the Discontent and Impatience in the lofs would be very little. Our chiefeft love, when it is placed upon God, is placed where it fhould be; and the mind is then in its right frame and temper, and difpenfeth its love to other things regularly, and orderly, and proportionally to their worth; and thereby the Discontent or Trouble that arifeth upon their Lofs or Disappointment, is weighed out according to their true value, agreeable to the just measure of Reason and Prudence: But when our love is out of its place, it becomes Immoderate and Disorderly; and confequently the Discontents that arise upon Difappointments in the things we Immoderately love, become Immoderate, Exorbitant Difcontents, Impatience, and Perturbation of Mind.

4. Our Love to God brings us to a free Refignation of our Will to His: For we therefore love him, because we conclude him most Wise, most Bountiful, most Merciful, moft Juft, moft Perfect; and therefore muft of neceffity conclude that his Will is the beft Will, and fit to be the measure and rule of ours, and not ours of his: And in as much as we conclude that no Lofs or Crofs befalls us without his Will, we do likewife conclude that it is most fit to be born: and because he never wills any thing, but upon most Wife and Juft Reasons, we conclude that furely there are fuch Reasons in this Difpenfation; and we study, and fearch, and try whether we can spell out thofe Reasons of his.

TH

THE Helps against Immodergie Anger are of two kinds. 1. Previous Confideration before the occasion is offered, to habituate the Mind to gentleness and quietnefs. 2. Expedients that ferve to allay or divert Anger when the occafion is offered.

Of the first fort are these :

i. The confideration of our own Failings, especially in reference to Almighty God, and our duty to him; which are much greater than any demerits of others towards us: I provoke my Creator daily, and yet I defire his Patience towards me, and find it. With what face can I expect gentleness from my Creator, if every fmall provocation from my Fellow-Creature put me into paflion?

2. The confideration of the Unreasonableness of that Diftemper in respect of my felf: It puts me into a Perturbation, and makes me unuseful for my felf or others, while the diftemper is upon me: It breaks and difcompofeth my thoughts, and makes me unfit for business: it diforders my Conftitution of Body till the ftorm be over: it difcovers to others my Impotency of Mind, and is more perceived and obferved by others, than it can be by my felf: It gratifies my Adverfary, when by my Paffion I improve his Injury beyond the value of it; and injure, and torment, and damnifie my felf more by my own Perturbation, than he can by the injury he doth: It evidenceth a Prevalence of my more inferiour and fenfual part, common to me with the Beasts, above my Reafonable and more Noble part. Sometimes indeed a Perfonated Anger, managed with Judgment, is of fingular ufe, efpecially in Perfons in Authority; but fuch an Anger is but a painted fire, and without Perturbation: But a Paffionate Anger upon Injuries received, or upon fudden Conceptions of them, is always without any end at all of Good, either intended or effected: Nay, it is an impe diment to the attaining of any Good end, because it blinds the Judgment, and tranfports Men into inconfiderate Gestures, Words, and Actions.

3. Confideration in respect of others; even of the very perfons provoking. It may be there are Inftruments, permitted by God as his Inftruments, either to correct, or try me. Peradventure God hath bidden Shimei curfe David; be not too violent against the Inftrument, left peradventure thou oppofe therein the principal Agent. Again, many Men are of fuch a pitiful conftitution, that their injuries arife from very impotence of Mind in B.b

them :

them: Shall I be angry with them because they want that understanding they fhould have? And yet it is very ftrange to fee the weakness and folly of our nature in this Paffion, that it will break into a Perturbation even with Children, Drunken Men, Mad-men, Beafts; yea, very dumb things: Witnefs our anger with Cards and Dice, when their Chances please us not; which fhews the Unreasonableness and Frenzy of this Paffion.

2. There be fome Expedients against it, even when the occafion is offered.

1. Carry always a Jealoufie over thy Paffion, and a ftrict Watch upon it. Take up this peremptory Refolution and Practice, I will not be angry, though an occafion be adminiftred. And let the return upon that Refolution be the first act after the Provocation given: For if a Man can but bring himself to this pafs, that he take not fire upon the firft Offer, the Paffion will cool: A Man calls then his Reason about him, and debates with himself: Is there caufe I should be angry? Or, is there any good End attainable by it? Or if it be, what is the just medium, or fize, or measure of Anger proportionable to that end? And these Confiderations will break the firft onfet of Paffion, and then it feldom prevails: For, it is the firft Wave that carries on the Perturbation to the end, which if it be broken at the firft, Serenity of Mind is preferved with much Contentation, and fenfe of advantage.

2. Take up this Refolution, Never to give thy felf leave to be angry, till thou feeft the just Dimentions of the Provocation. Firft, Learn whether there be any fuch thing done or no: For many times we fhall find that a falfe report, or a misconception in the Mind, fets up the Image of an Injury, and presently the Paffion fwells upon it; when, it may be, upon a due examination, there is no fuch thing at all. Secondly, Admit there be an injury, yet learn what the Circumftances of it are: For till that be known, though thou haft a mind to be angry, thou knoweft not what proportion or Measure of Anger to allow, till thou knoweft the Measure of the injury done; it may be it is not fo great; or

it may be it was done by miftake; it may be it was done upon fome provocation given by thee, or at least fo understood; and then it is not fo malicious: and it may be the Man is coming to make thee amends, or to ask thee pardon. This will give leifure to thy Reafon; to thy Grace, to come in; and will break the firft fhock, which the cholerick blood gives to the Heart, which raiseth the combuftion; and then a Thousand to One it comes to nothing, and either dies prefently, or languisheth below the name of a Paffion.

3. In cafe of Provocation to Anger by Words, confider this, that there is nothing fo much gratifies an ill Tongue as when it finds an angry hearer: nor nothing fo much disappoints and vexeth it as Calmnefs and Unperturbednefs. It is the moft exquifite and innocent Revenge in the World to return gentle words, or none at all, to ill Language. But on the other fide, Anger and Perturbation doth not only produce what thy adverfary defires, but alfo puts a Difcompofedness and Impotence upon thee, that thou becomeft unable to keep filence, or to speak with that reafon and advantage thou fhouldeft.

A Preparative against Afflictions; with Directions for our Deportment under them, and upon our Delivery out of them:

*IT

T is the great folly that ordinarly poffeffeth Meri; efpecially in a profperous Condition, that they cannot fuppofe a Change of their Eftates: a living Man cari hardly think of dying; a healthy Man can hardly think of fickness; a wealthy Man can hardly think of Poverty; a Man in the Applaufe and Glory of the World, cari hardly think of being under Difgrace and Reproach.

2. The Reafons of this Difficulty feem to be thefe: 1. The prefent Condition is a thing that falls under our prefent fenfe, and takes up our whole confideration: Things that yet are not, are made prefent only by Contemplation: and that, as it doth not fo ftrongly affect the

Bb 2

Mind,

Mind, fo there is a long Operation that muft precede, before it can be brought home; a Man muft confider whether the ftate wherein he is, be changeable, and what may change it; and whether it may change for the worfe; or unto what degree of Badnefs, and the probabilities or poffibilities of it; and fo it requires a long procefs of the Mind, before a Man can bring himself under a fuppofition that his Condition may change, and change extremely for the worse. 2. When that fuppofition is received or admitted, yet it being but notional and imaginary, hath not the like ftrength of impreffion upon the Mind, as that which is prefent and fenfible, and fo it foon paffeth away, and hath not ftrength enough to hold out for any time upon the Mind, to work a due preparation and temper in the Mind for a change. 3. The prefent Condition, when it is grateful to the fenfe, we are for the moft part willing to embrace, and make the most of it; we have not patience to give an Allay or Abatement to our present Fruition, by mingling any fuch fad Confiderations with it, as that it may change. When the Mind begins to put it felf upon thoughts of a change of a beloved Condition, fuch Replies as thefe do often meet with it: What, fhall I be dying while I live? be Sick, when I am well? be Poor, when I am Rich? be in Difgrace, when 1 am in Glory? make my felf miferable, while I am happy? it will be time enough to take and bear that Lot when it comes, and not to Die, or be in Sickness, Poverty, and Difgrace, by Anticipation: I will take the benefit and sweetnefs of my prefent Happiness, and not foure or abate it by the pre-apprehenfion of a Change; if it happens, it will come before it's welcome. I will therefore think as little of it as I fore-band, and not make that prefent by a needless Contemplation, which I would willingly be freed from, if it fhould at all attack me. Thefe and fuch like Confiderations do make Men rather procraftinate the evil day, than put themfelves under the fuppofition of it.

may

be

3. The Inconveniences that arife to the Children of Men, by this Averfeness from thinking of a Change of a profperous Condition for a worfe, are very great: 1. A Mind that

often