Anonymous

“ And so, though this Strange Woman may wear a handsome countenance, and for her superficial and skin-deep beauty seem an inestimable Jewel, yet, if we view her throughly, we shall discover the venom of her impure body; for, though her lips drop as an honey comb, and her mouth is smoother then oyl, yet her end is bitter as wormwood, and sharp as a two-edg'd sword. Upon which two Verses of the Text, as upon two pillars, I build this practical Proposition,
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That the short and transitory pleasures which the strange woman affords us, are accompanied with the sharpest and most permanent evils. ”

“ Modesty and a becoming Blush is the Fence of all Virtue; and when this is broken down by obscene talk, the Banks will overflow with impure Streams. A Rose, when it hath lost its blush, and begins to look pale, by those symptoms you may conclude that 'tis a dying. ”

“ Medea had not more damnable Arts to preserve youth and beauty then she, who has perfectly attain'd the Art of making new beauty, new hair, and counterfeit teeth; and not thinking she hath charms enough to render her amiable, has recourse to the Merchants, as unto Natural Magick, to buy there what Nature would not give her, and to make her self liked in spight of Nature's disfavours ”

“ So, when we have any news of being surprized by our Lusts, we may return the same answer; 'Tis enough if we are at our Prayers, which will secure and guard us from them. Plutarch reports of a Boy, who though he was burnt with a coal that fell from the Altar, yet continued his oblation of Sacrifice without intermission: So let us (though we are sometimes burned with the fire of Lust) be so fervent in our Prayers to God, that the fervency of them may exceed and draw away the heat of our Lusts, as a great Fire does the heat which was caused by a less. ”

“ We know the Bird by the Tune, the Beagle by his Mouth, and a Man by his Words. We cannot expect that he that hath lost his voice with his Chastity should sing Praises to God so melodiously as another that is chaste, virtuous, and continent. ”

“ Let us consider how impossible it is that our Prayers and Oblations should be acceptable to God, when they are offered with impure hands, reeking in lust: How can we expect to look God in the face (whose eyes are purer then to behold iniquity) with our impure {14}eyes? How can we hope to be Eagle-ey'd enough to look up to God, whose eyes are ten thousand times brighter then the Sun, when we have so weakned our eyes by the Works of Darkness, that (like Night-birds) we dread to behold the Light? ”

“ Mans heart is a Mill ever grinding some grist or other; and I may add, If there be no grain for it to work upon, it sets itself on fire with lust. Let us consider, that whilest we are idle, and not imployed, we can expect no assistance from God, if we should be assaulted by Lust: according to that of the Historian: [35] When we once give our selves over to idleness, we shall in vain implore the aid and assistance of God, for then he is angry and offended at us. ”

“ And we shall assuredly finde, that she who but now compared her self to a pleasant Spring, will at last serve us with the bitter Waters of Marah. For I appeal to the common Adulterer, Whether he be not a walking Hospital and Pest-house of Diseases? Whether he is not alwayes possest with a Πειραζων, a Devil that first tempts him to all Uncleanness, and afterwards terrifies and exanimates him with the greatest horrour imaginable? ”

“ And so may we complain, that Idleness hinders us in our Spiritual Warfare against our Lusts. Whilest Atalanta was imployed in hunting with Diana, she kept her Virginity pure and immaculate; but when she fell into Idleness, she indulg'd her self in the gratification of her insatiable Lusts: So, whilest our Souls are employed in hunting after knowledge, and other things which are commendable and praise-worthy, they may preserve themselves from Lust and Uncleanness. ”

“ The Poets tell us, that when some young men had beheld the three equal beauty'd Gorgones, they were thereby deprived and divested of their human shape, and metamorphosed into stones: {17}So, if we be not cautious how we too lasciviously gaze upon powerful Beauties, who knows how soon we may be so callous and obdurate, and our hearts be rendred so stony, that without the least regret or remorse we may first fall into the profound Abyss of Adultery, and thence to that bottomless one of Hell. We must not do by a beautiful Object as by the Crocodile, but quite contrary ”

“ You may observe, that this sin of Adultery is in Scripture called a sin of darkness; intimating to us, how the Adulterer, asham'd of the light, sneaks up and down in obscure recesses, and is onely active and vigilant when others are quiet and taking their repose. Other sinners iniquities are in Scripture numbred by the hairs of the head; but we cannot number the Adulterers so, because as his sins increase his hairs do fall ”

“ Every bad tree is known by its bad fruit, and an unclean man may be trac'd by his unclean discourse; it being a shrewd symptom the Will is depraved, when our Discourse is unchaste and obscene. And in this [32] Hierocles concurrs with me; The Will of man {26} (saith he) adhering long neither to Virtue nor Vice, utters forth expressions inclining to both, as resembling the contrary affections in it. This advice therefore of Tyrius Maximus is very soveraign; [33] I require such a pleasure in words which Virtue may not disdain to make her Waiting-woman and attend upon her. ”

“ That the concupiscence of the flesh is sin in a good man, Because he has in him a disobedience and reluctancy against the government of the rational faculty. Again, He sins that inwardly lusteth or desires, although he follow not those desires by a consequent act, Because such motions are not pure passions, but involve negations of due acts which ought to have been in lieu thereof: A man may be incestuous [30] that never bodily commits the act ”

“ How should Chamberings and Wantonness hope to get room in Heaven, whence all kind of Marriage is excluded? When the two opposite Poles of the World meet together, and two Contradictions at the same time prove true, then, and not till then, will I believe that the Fornicator and Heaven can kiss each other. ”

“ Secure your Heart so well that no ill thought creeps into it, and proves an incentive to lust; let not the smallest ventricle of your heart conceive an evil thought, lest at last it bring forth sin. One little Flie will taint and corrupt a great quantity of flesh ”

“ But if still men will look upon fair Objects, let the same use be made of them which the wiser sort of Catholicks do of Pictures; let their beautiful features serve to raise our Devotion to God, and make us admire his curious workmanship. And since Women are of late grown so proud and licentious as to expose and prostitute themselves to the eyes of men in unseemly and immodest gestures, and they onely shew themselves true Britains in this, that, like the ancient Britains, they delight to paint {18}their bodies, and (like the Rain-bow) display their transient and fading colours ”

“ How full is the adulterer of fears and jealousies, scorching desires, and impatient waitings, tedious demurrs, sufferance of indignities, and amazements of discoveries, and his uncleanness is ever attended by shame which is its eldest daughter; for let us consider how infamous it has ever been, to be noted for a common Pathick, or a lustful Amoretto, how opprobriously Adulterers have been used by most Nations. The Law of the Ægyptians was to cut off the Nose of an Adulterer; the Locrians put out the Adulterers Eyes ”

“ We cannot by a few weak prayers only and faint Supplications obtain aid and assistance from God; but by watching, and being in continual action and consultation, all things will succeed prosperously unto us. It was a saying {30}of Appius Clodius, [37] That it were better for the Romans to be busied and imployed, then remiss and idle; Because great Empires by agitation and motion are excited to Vertue. And it was anothers complaint, [38] That Idleness (that great enemy to Discipline) corrupted and spoiled the Roman Souldiers. ”

“ Or suppose we are so candid and ingenuous as to grant them beautiful, yet we may see by experience, that their Beauty is like a sweet and much coveted Banquet, which is no sooner tasted but its delicious Luxury is {19}swallowed up by Oblivion. ”

“ So in the conflict between our Lusts and us, let us kill and mortifie our Bodies, which (in the language of Socrates) are our Soul's Horses, and then excite every Faculty {21}of our Souls with these words, Let all that will fight stay with me; and when we have done thus, let us kiss and take up our Cross, and fight stoutly under Christ the Captain of our Salvation against our Lusts; it being impossible to keep the Spirit pure, whilest 'tis overburdened with too much Flesh, and exposed to all entertainments of Enemies by fomentations and pamperings ”

“ And by this separation of the Soul from the Body, you will preserve your nature from confusion, nor think that things τὰ εντὸς which are without concern you, nor contend for those as for your self, and so consequently avoid too much care of your body; not resembling those, that, so that Sumpter-horse the Body be hung with gaudy Trappings, and pamper'd, {22}care not with what rags they cloath the Soul. We may also consider that these high pamperings and feasting our selves have no real pleasure in them ”

“ And a Learned Author puts it in the Catalogue of such Arts [41] without which a man cannot live well and {32}happily; and says, "That although to live a single life is not totally repugnant to Humane Nature, yet it is repugnant to the Nature of most Men; Because a single life and cælibate are onely fitted for the most excellent Minds, and such as are refined from the dross of impure concupiscence." ”

“ That 'tis their folly to guild a clay Wall, and enamel a Bubble, when they can give no other then a Womans Reason for it. Let us consider, That Women have no beauty but what we are pleased to give them ”

“ For, we must be extremely cold, not to be warmed by so {11}fair a fire, and very strong, to make defence against so charming an Enemy. Nor can we touch Pitch with our hands, but a foul impress will be received from it: One rotten kernel of the Pomgranate infects the fellows ”