N00592:36
Durable riches. Two brief discourses, occasioned by the impoverishing blast of heaven, which the…
Durable riches. Two brief discourses, occasioned by the impoverishing blast of heaven, which the undertakings of men, both by sea and land, have met withal. : The one, handling, the true cause of loosing; the other, giving, the true way of thriving. / By Cotton Mather. ; [Four lines of quotations in Latin]
Boston: printed by John Allen for Vavasour Harris, 1695
Title page typeset from the transcription.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
III. Let our Losses help to wean us from such things as those whereof we are Bereaved in our Losses; and let us not over prize what we daily LOOSE. What is the Language of all our Losses? but that in Psal. 39.6. Men are disquieted in vain; he heaps up Riches, and knows not who shall gather them. So then, Let us no more be so vain, as to seek for our Happiness, in such Things a• will not stand by us when we have them. The first Sin of man, was our Addressing of Creatures as our Chief Good; and the Commission of that Sin, Impregnated our very Natures with a Disposition to make such Addresses. But our Losses do Engrave that Motto upon the Fore heads of all Creatures, These are Lying Vanities; and the Losses work well, when they take off our Hearts from those Vanities? The Apostle writes, in 2 Cor. 4.18. We Look not at the Things, which are seen; for the Things which are seen, are Temporal. Our Losses do proclaim, that these things are no more than Temporal; and so they should not have ⟨p. 23⟩so much of our Looks, nor of our Loves, as heretofore. What are all our Losses, but the Wormwood, wherewith our God would Embitter those Breasts of Creatures, which we too much fancy to hang upon? 'Tis most suitably pressed upon us, in 1 Cor. 7.29, 30. The Time is short; It remains that they who purchase, be as though they possessed not. Even so, Since our Losses tell us, that the Time of any Creatures Continuance with us, is but very short, Let us not be too fond of any Creature whatsoever. Let us not Lean upon these things for the supply of our Necessities: inasmuch as our Losses have told us, They are but Broken Reeds. Do not any more imagine, that these things will be sufficient Reliefs against our manifold Sorrows; our Losses tell us, They are but Miserable Comforters. Do not imagine, that these things will be Remedies for all the Maladies whereto we are Exposed; Our Losses tell us, They are but Physicians of no value. It is observable, That when Riches do without any Interruption flow in upon us, we grow but the more Hungry and Craving alter them; Crescit Amor Nummi. 'Tis well therefore that our God, Orders now and then a Loss for us: 'tis to make us think, Certainly here is not