2dly, Be cautious in the choice of your society. Sit not with vain persons, whose tongues have nothing else to utter but impurity, or malice, or folly. Men readily learn the dialect, and tone of the people amongst whom they live. If you sit down in the chair of scorners, if you take a seat with them, you shall quickly take a share of their diet with them, and sitting amongst them, take your turn in time of speaking with them in their own language: But frequent the company of grave and godly persons; in whose hearts and lips, piety, and love, and wisdom are set, and it is the way to learn it.

3dly, Use a little of the bridle in the quantity of speech, incline a little rather to sparing than lavishing, for in many words there wants not sin. That flux of the tongue, that prating and babbling disease, is very common; and hence so many impertinencies, yea so many of these worse ills in their discourses, whispering about, and enquiring and censuring this and that. A childish delight! and yet most men carry it with them, all along to speak of persons and things not concerning us'. And this draws men to speak many things that agree not with the rules of wisdom, and charity, and sincerity. He that refraineth his lips is wise, saith SolomonTM. A vessel without a cover cannot escape uncleanness; and much might be avoided by a little refraining of this; much of the infection and sin that is occasioned by the many babblings that are usual; and were it no worse, is it not a sufficient evil, that they waste away that time, precious time, that cannot be recovered, that the most just or most thankful man in the world cannot restore? He that spares speech, favours his tongue indeed, as the Latin phrase is, [favere linguæ] not that he looses the reins and lets it run. He may ponder and pre-exa

i Psal. xxvi. 4.

Χωρὶς τὸ τ' ειπειν πολλὰ καὶ τὰ καίρια, AscHYL.

· Οὐδὲν ἔτως ἡδυ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ὡς τὰ λαλειν τὰ αλλώτρια, 2 ORAT. 1.

m Prov. x. 19.

mine what he utters, whether it be profitable and seasonable or no; and so the tongue of the just is as fined silver, it is refined in the wise forethought and pondering of the heart, so is his advice, Bis ad liman priusquam semel ad linguam. Even to utter knowledge and wise things profusely holds not of wisdom; and a little usually makes most noise, as the Hebrew proverb is, a penny in an earthen pot keeps a great sound and tinkling, Certainly it is the way to have much inward peace, to be wary in this point. Men think to have solace by much free unbounded discourse with others; and when they have done, they find it otherwise and sometimes contrary. He is wise that hath learned to speak little with others, and much with himself, and with God. How much might be gained for our souls, if we would make a right use of this silence. So David dumb to men, found his tongue to God". A spiritually minded man is quickly weary of other discourse, but of that which he loves and wherewith his affection is possessed and taken up: Grave æstimant quicquid illud non sonat quod intus amant. And by experience, a christian will find it, that when the Lord is pleased to shew him most favour in prayer or other spiritual exercise, how unsavoury it makes other discourses after it; as they that have tasted something singularly sweet, think other things that are less sweet, altogether tasteless and unpleasant.

4thly, In the use of the tongue, when thou doest speak, divert it from evil and guile, by a habit of, and delight in profitable and gracious discourse; thus St. Paul makes the opposition. Let there. be no rotten communication, (campos hoyos,) and yet urges not total silence neither; but enjoins such speech as may edify and administer grace to the

hearers.

Now in this we should consider, to the end such discourses may be more fruitful, both what is the

Prov. x. 20.

Stater in lagena bis bis clamat.
9 Eph. iv. 29.

P Psal. xxxviii. 13. 15.
VOL. I.

Hh

true end of them, and the right means suiting it. They are not only, nor principally, for the learning of some new things, or the canvassing of debated questions, but their chief good is the warming of the heart; stirring up in it love to God, and remembrance of our present and after estate; our mortality and immortality, and extolling the ways of holiness, and the promises and comforts of the Gospel, and the excellency of Jésus Christ; and in these sometimes one particular, sometimes another, as our particular condition requires, or any occasion makes them pertinent. Therefore in these discourses seek not so much either to vent thy knowledge, or to increase it, as to know more spiritually, and effectually what thou doest know. And in this way those mean despised truths, that each one thinks they are sufficiently seen in, will have a new sweetness and use in them, which thou didst not so well perceive before, for these flowers cannot be sucked dry, and in this humble sincere way thou shalt grow in grace and in knowledge too.

There is no sweeter entertainment than for travellers to be remembering their country; their blessed home, and the happiness abiding them there, and refreshing and encouraging one another in the hopes of it; strengthening their hearts against all the hard encounters and difficulties in the way; often overlooking this moment, and helping each other to higher apprehensions of that vision of God, which we expect.

And are not such discourses much more worthy the choosing, than the base trash we usually fill one another's ears withal. Were our tongues given us to exchange folly and sin? or were they not framed for the glorifying of God, and therefore are called our glory? Some take it for the soul; but they must be one in this, and then indeed are both our tongues and souls truly our glory, when they are busied in exalting his; and are tuned together to that, That my glory may sing praise to thee and

not be silent. Instead of calumnies, and lies, and vanities that are the carrion, which base minds like flies feed on, to delight in divine things, and extolling of God, is for a man to eat Angel's food. An excellent task for the tongue that David chooseth', And my tongue shall speak of thy righteousness, and of thy praise all the day long. Were the day ten in one, no vacant room for any unholy, or offensive, or feigned speech. And they lose not, who love to speak praise to him, for he loves to speak peace to them; and instead of the world's vain-tongue-liberty, to have such intercourse and discourse is no sad melancholy life, as the world mistakes it.

Ver. 11. Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.

THIS is a full and complete rule; but this is our miserable folly, to mistake so far, as embrace evil in the notion of good; and not only contrary to the nature of the thing, but contrary to our own experience, still to be pursuing that which is still flying further off from us, catching at a vanishing shadow of delight, with nothing to fasten upon but real guiltiness and misery. Childish minds! we have been so often gulled, and yet never grow wiser; still bewitched and deluded with dreams, a deceived heart (a mocked or deluded heart) hath turned him aside. When we think we are surest, have that hand that holds fastest, our right hand upon some good, and now sure we are sped, even then it proves a lie in our right hand, slips through as a handful of air, and proves nothing; promises fair but doth but mock us, (as the same word is used by Jacob", expressing the unfaithfulness of his uncle that changed his ways so often) but still we foolishly and madly trust it. When it makes so gross a lie, that we might easily, if we took it to the light, see * Isa. xliv. 20, &c.

T " Psal. xxx. 12.

s Psal. xxxv. 28.
" Gen. xxxi. 7.

through it, being a lie so often discovered, and of known falshood; yet some new dream or disguise makes it pass with us again, and we go round in that mill, having our eyes put out, (as Samson) and still we are where we were, engaged in perpetual fruitless toil. Strange that the base deceitful lusts of sin should still keep their credit with us! but the beast hath a false prophet at his side, to commend him and set him off with new inventions, and causes us to err by his lies, as it is said of the false prophets'. But evil it is still, not only void of all good, but the very deformity and debasement of the soul; defacing in it the divine image of its Maker, and impressing on it the vile image of satan; and then further it is attended with shame and sorrow, even at the very best; it is a sowing of the wind, there is no solid good in it, and withal a reaping of the whirlwind, vexations and horrors". They that know it in the sense of this after-view attended with the wrath of an offended God, ask them what they think of it; if they would not in those thoughts rather chuse any trouble or pain though ever so great, than willingly to adventure on the ways of sin.

Obedience is that good, that beauty and comeliness of the soul, that conformity with the holy will of God, that hath peace and sweetness in it, the hardest of it is truly delightful even at present, and hereafter it shall fully be so. Would we learn to consider it thus, to know sin to be the greatest evil, and the holy will of God the highest good, it would be easy to persuade and prevail with men to comply with this advice, to eschew the one, and do the other.

These do not only reach the actions, but require an intrinsical aversion of the heart from sin, and a propension to holiness and the love of it..

Eschew.] The very motion and bias of the soul must be turned from sin, and carried towards God. And this is principally to be considered by us, and

* Rev. xix. 20.

y Jer. xxiii. 32.

z Hos. viii. 7.