YOu receive in this Effect of my Obedience , one of the highest Proofs I can give You of its Greatness . For when You Command but things that tend to Your Service , the Performance is wont to be accompanied with a Satisfaction , that suffers me not to find it Vneasy . But I confess it was not without Reluctancy , that I was prevailed with to venture abroad Composures , wherein , even when I publish Them , I decline Owning them , and which , ( if our Names be discover'd ) may I fear , not only hazzard the Reputation ( if it have any ) of my Pen ; but , ( where You are less known ) bring into Question that of Your Judgment . 'T was easie for me to represent to You how unfinished and unpolished the Trifles you called for , were , especially considering that the Immatureness of some of them would not probably be the Chief thing that would make many think they come forth Vnseasonably , since they avowedly Aim at the Persuading and Teaching men to Improve their Thoughts , as well as Husband their Time , at a season , when both those Pretious Things are so Neglected , or so Mis-imploy'd , that the chief use , which too many make of the Former , is to devise wayes to get ridd of the Later . But though to my Vnreadiness to Publish these very long neglected Papers , at the same time when a Prae-engagement oblig'd me to Dispatch another Treatise of a quite different Nature , I added all those other dissuading Considerations that I have mentioned in the Preface to the Reader ; yet what I represented proved as Vnavailable , as what I had written was In-compleat . For , whilst You fancied that the following Reflections ( such as they are ) had Fewer Faults , and were like to do More Good , than I can presume ; Your Charity for others , and Partiality for me , made you so resolute and pressing to have me run a Venture , which you are pleas'd to think but a very Small One ; that I judged it more excusable to present you Green Fruit , than , by obstinately Refusing what you seemed almost to Long for , lose an opportunity of Evincing , That Your Commands can Prevail , both where those of Others would have been wholly Ineffectual , and when they required me to present You ( some , if not many , ) things that are so little worthy of You , that perhaps they are scarcely so , ev'n of me .

Wonder not , Dear Sophronia , that I appear so Sollicitous to manifest the Greatness of my Obedience ; since That implyes an Vrgency in your Commands , that it highly concerns me to have taken notice of . For those that , having the Happiness to converse with You , shall chance to cast their Eyes upon the following Papers , will probably think that I shew as little Discretion in the Address , as I have shewn Skill in the writing , of these Reflections ; when I expose such Censurable Things to the Judgment of a Person that has so piercing a One , and present Trifles to one , that deserves the Noblest Productions of ( what she is so great a Mistress of ) Wit , and Eloquence . Vpon whose Account she is wont to persuade Piety as Handsomly in her Discourses , as she expresses it Exemplarily in her Actions ; and might , if her Modesty did less confine her Pen to Excellent Letters , both make the Wits of our Sex envy a Writer of Hers ; and keep Our Age from envying Antiquity , for those Celebrated Ladies , who , by their Triumphant Eloquence , Ennobled the People of Rome , and taught their Children to Sway those Rulers of the World .

But when I can plead , that not only Your Commands , but even Your Importunity ingaged me ( though not to the Address , yet ) to the Publication of these Papers ; I may reasonably hope , that among those many considerable Persons to whom Your Attainments are not unknown , not only my Dedication will be Excused , but even my Book will not be so hastily Condemned .

But I dare not prosecute so Fruitfull a Subject , for fear of offending Your Modesty ; since that predominant Virtue gives You so great an Vndervaluation for all Your other Qualities , that it is as much Your Custome to look ev'n upon Smal Praises as Flatteries , as it is Your Prerogative to keep Great ones from being so . And I should therefore have omitted that little it self which I have said , if , on This occasion , my Interest did not as well Oblige me , as the known Truth Warrant me , so to Consider Your Modesty , as not to be altogether Injurious to Your other Excellencies ; since the Reader 's knowledge of These ( if he be not a strnager to You ) will promise me this Advantage , that divers of the Criticks themselves will chuse rather to Absolve my Writings , than Condemn Your Judgment : and that at least , the Devout , to whom Your Practice has afforded so many other Examples , will be scrupulous to be more Severe to these Papers , than a Person in whom , upon the score of her own Style , Severity were more justifiable than in most Readers ( without excepting the Eloquent Ones ) and will imitate Her , in Considering , that this Book pretends to present them Thoughts , rather than Words , and in Supporting , for the sake of the Design , the Manner in which it is prosecuted .

And certainly , my Lady R's . Approbation , is a Happiness which divers sorts of Considerations may render as Advantageous as Welcome to me . For if any of these Thoughts , do ( which yet I can scarce hope ) derive it from Your Justice , that great measure of Esteem You do not only Merit , but Possess , may both Assure them of a General One , and much contribute to Procure it them . But if all of them owe your Approbation ( as I fear they do ) to your Partiality ; since that must not be ▪ Small to be able to pervert such a Judgment , This it self will prove an Evidence of the Blessing of Your Affection ; which is a Felicity , that I know You enough to value above all the Praises I can miss of : since Applause can make me happy but in other Mens Opinion , but Your Friendship can make me so in my own . Yet , apprehend not , Sister , That I should here endeavor , by a solemn Character of You , to justifie what I have been saying : For , though to write a Dedicatory Epistle , without a Panegyrick , be grown of late very Vnfashionable ; yet since 't is as much so , to take the Praises wont to be profusely given in such Letters for Measures of any thing but the Writers Wit , I must rather reserve the Acknowledgments I ow Your Merit and Your Favors to some Occasion , where they may not be lyable to pass for a Tribute paid to Custome , not a Debt due to You ; than draw a needless Suspition upon the Sincerity of our Friendship , by endeavouring to express my Affection and Esteem in a Dedicatory Letter ; and by chusing to Profess , upon an Occasion where Custom allows men to Say what they do not Think , so Great and Real a Truth , as that of my being , far more upon the Account of Esteem and Gratitude , than of Nature it self ,

WHen I consider the Disadvantages , with which the following Trifles come abroad , in an Age , that is not only so Censorious , but so Intelligent , as this of ours ; neither the Partiality of my Friends , nor the favourable Reception that the publick has hitherto vouchsafed to what hath been presented it , of mine , is able to give me a Confidence , ( though they almost create a Hope ) That these Papers will meet with as kind an Entertainment , as those of the samehand that have preceded them . And yet , without being wanting to my self , I canot but ad , that by the help of Their suggestions , who have urg'd the Publication of these Thoughts , I am not unfurnish'd with ( at least ) Tollerable Excuses for the things that seem likely to stand in need of any .

I shall not much wonder to find it said , That the Book is , in general , far short of being an Exact and Finish'd Piece . For perhaps few Readers will be more of that mind , than the Author is . But by way of Apology , it may be represented , That most of the following Papers , being written for my own private Amusement , a good deal of Negligence in them may appear as pardonable , as a Careless Dress , when a man intends not , nor expects , to go out of his study , or let himself be seen . And that which I now publish being design'd , not to satisfie the Criticks , but to gratifie the Devout , I hope it will be thought a Venial Crime , if in some of these Meditations I have not aim'd to express Eloquence , but only to cherish Piety . I say , in some , because there may be others ( where a different style was thought fitter ) in whose Favour I would produce such Suffrages , as would not be slighted , if I were concern'd to do any more for those Papers , than Excuse them .

And perhaps they that shall take the pains to try their skill in making Meditations , Indifferently upon the Occurrences that shall happen , and wander no further from the Circumstances of their Themes , nor lard them any more with Sentences & other Passages borrow'd from the Fathers , or the Poets , than in most of the following Papers , I have done : will not find the Task so easie , but that they will think it reasonable to be Mild in their Censures , and will discern , that in such Composures , some Unaccurateness is so hard to be Avoided , that it should not be hard to be Forgiven .

I know the want of Uniformity in the style of the ensuing Reflections , may speciously enough be censured . For , not to mention that some of them are very long , and others very short ; it will be said , that some are written in a very Neglected , and others ev'n in a Luxuriant strain ; & there may ( perchance ) appear betwixt some of them , as great an Inequality as can easily be found , betwixt Composures that are none of them Excellent . Besides , that the Incoherence of the Subjects , together with the differing Ways wherein they are handled , may make them look so little of kin to one another , as scarce to appear the Productions of the same Pen. But this Uneven way of writing will possibly be rather pardon'd than wondred at , by those that shall be informed .

That the nature of this kind of Composures requires not any other than a loose and Desultory way of writing .

That these Reflections are very far from coming abroad in the Order of Time wherein they were set down : but in that Casual order , wherein , when I was engag'd to tack them together , I was able to light on them among my loose and forgotten Papers . Many of which being discovered to have been lost when some of the rest were to be at the Press ; I was fain , for the compleating of the number , to insert here and there some of a much fresher date , among those that were made ( as some know who then read them ) sixteen or seventeen years ago ; when my Style could hardly be other than differing enough from what it now is .

And lastly , That the differing Natures of several Subjects required , that the Reflections on some of them should be far Longer than on others ; and As my want of Leisure , and sometimes of Dispos'dness to write , induc'd me to make some of my Considerations but short : So I thought fit to let them pass for Their sakes , to whom , for want of Time or Skill , the Brevity of those , may make them the fitter , and the more recommend them .

Besides , what has been alledged against the Style ' I know it may be objected , That in some of the Meditations , the Subjects are very Mean , and Trivial , and that such I hemes are not Worthy the being descanted on . And indeed , if I aim'd at the Writer's advantage , more than the Reader 's , I could easily have left them out , and have substituted in their places some others that lye by me , less liable to Contempt . But I confess , I did not think my self oblig'd , to publish no Meditations , but the least Censurable ones that I had made ; and divers of those intimated in the objection , were purposely inserted , when I was prevail'd with to bundle up these loose sticks into Faggots . For Then , designing this Treatise for the Benefit of the Generality of Devout Readers , I thought it not amiss , amongst divers Reflections ( such as most of the IId and of the IVth Sections ) more suited to those Perusers that are either of the more intelligent sort , or good Proficients already ; to insert some few Meditations , of more familiar sort , & easier to be lighted on ; to 〈…〉 from being discourag'd , from trying to ma●● Occasional Reflections , who may chance to have either Barrenner Fancy's , or more unpractis'd Pens , than even I had then : And those ( perhaps ) who , without such easily imitable Examples would not be invited to make Occasional Meditations , may , by the Practice of composing them , grow such Proficients in the Art , as to surpass some that despise such humble Beginnings .

But as I send abroad these Papers without the Authors name , that I may have the greater Opportunity to hear other mens Opinions of them , and the less Temptation to wave the complying with those that shall seem Reasonable : so if I shall find , That such Readers as I esteem competent Judges in an Affair of this Nature , shall think that those Reflections wherein I have comply'd with the weaker sort of Perusers , may be better Spar'd , than Inserted : I can sily repair that fault in the next Edition ( if these Trifles shall be thought worthy of another ) . In the mean time , I presume that those devout Readers who may be concern'd in this matter , will take it kindly that I have for their sakes adventur'd to treat of Subjects too mean and barren to furnish me with almost any thing considerable ; save the Opportunity 's of manifesting , how low I can stoop to gratifie such Persons .

I know it is a new thing , That I have ventured to put some Occasional Reflections into Dialogues . But the Reader will be less startled at my deviating in this , and other things , from Bishop Hall's way of writing Occasional Meditations , if I acknowledge that not to Prepossess or Byass my Fancy , I purposely ( till of late ) forbad my self , the perusing of that Eloquent Praelates devout Reflections . Which Intimation being premis'd , I shall subjoyn , That when I wrote for my own Divertisement , I sometimes took Pleasure to imagine two or three of my Friends to be present with me at the Occasion , that set my thoughts on work , and to make them Discourse as I fancy'd Persons , of their Breeding and tempers , would talk to one another on such an Occasion . And one of these , whom I call Eusebius , being a Dr. of Divinity ; two others ( Eugenius and Genorio ) being Travellers and fine Gentlemen ; and the fourth , ( whom I name Lindamor ) being a Learned Youth , both well Born and well Bred ; I was apt to think , that some of their Conferences , might be allow'd to pass among the other Papers ; both because Novelty , and Variety , are wont to be not unwelcome things , and because this way of writing allows a Scope for diversity of Opinions , for Debates , and for Replies , which mostcommonly would be Improper , where only a single speaker is introduc'd : Not to add , that possibly if this way of writing shall be Lik'd & Practis'd , by some Fam'd & happier Pen , that were able to Credit and improve it ; it may afford useful Patterns of an Instructive and not unpleasant Conversation ; and such Reflections , being of the nature of short and Occasional Essays , may afford men the opportunitys , of saying the Hansomest things they know , on several Subjects , without saying any thing Else of them , or filling above a Sheet , or perhaps a Side of Paper at a Time . And the Liberty that this way of introducing Speakers , allows , brings with it a Conveniency , which 't is more Easie for an Intelligent Reader to conjecture at , than 't were Discreet for the Writer to mention expressly .

Another Novelty will probably be taken notice of , in the following Papers , where the second and fourth Sections , though by far the longest in the whole Book , are intirely taken up , the Former only by Meditations on Accidents relating to an Ague that once afflicted me , and the Latter by those that occurr'd to some Anglers by the River side . But for this Matter , I presume , it will not be difficult to Apologize . For having observed Men to be inclinable , either openly to Object , or at least tacitly to Suspect , That in Occasional Meditations , that may hold true , which is ( perchance not altogether undeservedly ) said of Epigrams , That in most of them the Conceits were not Suggested by the Subjects , but Subjects were Pretended , to which the Conceits might be Accommodated ; I thought , that to manifest , that ( at least , some ) Writers of this kind of Composures need not have recourse to the suspected Artifice ; the fittest way I could take was , By putting together what the Accidents of my Ague , and of my Angling Journy , had suggested to me , to shew , that 't is very Possible for a person , that pretends not to a very pregnant Fancy , to Discourse by way of Reflection upon the several Circumstances that shall happen to occurr to his Consideration , though one Subject should require above fifteen differing Meditations ; and the other above twenty . Not to add , That 't was rather Weariness and Design , then want of Thoughts upon other passages relating to the same Subjects , that kept me from increasing the Number of those Reflections .

As for the Similitudes , though some would make me hope that they will be at least excus'd ; and though it were perhaps no great Vanity , for one that do's assiduously enough converse with the Works of Nature and the Productions of Art , to think he has the means of furnishing himself with pretty store and variety of Comparisons ; yet for all this , I am not willing to quit my Pretensions to a share in the wonted Effects of that common Equity which forbids to exact too accurate a likeness in the making of Comparisons , which Orators confess ought to be judg'd with Indulgence , and without exacting a Conformity in Other Attributes betwixt the things compar'd , provided there be a competent Likeness in reference to the Particular wherein the Collation or Parallel is made .

And if I have , on some occasions , prosecuted the Resemblance through all the particularities wherein the Parallel could be made to hold , more fully and nicely than is usual in ordinary Comparisons ; and if in so doing I may have at any time a little Strain'd the Similitude , the better to accommodate it to my present Theme , and Design ; I have this to represent , That to Display Resemblances to the full , and Insist on their particular Circumstances , is oftentimes no more than the Nature of these Composures do's allow , if not require ; and that , on such occasions , to stretch the Parallel as far as it can well be made to reach , is but a venial fault , which many Readers are dispos'd not only to Pardon , but to Like . As if , in some Cases , it far'd with Similitudes as with Bows , which though they may be bent so forcibly as to be thereby broken or spoil'd ; yet by being strain'd somewhat more than ordinarily , they acquire a greater strength , and enable the Arrow to Pierce farther , and to make a smarter Impression , than else it would .

The Protasis ( as Rhetoricians call the first part of a Comparison ) may in some of the following Reflections appear to be too much amplified , and needlessly to lengthen the Meditation . But not to urge , that sometimes the more conspicuous Adjuncts of the Subject were so mean and barren , that there was a kind of necessity to Exaggerate , or to Exspatiate upon little Circumstances to invite Attention ; The Protasis , wherein we display and consider the minute particularities of the Theme , being the Ground-work of all the rest , and it being far more easie to say Little , than Much , with equal pertinency upon a Subject ; I thought it not amiss , to afford unpractis'd Readers , the most assistance of Examples in such Cases , wherein 't is probable they will most need it ; especially since he that has accustom'd himself to write Copiously , may easily Contract his Discourse when he will , by Omitting as many passages as he pleases ; and 't is far more difficult for a Beginner to supply Barrenness , than retrench Superfluities . Which are not always such Faults , but that I remember some great Masters in the Art of Oratory , have pronounc'd Redundancy to be a good Sign in a Young Writer , as taking it for a mark of a fruitful and exuberant Phansy , that , in it's Productions , there is somthing to be cut off . So that if there should be found any Luxuriant Expressions in some of those Thoughts that were written down , when I had not yet attain'd my 19th or 20th year , when I might be allow'd to write not always to imploy , but somtimes to amuse my self ; I may hope , that the same Youth that was my Temptation to write them , may prove my excuse for having written them ; as it may for leaving them Unexpung'd ; That as I desire to invite as well young Gentlemen as other Readers , to pen Occasional Meditations ; So I find that some of the Readers I am willing to pleasure , do as little dislike that Luxuriant way of writing Now , as I did Then : as Youths and Ladies oftentimes better relish Must than Wine .

I know too , that there may be found in some of those Protases , divers passages , and particularly some Descriptions ( that often make a great part of them ) which to some Readers will not seem Noble and Gawdy enough . But to such Perusers it may be represented , that a sutableness to the Theme , how mean soever it be , may very well , as a piece of Decorum , be allow'd to a Writer , and in few Cases more than in point of Descriptions ; and that These being but Pictures drawn ( with Words instead of Colours ) for the Imagination , the skilfull will approve those most , that produce in the mind , not the Finest Idaeas , but the Likest : as a Critick in Limning will more prize the Picture of an old meagre Sibill , where the Wrinkles , and the sallow skin are drawn exactly to the Life , than a dozen ordinary Pictures of the Spring , ( which yet are wont to charm Vulgar eyes ) though the Youthfull face which represents that Florid season , have as Gawdy Colours upon the Cheeks and Lips , as imbellish the Roses and Lillies , which compose the Chaplet that adorns the Head .

And possibly there will be found other Readers ( and those too , skil'd in Rhetorick ) that will accuse some other of our Meditations , as being too Elaborate , or too Pompous , for the Themes whereunto they are accommodated . But having laid by a competent number of those lately mentioned Reflections , wherein I aim'd chiefly at inviting and assisting Readers of meaner Capacity : I confess , that in the Other Meditations , aiming either at my own Divertisement , or the gratifying Another sort of Persons , I allow'd my self to make choice of such applications of the objects I consider'd , as I thought every body would not so easily light on . And , provided the Reflections were not strain'd , nor too far fetch'd , I thought it not amiss they should be somewhat surprising : that I might , by the way of Handling the Subjects I was to treat of , ingage an Attention , which otherwise I could scarce expect for such unpromising Themes . I know that if the Judgement of some severe Criticks , were as Infallible as themselves think it , the style of some of the following Reflections would seem disproportionate to such mean and trifling Subjects . I do not perhaps ignore what Rhetoricians are wont to teach of what they call , the three differing Characters of Writing ; I have read those Discourses that Cornificius proposes as the Patterns of the Sublime , the moderate , and the humble way of expressing ones self on differing Occasions ; and I have been taught , and willingly acknowledge , that all Themes are not so well capable of that Character which they call Sublime ; and that according to the Nature and Dignity of the Subjects that one treats of , the Manner of handling them ought to be varied . But if I were much concern'd in this matter , I might reply , that notwithstanding all this , I know , That ev'n the Artists themselves do not so perfectly agree about the defining of these matters , and the grand Rule about these Characters being only , That the Laws of Decorum ( or , as the French call it Bien-seance ) be not violated , in the Estimate of that Decorum , I see no great Reason to confine my self to the Magisterial Dictates of either Antient or Scholastick Writers . For , living in this Age , and in This part of the World , where we are not like to have those for Readers that dy'd before we were born , I see not why one may not judge of Decorum by the Examples and Practices of those Authors of our own Times and Countries , whose Writings are generally esteemed by Judicious Men.

And certainly , in the judging of what is Decent on particular Occasions , we must as well consider , Who it is that is introduc'd as the Speaker , as what it is he speaks of . And though it be Improper to do what those have done , that have unadvisedly made Shepherds and Nymphs discourse like Philosophers or Doctors of Divinity ; yet when the Writer either speaks Himself , or introduces any whom he represents as intelligent Persons ; they may be allow'd , ev'n about things Ordinary and Mean , to talk like themselves , and employ Expressions that are neither mean , nor ordinary . As Virgil , in his admir'd Georgicks , It nigrum campis Agmen . does in some passages , where he treats of contemptible Insects , speak of them in so noble & lofty a strain , That when he mentions Multitudes of Ants , one would think he were speaking of an Army of Moors : and when he gives an Account of Bees , his Expressions about their Common Wealth would scarce mis-becom the Majesty of that of Rome . Such passages do , notwithstanding the great disparity of Themes , make the Style of his Georgicks , as well Noble ( if not strictly Heroick ) as that of his Aeneids ; and when he writes of Ants and Flies , he does it in a Strain worthy of the same Pen , that so loftily describes the Destruction of Troy , and the Adventures of that Hero whom he would have to be ( though not immediately ) the Founder of Rome .

I will not say , that since there is a Mode in Language as well as in Cloaths , I see not why the fashion , that now a-dayes allows our Gallants to wear fine Laces upon Canvass and Buckram , might not warrant the tricking up of slight subjects , with the richer Ornaments of Language : nor will I examin whether Men may not Except against the Authority of some Jejune Writers , that taking upon them to prescribe the Laws of Styles , make so many of their Precepts Negative , that one may suspect them indited not so much by Skill , as Envy , which makes such assuming Law-givers mistake the Impotence of a Barren Fancy for the Skilfulness of a Criticall Judgment , and ( Valuing only the Idaeas they think they can Reach ) Condemn whatever they despair to Imitate . And , from those that would be thought to censure the Moderns , but out of a Veneration for the Antients , one might methinks reasonably expect but Light Censures for imploying upon occasion , that noble Figure of Rhetoriok call'd Hyperbole ; since I should be loath to use it Often , with no more Reserve than those great Orators Tully and Isocrates have Sometimes done before me . But a just debate of the Rules of Estimating Decency , would take up so much room as must make it improper for this place , where all I contend for , is , That though when one treats of Various Subjects , somewhat Differing Styles are indeed to be accommodated to them ; yet this is to be so done as still to preserve a certain Dignity in Expressions : So that a Writer may be sometimes engaged by his Subject to use a Lofty Style , but without ever being obliged to employ an Abject one ; though indeed in some cases he may be allowed to stoop below what he is bound to , and forbear Soaring , as well as avoid Creeping . Nor am I , for my own part much concerned to Insisthere on the Subject I just now declin'd to Debate . For if I mis-remember not , Cicero himself , as well as some succeeding Orators , allow in divers cases to Shift Characters , even in the same Discourse , according to the differing Particulars that happen to fall under consideration : and some of them add this reason , That hence there will arise variety , which is wont to be a welcome thing . And to apply this to the Occasional Reflections that may be concern'd in this Debate , I must desire the Reader to take notice of these two things . The one , that though the Thing it self , which sets a mans thoughts a-work may be but Mean in Other regards , yet that which the Reflector pitches upon to consider , may be of another Nature ; as though the Glo-worm , which afforded me the I. Vth Reflection of the Vth Section , be but a small and contemptible Insect , yet the Light which shines in his Tail , and which makes the chief Theme of the Meditation , is a noble and heavenly Quality , and might have justified the having many things said of it , for which the Sublime Character would have been the most proper . The other particular I meant to point at , is , That oftentimes , when the Protasis , or former part of a Reflection , is spent upon considering some mean and Trivial subject ; the Apodosis , or Reddition , contains such an Application of what one was taking notice of in the Subject , that the thing Pointed at , may be some important Moral Instruction , or perhaps some Theological Mystery ; and consequently may Require and Justifie , Another then the former humble Style , and admit all the Quickness of Expression and the richest Ornaments , that belong to those two higher Characters which Rhetoricians call the Subtil , and the Magnificent . But if I should now and then deviate from Bounds , which , not being Conspicuous , 't is difficult Never to swerve from ; I have this Peculiar Apology to make for such Aberrations ; That writing for the most part of Themes wholly New , and untreated of by others , I must needs want the assistance of Examples to Regulate or Authorize my Expressions : about which I need not yet be very Sollicitous , if I may trust a Learned and applauded Writer ( whose censure I desir'd ) that is both able to judge skilfully , and wont to judge freely .

These things I have the more carefully Insisted on , because I would not have those Ingenious Persons , that may chance to cast their Eyes on these Papers , to be tempted by any imperfections of mine , to think otherwise of Occasional Meditations , than that though there be some , yet there are not very many , of their Themes so Low and Contemptible , but they are capable of affording Reflections of Another nature to Them , that are dexterous in making Applications of things . And I would not have such discourag'd from hoping to find in many Themes , that seem despicable at first sight , some Hint or other that may give those that have Wit or Eloquence , Opportunity enough to display those Qualities . For as there is a great difference betwixt Such Writers , and Common ones , so 't is very material by what Pens the Subject is treated of ; and Extraordinary persons , in Estimating what they are like to perform , must not only consider the unpromising Nature of their Subject , but the Activity of their own Fancy , and the Pregnancy of their own Wit. For though the Starrs cannot , the Luminaries can , cloath the light and wandring vapours of the Ayr , with the colour of Gold , and of Roses ; And the Sun , by his piercing and improving Beams , cannot only make Diamonde sparkle , and Rubies flame , but by his action upon an obscure Cloud can make even That exhibite all those Glorious and charming Colours , for which we admire the Rain-Bow .

And , that the following Papers may prove to such Persons the lesser Temptations to undervalue and mis-judge of this kind of Composures ; I am first to advertise the Reader , that they are capable of so much greater Variety , than the following Treatise presents , that besides the vast multitudes of particulars unmentioned in it , that may be added under those Heads to which the ensuing Meditations are referr'd , there are several distinct sorts or kinds of Occasional Thoughts ( such as those that are Made upon Texts of Scripture , or Relate to less familiar points of Divinity , or other Learning , or contain Historical Applications , &c. ) upon which I have , out of hast , and other Reasons , purposely forborn ( though not to write , yet ) to publish Reflections . And in the next place , I must here frankly acknowledge , that many of the ensuing Reflections are so far from being the Best , that en'n no better a Pen than Mine could make , that they are much Inferior to divers that I have already Made ; though ( for allowable Considerations ) I have for born to Publish them . And I must confess , that I am more beholden to my Occasional Reflections , than they are to me . For , whereas they have furnish'd me with Divers of the Thoughts , which have been the favourablyest entertain'd by the Readers of my other Books of Devotion , I did much impoverish these Papers , that professedly contain my Occasional Reflections , by not only leaving , but taking out of them several things , which were the most likely to have recommended them ; that I might accommodate other Writings , for which I had a greater Kindness or Concern .

As for the Discourse of Occasionall Reflections , all that I shall say of it , is , That considering how early I attempted that Subject , and that I was fain to repair , as well as I could , the unseasonable Miss of divers Papers belonging to it , when I dispatch'd it to the Press ; considering these things ( I say ) I dispair not but that it will be thought , that I have not said nothing in favour of a Subject that hitherto had so little said to recommend it , That ev'n the Eloquent Bishop Hall , * * In the latter part of his Proeme , whereof the whole amounts not to one Page of this Preface . imploying but some Lines , not Pages , upon the Prise and Utility of it , ( which he mentions but in very Generall Tearms ) left me to find out , by my own Thoughts and Experience , the various Considerations , by which I have endeavoured to Display the Usefulness of the way of thinking I would invite to . Which I have further manifested , by applying to that Scope , divers passages of Scripture , ( which the Reader must therefore not wonder , if he do not now meet with ) as Texts , that either by way of Example , or upon other Accounts , belong to what I have written about the Method of making Occasional Reflections .

'T is true , the Discourse may seem somewhat Incompleat , because of the Omission of this Way ( that is more than once mentioned in it .

But though the loose Papers , wherein that Method , and divers Examples of it , are set down , were lying by me , when I tack'd up those that now come abroad ; yet my Occasions easily prevail'd with me to continue to suppress them . For though I did not much scruple to comply with my hast , and Avocations , by forbearing to swell a Book , whose Bulk already much exceeded my Intention ; because , that , as the Papers that now appear , were extorted from me ; so I confess , that I was not fond of exposing those that I had an expedient to keep back , but that I think it very fit to observe , first , whether the Reception that the following Meditations will find , will make me and others think it worth while , to have the ways published , that I was wont to use in making them .

I had almost forgot to intimate , That some urgent Avocations having obliged me to send the following Treatise to the Press without reading it over my self , I now find that my hast will make me need an Apology to those Readers , that expect to have the passages and Phraises of Scripture printed in a discriminating Letter , and quoted in the Margent . For though in Books of Positive , or of Controversial Divinity , I confess I have often observed , a Margent stuffed with a multitude of Citations , to contain divers so unconcluding , if not impertinent , That the Number does better shew the Authors Memory than his judgment , yet in Books of Devotion , I am not much averse from complying with the generality of Readers , who expect to be inform'd by the Margent , where they may find those Stories , and Expressions , which their being borrow'd from an inspir'd Book , make more Operative and Emphatical . But I must on this Occasion further intimate , That as to those Citations of Passages of Scrpture wherein I may seeme to have mis-recited the VVords of the Text ; though as to some of them that were set down when I had not a Bible or Concordance at hand , my Memory may have deceiv'd me as to the words ( which is no more than has often happen'd to the Fathers themselves in the like case , and is a venial fault , where Dogmatical or Polēmical Divinity are not concerned ) yet oftentimes my variations from the English Version , were made on purpose . For having had the Curiosity to get my self instructed , as well by Jews as Christians , in the Eastern Tongues ( especially the Hebrew ) I thought I need not strictly confine my self to the words of our Translators , when ever I could render the meaning of a Text in such tearms as to me seemed proper or expressive ; or without injuring the sence of the Hebrew or the Greek , could better accommodate my presence purpose .

Now whereas some may think that in this Preface I employ Excuses that seem ( some of them ) not to agree with one another ; I desire it may be considered , That the Meditations they relate to , being not only written upon differing Subjects , but ( which is more ) designed for very differing uses ( some of those Discourses being intended to invite the more unskilful , and Incourage the more Despondent sort of Readers ; and Others , to entertain Proficients ) it was but Requisite that I should by very Differing , ( and perchance seemingly Repugnant ) Considerations give an Account of such differing VVays of writing of them , as such distant Subjects , and my Scope , required .

But what if it should fare with me Now as it has done on other Occasions , on which my friends have accus'd me , of framing more Objections against my self , than were afterwards made against me by my Readers ? I dare not say it is impossible but that this may prove the case . But if it do so , I shall not yet think my self to have Altogether miss'd my aim in what I have hitherto represented . For I have Mentioned the more particulars , and Discoursed the more largely of them , that if they prove not needful Apologies for my Reflections , they may prove useful Considerations for those whom I would invite to exercise their Pens in some such way of Writing : Divers of whom will probably be incouraged to venture upon making such composures , when they find Excuses for divers of those things that are the most likely to be thought to Blemish such Essays , ( or drhearten Beginners from attempting them ) to be disawn up already to their Hands . But as for my own particular , if I could make none of the Apologies now insisted on , for the Imperfections imputable to this Treatise ; yet I should not be destituted of a very just Excuse for the Publication of it . For divers Devout Persons , that had more Partiallity for these Writings , and less Tenderness of my Reputation , than I could have wished ; having long sollicited the Publications of those they had in their Hands , were at length so Resolved to effect it , that , in spight of the promises I at length made them to comply with their desires , when some other Writings I was then about , should be Dispatched : I was fain to make use of a Legal Artifice to hinder for a while at the Stationers Hall the Publication of divers Papers that I had not so much as read over .