You read of no arms for the back, though you do for the breast. He that is but seemingly good will prove at last exceedingly bad: "They wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived,” 2 Tim. iii. 13. The wolf, though he often dissembles, and closely hides his nature, yet he will one time or other show himself to be a wolf.

In the days of Hadrian the emperor, there was one Bencosbie, who, gathering a multitude of Jews together, called himself Bencocuba, the son of a star, applying that prophecy to himself, Numb. xxiii. 17. But his mask was taken off, his hypocrisy discovered, and he was found to be Barchosaba, the son of a lie. This age hath afforded many such monsters; but their folly is discovered, and their practices abhorred. This was the young man's commendation in the text, that "there was found in him some real good towards the Lord."

2. This truth looks sourly and sadly upon such young men, who are so far from having good things in them towards the Lord, that they give themselves up to those youthful lusts and vanities that are dishonouring, provoking, and displeasing to the Lord; who roar, and revel, and gad, game and dice, and drink and drab, and what not. These make work with a witness for repentance, or hell, or the Physician of souls.

I shall but touch upon the evil of youth, and then come to that which is most intended.

CHAPTER III.

The several evils that most properly attend youth.

THE first evil that most properly attends youth is pride-pride of heart, pride of apparel, pride of parts. Young men are apt to be proud of health, strength, friends, relations, wit, wealth, wisdom. Two things are very rare: the one is to see a young man humble and watchful, and the other to see an old man contented and cheerful.

Bernard saith, that "Pride is the rich man's cousin;" and experience every day speaks out pride to be the young man's cousin. "God," said one, "had three sons: Lucifer, Adam, and Christ. The first aspired to be like God in power, and was therefore thrown down from heaven; the second, to be like Him in knowledge, and therefore deservedly driven out of Eden, when young; the third did altogether imitate and follow Him in His goodness, mercy, and humility, and, by so doing, obtained an everlasting inheritance."

Remember this, young men, and as you would get a paradise, and keep a paradise, get humble, and keep humble. Pride is an evil that puts men upon

all manner of evil. Accius, the poet, though he were a dwarf, yet would be pictured tall of stature. Psaphon, a proud Libyan, would needs be a god; and having caught some birds, he taught them to speak and prattle, "The great god Psaphon." Mecrates, a proud physician, wrote thus to king Philip, Menecrates, a god, to Philip, a king." Proud Simon in Lucian, having got a little wealth, changed his name from Simon to Simonides, for that there were so many beggars of his kin; and set the house on fire wherein he was born, because nobody should point at it. What sad evils Pharaoh's pride, and Haman's pride, and Herod's pride, and Belshazzar's pride, put them upon, I shall not now mention.

Ah, young men had others a window to look into your breasts, or did your hearts stand where your faces do, you would even be afraid of yourselves, you would loathe and abhor yourselves. Ah! young men, as you would have God to keep house with you; as you would have His mind and secrets made known to you; as you would have Christ to delight in you, and the Spirit to dwell in you; as you would be honoured among saints, attended and guarded by angels; get humble, and keep humble.

Tertullian's counsel to the young gallants of those times was excellent. "Clothe yourselves," said he, "with the silk of piety, and with the satin of

sanctity, and with the purple of modesty; so shall you have God himself to be your suitor."

II. The second evil that youth is subject to, is sensual pleasures and delights: "Rejoice, 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." The wise man, by an ironical concession, bids him rejoice, &c., sin, &c. Thou art wilful, and resolved upon taking thy pleasure; go on, take thy course: this he speaks by way of mockery and bitter scoff: but know thou, that for all these things, God shall bring thee into judgment. So Samson made a feast; for so used the young men to do. The hearts of young men usually are much given up to pleasure. I have read of a young man, who was very much given up to pleasures, he, standing by St. Ambrose, and seeing his excellent death, turned to other young men by him, and said, "Oh! that I might live with you, and die with him." Sensual pleasures are like to those locusts, Rev. ix. 7, the crowns upon whose heads are said to be only as it were such or such in appearance, and like gold, but, ver. 10, it is said, there were (not as it were, but) stings in their tails. Sensual pleasures are but seeming and appearing pleasures; but the pains that attend them are true and real. He that delights in sensual pleasures shall find his greatest pleasures become his bitterest pains. The heathens looked upon the back parts of

pleasure, and saw it going away from them, and leaving a sting behind.

Pleasures pass away as soon as they have wearied out the body, and leave it as a bunch of grapes whose juice hath been pressed out; which made one to say, "Nulla major voluptas quam voluptatis fastidium," "I see no greater pleasure in this world than the contempt of pleasure." Julian, though an apostate, yet professed that "the pleasures of the body were far below a great spirit." And Tully saith, "He is not worthy of the name of a man (qui unum diem vellit esse in voluptate) that would entirely spend one whole day in pleasures. It is better not to desire pleasures than to enjoy them."

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I said of laughter, It is mad; and of mirth, What doeth it?" Eccl. ii. 2. The interrogation bids a challenge to all the masters of mirth to produce any satisfactory fruit which it affordeth, if they could.

Xerxes being weary of all pleasures, promised rewards to the inventors of new pleasures, which, being invented, he nevertheless remained unsatisfied. As a bee flieth from flower to flower, and is not satisfied; and as a sick man removes from one bed to another, from one seat to another, from one chamber to another for ease, and finds none: so men given up to sensual pleasure, go from one pleasure to another, but can find no content, no satisfaction in their pleasures: Eccl. i. 8, "The eye is