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Be fweet to all; is thy Complexion fower?

Then keep fuch Company, make them thy Allay:
Get a fharp Wife, a Servant that will low'r':
A Stumbler ftumbles least in rugged way.
Command thyfelf in chief; he life's war knows,
Whom all his paffions follow as he goes.

Catch not at Quarrels: he that dares not speak
Plainly and home, is Coward of the two:
Think not thy Fame at every twitch fhall break,
By great Deeds fhew that thou canst little do.
And do them not; that shall thy wisdom be,
And change thy Temperance into bravery.

If that thy Fame with ev'ry Toy be pois'd

'Tis a thin Web which pois'nous Fancies make: But the great Soldier's was compos'd

Of thicker Stuff, which would endure a Snake.
Wisdom picks Friends, Civilty plays the reft,
A Toy fhunn'd clearly, paffeth with the best.

Towards great Perfons use respective boldness,
That temper gives them theirs, and yet doth take
Nothing from them, in fervice, care or coldnefs,
Dath capably thy Fortune mar or make.
Freed no Man in his Sins: for Adulation
Makes thee a parcel-Devil in Damnation.

Envy not greatnefs: for thou mak'ft thereby
Thyself the worse, and so the distance greater.
Be not thine own Worm; yet fuch Jealoufy

As hurts not others, but may make thee better,
Is a good fpur; correct thy Paffions spight,
Then may the Beasts draw thee to happy light.

Thy Friend put in thy Bofom; wear his Eyes,
Still in thy Heart, that he may see what's there:
If caufe require, thou art his Sacrifice:

Thy Drops of Blood must pay down all his fear :
But Love is loft; the way of Friendship's gone;
Though David had his Jonathan, CHRIST his John.

Yet be not Surety, if thou be a Father;

Love is a perfonal Debt; I cannot give

My Childrens right; nor ought he take it; rather
Both Friends fhould die, than hinder them to live.
Fathers first enter Bonds to Nature's ends,

And are her Sureties, e'er they are a Friends.

Calmnefs

Calmness is great Advantage; he that lets
Another Chafe, may warm him at his Fire;
Mark all his Wanderings, and enjoy his Frets,
As cunning Fencers fuffer Heat to Tire.

Truth dwells not in the Clouds: the Bow that's there
Doth aften Aim at, never hit the Sphere.

Mark what another fays; for many are

Full of themselves, and anfwer their own Notion, Take all into thee, then with equal Care,

Ballance each Dram of Reafon like a Potion. If Truth be with thy Friend, be with them both, Share in the Conqueft, and confess a Truth.

Be useful where thou liveft, that they may

Both want and with thy pleasing Prefence still; Kindnefs, good Parts, great Places, are the way

To compafs this: find out Mens wants and will,
And meet them there; all worldly Joys are lefs
Than that one Joy of doing Kindnessess.

Pitch thy Behaviour low, thy Progrefs high,
So fhalt thou Humble, and Magnanimous be.
Sink not in fpirit; who aimeth at the Sky,

Shoots higher far than he that means a Tree.
A Grain of Glory mixt with Humbleness,
Cures both a Fever and Lethargickness.

Let thy mind ftill be bent, ftill plotting where,

And when, and how thy business may be done,
Slackness breeds Worms; but the fure Traveller
Though he alight fometimes, ftill goeth on.
Active and stirring Spirits live alone,
Write on the others, Here lies such a one.

Slight not the smallest Lofs, whether it be

In Love or Honour: take account of all; Shine like the Sun in ev'ry Corner: fee

Whether thy Stock of Credit rife or fall.
Who fay, I care not, thofe I give for loft;
And to instruct them, 'twill not quit the cost.

Scorn no Man's love, though of a mean degree:
Love is a prefent for a mighty King.
Much lefs make any one thine Enemy;

As Guns deftroy, fo may a little thing.
The cunning Workman never doth refuse
The meanest Tool that he may chance to ufe.

All

AllForeign Wisdom doth amount to this,
To take whatever's given; whether Wealth
Or Love or Language, nothing comes amifs;
A good digeftion turneth all to health.
And then our fair Behaviour eafily may
Strike off all Scores, none are fo clear as they.

Affect in things about thee Cleanliness,

That all may gladly board thee as a flower, Slovens take up their stock of noifomeness

Before-hand, and anticipate the last hour:
Let thy Mind's sweetness have its operation,
Upon thy Body, Clothes, and Habitation.

In Alms regard thy means, and others merit,
Think Heaven a better bargain, than to give
Only the fingle-Market penny for it,

Join hands with God to make a Man to live.
Give to all fomething; to a good poor Man,
Till thou change Names, and be what he began.

The Way to make thee thrive, is first to fill

Thy Mind with Reft, before thy Trunk with Riches: For Wealth without Contentment climbs a Hill

To feel those Tempests which fly over Ditches. Then if thou canft but make Ten Pounds thy meafure, All which thou addeft may be call'd thy Treasure.

Sum up at Night what thou haft done by day;
And in the Morning, what thou haft to do;
Drefs and undrefs thy Soul; mark the decay
And growth of it; if with thy Watch, that too
Be down, then wind up both; fince we shall be
Moft furely judged, make thy Accounts agree.

In brief, acquit thee bravely, play the Man,
Look not on pleafures as they come,
but go;
Defer not the least Virtue; life's poor span
Make not an Ell by trifling in thy Woe;
If thou do ill, the Joy fades; not the Pains;
If well, the Pain doth fade, the Joy remains

The

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The Art of Thriving; or, The fare and Speedy way to Preferment.

8

F thou wouldst in a little time arrive to Wordly Preferment, be very industrious in thy Calling, be what it will; that which is by fparing saved, may be with diligence improved; and what is fo improved, be again fpared. For frugality alone is but fingle getting; but joined with industry is double; like thofe beams of the fun, which by a repercuffion from the earth, make that heat not to be endured, which would be hardly warmth other wife. And there, where much cannot be done at once, diligence effects it by degrees, produeing by a frequent repitition as great an heat, as more vaft abilities, but lefs active. And it hath been obferved, that it is not lefs gainful to Navigate in a fmall Veffel, which makes quick and frequent returns, than in that which returns but feldom, though deeply laden. Therefore the wife Solomon directs the fluggard to go to the Bee and Ant; which infirm creatures plainly fhew how much the affiduity of an induftrious labour can effect. And verily 'tis an ill humour, when because our means fuit not with our ends, we will not pursue those ends which fuit with our means; and because we cannot do what we will, we will not do what we can; depriving ourselves of what is within our power, because we cannot do the things that are above our power; when indeed, that's the way to do much more than we can, by doing the many littles that we are able.

And this Industry truly effects things beyond our expectations, when we are not difcouraged by difficulties,

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ficulties, but incited; and throw not up the bufinefs as desperate, because not presently pervious, and to be waded thorough. And let me tell you, of all tempers there is none more to be avoided than theirs, the edge of whofe activity is foon abated; for they vilely defpond at thofe things as impoffible, which a more tough diligence doth eafily fuperate. For which caufe, when the hiftorian had reckoned up the many difficulties and dangers which Cofmus the first Duke of Etruria had to conflict with in his infant Government: he concludes with this Epiphonema, Hæc omnia alioqui inexpug→ nabilia Cofmus patientia & induftria fau facile vicit. And verily it is no wife the part of a man, fuc cumbere difficultaribus; and like Ifachar, lie down under his burden, and give up the set because the cards prove cross; but by a generous antiperiftafis, be hottest in our profecutions, when the coldeft air blows on our designs; and like true Spur-Nags, anniti clivo, ftrain hardest against the hill; or like thunder, tear it there moft, where we meet the fturdieft and moft rugged oak. You need never fear, but even the tallest Cedar will fall at your foot, to whofe root you applied moft inceffant ftrokes. On which confideration I was much taken with his device, who placed for his imprefs a pair of compaffes, with this motto, Conftantia &. labore; the one foot being fixed, the other in

motion.

Then again, if you would grow rich, be not given to law; for the quarrelling dog hath a tattered fkin; and men of ftrife, like too sharp a fword, cut their own Scabbard. And truly, what our Lord faith, is prudently practicable: He that fueth thee at Law for thy cloak, let him take thy coat alfo: for it is much better to fit down with fome manifeft loss, than to recover thy right by a trial at law: for, not to fpeak any thing of the vexation and trouble

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