ABSTRACT
This chapter explores radically different texts in the light of the problems revealed by Jeremiah Burroughes' The rare jewel·. Richard Allestree's The art of contentment and James Bardwood's Hearts-ease in heart-trouble: Or, a sovereign remedy against all trouble of heart that Christ's Disciples are subject unto, under all kinds of afflictions in this life. James Bardwood text is probably unique in the context of the art of suffering in the second part of the seventeenth century in that it deals with the problem of accusations of imperfection without either involving or requiring any defence of God. But while Thomas Brooks and William Bates argue that God's Creatorship denies us the right to question his severity, Richard Allestree argues that the proper response is to be humbly contented with his generosity. Allestree's argument represents the 'optimistic strain in the Christian tradition', and his defence so far has focused on the beneficence of God and the petty-minded unreasonableness of men.
