The dejected souls cure tending to support poor drooping sinners. With rules, comforts, and…The dejected soules cure tending to support poor drooping sinners. With rules, comforts, and…

First, From the prevalency of natural melancholy in a mans body. The prevalency of melancholy in a man doth ¹darken the understanding, and it troubles the fancy, and it doth disturb the reason, and sadden the soul, and clothes it in mourning weeds; and when these meet together, it must needs cast the man down, and suspend the sense of Gods favour from him. Melancholy, it is the mother of discomfort and discontent; and it is the nurse of doubts. Think of that story which you read of, Daniel 4. concerning Nebuchad-nezzar, He did eat grass like an Ox, he knew not whether he was a beast or a man. But his fancy was troubled, and his understanding was darkened, and his reason was gone: and thus natural melancholy maketh a child of God to think that he is a child of the Devil when he is a child of God; and it makes him to think he is a brat of Babylon when indeed he is a son of Zion. It is no more wonder saith Baxter, for a melancholy man to doubt, and fear, & despair, then it is to see a sick man groan, and a child cry when he is beaten: the best way to cure this, belongs rather to a Physician then to a Divine. There is a natural distemper in the body is the cause of melancholy; yet trouble of conscience, doubtings, distress of spirit are the companions of it. You may silence a melancholy man, when you cannot comfort him. If you abate his sadness by convincing arguments, yet when he retires ⟨p. 57⟩alone through the prevalency of this humour all is forgotten; his comforts are but a day or two old.

First, From the prevalency of natural melancholy in a mans body. The prevalency of melancholy in a man doth ¹darken the understanding, and it troubles the fancy, and it doth disturbe the reason, and sadden the soul, and cloaths it in mourning weeds; and when these meet together, it must needs cast the man down, and suspend the sense of Gods favour from him. Melancholy, it is the mother of discomfort and discontent; and it is the nurse of doubts. Think of that story which you read of, Daniel 4. concerning Nebuchad-nezzar, He did eat grass like an Oxe, he knew not whether he was a beast or a man. But his fancy was troubled, and his understanding was darkened, and his reason was gone: and thus natural melancholy maketh a child of God to think that he is a child of the Divel when he is a child of God; and it makes him to think he is a brat of Babylon when indeed he is a son of Sion. It is no more wonder saith Baxter, for a melancholy man to doubt, and fear, & despair, then it is to see a sick man groan, and a child crie when he is beaten: the best way to cure this, belongs rather to a Physitian then to a Divine. There is a natural distemper in the body is the cause of melancholy; yet trouble of conscience, doubtings, distresse of spirit are the companions of it. You may silence a melancholy man, when you cannot comfort him. If you abate his sadnesse by convincing arguments, yet when he retires