e world. His wit is always
in a maze, for his courses are ever out of order; and while his will
stands for his wisdom, the best that falls out of him is a fool. He
betrays the trust of the simple, and sucks out the blood of the
innocent. His breath is the fume of blasphemy, and his tongue the
firebrand of hell His desires are the destruction of the virtuous, and
his delights are the traps to damnation. He bathes in the blood of
murder, and sups up the broth of iniquity. He frighteth the eyes of the
godly, and disturbeth the hearts of the religious. He marreth the wits
of the wise, and is hateful to the souls of the gracious. In sum, he is
an inhuman creature, a fearful companion, a man-monster, and a devil
incarnate.

AN OLD MAN.

An old man is the declaration of time in the defect of Nature, and the
imperfection of sense in the use of reason. He is in the observation of
Time, a calendar of experience; but in the power of action, he is a
blank among lots. He is the subject of weakness, the agent of sickness,
the displeasure of life, and the forerunner of death. He is twice a
child and half a man, a living picture, and a dying creature. He is a
blown bladder that is only stuffed with wind, and a withered tree that
hath lost the sap of the root, or an old lute with strings all broken,
or a ruined castle that is ready to fall. He is the eyesore of youth and
the jest of love, and in the fulness of infirmity the mirror of misery.
Yet in the honour of wisdom he may be gracious in gravity, and in the
government of justice deserve the honour of reverence. Yea, his word may
be notes for the use of reason, and his actions examples for the
imitation of discretion. In sum, in whatsoever estate he is but as the
snuff of a candle, that pink it ever so long it will out at last.

A YOUNG MAN.

A young man is the spring of time, when nature in her pride shows her
beauty to the world. He is the delight of the eye and the study of the
mind, the labour of instruction and the pupil of reason. His wit is in
making or marring, his wealth in gaining or losing, his honour in
advancing or declining, and his life in abridging or increasing. He is a
bloom that either is blasted in the bud or grows to a good fruit, or a
bird that dies in the nest or lives to make use of her wings. He is a
colt that must have a bridle ere he be well managed, and a falcon that
must be well maned or he will never be reclaimed. He is the darling of
nature