SELF-DENIAL.

Such as a man's principal end is, such is the man, and such is the course of his life. He that takes this world for his portion, and makes the felicity of it his end, is a carnal, worldly, unsanctified man, whatever good and godly actions may come in upon the by. It is he, and only he, that is a sanctified believer, who looks on heaven as his only portion, and his sailing through the troubled seas of this world, of purpose to come to that desired harbour; not loving their seats better than the land of rest, which he is sailing to, but patiently and painfully passing through them, because there is no other way to glory. And it is the desire of the land to which he is sailing, that moveth the mariner or passenger to do all that he doth on his voyage; and the desire of his home or journey's end, that moveth the traveller all the way; and the desire of a perfect building, that moveth the builder in every stroke of his work; so it must be the love of God, and the desire of everlasting blessedness, that must be the very engine to move the test of the affections and endeavours of the saints, and must make men resolve on the necessary labours and patience of believers. Take off this weight, and all the motions of Christianity will cease. No man will be at labour and sufferings for nothing, if he can avoid them. It is a life of labour, though sweet to the spirit, yet tedious to the flesh, which Christianity doth engage us in; and there is much suffering to be undergone; and this is to the very last, and to the denial of ourselves; and if God require it, to the

loss of all the comforts of the world; for no less than forsaking all that we have, will serve to make us Christ's disciples.

Baxter.

OF PATIENCE.

A soueraine salue there is for eche disease:

The cheefe reuenge for cruell ire

Is pacience, the cheefe and present ease,

For to delay eche yll desire.

The Gorgious Gallery of Gallant Inuentions, 1578.

IGNORANCE.

Ignorance can shake strong sinews with idle thoughts, and sink brave hearts with light sorrows, and doth lead innocent feet to impure dens, and haunts the simple rustic with credulous fears, and the swart Indian with that more potent magic, under which spell he lives and dies. And by ignorance is a man fast bound from childhood to the grave, till knowledge, which is the revelation of good and evil, doth set him free.

(A. M.) Anon.

A blind man sitting in the chimney-corner is pardonable enough, but sitting at the helm he is intolerable. If men will be ignorant and illiterate, let them be so in private, and to themselves, and not set their defects in a high place, to make them visible and conspicuous. If owls will not be hooted at, let them keep close within the tree, and not perch upon the upper boughs.

REMORSE.

And first within the porch and jaws of hell,
Sat deep Remorse of conscience, all besprent
With tears; and to herself oft would she tell
Her wretchedness, and cursing, never stent
To sob and sigh; but ever thus lament
With thoughtful care; or she that all in vain
Would wear and waste continually in pain.

Her eyes reverted fast, rolling here and there,
Whirl'd in each place, as place that vengeance brought;
So was her mind continually in fear,

Tost and tormented with the tedious thought

Of those detested crimes which she had wrought;
With dreadful cheer, and looks thrown to the sky,
Wishing for death, and yet she could not die.

Sackville.

OF ANGER.

Anger is one of the sinews of the soul: he that wants it hath a maimed mind, and, with Jacob, sinew-shrunk in the hollow of his thigh, must needs halt. Be not angry with any without a cause. If thou beest, thou must not only, as the proverb saith, be appeased without amends, by having neither, nor damage given thee, but, as our Saviour saith, "be in danger of the judgment."

Take heed of doing unenviable acts in thy passion-as the revealing of secrets, which makes thee a bankrupt for society ever after; neither do such things, which done

once, are done for ever, so that no bemoaning can amend them. Samson's hair grew again, but not his eyes. Tune may restore some losses, others are never to be repaired. Do not in an instant, what an age cannot recompense.

He that keeps anger long in his bosom, giveth place to the devil. And why should we make room for him, who will crowd in too fast of himself? Heat of passion makes our souls to chap, and the devil creeps in at the crannies. Yea, a furious man in his fits may seem possessed with a devil, foams, tears himself, is deaf and dumb; in effect, to hear or speak, vain; sometimes wallows, stares, stamps, with fiery eyes, and flaming cheeks. Had Narcissus himself seen his own face when he had been angry, he could never have fallen in love with himself.

ON ANGER.

Thomas Fuller.

In contentions be always passive, never active; upon the defensive, not the assaulting party; and then also give a gentle answer, receiving the furies and indiscretions of the other like a stone into a bed of moss, and soft compliance; and you shall find it sit down quietly: whereas anger and violence make the contention loud and long, and injurious to both the parties.

Jeremy Taylor.

Hooker's anger is said to have been like a vial of clear water, which, when shook, beads at the top, but instantly subsides, without any soil or sediment of uncharitable

ness.

A NOBLE REPLY.

When Sir Matthew Hale dismissed the jury because he was convinced that it had been illegally selected, to favour the Protector, Cromwell was highly displeased with him, and at his return from the circuit, he told him in anger he was not fit to be a judge, to which all the answer he made was, that it was very true.

ANGER, WHAT IT DOES, AND WHAT IT HINDERS.

The first thing that hinders the prayer of a good man from obtaining its effects, is a violent anger and a violent storm in the spirit of him that prays. For anger sets the house on fire, and all the spirits are busy upon trouble, and intended propulsion, defence, displeasure, or revenge; it is a short madness and an eternal enemy to discourse, and sober counsels, and fair conversation; it intends its own object with all the earnestness of perception or activity of design, and a quicker motion of a too warm and distempered blood; it is a fever in the heart, and a calenture in the head, and a fire in the face, and a sword in the hand, and a fury all over; and, therefore, can never suffer a man to be in a disposition to pray. For prayer is an action and a state of intercourse and desire exactly contrary to this character of anger. Prayer is an action