are of Bufineffes in the World: Some indeed are more Innocent than Others, as they who out of Levity or Officiousness are ftill forward and preffing to give Advice and Direction to all they meet, and will needs understand more of each Mans Affairs than he himself, (and fo far indeed they are not without Reason, if they judge of Others by themselves who are for the most part the greatest ftrangers at home.) Or They who will not fuffer you to be Quiet for their little Tales of all the Intrigues and Adventures of the place wherein they live, that know exactly what paft laft between This and the Other, and how far the Bufinefs in hand between the Partys is advanc'd; what was, or what fhould have been done at fuch a Meeting, and who was the entertainer, and who the jeft of the Company; and overflowing with this precious Knowledg are very communicative and would fain have every Body as Wife (indeed a great favour!) as themselves. Such and a multitude of the like Nature are indeed, as I faid, of the more Innocent kind, but even Gnats and Flys and the smallest Infects are as Troublefome, tho' not fo Venemous as Toads and Adders: These moleft all Converfation for the time they are buzzing in it as much, nay more than thofe more dangerous Meddlers who have the poyson of Alps under

their Lips, Such are they who Invent or Carry about uncharitable Storys, who out of Malice rather than Vanity by unneceffarily interefting themselves in affairs that in no wife belong to them, blow up the Coals of Strife and Contention between Friends and Neighbours, who by falfe Suggestions difguis'd like Truth, fet the Father against the Son and the Son against the Father, propagate fometimes hereditary quar

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rels between whole Families. And the worst of it is, these Men have the greater Opportunity of Doing Mischief, they gain the eafier access and the readyer belief upon this account, because they are Bufybodies: for the good natur'd, eafy, credulous Man when he meets with fuch a One, argues Thus to delude himself; Surely this Man do's what The do's, and fays what he fays out of pure honefty, or a particular Love to Me; Why elfe fhould He concern himself? it is none of his Bufinefs; and thus for the very Reafon why he should fufpect, and shun, and abhor him, gives himself up to be betray'd by him. Others there are whose whole Difcourfe and Time is chiefly taken up in Cenfuring their Brethren, and paffing ftill the moft uncharitable Judgment upon all their Actions. And what Innocence, what care, what circumfpection is able to escape these Men? Is a Man of a Free and Sprightly Temper?

Temper? he fhall be call'd loofe and debauch'd: is he of a stricter Conversation or a more folemn Obferver of Religious Dutys? he shall be a Counterfeit and an Hy. pocrite; if John comes neither Eating nor Drinking they fay he has a Devil; if Christ comes Eating and Drinking, Then the Cry is, Lo a Glutton, a Wine-bibber and a Companion of Sinners. So difficult, fo impoffible it is for any, the most Holy or Innocent, the most wary and regular, to be wholly exempt from falling under their Cenfures whofe malice is ever awake and on the watch for real or appearing occafions to exercise itself upon. These are they who will never fuffer any Mans Commendation, if they are forc'd against their wills to hear and to allow it, pafs by them without ripping up fome ftory or other as much to his disadvantage, or at least misinterpreting the motives or defign of thofe his good Actions, the Truth of which they cannot deny. But if ever They begin to Praise any themselves, then expect certainly in the close fome ill natur'd Exception that overthrows all the good that went before; whenever they speak well of any one 'tis but to prepare their Hearers to swallow the easier the fly infinuations and moft malicious fuggeftions that follow: So juftly are their Tongues compar'd by the Pfalmift to a Sharp Rafor, which when

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moft Smooth and Oily cuts the keener and gives the deeper wound. Now fince of all the different kinds of these meddlers in other Mens matters, there are none, no not the moft Innocent, but are highly offenfive, tho' not in equal Measure, both to God and Man; I fhall propound fome few Confiderations, which if well apply'd to each of these several Sorts may serve for fome Remedy against this Pragmatical humour, when we apprehend any danger of its growing up in us.

First then, let the firft Sort of these Bufybodies, those I mean of us who are fo free of our Counsel and Advice, whenever we feel this natural itch of meddling begin to infect us, confider what an infupportable Pride and Arrogance it is to reckon Ourselves Wifer than every Body else, and to think no Man fit to manage his own Affairs without our Advice and Direction. For however we may cheat Ourselves, when we are so very forward to be doing every Man's Bufinefs with the pretenfions of Kindnefs and good Nature, if we examin the Reason of this our being fo over Officious impartially, we fhall generally find it at the bottom to be nothing elfe but Vanity and Self Conceit. It would be very seasonable alfo to put the fame Question to ourselves, which the good old Man in the Poet do's

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to his overkind Neighbour that would needs force, his Advice and Counfel upon him; Tantumne abs re Tua Otii eft Tibi aliena ut cures, eaque quæ nihil attinent? Have you fo much leifure from your own Affaires, that you must be quite idle unless you take care of other Men's? and things that don't at all belong to You? Let us therefore confider before we engage in other Men's Matters, how much Business we have of our own to do; whether of Spiritual Concern, as the working out our own Salvation, how many Sins to repent of, how many Lufts to mortify, how many evil Habits to correct, how many good Ones to acquire or to improve; or of Temporal Concern, as the doing our Duty in that Eftate of Life to which it has pleas'd God to call us, how many neceffary domeftick Cares attend us, how many indispensable Dutys we lye under to those that are fo nearly Related to us, that we can scarcely live without them? If we would thus turn our Eyes back upon Ourselves, we should find that we had enough at Home to take up all our Time, nay more than all, and that we had very little need to look abroad for fuch Employment. But what fhould further prevail with Men of Reason or Understanding is the Danger of this Practice. It is impoffible that he, that is always bufy

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