Direct. IX. Be sure that you suspect your first apprehensions of things; and take few conceptions (conclusive) for certain, that are not digested. Fasten not over-tenaciously upon opinions, in the beginning, at the first hearing: take it for granted, that your first conceptions of things must alter, either as to the truth, or the evidence, or the order, or the degree. Few men are so happy in youth, as to receive at first such right impressions, which need not after be much altered. When we are children, we know as children; but when we become men, childish things are done away. Where we change not our judgment of the matter, yet we come to have very different apprehensions of it. I would not have boys to be mere sceptics; for they must be godly, and Christians. But I would have them leave room for increase of knowledge, and not be too peremptory with their juvenile conceptions, but suppose that a further light will give them another prospect of the same things.

Direct. X. Choose such teachers, if possible, as have themselves attained the things you seek; even that most substantial wisdom which leadeth to salvation. For how else shall they teach others, what they have not learned themselves! O the difference between teachers and teachers! between a rash, flashy, unexperienced, proud wit; and clearheaded, well-studied, much-experienced, godly men! Happy is he that hath such a teacher, that is long exercised in the ways of truth, and holiness, and peace; and hath a heart to value him.

Direct. XI. Value truth for goodness, and goodness above truth; and estimate all truths and knowledge by their usefulness to higher ends. That is good as a means, which doth good. There is nothing besides God that is simply good, in, of, and for itself; all else is only good derivatively from God the efficient, and as a means to God the final cause. As a pound of gold more enricheth than many loads of dirt; so a little knowledge of great and necessary matters, maketh one wiser, than a great deal of pedantic, toyish learning. No man hath time and capacity for all things: he is but a proud fool, that would seem to know all, and deny his ignorance in many things. Even he that with Alstedius, &c. can write an Encyclopædia, is still unacquainted with abundance that is intelligible. For my own part, I humbly thank God,

that by placing my dwelling still as in the church-yard, he hath led me to choose still the studies which I thought were fittest for a man, that is posting to another world. He that must needs be ignorant of many things, should choose to omit those which he can best spare. Distinguish well between studying and knowing for use, and for lust: for the true ends of knowledge, and for the bare delight of knowing. One thing is necessary, (Luke x. 42,) and all others, but as they are necessary to that one; mortify the lust of useless knowledge, as well as other lusts of flesh and fantasy. Dying men commonly call it vanity. Remember what a deal of precious time it wasteth; and from how many greater and more necessary things it doth divert the mind; and with what wind it puffs men up; as is aforesaid. How justly did the rude Tartarians think the great libraries, and multitudes of doctors and idle priests, among the Chinese to be a foolery; and call them away from their books to arms, as Palafox tells us; when all their learning was to so little purpose as it was, and led them to no more high and necessary things?

Direct. XII. Yet because many smaller parts of knowledge are necessary to kingdoms, academies and churches, which are not necessary, nor greatly valuable to individual persons; let some few particular persons be bred up to an eminency in those studies, and let not the generality of students waste their time therein. There is scarcely any part of knowledge so small and useless, but it is necessary to great societies, that some be masters of it, which yet the generality may well spare. And all are to be valued and honoured according to their several excellencies. But yet I cannot have to study as long as Politian how Virgil should be spelt; nor to decide the quarrels between Phil. Pareus and Gruter, nor to digest all his grammatical collections, nor to read all over abundance of books, which I allow house-room to. Nor to learn all the languages and arts which I could wish to know, if I could know them without neglecting greater things. But yet the excellent professors of them all I honour.

Direct. XIII. Above all, value, digest, and seriously live upon the most great and necessary certain truths. O that we knew what work, inward and outward, the great truths of salvation call for from us all! If you do not faithfully value and improve these, you prepare for delusion: you forget

in

your premises and principles: God may justly leave you the dark, and give you up to believe a lie. Did you live according to the importance of certain principles, your lives would be filled with fruit, and business, and delight, and all this great so that you would have little mind or leisure for little and unnecessary things. It is the neglect of things necessary, which fills the world with the trouble of things

unnecessary.

Direct. XIV. Study hard, and search diligently and deeply, and that with unwearied patience and delight. Unpleasant studies tire and seldom prosper. Slight running thoughts accomplish little. If any man think that the Spirit is given to save us the labour of hard and long studies, Solomon hath spent so many chapters in calling them to dig, search, cry, labour, wait for wisdom, that if that will not undeceive them, I cannot: they may as well say, that God's blessing is to save the husbandman the labour of ploughing and sowing: and that the Spirit is given to save men the labour of learning to read the Bible, or to hear it, or think of it, or to pray to God. Whereas the Spirit is given us to provoke and enable us to study hard, and read, and hear, and pray hard, and to prosper us herein.

And as vain are our idle lads, that think their that natural wits, or their abode and degrees in the Unversities, will serve the turn instead of hard studies! And so they come out almost as ignorant, and yet more proud than they went thither, to be plagues in all countries where they come, to teach others by example the idleness and sensuality which they learned themselves; and being ignorant, yet the honour of their functions must be maintained, and therefore their ignorance must be hid, which yet themselves do weekly make ostentation of in the pulpit, where they should be shining lights; and when their own tongues have proclaimed it, those of understanding that observe and loathe it, must be maligned and railed at for knowing how little their teachers know.

Nothing without long and hard studies furnisheth the mind with such a stock of truth, as may be called real wisdom. "That God is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him," (and not of the lazy neglecters of him) is the second principle in religion. (Heb. xi. 6.) They that cannot be at this labour, must be content to know but little, and not take on them to know much. For they are not able to

discern truth from falsehood: but while they sleep the tares are sowed or while they open the door, all crowd in that can come first; and they cannot make a just separation. Ignorant persons will swarm with errors, and he that erreth will think that he is in the right: and if he think that it is a divine and necessary truth which he embraceth, how zealously may he pursue it!

Direct. XV. Take heed of the bias of carnal interest, and of the disturbing passions, which selfish partiality will be apt to raise. Men may verily think, that they sincerely love the truth, when the secret power of a carnal interest, their honour, their profit or pleasure, is it that turneth about their judgment, and furnisheth them with arguments, and whets their wits, and maketh them passionately confident, and they are not aware of it. Is your worldly interest on that side that your opinion is for? Though that prove it not false, it proveth that you should be very suspicious of yourselves.

Direct. XVI. Keep up unfeigned fervent love to others, even as to yourselves. And then you will not contemn their persons and their arguments, beyond certain cause. You will not turn to passionate contentions, and reproaches of them when you differ; and the reverence of your elders, teachers, superiors, will make you more ready to suspect yourselves than them. Most of our self-conceited pretenders to knowledge, have lost their love and reverence of dissenters, and are bold despisers of the persons, reasons and writings of all that contradict their error. And most that venture to cast the churches into flames, and their brethren into silence and sufferings, that they may plant their own opinions, are great despisers of those that they afflict, and either hate them, or would make them hateful, lest they should be thought to be unjust in using them like hateful persons. "Love that thinketh not evil of others, is not apt to vaunt itself.” (1 Cor. xiii.)

Direct. XVII. Reverence the Church of God, but give not up your understandings absolutely to any men; but take heed of taking any church, sect, or party, instead of the infallible God. With the Universal Church, you must embody and hold concord: it is certain, that it erreth not from the essentials of Christianity: otherwise the Church were no Church, no Christians, and could not be saved. If a Pa

pist say, 'and which is this Church?' I answer him, it is the universality of Christians, or all that hold these essentials; and when I say, that this Church cannot fall from these essentials, I do but say, it cannot cease to be a Church the Church is constituted of, and known by the essentials of faith; and not the essentials of faith constituted by the Church, nor so known by it; though it be known by it as the teacher of it.

He that deserteth the Christian universality, in deed though not in words, and cleaveth too close to any sect, whether Papal or any other, will be carried down the stream by that sect, and will fill his understanding with all their errors and uncertainties, and confound them with the certain truths of God, to make up a mixed religion with; and the reverence of his party, church or sect, will blind his mind, and make him think all this his duty.

Direct. XVIII. Fear error and ungrounded confidence. Consider all the mischiefs of it, which the world hath long felt, and the churches in the East and West are distracted by unto this day; and which I have opened to you before: He that feareth not a sin and mischief, is most unlikely to escape it. A tender conscience cannot be bold and rash, where the interest of God, the church, and his own and others' souls is so much concerned. When you are invited to turn Papist, or Quaker, or Anabaptist, or Antinomian, or Separatist, think, what if it should prove an error; and as great an error as many godly, learned men affirm it to be? Alas, what a gulf should I plunge my soul in! What injury should I do the truth! What wrong to souls! And shall I rashly venture on such a danger, any more than I would do on fornication, drunkenness, or other sin? And doth not the sad example of this age, as well as all former ages, warn you to be fearful of what you entertain? O what promising, what hopeful, what confident persons, have dreadfully miscarried, and when they once began to roll down the hill, have not stopped till some of them arrived at infidelity and profaneness, and others involved us in confusions! And yet shall we not fear, but rage and be confident?

And to see on the other side, what darkness and delusion hath fallen upon thousands of the Papal clergy, and what their error hath cost the world, should make those that are that way inclined also fear.