MISCELLANIES

Footnotes[321]SirThomasbeing then Knighted.

Footnotes

[321]SirThomasbeing then Knighted.

Great Store of Drift-wood, or Float-wood, is every Year cast up on their Shores, brought down by the Northern Winds, which serveth them for Fewel, and other Uses, the greatest Part whereof isFirr.

OfBearsthere are none in the Country, but sometimes they are brought down from the North upon Ice, while they followSeales, and so are carried away. Two in this Manner came over, and landed in the North ofIslandthis last Year, 1662.

NoConies, orHares, but ofFoxesgreat Plenty, whose White Skins are much desired, and brought over into this Country.

The last Winter, 1662, so cold, and lasting with us inEngland, was the mildest they have had for many Years inIsland.

Two new Eruptions with Slime and Smoak, were observed the last Year in some Mountains about MountHecla.[322]

Some hot Mineral Springs they have, and very effectual, but they make but rude Use thereof.

The Rivers are large, swift, and rapid, but have many Falls, which render them less Commodious; they chiefly abound withSalmons.

They sow no Corn, but receive it from Abroad.

They have a kind of largeLichen, which dried, becometh hard and sticky, growing very plentifully in many Places; whereof they make use for Food, either in Decoction, or Powder, some whereof I have by me, different from any with us.

In one Part of the Country, and not near the Sea, there is a large black Rock, which Polished, resembleth Touchstone, as I have seen in Pieces thereof, of various Figures.

There is also a Rock, whereof I received one Fragment, which seems to make it one kind ofPisolithes, or ratherOrobites, as made up of small Pebbles, in the Bigness and Shape of the Seeds ofEruum, orOrobus.

They have some large Well-grained White Pebbles, and some kind of WhiteCornelian, orAgathPebbles, on the Shore, which Polish well. Old SirEdmund Bacon, of these Parts, made Use thereof in his peculiar Art of Tinging and Colouring of Stones.

For Shells found on the Sea-shore, such as have been brought unto me are but coarse, nor of many Kinds, as ordinaryTurbines,Chamas,Aspers,Laves,etc.

I have received divers Kinds of Teeth, and Bones of Cetaceous Fishes, unto which they could assign no Name.

An exceeding fine Russet Downe is sometimes brought unto us, which their great Number of Fowls afford, and sometimes store of Feathers, consisting of the Feathers of small Birds.

BesideShocks, and little HairyDogs, they bring another sort over, Headed like aFox, which they say are bred betwixtDogsandFoxes; these are desired by the Shepherds of this Country.

GreenPlovers, which are Plentiful here in theWinter, are found to breed there in the beginning of Summer.

SomeSheephave been brought over, but of coarse Wooll, and someHorsesof mean Stature, but strong and Hardy: one whereof kept in the Pastures byYarmouth, in the Summer, would often take the Sea, swimming a great Way, a Mile or Two, and return the same, when its Provision fail’d in the Ship wherein it was brought, for many Days fed upon Hoops and Cask; nor at the Land would, for many Months, be brought to feed upon Oats.

These Accounts I received from a Native ofIsland, who comes Yearly intoEngland; and by Reason of my long Acquaintance, and Directions I send unto some of his Friends against theElephantiasis, (Leprosie,) constantly visits me before his Return; and is ready to perform for me what I shall desire in his Country; wherein, as in other Ways, I shall be very Ambitious to serve the Noble Society, whose most Honouring Servant I am,

Thomas Browne.

Norwich, Jan.15, 1663.

I thought I had taken Leave ofUrnes, when I had some Years past given a short Account of those found atWalsingham,[323]but a New Discovery being made, I readily obey your Commands in a brief Description thereof.

In a large Arable Field, lying betweenBuxtonandBrampton, but belonging toBrampton, and not much more than a Furlong fromOxnead Park, diversUrneswere found. A Part of the Field being designed to be inclosed, while the Workmen made several Ditches, they fell upon diversUrnes, but earnestly, and carelesly digging, they broke all they met with, and finding nothing but Ashes, or burnt Cinders, they scattered what they found. Upon Notice given unto me, I went unto the Place, and though I used all Care with the Workmen, yet they were broken in the taking out, but many, without doubt, are still remaining in that Ground.

Of these Pots none were found above Three Quarters of a Yard in the Ground, whereby it appeareth, that in all this Time the Earth hath little varied its Surface, though this Ground hath been Plowed to the utmost Memory of Man. Whereby it may be also conjectured, that this hath not been aWood-Land, assome conceive all this Part to have been; for in such Lands they usually made no common Burying-places, except for some special Persons in Graves, and likewise that there hath been an Ancient Habitation about these Parts; for atBuxtonalso, not a Mile off,Urneshave been found in my Memory, but in their Magnitude, Figure, Colour, Posture,etc.there was no small Variety, some were large and capacious, able to contain above Two Gallons, some of a middle, others of a smaller Size; the great ones probably belonging to greater Persons, or might be FamilyUrnes, fit to receive the Ashes successively of their Kindred and Relations, and therefore of these, some had Coverings of the same Matter, either fitted to them, or a thin flat Stone, like a Grave Slate, laid over them; and therefore also great Ones were but thinly found, but others in good Number; some were of large wide Mouths, and Bellies proportionable, with short Necks, and bottoms of Three InchesDiameter, and near an Inch thick; some small, with Necks like Juggs, and about that Bigness; the Mouths of some few were not round, but after the Figure of a Circle compressed; though some had small, yet none had pointed Bottoms, according to the Figures of those which are to be seen inRoma Soteranea,Viginerus, orMascardus.

In the Colours also there was great Variety, some were Whitish, some Blackish, and inclining to a Blue, others Yellowish, or dark Red, arguing the Variety of their Materials. Some Fragments, and especially Bottoms of Vessels, which seem’d to be handsome neat Pans, were also found of a fineCoral-like Red, somewhat likePortugalVessels, as tho' they had been made out of some fineBolaryEarth, and very smooth; but the like had been found in divers Places, as Dr.Casaubonhath observed about the Pots found atNewingtoninKent, and as other Pieces do yet testifie, which are to be found atBurrowCastle, an OldRomanStation, not far fromYarmouth.

Of theUrnes, those of the larger Sort, such as had Coverings, were found with their Mouths placed upwards, but great Numbers of the others were, as they informed me, (and One I saw my self,) placed with their Mouths downward, which were probably such as were not to be opened again, or receive the Ashes of any other Person; though some wonder’d at this Position, yet I saw no Inconveniency in it; for the Earth being closely pressed, and especially inMinorMouth’d Pots, they stand in a Posture as like to continue as the other, as being less subject to have the Earth fall in, or the Rain to soak into them; and the same Posture has been observed in some found in other Places, asHolingsheaddelivers, of divers found inAnglesea.

Some had Inscriptions, the greatest Part none; those with Inscriptions were of the largest Sort, which were upon the reverted Verges thereof; the greatest part of those which I could obtain were somewhat obliterated; yet some of the Letters to be made out: The Letters were between Lines, either Single or Double, and the Letters of some few after a fairRomanStroke, others more rudely and illegibly drawn, wherein there seemed no great Variety.NUONbeing upon very many of them; only upon the inside of the bottom of a small Red Pan-like Vessel, were legibly set down in embossed Letters,CRACUNA. F.which might implyCracuna figuli, or the Name of the Manufactor, for Inscriptions commonly signified the Name of the Person interr’d, the Names of Servants Official to such Provisions, or the Name of the Artificer, or Manufactor of suchVessels; all which are particularly exemplified by the LearnedLicetus,[324]where the same inscription is often found, it is probably, of the Artificer, or where the Name also is in theGenitiveCase, as he also observeth.

Out of one was brought unto me a SilverDenarius, with the Head ofDiva Faustinaon the Obverse side, on the Reverse the Figures of the Emperor and Empress joining their Right Hands, with this Inscription,Concordia; the same is to be seen inAugustino; I also received from some Men and Women then present Coins ofPosthumus, andTetricus, Two of the Thirty Tyrants in the Reign ofGallienus, which being of much later Date, begat an Inference, thatUrne-Buriallasted longer, at least in this Country, than is commonly supposed. Good Authors conceive, that this Custom ended with the Reigns of theAntonini, whereof the last wasAntoninus Heliogabalus, yet these Coins extend about Fourscore Years lower; and since the Head ofTetricusis made with a radiated Crown, it must be conceived to have been made after his Death, and not before his Consecration, which as the LearnedTristanConjectures, was most probably in the Reign of the EmperorTacitus, and the Coin not made, or at least not issued Abroad, before the Time of the EmperorProbus, forTacitusReigned but Six Months and an Half, his BrotherFlorianusbut Two Months, unto whomProbussucceeding, Reigned Five Years.

There were also found some pieces of Glass, and finer Vessels, which might contain such Liquors as they often Buried in, or by, theUrnes; divers Pieces of Brass, of several Figures; and in oneUrnewas found a Nail Two Inches long; whither to declarethe Trade or Occupation of the Person, is uncertain. But upon the Monuments ofSmithsinGruter, we meet with the Figures ofHammers,Pincers, and the like; and we find the Figure of aCobler’sAwl on the Tomb of one of that Trade, which was in the Custody ofBerini, asArgulushath set it down in his Notes uponOnuphrius,Of the Antiquities ofVerona.

Now, thoughUrneshave been often discovered in former Ages, many think it strange there should be many still found, yet assuredly there may be great Numbers still concealed. For tho' we should not reckon upon any who were thus buried before the Time of theRomans, [altho' that theDruidswere thus buried, it may be probable, and we read of theUrne of Chindonactes, aDruid, found nearDijoninBurgundy, largely discoursed of byLicetus,] and tho, I say, we take not in any Infant which wasMinor igne rogi, before Seven Months, or Appearance of Teeth, nor should account this Practice of burning among theBritainshigher thanVespasian, when it is said by Tacitus, that they conformed unto the Manners and Customs of theRomans, and so both Nations might have one Way of Burial: yet from his Days, to the Dates of theseUrnes, were about Two Hundred Years. And therefore if we fall so low, as to conceive there were buried in this Nation but Twenty Thousand Persons, the Account of the buried Persons would amount unto Four Millions, and consequently so great a Number ofUrnesdispersed through the Land, as may still satisfy the Curiosity of succeeding Times, and arise unto all Ages.

The Bodies, whose Reliques theseUrnescontained, seemed thoroughly burned; for beside pieces of Teeth, there were found few Fragments of Bones, but ratherAshes in hard Lumps, and pieces of Coals, which were often so fresh, that one sufficed to make a good Draught of itsUrne, which still remaineth with me.

Some Persons digging at a little Distance from theUrnePlaces, in hopes to find something of Value, after they had digged about Three Quarters of a Yard deep, fell upon an observable Piece of Work, whose Description this Figure affordeth. The Work was Square, about Two Yards and a Quarter on each Side. The Wall, or outward Part, a Foot thick, in Colour Red, and looked like Brick; but it was solid, without any Mortar or Cement, or figur’d Brick in it, but of an whole Piece, so that it seemed to be Framed and Burnt in the same Place where it was found. In this kind of Brick-work were Thirty-two Holes, of about Two Inches and an HalfDiameter, and Two above a Quarter of a Circle in the East and West Sides. Upon Two of these Holes, on the East Side, were placed Two Pots, with their Mouths downward; putting in their Arms they found the Work hollow below, and the Earth being clear’d off, much Water was found below them, to the Quantity of a Barrel, which was conceived to have been the Rain-water which soaked in through the Earth above them.

The upper Part of the Work being broke, and opened, they found a Floor about Two Foot below, and then digging onward, Three Floors successively under one another, at the Distance of a Foot and Half, the Stones being of a Slatty, not Bricky, substance; in these Partitions some Pots were found, but broke by the Workmen, being necessitated to use hard Blows for the breaking of the Stones; and in the last Partition but one, a large Pot was found of a very narrow Mouth, short Ears, of the Capacity of Fourteen Pints,which lay in an enclining Posture, close by, and somewhat under a kind of Arch in the solid Wall, and by the great Care of my worthy Friend, Mr.William Masham, who employed the Workmen, was taken up whole, almost full of Water, clean, and without Smell, and insipid, which being poured out, there still remains in the Pot a great Lump of an heavy crusty Substance. What Work this was we must as yet reserve unto better Conjecture. Mean while we find inGruterthat some Monuments of the Dead had divers Holes successively to let in the Ashes of their Relations, but Holes in such a great Number to that Intent, we have not anywhere met with.

About Three Months after, my Noble and Honoured Friend, SirRobert Paston, had the Curiosity to open a Piece of Ground in his Park atOxnead, which adjoined unto the former Field, where Fragments of Pots were found, and upon one the Figure of a well-made Face; but probably this Ground had been opened and digged before, though out of the Memory of Man, for we found divers small Pieces of Pots,SheepsBones, sometimes anOyster-shell a Yard deep in the Earth, an unusualCoinof the EmperorVolusianus, having on the Obverse the Head of the Emperor, with a Radiated Crown, and this Inscription,Imp. Cæs. C. Volusiano Aug.that is,Imperatori Cæsari Caio Vibio Volusiano Augusto. On the Reverse an Human Figure, with the Arms somewhat extended, and at the Right Foot an Altar, with the Inscription,Pietas. This Emperor was Son untoCaius Vibius Tribonianus Gallus, with whom he jointly reigned after theDecii, about the Year 254; both he, himself, and his Father, were slain by the EmperorÆmilianus. By the Radiated Crown this Piece should be Coinedafter his Death and Consecration, but in whose Time it is not clear in History.

We have enough to do rightly to apprehend and consider things as they are, or have been, without amusing our selves how they might have been otherwise, or what Variations, Consequences and Differences might have otherwise arose upon a different Face of things, if they had otherwise fallen out in the State or Actions of the World.

IfScanderberghad joined his Forces withHunniades, as might have been expected before the Battel in the Plains ofCossoan, in good probability they might have ruin’dMahomet, if not theTurkishEmpire.

IfAlexanderhad march’d Westward, and warr’d with theRomans, whether he had been able to subdue that little but valiant People, is an uncertainty: We are sure he overcamePersia; Histories attest, and Prophecies foretel the same. It was decreed that thePersiansshould be conquered byAlexander, and his Successors by theRomans, in whom Providence had determin’d to settle the fourth Monarchy, which neitherPyrrhusnorHannibalmust prevent; tho'Hannibalcame so near it, that he seem’d to miss it by fatal Infatuation: which if he had effected,there had been such a traverse and confusion of Affairs, as no Oracle could have predicted. But theRomansmust reign, and the Course of Things was then moving towards the Advent ofChrist, and blessed Discovery of the Gospel: Our Saviour must suffer atJerusalem, and be sentenc’d by aRomanJudge; St.Paul, aRomanCitizen, must preach in theRomanProvinces, and St.Peterbe Bishop ofRome, and not ofCarthage.

The way ofBurlesquePoemsis very Ancient, for there was a ludicrous mock way of transferring Verses of Famous Poets into a Jocose Sense and Argument, and they were call’d Ὠδέαι orParodiæ; divers Examples of which are to be found inAthenæus.

The first Inventer hereof wasHipponactes, butHegemon Sopaterand many more pursu’d the same Vein; so that theParodiesofOvid’sBuffoon Metamorphoses Burlesques, Le Eneiade Travastito, are no new Inventions, but old Fancies reviv'd.

An ExcellentParodiethere is of both theScaligersupon an Epigram ofCatullus, whichStephenshath set down in hisDiscourse of Parodies: a remarkable one among theGreeksis that ofMatron, in the Words and Epithites ofHomerdescribing the Feast ofXenoclestheAthenianRhetorician, to be found in the fourth Book ofAthenæus, pag. 134. Edit.Casaub.

Footnotes[322]A Burning Mountain inIsland.[323]SeeHydriotaphia,Urne-Burial: or, A Discourse of the Sepulchral Urnes lately found inNorfolk,8vo.Lond.printed1658.[324]Vid.Licet.de Lucernis.

Footnotes

[322]A Burning Mountain inIsland.

[323]SeeHydriotaphia,Urne-Burial: or, A Discourse of the Sepulchral Urnes lately found inNorfolk,8vo.Lond.printed1658.

[324]Vid.Licet.de Lucernis.

CHRISTIAN

MORALS,

SRTHOMAS BROWN,

OF NORWICH,M.D.

AndAuthorof

RELIGIO MEDICI

Published from the Original and CorrectManuscript of the Author;byJohn Jeffery, D.D.Arch-DeaconofNorwich.

CAMBRIDGE:Printed at theUniversity-Press,ForCornelius Crownfield, Printer to theUniversity;And are to be sold by Mr.Knaptonat the Crownin St.Paul’sChurchyard; and Mr.MorphewnearStationers-Hall,London, 1716.

TO THE RIGHTHONOURABLEDAVID EARL OF BUCHAN.viscount auchterhouse, Lord cardrossand glendovachie,one of the Lords Commissioners of police, and LordLieutenant of the Counties of Stirlingand Clackmannan in North-Brittain.

My Lord,

The Honour you have done our Family Obligeth us to make all just Acknowledgments of it: and there is no Form of Acknowledgment in our power, more worthy of Your Lordship's Acceptance, than this Dedication of the last Work of our Honoured and Learned Father. Encouraged hereunto by the Knowledge we have of Your Lordship's Judicious Relish of universal Learning, and sublime Virtue, we beg the Favour of Your Acceptance of it, which will very much Oblige our Family in general, and Her in particular, who is,

My Lord,

Your Lordship’s

most humble Servant,

Elizabeth Littelton.

If any One, after he has readReligio Medici,and the ensuing Discourse, can make Doubt, whether the same Person was the Author of them both, he may be Assured by the Testimony of Mrs.Littelton,Sr.Thomas Brown’sDaughter, who Lived with her Father when it was composed by Him; and who, at the time, read it written by his own Hand: and also by the Testimony of Others (of whom I am One), who read the MS. of the Author, immediately after his Death, and who have since Read the Same; from which it hath been faithfully and exactly Transcribed for the Press. The Reason why it was not Printed sooner is, because it was unhappily Lost, by being Mislay’d among Other MSS. for which Search was lately made in the Presence of the Lord Arch-bishop of Canterbury, of which his Grace, by Letter, Informed Mrs.Littelton,when he sent the MS to Her. There is nothing printed in the Discourse, or in the short notes, but what is found in the original MS of the Author, except only where an Oversight had made the Addition or transposition of some words necessary.

SECT. 1

Tread softly and circumspectly in this funambulatory Track and narrow Path of Goodness: Pursue Virtue virtuously: Leven not good Actions, nor render Virtues disputable. Stain not fair Acts with foul Intentions: Maim not Uprightness by halting Concomitances, nor circumstantially deprave substantial Goodness.

Consider whereabout thou art inCebes’sTable, or that old Philosophical Pinax of the Life of Man: whether thou art yet in the Road of uncertainties; whether thou hast yet entred the narrow Gate, got up the Hill and asperous way, which leadeth unto the House of Sanity; or taken that purifying Potion from the hand of sincere Erudition, which may send Thee clear and pure away unto a virtuous and happy Life.

In this virtuous Voyage of thy Life hall not about like the Ark, without the use of Rudder, Mast, or Sail, and bound for no Port. Let not Disappointment cause Despondency, nor difficulty despair. Think not that you are Sailing fromLimatoManillia, when you may fasten up the Rudder, and sleep before the Wind; but expect rough Seas, Flaws, and contrary Blasts: and ’tis well, if by many cross Tacks and Veerings you arrive at the Port; for wesleep in Lyons Skins in our Progress unto Virtue, and we slide not, but climb unto it.

Sit not down in the popular Forms and common Level of Virtues. Offer not only Peace Offerings but Holocausts unto God: where all is due make no reserve, and cut not a Cummin Seed with the Almighty: To serve Him singly to serve ourselves were too partial a piece of Piety; not like to place us in the illustrious Mansions of Glory.

SECT. 2

Rest not in an Ovation[325]but a Triumph over thy Passions. Let Anger walk hanging down the head; Let Malice go Manicled, and Envy fetter'd after thee. Behold within thee the long train of thy Trophies not without thee. Make the quarrelling Lapithytes sleep, and Centaurs within lye quiet. Chain up the unruly Legion of thy breast. Lead thine own captivity captive, and beCæsarwithin thy self.

SECT. 3

He that is Chast and Continent not to impair his strength, or honest for fear of Contagion, will hardly be Heroically virtuous. Adjourn not this virtue untill that temper, whenCatocould lend out his Wife, and impotent Satyrs write Satyrs upon Lust: But be chast in thy flaming Days, whenAlexanderdar’d not trust his eyes upon the fair sisters ofDarius, and when so many think there is no other way butOrigen’s.[326]

SECT. 4

Show thy Art in Honesty, and loose not thy Virtue by the bad Managery of it. Be Temperate and Sober, not to preserve your body in an ability for wanton ends; not to avoid the infamy of common transgressors that way, and thereby to hope to expiate or palliate obscure and closer vices; not to spare your purse, nor simply to enjoy health: but in one word, that thereby you may truly serve God, which every sickness will tell you you cannot well do without health. The sick Man's Sacrifice is but a lame Oblation. Pious Treasures lay’d up in healthful days plead for sick non-performances: without which we must needs look back with anxiety upon the lost opportunities of health; and may have cause rather to envy than pity the ends of penitent publick Sufferers, who go with healthful prayers unto the last Scene of their lives, and in the Integrity of their faculties return their Spirit unto God that gave it.

SECT. 5

Be charitable before wealth make thee covetous, and loose not the glory of the Mite. If Riches encrease let thy mind hold pace with them; and think it not enough to be Liberal, but Munificent. Though a Cup of cold water from some hand may not be without it's reward, yet stick not thou for Wine and Oyl for the Wounds of the Distressed, and treat the poor, as our Saviour did the Multitude, to the reliques of some baskets. Diffuse thy beneficence early, and while thy Treasures call thee Master: there may be an Atropos of thy Fortunes before that of thy Life, and thy wealth cut off before that hour, when all Men shall be poor; forthe Justice of Death looks equally upon the dead, andCharonexpects no more fromAlexanderthan fromIrus.

SECT. 6

Give not only unto seven, but also unto eight,[327]that is, unto more than many. Though to give unto every one that asketh may seem severe advice,[328]yet give thou also before asking; that is, where want is silently clamorous, and mens Necessities not their Tongues do loudly call for thy Mercies. For though sometimes necessitousness be dumb, or misery speak not out, yet true Charity is sagacious, and will find out hints for beneficence. Acquaint thyself with the Physiognomy of Want, and let the Dead colours and first lines of necessity suffice to tell thee there is an object for thy bounty. Spare not where thou canst not easily be prodigal, and fear not to be undone by mercy. For since he who hath pity on the poor lendeth unto the Almighty Rewarder, who observes no Ides but every day for his payments; Charity becomes pious Usury, Christian Liberality the most thriving industry; and what we adventure in a Cockboat may return in a Carrack unto us. He who thus casts his bread upon the Water shall surely find it again; for though it falleth to the bottom, it sinks but like the Ax of the Prophet, to rise again unto him.

SECT. 7

If Avarice be thy Vice, yet make it not thy Punishment. Miserable men commiserate not themselves, bowelless unto others, and merciless unto their own bowels. Let the fruition of things blessthe possession of them, and think it more satisfaction to live richly than dye rich. For since thy good works, not thy goods, will follow thee; since wealth is an appertinance of life, and no dead Man is Rich; to famish in Plenty, and live poorly, to dye Rich, were a multiplying improvement in Madness, and use upon use in Folly.

SECT. 8

Trust not to the Omnipotency of Gold, and say not unto it Thou art my Confidence. Kiss not thy hand to that Terrestrial Sun, nor bore thy ear unto its servitude. A Slave unto Mammon makes no servant unto God. Covetousness cracks the sinews of Faith; nummes the apprehension of any thing above sense; and only affected with the certainty of things present, makes a peradventure of things to come; lives but unto one World, nor hopes but fears another; makes their own death sweet unto others, bitter unto themselves; brings formal sadness, scenical mourning, and no wet eyes at the grave.

SECT. 9

Persons lightly dipt, not grain’d in generous Honesty, are but pale in Goodness, and faint hued in Integrity. But be thou what thou vertuously art, and let not the Ocean wash away thy Tincture. Stand magnetically upon that Axis, when prudent simplicity hath fixt there; and let no attraction invert the Poles of thy Honesty. That Vice may be uneasy and even monstrous unto thee, let iterated good Acts and long confirmed habits make Virtue almost natural, or a second nature in thee. Since virtuous superstructions have commonlygenerous foundations, dive into thy inclinations, and early discover what nature bids thee to be, or tells thee thou may'st be. They who thus timely descend into themselves, and cultivate the good seeds which nature hath set in them, prove not shrubs but Cedars in their generation. And to be in the form of the best of the Bad, or the worst of the Good,[329]will be no satisfaction unto them.

SECT. 10

Make not the consequence of Virtue the ends thereof. Be not beneficent for a name or Cymbal of applause, nor exact and just in Commerce for the advantages of Trust and Credit, which attend the reputation of true and punctual dealing. For these Rewards, though unsought for, plain Virtue will bring with her. To have other by-ends in good actions sowers Laudable performances, which must have deeper roots, motives, and instigations, to give them the stamp of Virtues.

SECT. 11

Let not the Law of thy Country be the non ultra of thy Honesty; nor think that always good enough which the law will make good. Narrow not the Law of Charity, Equity, Mercy. Joyn Gospel Righteousness with Legal Right. Be not a mereGamalielin the Faith, but let the Sermon in the Mount be thyTargumunto the law ofSinah.

SECT. 12

Live by old Ethicks and the classical Rules of Honesty. Put no new names or notions upon Authentick Virtues and Vices. Think not that Morality is Ambulatory; that Vices in one ageare not Vices in another; or that Virtues, which are under the everlasting Seal of right Reason, may be Stamped by Opinion. And therefore though vicious times invert the opinions of things, and set up a new Ethicks against Virtue, yet hold thou unto old Morality; and rather than follow a multitude to do evil, stand likePompey’spillar conspicuous by thyself, and single in Integrity. And since the worst of times afford imitable Examples of Virtue; since no Deluge of Vice is like to be so general but more than eight will escape; Eye well those Heroes who have held their Heads above Water, who have touched Pitch, and not been defiled, and in the common Contagion have remained uncorrupted.

SECT. 13

Let Age not Envy draw wrinkles on thy cheeks, be content to be envy’d, but envy not. Emulation may be plausible and Indignation allowable, but admit no treaty with that passion which no circumstance can make good. A displacency at the good of others because they enjoy it, though not unworthy of it, is an absurd depravity, sticking fast unto corrupted nature, and often too hard for Humility and Charity, the great Suppressors of Envy. This surely is a Lyon not to be strangled but byHerculeshimself, or the highest stress of our minds, and an Atom of that power which subdueth all things unto it self.

SECT. 14

Owe not thy Humility unto humiliation from adversity, but look humbly down in that State when others look upwards upon thee. Think not thy own shadow longer than that of others,nor delight to take the Altitude of thyself. Be patient in the age of Pride, when Men live by short intervals of Reason under the dominion of Humor and Passion, when it’s in the Power of every one to transform thee out of thy self, and run thee into the short madness. If you cannot imitateJob, yet come not short ofSocrates, and those patient Pagans who tired the Tongues of their Enemies, while they perceived they spit their malice at brazen Walls and Statues.

SECT. 15

Let not the Sun in Capricorn[330]go down upon thy wrath, but write thy wrongs in Ashes. Draw the Curtain of night upon injuries, shut them up in the Tower of Oblivion[331]and let them be as though they had not been. To forgive our Enemies, yet hope that God will punish them, is not to forgive enough. To forgive them our selves, and not to pray God to forgive them, is a partial piece of Charity. Forgive thine enemies totally, and without any reserve that however God will revenge thee.

SECT. 16

While thou so hotly disclaimest the Devil, be not guilty of Diabolism. Fall not into one name with that unclean Spirit, nor act his nature whom thou so much abhorrest; that is to Accuse, Calumniate, Backbite, Whisper, Detract, or sinistrously interpret others. Degenerous depravities, and narrow minded vices! not only below St.Paul’snoble Christian butAristotle’strue Gentleman.[332]Trust not with some that the Epistle of St.Jamesis Apocryphal, and so read with less fear that Stabbing Truth, that in company with this vice thy religion is in vain.Mosesbroke the Tables without breaking of the Law; but where Charity is broke, the Law it self is shattered, which cannot be whole without Love, which is the fulfilling of it. Look humbly upon thy Virtues, and though thou art Rich in some, yet think thyself Poor and Naked without that Crowning Grace, which thinketh no evil, which envieth not, which beareth, hopeth, believeth, endureth all things. With these sure Graces, while busy Tongues are crying out for a drop of cold Water, mutes may be in happiness, and sing theTrisagion[333]in heaven.

SECT. 17

However thy understanding may waver in the Theories of True and False, yet fasten the Rudder of thy Will, steer strait unto good and fall not foul on evil. Imagination is apt to rove, and conjecture to keep no bounds. Some have run out so far, as to fancy the Stars might be but the light of the Crystalline Heaven shot through perforations on the bodies of the Orbs. Others more Ingeniously doubt whether there hath not been a vast tract of land in theAtlantickocean, which Earthquakes and violent causes have long ago devoured. Speculative Misapprehensions may be innocuous, but immorality pernicious; Theorical mistakes and Physical Deviations may condemn our Judgments, not lead us into Judgment. But perversity of Will,immoral and sinfull enormities walk withAdrasteandNemesisat their Backs, pursue us unto Judgment, and leave us viciously miserable.

SECT. 18

Bid early defiance unto those Vices which are of thine inward Family, and having a root in thy Temper plead a right and propriety in thee. Raise timely batteries against those strong holds built upon the Rock of Nature, and make this a great part of the Militia of thy life. Delude not thyself into iniquities from participation or community, which abate the sense but not the obliquity of them. To conceive sins less, or less of sins, because others also Transgress, were Morally to commit that natural fallacy of Man, to take comfort from Society, and think adversities less, because others also suffer them. The politick nature of Vice must be opposed by Policy; and therefore wiser Honesties project and plot against it. Wherein notwithstanding we are not to rest in generals, or the trite Stratagems of Art. That may succeed with one which may prove successless with another: There is no community or commonweal of Virtue: Every man must study his own œconomy, and adapt such rules unto the figure of himself.

SECT. 19

Be substantially great in thy self, and more than thou appearest unto others; and let the World be deceived in thee, as they are in the Lights of Heaven. Hang early plummets upon the heels of Pride, and let Ambition have but an Epicycle and narrow circuit in thee. Measure not thy self by thy morning shadow, but by the extent of thy grave, and Reckon thy self above the Earth by the line thou mustbe contented with under it. Spread not into boundless Expansions either of designs or desires. Think not that mankind liveth but for a few, and that the rest are born but to serve those Ambitions, which make but flies of Men and wildernesses of whole Nations. Swell not into vehement actions which imbroil and confound the Earth; but be one of those violent ones which force the Kingdom of Heaven.[334]If thou must needs Rule, beZeno’sking, and enjoy that empire which every Man gives himself. He who is thus his own Monarch contentedly sways the Scepter of himself, not envying the Glory of Crowned Heads and Elohims of the Earth. Could the World unite in the practise of that despised train of Virtues, which the Divine Ethicks of our Saviour hath so inculcated upon us, the furious face of things must disappear, Eden would be yet to be found, and the Angels might look down not with pity, but Joy upon us.

SECT. 20

Though the Quickness of thine Ear were able to reach the noise of the Moon, which some think it maketh in it's rapid revolution; though the number of thy Ears should equalArgushis Eyes; yet stop them all with the wise man's wax, and be deaf unto the suggestions of Tale-bearers, Calumniators, Pickthank or Malevolent Delators, who while quiet Men sleep, sowing the Tares of discord and division, distract the tranquillity of Charity and all friendly Society. These are the Tongues that set the world on fire, cankers of reputation, and, like that ofJonashis gourd, wither a good name in a night. Evil Spirits may sit still, while these Spirits walk about,and perform the business of Hell. To speak more strictly, our corrupted hearts are the Factories of the Devil, which may be at work without his presence. For when that circumventing Spirit hath drawn Malice, Envy, and all unrighteousness unto well rooted habits in his disciples, iniquity then goes on upon its own legs, and if the gate of Hell were shut up for a time, Vice would still be fertile and produce the fruits of Hell. Thus when God forsakes us, Satan also leaves us. For such offenders he looks upon as sure and sealed up, and his temptations then needless unto them.

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