moderate, and the leaft and lowest of all with the leat Paffion, or next to none at all. We must seek firft the Kingdom of God, and the Righteoufnefs thereof. We must not fear them that can kill the Body only, in Comparison of him who can destroy both Body and Soul in Hell Fire. We must love God above all Things; we muft prefer publick before private Good; we must never be angry beyond the Caufe given, nor refent an Affliction beyond the Weight of it, confidering all Excufes that may be admitted in the former Cafe, and all Comforts and Mitigations that may be produced in the latter, not allowing our felves to be greatly tranfported by any Matter of Worldby Joy, nor quite dejected with any Caufe of fuch Sorrow. The particular Inftances of these Things are as infinite as the Paffages of our daily Converfation; and therefore it will be fufficient to apply a general Rule to particular various Cafes, and to fee that we use our Reason and a well inftructed Confcience for the Government of the Paffions in all thofe Cafes.

And there are two Things, which must neceffarily be supposed of every Man, who may be truly faid to rule his own Spirit, without which he cannot be one of that Character; and they are both contained in

the Text.

One

One is, he must have all his Paffions un

Other is, he muft have an habitual Power to rule them all.

1. The ruling of one's Spirit doth fuppofe and require the Rule of all our Paffions. I have obferved, that tho' by a Man's Spirit which he fhould rule, Anger may be more particularly meant,yet all the Human Paffions are included in it. I fay then we must moderate and govern all the Paffions, I mean the Merry and Chearful Paffions, as well as the Sorrowing and Angry ones, that the Mind may not be too much depreffed with the latter, nor foolishly elevated and tran fported with the former, but that a fort of Evenness and Tranquillity may be kept be twixt both. The reafon why I exprefly note this is, because we are apt to charge all the Inconveniences of our Nature upon Sorrow and Fear, and the Angry Paffions, tho' these be as neceffary for the Welfare of a Man as the reft, being defigned to guard us against Evil, and to recover us out of it. But we are apt to think these are not fo convenient as the Pleafant Affections are; and as we lay the Imperfection of our Na ture to them, fo we charge all the Evil of our Lives upon Difappointment, Loffes, and Adverfity, and fuch Contingences as do excite the painful Affections. But to fay the Truth, our Minds are as much difcompo

Ii3

fed,

fed, and our State is every whit as much prejudiced by the other, and we are in danger of being led afide into vain and foolish Paffion by the Pleasures of this Life, as well as by the Pains and Grievances of it; and he that cannot refift a Temptation to finful and brutish Pleafüres, hath as little Rule over his own Spirit, as he that cannot bear an Affliction with Peace and Comfort. Adverfity happens to a Man, and he is overtaken with immoderate Grief, and we pity him; but if another, upon fome good Fortune that befals him, grows into an unreas fonable Joy, and cannot hold in his Weaknefs, but plainly triumphs more than there is Caufe for, we do but laugh at him, and take him for a pitiful Fellow, and let him go for a Man happy in himself, tho' ridicu Tous to others: Whereas we Thould judge otherwife in that thing, fince it is an ill Bufinefs to have the Affections foolishly engaged upon fenfual Pleasures, to be void of true Judgment, to be diverted from the chiefeft Good, and to be alienated from God, as every one is, who violently pursues Worldly Pleasures, and cannot reftrain his Affections about them. And therefore we must take as great Care to guard our selves against luftful Defire, and extravagant Joy and Mirth, and foolish Hope, and Pride and Prefumption, and lofty Expectation, as against immoderate Anger, Fear, and Grief.

The

The Truth is, we are rather more apt to be betrayed into Sin, and deprived of the Favour of God and a good Confcience, by the former than by the latter; befides this, that every Man is in danger of falling into the Excess of the Bitter and Painful Paflions, who indulges himself without Restraint in the Brisk and Jovial ones; no Man can govern thofe when Occasion is given, that is not able to moderate these under Temptation to Intemperance; therefore for this reason there fhould be as much Care to moderate them as the other. If we would confefs the true reafon why we are at any time overtaken with immoderate Fear, or Sorrow, or Anger, with fretting and Vexa tion of Spirit, when Things do not go as we would have them, we must needs fay, that it was because we were too violently affected, and concerned, and delighted in those Worldly Advantages or Pleafures, the Lofs whereof we are now fo afflicted with! And hence it comes to pass, that they who indulge in Pleasures are of all most unable to bear Hardships, that they who are most greedy of Wealth, and boast themselves in the Multitude of their Riches, are most moved with Grief when they lofe them. Nay, when Men are ufed to much Profperity, and have enjoyed it without any Restraint upon their Affections, one would be afhamed to hear how they will complain of a fmall

I i4

fmall Mifadventure; it would make a wife Man fick to hear what they will call an Affliction; to be fure it will make him wonder to obferve how they fret, and are put out of all, Temper upon any little Provocation, Injury, or other crofs Accident. Violent Defire and Luxury have made them effeminate and querulous; and therefore in Adverfity, little as well as great, Rage and Vexation, Grief and Defpair, command as abfolutely as Pride and Selfflattery, and Luft and vain Transport, did in their Profperity. Therefore to rule our Paffions, is to rule them all; for those that we allow to be extravagant, because they are pleafant, will betray us into the Power of thofe, that we are not fo willing to fuffer under. He is the Man that hath the Rule over his own Spirit, who is as far from being lifted up with the foolish Hopes of the World, as from being difcouraged with the unreasonable Fears thereof, who neither inks under Affliction, nor is puffed up with Profperity, who is not only fecure from being fretted with grievous Anger, and torn with Revenge and Envy, but moreover is not enflaved by Luft, nor lifted up with Pride, nor eftranged from God by the Idalatry of Covetoufnefs, and the bewitching. Love of fenfual Pleafures.

A

2. The other thing which the ruling of one's Spirit fuppofes, is an Habitual Ability

to