The Vanity of the World. of no price nor value; and lba)l his Eftatc be) when his Heart i_s ~ot? Indeed_nothing n1.1l.;:es ns rich as Men, but Wtfilom, and Vertuc; nor as Chrifbans, but P~ety and Holinefs. And in rhefe which are the only true and fubftantial Richeh the poorcft Chriftian may vie !takes with all the World. Drop millions of Gold, boundlefs Revenues, ample Territo~·ies, Crowns and Sceptcrs, and a poor contemptible Chrifti.. an lays his one God agamfl: all thefe, and beggers them. Fourthly; if the World and all the Enjoyments of it be thus vain, * this .fuould 4· , forti fie us agat~ft the fear of Death, whrch can depnve us ofnothrng but what IS both • M.:tAt~ vain and vexauous. ~ 01 '<u· )U)}..Oy •w-e),;;. ,'}r1,, 1.:nv-;r~l{r.,.H ,i t.m~ut~, ;; ;,~-m~ ~it_E.!p.~vtt, c.lv ,.U~M-1' di!>l<;tt.&tl. Anton.l. !?.. s. J· Ama!is 'n'1.s Ab· dttcit, n611.; hnir, v erum .fi qut~rin~uJ . Hx quitkm .1 C]rtnAi&IJ Hrsifill fi: top:Q[t deftut_Rtu1'. ut iJ ,. re'c Pttlt~~meo prDh1hit:•4 ,J[t dienfllr ilia in foholit diem, qu•d multi hitAuditit , m1rttm {ihi ipfaeonfoifmmt. C1c. Tuf. quzfi,J r. Life is nothing elfe but an huddle ofBulincfs, a great [warm ofEmploymcnts, ~hat ha\'C more ftings in them than Honey. If we be great, we are but the larger HIVC'> for Cares:, if honourable, we are but raifed :~.bove others to be the more weather-beaten. An high degree in this \Vorld, cloth but lhelter other Mens Cares under our. Wings, and adopt other Mens ~roubles, as a wretched filpplcme_nt .to our ?wn. lt our Eftatc be mean and low, as It expofeth us to Contempt antl lnjunes, fo it cngagcth \IS to rcfate our [elves from the preflltres of Poverty by our own fweat and indufi:ry. Thofe few things that are neccffa ry to a comfortable fubfiftcnce in the World, will yet coft us care and labour, :making Heart, and a weary Hand:, and this turns our Bread into Stones, and our F ilb into Scorpions. If we have too much B11linefs in the \Vorld, our Call ings become a Burrhen or Temptation to us : And if we have none, we become a Burthen to our felves and to others. God hath written V:tnity and Vex1tion upon every Condition; and if his Providence cn:.:.uc not Troubles for us, yet our own Folly will. Thus hath Man made himfclf a Sla\rc and Drudge to the \Vorld, over which God hath m·tde him Lord. \Vhy thcnlhouldDcath be fo terrible, which comes only to cafe us of onr burthen, to ftro:tk the fiveat from our Bro....vs, and to give 11$ a profound Rcft from all our Labours in the Bed qf the Grave? There (as ']ob faith) the weary bear re.fh and all Cares Jo~ l·'7· and Troubles vanilli, as foon as our Heads tonch that PiUow. There r~· no ltVork nor De'1.1icc in the Gra7.1c whither we are going; but a deep Rcpofe, a fecurc Reti'remcnt, where none of the Vexations of this Life lhall 'ever find us. And as it frees us from all the Cares, fo from :tll the SorrO\VS of this World. \Vhlt is our Life but a Bubble? Our Sighs arc the Air, and our Tears the\Vatcr that make it. ThefirJt poffeffion that we take of this\:Vorld, is Dy crying: And there h; nothing in it that we hold by a furer tenure than onr Griefs. Tears arc the Inheritance of our Eycs,eitherour Sins ca ll for them or our Suffcrings, and noth ing eau dry themup but the Duft of the Grave. Sometimes we lofe a Friend, or near Relation:, the Tribute we owe their Memory muftbepaid down in Tears. Sometimes their ungodly PraCtices torment us, when by the ir Lewdnefs and Debaucheries they arc loft both to their own lntcrcfts , and our Hopes. Sometimes compaillon of other Mens Sutferings, affeCt-s us with a tender Sorrow; and as if we had not grief enough fpringing up out of our own ilowe.ls, we call in foreign Succours to augment the Score. And many time~ tedious and lingring SickneJTes wafl:e us, grinding Pains rack and torture us, w1lich were far the more intolerable, but that they hall:cn on that Death, that puts an end and period to all a ChrHtian's Mifer ies. We arc not concerned in the Grave, at the lofs of (omc Friends, nor the evil Courfes of others; what Calamities bcful the World, or thofe whom we loved deareft in it: There it troubles us not, tho' Preferment go by the merit of Flattery and Bafenefs, while t he generous and gallant Soul ftarves thro' the mere rigour of his Venue. It conce_rns us nothing what ftinking Breath blafts our good Name; Or what unworthy Foot trc:tds upon our . Grave. Here a little pain molefts us; but there whole Limbs rot, and fall off, and crumble into Duft, without at all difturbing that quictReft, that buries all theCares and Sorrows of this Life in filencc and oblivion. Where then is the dreadfulnefs of Death, which only frees us from the Troubles and Croffes of a wretched Life? It is unreafonable to comJ?lain of that Change, which delivers us from a World, of ~vh ich wc::~re ftill complainmg: And it is childiJh to quarrel at that Hand which undtclfes us, and firips offour uncafie Garments, only to la:y us to fleep. " · Laftly; If the World be fo vain and empty, we may learn to be well contented 5, With our prefent State andCondition, whatfoever it be. It bath been fn\ly demonftra.. t<'d,
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