'DireCtions abotlt .-!pparel. Note a\fo, that any one of the forefaid evils maketh a fa!hion evil, but it mull beaU the rtquifitcs concumnt that mull prove your fa!hions good or lawful. fk!tfl. 4• :~. 14· Q!dl. 4· .Is il HOI fome~imt lafl>ful ~o foUow lht fafhions l Anfw.lt is alwayes lawful to follow rhe lober fa!h10ns of fober people ; but 11 IS not \awful ,to follow the vain, immodt~, iU-fignifY· ing fa'fhions of the riotoHI, proudand wantoH fort : unlefs it be in fuch cafes of Ntcif!itie as Davidwas in, when he behaved ~imfelf like a.mad-man, or asPaul when h~ told them that he was a Pbarifit 'FhiJ. J· to. R<lm.U.. 1. Ephc:f. 5·11· Al1s 23· 6: to ~fcape m a perfecut10n, or from Thteve~ or enem1es. 2·. Or unlefs for a rime it pxove as conductble to t~e goo~ of others, as PaHl'scircumcifing 1imothywas, or his becoming all things ro all men, that he m•ght wm fome. But to follow iU·fignifjing fa!hions unncctffarily, or for carnal ends, to avoid the difellcctn or evil fpceches of carnal pcrfons, or to fccm to be as fine as they this is undoubtedly a fin. ' Dircl/. 6., ( ~• I 5: Dire&. 6. Bt furt -to avoid txctfi of "ftlimji in your apfartU : Remember that you mull anfwcr tor aU your dlatcs : And one day it wilJ prove more comfortable to find on your accounts [ So much a year laid out in dothing the naked, J than [So much a year in bravery or curiofi~ tor your felves or your children. J Collly apparel dcvoureth that which would go far in fup. plying the neceflities of the poor. Dire{]; 7• lj.. ~· r6. Direct. 7• Bt [urt you waftt nol your prttioJ<J timt in nttditfs <Hriofity of drt!Jing. 1 cannot eafily tell you how great alln, and horrible a fign of folly and mifery, it is in tholeGallants that fpend ~hole hours, yea, moll part of the morning, in drcfling and neatifying themfelves, before they appear to the fight of others: fo that fome ofthem can fcarce do any thing elfe before dinner time but drels rhcmfelvcs: The morning hours that are fittell for prayer, and rcadinil the Word of God, are rhus confumed. They fpend not a quarter fo much time in the ferious fc:arching and adorning of their fouls, nor in any holy fervice of God ; but God, and family, and foul, and all is tbus neglected. Dire{]. 8. ~· 17· Direct. 8. N"'t 10 tht ufofulmji of your appartl for your bodits and labours, let your Rulebe toimitate tbt common fort of tht grave and fober ptr[ons of )rJUr omt ran~ : Not here and there ont: that in other things are fober, who themfelves lollow the fa!hions of the proud and vain; but the ..;.. dinary f•Jhion of grave and fober pcrfons. t·or thus you will avoid both the levity of the proud, and the needlefs lingularity of others. Dir<ll· ~· .1 ~· ,g. DireC!. p. Rtg.rd more tht ht<rl t!.at your f•fhion .•Uj do, 1han tbt offence or ob/,quy of -~ I aHy. For proud pcrfons to fay you are fordid, or not fine enough, and talk of your courfe attire, is no great difgraoe to you, nor no great hurt. But it is a greater difgrace to be elleemed Proud: lt fignitieth an empty childi!h mind, to be defirous to be thought fine: lt is not only Pridt, but the Pride of a fool, dillinct from the Pride of rhofe that have but manly wit. And you ought nor thus to difgrace your felves, as to wear the badge of Pride and fo1ly , no more than an honell woman lhould wear the badge and attire of a Whore. Moreover, mean apparel is no great temptation to your felves or others to any fin : But proud and curious apparel doth fignifie and llir up a lullfui or proud difpofition in your felves; and it tcmptcth thofe of the fome [tx to tnvy and eo imit11te you, and thofe of the othtr fix to lull or wantonnefs. You fpread the Devils Nets ( even in the C.:hurchcs and open Streets and Meetings ) to catch deluded filly fouls. You lhould ratherfirvt Chrift with your apparel, by exprcfling humility, {tlfdmyal, ch•ftity and fol>ritty, to draw others to imitate you in good, rhallto ferve the Devil, and pride, and lull by it, by drawing men to imitate you in evil. Dirtt1. 10• ~· 19· Dire&. 10· Rtmtmher whdl a Body it is that you fo cartfuUy 4nd curioufly adorn: Well is it called by the Apollle a vile body, Phi/. 3· 21. What a tilly lothefome lump ofdirt is it? What a thing (' would rhePox, orLeprofie, ora\mollany ficknefs make it.appear to be ? What lothefomeexcre– ments within, are covered by all that bravery without. Think what it is made of, and what is within it, and what it will turn to ? How long it mufi lye rotting in adarkfome grave, more lothe– fome than the common dirt; and then mull. turn \O common earth : And is Purple and Silk,_, Luk,_c 19· 19· and a curiousdrefs befeeming that body thiu mull !hortly have put a Winding·!beet,and mull lye thusinrhe grave, and its to befeared, the foulfor this pride lye in Hell, L11/(! 16•23, 25• ls all this coil and curiality comely for one that knoweth that he is returning to the dull ? Dirtt1. 11· • ~· 20. Dire&. ll• Rememhtr th4t you havt jinful fouls thal havt c.ntinual caufc of humiliation, •nd that have nttd of more cart and adorning thanyour bodier. And tbtrtfore yrmr 11pparel jbowJd ex· V prefs your bumilution ; andJhtw lhAI you la'<! more "'!for tht (oul. How vile !hould that fihner be in his own eyes, who knoweth what he bath done agamll God ?What mercy he bath finned agamll ! What a God he hath offended? What a.Saviour he bath llighred? What a Spirit of Grace h~harh re• filled > and what a Glory he hath undcivalued and neglcCled ? He that knowcth what he is, and what he bath done, and what he bath dcfervcd, and in what a dangerous cafe his foul yet Oanderh, mull netds have his foul habituated to a humble frame. Every penitent foul is vile in its own eyes, and doth loath it felf for its inward corruptions and aCtual fins: And he that \oarheth himfelfas vile, will And no won- not be very de~rous to haVe his tinful cor.niptible body fecm fi~e, nor by curious ornaments to ~ttraCt: 0 ,.hen• the eyes of vam fpe&ators. How oft have·! fecn a proud vam Gallant, fuddenly call off thm bra– ,,'; Lghr of very and gawd¥ gay attire, and clothe themfe\v<s in plainne& and fobriety, as foon as God bath bur :N~mu reopened their eyes, and humbled their foul~: (or }in, and made them better know themfelve!, atld t~;',~~ ~:, or brought them home by nue ReF<ntancc! So t~r the n<?tt week they have aot feemed the fame per- · I 1 hilo(ophcn l9, fo pl~in 2 G11b ? AS Strraw, Zmdcr•us J with almofl !'ll th~ Srt.icif aac1 CJ'littf, W n)any gf the A'adtmk~ and P)th.:gUTttlll; fons :
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