A treatise on comforting afflicted consciences - The Digital Puritan

INSTRUCTIONSFORCOMFORTING AFFLICTED CONSCIENCES." The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity ; but a woundedspirit who can hear ? " — Prov. xviii, 14.SECT. I, PART I.CHAP. I.The Introduction. The Contents of the Text. The First Doctrineraised and proved by Two Reasons.My text lies, as you see, in a sacred cabinet of richestjewels; I mean the most select and wisest aphorisms, orproverbs, that ever issused out of a mortal brain. Everyoneof them for the most part, especially from the tenthchapter, independent, entire, and absolute in themselves;clear and manifest by their own native brightness; notneeding such reciprocal light and lustre for each other'smutual discovery and interpretation ; and therefore theyare naturally not capable of any coherent logical analysis,and other circumstantial expositions, ordinarily incident toother parts of scripture. Whence it is that this book ofProverbs is compared to a great heap of gold rings, rich andorient severally, and every one shining with a distinctlustre by itself ; but other texts of Holy Writ to gold chains,so interwoven and enlinked together, that they must uponnecessity, for the rendering unto us aright and fully theirseveral senses, be enlightened and receive mutual illustrationone from another.This present proverb doth represent unto us the extremesthell upon earth, the greatest misery and most in-15