..._ S©2 The Life of Faith. ficknefs, how inlightened, how penitent, how humble, how mortified and reformed they then teem to be, and how much they condemn all fia, and juftific a holy hie : And obferve yourfelves whether you be not wifer and better, morepenitent, and lefs worldly inan afflidfed five : And will you think that intollerable, which fo much bettereth almoli all the world ? Alas, were it not for affii&ion,there arc Come Nebuchadnezzars that would never be humbled, and fame Pharaohs that would never confels theirfins, and fome ManaJfebs that would never be converted. Many in Heaven are thankful for affíi&ion, and fo fhould we, Ecclef 7. 2,3,4,5,6. It is better to go to the bout c fmourning, than to the bout ofleafing: For that is the endof all men, and the living will lay it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter ; for .y thefadnefs of the countenance, the heart is made better. pie heart ofthe wife it in the houfe of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the houfe ofmirth; It is better to hear the rebuke of the wife, than for a man tobear thefong offools : For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, fo is the laughter of a fool. Do you not perceive that a merry profperous (fate inclineth to folly, levity, rafhnefs, inconfideratenefs, fiupidity,forgetting the latter end,&c? And that a faddcr frame is more awakened, illuminated,fixed,fenfible,confìderate and fit for great employ- ments ? Quarrel not then with your Phyfìcian, becaufe he dyeteth you as tendeth to your cure, and turneth you not over to the dyer ofdefperate patients, or offools. Dire& 15. IfGod aifli!`f you, add not cauflefs afftiliion to yourfelves. Ifhe touch your friends, or body, or cflate,do not you therefore touch and tear your hearts. If you have not enough, why do you complain of it ? If you bave enough, why doyou make your felves more ? He that hath Paid, Bleffedare they that mourn, did never mean that thofe are blef£ed that mourn erroneoufly, for nothing, or for that which is their benefit, or that pievifhly quarrel with Godand man, or that wilfully by pride or inapatiency torment them£elves. Me meant not to biers the forrow of the covetous that grieveth becaufe he is not rich, or becaufe he is wronged, or is a tofer in tome commodity; nor to biefs the furrow of the proud, who is troubled becaufe be is not obfcrycd, honoured or preferred ; Nor the forrow of the
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