despight of his enemies if they take away their meat saith the Martyr God can take away their hunger why not as well as he doth the life of other creatures and he will do it rather then his promise shall fail Elijah goes in the strength of one meal forty days and had God pleased it might have been forty years for he could have preserved the Israelites forty years in the wilderness without food as well as with food from heaven and as well as he preserved their garments from waxing old Deut. 29.5 I have led you forty years in the wilderness your cloaths are not waxen old upon you and thy shoe is not waxen old upon thy foot they needed not to care what they should eat or what they should drink or wherewithall they should be cloathed for God made provision of all this they were maintained at Gods proper cost and charges methoughts also this cessation of action in these creatures in winter did much resemble sleep which if God pleased might be as long in other animals and were it not common would be thought wonderful and little differing from death it self and yet experience shews us that which seems to destroy nature doth restore and refresh it or it is like to a swoon when the symptomes of death are upon a man yea in some distempers the symptomes of life for many hours together are scarcely discerned but above all it resembles our lying in the grave and our rising again at the resurrection for the body sleeps in the dust till the last day as these creatures do in their holes till the winter is past and the spring approacheth and the silkworm never receives life till the Mulbery-trees leaves which is their food and then they shall be revived by the sun of righteousness and life put into them then these dry bones shall live This I know some question and some deny possibly because they cannot fathome the depth of this providence and were they not convinc't by yearly experience of the other they would deny that also and would think it could not be that creatures should have their life preserved the one half of the year at least without food because they know not how it should be But I think few articles of our faith are more clearly proved in Scripture then this of the resurrection but many men I fear are wilfully blinde their lives and conversations being so debaucht they would believe at least wish they could believe there were no resurrection of the body yea that the soul were mortal as well as the body and that the death of the one were the destruction of the other also but the time is coming they shall finde the contrary to their sorrow both scripture and reason speak plainly that the soul is immortal and that the body partaking with it in holiness or sin shall also partake with it in weal or wo and that there will be a day of retribution when those that now suffer for Christ shall then reign with him and those that sin shall suffer for their sin the contrary to this cannot stand with scripture-revelations the threatnings of the law the promises of the Gospel nor with divine justice it self and why should any think it impossible for God to gather our dust together and raise up our dead bodies at the last who do believe that there is a God and that he hath made not only man but the whole creation of nothing and that this God is just and will make good both his promises and threatnings and nothing is too hard for an omnipotent arm oh my soul distrust not Gods word question not his power he that can make all things of nothing can of thy scattered ashes raise up thy dead body to life and re-unite it to thy hould and he that saith he will do it will certainly perform it heaven and earth shall pass but not one tittle of his word shall pass till all be fulfilled call not in question the power and providence of God but labour to have a part in the first resurrection that the second death may have no power get fitted for death and judgement get sin pardoned and subdued which is the sting of death get grace implanted and thy soul married unto Christ then needst thou not fear death nor the resurrection oh my God strengthen my faith confirm my hope and encrease my love to thee and let me long for the time that I may enjoy thee in glory and lie for ever in the arms of my beloved Vpon beggers at the door 60. Med. WHen I saw some lusty able persons fit for service and other employment begging at the door I began to consider how disagreeing this course of life was to the word of God who had commanded men in the sweat of their brows they should eat their bread this is a law laid upon all sorts of men to sweat out a poor living brow or brain must sweat for it or our bread is eaten ere it be earned God would not have a begger in Israel and the Apostles will was those that would not labour should not eat 2 Thes 3.6 10 14. those that have enough to live on must not be idle much less those that have nothing yet many live like rats and mice only to devour what others labour for paradice that was mans store-house was also his work-house God set him to dress the garden and there should be none that like body-lice feed upon other mens sweat such idle persons often times are set on work by the devil for idleness is the hour of temptation and standing-waters are usually full of vermine Nay how disagreeing is this course of life with the laws of the land which making other provision for the poor stigmatize these wanderers by the name of rogues and appoint them to be stockt and whipt and sent back to the place of their birth or last abode and inflicts a penalty upon those that relieve them The great Turk that grand Seignior is not excepted for he hath a trade and is dayly to labour with his hands yea Divines in all ages ancient and modern and of all perswasions have exclaimed against this course of life and esteemed such persons to be the plague-sore of the Nation and not to be tolerated in a well-ordered Common-wealth they are a dishonour to the Church they live in and to the Countrey they inhabit and the heathens as well as the Christians have made laws to punish them These and the like considerations made me think correction to be the fittest alms and their restraint might hinder a great deal of sin acted by them and be a means to reduce them under government civil and Ecclesiastical which now live like lawless persons under none and neither fear God nor obey men but are the unprofitable burthens of the earth But on the other side when I considered how little provision notwithstanding in the law was made for the poor in most places and
be but a trouble so may a great estate to a godly man I might have like that young man mentioned Mat. 19.20 c. parted with Christ for a trifle had he had but a small estate who knows but he might have proved a true convert he cheapens heaven bids fair for it but they disagreed about the price a great estate breaks the bargain as in the world it breaks many a marriage the persons like and love but the womans portion will not answer the mans estate this occasioned Christ to tell us how hard a thing it was for a rich man to be saved Mat. 19.24 it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle then for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God most mens honours change their manners and they are the worse for their wealth if heaven be to be had upon no other terms many will refuse it they would be gainers by their religion however they resolve to lose nothing many like Diana's Craftsmen get their living by it they will launch no further into the deep then they may return safe to the shore many come to Christ hastily as this young man but return heavily when they hear the rate All men love Abrahams bosome but few men love Dives door all men love the jewel but few will go to the price all men would have the crown but they love not the cross that leads to it Most men especially great ones will meddle with no more religion then will do them good or boot their needs or serve their designes they will lanch no further into the seas then they can see the shoar pride breeds in wealth as worms do in apples and he is a rich man indeed that thinks himself never the greater or never the better for his wealth oh world how hast thou deceived those that trust in thee and how hast thou bought their profession out of their hands for a trifle and hast had their souls into the bargain how many write themselves happy when they are loaden with thick clay alass what will this do for them in their greatest need poor Spira was betrayed by thee to the shipwrack of faith and a good conscience so were Judas Demas Ananias and Saphira and a thosand more these knew not the worth of the soul nor the vanity of the world that let the devil have so cheap a penyworth they grasp so greedily after gold that they lost their God and loved their sin more then their souls but what good will it do them when they want a drop of water to cool their tongues Luk. 16.24 oh my soul bless God that hath freed thee from many temptations that others are overcome by Covet not overmuch a prosperous condition lest God give it thee for thy portion scorn with the Eagle to stoop so low as to seek thy meat upon a dunghill undervalue not thy self so much as to entertain so poor a suitor as the world is when the sun of God makes love to thee who alone can pay thy debts and make thee happy thou canst not buy this gold too dear but the world thou maist and most men do when they purchase it with the bloud of their souls thou canst not over-value this jewel it is ten thousand times better then thou canst value it oh my God give me Christ and it sufficeth I need no other portion I desire no other happiness let me have him at any rate Vpon trees green in summer but stript off all in winter 86. Med. OBserving further that those trees so fair and specious so green and flourishing in the summer yet when autumn came were stript of all their gallantry and appeared bare and ill favoured dead and dry and looked not like the same they were It presently struck into my minde that this would shortly be the condition of all wicked men let their prosperity be never so great and their enjoyments in the world never so many or large the time is coming all these like leaves will fly away with the winde the nipping frost of death and the winde of affliction will make them fall some carry Lordships on their backs some Earldomes some Dukedomes and some few Kingdomes among the Clergy some carry several steeples on their backs yea some Deanaries and some Bishopricks all these are but leaves and will fall when Autumn winde blows they cannot stand a winter-blast death will level the great and the small the one with the other and the Kings head shall then shew no impression of a crown Many rich men are like sumpter-horses richly laden with gold and silver and costly gems and Jewels all the day but when night comes and come it will ere long they are stript of all turned into a dirty stable and nothing to bring off but their gal'd backs so these at death have nothing left but a gal'd conscience a pregnant example of this we have in the rich man mentioned Luk. 16.19 there was one cloathed in purple and fine linnen and fared deliciously every day but it was but a little time before all those leaves were stript off and he had not left him one drop of water to cool his tongue and he that a little before as some imagine denyed a crumb of bread to Lazarus is now denyed a drop of water Another example we have Luk. 12.16 of a rich man that had abundance and began to sing a requiem to his soul eat drink and be merry thou hast goods laid up for many years he was a right Epicure that made his gut his God another Sardanapalus eating that in earth that Augustine saith he must digest in hell little thinking his death was so near his glass was run when he thought it was but new turned thou fool saith Christ this night shall thy soul be required of thee and then whose are these he was shot as a bird with the bolt while he was staring at the bow of rich men the Psalmist saith their glory will not follow them neither shall they take any thing with them Psal 49.17 then when death entreth into their lodging and knocks at their doors they may bid farewell to their well contriv'd houses sumptuous buildings pleasant gardens and delightful walks yea to all their bags of gold so painfully got so carefully kept and so warily employed even to the wounding of their consciences the hardning of their hearts and the loss of their souls then farewell all their pleasures their merry meetings and their pot companions with their drunken revels farewell then their cocks their hawks their hounds and their whores they must never more delight and recreate themselves with these for though whoremasters and whores shall burn together in hell yet shall they not there burn in lust one to the other but their company shall be their torment not their recreation all these are but leaves the wind of death will blow away Here are no may-games nor morris-dances or deluding shews to entertain
many times God by his providence doth thus dispose of the cruel enemies of his Church and those that thirst after the blood of his Saints they have had blood even their own blood to drink Rev. 16.6 so righteous is God in his judgments and so true in his word thus it was with Pharaoh that sought the destruction of Israel he and his army were overthrown in the Red-sea Adonibezek that had caused threescore and ten kings having their thumbs and their great toes cut off to gather meat under his table was requited in like manner by the men of Judah Judg. 6.7 thus it was with Haman he procured a decree to cut off aâ—â— the Jews and made a gallows fifty cubits high to hang Mordecai upon but he himself was hanged upon it and his own friends and relations were destroyed Thus it was with Daniels persecutors he was delivered out of the Lions den and they were cast in so the flames lickt up the men that threw the three Worthies into the fiery furnace but had no power upon them Phaleris perisht in his brazen Bull the work of his own hands invented to torment others thus Tomyris dealt by Cyrus and the Parthians by Crassus and the Romans by those Jews that cryed out his blood be upon us and upon our children and so God by his providence dealed with our gun-powder conspirators and so let thine implacable enemies perish oh God this Observation also brought to my minde what I had somewhere read and often heard by way of complaint of our English laws viz. that they were like unto spiders webs which hold the little flys but the great ones break through or like fishers nets rather where the little fishes creep through and the great ones break through and I thought the comparison not unfit the laws themselves I know would hold the greatest malefactor were not those that should execute them partiall ofttimes fear or favour makes them open the net and let go their prey how oft may we see partiality sit as judge in some courts of Judicature this is my friend that is my kinsman deal gently with the young man for my sake how oft have I seen a poor man stockt for swearing and drunkenness and well they deserved it but his worship or his honour guilty of the same crimes brake through the net and escaped scot free and was neither punished in person nor purse yea though they offended in the Magistrates presence but whether worshipful titles will bear them out also before the judgment-seat of God is worthy enquiry there is no such exceptions in Gods law let him suffer except he be a Gentleman nay it is an aggravation to the fault of such a one who may well be presumed to have better knowledge and better breeding then others or otherwise I know not what gentility signifies and he that knows his Masters will and doth it not should be beaten with many stripes I have read of a Gentleman being condemned to death for a flagitious crime and pleading for a mittigation of his punishment because he was a Gentleman the Judge yielded him but this favour that he should be hanged upon a higher gallows then the other were and I fear the Ecclesiastical Courts are not much better perhaps much worse poor ones are a prey not worth keeping great ones are too big to be held the middle sort of fish best suits the net and pleaseth the palat oh my soul think not to escape at the judgment-seat of God by any external priviledge the soul that sinneth it shall dye whether high or low rich or poor thou hast a righteous Judge to be tryed by that will not be corrupted by gold nor gain who will hear over again all the causes tryed in our Courts of Judicatory and parhaps pass another sentence if thy cause be good he will not condemn thee oh my God absolve me in thy Court and no matter if man condemn me but if thou condemn me there is none can acquit me Upon the worthlesness of a spiders web 50. Med. WHen I considered further the great diligence and the unwearied pains of the spider yea the fineness of the thread and the curiosity of the work and how she drew it out of her own bowels and yet notwithstanding how useless and unprofitable it was if a man should make a garment of it it would neither wear well nor keep warm or dry neither can it shelter from winde or storm if he make armour of it it cannot defend him if we lean upon it it cannot support us if we fall upon it it cannot bear us up neither can it stand before the besome but it is soon rent and spoiled and ofttimes the work and the workman the weaver and the web are cast both together into the fire I thought it resembled the world and the things of the world for of this it is the devil makes his net to catch souls which are the flys he hunts after which in it self considered is vain and transitory too poor a refuge to trust to either for temporal deliverance or eternal happiness yet many like the spider spend themselves to weave their web and even draw it out of their own bowels yea their very hearts goes along with it and if they meet with a prosperous success they like the rich man Luk. 12.16 c. sing a requiem to their souls and promise themselves a great deal of happiness when alas Gods besome of destruction sudenly comes and sweeps away both the work and the workman in a moment and casts both into the fire yet many spider-like put their trust in these webs of their own making and think they may eat drink and be merry c. right Epicures that make their gut their God and eat that on earth they must digest in hell their glass is run when they think it is but new turned then shall they finde though too late that their money will do nothing and death will not be hired but righteousness alone will deliver from death Solomon tells us Pro. 18.11 the rich mans wealth is his strong-hold and high walls in his own conceit but wealth is never true to those that trust it and cannot help in the evil day Zeph. 1.18 but if sin lie at the foundation though the walls be made never so high they will tumble down Jer. 17.5 cursed is man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm and whose heart departeth from the living God and truly of such refuges we may say as Job of the spiders web Job 8.13 14 15. if a man lean upon his house it shall not stand though he hold it fast it shall not endure most men like to a drowning man lay hold upon something to stay them and to bear up their heads above water but if it be not upon the Lord Jehovah it will do them no good but prove like to Egiptian reeds not only break but run into their hands should we trust in Princes
soul alass they cannot they cannot procure thee one days respite out of hell or one days freedome from sickness or from death they cannot give thee any satisfaction here for content grows not in the worlds garden there are indeed joys worth having pleasures worth minding and riches worth labouring for happiness that shall never have an end that are not subject to changes nor vicissitudes as earthly enjoyments are but they are to be sought for above in the enjoyment of God in whose presence alone true happiness dwells The happiness the world promiseth are meer delusions a little honey and many stings a little bitter sweet pleasures that perisheth ere it bud in the midst of laughter the heart is sorrowfull and the end of that mirth is heaviness their joy is but like the crackling of thorns under a pot soon in soon out if thou wilt trade let it be in a surer commodity and not with the merchant have fortunam rudentibus aptam thy estate depending winde and weather if thou wilt be planting let it be in a better soil and not where thorns and thistles are like to be thy reward there is a treasure to be had a pearl of great price to be bought Mat. 13.44 45. whosoever deals in these cannot lose by them in comparison of which pearls and diamonds and precious rubies are not to be named these are they that make the soul rich all other riches doth it no good this makes it rich to God and lovely comely amiable in his sight oh my God give me this treasure and it sufficeth though I have nothing else all other things I can spare Christ I cannot spare he is the breath of my life and the life of my soul let the world take their portion alass it is a miserable portion I envy them not but Lord put me not off with such pittifull poor things let me have an interest in Christ and communion with him let me lie for ever in his bosome and let the enjoyment of him be my portion let me be an inhabitant in the city of pearl where no dirty dog shall tread upon the pavement my heart pants after this as the chased hart after the water-brooks when Lord shall I come and appear before thee come Lord Jesus come quickly Upon the sudden withering of flowers 34. Med. WHen I beheld the beauty splendour and glory of several herbs and flowers and other vegetables when they were in their pride and in their prime and invited all eyes to behold them and to do them homage and when I considered withall how short-lived they were how soon they withered vanished and perished and their glory passed away and came to nothing I thought this was a fit embleme to set forth humane frailty and the worlds glory by for both are transitory and vain for man himself who is Lord of these flowers he soon fades and is withered as a flower yea many times in the flower of his age how frequently doth the Scripture compare man to the grass and to the flower of the field which this day flourisheth and to morrow fadeth their glorious beauty is as a fading flower and as the hasty fruit before the summer c. Esay 28.1 4. all flesh is grass and all the glory of man is as the flower of grass the grass withereth and the flower fadeth away 1 Pet. 1.24 man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble he cometh forth like a flower and is cut down he fleeth also as a shadow and continueth not Job 14.1 2. Now they are fresh and flourishing and sudenly they decline now in the heigth of youthfull vanity and sudenly they pass away and the place that knew them shall know them no more if they live cares and fears sickness and old age succeed of which they are forc't to say they have no pleasure in them death it self many times calls men off the stage when they think they have but begun to act their parts and puts an exit to them and their work is done and their part ended But suppose life were more certain yet our earthly enjoyments and our happiness here are transitory and vain and all the felicity the world brags of is but a meer fancy and a very cheat at the best it is but a mixture of sweet and sowr a little honey and a great deal of gall and the end of that mirth is heaviness if the happiness be such what is the misery man himself is but a bubble how great soever he may seem and with what titles soever he be dignified and soon shall he be prickt by death and the winde let out and then a great bubble and a little one cannot be distinguished and all the pleasures which vain man takes in all his youthful follies is but like a bush of thorns and wisp of straw on fire make a sudden blaze and is forthwith extinguished they make a noise for a while and then vanish into smoak youthfull pleasures are soon over and carking care treads out their steps and old age makes them forgotten youth is like young lambs they leap and frisk awhile while they have the dug to run to when they are hungry but when they are once weaned and set to shift for themselves the sport is over so youth under their parents providence minde their sports but when once at their own provision cares and pains spoil the mirth and make it little minded The world also frowns and smiles upon the same man many times the same day and useth him as a tennisball now lifts him up and sudenly casts him down raiseth him to the top of honour and then plungeth him into the gulph of disgrace Now it shews him abundance of riches and then pincheth him with extremity of poverty now it mixeth him a cup with pleasure and presently fills it with gall and wormwood that which the world calls pleasures and for which so many sell their souls are but like those of the drunkard that last but while he is swallowing the drink and then succeeds belchings and vomitings sickness and sorrow wallowing in the mire and such like or like that of the adulterer which is often attended with pains aches rottenness filthy diseases not fit to be named and death it self and indeed these two beastly sins have much of that which the world calls pleasure but the effects shew it is wrong named sickness succeeds health and deformity beauty sorrow treads upon the heels of pleasure and adversity follows prosperity and there is a vicissitude and change in all humane affairs he is a stranger in the world that knows not these things David tells us Psal 37 35. I have seen the wicked in great power and spreading himself like a green bay-tree yet he passed away and lo he was not yea I sought him but he could not be found whether he have reference to Saul and his family I know not yet in the next generation how was his
eternity of torments will be little enough to pay the debt which I owe but her debts being nothing but death will be soon discharged oh my soul if God do not distinguish thee from wicked men by grace as well as from this toad by reason thy misery will be far worse then hers and thy condition more forlorn Oh poor man whither art thou fallen thou wast in the creation made the glory of this Universe and all the creatures to be thy servants yea the angels to be Ministring spirits for thy good and now if God assist not in a new creation the meanest and most despicable of the creatures is in a better condition then thou art Oh sin what woful work hast thou made among us and of what a bewitched nature art thou and how hast thou infatuated us still to doat upon thee and to think thee lovely oh my God how good hast thou been to me and how evilly have I requited thee for thy good and how foolishly have I behaved my self to my own soul thou createdst me after thine own image in knowledge righteousness and true holiness and gavest me dominion over thy creatures thou madest me little lower then the angels and crownedst me with honour and dignity Psal 8.4 5 6. such I was when I past out of thy hand but I have lost this image by the fall and this supremacy and now this poor creature is in a better condition then I am by nature and never transgress thy laws as I have done but Lord thou canst renew thine image in me and bring me to my primitive happiness Lord do it then shall I praise thee with unfained lips that thou hast made me a man Upon the coursing of a hare 46. Med. BEing occasionally present at the coursing of a hare and my affection being tickled with the sport to see what turnings windings shifts and cunning evasions she had to delude her enemy and make an escape but all too little for she after came to be their prey that sought her life and to suck her bloud when I felt my affections thus to heat and close with the sport I began to check my self for it and to expostulate the case thus with mine own heart vain man what art thou doing whither art thou going art thou in heaven or on the earth that thy affections are so pleased is it God or the creature that gives thee this content alass what poor fading perishing joy is this and canst thou finde more delight in it then in the service of God or in communion with Christ Nay but art thou sure that these delights are lawfull if not thou hast cause to bewail it the thing may be disputable was it not the sin of man that brought this enmity and antipathy between the creatures and made them thirst after one anothers bloud Reverend Mr Bolton tels us this is the judgement of the best Divines that it was a fruit of our rebellion against God now if this misery was laid upon them for our faults it should be rather matter of our grief then sport and taking pleasure in their bloud is a vexing of their very vexation and we discover those weeds and seeds of cruelty to be too rank and luxurious in the soul and we degenerate in this below the beast of the field who as it is observed take not content in hurting one another but in case of hunger or anger they satisfy their appetite and rage sometimes with bloud but never their eye or their fancy Is the fruits of our sin become the matter of sport this consideration might work in us a contrary effect and I think much better but grant for no body will deny it that we have liberty given us to make use of this antipathy for the destroying of hurtful creatures and the enjoying of those that are usefull as these now under consideration which no doubt are given to us for food as well as others and grant that they cannot be so well taken any other way and their flesh to be best when it is thus hunted and chased yet it still remains disputable whether their death were ever appointed by God to be a matter of sport or a lawfull recreation to us to kill them is no doubt lawfull but to sport our selves in their death seems cruel and bloudy to delight more in seeing the shifts the poor creature hath to save her life an instinct given her by nature and to see her in the mouths of her bloud-thirsty enemies rending and tearing her in peeces without mercy then they do in the flesh it self which should be I think the cheifest end in this action seems cruel and bloudy recreation suppose thou heardest such a poor creature giving up the ghost to speak after this manner for it is no absurdity to fain such a speech oh man what have I done to thee or what evil is found in me that like a cruel enemy thou sportest thy self at my death I have lived upon my fathers allowance and never transgrest my masters will nor makers laws as thou hast done If thou take away my life what needst thou make a sport at my death If a sparrow fall not to the ground without Gods providence surely he takes notice of my death and the manner of it and I am part of the goods thy master commends to thee as a steward and for which thou must give an account I am thy fellow-creature made of the same matter by the same hand it was not all the men on earth could have created me or given me life my life was given me by God and now it is taken away in sport to please man take heed vain man that thus dost satiate thy self with my bloud lest at last thy condition be worse then mine and thy account heavier my debt is now paid by my death and my own sufferings but thine will never be discharged by thy self to eternity this pleasure thou hast now taken will be dearly bought and this flesh of miâ—e must be satisfied for hereafter if Christ be not thy surety nay O man thou knowest not but there are some enemies if God restrained them not that do as earnestly thirst after thy bloud as thou hast done after mine and would be glad to wash their hands in it however the devil is a more cruel bloud thirsty enemy to thy soul then these dogs are to my body and goes about day and night like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour and take heed lest those dogs which have now drunk my bloud and are too often fed with the poors portion and deserve death as well as I being every way as noxious do not rise up against thee another day c. Oh my soul spend no more time in recreation then thou canst afford and that is but a little till thy main work be done and then spend no more in recreation then thy state will afford and that will not be much take heed that the poors
think upon their accompts these are some but not all the drones we have amongst us oh my soul is idleness so detestable a vice take heed of it employ every talent God hath lent thee to thy Masters glory lest thou meet with the doom of the unprofitable servant spend all the time allowed thee in the world either in thy general or particular calling and spend time on nothing thou wilt be unwilling to hear of another day let not Christ when he calls for thee nor the devil when he tempts thee finde thee idle lest thou be not ready to open to the one or resist the other lest Christ reject thee and the devil vanquish thee and death usher thee into outer darkness oh my God I have much work to do and but a little time to do it in and it is work of great concernment and much time already hath been wasted by me Lord incline my heart to diligence and convince me of the necessity of working while it is called to day because the night comes that no man can work Upon the gaudy Wasp 56. Med. OBserving the wasp in her gaudy dress what an enemy she was to the painâ—ul and laborious Bee and was not content her self to be idle but robs also the Bees that do labour and feeds upon that which this painful and industrious creature hath laid up against winter and so oft-times exposes them to want and penury yea to death it self and if the poor bees make resistance kills them and spoils their habitation I observed also that this pernitious insect more hurtful then the drones before-mentioned making no provision for winter before it comes puts her head into a hole and dies the consideration of this occasioned this following Meditation I thought there were many such wasps amongst us that is such as have the nature and disposition of wasps that are hurtful to many helpful to none that live an idle life and live upon others labours and not their own and making no provision for death or eternity are then utterly destitute of what is necessary here with the rich man Luk. 16.19 c. they are cloathed in purple and fine linnen and fare deliciously every day and at last would beg a drop of water to cool their tongues but cannot obtain it but shall have punishment without pitty misery without mercy sorrow without succour crying without compassion mischief without measure torment without end and past imagination Among the rest of these gaudy wasps we may rank many griping Land-lords some Land-lords are of a better complexion but they are too few but too many are guilty of grinding the faces of the poor and the spoil of the poor is in their houses Esay 3.14 15. they make their tenants serve in the very fire and weary themselves for very vanity Hab. 2.13 and are like unto the Egyptian task-masters force the tale of their bricks and not allow them straw they pluck not only the meat from their mouths and the cloaths from their backs but the very flesh from their bones they drink not only their tears but their very sweat and bloud and all too little to satisfy their greedy humours they squeese so many tears from them in their life time that they have none left to shed for them at their death they by racking their rents and their cruel extortion draws many tears from their eyes and sobs from their hearts but God will put those tears into his bottle and those sobs into his book and will vindicate their wrongs how oft may we see greedy Land-lords force their tenants to feed their dogs with what should feed their own children a barbarous custome which will rise up in judgment against them another day They deal with their tenants as they do with their horses when they have tired them or rid them out of breath they call for a fresh one and shew not so much mercy on them as on their dogs whom they cherish if weak or weary but when the poor tenant with all his pains and diligence can no longer satisfy their greedy humours they turn them out of doors seize upon their estates perhaps cast them into prison till they have paid the utmost farthing to the ruinating of their families and exposing them to beggery and all this is to maintain their pride and luxury these men act as if they were the sole proprietors and must never give an accompt to any other Master but let such remember the parable of the man that owed ten thousand talents and would not forgive his brother a hundred pence but cast him into prison Mat. 18.23 he himself was cast in till he had paid the utmost farthing those shall have judgment without mercy that have shewed no mercy Jam. 2.13 those that will not forgive others shall not be forgiven themselves let such remember the rich man Luk. 16.19 who 't is conceived refusing to give a bit of bread to Lazarus was himself denied a drop of water by Abraham But these are not all the gaudy wasps that trouble the laborious bees there are many rich men that undo their poor neighbours with unjust and vexatious Law-suits that oppress them with wrongs injuries and unjust vexations and make bold thus to do because they are too great for them to grapple with these great flies break through the net there being also too many of these wasps in places of Judicatory civil and Ecclesiastical I accuse not all and I think no wise man will justify all many Lawyers to maintain their state and garb knowingly undo their clients some by taking bribes to prevent justice some by unnecessary delays some for favour and friendship they either break the neck of a good cause or suck the clients dry before they tell them their cause is bad Ecclesiastical Courts are not much better some think far worse many officers there do as greedily prey upon the poor as ever a hungry fly did upon a galled horse back and many times make sores where they finde none and the greatest offences are not always punished with the hardest stroaks but preaching and praying is esteemed worse then swearing and cursing and that reformation of sin is not intended though pretended is apparent when poor adulterers are let alone who are not able to pay the fees of the Court when the richer are made offenders for a word Isa 29.21 let not any that are not guilty apply this to themselves but there are also too many in the Ministry that may reade their character Esay 56.10 c. but the time is coming these causes will be called over again and then it will evidently appear who are the troublers of Israel oh my soul is there such oppression such injustice in the world take heed of having a heart or hand in any such matter come not into their secrets and unto their assembly the time is coming that those that have been fed with sin will vomit up what they so greedily swallowed and those
a conscience void of guilt that it cannot accuse them of any unjust or uncivil act lest the sergeant death put them into the devils hands and they be cast into prison thâ—se that will not now abate their fellow-servants a penny shall themselves pay the utmost farthing he that will shew no mercy shall finde none when they stand in need and those that now feed upon others death shall ere long feed sweetly on them Job 24.20 yea the never-dying worm shall feed upon them as it is fabled the vulture did upon Prometheus his liver oh my soul live so holily towards God and so uprightly towards man that thy greatest enemies may have nothing to object against thee but concerning the law of thy God Improve those talents God hath lent thee to his glory lest thou have the doom of the unfaithful servant consider thou art but a steward of what thou enjoyest and what is under thy hands thou hast but the dispose of it for thy masters use and he will require an account take heed of getting any thing unjustly keeping it unlawfully or parting with it sinfully put not the poors part in any childes portion this will be a canker to consume the rest and bring a curse upon thy posterity grinde not the faces of the poor for their redeemer is mighty and will not bear it do as thou wouldst be done by shew mercy or thou wilt miss of it when thou standst in need if thou wilt not forgive others God will not forgive thee Oh my God I have this sin of cruelty in my nature also oh curse and blast this bitter root that it may not spring up in me incline my heart to lenity and mercy yea to forgive mine enemies that I may resemble thee my father that dost good both to the good and to the bad Upon a kite soaring aloft yet minding her prey 67. Med. OBserving the Kite that bird of prey soaring aloft towring on high as if he meant to scale the clouds and look into heaven and with the Eagle to make his nest among the stars Obad. 4. And yet I observed he suddenly descended fell upon his prey and devoured it This observation satisfyed me that though he aimed at heaven and seemed to scorn these inferiour things yet his eye and minde was fixed here below and grovelled on the ground though the bodv were above the heart was below and his mounting aloft was but dissimulation and upon designe like the fox in the fable that pretended himself dead to take his prey the better so this kite to compass his ends carry on his designes and to take his unwary prey useth this stratagem I thought this was a lively Embleme of an hypocrite who seems to be all for heaven when he mindes nothing less he is only minding his prey driving on some carnal designe and when he seems to be trading for heaven and discoursing with God himself yet his heart and affections are glued to the world and he is carrying on some self-interest or fleshly designe and is like a waterman he looks one way and rows another Thus the Pharisees those noted hypocrites did for under pretence of long prayers they devoured widdows houses and fisht for popular applause with their prayers fastings and almes-deeds Mat. 6.1 2 3 c. their hearts were on earth when their hands and eyes were lifted up to heaven A hypocrite is most devout when preferment profit or applause is in sight but key-cold when there is no temptation they are burning hot in the publike lukewarm in their familyes and key-cold in their closets they are like a Cardinal I have read of and doubtless there are many more of his minde who being a poor fishermans son was for his humility and other qualifications advanced to several degrees of honour but always to minde him of his mean extraction and to keep him humble as he said he would have his Fathers Net in his dining-room that he might not forget his descent but at the last being made Pope the net was laid aside being demanded the reason he replyed when the fish is caught what need is there of the net This net and feigned humility was but to take the fish and there are many in our times fish with such a bait some that depend upon some godly great man or some religious Landlord or great benefactor counterfeit their colours and pretend to wear their livery the better to ingratiate themselves into their favour and friendship but when they have caught the fish the net is thrown aside for when they have attained their end or are frustrated of their expectation they soon cast off the sheeps-skin and appear in their own likeness they make religion but a stalking-horse to take their prey and use it for no other end and when that work is done they lay it afide they have a piece of work to do and when one tool will not do it they lay that aside and take another if profession of religion fail them they will turn persecutors and those that now cry hail master will shortly cry crucify him they follow not Christ for love but for loaves and will be his servants so long and no longer then they gain by him they put their hands to the plow and look back and will have no more of religion then will do them good while it will stand with their credit profit or worldly advantages they will be religious when they must part with any thing they will not buy heaven at so dear a rate but let such take heed of mocking God that will not be mocked or of playing with this candle lest they burn their wings or approach too neer the sun of righteousness lest like Icarus they melt their waxen wings and they deceive them God can easily see through this thin vail of dissimulation and smell the filthy savour of an hypocrites rotten lungs this fire will soon discover this paint and without oyl in the vessel as well as a lamp in the hand there is no entring into the bridechamber it is not then a Lord Lord open to us will serve turn yea often this rotten inside will rot the outside also and those ulcers at the heart will break forth in the life and conversation oh my soul beware of hypocrysy that damning sin that ruines thousands and sends them to hell and unfits a man for any office or imployment in Church or state this will make thee hatefull both to God and man man will hate thee for thy profession God will hate thee for counterfeiting his colours and serving the devil in his livery if religion be bad why wilt thou profess it if it be good why wilt thou not practice it Make the tree good and his fruit good or make the tree evill and his fruit evill be as thou seemest or seem as thou art and do not dishonour God by a great profession and an evil conversation there is no deceiving God by a fained shew who