cafon; and his Sabbath-Work ever fince, is he illumination of his Spirit. Firft, he breathed ht upon the face of the Matter or Chaos; then breathed light into the face of Man; and ftill breatheth and infpireth light into the face of Chofen. The Poet that beautified the Sect, I was otherwife inferior to the reft, faith yet, ellently well: It is a pleasure to stand upon the , and to fee Ships toft upon the Sea, a pleasure and in the Window of a Castle, and to see a el, and the adventure thereof below: but no Gure is comparable to the ftanding upon the van ground of Truth: (an Hill not to be com Hed, and where the Air is always clear and ..:) and to fee the Errors, and Wandrings, Mifts, and Tempests in the Vale below: So althat this profpect be with Pity, and not fwelling or Pride. Certainly it is Heaven Earth, to have a Mans mind move in Chaeft in Providence, and turn upon the Poles th.

pafs from Theological and Philofophical to the Truth of Civil bufinefs, it will be wledged, even by thofe that practife it not, Year and round dealing is the honour of nature, and that mixture of falihood is y in Coyn of Gold and Silver, which may he Metal work the better, but it embafeth r thefe winding and crooked courses are ogs of the Serpent, which goeth bafely e Belly, and not upon the feet. There is that doth fo cover a Man with fhame, as

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for Advantage, as with the Merchant, but for the Lies fake. But I cannot tell. This fame Truth is a Naked and Open day-light, that doth not fhew the Mafques, and Mummeries, and Triumphs of the World, half fo ftately and daintily as Candle-light. Truth may perhaps come to the price of a Pearl, that fheweth beft by day s but it will not rife to the price of a Diamond or Carbuncle, that sheweth beft in varied Lights. A mixture of a Lie doth ever add pleasure. Doth any man doubt, that if there were taken out of Mens minds vain Opinions, flattering Hopes, falfe Valuations, Imaginations as one would, and the like; but it would leave the minds of a number of Men, poor fhrunken things, full of melancholy and indifpofition, and unpleafing to themfelves? One of the Fathers in great feverity called Poefie, Vinum Demonum, because it filleth the Imagination, and yet it is, but with the fhadow of a Lie. But it is not the Lie that paffeth through the mind, but the Lie that finketh in, and fetleth in it, that doth the hurt, fuch as we fpake of before. But howfoever thefe things are thus in Mens depraved judgments and affections; yet Truth, which only doth judg it felf, teacheth, that the enquiry of Truth, which is the love-making, or wooing of it: the knowledg of Truth, which is the prefence of it: and the belief of Truth, which is the enjoying of it, is the foveraign good of Human Nature. The first Creature of God in the works of the Days, was the light of the Senfe; the laft was the light of 101 Reasons

Reafon; and his Sabbath-Work ever fince, is the illumination of his Spirit. Firft, he breathed light upon the face of the Matter or Chaos; then he breathed light into the face of Man; and ftill he breatheth and infpireth light into the face of his Chofen. The Poet that beautified the Sect, that was otherwife inferior to the reft, faith yet excellently well: It is a pleafure to stand upon the fhore, and to fee Ships tost upon the Sea; a pleasure to ftand in the Window of a Castle, and to fee a Battel, and the adventure thereof below: but no pleafure is comparable to the ftanding upon the vantage-ground of Truth: (an Hill not to be com manded, and where the Air is always clear and ferene:) and to fee the Errors, and Wandrings, and Mifts, and Tempests in the Vale below: So always that this profpect be with Pity, and not with fwelling or Pride. Certainly it is Heaven upon Earth, to have a Mans mind move in Charity, reft in Providence, and turn upon the Poles of Truth.

To pass from Theological and Philosophical Truth, to the Truth of Civil business, it will be acknowledged, even by thofe that practise it not, that clear and round dealing is the honour of Mans nature, and that mixture of falihood is like allay in Coyn of Gold and Silver, which may make the Metal work the better, but it embafeth it. For thefe winding and crooked courfes are the goings of the Serpent, which goeth bafely upon the Belly, and not upon the feet. There is to Vice that doth fo cover a Man with fhame, as

to be found falfe and perfidious. And therefore Mountaigne faith prettily, when he enquired the reafon, Why the word of the Lie fhould be fuch a difgrace, and fuch an odious charge: Saith he, If it be well weighed, To fay that a Man lieth, is as much as to fay, that he is a Brave towards God, and a Coward towards Men. For a Lie faces God, and (hrinks from Min. Surely the wickednefs of Falfhood, and breach of Faith, cannot. poffibly be fo highly expreffed, as in that it fhall be the laft Peal, to call the Judgments of God upon the Generations of Men; it being foretold, that when Chrift cometh, He shall not find faith upon the Earth.

ME

EN fear Death, as Children fear to go in the dark: And as that natural fear in Children is increafed with Tales, fo is the other. Certainly the contemplation of Death, as the wages of fin, and paffage to another World, is Holy and Religious; but the fear of it, as a tribute due unto Nature, is weak. Yet in Religious Meditations, there is fometimes mixture of vanity and fuperftition. You fhall read in fome of the Friers Books of Mortification, that a Man fhould think with himself, what the pain is, if he have but his fingers end preffed or tortured,

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and thereby imagin what the pains of Death are, when the whole body is corrupted and diffolved; when many times Death paffeth with lefs pain, than the torture of a Limb: For the moft Vital parts are not the quickett of fenfe. And by him that fpake only as a Philofopher, and natural man, it was well faid; Pompa mortis magis terret, quam Mors ipfa, Groans, and Convullions, and difcoloured Face, and Friends weeping, and Blacks, and Obfequics, and the like, fhew Death terrible. It is worthy the obferving, that there is no paffion in the mind of Man fo weak, but it mates and mafters the fear of Death: and therefore Death is no fuch terrible Enemy, when a Man hath fo many attendants about him, that can win the combat of him. Revenge triumphs over Death; Love flights it; Honour afpireth to it; Grief flyeth to it; Fear pre-occupateth it, Nay we read, after Otho the Emperor had flain himself, Pity (which is the tendereft of Affections) provoked many to die, out of meer compaffion to their Soyeraign, and as the trueft fort of Followers. Nay, Seneca adds Nicenefs and Satiety; Cogita quamdiu eadem faceres, Mori velle, non tantum Fortis, aut Mifer, fed etiam Faftidiofus poteft. A man would dye, though he were neither valiant nor miferable, only upon a weariness to do the fame thing fo oft over and over. It is no lefs worthy to obferve, how little alteration in good Spirits the approaches of Death make. For they appear to be the fame Men, till the laft inftant. Auguftus Cafar dyed in a complement; B 3

Livia