i o6 Good IVien Stranger; and vol. 1. liarly liable to a great many Evils and Sufferings, upon account of their Piety and Virtue. They are not of the World (as our bleffed Saviour tells his Difciples, yohn t 5. 19.) and betaufe they are not of the World, therefore the World hateth them, and taketh all Opportunities and Occafions to vex and perfecute them in one kind or other, either by doing all manner of Evil to them, or by fpeaking all manner ofEvil of them. But fuppofe we tfcape Trouble upon this account, there are abundance ofcom- mon and natural Inconveniencies, which render Human Life very uneafy. For either we muff live alone, or in the Company and Society of others : One of thefo two is neceffary and unavoidable. Suppofe we would live alone ; How few are there that can enjoy themfelves tolerably alone for any confiderable time? For though there be a great deal too much of Self-love in Mankind, and Men are generally extreamly fondof themfelves; yet I know not how it happens, (though fo it is) that very few Men in the World care for their own Company, or can 'endure, for any coh'frderable time, to converfe only with themfelves; nay, for the ínoft part, they are fooner glutted with themfelves,and furfeited of their own Con- verfation, than of the worft Company they can meet with ; a fhrewd Sign, as one would think, that they knew fomething worfe by themfelves than of any body elfe, or at leaft they know it more -certainly. It is a wife and deep Saying ofArflotte, Whoever aftetis to be alone, muff be 'ñ CO, 11 Onefcv, either a God Or a Wild Beall ; either he muff be fufcient for himfelf, and want nothing ; or of fo wild and favage a Difpofition, as to deffroy every thing that is weaker, and to run away from every thing that is ftronger than himfelf. NowMan is neither good enough to be contented and fatisfied with himfelf, nor bad enough to hate and avoid every body elfe; and therefore he muft enter into Society, and keep Company with other Men. And if we go abroad into the World, and try the Converfation ofMen, it can- not but grieve us to fee a great many Things, which yet we muff fee every Day ; the Cenforioufnefs, and Uncharitablenefs, and Infincerity of Men one towards another ; to fee with what Kindnefs they will treat one another to the Face, and how hardly they will ufe them behind their Backs. If there were nothing elfe, this one naughty Quality, fo common and reigning among Mankind, were enough to make an honeft and true-hearted Man, one that loves Plainnefs and Sincerity, tobe heartily fick ofthe World, and glad to fteal offthe Stage, where there is no- thing native and fincere, but all perfonated and aéled ; where the Converfation of a great part of Men is all defigning and infidious, full of Flattery and Falfhood, of good Words and ill Offices : Onefpeaketh peaceably to his Neighbour with his Mouth; but inhis Heart he lieth in wait, as it is in the Prophet, Ter. 9. 8. And when a Man hath done all the good Turns he can, and endeavouredto oblige every Man, and not only to live inoffenfively, but exemplarily ; he is fairly `dealt withal, and comes off upon good Terms, if he can but efcape the ill Words of Men for doing well, and obtain a Pardon for thofe Things which truly deferve Praife. But fetting afide thefe, and the like melancholy Confiderations ; when we are in the Health and Vigour of our Age, when our Blood is warm, and 'our Spirits quick, and the Humours of our Body not yet turned and fowred by great Dif- appointments, and grievous Loffes of our Effates, or neareft Friends and Rela- tions, by a long Courfe ofAfflifions,-by-many crofs Events and calamitous Acci- dents yet we are continually liable to all thefe; and the perpetual Fear and Dan- ger ofthem is no finall Trouble and Uneafinefs to our Minds, and does in a great meafure rob us of the Comfort, and eat out the Pleafure and Sweemefs of all our Enjoyments and, by degrees, the Evils we fear overtake us; and as one Affiiaion and Trouble goes off, another fucceeds in theplace of it, like Job's Meffengers, whofe bad Tidingsand Reports ofcalamitous Accidents came fo thick upon him, that they overtook one another. If wehave a plentiful Fortune, we are apt to abufe it to Intemperance and Luxu- ry ; and this naturally breeds bodily Pains and Difeafes, which take awayall the Comfort and Enjoyment of a great Eftate. If we have Health, it may be we are aftldted
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