467 / 808
IV
2
R.
%.
Epbeiians,
Cbap.
4.
thine
to
him that offendeth
they
,
what
canft
thou look for but the
fame meafure
at
another
mans
hands!
If
children
play
together,
and
onecafuaily
or
at unawares fall
in
the
dirt,
doe the
reft
thereupon
rate,
chide,:and.fall out
with him!
No
but
pity him
and help
him
:
for
it
might have been (they think) their owne cafe,
and
how
foone
it
may
.
bec
they know not
:
fa
fhould
wee
on the
like
ground'fhew the like
meekneffe and
gentleneffe one
to another.
fNow
lei
us
confider
whether we
Phew
this vertue
to God,and
man:
to
God
in
his
corrections,
he
that taketh
in his
word or inftruttion
rc
hich
he
giveth,
he
is a
happy'
man,
that
may
not
fay
with the
Pro-
phet,
he.lzath been
under
Gods hand
as
the
Horfe
or
fatale
, without
underflanding:
For
as
we
caft out
the heelewhen
profperity,
like
Pro-
vender
pricks us, fo
we are froward
and
moody when
adverfity doth
befall
us.
For
his
word, which
fhould
be
received with
411
meekneffe;
we, when
it
doth
conch us,
are full
of
Paflion
,
inwardly fret and
are
diaempered,
like
proud
fí'efh,
if
it
be
fingered never fo
gingerly
.,
.it
bleedeth..-
.
Toward
men, how boyfterous
in
our dealing!
how
perverfe
to
bee
wrought upon by
others!
if
we he provoked
a
little, how
wafpifhe
all
in
a
chafe or male-contented
flence,never
having done
with
a
thing.
Nay
we have
filch galls
ofbitternefi'e
in
us,
that
often
.a
man is
fo
fret
-
full, that
in
the
moode he eateth
his
owne:liver, and
in
a
manner
be-
commeth
his
owne hang-man.
Wee
muff
therefore pray
to God to
turne us , and
to
meeken
our
hearts, we mull
be
furred up, Minifters
of
the word to deale
meekly,
as Patti
exhorteth
Timothy:
infíraét
with
meekneffe thofe
that
are contra-
ry
minded;
for
the
word
of
meekneffe
pierceth the
bone.
We
rnuff
yeeld
our
(elves
quietly
to God correcting;
we mull
like
good
-
Hezekiah in
meekneffe receive his
word,
and
fay,
It
is
good,
be
it
never
fo
bitter,,
we
mutt
labour not
to
give place
to
paflion,
nor
fuller our
felves
to
be ex-
afperate,
but
bridle
our hafty and
immoderate difpleafure.
Bleffidare
the
meek
they
/hall
inherit
the
earth. And
as
we muff
doe
it
alwaie;,
fo
principally when
fomething
doth
folliçit
us
to wrath, for the devil'
is
good
if
he be
pleafed:
We
mull not
fay
we love quiet,
but
cannot
en-
dure
to be croffed.
The
world
Both
count this
effeminate
foftneffe and
fheepi(hneffe,
but
it
is
better to
bee
like
Chrift that
lambe
of
God,
though
reckoned
as
(beep,
then
in
a
ruffian -like
taking
onto
refemble
Satan. This
is
fuch
a
grace
as
Both
beautify the
foule
in
the
eyes
of
God above all
other
trimmings,
the ornament
of
a
meek
and
quiet
/pirit
is
a
thing in
the
fight
of
God
ofgreat price;
and
therefore
the
Apoflle.
Peter
exhortth
women
that
are careful}
and curious
about outward
ornaments, to
deck and
adornethemfelves
with
this grace
of
a
meek
and
quiet
fpirir.
By this meekneffe
of
fpirir
the
foule finds refl in
the
greateft troubles and
afflíótions:
for when
afflictions'befall
a
man,
they
doe not
fo
much
trouble
and difgniet
him
as
doth
the
pride and impa-
tience
of
his
own heart,his
own unruly
&
diforderly lufts
which
fight
againftthe foule, thefe
make
the
aifliélion
heavy,
and make him grie-
vous.
447
Yfer.
PfaL3
t.
Iam.r.xi7
z
Tim.a.zç:
Prov.xs.is.
Match.;.
Per.
;.q.