Downame - Puritan-02038 v2

Of the excellency ofcontentment,e5- the means to obtain it. 457 though it haue (lore of water in it, is fubie& to drying vp whereas the contented mans eflate, though neuer lo fmall,is exempted from .that feare; feeing it i3 as a lining fpring, iffit- ing out from God the fountains of all goodneflè, which though it be little in quantitie, yet can neuer be quite drie, becaufe it hath a continuallfitpply whereby it is fcd.Nomar- nel therefore ifhe who isricher}, is Ail! turmoyled with car- kinn care, feeing relling vpon his owne prouiGon he hath good caufe to fearc,lefl by Come great drought ofaf liólion, he may haue his owne ponds of' prouiGon dried vp. Now what doth he but continually want, who is in continual) feare of wand ng ? Ina word, this inward contentment ma- keth vs rich without riches, whole without health, warme without clothes, and metric in our greateft caufes ofhea- uineflè. On the other Ade, though we fhould haue all things, and 4.SceL4. want this contentment, it were as good as nothing, tieing That content - this contrariwife turneth peace into trouble, riches into po- ment is to be uertie, libertie into feruitude,health into Gckneffe yea were ors wrdthings. fufficientto make ahell ofheauen,ifit were admitted into it, bit in thebeart there being no happines where it inhabiteth, no want ofany and mind. miferie to thofe that haue it. For he is vnhappie, who doth not thinkehimfelfe happie;he is not rich,whothinketh him - felfe poore, and therefore defireth more, although hepof- feffeabundance, becaufe his vnfatiable mind fwalloweth vp his wealth; he is not honorable,though he were Monarch of thewhole world, who thinking himfelfe bale andcontemp- tible, is difeontented in his greatefl aduancement.And they- fore feeing this contentation isfuchapretiousiewell, that with it no eflate, without it all eflates are miferable : let vs labour to attaine vnto it, and not feeke contentment in out- ward things, but in our owne minds, for all the world and worldly things cannot bring it to our hearts, vnleffe we firft bring contentment vnto them : for as our cloathes cannot giue warmth to our bodies, vnleffe our bodies fill giueit vnto them whereof it is that a dead carcafe which bath loft it naturali heate, cannot haue it reflored, though all the clothes in the world were laid vpon it:fo neither can world- ly