It is hard to personate and act a part long; for where truth is not at the bottom, nature will always be endeavouring to return, and will peep out and betray herself one time or other. Therefore, if any man think it convenient to seem good, let him be so indeed, and then his goodness will appear to every body's satisfaction; so that, upon all accounts, sincerity is true wisdom.
[294]: 8e Sermon: Giving thanks always for all things unto God.
These words although (as the very syntax doth immediately discover) they bear a relation to, and have a fit coherence with those that precede, may yet (especially considering St. Paul's style and manner of expression in the preceptive and exhortative parts of his Epistles) without any violence or prejudice on either hand, be severed from the context, and considered distinctly by themselves.... First then concerning the duty itself, to give thanks, or rather to be thankful for Εὐχαριστεῖν doth not only signifie gratias agere, reddere, dicere, to give, render, or declare thanks, but also gratias habere, grate affectum esse, to be thankfully disposed, to entertain a grateful affection, sense, or memory.... I say, concerning this duty itself (abstractedly considered) as it involves a respect to benefits or good things received, so, in its employment about them, it imports, requires, or supposes these following particulars.
[295]: Il était mathématicien du premier ordre, et avait cédé sa chaire à Newton.
[296]: Although no such benefit or advantage can accrue to God, which may increase his essential and indefectible happiness; no harm or damage can arrive, that may impair it (for he can be neither really more or less rich or glorious or joyfull than he is; neither have our desire or fear, our delight or our grief, our designs or our endeavours any object, any ground in those respects), yet hath he declared that there be certain interests and concernments, which, out of his abundant goodness and condescension, he doth tender and prosecute as his own; as if he did really receive advantage by the good, and prejudice by the bad success respectively belonging to them; that he earnestly desires, and is greatly delighted with some things, very much dislikes, and is grievously displeased with other things; for instance, that he bears a fatherly affection toward his creatures, and earnestly desires their welfare; and delights to see them enjoy the good he designed them; and also dislikes the contrary events; doth commiserate and condole their misery; that he is consequently well pleased, when piety and justice, peace and order (the chief means conducing to our welfare) do flourish; and displeased when impiety and injustice, dissensions and disorder (those certain sources of mischief to us) do prevail; that he is well satisfied with our rendering to him that obedience, honour and respect which are due to him; and highly offended with our injurious and disrespectful behaviour toward him, as commission of sin and violation of his most just and holy commandments: so that there wants not sufficient matter of our exercising good-will both in affection and action toward God: we are capable both of wishing and (in a manner, as he will interpret and accept it) of doing good to him by our concurrence with him in promoting those things which he approves and delights in, and in removing the contrary.
[297]: The middle, we may observe, and the safest and the fairest and the most conspicuous places in cities are usually deputed for the erection of statues and monuments, dedicated to the memory of worthy men, who have nobly deserved of their countries. In like manner should we in the heart and centre of our soul, in the best and highest appartments thereof, in the places most exposed to ordinary observation, and most secure from the invasions of worldly care, erect lively representations and lasting memorials unto the Divine bounty.
[298]: To him the excellent quality, the noble end, the most obliging manner of whose beneficence doth surpass the matter thereof, and hugely augment the benefits: who not compelled by any necessity, not obliged by any law, or previous compact, not induced by any extrinsick arguments, not inclined by our merit, not wearied by our importunities, not instigated by troublesome passions of pity, shame or fear (as we are wont to be), nor flattered with promises of recompense, nor bribed with expectation of emolument thence to accrue himself, but being absolute master of his own actions, only both lawgiver and counsellor to himself, all sufficient and incapable of admitting any accession to his perfect blissfulness, most willingly and freely, out of pure bounty and good will, is our friend and benefactor, preventing not only our desires, but our knowledge, surpassing not our deserts only, but our wishes, yea even our conceits, in the dispensation of his inestimable and irrequitable benefits, having no other drift in the collation of them, beside our real good, and welfare, our profit and advantage, our pleasure and content.
[299]: Suppose a man infinitely ambitious, and equally spiteful and malicious; one who poisons the ears of great men by venomous whispers, and rises by the fall of better men than himself; yet if he steps forth with a Friday look and a lenten face, with a blessed Jesu! and a mornful ditty for the vices of the times; oh! then he is a saint upon earth: an Ambrose or an Augustine (I mean not for that earthly trash of book-learning; for, alas! such are above that, or at least that's above them), but for zeal and for fasting, for a devout elevation of the eyes, and a holy rage against other men's sins. And happy those ladies and religious dames characterised in the 2d of Timothy, c. iii. 5, 6, who can have such self-denying, thriving, able men for their confessors! and thrice happy those families where they vouchsafe to take their Friday night's refreshments! thereby demonstrate to the world what Christian abstinence, and what primitive, self-mortifying vigour there is in forbearing a dinner, that they may have the better stomach to their supper. In fine, the whole world stands in admiration of them: fools are fond of them, and wise men are afraid of them; they are talked of, they are pointed out; and, as they order the matter, they draw the eyes of all men after them, and generally something else.
[300]: Again, there are some who have a certain ill-natured stiffness (forsooth) in their tongue, so as not to be able to applaud and keep pace with this or that self-admiring, vain-glorious Thraso, while he is pluming and praising himself, and telling fulsome stories in his own commendation for three or four hours by the clock, and at the same time reviling and throwing dirt upon all mankind besides.
There is also a sort of odd ill-natured men, whom neither hopes nor fears, frowns nor favours, can prevail upon to have any of the cast, beggarly, forlorn nieces or kinswomen of any lord or grandee, spiritual or temporal, trumped upon them.