1

SERM. his own fpirit; he is like a city that is broIX. ken down, and without walls, without order and beauty, without ftrength and fafety; a confused, irregular, and deformed heap, open to every affault, and defenceless against any invader.

This, one would think, is a fubject recommended to our study and application by the immediate intereft we have in it. What is it that can poffibly concern a man more than the art of felf-government, the confequences of it so nearly affect him, and a perception of the advantages of it in inward tranquillity fo obvious, indeed, unavoidable, and of the disadvantage of neglecting it in the continual reproaches of his own heart? Is it not very inexcufable for a man to be a ftranger to himself, and not to know how to make the best of his own natural powers and affections, fo as he may be carried to his proper perfection, and enjoy all the happinefs he is capable of? Would it not fhew a trifling and over-curious temper for a man. to spend his time in inquiring into the state, the fituation, the customs, policy, and laws of far diftant countries, and be a stranger to his own, to which he hath fo near a relation, and fo much a better opportunity of improving his knowledge to valuable purpofes?

pofes? In like manner, every kind of know- SER M.
ledge may be reckoned unprofitable while IX.
the knowledge of ourselves is neglected, and
we do not make it our bufinefs to under-
ftand the maxims and rules by which we
should govern our fpirits. For a man to
take a great deal of pains abroad, to spend
his time and labour in acquiring the art of
working in metal, in wood and stone, à
dexterity in cultivating the ground, to be
fkilful in commerce, to understand the hif-
tory of nature in as great an extent as Solo-
mon did, who had understanding exceeding
much, and largeness of heart even as the
fand which is on the fea-fhore; fo as not only
to treat judiciously of moral fubjects, but to
speak with knowledge of trees, from the
cedar which is in Lebanon, to the hyffop which
Springeth out of the wall; of beasts alfo, and
fowls, and creeping things, and fishes, 1 Kings
To know the distances and mag-

iv. 29.
nitude of the heavenly bodies, and the laws
according to which they are moved in their
feveral orbs, to be an able politician, well
acquainted with the interests of states and
kingdoms, and the rules by which they
ought to be governed; for a man, I fay, to
arrive at a great measure of perfection in
these kinds of knowledge, however useful

3

and

SERM, and valuable in many respects, and yet to IX. be ignorant of himself, and of the true prin

ciples and maxims by which he ought to conduct his life and form the difpofitions of his mind, is to be wife in trifles, and foolish in matters of the greatest moment, Whatever reputation may be acquired by skill in those things which may be justly called foreign, as having no relation to the principal ends of our being, fuch skill, when exercised ultimately on objects of this fort, is but unprofitable, and indeed folly; yet are many of mankind, even of those who are reputed wife, guilty of this folly; for though the object of religious wifdom be very near us, and our most immediate concern, it is very often overlooked, the minds of men being too much engroffed by the objects of fense, or through a fecret unwillingness to enter into study and difcipline. I will en deavour, in this discourse,

First, To give you, at least, a general notion of what it is to have rule over our own fpirits; and then you will fee the usefulness of it, and the infeparable connection it hath with attaining to, and making progress in, wisdom,

First, Let us confider what it is to have SE RM, rule over our own fpirits. It is obferved by IX. expofitors, that the word rendered fpirit, fometimes, in the writings of this author, fignifieth anger, as, Ecclef. x. 4. If the fpirit of the ruler (that is his wrath) rife against thee, leave not thy place; for yielding pacifieth offences. And Prov. xvi. 32. He that is flow to anger, is better than the mighty, and be that ruleth his fpirit, than he that taketh a city. This, no doubt, is one of the paffions which ought to be kept under a steady government, if we would make any proficiency in wisdom, for it refteth in the bofom of fools. But there are other affections and paffions of the human nature, which for the fame reason it is neceffary to restrain and controul, because, often rifing to an exorbitant height, they are enemies to virtue,

To have a juft view of this fubject, we ought to confider the intire conftitution of our minds, and all their powers and faculties, affections and paffions, between which there is fuppofed a great difference, seeing it is the fame agent who is to rule and be ruled; that is, the fame fpirit. There is something in it which hath a right to dominion, as being in its nature fuperior;

there

SERM. there are other parts which hold an inferior IX. place, and ought to be in fubjection. Now,

if we attend to the conftitution of the human spirit in its full extent, we fhall find in it a great variety of powers and affections, various fenfes or ways of perceiving things without us; various defires and averfions; a power of reflecting upon ourselves, of comparing our own thoughts, and the reprefentations which are made to our minds of things as good or evil; of inquiring into the importance of them, and all the confiderations which fhould direct our choice, and of determining upon the whole. We find also that which is called confcience, a sense of duty and fin, and of moral good and evil; a neceffary felf-approbation arifing from the one, and reproach and condemnation from the other. There are, befides, a great many propensities in our minds which cannot be called in the ftricteft fenfe natural, but incidental rather, and which take their rife, not from the effence of our conftitution, but from particular occafions in life, various complexion of body, and other incidental caufes. To make this plain by examples; we fee a great difference in the tempers of men, fome eagerly covet wealth, others have an impatient thirst for power

and