of his Father but March 25. 1672 he follow'd his Mother Upon the loss of him then his only child whom he greatly affected his mournful but religious Father set a fair copy to others of much Christian patience and submission to thei will of God He had staid three years a Widower from the death of his second and then Decemb 14. 1670 took to his third Wife with the good liking of her Parents Anna sole Daughter to Colonel Henry Markham one of an ancient Family and a Gentleman of his Majesties Privy Chamber By whom he had first Anna then Hester afterwards Thomas and lastly Nathaniel all these four he left alive but this last Son when he was about a year and an half old departed this life to go and rest with his Father gone about a twelve-month before LIV. It seems this famous servant of Christ was in Decemb. 1672 well nigh four years before his death by some illness at Theobalds admonisht of his frailty and being come to London as to preach his usual course so also to advise with a Physician for his health upon those symptoms were then upon him during which time in his house at Pickle-Herring he was suddenly surpriz'd with a kind of fainting fit that occasion'd some failure of spirits and sweatings which did a little startle him Hereupon by and by he call'd for a Candle went up stairs and retir'd himself into a private room not permitting either his Wife or Sister then to accompany him but addrest himself to God alone as one summon'd by him it might be shortly to appear before him Then after a while return'd to his dear Wife c. upon his coming down they observ'd an admirable raisedness of spirit in him who then greatly blessed God for a cold sweat and a trembling pulse which had occasion'd him to look more narrowly within where finding all well to his great comfort he behav'd himself as one that was not afraid then of an arrest to Judgment We find him indeed in his Memorials upon a former sickness from March 6th till the 16th recording I was cast into a fit of sickness God brought me into a wilderness but spake kindly to me He afflicted me but for a moment About a week after he adds I was exceeding well much melted having an eye open'd to see God in prayer by faith as if I spoke to any of my familiars This humble confidence of going to God as his Father was rais'd as he elsewhere where notes from discoveries of mortification and purity in heart And besides this he lays it down afterwards That Nothing speaks Adoption fuller than the discoveries of Gods love either to the answering thy prayers with reference to mortification and strength in grace or comfort Joh. 15.15 And adds The readiest way to come to spiritual disveries of the Mystery of the Gospel-promise is to do the commands of God Joh. 7.17 He was a sincere doer of Gods will and such God heareth LV. When in perfect health he would be thoughtful of changes and therefore would often pray that God would prepare him and his for sickness death and parting About half a year before his last sickness when he had exceeding sharp pain he said He would not have been without it to have been without those joys he felt by it Being resolv'd to leave his more expensive habitation at Theobalds to live in Southwark nearer to his old charge It seems the Family and Friends talking somewhat cheerfully of their removal his Eldest Daughter Anna then a Child betwixt four and five years old said unexpectedly What if my Father should go to London and die He was so apprehensive of a dying hour that he said after His Girl whom he had a great love for was a true Prophetess 'T was about three weeks and odd days before he died that he came to his house at Pickle Herring Stairs having preacht the first of those two last Sermons published on the eighth of October and the last on the 15th 1676. The next day following he was chearful in the morning but then afterwards that day his pains came upon him he possessed his own soul in more than ordinary patience And was not willing to confult a Doctor till the 24th after a week of extream pain night and day then with great importunity he was prevail'd with to send for one in great reputation for skill and practise Who conceiv'd at the first visit that it was the Stone not questioning at all but that he would do well notwithstanding This was on the Tuesday Octob. 24th That night after he slept well whereupon with a thankful heart to God he told some of his friends how he had been carried through Saying I am like a man who had gone over a precipice and looking back trembled to see the danger he had past through For saith he when I was in pain God supported me and now I stand amaz'd how I got through it He indeed did use often to say when he had seen others in great pain he was afraid of dying i. e. of the antecedent pains he might pass through but he was not afraid of being dead He knew full well that Death which was the dissolution of his soul and body would only open the passage to his soul to be for ever with the Lord. LVI On Wednesday 25th he rose pretty cheerful and spent some time in reading but after dinner his pains return'd again when he began to complain of sin saying Ah! vile sinner God is carrying me back again into the Wilderness to afflict me expressing some sorrow of heart but without any murmurring Then he bid his Wife to read the 88 Psalm by that time she had done Justice Reading and some other friends came to visit and condole with him Afterwards about seven of the Clock that night came in his second Wifes Brother Mr. W. Gibb's going for Bristol the next morning and his dear Wife Mrs. Sarah Gibbs who greatly respected and dearly loved this choice Servant of the Lord she indeed was a gracious Woman of a most sweet temper a choice one of his dear flock who since went to rest with him her faithful Pastor in glory Jan. 27. 1679 These were discoursing about his taking a Countrey-house nearer to London than Theobalds To which he replyed with much composure of spirit Yea God will provide me a Countrey meaning an Heavenly one Then his former Wifes Son Thomas Sharp 〈◊〉 about to go to Sea and come into the room He told him It was not likely they two should meet again here Whereupon he gave him with tears a most Pathetical Exhortation to mind his souls spiritual and eternal welfare and to serve God holily righteously and soberly in this present world which shew'd his great and conscientious solicitude for the real happiness of this young man committed to his charge The night after his great pains did again return with much acuteness And LVII On Thursday morning 26th he had sharp pains
what a great deal of this plague is upon London and truly Sirs this is a worse plague than that of the Pestilence this plague exceeds the Plague of Sixty-five and exceeds the great plague of the Fire for which you humble your selves this day It is worse than Plague and Fire why because those other plagues are but the litter of this Coccatrice eggs all hatched in this womb of sin London's blindness London's hardness of heart under the light of the Gospel was the cause of London's Fire and London's Pestilence It were well if there were a Fast-day appointed all over England to bewail this great plague of blindness of mind and hardness of heart this judicial blindness and hardness that is as it were spread like a leprosie all over England this is a plague we are not sensible of little affected with Why because it is invisible in the soul The fire that flamed and cast a dreadful smoke and affected our senses looked like Sodom yea like Hell it self these we are affected with and when we see our dying friends look pale and see them gasp and groan this we are affected with but for blind souls dead souls poysoned souls poysoned with sin being full of sin and full of Hell gasping and dying and going to Hell no body is affected with this how few hearts are affected with this and those least upon whom this plague is 2ly There is another sort of evils and those are such that reach the body Is there any evil in a city but I have done it That is Is there any punishment upon the body there is not My Brethren you never know God aright you never adore him aright you never fear him aright till you can see him concerned with every thing that you meet with in the world yea every evil God doth look so narrowly unto all that you are and have that there is not one hair of your heads can fall to the ground without his Providence there is not an aking head but God hath a hand in it the least pain on your body that is inflicted it is by a direction from God There is not one evil in a whole City no not among all the inhabitants of a City but I have done it saith the Lord all the crossings of your family all of them every one of them whatever be the second causes that are at work God is the first he is the first great wheel There is not an evil all those burning feavers agues all the pains of the Stone or Gout all those Plague-sores those Boils and Blains let the disease be what it will what it can as it is a punishment God is the author of it God inflicts it And then there is another sort of evils there are many of them indeed but another that which respects the estate there is not one evil that may befall your estate in this world but God is the author of it Would you in London but believe this it would be of great use to you you never lose one farthing but God knoweth of it and he hath a hand in it You never trust a man and he deceiveth you but God giveth you up to be deceived by that man You never trusted a man that breaketh through poverty but God knew it before hand and gave you up to lend him or to trust him There is not a Ship miscarrieth by Sea but it is of the Lord it miscarrieth Oh that you were but well acquainted with this Doctrine then would you learn to acknowledg God in all your ways and in all his works of Providence that you meet with in the world and if there is none of these evils can follow your estate without God then surely London could not be burnt without God for if the least evil how much more the greatest evil So that here you see it was the Lord Jehovah that burnt this City a few years since he burnt it to ashes he would not have the fire stopt he would have it go on raging till it had finished his Decree he would have it so the Lord hath done it he owneth it this day that you are met together and hath in his Providence sent me to tell you that God burnt London God burnt it Do not therefore much trouble your selves about Instruments though likely some might be wicked instruments in it yet it was God that did the thing I have done it saith the Lord. Doubtless it it of an humbling consideration to us this day now we are come before the Lord. But then the question will be in the Third place How may God be said to be the author of all punishment How is it that God doth burn Cities destroy Families Kingdoms how doth he do it There are two ways that God may be said to be the author of all the punishments that are in the world First God is the author of them by his decreeing of them Secondly God is the author of them by seeing to means that shall certainly execute them God in his Decree appoints the end and God in his Providence provides the means too so that if they be decreed by God and these Decrees executed by God then God may truly be said to be author of them I have done them saith God First Then God is the author of all punishment in a City in as much as when ever these evils come upon a City or people they are first decreed by God they do not come by chance they are of Gods laying on as the Prophet intimateth God hath determined of them before hand and this will be clear if you do but consult several like cases when evils have befallen a world of people and befallen Cities they came not accidentally but they came by the determinate counsel of God We will give you some of these instances One of the most universal plagues that God ever poured down upon this world was that of the Deluge when he drowned it Why whence come these waters from God Who drowned the World I did saith God What didst not thou spare except those eight persons man woman nor child no not one I spared none of them but drowned them all What was it done rashly inconsiderately as men use to do in a passion doing that in haste that they repent at leisure No no God thought of it long before sixscore years before the world was drowned it was determined of God it should be drowned he had passed his Decree upon it for their iniquities Gen. 6.7 And the Lord said I will destroy man whom I have created I will do it saith God from the face of the earth both man and beast and the creeping things and the fowls of the air for it repenteth me that I have made man I will do it saith the Lord. Lord when wilt thou do it I will do it saith he about sixscore years hence I will give them so much time to repent in to see what they will do vers 3. For
setled up he mounts Upon his Royal Steed Who prancing through the streets is prais'd For his victorious deed Just so my glorious blessed Prince With vict'ry on his side Being won with ghastly gaping wounds In triumph he must ride Down with a Chariot made of clouds From th' Palace-yard on high His Father sent to setch his Son In great solemnity Before he steps up to his seat Like Royal Prince he gave Rich-wonder-working gifts to 's friends And then he took his leave Strait at command the foaming winds With prancings up they fly Proud of the burthen that they drew A load of Majesty When he got home Oh! with what shouts Of joy did Heav'n resound When th' Father sat him on his Throne And there himself him crown'd Angels and Saints do all at once The Song of the Lamb sing As worthy of all honour praise Yea worthy to be King Sit there thou great Victorious Prince At thy Fathers right hand Bring down thine en'mies to thy feet Rule all by thy command HYMN V. The Souls Access LOrd hear my knocking 's hark my crys Want drives me to thy door Oh! chide not do not say Away I was here once before Where shall I go thou only hast That life none gives beside I went about the world to beg For life but all deni'd Thou art my God and Saviour To thee I naked creep Besmear'd in blood and tears I lie Lord pity see I weep If I have sin'd Lord thou hast di'd To free me thou wast sent And thou hast said I shall not die If that I will repent Justice Oh hold a while thy stroke Suffer a sinner plead It 's for my life one word and then Strike on and make me bleed If I had sin'd and would not yield But stoutly stand it out Thy wrath might then have broacht my heart And let my life run out If I had heard a Christ was come With open arms to save Had I not run for refuge there Mercy I might not crave Now Justice strike 't is done but see Where I incircled lye Within the folds of Jesus arms Strike in his arms I 'le die Chear up my heart the storm is o're Justice is ris'n and gone All thy accusers creep away Thy Christ is lest alone What blessed voice was that I heard My Son rise off thy knees Thy sins are pardon'd thou art free And I have paid thy fees Lord what a quick dispatch hast thou In grace giv'n to my cause I am arraign'd acquit set free By thy most gracious Laws Had I not guilty dar'd to plead Though fraught with Angels skill How sure my impannel'd conscience would Have sought and found the bill HYMN VI. The descent of the Spirit WHO knows the winds from whence they come Or whither they do go The holy breathings we receive Are from the Spirit ev'n so Sometimes its cooling gales we feel On Conscience all on fire Sometimes its cooling heats we find Our nummed hearts inspire This is that Holy Ghost that Christ Did promise for to send This is that pow'rful Spirit that Our stubborn hearts must bend Jerusalem the City was Design'd for his descent Thither the Christians at th' command Of th' Heavenly Angel went No sooner were they set but straight A mighty tempest rose Shook the foundations of the house Which they for pray'rs had chose Struck with amazement soon there fell Flames shap't both flat and long Which hovering light upon each head Much like a Cloven-tongue Those little fiery bushes were But wonders for to shew That th' wonder-working Spirit was Come down to men below For straight he tun'd each Christians tongue All Languages to speak The Parthians Medes and Elamites To them their minds might break Thousands of Salem flock to see This strange unheard-of thing They flock too fast for they forget Good hearts with faith to bring Some are amaz'd but others scoff Some praise but others say They have too much of tongue they 'r drunk With much new wine to day Oh injur'd God! how can'st thou bear These dreadful Blasphemies These wonders speak thy Gospel true They say it 's nought but lyes Scarce fifty days now past thy Son With nails they Crucifi'd And now to heap up sin on sin Thy Spirit they deride Instead of wrath Gods bowels yern Yet thinks them thoughts of Grace The bleeding Christ while Peter preacht The Spirit gave them chace Three thousand hearts at once he struck Who bleeding came and cri'd What shall we do we do believe On Christ we Crucifi'd O holy conquering Spirit thou Those souls did'st captivate This is a second wonder wrought Which we with Songs relate Oh let me find thy heats within As a refiners fire Purge from my heart all dross and sin This this is my desire HYMN VII First Part. THOU dreadful Judg whose Majesty Angels themselves adore That can't with open face thee see But clap their wings before When thou with whispers dost but chide The arch of Heaven doth quake Big-bellied clouds forth lightning bring And into thunders break When that thy wrath it doth but breathe Great storms of whirlwinds rise Hail snow and rain come tumbling down Whilest th' trembling sinner flies The lofty mountains stoop their heads To hide them in their vales Great men and Princes shrink for fear Their hearts and courage fails Some high and mighty Angels hatcht Treason against his Crown He spar'd them not but from their Throne With vengeance pull'd them down He chains of darkness on them laid As pris'ners doth them keep Against the great and terrible day When hardest hearts shall weep When the old world thy name forgot And laid aside their fears The gentle wrathful Heavens wept Drowns it with showers of tears When Sodom and Gomorrah burnt With fires of wanton lust With flakes of fir'd brimstone thou Those Cities burnd'st to dust Sion it self that darling hill In Salem that did stand Them both for slaying of thy Son Thou mad'st a fire-brand Our bleeding carcasses thy sword leaves reeking on the ground Yet after this we no more fear Than men fall'n in a swound Second Part. When thou O mighty God shalt come Riding upon the wind To judg the world Oh! in what place Will th' wicked refuge find How shall we hear thy shrill voice't trump Cleaving th' air asunder To wake our ashes in their graves With noise like claps of thunder Lord what a glorious train is that That on their wings do ride Look how they post in full career Thronging on either side Oh! they 're the Angels of the Lord Egypt's first-born that slay'd That took poor Lazarus soul that di'd And him in bosom laid The Trump shall sound and Michael then Th' Archangel strait shall cry Arise you dead to judgment come The Lord your lives must try Look how the wicked's bodies crawl Like Toads out of their den What ghastly fearful looks they bear They look like frighted men Why do you sinners now thus quake Call for your
arise Out of a pit by which a Beldam lies Stirring her urine thence doth darkness fleet Baffling the light making the day retreat Clouds in the air ingender double charge Themselves with thunder then themselves enlarge In sheets of flame thence follow winds That strike amazement to the hearers minds What shall I say of Wizards that are whirl'd In cloudy chariots round the airy world What of Amantius and Rotarius set Perched on tops of Oaks bemir'd and wet Whence in a trice from out the shepherds sight A wind them snatches and then take their flight Like two cock-sparrows 't length were seen to hop Upon a towring lofty houses top One trembling th' other laughing bid him cheer It was as safe to be in th' air as there Thus was Mag. Warrin hackned on the back Of some foul Fien that made the welkin crack With storms and tempests as he her did rear A loft jolting along yet void of fear Lighting at last on th' top of a tall oak Was seen condemn'd and in a rope did choak Wondrous is' t easie tell me to conceive That air should thus condense it self then heave Such weighty bodies upward or bare words Or ceremonious charms make them as birds To course about the air ma'n't we with ease Rather imagin sp'rits t' produce all these Strike sail my muse thou 'rt now in sight of shore Laden with traffick hath inricht me more Than Indian voyage knowledg of sp'rits to me Is far more sweet than Arab spices be They may embalm the body what care I Let body rot and stink my soul can't die Spirits are all immortal so 's my soul It cannot wast nor die Bells they may toul Their mortal knells for Bodies but I have What the Father of Sp'rits alive will save Welcome ye Angels then 't is for your sake That I in part this tedious voyage make My undisturbed reason free from doubt Spirits hath seen in flesh and some without Lord when this prison falls and I am free Let me i' th' number of just spirits be FINIS The TABLE A Preface of the Authors Life and Death An Elegy on the Authors death Octob. 29. 1676. Verses on the Picture and Book The Contents of the Book viz. Three Preparatory Questions about the Sacrament Pag. 1 An example of Meditation about the sufferings of Christ Pag. 2 c. The causes of Christs death consider'd in that Meditation Pag. 6 c. A Colloquy 'twixt the Judg Sinner and Saviour Pag. 14 c. Objections about Gods love c. answer'd Pag. 20 c. The Sacrament particularly the Dress Pag. 31 c. The Presence-chamber Pag. 33 The Communion plate and the Bread Pag. 35 The Wine Pag. 37 The Conclusion Pag. 40 A Meditation on Christs death preparatory to the Sacrament for private use Pag. 42 Three pious Letters to his Sister when he was but a young Student at Christs Colledg Pag. 50 A Sermon on Rev. 12.1 Of the Church compar'd to a Woman Pag. 58 A Sermon on Amos 3.6 Preach'd Sept. 2. 1673. Pag. 81 A Meditation for raising his heart under slightings Pag. 123 POEMS Hymn 1. On the Souls Love-sickness Pag. 126 Hymn 2. The Souls Farewell to her Body Pag. 128 Hymn 3. The Resurrection of our Blessed Lord Pag. 130 Hymn 4. Of our Lords Ascension into Heaven Pag. 132 Hymn 5. The Souls Access Pag. 133 Hymn 6. The descent of the Spirit Pag. 135 Hymn 7. Of Gods Providence and Judgment Pag. 137 Hymn 8. The vanity of created enjoyments Pag. 142 Hymn 9. On Isaiah 53. Pag. 144 Hymn 10. A Consolatory against the fear of Death Pag. 146 Hymn 11. Comfortable at the death of a dear friend Pag. 150 Hymn 12. Of Thanksgiving for the restoration of health Pag. 153 Hymn 13. Remedies against discontentments in four Parts Pag. 156 Hymn 14. The desire of Assurance Pag. 161 The Welcome Pag. 166 Mortality Pag. 172 Self-estimation Pag. 174 Contempt A Dialogue 'twixt Flesh and Spirit Pag. 176 The Alarm Pag. 177 A Song of the Pilgrim Pag. 181 A Spiritual Song of Triumph Pag. 182 A description of Paul 's Shipwrack Act. 27. Pag. 184 A sinners unregenerate inside turn'd outside or the language of the Kingdom of darkness Pag. 192 The Rout of Demetrius Pag. 195 The Flint Pag. 200 A Divine Song of the Brides stay for her Beloved Pag. 202 A wounded Conscience Pag. 205 The Petition for a Prospect of Immortalities Pag. 207
daily conversant in Philosophical Exercises but did frequently meet to promote the great business of real godliness and growth in grace and to make experiments on their own hearts of that Religion they should be called to impart to others And it seems he began betimes to impart what he had received of the grace of God for not long after he had been of the Colledg he observ'd a young Scholar of good parts and a good humour but having nothing of real godliness whom he would often seek and single out and talk with to draw him off from vanity and to engage him to mind the concerns of his precious soul and as it pleased God in some short time that same Scholar fell sick unto death and upon his Death-bed sent for this young Mr. Wadsworth as his spiritual Father to whom he declar'd he was much affected with what he had formerly spoken to him in his health giving him hearty thanks for the love he had shew'd to his soul and bewailing his own folly in his formerly declining such an ones company and importuning his earnest prayers to God with him and for him Whereupon this early spiritual Father dealt freely and most compassionately with him in farther instructing and then comforting of that spiritual penitent who gave good evidence that he had a true work of grace wrought upon his heart was a new creature and died very comfortably to the great rejoicing of the instrument V. Whom we find in a piece of his own Journal or Note-book Aug. 8. 1650. on a day of Thanksgiving to God for his mercies in exalting the Throne of Christ in the Land the Vniversity and Colledg to which he did then relate recording the frame of his heart That it was pretty spiritual in the former and later part of the day but in communion of some choice Servants of Christ whom he and his Associates had invited to Supper he was exceedingly rais'd in joy so full that his mouth could not express his heart and so was another of his friends then but he observ'd that the Devil did suggest to him there was much carnalness in his joy which made him afraid though still he was persuaded there was much spiritual joy mixt with it for he adds Oh! how sweet was the Communion of Saints to me Truly it was so pleasant that I remember I wisht I could have always liv'd in that state and was loth to leave this company The next day reviewing the temper of his spirit he notes he was very freely carried out for the good of Saints Whereupon he resolv'd first to mortifie carnal joy in which he had been before immers'd in that he found it very destructive to his spiritual comfort and secondly to be more active for God in the company to select some out and discourse with them to inflame their souls in love to God in Christ and to the Children of God praying for strength thereunto from Heaven VI. The next Lords-day after he records to the exaltation of the riches of Gods grace That he appeared very clearly to him as a Father in Christ I may truly say I never found such a discovery of the mortification of carnal joy and carnal love as then when I was exceeding melted with a sense of love and with the remembrance of Gods dealings with me Further VII If any would have me distinguish 'twixt carnal love and spiritual let them first consider that spiritual love is carried out only to a Saint as the image of God appears in him now carnal love to a Saint appears when it is upon account of a sweet disposition humility meekness and loveliness of body usually accompanied with a propensity to laughter and lightness of spirit but spiritual love is accompanied with abundance of seriousness of spirit and composedness of mind as I found at that time Carnal love and carnal joy in Saints is a great rock against which they are very apt to run You shall have Saints sometimes so extasied with joy that they know not why nor for what and it is commonly in meltings of soul 'T is true there may be the spirit there working as he is often and likewise there is the flesh mixed with it therefore 't is good to consider that rapture of St. Paul carried into the third Heavens where were things unutterable There was joy with an high discovery of God but thou wast joyful and may be sawest nothing Whence may be this Inference VIII That the more discovery of God and thine own nothingness take them together the joy comming in upon such discovery is the more spiritual but the less the discovery of those things the more carnality in that joy 'T is true it is the common complaining of Saints Oh I want comforts joys discoveries of love and these they daily pray for but because they have them not so given in as they us'd to be they wonder Alas they little conceive that there is some lust some corruptions that they cherish in their bosom which supplies the room of grace and comfort and therefore note God doth or would do thee a greater kindness to subdue thy corruption than in giving thee in the comfort thou prayest for IX As to carnal love mark whether thy love to other Saints comes from discovery of grace in them or from the sweetness of their dispositions for the carriage and sweetness of their natural temper is excellent and be sure the more love doth arise from the sweetness of their natural dispositions the more that love is carnal because such is common to any carnal man And as to the effect that love which ariseth from their carriage doth decay and flag upon more familiarity with them but spiritual love decays not yea it increaseth by more acquaintance And again spiritual love to Saints is accompanied with a composedness and serenity of soul and doth not so much express it self in other outward joy as in merriness of the countenance The same may be said of that spiritual love in soul to God it is not so much carried out in joy which is external but in the inward man and the more thy love is spiritual and thy joy spiritual as to God the more it is accompanied with a discovery of self-emptiness and self-vileness and this kind of love is masculine and far more durable than that love which ariseth from the apprehensions of Gods love and a less of self-vileness These are Truths much discovered to me Aug. 12. 1650. X. On the 14th saith he I cannot but remember that being drawn out then as two or three days before for a discovery of the Majesty of God to keep me from sin I had such a strong persuasion set home upon my soul that if God should have answer'd my prayers in such a measure as I beg'd I should not have endur'd his presence for that glimpse I had then though it was but confus'd and vail'd it put me into a kind of fear And I could then say If
A man hath power over h imself in the expression of spiritual joy to order it well but he hath no power to refrain from or regulate this laughing even then when he well knew he ought not to laugh Fourthly Spiritual pleasantness is acceptable to all that are wise to salvation but a civil discreet man would be exceedingly offended to see Christians so unreasonably transported to laugh and know not wherefore Fifthly Spiritual joy and cheerfulness is not only every way regular but well-grounded too Now of this same laughter above describ'd a man can give no rational account at all Sixthly The last inconvenience which should cause an utter extirpation of this wild kind of laughing as that which stands in opposition to spiritual cheerfulness is non-edification The spirits of Saints are more cold and flat and indisposed by it Reflexion strikes conscience for it as vain but true Christian mirth joy and cheerfulness hath contrary effects with Saints From the premises for the determination of the case I thus judg 1. Christians smiling at their first congress if conscience suggest not some sufficient ground or spiritual account thereof must needs be some degree of vanity aforesaid as proceeding from the lightness of their spirits especially if their meeting be spiritual and deeply serious in which cases the vanity of heart in Christians doth oftentimes bubble up and should be check'd 2. One of the best ways for a Christian to discern both in the point of Congress and the whole continuance of converse whether his smiling or laughter be vain or spiritual consequently lawful and commendable is his having power over his heart therein so that he can restrain it if he thinks fit still keeping spiritual liberty to the exercise of other spiritual duties which vain laughter and smiling alloweth not XLVII Saints often times in the midst of their spiritual enjoyments are apt to meet with this tentation the Devil suggesting such thoughts as these Surely this joy will not last always one time or other thy sins will provoke God to leave thee utterly For dost thou think that he can ever look upon sin and not punish it seeing he is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity but with detestation Know that in such a case God would have thee to live by faith I mean as to thy during joys And of this we have an excellent Type in Exod. 16.25 God would have the Israelites to gather Manna only for the present day and to cast off all solicitousness as for the morrow And God doth this and suffers such injections of Satan to try thy faith as he did theirs which you may observe in all Gods methods of grace towards them He brought them into the Wilderness where they were to trust him for provision into the Red-sea that they might trust him with their lives And truly upon a serious consideration we shall find his methods the same in these Gospel-times Get therefore to live by faith Here may be confuted a scruple of many a poor soul being not yet come up to discover its Saintship Whether it may laugh or be merry seeing it knows not but it may be in a state of Damnation The Devil by such a temptation or injection works much upon a scrupulous soul Let such an one argue thus with himself There is no more reason for this that I should not laugh being as yet ignorant of mine eternal happiness than that I should not study or work or follow my calling in such a case for one helps me as to my spiritual state as the other But again Let such an one know this that he must exceedingly watch over his heart in such a condition for perhaps it 's joy is too carnal and by embasing of that joy he may want of spiritual comfort For he that regards the least iniquity in his heart the Lord will not hear him And perhaps this is thy bosom-pleasure pray therefore that thine heart may be moderated to such pleasures and mortified more to the world There is a temper of spirit in some Saints at sometimes although very rarely that being in a raised frame they are so full of divine love that every verse of Scripture they have read hath begotten a new extasie of joy and they have been thus for a while together yea so long that they have been weary of rejoycing this excelling sensation is too strong many times for the body and by reason of the weakness of the flesh there is not a sufficiency of spirits to fluctuate about the heart for a long time but by degrees they decay and weaken or as Mr. Lockier says Gods consolations are as your Aqua Vitae is and the Saints of a weak brain quickly turn'd with the reception of them So that God in wisdom gives us in comfort by measure lest our weak vessels should break XLVIII Consonant to that Christian cheerfulness for the describing distinguishing and regulation of which as we have had his thoughts once and again and his friends were refresh'd with this well-regulated temper in their conversation with him So in his preparatory experimental Theology we find him resolving and recording some things concerning the raising of a Christians affection and carriage with reference to the praising of God Where he notes Many souls are troubled in the examinations of themselves about their affections whether they are set more upon God or things here below and are exceeding apt to conclude against themselves Upon which observation he resolves First Thou art not to think that thine heart is to be ever actually set upon God in the midst of thy worldly affairs and therefore if thou art in thy studies or employments of any other honest particular calling If heavenly thoughts come in thou art not so to entertain them as immediately to leave off the business of thy particular calling and fall to spiritual exercises therefore one comparing the thoughts of man saith some are like to a friend others like to strangers coming to visit another man Now the friend coming at the door he will turn his friend into the door and make him tarry a while till he hath done with his stranger but the stranger being gone he will return then to his friend and he shall lodg with him perhaps all night The Application of this is very sweet you your selves may apply it But Secondly If thou canst but willingly and freely part with the world with thy corruptions and desire heartily of God that he would deaden thine heart to creatures and give in more of himself it is a sure evidence that thou takest more delight in the things of God than of the world And of this we have an example which the Apostle gives us in the Patriarchs Heb. 11.13 14. These all died in or according to faith not having received the promises but having seen them afar off and were perswaded of them and embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth for they that say
love-flames Those Oh those are names make melodie VIII But see what is' t there stands A tablet all of Gold Spread with a cloth of threads as fine as light Oh its pity 't should be foul'd What dainty Fare is that How richly is 't persum'd Oh it smells and it looks as drest of fires of love Meat that 's eat yet ne're consum'd May I taste may I taste yea welcome welcome Thy Lord did it prepare That thou mightest have a share Now he hath got thee above He will feast thee with love Thou must now forget all grief and care IX Here 's honey-combs indeed Sweets that will ne're annoy I scarcely could think that Heav'n it self could yield Such delights that could not cloy This wine I have but sipt It will make a sick soul well One drop it would fetch a soul to life again That with grief were sunk to Hell Will this life always last yea for ever for ever Of want there can't be fear When God will make the cheer And that provision must last That with eating can't waste Such is all the food that we have here X. What lulling murmur's this That thus salutes mine ear It 's pleasant muttering accents almost made Me quite forget my chear These are the silver streams Of joys sprung from the Throne Of which each drop's more beautiful than pearl And more rich than th' Onyx stone Transparent it is as the Chrystal the Chrystal Of taste and smell more sweet Than th' ointment on his feet Here souls and angels leap in And together all swim Who along her banks like arrows fleet XI These dainty curling streams About her shores that twine Is sweetly shaded with a tree of life Yielding juice more rich than th'vine It 's roots spreads in th' clouds As old as th' night and day Twelve sorts of fruits twelve times each several year It doth yield yet don't decay The Pomegranate or the grape a' nt so pleasant so pleasant Compar'd to th' worst of these Never fruit did half so please Besides who tasts but one bit Is made immortal by it For its juice is clean from dregs or lees XII Here always it is spring A long continued May Our Sun standing still makes Summer ever last And an everlasting day For my heart I cannot sleep No though I were to die Those ravishing Sun-beams keep me broad-awake Yea and will eternally It 's God and the Lamb that thus glissen thus glissen Whose faces blush with light If I wink it straight were night Whilest with these beams I 'm then blest I 'le never think upon rest But conclude that waking's always best MORTALITY I. FRom the womb From the womb Do I pass to my tomb For my passage is quick in the cast of an eye I here that am living you 'l straight see me die This warm breathing dust to a clod of cold clay In a trice will be turn'd then molder away Hark you but a while you 'l soon hear the bell Toul out my Funeral-knel My thread is e'en spun My glass almost run That on earth I here cannot long dwell II. Ev'ry breath ev'ry breath Is a step to my death My flesh is consuming each thought that I think Each minute that passeth to my grave I do sink The hungry worms my neighbours will be And my guests too that shortly will feed upon me I was born of corruption a cruel step-mother That brought me but forth to smother No sooner in th' world But out I am hurld So I 'm shufled from th' one to th' other III. What is death what is death But a stop of th'breath Some small puff of wind that will blow a flame out Or the turn of a door for a soul to step out It 's no more than the wreck of a Ship that hath crost A Sea that 's tempestuous where no passenger's lost The planks of my body may be tomb'd in a wave But my God will my spirit save It 's but to step in At most to unpin My rags that are fit for a grave IV. What 's a groan What 's a groan That our friends thus bemoan When they by our beds side sit to close up our eyes It 's no more than a crack from the Heaven that flies Our souls then like lightning are breaking their way From the clods of our bodies and why should they stay It 's a pang of corruption our mother that brings Forth souls that she breeds to be Kings For no sooner I 'm dead But a Crown 's on my head And Hosannah in Heaven I sing V. Not a day Not a day That doth pass but I pray That my work were dispatcht that I might hence but go Though the first Inn I lodg at is the grave I do know Those chambers of darkness my soul do'nt affright It is but mine Inn I dare lodg there one night In my Coffin I 'le creep as into my bed And my winding-sheet I 'le not dread There soundly I 'le sleep Till the morning doth peep From the dust then I 'le raise up my head Self-Estimation MOunt up my soul and stroke into a calm The surges of proud passions with a Psalm Stretcht out on either side tower up thy head O'retop the waves stear on let reason lead Be 't as thy Polar-star while thou art tost Lest 'mong perplexing billows thou be lost Look how the first fiercely comes rowling on Which reason calls Self-Estimation A sporting-wave turns visage now bold now shie How fond as if in love with thy Egoifie She fawns and with her circling arms Embraceth that which quickly feels her charms See how she soars aloft and on her wing Mounts self yet all this while but flattering When at the height her sleiked face turns glass Which represents self's vertues in a mass Thrice double to their proper magnitude Take heed don't look my soul it doth delude Think what 's but a wave will quickly sink And mounts so weak in vallies sooner shrink Waves quickly fall they cannot stand so fast Their weight will press their fainting knees at last Thus with her higher gusts of flattery She turns thy brain then turns thine enemy Strange metamorphis'd passion glass just now Fit for reflection of an amorous brow Now in a cup she 's turn'd bow'd fit for th'lip Presents thee with a Nectar bids thee sip Sip not my soul waters that brackish are Are much too strong for weaker heads to bear Their duller spirits they will soon convey And chill thy brains to ice for as they say Salt will freez hard though in a thawing day CONTEMPT A Dialogue betwixt Flesh and Spirit Flesh WHat all to small Nothing seems big enough To entertain thee yet doth th'housholdstuff Of this vaste Microcosm prove now too small To dress and trim thy swoln-big heart withal Sp. Her gusts to great contraction cannot bound That which infinite can scarce surround Contentment she must have which cannot be Found cloister'd in the cells of poverty F. Won't
each chink or cranny you had best Yet that is vain through brazen walls they 'l pass As easie as a Sun-beam through a glass Thus when proud Pharoah scorn'd his sail to strike To th' Crown of Heaven proudly did dislike To own an equal God his warrant gave To bring th' Egyptians first-born to the grave In th' dead or night when all their doors were fast Fast lockt and bolted through his Angel's past Stifles them round no bars bolts doors could keep The infant safe in th' mothers arms asleep Thus when sweet slumber seiz'd the pris'ners eyes Whilst Peter 'twixt two Soldiers fleeping lies Closely confin'd within close prison walls Angels whip in and up the pris'ner calls Opens the doors sets free the shackled man Thus walls doors windows penetrate they can Amazing Natures somewhere you exist Now here now there yea where so e're you list Yet in no place no circumscribing air Can fit you with a garb that you can wear Your spungy parts sometimes so puff and swell That what wo'ld shroud a mountain can't you well Again you bend and fold up every joint Into the compass of a Needles point Like to the candle beams that can emit Yet can again themselves so closely croud That in dark lanthorn they themselves can shrowd Or like a silken robe we can command Into the hollow of a Ladies hand Yet long and wide enough to cover o're The body of that she I nam'd before Or take a shadow from another thing The glove that 〈…〉 â—â—ine hand can pass my ring Witness the various Spectres that have been The sport and maygame of the Magick sin Sometimes they flirt and caper here and there In shapes of flies about the flexile air Then shifting coats they make a Mouses skin The utmost confines of their room within Dislodging thence the next-made randevow Is in a figur'd Hog a wanton Goat or Cow Or else that spirit within a Fly contract Can the dimension of Giant act And turn a weavers-beam about the sky As nimbly as it did the wings of th' fly Speak Holy Pen-man how many spirits can Crowd in the body of one living man More than six thousand as his name doth tell Being called Legion that sum's known full well Thus they contract and squeeze themselves together Thus they dilate and spread I know not whither Now for self-motion to them propriate My winged quill doth fly to explicate Source of all action and the genuine spring Of motion lodg'd in th' center of each thing Matter 's too dull too lumpish for to raise It self or stir When I with wonder gaze On th' foaming Planets that do swiftly fly Prancing their rounds on th' pavement of the sky My thoughts do rise and inly ask my mind Whence is that motion that outstrips the wind When I a stone mountain or rock behold I find them to all motion stark and cold Yet have they limbs as able for to move As Luna Mars or else triumphant Jove Whence should it come surely it cannot be That from themselves comes that ability Then from some other 't must but tell what is' t Not other matter that h 'as little list To move as they what then may we it call What is the spring or the original Of all this swiftness sure it was some sp'rite That put this world first in this moving plight Casting mine eye now downward I behold Mine animate flesh strange motions t' infold Whence so spontaneously have I the skill To move my flexile members where I will Whence move my sinews muscles I command My joints to bend and then again to stand Is' t from my spirits that in purple-flood Now ebbs now flows in them as they think good But what moves them is it from Chance or is' t From deep consults Or tell me do they wist What they are doing By Chance fain I 'de know Why only when I need them they do flow Is chance so constant can it their forces bend And stedily direct to th' thing I intend The Clock may well count th' hours of the day But can I think that sturdy iron may Direct it self or else by chance may strike This hour one next two our case is like When I believe I run when I do set That water dries and the fire it is wet That with mine eyes I hear or with my Toes 〈◊〉 see and that my taste lies in my nose Then I 'le conceive that less than a sp'rite can Point out the motion that I see in man But how can that which is without extension As spirits are perform the thing I mention Having no parts but such are penetrable How to unite with matter are they able How can they thrust or force dull matter on And yet themselves want parts to fasten ' pon The parts they move who can then this avouch That this move that yet neither of them touch Answer me this and I will that What sight So pierceth that sees matter to unite With matter how do they cleave together That hammers chissels axes cannot sever How do they fasten is' t by certain glew But that hath parts What then why fain I knew Is' t from their rest or stillness as they lie Why doth not then each stick or stone fast tye It self to th' ground when there it 's cast Would not all things incrustate hard at last Should not we need a Chissel for to pick Up what with ease we take be 't stone or stick Yet this we know that parts of bodies bind And tye themselves most fast and yet our mind Spies not the manner how what if then Union of sp'rits to body's hard to men Oh! my brains sweat some gentle breathing wind Of finer fancies chear up a tir'd mind Pollish this rug'd discourse make it so bright That it may sparkle in the darkest night I know no motion but from sp'rits arise And mostly from their presence lives or dies The wheels of Heav'n now working we 'd seen stand If not been turn'd first by th' Almighty's hand What is' t that hoists the feather'd sails of birds And nimbly wasts them through the airy floods What rudder turns those Pinnaces around Steers them now upwards then slopes to the ground What can it be that sports and plays within The center of the scaly peoples skin With bended tails when they do skip above Their glassie ceilings that they mostly love The Fox Horse Hare and Greyhound see them run Observe their jerks how they proceed and turn Tell me if sluggish matter could produce Such pretty freaks or any purple sluce Of blood that opens and now shuts again Could make these machins post the way amain O're hedg and ditch bushes of briar and thorn And mend their pace by switch or wind of horn Tell me in July it doth fiercely freez I will believe 't as soon as I can these Yet more prodigious motions I can tell Acted by sp'rits on matter sprung from Hell A cloud is seen by many to