St. Matt. xiii. 25. St. James Jonah iv. 6, 7. which the divine ethicks of our Saviour hath fo inculcated upon us, the furious face of things must disappear; Eden would be yet to be found, and the angels might look down, not with pity, but joy upon us. xx. Though the quickness of thine ear were able to reach the noise of the moon, which fome think it maketh in it's rapid revolution; though the number of thy ears should equal Argus his eyes: yet ftop them all with the wife man's wax,* and be deaf unto the suggestions of tale-bearers, calumniators, pickthank or malevolent delators, who, while quiet men fleep, sowing the tares of difcord and divifion, diftract the tranquillity of charity and all friendly fociety. These are the tongues that fet the world on fire, cankers of reputation, and, like that of Jonas his gourd, wither a good name in *Wife man's wax. Ulyffes adopted this plan to escape the enchantment of the Sirens. Odyff. M. 173. a night. Evil spirits may fit ftill, while these spirits walk about and perform the business of hell. To speak more strictly, our corrupted hearts are the factories of the devil, which may be at work without his prefence; for when that circumventing spirit hath drawn malice, envy, and all unrighteousness unto well-rooted habits in his difciples, iniquity then goes on upon its own legs; and if the gate of hell were fhut up for a time, vice would still be fertile and produce the fruits of hell. Thus, when God forfakes us, Satan alfo leaves us for fuch offenders he looks upon as fure and fealed and his temptations then needlefs unto them. up, XXI. Annihilate not the mercies of God by the oblivion of ingratitude : for oblivion is a kind of annihilation; and for things to be as though they had not been, is like unto never being. Make not thy head a grave, but a repofitory of God's mercies. Though thou hadft the memory of Seneca, or Simonides, and confcience, the punctual memorist within us, yet trust St. Luke viii. 17. not to thy remembrance in things which need phylacteries. Register not only ftrange, but merciful occurrences. Let ephemerides not olympiads give thee account of His mercies;* let thy diaries ftand thick with dutiful mementos and afterisks of acknowledgment. And to be complete and forget nothing, date not his mercy from thy nativity; look beyond the world, and before the æra of Adam. XXII. Paint not the fepulchre of thyself, and strive not to beautify thy corruption. Be not an advocate for thy vices, nor call for many hour-glaffes to juftify thy imperfections.† Think not that always good which thou thinkest thou canft always make good, nor that concealed which the fun doth not behold; that which the fun doth not now fee will be visible when the fun is out, and the * Let ephemerides, &c. that is, Take note of God's mercies day by day, not merely every four years. In the Athenian Courts the time allowed to each pleader was measured by a kind of hour-glafs, called clepfbydra. ftars are fallen from heaven. Meanwhile 1 Cor. iv. there is no darkness unto conscience, which can fee without light, and in the deepest obfcurity give a clear draught of things, which the cloud of diffimulation hath concealed from all eyes. There is a natural standing court within us, examining, acquitting, and condemning at the tribunal of ourselves; wherein iniquities have their natural thetas* and no nocent is abfolved by the verdict of himself.† And therefore, although our tranfgreffions shall be tried at the last bar, the process need not be long for the Judge of all knoweth all, and every man will nakedly know himself; and when fo few are like to plead not guilty, the affize muft foon have an end. XXIII. Comply with some hu * Theta, was the symbol used in condemnation to capital punishment, being the initial letter of a νατος. † 'Se judice, nemo nocens abfolvitur.' Juv. Sat. xiii. 2. 5. mours, bear with others, but ferve none. Civil complacency confifts with decent honefty. Flattery is a juggler, and no kin unto fincerity. But while thou maintainest the plain path, and scornest to flatter others, fall not into felf-adulation, and become not thine own parafite. Be deaf unto thyself, and be not betrayed at home. Self-credulity, pride, and levity, lead unto felf-idolatry. There is no Damocles* like unto felf-opinion, nor any Siren to our own fawning conceptions. To magnify our minor things, or hug ourselves in our apparitions; to afford a credulous ear unto the clawing suggestions of fancy; to pass our days in painted mistakes of ourselves, and though we behold our own blood to think ourselves the sons of Jupiter are blandishments of self-love, worse than outward delufion. By this impofture, wife men fometimes are mistaken in their elevation, and look above themselves. And fools, which are antipodes unto the wife, conceive themselves to be but their Damocles, the parafite and flatterer of Dionyfius. |
