with any Zeal, or Attention, or Life, that doth not carry either fome worldly Profit or Pleasure with it; and that which charms or wins them, must be the Mufick of temporal Interest. As the Wolf in the Fable, being fent to School to learn to Spell, could make nothing of all that was faid to him but Sheep. His Mind still ran upon that, and confequently was hardned against all other Suggestions.

Confideration how they shall be saved hereafter! there is no Lands to be bought with it, no Manors to be purchased, no Houses to be built, no Countries to be conquered, no Honours to be got by it. It brings in no Riches, it fills not their Coffers with Gold and Silver, it doth not give them Respect and Credit with Princes and Men of Quality; it doth not cover their Tables with Dainties and Delicacies, it doth not furnish them with Portions for their Children; it doth not feed their Bellies, nor put them into a Condition to lie on Beds of Ivory, or to be clad, like Dives, with Silk and Purple ; it doth not maintain their great Retinue, nor present them with foft Airs; it doth not provide for their Families, nor keep up their Pomp and Grandeur: Were it fuch a powerful thing as the Philofophers-Stone is fabled to be, and did it enable them to turn their Iron into Gold, and did it make their Trade to flourish, and did it make their Garners full, affording all manner of Store, and caufe fuch Fruitfulness among their Flocks, that their Sheep might bring forth thoufands and ten thousands in their Streets; Did it raise them to the Power of Senacherib, to the

Magnificence of Nebuchadnezzar, to the Pleafures of Solomon; did it promife a Kingdom, and whisper in their Ears that they fhould enjoy Ease and Plenty; without all peradventure, nothing fhould have fo much of their Care or Hearts, as Confideration of their Ways: But having none of thefe Baits, and their Hearts being fix'd_on the World, they can find no Time for this Exercife. As well may a Worm take pleasure in the Sound of a Fiddle, or a Horfe delight in Arithmetick, or an Ox divert himfelf with the fight of a well-order'd Army, as fuch Men fet Time apart for their Recollection; and whatever Pregnancy there may be in the Motives a judicious Perfon doth alledge, they cannot atiend fuch Motions.

Cannot, did Ifay? They will not allow themfelves Time to retire and confider that they have fuch things as Souls, or that thefe Souls are capable of Punishment and Glory, when they fhake Hands with their old Companions their Bodies. They think that time mif-fpent that is beftow'd upon Confideration of another World, and what Minutes or Hours are taken from their fleshly Satisfactions, or from profecuting their worldly Concerns, they look upon as flung away.

By worldly Concerns, I do not only mean Bufineffes which an Eftate, or Trade, or Family, or Office, or fenfual Pleafures caufe, but Bufinefs of Study and Learning too; and one may be as much taken up with his Study, as another is with his Trade, and confequently be very loth to allow any Time for this Confideration we fpeak of. To be ftudious and yet inconfiderate,

derate, implies no Contradiction; and a Man may contemplate God, and Heaven, and the whole Creation, and yet not contemplate them in order to a holy Preparation for another Life, or with an Intent to mortifie his Sins and Corruptions, and to imitate God in Holiness, without which it cannot be Confideration; and the best Name we can give it, is an empty Speculation: So that a fpiritual Meditation may be but a worldly Business, if that which puts me upon it, be my Profeffion whereby I get a Livelyhood; if that which makes me ftudy and meditate, be temporal Profit, or Honour, or Applaufe; if it be not undertaken with an Intent to edify my own Soul, as well as the Souls of others; if it be done either to please the Fancy, or to please the gentle Reader, by publishing it to the World.

And indeed, where worldly Concerns fill all the Channels of the Soul, there can be but very little Employment for ferious Confideration. A continual hurry of Business sheds Darkness upon the Soul, thrufts out that Eye whereby it should reflect upon it self, and makes it intent only on Things which tickle and please the Flesh; and like Felix, when any Motions to ferious Confideration arise, replies, Go thy way for this Time, and when I have a convenient Seafon I will call for thee, A&ts 24.25. This, as the Babylonians did the Children of Ifrael, keeps Confideration in Captivity, and binds it up in Chains, that it can make no Sallies; and if at any time would go forth, like Jonathan, to take a view of the dreadful Army of the Philistines, checks

it, and drives it back into its Prifon again, where, like fome martial Prince, it lies coop'd up, and its Power and Valour remain unknown to the Enemies, that were it loofe, would foon feel its quickness and energy. It fares much with Confideration as with that Prince's Invitation, Luke 14. 16. worldly cares and businesses, like those Guests, when the Soul feels any fuggeftions or invitations to Confideration, are prefently ready with excufes, and a thousand things are pretended why they cannot come, or stoop to the gracious Meffage or Vocation; and these Briars and Thorns choke the good Seed that's thrown among them.

Thus Earth keeps out Heaven,and the World, like fhutters of a Window, excludes the light that would irradiate the Room; not but that the bufinefs of our worldly Callings may lawfully be perform'd and follow'd; and Men ought to work with labour, and travel night and day, rather than be chargeable to others, 2 Theff. 3. 8. But where the World is made a God, and fills Mens Minds as well as their Hands, and all the time that can be got, is spent in imbracing and grafping of it, it's impoffible Confideration fhould find entertainment there; it's like a heartless Prayer, for that can be huddled up, and requires not much time, and leaves them as worldly as it finds them, and doth not hinder or cross them in their fondness to the World, which they are afraid Confideration will do. And indeed they guess aright, for Confideration, as Theodofius the Patriarch of Conftantinople did the Emperor, when a Leffon out of the

Bible against Images was read, would pull them by the fleeve and fay, Hear, Sir, and obey. This would shake their Love, make them unquiet in their Amours, and unsettle their Affections, pull down that high efteem they have of the World, and make them fee that there is not that Beauty, that Glory, or that Happiness in things below, which their fickly fancy dream'd of; it would fhew them that all these Gaudes are but a Pit covered with curious Flowers, where People may irrecoverably perish, if taken with the treacherous Flowers they fmell to, and admire their Odour and Fragrancy. It would fhew them the vanity of heaping up Riches, when they know not who fhall inherit them; and reprefent unto them the folly of flattering their Souls with an Ede, bibe, lude, Soul take thine eafe, eat, drink, and be merry, thou haft much Good laid up for many years. It would fhew them how falfe, how perishable all these outward Comforts are, and that they have fomething more than this deceitful World to look after. Confideration, like a faithful Counsellor, would undeceive them in their fond Opinions of this treacherous Friend, discover to them his base designs, the mischiefs he drives at under all his fmiles, the Serpent that lies under those green Herbs, and bid them beware of him. Confideration, like the honeft Jonathan, Jer. 40. 14, 15. who told Gedaliah that Ishmael was not the Man he took him for, would open the Cave, and fhew them the roaring Lion, and affure them, that the Beast is not fo harmless as they are apt to imagine, not fo fit to play with as its seeming fafeness would

make