the first man was ; and as much obliged to labour the earth as he , although we had done no other sin than that which he committed in us : we must also now follow the doctrine of jesus christ , as did the first christians , because that doctrine is immutable , and shall never change : so he that doth not follow it , is not a true christian , and cannot be saved without becoming such . no person must flatter himself in that point . we must imitate jesus christ , or (g) perish eternally : because we are all fallen into that sin of ingratitude , that we will not depend upon god , as well by the will of adam , as of our own proper will : and so we have need to assume that evangelical law , that we might return into that dependance upon god , which is so just and reasonable . although god had never demanded it of man , he ought by divine and human right to render unto god that submission of his free will ; and he would assuredly do it if he were not diverted by men like himself : because even natural reason obligeth him to depend upon him ; from whom he receiveth every thing ; which human wisdom hath diverted , having found so many studies and arguments to favour our proper will , that all men believe it to be lawful to follow it without offending him , who pleased to reserve it for himself . sir , (h) these are all blind , who lead the blind , and all fall into the ditch . be you never of that band ; but believe in the light which god sheweth you . i have spoken truth unto you , not affecting to be believed or followed ; but only to tend and aim at your salvation . all that i have told you is necessary for you , if you will use it well : because we cannot love god without knowing him , nor follow virtue without comprehending it : we cannot also evite the deceit without discovering it , nor escape the paws of the devil without turning away therefrom : make good use of all these things , and you shall be happy in this world and in the other . i doubt not but my manner of speech may have given you pain and difficulty , because they do not accord with your philosophy , theology , or other scholastique sciences . but believe that i have never made profession of any human sciences : i love rather to be ignorant of than to know them ; and if i could learn in a quarter of an hour all the sciences of the schools , i would not employ so little time thereto : because i know that human sciences are great impediments unto the holy spirit ; and also that the time is come , (i) when god shall destroy the wisdom of the wise , and bring to nothing the prudence of the prudent : and so i cannot use fine discourses , but such only as make known the native truth : the words , the terms , may well be debated and controlled : but never the true sense , which is true . i will not dispute with the wise , seeing god shall shortly overcome them by the effects of my words ; nor also polish my language , because the simple nativeness pleaseth god more than the rhetorical eloquences , subject unto vanity : for he that speaks that he may speak elegantly , is filled with vain-glory , willing to renounce which , i seek only simple words , that may express my conceptions . i believe , sir , that you have sufficiently understood me ; and that i can say no more to you to co-operate unto your salvation ; there remains no more but to put it in practice . which you shall do more easily in solitude , or the desert , than elsewhere , because of the corruption of men which are great letts unto us , and also the power which the devil hath at present over their spirits , to bewitch them that are yet sound and entire . flee then , sir , that you may evite all these dangers , lest you might be diverted from your good proposal , and should look back (k) as lot's wife , who was changed into a statue of salt. yet a little penitence , and after god will deliver you to enter into the joy which shall never end . that is it i wish unto you , in giving you adiew . i was grieved to hear that she would leave me , praying her not to withdraw , seeing i would follow what she had taught me , which was nothing else but self-denial , and dependance upon god. she said unto me : sir , it shall be more pure that you remain alone : for i am only a creature as you are , and we must cleave unto the creator alone , without interruption : (l) he shall conduct you at his pleasure , provided you be abandoned unto his will ; you need no more instructions of any person . i have told you more than sufficient to conduct you unto union with god. it should be hereafter only repetitions of things foresaid , which should bereave your time and mine , which it is better to employ in the practice than in repetitions . leave me in my liberty , and take you also yours : god hath not created us together . he shall save us , though separated in body . true union consists in a conformity of will with god , and not in particular conferences . i must confess , i have often distracted my self from entertainments with god to speak to you of so many divers things : but i judged them necessary for your salvation : therefore have they not been grievous unto me : but now , when you know the truth of many things , it is not necessary to speak more unto you . god shall always teach you enough , provided you continue faithful unto him . he hath never refused what men ask for their salvation . you must have no more any other pretensions . let the (m) world be overturned ; let the romish church perish ; let the elements be moved against sinners ; all that cannot touch you , provided you keep you firmly united with god. leave willingly every thing to find that union . if i be with you or not , it is a small matter , provided you be with god , that should suffice ; because he alone can save you , and none else . there is always mixture when a creature cleaves to its like . i have often despised them who hold themselves addicted to persons , although it were under some pious pretext . i will not do my self what i despise in others . i said unto her , that she had promised to explain to me the 24. chapter of st. matthew , that she should at least give me it before she left me . she said : sir , i do not willingly fail of my promise : give me the text of that chapter , and i shall explain it unto you word by word , wishing that all men of good-will might see it , that they might discover that it is of this present time that that chapter speaks . every one reads it without understanding it : notwithstanding there are pleasant advertisments to beware of this dangerous time wherein we live at present . these are not fables made at pleasure ; but truths proceeded out of the mouth of jesus christ himself , which every one ought well to apprehend , and follow the councels which he gives . they are most salutary and most proper (n) for escaping the evils to come , which hang over our heads . i must give it in writing for an eternal remembrance , that men may observe if all that it contains shall not be effected in our time . do not oppose what you shall find contrary to your studies , or old impressions , because the holy spirit shall give perfect and unheard of intelligences of the holy scriptures ; because we are arrived in the fulness of time . if you will receive them with humility of heart , you shall understand all things in perfection : but you must become a child , and cease from being a wise man ; because (o) god reveals his secrets only unto little ones , and hides them from the great and wise of the earth . we must not resist the holy spirit , and say , such a father explaineth it so or otherwise : because the fulness is always more than a part . you shall find what i say more clear than whatever the holy fathers have said , because the time of the fulfilling of every thing is come ; but we must render simple our understanding as little children , or otherwise we cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven . i brought unto her the text of the gospel , with promise to submit my understanding unto the light of the holy spirit entirely to my power . she said : sir , that submission is the preparation requisit : for if you would act the doctor or wise learned man , you should put opposition unto the light of the holy spirit , source of all wisdom . you must always believe and maintain that he is more wise than all the doctors that ever were in the world , and that we learn more by a little ray of his light , than by an hundred years of most assiduous study . therefore (p) render all your wisdom ignorances , and (q) become as an infant newly born again , that you may receive these new intelligences , which shall give you more light than ever all the old fathers together have had : because they have never discovered the (r) hidden treasures ; because the time was not yet come . every one spoke according to his thoughts , and not as it was really , because it was (ſ) a closed book , which none was worthy to open but jesus christ himself , since he was killed and put to death . there is not hitherto any thing accomplished of all the holy scriptures but that death , which shall disclose the marvellous things of god , which have remained hidden until now , and begin to be revealed unto them who shall be humble of heart : but the wise (t) shall perish with their wisdom . therefore do i exhort you , sir , unto simplicity and submission , that you may receive the light which begins to soring in our time , and (v) see the new heavenly jerusalem descend , adorned as a bride unto the day of her nuptials . the (w) league and alliance of god with men shall then be accomplished . the earth shall then be renewed . all creatures shall leave their malignities , which shall be (x) confined unto the center of the earth , to torment the bodies and souls of all them who would not submit their wills unto god ; they shall receive there pains according to their sins , being over-whelmed with those malignities which these sins have caused . conference xxvi . declareth the necessity of becoming a child to enter into the kingdom of heaven , renouncing all worldly wisdom , and all human abuses . i asked her , how it were possible to leave all sciences humanly acquired , to become a child , when one is an aged man ? she said : sir , except you do it , you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven . it is jesus christ (y) who saith it : and he cannot lie ; but he urgeth that necessity of becoming children by threatenings of not entering into the kingdom of heaven : which were the greatest evil that can befal man. it were better never to be born , than not to be saved : and seeing we cannot be saved without becoming children , we must do it at any rate . would you , sir , esteem more the honour of the world , or your acquired science , than the kingdom of heaven ? that were very lamentable , seeing all the things of this world do but pass as the bird which cutteth the air , and leaveth no trace of its way after it ; so we , when we shall be passed through this world , there shall remain nothing of our sciences or studies , nor of our honour and reputation : all endeth with us ; and if there remain in the spirit of others any reputation that we were wise and learned , that is insensible unto us after death . if we have pleased our selves therein in our life , the sufferings of these complacencies attend us in the other world : and instead that it should be a happiness to us that we have been wise , it is a great misery to us to have lost the kingdom of heaven by the same wisdom . forsake all these human considerations , sir , and become a child though you be aged . you must make the more haste , lest time and life escape : never consult (z) flesh and blood , for they deceive and corrupt us . (a) let us consult only our divine soul , which is reasonable ; and it shall tell you , that nothing is better nor more reasonable than to abandon our free will unto god , who hath given us it , and to submit it unto his government as a little child : that on that depends our eternal happiness ; and that nothing else can save us : because without that dependance , there is no salvation . i said unto her , that i knew most clearly that truth , that there was no salvation without the dependance of god : asking , how i could now ignore sciences formerly acquired , seeing i could not make my self not to have them ? she said : sir , nothing can hurt you if all be submitted unto god. you cannot ignore what you know by means of your studies : but you can well submit all these sciences unto god , and account them as ignorances ; as in effect they are . apply no more your spirit unto the study of sciences , and believe them to be all vain in respect of the wisdom of god. you shall know that you are abandoned unto his will , when (b) you seek no more any thing upon earth , neither learning nor wisdom , nor desire to know any thing else but what may render you acceptable unto god : for he that is abandoned unto him without deceit , moves himself no more but for what regards his glory , all the rest toucheth him no more . if he is wise , or ignorant , it is indifferent unto him . wisdom serves him for what regards the glory of god , and in no wise to rule upon earth ; knowing well that he who is abandoned unto god without sciences , is as great as he who is so with much learning : and even as we may well be poor of spirit in possessing riches ; so can we possess much learning , and withal be simple of spirit : when we have submitted all our learning unto god , he serves himself of it as he pleaseth : but so long as we will rely on and make account of them , we are not yet become children , to have entry into the kingdom of heaven . and seeing god sheweth you , sir , that there is no salvation without dependance on him , put your self promptly therein , without considering if you have sciences or any thing else : for ( as the proverb is ) god makes mercury of all wood : we must not regard our selves , but his will , who desires that all men , of whatever conditions , hold themselves under his dependance , remitting their free wills into his power , without using the same themselves . i said unto her , that absolutely and irrevocably i abandoned my self unto god to be a true child ; but that i had yet some repugnancy to renounce the church . she said : ha , sir , you must never renounce the holy church : but rather die : but you must only renounce the abomination which is crept into the romish church of these days . do you not see that she hath falsified her faith unto her lawfull husband jesus christ : and hath not remained faithful unto him ? i should be glad that you could shew me one only point of the doctrine of jesus christ that she observes , or one only thing that she practiseth , that is not contrary to the life and doctrine of her lawful husband , who descended from heaven unto the earth to teach her them , as well by his works , as by his words : all which things are despised by her who should be his lawful spouse . i have often spoken to you of her excesses , and adulteries : will you yet hold her for the holy church , while the devil (c) hath placed his throne in her ? what weakness of spirit , to feel repugnancy to forsake so evil a thing upon frivolous perswasions that it is holy ! while god hath given us an understanding and reason ; it is for no other end but that we may discern evil from good , that we may not perish blindly : and now you would change gods designs , in stifling your understanding and reason , to follow evil blindly : and seeing it so openly evil , you form some foolish imagination , that it is yet good ; that must come only from a meer bewitching of spirit : because reason , even natural , discovers sufficiently unto us , that the romish church at present is not the spouse of jesus christ : because she doth not in any thing follow her husband ; and that two things so alienated cannot make confederacy . how can you have repugnance to leave her who hath forsaken her god ? if beasts , and insensible creatures , and all the elements , have arisen against man when he did forsake the dependance of his god ; how should man , so reasonable , not arise against that church , which hath forsaken the dependance of her god , to will no more dependance but upon her self ? we should rather have repugnancy to remain under her , than to forsake her : or otherwise we have less resentments of the offence done unto our creator , than the beasts and elements , or inanimate things , which have always resented the injury done unto their creator ; yea , at the death of jesus christ (d) the stones did rent , and the sun was darkened . have you less affection for god , sir , then these stones , in not resenting the continual injuries which that church doth unto god ? if a beautiful angel is become a devil for having desired in his heart to be equal unto god , what shall become of her which preferreth her self unto the same god without willing to him in any thing ? i regret yet your blindness in that point , sir ; and cannot believe that your repugnancy cometh from your reason , but some habitual sensibility which you have unto the church : for if your understanding did apply it self to discover the origin of that repugnancy , it should see clearly that it cometh from the pious affection which you have for the church ; but that you do not take it where it is : because men are deluded in that , as in other things , by terms and words of men : and when they hear rome named the holy church , that word engenders in us affection for her , without penetrating if she be that of which they speak : when we would deceive a child , and keep him in fear of his father , we put his cloak and hat upon a fagot in some place , somewhat obscure , which the child perceiving , he believeth that it is truely he , and feareth and respecteth him . but if he drew near , and lift up the cloak , he should see that he was deceived , and that what he held for his father , is only some wood. verily , sir , in the darkness wherein we live at present , they do the very same with us , covering rome with the cloak of the holy church , and cloathing it with the head of jesus christ ; we fear and respect it , as if it were our true mother , the holy church , authorised by jesus christ , and his lawful spouse : but when we draw near , and lift up that cloak , we shall see that there is nothing but wood , instead of sanctity , which cannot be profitable unto us , except to warm us in the winter . verily , sir , we must not be so much children in what regards our eternal salvation . we must not walk blindly in a matter so important . if men apply all their spirit to make a hose , or a shoe , why should they not apply it more to save their soul ? it is good to have the (e) simplicity of the dove in regard of god : for he that hath abandoned himself unto him , hath no more but to suffer himself to be conducted as a little child : but we must have the prudence of the serpent to beware of men , who can deceive or be deceived : and when they say to us , behold the holy church ! we must observe narrowly , if it is truely her , or if it is a fagot covered with her mantle . it is for that only that god hath given us an understanding , that we may (f) always discern true good from false , especially in the matter of our salvation : because all other things are vain and perishing , unworthy of a serious application of spirit ; seeing it ought not to be applyed but unto things eternal , for which we are created : and our misery proceeds from that we make more serious searches to discover the turns and courses of the affairs of the world , than those of our salvation . in which the scripture hath reason to say , that (g) the children of this world are more prudent than the children of the kingdom : because before engaging in any state , office , or traffique , they will always ponder if it be truely advantagious and profitable : and they will be loath to rely upon the words of men , and believe blindly that a thing is good before they have first experienced it . if they have so much providence for what regards the earth , how much should we have for what regards heaven ? we found our salvation blindly upon what they tell us , that rome is our mother the holy church , and we do not sound that affair which concerns us so much , to know if truely she hath the quality of our true mother , and if she is confederated with our true father , who is immutable in all his qualities , unto which that spouse must always be conform . we must see if she whom they call our mother , hath the spirit and practice of our father ; and if we find nothing like it , we must renounce her , and account her deceitful and lying , unworthy of our affection . finis . the arms of the city of rysel , on the river of lysse in flanders . notes, typically marginal, from the original text notes for div a28888-e150 (a) ps . 8. (b) ps . 119. notes for div a28888-e5170 (a) ep. 1 , 2 , 3. (b) ep. 4 , 5 , 6. (c) ep. 7 , 8. (d) ep. 8 , 9 , 10. (e) ep. 11. (f) ep. 12 , 13. (g) ep. 14. (h) ep. 15 , 16. (i) ep. 17 , 18. (k) ep. 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , (l) ep. 24. notes for div a28888-e14070 * 1 john. 12 : 15. notes for div a28888-e14800 * which is solidly proved in the 2. part of solid virtue , letter 6. notes for div a28888-e15890 * of religions and external pious exercises , † an excellent rule and comparison . * true catholiques , and their worship . notes for div a28888-e16710 (a) math. 6. v. 2 , 3. (b) rom. 6. v. 4. (c) heb. 9. v. 27. (d) 1 cor. 1. v. 19. (e) mark. 10. v. 15. (f) is . 5. v. 13. (g) ps . 37. v. 5. (h) ezek. 18. v. 23. (i) rom. 11. v. 29. (k) luk. 15. v. 24. (l) deut. 32. v. 6. (m) prov. 23. v. 26. (n) john. 3. v. 8. (o) ps . 8. v. 7. (p) gen. 3. v. 17 , 19. (q) prov. 8. v. 31. (r) cant. 2.4 . (ſ) luk. 10 42. (t) ps . 81. v. 14 , 17 (u) math. 6. v. 26. (w) ps . 73 , v. 23 , 24. (x) ps . 73. v. 25 , 26. (y) luk. 15. v. 18. (z) ps . 18. v. 5 , 7. (a) ps . 37. v. 5 , 6 , 7. (b) is . 65. v. 3. (c) ps . 34. v. 15. (d) is . 58. v. 13. (e) ecl. 12. v. 8 , 9.12 . (f) matth , 3. v. 9. (g) joh. 15. v. 6. (h) math. 15. v. 24. (i) is . 29. v. 14. (k) gen 19. v. 26. (l) is . 58. v. 13 , 14. (m) ps . 46. v. 3. &c. (n) luk 21. v. 36. (o) ps . 25 v. 14. math. 11 , v. 25. (p) 1 cor. 8. v. 12. (q) math. 18. v. 3. 1 pet. 2. v. 2. (r) math. 13. v. 44. (ſ) rev. 5. v , 1 — 9. (t) is . 29. v. 14. (v) rev. 21. v. 2. (w) ibid v. 3. (x) rev. 20 , v. 14 , 15. (y) math. 18 , v , 3 , (z) gal. 1. v. 16. (a) eccl. 37. v. 17 , 18. (b) ps . 73. v. 25 , 26 , (c) 2 thes . 2. v. 4 , (d) math. 27. v. 51. (e) math. 10. v. 16. (f) 1 cor 20. v. 15. (g) luk. 16. v. 8.