A treatise of the passions and faculties of the soul of man With the…A treatise of the passions and faculties of the soule of man With the…

The properties of the Conscience (whereby I understand the Ministries, which it never fails to execute in man) are as I conceive, principally three; Watchfulness, Memory, Impartiality. It keeps always Sentinel in a mans Soule•and like a Register, records all our good and ill actions. Though the Darkness of the Night may hide us from others, and the Darkness of the Mind seem to hide us from our selves; yet still hath Conscience an Eye to look in secret on whatsoever we• do, whether in regard of Ignorance or Hardness. Though in many men it sleep in regard of Motion; yet it never sleeps in regard of Observation and Notice: it may be Hard and Seared, it can never be Blind. That writing in it which seems ⟨p. 534⟩Invisible and Illegible, like letters written with the juice of Lemon, when it is brought to the fire of Gods Judgement, will be most clear. And for the next (if we observe it) there is nothing so much fastened in the Memory, as that which Conscience writes: all her Censures are written with Indelible Characters, never to be blotted out. All or most of our Knowledge forsakes us in our Deaths; Wit, Acuteness, variety of Language, habits of Sciences; our Arts, Policies, Inventions, all have their period and fate: only those things which Conscience imprinteth, shall be so far from finding any thing in death to obliterate & raze them out, that they shall be thereby much more manifest; whether they be impressions of Peace or Horror. The Testimonies of Comfort (if true) are fastened in the Heart with such an Hand as will never suffer them finally to be taken out: and if they be Accusatory and Condemning, the Heart is so Hard, and they so Deep, that there is no way to get them out, but by breaking or m•lting the Table they are written in; that only course can be taken to make Conscience forget.

The prop•rties of the Conscience (whereby I understand the Ministeries, which it never fayles to execute in man) are as I conceive, principally three; Watchfulnesse, Memory, Impartiality. It keeps alwaies Centin•ll in a mans Soule•and like a Register, records all our good and ill actions. Though the Darknesse of the Night may hide us from others, and the Darknesse of the Mind seem to hide us from our selves; yet still hath Conscience an Eye to looke in secret on whatsoever we doe, whether in regard of Ignorance or Hardnesse. Though in many men it sleep in regard of Motion; yet it never sleeps in regard of Observation and Notice: it may be Hard and Seared, it can never be Blind. That writing in it which seemes