110 Chap. 4.sea.6'. we would fometimcs thus fpeak to our hearts, Heart, how dofl thou l how is it witb thee for thy Spiritual flare? 2. Heart, ••hat wilt th01t do? or, Heart, what dofl thou think_will become ofthee and mee? as that dymg Roman once faid, .AnimuiFI, vagula, blandula, &c. Poor, wrenhed, miferablefol!-l~ whtther art thou and I a going, and wh~-tt will become of thee, ••hen thM and I foal! part ? This very thing doth Mofer propofe to Deut. 3'• 26. tfrael, though in other terms, 0 that they would confider thttr latter end! And 0 that we would propofe this quellion conll:antly to our hearts to confider and debate upon! Commune withyour own hearts, faid D avid; q.d. debate the matter betwixt you and your own hearts to the very utmofl:: Let your hearts be fo put to it in communing with them, as that they may fpeak their very bottom. Commune,] or hold a ferious communication, and clear intelligence and acquaintance with your own •Mr. Li:hrfoor hearts: It was the Confeffion of a Divine, fenfible of his neglect, and efpecially of in h1>Scrmon the difficulty of this Duty, *I have lived (faith he)forty years andfomewhat more, and before the carryed my heart in my bo[om all this while, and yet my heart andI are as great fir angers ~0°!~o~fs 00 and tlJ Jttterly unacquainted, as ifwe had nevei' come near one another: --Nay, I ~no1v l'[al. 44 • not my heart, I have forgotten my heart; .Ah my bowels, my bowels! that I conld be Whereo~· gneved at the very heart, that my poor heart and I have bem (o ltnacquainted! We are ferve, that I fallen into an .Athenian age, fpending our time in nothing more than in re/ling or hear– ~' "t;' rhf ing Newes : How go things here? How there? How in one place ? How in another? u~~"~~hel<r< But who is there that is inquifitive, Ho1v are things with my poor heart? \Veigh but in coofdliou -of the Ballance of a ferious Confideration, what time we havefpent in this Dnry, and a Wllfull whatttme otherwtfe? and for many fcores and hundreds ofh'ours or days that we neglc<t;frhat owe to our hearts in this Duty, can we write Fifty? or where there fhould have :il:'~1 ~,,";~ry been fifty velfels full of this Duty, can we finde Twenty, or Ten.? 0 the days, time that he moneths, years we bellow upon fin, vanity, the affairs of this world! whiles we was exhor· afford not aminute in converfe with our own heartsconcerning their cafe. ung otherHO ic ; I rather look Upon it al his-daily confeifioa, ·borh before: and fincc : whi~h.a_rgues not an impious, voluntary, wilful neg• left; but rather il tender, humble, watchful, fofc, and fcnfiblc lpmr, t1 uJy fcnfibtc of du.t ncglcd, which il in· firmity. SE et. 6. Ofthemanneroftrying, orexamir~ingourTongtw. THat we may rightly -try, or examine our Tongues, obferve we thefe Rules: , . Search we into our difpofitions, whether we are men of few words, or given to much fpeaking ? the Tongue may offend both ways, but efpecially if we are wordy. 2. ·Pemfe with a broken ·heart and bleeding affection the roany kinds of thofe fins ·of the -tongue, whereof (no doubt,· at one time or other) we have been deeply guilty, Some number them in thirty particulars; as, JSiafphcmy, Mtmmering, Defence of ftn,.Srvearing, ';For{wear~ng~ Ly_in$, !-qMivocating, ~landcring, .Flattering, CttrJi.ng, Railing, Brawling, Scoffing, GnhngtiiCounfol, Sowmgfoedsofdifcord amongfl Ncrgh– }JOim, Double-tonguednej[o, BMjfmg, Difr:overmg of_focr<ts, Hafly or mdifcreet Threatning, Rajh Promifcs and Vows, Idle 1vords, L~qu~cuy, or_Immoderate tal/z..nt.tve– Filrhy ralkJpt, Scurrility, or foolijh Jefling, Talc-reRmg, Razing of r11mors, Sznfnt frlence, Rajh cenfuting, Malicious znformmg, Whifpcrmg. 3. Confider we the lafl: Judgment, when men fhall give account for every idle IYqrd; for by oltr words we m1tjf be j~tjfifted, and by our words we mufl be condemned. \Vtlltt not be a fearful Bill, wherein mull be wrilten every word that we fpoke all our ltfe long? 0 let us tremble to think of it, iu1d jl)dgc and condemn our felves, and feal up our lips With amazement, as ifwe were ll:ruck dumb. : . . 4· Let us ever after fet a-watch at the door of our ltps : Ifazd, I Will tak!.heed to. my ways, that I fin not with my tongue; {will k}ep my mottth. lV'.'h a bndle. l t IS fioned, That when this verfe was read, or Lectured upon to a reltg10us perfon, he cryed out, Stay there, and I will hear the rejl when I h~<ve learned that. verf A long ttme after be· ing demanded, Why he returned not to his old, Mafl:cr, he anfwered, that .As yer he was not perfeCI in his jirfl lef{on: And hence th~ Apofl:le could fay, If any man offend not in word, thefame is a perfeCI man, and able alfo to br~dle the lVholebod/. It IS an hord work to bndle the tonrue, and therefore we had need towat~hover 1t. '5· Pray
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