Jl INDING in my walk, a posy of once sweet and fragrant, but now dry and withered flowers, which I suppose to be thrown away by one that had formerly worn it : thus, said I, doth the unfaithful world use its friends, when providence hath blasted and withered them ; whilst they are rich and honourable, they will put them into their bosoms, as the owner of this posy did, whilst it was fresh and fragrant, and as easily throw them away as useless and worthless things, when thus they come to be withered. Such usage as this * Petronius long since complained of.
" Are they in honour ? Then we smile like friends ; " And with their fortunes all our friendship ends.''
But this loose and deceitful friend stinks so odiously in the very nostrils of nature, that a -|- heathen poet severely taxes and condenuis it as most unworthy of a man.
* Cumjbrtuna manet vultum servatis amici.
Cum cecidit turpi vertitis orafuga. Petronius. -f Turi>e sequi casum^ etjbrtunce cedcre, amicum
£t nisi iitjoelix et essnegare suum.
202 HUSEAK^DPvY SPIRITUALIZED ; OK,
" 'Tis base to change with fortune, and deny '• A faithful friend, because in poverty."
And is this indeed the friendship of the world ? Doth it thus use them whom once it honoured ? Then, Lord ! let me never seek its friendship. O let me esteem the smiles and honours of men less, and thy love and favour more ! thy love is indeed unchangeable, being pure, free, and built upon nothing that is mutable ; thou never servest thy friends as the world doth its darlings.
Upon ilie sudden withering of a Rose.
JlSeING with my friend in a garden, we. gathered each of us a. rose ; he handled his tenderly, smelled to it but seldom, and sparing- ly ; I always kept it to my nose, or squeezed it in my hand, whereby in a very short time it lost both colour and sweetness, but his still remained as sweet and fragrant as if it had been growing upon its own root. These roses, said I, are the true emblems of the best and sweetest creature-enjoyments in the world, which being moderately and cautiously used and enjoyed, may for a long time yield sweet- ness to the possessor of them ; but if once the affection seize too greedily upon them, and squeeze them too hard, they quickly wither in our hands, and we lose the comfort of them, and that either through the soul's surfeiting upon them, or the Lord's righteous and just removal of them, because of the excess of our affections to them ; earthly comforts, like pictures, shew best at a due distance. It was therefore a good saying of* Homer, 'Avo?/ ge/yo5oxw; &c.
'' I like him not, who at the rate
" Of all his might doth love or hate."
It is a point of excellent wisdom to keep the golden bridle of mo- deration upon all the affections we exercise upon earthly things, and never to slip those reins, unless when they move towards God, in whose love there is no danger of excess.
Upon the sudden withering qfhcautifid Floivers.
JLJlOW fresh and orient did these flowers lately appear, when being dashed over with the morning dew, they stood in all their pride and glory, breathing out their delicious odours, which perfumed the air
♦ Mihi nunguam is placet hospes Qui vaide pretergice modum oclit I'd amat. Homer,
THE HEAVE:S'LY rSE OF EARTHLY THINGS. 203
round about them, but now are witliered and shrivelled up, and have neither any desirable beauty or savour in them.
So vain a thing is the admired beauty of creatures, which so capti- vates the hearts, and exercises a pleasing tyranny over the affections of vain man, yet it is as suddenly blasted as the beauty of a flower *.
" How frail is beauty in how short a time
" It fades, like roses, which have past their prime.
" So wrinkled age the fairest face will plow,
" And cast deep furrows on the smoothest brow.
** Then where's that lovely tempting face .? Alas I
" Yourselves would blush to view it in a fflass."
If tlien thou delightest in beauty, O my soul ! chuse that which is lasting. There is a beauty which never fades, even the beaut\^ of hohness upon the inner mar> ; this abides fresh and orient for ever and sparkles gloriously, when thy face (the seat of natural beauty) is become an abhorrent and loathsome spectacle. Holiness enamels and sprinkles over the face of the soul with a beauty, upon which Christ himself is enamoured ; even imperfect holiness on earth is a rose that breathes sweetly in the bud ; in heaven it will be full-blown, and abide in its prime to all eternity.
Upo7i the tenderness of some choke Flowers.
XlOW much care is necessary to preserve the life of some flowers ! they must be boxed up in the winter, others must be covered with glasses in their springing up, the finest and richest mould must be sifted about the roots, and assiduously watered, and all this little enough, and sometimes too little to preserve them ; whilst other common and worthless flowers grow without any help of ours : Yea we have no less to do to rid our gardens of them, than we have to make the former grow there.
Thus stands the case with our hearts, in reference to the motions of grace and sin. Holy thoughts of God must be assiduously water- ed by prayer, earthed up by meditation, and defended by watchful- ness ; and yet all this is sometimes too little to preserve them alive in our souls. Alas ! the heart is a soil that agrees not with them, they
' Formn bonuvi fragile est, quantumqu» accedit ad annos. Fit miliar, et spatio carpitur ipsa suo. iVcc semper violce, nee semper liliajiorenl, Et rigt^t amissa spina relicta rosa Tempus erit quo vos speculum vidisse pigebit, Jam veniunt rug<s quee tibi corpus arent, <^-c. Ovid, dc Art,
204; HUSBANDRY sriRITUALlZED ; OE,
are tender things, and a small matter will nip and kill them. To this purpose is the complaint of the divine Poel :
AVho would have thought a joy
so coy To be offended so,
and go So suddenly away ? Hereafter I had need
take heed. Joys among other things
have wings, And watch their opportunities of flight, Converting in a moment, day to night. Herbert.
But vain thoughts, and unholy suggestions, these spread them- selves and root deep in the heart ; they naturally agree with the soil : So that it is almost impossible, at any time, to be rid of them. It is hard to forget what is our sin to remember.
Upon the strange means of 'preserving the life of Vegetables^