Class BHvTflfr 
 
 Book . Ai: . 
 
 $2* 
 
/ 
 
 THE 
 
 WHOLE DUTY OF MAN, 
 
 LAID DOWN IN A 
 
 PLAIN AND FAMILIAR WAY, 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 USE OF ALL, 
 
 BUT 
 
 ESPECIALLY THE MEANEST READER. 
 
 DIVIDED INTO XVII CHAPTERS : 
 
 ONE WHEREOF BEING READ EVERY LORD'S DAY, THE WHOLE 
 MAY BE READ OVER THRICE IN THE YEAR. 
 
 Necessary for all Families. 
 
 WITH PRIVATE DEVOTIONS 
 
 FOR SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 
 
 A NEW EDITION. 
 
 Itanium: 
 
 c 
 
 POINTED FOR F. C. AND J. RIVINGTON, 
 
 liovhseliers to the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 
 NO. 62, st. Paul's church-yard, 
 
 AND NO. 3, WATERLOO-PLACE, PALL-MAI.% 
 
 1821. 
 
3^ A 
 
 .A4-, 
 
 Printed by R. Gilbert, St. Jolin's Square, Loudon. 
 
TO THE 
 
 BOOKSELLER. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 You needed not any intercession to recom- 
 mend this task to me, which brought its invita- 
 tions and reward with it. I very willingly read 
 over all the sheets both of the Discoiwse, and 
 the Devotions annexed, and find great cause 
 to bless God for both, not discerning what is 
 wanting in any part of either, to render it, with 
 God's blessing, most sufficient and proper to 
 the great end designed, the spiritual supplies 
 and advantages of all those that shall be exer- 
 cised therein. The subject matter of it is in- 
 deed what the title undertakes, The Whole 
 Duty of Man, set down in all the branches, 
 with those advantages of brevity and partitions, 
 to invite and support, and engage the reader; 
 that condescension to the meanest capacities, 
 but withal, that weight of spiritual arguments, 
 wherein the best proficient will be glad to be 
 assisted ; that it seems to be equally fitted for 
 both sorts of readers, which shall bring with 
 a2 
 
IV DR. HAMMONDS LETTER. 
 
 them a sincere desire of their own either pre- 
 sent or future advantages. The Devotion Part 
 in the conclusion, is no way inferior, being a 
 seasonable aid to every man's infirmities, and 
 hath extended itself very particularly to all our 
 principal concernments. The Introduction hath 
 supplied the place of a Preface, which you seem 
 to desire from me, and leaves me no more to 
 add, but my Prayers to God, " That the Au- 
 " thor, who hath taken care to convey so libe- 
 <; ral an alms to the C orb an so secretly, may 
 " not miss to be rewarded openly, in the visible 
 <( power and benefit of this work, on the 
 " hearts of the whole nation, which was never 
 ci in more need of such supplies as are here 
 £i afforded. That his all-sufficient grace will 
 il bless the seed sown, and give an abundant 
 " increase, is the humblest request of 
 
 ft Your assured Friend, 
 
 H. HAMMOND." 
 
 March 7th, 
 \Go7 
 
A 
 PREFACE 
 
 TO THE 
 
 ENSUING TREATISE 
 
 SHEWING 
 
 THE NECESSITY OF CARING FOR THE SOUL. 
 
 Sect. 1. The only intent of this ensuing 
 Treatise is, to be a short and plain direction 
 to the very meanest Readers, to behave them- 
 selves so in this world, that they may be happy 
 for ever in the next. But because 'tis in vain to 
 tell men their duty, till they be persuaded of the 
 necessity of performing it, I shall, before I pro- 
 ceed to the particulars required of every Chris- 
 tian, endeavour to win them to the practice of 
 one general duty preparatory to all the rest ; and 
 that is, the consideration and care of their own 
 Houls ; without which they will never think them- 
 selves much concerned in the other. 
 
 11. Man, we know, is made up of two parts, 
 a Body and a Soul: The Body is only the husk 
 or shell of the Soul, a lump of flesh, subject to 
 many diseases and pains while it lives, and at last 
 to death itself: and then 'tis so far from bein^ 
 valued, that tis not to be endured above ground, 
 but laid to rot in the earth. Yet to this viler 
 part of us we perform a great deal of care ; 
 all the labour and toil we are at is to maintain 
 
 A3 
 
vi Preface. Of the Necessity 
 
 that. But the more precious part, the Soul, is lit- 
 tle thought of, no care taken how it fares ; but, as 
 if it were a thing that nothing concerned us, is 
 left quite neglected, never considered by us. 
 
 in. This carelessness of the soul is the root of 
 all the sin we commit, and therefore whosoever 
 intends to set upon a Christian course, must in 
 the first place amend that. To the doing whereof 
 there needs no deep learning nor extraordinary 
 parts ; the simplest man living (that is not a na- 
 tural fool) hath understanding enough for it, if 
 he will but act in this by the same rules of com- 
 mon reason, whereby he proceeds in his worldly 
 business. I will therefore now briefly set down 
 some of those motives, which use to stir up our 
 care of any outward thing, and then apply them 
 to the Soul. 
 
 IV. There be four things especially which use 
 to awake our care; The Jirst is the zvorth of the 
 thing; W\e second, the usefulness of it to us, when 
 we cannot part with it without great damage and 
 mischief; the third, the great danger ofit; and the 
 fourth, the likelihood that our care will not be in 
 vain, but that it will preserve the thing cared for. 
 
 v. For the first, we know our care of any 
 The worth of worldly thing is answerable to the 
 the Soul. worth of it ; what is of greatest price 
 we are most watchful to preserve, and most fear- 
 ful to lose : No man locks up dung in his chest ; 
 but his money, or what he counts precious, he 
 doth. Now in this respect the Soul deserves 
 more care than all the things in the world 
 besides, for tis infinitely more worth ; first, 
 in that it is made after the image of God : it 
 
of Caring for the Soul. vii 
 
 was God that breathed into man this breath of 
 life, Gen. ii. 7. Mow God being of the greatest 
 excellency and worth, the more any thing is like 
 him, the more it is to be valued. But tis sure 
 that no creature upon the earth is at ail like God, 
 but the Soul of man, and therefore nothing ought 
 to have so much of our care. Secondly, the Soul 
 never dies. We use to prize things according 
 to then: durableness : What is most lasting, is 
 most worth. Now the Soul is a thing that will 
 last for ever : When wealth, beauty, strength, 
 nay our very bodies themselves fade away, the 
 Soul still continues. Therefore in that respect 
 also, the Soul is of the greatest worth ; and then 
 what strange madness is it for us to neglect it as 
 we do ? We can spend days, and weeks, and 
 months, and years, nay, our whole lives, in 
 hunting after a little wealth of this world, which 
 is of no durance or continuance, and in the mean 
 time let this great durable treasure, our Souls, 
 be stolen from us by the devil, 
 
 vi, A second motive to our care for any thing 
 is the usefulness of it to us, or the The misefa) of 
 great mischief we shall have by the losing the Soul. 
 loss of it. Common reason teaches us this, in 
 all things of this life. If our hairs fall, we do not 
 much regard it, because we can be well enough 
 without them ; but if we are in danger to lose 
 our eyes, or limbs, we think all the care we can 
 take little enough to prevent it, because we 
 know it will be a great misery. But certainly 
 there is no misery to be compared to that misery 
 that follows the loss of the Soul. Tis true, we 
 cannot lose our souls in one sense, that is, so lose 
 
 A 4 
 
via Preface. Of the Necessity 
 
 them that they shall cease to be ; but we may 
 lose them in another, that we should wish to lose 
 them even in that ; that is, we may lose that 
 happy estate to which they were created, and 
 plunge them into the extremest misery : In a word 
 we may lose them in hell, whence there is no 
 fetching them back, and so they are lost for 
 ever. Nay, in this consideration our very bodies 
 are concerned, those darlings of ours, for which 
 all our care is laid out; for they must certainly 
 after death be raised again, and be joined again 
 to the Soul, and take part with it in whatever 
 state it is. If then our care for the Body take 
 up all our time and thoughts, and leave us none 
 to bestow on the poor Soul, it is sure the Soul 
 will, for want of that care, be made for ever 
 miserable. But it is as sure, that the very Body 
 must be so too. And therefore, if you have 
 any true kindness for your Body, shew it by tak- 
 ing care of your Souls. Think with yourselves, 
 how you will be able to endure everlasting burn: 
 ings. If a small spark of fire, lighting on the 
 least part of the body, be so intolerable, what 
 will it be to have the whole cast into the hottest 
 flames, and that not for some few hours or days, 
 but for ever ? So that when you have spent many 
 thousands of years in that unspeakable torment, 
 you shall be no nearer coming out of it than you 
 were the first day you went in. Think of this; 
 I say, and think this withal, that this will cer- 
 tainly be the end of neglecting the Soul ; and 
 therefore afford it some care, if it be but in pity 
 to the Body, that must bear a part in its mise- 
 ries. 
 
of Caring for the Soul. ix 
 
 vn. The third motive to the care of any thing 
 is its being in danger. Now a thing The danger the 
 may be in danger two ways : first, Soul is in. 
 by enemies from without : This is the case of the 
 sheep, which is still in danger of being devoured 
 by wolves ; and we know that makes the shep- 
 herd so much the more watchful over it. Thus 
 it is with the Soul, which is in a great deal of 
 danger in respect of its enemies; those, we know, 
 are the world, the flesh, and the devil;- which are 
 all such noted enemies to it, that the very first 
 act we do in behalf of our Souls, is to vow a 
 continual war against them. This we all do in 
 our baptism ; and whoever makes any truce with 
 any of them is false, not only to his Soul, but to 
 his vow also, and becomes a forsworn creature : 
 A consideration well worthy our laying to heart. 
 But that we may the better understand what 
 danger the Soul is in, let us a little consider the- 
 quality: of these enemies. 
 
 vn. In a war, you know, there are divers 
 things that make an enemy terrible ; the first is 
 subtilty and cunning, by which alone many vic- 
 tories have been won ; and in this respect the 
 devil is a dangerous adversary ;. he long since 
 gave sufficient proof of his subtilty in beguiling 
 our first parents, who yet were much wiser than 
 we are ; and therefore no wonder if he deceive 
 and cheat us. Secondly, the watchfulness "and di- 
 ligence of an enemy makes him the more to be 
 feared ; and here the devil exceeds : It is his 
 trade and business to destroy us, and he is no 
 loiterer at it : He goes up and down seeking whom 
 he may devour y \ Pet. v. 8. He watches all op^ 
 a5 
 
x Preface* 13f£he Necessity 
 
 portunites of advantage against us, with such 
 diligence, that he will be sure never to let any 
 slip him. Thirdly, an enemy near us is more to 
 be feared than one at a distance : For if he be 
 far off, we may have time to arm, and prepare 
 ourselves against him ; but if he be near he may 
 steal on us unawares. And of this sort is the 
 flesh ; it is an enemy at our doors, shall I say? 
 nay, in our bosoms; it is always near us, to 
 take occasion of doing us mischief. Fourthly, 
 the baser and falser an enemy is, the more dan- 
 gerous. He that hides his malice under the shew 
 of friendship, will be able to do a great deal the 
 more hurt. And this again is the flesh, which, 
 like Joab to Abner, Q Sam. iii. 27. pretends to 
 speak peaceably to us but xvoundsus to death : 'tis 
 forward to purvey for pleasures and delights for 
 us, and so seems very kind ; but it has a hook 
 under the bait, and if we bite at it we are lost. 
 Fifthly, the number of enemies makes them more 
 terrible ; and the world is a vast army against us : 
 There is no state or condition in it, nay, scarce a 
 creature, which doth not, at some time or other, 
 light against the Soul. The honours of the world 
 seek to wound us by pride, the wealth by covet* 
 ousness, the prosperity of it tempts us to forget 
 God, the adversities to murmur at him. Our 
 very table becomes a snare to us, our meat draws 
 us to gluttony, our drink to drunkenness, our 
 company, nay, our nearest friends, often bear a 
 part in this war against us, whilst, either by their 
 example or persuasions, they entice us to sin. 
 
 ix. Consider all this, and then tell me whether 
 a Soul thus beset, hath leisure to sleep ? Ever* 
 
of Caring for the Soul. xi 
 
 Delilah could tell Samson, it was time to awake 
 when the Philistines zvere upon him. And Christ 
 tells us, if the good man of the house had known in 
 what hour the thief would come, he would have 
 watched, and not have suffered his house to be 
 broken up, Matt. xxiv. 43. But we live in the 
 midst of thieves, and therefore must look for them 
 every hour ; and yet who is there among us, that 
 hath that common providence for this precious 
 part of him, his Soul, which he hath for his house, 
 or indeed the meanest thing that belongs to him ? 
 I fear our Souls may say to us, as Christ to bis 
 disciples, Matt. xxvi. 40. What, could ye not 
 watch with me one hour? For I doubt it would 
 pose many of us to tell when we bestowed one 
 hour on them, though we know them to be con- 
 tinually beset with most dangerous enemies. 
 And then, alas! what is like to be the case of these 
 poor Souls, when their adversaries bestow so 
 much care and diligence to destroy them, and 
 we will afford none to preserve them ? Surely, 
 the same as of a besieged town, where no watch 
 or guard is kept, which is certain to fall a prey 
 to the enemy. Consider this, ye that forget God, 
 nay, ye that forget yourselves, lest he pluck you 
 away, and there be none to deliver you. Psal. 1.22. 
 x. But I told you there was a second way, 
 whereby a thing may be in danger, and that is 
 from some disorder or distemper within itself. 
 This is often the case of our bodies ; they are not 
 only liable to outward violence, but they are 
 within themselves sick and diseased. And then 
 we can be sensible enough that they are in dan- 
 ger, and need not to be taught to seek out for 
 A- 6 
 
xii Preface. Of the Necessity 
 
 means to recover them. But this is also the case 
 of the Soul; we reckon those parts of the body 
 diseased, that do not rightly perform their office ; 
 we account it a sick palate that tastes not aright, 
 a sick stomach that digests not. And thus it is 
 with the Soul, when its parts do not rightly per- 
 form their offices. 
 
 xi. The parts of the Soul are especially these 
 three : The Understanding, the Will, and the 
 Affections. And that these are disordered, there 
 needs little proof; let any man look seriously 
 into his own heart, and consider how little it is 
 he knows of spiritual things, and then tell me 
 whether his understanding be not dark ? How 
 much apter is he to will evil than good ;. and then 
 tell me, whether his will be not crooked? And 
 how strong desires he hath after the pleasures of 
 sin, and what cold &nd faint ones towards God 
 and goodness,, and then tell me whether his 
 affections be not disordered and rebellious, even 
 against the voice of his own reason within him ? 
 Now as in bodily diseases, the first step to the 
 cure is to know the cause of the sickness ; so 
 likewise here, it is very necessary for us to know 
 how the Soul first fell into this diseased condi- 
 tion ; and that I shall now briefly tell you. 
 
 xii. God created the first man Adam without 
 sin, and endued his soul with the full knowledge 
 of his duty, and, with such a strength that he 
 The first might, if he would, perform all that 
 Covenant. was required of him. Having thus 
 created him, he makes a covenant or agreement 
 with him to this purpose. That if he continued in 
 obedience to God, without committing sin; then, 
 
of Caring for the Soul. xin 
 
 first, that strength of Sou t, which he then had, 
 should still be continued to him ; and, secondly, 
 that he should never die, but be taken up into 
 heaven, there to be happy for ever : But, on the 
 other side, if he committed sin, and disobeyed 
 God, then both he and all his children after him 
 should lose that knowledge and that perfect 
 strength, which enabled him to do all that God 
 required of him; and, secondly, should be sub- 
 ject to deathy and not only so, but to eternal 
 damnation in helL 
 
 xi a. This was the agreement made with Adam,. 
 and all mankind in him (which we usually cald 
 the first covenant) upon which God gave J dam a 
 particular commandment', which was no more but 
 this, That he should not eat of one only tree of 
 that garden wherein he had placed him. But he, 
 by the persuasion of the devil, eats of that tree, 
 disobeys God, and so brings that curse upon him- 
 self and all his posterity. And so by that one sin 
 of his, he lost both the full knowledge of his duty, 
 and the- power of performing it : And we, being 
 born after hhdmage, did so likewise, and so are 
 become both ignorant in discerning what we 
 ought to do> and xveak and unable to the doing 
 of it, having a backwardness to all good, and an 
 aptness and readiness to all evil: like a sick sto- 
 mach, which loaths all wholesome food, and 
 longs after such trash as may nourish the disease. 
 xiv. And now you see where we got this 
 sickness of Soul, and likewise, that it is like to 
 prove a deadly one; and therefore, I presume I 
 need say no more, to assure you our Souls are 
 in danger. It is more likely you will from this 
 
xiv Preface. Of the Necessity 
 
 description think them hopeless : But that you 
 may not from that conceit excuse your neglect of 
 them, I shall hasten to shew you the contrary, 
 by proceeding to the fourth motive of care. 
 
 xv. That fourth motive is the likelihood that 
 That our care will our care will not be in vain, but 
 not be in vain. that it will be a means to pre- 
 
 serve the thing cared for : Where this is wanting, 
 it disheartens our care. A physician leaves his 
 patient when he sees him past hope, as knowing 
 it is then in vain to give him any thing : But on 
 the contrary, when he sees hope of recovery, he 
 plies him with medicines. Now in this very re- 
 spect we have a great deal of reason to take care 
 of our Souls, for they are not so far gone, but 
 they may be recovered : nay, it is certain, they 
 will if we do our parts towards it. 
 
 xvi. For though by that sin of Adam, all man- 
 kind were under the sentence of eternal con- 
 demnation, yet it pleased God so far to pity our 
 misery as to give us his Son, and in him to make a 
 new covenant with us, afterwe had broken therirst. 
 
 xvii. This second Covenant was naade with 
 The second Adam, and us in him, presently after 
 Covenant, his fall, and is briefly contained in 
 those words, Gen. iii. 13. where God declares 
 that the seed of the woman shall break the Ser>- 
 penfs head ; and this was made up, as the first 
 was, of some mercies to be afforded by God, 
 and some duties to be performed by us. 
 
 xvin. God therein promises to send his only 
 Son, who is Goa I equal .with himself, to earth, to 
 become man, like unto us in all tilings, sin only 
 excepted /and he to do for us these several things,. 
 
of Caring for the Soul. x v 
 
 xix. First 9 to make known to us the whole 
 will of his Father : in the performance whereof 
 we shall be sure to be accepted and rewarded by 
 him. And this was one great part of his busi- 
 ness, which he performed in those many sermons 
 and precepts we find set down in the Gospel. 
 And herein he is our Prophet, it being the work 
 of a Prophet of old not only to foretell but to 
 teach. Our duty in this particular is to hearken 
 diligently to him, to be most ready and desirous 
 to learn that will of God, which he came from 
 heaven to reveal to us. 
 
 xx. The second thing he was to do for us was 
 to satisfy God for our sins ; not only that one 
 of Adam, but all the sins of all mankind that 
 truly repent and amend ; and by this means to 
 obtain for us forgiveness of sins, the favour of 
 God, and so to redeem us from hell and eternal 
 damnation, which was the punishment due to 
 our sin. All this he did for us by his death. 
 He offered up himself a sacrifice for the sins of 
 all those who heartily bewail and forsake them : 
 And in this he is our Priest, it being the priest's 
 office to offer sacrifice for the sins of the people* 
 Our duty in this particular is, first, truly and 
 heartily to repent us of, and forsake our sins, with- 
 out which they will never be forgiven us, though 
 Christ hath died. Secondly, steadfastly to believe, 
 that if we do that, we shall have the benefits of 
 that sacrifice of his ; all our sins, how many and 
 great soever, shall be forgiven us, and we saved 
 from those eternal punishments which were due 
 unto us for them. Another part of the. priest's 
 office was blessing and pray big for the people ; 
 
xvi Preface. Of the Necessity 
 
 and this also Christ performs to us. It was his 
 special commission from his Father to bless us, 
 as St. Peter tells us, Acts iii. 26\ God sent his 
 son Jesus to bless you : and the following words 
 shew wherein that blessing consists, in turning 
 away every one of you from his iniquities.. Those 
 means which he has used for the turning us from 
 our sins, are to be reckoned of all other the 
 greatest blessings.; and for the other part, that of 
 praying, that he not only performed on earth, 
 but continues still to do it in heaven ; he sits on 
 the right hand of God and makes requests for us, 
 Rom. viii. 34. Our duty herein is not to resist 
 this unspeakable blessing of his, but to be willing 
 to be thus blessed, in the being turned from our 
 sins: and not to make void and fruitless all his 
 prayers and intercessions fox us, which will never 
 prevail for us, whilst we continue in them* 
 
 xxi. The third thing that Christ was to do 
 for us, was to enabk us, orgive us strength to do 
 what God requires of us. This he doth, y*V\s^, 
 by taking off from the hardness of the law given 
 to Adam, which was never to commit the least 
 sin, upon pain of damnation : and requiring of 
 us only an honest and hearty endeavour to do 
 what we are able, and where we fail, accepting of 
 sincei^e repentance. Secondly, by sending his 
 Holy Spirit into our hearts, to govern and rule us, 
 to give us strength to overcome temptations to 
 sin, and to do all that he now under the Gospel 
 requires of us. And in this he is our King ; it 
 being the office of a King to govern and rule, 
 and to subdue enemies. Our duty in this par- 
 ticular is to give up ourselves obedient subjects 
 
of Caring for the Sou l. xvii 
 
 of his, to be governed and ruled by him, to 
 obey all his laws, not to take part with any 
 rebel, that is, not to cherish any one sin, but di- 
 ligently to pray for his grace to enable us to 
 subdue all, and then carefully to make use of it 
 to that purpose. 
 
 xxn. Lastly. He has purchased for all that 
 faithfully obey him, an eternal, glorious inheri- 
 tance, the kingdom of heaven, whither he is gone 
 before to take possession for us. Our duty here- 
 in is to be exceeding careful that we forfeit not 
 our parts in it, which we shall certainly do, if 
 we continue impenitent in any sin : Secondly, 
 not to fasten our affections on this world, but to 
 raise them according to the precept of the Apos- 
 tle, Co L iil. 2. Set your affections on things 
 above, and not on things on the earth ; conti- 
 nually longing to come to the possession of that 
 blessed inheritance of ours, in comparison 
 whereof all things here below should seem vile 
 and mean to us. 
 
 xxiii. This is the sum of the second Cove* 
 nant we are now under; wherein you see what 
 Christ hath done, how he executes these three 
 great offices of King, Priest, and Prophet ; as 
 what is required of us, without our faithful per- 
 formance of which, all that he hath done shall 
 never stand us in any stead ; for he will never be 
 a Priest to save any, who take him not as well for 
 their Prophet to teach, as \kmvKing\o rule them: 
 Nay, if we neglect our part of this Covenant, 
 our condition will be yet worse, than if it had 
 never been made; for then we shall be to answer, 
 not for the breach of the law only,' as in thejirst, 
 but for the abuse of mercy, which is of all sins 
 
xviii Preface. Of the Necessity 
 
 the most provoking. On the other side, if we 
 faithfully perform it, that is, set ourselves hear- 
 tily to the obeying of every precept of Christ, 
 not going on wilfully in any one sin, but bewail- 
 ing and forsaking whatever we have formerly 
 been guilty of, it is then most certain, that all the 
 fore- mentioned benefits of Christ belong to us. 
 
 xxiv. And now you see how little reason 
 you have to cast off the care of your Souls upon 
 a conceit they are past cure, for that it is plain 
 they are not : nay, certainly they are in that very 
 condition, which of all others make them fittest 
 for our care. If they had not been thus redeemed 
 by Christ, they had been then so hopeless, that 
 care would have been in vain : On the other 
 side, if his redemption had been such, that all 
 men should be saved by it, though they live as 
 they list, we should have thought it needless to 
 take care for them, because they were safe with* 
 out it. But it hath pleased God so to order it, 
 that our care must be the means by which they 
 must receive the good, even of all that Christ 
 hath done for them. 
 
 xxv. And now, if after all that God hath 
 done to save these Souls of ours, we will not be- 
 stow a little care on them ourselves, we very well 
 deserve to perish, lis. physician should under- 
 take a patient, that was in some desperate disease, 
 and by his skill bring him so far out of it, that 
 he w r as sure to recover if he would but take 
 care of himself, and observe those ?*ules the phy- 
 sician set him ; would not you think that man 
 weary of his life, that would refuse to do that ? 
 So certainly that man is weary of his Soul 3 wil- 
 
of Caring for the Soul. xix 
 
 fully casts it away, that will not consent to those 
 easy conditions, by which he may save it. 
 
 xxvi. You see how great kindness God hath 
 to these Souls of ours; the whole Trinity father, 
 Son, and Holy Ghost, have all done their parts 
 for them. The Father gave his only Son ; the 
 Son gave himself, left his glory, and endured the 
 bitter death of the cross, merely to keep our 
 Souls from perishing ; the Holy Ghost is become, 
 as it were, our attendant, waits upon us with con- 
 tinual offers of his grace, to enable us to do that 
 which may preserve them : nay, he is so desirous 
 we should accept those offers of his, that he is 
 said to be grieved when we refuse them, Ephes. 
 iv. 30. Now what greater disgrace and affront 
 can be put upon God than to despise what he 
 thus values ! That those Souls of ours which 
 Christ thought worthy every drop of his blood, 
 we should not think worth any part of our care ? 
 We use, in things of the world, to rate them 
 according to the opinion of those who are best 
 skilled in them : Now certainly God, who made 
 our Souls* best knows the worth of them ; and 
 since he prizes them so high, let us, (if it be 
 but in reverence to him) be ashamed to neglect 
 them ; especially now that they are in so hope- 
 ful a condition, that nothing but our own care- 
 lessness can possibly destroy them. 
 
 xxvu. I have now briefly gone over those 
 four motives of care I at first proposed, which are 
 each of them such as never misses to stir it up 
 towards the things of this world : and I have also 
 shewed you how much more reasonable, nay ne- 
 cessary it is, they should do the like for the Soul. 
 And now what can I say more, but conclude in the 
 
xx Preface. Of the Necessity, &c. 
 
 words of Isaiah xlvi.8 . Remember this, and shew 
 yourselves men ; that is, deal with your Soul as 
 your reason teaches you to do with all other 
 things that concern you. And sure this common 
 justice binds you to ; for the Soul is that which 
 furnishes you with that reason which you exer- 
 cise in all your worldly business; andshall iheSoul 
 itself receive no benefit from that reason which it 
 affords you ? This is, as if the master of the fa- 
 mily, who provides food for his servants, should 
 by them be kept from eating any himself, and so 
 remain the only starved creature in his house. 
 
 xxv in. And asjW/ceties you to this, so 
 mercy doth likewise : You know the poor Soul 
 will fall into endless and unspeakable miseries if 
 you continue to neglect it, and then it will be 
 too late to consider it. The last refuge you can 
 hope for is God's mercy ; but that you have de- 
 spised and abused, and with what face can you, 
 in your greatest need, beg for his mercy to your 
 Souls, when you would not afford them your own? 
 No, not that common charity of considering 
 them, of bestowing a few of those idle hours, you 
 know not scarce how to pass away upon them ? 
 
 xxix. Lay this to your hearts as ever you 
 hope for God's pity, when you most want it; be 
 sure in time of pity yourselves, by taking that due 
 care of your precious Souls which belong to them. 
 
 xxx If what hath been said hath persuaded 
 you to this so necessary a duty, my next work will 
 be to tell you how this care must be employed ; 
 and that, in a word, is in the doing of all those 
 things which tend to the making the Soul happy 5 
 which is the end of our care : and what those 
 are, I come now to shew you* 
 
SUNDAY I. 
 
 Of the Duty of Man by the light of Nature, by 
 the light of Scripture : The three great 
 Branches of Man's Duty to God, Ow*selves, 
 our Neighbour: Our Duty to God; of 
 Faith, of the Promises, of Hope, of Love, 
 of Fear, of Trust. 
 
 The Benefits purchased for us by Christ, are 
 such as will undoubtedly make the Soul happy; 
 for eternal Happiness itself is one of them : 
 But because these benefits belong not to us, till 
 we perform the condition required of us, who- 
 ever desires ( the happiness of his Soul, must set 
 himself to the performing of that condition. 
 What that is, I have already mentioned in the ge- 
 neral, That it is the hearty, honest endeavour of 
 obeying the whole will of God. But then that Will 
 of God containing under it many particulars, 
 it is necessary we should also know what those 
 are ; that is, what are the several things that 
 God now requires of us, our performance where- 
 of will brkig us to everlasting happiness, and 
 the neglect to endless misery. 
 
 ii. Of these things there are some which God 
 hath so stamped upon our souls, that ofthe hght 
 we naturally know them : that, as we of Nature. 
 should have known them to be our duty though 
 we had never been told so by the Scripture. 
 That this is so, we may see by those heathens 
 
2 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 1 . 
 
 who having never heard of either Old or New 
 Testament,do yet acknowledge themselves bound 
 to some general duties, as to worship God, to 
 be just, to honour their parents and the like ; 
 and as St. Paul saith, Rom, ii. 1 5. Their con- 
 sciences do in those things accuse or excuse 
 them ; that is, tell them whether they have done 
 what they should in those particulars, or not. 
 
 in. Now though Christ hath brought greater 
 light into the world, yet he never meant by it to 
 put out any of that natural light, which God 
 hath set up in our Souls : Therefore let me here, 
 by the way, advise you not to walk contrary 
 even to this lesser light ; I mean not to venture 
 on any of those acts, which mere natural con- 
 science will tell you are sins. 
 
 iv. It is just matter of sadness to any Christian 
 heart to see some in these days who profess much 
 of religion, and yet live in such sins as a mere 
 heathen would abhor : men that pretending to 
 higher degrees of light and holiness than their 
 brethren do, yet practise contrary to all the rules 
 of common honesty, and make it a part of their 
 Christian liberty so to do ; of whose seducement 
 it concerns all that love their Souls to beware ! 
 and for that purpose let this be laid as a foun- 
 dation, That that religion or opinion cannot be 
 of God, which alloxvs men in any wickedness. 
 
 v. But though we must not put out this light, 
 which God hath thus put into our Souls, yet this 
 is not the only way whereby God hath revealed 
 his will ; and therefore we are not to rest here, 
 but proceed to the knowledge of those other 
 things, which God hath by other means revealed. 
 
 
Sund. 1.] The Light of Scripture. 3 
 
 vi. The way for us to come to know them is 
 by the Scriptures, wherein are set The light of 
 down those several commands of God Scripture. 
 which he hath given to be a rule of our Duty. 
 
 vii. Of those, some were given before Christ 
 came into the world, such are those precepts we 
 find scattered throughout the Old Testament, but 
 especially contained in the Ten Commandments, 
 and thatexcellent book of Deuteronomy ; others, 
 were given by Christ, who added much, both to 
 the law implanted in us by nature, and that of 
 the Old Testament ; and those you will find in 
 the New Testament, in the several precepts 
 given by him and his Apostles, but especially in 
 that divine Sermon on the Mount, set down in 
 the vth, vith, and viith chapters of St. Matthew's 
 gospel. 
 
 vin. All these should be severally spoken to; 
 but because that would make the discourse very 
 long, and so less fit for the meaner sort of men, 
 for whose use alone it is intended, I chuse to 
 proceed in another manner, by summing up all 
 these together, and so, as plainly as I can, to lay 
 down what is now the duty of every Christian. 
 
 ix. This I find briefly contained in the words 
 
 Of the Apostle, Tit. ii. 12. That The three great 
 
 we should live soberly, righteously, branches of 
 and Godly, in this present world; **>** 
 where the word soberly, contains our duty to our- 
 selves ; righteously, our duty to our neighbour ; 
 and godly, our duty to God. These therefore 
 shall be the heads of my discourse, our Duty 
 to God, Ourselves, and our Neighbour. I 
 begin with that to God, that being the best 
 

 4 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. .1 . 
 
 ground-work whereon to build both the 
 other, 
 
 x. There are many parts of our Duty t 
 God: The two chief are these ; First, to ac 
 Bit t God knowledge nuT1 t0 De God ; Second- 
 ly, to have no other. Under these 
 are contained all those particulars, which make 
 up our whole duty to God, which shall be shewed 
 in their order. 
 
 xi. To acknowledge him to be God, is to 
 Acknowledging believe him to be an infinite glo- 
 Mm to be God. rious Spirit, that was from ever- 
 lasting, without beginning, and shall be to 
 everlasting without end : That he is our Crea- 
 tor, Redeemer, Sanctifier, Father, Son, and 
 Holy Ghost, one God, blessed for ever : 
 That he is subject to no alteration,, but is un- 
 changeable : That he is no bodily substance, 
 such as our eyes may behold, but spiritual and 
 invisible, whom no man hath seen or can see, as 
 the Apostle tells us, 1 Tim. vi. lo\ That he is 
 infinitely great and excellent, beyond all that 
 our wit or conceit can imagine; That he hath 
 received his being from none, and gives being 
 to all things. 
 
 xu. All this we are to believe of him, in re- 
 gard to his essence and being : But besides this, 
 he is set forth to us in the Scripture by several 
 excellencies, as that he is of infinite Goodness 
 and Mercy, Truth, Justice, Wisdom.Power, All- 
 sufliciency, Majesty; that he disposes and governs 
 all Things by his Providence, that he knows all 
 Things, and is present in all places: these are by 
 divines called the Attributes of God,and all these 
 
Sund. 1.] Of Faith. 5 
 
 we must undoubtedly acknowledge, that is, we 
 must firmly believe all these divine excellencies 
 to be in God, smd that in the greatest degree; 
 and so that they can never cease to be in him, he 
 can never be other than infinitely good, merci- 
 ful^ true. &c. 
 
 xm. But the acknowledging him for our 
 God signifies yet more than this ; it means that 
 we should perform to him all those several parts 
 of duty which belongs from a creature to his 
 God : what those are, I am now to tell you. 
 
 xiv. The first is 'Faith, or Belief: not 
 only that forementioned of his essence and . 
 attributes, but of his word ; the believing 
 most firmly, that ail that he saith is perfectly 
 true. This necessarily arises from that attribute, 
 his truth ; it being natural for us to believe 
 whatsoever is said by one of whose truth we are 
 confident. Now the Holy Scriptures being the 
 JVordof God, we are therefore to conclude, that 
 all that is contained in them is most true. 
 
 xv. The things contained in them are of 
 these four sorts : first affirmations, cf^g Af- 
 such are all the stories of the Bible, firmatwns. 
 when it is said such and such things came so and 
 so to pass ; Christ was born of a Virgin, was laid 
 in a manger, 8§e. And such also are many points 
 of doctrine, as that there are Three Persons in 
 the Godhead, that Chiist is the Soti of God, and 
 the like. All things of this sort thus delivered in 
 Scripture, we are to believe most true. And not 
 only so, but because they are all written for our 
 instruction, we are to consider them for that 
 purpose; that is, by them to lay that foundation 
 B 
 
6 The Whole Duty of Man. (Sand. L 
 
 of Christian knowledge, on which we may build 
 a Christian life. 
 
 xvi. The second sort of things contained in 
 Commands. l ^ e Scripture, are the Commands, that 
 is, the several things enjoined us by 
 God to perform ; these we are to believe to come 
 from him, and to be most just and fit for him 
 to command : But then this belief must bring 
 forth obedience, that what we believe thus fit to 
 he done, be indeed done by us ; otherwise our 
 belief that they come from him, serves but to 
 make us more inexcusable. 
 
 xvii. Thirdly, the Scripture contains threat- 
 enings; many texts there are which 
 atl S s - threaten to them that go on in their 
 sins, the wrath of God ; and under that, are con- 
 tained all the punishments and miseries of this 
 life, both spiritual and temporal, and everlasting 
 destruction in the life to come. Now, we are 
 inost stedfastly to believe, that these are God's 
 threats, and that they will certainly be performed 
 to every impenitent sinner. But then the use we 
 are to make of this belief, is to keep from those 
 sins to which this destruction is threatened ; 
 .otherwise our belief adds to our guilt, that will 
 wilfully go on in spite of those threatenings. 
 
 xviii. Fourthly, the Scripture contains pro- 
 p mises, and those both to our Bodies 
 
 and our Souls ; for our Bodies, there 
 are many promises that God will provide for them 
 what he sees necessary ; I will name only one, 
 Matt, \l S..i. Seek ye first the kingdom of God, 
 and his righteousness, and all these things, that 
 is, all outward necessaries, shall be added unto 
 X 
 
Sund. 1.] Of Faith. 7 
 
 you. -But here it is to be observed, that we must 
 first seek the kingdom of God, and his righteous- 
 ness, that is, make it our first and greatest care 
 to serve and obey him, before this promise even 
 of temporal good things belong to us. To the 
 Soul there are many and high promises ; as, first, 
 that of present ease and refreshment, which we 
 find, Matt. xi. 29. Take my yoke upon you, and 
 learn of me, and ye shall find rest unto your 
 souls: But here it is apparent, that before this 
 rest belongs to you, we must have taken on us 
 Christ's yoke, become his servants and disciples. 
 Finally, there are promises to the Soul even of 
 all the benefits of Christ; but yet those only 
 to such as perform the condition required ; that 
 is, pardon of sins to those that repent of them ; 
 increase of grace to those that diligently make 
 use of what they have already, and humbly pray 
 for more ; and eternal salvation to those that 
 continue to their lives end in hearty obedience 
 to his commands. 
 
 xix. This belief of the promises must there- 
 fore stir us up to perform the condition; and till 
 it do so, we can in no reason expect any good 
 by them ; and for us to look for the benefit of 
 them on other terms, is the same mad presump- 
 tion that it would be in a servant to challenge 
 his master to <rive him a reward for having done 
 nothing of his work, to which alone the reward 
 was promised : You can easily resolve what an- 
 swer were to be given to such a servant, and the 
 same we are to expect from God in this case. 
 Nay, farther, it is sure God hath given these 
 promises to no other end, but to invite us to 
 b 2 
 
8 The Whole Duty of Man. [Simcl, 1. 
 
 holiness of life; yea, he gave his Son, in whom 
 all his promises are, as it were summed up, for 
 this end. We usually look so much at Christ's 
 coming to satisfy for us, that we forget this other 
 part of his errand. But there is nothing surer, 
 than that the main purpose of his coming into 
 the world, was to plant good life among men. 
 
 xx. This is so often repeated in Scripture, 
 that no man that considers and believes what he 
 reads, can doubt of it. Christ himself tells us, 
 Matt. ix. 13. He came to call Sinners to repent- 
 ance. And St. Peter, Acts iii. 26\ tells us, that 
 God sent his Son Jesus to bless us, in turning 
 every one of us from his iniquities ; for it seems, 
 the turning ns from our iniquities, was the 
 greatest special blessing which God intended us 
 in Christ. 
 
 xx r. Nay, we are taught by St. Paul, that 
 this was the very end of his death also, Tit. ii. 14. 
 Who gave himself for our Sins, that he might re- 
 deem us from all inquity, and purify to himself 
 a peculiar people zealous of good xvorks. And 
 .again, Gal. i. 4. who gave himself for us, thai 
 he might deliver us from this present evil world, 
 that is, from the sins and ill customs of the 
 world. Divers other texts there are to this pur- 
 pose ; but these I suppose sufficient to assure 
 any man of this one great truth, that all that 
 Christ hath done for us, was directed to the 
 end, the bringing us to live Christianly : or in the 
 words of St Paul, to teach us, that denying 
 iinqodliness, and wordly lusts, we should live so- 
 jberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world. 
 
 xxii. Now we know Christ is the foundation 
 joi all the promises ; in him all the promises of 
 
Sand. ].] Of Faith. 9 
 
 God are Yea ami Amen, 2 Cor. i. 20. And there- 
 fore if God gave Christ to this end, certainly the 
 promises are to the same also. And then how 
 great an abuse of them is it to make them serve 
 lor purposes quite contrary to what they were 
 intended ; namely, to the encouraging us in sins, 
 which they wili certainly do, if we persuade our- 
 selves they belong to us, how wickedly soever 
 we live. The Apostle teaches us another use of 
 them, 2 Cor. vii. 1. Having therefore these pro- 
 mises, let us cleanse ourselves from oil jilt hiness 
 of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the 
 fear of God. When we do thus, we may justly 
 apply the promises to ourselves, and with com- 
 fort expect our parts in them. But till then, 
 though these promises be of certain, truth, yet 
 Me can reap no benefit from them, because we 
 are not the persons to whom they are made ; 
 that is, we perform not the condition required 
 to give us right to them. 
 
 xx i n. This is the faith or belief required of 
 us, toward the things God hath revealed to us 
 in the Scripture, to wit, such as may answer the 
 end for which they were so revealed, that is, the 
 bringing us to good lives ; the bare believing 
 the truth of them, without this, is no more than 
 the devils do, as St. James tells us, Chap. ii. 
 19. Only they are not so unreasonable as some 
 of us are ; for they will tremble, as knowing well 
 this faith will never do them any good. But 
 many of us go on confidently, and doubt not 
 the sufficiency of our faith, though we have not 
 the least fruit of obedience to approve it by ; let 
 such hear St James's judgment in the point, 
 B 3 
 
1 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 1 . 
 
 Chap. ii. 26. As the body without the spirit is 
 dead; so faith, if it hath not works , is dead also. 
 
 xxiv. A second duty to God is Hope ; that 
 Hone ls > a comfortable expectation of those 
 
 good things he hath promised. But 
 this, as I told you before of faith, must be such as 
 agrees to the nature of the promises, which being 
 such as requires a condition on our part, we can 
 hope no farther than we make that good ; or if 
 we do, we are so far from performing by it this 
 Presump- duty of Hope, that we commit the 
 Hon. great sin of presumption, which is 
 
 nothing else but hoping where God hath given 
 p.s no ground to hope : This every man doth, 
 that hopes for pardon of sins, and eternal life, 
 without that repentance and obedience to which 
 alone they are promised : the true hope is that 
 which purifies us, St. John saith, 1 Ep. iii. 3. 
 Every man that hath this hope in him, purifieth 
 himself, even as he is pure ; that is, it makes 
 him leave his sins, and earnestly endeavour to 
 be holy as Christ is ; and that which doth not 
 so, how confident soever it be, may well be con- 
 cluded to be but that hope of the hypocrite, 
 which Job assures us shall perish. 
 
 xxy. But there is another way of transgress- 
 . ing his duty, beside that of presump- 
 
 espan. ^.^^^ ^^^ ^ at . g ^ i) es p era tion ; by 
 
 which I mean not that which is ordinarily so 
 called, viz.. the despairing of mercy, so long as 
 we continue in our sins ; for that is but just for 
 us to do \ But I; mean such a Desperation as 
 makes us give over Endeavour, that is, when a 
 man sees he is not at the present such a one as 
 
Sund. I.J Of Hope. 11 
 
 the promises belong to, concludes he can never 
 become such) and therefore neglects all duty, 
 and goes on in his sins. This is indeed the sin- 
 ful Desperation^ and that which, if it be con- 
 tinued in, must end in Destruction. 
 
 xxvi. Now the work of hope is to prevent 
 this, by setting before us the generality of the 
 promises* that they belong to all that will but 
 perform the condition. And therefore, though 
 a man have not hitherto performed it, and so 
 hath yet no right to them, yet Hope will tell 
 him, that that right may yet be gained, if he will 
 now set heartily about it. It is therefore strange 
 folly for any man* be he never so sinful, to give 
 up himself for lost, when, if he will but change 
 his course, he shall be as certain to partake of 
 the promises of mercy, as if he had never gone 
 on in those- former sin sv 
 
 xxvii. This Christ shews us in the parable 
 of the Prodigal, Lukexv. where we see that sou 
 which had run away from his father, and had 
 consumed the portion given him in riotous liv- 
 ing, was yet upon his return and repentance, 
 used with as much kindness by the father, as he 
 that had never offended, nay, with higher, and 
 more passionate expressions of love. The intent 
 of which parable was only to shew us, how gra- 
 ciously our heavenly Father will receive us, how 
 great soever our former sins have been, if we shall 
 return to him with true sonow for what is past,, 
 and sincere obedience for the time to come : 
 Nay, so acceptable a thing is it to God to have 
 any sinner return from the error of his ways, that 
 there is a kind of triumph in heaven for it, Thtrc 
 ^4* 
 
1 2 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 1 . 
 
 is joy in the presence of the Angels of God over 
 one sinner that repent eth, Luke xv. 1 0. And now, 
 who would not rather choose by a timely repent- 
 ance to bring joy to Heaven, to God, and his 
 holy angels, than by asullenDesperation to please 
 Satan and his accursed spirits; especially when 
 by the former we shall gain endless happiness to 
 ourselves, and bv the latter as endless torments? 
 
 xxvin. A third duty to God is Love: 
 Love, its There are two common motives of 
 Motives. Love among men ; the one the good- 
 ness and excellency of the person, the other his 
 particular kindness and love to us : And both 
 these are in the highest degree in God. 
 
 xxix. First, He is of infinite goodness and 
 God's Ex- Excellency in himself; this you were 
 edlencjfi before taught to believe in him, and 
 no man can doubt it that considers but this one 
 thing, That there is nothing good in the world, 
 but what hath received all its goodness from 
 God ; his goodness is as the sea, or ocean, and 
 the goodness of all creatures but as some small 
 streams flowing from the sea. Now you would 
 certainly think him a madman that should say, 
 the sea were no greater than one little brook : 
 and certainly it is no less folly to suppose that 
 the goodness of God doth not as much (nay, 
 infinitely more) exceed that of all creatures. Be- 
 sides, the goodness of the creature is imperfect, 
 and mixed with much evil ; but his is pure and 
 entire without any such mixture. He is j>er- 
 fectly holy, and cannot be tainted with the least 
 impurity, neither can be the author of any to 
 us : for though he be the cause of all the good- 
 
Sund. 1.} Of Love of God. 13 
 
 ness in us, he is the cause of none of our sins. 
 This St. James expressly tells us, Chap. i. 13. 
 Let no man say when he is tempted i I am tempted 
 of God, for God cannot he tempted with evil, 
 mither tempt eth he any man. 
 
 xxx. But, secondly, God is not only thus 
 good in himself, but he is also wonderful His Kind- 
 good, that is, kind and merciful to us. nesstous - 
 We are made up of two parts, a soul and a body. 
 and to each of these God hath expressed infinite 
 mercy and tenderness. Do but consider what 
 was before told you of the Second Covenant, 
 and the mercies therein offered even Christ him- 
 self and all his benefits, and also that he offers 
 them so sincerely and heartily, that no man can 
 miss of enjoying them but by his own default. For 
 he doth most really and affectionately desire we 
 should embrace them, and live ; as appears by 
 that solemn oath of his, Ezek.xxxYn.l i. As I live, 
 saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of 
 the wicked,but that the wicked tut n from his way 
 and live : Whereto he adds this passionate ex- 
 pression, Turn ye, turn ye from your evil zvays, 
 for why will ye die f 'i o the same purpose you 
 may read, Ezek. xv'm. Consider this,' I say, 
 and then surely you cannot but say, he hath 
 great kindness to our sou is. Nay, let every 
 man but remember with himself the many calls 
 he hath had to repentance and amendment; 
 sometimes outward by the Word, sometimes 
 inward by the secret whispers of God's Spirit in 
 his heart, which were only to woo and iiltreat 
 him to avoid eternal misery, and to accept of 
 eternal happiness ; let him, I say remember 
 B 5 
 
1 4 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sun A 1 . 
 
 these, together with those many other means 
 God hath used toward him for the same end, 
 and he will have reason to confess God's kind- 
 ness not only to men's Souls in general, but to 
 his own in particular. 
 
 xxxi. Neither hath he been wanting to our 
 Bodies; all the good things they enjoy, as health, 
 strength, food, raiment, and whatever else con- 
 cerns them, are merely his gifts ; so that indeed 
 it is impossible we should be ignorant of his 
 mercies to them, all those outward comforts and 
 refreshments we daily enjoy, being continual 
 effects and witnesses of it : and though some 
 enjoy more of these than others, yet there is no 
 person but enjoys so much in one kind or other, 
 as abundantly shews God's mercy and kindness 
 to him in respect of his Body. 
 
 xxxii. And now surely you will think it but 
 reasonable we should love him, who is in all res- 
 pects thus lovely : Indeed, this is a duty so gene- 
 rally acknowledged, that if you should ask any 
 man the question, whether he loved God or no, 
 he would think you did him great wrong to 
 doubt of it ; yet for all this, it is too plain, that 
 there are very few that do indeed love him : and 
 this will soon be proved to you, by examining 
 a little what are the common effects of love, 
 which we bear to men like ourselves; and then 
 trying whether we can shew any such fruits of 
 our Love to God. 
 
 xxxi i r. Of that sort there are divers ; but 
 Fruit of Love, Be- for shortness, I will name but 
 
 sire of Phasing. twQ# ^ e £ f ^ \ s a desire of 
 
 Pleasing the second, a desire of Enjoyment. 
 
Sund. 1.] OfloveofGcd. 15 
 
 These are constantly the fruits of Love. For 
 the first, it is known by all, that he that loves 
 any person, is very desirous to approve himself 
 to him, to do whatsoever he thinks will be pleas- 
 ing to him; and according to the degree of 
 Love, so is this desire more or less: Where we 
 love earnestly* we are very earnest and careful 
 to please. Now if we have indeed that love to 
 God, we pretend to, it willbring forth this Fruit, . 
 we shall be careful to please him in all things. 
 Therefore as you judge of the tree by its fruits, 
 so may you judge of our Love of God by this 
 fruit of it ; nay, indeed, this is the way of trial 
 which Christ himself hath given us, John xiv. 
 15. If ye love me, keep my Commandments : and 
 St. John tells us, 1 Ep. v. 3. That this is the 
 Love of God, that we xvalk after his command* 
 ments ; and where this one proof is wanting, it 
 will be impossible to testify, our Love to God. 
 
 xxxiv. But it must yet be farther consider- 
 ed, that this Love of God must not be in a low or 
 weak degree ; for besides that the motives to it, 
 his excellency and his kindness, are in the high- 
 est, the same commandment which bids us love 
 God, bids us love him with all our hearts, and 
 with all our strength ; that is, as much as is pos- 
 sible for us, and above any thing else. And there- - 
 fore to the fulfilling this commandment; it is ne- 
 cessary we love him in that degree : and if we do * 
 so, then certainly we shall have not only some 
 slight and faint endeavours of pleasing, but 
 such as are most diligent and earnest, such as 
 will put us upon the most painful and costly-" 
 b6 
 
1 6 The Whole Duty of Menu [Sund. 1 . 
 
 duties, make us willing to forsake our own ease, 
 goods, friends, yea, life itself, when we cannot 
 keep them without disobeying God. 
 
 xxxv. Now examine thyself by this: Hast 
 thou this Fruit of Love to shew ? Dost thou make 
 it thy constant and greatest care to keep God's 
 Commandments? To obey him in ail things ? 
 Earnestly labouring to please him to the utmost 
 of thy power, even to the forsaking of what is 
 dearest to thee in this world ? If thou dost, thou 
 mayest then truly say, thou lovest God. But on 
 the contrary, if thou wilfully eontinuest in the 
 breach of many, nay, but of any one command 
 of his, never deceive thyself, for the Love of 
 God abides not in thee. This will be made 
 plain to you, if you consider what the Scripture 
 saith of such, as that they are enemies to God 
 by their wicked zvorks, Col. i. 21. that the car- 
 nal mind (and such is every one that continues 
 wilfully in sin) is enmity against God, R ;m. viiL 
 7. that he that sins wilfully, tramples underfoot 
 the Son of God, and dot It despite unto the spirit 
 of Grace } Heb. x. 29. and many the like. 
 And therefore, unless you can think enmity, 
 and trampling, and despite, to be fruits of Love, 
 you must not believe you love God, whilst you 
 go on in any wilful disobedience to him. 
 
 xxxvi. A second fruit of Love, I told you, 
 Desire <f was desire of Enjoying ; this is con- 
 itnjoyivg. s tantly to be seen in our love to one 
 another. If you have a friend whom you en- 
 tirely love, you desire his conversation, wish to 
 be always in his company ; and thus will it be 
 
Sund. 1.] Of Love of God. . ]? 
 
 also in our love to God, if that be as great and 
 hearty as this. 
 
 xxxvi i. There is a two-fold enjoying of 
 God, the one imperfect in this Life, the other 
 more perfect and complete in the Life to come : 
 That in this life is that conversation, as I may 
 call it, which we have with God in his Ordi- 
 nances,, in praying and meditating, in hearing 
 his Word, in receiving the Sacrament ; which 
 were all intended for this purpose, to bring- us 
 to an intimacy and familiarity with God, by 
 speaking to him, and hearing him speak to us. 
 
 xxxviii. Now, if we do indeed love God, 
 we shall certainly hugely value and desire these 
 wavs of conversing with him : it being all we 
 can have in this life, it will make us with Da- 
 vid, esteem one Day in God's Courts better tlum 
 a thousand, Psal. lxxxiv. 10. We shall be glad 
 to have these opportunities of approaching to 
 him ae often as it is possible, and be careful to 
 use them diligently, to that end of uniting us 
 still more to him : yea, we shall come to these 
 spiritual exercises with the same cheerfulness we 
 would- go to our dearest friend. And if indeed 
 we do thus, it is a good proof of our Love. 
 
 xxxi x. But I fear there are not many have 
 this to shew for it, as appears by the common 
 backwardness and unwillingness of men to come 
 to these ; and their negligence and heartlessness 
 when they are at them ; and can we think that 
 God will ever own us for lovers of him, whilst 
 we have such a dislike to his company, that we 
 will never come into it but when we are dragged 
 by fear, or shame of men, or some such worldly 
 
18 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 
 
 motive ? It is sure, you would not think that 
 man loved you, whom you perceived to shun 
 your company, and to be loth to come into your 
 sight. And therefore be not so~ unreasonable 
 as to say, you love God, when yet you desire 
 to keep as far from him as you can. 
 
 xl. But besides this, there is anotherenjoy- 
 ment of God, which. is-more perfect and com- 
 plete, and that is our perpetual enjoying of him 
 in Heaven, where we shall be for ever united to 
 him, and enjoy him not now and then only, 
 for short spaces of time, as we do here, but con- 
 tinually, without interruption or breaking oft'. 
 And certainly if we have that degree of love to 
 God we ought, this cannot but be most earnestly 
 desired by us so much, that we shall think no la^ 
 bour too great to compass it. The seven years 
 that Jacob served for Rachel, Gen. xxix. c 20. 
 seemed to him but afezv days, for the love that he 
 had to her : and surely if we have love to God, 
 we shall not think the service of our whole lives 
 too dear a price for this full enjoyment of him : 
 nor esteem all the enjoyments^)? the world worth 
 the looking on in comparison thereof. 
 
 xl i. If we can truly tell ourselves, we do 
 thus long for this enjoyment of God, we may 
 believe we love him. But I fear again there 
 are but few that can thus approve their love. 
 For if we look into men's lives, we shall see they 
 are not generally so fond of this enjoyment, as 
 to be at any pains to purchase it. And not only 
 so, but it is to be doubted, there are many 
 who if it were put to their choice, whether they 
 would live here always, to enjoy the profit and 
 
 lat 
 
Sund. ].] Of Fear of God. 19 
 
 pleasure of the world, or go to heaven to enjoy 
 God, would, like the children of Gad and Reu- 
 ben, set up their rest on this side Jordan, Numb. 
 xxxii. and never desire that heavenly Canaan ; 
 so close do their affections cleave to things be- 
 low ; which shews clearly they have not made 
 God their treasure ; for then according to our 
 Saviour's rule. Matt. vi. 21. their hearts would 
 be with him. Nay, farther yet, it is too plain 
 that many of us set so little value on this enjoy- 
 ing of God, that we prefer the vilest and basest 
 sins before him, and chuse to enjoy them, though 
 by it we utterly lose our parts in him; which is 
 the case of every man that continues wilfully in 
 those sins. 
 
 xlii. And now I fear according to these rules 
 of trial, many that profess to love God, will be 
 found not to do so. I conclude all with the words 
 of St. John, 1 Ep. iii. 18. which though spoken 
 of the love of our brethren, is very fitly applica- 
 ble to this love of God, Let us not love in wordy 
 neither in tongue, hut in deed, and in truth. 
 
 xlii i. A fourth duty to God is Fear; 
 this arises from the consideration both of 
 his justice and his power; His justice is €ar ' 
 such, that he will not clear the wicked ; and his 
 power such, that he is able to inflict the sorest 
 punishments upon them ; and that this is a reason- 
 able cause of Fear, Christ himself tells us, Matt. 
 x. j£8. Fear him xvho is able to destroy both soul 
 and body in Hell. Many other places of Scrip- 
 ture there are, which commend to us this duty, 
 as Psal. iii 1 1* Serve the Lord with Fear ; Psal. 
 xxxiv. 9* Fear the Lord, ye that be his Saints-; 
 
20 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sun'i 1. 
 
 Prov. ix. 1 0. The Fear of the Lord is the begin- 
 ning of Wisdom; and divers the like : And indeed 
 ail the threatenings of wrath against sinners 
 which we meet with in the Scripture, are only 
 to this end, to work this fear in our hearts. 
 
 xliv. Now this fear is nothingelse but such 
 an awful regard of God, as may keep us from 
 offending him. This the wise man tells us, 
 Prov. xvi. 6. The fear of the Lord is to depart 
 from evil: So that none can be truly said to 
 fear God, that is not thereby withheld from sin : 
 And this is but answerable to that common fear 
 we have towards men : Whoever we know may 
 hurt us, we will beware of provoking; and there- 
 fore if we be not as wary of displeasing God, it 
 is plain we fear men more than we do him. 
 
 xl v. How great a madness this is, thus to 
 The folly of fear- ^ ear men ahove God, will soon 
 ingmciimuie appear, if we compare what man 
 
 than God. can do lQ us with that which G()d 
 
 can. And first, it is sure, it is not in the power 
 of man (I might say Devils too) to do us any 
 hurt, unless God permit and suffer them to do 
 it; so that if we do but keep him our Friend, 
 -we may say with the Psalmist, The Lord is on my 
 side, I fear not what man can do unto me. For 
 let their malice be ever so great, he can restrain 
 and keep them from hurting us ; nay, he can 
 change their minds towards us, according to that 
 of the wise man. Prov. xvi, 7. When a man's 
 ways please the Lord, lie maketh even his enemies 
 to be at peace with him. A notable example of 
 this we have in Jacob, Gen, xxxii. who, when 
 his brother Esau was coming against him as an 
 
Sund. 1.] Of Fear of God. 21 
 
 Enemy, God wonderfully turned bis heart, so 
 that he met him with all the expressions of bro- 
 therly kindness, as you may read in the next 
 chapter. 
 
 xLvr. But secondly, Suppose men were left 
 at liberty to do thee what mischief they could ; 
 alas ! their power goes but a little way ; they 
 may perhaps rob thee of thy goods ; it may be 
 they may take away thy liberty* or thy credit, or 
 perchance thy life too; but that thou knowest is 
 the utmost they can do. But now God can do 
 all this when he pleases ; and that which is in- 
 finitely more, his vengeance reaches even be- 
 yond death itself, to the eternal misery both of 
 body and soul in Hell ; in comparison of which, 
 death is so inconsiderable that we are not to 
 look upon it with any dread. Fear not them that 
 hill the body, and after that have no more that 
 they can do, saith Christ, Luke xii. 4. and then 
 immediately adds, But I will forexvarn you 
 whom you shall fear ; fear him who after he 
 hath killed, hath power to cast into Hell, yea, I 
 say unto you; fear him. In which words the 
 comparison is set between the greatest ill we can 
 suffer from man, the loss of life, and those sad- 
 der evils God can inflict on us; and the latter 
 are found to be the only dreadful things, and 
 therefore God only is to be feared. 
 
 xl vi i. But there is vet one thing farther con- 
 siderable in this matter, which is this : It is pos- 
 sible we may transgress against men, and tiiey 
 not know it; I may perhaps steal my neighbour's 
 goods, or defile his wife, and keep it so close 
 that he shall not suspect me, and so never 
 
22 The JVhole Duty of Man. [Sand. R 
 
 bring me to punishment for it. Bat this we can- 
 not do with God, he knows all things, even the 
 most secret thoughts of our hearts ; and there- 
 fore though we commit a sin never so closely, 
 he is sure to find us, and will as surely, if we do 
 not timely repent, punish us eternally for it. 
 
 x lvi 1 1. And now surety it cannot but be con- 
 fest, that it is much safer displeasing men than 
 God ; yet, alas ! ou>r practice is as if we be- 
 lieved the direct contrary, there being nothing 
 more ordinary with us, than for the avoiding of 
 some present danger we fear from men, to rush 
 ourselves upon the indignation of God. And 
 thus it is with us, when either to save our estates, 
 or credits or our very lives, we commit any sin ; 
 for that is plainly the chusinc; to provoke God,. 
 rather than man. 
 
 xlix. But, God knows, this case of fear of 
 men is not the only one wherein we venture to 
 displease him ; for we commit many sins, to 
 which we have none of this- temptation, nor 
 indeed any other ; as for instance, that of com- 
 mon swearing, to which there is nothing either 
 of pleasure or profit to invite us. Nay, many 
 times, we, who so4ear the mischiefs that other 
 men may do to us, that we are ready to buy 
 them off with the greatest sins> do ourselves bring 
 all those very mischiefs upon us, by sins of our 
 own ehusing. Thus the careless- prodigal robs 
 himself of his estate ; the deceitful and dishonest 
 man, or any that lives- in any notorious sin, 
 deprives himself of his credit ; and the drunkard 
 and glutton brings diseases on himself to the 
 shortening his life. And can we think we do at 
 
Sund. 1.] Of Trust in God. £3 
 
 all fear God, when that fear has so little power 
 over us, that though it be hacked with the many 
 present mischiefs that attend upon sin, it is not 
 able to keep us from them ? Surely such men 
 are so far from fearing God, that they rather 
 seem to defy him, resolve to provoke him, what- 
 soever it cost them ; either in this world, or the 
 next. Yet so unreasonably partial we are to our- 
 selves, that even such as these will pretend to 
 this Fear : You may examine multitudes of the 
 most gross scandalous sinners, before you shall 
 meet with one that will acknowledge he fears not 
 God. It is strange it should be possible for men 
 thus to cheat themselves : but however it is cer- 
 tain we cannot deceive God, he will not be 
 mocked ; and therefore if we will not now so 
 fear as to avoid sin, we shall one day fear when 
 it will be too late to avoid punishment. 
 
 l. A fifth duty to God, is that of Trusting 
 in him, that is, depending and resting 
 on him : And that is, first, in all dan- FrusU 
 gers ; secondly, in all wants. We are to rest 
 on him in all our dangers both spiritual and 
 temporal. Of the first sort are all those temp- 
 tations, by which we are in danger to be drawn 
 to sin. And in this respect he hath promised, 
 that if we resist the Devil, h e willjiee j n all spiritual 
 from us, Jam. iv. 7. Therefore our Danger. 
 duty is first, to pray earnestly for God's Grace 
 to enable us to overcome the temptation ; and 
 secondly, to set ourselves manfully to combat 
 with it ; not yielding or giving consent to it in 
 the least degree : And whilst we do this, we are 
 confidently to rest upon God, that his grace will. 
 
24 The Whole Duly of Man. [Sund. I. 
 
 be sufficient for us, that he will either remove 
 the temptation, or strengthen us to withstand it. 
 
 li. Secondly, in all outward and temporal 
 luaUtem- Dangers we are to rest upon him, as 
 poraL knowing that he is able to deliver us, 
 
 and that he will do so it' he sees it best for us, 
 and if we be such, to whom he hatli promised 
 his protection, that is, such as truly fear him. 
 To this purpose we have many promises in 
 Scripture, PsaL xxxiv. 7. The Angel of the 
 Lord tarrieth round about them that fear him > 
 and delivereth them : And Psal. xxxiv. 20. The 
 Lord deliver eth the souls of his Servant s y and all 
 they that put their trust in him shall not be 
 destitute ; and divers the like. 
 
 And also we have many examples, as that of 
 the three Children in the furnace, Dan. iii. that 
 of Daniel in the lion's den, Dan. vi. and many 
 others ; all which serve to teach us this one les- 
 son, That if we go on conscionably in perform- 
 ing our duty, we need not be dismayed for any 
 thing that can befal us : for the God whom we 
 serve is able to deliver us. 
 
 lii. Therefore in all dangers we are first 
 
 ^ humbly to pray for his aid, and then 
 
 tkiiJr' to rest ourselves cheerfully on him: 
 
 ourselves assuring ourselves that he will give 
 
 i/ any sin. ^^ ^ j ssue> ag s ^ a |j jjg mQst fof Q[}V 
 
 good. But above all things, we must be sure to 
 fix our dependence wholly on him, and not to 
 rely on the creatures for help ; much less must 
 we seek to deliver ourselves by any unlawful 
 means, that is, by the committing of any sin ; for 
 that is like Saul, 1 Sam. xxviii. 7. to go to the 
 
Sund. J.J Of Trust in God. 25 
 
 witch 9 that is, to the Devil, for help ; such 
 courses do commonly deceive our hopes at the 
 present, and instead of delivering us out of our 
 straits, plunge us in greater ; and those much 
 more uncomfortable ones ; because then we want 
 that which is the only support, God's favour 
 and aid, which we certainly forfeit, w hen we 
 thus seek to rescue ourselves by any sinful means. 
 But supposing we could by such a way certainly 
 free ourselves from the present danger : yet, 
 alas ! we are far from having gained safety by 
 it; we have only removed the danger from that 
 which was less considerable, and brought it upon 
 the most precious part of us, our souls ; like an 
 unskilful physician, that to remove a pain from 
 the finger, strikes it to the heart : we are there- 
 fore grossly mistaken, when we think we have 
 played the good husband in saving our liberties 
 or estates, or lives themselves, by a sin ; we 
 have not saved them, but madly over- bought 
 them, laid out our very souls on them; and 
 Christ tells us bow little we shall gain by such 
 bargains, Matt. xvi. 2o\ What is a man profited, 
 if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own 
 soul? Let us therefore resolve never to value any 
 thing we can possess in this world at so high a 
 rate, as to keep \% at the price of the least sin : 
 But whenever things are driven to such an issue, 
 that we must either part with some, perhaps all 
 our worldly possessions, nay, life itself, or else 
 commit sin, let us then remember, that this is 
 the season for us to perform that great and ex- 
 cellent duty of taking up the cross, which we can 
 never so properly do as in this case : for our 
 
26 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 1 . 
 
 bearing of that, which we have no possible way 
 of avoiding, can at most be said to be but the 
 carrying of the cross ; but then only can we be 
 said to take it up, when having a means of escap- 
 ing it by a sin, we rather chuse to endure the 
 cross than commit the sin, for then it is not laid 
 on us by any unavoidable necessity, but we wil- 
 lingly chuse it; and this is highly acceptable 
 with God ; yea, withal so strictly required by 
 him, that if we fail of performing it, when we 
 are put to trial, we are not to be accounted 
 followers of Christ, for so himself hath expressly 
 told us, Matt. xvi. 24. If any man will come after 
 me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross 
 andj'olloiv me; and so again, Mark viii. 34. It 
 were therefore a good point of spiritual wisdom 
 for us, sometimes by some lower degrees of self- 
 denial, to fit ourselves for this greater when we 
 shall be called to it. We know he that expects 
 to run a race, will before-hand be often breath- 
 ing himself that he may not be foiled when he 
 comes to run for the prize: In like manner, 
 it will be fit for us sometimes to abridge our- 
 selves somewhat of our lawful pleasure, or ease, 
 or profit, so that we may get such a mastery 
 over ourselves, as to be able to renounce all, 
 when our obedience to God requires it. 
 
 liii. And as we are thus to trust on God for 
 In all Wants deliverance from dangers, so are we 
 spiritual. likewise for supply of our Wants , and 
 those again are either spiritual or temporal : Our 
 spiritual Want is that of his grace to enable us 
 to serve him, without which we can do nothing : 
 And for this we are to depend on him, provided 
 
Sund. L] Of Trust in God. 27 
 
 we neglect not the means, which are prayer, and 
 a careful using of what he hath already bestowed 
 on us: For then we have his promise for it, He 
 wilt give the Holy Spirit to them that ask it, 
 Luke xi. 13. and unto him that hath shall be 
 given, Matt. xxv. 29. that is, to him that hath 
 made a good use of thut grace he hath already, 
 God xvill give more. We are not therefore to af- 
 fright ourselves with the difficulty of those things 
 God requires of us, but remember he commands 
 nothing, which he will not enable us to perforin, 
 if we be not wanting to ourselves. And there- 
 fore let us sincerely do our parts, and confi- 
 dently assure ourselves God will not fail of his. 
 
 liv. But we have likewise temporal and 
 bodily wants ; and for the supply of Temporal 
 them we are likewise to rely on him. Wants. 
 And for this also we want no promises, suppos- 
 ing us to be of the number of them to whom 
 they are made, that is, God's faithful servants : 
 They that fear the Lord lack nothing, Ps. 
 xxxiv. 9, 10. They that seek the Lord shall 
 want no manner of thing that is good : again, 
 Ps. xxxiii. 18, 19. Behold the eye of the Lord is 
 upon them that fear him, upon them that hope 
 in his mercy, to deliver their souls from death, 
 and to feed them in tune of famine. Examples 
 also we have of this, as we may see in the case 
 of Elijah and the poor JVidozv, 1 Kings xvii. 
 and many others. 
 
 lv. We are therefore to look up to him for 
 the provision of all things necessary for us, ac- 
 cording to that of the Psalmist, the eyes of all 
 wait upon thee, O Lord, and thou givest them 
 
28 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 1 . 
 
 i heir meat in due season. And our Saviour bath 
 taught us to pray for our daily Bread; thereby 
 teaching us that we are to live in continual de- 
 pendance upon God for it. Yet I mean not by 
 this that we should so expect it from God, as 
 to give up ourselves to idleness, and expect to 
 be fed by miracles: No, our honest industry 
 and labour is the means by which God ordina- 
 rily gives us the necessaries of this life ; and 
 therefore we must by no means neglect that : He 
 that will not labour, let him not eat, says the 
 Apostle, 2 Thes. hi. 10. and we may believe God 
 will pronounce the same sentence, and suffer 
 the slothful person to want even necessary food. 
 But when we have faithfully used our own en- 
 deavour, then we must also look up to God for 
 his blessing on it, without which it can never 
 prosper to us. And having done thus, we may 
 comfortably rest ourselves on his providence, 
 for such a measure of these outward things, as 
 he sees httest for us. 
 
 lvj. But if our condition be such, that we 
 are not able to labour, and have no other means 
 of bringing in the necessaries of life to ourselves, 
 yet even then we are cheerfully to rest upon God, 
 believing that he who feeds the ravens, will, by 
 some means or other, though ue know not what, 
 provide for us, so long as he pleases we shall 
 continue in this world ; and never in any case 
 torment ourselves with carking and distrustful 
 thoughts, but as the Apostle, 1 Pet. v. 7. Cast 
 all our care upon him that caret h for us. 
 
 lvii. This is earnestly prest by our Saviour, 
 Matt. vi. where he abundantly shews the folly of 
 
 4 
 
Sund. 1.] Of Trust in God. 29 
 
 this sin of distrust. The place is a most excellent 
 one, and therefore I shall set it down at large, 
 ver. 25. Therefore I say unto you, Take no 
 thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what 
 ye shall drink, neither for your body what ye shall 
 put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the 
 body than raiment f Behold thefozvls of the air y 
 for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather 
 into barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth 
 them.'— Are ye not much better than they? 
 Which of you by taking thought can add one 
 cubit to his stature ? And why take ye thought 
 for raiment? Consider the lilies of the fie Id how 
 they groxv, they toil not, neither do they spin, and 
 yet I say unto you 3 that even Solomon in all his 
 glory was not arrayed like one of these. Where- 
 fore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, zvhich 
 to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, 
 shall he not much more clothe you, Oye of little 
 Faith? Therefore take no thought, say big, what 
 shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or where- 
 withal shall we be cloathed? (for after all these 
 things do the Gentiles seek) for your heavenly 
 Father knoweth that ye have need of all these 
 things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and 
 his righteousness, and then all these things shall 
 be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for 
 the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought 
 for the things of itself, sufficient unto the day 
 is the evil thereof. I might add many other Texts 
 to this purpose ; but this is so full and convinc- 
 ing, that I suppose it needless. 
 
 lviii. All therefore that I shall The Bene- 
 say more concerning this duty is, to jits of trust- 
 put you in mind of the great Benefits illg ' inGo(L 
 C 
 
50 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 1. 
 
 of it : as first, that by this trusting upon God 
 you engage and bind him to provide for 
 you. Men, you know, think themselves highly 
 concerned not to fail those that depend and trust 
 upon them; and certainly God doth so much 
 more. But then, secondly, there is a great deal 
 of ease and quiet in the practice of this duty ; it 
 delivers us from all those carking and immo- 
 derate cares, which disquiet our minds, break 
 our sleep, and gnaw even our very heart. I 
 doubt not but those that have felt them, need 
 not be told they are uneasy ; but then, methinks, 
 that uneasiness should make us forward to em- 
 brace the means for the removing of them, and 
 so we see it too often doth in unlawful ones ; 
 men will cheat, and steal, and lie, and do any 
 thing to deliver themselves from the fear of 
 want ; but, alas ! they commonly prove but 
 deceitful remedies : they bring God's curse on 
 us, and so are more likely to betray us to want, 
 than to keep us from it. But if you desire a 
 certain and unfailing cure for cares, take this 
 of relying upon God. 
 
 lix. For what should cause that man to fear 
 want that knows he hath one that cares for him, 
 who is All-sufficient, and will not suffer him to 
 want what is fit for him ? If a poor man had 
 but a faithful promise from a wealthy person, 
 that he would never suffer him to want, it is 
 sure he would be highly cheered with it, and 
 would not then think fit to be as carking as he 
 was before : And yet a man's promise may fail 
 us ; he may either grow poor and not be able, or 
 he may prove false, and not be willing, to make 
 £Ooa his word. But we know God is subject 
 
Sund. 2.] Of Humility. 31 
 
 neither to impoverishing nor deceit ; and there- 
 fore how vile an injury we do offer to him, if 
 we dare not trust as much upon his promise, as 
 we would that of a man? Yea, and how great 
 a mischief do we do ourselves, by loading our 
 minds with a multitude of vexatious and tor- 
 menting cares, when we may so securely cast our 
 burden upon God ; I conclude this in the words 
 of the Apostle, Phil. iv. 6. Be careful for no- 
 thing ; but in every thing by Prayer and Sup- 
 plication, with thanksgiving, let your requests 
 be made known unto God. 
 
 SUNDAY II. 
 
 Of Humility ; of Submission to God's Will in re- 
 spect of Obedience ; of Patience in all Sorts of 
 Sufferings ; and of Honour due to God in 
 several Ways, in his House, Possessions, his 
 Day, Word, Sacrament, &c. 
 
 Sect. i. A Sixth Duty to God is Humility; 
 that is, such a sense of our own meanness and 
 his excellency, as may work in us lowly and 
 unfeigned Submission to him : This H .,. 
 Submission is two-fold; first, to his * ?y ' 
 
 Will : secondly, to his Wisdom. 
 
 ii. The Submission to his Will is also of two- 
 sorts ; the Submission either of Obe- c * . . 
 
 ,. ' -r» • i r s^, Submission to 
 
 dience or Patience: that ot Obe- God's wuijn 
 dience, is our ready Yielding our- respect of Obe- 
 selves up to do his Will ; so that when 
 
32 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 2. 
 
 God hath by his command made known to us 
 what his pleasure is, cheerfully and readily to set 
 about it. To enable us to do this, Humility is 
 exceeding necessary ; for a proud person is, of 
 all others, the unaptest to obey ; and we see men 
 never pay an Obedience, but where they acknow- 
 ledge the person commanding to be some way 
 above them, and so it is here : If we be not tho- 
 roughly persuaded that God is infinitely above 
 us, that we are vileness and nothing in compari- 
 son of him, we shall never pay our due obedience, 
 in. Therefore, if you ever mean to obey en- 
 tirely (as you must, if ever you mean to be saved) 
 get your hearts possessed with the sense of that 
 The great g reat unspeakable distance that is 
 Distance between God and you. Consider 
 
 between God fc m ag fog j g a Q Q( J Q f i n fi n it e ]y| a . 
 annus. . , g-%% i 
 
 jesty and Glory, and we poor worms 
 of the earth : He infinite in power, able to do 
 all things, and we able to do nothing, not so 
 much as to make one hair white or black , as our 
 Saviour speaks, Matt. v. 36. He of infinite 
 purity and holiness, and we polluted and defiled, 
 wallowing in all kind of sin and uncleanness : 
 He unchangeable and constant, and we subject 
 to change and alteration every minute of our 
 lives : He eternal and immortal, and we frail 
 mortals, that whenever he taketh away our 
 breath, we die, and are turned again to our dust, 
 Psal. civ. 29. Consider all this, I say, and you 
 cannot but acknowledge a wide difference be- 
 tween God and man ; and therefore may well cry 
 out with Job, after he had approached so near to 
 God, as to discern somewhat of his excellency, 
 
Sund. 2.] The Duty of Submission, S3 
 
 Job xlii. 5, 6. Now mine eye seeth thee, where' 
 fore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes, 
 iv. And even when this Humility hath brought 
 us to Obedience, it is not then to be The Unwor- 
 east off, as if we had no farther use thmessofonr 
 of it ; for there is still great use, nay, hest Works ' 
 necessity of it, to keep us from any high con- 
 ceit of our performances ; which if we once en- 
 tertain, it will blast the best of them, and make 
 them utterly unacceptable to God ; like the 
 strictness of the Pharisee, which when once 
 he came to boast of, the Publican was preferred 
 before him, Luke xviii. The best of our works 
 are so full of infirmity and pollution, that if we 
 compare them with that perfection and purity 
 which is in God, we may truly say with the Pro- 
 phet, All our righteousnesses areas jilt hy rags, 
 Isa. lxiv. 6, and therefore to pride ourselves in 
 them is the same madness, that it would be in a 
 beggar to brag of his apparel, when it is nothing 
 but vile rags and tatters. Our Saviour's precept 
 in this matter must always be remembered, Luke 
 xvii. 10. JVhen you have done all those things 
 which are commanded you, say, We are unpro- 
 fitable servants. If, when we have done all, we 
 must give ourselves, no better a title, what are 
 we then to esteem ourselves, that are so far from 
 doing any considerable part of what we are com- 
 manded ? Surely that worser name of slothful 
 and wicked servants, Matt. xxv. 26. we have no 
 reason to think too bad for us. 
 
 v. A second sort of Submission to his will is 
 that of patience : This stands in Submission in re- 
 suffering his will, as that of Obe- ^pect of Patience. 
 
 c 3 
 
 / 
 
34 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sand. 2. 
 
 dience did in acting it, and is nothing else, but 
 a willing and quiet yielding to whatever afflic- 
 tions it pleases God to lay upon us. This the 
 forementioned humility will make easy to us ; 
 for when our hearts are thoroughly possessed 
 with that reverence and esteem of God, it will 
 be impossible for us to grudge or murmur at 
 whatever he does. We see an instance of it in 
 old Eli, 1 Sam. iii. who after he had heard the 
 sad threatenings of God against him, of the de- 
 struction of his family, the loss of the priest- 
 hood, the cutting off both his sons in one day, 
 which were all of them afflictions of the heaviest 
 kind ; yet this one consideration, that it was the 
 Lord, enabled him calmly and quietly to yield 
 to them, saying, Let him do what secmeth him. 
 good, Verse 18. The same effect it had on 
 David in his sufferings, Psalm xxxix. p. / was 
 dumb, 1 opened not my mouth t because thou didst 
 it. God's doing; it silenced all murmurings and 
 grumblings in him. And so must it do in us, 
 in all our afflictions, if we will indeed approve 
 our humility to God. 
 
 vi. For surely you will not think that child 
 hath due humility to his parent, or that servant 
 to his master, that when they are corrected-, shall 
 fly in the father's or master's face. But this do 
 we, whenever we grudge and repine at that* 
 which God lays upon us. But besides the want 
 of humility in our so doing, there is also a great " 
 want of Justice in it; for God hath, as we are 
 his creatures, a right to do with us what he will ; 
 and therefore for us to resist that right of his, is 
 the highest injustice that can be. Nay, farther, 
 
Sund. 2.] Of Patience, &c. 35 
 
 it is also the greatest folly in the world ; for it; is 
 only our good that God aims at in afflicting us; 
 that heavenly Father is not like our earthly 
 ones, who sometimes correct their children only 
 to satisfy their own angry humour, not to do 
 them good. But this is subject to no such frail- 
 ties ; He doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the 
 children of men, Lam. iii. 33. They are our sins, 
 which do not only give him just cause, but even 
 force and necessitate him to punish us : He car- 
 ries to us the bowels and affections of the ten- 
 'derest Father. Now when a father sees his child 
 stubborn anil rebellious, and running on in a 
 course that will certainly undo him, what greater 
 act of fatherly kindness can he do, than chasten 
 and correct him, to see if by that means he may 
 amend him? Nay, indeed he could not be 
 said to have true kindness to him., if he should 
 not. And thus it is with God, when he sees us 
 run on in sin ; either he must leave off to love 
 us, and so leave us to ourselves to take our own 
 course, and that is the heaviest curse that can 
 befal any man ; or else, if he continue to love 
 us, he must correct and punish us, to bring us 
 to amendment : Therefore whenever he strikes, 
 we are, in all reason, not only patiently to lie 
 under his rod, but (as I may say) Th l nlifalness 
 kiss it also ; that is, be very thank- for God's 
 ful to him that he is pleased not t Corrections ' 
 give us over to our own hearts lusts, Psal. Ixxxi. 
 12. but still continues his care of us ; sends af- 
 flictions as so many messengers to call us home 
 to himself. You see then how gross a folly it is 
 to murmur at those stripes which are meant so 
 c 4 
 
36 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 2. 
 
 graciously : It is like that of a froward patient, 
 which reproaches and reviles the Physician that 
 comes to cure him ; and if such a one is left to 
 die of his disease, every one knows whom he is 
 to thank for it. 
 
 vi i. But it is not only quietness, no, nor 
 Fruitfvhess thankfulness neither under afflictions 
 under them, that is the full of our duty in this 
 matter : We must have Fruitfulness also, or 
 all the rest will stand us in no stead. By fruit- 
 fulness I mean the bringing forth that which the 
 afflictions were sent to work in us, viz* the 
 amendment of our lives. To which purpose, 
 in time of affliction, it is very necessary for us 
 to call ourselves to an account, to examine our 
 hearts and lives, and search diligently what sins 
 lie upon us, which provoked God thus to smite 
 us : and whatsoever we find ourselves guilty of, 
 humbly to confess to God, and immediately to 
 forsake for the rest of our time. 
 
 viii. All I shall add concerning this duty of 
 in all Sons of Patience, is, that we are as much 
 Sufferings. bound to it in one sort of Sufferings, 
 as another ; whether our sufferings be so imme- 
 diately from God's hand, that no creature hath 
 any thing to do in it, as sickness, or the like; 
 or whether it be such, wherein men are the in- 
 struments of afflicting us. For it is most sure, 
 when any man doth us hurt, he could not do 
 it without God's permission and sufferance; and 
 God may as well make them the instruments of 
 punishing us, as do it more directly by himself: 
 And it is but a counterfeit patience, that pre- 
 tends to submit to God, and yet can bear no- 
 
Sund. 2. J Of Patience, &c. 37 
 
 thing from men- We see holy Job, who is set 
 forth to us as a pattern of true patience, made 
 no such difference in his afflictions ; he took the 
 loss of his cattle which the Chaldeans and Sa- 
 beans robbed him of, with the very same meek- 
 ness with which he did that which was consumed 
 by fire from heaven. When therefore we suffer 
 any thing from men, be it never so unjustly in 
 respect to them, we are yet to confess it is most 
 Justin respect of God : and therefore, instead of 
 looking upon them with rage and revenge, as 
 the common custom of the world is, we are 
 to look up to God : acknowledge his justice in 
 the affliction, begging his pardon most earnestly 
 for those sins which have provoked him to send 
 it, and patiently and thankfully bear it, till he 
 shall see fit to remove it; still saying with Job, 
 Blessed be the name of the Lord. 
 
 ix. But I told you Humility contained in it 
 a submission, not" only to his Will, $ lthmhsion 
 but also to his Wisdom; that is, to to Gad's 
 acknowledge him infinitely wise, and Wudom - 
 therefore that whatever he cloth, is best and 
 fittest to be done. And this we are to confess 
 both ill his Commands, and in his inhisCom- 
 disposing and ordering of things, mnds. 
 First, whatsoever he commands us either to be- 
 lieve or do, we are to submit to his wisdom in 
 both ; to believe whatsoever he bids us be- 
 lieve, how impossible soever it seems to our 
 shallow understandings ; and to do whatever he 
 commands us to do, how contrary soever it be to 
 our fleshly reason or humour; and in both to 
 conclude, that his Commands are most fit and 
 reasonable, however they may appear to us. 
 C5 
 
38 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 2, 
 
 x. Secondly, We are to submit to his Wis- 
 In ids Bis- dom, in respect of his disposal and 
 posals. ordering of things ; to acknowledge 
 he disposes all things most wisely ; and that not 
 only in what concerns the world in general, but 
 also in what concerns every one of us in particu- 
 lar : So that in what condition soever he puts us, 
 we are to assure ourselves it is that which is 
 best for us, since he chuses it for us who can- 
 not err. And therefore never to have impa- 
 tient desires of any thing in this world, but to 
 leave it to God to fit us with such an estate and 
 condition, as he sees best for us, and there let 
 us quietly and contentedly rest; yea, though 
 it be such as of all others we should have least 
 wished for ourselves. And this surely cannot 
 but appear very reasonable to any that hath 
 humility ; for that having taught him, that God 
 is infinitely wise, and he very foolish, he can 
 never doubt but that it is much more for his 
 good,, that God should chuse for him, than he 
 for himself; even as it is much more for the 
 child's good, to have the parent chuse for it, 
 than to be left to those silly choices it would make 
 for itself : For how many times would it cut and 
 burn, and mischief itself, if it might have eyery 
 thing it desires? And such children are we; we 
 many times eagerly desire those things which 
 would undo us, if we had them. Thus many 
 times we wish for wealth, and honour, and 
 beauty, and the like ; when, if we had them, 
 they would only prove snares to us, we should 
 be drawn into sin by them : and this God, who 
 knows all things, sees though we do not; and 
 
Sund. <2.] Of honouring God, &c. 39 
 
 therefore often denies us those things which he 
 sees will tend to our mischief: and it is his 
 abundant mercy that he doth so. Let us there- 
 fore, where ever we are disappointed of any of 
 r our aims and wishes, not only patiently, but 
 joyfully submit to it, as knowing that it is cer- 
 tainly best for us, it being chosen by the uner- 
 ring Wisdom of our heavenly Father. 
 
 xi. A seventh Duty to God is Honour; 
 that is, the paying him such a reverence jj oncm . e 
 and respect, as belongs to so great a 
 Majesty. And this is either inward or outward : 
 The inward is the exalting him in our hearts, 
 having always the highest and most excellent 
 esteem of him. The outward is the manifesting 
 and shewing forth that inward ; and that is the 
 first general in the whole course of our lives, the 
 living like men that do indeed carry that high 
 esteem of God. Now you know, if we bear 
 any special reverence but to a man, we will be 
 careful not to do any foul or base thing in his 
 presence ; and so, if we do indeed honour God, 
 we shall abhor to do any unworthy thing in his 
 sight. But God sees all things, and therefore 
 there is no way to shun the doing it in his sight, 
 if we do it at all ; therefore, if we do thus reve- 
 rence him, we must never at any time do any 
 sinful thing, 
 
 xn. But besides this general way of honour- 
 ing God, there are many particu- Several ways of 
 lar acts by which we may honour honouring God. 
 him ; and these acts are diverse, according to the 
 several particulars about which they are exer- 
 cised : for we are to pay this honour not only ina-- 
 e 6 
 
40 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 2. 
 
 mediately to himself, but also by a due estima- 
 tion and account of all those things that nearly 
 relate or belong to him. Those are especially six; 
 first, his House ; secondly, his Revenue or In- 
 come (as I may say ;) thirdly, his Day, fourthly, 
 his Word ; fifthly, his Sacraments ; and sixthly, 
 his Name : And every one of these is to have 
 some degree of our reverence and esteem. 
 
 xi ii. First, his House, that is, the Church ; 
 In ids house. wmc li being the place set apart for his 
 public Worship, we are to look on it, 
 though not as holy in respect of itself, yet in 
 respect to its use, and therefore must not pro- 
 fane it, by employing it to uses of our own. This 
 Christ hath taught us by that act of his, Matt. 
 xxi. 12. in driving the buyers and sellers out of 
 the Temple, saying, My House is called the 
 House of Prayer : And again, John ii. 16. Make 
 not my Fathers House an House of merchandize. 
 By which it is clear, Churches are to be used 
 only for the service of God ; and we are to make 
 that the only end of our coming thither, and not 
 to come to Church as to a market to make bar- 
 gains, or dispatch business with our neighbours, 
 as is too common among many. But whenever 
 thou enterest the Church, remember that it is 
 the house of God, a place where he is in an 
 especial manner present, and therefore take the 
 counsel of the wise man, EccL v. 1. and keep 
 thy foot when thou goest into the house of God ; 
 that is behave thyself with that godly awe and 
 reverence, which belongs to that great Majesty 
 thou art before : Remember that thy business 
 there, is to converse with God; and there- 
 
Sund. 2. J Of honouring God, &c. 41 
 
 fore shut out all thoughts of the world, even of 
 thy most lawful business,, which though they be 
 allowable at another time, are here sinful. How 
 fearful a guilt is it then to entertain any such 
 thoughts as are in themselves wicked ? It is like 
 the treason of Judas, who pretended indeed to 
 come and kiss his Master, but brought with him 
 a band of soldiers to apprehend him, Matt. xxvi. 
 We make a shew in our coming to Church of 
 serving and worshipping God ; but we bring with 
 us a train of his enemies to provoke and despite 
 him. This is a wickedness that may outvie the 
 profaneness of these days, in turning churches 
 into stables ; for sinful and polluted thoughts are 
 much the worst sort of beasts. 
 
 xrv. The second thing to which respect be- 
 longs, is his revenue or income; that Hispos- 
 is, whatsoever is his peculiar posses- sesswns ' 
 sion set apart for the maintenance of those that 
 attend his service : Those were the priests in 
 time of the law, and ministers of the Gospel 
 . now with us. And whatever is thus set apart, 
 . we must look on with such respect, as not to 
 dare to turn it to any other use. Of this sort, 
 some are the free-will offerings of men, who have 
 sometimes of their own accord given some of 
 their goods or land to this holy use ; and what- 
 soever is so given, can neither by the person that 
 gave, nor any other be taken away, without that 
 great sin of Sacrilege. 
 
 xv. But besides these, there was among the 
 Jews, and hath always been in all Christian 
 nations, something allotted by the law of the 
 nation, for the support and maintenance of those 
 
! &. 
 
 4<2 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund 
 
 that attend the service of God. And it is but 
 just and necessary it should be so, that those, 
 who, by undertaking that calling, are taken off 
 from the ways of gaining a livelihood in the 
 world, should be provided for by them whose 
 souls they watch over : And therefore it is most 
 reasonable, which the Apostle urges in this mat- 
 ter, 1 Cor. ix. 11. If we have sown unto you spi- 
 ritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap 
 your carnal tilings ? that is, it is most unreason- 
 able for men to grudge the bestowing a few car- 
 nal things, the outward necessaries of this tem- 
 poral life, on them, from whom they receive spi- 
 ritual things, even instruction and assistance 
 towards the obtaining of an eternal life. 
 
 xvi. Now whatsoever is thus appointed for 
 The great sin this use, may by no means be em- 
 of Sacrilege. pi y e d to any other: And there- 
 fore those tithes, which are here by law allotted 
 for the maintenance of the ministry, must by no 
 means be kept back, nor any tricks or shifts used 
 to avoid the payment, either in whole or in part. 
 For first, it is certain, that it is as truly theft, 
 as any other robbery can be: Ministers having 
 right to their tithes by the same law, which gives 
 any other man right to his estate. But then, 
 secondly, it is another manner of robbery than 
 we think of, it is a robbing of God, whose ser- 
 vice they were given to maintain : And that you 
 may not doubt the truth of this, it is no more 
 than God himself hath said of it, Mai. iii. 8. 
 Will a man rob God : Yet ye have robbed me- 1 
 Yet ye say, Wherein have zve robbed thee ? In 
 tithes and offerings, Here it is most plain, that 
 
"Sund. 2.] • Of Sacrilege, &c. 43 
 
 in God's account the withholding tithes is a 
 robbing of him. And if you please, you may 
 in the next verse see what the gain of this rob- 
 bery amounts to ; Ye are cursed with a curse. A 
 curse is all is gotten by it ; and common experi- 
 ence shews us, that God's vengeance doth in a 
 remarkable manner pursue this sin of Sacrilege, 
 whether it be that of withholding tithes, or the 
 other of seizing on those possessions which have 
 been voluntarily consecrated to God. Men think 
 to enrich themselves by it, but it thepuwA- 
 usually proves directly contrary ; this ment °f it - 
 unlawful gain becomes such a canker in the 
 estate, as often eats out even that we had a just 
 title to : And therefore, if you love (I will not 
 say your souls, but) your estates, preserve them 
 from that danger, by a strict care never to med- 
 dle with any thing set apart for God. 
 
 xvi r. A third thing, wherein we are to ex- 
 press our reverence to God, is, \ho. The times for 
 hallowing of the Times set apart for his service. 
 his service : He who hath given all our Time, 
 requires some part of it to be paid back again, 
 as a rent or tribute of the whole. Thus the 
 Jezvs kept holy the seventh day, and we Chris- 
 tians the Sunday, or Lord's-day: r „ „ 
 
 mi ' -r • I • n . i i J Lord's Day* 
 
 I he Jews were in their Sabbath espe- 
 cially to remember the Creation of the world, 
 and we in ours, the Resurrection of Christ, by 
 which a way is made for us into that better 
 world we expect hereafter. Now this day, thus 
 set apart, is to be employed in the Worship and 
 Service of God ; and that first more solemnly 
 and publicly in the congregation, from which 
 
44 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 2. 
 
 no man must then absent himself without a just 
 cause : And, secondly, privately at home ; in 
 praying with, and instructing our families ; or 
 else in the yet more private duties of the closet, 
 a man's own private prayers, reading, medita- 
 tion, and the like. 
 
 And that we may be at leisure for these, a rest 
 from all worldly business is commanded ; there- 
 fore let no man think, that a bare rest from labour 
 is all that is required of him on the Lord's-Day ; 
 but the time which he saves from the works of 
 his calling, he is to lay out on those spiritual 
 duties : For the Lord's-Day was never ordained 
 to give us a pretence for idleness, but only to 
 change our employment from worldly to hea- 
 venly ; much less was it meant, that by our rest 
 from our callings,, we should have more time free 
 to bestow upon our sins, as too many do, who 
 are more constant on that day at the alehouse, 
 than the church. But this rest was commanded, 
 first, to shadow out to us that rest from sin, which 
 we are bound to all the days of our lives ; and 
 secondly, to take us off from our worldly busi- 
 ness, and to give us time to attend the service 
 of God, and the need of our souls. 
 
 xvu i. And surely, if we rightly consider it, 
 it is a very great benefit to us, that there is such 
 a set time thus weekly returning for that pur- 
 pose. We are very intent and busy upon the 
 world; and if there, were not some such time 
 appointed to our hands, it is to be doubted we 
 should hardly allot any ourselves : And then 
 what a starved condition must these poor souls 
 of our's be in, that shall never be afforded a 
 
Sund. 2.] The Feasts of the Church. 45 
 
 meal ? Whereas now there is a constant diet 
 provided for them ; every Sunday, if we will 
 conscionably employ it, may be a Festival-day 
 to them, may bring them in such spiritual food, 
 as may nourish them to eternal life. We are 
 not to look on this day with grudging, like those 
 in Amos viii. 5. who ask, When will the Sab- 
 bath be gone, that we may set forth wheat? 
 as if that time were utterly lost, which were taken 
 from our worldly business : but we are to con- 
 sider it, as the gainfullest, as the joyfullest day 
 of the week ; a day of harvest, wherein we are 
 to lay up in store for the whole week, nay, for 
 our whole lives. 
 
 xix. But besides this of the weekly Lord's- 
 Day, there are other times, which The Feasts of 
 the Church hath set apart for the iheChwch. 
 remembrance of some special mercies of God, 
 such as the Birth and Resurrection of Christ, the 
 Descent of the Holy Ghost, and the like : And 
 these days we are to keep in that manner, which 
 the Church hath ordered, to wit, in the solemn 
 worship of God, and in particular, thanksgiving 
 for that special blessing we then remember. 
 And surely whoever is truly thankful for those 
 rich mercies, cannot think it too much to set 
 apart some few days in a year for that purpose. 
 
 But then we are to look that our feasts be 
 truly spiritual, by employing the day thus holily, 
 and not make it an occasion of intemperance 
 and disorder, as too many do, who consider 
 nothing in Christmas, and other good times, 
 but the good cheer and jollity of them : For 
 that is doing despite instead of honour to 
 
1. 2. 
 
 46 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sand, 
 
 Christ, who came to bring all purity and sober- 
 ness into the world ; and therefore must not 
 have that coming of his remembered in any other 
 manner. 
 
 xx. Other days there are also set apart in 
 memory of the Apostles, "and other Saints, 
 wherein we are to give hearty thanks to God 
 for his graces in them ; particularly, that they 
 were made instruments of revealing to us Christ 
 Jesus, and the way of salvation, as you know 
 the Apostles were by their preaching throughout 
 the world. And then farther, we are to medi- 
 tate on those examples of holy life they have 
 given us. and stir up ourselves to the imitation 
 thereof. And whoever does uprightly set him- 
 self to make these uses of these several holy- 
 days, will have cause, by the benefit he shall 
 find from them, to thank, and not to blame the 
 Church for ordering them. 
 
 xx r. Another sort of days there are, which 
 m n , we are likewise to observe; and those 
 
 Ike 1-asts. , .„ . . • ... . 
 
 are days of lasting and Humiliation : 
 And whatever of this kind the Church enjoins, 
 whether constantly at set times of the year, or 
 upon any special or more sudden occasion, we 
 are to observe in such manner as she directs ; 
 that is, not only by a bare abstaining from Meat, 
 which is only the Body's punishment, but in af- 
 flicting our Souls, humbling them deeply before 
 God, in a hearty confessing and bewailing of our 
 own and the nation's sins, and earnest prayer 
 for God's pardon and forgiveness, and for the 
 turning away of those judgments, which those 
 sins have called for : But above all, in turning 
 
Sund. 2.] Of God's Word. 47 
 
 ourselves from our sins, loosing the bands of 
 Wickedness, as Isaiah speaks, Chap, lviii. 6\ and 
 exercising ourselves in works of mercy, dealing 
 out bread to the hungry, and the like, as it 
 there follows. 
 
 xxii. Fourthly, we are to express our re- 
 verence to God by honouring his 
 
 tiT ] j ii • i • i God's Word. 
 
 vVord; and this we must certainly 
 uo, if we do indeed honour him; there being 
 no surer sign of our despising any person, than 
 the setting light by what he says to us: As on 
 the contrary, if we value one, every -word he 
 speaks will be of no weight with us : Now this 
 Word of God is expressly contained in the Holy 
 Scriptures, the Old and New Tes- The Holy 
 "tament, where he speaks to us, to Scriptures. 
 shew us his will, and our duty. And there- 
 fore to this word of his we are to bear a won- 
 derful respect, to look upon it as the rule by 
 which we must frame all the actions of our life : 
 and to that end to study it much, to read in it 
 as often as we can; if it may be, never to let a 
 day pass us without reading, or hearing some 
 part of it read. 
 
 xxiii. But then that is not all: We must 
 not only read, but we must mark what we read ; 
 we must diligently observe what duties there are, 
 which God commands us to perform; what 
 faults they are, which God there charges us not 
 to commit, together with the rewards promised 
 to the one, and the punishments threatened to 
 the other. When, we have thus marked, we 
 must lay them up in our memory, not so loosely 
 and carelessly, that they shall presently drop out 
 
48 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. & 
 
 again: But we must so fasten them there, by 
 often thinking and meditating on them, that we 
 may have them ready for our use. Now that use 
 is the directing of our lives : and therefore when- 
 ever we are tempted to the committing of any 
 evil, we are then to call to mind, This is the 
 thing which in such a Scripture is forbidden by 
 God, and all his vengeances threatened against 
 it : And so in like manner, when any opportu- 
 nity is offered us of doing good to remember, 
 This is the duty which I was exhorted to, in such 
 a Scripture, and such glorious rewards promised 
 to the doing of it : And by these considerations 
 strengthen ourselves for resistance of the evil, 
 and performance of the good. 
 
 xxiv. But besides this of the written Word* 
 it hath pleased God to provide yet farther for our 
 instruction by his ministers, whose office it is to 
 teach us God's Will, not by saying any thing 
 contrary to the written Word (for whatsoever is 
 so, can never be God's will) but by explaining 
 it, and making it easier to our understandings, 
 and then applying it to our particular occasions, 
 and exhorting and stirring us up to the practice 
 of it: All which is the end at which first their 
 catechizing, and then their preaching aimeth. 
 And to this we are to bear also a due respect, 
 by giving diligent heed thereto, not only being 
 present at catechizings and sermons, and neither 
 sleep out the time, or think of somewhat else, 
 but carefully marking what is said to us. And 
 surely, if we did but rightly consider how much 
 it concerns us, we should conclude it very rea- 
 sonable for us to do so. 
 
Sund. 2.] Of God's Word. 49 
 
 xxv. For first, as to that of Catechizing, it is 
 the laying the foundation upon which CatecM- 
 ali Christian practice must be built; ziri s- 
 for that is the teaching us our duty, without 
 which it is impossible for us to perform it. And 
 though it is true, that the Scriptures are the 
 fountains from whence this knowledge of duty 
 must be fetched, yet there are many, who are 
 not able to draw it from this fountain them- 
 selves, and therefore it is absolutely necessary 
 it should be thus brought to them by others. 
 
 xxvi. This catechizing is generally looked 
 on as a thing belonging only to youth ; and so 
 indeed it ought, not because the oldest are not 
 to learn, if they be ignorant, but because all 
 children should be so instructed, that it should 
 be impossible for them to be ignorant when they 
 come to years. And it nearly concerns every 
 parent as they will free themselves from the 
 guilt of their children's eternal undoing, that they 
 be careful to see them instructed in all necessary 
 things : To which purpose it will be fit early to 
 teach them some short Catechism; of which sort 
 none so fit as the Church Catechism. Yet are 
 they not to rest on these endeavours of their own, 
 but also to call in the Minister's help, that they 
 build them up farther in Christian knowledge. 
 
 xxvu. But, alas! it is too sure, that pa- 
 rents have very much neglected this duty ; and 
 by that means it is that such multitudes of men 
 and women, that are called Christians, know no 
 more of Christ, or any thing that concerns their 
 own souls, than the merest Heathen. 
 
 xxviii. But although it were their parents 
 
50 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 2. 
 
 fault that they were not instructed when they 
 were young, yet it is now their own, if they 
 remain still ignorant : And it is sure it will be 
 their own ruin and misery, if they wilfully con- 
 tinue so. Therefore, whoever he be, of what 
 age or condition soever, that is in this ignorant 
 estate, or in any such degree of it, that he wants 
 any part of necessary saving knowledge ; let 
 him as he loves his soul, as ever he would escape 
 eternal damnation, seek out for instruction, and 
 let no fear of shame keep any from it. For, 
 firsts it is certain the shame belongs only to 
 the wilful continuing in ignorance, to which 
 the desire of learning is directly contrary ; and 
 is so far from a shameful, that it is a most com- 
 mendable thing, and will be sure to be so ac- 
 counted by all wise and good men. But, se- 
 condly, suppose some profane senseless people 
 should deride it, yet sure that shame were in all 
 reason to be undergone joyfully, rather than 
 venture on that confusion of face, which will at 
 the day of judgment befal those, who, to avoid 
 ^a little false shame amongst men, have gone on 
 in a wilful ignorance of their duty; which igno- 
 rance will be so far from excusing any sins they 
 shall commit, that it adds one great and heavy 
 sin to all the rest, even the despising that know- 
 ledge which is offered to them. How heinous a 
 sin that is, you may learn in the first chapter 
 of the Proverbs, where hating knozvledge, ver. 
 29, is said to be the thing that draw s down those 
 sad vengeances forementioned, even God's for- 
 saking men, laughing at their calamity, instead 
 of helping them : Which is of all other condi- 
 
Sund. 2.} Of God's Word. 5 1 
 
 tions in the world, the most miserable; and 
 surely they are madly desperate, that will run 
 themselves into it. 
 
 xxtx. As for those, who have already this 
 foundation laid by the knowledge of p.^^. 
 the grounds of the Christian Religion, 
 there is yet for them a farther help provided by 
 Preaching, and it is no more than needs : for 
 God knows, those that understand their duty 
 well enough, are too apt to forget it; nay, some- 
 times by the violence of their own lusts, to trans- 
 gress it, even when they do remember it: And 
 therefore it is very useful we should be often put 
 in mind of it, to prevent our forgetting, and also 
 often exhorted and assisted to withstand those 
 lusts, which draw us to those transgressions. 
 And to these purposes Preaching is intended, 
 first to warn us to be upon our guard against our 
 spiritual enemy, and then to furnish us with 
 weapons for the fight ; that is, such means and 
 helps as may best enable us to beat off tempta- 
 tions, and get the victory over them. 
 
 xxx. Since therefore this is the end of 
 Preaching, we must not think we have done 
 our duty, when we have heard a sermon, though 
 never so attentively : but we must lay up in our 
 hearts those instructions and advices we there 
 meet with, and use them faithfully to that end 
 of overcoming our sins. Therefore whenever 
 thou comest to the physician of thy soul, do as 
 thou wouldest with the physician of thy body ; 
 thou comest to him not only to hear him talk, 
 and tell thee what will cure thee, but also to do 
 according to his directions: And if thou dost 
 
52 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 2. 
 
 not so here, thou art as vain as he that expects 
 a bare receipt from his doctor should cure him, 
 though he never make use of it : Nay, thou art 
 much more vain and ridiculous, for that though 
 it do him no good, will do him no harm ; 
 he shall never be the worse for having been 
 taught a medicine, though he use it not : But 
 in these spiritual receipts it is otherwise ; if we 
 use them not to our good, they will do us a 
 great deal of harm : they will rise up in judg- 
 ment against us, and make our condemnation so 
 much the heavier. Beware therefore, not to 
 bring that danger upon thyself; but when thou 
 hast heard a sermon, consider with thyself what 
 directions there were in it, for enabling thee to 
 eschew evil, or to do good. And if there were 
 any thing especially concerned thine own bosom 
 sin, lay that close to thy heart, and all the week 
 after make it matter of meditation ; think of it, 
 even whilst thou art at thy work, if thou wantest 
 other time ; and not only think of it, but set to 
 the practice of it, do what thou wert advised to, 
 for the subduing sins, and quickening grace in 
 thee. Finally, look carefully to practice the 
 counsel of the Apostle, James i. 22. Be ye doers 
 of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving 
 your own selves. To hope for good from the 
 Word, without doing it, is it seems, nothing but 
 a deceiving ourselves : Let us never therefore 
 measure our godliness by the number of sermons 
 which we hear, as if the hearing many were the 
 certain mark of a good Christian ; but by the 
 store of fruit we bring forth by them, without 
 which all our hearing will serve but to bring 
 
Sund. 2.] The Vow of Baptism, &c. 53 
 
 us into that heavier portion of stripes, which 
 belongs to him that ktiows his Master s Will, and 
 does it not, Luke xii 47. But this reverence, 
 which is due to preaching, we must not pay to all 
 that is now-a-days called so ; for God knows, there 
 are many false prophets gone out into the xvorld, 
 as the Apostle speaks, 1 John iv. 1. And now, if 
 ever, is that advice of his necessary, To try the 
 spirits whether they he of God. But what I have 
 said, I mean only of the preaching of those, -who, 
 first, have a lawful calling to the office; and 
 secondly, frame their doctrine according to the 
 right rule, the written Word of God. But if any 
 man say he is not able to judge whether the doc- 
 trine be according to the Word, or no, let him 
 at least try it by the common known rules of 
 duty, which he doth understand : and if he find 
 it a doctrine giving men liberty to commit those 
 things which are by all acknowledged sh*s, such 
 as rebellion, injustice, unmercifulness, unclean- 
 ness, or the like, he may conclude it is utterly 
 contrary to God and his word; and then ab- 
 horrence, and not reverence, belongs to it. 
 
 xxxi. Fifthly, we are to express our honour- 
 ing of God by reverencing his Sa- nv e 
 
 ° mi J ^ -l" e Sacraments. 
 
 craments : 1 hese are two, Baptism, 
 and the Supper of the Lord. And this we are 
 to do, first by our high esteem of them : 
 -secondly, by our reverent usage of them : we 
 are first to prize them at a high rate, looking on 
 them as the instruments of bringing to us the 
 greatest blessings we can receive. The first of 
 them, Baptism, that enters us into covenant with 
 God,, makes us members of Christ, and so gives 
 
 D 
 
54 The JUtole Duty of Man. [Sund. % 
 
 us right to all those precious benefits, that flow 
 from him, to wit, pardon of sins, sanctifying 
 grace, and heaven itself, on condition we per- 
 form our parts of the covenant. And as for the 
 Lord's supper, that is not only a sign and re- 
 membrance of Christ, and his Death, but it is 
 actually the giving Christ, and all the fruits of 
 his death, to every worthy receiver : and there- 
 fore there is a most high estimation and value 
 due to each of them. 
 
 xxxu. And not only so, but in the second 
 place, we must shew our reverence in our usage 
 'nr z? ,- of them ; and that, first, Before: 
 
 Of Baptism. ,, ' . : . „ ' , ' 
 
 secondly, At ; thirdly, Alter the 
 time of receiving them. It is true, that the 
 Sacrament of Baptism being now administered 
 to us when we are infants, it is not to be 
 expected of us, that we should in our own per- 
 sons do any thing, either before or at the time 
 of receiving it ; Those performances were strictly 
 required of all persons, who were baptized wiien 
 they were of years. But for us, it suffices to 
 give us this right to Baptism, that we are born 
 within the pale of the Church, that is, of Chris- 
 tian parents; and all that is required at that 
 time, is what we can only perform by others, 
 they in our stead promising, that when we come 
 to years, we will perform our parts of the cove- 
 nant. But by how much the less we are then 
 able to do so much, the greater bond lies on us 
 to perform those after-duties required of us, by 
 which we are to supply the want of the former. 
 xxxiii. Now if you would know what those 
 Tlie Vow of duties are, look over those promises, 
 Baptim. which your godfathers and godmo- 
 
Suwd. 2.] The Vow of Baptism, &c. 55 
 
 thcrs then made in your name, and you may 
 then learn them. I cannot give you them in a 
 better form than that of our Church's Catechism, 
 which tells us, That our godfathers and god- 
 mothers did promise and vow three things in our 
 names; first, that zve should renounce the Devil 
 and all his works, the pomps and vanities of this 
 wicked world, and all the sinful lusts of the flesh. 
 Where by the Devil is meant, first, the worship- 
 ping of all false gods, which is indeed but wor- 
 shipping the Devil ; a sin, which at the time of 
 Christ's coming into the world, was very com- 
 mon, most part of mankind then living in that 
 vile idolatry. And therefore, when Baptism was 
 first ordained, it was but needful to make the for- 
 saking of those false gods a principal part of the 
 vow. And though those false worships are now 
 much rarer : yet there was one special part of 
 them, which may be feared to be yet too common 
 among us; and that is, all sorts of uncleanness, 
 which though we do not make ceremonies of 
 our religion, as the Heathens did of theirs, yet 
 the committing thereof is a most high provo- 
 cation in God's eyes, such as drew him to de- 
 stroy whole cities zvith fire and brimstone, as 
 you may read, Gen. xix. nay, the whole zvorld 
 with water, Gen. vi. and will not fail to bring 
 down judgments, and strange ones, on any that 
 continue therein : and therefore the forsaking 
 them well deserves to be looked on as an espe- 
 cial part of this promise. Besides this, all 
 dealing with the Devil is here vowed against, 
 whether it be by practising witchcraft ourselves, 
 or consulting with those that do, upon any occa- 
 v 2 
 
56 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. -S.. 
 
 sion whatever, as the recovery of our health, 
 our goods, or whatever else; for this is a degree 
 of the former sin, it is the forsaking of the 
 Lord, and setting up the Devil for our God, 
 whilst we go to him in our needs for help. 
 
 xxxiv. But we also renounce all the works of 
 the Devil : and those are either in general all 
 those that the Devil tempts us to, or else those 
 particular kinds of sin, which have most of his 
 image on them : that is, those which he himself 
 most practises ; such are pride (which brought 
 him from being an angel of light, to the accursed 
 condition he is now in) and lying: he is, as our 
 Saviour saith, JohnvYu. 44. A liar, and the father 
 of it ; and such are also malice and envy, espe- 
 cially killing and destroying of others, for he 
 was a murderer from the beginnings John viil 
 41. JBut above all, there is nothing wherein we 
 become so like him, as in tempting and drawing 
 others to sin, which is his whole trade and bu- 
 siness ; and if we make it any part of ours, we 
 become like that roaring lion, that goes about 
 sceicing whom he may devour* 1 Pet. v. 8. 
 
 xxxv. The second thing; we vow to forsake 
 is., the pomps and vanities of this wicked world. 
 By the Pomps and Vanities there are several 
 things meant; some of them such as were used 
 by the Heathens in some unlawful sports of 
 theirs, wherein we are not now so much con- 
 cerned, there being none of them remaining 
 among us; but besides that, there is meant all 
 excess, either in diet, or sports, or apparel, 
 when we keep not those due measures, which 
 either by the general rules of sobriety? or the 
 
Sund* 2.] The Fozv of Baptism, km 57 
 
 particular circumstances of our qualities and 
 callings, we are bound to. Next, by the wicked 
 World we may understand, first, the wealth and 
 greatness of the world, which though we do not 
 so totally renounce, that it is unlawful for a 
 Christian to be either rich or great, yet we thus 
 far promise to forsake them, that we will not 
 set our hearts upon them, nor either get or keep 
 them by the least unlawful means. Secondly, 
 by the wicked World we may understand the 
 companies &nd customs of the world ; which, so 
 far as they are wicked, we here renounce; that 
 is, we promise never to be drawn by company 
 to the commission of a sin, but rather to forsake 
 the most delightful company, than to be ensnared 
 by it ; nor yet by custom, but rather venture 
 the shame of being thought singular, ridiculous 
 persons, walk as it were in a path by ourselves, 
 than put ourselves into that broad xvay that leads 
 to destruction, by giving ourselves over to any 
 sinful custom, how common soever it be grown. 
 If this part of our Vow were but thoroughly 
 considered, it would arm us against most of the 
 temptations the world offers us ; company and 
 custom being the two special instruments by 
 which it works on us. 
 
 xxxvi. A third thing we renounce is, all the 
 sinful lusts of the flesh ; where the flesh is to be 
 understood in that sense, wherein the Scripture 
 often uses it, for the fountain of all disordered 
 affections: For though those unclean desires, 
 which we ordinarily call the lusts of the flesh, 
 are here meant, yet they are not the only things 
 here contained, there being divers other things 
 D 3 
 
58 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 2. 
 
 which the Scripture calls the works of thejiesh ; 
 I cannot better inform you of them, than by set- 
 ting down the list St. Paul gives of them, Gal. 
 v. 19, .20, 21. Nozo the zvoi^ks of thejiesh are 
 manifest, which are these, adultery, fomication y 
 uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, zviichcraft, 
 hatredyVariance, emulations, wrath, strife, sedi- 
 tions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, 
 revdlings, and such like. This, with those other 
 descriptions, you will find scattered in several 
 places of Scripture, will shew you there are 
 many things contained under this part of your 
 Vow; the forsaking all the sinful lusts of the 
 flesh. 
 
 xxxvii. The second thing our godfathers and 
 godmothers promised for us, was, that we should 
 believe all the articles of the Christian faith. 
 These we have summed up together in that 
 which we call the Apostles' Creed : which since 
 we promise to believe, we are supposed also 
 to promise to learn them ; and that not only the 
 words, but likewise the plain sense of them : 
 For who can believe what he either never heard 
 of, or knows not any thing of the meaning of it ? 
 Now by this believing is meant not only the 
 consenting to the truth of them, but also the 
 living like them that do believe. As for 
 example, our believing that God created us, 
 should make us live in that subjection and obe- 
 dience to him, which becomes creatures to their 
 Creator; the believing that Christ redeemed us, 
 should make us yield up ourselves to him as his 
 purchase, to be disposed of wholly by him, and 
 employed only in his service.. The believing a 
 
Sund. &] The Vozv of Baptism, &c. 59 
 
 judgment to come, should give us care so to 
 
 walk, that we may not be condemned in it; 
 
 and our believing the life everlasting, should 
 
 make us diligent so to employ our short moment 
 
 of time here, that our everlasting life may be a 
 
 life of joy, not of misery to us. In tins manner, 
 
 from all the Articles of the Creed we are to 
 
 draw motives to confirm us in all Christian 
 
 practice, to which end it is, that our learning 
 
 and believing of them tends ; and therefore with- 
 es . 
 
 out it we are very far from making good this 
 part of our Vow, the believing all the Articles 
 of the Christian faith. 
 
 xxxviii. The last part of our Vow is, that we 
 should keep God's Holy Will and Commandments, 
 and xvalk in the same all the days of our lives. 
 Where by our keeping God's Holy IVill and Com- 
 mandments, is meant our doing of al I those things, 
 which he hath made known to* us to be his will 
 we should perform ;. wherein; he hath given us 
 his holy word to instruct us, and teach us what 
 it is that he requires of us, and how he expects 
 that we should faithfully do it, without favour- 
 ing ourselves in the breach of any one of his com- 
 mands. And then in this entire obedience we 
 must walk all the days of our lives ; that is, we 
 must go on in a constant course of obeying God ; 
 not only fetch some few steps in his ways, but 
 walk in them* and that not for some part of our 
 time, hut all the days of our lives, never turn 
 out of them, but go on constantly in them, as 
 long as we live in this world. 
 
 xxxix. Having now thus briefly explained 
 to you this Vow made at your Baptism, all I 
 d 4, 
 
GO The Whole Duty of Man, [Sund. fc 
 
 The strict ob- s ^ ia ^ a dd concerning it, is only to 
 ligation of remember you how nearly you are 
 2?" £ ^ concerned in the keeping it : And 
 that, first, m respect of justice ; 
 secondly, in respect of advantage and benefit. 
 That you are in justice bound to it, I need say 
 no more, but that it is a promise; and, you 
 know, justice requires of every man the keeping 
 of his promise. But then this is of all other 
 promises the most solemn and binding ; for it is 
 aTow, that is, a promise made to God ; and 
 therefore we are not only unjust, but forsworn, 
 whenever we break any part of it. 
 
 xl. But secondly, we are also highly con- 
 cerned to keep it, in respect to our own benefit. 
 I told you before, that Baptism entered us into 
 covenant with God ; now a covenant is made up 
 of two parts, that is, something promised by the 
 one party, and something by the other of the 
 parties that make the covenant ; And if one of 
 them break his part of the covenant, that is, 
 perform not what he hath agreed to> he can in 
 no reason look that the other should make good 
 his. And so it is here. God doth indeed pro- 
 mise those benefits before-mentioned, and that 
 is his part of the covenant. But then we also un- 
 dertake to perform the several things contained 
 in this Vow of Baptism, and that is our part of 
 it : and unless we do indeed perform them, God 
 is not tied to make good his, and so we forfeit 
 all those precious benefits and advantages ; we 
 are left in that natural, and miserable estate 
 of ours, children of wrath, enemies to God, and 
 ^eirs of eternal damnation. And now what can 
 
Sund. 2.] The Vow of Baptism, &c. 6\ 
 
 be the pleasure that any or all sins can afford 
 us, that can make us the least degree of recom- 
 pence for such a loss, the loss of God's favour 
 and grace here, and the loss of our own souls 
 hereafter ? For as our Saviour saith, Mark viii. 
 36. What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain 
 the whole world, and lose his own soul ? Yet this 
 mad bargain we make, whenever we break any 
 part of this our Vow of Baptism. It therefore 
 most nearly concerns us to consider sadly of it, 
 to remember that every sin we commit, is a 
 direct breach of this our Vow : And therefore 
 when thou art tempted to any sin, seem it never 
 so light, say not of it as Lot did of Zoar, Gen. 
 xix. 20. Is it not a little one ? But consider; 
 that whatever it is, thou hast in thy Baptism, 
 vowed against it; and then, be it never so little* 
 it draws a great one at the heelsof it, no less than 
 that of being forsworn, which, whoever commits, 
 God hath in the third Commandment pronounc- 
 ed, He will not hold him guiltless. And that 
 we may the better keep this Vow, it will be very 
 useful often to repeat to ourselves the several 
 branches of it, that so we may still have it ready 
 in our minds to set against all temptations ; and 
 surely it is so excellent a weapon, that if we do 
 not either cast it aside, or use it very negligently, 
 it will enable us, by God's help, to put to flight 
 our spiritual adversary. And this is that reve- 
 rence we are to pay to this first Sacrament, that 
 of Baptism. 
 
 v 5 
 
$9 The Whole Butxj of Man. / L Sund. 3. 
 
 SUNDAY III. 
 
 Of the Sacrament of the Lord's Sapper; of Pre- 
 paration before, as Examination ; of Repent- 
 ance, Faith, Obedience ; of Duties to be done 
 at the Receiving, and afterwards, &c. 
 
 Sect.-t. Now follows the reverence due to 
 the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper; and 
 in this I must follow my first division, and 
 The Lord's set down, first, what is to be done 
 Supper. Before; secondly, At; and thirdly, 
 After the time of receiving; for in this Sacra- 
 ment we cannot be excused from any one of 
 ■these, though in the former we are. 
 
 n. And first, for that which is to be done 
 Things to be Before; St. Raul tell us, it is Exa- 
 ihne before rnination, 1 Cor. xi. 28. But let a man 
 
 sewing, examine himself and so let him eat of 
 thai bread, and drink of that cup. But before I 
 Examim- proceed to the particulars of this Exa- 
 tiov. 'urination, I must in the general tell you, 
 
 That the special business we have to do in this 
 Sacrament is to repeat and renew that covenant, 
 we. made with God in our Baptism ; which we 
 having many ways grievously broken, it pleases 
 God in his great mercy to suffer us to come to 
 the renewing of it in this Sacrament ;. which, if 
 we do in sincerity of heart, he hath promised to 
 accept us, and to giv«- e us all those benefits in this, 
 which lie was ready bestow in the other Sacra* 
 t 
 
Sund. .3.] Of the Lord's Supper, &e. 65 : 
 
 merit, if we hadnot by our own fault forfeited 
 them. Since then the renewing of our cove- 
 nant is our business at this time, it follows, that 
 these three things are necessary towards it ; first, 
 That we understand what the covenant is ; 
 secondly, that we consider what our breaches of 
 it have been ; and thirdly, that we resolve upou = 
 a strict observance of it for the rest of our life. 
 And the trying ourselves in every one of these 
 particulars, is that Examination which is re- 
 quired of us, before we come to this Sacrament 
 in. And, first, we are to examine, whether 
 we understand what this covenant is: This is 
 exceeding necessary, as being the foundation of 
 both the other; for it is neither possible to dis- 
 cover our past sins, nor to settle purposes against 
 them for the future without it. Let this there- 
 fore be your first business : Try whether you 
 rightly understand what that covenant is which 
 you entered into at your Baptism ; . what be the 
 mercies promised on God's part, and the duties 
 on yours. And because the covenant made with 
 each of us in Baptism, is only the applying to 
 our particulars the covenant made by God in 
 Christ with all mankind in general, you are to * 
 consider whether you understand that : If you 
 do not, you must immediately seek for instruc- 
 tion in it ; and till you have means of gaining 
 better, look over what is briefly said in the en- 
 trance to this Treatise, concerning the Second > 
 Covenant, which is the foundation of that 
 Covenant, which God makes with us in our 
 Baptism. And because you will theie find, that ; 
 obedience- to all God's commands is the con*- 
 d6 
 
64 The Whole Duty of Alan. [Sund. 3. 
 
 dition required of us, and is also that which we 
 expressly vow in our Baptism, it is necessary you 
 should likewise know what those commands of 
 God are. Therefore if you find you are iguo- 
 rant of them, never be at rest, till you have got 
 yourself instructed in them, and have gained such 
 a measure of knowledge, as may direct you to do 
 that Whole Duty of Man which God requires. 
 And the giving thee this instruction is the only 
 aim of this Book, which the more ignorant thou 
 art, the more earnestly I shall entreat thee dili- 
 gently to read. And if thou hast heretofore ap- 
 proached to this holy Sacrament in utter igno- 
 rance of these necessary things, bewail thy sin 
 in so doing, but presume not to come again, till 
 thou hast, by gaining this necessary knowledge, 
 fitted thyself for it ; which thou must hasten to 
 do: For though no man must come to the Sa- 
 crament in such ignorance, yet if he wilfully 
 continue in it, that will be no excuse to him for 
 keeping from this holy table. 
 
 iv. The second part of our examination is 
 concerning our breaches of this covenant : and 
 here thou wilt find the use of that knowledge I 
 speak of: for there is no way of disco- 
 vering what our sins have been; but by 
 trying our actions by that which should be the 
 rule of them, the law of God. When therefore 
 thou settest to this part of examination, remem- 
 Several ber what are the several branches of thy 
 sorts. duty^ an d then ask thy own heart in 
 every particular, how thou hast performed it. 
 And content not thyself with knowing in general, 
 that thou hast broken God's law, but do thy 
 
Sund. 3.] Of the Lord's Supper, &c. 65 
 
 utmost to discover in what particulars thou hast 
 done so. Recall, as well as thou canst, all the 
 passages of thy life, and in each of them consider 
 what part of that duty hath been transgressed by 
 it. And that not only in the grosser act, but in 
 word also ; nay, even in thy most secret thoughts. 
 For though man's law reaches not to them, yet 
 God's doth : so that whatever he forbids in the 
 act, he forbids likewise in the thoughts and de- 
 sires, and see.- them as clearly as our most pub- 
 lic acts. This particular search is exceeding 
 necessary ; for there is no promise of forgiveness 
 of any sin, but only to him that confesseth and 
 forsaketh it. Now to both these it is necessary 
 that we have a distinct and particular knowledge 
 of our Sins; for how can he either confess his 
 Sin, that knows not his guilt of it ? or how can 
 he resolve to forsake it, that discerns not himself 
 to have formerly cleaved to it? Therefore we 
 may surely conclude, that this examination is 
 not only useful, but necessary, towards a full and 
 complete repentance : for he that does not take 
 this particular view of his sins, will be likely 
 to repent but by halves, which will never avail 
 him towards his pardon ; nothing but an entire 
 forsaking of every evil way, being sufficient 
 for that. But suvely of all other times, it con- 
 cerns us, that when we come to the Sacrament, 
 our repentance be full and complete ; and there- 
 fore this strict search of our own hearts is then 
 especially necessary. For although it be true, 
 that it is not possible by all our diligence to 
 discover or remember every sin of our whole 
 lives ; and though it be also true, that what is 
 
66 The IVhole Duty of Man. [Sund. & 
 
 so unavoidably hid from us, may be forgiven 
 without any more particular confession than that 
 ef David, Psal. xix. 1®. Cleanse thou me from 
 my secret thoughts i yet this will be no plea for 
 us, if they come to be secret only because we 
 are negligent in searching. Therefore take heed 
 of deceiving thyself in this weighty business, 
 but search thy soul to the bottom, without which 
 it is impossible that the wounds thereof should; 
 ever be thoroughly cured. 
 
 v. And as you are to inquire thus narrowly 
 concerning the several sorts of sins, so also must: 
 you concerning the degrees of them; for there 
 are diverse circumstances which increase and 
 heighten the sin. Of this sort there are many;, 
 as first, when we sin against knowledge; that 
 is, when we certainly know such a thing to be 
 a sin, yet for the present pleasure or profit (or 
 whatever other motive) adventure on it. This 
 is by Christ himself adjudged to be a great 
 heightening of the sin : He that knows his Mas- 
 ter's will, and doth it not, shall be beaten with 
 many stripes, Luke xii. 47. Secondly, when we 
 sin with deliberation; that is, when we do not 
 fall into it of a sudden, ere we are aware, but 
 have time to consider of it ; this is another de- 
 gree of the sin. But thirdly, a yet higher is, when ; 
 we do it against the resistances and checks of 
 our own conscience ; when that at the time tells 
 us, This thing thou oughtest not to do; nay,, 
 lays before us the danger, as well as the sin, of 
 it; yet in spite of these admonitions of con- 
 science, we go on and commit the sin : this is a 
 huge increase of it, such as will raise the least 
 
Sund. 3.1 Of the Lord's Supper, &c. 67 
 
 sin into a most high provocation ; for it is plain, 
 a sin thus committed must be a wilful one ; 
 and then, be the matter of it never so light, it 
 is most heinous in God's eyes. Nay, this is a 
 circumstance of such force, that it may make an 
 indifferent action, that is in itself no sin, become 
 one : for though my conscience should err in 
 telling me such a thing were unlawful, yet so 
 long as I were persuaded, it were a sin for me 
 to do that thing ; for in that case my will con- 
 sents to the doing a thing which I believe to be 
 displeasing to God; and God (who judges t^s 
 by our wills, not understandings) imputes it to 
 me as a sin, as well as if the thing were in itself 
 unlawful. And therefore surely we may con- 
 clude, that anything which is in itself sinful 
 is made much more so by being committed 
 against the checks of conscience. A fourth ag- 
 gravation of a sin is, when it hath been often 
 repeated : for then there is not only the guilt 
 of so many more acts, but every act grows also 
 so much worse, and more inexcusable. We 
 always judge thus in faults committed against 
 ourselves: we can forgive a single injury more 
 easily, than the same when it hath been repeated; 
 and the oftener it hath been so repeated, the 
 more heinous we account it. And so surely it 
 is in faults against God also. Fifthly, the sins 
 which have been committed after vows and re- 
 solutions of amendment, are yet more griev- 
 ous ; for that contains also the breaking of 
 those promises. Somewhat of this there is in 
 every wilful sin ; because every such is a breach 
 
68 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 3. 
 
 of that vow we make at Baptism. But besides 
 that, we have since bound ourselves by new 
 vows, if at no other time, yet surely at our 
 coming to the Lord's Supper, that being (as 
 was formerly said) purposely to repeat our vows 
 of Baptism : and the more of these vows we 
 have made, so much the greater is our guilt, if 
 we fall back to any sin we then renounced. 
 This is a thing very well worth weighing ; and 
 therefore examine thyself particularly at thy ap- 
 proach to the Sacrament, concerning thy 
 breaches of former vows made at the holy Table. 
 And if upon any other occasion, as sickness, 
 trouble of mind, or the like, thou hast at any 
 time made any other, call thyself to a strict ac- 
 count how thou hast performed them also, and 
 remember, that every sin committed against 
 such vows, is, besides its own natural guilt, a 
 perjury likewise. Sixthly, a yet higher step is, 
 when a sin hath been so often committed, that we 
 are come to a custom and habit of it; and that 
 is indeed a high degree. 
 
 vi. Yet even of habits some are worse than 
 others : as first, if it be so confirmed, that we 
 are come to a hardness of heart, have no sense 
 at all of the sin : or secondly, if we go on in it 
 against any extraordinary means used by God 
 to reform us, such as sickness, or any oilier 
 affliction, which seems to be sent on purpose 
 for our reclaiming : or thirdly, if all reproofs 
 and exhortations either of ministers, or private 
 friends, work not on us, but either make us 
 angry at our reprovers, or set us on defending 
 the sin : or, lastly, if this sinful habit be so 
 
Sund. 3.] OJ the Lord's Supper, Sec. 69 
 
 strong in us as to give us a love to the sin, not 
 only in ourselves, but in others ; if, as the 
 Apostle saith, Rom. i. 3 c 2.JVe do not only do the 
 things, but take pleasure in them that do the'm, 
 and therefore entice and draw as many as we 
 can into the same sins with us ; then it is risen 
 to the highest step of wickedness, and is to be 
 looked on as the utmost decree both of sin and 
 danger. Thus you see how you are to examine 
 yourselves concerning your sins ; in each of 
 which you are to consider, how many of these 
 heightening circumstances there have been, that 
 so you may aright measure the heinousness of 
 them. 
 
 vii. Now the end of this examination is to 
 bring you to such a sight of your sins, Humtiia* 
 as may truly humble you, make you tion * 
 sensible of your own danger, that have pro- 
 voked so great a Majesty, who is able so sadly 
 to revenge himself upon you. And that will 
 surely, even to the most carnal heart, appear a 
 reasonable ground of sorrow. But that is not 
 all, it must likewise bring you to a sense and 
 abhorrence of your baseness and ingratitude, that 
 have thus offended so good and gracious a God; 
 that have made such unworthy and unkind re^ 
 turns to those tender and rich mercies of his. 
 And this consideration especially must melt your 
 hearts into a deep sorrow and contrition, the 
 degree whereof must be in some measure an- 
 swerable to the degrees of your sins. And the 
 greater it is, provided it be not such as shuts up 
 the hope of God's mercy, the more acceptable 
 it is to God, who hath promised, not to despise 
 
70 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 3. 
 
 a broken and contrite heart, Psal. li. 17. And 
 the more likely it will be also to bring us to 
 amendment: For if we have once felt what the 
 smart of a wounded spirit is, we shall have the 
 less mind to venture upon sin again. 
 
 vi ri. For when we are tempted with any of the 
 short pleasures of sin, we may then, out of our 
 own experience, set against them the sharp pains 
 and terrors of an accusing conscience, which 
 will, to any that hath felt them, be able infi- 
 nitely to outweigh them. Endeavour therefore 
 to bring yourselves to this melting temper, to 
 this deep, unfeigned sorrow, and that not only 
 for the danger you have brought upon yourself: 
 for though that be a consideration which may 
 and ought to work sadness in us, yet where that 
 alone is the motive of our sorrow, it is not that 
 sorrow which will avail us for pardon. And 
 the reason of it is clear; for that sorrow pro- 
 ceeds only from the love of ourselves ; we are 
 sorry, because we are like to smart. But the 
 sorrow of a true penitent must be 
 
 that will make us grieve for having offended 
 him, though there were no punishment to fall 
 upon ourselves. The way then to stir up this 
 sorrow in us, is first to stir up our love of God, 
 by repeating to ourselves the many gracious 
 acts of his mercy towards us ; particularly that 
 of his sparing us, and not cutting us off in our 
 sins. Consider with thyself, how many and how 
 great provocations thou hast offered him, perhaps 
 in a continued course of many years wilful dis- 
 obedience, for which thou mightest with perfect 
 
Sund..3.] Of the Lord's Supper, kc. 71 
 
 justice have been ere this sent quick into hell : 
 nay, possibly thou hast before thee many ex- 
 amples of less sinners than thou art, who have 
 been suddenly snatched away in the midst of 
 their sins. And what cause canst thou give, why 
 thou hast thus long escaped, but only because 
 his eye hath spared thee? And what cause of 
 that sparing, but his tender compassion towards 
 thee, his unwillingness that thou shouldst perish. 
 This consideration, if it be pressed home upon 
 thy soul, cannot chuse (if thy heart be not as hard 
 as the nether millstone) but awake somewhat of 
 love in thee towards this gracious, this long- 
 suffering God ; and that love will certainly make 
 it appear to thee, that it is an evil thing, and 
 hitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord, Jer. ii. 
 19' that thou hast made such wretched requitals 
 for so great a mercy: it will make thee both 
 ashamed and angry at thyself, that thou hast 
 been such an unthankful creature. But if the 
 consideration of this one sort of mercy, God's 
 forbearance only, be such an engagement and 
 help to this godly sorrow; what will then be 
 the multitude of those other mercies, which 
 every man is able to reckon up to himself? And 
 therefore let every man be as particular in it as 
 he can, call to mind as many of them as he is 
 able, that so he may attain to the greater degree 
 of true Contrition. 
 
 ix. And to all these endeavours must be 
 added earnest prayers to God, that he, by his 
 Holy Spirit, would shew you your sins, and 
 soften your hearts, that you may thoroughly 
 bewail and lament them. 
 
72 The Whole Duty of Mam [Sund. 51 
 
 x. To this must be joined an bumble Con* 
 
 fession of sins to God, and that not 
 
 onjesston. Qn ^ « n g en . era ^ but a ] so \ n particular, 
 
 as far as your memory of them will reach, and 
 that with all those heightening circumstances of 
 them, which you have by the fore mentioned exr 
 animation discovered. Yea, even secret and 
 forgotten sins must in general be acknowledged; 
 for it is certain there are multitudes of such ; so 
 that it is necessary for every one of us to say 
 with David, Psal. xix. 12. Who can understand 
 his errors? Cleanse thou me from my secret 
 faults* When you have thus confessed your 
 sins with this hearty sorrow, and sincere hatred 
 of them, you may then (and not before) be con* 
 cluded to feel so much of your disease, that it 
 will be seasonable to apply the remedy. 
 
 xi.. In the next place therefore you are to 
 . look on him, whom God hath set forth to 
 be the Propitiation for our sins, Rom. iii. 
 %5. even Jesus Christ, that Lamb of God, which 
 taketh away the sins of the World, John i. 29. 
 and earnestly beg of God, that by his most 
 precious blood your sins may be washed away.; 
 and that God would, for his sake, be recon- 
 ciled to you. And this you are to believe will 
 surely be done, if you do for the rest of your 
 time forsake your sins,, and give yourselves up 
 sincerely to obey God in all his commands. 
 But without that, it is vain to hope any benefit 
 from Christ, or his sufferings. And therefore 
 the next part of your Preparation must be the 
 setting those resolutions of Obedience, which 
 I told you was the third thing you are to exa- 
 mine yourselves of, before you approach to the 
 Holy Sacrament. 
 
Sund. 3.] Of the Lord's Supper, &c. 73 
 
 xn. Concerning the particulars of this Reso- 
 lution, I need say no more, but that it Reso i utions 
 must answer every part and branch of Obedi- 
 €>f our duty; that is, we must not ence ' 
 only in general resolve that we will observe 
 God's commandments, but we must resolve it 
 for every commandment by itself; and espe- 
 cially, where we have found ourselves most to 
 have failed heretofore, there especially to renew 
 our Resolutions; and herein it nearly concerns 
 us to look that these Resolutions be sincere and 
 unfeigned, and not only such slight ones as 
 people use out of custom to put on at their com- 
 ing to the Sacrament, which they never think of 
 keaping afterwards : For this is a certain truth, 
 that whosoever comes to this holy table without 
 an entire hatred of every sin, comes unworthily; 
 and it is as sure, that he that doth entirely hate 
 all sin, will resolve to forsake it ; for, you know, 
 forsaking naturally follows hatred, no man wil- 
 lingly abides with a thing or person he hates. 
 And therefore he that doth not so resolve as that 
 God the searcher of hearts may approve it as 
 sincere, cannot be supposed to hate sin, and so 
 cannot be a worthy receiver of that holy Sacra- 
 ment. Therefore try your resolutions tho- 
 roughly, that you deceive not yourselves in 
 them : It is your own great danger, if you do ; 
 for it is certain you cannot deceive God, nor 
 gain acceptation from him, by any thing which 
 is not perfectly hearty and unfeigned. 
 
 xni. Now, as you are to resolve on this new 
 obedience, so you are likewise to resolve of the 
 on the Means, which may assist you in Means, 
 
 9 
 
74 The Whole Duty of Man, [Sand. 3. 
 
 the performance of it. And therefore consider 
 in every duty, what are the Means that may 
 help you in it, and resolve to make use of them, 
 bow uneasy soever they be to your flesh ; so, on 
 the other side, consider what things they are that 
 are likely to lead you to sin, and resolve to shun 
 and avoid them : This you are to do in respect 
 of aU sins whatever, but especially in those 
 whereof you have formerly been guilty : For 
 there it will not be hard fur you to find by what 
 steps and degrees you were drawn into it, what 
 company, what occasion it was that ensnared 
 you, as also, to what sort of temptations you 
 are aptest to yield. And therefore you must 
 particularly fence yourself against the sin, by 
 ^voiding those occasions of it. 
 
 x i r. But it is not enough that you resolve 
 you will do all this hereafter; but you must 
 instantly set to it, and begin the course by doing 
 at the present whatsoever you have opportunity 
 of doing. And there are several things which 
 you may, nay, must do at the present, before 
 you come to the Sacrament. 
 
 xv. As first, you must cast off every Sin, 
 Present not urni g an y one unmodified lust 
 renouncing with you to that table ; for it is not 
 o/Sm. enough to purpose to cast them off 
 afterwards, but you must then actually do it, by 
 withdrawing all degrees of love and affection 
 from them ; you must then give a bill of divorce 
 to all your old beloved Sins, or else you are in no 
 way fit to be married to Christ. The reason of 
 this is clear; for this Sacrament is our spiritual 
 nourishment. Now before we can receive spi- 
 
Sund. 3.] Of the Lord's Supper, &c. 75 
 
 ritual nourishment, we must have spiritual life 
 (for no man gives food to a dead person.) But 
 whosoever continues not onty in the act, but in 
 the love of any one known Sin, hath no spiri- 
 tual life, but is in God's account no better than 
 a dead carcase; and therefore cannot receive 
 that spiritual food. It is true, he may eat the 
 bread, and drink the wine, but he receives not 
 Christ, but instead of him, that which is most 
 dreadful ; the Apostle will tell you what, 1 Cor* 
 xl 2<j. He eats and drinks his oxvn damnation. 
 Therefore you see how great a necessity lies on 
 you thus actually to put off every Sin, before 
 you come to this table. 
 
 xvi. And the same necessity lies on you for 
 a second thing to be done at this time, Embracing 
 and that is, the putting your soul into Virtue. 
 a heavenly and Christian temper, by possessing 
 it with all those Graces which may render it 
 acceptable in the eyes of God. For when you 
 have turned out Satan and his accursed train, you 
 must not let your soul lie empty ; if you do, 
 Christ tells you, Luke xi. 2o\ he will quickly re- 
 turn again, and your last estate, shall be worse 
 than your first. But you must by earnest Prayer 
 invite into it the Holy Spirit with his Graces ; 
 or, if they be in some degree there already, you 
 must pray that he will yet more fully possess it, 
 and you must quicken and stir them up. 
 
 xvii. As for example, you must quicken 
 your humility, by considering your Quietening 
 many and great sins ; your faith, by of Graces. 
 meditating on God's promises to all penitent 
 sinners ; your love to God, by considering his 
 
76 The Whole Duty of Man. [Simd. & 
 
 mercies, especially those remembered in the Sa- 
 crament; his giving Christ to die for us; and 
 your love to your neighbour, nay, to your ene- 
 mies, by considering that great example of his 
 suffering for us, that were enemies to him. And 
 it is most particularly required of us, when we 
 come to this table, that we copy out this pattern 
 of his in a perfect forgiveness of all that have 
 offended us, and not only forgiveness, but such 
 a kindness also, as will express itself in all 
 offices of love and friendship to them. 
 
 xvi ii. And if you have formerly so quite 
 Cliarity forgot that blessed example of his, as 
 to do the direct contrary ; if you have 
 done any unkindness or injury to any person, 
 then you are to seek forgiveness from him: 
 And to that end., first acknowledge your fault, 
 and secondly, restore to him, to the utmost of 
 your power, whatsoever you have deprived him 
 of either in goods or credit. This reconcilia- 
 tion with our brethren is absolutely necessary 
 towards the making any of our services accept- 
 able with God, as appears by that precept of 
 Cmist, Matt. v. 23, 24. If thou bring thy gift 
 to the altar, and there remember est that thy bro- 
 ther hath aught against thee, leave there thy gift 
 before the altar, and go thy way ; first, be recon- 
 ciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy 
 gift. Where you see, that though the gift be 
 ready at the altar,, it must rather be left there un- 
 offered, than be offered by a man that is not at 
 perfect peace with his neighbour. And if this 
 Charity be so necessary in all our services, much 
 more in this ; where, by a joint-partaking in the 
 
Sund. 3.] Of the Lord's Supper, &c. 77 
 
 same holy mysteries, we signify our being 
 united and knit, not only to Christ our Head, 
 but also to each other, as fellow members. And 
 therefore, if we come with any malice in our 
 hearts -we commit an act of the highest hypo- 
 crisy, by making a solemn profession in the Sa- 
 crament of that Charity and brotherly Love, 
 whereof our hearts are quite void. 
 
 xix. Another most necessary grace at this 
 time is that of Devotion : for the rais- _ 
 
 , r ,, , Devotion, 
 
 ing whereof we must allow ourselves 
 some time to withdraw from our worldly affairs, 
 and wholly to set ourselves to this business of 
 preparation : One very special part of which 
 preparation lies in raising up our souls to a 
 devout and heavenly temper. And to that it is 
 most necessary that we cast off all thoughts of 
 the world ; for they will be sure, as so many 
 clogs, to hinder our souls in their mounting 
 towards heaven. A special exercise of this De- 
 votion is Prayer, wherein we must be very fre- 
 quent and earnest at our coming to the Sacra- 
 ment, this being one great instrument whereby 
 we must obtain all those other graces required 
 in our preparation. Therefore be sure this be 
 not omitted ; for if you use never so much en- 
 deavour besides, and leave out this, it is the 
 going to work in your own strength, without 
 looking to God for his help : and then it is im- 
 possible you should prosper in it : Forxve are not 
 able of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves 9 
 but our sufficiency is of God, Z Cor. iii. 5. There- 
 fore be instant with him so to assist you with his 
 grace, that you may come so fitted to this holy 
 
78 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 3. 
 
 table that you may be partakers of the benefits 
 there reached out to all worthy receivers. 
 
 xx. These and all other spiritual Graces our 
 Necessity of souls must be clothed with, when 
 these Graces. we come to fa\ n feast; for this is 
 that wedding-garment, without which whosoever 
 comes, is like to have the entertainment men- 
 tioned in the parable of him who came to the 
 marriage without a wedding garment, Matt. xxii. 
 13. who was cast into outer darkness, where is 
 weeping and gnashing of teeth : For though it is 
 possible he may fit it out at the present, and not 
 be snatched from the table, yet St. Paul assures 
 him, he drinks damnation to himself, and how 
 soon it may fall on him is uncertain ; but it is 
 sure it will, if repentance prevent it not : and as 
 sure that whenever it does come, it will be in- 
 tolerable, for who among us can dwell with ever- 
 lasting burnings? Isa. xxxiii. 14. 
 
 xxi. I shall add but one thing more con- 
 The useful- cernm g the things which are to be 
 nessofaspi- done before the Sacrament, and that 
 ritualGuxdc. j g an a( j v i cej t h at jf anv person upon 
 
 a serious view of himself, cannot satisfy his own 
 soul of his sincerity, and so doubts whether he 
 may come to the Sacrament, he do not rest 
 wholly on his own judgment in the case : for if 
 he be a truly humbled soul, it is likely he may 
 judge too hardly of himself; if he be not, it is 
 odds but if he be left to the satisfying his own 
 doubts, he will quickly bring himself to pass 
 too favourable a sentence : or whether he be the 
 one or the other, if he come to the Sacrament in 
 that doubt, he certainly plunges himself into 
 
Sund. 3.] Of the Lord's Supper, &c. 79 
 
 farther doubts and scruples, if not into sin. On 
 the other side, if he forbears because of it, if 
 that fear be a causeless one, then he groundlessly 
 absents himself from that holy ordinance, and so 
 deprives his soul of the benefits of it. Therefore 
 in the midst of so many dangers, which attend 
 the mistake of himself, I would, as I said be- 
 fore, exhort him not to trust to his own judgment, 
 but to make known his case to some discreet and 
 godly minister, and rather be guided by his, who 
 will probably (if the case be duly and without 
 any disguise discovered to him) be better able to 
 judge of him, than he of himself. This is the 
 counsel the Church gives in the exhortation be- 
 fore the Communion, where it is advised, That 
 if any, by other means there before-mentioned, 
 cannot quiet his own conscience, but require 
 farther counsel and comfort, then let him go to 
 some discreet and learned minister of God 's word, 
 and open his grief, that he may receive such 
 ghostly counsel, advice, and comfort, that his 
 conscience may be relieved, &c. This is surely 
 such advice as should not be neglected, neither 
 at the time of coming to the Sacrament, nor any 
 other, when we are under any fear or reasons of 
 doubt concerning the state of our souls. And 
 for want of this, many have run into very great 
 mischief, having let the doubt fester so long, 
 that it hath either plunged them into deep dis- 
 tresses of conscience : or, which is worse, they 
 have, to still that disquiet within them, betaken 
 themselves to all sinful pleasures, and so quite 
 cast off all care of their souls. 
 
 xxii. But to all this it will perhaps be said, 
 e % 
 
 
80 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 3, 
 
 That this cannot be done without discovering 
 Nottobeasham- the nakedness and blemishes of 
 ed to discover the soul, and there is shame in 
 ourselves to one. that> and therefore men are un- 
 willing to do it. But to that I answer, That it 
 is very unreasonable that should be a hindrance : 
 For, first, I suppose you are to choose only such 
 a person, as will faithfully keep any secret you 
 shall commit to him, and so it can be no pub- 
 lic shame you can fear. And if it be in re- 
 spect of that single person, you need not fear 
 that neither ; for, supposing him a godly man, 
 he will not think the worse of you, but the bet- 
 ter, that you are so desirous to set all right 
 between God and your soul. But if indeed 
 there were shame in it, yet as long as it may be 
 a means to cure both your trouble and your 
 sin too (as certainly godly and faithful counsel 
 may tend much to both) that shame ought to 
 be despised : and it is sure it would, if we loved 
 our souls as well as our bodies : for in bodily 
 diseases, be they never so foul or shameful, we 
 account him a fool,who will rather miss the cure, 
 than discover it : and then it must here be so 
 much greater folly, by how much the soul is 
 more precious than the body. 
 
 xxin. But God knows it is not only doubt- 
 As necessary to ^ persons, to whom this advice 
 the confident as might be useful ; there are others 
 to the doubtful, of another sort, whose confidence 
 is their disease, who presume very groundlessly 
 of the goodness of their estates: and for those 
 it vvere most happy, if they could be brought to 
 hear some more equal judgments than their own 
 
Sund. 3.] Of the Lord's Supper, &c. 81 
 
 in this so weighty a business. The truth is, we 
 are generally so apt to favour ourselves, that it 
 might be very useful for the most, especially 
 the more ignorant sort, sometimes to advise 
 with a spiritual guide, to enable them to pass 
 right judgments on themselves : and not only 
 so, but to receive directions how to subdue and 
 mortify those sins they are most inclined to ; 
 which is a matter of so much difficulty, that we 
 have no reason to despise any means that may 
 help us in it. 
 
 xxiv. I have now gone through those seve- 
 ral parts of duty we are to perform Before our 
 receiving: in the next place, I - _ . 
 
 a. 1 1 -l i. • l i_ j At- the time of 
 
 am to tell you, what is to be done receiving. Me- 
 At the time of receiving. When dilation of thy 
 thou art at the holy table, first, «««*««"• 
 humble thyself in an unfeigned acknowledg- 
 ment of thy great unworthiness to be admitted 
 there ; and to that purpose, remember again, 
 between God and thine own soul, some of thy 
 greatest and foulest sins, thy breaches of former 
 vows made at that table ; especially since thy 
 last receiving. Then meditate on The Sufferings 
 those bitter sufferings of Christ, <f Christ. 
 which are set out to us in the Sacrament : when 
 thou seest the bread broken, remember how his 
 blessed body was torn with nails upon the cross. 
 When thou seest the wine poured out, remem- 
 ber how his precious blood was spilt there ; and 
 then consider it was thy sins that caused both. 
 And here think how unworthy a wretch thou 
 art, to have done that which occasioned such 
 torments to him : how much worse than his 
 e 3 
 
82 The Whole Duty of Mam [Sund. 3. 
 
 very crucifiers ! They crucified him once : but 
 thou hast, as much as in thee lay, crucified him 
 daily : they crucified him, because they knew 
 him not ; but thou hast known both what he is 
 in himself, The Lord of Glory > and what he is 
 to thee, a most tender and merciful Saviour ; 
 and yet thou hast still continued thus to crucify 
 him afresh. Consider this, and let it work in 
 thee, first, a great sorrow for thy sins past, and 
 then a great hatred and a firm resolution 
 against them for the time to come. 
 
 xxv. When thou hast a while thus thought 
 The Atonement ° n these sufferings of Christ, for 
 wrought by the encreasing thy humility and 
 them. contrition, then, in the second 
 
 place, think of them again, to stir up thy faith; 
 look on him as the Sacrifice offered up for thy 
 sins, for the appeasing of God's wrath, and 
 procuring his favour and mercies towards thee. 
 And therefore believingly, yet humbly beg of 
 God, to accept of that satisfaction made by his 
 innocent and beloved Son ; and for the Merits 
 thereof to pardon thee whatever is past, and to 
 be fully reconciled to thee. 
 
 xxvi. In the third place, consider them 
 The thankful- again, to raise thy Thankfulness. 
 ness owing Think how much both of shame and 
 for them. —.g ^ e t ^ ere en( ] urec } j k ut; especially 
 
 those great agonies of his soul, which drew from 
 him that bitter cry, My God, my God } zvhy hast 
 thou forsaken me ? Matt, xxvii. 45. Now all 
 this he suffered only to keep thee from perishing. 
 And therefore consider what inexpressible thanks 
 thou owest him ; and endeavour to raise thy soul 
 
Sund. 3.] Of the Lord's Supper, &e. $p 
 
 to the most zealous and hearty thanksgiving: For 
 this is a principal part of duty at this time, the 
 praising and magnifying that mercy which hath 
 redeemed us by so dear a price* Therefore it 
 will here well become thee to say with David, 1 
 will take the cup of salvation, and will call upon 
 the name of the Lord. 
 
 xxvii. Fourthly, Look on these sufferings 
 of Christ t-0 Stir Up this Love: The great Love of . 
 and surely there cannot be a Christ in them. 
 more effectual means of doing it; for here the 
 Love of Christ to thee is most manifest, accord- 
 ing to that of the Apostle, 1 John iii. 16; 
 iter eby perceive we the Love of God towards us, 
 because he laid doxvn his If e for us. And that 
 even the highest degree of Love ; for as himself 
 tells us, John xv. 13. Greater love than Urn 
 hath no man, that a man lay doxvn his life for 
 his friend. Yet even greater Love than this 
 had he : for he not only died, but died the 
 most painful and most reproachful death, and 
 that not for his friends, but for his utter ene- 
 mies. And therefore, if after all this Love on 
 his part, there be no return of Love on ours, 
 we are worse than the vilest sort of men ; for 
 even the Publicans, Matt. v. 46. love those that 
 love them. Here therefore chide and reproach 
 thyself, that thy love to him is so faint and cool, 
 when his to thee was so zealous and affectionate ; 
 and endeavour to enkindle this holy flame in 
 thy soul, to love him in such a degree, that thou 
 mayest be ready to copy out his example, to part 
 with all things, yea, even life itself, whenever he 
 calls for it ; that is, whensoever thy obedience 
 K 4 
 
84 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 3- 
 
 to any command of his shall lay thee open to 
 those sufferings ; but in the mean time to re- 
 solve never again to make any league with his 
 enemies, to entertain or harbour any sin in thy 
 breast. But if there have any such hitherto 
 remained with thee, make this the season to kill 
 and crucify it; offer it up at this instant a 
 sacrifice to him, who was sacrificed for thee, and 
 particularly, for that very end, that he might 
 redeem thee from all iniquity. Therefore here 
 make thy solemn resolutions to forsake every sin, 
 particularly those into which thou hast most 
 frequently fallen. And that thou mayest indeed 
 perform those resolutions, earnestly beg of this 
 crucified Saviour, that he will, by the power of 
 his death, mortify and kill all thy corruptions. 
 
 xxvin. When thou art about to receive the 
 The Benefits of consecrated bread and wine, re- 
 the New Cove- member that God now offers to 
 nam sealed in the seSL \ to t h ee that new Covenant 
 
 Sacrament. , . . , . , . , . 
 
 made with mankind in his oon. 
 For since that he gives his Son in the Sacrament, 
 he gives with him all the benefits of that Cove- 
 nant ; to wit, pardon of sins, sanctifying grace, 
 and a title to an eternal inheritance. And here 
 be astonished at the infinite goodness of God, 
 who reaches out to thee so precious a treasure. 
 But then remember, that this is all but on con- 
 dition that thou perform thy part of the cove- 
 nant. And therefore settle in thy soul the most 
 serious purpose of obedience; and then with all 
 possible devotion, join with the minister in that 
 short but excellent prayer, used at the instant of 
 giving the Sacrament, The Body of our Lord, &c. 
 
Sund. 3.] Of the Lord's Supper, kc. 85 
 
 xxix. So soon as thou hast received, offer 
 up thy devoutest praises for that Upon receiving 
 great mercy, together with thy most gw« Thanks. 
 earnest prayers for such assistance of God's Spi- 
 rit, as may enable thee to perform the vow thou 
 hast now made. Then remembering that Christ 
 is a propitiation not for our sins only, but also for 
 the sins of the whole world, let thy chari- p 
 ty reach as far as his hath done, and pray 
 for all mankind, that every one may receive the 
 benefit of that sacrifice of his ; commend also to 
 God the estate of the Church, that particularly 
 whereof thou art a Member ; and forget not to 
 pray for all to whom thou owest obedience both 
 in Church and State ; and so go on to pray for 
 such particular persons, as either thy relations or 
 their wants shall present to thee. If there be 
 any collection for the poor (as there alwavs 
 ought to be at this time) give freely according 
 to thy ability ; or if, by the default of others, 
 there be no such collection, yet do thou pri- 
 vately design somewhat towards the relief of thy 
 poor brethren, and be sure to give it the next 
 fitting opportunity that offers itself. All this 
 thou must contrive to do in the time that others 
 are receiving, that so when the public Prayers 
 after the administration begin, thou mayest be 
 ready to join in them : which thou must likewise 
 take care to do with all devotion. Thus much 
 for behaviour at the time of receiving. 
 
 xxx. Now follows the third and last thing, 
 that is, what thou art to do after thy After the 
 receiving. That which is immedi- Sacrament, 
 ately to be done, is, as soon as thou art retired 
 
86 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 3. 
 
 from the congregation, to offer up again to God 
 thy Sacrifice of praise, for all those precious 
 Private Prayer mercies conveyed to thee in that 
 and Thanhs- holy Sacrament, as also humbly 
 giving. tQ j ntreat fo e continued assistance 
 
 of his grace, to enable thee to make good all 
 those purposes of obedience thou hast now made. 
 And in whatsoever thou knowest thyself most in 
 danger, either in respect of any former habit, or 
 natural inclination, there especially desire, and 
 earnestly beg his aid. 
 
 xxxi. When thou hast done thus, do not 
 Not presently to presently let thyself loose to thy 
 fall to worldly worldly cares and business, but 
 " mrs ' spend all that day either in medi- 
 
 tating, praying, reading, good conferences, or 
 the like ; so as may best keep up that holy flame 
 that is enkindled in thy heart. Afterwards, 
 when thy calling requires thee to fall to thy 
 usual affairs, do it; but yet still remember that 
 thou hast a greater business than that upon thy 
 hands; that is, the performing of all those pro- 
 mises thou so lately madest to God. And there- 
 fore whatever thy outward employments are, let 
 To keep thy Re- thy heart be set on that, keep all 
 solutions still in tne particulars of thy resolutions 
 xmy ° in memory ; and whenever thou 
 
 art tempted to any of thy old sins, then consider 
 this is the thing thou so solemnly vowedst against: 
 The Danger of and withal remember what a hor- 
 
 Ireaking them. r j D l e guilt it will be, if thoil 
 
 shouldstnow wilfully do any thing contrary U> 
 that vow ; yea, and what a horrible mischief 
 also it will be to thyself : for at thy receiving, 
 

 Sund. 3.] Of the Lord's Supper, &c. 87 
 
 God and thou enteredst into covenant, into a 
 league of friendship and kindness. And as long 
 as thou keepest in that friendship with God, 
 thou art safe : All the malice of men or devils 
 can do thee no harm : For, as the Making God 
 Apostle saith, Rom. viii. 31. If God thy Enemy, 
 be for us y who can be against us ? But if thou 
 breakest this league, (as thou certainly dost, if 
 thou yieldest to any wilful sin) then God and 
 thou art enemies ; and if all the world then were 
 for thee, it could not avail thee. 
 
 xxxi i. Nay, thou wilt get an enemy within 
 thine own bosom, thy Conscience ac- Thy oivn 
 cusing and upbraiding thee ; and Conscience. 
 when God and thine own Conscience are thus 
 against thee, thou canst not but be extremely 
 miserable even in this life, besides that fearful 
 expectation of wrath which awaits thee in the 
 next. Remember all this when thou art set 
 upon by any temptation ; and then* sure thou 
 canst not but look upon that temptation as a 
 cheat that comes to rob thee of thy peace, thy 
 God, thy very soul. And then sure it will 
 appear as unfit to entertain it, as thou wouldest 
 think it to harbour one in thy house, who thou 
 knowest came to rob thee of what is dearest to 
 thee. 
 
 xxxiii. And let not any experience of God's 
 mercy in pardoning thee heretofore, God , g f 
 encourage thee again to provoke Pardons no 
 him ; for besides that it is the high- Encourage- 
 
 j r • i j j ° went to Sin. 
 
 est degree of wickedness and un- 
 thankfulness to make that goodness of his which 
 should lead thee to repentance^ and encourage- 
 e 6 
 
 
88 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 
 
 ment in thy sin : Besides this, I say, the oftener 
 thou hast been pardoned, the less reason thou 
 hast to expect it again ; because thy sin is so 
 much the greater for having been committed 
 against so much mercy. If a king have several 
 times pardoned an offender,, yet if he still return 
 to the commission of the same fault, the king will 
 at last be forced, if he have any love to justice, 
 to give him up to it. Now so it is here, God is 
 as well just as merciful, and his justice will at 
 last surely and heavily avenge the abuse of his 
 mercy : and there cannot be a greater abuse of 
 his mercy, than to sin in hope of it : so that it 
 will prove miserable deceiving of thyself, thus to 
 presume upon it. 
 
 xxxiv. Now this care of making good thy 
 
 The Obligation Vow mus * not abide with thee 
 
 of this Vow per- some few days only, and then be 
 petual. cast aB y Cj t> ut it must continue 
 
 with thee all thy days : for if thou break thy 
 Vow., it matters not whether sooner or later. 
 Nay, perhaps the guilt may, in some respects, 
 he more if it be late ; for if thou hast for a 
 good while gone on in the observance of it, that 
 shews the thing is possible to thee ; and so thy 
 after breaches are not of infirmity, because thou 
 canst not avoid them, but of perverseness, be- 
 cause thou wilt not. Besides the use of Chris- 
 tian walking must needs make it more easy to 
 thee. For indeed all the difficulty of it is but 
 from the custom of the contrary : and therefore, 
 if, after some acquaintance with it, when thou 
 hast overcome somewhat of the hardness, thou 
 shall then give it over, it will be most inexcu- 
 
Sund. 4.] Honour due to God's Name. 8g 
 
 sable. Therefore be careful all the days of thy 
 life to keep such a watch over thyself, and so to 
 avoid ail occasions of temptations, as may pre- 
 serve thee from all wilful breaches of this Vow. 
 xxxv. But though the obligation of every 
 such single Vow reach to the utmost Yet often to 
 day of our lives, yet are we often to be renewed. 
 renew it, that is, we are often to receive the 
 holy Sacrament ; for that being the means of 
 conveying to us so great and invaluable benefits, 
 and it being also a command of Christ, that we 
 should do this in remembrance of him, we are in 
 respect both of reason and duty, to omit no fit 
 opportunity of partaking of that Holy Table. 
 I have now shewed you what that reverence is, 
 which we are to pay to God in his Sacrament. 
 
 SUNDAY IV. 
 
 Honour due to God's Name : Sins against it ; 
 Blasphemy, Swearing; of assertory, promis- 
 sory, wilawful Oaths; of Perjury, vain 
 Oaths, and the Sin of them, &c. 
 
 Sect. i. The last thing wherein we are to 
 express our reverence to him, is the honour- 
 ing of his Name. Now what this Honour due to 
 honouring of his Name is, we shall God,s Name. 
 best understand by considering what are the 
 things by which it is dishonoured, the avoiding 
 of which will be our way of honouring it. 
 
90 The Whole Duty of Man. fSund. 4. 
 
 The first is, all Blasphemies, or speaking any 
 Sins against evil thing of God, the highest degree 
 ***• whereof is cursing him ; or, if we do 
 
 not speak it with our mouth s, yet if we do it 
 in our hearts, by thinking any unworthy thing 
 of him, it is looked on by God, who 
 
 S P em V- gee& ^q heart, as the vilest dishonour. 
 But there is also a Blasphemy of the actions, that 
 is, when men, who profess to be the servants of 
 God, live so wickedly, that they bring up an 
 evil report of him, whom they own as their 
 Master and Lord. This Blasphemy the Apostle 
 takes notice of, Rom. ii. 24. where he tells those 
 who profess to be observers of the law, That by 
 their wicked actions the name of God was blas- 
 phemed among the Gentiles. Those Gentiles 
 were moved to think ill of God, as the favourer 
 of sin, when they saw those, who called them- 
 selves his servants, commit it. 
 
 A second way of dishonouring God's Name is 
 by Swearing ; and that is of two sorts, 
 
 wearing. ^j^ ^ ^ &Q Q^fo^ Qr e J se ^y ms \ r 
 
 and light ones. A false Oath may also be of two 
 Assertory kinds ; as first, that by which I affirm 
 Oaths. * somewhat; or secondly, that by which 
 I promise. The first is, when I say such or such 
 a thing was done so or so, and confirm this say- 
 ing of mine with an Oath. If then I know there 
 be not perfect truth in what I say, this is a flat 
 perjury, a downright being forsworn : nay, if I 
 swear to the truth of that whereof I am only 
 doubtful, though the thing should happen to be 
 true, yet it brings upon me the guilt of Perjury :. 
 for I swear at a venture, and the thing might. 
 
Sund. 4.] Of Oaths, &c. 91 
 
 for aught I know, be as well false or true; 
 whereas I ought never to swear any thing, the 
 truth of which I do not certainly know. 
 
 ii. But besides this sort of Oaths, by which 
 I affirm any thing, there is the other p 
 sort, that by which I promise some- r sor ^ 
 what. And that promise may be either to God, 
 or man. When it is to God we call it a vow, of 
 which I have already spoken, under the heads 
 of the Sacraments. I shall now only speak of 
 that. to man ; and this may become a false Oath, 
 either at or after the time of taking it. At the 
 time of taking, it is false, if either I have then 
 no real purpose of making it good, or else take 
 it in a sense different from that which I know 
 he, to whom I make the promise, understands 
 it ; for the use of Oaths being to assure the per- 
 sons to whom they are made, they must be taken 
 in their sense. But if I were never so sincere at 
 the taking the Oath, if afterwards I do not 
 perform it, I am certainly perjured. 
 
 in. The nature of an Oath being then thus 
 binding, it nearly concerns us to look Unlawful 
 that the matter of our oaths be law- Oaths. 
 ful; for else we run ourselves into a woeful 
 snare. For example, suppose I swear to kill a 
 man, if I perform my Oath, I am guilty of 
 murder ; if I break it, of Perjury : And so I am 
 under a necessity of sinning one way or other. 
 But there is nothing puts us under a greater 
 degree of this unhappy necessity, than when we 
 swear two Oaths, whereof the one is directly 
 cross and contradictory to the other. For if I 
 swear to give a man my whole estate, and after- 
 
92 The Whole Duty of Man. [Simd. 4. 
 
 wards swear to give all, or part of that estate 
 to another, it is certain I must break my Oath 
 to one of them, because it is impossible to per- 
 form it to both ; and so I must be under a ne- 
 cessity of being forsworn. And into this un- 
 happy strait every man brings himself that takes 
 any Oath, which crosses some other which he 
 hath formerly taken ; which should make all, 
 that love either God or their own souls, resolve 
 never thus miserably to entangle themselves, 
 by taking one Oath cross and thwarting to 
 another. But it may perhaps here be asked, 
 What a person, that hath already brought him- 
 self into such a condition, shall do ? I answer, 
 He must first heartily repent of the great sin of 
 taking the unlawful Oath, and then stick only to 
 the lawful; which is all that is in his power to- 
 wards the repairing his fault, and qualifying him 
 for God's pardon for it. 
 
 iv. Having said this concerning the kinds of 
 Godgieatly this sin of Perjury, I shall only add a 
 dishonoured few words to shew you how greatly 
 hy Perjury. q $ s name | s dishonoured by it. In 
 all Oaths, you know, God is solemnly called to 
 witness the truth of that which is spoken : Now 
 if the thing be false, it is the basest affront and 
 dishonour that can possibly be done to God. 
 For it is in reason to signify one of these two 
 things, either that we believe he knows not 
 whether we say true, or no, (and that is to make 
 him no God, to suppose him to be as deceivable, 
 and easy to be deluded as one of our ignorant 
 neighbours,) or else that he is willing to counte- 
 nance our lies. The former robs him of that 
 
Sund. 4.] Of Oaths, kc. 93 
 
 great attribute of his, his knowing all things, 
 and is surely a great dishonouring of him, it 
 being even amongst men accounted one of the 
 greatest disgraces to account a man fit to have 
 cheats put upon him : Yet even so we deal with 
 God., if we venture to forswear upon a hope 
 that God discerns it not. But the other is yet 
 worse ; for the supposing him willing to coun- 
 tenance our lies, is the making him a party in 
 them : and is not only the making him no God, 
 (it being impossible that God should either lie 
 himself, or approve it in another) but it is the 
 making him like the very devil. For he it is 
 that is a liar, and the father of it, John viii. 44. 
 And surely I need not say more to prove, that 
 this is the highest degree of dishonouring God's 
 name. 
 
 v. But if any yet doubt the heinousness of 
 this sin, let him but consider what The punish- 
 God himself says of it in the third rnentofit. 
 Commandment, where he solemnly professes 
 He will not hold him guiltless that taketh his 
 name in vain. And sure the adding that to this 
 Commandment and none of the rest, is the 
 marking this out for a most heinous guilt. And 
 if you look into Zech. v. you will there find the 
 punishment is answerable, even to the utter 
 destruction, not only of the man, but his house 
 also. Therefore it concerns all men, as they love 
 either their temporal or eternal welfare, to keep 
 them most strictly from this sin. 
 
 But besides this of forswearing, I told you 
 there was another sort of Oaths by . 
 
 which God's name is dishonoured : 
 
94 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 4. 
 
 those are the vain and light Oaths, such as are 
 so usual in our common discourse, and are ex- 
 pressly forbidden by Christ, Matt. v. 34. But I 
 say unto you, swear not at all, neither by Hea- 
 ven, for it is God's throne; nor by the earth, 
 for it is his footstool : Where you see we are not 
 allowed to swear even by mere creatures, be- 
 cause of the relation they have to God. How 
 great a wickedness is it then to profane his 
 Holy Name by rash and vain Oaths ? This is a 
 sin that is ( by I know 7 not what charm of Satan's) 
 grown into a fashion among us ; and now its 
 being so, draws daily more men into it. But it 
 is to be remembered, that when we shall appear 
 before God's judgment seat, toanswerfor those 
 profanations of his name, it will be no excuse 
 to say, It was the fashion to do so ; it will rather 
 be an increase of our guilt, that we have by our 
 own practice helped to confirm that wicked cus- 
 tom, which we ought to have beat down and 
 discountenanced. 
 
 vi. And sure, whatever this profane age 
 The Si?i of thinks of it, this is a sin of a very high 
 them. nature : For, besides that it is a direct 
 
 breach of the precepts of Christ, it shews, first, 
 a very mean and low esteem of God. Every 
 Oath we swear, is the appealing to God to judge 
 the truth of what we speak; and therefore, be- 
 ing of such greatness and majesty, requires that 
 the matter concerning which we thus appeal to 
 him, should be of great weight and moment, 
 somewhat wherein either his own glory, or some 
 considerable good of man is concerned. But 
 when we swear in common discourse, it is far 
 

 Sund. 4. ] Of Oaths, &c. 95 
 
 otherwise; and the triflingest or lightest thing 
 serves for the matter of an Oath : nay, often 
 men swear to such vain and foolish things, as a 
 considering person would be ashamed barely 
 to speak. And is it not a great despising of 
 God ; to call him solemnly to judge in such 
 childish, such wretched matters? God is the 
 great king of the world : Now though a king 
 be to be resorted unto in weighty cases, yet sure 
 he would think himself much despised, if he 
 should be called to judge between boys at their 
 childish games : And, God knows, many things, 
 whereto we frequently swear, are not of greater 
 weight, and therefore are a sign that we do not 
 rightly esteem of God. 
 
 vn. Secondly, this common swearing is, a 
 sin which leads directly to the former Theyleadto 
 of forswearing. For he that by the Perjury. 
 use of swearing hath made Oaths so familiar to 
 him, will be likely to take the dreadfullest Oath 
 without much consideration. For how shall he 
 that swears hourly, look upon an Oath with any 
 reverence ? And he that doth not, it is his 
 chance, not his care, that is to be thanked, if 
 he keep from Perjury. Nay, farther, he that 
 swears commonly, is not only prepared to for- 
 swear when a solemn Oath is tendered him, but 
 in all probability does actually forswear himself 
 often in these suddener Oaths : for, supposing 
 them to come from a man ere he is aware, 
 (which is the best can be said of them) what as- 
 surance can any man have who swears ere he is 
 aware that he shall not lie so too ? And if he 
 doth both together, he must necessarily be for- 
 
96 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 4. 
 
 sworn. But he that observes your common 
 swearers will be put past doubt that they are 
 often forsworn. For they usually swear indif- 
 ferently to things true or false, doubtful or cer- 
 tain : And I doubt not, but if men who are 
 guilty of this sin, would but impartially examine 
 their own practice, their hearts would second 
 me in this observation. 
 
 vni. Thirdly, this is a sin to which there is 
 No tempta- no temptation, there is nothing either 
 tion to them. f pleasure or profit got by it ; most 
 other sins offer us somewhat either of the one or 
 the other, but this is utterly empty of both. So 
 that in this sin the Devil does not play the mer- 
 chant for our souls, as in others he does ; he doth 
 not so much as cheapen them, but we give them 
 freely into his hands, without any thing in ex- 
 change. There seems to be but one thing pos- 
 sible for men to hope to gain by it, and that is, 
 to be believed in what they say, when they thus 
 bind it by an Oath. But this also they con- 
 stantly fail of, for there are none so little be- 
 lieved as the common swearers. And good rea- 
 son ; for he that makes no conscience thus to 
 profane God's name, why shall any man believe 
 he makes any of lying ? Nay, their forwardness 
 to confirm every the slightest thing by an Oath, 
 rather gives jealousy that they have some inward 
 guilt of falseness, for which that Oath must be 
 the cloak. And thus vou see in how little stead 
 it stands them, even to this only purpose, for 
 which they can pretend it useful ; and to any 
 other advantage it makes not the least claim, and 
 therefore is a sin without temptation, and con- 
 sequently without excuse : for it shews the 
 
Sund. 4.] Of Oaths, &c. 97 
 
 greatest contempt, nay, un kindness to God, 
 when we will provoke him thus, without any 
 thing to tempt us to it. And therefore, though 
 the commonness of this sin hath made it pass 
 but for a small one, }^et it is very far from being 
 so, either in itself, or on God's account. 
 
 ix. Let all therefore, who are not yet fallen 
 into the custom of this sin, be most Nec€Ssity f 
 careful never to yield to the least be- obtaining 
 ginnings of it; and for those who we from them. 
 so miserable, as to be already ensnared in it, let 
 them immediately, as they tender their souls, 
 get out of it. And let no man plead the hard- 
 ness of leaving an old custom, as an excuse for 
 his continuing in it, but rather, the longer he 
 hath been in it, so much the more haste let him 
 make out of it, as thinking it too much, that he 
 hath so long gone on in so great a sin. And if 
 the length of the custom have increased the dif- 
 ficulty of leaving it, that is in all reason to make 
 him set immediately to the casting it off, lest that 
 difficulty at last grow to an impossibility : and 
 the harder he finds it at the present, so much the 
 more diligent and watchful he must be in Means 
 the use of all those means which may f or fy 
 tend to the overcoming that sinful habit ; some 
 few of those means it will not be amiss here to 
 mention. 
 
 x. First, Let him possess his mind fully of 
 the heinousness of the sin, and not to Senseofthe 
 measure it only according to the com- Guilt and 
 mon rate of the world : and when he Dan S er - 
 is fully persuaded of the Guilt, then let him add 
 to that the consideration of the Danger; as, that 
 it puts him out of God's favour at the present, 
 
98 The Whole Duty of Man, [Sund. 4. 
 
 and will, if he continue in it, cast him into Hell 
 for ever. And sure, if this were but thoroughly 
 laid to heart, it would restrain this sin. For I 
 would ask a man, that pretends impossibility of 
 leaving the custom, Whether, if he were sure 
 he should be hanged the next Oath he swore, 
 the fear of it would not keep him from swear- 
 ing ? I can scarce believe any man in his wits so 
 little master of himself but it would. And then 
 surely damning is so much worse than hanging, 
 that in all reason, the fear of that ought to be a 
 much greater restraint. The case is, men do 
 either not heartily believe that this sin will damn 
 them, or if they do, they look on it as a thing 
 a great way off, and so are not much moved 
 with it; but both these are very unreasonable. 
 For the first, it is certain that every one that 
 continues wilfully in any sin, is so long in a state 
 of damnation ; and therefore this being so con- 
 tinued in, must certainly put a man in that 
 condition. For the second, it is very possible, 
 he may be deceived in thinking it so far off: for 
 how knows any man that he shall not be struck 
 dead with an Oath in his mouth ? Or, if he were 
 sure not to be so, yet eternal damnation is surely 
 to be dreaded above all things, be it at what 
 distance soever. 
 
 xi. A second means is to be exactly true in 
 Truth in all thou speakest, that all men may 
 speaking. believe thee on thy bare word ; and 
 then thou wilt never have occasion to confirm it 
 by an Oath, to make it more credible, which is 
 the only colour or reason that can at any time 
 be pretended for swearing. 
 
Sund. 4.]' Of Oaths, &c. 99 
 
 xii. Thirdly, Observe what it is that most 
 betrays thee to this sin, whether Forsaking the 
 drink, or anger, or the company Occasions, 
 and example of others, or whatever else; and 
 then, if ever thou mean to forsake the sin, 
 forsake those occasions of it. 
 
 xiii. Fourthly, Endeavour to posess thy 
 heart with a continual reverence of Reverence 
 God; and if that once grow into a cus- of God. 
 torn with thee, it will quickly turn out that con- 
 trary one of profaning. Use and accustom thyself 
 therefore to this Reverence of God, and particu- 
 larly to such a respect to his name, as if it be 
 possible never to mention it without some lifting 
 up thy heart to him. Even in thy ordinary 
 discourse, whenever thou takest his name into 
 thy mouth, let it be an occasion of raising up thy 
 thoughts to him ; but by no means permit thyself 
 to use it in idle by-words, or the like. If thou 
 dost accustom thyself to pay this Reverence 
 to the bare mention of his name, it will be an 
 excellent fence against the profaning it in oaths. 
 
 xiv. A fifth means is a diligent and constant 
 Watch over thyself, that thou thus 
 offend not with thy tongue, without atc * u n€SS ' 
 which all the former will come to nothing. And 
 the last means is Prayer, which must be added to 
 all thy endeavours; therefore pray ear- 
 nestly, that God will enable thee to iay€) ' 
 overcome this wicked custom ; say with the 
 Psalmist, Set a watch, O Lord, over my mouth, 
 and keep the door of my lips ; and if thou dost 
 sincerely set thyself to the use of means for it, 
 thou mayest be assured, God will not be wanting 
 
100 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 5. 
 
 in his assistance. I have been the longer on 
 this, because it is so reigning a sin. God in his 
 mercy give all that are guilty of it, a true sight 
 of the heinousness of it ? 
 
 xv. By these several ways of dishonouring 
 What it is to God's Name you may understand 
 honour God's what is the duty of honouring it, 
 Name. ^ 2 a s ti'ic€ abstaining from every 
 
 one of these, and that abstinence founded on an 
 awful respect and reverence to that sacred Name, 
 which is great, wonderful, and holy, PsaL xcix. 
 3. I have now passed through the several 
 branches of that great duty of honouring God. 
 
 SUNDAY V. 
 
 Of Worship due to God's Name. Of Prayer, 
 and its several Parts. Of public Prayers 
 in the Church, in the Family. Of private 
 Prayer. Of Repentance, Sec. Of Fasting. 
 
 Sect. i. The eighth duty we owe to God 
 
 is Worship : This is that great Duty by which 
 
 especially we acknowledge his Godhead. 
 
 Worship being proper only to God; 
 
 s lp ' and therefore it is to be looked upon 
 as a most weighty Duty. This is to be per- 
 formed, first by our souls ; secondly, by our 
 Prayer, its bodies. The soul's part is praying. 
 Parts. Now prayer is a speaking to God, 
 and there are divers parts of it, according to 
 the different things about which we speak. 
 
Sund. 5.] The Duty of Prayer, &c. 101 
 
 ii. As first, There is confession, that is the 
 acknowledging our sins to God. And „ r . 
 
 . . i ? i i • Confession. 
 
 this may be either general or particu- 
 lar. The general is, when we only confess in 
 gross, that we are sinful : the particular, when 
 we mention the several sorts and acts of our sins. 
 The former is necessary to be always a part of 
 our solemn prayers, whether public or private. 
 The latter is proper for private prayer, and there, 
 the oftener it is used, the better ; yea, even in 
 our daily private prayer, it will be fit constantly 
 to remember some of our greatest and foulest 
 sins, though never so long since past : for such 
 we should never think sufficiently confessed and 
 bewailed. And this bewailing must always go 
 along with confession. We must be heartily 
 sorry for the sins we confess, and from our souls 
 acknowledge our own great unworthiness in hav- 
 ing committed them. For our Confession is not 
 intended to instruct God, who knows our sins 
 much better than ourselves do, but it is to hum- 
 ble ourselves ; and therefore we must not think 
 to have confessed aright, till that be done. 
 
 in. The second part of prayer is Petition : 
 that is, the begging of God whatsoever „ ,, . 
 
 . e * " Petition 
 
 we want, either for our Souls or Bodies. 
 For our Souls we must first beg pardon of sins, 
 and that for the sake of Jesus Christ, For our 
 who shed his blood to obtain it. Then Sou ^- 
 we must also beg the grace and assistance of 
 God's Spirit to enable us to forsake our sins, and 
 to walk in obedience to him. And herein it will 
 be needful particularly to beg all the several 
 virtues, as faith, love, zeal, purity, repentance, 
 F 
 
1 02 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 5. 
 
 and the like ; but especially those which thou 
 most wantest: And therefore observe what thy 
 wants are ; and if thou beest proud, be most 
 instant in praying for Humility ; if lustful, for 
 Chastity; and so for all other graces, according 
 as thou flndest thy needs. And in all these 
 things that concern thy soul, be very earnest and 
 importunate ; take no denial from God, nor give 
 over, though thou do not presently obtain what 
 thou suest for. But if thou hast never so Ions 
 prayed for a grace, and yet flndest it not, do not 
 grow weary of praying, but rather search what 
 the cause may be, which makes thy prayers 
 so ineffectual ; see if thou do not thyself hinder 
 them : Perhaps, thou prayest to God to enable 
 thee to conquer some sin, and yet never goest 
 about to fight against it, never makest any resist- 
 ance, but yieldest to it as often as it comes, nay, 
 puttest thyself in its way, in the road of all 
 temptations. If it be thus, no wonder though 
 thy prayers avail not, for thou wilt not let them. 
 Therefore amend this, and set to the doing of thy 
 part sincerely, and then thou needest not fear 
 but God will do his. 
 
 iv. Secondly, we are to petition also for our 
 Bodies : that is, we are to ask of God 
 such necessaries of life as are needful 
 to us while we live here ; but these only in such 
 a degree and measure, as his wisdom sees best 
 for us: we must not presume to be our own 
 carvers, and pray for all that wealth, or greatness, 
 which our own vain hearts may perhaps desire ; 
 but only for such a condition in respect of out- 
 ward things as he sees may most tend to those 
 
Sund.5.] The Duty of Prayer, &q. 103 
 
 great ends of our living here, the glorifying him, 
 and the saving of our own souls. 
 
 v. A third part of prayer is deprecation, that 
 is, when we pray to God to turn 
 
 f, r J xt A i Deprecation. 
 
 away some evil from us. Now the 
 evil may be either the evil of Sin or the evil of 
 Punishment. The evil of Sin is that „ 
 we are especially to pray against, most 
 earnestly begging of God, that he will, by the 
 power of his grace, preserve us from falling into 
 Sin. And whatever sins they are, to which 
 thou knowest thyself most inclined, there be 
 particularly earnest with God to preserve thee 
 from them. This is to be done daily, but then 
 more especially, when we are under any present 
 temptation, and in danger of falling into any sin : 
 In which case we have reason to cry out as St. 
 Peter did, when he found himself sinking, Save, 
 Lord, or I perish: humbly beseeching him 
 either to withdraw the temptation, or strengthen 
 us to withstand it ; neither of which we can do 
 for ourselves. 
 
 vi. Secondly, we are likewise to pray against 
 the evil of punishment, but princi- of Punish- 
 pally against spiritual punishments, «««. 
 as the anger of God, the withdrawing of his 
 Grace and eternal damnation : Against these 
 we can never pray with too much earnestness. 
 But we may also pray against temporal punish- 
 ments, that is, any outward affliction, but this 
 with submission to God's Will, according to the 
 example of Christ, Matt. xxvi. 39- Not as I 
 will, but as thou wilt. 
 
 vii. A fourth part of prayer is Intercession, 
 f 2 
 
104 The JVholeDutyqfMan. [Sund..5- 
 
 T m . that is, praying for others. This in 
 
 JL)lt(:)'Ct'Si"lOII JO 
 
 ' general we are to do for ail mankind, 
 as well strangers as acquaintance, but more 
 particularly those to whom we have any special 
 relation, either public, ^as our governors both 
 in Church and State ; or private, as parents, 
 husband, wife, children, friends, 8$c. We are 
 also to pray for all that are in affliction, and such 
 particular persons as we discern especially to be 
 so ; Yea, we are to pray for those that have done 
 us injury, those that despitefully use and persecute 
 us ; for it is expressly the command of Christ, 
 Matt, v. 44. and that whereof he hath likewise 
 given us the highest example, in praying even 
 for his very crucifiers, Luke xxiii. 34. Father ; 
 forgive them. For all these sorts of persons we 
 are to pray, and that for the very same good 
 things we beg of God for ourselves, that God 
 would give them, in their several places and 
 callings, all spiritual and temporal blessings, 
 which he sees wanting to them, and turn away 
 from them all evil, whether of sin or punishment, 
 vnr. The fifth part of prayer is Thanksgiv- 
 . ing, that is, the praising and bless- 
 mn saving. .^ ,q oc j f or a n hj s mercies, whe- 
 ther to our own persons, and those that imme- 
 diately relate to us, or to the Church and Nation, 
 whereof we are members, or yet more general 
 to all mankind; and this for all his mercies 
 both Spiritual and Temporal. In the Spiritual, 
 first, for those wherein we are all in common 
 concerned, as the giving of his Son, the sending 
 of bis Spirit, and all those means he hath used 
 to bring sinful men unto himself. Then, se- 
 
 9 
 
Sund.-5.] The Duty of Prayer, &c. 105 
 
 condly, for those mercies we have in our own 
 particulars received ; such are, the having been 
 born within the pale of the Church, and so 
 brought up in the Christian Religion, by which 
 we have been partakers of those precious advan- 
 tages of the Word and Sacraments, and so have 
 had, without any care or pains of ours, the 
 means of eternal Life put into our hands. But 
 besides these, there are none of us but have re- 
 ceived other spiritual mercies from God. 
 
 ix. As first, God's patience and long-suffer- 
 ing, waiting for our repentance, and Spiritual 
 not cutting us off in our sins : Secondly, Mercies. 
 his calls and invitations of us to that repentance 
 not only outward, in the ministry of the Word, 
 but also inward, by. the motions of his Spirit. 
 But then if thou be one that hast, by the help 
 of God's grace, been wrought upon by these 
 calls, and brought from a profane or worldly 
 to a Christian course of life, thou art surely, m 
 the highest degree, tied to magnify and praise his 
 goodness, as having received from him the 
 greatest of mercies. 
 
 x. We are likewise to give thanks for tem- 
 poral Blessings, whether such as con- Temporal 
 cern the publick, as the prosperity of 
 the Church or Nation, and all remarkable deli- 
 verances afforded to either ; or else such as con- 
 cern our particular; such are all the good things 
 of this life which we enjoy, as health, friends, 
 food, raiment, and the like ; also for those 
 minute preservations, whereby we are by God's 
 gracious providence kept from Danger, and the 
 especial deliverances which God hath given us 
 f 3 
 
1 06 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 5. 
 
 in the time of greatest perils. It will be im- 
 possible to set down the several mercies which 
 every man receives from God, because they 
 differ in kind and degree between one man and 
 another. But it is sure, that he which receives 
 least, hath. yet enough to employ his whole life 
 in praises to God. And it will be very fit for 
 every man to consider the several passages of his 
 life, and the mercies he hath in each received, 
 and so to gather a kind of list or catalogue of 
 them, at least the principal of them, which he 
 may always have in his memory, and often with 
 a thankful heart repeat before God. 
 
 xi. These are the several parts of Prayer, and 
 Public all of them to be used both publicly 
 Prayers in and privately. The public use of 
 
 the Church. them k firstj that j n the Churchj where 
 
 all meet to join in those prayers wherein they 
 are id common concerned. And in this (where 
 the Prayers are such as they ought to be) we 
 should be very constant, there being an especial 
 blessing promised to the joint requests of the 
 faithful. And lie that without a necessary cause 
 absents himself from such public prayers, cuts 
 himself off from the Church ; which hath always 
 been thought so unhappy a thing, that it is the 
 greatest punishment the governors of the Church 
 can lay upon the worst offender : and therefore 
 it is a strange madness for men to inrlict it upon 
 themselves. 
 
 xn. A second sort of public prayer is that 
 in a Family, where all that are 
 
 In the Family. members of j fcj j oin in the i r com- 
 mon supplications; and this also ought to be 
 
Sund, 5.] The Duty of Prayer, &c. 107 
 
 very carefully attended to, first, by the Master 
 of the Family, who is to look that there be such 
 Prayers ; it being as much his part thus to pro- 
 vide for the souls of his children and servants, 
 as to provide food for their bodies. Therefore 
 there is none, even the meanest householder, but 
 ought to take this care. If either himself, or 
 any of his Family can read, he may use some 
 prayers out of some good book ; if it be the 
 Service- Book of the Church, he makes a good 
 choice: If they cannot read, it will then be 
 necessary they should be taught without Book 
 some form of Prayer which they may use in the 
 Family ; for which purpose again some of the 
 Prayers of the Church will be very fit, as being 
 most easy for their memories, by reason of their 
 shortness, and yet containing a great deal of 
 matter. But what choice soever they make of 
 Prayers, let them be sure to have some ; and 
 let no man that professes himself a Christian, 
 keep so heathenish a Family, as not to see God 
 be daily worshipped in it. But when the master 
 of a family hath done his duty in this provid- 
 ing, it is the duty of every member of it to 
 make use of that provision, by being constant 
 and diligent at those Family Prayers. 
 
 xin. Private or secret Prayer is that which 
 is used by a man alone, apart from all Private 
 others, wherein we are to be more par- Prayer. 
 ticular, according to our particular needs, than 
 in public it is fit to be. And this of private 
 Prayer is a duty which will not be excused by 
 the performance of the other of public. They 
 are both required, and one must not be taken 
 f 4 
 
108 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 5. 
 
 in exchange for the other. And whoever is 
 diligent in public prayers, and yet negligent 
 in private, it is much to be feared, he rather 
 seeks to approve himself to men than to God, 
 contrary to the command of our Saviour, Matt. 
 vi. who enjoins this private Prayer, this praying 
 to our Father in secret, from whom alone we 
 are to expect our reward, and not from the vain 
 praises of Men. 
 
 xiv. Now this duty of Prayer is to be often 
 Frequency performed, by none seldomer than 
 in Prayer, evening and morning, it being most 
 necessary that we should thus begin and end all 
 our works with God ; and that not only in re- 
 spect of the Duty we owe him, but also in respect 
 of ourselves, who can never be either prosper- 
 ous or safe, but by committing ourselves to 
 him ; and therefore should tremble to venture 
 on the perils either of day or night, without his 
 safeguard; Plow much oftener this duty is to be 
 performed, must be judged according to the 
 business or leisure men have ; where by Business 
 I mean, not such business as men unprofitably 
 make to themselves ; but the necessary business 
 of a man's calling, which with some will not 
 afford them much time for set and solemn 
 Prayer. But even these men may often in a 
 day lift up their hearts to God in some short 
 Prayer, even whilst they are at their work. As 
 for those that have more leisure, they are in all 
 reason to bestow more time upon this Duty. 
 And let no man that can find time to bestow 
 upon his vanities, nay, perhaps his sins, say he 
 wants leisure for prayer; but let him now en- 
 
Sund. 5.] The Duty of Prayer, &c 109 
 
 deavour to redeem what he hath mis-spent by 
 employing more of that leisure in this Duty, 
 for the future : And surely, if we did The advan _ 
 but rightly weigh how much it is our tages of 
 own Advantage to perform this Duty, Prai J er - 
 we should think it wisdom to be as frequent as 
 we are ordinarily seldom in it. 
 
 xv. For first, it is a great Honour for us, 
 poor worms of the earth, to be allowed Hmmr 
 to speak so freely to the Majesty of Hea- 
 ven. If a king should but vouchsafe to let one 
 of his meanest subjects talk familiarly and freely 
 with him, it would be looked on as a huge Ho- 
 nour; that man, how despicable soever he were 
 before, would then be the envy of all his neigh- 
 bours ; and there is little question he would be 
 willing to take all opportunities of receiving so 
 great a grace. But, alas ! this is nothing to the 
 Honour is offered us, who are allowed, nay, in- 
 vited to speak to; and converse with the King 
 of kings ; and therefore how forward should we 
 in all reason be to it ? 
 
 xvi. Secondly, it is a great Benefit, even the 
 greatest that can be imagined : For B 
 Prayer is the instrument of fetching 
 down all good things to us, whether spiritual or 
 temporal ; no prayer that is qualified as it ought 
 to* be, but is sure to bring down a blessing, ac- 
 cording to that of the wise man, Ecclus. xxxv. 17. 
 The prayer of the humble pierceth the clouds, and 
 zvill not turn away till the highest regard it. You 
 would think him a happy man that had one cer- 
 tain means of helping him to whatever he wanted, 
 though it were to cost him much pains and 
 F 5 
 
110 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 5. 
 
 jabour : Now this happy man thou mayest be, 
 if thou wilt. Prayer is the never-failing means 
 of bringing thee, if not all that thou thinkest 
 thou wantest, yet all that indeed thou dost, that 
 is, all that God sees fit for thee. And there- 
 fore, be there never so much weariness to thy 
 flesh in the Duty, yet, considering in what con- 
 tinual want thou standest of something or other 
 from God, it is a madness to let that uneasiness 
 dishearten thee, and keep thee from this so sure 
 means of supplying thy wants. 
 
 xvi r. But, in the third place, this Duty is in 
 , 17 itself so far from being uneasy, that it 
 
 Pleasantness. . ■ * . J J 
 
 is very pleasant. God is the fountain 
 of happiness, and at his right hand are pleasures 
 for evermore, Psal. xvi. 11. And therefore the 
 nearer we draw to him, the happier we must 
 needs be, the very joys of heaven arising from 
 our nearness to God. Now in this life we have 
 no way of drawing so near to him, as by this of 
 Prayer ; and therefore surely it is that which in 
 itself is apt to afford abundance of delight and 
 pleasure ; if it seem otherwise to us, it is from 
 some distemper of our own hearts, which, like 
 a sick palate, cannot relish the most pleasant 
 ~ ,., meat. Prayer is a pleasant duty, 
 
 Carnality one . . J . • i i 
 
 reason of its but it is withal a spiritual one: and 
 seeming other- therefore if thy heart be carnal, if 
 that be set either on the contrary 
 pleasures of the flesh or dross of the world, no 
 marvel then if thou taste no pleasantness in it ; 
 if, like the Israelites, thou despise Manna, while 
 thou longest after the flesh-pots of Egypt. There- 
 fore, if thou find a weariness in this duty, sus- 
 
Sund. 5.} The Duty of Prayer, &c. Ill 
 
 pect thyself, purge and refine thy heart from 
 the love of all sin, and endeavour to put it into 
 a heavenly and spiritual frame, and then thou 
 wilt find this no unpleasant exercise, but full of 
 delight and satisfaction. In the mean time com- 
 plain not of the hardness of the duty, but of the 
 untowardness of thy own heart. 
 
 xviii. But there may also be another reason 
 of its seeming unpleasant to us, and Want of use 
 that is, want of Use. You know anottwr. 
 there are many things which seem uneasy at the 
 first trial, which yet, after we are accustomed 
 to them, seem very delightful : and if this be 
 thy case, then thou knowest a ready cure, m% % 
 to use it oftener ; and so this consideration natu- 
 rally enforces the exhortation of being frequent 
 in this duty. 
 
 xix. But we are not only to consider how 
 often, but how well we perform it. Now to do 
 it well, we are to respect, first, the matter of 
 our Prayers, to look that we ask no- To osk nothlng 
 thing that is unlawful, as revenge unlawful. 
 upon our enemies, or the like : Secondlv, the 
 manner, and that must be, first, in 
 Faith ; we must believe, that if we ask a ■ m Fait1l > 
 as we ought, God will either give us the thins w e 
 ask for, or else something which he sees bett er 
 for us : And then, secondly, in Hu- 
 mility ; we must acknowledge our- In Humht !/° 
 selves utterly unworthy of any of those good 
 things we beg; for, and therefore sue for them, 
 only for Christ's sake ; Thirdly, with 
 Attention; we must mind what we With ati <» tio »' 
 are about, and not suffer ourselves to be carried 
 
 F.6 
 
1 1 2 The Whole Duty of Man [Sund. 5. 
 
 away fo the thouglit of other things. I told 
 you at the first, that Prayer was the business of 
 the soul, but if our minds be wandering, it is 
 the work only of the tongue and lips, which 
 makes it in God's account no better than vain 
 babbling, and so will never bring a blessing on 
 us : Nay, as Jacob said to his mother, Gen. xxvii. 
 12, it will be more likely to bring a curse on us, 
 than a blessing ; for it is a profaning one of the 
 most solemn parts of God's service ; it is a piece 
 of hypocrisy, the drawing near to him zvith our 
 lips, when oar hearts are jar from him, and a 
 great slighting and despising that dreadful Ma- 
 jesty we come before : and as to ourselves, it is 
 a most ridiculous folly, that we, who come to 
 God upon such weighty errands as are all the 
 concernments of our souls and bodies, should in 
 the midst forget our business and pursue every 
 the lightest thing that eitherour own vain fancies, 
 or the Devil, whose business it is here to hinder 
 us, can offer to us. It is just as if a malefactor, 
 that comes to sue for his life to the king, should 
 in the midst of his supplication, happen to espy 
 a butterfly, and then should leave his suit, and 
 run a chase after that butterfly : Would you not 
 think it a pity a pardon should be cast away 
 upon so wretchiess a creature ? and sure it will 
 be as unreasonable to expect that God should 
 attend and grant those suits of ours, which we 
 do not at all consider ourselves. 
 
 xx. This wandering in Prayer is a thing we 
 Helps against are nmch concerned to arm our- 
 wandering. selves against, it being that to which 
 we are naturally wonderfully prone. To that 
 
Sund. 5.] The Duty of Prayer, &c. 113 
 
 end it will be necessary, first, to possess our 
 hearts, at our coming to prayers, Consideration of 
 with the greatness of that Ma- God's Majesty. 
 jesty we are to approach, that so we may dread 
 to be vain and trifling in his presence. Secondly, 
 we are to consider the great concernment of the 
 things we are to ask, some whereof 
 are such, that if we should not be 
 heard, we were of all creatures the most mise- 
 rable ; and yet this wandering is the way to keep 
 us from being heard. Thirdly, we Prayerfor 
 are to beg God's aid in this particu- God ' s Aid. 
 lar ; and therefore when thou settest to Prayer, 
 let thy first petition be for this grace of attention. 
 
 xx r. Lastly, be as watchful as is possible, 
 oyer thy heart in time of Prayer, to keep Watch- 
 out all wandering thoughts : or if any fulness. 
 have gotten in, let them not find entertainment ; 
 but as soon as ever thou discefnest them, suffer 
 them not to abide one moment, but cast them 
 out with indignation, and beg God's pardon for 
 them. And if thou dost thus sincerely and dili- 
 gently strive against them, either God will enable 
 thee in some measure to ovetcome, or he will in 
 his mercy pardon thee what thou canst not pre- 
 vent: But if it be through thy own negligence 
 thou art to expect neither, so long as that neg- 
 ligence continues. 
 
 xxir. In the fourth place, we must look our 
 Prayers be with zeal and earnestness; UU . ,_ . 
 
 . . J , , r » With Zeal. 
 
 it is not enough that we so tar attend 
 them, as barely to know what it is we say, but 
 we must put forth all the affection and devotion 
 of our souls, and that according to the several 
 
114 The Whole Duty of Man, [Sund. 5. 
 
 parts of Prayer before-mentioned. It is not the 
 cold faint request that will ever obtain from 
 God: We see it will not from ourselves : for if 
 a beggar should ask relief from us, and do it in 
 such a scornful manner that he seemed indiffer- 
 ent whether he had it or no, we should think 
 he had either little want, or great pride, and so 
 have no heart to give him. Now surely, the 
 things we ask from God are so much above the 
 rate of an ordinary alms, that we can never 
 expect they should be given to slight and 
 heartless petitions. No more, in like manner, 
 will our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving ever 
 be accepted by him, if it be not offered from a 
 heart truly affected with the sense of his mercies ; 
 it is but a kind of formal complimenting, which 
 will never be approved by him who requires the 
 heart, and not the lips only. And the like may 
 be said of all the other parts of Prayer. There- 
 fore be careful when thou drawest nigh to God 
 in Prayer, to raise up thy soul to the highest 
 pitch of zeal and earnestness thou art able. And 
 because of thyself alone thou art not able to do 
 any thing, beseech God that he will inflame 
 thy heart with this heavenly fire of devotion : 
 and when thou hast obtained it, beware that 
 thou neither quench it by any wilful sin, nor let 
 it go out again for want of stirring it up and 
 employing it. 
 
 xxiii. Fifthly, we must pray with Purity. 
 
 WtlPu 't ^ mean ' we must purge our hearts 
 
 lly 'iTou\ all affections to sin. This is 
 
 surely the meaning of the Apostle, 1 Tim. ii. 8. 
 
 when he commands men to lift up holy hands in 
 
Sund. 5.] The Duty of Prayer, &c. 115 
 
 Prayer ; and he there instances in one special 
 sort of sin, wrath and doubting ; where by 
 doubting is meant those unkind disputes and 
 contentions, which are so common amongst 
 men. And surely he that cherishes that, or any 
 other sin in his heart, can never lift up those holy 
 hands, which are required in this duty. And 
 then, sure his Prayers, be they never so many, 
 or earnest, will little avail him : the Psalmist 
 will tell him, he shall not be heard, Psal. lxvi. 
 18. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord 
 will not hear me. Nay, Solomon will tell him 
 yet worse, that his Prayers are not only vain but 
 abominable, Prov. xv. 8. The sacrifice of the 
 wicked is an abomination to the Lord. And thus 
 to have our Prayers turned into sin, is one of 
 the heaviest things that can befal any man. We 
 see it is set down in that sad catalogue of Curses, 
 Psal. cix. 7. Therefore let us not be so cruel 
 to ourselves, as to pull it upon our own heads, 
 which we certainly do, if we offer up Pravers 
 from an impure heart. 
 
 xxiv. In the last place, we must direct our 
 Prayers to right ends : and that either To rwu 
 in respect of the Prayer itself, or the #«?<?• 
 things we pray for. First, we must pray, not 
 to gain the praise of devotion amongst men, like 
 those hypocrites, Matt. vi. 5. nor yet only for 
 company or fashion sake, to do as others do ? 
 But we must do it, first, as an act of worship 
 (o God ; secondly, as an acknowledgment that 
 he is that great spring, from whence alone we 
 expect all good things; and thirdly, to gain a 
 supply of our own or others needs. Then in 
 
116 The Whole Duty of Man. [Su nd, 5. 
 
 respect of the things prayed for, we must be sure 
 to have no ill aims upon them ; we must not 
 ask, that we may consume it upon our lusts, Jam. 
 iv. 3. as those do who pray for wealth, that they 
 may live in riot and excess ; and for power, that 
 they may be able to mischief their enemies, and 
 the like. But our end in all must be God's glory 
 first; and next that, our own and others salva- 
 tion; and all other things must be taken in only 
 as they tend to those, which they can never do, 
 if we abuse them to sin. I have now done with 
 that first part of worship, that of the soul. 
 
 xxv. The other is that of the Body; and 
 Bodily that is nothing else but such humble 
 Worship. anc i reverent gestures in our approaches 
 to God as may both express the inward reve- 
 rence of our Souls, and may also pay him some 
 tribute from our very Bodies, with which the 
 Apostle commands us to glorify God, as well 
 as with our Souls ; and good reason, since he 
 hath created and redeemed the one as well as 
 the other. Whensoever therefore thou offerest 
 thy prayers unto God, let it be with all lowli- 
 ness, as well of body as of mind, according to 
 that of the Psalmist, Psal. xcv. 6. O come, let 
 us worship, let us fall down and kneel before tlie 
 Lord our Maker. 
 
 xxvi. The ninth duty to God is Repent- 
 ance : That this is a Duty to God 
 epentance. ^ ^ taught by the Apostle, Acts 
 xx. 21* where speaking of Repentance, he 
 styles it repentance towards God. And there is 
 good reason this should be a duty to him, since 
 there is no sin we commit, but is either mediately 
 
Sund. 5.J Of Repentance, See. 117 
 
 or immediately against him. For though there 
 be sins enough against ourselves and our neigh- 
 brours, yet they being forbidden by God, they 
 are also breaches of his commandments, and so 
 srns against him. 
 
 This repentance is; in short, nothing but a 
 turning from sin to God, the cast- a turning from 
 ing off all our former evils, and Sin to God. 
 instead thereof, constantly practising all those 
 Christian duties,, which God requireth of us. 
 And this is so necessary a duty, that without it 
 we certainly perish : We have Christ's word for 
 it, Luke xiii. 5. Except ye repent, ye shall all 
 Uhezvise perish. 
 
 xxvir. The directions for performing the 
 several parts of this duty have been Times for 
 already given in the preparation to the this Duh J* 
 Lord r s Supper; and thither I refer the reader. 
 Only I shall here mind him, that it is not to be 
 looked upon as a duty to be practised only at the 
 time of receiving the Sacrament. For this being 
 the only remedy against the poison of sin, .. 
 we must renew ft as often as we repeat 
 our sins, that is, daily : I mean, we must every 
 day repent of the sins of that day. For what 
 Christ saith of other evils, is true also of this, 
 Sufficient to the day is the evil thereof. We have 
 sins enough each day to exercise a daily Repent- 
 ance; and therefore every man must thus daily 
 call himself to account. 
 
 xxvi ii. But as it is in accounts, they who 
 constantly set down their daily ex- . _. 
 
 I . . J c At set Times. 
 
 pences, have yet some set time of 
 
 casting up the whole sum, as at the end of the 
 
1 1 8 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 5. 
 
 week or month ; so should it also be here : We 
 should set aside some time to humble ourselves 
 solemnly before God for the sins, not of that day 
 only, but of our whole lives. And the frequenter 
 these times are the better : for the oftener we 
 thus cast up our accounts with God, and see 
 what vast debts we are run in to him, the more 
 humbly we shall think of ourselves, and the 
 more shall thirst after his mercy ; which two are 
 the special things that must qualify us for his 
 pardon. He therefore that can assign himself 
 one day in the week for this purpose, will take 
 a thriving course for his soul. Or, if any man's 
 state of life be so busy, as not to afford him to 
 do it so often, let him yet come as near to that 
 frequency, as is possible for him, remembering 
 always that none of his worldly employments 
 can bring him in near so gainful a return, as this 
 spiritual one will do : And therefore it is very 
 ill husbandry to pursue them to the neglect of 
 this. 
 
 xxix. Besides these constant times, there are 
 likewise occasional times for the performance of 
 this duty ; such especially are the times of Cala- 
 is the time mity and Affliction : For when any 
 of Affliction. suc h befals us, we are to look on it 
 as a message sent from Heaven to call us to this 
 duty, and therefore must never neglect it, when 
 we are thus summoned to it : lest we be of the 
 number of them who despise the chastisement of 
 the Lord, Heb. xii. 5. 
 
 xxx. There is yet another time of Repent- 
 
 . _ , ance, which, in the practice of men, 
 
 hath gotten away the custom from all 
 
Sund. 5.] Of Repentance, &c. 119 
 
 those, and that is the time of Death, which it 
 is true, is a time very fit to renew our repentance, 
 but sure not proper to beget it ; and it is a most 
 desperate madness for men to defer it till then. 
 For, to say the mildest of it, it is the venturing 
 our souls upon such miserable uncertainties, as 
 no wise man would trust with any thing of the 
 least value. 
 
 For first, I would ask any man that means to 
 repent at his Death, how he knows The Dan/C6P 
 he shall have an hour's time for it? of deferring 
 Do we not daily see men snatched &#»$«■• 
 away in a moment? And who can tell that it 
 shall not be his own case? But secondly, sup- 
 pose he have a more leisurely Death, that some 
 disease give him warning of his approach, yet 
 perhaps he will not understand that warning, 
 but will still flatter himself, as very often sick 
 people do, with hopes of life to the last ; and 
 so his death may be sudden to him, though 
 it comes by never so slow degrees. But again, 
 thirdly, if he do discern his danger, yet how is 
 he sure he shall then be able to repent? Repent- 
 ance is a grace of God, not at our command : 
 And it is just and usual with God, when men 
 have a long time refused and rejected that grace, 
 resisted all his calls and invitations to conver- 
 sion and amendment, to give them over at last 
 to the hardness of their own hearts, and not to 
 afford them any more of that The (Usadvmtages 
 grace they have so despised. Yet of a death-bed Re- 
 suppose in the fourth place, that P entance - 
 God, in his infinite patience should still conti- 
 nue the offer of that grace to thee; yet thou 
 
no The Whole Duty of Man, [Sand. 5. 
 
 that hast resisted, it may be thirty, or forty, or fifty 
 years together, how knowest thou that thou shalt 
 put off that habit of resistance upon a sudden, 
 and' make use of the grace afforded ? It is sure 
 thou hast many more advantages towards the 
 doing it now, than thou wilt have then. 
 
 xxxi. For first, the longer Sin hath kept 
 The Custom possession of the heart, the harder it 
 of Sin. win b e to drive it out. It is true, if 
 
 Repentance were nothing but a present ceasing 
 from the acts of Sin, the death- bed were fittest 
 for it ; for then we are disabled from committing 
 most sins: But I have formerly shewed you, 
 Repentance contains much more than so ; there 
 must be in it a sincere hatred of sin, and love of 
 God. Now how unlikely is it that he, which 
 hath all his life loved sin, cherished it in his 
 bosom, and, on the contrary, abhorred God and 
 goodness, should in an instant quite change his 
 affections, hate that sin he loved, and love God 
 and goodness, which before he utterly hated ? 
 
 xxxi i. And secondly, the bodily Pains that 
 B . attend a death-bed, will distract thee, 
 
 **' and make thee unable to attend the 
 work of Repentance, which is a business of such 
 weight and difficulty, as will employ all our 
 powers, even when they are at the freshest. 
 
 xxx i n. Consider those disadvantages thou 
 Danger of must then struggle with, and then tell 
 insincerity. nie> w h a t hopes there is thou shalt 
 then do that, which now upon much easier terms 
 thou wilt not? But in the third place, there is a 
 Danger behind, beyond all these, and that is, 
 that the Repentance which Death drives a man 
 
Sund. £.] Qf Repentance, &c. 1QI 
 
 to, will not be true Repentance ; for in such 
 a case it is plain, it is only the fear of Hell puts 
 him on it, which though it may be a good begin- 
 ning where there is time after to perfect it, yet 
 where it goes alone, it can never avail for sal- 
 vation. Now that death-bed Repentances are 
 often only of this sort, is too likely, when it is 
 observed, that many men, who have seemed to 
 repent when they have thought death approach- 
 ing, have yet, after it hath pleased God to restore 
 them to health, been as wicked (perhaps worse) 
 bs ever they were before ; which shews plainly, 
 that there was no real change in them; and 
 then surely had such a man died in that seeming 
 Repentance, God, who tries the heart, would not 
 have accepted it, which he saw was unsincere. 
 When all these dangers are laid together, it will 
 surely appear a most desperate ad venture for any 
 man to trust to a death-bed Repentance. Nor 
 is it ever the less for that example of the peni- 
 tent thief, Luke xxiii. 43. which is by many so 
 much depended on. For it is sure his case and 
 ours differ widely ; he had never heard of Christ 
 before, and so more could not be expected of 
 him, than to embrace him as soon as he was 
 tendered to him: Rut we have had him oifered, 
 nay, pressed upon us from our cradles, and yet 
 have rejected him. But if there were not this 
 difference, it is but a faint hope can be raised 
 only from a single example, and another we 
 find not in the whole Bible. The Israelites we 
 read, were feci with Manna from Heaven ; but 
 would you nut think him stark mad, that should, 
 out of expectation of the like, neglect to provide 
 
122 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 5. 
 
 himself any food ? Yet it is full as reasonable to 
 depend upon this example as the other. I con- 
 clude all in the words of the wise Man, Eccles. 
 xii. 1. Remember thy Creator in the days of thy 
 youth, before the evil days come- 
 
 xxxiv. To this duty of repentance, Fast- 
 
 Fastino- * n § * s ver y P ro P er *° oe annexed : The 
 '' Scripture usually joins them together, 
 among the Jews the great day of atonement was 
 to be kept with Fasting, as you may see by com- 
 paring Lev. xvi. 31. with Isa. lviii. 5. and this 
 by God's especial appointment. And in the 
 Prophets, when the people are called on to re- 
 pent and humble themselves, they are also called 
 on to fast. Thus it is, Joel ii. 1 2. therefore noxv y 
 thus saith the Lord, Turn ye unto me with all 
 your hearts, xvith fasting and with zveeping, &c. 
 Yea, so proper hath Fasting been accounted to 
 humiliation, that we see even wicked Ahab would 
 not omit it in his, 1 Kings xxi. 27. nor the hea- 
 then Ninevites, in theirs, Jonah ill - 5. Nor is it 
 less fit, or less acceptable since Christ, than it was 
 before him : For we see, he supposes it as a duty 
 sometimes to be performed, when he gives di- 
 rections to avoid vain glory in it, Matt. vi. 16Y 
 and also assures us, that if it be performed as it 
 ought, not to please men, but God, it will surely 
 be rewarded by him. And accordingly we find 
 it practised by the saints : Anna served God 
 with Fasting and Prayer, Luke ii. 37. Where 
 it is observable, that it is reckoned as a service 
 of God, fit to be joined with prayers. And the 
 Christians of the first times were generally very 
 frequent in the practice of it. Now though 
 
Sund 5.] Of Fasting, &c. 1 23 
 
 Fasting be especially proper to a time of humi% 
 liation, yet it is not to be restrained to it, but it 
 may be seasonable whensoever we have any ex- 
 traordinary thing to request from God. Thus, 
 when Est her was to endeavour the deliverance of 
 her people from destruction, she and all the Jews 
 kept a solemn Fast, Esth. iv. 16. And thus 
 when Paul and Barnabas were to be ordained 
 Apostles, there was Fasting joined to Prayer, 
 Acts xiii. 3. And so it will be very fit for us„ 
 whensoever we have need for any extraordinary 
 directions or assistance from God, whether con- 
 cerning our spiritual or temporal concernments, 
 thus to quicken our prayers by Fasting. But 
 above all occasions, this of humiliation seems 
 most to require it; for besides the advantages of 
 kindling our zeal, which is never more neces- 
 sary than when we beg for pardon for sins. 
 Fasting carries in it somewhat of Fasting a Re _ 
 Revenge, which is reckoned as a vengeupon 
 special part of Repentance, 2 Cor. ourselves. 
 vii. 11. For by denying our bodies the refresh- 
 ment of our ordinary food, we do inflict some- 
 what of punishment upon ourselves of our for- 
 mer excesses, or whatever other sins we at that 
 time accuse ourselves of: which is a proper 
 effect of that indignation, which every sinner 
 ought to have against himself. And truly, he 
 that is so tender of himself, that he can never 
 find in his heart so much as to miss a meal, by 
 way of punishment for his faults, shews he is 
 not much fallen out with himself for committing 
 them, and so wants that indignation which the 
 Apostle, in the fore-named Text, mentions as a 
 part of true repentance. 
 
IU The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 5. 
 
 xxxv. There is no doubt but such holy 
 Such revenges ac- Revenges upon ourselves for 
 ceptable with God, Sins are very acceptable to God; 
 
 pet no Satisfaction yet we must not ^Ink that 
 for Sin. J • , i . • i 
 
 either those or any thmg else 
 we can do, can make satisfaction for our of- 
 fence : for that nothing but the blood of Christ 
 can do. And therefore on that, and not on any 
 of our performances, we must depend for par- 
 don. Yet since that blood shall never be ap- 
 plied to any but penitent sinners, we are as 
 much concerned to bring forth all the fruits of 
 repentance, as if our hopes depended on them 
 only. 
 
 xxxvi. How often this duty of Fasting is 
 Times of to be performed, we have no direction 
 Fasting. | n Scripture. That must be allotted 
 by man's own piety, according as their health, 
 or other considerations will allow. But as it is 
 in humiliation, the frequenter returns we have 
 of set times For at, the better; so it is likewise 
 in Fasting, the oftener the better, so it be not 
 hurtful either to our healths, or to some other 
 duty required of us. Nay, perhaps Fasting 
 may help some men to more of those times for 
 humiliation, than they would otherwise gain. 
 For perhaps there are some, who cannot with- 
 out a manifest hindrance of their calling, allow 
 a whole day to that -work, yet such an one may 
 at least afford that time he would otherwise spend 
 in eating: And so fasting will be doubly useful 
 towards such a man's humiliation both by help- 
 ing him in the duty, and gaining him time for it, 
 
 xxxvn. I have now gone through the first 
 
Sund. 5.] Of Idolatry, &c. J 25 
 
 Branch of Our Duty tO God, tO Second Branch of 
 
 wit, the acknowledging him for our Duty to God. 
 our God. The second is the having no other. 
 Of which I need say little, as it is a forbidding 
 of that grosser sort of heathenish idolatry, the 
 worshipping of idols ; which though it were once 
 common in the world, yet is now so rare, that 
 it is not likely any that shalr read this, will be 
 concerned in it. Only I must say, that to pay 
 divine worship to any creature, be it Saint or 
 Angel, yea, or the Image of Christ himself, is a 
 transgression against the second branch of our 
 Duty to God; it being the imparting that to a 
 creature, which is due only to God, and there- 
 fore is strictly to be abstained from. 
 
 xxxviii. But there is another sort of Ido- 
 latry, of which we are generally guilty, inward 
 and that is, when we pay those affec- Idolatry. 
 tions of love, fear, trust, and the like, to any 
 creature, in a higher degree than we do to God, 
 for that is the setting up that thing, whatsoever 
 it is, for our God. And this inward kind of 
 Idolatry, is that which provokes God to jealousy, 
 as well as the outward of worshipping an Idol. 
 I might enlarge much upon this, but because 
 some severals of it have been touched on in the 
 former discourse, I suppose it needless ; and 
 therefore shall now proceed to the second head 
 of Duty, that to Ourselves. 
 
 G 
 
126 The Whole Duty of Man, [Sund. 6. 
 
 SUNDAY VI. 
 
 Duty to Ourselves ; of Sobriety ; of Humility ; 
 the great Sin of Pride ; of Vain-glory, the 
 ' Danger, Folly ; the Means to prevent it ; 
 of Meekness, &e* 
 
 Sect. t. This Duty to Ourselves is, by 
 St. Paul, in the forementioned text, Tit. ii. 
 12. summed up in this one word soberly. 
 Duty to Now by sobriety is meant our keeping 
 Ourselves, within those due bounds which God 
 hath set us. My business will therefore be, 
 to tell you what are the particulars of this So- 
 briety ; and that, first in respect of the soul ; 
 secondly, in respect of the body. The so- 
 briety of the soul stands in right governing its 
 passions and affections ; and to that are many 
 virtues required. I shall give you the particu- 
 lars of them. 
 
 ii. The first of them is Humility, which may 
 „ .,. well have the prime place, not only 
 1 . y ' in respect of the excellency of the vir- 
 tue, but also of its usefulness towards the ob- 
 taining of all the rest; this being the foundation 
 on which all others must be built. And he that 
 hopes to gain them without this, will prove bat 
 like that foolish builder Christ speaks of. Lune 
 vi. 49. who built his house on the safid. Of 
 the Humility towards God. I have already 
 spoken, and shewed the necessity of it, I am 
 bow to speak of Humility, as it concerns our- 
 
 t 
 
Suud. 6\] Sin of Pride, &c. 127 
 
 selves, which will be found no less necessary 
 than the former. 
 
 in. This Humility is of two sorts; the first 
 is, having a mean and low opinion of ourselves; 
 the second is, the being content that others 
 should have so of us. The first of these is con- 
 traryto pride, the other to vain-glory. And 
 that both these are absolutely necessary to 
 Christians, I am now to shew you j which will, 
 I conceive, best be done, by laying before you, 
 first, the sin ; secondly, the Danger ; thirdly, 
 the folly of the contrary vices. 
 
 iv. And first, for Pride; the sin of it is so 
 great, that it cast the Angels out of The great 
 heaven; and therefore, if we may Sin of Pride. 
 judge of sin by the punishment, it was not only 
 the first, but the greatest Sin, that ever the Devil 
 himself hath been guilty of: but we need no 
 better proof of the heinousness pi it, than the 
 extreme hatefulness of it to God, which, besides 
 that instance of his punishing the Devil, we may 
 frequently find in the Scriptures, Prov. xvi. 5. 
 Every one that is proud in hearty is an abomina- 
 tion to the Lord, And again, chap. vi. 17, where 
 there is mention of several things the Lord 
 hates, a proud look is set as the first of them ; so 
 James iv. 6. God resist eth the proud: and divers 
 other texts there are to the same purpose; whicli 
 shews the great hatred God bears to this Sin of 
 Pride. Now since it is certain, God, ^vho is 
 all goodness, hates nothing but as it is evil, it 
 must needs follow, that where God hates in so 
 great a degree, there must be a great degree of 
 evil. 
 
 ©2 
 
1 £8 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 6. 
 
 v. But, secondly, Pride is not only very sin- 
 
 The danger of ful > *>"* ver y dangerous ; _ and that 
 drawing into first, in respect of drawing us to 
 other sms. other sins ; secondly, of betraying 
 us to punishments. First, Pride draws us to 
 other Sins, wherein it shews itself indeed to be 
 direct contrary to humility ; for as that ft the 
 root of all virtue, so is this of all vice. For he 
 that is proud, sets himself up as his own God, 
 and so can never submit himself to any other 
 rules and laws, than what he makes to himself. 
 The ungodly, says the Psalmist, is so proud that 
 he careth not for God, Psal. x. 4. where you see it 
 is his Pride that makes him despise God. And 
 when a man is once come to that, he is prepared 
 for the commission of all Sins. I might instance 
 a multitude of particular Sins, that naturally 
 flow from this of Pride; as first, anger, which 
 the wise man sets as the effect of Pride, Prov. 
 xxi. 24. calling it Proud Wrath ; secondly, strife 
 and contention, which he again notes to be the 
 offspring of Pride, Prov. xiii. 10. Only by Pride 
 cometh Contention. And both these are indeed 
 most natural effects of Pride : For he that thinks 
 very highly of himself, expects much submission 
 and observance from others; and therefore can- 
 not but rage and quarrel, whenever he thinks it 
 not sufficiently paid. It would be infinite to 
 mention all the fruits of this bitter root : I shall 
 name but one more, and that is, that Pride not 
 only betrays us to many sins, but also makes 
 them incurable in us ; for it hinders the working 
 of all remedies. 
 
 vi. Those remedies must either come from 
 
Sund. 6\] Sin of Pride, &c. 129 
 
 God, or man ; if from God, they Frustrating 
 must be either in the way of meek- °f Remedles - 
 ness and gentleness, or else of sharpness and 
 punishment. Now if God by his goodness essay 
 to lead a proud man to repentance, he quite 
 mistakes God's meaning, and thinks all the 
 mercies he receives, are but the reward of his 
 own desert; and so long, it is sure, he will never 
 think he needs Repentance. But if, on the 
 other side, God use him more sharply, and lay 
 afflictions and punishments upon him, those in a 
 proud heart work nothing but murmurings and 
 hating of God, as if he did him injury in those 
 punishments. As for the remedies that can be 
 used by man, they again must be either by way 
 of correction or exhortation. Corrections from 
 man will sure never work more in a proud heart, 
 than those from God; for he that can think God 
 unjust in them, will much rather believe it of 
 man. And exhortations will do as little : For 
 let a proud man be admonished, though never 
 so mildly and lovingly, he looks on it as a dis- 
 grace. And therefore, instead of confessing or 
 amending the fault, he falls to reproaching his 
 reprover, as an over-busy or censorious person ; 
 and for that greatest and most precious act -of 
 kindness, looks on him as his enemy. And 
 now one that thus stubbornly resists all means 
 of cure, must be concluded in a most dangerous 
 estate. 
 
 vu. But besides this danger of Sin, I told 
 
 you there was another, that of Pu- Betraying to 
 
 nishment ; and of this there will need Punishment. 
 
 little proof, when it is considered, that God is 
 
 g 3 
 
1 K) 17ie Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 6. 
 
 the proud man's professed enemy, that he hates 
 and resists him, as appeared in the text fore- 
 cited : And then there can be little doubt, that 
 he, which has so mighty an adversary, shall be 
 sure to smart for it. Yet besides this general 
 ground of conclusion, it may not be amiss to 
 mention some of those texts, which particularly 
 threaten this sin ; as Prov. xvi. J 8. Pride goeth 
 before destruction, and an haughty spirit before 
 a fall. Again, Prov. xvi. 5. Every one that is 
 proud in heart, is an abomination to the Lord; 
 though hand join in hand, he shall not he unpu* 
 nished. The decree, it seems, is unalterable: 
 And whatever endeavours are used to preserve 
 the proud man, they are but vain, for he shall 
 not go unpunished. And this is very remarkable 
 in the story of Nebuchadnezzar, Dan. iv\ who, 
 though a king, the greatest in the world, yet 
 for his pride was driven from among men, to 
 dwell and feed with beasts. And it is most fre- 
 quently seen, that this sin meets with very ex- 
 traordinary judgments, even in this life. But if 
 it should not, let not the proud man think that 
 he hath escaped God's vengeance ; for it is sure 
 there will be a most sad reckoning in the next; 
 for if God spared not the Angels for this Sin, 
 but cast them into Hell, let no man hope to 
 speed better. 
 
 vn r. In the third place, I am to shew you the 
 
 The Foil g reat folty °f tms Sin ; aud to do that 
 it will be necessary to consider the 
 several things whereof men used to be proud : 
 They are of three sorts : either those which we 
 call the goods of Nature, or the goods of For- 
 tune ; or the goods of Grace, 
 
Sund. 6.] Sin of Pride, Sec. 131 
 
 ix. By the Goods of Nature, I mean Beauty, 
 Strength, Wit, and the like ; i n respect of the 
 and the being proud of any of Goods of Nature. 
 these is a huge folly : For, first, we are very apt 
 to mistake, and think ourselves handsome or 
 witty, when we are not, and then there cannot 
 be a more ridiculous folly than to be proud of 
 what we have not; and such every one esteems 
 it in another man, though he never supposes it 
 his own case, and so never discerns it in himself. 
 And therefore there is nothing more despicable 
 amongst all men, than a proud fool : Yet no 
 man that entertains high opinions of his own 
 wit, but is in danger to be thus deceived ; a 
 man's own judgment of himself being of all 
 others, the least to be trusted. But, secondly, 
 suppose we be not out hi judging, yet what is 
 there in any of these natural endowments, which 
 is worth the being proud of, there being scarce 
 any of them, which some creature or other hatii 
 not in a greater degree than man: How much 
 does the whiteness of the lily, and the redness 
 of the rose, exceed the white and red of the 
 fairest face? What a multitude of creatures is 
 there that far surpass man in strength and swift- 
 ness? And divers others there are, which as far 
 as concerns any useful end of theirs, act much 
 more wisely than most of us, and are therefore 
 oftentimes in Scripture proposed to us by way 
 of example. It is therefore surely great unrea- 
 sonableness for us to think highly of ourselves, 
 for such things as are common to us with beasts 
 and plants. But thirdly, if they were as excel- 
 lent as we fancy them, yet they are not at all 
 G4 
 
132 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 6. 
 
 durable, they are impaired and lost by sundry 
 means : a frenzy will destroy the rarest wit ; a 
 sickness decay the freshest beauty, the greatest 
 strength; or however, old age will be sure to 
 do all : and therefore to be proud of them is 
 again a folly in this respect. But lastly, what- 
 ever they are, we gave them not to ourselves. 
 No man can think he did any thing towards the 
 procuring his natural beauty or wit, and so can 
 with no reason value himself for them. 
 
 x. In the second place, the folly is as great 
 The Goods to be proud of the Goods of Fortune ; 
 of Fortune, by them I mean Wealth and Ho- 
 nour, and the like; for it is sure, they add 
 nothing of true worth to the man : somewhat 
 of outward pomp and bravery they may help 
 him to, but that makes no change in the person. 
 You may load an ass with money, or deck him 
 with rich trappings, yet still you will not make 
 him a whit the nobler kind of beast by either of 
 them. Then, secondly, these are things we have 
 no hold of, they vanish many times ere we are 
 aware ; he that is rich to-day may be poor to- 
 morrow, and then will be the less pitied by all 
 in his poverty, the prouder he was when he was 
 rich. Thirdly, We have them all, but as 
 stewards, to lay out for our Master's use, and 
 therefore should rather think how to make up 
 our accounts, than pride ourselves in our re- 
 ceipts. Lastly, Whatever of these we have, 
 they, as well" as the former, are not owing to 
 ourselves. But if they be lawfully gotten, we 
 owe them only to God, whose blessing it is that 
 maketh rich, Prov. x. <£% If unlawfully, we 
 
Sund. 6. ] The Sin of Pride, &c. 1 33 
 
 have them upon such terms, that we have very 
 little reason to brag of them. And thus you see, 
 in these several respects, the folly of this second 
 sort of Pride. 
 
 xi. The third is, that of the goods of Grace : 
 that is, any Virtue a man hath. And Tin Goods 
 here I cannot say, but the things are °f Grace - 
 very valuable, they being infinitely more pre- 
 cious than all the world ; yet nevertheless, this is 
 of all the rest the highest folly. And that not 
 only in the foregoing respect, that we, help not 
 ourselves to it, Grace being above all things 
 most immediately God's work in us ; but espe- 
 cially in this, that the being proud of Grace is 
 the sure way to lose it. God, who gives Grace 
 to the humble, will take it from the proud. 
 For if, as we see in the parable, Matt. xxv. 28, 
 the talent was taken from him who had only 
 put it to no use at all, how shall he hope to have 
 it continued to him, that hath put it to so ill, 
 that instead of trading with it for God, hath 
 trafficked with it for Satan ? And as he will lose 
 the Grace for the future, so he will lose all the 
 reward of it for the time past. For let a man 
 have done never so many good acts, yet if he be 
 proud of them, that Pride shall be charged on 
 him to his destruction, but the Good shall never 
 be remembered to his reward. And this proves 
 it to be a most wretched folly to be proud of 
 Grace. It is like that of children, that pull 
 those things in pieces they are most fond of, 
 but yet much worse than that of theirs ; for we 
 not only lose the thing (and that the most pre- 
 cious that can be imagined) but we must also be 
 & 5 
 
1 34 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 6. 
 
 eternally punished for doing so, there being no- 
 thing that shall be so sadly reckoned for in the 
 next world, as the abuse of G race ; and certainly 
 there can be no greater abuse of it, than to make 
 it serve for an end so directly contrary to that 
 for which it was given ; it being given to make 
 us humble, not proud ; to magnify God, not 
 ourselves. 
 
 xu. Having shewed you thus much of this 
 Means of sin, I suppose it will appear very ne- 
 Humihty. cessary to be eschewed ; to which pur- 
 pose it will, first, be useful to consider what hath 
 been already said concerning it, and that so seri- 
 ously as may work in thee not some slight dis- 
 like, but a deep and irreconcileable hatred of 
 the sin : Secondly, To be very watchful over 
 thine own heart ; that it cherish not any begin- 
 nings of it, never to suffer it to feed on the fancy 
 of thy own worth ; but whenever any such 
 thought arises, beat it down immediately with 
 the remembrance of some of thy follies or sins, 
 and so make this very motion of Pride an occa- 
 sion of Humility. Thirdly, never to compare 
 thyself with those thou thinkest more foolish or 
 wicked than thyself, that so thou mayst, like the 
 Pharisees, Luke xviii. 1 1. extol thyself for being 
 better : but if thou wilt compare, do it with the 
 wise and godly ; and then thou wilt find thou 
 comest so far short, as may help to pull down 
 thy high esteem of thyself. Lastly, to be very 
 earnest in prayer, that God would root out all 
 degrees of this sin in thee, and make thee one of 
 those poor in spirit, Matt. v. 3. to whom the 
 Blessing, even of Heaven itself, is promised. 
 
Sund. 6\] Of Vain-glory, &c. 135 
 
 xn r. The second contrary to Humility, I 
 told you was Vain-glory; that is, Fft .J ? 
 great thirst after the praise of men. 
 And, first, that this is a sin, I need prove no 
 otherwise, than by the words of our Sa- The Sin 
 viour, John v. 44. How can ye believe, 
 which receive honour one of another? Where 
 it appears, that it is not only a Sin, but such an 
 one as hinders the receiving of Christ into the 
 heart ; for so Believing there signifies. This 
 then in the second place, shews you 
 likewise the great dangerousness of 
 this Sin ; for if it be that which keeps Christ 
 out of the heart, it is sure it brings infinite dan- 
 ger, since all our safety, all our hope of escap- 
 ing the wrath to come, stands in receiving him. 
 But beside the authority of this text, common 
 experience shews, that wherever this sin hath 
 possession, it endangers men to fall into many 
 others : For he that so considers the praise of 
 men, that he must on no hand part with it, 
 whenever the greatest sins come to be in fashion 
 and credit (as God knows, many are nowa- 
 days) he will, be sure to commit them, rather 
 than run the disgrace of being too singular, and 
 precise. I doubt there are many consciences 
 can witness the truth of this, so that 1 need say 
 no more to prove the Danger of this sin. 
 
 xiv. The third thing I am to shew is the 
 Folly of it ; and that will appear, 
 first, by considering what it is-we thus u ° AJ * 
 hont after ; nothing but a little air, a blast, the 
 breath of men : it brings us in nothing of real 
 advantage ; for I am made never the wiser nor 
 q6 
 
1 36 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 6. 
 
 the better for a man's saying, I am wise and 
 good. Besides, if I am commended, it must be 
 either before my face, or behind my back ; if 
 the former, it is very often flattery, and so the 
 greatest abuse that can be offered, and then I 
 must be very much a fool to be pleased with it : 
 but if it be behind my back, 1 have not then 
 so much as the pleasure of knowing it; and 
 therefore it is a strange folly thus to pursue what 
 is so utterly gainless. But secondly, It is not 
 only gainless, but painful and uneasy also. He 
 that eagerly seeks praise, is not at all master of 
 himself, but must suit all his actions to that end, 
 and instead of doing what his own reason and 
 conscience (nay, perhaps, his worldly conve- 
 niency) directs him to, must take care to do what 
 will bring him in commendations ; and to enslave 
 himself to every one that hath but a tongue to 
 commend him. Nay, there is yet a farther un- 
 easiness in it, and that is, when such a man fails 
 of his aim, when he misses the praise, and per- 
 haps meets with the contrary, reproach, (which 
 is no man's lot more often than the vain-glo- 
 rious, nothing making a man more despised) 
 then what disturbances and disquiets, and even 
 tortures of mind is he under? A lively instance 
 of this you have in Ahithophel? 2 Sam. xvii. 23. 
 who had so much of this upon Absalom s de- 
 spising his counsel, that he chose to rid himself 
 of it by hanging himself. And sure this pain- 
 fulness that thus attends this sin, is sufficient 
 proof of the folly of it. Yet this is not all, it 
 is yet farther very hurtful. For if this vain- 
 glory be concerning any good or Christian action^ 
 
Sund. 6, ] Of Vain-glory, &c. 1 37 
 
 it destroys all the fruit of it ; he that prays or 
 gives alms to be seen of men, Matt. vi. 2. must 
 take that as his reward, Verily I say unto you, 
 they have their rexvard ; they must expect none 
 from God, but the portion of those hypocrites, 
 that love the praise of men more than the praise 
 of God. And this is a miserable folly to make 
 such an exchange. It is like the dog in the fable, 
 who seeing in the water the shadow of the meat 
 he held in his mouth, catched at the shadow, and 
 so let go his meat. Such dogs, such unreason- 
 able creatures are we, when we thus let go the 
 eternal rewards of heaven, to catch at a few 
 good words of men. And yet we do not only 
 lose those eternal joys, but procure to ourselves 
 the contrary, eternal miseries ; which is sure the 
 highest pitch of folly and madness. But if the 
 Vain-glory be not concerning any virtuous ac- 
 tion, but only some indifferent thing, yet even 
 there also it is very hurtful ; for Vain-glory is 
 a sin, that wherever it is placed, endangers our 
 eternal state which is the greatest of all mis- 
 chiefs. And even for the present it is observ- 
 able, that of all other sins it stands the most in 
 its own light, hinders itself of that very thing it 
 pursues. For there are very few that thus 
 hunt after praise, but they are discerned to do 
 so, and that is sure to eclipse whatever praise- 
 worthy thing they do, and bring scorn upon 
 them instead of reputation. And then certainly 
 we may justly condemn this sin of folly, which 
 is so ill a manager even of its own design. 
 
 xv. You have seen how wretched a thing 
 this vain-glory is in these several respects, the 
 
 j 
 
2S8 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 6'. 
 
 Helps against serious consideration whereof may 
 Vain-glory. be one good means to subdue it; 
 to which it will be necessary to add, first, a great 
 watchfulness over thyself; observe narrowly 
 whether in any Christian duty thou at all con- 
 siderest the praise of men ; or even in the most 
 indifferent action, look whether thou have not 
 too eager a desire of it; and if thou findest 
 thyself inclined that way, have a very strict eye 
 upon it ; and whenever thou findest it stirring, 
 check and resist it ; suffer it not to be the end 
 of thy actions: But in all matters of religion 
 let thy duty be the motive ; in all indifferent 
 things of common life let reason direct thee ; and 
 though thou mayst so far consider in those things 
 the opinion of men, as to observe the rules of 
 common decency, yet never think any praise 
 that comes in to thee from any thing of that kind 
 worth the contriving for. Secondly, set up to 
 thyself another name, viz. that of pleasing God : 
 let that be thy inquiry when thou goest about 
 any thing, Whether it be approved by him ? 
 And then thou wilt not be at leisure to consider 
 what praise it will bring thee from men. And 
 surely, he that weighs of how much more mo- 
 ment it is to please God, who is able eternally 
 to reward us, that man, whose applause can 
 never do us any good, will surely make it rea- 
 sonable to make the former his only care. 
 Thirdly, if at anytime thou art praised, do not 
 be much over-joyed with it, nor think a jot the 
 better of thyself; but if it be virtue thou art 
 praised for, remember it was God that wrought 
 it in thee, and give him the glory, never think- 
 
Sand. 6.] Virtue of Meekness, &c. 13Q 
 
 ing any part of it belongs to thee ; if it be some 
 indifferent action, then remember that it can- 
 not deserve praise, as having no goodness in it : 
 But if it be a bad one (as amongst men such are 
 sometimes likeliest to be commended) then it 
 ought to set thee a trembling, instead of rejoic- 
 ing ; for then that woe of our Saviour's belongs 
 to thee, Luke vi. 26. Woe unto you when men 
 speak zvell of you, for so did their fathers to the 
 false prophets : And there is not a greater sign 
 of a hardened heart, than when men can make 
 their sins the matter of their glory. In the last 
 place, let thy prayers assist in the fight with this 
 corruption. 
 
 xvi. A second virtue is Meekness, that is 
 a calmness and quietness of Spirit, 
 contrary to the ra^esand impatiences 
 of anger. This Virtue may be exercised either 
 in respect of God, or our neighbour. That 
 towards God I have already spoken of under the 
 head of Humility ; and that towards our neigh- 
 bour, I shall hereafter. All I have here to say 
 of it is, how it becomes a duty to ourselves; 
 that it does in respect of the great ad- Advantages 
 vantages we reap by it; which, in °f it ' 
 mere kindness to ourselves, we are to look after. 
 And to prove that it brings us this great Advan- 
 tage, I need say no more, but that this Meek- 
 ness is that to which Christ hath pronounced a 
 blessing, Matt. v. 5. Blessed are the Meek; and 
 not only in the next world, but even in this too, 
 they shall inherit the earth. Indeed, noue but 
 the meek person hath the true enjoyment of any 
 thing in the world ; for the angry and impatient 
 
140 The Whole Duty of Man. |Sund. 6 # 
 
 are like sick people, who, we used to say, cannot 
 enjoy the greatest prosperities ; for let things be 
 never so fair without, they will raise storms within 
 their own breasts. And surely, whoever hath, 
 either in himself or others, observed the great un- 
 easiness of this passion of anger, cannot choose 
 but think Meekness a most pleasant thing. 
 
 ; xvi r. Besides it is also a most honourable 
 thing, for it is that whereby we resemble Christ ; 
 Learn of me, saith he, for I am meek and lowly 
 in heart, Matt. xi. %g. It is also that whereby 
 we conquer ourselves, overcome our own unruly 
 passions, which of all victories is the greatest 
 and most noble. Lastly, it is that which maketh 
 us behave ourselves like men, whereas anger 
 gives us the fierceness and wildness of savage 
 beasts. And accordingly, the one is by all 
 esteemed and loved, whereas the other is hated 
 and abhorred; every man shunning a man in 
 rage as they would a furious beast. 
 
 xviii. Farther yet; Meekness is the sobriety 
 of the mind ; whereas anger is the direct mad- 
 ness: it puts a man wholly out of his own power, 
 and makes him do such things as himself, in 
 his sober temper, abhors. How many Men 
 have done those things in their rage, which they 
 have repented all their lives after ? And there- 
 fore, surely, as much as man is more honour- 
 able than a beast, a sober man than a madman/ 
 so much hath this virtue of meekness the ad- 
 vantage of honour above the contrary vise of 
 
 anger. 
 
 xix. Again, Meekness makes any condi- 
 tion tolerable and easy to be endured, He that 
 
Sund. 6\] Virtue of 'Meekness, &c. 141 
 
 meekly bears any suffering, takes off the edge of 
 it, that it cannot wound him; whereas he that 
 frets and rages at it, whets it, and makes it 
 much sharper than it would be ; nay, in some 
 cases, makes that so, which would not else be 
 so at all, as particularly in the case of reproach- 
 ful words, which in themselves, can do us no 
 harm, they neither hurt our bodies, nor lessen 
 our estates ; the only mischief they can do us, 
 is to make us angry, and then our anger may 
 do us much more : Whereas he that meekly 
 passes them by, is never the worse for them : 
 nay, the better; for he shall be rewarded by 
 God for that patience. Much more might be 
 said to recommend this Virtue to us, in respect 
 of our own present advantage : but I suppose, 
 this may suffice to persuade men to the esteem 
 of it. The harder matter will be to gain them to 
 the practice of it, wherein men pretend I know 
 not what difficulties of natural constitution, and 
 the like ; yet sure is no man of so chole- 
 ric a temper, but if he did heartily set about 
 it, would find it were not impossible, in some 
 good measure, to subdue it; but then he must 
 be diligent in using means to that end. Divers 
 of these means there are : I shall mention some 
 few. 
 
 xx. As first, the imprinting deep in our 
 minds the loveliness and benefits of Means of 06- 
 Meekness together with the ugli- tainingit. 
 ness and mischief of anger. Secondly, to set 
 before us the example of Christ, who endured 
 all reproaches, yea, torments, with perfect pati- 
 ence : that was led as a sheep to the slaughter, Isa. 
 
1 42 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund.- 6. 
 
 liii. 7- that when he was revilea\ reviled not 
 again : when he suffered, threatened not ; 1 Pet. 
 ii. 23. And if he, the Lord of Glory, suffered 
 thus meekly and unjustly from his own creatures^ 
 with what face can we ever complain of any 
 injury done to us? Thirdly, to be very watchful 
 to prevent the very first beginnings of anger; 
 and to that purpose, to mortify all inward 
 peevishness and frowardness of mind, which is 
 a sin itself though it proceed no farther; but 
 will also be sure,- if it be cherished, to break 
 out into open effects of anger. Therefore when- 
 ever thou fiudest the least rising ot it within 
 thee, make as much hasto to check it as thou 
 wouldest to quench a fire in thy house; but be 
 sure thou bring no fuel to it, by entertaining any 
 thought that may increase it. And at such time 
 especially, keep a most strict watch over thy 
 tongue, that it break not out into any angry 
 speeches;, for that breath, will fan. the fire, not 
 only in thine adversary, but thyself too ; there- 
 fore, though thy heart be hot within, stifle the 
 flame, and let it not break out : and the greater 
 the temptation is, the more earnestly lift up thy 
 heart to Gody to assist thee to overcome it. 
 Fourthly, often remember how great punishment 
 thy sins have deserved ; and then, whether thy 
 sufferings be from God, or man, thou wilt ac- 
 knowledge them to be far short of what is due 
 to thee,, and therefore will be ashamed to be 
 impatient at them. 
 
 xxi. The third virtue is Consideration. 
 And this, in a most especial 
 
 Consideration. manneFj we Qwe tQ our sou ] s . 
 
Sund. 6\] Virtue of 'Consideration, Sec. 143 
 
 for without it we shall, as rash unadvised peo- 
 ple are used to do, rush them into infinite perils. 
 Now this Consideration is either of ■ 
 
 r . ^ Of our Slate. 
 
 our state or ot our actions. By 
 our State I mean, what our condition is, to 
 God ward ; whether it be such that we may 
 reasonably conclude ourselves in his favour. 
 This it much concerns us to consider and exa- 
 mine, and that not by those easy rules men are 
 apt to frame to themselves, as whether they be- 
 lieve that Christ died for their sins, that they are 
 of the number of the elect, and shall certainly 
 be saved. If these and the like were all that 
 were required to put us into God's favour, none 
 ,but some melancholy persons could ever be out 
 of it : For we are apt enough generally to be- 
 lieve comfortably of ourselves. But The Ru j es j 
 the Rules God hath given us in his which to try 
 "Word, are those by which we must our Stat€ - 
 be tried at the last day, and therefore are cer- 
 tainly the only safe ones by which to try our- 
 selves now. And the sum of those are, that 
 whosoever continues in any one wilful sin, is not 
 in his favour ; nor can, if he do so die, hope for 
 any mercy at his hand. 
 
 xxn. Now it is highly necessary we should 
 consider what our condition is in this respect ; 
 for since our life is nothing but a puff of breath 
 in our nostrils, which may, for aught we know, 
 be taken from us the next minute, it nearly con- 
 cerns us to know how we are provided for ano- 
 ther world, that so, in case we want at present 
 that oil in our lamps wherewith we are to meet 
 the Bridegroom, Matt. xxv. 8. we may timely 
 
J 44 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 6. 
 get it; and not for want of it, be ever shut out, 
 
 The danger like the fo ? lish virgins, from his 
 of inconside- presence. The neglect of this Con- 
 ration. sideration hath undone many souls, 
 
 some by too easy a belief, that they were in a 
 good condition, without considering, and trying 
 themselves by the foregoing Rule, but presum- 
 ing either upon some slight outward perform- 
 ances, or upon such a false faith, as I even 
 have now described ; others by their wretched 
 careless going on, without so much as asking 
 themselves what their condition is, but hope they 
 should do as well as their neighbours, and so 
 never enquiring further; which wretched care- 
 lessness will as certainly undo the spiritual, as 
 the like would do the temporal estate ; yet in 
 that every man is wise enough to foresee, that a 
 man that never takes any accounts of his estate, 
 to see whether he be worth something or no- 
 thing, will be sure to be a beggar in the end. 
 But in this far weightier matter we can generally 
 be thus improvident. 
 
 xxin. The second thing we are to consider 
 is our actions, and those either before 
 wns ' or after the doing of them. In the 
 first place, we are to consider before we act, and 
 Before we not to do any thing rashly or headily ; 
 do them. b u t first to advise with our consciences, 
 whether this be lawful to be done : For he that 
 follows his own inclination, and does every thing 
 which that moves him to, shall be sure to fall 
 into a multitude of sins. Therefore consider 
 soberly, and be assured of the lawfulness of the 
 thing before thou venture to do it. This ad- 
 
Sund 6.] Virtue of Consideration, &c. 145 
 
 visedness is, in all worldly things, accounted so 
 necessary a part of wisdom, that no man is 
 accounted wise without it : A rash man we look 
 upon as the next degree to a fool. And yet it 
 is sure, there is not so much need of looking 
 about us in any thing, as in what concerns our 
 souls ; and that not only in respect of the great 
 value of them above all things else, but also in 
 regard of the great danger they are in, as hath 
 been shewed more at large in the beginning of 
 the Treatise. 
 
 xxiv. Secondly, we are to consider the 
 Actions when they are past also ; that After they 
 is, we are to examine whether they are done. 
 have been such as are allowable by the laws of 
 Christ. This is very necessary, whether they be 
 good or bad ; if they be good, the recalling them 
 helpeth us to the comfort of a good conscience, 
 and that comfort again encourageth us to go on 
 in the like; and besides, it stirs us up to thank- 
 fulness to God, by whose grace alone we were 
 enabled to do them. But if they be bad, then 
 it is especially necessary, that we thus examine 
 them, for, without this, it is impossible we 
 should ever come to amendment; for, unless we 
 observe them to have been amiss, we can never 
 think it needful to amend, but shall still run on 
 from one wickedness to another, which is the 
 greatest curse any man can lie under. 
 
 xxv. The oftener therefore we use this Con- 
 sideration, the better ; for the less Frequency of 
 likely it is that any of our sins Consideration. 
 shall escape our knowledge. It is much to be 
 wished, that every man would thus every night 
 try the actions of the day, that so, if he have 
 
146 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 7- 
 
 done any thing amiss, he may soon check him- 
 self for it, and settle his resolutions against it, 
 and not let it grow on to a habit and course. 
 And that he may also early beg God's pardon, 
 which will the easier be had, the sooner it is 
 asked ; every delay of that being a great increase 
 of the sin. And surely, whoever means to take 
 an account of himself at all, will find this the 
 easier course : it being much easier to do it so, 
 a little at a time, and while passages are fresh in 
 Danger of his memory, than to take the account 
 omitting it, f a long time together. Now if it 
 be considered, that every wilful sin must have a 
 particular repentance before it can be pardoned, 
 methinks men should tremble to sleep without 
 that repentance ; for what assurances hath any 
 man that iies down in his bed, that he shall ever 
 rise again ? And then how dangerous is the con- 
 dition of that man, that sleeps in an unrepented 
 sin? The weighing of these several motives may 
 be a means, by God's blessing, to bring us to the 
 practice of this duty of Consideration in ail the 
 parts of it. 
 
 SUNDAY VII. 
 
 Of Contentedness, and the Contraries to it ; 
 Murmuring, Ambition, Covetousness, Envy ; 
 Helps to Content edness ; of Duties which 
 concern our Bodies ; of Chastity, &c. Helps 
 to it ; of Temperance. 
 
 Sect. i. The Fourth Virtue is Con- 
 and this surely is a du*y we 
 
Sund. 7.] Virtue of Content edness, &c. 147 
 
 owe to ourselves, it beincr that „ 
 without which it is impossible to 
 be happy. This Contentedness is a well- 
 pleased ness with that condition, whatever it 
 is, that God hath placed us in ; not murmuring 
 and repining at our lot, but chearfully welcom- 
 ing whatsoever God sends. How great, and 
 withal how pleasant a virtue this is, may ap- 
 pear by the contrariety it hath to several great 
 and painful vices : So that where this is rooted 
 in the heart, it subdues not only some such sin- 
 gle sin, but a cluster of them together. 
 
 ii. And, first, it is contrary to all murmur- 
 ing in general, which is a sin most Contrary to 
 hateful to God, as may appear by his Mitmnriyg. 
 sharp punishments of it on the Israelites in the 
 wilderness, as you may read in several places of 
 the book of Exodus and Numbers, And surely 
 it is also very painful and uneasy to a man's self; 
 For if, as the Psalmist saith, it be a joyful and 
 pleasant thing to be thankful, we may, by the 
 rule of contraries, conclude it is a sad and 
 unpleasant thing to be murmuring; and, I doubt 
 not, every man's own experience will confirm 
 the truth of it. 
 
 in. Secondly, it is contrary to Ambition. 
 The ambitious man is always dis- „ A , . . 
 
 .... . . :'j>..,'.r i Jo Ambition* 
 
 liking his present condition, and 
 that makes him so greedily to seek a higher; 
 whereas he that is content with his own, lies 
 quite out of the road of this temptation. Now 
 Ambition is not only a great sin in itself, but it 
 puts men upon many others ; there is nothing so 
 horrid, which a man that eagerly seeks great- 
 
148 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 7. 
 
 ness will stick at : Lying, purjury, murder, or 
 any thing will down with him, if they seem to 
 tend to his advancement : And the uneasiness of 
 it is answerable to the sin. This none can doubt 
 of, that considers what a multitude of fears and 
 jealousies, cares and distractions there are that 
 attend Ambition in its progress, besides the great 
 and public ruins that usually befal it in the 
 end. And therefore, sure Contentedness is in 
 this respect as well a happiness as a virtue. 
 
 iv. Thirdly, it is contrary to Covetousness. 
 „ _ This the Apostle witnesseth, Heb. 
 
 10 Covetousness. ... „ T r , . 1 
 
 xni. 5. Let your conversation be 
 without Covetousness, and be content with such 
 things as ye have. Where you see Contented- 
 ness is set as the direct contrary to Covetousness. 
 But of this there needs no other proof than com- 
 mon experience ; for we see the covetous man 
 never thinks he hath enough, and therefore can 
 never be content : for no man can be said to be 
 so, that thirsts after any thing he hath not. Now 
 that you may see how excellent and necessary a 
 virtue this is, that secures us against Covetous- 
 ness, it will not be amiss a little to consider the 
 nature of that sin. 
 
 v. That it is a very great crime is most cer- 
 
 Covetcrumess tain > for k is contrary to the very 
 contrary to our foundation ot all good life; I mean 
 Duty to God. t h ose three great Duties, to God, 
 
 to ourselves, to our Neighbours. First, it is so 
 contrary to our Duty to God, that Christ him- 
 self tells us, Luke xvi. i3. We cannot serve God 
 and Mammon; He that sets his heart upon 
 wealth, must necessarily take it off from God. 
 
Sund. 7.] Virtue of Content edness, &e. 149 
 
 And this we daily see in the covetous man's 
 practice; he is so eager in the gaining of riches, 
 that he hath no time or care to perform this Duty 
 to God ; let but a good bargain, or opportunity 
 of gain come in his way, prayer, and all duties 
 of religion must be neglected, to attend it. Nay, 
 when the committing the greatest sin against 
 God, may be likely either to get or save him 
 aught, his love of wealth, quickly persuades him 
 to commit it. 
 
 vi. Secondly, it is contrary to the Duty we 
 owe to Ourselves, and that both in _ . 
 
 r i tit J-o Ourselves. 
 
 respect ot our souls, and bodies. 
 The covetous man despises his soul, sells that to 
 eternal destruction for a little pelf: For so every 
 man does that by any unlawful means seeks" to 
 enrich himself. Nay, though he do it not by un- 
 lawful means, yet if he have once set his heart 
 upon wealth, he is that covetous person upon 
 whom the Apostle hath pronounced, That he 
 shall not inherit the kingdom of God, 1 Cor. vi, 10. 
 Nor doth he only offend against his soul, but his 
 body too. For he often denies that those neces- 
 sary refreshments it wants, and for which his 
 wealth (as far as it concerns himself) was given 
 him. This is so constantly the custom of rich 
 misers, that I need not prove it to you. 
 
 vn. In the third place, Covetousness is con- 
 trary to the duty we owe to our To our 
 Neighbours : And that in both the Neighbours. 
 parts of it, justice and charity. He that loves 
 money immoderately, will not care whom he 
 cheats and defrauds, so he may bring in gain 
 .to himself; and from hence spring those many 
 H 
 
150 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sand. 7- 
 
 tricks of deceit and cozenage so common in 
 the world. As for charity, that is never to be 
 hoped for from a covetous man, who dreads 
 the lessening of his own heaps, more than the 
 starving of his poor brother. You see how 
 great a sin this is, that we may well say of it as 
 the Apostle doth, 1 Tim. vi. 10. The love of mo- 
 ney is the root of all evil. And it is not much 
 less uneasy than wicked : for between the care 
 of getting and the fear of losing, the covetous 
 man enjoys no quiet hour. Therefore every 
 man is deeply concerned, as he tenders his hap- 
 piness either in this world, or the next, to guard 
 himself against this sin, which he can no way 
 do, but by possessing his heart with this Virtue 
 of Contentedness. 
 
 vin. In the fourth place, it is contrary to 
 Contented- Envy ; for he that is content with 
 ness contra- his own condition, hath no temptation 
 rytoEnvy. t0 envy another's. How unchristian 
 a sin this of Envy is, shall hereafter be shewed: 
 At the present I need say no more, but that it is 
 also a very uneasy one, it frets and gnaws the 
 very heart of him that harbours it. But the 
 worse this sin is, the more excellent still is this 
 grace of Contentedness, which frees us from it 
 I suppose, I have said enough to make you think 
 this is a very lovely and desirable Virtue : And 
 sure it were not impossible- to be gained by any, 
 that would but observe these few directions. 
 
 ix. First, to consider that whatever our estate 
 Helps to Con- and condition in any respect be, it 
 tentedness. is that which is allotted us by God, 
 and therefore it is certainly the best for us, h& 
 
Sund. 7»] Virtue of Contentedncss, kc. 151 
 
 being much better able to judge for us than we 
 for ourselves : And therefore to be displeased 
 at it, is in effect to say we are wiser than he. 
 Secondly, Consider thoroughly the vanity of 
 all worldly things ; how very little there is in 
 them while we have them, and how uncertain 
 we are to keep them ; but above all, in how 
 little stead they will stand us at the day of death 
 or judgment, and then thou canst not think any 
 of them much worth the desiring, and so wilt 
 not be discontented for want of them. Thirdly, 
 Suffer not thy fancy to run on things thou hast 
 not ; many have put themselves out of love 
 with what they have, only by thinking what they 
 want. He that sees his neighbour possess some- 
 what, which himself hath not, is apt to think, 
 how happy he should be, if he were in that 
 man's condition ; and, in the mean time, never 
 thinks of enjoying his own, which yet perhaps, 
 in many respects, may be much happier than 
 that of his neighbour's which he so much ad- 
 mires : For we look but upon the outside of 
 other men's conditions : and many a man that 
 is envied bv his neighbours as a wonderful 
 happy person, hath yet some secret trouble, 
 which makes him think much otherwise of him- 
 self. Therefore never compare' thy condition in 
 any thing with those thou countest more pros- 
 perous than thyself; but rather do it with those 
 thou knowest more unhappy, and then thou wilt 
 find cause to rejoice in thy own portion. 
 Fourthly, Consider how far thou art from de- 
 serving any good thing from God, and then thou 
 canst not but with Jacob, Gen. xxxii. 10. con- 
 h 2 
 
1,52 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 7. 
 
 fess, that thou art not worthy of the least of those 
 mercies thou enjoyest, and instead of murmuring 
 that they are no more, wilt see reason to admire 
 and praise the bounty of God, that they are so 
 many. Fifthly, Be often thinking of the joys 
 laid up for thee in Heaven ; look upon that as 
 thy home, on this world only as an inn, where 
 thou art fain to take up in thy passage : And 
 then as a traveller expects not the same conve- 
 niences at an inn, that he hath at home ; so 
 thou hast reason to be content with whatever 
 entertainment thou findest here, knowing thou 
 art upon thy journey to a place of infinite hap- 
 piness, which will make an abundant amends for 
 all the uneasiness and hardship thou canst suffer 
 in the way. Lastly, Pray to God, from whom 
 all good things do come, that he will, to all his 
 ether blessings, add this of a contented mind, 
 without which thou canst have no taste or relish 
 of any other. 
 
 x. A fifth duty is Diligence; this is 
 r made up of two parts, Watchfulness, 
 
 and Industry, and both these we owe 
 to our souls. 
 
 xi. First, Watchfulness, in observing all the 
 Watchfulness dangers that threaten them. Now 
 against Sin. since nothing can endanger our souls 
 but sin, this Watchfulness is principally to be 
 employed against that; and, as in a besieged 
 city, where there is any weak part, t there it is 
 necessary to keep the strongest guard ; so it is 
 here, wherever thou findest thy inclinations 
 such as are most likely to betray thee to sin, 
 there it concerns thee to be especially watchful. 
 
Sund. 7.] Virtue of Diligence, &c. 153 
 
 Observe therefore carefully to what sins either 
 thy natural temper, thy company, or thy course 
 of life do particularly inclipe thee, and watch 
 thyself very narrowly in those ; yet do not so lay 
 out all thy care on those, as to leave thyself open 
 to any other ; for that may give Satan as much 
 advantage on the other side; but let thy watch 
 be general, against all sin, though in a special 
 manner against those, which are like oftenest to 
 assault thee. 
 
 xir. The second part of Diligence is Industry,, 
 or Labour ; and this also we owe industry in bn- - 
 to our souls: for without it, they proving Gifts. 
 will as little prosper as that vineyard of the Slug- 
 gard, which Solomon describes, Prov. xxiv. 30. 
 For there is a husbandry of the soul, as well as 
 of the estate ; and the end of the one, as of the 
 other, is the increasing and improving of its 
 riches. Now the riches of the soul are either 
 natural or divine. By the natural, I mean its 
 faculties of reason, wit, memory, and the like. 
 By the divine, I mean the graces of God, which 
 are not the soul's natural portion, but are given 
 immediately by God and both these we are to 
 take care to improve, they being both talents 
 intrusted to us for that purpose. 
 
 xin. The way of improving the natural, is 
 by employing them so, as may bring 0fNatur , 
 in most honour to God ; We must 
 not let them lie idle by us through sloth, neither 
 must we overwhelm them with intemperance, 
 and brutish pleasures, which is the case of too 
 many, but we must employ them, and set them 
 on work : But then we must be sure it be not in 
 H 3 
 
154 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 7. 
 
 the Devil's service ; like many, who set their 
 wit only to the profaning of God, or cheating 
 their neighbours, and stuff their memories with 
 such filthiness, as should never once enter their 
 thoughts. Our use of them must be such as 
 may bring in most glory to God, most benefit to 
 our neighbours, and may best fit us to make 
 our accounts, when God shall come to reckon 
 with us for them. 
 
 xiv. But the other part of the soul's riches 
 Of Grace * s y et more precious, that is, Grace; 
 and of this we must be especially 
 careful to husband and improve it. This is a 
 duty expressly commanded us by the Apostle, 
 2 Pet. iii. 18. Grozv in Grace. And again, in the 
 first chapter of that Epistle, ver. 5. Give all di- 
 ligence to add to your faith virtue, and to virtue 
 k?wzi; ledge, &c. Now the especial means of im- 
 proving Grace is by employing it ; that is, by 
 doing those things for the enabling us w hereunto 
 it was given us : This is a sure means, not only 
 in respect of that easiness, which a custom of 
 any thing brings in the doing of it; but princi- 
 pally, as it hath the promise of God, who hath 
 promised, Matt. xxv. 29. That to him that hath 
 (that is, hath made use of what he hath) shall be 
 given, and he shall have abundance. He that dili- 
 gently and faithfully employs the first beginnings 
 of Grace, shall yet have more; and he that in 
 like manner husbands that more, shall yet have 
 a greater degree ; so that what Solomon saith of 
 temporal riches, is also true of the spiritual, The 
 hand of the diligent 7naheth rich: 
 xv. Therefore; whenever thou findest any good 
 
Sund. 7.] Virtue of Diligence, &c. 155 
 
 motions in thy heart, remember that To improve 
 is a season for this spiritual husban- good Motions. 
 dry : If thou hast but a check of conscience 
 against any sin thou livest in, drive that on till 
 it comes to an hatred ; and then that hatred till 
 it comes to a resolution ; then from that resolu- 
 tion proceed to some endeavours against it. 
 Do this faithfully and sincerely, and thou shalt 
 certainly find the Grace of God assisting thee, 
 not only in every of these steps, but also enabling 
 thee to advance still higher, till thou come 
 to some victory over it. Yet to this Industry 
 thou must not fail to add thy prayers also ; there 
 being a Promise that God will give the Holy 
 Spirit to them that ask it, Matt. vii. 1 1. And 
 therefore they that ask it not, have no reason to. 
 expect it. But it must be asked with such an 
 earnestness, as is some way answerable to the 
 value of the thing, which being infinitely more 
 precious than all the world, both in respect of 
 its own worth and its usefulness to us, we must 
 beg it with much more zeal and earnestness, 
 than all temporal blessings, or else we shew 
 ourselves despisers of it. 
 
 xvi. Having directed you to the means of 
 improving Grace, I shall, to quicken Tke Danger of 
 you to it, mention the great dan- the contrary. 
 ger of the contrary; and that is, not as in 
 other things, the losing only those further de- 
 grees, which our industry might have helped 
 us to, but it is the losing even of what we al- 
 ready have ; For from him that hath not (that is 
 again, hath not made use of what he hath) shall 
 be taken away, even that which he hath, Matt. 
 h 4 
 
156 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 7. 
 
 xxv. 29. God will withdraw the Grace which he 
 sees so neglected, and we see in that parable, the 
 talent was taken from him that had only hid it 
 in a napkin, and had brought in no gain to his 
 lord. And this is a most sad punishment ; the 
 greatest that can befal any man, before he comes 
 to hell ; indeed it is some kind of foretaste of it, 
 it is the delivering him up to the power of the 
 Devil, and it is the banishing him from the face 
 of God, which are not the least parts of the mi- 
 scry of the damned ; and it is also the binding a 
 man over to that fuller portion of wretchedness in 
 another world ; for that is the last doom of the 
 unprofitable servant, Matt, xxv, 30. Cast ye the 
 unprofitable servant into outer darkness** there 
 shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, You see, 
 these are no light dangers that attend this neg- 
 lect of Grace; And therefore, if we have any 
 love, any common pity to our souls, we must set 
 ourselves to this industry. I have now done 
 with those Virtues which respect our Souls; 
 I come now to those which concern our Bodies. 
 xvn. The first of which is Chastity, or 
 ^ . Purity, which may well be set in 
 
 Chastity. , r r -. x • J , 
 
 9 the front of Duties we owe to our 
 bodies; since the Apostle, 1 Cor. vi. 18. sets 
 the contrary, as the special sin against them : 
 He that connnitteih fornication, sinneth against 
 his own body. 
 
 xvn i. Now this Virtue of Chastity consists 
 in a perfect abstaining from all kinds of Unclean- 
 ness, not only that of adultery and fornication, 
 but all other more unnatural sorts of it, com- 
 mitted either upon ourselves, or with any other, 
 
Sund. 7.] Virtue of Chastity, &c. J 57 
 
 In a word, all acts of that kind are utterly against 
 Chastity, save only in lawful marriage. And 
 even there, men are not to think themselves let 
 loose to please their brutish appetites, but are 
 to keep themselves within such rules of mode- 
 ration, as agree to the ends of marriage, which 
 being these two, the begetting of children, and 
 the avoiding of fornication, nothing must be 
 done which may hinder the first of these ends : 
 and the second aiming only at the subduing of 
 lust, the keeping men from any sinful effects 
 of it, it is very contrary to that end to make 
 marriage an occasion of heightening and in- 
 flaming it. 
 
 xix,. But this virtue of Chastity teacheth not 
 only to the restraining of the grosser TT , 
 act, but to all lower degrees ; it sets forbidden in 
 a guard upon our eyes, according the very fac- 
 to that of our Saviour,, Matt. v. 28. est jj & *** w " 
 He that looketh on a woman to lust after her 
 hath committed adultery with her already in his 
 heart ; and upon our hands, as appears by what 
 Christ adds in that place, If thy hand offend thee , 
 cut it off, ver. 30. So also upon our tongues, that 
 they speak no immodest or filthy words, Let no 
 corrupt communication proceed out of your 
 mouth, Eph. iv. 29. Nay, upon our very 
 thoughts and fancies ; we must not entertain any 
 foul or filthy desires, not so much as the imagi- 
 nation of any such thing. Therefore he that for- 
 bears the grosser act, and yet allows himself in 
 any of these, it is to be suspected, that it is ra- 
 ther some outward restraint that keeps him from 
 it, than the conscience of the sin ; for if it were 
 h 5 
 
158 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 7 . 
 
 that it would keep him from these too, these 
 being sins also, and very great ones in God's 
 sight. Besides, he that lets himself loose to these, 
 puts himself in very great danger of the other, 
 it being much more easy to abstain from all, 
 th an to secure against the one, when the other is 
 allowed. But above all, it is to be considered, 
 that even these lower degrees are such as make 
 men very odious in God's eyes, who seeth the 
 heart, and loves none that are not pure there. 
 
 xx. The loveliness of this virtue of Chastity 
 The Mis- needs no other way of describing, than 
 chiefs of iu by considering the loathsomeness and 
 mischiefs of the contrary sin; which is, first, very 
 brutish ; those desires are but the same that the 
 "beasts have ; and then how far are they sunk 
 below the nature of men, that can boast of their 
 sins of that kind, as of their especial excellency ? 
 when, if that be the measure, a goat is the most 
 excellent creature. But indeed they that ea- 
 gerly pursue this part of beastiality do often 
 leave themselves little besides their human shape 
 to difference them from beasts ; this sin so clouds 
 the understanding, and defaceth the 
 reasonable soul. Therefore Solomon 
 very well describes the young man that was going 
 to the harlot's house, Prov. vii. 22. He goeth 
 Mfter her as an ox goeth to the slaughter* 
 
 xxi. Nor, secondly, are the effects of it 
 
 . better to the body than to the mind. 
 
 ocy. ,pk e maDV f ou } anc ] filthy, besides 
 
 painful diseases, which often follow this sin, 
 are sufficient witnesses how mischievous it is 
 to the Body, And, alas ! how many are there 
 
Sund. 7.] Virtue of 'Chastity , &c. 159 
 
 that have thus made themselves the Devil's 
 martyrs ? suffered such torments in the pursuit 
 of this sin, as would exceed the invention of 
 the greatest tyrant? Surely, they that pay thus 
 dear for damnation, very well deserve to enjoy 
 the purchase. 
 
 xxti. But thirdty, besides the natural fruits 
 of this sin, it is attended with The Judgments of 
 very great and heavy judgments God against us. 
 from God ; the most extraordinary and mira- 
 culous Judgment that ever befel any place, fire 
 and brimstone from Heaven upon Sodom and 
 Gomorrah^ was for this sin of uncleanness ; and 
 many examples likewise of God's vengeance 
 may be observed on particular persons for this 
 sin. The incest of Amnon lost him his life, as 
 you may read, 2 Sam. xiii. Zimri and Cozbi 
 were slain in the very act, Numb. xxv. 8. And 
 no person that commits the like, hath any 
 assurance it shall not be his own case. For 
 how secretly soever it be committed, it cannot 
 be hid from God, who is the sure avenger of 
 all such wickedness. Nay, God hath very par- 
 ticularly threatened this sin, 1 Cor, iii. 17. If 
 any man defile the temple of God t him shall 
 God destroy. This sin of uncleanness is a kind 
 of sacrilege, a polluting those bodies which 
 God hath chosen for his temples, and therefore 
 no wonder if it be thus heavily punished. 
 
 xxin. Lastly, this sin shuts us out from the 
 Kingdom of Heaven, wherein no it shuts out 
 impure thing can enter. And we from Heaven. 
 never find any list of those things which bar men 
 thence, but this of uncleanness hath a special 
 h 6 
 
] 6a The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 7. 
 
 place in it. Thus it is Gal. v. 19. and so again, 
 3 Cor. vi. 9. If we will thus pollute ourselves, 
 we are fit company only for those black spirits, 
 the Devil and his angels; and therefore with 
 them we must expect our portion, where our 
 flames of lust shall end in flames of fire. 
 
 xxiv. All this laid together, may surely re- 
 Helps to commend the virtue of Chastity to us; 
 Chastity. f or t[ ie preserving of which we must be 
 very careful, first, to check the beginnings of the 
 temptation, to cast away the very first fancy of 
 lust with indignation ; for if you once fall to 
 parly and talk with it, it gains still more upon 
 you, and then it will be harder to resist: There- 
 fore your way in the temptation is to fly rather 
 than to fight with it. This is very necessary^ 
 not only that we may avoid the danger of pro- 
 ceeding to act the sin, but also in respect of the 
 present fault of entertaining such fancies, which 
 of itself, though it should never proceed farther, 
 is, as hath been shewed, a great abomination 
 before God. Secondly, have a special care to 
 fly idleness, 'which is the proper soil for these 
 filthy weeds to grow in, and keep thyself always 
 busied in some innocent or virtuous employ- 
 ment ; for then these fancies will be less apt to 
 ofYer themselves. Thirdly, never suffer thyself 
 to recal any unclean passages of thy former life 
 with delight ; for that is to act over the sin 
 again, and will be so reckoned by God : Nay, 
 perhaps thus deliberately to think of it, may be 
 a greater guilt than a rash acting of it : For this 
 both shews thy heart to be set upon filthiuess, 
 and is also a preparation to more acts of it 
 3 
 
 
Sund. 7.] Virtue of Temperance, &c. l6l 
 
 Fourthly, forbear the company of such light and 
 wanton persons, as either by the filthiness of 
 their discourse, or any other means, may be a 
 snare to thee. Fifthly, pray earnestly, that God 
 would give thee the spirit of Purity, especially 
 at the time of any present temptation. Bring the 
 unclean Devil to Christ to be cast out, as did 
 the man in the Gospel ; and if it will not be cast 
 out with Prayer alone, add Fasting to it ;■ but 
 be sure thou do not keep up the flame by 
 any high or immoderate feeding. The last re- 
 medy, when the former prove vain, is Marriage, 
 which becomes a Duty to him that cannot live 
 innocently without it. But even here there must 
 be care taken, lest this, which should be for his 
 good, become to him an occasion of falling, 
 for want of sobriety in the use of Marriage. 
 But this I have touched on already, and there- 
 fore need add no more, but an earnest intreaty, 
 that men would consider seriously of the foulness 
 and danger of this sin of uncleanness, and not 
 let the commonness of it lessen their hatred of 
 it ; but rather make them abhor that shameless 
 impudence of the world, that can make light of 
 this sin, against which God hath pronounced 
 such heavy curses : Whoremonger s and adulterers 
 God will judge, Heb. xiii. 4. And so he will cer- 
 tainly do all sorts of unclean persons whatsoever. 
 xxv. The second Virtue that concerns 
 our bodies, is Temperance : 
 And the exercises of that are divers ; emp " 
 as first, Temperance in Eating ; secondly, in 
 Drinking ; thirdly, in Sleep ; fourthly, in Re- 
 creation ; fifthly, in Apparel. I shall speak of 
 
1 62 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 7. 
 
 ^ them severally ; and first, of Tempe- 
 ingi . ranee in Eating. This Tempe- 
 rance is observed, when our eating is agreeable 
 to those ends, to which Eating 
 
 Ends of Eating. fe fay ^ and nature des j gned . 
 
 Those are, first the being ; secondly, the well-- 
 being of our Bodies. 
 
 xxvi. Man is of such a frame, that Eating 
 ^ . T .- becomes necessary to him for the 
 
 Preserving Life. . ,. V X T t i. 
 
 preserving his life : Hunger be- 
 ing a natural disease, which will prove deadly, 
 if not prevented • and the only physic for it is 
 Eating; which is therefore become a necessary 
 means of keeping us alive. And that is the first 
 end of Eating; and as men use not to take phy- 
 sic for pleasure, but remedy, so neither should: 
 they eat. 
 
 xxvu. But secondly, God hath been so 
 Of IT Ith bountiful as to provide not only for 
 the being, but the well-being of our 
 bodies ; and therefore we are not tied to such 
 strictness, that we may eat no more than will 
 just keep us from starving, but we may also eat 
 whatsoever, either for kind or quantity, most 
 tends to the health and welfare of them. Now 
 that eating which is agreeable to these ends, is 
 within the bounds of Temperance ; as on the 
 contrary, whatsoever is contrary to them, is a 
 transgression against it; he therefore that sets up 
 to himself other ends of Eating, as either the 
 pleasing of his taste, or (what is yet worse) the 
 pampering of his body, that he may the better 
 serve his lust, he directly thwarts and crosses those 
 ends of God ; for he that hath those aims doth 
 
Sund. 7.] Virtue of Temperance, &c. 163 
 
 that which is very contrary to health, yea, to 
 life itself, as appears by the many diseases, and 
 untimely deaths, which surfeiting and unclean- 
 ness daily bring on men. 
 
 xxviii. He therefore that will practise this 
 virtue of Temperance, must neither ji u i €SO f 
 
 eat SO much, nor of any Such SOrtS of Temperance 
 
 meat (provided he can have other) in g ating\ 
 as may be hurtful to his health. What the sorts 
 or quantities shall be, is impossible to set down, 
 for that differs according to the several constitu- 
 tions of men ; some men may with Temperance 
 eat a great deal, because their stomachs require 
 it, when another may be guilty of Intemperance 
 in eating but half so much, because it is more 
 than is useful to him. And so also for the sorts 
 of meat, it may be niceness and luxury for some 
 to be curious in them, when yet some degree of 
 it may be necessary to the infirmities of a weak 
 stomach, which not out of wantonness, but 
 disease, cannot eat the coarser meats. But I 
 think it may in general be said, that to healthful 
 bodies, the plainest meats are generally the most 
 wholesome. But every man must in this be left 
 to judge for himself; and that he may do it 
 aright, he must be careful that he never suffer 
 himself to be enslaved to his palate, for that 
 will be sure to satisfy itself, whatever becomes 
 of health or life. 
 
 xxix. To secure him the better, let him 
 consider, first, how unreasonable a M f . 
 thing it is, that the whole body 
 should be subject to this one sense of tasting, 
 that it must run all hazards only to please that, 
 
164/ The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund.7. 
 
 But it is yet much more so, that the diviner 
 part, the Soul, should also be thus enslaved : 
 And yet thus it is in an intemperate person, his 
 very soul must be sacrificed to this brutish appe- 
 tite^ for the sin of intemperance, though it be 
 acted by the body, yet the soul must share in the 
 eternal punishment of it. Secondly, consider 
 how extreme short and vanishing this pleasure is, 
 it is gone in a moment; but the pains that at- 
 tend the excess of it, are much more durable ; 
 and then surely it agrees not with that common 
 reason, wherewith, as men, we are endued, to 
 set our hearts upon it. But then, in the third 
 place, it agrees yet worse with the temper of a 
 Christian, who should have his heart so purified 
 and refined with the expectation of those higher 
 and spiritual joys he looks for in another world, 
 that he should very much despise these gross and 
 brutish pleasures, which beasts are as capable of 
 as we: and to them we may well be contented 
 to leave them, it being the highest their natures 
 can reach to. But for us who have so much 
 more excellent hopes, it is an intolerable shame 
 that we should account them as any part of our 
 happiness. Lastly, the sin of gluttony is so 
 great and dangerous, that Christ thought fit lo 
 give an especial warning against it : Take heed 
 to yourselves, that your hearts be not over- 
 charged with surfeiting^ &c. Luke xxi. 34. And 
 you know what was the end of the rich glutton, 
 Luke xvi. He that had fared deiiciously every 
 day, at last wants a drop of xvuter to cool his , 
 tongue. So much for the first sort of tempe- 
 rance, that of Eating. 
 
Sund. 8.] Temperance in Drinking, &c. 165 
 
 SUNDAY VIIL 
 
 Of Temperance in Drinking ; false Ends of 
 Drinking, viz. Goo d Fellowship, putting 
 away Cares, &c. 
 
 Sect. 1. The second is temperance in Drink- 
 ing : And the ends of Eating and Drinking 
 being much the same, I can give Temperance 
 no other direct rules in this than in Orvikiug, 
 what were given in the former ; to wit, That 
 we drink neither of such sorts of liquor, nor in 
 such quantities, as may not agree with the right 
 ends of Drinking, the preserving our lives and 
 healths; only in this there will be need of put- 
 ting in one caution: For our understandings 
 being in more danger to be hurt by Drinking 
 than Meat, we must rather take care to keep 
 that safe, and rather not drink what we might 
 safely in respect of our health, if it be in danger 
 to distemper our reason. This I say, because 
 it is possible some men's brains may be so weak 
 that their heads cannot bear that ordinary quan- 
 tity of Drink, which would do their bodies no 
 harm. And whoever is of this temper, must 
 strictly abstain from that degree of Drink, or 
 that sort of it, which he finds hath that effect ; 
 yea, though it do in other respects appear not 
 only safe, but useful to his health. For though 
 we are to preserve our health, yet we are not 
 to do it by a sin, as Drunkenness most cer- 
 tainly is. 
 
1 66 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. & 
 
 ii. But, alas ! of those multitude of Drunk- 
 FalseEndsof ards we have in the world, this is 
 Drinking. ^ case Du t of very few, most of 
 them going far beyond what their health requires, 
 yea, or can bear, even to the utter destruction 
 thereof. And therefore it is plain, men have 
 set up to themselves some other ends of Drink- 
 ing, than those allowable ones forementioned : 
 It may not be amiss a little to explain what they 
 are, and withal to shew the unreasonableness 
 of them. 
 
 in. The first, and most owned, is that which 
 GoodFeU they call good fellowship : One man 
 lowskip. drinks to keep another company at it. 
 But I would ask such a one, Whether, if that 
 man were drinking rank poison, he would pledge 
 him for company? If he say he would not, I 
 must tell him that by the very same, nay, far 
 greater reason, he is not to do this. For immo- 
 derate Drinking is that very poison ; perhaps it 
 doth not always work death immediate (yet there 
 want not many instances of its having done even 
 that, very many have died in their drunken fit) 
 but that the custom of it does usually bring men 
 to their ends, is past doubt; and therefore, 
 though the poison work slowly, yet it is still 
 poison. But, however, it doth at the present 
 work that which a wise man would more abhor 
 than death ; it works madness and frenzy, turns 
 the man into a beast, by drowning that reason 
 which should difference him from one. Cer- 
 tainly the effects of Drink are such, that had 
 being drunk been first enjoined as a punishment, 
 we should have thought him a more than ordi- 
 nary tyrant that had invented it. 
 
Sund. 8.] Temperance in Drinking > Sec. 167 
 
 iv. A second end of Drinking is said to be 
 the maintaining of Friendship and Preserving of 
 Kindness among men. But this is Kindness. 
 strangely unreasonable, that men should do that 
 towards the maintaining of Friendship, which is 
 really the greatest mischief that can be done to 
 any man. Did ever any think to befriend a man, 
 by helping to destroy his estate, his credit, his 
 life? Yet he that thus drinks with a man, does 
 this and much more ; he ruins his reason, yea, 
 his soul, and yet this must be called the way of 
 preserving of Friendship. This is so ridiculous, 
 that one would think none could own it, but 
 when he were actually drunk. But besides, 
 alas ! experience shows us that this is fitter to 
 beget quarrels than preserve Kindness ; as the 
 many drunken brawls we every day see, with 
 the wounds, and sometimes murders that ac- 
 company them, do witness. 
 
 v. A third end is said to be the chearing of 
 their Spirits, making them merry and chearing 
 jolly. But sure, if the .mirth be such the Spirits. 
 that reason must be turned out of doors before 
 it begin, it will be very little worth: One may 
 say with Solomon, Eccles. ii. 2. The laughter 
 oj such fools is madness. And sure they that will 
 be drunk to put themselves in this temper, must, 
 by the same reason, be glad of a frenzy, if they 
 could but be sure it would be of the merry sort. 
 But little do these merry folks think what sadness 
 they are all this while heaping up to themselves, 
 often in this world, when by some mad pranks 
 they play in their jollity, they bring mischief 
 upon themselves ; but however, certainly in ano- 
 ther where this mirth will be sadly reckoned for. 
 
168 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 8. 
 
 vi. A fourth end is said to be the putting 
 Putting away of Cares; but I shall ask, What 
 
 moay Cares, those Cares are ? Be they such as 
 should be put away? Perhaps they are some 
 checks and remorses of conscience, which must 
 be thus charmed. And I doubt this hath proved 
 too effectual with many to the laying them 
 asleep. But this is the wickedest folly in the 
 world ; for if thou thinkest not these checks 
 to have something considerable in them, why 
 do they trouble thee? But if thou dost, it is 
 impossible thou canst hope this can long secure 
 thee from them. Thou mayest thus stop their 
 mouths for a while, but they will one day cry 
 the louder for it. Suppose a thief or a mur- 
 derer knew he were pursued to be brought to 
 justice, would he, think you, to put away the 
 fear of being hanged, fall to Drinking, and in the 
 mean time take no care for his escape? Or 
 would you not think him desperately mac), if he 
 did ? Yet this is the very case here-: Thy con- 
 science tells thee of thy danger, that thou must 
 ere long be brought before God's judgment seat ; 
 And is it not madness for thee, instead of endea- 
 vouring to get thy pardon, to drink away the 
 thought of thy danger ? But, in the second 
 place, suppose these Cares be some worldly ones> 
 and such as are fit to be put away ; then, for 
 shame do not so disgrace thy reason, thy Chris- 
 tianity, as not to let them be as forcible to that 
 end as a little Drink. Tbv reason will tell thee 
 it is in vain to care, where care will bring no 
 advantage; and thy Christianity will direct thee 
 to one, on whom thou mayest safely cast all thy 
 
ound. 8.] Temperance in Drinking, &c. 169 
 
 cares, for he careihfor thee, 1 Pet. v. 7- And 
 therefore unless thou meanest to renounce being 
 both a man and a Christian, never betake thee 
 to this pitiful shift to rid thee of thy cares. 
 But besides, this will not do the deed neither, 
 for though it may at the present, whilst thou art 
 in the height of the drunken fit, keep thee from 
 the sense of thy Cares, yet when that is over, 
 they will return again with greater violence ; and 
 if thou hast any conscience, bring new Care 
 with them, even that which arises from the guilt 
 of so foul a sin. 
 
 v-j i. A fifth end is said to be the passing away 
 of Time. This, though it be as Passing away 
 unreasonable as any of the former, of Time. 
 yet by the way, it serves to reproach idleness, 
 which is, it seems, so burthensome a thing, that 
 £ven this vilest employment is preferred before 
 it. But this is in many a very false plea; for 
 they often spend time at the pot, not only when 
 they have nothing else to do, but even to the 
 neglect of their most necessary business. How- 
 ever, it is in all a most unreasonable one, for 
 there is no man, but he may find somewhat or 
 other to employ himself in. If he have little 
 worldly business of his own, he may yet do 
 somewhat to the benefit of others : but however, 
 there is no man but hath a soul, and if he will 
 look carefully to that, he need not complaia 
 for want of business. Where there are so many 
 corruptions to mortify, so many inclinations to 
 watch over, so many temptations (whereof this 
 of Drunkenness is not the least) to resist, the 
 graces of God to improve and stir up, and for- 
 
1/0 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 8. 
 
 mer neglects of all these to lament, sure there 
 can never want sufficient employment ; for all 
 these require time ; and so men at their deaths 
 find ; for those that have all their lives made it 
 their business to drive away their Time, would 
 then give all the world to redeem it. And sure, 
 where there is much leisure from worldly affairs, 
 God expects to have the more time thus employ- 
 ed in spiritual exercises. But it is not likely 
 those meaner sort of persons, to whom this 
 Book is intended, will be of the number of those 
 that have much leisure, and therefore I shall no 
 further insist on it ; only I shall say this, that 
 what degrees of leisure they at any time have, 
 it concerns them to employ to the benefit of their 
 souls, and not to bestow it to the ruin of them, 
 as they do who spend it in Drinking. 
 
 vin. A sixth end is said to be the preventing 
 Preventing of that Reproach, which is by the 
 Reproach. WO rld cast on those that will in this be 
 stricter than their neighbours. But in answer to 
 this, I shall first ask, What is the harm of such 
 Reproach? Surely it cannot equal the least of 
 those mischiefs Drunkenness betrays us to. Nay 
 if we will take our Saviour's word, it is a hap- 
 piness : Blessed, saith he, are ye, when men shall 
 revile you, and say all manner of evil against you 
 for my sake, Matt. v. ] 1. And St. Peter tells 
 us, 1 Pet. iv. 14. If ye be reproached for the 
 name of Christ happy are ye. And, sure, to be 
 reproached for obedience to any command of 
 Christ's is to be reproached for his name. Se- 
 condly, let it be remembered, that at our bap- 
 tism,, we solemnly renounced the world: and 
 
Sund. 8»] Temperance in Drinking, &c. 171 
 
 shall we now so far consider it, as for a few scoffs 
 of it, to run ourselves on all the temporal evils 
 before mentioned ; and, which is much worse, 
 the wrath of God and eternal destruction ? But 
 thirdly, if you fear reproach, why do you do 
 that which will bring reproach upon you from 
 all wise and good men, whose opinion alone is 
 to be regarded ; and it is certain drinking is the 
 way to bring it on you from all such. And to 
 comfort thyself against that, by thinking thou art 
 still applauded by the foolish and worst sort of 
 men, is, as if all the mad-men in the world should 
 agree to count themselves the only sober persons, 
 and all others mad : which yet sure will never 
 make them the less mad, nor others the less so- 
 ber. Lastly, Consider the heavy doom Christ hath 
 pronounced on those that are ashamed of him ; 
 and so are all those that for fear of reproach shall 
 shrink from their obedience to him, Mark viii. 
 38. Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my 
 zvords in this adulterous and sinful generation, 
 of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed \ when h& 
 cometh in the glory of his Father, with the holy 
 Angels. There is none but will at that 'day 
 desire to be owned by Christ : but whoever will 
 not here own him, that is, cleave fast to his com- 
 mands, notwithstanding all the scorns, nay, per- 
 secutions of the world, shall then certainly be 
 cast off by him. And he that will adventure' 
 thus to maintain his credit among a company 
 of fools and mad-men, deserves well to have it 
 befal him. But after all this, it is not sure that 
 even these will despise thee for thy sobriety : 
 It is possible they may seem to do so to fright 
 
172 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 8. 
 
 thee out of it : but if the hearts were searched, 
 it would be found they do, even against their 
 wills, bear a secret reverence to sober persons ; 
 and none fall more often under their scorn and 
 despising, than those that run with them to the 
 same excess of riot ; for even he that sticks not 
 to be drunk himself, will yet laugh at another 
 that he sees so. 
 
 ix. There is a seventh end which though 
 Pleasure of every man thinks too base to own, 
 the Drink, yet it is too plain it prevails with 
 many; and that is, the bare pleasure of the 
 Drink : But to these, I confess, it will not be fit 
 to say much ; for he that is come to this lament- 
 able degree of sottishness, is not likely to re- 
 ceive benefit by any thing that can be said ; Yet 
 let me tell even this man, that he, of all others, 
 hath, the most means of discerning his fault ; for 
 this being such a ground of drinking, as nobody 
 will own, he is condemned of himself, yea, and 
 all his fellows drunkards too; for their denying it 
 is a plain sign they acknowledge it a most abo- 
 minable thing. And if Esau was called a profane 
 person, Heb.xil \6. for selling but his birthright 
 for a mess of pottage y and that too when he had 
 the necessity of hunger upon him, what name of 
 reproajh can be bad enough for him, who sells 
 his health, his reason, his God, his soul, for a 
 cup of drink, and that too when he is so far from 
 needing it, that perhaps he hath already more 
 than he can keep ? 1 shall say no more to this 
 sort of persons ; but let me warn all those that 
 go on in this sin, on any of the former grounds 
 that a little time will baring them even to this 
 
Sund. 8.] Temperance in Drinking, &c. 173 
 
 which they profess to loath ; it being daily seen 
 that those, which were first drawn into the sin 
 for the love of the company, at last continue in 
 it for the love of the drink. 
 
 x. I can think but of one end more; that is, 
 that of Bargaining. Men say, it is „ 
 
 r i \ i • i • ,i • Bargaining. 
 
 necessary lor them to drink in this 
 one respect of trading with their neighbours ; 
 bargains being most conveniently to be struck 
 up at such meetings. But this is yet a worse 
 end than all the rest ; for the bottom of it is an 
 aim of cheating and defrauding others. We 
 think, when men are in drink, we shall the bet- 
 ter be able to over-reach them, and so this adds 
 the sin of cozenage and defrauding to that of 
 Drunkenness. Now that this is indeed the in- 
 tent, is manifest ; for if it were only the dispatch 
 of bargains were aimed at, we should chuse to 
 take men with their wits about them : therefore 
 the taking them when drink hath distempered 
 them, can be for nothing but to make advantage 
 of them. Yet this often proves a great folly, as 
 well as a sin; for he that drinks with another, 
 in hope to over- reach him, doth many times 
 prove the weaker-brained, and becomes drunk 
 first, and then he gives the other that opportu- 
 nity of cheating him, which he designed for the 
 cheating of the other. Now this end of drinking 
 is so far from becoming an excuse, that it is a 
 huge heightening of the sin : for if we may not 
 drink intemperately upon any occasion, much 
 less upon so wicked an one, as is the cozening 
 and defrauding of our brethren. 
 
 xi. I suppose I have now shewed you the 
 
1 74 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 8. 
 
 Degrees of unreasonableness of those motives, 
 his Sm. which are ordinarily brought in excuse 
 of this sin. I am yet farther to tell you, that 
 it is not only that huge degree of Drunkenness, 
 which makes men neither able to go nor speak, 
 which is to looked on as a sin ; but all lower 
 degrees, which do at all work upon the under- 
 standing whether by dulling it, and making it 
 less fit for any employment, or by making it 
 too light and airy, apt to apish and ridiculous 
 mirth ; or what is worse, by inflaming men into 
 rage and fury. These, or whatever else make 
 any change in the man, are to be reckoned into 
 this Sin of Drunkenness. Nay, further, the 
 drinking beyond the natural ends of drinking, 
 that is, beyond moderate refreshment, is a sin, 
 though by the strength of a man's brain, it 
 makes not the least change in him ; and there- 
 fore those that are not actually drunk, yet can 
 spend whole days, or any considerable part of 
 them in drinking, are so far from being inno- 
 cent, that that greater woe belongs to them, 
 which is pronounced Isa. v. 22. against those 
 that are mighty to drink. For though such a 
 man may make a shift to preserve his wits, yet 
 that wit serves him to very little purpose, when 
 his employment is still but the same with him 
 that is the most sottishly drunk, that is, to 
 pour down drink. 
 
 xn. Nay, this man is guilty of the greatest 
 The great Guilt of waste ; first, of the good crea- 
 strong Drinkers. tures of God : That drink, which 
 is by God's providence intended for the refresh- 
 ing and relieving of us, is abused and mis-spent, 
 
$ und. 8.] Temperance in Drinking, &c. 1 75 
 
 when it is drank beyond that measure which 
 those ends require : And sure there is not the 
 meanest of these creatures we enjoy, but the 
 abuse of them shall one day be accounted for ; 
 and he that drinks longest hath the most of that 
 guilt. But in the second place, this is a waste 
 of that which is much more precious, our time, 
 which is allowed us by God to work out our 
 salvation in, and must be strictly reckoned for; 
 and therefore ought every minute of it to be 
 most thriftily husbanded to that end in actions 
 of a good life; but when it is thus laid out, it 
 tends to the direct contrary, even the working 
 out our damnation. Besides, he that thus drinks, 
 though he escape being drunk himself, he is yet 
 guilty of all the Drunkenness that any of his 
 company fall under; for he gives them encou- 
 ragement to drink on by his example, especially 
 if he be one of any authority * but if he be one, 
 whose company the rest are fond of, his company 
 is then a certain ensnaring of them ; for then 
 they will drink too, rather than lose him. There 
 is yet a greater fault than many of these stronger- 
 brained Drinkers are guilty of, that is, the set- 
 ting themselves purposely to make others drunk, 
 playing as it were a prize at it, and counting it 
 matter of triumph and victory to see others fall 
 before them. This is a most horrible wicked- 
 ness; it is the making ourselves the Devil's fac- 
 tors, endeavouring all we can to draw our poor 
 brethren into eternal misery, by betraying them 
 to so grievous a sin; and therefore it may well 
 be reckoned as the highest step of this vice of 
 Drirfking, as having in it the sin of mischieving 
 
 I 2 
 
1 76 The Whole Duty of Man. [Su nd. 8. 
 
 .others added to the excess in ourselves. And 
 though it be looked upon in the world as a mat- 
 ter, only of jest and merriment to make others 
 drunk, that we may sport ourselves with their 
 ridiculous behaviour, yet that mirth will have 
 a sad conclusion, there being a woe expressly 
 threatened by God to this very sin, Hab. ii. 15. 
 IVoe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink ; 
 that putteth thy bottle to him, and makeat him 
 drunken also, that thou mayest look on their na- 
 kedness. And sure he buys his idle pastime very 
 dear, that takes it with such a woe attending it. 
 
 xi 1 1. I have now gone through the several 
 The great Mis- motives to, and degrees of, this 
 chiefs of this Sin. s j n f drunkenness: wherein I 
 have been the more particular, because it is a 
 sin so strangely reigning among us; no condi- 
 tion, no age, or scarce sex, free from it, to the 
 great dishonour of God, reproach of Christi- 
 anity, and ruin, not only of our own souls here- 
 after, but even of all our present advantages 
 and happiness in" this life ; there being no sin 
 which betrays each single committer to more 
 mischiefs in his understanding, his health, his 
 credit, his estate than this one doth. And we 
 have reason to believe this sin is one of those 
 common crying guilts, which have long lain 
 heavy upon this nation, and pulled down those 
 ynany sad judgments we have groaned under. 
 
 xiv. Therefore, Christian Reader, let me 
 Exhortation now entreat, nay, conjure thee, by 
 to forsake it. a n that tenderness and love thou 
 oughtest to have to the honour of God, the 
 credit of thy Christian profession, eternal wel- 
 
Sund. 8.] Temperance in Drinking, &c. 177 
 
 fare of thine own soul, the prosperity of the 
 Church and Nation whereof thou art a mem* 
 ber ; nay, by that love, which certainly thou 
 hast to thy own temporal welfare, to think sadly 
 of what hath been spoken ; and then judge 
 whether there be any pleasure in this sin, which 
 can be any tolerable recompence for all those 
 mischiefs it brings with it. I am confident no 
 man in his wits can think there is ; and if there 
 be not, then be ashamed to be any longer that 
 fool., which shall make so wretched a bargain, 
 but begin at this instant a firm and a faithful 
 resolution, never once more to be guilty of this 
 swinish sin, how often soever thou hast here- 
 tofore fallen into it, and in the fear of God 
 betake thee to a strict temperance, which when 
 thou hast done, thou wilt find thou hast made 
 not only a gainful, but a pleasant exchange: 
 for there is no man that hath tried both 
 courses, but his own heart will tell him, there 
 is infinitely more present comfort and pleasure 
 in sobriety and temperance than ever all his 
 drunken revellings afforded him* 
 
 xv. The main difficulty is the first breaking 
 off the custom ; and that arises The iiiffkut 
 partly from ourselves, partly from ties of\hhur 
 others. That from ourselves may *;«Wft«**» 
 be of two sorts ; the first is, when by the habit 
 of drinking, we have brought such Seeming Neces- 
 false thirsts upon ourselves, that sity of Drink. 
 our bodies seem to require it: and this wants 
 nothing but a little patience to overcome. Do 
 but refrain some few days, and it will afterwards 
 grow easy ; for the hardness arising only from 
 i 3 
 
178 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 8. 
 
 custom, the breaking off that does the business. 
 If thou say, it is very uneasy to do so, consider 
 whether if thou hadst some disease which would 
 certainly kill thee, if thou didst not for some 
 little time refrain immoderate drinking, thou 
 wouldst not rather forbear than die. If thou 
 woulst not, thou art so brutish a sot, that it is 
 in vain to persuade thee: but if thou hadst, 
 then consider how unreasonable it is for thee 
 not to do it in this case also. The habit of 
 drinking may well pass for a mortal disease, it 
 proves so very often to the body, but will most 
 certainly to the soul ; and therefore it is mad- 
 ness to snck at that uneasiness in the cure of 
 this which thou wouldst submit to in a less 
 danger. Set therefore but a resolute purpose 
 to endure that little trouble for a small time, 
 and this first difficulty is conquered : for after 
 thou hast a while refrained, it will be perfectly 
 easy to do so still. 
 
 xvi. The second difficulty is that of spend- 
 Wantof Em- i»g the time, which those that have 
 ployment. made drinking their trade and busi- 
 ness, know scarce how to dispose of. But the 
 very naming of this difficulty directs to the cure: 
 Get thee some business, somewhat to employ 
 thyself in, which, as I have already shewed, will 
 be easily found by all sorts of persons ; but 
 those meaner, to whom I now write, can sure 
 never want it ready at hand, they being generally 
 such as are to be maintained by their labour ; 
 and therefore to them I need only give this 
 advice to be diligent in that business they have, 
 to follow that close as they ought; and they 
 

 Sund, 8.] Temperance in Drinking, &c. 179 
 
 will have little occasion to seek out this wav of 
 spending their time. 
 
 xvn. There is another sort of difficulty, 
 
 Which I told yOU arises from Persuasions and 
 
 others; and that is, either from Reproaches of Men. 
 their Persuasions or Reproaches. It is very 
 likely, if thy old companions see thee, to begin to 
 fall off, they will set hard to thee, to bring thee 
 back to thy old course ; they will urge to thee 
 the unkindness of forsaking the company of thy 
 friends, the sadness of renouncing all that mirth 
 and jollity, which good fellows (as they call 
 them) enjoy; and if thou canst not thus be won, 
 they will affright thee with the reproach of the 
 world, and so try if they can mock the out of 
 thy sobriety. 
 
 xvi n. The way to overcome this difficulty, 
 is to foresee it ; therefore, when The 3ieans of 
 thou first enterest on thy course of resisting them. 
 Temperance, thou art to make account thou 
 shalt meet with these (perhaps many other) 
 Temptations ; and that thou mayst make a 
 right judgment whether they be worthy to pre- 
 vail with thee, take them before-hand and weigh 
 them; consider whether that false kindness that 
 is maintained among men by drinking, be wor- 
 thy to be compared with that real Weigh the Ad _ 
 and everlasting kindness of God vantages with the 
 which is lost by it; whether that HarU 
 foolish vain mirth bear any weight with the pre- 
 sent joys of a good conscience here, or with those 
 greater of Heaven hereafter. Lastly, whether 
 the unjust reproach of wicked men, the shame 
 of the world, be so terrible, as the just reproach 
 1 4 
 
280 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 8. 
 
 of thine own conscience at the present, and that 
 eternal confusion of face that shall befal all those 
 that go on in this sin, at the last day. Weigh 
 all these, I say, I need not say in the balance of 
 the sanctuary, but even in the scales of common 
 reason ; and sure thou wilt be forced to pro- 
 nounce, that the motives to Temperance, infi- 
 nitely outweigh those against it. When thou 
 hast thus advisedly judged, then fix thy resolu- 
 tion accordingly; and whenever any of these 
 temptations come to stagger thee, remember 
 thou hast formerly weighed them, knowest the 
 just value of thern, and that they are a most un- 
 worthy price for those precious advantages thou 
 must give in exchange for them. And therefore 
 hold fast thy resolution, and with indignation 
 reject all motions to the contrary. 
 > xix. But be sure thou thus reject them at 
 Reject the Temp- their very first tender, and do not 
 iationsatthe.venj yield in the least degree; for if 
 
 Beginning. QnQQ ^ QU gi ves t ground, thou 
 
 art lost; the sin will by little and little prevail 
 upon thee. Thus we see many, who have pro- 
 fessed to be resolved upon great Temperance, 
 yet for want of this care, have adventured into 
 the company of good fellows: When they have 
 been there, they have at the first been over-in- 
 treated to take a cup, after that another, till at 
 last they have taken their rounds, as freely as 
 any of them, and in that flood of Drink drowned 
 all their sober resolutions. Therefore, who- 
 ever thou art,. that dost really desire to forsake 
 the sin, take care to avoid the occasions and 
 beginnings of it. To which end it will be good 
 
Sand. 8.] Temperance in Drinking, kc. 181' 
 
 openly to declare and own thy purposes of 
 sobriety, that so thou mayest discourage men 
 from assaulting thee. But if either thou art 
 ashamed to own it, or seemest to be so, they 
 will quickly make use of that shame to bring; 
 thee to break it. 
 
 xx. If thou be thus wary to keep thee from- 
 the first beginnings, thou art then The Security 
 sure never to be overtaken with this of doing so. 
 sin; for it is like th<3 keeping the outworks of ; 
 a besieged city, which so long as they are stoutly- 
 defended, there is no danger; but' if they be 
 either surprized or yielded, the city cannot long, 
 hold out. The advice therefore of the Wise 
 Alan is very agreeable? to this matter, Ecclus.- 
 xix. 1. He that despiseth small things, shall perish 
 by little and little.- But because, as the Psalmist 
 saith, PsaL exxvii, 1. Except the Lord keep the 
 citi/, the watchman zvaketh but in vain : There- 
 fore to this guard of thyself add thy mest earnest- 
 prayers to God, that he will also watch over thee, - 
 and by the strength of his grace enable thee to ; 
 resist all temptations to this sin. 
 
 xxi. If thou dost in the sincerity of thy heart 
 use these means, there is no doubt The E ^ ac?/ f 
 but thou wilt be able to overcome these Means, if 
 this vice, how lone., soever thou n f 1d ^ d Jj 
 
 x , 7 i • n-i Love of the bin, - 
 
 nast been accustomed to it: I here- 
 fore, if thou dost still remain under the power 
 of it y never excuse thyself by the impossibility 
 of the task; but rather accuse the falseness cf 
 thy own heart, that hath still such a Love to this 
 Sin that thou wilt not set roundly to the means ■ 
 of subduing it. 
 
 i5> 
 
182 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 8. 
 
 r xxn. Perhaps the great commonness of the 
 That hve male, ? in > and % particular custom of 
 a man loth to it, may, have made it so much 
 heUeve it danger- thy familiar, thy bosom acquaint- 
 ance, that thou art loth to en- 
 tertain hard thoughts of it: very unwilling thou 
 art to think that it means thee any hurt, and 
 therefore art apt to speak peace to thyself, to 
 hope that either this is no sin, or at most but a 
 frailty, such as will not bar thee out of Heaven : 
 But deceive not thyself, for thou mayest as well 
 say there is no Heaven, as that drunkenness 
 shall not keep thee thence : I am sure the same 
 word of God, which tells us there is such a place 
 of happiness, tells us also that Drunkards are of 
 the number of those that shall not inherit it, 
 1 Cor. vi. 10. And again, Gal. v. 21, drunken- 
 ness is reckoned among those works of the flesh, 
 which they that do, shall not inherit the kingdom, 
 of God. And indeed, had not these plain texts, 
 yet mere reason would tell us the same, that 
 that is a place of infinite purity, such as flesh 
 and blood, till it be refined and purified, is not 
 capable of, as the Apostle tells us, 1 Cor. xv. 53 ; 
 and if, as we are men, we are too gross and 
 impure, for it, we must sure be more so, when 
 we have changed ourselves into swine, the 
 foulest of beasts : We are then prepared for the 
 Devils to enter into, as they did into the herd, 
 Mark v. \3 ; and that not only some one or two, 
 but a legion, a troop, and multitude of them. 
 And of this we daily see examples; for where 
 this sin of drunkenness hath taken possession, it 
 usually comes as an harbinger to abundance of 
 
Sund 9.] Temperance in Sleep, &c. 1 83 
 
 others ; each act of drunkenness prepares a man 
 not only for another of the same sin, but of 
 others; lust and rage, and all brutish appetites 
 are then let loose, and so a man brings himself 
 under that curse which was the saddest David 
 knew how to foretell to any, The falling from one 
 wickedness to another, Psal. lxix. V7. If all this 
 be not enough to affright thee out of this drunken 
 fit/thou mayest still wallow in thy vomit, con- 
 tinue in this sottish senseless condition till the 
 flames of Hell rouse thee; and then thou wilt 
 by sad experience find what now thou wilt not 
 believe, That the end of those things (as the 
 Apostle saith, Rom, vi. 21.) is death, God in his 
 infinite mercy timely awake the hearts of all that 
 are in this sin, that by a timely forsaking it, they 
 may fly from the wrath to come, I have now 
 done with this second part of Temperance, • con* 
 cerning drinking. 
 
 =3- 
 
 SUNDAY IXv 
 
 Temperance in Sleep: The Rule of it, &c. Mis* 
 chiefs of Sloth ; Of Recreations; Cautions 
 to be observed in them : Of Apparel, &c. 
 
 Sect. i. The third part of Temperance 
 concerns Sleep ; and Temperance in that 
 also must be measured by the end for which 
 Sleep was ordained by God, which was ^-~ 
 only the refreshing and supporting of 
 our frail bodies, which being of such a tern- 
 1 6 
 
1 84 The Whole Duty of Man, [Sund. 9. 
 
 per, that continual labour and toil tires and 
 wearies them out, Sleep comes as a medicine 
 to that weariness, as a repairer of that decay, 
 that so we may be enabled to such labours 
 as the duties of religion, or works of our calling 
 require of us. Sleep was intended to make us 
 more profitable, not more idle; as we give rest 
 to our beasts, not that we are pleased with their 
 doing nothing, but that they may do us the 
 better service. 
 
 11. By this therefore you may judge what is 
 Tim Rule of temperate Sleeping; to wit, that 
 Tetnpemnce which tends to the refreshing and 
 therem. ma king us more lively and fit lor 
 
 action ; and to that end a moderate degree serves 
 best It will be impossible to set down just how 
 many hours is that moderate degree; because, as 
 in eating, so in Sleep, some constitutions require 
 more than others : Every man's own experience 
 must in this judge for him: But then let him 
 judge uprightly, and not consult with his sloth 
 in the case ; for that will still, with Solomon's 
 sluggard, cry, A little more sleeps a little more 
 slumber, a little more folding of the hands to sleep, 
 Prov. xxiv. 53 ; but take only so much as he 
 really finds to tend to the end fcrementioned, 
 
 111, Pie that doth not thus limit himself, falls 
 
 The many Slvs int0 several sins ulKler this general 
 that follow tke one of Sloth : As, first, he wastes 
 Transgression hl v time, that precious talent, 
 which was committed to him by 
 God to improve; which he that sleeps away, 
 cloth like him in the Gospel, Matt. xxv. \% y . 
 hide it in the earthy when. he should be trading 
 
Sund. 9.] Mischiefs of Sloth, &c. 1 85 
 
 with it : And you know what was the doom of 
 that unprofitable servant, ver. 30. Cast ye him 
 into outer Darkness. He that gives himself to 
 darkness of Sleep here, shall there have darkness 
 without Sleep, but with xveeping and gnashing of 
 teeth. Secondly, he injures his body: Immo- 
 derate Sleep fills that full of diseases, makes it a 
 very sink of humours, as daily experience shews 
 us. Thirdly, he injures his soul also, and that 
 not only in robbing it of the service of the body,, 
 but in dulling its proper faculties, making them 
 useless and unfit for those employments to which 
 God hath designed them; of all which ill hus- 
 bandry the poor soul must one day give account* 
 Nay, lastly, be affronts and despises God him- 
 self in it, by crossing the very end of his crea- 
 tion, which was to serve God in an active obe- 
 dience : but he that sleeps away his life, directly 
 thwarts and contradicts that; and when God 
 saith Man is born to labour, his practice saith, 
 the direct contrary, that man is born to rest. 
 Take heed therefore of giving thyself to immo- 
 derate sleep, which is the committing of so many 
 sins in one. 
 
 iv. But besides the sin of it, it is also very hurt- 
 ful in other respects ; it is the sure other Mis- 
 bane of thy outward estate, wherein chief s of Sloth, 
 the sluggish person shall never thrive, accord- 
 ing to that observation of the Wise Man, Prov. 
 xxiii. 21. Droxvsiness shall cover a man zvith 
 rags ; that is, the slothful man shall want con- 
 venient clothing:- Nay, indeed, it can scarce be 
 said that the sluggard lives. Sleep you know is 
 a kind of death, and he that gives himself up to. 
 
] 86 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 9. 
 
 it, what doth he but die before his time? There- 
 fore, if untimely death be to be looked upon as 
 a curse, it must needs be a strange folly to ehuse 
 that from our own sloth which we dread so much 
 from God's hand. 
 
 v. The fourth part of Temperance concerns 
 
 Temperance ui RECREATIONS, which are Some- 
 
 Recreations. times necessary both to the body 
 and mind of a man, neither of thern being able 
 to endure a constant toil, without somewhat 
 of refreshment between : and therefore there 
 is a very lawful use of them: but to make 
 it so, it will be necessary to observe these Cau- 
 tions : z 
 
 vr. First, we must take care that the kind of 
 j; :. ' them be lawful, that they be such as 
 
 Cautions to ' . . , J 
 
 he observed have nothing of sin in them ; we must 
 in them. no t ? to recreate ourselves, do any 
 thing which is dishonourable to God, or inju- 
 rious to our neighbour; as they do, who make 
 profane, filthy, or backbiting discourse their 
 recreation. Secondly, we must take care that we 
 use it with moderation ; and to do so, we must 
 first be sure not to spend too much time upon \t, 
 but remember, that the end of recreation is to 
 lit us for business, not to be itself a business 
 to us. Thirdly, we must not be too vehement 
 and earnest in it, nor set our hearts too much 
 upon it; for that will both ensnare us to the 
 using too much of it, and it will divert and take 
 off our minds from our more necessary employ- 
 ments, like school-boys, who after a play-time 
 know not how to set themselves to their books 
 again. Lastly, we mu^st not set up to ourselves 
 
Sund. 9.] Mischiefs of Sloth, &c. 1 87 
 
 any other end of recreation but that lawful one, 
 of giving us moderate refreshment. 
 
 vii. As, first, we are not to use Sports only 
 to pass away our time which we Undue Ends 
 ought to study how to redeem, not of Sports. 
 fling away ; and when it is remembered how 
 great a work we have here to do, the making our 
 calling and election sure, the securing our title 
 to Heaven hereafter, and how uncertain we are 
 what time shall be allowed us for that purpose; 
 it will appear our time is that, which of all other 
 things we ought most industriously to improve* 
 And therefore, sure, we have little need to con- 
 trive ways of driving that away which flies so fast 
 of itself, and is so impossible to recover. Let 
 them who can spend whole days and nights at 
 card and dice, and idle pastimes, consider this, 
 and withal, whether they ever bestowed a quar- 
 ter of that time towards that great business of 
 their lives, for which all their time was given 
 them ; and then think, what a woeful reckon- 
 ing they are like to make, when they come at 
 last to account for that precious treasure of their 
 time. Secondly, we must not let our covctous- 
 ness have any thing to do in our recreations ; if 
 we play at any game, let the end of our doing it 
 be merely to recreate ourselves, not to win mo- 
 ney ; and to that purpose, be sure never to play 
 for any considerable matter : for if thou do, thou 
 wilt bring thyself into two dangers; the one of 
 covetousness, and a greedy desire of winning ; 
 the other of rage and anger at thy ill-fortune, if 
 thou happen to lose: Both which will be apt to 
 draw thee into other sins besides themselves. 
 
188 The Whole Duty qf Man. [Sund. g. 
 
 Covetousness will tempt thee to cheat and cozen 
 in gaming, and anger to swearing and cursing, 
 as common experience shows us too often. If 
 thou find thyself apt to fall into either of these in 
 thy gaming, thou must either take some course 
 to secure thyself against them, or thou must 
 not permit thyself to play at all. For though 
 moderate play be in itself not unlawful, yet, if 
 it be the occasion of sin, it is so to thee, and 
 therefore must not be ventured on. For if Christ 
 commands us so strictly to avoid temptations, 
 that if our very eyes or hands offend us (that 
 .is, prove snares to us) we must rather part 
 with them, than to-be drawn to sin by them, 
 how much rather must we part with any of these 
 unnecessary sports, than run the hazard of of- 
 fending God by them? he that so plays, lays 
 his soul to stake, which is too great a prize to be 
 played away. Besides^ he loses all the recreation 
 and sport he pretends to aim at, and, instead of 
 that, sets himself to a greater toil than any of 
 those labours are he was to ease by it. For sure 
 the desires and fears of the covetous, the impa- 
 tience and rage of the angry man, are more real 
 pains than any, the most laborious work can be. 
 viii. The last part of Temperance is that of 
 Temperance Apparel ; which we are again to 
 in Apparel, measure by the agrccabieness to the 
 ends for which clothing should be used. Thoseare 
 especially these three ; first, the hiding of naked- 
 Appar d design- ness 5 This was the first occasion 
 ed/<>y coveting of Apparel, as you may read 
 
 cf 'Shame. Q Q) ^ - ^ ^ ^ ^ ei f ect f 
 
 the first sin ,* and therefore, when we remember, , 
 
SuncL 9.] Of Apparel, &c. 189 
 
 the original of clothes, we have so little reason 
 to be proud of them, that, on the contrary, we 
 have cause to be humbled and ashamed, as 
 having lost that innocency, which was a much 
 greater ornament than any the most glorious 
 apparel can be. From this end of clothing we 
 are likewise engaged to have our apparel modest, 
 such as may answer this end of covering our 
 shame; and therefore all immodest fashions cf 
 apparel, which may either argue the wantonness 
 of the wearer, or provoke that of the beholder, 
 are to be avoided. 
 
 ix. A second end of apparel is the fencing 
 the body from cold, thereby to pre- Fentiw 
 serve the health thereof. And this from Cold.. 
 end we must likewise observe in our clothing; 
 we must wear such kind of habits, as may keep 
 us in that convenient warmth which is necessary 
 to our healths. And this is transgressed, when 
 out of the vanity of being in every fantastical 
 fashion, we put ourselves in such clothing as 
 either will not defend us from the cold, or is 
 some other way so uneasy, that it is rather a hurt 
 than a benefit to our bodies, to be so clad. This 
 is a most ridiculous folly, and yet that which 
 people, that take a pride in their clothes, are 
 usually guilty of. 
 
 x. A third end of Apparel is the distinguish- 
 ing or differencing of persons ; and Distinction 
 that, firstin respectof sex; secondly, of Persons. 
 in respect of quality First, clothes are to make 
 a difference of sex ; this hath been observed by 
 all nations, the habits of men and women having 
 always been different. And God himself ex- 
 
190 The Whole Duty of Man. FSund, 9, 
 
 pressly provided for it among the Jews, by com~ 
 manding, that the man should not wear the 
 apparel of the woman nor the woman of the 
 man. But then, Secondly, there is also a dis- 
 tinction of quality to be observed in apparel: 
 God hath placed some in higher stations than 
 others ; and in proportion to their condition, it 
 befits their clothing to be. Gorgeous apparel, 
 our Saviour tells us, is for kings courts, Luke 
 vii. 25. Now this end of Apparel should also 
 be observed. Men and women should content 
 themselves with that sort of clothing, which 
 agrees to their sex and condition, not striving to 
 exceed or equal that of higher rank, nor yet 
 making it matter of envy among those of their 
 own estate, vying who shall be finest. But let 
 every man clothe himself in such sober attire as 
 befits his place and calling, and not think him* 
 self disparaged, if another of his neighbours 
 have better than he. 
 
 xi. And let all remember that clothes are 
 things, which add no true worth to any ; and 
 therefore it is an intolerable vanity, to spend 
 any considerable part either of their thoughts, 
 time, or wealth upon them, or to value them- 
 selves even the more for them, or despise their 
 poor brethren that want them. But if they 
 desire to adorn themselves, let it be, as St. Peter 
 ad viseth the women of his time, 1 Pe^.iii.4. In the 
 hidden man of the heart, even the ornament of a 
 meek and quiet spirit \ Let them clothe themselves 
 as richly as is possible with all Christian vir- 
 tues, and that is the raiment that will set them 
 out lovely in God's eyes, yea, and in men's too ; 
 
Sund. 9.] Of Apparel, &c. ' 191 
 
 who, unless they be fools and idiots, will more 
 value thee for being good than fine. And sure, 
 one plain coat thou puttestupon a poor man's 
 back, will better become thee, than twenty rich 
 ones thou shalt put upon thine one. 
 
 xii. I have now gone through the several 
 parts of Temperance; I shall now Too much Spar- 
 in conclusion, add this general impFmk f as 
 caution, that though in all these 
 particulars I have taken notice only of the one 
 fault of excess, yet it is possible there may be 
 one on the other hand : Men may deny their 
 bodies that which they necessarily require to their 
 support and well-being. This is, I believe, a 
 fault not so common as the other ; yet we some- 
 times see some very niggardly persons, that are 
 guilty of it, that cannot find in their hearts to 
 borrow so much from their chests, as may fill 
 their bellies or clothe their backs: And that 
 are so intent upon the world, so moiling and 
 drudging in it, that they cannot afford them- 
 selves that competent time for sleep, or recrea- 
 tion, that is necessary. If any that have read 
 the former part of this discourse, be of this tem- 
 per, let him not comfort himself, that he is not 
 guilty of those excesses there complained of, and 
 therefore conclude himself a good Christian, 
 because he is not intemperate ; for whoever is 
 this covetous creature, his abstaining shall not 
 ■■be counted to him as the virtue of temperance ; 
 . for it is not the love of temperance, but wealth, 
 that makes him refrain ; and that is so far from 
 being praise worth} 7 , that it is that great sin 
 which the Apostle tells us, 1 Tim. vi. 10, is the 
 
1 92 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 1 ! 
 
 root of all evil. Such a man's body will one day 
 rise in judgment against him for defrauding it of 
 its due portion, those moderate refreshments and 
 comforts which God hath allowed it. This is an 
 idolatry beyond that of offering the children to 
 Moloch, Lev. xx. 3. They offered but their chil- 
 dren, but this covetous wretch sacrifices himself 
 to his god Mammon, whilst he often .destroys 
 his health, his life, yea, finally, his soul too, to 
 save his purse. I have now done with the second 
 head of duty, that to Ourselves, contained by 
 the Apostle under the word soberly. 
 
 SUNDAY X, 
 
 Of Duties to our Neighbour, Of Justice, nega- 
 tive, positive. Of the Sin of Murder, of the 
 Heinousness of it, the Punishment ofit> and the 
 strange Discoveries thereof Of Maiming, &c. 
 
 Sect. r. I Come now to the third part of 
 Duties, those to our Neighbour, which are 
 by the Apostle summoned up in gross in the word 
 Duty to our Righteousness, by which is meant 
 Neighbour. no t only bare Justice, but all kind 
 of Charity, also ; for that is now by the law of 
 Christ become a debt to our Neighbour, and it 
 is a piece of unrigeteousness to defraud him of 
 it. I shall therefore build all the particular 
 duties we owe to our Neighbour, on those two 
 general ones, Justice and Charity. 
 
Sund. 10.] Justice to our Neighbour* -193 
 
 ir. I begin with Justice, whereof there 
 are two parts ; the one negative, the , ,. 
 other posive : The negative Justice is 
 to do no wrong or injury to any : The positive 
 Justice is to do right to all : that is, to yield 
 them whatsoever appertains or is due unto them. 
 I shall first speak of the negative Jus- 
 
 i \ . • • ° Negative. 
 
 tice, the not injuring or wronging to 
 any. Now, because a man is capable of receiv- 
 ing wrong, in several respects, this first part of 
 Justice extends itself into several branches, 
 answerable to those capacities of injury. A man 
 may be injured either in his soul, his body, his 
 possessions, or credit: And therefore this duty of 
 negative Justice lays a restraint on us in every 
 one of these ; that we do no wrong to any man, 
 in respect either of his soul, his body, his pos- 
 sessions, or his credit. 
 
 in. First, this Justice ties us to do no hurt 
 to his Soul. And here my first work 
 must be to examine, What harm it ° te ou ' 
 is that the Soul can receive? It is, we know, an 
 invisible substance, which we cannot reach with 
 our eye, much less with our swords and wea- 
 pons ; yet for all that is capable of being hurt 
 and wounded, and that even to death. 
 
 IV. Now the Soul may be considered either 
 in a natural or spiritual sense: In the inthenatu- 
 natural it signifies that which we ral sense. 
 usually call the mind of a man : and this, we all 
 know, may be wounded with grief and sadness, 
 as Solomon saith, Prov. xv. 13. By sorrow of 
 heart the spirit is broken. Therefore whoe . r 
 doth causelessly afflict or grieve his neighbour, 
 
194 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 10. 
 
 he trangresses this part of Justice and hurts and 
 wrongs his Soul. This sort of injury malicious 
 and spiteful men are very often guilty of; they 
 will do things, by which themselves reap no 
 good, nay often much harm, only that they may 
 vex and grieve another. This is a most savage 
 inhuman humour, thus to take pleasure in the 
 sadness and afflictions of others; and whoever har- 
 bours it in his heart, may truly be said to be pos- 
 sessed with a Devil: for it is the nature only of 
 those accursed spirits, to delight in the miseries 
 of men ; and till that be cast out, they are fit 
 only to dwell, as the possessed person did, Mark 
 v. 2. among graves and tombs, where there are 
 none capable of receiving affliction by them. 
 
 v. But the soul may be considered also in the 
 Intkespi- spiritual sense ; and so signifies that 
 ritual immortal part of us, which must live 
 
 eternally, either in bliss or woe, in another world. 
 And the soul thus understood, is capable of two 
 sorts of harm : First, that of sin; secondly, that 
 of punishment : the latter whereof is certainly 
 the consequent of the former : And therefore, 
 though God be the inflicter of punishment : yet 
 since it is but the effect of sin, we may justly 
 reckon that he that draws a man to sin, is like- 
 wise the betrayer of him to punishment : as he 
 that gives a man a mortal wound, is the cause of 
 his death : Therefore under the evil of sin both 
 are contained, so that I need speak only of that. 
 
 vi. And sure there cannot' be a higher sort 
 
 Drawing to of vvron g> than the bringing this 
 Sin the greatest great evil upon the Soul. Sin is 
 injury. t j ie di sease anc } wound of the soul, 
 
Sund. 10.] Justice to our Neighbour. 1Q5 
 
 as being the direct contrary to grace, which is 
 the health and soundness of it : Now this wound 
 we give to every soul, whom we do, by any 
 means whatsoever draw into sin, 
 
 vn. The ways of doing that are divers : I 
 shall mention some of them, whereof though 
 some are more direct than others, yet all tend to 
 the same end. Of the more direct ones, there is 
 first, the commanding of sin, that is, when a per- 
 son that hath power over another, shall require 
 him to do something which is unlaw- Direct 
 ful : An example of this we have in Means (fit. 
 Nebuchadnezzar's commanding the worship of 
 the golden image, Dan. iii. 4 ; and his copy is 
 imitated by any parent or master who shall 
 require his child or servant to do any unlawful 
 act. Secondly, there is counselling of sin, when 
 men advise and persuade others to any wicked- 
 ness : Thus Job's wife counselled her husband 
 to curse God, JobW. 9. And Ahithophel advised 
 Absalom to go into his father's concubines, 2 
 Sam. xvi. 21. Thirdly, there is enticing and allu- 
 ring to sin, by setting before men the pleasure 
 or profit they shall reap by it. Of this sort of 
 enticement Solomon gives a warning, Prov.'x. 10. 
 My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not ; 
 if they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for 
 blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent zvith- 
 out a cause, &c. And verse the 13th, you may 
 see what is the bait by which they seek to allure 
 them: We shall find all precious substance, we 
 shall Jill our houses xvith spoil ; cast in thy lot 
 among us, let us all have one purse. Fourthly, 
 there is assistance in sin ; that is when men aid 
 
190 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 10. 
 
 and help others either in contriving or acting a 
 sin. Thus Jonadab helped Amnon in plotting 
 the ravishing of his sister, 2 Sam. xiii. All these 
 are direct means of bringing this great evil of sin 
 upon our brethren. 
 
 viii. There are also others, which though 
 Indirect. tne y seern niore indirect, may yet be as 
 effectual towards that ill end: As, first, 
 example in sin : he that sets others an ill pattern, 
 does his part to make them imitate it, and too 
 often it hath that effect; there being generally 
 nothing more forcible to bring men in to any 
 sinful practice, than the seeing it used by others; 
 as might be instanced in many sins, to which 
 there is no other temptation but their being in 
 fashion. Secondly, there is encouragement in 
 sin, when either by approving, or else, at least, 
 by not shewing a dislike, we give others confi- 
 dence to go on in their wickedness. A third 
 means is by justifying and defending any sinful 
 act of another's ; for by that we do not only 
 confirm him in his evil, but endanger the draw- 
 ing others to the like, who may be the more in- 
 clinable to it, when they shall hear it so pleaded 
 for. Lastly, the bringing up any reproach upon 
 strict and Christian living, as those do who have 
 the ways of God in derision. This is a means 
 to affright men from the practice of duty, when 
 they see it will bring them to be scorned and de- 
 spised : This is worse than all the former, not 
 only in respect of the man who is guilty of it (as 
 it is an evidence of the great profaneness of his 
 own heart) but also in regard of others, it hav- 
 ing a more general ill-effect than any of the for- 
 
 
Simd. 10.] Justice to our Neighbour. 197 
 
 mer can have ; it being the betraying men not 
 only to some single acts of disobedience to 
 Christ, but even to the casting orl'all subjection 
 to him. By all these means we may draw on 
 ourselves this great guilt of injuring and wound- 
 ing the souls of our brethren. 
 
 ix. It would be too long for me to instance 
 in all the several sins, in which it Men ou „ ht sadh/ 
 is usual for men to ensnare others, to consider whom 
 as drunkenness, uncleanness, re- f**J ■?*&* thu * 
 bellion, and a multitude more. 
 But it will concern every man for his own par- 
 ticular to consider sadly, what mischiefs of this 
 kind he hath done to any, by all, or any of these 
 means, and to weigh well the greatness of the 
 injury. Men are apt to boast of their innocency 
 towards their neighbours, that they have done 
 wrong to no man : but, God knows, many that 
 thus brag, are of all others the most injurious 
 persons. Perhaps they have not maimed his 
 person, nor stolen his goods; but, alas ! the body 
 is but the case and cover of a man, and the goods 
 some appurtenances to that : It is the soul is the 
 man, and that they can wound and pierce with' 
 out remorse, and yet with the adulteress, Prov. 
 xxx. 20. say, They have done no wickedness ; but 
 glory of their friendly behaviour to those whom 
 they thus betray to eternal ruin : For, whom- 
 soeverthou hast drawn to any sin, thou hast done 
 thy part to ascertain to those endless flames. 
 And then think with thyself how base a treach- 
 ery this is: Thou wouldst call him a treacherous 
 villain, thp.t should, while he pretends to em- 
 brace a man, secretly stab him; But this of 
 K 
 
198 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. ]0. 
 
 thine is as far beyond that, as the soul is of more 
 value than the body, and Hell worse than death. 
 And remember yet farther, that besides the 
 cruelty of it to thy poor brother, it is also most 
 dangerous to thyself, it being that against which 
 Christ hath pronounced a woe, Matt, xviii. 7. 
 and ver. 6. he tells us,thatwhosoever shall offend 
 (that is, draw into sin) any of those little ojies, it 
 were better for him that a millstone were hanged 
 about his neck, and that he xvere drowned in the 
 depth of the sea. Thou mayest plunge thy poor 
 brother into perdition ; but, as it is with wrest- 
 lers, he that gives another a fall, commonly falls 
 with him : so thou art like to bear him company 
 to that place of torment. 
 
 x. Let therefore thy own and his danger beget 
 Heartily to in thee a sense of the greatness of this 
 bewail it. S \ U) £ n j s horrid piece of injustice to 
 the precious soul of thy neighbour. Bethink 
 thyself seriously to whom thou hast been thus 
 cruel, whom thou hast enticed to drinking, ad- 
 vised to rebellion, allured to lust, stirred up to j 
 rase, whom thou hast assisted or encouraged 
 in any ill course, or discouraged and disheartened 
 by thy profane scoffings at piety in general, 
 or at any conscionable strict walking of his iia 
 particular; and then draw up a bill of indict- 
 ment, accuse and condemn thyself as a Cain, a 
 murderer of thy brother; heartily and deeply 
 bewail all thy guilts of this kind, and resolve 
 never once more to be a stumbling-block, as St 
 Paul calls it, Rom. xiv. in thy brother's way. 
 
 xi. But this is not all, there must be some 
 fruits of this repentance brought forth. Now in 
 
Sund. 10.] Justice to our Neighbour. }Qg 
 
 all sins of injustice, restitution is a Endeavour 
 necessary fruit of repentance: and so to repair u. 
 it is here ; thou hast committed an act (per- 
 haps many) of high injustice to the soul of thy 
 brother ; thou hast robbed it of its innocence, 
 of its title to Heaven ; thou must now endea- 
 vour to restore all this to it again, by being more 
 earnest and industrious to win him to repentance,, 
 than ever thou wert to draw him to sin. Use 
 now as much art to convince him of the danger 
 as ever thou didst to flatter him with the pleasure 
 of his vice : In a word, countermine thyself, 
 by using all those methods and means to recover 
 him, that thou didst to destroy him ; and be 
 more diligent and zealous in it; for it is neces- 
 sary thou shouldest, both in regard of him and 
 thyself. First, in respect of him ; because there 
 is in man's nature so much a greater prompt- 
 ness and readiness to evil, than to good, that there 
 will need much more pains and diligence to in- 
 stil the one into him, than the other ^Besides the 
 man is supposed to be already accustomed to the 
 contrary, which will add much to the difficulty 
 of the work. Then in respect to thyself: if 
 thou be a true penitent, thou wilt think thyself 
 obliged, as St. Paul did, to labour more abund* 
 mitly ; and wilt be ashamed, that when thou 
 art trading for God, bringing back a soul to 
 him, thou shouldst not pursue it with more 
 earnestness, than while thou wert an agent of 
 Satan's; besides the remembrance that thou 
 wert a means of bringing this poor soul into this 
 snare, must necessarily quicken thy diligence to 
 :$et him out of it. So much for the first part of 
 k 2 
 
£00 The Whole Duty of Man. fSund. 10. 
 
 negative Justice, in respect of the souls of our 
 brethren. 
 
 xii. The second concerns their Bodies.; and 
 Neontive t0 those also this Justice binds thee to 
 Julticeto do no wrong nor violence. Now of 
 the Body. UTO ngs to the body there may be seve- 
 ral degrees ; the highest of them is killing, taking 
 in respect of away the Life; this is forbid in the 
 the Life. verv letter of the sixth command- 
 ment, Thou shalt do no murder. 
 
 xiii. Murder may be committed either by 
 Several Wa V s °P en violence, when a man either 
 of being guilty by sword, or any other instrument 
 of Murder. ( a k es away another's Life, imme- 
 diately and directly ; or it may be done secretly 
 and treacherously, as David murdered Uriah, not 
 with his own sword, but with the sword of the 
 children of Amnion, % Sam. xi. 17. and Jezebel, 
 Naboth, by a false accusation, 1 Kings xxi. 13. 
 And so divers have committed this sin of mur- 
 der, by poison, false witness, or some such con- 
 cealed ways. The former is commonly the 
 (effect of sudden rage, the latter hath several 
 originals ; sometimes it proceeds from some old 
 malice fixed in the heart towards the person, 
 sometimes from some covetous or ambitious de- 
 sires ; such an one stands in a man's way to his 
 profit or preferment, and therefore he must be 
 removed : And sometimes again it is to cover 
 shame, as in the case of strumpets, that murder 
 their infants, that they may not betray their fil- 
 tainess. But besides these more direct ways of 
 killing, there is another, and that is, when by 
 our persuasion and enticements we draw a man 
 
Sand. 10.] Several Ways of Murder. £0T 
 
 to do that, which tends to the shortening of his 
 life, and is apparent to do so. He that makes 
 his neighbour drunk, if by that drunkenness 
 the man come to any mortal hurt, which he 
 would have escaped if he had been sober, he that 
 made him drunk is not clear of his death ; or if 
 he die not by any such sudden accident, yet if 
 drinking cast him into a disease, and that dis- 
 ease kill him, I know not how he that drew him 
 to that excess, can acquit himself of his murder 
 in the eyes of God, though human laws touch 
 him not. I wish those who make it their busi- 
 ness to draw in customers to that trade of de- 
 bauchery, would consider it. There is yet ano- 
 ther way of bringing this guilt upon ourselves, 
 and that is by inciting and stirring up others to 
 it, or to that degree of anger and revenge which 
 produces it : As he that sets two persons at va- 
 riance, or seeing them already so, blows the coals, 
 if murder ensue, he certainly hath a share in the 
 guilt; which is a consideration that ought to 
 affright all from having any thing to do in the 
 kindling or increasing the contention. 
 
 xiv. Now for the heinousness of this Sin of 
 murder, I suppose none can be ig- TittHeiwumeis 
 norant that it is of the deepest dye, of the Sin. 
 a most loud crying sin. This we may see in the 
 first act of this kind that ever was committed, 
 Abel's blood crieth from the earth, as God tells 
 Cain, Gen. iv. 10. Yea, the guilt of this Sin is 
 such, that it leaves a stain even upon the land 
 where it is committed, such as is not to be washed 
 out but by the blood of the murderer, as appears, 
 Dent. xix. 12, 13. The land cannot be purged 
 K 3 
 
202 The Whole, Duty of Man. [Sund. 10. 
 
 of blood, but by the blood of him that shed it. 
 And therefore though in other cases the flying 
 to the altar secured a man, yet in this of wilful 
 murder no such refuge was allowed, but such an 
 one was to be taken even thence, and delivered 
 up to Justice, E.vod. xxi. 1 4. Thou shalt take him 
 from mine aliar^ that he may die. And it is yet 
 farther observable, that the only two precepts, 
 which the Scripture mentions as given to Noah 
 after the Flood, were both in relation to this Sin: 
 that of not eating blood, Gen. ix. 4. being a cere- 
 mony, to beget in men a greater horror of this 
 sin of murder, and so intended for the prevent- 
 ing of it. The other was for the punishment of 
 it, Gen. ix. 6. Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by 
 man shall his blood be shed : And the reason of 
 this strictness is added in the next words, For in 
 the image of God made heman: where you see that 
 this sin is not only an injury to our brother, but 
 even the highest contempt and despite towards 
 God himself: for it is the defacing of his image, 
 which he hath stamped upon man. Nay, yet 
 farther, it is the usurping of God's proper right 
 and authority : For it is God alone that hath a 
 right to dispose of the life of man, it was he 
 atone that gave it, and it is he alone that hath 
 power to take it away : But he that murders a 
 man, does, as it were, wrest this power out of 
 God's hand, which is the highest pitch of re- 
 bellious presumption. 
 
 xv. And as the sin is great, so likewise is 
 The great Punish- the punishment; we see it fre- 
 ment attending it. qqently very great and remark- 
 able, even in this world, (besides those most 
 
Snnd. 10.] Several Ways of Murder. 203 
 
 fearful effects of it in the next) blood not only 
 cries, but it cries for vengeance ; and the great 
 God of recompences, as he styles himself, will 
 not fail to hear it. Very many examples the 
 Scriptures give us of this : Ahab and Jezebel, 
 that murdered innocent Naboth, for greediness 
 of his vineyard, were themselves slain ; and the. 
 dogs licked their blood in the place where they 
 had shed his, as you may read in that story : 
 So Absalom, that slew his brother Amnon, after 
 he had committed that sin, fell into another, 
 that of rebellion against his king and father, and 
 in it miserably perished. Rechab and Baanah f 
 that slew Ishboxhetk, were themselves put to 
 death, and thai by the very person they thought 
 to endear by it. Many more instances might 
 be given of this out of the sacred story, and 
 many also out of human, there having been no 
 age but have yielded multitudes of examples of 
 this kind, so that every man may furnish him- 
 self out of the observations of his own time. 
 
 xvi. And it is worth our notice, what strange 
 and even miraculous means it The strange Dis- 
 hath often pleased God to use cowries of it. 
 for the discovery of this sin ; the very brute 
 creatures have often been made instruments of 
 it : nay, often the extreme horror of a man's 
 own conscience hath made him betray himself: 
 So that it is not any closeness a man uses in the 
 acting of this sin, that can secure him from the 
 vengeance of it ; for he can never shut out his 
 own conscience, that will, in spite of him, be 
 privy to the fact, and that very often proves the 
 means of discovering it to the world ; or if it 
 " k 4 
 
£04 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 10. 
 
 should not do that, yet it will sure act revenge 
 on him, it will be such a hell within him, as 
 will be worse than death ; This we have seen in 
 many, who after the commission of this sin, 
 have never been able to enjoy a minute's rest : 
 but have had that intolerable anguish of mind, 
 that they have chosen to be their own murderers, 
 rather than live in it. These are the usual effects 
 of this sin, even in this world ; but those in 
 another are yet more dreadful, where surely the 
 highest degrees of torment belong to this high 
 pitch of wickedness : For if, as our Saviour 
 telis us, Matt. v. 22. Hell fire be the portion of 
 him that shall but call his brother fool, what 
 degree of those burnings can we think propor- 
 tionable to this so much greater an injury ? 
 xvii. The consideration of all this ought to 
 
 We must watch <M- P ossess us with the greatest 
 gently against all «p- horror and abomination of 
 
 preaches to this Sin. t y g ^ Qnd %Q make us ex _ 
 
 tremely watchful of ourselves, that we never 
 fall into it, and to that end, to prevent all those 
 occasions, which may insensibly draw us into 
 this pit. I mentioned at first several things 
 which are wont to be originals of it, and at 
 those we must begin, if we will surely guard 
 ourselves. If therefore thou wilt be sure never 
 to kill a man in thy rage, be sure never to be in 
 that rage, for if thou permittest thyself to that, 
 thou canst have no security against the other ; 
 anger being a madness that suffers us not to 
 consider, or know what we do, when it has once 
 possessed us. Therefore, when thou findest 
 thyself begin to be inflamed, think betimes 
 
Sund 10/] Several Ways of Marckr. 205 
 
 whither this may lead thee, if thou lettest loose 
 to it, and immediately put the bridle upon this 
 head-strong passion : So again, if thou wilt be 
 sure thy malice shall not draw thee to it, be sure 
 never to harbour one malicious thought in thy 
 heart ; for if it once settle there, it will gather 
 such strength, that within a while thou wilt be 
 perfectly under the power of it, so that it may 
 lead thee even to this horrible sin at its plea- 
 sure ! be therefore careful at the very first ap- 
 proach of this treacherous guest, to shut the 
 doors against it, never to let it enter into thy 
 mind : So also, if thou wilt be sure thy covetous- 
 ness, thy ambition, thy lust, or any other sinful 
 desire, shall not betray thee to it, be sure thou 
 never permit any of them to bear any sway with 
 thee; for if they get the dominion, as they will 
 soon do, if they be once entertained in the heart, 
 they will be past thy controul, and hurry thee to 
 this or any other sin that may serve their ends. 
 Jn like manner, if thou wouldst not be guilty 
 of any of the mortal effects of thy neighbour's 
 drunkenness, be sure not to entice him to it, nor 
 accompany him at it ; and to that purpose, do* 
 not allow thyself in the same practice ; for if 
 thou do, thou wilt be labouring to get company 
 at it. Lastly, if thou wilt not be guilty of the 
 murder committed by another, take heed thou 
 never give any encouragement to it, or contribute 
 any thing to that hatred or contention that may 
 be the cause of it. For when thou hast either 
 kindled or blowed the fire, what knowest thou 
 whom it may consume? Bring always as much 
 water as thou canst, to quench, but never bring 
 K 5 
 
£06 The Whole Duty .of Man. [Sund. 10. 
 
 one drop of oil to increase the flame. The like 
 may be said of all other occasions of this sin, 
 not here mentioned : and this careful preserv- 
 ing ourselves from these is the only sure way 
 to keep us from this sin : Therefore, as ever 
 thou wouldst keep thyself innocent from the 
 great offence, guard thee warily from all such 
 inlets, those steps and approaches towards it. 
 
 xviii. But although murder be the greatest 
 Maiming, a yet it is not the only injury that may 
 great Injury. oe done to the body of our Neigh- 
 bour; there are others which are also of a very 
 high nature : The next in degree, to this is maim- 
 ing him, depriving him of any member, or at least 
 of the use of it ; and this is a very great wrong 
 and mischief to him, as we may discern by the 
 judgment of God himself, in the cas« of the 
 bond-servant, who should by his master's means 
 lose a member, E,rod. xxi. 9,6. the freedom of 
 his whole life was thought but a reasonable re- 
 compence for it ; He shall let him go free, saith 
 the text, for his eye ; nay, though it were a less 
 considerable part, if it were but a tooth, which of 
 all others may be lost with the least damage, yet 
 the same amends was to be made him, ver. 27. 
 
 xix. But we need no other way of measur- 
 
 That which every in § this in J nrv > than the judgment 
 Man dreads for of every man in his own case : 
 himself. j^ ow mucn does every man dread 
 
 the loss of a limb ? so that if he be, by any ac- 
 cident or disease, in danger of it, he thinks no 
 pains or cost too much to preserve it. And 
 then, how great an injustice, how contrary to 
 that great rule of doing as we zvould be done to, 
 
 3 
 
Send, i 0. ] Several JVays of Murder. 20/ 
 
 is it for a man to do that to another, which he 
 so unwillingly suffers himself? 
 
 But if the person be poor, one that must 
 labour for his living, the injury is yet Yet worse 
 greater; it is such as may, in effect, if the Man 
 amount to the former sin of murder; be P oor - 
 for as the wise man says, Ecclus. xxxiv. 21. 
 The poor man's bread is his life, and he that 
 deprives him thereof is a bloood-shedder : And 
 therefore he that deprives him of the means of 
 getting his bread, by disabling him from labour 
 is surely no less guilty. In the law it was per- 
 mitted to every man that had sustained such a 
 damage by his neighbour, to require the magis- 
 trate to inflict the like on him; eye for eye, tooth 
 for tooth, as it is, Exod. xxi. 24. 
 
 xx. And though unprofitable revenge be not 
 now allowed to us Christians, yet Neccssity of maJi . 
 sure it is the part of every one, ing what Satis- 
 who hath done this injury, to f a€tion " e cau - 
 make what satisfaction lies in his power : Tis 
 true he cannot restore a limb again, (which, by 
 the way, should make men wary, how they do 
 those mischiefs which it is so impossible for them 
 to repair) but yet he may satisfy for some of the 
 ill effects of that loss. If that have brought the 
 man to want and penury, he may, nay, he must, 
 if he have but the least ability, relieve and sup- 
 port him, yea, though it be by his own extraor- 
 dinary labour; for if it be a duty of us all, to 
 be eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame, as 
 Job speaks, much more must we be so to them, 
 whom ourselves have made blind and lame* 
 Therefore, whoever hath done this injury to 
 K 6 
 
208 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 10. 
 
 any of his poor brethren, let him know, he is 
 bound to do all that is possible towards the re- 
 pairing of it; if he do not, every new suffering 
 that the poor man's wants bring upon him, be- 
 comes a new charge and accusation against him, 
 at the Tribunal of the just Judge. 
 
 xxi. There are yet other degrees of injury to 
 Wovndsand the kody of our neighbour. I shall 
 Stripes, in- mention only two more. Wounds 
 juries also, anc [ stripes : A man may wound ano- 
 ther, which though it finally cause loss neither 
 of life nor limb, is yet an endangering of both ; 
 and the like may be said of stripes, both of which 
 however are very painful at the present, nay, 
 perhaps very long after : And pain, of all tem- 
 poral evils, is to be accounted the greatest; for 
 it is not only an evil in itself, but it is such an 
 one that permits us not, whilst we are under it, 
 to enjoy any other good ; a man in pain having 
 no taste of any the greatest delights. If any 
 man despise these as light injuries, let him again 
 ask himself, how he would like it, to have his own 
 body slashed or bruised, and put to pass under 
 those painful means of cure which are many 
 times necessary in such cases ? I presume there is 
 no man would willingly undergo this from ano- 
 ther, and why then shouldst thou offer it to him? 
 xxii. The truth is, this strange Cruelty to 
 This' Cruelty otn€rs ls tne effect of a great pride 
 to others the and haughtiness of heart: we look 
 effect of Pride. U p 0n others with such contempt, 
 that we think it no matter how they are used ; 
 we think they must bear blows from us, when 
 io the mean time we are so tender of ourselves* 
 
Sund. 10.] Several Ways of Murder. 209 
 
 that we cannot hear the least word of disparage- 
 ment but we are all on a flame. The provoca- 
 tions to these injuries are commonly so slight, 
 that did not this inward pride dispose us to sucli 
 an angriness of humour, that we take fire at 
 every thing, it were impossible we should be 
 moved by them. Nay, some are advanced to 
 such a wantonness of Cruelty, that without any 
 provocation at all, in cool blood, as they say, 
 they can thus wrong their poor brethren, and 
 make it part of their pastime and recreation to 
 cause pain to others. Thus some tyrannous hu- 
 mours take such a pleasure in tormenting those 
 under their power, that they are glad when they 
 can but rind a pretence to punish them, and 
 then do it without all moderation; and others will 
 set men together by the ears, only that they may 
 have the sport of seeing the seuffle ; like the old 
 Romans, that made it one of their public sports 
 to see men kill one another ; and sure we have 
 as little Christianity as they, if we can delight 
 in such spectacles. 
 
 xxin. This savageness and cruelty of mind 
 is so unbecoming the nature of a man, that he 
 is not allowed to use it even to his beasts ; how 
 intolerable is it then towards those that are of 
 the same nature, and which is more,, are heirs of 
 the same eternal hopes with us ? They that shall 
 thus transgress against their neighbours in any 
 of the foregoing particulars, or whatever else is 
 hurtful to the body, are unjust persons, want even 
 this lowest sort of justice, the negative, to their 
 neighbours, in respect of their bodies 
 
2 1 The Whole Duty of Mam [Stmd. 1 0. 
 
 xxiv. Neither can any man excuse himself 
 by saying, what he bath done was only in return 
 of some injury offered him by the other: For 
 suppose it to be so, that he have indeed received 
 some considerable wrong, yet cannot he be his 
 own revenger, without injury to that man, who 
 is not,- by being thine enemy, become thy vassal 
 or slave, to do with him what thou list ; thou 
 hast never the more right of dominion over him, 
 because he hath done thee wrong; and there- 
 fore if thou hadst no power over his body before, 
 it is certain thou hast none now ; and therefore 
 thou art not only uncharitable (which yet were 
 sin enough to damn thee) but unjust in every 
 act of violence thou dost to him. Nay, this 
 injustice ascends higher, even to God himself, 
 who hath reserved vengeance as his own pecu- 
 liar right ; Vengeance is mine, Izvill repay, saitk 
 the Lord, Rom. xii. 19. And then he that will 
 act revenge for himself, what does he but en- 
 croach upon this special right and prerogative 
 of God, snatch the sword, as it were, out of his 
 hand, as if he knew better how to wield it ? 
 Which is at once a robbery and contempt of the 
 divine Majesty, 
 
 
Sund. 1 1 .] Of Possessions, &c. 211 
 
 SUN DAY XI. 
 
 Of Justice about the Possessions of our Neigh- 
 hour : Against injuring him, as concerning 
 his Wife, his Goods, Of Oppression, Theft. 
 Of paying of Debts^ &c. 
 
 Sect. i. The third part of Negative Justice 
 concerns the possessions of our neighbour. 
 What I mean by Possessions, I cannot better 
 explain, than by referring you to ... „ 
 
 i to i r* i .i i " ls Possessions. 
 
 the Tenth Commandment, the end 
 of which is to bridle all covetous appetites and 
 desires towards the Possessions of our neigh- 
 bour. There we find reckoned up not only 
 his house, servants, and cattle, which may all 
 pass under the one general name of his goods 
 or riches, but particularly his wife, as a principal 
 part of his possessions; And therefore, when we 
 consider the duty of negative Justice, in respect 
 of the possessions of our neighbour, we must 
 apply it to both, his wife as well as his goods. 
 
 ii. The especial and peculiar right that every 
 man hath in his wife, is so well known ri . T u_ 
 
 *i • .u- His Wife. 
 
 that it were vain to say any thing in 
 proof of it ; the great impatience that every 
 husband hath to have this right of his invaded, 
 shews that it is sufficiently understood in the 
 world ; and therefore none that does this injury 
 to another can be ignorant of the greatness of it. 
 The corrupting of a man's wife, enticing her to 
 
2 1 2 The Wholt Duty of Man. [Sund. 11. 
 
 a strange bed, is by all acknowledged to be the 
 worse sort of theft, infinitely beyond that of the 
 goods. 
 
 in. Indeed there is in this one a heap of the 
 The enticing a greatest injustices together ; some 
 Man's Wife the towards the woman, and some 
 
 gieaes xnjus ice. t0warc j s ^ e marK Towards the 
 To the Woman. ^^ ^ are ^ ^^ 
 
 imaginable : It is that injustice to her Soul, 
 which was before mentioned as the highest of all 
 others, it is the robbing her of her innocency, 
 and setting her in a course of the most horrid 
 wickedness (no less than lust and perjury toge- 
 ther) from which it is probable she may never 
 return, and then it proves the damning of her 
 eternally. Next, it is in respect of this world, 
 the robbing her of her credit, making her ab- 
 horred and despised, and her very name a re- 
 proach among all men ; and besides, it is the 
 depriving her of all that happiness of life, 
 which arises from the mutual kiudness and 
 affection, that is between Man and Wife: instead 
 whereof, this brings in a loathing and abhorring 
 of each other, from whence flow multitudes of 
 mischiefs, too many to rehearse ; in all which 
 the man hath his share also. 
 
 jv. But besides those, there are to him many 
 
 To the Man. atwl hi § h in j ustiees J for 5t is > first > 
 the robbing him of that which of all 
 
 other things he accounts most precious, the love 
 
 and faithfulness of his wife; and that also wherein 
 
 he hath such an incommunicable right, that 
 
 himself cannot, if he would, make it over to 
 
 any other : and therefore sure it cannot, with- 
 
 l 
 
Sund. 11.} Of Adultery, &c. 213 
 
 out the utmost injustice, be torn from him by 
 any. Nor is this all, but it is farther the ingulf- 
 ing him, (if ever he come to discern it) in that 
 most tormenting passion of jealousy, which is of 
 all others the most painful, and which oft puts 
 men upon the most desperate attempts, it being 
 as Solomon says, Prov. vi. 34. The rage of a 
 Man. It is yet farther, the bringing upon him all 
 that scorn and contempt, which by the unjust 
 measures of the world falls on them, which are 
 so abused, and which is by many esteemed the 
 most insufferable part of the wrong ; and though 
 it be true, that it is very unjust he should fall 
 under reproach, only because he is injured, yet 
 unless the world could be new moulded, it will 
 certainly be his lot, and therefore it adds much 
 to the injury. Again, this may indeed be a rob- 
 bery, in the usual sense of the word ; for, per- 
 haps it may be the thrusting in the child of the 
 adulterer into his family, to share both in the 
 maintenance and portions of his own children : 
 And this is an arrant theft ; first, in respect of 
 the man, who surely intends not the providing 
 for another man's child ; and then in respect of 
 the children, who are by that means defrauded 
 of so much as that goes away with. And there- 
 fore, whosoever hath this circumstance of the sin 
 to repent of, cannot do it effectually, without 
 restoring to the family as much as he hath by 
 this means robbed it of. 
 
 v. All this put together, will surely make this 
 the greatest and most provoking in- The most i>- 
 jury that can be done to a man, and reparable. 
 (which heightens it yet more) it is that for which 
 
214 The IVhole Duty of Man. [Sund. 11. 
 
 a man can never make reparation ; for unless 
 he be in the circumstances before mentioned, 
 there is no part of this sin wherein that can be 
 done : IV this purpose it is observable, in the 
 Jewish law, that the thief was appointed to re- 
 store four fold, and that freed him ; but the 
 adulterer having no possibility of making any 
 restitution, and satisfaction, he must pay his life 
 for his offence, Lev. xx. 10. And though 'now- 
 a-days adulterers speed better, live many days 
 to renew their guilt, and, perhaps, to laugh at 
 those whom they have thus injured, yet let them 
 be assured, there must one day be a sad reckon- 
 ing, and that whether they repent or not: If by 
 God's grace they do come to repentance, they 
 will then find this to be no cheap sin; many 
 anguishes of soul, terrors, and perplexities of 
 conscience, groans, and tears it must cost them : 
 and indeed, were a man's whole life spent in 
 these penitential exercises, it were little enough 
 to wipe off the guilt of any one single act of this 
 kind : What overwhelming sorrows then are re- 
 quisite for such a trade of this sin, as too many 
 drive? Certainly it is so great a task, that it is 
 highly necessary for all that are so concerned, to 
 set to it immediately, lest they want time to go 
 through with it ; for let no man flatter himself, 
 that the guilt of a course and habit of such a 
 sin can be washed away by a single act of repent- 
 ance; no, he must proportion the repentance 
 to the fault ; and as one hath been a habit and 
 course, so must the other also. And then how 
 strange a madness it is for men to run into this 
 sin (and that with such painful pursuits as many 
 
Sund. 11.] Of Adultery, be: 215 
 
 do) which he knows must at the best hand, that 
 is, supposing he do repent of it, cost him thus 
 dear? But then if he do not repent, infinitely 
 dearer : It loses him all his title to heaven, that 
 place of purity, and gives him his portion in the 
 lake of fire, where the burnings of his lust shall 
 end in those everlasting burnings. For how 
 closely soever he hath acted this sin, be it so that 
 he may have said with the adulterer, in Job xxiv. 
 15. No eye seeth me ; yet it is sure he could not, 
 in the greatest obscurity, shelter himself from 
 (rod's sight, with whom the darkness is no dark- 
 wtw, Psal. exxxix. 12. And he it is, who hath 
 expressly threatened to judge this sort of o Men- 
 ders, Heh. xiii. 4. Adulterers God wilt judge. 
 God grant that all that live in this foul guilt, 
 may so seasonably and so thoroughly judge 
 themselves, that they may prevent that severe 
 and dreadful judgment of his ! 
 
 vr. The second thing to which this negative 
 justice to our neighbour's possessions , T . „ 7 
 
 ..... rt . ' , His Goods. 
 
 reacheth is his goods; under which 
 general word is contained ali those several sorts 
 of things, as house, land, cattle, money, and 
 the like, in which he hath a right and property: 
 These we are, by the rule of this justice, to 
 suffer him to enjoy, without seeking either to 
 work him damage in any of them, or get any 
 of them to ourselves. I make a difference be- 
 tween these two, because there may be two se- 
 veral grounds or motives of this injustice ; the 
 one Malice the other Covetousness. 
 
 vii. The malicious man desires to work his 
 neighbour's mischief, though he get nothing by 
 
12 16 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 1 1 . 
 
 Malicious it himself: It is frequently seen that 
 injustice. men yfi\\ make havock and spoil of the 
 goods of one to whom they bear a grudge, though 
 they never design to get any thing to themselves 
 by it, but only the pleasure of doing a spite to 
 the other. This is a most hellish humour, di- 
 rectly answerable to that of the Devil, who be- 
 stows all his pains and industry, not to bring in 
 any good to himself but only to ruin and undo 
 others : And how contrary it is to all rules of 
 Justice, you may see by the precept given by 
 God to the Jews concerning the goods of an ene- 
 my ; where they were so far from being allow- 
 ed a liberty of spoil and destruction, that they 
 are expressly bound to prevent it, E.vod. xxiii. 4, 
 5 . If thou meet thine enemy's ox or his ass going 
 as tray j thou ska It surely bring it back to him 
 again : If thou see the ass of him that hatcth thee 
 lying under his burden, and wouldst forbear to 
 help him thou shalt surely help with him : Where 
 you see it is a debt we owe to our very enemies, to 
 prevent that loss and damage, which by any acci- 
 dent he is in danger of, and that even with 
 some labour and pains to ourselves. How hor- 
 rible an injustice is it then, purposely to bring 
 that loss and damage on him? Whoever is 
 guilty of this, let him never excuse himself by 
 saying he hath not enriched himself by the spoil 
 of his neighbour, that he hath nothing of it 
 cleaving to his finger; for sure this malicous in- 
 justice is no less a fault than the covetous one : 
 Nay, I suppose, in respect of the principle and 
 cause from which it flows, it may be greater ; 
 this hatred of another being worse than the im- 
 
Sund. 11.] Of Oppression, &c. 217 
 
 moderate love of ourselves. Whoever hath thus 
 mischiefed his neighbour, he is as much bound 
 to repair the injury, to make satisfaction for the 
 loss, as if he had enriched himself by it. 
 
 vni. But, on the other side, let not the co- 
 vetous defrauder therefore judge his sin Covetous 
 light, because there is another that in Injustice. 
 some one respect outweighs it ; for, perhaps, in 
 others, he may cast the scales ; certainly it does 
 in this one, that he that is unjust for greediness 
 of gain is likely to multiply more acts of this 
 sin, than he that is so out of malice ; for it is 
 impossible any man should have so many objects 
 of his malice, as he may have of his covetous- 
 ness : There is no man at so general a defiance 
 with all mankind, that he hates every body ; but 
 the covetous man hath as many objects of his 
 vice, as there be things in the world he counts 
 valuable. But I shall no longer stand upon this 
 comparison ; it is sure they are both great and 
 crying sins, and that is ground enough for ab- 
 horring each. Let us descend now to the seve- 
 ral branches of this sort of covetous injustice : 
 it is true, they may all bear the name of rob- 
 bery or theft, for in effect they are all so ; yet 
 for method's sake, it will not be amiss to distin- 
 guish them into these three ; Oppression, Theft, 
 and Deceit. 
 
 ix. By Oppression, I mean that open and 
 barefaced robbery of seizing upon the _ 
 
 ~ f , ° '. , Oppression. 
 
 possessions of others, and owning and 
 avowing the doing so. For the doing of this 
 there are several instruments; as first, that of 
 power, by which many nations and princes have 
 
. 
 
 m 8 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 1 
 
 been turned out of their rights, and many pri- 
 vate men out of their estates. Sometimes again 
 law is made the instrument of it ; he that covets 
 his neighbour's lands or goods, pretends a claim 
 to them, and then by corrupting of justice by 
 bribes and gifts, or else over-ruling it by great- 
 ness and authority, gets judgment on his side: 
 This is a high oppression, and of the worst sort, 
 thus to make the law which was intended for 
 the protection and defence of men's rights, to be 
 the means of overthrowing them ; and it is a 
 very heavy guilt that lies both on him that pro- 
 cures, and on him that pronounces such a sen- 
 tence ; yea, and on the lawyer too that pleads 
 such a cause : for by so doing, he assists in the 
 oppression. Sometimes again the very necessities 
 of the oppressed are the means of his oppression : 
 Thus it is in the case of extortion and griping 
 usury ; a man is in extreme want of mpney ; and 
 this gives opportunity to the extortioner to wrest 
 unconscionably from him ; to which the poor 
 man is forced to yield to supply his present 
 wants. And thus also it is often with exacting 
 landlords, who when their poor tenants know 
 not how to provide themselves elsewhere, rack 
 and screw them beyond the worth of the thing. 
 All these, and many the like, are but several 
 ways of acting this one sin of oppression ; which 
 becomes yet the more heinous, by how much 
 the more helpless the person is that is thus op- 
 pressed. Therefore the oppression of the widow 
 and fatherless, is in Scripture mentioned as the 
 height of this sin. 
 
 x. It is indeed a most crying guilt, and that 
 
Sund. 11.] The Kinds of Theft, &c. 219 
 
 against which God hath threatened God's Vengeance 
 his heavy vengeance, as we read a g amst li - 
 in divers texts of Scripture; thus it is, Ezek.xvm 
 12. He that hath oppressed the poor, and hath 
 spoiled by violence, he shall surely die, his blood 
 shall be upon him ; and the same sentence is re* 
 peated against him, ver. 1 8. Indeed God hath 
 so peculiarly taken upon him the protection of 
 the poor and oppressed, that he is engaged, as 
 it were in honour to be their avenger ; and 
 accordingly, PsaL xii. we see God solemnly de* 
 clares his resolution of appearing for them, ver* 
 5. For the oppression of the poor, for the sigh- 
 ing of the needy, now will I arise saith the Lord, 
 I will set him in safety from him that swelleth 
 against him. The advice therefore of Solomon 
 is excellent, Prov* xxii. 22, 23. Rob not the 
 poor because he is poor ; neither oppress the af- 
 flicted in the gate. For the Lord will plead their 
 cause,and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them: 
 They are like in the end to have little joy of the 
 booty it brings them in, when it thus engages 
 God against them. 
 
 xr. The second sort of this injustice is Theft: 
 And of that also there are two kinds ; the 
 one the with-holding what we should 
 pay ; and the other taking from our neighbour 
 what is already in his possession. 
 
 xii. Of the first sort is the not paying of 
 debts, whether such as we have bor- Not patfin „ 
 rowed, or such as by our own volun- what toe 
 tary promise are become our debts : horrow - 
 for they are equally due to him that can lay 
 either of these claims to them ; and therefore 
 
220 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 1 1 . 
 
 the with-holding either of them is a Theft, a 
 keeping from my neighbour, that which is his : 
 Yet the former of them is rather the more in- 
 jurious, for by that I take from him that which 
 he once actually had (be it money, or whatever 
 else) and so make him worse than I found him. 
 This is a very great and a very common injustice. 
 Men can now- a- days with as great confidence 
 deny him that asks a debt, as they do him that 
 asks an alms; nay, many times it is made a 
 matter of quarrel for a man to demand his own : 
 Besides, the many attendances the creditor is 
 put to in pursuit of it, are yet a further injury to 
 him, by wasting his time, and taking him off 
 from other business ; and so he is made a loser 
 that way too. This is so great injustice, that 
 I see not how a man can look upon any thing he 
 possesses as his own right, whilst he thus denies 
 another his. It is the duty of every man in 
 debt, rather to strip himself of all, and cast 
 himself again naked upon God's providence, 
 than thus to feather his nest upon the spoils of 
 his neighbours. And surely it will prove the 
 more thriving course, not only in respect of the 
 blessing which may be expected upon justice, 
 compared with the curse that attends the con- 
 trary, but even in the worldly prudence also : For 
 he that defers paying of debts, will at last be 
 forced to it by law, and that upon much worse 
 terms than he might have done it voluntarily 
 with a greater charge, and with such loss of his 
 credit that afterward, in his greatest necessi- 
 ties lie will not know where to borrow. But 
 the sure way for a man to secure himself from 
 
Sund. 11.] The Kinds of Theft. 22 1 
 
 the guilt of this injustice, is never to borrow 
 more than he knows he hath means to repay, 
 unless it be of one, who knowing his disability, 
 is willing to run the hazard. Otherwise he com- 
 mits this sin at the very time of borrowing; for 
 he takes that from his neighbour, upon promise 
 of paying, which he knows he is never likely to 
 restore to him, which is a flat robbery; 
 
 The same justice which ties men to pay their 
 own debts, ties also every surety to what we are 
 pay those debts of others for which bvundfor. 
 he stands bound, in case the principal either 
 cannot or will not ; for by being bound, he 
 hath made it his own debt, and must in all justice 
 answer it to the creditor, who it is presumed, was 
 drawn to lend on confidence of his security, and 
 therefore is directly cheated and betrayed by him, 
 if he sees him not satisfied. If it be thought hard 
 that a man should pay for that which he never 
 received benefit by, I shall yield it, so far as to 
 be just matter of wariness to every man, how he 
 enter into such engagements ; but it can never 
 be made an excuse for the breaking them. 
 
 As for the other sort of debt, that which i& 
 brought upon a man by his own what we 
 voluntary promise, that also can- havepromised. 
 not, without great injustice, be withholden ; for 
 it is now the man's right, and then it is no matter 
 by what means it came to be so. Therefore we 
 see David makes it part 61 the description of a 
 just man, Psal. xv. 4. that he keeps his pro- 
 mises ; yea, though they were made to his own 
 disadvantage : And surely, he is utterly unfit to 
 ascend that holy hill there spoken of, either as 
 
 ±4 
 
-222 The. Whole, Duty of Man. [Sund. 11. 
 
 that signifies the church here, or Heaven here- 
 after, that does not punctually observe this part 
 of Justice. To this sort of debt may be re- 
 duced the wages of the servant, the hire of the 
 labourer: and the withholding of these is a 
 -great sin ; and the complaints of those that are 
 thus injured ascend up to God; Behold, (saith St. 
 James, v. 4.) the hire of the labourers, which 
 have reaped dozen your fields, which is of you kept 
 lack by fraud, crieth: And the cries of them 
 which have reaped, are entered into the ear of 
 the Lord of Sabaoth. And Dent. xxiv. 1 4, 15. 
 toe find a strict command in this matter, Thou 
 shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor 
 and needy. At his day thou shalt give him his 
 hire, neither shall the sun go dozen upon it, for 
 he is poor and setteth his heart upon it; lest he 
 cry against thee to the Lord, and it be sin unto 
 thee. ° This is one of those loud clamorous sins, 
 which will not cease crying, till it bring down 
 <3od's vengeance : and therefore, though thou 
 hast no justice to thy poor brother, yet have at 
 least so much mercy to thyself, as not to pull 
 down judgments on "thee by thus wronging Jiiui. 
 
Sund. 12.] Of Stealing. 223 
 
 SUNDAY XII. 
 
 'Of Theft : Stealing: of Deceit in Trust, in 
 Traffick: of Restitution, &c. 
 
 Sect. i. The second part of Theft is the 
 taking from our neighbour that which is al- 
 ready in his possession.: and this su-alino- ths 
 may be done either more violently Goods of our 
 and openly, or else more closely Neighbour- 
 andslily; the first is the manner of those that 
 rob on the way, or plunder houses, where by 
 force they take the goods of their neighbour ; 
 the other is the way of the pilfering thief, that 
 takes away a man's Goods unknown to him : I 
 shall not dispute which of these is the worst; 'tis 
 enough that they are both such acts of injustice, 
 as make men odious to God, unfit for human 
 society, and betray the actors to the greatest 
 mischiefs, even in this world, death itself being 
 by law appointed the reward of it : and there 
 are few that follow this trade long, but at last 
 meet with that fruit of it. I am sure, it is mad- 
 ness for any to believe he shall always steal se- 
 curely ; for he is to contend with the industry of 
 ah those whom he shall thus injure, whose losses 
 will quicken their wits for the finding him out; 
 and which is infinitely more, he is to struggle 
 with the Justice of God, which doth usually 
 pursue such men to destruction, even in this 
 world"; witness the many strange discoveries that 
 l2 
 
224 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 1 2. 
 
 have heen made of the craftiest thieves. But, 
 however, if we were secure from the vengeance 
 here, I am sure nothing but repentance and re- 
 formation can secure him from the vengeance of 
 it hereafter. And now, when these dangers are 
 weighed, 'twill sure appear that the thief makes 
 a pitiful bargain; he steals his neighbour's 
 money or cattle, and in exchange for it he must 
 pay his life or his soul, perhaps both : and if 
 the whole world be too mean a price for a soul, 
 as he tells us, Mark viii. 36. who best knew the 
 value of them, having himself bought them ; 
 what a strange madness is it to barter them away 
 for every petty trifle, as many do who have got 
 such a habit of stealing, that not the meanest 
 worthless thing can escape their fingers ? Under 
 this head of Theft may be ranked the receivers 
 of stolen goods, whether those that take them 
 as partners in the theft, or those that buy them 
 when they know or believe they are stolen. This 
 many (that pretend much to abhor theft) are 
 guilty of, when they can, by it, buy the thing 
 a little cheaper than the common rate. And 
 here also comes in the concealing of any goods 
 a man finds of his neighbour's, which whosoever 
 restores not, if he know or can learn out the 
 owner, is no better than a thief, for he with- 
 holds from his neighbour that which properly 
 belongs to him ; and sure it will not be unchari- 
 table to say, that he that will do this, would like- 
 wise commit the grossest theft, were he by that 
 no more in danger of law than in this he is. 
 The third part of injustice is Deceit; and in 
 
Sund. 12.] Of Deceit in Traffick.- 225 
 
 that there may be as many acts as there D 
 are occasions of intercourse and dealing 
 between man and man. 
 
 it. It were imposible to name them all, but 
 I think they will be contained under these two 
 general deceits; in matter of trust, and in mat- 
 ters of traffick or bargaining; unless it be that 
 of gaming, which therefore here, by the way, I 
 must tell you is as much a fraud and deceit as 
 any of the rest 
 
 i it. He that deceives a man in any Trust that 
 is committed to him, is guilty of & it* 
 great injustice ' r and that the most 
 treacherous sort of one; it is the joining of two 
 great sins in one, defrauding and promise- 
 breaking ; for in all trusts there is a promise im- 
 plied, if not expressed ; for the very accepting 
 of the trust, contains under it a promise ©fi 
 fidelity- These trusts are broken sometimes to* 
 the living, sometimes to the dead ; to the living 
 there are many ways of doing it according to 
 the several kinds of trust ; sometimes a trust 
 is more general, like that of Potiphar to Joseph^ 
 Gen. xxxix. 4. A man commits to another all that 
 he hath : and thus guardians of children, and 
 sometimes stewards, are entrusted ; sometimes 
 again it is more limited and restrained to some 
 one special thing : a man entrusts another to 
 bargain ordeal for him in such a particular, or he 
 puts some one thing into his hands, to manage 
 and dispose : thus among servants, it is usual for 
 one to be entrusted with one part of the mas- 
 ter's goods, and another with another part of 
 them. Now in all these, and the like cases, who"- 
 L 3 
 
226 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. I£. 
 
 soever acts not for him that entrusts him, with 
 the same faithfulness that he would for himself, 
 but shall either carelessly lose, or prodigally em- 
 bezzle the things committed to him, or else con- 
 vert them to hisown use, he is guilty of this great 
 sin of betraying a trust to the living. In like 
 manner, he that being entrusted with the execu- 
 tion of a dead man's testament, acts not ac- 
 cording to the known intention of the dead man, 
 butenriches himself by whatisassigned toothers, 
 he is guilty of this sin, in respect of the dead; 
 which is so much the greater, by how much the 
 dead hath no means of remedy and redress, 
 as the living may have. It is a kind of robbing of 
 graves, which is a theft of which men naturally 
 have such an horror, that he must be a very har- 
 dened thief that can attempt it. But either -of 
 these frauds are made yet more heinous, when 
 either God or the poor are immediately concern- 
 ed in it ; that is, when any thing is committed to 
 a man, for the uses either of piety or charity ; 
 this adds sacrilege to both the fraud and the 
 treachery, and so gives him title to all those 
 curses that attend those several sins, which are so 
 heavy, and he that for the present gain will ad- 
 ventureonthem, makes as ill, nay, a much worse 
 bargain than Gehazi, 2 Kings v. 27. who by 
 »eiting the raiment o/Naaman, got his leprosy 
 too. 
 
 iv. The second sort of fraud is in matters of 
 Traffick and Bargain, wherein there 
 
 In Traffick. ^ ^ ^^ ^^ ^ ^ ^j^ Qnd 
 
 buyer ; that of the 'seller is commonly either in 
 concealing the faults of the commodity, or else 
 in over- rating it. 
 
Sund. 12.1 Of Deceit in Traffick. 227 
 
 v. The ways of concealing- its faults are or- 
 dinarily these? Either, first, by Tke Seller , s con _ 
 denying that it hath any such cealiug the Fault* 
 fault, nay, perhaps, commend- °J ill *W are > 
 ing it for the direct contrary quality ; and- this- 
 is downwright lying, and so adds that sin to the 
 other ! and if that lie be confirmed by an oath, 
 as it is too usually, then the great guilt of per- 
 jury comes in also; and then what a heap of 
 sins is here gathered together ! abundantly 
 enough to sink any poor soul to destruction, and 
 all this only to screw a little more money out 
 of his neighbour's pocket ; and that sometimes 
 so very little, that it is a miracle that any man, 
 that thinks he has a soul, can set it at so mise- 
 rable and contemptible a price. A second means^ 
 of concealing, is by using some art of the thing,. 
 to make it look fair, and to hide the faults of 
 it ; and this is acting a lie, though it be not 
 speaking one, which amounts to the same thing, 
 and as surely in this case as much of the inten- 
 tion of cheating and defrauding, as the most 
 impudent forswearing can. have. A third means 
 is the picking out ignorant chapmen : this is, 
 I believe, an art too well known among trades- 
 men, who will not bring out their faulty wares 
 to men of skill, but keep them to put oti' to 
 such, whose unskilfulness may make them pas- 
 sable with them. And this is still the same 
 deceit with the former ; for it all tends to the 
 same end, the cozening and defrauding: of the 
 chapman ; and then it is not much odds, whe- 
 ther I make use of my own art or his weakness,, 
 for the purpose. This is certain, that he who will 
 14 
 
228 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 1 2. 
 
 do justly, must let his chapman know what he 
 buys; and if his own skill enable him not to 
 judge (nay, if he do not actually find out the 
 fault) thou art bound to tell it him, otherwise 
 thou makest him pay for somewhat which is not 
 there, he presuming there is that good quality 
 in it, which thou knowest it has not : And there- 
 fore thou mayest as honestly take his money 
 for some goods of another man's which thou 
 knowest thou canst never put into his posses- 
 sion, which I suppose no man will deny to be 
 an arrant cheat. To this head of concealment, 
 may be referred the deceit of false weights and 
 measures: for that is the concealment from the 
 buyer a defect in the quantity, as the other was 
 in the quality of the commodity, and is again 
 the making him pay for what he hath not. 
 This sort of fraud is pointed at particularly by 
 Solomon, Prov. xi. ]. with this note upon it, 
 ThatzV is an abomination to the Lord. 
 
 VI. The second part of fraud in the seller lies 
 His over- in over-rating the commodity: Though 
 ratingit. he have not disguised nor concealed 
 the faults of it, and so have dealt fairly in that 
 respect, yet if he sets an unreasonable price upon 
 it, he defrauds the buyer. 1 call that an unrea- 
 sonable price, which exceeds the true worth of 
 the thing, considered with those moderate gains 
 which all tradesmen are presumed to be allowed 
 in the sale. Whatever is beyond this, must in 
 all likelihood, be fetched in by some of these 
 ways ; as, first, by taking advantage of the 
 buyer's ignorance in the value .of the thing, 
 which is the same with doing it in the goodness, 
 
Sund. 12,] Of Deceit in Traffick 229 
 
 which hath already been shewed to be a deceit : 
 or, secondly, by taking advantage of his neces- 
 sity : thou findest a man hath present and 
 urgent need of such a thing, and therefore takest 
 this opportunity to set the dice upon him. But 
 this is that very sin of extortion and oppression 
 spoken of before; for it is sure nothing can 
 justly raise the price of any thing, but either its 
 becoming dearer to thee, or its being some way 
 better in itself: but the necessity of thy brother 
 causes neither of these ;. his nakedness doth not 9 
 make the clothes thou sellest him,. stand thee in 
 ever the more, neither doth it make them any- 
 way better ; and therefore to rate them ever the 
 higher, is to change the way of. tradings and sell 
 even the wants and necessities of thy neighbour, 
 which surely is a very unlawful vocation. Or, 
 thirdly, it may be by taking advantage of the 
 indiscretion of the chapman. A. man perhaps 
 earnestly fancies such a thing, and thensuffers 
 that fancy so to over-rule his reason, that he 
 resolves to have it upon any terms. If thou 
 findest this in him, and thereupon raisest thy 
 rate, this is to make him buy his folly, which, 
 is of all others the dearest purchase : It is sure 
 his fancy adds nothing to the real value, no 
 more than his necessity did in the former case, 
 and therefore should not add to the price. He 
 therefore that will deal justly in the business of 
 selling, must not catch at ail advantages which 
 the temper of his chapman may give; but con- 
 sider soberly what the thing is worth, and what 
 he would afford it for to another, of whom he 
 U 
 
230 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 12* 
 
 had no such advantage, and accordingly rate 
 it to him at no higher a price. 
 
 vn. On the buyer's part there are not ordi- 
 Fmud in narily so many opportunities of fraud : 
 the Buyer, yet it is possible a man may sometimes 
 happen to sell somewhat, the worth whereof he 
 is not acquainted with, and then it will be as 
 unjust for the buyer to make gain by his igno- 
 rance, as in the other case.it was for the seller : 
 but that which oftener falls out is the case of 
 necessity, which may as probably fall on the sel- 
 ler's side, as the buyer's. A man's want to compel 
 him to sell, and permit him not to stay to make 
 the best bargain, but force him to take the first 
 offer ; and here for the buyer to grate upon him 
 because he sees him in that strait, is the same 
 fault which I before shewed it to be in the seller. 
 
 vim. In this whole business of Traffick there 
 MumjTempia- are so many opportunities of de- 
 timx to Deceit ce it, that a man had need fence 
 himself with a very firm resolution, 
 n a}', love of Justice, or he will be in danger to 
 fall under temptation: for as the Wise Man 
 speaks, Eccles. xxvii. 2. As a nail sticks fast 
 between the joinings of the stones, so does sin 
 stick close between buying and selling. It is so 
 interwoven with all trades, so mixed with the 
 very first principles and grounds of them, that it 
 is taught together with them, and so becomes 
 part of the art : so that he is now-a-days scarce 
 thought fit to manage a trade, that wants it ; 
 while he that hath most of this black art of de- 
 frauding, applauds and hugs himself, nay, perhaps 
 boasts to others how he hath over-reached his 
 neighbour. 
 
blind. 12.] Of Deceit in Traffich. 231 
 
 What an intolerable shame is this, that we 
 Christians, who are, by the pre- ne Conwionmss 
 cepts of our Master, set to those of injustice a Rt- 
 higber duties of charity, should, P roai/l tG Chrisli - 
 
 . ft . r . . , J? . ' unity. 
 
 instead of practising ttiem, quite 
 unlearn those common rules of justice which 
 mere nature teaches ? For I think, I may say, 
 there are none of these several branches of In- 
 justice towards the possessions of our neighbour, 
 which would not be adjudged to be so by any 
 sober Heathen. So that, as St. Paul tells those 
 of the circumcision, that the name of God wast 
 blasphemed among the Gentiles, by that unagree- 
 ableness that was betwixt their practice and their 
 law, Rom. ii. 24. so now may be said of us, that 
 the name of Christ is blasphemed among the 
 Turks and Heathens, by the vile and scandalous 
 lives of us, who call ourselves Christians, and 
 particularly in the sin of Injustice. For shame, 
 let us at least endeavour to wipe off this re- 
 proach from our profession, by leaving thesB 
 practices; to which methinks this one single 
 consideration should be enough to persuade us. 
 ix. Yet besides this, there want not other ; 
 among which, one there is of such it is not the 
 a nature, as may prevail with the F a U i0 ennc/i 
 arrantest worldling, and that is, a Man ' 
 that this course doth not really tend to the en- 
 riching of him ; there is a secret curse goes along 
 with it, which, like a canker, eats out all the 
 benefit that was expected from it. This no man 
 can doubt, that believes the Scripture, where 
 there are multitudes of texts to this purpose : 
 Thus Prov. xxii. \6. He that oppresscth the poor 
 l 6 
 
232 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 12 
 
 to increase his riches, shall surely come to want. 
 So Habak. ii. 6, 7. Woe to him that increaseth 
 that which is not his ! how long ? And he that 
 ladeth himself with thick clay ! Shall they not 
 rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake 
 that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties 
 unto them ? This is commonly the fortune of those 
 that spoil and deceive others, they at last meet 
 with some that do the like to them. But the place 
 in Zechariah is mostfull to this purpose, chap. v. 
 where under the sign of a flying roll is signified 
 the curse that goes forth against this sin, ver. 4. 
 I xvill bring it forth, saith the Lord of Hosts, and 
 it shall enter into the house of the thief and into 
 the house of him that sweareth falsely by my 
 name, and it shall consume it, with the timber 
 thereof, and with the stones thereof Where you 
 see theft and perjury are the two sins against 
 which this curse is aimed, (and they too often go 
 together in matter of defrauding) and the 
 nature of this curse is, to consume the house, to 
 make an utter destruction of all that belongs to 
 him, that is guilty of either of these sins. Thus 
 whilst thou art ravening after thy neighbour's 
 goods or house, thou art but gathering fuel to 
 burn thine own. And the effect of these threat- 
 enings of God we daily see in the strange unpros- 
 perousness of ill-gotten estates, which every man 
 is apt enough to observe in other men's cases : 
 he that sees his neighbour decline in his estate, 
 can presently call to mind, This was gotten by 
 oppression or deceit : yet so sottish are we, so 
 bewitched with the love of gain, that he that 
 makes this observation, can seldom turn it to 
 
Sund. 12. Of Restitution. 233 
 
 his own use, is never the less greedy or unjust 
 himself, for that vengeance he discerns upon 
 others. 
 
 x. But, alas ! if thou couldst be sure that 
 thy unjust possessions should not be it in ,i n s the. 
 torn from thee, yet, when thou re- SouUtemal- 
 mem berest how dear thou must pay for ^" 
 them in another world, thou hast little reason to 
 brag of thy prize. Thou thinkest thou hast been 
 very cunning, when thou hast over-reached thy 
 brother; but God knows, all the while there is 
 another over- reaching thee, and cheating thee 
 of what is infinitely more precious, even thy 
 soul : the devil herein deals with thee, as fish- 
 ers use to do ; those that will catch a great fish, 
 will bait the hook with a less, and so the great 
 one coming with greediness to devour that, is 
 himself taken. So thou that art gaping to swal- 
 low up thy poor brother, art thyself made a prey 
 to that great devourer. And alas ! what will it 
 ease thee in Hell that thou hast left wealth 
 behind thee upon earth, when thou shalt there 
 want that, which the meanest beggar here enjoys, 
 even a drop of water to cool thy tongue ? Con- 
 sider this, and from henceforth resolve to em- 
 ploy all that pains and diligence thou hast used 
 to deceive others, in rescuing thyself from the 
 frauds of the grand deceiver. 
 
 xi. To this purpose it i3 absolutely necessary 
 that thou make restitution to all whom The Kices- 
 thou hast wronged: for as long as sityofRes- 
 thou keepest any thing of the unjust iHutwn - 
 gain, 'tis as it were an earnest penny from the 
 devil, which gives him full right to thy soul. 
 
£34 The Whole Butxj of Man, [Sand. !g£ 
 
 But perhaps it may be said, it will not in all 
 cases be possible to make restitution to the 
 wronged party, peradventure he may be dead : 
 in that ease then make it to his heirs, to whom 
 his right descends. But it may further be ob- 
 jected, that he hath long gone on in a course 
 of fraud, may have injured many that he can- 
 not now remember, and many that he hatb no 
 means of finding out : In this ease, all I can 
 advise is this : first, to be as diligent as is possi- 
 ble/ both in recalling to mind who they were, 
 and endeavouring to find them out : and when, 
 after all thy care, that proves impossible, let thy 
 restitutions be made to the poor; and that they 
 may not be made by halves, be as careful as 
 thou canst to reckon every the least mite of un- 
 just gain : But when that cannot exactly be done, 
 as 'tis sure it cannot by those who have multi- 
 plied the acts of fraud, yet even there let them 
 make some general measures, whereby to pro^ 
 portion their restitution: as for example; a 
 tradesman that cannot remember how much he 
 hath cheated in every single parcel, yet may 
 possibly guess in the gross whether he have usu- 
 ally over-reached to the value of a third or a 
 fourth part of the wares ; and then what pro- 
 portion soever he thinks he has so defrauded, 
 the same proportion let him now give out of 
 that estate he hath raised by his trade. But 
 herein it concerns every man to deal uprightly, 
 as in the presence of God, and not to make ad- 
 vantage of his own forgetful ness, to the cutting 
 short of the restitution, but rather go on the 
 other hand, and be sure rather to give too much 
 
Simd. 13.] Of false Witness. ZS$ 
 
 than too little. If he do happen to give some- 
 what over, he need not grudge the charge of 
 such a sin-offering ; and 'tis sure he will not, 
 if he do heartily desire an atonement. Many 
 other difficulties there may be in this business 
 of restitution, which will not be foreseen, and so 
 cannot now be particularly spoke to: but the 
 more of those there are, the greater horror ought 
 men to have of running into the sin of injustice, 
 winch it will be so difficult, if not impossible, 
 for them to repair ; and the more careful ought 
 they to.be to mortify that which is the root of 
 all injustice, to wit, Covetousness. 
 
 SUNDAY XIII. 
 
 Of false Reports,- false Witness, Slanders, 
 IVhisperings : Of Scoffing for Infirmities, 
 Calamities, Sins, fyc. OJ positive Justice, 
 Truth: Of Lying: Of Envy and Detrac- 
 tion: Of Gratitude, fyc. 
 
 Sect. i. The fourth branch of Negative 
 Justice concerns the Credit of our Nei^h- 
 
 o 
 
 hours, which we are not to lessen or impair 
 bv any means, particularly not by „. ^ r . 
 
 r".* J r\cr\ * 4.x His Credit. 
 
 false reports. Or raise reports there 
 may be two sorts : the one is, when a man says 
 something of his neighbour, which he directly 
 knows to be false ; the other, when possibly he 
 has some slight surmise or jealousy of tM 
 thing ; but that upon such weak grounds, that it 
 is as likely to be false as true. In either of these 
 
236 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 13. 
 
 cases there is a great guilt lies upon the re- 
 porter. That there does so in the first of them, 
 no body will doubt ; every one acknowledging 
 that it is the greatest baseness to invent a lie of 
 another : but there is as little reason to question 
 the other : for he that reports a thing as a truth, 
 which is but uncertain, is a liar also ; or if he do 
 not report it as a certainty, but only as a pro- 
 bability, yet then, though he be not guilty of the 
 lie, yet he is of the injustice of robbing his 
 neighbour of his credit ; for there is such an apt- 
 ness in men to believe ill of others, that any the 
 lightest jealousy will if once it be spread abroad, 
 serve for that purpose ; and sure it is a most 
 horrible injustice, upon every slight surmise of 
 fancy, to hazard the bringing so great an evil 
 upon another; especially when it is considered, 
 that those surmises commonly spring rather from 
 some censoriousness, peevishness, or malice in 
 the surmiser, than from any real fault in the 
 person so suspected. 
 
 ii. The manner of spreading these false re- 
 Fahe ports of both kinds, is not always the 
 Witness, same : sometimes it is more open and 
 avowed, sometimes more close and private: the 
 open is many times by false witness before the 
 courts of justice ; and this not only hurts a man 
 in his credit, but in other respects also : it is the 
 delivering him up to the punishment of the law; 
 and according to the nature of the crime pretend- 
 ed, does him more or less mischief: but if it be of 
 the highest kind, it may concern his life, as we 
 see it did in Naboth's case, 1 Kings xxi. How 
 great and. crying a sin it is in this respect, as also 
 
 t 
 
Sund. 13.]. Of public Slander, &q. Z'37 
 
 that of the perjury, you may learn from what 
 hath been said of both those sins. I am now to 
 consider it only as it touches the credit; and to 
 that it is a most grievous wound, thus to have a 
 crime publicly witnessed against one, and such 
 as is scarce curable by any thing that can after- 
 wards be done to clear him : And therefore who- 
 ever is guilty of this, doth a most outrageous 
 injustice to his neighbour. This is that which 
 is expressly forbidden in the ninth Command- 
 ment, and was by God appointed to be punished 
 by the inflicting. of the very same suffering upon 
 him, which his false testimony aimed to bring 
 upon the other. Dent. xix. 16. 
 
 in. The second open way of spreading these 
 reports, is by a public and common p n bUc 
 declaring of them ; though not before §tendw. 
 the magistrate, as in the other case, yet in all 
 companies, and before such as are likely to carry 
 it farther ; and this is usually done with bitter 
 railings and reproaches ; it being an ordinary 
 art of Slanderers to revile those whom they slan- 
 der, that so, by the sharpness of the accusation, 
 they may have the greater impression on the 
 minds of the hearers. This, both in respect of 
 the slander and the railing, is a high injury; 
 and both of them such as debar the committers 
 from Heaven. Thus PsaL xv. where the up- 
 right man is described, that shall have his part 
 there, this one special thing, ver. 3. That he 
 slandereth not his neighbour. And for railing, 
 the Apostle in several places reckons it amongst 
 those works of the flesh, which are to shut men 
 out, both from the Church here, by excom- 
 
2S5 : The Whole Duly of Mam [Sund. ¥0* 
 
 munication, as you may see, 1 Cor. v. 11. and 
 from the kingdom of God hereafter, as it is, 
 ] Cor. vi. 10. 
 
 iv. The other more close and private way of 
 Ttn . . spreading such reports, is that of the 
 
 Whisperings. T | T . . , , r . 
 
 e W hisperer ; he that goes about Irom 
 one another, and privately vents his slanders, 
 not out of an intent by that means to make 
 them less public, but rather more : this trick 
 of delivering them by way of secret, being the-' 
 way to make them both more believed; and 
 more spoken of too ; for he that receives such a 
 tale as a secret from any one, thinks to please 
 somebody else by delivering it as a secret to him 
 also : and so it passes from one hand to another, 
 till at last it spreads over a whole town. This 
 sort of slanderer is of all others the most dange- 
 rous, for lie works in the dark, ties all he speaks 
 to, not to own him as the author : so that where- 
 as in the more public accusations the party may 
 have some means of clearing himself, and de- 
 tecting his accuser, here he shall have no pos- 
 sibility of that ; the slander, like a secret poison,- 
 works incurable effects before ever the man dis- 
 cerns it. The sin of whispering is by St. Paut 
 mentioned among those great crimes, which are 
 the effects of a reprobate mind, Rom. i. 29. It 
 is indeed one of the most incurable wounds of 
 this sword of the tongue, the very bane and pest 
 of human society, and that which not only robs 
 single persons. of their good names, but often- 
 times whole families, nay, public societies of 
 men, of their peace : what ruins, what eonfu 
 sions, hath this one sin wrought in the world 
 
Sund. 13. J Of Whispering, kc. 239 
 
 It is Solomons observation, Prov. xvi. 28. that 
 a Whisperer separateth chief friends ; and sure 
 one may truly say of tongues thus employed,, 
 that they are set on fire of Hell, as St. James: 
 saith, chap. iii. 6. 
 
 v. This is such a guilt, that we are to beware 
 of all the degrees of approach to it, Several step, 
 of which there are several steps; toward this 
 the first is, The giving ear to, and * m * 
 cherishing of those that come with slanders ; for 
 they that entertain and receive them, encourage 
 them in the practice; for as our common pro- 
 verb says, If there mere no Receivers, there 
 7<'Ould be no Thief ; so, if there were none that 
 would give an ear to tales, there would be no 
 tale-bearers. A second step is, The giving too 
 easy credit to them ; for this helps them to attain 
 part of their end. They desire to get a general 
 ill opinion of such a man ; but the way of doing 
 it must be, by causing it first in particular men; 
 and if thou suffer them to do it in thee, they 
 have so far prospered in their aim. And for 
 ^thy own part, thou doest a great injustice to thy 
 neighbour, to believe ill of him without a just 
 ground, which the accusation of such a person 
 certainly is not. A third step is, the reporting 
 to others, what is thus told thee ; by which tkou 
 makest thyself directly a party in the slander ; 
 and after thou hast unjustly withdrawn from thy 
 neigh hour thy own good opinion, endeavourest 
 to rob him also of that of others. This is a very 
 little below the guilt of the first whisperer, and 
 tends as much to the ruin of our neighbour's 
 credit. And these several degrees have so close 
 
£40 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 13 
 
 a-dependance one upon another, that it will be 
 very hard for him that allows himself the first, 
 to escape the other : and indeed, he that can 
 take delight to hear his neighbour defamed, may 
 well be presumed of so malicious a humour, that 
 it is not likely he should stick at spreading the 
 slander. He therefore, that will preserve his in- 
 nocence in this matter, must never, in the least 
 degree,, cherish or countenance any that bring 
 these fake reports • and it is not less necessary 
 to his peace, than to his innocency ; for he that 
 once entertains them, must never expect quiet, 
 but shall be continually incited and stirred up, 
 even against his nearest and dearest relations ; 
 so that this whisperer and slanderer is to be look- 
 ed on by all as a common enemy, he being so as 
 well to these to whom, as of whom he speaks. 
 
 vr. But besides this grosser way of slander- 
 Despinug unci ing, there is another, whereby we 
 Scoffing. mav ia^pair and lessen the credit of 
 
 our neighbour, and that is by Contempt and 
 Despising; one common effect whereof is scof- 
 fing and deriding him. This is very injurious 
 to a man's reputation : for the generality of 
 men do rather take up opinions upon trust, than 
 judgment; and therefore, if they see a man 
 despised and scorned, they will be apt to do the 
 like. But besides this effect of it, there is a 
 present injustice in the very act of despising and 
 scorning others. There are ordinarily but three 
 things; which are made the occasions of it (unless 
 it be with such, with whom virtue and godliness 
 are made the most reproachful things, and such 
 despising is not only an injury to our neighbour, 
 
 
Sund. 13.] Of Scoffing for Sins, Sec. 5241 
 
 but even to God himself, for whose sake it is 
 that he is so despised.) Those three are, first, 
 the infirmities; secondly, the calamities; thirdly, 
 the sins of a man ; and each of these are very 
 far from being a ground of our triumphing over 
 him. 
 
 vn. First, for infirmities, be they either 
 of body or mind, the deformity „ _' j •• . 
 
 j L j c j.\ I° r Infirmities. 
 
 and unhandsomeness of the one, J 
 
 or the weakness and folly of the other, they are 
 things out of his power to help ; they are not 
 his faults, but the wise dispensations of the great 
 Creator, who bestows the excellencies of body 
 and mind as he pleases, and therefore to scorn a 
 man, because he hath them not, is in effect to 
 reproach God, who gave them not to him. 
 
 viii. So also for the Calamities and Miseries 
 that befai a man, be it want or „ „ ' 
 
 • , i . i . i For Calamities. 
 
 sickness, or whatever else, these 
 also come by the providence of God, who raiseth 
 up and pulleth down, as seems good to him; 
 and it belongs not to us to judge, what are the 
 motives to him to do so, as many do, who upon 
 any affliction that befals another, are presently 
 concluding that sure it is some extraordinary 
 guilt which pulls this upon him, though they 
 have no particular to lay to his charge. This 
 rash judgment our Saviour reproves in the Jews, 
 Luke xiii. where, on occasion of the extraordi- 
 nary sufferings of the Galileans, he asks them, 
 ver. 2, 3. Suppose ye that these Galileans were 
 sinners above all the Galileans, because they suf- 
 fered such things ? I tell you, Nay ; but except 
 ye repent, Ye shall all likewise perish. When we 
 
242 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 13. 
 
 see God's hand heavy upon others, it is no part of 
 our business to judge them, but ourselves; and by 
 repentance to prevent what our own sins have 
 deserved. But to reproach and revile any that 
 are in affliction, is that barbarous cruelty taken 
 notice of by the Psalmist, as the height of wick- 
 edness, Psal. lxix. 26. They persecute him whom 
 thou hast smitten, and they talk to the grief of 
 those whom thou hast wounded. In all the mi- 
 series of others, compassion becomes a debt to 
 them : how unjust are they then, that instead of, 
 paying them that debt, afflict them with scorn 
 and reproach. 
 
 ix. Nay, the very sins of men, though as 
 _ _,. they have more of their wills in them, 
 
 Far Sms. . J 1 
 
 they may seem more to deserve re- 
 proach, yet certainly they also oblige us to the 
 former duty of compassion, and that in the 
 highest degree, as being the things which of all 
 others make a man the most miserable. In all 
 these cases, if we consider how subject we are to 
 the like ourselves, and that it is only God's 
 mercy to us, by which we are preserved from the 
 worst that any man else is under, it will surely 
 better become us to look up to him with thank- 
 fulness, than down on them with contempt and 
 despising. Thus you see the direct injustice of 
 scorning and contemning our brethren; to which, 
 when that other is added, which naturally follows 
 as a consequent of this, to wit, the begetting the 
 like contempt in others, there can sure be no 
 doubt of its being a great and horrible injustice 
 to our neighbour in respect of his credit. 
 
 x. Now, how great the injury of destroving 
 
 t 
 
-Sund. 13.] Credit of our Neighboiu\ 243 
 
 a man's credit is, may be measured Destroyingthe 
 by these two things; .first, the Credit a great 
 value of the thing he is robbed of; Aw- 
 and, secondly, the difficulty of making repara- 
 tions. For the first, it is commonly known, that 
 a man's good name is a thing he holds most pre- 
 cious, oftentimes dearer than his life, as we see 
 by the hazards sometimes men run, to preserve 
 even a mistaken reputation : but 'tis sure it is 
 that which hath even by sober men been esteemed 
 one .of the greatest happinesses of life; and to 
 some sort of men, such especially as subsist by 
 dealings in the world, it is so necessary, that it 
 may well be reckoned as the means of their 
 livelihood ; and then sure it is no slight matter 
 to rob a man of what is thus valuable to him. 
 
 xr. Secondly, the difficulty of making repa- 
 rations increaseth the injury : and that is such 
 in this case of defamation, that . 7 . 
 
 T a , 11 •. • ■ And irreparable. 
 
 I may rather call it an impossi- 
 bility, than a difficulty : for when men are pos- 
 sessed of an ill opinion of a person, it is no easy 
 matter to work it out. Nay, suppose men were 
 generally as willing to lay down ill conceits of 
 their neighbours, as they are to take them up ; 
 yet how is it possible for him that makes even 
 the most public recantation of his slander, to be 
 sure that every man that hath come to the hear- 
 ing of the one, shall do so of the other also ? 
 And if there be but one person that doth not, 
 (as probably there will be many) then is the re- 
 paration still short of the injury. 
 
 xii. This consideration is very fit to make 
 men afraid of doing this wrong to their neigh- 
 
, 
 
 244 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 1 
 Yet every guilty Per- bour: but let it not be made 
 
 son must do all he can use f to excuse those that 
 to repuir the Injury. ^ ^ ^^ done ^ ^^ 
 
 from endeavouring to make the best reparations 
 they can ; for though it is odds, it will not 
 equal the injury, yet let them however do what 
 they are able towards it. And this is so neces- 
 sary towards the obtaining the pardon of the sin, 
 that none must expect the one that does not per- 
 form the other. Whosoever therefore sets him- 
 self to repent of his faults of this kind, must by 
 all prudent means endeavour to restore his neigh- 
 bour to that degree of credit he hath deprived 
 him of; and if that be not to be done, without 
 bringing the shame upon himself of confessing 
 publicly the slander, he must rather submit to 
 that, than be wanting to this necessary part of 
 justice, which he owes to the wronged party. 
 
 xiii. Thus have I gone through these four 
 Justice in the branches of negative Justice to our 
 Thoughts. Neighbour; wherein we must yet 
 
 further observe, that this Justice binds us, not 
 only in respect of our words and actions, but of 
 our very thoughts and affections also : we are 
 not only forbid to hurt, but to hate : not only 
 restrained from bringing any of these evils fore- 
 mentioned upon him, but we must not so much 
 as wish them before, nor delight in them after 
 they are befallen him ; we must take no pleasure . 
 either in this sin of his soul, or hurt of his body : 
 we must not envy him any good thing he enjoys, 
 nor so much as wish to possess ourselves of it: 
 neither will it suffice us, that we bridle our 
 tongue, that we neither slander nor revile, if we 
 
 
Sund. 13.] Credit of our Neighbour. 245 
 
 have that malice in our hearts, which makes us 
 wish his discredit, or rejoice when we find it pro- 
 cured, though we have no hand in the procuring 
 it. This is the peculiar property of God's laws, 
 that they reach to the heart, whereas men's can 
 extend only to the words and actions ; and the 
 reason is clear, because he is the only law-giver 
 that can see what is in the heart: Therefore, if 
 there were the perfectest innocency in our tongue 
 and hands, yet if there be not this purity of 
 heart it will never serve to acquit us before him. 
 The counsel therefore of Solomon, is excellent, 
 Prov. iv. 23. Keep thy heart with all diligence, 
 for out of it are the issues of life. Let us~ 
 strictly guard that, so that no malicious, unjust 
 thought enter there : and that not only as it may 
 be the means of betraying us to the grosser act, 
 but also as it is in itself such a pollution in God's 
 sight, as will unfit us for the blessed vision of 
 God, whom none, but the pure in heart have 
 promise of seeing, Matt. v. 8. Blessed are the 
 pure in heart, for they shall see God. 
 
 xiv. I come now to speak of the positive part 
 of Justice : which is, the yielding; . . '- 
 
 . ., u* i i Positive Justice. 
 
 to every man that which by any 
 kind of right he may challenge from us. Of 
 these duties there are some that are general to all 
 mankind ; others that are restrained within 
 some certain conditions and qualities of men, 
 and become due only by virtue of those quali- 
 fications. 
 
 xv. Of the first sort, that is, those that are 
 due to all men, we may reckon Speaking Truth « 
 first, the speaking Truth, which Due tola Men. 
 
 M 
 
246 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 15. 
 
 is a common debt we owe to all mankind. 
 Speech is given us as the instrument of inter- 
 course and society one with another, the means 
 of discovering the mind, which otherwise lies 
 hid and concealed ; so that were it not for this, 
 our conversations would be the same as of 
 beasts. Now this being intended for the good 
 and advantage of mankind, it is a due to it, 
 that it be used to that purpose ; but he that lies 
 is so far from paying that debt, that on the 
 contrary, he makes his speech the means of in- 
 jury and deceiving him he speaks to. 
 
 xvi. There might be much said to shew the 
 
 Lying expressly several sorts of obligations we lie 
 forbidden in under to speak truth to all men : 
 Scripture. j3 ut SU pp sing I write to Christians, 
 
 I need not insist upon any other than the com- 
 mands we have of it in Scripture : Thus, Ephes. 
 iv. 25. the Apostle commands, that putting 
 away Lying, they speak every man truth with 
 his neighbour: And again, Col. iii. 9. Lye not 
 one to another: And Prov. vi. 17. A Laying 
 tongue is mentioned as one of those things which 
 are abominations to the Lord: Yea, so much 
 doth he hate a lie, that it is not the most pious 
 and religious end that can reconcile him to it : 
 The man that lies, though in a zeal to God's 
 glory, shall yet be judged as a sinner, Rom. iii. 
 7. What shall then become of those multitudes 
 of men that lie on quite other ends : Some out 
 of malice, to mischief others ; some out of covet- 
 ousness to defraud their neighbours ; some out 
 of pride to set themselves out; and some out 
 of fear, to avoid danger, or hide a fault. But 
 
Sund. 13.] The Sin of Lying. 247 
 
 of a yet stranger sort than all these are those 
 that do it without any discernible temptation ; 
 that will tell lies by way of story, taking pleasure 
 in telling incredible things, from which them- 
 selves reap nothing but the reputation of im- 
 pertinent liars, 
 
 xvn. Among these divers kinds of falsehood, 
 truth has become such a rarity The great Com- 
 
 among US, that it is a most diffi- monness and Folly 
 
 cult matter to find such a man °f thi ' Sin > 
 as David describes, Psal. xv. 2. that speaketh 
 the truth from his heart. Men have so glibbed 
 their tongues to lying, that they do it familiarly 
 upon any or no occasion, never thinking that 
 they are observed either by God or man. But 
 they are extremely deceived in both ; for there 
 is scarce any sin (that is at all endeavoured to be 
 hid) which is more discernible, even to men : 
 They that have a custom of lying, seldom fail 
 (be their memory never so good) at some time 
 or other to betray themselves ; and when they 
 do, there is no sort of sin meets with greater 
 scorn and reproach : a liar being by all account- 
 ed a title of the greatest infamy and shame. 
 But as for God, it is madness to hope that all 
 their arts can disguise them from him, who needs 
 none of those casual ways of discovery, which 
 men do, but sees the heart and so knows, at 
 the very instant of speaking, the falsehood of 
 what is said : And then by his title of the God 
 of Truth, is tied not only to hate but punish it; 
 And accordingly you see, Rev. xxii. that the 
 liars are in the number of those that are shut 
 out of the New Jerusalem ; and not only so, but 
 M 2 
 
£48 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 1 3. 
 
 also have their part in the lake that burnetii with 
 fire and brimstone. If therefore thou be not of 
 the humour of that unjust judge Christ speaks 
 of, Luke xviii. 2. who neither feared God, nor 
 regarded man, thou must resolve on this part 
 of justice,, the putting away lying, which is ab- 
 horred by both. 
 
 ■xviii. A second thing we owe to all, is 
 Courteous Be- Humanity, and Courtesy of Beha- 
 haviour a Due viour ; contrary to that sullen chur- 
 to all Men. ij s hness we find spoken of mNabal, 
 who was of such a temper, that a man could not 
 speak to him; 1 Sam. xxv. 17- There is sure so 
 much of respect due to the very nature of man- 
 kind, that no accidental advantage of wealth or 
 honour, which one man hath above another, 
 can acquit him, from that debt to it even in the 
 person of the meanest ; and therefore that crab- 
 bed and harsh behaviour to any that bears but 
 the form of a man, is an injustice to that nature 
 he partakes of: and when we consider how 
 much that nature is dignified by the Son of God, 
 his taking it upon him, the obligation to reve- 
 rence is yet greater, and consequently the sin 
 of thus contemning it. 
 
 xix. This is the common guilt of all proud 
 Not paid ly and haughty persons, who are so 
 proudMen. busy in admiring themselves, that 
 they overlook all that is valuable in others, and 
 so 1 think they owe not so much as common civi- 
 lity to other men, whilst they set up themselves, 
 as Nebuchadnezzar did his image, to be worship- 
 ped of all. This is sure very contrary to what 
 the Apostle exhorts, Rom. xii. 10. In honour 
 
Sund. 13.] Sin of Pride. M9 
 
 prefer one another : And again, Phil. ii. 4. Look 
 not every man on his own things, but every man 
 also on the things of others ; and let such remem- 
 ber the sentence of our blessed Saviour, Lake 
 xiv. 1 1. He that ex alt eth himself shall be abased, 
 and he that humhleth himself shall he exalted ; 
 which we often find made good to us, in the 
 strange downfalls of proud men. And it is no 
 wonder, for this sin makes both God and men 
 our enemies : God, as the Scripture every where 
 testifies, abhors it, and all that are guilty of it: 
 and men are by means of it used so contemp- 
 tuously and unkindly by us, that they are by 
 nothing more provoked against us : and then, 
 whom God and man thus resists, who shall 
 secure and uphold ! 
 
 xx. A third thing we owe to all, is Meek- 
 ness; that is, such a patience and Meehnessa 
 gentleness towards all, as may bridle Due to all 
 that mad passion of anger, which is Me)U 
 not only very uneasy to ourselves, as hath 
 already been shewed, but also very mischievous 
 to our neighbours; as the many outrages that 
 are oft com milted in it, do abundantly testify. 
 That this duty of meekness is to be extended to 
 all men, there is no doubt ; for the Apostle in 
 express words commands it, 1 Thess. v. 14. Be 
 patient toxvards all men: and that, it should 
 seem in spite of all provocations to the contrary; 
 for the very next words, are, See that none 
 render evil for evil, or railing for railing : And 
 Timothy is commanded to exercise this meek- 
 ness, even towards them who opposed themselves 
 against the doctrine of the Gospel, 2 Tim. ii. 25. 
 m 3 
 
250 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 1.5- 
 
 which was a case wherein some heat would pro- 
 bably have been allowed, if it might have been 
 in any. 
 
 xxi. This virtue of meekness is so necessary 
 Brawling very to the preserving the peace of the 
 inferable. world, that it is no wonder that 
 Christ, who came to plant peace among men, 
 should enjoin meekness to all. I am sure the con- 
 trary effects of rage and anger are every where 
 discernible ; it breeds disquiet in kingdoms, and 
 neighbourhoods, in families, and even between 
 the nearest relations ; it is such a humour, that 
 Solomon warns us never to enter into a friendship 
 with a man that is of it, Prov. xxii. 24. Make no 
 friendship with an angry man, and with a fu- 
 rious man thou shalt not go. It makes a man un- 
 fit to be either friend or companion ; and indeed 
 makes one insufferable to ail that have to do 
 with him, as we are again taught by Solomon 
 Prov. xxi. 19. where he prefers the dwelling in 
 a wilderness } rather than with a contentious and 
 angry woman: and yet a woman has ordinarily 
 only that one weapon of the tongue to offend 
 with. Indeed, to any that have not the same 
 unquietness of humour, there can scarce be a 
 greater uneasiness, than to converse with those 
 that have it, though it never proceed farther 
 than words. How great this sin is, we may judge 
 by what our Saviour says of it, Matt. v. where 
 there are several degrees of punishment allotted 
 to several degrees of it : but, alas ! we daily out- 
 go that which he there sets as the highest step 
 of this sin : the calling, Thou fool, is a modest 
 sort of reviling compared with those multitudes 
 of bitter reproaches we use in our rages. 
 
Sund. 13.] Virtue of Meekness, &c. 251 
 
 xxn. Nay, we often go yet higher; Re- 
 proaches serve not our turn, but we lt leads t0 
 must curse too. How common is it thatgreat Sin 
 to hear men use the horridest Exe- °f Cursing. 
 orations and Cursings upon every the slightest 
 cause of displeasure ! Nay, perhaps, without 
 any cause at all : so utterly have we forgot the 
 rule of the Apostle, Rom. xn. 14. Bless, and 
 curse not ; yea, the precept of our blessed Sa- 
 viour himself, Matt. v. 44. Pray for those 
 that despitefully use you. Christ bids us pray 
 for those who do us all injury, and we are often 
 cursing those who do us none. This is the lan- 
 guage of Hell, which can never fit us to be ci- 
 tizens of the New Jerusalem, but marks us out 
 for inhabitants of that land of darkness. I con- 
 clude this with the advice of the Apostle, Ephes. 
 i v. 3 1 . Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, 
 and clamour, and evil-speaking, be put away from 
 you, with all malice. 
 
 xxiii. Having spoken thus far of those 
 common dues, wherein all men are particular 
 concerned and have a right; I am Dues. 
 now to proceed to those other sorts of dues, 
 which belong to particular persons, by virtue 
 of some special qualification. These qualifi- 
 cations may be of three kinds ; that of excel- 
 lency, that of want, and that of relation. 
 
 xxiv. By that of excellency I mean any ex- 
 traordinary gifts or endowments of A Respectdue 
 a person : such as wisdom, learn- to Men of ex- 
 ing, and the like; but especially tmwdindry 
 grace. These being the singular 
 gifts of God, have a great value and respect 
 m 4 
 
c 25 c 2 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 13. 
 
 due to them, wheresoever they are to be found ; 
 and this we must readily pay, by a willing and 
 glad acknowledgement of those his gifts, in any 
 he has bestowed them on, and bearing them a 
 reverence and respect answerable thereunto ; 
 and not out of an overweening of our own ex- 
 cellencies, despise and undervalue those of 
 others, as they do who will yield nothing to be 
 reason but what themselves speak, nor any thing 
 piety but what agrees with their own practice. 
 
 xxv. Also, we must not envy or grudge that 
 We are not to they have those gifts; for that is 
 envy them. no t only an injustice to them, but 
 injurious also to God, who gave them, as it is 
 at large set forth in the parable of the labour- 
 ers, Matt. xx. where he asks them who grum- 
 bled at the master's bounty to others, Is it not 
 lawful for me to do xvhat I will with mine own? 
 Is thine eye evil, because mine is good? This 
 envying at God's goodness to others is, in ef- 
 fect a murmuring against God, who thus dis- 
 cs o > 
 
 poses it ; neither can there be a greater and 
 more direct opposition against him, than for 
 ine to hate and wish ill to a man, for no other 
 reason, but because God has loved and done well 
 to him. And then in respect of the man, it is the 
 most unreasonable thing in the world to love 
 him the less because he has those good qua- 
 lities, for which I ought to love him more. 
 
 xxvr. Neither must we detract from the ex- 
 Nor detract cellencies of others; we must not 
 from them, seek to eclipse or darken them, by 
 denying either the kinds or degrees of them, by 
 that means to take off that esteem which is duel 
 
Sund. 13.] Of Envy and Detraction. %53 
 
 to thero. This sin of detraction is generally the 
 effect of the former of envy : He that envies a 
 man's worth, will be apt to do all he can to les- 
 sen it in the opinion of others, and to that pur- 
 pose will either speak lightly of his excellencies, 
 or if they be so apparent, that he knows not 
 how to cloud them, he will try if he can,, by re- 
 porting some either real or feigned infirmity of 
 his to take off from the value of the other ; and 
 so by casting in some deadfiies, as the Wise 
 Man speaks, Ecclus. x. 1. strive to corrupt the 
 savour of the ointment. This is a great injus- 
 tice, and directly contrary to that duty we owe, 
 of acknowledging and reverencing the gifts of 
 God in our brethren, 
 
 xxvii. And both those Sins of envy and 
 detraction do usually prove as t/w Folly of both 
 great follies, as wickedness; the time Sins. r 
 envy constantly brings pain and torment to a 
 man's self ; whereas if he could but cheerfully 
 and gladly look on those good things of ano- 
 ther's he could never fail to be the better for 
 them himself; the very pleasure of seeing them 
 would be some advantage to him : but besides 
 that, those gifts of his brother may be many, 
 ways helpful to him ; his wisdom and learning, 
 may give him instruction, his piety and virtue, 
 example, &c. But all this the envious man 
 loseth. and hath nothing in exchange for it, but 
 a continual fretting and gnawing of heart. 
 
 xxvi 1 1. And then for detraction, that can 
 
 hardly be so managed but it will be found out : 
 
 he that is still putting in caveats against men's 
 
 good thoughts of others, will quickly discover 
 
 n 5 *. . 
 
254 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 13. 
 
 himself to do it out of envy, and that will be 
 sure to lessen their esteem of himself, but not 
 of those he envies ; it being a sort of bearing 
 testimony to those excellencies, that he thinks 
 them worth the envying. 
 
 xxix. What hath been said of the value and 
 
 A Respect due to Men r ? S P ect due tO # those CXCellen- 
 
 in regard of their cies of the mind, may, in a 
 Ranks and Qualities. j ower degree, be applied to 
 the outward advantages of honour, greatness, 
 and the like. These, though they are not of 
 equal value with the former (and such for which 
 no man is to prize himself), yet, in regard that 
 these degrees and distinctions of men are by 
 God's wise providence disposed for the better 
 ordering of the world, there is such a civil respect 
 due to those, to whom God hath dispensed them, 
 as may best preserve that order for which they 
 were intended. Therefore all inferiors are to 
 behave themselves to their superiors with mo- 
 desty and respect, and not by a rude boldness 
 confound that order which it hath pleased God 
 to set in the world; but, according as our 
 Church Catechism teaches, Order themselves 
 lowly and reverently to all their betters. And 
 here the former caution against envy comes in 
 most seasonably ; these outward advantages 
 being things of which generally men have more 
 taste than of the other, and therefore will be 
 more apt to envy and repine to see others exceed 
 them therein. To this therefore all the former 
 considerations against envy will be very proper; 
 and the more necessary to be made use of, by 
 how much the temptation is in this case to most 
 minds the greater. 
 
Sund. 13.] Of Respect, &c. 255 
 
 xxx. The second qualification is that of 
 Want : Whoever is in distress for J>U€Stothosethal 
 any thing, wherewith I can supply are in any sort 
 him, that distress of his makes it °f Want - 
 a duty in me to supply him, and this in all kinds 
 of want. Now the ground of its being a duty 
 is, that God hath given men abilities not only 
 for their own use, but for the advantage and 
 benefit of others : and therefore what is thus 
 given for their use, becomes a debt to them, 
 whenever their need requires it. Thus he that 
 is ignorant and wants knowledge, is to be in- 
 structed by him that hath it : and this is one 
 special end why that knowledge is given him : 
 The tongue of the learned is given to speak a 
 word in season, Isa. 1. 4. He that is in sadness 
 and affliction, is to be comforted by him that is 
 himself in chearfulness. This we see St. Paul 
 makes the end of God's comforting him, that 
 he might be able to comfort them that are in any 
 trouble, 2 Cor. i. 4. He that is in any course of 
 sin, and wants reprehension and counsel, must 
 have that want supplied to him by those who 
 have such abilities and opportunities, as may 
 make it likely to do good. That this is a justice 
 we owe to our neighbour, appears plainly by 
 that text, Lev. xix. 17. Thou shalt not hate thy 
 brother in thy heart: thou shalt not in any 
 wise reprove him, and not suffer sin upon him : 
 Where we are under the same obligation to 
 reprove him, that we are not to bate him. He 
 that lies under any slander, or unjust defama- 
 tion is to be defended, and cleared by him tfeat 
 knows his innocence ; or else he makes himself 
 #6 
 
256 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 13, 
 
 guilty of the slander, because be neglects to. do 
 that which may remove it. And how great an 
 injustice that of slandering our neighbour is, I 
 have already shewed. 
 
 xxxi. Lastly, he that is in poverty and need, 
 «!• ; to must be relieved by him that is in 
 
 To the Poor. , , . >> T "* . 
 
 plenty : and he is bound to it, not 
 only in charity, but even in justice. Solomon 
 calls it a due, Prov. iii. 27- Withhold not good 
 from him to whom it is due, zvhen it is in the 
 pozver of thine hand to do it : And what that 
 good is he explains in the very next verse ; Say 
 not to thy neighbour ', go and come again, and 
 to-morrow Izvill give, when thou hast it by thee. 
 It seems, it is the withholding a due, so much 
 as to defer giving to our poor neighbour. And 
 we find God did, among the Jezvs, separate a 
 certain portion of every man's increase to the 
 use of the poor, a tenth every third year (which 
 is all one with a thirteenth part every year) DeuL 
 xiv. 28, 29. And this was to be paid, not as a 
 charity, or liberality, but as a debt; they were 
 unjust, if they withheld it. And surely we have 
 no reason to think, that Christian justice is 
 sunk so much below the Jezvish, that either no- 
 thing at all, or a less proportion is now required 
 of us. I wish our practice were but at all an- 
 swerable to our obligation in this point, and 
 then surely we should not see so many Lazaruses 
 lie unrelieved at our doors; they having a bet- 
 ter right to our superfluities, than we ourselves 
 have : and then what is it but arrant robbery, 
 to bestow that upon our vanities, nay, our sins, 
 which should be their portion ? 
 
Sund. 13.] Dues of those that IVant. 257 
 
 xxxii. In all the foregoing cases, he that 
 hath ability, is to look upon cm withdraw, th*e 
 himself as God's steward, who Abilities, which are 
 hath put it into his hands to not th «* ™P l °y €<L 
 distribute to them that want; and therefore not 
 do it, is the same injustice and fraud that it 
 would be in any steward to purse up that money 
 for his private benefit, which was entrusted to 
 him for the maintenance of the family : i\nd he 
 that shall do thus, hath just reason to expect the 
 doom of the unjust steward, Luke xvi. to be put 
 out of his stewardship, to have those abilities 
 taken from him, which he hath so unfaithfully 
 employed. And as for all the rest, so particu- 
 larly for that of wealth, it is very commonly to 
 be observed, that it is withdrawn from those that 
 thus defraud the poor of their parts, the griping 
 miser coming often, by strange undiscernable 
 ways, to poverty : and no wonder, he having no 
 title to God's blessings on his heap, who does not 
 consecrate a part to him in his poor members. 
 And therefore we see the Israelites, before they 
 could make that challenge of God's promise to 
 bless them, Deut. xxvi. 15. Look down from 
 thy holy habitation, and bless thy people Israel, 
 &c. they were first to pay the poor man's tithes, 
 *ver. 12. without which they could lay no claim 
 to it. This w r ith-holding more than is meet, as 
 Solomon says, P?w. xi. 24. tends to poverty ; and 
 therefore, as thou wouldst play the good husband 
 for thyself, be careful to perform this justice 
 according to thy ability, to all that are in want. 
 
 xxxin. The third qualification is that of 
 Relation ; and of that there may be di?ers 
 
258 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 13. 
 
 sorts, arising from divers grounds, and duties 
 Duties™ Respect answerableto each of them. There 
 of Relation, j S) first a relation of a debtor to a 
 creditor ; and he that stands in that relation to 
 any, whether by virtue of bargain, loan, or pro- 
 mise, it is his duty to pay justly what he owes, 
 if he be able ; as on the contrary side, if he be not, 
 it is the creditor s to deal charitably and chris- 
 tianly with him, and' not to exact of him be- 
 yond his ability. But I need not insist on this : 
 having already, by shewing you the sin of with- 
 holding debts, informed you of this duty. 
 
 xxxiv. There is also a relation of an obliged 
 Gratitude to person to his Benefactor, that is, one 
 Benefactors, that hath done him good, of what 
 kind soever, whether spiritual or corporal : And 
 the duty of that person is, first, thankfulness, 
 that is, a ready and hearty acknowledgment of 
 the courtesy received : Secondly, prayer for 
 God's blessings and rewards upon him : And 
 thirdly, an endeavour, as opportunity and ability 
 serves, to make returns of kindness, by doing 
 good turns back again. This duty of Gratitude 
 to benefactors is so generally acknowledged by 
 all, even by the most barbarious and savagest of 
 men, that he must have put off much of his 
 human nature, that refuses to perform it. The 
 very publicans and sinners, as our Saviour 9ays, 
 do good to those that do good to them. 
 
 xxxv. Yet how many of us fail even in this ! 
 The contrary How frequent is it to see men not 
 ue common. on [y neglect to repay courtesies, but 
 return injuries instead of them? It is too ob- 
 servable in many particulars, but in none more 
 
Sund. 13.] Of Gratitude, &c. 259 
 
 than in the case of advice and admonition, 
 which is, of all others, the most precious part of 
 kindness, the realest good turn that can be done 
 from one man to another. And therefore those 
 that do. this to us, should be looked on as our 
 prime and greatest benefactors. But alas ! how 
 few are they that can find gratitude, shall I say ? 
 nay, patience, for such a courtesy ? Go about to 
 admonish a man of a fault, or tell him of an er- 
 ror, he presently looks upon you as his enemy; 
 you are, as St. Paul tells the Galatians, chap. 
 iv. 16. become his enemy, because you tell him the 
 truth. Such a pride there is in men's hearts, 
 that they must not be told of any thing amiss, 
 though it be with no other intent, but that they 
 may amend it. A strange madness this is, the 
 same that it would be in a sick man to fly in the 
 face of him that comes to cure him, on a fancy 
 that he disparaged him, in supposing him sick. 
 So that we may well say with the Wise Man, 
 Prov. xii. 1 . He that hateth reproof is brutish. 
 There cannot be in the world a more unhappy 
 temper ; for it fortifieth a man in his sins, raises 
 such mounts and bulwarks about them : that no 
 mau can come to assault them ; and if we may 
 believe Solomon^ destruction will not fail to attend 
 it ; Prov. xxix. 1. He that being often reproved, 
 hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, 
 and that without remedy. But then again, in res- 
 pect of the admonisher,it is the greatest injustice, 
 I may say cruelty, that can be : He comes m 
 tenderness and compassion, to rescue thee from 
 danger, and to that purpose puts himself upon a 
 very uneasy task ; (for such the general impa- 
 
260 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 14. 
 
 tience men have to admonition hath now made 
 it :) and what a defeat, what a grief is it to him, 
 to find, that instead of reforming the first fault, 
 thou art run into a second, to wit, that of cause- 
 less displeasure against him? This is one of the 
 worst, and yet, I doubt, the commonest sort of 
 unthankfulness to benefactors, and so a great 
 failing in that duty we owe to that sort of rela- 
 tion. But perhaps these will be looked on as 
 remote relations : yet, it is sure, they have such 
 as challenge all that duty I have assigned to 
 them. I shall, in the next place, proceed to 
 those relations, which are by all acknowledged 
 to be of the greatest nearness. 
 
 SUNDAY XIV. 
 
 Of Duty to Magistrates, Pastors. Of the Duty 
 of Parents to Children, &c. Of Children's 
 Duty unto Parents, &c. 
 
 Sect. 1. The first of those nearer sorts of 
 relations is that of a Parent. And here it 
 will be necessary to consider the several sorts 
 Duty to of Parents, according to which the 
 Parents. Duty to them is to be measured ; 
 Those are these three; the civil, the spiritual, 
 and the natural. 
 
 ii. The civil parent is he, whom God hath 
 Duties to the established the supreme Magistrate, 
 supreme Ma- who by a just right, possesses the 
 gistrate. throne, in a nation. This is the 
 
Sund. 14.] Of Duty to Magistrates. 261 
 
 common father of all those that are under his 
 authority. The duty we owe to this Parent is, 
 first, Honour and Reverence ; looking 
 on him, as upon one whom God hath 
 stamped much of his own power and authority; 
 and therefore paying him all honour and es- 
 teem ; never daring upon any pretence whatso- 
 ever, to speak evil of the ruler of our people, 
 Acts xxiii. 5; 
 
 in. Secondly, paying Tribute: This is ex- 
 pressly commanded by the Apostle, Rom. Trihute 
 xiii. 6. Pay ye tribute also, for they are 
 God's Ministers, attending continually upon this 
 very thing. God has set them apart as Minis- 
 ters, for the common good of the people ; and 
 therefore it is also justice they should be main- 
 tained and supported by them. And indeed, 
 when it is considered what are the cares and 
 troubles of that high calling, how many thorns 
 are platted in every crown, we have very little 
 reason to envy them these dues ; and it may 
 truly be said, there is none of their poor labour- 
 ing subjects that earn their living so hardly, 
 
 iv. Thirdly, We are to pray for them : This 
 is also expressly commanded by the Prayers 
 Apostle, 1 Tim. ii. 2. to be done for f or them. 
 Kings, and for all that are in authority. The 
 businesses of that calling are so weighty, the 
 dangers and hazards of it so great, that they 
 of all others need Prayers for God's direction, 
 assistance, and blessing; and the Prayers that are 
 thus poured out for them, will return into our 
 own bosoms : For the blessings they receive from 
 God, tend to the good of the people, to their 
 
262 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 14. 
 
 living a quiet and peaceable life, as it is in the 
 close of the verse before- mentioned. 
 
 v. Fourthly, We are to pay them Obedience. 
 _. _. This is likewise strictly charged by 
 
 the Apostle, 1 Pe^.ii. 13. Submit your- 
 selves to every ordinance of man, for the Lord's 
 sake ; whether it be to the King, as supreme ; or 
 untoGovernors,asunto those that are sent by hm. 
 We owe suchan obedience tothesupreme power, 
 that whoever is authorised by him, we are to 
 submit to : And St. Paul likewise is most full to 
 this purpose, Rom. xiii. 1 Let every soul be sub- 
 ject to the higher powers ; and again, ver. % 9 
 Whosoever resist eth the power, resist eth the or- 
 dinance of God. And it is observable, that these 
 precepts were given at a time when those powers 
 were heathens, and cruel persecutors of Christi- 
 anity; to shew us, that no pretence of the wick- 
 edness of our rulers can free us of this duty. 
 An obedience we must pay, either active or 
 passive; the active in the case of all lawful com- 
 mands ; that is, whenever the magistrate com- 
 mands something which is not contrary to some 
 command of God, we are then bound to act 
 according to that command of the Magistrate, 
 to do the thing he requires : But when he en- 
 joins any thing contrary to what God hath com- 
 manded, we are not then to pay him this active 
 obedience; we may, nay we must refuse thus to 
 act (yet here we must be very well assured, that 
 the thing is so contrary, and not pretend con- 
 science for a cloke of stubbornness) we are in 
 that case to obey God rather than man. But even 
 this is a season for the passive obedience ; we 
 
Sund. 14.] Of Duty to Pastors. 263 
 
 must patiently suffer what he inflicts on us for 
 such refusal, and not to secure ourselves rise up 
 against him; For zvho can stretch forth his hand 
 against the Lord's anointed, and be guiltless ? 
 says David to J bish at, 1 Sam. xxvi. 9- and that 
 at a time when David was under a great perse- 
 cution from Saul, nay, had also, the assurance 
 of the kingdom after him : And St. Paul's sen- 
 tence in this case is most heavy, Rom. xiii. 2. 
 They that resist, shall receive to themselves dam- 
 nation. Here is very small encouragement to any 
 to rise up against the lawful Magistrate : for 
 though they should so far prosper here, as to 
 secure themselves from him by this means, yet 
 there is a King of kings, from whom no power 
 can shelter them; and this damnation in the close 
 will prove a sad prize of their victories. What 
 is, on the other side, the duty of the Magistrate 
 to the people, will be in vain to mention here, 
 none of that rank being like to read this treatise : 
 And it being very useless for the people to en- 
 quire what is the duty of their Supreme ; wherein 
 the most are already much better read than in 
 their own, it may suffice them to know, that 
 whatsoever his duty is, or however performed, 
 he is accountable to none but God, and no fail- 
 ing of his part can warrant them to fail of theirs, 
 vi. The second sort of Parents are the spiri- 
 tual; that is, the Ministers of the Duties to 
 Word, whether such as be Gover- our Pastor*. 
 nors in the Church, or others under them, who 
 are to perform the same offices to our souls, that 
 our natural parents do to our bodies. Thus St. 
 Paul tells the Corinthians, That in Christ Jesus 
 he had begotten than through the Gospel, 1 Cor. 
 

 264 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 14. 
 
 iv. 15. and the Corinthians, chap. iv. 19. that he 
 travails in birth of them, till Christ be formed in 
 them : And again, 1 Cor. iii. 2. He hath fed them 
 with milk, that is, such doctrines as were agree- 
 able to that infant state of Christianity they were 
 then in ; but he had stronger meat for them of 
 full age, Heb. v. 14. All these are the .offices 
 of a Parent ; and therefore they that perform 
 them to us, may well be accounted as such. 
 
 vii. Our duty to these is, first, to love them ; 
 
 Love. t0 Dear lnem tnat kindness which belongs 
 
 to those who do us the greatest benefits. 
 
 This is required by St. Paul, 1 Thess. i. 12, 13. 
 
 1 beseech you, brethren, mark them zvhich labour 
 among you ; and are over you in the Lord, and 
 admonish you ; and esteem them very highly in 
 Love, for their works' sake. The work is such 
 as ought in all reason to procure them Love, it 
 being of the highest advantage to us. 
 
 viii. Secondly, it is our duty to value and 
 Esteem. es * eem them, as we see in the text now 
 mentioned ; and surely this is most rea- 
 sonable, if we consider either the nature of their 
 work, or who it is that employs them ; The 
 nature of their work is of all others the most 
 excellent. We use to value other professions 
 proportionably to the dignity and worth of the 
 things they deal in. Now surely there is no 
 merchandize of equal worth with a soul ; and 
 this is their traffic, rescuing precious souls from 
 perdition. And if we consider farther, who it is 
 that employs them, it yet adds to the reverence 
 due to them, they are Ambassadors for Christ, 
 
 2 Cor. v. 20. And Ambassadors are by the laws 
 
 
Sund. 14.] Of the Duty to Pastors. £65 
 
 of all nations to be used with a respect answer- 
 able to the quality of those that send them. 
 Therefore Christ tells his disciples, when hesends 
 them out to preach, He that despiseth you des- 
 piseth me, and he that despiseth me, despiseth him 
 that sent me, Luke x. lo\ It seems there is 
 more depends on the despising of Ministers, than 
 men ordinarily consider; it is the despising of 
 God and Christ both. Let those think of this, 
 who make it their pastime and sport toaffrontand 
 deride this calling : and let those also, who dare 
 presume to exercise the offices of it, without 
 oeing lawfully called to it, which is a most high 
 presumption; it is as if a man of his own head 
 should go as an Ambassador from hisPrince. The 
 Apostle says of the Priests of the law, which yet 
 are inferior to those of the GospeL, that No man 
 taketh the honour upon himself] but he who was 
 called of God, Heb. v. 4. How then shall any 
 man dare to assume this greater honour to him- 
 self, that is not called to it ? Neither will it 
 suffice to say, they have the inward call of the 
 Spirit , for since God hath established an order 
 in the Church, for the admitting men to this 
 office, they that shall take it upon them without 
 that authority, resist that ordinance, and are but 
 of the number of those thieves and robbers, as 
 our Saviour speaks, John x. J . who came not in by 
 the door. Besides, the sad experience of these 
 times shews, that many who pretend most to this 
 inward call of the Spirit, are called by some other 
 Spirit than that of God : the doctrines they vent 
 being usually directly contrary to that word of 
 his, on which all true doctrines must be founded. 
 
$66 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 14. 
 
 Such are to be looked on as those seducers, those 
 false prophets, whereof we are so often warned 
 in the Epistles of the Apostles. And whosoever 
 countenances them, or follows them, partakes 
 with them in their guilt. It is recorded oi Jero- 
 boam as a crying sin, that he made of the 
 meanest of the people, priests : that is, such as 
 had by God's institution no right to it ; and who- 
 ever hearkens to these uncalled preachers, runs 
 into that very sin : for without the encourage- 
 ment of being followed, they would not long 
 continue in the course ; and therefore they that 
 give them that encouragement, have much to 
 answer for, and are certainly guilty of the sin of 
 despising their true pastors, when they shall thus 
 set up these false apostles against him. This is 
 a guilt this age is too much concerned in ; God 
 in his mercy so timely convinces us of it, as may 
 put a stop to that confusion and impiety which 
 breaks in so fast upon us by it. 
 
 ix. Thirdly, We owe to them Maintenance : 
 ,,.. But of this I have spoken already in 
 
 Maintenance. , ~ „ , . * -^ • , i,n 
 
 the first part of this Book, and shall 
 not here repeat it. Fourthly, We owe them Obe- 
 dience : Obey them, saith the Apostle, that have 
 the rule overyou^andsubmit yourselves, 
 for they watch for your souls, Heb. iii. 
 17. This obedience is to be paid them in spiri- 
 tual things, that is, whatsoever they out of God's 
 word shall declare to us to be God's commands, 
 these we are diligently to obey, remembering 
 that it is not they, but God requires it, ac- 
 cording to that of Christ, He that hear eth you, 
 heareih me, Luke x. 16. And this, whether it 
 
Sund. 14.] Of the Duty to Pastors. %67 
 
 be delivered by the way of public preaching, 
 or private exhortation : for, in both, so long as 
 they keep them to the rule which is God's word, 
 they are the Messengers of the Lord of hosts, 
 Mai. ii. 7« This obedience the Apostle enforceth 
 from a double motive, one taken from their mi- 
 nistry, another from themselves : Theywatch,s&ys 
 he, for your souls, as they who must give an ac- 
 count, that they may do it with joy, and not with 
 grief. The people are by their obedience to 
 enable their pastors to give a comfortable account 
 of their souls; and it is a most unkind return of 
 all their care and labours, to be put to grief for 
 the ill success of them. But then in the second 
 place, it is their own concernment also; they may 
 put their Ministers to the discomfort of seeing all 
 their pains cast away, but themselves are like to 
 get little by it ; that (says the Apostle, Heb. xiii. 
 17.) will be unprofitable for you ; it is yourselves 
 that will finally prove the losers by it; you lose 
 all those glorious rewards which are here offered 
 as the crown of this obedience ; you get nothing 
 but an addition to your sin and punishment; for 
 as our Saviour tells the Pharisees, if he had not: 
 come and spoken to them, they had not had sin. 
 John xv. 24. that is, in comparison with what 
 they then had. So certainly they that never had 
 the Gospel preached to them, are much more 
 innocent than they that have heard, and resisted 
 it. And for the punishment, what Christ told 
 those to whom he had preached, That it should 
 be more tolerable for Tyre #m/Sidon, which were 
 Heathen cities, than for them; the same un- 
 doubtedly we may conclude for ourselves. 
 
268 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sand. 14. 
 
 x. Lastly, we are to pray for them. This 
 _ . , St. Paul every where requires 
 
 Prayers for them. r , . . . * .. . 1 
 
 or his spiritual children ; thus, 
 Eph. vi. 18, 19. having commanded prayer for 
 all Saints, he adds, And for me, that utterance 
 may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth 
 boldly, to make known the mystery of the Gospel. 
 And so again. Col. iv. 3. And this remains still 
 a duty to these spiritual Fathers, to pray for 
 such assistances of God's Spirit to them, as may 
 enable them rightly to discharge that holy call- 
 ing. I shall omit to set down here what is the 
 duty of ministers to the people, upon the same 
 consideration on which I forbear to mention the 
 duty of magistrates. 
 
 xi. The third sort of Parent is the natural, 
 Duties to our the- Fathers of our Flesh, as the 
 nauird Parents. Apostle calls them, Heb. xii. 2. 
 And to these we owe several duties: as first, we 
 owe them reverence and respect : We must be- 
 _ have ourselves towards them with all 
 
 Reverence. , ... , , , 
 
 humility and observance; and must 
 not, upon any pretence or infirmity in them, 
 despise or contemn them, either in outward be- 
 haviour, or so much as inwardly in our hearts. 
 If indeed they have infirmities, it must be our 
 business to cover and conceal them : like Shem, 
 and Japheth, who while cursed Ham published 
 and disclosed the nakedness of their fat her, cover- 
 edit, Gen.ix. 23. and that in such a manner too, 
 as even themselves might not behold it. We 
 are as much as may be to keep ourselves from 
 looking on those nakednesses of our parents, 
 which may tempt us to think irreverently of 
 
 1 
 
Sund. 14.] Of Duty to Parents. 269 
 
 them. This is very contrary to the practice of 
 too many children, who do not only publish and 
 deride the infirmities of their parents, but pre- 
 tend they have those infirmities they have not. 
 There is ordinarily such a pride and headiness 
 in youth, that they cannot abide to submit to the 
 counsels and directions of their elders ; and 
 therefore to shake them off, are willing to have 
 them pass for the effects of dotage, when they 
 are indeed the fruits of sobriety and experience. 
 To such the exhortation of Solomon is very ne- 
 cessary, Prov. xxiii. 22. Hearken unto thy father 
 that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when 
 she is old. A multitude of texts more there are in 
 that book to this purpose; which shews, that the 
 wisest of men thought it necessary for children 
 to attend to the counsel of their parents. But 
 the youth of our age set up for wisdom the quite 
 contrary way, and think they then become wits, 
 when they are advanced to the despising the 
 counsel, yea, mocking the persons of their 
 parents. Let such, if they will not practice the 
 exhortations, yet remember the threatening of 
 the wise man, Prov- xxx. 17. The eye that mock- 
 eth at his father, and despiseth to obey his mo- 
 ther, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, 
 and the young eagles shall eat it. 
 
 xn. A second duty we owe to them is Love: 
 We are to bear them a real kindness, such 
 as may make us heartily desirous of all ove ' 
 manner of good to them, and abhor to do any 
 thing that may grieve and disquiet them. This 
 will appear but common gratitude, when it is 
 remembered what our parents have done for us ; 
 N 
 
270 The Whole Duty of Mem. [Sund. 14. 
 
 how they were not only the instruments of first 
 bringing us into the world, but also of sustain- 
 ing and supporting us after: and certainly they 
 that rightly weigh the cares and fears that go to 
 the bringing up of a child, will judge the love of 
 that child to be but a moderate return for them. 
 This love is to be expressed several ways; first, 
 in all kindness of behaviour, carrying ourselves 
 not only with an awe and respect, but with 
 kindness and affection : and therefore most 
 gladly and readily doing those things which may 
 bring joy and comfort to them, and carefully 
 avoiding whatever may grieve and afflict them. 
 Secondly, this love is to be expressed in praying 
 for them. The debt a child owes to a parent is 
 so great, that he can never hope himself to dis- 
 charge it: he is therefore to call in God's aid, 
 to beg of him that he will reward all the good his 
 parents have done for him, by multiplying his 
 blessings upon them. What shall we then say 
 to those children, that instead of calling to Hea- 
 ven for blessing on their parents, ransack hell 
 for curses on them, and pour out the blackest 
 execrations against them ? This is a thing so 
 horrid, that one would think there needed no 
 persuasion against it, because none could be so 
 vile as to fall into it; but we see God himself, 
 •who best knows men's hearts, saw it possible, and 
 therefore laid the heaviest punishment upon it ; 
 He that curse I h his father or his mother let him 
 die the death, Exod. xxi. 7. And alas ! our 
 daily experience tells us, it is not only possible, but 
 common, even this of uttering curses. But it is 
 to be feared, there is another yet more common, 
 
 
Sirad. 14,] Of Duty to Parents. 271 
 
 that is, the wishing curses, though fear or shame 
 keep them from speaking out. How many chil- 
 dren are there, that either through impatience of 
 the government, or greediness of the possessions 
 of their parents, have wished their deaths ? But 
 whoever doth so, let him remember, that how 
 slily and fairly soever he may carry it before 
 men, there is one that sees those secretest wishes 
 of his heart, and in his sight he assuredly passes 
 for this heinous offender, a curser of his parents. 
 And then let it be considered, that God hath as 
 well the power of punishing as of seeing ; and 
 therefore since he hath pronounced death to 
 be the reward of that sin, it is not unreason- 
 able to expect he may himself inflict it; that 
 they who watch for the death of their parents, 
 may untimely meet with their own. ^heffth 
 Commandment promiseth long life, as the reward 
 of honouring the parent : to which it is very 
 agreeable that untimely death be the punish- 
 ment of the contrary : and sure there is no- 
 thing more highly contrary to that duty, than 
 this we are now speaking of, the cursing our 
 parents. 
 
 xin. The third duty we owe to them, is Obe- 
 dience : this is not only contained in 
 the Jifth Commandment, but expressly 
 enjoined in other places of Scripture, Eph.v'x. I. 
 Children, obey your parents in the Lord; for this 
 is right : And again, Col. hi. 20. Children, obey 
 your Parents in all things, for this is xvell plea- 
 I sing unto the Lord. We owe them an obedience in 
 I all things, unless where their commands are con- 
 trary to the commands of God ; for in that case 
 n 2 
 
272 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 14. 
 
 our duty to God must be preferred. And there- 
 fore if any parent shall be so wicked, as to re- 
 quire his child to steal, to lie, or to do any 
 unlawful thing, the child then offends not against 
 his duty though he disobey that command ; 
 nay, he must disobey, or else he offends against 
 a higher duty, even that he owes to God his 
 heavenly Father : yet when it is thus necessary 
 to refuse obedience, he should take care to do 
 it in such a modest and respectful manner, that 
 it may appear it is conscience only, and not 
 stubbornness moves him to it. But in case of 
 all lawful commands, that is, when the thing 
 commanded is either good, or not evil, when it 
 hath nothing in it contrary to our duty to God, 
 there the child is bound to obey, be the com- 
 mand in a weightier or lighter matter. How 7 
 little this duty is regarded, is too manifest every 
 where in the world, where parents generally 
 have their children no longer under command, 
 than they are under the rod : when they are 
 once grown up, they think themselves free from 
 all obedience to them ; or if some do continue 
 to pay it, yet let the motive of it be examined, 
 and it will in too many be found only worldly 
 prudence : they fear to displease their parents, 
 lest they should shorten their hand towards them, 
 and so they shall lose somewhat by it. But how 
 few are they that obey purely upon conscience 
 of duty? This sin of disobedience to parents 
 was by the law of Moses, punishable with death, 
 as you may read, Deut. xxi. 18. But if parents 
 now-a-days should proceed so with their children 
 many might soon make themselves childless. 
 
Sund. 14.] Of Duty to Parents. %73 
 
 xiv. But of all the acts of disobedience, that 
 of marrying against the consent of Especially in 
 the parent is one of the highest. their Marriage. 
 Children are so much the goods, the posses- 
 sions of their parents, that they cannot, with- 
 out a kind of theft, give away themselves, with- 
 out the allowance of those that have the right 
 in them : And therefore we see under the law, 
 the maid that hath made any vow, was not suf- 
 fered to perform it, without the consent of the 
 parent y Numb. xxx. 5. The right of the parent 
 was thought of force enough to cancel and make 
 yoid the obligation even of a vow ; and there- 
 fore surely it ought to be so much considered by 
 us as to keep us from making any such, whereby 
 that right is infringed. 
 
 xv. A fourth duty to the parent is to assist 
 and minister to them in all their Ministering to 
 wantSj of what kind soever,, whe- their Wants. 
 ther weakness and sickness of body, decayed- 
 ness of understanding, or poverty and lowness 
 in estate : in all these the child is bound, ac- 
 cording to his ability^ to relieve and assist them. 
 For the two former, weakness of body, and in- 
 firmity of mind, none can doubt of the duty, 
 when they remember how every child did in its 
 infancy receive the very same benefit from the 
 parents; the child had then no strength to sup- 
 port no understanding to guide itself; the care 
 of the parents was fain to supply both these to 
 it. And therefore in common gratitude, when- 
 ever eitherof these becomes the parents' case, as 
 sometimes by great age, or some accident, both 
 do, the child is to perform the same offices back 
 N 3 
 
The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 
 
 again to them. And for that of relieving their 
 poverty, there is the very same obligation to that 
 with the former; it being but just to sustain thy 
 parent, who has formerly sustained thee. But 
 besides this, Christ himself teaches us, that this 
 is contained within the precept of honouring 
 their parents; for when, Mark vii. 13. he accuses 
 the Pharisees of rejecting the Commandment 
 of God, to cleave to their own traditions, he in- 
 stances in this particular concerning the reliev- 
 ing of Parents. Whereby it is manifest, that this 
 is a part of that duty which is enjoined in the 
 fifth Commandment, as you may see at large in 
 the text ; and such a duty it is, that no pretence 
 can absolve or acquit us of it. How then shall 
 those answer it, that deny relief to their poor 
 parents ? that cannot part with their own ex- 
 cesses and superfluities, which are indeed their 
 sins, to satisfy the necessities of those to whom 
 they owe their being ? Nay, some there are yet 
 worse, who, out of pride, scorn to own their pa- 
 rents in their poverty. Thus it often happens, 
 when the child is advanced to dignity or wealth, 
 they think it a disparagement to them to look 
 on their parents, that remain in a low condition ; 
 it being the betraying, as they think, to the 
 world, the meanness of their birth ; and so the 
 poor parent fares the worse for the prosperity 
 of his child. This is such a pride and unnatu- 
 ralness together, as will surely find a sharp ven- 
 geance from God ; for if Solomon observes of 
 pride alone, that it is the forerunner of destruc- 
 tion, Prov. xvi. 18. we may much rather con- 
 clude so of it, when it is thus accompanied, 
 xvi. To this that hath been^aid of the duty 
 
 
Sund. 14.]' Of Duty of Parents. 275 
 
 of Children to their Parents, I D ut y t0 i e pa i ( i 
 shall add only this, that no un- even to the worst 
 kindness, no fault of the Parent, °f Parents ' 
 can acquit the child of his duty : but as St. 
 Peter tells servants, 1 Pet. ii. 1 8. that they must 
 be subject not onty to the good and gentle mas* 
 ters, but also to thefroward ; so certainly it be- 
 longs to children to perform duty not only to 
 the kind and virtuous, but even to the harshest 
 and wickedest parent : for though the gratitude 
 due to a kind parent be a very forcible motive 
 to make the child pay his duty : yet that is not 
 the only nor chiefest ground of it, that is laid 
 in the Command of God, who requires us thus 
 to honour our parents. And therefore, though 
 we should suppose a parent so unnatural, as 
 never to have clone any thing to oblige the 
 child (which can hardly be imagined) yet still 
 the command of God continues in force, and 
 we are in conscience of that to perform that 
 duty to our parents, though none of the other 
 ties of gratitude should lie on us. 
 
 But as this is due from, the Child to the Pa- 
 rent : so on the other side, there Dut ~ Pa ^ 
 are other things also due from the rents to ciai- 
 parent to the child, and that dreTU 
 throughout the several stages and ages of it. 
 
 xvii. First, there is the care of nourishing 
 and sustaining it : which begins _ ... 
 
 r .i ° i • i i rt • To nourish them, 
 
 irom the very birth, and conti- 
 nues a duty from the parent, till the child be 
 able to perform it to himself: this is a duty 
 which nature teaches ; even the savage beasts 
 have a great care and tenderness in nourishing 
 n 4 
 
$76 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 14. 
 
 their young, and therefore may serve to reproach 
 and condemn all parents, who shall be so un- 
 natural as to neglect this. I shall not here enter 
 into the question, Whether the mother be obliged 
 to give the child its first nourishment, by giving 
 it suck herself, because it will not be possible to 
 affirm universally in the case ; there being many 
 circumstances which may alter it, and make it 
 not only lawful, but best not to do it. All I 
 shall say is, that where no impediment of sick* 
 ness, weakness, or the like, does happen, it is 
 surely best for the mother herself to perform 
 tliis office ; there being many advantages to the 
 child by it, which a good mother ought so far 
 to consider, as not to sell them to her own sloth 
 or niceness, or any such unworthy motive ; for 
 where such only are the grounds of forbearing 
 it, they will never be able to justify the omis- 
 sion, they being themselves unjustifiable. 
 
 But besides this first care, which belongs to 
 the body of the child, there is another which 
 should begin near as early, which belongs to 
 their souls : and that is the bringing them to the 
 Sacrament of Baptism, thereby to procure them 
 Bring them an early right to all those precious 
 to Baptism, advantages, which that Sacrament 
 conveys to them. This is a duty the parents 
 ought not to delay ; it being most reasonable, 
 that they, who have been instruments to convey 
 the stain and pollution of sin to the poor infant, 
 should be very earnest and industrious to have 
 it washed off as soon as may be : Besides, the 
 life of so tender a creature is but a blast, and 
 many times gone in a moment : and though we 
 
Sund> 14.] Parents Duty to Children. 277 
 
 are not to despair of GocTs mercy to those poor 
 children who die without Baptism, yet surely 
 those parents commit a great fault, by whose 
 neglect it is that they want it. 
 
 xvi it. Secondly, the parents must provide 
 for the education of the child; 
 they must, as Solomon speaks, 
 Prov. xxii. Train up a child in the zvay he 
 should go. As soon, therefore, as children come 
 to the use of reason, they are to be instructed ; 
 and that, first, in those things which concern 
 their eternal well-being; they are by little and 
 little to be taught all those things which God 
 hath commanded them as their duty to perform ; 
 as also what glorious rewards he hath provided 
 for them if they do it ; and what grievous and 
 eternal punishments if they do it not. These 
 things ought, as early as possible, to be instilled 
 into the minds of children, which (like new 
 vessels) do usually keep the savour of that which 
 is first put into them : And therefore, it nearly 
 concerns all parents to look they be at first thus 
 seasoned with virtue and religion. It is sure, if 
 this be neglected, there is one ready at hand to 
 fill them with the contrary: the devil will be 
 diligent enough to instil into them all wicked- 
 ness and vice, even from their cradles : and 
 there being also in all our natures so much the 
 greater aptness to evil than to good, there is 
 need of great care and watchfulness to prevent 
 those endeavours of that enemy of souls, which 
 can no way be, but by possessing them at first 
 with good things, breeding in them a love to 
 virtue, and hatred of vice; that so when the 
 N 5 
 
278 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 14. 
 
 temptations come, they may be armed against 
 them. This surely is, above all things, the 
 duty of parents to look after, and the neglect 
 of it is a horrible cruelty. We justly look upon 
 those parents as most unnatural wretches, that 
 take away the life of their child; but, alas! 
 that is mercy and tenderness, compared to this 
 of neglecting his education ; for by that he ruins 
 his soul, makes him miserable eternally ; and 
 God knows, multitudes of such cruel parents 
 there are in the world, that thus give up their 
 children to be possessed by the devil, for want 
 of an early acquainting them with the ways of 
 God : nay, indeed, how few there are that do 
 conscionably perform this duty, is too apparent, 
 by the strange rudeness and ignorance that is 
 generally among youth ; the children of those, 
 who call themselves Christians, being frequently 
 as ignorant of God and Christ as the merest 
 Heathens. But whoever they are that thus neg- 
 lect this great duty, let them know, that it is not 
 only a fearful misery they bring upon their poor 
 children, but also a horrible guilt upon them- 
 selves : for, as God says to the careless watch- 
 man, Ezek. iii. 18. That if any soul perish by 
 his negligence, that soul shall be required at his 
 hands : so surely will it fare with all parents, 
 who have this office of watchmen entrusted to 
 them by God over their own children. A 
 second part of education is the bringing them 
 up to some employment, busying them in 
 some honest exercise, whereby they may avoid 
 that great snare of the devil, idleness ; and also 
 be taught some useful art or trade, whereby, 
 
Sund. 14.] Parents Duty to Children. 9,79 
 
 when they come to age, they may become pro- 
 fitable to the commonwealth, and able to get an 
 honest living to themselves. 
 
 xix. To this great Duty of educating of Chil- 
 dren there is required, as means, Meam towards 
 first, encouragement; secondly, the education of 
 correction. Encouragement is Cfaldren > 
 first to be tried ; we should endeavour to make 
 children in love with duty, by offering them re- 
 wards and invitations ; and whenever they do 
 well take notice of it, and encourage them to 
 go on. It is an ill course some parents hold, 
 who think they must never appear to their chil- 
 dren but with a face of sourness and austerity; 
 This seems to be that which St. Paul forewarns 
 parents of, when he bids fathers not to provoke 
 their children to wrath. Col. iii. 21. To be as 
 harsh and unkind to them, when they do well, 
 as if they do ill, is the way to provoke them, 
 and then the Apostle tells us, in the same verse, 
 what will be the issue of it ; they will be dis- 
 couraged, they will have no heart to go on in 
 any good course, when the parents afford them 
 no countenance. The second means is correc- 
 tion ; and this becomes seasonable when the for- 
 mer will do no good. When all fair means, per- 
 suasions, and encouragements prevail not, then 
 there is a necessity of using sharper; and let 
 that be first tried in words, I mean, not by rail- 
 ing and foul language, but in sober, yet sharp 
 reproof: but if that fail too, then proceed to 
 blows. And in this case, as Solomon saith, he that 
 spareth his rod, hateth his son, Prov. xiii. 24. 
 It is a cruel fondness, that to spare a few stripes 
 n G, 
 
280 The Mole Duty of Man. [Sund. 14, 
 
 at the present will adventure him to those sad 
 mischiefs which commonly befal the child that 
 is left to himself. But then this correction must 
 be given in such a manner as may be likely to 
 do good : to which purpose, it must first be 
 given timely the child must not be suffered to 
 run on in any ill, till it hath got a habit, and 
 stubbornness too. This is a great error in many 
 parents ; they will let their children alone for 
 divers years to do what they list, permit them 
 to lie, to steal, without ever so much as re- 
 buking them ; nay, perhaps please themselves 
 to see the witty shifts of the child,, and think it 
 matters not what they do while they are little. 
 But, alas ! all that while the vice gets root, and 
 that many time so deep an one, that all they 
 can do afterwards, whether by words and blows 
 can never pluck it up. Secondly, Correction 
 must be moderate, not exceeding the quality 
 of the fault, nor the tenderness of the child. 
 Thirdly, it must not be given in a rage ; if it be, 
 it will not only be in danger of being immode- 
 rate, but it will lose its effects upon the child; 
 who will think he is corrected, not because he 
 has done a fault, but because his parent is angry; 
 and so will rather blame the parent than him- 
 self: whereas on the contrary, care should be 
 taken to make the child as sensible of the fault 
 as of the smart, without which he will never be 
 thoroughly amended. 
 
 xx. Thirdly, after children are grown up, 
 , and are past the age of edu- 
 
 The Parent to watch . X „ ± *.u„~ 
 
 over their Souh, even cation, there are yet other 
 when they are grown offices for the parent to per- 
 u *' form to them ; the parent is 
 
Sund. 14.] Parents Duty to Children. 281 
 
 still to watch over them, in respect of their 
 souls, to observe how they practise those pre- 
 cepts which were given to them in their educa- 
 tion, and accordingly to exhort, encourage, or 
 reprove, as they rind occasion. 
 
 xxi. So also for their outward estate, they 
 are to put them into some course of living in 
 the world. If God have blessed the parent 
 with wealth, according to what To provide for 
 he hath, he must distribute to his their Subsistence. 
 children ; remembering that since he was the 
 instrument of bringing them into the world, he 
 is, according to his ability, to provide for their 
 comfortable living in it : they are therefore to 
 be looked on as very unnatural parents, who, 
 so they may have enough to spend on their own 
 riots and excess, care not what becomes of their 
 children, and never think of providing for them. 
 Another fault is usual among parents in this 
 business; they defer all the provisions for them, 
 till themselves be dead ; heap up, perhaps, great 
 matters for them against that time, but in the 
 mean time afford them not such a competency 
 as may enable them to live in the world. There 
 are several mischiefs come from this. First, it 
 lessens the child's affection to his parent ; nay, 
 sometimes it proceeds so far as to make him 
 wish his death : which, though it be such a faulf 
 as no temptation can excuse in a child, yet it is 
 also a great fault in a parent to give that temp- 
 tation. Secondly, it puts the child upon shifts 
 and tricks, many times dishonest ones, to supply 
 his necessities: this is, I doubt not, a com twin 
 effect of it. The hardness of parents has often 
 
284 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 14 
 
 the child will account this a great injustice in 
 his father, to punish him for that which himself 
 freely does ; and so he is never likely to he 
 wrought upon by it. This consideration lays 
 a most strict tie upon all parents to live chris- 
 tianly ; for otherwise they do not only hazard 
 their own souls, but those of their children also, 
 and as it were purchase an estate of inheritance 
 in Hell. 
 
 xxiii. A fifth duty of Parents is blessing 
 T hie them ^ elr cn ^ren : The way of doing 
 ' that is double ; first, by their Prayers ; 
 they aie by daily and earnest prayers to com- 
 mend them to God's protection and blessing, 
 both for their spiritual and temporal estate : 
 And, secondly, by their piety; they are to be 
 such persons themselves, as that a blessing may 
 descend from them upon their posterity. This 
 is often promised in Scripture to godly men, that 
 their seed shall be blessed: thus in the second 
 Commandment God prouiises to shew mercy to 
 the thousandth generation of them that love hhn 
 and keep his Commandments. And it is very ob- 
 servable in the Jezvs, that though they were a 
 stiff-necked generation, and had very grievously 
 provoked God, yet the godliness of their fore- 
 fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, did many 
 times move God to save them from destruction. 
 On the other side we see, that even good men 
 have fared the worse for the iniquities of their 
 fathers ; Thus when Josiah had destroyed ido- 
 latry, restored God's service, and done good be- 
 yond all the kings that were before him ; yet there 
 was an old arrear of Manasseh his grandfather, 
 
Sund. 14.]- Parents Duty to Children, 0,85 
 
 which all this piety of his would not blot out, 
 but he resolves to cast Judah also out of his sight ; 
 as you may read at large, 2 Kings, chap, xxiii. 
 If therefore parents have any bowels, any kind- 
 ness towards their children, and real desire of 
 their prosperity, let them take care, by their own 
 godly life, to entail a blessing upon them. 
 
 xxiv. Sixthly, Parents must take heed that 
 they use their power over their chil- To . n0 
 dren, with equity and moderation, unreasonable 
 not to oppress them with unreason- Commands > 
 able commands, only to exercise their own au- 
 thority ; but in all things of weight to consider 
 the real good of their children, and to press them 
 to nothing which may not consist with that. 
 This is a rule whereof parents may often have 
 use, but in none greater than in the business of 
 marrying their children, wherein many that 
 otherwise are good parents, have been to blame ; 
 when out of an eagerness of bestowing them 
 wealthily, they force them to marry utterly 
 against their own inclinations, which is a great 
 tyranny, and that which frequently betrays them 
 to a multitude of mischiefs, such as all the 
 wealth in the world cannot repair. There are 
 two things which parents ought especially to 
 consider in the matching their children ; the 
 first, how they may live christianly ; and, to 
 that purpose, to chuse a virtuous and pious per- 
 son to link them with. The second is, how 
 they may live cheerfully and comfortably in this 
 world ; and to that end, though a competency 
 of estate may be necessary to be regarded, yet 
 surely abundance is no way requisite, and there- 
 
.284 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 14. 
 
 the child will account this a great injustice in 
 his father, to punish him for that which himself 
 freely does; and so he is never likely to he 
 wrought upon by it. This consideration lays 
 a most strict tie upon all parents to live chris- 
 tianly ; for otherwise they do not only hazard 
 their own souls, but those of their children also, 
 and as it were purchase an estate of inheritance 
 in Hell. 
 
 xxiii. A fifth duty of Parents is blessing 
 
 T ble th ^ e ^ r cn ^^ ren : The way of doing 
 " that is double; first, by their Prayers; 
 they aie by daily and earnest prayers to com- 
 mend them to God's protection and blessing, 
 both for their spiritual and temporal estate : 
 And, secondly, by their piety; they are to be 
 such persons themselves, as that a blessing may 
 descend from them upon their posterity. This 
 is often promised in Scripture to godly men, that 
 their seed shall be blessed: thus in the second 
 Commandment God promises to shew mercy to 
 the thousandth generation of them that lovehbn 
 and keep his Commandments. And it is very ob- 
 servable in the Jews, that though they were a 
 stiff-necked generation, and had very grievously 
 provoked God, yet the godliness of their fore- 
 fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, did many 
 times move God to save them from destruction 
 On the other side we see, that even good men 
 have fared the worse for the iniquities of their 
 fathers ; Thus when Josiah had destroyed ido- 
 latry, restored God's service, and done good be- 
 yond all the kings that were before him ; yet there 
 was an old arrear of Manasseh his grandfather. 
 
Sund. 14.]- Parents Duty to Children, 285 
 
 which ail this piety of his would not blot out, 
 but he resolves to cast Judah also out of his sight ; 
 as you may read at large, 2 Kings, chap, xxiii. 
 If therefore parents have any bowels, any kind- 
 ness towards their children, and real desire of 
 their prosperity, let them take care, by their own 
 godly life, to entail a blessing upon them. 
 
 xxiv. Sixthly, Parents must take heed that 
 they use their power over their chil- To . n0 
 dren, with equity and moderation, unreasonable 
 not to oppress them with unreason- Commands - 
 able commands, only to exercise their own au- 
 thority ; but in all things of weight to consider 
 the real good of their children, and to press them 
 to nothing which may not consist with that. 
 This is a rule whereof parents may often have 
 use, but in none greater than in the business of 
 marrying their children, wherein many that 
 otherwise are good parents, have been to blame ; 
 when out of an eagerness of bestowing them 
 wealthily, they force them to marry utterly 
 against their own inclinations, which is a great 
 tyranny, and that which frequently betrays them 
 to a multitude of mischiefs, such as all the 
 wealth in the world cannot repair. There are 
 two things which parents ought especially to 
 consider in the matching their children ; the 
 first, how they may live christianly ; and, to 
 that purpose, to chuse a virtuous and pious per- 
 son to link them with. The second is, how 
 they may live cheerfully and comfortably in this 
 world ; and to that end, though a competency 
 of estate may be necessary to be regarded, yet 
 surely abundance is no way requisite, and there- 
 
286* The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. \$. 
 
 fore that should not be too vehemently sought 
 after. That which much more tends to the 
 happiness of that state, is the mutual kindness 
 and liking of the parties, without which mar- 
 riage is of all other the most uncomfortable 
 condition; and therefore no parent oughi to 
 thrust a child into it. I have now done with 
 the first sort of relation^ that of a Parent 
 
 SUNDAY XV. 
 
 Of Duty to our Brethren and Relations t Hus~ 
 band, Wife, Friends, Masters, Servants. 
 
 Sect. i. The second sort of relation is that 
 of a Brother. Now Brotherhood may be two- 
 fold, either natural or spiritual : the natural 
 Duties to may in largest extent contain under 
 Brethren. j t a ll mankind, all that partake of the 
 same nature : but I shall not consider it so in 
 this place : having already mentioned those 
 general duties, which belong to all as such. 
 I now speak of that natural Brother- 
 hood that is between those that are the 
 children of the same immediate parents; and the 
 duty of these is to have united hearts and affec- 
 tions. This nature points out to them ; they 
 partaking in a more especial manner of each 
 other's substance, and therefore ought to have 
 the greatest tenderness and kindness to each 
 other. Thus we see Abraham makes it an argu- 
 ment, why there should be no contention between 
 
Sund. 15.] Duties of Brethren. 287 
 
 him and Lot, because they were Brethren. Gen. 
 xiii. 8. And though by brethren there is meant 
 only cousins, yet that helps the more strongly 
 to conclude, that this nearer relation is in reason 
 to be a greater bar to strife; as also that this 
 kindness is in some degree to be extended to all 
 that have any nearness of blood to us. 
 
 ti. This Kindness and love between Brethren 
 and Sisters ought to be very firmly The Necessity 
 grounded in their hearts; if it be of Love among 
 not, they will be of all others in Br*k**& 
 most danger of disagreeing: for the continual 
 conversation that is among them, whilst they 
 are at home in their father's house, will be apt 
 to minister some occasion to jar. Besides, the 
 equality that is among them in respect to birth, 
 often makes them inclinable to envy each other, 
 when one is in any respect advanced above the 
 other. Thus we see Joseph's brethren envied 
 him, because he had most of his father's love ; 
 and Rachel envied her sister Leah, because she 
 was fruitful. Therefore, for the pre venting of 
 such temptations,, let all who have brethren and 
 sisters, possess their minds with a great and real 
 kindness to them, look on them, as parts of 
 themselves, and then they will never think fit 
 either to quarrel with them, or to envy them 
 any advantage, any more than one part of the 
 body does another of the same body, but will 
 strive to advance and help forward the good of 
 each other. 
 
 in. The secnd kind of Brotherhood is spi- 
 ritual : that contains all those who Spiritual 
 profess the same faith with us. The Brotherhood* 
 
288 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 15. 
 
 churchin our Baptism becomes a motber to each 
 baptized person ; and then surely they that have 
 the relation of Children to her, must have also 
 the relation of brethren to each other. And to 
 this sort of brethren also we owe a great deal of 
 tenderness and affection; the spiritual bond of 
 religion should, of all others, the most closely 
 unite our hearts. This is the brotherhood which 
 St. Peter exhorts us to love, 1 Pet. ii. 17. And 
 to it we are in an especial manner bound to do 
 all good offices. Do good, saith the Apostle, to 
 «//, but especially unto them xvho are of the house 
 hold of faith, Gal. vi. 1 0. Our compassions are 
 to be most melting towards them, of all others, 
 in all their needs. Christ tells us, That whoso- 
 ever gives but a cup of cold water to any in the 
 name of a Disciple, shall not lose his reward, 
 Matt. x. 42. From whence we may assure 
 ourselves, that this peculiar love to Christians, 
 as Christians, is very acceptable in his sight. 
 
 iv. Several Duties there are required of us to 
 Our Duty to hold these Brethren : One principal is 
 Commwiion with the holding Communion with 
 
 these Brethren. ^^ . ^ ^ ^ £ ^^ . 
 
 We are constantly to continue in the belief and 
 profession of all those necessary truths, by which 
 we may be marked out as followers and disciples 
 of Christ. This is that faith which St. Jude 
 speaks of, which was once delivered to the saints, 
 Jude 3. By keeping whereof we continue still 
 united to this spiritual brotherhood, in respect 
 of profession which we must constantly do, 
 what storms and persecutions soever attend it, 
 according to the exhortation of the Apostle, 
 Heb. x. 23. Let us holdfast the prof ession of our 
 
Sund. 15,] Duties to Brethren. 289 
 
 faith without wavering* Secondly, We are, also, 
 as opportunity serves, to communicate with thein 
 in all holy offices. We must be diligent in fre- 
 quenting the assemblies of the Saints, which is, 
 as it were, the badge of our profession ; and 
 therefore he that willingly withdraws himself 
 from these, gives grounds to suspect he will be 
 apt to renounce the other also. But these parts 
 of Communion we find strictly maintained by 
 the first Christians, Acts ii. 42. They continued 
 stedfastly in the Apostles' doctrine and fellow- 
 ship, and in breaking bread, and in prayers. 
 They continued, and that steadfastly : they were 
 not frightened from it by any persecutions, though 
 that were a time wherein they were tried with 
 the sharpest sufferings ; which may teach us, that 
 it is not the danger that attends this duty can 
 acquit us of it. 
 
 v. Secondly, We are to bear with the Infir- 
 mities of our Christian Brethren; To hear with 
 
 according tO the advice Of St. their Infirmities. 
 
 Paul, Rom. xv. 1 . We that are strong, ought to 
 bear the infirmities of the xveak. If one that 
 holds all necessary Christian truths, happen yet 
 to be in some error, we are not for this either to 
 forsake his communion, or despise his person. 
 This St. Paul teaches us in the case of that weak 
 brother, xvho by error made a causeless scruple 
 about meats, Rom. xiv. Where he bids the 
 stronger Christians, that is, those who being bet- 
 ter instructed, discerned him to be in an error, 
 yet to receive him nevertheless, and not to de- 
 spise him; as on the other side, he bids that weak 
 one not to judge the stronger. The lesser differ- 
 2 
 
290 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 15. 
 
 ences in opinion must be borne with on both 
 sides, and must not in the least abate our bro- 
 therly charity towards each other. 
 
 vi. Thirdly, we are to endeavour the restor- 
 To restore them ing of any fallen brother, that is, 
 after Falls. to bring him to repentance, after 
 he hath fallen into any sin. Thus St. Paul 
 commands the Galatians that they should re- 
 store him that zvas overtaken in a fault, consider*- 
 ing themselves , lest they were also tempted. We 
 are not to look on him as cast away, to give him 
 over as utterly desperate; neither are we to 
 triumph over him, in respect of our own in- 
 nocence, like the proud Pharisee over the poor 
 Publican, Luke xviii. 1 1. but we are meekly to 
 endeavour his recovery, remembering that our 
 own frailty in such, that we are not secure from 
 the like falls. 
 
 vii. Fourthly, we are to have a sympathy 
 To sympathize and fellow-feeling with these bre- 
 toith them, thren, to be nearly touched with 
 
 whatsoever befals them, either as they are con- 
 sidered in society, or as single persons. In so- 
 ciety first, and so they make up a Church : and 
 that, either the universal, which is made up of 
 all believers throughout the world, or any par- 
 ticular church, which is made up of all believers 
 in that particular nation : and whatever hap- 
 pens to either of these, either the whole church 
 in general, or any such single part of it, especi- 
 ally that whereof ourselves are members, we 
 are to be much affected and moved with it, to 
 rejoice in all the prosperities, and to mourn and 
 bewail all the breaches and desolations thereof, 
 
 
Sund. 15.] Duties of Brethren. 29 1 
 
 and daily and earnestly to pray with David, 
 Psal. li. 18. be favourable and gracious unto 
 Sion ; build thou the walls of Jerusalem ; and 
 that especially when we see her in distress and 
 persecution. Whosoever is not thus touched 
 with the condition of the Church, is not to be 
 looked on as a living member of it : For as in 
 the natural body, every member is concerned in 
 the prosperity of the whole, so certainly it is 
 here. It was the observation of the Psalmist, 
 that God's servants think upon the stones oj Sion, 
 and pity to see her in the dust, Psal. cii. 14. And 
 surely all his servants are still of the same tem- 
 per, and cannot look on the ruins and desola- 
 tions of the church without the greatest sorrow 
 and lamentation. Secondly, We are to have 
 this fellow-feeling with our brethren considered 
 as single persons. We are to account ourselves 
 concerned in every particular Christian, so as to 
 partake with him in all his occasions, either of 
 joy or sorrow. Thus the Apostle exhorts, Rom. 
 xii. 15, Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and 
 weep with them that zveep. And again, 1 Cor. 
 xii. 26\ under the similitude of the natural body 
 he urges this duty, Whether one member suffer ', 
 all the members suffer with it, or one member be 
 honoured, all the members rejoice with it. All 
 these several effects of love we owe to these 
 spiritual brethren. And this love is that which 
 Christ hath made the badge of his Disciples, 
 John xiii. 35. By this shall all men knoxv that ye 
 are my Disciples, if ye have love one to another : 
 So that if we mean not to cast off Discipleship 
 to Christ, we must not forsake this love of the 
 brethren. 
 
292 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 15. 
 vin. The third relation is that between Hus- 
 Tke Wife owes ^and anc * ^i%! This is yet much 
 to the Husband nearer than either of the former, 
 Obedience. as a pp ea rs by that text, Eph. v. 3 1, 
 A Man shall leave father and mot 'her, and cleave 
 to his Wife, and they two shall be one flesh. Se- 
 veral duties there are owing from one of these 
 persons to the other. And first for the Wife, 
 she owes obedience. This is commanded by the 
 Apostle, Col. iii. 18. Wives, submit yourselves 
 unto your own Husbands, as it is fit in the Lord. 
 They are to render obedience to their Husbands 
 in the Lord ; that is, in all lawful commands : 
 for otherwise it is here, as in the case of all other 
 superiors, God must be obeyed rather than man; 
 and the wife must not upon her husband's com- 
 mand do any thing which is forbidden by God. 
 But in all things, which do not cross some com- 
 mand of God's, this precept is of force, and will 
 serve to condemn the peevish stubbornness of 
 many wives, who resist the lawful commands of 
 their husbands, only because they are impatient 
 of this duty of subjection, which God himself 
 requires of them. But it may be here asked^ 
 What if the husband command something, which 
 though it be not unlawful, is yet very inconve- 
 nient and imprudent, must the wife submit to 
 such a command ? To this I answer, that it will 
 be no disobedience in her, but duty, calmly and 
 mildly to shew him the inconveniences thereof, 
 and to persuade him to retract that command : 
 But in case she cannot win him to it by fair en- 
 treaties, she must neither try sharp language, 
 nor yet finally refuse to obey ; nothing but the 
 
Sund. 15.] JVfaes Duty. 293 
 
 unlawfulness of the command being sufficient 
 warrant for that. 
 
 ix. Secondly, The Wife owes fidelity to the 
 Husband, and that of two sorts ; First, F . (Mf 
 That of the bed. She must keep her- " r * ■ 
 self pure and chaste, from all strange embraces ; 
 and therefore must not so much as give an ear to 
 any that would allure her, but with the greateot 
 abhorrence, reject all motions of that sort, and 
 never give any man, that has once made such a 
 motion to her, the least opportunity to make a 
 second. Secondly, she owes him likewise Fi- 
 delity in the managing those worldly affairs he 
 commits to her : she must order them so as may 
 be most to her husband's advantage, and not 
 by deceiving and cozening of him, employ his 
 goods to such uses as he allows not of. 
 
 x. Thirdly, she owes him Love, and together 
 with that, all friendliness and kindness of 
 conversation ; she is to endeavour to bring 
 him as much assistance and comfort of life, as is 
 possible, that so she may answer that special end 
 of the woman's creation, the being a help to her 
 Husband, Gen. ii. 1 8. And this in all conditions, 
 whether health and sickness, wealth or poverty, 
 whatsoever estate God by his providence shall 
 cast him into, she must be as much of comfort 
 and support to him as she can. To this, all 
 sullenness and harshness, all brawling and un- 
 quietness, is directly contrary ; for that makes 
 the wife the burden and plague of the man, 
 instead of a help and comfort : and sure, if it 
 be a fault to behave one's self so to any person, 
 as hath already been shewed, how great must it 
 
294 The Whole Duty of Man, [Sund. 15. 
 
 be to do so to him, to whom the greatest kind- 
 ness and affection is owing ? 
 
 xi. Nor let such wives think, that any faults 
 The Faults of the or provocations of the Hus- 
 Hushand acquit not band can justify their froward- 
 
 from these Duties. nesg . f or the y wiU nofcj either 
 
 in respect of religion or discretion. Not in re- 
 ligion; for where God has absolutely commanded 
 a duty to be paid, it is not any unworthiness of 
 the person can excuse from it ; nor indiscretion, 
 for the worse a husband is, the more need there 
 is for the wife to carry herself with that gentle- 
 ness and sweetness, that may be most likely to 
 win him. This is the advice St. Peter gave the 
 wives of his time, 1 Fet.ni. 1. Likewise, ye wives, 
 be in subjection to your own Husbands ; that if 
 any obey not the word, they also may without the 
 word be won by the conversation of the wives. It 
 seems the good behaviour of the wives was 
 thought a powerful means to win men from 
 Heathenism to Christianity ; and sure it might 
 now-a-days have some good effects, if women 
 would have but the patience to try it ; at least it 
 would have this, that it would keep some toler- 
 able quiet in families : Whereas, on the other 
 side, the ill fruits of the wives unquietness are 
 so notorious, that there are few neighbourhoods 
 but can give some instance of it. How many 
 men are there, that, to avoid the noise of a 
 froward wife, have fallen to company-keeping, 
 and by that to drunkenness, poverty, and a mul- 
 titude of mischiefs ? Let all wives therefore be- 
 ware of administering that temptation: But 
 whenever there happens any thing, which in 
 
Sund. 15.] Husbands Duty. sg5 
 
 kindness to her husband she is to admonish him 
 of, let it be with that softness and mildness, that 
 it may appear it is love, and not anger, that 
 makes her speak. 
 
 xii. There are also on the husband's part 
 several duties. There is, First, Love; TheIIusband 
 which St. Paul requires to be very owes to the 
 tender and compassionate towards wi f e Love - 
 the Wife, as appears by the similitudes he uses 
 in that matter, Eph. v. The one, that of the 
 Love a man bears to his natural body. No man % 
 saith he, ver. 29- ever yet hated his own fleshy 
 but nourisheth it, and cherisheth it. The other 
 Love is that Christ bears to his Church, which 
 is far greater, ver. 25, both which he sets as pat- 
 terns of this love of Husbands towards their 
 Wives. This utterly forbids all harshness and 
 roughness to them : Men are to use them as parts 
 of themselves, to love them as their own bodies, 
 and therefore to do nothing that may be hurtful 
 and grievous to them, no more than they would 
 cut and gash their own flesh. Let those hus- 
 bands that tyrannize over their wives, that scarce 
 use them like human creatures, consider whe- 
 ther that be to love them as their own bodies. 
 
 xiii. A second Duty of the Husband is 
 faithfulness to the bed. This is by Faith f uhl€SS 
 God as well required of the Hus- 
 band as the Wife ; and though the world do 
 seem to look on the breach of this duty with less 
 abhorrence in the husband : yet sure, before that 
 just Judge, the offence will appear no less on 
 the man's side than the woman's : this is certain, 
 it is in both a breach of the vow made to each 
 02 
 

 296 The Whole Du ty of Man. [Sund 1 -5. 
 
 other at their marriage ; and so., besides the un- 
 eleanness, a downwright perjury : And those dif- 
 ferences in the case, which seem to cast the scale, 
 are rather in respect of civil and worldly consi- 
 derations, than merely of the sin. 
 
 xiv. A third Duty of the Husband is to 
 . maintain and provide for the Wife 
 
 * He is to let her partake with him in 
 those outward good things wherewith God hath 
 blessed him, and neither by niggardliness debar 
 her of what is fit for her, nor yet by unthrifti- 
 ness to waste his goods, that he shall become 
 •unable to support her. This certainly is the duty 
 of the Husband, who being, as hath been said, 
 to account his wife as a part of his own body, 
 must have the very same care to sustain her, that 
 he hath for himself. Yet this is not so to be 
 understood, as to excuse the wife from her part 
 of labour and industry, when that is requisite ; 
 it being unreasonable the husband should toil to 
 maintain the wife in idleness. 
 
 xv. Fourthly, The husband is to instruct the 
 v j Wife in the things that concern her 
 
 Instruction. ; \ . c v> . , . ' 
 
 eternal welfare, if she be ignorant of 
 them. Thus St. Paul bids the Wives learn by 
 their Husbands at home, 1 Cor. xiv. 35. which 
 supposes that the husband is to teach her. Indeed 
 it belongs to every master of a family to endea-l 
 vour that all under his charge be taught all ne-J 1 
 cessary things of this kind; and then sure morels 
 especially his wife, whp is so much nearer to himl* 
 than all the rest. This should make men careful!^ 
 to get knowledge themselves, that so they may|K 
 Jbe able to perform this duty they owe to others.! ^ 
 
Sund. 15.] Husbands Duty. %97 
 
 xvi. Lastly, Husbands and Wives are mu- 
 tually to pray for each other, TT , _ . __.- 
 
 . . J nV 1 * / . r ^ i Husbands and Wtv.es 
 
 to beg all blessings from God, mutU aihj to pray for 
 
 both Spiritual and temporal,, and assist each other 
 
 and to endeavour all they can inallGood - 
 to do all good to one another, especially alt- 
 good to each other's souls, by stirring up to the 
 performance of duty, and dissuading and draw- 
 ing back from all sin, and by being like true 
 yoke-fellows, helpful and assistant to each other, 
 in the doing of all sorts of good, both to their 
 own family, and all others within their reach. 
 This is, of all other, the truest and most valuable 
 love. Nay, indeed, how can it be said they do 
 love at all, who contentedly let each other run 
 on in a course that will bring them to eternal 
 misery? And if the love of husbands and wives 
 were thus grounded in virtue and religion, it 
 would make their lives a kind of Heaven on 
 earth ; it would prevent all those contentions 
 and brawlings so common among them, which 
 are the great plagues of families, and the lesser 
 hell in passage to the greater : And truly where 
 it is not thus founded, there is little comfort to- 
 be expected in marriage. 
 
 xvii. It should therefore be the care of every 
 one, that means to enter upon • * _ , 
 
 «, • i i • ji The Virtue of the 
 
 that state, to consider advisedly Person the chief 
 
 beforehand, and tO Chuse SUCh Consideration in 
 
 a person with whom they may arria s e - 
 \ L have the spiritual friendship; that is, such a one 
 
 as truly fears God. There are many false ends of 
 : marriage looked upon in the world ; some marry 
 
 for wealth, others for beauty, and generally, they 
 o3 
 
298 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 15. 
 
 are only worldly respects that are at all con- 
 sidered : But certainly he that would marry 
 as he ought, should contrive to make his mar- 
 riage useful to those better ends of serving God, 
 and saving his own soul ; at least, he must be 
 sure to be no hindrance to them : And to that 
 purpose the virtue of the person chosen, is more 
 conducing than all the wealth in the world : 
 though I deny not, but that a competency of 
 that may likewise be considered. 
 
 xviii. But above all things, let all take heed 
 Unlawful that they make nofsuch Marriages as 
 Marriages. mav not only be ill in their effects, but 
 are actual sins at the time ; such are the mar- 
 riages of those that were formerly promised to 
 some other : In which case, it is sure they rightly 
 belong to those to whom they passed the first 
 promise ; and then for any other to marry them, 
 during the life of that person, is to take the 
 husband or wife of that other; which is direct 
 adultery, as St. Paul tells us, Rom. vii. 3. The 
 like unlawfulness there is also in the marriage of 
 those who are within those degrees of kindred 
 forbidden by God ; the particulars whereof are 
 set down in the 18th and 20th of Leviticus. 
 And whoever marries any that is within any of 
 those degress of nearness, either to himself, or 
 to his deceased wife 3 which is as bad., commits 
 that great sin of incest ; and so long as he con- 
 tinues to live with such his unlawful wife, 
 remains in that fearful guilt. This weariness in 
 the choice of the person to be married would 
 prevent many sad effects, which we daily see 
 follow such rash or unlawful matches. It were 
 
Sund. 15.] Of Friendship. 299 
 
 well therefore if people would look on marriage, 
 as our church advises, as a thing not to be un- 
 dertaken lightly 3 unadvisedly, or wantonly, to sa- 
 tisfy Men's carnal lusts and appetites, but reve- 
 rently, discreetly, advisedly, soberly, and in the 
 fear of God; and in so doing, no doubt a bless- 
 ing would follow, which otherwise there is little 
 ground to expect. I have now done with this 
 relation between husband and wife. 
 
 xix. The next is, that between Friends : And 
 this relation, if it be rightly founded, _ ,,. 
 
 . - i c i Jc vi6yiu.sh.ip, 
 
 is of great nearness and usefulness ; 
 but there is none more generally mistaken in the 
 world : Men usually call them their friends, 
 with whom they have an intimacy and frequency 
 of conversation, though that intimacy be indeed 
 nothing but an agreement and combination in 
 sin. The drunkard thinks him his friend, that 
 will keep him company ; the deceitful person, 
 him that will aid him in his cheats ; the proud 
 man him that will flatter him : and so generally 
 in ail vices they are looked on as friends, that 
 advance and further us in them. But, God, 
 knows this is far from friendship ; such a friend 
 as this the devil himself is in the highest degree, 
 who is never backward in such offices. The 
 true friendship is that of a direct contrary 
 making ; it is a concurrence and agreement in 
 virtue not in vice. In short, a true friend 
 loves his friend so, that he is very zealous of his 
 good : and certainly he that is really so, will 
 never be the instrument of bringing him to the 
 greatest evil. The general duty of a £ 
 friend must then be resolved to be the 
 o 4 
 
300 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 1 
 
 industrious pursuit of his friends real advan 
 tages, in which there are several particulars 
 contained. 
 
 xx. As, first, Faithfulness in all trusts com- 
 FaitWness. ^ d ^ him by his friend, whether 
 that of goods or secrets : He that 
 betrays the trust of a friend in either, is by all 
 men looked upon with abhorrent it being one 
 of the highest falsenesses and treacheries ; and 
 from such treacherous wounds the wise man tells 
 us, every friend will depart, Ecclus. xxii. 22. 
 
 xxi. Secondly, it is the duty of a friend to 
 ' . ' be assisting to his friend in all his out- 
 
 ward needs ; to counsel him, when he 
 wants advice ; to cheer him when he needs com- 
 fort ; to give him when he wants relief ; and 
 to endeavour his rescue out of any trouble or 
 danger. An admirable example we have of this 
 friendship in Jonathan to David, he loved him as 
 his own soul ; and we see, he not only contrives 
 for safety, when he was in danger, but runs 
 hazards himself to rescue and deliver his friend ; 
 draws his father's anger upon him, to turn it from 
 David, as you may read at large, 1 Sam, xx. 
 
 xxrr. The third and highest duty of a friend 
 , • . . is to be aiding and assisting to the 
 
 Admonition. , c , . r P , , , ° , 
 
 soul of his friend, to endeavour to 
 advance that in piety and virtue, by all means 
 within his power, by exhortations and encou- 
 ragements to all virtue, by earnest and vehement 
 dissuasions from all sin ; but not only thus in 
 general, but by applying to his particular wants, 
 especially by plain and friendly reproofs, where 
 he knows, or reasonably believes there is any 
 
 « 
 
Sund. 15.] Of Friendship. 30 £ 
 
 fault committed. This is of all others, the most 
 peculiar duty of a friend, it being indeed that 
 which none else is qualified for. Such an un- 
 willingness there is in most men to hear of their 
 faults, that those who undertake that work, had 
 need have a great prepossession of their hearts, 
 to make them patient of it. Nay, it is so gene- 
 rally acknowledged to be the proper work of a 
 friend, that if he omit it, he betrays the offender 
 into security ; his not reproving will be apt to 
 make the other think he does nothing worthy of 
 reproof, and so he tacitly acts that basest part of 
 a flatterer, soothes and cherishes him in his sin. 
 When yet farther it is considered how great need 
 all men have, at some time or other, of being 
 admonished, it will appear a most unfriendly, 
 yea, a cruel thing to omit it. We have that 
 natural partiality to ourselves, that we cannot so 
 readily discern our own miscarriages, as we do 
 other men's, and therefore it is very necessary 
 they should sometimes be showed us by those, 
 who see them more clearly ; and the doing this 
 at the first, may prevent the multiplying of more : 
 Whereas, if we be suffered to go unreproved, 
 it often comes to such a habit, that reproofs will 
 do no good. And then how shall that person be 
 able to answer to it, either to God or himself, 
 that has by his silence betrayed his friend to the 
 greatest mischief? It is the expression of God 
 himself, speaking of a friend, Thy friend, which 
 is as thine oxvn soul, Deut. xii. 6. And sure we 
 should in this respect account our friends as our 
 own souls, by having the same jealous tender- 
 ness and watchfulness over their souls, which we 
 o5 
 
302 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 15. 
 
 ought to have over our own. It will therefore 
 be very fit for all that have entered into any strict 
 friendship, to make this one special article in the 
 agreement, that they shall mutually admonish 
 and reprove each other ; by which means it will 
 become such an avowed part of their friendship, 
 that it can never be mistaken by the reproved 
 party for censoriousness or unkindness. 
 
 xxin. Fourthly, To the several parts of 
 t kindness must be added that of Prayer. 
 * aye1 ' We must not only assist our friends 
 ourselves, in what we can, but we must call 11 
 the Almighty's aid to them ; recommending them 
 earnestly to God for all his blessings, both tem- 
 poral and spiritual. 
 
 xxiv. Lastly, we must be constant in our 
 • friendships, and not out of a lightness 
 
 Constancy, c , r r x^ • j 
 
 of humour grow weary of a Inend, 
 only because we have had him long. This is 
 great injustice to him, who if he have behaved 
 himself well, ought the more tQ be valued, by 
 how much the longer he has continued to do so : 
 And it is great folly in ourselves ; for it is the 
 casting away the greatest treasure of human life ; 
 for such certainly is a tried friend. The wisest 
 of men gives warning of it, Prov. xxvii. 10. 
 Thine oxvn friend, and thy father s friend, forsake 
 not. Nay farther, it is not every light offence 
 of a friend, that should make thee renounce his 
 friendship ; there must be some allowance made 
 to the infirmities of men ; and if thou hast occa- 
 sion to pardon him somewhat to-day, perhaps 
 thou mayest give him an opportunity to requite 
 thee to-morrow ; therefore nothing but unfaith- 
 
Sund. 15.] Servants Duty. 303 
 
 fulness, or incorrigible vice should break this 
 band. 
 
 xxv. The last relation is that between Mas- 
 ters and Servants; both which Sermnts owe t0 
 
 Owe duty to each Other. That their Masters 
 
 of the Servant is, first, obedience Obedience* 
 to all lawful commands. This is expressly re- 
 quired by the Apostle, Eph. vi. 6. Servants, 
 obey in all things your Masters, Sec. And this 
 obedience must not be a grumbling and unwill- 
 ing one, but ready and cheerful, as he there 
 proceeds to exhort, ver. 7. With good will doing 
 service : And to help herein, they are to 
 consider, that it is to the Lord, and not unto 
 men. God has commanded servants thus to 
 obey their masters ; and therefore the obedience 
 they pay is to God ; which may well make them 
 do it cheerfully, how harsh and unworthy soever 
 the master be, especially if what the Apostle 
 farther urgeth, ver. 8. be considered, that there 
 is a reward to be expected from God for it. 
 
 xxvi. The second duty of the servant is 
 Faithfulness ; and that may be of ~ . , ,. , 
 
 . , f . faithfulness. 
 
 two sorts : one, as opposed to eye- J 
 
 service ; the other, to purloining or defrauding. 
 The first part of faithfulness is the doing of all 
 true service to his master, not only when his eye 
 is over him, and he expects punishment for the 
 omission, but at all times, even when his master 
 is not likely to discern his failing; and that 
 servant that doth not make conscience of this, 
 is far from being a faithful servant, this eye- 
 service being by the Apostle set opposite to that 
 singleness of heart which he requires of servants, 
 o6 
 
304 The Whole Duty of Man. [Suiid. 15. 
 
 JEph. vi. 5. The second sort of faithfulness con- 
 sists in the honest managery of all things entrusted 
 to him by his master, the not wasting his goods, 
 (as the unjust Steward was accused to have done,) 
 Luke xvi. whether by careless embezzling of 
 them, or by converting any of them to his own 
 use, without the allowance of his master. This 
 latter is that of purloining of which the Apostle 
 warns servants, Tit. ii. 10. and is indeed na 
 better than an errant theft : Of this kind are all 
 those ways, that the servant hath of gaining to 
 himself by the loss and damage of his master; 
 as the being bribed to make ill bargains for him, 
 and many the like : Nay, indeed, this sort of 
 unfaithfulness is worse than common theft, by 
 how much there is a greater trust reposed, the 
 betraying whereof adds to the crime. As for 
 the other sort of unfaithfulness, that of wasting, 
 though without gain to themselves, it differs 
 not much in effect from this ; the master may 
 lose as much by the one as the other ; and 
 then, what odds is it to him, whether he be 
 robbed by the covetousness or negligence of his 
 servant ? And it is still the same breach of trust 
 with the former ; for every master is supposed 
 to entrust his affairs as well to the care as the 
 honesty of his servant ; for it would be little 
 advantage to the master to be secured that his 
 servant would not himself cheat him, whilst, in 
 the mean time, he would by his carelessness give 
 opportunity to others to do it. Therefore he 
 that does not carefully look to his master's pro- 
 lit deceives his trust, as well as he that unjustly 
 provides for his own. 
 
Sund, 15 .] Servants Duty. 305 
 
 xxvi t. A third duty of a servant is patience 
 and meekness, under the reproofs of Submission 
 his master, not answering again , as the t0 Rebuke.. 
 Apostle exhorts, Tit. ii. 9* that is, not making 
 such surly and rude replies, as may increase 
 the master's displeasure, a thing too frequent 
 among servants, even in the justest reprehen- 
 sions ; whereas St. Peter directs them patiently 
 to suffer even the most undeserved correction,, 
 even when they do well and suffer for it, 1 Pet. 
 ii. 20. But the patient suffering of rebuke is 
 not all that is required of servants in this mat- 
 ter : They must also amend the fault they are 
 rebuked for, and not think they have done 
 enough, when they have (though never so duti- 
 fully) given the master the hearing. 
 
 xxvin. A fourth duty of a servant is Dili- 
 gence. He must constantly attend to ^. 7 . 
 all those things which are the duties 
 of his place, and not give himself to idleness 
 and sloth, nor yet to company-keeping, gaming, 
 or any other disorderly course, which may take 
 him off from his master's business. All these 
 are necessary duties of servants, which they are 
 carefully and conscionably to perform, not so 
 much to escape their master's anger, as God's, 
 who will certainly call every one of them to an 
 account, how they have behaved themselves 
 towards their earthly masters. 
 
 xxix. Now, on the other side, there are 
 some things also owing from the Ma5ter8(m€ 
 masters to their servants : As, first, their Servants 
 the master is bound to be just to Justice - 
 them, in performing those conditions on which 
 4 
 
306 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 15. 
 
 they were hired ; such are commonly the giving 
 them food and wages : And that master that 
 withholds these, is an oppressor. 
 
 xxx. Secondly, the master is to admonish 
 and reprove the servant in case of 
 fault; and that not only in faults 
 against them, wherein few masters are back- 
 ward, but also and more especially in faults 
 against God, whereat every master ought to be 
 more troubled, than at those which tend only to 
 his own loss or inconvenience ; the dishonour of 
 God, and the hazard of the meanest man's soul, 
 being infinitely more worthy of our disquiet, 
 than any thing of the other kind can be. And 
 therefore, when masters are presently on fire for 
 any little negligence or fault of a servant towards 
 themselves, and yet can without trouble see 
 them run into the greatest sins against God, it is 
 a sign they consider their own concernments too 
 much, and God's glory and their servants souls 
 too little. This is too commonly the temper of 
 masters ; they are generally careless how their 
 servants behave themselves towards God, how 
 disorderly and profane their families are ; and 
 therefore never bestow any exhortation or admo- 
 nition to persuade them to virtue, or draw them 
 from vice : Such masters forget that they must 
 one day give an account, how they have go- 
 verned their families. It is certainly the duty of 
 every ruler to endeavour to advance piety and 
 godliness among all those that are under his 
 charge ; and that as well in this lesser dominion 
 of a family, as in the greater of a realm or na- 
 tion. Of this David was so careful, that we 
 
Sund. 15.] Masters Duty. 307 
 
 see he professes, Psal. ci. 7. That no deceitful 
 person should dzvell in his house ; that he that told 
 lies, should not tarry in his sight. So much he 
 thought himself bound to provide, that his 
 family might be a kind of Church, an assembly 
 of godly, upright persons : And if all masters 
 would endeavour to have theirs so, they would, 
 besides their eternal reward of it hereafter, find 
 a present benefit by it ; their worldly business 
 would thrive much the better ; for if their ser- 
 vants were brought to make conscience of their 
 ways, they would then not dare either to be neg- 
 ligent or false. 
 
 xxxr. But as it is the Duty of Masters to 
 admonish and reprove their servants, so they 
 must also look to do it in a due manner, that is, 
 so as may be most likely to do good ; not in 
 passion and rage, which can never work the 
 servant to any thing but the despising or hating 
 him ; but with such sober and grave speeches, 
 as may convince him of his fault, and may 
 also assure him, that it is a kind desire of his 
 amendment (and not a willingness to wreak his 
 own rage) which makes the master thus to re- 
 buke him. 
 
 xxx u. A third duty of the Master is to set 
 a good example of honesty and _ -^ 
 
 S r ,? r. Good Example. 
 
 godliness to his servants, without r 
 
 which it is not all the exhortations or reproofs 
 he can use, will ever do good ; or else he pulls 
 down more with his example, than it is possible 
 for him to build with the other : And it is mad- 
 ness for a drunken or profane master to expect 
 a sober and godly family. 
 
308 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 15. 
 
 xxxiii. Fourthly, the Master is to pro* 
 Means of vide that his servants may not want 
 instruction. means of being instructed in their 
 duty, as also the they may daily have constant 
 times of worshipping God publicly, by having 
 prayers in the family. But of this I have spoken 
 before, under the head of Prayer ; and there- 
 fore shall here say no more of it. 
 
 xxxiv. Fifthly, the Master in all affairs 
 Moderation of his own, is to give reasonable and 
 in Command, moderate commands, not laying 
 greater burdens on his servants, than they are 
 able to bear : particularly, not requiring so much 
 work, that they shall have no time to bestow on 
 their souls ; as, on the other side, he is not to 
 permit them to live so idly, as may make them 
 either useless to him, or may betray themselves 
 to any ill. 
 
 xxxv. Sixthly, The Master is to give his 
 Encouragement servants encouragement in well- 
 in well doing. doing, by using them with that 
 bounty and kindness, which their faithfulness 
 and diligence, and piety deserves ; and finally, 
 in all his dealings with them he is to remember, 
 that himself hath, as the Apostle saith, Eph. vi. 
 9. a Master in Heaven, to whom he must give 
 an account of the usage of his meanest servant 
 on earth. 
 
 Thus have I briefly run through those several 
 relations, to which we owe particular duty; and 
 so have done with that first branch of Duty to. 
 our Neighbours, that of Justice. 
 
 
Sund. 16V) Duty of Charity. 309 
 
 SUNDAY XVI. 
 
 Other Branches of our Duty to our Neigh- 
 bour : Of Charity to Men's Souls Bodies^ 
 and Credit. 
 
 Sect, i The second branch of Duty to 
 our Neighbour is Chanty, or Love. This is 
 the great Gospel duty so often enjoin- , . 
 ed us by Christ, the New Command- ny ' 
 ment, as himself calls it, John xiii. 34. That ye 
 love one another: And this is again repeated 
 twice in one chapter, Jjiin xv. 12, 17. and the 
 first Epistle of St. John% almost wholly spent 
 in the persuasion of this one duty : by which we 
 may see, it is no matter of indifference, but 
 most strictly required of all that profess Christ. 
 Indeed himself has given it as the badge and 
 livery of his Disciples, John xiii. 35. By this 
 shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if 
 ye have love one to another. 
 
 ii. This Charity may be considered two ways : 
 First, in respect of the affections; intheAffec- 
 Secondly, of the actions. Charity in iions - 
 the affections is a sincere kindness which disposes 
 us to wish all good to others, and that in all their 
 capacities ; in the same manner that justice 
 obligeth us to wish no hurt to any man, in re- 
 spect either of his Soul, his Body, his Goods, 
 or his Credit, so this first part of Charity, binds 
 us to wish all good to them in all these. 
 
310 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund, 16. 
 in. And first for the soul. If we have any 
 
 To Men's Souls. the l ™ 1 ^ °f 1 Ch ^ We ^ 
 
 not but wish all good to mens 
 souls ; those precious things which Christ thought 
 worth the ransoming with his own blood, may 
 surely well challenge our kindness and good 
 wishes : And therefore if we do not thus love one 
 another, we are from obeying that command 
 of loving as he hath loved ; for it was the souls 
 of men which he loved so tenderly, and both 
 did and suffered so much for. Of this, love of 
 his to souls there are two great and special 
 effects : The first, the purifying them here by his 
 grace; the second, the making them everlastingly 
 happy in his glory. And both these we are so far 
 to copy out in our kindness, as to be earnestly de- 
 sirous, that all men should arrive to that purity 
 and holiness here, which may make them capable 
 of eternal happiness hereafter. It were to be 
 hoped, that none, who himself carried a soul 
 about him, could be so cruel to that of another 
 man's, as not sincerely to wish this, did not expe- 
 rience shew us, there are some persons, whose 
 malice is so devilish, as to reach even to the di- 
 rect contrary, the wishing not only the sin, but 
 the damnation of others. Thus may you have seen 
 some, who, in any injury or oppression they 
 suffer, make it their only comfort, that their ene- 
 mies will damn themselves by it ; when, alas ! 
 that should to a Christian be much more terrible, 
 than any suffering they could bring upon him. 
 He that is of this temper, is a disciple of Satan, 
 not of Christ : it being contrary to the whole 
 scope of that great Christian precept, of loving 
 
Sund. 16.] Duty of Charity. 311 
 
 our Neighbours as ourselves. For it is sure, no 
 man that believes there is such a thing as dam- 
 nation, wishes it to himself; be he never so fond 
 of the ways that lead to it, yet he wishes that 
 may not be his journey's end ; and therefore, 
 by that rule of charity, should as much dread 
 it for his neighbour. 
 
 iv. Secondly, We are to wish all good to 
 the bodies of men, all health and To their Bodies, 
 welfare : We are generally tender Goods, andCre- 
 enough of our own bodies, dread ** 
 the least pain or ill that can befall them. Now 
 Charity, by virtue of the fore-mentioned pre- 
 cept, extends this tenderness to all others ; and 
 whatever we apprehend as grievous to ourselves, 
 we must be unwilling should befall another. 
 The like is to be said of the other two, goods 
 and credit, that as we wish our own thriving and 
 reputation, so we should likewise that of others, 
 or else we can never be said to love our neigh- 
 bour as ourselves. 
 
 v. The Charity of the affections, if it be 
 sincere, will certainly have these Effects of this 
 several effects which are so insepa- Parity. 
 rable from it, that they are often in Scripture 
 accounted as parts of the duty, and so most 
 strictly required of us ; First, It will keep the 
 mind in a peaceable and meek temper towards 
 others ; so far from seeking occasion of conten- 
 tions, that no provocation shall draw us to it ; for 
 where we have kindness, we shall be unapt to 
 quarrel, it being one of the special qualities of 
 charity, that it is not easily provoked, 1 Cor. xiii. 
 5. And therefore whoever is unpeaceable, shews 
 
S 1 2 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 1 6. 
 
 his heart is destitute of this charity. Secondly, 
 It will breed compassion towards all the miseries 
 of others : Every mishap that befalls where we 
 wish well, is a kind of defeat and disaster to our- 
 selves ; and therefore if we wish well to all, 
 we shall thus be concerned in the calamities of 
 all, have a real grief and sorrow to see any in 
 misery, and that according to the proportion of 
 the suffering. Thirdly, It will give us joy in the 
 prosperities of others. Solomon observes, P?w+ 
 xiii. 19. that the desire accomplished is sweet to 
 the soul-' and then whoever has this real desire 
 of his neighbours welfare, his desire is accom- 
 plished in their prosperity ; and therefore he 
 cannot but have contentment and satisfaction in 
 it. Both these are together commanded by St. 
 Paul, Rom. xii. 15. Rejoice with them that do 
 rejoice^ and weep with them that weep. Fourthly, 
 It will excite and stir up our prayers for others : 
 We are of ourselves impotent feeble creatures, 
 unable to bestow blessings, where we most wish 
 them ; therefore, if we do indeed desire the good 
 of others, we must seek it on their behalf from 
 him, whence every good and perfect gift cornet h, 
 James i. 17. This is so necessary a part of Cha- 
 rity, that without it our kindness is but an insig- 
 nificant thing, a kind of empty compliment; 
 For how can he be believed to wish well in ear- 
 nest, who will not thus put life and efficacy into 
 his wishes by forming them into prayers, which. 
 will otherwise be vain and fruitless ? The Apos- 
 tle thought not fit to leave men in their bare 
 wishes, but exhorts that supplications, prayers, 
 and giving of thanks, he made for all men h 
 
Sund. 16.] Duty of Charity. 313 
 
 1 Tim. 11 1. which precept, all that have this 
 true charity of the heart will readily conform to. 
 These severals are so naturally the fruits of this 
 charity, that it is a deceit for any man to per- 
 suade himself he hath it, who cannot produce 
 these fruits to evidence it by. 
 
 vi. But there is yet a farther excellency of 
 this grace : it guards the mind ,. 
 
 j -. F 1 . It casts out envy. 
 
 and secures it from several great J 
 
 and dangerous vices ; as, first, from Envy ; This 
 is by the Apostle taught us to be the property of 
 charity, 1 Cgt. xiii. 4. Charity envieth not. And 
 indeed common reason may confirm this to us, 
 for envy is a sorrow at the prosperity of another, 
 and therefore must needs be directly contrary to 
 that desire of it, which we shewed before, was 
 the effect of love : So that if love bear sway in 
 the heart, it will certainly chase out envy. How 
 vainly then do those pretend to this virtue, that 
 are still grudging and repining at every good 
 hap of others ? 
 
 vir. Secondly, It keeps down pride and 
 haughtiness. This is also taught us by . 
 the apostle in the forementioned place : 
 Charily vaunt eth not itself, is not puffed up : And 
 accordingly we find, that where this virtue of 
 love is commanded, there humility is joined with 
 it : thus it is, CoL iii. 1 2. Put on therefore bowels 
 of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind ; And 
 Rom. xii. 10. Be kindly affectioned one to another ; 
 with brotherly love, in honour preferring one ano- 
 ther : Where you see how close an attendant 
 humility is of love. Indeed it naturally flows 
 from it; for love always sets a price and value 
 upon the thing beloved, makes us esteem and 
 
314 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 16. 
 
 prize it. Thus we too constantly find it in self- 
 love ; it makes us think highly of ourselves, that 
 we are much more excellent than other men. 
 Now if love, thus placed on ourselves, beget 
 pride, let us but divert the course, and turn this 
 love on our brethren, and it will surely beget 
 humility; for when we should see and value 
 those gifts and excellencies of theirs, which 
 now our pride or our hatred make us to over- 
 look and neglect, and not think it reasonable 
 either to despise them, or vaunt and magnify 
 ourselves upon such a comparison ; we should 
 certainly find cause to put the Apostle's exhort- 
 ation in practice, Phil. ii. 3. That we should 
 esteem in others better than ourselves. Whoever 
 therefore is of so haughty a temper, as to vilify 
 and disdain others, may conclude he hath not 
 this Charity rooted in his heart. 
 
 viii. Thirdly, it casts out censoriousness and 
 
 Censoriousness mSh J ud g iu g' Charity, as the 
 
 Apostle saith, 1 Cor. xiii. 5. thinketh 
 no evil ; is not apt to entertain ill conceits of 
 others ; but on the contrary, as it follows, ver.7. 
 believeth all things, hopeth all things ; that is 
 it is forward to believe and hope the best of all 
 men ; and surely our own experience tells us the 
 same, for where we love, we are usually unapt 
 to discern faults, be they never so gross, (witness 
 the great blindness we generally have towards our 
 own), and therefore shall certainly not be like 
 to create them, where they are not, or to aggra- 
 vate them beyond their true size and degree ; and 
 then to what shall we impute those unmerciful 
 censures and rash judgments of others, so fre- 
 quent amongst men, but to the want of this 
 charity? 
 
Sund. 16.] Duty of Charity. 315 
 
 ix. Fourthly, it casts out dissembling and 
 feigned Kindness : Where this true 
 and real love is, that false and coun- " '' : * 
 terfeit one flies from before it : And this is the 
 love we are commanded to have, such as is with- 
 out Dissimulation, Rom. xii. 9. Indeed, where 
 this is rooted in the heart, there can be no pos- 
 sible use of dissimulation ; because this is, in 
 truth, all that the false one would seem to be, and 
 so is as far beyond it, as nature is beyond art ; 
 nay, indeed, as a divine virtue is beyond a foul 
 sin ; for such is that hyprocritical kindness ; and 
 yet is to be feared, that does too generally 
 usurp the place of this real charity : The effects 
 of it are too visible among us, there being no- 
 thing more common, than to see men make large 
 professions to those, whom as soon as their backs 
 are turned, they either deride or mischief. 
 
 x. Fifthly, it casts out all Mercenariness, 
 and Self-seeking; it is of so noble s , 
 and generous a temper, that it de- e see tng ' 
 spises all projectings for gain or advantage ; 
 Love seeketh not her own, J Cor. xiii. 5. And 
 therefore that huckstering kind of love, so much 
 used in the world, which places itself only there 
 where it may fetch in benefit, is very far from 
 this charity. 
 
 xi. Lastly, It turns out of the heart all malice 
 and desire of Revenge, which is so ut- 
 terly contrary to it, that it is impos- 
 sible they should both dwell in the same breast. 
 It is the property of love to bear all things, 1 Cor. 
 xiii. 7. to endure the greatest injuries, without 
 thought of making any other return to them, 
 5 
 
316 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 1 6. 
 
 than prayers and blessings ; and therefore the 
 malicious, revengeful person is, of all others, 
 the greatest stranger to this charity. 
 
 xu. Tis true, if this virtue were to be exer- 
 This charity to cised M towards some^ sort of 
 
 be extended even persons, it might consist with 
 
 to Emmies. malice to others ; it being possi- 
 ble for a man that bitterly hates one, to love 
 another : But we are to take notice that this 
 charity must not be so confined, but must extend 
 and stretch itself to all men in the world, parti 
 cularly to enemies ; or else it is not that divine 
 charity commended to us by Christ. The lov- 
 ing of friends and benefactors is so low a pitch, 
 that the very publicans and sinners, the worst 
 of men, were able to attain it, Matt, v. 46. 
 and therefore it is not counted rewardable in a 
 disciple of Christ. No, he expects we shall soar 
 higher, and therefore hath set us this more spi- 
 ritual and excellent precept of loving of enemies, 
 Matt. v. 44. / say unto you, love your ene- 
 mies, bless them that curse you, and pray for 
 them which despitefully use you, and persecute 
 you: And whosoever does not thus, will never be 
 owned by him for a disciple. We are therefore 
 to conclude, that all which hath been said, con- 
 cerning this charity of the affections, must be 
 understood to belong as well to our spitefullest 
 enemy, as our most obliging friend. But because 
 this is a duty, to which the fro ward nature of 
 man is apt to object much, it will not be amiss 
 to insist a little on some considerations which 
 may enforce it on us. 
 
 xiii. And first, Consider what hath been 
 
Sund. 1 6\] Duty of Charity. 317 
 
 already touched on, that it is the Motives ihere _ 
 Command of Christ, both in the unto, Command 
 texts above-mentioned, and mul- °f Christ - 
 titudes of others ; there being scarce any precept 
 so often repeated in the New Testament as this, 
 of loving and forgiving of our enemies. Thus, 
 Eph. iv. 22. Be ye kind one to another, tender- 
 hearted, forgiving one another: And also, CoL 
 iii. 13. Forbearing one another, andj or giving one 
 another, if any man have a quarrel against any ; 
 even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. So also, 
 1 Pet- iii. 9- N*t rendering evil for evil, nor 
 railing for railing ; but contrariwise, blessing, 
 A whole volume of texts might be brought to this 
 purpose, but these are certainly enough to con- 
 vince any man, that this is strictly required of us 
 by Christ ; and indeed I think there are few that 
 ever heard of the gospel, but know it is so. 
 The more prodigiously strange is it, that men, 
 that call themselves Christians, should give no 
 degree of obedience to it: Nay, not only so, 
 but even publickly avow and profess the con- 
 trary, as we daily see they do ; it being ordinary 
 to hear men resolve and declare, that they will 
 not forgive such or such a man ; and no consi- 
 deration of Christ's command can at all move 
 them from their purpose. Certainly these men 
 understand not what is meant by the very word 
 Christian, which signifies a servant and disciple 
 of Christ: And this Charity is the very badge 
 of the one, and lesson of the other : And there- 
 fore it is the greatest absurdity and contradiction 
 to profess themselves Christians, and yet at the 
 same time to resist this so express command of 
 P 
 
318 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 1 6. 
 
 that Christ, who they own as their master; 
 If I be a master, saith God, where is my fear ? 
 Mai. i. 6. Obedience and reverence are so much 
 the duties of servants, that no man is thought to 
 look on him as a master, to whom he pays them 
 not : Why call you me Lord, Lord, and do not the 
 things which I say? saith Christ, Luke vi. 46\ 
 The whole world is divided into two great fa- 
 milies, Christ's and Satan's ; and the obedience 
 each man pays, signifies to which of these mas- 
 ters he belongs ; if he obey Christ, to Christ ; 
 if Satan, to Satan. Now this sin of malice and 
 revenge is so much the dictate of that wicked 
 spirit, that there is nothing can be a more direct 
 obeying of him; it is the taking his livery on 
 our backs, the proclamation whose servants we 
 are. What ridiculous impudence is it then, for 
 men that have thus entered themselves of Satan's 
 family, to pretend to be the servants of Christ ? 
 Let such know assuredly, that they shall not be 
 owned by him, but at the great day of account, 
 be turned over to their proper master, to receive 
 their wages in fire and brimstone. 
 
 xiv. A second consideration is the Example 
 Example of of God. This is an argument Christ 
 God. himself thought fit to use, to impress 
 
 this duty on us, as you may see, Luke vi. 35, 36. 
 where, after having given the command of loving 
 enemies, he encourages to the practice of it, 
 by telling, that it is that which will make us the 
 children of the Highest (that is, it will give us a 
 likeness and resemblance to him, as children have 
 to their parents) for he is kind to the unthankful 
 and the evil. And to the same purpose you 
 
Sund. 16. J Duty of Charity. 319 
 
 may read, Matt. v. 45. He maketh his sun to 
 rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain 
 on the just and on the unjust : And sure this is a 
 most forcible consideration to excite us to this 
 duty. God, we know, is the fountain of perfec- 
 tion, and the being like to him, is the sum of all 
 we can wish for ; and though it was Lucifer s fall, 
 his ambition to be like the Most High, yet had 
 the likeness he affected been only that of holiness 
 and goodness, he might still have been an angel 
 of light. This desire of imitating our heavenly 
 Father, is the special mark of a child of his. 
 Now this kindness and goodness to enemies is 
 most eminently remarkable in God, and that not 
 only in respect to the temporal mercies, which 
 he indifferently bestows on all, his sun and rain 
 on the unjust, as in the text fore-mentioned, but 
 chiefly in his spiritual mercies. We are all, by 
 our wicked works, Col. i.21. enemies to him, and 
 the mischief of that enmity would have fallen 
 wholly upon ourselves. God had no motive, 
 besides that of his pity to us, to wish a recon- 
 ciliation, yet so far was he from returning our 
 enmity, when he might have revenged himself 
 to our eternal ruin, that he designs and contrives 
 how he may bring us to be at peace with him; 
 This is a huge degree of mercy and kindness ; 
 but the means he used for effecting this, is yet 
 far beyond it ; He sent his own Son from Hea- 
 ven to work it ; and that not only by persua- 
 sions, but sufferings also. So much did he 
 prize us miserable creatures, that he thought us 
 not too dear bought with the blood of his Son. 
 The like example of mercy and patience we 
 
320 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 16. 
 
 have in Christ, both in laying down his life for 
 his enemies, and also in that meek manner of 
 doing it, which we find excellently set forth by 
 the Apostle, 1 Ptt. ii. 22, 23, 24. and commend- 
 ed to our imitation. Now surely, when all this 
 is considered, we may well make St. John's 
 inference : Beloved, if God so loved us, zee 
 might also to love one another, 1 John iv. 11. 
 How shameful a thing is it, for us to retain 
 displeasures against our brethren, when God 
 thus lays by his towards us, and that when we 
 have so highly provoked him ? 
 
 xv. This directs to a third consideration, the; 
 The Disproportion be- comparing our sins against 
 tween our offences God, with the offences of our 
 
 2S£ G f' and men ' S brethren against us ; which 
 
 against us. o . » 
 
 we no sooner shall come to 
 do, but there will appear a vast difference be- 
 tween them ; and that in several respects : For, 
 first, there is the majesty of the person against 
 whom we sin, which exceedingly increases the 
 guilt ; whereas between man and man there can- 
 not be so great a distance ; for though some 
 men are by God advanced to such eminency of 
 dignity, as may make an injury offered to them 
 the greater, yet still they are but men of the 
 same nature with us, whereas he is God blessed 
 for ever. Secondly, There is his sovereignty 
 and power, which is original in God ; for we 
 are his creatures, we have received our whole 
 being from him ; and therefore arc, in the 
 deepest manner, bound to perfect obedience : 
 whereas all the sovereignty that one man can 
 possibly have over another, is but imparted to 
 
 T 
 
Sund, 16\] Duty of Charity. 321 
 
 them by God ; and, for the most part, there is 
 none of this neither in the case, quarrels being 
 most usual among equals. Thirdly, There is 
 as infinite bounty and goodness to us ; all that 
 ever we enjoy, whether in relation to this life or 
 a better, being wholly his free gift : and so there 
 is the foulest ingratitude added to our other 
 crimes; in which respect also, it is impossible for 
 one man to offend against another in such a de- 
 gree : For though one may be (and too many 
 are) guilty of un thankfulness towards men, yet, 
 because the greatest benefits that man can be- 
 stow, are infinitely short of those which God 
 doth, the ingratitude cannot be near so great as 
 towards God it is. Lastly, There is the great- 
 ness and multitude of our sins against God, 
 which do infinitely exceed all that the most inju- 
 rious man can do against us ; for we all sin much 
 oftener and more heinously against him than any 
 man-, be he never so malicious, can find oppor- 
 tunities of injuring his brethren.. This inequa- 
 lity and disproportion our Saviour intimates in 
 the parable, Matt, xviii. where our offences 
 against God are noted by the ten thousand ta- 
 lents, whereas our brethren's against us are de- 
 scribed by the hundred pence. A talent hugely 
 outweighs a penny, and ten thousand out-num- 
 bers a hundred : yet so, and much more, does 
 the weight and number of our sins exceed all the 
 offences of others against us. Much more 
 might be said to shew the vast inequality be- 
 tween the faults which God forgives us, and 
 those we can possibly have to forgive our bre- 
 pS 
 
3Z2 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 1 6. 
 
 thren ; but this, -I suppose, may suffice to silence 
 all the objections of cruel and revengeful persons 
 against this kindness to enemies, They are apt 
 to look upon it as an absurd and unreasonable 
 thing ; but since God himself acts it in so much 
 a higher degree, who can, without blasphemy, 
 say it is unreasonable? If this, or any other 
 spiritual duty appear so to us, we may learn the 
 reason from the Apostle, 1 Cor. ii. 14. The na- 
 tural man rece'voeth not the things of the Spirit 
 of God, for they arefoolishness unto him. It is the 
 carnality and fleshliness of our hearts that makes 
 it seem so ; and therefore instead of disputing 
 against the duty, let us purge our hearts of that, 
 and then we shall find that true, which the spiri- 
 tual wisdom affirms of her doctrines, Prov. viiL 
 9. They are all plain to him that under standeth, 
 and right to them that find knowledge. 
 
 xvi. Nay, this loving of enemies is not only 
 Pleasantness a reasonable, but a pleasant duty ; 
 of this Duty. an d that I propose as a fourth consi- 
 deration : There is a great deal of sweetness and 
 delight to be found in it. Of this, I confess, none 
 can so well judge, as those that have practised 
 it: The nature even of earthly pleasures being 
 such, that it is the enjoyment only that can make 
 a man truly know them. No man can so de- 
 scribe the taste of any delicious thing to another, 
 as that by it he shall know the relish ofit; he must 
 first actually taste of it ; and sure it is much 
 more so in spiritual pleasures : And therefore he 
 that would fully know the sweetness and plea- 
 santness of this duty, let him set to the practice, 
 
Sund. 1 6.] Duty of Charity. 323 
 
 and then his own experience will be the best in- 
 former. But in the mean time, How very un- 
 just, yea, how foolish is it, to pronounce ill of 
 it before trial ? for men to say, This is irksome 
 and intolerable, who never so much as once 
 offered to try whether indeed it were so or no ? 
 Yet by this very means an ill opinion is brought 
 up of this most delightful duty, and passes cur- 
 rent among men : whereas, in all justice, the 
 testimony of it should be taken only from those 
 who have tried it ; and they would certainly give 
 another account of it. 
 
 But though the full knowledge hereof be to 
 be had only by this nearer acquaintance, yet 
 methinks even those, who look at it but at a 
 distance, may discern somewhat of amkbleness 
 in it ; if no other way, yet at least by comparing 
 it with the uneasiness of its contrary. Malice 
 and revenge are the most restless, tormenting 
 passions that can possess the mind of a man; 
 they keep men in perpetual study and care how 
 to effect their mischievous purposes ! it disturbs 
 their very sleep, as Solomon observes, Prov. iv. 
 1 6. They sleep not except they have done mischief; 
 and their sleep is taken azvay, unless they cause 
 some to Jail: Yea, itimbitters all the good things 
 they enjoy, so that they have no taste or relish 
 of them. A remarkable example of this we have 
 in Haman, who though he abounded in all the 
 greatness and felicity of the world, yet the malice 
 he had to a poor despicable man, Mordecai, 
 kept him from tasting contentment in all this, 
 as you may see, Esther, chap. v. where, after he 
 p 4 
 
524 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 16. 
 
 had related to his friends all his prosperities, 
 ver. 1 1. heconcludes thus, ver. 13. Yet all this 
 availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai 
 the Jew sitting at the King's gate. On the other 
 side, the peaceable spirit, that ean quietly pass by 
 all injuries and affronts, enjoys a continual calm, 
 and is above the malice of his enemies ; for let 
 them do what they can, they cannot rob him of 
 his quiet; he is firm as a rock, which no storms 
 or winds can move ; when the furious and re- 
 vengeful man is like a wave, which frhe least blast 
 tosses and tumbles from its place. But besides, 
 this inwarddisquietof revengeful men, they often 
 bring many outward calamities upon themselves; 
 they exasperate their enemies, and provoke them 
 to do them greater mischiefs ; nay, oftentimes, 
 they willingly run themselves upon the greatest 
 miseries in pursuit of their revenge ; to which 
 it is ordinary to see men sacrifice goods, ease, 
 credit, life, nay, soul itself, not caring what they 
 suffer themselves, so they may spite their enemy; 
 so strangely does this wretched humour besot 
 and blind them. On the contrary, the meek per- 
 son, he often melts his adversary, pacifies his 
 anger : A soft ansxver turneth away xvrath, saith 
 Solomon, Prov. xv. 1. And sure there is nothing 
 can tend more to that end. But if it happen that 
 his enemy be so inhuman, that he miss of doing 
 that, yet he is still a gainer by all he can suffer: 
 For first, He gains an opportunity of exercising 
 that most Christian Grace of Charity and For- 
 giveness, and so at once of obeying the command, 
 and imitating the example of his Saviour ; which 
 is to a true Christian spirit, a most valuable 
 
Sund. 16.] Duty of Charity. 325 
 
 advantage : And then, secondly, He gains an 
 accession and increase to his reward hereafter. 
 And if it be objected, That this is not to be 
 reckoned into the present pleasure of the duty : 
 I answer, that the expectation and belief of it 
 is ; and that alone is a delight infinitely more 
 ravishing, than the present enjoyment of all sen- 
 sual pleasure can be. 
 
 xvn. The fourth consideration is, the dangers 
 of not performing this duty; of which I might 
 reckon up diverse, but I shall insist if we f rgke 
 on that great one, which> contains not, God will 
 in it all the rest, and that is, the ^/"S**«*« 
 forfeiting our own pardons from God, the having 
 our sins against him kept still on his score and 
 not forgiven, This is a consideration, that, me- 
 thinks, should affright us into good nature; if 
 it do not, our malice i3 greater to ourselves than 
 that to our euemies: For, alas! what hurt is it 
 possible for thee to do to another, which can bear 
 any comparison: with that thou dost thyself in 
 losing the pardon of thy sins ? Which is so un- 
 speakable a mischief, that the devil himself, with 
 all his malice, cannot wish a greater : It is all he 
 aims at, first, that we may sin, and then that 
 those sins may never be pardoned ; for then he 
 knows he has us sure enough ; hell and damna^ 
 tion being certainly the portion of every un- 
 pardoned sinner, besides all other effects of God's 
 wrath in this life. Consider this, and then tell 
 me, what thou hast got by the highest revenge 
 thou ever actedst upon another? It is a devilish 
 phrase in the mouth of men, That revenge is 
 sweet ; but is it possible there can be (even to 
 P 5 
 
326 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 1 6. 
 
 the most distempered palate) any such sweetness 
 in it, as may recompense that everlasting bitter- 
 ness that attends it ? It is certain, no man in his 
 wits can, upon sober judging, imagine there is. 
 But, alas ! we give not ourselves time to weigh 
 things, but suffer ourselves to be hurried away 
 with the heat of an angry humour, never consi- 
 dering how dear we must pay for it : like the silly 
 bee, that in anger leaves at once her sting and 
 her life behind her ; the sting may, perhaps, give 
 some short pain to the flesh it sticks in, but yet 
 there is none but discerns the bee has the worst 
 of it, that pays her life for so poor a revenge : 
 So it is in the greatest act of our malice; we may 
 perhaps leave our stings in others, put them to 
 some present trouble, but that, compared with 
 the hurt that redounds to ourselves by it, is no 
 pore than inconsiderable pain is to death ; nay, 
 not so much, because the mischiefs that we bring 
 upon ourselves are eternal, to which no finite 
 thing can bear any proportion. Remember then, 
 whensoever thou art contriving and plotting a 
 revenge, that thou quite mistakest the mark ; 
 thou thinkest to hit the enemy, and, alas ! thou 
 woundest thyself to death. And let no man 
 speak peace to himself, or think that these are 
 vain terrors, and that he may obtain pardon 
 from God, though he give none to his brethren : 
 For he that is truth itself has assured us the con- 
 trary, Matt.m. 15. If ye for give not men their 
 trespasses, neither will your Father for give your 
 trespasses. And lest we should forget the neces- 
 sity of this duty, he hath inserted it in our daily 
 prayers, where we make it the condition, on 
 
 
Sund. l6.] Duty of Charity. 3%7 
 
 which we beg pardon from God; Forgive us 
 our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass 
 against us* What a heavy curse then does every 
 revengeful person lay upon himself, when he says 
 this prayer? He does, in effect, beg God not to 
 forgive him : and it is too sure that part of his 
 prayer will be heard, he shall be forgiven just 
 as he forgives, that, is, not at all. This is yet 
 farther set out to us in the parable of the Lord 
 and the Servant, Matt, xviii. The servant had 
 obtained of his lord the forgiveness of a vast 
 debt, ten thousand talents, yet was so cruel to 
 his fellow-servant, as to exact a poor trifling sum 
 of an hundred pence; upon which his lord re- 
 calls his former forgiveness, and charges him 
 again with the whole debt. And this Christ ap- 
 plies to our present purpose, ver. 35. So likewise 
 shall my heavenly Father do also unto you r ifye- 
 from your hearts forgive not every one his bro- 
 ther their trespasses. One such act of unchari- 
 tableness is able to forfeit us the pardon God 
 hath granted us ; and then all our sins return 
 again upon us ; and sink us to utter ruin. I sup- 
 pose it needless to heap up more testimonies of 
 Scripture for the truth of this ; these are so clear, 
 as may surely serve to persuade any man, that 
 acknowledges Scripture, of the great and fearful 
 danger of this sin of uncharitableness. The 
 Lord possess all our hearts with such a just 
 sense of it, as may make us avoid it. 
 
 xvin. The last consideration I shall mention, 
 is that of Gratitude. God hath shewed Gratitude 
 wonderful mercies to us ; Christ hath t0 God - 
 suffered heavy things to bring us into a capacity 
 p 6 
 
328 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. \6. 
 
 of that mercy and pardon from God ; and shall 
 we not then think ourselves obliged to some re- 
 turns of thankfulness? If we will take the 
 Apostle's judgment, he tells us, QCor.v. 15. That 
 since Christ died for us all, it is but reasonable 
 that we should not henceforth lire unto oursehes y 
 but unto him that died for us. Indeed were 
 every moment of our lives consecrated to his 
 immediate service, it were no more than common 
 gratitude requires, and far less than such inesti- 
 mable benefits deserve. What a shameful un^ 
 thankfulness is it then, to deny him so poor a 
 satisfaction as this, the forgiving our brethren ? 
 Suppose a man that were ransomed either from 
 death or slavery, by the bounty and sufferings 
 of another, should upon his release be charged 
 by him, that so freed hirn, in return of that kind- 
 ness of his, to forgive some slight debt, which was 
 ow ing him by some third person ' y would you not 
 think him the unthankfullest wretch in the world 
 that should refuse this to so great a benefactor ? 
 Yet such a wretch, ,and much worse, is every re- 
 vengeful person ; Christ hath brought us out of 
 eternal slavery, and that not with corruptible 
 things, as silver and gold, but with his own 
 most precious blood, 1 Pet. i. 18, 19, and hath ear- 
 nestly recommended to us the love of our bre- 
 thren, and that with the most moving argu- 
 ments, drawn from the greatness of his love to us : 
 And if we should obstinately refuse him in so just, 
 so moderate a demand, how unspeakable a vile- 
 ness is it r And yet this we do downright, if we 
 keep any malice or grudge to any person whatso- 
 ever. Nay farther, this is not barely an unthank- 
 
Sand. 16.] Duty of Charity. 339 
 
 fulness, but there is also joined with it a horrible 
 contempt and despising of him. This peace and 
 unity of brethren was a thing so much prized 
 and valued by him, that, when he was to leave 
 the world, he thought it the most precious thing 
 he could bequeath; and therefore left it by way 
 of legacy to his disciples, John xiv. 27. Peace 
 I leave with you. We use to set a great value 
 on the slightest bequests of our dead friends, to 
 be exceedingly careful not to lose them ; and 
 therefore if we wilfully bangle away this so 
 precious a legacy of Christ, it is a plain sign we 
 want that love and esteem of him, which we have 
 of our earthly friends; and that we despise him 
 as well as his legacy. The great prevailing of 
 this sin of uncharitableness, has made me stand 
 thus long on these considerations for the sub- 
 duing it. God grant they may make such im^ 
 pression on the reader, as may be available to 
 that purpose. 
 
 xix. I shall only add this one advice, That 
 these, or whatsoever other remedies against this 
 sin, must be used timely ; it is oft-times the 
 frustrating of bodily medicines, the applying them 
 too late ; and it is much oftener so in spiritual. 
 Therefore if it be possible, let these and the like 
 considerations be so constantly and habitually 
 fixed in thy heart, that they may frame it to such 
 meekness, as may prevent all ™, ~ \ . ~ 
 
 ' jy J j i> The first nstng 
 
 rising of Rancour and lievenge of Rancour to be 
 in thee; for it is much better oppressed. 
 they should serve as armour to prevent, than as 
 balsam to cure the wound. But if this passion 
 be not yet so subdued in thee, but that there will 
 be some stirrings of it, yet then be sure to tajre 
 
330 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sand. 16. 
 
 it at the very first rise, and let not thy fancy 
 chew, as it were, upon the injury, by often 
 rolling it in thy mind ; but remember betimes 
 the foregoing considerations, and withal, that 
 this is a time and season of trial to thee, wherein 
 thou mayst shew thou hast profited in Christ's 
 school ; there now being an opportunity offered 
 thee either of obeying and pleasing God, by 
 passing by this offence of thy brother, or else of 
 obeying and pleasing Satan, that lover of discord, 
 by nourishing hatred against him. Remember 
 this, I say, betimes, before thou be inflamed ; 
 for if this fire be thoroughly kindled, it will cast 
 such a smoke as will blind thy reason, and make 
 thee unfit to judge, «ven in this so very plain a 
 case, Whether it be better by obeying God, to 
 purchase to thyself eternal bliss, or by obeying 
 Satan, eternal torments. Whereas, if thou put 
 the question to thyself, before this commotion 
 and disturbance of mind, it is impossible but thy 
 . understanding must pronounce for God; and 
 then, unless thou wilt be so perverse, that thou 
 wilt deliberately choose death, thou wilt surely 
 practise according to that sentence of thy un 
 derstanding. I shall add no more on this firs 
 part of charity, that of the Affections. 
 
 xx. I proceed now to that of the Actions : And 
 Cliariujinthe this indeed it is whereby the form 
 Actions. must be approved. We may pre 
 tend great charity within; but if none brea 
 forth in the Actions, we may say of that love, as 
 St. James doth of the faith he speaks of, that it 
 is dead, James ii. 20. It is the loving in deed that 
 must approve our hearts before God, 1 John iii, 1 8 . 
 
 ! 
 
 nd 
 ier 
 re- 
 ak 
 
Sand. 16\] Duty of Charity. 331 
 
 Now this love in the actions may likewise fitly be 
 distributed, as the former was, in relation to the 
 four distinct capacities of our brethren, their 
 souls, their bodies, their goods, and credit. 
 
 xxl The soul, I formerly told you, may 
 be considered either in a natural or towards the 
 spiritual sense ; and in both of them Mind of our 
 charity binds us to do all the good m s^ur. 
 we can. As the soul signifies the mind of a 
 man, so we are to endeavour the comfort and 
 refreshment of our brethren, desire to give them 
 all true cause of joy and chearfulness ; especially 
 when we see any under any sadness or heaviness, 
 then to bring out all the cordials we can pro* 
 cure ; that is to labour by all christian and fit 
 means to chear the troubled spirits of our bre- 
 thren, to comfort them that are in any heavi- 
 ness, as the Apostle speaks, 2 Cor. i. 4. 
 
 xxii. But the soul in the spiritual sense is 
 yet of greater concernment ; and the 
 securing of that is a matter of much 
 greater moment than the refreshing of the mind 
 only ; inasmuch as the eternal sorrows and sad- 
 nesses of hell exceed the deepest sorrows of this 
 life ; and therefore, though we must not omit 
 the former, yet on this we are to employ our 
 most zealous charities ; wherein we are not to 
 content ourselves with a bare wishing well to the 
 souls of our brethren ; this alone is a sluggish 
 sort of kindness, unworthy of those who are to 
 imitate the great Redeemer of souls who did 
 and suffered so much in that purchase : No, we 
 must add also our endeavours to make them what 
 we wish them. To this purpose it were very 
 
332 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 46. 
 
 reasonable to propound to ourselves, in all our 
 conversing with others, that one great design of 
 doing some good to their souls. If this purpose 
 were fixed in our minds, we should then discern 
 perhaps many opportunities, which now we over- 
 look, of doing something towards it. The bru- 
 tish ignorance of one, would call upon thee to 
 endeavour his instruction ; the open sin of ano- 
 ther, to reprehend and admonish him ; the faint 
 and weak virtue of another, to confirm and 
 encourage him: Every spiritual want of thy 
 brother may give thee some occasion of exer- 
 cising some part of this charity ; or if thy cir- 
 cumstances be such, that, upon sober judging, 
 thou think it vain to attempt any thing thyself, 
 as if either thy meanness, or thy unacquainted- 
 ness, or any the like impediment, be like to 
 render thy exhortations fruitless, yet if thou art 
 industrious in thy charity, thou mayest probably 
 find out some other instrument, by whom to do 
 it more successfully. There cannot be a nobler 
 study, than how to benefit men's souls : And 
 therefore, where the direct means are improper, 
 it is fit we should whet our whits for attaining of 
 others. Indeed it is a shame we should not as 
 industriously contrive for this great spiritual eon- 
 cernment of others, as we do, for every worldly 
 trifling interest of our own; yet in them we are 
 unwearied, and try one means after another, till 
 we compass our end. But if, after all our se- 
 rious endeavours, the obstinacy of men do not 
 suffer us, or themselves rather, to reap any 
 fruit from them ; if all our wooings and intreat- 
 ings of men, to have mercy on their own souls, 
 
Sund. 16.] Duty of Charity. 333 
 
 will not work on them, yet be sure to continue 
 still to exhort by thy example : Let thy great 
 care and tenderness of thy own soul preach to 
 them the value of theirs, and give not over thy 
 compassions to them ; but with the Prophet, 
 Jer. xiii.-l 7. Let thy soul weep in secret for them; 
 and with the Psalmist, Let levers of waters run 
 down thine eyes, because they keep not God's law, 
 PsaL cxix* J 36'. Yea, with Christ himself, weep 
 over them, who will not know the things that 
 belong to their peace, Luke xix. 42. And whea 
 no importunities with them will work, yet even 
 then cease not to importune God for them, that 
 he will draw them to himself. Thus we see 
 Samuel, when he could not dissuade the people 
 from that sinful purpose they were upon, yet he 
 professes notwithstanding, that he will not cease 
 praying for them ; nay, he looked on it as so 
 much a duty, that it would be sin for him to 
 omit it; God forbid, says he, that I should sin 
 against the Lord, in eeasing to pray for you, 
 1 Sam. xii. 23. Nor shall we need to fear that 
 our prayers will be quite lost; for if they pre- 
 vail not for those for whom we pour them out, 
 yet, however, they will return into our own bo- 
 soms, PsaL xxxv. 13.. we shall be sure not to 
 miss of the reward of that charity. 
 
 xxiir. In the second place, We are to ex- 
 ercise this active charity towards the charity in 
 Bodies of our neighbours : We are respect af 
 not only to compassionate their pains thc ^ odl J' 
 and miseries, but also to do what we can for 
 their ease and relief. The good Samaritan, 
 Luke x. had never been proposed as our pattern, 
 
334 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 16\ 
 
 had he not as well helped as pitied the wounded 
 man. It is not good wishes, no, nor good words 
 neither, that avail in such cases ; as St. James 
 tells us, If a brother or sister be naked, and desti- 
 tute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, 
 Depart in peace, be y e warmed andjilled, notwith- 
 standing ye give them not those things that are 
 needful to the body, what doth it profit ? Jam. ii. 
 15, 16. No sure, it profits them nothing in 
 respect of their bodies, and it will profit thee as 
 little in respect of thy soul : It will never be 
 reckoned to thee as a charity. This relieving 
 of the bodily wants of our brethren, is a thing 
 so strictly required of us, that we find it set 
 down, Matt. xxv. as the especial thing we shall 
 be tried by at the last day, on the omission 
 whereof is grounded that dreadful sentence, ver. 
 41. Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlast- 
 ing f re > prepared for the devil and his angels. 
 And if it shall now be asked, What are the par- 
 ticular acts of this kind, which we are to perform? 
 I think we cannot better inform ourselves, for the 
 frequent and ordinary ones, than from this chap- 
 ter, where are set down these severals, The giving 
 meat to the hungry, and drink to the thirsty, har- 
 bouring the stranger, clothing the naked, and vi- 
 siting the sick and imprisoned; by which visiting 
 is meant, not the bare coming to see them, but 
 so coming, as to comfort and relieve them ; for 
 otherwise it will be but like the Levite in the 
 Gospel, Luke x. who came and looked on the 
 wounded man, but did no more, which will never 
 be accepted by God. These are common and 
 ordinary exercises of this charity, for which we 
 
Sund. 16.] Duty of Charity. 335 
 
 cannot want frequent opportunities. But besides 
 these, there may sometimes, by God's especial 
 providence, fall into our hands occasions of 
 doing other good offices to the bodies of our 
 neighbours ; we may sometimes find a wounded 
 man, with the Samaritan, and then it is our 
 duty to do as he did ; we may sometimes find 
 an innocent person condemned to death, as 
 Susanna was, and then are with Daniel to use all 
 possible endeavours for their deliverance. This 
 case Solomon seemstoreferto,Prw.xxiv. 1 1, 12. 
 If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn 
 unto death, and those that are ready to be slain: 
 If thou sayest, Behold we know it not : Doth 
 not he that pondereth the heart, consider ? and 
 he that keepeth thy soul, doth he not know it f 
 , And shall not he render to every man accord- 
 ing to his deeds ? We are not lightly to put off 
 the matter with vain excuses, but to remember, 
 that God, who knows our most secret thoughts, 
 will severely examine whether we have willingly 
 omitted the performance of such a charity. Some- 
 times again (nay, God knows, often now-a-days) 
 we may see a man, ■ that by a course of intem- 
 i perance is in danger to destroy his health, to 
 shorten his days; and then it is a due chanty, 
 not only to the soul, but to the body also, to 
 endeavour to draw him from it. It is impossible 
 to set down all the possible acts of this cor- 
 poral charity, because there may sometimes 
 happen such opportunities, as none can fore- 
 \ see : We are therefore always to carry about 
 I us a serious resolution of doing whatever good 
 j of this kind we shall at any time discern occa- 
 
336 The Whole Duty of Man. [Simd. 17. 
 
 sion for ; and then whenever that occasion is 
 offered, we are to look on it as a call, as it were, 
 from Heaven, to put that resolution in. practice. 
 This part of charity seems to be so much im- 
 planted in our natures, as we are men, that we 
 generally account them not only unchristian, but 
 inhuman, that are void of it; and therefore I 
 hope there will not need much persuasion to- it, 
 since onr very nature inclines us : But certainly 
 that very consideration, wiii serve hugely to 
 increase the guilt of those that are wanting in 
 it? For since this command is so agreeable 
 even to flesh and blood, our disobedience to it 
 can proceed from nothing but a stubbornness 
 and resistance against God, who gives it. 
 
 SUNDAY XVIL 
 
 Of Charity, Almsgiving, &c. Of Charity irjt 
 respect oj our Neighbour's Credit, &c. Of 
 Feace making. Of going to Law. Of 
 Charity to our E?2emies, &c. 
 
 Sect. i. The third way of expressing this 
 charity is towards the Goods or Estate of our 
 neighbour :. We are to endeavour his thriving 
 Civariui in and prosperity in these outward good 
 respect of things ;. and to that end,, be willing to 
 the. Goods. ass j stanc | f urtner hi m i n allhonest ways 
 
 of improving or preserving them, by any neigh- 
 bourly and friendly office. Opportunities of this 
 
 
Sun A 17-3 Duty of Charity. 337 
 
 do many times fall out. A man may sometimes, 
 by his power of persuasion, deliver his neigh- 
 bour's goods out of the hands of a thief or op- 
 pressor; sometimes again, by his advice and 
 counsel, he may set him in a way of thriving, or 
 turn him from some ruinous course ; and many 
 other occasions there may be of doing good 
 turns to another, without any loss or damage to 
 ourselves ; and then we are to do to them even 
 to our rich neighbours, those that are as Towards 
 wealthy (perhaps much more so) as the Rich. 
 ourselves ; for though Charity do not bind us to 
 give to those that want less than ourselves, yet 
 whenever we can further their profit, without 
 lessening our own store, it requires it of us : 
 Nay, if the damage be but light to us, in com- 
 parison of the advantage to him, it will become 
 us rather to hazard that light damage, than lose 
 bim that greater advantage. 
 
 11. But towards our poor brother, charity ties 
 us to much more; we are there not Towards 
 only to consider the supplying of his the Poor. 
 wants, and not to stick at parting with what is 
 our own, to relieve him, but as far as we are 
 able, give freely what is necessary to him. The 
 duty of alms-giving is perfectly necessary for 
 the approving our love not only to men, but 
 even to God -himself, as St. John tells us, 1 Jo/in 
 iii. 1 7. Whoso hath this world's good, and seeth 
 his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels 
 of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love 
 of God in him ? It is vain for him to pretend to 
 love either God or man, who loves his money 
 w much better, that he will see his poor brother 
 
338 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 17. 
 
 (who is a man, and bears the image of God) 
 suffer all extremities, rather than part with any 
 thing to relieve him. .On the other side, the 
 performance of this duty is highly acceptable 
 with God, as well as with men. 
 
 in. Itis called, /Ze#.xiii. 16. A sacrifice where- 
 with God is well-pleased : And again, Phil. iv. 
 18. St. Paul calls their alms to him, A sacrifice 
 acceptable, xv ell-pleasing to God: And the church 
 hath always looked on it as such, and therefore 
 joined it with the solemnest part of worship, the 
 holy Sacrament. But because, even sacrifices 
 themselves, under the law, were often made 
 unacceptable, by being maimed and blemished, 
 it will here be necessary to enquire what are 
 the due qualifications of this sacrifice. 
 
 iv. Of these there are some that respect the 
 Motives of motive, some the manner of our 
 Alms-giving, giving. The motive may be three- 
 fold, respecting God, our neighbour, and our- 
 selves. That which respects God, is obedience 
 and thankfulness to him : He has commanded 
 we should give alms, and therefore one especial 
 end of our doing so, must be the obeying that 
 precept of his. And it is from his bounty alone 
 that we receive all our plenty ; and this is the 
 properest way of expressing our thankfulness for 
 it ; for as the Psalmist saith, Our goodness extend- 
 eth not untoGod 3 Psal.xvi. 2. That tribute which 
 we desire to pay out of our estates, we cannot 
 pay to his person. It is the poor that are, as k 
 were his proxy and receivers ; and therefore, 
 whatever we should by way of thankfulness give 
 back again unto God, our alms is the way.of 
 
 
Sund. 17.] Of Alms-givings, &c. 359 
 
 doing it. Secondly, In respect of our neighbour, 
 the motive must be a true love and compassion 
 to him, a tender fellow-feeling of his wants, and 
 desire of his comfort and relief. Thirdly, In 
 respect of ourselves, the motive is to be the hope 
 of that eternal reward promised to this perform- 
 ance. This Christ points out to us, when he 
 bids us'/fly up our treasure in Heaven. Matt. vi. 
 20. and to make us friends of the mammon of un- 
 righteousness, that they may receive us into ever- 
 lasting habitations, Luke xvi. 9. That is, by a 
 charitable dispensing of our temporal goods to 
 the poor, to lay up a stock in Heaven, to gain a 
 title to those endless felicities, which God hath 
 promised to the charitable ; this is the harvest we 
 must expect of what we sow in these works of 
 mercy, which will be so rich, as would abun- 
 dantly recompence us, though we should, as the 
 Apostle speaks,, 1 Cor. xiii.2. bestow all our goods 
 to feed the poor. But then we must be sure 
 we make this our sole aim, and not, instead of 
 this, propose to ourselves the praise of men, 
 as the motive of our charity ; that will rob us 
 of the other. This is expressly told us by Christ, 
 Matt. vi. They that set their hearts on the 
 credit they shall gain with men, must take that 
 as their portion, ver. 2. Verily I my unto yau 
 they have their rezvard ' : They chuse, it seems, 
 rather to have men their pay-masters, than 
 God, and to them that are turned off; that little 
 airy praise they get from them, is all the reward 
 they must expect : Ye have no reward of my 
 Father which is in Heaven, ver. 1. We have 
 therefore need to watch our hearts narrowly, 
 
340 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. J 7. 
 
 that this desire of vain-glory steal not in, and 
 befool us into that miserable exchange of a 
 vain blast of men's breath, for those substantial 
 and eternal joys of heaven. 
 
 v. In the second place we must take care of 
 Manner of our Alms-giving, in respect of the 
 Alms-giving, manner; And in that, first, we must 
 give chearfully. Men usually value a small 
 thing, that is given chearfully, and with a good 
 heart, more than a much greater, that is wrung 
 c t f n from a man with grudging and un- 
 
 ./ y. willingness; and God is of the same 
 mind, he loves a chearful giver, 2 Cor. ix. 7. 
 which the Apostle makes the reason of the fore- 
 going exhortation of 'not giving grudgingly, or as 
 of necessity, ver. 6. And sure it is no unreason- 
 able thing that is herein required of us ; there 
 being no duty that has, to human nature, more 
 of pleasure and delight, unless it be where covet- 
 ousness or cruelty have quite worked out the 
 man, and put a ravenous beast in his stead. Is 
 it not a most ravishing pleasure to him that hath 
 any bowels, to see the joy that a seasonable alms 
 brings to a poor wretch? how it revives, and puts 
 new spirits in him, that was even sinking ? Cer- 
 tainly the most sensual creature alive knows not 
 how to bestow his money on any thing that shall 
 bring him iu so great a delight : and therefore 
 methinks it should be no hard matter to give, not 
 only without grudging, but even with a great 
 deal of alacrity and chearfuiness, it being the 
 fetching in of pleasure to ourselves. 
 
 vi. There is but one objection can be made 
 against this, and that is, that the danger of ira- 
 
 
Sund. I?.] Of Alms-giving, &c. 341 
 
 poverishing one's self by Tke Fear of impover _ 
 
 what One gives, may take Off ishing ourselves by it, 
 
 that pleasure, and make men min ^d impious. 
 either not give at all, or not so chearfully. To 
 this I answer, That first, were this hazard never 
 so apparent, yet it being the command of God 
 that we should thus give, we are yet to obey 
 chearfully, and be as well content to part with 
 our goods in pursuance of this duty, as we are 
 many times called to do upon some other. In 
 which case Christ tells us, He that forsakes not 
 all he hath, cannot be my disciple. 
 
 vn. But, secondly, this is sure a vain sup* 
 position, God having particularly promised the 
 contrary to the charitable, that it shall bring 
 blessings on them, even in these outward things, 
 The liberal soul shall be made fat ; and he that 
 water eth } shall be watered also himself Pro v. xi. 
 25. He that giveth to the poor, shall not lack, 
 Prov. xxviii. 27. And many the like texts there 
 are : so that one may truly say, this objection is 
 grounded in direct unbelief. The short of it is, 
 we dare not trust God for this. Giving to the 
 poor, is directly the putting our wealth into his 
 hands ; He that giveth to the poor, lendeth unto 
 the Lord, Prov. xix. 17. and that too on solemn 
 promise of re-payment, as it follows in that 
 verse, That which he hath given, xvill he pay him 
 again. It is amongst men thought a great dis- 
 paragement, when wg refuse to trust them ; it 
 shews, we either think them not sufficient, or 
 not honest. How vile an affront is it then to 
 God thus to distrust him? Nay, indeed, how 
 ! horrid blasphemy to doubt the security of that, 
 
 Q 
 
342 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 17. 
 
 for which he hath thus expressly past his word, 
 who is Lord of all, and therefore cannot be in- 
 sufficient; and who is the God of truth, and 
 therefore will not fail to make.good. his. promise? 
 Let not then that infidel fear of future want, 
 contract and shut up thy bowels from thy poor 
 brother; for though he be never likely to pay 
 thee, yet God becomes his surety, and enters 
 bond with him, and will most assuredly pay thee 
 with increase. Therefore, it is so far from being 
 damage to thee thus to give, that it is thy great 
 advantage. Any man would rather chuse to put 
 his money in some sure hand, where he may both 
 improve, and be certain of it at his need, than 
 to let it lie unprofitably by him, especially if he 
 be in danger of thieves, or other accidents, by 
 which he may probably lose it. Now, alas ! all 
 that we possess is in minutely danger of losing: 
 Innumerable accidents there are, which may, in 
 an instant, bring a rich man to beggary. He 
 that doubts this, let him but read the story of 
 Job, and he will there find an example of it. 
 And therefore what so prudent course can we 
 take for our wealth, as to put it out of the reach 
 of those accidents, by thus lending it to God, 
 where we may be sure to find it ready at our 
 greatest need, and that too with improvement, 
 and increase ? In which respect it is that the 
 Apostle compares alms to seed, 2 Cor. ix. 10. 
 We know it is the nature of seed that is sown to 
 multiply and increase : and so do all our acts of 
 mercy, they return not single and naked to us, 
 but bring in their sheaves with them, a most 
 plenteous and bountiful harvest. God deals not 
 
Sund. 17.] Of Alms- giving, &c. 343 
 
 with our alms, as we too often do with his 
 graces, wrap them up in a napkin, so that they 
 shall never bring in any advantage to us, but 
 makes us most rich returns : and therefore we 
 have ail reason most chearfully, yea, joyfully, to 
 set to this duty, which we have such invitations 
 to, as well in respect of our own interest, as our 
 neigbours' need. 
 
 viii. Secondly, we must give seasonably. It 
 is true indeed, there are some so _. 
 
 , , Give seasonably. 
 
 poor, that an alms can never 
 come unseasonably, because they always want : 
 yet even to them there may be some special 
 seasons for doing it to their greater advantage : 
 for sometimes an alms may not only deliver a 
 poor man from some present extremity, but, 
 by the right timing of it. may set him in some 
 way of a more comfortable subsistence afterward. 
 And for the most, I presume, it is a good rule, 
 to dispense wbat we intend to any, as soon as 
 may be ; for delays are hurtful oftentimes both 
 to them and ourselves. First, as to them, it is 
 sure the longer we delay, the longer they groan 
 under the present want ; and after we have de- 
 signed them a relief, it is in some degree a cruelty 
 to defer bestowing of it : for so long we pro- 
 long their sufferings. You will think him a 
 hard-hearted physician, that, having a certain 
 cure for a man in pain, should, when he might 
 presently apply it, make unnecessary delays, 
 and so keep the poor man still in torture : And 
 the same it is here : we want of the due com- 
 'pagsiou, if we can be content our poor brother 
 should have one hour of unnecessary suffering. 
 Q2 
 
SU The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 1 7- 
 
 when we have present opportunity of relieving 
 him. Or if he be not in such an extremity of 
 want, yet whatever we intend him for his greater 
 comfort, he loses so much of it, as his time of 
 the delay amounts to. Secondly, In respect of 
 ourselves, it is ill to defer; for thereby we give 
 advantage to the temptations either of Satan or 
 our own covetous humour to dissuade us from it. 
 Thus it fares too often with many Christian 
 duties ; for want of a speedy execution, our 
 purposes cool, and never come to act ; so many 
 resolve they will repent, but because they set not 
 immediately upon it, one delay succeeds another, 
 and keeps them from ever doing it at all. And 
 so it is very apt to fall out in this case, especially, 
 with men who are of a covetous temper ; and 
 therefore they, of all others, should not trust 
 themselves thus to delay. 
 
 ix. Thirdly, We should take care to give 
 Prudently. Prudently ; that is, to give most where 
 it is most needed, and in such a man- 
 ner, as may do the receiver most good. Chari- 
 ties do often miscarry for want of this care; for 
 if we give at all adventures to all that seem to 
 want, we may sometimes give more to those, 
 whom sloth and lewdness is the cause of their 
 want, than to those who best deserve it ; and so 
 both encourage the one in their idleness, and 
 disable ourselves from giving to the other ; Yet 
 I doubt not, such may be the present wants even 
 jyi the most unworthy, that we are to relieve 
 them ; that where no such pressing need is, we 
 shall do best to chuse out of the fitter objects of 
 charity, such as are those, who either are not 
 
 4 J 
 
Sund. 17.] Of Alms -giving , &c. 345 
 
 able to labour, or else have a greater charge than 
 their labour can maintain. And to those our 
 alms should be given also in such a manner, as 
 may be most likely to do them good : the man- 
 ner of which may differ according to the circum- 
 stances of their condition : It may to some be 
 best perhaps to give them by little and little ; to 
 others the giving it all at once may tend more to 
 their benefit; and sometimes a seasonable loan 
 may do as well as a gift, and that may be in the 
 power sometimes of those who are able to give 
 but little. But when we thus lend on chanty, 
 we must lend freely, without use; and also with 
 a purpose, that it' he should prove unable to 
 pay, we will forgive so much of the principal, 
 as his needs require, and our abilities will per- 
 mit. They want much of this charity, who 
 clap up poor debtors in prison, when they know 
 they have nothing to answer the debt ; which 
 is a great cruelty to make another miserable, 
 when nothing is gained to ourselves by it. 
 
 x. Fourthly, we should give liberally : We 
 must not be strait-handed in our alms, and give 
 by such pitiful scantlings, as will bring almost 
 no relief to the receiver, for that is a kind of 
 mockery ; it is as if one should pretend to feed 
 one that is almost famished, by giving him a 
 crumb of bread : Such doles as that would be 
 most ridiculous : yet I fear it is too near tiie 
 proportion of some men's alms. Such men are 
 below those disciples we read of, who knew only 
 the baptism of John ; For it is to be observed, 
 that John Baptist, who was but the forerunner of 
 Christ; makes it a special part of his doctrine, 
 Q 3 
 
346 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 
 
 that he that hath two coats should impart to 
 that hath none, Luke iii. 11. He says not, he 
 that hath some great wardrobe, but even he that 
 hath but two coats, must part with one of thern : 
 From whence we may gather, that whosoever is 
 above (not our vanity, but) our need, should 
 thus be disposed of, when our brethrens* necessi- 
 ty requires it. But if we look into the first times 
 of the Gospel, we shall find Christianity far ex- 
 ceeded this proportion of John's, the converts 
 assigned not a part only, but frankly gave all to 
 the use of the brethren, Acts iv. And though 
 that, being upon an extraordinary occasion, will 
 be no measure for our constant practice, yet it 
 may shew us how prime and fundamental a part 
 of Christianity this of charity is, that at the very 
 first founding of the Church such vast degrees 
 of it were practised : And if we farther consider 
 what precepts of love are given us in the gospel, 
 even to the laying down our lives for the bre- 
 thren, 1 John iii. 16. we cannot imagine our 
 goods are, in God's account, so much more 
 precious than our lives, that he would command 
 us to be prodigal of the one, and yet allow us 
 to be sparing of the other. 
 
 xi. A multitude of arguments might be 
 brought to recommend this bounty to all that 
 profess Christ : I shall mention only two, which 
 
 1 find used by St. Paul to the Corinthians on this 
 occasion : The first is the example of Christ, 
 
 2 Cor. viii. 9. For ye knozv the grace of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, who though he was rich, yet for 
 your sakes he became poor ', that ye through his 
 poverty might be rich. Christ emptied himself of 
 
Sund. 17.] Of Alms-giving, &c. 347 
 
 all that glory and greatness he enjoyed in heaven 
 with his Father, and submitted himself to a lifeof 
 much meanness and poverty, only to enrich us ! 
 And therefore, for shame 1 let us not grudge to 
 empty our coffers, to lessen somewhat of our 
 heaps, to relieve his poor members. The second 
 is the expectation of reward, which will be more 
 or less, according to the degrees of our alms, C Z 
 Cor. ix. 6. He that sozveth sparingly shall reap 
 sparingly ; and he that soweth bountifully, shall 
 reap bountifully. We think him a very impro- 
 vident husbandman, that, to save a little seed at 
 present, sows so thin as to spoil his crop : and 
 the same folly it will be in us, if, by the sparing- 
 ness of our alms, we make ourselves a lank har- 
 vest hereafter, lose either all or great part of 
 those rewards, which God hath provided for the 
 liberal alms-giver. What is the proportion 
 which may be called a liberal giving. I shall not 
 undertake to set down, there being degrees even 
 ia liberality : one may give liberally, and yet 
 another give more liberally than he. Besides, 
 liberality is to be measured, not so much by 
 what is given, as by the ability of the giver. 
 A man of a mean estate may give less than one 
 of a great, and yet be the more liberal person ; 
 because that little may be more out of his, than 
 the greater is out of the other's. Thus we see 
 Christ pronounces the poor widow to have given 
 more to the treasury than all the rich men, Luke 
 xxi. 3. not that her two mites were more than 
 their rich gifts, but that it was more for her, 
 she having nothing left behind, whereas they 
 1 gave out of their abundance what they might 
 
 Q 4 
 
348 Hie Whole Duty of Man. [Suncl. 17- 
 
 easily spare. Every man must herein judge for 
 himself: vre see the Apostle though he ear- 
 nestly press the Corinthians to bounty, yet pre- 
 scribes not to them how much they shall give, 
 but leaves that to their own breasts, 2 Cor. ix. 7. 
 JEvery man according as he purposeth in his heart, 
 so let him give. But let us still remember, that 
 the more we give (provided we do not thereby 
 fail in the support of those that most immediately 
 depend on us) the more acceptable it will be to 
 God, and the more rewardable by him. And 
 to secure the performance of this duty of alms- 
 giving (whatever the proportion be) we may do 
 very well to follow the advice St Paul gives the 
 Corinthians in this matter, 1 Cor. xvi. 2. Upon 
 the first day of the week let every one of you lay 
 by him in store, as God hath prospered him. If 
 men would do thus, lay by somewhat weekly in 
 store for this work of charity, it were the surest 
 way not to be unprovided of somewhat to give, 
 when an occasion offers itself; and by giving so 
 by little and little, the ex pence would become 
 less sensible, and so be a means to prevent those 
 grudgings and repinings, which are apt to attend 
 men in greater disbursements : And sure this 
 were in other respects also a very proper course: 
 for when a tradesman casts up his weekly ac- 
 counts and sees what his gains have been, it is 
 of all others the most seasonable time to offer 
 this tribute to God, out of what he hath by his 
 blessing gained. If any will say, they cannot so 
 well weekly reckon their gains, as by longer 
 spaces of time, I shall not contend with them 
 for that precise time, let it be done monthly or 
 
Sund. J 7.] Duty of Charity. 349 
 
 quarterly, so it be done. But that somewhat 
 should still be laid bv in bank for these uses 5 
 rather than let loose to our sudden charities, is 
 sure very expedient; and I doubt not, whoever 
 will make trial of it, will upon experience ac- 
 knowledge it to be so. 
 
 xii. The fourth exercise of our Chanty is 
 towards the Credit of our neighbour: charitt/ in 
 And of this we may have many occa- respect of 
 sions ; sometimes towards the inno- the Cre(llL 
 cent, and sometimes also towards the guilty. 
 If one, whom we know to be an innocent per- 
 son, be slandered, and traduced, charity binds 
 us to do what we may for the declaring his 
 innocency, and delivering him from that false 
 imputation ; and that not only by witnessing 
 when we are called to it, but by a voluntary 
 .offering our testimony on his behalf: Or, if the 
 accusation be not before a court of justice, and 
 so there be no place for that our more solemn 
 testimony, but that it be only a slander tossed 
 from one to another, yet even thore we are to do 
 what we can to clear him, by taking all occa- 
 sions publicly to declare what we know of his 
 innocency. But even to the guilty there is some 
 charity of this kind to be performed, sometimes 
 by concealing the fault, if it be such, that no 
 other part of charity to others make it necessary 
 to discover it, or it be not so notorious., as that 
 it will be sure to betray itself. The wounds of 
 reputation are of all others, the most incura- 
 ble : and therefore it may well become chris- 
 tian charity to prevent them,, even where they 
 have been deserved ; and perhaps such a tender- 
 er 5 
 
350 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 17. 
 
 iiess in hiding the fault may sooner bring the 
 offender to repentance, if it be seconded (as it 
 ought to be) with all earnestness of private ad- 
 monition : But if the fault be such that it be not 
 to be concealed, yet still there may be place for 
 this charity, in extenuating and lessening it, as 
 far as the circumstances will bear; as if it were 
 done suddenly and rashly, charity will allow 
 some abatement of the censure, which would 
 belong to a designed and deliberate act: and 
 so proportionably in other circumstances. But 
 the most frequent exercises of this charity hap- 
 pen towards those, of whose either innocency 
 or guilt we have no knowledge, but are by 
 some doubtful actions brought under suspicion : 
 And here we must remember, that it is the 
 property of love not to think evil, to judge 
 the best; and therefore we are both to abstain 
 from uncharitable conclusions of them ourselves, 
 and as much as lies in us, to keep others from 
 them also, and so endeavour to preserve the 
 credit of our neighbour; which is oftentimes as 
 much shaken by unjust suspicions, as it would 
 be by the truest accusation. To these cases, I 
 suppose, belongs that precept of Christ, Matt. 
 vii. 1. Judge not : And when we consider how 
 that is backed in the following words, that ye 
 be not judged, we shall have cause to believe it 
 no such light matter, as the world seems to ac- 
 count it: Our unmerciful judging of others 
 will be paid home to us, in the strict and severe 
 judgment of God. 
 
 xiii. I have now gone through this active 
 Charity ? as it relates to the four several capaci- 
 
 
Sund. 17.] Duty of Charity. 351 
 
 ties of our brethren, many of the Acts of Charity in 
 particulars whereof were before some respects, Acts 
 briefly mentioned, when we spake °* us ue a s0, 
 of Justice. If any think it improper that the 
 same acts should be made part of justice and 
 charity too, I shall desire them to consider, 
 that charity being by Christ's command become 
 a debt to our brethren, all the parts of it may 
 in that respect be ranked under the head of jus- 
 tice, since it is sure, paying of debts is a part of 
 that: yet, because in our common use we do 
 distinguish between the offices of justice and cha- 
 rity, I have chose to enlarge on them in particu- 
 lar reference to charity. But I desire it may 
 still be remembered, that whatsoever is under 
 precept is so much a due from us, that we sin 
 not only against charity but justice too, if we 
 neglect it; which deserves to be considered, the 
 more to stir up our care to the performance, and 
 the rather, because there seems to be a common 
 error in this point* Men look upon their acts 
 of mercy, as things purely voluntary, that they 
 have no obligation to ; and the etfect of it is this, 
 that they are apt to think very highly of them- 
 selveSj when they have performed any, though 
 never so mean, but never blame themselves, 
 though they omit all ; which is a very danger- 
 ous, but withal a very natural fruit of the 
 former persuasion. If there be any charities, 
 wherein justice is not concerned, they are those 
 which for the height and degrees of them are 
 not made matter of strict duty, that is, are not 
 in those degrees commanded by God; and even 
 alter these it will be very reasonable for us to 
 q6 
 
352 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 1 7. 
 
 labour; but that cannot be done without taking 
 the lower and necessary degrees in our way ; 
 and therefore let our first care be for them. 
 
 xiv. To help us wherein there will be no 
 The great Rule better means, than to keep before 
 of Charity. our eves that grand rule of loving 
 our neighbour's as ourselves : This the Apostle 
 makes the sum of our whole duty to our neigh- 
 bours, Rom. xiii. 9* Let this therefore be the 
 standard whereby to measure all thy actions 
 which relate to others : whenever any necessity 
 of thy neighbour's presents itself to thee, ask 
 thyself, whether if thou wert in the like case, 
 thy love to thyself would not make thee industri- 
 ous for relief? And then resolve, thy love to thy 
 neighbour must have the same effect for him* 
 This is that royal law, as St. James calls it, 
 James ii. 8. which all that profess themselves 
 subjects to Christ, must be ruled by ; and who- 
 soever is so, will not fail of performing all cha- 
 rities to others, because it is sure he would upon 
 the like occasion have all such performed to 
 himself. There is none but wishes to have his 
 good name defended, his poverty relieved, his 
 bodily sufferings succoured; only it may be said, 
 that in the spiritual wants there are some so 
 careless of themselves, that they wish no supply, 
 they desire no reproofs, no instructions, nay, 
 are angry when they are given them: It may 
 therefore seem that such men are not, by virtue 
 of this rule, tied to those sorts of charities. To 
 this I answer, That the love of ourselves, which 
 is here set as the measure of that to our neigh- 
 bour, is be understood to be that reasonable 
 
Sund. 17.] Of Peace-making, Sec. 353 
 
 love, which men ought to have ; and therefore, 
 though a man fail of that due love he owes 
 himself, yet his neighbour hath not thereby for- 
 feited his right, he has still a claim to such a 
 degree of our love, as is answerable to that 
 which in right we should bear to ourselves ; and 
 such I am sure is this care of our spiritual estate ; 
 and therefore it is not our despising our own 
 souls, that will absolve us from charity to other 
 Men's : Yet I shall not much press this duty in 
 such men, it being neither likely that they will 
 be persuaded to it, or do any good by it; their 
 ill example will overwhelm all their good exhor- 
 tations, and make them unfruitful. 
 
 xv. There is yet one act of Charity behind, 
 which does not properly fall under 
 any one of the former heads, and 
 yet may relate to them all, and that is the mak- 
 ing Peace and Amity among others ; by doing 
 whereof we may much benefit both the souls, 
 bodies, goods, and credit of our brethren ; for 
 all these are in danger by strife and contention. 
 The reconciling of enemies is a most blessed 
 work, and brings a blessing on the actors : we 
 have Christ's word for it. Blessed are the peace- 
 makers, Matt. v. 9- and therefore we may be 
 encouraged diligently to lay hold of all oppor- 
 tunities of doing this office of charity, to use all 
 our art and endeavour to make up all grudges 
 and quarrels we discern among others. Neither 
 must we only labour to restore peace, where it is 
 lost, but to preserve it where it is : first, gene- 
 rally, by striving to beget in the hearts of ail we 
 converse with, a true value of that most precious 
 
354 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 17 
 
 jewel, peace; Secondly, particularly, by a timely 
 prevention of those jars and unkindnesses we see 
 likely to fall out. It may many times be in the 
 power of a discreet friend or neighbour to cure 
 those mistakes and misapprehensions, which are 
 the first beginnings of quarrels and contentions : 
 and it will be both more easy and more profitable 
 thus to prevent, than pacify strifes. It is sure 
 it is more easy ; for when a quarrel is once bro- 
 ken out, it is like a violent flame, which cannot 
 so soon be quenched, as it might have been 
 whilst it was but a smothering fire. And then it 
 is also more profitable ; for it prevents many sins, 
 which in the progress of an open contention, are 
 almost sure to be committed. Solomon says, In 
 the multitude of words there wanteth not sin f 
 Prov. x. 19. which cannot more truly be said of 
 any sorts of words, than those that pass in anger ; 
 and then, though the quarrel be afterwards 
 composed, yet those sins will still remain on 
 their account ; and therefore it is a great 
 charity to prevent them. 
 
 xvi. But to fit a man for this so excellent 
 
 He that undertakes an office of peace-making, it is 
 it must be peaceable necessary that he be first remark- 
 hxmself. ably peaceable himself; for with 
 
 what face canst thou persuade others to that 
 which thou wilt not perform thyself ? or how 
 canst thou expect thy persuasions should work? 
 It will be a ready reply in every man's mouth, 
 Thou hypocrite, cast out first the beam out of thine 
 own eye, Matt. vii. 5. and therefore be sure thou 
 qualify thyself for the work. There is one point 
 of peaceableness, which seems to be little re- 
 
Sund. 17.] Of Peace-making. 355 
 
 garded among men, and that is in the case of 
 legal trespasses ; men thing it nothing Of going to 
 to go to law about every petty trifle, Law - 
 and as long as they have but law on their side, 
 never think they are to blame: but sure, had we 
 that true peaceableness of spirit, which we ought, 
 we should be unwilling, for such slight matters, 
 to trouble and disquiet our neighbour's. Not that 
 all going to law is utterly unchristian, but such 
 kinds of suits especially, as are upon contentious- 
 ness, and stoutness of humour, to defend such an 
 inconsiderable right, as the parting with will do 
 us little or no harm ; or which is yet worse, to 
 avenge such a trespass. And even in great 
 matters, he that shall part with somewhat of his 
 right for love of peace, does surely the most 
 christianly, and most agreeably to the advice of 
 the Apostle, 1 Cor. vi. 7. Rather to take wrong, 
 and suffer ourselves to be defrauded. But if the 
 damage be so insupportable, that it is necessary 
 for us to go to law, yet even then we must take 
 care of preserving peace : first, by carrying still 
 a friendly and christian temper towards the party, 
 not suffering our hearts to be at all estranged 
 from him : Secondly, by being willing to yield 
 to any reasonable terms of agreement, whenever 
 they shall be offered ; and truly, if we carry not 
 this temper of mind in our suits, I see not how 
 they can be reconcileable with that peaceable- 
 ness, so strictly required of all Christians. Let 
 those consider this, who make it their pleasure 
 themselves to disquiet their neighbour, or their 
 trade, to stir up others to do it. This tender 
 regard of peace, both in ourselves and others, is 
 l 
 
356 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 17. 
 
 absolutely necessary to be entertained of all 
 those who own themselves to be tire servants of 
 him, whose title it is to be the Prince of Peace, 
 Isa. ix. 6. 
 
 xvu. All that remains to be touched on 
 n^€k.rit, f oft^ c^cerniug this Charity of the 
 Actiom mmt reach actions, is the extent of it, which 
 to Enemies. must be as krge as the former of 
 
 the affections, even to the taking in, not only 
 strangers, and those of no relation to us, but 
 even of our bitterest enemies. I have already 
 spoken so much of the obligations we are under 
 to forgive them, that I shall not here say 
 any thing of that ; but that being supposed a 
 duty, it will sure then appear no unreasonable 
 thing to proceed one step further, by doing them 
 good turns ; for when we have once forgiven 
 them, we can then no longer account them ene- 
 mies, and so it will be no hard matter, even to 
 flesh and blood, to do all kind things to thorn. 
 And indeed, this is the way by which we must 
 try the sincerity of our forgiveness. It is easy 
 to say, I forgive such a man, but if when an op- 
 portunity of doing him good is offered, thou 
 declinest it, it is apparent there yet lurks the old 
 malice in thy heart. Where there is a thorough 
 forgiveness, there will be as great a readiness to 
 benefit an enemy, as a friend ; nay, perhaps in 
 Some respects a greater, a true charitable person 
 looking upon it as an especial prize, when he 
 has an opportunity of evincing the truth of 
 his reconciliation, and obeying the precept of 
 bis Saviour, by doing good to them that hate 
 him, Matt, v. 44, Let us therefore resolve that all 
 
Sund. 17.] Of Self Love, &c. 357 
 
 actions of kindness are to be performed to our 
 enemies ; for which we have not only the com- 
 mand, but also the example of Christ, who had 
 not only some inward relentings towards us, 
 his obstinate and most provoking enemies, but 
 shewed it in acts, and those no cheap or easy 
 ones, but such as cost him his dearest blood. 
 And surely we can never pretend to be either 
 obeyers of his command, or followers of his 
 example, if we grudge to testify our love to our 
 enemies, by those so much cheaper ways of 
 feeding them in hunger, and the like, recom- 
 mended to us by the Apostle, Iiom.xu. 20. But 
 if we could perform these acts of kindness to 
 enemies in such a manner, as might draw them 
 from their enmity, and win them to peace, the 
 charity would be doubled, and this we should 
 aim at; for that we see the Apostle sets as the 
 end of the forementioned acts of feeding, &c. 
 that we may heap coals of fire on their heads ; 
 not coals to burn, but to melt them into all love 
 and tenderness towards us : And this were in- 
 deed the most compleat way of imitating Christ's 
 example, who in all he did and suffered for us, 
 designed the reconciling of us to himself. 
 
 xvn i. I have now shewed you the several 
 parts of our duty to our neighbour, Self _ hve an 
 towards the performance whereof hindrance to 
 1 know nothing more necessary, than ihls Charitl J> 
 the turning out of our hearts that Self-love which 
 so often possesses them ; and that so wholly, 
 that it leaves no room for charity, nay, nor 
 justice neither, to our neighbour. By this Self- 
 love, I mean not that true love of ourselves^ 
 
358 The Whole Ditty of Man. [Sund. 17. 
 
 which is the love and care of our souls (for that 
 would certainly help, not hinder us in this duty) 
 but I mean that immoderate love of our own 
 worldly interests and advantages, which is appa- 
 rently the root of all both injustice and unchari- 
 tableness towards others. We find this sin of 
 Self-love set by the Apostle in the head of a 
 whole troop of sins, c l Tim. iii. Q. as if it were 
 some principal officer in Satan's camp, and cer- 
 tainly not without reason ; for it never goes 
 without an accursed train of many other sins, 
 which, like the dragon's tail, Rev. xii. 4. sweeps 
 away all care of duty to others. We are by it 
 made so vehement and intent upon the pleasing 
 ourselves, that we have no regard to any body 
 else, contrary to the direction of St. Paul, Rom. 
 xv. 2. which is not to please ourselves, but every 
 man to please his neighbour for his good to edi- 
 fication ; which he backs with the example of 
 Christ, ver. 3. For even Christ pleased not him- 
 self. If therefore we have any sincere desire to 
 have this virtue of charity rooted in our hearts, 
 we must be careful to weed out this sin of Self- 
 love ; for it is impossible they can prosper to- 
 gether. 
 
 xix. But when we have removed this hin- 
 P ray er a means d ranee, we must remember, that 
 toprocure it. this, as all other graces, proceeds 
 not from ourselves, it is the gift of God ; and 
 therefore we must earnestly pray to him to work 
 it in us, to send his Holy Spirit, which once 
 appeared in the form of a dove, a meek and 
 galless -creature, to frame our hearts to the 
 same temper, and enable us rightly to perform 
 this duty. 
 
Sund. 17.] Of turning to God 359 
 
 xx. I have now past through those several 
 branches I at first proposed, and shewed you 
 what is our duty to God, Our- christian Duties 
 selves, and our Neighbour: Of both possible and 
 which I may say, as it is, Luke x. P leasant ' 
 28. This do, and thou shall live. And surely it 
 is no impossible task to perform this in such a 
 measure as God will graciously accept ; that is, 
 in sincerity, though not in perfection ; for God 
 is not that austere master, Luke xix. 21. that 
 reaps where he has not sown : He requires nothing 
 of us which he is not ready by his grace to en- 
 able us to perform, if we be not wanting to our- 
 selves either in asking it by prayer, or in using 
 it by diligence. And as it is not impossible, so 
 neither it is such a sad melancholy task, as men 
 are apt to think it. It is a special policy of 
 Satan's to do as the spies did, Numb. xiii. 28. 
 bring up an ill report upon this good land, this 
 state of Christian life, thereby to discourage us 
 from entering into it, to fright us with I know 
 not what giants we shall meet with : But let us 
 not thus be cheated, let us but take the courage 
 to try, and we shall indeed find it a Canaan, a 
 land flowing with milk and honey. God is not 
 in this respect to his people, a wilderness, a land 
 of darkness, Jer. ii. 31. His service does not be- 
 reave men of any true joy, but helps them to a 
 great deal ; Christ's yoke is an easy, nay, a plea- 
 sant yoke : his burden a light, yea, a gracious 
 burden. There is in the practice of Christian 
 Duties a great deal of present pleasure, and if 
 we feel it not, it is because of the resistance our 
 vicious and sinful customs make, which, by the 
 
360 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 17. 
 
 contention, raises an uneasiness. But then, first, 
 that is to be charged only on ourselves, for 
 having got those ill customs, and thereby made 
 that hard to us, which in itself is most pleasant ; 
 the duties are not to be accused for it. And 
 then, secondly, even there the pleasure of sub- 
 duing those ill habits, overcoming those corrupt 
 customs, is such as hugely outvveigheth all the 
 trouble of the combat. 
 
 xxi. But it will perhaps be said, that some 
 parts of piety are of such a nature, as will be 
 very apt to expose us to persecutions and suffer- 
 ings in the world ; and that those are not joyous, 
 but grievous. 
 
 I answer, That even in those there is a matter 
 
 Evemohenthev ° f J ^ . Wq SGe the ApOStleS 
 
 expose us to out- thought it so ; They rejoiced that 
 ivard Sufferings. t fr e y werc coun ted worthy to suffer 
 
 for Christ's name, Acts v. 41. And St. Peter 
 tells us, That if any man suffer as a Christian, 
 he is to glorify God for it, 1 Pet. iv. lo\ There 
 is such a force and virtue in the testimony of a 
 good conscience, as is able to change the great- 
 est sufferings into the greatest triumph; and that 
 testimony we can never have more clear and 
 lively, than when we suffer for righteousness 
 sake; so that you see Christianity is very amiable 
 even in its saddest dress, the inward comforts of 
 it do far surpass all the outward tribulations that 
 attend it, and that even in the instant while we 
 are in a state of warfare upon earth. But then, 
 if we look forward to the crown of our victories, 
 those eternal rewards in Heaven, we can never 
 thmk those tasks sad, though we had nothing at 
 
Sund. 17. .] Of turning to God. 361 
 
 present to sweeten them, that have such recom- 
 pences awaiting them at the end. Were our 
 labours never so heavy, we could have no cause 
 to faint under them. Let us therefore, when- 
 ever we meet with any discouragement in our 
 course, fix our eyes on this rich prize, and then 
 run with patience the race that is set before us, 
 Heb. xii. 1 . follow the Captain of our salvation 
 through the greatest sufferings, yea, even through 
 the same red sea of blood which he hath waded, 
 whenever our obedience to him shall require it : 
 For though our fidelity to him should bring us 
 to death itself, we are sure to be no loser by it; 
 for to such he hath promised a crown of life, the 
 very expectation whereof is able to keep a 
 Christian more cheerful in his fetters and dun- 
 geon, than a worldling can be in the midst of 
 his greatest prosperities. 
 
 xxii. All that remains for me further to add, 
 is, earnestly to entreat and beseech The j) an „ er f 
 the reader, that without delay he delaying -mr turn- 
 put himself into this so pleasant iv 8 t0 God - 
 and gainful a course, by setting sincerely to the 
 practice all those things which either by this 
 book, or by any other means, he discerns to 
 be his duty ; and the farther he hath formerly 
 gone out of his way, the more haste it concerns 
 him to make to get into it, and to use the more 
 diligence in walking in it. He that hath a long 
 journey to go, and finds he has lost a great part 
 of his day in a wrong way, will not need much 
 intreaty, either to turn into the right, or to 
 quicken his pace in it. And this is the case of all 
 those that have lived in any course of sin, they 
 
362 The Whole Duty of Man. [Sund. 17. 
 
 are in a wrong road, which will never bring them 
 to the place they aim at; nay, which will cer- 
 tainly bring them to the place they most fear and 
 abhor: much of their day is spent; how much 
 will be left to finish their journey in, none 
 knows ; perhaps the next hour, the next minute, 
 the night of death may overtake them. What a 
 madness is it then for them to defer one moment 
 to turn out of that path, which leads to certain 
 destruction, and to put themselves in that which 
 will bring them to bliss and glory ? Yet so are 
 men bewitched and enchanted, with the deceit- 
 fulness of sin, that no entreaty, no persuasion 
 can prevail with them, to make this so reason- 
 able, so necessary a change ; not but they ac- 
 knowledge it needful to be done, but they are 
 unwilling to do it yet; they would enjoy all the 
 pleasures of sin as long as they live, and then 
 they hope at their death, or some little time be- 
 fore it, to do all the business of their souls. 
 But, alas ! Heaven is too high to be thus jumped 
 into, the way to it is a long and leisurely ascent, 
 which requires time to walk. The hazards of 
 such deferring are more largely spoken of in the 
 Discourse of Repentance : I shall not here re- 
 peat them, but desire the reader seriously to lay 
 them to heart, and then surely he will think it 
 seasonable counsel that is given by the wise man, 
 Ecclcs. v. 7. Make no tarrying to turn to the 
 Lord j and put not off from day to day. 
 
PRIVATE DEVOTIONS 
 FOR SEVERAL OCCASIONS, 
 
 ORDINARY AND EXTRAORDINARY. 
 
CHRISTIAN" READER, 
 
 I HAVE, for the help of thy Devotions, set 
 dozvn some Forms of Private Prayer upon 
 several occasions ; if it be thought an omission, 
 that there are none for Families, I must answer 
 for myself That it was not from any opinion, 
 that God is not as well to he xvorshipped in the 
 Family as the Closet ; but because the Provi- 
 dence of God and the Church hath already fur- 
 nished thee for that purpose, infinitely beyond 
 what my utmost care could do ; I mean in the 
 Public Liturgy or Common Prayer, which 
 for all public addresses to God (and such are 
 Family Prayers) are so excellent and useful, 
 that we may say of it as David did of Goliah's 
 sword, 1 Sam. xxi. 9* There is none like it. 
 
( 365 ) 
 
 DIRECTIONS FOR THE MORNING. 
 
 As soon as ever thou awakest in the Morning, 
 lift up thy heart to God, in this, or the like 
 short Prayer. 
 
 Lord, as thou hast awaked my body from 
 sleep, so by thy grace awaken my soul from sin 3 
 and make me so to walk before thee this day, 
 and all the rest of my life, that when the last 
 trumpet shall awake me out of my grave, I may 
 rise to the life immortal, through Jesus Christ. 
 
 When thou hast thus begun, suffer not (zvith- 
 out some urgent necessity) any worldly thoughts 
 to fill thy mind, till thou hast also paid thy more 
 solemn devotions to Almighty God ; and there- 
 fore during the time thou art dressing thyself 
 (which should be no longer than common decency 
 requires) exercise thy mind in some spiritual 
 thoughts. As for example, consider to what 
 temptations thy business or company that day 
 are most likely to lay thee open, and arm thyself 
 with resolutions against them: Or again, consider 
 what occasions o/doing service toGod,or good to 
 thy neighbour, are that day most likely to present 
 themselves, and resolve to embrace them ; and 
 also contrive hoxv thou mayest improve them to 
 the uttermost. But especially it will befit for 
 thee to examine, whether there have any sin es- 
 caped thee since thy last night's examination. 
 If after these considerations any further leisure 
 remain, thou mayest profitably employ it in me- 
 ditating on the general Resurrection (whereof 
 our rising from our bed is a representation) 
 and of that dreadful Judgment which shall folloxv 
 R 
 
"■366 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS. 
 
 it : And then think witM thyself in what pre- 
 paration thou art for it ; and resolve to husband 
 carefully every minute of thy time towards the 
 fitting thee for that great account. As soon as 
 thou art ready, retire to some private place, 
 and there offer up to God thy morning sacrifice 
 cf praise and prayer. 
 
 PRAYERS FOR THE MORNING. 
 
 At thy first kneeling down say, 
 O Holy, blessed and glorious Trinity, three 
 Persons and one God, have mercy upon me a 
 miserable Sinner. 
 
 Lord, I know not what to pray for as I ought : 
 O let thy Spirit help my infirmities, and enable 
 me to offer up a spiritual sacrifice, acceptable 
 to thee by Jesus Christ. 
 
 A Thanksgiving. 
 
 O Gracious Lord, whose mercies endure for 
 
 ever, I thy unworthy servant, who have so 
 
 deeply tasted of them, desire to render thee the 
 
 tribute of my humblest praises for them. In 
 
 thee, O Lord, I live, and move, and have my 
 
 being; : Thou first madest me to be, and then, 
 
 that! might not be miserable, but happy, thou 
 
 sentest thy Son out of thy bosom to redeem me 
 
 from the power of my sins, by his grace, anc 
 
 from the punishment of them by his blood, anc 
 
 by both to bring me to his glory. Thou has 
 
 by thy mercy caused me to be born within thy 
 
 peculiar fold, the Christian Church, where I was 
 
 early consecrated to thee in baptism, and have 
 
 been partaker of all those spiritual helps, which 
 
 might aid me to perform that vow I there made 
 
Prayers for Morning, 367 
 
 to thee : and when, by my own wilfulness or 
 negligence, I have failed to do it, yet thou in thy 
 manifold mercies hast not forsaken me, but hast 
 graciously invited me to repentance, afforded me 
 all means both outward and inward for it, and 
 with much patience hast attended, and not cut 
 me off in the acts of those many damning sins I 
 have committed, as I have most justly deserved. 
 It is, O Lord, thy restraining grace alone by 
 which I have been kept back from any the 
 greatest sins ; and it is thy inciting and assisting 
 grace alone, by which I have been enabled to do 
 any the least good ; therefore, not unto me, not 
 unto me, but unto thy name be the praise : For 
 these, and all other thy spiritual blessings, my 
 soul doth magnify the Lord, and all that is 
 within me praise his holy name. I likewise praise 
 thee for those many outward blessings I enjoy, as 
 health, friends, food, and raiment, the comforts 
 as well as the necessaries of this life ; for those 
 continual protections of thy hand, by which 
 I and mine are kept from dangers ; and those 
 gracious deliverances thou hast often afforded 
 out of such as have befallen me : And for that 
 mercy of thine, whereby thou hast sweetened 
 and allayed those troubles thou hast not seen fit 
 wholly to remove ; For thy particular preserva- 
 tion of me this night, and all other thy goodness 
 towards me. Lord, grant that I may render thee 
 not only the fruit of my lips, but the obedience 
 of my life ; that so these blessings here, may be 
 1 an earnest of those richer blessings thou hast pre- 
 : ' pared for those that love thee ; and that for his 
 j L sake, whom thou hast made the Author of eter- 
 
So8 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS. 
 
 nal salvation to all that obey him, even Jesus 
 •Christ. 
 
 A Confession. 
 O /Righteous Lord, who hatest iniquity, I 
 thy sinful creature cast myself at thy feet, ac- 
 knowledging that I most justly deserve to be 
 utterly abhorred and forsaken by thee; for I have 
 drank iniquity like water, gone on in a continual 
 course of sin and rebellion against thee, daily 
 committing those things thou forbiddest, and 
 leaving undone those things thou commandest: 
 Mine heart, which should be an habitation for 
 thy Spirit, is become a cage of unclean birds, 
 of foul and disordered affections: and out of 
 this abundance of the heart my mouth speaketh, 
 my hands act : So that in thought, word, and 
 deed, I continually transgress against thee. 
 (Here mention the greatest of thy sins.) Nay, 
 O Lord, I have despised that goodness of thine 
 which should lead me to repentance, hardening 
 my heart againtst all those means which thou hast 
 used for my amendment. And now, Lord, what 
 can I expect from thee, but judgment and fiery in- 
 dignation? that is, indeed, the due reward of my 
 sins : Eut, O Lord, there is mercy with thee, that 
 thou mayst be feared. O fit me for that mercy, 
 by giving me a deep and hearty repentance ; 
 And then, according to thy goodness, let thine 
 anger and thy wrath be turned away from me : 
 Look upon me in thy Son, my blessed Saviour, 
 and for the merit of his sufferings pardon all my 
 sins : And, Lord, I beseech thee, by the power 
 of thy grace, so to renew and purity my heart, 
 that I may become a new creature, utterly for- 
 
Prayers for Morning. 369 
 
 saking every evil way, and living in a constant, 
 sincere, universal obedience to thee all the rest 
 of my days ; that, behaving myself as a good 
 and faithful Servant, I may, by thy mercy, at the 
 last be received into the joy of my Lord. Grant 
 this, for Jesus Christ's- sake.. 
 
 A Prayer for Grace, 
 O most gracious God, from whom every 
 good and perfect gift cometh, I wretched crea- 
 ture, that am not able of myself so much as to 
 think a good thought, beseech thee to work in 
 me both to will and to do according to thy good 
 pleasure ; Enlighten my mind, that I may know 
 thee, and let me not be barren or unfruitful in 
 that knowledge : Lord, work in my heart a true 
 faith, a purifying hope, and an unfeigned love 
 towards thee : Give me a full trust in thee, zeal 
 for thee, reverence of all things that relate to 
 thee : Make me fearful to offend thee, thankful 
 for thy mercies, humble under thy corrections, 
 devout in thy service, sorrowful for my sins, and 
 grant that in all things I may behave myself so, 
 as befits a creature to his Creator, a servant to 
 his Lord. Enable me likewise to perform that 
 duty I owe to myself: Give me that meekness, 
 humility, and contentedness, whereby I may 
 always possess my soul in patience and thank- 
 fulness. Make me diligent in all my duties, 
 watchful against all temptations, perfectly pure 
 and temperate, and so moderate in my most law- 
 ful enjoyments, that they may never become a 
 snare to me. Make me also, O Lord, to be so 
 affected towards my neighbour, that I never 
 R 3 
 
370 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS. 
 
 transgress that royal law of thine, of loving him 
 as myself. Grant me exactly to perform all parts 
 of justice, yielding to all whatsoever by any 
 kind of right becomes their due ; and give me 
 such bowels of mercy and compassion ; that I 
 may never fail to do all acts of charity to all 
 men, whether friends or enemies, according to 
 thy command and example. Finally, I beseech 
 thee, O Lord, to sanctify me throughout, that 
 my whole spirit, and soul and body may be pre- 
 served blameless unto the coming of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ ; to whom with thee and the Holy 
 Ghost be all honour and glory forever. Amen. 
 
 Intercession. 
 
 O blessed Lord, whose mercy is over all 
 thy works; I beseech thee to have mercy upon 
 all men, and grant that the precious ransom 
 which was paid by thy Son for all, may be effectual 
 to the saving of all. Give thy enlightening grace 
 to those that are in darkness, and thy convert- 
 ing grace to those that are in sin : Look with 
 thy tenderest compassion upon the universal 
 Church : O be favourable and gracious unto Sion, 
 build thou the walls of Jerusalem: Unite ail those 
 that profess thy name to thee by purity and 
 holiness, and to each other by brotherly love. 
 Have mercy on this desolate Church and sin- 
 ful Nation : thou hast moved the land, and 
 divided it, heal the sores thereof, for it shaketh. 
 Make us so truly to repent of those sins which 
 have provoked thy judgments, that thou also 
 mayest turn, and repent, and leave a blessing 
 behind thee. Bless those whom thou hast ap- 
 
Prayers for Morning, 37 1 
 
 pointed our governors, whether in Church or 
 State :■ so rule their hearts, and strengthen their 
 hands, that they may neither want will nor 
 power to punish wickedness and vice, and to 
 maintain God's true religion and virtue. Have 
 pity, O Lord, on all that are in affliction ; be a 
 father to the fatherless ; and plead the cause of 
 the widow; comfort the feebleminded, sup- 
 port the weak, heal the sick, relieve the needy, 
 defend the oppressed, and administer to every 
 one according to their several necessities. Let 
 thy blessings rest upon all that are near and dear 
 to me, and grant them whatsoever thou seest 
 necessary, either to their bodies or their souls : 
 [Here name thy dearest relations.] Reward 
 all those that have done me good, and pardon 
 all those that have done or wished me evil ; and 
 work in them and me all that good which may 
 make us acceptable m thy sight, through Jesus 
 Christ* 
 
 For Preservation* 
 
 O Merciful God, by whose bounty alone 
 it is that I have this day added to my life, I be- 
 seech thee so to guide me in it, by thy grace, 
 that I may do nothing which may dishonour thee, 
 or wound my own soul ; but that I may dili- 
 gently apply myself to do all such good works, 
 as thou hast prepared for me to walk in : And, 
 Lord, I beseech thee, give thy Angels charge 
 over me, to keep me in all my ways, that no evil 
 happen unto me, nor any plague come nigh my 
 -dwelling, but that I and mine may be safe under 
 thy gracious protection, through Jesus Christ. 
 r 4 
 
372 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS. 
 
 O Lord ; pardon the wanderings and cold- 
 ness of these petitions, and deal with me not 
 according either to my prayers or deserts, but 
 according to my needs, and thine own rich mer- 
 cies in Jesus Christ, in whose blessed name and 
 words I conclude these my imperfect prayers, 
 saying, Our Father, &c. 
 
 DIRECTIONS FOR NIGHT. 
 
 At Night, when it draws towards the time of 
 rest, bethink thyself how thou hast passed the day: 
 Examine thine own hearty what sin, either of 
 thought, word, or deed, thou hast commit ted,what 
 opportunity of doing good thou hast omitted, and 
 whatsoever thoufindest to accuse thyself of, con- 
 fess humbly and penitently to God; renew thy 
 purposes and resolutions of amendment, and beg 
 his pardon in Christ ; and this not slightly \ and 
 only as of course, but with all devout earnestness 
 and heartiness, as thou wouldst do, if thou wert 
 sure thy death were as near approaching as thy 
 sleep, xvhichfor aught thou knowest may be so w* 
 deed : And therefore thou shouldst no more ven- 
 ture to sleep unreconciled to God, than thou wouldst 
 dare to die so. In the next place, consider what 
 special and extraordinary mercies thou hast that 
 day received ; as if thou hast had any great de- 
 liverance, either in thy inward man from some 
 dangerous temptation, or in thy outward, from 
 any great and apparent danger, and offer to 
 God thy hearty and devout praise for the same : 
 Or, if nothing extraordinary have so happen- 
 ed, and thou hast been kept even from the ap- 
 proach of danger, thou hast not the less, but the 
 
. Prayers for Night. 373 
 
 greater cause to magnify God, who hath by his 
 protection so guarded thee, that not so much as 
 the fear of evil hath assaulted thee. And therefore 
 omit not to pay him the tribute of humble thank- 
 fulness, as well for his usual and daily preserva- 
 tions, as his more extraordinary deliverances. 
 And above all, endeavour still by the considera- 
 tion of his mercies, to have thy heart the more 
 closely knit to him; remembering that every fa- 
 vour received from him, is a nezv engagement 
 upon thee to love and obey him. 
 
 PRAYERS FOR NIGHT. 
 
 O Holy, blessed, and glorious Trinity, three 
 Persons, and one God, have mercy upon me a 
 miserable sinner. 
 
 Lord, I know not what to pray for as I ought : 
 O let thy Spirit help my infirmities, and enable 
 me to offer up a spiritual sacrifice acceptable 
 unto thee by Jesus Christ. 
 
 A Confession. 
 
 O Most holy Lord God, who art of purer 
 eyes than to behold iniquity, how shall I, abo- 
 minable wretch, dare to appear before thee, 
 who am nothing but pollution ? I am defiled in 
 my very nature, having a backwardness to all 
 good, and a readiness to all evil; but I have de- 
 fied myself yet much worse by my own actual 
 sins and wicked customs : I have trangressed 
 my "duty to thee, my neighbour, and myself, 
 and that both in thought, in word, and in deed, 
 by doing those things which thou hast expressly 
 forbidden, and by neglecting to do those things 
 thou hast commanded me ; and this not only 
 r 5 
 
374 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS. 
 
 through ignorance and frailty, but knowingly 
 and wilfully, against the motions of thy Spirit, 
 and the checks of rny own conscience to the con- 
 trary. And to make all these out of measure 
 sinful, I have gone on in a daily course of re- 
 peating these provocations against thee, notwith- 
 standing all thy calls to, and my own purposes 
 and vows of amendment ; yea, this very day, I 
 have not ceased to add new sins to all my former 
 guilts : [Here name the particulars,'] And now, 
 O Lord, what shall I say, or how shall I open 
 my mouth, seeing I have done these things ? I 
 know that the wages of these sins is death ; but, 
 O thou, who wiliest not the death of a sinner, 
 have mercy upon me; work in me, I beseech 
 thee, a sincere contrition and a perfect hatred of 
 my sins ; and let me not daily confess, and yet 
 as daily renew them: But grant, O Lord, that 
 from this instant I may give a bill of divorce to 
 all my most beloved lusts, and then be thou 
 pleased to marry me to thyself, in truth, in righte- 
 ousness, and holiness. And for all my past sins, 
 
 Lord, receive a reconciliation; accept of 
 that ransom thy blessed Son hath paid for me, 
 and for his sake whom thou hast set forth as a 
 propitiation, pardon all my offences, and receive 
 me to thy favour : and when thou hast thus 
 spoken peace to my soul, Lord, keep me, that 
 
 1 turn not any more to folly ; but so establish 
 me with thy grace, that no temptation of the 
 world, the devil, or my own flesh, may ever 
 draw me to offend thee ; that being made free 
 from sin, and becoming a servant unto God, I 
 
Prayers for Night. 375 
 
 may have my fruit unto holiness, and the end 
 everlasting life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 
 A Thanksgiving. 
 
 O Thou Father of mercies, who art kind 
 even to the unthankful, I acknowledge myself 
 to have abundantly experimented that gracious 
 property of thine ; for notwithstanding my 
 daily provocations against thee, thou still heap- 
 est mercy and loving kindness upon me. All 
 my contempts and despisings of thy spiritual fa- 
 vours, have not yet made thee withdraw them ; 
 but in the riches of thy goodness and long-suf- 
 fering, thou still continuest to me the offers of 
 grace and life in thy Son. And all my abuses of 
 thy temporal blessings thou hast not punished with 
 an utter deprivation of them, but still art pleased 
 to afford me a liberation of them. The sins 
 of this day thou hast not repaid, as justly thou 
 mightest, by sweeping me away with a swift de- 
 struction, but hast spared and preserved me ac- 
 cording to the greatness of thy mercy. [Here 
 mention the particular mercies of that day.~\ What 
 shall I render unto the Lord for all those bene- 
 fits he hath done unto me ? Lord, let this good- 
 ness of thine lead me to repentance; and grant, 
 that I may not only offer thee thanks and praise, 
 but may also order my conversation aright, that 
 so I may at the last see the salvation of God, 
 through Jesus Christ. 
 
 Here use the Prayer for Grace, and that of In- 
 tercession, appointed for the Morning. 
 It ,6 
 
376 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS. 
 
 For Preservation. 
 O Blessed Lord, the keeper of Israel, that 
 neither slumberest nor sleepest, be pleased in 
 thy mercy to watch over me this night : Keep 
 me by thy grace from all works of darkness, 
 and defend me by thy power from all dangers : 
 Grant me moderate and refreshing sleep, such 
 as may fit me for the duties of the day follow- 
 ing. And, Lord, make me ever mindful of 
 that time when I shall lie down in the dust: 
 And, because I know neither the day nor the 
 hour of my Master's coming, grant me grace, 
 that I may be always ready, that I may never 
 live in such a state as I shall fear to die in ; but 
 that whether I live, I may live unto the Lord> 
 or whether I die, I may die unto the Lord ; so 
 that living and dying I may be thine, through 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 Use the same concluding Prayer as in the Morn- 
 ing. 
 As thou art putting off thy clothes, think with 
 thyself, that the time approaches that thou mayst 
 put off thy body also, and then thy Soul must 
 appear naked before God's Judgment Seat ; and 
 therefore thou hast need be careful to make it 
 so clean and pure, by repentance and holiness^ 
 that he, who will not look an iniquity, may gra- 
 ciously behold and accept it. 
 
 Let thy bed put thee in mind of thy grave ; and 
 
 when thou liest down say, 
 
 O Blessed Saviour, who by thy precious death 
 
 and burial didst take away the sting of death 
 
 and the power of the grave, grant me the joy- 
 
 1 
 
Prayers for Night* 377 
 
 ful fruits of that thy victory, and be thou to me 
 in life and death advantage. 
 
 I will lay down in peace and take my rest, 
 for it is thou, Lord only, that makest me t to 
 dwell in safety. 
 
 Into thy hands I commend my spirit : for thou 
 hast redeemed it, O Lord, thou God of Truth. 
 
 In the Ancient Church there zvere, besides 
 morning and night, four other Times every day, 
 which were catted Hours of Prayer; and the 
 zeal of those first Christians was such, as made 
 them constantly observed. It xvouldbe thought 
 too great a strictness now, in this luke-warm 
 age, to enjoin the like frequency. Yet I cannot 
 but mention the example, and say, that for 
 those, who are not by very necessary business 
 prevented, it will be but reasonable to imitate it, 
 and make up in public and private those Four 
 Times of Prayer, besides ^Offices already 
 set down for Morning and Night. And, that 
 none may be to seek how to exercise their devotions 
 at these times. I have added diverse Collects 
 for several Graces, whereof every man may use 
 at each such time of prayer, so many as his zeal 
 and leisure shall point out to him; adding, if he 
 please, one of the confessions appointed for 
 Morning and Night, and never omitting the 
 Lord's Prayer. 
 
 But if any man's state of life be really so busy, 
 as will not allow him time for so long and solemn 
 devotions; yet certainly there is no man so over- 
 laid with business, but that he may find leisure 
 oftentimes in a day to say the Lord's Prayer 
 
378 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS. 
 
 alone ; and therefore let him use that, if he can- 
 ?iot more. But because it is the character of a 
 Christian, (Phil. iii. 20.) that he hath his con- 
 versation in Heaven ; it is very jit, that besides 
 these set times of Prayer, he should diverse times 
 in a day, by short and sudden Ejaculations 
 dart up his soul thither* And j or this sort of 
 devotion no man can want leisure; for it maybe 
 performed in the midst of business ; the artificer 
 at his work, the husbandman at his plough, may 
 practise it. Nozv as he cannot want time, so that he 
 may not xvant matter for it, I have thought it not 
 tumseful,out of that rich store-house, The Book 
 of Psalms, to furnish him with some texts, 
 which may very fitly be used for this purpose ; 
 which being learned by heart, zvill always be 
 ready at hand to employ his devotions : And the 
 matter of them being various, some for pardon 
 of sin, some for grace, some for the light of God's 
 countenance, some for the church, some for 
 thanksgiving, &c. every man may fit himself ac- 
 cording to the present need and temper of his 
 scuL I have given these, not as a full collection, 
 but only as a taste, by which the Reader s ap- 
 petite may be raised to search after more in that 
 Book, and other parts of Holy Scripture. 
 
 COLLECTS FOR SEVERAL GRACES. 
 
 For Faith. 
 O Blessed Lord, whom without Faith it is 
 impossible to please ; let thy Spirit, I beseech 
 thee, work in me such a faith, as may be accept- 
 able in thy sight, even such as worketh by love. 
 O let me not rest in a dead ineffectual faith, but 
 9 
 
Collects for several Graces. 379 
 
 grant that it may be such as may shew itself by 
 my works, that it may be that victorious faith, 
 which may enable me to overcome the world, 
 and conform me to the image of that Christ, on 
 whom I believe ; that so at the last I may receive 
 the end of my faith, even the salvation of my 
 soul, by the same Jesus Christ. 
 
 For Hope. 
 
 O Lord, who art the hope of all the ends of 
 the earth, let me never be destitute of a well- 
 grounded hope, nor yet possessed with a vain 
 presumption : Suffer me not to think thou wilt 
 either be reconciled to my sins, or reject my re- 
 pentance; but give me, I beseech thee, such a 
 hope as may be answerable to the only ground 
 of hope, thy promises, and such as may both 
 encourage and enable me to purify myself from 
 all filthiness both of flesh and spirit; that so it 
 may indeed become to me an anchor of the soul 
 both sure and stedfast, entering even within the 
 vail, whither the fore-runner is for me entered, 
 even Jesus Christ, my High Priest, and blessed 
 Redeemer. 
 
 For the Love of God. 
 
 O Holy and gracious Lord, who art infinitely 
 excellent in thyself, and infinitely bountiful 
 and compassionate towards me, I beseech thee 
 suffer not rny heart to be so hardened through 
 the deceitfulness of sin, as to resist siach charms 
 of love, but let them make deep and lasting 
 impressions on my soul. Lord, thou art p\eased 
 to require my heart, and thou only hast a 
 
380 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS. 
 
 right to it. O let me not be so sacrilegiously 
 unjust, as to alienate any part of it, but enable 
 me to render it up whole and entire to thee. 
 But, O my God, thou seest it is already usurped ; 
 the world with its vanities hath seized it, and 
 like a strong man armed, keeps possession. O 
 thou who art stronger, come upon him, and 
 take this unworthy heart of mine as thine own 
 spoil, refine it with that purifying fire of thy 
 love, that it may be a fit habitation for thy 
 Spirit. Lord, if thou seest it fit, be pleased to 
 let me taste of the joys, those ravishments of 
 thy love, wherewith thy Saints have been so 
 transported. But if in this I know not what I 
 ask, if I may not chuse my place in thy King- 
 dom, yet, O Lord, deny me not to drink of 
 thy cup : Let me have such a sincerity and 
 degree of love, as may make me endure any 
 thing for thy sake ; such a perfect love as may 
 cast out all fear and sloth too, that nothing may 
 seem to me too grievous to suffer, or too difficult 
 to do, in obedience to thee; that so expressing 
 my love by keeping thy commandments, I may, 
 by thy mercy, at last obtain that crown of life, 
 which thou hast promised to those that love 
 thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 
 For Sincerity, 
 
 O Holy Lord, who requirest truth in the in- 
 ward parts, I humbly beseech thee to purge me 
 from all hypocrisy and insincerity. The heart, 
 O Lord, is deceitful above all things, and 
 my heart is deceitful above all hearts : O thou, 
 who searchest the heart and reins, try me, and 
 seek the ground of my heart, and suffer not 
 
Collects for several Graces. 381 
 
 any accursed thing to lurk within me; but 
 purify me even with fire, so thou consume my 
 dross. O Lord, I cannot deceive thee, but I 
 may most easily deceive myself. I beseech thee, 
 let me not rest in any such deceit, but bring me 
 to a sight and hatred of my most hidden corrup- 
 tions, that I may not cherish any darling lust, 
 but make an utter destruction of every Amale- 
 kite. O suffer me not to speak peace to myself, 
 when there is no peace ; but grant I may judge 
 of myself as thou judgest of me, that I may 
 never be at peace with "myself, till I am at per- 
 fect peace with thee, and by purity of heart, be 
 qualified to see thee in thy kingdom, through 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 For Devotion in Prayer. 
 
 O Gracious Lord God, who not only permit- 
 test, but invitest us miserable and needy crea- 
 tures to present our petitions to thee; grant, I 
 beseech thee, that the frequency of my prayer 
 may be somewhat proportionable to those con- 
 tinual needs I have of thy mercy. Lord, I con- 
 fess it is the greatest honour, and greatest advan- 
 tage^ thus to be allowed access to thee ; yet so 
 sottisli and stupid is my profane heart, that it 
 shuns or frustrates the opportunities of it. My 
 soul, O Lord, is possessed with a spirit of infir- 
 mity ; it is bowed together, and can in no wise 
 lift up itself to thee. O be thou pleased to cure 
 this sad, this miserable disease, to inspirit and 
 enliven this earthly, drossy heart, that it may 
 freely mount towards thee: that I may set a true 
 value on this most valuable privilege, and take 
 
382 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS 
 
 delight in approaching to thee ; and that my 
 approaches may be with a reverence some way 
 answerable to that awful Majesty I come before ; 
 with an importunity and earnestness answerable 
 to those pressing wants I have to be supplied ; 
 and with such a fixedness and attention of mind, 
 as no wandering thoughts may interrupt: that I 
 may no more incur the guilt of drawing near to 
 thee with my lips, when my heart is far from 
 thee, or have my prayers turned into sin : but 
 may so ask, that I may receive ; seek, that I 
 may find; knock, that it may be opened unto 
 me ; that from praying to thee here, I may be 
 translated to the praising thee eternally in thy 
 glory, through the merits and intercession of 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 For Humility. 
 
 O Thou high and lofty One that inhabitest 
 eternity, yet art pleased to dwell with the hum- 
 ble spirit, pour into my heart, I beseech thee, 
 that excellent grace of humility, which may 
 utterly work out all those vain conceits I have 
 of myself. Lord, convince me powerfully of my 
 own wretchedness ; make me to see that I am 
 miserable and poor, and blind, and naked, and 
 not only dust, but sin : that so, in all thy dis- 
 pensations towards me, I may lay my hand upon 
 my mouth, and heartily acknowledge that I am 
 less than the least of thy mercies, and greater 
 than the greatest of thy judgments. And, O 
 Lord, grant me not only to walk humbly with 
 my God, but even with men also, that I may 
 not only submit myself to thy rebukes, but eveu 
 
 
Collects for several Graces. 383 
 
 to those of my Fellow-Christians, and with 
 meekness receive and obey their admonitions. 
 And make me so to behave myself towards all, 
 that I may never do any thing through strife and 
 vain-glory ; and to that end grant, that in low- 
 lines of mind I may esteem every other man 
 better than myself, and be willing that others 
 should esteem them so also : that I neither nou- 
 rish any high opinion of myself, nor covet one 
 among others; but that, despising the vain 
 praise of men, I may seek that praise which 
 cometh from thee only : That so, instead of 
 those mean servile arts I have used to recom- 
 mend me to the esteem of men, I may now em- 
 ploy all my industry and care to approve myself 
 to thee, who resisteth the proud, and givest 
 grace to the humble. Grant this, O Lord, for 
 his sake, who humbled himself unto the death 
 of the cross, Jesus Christ. 
 
 For the Fear of God. 
 
 O Glorious Majesty, who only art high and 
 to be feared, possess my soul with an holy awe 
 and reverence of thee, that I may give thee the 
 honour due unto thy Name, and may bear such 
 a respect to all things which relate to thee, that 
 1 may never profane any holy thing, or sacrilegi- 
 ously invade what thou hast set apart to thyself. 
 And, O Lord, since thou art a God that wilt 
 not clear the guilty, let the dread of thy justice 
 make me tremble to provoke thee in any thing. 
 O let me not so misplace my fear, as to be afraid 
 of a man that shall die, and of the son of man, 
 who shall be made as grass, and forget the Lord 
 
3S4 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS. 
 
 my Maker ; but replenish my soul with that fear 
 of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom, 
 which may be as a bridle to all my brutish appe- 
 tites ; and keep me in a constant conformity to 
 thy holy will. Hear me, O Lord, I beseech 
 thee, and put this fear in my heart, that I may 
 not depart from thee ; but may, with fear and 
 trembling, work out my own salvation, through 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 For Trust on God. 
 
 O Almighiy Lord,, who never failest them 
 that trust on thee : Give me grace, I beseech thee, 
 in all my difficulties and distresses to have re- 
 course to thee, to rest and depend on thee : 
 Thou shalt keep him, O Lord, in perfect peace, 
 whose mind is stayed on thee. O let me always 
 rest on this firm pillar, and never exchange it 
 for the broken reeds of worldly succours : Suffer 
 not my heart to be overcharged with the cares of 
 this life, taking thought what I shall eat or drink, 
 or wherewithal I shall be clothed ; but grant, 
 that having by honest labour and industry done 
 my part, I may chearfully commit myself to thy 
 providence, casting all my care upon thee, and 
 being careful for nothing, but to be of the num- 
 ber of those whom thou ownest and carest for, 
 even such as keep thy testimonies, and think 
 upon thy commandments to do them ; that 
 seeking first thy kingdom, and the righteousness 
 thereof, all these outward things may be added 
 unto me, in such a measure, as thy wisdom 
 knows best for me. Grant this, O Lord, for 
 Jesus Christ's sake. 
 
Collects for several Graces, 385 
 For Thankfulness. 
 
 O Most gracious and bountiful Lord, who 
 fillest all things living with good, and expectest 
 no other return, but praise and thanksgiving ; 
 let me, O Lord, never defraud thee of that so 
 easy tribute ; but let my heart ever be filled with 
 the sense, and my mouth with the acknowledg- 
 ment of thy mercies. It is a joyful and pleasant 
 thing to be thankful : O suffer me not I beseech 
 thee, to lose my part in that divine pleasure : 
 But grant, that as I daily receive blessings from 
 thee, so may I daily, from an affectionate and 
 devout heart offer up thanks to thee; and grant 
 that not only my lips but my life, may shew 
 forth thy praise, by consecrating myself to thy 
 service, and walking in holiness and righteous- 
 ness before thee all the days of my life, through 
 Jesus Christ my Lord and blessed Saviour. 
 
 For Contrition. 
 
 O Holy Lord, who art a merciful embracer 
 of true penitents, but yet a consuming fire to- 
 wards obstinate sinners, how shall I approach 
 thee, who have so many provoking sins to inflame 
 thy wrath, and so little sincere repentance to 
 incline thy mercy ! O be thou pleased to soften 
 and melt this hard obdurate heart of mine, that 
 I may heartily bewail the iniquities of my life : 
 Strike this rock, O Lord, that the waters may 
 flow out, even floods of tears to wash my pol- 
 luted conscience. My drowsy soul hath too long 
 slept securely in sin : Lord, awake it, though it 
 be with thunder, and let me rather feel thy 
 terrors, than not feel my sin. Thou sentest thy 
 
386 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS. 
 
 blessed Son to heal the broken-hearted; but, 
 Lord, what will that avail me, if my heart be 
 whole ? O break it, that it may be capable of 
 this healing virtue; and grant, I beseech thee, 
 that having once tasted the bitterness of sin, I 
 may fly from it as from the face of a serpent, 
 and bring forth fruits of repentance, in amend- 
 ment of life, to the praise and glory of thy 
 grace, in Jesus Christ our blessed Redeemer. 
 
 For Meekness. 
 
 O Blessed Jesu, who wast led as a sheep to 
 the slaughter, let, I beseech thee, that admirable 
 example of meekness, quench in me all sparks of 
 anger and revenge, and work in me such a gen- 
 tleness and calmness of spirit, as no provocations 
 may be ever able to disturb. Lord, grant I may 
 be so far from offering the least injury, that I 
 may never return the greatest any otherwise than 
 with prayers and kindness ; that I, who have so 
 many talents to be forgiven by thee, may never 
 exact pence of my brethren ; but that putting 
 on bowels of mercy, meekness, and long-suffering, 
 thy peace, may rule in my heart, and make it an 
 acceptable habitation to thee who art the Prince 
 of Peace ; to whom with the Father and Holy 
 Spirit, be all honour and glory for ever. 
 
 For Chastity. 
 
 O Holy and immaculate Jesus, whose first 
 descent was into the Virgin's womb, and who 
 dost still love to inhabit only in pure and 
 virgin hearts ; I beseech thee, send thy Spirit of 
 purity to cleanse me from all filthiness both of 
 flesh and spirit. My body, O Lord, is the 
 
Collects for several Graces. 387 
 
 Temple of the Holy Ghost ; O let me never 
 pollute that temple with any uncleanness. And 
 because out of the heart proceed the things that 
 defile the man, Lord, grant me to keep my 
 heart with all diligence, that no impure or 
 foul thoughts be harboured there ; but enable 
 me, I beseech thee, to keep both body and soul 
 pure and undefiled ; that so I may glorify thee 
 here both in body and spirit, and be glorified in 
 both with thee hereafter. 
 
 For Temperance. 
 
 O Gracious Lord, who hast in thy bounty to 
 mankind, afforded, us the use of thy good 
 creatures, for the refreshment of our bodies, grant 
 that I may always use this liberty with thankful- 
 ness and moderation. O let me never be so en- 
 slaved to that brutish pleasure of taste, that my 
 taste may become a snare to me ; but give me, I 
 beseech thee, a perfect abhorrence of ail degrees 
 of excess, and let me eat and drink only for those 
 ends, and according to those measures, which 
 thou hast assigned me, for health, and not for 
 luxury. And, Lord, grant that my pursuits 
 may not be after the meat that perisheth, but 
 after that which endureth to everlasting life that 
 hungering and thirsting after righteousness, I 
 may be filled with thy grace here, and thy glory 
 hereafter, through Jesus Christ. 
 
 For Content edness. 
 
 O Merciful God, thy wisdom is infinite to 
 chuse,and thy love forward to dispense good things 
 to us ; O let me always fully and entirely resign 
 
38S PRIVATE DEVOTIONS. 
 
 myself to thy disposals, have no desires of my 
 own, but a perfect satisfaction in thy choices for 
 me ; that so, in whatsoever estate I am, I may 
 be therein content. Lord, grant I may never 
 look with murmuring on my own condition, nor 
 with envy on other men's. And to that end, I 
 beseech thee, purge my heart of all covetous 
 affections. O let me never yield up any corner 
 of my soul to mammon, but give me such a 
 contempt of these fading riches, that whether 
 they increase or decrease, I may never set my 
 heart upon them, but that all my care may be 
 to be rich towards God ; to lay up my treasure 
 in heaven ; that I may so set my affections on 
 things above, that when Christ, who is my life, 
 shall appear, I may also appear with him in glory. 
 Grant this, O Lord, for the merits of the same 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 For Diligence, 
 
 O Lord, who hast in thy wisdom ordained 
 that man should be born to labour, suffer me 
 not to resist that design of thine, by giving my- 
 self up to sloth and idleness ; but grant I may so 
 employ my time, and all other talents thou hast 
 entrusted me with, that I may not fall under the 
 sentence of the slothful and wicked servant. 
 Lord, if it be thy will, make me some way use- 
 ful to others, that I may not live an unprofitable 
 part of mankind : But, however, O Lord, let 
 me not be useless to myself; but grant I may 
 give all diligence to make my calling and 
 election sure. My soul is beset with many and 
 vigilant adversaries; O let me not fold my 
 hands to sleep in the midst of so great dangers, 
 
 
Collects for several G races, 389 
 
 but watch and pray, that I enter not into temp- 
 tation, enduring hardness as a true soldier of 
 Jesus Christ, till at the last, from this state of 
 warfare, thou translate me to the state of triumph 
 and bliss in thy kingdom, through Jesus Christ. 
 
 For Justice. 
 
 O thou King of Righteousness, who hast 
 commanded us to keep judgment, and do jus- 
 tice, be pleased by thy grace to cleanse my 
 heart and hands from all fraud and injustice, 
 and give me a perfect integrity and uprightness 
 in all my dealings. O make me ever abhor to use 
 my power to oppress, or my skill to deceive 
 my brother ; and grant 1 may most strictly ob- 
 serve that sacred rule, of doing as I would be 
 done to ; that I may not dishonour my Christian 
 profession by an unjust and fraudulent life, but 
 in simplicity and godly sincerity have my conver- 
 sation in the world ; never seeking to heap up 
 treasures in this life, but preferring a little with 
 righteousness, before great revenues without 
 right. Lord, make me exactly careful to render 
 to every man what, by any sort of obligation, 
 becomes his due, that I may never break the 
 bond of any of those relations that thou hast 
 placed me in, but may so behave myself towards 
 all, that none may have any evil thing to say of 
 me, that so, if it be possible, I may have peace 
 with all men; or however, 1 may, by keeping 
 innocency, and taking heed to the thing that is 
 right, have peace at the last, even peace with 
 thee, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 
390 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS. 
 
 For Charity, 
 O merciful Lord, who hast made of one 
 blood, and redeemed by one ransom, all nations 
 of men, let me never harden my bowels against 
 any that partake of the same nature and redemp- 
 tion with me, but grant me an universal charity 
 towards all men. Give me, O thou Father of 
 compassion, such a tenderness and meltingness 
 of heart, that I may be deeply affected with all 
 the miseries and calamities, outward or inward, 
 of my brethren, and diligently employ all my 
 abilities for their succour and relief. O let not 
 an unchristian self-love possess my heart, but 
 drive out that accursed spirit, and let thy spirit 
 of love enter and dwell there ; and make me seek 
 not to please myself, but my neighbour, for his 
 good to edification, even as Christ pleased not 
 himself. Lord, make me a faithful steward of 
 all those talents thou hast committed to me, for 
 the benefit of others ; that so, when thou shait 
 call me to give an account of my stewardship, I 
 may do it with joy, and not with grief. Grant 
 this, merciful Lord, I beseech thee, for Jesus 
 Christ's sake. 
 
 For Perseverance. 
 O eternal and unchangeable Lord God, 
 who art the same j^esterday, and to-day, and for 
 ever; be thou pleased to communicate some 
 small ray of that excellence, some degree of that 
 stability to me thy wretched creature, who am 
 light and un constant, turned about with every 
 blast : My understanding is very deceivable, O 
 establish it in thy truth, keep it from the snares 
 
Collects for several Graces. 39 1 
 
 of seducing spirits, that I may not be led away 
 with the error of the wicked, and fall from my 
 own steadfastness : My will also, O Lord, is ir- 
 resolute and wavering, and doth not cleave sted- 
 fastly unto God : my goodness is but as the 
 morning cloud, and as the early dew it passeth 
 away. O strengthen and confirm me: and what- 
 ever good work thou hast wrought in me, be 
 pleased to accomplish and perform it until the 
 day of Christ. Lord, thou seest my weakness, 
 and thou knowest the number and strength of 
 those temptations I have to struggle with. O 
 leave me not to myself, but cover thou my head 
 iu the day of battle, and in all spiritual combats 
 make me more than conqueror through hirn that 
 loved me. O let no terrors or flatteries either of 
 the world, or my own flesh, ever draw me from 
 my obedience to thee ; but grant that I may con- 
 tinue steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding 
 in the work of the Lord ; and by patient conti- 
 nuing in well doing, seek, and at last obtain 
 glory, and honour, and immortality, and eter- 
 nal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord, 
 
 s 2 
 
A BRIEF 
 
 PARAPHRASE 
 
 OF TtfE 
 
 LORD'S PRAYER. 
 
 TO BE USED AS A PRAYER. 
 
 [Our Father which art in Heaven?^ 
 
 O Lord who dwellest in the highest Hea- 
 vens, thou art the Au-thor of our being : thou 
 hast also begotten us again unto a lively hope, 
 and earnest towards us the tenderness and 
 bowels of a compassionate Father; O make us 
 to render to thee the love and obedience of chil- 
 dren : And that we may resemble thee our Father 
 in Heaven (that place of true delight and purity) 
 give us a holy disdain of all the deceitful plea- 
 sures and foul pollutions of this world, and so 
 raise up our minds, that we may always have our 
 conversation in Heaven, from whence we look 
 for our Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 [1. Hallozved be thy Name.] 
 
 Strike such an awe into our hearts, that we 
 may humbly reverence thee in thy Name, which 
 is great, wonderful, and holy ; and carry such 
 a sacred respect to all things that relate to thee 
 and thy worship, as may express our reverence 
 to thy great Majesty. Let all the people praise 
 thee, O God ! let all the people praise thee. 
 5 
 
A Paraphrase on the Lord's Prayer. 39 3 
 
 [2. Thy Kingdom corned 
 Establish thy Throne, and rule for ever in 
 our souls, and by the power of thy grace sub- 
 due all those rebellious corruptions that exalt 
 themselves against thee : They are those ene- 
 mies of thine, which would not thou shouldst 
 reign over them. O let them be brought forth 
 and slain before thee ; and make us such faith- 
 ful subjects of this thy Kingdom of Grace, that 
 we may be capable of the Kingdom of Glory, 
 and then, Lord Jesus, come quickly ! 
 
 [3. Thy Will be done on Earth, &c] 
 Enable us by thy grace chearfully to suffer 
 thy Will in all our afflictions, and readily per- 
 form it in all thy commands : Give us of that hea- 
 venly zeal to thy service, wherewith the blessed 
 Angels of thy presence are inspired, that we may 
 obey thee with the like fervour and alacrity ; 
 and that following them in their obedience, we 
 may be joined with them to sing eternal praises in 
 thy kingdom, to God and to the Lamb for ever. 
 
 [4. Give us this Day, &c. ] 
 Give us that continual supply of thy grace 
 which may sustain and nourish our souls unto 
 eternal life. And be thou pleased also to pro- 
 vide for our bodies all those things which thou 
 seest fit for their support, through this our 
 earthly pilgrimage : and make us chearfully to 
 rest on thee for them, first seeking thy kingdom 
 and the righteousness thereof, and then not 
 doubting, but all these things shall be added 
 . unto us. 
 
 s 3 
 
394 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS. 
 
 [5. Forgive us our Trespasses, &c] 
 Heal our souls, O Lord, for we have sin- 
 ned against thee ; let thy tender mercies abound 
 towards us, in the forgiveness of all our offen- 
 ces : And grant, O Lord, that we may never 
 forfeit this pardon of thine, by denying ours to 
 our brethren ; but give us those bowels of com- 
 passion to others, which we stand in so much 
 greater need of from thee, that we m^v forgive 
 as fully and finally upon Christ's command, as 
 we desire to he forgiven, for his merits and in- 
 tercession. 
 
 [6\ Lead us not into Temptation, &c] 
 
 O Lord, we have no strength against those 
 multitudes of Temptations that daily assault us, 
 only our eyes are upon thee: O be thou 
 pleased either to restrain them,, or assist us ; and 
 in thy faithfulness suffer us not to be tempted 
 above that we are able ; but in all our tempta- 
 tions make us a way to escape, that we be not 
 overcome by them, but may, when thou sbalt 
 call us to it, resist even unto bipod, striving 
 against sin, that being faithful unto death, thou 
 mayest give us the crown of life. 
 
 [7. For thine is the Kingdom, &c.} 
 
 Hear us, and graciously answer our peti- 
 tions ; for thou art the great King over all the 
 earth, whose power is infinite, and art able to do 
 for us above all that we can ask or think, and 
 to whom belongeth the glory of all that good 
 thou workest in us, or for us. Therefore 
 blessing, honour, glory, and power be unto him 
 that sitteth upon the throne, and to our God, for 
 ever and ever. Amen. 
 
[ 395 ] 
 
 PIOUS EJACULATIONS TAKEN OUT OF THE 
 BOOK OF PSALMS. 
 
 For Pardon of Sin. 
 
 Have mercy upon me, O God, after thy 
 great goodness, according to the multitude of 
 thy mercies do away mine offences. 
 
 Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness, 
 and cleanse me from my sin. 
 
 Turn thy face from my sins, and put out all 
 my misdeeds. 
 
 My misdeeds prevail against me ; O be thou 
 merciful unto my sins. 
 
 Enter not into judgment with thy servant, for 
 in thy sight shall no man living be justified. 
 
 For thy name's sake. O Lord, be merciful 
 unto my sin, for it is great. 
 
 Turn thee, O Lord, and deliver my soul ; O 
 save me for thy mercy's sake. 
 
 For Grace. 
 
 Teach me to do the thing that pleaseth thee; 
 for thou art my God. 
 
 Teach me thy. way, O Lord, and I will walk 
 in thy truth : O knit my heart to thee, that I 
 may fear thy name. 
 
 Make me a clean heart, O God, and renew a 
 right spirit within me. 
 
 O let my heart be found in thy statutes, that 
 I be not ashamed. 
 
 Incline my heart unto thy testimonies,, and 
 not to covetousness. 
 
 s 4 
 
396 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS. 
 
 Turn away mine eyes lest they behold vanity, 
 and quicken thou me in thy way. 
 
 I am a stranger upon earth, O hide not thy 
 commandments from me. 
 
 Lord, teach me to number my days, that I 
 may apply my heart unto wisdom. 
 
 For the Light of God's Countenance. 
 
 Lord, why abhorrest thou my soul, and 
 hidest thy face from me ? O hide not thou thy 
 face from me, nor cast thy servant away in dis- 
 pleasure. 
 
 Thy loving kindness is better than life itself. 
 
 Lord, lift thou up the light of thy counte- 
 nance upon me. 
 
 Comfort the soul of thy servant; for unto 
 thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. 
 
 A Thanks giving, 
 
 I will always give thanks unto the Lord, his 
 praise shall ever be in my mouth. 
 
 Thou art my God, and I will thank thee ; 
 thou art my God, and I will praise thee. 
 
 I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live: I 
 will praise my God whilst I have my being. 
 
 Praised be God, which has not cast out my 
 prayer, nor turned his mercy from me. 
 
 Blessed be the Lord God, even the God of 
 Israel, which only doth wonderous things. 
 
 And blessed be the name of his Majesty for 
 ever : And all the earth shall be filled with his 
 Majesty. Amen, Amen. 
 
Pious Ejaculations. 397 
 
 For Deliverance from Trouble. 
 
 Be merciful unto me, O Lord, be merciful 
 unto me, for my soul trusteth in thee : and un- 
 der the shadow of thy wings shall be my refuge, 
 until these calamities be overpast. 
 
 Deliver me, O Lord, from mine enemies ; for 
 I flee unto thee to hide me. 
 
 O keep my soul, and deliver me : Let me not 
 be confounded : for I have put my trust in thee. 
 
 Mine eyes are ever looking unto the Lord ; 
 for he shall pluck my feet out of the net. 
 
 Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon 
 me ; for I am desolate and in misery. 
 
 The sorrows of my heart are enlarged : O 
 bring thou me out of my troubles. 
 
 For the Church. 
 
 O be favourable and gracious unto Sion ; 
 build thou the walls of Jerusalem. 
 
 O God, wherefore art thou absent from us so 
 long? Why is thy wrath so hot against the 
 sheep of thy pasture ? 
 
 O think upon thy congregation, whom thou 
 hast purchased and redeemed of old. 
 
 Look upon the tribe of thine inheritance, and 
 Mount Sion where thou hast dwelt. 
 
 It is time for thee, Lord, to lay to thy hand ; 
 for they have destroyed thy law. 
 
 Arise, O God, and maintain thine own cause; 
 deliver Israel, O God, out of all his troubles. 
 s5 
 
398 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS. 
 
 BRIEF HEADS OF SELF-EXAMINATION, 
 
 especially before the Sacrament \ collected 
 out of the foregoing Treatise concerning the 
 Breaches of our Duty, 
 
 TO GOD. 
 
 FAITH. 
 
 Not believing there is a God. 
 Not believing his Word. 
 Not believing it practically, so as to live accord- 
 ing to our belief. 
 
 HOPE. 
 
 Despairing of God's mercy, so as to neglect our 
 
 Duty. 
 Presuming grwndlcssly on it, whilst we go on 
 
 in wilful sin. 
 
 LOVE. 
 
 Not loving God for his ozvn excellencies. 
 
 Not loving him for his goodness to us. 
 
 Not labouring to please him. 
 
 Not desiring to draxv near to him in his ordinances 
 
 Not longing to enjoy him in heaven. 
 
 
 
 FEAR. 
 
 Not fearing God, so as to keep from offending 
 
 him. 
 Fearing man above him, by committing sin, to 
 
 shun some outward suffering. 
 
 trust. 
 
 Not trusting in God in dangers and distresses. 
 Using unlawful means to bring us out of them 
 
Heads of Self-Examination. 399 
 
 Not depending on God for supply of our want 
 Immoderate care for outward things. 
 Neglecting to labour, and expecting God should 
 
 support us in our idleness. 
 Not looking up to God for a blessing on our 
 
 honest endeavours. 
 
 HUMILITY. 
 
 ■Not having a high esteem of God. 
 
 Not submitting obediently to his will. 
 
 Not patiently suffering it, but murmuring at 
 
 his collections. 
 Not amending by them. 
 Not being thankful to him. 
 Not acknowledging his wisdom in chusing for 
 
 us, but having eager and impatient desires of 
 
 our own. 
 
 HONOUR. 
 
 Not honouring God, by a reverend usage of 
 the things that relate to him. 
 
 "Behaving ourselves irreverently in his house. 
 
 Robbing God, by taking things that are con- 
 secrated to him. 
 
 Profaning holy times, the Lord*s day, and the 
 feasts and fasts of the Church. 
 
 Neglecting to read the Holy Scriptures ; not 
 marking when we do read. 
 
 "Being careless to get knowledge of our Duty ; 
 chusing rather to continue ignorant, than put 
 ourselves to thepa'ms or charge of learning. 
 
 Placing religion in hearing of Sermons, with- 
 out practice. 
 
 Breaking our vow made at Baptism. 
 
 By resorting to witches and conjurors, \. e. to 
 the Devil. 
 
 s 6 
 
400 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS. 
 
 By loving the pomps and vanities of the world, 
 and following its sinful customs. 
 
 By fulfilling the lusts of the flesh. 
 
 Profaning the Lord's Supper. 
 
 By coming to it ignorant ly, without examina- 
 tion, contrition, and purposes of new life. 
 
 By behaving ourselves irreverently at it, with- 
 out devotion and spiritual affection. 
 
 By neglecting to keep the promises made at it. 
 
 Profaning God's name, by blasphemous thoughts 
 or discourse. 
 
 Giving others occasion to blaspheme him, by our 
 vile and wicked lives. 
 
 Taking unlawful oaths. 
 
 Perjury. 
 
 Swearing in ordinary communication. 
 
 WORSHIP. 
 
 Not worshipping God. 
 
 Omitting Prayers, public or private, and being 
 
 glad of a pretence to do so. 
 Asking unlawful things, or to unlawful ends. 
 Not purifying our hearts from sin before we 
 
 pray. 
 Not praying with faith and humility. 
 Coldness and deadness in prayer. 
 Wandering thoughts in it. 
 Irreverent gestures of body in prayer. 
 
 REPENTANCE. 
 
 Neglecting the duty of Repentance. 
 
 Not calling ourselves to daily account for our 
 sins. 
 
 Not assigning any set or solemn times for humi- 
 liation and confession, or too seldom. 
 
Heads of Self -Examination. 401 
 
 Not deeply considering our sins, to beget contri- 
 tion. Not acting revenge upon ourselves by 
 fasting and other acts of mortification. 
 
 IDOLATRY. 
 
 Outward Idolatry in xvors'hipping of Crea- 
 tures, 
 
 Inzvard Idolatry in placing our love and affec- 
 tions more on creatures than the Creator. 
 
 TO OURSELVES. 
 
 HUMILITY. 
 
 Being puffed up with high conceits of ourselves, 
 
 in respect of natural parts, as beauty, wit, 
 
 &c. 
 Of worldly riches and honours. 
 Of Grace. 
 
 Greedily seeking the praise of men. 
 IHrecting Christian actions, as prayer, alms, 
 
 Sec. to that end. 
 Committing sins to avoid reproach from wicked 
 
 men. 
 
 MEEKNESS. 
 
 Disturbing our minds with anger and peevish- 
 ness. 
 
 CONSIDERATION. 
 
 Not carefully examining what our estate to- 
 wards God is. 
 
 Not trying ourselves by the true rule, i. e. our 
 Obedience to God's Commands. 
 
 Not weighing the laxv fulness of our actions, be- 
 fore we venture on them. 
 
 Not examining our past actions, to repent of the 
 ill, to give God the glory of the good. 
 
402 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS. 
 
 CONTENTEDNESS. 
 
 Uncontentedness in our estates. 
 Greedy desires after honour and riches. 
 Seeking to gain them by sinful means. 
 Envying the condition of other men. 
 
 DILIGENCE, WATCHFULNESS. 
 
 Being negligent in observing and resisting 
 
 temptations. 
 Not improving God's gifts, outward or inward, 
 
 to his honour. 
 Abusing our natural parts j as zv it, memory, &c. 
 
 to sin. 
 Neglecting or resisting the motions of God's 
 
 Spirit. 
 
 CHASTITY. 
 
 Uncleanness, adultery, fornication, unnatu- 
 ral lusts, &c. 
 
 Uncleanness of the eye and hand 
 
 Filthy and obscene talking. 
 
 Impure fancies and desires. 
 
 Heightening of lust by pampering the body: 
 
 Not labouring to subdue it by fasting, or other 
 severities. 
 
 TEMPERANCE. 
 
 Eating too much. 
 
 Making pleasure, not health, the end of eating. 
 
 Being too curious or costly in Meats. 
 
 Drunkenness. 
 
 Drinking more than is useful to our bodies, 
 
 though not to drunkenness. 
 Wasting the time or estate in good fellowship. 
 Abusing our strength of brain to the making 
 
 others drunk. 
 
Heads of 'Self ? - Examination. 403 
 
 Immoderate sleeping. 
 Idleness and negligence in our callings. 
 Using unlawful recreations. 
 Being too vehement upon lawful ones. 
 Spending too much time at them. 
 Being drawn by them to anger or covetousness. 
 Being proud of apparel. 
 Stinving to go beyond our rank. 
 Bestozving too much time, care, or cost about it. 
 Abstaining from such excesses, not out of con- 
 science, but covet ous?iess. 
 Pinching our bodies to Jill our purses. 
 
 TO OUR NEIGHBOUR. 
 
 NEGATIVE JUSTICE. 
 
 Being injurious to our Neighbour. 
 Delighting causelessly to grieve his mind. 
 Insnaring his soul in sin, by command, counsel, 
 
 enticement, or example. 
 Affrighting him from godliness by our scoffing 
 
 at it. 
 Not seeking to bring those to repentance, whom 
 
 we have led into sin. 
 
 MURDER. 
 
 Murder, open or secret. 
 
 Drawing men to intemperance, or other vices 
 
 which may bring diseases or death. 
 Stirring up men to quarrelling and fighting. 
 Maiming or hurting the body of our Neighbour. 
 Fierceness and rage against him. 
 
 ADULTERY. 
 
 Coveting our Neighbour's Wife. 
 Actually defiling her. 
 
404 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS. 
 
 MALICE. 
 
 Spoiling the Goods of others upon Spite and 
 Malice. 
 
 COVETOUSNESS. 
 
 Coveting to gain them to ourselves. 
 
 OPPRESSION. 
 
 Oppression by violence and force , or colour of 
 law. 
 
 THEFT. 
 
 Not paying what we borrow. 
 Not paying what we have voluntarily promised. 
 Keeping back the wages of the servant and hire- 
 ling, 
 
 DECEIT. 
 
 Unfaithfulness in trusts, whether to the living 
 
 or dead. 
 Using arts of deceit in buying and selling. 
 Exacting upon the necessity of our Neighbours. 
 
 FALSE WITNESS. 
 
 Blasting the credit of our Neighbour. 
 
 By false witness. 
 
 By railing. 
 
 By whispering. 
 
 Encouraging others in their slanders. 
 
 Being forzvard to believe all ill reports of our 
 Neighbour. 
 
 Causeless suspicions. 
 
 Bash judging of him. 
 
 Despising him for his infirmities. 
 
 Inviting others to do so, by scoffing and derid- 
 ing him. 
 
 Beanng any malice in the heart. 
 
 
Heads of Self-Examination. 405 
 
 Secret wishing of death or hurt to our Neighbour, 
 Rejoicing when any evil befalls him. 
 Neglecting to make what satisfaction we can, 
 for any sort of injury done to our Neighbour. 
 
 POSITIVE JUSTICE, HUMILITY, LYING. 
 
 Churlish and proud behaviour to others, 
 
 Froward and peevish conversation. 
 
 Bitter and reproachful language. 
 
 Cursing. 
 
 Nat paying the respect due to the qualities or 
 
 gifts of others. 
 Proudly overlooking them. 
 Seeking to lessen others esteem of them. 
 Not employing our abilities, whether of mind or 
 
 estate, in administering to those whose wants 
 
 require it. 
 
 GRATITUDE. 
 
 Unthankfulness to our benefactors. 
 
 Especially those that admonish us. 
 
 Not amending upon their reproof 
 
 Being angry at them for it: 
 
 Not reverencing our civil parent 3 the lawful 
 magistrate. 
 
 Judging and speaking evil of him. 
 
 fudging his just tributes. 
 
 Sowing sedition among the people. 
 
 Refusing to obey his laxvful commands. 
 
 Rising up against him, or taking part with them 
 that do. 
 
 Despising our spiritual fathers. 
 
 Not loving them for their works sake. 
 
 Not obeying those commands of God they deliver 
 to us. 
 
 Seeking to xvithhold from them their just main- 
 tenance. 
 
406 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS. 
 
 ■Forsaking our lawful Pastors, to follow factious 
 teachers. 
 
 PARENTS. 
 
 Stubborn and irreverent behaviour to our na- 
 tural Parents. 
 Despising and publishing their infirmities. 
 Not loving them, nor endeavouring to bring 
 
 them Comfort. 
 Contemning their counsels. 
 Murmuring at their Government. 
 Coveting their estates, though by their death. 
 Not ministering to them in their wants of all 
 
 sorts. 
 Neglecting to pray for God's blessing on the 
 
 several sorts of parents, 
 I ^ant of natural affection to children* 
 Mothers refusing to nurse them zvithoul a just 
 
 impediment. 
 Not bringing them timely to baptism. 
 Not early instructing them in the ways of God. 
 Suffering them for want of timely correction, to 
 
 get customs of sin. 
 Setting them evil examples. 
 Discouraging them by harsh and cruel usage. 
 Not providing for their subsistence according to 
 
 our ability. 
 Consuming their portions in our oxvn riot. 
 Reserving all till our death, and letting them 
 
 want in the mea?i time. 
 Not seeking to entail a blessing on them by our 
 
 Christian lives. 
 Not heartily praying for them. 
 Want of affection to our natural brethren. 
 Envyings and heart-burnings towards them. 
 
 ; 
 
Heads of Self-Examination. 407 
 
 DUTY TO BRETHREN. 
 
 Not loving our spiritual Brethren, i. e. our 
 
 Felloxv Christians. 
 Having no fellow-feeling of their sufferings. 
 Causelessly forsaking their communion in holy 
 
 duties. 
 Not taking deeply to heart the desolations of 
 
 the Church. 
 
 MARRIAGE. 
 
 Marrying within the degrees forbidden. 
 Marrying for undue ends } as covetousness, lust, 
 
 Sec. 
 Unkind, froward, and unquiet behaviour toxvards 
 
 the husband or wife. 
 Unfaithfulness to the bed. 
 Not bearing xvith the infirmities of each other. 
 Not endeavouring to advance one another's good, 
 
 spiritual or temporal. 
 The wife resisting the lawful commands of her 
 
 husband. 
 Her striving for rale and dominion over him. 
 Not praying j or each other. 
 
 FRIENDSHIP. 
 
 Unfaithfulness to a friend. 
 Betraying his secrets. 
 Denying him assistance in his needs. 
 Neglecting lovingly to admonish him. 
 Flattering him in his faults. 
 Forsaking his friendship upon slight or no cause. 
 Making leagues in sin, instead of virtuous 
 friendship. 
 
 SERVANTS. 
 
 Servants disobeying the lawful commands of 
 
 their Masters. 
 Purloining their goods. 
 
408 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS. 
 
 Carelessly wasting them. 
 Murmuring at their rebukes. 
 Idleness. 
 Eye-service. 
 
 MASTERS. 
 
 Masters using servants tyrannically and cru- 
 elly. 
 
 Being too remiss, and suffering them to neglect 
 their duty. 
 
 Having no care of their souls. 
 
 Not providing them means of instruction in 
 religion. 
 
 Not admonishing them when they commit sins. 
 
 Not allowing them time and opportunity for 
 prayer and the worship of God. 
 
 CHARITY. 
 
 Want of bowels of Charity to our Neigh- 
 
 hours. 
 Not heartily desiring their good, spiritual or 
 
 temporal. 
 Not loving and forgiving enemies. 
 Taking actual revenges upon them. 
 Falseness, professing kindness, and acting none* 
 Not labouring to do all the good we can to the 
 
 soul of our neighbour. 
 Not assisting him to our power in his bodily 
 
 distresses. 
 Not defending his good name, when zve knoxv 
 
 him slandered. 
 Denying him any neighbourly office to preserve 
 
 or advance his estate. 
 Not defending him from oppression, when zve 
 
 have power. 
 Not relieving him in his poverty. 
 Not giving liberally and chearfully. 
 
Prayers before the Sacrament. 409 
 
 GOING TO LAW. 
 
 Not loving peace. 
 Going to law upon slight occasion. 
 Bearing inward enmity to those we sue. 
 Not labouring to make peace among others. 
 
 The use of this Catalogue of sins is this: 
 Upon days of humiliation, especially before the 
 Sacrament, read them consideringly over, and 
 at every particular ask thine own heart, Am I 
 guilty of this ? And whatsoever ', by such exami- 
 nation, thou findest thyself faulty in, confess 
 particularly and humbly to God, with all the 
 heightening circumstances which may any way 
 increase their guilt, and make serious resolu- 
 tions against every such sin for the future: 
 After which thou may est use this form folloxving. 
 
 O Lord, I am ashamed, and blush to lift up 
 my face to thee ; for my iniquities are increased 
 over my head, and my trespass is grown up 
 even unto heaven. I have wrought all these 
 great provocations, and that in the most provok- 
 ing manner ; they have not been only single, but 
 repeated acts of sin : For, O Lord, of all this 
 black catalogue, which I have now brought 
 forth before thee, how hw are there which I 
 have not often committed ? nay, which are not 
 become even habitual and customary to me ? 
 And to this frequency I have added both a 
 greediness and obstinacy in sinning, turning into 
 my course as the horse rusheth into the battle, 
 doing evil with both hands earnestly; yea, hat- 
 ing to be reformed, and casting thy words behind 
 
410 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS, 
 
 me, quenching thy Spirit within me, which tes- 
 tified against me, to turn me from my evil ways, 
 and frustrating all those outward means, whether 
 of judgment or mercy, which thou hast used to 
 draw me to myself. Nay, O Lord, even my 
 repentances may be numbered amongst my 
 greatest sins : They have sometimes been feigned 
 and hypocritical, always so slight and ineffectual, 
 that they have brought forth no fruit in amend- 
 ment of life; but I have still returned with the 
 dog to his vomit, and the sow to the mire again, 
 and have added the breach of resolutions and 
 vows to all my former guilts. Thus O Lord, I 
 am become out of measure sinful : and since I 
 have thus chosen death, I am most worthy to 
 take part in it, even in the second death, the 
 lake of fire and brimstone. This, this, O Lord, 
 is in justice to be the portion of my cup ; to rne 
 belongs nothing but shame and confusion efface 
 eternally, but to thee, O Lord God, belongeth 
 mercy and forgiveness, though I have rebelled 
 against thee. O remember not my sins and 
 offences, but according to thy mercy think now- 
 upon me, O Lord, for thy goodness. Thou 
 sentest thy Son to seek and to save that which 
 was lost : Behold, O Lord, I have gone astray 
 like a sheep that is lost; O seek thy servant, and 
 bring me back to the Shepherd and Bishop of 
 my soul. Let thy spirit work in me a hearty sense 
 arrci detestation of all my abominations, that' 
 true contrition of heart which thou hast pro- 
 mised not to despise : And then be thou pleased 
 to look on me, to take away all my iniquity, and 
 receive me graciously; and for his sake, who 
 
Prayers before the Sacrament. 411 
 
 hath done nothing amiss, he reconciled to me, 
 who have done nothing well : Wash away the 
 guilt of my sins in his hlood, and suhdue the 
 power of them by his grace . And grant, O 
 Lord, that I mav from this hour bid a final 
 adieu to all ungodliness and worldly lusts, that 
 I may never once more cast a look towards 
 Sodom, or long after the flesh-pots of Egypt; 
 but consecrate myself entirely to thee, to serve 
 thee in righteousness and true holiness, reckon- 
 ing myself to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive 
 unto God, through Jesus Christ our Lord and 
 blessed Saviour, 
 
 This penitential Psalm may also fitly be used. 
 
 PSALM LL 
 
 Have mercy upon me, God, after thy great 
 goodness ; according to the multitude of thy 
 mercies, do away mine offences. 
 
 Wash me thoroughly from my zvickedness, 
 and cleanse me from my sin. 
 
 For I acknowledge my faults, and my sin is 
 ever before me. 
 
 Against thee only have I sinned, and done 
 this evil in thy sight, that thou might est be justi- 
 fied in thy saying, and clear zvhen thou art judged. 
 
 Behold, I was shapen in xvickedness, and in 
 sin hath my mother conceived me. 
 
 But lo, thou requirest truth in the inward 
 parts, and shall make me to understand zvisdom 
 secretly. 
 
 Thou shall purge me with hyssop, and I shall 
 be clean: thou shall zvash me, and I shall be 
 whiter than snow. 
 
412 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS. 
 
 Thou sh alt make me hear of joy and gladness, 
 that the bones which thou hast broken may re- 
 joice. 
 
 Turn thy face from my sins, and put out all 
 my misdeeds. 
 
 Make me a clean heart O God, and renew a 
 right spirit within me. 
 
 Cast me not away from thy presence, and take 
 not thy Holy Spirit from me. 
 
 O give me the comfort of thy help again, and 
 stablish me with thy free spirit. 
 
 Then shall I teach thy xvays unto the wicked, 
 and sinners shall be converted unto thee. 
 
 Deliver me from blood guiltiness, O God, 
 thou that art the God of my health, and my 
 tongue shall sing of righteousness. 
 
 Thou shalt open my lips, O Lord, and my 
 mouth shall shexv forth thy praise. 
 
 For thou desirest no sacrifice, else would I 
 give it thee : But thou delightest not'in burnt- 
 offering. 
 
 The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit ; a 
 broken and contrite heart, O God, shalt thou not 
 despise. 
 
 O be favourable and gracious unto Sion, build 
 thou the zvalls of Jerusalem. 
 
 Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices 
 of righteousness, and the burnt offerings and 
 oblations ; then shall they offer young bullocks 
 upon thine altar. 
 
 Glory be to the Father 3 and to the Son, and 
 to the Holy Ghost. 
 
 As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever 
 shall be, world without end. Amen. 
 
Prayers before the Sacrament. 413 
 
 PRAYERS before the receiving of the Blessed 
 SACRAMENT" 
 
 O Most merciful God, who hast in thy 
 great goodness prepared this spiritual feast for 
 sick and famished souls,, make my desires and 
 gasping after it answerable to my needs of it. I 
 have, with the prodigal, wasted that portion of 
 grace thou bestowedst upon me, and therefore 
 do infinitely want a supply out of this treasury : 
 But, O Lord, how shall such a wretch as I dare 
 to approach this holy Table ? I am a dog, how 
 shall I presume to take the children's bread ! 
 Or how shall this spiritual Manna, this food of 
 Angels, be given to one who hath chosen to 
 feed on husks with swine ? nay, to one, who 
 hath already so often trampled these precious 
 things under foot, either carelessly neglecting, 
 or unworthily receiving these holy mysteries ? O 
 Lord, my horrible guiltiness makes me tremble 
 to come, and yet makes me not dare to keep 
 away; for where, O Lord, shall my polluted 
 soul be washed, if not in this fountain which 
 thou hast opened for sin and for uncleanness? 
 Hither therefore I come, and thou hast promis- 
 ed, that him that cometh to thee thou wilt in no 
 wise cast out: This is, O Lord, the blood of 
 the New Testament ; grant me so to receive it, 
 that it may be to me for remission of sins ; and 
 though 1 have so often, and so wretchedly 
 broken my part of that covenant, whereof this 
 Sacrament is a seal, yet be thou graciously pleas- 
 ed to make good thine ; to be merciful to my 
 unrighteousness, and to remember my sins and 
 
 T 
 
414 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS. 
 
 my iniquities no more: And not only so, but 
 to put thy laws into my heart, and to write 
 them in my mind ; and by the power of thy 
 grace to dispose my soul to such a sincere and 
 constant obedience, that I may never again pro- 
 voke thee. Lord, grant that in these holy mys- 
 teries, I may not only commemorate, but effec- 
 tually receive my blessed Saviour, and all the 
 "benefits of his passion, and to that end give me 
 such a preparation of soul, as may qualify me 
 for it : Give me a deep sense of my sins and 
 ■unworthiness, that being weary and heavy la- 
 den, I may be capable of his refreshings ; and by 
 being suppled in my own tears, I may be the 
 titter to be washed in his blood. Raise up my 
 dull and earthly mind from grovelling here be- 
 low, and inspire it with a holy zeal, that I may 
 with spiritual affection approach this spiritual 
 feast ; and let, O Lord, that infinite love of Christ, 
 in dying for so wretched a sinner, inflame my 
 frozen benumbed soul, and kindle in me that sa- 
 cred fire of love to him ; and that so vehement, 
 that no waters may quench it, no floods drown it ; 
 such as may burn up all my dross, nor leave one 
 unmortified lust in my soul ; and such as may also 
 extend itself to all whom thou hast given me 
 command and example to love, even enemies 
 as well as friends. Finally, O Lord, I beseech 
 thee to clothe me in the wedding-garment, 
 and make me, though of myself a most un- 
 worthy, yet by thy mercy an acceptable guest at 
 this holy table; that I may not eat or drink 
 my own condemnation; but may have my pardon 
 sealed, my weakness repaired, my corruptions 
 
Prayers before the Sacrament. 415 
 
 subdued, and my soul so inseparably united to 
 thee, that no temptations may ever be able to 
 dissolve the union, but that being begun here 
 in grace, it may be consummated in glory. 
 Grant this, O Lord, for thy dear Son's sake, 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 Another. 
 
 O Blessed Jesus, who once offeredst up thy- 
 self for me upon the Cross, and now offerest 
 thyself to me in the Sacrament, let not, I beseech 
 thee, my impenitence and unworthiness frustrate 
 these so inestimable mercies to me ; but qualify 
 me by thy grace to receive the full benefit of 
 them. O Lord, I haVe abundant need of thee, 
 but am so clogged with guilt, so holden with the 
 cords of my sins, that I am not able to move 
 towards thee. O loose me from this band, 
 wherewith Satan and my own lusts have bound 
 me, and draw me that I may run after thee. 
 Lord, thou seest daily, how eagerly I pursue the 
 paths that lead to death ; but when thou invitest 
 me to life and glory, I turn my back r and for- 
 sake my own mercy. How often hath this feast 
 been prepared, and I have with frivolous excuses 
 absented myself 1 or if I have come, it hath been 
 rather to defy, than to adore thee! I have 
 brought such troops of thy professed enemies, 
 unrepented sins along with me, as if I came, 
 not to commemorate, but renew thy passion, 
 crucifying thee afresh, and putting thee to open 
 shame. And now of what punishment shall I 
 be thought worthy, who have thus trampled 
 under foot the Son of God, and counted the 
 T 2 
 
4:16 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS, 
 
 blood of the covenant an unholy thing ? Yet 
 O merciful Jesu, this blood is my only refuge : 
 O let this make my atonement, or I perish eter- 
 nally. Wherefore didst thou shed it but to save 
 sinners ? Neither can the merit of it be over- 
 whelmed either by the greatness or number of 
 sins. I am a sinner, a great one ; O let me. find 
 its saving efficacy. Be merciful unto rae, O 
 God, be merciful to me; for my soul trusteth 
 in thee, and in the clefts of thy wounds shall be 
 my refuge, until thy Father's indignation be 
 overpast. O thou, who hast, as my high priest 
 sacrificed for me, intercede for me also, and 
 plead thy meritorious sufferings on my behalf; 
 and suffer not, O my Redeemer, the price of thy 
 blood to be utterly lost : And grant, O Lord, 
 that as the sins I have to be forgiven are many, 
 so I may love much. Lord, thou seest what 
 faint, what cold affections I have towards thee ; 
 O warm and enliven them : And as in this Sacra- 
 ment, that transcendent love of thine in dying 
 for me is shed forth, so I beseech thee, let it 
 convey such grace unto me, as may enable me 
 to make some returns of love. O let this divine 
 fire descend from heaven into my soul, and let 
 my sins be the burnt-offering for it to consume, 
 that there may not any corrupt affection, any 
 cursed thing be sheltered in my heart, that I may 
 never again defile that place which thou hast 
 chosen for thy temple. Thou diedst, O dear 
 Jesu, to redeem me from all iniquity ; O let me 
 not again sell mvself to work wickedness, but 
 grant that I may approach thee at this time with 
 most sincere and fixed resolutions of an entire 
 
Prayers before the Sacrament. 417 
 
 reformation ; and let me receive such grace and 
 strength from thee, as may enable me faithfully 
 to perform them. Lord, there are many old 
 habitual diseases my soul groans under. {Here 
 men i ion the most p reva'ding corrupt io?is. ] An d 
 though I lie never so long at the pool of Bethesda, 
 come never so often to thy table, yet unless thou 
 be pleased to put forth thy healing virtue, they 
 will still remain uncured. O thou blessed Phy- 
 sician of souls heal me, and grant that I may 
 now so touch thee, that every one of these loath- 
 some issues may immediately staunch ; that these 
 sicknesses may not be unto death, but unto the 
 glory of thy mercy in pardoning, to the glory 
 of thy grace in purifying so polluted a wretch. 
 O Christ, hear me, and grant that I may now 
 approach thee with such humility and contrition, 
 love and devotion, that thou mayest vouchsafe 
 to come unto me, and abide with me, commu- 
 nicating to me thyself, and all the merits of thy 
 passion. And then, O Lord, let no accusations 
 of Satan or my own conscience amaze or distract 
 me; but having peace with thee, let me also 
 have peace in myself, that this wine may make 
 glad, this bread of life may strengthen my heart, 
 and enable me cheerfully to run the way of thy 
 commandments. Grant this, merciful Saviour 
 for thine own bowels and compassion's sake. 
 
 T 3 
 
418 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS. 
 
 EJACULATIONS 
 
 TO BE USED AT THE LORD'S TABLE. 
 
 Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst 
 come under my roof. 
 
 I have sinned : What shall I do unto thee, O 
 thou preserver of men ? 
 
 \Here recollect some of thy greatest sins.] 
 
 If thou, Lord, shouldst be extreme to mark 
 what is done amiss, O Lord, who may abide it? 
 
 But with the Lord there is mercy, and with 
 him is plenteous redemption. 
 
 Behold, () Lord, thy beloved Son, in whom 
 thou art well pleased. 
 
 Hearken to the cry of his blood, which speak- 
 eth better things than that of Abel. 
 
 By his agony and bloody Sweat, by his Cross 
 and Passion, good Lord, deliver me. 
 
 O Lamb of God, which takest away the sins of 
 the world, grant me thy peace. 
 
 O Lamb of God, which takest away the sins 
 of the world, have mercy upon me. 
 
 Immediately before receiving. 
 
 Thou hast saioV that he that eateth thy flesh, 
 and drinketh thy blood, hath eternal life. 
 
 Behold the servant of the Lord : Be it unto 
 me according to thy word. 
 
 At the receiving of the Bread. 
 
 By thy crucified body deliver me from this 
 body of death. 
 
A Thanksgiving after the Sacrament. 419 
 
 At the Receiving of the Cup. 
 
 O let this blood of thine purge my consci- 
 ence from dead works to serve the living God. 
 Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean, 
 
 touch me, and say, I will, be thou clean. 
 
 After Receiving. 
 
 What shall I render unto the Lord for all 
 the benefits he hath done unto me ? 
 
 1 will take the cup of Salvation, and ca.l 
 upon the name of the Lord. 
 
 Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive 
 power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, 
 and honour, and glory, and blessing. 
 
 Therefore blessing, honour, glory and power, 
 be to him that sitteth upon the throne, and to 
 the Lamb for ever and ever. Amen. 
 
 I have sworn, and am stedfastly purposed to 
 keep thy righteous judgments. 
 
 O hold thou up my goings in thy paths, that 
 my footsteps slip not. 
 
 A Thanksgiving after receiving of the 
 Sacrament. 
 
 O Thou Fountain of all goodness, from 
 whom every good and perfect gift cometh, and 
 to whom all honour and glory should be returned, 
 I desire, with all the most fervent and inflamed 
 affections of a grateful heart, to bless and praise 
 thee for those inestimable mercies thou hast 
 vouchsafed me. Lord, what is man that thou 
 shouldest so regard him, as to send thy beloved 
 t 4 
 
420 PRIVATE DEVOTTONS. 
 
 Son to suffer such bitter things for him? But, 
 Lord, what am J, the worst of men, that I 
 should have any part in this atonement, who 
 have so often despised him and his sufferings ? 
 O ! the heighth and depth of this mercy of thine, 
 that art pleased to admit me to the renewing of 
 that covenant with thee, which I have so often 
 and so perversely broken ! That I, who am not 
 worthy of that daily bread which sustains the 
 body, should be made partaker of this bread of 
 life, which nourisheth the soul ! And that the 
 God of all purity should vouchsafe to unite him- 
 self to so polluted a wretch ! O my God, suffer 
 me no more, I beseech thee, to turn thy grace 
 into wantonness, to make thy mercy an occasion 
 of security, but let this unspeakable love of thine 
 constrain me to obedience ; that since my blessed 
 Lord hath died for nie, I may no longer live 
 unto myself, but to him. O Lord, I know 
 there is no concord between Christ and Belial ; 
 therefore since he hath now been pleased to 
 enter my heart, O let me never permit any lust 
 to chace him thence ; but let him that hath so 
 dearly bought me, still keep possession of me, 
 and let nothing ever take me out of his hand. 
 To this end be thou graciously pleased to watcii 
 over me, and defend me from all assaults of my 
 spiritual enemies ; but especially deliver me from 
 myself, from the treachery of my own heart, 
 which is too willing to yield itself a prey. And 
 where thou seest I am either by nature or cus- 
 tom most weak, there do thou, I beseech thee, 
 magnify thy power in my preservation. [Here 
 mention thy most dangerous temptations.] And 
 
 4 
 
A Thanksgiving after the Sacrament. 4& 1 
 
 Lord, let my Saviour's sufferings for my sins, 
 and the vows I have now made against them, 
 never depart from my mind ; but let the remem- 
 brance of the one enable me to perform the 
 other, that I may never make truce with those 
 lusts, which nailed his hands, pierced his side, 
 and made his soul heavy to death ; but that 
 having now anew listed myself under his ban- 
 ner, I may fight manfully, and follow the Cap- 
 tain of my salvation, even through a sea of blood. 
 Lord, lift up my hands that hang down, and 
 strengthen my feeble knees, that I faint not in 
 this warfare ! O be thou my strength, who am 
 not able of myself to struggle with the slightest 
 temptations. Plow often have I turned my 
 back in the day of battle ! How many of these 
 sacramental vows have I violated ? And, Lord, I 
 have still the same unconstant deceitful, heart to 
 betray me to the breach of this. O thou who art 
 Yea and Amen, in whom there is no shadow 
 of change, communicate to me, I beseech thee, 
 such a stability of mind, that I may no more 
 thus start aside like a broken bow ; but that 
 having my heart whole with thee, I may con- 
 tinue stedfast in thv covenant* that not one good 
 purpose which thy Spirit hath raised in me this 
 day, may vanish, as so many have formerly 
 done ; but that they may bring forth fruit unto 
 life eternal. Grant this, O merciful Father, 
 through the merits and mediation of my cruci- 
 fied Saviour. 
 
422 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS. 
 
 A Prayer of Intercession to be used either be- 
 fore or after the Receiving of the Sacrament. 
 O Most gracious Lord, who so tenderly 
 lovedst mankind, as to give thy dear Son out 
 of thy bosom to be a propitiation for the sins 
 of the whole world, grant that the effect of this 
 redemption may be as universal as the design of 
 it, that it may be to the salvation of all. O let 
 no person by impenitence and wilful sin forfeit 
 bis part in it ; but by the power of thy grace 
 bring all, even the most obstinate sinners to re- 
 pentance. Enlighten all that sit in darkness, 
 all Jews, Turks, Infidels, and Heretics; take 
 from them all blindness, hardness of heart, and 
 contempt of thy Word, and so fetch them home, 
 blessed Lord, unto thy fold, that they may be 
 saved among the number of the true Israelites, 
 And for all those upon whom the name of thy 
 bon is called, grant, O Lord, that their conver- 
 sation may be such as becometh the Gospel of 
 Christ ; that his name be no longer blasphemed 
 among the Heathens through us. O blessed Lord, 
 how long shall Christendom continue the vilest 
 part of the world, a sink of all those abominable 
 pollutions, which even barbarians detest? O let 
 not our profession and our practice be always at 
 so wide a distance. Let not the disciples of the 
 holy and immaculate Jesus, be of all others the 
 most profane and impure. Let not the sub- 
 jects of the Prince of Peace be of all others the 
 most contentious and bloody ; but make us Chris- 
 tians in deed, as well as in name, that we may 
 walk worthy of that holy vocation wherewith we 
 are called, and may all with one mind and one 
 
A Prayer of Liter cession. 423 
 
 mouth glorify thee the Father of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ. Have mercy on this languishing Church ; 
 look down from Heaven, the habitation of thy 
 holiness, and of thy glory. Where is thy zeal 
 and thy strength, the sounding of thy bowels and 
 of thy mercies towards us ? Are they restrained ! 
 Be not wroth very sore, O Lord, neither re- 
 member iniquity for ever : But though our 
 backslidings are many, and we have grievously 
 rebelled, yet according to all thy goodness, let 
 thy anger and thy fury be turned away, and 
 cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary, which 
 is desolate for the Lord's sake; and so separate 
 between us and our sins, that they may no longer 
 separate between us and our God. Save and 
 defend all Christian kings, princes, and govern- 
 ors, especially those to whom we owe subjec- 
 tion : plead thou their cause, O Lord, against 
 those that strive with them, and fight thou against 
 those that fight against them, and so guide and 
 assist them in the discharge of that office w here- 
 unto thou hast appointed them, that under them 
 we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all 
 godliness and honesty. Bless them that wait at 
 thine altar ; open thou their lips, that their mouths 
 may shew forth thy praise. O let not the lights 
 of the world be put under bushels, but place 
 them in their candlesticks, that they may give 
 light to all that are in the house. Let not Jero- 
 boam's priests profane thy service ; but let the 
 seed of Aaron still minister before thee. And, 
 O thou Father of mercies, and God of all com- 
 fort, succour and relieve all that are in affliction : 
 Deliver the outcast and poor ; help them to right 
 t Q 
 
424 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS. 
 
 that suffer wrong; let the sorrowful sighing of 
 the prisoners come before thee; and according 
 to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those 
 that are appointed to die ; grant ease to those 
 that are in pain, supplies to those that suffer 
 want; give to all presumptuous sinners a sense 
 of their sins ; and to all despairing a sight of thy 
 mercies: And do thou, O Lord, for every one 
 abundantly above what they can ask or think. 
 Forgive my enemies, persecutors, and slanderers, 
 and turn their hearts. Pour down thy blessings 
 on all my friends and benefactors, all who have 
 commended themselves to my prayers. [Here 
 thou may est name particular persons^ And 
 grant, O merciful Father, that through the blood 
 of the cross we may all be presented pure and 
 unblameable, and unreproveable in thy sight ; 
 that so we may be admitted into that place of 
 purity, where no unclean thing can enter, there 
 to sing eternal praises to Father, Son, and Holy 
 Ghost, for ever. 
 
 A Prayer in Times of common Persecution. 
 
 O Blessed Saviour, who hast made the cross 
 the badge of thy disciples, enable me, I beseech 
 thee, willingly and cheerfully to embrace it: 
 thou seest, O Lord, I am fallen into days, 
 wherein he that departeth frpm evil, maketh 
 himself a prey : O make me so readily to expose 
 all my outward concernments, when my obedi- 
 ence to thee requires it, that what falls as a prey- 
 to men, may by thee be accepted as a sacrifice 
 to God. Lord, preserve me so by thy grace, that 
 I may never suffer as an evil-doer; and them, 
 
A Prayer in Time of Persecution. 425 
 
 O Lord, if it be my lot to suffer as a Christian, 
 let me not be ashamed, but rejoice that I am 
 counted worthy to sutler for thy name. O thou, 
 who for my sake enduredst the cross, and des- 
 pisedst the shame, let the example of that love 
 and patience prevail against all the tremblings 
 of my corrupt heart, that no terrors may ever 
 be able to shake my constancy ; but that, how 
 long soever thou shalt permit the rod of the 
 wicked to lie on my back, I may never put my 
 hand unto wickedness. Lord, thou knowest 
 whereof I am made, thou rememberest that I 
 am but flesh ; and flesh, O Lord, shrinks at the 
 approach of any thing grievous : It is thy Spirit, 
 thy Spirit alone, that can uphold me. O esta- 
 blish me with thy free Spirit, that I be not weary 
 and faint in my mind : And by how much the 
 greater thou discernest my weakness, so much 
 the more do thou shew forth thy power in me; 
 and make me, O Lord, in all temptations sted- 
 fastly to look for thee, the author and finisher 
 of my faith ; that so I may run the race which 
 is set before me, and resist even unto blood, 
 striving against sin. O dear Jesus, hear me ; 
 and though Satan desires to have me, that he 
 may winnow me as wheat, yet do thou, O 
 blessed Mediator, pray for me, that my faith 
 fail not ; but, that, though it be tried with fire, 
 it may be found unto praise, and glory, and 
 honour, at thy appearing. And, O Lord, I 
 beseech thee, grant that I may preserve not 
 only constancy towards God, but charity also 
 towards men, even those whom thou shalt per- 
 mit to be the instruments of my sufferings : 
 
4^6 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS. 
 
 Lord, let me not fail to imitate that admirable 
 meekness of thine, in loving and praying for 
 my greatest persecutors : And do thou, O Lord, 
 overcome all their evil with thy infinite good- 
 ness ; turn their hearts, and draw them power- 
 fully to thyself, and at last receive both me and 
 mine enemies into those mansions of peace and 
 rest, where thou reignest with the Father and 
 the Holy Ghost, one God, for ever. 
 
 A Prayer in Time of Affliction. 
 
 O Just and holy Lord, who with rebukes 
 dost chasten man for sin, I desire unfeigneclly 
 to humble myself under thy mighty hand, which 
 now lies heavy upon me; I heartily acknow- 
 ledge, O Lord, that all I do, all I can suffer, 
 is but the due reward of my deeds : And there- 
 fore, in thy severest inflictions, I must still say, 
 Righteous art thou, O Lord, and upright are 
 thy judgments. But, O Lord, I beseech thee, 
 in judgment remember mercy, and though my 
 sins have enforced thee to strike, yet consider 
 my weakness, and let not thy stripes be more 
 heavy or more lasting, than thou seest profitable 
 for my soul : Correct me, but with the chastise- 
 ment of a father, not with the wounds of an 
 enemy : and though thou take not off thy rod, 
 yet take away thine anger. Lord, do not abhor 
 my soul, nor cast thy servant away in displea- 
 sure, but pardon my sins, I beseech thee : and 
 if in thy fatherly wisdom thou see fit to pro- 
 long my corrections, thy blessed will be done. 
 I cast myself, O Lord, at thy feet ; do with me 
 v* 'hat thou pleasest ; Try me as silver is tried, 
 
A Thanksgiving for Deliverance. 427 
 
 so thou bring me out purified. And, Lord, make 
 even my flesh also to subscribe to this resigna- 
 tion, that there may be nothing in me that 
 may rebel against thy hand, but that having per- 
 fectly suppressed all repining thoughts, I may 
 chearfully drink of this cup: And, how bitter 
 soever thou shalt please to make it, Lord, let 
 it prove medicinal, and cure all the diseases of 
 my soul, that it may bring forth in me the peace- 
 able fruit of righteousness, that so these light 
 afflictions, which are but for a moment, may 
 work for me a far more exceeding and eternal 
 weight of glory, through Jesus Christ. 
 
 A Thanksgiving for Deliverance. 
 
 O Blessed Lord, who art gracious and mer- 
 ciful, slow to anger and of great kindness, and 
 repentest thee of the evil ; I thankfully acknow- 
 ledge before thee, that thou hast not dealt with 
 me after my sins, nor rewarded me according 
 to my iniquities. My rebellions, O Lord, de- 
 serve to be scourged with scorpions, and thou 
 hast corrected them only with a gentle and fa- 
 therly rod ; neither hast tbou suffered me to lie 
 long under that, but hast given me a timely and 
 a gracious issue out of my late distresses. O 
 Lord, I will be glad, and rejoice in thy mercy ; 
 for thou hast considered my trouble, and hast 
 known my soul in adversity. Thou hast smitten 
 and thou hast healed me. O let these various 
 methods of thine have their proper effects upon 
 my soul, that I, who have felt the smart of thy 
 chastisements, may stand in awe, and not sin : 
 And that I, who have likewise felt the sweet re- 
 6 
 
428 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS. 
 
 freshings of thy mercy, may have my heart ra- 
 vished with it, and knit to thee in the firmest 
 bands of love! and that by both I may be pre- 
 served in a constant entire obedience to thee 
 all my days, through Jesus Christ. 
 
 DIRECTIONS FOR THE TIME OF SICKNESS. 
 
 When thoufindest thyself visited with Sick- 
 ness, thou art immediately to remember ', that it 
 is God, who with rebukes doth chasten man for 
 sin. And therefore let thy first care he to find 
 out what it is that provokes him to smite thee : 
 And to that purpose, examine thine own heart, 
 search diligently what guilts lie there, confess 
 them humbly and penitently to God, and, for 
 the greater security, renew thy repentance for 
 all the old sins of thy former life : beg most 
 earnestly and importunately his mercy and par- 
 don in Christ Jesus, and put on sincere and zea- 
 lous resolutions of forsaking every evil way for 
 the rest of that time which God shall spare thee. 
 And that thy own heart deceive thee not in this 
 so zveighty a business, it will be wisdom to send 
 for some godly Divine, not only to assist thee with 
 his prayers, but with his counsel also. And to 
 that purpose open thy heart so freely to him, 
 that he may be able to judge whether thy re- 
 pentance be such as may give thee confidence to 
 appear before God's dreadful tribunal; and 
 that, if it be not, he may help thee what he can 
 towards the making it so. And when thou 
 hast thus provided for thy better part, thy 
 soul, then consider thy body also : And as the wise 
 man saiih, Eccles. xxxviii. \ c 2. Give place to the 
 
A Pray erf 07^ a sick Person, 429 
 
 physician, for the Lord hath created him. Use 
 such means as may be most likely to recover thy 
 health ; but always remember that the success of 
 them must come from God ; and beware of Asa's 
 sin, who sought to the physicians, and not to the 
 Lord, 2 Chr. xvi. 12. Dispose also betimes of thy 
 temporal affairs, by making thy Will, and setting 
 all things in such order as thou meanest finally to 
 leave them in, and defer it not till thy sickness 
 grozv more violent ; for then perhaps thou shall 
 not have such use of thy reason as may ft thee 
 for it ; or, if thou have, it zvould be then much 
 more reasonable to employ thy thoughts on higher 
 things, on the world thou art going to, rather 
 than on that thou art about to leave. JVe can- 
 not carry the things of this world with us when 
 we go hence, and it is not fit we should carry the 
 thoughts of them. Therefore let those be early 
 dispatched, that they may not disturb thee at 
 last. 
 
 A Prayer for a sick Person. 
 
 O merciful and righteous Lord, the God of 
 health and of sickness, of life and of death, I 
 most unfeignedly acknowledge that my great 
 abuse of those many days of strength and wel- 
 fare, which thou hast afforded me, hath most 
 justly deserved thy present visitation. I desire, 
 O Lord, humbly to accept of this punishment 
 of mine iniquity, and to bear the indignation of 
 the Lord, because I have sinned against him. 
 And, O thou merciful Father, who designest 
 not the ruin, but the amendment of those whom 
 thou scourgest, I beseech thee by thy grace so to 
 sanctify this correction of thine to me, that this 
 
430 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS 
 
 sickness of my body may be a means of health 
 to my soul : Make me diligent to search my 
 heart ; and do thou, O Lord, enable me to dis- 
 cover every accursed thing, how closely soever 
 concealed there, that by the removal thereof, I 
 may make way for the removal of punishment. 
 Heal my soul, O Lord, which hath sinned 
 against thee ; and then, if it be thy blessed 
 will, heal my body also ; restore the voice of 
 joy and health unto my dwelling, that I may 
 live to praise thee, and to bring forth fruits of 
 repentance. But if in thy wisdom thou hast 
 otherwise disposed, if thou hast determined that 
 this sickness shall be unto death, I beseech thee 
 to fit and prepare me for it : Give me that sin- 
 cere and earnest repentance, to which thou hast 
 promised mercy and pardon : wean my heart 
 from the world, and all its fading vanities, and 
 make me to gasp and pant after those more ex- 
 cellent and durable joys, which are at thy right 
 hand for ever. Lord, lift thou up the light of 
 thy countenance upon me, and in all the pains 
 of my body, in all the agonies of my spirit, 
 let thy comforts refresh my soul, and enable me 
 patiently to wait till my change come. And 
 grant, O Lord, that when my earthly house of 
 this tabernacle is dissolved, I may have a build- 
 ing of God, an house not made with hands, 
 eternal in the heavens ; and that for his sake, 
 who by his precious blood hath purchased it 
 for me, even Jesus Christ. 
 
A Thanksgiving for Recovery. 43 1 
 
 A Thanksgiving for Recovery, 
 
 O Gracious Lord, the God of the spirits of 
 all flesh, in whose hand my time is, I praise 
 and magnify thee, that thou hast, in love to my 
 soul, delivered it from the pit of corruption, 
 and restored me to health again. It is thou 
 alone, O Lord, that hast preserved my life from 
 destruction ; thou hast chastened and corrected 
 me, but thou hast not given me over unto 
 death. Q let this life, which thou hast thus 
 graciously spared, be wholly consecrated to thee. 
 Behold, O Lord, I am by thy mercy made 
 whole ; O make me strictly careful to sin no 
 more, lest a worse thing come unto me. Lord, 
 let not this reprieve thou hast now given me, 
 make me secure, as thinking that my Lord 
 delayeth his coming ; but grant me, I beseech 
 thee, to make a right use of this long suffering 
 of thine, and so to employ every minute of that 
 time thou shalt allow me, that when thou shalt 
 appear^ I may have confidence, and not be 
 ashamed before thee at thy coming. Lord, I 
 have found by this approach towards death, 
 how dreadful a thing it is to be taken unpre- 
 pared : O let it be a perpetual admonition to 
 me to watch- for my master's coming : And when 
 the pleasures of sin shall present themselves 
 to entice me, O make me to remember how 
 bitter they will be at the last. O Lord, hear 
 me ; and as thou hast in much mercy afforded 
 me time, so grant me also grace to work out 
 my own salvation, to provide oil in the lamp, 
 that when the bridegroom cometh, I may go in 
 
452 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS. 
 
 with him to the marriage. Grant this, I beseech 
 thee, for thy dear Son's sake. 
 
 A Prayer at the Approach of ID eat h. 
 
 O eternal and ever living God, who first 
 breathedst into man the breath of life, and 
 when thou takest away that breath he dies and 
 is turned again to his dust ; look with compassion 
 on me thy poor creature, who am now drawing 
 near the gates of death, and, which is infinitely 
 more terrible, the bar of judgment. Lord, my 
 own heart condemns me, and thou art infinitely 
 greater than my heart, and knowest all things. 
 The sins I know and remember, fill me with 
 horror, but there are also multitudes of others, 
 which I either observed not at that time, or 
 have since carelessly forgot, which are all present 
 to thee. Thou settest my misdeeds before thee, 
 and my secret sins in the light of thy counte- 
 nance ; and to what a mountainous heap must 
 the minutely provocations of so many years 
 arise ? How long shall one so ungodly stand in 
 thy judgment, or such a sinner in the congrega- 
 tion of the righteous? And to add yet more 
 to my terror, my very repentance, I fear, will 
 not abide the trial; my frequent relapses here- 
 tofore have sufficiently witnessed the insincerity' 
 of my past resolutions. And then, O Lord, 
 what can secure me, that my present dislikes of 
 my sins are not rather the effects of my amazing 
 danger, than of any real change? And, O Lord, 
 I know thou art not mocked, nor will accept of 
 any thing that is not perfectly sincere. O Lord, 
 when I consider this, tearfulness and trembling 
 cometh upon me, and an horrible dread over- 
 
A Prayer at the Approach of Death. 433 
 
 whelmeth me ; my flesh trembleth for fear of 
 thee, and my heart is wounded within me. But, 
 O Lord, one deep calleth upon another, the 
 depth of my misery, upon the depth of thy 
 mercy ; Lord, save now, or I perish eternally, 
 O thou who wiliest not that any should perish, 
 but that all should come, to repentance, bring 
 me, I beseech thee, though thus late, to a sincere 
 repentance, such as thou wilt accept, who triest 
 the heart. Create in me, O God, a clean heart, 
 and renew a right spirit within me. Lord, one 
 day is with thee as a thousand years ; O let thy 
 mighty Spirit work in me now in this my last 
 day, whatsoever thou seest wanting to fit me to 
 thy mercy and acceptation. Give me a perfect 
 and entire hatred of my sins, and enable me to 
 present thee with that sacrifice of a broken and 
 contrite heart, which thou hast promised not to 
 despise ; that by this I may be made capable of 
 that atonement, which thy dear Son hath, by 
 the more excellent oblation of himself, made for 
 all repenting sinners. He is the propitiation for 
 our sins, he was wounded for our transgressions i 
 he was bruised for our iniquities ; the chastise- 
 ment of our peace was on him ; O ! heal me 
 by his stripes, and let the cry of his blood drown 
 the clamour of my sins. I am indeed a child 
 of wrath, but he is the Son of thy love ! for his 
 sake spare me, O Lord, spare thy creature, 
 whom he hath redeemed with his most precious 
 blood, and be not angry with me for ever. In 
 his wounds, O Lord, I take sanctuary ; O let 
 not thy vengeance pursue me to this city of 
 refuge : My soul hangeth upon him, O let me 
 perish with a Jesus, with a Saviour in my arms. 
 
434 Psalms at the Approach of Death. 
 
 But by his agony and bloody sweat, by his cross 
 and passion, by all that he did and suffered for 
 sinners, good Lord, deliver me ; deliver me, I 
 beseech thee, from the wages of my sins, thy 
 wrath, and everlasting damnation, in this time 
 of my tribulation, in the hour of death, and in 
 the day of judgment. Hear me, O Lord, hear 
 me, and do not now repay my former neglects 
 of thy calls, by refusing to answer rne in this time 
 of my greatest need. Lord, there is but a step 
 between me and death ; O let not my sun go 
 down upon thy wrath, but seal my pardon, 
 before I go hence, and be no more seen. Thy 
 loving-kindness is better than life itself; O 
 let me have that in exchange, and I shall most 
 gladly lay down this mortal life. Lord, thou 
 knowest all my desire, and my groaning is not 
 hid from thee ; deal thou with me, O Lord, 
 according to thy name, for sweet is thy mercy ; 
 take away the sting of death, the guilt of my 
 sins ; and then, though I walk through the 
 valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no 
 evil. I will lay me down in peace, and, Lord, 
 when I awake up, let me be satisfied with thy 
 presence in thy glory. Grant this, merciful God, 
 for his sake, who is both the Redeemer and 
 Mediator of sinners, even Jesus Christ. 
 
 PSALMS. 
 
 Put me not to rebuke, O Lord, in thy anger, 
 neither chasten me in thy heavy displeasure. 
 
 There is no health in my flesh, because of thy 
 displeasure: Neither is there any rest in my 
 bones, by reason of my sins. 
 
 For my wickednesses are gone over my head. 
 

 Psalms at the Approach of Death. 435 
 
 and are a sore burden too heavy for me to 
 bear. 
 
 My wounds stink, and are corrupt, through 
 my foolishness* 
 
 Therefore is my spirit vexed within me, and 
 my heart within me is desolate. 
 
 My sins have taken such hold upon me, that I 
 am not able to look up : yea they are more in 
 number than the hairs of my head, and my heart 
 hath failed me. 
 
 But thou, O Lord, art full of compassion and 
 mercy, long-suffering, plenteous in goodness and 
 truth. 
 
 Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me ; 
 for I am desolate and in misery. 
 
 If thou, Lord) shouldst be extreme to mark 
 
 xvhat is done amiss, O Lord, who may abide it ? 
 
 O remember not the sins and offences of my 
 
 youth : But according to thy mercy think thou 
 
 upon me for thy goodness. 
 
 Look upon my adversity and misery 3 and for* 
 give me all my sins. 
 
 Hide not thy face from thy servant, for I am 
 in trouble: O haste thee 3 and hear me. 
 
 Out of the deep do I call unto thee : Lord, 
 hear my voice. 
 
 Turn thee, O Lord, and deliver my soul: O 
 save me for thy mercies' 1 sake. 
 
 go not far from me ; for trouble is hard at 
 hand, and there is none to help. 
 
 1 stretch forth my hands unto thee : My soul 
 gaspeth unto thee as a thirsty land. 
 
 Draw nigh unto my soul and save it : O de- 
 liver me, because of mine enemies. 
 
 For my soul is full of trouble, and my life 
 draweth nigh unto HelL 
 
436 Psalms at the Approach of Death. 
 
 Save me from the lions' mouth : hear me from 
 among the horns of the unicorns. 
 
 O set me upon the Rock that is higher than I ; 
 for thou art my hope, and a strong tozverfor me 
 against the enemy. 
 
 Why art thou so heavy, O my soul, and zvhy 
 art thou so disquiet eel within me ? 
 
 Put thy trust in God ; for I will yet give him 
 thanks for the help of his countenance. 
 
 The Lord shall make good his loving-kindness 
 tozvards vie ; yea, thy mercy, O Lord, endureth 
 for ever ; despise not thou the work of thine oivn 
 hands. 
 
 O God, thou art my God ; early will I seek 
 thee. My soul thirstethfor thee ; my flesh long- 
 eth after thee in a barren and dry land, where 
 no water is. 
 
 Like as the hart desireth the zvater brooks, 
 so longeth my soul after thee, O God. 
 
 My soul is athirst for God ; yea, even for the 
 living God : When shall I come to appear before 
 the presence of God f 
 Hozv amiable are thy dxvellings, O Lord of Hosts ! 
 
 My soul hath a desire and longing to enter 
 into the courts of the Lord: my heart and my 
 flesh rejoice in the living God. 
 
 O that I had zvings like a dove ! for then 
 would I flee away, and be at rest. 
 
 send out thy light and thy truth, that they 
 may lead me and bring me unto thy holy hill 
 and to thy dwelling. 
 
 For one day in thy courts is better than a 
 thousand. 
 
 1 had rather be a door-keeper in the house of 
 my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. 
 
Ejaculations for the Sick. 437 
 
 I should utterly have fainted, but that I be- 
 lieved verily to see the goodness of the Lord in 
 the land of the living. 
 
 Thou art my Helper and Redeemer : O Lord, 
 make no long tarrying. 
 
 EJACULATIONS. 
 
 O Lord, of whom may I seek for succour but 
 of thee, who for my sins art justly displeased ? 
 Yet, O Lord God most holy, O Lord most 
 mighty, O holy and most merciful Saviour, de- 
 liver me not into the bitter pains of eternal 
 death. 
 
 Thou kncwest, Lord the secrets of my heart, 
 shut not thy merciful ears to my prayer : but 
 spare me, Lord most holy, O God most mighty, 
 O holy and merciful Saviour, thou most worthy 
 judge eternal, suffer me not at my last hour, for 
 any pains of death to fall from thee. 
 
 Father, I have sinned against Heaven, and 
 before thee, and am not worthy to be called thy 
 child : Yet, O Lord, do not thou cast off the 
 bowels and compassion of a Father; but even 
 as a Father pitieth his own Children, so be thou 
 merciful unto me. 
 
 Lord, the Prince of this world cometh, O let 
 him have nothing in me; but as he accuseth, 
 do thou absolve : He lays many and grievous 
 things to my charge, which he can too well 
 prove; I have nothing to say for myself, do 
 thou answer for me, O Lord my God. 
 
 O Lord I am clothed with filthy garments, 
 
43S PRIVATE DEVOTIONS. 
 
 and Satan stands at my right hand to resist me r 
 O be thou pleased to rebuke him, and pluck me 
 as a brand out of the fire: cause mine iniqui- 
 ties to pass from me, and clothe me with the 
 righteousness of thy Son. 
 
 Behold, O God, the devil is coming towards 
 me ; having great wrath, because he knoweth 
 that he hath but a short time. O save and de- 
 liver me, lest he devour my soul like a lion, and 
 tear it in pieces, whHe there is none to help. 
 
 G my God, I know that no unclean thing can 
 -enter into thy kingdom, and I am nothing but 
 pollution ; my very righteousnesses are as filthy 
 rags. O wash me and make me white in the 
 hlood of the Lamb, so that I may be fit to stand 
 before thy throne. 
 
 Lord, the snares of death, compass me round 
 about : O let not the pains of Hell also take 
 hold upon me : But, though I find trouble and 
 heaviness, yet, O Lord, beseech thee, deliver 
 ray soul. 
 
 O dear 5 esus, who hast bought me with the 
 .precious price of thine own blood, challenge 
 now thy purchase, and let not the malice of 
 Kell pluck me out of thy hand. 
 
 G blessed High Priest, who art able to save 
 them to the utmost, who come unto God by 
 thee : save me I beseech thee, who have no 
 hope but in thy merits and intercession. 
 
 G God, I confess I have defaced that image 
 of thine thou didst imprint upon my soul ; yet, 
 G thou faithful Creator, hare pity on thy erea- 
 lure. 
 
 O Jesu, I have by my many and grievous sins 
 ■sruciiied thee afresh; yet thou who prayedst 
 

 Ejaculations for the Sick. 439 
 
 for thy persecutors intercede for me also, and 
 suffer not, O my Redeemer, my soul, (the price 
 of thy blood) to perish. 
 
 O Spirit of Grace, I have, by my horrid im- 
 pieties, done despite to thee ,* yet, O blessed 
 Comforter, though I have often grieved thee, be 
 thou pleased to succour and relieve me, and say 
 unto my soul, I am thy salvation. 
 
 Mine eyes look unto thee, O Lord, in thee is 
 my trust; O cast not out my soul. 
 
 O Lord, in thee have I trusted, let me never 
 be confounded. 
 
 O Blessed Lord, who scourgeth every son 
 whom thou receivedst, let me not be weary of 
 thy correction, but give me such a perfect sub- 
 jection to thee, the Father of spirits, that this 
 chastisement may be for my profit, that I may 
 thereby be partaker of thy Holiness. 
 
 O thou Captain of my salvation, who wert 
 made perfect by sufferings, sanctify to me all 
 the pains of body, all the terrors of mind which 
 thou shalt permit to fall upon me. 
 
 Lord, my sins have deserved eternal torments; 
 make me chearfully and thankfully to bear my 
 present pains ; Chasten me as thou pleasest here 
 that I may not be condemned with the world. 
 
 Lord, the waters are come in even unto my 
 Soul ; O let thy spirit move upon these waters, 
 and make them like the pool of Bethesda, that 
 they may cure whatsoever spiritual disease thou 
 discernest in me. 
 
 O Christ, who first sufferedst many and griev- 
 ous things, and then enteredst into thy Glory ; 
 u 2 
 
440 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS. 
 
 make me to suffer with thee, that I may also be 
 glorified with thee. 
 
 dear Jesus, who humbledst thyself to the 
 death of the cross for me, let that death of thine 
 sweeten the bitterness of mine. 
 
 When thou hadst overcome the sharpness of 
 death, thou didst open the kingdom of Heaven 
 to all believers. 
 
 1 believe that thou shall come to be my Judge. 
 I pray thee therefore help thy servant, whom 
 
 thou hadst redeemed with thy most precious 
 "blood. 
 
 Make me to be numbered with thy saints in 
 glory everlasting. 
 
 Thou art the resurrection and the life; He 
 that believeth in thee, though he were dead, yet 
 shall he live : Lord, I believe, help thou my 
 unbelief. 
 
 My flesh and my heart faileth : but God is the 
 strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. 
 
 I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ, 
 which is far better: Lord, I groan earnestly, 
 desiring to be cloathed upon with that house 
 from heaven. 
 
 I desire to put off this my tabernacle : O be 
 pleased to receive me into everlasting habita- 
 tions. 
 
 Bring my soul out of prison, that I may give 
 thanks unto thy name. 
 
 Lord, I am here to wrestle not only with 
 flesh and blood, but with principalities and 
 powers, and spiritual wickedness : O take me 
 from these tents of Kedcr, into thy heavenly 
 Jerusalem^ where Satan shall be utterly trodden 
 under my feet. 
 
Ejaculations for the Sick, 44 1 
 
 I cannot here attend one minute to thy ser- 
 vice without distraction ; O take me up to stand 
 before thy throne, where I shall serve thee day 
 and night. 
 
 I am here in heaviness through many tribu- 
 lations ; O receive me into that place of restj 
 where all tears shall be wiped from my eyes, 
 where there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, 
 nor crying, nor pain. 
 
 I am here in a state of banishment and ab- 
 sence from the Lord : O take rne where 1 shall 
 for ever behold thy face, and follow the Lamb 
 whithersoever he goeth. 
 
 I have fought a o;ood fight, I have finished 
 my course ; I have kept the faith ; henceforth 
 there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness. 
 
 O Blessed Jesu, who hast loved me, and 
 washed me from my sins in thine own blood, 
 receive my soul. 
 
 Into thy hands I commend my spirit : for 
 thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, thou God of 
 truth. Come Lord Jesu, come quickly. 
 
 PRAYERS for their Use, who mourn in Secret 
 for the publick Calamities, &c. 
 
 Psalm lxxiv. O God, wherefore art thou absent 
 jrom us so long f Why is thy zvrath so hot 
 against the sheep of thy pasture, &c. 
 Psalm lxxix. OGod the Heathen are come into 
 thine inheritance : thy holy temple have they 
 defiled, and made Jerusalem an heap of stones , 
 &c. 
 
 u 3 
 
442 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS* 
 
 Psalm Ixxx. Hear, O thou Shepherd of Israel, 
 thou that leadeth Joseph like a sheep, shezv 
 thyself also, thou that sitleth upon the Che* 
 rubims, &c. 
 
 A Prayer to he used in these Times of Calamity. 
 
 O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth, 
 I desire humbly to confess before thee, both 
 on my own behalf, and that of this nation, that 
 these many years of calamity we have groaned 
 under, are but the just (yea mild) returns of 
 those many more ^ears of our provocations 
 against thee ; and that thy present wrath is but 
 the due punishment of thy abused mercy. O 
 Lord, thou hast formerly abounded to us in 
 blessings above all the people of the earth. Thy 
 candle shined upon our heads, and we delighted 
 ourselves in thy great goodness: Peace was 
 within our walls, and plenteousness within our 
 palaces : there was no decay, no leading into 
 captivity, and no complaining in our streets: 
 But we turned this grace into wantonness ; we 
 abused our peace to security, our plenty to riot 
 and luxury : and made those good things which 
 should have endeared our hearts to thee, the 
 occasion of estranging them from thee. Nay, 
 O Lord, thou gavest us yet more precious 
 mercies, thou wert pleased thyself to pitch thy 
 tabernacle with us, to establish a pure and glo- 
 rious Church among us, and give us thy word 
 to be a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto 
 our paths. But, O Lord, we have made no 
 other use of that light than to conduct us to the 
 chambers of death : We have dealt proudly, 
 
A Prayer in Time of public Calamity. 44 ? 3 
 
 and not hearkened to thy commandments ; and 
 by rebelling against the light, have purchased to 
 ourselves so much the heavier portion in the 
 outer darkness. And now, O Lord, had the 
 overflowings of thy vengeance been answerable 
 to that of our sin, we had long since been swept 
 away with a swift destruction, and there had been 
 none of us alive at this day, to implore thy 
 mercy. But thou art a gracious God, slow to 
 anger, and hast proceeded with us- with much 
 patience and long-suffering ; thou hast sent thy 
 judgments to awaken us to repentance, and hast 
 also allowed us space for it : But alas ! we have 
 perverted this mercy of thine beyond all the 
 former ; we return not to him that smiteth us^ 
 neither do' we seek the Lord; we are slidden 
 back by a perpetual backsliding; no man re- 
 penteth him of his wickedness-, or saith, What 
 have I done ? it is true, indeed, we fear the rod; 
 (we dread every suffering, so that we are ready to 
 buy it off with the foulest sin) but we fear not 
 him that hath appointed it ; but by a wretched" 
 obstinacy, harden our necks against thee, and 
 refuse to return. And now, O God; what balm 
 is there in ■■•GMead \k&& can cure us, who, when' 
 thou wouldstheal us, would not be healed? We 
 know thou hast pronounced, that there is na< 
 peace to the wicked ; and how shall we then pray 
 for peace, that still retain our wickedness? This, 
 this, O Lord, is our sorest disease : O give us- 
 medicines to heal this sickness : Heal our souls, 
 and then we know thou canst soon heal our land. 
 Lord, thou hast long spoken by thy word to our 
 ears > by thy judgments even to all our- senses; 
 u 4 
 
444 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS. 
 
 but unless thou speak by the Spirit to our hearts, 
 all other calls will still be ineffectual. O send 
 out thy voice, and that a mighty voice, such as 
 may awake us out of this lethargy: Thou that 
 didst call Lazarus out of the grave, O be pleased 
 to call us, who are dead, yea, putrified in tres- 
 passes and sins, and make us to awake to righte- 
 ousness. And though, O Lord, our frequent re- 
 sistances even of these inward calls, have justly 
 provoked thee to give us up to the lusts of our 
 own hearts; yet, O thou boundless ocean of mer- 
 cy, who art good not only beyond what we can 
 deserve, but what we can wish, do not withdraw 
 the influence of thy grace, and take not thy Holy 
 Spirit from us. Thou wert found of those that 
 sought thee not : O let that act of mercy be re- 
 peated to us, who are so desperately, yet so in- 
 sensibly sick, that we cannot so much as look 
 after the Physician; and by how much our case 
 is the more dangerous, so much the more sove- 
 reign remedies do thou apply. Lord, help us, 
 and consider not so much our unworthiness of 
 thy aid, as our irremediable ruin, if we want it: 
 Save, Lord, or we perish eternally. To this 
 end, dispense to us in our temporal interest what 
 thou seest may best secure our spiritual ; if a 
 greater degree of outward misery will tend to the 
 curing our inward, Lord, spare not thy rod, but 
 strike yet more sharply. Cast out this devil, 
 though with never so much foaming and tearing. 
 But if thou seest that some return of mercy may 
 be most likely to melt us, O be pleased so far to 
 condescend to our wretchedness, as to afford us 
 that; and whether by thy sharper or thy gentler 
 

 A Prayer for this Church. 445 
 
 methods, bring Us home to thyself. And then, 
 O Lord, we know thy hand is not shortened, 
 that it cannot save : When thou hast delivered 
 us from our sin, thou canst and wilt deliver us 
 from our troubles. O shew us thy mercy and 
 grant us thy salvation, that being redeemed both 
 in our bodies and spirits, we may glorify thee in 
 both, in a cheerful obedience, and praise the 
 name of our God, that hath dealt wonderfully 
 with us through Jesus Christ our Lord.. 
 
 A Prayer for this Church. 
 
 O Thou great God of recompences, who 
 turnest a fruitful land into barrenness, for the 
 wickedness of them that dwell therein : Thou 
 hast most justly executed that fatal sentence on 
 this Church, which having once been the per- 
 fection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth, is 
 now become a scorn and derision to all that are 
 round about her. O Lord, what could have 
 been done to- thy vineyard, that thou hast not 
 done in it ?• And since it hath brought forth 
 nothing but wild grapes* it is perfectly just with 
 thee to take away the hedge thereof, and let it 
 be eaten up* But, O Lord, though our iniquities 
 testify against us, yet do thou it for thy name's 
 sake :.. for our backslidings are many, we have 
 sinned against thee. O the hope of Israel, 
 the Saviour thereof in time of trouble, why 
 shouldst thou be as- a stranger in the land, as a 
 wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a; 
 night ? Why shouldst thou be as a man asto- 
 nished ? as a mighty man that cannot save ? Yet 
 thou, O Lord, art in the midst of us and we 
 V 5 
 
446 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS. 
 
 are called by thy name ; leave us not ; deprive 
 us of what outward enjoyment thou pleasest, 
 take from us the opportunities of our luxury, 
 and it may be a mercy : But, O take not from 
 us the means of our reformation, for that is the 
 most direful expression of thy wrath. And 
 though we have hated the light, because our 
 deeds were evil, yet, O Lord, do not, by with- 
 drawing it, condemn us to walk on still in dark- 
 n*ess ; but let it continue to shine till it have 
 guided our feet into the way of peace. O Lord, 
 arise, stir up thy strength, and come and help 
 us, and deliver not the soul of thy turtle-dove 
 [this disconsolate Church] unto the multitude of 
 the enemy : but help her, O God, and that right 
 early. But if, O Lord, our rebellions have so 
 provoked thee, that the ark must wander in the 
 wilderness, till all this murmuring generation 
 he consumed, yet let not that perish with us, but 
 bring it at last into a Canaan, and let our more 
 innocent posterity see that which in thy just judg- 
 ment thou deniest to us. In the mean time let 
 us not cease to bewail that desolation our 
 sins have wrought, to think upon the stones of 
 Sion, and pity to see her in the dust, nor ever 
 be ashamed or afraid to own her in the lowest 
 and most persecuted condition, but esteem the 
 reproach of Christ greater riches than the trea- 
 sures of Egypt ; and so approve our constancy 
 to this our afflicted Mother, that her blessed 
 Lord and Head may own us with mercy, when 
 he shall come in the glory of thee his Father, 
 with the holy Angels. Grant this, merciful 
 Lord, for the same Jesus Christ his sake. 
 
A Prayer for the Peace of the Church. 4<%7 
 
 A Prayer for the Peace of the Church. 
 
 Lord Jesus Christ, which of thine Almighti* 
 ness madest all creatures, both visible and in- 
 visible; which of thy godly wisdom governest 
 and settest all things in most goodly order, which 
 of thine unspeakable goodness keepest, defend- 
 est, and furtherest all things ; which of thy deep 
 mercy restore st the decayed, renewest the fallen, 
 raisest the dead ; vouchsafe, we pray thee, at last 
 to cast down thy countenance upon thy well- 
 beloved spouse the Church: but let it be that 
 amiable and merciful countenance wherewith 
 thou pacrfiest #11 things in Heaven, in Earth, 
 and whatsoever is above Heaven, and under 
 the Earth. Vouchsafe to cast upon us those 
 tender and pitiful eyes with which thou didst 
 once behold Peter, that great shepherd of thy 
 Church, and forthwith be remembered him^ 
 self, and repented; with which eyes thou once 
 didst view the scattered multitude, and wert 
 moved with compassion, that for lack of a good 
 shepherd, they wandered as sheep dispersed and 
 strayed asunder. Thou seest (O good Shepherd) 
 what sundry sort of wolves have broken into thy 
 sheep-cotes ; so that if it were possible, the very 
 perfect persons should be brought into error : 
 Thou seest with what winds, with what waves, 
 with what storms, thy silly ship is tossed, thy 
 ship, wherein thy little flock is in peril to be 
 drowned* And what is now left, but that it ut- 
 terly sink, and we all perish? For this tempest 
 and storm we may thank our own- wickedness, 
 and sinful living ; we discern it well, and confess 
 v 6 
 
448 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS. 
 
 it ; we discern thy righteousness ; and we bewail 
 our unrighteousness ; but we appeal to thy 
 mercy which surmounteth all thy works. We 
 have now suffered much punishment, being 
 scourged with so many wars, consumed with such 
 losses of goods, shaken with so many floods ; 
 and yet appears there no where a haven or 
 port unto us. Being thus tired and forlorn 
 among so strange evils, but still every day more 
 grievous punishments, and more seem to hang 
 over our heads; we complain not of thy sharp- 
 ness, most tender Saviour, but we discern here 
 also thy mercy, forasmuch as much grievouser 
 plagues we have deserved : But, O most merciful 
 Jesus, w r e beseech thee, that thou wilt not con- 
 sider nor weigh what is due for our deservings ; 
 but rather what becometh thy mercy, without 
 which neither the Angels in Heaven can stand 
 sure before thee, much less we silly vessels of clay. 
 Have mercy on us, O Redeemer, which art easy 
 to be intreated : not that we be worthy of thy 
 mercy, but give thou this glory unto thine own 
 name. Suffer not those, which either have not 
 known thee, .or do envy thy glory, continually 
 to triumph over us, and say, VV here is their 
 God ? Where is their Redeemer ? Where is 
 their Saviour ? Where is their Bridegroom 
 that they thus boast on ? These opprobrious 
 words redound unto thee, O Lord, while by 
 Our evils men weigh and esteem thy good- 
 ness ; they think we be forsaken, whom they 
 see not amended. Once when thou sleptest 
 in the ship, and a tempest suddenly arising, a 
 threatened death to all in the ship, thouawokest 
 
A Prayer for the Peace of the Church. 449 
 
 at the outcry of a few disciples, and straightway, 
 at thine Almighty word, the waters couched, 
 the winds fell, the storm was suddenly turned 
 into a great calm; the dumb waters knew their 
 Maker's voice. Now in this far greater tem- 
 pest, wherein not a few men's bodies be in 
 danger, but innumerable souls, we beseech thee, 
 at the cry of thy holy Church, which is in dan- 
 ger of drowning, that thou wilt awake. So 
 many thousands of men do cry, Lord save us, or 
 we perish! the tempest is past man's power; it 
 is thy word that must be the deed. Lord Jesus, 
 only say thou with a word of thy mouth, Cease, 
 O tempest, and fort hivith shall the desired calm 
 appear. Thou wouldest have spared so many 
 of thousands most wicked men, if in the city of 
 Sodom had been found but ten good men. Now 
 here be so many thousands of men, which love 
 the glory of thy name, which sigh or the beauty 
 of thy house; and wilt thou not, at these men's 
 prayers, let go thine anger, and remember thine 
 accustomed and old mercies? Shalt thou not 
 with thy heavenly policy, turn our folly into 
 thy glory ? Shalt thou not turn the wicked 
 men's evils into thy Church's good? for thy 
 mercy is wont then most of all to succour, when 
 the thing is with us past remedy ; and neither 
 the might nor wisdom of men can help it. Thou 
 alone bringeth things, that be never so out of 
 order, into order again, which art the only 
 Author and Maintainer of Peace. Thou fram- 
 edst that old confusion, wherein, without order, 
 without fashion, confusedly lay the discordant 
 seeds of things ; and with a wonderful order the 
 
4v50 PRIVATE DEVOTION'S. 
 
 things of that nature which fought together, 
 tli-ou didst ally and knit in a perpetual band,. 
 But how much greater confusion is this, where 
 is no charity, no fidelity, no bonds of love, no 
 reverence, neither of laws, nor yet of rulers } 
 no agreement of opinions, but, as it were in a 
 mis ordered choir, every man singeth a contrary 
 note S Among the heavenly planets is no dissen- 
 sion : the elements keep their place, every one 
 do the office w hereunto they be appointed : And 
 wilt thou suier thy spouse, for whose sake all 
 things were made, thus by continual discords 
 to perish ? Shalt thou suffer the wicked spirits, 
 which be the authors and workers of discord, to 
 bear such a suing in thy kingdom unchecked? 
 Shalt thou suffer the strong captain of mischief, 
 whom thou once overthrewest, again to invade 
 thy tents, and to spoil thy soldiers ? When thou 
 wert here, a man conversant among men, at thy 
 voice fled the devils. Send forth, we beseech 
 thee, O Lord, thy Spirit, which may drive away 
 out of the breasts of all them that profess thy 
 name* the wicked spirits, masters of riot, of 
 covetousness, of vain glory, of carnal lust, of 
 mischief and discord. Create in us, O our God 
 and King j a clean heart, and renexv thy Holy Spi- 
 rit in our breasts : Pluck not front us thy Holy 
 Ghost : Render unto us the joy of thy savin "health, 
 and with thy principalSpirit strengthen thy spouse 
 and the herdsmen thereof. By this Spirit thou re 
 conciledst the earthly to the heavenly: By this 
 thou didst frame and reduce so many tongues, so 
 many nations, so many sundry sorts of men into 
 one bodj of a church ; which body by the same 
 
A Prayer for the Peace of l he Church. 451 
 
 Spirit, is knit to thee their head. This Spirit, if 
 thou wilt vouchsafe to renew in all men's hearts* 
 then shall all these foreign miseries cease; or if 
 they cease not, they shall turn to the profit and 
 avail of them which love thee. Stay this con- 
 fusion, set in order this horrible chaos : O Lord 
 Jesus, let thy Spirit stretch out itself upon these 
 waters of evil) wavering opinions. And because 
 thy Spirit, which according to thy prophet's say* 
 ing, containeth all things, hath also the science 
 of speaking; make that like as unto all them 
 which be of thy house, in one light, one baptism, 
 one God, one hope, one spirit, so they may also 
 have one voice, one note, one song, professing 
 one catholic truth. When thou didst mount up 
 to Heaven triumphantly, thou threwest out from 
 above thy precious things, thou gavest gifts 
 among men, thou delayest sundry rewards of thy 
 Spirit: Renew again from above thy old boun- 
 tifulness, give that thing to thy Church, now 
 faintingand growing downward, that thou gavest 
 unto her shooting up at her first beginning, 
 Give unto princes and rulers the grace so to 
 stand in awe of thee, that they may so guide the 
 commonweal, as they should shortly render an 
 account unto thee, that art the King of kings. 
 Give wisdom to be aiwavs assistant unto them* 
 that whatsoever is best to be done they may espy 
 it in their minds, and pursue the same in their 
 doings. Give to the Bishops the gift of prophecy, 
 that they may declare and interpret holy Scrip- 
 ture; not of their own brain, but of thine in- 
 spiring. Give them the threefold charity which 
 thou once demandedst of Peter ', what time thow 
 
452 PRIVATE DEVOTIONS. 
 
 didst betake unto him the charge of thy sheep. 
 Give to the priests the love of soberness and of 
 chastity. Give to thy people a good will to fol- 
 low thy commandments, and a readiness to obey 
 such persons as thou hast appointed over them. 
 So shall it come to pass, if through thy gift thy 
 princes shall command that thou requirest, if thy 
 pastors and herdsmen should teach the same, and 
 thy people obey them both, that the old dignity 
 and tranquillity of the Church shall return again, 
 with a goodly order, unto the glory of thy name. 
 Thou sparedst the Nincvites appointed to be de- 
 stroyed, as soon as they converted to repentance; 
 and wilt thou despise thy house fallen down at 
 thy feet, which instead of sackcloth, hath sighs, 
 and instead of ashes, tears ? Thou promisest 
 forgiveness to such as turn unto thee;, but this 
 very thing is thy gift, a man to turn with his 
 whole heart unto thee, to the intent that all our 
 goodness should redound unto thy glory. Thou 
 art the Maker, repair the work that thou hast 
 fashioned. Thou art the Redeemer, save that 
 thou hast brought* Thou art the Saviour, suffer 
 not them to perish which do hang on thee. Thou, 
 art the Lord and owner, challenge thy pos- 
 sessions. Thou art the Head, help thy mem- 
 bers. Thou art the King, give us a reverence 
 of thy laws. Thou art the Prince of Peace, 
 breathe upon us brotherly love. Thou art the 
 God, have pity on thy humble beseechers; be 
 thou, according to Paul's saying, All things to 
 all men, to the intent of the whole choir of thy 
 Church, with agreeing minds, and consonant 
 voices for mercy obtained at thy hands, may give 
 thanks unto the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; 
 
A Prayer for the King's Majesty. 453 
 
 which, after the most perfect example of con- 
 cord, be distinguished in property of Persons, 
 and one in Nature : To whom be praise and 
 glory eternally. Ameru 
 
 A PRAYER FOR THE KINGS MAJESTY OUT 
 OF THE L113ER REGALIS. 
 
 God, the unspeakable author of the World, 
 Creator of Men, Governor of Empires, and 
 Establisher of all Kingdoms, who out of the 
 Loins of our Father Abraham, didst choose a 
 King that became the Saviour of all Kings and 
 Nations of the Earth : Bless, we beseech thee, 
 thy faithful servant, and our dread Sovereign 
 Lord King GEORGE, with the richest Bles- 
 sings of thy Grace. Establish him in the Throne 
 of his Kingdom by thy mighty Aid and Protec- 
 tion; visit him as thou didst visit Moses in the 
 Bush, Joshua in the Battle, Gideon in the Field, 
 and Samuel in the Temple. Let the Dew of 
 thine abundant Mercies fall upon his Head, and 
 give him the Blessing of David and Solomon. 
 Be unto him an Helmet of Salvation against the 
 Face of his Enemies, and a strong Tower of De- 
 fence in the Time of adversity. Let his Reign 
 be prosperous, and his Days many. Let Peace, 
 and Love, and Holiness ; let Justice, and Truth, 
 and all Christian Virtues, flourish in his time. 
 Let his People serve him with Honour and Obe- 
 dience. And let him so duly serve thee here on 
 Earth, that he may hereafter everlastingly reign 
 with thee in Heaven, through Jesus Christ our 
 Lord. Amen. 
 
GENERAL TITLES. 
 
 Apparel ...... Page 188 
 
 to 191 
 Anger (See Meekness) 139 
 Adultery ...... 152 to 21 1 
 
 Alms-giving 336, 349 
 
 Ambition .......... 14.7 
 
 Baptism .*.-•». .54, 276 
 
 Its Vow , *> 54 
 
 Bargaining 173, 226 
 
 Blasphemy 90 
 
 Brawling 2.50 
 
 Brethren . . . . , 286 
 
 Borrowing..-..* . . . 2 19 
 Blessing of Parents •• 28,4 
 
 Covenant, see Preface 
 
 « — ■ — *— New 84 
 
 Commands *•.*► 6, 37 
 
 Church 4£, 
 
 Catechizing ....... ... 49 
 
 Contrition 7q 
 
 Confession . .72, 101 
 
 Charity .... ?6, 309, 331, 
 
 . 336, 349,- 
 Cm*ist g 
 
 His Sufferings* • 81 
 
 His Love 83 
 
 Christian Duties possi- 
 ble and pleasant .... 359 
 
 Consideration 14,5 
 
 Contentedness ••*.... 150 
 Covetousness.... 148, 2i7 
 
 Chastity l60 
 
 Cares. ..... •-.<..„. . . iq$ 
 
 Cruelties 208 
 
 p"f sin g 251 
 
 Children 269 
 
 Corrections 35 
 
 Calamities Page 241 
 
 Credit.., 235, 349 
 
 ,Lost 343 
 
 Censoriousness •••••• 314 
 
 Courteousness •••••• 248 
 
 Despair 11, 12 
 
 Devotion ....*. .... 77 
 Diligence .••••••... 152 
 
 Drinking •••• 165 
 
 Debts paying • • • 2 19 
 
 Deceit • • • 252: 
 
 Detraction ibid. 
 
 Duty to. God, see God. 
 
 to ourselves • • • • 1 26 
 
 to Magistrates . • 260 
 
 to Parents .... ibid; 
 
 to Pastors ..... . 235 
 
 to Children .... 275 
 
 to Husband .... 292 
 
 to Wife 295 
 
 of Servants • • • • 303 
 
 of Masters .... 305 
 
 Duties to those in Want 355 
 ■ to Relations .... 257 
 1 to all ranks and 
 
 Qualities • • • • 254 
 
 Drunkenness » 165 
 
 Excuses for it, 167, &c. 
 
 Envy. 252,313 
 
 Enemies 316, 356 
 
 Eating .. 162 
 
 Example 283, 307 
 
 Education of Children 277 
 
 Faith 5, 72 
 
 Fear 19 
 
 Feasts and Fasts. . . .45, 46 
 
GENERAL TITLES. 
 
 455 
 
 Fasting • • • Page J 24 
 
 False Keports 235 
 
 False Witness 236 
 
 Fraud, see Deceit* 
 
 Friendship % ■, , 299 
 
 Forgiving 325 
 
 God 4,125 
 
 Goods of Nature .... 1 3 1 
 
 ' Of Fortune .... 1 32 
 
 Of our Neighbour 215 
 
 — -Of Grace 133 
 
 Graces . . .. . . 154 
 
 Gratitude •••••»•••• 258 
 
 Gaming. ...» 187 
 
 Guide in Spirituals.. . 78 
 
 Hope 10 
 
 Humility 31, 126 
 
 Humiliation ........ 69 
 
 Husband .......... 296 
 
 Health 162 
 
 Hypocrisy, see Unsincerity. 
 Honour of God . . . , 39, 89 
 
 Inconsideration ... 144 
 Justice, see Neighbour. 
 Injustice.... 2 16, 2l7, 231 
 
 Idolatry..^ 125 
 
 Improving our Talents 153 
 
 Injuries . 206, 208 
 
 Infirmities, . . ., . .241, 253 
 
 Kindness of God 
 King, see Magistrate. 
 Kindred, see Relations, 
 
 13 
 
 Love of God.... .. .. 12 
 
 Fruits of Love to God 14 
 
 Love of Brethren .... 287 
 
 Lord's Day 43 
 
 Lord's Supper . . . Page 262 
 
 Lying 246 
 
 Law-Suits , . 355 
 
 Light of Nature .... 1 
 
 Meekness • 1 39, 249 
 
 Murmuring 147 
 
 Murder 200,210 
 
 Maiming 206 
 
 Malice 216 
 
 Magistrates ........ 260 
 
 Marriage 273,298 
 
 Masters • • 305 
 
 Ministers, see Preachers. 
 Motions to Good .... 155 
 
 Neighbours .... 192, 199- 
 Nature 153 
 
 Obedience......... 73 
 
 Oaths . .... 90, 99 
 
 Oppression..., 217 
 
 Offences against God and 
 Man, the Difference 320 
 
 Promises 6 
 
 Presumption » • 10 
 
 Patience 33 
 
 Preaching 51 
 
 Preachers . • 78, 263 
 
 Perjury • • • 95 
 
 Prayer 100, 115 
 
 , Public ....... 106 
 
 , Private 107 
 
 Pride 127, 313 
 
 Parents ...... 260 
 
 Pastors 263 
 
 Peace making .... 353, 355 
 Poor 256, 337 
 
 Resolution 
 Repentance • 
 
 ... 73 
 
 116,121 
 
456 
 
 GENERAL TITLES. 
 
 Rancour Page 329 
 
 Recreation 186 
 
 Restitution 233 
 
 Reports false 236 
 
 Relations 257 
 
 Reproach 170 
 
 Scripture • • 3, 47 
 
 Soul, see the Preface. 
 
 Sacraments 53 
 
 Duties before 62 
 
 — Duties at ... . 8 1 
 
 * Duties after . . 85 
 
 Swearing 90 
 
 Sobriety... 126 
 
 Sleep, Sloth 183, 185 
 
 Slanders • • • ••••••.. 237 
 
 Scoffing 240 
 
 Self-love 357 
 
 Servants 303 
 
 Sacrilege 42 
 
 Sins 64, 74 
 
 Sports 187 
 
 Submission to God SI to 34 
 Satisfaction to Man • • 207 
 Sufferings . . . * . 36 
 
 Threatenings • • Page 6 
 
 Temperance 163 
 
 Theft 219, 222 
 
 Trust in God 29 
 
 Trust deceived, see Deceit. 
 
 Truth 245 
 
 Thankfulness. ...... 35 
 
 Thanksgiving 104 
 
 Tribute 261 
 
 Thoughts 244 
 
 Traffic .... 226 
 
 Vain-glory ........ 168 
 
 Uncleanness 15& 
 
 Unsincerity • 1 20 
 
 Umvorthiness 3$ 
 
 Whisperings •••••• 238 
 
 Wife 211 
 
 Worship 102 
 
 Witness false 236 
 
 Works 33 
 
 Word of God 47 
 
 Watchfulness 52 
 
 Wants of Parents to be 
 
 supplied ... 273 
 
 TABLE OF THE CONTENTS 
 
 OF THE SEVERAL 
 
 Chapte.es or Partitions in this Book; which 
 according to this Division, by reading one of these 
 Chapters every Lords's Day the Whole may be read 
 over thrice a Year. 
 
 SUNDAY I. 
 
 Of the Duty of Man by the Light of Nature, by the Light 
 of Scripture, p. 1, 2, 3. Duty to God, p. 4. Of Faith, 
 p. 5. Comman/h, Threatenings, Promises, p. 6, 7. Hope, 
 Presumption, Despair, p. 10, II. Trusting in God, p. 
 23. In ail lVants } spiritual and temporal, p. 26, &c. 
 
CONTENTS. 457 
 
 SUNDAY II. 
 
 Of Humility : of Submission to God's Will in respect of 
 Obedience, p. 31. Of Patience in all sorts of Sufferings, 
 p. 36. Of Honour due to Gad in several Ways, p. 39. 
 In his Bouse p. 40. Possessions, p. 41. His Day, 
 p. 43. The Feasts and Fasts of the Church, p. 45, 46. 
 His Word, p. 47. Of Catechising, p. 49. Preaching 
 p. 54. Sacraments, p. 53. Baptism, p. 54. to the 
 End. 
 
 SUNDAY III. 
 
 Cf the Lord's Supper: Of Preparation before Receiving, 
 p. 62. Of Duties at the Receiving, p. 81. And After- 
 wards, p. 85. 
 
 SUNDAY IV. 
 
 Honour due to God's Name : Sins against it ; Blasphemy, 
 Swearing, assertory Oaths, p. 19, 90. Promissory 
 Oaths, unlawful Oaths, p. 91. Of Perjury, p. 92. Of 
 vain Oaths, and the Sin of them, p. 93, 94. 
 
 SUNDAY V. 
 
 Of Worship due to God's Name ; Of Prayer and Confession, 
 p. 100, 101. Of public Prayers in the Church, in. the 
 Family, p. 106. Of private Prayer, p. 107. The Ad- 
 vantages of Prayer, p. 109, Of Repentance, p, 116. 
 (f Fasting, p. 122. 
 
 SUNDAY VI. 
 
 Of Duties to Ourselves, p. 126. Of Sobriety, Humility : 
 the great Sin of Pride, p. 127. The Danger, p. 128. 
 The Folly of this Sin, p. 130. Of Vain Glorv, p. 135. 
 Helps against it, p. 138. Of Meekness, p. 139. The 
 Means to obtain it, p. 141. Of Consideration, p. 142. 
 
 SUNDAY VII. 
 
 Of Conteniedness, and the contraries to it, p. 146. 
 Murmuring, Ambition, Covetousness, Envy, p. 147 — 
 
 * 
 
458 CONTEXTS. 
 
 150. Helps to Contentedness,^, 150 — 152. Diligence, 
 p. 152. Industry in- improving Gifts of Nature, of 
 Grace, p. 153—156. Of Chastity p. 156. Helps to 
 it, p. 160. Temperance, and its Rules in Eating, &c. 
 p. 161, &c 
 
 SUNDAY VIII. 
 
 Of Temperance in Drinking, p . 1 65. False Ends qf Drink- 
 ing, viz. Good Fellowship, p. 166. Preserving of Kind- 
 ness, chearing the Spirits, p. 167. 'Putting away Cares, 
 p. 168 Passing away Time, p. 169. Preventing Re- 
 proach, p. 170. Pleasure, Bargaining, &c. p. 1 72, 173* 
 The Guilt of strong Drinkers, p. 174?. Exhortations to 
 forsake it, &c. p. 1 76. 
 
 SUNDAY IX. 
 
 Temperance in Sleep, p. 183. Mischiefs of Sloth, p. 185. 
 Of Recreation, p. 186. Of Apparel, and of the Endsjbr 
 which Clothing should be used, p. 188. 
 
 SUNDAY X. 
 
 Of Duties to our Neighbour, p. 192. Of Negative Justice, 
 in doing no Wrong or Injury to any, and positive, to do 
 Right to all, p. 193. Of the Sin of Murder, p. 200. 
 Hie Heinousness of it, the Punishment of it, and the 
 strange Discoveries thereof, p. 201, &c. Of Maiming, 
 p. 201,206. Of Wounds, Stripes, and Injuries to others, 
 p. 208. 
 
 SUNDAY XI. 
 
 Of Justice about the Possessions of our Neighbour ; against 
 injuring him concerning his Wife, p. 211. Goods p. 215. 
 Of Malice, p. 2l6. Covetousness, Injustice, p. 21 7. 
 Oppression, ibid* Theft, p. 2 1 9. Of paying Debts, ibid. 
 That we are bound for what we have promised, p. 221. 
 
 SUNDAY XII. 
 
 Of Theft: Stealing the Goods of our Neighbour, p. 223. 
 Of Deceit in Trust, p. 225. In Traffick ; the Seller's 
 
 4 
 
 
CONTENTS. 4,^9 
 
 concealing the Faults of his Ware, p. 227. His over' 
 valuing it, p. 228. fraud in the Buyer, p. 230. Of 
 Restitution} and the Necessity thereof p. 233. 
 
 SUNDAY XIII. 
 
 Of False Reports ; Of the Credit of our Neighbour, p. 235. 
 False Witness, p. 236. Slander, p. 237. Whisperings, 
 ,p. 238. Of Despising and Scoffing for Infirmities, 
 ^ferc. p. 240 — 242. / Positive Justice, or the yielding to 
 every Maiiy that which by any kind of Right he may chal- 
 lenge from us, p. 245. Of speaking Truth, of Lying, 
 jx 246. Of Humanity, courteous Behaviour, Meekyiess 
 and Pridejp* 248, 249. Brawling and Cursing, p. 250, 
 251. Of Envy, Detraction, p. 252. Respect due to 
 Men of extraordinary Gifts, in Regard of their Ranks 
 and Qualities, p. 254. Due to those who are in any sort 
 of Want, p. 255. Duties in Respect of Relation, 258. 
 Of Gratitude to Benefactors, Ibid. 
 
 SUNDAY XIV. 
 
 Gf Duties to Parents, Magistrates, p. 260. Pastors, 
 p. 263. Love and Esteem of "them, p. 264. Maintenance, 
 Obedience, p. 266. Of the Duty of Children to Parents, 
 p. 268. Reverence, Love, Obedience, p. 268—272. 
 Especially in their Marriage ministering to their Wants 
 p. 273. Duty to the worst of Parents, p. 275. Of the 
 Duty of Parents to their Children, p. 275, to the End. 
 
 SUNDAY XV. 
 
 Of Duty to our Brethren and Relations, -p. 286. To a 
 Husband, Obedience, Fidelity, Love, p. 292, 293. The 
 Faults of the Husband, acquit not from those Duties, p. 
 294. Dues to the Wife, Love, Faithfulness, Maintenance, 
 Instruction, p. 295, &c. Husband and Wives mutually 
 to pray for and assist each other in all Good, p. 297. 
 Virtue the chief Considerations in Marriage, unlawful 
 Marriages, p. 297, 298. Friendships, p. 299, &c. Ser- 
 vants Duty, p. 303. Masters Duty, p. 305, &c 
 
460 CONTENTS. 
 
 SUNDAY XVI. 
 
 Other Branches of our Duty to our Neighbour, p. 309. The 
 Duty of Charity to Men's Souls } Bodies, Goods, Cr 'edit, &c. 
 310, to the End. 
 
 SUNDAY XVII. 
 
 Of Charity in respect of our Neighbour's Goods, Almsgiv- 
 ing, p. 336, &c. Of Charity, in respect of our Neigh- 
 bour's Credit, p. 349. Of Peace-making, p. 353. Of 
 going to Laiv, p. 355. Of Charity to our Enemies, p. 356, 
 Christian Duties both possible and pleasant, p. 359. The 
 Danger of delaying our turning to God, p. 36 1. 
 
 A TABLE OF THE PRAYERS. 
 
 Page 
 
 PRAYERS for the Morning 365 
 
 Prayers for the Night . . 372 
 
 Collects for several Graces 377 
 
 A Paraphrase on the Lord's Prayer 392 
 
 Pious Ejaculations out of the Book of Psalms ••..,. 395 
 
 Brief Heads of Examination before the Sacrament ••• 398 
 
 Prayers before the Sacrament , 413 
 
 Ejaculations at the Lord's Table, &c. ........ 41 8 
 
 Prayers offer the Sacrament , 419 
 
 Directions for the Sick 428 
 
 Prayers for the Sick • • • * 429 
 
 Ejaculations for the Sick 434 
 
 Prayers in Time of Public Calamities •••••«*•**•* 441 
 
 A Prayer for the Church 445 
 
 A Prayer fur the Peace of the Church • 447 
 
 A Prayer for the Kings Majesty ..,..., 453 
 
 THE END. 
 
 Printed by R. Gilbert, St. John's Square, London, 
 
jun 
 

 Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
 Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
 Treatment Date: Oct. 2005 
 
 PreservationTechnologies 
 
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