Downame - Puritan-02038 v2

$32 Of the ioyesofheauest. pleafant, then in thofe who appertaine vnto other men, though neuer fo curious,artificiall,and delightful!. In which refpeól though the things of this life were to bee preferred before thofe ofthe life to come; yet by the fame reafon wee fhould little regard them, in comparifon of the other,be- caufe we haue no right,interefl,and inheritance in them,but only paffeby them,and vie them as helps, whereby wee may the betterbe inablcd to attai ne veto our iourneys end,and haue the other referued for vs as our patrimonk, which wee fhall hold for the tearme of that life which Ihall be endleffe and euerlafling. But as men hauing proprietie vnto chofe things whichare moil excellent, and by infinite degrees to be preferred before fuch things as belong vnto others, doe in comparifon of their owne poffeflions bafely efleeme,and eafilycontemne that,vnto whichthey haue no right and ti- tle; as the: Frenchman or Italian hauing goodly inheritances intheirowne countries, may eafily defpife the deferts of A- rabia for their barrennes, and the northerne climes almott inhabitable, byreafon oftheir extreame cold : fo this being our cafe,and we hauing a countrie moli rich, moll glorious, :fù11 ofall good neffe and bleffedneffe,itmay bee a thing eafie for all thole who confider of it, to contemne and fet lightly by thisearthly defert, and to preferre before k our heauenly countrie,much more then the children of Ifrael preferred the fruitful land of Canaan,before that wafle and defert clernefie,through which they had trauelled towards their owne countrie. But for as much as men in the world doe fo much ouerualue this place of their pilgrimage, and lightly efieemeofourheauenly habitatiü;delightingthéfelueshere -as intheir paradife,and mourning & fearing todepart vnto their owne home, as though it were the place of their exile ,and banifhmentrand feeing all this loue ofthe one,procee.. deth froma fuppefed excel lencie,and this diflike or loathing ofthe other, from a Falk conceit, that by our change,our flare fhall be impaired,and we in work cafe then wee were before; which can proceed from nothing but fromgroffe >ignorance,or pagan-like infidclity,wherebyeither we know not what ioy and happinefI E is prepared forGods faints, or doe