Hea"1en upon Earth. 87 A focblc llomacke;and (rilping fince his !all meale) doubts, whether he 1110uld eat of his bell difh or nothing: thisman repines at nothing more, than to fee his hungry Plough-me~ feed on a crufi; and wifheth to cha~ge ellates, on~ondition hee might change bodies with him. Say that God lhould give thee thy w11h: what wouldell thoudeft re~ Letme(thou f.1ill)be wile, healrhfull,rich,honourable, firong,learned, beautiful! immortal!. !know thoulovell thy felfe fo well, that thon canll wifhall thefeand :Uore. Butl:1ythat God hath fo lhared outthefegifts (by a moll wife and julldillribution) thatthoucanllhavebutfomeofthefe, herhaps but one; which wouldll thou fino!e out for thy fel,fe ~ Any thinf,, belide w at thou hall: Iflearned, thou wouldell b~e firong; ifllrong, honourab e; ifhonourable, locg lived : Some ofthefe thou art already. Thou foole ! cannot God chufe better for thee,than thou forth~ fclfe~ln othermatches thou trullellthechoice ofa skilfullerchapmafi<when B thou eell a goodly horfe in the Faire (though his lhahe pleafe thine £r.e well) yet thoudarefi not buy him,ifacunning Horfe-maller lha tell thee he is au!ty;and art willing to take aJ!ainerand founder, onhis commendation, againfi thyfancy. How much more fl1o dwe inthis cafe,aUowhis choyce that cannot deceive us;that cannot bedeceived ~ But,thou knowell thatotherthou defirefi, to be better than what thou hall: Better perhaps for him that bath it ; not better for thee. Libertyis fweet and profitable to thofe that can ufe it: bat fetters are better for the franucke man. Wine is good nourifhment for the hea!thfull; poyfon to the aguilh. It is good for afound body to lleep in a whole skinne; but he thatcomplaines offwdling fores, cannot fleepe till it be broken. Hemlocke to the Goat, and Spiders to theMonkey, rume togood fullenance;which to other creatures are accounteddead!y.As in diets, fo in ellimationofgood and evil!, ofgreater and lell'er good, there is muchvariety. c All palats commend not onedilh; and what one comm~nds for mofi delicate, anotherrejetls forunlavoury. And 1frhou know whatd1fl1 IS mofi pleafant to thee,tlfy Phyfirian knows bellwhich is wholfome.Thou wouldell: follow thine appetite too much; and(as theFrench have in their Proverbe) wouldll: dig thyowne rave with thy teeth: thy wife Phyfirian over-feesand over-rules thee, He f~es, i thou were more elleemed,thou wouldll: beproud;ifmore ll:rong,!icemious;ifricher,covetous; ifhealtbfuller , more fecure : burrhou thinkell: not thus hardly ofthy lo!"'. Fond man! what knowell thou future thin~~ h'eleeve thou him, that only knowes what would be,what will be. Thouwoul ell wiliinfly r,oeto heaven;what better guide canll thou have, than him that dwels there~ I he ead thee thorowdeepe Gough•, and brakie thickets;know,rhathe knowes this the nearerway,thoughmore camberfome. Can there be in him any want ofwifdome,not to forefee the bell~ Can there D be any want ofpower,norto effe<tthe bell:~ anywant oflove, not to givethee what he knowes is bel~( How canfl thou then fuileof the bell~ Since what his power can doe,and what hisWifdome fees lhould bedone, his Love bath done, becaufeall are infinite. He willeth not things,becaufethey are good,but they ~re good, becaufe he wills them. Yea, ifought had beenebetter, this had notbeene. God wi!leth what he doth : and ifthy will accord not with his, whether wilt rho~ condemne ofimperfcdion ~ SECT. XXVII. - I Have chalked outthe way ofPeace: What remainerh, but rhat wewalke alo~e The concluGin it~ I have conductedmy Reader to theMine, yea, to the Mintofhappinelfe; on of the E. and lhewed him thole glorious heaps,which may eternally enrich him:If(now) wltole. he lhall goe away with his hands and skirt empty;how is he butworthyofamiferablewant~Who llull pity us,while we haveno mercy on ourfelves~Wilfull dillrefs ha.rh n:itber remedy, nor compaflion. And to ~peak freely, I have oft wondered at thiS pamfull folly ofus men, who mthe openview ofour peace (as ifwe were condemn<;d to a ne~elfary and fatal! unquietnell'e) live upon our owne rack, finding no more Joy, t~ ifwe .were under no other hands,but our executioners. \)ne droupethunder afained evdl;another augments a fmall forrow through impanence; anoI> ther --~
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