104 Dire/l.Io For Peace with all men. §. 2· Dfrc:CT. J, Gtl your ownbtaru into a bumble frame; and abhor aU the motions of Pride t~nd ftlfexalting. A humble man hath no high expectations from another; and therefore is eafily pleaf<d or quieted ! He can bow and yield to the pride and violence of others, as the Willow to the impe~ tuous winds. His language will be fubmiffivc ; his patience great; he is content that others go be~ fore him! He is not offended that another is preferred. P,.low mind is pleafcd in a low condition. But Pride is the Gun-powder of the mind, thefami(y, the Church and State: It maketh men ambiti· ous, and fetteth ~hen: on fbiving who fhall be the greateft ; ~ proud mans Opinion mufi alwaycs go for truth, and Ins w1ll muft be a Law to others, and to be fle1ghted or croffed feemcth to him an un ... fufferable wrong. And he mufi be a man of Wondcrfu] complyance, or an excellent anificer in man~ plcafing and fl1ttery, that Chalt not be taken as an injurious unde1valucr of him·: He that overvalu~ tth himfclf, will take it ill of all that do not alfo overvalue h_im. If you (forgetfully ) go before him, or ov~rlook hir:n, or negkct a c?mplemenr, or de_ny him fome~hi~g_w?ich he expected, or fpeak not honourably of h1m, much more tf you reptove h1m, aud tell hun of h1s faults, you have put fire to the Gun-powder ; you have broke his peace, and he will break yours if he cana Pride broke the Peace between God and the apollatc Angels ; but nothing unpeaceablc mull be in Heaven ; and therefore by fdf- ex•lting they defcended into darknefs : And Chrill by fclf-humbling afcended unto Glory. It is • matter of very great difficulty to live peaceably in family, Church or any fociety with ar:y one that is very Proud. They expeCJ fo much of you, that you can never anfwer all their expecta– tions, but will difplcafc them by your omiffioni, though you never Jpeak.. or ao any thing to difplcafe them. What is it but the luj! of Pride which caufeth moll of the wars and b!oodfhed, throughout the World. The Pride of two or three men, mull col\ many thoufandsof their fubjects, the lofs of their Peace, Eflates and Lives. Deliranl Reges,pleliu'ltl'ln' Achivi. What were the Conqudls of thofe EmperOUI'S, ALexander, c~far,1amcrlane, Machumet, &c. but the pernicious effects of their infamous Pride ? Which like Gun-powder taking fire in their brealls, did blow up fo many Cities and King– doms, and call their Villanies by the name of Valour, and their Murders and Robberies by the name of T.Yar. If one mans Pride do fwell fo big, that his own Kingdom cannot contain it, the Peace of as much of the World as he can 'onquer, is taken to be but a reafonable facrifice, to this infernal vice : The lives of thoufands both Subjects and Neighbours (called enemies by this malignant fpi– rit ), mull be cafi away meerly to make this one man the Ruler of the reil, and fubdue the per(ons of others to his will. Who perhaps when he hathdone, will [ay that he is no Tyrant, but maketh the Bonum publicum, his end; and is kind to men againfi their wills; and killeth and burneth and depopulateth Countreys, for mens rorporal well-fare; as the Papifis poifon ahd burn and butcher men for the faving of foul!. Cunlla feril dum cunl1a timet, dif.evit in omnes. They are the turbines, the Herricanes or whirlwinds of the world, whofe work is to Overturn and ruine. Tantum Ht noceat cupit t.fJ•P•ttni-- Whether rhey burn and kill by right or wr9Hg, is little of their enquiry; bur How many are ~iU'd l and how many have fubmittcd to their pride and wills: As when ~Fiaviu1 complained that he fuffercd innocently, Valeriur anfwtred him, Nonfua re intercjft, dummoJo pcriret! 'Ibat was nothing to bH bujinrji or conctrnment fo he did but perifh. Which was plainer dealing than thcfe g1orious Conquerours ufcd, but no whit worfc. He that cannot command the putrid humours out of his Veins, nor the Worms out of his bowels, nor will be able Chortly to forbid them to crawle or feed upon his face, will now damn his foul and Chcd mens blood, to obtain the predominstion -of his will. And when he bath conquered many, he hath but made him many cnernit:s, and may find, that in tot pQpuli-1 vix una fidu. A quiet man can fcarce with all his wit tell how, to find a place where he may live in peace, where pride and cruelty will not purfue him, or the lhmcs o£ War will not follow ~im a~d find him out: An_d perhaps he may be put to fay as Cicera of Pompey and Cefar, !J0em /ttg•am fc•o; quem fequar nefcro. And tf they fucceed by Conqucll, they become to their Subjects almofi as terrible as to their Enemies. So that he that would approach them with a petition for jufiice, mufi do it as Aug11jl1ff fpake ~o a fearful petitioner, as if he did affem dare Elephanto; Or as if they dwdt in the inaccellible light, and mull be fervcd as God with tear and trembling. And thofe that flatter them as glorious Conquerours, do but fiir up the fire of their pride, to make more ruinc:s and calamities in the Earth, and do the work of a rageing Peftilence. As an Athenian Orator faid to the men of Atbem, when they would have numbered Altxander with the Gods, Cavete nedumCcelum Jiberalittr dunetiA, terram& domici/i~propria amittatif: TaJte heed while yoH fo liberally give him Heaven, lej! be la/zy away your p•rl of Earth. And when their Pride hath confumed and banifhed Peace ; What have they got by it > Thar which a 1bemij!oclti after tryal, would prefer a grave to, Si una via ad folium duceret, altera ad {tpulchrum - That which Dt· mofthtnfl preferred banijhmml before : That which the wife{\ Philofophers refufed at Atheni, 1he great trouble of Government. Inexpertus ambit ; txpertM odit. Cyneas asked Pyrrhur when he was preparing to invade the Romans, What jhaU we do wben webave Conqutred tht Romam? He anfwr:r· ed, We wiU go next to Sicily ? And what jhaU whm we dowben Sicily ii Conquered ? faid he : Pyr· rhui faid, We wiU go n<xt to Af•·ick : And wbal (haU we da next, faid the other ? Why then foidbt, We will be quiet and merry and 1<1/zy oHr eafe : And faid Cynw, If thal be Jajland btfl, Why may we 1101 do fo now? It is for quietneft and peace that fuch pret<nd to fight and break peace : But they ufually die before they obtain it! (as Pyrrhui did ) : And might better have permitted Peace to !land, than pull it down to build it better. As one askt an old man at Atheni, Why they caUtfi them· felvts Philofophm l who anfwered, Becaufe we fe•k.. after Wifdom: Saith he, If you art but feek_ing it at this age, when doyoH thinllto find it l So l may fay, to the proud Warricrs of the World,_ It
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