Many Men by ill Doin Nothing dignifies Men No Man's Calling can c Providence generally mine the things Pride hides our own Fau Pride is the Effect of Sel Perions of Tempers of the la Quarrels and Difputes ab made, was a s Quantity is generally v Rebuke with foft Word Riches do not make a No Sin hath its Beginning i Je of the greatest Foals fome Men fond min Prayer, was, becafe it tagle Devren Lord from the combined Such as would excel in / Sloth is an Argument o Sins committed in fecre Slighted Convictions 2 nions. That thou mayeft avoi of it. 'Tis a Jeft for a Mifer to To reprehend may becor Time may be redeem'der-board told him. The next World is the g God, while his Power fe Bounds ng of the St, to is no les that he re the Manels of the People: Nor dobar Take account of your end God's Difpleadore gif Ways. han when be finfers the Confest and Crown [103] Ufe your Profperity with Cantion and Prudence. Value more a good Confcience than Connel Compafs, Length of Days abs, Felicity her Fate: es the King most like his Wilful Impenitency is the greatest Self-Marden in Prison, The Skill of a Tempeft; the Valour of the Worth of a Christian, ben awake in the Night. n folemn Triumph reigns, ght thy Way idle Themes, 'nly Strains rehearse : Badica.1, &c. All Wilen und from the Lord, and is with him for over. amber the Sand of the Sea, and the D of Rain, and the Days of Eemity? Whe nd out the Height of Heaven, and the Breadth of the Earth, and the Deep, and Win! Wifdom hath been created before all things, and the Understanding of Prudence from everating The Word of God moft high is the Fountain of Wildon, and her Ways are everizing Com mandments. The Fear of the Land is Homose and Glory, and Gladnes, and a Crown of ze joicing. The Fear of the Lord is a Crown of Wisdom, making Peace and perfect Heach to Baarih, both which are the Gifts of God; and it enlarged then rejicing that love i Pleasure rove; Streams of Bliss; mortal things. is a kind of heav'nly Dew upply of which, our So F 5 Some are in the fame Condition, in which we see a dry and barren Ground, that is parch'd with the fcorching Heat of the Sun, and without any Relief from the Rain and Dew of Heaven, and by this Means becomes unfruitful; wherefore ChriAians fhould make it their firft and great Business, carefully and diligently to endeavour to obtain the Grace of God, without which, all the Honours, Pleasures and Riches of this World, cannot exempt them from being in the fame Condition, in the Sight of God, as is a Piece of Ground that is deftitute of the Rain and Dew of Heaven; that is, altogether useless, barren and unprofitable to God and Man. Nothing, ah, nothing Virtue only gives What Pains wait Vice! what endless Worlds of Woe, You know full well! but may you never know. Q. By what Fitnefs, or Sympathy, is the Vine taken to be the Emblem of the Wife? A. As the Vine on the Sides of the House, being neither fo high as the Top, nor fo low as the Bottom, is an Ornament to the Houfe; fo the Wife, placed in the middle Condition, neither as the Head, nor as the Foot, but by the Side, as a Companion; (for they are Companions that walk Side by Side) and is ornamental to them both: And as the Vine yields the fairest Shade of any Tree to fit under; so must the Wife be the Shade and Delight of her Hufband: And as there is no Tree more fenfible of Wrong than the Vine ; for cut it, and it will wither, and wafte away; fo muft the Wife, at any juft Reproof, be tender and fenfible, as the Vine of decaying: And as the Smell of the Leaves of the Vine drives away, in Summer, all noisome Beafts and Serpents; fo muft the the Thoughts of a Hufband, drive away, in the Wife, all evil Provocations, and harmful Inten tions: And as the Vine being but a weak Tree, hath the Wall to fupport it; fo muft the Wife, the weaker Sex, be fupported by the Hufband, the stronger; as the Poet writes: The fruitful Vine, and virtuous Wife, Prov.xxxi. 10,-31. • Who can find a virtuous Woman for her Price is far above Rubies. • The Heart of her Husband doth fafely truft in her, fo that he shall have no need of Spoil. She will do him good, and not evil, all the Days of her Life. She feeketh Wool, and Flax, and ⚫ worketh willingly with her Hands. She is like the Merchant Ships, the bringeth her Food from afar. She rifeth alfo while it is yet Night, and giveth Meat to her Houfhold, and a Portion to her Maidens. She confidereth a Field, and buyeth it: With the Fruit of her Hand she planteth a Vineyard. She girdeth her Loins with Strength, and ftrengtheneth her Arms. She per'ceiveth that her Merchandise is good: Her Can'dle goeth not out by Night. She layeth her Hands to the Spindle, and her Hands hold the Diftaff. She ftretcheth out her Hand to the Poor; yea, fhe reacheth out her Hands to the 6 Needy. Needy. She is not afraid of the Snow for her Houthold: For all her Houfhold are clothed with Scarlet. She maketh her felf Coverings of Tapeftry, her Clothing is Silk and Purple. Her Hufband is known in the Gates, when he fitteth among the Elders of the Land. She maketh fine Linen, and felleth it, and delivereth Girdles unto the Merchant. Strength and Honour are her Clothing, and fhe fhall rejoice in Time ta ⚫ come. She openeth her Mouth with Wisdom, and in her Tongue is the Law of Kindness. 'She looketh well to the Ways of her Houshold, ⚫ and eateth not the Bread of Idlenefs. Her Children arise up, and call her bleffed; her Hufband alfo, and he praifeth her: Many Daughters have done virtuously, but thou excelleft them all. Favour is deceitful, and Beauty is vain: but a Woman that feareth the Lord, fhe fhall be praised. Give her of the Fruit of her Hands, and let her own Works praise her in the Gates.' External Beauty, Shape, and pleafant Face, Deck not a Woman; but th' internal Grace. Q. How fhould Man and Woman be made equal in Marriage? A. Let the Man be inferior in State and Birth, and then Marriage makes them equal; fhe, the better in Defcent and Subflance; he, the better in Sense and Sex. Solon, the Philofopher, faid, upon the Marriage of his Friend's Daughter, that whofoever hath got a good Son-in Law, hath found a Son, or rather better than a Son; but he that hath got an evil one, had loft a Daugh ter. We find in the Relation of Ifaac's Marriage, an admirable Model of Holinefs; where the Enquiry is not after Portion, or Wealth; but into the Manners and Innocence of the Party, and is undertaken |