words of Holy Scripture, do it with reverence, and seriousness; and not lightly, for that is "taking the name of God in vain."

If you hear of any unseemly expressions used in religious exercises, do not publish them; endeavour to forget them; or, if you mention them at all, let it be with pity and sorrow, not with derision or reproach.

Read these directions often; think of them seriously; and practise them diligently. You will find them useful in your conversation; which will be every day the more evident to you, as your judgment, understanding, and experience increase.

I have little further to add at this time, but my wish and command that you will remember the former counsels that I have frequently given you. Begin and end the day with private prayer; read the Scriptures often and seriously; be attentive to the public worship of God. Keep yourselves in some useful employment: for idleness is the nursery of vain and sinful thoughts, which corrupt the mind, and disorder the life. Be kind and loving to one another. Honour your minister. Be not bitter nor harsh to my servants. Be respectful to all. Bear my absence patiently, and cheerfully. Behave as if I were present among you, and saw you. Remember you have a greater Father than I am, who always, and in all places, beholds you, and knows your hearts and thoughts. Study to requite my love, and care, for you, with dutifulness, observance, and obedience; and account it an honour that you have an opportunity, by your attention, faithfulness, and industry, to pay some part of that debt, which, by the laws of nature and of gratitude, you owe to me. Be frugal in my family: but let there be no want; and provide conveniently for the poor.

I pray God to fill your hearts with his grace, fear,

and love, and to let you see the comfort and advantage of serving him; and that his blessing, and presence, and be with you, and over you all.

direction, may

I am your ever loving father,

Matthew Hale.

LETTER IV.

Sir Matthew Hale to one of his sons, from a dangerous illness.

on his

recovery

Dear son,

Though on account of the contagiousness of your disease, and the many dependents I have upon me, I thought it not convenient to come to you during your sickness, yet I have not been wanting in my earnest prayers to Almighty God for you, nor in using the best means I could for your recovery.

It has pleased God to hear my prayers for you, and to restore you to a competent degree of health; for which I return him my humble and hearty thanks.—I would have you, as long as you live, remember your late sickness in all its circumstances, and the plain and profitable inferences that arise from it. While afflictions continue, and while deliverances are fresh, they commonly have some good effect But as the iron is no sooner upon us. out of the fire, than it returns to its old coldness and hardness: so when the affliction and deliverance are past, we usually forget them, or attribute them to means and secondary causes; the good that we should receive from them vanishes; and we become what we were before. Sick-bed promises are often forgotten when the sickness is over.

Let it be your first business, after your recovery, to consider the course of your past life, since you came to the age of discretion, and see what has been amiss in it:

whether you have not too much neglected religion, and its duties; been guilty of intemperance, and wantonness; mispent your time; and taken delight in vain, sinful, and disorderly company. And if any such, or the like faults, have been committed by you, repent of them; resolve against them; and let the future course of your life be amended. I do not mention these things to upbraid you; but that, upon consideration of what has been amiss, you may be the better enabled to rectify, and set in order, your future life. If this be done, I shall reckon your late sickness one of the greatest blessings that ever befell you.

Keep the fear of God constantly in your heart; remember that he always sees and notices you; and order your life as in his presence.

Frequently and thankfully consider the great love of God, in Jesus Christ; whom he has given to be the instructer, and governor, and sacrifice for the sins, of you and of all mankind; and through whom, upon repentance, you have assurance of forgiveness, and of eternal life. And consider how great an engagement this is upon you, and all persons, to live according to such a hope and such a mercy.

Every day, read the Holy Scripture. Observe it well; read it reverently and attentively; set your heart upon it; lay it up in your memory; and make it the direction of your life. I have been acquainted with men and books, and I have had long experience in learning, and in the world. And I can assure you, there is no book like the Bible for excellent learning, wisdom, and use; and it is want of understanding in those who think or speak otherwise.

Every morning and evening, with all reverence and attention of mind, return hearty thanks to God for his

mercy to you, and particularly for this late deliverance; desire his grace to enable you to walk, in some measure, answerably to it; and implore his pardon for your sins.

Observe conscientiously the Lord's day to keep it holy; avoid recreations, and secular employments and discourse, on that day; resort twice to the public worship; go early to it, be attentive at it, keep your eyes and mind from roving after vain thoughts or objects; and spend the rest of the day, that is free from necessary avocations, in reading the Scriptures, and good books of divinity.*

Be very moderate in eating and drinking. Drunkenness is the great vice of the times. Avoid taverns and alehouses, and all places and companies that are devoted to that beastly vice. Avoid the devices that are used to occasion it. Be resolute against it; and when your resolution is once known, you will never be solicited to it. I allow you the moderate use of wine and strong drink, at your meals; I only forbid you excess; and those places, companies, and artifices, that are temptations to it.

Avoid all wanton and licentious actions, speeches, and company. Read Proverbs ii. 5, 6, 7, 9.

Be frugal of time. It is one of the greatest treasures we have. Shun idleness; it will consume your time, and lay you open to worse inconveniences. Let your

Sir Matthew Hale, in another letter to his children, speaking of the sabbath, says: "I have, by long and sound experience, found that the due observance of this day, and of the duties of it, has been of singular comfort and advantage to me; and I doubt not but it will prove so to you. Let your actions and speeches be such as the day is, serious and sacred, tending to learn, or to teach, the great business of the knowledge of God, and of his will."

recreations be healthy, and creditable, and moderate, without too much expenditure of time or money. Value time by that estimate which we have of it, when we want it: what would not a sick man give for those portions of it, that he had formerly so improvidently wasted!

Be diligent in your calling. It will be a good employment of your time, and prevent many inconveniences and temptations that otherwise would befall you; it will furnish you with knowledge; give you the means and advantage of a plentiful subsistence; and make you a support, a comfort, and a benefit, to your friends and your country.

Be frugal in your expenses. Live within the compass of your income. Before you spend, ask yourself: "Can I not do well enough without this expense? Is there an absolute necessity for it? Can I not forbear, till I am in a better condition to defray it? If I buy or borrow, am I sure I can pay? and when? Will this expense hold out? How shall I bring about the next quarter, or the next year ?"

Be careful not to run into debt. Be content to want things that are not of absolute necessity, rather than to take them upon credit. He who is in debt, usually pays, in the end, a third part more than the principal comes to; he is in perpetual servitude to his creditors; and is sometimes obliged even to increase his debts in order to stop their mouths; he lives uncomfortably; and he often falls into desperate courses.

The love of fine clothes and new fashions, and the valuing of ourselves upon them, are a most childish piece of folly, and the occasion of great extravagance. Let your apparel be comely, plain, and decent, not curious nor costly. To long for every new fashion, or to think oneself the better for it, or the worse without it, is the sign of a weak head.