MAXIM 1.

LET not Civil Discords in a foreign Kingdom encourage thee to make Invasion: They that are facti­ous among themselves, are jea­lous of one another, and more strongly prepared to encounter with a common Enemy. Those whom Civil Commotions set at variance, foreign Hostility re­conciles: [Page 2] Men rather affect the Possession of an inconvenient Good, than the Possibility of an uncertain Better.

MAX. 2.

If thou hast made a Con­quest with thy Sword, think not to maintain it with thy Sceptre, neither conceive, That new Fa­vours can cancel old Injuries: No Conquerour sits secure up­on his new got Throne, so long as they subsist in Power that were despoiled of their Posses­session by this Conqueror.

MAX. 3.

Let no Price, nor Promise of [Page 3] Honour, bribe thee to take part with the Enemy of thy Natu­ral Prince; assure thy self who­ever wins, thou art lost: If thy Prince prevail, thou art proclai­med a Rebel, and branded for Death; if the Enemy prosper, thou shalt be reckoned but as a meritorious Traytor, and not secure of thy self. He that loves the Treason, hates the Traitor.

MAX. 4.

If thy strength of Parts hath raised thee to eminent Place in the Commonwealth, take heed thou sit sure; if not, thy Fall will be the greater. As Worth is fit matter for Glory, so Glo­ry is a fair mark for Envy. By [Page 4] how much the more thy Ad­vancement was thought the Reward of Desert, by so much thy Fall will administer matter for Disdain. It is the ill fortune of a strong Brain, if not to be dignified as meritorious, to be deprest as dangerous.

MAX. 5.

It is the Duty of a States­man, especially in a free State, to hold the Commonwealth to her first frame of Government, from which the more it swerves the more it declines; which being declined, is not com­monly reduced without that Extremity, the danger where­of rather ruines than rectifies, [Page 5] Fundamental Alterations being inevitable Perils.

MAX. 6.

There be three sorts of Go­vernments, Monarchical, Ari­stocratical, Democratical; and they are apt to fall three several ways into Ruine; the first by Tyranny, the second by Ambi­tion, the last by Tumults: A Commonwealth grounded up­on any one of these is not of long continuance, but wisely mingled, each guard the o­ther, and make the Govern­ment exact.

MAX. 7.

Let not the Proceedings of a Captain, though never so commendable, be confined: As the Times alter, so must they; if these vary, and not they, Ruine is at hand. He least fails in his Design, that meets Time in its own way; and he that observes not the Alteration of the Times, shall never be a Conqueror. He is a wise Commander, and only he, that can discover the Change of Times, and changes his Proceedings according to the Times.

MAX. 8.

If thou desire to make War with a Prince with whom thou hast formerly ratified a League, assail some of his Allies rather than himself; if he resent it, and come or send in, then thou hast a fair Gale to thy Desires: If not, his Infidelity in not as­sisting his Allie will be disco­vered. Hereby thou shalt gain thy self Advantage, and faci­litate thy Designs.

MAX. 9.

Before thou undertakest a War, let thine Eye number thy Forces, and let thy Judgment [Page 8] weigh them. If thou hast a rich Enemy, no matter how poor thy Soldiers be, if coura­gious and faithful. Trust not too much the Power of thy Treasure, for it will deceive thee; being more apt to expose thee for a Prey, than to defend thee. Gold is not able to find good Soldiers; but good Sol­diers are able to find out Gold.

MAX. 10.

If the Territories of thy e­qual Enemy are situated far South from thee, the advantage is thine, whether he make Of­fensive or Defensive War: If North, the advantage is his; Cold is less tolerable than [Page 9] Heat; this is a Friend to Na­ture, that an Enemy.

MAX. 11.

It is not only uncivil, but dangerous, for Soldiers by re­proachful Words to throw dis­grace upon their Enemy: Base Terms are Bellows to a slacking Fury, and Goads to quicken up Revenge in a fleeing Foe. He that objects Cowardice a­gainst a failing Enemy, adds Spirit to him, to disprove the Aspersion at his own Cost. It is therefore the part of a wise Soldier to refrain it, or of a wise Commander to punish it.

MAX. 12.

It is better for 2 weak King­doms, rather to compound an Injury (tho' to some loss) than seek for Satisfaction by the Sword; lest while they 2 weak­en themselves by mutual blows, a third decide the Controversy to both their Ruines. When the Frog and the Mouse could not take up the Quarrel, the Kite was Umpire.

MAX. 13.

Let that Commonwealth which desires to flourish be ve­ry strict both in her Punish­ments and Rewards, according [Page 11] to the Merits of Subjects, and Offence of the Delinquents. Let the Service of the Deserver be rewarded, lest thou discou­rage Worth; and let the Crime of the Offender be punished, lest thou encourage Vice. The neglect of the one weakens a Commonwealth; the omission of both ruines it.

MAX. 14.

It is Wisdom for him that sits at the Helm of a settled State, to demean himself toward his Subjects at all times, so that upon any evil. Accident they may be ready to serve his Oc­casion. He that is only Gra­cious at the approach of a dan­ger, [Page 12] will be in danger when he expects Deliverance.

MAX. 15.

In all Designs which require not sudden execution, take ma­ture Deliberation, and weigh the convenients with the incon­venients, and then resolve; af­ter which neither delay the ex­ecution, nor betray thy Inten­tion. He that discovers him­self, till he hath made himself Master of his Desires, lays him­self open to his own Ruine, and makes himself Prisoner to his own Tongue.

MAX. 16.

Liberality in a Prince is no Virtue, when maintained at the Subject's unwilling cost. It is less reproach, by Miserable­ness, to deserve the popular Love: than by Liberality, to deserve private Thanks.

MAX. 17.

It is the Excellent Property of a good and wise Prince, to use War as he doth Physick, Carefully, Unwillingly, and Seasonably; either to prevent approaching Dangers, or to correct a present Mischief; or to recover a former Loss. He [Page 14] that declines Physick till he be accosted with the Danger, or weakned with the Disease, is bold too long, and wise too late: That Peace is too precise that limits the Justness of a War, to a Sword drawn, or a blow given.

MAX. 18.

Let a Prince that would be­ware of Conspiracies, be rather jealous of such whom his Ex­traordinary Favours have ad­vanced, than of those whom his Pleasure hath discontented. These want means to execute their pleasures; but they have means, at pleasure to Execute their desires. Ambition to [Page 15] Rule is more vehement than Malice to Revenge.

MAX. 19.

Before thou undertake a War, cast an Imperial Eye up­on the Cause. If it be Just, prepare thy Army, and let them all know they fight for God and thee: It adds fire to the Spirit of a Soldier to be assured that he shall either pro­sper in a fair War, or perish in a Just Cause.

MAX. 20.

If thou desire to know the Power of a State, observe in what Correspondence it lives [Page 16] with her Neighbouring State: If she make Alliance with the Contribution of Money, it is an evident sign of Weakness: If with her Valour, and repute of her forces, it manifests a Na­tive Strength; It is an unfallible sign of Power to sell Friend­ship, and of weakness to buy it. That is bought with Gold will hardly be maintained with Steel.

MAX. 21.

In the Calms of Peace, it is most requisite for a Prince to prepare against the Storms of War; both Theorically, in reading Heroick Histories, and Practically, in maintaining [Page 17] Martial Discipline. Above all things, let him avoid Idleness, as the bane of Honour; which in Peace Indisposes the Body, and in War Effeminates the Soul. He that would be in War Victorious, must be in Peace Laborious.

MAX. 22.

If thy two Neighbouring Princes fall out, shew thy self either a true Friend, or a fair Enemy. It is indiscretion to adhere to him whom thou hast least cause to fear, if he Van­quish. Neutrality is dange­rous, whereby thou becomest a necessary Prey to the Con­queror.

MAX. 23.

It is a great argument of a Prince's Wisdom, not only to chuse but also to prefer Wise Counsellors, and such are they, that seek less their own advan­tages, than his; whom Wise Princes ought to reward, lest they become their own Car­vers, and so of good Servants, turn bad Masters.

MAX. 24.

It much conduces to the dishonour of a King, and the Ill-fare of his Kingdom, to Multiply Nobility in an over proportion to the Common [Page 19] People: Cheap Honour dar­kens Majesty, and a Numerous Nobility brings a State to Ne­cessity.

MAX. 25.

It is very dangerous to try Experiments in a State, unless extreme Necessity be Urgent, or popular Utility be palpable. It is better for a State to Con­nive a while, at any Inconve­encies, than too suddenly to Rush upon a Reformation.

MAX. 26.

If a Valiant Prince be suc­ceeded by a weak Successor he may for a while maintain a [Page 20] happy State, by the remaining Virtue of his Glorious Prede­cessor; but if his Life be long, or dying, he be succeeded by one less Valiant than the first, the Kingdom is in danger to fall to ruine: that Prince is a true Father to his Country that leaves it the rich Inheritance of a brave Son. When Alexan­der succeeded Philip, the World was too little for the Conque­ror.

MAX. 27.

It is very dangerous for a Prince or Republick to make continual practice of Cruel Exaction: For where the sub­ject stands in sense or Expecta­tion [Page 21] of Evil, he is apt to pro­vide for his safety, or for the Danger he fears: and growing bold in Conspiracy, makes Fa­ction, which Faction is the Mother of Ruine.

MAX. 28.

Be careful to consider the Good or Ill Disposition of the People towards thee upon Or­dinary Occasions; if it be Good, labour to continue it; if E­vil, provide against it. As there is nothing more terrible than a dissolute Multitude without a head; so there is nothing more easily reduc'd, (if thou canst endure the first shock of their Fury) which if a little [Page 22] appeased, every one begins to doubt himself and think of home, and secure themselves either by flight or agreement.

MAX. 29.

That Prince who stands in fear more of his own People, than Strangers, ought to build Fortresses in his Land. But he that is more afraid of Stran­gers, than his own People, shall build them more secure in the affections of his Subjects.

MAX. 30.

Carry a watchful Eye upon dangers before they come to Ripeness; and when they are [Page 23] ripe, let loose a Speedy hand. He that expects them too long, or meets them too soon, gives advantage to the Evil; Com­mit their beginnings to Argus his hundred Eyes, and their end to Briareus's hundred Hands, and thou art safe.

MAX. 31.

Of all the difficulties of a State, the temper of true Go­vernment most felicifies and perpetuates it. Too sudden alteration distempers it. Had Nero tuned his Kingdom as he did his Harp, his harmony had been more honourable and his Reign more prosperous.

MAX. 32.

If a Prince, Fearing to be assailed by a Foreign Enemy, hath a well armed People, well addrest for War: Let him stay at home and expect him there; but if his Subjects be unarmed, or his Kingdom unacquainted with the stroke of War, let him meet the Enemy in his Quarters. The farther he keeps the War from his own home the less Danger. The Seat of War is always mise­rable.

MAX. 33.

It is a necessary Wisdom for [Page 25] a Prince to grow in Strength as he encreases in Dominions. It is no less Virtue to keep than to get; Conquests not having power answerable to their Greatness, invite new Con­querors to the Ruine of the Old.

MAX. 34.

It is great prudence in a Statesman to discover an In­convenience in the birth, which so discovered, is easie to be supprest. But if it ripen into a Custom, the sudden Remedy thereof is often worse than the Disease; In such a case it is better to temporise a little, than to struggle too much. He [Page 26] that opposes a full aged Incon­venience too suddenly, streng­thens it.

MAX. 35.

If thou hast Conquered a Land, whose Language differs not from thine, change not their Laws and Taxes, and the two Kingdoms will in a short time incorporate and make one body. But if the Laws and Language differ, it is difficult to maintain thy Conquest, which that thou mayst the ea­sier do, observe three things; First, to live there in Person, (or rather send Colonies.) Secondly, to assist the weak Inhabitants and weaken the mighty. Thirdly, [Page 27] To admit no powerful Foreig­ner to reside there. Remem­ber Lewis XIII. of France, how suddenly he took Milan, and how soon he lost it.

MAX. 36.

It is a gracious Wisdom in a Prince, in Civil Comotions ra­ther to use Juleps than Phlebo­tomy, and rather to break the Distemper by a wise delay, than to Correct it with too rash an Onset: It is more honourable by a slow preparation to de­clare himself a gracious Father, than by a hasty War to appear a furious Enemy.

MAX. 37.

It is Wisdom for a Prince in Fair Weather, to provide for Tempests: He that so much relies upon his People's Faith, to neglect his own Preparation, discovers more Confidence than Wisdom. He that ven­tures to fall from above, with hopes to be catch'd below, may be dead e'er he come to Ground.

MAX. 38.

He that would reform an ancient State in a free City, buys Convenience with a great danger. To work this Refor­mation [Page 29] with the less mischief, let such a one keep the shadows of their ancient Customs, tho' in substance they be new. Let him take heed when he alters the Nature of things, they bear at least their antient Names. The Common People that are naturally impatient of Innova­tions will be satisfied with that which seems to be as well as that which is.

MAX. 39.

Upon any difference between Foreign States, It is neither safe nor honourable for a Prince, either to buy his Peace, or to take it up at Interest. He that hath not a Sword to command [Page 30] it, shall either want it, or want honour with it.

MAX. 40.

It is very requisite for a Prince not only to weigh his Designs in the Flower, but likewise in the Fruit. He is an unthrift of his Honour, that enterprises a design, the failing wherein may bring him more disgrace, than the Success can gain him Honour.

MAX. 41.

It is much Conducible to the happiness of a Prince, and the security of his State, to gain the Hearts of his Subjects. [Page 31] They that Love for Fear, will seldom Fear for Love; It is a wise Government which gains such a tye upon the Subject, that he either cannot hurt, or will not. But the Govern­ment is best and most sure, when the Subject joys in his Obedience.

MAX. 42.

Let every Soldier arm his mind with hopes and put on Courage, whatsoever disaster falls, let not his Heart sink. The passage of Providence lies through many Crooked ways; a despairing Heart is the true Prophet of approaching Evil. His actions may weave the [Page 32] Webs of Fortune, but not break them.

MAX. 43.

It is the part of a wise Ma­gistrate to vindicate a Man of Power or State-Employment, from the malicious Scandals of the Giddy-headed Multitude, and to punish it with great se­verity. Scandal breeds hatred, hatred begets Division, Divisi­on makes Faction and Faction brings Ruine.

MAX. 44.

The strongest Castles a Prince can build, to secure him from Domestick Commotions, or [Page 33] Foreign Invasions, is in the Hearts of his Subjects; and means to gain that Strength is, in all his actions to appear for the Publick Good. Studious to contrive and resolute to perform.

MAX. 45.

A Kingdom is a great Build­ing whose two main Suppor­ters are the Government of the State, and the Government of the Church. It is the part of a Wise Master, to keep those Pillars in their first posture Ir­removeable. If either fail, it is Wisdom rather to repair it than to remove it. He that pulls down the Old, to set up a [Page 34] New, may draw the Roof upon his head and ruine the Foun­dation.

MAX. 46.

It is a necessary Wisdom in a Prince to encourage in his Kingdoms Manufacture, Mer­chandise, Arts, and Arms; in Manufacture, lies the Vital Spi­rits of the Body-Politique; In Merchandise the Spirits Natu­ral; In Arts and Arms, the Ani­mal. If either of these Lan­guish the Body droops; as these flourish the Body flourishes.

MAX. 47.

True Religion is a Settler in [Page 35] a State, rather than a Stickler; while she confirms an Establish­ed Government, she moves in her own Sphere; but when she endeavours to alter the old, or to erect a new, she works out of her own Vineyard: When she keeps the Keys, she sends Showers of Milk: But when she draws the Sword, she fails in Seas of Blood. Labour therefore to settle Religion in the Church; and Religion shall settle Peace in thy Land.

MAX. 48.

If thou entertain any Foreign Soldiers into thine Army, let them bear thy Colours, and receive thy pay, lest they Inte­rest [Page 36] their own Prince. Auxiliary Soldiers are most dangerous: A Foreign Prince needs no greater Invitation to seize upon thy City, then when he is re­quired to defend it.

MAX. 49.

Be cautious in undertaking a design, upon the report of those that are banish'd their Country, lest thou come off with shame, or loss, or both. Their end expects advantages from thy actions; whose miseries lay hold of all opportunities, and seek to be redrest by thy Ruines.

MAX. 50.

If thou endeavourest to make a Republick in a Nation where the Gentry abound, thou shalt hardly prosper in that Design; and if thou would'st erect a Principality in a Land where there is much equality of Peo­ple, thou shalt not easily effect it. The way to bring the first to pass, is to weaken the Gen­try. The means to effect the last, is to advance and strengthen ambitious and turbulent Spirits; so that being placed in the midst of them, their Forces may maintain thy Power, and thy Favour may preserve their Ambition. Otherwise there shall [Page 38] be neither Property nor conti­nuance.

MAX. 51.

It is more excellent for a Prince to have a provident Eye for the preventing future mis­chiefs, than to have a potent Arm for the suppressing present Evils. Mischiefs in a State are like Hectick Feavers in a Body, in the beginning hard to be known, but easie to be cured: But let it alone a while, it be­comes more easie to be known, but more hard to be cured.

MAX. 52.

If a Kingdom be apt to Re­bellion, [Page 39] it is Wisdom to pre­serve the Nobility and Com­mons at variance; where one of them is discontented, the Danger is not great. The Com­mons are slow of motion, if not quicken'd with the Nobility: The Nobility is weak of Power, if not strengthen'd by the Com­mons. Then is Danger when the Commonalty troubles the Water, and the Nobility steps in.

MAX. 53.

It is very requisite for a Prince to have an Eye, That the Clergy be elected, and come in, either by Collation from him or particular Patrons, and [Page 40] not by the People; and that their Power hold Dependance upon home and not foreign Authority: It is dangerous in a Kingdom where the Crosiers receive not their Power from the Regal-Sword.

MAX. 54.

It is a perillous Weakness in a State, to be slow of Resolu­tion in the time of War: To be irresolute in Determination is both the sign and the Ruine of a weak State. Such Affairs attend not time. Let the wise Statesman therefore abhor De­lay, and resolve rather to do, than advise what to say. Slow Deliberations are Symptoms ei­ther [Page 41] of a faint Courage, or weak Forces, or false Hearts.

MAX. 55.

If a Conqueror hath subdu­ed a Country or a City aboun­ding with Pleasures, let him be very circumspect to keep him­self and his Soldiers temperate. Pleasures bring Effeminacy, and Effeminacy foreruns Ruine: Such Conquests, without blood or sweat, sufficiently do revenge themselves upon their intempe­rate Conquerors.

MAX. 56.

It is an infallible sign of ap­proaching Ruine in a Repub­lick, [Page 42] when Religion is neglect­ed, and her establisht Ceremo­nies interrupted. Let therefore that Prince that would be Po­tent be Pious; and that he may punish Loosness the better, let him be Religious. The Joy of Jerusalem depends upon the Peace of Sion.

MAX. 57.

Let that Prince that desires full Sovereignty temper the Greatness of too potent a No­bility: A great and potent No­bility quickens the People, but presses their Fortunes: It adds Majesty to a Monarch, but di­minishes his Power.

MAX. 58.

It is dangerous for a Prince to use ambitious Natures, but up­on necessity, either for his Wars, or to be Skreens to his Dan­gers, or Instruments for the demolishing insolent Greatness; and that they may be the less dangerous, let him choose them rather out of mean Births than noble, and out of harsh Na­tures rather than plausible, and always be sure to ballance them with those that are as proud as they.

MAX. 59.

Let Princes be very circum­spect [Page 44] in the choice of their Councellours, choosing neither by the greatness of the Beard, nor by the smoothness of the Face. Let him be wise, but not crafty; active, without pri­vate ends; couragious, with­out malice; religious, without faction; secret, without fraud: One better, read in his Prince's Business than his Nature; and a Riddle only to be read above.

MAX. 60.

In a mixt Monarchy, if the Hierarchy grow too absolute, it is Wisdom in a Prince, ra­ther to depress it than suppress it; all Alterations in a Funda­mental Government being ap­parent [Page 45] Dangers; but too sud­den Alteration threatens inevi­table Ruine. When Aaron made a molten Calf, Moses alter'd not the Government, but reproved the Governour.

MAX. 61.

Before thou build a Fortress, consider to what End: If for Resistance against the Enemy, it is useless; a valiant Army is a living Fortress: If for sup­pressing the Subject, it is hurt­ful; it breeds Jealousies, and Jealousies beget Hatred. If thou hast a strong Army to maintain it, it adds nothing to thy Strength: If thy Army be weak, it conduces much to thy [Page 46] Danger. The surest Fortress is the Hands of thy Soldiers; and the safest Cittadel is the Hearts of thy Subjects.

MAX. 62.

It is a Princely Alchymy, out of a necessary War, to extract an Honourable Peace; and more beseeming the Majesty of a Prince, to thirst after Peace, than Conquest. Bles­sedness is promised to the Peace-maker, not the Con­queror. It is an happy State, whose Prince hath a Peaceful Hand, and a Martial Heart; able both to use Peace, and to manage War.

MAX. 63.

It is a dishonourable thing for a Prince to run in Debt for State-service; but to pay it in the Pardon of a Criminal Of­fence, is most dangerous. To cancel the Faults of Subjects, with their Deserts, is not only the Symptom of a disorder'd Commonwealth, but also of her Ruine.

MAX. 64.

Let not a Commander be too forward to undertake a War, without the Person of his Prince. It is a thankless Employment, where Mischief [Page 48] attends upon the best Success: And where (if a Conqueror) he shall be in danger, either through his own Ambition, or his Prince's Suspicion.

MAX. 65.

It is a great Oversight in a Prince, for any Respect, either Actively or Passively, to make a foreign Kingdom strong. He that gives means to another to become powerful, weakens him­self, and enables him to take the advantage of his own weakness.

MAX. 66.

When the humours of the [Page 49] People are stirr'd by Discontents or popular Grief, it is Wisdom in a Prince to give them mo­derate Liberty to evaporate. He that turns the Humour back too hastily, makes the Wound bleed inwardly, and fills the Body with Malignity.

MAX. 67.

If, having levied an Army, thou findest thy self too weak, either thro' the Want of Men or Money, the longer thou de­layest to fight, the greater thy Inconvenience grows. If once thy Army falls asunder, thou certainly losest by thy Delay. Where, hazarding thy For­tunes betimes, thou hast the ad­vantage [Page 50] of thy Men, and mayst by Fortune win the Day, it is less dishonour to be overcome by Force than by Flight.

MAX. 68.

It is the part of a wise Com­mander, in Wars either offen­sive or defensive, to work a Necessity of Fighting into the Breasts of his Soldiers. Neces­sity of Action takes away the Fear of the Act, and makes bold Resolution the Favourite of Fortune.

MAX. 69.

Clemency and Mildness is most proper for a Principality, [Page 51] but Reservedness and Severity, for a Republick; but Modera­tion in both. Excess in the one breeds Contempt; in the other Hatred: When to sharpen the first, and when to sweeten the last, let Time and Occasion di­rect thy Judgment.

MAX. 70.

It is very requisite for a Prince that desires the Conti­nuance of Peace, in time of Peace to encourage and respect his Commanders. When brave Spirits find Neglect to be the effect of Quiet, they devise all means to remove the Cause; and by suggesting Inducements to new Wars, disturb and un­settle [Page 52] the old Peace, buying private Honour with publick Danger,

MAX. 71.

Be not covetous of Priority in Advising thy Prince to a doubtful Attempt, which con­cerns his State. If it prosper, the Glory must be his; if it fail, the Dishonour will be thine. When the Spirit of a Prince is stopped in the Dis­charge, it will recoile & wound the first Adviser.

MAX. 72.

If, being the Commander of an Army, thou espiest a gross [Page 53] and manifest error in thine Ene­my, look well to thy self; for Treachery is not far off. He whom desire of Victory binds too much, is apt to stumble at his own Ruine.

MAX. 73.

It is the height of a Provi­dent Commander, not only to keep his own Designs indisco­verable to his Enemy, but like­wise to be studious to discover his: He that can best do the one, and nearest guess at the other, is the next Step to a Conqueror; but he that fails in both, must either ascribe his Overthrow to his own Folly, or his Victory to the hand of For­tune.

MAX. 74.

If thou be ambitious of Ho­nour, and yet fearful of the Canker of Honour, Envy; so behave thy self, that Opinion may be satisfied in this, That thou seekest Merit, and not Fame; and that thou attribu­test thy Preferment rather to Providence than thy own Vir­tue. Honour is a due Debt to the Deserver; and who ever envied the Payment of a Debt? A just Advancement is a Pro­vidential Act; and who ever envied the Act of Providence?

MAX. 75.

It behoves a Prince to be ve­ry circumspect before he makes a League, which being made, and then broke, is the Forfei­ture of his Honour. He that obtains a Kingdom with the Rupture of his Faith, hath gained the Glory of a Con­quest, but lost the Honour of a Conqueror.

MAX. 76.

Let States that aim at Great­ness, beware lest new Gentry multiply too fast, or grow too glorious: Where there is too great a Disproportion betwixt [Page 56] the Gentry and the Common Subject, the one grows inso­lent, the other slavish. When the Body of the Gentry grows too glorious for a Corslet, the Heads of the Vulgar wax too heavy for the Helmet.

MAX. 77.

Upon the Beleaguering of a City, let the Commander en­deavour to take from the De­fendants all Scruples which may invite them to a Necessity of Defence. Whom the Fear of Slavery necessitates to fight, the boldness of their Resolution will disadvantage the Assailants, and difficilitate their Design. Sense of Necessity justifies the [Page 57] War, and they are hopeful in their Arms, who have no other Hope, but in their Arms.

MAX. 78.

It is good for States and Prin­ces (if they use ambitious Men for their advantage) so to or­der things, that they be still Progressive rather than Retro­grade. When ambitious men find an open Passage, they are rather busie than dangerous; if well watch'd in their Procee­dings, they will catch them­selves in their own Snare, and prepare a Way for their own Destruction.

MAX. 79.

Of all Recreations, Hunting is most proper for a Comman­der; by the frequency where­of he may be instructed in that necessary Knowledge of Situa­tion with Pleasure, which by earnest Experience would be dearly purchased. The Chase is a fair Resemblance of a hope­ful War, proposing to the Pur­suer a flying Enemy.

MAX. 80.

Expect the Arms of thy Ene­my on plain and easie ground, and still avoid mountainous & rocky places and strait Passages [Page 59] to the utmost of thy Power. It is not safe to pitch any where, where the Forces cannot be brought together. He never deserved the Name of a good Gamester, that hazards his whole Rest upon less than the strength of his whole Game.

MAX. 81.

It matters not much whether in Government thou tread the Steps of severe Hanibal, or gen­tle Scipio, so thy Actions are Honourable, and thy Life Vir­tuous: Both in the one and the other there is both Defect and Danger, if not corrected and supported by the fair Repute of some extraordinary Endow­ments. [Page 60] No matter whether black or white, so the Steed be good.

MAX. 82.

It is the safest Way, in mar­tial Expedition, to commit the main Charge to one. Com­panions in Command beget Confusion in the Camp. When two able Commanders are joyned in equal Commission, each is apt to think his own way best, and by mutual thwarting each other, both give oppor­tunity to the Enemy.

MAX. 83.

It is a high Point of Provi­dence [Page 61] in a Prince to observe Popular Sects in their first rise, and to nip them in the bud; But being once full aged, it is Wisdom not to oppose them with too strong a hand, lest in suppressing one, there arise two. A soft Current is soon stopt; but a strong Stream resisted breaks into many, or over­whelms all.

MAX. 84.

It makes very much to thy advantage, to observe strictly the National Virtues and Vices and humours of Foreign King­doms, whereby the times past shall read useful Lectures to the time present. He that would [Page 62] see what shall be, let him con­sider what hath been.

MAX. 85.

If like Manlius thou com­mand Stout and great things, be like Manlius stout to Exe­cute great commands. It is a great blemish in Sovereignty when the Will roars, and the Power whispers. If thou canst not Execute as freely as thou Commandst, Command no more than what thou mayst as freely Execute.

MAX. 86.

If one Prince desire to obtain any thing of another, let him [Page 63] (if occasion will bear it) give him no time to advise; let him endeavour to make him see a necessity of sudden resolution, and the danger either of deni­al or delay. He that gives times to resolve, gives leisure to deny, and warning to pre­pare.

MAX. 87.

Let not thine Army at the first Encounter be too prodi­gal in her assaults, but husband her strength at a dead lift. When the Enemy hath abated the fury of his first heat, let him then feel thou hast reserved thy Forces for the last blow. So shall the honour he hath gain­ed [Page 64] by his Valour, encrease the Glory of thy Victory. Fore-Games when they prove are speediest, but After-games, if wisely plaid are surest.

MAX. 88.

It is very requisite for a Prince to keep the Church al­ways in proportion to the State. If the Government of the one be Monarchical, and the other Democratical, they will agree like Metal joyned with Clay. But for a while durable is that State where Aaron commands the People, and where Moses commands Aaron; but most happy in the continuance where God commands both.

MAX. 89.

Let not the Covetousness of a Captain purloyn to his own own use, or any way bereave his Soldiers of any profit due unto their service, either in their means or spoils: Such in­juries (being quickned by their daily Necessities) are never for­got: What Soldiers earn with the hazard of their Lives (if not enjoyed) prophesies an Overthrow in the next battle.

MAX. 90.

If a Prince expect Virtuous Subjects, let his Subjects have a Virtuous Prince, and so shall [Page 66] he the better punish the Vices of his degenerate Subjects; so shall they trulier prize Virtue, and follow it being exemplified in their Prince.

MAX. 91.

It is the property of a Wise Commander, to cast an Eye rather upon Actions than upon Persons; and rather to reward the Merits of Men, than to read the Letters of Ladies. He that for favour or reward pre­fers a worthless Soldier, Be­trays a Kingdom to advance a Traytor.

MAX. 92.

Where order and fury are [Page 67] well acquainted, the War pro­spers, and Soldiers end no less Men than they begun: Order is quickned by Fury, and Fury is regulated by Order: but where Order is wanting, Fury runs her own way, and being unthrift of its own strength, failing in the first assault, cra­vens; and such beginning more than Men, end less than Wo­men.

MAX. 93.

It is the quality of a wise Commander, to make his Sol­diers confident of his Wisdom, and their own Strength; If any danger be, to conceal it; if ma­nifest, to lessen it. Let him pos­sess [Page 68] his Army with the Justness of the War, and a certainty of Victory. A good Cause makes a stout Heart and a strong Arm. They that fear an Overthrow are half Con­quered.

MAX. 94.

It is requisite in a General to mingle Love with the severity of his Discipline. They that cannot be induced to Fear for Love, will never be inforced to Love for Fear; Love opens the heart, Fear shuts it; that Encourages, this Compels, and Victory meets Encouragement, but flees Compulsion.

MAX. 95.

It is the part of a well-ad­vised State, never to entrust a weighty service, unto whom a noted Injury or dishonour hath been done; he can never be Zealous in performance of ser­vice, the height of whose Ex­pectation can rather recover a lost Name than gain a fresh Honour.

MAX. 96.

Three ways there be to be­gin a repute, and gain Digni­ties in a Common-wealth. The first, by the Virtue of glori­ous Parents, which till thou de­generate [Page 70] too much may raise thee upon the wings of Opini­on. The second, is by associ­ating with those whose actions are known Eminent. The third, by acting some Exploit, either Publick or Private, which in thy hand hath proved Ho­nourable. The two first may miss, being founded upon Opi­nion: The last seldom fails, being grounded upon Evidence.

MAX. 97.

If thou art called to the Dignity of a Commander, dig­nify thy place by thy Com­mands, and that thou mayst be the more perfect in Comman­ding others, practise upon thy [Page 71] self. Remember that thou art a Servant to the Publick-weal, and therefore forget all private respects either of K [...]n or Friends. Remember thou art a Cham­pion for a Kingdom: Forget therefore all private affections either of Love or Hate. He that would do his Country right, must not be too sensible of a Personal wrong.

MAX. 98.

It is the part of a wise Com­mander to read Books, not so much as Men; nor Men so much as Nations: He that can discern the Inclinations, Con­ditions, and Passions, of a King­dom, gains his Prince a great [Page 72] advantage both in Peace and War.

MAX. 99.

And you most high and mighty Princes of this Lower World, who at this Intricate and various Game of War, vye Kingdoms and win Crowns; and by the death of your re­verend Subjects gain the Lives of your bold hearted Enemies: Know there is a Quo Quarranto, whereto you are to give ac­count of your Eye-Glorious Actions, according to the Righteous rules of Sacred Ju­stice. How Warrantable it is to read Imperial Crowns from off the Sovereign Heads of [Page 73] their too weak Possessors, or to snatch Scepters from out the hand of Heaven: Anointed Majesty, and by your vast am­bitions still to enlarge Domi­nions with Kingdoms ravish'd from their Natural Princes, Judge you. O let your brave designs, and well weighed acti­ons be as Just as they are Glo­rious, and consider, that all your Wars, whose ends are not to defend your own Posses­sions, or to recover your dis­possessions, are but Princely Injuries, which none but Hea­ven can right. But where ne­cessity strikes up her hard a­larms, or wrong'd Religion beats her Zealous marches, go on and prosper, and let both [Page 74] Swords and Stratagems pro­claim a Victory, whose Nois'd Renown may fill the World with your Eternal Glory.

MAX. 100.

Piety and Policy are like Martha and Mary, Sisters: Mar­tha fails if Mary helps not, and Mary suffers if Martha be Idle. Happy is that Kingdom where Martha complains of Mary, but most happy where Mary complys with Martha: where Piety and Policy go hand in hand, there War shall be Just, and Peace honourable.

MAXIM 1.

A Promise is a Child of the Understanding and the Will: the Under­standing begets it, the Will brings it forth. He that per­forms it, delivers the Mother; He that breaks it Murthers the Child. If he be begotten in the absence of the Understan­ding, [Page 76] it is a Bastard; but the Child must be kept. If thou mistrust thy Understanding, Pro­mise not; If thou hast Promis'd, break it not: It is better to maintain a Bastard than to mur­ther a Child.

MAX. 2.

Charity is a Naked Child, giving Honey to a Bee without Wings; Naked, because Ex­cuseless and Simple; a Child, because tender and growing; giving Honey, because Honey is pleasant and comfortable: To a Bee, because a Bee is la­borious and deserving, with­out Wings, because helpless and wanting. If thou deniest [Page 77] to such, thou killest a Bee; if thou givest to other than such, thou preservest a Drone.

MAX. 3.

Before thy Undertaking of any design, weigh the Glory of thy Action with the Danger of the Attempt: If the Glory out­weigh the Danger, it is Co­wardise to neglect it: If the Danger exceed the Glory, it is rashness to attempt it: If the Ballances stand pois'd, let thy own Genius cast them.

MAX. 4.

Wouldst thou know the Law­fulness [Page 78] of the action which thou desirest to undertake? Let thy Devotion recommend it to Divine Blessing: If it be Law­ful, thou shalt perceive thy Heart Encouraged by Prayer: If Unlawful, thou shalt find thy Prayer discouraged by thy Heart. That action is not Warrantable, which either blushes to beg a Blessing, or having succeeded, dares not present Thanksgiving.

MAX. 5.

If Evil men speak good, or good men Evil of thy Conver­sation, Examine all thy actions, and suspect thy self. But if Evil men speak Evil of thee, [Page 79] hold it as thy honour, and by way of thankfulness Love them, but upon condition, that they continue to hate thee.

MAX. 6.

If thou hope to please all, thy hopes are vain; If thou fear to displease some, thy fears are Idle. The way to please thy self is not to displease the best; and the way to displease the best, is to please the most. If thou canst fashion thy self to please all, thou shalt displease him that is all in all.

MAX. 7.

If thou Neglectest thy Love [Page 80] to thy Neighbour, in vain thou professest thy Love to God; for by thy Love to God, the Love to thy Neighbour is begotten, and by the Love to thy Neigh­bour, thy Love to God is nourish'd.

MAX. 8.

Thy Ignorance in unreveal'd Mysteries, is the Mother of a Saving Faith; and thy Under­standing in reveal'd Truths is the Mother of a Sacred Know­ledge: Understand not there­fore that thou mayst Believe, but believe that thou mayst Understand: Understanding is the wages of a Lively Faith, and Faith is the reward of an humbler Ignorance.

MAX. 9.

Pride is the Ape of Charity, in shew, not much unlike; but somewhat fuller of action. In seeking the one, take heed thou light not on the other; they are two Parallels; never but asunder. Charity feeds the Poor, so does Pride: Charity builds an Hospital, so does Pride: In this they differ; Charity gives her Glory to God, Pride takes her Glory from Man.

MAX. 10.

Hast thou lost thy Money, and dost thou Mourn? ano­ther [Page 82] lost it before thou hadst it; Be not troubled; perchance if thou hadst not lost it now, it had lost thee for ever: Think therefore What thou hast rather escaped than lost: Perhaps thou hadst not been so much thine own, had not thy Money been so little thine.

MAX. 11.

Flatter not thy self in thy Faith to God, if thou wantst Charity for thy Neighbour; and think not that thou hast Charity for thy Neighbour, if thou wantst Faith to God; where they are not both toge­ther, they are both wanting; they are both dead if once di­vided.

MAX. 12.

Be not too slow in breaking of a sinful Custom: a quick Couragious Resolution is bet­ter than a Gradual Deliberati­on: In such a Combate, he is the bravest Soldier that lays a­bout him without fear or wit. Wit Pleads, Fear disheartens; He that would kill Hydra, had better strike off one Neck than Five Heads: Fell the Tree, and the Branches are soon cut off.

MAX. 13.

Be careful rather of what thou dost, than of what thou hast: for what thou hast is [Page 84] none of thine, and will leave thee at thy death, or thou the pleasure of it, in thy sickness: But what thou dost, is thine; and will follow thee to thy Grave, and plead for thee, or against thee, at thy Resurrection.

MAX. 14.

If thou enjoyest not the God of Love thou canst not obtain the Love of God, neither un­til then canst thou Enjoy a de­sire to Love God, nor relish the Love of God: thy Love to God is nothing but a faint re­flection of God's love to thee: till he please to Love thee, thy Love can never please him.

MAX. 15.

Let not thy Fancy be gui­ded by thine Eye, nor let thy Will be govern'd by thy Fan­cy: Thine Eye may be deceived in her Object, and thy Fancy may be deluded in her Subject. Let thine Understanding mo­derate between thine Eye and thy Fancy; and let thy Judg­ment Arbitrate between thy Fancy and thy Will; so shall Fancy apprehend what is true, so shall thy Will elect what is good.

MAX. 16.

Endeavour to subdue as well [Page 86] thy irascible as thy concupisci­ble Affections: To endure In­juries with a brave Mind is one half of the Conquest; and to abstain from pleasing Evils with a couragious Spirit, is the other. The Sum of all Humanity, and height of Moral Perfection, is Bear, and Forbear.

MAX. 17.

If thou desire not to be too poor, desire not to be too rich: He is rich, not that possesseth much, but he that covets no more; and he is poor, not that enjoys little, but that wants too much. The contented Mind wants nothing which it hath not; the covetous Mind wants [Page 87] not only what it hath not, but likewise what it hath.

MAX. 18.

The outward Senses are the common Cinque-Ports, where every Subject lands towards the Understanding. The Ear hears a confused Noise, and presents it to the Common Sense; the common Sense distinguishes the several Sounds, and conveys them to the Fancy; the Fancy wildly discants on it: The Un­derstanding (whose Object is Truth) apprehending it to be Musick, commends it to the Judgment; the Judgment seve­rally and jointly examines it, and recommends it to the Will; [Page 88] the Will (whose Object is Good) approves it; or dislikes it, and the Memory records it: And so in the other Senses, according to their Subjects, ob­serve this Progress, and thou shalt easily find where the defect of every Action lyes.

MAX. 19.

The way to subject all things to thy self, is to subject thy self to Reason; thou shalt govern many, if Reason govern thee: Would'st thou be crowned the Monarch of a little World? Command thy self.

MAX. 20.

Tho' thou givest all thou hast for Charity's sake, and yet retainest a secret desire of keep­ing it for thy own sake, thou rather leavest it than forsakest it. He that hath relinquish'd all things, and not himself, hath forsaken nothing: He that sets not his Heart on what he pos­sesses, forsaketh all things, tho' he keep his Possessions.

MAX. 21.

Search into thy self before thou accept the Ceremony of Honour: If thou art a Palace, Honour, (like the Sun-beams) [Page 90] will make thee more Glorious; if thou art a Dunghil, the Sun may shine upon thee, but not to sweeten thee; Thy Prince may give thee Honour, but not make thee honourable.

MAX. 22.

Every Man is a King in his own Kingdom: If Reason com­mand, and Passion obey, his Government bespeaks a good King; if thine inordinate Af­fection rules, it shews a proud Rebel; which if thou destroy not, will depose thee. There is no mean between the Death of a Rebel and the Life of a Prince.

MAX. 23.

A Vow, a Promise, and a Resolution, have all one Ob­ject, only differ in respect of the Persons to whom they are made; the first is between God and Man; the second between Man and Man; the third be­tween Man and his own Soul; they all bind, if the Object be lawful, to necessity of Perfor­mance; if unlawful, to the ne­cessity of Sin: They all take thee Prisoner; if the Object be lawful, thy Performance hath redeemed thee; if unlawful, Blood and Fears must ransom thee.

MAX. 24.

If thou hast any business of Consequence in agitation, let thy Care be reasonable and sea­sonable: Continual standing bent weakens the Bow; too hasty drawing breaks it: Put off thy Cares with thy Clothes; so shall thy Rest strengthen thy Labour, and so shall thy La­bour sweeten thy Rest.

MAX. 25.

When thy inordinate Affe­ctions do flame towards tran­sitory Happiness, quench them thus; think with thy self, if my Prince should give me what Ho­nour [Page 93] he hath to bestow, or bestow on me what Wealth he hath to give, it could not stay with me, because it is transito­ry; nor I with it, because I am mortal: Then revise thy Affe­ctions, and weigh them with their Objects, and thou wilt either confess thy Folly, or make a wiser Choice.

MAX. 26.

With three sorts of Men en­ter no serious Friendship; the ingrateful man, the multilo­quious man, the Coward; the first cannot prize thy Favours; the second cannot keep thy Counsel; and the third dare not vindicate thy Honour.

MAX. 27.

If thou desire the time should not pass too fast, use not too much Pastime; thy Life in Jol­lity blazes like a Taper in the Wind: The blast of Honour wastes it; the heat of Pleasure melts it: If thou labour in a painful Calling, thou shalt be less sensible of the Flux of time, and sweetlier satisfied at the time of Death.

MAX. 28.

God is the Alpha and Omega in the great World; endea­vour to make him so in the little World; make him thy [Page 95] Evening Epilogue, and thy Morning Prologue; practise to make him thy last thought at night when thou sleepest, and thy first thought in the mor­ning when thou awakest; so shall thy Fancy be sanctified in the Night, and thy Understan­ding rectified in the Day; so shall thy Rest be peaceable, thy Labours prosperous, thy Life pious, and thy Death glorious.

MAX. 29.

Be very circumspect in the Choice of thy Company. In the Society of thine Equals thou shalt enjoy more Pleasure; in the Society of thy Superiours thou shalt find more Profit. To [Page 96] be the best in the Company is the way to grow worse; the best means to grow better, is to be the worst there.

MAX. 30.

Think of God (especially in thy Devotion) in the Abstract, rather than in the Concrete: If thou conceive him good, thy finite Thoughts are ready to terminate that Good in a con­ceiv'd Subject; if thou think him great, thy bounded Con­ceit is apt to cast him into a comprehensible Figure: Con­ceive him therefore a diffused Goodness without Quality, and represent him an incomprehen­sible Greatness without Quan­tity

MAX. 31.

If thou and true Religion be not as yet met, or met un­known, by these marks thou shalt discover it: First, it is a Religion that takes no Pleasure in the Expence of Blood. Se­condly, it is a Religion whose Tenents cross not the Book of Truth. Thirdly, it is a Reli­gion that takes most from the Creature, and gives most to the Creator. If such an one thou meet with, assure thy self it is the right, and therefore profess it in thy Life, and pro­tect it to thy Death.

MAX. 32.

Let another's Passion be a Lecture to thy Reason, and let the Shipwrack of this Understan­ding be a Sea-mark to thy Pas­sion: So shalt thou gain strength out of his weakness, safety out of his danger, and raise thy self a Building out of his Ruines.

MAX. 33.

In the height of thy Prospe­rity expect Adversity, but fear it most; if it come not, thou art the more sweetly possess'd of the happiness thou hast, and the more strongly confirm'd; if it come, thou art the more gently [Page 99] dispossest of the happiness thou had'st, and the more firmly pre­pared.

MAX. 34

To tremble at the sight of thy Sin, makes thy Faith the less apt to tremble: The Devils believe and tremble, because they tremble at what they be­lieve: Their Belief brings Trem­bling; thy Trembling brings Belief.

MAX. 35.

Authology is the way to Theology: Until thou see'st thy self empty, thou wilt not desire to be fill'd. He can never truly [Page 100] relish the sweetness of God's Mercy, that never tasted the Bitterness of his own Misery.

MAX. 36.

Is any outward Affliction fallen upon thee by a tempo­rary loss? Advise with thy self, whether it be recoverable or not; if it be, use all lawful means (the Violence and Un­seasonableness whereof may not disadvantage thee in the pursuit) to recover it: If not recovera­ble, endure with Patience what thou can'st not recover with Pains. He that carnally afflicts his Soul for the loss of a tran­sitory Good, casts away the Kernel because he hath lost the Shell.

MAX. 37.

Natural Anger glances into the Breasts of wise men, but rests in the Bosom of Fools: In them it is Infirmity; in these a Sin; there is a natural Anger, and there is a Spiritual Anger; the common Object of that is the Person; of this, his Vice. He that is always angry with his Sin, shall seldom sin in his Anger.

MAX. 38.

If any hard Affliction hath surprized thee, cast one eye up­on the hand that sent it, and the other upon the Sins that [Page 102] brought it. If thou thankfully receive the Message, he that sent it will discharge the Mes­senger.

MAX. 39.

All Passions are good and bad, according to their Ob­jects: Where the Object is ab­solutely good, there the great­est Passion is too little; where absolutely evil, there the least Passion is too much; where in­different, there a little is e­nough.

MAX. 40.

When thou dost Evil, that Good may come thereby, the [Page 103] Evil is surely thine; if Good should happen to ensue upon the Evil which thou hast done, the Good proceeds from God: If therefore thou do Evil, there­by to occasionate a Good, thou lay'st a bad Foundation for a good Building, and servest the Devil, that God may serve thee. Where the end of Evil is Good in the Intention, there the end of that Good is Evil in the Ex­tension.

MAX. 41.

Be as far from desiring the Popular Love, as fearful to de­serve the Popular Hate: Ru­ine dwells in both; the one will hug thee to Death, the other [Page 104] will crush thee to Destruction. To escape the first, be not am­bitious; to avoid the second, be not seditious.

MAX. 42.

When thou seest misery in thy Brother's Face, let him see mercy in thine Eye; the more the Oyle of mercy is poured on him by thy Pity, the more the Oyle in thy Cruise shall be encreased by thy Piety.

MAX. 43.

Read not Books alone, but Men, and amongst them chief­ly thy self: If thou find any thing questionable there, use [Page 105] the Commentary of a severe Friend, rather than the Gloss of a sweet lipt Flatterer. There is more Profit in a distastful Truth than deceitful Sweetness.

MAX. 44.

If the opinion of thy Worth invite any to the desire of thy Acquaintance, yeild a Respect suitable to his Quality: Too great a Reservation will expose thee to the Sentence of Pride; too easie Access will condemn thee to the Censure of Folly. Things too hardly endeavour­ed discourage the Seeker; too easily obtained, disparage the thing sought for: Too easily got, is lowly prised, and quick­ly lost.

MAX. 45.

When Conveniency of time hath ripened your Acquain­tance, be cautious what thou say'st, and courteous in what thou dost: Observe his Incli­nation; if thou find him weight, make him thine own, and lodge him in a faithful Bosom: Be not easily exceptious, nor rude­ly familiar; the one will breed Contention, the other Con­tempt.

MAX. 46.

When Passion is grounded upon Fancy, it is commonly but of short Continuance: [Page 107] Where the Foundation is un­stable, there the Building is not lasting. He that will be angry for any Cause, will be angry for no Cause; and when the Understanding perceives the Cause vain, then the Judgment proclaims the Effect void.

MAX. 47.

If thou desire to purchase Honour with thy Wealth, con­sider first how that Wealth be­came thine; if thy Labour got it, let thy Wisdom keep it; if Oppression found it, let Repen­tance restore it; if thy Parent left it, let thy Virtues deserve it; so shall thy Honour be safer, better, and cheaper.

MAX. 48.

Sin is a Basilisk whose Eyes are full of Venom; if the Eye of thy Soul see her first, it re­flects her own Poison and kills her: If she see thy Soul, unseen, or seen too late, with her Poi­son, she kills thee: since there­fore thou canst not Escape thy Sin, let not thy Sin escape thy Observation.

MAX. 49.

If thou expect to rise by the means of him, whom thy Fa­ther's Greatness rais'd from his service to Court-preferment, thou wilt be deceived, for the [Page 109] more in esteem thou art, the more sensible is he of what he was, whose servitude will be Chronicled, by thy Advance­ment and Glory obscured by thy Greatness: However, he will conceive it a dead service, which may be interpreted by thee, as a merited reward, ra­ther than a meritorious benefit.

MAX. 50.

Trust not to the Promise of a Common Swearer, for he that dare Sin against his God, for neither Profit nor Pleasure, will trespass against thee for his own advantage. He that dare break the precepts of his Fa­ther, will easily be perswaded to [Page 110] violate the Promise unto his Brother.

MAX. 51.

Let the greatest part of the News thou hearest be the least part of what thou believest, lest the greatest part of what thou believest be the least part of what is true; where Lies are easily admitted, the Father of Lies will not easily be excluded.

MAX. 52.

Deliberate long before thou consecrate a friend, and when thy impartial Judgment con­cludes him worthy of thy Bo­som, receive him Joyfully and [Page 111] entertain him Wisely, impart thy secrets boldly, and mingle thy thoughts with his; he is thy very self and use him so, if thou firmly thinks him faithful thou makes him so.

MAX. 53.

As there is no Worldly Gain, without some Loss, so there is no Worldly Loss without some Gain; If thou hast lost thy Wealth, thou hast lost some trouble with it; if thou art de­graded from thy honour, thou art likewise freed from the stroke of Envy; if sickness hath blur'd thy Beauty, it hath delivered thee from Pride, set the allow­ance against the loss and thou [Page 112] shalt find no loss great, he loseth little or nothing that reserves himself.

MAX. 54.

If thou desire to take the best advantage of thy self, espe­cially in matters where the Fan­cy is most employed, keep tem­perate Diet, use moderate Ex­ercise, observe seasonable and set hours for Rest; let the end of thy first sleep raise thee from thy repose: then hath thy bo­dy the best temper, then hath thy Soul the least incumbrance, then no noise shall disturb thy Ear, no object shall divert thine Eye; then if thy spright­ly Fancy transport thee not be­yond [Page 113] the common pitch, and shew thee not the Magazine of high Invention, return thee to thy wanton Bed, and there con­clude thy self more fit to wear thy Mistresses favour than Apol­lo's Bays.

MAX. 55.

If thou art Rich, strive to Command thy Money, lest she Command thee: if thou know how to use her, she is thy Ser­vant, if not, thou art her slave.

MAX. 56.

Bring thy Daughter a Hus­band of her own Religion, and of no Hereditary Disease; let [Page 114] his Wisdom out-weigh his Wealth; let his Parantage ex­cel his Person, and let his Age exceed hers; let thy Prayers recommend the rest to Provi­dence: If he prove good, thou hast found a Son, if not thou hast lost a Daughter.

MAX. 57.

So use Prosperity that Ad­versity may not abuse thee; if in the one security admits no Fear, in the other despair will afford no hopes: He that in Prosperity can foretel a Dan­ger, can in Adversity foresee Deliverance.

MAX. 58.

If thy Faith hath no Doubts, thou hast Just Cause to doubt thy Faith; and if thy Doubts have no Hope, thou hast Just Reason to fear Despair; when therefore thy Doubts shall ex­ercise thy Faith, keep thy Hopes firm to qualify thy Doubts, so shall thy Faith be secured from Doubts, so shall thy Doubts be preserved from Despair.

MAX. 59.

If thou desire to be truly Va­liant, fear to do any Injury. He that fears not to do Evil is always afraid to suffer Evil; [Page 116] He that never Fears is desperate, and he that fears always is a Coward; he is the true Vali­ant man that dares nothing but what he may, and fears no­thing but what he ought.

MAX. 60.

Anger may repast with thee for an hour, but not repose for a Night; the continuance of Anger is Hatred, the continu­ance of Hatred turns Malice, that Anger is not warrantable that hath seen two Suns.

MAX. 61.

If thou stand guilty of Op­pression, or wrongfully possest [Page 117] of another's Right, see thou make restitution before thou givest an Alms; if otherwise, what art thou but a Thief and makest God thy Receiver.

MAX. 62.

When thou Prayest for Spi­ritual Grace, let thy Prayer be absolute; when for Temporal Blessings add a Clause of God's pleasure; in both with Faith and Humiliation, so that thou undoubtedly receive what thou desirest, or more or better; never Prayer rightly made was made unheard, or heard ungranted.

MAX. 63.

He that gives, all tho' but [Page 118] little, gives much, because God looks not to the quantity of the Gift, but to the quality of the Givers: He that desires to give more than he can hath equalled his Gift to his desire, and hath given more than he hath.

MAX. 64.

Be not too greedy in desiring Riches, nor too eager in seek­ing them, nor too Covetous in keeping them, nor too passi­onate in losing them; the first will possess thy Soul of Discon­tent, the second will dispossess thy Body of Rest, the third will possess thy Wealth of thee, the last will dispossess thee of thy [Page 119] self: He that is too Violent in the Concupiscible, will be as Violent in the Irascible.

MAX. 65.

Be not too rash in the break­ing of an inconvenient Custom, as it was gotten so leave it by degrees; danger attends upon too sudden alterations: He that pulls down a bad Building by the great, may be ruin'd by the fall; but he that takes it down brick by brick, may live to build a bettter.

MAX. 66.

If thou desire that inestima­ble grace of Saving Faith, detest [Page 120] that insatiable Vice of damna­ble Covetousness; it is impos­sible one heart (though never so double) should lodge both: Faith possesseth thee of what thou hast not, Covetousness disposesseth thee of what thou hast, thou canst not serve God, unless Mammon serve thee.

MAX. 67.

Beware of him that is slow to Anger, Anger when it is long in coming is the stronger when it comes, and the longer kept: Abused Patience turns to Fury: When Fancy is the ground of Passion, that under­standing which composeth the Fancy qualifies the Passion, but [Page 121] when Judgment is the ground, the Memory is the Recorder.

MAX. 68.

He that professeth himself thy open Enemy, arms thee a­gainst the Evil he means thee, but he that dissembles himself thy Friend, strikes beyond cau­tion and wounds beyond cure. From the first thou mayst deli­ver thy self, from the last Good Lord deliver thee.

MAX. 69.

If thou hast wrong'd thy Brother in thought reconcile thee to him in thought, if thou hast offended him in words, [Page 122] let thy reconciliation be in words, if thou hast trespassed against him in deeds be recon­ciled to him: that Reconcilia­tion is most kindly which is most in kind.

MAX. 70.

Not to give to the Poor is to take from him; not to feed the hungry if thou hast it is the utmost of thy power to kill him: That therefore thou mayst avoid both Sacrilege and Mur­ther, be Charitable.

MAX. 71.

So often as thou Remem­ber'st thy Sins without Grief, [Page 123] so often thou repeatest those Sins for not grieving: He that will not mourn for the Evil that he hath done, gives earnest for the Evil he means to do; nothing can asswage that fire which Sin hath made, but on­ly that water which Repen­tance hath drawn.

MAX. 72.

Look well before thou Leap into the Chair of Honour, the Higher thou Climest the lower thou fallest; If Virtue prefer thee, Virtue will preserve thee; if Gold or Favour advance thee, thy honour is pinn'd up­on the Wheel of Fortune, when the Wheel shall turn, thy Ho­nour [Page 124] falls, and thou remainest an Everlasting Monument of thy own ambitious folly.

MAX. 73.

We are born with our Temp­tations; Nature sometimes presseth us to Evil, sometime provokes us unto Good; If therefore thou givest her more than her due, thou nourishest an Enemy: if less than is suffi­cient, thou destroyest a Friend; moderation will prevent both.

MAX. 74.

If thou scorn not to serve Luxury in thy Youth, Chastity will scorn thy service in thy [Page 125] Age; and that the will of thy Green Years thought no Vice in the acting, the Necessity of thy Grey Hairs makes no Vir­tue in the forbearing; where there is no Conflict there can be no Conquest, where there is no Conquest there is no Crown.

MAX. 75.

Thou didst nothing toward thy own Creation, for thou wert Created for thy Creator's Glory; thou must do some­thing toward thy own Redemp­tion, for thou wert redeemed for thy own Good; he that made thee without thee, will not save thee without thee.

MAX. 76.

When thy Tongue and Heart agree not in Confession, that Confession is not agreeable to God's Pleasure; He that con­fesseth with Tongue and wants Confession in his Heart, is ei­ther a Vain Man or an Hypo­crite; He that hath Confession in his Heart and wants it in his Tongue, is either a Proud Man or a Timorous.

MAX. 77.

Gold is Caesar's treasure, Man is God's, thy Gold hath Caesar's Image, and thou hast God's; Give therefore unto Caesar those [Page 127] things which are Caesar's, and unto God which are God's.

MAX. 78.

In the Commission of Evil, fear no Man so much as thy own self; another is but one witness against thee, thou art a thousand; another thou mayst avoid, but thy self thou canst not; wickedness is its own pu­nishment.

MAX. 79.

In thy Apparel avoid singu­larity, Profuseness, and Gau­diness; be not too early in the fashion, nor too late, Decency is the half way between Affe­ctation [Page 128] and Neglect; the Bo­dy is the shell of the Soul, Apparel is the Husk of that shell, the Husk often tells you what the Kernel is.

MAX. 80.

Let thy Recreation be Man­ly, Moderate, Seasonable, Law­ful; if thy Life be sedentary, more tending to the exercise of thy Body, if active, more to the refreshing of thy Mind, the use of Recreation is to streng­then thy Labour and sweeten thy Rest.

MAX. 81.

Be not Censorious, for thou [Page 129] knowest not whom thou Judg­est; it is a more dextrous error to speak well of an Evil Man, than Ill of a Good Man, and safer for thy Judgment to be misled by simple Charity, than Uncharitable Wisdom: He may tax others with Privilege that hath not in himself what others may Tax.

MAX. 82.

Take heed of that Honour which thy Wealth hath pur­chased thee; for it is neither lasting nor thine own; what money creates money preserves; If thy Wealth decays thy Ho­nour dies: It is but a slippery happiness which Fortune can [Page 130] give and Frowns can take, and not worth the owning which a Night's Fire can melt, or a Rough Sea can drown.

MAX. 83.

If thou canst desire any thing not to be repented of, thou art in a fair way to Happiness; if thou hast attained it, thou art at thy way's end: He is not happy who hath all that he desires, but that desires no­thing but what is good; if thou canst not do what thou need not repent, yet endea­vour to repent what thy Ne­cessity hath done.

MAX. 84.

Spend an hundred years in Earth's best pleasures, and af­ter that an hundred more, to which being spent add a thou­sand, and to that ten thousand, the last shall as surely end as the first are ended, and all shall be swallowed with Eternity: He that is born to day is not sure to live a day; He that hath lived the longest is but as he that was born yesterday; the happiness of the one is, that he hath lived; the hap­piness of the other is, that he may live, and the lot of both is, that they must die: It's no happiness to live long, nor unhappiness to die soon: Happy is he that hath lived long enough to die well.

MAX. 85.

Be careful to whom thou givest, and how; He that gives him that deserves not, loseth his Gift, and betrays the Giver; He that confers his Gift upon a worthy receiver, makes many Debtors, and by giving receives; He that gives for his own ends, makes his Gift a Bribe, and the receiver a Prisoner; He that gives often teacheth re­quitance to the Receiver, and discovers a crafty confidence in the Giver.

MAX. 86.

Hath any wrong'd thee? [Page 133] bravely reveng'd, slight it, and the Work is begun; forgive it, and it is finisht: He is below himself that is not above an In­jury.

MAX. 87.

Let not thy Passion miscall thy Child, left thou Prophesy his misfortunes; let not thy Tongue curse him, lest it re­turn from whence it came: Curses sent in the room of Bles­sings are sent back with a dou­ble Vengeance.

MAX. 88.

In all the Ceremonies of the Church which remain indiffe­rent, [Page 134] do according to the Con­stitution of that Church where thou art. The God of Order and Unity, who created both the Soul and the Body, expects Unity in the one, and Order in both.

MAX. 89.

Let thy Religious Fast be a voluntary Abstinence, not so much from Flesh as fleshly Thoughts: God is pleased with that Fast which gives to ano­ther what thou deniest to thy self, and when the afflicting of thy own Body is the repairing of thy Brother's; he fasts truly that abstains sadly, grieves re­ally, gives cheerfully, and for­gives charitably.

MAX. 90.

In the hearing of mysteries, keep thy Tongue quiet; five Words cost Zacharias 40 weeks Silence: In such heights, con­vert thy Questions into Won­ders, and let this suffice thee; the Reason of the Deed is the Power of the Doer.

MAX. 91.

Deride not him whom the looser World calls Puritan, lest thou offend a little one; if he be an Hypocrite, God, that knows him, will reward him; if zealous, that God that loves him will revenge him; if he be [Page 136] good, he is good to god's glo­ry; if evil, let him be evil at his own Charges. He that judges shall be judged.

MAX. 92.

So long as thou art igno­rant, be not ashamed to learn; he that is so fondly modest, not to acknowledge his own Defects of Knowledge, shall in time be so foully impudent, to justifie his own Ignorance. Ig­norance is the greatest of all Infirmities, and justified, the chiefest of all Follies.

MAX. 93.

If thou be a Servant, deal [Page 137] justly by thy Master as thou de­sirest thy Servant should deal by thee; where thou art com­manded, be obedient, where not commanded, be provident; let Diligence be thy Credit; let Faithfulness be thy Crown; let thy Master's Credit be thy Care, and let his Welfare be thy Content: Let thine Eye be single, and thine Heart hum­ble; be sober, that thou may'st be circumspect: He that in So­briety is not his own man, be­ing drunk, whose is he? Be neither contentious nor lasci­vious; the one shews a turbu­lent H [...]art, the other an idle Brain, A good Servant is a great Master.

MAX. 94.

Let the Foundation of thy Affection be Virtue, then make the Building as rich and as glo­rious as thou canst; if the Foun­dation be Beauty or Wealth, and the Building Virtue, the Foundation is too week for the Building, and it will fall. Hap­py is he, the Palace of whose Affection is founded upon Vir­tue, wall'd with Riches, glaz'd with Beauty, and Roofed with Honour.

MAX. 95.

If thy Mother be a Widow, give her double Honour, who [Page 139] now acts the part of a double Parent; Remember her nine months Burthen, and her ten months Travel; forget not her Indulgence when thou didst hang upon her tender Breast; call to mind her Prayers for thee before thou cam'st into the World, and her Cares for thee when thou wert come in­to it; remember her secret Groans, her affectionate Tears, her broken Slumbers, her daily Fears, her nightly Frights: re­lieve her Wants, cover her Im­perfections, comfort her Age, and the Widow's Husband will be the Orphan's Father.

MAX. 96.

As thou desirest the Love of God and Man, beware of Pride; it is a Tumour in thy mind, that breaks, and poisons all thy Actions; it is a Worm in thy Treasure, that eats and ruines thy Estate; it loves no man, is be­loved of no man; it dispara­geth Virtue in another by De­traction; it disrewards Good­ness in it self by Vain Glory; the Friend of the Flatterer, the Mother of Envy, the Nurse of Fury, the Band of Luxury, the Sin of Devils, and the Devil in mankind: It hates Superiours, it scorns Inferiours, it owns no [Page 141] Equals; in short, till thou hate it, God hates thee.

MAX. 97.

So behave thy self amongst thy Children, that they may love and honour thy presence; be not too fond, lest they fear thee not; be not too bitter, lest they fear thee too much: Too much Familiarity will embol­den them, too little Counte­nance discourage them. So carry thy self, that they may rather fear thy displeasure than thy correction; when thou re­provest them, do it in season; when thou correctest them, do it not in Passion. As a wise Child makes a happy Father, [Page 142] so a wise Father makes a hap­py Child.

MAX. 98.

When thy hand hath done a good Act, ask thy heart if it be well done; the matter of a good action is the deed done, the form of a good action is the manner of the doing; in the first, another hath the Com­fort, and thou the Glory; in the other, thou hast the Com­fort, and God the Glory. That Deed is ill done, wherein God is no Sharer.

MAX. 99.

Should'st thou purchase Hea­ven, advise not with thy own ability: The Price of Heaven is what thou hast; examine not what thou hast, but what thou art; give thy self, and thou hast bought it: If thy own Vileness be thy Fears, offer thy self, and thou art pretious.

MAX. 100.

The Birds of the Air dye to sustain thee; the Beasts of the Field dye to nourish thee; the Fishes of the Sea dye to feed thee; our Stomacks are their common Sepulchres. Good [Page 144] God! with how many Deaths are our Lives patch'd up? how ful of Death is the miserable Life of momentary Man.

MAXIM 1.

If thou take pains in what is good, the Pains vanish, the Good remains; if thou take pleasure in what is evil, the Evil remains, and the Pleasure va­nisheth: What art thou the worse for Pains, or the better for Pleasure, when both are past.

MAX. 2.

If thy Fancy and Judgment have agreed in the choice of a Wife, be not too fond, lest she surfeit, nor too peevish, lest she languish: Love so that thou may'st be feared; rule so that thou may'st be honoured; be not too diffident, lest thou teach her to deceive thee; nor too suspicious, lest thou teach her to abuse thee. If thou see a fault, let thy Love hide it; if she continue it, let thy Wisdom reprove it: Reprove her not openly, lest she grow bold; re­buke her not tauntingly, lest she grow spiteful; proclaim not her Beauty, lest she grow [Page 147] proud; boast not her Wisdom, lest thou be thought foolish; shew her not thy Imperfections, lest she disdain thee; pry not into her Dairy, lest the despise thee; prophane not her Ears with loose Communication, lest thou defile the Sanctuary of her Modesty. An under­standing Husband makes a dis­creet Wife; and she a happy Husband.

MAX. 3.

Wrinkle not thy Face with too much Laughter, lest thou become ridiculous; neither wanton thy Heart with, too much Mirth, lest thou become vain. The Suburbs of Folly [Page 148] is vain mirth; and profuseness of Laughter is the City of Fools.

MAX. 4.

Let thy Tongue take Coun­sel of one Eye, rather than of two Ears; let the News thou reportest be rather stale than false, lest thou be branded with the Name of a Lyar: 'Tis an intollerable Dishonour to be that, which only to be called so, is thought worthy of a Stab▪

MAX. 5.

Let thy Discourse be such as thy Judgment may maintain and thy Company may deserve▪ [Page 149] [...]n neglecting this, thou losest thy Words; in not observing, the other, thou losest thy self. Give wash to Swine, and Wort to Men; so shalt thou husband thy Gift to the advantage of thy self, and shape thy Dis­course to the advancement of the Hearer.

MAX. 6.

Dost thou roar under the Torments of a Tyrant? Weigh them with the Sufferance of thy Saviour, and they are no Plague. Dost thou rage under the Bondage of a raving Con­science? Compare it to thy Sa­viour's Passion, and it is no Pain? Have the Tortures of [Page 150] Hell taken hold of thy despai­ring soul? Compare it to thy Saviour's Torments, and it is no Punishment. What Sense unequally compares, let Faith interchangeably apply, and thy Pleasure have no Comparison; thy Sins are the Authors of his Sufferings, and his Hell is the Price of thy Heaven.

MAX. 7.

Art thou banish'd from thy own Country? Thank thy own Folly: Hadst thou chosen a right home, thou hadst been no Exile; hadst thou comman­ded thine own Kingdom, all Kingdoms had been thine own. The Fool is banished in his [Page 151] own Country; the Wise man is in his own Country, though banished: The Fool wanders, the Wise man travels.

MAX. 8.

In seeking Virtue, if thou find Poverty, be not ashamed, the Fault is none of thine; thy Honour or Dishonour is pur­chased by thy own Actions: Tho' Virtue give a ragged Li­very, she gives a golden Cog­nizance; if her Service make thee poor, blush not; thy Po­verty may disadvantage thee, but not dishonour thee.

MAX. 9.

Gaze not on Beauty too much, lest it blast thee, nor too long, lest it blind thee, nor too near, lest it burn thee; if thou like it, it deceives thee; if thou love it, it disturbs thee; if thou lust after it, it destroys thee: If Virtue accompany it, it is the Heart's Paradice; if Vice associate it, it is the Soul's Purgatory: It is the Wise man's Bonfire, and the Fools Furnace.

MAX. 10.

If thou would'st have a good Servant, let thy Servant find a wise Master; let his Food, Rest, [Page 153] and Wages be seasonable; let his Labour, Recreations, and Attendance, depend upon thy Pleasure; be not angry with him too long, lest he think thee malicious, nor too soon, lest he conceive thee rash, nor too often, lest he count the humo­rous; be not too fierce, lest he love thee not, nor too remiss, lest he fear thee not, nor too familiar, lest he prize thee not. In brief, whil'st thou givest him the Liberty of a Servant, be­ware thou losest not the Maje­sty of a Master.

MAX. 11.

If thou desire to be chast in Wedlock, keep thy self chast [Page 154] before thou wed'est; he that hath known Pleasure unlawful­ly, will hardly be restrained from unlawful Pleasure: One Woman was created for one Man. He that strays beyond the limits of Liberty, is brought into the Verge of Slavery: Where one is enough, two is too many, and three is too few.

MAX. 12.

If thou would'st be justified, acknowledge thy Injustice: He that confesseth his Sin, begins his Journey toward Salvation; he that is sorry for't, mends his Pace; he that forsakes it, is at his Journey's end.

MAX. 13.

Before thou reprehend ano­ther, take heed thou art not culpable in what thou goest a­bout to reprehend: He that cleanseth a Blott with blotted Fingers makes a greater Blur.

MAX. 14.

Beware of Drunkenness, lest all good men beware of thee: Where Drunkenness reigns, there Reason is an Exul, Virtue a Stranger, God an Enemy; Blasphemy is Wit, Oaths are Rhetorick, and Secrets are Pro­clamations. Noah discovered that in one hour, drunk, which [Page 156] sober, he kept secret Six hun­dred Years.

MAX. 15.

What thou givest to the poor, thou securest from the Thief; but what thou withol­dest from his Necessity, a Thief possesses. God's Exchequer is the poorman's Box; when thou strikest a Tally, he becomes thy Debtor.

MAX. 16.

Take no pleasure in the Fol­ly of an Ideot, nor in the Fan­cy of a Lunatick, nor in the Frenzy of a Drunkard; make them the Object of thy Pity, [Page 157] not of thy Pastime, when thou beholdest them, behold how thou art beholden to him that suffer'd thee not to be like them; there is no difference between thee and them, but God's Fa­vour.

MAX. 17.

If being in an Eminent place thou hast incurr'd the obloquy of the Multitude, the more thou endeavourest to stop the Stream, the more it overflows: Wisely rather divert the course of the Vulgar humour, by di­vulging and spreading some ri­diculous Novelty, which may present new matter to their va­rious fancy, and stave their [Page 158] Tongues from off thy worri­ed name; the first subject of the common Voice is the last News.

MAX. 18.

If thou desire to see thy Child Virtuous, let him not see his Father's Vices: Thou canst not rebuke that in them that they behold practis'd in thee. Till Reason be Ripe, Examples di­rect more than Precepts: Such as thy behaviour is before thy Childrens Faces, such com­monly is theirs behind their Parents backs.

MAX. 19.

Use Law and Physick only for [Page 159] necessity; they that use them otherwise, abuse themselves in­to weak Bodies and light Purses. They are good Remedies, bad Businesses, and worse Recreati­ons.

MAX. 20.

Be not over curious in pry­ing into Mysteries, lest by seek­ing things which are needless, thou omit things which are necessary; it is more safe to doubt of uncertain Matters than to dispute of undiscovered Mysteries.

MAX. 21.

If what thou hast received [Page 160] from God thou sharest to the Poor, thou hast gained a bles­sing by the hand: If what thou hast taken from the Poor thou givest to God, thou hast pur­chased a Curse into the bar­gain: He that puts to Pious Uses what he hath got by Im­pious Usury, Robs the Spittle to raise an Hospital, and the Cry of the one, will out-plead the Prayers of the other.

MAX. 22.

Let the end of thy Argu­ment be rather to discover a doubtful Truth, than a Com­manding Wit; in the one thou shalt gain substance, in the o­ther Froth: That Flint strikes [Page 161] the Steel in vain that propa­gates no sparkles. Covet to be Truth's Champion, at least to hold her Colours: He that pleads against the Truth takes pains to be overthrown, or if a Conqueror, gains but a Vain-Glory by the Conquest.

MAX. 23.

Take no pleasure in the death of a Creature; if it be harm­less or useless destroy it not, if useful or harmful destroy it mercifully: He that mercifully made his Creatures for thy sake, expects thy mercy upon them for his sake, mercy turns her back to the unmerciful.

MAX. 24.

If thou art called to the Dignity of a Priest, the same Voice calls thee to the honour of a Judge: If thy Life and Doctrine be Good, thou shalt Judge others; if thy Doctrine be Good and thy Life bad, on­ly thy self: If both be Good, thou teachest thy People to es­cape Condemnation: If this be good, and that bad, thou teachest God to Condemn thee.

MAX. 25.

If thou be not a Promethe­us to adivise, before thou dost be an Epimetheus to examine what [Page 163] thou hast done, when the want of Advice hath brought forth an improvident act, the Exa­mination may produce a profi­table Repentance.

MAX. 26.

If thou desire the happiness of thy Soul, the health of thy Body, the prosperity of thy Estate, the preservation of thy Credit, converse not with a Harlot; her Eyes run thy Re­putation in debt, her Lips de­mand the Payment, her Breast arrest thee, her Arms imprison thee, from whence believe it thou shalt hardly get forth till thou hast either ended the days of thy Credit, or paid the ut­most farthing of thy Estate.

MAX. 27.

Carry a watchful Eye upon those Familiars that are either silent at thy Faults, or sooth thee in thy Frailties, or excuse thee in thy Follies, for such are either Cowards, or Flat­terers, or Fools: If thou en­tertain them in prosperity, the Coward will leave thee in thy Dangers; the Flatterer will quit thee in thy Adversity; but the Fool will never forsake thee.

MAX. 28.

If thou hast an Estate and a Son to Inherit it, keep him not too short, lest he think thou [Page 165] livest too long; what thou gi­vest let him receive from thy hand as Gifts, not from thy Tenants as Rent; keep the Reins of thy Estate in thy own hand, lest thou forsaking the Sovereignty of a Father, he forget the Reverence of a Child; let his liberty be grounded up­on thy permission, and keep him within the compass of thy Instructions: Let him feel thou hast the Curb, though occasi­on urge thee not to Check: Give him the choice of his own Wife if he be wise, Counsel his affection rather than Cross it; if thou be'st wise let his Marriage-bed be made in se­cret, or depend upon thy Grave. If he be given to Lavish Com­pany [Page 166] endeavour to stave him off with lawful Recreations: be cheerful with him that he may love thy presence, and wink at small faults that thou mayst gain him; be not always chiding lest thou harden him, neither knit thy brow too often lest thou dishearten him: Re­member the discretion of a Fa­ther oft times prevents the de­struction of a Child.

MAX. 29.

If thou hide thy Treasure upon Earth, how canst thou expect to find it in Heaven? canst thou hope to be a sharer where thou hast reposed no stock? That thou gavest to [Page 167] God's Glory and thy Soul's Health is laid up in Heaven, and is only thine: That alone which thou exchangeth or hidest upon Earth is lost.

MAX. 30.

Regard not in thy Pilgrimage how difficult thy passage is, but whither it tends; nor delicate thy Journey is, but where it ends; if it be easie, suspect it; if hard, endure it; He that cannot excuse a bad way, ac­cuseth his own sloth; and he that sticks in a bad passage, can never attain a good Journey's end.

MAX. 31.

Money is both the Genera­tion and Corruption of Pur­chased Honour; Honour is both the Child and Slave to Potent Money: The Credit which Honour hath lost, Mo­ney hath found; when Honour grew Mercenary, Money grew Honourable; the way to be truly Noble is to Contemn both.

MAX. 32.

Give not thy Tongue too great a liberty, lest it take thee Prisoner; a word unspoken is like the Sword in thy Scabbard, thine; if vented, thy Sword is [Page 169] in another's hand: If thou de­sire to be held wise, be so wise as to hold thy Tongue.

MAX. 33.

If thou be a subject to any great Vanity, nourish it not: If it will be entertained, encou­rage it not; if it grow strong, more strongly strive against it; if too strong, Pray against it; if it weaken not, joyn Fasting to the Prayer; if it shall conti­nue, add perseverance to them both; if it decline not, add Patience to all, and thou hast Conquered it.

MAX. 34.

Hath any wounded thee with [Page 170] Injury, meet them with Pati­ence; hasty words rankle the wounds, soft language dresses it; forgiveness cures it, and Obli­vion takes away the scar; it is more noble by Silence to a­void an Injury, than by Argu­ment to overcome it.

MAX. 35.

Be not instable in thy Reso­lutions, nor various in thy Acti­ons, nor inconstant in thy Af­fections; so deliberate, that thou mayst resolve; so resolve, that thou mayst perform; so per­form, that thou mayst perse­vere: Mutability is the badge of Infirmity.

MAX. 36.

Let not thy good intention flatter thee to an evil action; what is essential Evil, no circum­stance can make Good: it mat­ters not with what mind thou didst that which is unlawful being done; if the act be good the intention crowns it, if bad it deposeth thy intention; no evil action can be well done.

MAX. 37.

Love not thy Children too unequally, or if thou dost, sh [...]w it not, lest thou make the one Proud, the other Envious, and both Fools; if Nature hath [Page 172] made a difference, it is the part of a tender Parent to help the weakest: That tryal is not fair where Affection is the Judge.

MAX. 38.

In giving of thy Alms, en­quire not so much into the Person as his Necessity; God looks not so much upon the Merits of him that requires, as into the manner of him that relieves; if the Man deserves not, thou hast given it to Hu­manity.

MAX. 39.

If thou desire the Eucharist should be thy Supper, let thy [Page 173] Life be thy Chaplain; If thy own worthiness invites thee, presume not to come; If the sorrowful sense of thy own Sins forbid, presume not to forbear; If thy Faith be strong, it will confirm it, if weak, it will streng­then it: He only that wants Faith is the forbidden Guest.

MAX. 40.

Wouldst thou traffick with the best advantage, and crown thy Virtues with the best re­turn, make the Poor thy Chap­man, and thy Purse thy Factor; so shall thou give trifles, which thou couldst not keep, to re­ceive treasure which thou canst not lose: There is no such [Page 174] Merchant as the Charitable Man.

MAX. 41.

Follow not the multitude in the evil of Sin, lest thou share with the multitude in the e­vil of Punishment; the num­ber of the offenders, diminish­eth not the quality of the of­fence; as the multitude of Sui­ters draws more favour to the suit, so the multitude of Sin­ners draws more punishment on the Sin, the number of the Faggots multiply the fury of the Fire.

MAX. 42.

If thou be angry with him [Page 175] that reproves thy Sin, thou se­cretly confessest his reproof to be Just: if thou acknowledge his reproof to be Just, thou secret­ly confessest thy Anger to be unjust; He that is angry with the Just Reprover, kindles the fire of the Just Revenger.

MAX. 43.

Do well whilst thou mayst, least thou do evil when thou wouldst not: He that takes not advantage of a good pow­er, shall lose the benefit of a good will.

MAX. 44.

Let not Mirth be thy pro­fession, [Page 176] lest thou become a make-sport: He that hath but gained the title of a Jester, let him assure himself the Fool is not far off.

MAX. 45.

In every Relative action change Conditions with thy Brother; then ask thy Conscience what thou wouldst be done to; being truly resolved exchange again, and do thou the like to him, and thy Charity shall never err: It is injustice to do, what with­out impatience thou canst not suffer.

MAX. 46.

Love thy Neighbour for [Page 177] God's sake, and God for his own sake, who created all things for thy sake, and re­deemed thee for his mercy sake: if thy love have any other ob­ject, it is false love; if thy ob­ject have any other end, it is self-Love.

MAX. 47.

Let thy conversation with Men be sober and sincere; let thy Devotion to God be duti­ful and decent; let the one be hearty and not haughty; let the other be humble and not homely; so live with Man as if God saw thee, so pray to God as if Men heard thee.

MAX. 48.

God's pleasure is the wind our actions ought to sail by, Man's will is the stream that Tides them up and down; if the wind blow not, thou mayst take the advantage of the Tide; if it blow, no matter which way the stream runs; If with thee, thy Voyage will be the shorter; if against thee, the Sea will be the Rougher. It is ea­sier to strive against the Stream, than to sail against the Wind.

MAX. 49.

If thou desire much rest, de­sire not too much; there is [Page 179] no less trouble in the preserva­tion, than in the acquisition of abundance; Diogenes found more Rest in his Tub, than Alexander on his Throne.

MAX. 50.

Wouldst thou multiply thy Riches, diminish them wisely; or wouldst thou make thy E­state entire, divide it charitably; Seeds that are scattered en­crease, but hoarded up they Perish.

MAX. 51.

How cam'st thou by thy Honour? by Money; How cam'st thou by thy Money? [Page 180] by Extortion; compare the Pennyworth with the Price, and tell me truly, how truly Ho­nourable thou art: It is an ill purchase that is Cumbred with a Curse, and that Honour will be Ruinous that is built on Ruines.

MAX. 52.

If thy Brother hath privately offended thee, reprove him privately; and having lost him­self in an injury thou shalt find him in thy forgiveness; he that rebukes a private fault openly, betrays it, rather than reproves it.

MAX. 53.

What thou desirest inspect throughly before thou prose­cute; cast one Eye upon the In­conveniencies, as well as the o­ther upon the Conveniencies; weigh the fulness of the Barn with the charge of the Plough; weigh Honour with her bur­then, and Pleasure with her dangers; so shalt thou under­take wisely what thou desirest, or moderate thy Desires in un­dertaking.

MAX. 54.

If thow owest thy whole self to thy God for thy Creation, [Page 182] what hast thou left to pay for thy Redemption, that was not so cheap as the Creation? In thy Creation he gave thee thy self, and by thy self to him; in thy Redemption he gave him­self to thee, and through him restored thee to thy self: Thou art given and restored, now what owest thou to thy God? If thou hast paid all thy Debts, give him the Surplusage, and thou hast merited.

MAX. 55.

In thy Discourse, take heed what thou speakest, to whom thou speakest, how thou speak­est, and when thou speakest: What thou speakest, speak tru­ly; [Page 183] when thou speakest, speak wisely: A Fool's Heart is in his Tongue, but a Wise man's Tongue is in his Heart.

MAX. 56.

Before thou act a Theft, con­sider what thou art about to do; if thou take it, thou losest thy self; if thou keep it, thou disenablest thy Redemption; till thou restorest it, thou canst not be restored; when it is resto­red' it must cost the more Sor­row and Pain, than ever it brought thee Profit or Pleasure. It is a great Folly to please thy Palate with that which thou knowest must either be vomit­ed or thy Death.

MAX. 57.

Silence is the highest Wis­dom of a Fool, and Speech is the greatest Trial of a Wise man; if thou would'st be known a Wise man, let thy Words shew thee so; if thou doubt thy Words, let thy Silence feign thee so: It is not a greater point of Wisdom to discover Know­ledge than to hide Ignorance.

MAX. 58.

The Clergy is a Copy-book; their Life is the Paper, whereof some is purer, some courser; their Doctrine is the Copies, some written in a plain hand, [Page 185] others in a flourishing hand, some in a Text hand, some in a Roman hand, others in a Court hand, others in a Bastard Ro­man. If the choice be in thy power, choose a Book that hath the finest Paper; let it not be too straight nor too loosely bound, but easie to lye open to every Eye: Follow not every Copy, lest thou be good at none; among them all choose one that shall be most legible and useful, and fullest of just Writing: But if the Paper chance to have a Blot, remem­ber that Blot is no part of the Copy.

MAX. 59.

Virtue is nothing but an Act of loving that which is to be beloved, and that Act is Pru­dence; from whence not to be removed by constraint, is For­titude, not to be allured by En­ticements is Temperance, not to be diverted by Pride is Ju­stice; the declining of this Act is Vice.

MAX. 60.

Rebuke thy Servant's Fault in Private; publick Reproof hardens his Shame; if he be past a Youth, strike him not; he is not fit for thy Service that [Page 187] after wise Reproofs will either deserve thy Stroaks or digest them.

MAX. 61.

Take heed rather what thou receivest, than what thou gi­vest; what thou givest leaves thee, what thou takest sticks by thee; he that presents a Gift, buys the Receiver; he that takes a Gift, sells his Li­berty

MAX. 62.

Things temporal are sweeter in expectation, things eternal are sweeter in the fruition; the first shames thy hopes, the se­cond [Page 188] crowns it: It is a vain Journey whose end affords less pleasure than the way.

MAX. 63.

Know thy self, that thou may'st fear God; know God, that thou may'st love him; in this thou art initiated to Wis­dom, in that perfected: The Fear of God is the Beginning of Wisdom; the Love of God is the fulfilling of the Law.

MAX. 64.

If thou hast Providence to foresee a Danger, let thy Pro­vidence rather prevent it than fear it; the fear of future Evils [Page 189] brings often times a present Mischief; whil'st thou seekest to prevent it, practise to bear it: He is a wise man can pre­vent an Evil; he is a patient man that can endure it; but he is a valiant man can con­quer it.

MAX. 65.

If thou hast the place of a Magistrate, deserve it by thy Justice, and dignifie it with thy Mercy: Take heed of ear­ly Gifts; an open hand makes a blind Eye. Be not more apt to punish Vice, than to encou­rage Virtue; be not too severe, lest thou be hated, nor too re­miss, lest thou be slighted: So [Page 190] exe­cute Justice, that thou may'st be loved; so execute Mercy, that thou may'st be feared.

MAX. 66.

Let not thy Table exceed the fourth part of thy Revenue; let thy Provision be solid, and not far fetch'd, fuller of Sub­stance than Art: Be wisely fru­gal in thy Preparation, and free­ly cheerful in thy Entertain­ment: If thy Guest be right, it is enough, if not, it is too much.: Too much is a Vanity; enough is a Feast.

MAX. 67.

Let thy Apparel be decent, and suited to the Quality of thy place and purse: Too much punctuality, and too much mo­rosity, are the two Poles of Pride. Be neither too early in the Fashion, nor too long out of it, nor too precisely in it; what Custom hath civilized is become decent, till then ridicu­lous. Where thy Eye is the Jury, thy Apparel is the Evi­dence.

MAX. 68.

If thy Words be too luxu­riant, confine them, lest they [Page 192] confine thee: He that thinks he never can speak enough, may easily speak too much; a full Tongue and an empty Brain are seldom parted.

MAX. 69.

In holding of an Argument, be neither cholerick nor too opinionate; the one distempers thy Understanding, the other abuseth thy Judgment. Above all things decline Paradoxes and Mysteries: Thou shalt receive no Honour either in maintain­ing rank Falshoods, or medling with secret Truths. As he that pleads against the Truth makes Wit the Mother of his Error, so he that argues beyond War­rant [Page 193] makes Wisdom the Mid­wife of his Folly.

MAX. 70.

Detain not the Wages from the poor man that hath earn'd it, lest God withold thy Wages from thee: If he complain to thee, hear him, lest he complain to Heaven, where he will be heard; if he hunger for thy sake, thou shalt not prosper for his sake: The poor man's Peny is a Plague in the rich man's Purse.

MAX. 71.

Be not too cautious in discer­ning the fit Objects of thy Cha­rity▪ [Page 194] l [...]st a Soul perish through thy Discretion: What thou gi­vest to mistaken Want, shall re­turn a Blessing to thy deceived Heart; better in relieving Idle­ness to commit an accidental Evil, than in neglecting Mise­ry to omit an essential Good; better two Drones be preserv'd than one Bee perish.

MAX. 72.

Theology is the Empress of the World, Mysteries are her Privy Council, Religion is her Clergy, the Arts are her Nobi­lity, Philosophy her Secretary, the Graces her Maids of Ho­nour, the moral Virtues the La­dies of her Bedchamber, Peace [Page 195] her Chamberlain, true Joy and endless Pleasures are her Cour­tiers, Plenty her Treasurer, Po­verty her Exchequer, the Tem­ple is her Court. If thou de­sire access to this great Majesty, the way is by her Courtiers; if thou hast not Power there, the common way to the Sove­reign is by the Secretary.

MAX. 73.

It is an evil Knowledge to know the Good thou should'st embrace, unless thou likewise embrace the Good thou know­est: The Breath of Divine Knowledge is the B [...]llows of Divine Love; and the Flame [Page 196] of Divine Love is the Perfecti­on of Divine Knowledge.

MAX. 74.

If thou desire Rest unto thy Soul, be just; he that doth no Injury fears not to suffer Inju­ry: The unjust mind is always in Labour; it either practiseth the Evil it hath projected, or projects to avoid the Evil it hath deserved.

MAX. 75.

Accustom thy self to what is most usual: He that delights in Rarities must often feed displea­sed, and sometimes lye at the mercy of a dear market; com­mon [Page 197] food nourisheth best, Deli­cates please most; the sound Stomack prefers neither; what art thou the worse for the last year's plain Diet, or what now the better for the last great Feast?

MAX. 76.

Whoever thou art, thou hast done more evil in one day than thou canst expiate in six, and canst thou think the evil of six days can require less than one? God hath made us rich in days by allowing six, and himself poor by reserving but one; and shall we spare our own Flock, and sheer his Lamb? He that hath done nothing but [Page 198] what he can justifie in the six days, may play the seventh.

MAX. 77.

Hope and Fear, like Hypocra­tes's Twin's, should live and dye together; if Hope departs from Fear, it travels by Security, and lodgeth in Presumption; if Fear depart from Hope, it tra­vels to Infidelity, and Inns in Despair; the one shuts up Hea­ven, the other opens Hell; the one makes thee insensible of God's Frowns, the other inca­pable of God's Favour; and both teach God to be unmer­ciful, and thee to be most mi­serable.

MAX. 78.

Close thine ear against him that shall open his mouth se­cretly against another; if thou recieve not his words, they fly back, and wound the Report­er; if thou receive them, they fly forward, and wound the Receiver.

MAX. 79.

If thou would'st preserve a sound Body, use fasting and walking; if a healthful Soul, Fasting and praying; walking exerciseth the Body, praying exerciseth the Soul; fasting cleanseth both.

MAX. 80.

Wouldest thou not be thought a Fool in another's Conceit? be not wise in thine own; he that trusts in his own Wisdom, proclaims his own Folly: He is truly wise, and shall appear so, that hath Folly enough to be thought not worldly wise, or Wisdom e­nough to see his own Folly.

MAX. 81.

Desirest thou Knowledge? Know the end of thy desire: Is it only to know? then it is Cu­riosity; is it because thou mayst be known? then 'tis Vanity; if [Page 201] because thou mayst edifie, then 'tis Charity; if because thou mayst be edified, it is Wisdom. That Knowledge turns to mere Excrement, that hath not some heat of Wisdom to di­gest it.

MAX. 82.

Wisdom without Innocency is Knavery; Innocency with­out Wisdom is Foolery; be therefore wise as Serpents, and innocent as Doves: The Sub­tilty of the Serpent instructs the Innocency of the Dove; the Innocency of the Dove cor­rects the Subtilty of the Ser­pent. What God hath joyned together, let no man separate.

MAX. 83.

The more thou imitatest the Virtues of a Saint departed, the better thou celebratest the Saint's day: God is not pleased with surfeiting for his sake, who with his Fasting so often plea­s [...]d his God.

MAX. 84.

Chuse not thy serviceable Soldier out of soft Apparel, lest [...]e prove effeminate, nor out of a full Purse, lest he grow [...]morous: They are more fit for action that are fiery to gain a Fortune abroad, than they that have Fortunes to lose at [Page 203] home. Expectation breeds Spi­rit, Fruition brings Fear.

MAX. 85.

God hath given to Mankind a common Library, his Crea­tures; and to every man a pro­per Book, himself; being an a­bridgement of all the others. If thou read with Understand­ing, it will make thee a great Master of Philosophy, and a true Servant to the Divine Au­thor; if thou but barely read, it will make thee thy own wise man, and the Author's Fool.

MAX. 86.

Doubt is a weak Child, law­fully [Page 204] begotten between an ob­structed Judgment and a fair Understanding. Opinion is a bold Bastard, gotten between a strong Fancy and a weak Judgment. It is less dishonou­rable to be ingeniously doubt­ful, than rashly opinionate.

MAX. 87.

As thou art a moral man, e­steem thy self not as thou art, but as thou art esteemed. As thou art a Christian, esteem thy self as thou art, not as thou art esteemed: Thy Price in both rises and falls as the market goes; the market of a moral man is wild Opinion; the mar­ket of a Christian is a good Conscience.

MAX. 88.

Providence is an Exercise of Reason, Experience an Act of Sense; by how much Reason excels Sense, by so much Pro­vidence exceeds Experience: Providence prevents that Dan­ger which Ezperience repents; Providence is the Rational Daughter of Wisdom, Expe­rience the Empirical mistress of Fools.

MAX. 89.

Hath fortune dealt thee ill Cards, let Wisdom make thee a good Gamester; in a fair [Page 206] Gale every Fool may sail, but wise behaviour in a Storm commends the wisdom of a Pilate; to bear adversity with an equal mind, is both the sign and glory of a brave Spirit.

MAX. 90.

If any speak ill of thee, flee home to thy own Conscience, and examine thy heart; if thou be guilty, 'tis a just Correcti­on; if not guilty, 'tis a fair In­struction: make use of both, so shalt thou distill Honey out of Gall, and out of an open Enemy, create a secret Friend.

MAX. 91.

As the exercise of the body Natural is moderate Recreati­on, so the exercise of the body Politick, is Military-Discipline; by that, the one is made more able; by this, the other is made more active: where both are wanting there wants no dan­ger; to the one, through a hu­morous supply; to the other, by a Negligent security.

MAX. 92.

God is above thee, Beasts are beneath thee; acknowledge him that is above thee, and thou shalt be acknowledged by [Page 208] them that are under thee; whilst Daniel acknowledge God to be above him, the Lyons acknowledge God to be above them.

MAX. 93.

Take heed, whilst thou shew­est Wisdom in not speaking, thou betrayest not thy own Folly in too long silence; if thou art a Fool, thy silence is Wisdom; if a Wise man, too long silence is Folly: As too many words from a Fool's mouth, gives a Wise man no leave to speak, so too long si­lence in a Wise man gives a Fool the opportunity of speak­ing, and makes thee guilty of his Folly.

MAX. 94.

Consider what thou wert, what thou art, what thou shalt be, what is within thee, what is above thee, what beneath thee, what is against thee, what was before thee, what shall be after thee; and this will bring to thy self Humility, to thy Neighbour Charity, to the World Contempt, to thy God Obedience. He that knows not himself positively, cannot know himself relatively.

MAX. 95.

Think not thy love to God, merits God's love to thee; his [Page 210] acceptance of thy Duty crowns his own Gifts in thee. Man's love to God is nothing but a faint reflection of God's Love to man.

MAX. 96.

Be always less willing to speak than to hear; what thou hearest thou receivest, what thou speakest thou givest. It is more glorious to give, more profitable to receive.

MAX. 97.

Seeft thou good days, pre­pare for evil times; no Sum­mer but hath its Winter: He never reapt Comfort in adver­sity, [Page 211] that sow'd it not in pro­sperity.

MAX. 98.

If being a Magistrate thou con­nivest at Vice, thou nourishest it; if thou sparest it, thou com­mittest it; what is not by thee punished in others, is made pu­nishable in thee; he that fa­vours present Evils, entails them upon his Posterity: he that ex­cuseth the Guilty condemns the Innocent.

MAX. 99.

Truth haunts no Corners, seeks no by-ways; if thou pro­fess it, do it openly; if thou [Page 212] seek it, do it fairly: he deserves not to profess Truth that professeth it fearfully: he deserves not to find the Truth that seeks it fraudulently.

MAX. 100.

If thou desire to be wiser yet, think not thy self yet wise enough; and if thou desire to improve knowledge in thy self, despise not the Instructions of another: He that Instructs him that thinks himself wise enough, hath a Fool to his Scholar; he that thinks himself wise enough to Instruct himself, hath a Fool to his Master.

MAXIM 1.

DEmean thy self more warily in thy Study than in the Street; if thy publick actions have an hundred witnesses, thy private have a thousand; the Multi­tude look but upon thy acti­ons, thy Conscience looks in­to them; the Multitude may [Page 214] chance to excuse thee, if not ac­quit thee; thy Conscience will accuse thee, if not Condemn thee.

MAX. 2.

Of all Vices, take heed of Drunkenness; other Vices are but fruits of disorder'd affecti­ons, this disorders, nay banish­eth Reason; other Vices but impair the Soul, this demolish­eth her two chief Faculties, the Understanding and the Will; other Vices makes their own way, this makes way for all Vices: He that is a Drunkard is qualify'd for all Vice.

MAX. 3.

If thy Sin trouble thee, let that trouble comfort thee; as pleasure in the Remembrance of Sin exasperates Justice, so sorrow in the Repentance of Sin mollifies Mercy: It is less danger to Commit the Sin we delight in, than to delight in the Sin we have Committed; and more Joy is promised to Repentance, than to Innocency.

MAX. 4.

The way to God is by thy self, the way to thy self is by thy own Corruptions; he that baulks this way, errs; he that [Page 216] travels by the Creatures, wan­ders: the motion of the Hea­vens shall give thy soul no rest; the virtue of Herbs shall not encrease thine; the height of all Philosophy both Natural and Moral, is to know thy self, and the end of this Knowledge is to know God.

MAX. 5.

Infamy is where it is recei­ved; if thou art a Mud-wall, it will stick; if Marble, it will re­bound; if thou storm at it, 'tis thine; if thou contemn it, 'tis his.

MAX. 6.

If thou desire Magistracy, learn to forget thy self: If thou undertake it, bid thy self fare­wel. He that looks upon a Common Cause with private Eyes, looks through false Glas­ses. In the exercise of thy Poli­tique Office thou must forget both Ethicks and Oeconomicks: He that puts on a publick Gown, must put off a private Person.

MAX. 7.

Let the words of a Virgin, though in a good Cause, and to as good purpose, be neither [Page 218] violent, many, nor first, nor last; it is less shame for a Virgin to be lost in a blushing silence, than to be found in a bold Eloquence.

MAX. 8.

Art thou in Plenty, give what thou wilt; art thou in Pover­ty, give what thou canst: as what is received, is received according to the manner of the Receiver, so what is given is priz'd according to the mea­sure of the Giver: He is a good work-man that makes as good Work, as his matter will per­mit.

MAX. 9.

God is the Author of Truth, the Devil the Father of Lies; if the telling of a Truth shall endanger thy Life, the Author of Truth will protect thee from the Danger, or reward thee for thy Damage; if the telling a Lie may secure thy Life, the Father of Lies will beguile thee of thy Gains, or traduce the Security: Better by losing of a Life to save it, than by saving of a Life to lose it. However, better thou perish than the Truth.

MAX. 10.

Consider not so much what thou hast, as what others want; what thou hast take heed thou lose not; what thou hast not, take heed thou cover not: If thou hast many above thee, turn thy Eye upon those that are under thee. If thou hast not Inferiors, have patience a while, and thou shalt have no Supe­riors; the Grave requires no Marshal.

MAX. 11.

If thou seest any thing in thy self which may make thee proud, look a little and thou [Page 221] shall find enough to humble thee; if thou be Wise, view the Peacock's feathers with his Feet, and weigh thy best parts with thy imperfections: he that would rightly prize the man, must read his whole story.

MAX. 12.

Let not the sweetness of Con­templation be so esteemed, that action be despised. Rachel was more fair; Leah more fruitful; as Contemplation is more de­lightful, so is it more dange­rous: Lot was upright in the City and wicked in the moun­tain.

MAX. 13.

If thou hast but little, make it not less by murmuring; if thou hast enough, make it not too much by unthankfulness; he that is not thankfully conten­ted with the least favour he hath received, hath made him­self incapable of the least fa­vour he can receive.

MAX. 14.

What thou hast taken un­lawfully, restore speedily; for the Sin in taking it is repeated every minute thou keep'st it; if thou canst, restore it in kind; if not value; if it may be, re­store [Page 223] it to the Party; if not, to God; the Poor is God's Re­ceiver.

MAX. 15.

Let the fear of a Danger, be as a spur to prevent it; he that fears otherwise gives advantage to the Danger; it is less folly not to endeavour the preven­tion of the evil thou fearest, than to fear the Evil which thy endeavour cannot prevent.

MAX. 16.

If thou hast any Excellence which is thine own, thy Tongue may glory in it without shame; but if thou hast received it, thy [Page 224] Glory is but Usurpation, and thy Pride is but the Prologue of thy Shame; where Vain-Glory Commands, there Folly Counsels; where Pride Rides, there Shame Lacquys.

MAX. 17.

God hath ordained his Crea­tures not only for necessity but for delight; since he hath Carv'd thee with a bountiful hand, fear not to receive it with a liberal heart; he that gave thee Water to allay thy thirst, gave thee Wine to ex­hilerate thy heart: Restore him for the one, the necessity of thanks; Return him for the other, the cheerfulness of Praise.

MAX. 18.

If the Wicked flourish and thou suffer, be not discourag'd; they are fatted for destructi­on, thou art dieted for health; they have no other Heaven but the thoughts of a long Earth; thou hast nothing on Earth but the hopes of a quick Heaven: If there were no Journey's end, the Travel of a Christian were most Comfort­less.

MAX. 19.

Imp not thy Wing with the Church's Feathers, lest thou fly to thy own Ruine; Impro­priations [Page 226] are bold Metaphors, which continued are deadly Allegories; one foot of Land in Capite encumbers the whole Estate; the Eagle snatch'd a Coal from the Altar, but it fir'd her Nest.

MAX. 20.

Let that Table which God hath pleased to give thee, please thee; he that made the Vessel knows her burthen, and how to ballast her; he that made all things very good, cannot but do all things very well; if thou be content with a little, thou hast enough; if thou complain­est, thou hast too much.

MAX. 21.

Wouldst thou discover the true worth of a Man, behold him Naked, distreasure him of his ill got Wealth; degrade him of his dear bought honour; disrobe him of his purple ha­bit; discard his pamper'd body; then look upon his Soul, and thou shalt find how great he is: Natural sweetness is never scented but in the absence of Artificial.

MAX. 22.

If thou art subject to any secret folly, blab it not, lest thou appear impudent; nor [Page 228] boast of it, lest thou seem inso­lent; every man's Vanity ought to be his greatest shame; and every man's Folly ought to be his greatest secret.

MAX. 23.

If thou be Ignorant, endea­vour to get Knowledge, lest thou be beaten with stripes: If thou hast attained Know­ledge, put it in practice, lest thou be beaten with many stripes; better not to know what we should practice, than not to practice what we know; and less danger dwells in un­affected Ignorance, than un­active Knowledge.

MAX. 24.

Take heed thou harbour not that Vice called Envy, lest a­nother's happiness be thy tor­ment, and God's blessing be­comes thy Curse: Virtue cor­rupted with Vain-glory turns Pride; Poison'd with Malice becomes Envy: Joyn there­fore Humility with thy Virtue; and Pride shall have no foot­ing, and Envy shall have no entrance.

MAX. 25.

If thy endeavour cannot pre­vent a Vice, let thy Repen­tance lament it; the more thou [Page 230] remember'st it without hearts-grief, the deeper it is rooted in thy heart: Take heed it please thee not, especially in cold blood, thy pleasure in it makes it fruitless, and her fruit is thy destruction.

MAX. 26.

The two knowledges of God and of thy self, are the high­way to thy Salvation; that breeds in thee a filial Love, this a filial Fear. The Ignorance of thy self is the beginning of all sin; and the Ignorance of God is the perfection of all Evil.

MAX. 27.

Rather do nothing to the purpose than be Idle, that the Devil may find thee doing. The Bird that sits is easily shot, when flyers 'scape the Fowler; Idleness is the dead Sea that swallows all Virtues, and the self made Sepulchre of a living man: The Idle man is the De­vil's hireling, whose Livery is Rags, whose Dyet and Wages are famine and diseases.

MAX. 28.

Be not so mad, as to alter that Countenance which thy Creator made thee; remember [Page 232] 'twas the work of his hands; if it be bad how darst thou mend it; if it be good, why dost thou mend it? art thou asham'd of his work, and proud of thy own? he made thy face to be known by; why desirest thou to be known by another? It is a shame to adulterate Mo­desty, but more to adulterate Nature; lay by thy Art, and blush not to appear what he blushes not to make thee. It is better to be his Picture than thine own.

MAX. 29.

Let the Ground of all thy Religious actions be obedience; Examine not why it is Com­manded, but observe it because [Page 233] it is commanded; true Obedi­ence neither Procrastinates nor Questions.

MAX. 30.

If thou would'st buy an In­heritance in Heaven, advise not with thy Purse, lest in the mean while thou lose thy Purchase. The Widow bought as much for two Mites as Zacheus did for half his Estate. The Price of that Purchase is what thou hast, and is not lost for what thou hast not, if thou desire to have it.

MAX. 31.

With the same height of De­sire thou hast sinned, with the like depth of Sorrow thou must repent; thou that hast sinned [Page 234] to day, defer not thy Repent­ance till to morrow. He that hath promised thee Pardon to thy Repentance, hath not pro­mised Life till thou repent.

MAX. 32.

Take heed how thou recei­vest Praise from men; from good men, neither avoid it, nor glory in it; from evil men, neither desire it nor expect it: To be praised of them that are evil, or for that which is evil, is equal Dishonour; he is hap­py in his Worth who is praised by the good, and imitated by the bad.

MAX. 33.

Proportion thy Charity to the strength of thy Estate, lest God proportion thy Estate to the weakness of thy Charity: Let the Lips of the Poor be the Trumpet of thy Gifts, lest in seeking applause thou losest thy Reward. Nothing is more plea­sing to God than an open hand and a close mouth.

MAX. 34.

Dost thou want things ne­cessary? Grumble not; per­chance 'twas a necessary thing thou should'st want; endea­vour lawfully to supply it: If [Page 236] God bless not thy Endeavours, bless him that knoweth what is fittest for thee; thou art God's Patient, prescribe not thy Phy­sitian.

MAX. 35.

If another's Death, or thy own, depend upon thy Confes­sion, if thou canst, say nothing; if thou must, say the Truth: It is better thou lose thy Life than God his Honour; it is as easie for him to give thee Life being condemned, as Repentance, ha­ving sinned: It is more Wis­dom to yeild thy Body, than hazard thy Soul.

MAX. 36.

Cloath not thy Language, either with obscurity or affec­tation; in the one thou disco­verest too much darkness, in the other too much lightness: He that speaks from the Under­standing to the Understanding, is the best Interpreter.

MAX. 37.

If thou expect Death as a Friend, prepare to entertain it; if thou expect Death as an E­nemy, prepare to overcome it: Death hath no advantage, but when it comes a Stranger.

MAX. 38.

Fear nothing but what thy Industry may prevent: Be con­fident of nothing but what for­tune cannot defeat. It is no less folly to fear what is impossible to be avoided, than to be se­cure when there is a possibility to be deprived.

MAX. 39.

Let not the necessity of God's Decree discourage thee to pray, or dishearten thy Prayers; do thou thy Dury, and God will do his Pleasure: If thy Prayers make not him found that is sick, they will return, and con­firm [Page 239] thy health that art sound: If the end of thy Prayers be to obtain thy Request, thou con­finest him that is infinite; if thou hast done well because thou wert commanded, thou hast thy Reward, in that thou hast obeyed God's Pleasure in the end of our Prayers.

MAX. 40.

Marry not too young; and when thou art too old, marry not, lest thou be fond in the one, and dote in the other, and repent for both: Let thy. Liking ripen before thou love; let thy Love advise before thou chuse; and let thy Choice be first, before thou marry: Re­member [Page 240] that the whole Happi­ness of thy Life depends upon this one Act; remember that nothing but Death can dissolve this Knot: He that weds in haste, repents oftentimes by lei­sure; and he that repents him of his own Act, either is or was a Fool by Confession.

MAX. 41.

If God hath sent thee a Cross, take it up and follow him; use it wisely, lest it be unprofitable; bear it patiently, lest it be in­tollerable; behold in it God's Anger against Sin, and his Love towards thee in punishing and chastising the other. If it be light, slight it not; if heavy, [Page 241] murmur not: Not to be sensi­ble of a Judgment, is the symp­tom of a hardned Heart; and to be displeased at his Pleasure is a sign of a Rebellious Will.

MAX. 42.

If thou desire to be mag­nanimous, undertake nothing rashly, and fear nothing thou undertakest: Fear nothing but Infamy; dare any thing but Injury. The measure of Mag­nanimity, is neither to be rash, nor timorous.

MAX. 43.

Practise in Health to bear Sickness, and endeavour in the [Page 242] strength of thy life to entertain Death. He that hath a Will to dye, not having Power to live, shews Necessity, not Virtue: It is the Glory of a brave mind to embrace Pangs in the very Arms of Pleasure. What name of Virtue merits he that goes when he is driven?

MAX. 44.

Be not too punctual in ta­king place: If he be thy Supe­riour, 'tis his due; if thy Infe­riour, 'tis his Dishonour; it is thou must honour thy place, not thy place thee. It is a poor Reward of Worth, that con­sists in a Righthand, or a brick Wall.

MAX. 45.

Pray often, because thou sinnest always; repent quickly, lest thou dye suddenly: He that repents it, because he wants power to act it, repents not of a Sin till he forsakes it: He that wants power to actuate his Sin, hath not forsaken his Sin, but his Sin him.

MAX. 46.

Make Philosophy thy Jour­ney, Theology thy Journey's end: Philosophy is a pleasant way, but dangerous to him that either tires or retires: In this Journey it's safe neither to [Page 244] loyter, nor to rest, till thou hast attained thy Journey's-End: He that sits down a Phi­losopher, rises up an Atheist.

MAX. 47.

Fear not to Sin, for God's sake, but thy own; thy Sin o'erthrows not his Glory, but Good: He gains his glory not only from the Salvation of the Repentant; but also from the confusion of the Rebellious. There be Vessels for honour, and Vessels for dishonour; but both for his honour. God is not griev'd for the glory he shall lose for thy Improvidence, but for the horror thou shalt find for thy Impenitence.

MAX. 48.

Insult not over Misery, nor deride Infirmity, nor despise Deformity. The first shews thy Inhumanity; the second, thy Folly; the third, thy Pride; He that made him miserable, made thee happy to lament him: He that made him weak, made thee strong to support him; He that made him de­formed, gave thee favour to be humbled; He that is not sen­sible of another's Unhappiness, is a Living Stone; but he that makes Misery the object of his triumph, is an Incarnate De­vil.

MAX. 49.

Make thy Recreations ser­vants to thy business; lest thou become slave to thy Recreati­ons; when thou go'st up into the Mountain, leave this Ser­vant in the Valley; when thou goest to the City, leave him in the Suburbs; and remember, the Servant is not greater than his Master.

MAX. 50.

Praise no man too liberally before his face; nor censure him too lavishly behind his back. The one savours of Flattery; the other, of Malice, [Page 247] and both are Reprehensible: The true way to advance ano­ther's Virtue, is to follow it; and the best means to cry down another's Vice, is to decline it.

MAX. 51.

If thy Prince command a lawful act, give him all active Obedience: If he command an Unlawful act, give Passive O­bedience. What thy well-grounded Conscience will suf­fer, do cheerfully, without re­pining; where thou may'st not do Lawfully, suffer couragi­ously without Rebellion: Thy Life and Livelihood is thy Prince's, thy Conscience is thy own.

MAX. 52.

If thou givest to receive the like, it is Exchange: If to re­ceive more, 'tis covetousness: If to receive thanks, it is Vani­ty: If to be seen, 'tis Vain-Glory: If to corrupt, 'tis Bri­bery: If for Example, 'tis For­mality: If for Compassion, 'tis Charity: If because thou art Commanded, 'tis Obedi­ence: The affection in doing the work, gives a name to the work done.

MAX. 53.

Fear Death, but be not a­fraid of Death. To fear it [Page 249] whets thy Expectation; to be afraid of it dulls thy Prepara­tion: If thou canst endure it, it is but a slight pain; if not, 'tis but a short pain: To fear Death, is the way to Live long; To be afraid of Death, is to be long a Dying.

MAX. 54.

If thou desire the love of God and Man, be humble; for the proud heart, as it loves none but it self, so it is beloved of none, but by it self: The Voice of humility is God's Rheto­rick. Humility enforces, where neither Virtue, nor Strength, nor Reason, can prevail.

MAX. 55.

Look upon thy burning Ta­per, and there see the Emblem of thy Life: The flame is thy Soul; the Wax thy Body, and is commonly a span long; the Wax, (if never so well tem­per'd) can but last his length; and who can lengthen it? If ill temper'd, it shall waste the the faster, yet last his length; an open Window shall hasten either; an Extinguisher shall put out both: Husband them the best thou canst, thou canst not lengthen them beyond their date: Leave them to the inju­ry of the Wind, or to the mercy of a wastful hand, thou [Page 251] hastnest them, but still they burn their length: But puff them out, and thou hast short­ned them, and stop'd their pas­sage, which else had brought them to their appointed End. Bodies according to their Con­stitutions, stronger or weaker, according to the equality or inequality of their Elements, have their dates, and may be preserved from shortning, but not lengthned. Neglect may waste them, ill Diet may hasten them to their Journey's End, yet they have lived their length; a violent hand may interrupt them; a sudden death may stop them, and they are shortned. It lies in the power of Man, ei­ther permissively to hasten, or [Page 252] actively to shorten; but not to lengthen or extend the Limits of his Natural Life. He only (if any) hath the art to leng­then out his Taper that puts it [...]o the best advantage.

MAX. 56.

Demean thy self in the pre­sence of thy Prince, with reve­rence and chearfulness. That, without this, is too much sad­ness; this, without that, is too much boldness: Let thy Wis­dom endeavour to gain his opi­nion, and labour to make thy Loyalty his Confidence: Let him not find thee false in Words, unjust in thy Acti­ons, unseasonable in thy Suits, nor careless in his Ser­vice: [Page 253] Cross not his passion; Question not his pleasures; Press not into his secrets; Pry not in his prerogative: Dis­please him not, lest he be an­gry; appear not displeased, lest he be jealous. The anger of a King is implacable: The Jealousie of a Prince is Incura­ble.

MAX. 57.

Give thy heart to thy Crea­tor, and reverence thy Superi­ors: Give diligence to thy Cal­ling, and ear to good Counsel: Give alms to the Poor, and the Glory to God: Forgive him that ignorantly offends thee, and him that wittingly offen­ded [Page 254] thee, seeks thee. Forgive him that hath forcibly abused thee; and him that hath frau­dulently betray'd thee: For­give all thine Enemies; but least of all thy self: Give, and it shall be given to thee; For­give, and it shall be Forgiven thee; the sum of all Christi­anity is Give and Forgive.

MAX. 58.

Be not too great a Niggard in the Commendations of him that professes thy own Quality: If he deserves thy praise, thou hast discovered thy Judgment; If not, thy Modesty: Honour either returns, or reflects to the Giver.

MAX. 59.

If thou desire to raise thy For­tunes, Encourage thy delights to the casts of Fortune; be wise be times, lest thou repent too late; what thou gettest, thou gainest by abused Provi­dence; what thou losest, thou losest by abused Patience; what thou winnest is prodigally spent; what thou losest is prodigally lost: It is an Evil trade that prodigally drives; and a bad Voyage where the Pilot is blind.

MAX. 60.

Be very wary for whom thou [Page 256] becomest Security, and for no more than thou art able to dis­charge, if thou lovest thy Li­berty. The Borrower is a Slave to the Lender; the Se­curity is a Slave to both: whilst the Borrower and Lender are both eased, the Security bears both their burthens. He is a Wise Security that recovers himself.

MAX. 61.

Look upon thy Affliction as thou dost upon thy Physick; both imply a Disease, and both are applied for a Cure; that of the Body, this of the Soul: If they work, they promise health; if not, the threaten death: [Page 257] He is not happy that is not Afflicted, but he that finds happiness by his Affliction.

MAX. 62.

If the knowledge of good, whet thy desire to good, it is a happy knowledge: If by thy ignorance of Evil, thou art surpriz'd with Evil, it is an un­happy Ignorance. Happy is he that hath so much Know­ledge of Good, as to desire it; and but so much Knowledge of Evil, as to fear it.

MAX. 63.

When the Flesh presents thee with delights, then present thy [Page 258] self with dangers: Where the World possesses thee with vain Hopes, there possess thy self with true Fear. When the Devil brings thee Oil, bring thou Vinegar. The way to be safe, is never to be secure.

MAX. 64.

If thy Brother hath offen­ded thee, forgive him freely, and be reconciled: To do Evil for Evil is humane Cor­ruption; to do Good for Good, is civil Retribution: To do Good for Evil is Christian per­fections; the Act of Forgive­ness is God's Precept; the manner of Forgiveness is God's President.

MAX. 65.

Reverence the Writings of Holy Men; but lodge not thy Faith upon them, because but Men: They are good Pools, but no Fountains. Build on Paul himself, no longer than he builds on Christ: If Peter renounce his Master, renounce Peter. The word of Man may convince Reason; but the word of God alone can compel Con­science.

MAX. 66.

In Civil things follow the most; in matters of Religion, the fewest; in all things, fol­low [Page 260] the best; so shall thy ways be pleasing to God, so shall thy behaviour be plausible with Men.

MAX. 67.

If any loss or misery hath befallen to thy Brother; dis­semble it to thy self; and what Counsel thou givest him, Re­gister carefully; and when the case is thine, follow it: so shall thine own Reason convince thy Passion, or thy Passion con­fess her own Unreasonableness.

MAX. 68.

When thou goest about to change thy Moral Liberty, into [Page 261] a Christian Servitude, prepare thy self to be the world's laugh­ing stock; if thou overcome her Scoffs, thou shalt have dou­ble honour; if overcome, dou­ble shame. He is unworthy of a good Master that is ashamed of a bad Livery.

MAX. 69.

Let not the falling of a Salt, or the crossing of a Hare, or the crying of a Cricket, trouble thee: They portend no evil, but what thou fearest. He is ill ac­quainted with himself, that knows not his own Fortunes better than they: If evil follow it, it is the Punishment of thy Superstition, not the fulfilling [Page 262] of their Portent: All things are lucky to thee, if thou wilt; nothing but is ominous to the Superstitious.

MAX. 70.

So behave thy self in thy course of Life, as at a Banquet. Take what is offered with mo­dest Thankfulness; and expect what is not as yet offered with hopeful Patience. Let not thy rude Appetite press thee, nor a slight carefulness indispose thee, nor a sullen discontent deject thee. Who desires more than enough, hath too much; and he that is satisfied with a little, hath no less than enough.

MAX. 71.

Is thy Child dead? He is re­stored, not lost. Is thy Trea­sure stoln? It is not lost, it is restored: He is an ill Debtor, that counts Repayment loss; but it was an ill chance that took thy Child, and a wicked hand that stole thy Treasure: What is that to thee: It matters not by whom he requires the things from whom he lent them; what Goods are ours by Loan, are not lost when willingly resto­red, but when unworthily re­ceived.

MAX. 72.

Censure no man; detract from no man; praise no man before his Face; traduce no man behind his back: Boast not thy self abroad, nor flatter thy self at home: If any thing cross thee, accuse thy self; if any ex­tol thee, humble thy self: Ho­nour those that instruct thee, and be thankful to those that reprehend thee. Let all thy Desires be subjected to Reason, and let thy Reason be corrected By Religion. Weigh thy self by thy own Ballances, and trust not the Voice of wild Opinion: Observe thy self as thy greatest Enemy; so shalt thou become thy greatest Friend.

MAX. 73.

Endeavour to make thy dis­course such as may administer Profit to thy self, or Standers by, lest thou incur the danger of an idle Word: Above all Subjects, avoid all those that are scurrilous and obscene, Tales that are impertinent and improbable, and Dreams.

MAX. 74.

If God hath blest thee with a Son, bless thou that Son with a lawful Calling; chuse such Employment as may stand with his Fancy and thy Judgment: if his Country claims his Ability [Page 266] towards the building of her Honour; if he cannot bring a Cedar, let him bring a Shrub: He that brings nothing, usurps his Life, and robs his Country of a Servant.

MAX. 75.

At thy first Entrance into thy Estate, keep a low Sail; thou must rise with Honour; thou canst not decline without Shame. He that begins as his Father ended, shall end as his Father begun.

MAX. 76.

If any obscene Tale should chance to slip into thine Ears, [Page 267] among the Varieties of Dis­course (if opportunity admit) reprove it; if otherwise, let thy Silence or change of Counte­nance interpret thy dislike: The smiling Ear is Bawd to the la­scivious Tongue.

MAX. 77.

Be more circumspect over the Works of thy Brain, than the Actions of thy Body; these have Infirmity to plead for them, but they must stand up­on their own bottoms; these are but the Objects of few, they of all; these will have Equals to defend them, they have Inferiours to envy them, Superiours to deride them, all [Page 268] to censure them: It is no less danger for these to be proclai­med at Paul's-Cross, than for them to be protested, in Paul's Church-yard.

MAX. 78.

Use Common place-books, or Collections, as Indexes to light thee to the Authors, lest thou be abused: He that takes Learning upon Trust, makes him a fair Cupboard with ano­ther's Plate; he is an ill advi­sed Purchaser, whose Title de­pends more on Witnesses than Evidences.

MAX. 79.

If thou desire to make the best advantage of the Muses, [Page 269] either by reading to benefit thy self, or by writing others, keep a peaceful Soul within a tem­perate Body: A full Belly makes a dull Brain, and a turbulent Spirit a distracted Judgment. The Muses starve in a Cook's Shop and a Lawyer's Study.

MAX. 80.

When thou communicatest thy self by Letters, heighten or d [...]press thy Stile according to the Quality of the Person and Business; that which thy tongue would present to any if present, let thy pen represent to him absent. The Tongue is the Mind's Interpreter; and the Pen is the Tongue's Secretary.

MAX. 81.

Keep thy Soul in exercise, lest her Faculties rust for want of Motion; to eat, sleep, or sport too long, stops the natu­ral course of her natural acti­ons. To dwell too long in the Employments of the Body, is both the Cause and Sign of a dull Spirit.

MAX. 82.

Be very circumspect to whose Tuition thou committest thy Child; every good Scholar is not a good Master. He must be a man of invincible Patience and singular Observation: He [Page 271] must study Children, that will teach them well, and Reason must rule him that would rule wisely; he must not take ad­vantage of an ignorant Father, nor give too much ear to an indulgent Grandmother: The common Good must outweigh his private Gains, and his Cre­dit must out-bid Gratuities: He must be diligent and sober, not too familiar, nor too reserv'd, neither amorous, nor phanta­stick; just, without fierceness; merciful, without fondness: If such an one thou meet with, thou hast found a Treasure, which if thou know'st how to value, is invaluable.

MAX. 83.

Let not thy Laughter hand­sel thy own Jest, lest whil'st thou laugh at it, others laugh at thee; neither tell it often to the same Hearers, lest thou be thought forgetful or barren. There is no Sweetness in a Cabbage twice sodd, or a Tale twice told.

MAX. 84.

If Opinion hath lighted the Lamp of thy name, endeavour to encourage it with thine own Oyle, lest it go out, and stink. The Chronical Disease of Po­pularity is Shame: If thou be [Page 273] once up, beware; from Fame to Infamy is a beaten Road.

MAX. 85.

Cleanse thy Morning Soul with private and due Devotion: Till then admit no business; the first born of thy Thoughts are God's, and not thine but by Sacrilege. Think thy self not ready, till thou hast praised him, and he will be always ready to bless thee.

MAX. 86.

In all thy actions, think God sees thee; and in all his actions labour to see him; that will make thee fear him, this will [Page 274] move thee to love him. The Fear of God is the beginning of Knowledge, and the Know­ledge of God is the Perfection of Love.

MAX. 87.

Let not the Expectation of a Reversion entice thy heart to the wish of a Possessor's Death, lest a Judgment meet thee in thy Expectation, or a Curse overtake thee in thy fruition; Every wish makes the a mur­therer; and moves God to be an accessary: God often leng­thens the Life of the Possessor, with the days of the Expector.

MAX. 88.

Prize not thy self by what thou hast, but by what thou art: He that values a Jewel by her Golden Frame, or a Book by its Silver Clasps; or a Man by his vast Estate, errs: If thou art not worth more than the World can make thee, thy Re­deemer had a bad Peny-worth, or thou an uncurious Redeemer.

MAX. 89.

Let not thy Father, nor the Fathers, nor the Church, thy Mother's belief, be the ground of thine: The Scripture lies Open to the humble Heart, [Page 276] but Lock'd against the proud Inquisitor: He that believes with an Implicite Faith, is a meer Empyrick in Religion.

MAX. 90.

Of all Sins, take greatest heed of that which thou hast last, and most repented of: He that was the last thrust out of doors, is the next readiest to croud in again; and he that thou hast forest battled, is likest to call more help for a Revenge. It is requisite for him that hath cast one Devil out, to keep strong hold, lest seven Re­turn.

MAX. 91.

In the meditation of Divine Mysteries, keep thy Heart hum­ble, and thy Thoughts holy; let Philosophy not be ashamed to be Confuted, nor Logick blush to be Confounded; what thou canst not prove, approve; what thou canst not compre­hend, believe; and what thou can'st believe, admire; so shall thy Ignorance be satisfy'd in thy Faith, and thy doubts be swal­low'd up with wonders: The best way to see Day-light is to put out the Candle.

MAX. 92.

If Opinion hath cryed thy Name up, let thy modesty cry thy heart down, lest thou de­ceive it, or it thee; there is no less danger in a great Name than in a bad; and no less honour in deserving of Praise, than in the enduring it.

MAX. 93.

Use the Holy Scriptures with all Reverence; let not thy wan­ton fancy carry it out in Jests, nor thy sinful wit make it an advocate to thy Sin; it is a subject for thy Faith, not Fan­cy: Where Wit and Blasphe­my is one Trade, the Under­standing's Bankrupt.

MAX. 94.

Dost thou complain that God hath forsaken thee; it is thou that hast forsaken him; 'tis thou that art mutable; in him there is no shadow of Change; in his light is Life: If thy will drive thee to a Dungeon, thou makest thy own darkness; and in that darkness dwells thy death; from whence if he Re­deem thee, he is merciful; if not, he is just; in both, he receives Glory.

MAX. 95.

Make use of Time if thou lovest Eternity; know yester­day [Page 280] cannot be recalled; to mor­row cannot be assured; to day is only thine; which if thou procrastinate, thou losest; which loss is lost for Ever; one to day is worth two to morrow.

MAX. 96.

If thou be strong enough to Encounter with the times, keep thy Station; if not, shift a foot to gain advantage of the times: He that acts a Beggar to pre­vent a Thief, is ne'er the Poor­er; it is a great part of Wis­dom sometimes to seem a Fool.

MAX. 97.

If thou intend thy Writings for the publick View, lard them not too much with the choice Lines of another Author, lest thou lose thy own Gravy; which thou hast read and digested, be­ing delivered in thy own stile, becomes thine; it is more de­cent to wear a plain suit of one intire Cloth, than a gaudy Gar­ment, chequer'd with other rich Fragments.

MAX. 98.

If God hath bless'd thee with Inheritance, and Children to Inherit, trust not the staff of [Page 282] thy Family to the hands of one. Make not many Beggars in the building of one great Heir, lest if he miscarry through a prodigal will, the rest sink thro' a hard necessity: God's allow­ance is a double portion: when high bloud and generous bree­ding, break their fast in plenty, and dine in poverty, they often fup in Infamy: If thou deny them Falcon's Wings to prey on Fowl, give them Kite's Sto­machs to seize on Garbage.

MAX. 99.

Be very vigilant over thy Child in the April of his Un­derstanding, lest the frost of May nip his blossom; whilst he [Page 283] is a tender twig, streighten him; whilst he is a New Vessel, sea­son him; such as thou makest him, such commonly thou shalt find him; let his first lesson be Obedience, and the se­cond shall be what thou wilt; Give him Education in good Letters, to the utmost of thy ability and his capacity; season his Youth with the love of his Creator, and make the fear of his God, the beginning of his Knowledge; if he have an active Spirit, rather rectifie than curb it; but reckon Idleness amongst his chiefest faults; a­bove all things keep him from vain Lascivious and Amorous Pamphlets, as the Primer of all Vice. As his Judgment ripens, [Page 284] observe his Inclination, and ten­der him a Calling that shall not cross it: Forced Marriages and Callings seldom prosper; shew him both the Mow and the Plough, and prepare him as well for the danger of the Skirmish, as possess him with the honour of the Prize. If he chuse the profession of a Scholar, advise him to Study the most profitable Arts: Poe­try and Mathematicks take up too great a Latitude of the Soul, and moderately used, are good Recreations, but bad Callings; being nothing but their own Reward. If he chuse the Profession of a Soldier, let him know withal, Honour must be his greatest Wages, [Page 285] and his Enemies his surest Pay­master: prepare him against the danger of War, and advise him of the greater mischief of a Garison: let him avoid De­bauchedness and Duels, to the utmost of his power, and re­member he is not his own Man; and (being his Coun­tries Servant) hath no Estate in his own Life: If he chuse a Trade, teach him to forget his Father's and his Mother's Wing; advise him to be con­scionable, Careful, and Con­stant; this done, thou hast done thy part, leave the rest to Providence, and thou hast done well.

MAX. 100.

Convey thy Love to thy Friends, as an Arrow to the Mark, to stick there; not as a Ball against the Wall, to re­bound back to thee; That Friendship will not continue to the End that is begun for an End.

Meditation is the Life of the Soul, Action is life of Me­ditation, Honour is the Re­ward of Action; so Meditate that thou may'st do; so do that thou may'st purchase Ho­nour: For which Purchase, Give GOD the Glory.