Chap.p.O/'the honour due to thofe that excel in gifts,&c. Com. a, they are moft acceptable, that are moft ready, eafie to be obtained, and where there was nothing hindred'them, but the tqpde'fty and bafhfui'nefs of the receiver: foe indeed fuch benefits are not only thanklefs, hut coiily. Nulla ret carins conft'atquant quaprecibus emitur, there’s nothing coft,more, than that which is obtained with much fuit and petition. And as it is cruelty to prolong the death of a condemned perfon, and a kind of mercy fas we fay) to rid him quickty out o f his pain : fo the prolonging of a benefit, tortures &man between hope and fear. And therefore Duplex fit bonitascum accedit celeritas, & minus decipitur, cui negaturceleriui, that benefit is worth two, that a man befiows fpeedily, and his expedition is lefs fruftrate, that hath a quick denial. Therefore, as he faid, slpape hominesquorum lento,funt beneficia, pracipitesinjuria,’ away with thofe men that are quick to do one an injury, but will confider on it before they will do you any good '■>for now, profuxde odium fiiUul, & inftiUa benefici- um, men will pour out their hatred all at once, but a benefit muft not be had but by degrees. They muft weary out a mans patience, and then fome little benefit: Seneca faith well, They muft have lofigum JpeBaculum potentia fine, Their Worthips and Honours pleafuremuft Be attended, and at length with duals, the gift, there muft be&n>JW<;> fome gratuity returned. Thus the benefit becomes Lapidofutpanir, gra* vel in the mouth, and fo not thank-worthy. 3. The third Doty is, That when a man hath done a good turn to another, he muft forget it, and not publifti it t for as Seneca faith, tadti dandafxnt beneficia, at nota fitnt fol'u quibus profint: interdumetiam ipfe qui juvatur fabendus eft, ul bobcat, nee a quo acccpit, ftiat, benefits are to be beftowed in a filent w ay, that they only who are bettered by them, may take notice of them \ nay fometime it is an honeft deceit to keep the party that is relieved from the knowledg of his Benefactor. And though Senecawere but a Heathen, without the true knowledge o f God, yet herein he came nigh to theprefeript ofour Saviour in the diftributi'on of Aimes. For indeed that is true liberality, when a man conveighs it with filence, blows not the Trumpet, and when he doth works of mercy, not by way of often- tation, but fupplies the neceflities ofmen occulte, in a fecret manner, that the mouth o f the poor, not his own, may commend him. He that beftowS a benefit upon one, ut ducat in ttiumpbum, to make him the objedt ofhis vain-glory deferves no thanks for it. T o thefe we may add two more, viz. • 1. That he not only forget it, but that he upbraid not the receiver: and why ? Lacerat animum recipientii & premit frequent beneficiorum commemoratio, the often putting a man in mind of the good turns he hath received, is a great preflure and torture to an ingenuous receiver. And indeed it comes many times to pafs, that by this means good turns are turned into bad , and brought in contempt, jthat it repents the receiver that he ever made fuit for them: and in this cafe beneficium accipere eft libertatem venderc, a man lofeth his liberty by taking benefits. ' '2. A man may give freely, readily, without boafting,or exprobation,and yet want the chief, which is the affedfion, For multum intereft inter materiam beneficii & be- neficium: Haqs nee durum, nec argentum, necquicquam eorum qua a proximo recipi- untur, beneficium eft, fed tpfa tribuentis voluntas. There’s great difference between a benefit and the matter of a benefit» fo that it is neither gold nor filver,nor any thing elfe, which a man receives,that may be called a Benefit; but it is the mind and affection of him that giveth it. Now in giving there are alfo certain Cautions to be obferved. X. The firft Caution is Seneca’s § u a m v is omni petenti dare debeas', tamen in beneficia JpeBandi funtmortis though we ought to give to every oirte thatask- eth and hath need, yet in bellowing our benefits we ought alfo to confider the manners o f them that asks that is, to prefer, honeft and well-conditioned People before others, that have need s Beneficium ubi dignis das, omnes obligate A man obligeth all to him, that doth good fo them that are worthy of it. ' MMM ' 2. Another is, that our liberality keep the Rule of Proportion. Saint Ambrofe faith, modusliberalitatis tinendus eft, ut quod benefads, quotidie facere fiojjit, We are
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