diminishing of his Revenues O Immortal Man to thee I speak and not to him that prefers Mortality to Eternal Life Love Vertue and her Gists Long Life Health Peace Plenty Joy and Rest from Labour Accept thou of the Fair Virgins Heavenly Balsom wherewith she will so embalm thy Soul that it shall never turn to Putrefaction but continue an Immortal Mummy for Gods use Now it is well known that the Humane Body while it is kept in Health and Fresh by the natural Balsom or Oil the Tincture of Life its natural Ferment it is preserved free from Decay or Rottenness For we well may see and observe when the Oil is corrupted by the Impur ties of Vâ—nus or some other anomalous means the Body many times gradually begins to rot above the Earth Live thou therefore Eternally O Humane Soul lest thou become also Subject to such a Fate And be thou Immortal For there is no Profit to God in the spilling of thy Holy Blood neither can they that go down into the Pit of Eternal Death Praise and Celebrate his Blessed Name §. 9. Seven Properties of a future Being LAy therefore thy Hand upon thy Heart O noble Soul and consider For the choice lies at thy own Hands Whether wilt thou choose to repossess thy Native Inheritance Or like a Fool to become Surety for a Stranger the Serpent or Worm who would invade thy proper Right Consider what thou dost before thou sign the Bond lest thou make a forfeiture of Heaven thy natural home and so suffer thy Soul to be fined and taken for a Pledge For what will it profit thee if thou shouldst gain the whole World while thy Soul which should enjoy it is amerced by a Mulct which never can be redeemed by any Ransom by the Law of the Soâ—lish Court And so thou shalt look upon Heaven with doleful Eyes as a Prodigal that is become a Beggar and begs a piece of Bread at the Door of his Fathers House to which he was born Heir now possessed by a Stranger But perhaps thou mayest say I have purchased a new Birth-right the Kingdom of Hell Nay Hell also spews thee out as being thy sworn Enemy and loaths thee as a false out coming Renegado or Traytor aiming to become Lord in the Kingdom whereunto thou wast not created Whether wouldst thou choose to feed on the Tree of Eternal Life in Paradise And to drink of the Living Fountains of Water or to be confined in the barren Heath of the Abyss where thou shalt be starved to Death Or else thou shalt Eternally Vomit out thy own Blood and the Poyson which thou didst swallow in this Life in Everlasting Pain and Sickness And when thou art about to fill thy Belly thy Enemy shall cast the Fury of his Wrath upon thee Wilt thou refuse Rest after thy Travails and a soft repose in the Beatisical Vision and Divine Recreation and Heavenly Joy And in stead thereof choose to sport with Hellish Squibs in Hell-Fire with Evil Angels Where thou shalt be terrified as a feaverish Body with broken Sleeps and frightful Dreams And all this for thy slothfulness in this Life Because thou wouldst not Labour in Harvest thou must want in the Eternal Winter While thou madest as if thou observedst the Wind and the Clouds for an excuse to thy Laziness when the time of Sowing and Reaping was Now therefore thou shalt neither Day nor Night see a sweet Repose of Sleep with thine Eyes O Poor Prisoner hard is thy Fate Wilt thou refuse Fair Wisdom the Virgin for thy Consort And choose to be a Fool or else to know Pain opposed to Pleasure and to be wise like God Or to become a raging Bedlam whose Wheel of the inward Seuses wants Reason to guide it Longing for strange things which are impossible to be attained Whether wilt thou choose to be a Valiant Hero in Heaven And a Conqueror of the World Or to pine away the Remainer of the Days of thy Eternity as a wounded Souldier Lurking in Holes from the noise of the Battel for fear of thy Enemies who won the Field And now a dreadful sound is in thy Ears as of a Hound or Hellish Fiend pursuing thee Day and Night and waiting to apprehend thee as a Catchpole by the Authority of Lucifer who will deliver thee to the Judge and so to the Officer who will do Execution upon thy cursed Body O faint-hearted Coward Now thy fears are in the way and lay wait to seize upon thee Wilt thou refuse the Bosom of thy chast Spouse for the embraces of a Harlot Wilt thou be the Devils Catamite Wilt thou loose thy beautiful Garments to sit in the Dust Wilt thou refuse Divine Honour of a Prince in the Kingdom of Heaven And choose to be hissed and mocked by them whom thou hast scorned and despised in this Life time Wilt thou leap down into the Abyss and Hellish Fire and there burn Eternally in the slame of aspiring self-love Wilt thou cast thy self down from the Pinacle of thy false Imagination and Fancy by highmindedness and Pride O stop the Carrcer of thy Mind lest thou fare as Luciser doth §. 10. 〈◊〉 Described O Heaven the Eternal source of all Joy O Paradise 〈◊〉 Garden of Everlasting Delight How shall I describe thee Even as the Holy Spirit worketh from Eternity to Eternity and continually manifesteth the inâ—â—â—ite and number less Forms oâ— the 〈◊〉 Virgins of God Just as the Earth produceth fair Forms of Plossoms Herbs and Fruits and putteth them forth sometimes more fair and manifesteth their Vertues more soveraign and powerful than at other times And when one ariseth in the Essence another falleth down And there is a continual lasting uncessant Enjoyment and Labour Thus likewise is the Paradisical blossoming in the Holy Bud of the Divine Pregnatress Where the Plants of Holy Souls stand as in a sweet odoriserous Meadow by one another And all is as a perpetual Love-combate or Wrestling-delight A blooming of fair and curious Colours in the Beauty of Gods Virgins An Harmony of excellent Heart-chearing Musick from their sweet Voices A pleasant ravishing Smell of Odorates in their Holy Breath A continual pleasant taste of Love in their Divine Kisses And a full Frnition of their Vertues as being the Productions of the Blessed Deity in the pure Garden of Everlasting Pleasure and Joy The Prince of Salem had a fair Vineyard in the Fields of Eden He set out the Vineyard unto Keepers of the Humane Race Every one for the Fruits and Prosits thereof was to bring and pay a thousand Pieces of Coelestial Gold My Vineyard which is mine by free Gift is before me saith the Virgin the Companion of the Holy Soul Thou O Price of Salem must have a thousand And they that keep the Fruit thereof five hundred Pounds or five Talents Now O Man dost thou know where to sind thy Souls Satisfaction Beware of despising the means A Sesvant being sorced to stay with a Master against
Images upon Tables and made Law to distinguish every Mans Propriety from another But those Laws being not able to Bridle them they at last invented there was a Just Eye in secret that observed every Unjust Action That so they might be afraid to steal or commit Fornication Answ That God made Man upright and that Man found out many Inventions part of which was the Languages now extant we acknowledge But withal we affirm That the first Language was a Natural Mental Speech Let such an Atheist read History For he shall find there is no History that shews the Manners of any People but it shews also or gives a hint of their Religion The Voice of every Animal likewise calling to the Lord of Nature when any sudden fear seizeth upon them proves a Superiour Power There was one told his Friend That when he was young he thought there was no Hell in the Conscience but now being old he began to doubt what if there be one Now seeing the Atheist pleads That as the Flame of an Extinguished Candle dissolves and loseth it self in the Circumambient Air even so the Taper of Life vanisheth into pure AEther and is no more when the Law of Union of Body and Soul is violated and broken Second Spira Answ Here some Atheist may perhaps acknowledge as Reason will force any one that hath common Sense that there is a First Mover Which is demonstrated in all things So many Fountains from one Trunk or Bole which is the Ocean So many Branches from one Root So many Members receiving a Radical Life from one Heart so many Stars receiving Light from one Fountain of Light the Sun But seeing he will not acknowledge that God will be so cruel to be the Cause of an Everlasting Hell to the Soul of Man I acknowledge the same thing Yet there is a Hell and that Eternally For if it were not so Man would have destroyed the whole Creation ere this time in which there is such an an excellent Order and sympathetical Harmony between Superiours and Inferiours between Bodies and their Spirits and rifled the Closet of him that sits Eternally upon the Fire the Root of every Being As God made all Visibies of Nothing or rather out of his own invisible Essence So thou O Chymical Atheist makest of the whole nothing § 8. By Religion and Dreams AGain The Atheist asserteth That Pride and Humility are but one thing only they differ a little in Circumstances For Pride looks upon all its desired Accomplishments to be behind i◠Humility expects its Perfections as being before it not yet attained And so Humility is a kind of Pride saying to it self Thou shalt be advanced to Honour some time or other Answ But let him know that right Honour is an Advancement of Love For in Heaven there is not the least defire of Revenge As may be seen in the Son of God himself than whom none is more Honourable yet He is that which helpeth and saveth Nature which is gone out of its Order and becomes a Servant of Servants stooping to Death for the sake of Mankind The Babe is greatest in Heaven But Honour that rigorously ruleth by Force is no Honour He is not long feared that is not always loved It is true God alone by his Power must keep up the Wall and Fence of the Gulf between the two Natures to keep them in Harmony which Harmony he himself is in the Abstract Or else the Fire of Hell would break in and destroy the being of the first Essence in the Love-World which was without beginning But the Atheist yet imagines that because he dreams of frightful things and the Idea's that he hath of them impress afflicting Resentments upon his Spirits as if they were real but when he awakes he saith all vanishes Second Spira Answ We will suppose a Man in a terrible Melancholick Dream and that the said man should Eternally remain in that Condition wherein the Soul is as really disturbed frighted and put out of Harmony as if he had been awake That is The Fright that he is assaulted with is real to the Imagination of the Soul as may be perceived that it many times trembles and continues in a trembling posture after waking a long time Now you will say all vanishes and passeth into Silence when the Soul recovers it self by the outward Senses Answ But suppose it had no such recourse as to seiz upon the Body and wake it when it is so exceedingly affrighted to rid it self out of the supposed imminent Danger Suppose it were then in the Sleep of Death and the Body will not be waked where shall the Body seek shelter then The temporal Sleep being a true figure of Death even the first Death or sleep of the Body in the Grave And as the Soul is sensible of a real Joy or Sorrow in Dreams and Visions So also in Death why may not it feel the same Seeing the Soul by its creative Imagination frames either an Heaven or Hell to it self and is really sensible thereof without the use of the material Organs while the Body is incapable of Sense in sleep or which is all one dead to the Natural Functions of the External Sensoriums So that it is very clear and plain against all Atheistical Deniers of the Souls Immortality even an Eternal Testimony for Gods being and the Souls everlasting abode either in Life or in feeling Deaths Property called Pain or Hell that there is no material thing that can hurt or afflict the Soul either in Sleep or Death but only its own Imagination or Turba which the Worm of the Soul causeth Thus in Dreams the Passion wherewith the Soul is affected seems a Shadow of a Fancy after waking So the matter of this outward World seems and is indeed nothing more than a Shadow in respect of the two Real Substantial Eternal Worlds For when this World was made or rather New-modelled or formed yet there was no new matter under the Eternal Sun §. 9. By Love's Passion AGain The Atheist objecteth The Irrational Animals dream as well as Man And therefore the Phantacy that fancieth Images in sleep is Temporary Answ In the Creation of the World there was no new thing done but what was done in the Eternal Mystery before in the Nonage of Time And all Created Beings will eternally abide in the Figure and Shadow Yet in the Stilness For when we say Beasts have no immortal Souls it must be meant they enter back again or downwards into the Root of their First Constitution That is Though they are now out of their first Order yet the Breach thereof shall not be imputed to them because it was not their Fault but Mans and they sprung forth each according to his kind or Eternal Property in the Seed of their Souls of Life so they shall be manifest Eternally in the same But the Atheist objecteth still That the Conceit of the Soul is very deceitful and as unconstant as Proteus For
if the Mind strongly conceits a Heaven to it self the Mystery of the same conceit unknown makes an intension of its Heaven We often see that Love after Marriage grows Languid Whereas the same Love before the Enjoyment of its wished Object was so elevated and wrapt up in the said Object that it counted the same a seeming Heaven But many times two Lovers who have attained to the Blossom of the Tincture of Venus insect one another by their burning Lust so that they become Deadly Enemies even these very same Persons who were ready to impart the Heart within them one to the other if it could be done without Deaâ—h And tho' sometimes the Complexion of others are more Noble and still some Love remains yet it is not always so pure and faithful as the first As may be seen by Experience that many in Wedlock hunt after Whoredom and wandring Beds more than they did when in a single state Answ The Original of Love and Propagation proceedeth from the hiddennefs of the Virgin All things grasp after the Virgin and that made the Spirit of this World grasp and reach after Man because he found the Virgin in Man before the Fall And when a young Man loves a Maid he thinks to find the Virgin in the said Maid but when he Unites with her and toucheth the Tincture of Venus but cannot get the Virgin in his Possession then followeth a less Esteem of the Felicity which he thought to find in her §. 10. By the Seven Properties SAy what you will saith the Atheist He that hath Skill to rule his own Spirit may draw his Affections and Fancy to what Object he pleaseth Answ Ask thy own Mind why will not it give over Imagination and lie in Silence Ask a Mad-man why he will not stop the Wheel of his Mind that rolleth about too violently Ask a Man why he will not in sleep dream of Comedies And enquire whether any of these have power over this Spirit of Phantacy to retain the Spirit by his own Power It is true both in the Light and in the Wrath-World which soever of the Seven Properties are predominant in the seven fold Wheel of the Eternal Mind that will by and by be lowermost But in the Love Kingdom one Property desireth not to expel the rest out of the Harmony or to move and turn the Wheels backward This is demonstrated in all things especially in Musick For tho' there be insinite Varieties of Notes and Tunes according to the Altering and Transposings of the seven Sounds yet tho' the Saturnine or Martial String may be predominant while an Instrument is dexterously handled the rest by a secret sympathy will bind them in a Melodious Harmony And this is also observable That the end of a Tune hath some Resemblance to the beginning there-thereof to shew that when the Harmony of the Sphears or Stars of Time shall find its beginning again then will it be swallowed up in an Eternal Consort of the Properties Excepting those Essences who have spoiled their Materials or rather changed the form of their Breasts according to the Pattern of which the Instrument is to be tuned It may also be seen in the Variety of other Sensibles For in taste there are many thousand Varieties yet if the seven Properties be rightly and artificially mixed tho' the Saturnine property be predominant yet the other Properties will bind it in an equal Accord The like is understood of other qualities too tedions to enumerate Thus by what hath been said it is clear that a terrible Dream comes from the multitude of vain Business and a Fool in his Eternal Melancholly Fit of Angnith snores in a deep sleep of Despair and sees horrid Spectiums that imposeth real Punishment upon his Soul according to his Lot and Degree And to answer the aforesaid Objection it is consest that when a Man is in love with a Maid the Object engaged to his Noblest Passion her Idea being as it were stamped upon his Spirit with the Character of Sympathy Tho' you proser him another Maid far more worthy in Beauty and Nobility than the former yet none will content his Fancy or stop the current of his Passion but the Enjoyment of her to whose Service he was made Votary before or Death Even so the Soul being in love and enamoured with his fair Virgin though you proffer him all the External Joys and Pleasures that the World can afford yet the Soul doth slight all and contemn them in comparison of the Virgins Love Answ Tho' this External Love hath some Analogy if it be pure and Faithful to the love between the Soul and Gods pure Virgin yet there is a difference between the Phantacy and Imagination in its pursuit after divers Objects The Object makes the Difference For if the Soul takes a Shadow for a Substance there 's the Deceit and the great Error And so as one said Ow. Epigr. If chaste true Love be accounted the greatest Terrestrial Happiness what may we suppose Calestial Love to be CHAP. III. The Souls Allegiance §. 1. There is a Divine Law NOw the Question is Whether the Soul be left loose or dissolute to do that which is right in the sight of his own Eyes not subject to a Law not enjoyned to obey his King by an Oath of Allegiance and so left open to hostile Powers who may allure him and draw him to the Traps of headlong Ruine and Destruction And by this means Religion may degenerate into Sceptism Answ It must be confessed There is a Perfect Law of Liberty but it is in subjection to Gods Spirit in Love not by a slavish Fear For instance A little Child before he can go must be under Guardians and not permitted to creep where he will But when he is so educated that he knows how to comply to the beck of his Guardian or Tutor he is let loose to go where he will and yet he will not do what his Tutoâ— hath forbidden him if he be of a pliable Disposition efpecially having had experience of the Crosness of another Tutor or Master Tho' our Ancestor went beyond his Bounds in a like Case Again Here ariseth agreat Question Where lieth the great Mistake that many a Soul must wander at a Fugitive and never find a Lodge of quiet Repose Is there a Counter-Law in Eternity that forbids him to find Ease O no The Antient Law of Eternity doth strictly command the Soul to give the Souls Spirit the thing that he longs after the Object that he earnestly desireth There never was any other Law in Eternity nor ever will any be repugnant to this Feed on the Tree of Eternal Joy and pure pleasant Life Thou mayest eat of all the fair and pleasant Trees in the Garden of Eternal Delight Yea thou must eat of them But touch not the Tree of Pain opposed to Pleasure upon penalty of feeling Pain without end or of entering into the Property of Death that is Thou
Man as for his Mouth for the Preservation of the Individuum and the Propagation of the Species and yet the Appetite of the Fool is never filled For what hath the Wise Conceited more than the Fool What hath the Poor and Vagabond Beggar that faith he knoweth how to walk before the Living Bâ—tter is the sight of the Eyes and real Enjoyment of the thing longed for then the Vagabond wandring of the Desire This is Vanity and a grievous Vexation of the Spirit of the Soul That which hath been is named already And it is known that it is Man who is the second Angel Neither may be contend as Lucifer did with the Deity who is mightier than he and Cross the natural Inclination of his Soul by forcing it to change it into the contrary Property and so to desire on Opposition of both Seeing that there be many things that increase Vanity which is no real Felicity to the Soul what is Man the better if he try the false Tree and Poyson himself as Lucifer For what Fool knoweth what is good for Mans Perfection in this Life all the Day of his vain Life which he spendeth as a Shadow or a Fancy For who shall tell him what shall be after him under the Sun of Vanity Nay though he should know that out of his Ashes should arise a vertuous holy Property yet that will not bring him back to the Living and immortal Nature §. 9. And hateth his own Flesh AGain I considered all Travel and every right Work that for this a Man is envied of his Neighbour Lucifer This Envy is also Vanity for it will not prosper And it increaseth the Vexation of his proud Spirit The Fool foldeth his Hands together and rather then stir to find that which his Soul desireth he Eats his own Flesh There is one alone and there is not a second Yea he hath neither Successor nor Companion Yet there is no End of all his Labour after something that the Soul wanteth not Neither is the Eye of his Mind satisfied no more then the Grave or Horse-Leâ—ch with vain Riches Neither saith he for whom do I labour and bereave my Soul of that which it longs after This is a great Vanity and a sore fruitless Labour Then after all I commended Mirth and true Pleasure because a Man hath no better thing under the Temporal or Eternal Sun then to Eat the pure Manna and Drink the Nectar that God hath appointed him and chear up his Heart and be Merry for that shall abide with him of his Labour all the days of his Eternal Life which God hath appointed and given him under the Sun of Immortality Though I said before that there was an unalterable Law or Rule of Eternity by which all Eternal Creatures Angels and Men must be governed yet it is not meant that this Law was any other than a Law of natural Love It was no Imposition contrary to the Inclination of the said Eternal Essences For to speak properly a Law is given to shew Transgression But it was a Law of Love and Sympathy which they by natural Instinct observed as naturally as every Creature loves Life and shuns Death It was the straight Rule of Eternal Life and Joy From which if any Eternal Essence swerve and change his Form and become Crooked it cannot be ever made straight again And that which is wanting to the composing of an Harmony cannot be numbred in the Election of God It was the Law of pure Philautia Love thy self and God whose Image thou thy self art Indulge thy Fortunate Genius defraud him not This Law was not indifferent but necessary and therefore may well be termed an Eternal Law §. 10. No Middle State BUt perhaps some may say I desire no such sensibility or Knowledge of extraordinary Joy and Pleasure in the enjoyment of my Life If I could but avoid Pain and Death I desire no more Or if I could be annihillated again I would be content I labour not after the Promotion of Pleasure in the highest intenseness or degree that my Soul is capable to partake of which this Law enjoyns me to I desire but a little Corporal Pleasure and that but for a time in this Life I Answer thou shalt not be left to thy Choice herein For thou art strictly bound to avoid Death and love thy Life Aut Coesar aut nullus Either give me my Desire or nothing Saith the Soul and for this end thou wast Created and Begotten to increase the Joy of thy Mind to its highest Pitch as a Play-fellow in the Scene of Heaven And yet not so much for the sake of others as if the Divine Joy were not perfect without Thee but chiefly for thy own sake and for the sake of the Divine Prisoner within Thee who longs to be released out of Captivity For it is but just and fit that if any will not Dance with the Celestial Incolist's in the Divine Sport of Love but murmureth and is discontented He shall be excommunicated and turned out of the Society as a Disturber of the harmless Peace and Love-sport CHAP. IV. The Souls Rebellion §. 1. The Fools Appetite NOW then O Man I will ask Thee a Question Dost thou think thou camest to be a Creature into the World purposely to Eat and Drink and to take thy Pleasure Thou wilt say No perhaps But I say Yes That was the Cause thou camest into this World and only so thou glorisiest thy Creator who sent for Thee out of the Abyss and Womb of Eternity This was his beginningless Law to Angels and Manpreceding Essences and this same Law will stand for Man-succeeding Creatures in the endless Eternity if any shall ever be Created by the Creator hereafter when the Humane World shall be consummated For as we said before All the Labour of Man is for his Mouth and his holy digesting Throat if he knows how to feed on the Tree of Eternal Life and Pleasure in eating and drinking and sporting in the Angelical Pastime and gathering of Flowers in Paradise And yet the Appetite of the Fool who misused this Pleasure and contracted upon himself the Disease of the Greedies is not filled His Canine Appetite or Orexis is never satisfied Again another Fool longs after strange Heterogeneous Objects which tend not to the satisfaction of the Appetite and are not proper Food for him And gives his Money for that which is not Bread and his Labour for that which profiteth not his Soul and the well-being of himself What is Man the better for them What would this Fool have He knows not himself He wills this He refuses that He wracks himself and his own Spirit And what is this but much Pains to little purpose And though it be true that it is a piece of Wisdom to reserve the best till last And he is not wise that suffers himself to be condemned by the poor silly Ant who knows by an instinct of Nature or Law of Creation his time
and laies up or provides in the Summer against Winter And he is a Fool that will fare above his Purse to day and want to morrow and eats and drinks beyond the Power of Nature and thereby gets a Surfeit or Disease yet there is no need for Man to gather up more then needs seeing there be many things that increase Vanity and Emptiness and meer husks not proper Food for the Soul §. 2. Trust not in Vncertainties SOme may say Wisdom is good with an Inheritance and by it there is profit to them that shall see the Sun after him his Successors For Wisdom is a Desence And Money or Treasures being Price of necessary things is a defence against the Winter and Forreign-Invaders from Lucifers Dominion Answer The Covetous Man nourisheth an old grudge against God belike For he cannot trust God for Maintenance Though the right Frugal Man be a wise Man yet it is a folly for such a Man when he hath gathered sufficiency for himself to live in the right and natural order of Health and true Pleasure to torment himself too much in heaping up and gathering into a Bag with Holes for his supposed Successors Except he knew that his Successor who should enjoy the Fruit of his Labour would be a Wise Man That is One that will know how to manage those Treasures that are provided for him and fulfil the Proverb One Soweth and another Reapeth that both he that Soweth and he that Reapeth may rejoyce together in an holy Sport of Eternal Love in the Lord. But how can he tell that whether his Successor be a Wise Man or a Fool to whom he shall leave all his Labour What tho' Money or Treasures be a Defence yet the Excellency of Knowledge is that true Wisdom which knows how to use them giveth Eternal Life to them that have it that they may Eternally enjoy the Fruit of their Labour §. 3. The Law-givers Example I Was in Paradise chief Regent over the Essences and Animals in Eden when I dressed the fair Flower-producing Garden in the pure springing Odours and delightfulness of the Spiritual Sences When I made me pleasant Gardens I said in my heart Come on I 'll prove thee with Mirth Therefore enjoy Pleasure And behold if not managed with true Wisdom it is also Vanity I said of temporary laughter It is mad And of mutable mirth What doth it but presage a following fit of Sorrow I sought in mine heart to give my self unto the mirth of Coelestial Wine yet acquainting mine Heart with Wisdom and to lay hold on Folly if Folly were therein that I might see what was that Good for the Sons of Men my Brethren which they should do under their own Heaven all the Days of their Immortal Life I made me great Works in Eden I builded me Houses and many pleasant Maâ—sions in the Forest of Paradise I erected fair Bowers and recreative Walks and Galleries I planted me Vineyards where pure Grapes might be produced I made me fair Gardens and Orchards and I planted Trees in them of all kinds of Fruit pleasant to behold and good for the Everlasting Food of Man I made me Pools of Water to water therewith as with Coelestial Dew the Wood that bringeth forth Trees for my fair Building and for Food I gat me Servants Angel-Guardians and Maiden-Virgins And had Maidens born in my Coelestial House Also I had great possessions of all sorts of Animals which were brought to me to receive their Natural Names according to their genuine Nature and to be in Subjection to my Authority above all the Monarchs yea Lucifer himself that were in Eden before me I gathered me also Silver and Gold the Coelestial precious Metals and the peculiar Treasures of Kings and of Angelical Provinces and Hiâ—rarchies I got me Singers Virgin-Siâ—gers with their ravishing Voices â—he Delights of 〈◊〉 Sâ—ns of Men as Musical Instruments and that of all soâ—tâ— For the workmanship of my Tabrets of my Pipes inâ— Hâ—rps and Viols were prepared in me in the Day that I first appeared in Eden All precious Stones were my Covering and Ornament wherewith I walked up and down in Puriâ—y in the midst of the Siones of Fire §. 4. His Wisdom I Was the Anointed Cherub and God had set me so And so I was great and my Grandeur encreased more than all the Princes that were in Pardise in the Throne of the third World before me Also my true Wisdom remained with me And whatsoever my Eyes desired I kept not from them I with held not my Heart from any Joy For my Heart rejoyced in all my Labour And this was my Portion of all my Labour and Sport Then I looked on all the Works that my Hands had wrought and on the Labour that I had laboured to do And behold all seemed Vanity and Vexation of my Spirit and a wracking of the Spirit of my Successor Adam And there was like to be no profit to him under the Sun of his Third Principle And so I turned my self to behold Wisdom and Madness being a deprivation of the Heavenly Senses and Folly For what can the Man do that cometh after the Royal King of Eden Even that which hath already been That which was done by the holy Angels if he continue in my Wisdom Then I saw that Wisdom excelleth Folly as much as the Light of Heaven excelleth the dark and painful Fire of Hell The Wise Mans Eyes are in his Head and walketh by my Light but the Fool walketh in Darkness and will not bring his Deeds to my Light And yet I my self perceived also that one Event happeneth to them all §. 5. Travail appointed to Man THen said I in my Heart As it happeneth to the Fool so it happeneth even to me Then why was I more wise Then said I in my Heart That this is also Vanity Yea it is a miserable Lot that both the Fool and the Wise should become so subject to Vanity that they must both dye the Corporal Death And while they groan to be delivered from the Bondage of Corruption they must either beget a Child that will when this Corporal Death as pangs of a travailing Femaâ—e seizes upon them either comfort them concerning their Work Labour and Travail and the Toil of their Hands which God hath given to all the Sons of Men to be exercised therewith and concerning the Ground which the Lord hath Cursâ—d Or else they will Eternally remain in this Labour and Pangs and dye the Eternal Death with the imperfect Embryo in their Bellies and shall never be disburthened or cast out their Sorrows In the External World there is no remembrance of the Wise more than the Fool for ever Seeing that which is now in respect in the Days to come shall all be forgotten in the other World And all things are mutabâ—e And how dieth the wise Man As the Fool Therefore I hâ—ted the outward Life and the Life of the salse Birth Because the Work that
is wrought under the Sun of Vanity is grievous unto me For all is Vanity and Vexation of the pure Spirit of the Soul Yea I hated all my Labour which I had taken under the Tempoâ—al Sun because I should leave it unto the External Man who shall supply my Place in Eden And who knows whether he shall be a Wise Man or a Fool â—â—t shall he have Rule over all my Labour wherein I have laboured and wherein I have shewed my self wise under both Suns This is also the Vanity of mutable and fading things §. 6. Christs Sorrows THerefore I went about to despair of all the Labour which I took under the Sun of Muâ—ability For there is a Divine Man whose Labour is in Wisdom and in Knowledge and in Equity Yet to an Earthly Man that hath not laboured therein shall he leave it for his Portion This is also Vanity and a great Evil Yea it is a great piece of Injustice and Abuse of the Kindness of the Divine Man who undertâ—ok all this Travail for the sake of the Earthly For what hath the Divine Mâ—n of all hit Labour and of the Vexation of his Hearâ— wherein he hath laboured under the Sun For all his Days are Sorrows and his Travel Grief And he is a Man of Afflictiâ—ns and acquainted with Vexaâ—ions yea his Heart taketh not Rest in the Night of his Anguish which he feeleth in his continual waiting upon his Companion for his Companions sake And what Thanks hath he What return of an Acknowledgment of his Love hath he from many a Man but to add Affliction to his Sorrow This is also Vanity or rather a great Cruelty which will be imputed to such ingrateful Men. The time will come that all the Days of their Eternity shall be Sorow and their Travail endless Grief weeping and gnashing of Teeth Their Hearts shall never take a sweet Repose and Rest in the Night of their Wo because of their Worm which will Everlastingly gnaw them like a Fury in the Conscience §. 7. Mans Ignorance NAy Let such cruel Men use all the Skill they can in this World yet they shall not prosper The Race is not to them be they never so Swift The Battel is not to them be they never so Strong But they will be taken at last by more subtile Powers in an evil time as Animals in a Snare And so become subject to Fate or Fortune as passing by and slighting the good Fortune which God hath appointed for them And Fortune being now their Goddess Ruleth and Governeth them making Sport with them just as rude Boys make sport with any thing that they can master when they go about to kill it and put it to as much pain as they can Thus we see a good or bad Fortune happens to all Good Fortune is called the Mind or Astrum of the Deity And according as Mans Manners be here such a God he will have to sport with him either in anger or in Love in the other World O Man heware here Thus for want of Divine Skill in the super-coelâ—stial Astrology of discerning the true Time and good Fortune which God hath appointed for every Man that comes into this World the Misery of many a Man is great upon him and he becomes most wretched and cast into an Eternal Hell Hell What 's that An inward â—iâ—e and I orment in the Bowels puâ—â—ing him to an unspeakable Pain because a good Foâ—tâ—â—e oâ— Conciâ—ion of Serenity and Satisfaction once proferâ—d unto Man was neglected or slighted Fâ—r if the 〈◊〉 Liâ—â—t or Candle had not come to direct them iâ—to tâ—e â—ay out of Blindness and Ignoraâ—ce theâ—e could â—e no Hell And if a good Foâ—tune had not been appointed for every Man there could be no Vexation of Spirit or Torment for the loss of that which was impossible to be obtained But now because his place in Heaven stands empty there 's his Hell and there 's his Wo. Man also by his wilful Blindness stands in his own Light and becometh more ignorant still while he will not use his Wit and Skill with all his Might to do whatever the hand of his Power sinds to do by Divine Assistance and the helping hand of God reached forth in mercy to him in order to his future well-being and everlasting happy Estate For also he loseth his Senses and Reason and knows not so much as how to distinguish the true Form of Propâ—rties from the false by the Skill of Divine Logick which is infused into every Man if he be a Man Nay he knows not the FORM of his own Soul viz. God He understands not what God in the Abstract is viz The Pure Nature shining in the Soul But he seeks to find him in the Concrete and cannot reach him As the Philosopher said Whoever seeth God seeth nothing diverse or heterogeneous from himself Further Ignorant Man knows not how to give a Species its right Genus He makes Fleshly Pleasure to depend on the pure Nature And therein the grosly Mistakes as in many other things too tedious here to enumerate §. 8. And Mortaliâ—y ANother Folly is to do that first which should be done last To do that to Excess which should be confined to a Mean For in Musick the Mean is the sweetest Note To take care for a temporal before an Eternal Inheritance is a like folly For Pleasure I mean temporal Joy is not Sin but the manner of using it in a wrong way and manner makes it a sin and a breach of the Antient Order Then let us not rank the Excess of Vertue in the Predicament of Vice Thus Man because he will not give to his Soul the thing that he craves after makes his Soul an Eternal Beggar or Craver and yet shall never procure the thing craved Here 's the Wo Here is the Misery Here 's the Hell Wo to thee O Humane Land when thy King is a Beggar and an ignorant Child And thy Princes eating in the Morning of their Eternity devour all and are in want when the time of Hunger comes But blessed art thou O Microcâ—smical City when thy King is the Son of the Noble Deity and thy Princes eat of the Tree of Life in due Season for their Eternal Health and Joy of their Everlasting Lives Blessed art thou O Immortal Man that Livest for ever in this pure Life But cursed for ever art thou O Immortal Man that choosest to dâ—e or to be for ever feeling Death's Property which is Eternal Pain This therefore in short is the sum of this Eternal Law Eat not of Poyson where Two Properties strive for Mastery Lut feed on the Tree of the Joyous Life O Man King live for ever Eat drink and make thy self morry in the Divine Sport And satisfie thy Mind 〈◊〉 Eternal Delights for there is no Pleasure after the 〈◊〉 Death which is a Living Death and an Eternally dying-Dying-Life No Wisdom nor Skill to sind this Life in the Crave of Anguish whither
others Societies and Embraces as previous to their future Felicity the Soul oftentimes shews the inconstancy of Lovers and as a rolling Stone that gathers no Moss cuts of the increase of Love in the Bud and so playing fast and loose does and undoes gives the slip to the Virgin though she remains faithful and constant on her part For the Soul hankers after other Lovers and dissembling as the Proverb saith Holds with Hounds and runs with the Hare And thus hunting after other Lovers is never satisfied but Conceits there is more Pleasure hidden in other pretended Virgins of the Land after whom he gazeth and by whose forged Beauty he is smitten though they have no real Beauty their Faces being painted with Artificial â—olours to deceive and so the Soul imagines the Enjoyment of one of these is a Heaven of an higher Degree than the Virgins Paradise And so Heaven as the Atheist saith though falsly were not Heaven if its Mystery were known I say the Soul often nourisheth foolish Fancies in it self and because he finds the Virgin or Pleasant Vertue too easie to be attained according to the false Epicure Meus est amor huic similis Nam Transvolat in medio posita fugentia captat Therefore he aims at those who seem more rare and harder to be attained in his Judgment Dis-esteems her Gifts and undervalues her Graces But here his Judgment is blinded For he seeth no form or comeliness in the Virgin nor any thing in her that might make her worthy to be desired And becomes gradually infected with false Love He seeth and looketh upon another pretended Delilah or Maid far more fair then God's Daughter and endued in his Opinion with rarer and nober Qualities Thus the higher the Souls attainments and enjoyments of the pure Virgin hath been the more basely he becomes degenerated For as dead Flyes cause the most precious Ointment of the Apothecary to cast forth a most nauseous smell So doth a little Folly him that was in a high Degree of Reputation for Wisdom and honourable Enjoyment of God's Virgin-Child §. 2. The Baits of Sin A Wise Mans Heart is at his Right Hand toward Heaven but a Fools Heart is at his Left whose Rumb is Hed-wards Yea also when he that is a Fool walketh in this way his Wisdom which he once had faileth him and he saith to every one he is a Fool for adds he I am deepty in Love with such and such a Delilah But O thou immortal Man wake not a sleeping Lioness let the Hellish Properties rest still O Son of Man look before thou leapest For the Abâ—s is deep which is the Womb of the false Whoâ—e Keep thou the Covenant and live for ever and the Law of Wisdom as the Apple of thine Eye which suffers not thee to be bewitched by gazing after Vanity Bind her Vows upon thy Fingers and write them upon the Tables of thine Heart say unto fair Wisdom Thou art my Sister and my Spouse And call pleasant Vertue thy near Kinâ—â—â—oman That she may keep thee from the Whore and the Stranger Who is not Kin to thee in the Divine Linage even from her that can flatter with her Serpents Tongue She is the Serpents Daughter An â—vil Crow an evil Egg. For at the Windows of my House I looked through the Casement of the Creation And I behold among the humane Fools there was a young Soul void of Wisdom passing through the Street near the Angle where two ways lead to the Eternal Life and Death he went on the Left Hand the way to the Whores House In the Twilight in the Evening When the black and dark Night at last covered him and thus he began to be blinded And there met him a Woman in the attire of an Harlot suâ—tiller than this Fool She is a Stranger at home but overmuch acquainted in the Streets of Deceit Her loud Words are heard in the broad-ways She never wears her Eyes but when she goes abroad Now she is without now she is in the Street and lies in wait in every turning So she is a Saint abroad and a Devil at home She caught him invergled him and bâ—ssed him and impudently spake to him I have Peace-offerings with me to appease the Justice of God and to stifle the secret Convictions of thy Conscience This day have I paid my Vows and have vowed to love Thee Therefore came I forth to meet thee and have found thee unexpected I have decked my Bed with coverings of Tapestry With carved Works according to thy enlarged Phancy and with fine Linnen of seeming Innocency I have persumed my Nest with Myrrh Aloes and Cinnamon Come and let us take our fill of Love until the Morning dawn upon us if ever Let us selace our selves with Pleasures until the Eternal Aurora appears though perhaps never For the Man of the Family is not at home The Spirit of this World my Husband is gone a long Journey This Husband she hath married only as a Cloak for her filthy Lust He hath taken a Bag of Treasures with him to wait upon the Creator his Master whose Embassadour he is and wilâ— come home at the day appointed With her much fair Speech she caused him to yield with the flattering of her Lips she forced him He goes after Her straightway as an Ox to the slanghter or a Feel to the Correction of the Stocks Till a Dart strike through his Heart as a Bird that is caught in the snare and is taken in an evil Net not knowing that it is for his Eternal Life §. 3. Seven-fold Vice BUT O Son of Man consider let not thy Heart be taken with her incline not towards her Paths For she hath cast down many wounded Yea many Valiant Heroes who came from Heaven have been slain by her Her House is a Cave leading to Hell going down to the dark Chambers of Eternal Death And as this Pestilent Whore bawleth in every Corner to watch and inveigle Souls So also the fair Virgin cryeth in the Gates of every Humane City Though with a far different Voice for her Voice is a still small Voice and yet it is heard in quiet by the Wise more than the cry of him that ruleth among Fools She hath erected a House in Heaven to entertain her Bridegroom she hath hewen out seven Pillars whereon are engraven the seven Rewards of Vertue or the Goods of Fortune She hath sent forth Maidens the five senses Virgins to invite Souls She cryeth upon the high Places of Mans City Yet being despised she for the Souls sake invites him Whoso is simple let him come in hither how long O scorner wilt thou scorn me who wish thee well O Fool how long wilt thou hate that which is for thy good Because I have called and thou wouldst not answer though thou didst hear my Voice in thy Conscience Because I have piped to thee and thou wouldst not Dance And I mourned for thee and thou hast not sympathized
of the Spirit of the World destroyeth his own Soul A wound and dishonourable stigmatized Mark shall he get which shall never be wiped away in this World or in that to come For Jealousie is the rage of a Rival Therefore he will not spare in the Day of Vengeance he will not regard any Ransom neither will he rest Content though thou givest all that thou art worth Neither will the Spirit of the Soul be reconciled though thou shouldst give him all the Substance of thine House for a Bribe §. 10. Misery the End of Vice NOW the Covenant is a Lamp and the Law of Loving the Virgin is Eternal Life And the reproof of her Instruction is the high Way to Heaven When thou goest she shall lead thee When thou sleepest she shall keep thee When thou art awake she shall talk with thee in Divine Contemplation By her thy Days shall be multiplied upon the Eternal Earth and the Years of thy immortal Life shall be endless Therefore keep thy Heart true to the Virgin with all Diligence for out of it are the issues of Life and Death Believe not the Whore in her flattering Speech for she is a Lyar when she cries Stoln Waters are sweet and a secret Banquet in a Corner of Darkness is pleasant Be sure that her Cave leads to the Shadow of Death and her Guests go to the Depths of Hell And a desperate wo is pronounced against them that delight to lurk in the holes of Guilt and despise the light of Purity lest their Deeds should be reproved Come to my Tavern saith she It is indeed a House of Sin but not of Darkness For our Candles and hellish Squibs never go out It is like a Country near the Frozen Zone as clear at Midnight as at Noon Beware therefore O humane Souldier For armed Mars doth not so much wound thee as this naked Venus The Sorceresses Mouth drops as the Honey-comb and her Lips are smoother then Oil but her end is as Wormwood it will cost the Soul that loves her many a bitter Tear Her Instruments are sharp as a two edg'd Sword It will cut the Conscience to the Heart Her Feet go down to the Abyss And her steps lead to the Hell of Eternal horror Lest thou ponder the Paths of Life Her ways are moveable that thou canst not know them Remove thy way therefore far from her And come not nigh the Doors of her House CHAP. VII The Virgins Espousal §. 1. Reconcilement IF the Soul recant and change his Mind Fair Virgin-Vertue bearing no grudge in her pure Mind welcometh and entertains him again most joyfully unless he be stigmatized with the Disease of the Stews and so renews their mutual Acquaintance And the Virgin wandring in her Shepherds Rural Fields The long absence of her late Beloved had grieved her Spirit She had enquired of Passengers did they see a Shepherd passing along that way They answered No It was but a little that I passed from them saith she even from the pretended Guides into Paradise but I found him whom my Soul loveth I held him and would not let him go until I had perswaded him to come into my Virgin-Mothers Habitation in Heaven and into the Chamber of her that conceived me of the Divine Seed Who is this said the neighbouring Angels who were Proxime to the Deity as Princes before a Monarch Virgin that cometh out of the Wilderness of Wo and Despair leaning upon the Breasts of her Beloved I raised thee up said he under the Tree of Life there thy Virgin Mother brought thee forth in the upper Paradise There she conceived thee as an Holy Birth of Newness of Life in the Womb of her Virgin-Purity I charge you O ye Daughters of the Holy City said she by the Roes of Paradise and by the Hinds of Edens fair Fields that ye stir not up nor awake my Beloved until he please for he is very weary after his Journey and long Travel upon the Mountains of Vanity And requires a due time of Rest from his Labours and vain Wandrings And now the wearied Bees return home with laden Thighs The tired wandring Sheep that had forgotten their resting place have found their Fold of rest where they may lye down with the Leopards in a safe and quiet repose And now when I perceived how he admired my transcendant Beauty and the form of God in my aspect My Cheeks being comely with rows of precious Jewels and how I was adorned with Topazes and Rubies with Amethysts and Saphires with Diamonds and Gold I gave him a present of borders of Gold with knobs of Silver and the richest Gems For our Mountains are big with Mines and the Veins of our hidden Treasures are Infinite When my Royal Shepherd sits at my Table my Spikenard sends forth the Odours thereof Abundle of Myrrh is my welbeloved unto me My Pastoral Friend is unto me as a Cluster of Camphire in the Vineyards of Eden Because of the Savour of this pure Ointment wherewith I besprinkled thee thy new Name of Vertue is as heavenly Oil poured forth out of Golden Vials full of sacred Odours §. 2. Consecration of the Soul I Am the Holy Rose and the Lilly of the low Vallies As the Lilly among Thorns so is my Love said he among the Daughters of Vanity As the Apple-tree of Eternal Life among the Trees of the divided Properties in the Wood. So is my Beloved among the Sons of worldly Wisdom I sate down under his Shadow with great Delight and the Fruits of his rural Trees were sweet to my Taste He brought me to his Banqueting Arbor and his Banner over me was the Canopy of Love I am come said he into my Gardens my Sister I have led thee through a Wilderness my Spouse I have conducted thee into the Meadows of May Blessed be the Hour that first I saw thy Face I have brought thee to the Rivers of Milk and Honey which flow in this Land of Rest and Rural Refreshment Thou hast accompanied me my lovely Mate to the Mountains of Myrrh and the Holy Hills of Frankincense I have gathered my Flowers said I in the Meadows with my Aroma's in the Vallies Here in this perfect State of Holiness the Earth is not unburdened with Tillage neither is it wounded with Culture Come now said he O fair Virgin of Purity sit down with me under this Vine and under this Fig-tree where none can make us afraid And we will take a walk in the calm Evening in the cool of the Eternal Day and the Divine Springs and aquaeducts shall refresh our Spirits after our Journey Thy Breath is as the Odors of Myrrh as the pure gale of Refreshment upon my late-languishing Spirits Awake O. Eternallybreathing Spirit Come thou Divine Wind and blow upon the Garden of my longing Heart that the Spices thereof may flow out to the rejoycing of our Minds Come my fair one into my rural Garden and eat these pleasant Fruits I have gathered
now I repent from the bottom of my heart O be favourable to me and shew me some kindness remit that rigour which thou threatnest me with now at my last gasp where with I will pray Heaven to requite thee Keep thy thanks to feed thy hellish Brood saith the pure Mind This is but to gain the time because thou seest the thing I longed for is gone from me Thouhast prepared lying and corrupt Words to speak beforeme till the time be changed therefore there is but one Decree Either procure to me my dear Virgin and wash thy Blackmore's Skin white or thou shalt be utterly destroyed and thy House shall be made a Dunghil §. 10. The Soul 's Hellish Blasphemy BUt saith the Soul O be not so cruel and rigid She is unattainable she is taken into thy Rivals Favour It is impossible to substract a greater number from a lesser that I cannot do Only remit the penalty of this severe Law Nay saith the Noble Mind I must proclaim an Eternal War against thee For as thou hadst not Power over the false Spirit to retain the Spirit of thy Affections so neither hast thou power in the day of Eternal Death neither hath any one the Power to retain the Virgin when she is gone into her place and quite rejected And therefore I say There is no discharge in this War no redeeming of thee from the Fury of the bloody Souldiers and avenging Officers who will now cast thee into Prison Neither shall wickedness deliver them that have been all their time given to it Therefore O humane Soul think not that thou shalt escape and that the Spirit of the humane Soul shall die for the rest of the humane Commonwealth and come under the Lash for the loss of his dear Virgin for tho' thou shouldst give all the Substance of thine House and all that thou art worth to be reconciled to her it cannot be when the day of Grace is sinned out and that this Divine Essence shall suffer for thee No no this Divine Essence shall remain as an Image in a Looking-glass and thou shalt endure the Pain as being condemned by this said Essence who will arise again out of the Grave which thou hast digged for him and condemn thee as being thy Eternal Judge And here is seen what part suffers for where the sore is there will be the Hand And here begins the great and Hellish Blasphemy of a Soul in the real Tophet the Soul will gnaw his Tongue for pain and vexation and Revenge against the Spirit of the Soul as if he were in sault whereas himself was the cause of Bringing this tormenting Wo upon himself And now the dumb guilty Soul may be long at the Gate of the deaf Spirit who will not hear his Cries because he himself was lately as the deaf Adder who would nor hearken to the Charms of the Spirit charming never so wisely And struck his Conscience oft-times as dumb as a Sheep before the Shearer Yea the Soul will rave and rage as if he would tear the Deity it self in pieces And when a poysoned Arrow does light upon his Flesh he knowing not whence it comes he will receive the Blood into his hands flushing out and throw it up to the Abyss crying out O Almighty Power thou hast conquered me and so blaspheming dies the Eternal Death CHAP. IX The Souls Rest §. 1. Where is this Rest IF the Soul do but attain the End of his Journey which was appointed as the true final Cause of his Travail and Labour by the Creator then he becomes happy and not before The Sleep and Rest of the Labouring Soul is sweet whether he sleep little or much but the bundame of the covetous Rich and conceited Soul who conceits he needeth nothing as being not beholden to God will not suffer him to sleep and to take a quiet Nap of sweet Repose But where is this Rest to be found There 's the Question The Elements say It is not in us The Depth saith It is not in me Hell and Death say We have heard the Faâ—e thereof with our Ears There is a Path which the sâ—â—tillest Fowl knows not and which the quick sighted Vultures Eye hath not seen Nay let Man search and grope into every Corner and Cranny of the whole Creation yet he shall never find Rest for his Soul until he come and return to Virgin Vertue Gods fair Daughter his appointed and predestinated Spouse As the Stars and Astral Powers bear sway over Mortals so also the Minds of Men have a reflexive Influence upon the Starry Natures For Evil Minds by Sympathy or Simile attract the Evil Influences which infect the Air and so alight upon the first Authors Even as a Not oft-time generateâ—h within it self that which destroyeth it namely the Worm of an evil Influence In like manner also vertuous and holy Souls attract the good Influences of the Astral Properties by Sympathy Now who knoweth the Spirit of a Man that goeth upwards to his own natural Heaven and attracts the good and sweet Influences thereof For God with a lofty Mind did Man indue And bid him Heavens transcendent Glory view As being his Natural Scope and right Home But if any humane Soul approve not of this Form choosing a prone or downward Look and to be leaded with the guilt of an evil or guilty Conscience he shall sink down into the Abyss §. 2. Not God's Fault if missed THo' God commands the Soul to choose Life and Eternal Joy and let every Bird delight in his own Note which th Creator hath inspired into him to praise the Inspirer yet most Men choose Death and let them thank themselves But now Heaven is the appointed Home of Mans Soul And if the Soul miss to find his home there 's his Hell and there 's the Inverting of the Mind of God or frustrating of the Intent of the Almighty which makes the Wo and the Hell But some may say Hell was also appointed to some Men as Heaven was predestinated to others Answ Yes Hell was conditionally appointed to Adam and all his Posterity upon their slighting of Heaven But Heaven was Mans native Place or Home And thither he must return if the Causes of Man co-work and suit together in their genuine coherence And to say that Hell was the sinal Cause of some Mens Creation is absolute Blasphemy But as the younger Brother said in the Epigram Sum pauper non culpa mea c. It was not my Fault that I am poor but the Fault of my Parents who have not begotten me before my Elder Brother who had the Inheritance This is the case of the Fool that lays the Fault upon the Almighty Father of Mankind As it was affirmed by the old Heathen Polytheists that one Idol-God or Power could not undo what another did So it is true in this sense That whatsoever is made Crooked by the hellish Power can never be made Straight again no not by the Power
partake of her delightful Society and Communication as his dear Sister But Oh said she dost thou know who I am Look upon my Clarity and Excellency and the Majesty of my Glory Go home to thy study and think of something else Aim not too high This Attempt is too difficult for thee Thou art not worthy of me for I am the chaste Spouse of the Son of the Deity I never â—ill defile my self I will never consent to thy â—oolish desire Thereupâ—â— Lucifer being highly afâ—â—ented endeavoured to â—â—ce her to his unlawful â—â—re and would needs commiâ— a Rape upon her But 〈◊〉 as rescued by the Angels and carried into the Wilderness where she had a place prepared of God for Her Then Lucifer cast out the Flood of his Wrath and disgorged the Vomit of his Malice after her to devour her But the Earth helped the Virgin and swallowed up the Flood of his Envy and the escaped late Gods Pallace which God appointed for 〈◊〉 â—â—â—ctuary of Refuge §. 2. Luciser's Fall NOw Lucifer increasing the Infection of his Eyes by gazing upon her Beauty and letting out his Mind after her for a hellish end he importun'd her to look out at the Window of her Pallace and would needs perâ—wade her by all manner of smooth and flattering speeches to take a walk with him in the adjacent Groves of Paradise She still disswaded him from such a foolish Attempt of false Lust saying Be but content and I will cloath thee with my Jewels and the Ornaments of my excelling Beauty But be assured I will never consent to be Desâ—led with false Imagination or to be infected with Lust Then he opened the Door in the Center of his Dominion which was Eternally forbidden And would needs search into the Ground or Abyss of the Deity to know the Root of the false Tree in the Center or midst of the Creation seeking to know whence the Cause of Gods Beauty and his proceeded And then said O fair Virgin if thou consent to cohabit with me I will honour thee with the Joynture of my Black Kingdom I will make thee Queen of the Infernal Regions She still scorned his Rashness and pitied his Folly Art thou said he become so disdainful and haughty I will force thee to my Lâ—st whether thou consentest or no. But she was caught up to Heaven At that Lucifer raved roaâ—ed raged and spat poyson like an horrible Dragon as if he would tear the three Worlds and the Deity it self in pieces if it had been possible And there was a kind of War Michael and his Angels expelled Lucifer and his Dragon Angels out of Heaven And yet it was no real War for Heaven spewed him out of its own accord and he was cast out as Dung into the cursed part of the Earth and his Souldiers his Vassals were â—ast out with him Then for Malice being mad with Fury he endeavoured to blow his poyson and belch forth his malignity into all the Seeds and Idea's of the Creatures of this Creation which we now see Thus also Lucifer for Madness sought to slay his own innate proper Virgin after he had failed in deflowering of her which was contrary to the Law of Eternity And therefore he opened the Matrice of the wrathful Nature and was united with and generated a Dragon-like Essence to his own everlasting Torment so that now he burns in the Hellish Fire of his Consumption never to be consumed And hath great Wrath and Envy against the Son of Man who is to dethrone him because he knows he has but a short time Wo to the Inhabitants of the Earth and of the Sea for the Devil is come down unto you So that to this day we plainly see the cause of Luciser's Envy against the Son of Man even Because He expels Lucifer out of his Throne and is but an Usurper as Lucifer lays to his Charge And so Lucifer spat his Malice upon every thing that was capable of Receiving it as a Serpent out of a hole or prison to which he is consin'd And before the Creation he would envenom the Seeds of the External Essences For every thing had its own Formative Seed in its self before it was created So the Earth was without Form and Void like a Chaos and Darkness was upon the face of the great Deep in Lucifer's Dominion § 3. Lucifer Captivated YEt the Spirit of God would not suffer this once fair middle World to stand in Eternal Ignominy and to become the Devils Murthering Den But he moved the Waters to quench Lucifer's Dark Lightning and Thunder and his Jugling Tricks and said Let there be Light to adorn this fair World as it had done from Eternity and there was Light Then the Creation groaned and travailed in great Labour to be freed from the Vanity of the Curse this Vanity of Vanities that was a Vexation to the Spirit of God For Lucifer if he had his will would suffer neither Grass Flower nor Fruit to grow nor Animals to live for the Use and Recreation of Man for he envied his Happiness And he himself could not enjoy their Society for every thing feared him and shunned him as a Revolted Prince and Tyrant But when on the fifth Day he saw that Life and Sense sprung up through his dark Death he intended as he sat in Council to torture or to kill the Beasts Birds and Fishes for a Mock-Sacrifice to atone the wrath of the incensed Gods For he understood there was no Lord or Arch-Shepherd set over them to protect them Therefore also the Creator consulted to put a stop to his Trayterous Rage and malicious designs of his fellow-Plotters and to generate a Lord to supply his place upon his Throne and to divest him of his Robes and his Crown Here ariseth a great Objection Why did not God annihilate the Devil when he was aware of the danger of his Fall Answ Lucifer being created out of the Essence of God and being made a free Agent had the Power of his own Will and was in a Capacity of giving Glory 〈◊〉 God as well as the other two Hierarchies So that according to the Order and Creation of Angelical Nature the Essence of Lucifer could not be turned into Nothing God as a most skilful Musician melodized with himself on his own Harp in Heavenly Joy before the World was God gave Lucifer once a most fair and bright Angel but now corrupted and spoiled by Imagination and Pride such another Harp But Lucifer broke the Strings and instead thereof because he was not willing to play together with God and the holy Angels in one Symphony puts something invented by his vain Fancy which makes an horrible noise And here is now God against God But you will say Lucifer is Unalmighty So he is but ask the Devil and he will tell you He is the Almighty God and Omnipotent Mountebank in the Dark World and also Prince of the wrathful part of this World and is absolute
a true time therefore the misery of Man 〈…〉 upon him Now here lies the Great Mâ—â—stery because of Ignorance in the Souls Original and Nobility many a Man becomes a wretched Mâ—screant Nay may some say It is by Gods predestinate purpose that Man is to know and seel pain Yes this is the predestinate purpose of God and the Antient Law of Eternity That whoever would be greater than God and oppose his own Lumour and self-will to Gods will must feel Eternal Pain that proceeds from this chiefly He will gnash his Teeth and eat his own Flesh yea from his own Center shall stream Flashes of burning Brimstone because he will think how he hath fooled himself away by his own Folly when he might have been a Royal Prince So that Ignorance is the cause of Mans Wretchedness Man shuts his Eyes and seeth not how God the Root of Man cannot by any Skill or Device be plucked up And so Man comes to be subject to an evil time and ill chance by breaking himself off from his true Eternal Root § 6. The Soul's Circle THe words of the Preacher the Prophetical Sound the Son of God King of Heaven Prince of Order and Ruler of the seven Worlds One Humane or Angelical Spirit passeth away into its own Place and Lot and another brood cometh into this World in his stead But the Mansion of the Spirit abideth unmoved for ever The Humane Sun ariseth and seems to set out of sight and so Immortal Man seems to be Mortal but he hasteth to the place of Eternity where he arose and wheeleth from one Tropick to another by an uncessant Labor and Eternal Motion The Wind of the Soul goeth towards the South and turneth to the opposite side it whirleth about continually as upon seven Wheels whether moved backward with Lucifer and so remaining still Or returning again according to its Circuits as moved forward by the Divine Motion and Breath All Humane Rivers run into the Ocean of Eternity yet Eternity is never fill'd Vnto the place from whence the Rivers of Generation came thither they return again Some flowing hiddenly to the springing Fountain and some abiding in the restless and tossed State in the Abyss The Son of Man before his External Birth was as it were taking his Rest or a sweet Nap of Repose upon the Brests of the Virgin his dear Mother the holy Bride of God who cometh down from God out of Heaven And there the Eternal Soul was at Rest until his Natural Parents waked him and disturbed his Beatifical Visions His Natural Parents sent for him into this outward Region to see the Beauty of this fair World and to receive the Salutation of a Joyful Welcome thereinto Who as a Birth of Time out of the Matrice of Eternity came very mean simple and helpless into this lower Country even as a most vile sprâ—wling Worm not bearing the least malice to the Creator or any other Creature of the Creation And lived a year ten years or more or perhaps a hundred years and then leaves all in great longing after some New Friends or Beloveds which he had chosen to his Solace in this strange Land § 7. Fatal Necessity of the Soul 's Being BY reason hereof he goes back with an ill will towards his Antient home and parts in great anguish and pain and perhaps in that anguish and despair he Eternally abides and that for following some Lusts and pursuing some Pleasures which he would fain solace his Mind with for a few years in this World and never so much as considered that he must endure a thousand millions of painful years in lieu of that little short pleasure till the hour of Death or rather the time of taking his leave of his Friends being too late And tho' truly the Light of the World be sweet and tho' it be a pleasant thing for the Eyes to behold the Sun of Time yet if a Man live many years and rejoyce in them all let him remember the Days of Darkness for they shall be many All that cometh is Vanity Now then where lies the fault here Here ariseth a great Question Is it any promoting of Gods Honour Joy or Profit that Man must know Pain opposed to Pleasure or be sensible of and really feel in the Practick what Anguish and Torment is I say Doth this increase Gods Joy or Beatitude and as it were perfect the Perfection of the perfect God Some may answer No. But it was God's Will that it should be so Well! Then there must be some Cause wherefore God willed this Evil The Objector may reply He doth all for his Glory If so He confesseth God torments his own Child for his own Glory § 8. Gods Repentance BUt this is a Belying of the Deity and of his Love to the Children of his own Loyns and making of God an unnatural cruel fierce wrathful Judge or Executioner yea crueler than the Savages of the Desert which love their own Issue nay than the very Devils of Hell For alas It is no Glory nor ' Pleasure at all to God to hear that his own dear Children are imprisoned in an Eternal Wilderness where they can never find the way to their Journey 's End their Creator But he counts it a great Loss and Dishonour and cause of Rpentance if we may use that Metaphor that God repenteth that when he views his Brides Room and finds that his Children each one with his Mate are not returned to the Great and Solemn Wedding of his Son He will say Where are all my Children but these It will be answered They have listed themselves Soldiers under another Power and would not come Here again we must be forced to frame another Metaphor to speak or utter these high Mysteries with a humane Tongue For no Grief can ever enter into God nor the loss whereof may vex him if we speak properly God perceiving that his Children took not his Sons Counsel will as it were mourn for them a few days and when the mourning Days shall be ended He will consider that there is no Redemption out of the Jaws of Eternal Death and and so he will for ever forget them And so I considered in mine Heart even to declare all this that tho' Mankind go forth from one Root or Fountain Ocean yet the greatest part comes not back to the same Door or Gate of Enterance into their Antient Resting Place but enter in at a false Door by a gross mistake And being once entred there there is no Recovery because they would not hearken to the Voice of Divine Wisdom and Skill Therefore in a humane sense it is an Addition to God's Glory to see his dear Children returning to Heaven Oh! what hearty and kind Embracing and Welcoming is here Their Ships laden with Divine Treasures and carved with the Story of the Afflictions which happened to them in a strange Land § 9. The same Event to all by allowance of God's Ballance THe Righteous and
the Wise and their Works are in the hand of God and weighed in the Ballance of Equity No Man knoweth either Love or Hatred Joy or Sorrow and how it will be in the other World by all that is before him in this World All things come alike to all There is one Event to the Righteous and to the Wicked God maketh the Sun and Rain to come upon the Just and Unjust His Divine Sun enlightens every one that comes into this World both the Clean and the Vnclean Him that sacrificeth his Lusts and him that sacrificeth not Him that sweareth to Gods Covenant and him that fears the Oath of Divine Allegiance and him that forswearâ—s it This seems an evil among all things that are done under the Sun that there is one Event unto all Yea also the Heart of the Sons of Men is full of Evil and Madness is in their Heart while they live and after that they go to the Dead For to him that is joyned to all the Living in the holy World there is hope in this Life-time for a living Dog which may be cultivated by degrees is better than a dead Lion And the Living know that they shall dye the Eternal Death if they cut themselves off from the Root But the Dead who die the second death know not anything at all but only pain neither have they any more a reward from God for the memory of them when the Days of Mourning shall be past is for ever forgotten Also their Love and their Hatred and their Envy is so perished that it can never hurt any of the Celestial Incolists Neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the Sun of their Eternity in the dark Center of their Abyss §. 10. All alike Relieved by a Poor Wise Man SO I returned and saw under the clear Sun of Divine Light that the Race is not always to the Swift nor the Battel to the Strong nor yet Bread to the Skilful Tiller of the harsh Earth nor yet Favour to Men of Skill But Time and Chance happeneth to them all and a wise Man discerneth both Time and Judgment But a wise Man also knows not his time As the Fishes that are taken in an evil Net and as the Birds that are caught in the Snare so are the Sons of Men snared in an evil time or Unlucky Hour of the Enemies temptation when it falleth suddenly upon them and that for want of Divine Skill and Wisdom with which whoever is endued he cannot be cheated This wisdom also have I seen under the Sun and it seemed great unto me There was a little Microcosmick City and few skilful Soldiers within it And there came a great King against it and by Authority from Luciscer besieged it and built great Bulwarks against it Now there was found in it a poor contemptible wise Man and he by his Wisdom delivered the City by giving his Life for the Inhabitants Yet no Man remembred that same poor servile Man Then said I Wisdom is better than strength nevertheless the poor Mans Wisdom is despised and his words are not heard The Words of the Wise are heard in quiet as a still pure Voice more than the cry of a King that ruleth among Fools and his losty loud words in the streets of Confusion Wisdom is better than Weapons of War But one sin ful Affection destroyeth much Good and by its jarring spoils the still Harmony in the Humane Harp even as one scabbed Sheep infects the whole Flock CHAP. II. The Souls Longing § 1. Crying Give Give VAnity of Vanities faith the Soul's Spirit All extern Objects are a vexation of my Spirit Now O Man saith the Eternal Preacher of the holy Gospel Knowest thou what thy Soul and what the Spirit of thy Soul is The Soul is a dry Hunger It is a longing Anguish It is a Fire without Fewel Lay thy hand upon thy Brest and feel thy own Root the Heart and then tell me dost thou feel no panting there No Breathing or Longing there No Hungring nor Thirsting there Art thou sensible of no Labour and Travail there No restless and incessant Crying there Crying Give give O give me that which I labour for O give me that which I seek after Even as every thing would fain live so would I Thou wilt say That 's the throboing and motion of the Heart and Pulses proceeding from the Vital Spirit Tho' that be true yet Life and Sense in Man are rooted in the Abyss of the Source of Eternal Joy and Delightful Affection of a thing Loved And that is the Soul who cries in the Gate of Mans Pallace Give me some Food true Food for me § 2. Seven-fold Craving O Saith the Spirit of the Soul Pity me my dear Soul O pity a poor Prisoner Bring me out of this Dungeon of Confinement enlarge my Habitation that I may find my late home again and solace my hankering eager Mind with my own dear Family and Relations Oh have pity upon a poor Beggar Give me a little Food to satisfie a hungry craving Soul O give me a little Water out of the Living Fountain to quench the great thirst and furious fire of my Passion O have compassion upon a poor Pilgrim shew me the way to a quiet lodge of Repose I want the shadow of a great Rock in this weary Land I cannot take a Nap of sweet sleep and refreshment in this parched Heath Here is no spreading Elm nor Beech nor Fountain of Chrystal Streams no warbling River beside which I may take my rest to recreate my languishing and tired Spirits O come dear Shepherd to seek thy roving Sheep Call me again with thy Melodious Shepherds Pipe I listen at times to hear it but cannot I dare not bleat my self lest the Wolves hear me O come blessed Shepherd and stand upon a high place where thy Voice may be audible Come skipping upon these Mountains and leaping upon the Hills of my wandring Mind For I am quite â—â—â—ed in this tedious Wilderness O give Rest to my travailing weary Spirit O this is not my Rest O somebody have mercy upon a distracted Innocent condemned by false Witnesses to be confined as in Bedlam I cannot set my heart at rest because of a pannick Fear that seizeth upon me Oppression makes a wise Man mad and besides himself O some Skilful Musician come and refresh my Senses and self-afflicting Conscience with the Har mony of the holy Gospel and the Melody of the blessed Tidings of Everlasting Serenity O who will pity a poor wounded and sick Person Give me some heavenly Balm or Cordial to heal my heavy heart and to slop the raging of my Sore and the swelling of my furious Agony Break the sence that separates me from my desired Object O shew mercy to a poor naked Person O I have been stripped naked in a Wilderness by Thieves and Murderers they have whipped me and smote me with sore Boils all over As
Rattles Therefore Vanity of Vanities saith the first and last Preacher Vanities of Vanities all is Vanity whatever it is tho' seemingly pleasant which refresheth not the Spirit of the Soul §. 5. It is no Whimsey AGain The Soul is like the Horse-Leech It hath two Daughters crying Give Give There are three things that are never satisfied yea Four that never say It is enough The Grave of Devouring Hell in which every Soul that entreth is Eternally Lost and then gapeth for more Souls And the barren unsatisfied Womb of a false Virgin which receiveth without Conception And the Fire of false Lust which never saith No more it is enough And lastly The Soul which is not filled with Vanity But O Man if thou findest in thy self that thou longest for nothing that thou hast all things according to thy wish as thou wouldst have it to be and that thou art fortunate in every accident that happens to thee and that nothing crosseth thy Mind that thou art content in whatsoever state thou art that thou never vexest nor tormentest thy self in Prosperity or Adversity and that thy Soul takes all Accidents for Good having framed it self to receive all things in good part then it hath attained its desire and the Longing ceaseth Thou wilt say My Soul is not in that Frame My Soul within me is always wanting and craving and very hard to please It knows not what it would have It wills and it wills not Am I so humoursome saith the Soul Well might I deserve the blame if I were like one mad or frantick as if one longed for the Kings Crown to which one can claim no Title seeming to be possessed with a strange fury or if I were like a Childing Woman longing for things unprocurable for money Even as a whorish Deceiver being pregnant of a false Essence longeth for strange Properties which endangers the Soul But I desire that which desires me and cries O my dear Companion come and receive me for I stand here very lonesome in a solitary condition except some Soul pity me and entertain me If I longed for far-fetched Treasures and dear-bought bought Sawces and Jewels procured by the Blood of others which all hazard the Eternal Life there would be some colour for blaming me But that which I long for is easily procured and if not too much slighted and neglected at first obtained without wracking Labour and Care Now perhaps you will mock me and impute this my Longing to a foolish Fancy and say to me in scorn Ah ha But I defie your Reproaches Give me my Desire or I will vex and worry you for evermore Now I am come as a Sojurner to view this outward World But I will not partake of your false Joys and count them a satisfaction of my mind For all is a Vexation of my Spirit If you will not give me Food for my Hunger mark well I will be glutted like an Horse-Leech with the Blood of humane Souls to Eternity and then I will vomit up all again as previous to a fresh thirst after Blood I was born crying when I came first into this World and that makes it manifest that I longed to go back again to lean upon my Virgin-Mothers sweet Brests I cried Give give O give me some of my Virgin-Milk Here may seem an Objection to lie in the wny Whimsie of Whimsies saith the vain Atheist Vanity of Vanities All is a Whim whatever checketh the Soul and is a Vexation to his lustful Spirit What is the Voice in the Conscience which opposeth the Hamane Lust but a Vain Whimsie which the Beasts are not sensible of Therefore Man by his Sensibility and being immoderately affected with a vain Fancy degradeth himself below a Beast and sensual Animal And see now what his witty and wise conceit bath hath brought him to So that he cannot enjoy all sorts of pleasure at his Liberty without being controuled by a Consciential Whimsey Let him thank himself for his Folly §. 6. Atheists Objections Answered NOw Who is the Wise Man And who knows the Interpretation of the Souls Enigmatical Mystery And who can search out that which is far off and exceeding deep Who can discover the Devices and Intrigues of the Harlot the Souls Enemy Wisdom makes the Face to shine And the boldness of the Countenance shall be changed by which means the Divine Virgin the Souls Friend will be enamoured with him and invited to love him But he that is wilfully blind in a foolish Passion of false Love hates the Light of the blessed Sun in the Virgins Beautiful Face And why doth Darkness hate the Light Why cannot Obscurity endure the splendid Rays of Beauty Perhaps it fears lest the Light should inspire it and so it should become Fantastical or posfessed with an Enthusiastick Fury Object Here the Atheist encounters with me saying What is this whole World but a Stage The Actors are Mankind When the Play 's ended the Stage down they fling And then there is no difference in this thing Between a Beggar and a King As saith the Poet Answ Then if it be a Stage it represents some Actions that are really done or that were and will be acted in a real Substance in one of the two Eternal Worlds But still he will object saying Death is Nothing and after Death there will be Nothing And who but a Fool will be asraid of Nothing What is Heaven but a sublime Fancy What is Hell but a Child-frighting Bugbear A Whim Chimera built by the Phantasie in the Air of Darkness and hudled up in the Chaos or Hoil of Nihility Ye that believe Immortality rid away the Hag of your Fancy which Night-Mareth your Souls Send her packing to the Hell of Silence and the Grave of Non-entity Answ There was a Man asked what Life was The other returned an Answer Answerless for prefently he turned his back and went away As much as if he had said If thou knowest not experimentally thy own Death and Life it is not a matter of Discourse therefore he by his removing from his place did actually define what Life was The Fool saith in his heart and wisheth There were no God But he believeth not so in his Heart For tho' he tells you so in the day time yet by night he doubteth § 7. By Humane Laws But the Atheist affirms Cum prorepserunt primis Animalia terris c. There was a time when Humane Animals as a mute and filthy Cattle crept upon the Earth and wandred like Beasts the stronger driving the weaker out of his Cave Fighting with their Claws and Fists until afterwards Use and Art invented the framing of Weapons After wandring they came into Society And then invented Articulate Sounds to discover the meaning of their Minds to one another and so Reason taught them to abstain from sighting about their Food and from snatching as Bulls or Dogs an uncertain Concubine one from the other Then they invented the Marking out their Minds by
they drink and forget the Ancient Unalterable Law and pervert the Judgment of the Afflicted who bears the Form of a Servant in the humane Gate Give this intoxicating Drink to him that is ready to perish in Eternal Misery And the Wine of Spewing and Ebriety to them that have heavy Hearts in the hellish Chambers Let them drink and forget their Poverty and want of the means of Refreshment and let them try whether by Guzling and Tipling they may remember their Misery no more But swim thou O Man this is the Injunction in Rivers of Pleasures and Christaline streams of Nectar Yet thou art forbidden upon pain of Eternal Deâ—th or an Imprisonment in Deaths Bonds during the Life of thy Eternity to drink of the sowr harsh property of Pain opposed to Pleasure or of the Poyson of the Creation which will cause a Commotion in thy griping Bowels and a Rebellion of one Property against another in thy disturbed Conscience that thou shalt never feel Ease and Refreshment Rejoyce O Man therefore and continue young Eternally And let thy Heart chear thee in the Endless days of thy renovated Youth and walk in the ways of thy heart and in the sight of thine Eyes affording to thy Soul his Will and Desire all that which he longs after But know thou that for all these things God will bring thee to Judgment to clear or condemn thee yea and if thou neglectest this to banish thee for ever to thy own desired Country where Pain is known § 6. It is no indifferent thing THerefore remove sorrow from thy Heart and put away evil and pain from thy flesh for the Childhood of Folly and fading Youth are Vanity and the source of Death Be not Righteous over-much and wise in thy own Conceit thinking thou canst find a place of Superity above this Heavenly Joy Why shouldst thou destroy and cast thy self into an Abyss of never attaining thy aim Be rot over-much wicked having treacherous thoughts in thee that thou mayest Dethrone God Neither be t cu foo ish in not apprehending the way and means of satisfying the Soul Why shouldst thou dye before the appointed time For thou wast never appointed to die except thou drawest Death upon thee and swallow up thy self by thy babling and foolish self-accusation in thy accusing Conscience It is good thou shouldst take hold of this Counsel Yea also from this Obedience withdraw not thy Hand For he that feareth and loveth God's Law shall come forth out of all the foresaid dangers Now observe It is no indifferent thing this Law must be fully obeyed that is thou must afford all the delight and Pleasure to thy Soul that he is capable of There is nothing better for thee than that thou shouldst eat of the Tree of Life and drink the Wine of Pleasure and play in the Coelestial Dance and fill thy Soul and make him enjoy good in thy Labour This is the Ancient Unalterable Law which will continue to all Eternity This also I saw that it was from the Hand of God to do thus For who can eat and drink and sport in this Angelical Scene And who else can hasten hereunto more than I who am nearest to God For God giveth a Man that is good in his sight Wisdom and Knowledge and Joy But to the Sinner against this old Law he giveth Travel to gather and heap up that he may provide for and give to him that is good before God but he shall never reap the Fruit of his Labour because he had not the Fear of God before his Eyes when he plotted to undermine him § 7. Mans Portion from God BElieve it O Man I know there is no good in all thy Labour except thou doest rejoyce and do good in thy Life and enjoy the Fruits of thy Travail This is the Gift of God And this is thy Portion which God hath appointed thee and every man If thou dost not so who will deliver thee out of the Jaws of Death to see what Pleasures shall be after thee in the next World This is a sore Evil which I have seen under the Sun of Time and Vanity namely Treasures and Riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt But those Riches perish by evil Travel And he begetteth a Son or Fool like himself in his own Metamorphosed Form whereinto his Soul by Transmigration doth enter And he carrieth nothing in his Hand to the Infernal Shades As he came forth out of his Infernal Mothers Womb or the Original Matrix and cause of every Property Naked shall he return or go as he came and shall take nothing of his foolish Labour and hunting after Vanity which he may carry away in his Hand And this also is a sore Evil that it must be thus God cannot be blamed That in all Points as he came having nothing of his own but what God gave him so shall he go again with his empty Vessel And what Profit hath he that hath laboured for the Wind And will Eternally Labour and yet find nought but a Shadow of Vanity All his Days also be eateth in Darkness and he shall have much Sorrow and Wrath with never-ceasing Pain and Sickness Behold that which I have seen It is good and comely for one to Eat and Drink in true Pleasure and to enjoy the Delights of Humane Life and the good of his Labour that he taketh under the Sun of his Lot all the days of his Eternity which God gives him for his Right and Propriety For it is his Portion For he shall not lay to Heart the Days of his Affliction Because God answereth him in the Joy of his Heart There is an Evil which I have seen below the Sun of Purity and is common among Men A Man to whom God hath given Riches and Honour so that he wanteth nothing for his Soul of all that he desireth Yet because of his evil Mind God gives him not Power to eat thereof and enjoy the Fruit of his Labour but a Stranger eateth of it This is a sore Vanity and an evil Disease § 8. The Fool neglecteth IF a Man beget an hundred Images of his evil Mind and live many Years so that the days of his Years be many and yet his Soul be not filled with good and also that he have no Burial but that he be left as a Carkass for the Daemons of the Power of the Air I say that an untimely Birth is better than he as being cut off in the Bud. For this Embryo cometh in with Vanity and departeth in Darkness and his Name shall be covered with Darkness and never known in the light of Life Moreover He hath not seen the Sun of Vanity nor known any Opposition of the Properties This hath more rest than the other Yea though this other live a thousand Years twice told Yet hath he seen no Good So as to find Satisfaction Do not all such as these go to the same Place at last All the Labour of
for thee now the Flowers of thy Virgin Beauty appear on my humane Earth The Time of Melody of Birds is come And the ravishing Voice of my Musical Virgin is heard in my Land Heark The Queristers of the Grace-inspiring Air do change their Notes The Black-bird and Thrush are my Companions in the Greening Groves They refresh my inspired Somâ— with a Divine Song of Praise to their Creator While I endeavour to bear the burden with my slender Shepherds-pipe And then pretty Philomel closes up the Day of Alacrity with sweet Epithalamiums And the Lark admiring the Beauty of my late-risâ—n Light mounts the fair Welkin to partake of its splendour And the rest of the Aerial Trâ—op manage the Consort tilâ— the Cool of the Blessed Evening Here he Plower flyeth with the â—assel And the Phesant keep slight with the Fâ—lcon Neither doth the P rtridge know Engine or Noosy Thread nor dreads the switter slight oâ— the Hawk Nor is the Lark dared with the Hobby §. 8. The Contentment of Vertue THE Figtâ—â—e putteth forth her Green Figs And the Vines of chearfulness with the tender Grape of Delight in the Patâ—s of pure Veâ—tue new budding in the hâ—dge of Distinction of the two Natures giâ—e a â—ragiant Sâ—â—â—sâ— Let every one enjoy himself in true Rest and Tranquâ—lity under his Vâ—ne and under his Fig-tree Where none shall make him afraid For now the golden Ages are again returning Jam redit Virgo redeunt Satâ—rnia regna Arise my Love my Fair one and come away Come with me from the sair Fâ—rrest my Sister Go with me from the greening Grove my Spouse Look from the Mountains of my late moanings from the Top of the Rocks of despair From the Lions Den From the Laborious Hills of the Leopards No wild Beast hath Power to hurt us while thou art our Princess For the Kâ—ds with the Flock Sport with the Wolf and run about the Bear for Diversion The Lion lies down with the Lamb and eats Grass as an Ox Nor is any thing of Emulation known in this sacred Creation For the Tyger sports with the Herd and the Dove Queen of the Fowls takes Wing with the Eagle and Vulâ—ure her Subjects And the little Child may lead the Lion upon the Mountain of the Leopards And the Suckling may play at the hole of the Asp and Cockatrice and receive no hurt As being the Regenerate Babe of the Blessed Birth None shall hurt or destroy in all this holy Mountain Come my Dear Shepherd Let us go into the fair Fields of Eden Let us lodge in the Aâ—gelical Villages who live in the next Nature of our Neighbourhood Let us get up early to the Vineyards of Life Let us see if the Heart-chearing Vine of spiritual Joy doth sloarish Whether the Grape of the Regeneration appears and the Pomâ—granates of Eternal Refreshments bud forth There will I give thee my Loves in the Garden of Dâ—lights Where no Cankers or Caterpillars breâ—d out of Putresaction Nor are Northern Blasts injurious to us Our Fields are full fraught with Flowers and Odorates For no Serpent hath Admission to taint the Fruit of Life And our Earth in abundance brings forth Pleasures whose Womb is the Store-house of Heavenly Treasures The Humane Plant is Odoriferous and at â—ur Gates are all manner of pleasant Fruits of Eternal Life which I have laid up for thee O my Beloved §. 9. The acceptable Sacrifice BVT tell me O Shepherd tell me O thou whom my Soul lâ—veth where thou feedest thy Sheep and where thou makest thy â—locks to rest at No n and I will meet thee in thy Rural Pastures O let me not be as one turned aside from the Frocks of thy Companions O thou Princess wilt thou condescend to my Rural Recreations Wilt thou of a Princess become a Shepherâ—ess If thou wilt debase thy self so low then go thy way forth by the Tracks of the Flock of Innocency and thou shalt see how I feed the Kids and Lambs beside the Shepherds Tents and preserve them in their Innocent State For here the Golden Rule must be kept among all the Creatures where each one doth justice by kind and not that the dread of Punishment should compel them For the Râ—y of Justice is so generally distributed that it naturally shines in every one â—he Creatures of tâ—is New Creation which is â—lso the beginningless live pâ—rely by instinct not making their Bodies the Sepulchre of dead Carkasses Here the Innocent Lamb because not knowing the Terrors of Death would readily if occasion were proffer his Throat to the shrines of the Altar And the Calf is so far from fear that he dreads not the formidable stroke of Separation because he knows by natural instinct there is no Butcherly or Bloody Dog in this Land There is no living here for the Rapacious §. 10 The Authority of Vertue BEhold thâ—u art fair in my Eye O dear Shepherdess Also this Green place of Repose is pleasâ—â—t The Beams of our Arbors are Cedar and the Rafâ—erâ— of ou Pastoral House are of Fir. See how the lofty Cedars lifâ— up their Majestick Heads And the Martial Oak stand by them The trembling Aspâ—hakes his Palsiâ— Crown Behold iâ— is calm in this cook â—avâ— behind this Bâ—ech of Tranquility where the Vine full-loaded with Grapes of Purity is a Shadow of Pleasure embracing the Olive under the Holy Mount And the Eglantine entangles it self with the Rose The Honey-Suckle ties knots about the Arbortes Oh! some body take away the Foxes and chase the Young Wolves that spoil the Vines For our Vines have tender Grapes being but newly budding in the Gardâ—n of my Heart My Beloved is mine and I am his He feedeâ—h his Lambs in a Meadow of Lillies Hunters of tame Beasts and Men of Violence will starve here For Death being an exile cannot seed their devouring Appetites The Ditties of the Melodious Birds will fright Fowlers into their own â—ot and Place Nor can the Fishes be deceived by the Angler who is forced to keep within his bounds For here is no Treachery nor Treason in this Holy Land Swoâ—dâ— are beaten into Plough-shares wherewith we dig the Gardens not for Necessity but Recreation Spears are turned into Pruning-Hooks to dress the bowers of Contentment And murdering Guns are made Instruments of Musick and sweet Melody Here the Creatures make Sport and Pastime with Danger as if Death and Destruction were Sanctuaries aries unto them When fair Aurora began to appear and the Shadows of Eternal Death fled away I saw my Beloved skipping like a Young Hart without Gall upon the Mountains of Manna Even where fear is altogether unexperienced and the Grave such a Stranger that its greedy devouring Jaws are satisfied not gaping for Carkasses to fill the Womb of Putrefa ion For nothing can languish or be sensible of Smart Because Pain is uncreated And Death altogether unknown CHAP. VI. The Whores Suit §. 1. Backsliding BUT after all these amorous Enjoyments of each
therefore the Time shall come that thou shalt call to me but I shall be married to another Who was thy Rival in the time when I would have consummated the Wedding with thee Be not entangled with one that will bring thy Soul to ruine and who is far inferiour to the Souls Nobility For there are an indefinite number of these gone out into the World to trapan Mankind Whereof there are variety of kinds but especially seven As sprung forth from the Mystical Mother of Harlots They Lust after the best richest greenest fairest strongest tallest wittiest soundest noblest and most durable Essences And they find too many humane Souls fit for their turn They perceive that the Souls of Men are Eternal and Excellent Fair Lovely and Lively Essences As being made after the Image and Similitude of the Divine Being Now every Created Being lusteth after something that is of a higher Nature than it self that in the Fruition thereof it self may be perfected §. 4. The Blind falling Headlong FOR every Creature groaneth and travelleth for its own Perfection But cannot attain it without the Assistance of some one above him Hence it is that this sevenfold Whorish Spirit is become an earnest Attractor and Enticer of the immortal Souls of Adam's off-spring And for to solemnize the Wedding-seast she furnishes her Table and presents Man with the delicate Dishes of Pleasure and false Joy viz. Counters for Gold But when she hath once got the Poor Soul within her Net and cropt off the Flower of the noble Affections of the Heart which the right Virgin should have had and so spoiled the Spirit of the Mind with a false Vizzard or Mark of Infection when Mans Body fall as a Leaf to the Grave and the Souls Wedding-day draws on and he is to be settled in one of the two Eternal States Then this false Whore crâ—eth Aha! Thou humane Soul thou art Eternal I am but Temporal and Mortal and thou dost partake of my Mortality Eternally to seek Death and yet never Die I had my Pleasure with thâ—e Go now into Eternity I indeed was only the cause of alluring of thee to Sin But how thou must answer for it thy self I am but for a time In the end I return to the Original Abyss of Nihility Now here ariseth a great Question seeing Mans fate is so dismâ—â— Whether hath his unlacky Soul sinned or his Parents that he is thus born Blind Answ No Soul is born stark Blind But if some one should be so born yet there is Veâ—tuâ— bestowed through the Merit of the perfect Sacrifice upon every Soul to open his blind Eyes if he do not wilfully neglect the means of washing them in the Pool to which he is sent But if he will not go where his Virgins great Champion and Physician doth seâ—d him then let him groap in his Blindness For there is no Man that hath Power over his Spirit and passionate Mind that loves a Harlot without the Assistance of the foresaid great Counsellour Prince of Peace in Mental Calmness Now these foresaid Whorish Jezebels have painted their Faces and adorned themselves with an Image of seeming Beauty like the Fruits of Sodom which when touched will fall into Ashes but no real Beauty They lay waâ— at the Head of every Humane Street Some are like Hartors that receive hire And some scorn hire like Marrons that commit Adultery and take Strangers to defile their Husbands Beds And are contrary to common Harlots in that they give Gifts to all Lovers that they may come to defile them §. 5. For Destruction of the Individuum FIrst the Thief or surveying Harlot that surveys the whole World comes and saith All this will I give thee if thou Marry me and be joyned to my Nature in the Bed of my Friendship under Ground There I will nourish thee and thou shalt have the Entrails of the Earth for thy Chest and Coffer But I do not promise thee to see Day-light for many a Year if ever But there like a Slave in the American Mines thou shalt see Gold and Silver enough and thou shalt sleep among the heaped Treasures But the Spirit of the Soul cryeth O this is not Happiness O who will release me out of this under-ground Prison If this were Felicity then my Purse would be better than my self A Horse is not esteemed by his Trappings nor a Man by his Rich Concubine The Womb of this Whore is a snare of Temptation Which catcheth in the Pit of Perdition She gapes like a Gulf for the Mind of Man And spreads like a Sea for his Soul She is beautified by the Hand of her Whorish Mother Who writes on her Face sweet Solace But O Son of Man Child of God legal Heir of the Kingdom of Heaven If thou hast Oxen do thou offer Oblations And if thou hast Sheep thou shalt Sacrifice to God And if thou hast Children thou shalt candidly Consecrate them With the Wife of thy Wedlock to the Lord That his Heavenly Blessings may be upon thee Which the World doth hold for a Curse And yet knows not the Curse on the earthly Blessings Nor how they are a Curse unto them Who strive for Content in much But when they have much are hungry Yea they thirst as the gaping Grave whose Womb consumes them that gape after her But if thou hast the Virgin be thou content For she will make thee to flourish as a fruitful Field Thy Gardens shall be garnished with Greens With the fashions and fragrancies of Flowers Having Hope thy Seed shall spring up And in Faith shalt thou fill thy Vessels If this Harlot cannot prevail then comes the Riotous Luxurious or Swinish Jezebel I see saith she thou art a quiet harmless Man Wilt thou therefore live in Joy Get thee Wine and strong Drink Drink until the Poyson thereof be enraged Quaff this noble Liquor in Bowls Strive to conquer thy Companions in the Valour of Bacchus's Souldiers Eat the Lambs out of the Flock and Calves out of the Stall And make thy Body as mine is a Sepulchre of Dead Carkasses Put far away the Evil Day Let not thy Conscience trouble thee nor Reproofs awaken thee So thou shalt be an easie-hearted Sot or Voluptuous Flog-like Epicure of whom much shall be made in the Swine-house until thou be fully fattened for the House of Slaughter Come therefore along with me to the Banquetting house And we will cast away Care and remove that Melancholick Fit with a cherupping Glass We will treat thee with variety of Dishes dressâ—d after a new Fashion with poinant Sawces We will rant it and make merry over the Witness of God in the Conscience For this Solace is better than Gold or Silver Spend it away prodigally upon thy Lusts and gratifie thy Luxurious Palate And we will anticipate Prayer in the Morning with the Incense of our burning Lusts as preferring Sacrifice before Devotion Oh but in the midst of my Mirth my Heart is sad saith the Souls
Daughters of the Holy City Now set me as a seal upon thine Heart As a Divine Stamp upon thine Arm Think upon me and the ways of Vertue as thou walkest in the way and as thou sittest and oestest and as thou risest up For my Love to the is as strong as Death My Jealousie will be cruel as the Grove it will devour the perjured Soul if thou prove false to thy Vow in Eternal Death But O God my Father may that never be For the coals of Jealousie are as coals of Eternal Fire which hath a most cruel Scorching Flame of Torment Many Waters of Sorrows cannot quench my Love to thee Neither can the Floods drown it Neither can the Rivers or Tears of a thousand Suitors and Rivals to thee stop the burning thereof If one should give all Substance of his House for my Love it would be utterly contemned And so if thou abusest me hereafter and runnest gadding in thy Mind after other Lovers though thou shouldst give all that thy Soul and Body are worth and all the Substance of thy House for the enjoyment of me the third time it will be utterly rejected and despised as a vain trifle Take notice of it And be true to me thy Spouse After this Day the Divine Damsels saw me and praised me with this Blessing Be thou Mother of thousands of Millions And the Author of a numberless number to People the Coelestial City by the new Regeneration And let thy Seed effess the Gates of Heaven which Lucifer lost Build thou the House of the Humane Off-spring Thou art our Sister Do thou worthily in Heaven and be thou famous in Paradise And this was the Contract that the Wedding must be solemnized in the preseâ—â—e of the King our Father on the Day of my Tridâ—grooms â—â—tting off his Earthly Tabernacle and Elementary Robe Now Happy is the Man that can arrive to the Haven of so great a Happiness as this so as to find Virgin Vertue God's most Beautiful Daughter called also pure Pleasure or Divine Delight of the Son of Man For her Priâ—e is far â—bove Râ—â—â—es §. 7. Seven-fold Vertue NOW these Coelestial Virgins are of different Degrees for some Vertues are predominant in these which are weak in those And yet all cloathed with the Garments of Unity 1. One is a good House-keeper and diligent as the Bee The Heart of her espoused doth safely trust in her So that he need fear no spoil She seeketh Flax and Wool she worketh willingly with her Hands She is like the Merchants Ships She bringeth her Food from a far She considereth a Field in fair Eden and buys it With the Fruit of her Hands she planteth a Vineyard of Refreshing Bowers She lays her Hands to the Distaff and her Candle goes not out in the Eternal Night She reacheth forth her Hands to the needy And all her houshold are cloathed with Scarlet She makes her self coverings of Tapestry Her Garments are Silk and Purple 2. Another is skilled by Divine Wisdom in playing upon Instruments of Musick She inventeth means for the Recreation of Humane Life She maketh Songs in the Praise of her Creator and Father The Workmanship of her Tabrets were prepared in her in the Day that she was Created whereby she chaseth the evil Spirit that troubleth the Humane Mind 3. A third by her Politick skill in Martial Discipline delivereth a besieged Microcosmical City surrounded by Lucifer and his Souldiers by causing one Man the Offender to dye whose Head shall be thrown over the Wall that the whole City perish not This is the anoynted Virago 4. Another is more beautiful and amiable in her Divine Form as cloathed with the Shape of God and bearing the very Picture of her Virgin-Mother in her Lovely Visage as they indeed all do but this in an especial Manner She is most meek and courteous in Carriage and Communication therefore the froward and grudge-bearing Sycophant shall never partake of her Love 5. Another is wise in true Wisdom and foretelleth of Evils which are like to befal a Humane Soul that is espoused to her if he observe the Divine Motion of her pure Gale in the â—ool of the blessed Day She reveals hidden Mysteries to the Humane Spirit that loveth her Thus though also she be acute and eloquent yet she is intirely Sincere This is the Angelical Philosopher and Prophetess 6. Another is sound and healthy and by that means hath skill in the Plant of Life and the Vertue thereof for the healing of Maladies in Humane Body and Soul This is the Coelestial Physitianess §. 8. Seven-fold Reward LAstly The most Noble is she whose Cloathing is Divine Honour and Magnanimity Majesty and an Heroick Greatness of Spirit is in her Countenance She is adorned with a generous Brightness and she shall rejoyce in time to come in Eternity and shine as the Celestial Star in the Holy World as being brighter than the rest as partaking more of the solar property She openeth her Mouth as one speaking with Authority yet in Modesty and Wisdom yea in her Tongue is the Law of Kindness Her Children in the new Birth arise up and call her Blessed Her Husband also he praiseth her Many Daughters have done Vertuously but thou excellest them all Tho' not equal with the Bride of the Anointed Champion the Sister and Friend of the Great Messias Fawning Favour is deceitful and counterfeit Beauty is vain but this Divine Virgin that obeyeth her Father shall be praised Give her of the Fruits of her Hands and let her own Works praise her in the Gates of Heaven Thus in particular Fair Vertue which is pure Pleasure of the Soul gives to the Soul that accepts of her according to the capacity of the Receiver 1. Treasures of Eternal Life 2. A Clue of Thread to direct Man out of the Labyrinth of false Pleasures and Sports 3. An Armour to resist Lucifer 4. Jewels and Ornaments 5. A Book of Prophecy compiled by the Prince of Philosophers and a new Name written therein 6. Food Bread and Wine without end proceeding from the Tree of Eternal Life 7. A Golden Scepter to rule over the adverse party Thus Man by accepting of a good Fortune proffered to him doth become Rich Sound Prosperous Wise Potent Fair and Noble and so preferred to an Heavenly Dignity and Office §. 9. Grace turned into Wantonness O Man therefore be not so self-conceited and obstinate Be not Osor Mulierum one that Disregards God and the Desire of Women Dan. 11.37 An Hater of the fair Virgin Be willing to enter into the holy Estate of Matrimony for to this thou art purposely born Else thy Soul if thou refuse will be left to be tormented by the Demons and thou wilt die the Eternal Death for Love of a Harlot whose Love thou shalt never enjoy If thou art in love with the fair Virgin have a care of abusing her and offering Violence to her by deflowring her Tho' thou indeed shalt never be able to
make her comply to thy false Will Yet thy evil attempt before the Wedding which is the Day of the Fall of the outward Body will make thee guilty of her departure and the fault shall Eternally lie at thy Door Do not thou like a Vagabond combine to put a trick upon the Virgin thy Spouse and to murder thy dear Companioness If thou dost be sure the Murder will come to light for she will rise again to judge you both Be not hasâ—y in thy Choice lest thou do that in a day or unlucky hour which cannot be undone in an Age of Eternity But some may say Nature seems cruel in this That a fair young Man the Soul cannot dart his Eyes upon a supposed Beauty without great peril of being wounded himself Answ Leave the Cross and lose the Crown The youthful Soul who formerly took pleasure in Exploits and brave Actions is now turned devout and become a Zealous and Religious Votary to some Feminine Beauty O humane Soul beware of Idolatry As Christ descended into Hell so must the Soul of Man too That is if he finds himself unworthy of all comfort in this World and if things should fall cross with him in outward things and iâ— he should become the scorn of Devils yet he esteems it all just and according to his Desâ—rts so he obtains the Favour of God and the Virgin again He must deâ—cond into the Infernal Shadows to seek and fetch her home again §. 10. By Double-Heartedness HE that keeps not the Virgins Love for Love-sake but supposeâ—h he hath it for a Reward to him it is most grievous and he desires to be soon rid of it and this is the Property of every Hireling to desire and wish an End of his Toil. Whereas a true Lover thinks no Pains Labour or Time too much and grievous so he may but retain his love If Vertue could be seen by Men in her own Natural Beauty Naked said the Philosopher Men would be wonderfully in love with her But the Soul suspects the Virgins Purity thinking to find the same impure lasciviousness in her which he finds in himself Another would willingly enjoâ— both He loves the Virgin a little and Jezebel a little But the Virgin never appears in the Society of the incestuous Strumpet And that is the Reason that the Soul often longs after her and fetcheth many a deep sigh for her when in the midst of vain Mirth and Laughter the Heart is sad and heavy Tho'at long run the Soul becomes tinctured by a false Ferment bâ— the Whores Society Also if the Virgin should appear in the House of this Trull all the Ravenous Birds would have a peck at her And that is the Reason when any goes to the House of Feasting on vain and counterfeit Food he cannot hear the Voice of Wisdom as Christs Voice could not Eccho forth to the Questions of them that envied him at his Examination For two Contraries cannot be of equal Authority at one and the same time in the same Subject CHAP. VIII The Virgins Farewel §. 1. Beware of Falling from Grace GIve not thy Honour thy honourable Soul to another Nor thy Eternal years unto the Cruel Lest Strangers be filled with thy Wealth and thy Labours be in the House of thine Enemies And lest the Jewels of the Virgin which she gave thee be ridiculed by them that emulate her happiness And thou mourn at the last when thy flesh is consumed in the Grave of Despair and say O now I wonder that I could not esteem her How was I such a Fool as to despise the Instruction of my Virgin Ah! What did I call her MY Virgin She is not mine but she was mine O that I could say she never was so now But there is my Eternal Hell Because I crossed the Mind of my Creator who appointed her to be mine But I appointed her Enemy for my everlasting Companion who will not lead a loving Life with me but torment me with the Snake-like Scourges of her Scorpion Furies Now observe here is the crossing of the Eternal Fancy of the Soul if thou call it a Phantasie the Spirit of the Soul must have his Will his desired Object the Virgin Or he will die and that Eternally And the false Mind will enjoy Jezabel the Object of his Love or he will also dye the Eternal Death And so Man lies in a great strait as compassed about with Nets on every side And there is no way to escape the Gulf but by being faithful to his Virgin For tho' Man prove faithful to the said Humane Sorceress yet she will not be true to him but will play the Harlot and defile his Bed in Eternity Therefore O Man poor Wretch consider thy self here Drink Water out of thine own Cistern And running Waters of Eternal Pleasures out of thine own undefiled Virgin Well Let thy Holy Fountain be blessed everlastingly and Rejoyce with the beautiful Maid ef thy ever-flourishing Youth Let her be as the loving Hind and pleasant Roe and let her Breasts satisfie and refresh thee at all times And be thou ravished world without end with her chaste love And why wilt thou be ravished with a strange Woman and embrace the Bosom of a Whore that is common to the evil Demons who will not love the again in truth Go then thy way from this Trull Eat thy Bread of Life in Joy and drink thy heart-chearing Wine of eternal Beatitude with a merry heart For God now if thou art true to his Virgin-Daughter accepteth thy Works For this is the Antepast of Heaven Let thy Garments be always pure clean and white and let thy Head blessed by thy Virgin-Mother lack no Ointment of heavenly Oyl Live joyfully with thy Espoused Virgin whom thou lovest all the days of the Life of thy Vanity which God hath given under the Sun all the days of thy temporal Vanity for that is thy Portion in this Life to thy Labour which thou takest under the Sun of Time and that only is the end of thy Travail and the final Cause of thy Journey which to perform necessity is laid upon thee by the Creator He sets thee upon this Work and Labour to see whether thou wilt love his Virgin-Daughter by the Light of the Sun and not suffer thy self to be blinded by not looking for true Light in the Virgins Face and so be dazled and struck blind for love of an unworthy Guest at her seeming Beauty §. 2. Or there is no third Recovery SIn not against the Virgins holy Spirit for thy Sin will never be forgiven If thou prove faithful to the Virgin here under the Sun of her Light which is pure thou shalt Eternally enjoy her pleasant Aspects and Smiles and loving Communications under the Sun of an ever-shining Light in Heaven Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do in reference to the Nods and Pointings of the Virgin do it with thy might For there is no Work nor Device nor Knowledge nor
Wisdom in the Grave of Eternal Death whither thou goest if thou break her Law Neither can any one help thee out of that Grave for out of the Eternal Hell there is no Redemption Nay if Angels and Saints did all joyn their Skill and Device and Wisdom together they can afford thee no help from thence Besides if thou do'st not now use all thy Skill and do thy best endeavour to forsake Vice and Sin the form of this Jezabel in the Abstract and to do good with all thy might and love God or Vertue which is God and the fair Virgin in the Abstract with all thy strength and Soul thou wilt never have space granted thee to mend thy work in the succeeding World or to rectifie and make straight that which is made crooked in this World or to fill up the measure or number or weight in Gods Ballance For that which is wâ—nting here cannot be numbred hereafter And two cannot be substracted out of one For by Slothfulness the Building decayeth and through Idleness of the Hands in this World the House of the humane World will drop thorow and be swallowed in the Abyss And while I was passing by the Soulish Field of the Sluggard I looked and behold it was all grown over with Thorns It became a Wilderness wherein the Owner was intangled and knew not which way to turn to find Ease and Refreshment I went by the Vineyard of the lazy Labourer and Lo Nettles had covered the Face thereof And the Stone-Wall thereof was broken down Then I saw and considered it well I looked upon it and set it forth for an Example that he that sleepeth in the Summer shall starve in the Eternal Winter So shall his Poverty come as a fugitive Beggar who travaileth in the boundless Wilderness and his want as an armed Souldier in Lucisers Camp O Man repent in time §. 3. Vertue Rare TAke no heed to all Words or Affronts that are cast at thee lest thou hear the Servile Handmaid or else the Whorish Woman curse her legal Mistress For oft times also thine own Conscience knows that thou thy self hast cursed thy Rivals All this saith the Great Prophet have I proved by Philosophy I said I will be wise But Wisdom is not easily attainable For that which is far off and exceeding deep who can find it out without heavenly Skill in Theosophy And by Mans Churlishness the Virgin oft removes far from him I applied my heart to know and to search and to seek out by Wisdom the reason of things and the deep Cause of Causes and the Wickedness of Folly even of Foolishness and Madness And I find more bitter than Death the Woman whose false Heart is a Snare and whose Fingers are Nets and Bands to bind the humane Soul Whoso pleaseth God and loves the Virgin shall escape from her but the Sinner against Gods Law of Obedience shall be caught in her trap as a Woodcock in a Snare or Fishes in an evil Net Behold this have I found saith the Preacher of Truth Counting one by one to find out the Account by Mathematical Calculation Which yet my Mind seeketh but I find not clearly One humane Soul among a thousand have I found but scarce a Virgin can be found now a days among a Thousand Handmaids and false Women for the Earth being stained with humane Blood hath forced the Divine Spouses of Mankind to disappear and enter into their own Principle The way that leads to the Whores lodging is broad Yea even the blind finds it without a Guide And the path of Vertue is narrow yet it is easie and straight to him whose Eyes are in his Head But when the Virgin is lost as the Epigrammist said so may the Soul say to the Virgin thou hast given me a Looking-glass as a token of thy Love wherein I may see my own shape and if I had not been a Fool might have learnt by it to know my own self I had rather thou wouldest now send me one wherein I might see thee and the Signs of thy Favour and Acceptance and thy most beautiful Aspect once more attracting my longing Mind But it is too late I may indeed see my own ugâ—y Form infected by the Whore of false Lust The Fire of this Harlot is like the Fire of Hell which burns another but gives no Light whereby her Lover may find her §. 4. Christs proffered Service slighted FOR three things the Earth is disquieted And for four which it cannot bear For a Servant the Worm of the Soul when he reigneth over the noble Mind And a Fool the false Affection or Delight when he is filled with Meat which is not the true Food of the Soul and so cannot relish Food by a longing hunger which is the best Sawce For an Odious Strumpet when she is married to her Superiour the Soul And for the Virgins Hand-maid who is Heir to her Mistress But Virgin-Vertue cries to the Spirit of Man Oh canst thou be cruel Canst thou be so hard-hearted Wilt thou now forsake and dispise me after all thy pretended kindnesses Must I now be a Bond maid to thy Concubines who was born a Princess Thou hast not brought me any Gifts thou hast not sent me any tokens I have not caused thee to serve and wait upon me with an Offering of thy devoted Soul nor wearied thee with the Sacrifices of thy vowed self Neither hast thou honoured me with the Incense of thy promised Service But thou hast made me to serve with thy Sins Thou hast wearied me waiting upon thee in thy Debauchery And the Jewels I gave thee thou hast bestowed upon Harlots Many take occasion to blame the Virgin for a small seeming Offence when they wink at this Jezebels Impudence yea though the sincere Virgin do but whisper a Word to one of her Companions it must be judged to be Treason If thou wouldst be wise and retain thy Jewels not bestowing them upon thy unworthy Harlot thou shouldest soon see how she would pack away to her own Companions Now therefore see thy Folly at last thy entrusting of thy Jewels with her believe her not reject her fair Promises for she waites to deceive and intrap thee §. 5. A seared Conscience THen bethought her self when the valedictory parting Kiss was given her O this Wedding Song is become a Threnetick Song When the Virgin fair-Vertue perceives the Soul continues obstinate and will not commiserate her woful Condition whereunto she hath plunged her self for his sake by letting her Affections of true Love after him he being unworthy thereof and slighting her kindness then she goes into a solitary Wilderness to bewail her doleful fate And now saith she I have piped unto thee but thou hast not danced I have Sung an Elegiack farewel to thee but thou hast not sympathized with my Griefs And it grieves her to think how she hath been trampled upon and causlesly kicked out of his Society though she wished him well and did
of the Almighty Creator himself For it cannot be expected that God should or would help Man any more having created him like himself and also created him a new when there was possibility lest of Recovery But if Man becomes his own Creator and a Necromancer in the Hellish Operation a third Relief can never be And why Because God himself cannot work against the Truth or the right Order of Eternity He himself being the Prince of Order And he cannot deny himself and belye his own Nature Neither will he call back a Day that is past §. 3. God alloweth Time NOw now now is the time It may be possible to day to do a thing which cannot be done to morrow Yea the true Hour must be waited upon to do it Go not about a Business against the Hair Because to every thing and business there is Time and Judgment which Man oâ—t times neglecteth therefore his Misery is great upon him Lose not the Tyde of the Eternal Ocean which should carry the Soul to Paradise for it stays for none Now is the time to work with all thy might and to lay up for Heaven the end of thy Labour and Work For in the Grave whither thou goest it cannot be attained Tâ—o ' God promises Forgiveness to Repentants yet he doth not promise to morrow to repent in For many shall strive to enter in at the Gate of Heaven but when the day of Grace is past they shall not be able Whoever he be that sinneth out his Day or despiseth the last Day of his Visitation by Obstinacy slighteth the Holy Ghosts last Reproof rejâ—cts him out of his Company and becomes Reprobate A Man in a Christian Warfare may quarrel with his Reprover oft-times and be reconciled again considering that those Reproofs were for his Good But the Reprobate is past Reproof and hates to be Reformed He shall not be forgiven in this World nor in that which is to come No tho'he Esau-like doth seek to repent for his Repentance is too late And tho' he work at the Hour of Death with all his might what soever his hand sindeth to do towards his New Creation yet the Mystery of the false Nature prevails And it is folly to seek the Living among the Dead It is true God and his benign Powers or Influences wait for an Advantage against the Devils Temptations at all times And therefore the good Genius will not leave the very worst Sinner till the last gasp For according to the Right of the Deity the holy Angels claim the first sifting and searching of the Soul when Man is a dying As a Physitian when he seeth his Patient mortally sick yet he gives him some Cordials to ease him So God may lessen the Punishment and Damnation of one that hath sinned out his Day of Grace offered once to him and now repents heartily that he hath passed by the Gate of Mercy at such and such times which is now fresh in his Memory and is forry by late repentance But he can never enter in at Heavens Gate For the Door will be shut in its right time and â—arries for no Mans lingering And the Tyde of the Eternal Ocean will wait no Mans leasure §. 4. And Tallents SEranimis Vita est Câ—asina vive Hodie To Morrow's Life is too late Live to Day Feed on thy true daily Bread to Day or to Morrow thou wilt dye Eternally Post Mortem Aeternam nulla Voluptas Expect not therefore after thou hast eaten thy Morsel in wantonness to have it too when there is need of it to refresh thee in thy Journey Thus Men complain now-a-days of the hardness of the Times not considering how they spend in a Day many times in a Drunken Feast what might naturally supply them with sufficiency as to the maintenance of their Bodies in Health for a Month. This is abusing or rather a Fascination of Gods Blessings Therefore as One said In this World is the Place of Mercy in the Other of Justice and Judgment And The Eeginnings of Things are in our own Power but the End in God's And He that considers what is past may foresee what is to come One scoffingly said to one that lost his Watch or Horary Engine Time will away all the World cannot help it So may it be said to the Fool that lost his spiritual Instrument of discerning Time and Eternity O Man Provide Oyl and Treasures for Heaven before-hand Trimmed Lamps without Oyl are of no real Use Tho' one of thy Feet may be already in the Grave of Hell as being one that came when the Door of Mercy was shut and tho' thou may'st be an old and reprebate Sinner and yet wouldst now repent at the Twelfth Hour after thou hast been working for thy Master the Devil as being one of those that stood idle in the Market-place expecting Work from the Lord of the Vineyard tho' it be too late now Make thy self a Friend in time for old Friends and old Wine are best Thou wilt perhaps hope God will make thee his new Friend at the last Hour but that is too late For saith Christ It is not mine to give you to sit on my Right or Left Hand but to whom it is prepared of my Father according to the condition of the Covenant But whosoever comes to God in time God can in no wise cast out For such a one takes Heaven violently by Force and as one said overcomes God and claims Heaven as his Right as tho' Heaven were his true native Home and God his real Father as indeed he is Tho' it must be confest Mans Fall made Heaven to become a Free Gift §. 5. The Seed sown at Death SOme may object If Man be a small Incarnation wherein God was pleased to multiply himself Or if Man be God's Off-spring and Essence how can God pass Sentence upon his own Essence Answ Here lies the great Mystery The Work of Eternity is the World not yet made and yet ever made by Eternity viz. This World was made in six Days but the World for which this was made will scarce be finished in less than Six thousand Mystical Days or Years The Soul as to the stamp mold or eternal shape thereof will not be finished till the death of the Body Even then the Signature of the Soul's Spirit or else of its Worm will be charactered for Eternity Every wicked Soul is but an Embryo And the Divine Child or Pious Soul is now a forming in the Womb of the outward Body and not perfected in an holy Man till the fall of the Body Therefore whatsoever God doth it shall be for ever established by his Graver the Spirit on the Souls Beast-Plate Consider his Work For who can make straight that which he hath made crooked by the Law which altereth not And say not thou What is the cause that the former Days in the outward Life were better than these dark and gloomy Days nigh Deaths Door For thou dost not
his Will whom he loves nor will never seek to please him You shall never have any good of a Maid that is compelled to Marry against her Will She will be but the more perverse the more you endeavour to humour her Have a Care lest thou neglâ—â—â— thy own Good And when thou art well hope not in vain for higher preferment lest thou justle thy self out of all and repent too late A Hen or some other Fowl aiming at the End of Procreation by the impulse of the natural Spirit counts it no toil to sit upon her Eggs a whole Month or more or less and is willing to be confined without the Element of her Pleasure and Recreation Mayest thou be as willing to promote the Glory of God the End of thy Journey and Labour which to promote is the right Heaven of Mans Soul To which place O King of Heaven direct us all Amen CHAP. X. The Souls Transmigration § 1. Christ the Lawful King BEtter is a Poor and Wise Child the innocent off-spring of God than an old and foolish King that tyrannizeth over the pure Seed who will no more be admonished as being Reprobate or past Reproof For out of an infectious Prison or Dungeon of Darkness he cometh to Reign as being no lawful Heir and not of the Right Line He is an Usurper Whereas also every Subject the Faculties of his Mind that is born in his Kingdom becomes Eternal Beggars I considered all the Living which walk under the Sun of Time with the second Child of Regeneration that shall stand up and sit in the Divine Throne Eternally in his stead There is no end of all the People and Subjects of illegal Tyrants even of all that have been before them in â—â—cifers Apostacy whose Seed lives in the Humane Generation They also that succeed or come after either before or after the end of this World shall not rejoyce in Lucifer or an Humane Usurper This also is Vanity and Vexation of God's Holy Spirit The Humane Commonwealth comes to Ruine under a Foolish Prince even as the Feet stumble by the Intoxication of the Head In the Day of Prosperity be joyful and when things fadge well between thee and thy Virgin let thy Heart be merry But in the Day of Adversity when thou art crossed in thy Desire or Love by the Sorceress consider what thou art a doing God also hath set the one over against the other to the end that Man should find nothing after and Superior to the fair Virgin of God worthy to be sought after §. 2. His Right to Reign THe Fire of Hell and the Ocean-Womb of Eternity are good Servants but bad Masters The Virgin it is true should be Queen in the Humane Republick And the Spirit of the Soul Vice-Roy But if Man inverteth the right Order he himself must pay the Forfeiture or suffer the Penalty Yet the Rebel must have his due And as the Proverb saith He that cannot bear to be a Servant let him be his own Servant When thy Work is done and the Crown obtain'd then rest in Security but wo to him that hath an ill Name in his Youth He will be suspected by the Virgin As having put the Crown of blooming Youth upon the Serpents Head But if thou follow Vertue thou mayest become the Head of all thy kindred Therefore O Son of the Virgin if thou seest the oppression of the Poor Spirit of the Soul in the Humane Republick Marvel not at the matter and if thou beholdest a violent perverting of Justice and Judgment in the Soulish Province for a time wonder not For he that is higher than the proudest and highest Mind regardeth And there be higher than they For the Spirit though ost as a Servant walking a Foot in low place is higher than the Rebel Soul O Man mark what I say I the Preacher returned and reflected upon all the Oppressions that are done under the Sun of this vain Light And behold the Tears of such as were oppressed and the sighing of the Spirit of the Soul and they had no Comforter And on the side of the Soul there Oppressour there was Power for there was no Compulsion to draw him to Sin against his Will but he would not open his Ear of Compassion Wherefore I praised the Dead that are already Dead even the Mortal Animals more then the Living that are yet alive for a time but are like to dye the Eternal Death Yea better is he then both they which have not yet been who hath not seen the Evil that is done under ehe Sun of Time and Eternity An Embryo is more happy than the false Birth Yea an Eunuch is happier than he that is joyned to the Witch like Traduction of a false Will which rebelleth against the Will of the Deity All these things have I seen in the Days of my Conversation in the Vanity There is a Just one the Spirit that perishe or rather vanishes in his Righteousness And there is a wicked one the false Mind who prolongeth his Life of Eternity in his wickedness and yet would willingly Dye but shall not find Death §. 3. False Judgment THis also have I seen and applied my Heart to every Work that is done under both Suns there is a Time wherein one Ruleth over another as the Soul oveâ— the Spirit to his own Eternal Hurt And so I saw the wicked buried in the Abyss who had come and gone from the Place of the Holy by his Aposâ—acy And they were forgotten in the Holy City where they had done any good for their good Works did not follow them This is a great Vanity Because Sentence against an evil Work is not executed speedily for the Spirit of the Soul or Conscience hath not Power to pronounce it till the Day of Death therefore the Heart of the Soul Son of the Humane Root is fully set upon mischief by plotting against his own Judge and working wickedness against God's Friend But know this though a Sinner do evil an hundred times and the Days of his Eternity be prolonged in Pain and Horrour Yet surely I know that it shall be well with the Spirit of the Soul that fears to Sin against God's Law and to the Soul that consents to the Spirit and fears before him And so all is well that ends well But it shall not be well with the Wicked neither shall he prolong his Days of Vanity in this inferiour World which are as a Shadow and whose Spirit will vanish as an Image in a Looking-glass because he feareth not God and to offend his Virgin There is a Vanity which is done upon the Earth of Humanity that there be Just men unto whom if they Apostatize it happens according to the Work of the Wicked And if the Father hath eaten sower Grapes the Child of this Apostate as by Transmigration of or into an unlucky off-spring his Teeth shall be set on Edge Again there be wicked ones to whom if they retract it