-------------- Ho1v the Melancho~ mttft rule tiJeir Tho!lghts. eator lovei/J his lull, and the proud man loveth hi~ honour, and the drUnkard loveth his ClipS, and the glutton loveti> to fuisiie his appetite; and fo love thefe that they wiU not leave them. Bur do yo love yout difiurbing, confufed or bla[phemous thoughts? Are you nor fo weary of them, as to b~ even awearr, of your lives brcaufc of them ' would you not be glad and thankful never to be troubled with them more? And yet do you doubt of pardon ? , Dire[I. 17• 9· 2 I· Direct. 17· Cbargc 1101 .Your fouls a11y deeper tha~r there iJ cau[t with the ejfel11 (If J'aur d;. ftaje. Indeed remutely a man that in diflraction thinks or fpeaks amifS, may be faid ro be faulty fo far as his [111 did caufi his difeafe: but direllly and of it felf, the involuntary ejfells of jick,_ne{I a:e n fiu: Melancholy is a mecr difeafc in the [piritr and imagination, though you feel no Jicknels: And it is as naturalfor a melancholy perfon to be hurryed and moltlted with doubts and fears and de~ fpJ.iring thoughts, and blafphcmous temptations, as it is for a man to talk.,. idly in a feaver when his underfianding faileth; or to think,_ of and dtji>"t ddnk,_, when his Feaver kindleth vehement thirH, And how much would you have a man in a feaver accufe hirnfelf for fuch a rhirfi, or fuch rhou"hrs defire or tal~/ If you had thofe hideous thougbtJ in your dream.r, which you have when you are a:ake) would you think them unpardoned finJ, or rather unavoidable i;zfirmities l why your diHelnpcr mak(; them tO be to you, but almoH as dreamJ. Dire{/. 18. 9· 22· Direct. 18. Be fure that yo11 f<!rp yo11r (ilf conflantly employed ( <H far a< your ftrengtb rriU hear) in the diligem /abottrJ of a lawfitl calling ; and fpend Hone of your prttiour timt in idlenrfi. ldlmefs is the tide time of the Tempter; when you are idle, you invire the Devil to come and vex you. Then you can have while to hearken to him, and think on all that he will put into your minds, and then to think over all thofe thoughts again! when you have nothing elfe to do, the Devil will find you fuch work: Then you mull lit fiill and mufe ; and yourtboughts mull be llirring in the mud of your own dil!empers, as children lye padling in the dirt. And ldlenefs is a Iin, which God will not favour : He hath commanded you to Labour fix daye1, and in tbe fweat ofyour brows to eat yo 1 cr bread; and be that wiU not l.Jbo:~r Uun-worthy to tat, 2 Thef. 3. Remember that Time is pretious, and doth haUe away, and God bath given you none in vain. Therefore as )'OU are troubled for othtr Iins make: Conkienceof this fin, and wafie not one quarter of an hours time, in your idle unprotirabl~ mufings : It is jufi: with God to make your fin it fclf to be your punilhmenr, and your own idle Thoughts t9 chafiifc you daily, when you will not get up and go about your lawful bufinefs: Nor will pretenfes of Prayer or any devotion excLife your idlenefs : for it is againfi the Law of God. Above all that l have faid to you, let me intreat you therefore to obey tbU one DireCfion : I have known defpairing Melancholy perfons cured by feuing themfelves refolutely and diligently about their Callings, (and ch~nging air and company, and riding abroad). If you will fir mufing in a corner, and fin againfi God by idlenefs and lofs of time, and increafe your own rnifc:ries wirhall, rather than you will rowze up your fdf, and ply your buftnefs, your calamity is jufi. S•y not, rhar you have lit!le or nothing to do: For God harh made it the duty of all, be they never fo rich, to labour in fu<h employment as is fuirable to their place and firengrh. Dirt<l. I!)• §. 2)· Direct. 19· Do but mar~ weU bor. mttch tbe Devil gets by l<feping yot< itt fad diffondcnt thoughtJ ; and thenyou may eajily fee that it camtot be yoNr duty nor bejt for you, which H fo gainful and pleafing to the Devil. By keeping you in thefe felf-perplexing doubts and fearS, he robs God of the Thanks and Praife which you owe him for all his mercies : Thefe highejl dutiu you CJ!l alide as if they did not belong to you : You give not God the honour of his mol1 miraculous mercy, in ou; Rcdfmption; nor do you jhtdy or rtlijh, or admirt or magnifit, the riches of Grace in Jefus ChriH! you have poor low thoughts of the infinite Love of God, and arc unfit to judge of it or perceive it, being like a cholerick tlomach which puts a continual bitternefs 'in the mouth, which hinders it from tafiing any fweetnefs in their meat. It hereby untitteth you for tlu: Love of God, aud more tnclinech you to hate him, or fly from him as an enemy, while the Devil reprdCnreth him to you as onethat hateth you : It lo!cth your Time : It depriveth you of all your willingnefs to duty and de– light in duty, and maketh aH Gods fervice a burden and vexation to you. le is very contrary to the fpirit of adoption, and to the whole frame of Evangelical wor!hip and obedience. And will you, under pretenfe of being more bumbled, and forron:ful, and fenfible, rhus gratifie Satan, and wrong God ana your felves? Diretl. 20; · 9· 24• Direct. 20• 1ruft n.?l to your own j:tdgement) in your melancholy ftatt, tithtr ar to tlie condition of yoztr foulr, or the chO'ice and condull of your Thoughts or wayr; but commit your {elver ttJ the judgttnentand dire{iioH, of{ome experienced 'f~ithful guide. You are no tit judges ef your own condicion, nor of the way of your duty, in this dark dillempered condition rhat y.ou are in: Eithet your rn.ind and imagination is weU or iU ~ If it be well, why compla1n you of all thofe dillurbances and confufions and difabiliry to modirate and pray? If it'be ill, why will you be fo fclf-coneeited as to rhink yourfelves able to judge of yaur {elves, with fuch-. difiempered fanraGe or mind. It is one of the worfi things in Melancholy perfons; that commonly they are moft -wife in their own er.es, and fiiff in their own ccnceits, when their braios are fickefi, and their tmderfhnding weakdl : And that they are confident, and unruly, and unperfwadable, as if they were proud of'thofe pittiful under– llandings; -and thought no body knows fo well as they. 0, fay they, you know not my cafe' Am not I liker to know your cafe, who have feen fo many fcore in that cafe, than you are that: never knew auy in it but your.felf? A man that tlands by m<~:y bett·et know the cafe of a 'mm that is in a dream, than he can know his own. You (ay that others ful not what you feel I no more doth the Phyficlon feel what a man in a Fcavcr, or FaUing jick,nrji, or dijlrallion feeleth; and yet by the icpOit of what you fay you feel, and by what he feeth, he far better 1moweth your difeafe, the "iutdrt
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