246 DIRECTIONS FOR GETTING AND KEEPING 2. When you have truly foundout how much of your disquiet- ness proceeds from melancholy, acquit your soul from that part of it ; still remember, in all your self-examinations, self-judgings, and reflections on your heart, that it is not directly to be charged with those sorrows that come from your spleen; save only remotely, as all other diseases are the fruits of sin ; as a lethargic dullness is the deserved fruit of sin ; but he that should charge it immediately on his soul, should wrong himself, and he that would attempt the cure, must do it on the body. 3. Ifyou would have these fears and troubles removed, apply yourself to the proper cure of melancholy. (1.) Avoid all pas- sion of sorrow, fear, and anger, as much as youcan ; and all occa- sions, and discontents and grief. (2.) Avoid much solitariness, and, be most commonly in some cheerful. company. Nat that I would have you do as the foolish shiners of the world do, to drink away melancholy, and keep company with sensual, vain, and una profitable persons, that will draw you deeper into sin, and so make your wound greater instead of healing it, and multiply your troubles when forced to look back on your sinful loss of time. But keep company with the more cheerful sort of the godly. There is ne mirth like the mirth of believers, which faith doth fetch from the blood of Christ, and from the promises of the Word, and from ex- periedces of mercy, and from the serious fore-apprehensions ofour everlasting blessedness. Converse with men of strongest faith, that have this heavenly mirth, and can speak experimentally of the Joy of the.HolyGhost ; and thesewill be a great help to the reviving of your spirit, and changing your melancholy habit, so far as with- out a physician it may be expected. Yet sometimes it may not be amiss to confer with some that are in your own case, that you may see that your condition is not singular. For melancholy people, in such distresses, are ready to think, that never any was in the case as they are in ; or at least, never any that were truly godly. When you hear people of the most upright lives, and that truly fear God, to have the same complaints as you have yourself, it may give you some hopes that it is not so bad as you before did imagine. How- ever, be sure that you avoid solitariness as much as you well can. (3.) Also take heed of too deep, fixed, musing thoughts'; studying and serious meditating be not duties for the deeply melancholy, (as I shall show more in the following directions ;) you must let those alone till you are better able to perform them, lest, by attempting those duties which you cannot perform, you shall utterly disable yourself from all therefore I would advise you, by all means, to shake and rouse yourself out of such musings, and Suddenly to turn your thoughts away to something else. (4.) To this end, be sure that you avoid idleness and want of employment ; which, as it
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