The excellency of a gracious spirit Delivered in a treatise upon the 14. of…The excellency of a gracious spirit Deliuered in a treatise upon the 14. of…

3 A true generous spirit is not ready to take advantages against ⟨p. 43⟩those that are under it; Men of these spirits, love to pity and relieve those whom they have at advantage, as Elisha, 2 King. 6. 22. when he had the Syrians in the midst of Samaria, and the king of Israel asked him, Shall ¹I smite them? shall I smite them? He answered, Thou shalt not smite them; set bread and water before them that they may eat, and drink, and go to their Master: and he prepared great provision for them, and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away. As is reported of the Lyon, it spares those things that fall down and submit to it; but the Wolfe, Bear, Dog, rend and tear what they get hold of. To be able to do one hurt and not to do it, that is truly noble. It is the glory of a King, yea of God himself to pass by an offence. To show mercy, saith S. Chrysostom, is a more ²glorious thing than to raise from the dead, and a greater work than to build most magnificent Temples. Many base-spirited men, who will crouch low enough to those who ⟨p. 44⟩are above them, yet they are imperious, cruel, hard-hearted, rugged, fierce towards those that are under them, & they think it the braveness & greatness of their spirits that they can insult over them, and revenge themselves upon them, but there is ³nothing great in these men but pride, and self love: this is the greatest baseness of spirit that can be, and the more these men formerly did discover their baseness, in their sordid crouchings unto others that were above them, the more do they now discover the vileness of their spirits, in their cruel insultings over those that are under them; And this they think a goodly and brave thing that they can trample upon others, whereas the kindness of a man is the goodliness, and beauty, and excellency of a mans spirit. That word in Isaiah. 40. 6. that is translated, The