and free; our Joys refulting from them undisturbed; and our Contemplations of Heaven and Heavenly Things full of Rapture and Transport. B CHA P. II. The Advantage of Humility. E not extremely follicitous what Friends thou haft to appear in thy Behalf, nor what Foes employ their Malice in creating thee Difficulty and Trouble; But let it be thy great Care to keep God thy Friend and Helper, and be fure to preserve a Good Confcience; for, fo long as thy own Heart condemns thee not, God will not fail to plead thy Cause, and affift and blefs thy Righteous Undertakings. And those whom he receives into his peculiar Protection, no Wickedness or Spite fhall be able to hurt. Suffer thou may'ft indeed, but provided thou learn to fuffer without Murmuring and Impatience, thou fhalt certainly fee the Salvation of God. And if this feem to tarry, yet wait for it; for He best knows the proper Seafon of Deliverance, and therefore you ought entirely to reft upon his Wife Difpofal. Deliver no doubt he will: The relieving Men in Diftrefs, and wiping off the Shame and Reproach of his Servants, being Acts by which God delights to fignalize his Providence. But there is often Reason, why the doing it should be deferred; fince the Discovery of our Failings by other People, and the Reproofs we meet with upon their Account, have frequently a very happy Effect upon our Minds, and render them more modeft and humble in their own Efteem of themselves. And Humility is a Virtue of fo general, fo exceeding good Influence, that we can scarce purchase it too dear dear. For he, who is lowly in his own Eyes, and fenfible of his own Failings, makes no difficulty to acknowledge his Offences against his Neighbour, and gives all reasonable Satisfaction to any who have cause to be angry at him. Nor does this Forwardness to Reconciliation expofe him to the Infults of Injurious Men; for God charges his Providence with a peculiar Protection of the Humble, and delivers fuch as are of a contrite Spirit. He condefcends to dwell with the Humble, and hath engaged to comfort their holy Sorrows. To these he promifes large Portions of his Luke xiv. Grace, and that, they who abafe themselves fhall afterwards be exalted: To these he reveals his Secrets, and draws them to himfelf with the Cords of Love and Kindness. The Humble fuffers no Disturbance of Mind, but receives the Reproaches and Affronts of Men without any great Impreffion. For he confiders, that God, and not the World, is his Hope; and if his Favour be but fecured, the reft cannot be of any very great Importance. In fhort, this Virtue is so neceffary, fo fundamental a one, that no Man ought to esteem himself a Proficient in Goodnefs, who is not yet arrived to that Pitch of it, which teaches him to think himself the leaft of all Saints, and laft of all Men. Ecure Peace at Home in the first place; and, when thy own Breaft is thus compofed, it will then be proper to Reconcile and make Peace among thy Neighbours. And this indeed is a very worthy and reputable Action; it brings greater and jufter Commendation mendation to a Man, and more Benefit to those with whom he converfes, than Wit, or Learning, or any of thofe other fo much admired Accomplishments. And as every thing is fet off by its Contrary, fo here, the Mischief of a contentious Difpofition is unconceivable. For nothing can be fo innocent, nothing fo well or kindly meant, but fuch a Man will be fure to fix fome ill Interpretation upon it: But the good Temper will be as careful, on the other hand, to take every thing in the best Senfe it is capable of. For a peaceable Man is not apt to fufpect Ill of any; but the Peevish and Difcontented are rack'd and tormented with a thousand jealous Whimsies, and neither are quiet themselves, nor content to let other People be so. They are very liberal in faying what they should not; and as backward in doing what they fhould. Diligent Obfervers of their Neighbour's Duty, and fcandaloufly negligent of their own. Whereas, in truth, our Saviour's Rule fhould always be our Measure; for no Man is fit to Cenfure or Correct his Brother, by pulling the Mote out of his Eye, till he have first exercised a due Severity upon himself, and be effectually reformed, by cafting the Beam out of his own Eye. And oh! how happy fhould we be, how eased of Detraction, and Calumny, and Cenforiousness, if none would take upon them to Condemn or Cenfure others, till they were firft qualified for the Authority they ufurp, by a thorough Amendment of their own Manners, and being Proof against any juft Reprehenfion themselves? Who can forbear the obferving, how manifeftly unequal we are in our Dealings? Every one is ingenious at framing Excufes, and making large Allowances for what he doth himself; and yet fcarce any Body admits the Apologies alledged by others in their own Vindication. How much more just and reasonable were our Proceedings, would we but pafs a favoura G ble ble Conftruction upon the Actions of others, and turn the Severity of our Cenfure upon our own? If you expect to be born with, you must first learn to bear with your Brethren, and exercise the good Nature you expect, as oft as Occafion offers. For Men are best taught by Examples, and the Measure we mete gives us a Right to receive the fame again. But is this Charity? Is this Humility? Nothing more diftant from it. For thefe difpofe us to condemn, and be angry with no body but our felves. To keep up a good Underftanding with Men of Goodness and Temper, is but a very vulgar Virtue. This is eafy and delightful, for every Man naturally defires Quiet and good Ufage, and cannot help being well affected to Perfons who love, and please, and are like him. The Difficulty is, to carry Matters fmooth and inoffensively with Men of rugged, intractable, and fierce Difpofitions? with those who make little Confcience of what they do or fay, and ftick at nothing unjust or unfair in their Dealings. And he who can do this, is a truly great Soul, and fets a noble and commendable Patern of Philofophical, or which is more, of Chriftian Fortitude. There are a fort of Men, who cherish Peace and Quiet, with themselves and all the World; and another very vile fort of Wretches, the very Reverse of thefe, who delight to fish in troubled Waters, and are neither eafy, nor will fuffer any body else to be fo; eternally troublesome to others, but much more tormenting and vexatious to themselves. And there are yet a Third fort, who are not fatisfy'd with giving no Offence, but make it their Business to reconcile others, where it hath been given; and to restore that Peace, which they were never inftrumental in disturbing. But when all is done, our Life here is exposed to perpetual Mifery and Contention; and the utmost Degree of Peace we must expect to arrive at, does Hot confift in being free from Injuries and Croffes, but but in bearing them with Humility, and not being provoked to Impatience, and uneafy Refentments. And therefore, the more any Man hath brought himfelf to fuffer, and the better he entertains Afflictions and Wrongs, the more ferene his Mind will be. For this Perfon hath gained a Conqueft over himself, is above the Reach of Fortune, hath the World at his Command, is a Friend of Chrift, and an Inheritor of the Kingdom of Heaven. TH CHAP. IV. Purity and Sincerity. "Here are two Wings by which a Man foars above the World, Sincerity and Purity. The former regards the Intention, the latter the Affections; That afpires and aims at a Likeness to God; This makes us really like him. We fhould find no Difficulty in any good Action, were but our Minds free from all intemperate Paffion and Defire. And this Perfection of Freedom we should not fail to attain, did we, in all our Defigns and Undertakings, propofe no other Ends than Obedience to the Will of God, and promoting the Good of our Neighbour. Were but our Minds thus fixed, and our Intentions regulated, every thing would ftrangely contribute to our Edification. We should study the Volume of Nature with Profit, and every Line in that large Book would tend to our Inftruction. The very fmalleft, and, in common Efteem, moft defpicable Creature would reprefent, as in a Glafs, the Goodness of God to us. And the Reafon why these things are feen with fo ufelefs Speculation, is, because our Minds are not rightly difpofed, to draw thofe Profitable and Practical Inferences, |