Neighbour, cannot be lawful Diverfion; and profane and wanton Difcourfe, Scandal and Slander, are certainly not to be delighted in, or to be any Part of the Employment of our Time. All Recreation must be moderate as well as innocent. Minutes, and not Days or Hours, fhou'd only be given to them: For the Purpose of Diversion is not to exempt us from Labour, but to fit us for it. If our Paffions are too much affected by our Recreations, if we have them too much at Heart, they are no longer lawful, because they will take off our Minds from our fpiritual or temporal Duties; We shall be like School-Boys, who after Playtime cannot fettle to their Books again. Time, as has been obferv'd, is to be redeem'd, and not flung away: And when we confider what a great Work we have here to do, and how uncertain we are how long time we shall have to do it, we fhould rather feek for Recreation in the fublime Meditations on the wonderful Works of the Almighty, than in the Follies and Trifles of this Tranfitory Life.

Little need have we to contrive Ways to while away our Time, which flies fo faft from us, and returns no more. Remember this, you that loiter away your Days, and revel away your Nights: Remember this, ye Gamesters, by whom Days and Nights are confounded thro' an insatiable Luft of Gain. That Luft, the most extravagant Inftance of Avarice, renders it almost impoffible to game and not to fin. For if Play be any way lawful, 'tis when we play for nothing Confiderable; otherwife we fhall fall into the Vice of Covetoufnefs, and take Pleafure in winning, or be transported with Rage at ill Luck in lofing; both which Vices feldom come unattended. Covetoufnefs will tempt you to trick at least, if not to cheat; and Anger, to fwear, and perhaps blafpheme. Go to a Gaming

Table at the Publick Places, fee the Tranfports of the Winners and Lofers at Bath, Tunbridge, Epfom, &c. and then ask yourself, Can Diverfions, that fo ruffle

and

and diforder the Soul, that keep it in a perpetual Tumult of Paffion, that make Men forget what they owe to God and to Men, Can they be lawful? The con. trary speaks itself, and whoever fins this way, does it against Conviction, and in Defiance of the Almighty. Those that find themselves too much inclin'd to Game, and have not a due Government of their Paffions at it, will do well to lay themselves under fome voluntary and valuable Mult, that the Tie of Intereft may help to restrain them. Yet one would think that Chriftians, who are bid to pluck out their very Eyes, and cut off their very Hands, if they offend them, fhould not need to be inftructed to part with unneceffary Sports, rather than to fall into Temptation. He that plays finfully lays his Soul at Stake, which is furely of too great Worth to be ventur'd on the Caft of a Die. that give themselves up to Gaming, make it no more a Recreation. Such a Man toils as much at it as he who labours for Work; is there any fo painful as that of the Mind, as the Hopes and Fears of the covetous Man, and the Impatience and Rage of the Angry?

Thofe

I

D

RE S S.

F Drefs, as we are told in Scripture, was to cover Nakedness, it feems in our Days not to answer the End of it, especially with the Ladies; who, one would imagine by their Drefs, are fo far from reckoning themselves obliged to their Mother Eve, for dreffing them, that they are for throwing away the very Fig-leaves; they have already uncover'd their Shoulders and Breasts, and as they have gone fo far in a few Months, what may they not do in Years? They fhould confider that Clothes were not the Effect of Pride, but of Sin, and that inftead of making them vain, it should humble

and

and mortify them, as having loft that Innocence which was a much greater Ornament to them than the most glorious Apparel can be. Since Shame was the Original of Clothing, it ought to be modeft, and all Fashions which are not so, are finful; arguing the Wantonness of the Wearer, and provoking that of the Spectator; .both which carry Sin in them.

The defending the Body from Cold feems to be, to many, not a principal, but an accidental End of Apparel. Naked Breafts and naked Bofoms, in both Sexes, fhew us that Health, as defirable as it is, is not confider'd by Youth, when any ftrong Paffion is in the way. Those Ladies that would catch Cold at the Fanning of a Summer-Evening's Breeze, bear the rudest Winter-Blafts, to lay open their Breafts and Shoulders; the most delicate of 'em are infenfible of Wind or Weather. Would one not believe they are fo warm'd within, that they are infenfible of Cold from without? And what muft Men think of fuch Women, who will endure fo much to be fo much feen? Nothing in the World is fo eafily communicated as Defire; and instead of mortifying it, the very Churches are the Places that help now to inflame it; People dress for them as wantonly as for the Play-Houfe: And a Woman has not any Beauty which fhe will not take care to expose there to Advantage. Hence it is, that Divine Service, instead of raifing Men and Womens Souls in Devotion to the g great Creator, is often made ufe of to convey wanton Glances to each other; and when they pretend to be praying to be delivered from Temptation, they with Pleasure give themselves up to it. God, who will not be mock'd, knows the Heart, and will at the last Day call them to a dreadful Account for this wicked Abufe of Holy Ordinances.

Another End of Apparel is the diftinguishing of Sexes and Qualities, which, like the other two Ends of it, Modefty and Health, is neglected and defpis'd. Women, without blushing, affume the Coat, Periwig, Hat and Feather, and ride as furiously as if there was really nothing

nothing in Sex, or they defired there fhould be no Difference. What a mean Opinion must fuch Ladies have of the Delicacy of the Heirefs of Burgundy, Grandmother of Charles the Fifth, who falling from her Horse, and breaking her Thigh, refus'd the Affiftance of the Surgeon, and chofe to die rather than have her Modefty offended. God himself exprefly commanded the Jews that the Man fhould not wear the Apparel of the Woman, nor the Woman that of the Man: But our Ladies like our Politicians, think the Jewish Laws do not extend to Chriftians, and refolving at any Rate to please, will wear a Hat or a Head, as it fets them off beft. To diftinguish Qualities by Drefs was one of the ancient Ufes of it: The Romans were very strict in their several Distinctions. Gorgeous Apparel is for Kings Courts, as our Saviour himself tells us. Men and Women should content themselves with that fort of Clothing which agrees with their Sex and Condition, not striving to exceed or equal that of a higher Rank, nor raise Envy in their own. What Difference is there now between the Drefs of a Citizen and a Courtier, of a Taylor and a Gentleman, of a Servant and a Mafter? The Maid is very often mistaken for the Mistress, and the Valet for my Lord. The general Depravity of Mens Minds appears as much in this Corruption, as in any; the Neglect of Decency and Order, the Confufion of Ranks and Degrees, produce Contempt of them; and Men fail in the Respect Inferiors owe to Superiors. Honour to whom Honour, is one of the Laws of the Gofpel, which are forgotten, and Men live in all Things as if they were their own Mafters, and had no Rule to walk by but their Wills.

Foppery in Dress has been fo well ridicul'd by Men of Wit, that we are lefs troubled with it than ever. While it was a Sin only, and was rank'd under the Heads of Pride and Vanity, while Damnation was only the Punishment, it flourish'd amain; but now it is bcome a Fest, and the Fop is fure to be laugh'd at; he avoids that for the Sake of his Character, which he would not have ́ avoided for the Sake of his Salvation.

Clothes

Clothes add no true Worth to any one, and 'tis therefore foolish as well as finful to waste Time or Thought in Drefs. Beauty needs no Ornament, and Deformity admits none, but what we ought all to covet, that of a meek and quiet Spirit. Clothe yourselves as richly as you can with all Chriftian Virtues, which can only render you lovely in God's Eyes, and will not a little help to render you amiable in those of Man. The Beauty of the Mind charms more than that of the Body, and no Beauty of it is fo charming as Virtue. Charity will incline you to look to your Neighbour's Clothing as well as your own. To clothe the naked is one of the Duties that have etrrnal Blifs for their Reward; and the faying of a good Chriftian on that Subject, tho' a homely one, is a folid one, One plain Coat thou putteft upon a poor Man's Back will better become thee than twenty rich ones thou shalt put upon thy own.

Youth is very apt to run into Error in Drefs. Vanity proceeds from Levity of Mind, for which the Young, and efpecially of the fofter Sex, want Ballaft; they have an inborn violent Defire of pleafing the ways which lead Men to Authority and Glory being shut to them, they ftrive to make amends for that Lofs by the Graces of their Perfon. And 'tis on this account that the Colour of a Ribbon, the Curl of the Hair, or the fetting on a Patch too high or too low, are with them Matters of Importance. This Excess is become very extravagant, and we are not fatisfy'd with our Modes and Fashions, but are made after those of our Neighbours. Thus, to the Love of Dress is added that of Novelty. They do bewitch weak Minds, and filling them with Pride and Folly drive out every good thing, and choke the Seeds of Religion and Virtue.

Wife

States have not only fet Rules for Habits, but also for Furniture of Houfes, and the Decorations of Gardens. Our neighbouring State, that of the United Provinces, reftrain'd by a Law the extravagant Expence of Flowers; and our own Statute-Books fhew us, that feveral Laws

have