_V 21, Meditations and Jlowes. Cent. II. lhallfeel<them, and that they are not ~o <afily_~fcaped after, as before avoid<?· 0 A Lord,keep thou mine eyes from b~holdmg vanme. And thm•gh mme; eyes fee tt,let not my heart ftoop to it, but loath ltafarre<J(f, And, •fl ~oop at any tune, and betaken,fetthou my fouleat liberty: tha~ I may fay, My foul IS efcaped,ev:n as a b1td out ofthefnareofthe Fowler;the fnare IS broken,an9 I am dehvcred. z6 In fuffering evill,to look to fecondary caufcs,wit~out refpect to ~he higheft,maketh impatience.For fo we bite nt the ftone,& neglett lnm tha0'rew tt.l fw<rake ablow at ourc~uall,wc. return ic Wlth ufiny:1fofaPrmce,wereprne not. What matter IS It,tf God kil me wheth<r he doe it by an Ague,or by the band ofa Ty!3nt~ Again,in ex. pedation ofgood,to look to the fi , ft caufe,without careofthe fecond,arguesidleneffe and caufeth want. As we cannot help our fdvcs, without God: fo God will not B ordinarily help us,without our felves. In both,! will look up to God,without repining at themeancs in one, or rrufting them in the other. I >7 Ifmy money were another mans,I:could but keep it :only the expending lhewes it my own. It isgreater glory,comfort,and gain ,to lay it out well, then to keep it fafcly. God bath made me,not his Treafurer,but his Sr<ward. z8 A•gt~j/lnts friend,Nthridl114,ootunjufily hated alhortanfwer,to aweighty and difficult queftion;b<eaufe the difquifitionofgreat truths requires time, and the determini';f. is perillous: I will as much hate a tedious and farce-fetched anfwcr to a fl10rr and ea tc queftion. For asthat other wrongs the rruth,fo this tbe hearrr. c 29 Performance is a binder. I will requeft no more favour ofany man then Imuft needs.Iwill rather chufe to m~ke an honeft thift, then over-mnch enthrall my fclfe, by being beholding. 30 The world is a !lage; every man an attar, and plaies his part, here, either in a Comedie,or Tragedir.The good man is a Comedian: which(how ever he begins) ends merrily: but thewicked man aCts aTragedy ; and therefore ever ends in horrour. Thou feeft a wicked man vaunt himfelfon this llag<: [by till the !aft ati, and look to his end (as D•vid did) and fee whctherrhat be peace. Thou wouldeft make ftrange Tragedies,ifthou wouldeft have but one A a. Who fees an Oxe,grazing in a fat and D raoke pafturr,and thinkes notthat he is neer to the Oaughter~ whereas the lean beaft, that toi!es under the yoke, is farre enough from the lhambles. The beft wicked man cannot be fo envied in his firft lhewes, as he ispitiable in the conclufior.. 3r Ofall objeds ofbeneficcnce, I will ehufe either an old man,or achilde; becaufe thefe are_moft out ofhope to requite.Theoneforgets agood turo:the otherl·ives not to repay tt. 32 That, which Pyth•t.""' faid ofPhilofophm, is more true of Chriflians: (for, Cbri!lianity is nothing but adivineand better Philofophy) Three forts ofmen come to theMarket: buyers, fellers, lockers on.The two firft are both bufic,and carefully E diftraded about their Market: only the third live happily; ufing the world as ifchey ufedit not. 33 There be three things,which ofalloth<rs I will never ftrive for:the wall,che way, the beft feat. lfldeferve well, a low place cannot difparage me fo much as I {],ll grace it: ifnot, the hdght ofmy place lhall adde to my lhame; whiles every m•n lh•ll condemne me ofpride matched with unwonhinelfe•• 34 lfeethere is notfo much difference betwixt a man and a beaft, as betwixt a Chriftiananda naturall man. For, whereas man lives but one life of reafon, above the beaft;a Chriftianlives four lifes,aboveanaturall man: The lifeofin<hoateregen~rauon,
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