Serm. I. OfSincerity toward.' God and Man. And this is the cafe of every Hypocrite ; all the difagreement which is be tween his Tongue and his Thoughts, his A&ions and his Heart, is open to that Eye, fromwhich nothing can be hid ; for the ways ofMan are before the eyes. o f the Lord, andhe feeth all his goings ; there is no darknefr nor fsadsw ó death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themfelves. Fifthly, Truthand Reality have all the Advantages of Appearance, and many more. If the thew of any thing be good for any thing, I am fure. Sincerity.* better ; for whydoes any Man diffemble, or feem to be that whichl },e is not, but becaufe he thinks it good to have fuch a quality as he pretends to? for to counter- felt and diífemble, is to put on the appearance offoie real-Excellency. Now the belt way in the World for a Man to feem tobe any thing, is really to be what he would feem to be. Befides, that it is many times as troublefome to make good. the Pretence ofa good Quality, as to have it ; and if a Man have it not, it is, ten to one, but he is difcovered to want it, and then all his pains and labour to feem to have it is loft. There is fomething unnatural in Painting, which a skil- ful Eye will easily difcern from Native Beauty and Complexion. It is hard to perfonate and aft a Part long ; for where Truth is not at the bot- tom, Nature will always be endeavouring to return, and will peep out and be- tray herfelf one time or other. Therefore if any Man think it convenient to teem Good, let him be fo indeed, and then his Goodnefs will appear to every Body's fatisfa&ion; for Truth is convincing, and carries its own light and evi- dence along with it, and will not only commend us to every Man's Confcience, but which is much more, to God, who fearcheth and Teeth our Hearts ; fo that upon all accounts Sincerity is trueWifdom. Particularly as to the Affairs of this. World, Integrity hath many Advantages over all the fine and artificial ways of Diflimulation and Deceit ; . it is much the plainer and eafier, much the fafer and more fecure way of dealing in the World ; it hath lefs of trouble and difficulty, ofentanglement andperplexity, of danger and hazard in it ; it is the (horteft and neareft way to our end, carrying us thither in a ftraight line, and will hold out and laft longeft. The Arts of Deceit and Cunning do continually grow weak- er and lefs effectual and ferviceable to them that ufe them ; whereas Integrity gains f'rength byufe, and the more and longer any Man praftifeth it, the greater fervice it does him, by confirming his Reputation, and encouraging thofe with whom he hath to do, to repofe the greater truft and confidence in him, which is an unfpeakable advantage in the. Bufinefsand Affairsof,Life. But a Diffembler muft always be upon his guard, and watch himfelf carefully, that he do not contradift his own Pretence ; for he ads' an unnatural part, and therefore muff put a continual force and reftraint upon himfelf. Truth always lies uppermoft, and ifa Man do not carefully attend, he will be apt to bolt it out : whereas he that ads fincerely, hath the eafieft Task in the World; becaufe he follows Nature, and fo is put to no trouble and care about his Words and A&ions ; he needs not invent any Pretences before-hand, nor make Excufes af- terwards, for any thing he bath faid or done. But Infincerity is very troublefom to manage; a Man hath fo many things to attend to, fo many ends to bring together, as make hisLife a very perplext and in- tricate thing. Oportet mendacem e/fe memorem, A yar hadneed havea good me- mory, left he contradier at one time what he faid at another : but Truth is always confiftent with it felf, and needs nothing to help it out ; it is always beer at hand, and fits upon our Lips, and is ready to drop out before we are aware ; whereas a Lye is,troublefome, and fets a Man's invention upon the Rack, and one trick needs a great many more to make it good. It is like building upon a falfe Foundation, which continually (lands in need of Props to (hoar it up, and proves at laft more chargeable, than to have raifed a fubftantial Building at firft upon a true and folid Foundation ; for Sincerity is firm and fubftantial, and there is nothing hollow and unfound in it, and becaufe it is plain and open, fears no dif- covery, of which the crafty Man is always in danger, and when he thinks he C walks
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