10 Meditations and Jfowes. Cent. I. N A One faid,It is g~ to inurethyyouth to fpeak wdl,for good f~eech is m~ny times drawn intothe alfethon: But, I would fear, that fpeaking wellwtthout feehng, were the next way to procure an habitua!l hypocrilre.Let mygood words follow good •.f. feelions; notgoe beforethem. I w1ll thereforefpeak as Ithmk : but w11hall, I wdl labour to think well;and then I know, I cannot but fpeak well. When I confider my foul,I could bep:Jud,to thinkofhowdivinea nature & quality it is:but when I caft down mine eyes to my body(as the Swan to her black legs) and fee what loathfome matter itfues from themouth, noftrils,cares, pores, and other paffages, and how moft carion-like ofall other creatures it is after death; I am jufily afhamed to rhink,thar fo excellenta gueft dwels but ina meercleanly dunghill. B 68 Every worldlingis amad man.For,befidcs that he preferreth profit and pleafureto Vertoe,the World to God,Earth toHeaven,Timeto Eternity; he pampers the body, and flarvesrhe foule. Hefeeds on Fowl an hundred rimes, that it may feed him but one< 1 and feoks all Lands and Soasfor dainties, not caring whetherany,orwhat ropaft he providoth for his fou!e.He cloaths the body with all rich ornaments, that it may be as fair without as it is filthy within 1 whilefl his foule goes bare and naked, having not a rag ofknowkdge tocovet ir. Yea, hecares not to deflroy his foule , to p!eafethe body, when forrhe falvation ofthe foule, he w111 not fo much as hold the body fhortof the leaf! pleafuro.Whatis,i(this be not,a roafonable kind of madneffo~ Lotmornjoy my foule no longer, then I pref<rreit to my body. Letmehaveade- C formed,l<ane, crooked, unhoalthfull, negleded body ; fa that I may finde my fuule found,flrong,well furoifhed,well difpofed both for earth and heaven. 69 .Afo was fick but ofhis feet,farre from the h<art:yet becaufo he fought to thePhy· fitians,not to God,he efcaped not.Htztki•hwas fick to die:yet becaufe hetruflcdto God,not to Phyfitians, he was reflorod. Meanes, without God, cannot help: God, without meanes,can,and ofr<n doth.I will ufe good meanes,not refl in them. 7~ Amans befl monument is his vertuous adions. Foolifh is the hopeofimmortality, and futurepraife,by the coft offenfcletfe flone ; whenthe Paffenger fhall on!y fay, Here lies a fair flone,and a filthy carkaffe.That onlycan report thee rich : but foro- D ther prai!es, thy felfmufl build thy monument alive 1 and write thy own Epitaph in honefl and honourable a6tions. Which are fo much morenoble then the ocher,as living men are better thendead flones:Nay, I know not if the other be not the way to worka perperuall fucceflion ofinfamy,whiles the cenforious Readtr, upoo occafion thereof,lhallcomment upon thy bad life:whereas in this,overy mans heartis aTomb, and every mans t6nguowriteth an Epitaph uponthewell-behaved.Either I will procure me fuchamonument, to beremembred by; or elfe it is better to be inglorious, rhen infamous. 71 Thebafefl things areever mofl plenrifull.Hiflory and experience tell us,that fame kind ofMoufe brcedeth 1 ~o. young ones in one nefl:whcreas tbe Lion,or Elephant E bear<tb but one atonce.I have everfound,The leaf! wit, yeeldeththe mofl words. I;. isboth the furefl and wifefl way,to Speak littleandThink more. 7• An evill man is clay to God,wax to the Devill.God may flamp him into powder, or temper him anew; butnoneofhis meanes can melt him. Contrariwife, a good man is Gods wax,and Satansclay: he relentsat every look of God, butis not flirred at any tentation.I had rather bow then break, to God : but, for Satan,or the world, ! had ratherbe brokenin peoces with their·violence, then fuffer my felf to be bowed unto their obedience. • 73 It is an eafie matter for a man to he careleff"e ofhimfelf; and yet much eafimobe enamour(d
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