The Vanity of the Lives and Passions of Men, Chapter 1
CHAP. I.
Of the vanity of the lives of Men.
IF the end be the crown of the work, the creating of man was the crown of the creation; for after God had made man after his ownaGen. 1.27. Image, and had infuſed into him a living ſoul, he reſtedbGen. 2.2. on the ſeventh day from all his works; and this ingrateful man (who was the Maſter-piece of all Gods works, and to whom he had given an unlimited prerogative over the beaſt of the field, the fowl of the air, and the fiſhes of the ſea,) did by his diſobedience become inferior to the moſt deſpiſed creatures under the Sun; and by his ſin, all his poſterity that lived under the ſtate of Nature, are more miſerable and fuller of vanity then any of the unreaſonable creatures: for ever ſince they have been an object ofcHeraclitus. ſorrow to ſome, or a ſubject ofdDemocritus. deriſion to others: But becauſe the vanity and miſery of their lives will beſt appear, firſt, by their Conception, ſecondly, by their Infancie, thirdly, by their adoleſcency, fourthly, by their virility, fifthly, by their declination, ſixthly, by their decrepit age. I will will ſpeak of them in order.
For the firſt, concerning their conception,ePſal. 51.5. (Behold, ſaith the Prophet David, I was ſhapen in iniquity, and in ſin did my mother conceive me,) it proceeds from a carnall delight, which God hath been pleaſed (for the increaſe and the preſervation of mankinde) to give to the act of generation; for if in lieu of delight this act had been accompanied with dolour, the world had been before this time deprived of reaſonable creatures, becauſe of the antipathy there is between Nature and Dolour, but between Nature and Delight there is a loving ſimpathy which begetteth a deſire in the Males and Females of conjunction for to increaſe or preſerve their kinde. Now if this conjunction be not according to the Commandment of God, by adhering every man to his wife, and every wife to her husband; this Delight becoms a Luſt, and by conſequence a ſin, odious to God and men: But ſuppoſe it be by the undefiled bed of Matrimony, yet their conception according to the Naturaliſts that have dived into the ſecrets of Nature, is ſtrange and homely, for ſix dayes after the conjunction, ſay they, of the husband and the wife, the ſeed of them both, is by the naturall heat of the womb, turned into a kinde of milk, which is incloſed within a skin, much like to the skin of an Egg, and nine dayes after it becomes blood, having within it three ſmall bladders, the one containing the ſubſtance of the heart; the ſecond containing the ſubſtance of the brain, and the third containing the ſubſtance of the liver, and then after twelve days it becomes fleſh, and then by the admirable work of God the members are formed, and by degrees the veins, ſinews and nerves are ſtrengthened, and within eighteen days more, it pleaſeth God to infuſe into it a living ſoul, and ſo the childe having life, draws his food by his Navel, and by it increaſeth daily in ſtrength, and this food is no other dainties then the menſtruall blood of his mother, held to be the moſt polluted excrement of Nature. now after it hath been impriſoned nine moneths in this obſcure priſon, and fed ſeven months and an half, with this lothſome food, nature growing ſtrong, it breaketh by ſtrugling the skin of the bladder, above ſpoken of, and feeling the air endeavors to come forth; ſo by his pangs, groans, and ſtruggling, and the violent travel of his mother it is produced to the light, many miſcarrying at their birth by divers accidents, and others in their mothers womb, ſome by the fright of their mothers, others by ſome rub on her ſides, or by the loathſom ſent of the ſnuff of a candle; beſides their mother is ſubject to ſwoundings, & longings during her childe-bearing, and their longings and fond deſires are moſt commonly for fruits, or for ſtrange and unſavory meats, wch being debarred, cauſeth oftentimes the mother and the childe to miſcarry together. The conſideration of theſe things ſhould humble the proudeſt man upon earth, and make him acknowledg ingenuouſly, that of all other creatures under the Sun, his conception and birth, are the moſt miſerable.
For the ſecond, Concerning the Infancie of men, it begins at their birth, and continues till they be fifteen years of age; the two firſt years of it is nothing but impotencie, and weak imbecillity to himſelf, and charge, trouble, and vexation to his Parents: and whereas other creatures by the benefit of Nature can ſtand upon their legs, and ſeek after their food, man the Lord Paramont of them all is ſwadled in clouts, and not able to help himſelf: the yong Chickins as ſoon as they are hatched can run after their Dam, to ſeek for food, and have that ſagacity to hide themſelves under her wings at the fluttering of the Kite: the Lambs, Calves, and yong Colts ſtand ſuddenly upon their legs to ſeek their Dams teats, but man would periſh if his mother by her naturall affection did not bring the nipple of her breaſt to his mouth, and rock him upon her knees: and for the three or four years of this infancy he muſt be carefully tended, for fear he ſhould, likefJoſephus in his Antiquities. Moſes, put burning coles into his mouth in ſtead of food, or kill himſelf with a knife, or ſome ſharp edged tool: and in the fifth and ſixth year of his age care muſt be taken, that Horſes, Carts, or Coaches, run not over him in the ſtreets: and at ſeven years of his age, he muſt be carefully brought up to learning, according to his birth or degree, either at the Grammar School, or to learn to Write, Cypher, or to keep Accompts, that he may be inabled at fifteen years of age to be ſent to the Univerſity, or placed with merchants or Trades-men, that by a lawfull calling he may live like a man for the time to come. Now for as much as it is the fitteſt time for the education of children, from ſeven years of age to fifteen, Parents muſt be carefull in that time, if they intend to have any comfort of them, to bring them up in the true fear of God, to break them of their Will, and make them attain to an habit of Piety, and morall Vertue: for Education goes beyond Nature, and a yong twig will bend any way, but an old ſtandard will rather break then bow: and therefore Salomon ſaith,gProv. 22.6. Train up a childe in the way he ſhould go, and when he is old he will not depart from it; and in the 22. Verſ. he ſaith,hPro. 22.15. Folly is naturally bound in the heart of a childe, but the rod of correction will drive it far from him, and correction to wilfull children is as uſefull to them as their meat and drink; Withhold not iPro. 23.13.correction from the childe, ſaith Salomon, for if thou beateſt him with the rod, he ſhall not die, and thou ſhalt deliver his ſoul from hell. By theſe Precepts of the Prince of Wiſdom, it is apparent that the onelyonly way to have comfort of our children, is to correct them when they are yong; and the onelyonly reaſon why this age doth abound more then the former in rebellious children, is the indulgency of the Parents towards them; and this indulgency and fond love of Parents, is the cauſe of two evils: firſt, that the children come to a ſhameful end; ſecondly, that their Parents hoary heads go down with ſorrow to the grave; and Solomon confirms the ſame, The rod and kProv. 29.15.17.reproof give wiſdom, but a childe left to himſelf bringeth his mother to ſhame: and in the 17. verſ. Correct thy ſon and he ſhall give thee reſt, yea, he ſhall give delight unto thy ſoul. This Infancy of man, is then but meer vanity: for the firſt five years of it, is but imbecillity; the ſecond five but puerility, and the laſt five nothing but malice, obſtinacy and diſobedience; ſo that according to their good or bad education, they become a bleſſing, or a curſe to their Parents.
Thirdly, the adoleſcency or youth of man, begins at 15 years of age, and ends at thirty, the greater part of it is ſpent under the reſtraint of their Tutors, or Maſters, and by conſequence freed from cares, and curbed from vices, if their Tutors or Maſters diſcharge their duty; but if they do not, they commonly become ſo vicious, that without the ſpeciall grace of God they can never be recalled, and continue prophane and unthrifty all their dayes: And therefore Tutors and Maſters who neglect their duty, and are too indulgent towards their Pupils or Servants, are the cauſe of their overthrow, and will be called to a ſtrict account for it before the Tribunal of God; The remiſneſs or indulgency ofi1 Sam. 2.2.3. and 3.17.18. Ely towards his two ſons Hophny and Phineas drew a great judgment of God upon him, and upon them both: and the Pupils and Servants that reject the ſharp reprehenſions and corrections of their Tutors or Maſters, aggravate their own guilt, and acquit their Tutors and Maſters, for they do not ſhew themſelves onelyonly diſobedient to them, but alſo to God, for St. Paul chargeth them;mEphe. 6.5.9. Servants be obedient to them that are your Maſters according to the fleſh, with fear and trembling, in ſingleneſs of your heart, as unto Chriſt, not with eyeſervice as men pleaſers, but as the ſervants of Chriſt. And ye maſters, do the ſame things unto them, forbearing threatnings; knowing that your maſter alſo is in Heaven, neither is there reſpect of perſons with him. But when young men are freed from the ſubjection of their Tutors and Maſters, and have as it were, the Bridle caſt over their necks, they run as fiercely after the pleaſures, delights and vanities of the fleſh, as untamed Colts run from their riders, when they have caſt them down; and without Gods ſpecial grace, miſcarry in their race, as it is confirmed by Solomon; who in deriſion of their folly, ſaith, Rejoyce, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thy heart, and in the ſight of thine eyes; but know thou, that for all theſe things, God will bring thee into judgment nEccleſ. 11.9.. The reaſon, why in this age men are more addicted to their pleaſure, then in any other, is, Becauſe their Paſſions are more predominant in them, and experience doth ſhew, That from twenty five yeers, to thirty five yeers of age, men are by the ſtrength of their bodies, the abundance and hear of their blood (in which doth reſide the vital ſpirits,) fitter for great enterpriſes, where they may ſhew their courage and valor, then at any other ſeaſon, and that the Paſſions of Love, and Ambition, are more violent in them, then in any other age: For the Adoleſcency of men, is compared to the Spring; their Maturity or Virility, to the Summer; their Declination, to the Autumn or Harveſt; and their decrepit age to Winter, the moſt irkſome time of the yeer. But as it is the moſt pleaſant, and precious age of men, ſo is it the moſt dangerous; for more are carried away with death, in this age, then in any other, becauſe of the diſtemper, and exceſſive riots of young men; which beget burning Feavers, Pleuriſies, Sanguine Apoplexies, and divers loathſom Diſeaſes, that ſends them to their Grave before their time. And as their Paſſions are more turbulent in that age, ſo are their Actions more irregular: Young men being moſt addicted, to Vindication, Spleen, Indignation, Wrath, Rapines, and Oppreſſions, then others; and as fickle, and inconſtant as the wind; fit to undertake, and active to execute; but raſh and inconſiderate, for want of a rational ſolidity of Judgment. In a word, As this age of man hath many rare Prerogatives over the others, ſo it is ſubject to great inconveniencies, and fuller of vanity then any.
Fourthly, The maturity of mans age begins at Thirty, and continues till Fourty five: In this age mens mindes are commonly full of the cares of this world; they have wives, children, and ſervants to care for; and as their families increaſe, ſo doth their toyl, and their cares: The vices or ſins of their youth, are rather changed then forſaken; their delights and pleaſures, are changed to Envy or Avarice; their deſires are now bent to attain to honor and riches, and to outgo their neighbors in all things; but in Vertue, or a Godly life their thoughts flie high, and are bent only upon Machavilian policies, that they may by them overreach their Brethren, by falſe lights, by falſifications of Wares, by diſtinctions and equivocations; and as for Religion, they uſe it onelyonly as a baite to deceive men; and are more unſatiable after gain and money, then the Horſe-Leeches are after blood: They account this ſaying of Solomon a Paradox. He that loveth ſilver, ſhall not be ſatisfied with ſilver; nor he that loveth abundance, with increaſe: He that truſteth in his riches ſhall fall, but the righteous ſhall flouriſh as a branch oEccleſ. 10.5, 6, 7, 8.And ſo either by right or wrong, they will become rich, and honorable; at leaſt in ſhew, according to the world, but not really according to God; for in his ſight they are the moſt vile, the pooreſt, and the moſt deſpiſed Creatures under the Sun; for they never take into conſideration this ſaying of our bleſſed Saviour. What availeth, if a man getteth all the world, and looſe his own ſoul? This virility of man; is then but vanity, and not inferior in Vices to Adoleſcency; but they are not ſo viſible to the eyes of men, but as odious to the eyes of God.
Fiftly, The declination of mens lives begins at fourty five yeers, and continues till ſeventy. This age of man, is as much ſubject to Envy and Avarice, as the former age is to Ambition, and carking cares; whereby it appears, that mens Paſſions and Sins, do rather change, then forſake them; for volupty, and carnal delights, to which young men are moſt addicted in their Adoleſcency, doth change in their declining age, to Envy and Avarice, and ſometimes their Avarice doth change to Ambition, a Paſſion more incident to the virility or mature age of men, then to old age; yet divers inſtances may be produced to prove, That Avarice doth change into Ambition, in mens declining age. Martius Craſsus pSee Plutarch in his life.had by a ſordid kinde of Avarice, attained to the greateſt riches of any that we read of; and yet out of Envy that he bore to the warlike atchievements of Pompeius and Caeſar, ſuch an inſatiable Ambition, or deſire of honor poſſeſſed him in his declining age, That at threeſcore and three yeers of age, he gave away half his eſtate to the common people of Rome, to obtain a general Commiſſion, to be Commander in chief of the Roman Legions that were appointed to make war in the furtheſt parts of Armenia againſt the Parthians. Which inſatiable and unſeaſonable Ambition of his, was ingeniouſly reproved by an old Armenian Knight (of whom, he did deſire to be informed, of the condition, and diſtance of the way, he was to undergo, and power he was to oppoſe in this Parthian journy,) ſaying unto him, That it was too great for him to undertake the ſame in his declining age, and that the morning Sun of his age, had been fitter for ſuch an enterpriſe, then the ſetting of it. And had Craſſus been ruled by this wholeſom Counſel, he had not by his inſatiable deſire of honor, faln from the higheſt degree of worldly proſperity to the loweſt degree of humane diſgrace and miſery, as he did; for by this raſh enterpriſe, he was the cauſe of his own death, and of his eldeſt ſons, and of the lives of a great part of the braveſt Nobility of Rome, and of the rout and utter overthrow of his whole Army. This is to prove, That men in their declining age, are fitter for Counſel, then for Action; and that is the reaſon, that the Roman Senate, the Counſel of Areopage, and the Senate of Venice, have been, and are compoſed of men, much advanced in their declining age; becauſe their Paſſions are commonly more moderate, their Experience greater, their Judgment more ſolid, and their Counſels ſafer, then of thoſe who are in the youth or virility of their age; for as Job ſaith, With the ancient ſhould be wiſdom; and in length of yeers, underſtanding qJob 12.12.Contrarily, there have been others, in whom the deſire of honor hath raigned in their youth and virility, as their Noble Martial atchievements do witneſs, who have changed this Ambitious Paſſion into the Sordid Paſſion of Avarice, in their declining age. As may appear by the lives of Veſpaſiaanus rSee Dion, and the Engliſh, and the French Hiſtories.of Henry the ſeventh King of England, and of Henry the fourth King of France. Howſoever, the deſire of Wine, of Money, and the malicious Paſſion of Envy is more natural, and doth commonly increaſe with age, as much as raſh Temerity, and carnal Delights do diminiſh by age; whereby I conclude, That the declining age of men is not free from Vanity. For what greater Vanity can there be, then to Envy at another mans proſperity? or to deſire Wine, when our head-piece is ſo weakened by age, that it cannot overcome the vapors of it? or to deſire Money, when we have leſs need of it, ſith we daily expect to be carried to our Graves?
Sixthly and Laſtly, The decrepit age of men begins at ſeventy, and ends when Death ſtrikes them with her Dart; which is according to the courſe of life, between fourſcore, or fourſcore and ten: For none attains to the days of Methuſelah ſGen. 6.26, or of the Patriarks, Abraham, Iſaac, and Jacob; for God hath ſhortened the days of men, becauſe of their tranſgreſſions, as it appears, Gen. 7.3. My Spirit, ſaith the Lord, ſhall not alwayes ſtrive with man, for he alſo is fleſh, yet his dayes ſhall be an hundred and twenty years: and the oldeſt man that hath been known in this age of the world, was a Shropſhire Husbandman that was brought up to London as a wonder, in the days of King James, who was ſaid to be one hundred and thirtie three years of age; and this long life of his, according to the opinion of the learned Phyſitians, did proceed from the ſimplicity of his meate and drink, for as ſoon as he came to be fed with the dainties of the Court, he came to be diſeaſed, and ſuddenly departed this life. Plinius, and other Naturaliſts, have much troubled themſelves to finde out the naturall reaſons why mens lives are ſo ſhort: the beſt reaſon they give for it, is, their immoderate diet, and the variety of dainties, and change of ſuperfluous meats, cooked with art, inticing men to gluttony and drunkenneſs; for daily experience doth ſhew, that thoſe who live ſoberly, and live upon ſimple food, avoiding ſlowth and idleneſs, do live commonly longer then ſuch as feed on dainties, and uſe a ſedentary life; but the chief cauſe of it is, that men do daily increaſe in ſin, and it is juſt with God for the puniſhment of their ſins to ſhorten their lives, ſith as the Apoſtle Paul ſaith,tRom. 6.23. That the wages of ſin is death: howſoever the decrepit age of men, except it be indowed with free grace, and ſanctified by the bleſſed Spirit of God, it is the vanity of vanities, and the miſery of all miſeries; for the numerous infirmities incident to it, and eſpecially if penury doth accompany the ſame, for old age with penury is the greateſt affliction that can befal to generous ſpirits, and the greateſt tentation of Satan to intice men to deſpair; for if rich men, who have all manner of comforts, cannot with patience ſupport the infirmities of a decrepit age, but murmure, as ſome have done in my hearing, that they were weary of their lives; of what diſtemper muſt the poor aged people be, who have no worldly comforts at all, but are ready to ſtarve for cold, and to famiſh for want of food! therefore tender and compaſſionated Chriſtians ſhould exerciſe their charity upon theſe objects of unparalleld miſery, as the moſt acceptable ſacrifice they can offer to God: and yet all the hearts of moſt men are ſo hardened by a juſt Judgment of God upon this Nation for its tranſgreſſions, that they can look upon theſe dying objects of compaſſion, whoperiſh daily in the ſtreets without pity or reluctation. Now for a concluſion and confirmation of the vanity and miſery incident to the life of men: I will make a ſhort relation of the Maladies incident to every one of the ages of their lives: firſt, in their very conception they may be extinguiſhed, by ill ſents and vapours, and by divers accidents of bruiſes or falls: ſecondly, in their infancy, by the ſquincy, convulſions, meaſles, or the ſmal pox: thirdly, in their adoleſcency, by the ſword, the pleureſie, and burning feavers: fourthly, in their virility by ſanguin apoplexies, bloudy-flixes and conſumptions: fifthly, in their declining age, by the ſtone and the gout, by dropſies, paralepſies, and flegmtick apoplexies: and in the decrepit age, by gouts, aches, cough, the retentions of urine, the ſtrangullion, poverty, cold, and hunger, and divers other caſualities; ſo that I may boldly conclude with Salomon, that the lives of naturall and unregenerate men and women, are meer vanity and vexation of ſpirit, &c.