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way of other Men; the Idle Man is forc'd to feek out Temptations for the Shipwreck of his Vertue. And therefore no wonder, if he that feeks them, finds abundance of them.

And truly, loofe and impertinent Conversation, which was the other Thing I named, though it looks fomething with a better Grace, yet is not much better than Idleness. For where-ever it is much used, it will fo emafculate a Man's Mind, and take off the Edge and Vigour of it, as to ferious Things, that he cannot eafily get it into a good Frame again. Evil Communication (faith St. Paul) doth corrupt good Manners. And therefore thofe People, a great Part of whofe Life is taken up in gadding up and down; in Play; in merry Meetings; in telling or hearing idle Stories, and the like: It is impoffible but their Thoughts and Inclinations, and the whole Frame of their Hearts will be fuitable; that is to fay, very frothy; very light and foolish; not to fay, profane, and wicked, and Atheistical too, if the Company they much converfe with, be of that strain.

Thirdly, Another Thing of great Moment, for the keeping our Hearts, is, To be as attentive as is poffible to the first Motions of our Minds; and whenever we find that they tend toward fomething that is forbidden, to ftop them, as foon as we can.

We cannot, as I told you before, often prevent irregular Defires, or Paffions, or Inclinations, from arifing in our Minds, upon fundry Occafions. But this we can do: As foon as we are aware of them, we can refuse our Confent to them; (and in that Cafe, I hope, they will

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not be imputed to us as Sins ;) Nay, not only fo, but we can refufe their breaking out, or fhewing themselves in our Words, or our Actions: For the Motions of our outward Members are all at our Command, though the firft Motions of our Minds be not.

Here therefore will lie a main Point in the Art of well governing our Minds and Thoughts. You cannot perhaps, for Inftance, prevent a fudden Paffion of Anger from rifing in your Minds upon Twenty Accidents; but as foon as you feel this Paffion, you can thus far ftifle it; you can feal up your Mouth, fo that the Paffion fhall not vent itself in unfeemly Words: And if you will withdraw that Fuel from the new kindled Fire, it will be foon extinguished, and die. Whereas if you fuffer it to break out in bitter Speeches and Expreffions, it will flame beyond measure.

Thus again, If any undecent, impure Fancies or Defires should be excited in you upon any Occafion: It was not, perhaps, in your Power to keep them from coming into your Minds: But it is in your Power to withdraw from the Temptation that caused them; and to endeavour to direct your Thoughts to fome other Object; at least not to proceed one Step in any outward Action towards the accom plishing of thofe Defires. If you take this Courfe, the Disturbance of your Mind will foon ceafe, and you will return presently to your ordinary Temper.

And let me tell you this farther: That by your being thus careful to refift and fmother the first Beginnings of Sin, you will not only

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preferve, in a greater measure, the Innocency of your Minds under the prefent Temptation; but you will also have this further Advantage, that by this means, you increase your Power over your Thoughts, against the next Time that the Temptation returns. Every Check you give to the first Motions of Sin, makes the next Affault of them the lefs furious. And if you do conftantly use yourselves thus to Guard and Watch over your Hearts; you will, in Time, obtain such a Command over them, that you will not be troubled with a quarter of those irregular Defires, and Paffions, which, heretofore, upon feveral Occafions, ufed to be kindled in you. By this Method you will strengthen your Faculties, and enlarge your Powers; and by degrees, bring yourfelves to that happy Temper of Soul, that there will be no great War between the Law of your Members, and the Law of your Minds: But the World and the Flesb will be Crucified to you, as you are to them; that I may ufe St. Paul's Expreffions.

But then, Fourthly, That you may be able not only to keep bad Thoughts out of your Minds; but also to have a conftant Spring of good ones; there are fome particular Exercifes very proper for this Purpose to be recommended. Such I mean as thefe, Converse with difcreet and pious Perfons; Reading good Books, especially the Holy Scriptures; taking Times of Meditation and Recollection; and above all, Fervent and Conftant Prayer to God.

It is not to be told how every one of these Things doth help to infpire us with good Thoughts and Purposes.

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A little Paffage now and then, though but occafionally dropt in Converfation, that is to the Business of Vertae and Goodneß, will fupply us fometimes with Matter for good Thoughts, for a confiderable while after. What lafting Impreffions then, do you think, would be left upon our Minds, if we made it our conftant Exercise every Day, to read or hear something out of the Bible, or fome other good Book, with a Design to grow better thereby?

But above all Things, we must take Care to be diligent and serious in our Applications to the Throne of Grace: It is Hearty Prayer and Devotion, that, when all is done, will prove the most effectual Means, for the keeping our Hearts fteady to that which is Good, and fecuring them from the Pollutions of the fenfible Earthly Objects that do furround us.

O therefore let us be conftant in our Religious Offices. Nay, let us take every Opportunity that our Affairs will allow us, of raising our Minds to God, and thanking him for his Infinite Love and Goodness to us; and imploring the continual Influences of his Grace and Holy Spirit, and re-inforcing our Vows and Purposes of perfevering in his Service.

By this means we fhall come to lead Spiritual Lives indeed. Our Souls will be a perpetual Fountain of good Thoughts. And while we live here, our Converfation will be in Heaven: For God and Chrift, and the Things Above, will have our Hearts, tho' the World hath our Bodies.

But then, in the Fifth and laft Place, Notwithstanding what I have hitherto faid concerning

cerning the Diligence with which we are to keep our Hearts; yet this is always to be remembred, That with our Diligence we must be careful to join Discretion.

My Meaning is this, We must have a Care not to intend our Thoughts immoderately, and more than our Tempers will bear, even to the best Things: But we muft fo keep our Hearts, as at the fame Time to preferve our Healths, and keep up the Vigour of our Minds.

And the way to do that, is, Not to put them too much, or too long, upon the Stretch at any one Time; but to relax them when there is Occafion, and to let them run out, and en tertain themselves upon any Thing that comes next to hand, fo long as it is innocent.

It is a vain Thing to imagine, that we can always be thinking of our great Business; or that we can always be a Praying, or Reading, or Meditating; or, that, as our Condition is in this World, even the greater Part of our Thoughts fhould be fuch as we call Devout and Religious Thoughts.

God hath provided a great deal of other Bu finefs for us to apply our Minds to, fo, long as we live in this World; and by minding that dili gently and confcientiously, we do ferve God as acceptably, as if we were Reading or Praying.

Nay, even then, when we have no urgent Bufinefs upon our Hands to take up our Minds, it is not neceffary that we should be always thinking of Religion. Nor would I call every Thought, a vain, or an idle, or a finful Thought that hath not God, or our Spiritual Concernments for its Object; even the most Spiritu VOL. I

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