The Works of Sir Thomas Browne, Volume 3Browne, Thomas, Sir
Religion
The Works of Sir Thomas Browne, Volume 3
Browne, Thomas, Sir
Christianity; Ethics; Religion and medicine
While thou so hotly disclaim'st the Devil, be not guilty of Diabolism;
fall not into one Name with that unclean Spirit, nor act his Nature whom
thou so much abhorrest; that is, to accuse, calumniate, backbite,
whisper, detract, or sinistrously interpret others; degenerous
Depravities and narrow-minded Vices, not only below S. _Paul's_ noble
Christian, but _Aristotle's_[316] true Gentleman. Trust not with some,
that the Epistle of S. _James_ is Apocryphal, and so read with less Fear
that Stabbing Truth, that in company with this Vice thy Religion is in
vain. _Moses_ broke the Tables without breaking of the Law; but where
Charity is broke the Law it self is shatter'd, which cannot be whole
without Love, that is the fulfilling of it. Look humbly upon thy
Vertues, and tho' thou art rich in some, yet think thy self poor and
naked, without that crowning Grace, which thinketh no Evil, which
envieth not, which beareth, believeth, hopeth, endureth all things. With
these sure Graces, while busie Tongues are crying out for a Drop of cold
Water, Mutes may be in Happiness, and sing the _Trisagium_[317] in
Heaven.
[316] See _Arist. Ethicks_ Chapt. of Magnanimity.
[317] Holy, Holy, Holy.
Let not the Sun in _Capricorn_ go down upon thy Wrath, but Write thy
Wrongs in Water: draw the Curtain of Night upon Injuries; shut them up
in the Tower of Oblivion,[318] and let them be as tho' they had not
been. Forgive thine Enemies totally, and without any Reserve of Hope,
that however, God will revenge thee.
[318] Even when the Days are shortest; alluding to the Tower of
_Oblivion_ mentioned by _Procopius_, which was the Name of a
Tower of Imprisonment among the _Persians_: whosoever was put
therein he was as it were buried alive, and it was Death for any
but to name it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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