XL.

better, by rational confideration, to work content in our- SERM. felves, ufing the brevity and frailty of our life as an argument to fuftain us in our adverfity, than only to find the end thereof as a natural and neceffary means of evafion from it.

Serious reflection upon our mortality is indeed, upon many accounts, a powerful antidote against discontent; being apt to extirpate the most radical caufes thereof.

Is it because we much admire these worldly things, that we fo much grieve for the want of them? this will quell that admiration; for how can we admire them, if we confider, how in regard to us they are fo very tranfitory and evanid? How can we deem them much worth the having, when we can, for fo little time, enjoy them, must fo very foon quite part from them?

How can we dote on the world, feeing the world, as 1 Joh. ii. 27. St. John faith, paffeth away, and the defire thereof.

1 Cor. vii.

31.

the Eccl. i. 3,

the

&c.

1 Pet. ii. 24.

How can we value any worldly glory, fince all glory of men is, as St. Peter telleth us, as the flower of grafs; fince, as the Pfalmift faith, man in honour abideth Pfal. xlix. not, but is like the beafts that perish.

12. lxxxii. 6.

24. xi. 4.

How can we fet our heart on riches, confidering that Prov. xxvii. riches are not for ever, nor can, as the Wife Man faith, deliver from death; that, as St. James admonisheth, The James i. 11. rich man fadeth in his ways; that it may be faid to any rich man, as it was to him in the Gospel, Thou fool, this Heb. xi. 25. night thy life shall be required of thee, and what thou haft prepared to whom shall it fall? How can we fancy pleafure, feeing it is but πρόσκαιρος ἀπόλαυσις, a very temporary fruition; seeing, however we do eat, or drink, or play, it 1 Cor. xv. followeth, the morrow we shall die?

How can we even admire any fecular wifdom and knowledge, feeing that it is, as the Pfalmift telleth us,

32.

true of every man, that his breath goeth forth, he returneth Pía. xlvi. 4. to his earth, in that very day his thoughts perish; particularly it is seen that wife men die, no otherwise than as the Pfa.xlix.10. foolish and brutish perfon perisheth; that, as Solomon with Eccl.ix. 10. regret observed, There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave whither we are going.

ii. 14.

SERM.

1, 2.

Do we admire the condition of thofe, who, upon the XL. ftage, do appear in the ftate of kings, do act the part of

wealthy men, do talk gravely and wifely like judges or philofophers for an hour or two? If we do not admire thofe fhadows and mockeries of ftate, why do we admire any appearances upon this theatre of the world, which are fcarce a whit lefs deceitful, or more durable than they?

Is it an envious or difdainful regret at the advantages. of others before us, (of others perhaps that are unworthy and unfit, or that are, as we conceit, no more worthy and capable than ourfelves,) that gnaweth our heart? is it, that such persons are more wealthy, more honourable, in greater favour or repute than we, that vexeth us? The confideration how little time thofe flender preeminences will last, may (if better remedies want due efficacy) ferve toward rooting out that difeafe: the Pfalmift doth several times Pfa. xxxvii. prescribe it: Fret not thy felf, faith he, against evil doers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity; for they fhall foon be cut down like the grafs, and wither as the Pfa. xlix.17. green herb: and again, Be not afraid when one is made rich, and when the glory of his houfe is increafed; for when he dieth he fhall carry nothing away, his glory shall not defcend after him: and he being fallen into this fcurvy Pfa. Ixxiii. distemper, did follow his own prescription, I was, faith he, envious at the foolish, when I faw the profperity of the wicked until I went into the fanctuary of God, then underflood I their end; furely thou didft fet them in flippery places How are they brought into defolation as in a Prov. xxiii. moment! So likewife doth Solomon prefcribe: Let not, faith he, thine heart envy finners: Why not? because furety there is an end, and thine expectation fhall not be cut off: there will be a clofe of his undeferved profperity, and a good fuccefs to thy well-grounded hope. So whatever doth breed difcontent, the reflection upon our mortal and frail state will be apt to remove it.

3, 17.

17, 18.

It was that which comforted Job, and fortified his paJob xiv. 14, tience under fo grievous preffures: All the days of my appointed time, faid he, I will wait till my change come:

1.

he would not be weary while he lived of his afflictions, be- SER M. cause the days of man are few, and full of trouble: if they XL. are full of trouble, and that be a faddening confideration ; Gen. xlvii. yet they are few, and that maketh amends, that is com-9 fortable.

7. I add, that it is fomewhat confolatory to confider, that the worse our condition is here, the better we may hope our future ftate will be; the more trouble and forrow we endure, the lefs of worldly fatisfaction we enjoy here, the lefs punishment we have to fear, the more comfort we may hope to find hereafter: for as it is a woful thing to have received our portion, to have enjoyed our confolation in this life, fo it is a happy thing to have undergone our pain here. A purgatory under ground is probably a fable; but a purgatory upon earth hath good foundations; God is wont fo to order it, that all men, that especially good men, fhall undergo it: for, What fon is there whom Heb. xii. 7. the father doth not chaften? All that will live godly in 2 Tim. iii. Chrift Jefus muft fuffer perfecution.

8. A like confolation it is to confider, that wealth and profperity are great talents, for the improvement of which we must render a ftrict account, fo that to whom much is given, from him much shall be required; fo that they are, in effect, a burden, from which poverty includes an exemption for the lefs we have, the lefs we have to do, the lefs we are refponfible for; our burthen is fmaller, our account will be more easy.

12.

ἀνδραποδώδες

9. I fhall, in reference to our condition and the nature of those things which cause our difcontent, but propose one confideration more, or afk one queftion: What is it Tuvathat we do want, or wait for? Is it any good we want,eaedades τῶν ἐφίεσθαι which by our care and industry we can procure; is it any καὶ ἠλίθιον, evil that afflicteth us, which by the like means we can evade? If it be fo, why then do we not vigorously apply vors, ourselves to the bufinefs h; why do we not, inftead of idle vexation and ineffectual complaints, ufe the means offered. Epia.

ξένη, θερ

μαχῶντος ὡς

τοῖς δόγμα

σιν τοῖς ἑαυ

iii. 24.

SERM. for our relief? Do we like and love trouble? let us then XL. be content to bear it, let us hug it and keep it clofe; if not, let us employ the forces afforded us by nature, and by occafion, to repel and remove it.

But if we grieve and moan, because we cannot obtain fome good above our reach, or not decline fome unavoid. able evil, what do we thereby but palpably express our folly, and wilfully heighten our woe; adding voluntary displeasure to the heap of necessary want or pain; impreffing more deeply on ourselves the sense of them? in fuch a cafe patience is instead of a remedy i, which, though it do not thoroughly cure the malady, yet it fomewhat alleviateth it, preventing many bad fymptoms, and af fuaging the paroxyfms thereofk. What booteth it to wince and kick against our fortune? to do fo will inflame us, and make us foam, but will not relieve or ease us: if we cannot get out of the net, or the cage, to flutter and flounce will do nothing but batter and bruise us1.

But farther, to allay our discontents, let us confider the world, and general state of men here.

1. Look firft upon the world, as it is commonly managed and ordered by men: thou perhaps art displeased, that thou doft not profper and thrive therein; that thou doft not share in the goods of it; that its accommodations and preferments are all snapt from thee; that thy pretences are not satisfied, and thy defigns fail: this thou doft take to be somewhat hard and unequal, and therefore art grieved. But if thou art wife, thou shouldst not wonder; if thou art good, thou shouldst not be vexed hereat: for thou haft not, perhaps, any capacity for this world; thy temper and difpofition are not framed to fuit with its way; thy principles and rules do clash with it, thy refolutions

Levius fit patentia

Quicquid corrigere eft nefas. Hor.

k Animus æquus optimum eft ærumnæ condimentum. Plaut. Rud.

1 Ἐπὶ ζημία χρημάτων, καὶ θανάτῳ, καὶ ἀῤῥωστία καὶ τοῖς λοιποῖς τοῖς συμπίπτεσιν ἡμῖν δεινοῖς ἀλγῶντες καὶ ἀθυμὄντες & μόνον ἐδεμίαν ἀπὸ ταύτης καρτέ μεθα παραμυθίαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπιτείνομεν τὰ δεινά. Chryf. "Ανδρ. 3.

Οἱ δὲ τῷ πάθει δηλωθέντες ἐδὲν μὲν κερδαίνεσιν ὀλοφυρόμενοι, ἀνιαρῶς δὲ βιώσονται καὶ παροξυνῶσι τῶν ὅλων τὸν ἡγεμόνα, Theod. Ep. 15.

and defigns do not well comport with prosperity here; SERM. thou canst not, or wilt not use the means needful to com- XL. pafs worldly ends: thou perhaps haft a meek, quiet, modeft, fincere, steady difpofition; thou canst not be pragmatical and boisterous, eager and fierce, importunately troublesome, intolerably confident, unaccountably versatile and various thou haft certain pedantic notions about right and wrong, certain romantic fancies about another world, (unlike to this,) which thou doft ftiffly adhere to, and which have an influence upon thy actions: thou hast a fqueamish confcience, which cannot relish this, cannot digest that advantageous course of proceeding; a fcrupulous humour, that hampereth thee, and curbeth thee from attempting many things which would ferve thy purpose; thou haft a spice of filly generofity, which maketh divers profitable ways of acting (fuch as forging and feigning, fupplanting others by detraction and calumny, foothing and flattering people) to be below thee, and unworthy of thee; thou thinkeft thyfelf obliged, and art peremptorily refolved to observe ftrict rules of justice, of humanity, of charity, to speak as thou meaneft, to do as thou wouldest be done to, to wrong no man anywife, to confider and tender the cafe of other men as thine own: thy defigns are honeft and moderate, conducible to (or at least confiftent with) the public good, injurious or hurtful to no man; thou carrieft on thy defigns by fair ways, by a modeft care and harmlefs diligence; nor can't be drawn to ufe any other, how feemingly needful foever, which do favour of fraud, violence, any fort of wrong or baseness: thou haft an honeft pride and haughtinefs of mind, which will not let thee condefcend to use those fly tricks, crooked ways and fhifts, which commonly are the compendious and most effectual ways of accomplishing defigns here: thou art, in fine, (like Helvidius Prifcus,) in thy dealings, and proceedings, pervicax recti, wilfully and peevishly honeft: fuch an one perhaps thou art, and fuch is thy way; and canst thou hope to be any body, or get any thing here? fhall fuch a fuperftitious fop, fuch a confcientious fimple