The Vanity of.the World. * .As an hungry Man that dreams he is at a furnifu'd T:tblc, and fills himfeif with· lf~·l9-8· all V':trietics of Delicates, how joyful, and how pleas'd is he, how fully fatisficd, !f he were not to wake again! Bntfome qnc jogs orcallshim;he wakes, and. finds himfelf huuger-ftarv'd, nothing fed but hisFa_ncy. So _is it with us in this Wo:ld. \;Vhile the Soul lies under the Coverlet of this Body, tt fieeps: And one thmks h1mfe\f Rich. another Great and Noble; a third, Learned and Wife: But abs! All this is onl'y a Drea~: When either Afflictions, 9r Death, make a noife, and call upon him, the Oeepy Son~ aw~kes, and finds it felf empty and hunger-ftarv'd, after all the imaginary fl:ore tt enJoyed. . Now, the Unfatisfaltorinefs of the World, may be clearly evinced by thefc two things. Firflj In that th~ highe~ c;:ondition we can ~tta i nnnto, _cannot free us from Cares I; and Crones. Yea mdced lt IS fa far from frecmg us, that Jt 1·arhcr encrcafeth them. It doth but make us fprcad the wider, and ftand the fairer mark for trouble. And yet we :1rc like Children, that think the Sky lies on yonder Hi ll; thither they run, hoping to ranch it there: \V:hen they ~ome, ~hey find it dillodg'~ to ~nether Hill; after it they run, and purfi1e lt from Htll to Ht\1, and after all thetr pams and fwe.1t, find rhcmfelvcs as far below it as at firft: So it fares with us; we thinkHappinefsand trne Content lies in fame condition above us; thither we hafrc1~, hoping we lliall reach it there; when we arr.i\•c thither, we find the Happinefs we fought for is diOodg'd, and fecms to us to refl:in ~Condition a?ove .that: But when \:"e attain this too, ftill we are as far below Happmefs and Sansfa(hon, as we were m our loweft ~~ . . \Vhen we clunge our outward Condition, be itto ne,rer fogre:1tadvantage, w~; do not lofe, but o~ly cha~1ge our Care~. If we are fre~d from the Cares _and Crolfes of a poor and pnvatc L1fe; we fall mto thofe of a pompous and env1ed Greatnefs; which are both more numerous, and more opprcffivc. * ThcMau that lies moft compaCted, and in leafl: compafs in the World, is .. Augufit~ndt~ju•Jtpatrimor.ill , like to fcape belt: Whereas the great Ones, that take up much :JUmi;;;,p~.inju~:bl:~~fi!i room, do only Jhcw in how many Places and Concernments they m~rt~in bell~. qu i• 11rmafoiJ arc liable to be wounded. I t is not therefore any thing in this eowtro~hi pDjfo~tt, qu~"''l''"fopcr. \Vorld thlt can giYc you fatisfaChon. All the Enjoyments of frmduntur, & 141idtque mt~gnitudt it ar c to the Soul as Wind to the Stomach; they may gripe it, but lf~a~;~~:'~'44 c::f;~;· inSe:a:~ they can never fatisfie it. Indeed fo vain ?re they, that they fcarcc m fo,t, ut t t lum m'!.lar.Jim "'. l1ave any .other proof of their Reality, but the pain and torment J.t. Id c. 9 , they bri1_1g with them. &condty; The \Vorld appears to be unfatisfaC!ory, in that be our Condition what it will, yet ftill we defire change. We can no more refl: in an high Efl:atc, than in a l0w; but fl:ill we defire fomething farther and fomcthing better. -{- As fick Men t tlo tofs to and fro, from fide to fide, thinking to find cafe by changing their pofture ; oi .1\;;,:jr whereas it is not their outward Pofl:ure but their inward Difl:cmpcr, that is the caufc ~ ~"vr.· of their reftlcOflefs: So do we endeavour to change and fbiftConditions in thcl-Norld, cl>nso ~ and lie fornetimes in one pofl:ure, and fornetimes in another, but yet are reftlefs in f.J -;r~~v all ;_for whcrcfoc' t·l: we tnmbk, we carry our Difeafe with us; falfe Opinions, and :;o:J,~~v fooll01 Hopes, and lmpotent Defircs, and fond Defigns, . which make us complain of J'ld;ff~ our prcfent State, and wifh the amendment of that, when nothing \Vants Cure butiiv ,f;~ our fclves. "?"v~o~c.J~ ~A.lV !dv f;f 1~lifu ~-m~.;~!v• ~"'~~v f.I.Af...ttJvHrT~, ,-~'v ... ;e;>..~ ~ -fflr .l't1A.ld,ll c1ti,U,U£~tlj~'Tt~ i<~.v?ol~· ;.;~3·~~ ~~:~ri;~~~;:~f:~;;· !:.P'h;~~~ ~4~~h: ::1~:.7;,.7 o;9~-~opJu·rat~h.cde fr:;u~~A~~/W ~sefYA'm~. * The Servant thinks he !hall he a happy Man when he is made Free. Is the Freeman happy? No: But he !hall he, when he hath gQtten li1ch an Efl:ate. Is the jtich Man happy? No: But he {hall be when he is invefl:cd with fuch an Honour and Dignity. Well; Is the Honourable Man happy? No: Unlefs he be Supre:l!n. And thofe who are Supream cannot think themfelves compleatly happy, unlefs they be "Cniverfal Monarchs; and thofe who were :('o, we find they could not reft there, but would needs be adored for Gods. 0 whither do the boundlefs Defires of Men hurry them! Nothing in this World can put a ftop to them. F .. Oih.h!JJ/.al 'iv.!u/~p:- ;~:1t~:~9i~;~~5' t!:~;?. T~r q;;oJ..h?t.(" ;}"7fl, ~ mlJ..1Y <~.;f ;~:'T;;:::.H~;; i::;:.::';~: 13atr,;>..ii,. oi .N {3:ttT/;>..fi~ T~' Eh~( #A~O~.~,; /$eJ~-rrlP ~ dr"eg.7i/Hy •61."-o~n~. E1711. ~n.or JH T -&Jp' i.:!!vT¥, t,/\~7, ~~ 'Tfh ¥J't:wrr; 7tl/, ,.,g:9' i~t'J'T~$ ~I' t:x.~orlr, &c. Plut. /i. It
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