Issue I hope the same favours will attend your Lordship and be the reward as well of your Charitable Inclinations for the Poor in general as of the rare examples of Piety and Devotion you give your Children and which they are faithful to follow as well at home as abroad Moribus vita nobilitatur homo and the rather that they know them to be the essential Ornaments of true Nobility and that without them a Gentleman born is no more than he who is a Clown by his Extraction They know full well my Lord that whoever converses with the proud shall be puft up that a lustful acquaintance makes a Man lascivious and the way to secure a man from wickedness is to withdraw from the examples of it it is too much to have them near us but more to have them in us They know likewise that ill examples pleasure and ease are without doubt great corrupters of manners and as an ill Air may endanger a good Constitution so may a place of ill examples endanger a good Man There be some even of the highest rank who ought to influence their Inferiours with Piety and Devotion that take a Priviledge to be licentious so that the meaner sort are hurri'd on by their ill examples to all manner of dissolution And this perfect knowledg of the present Corruption of this unhappy Land prevents them from hankering after such places or persons and makes them take more pleasure in their Clossets than they can expect to find in their debauch'd Company 'T is this vertuous and godly disposition of your noble heart and Family which mov'd me to bring this pious work newly model'd under the shadow of your gracious Protection The very Title of the Book is able to make your Lordship affect the perusing of it and I am certain the substance thereof will give a further increase to your Devotion and also contribute much to the reducing strai'd Souls to the right understanding of their Duty to God which will redound to your greater Glory being it is by your means it appears to the World out of the obscurity of my Confinement who am Your Lordships most humble and most Obedient Servant Jo. Weldon C.J. THE Preface WHen God the grand Architect of the Vniverse had compleated the vast Fabrick of this visible World and brought out of nothing the Heavens the Earth the Seas and all that is contained within their Prccincts to exhibit as yet a more remarkable instance and a more glorious evidence of his Eternal Wisdom he did fully resolve to start out of the Bowels of the Earth with a Faciamus that Microcosm Man and give him an ascendent power to keep all other Creatures in Subjection He was moulded indeed as to his Body not very unlike to Terrene and Bruit Animals but as to his Soul if not equal with the Heavens and heavenly Spirits at least be was not much inferior to them for its certain that in the whole Vniverse thore's nothing worthy any difference if compar'd with the Soul Gold Silver Jewels Pearls Fire Moon Stars and the very Sun it self which with its resplendent Beams brings a solemn joy over the whole surface of the Earth are of no Estimate in her regard because that with a Word only God gave them all both their rise and their office which was to serve Man and give him all their attendance The wonderful Structure of humane Body is a sufficient demonstration of his Excellency for where as God had created all other things with a sole Dixit as David says he must come himself in person to the Creation of this little great Master-piece Gen. 1 26. first he prepares the necessary matter for this Construction then he Breaths into it the Spirit of Life and after he shapes him to the likeness of the primitive and principal Beauty But to what end It was says Scripture with an effectual resolution to devolve upon him an absolute Supremacy over all the Fishes of the Sea Ibid. 28. the Fowls of the Air and the Beasts of the Earth so that Man even before he was wafted over from Nothing to a Being was openly declar'd Lord of the whole Vniverse and was after introduc'd thereinto at to his Royal Palace already furnish'd with all Necessarys and Varieties both for his subsistence and pleasure But you must conceive that all this Honour was exhibited to him only upon the account of his participated resemblance of the Divine Trinity by which alone he does infinitely exceed all terrene Creatures so that every mortal Man may be deservedly term'd a petty Divinity especially when the Grace of God resides in his Soul Psal 81.6 For you must know that he does not bear this resemblance of God in his Body but within his Soul because that God is a pure Spirit without any terrene medley and consequently can't be perfectly represented by any Corporeal Image It s then within the facultys of his Soul that Man bears that resemblance which gives him an ascendent power over all other earthly Creatures viz. in his Memory Vnderstanding and Will where God is still President and constantly present as in his Image and Throne so steady that he is more intimate to the Soul than she is to her own Substance For the Eternal Father does replenish her Memory with his Omnipotency the Son does illustrate her Vnderstanding with his Wisdom and the Holy Ghost does enflame her Will with his Charity and even as God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Ghost are not Three but One God in Three distinct Persons so the Memory is the Soul the Vnderstanding is the Soul the Will is the Soul yet not three Souls but one in each Body bearing those three distinct Dignitys wherein the Image and likeness of God does shine to admiration 'T is true our Sins may deface this Image within our Souls however they can't utterly blast it for it is an inherent property in the Wicked as well as in the Just but with this distinction that the Righteous are a lively Image of God whereas the Wicked are indeed a sort of an Image of God but a very obscure one however the Divine Bounty is so much enamour'd with the Soul he devoted to himself with the impression of his Image to be his dearly beloved Spouse that he can't be removed thence though the Devil should worm out her consent to debase his Image with all the enormity Imaginable Moreover the Soul leans over and tends towards God her Spouse with so great a weight of natural inclination that nothing in this World is able to replenish her capacity or satisfy her mind but he alone who of his own Nature is Infinite good incircumscript and Immense The Dignity and Excellency of the Soul must therefore be truly great that all th'alluring objects and attracting pleasures of this World can't content her though they may barter her affections for a tract of time and may perhaps now and then
ready to drop down upon their criminal and guilty heads the sweet perfumes of thy divine virtues and the rare examples of thy Saints cann't prevail with them no they cann't tast of thy Chalice nor feel thy Scorges nor acknowledge thy Benefits tho' they are sufficient to melt a heart of Steel In fine Sin takes quite away the peace the joy and the tranquility of a good eonscience it does extinguish the fervour of the Spirit and leaves poor man sordid maculate deform'd and abominable in the sight of God and of all his Saints Yet by the benefit of thy Justification we are happily deliver'd from all these plagues evil consequences of Sin and the abyss of thy divine mercies is not content to have forgiven us our offences and receive us into favour but does also expell all those evils which are inseparable from Sin leaving our interiour man in the real possession of his former prerogatives and likeness to God Thou dost heal up our wounds wash off our spots break loofe the fetters and chains of our iniquitys destroy the yoke of our evil desires retrieve us from the slavery of Satan qualify the fury of our unruly passions and the heat of our vicious affections Thou dost likewise restore to the Soul her former freedom and beauty revive her interiour fenses dispose them to the exercise of all good works and to the abhorrence of any that 's bad Thou givest strength to resist manfully all the temptations of the Devil and to go through all the difficulties that might hinder the practise of virtue and their increase of devotion In fine my Sweet Saviour thou dost so absolutely revive and repair our interiour man and all his faculties that thy Apostle Scruples not to call such men Justifi'd Souls metamorphos'd natures new modell'd Spirits Creatures of another stamp This innovation is so great and so much to be admir'd that it 's worth our labour to finde out how and after what manner it is perform'd O my Saviour thou alone canst tell me truly the nature of it and the only one that can impart so great a blessing to my poor and languishing Soul wherefore let me hear thy solution to the matter SAVIOVR THou must know then O man that this so great a renovation when 't is perform'd by the means of Baptism may be call'd Regeneration but if it be done by Contrition and with the assistance of Pennance then 't is call'd resurrection not only because the Soul is rais'd from the Death of Sin to the Life of Grace but by reason it resembles so nearly the glorious beauty of future Resurrection No mortal tongue is able to express the radiant Splendor and supereminent beauty of a Justifi'd Soul 't is a mistery reserv'd to my Holy Spirit who made her so glorious with a design she should be his own Temple and place of residence Were all the wealth of the World all the imaginable dignities and honours of this life all the natural Graces and gifts together with all the acquir'd virtues and all other earthly advantages that can be thought of conferr'd with the beauty and treasures of a Justifi'd Soul all in comparison with her is vile obscure ill-favour'd and of no value No for there is as much difference betwixt the life of Grace and the life of Nature betwixt the beauty of the Soul Justifi'd and that of the body betwixt the interiour Riches of such a Soul and the exteriour of the body as there is betwixt Heaven Earth betwixt the Spirit and the body or betwixt Time and Eternity Because all these are circumscrib'd with certain limits they are temporal they appear handsom to corporal eyes and require only my general concourse to support them whereas the other depends on my particular and supernatural influence and have no prefix'd bounds because I am their object and they are so precious in my sight and of so great an estimate that they provoke even my divine Essence to be ardently enamour'd with their beauty I might have wrought all these wonders with my sole presence yet I would not but was pleas'd to adorn the Soul with my infus'd virtues and the Seven gifts of my Holy Ghost whereby not only her Essence but even her very faculties are cloth'd and adorn'd with those habitual and heavenly dresses Besides all these divine favours and benefits she is made happy with the constant presence of my divine Spirit and of the most adorable Trinity for all resides in a justifi'd Soul to teach her how to manage so great a treasure to her best advantage Matt. 12. wherein I act the part of a most loving Father who is not satisfi'd to have given Riches to his Son but gives him withal a Futor that knows how to Administer them well Luc. 11. Thou know'st that a multitude of vipors Serpents and Dragons I mean of evil Spirits enter into the Soul of a Sinner and makes her their habitation as thou mayst reade in my Gospel but 't is otherwise with a justifi'd Soul for I with my Father and Holy Spirit dwell there and having banish'd thence all evil Si quis diligit me Sermonem meum servabit Pater meus diliget eum ad eum veniomus mansionem apud eum faciemus Joan. 14. and Infernal Spirits we make her our temple our throne and Garden of pleasure as thou mayst finde in St. John where I say if a man love me he will keep my words my Father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him All the Doctors of my Holy Church as well Ecclesiastick as Scholastick grounded upon these my words do firmly believe that my Holy Ghost dwells in a justifi'd Soul after a certain and peculiar manner and say moreover that he does not only confer his Gifts upon her but comes himself along with them with a fix'd resolution to clense Sanctify and adorn her as well with his constant presence as with all his heavenly treasures O man if all these extraordinary favours be not able to mollify thy flinty heart and force it to leave and forsake the paths of Sin and to gather also all thy Scatter'd affections and lead them towards me who am the most deserving of them I shall add more pressing motives to bring thee to so good so gracious and so benificial a resolution The First that occurs is that all the justifi'd are my living members so that I love and cherish them as my own and am no less careful to provide for them to protect and comfort them then were they all parts of my proper body nay without any intermission I influence them with my inspirations and graces even as the head communicates his vital Spirits into all the rest of its members moreover my Eternal Father beholds them with a gracious eye as being my living members united concorporate with me by the participation of his divine Spirit and therefore all their deeds are
In an Age of license to all sorts of vanity and wickedness as Lust Gluttony Avarice Envy Ambition Sloth Insolence Levity Contumacy Fear Rashness private Discords and publick Evils extravagant and groundless wishes vain Confidence sickly affections shameless Impiety Rapine authoriz'd and the violation of all things Sacred and prophane Obligations are pursu'd with Sword and Poison Benefits are turn'd into Crimes and that blood most seditiously spilt for which every honest man should expose his own Those that should be the preservers of their Country are the destroyers of it and 't is matter of dignity to trample upon the Government the Sword gives the Law and Mercenaries take up arms against their Masters Among these turbulent and unruly motions what hope is there of finding honesty or good Faith which is the life of all virtues there is not a more lively Image of humane life then that of a conquer'd City There is neither Mercy Modesty nor Religion and if we forget our lives we may well forget the obligations we have to thee and all thy benefits too But let us consider seriously the multitude and greatness of thy divine blessings deal with thee even as one man does with another The wise man says that gifts break Rocks Victoriam honorem acquirit qui dat munera animam autem aufert accipientium Prov. 22.9 and shall not thy divine benefits move a heart of flesh and if they can steal the hearts of the receivers according to Solomon how come we not to be rob'd of our Souls by thee O Lord For thou dost not only give us thy gifts but also dost bestow thy self upon us as a most precious treasure If we consider the benefits which we have receiv'd from thee in our Creation they are as many as we have members of our bodys and faculties of our Souls If those of our Conservation they are equal in number to the distinct natures in Heaven and on Earth The Elements the Sun the Moon the Stars and the whole World were created for our preservation for without them we could not subsist If we look upon the benefits of our Redemption We shall be easily convinc'd that they are as many as there are evils in Hell from which we are happily deliver'd by thy Passion and total effusion of thy most precious bloud Those of our Justification are no less in number then are the Sacraments which thou hast instituted to increase our Merits and work the Sanctification of our Souls then the Graces and Inspirations which thou dost shower down into our hearts and the divine Examples which thou hast left us Nonne haec opportuit Christum pati ita intrare in gloriam suam Luc. 24.26 which should invite us all to tread with a masculine courage in the same paths which brought thee O Lord into thine own glory All these with thousands of other benefits and obligations which we have receiv'd from thee and by thy Creatures cry out unto us to love thee with all our heart with all our Soul with all our Powers and to trample under our feet this false World with all it's vanitys trifles transitory pleasures But alas We make nothing of all thy benefits We give no ear to all their crys but rather will love the World and tast of its pleasures in as ample a measure as our fortunes will afford us wherein we seem to be worse then even the very Heathens for Aristides tho' he was reputed to be one of the greatest Men of Athens yet he was so avers'd to the Pomp and toys of the World and so affected to poverty that he always wore a course broken garment suffer'd Hunger Cold and Thirst not for any want of means or friends to relieve him but meerly for his own fancy Zeno was nothing concern'd when news was brought to him that he had lost all what he had in the World When An xagoras receiv'd the like news he said no more then if my Goods had not perish'd I had been undone Crates flung his whole substance into the Sea with this expression It is better I drown you then you me Diogenes bid adieu to all he had in the World and took nothing with him but a wooden dish and seeing by chance one drink out of the hollow of his hand broke that also And shall we refuse to do in obedience to thy Commands O Lord for the purchase of an eternal weight of glory what they freely and gladly perform'd to pleasure their own fancies and gain the repute of being Philosophers O madness O ingratitude never to be paralel'd Quid retribuam Domino pro omnibus quae retribuit mihi Ps 115.12 Tho' We are thine by so many just titles and thou hast given thy self and all what thou hast unto us yet we never think of what We ought to do for thee nor how We shall express our thankfulness for such and so great benefits This was the greatest care that David took and the sole subject of his most serious consideration what shall I return unto the Lord for all the favours which he has confirm'd upon me But O blessed King and Prophet give me leave to ask thee what are those favours 'T is true he has rais'd thee from the Station of a Shepherd to the dignity of a King He has enabl'd thee to encounter a Giant and to get the better of him too He has often protected thee against the evil Spirit of Saul and has preserv'd thy life from all the wicked and treacherous attempts he made to destroy thee these are great obligations indeed and deserve thy grateful return but are nothing to the benefits which we have receiv'd at his hands his love for us was so great that he suffer'd death to bring us to life everlasting and left unto us for food to our Souls his most precious body and blood certainly these obligations are unspeakable and deserve at least that small attonement of returning back unto him our Souls hearts and bodys for as we had them from him 't is our weighty obligation to let him have them again entirely and free from any love-to the World or affection to the Creatures so that We are to account our selves now and evermore as only his and not our own consequently We are not to debase our love by placing it upon any worldly object but to settle it wholly upon him alone And really if we consider seriously the infinite love which thou hast for us O Lord We shall finde that we have no love left to bestow either upon the World or any terrene object no nor upon our selves for We must know that love consists in action and the more it acts or suffers the greater is the perfection thereof how great then must thy love be O Lord being thou hast wrought such Stupendious works for our Salvation still dost continue to work the like for our preservation the Sun the Moon Omnia subjecisti sub
vapours of carnal affections which have in a manner lul'd her into a Lethargy And as thou wert created to enjoy the fellowship of Angels let these demonstrations of all my Favours to mankind in general and to thee in particular kindle such a fire of divine love in thy Soul as when she departs thy body she may ascend to Heaven in it's aspiring flames Nolite voeare vobis Patrem super terram unus est enim Pater vester in caelis Mat. 23. Hast thou not heard what I say in the Gospel to thee and to all men that ye should not rely upon them ye call Father on Earth for you have but one only Father who is in Heaven and is really so in a far more eminent degree then is either Carnal or Spiritual Father whatever For from him thou didst receive thy Soul by his immediate creation and whatever advantage thou hast of nature from thy Parents or from the Concurrence of any celestial and Second causes thou receivedst the same eminently from Him who is the Principal Authour of all things Sin only excepted Thy Philosophers confirm this for they tell thee that every prime and Original cause does influence the effect more then any second cause whatever Omnis causa prima plus influit quam quaecunque causa secunda Arist Ex quo omnis paternitas in Caelis in terra nominatur Ephes 3.15 If thou by all Laws Natural Divine and Positive art strictly commanded to love reverence honour and obey with all submission thy carnal Parents how much more oughtest thou to love honour adore and obey thy Heavenly Father who is the Original of all Paternitys as well in Heaven as on Earth and from whom all causes have their action their motion and their Fecundity The remisness and frequent failings of all mortals in this their incumbent duty gave me occasion to make this sorrowful complaint Malac. 1.6 the Son does hear his Father and the Servant does both fear and obey his Lord and Master If I be then the Father of mankinde where 's their love their respect and obedience to me And if I be their chief Lord and Master where 's their fear and dread of displeasing me and transgressing my commandments My Apostle seems to admire so great a neglect we have had says he Hebr. 12.9 for our Tutors Fathers of the Flesh and to those We have paid all submission and reverence and shall not We give a far greater respect to our Father in Heaven by whom and from whom We have our being and preservation If even the very Heathens accounted it a most abominable crime in Children not to obey their Parents or to despise them and not regard their commands and counsels and if in the old Law I have order'd all contumacious Levit. 20.9 rebellious and Avaritious Children to be even ston'd to death without any further Process how much more nefarious a crime it is to be refactory to the omnipotent God and Father and to be so great and so cruel a rebell to him as to crucify him every moment in his dearly beloved Son This is so hainous an offence that I can't but resent it and say by my Prophet will a man rob God of his honour and of all his Prerogatives this is the common injury which the generality of mankinde has done unto me for they have indeed rob'd me even the whole generation of them Hear O Heavens and give ear O Earth I have nourish'd brought up Children they have rebell'd against me The Ox knows his owner Esai 1 2 3 4.23 c. and the Ass his Masters crib But Israel does not know me neither does my People consider me Ah! Sinful nation that they are a people laden with iniquity a seed of evil doers Children that are corrupted themselves and greater corrupters of others they have all forsaken the Lord they have all provok'd the holy one of Israel unto Anger Their Princes are rebellious and the companions of Thieves Every one loves gifts and follows after rewards they judge not the Fatherless nor does the cause of the Widdow come unto them But I will ease me of my Adversarys and revenge me of mine Enemies then shall come the utter destruction and ruine of all Transgressors and Sinners and they that have forsaken me to follow the World and it's unlawful pleasures shall be wholly consum'd They shall be as an Oak whose leaf fades Psal 20 9. and as a garden that has no water They shall be as Tow and Fire and shall both burn together and none shall be able to quench their flames to fulfil the words of my Prophet I shall make them as a fiery oven in the time of my Anger I shall swallow them up in my wrath and the fire shall devour them A Check to MAN O Ungrateful man Gen. 2.7 hast thou not justly deserv'd these dreadful effects of my heavy indignation and Wrath for in the very exordium of the World I created thee to my own Image and likeness I have instructed thee in the Law of nature which thou wert to observe and to regulate thy actions by the dictates and Maxims thereof I have also printed the dictamen of Reason in thy Soul that thou might'st thereby discern betwixt good and evil truth and falshood the Creature and thy Creator But thou ungrateful Wretch and most unworthy of such extraordinary favours hast from the very beginning shaken off my Yoak broke my Chains and hast declar'd openly that thou wouldst no longer live submissive to my decrees no longer obey my Commands neither wouldst thou serve so good and so bountiful a Master but be a Tenant at will to embrace whatever was most pleasant to thy brutish passions and most charming to thy rebellious inclinations wherein thou hast transgress'd the agreement that had pass'd betwixt us broken the Contract violated the Law and hast cancel'd thy bonds wherewith thou hadst bound thy self and thy Descendents to the World's end to live upright faithful and obedient to my Will and to my Commands for ever And what was it that engag'd thee to incur the guilt of so horrid a crime the fear only of displeasing thy silly Wife O ingratitude never to be paralell'd What must a foolish and phantastical creature be honor'd and obey'd rather then I who am thy Omnipotent God and Creator I produc'd thee with a faciamus only out of the bowels of the Earth to make thee happy for an Eternity with the perpetual fruition and vision of my divine Essence but thou hast perferr'd before so immense and unspeakable a blessing a created Good vile in it's self tho' pleasant to the eye and sweet to the taste and what was it 'T is an eternal shame and an infinite disgrace for all mankinde to hear in mention'd 't was no less then to postpone me the Fountain of life and all my Glory for a Trifle an Apple Heavens are you not astonish'd that
a horse we take off his cloths and his trappings and examin his shape and body for fear of being cozen'd And shall we put an estimate upon a man for being set off by his fortune and quality nay if we see any thing of ornament about him we are to suspect him the more for some infirmity under it He that is content in Poverty would not be so neither in Plenty for the fault is not in the thing but in the minde It 's therefore thy Apostle writing to Timothy says command the Rich of this World not to be high-minded nor place their considence in the uncertainty of their Riches Divitibus hujus mundi praecipe non sublime sapere neque sperare in incerto divitiarum 1 Tim. 17. Non proderunt divitiae indie ultionis Pro. 11.4 Divitiarumjactantia quid nobis contulit Sap. 5. Dormierunt somnum suum nihil in venerunt omnes viri divitiarum in manibus suis Psa 75.6 and the ground of his Precept is that Riches shall not profit a man in the day of revenge nor rescue him from the rigour of thy Justice in the day of his death if his sins have put him out of thy favour this the wicked Rich themselves confess tho' too late being already condemn'd to live in torments for an Eternity what has the bravery of our Riches avail'd us nothing at all but have rather increas'd our misery because we made thereof our Gods upon Earth tho' we were often told of their vanity and how they could never afford their Masters any comfort or ease when they were in most need of their help The Royal Prophet seems to commiserate their deplorable condition where he says Alas the Rich men have slept out their sleep and have found nothing in their hands People in their sleep will dream of Mountains of Gold and Silver and think themselves rich for ever but when they awake they finde they are altogether in as bare a condition as before this is the case with the rich whilst they are in this life they do imagine themselves Rich for ever and that their vast treasures will bear them up in all necessitys that shall occur but when they open their eyes in the hour of death they see then that they must depart for another World with as little provision as the poorest beggar in nature I can't but smile to hear the Prophet Baruch laugh at such People where are they now says he those great Estated men those mercenary Judges those deluding Lawyers those flie Attornys those greedy and covetous Merchants those insatiable Usurers that heap'd up such a vast deal of gold silver and that never desisted gathering together Alas they are rooted out of the World cast down into Hell-sire And therefore says St James now ye rich men weep and wail Jacob. 5.1 2 3. c. and howl for your miseries that come upon you now your riches are rotten and your gold and silver is rusty and the rust thereof shall be in testimony against you It shall feed upon your flesh as if it were fire you have hoorded up wrath to your own selves in the last day Tho' he is an Apostle that speaks yet his words are the very dictates of the holy Ghost whereby we may easily conceive the dangerous consequence of worldly wealth and the main folly of them that labour so much to procure the same by injustice and other indirect means and when they are masters of them do not imploy them to the advantage of their Souls but lay out all to support their grandeur and satisfy their Lust I am certain that if an Assembly of the most able physitians of the World had met to determine whether such or such meats were dangerous to feed upon and that they should all conclude they were absolute poyson to the body few or none at all would hazard his health to eat thereof tho' otherwise in sight smell and tast they appear'd sweet and most pleasant And shall not the unanimous votes of all the Saints in Heaven and of all the Catholike Doctors on Earth together with thy most holy and urgent admonitions O Lord be able to remove the disordinate love which mortals bear to this most dangerous Soul-killing vanity Thou sayst by thy Prophet to all mankind Divitiae si affluant nolite cor apponere Psa 61. Qui diligit aurum non justificabitur Eccl. 31. Zacha. 1. set not your hearts upon the love of Riches and why the wise make them this answer because whoever loves Gold that is beyond the precept shall never be justifi'd and thou sayst thy self that thy indignation and wrath shall fall very heavy upon rich nations There 's nothing so often repeated in Scripture as a Woe to the Rich and thou dost confirm it thy self with that usual affirmation Amen Amen I say unto you that a Rich man shall hardly enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Matth. 19. What an extream folly it is then to seek so much after so poisonous a bait as are Earthly Riches which may perhaps afford some little comfort to their owners in this World but with an absolute exclusion from the everlasting pleasures of thy kingdom Woe be to you Rich men for that you have receiv'd your consolation in this life so that in the other you are not to expect any Sad news indeed for the Rich and able to settle in their hearts a perpetual abhorrence against so fatal an enemy to the Salvation of their Souls This expression I fear will not at all rellish with many of our Worldlings who account Riches to be their dearest and only Friend nay had I said their God it would not be contrary to truth for their hearts are more enamour'd with them then they are with thee O Lord tho' thou hast deposited thy sweet life to ransom their Souls from the power of Hell Qui volunt divites fieri incident in tettuionem in laqueum Diaboli defideria malta inutilia nociva quae mergunt homines in interitum perdidonem 1 Tim. 6.9 and Death everlasting And yet if St. Paul may be credited they are grosly mistaken and wide from the mark they aim at for where they expect their consolation and pleasure they meet with their eternal destruction and sorrow for He says that they which will be rich do fall into temptations and into the Snares of Satan as also into many unprofitable hurtful desires which do drown them in the Abiss of destruction and Woe Their main objection to this doctrine is what shall become of our Wives and Children if we be not careful to provide a maintenance for them that they may live in the World with as much splendour as the dignity of their condition requires But the Wife man gives them a satisfactory answer in my minde and a notable check to boot for he calls them fools and besides he tells them in plain terms that their great care
provoke her to their earnest and hot pursuit yet they will never make her happy for when she thinks to possess them they fly away and leave her nothing but an everlasting displeasure to have settled her affections upon 'em she is of so unsatiable a capacity that all the munificence of the Vniverse is not able to content her none but her Heavenly Spouse can afford her true Consolation perfect Tranquillity and Joy without any medley of displeasure Whatever Species she receives within her besides that of her Creator whatever object she embraces besides her God is Seditious Killing Vain and savours more of perfect Gall than of the sweet Honey of real Comfort As for the Body who is able to express the wonderful Fabrick thereof let us consider how the wise and Heavenly Architect has united those two Natures the Body and Soul so contrary one to th' other in all respects and has link'd them together with so sure a knot of true friendship that they can't be separated without a deal of Violence and Grief Let us also consider how man as if he were naturally avers'd to the Earth looks with his face Heaven-wards whence he receiv'd his Creation and Dignity and where he does expect his final repose This favour he receiv'd from God above all other Creatures as a peculiar evidence of his good Will for him 't is also a memorial to him of his incumbent duty to God that by his upright look he might conceive the weighty Obligation he lies under to think always of heavenly things to tread under foot all earthly affairs and never to harbor any vile or sordid thoughts in his mind This was the happy State and Condition of Man before his dismal Fall for then all his Senses his Inclinations and Powers were perfectly united far from the least motion of any Rebellion and entirely submitted to th' Empire of the Will Then Reason paid her humble Submission perfect Obedience and a compleat Homage to her Creator alone and that perfect submission of Man together with his faithful concurrence to the Will of God brought upon him the great Blessings of a profound Tranquility of a grateful Accord of a firm Peace of perfect Justice of candid Innocency of unspeakable Purity of heart so that he was a plentiful Source of all good Qualities of all Vertues and of all kind of Happiness But alas no sooner did he expell from his heart the Love and Fear of God to give ear and obedience to the malicious dictates of the Infernal Serpent no sooner did he forsake his Heavenly Spouse to prostrate himself to his Rival and mortal Enemy the Devil no sooner was he so impiously bold as to cancel the Divine Precept at the fatal request of his silly Wife but he was miserably degraded of all those glorious Prerogatives and suddenly dejected from that happy State into an Abyss of such Evil and Woe that you would hardly believe him to be the same Man His little Republick which was before his Rebellion in a profound Peace fell into so great a disorder that no two were of one mind the Will was contrary to the Understanding and Reason was opposite to both the Spirit repin'd at the Flesh the Flesh rebell'd against the Spirit and gave him no Respect or Obedience because he did the same to his Creator Why should I aggravate his misfortune more than really it was I will only say what is most deplorable and likewise most true all things happen'd to poor Man after his Rebellion quite contrary to his expectation which was to be happy for ever His Memory which was whilst he remain'd in the state of Innocency and whilst he tugg'd at the Oar of Obedience replenish'd with all good and even with the Summum Bonum had taken so great a draught of Oblivion not out of the River Letheos but from the Forbidden Apple that he hardly knew or retain'd any thing but Wickedness and Vanity The Vnderstanding which was a little before wonderfully Illuminated with the Knowledge of God became so desperately involv'd in the darkness of a profound Ignorance that he knew nothing in a manner of his Creators Projects and was altogether ignorant of his ways The Will which was all in a Flame of Divine Love became so perverse that like a Blind Mole she imbrac'd Falshood for Truth Temporal for Eternal Evil for Good Carnal for Spiritual and undervaluing those things which might make her happy for ever she retain'd nothing of her Innate and Primitive Goodness nay she followed such disordinate courses as were enough to carry poor man headlong to everlasting Perdition Reason which as a Monarch should keep those petty Princes of Man's disjointed Republick in subjection having abdicated his Scepter together with all his Royalties became Tributary and paid Homage even to his Vassals nay he suffer'd himself to be rul'd and seduc'd by those who were created to pay him their constant and most humble submission and obedience O sad Misfortune What Man that noble Creature who had from God as due by his Creation an absolute Supremacy over all terene Creatures to be so deluded and worm'd out of all his Prerogatives by the Devils craft that he had not the full command of himself He was heretofore upright both of body and mind and was look'd upon as a divine Creature But alas he was soon after reduc'd to that low condition as he might be very well compar'd if not to a Brute at least to a prodigal Child who had revell'd away all his Birth-right However God of his infinite mercy was pleas'd to receive him again into favour and after he had wash'd off his sinful spots with the sacred Blood of the New Testament he Espous'd him to Christ by Faith This was an extraordinary Grace and the wonderful product of a most merciful God It was able to force Man's concurrence though he were never so ungrateful to love and serve him for ever Never-the-less this miserable Wretch has been an Enemy to God even from his blooming years and publickly forsook Jesus his gracious Redeemer nay he has impudently committed so many Adulteries with his Rival and mortal Adversary the Devil as were able to divert him from having any futher compassion of his misery What then must be done with Man must he always persevere in so foul and horrid a Relapse Nunquid qui cadit non adjiciet aliquando ut resurgat Aug. Must not he that falls strive to rise again If the Devil had the power and malice to debase him to that extream misfortune has not Jesus a far greater power to cancel his Contract with that mortal Enemy of mankind and bring him again into his Flock Rom. c. 5. v. 15 16 17 c. as a straid Sheep For St. Paul says that Sin is not so powerful to destroy as the gift of Grace is to repair If the sin of one Man has been the fatal occasion of the loss of many Souls the Grace of God
whom he may devour I do grant that the allurements to sin are great and numerous but the motives that I lay before all mortals to adhere to make use of on all such occasions are incomparably more in number and of greater force to repulse all temptations they are also very prevalent to induce 'em to lead a virtuous and godly life The world thou sayst invitest thee to unlawfull and wicked actions but God prohibits them nay he commands the contrary and if thou dost obey him he intails on thee a glorious and everlasting inheritance but if thou hast so little regard of his commands as to trangress them he threatens thee with everlasting damnation and torments The flesh inclines thee to evil but the spirit and reason too bids thee resist manfully such base and rebellious motions the one tells thee that the body is created to be a slave to the Soul not the Soul to the body th' other informs thee what a madness it is to forfeit an eternal happiness for a passing pleasure which ever leaves a sting to pierce and gall thy heart Sodom and Gomorrha were too much led by the flesh but consider well the terrible chastisement they suffer'd in this world yet it is but a shadow to what they shall suffer for an eternity Moreover that gnawing worm of a guilty Conscience should quell in thee all such foul and unlawfull pleasures Thou wilt plead that Satan with the rest of his infernal Confederates never desist perplexing thee with their frequent and strong suggestions and art thou the only man that he assaults no no his quarrel is with all mankind and since that fatal overthrow which he gave our first Progonitors in the garden of Eden he never ceas'd neither will he ever leave off pestering and plaguing their descendants with suggestions to evil Latrare potest Sollicitare potest sed mordere non potest nifi volentem Aug. Angelis suis Deus mandavit de te Mat. 4.6 for nothing makes them so furious and cruel as to see men in a fair way of possessing their forfeited and glorious Seats but thy chief comfort and security lyes within thy own breast he is like a Mastive-Dog at a chain he may indeed bark at thee but can never bite thee unless thou dost come within his reach and consent to thy own destruction Moreover God has deputed an Angel even from thy Mothers womb to protect and defend thee from all such accidents and he will perform his charge if thou wilt but obey him and listen to his wholsome inspirations and dictates If Satan does spur thee on to the Precipice of Sin thy good Angel will teach thee Non coronabitur nisi qui legirtime certaverit 2. Timo. 2.5 how thou mayst in thy conflict secure thy self either by a vigorous opposition or an immediate flight to God for Sanctuary He will also tell thee that thou art created to fight the mortal enemy of mankind and must foil him too if thou hopest to gain a crown in Heaven As for the wicked whom thou thinkest to be of the number of Gods happy favorites because thou seest them prosper in all their ways and that nothing crosseth them that they have plenty of Gold and Silver Horses and all other Cattle in abundance no mortality visits them Prosperitas Stultorum perdet ilios Prov. 1. Non audivit populus mens vocem meam Israel non intendit mihi dimisi eos secundum desideria cordis eorum ibunt in adinventionibus suis Psal 80. Multae tribulationes Justorum Psal 7.20 Non sunt condigâ—ae passiones hujus temporis ad fu turam gloriam quae revelabitur in nobis Rom. 8.18 Rain Wind Storms Thunder Lightnings do pass by them and by all they possess as well abroad as at home but believe me says the wise Solomon that this Prosperity of the wicked which thou dost so much extol and make so great an estimate of as to think them in that to be the Minnious of God will at the cancelling of their life hurry their Souls to the Abbiss of Hell Let the Stiff-necked people of Israel serve for a president to convince thee that I delight not in the wicked They would not hearken to my voice neither would they acknowledge me to be their God and what was the effect of their disobedience and infidelity I withdrew and wholly left them to be guided by their own sensual appetites and they took their self-pleasing courses and follow'd the directions of their own Councels This is the greatest punishment that can be inflicted on a Nation for then their reprobation is sign'd never to be recall'd Many indeed are the tribulations of the Just but my worthy Apostle telleth thee from me that the sufferings of this present time are infinitly less then the Glory which shall be reveal'd in my faithful and devoted Servants hereafter I deal with them on earth as a skilful Physitian with his Patients I cleanse their Souls of all their sinfull spots by giving them to drink of that bitter Chalice of tribulations by which they are disposed to partake of a more abundant grace and brought to a nearer conformity with me who exhausted the same Chalice of its very dregs by this remedy they are secur'd from th' everlasting pains of hell which are incomparably greater and of a longer tract then all the tribulations and crosses that were suffer'd by all mankinde in this world and the same intitleth them my Associates in Heaven to sit at my table to enjoy my presence for ever and all the happiness that my celestial Court can afford Ego quos diligo arguo castigo Apoc. 3. Thou seest by this what unspeakable advantages the Just do reap by their tribulations and how the tenderness of my love to them appears even in the severity of my chastisements No Father can be more indulgent to his Child then I am to the Sinner for tho' the greatness and multitude of his heinous offences deserve no mercy at my hands but rather the utter severity of my Justice yet commonly I for bear with him still expecting his amendment but the longer I let him run in the way of iniquity the more he should be terrified for sins never escape without condign punishment and the longer it is deferred the heavier it will fall at last T is true the sinner has my parole for a pardon at any time when he comes to me with true repentance Qui poenitenti veniam promisi Eundem de die crastino nequaquam certificavi 12. Aug. Terra miseriae terra tenebrarum ubi nulius ordo sed sempiternus horror inhabitat Job 10.12 that is a gift from God and which he is not sure to receive no more then he is certain to live till next day That fatal delay of repentance has replenish'd the Dominion of Satan with millions of poor Souls and if any should set them the question what brought them to that
of wine in his hand and Blasphemy in his mouth another may be stab'd in a quarrel another crush'd with the fall of a horse In fine they have several ways to their end but the end it self which is Death is still the same For whether they dye by a sword by a halter by a potion or by a disease 't is all but Death which is so certain that thou can'st not doubt of it without a blemish to thy Faith none is exempted from drinking of this Chalice Regum Turres pauperumque Tabernas aeque pede pulsat Mors. Vir. Popes Kings and Princes must taste of it If there were any immunity or priviledge in the case surely I might have been exempted from Death as being the Law-maker and Promoter of that unavoidable sentence which I had pronounc'd against thy Progenitour for his transgression of my Commandment No the day shall come that thou wilt be alive in the morning and dead at night It will come sometime but when whether this day or to morrow 't is uncertain Thou art now in perfect health strong of body and found of minde thou dost measure thy life by the length of thy desires and by the multitude of thy business but the day will come that thou shalt be stretch'd on a bed candles lighted about thee thy Relations and Friends lamenting and weeping thy whole family in a great consternation expecting thee to breath out thy Soul every moment but when this day shall come 't is uncertain perhaps when thou dost least expect it perhaps when thou thinkst thy self secure from all dangers and when all thy thoughts are busi'd about building of Houses purchasing Lands matching thy Children settling their Fortunes 't is therefore said of Death Thess 5.23 that it comes like a Thief who takes that time to seize on his prey when men are in their dead sleep secure and without the least apprehension of being rob'd The day of the Lord says St. Paul shall come as a Thief in the night upon thee and when thou shalt say peace and security then sudden destruction shall come upon thee as Travail upon a Woman with Child and thou shalt not escape To consider seriously the preludes of death with their attendents which are a grievous sickness Aches and pains over all thy Limbs thy Stomach loaded with Apothecarys Stuffs so many sorts of loathsome drugs on a table before thy face which thou must of necessity swallow because thy Physician has order'd it so then art thou peevish and fretful continually tumbling and tossing from one place to another always restless this with several other emergencies weakens thy body and opens the gate for Death to come in even as when an enemy is resolv'd to Storm a City he first batters down its walls with his great Cannons and makes a breach large enough for a general assault then he commands his forces to stand to their Arms and he at the head of them marches on and makes himself Master of the place So before Death a mortal infirmity leads the van beats down thy natural Strength dismounts all thy senses gives thee no rest night or day batters down thy body with its violent fits so that the Soul is at last forc'd to withdraw from her old habitation to take up her quarters the Lord knows where But when the Infirmity is come to that height that thy Physitian and thy self too have no hopes of further life O what Anguishes what apprehensions what grief what trouble seizes thy poor heart and tares it asunder Videbunt quibus sacrificaverunt Eccl. then the whole series of thy former life comes into thy minde and thy dearest objects will then become the subjects of thy greatest sorrow thy Wife and Children thy Friends and Relations thy Riches thy Honours thy Titles thy Imployments with the rest which thou hast made thy Gods on Earth shall come in a croud to discompose thy Soul Soon after this alteration of thy minde comes another which is the forerunner of death thy forehead is harden'd and thy skin cleaves close to thy skull a cold sweat trickles down thy face thy eye-strings are already broken and thy eye-lids are fall'n down thy ears are deaf thy nose grows thin and sharp thy nostrils stuff'd up with corruption thy face turns to its original colour which is that of clay thy mouth is contracted thy tongue is stupifi'd and can no more perform its duty thy tast is gone thy lips are pale thy breath finks down to the bottom of thy breast thy hands are cold thy nails black thy pulse slow and weak sometimes at a stop and now and then revives thy feet have no more life they have lost their natural heat Infine all thy flesh is in a short space to be turn'd into corruption This is thy end O man but as thou art a Christian hear what shall enfue before the Separation of thy Soul from thy Body Then thou shalt imagine the Judgment of God to be at hand then thou shalt have a full view of all thy fins both great and small then all thy abominations and crimes shall come in a body to accuse thee before the dreadful Tribunal of my divine Justice Then thou shalt acknowledge tho' too late how sordid how heinous and how horrid were the crimes which thou hadst so easily so desperately committed against me without the least apprehension of my indignation wrath O what curses what bitter imprecations wilt thou utter at that fatal hour against the day in which thou hast offended me thou wilt curse even the place the occasion and complices of thy sins Thou wilt curse and condemn thine own folly and the wickedness of those which brought thee by their ill examples to forfiet the everlasting joys of Heaven for such trifles as are all the false and treacherous pleasures of this world pereat dies inqua natus sum c. Job 3.3 The afflictions of Job were nothing to those that shall be heap'd upon thee in that dreadful day of my visitation yet he cries out let the day perish wherein I was born and the night in which it was said there is a man-childe conceiv'd and what will thy feeling be when thou shalt see thy self depriv'd of all happiness and excluded from Heaven for an Eternity by the means of those vain sordid and transitory pleasures which thou hast taken in thy life-time when thou shalt behold thy self surrounded on all sides with tribulations and anguishes without any hopes of a longer life when there shall be no place for pennance when the days of grace are past when even those whom thou hast lov'd beyond all measure and reason cann't afford unto thee the least comfort but rather will kill thee with displeasure because they were thy beloved Idols and the only objects of thy adorations but now they shall become the subject of thy Eternall confusion Tell me O man when thou shalt see thy self brought to this deprorable state
Lucum if I do not weep and lament for my Sins while I have time and conveniency Woe 's me if I do not rise at midnight with the Prophet royal to confess unto thee O Lord Woe is me if ever I wrong bely or bring My neighbour into any evil inconvenience or trouble woe 's me if I do not speak truth at all times or if ever I be found in a ly For the Ax of Death is now perhaps at the root of my Tree of life or at least will be ere long 't is the same case with every one therefore it behoves us all to be watchful to be constantly in the practise of Pennance and in the exercise of all good works in hopes we may be one day of the number of thy beloved in Heaven SAVIOVR O Man Omnia toleranda pro caelesti gloria Aug. had'st thou known what a Supream happiness it is to be of the number of my beloved in Heaven thou wouldst be of St. Augustins opinion and say with him were I to suffer every day the greatest torments that the Rage and Malice of the most bloudy Tyrants could invent nay were I to endure even the anguishes of Hell for a long time to see Christ in his Glory I would think my self extraordinary well rewarded nay I would freely and with all my heart undergo all the afflictions imaginable upon condition to be made Partaker of so great a blessing Let the Devils therefore ly in Ambushes for me let them prepare as many temtations against me as they can contrive let my body be even consum'd with abstinence and constant fasting let hair-cloth chains of Iron depress my flesh let labour and continual toil extenuate my body let watching and lying on the hard ground wither it and make it as dry as a rotten tree let this man exclaim against me and th' other pursue me to death let the cold seize upon me and make me stoop to the Earth let my conscience murmure let the scorching heat of the Sun parch me let my body grieve let my breast burn let my stomack swell let my countenance wax pale let me from head to foot be full of ulcers let my whole life hours days years pass over in tears in grief and in sorrow let the dust inter my bones and cover me all over so that I be shelter'd in the day of Tribulation and plac'd at thy right hand O Lord among the number of thy Elect. O how great will be the glory of the Just and how infinite will be the joy of the Saints when every ones face will shine as the Sun But thou must know O man that the principal joy of the blessed is the peaceable enjoyment and possession of me whom they Behold clearly as I am in my self and that as Honourable profitable and delectable are not divided in Heaven so the blessed Souls have three gifts essential and inseparable from that happy state which correspond to those three kinde of Blessings which your Divines call vision comprehension and fruition The first consists in the clear and perfect sight of me Ego Protector tuus Sum. merces tua magna nimis Gen. 15.1 which I give to the Just as a reward of their merits and by this they receive an unspeakable honour in as much as their works and virtues are rewarded in the presence of all my Arch-angels Angels and heavenly Spirits with no less a recompence then my self The second is the full and ample possession which the Soul has of me who am all her treasure all her delight and all inheritance And the third is the ineffable joy which evermore accompanies this blessed sight and ever-peaceable possession This joy is adorn'd with two singular qualities the first whereof makes it so vigorous and powerful that it excludes all grief all pain and in a word St. Aug. medita 22. all manner of evil This is consonant to what St. Augustin says where he crys on t O Lord the life which thou hast prepar'd for thy friends is a blessed life a secure life a quiet life a life that knows no death a life without sadness without labour without grief without trouble without corruption without fear without variety without alteration A life replenish'd with all beauty and dignity where there is neither Enemy that can offend nor delight that can annoy where love admits of no mixture of hatred or disdain where the day is everlasting where the spirit of all is one where God is seen face to face who is the only meat whereupon they feed without any nauseating hitherto St. Augustin Cicero de Fin. 5. Tuscul Many of your ancient Philosphers were of opinion that the exemption from evil pain and grief was the chief felicity of man it 's therefore that the best of prophane Orators and Philosophers did place the chief happiness of man in the freedom from grief Jero Rodius Diodorus Philoso Perip but here lies their error they Judg'd that to be the Summum-bonum which was only the consequent and product thereof For the love and joy which springs from the clear vision of my divine Essence is so powerful that it 's enough to convert even Hell into Heaven in so much as if to the most tormented Soul in hell were added all the torments of the rest of the damned both men and Devils and that I should vouensafe him but one glimpse of my knowledge that only vision tho' in the lowest degree were sufficient to free him from all those evils both of sin and pain so that his Soul being extasi'd by that unspeakable beauty which he beheld would not be sensible of any grief or pain whatever By this thou mayst easily conceive the omnipotency of that joy which I confer upon my beloved in Heaven which if I should impart to the most damn'd in hell it would convert all his great torments into far greater consolations The Second stupendious wonder which the greatness of my joy produces in the Souls of my belov'd is the manifold pleasures which spring from it as from a most fruitful root Art thou not astonish'd to hear that the happiness of the Souls should cause so many and marvellous effects in the bodies of my Blessed as St. Augustin relates dost thou not wonder when he tells thee that my beatifical vision carries so unspeakable a joy with it into their Souls that it wholly changes their bodies makes them as beautiful as so many Angels resplendent as the Sun immortal as a Spirit and as impassible as even my self What miracles and prodigies it works in their bodies by the redundancy of the unspeakable comfort which they feel in their spirits Art thou not seiz'd with admiration when St. Anselme tells thee that if the body of one of my Blessed endow'd with the four gifts of glory full of clearness splendor and beauty were plac'd in any part or corner of the world it would perfume the whole universe with a fragrancy
esse filium hominis Mat. 16.14 I long to hear what Worldlings say of me and of my Kingdom for I suppose that some of them are apt to believe I am John the Baptist others will say perhaps that I am Elias others that I am Jeremiah or some one of the Prophets Noli me tangere Jo. 20.17 Vos autem quem me esse dicitis Ibid. v. 15. Some will think that it 's a folly for mortals to expect admittance to my Kingdom because that after my Resurrection I refus'd the Magdalen leave to touch me or to lay her hand upon any part of my garment But what dost thou say of me and of my glorious Residence MAN I Say Tu es Christus Filius Dei vivi Jo. 6.70 Et regni ejus non erit finis Luc. 1.33 that thou art Christ Son of the living God and that thy Kingdom will never have an end it 's therefore I believe that Scripture calls it the land of the living to let us understand that this wherein we abide deserves no better denomination then that of the dead Alas we know it by our woful experience to be very true for tho' Adam and his Descendants for a long time liv'd each of them so many Ages yet this fatal Epitaph mortuus est which he has entail'd upon all his posterity came at last to shew that as the world is mortal the inhabitants thereof must be of the same nature but as for thy Kingdom O Lord 't is immortal and without any end 't is therefore St. Paul says that this corruptible body of ours shall put on incorruption and of mortal become immortal This flesh of ours which now is so burdensome and does so depress our minde which is now invested with so many inconveniences subject to so many alterations griev'd with so many diseases defil'd with so many corruptions overwhelm'd with such an infinite deal of miseries and calamities shall in thy Kingdom O Lord be made glorious and advanc'd to the height of perfection It shall be endu'd with Seven gifts suitable to thy liberality and to the dignity of thy beloved Servants which are Beauty Agility Fortitude Justi fulgebant sicut sol in regno Patris eorum Mat. 13.43 Penetration Health Pleasure and Perpetuity As for the first gift which is Beauty thou hast thy self declar'd that the Just shall shine as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father The second is Agility and this prerogative of the Just is no less then the former for by this their flesh is free'd from that lumpish heavy weight which kept their Spirits fetter'd whilst they remain'd in this life and made as light even as the Angels themselves who pass from one extremity of the world to the other in the twinkling of an eye the third gift is Supernatural Strength which does so abound in a glorifi'd body that he shall be able to move the whole globe of the Earth at thy command and give us a dry passage through the main Ocean with as much ease as thy Angel did to the People of Israel through the red Seas to avoid the Rage and fury of their pursuing Enemys The fourth is I enetration whereby he shall be able to penetrate any other bodies tho'never so hard or massy and make nothing to peirce Walls Doors the Earth and the very Firmament tho' it were made of Brass This thy glorifi'd body has perform'd after thy Resurrection for thou didst penetrate the house where thy Disciples were the Doors being all shut and at thy Ascension thou didst penetrate the Heavens also The fifth prerogative is absolute Health free from all pains of this life quit of all diseases troubles incumbrances and all other infirmitys incident to humane nature and shall be perpetually fix'd in a most perfect and flourishing state of health and felicity in no way liable to the least alteration for ever The sixth is Delight and Pleasure which shall be heap'd upon a glorifi'd body to that degree that all his senses shall finde their peculiar and proper objects in a far more delicious manner then ever they could expect in this world for his eyes shall be for ever recreated with the beatifical vision and with the sight of the most glorious and beautiful bodies of all the Saints One Sun is enough to bring a full joy over the whole continent of the Earth as also to depress the raging waves of the main Ocean in its greatest fury it revives the mortifi'd grain and makes it appear with it's green blades to assure the Labourer of it's being alive and sets at liberty all those varieties of flowers and simples which the cold season of winter kept a long time in it's prisons of Ice what joy then shall a blessed Soul conceive when he beholds as many Suns as there are Saints and when he sees himself to be one of them when he sees his hands his feet and the rest of his members to cast forth beams clearer then even the Sun in it's full height His ears shall be replenish'd wiih the most harmonious Songs and Musick of so many Quires of Angels of so many millions of Saints and of so many hundred thousands of heavenly Spirits as St. John in many several places of his Revelations makes mention of O my Soul here I would have thee stay a while and consider seriously what a great satisfaction this is to the blessed If the harp of David were so delightful to Saul and had so great a power as to asswage the fury of his passion and to recal him from that melancholy fit of which the Devil made use to destroy his Soul If the Lyre of Orpheus was able to operate such great prodigies in the World and to win the hearts not only of men but also of the Infernal Spirits if we may believe Poets who tell us that he recover'd his Wife out of their clutches with the sweetness of his melodious instruments If St. Francis thought himself already in Heaven hearing an Angel play on his instrument what pleasure what delight will a blessed Soul have when he hears the sweet harmony of so many thousands of Angels together Tradition which gives life to the best of Historys informs us that the singing of one little bird alone ravish'd a devout Monk to that degree that three hundred years seem'd no more to him then three hours what a sweetness will it be to hear the melody of those Songs which the innumerable citizens of that heavenly Jerusalem sing in praise of thee their eternal King his smell shall be recreated with the most odoriferous scent which comes from those beautiful bodies infinitely more sweet then all the perfumes of the Indies In fine the whole glorifi'd body shall be fill'd with abundance of all kind of consolation the Eyes the Ears the Nose the Mouth the Hands the Throat the Lungs the Heart the Stomach the Back nay the very Intrals and every part of the Body Inebriabuntur ab
he check'd himself but still held it in that menacing posture being taken notice of and ask'd what he meant I am now says he punishing of an angry man Another time his Servant having committed a great fault pray says he to his friend do you beat that fellow for I am angry for he did not think it fit that a Servant should be in his power that is not his own master Socrates when he was angry would take himself in it and speak low in opposition to the motions of his displeasure O man thou art promis'd a crown of glory in Heaven if thou wilt subdue thy passions on Earth Thou art assur'd to sit at my Table and to enjoy my presence for ever so be that thou dost subdue thy evil inclinations and keep them always in subjection yet these powerful motives are not sufficient to Stir up thy drooping courage to so glorious an action and so much to thine own advantage whereas these Heathens have got the better of them all only for to be applauded by the people and to obtain the credit of being perfect Philosophers I tell thee for a certain truth that they shall rise in Judgment with this generation of cow-hearted Christians Mat. 12.41 42. and shall condemn them because they have subdu'd their Passions and evil inclinations only upon the bare account of vanity which they will not perform tho' they be promis'd the reward of an Eternal weight of Glory The Queen of the South shall also rise in Judgment against them and shall condemn them for she came from the uttermost parts of the Earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon whereas they will not make the least progress in virtue to pleasure me who am the Fountain of wisdom and who went so many steps to finde out their stray'd Souls when they were in danger to be lost for ever The Histories are full of perillous and desperate enterprizes and all for temporal rewards In the beginning of the civil wars which the Senate of Rome carried on against Cajus and Fulvius Gracchuus the Consul Opimus by publick Edict promis'd that whosoever should bring him the head of Cajus Gracchus should receive for reward it's weight in gold Setimuleyus undertakes the work and cuts of the head of Gracchus with the manifest danger of his own life and fills the hollow places thereof with melted lead to have the more weight of Gold But my promises far exceed this being I give for less labour and for a trouble as light as a feather an eternal weight of glory nay for a draught of water for that which is but vile and lasts but for a moment I give that which is of inestimable price and is to continue for all Eternity With that which is no more worth then a Straw thou mayst purchase my glory for all the felicities all the riches and Earthly delights are no more then a Straw compar'd to it Certainly thou wouldst look upon him to be a meer fool that would not give a chip for an hundred weight of Gold This is thy great folly O man thou wilt not go through the least of difficultys nor give a smal share of thy worldly Substance to the poor and distress'd for the purchase of Heaven Cyrus to encourage his Soldiers in his war against the Medes made them a Sumptuous Banquet with a promise to give them Gold and Silver in abundance if they had subdu'd that effeminate Nation if this motive was sufficient to make a barbarous People prefer a doubtful reward before a certain and hazardous labour why should not a certain reward and infinitely greater then the labour provoke thee and all mankinde to the conquest of Heaven Compare the banquet which I am to to exhibit to all my belov'd in Heaven unto that which Cyrus gave unto his whole Army the pleasures of my Kingdom with the troubles and displeasures of this life the joys above with the sorrows below the riches and treasures of Paradise with the little labour and pains which thou dost take in my Service and for which thou art promis'd eternal glory as a reward thou shalt finde as much difference as there is betwixt a dead body full of worms stench and corruption and a glorious body exceeding the Sun in brightness the Heavens in beauty and in sweetness the most odoriferous and purest Roses or Lillies It s therefore my Apostle says that all which men can suffer in this life is no way worthy of the glory which is entail'd upon my Elect. No the Stupendious mortifications and pennances of St. Simon Stylites the Austeritys of St. Romualdus the poverty and nakedness of St. Francis the manifold torments and tortures of all the martyrs are no more in comparison of my glory then is the taking up of a Straw for the gaining of an Earthly Empire David declares that the first man that should encouuter the Jebuseans as being the most daring and warlike of all his enemies should be made General Joab hears of it and expos'd his life to obtain that honour at the price of his bloud Saul offers his Daughter in marriage to him that should overcome the Giant Goliah David embraces the motion slights all danger to purchase so great a reward Seneca wonder'd at what Soldiers did and suffer'd for so short and transitory Kingdoms as are those of the world and that not for themselves neither but for another much more might he wonder that the sufferings labours of this life by which Christians are to gain the Kingdom of Heaven not for strangers but for themselves should seem so great and so grievous unto them as they make appear by their unwillingness to undergoe the least trouble for so great a purchase But I must attribute their failings herein to their little estimate of so precious a Jewel Proposito sibi gaudio sustinuit crucem Heb. 12. Matth. 13 Philip. 3. for had they known the value of it as well as others have done they would bid for it as they did or at least they would not pass by so carelesly a thing which they sought after so carefully Saint Paul says of me that laying the joys of Heaven before my eyes I sustain'd the Cross this should be to all Christians a main argument of my great estimate of the matter seeing I would buy it at so dear a rate and invite all men to go and sell all they have to purchase this treasure St. Paul is much of my opinion for he esteems all the World as dung to the purchase of this precious gem and imparted the same feeling to his worthy Disciple and glorious martyr St. Ignatius Hear what he is willing to give for the purchase thereof Fire Gallows Beasts breaking of my bones quartering of my members crushing of my body all the torments of the Devil together let them come upon me so I may enjoy this inestimable treasure St. Chryso Tom. 5. Hom. 19. Vincent Martyr was nothing inferiour to him either in
love courage greatness of minde and fervour of spirit hear how daring he speaks to Dacianus the President and see with what joy and Patience he suffers his torments The Tyrant orders him to be hoist up high upon a Rack and after a jeering way ask'd him where he was to which he answer'd with a smiling countenance I am aloft and thence do despise thee who art insolent and puff'd up with the power thou hast upon Earth Being after menac'd with more torments far exceeding the cruelty of the former he said me thinks Dacianus thou dost not threaten but court me with what I desire with all the powers and faculties of my Soul And when they tore his flesh with hooks and pinchers and burnt him with firebrands and flaming torches he cry'd out with joy in vain thou weariest rhy self Dacianus thou canst not imagine torments so horrid which I could not suffer Know then O man that Prisons Pinchers burning plates of Iron and death it self are unto good Christians recreations rather then torments and if thou beest of the number of them thou wilt be likewise of the same opinion MAN I am as much perplex'd O Lord at thy discourse as was the man of the Gospel to hear his Master accuse him of injustice and threaten to turn him out of his Stewardship what shall I do Fodere non valeo mendicare erubesco Luc. 16.3 says he I am asham'd to beg and I am not able to labour This is my case I am asham'd to see my self so remiss in my duty to thee so unwilling to undergo the least trouble to purchase thy glory and so heedless of my own salvation when I see Heathens perform such great and heroick exploits even for the bare applause of the world and for the blind approbation of their phantastical Sect. I am asham'd to see my self so remote from virtue so cold in devotion so prone to vice so inconstant in my good resolutions so averss'd to afflictions and crosses when I hear a Pagan-Philosopher that knows nothing of thy glory nothing of the everlasting happiness of thy Kingdom nothing of the unspeakable reward of thy Blessed and nothing of the eternal punishments which thou hast decree'd for the wicked tell me that there is not in the scale of nature a more inseparable connexion of cause and effect then in the case of happiness and virtue nor any thing that more naturally produces the one or more necessarily presupposes the other For what is it to be happy but for a man to content himself with his lot in a chearful and quiet resignation to the appointments of God All the actions of our lives ought to be govern'd with a respect to good and evil and it is only Reason that distinguishes by which reason we are in such manner influenc'd as if a Ray of the Divinity were dipt in a mortal body and that 's the perfection of mankinde 'T is true we have not the eyes of Eagles nor the Sagacity of hounds nor if we had could we pretend to esteem our selves for any thing which we have in common with Brutes What are we the better for that which is foreign to us and may be given and taken away As the Beams of the Sun irradiate the Earth and yet remain where they were so is it in some proportion with a holy minde that illustrates all our actions and yet adheres to it's Original Why do we not as well commend a Horse for his glorious Trapings as a man for his pompous additions how much a braver Creature is a Lyon which by nature ought to be fierce and terrible how much braver I say he is in his natural horrour then in his chains So that every thing in its pure nature pleases us best It is not Health Nobility Riches that can justify a wicked man nor is it the want of all these can discredit a good one That 's the Sovereign Blessing which makes the Professor of it valuable without any thing else and him that wants it contemptible tho' he had all the world besides 'T is not the painting gilding or carving that makes a good Ship but if she be a nimble Sailer tight and strong to endure the Seas that 's her excellency 'T is the Edge and temper of the blade that makes a good Sword not the richness of the Scabbard 'T is even the same with man 't is not money or vast possessions or eminent places or great dignitys that makes him considerable but his virtue alone I am a Christian Cor. 9.19 20 21 22. and by my profession am bound to be serviceable to all people as far as my ability can extend and their necessity requires it it 's therefore St. Paul says tho' I be free from all men yet have I made my self Servant unto all that I might gain the more Unto the Jews I became as a Jew that I might gain them that are without law To the weak became I as weak that I might gain the weak In fine I am made all things to all men that I might by all means save some This is my incumbent duty but alas I am far short of it and this brings a blâ—sâ— on my face when I see a Pagan-Philosopher preach and practice the same 'T is every man's duty says Seneca to make himself profitable to mankinde if he can to many if not to fewer if not so neither to his neighbours but however to himself There are two Republicks a great one which is humane nature and a less which is the place where we are born some serve both at a time some only the greater and some again only the less The greater may be serv'd in privacy Solitude contemplation perchance that way better then any other But it was th' intent of nature however that we should serve both A good man may serve the Publick his friend and himself too in any Station If he be not for the Sword let him take the Gown if the Bar does not agree with him let him try the Pulpit If he be silenc'd abroad let him give Counsel at home and discharge the part of a faithful friend and a Temperate companion When he is no longer a Citizen he is yet a man the whole world is his Country and humane nature never wants matter to work upon But if nothing will serve a man in the civil Government unless he be prime Minister or in the Field but to command in Chief 't is his own fault The common Soldier where he cann't use his hands fights with his very looks his example his encouragement his voice and stands his ground even when he has lost his hands and does service too with his very clamour so that in any condition whatsoever he still discharges the duty of a good Patriot Nay he that spends his time well even in a retirement gives a great example we may inlarge indeed or contract according to the circumstances of time place or
shall pursue thee until thou perish Thy Carcase shall be meat unto all Fowls of the Air and unto the Beasts of the Earth and no man shall fray them away The Lord will smite thee with the botch of Egypt and with the Emerods and with the Scab and with the Itch whereof thou shalt not be heal'd The Lord shall smite thee with madness and blindness and astonishment of heart Thou shalt grope at noon-day as the blinde grope in darkness and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways and thou shalt be oppress'd and spoil'd evermore and no man shall save thee Thou shalt serve thine Enemies which the Lord shall send against thee in hunger and in thirst and in nakedness and in want of all things and he shall put a yoak of Iron about thy neck until he have destroy'd thee The Lord shall bring a Nation against thee from far from the end of the Earth as swift as the Eagle flys and shall besiege thee in all thy gates until thy high and fenc'd-walls come down wherein thou trustest and thou shalt eat the fruit of thy own body the flesh of thy Sons and of thy Daughters which the Lord thy God has given thee in the Siege and in the straitness wherewith thine Enemies shall distress thee so that the man that is tender among you and very delicate his eye shall be evil towards his Brother and towards the Wife of his bosom and towards the remnant of his Children which he shall leave so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his Children whom he shall eat because he has nothing left him in the Siege and in the straitness wherewith thine Enemys shall distress thee in all thy gates The tender and delicate Woman among you which would not adventure to set the Sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness her eye shall be evil towards the Husband of her bosom and towards her Son towards her Daughter and towards her young one that cometh out from between her feet and towards her Children which she shall bear for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the Siege and straitness wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates Certainly these are most horrible dreadful punishments yet they and many more such like chastisements which I have heap'd upon the wicked even in this life for their Sins are no more then a very imperfect shadow and figure of what the damn'd do suffer in Hell for there my Justice shall act to its full extent and rigour against those that made nothing of my mercy in this life If the shaddow be so dreadful what will the reality be If now my Justice having a mixture of mercy with it and if the Chalice of my wrath temper'd with the water of my Grace seems notwithstanding so intollerable bitter what will it be when it shall come violently those unfortunate Souls without any mixture at all of my mercy Esa 27. When I shall Judge in measure against measure as the Prophet says Jer. 25. when I shall exercise Judgment in weight in Justice and measure Apoc. 20. 22. when I shall pay them home according to their particular works and according to the inventions of their deprav'd and rebellious hearts Psal 27. 61. when I shall command the Infernal Spirits to chastise all and each of them according to their demerits Apoc. 18. when I shall give them this charge of Babylon now thrown down into the Lake Look how much she has glorifi'd her self and how long she has liv'd in delights so much torments and afflictions give her and continue her the same entertainment for ever without affording her the least comfort or respit of ease The Holy Fathers and Doctors of my Church grounded upon my word believe a variety of torments in Hell for the Damn'd according to the variety of the Sins which they had committed in their Life for the Adulterer shall have one kinde of torment the Murtherer another the Thief another the Drunkard another the Lyer another and the rest accordingly The Proud shall be trodden under the feet of Devils and box'd by every one that meets him with a Sirrah to boot thou hast damn'd thy Soul for a point of Honour And thou Lady of pleasure for a Paint and a wash for thy face and hands forfooth to make them look white plump and smooth to the view of thy Gallants hast made thy Soul as black as even our master Devil O what a killing reproach will this be The Glutton shall have for his morning and evening drink Ps 148.8 fire hail snow froft the spirit of Tempest season'd with the unsufferable Stench of so many Millions of damn'd rotten rosted Carcases St. Bonaventure will tell thee that if one only body of the damn'd were brought into the world and laid in any part or corner thereof it were sufficient to infect the whole Earth Thou mayst Judge by this what a dreadful potion the Glutton is to have in Hell the Drunkard also shall have a full share of the same Cup. The delicious mouth shall be fill'd up with Gall and the delicate body fear'd with hot-burning Irons O man take notice how well the Doctrine of my Church agrees with the Dictates of the Holy Ghost for speaking of the wicked he says the bread in his belly shall be turn'd into the Gall of Serpents Job 20. He shall be constrain'd to vomit out again the Riches which he had devour'd God shall pull them forth of his belly He shall be constrain'd to suck the galls of Cockatrices and the tongues of Adders shall slay him He shall bear the smart of all that ever he has done and yet shall he not be consum'd but shall suffer according to the multitude of all his devices These words shew plainly that wicked men shall suffer particular torments for their particular crimes as Gluttony Extortion Oppression c. And that these torments shall be far beyond the expression of any mortal tongue what shall I say of the continuance and length thereof which is another circumstance no less terrible then the former for their torments shall be of the same extent with Eternity which has no end and withall there shall be no possibility of any jot of help ease intermission relaxation respiration or comfort And this is signifi'd by my words so often repeated Ligatis manibus pedibus projicite eum in tenebras exteriores Matth. 12. The Damn'd shall be cast into Hell bound hand and foot that is without all ability of resistance or strugling against their torments The dreadful shutting up of the gate which I fore-told in a doleful manner and with a heavy heart is a sufficient evidence of it Clausa est Januae The gate is shut up and made fast for ever that is to say in Hell the gate of all mercy Matth. 25. of all pardon of all
of Christians then he did so great was his animosity to both that he murther'd very many thousands of them and destroy'd all their Alters and Churches which were erected and dedicated to my worship and Service will this most wicked and disssembling Prince cry Peccavi in the hour of his death no he will continue his impiety to his last breath which will be the perfect Eccho of his most ambitious and abominable life for receiving a mortall wound in the siege of a Town in the Kingdom of Persia he took a handfull of his blood flung it up as it were into my face with this horrid expression vicisti Nazarene vicisti O Nazarean Cum mens inclinata fugrit ad aliquid non se jam haber aequaliâ—er ad utrum que oppositorum sed ad illud ad quod magis inclinatur fertur nisi per rationis discussionem ab eo quadam solicitudine abducatur St. Tho. thou hast indeed overcome me at last after this he commanded his Gentlemen to put his Corps into a Coffin of lead and cast it into the Sea that his subjects finding not his body on Earth might believe it was carri'd by the hands of Angels into Heaven and seated there amongst the Gods Thou seest by these presidents what a foolish mistake the wicked ly under when they put off their conversion to the very last hour of their life in hopes to have then a hearty Peccavi which may be to me a sufficient Atonement for all their offences and breaches of both my Laws and commandments The Angelical Doctor St. Thomas seems to be much astonish'd at their folly herein for says he when men are viciously inclin'd and taken with a surprize in their evil habits it is out of their jurisdiction to conceive an abhorrence against them and have a love and esteem for a virtuous life unless they make use of their reason to finde out the manifold advantages of the one and the several evil consequences of the other but how can a wicked man that is seiz'd on by Death as he walks in the streets by a tile falling from the top of a house or some other such like unexpected accident make use of his reason in that ample manner 't is impossible and consequently Hac animadversione percutitur percator ut moriens obliviscatur sui qui dum viveret oblitus est Dei St. Amb. Arist whoever neglects his Salvation so far as to put it to such perilous events deserves no mercy at my hands But set the case that an old habitual Sinner should dye of a long and languishing sickness 't is very probable he will never think of me in his latter hour nor have the least feeling of a Peccavi being he forgot to call to me for mercy in his healthful days and this indeed is the usual punishment which I do inflict upon such persons Moreover 't is grounded upon this other Maxim of Philosophy altogether as undeniaable as the former Ab assuetis non fit passio That is to say things which men have dayly before their eyes make no impression upon their hearts the Sun which is the most resplendent and the most glorious Creature that ever was wrought by my hands for the use of men is dayly seen without the least admiration whereas if a Comet appears they are all eyes to behold it A Chirurgion will handle and dress the nastiest wound that ever man had without the least grudge or loathing because he is accustom'd to it A new rais'd Soldier will tremble at the noise of a bullet whereas an old and well-train'd Soldier will never shrink or give ground tho' even Cannons were roaring about him and their bullets flying on every side of him because he is acquainted with such warlike entertainment 'T is even so with a wicked liver in the hour of his death tho' his Ghostly Father his Wife his Children and all his friends were round his bed breaking their hearts and bursting their lungs calling and crying unto him to produce one act of Contrition one sorrowful Peccavi one have mercy on me O Lord he will take no notice of what they say all their exhortations to him intended to bring him to dye a good death will be to no effect he had often heard the like or rather more pressing motives from Teachers and Preachers in their Pulpits yet his heart was Steel-proof to all their fiery words they could never make him think on his Salvation and therefore 't is but in vain to expect he will be sollicitous for it now when the Devil has him fast fetter'd when his heart is over-clouded with the darkness of his manifold and grievous Sins when his understanding is blinded his will altogether corrupted his senses decay'd and the whole commonwealth of his Body and Soul clear out of order by reason of their approaching and dismal separation Thou hast a very remarkable president of this in the old Testament there thou mayst read what wonders I had done in order to mollify the heart of Pharaoh Exod. 9.10 and bring him to a right understanding of his obedience and duty to me who am the powerfull and mighty Jehovah who depress at will and make subject the greatest Potentates of the whole World How I had slain his first-born for refusing to let go the People of Israel out of his Land how I made all the Rivers Streams Fountains Springs within his Dominions run with bloud for the same reason how I cover'd all his Realm with darkness and Frogs which were so numerous that they came in Swarms upon his Table and even into his Bed how I sent a grievous Swarm of Flies into his house and into all the houses of Egypt how I had plagued all the Inhabitants of the Land as also their Cattle which pestiferous Ulcers Boils of which they all died how I had rain'd down such a stupendious shour of Hail upon them as was never seen before or since in the world how I had spread over the whole Land of Egypt Locusts that devour'd and destroy'd all that the hail had left yet all these prodigies could not mollify the obdurate and rebellious heart of Pharaoh till at last my Justice took him to task and drown'd both him and his whole Army in the Red-Seas which was a passage they were to go through to take up their quarters in the unquenchable fire of Hell where they shall repent for an Eternity but to no advantage for their Souls If this discourse so well grounded upon Scripture Fathers and Reason Hos 13.9 as also upon so many presidents out of Holy Writ will not prevail with Sinners not to delay their conversion or put it off to their crasy years I have only this to say Perditio tua ex te Israel let their eternal ruine and the fatal loss of their Souls lie at their own doors However to let them know how much I thirst after their Salvation I will have thee
mollibus vestiuntur in domibus Regum sunt Luc. 7 Mart. 3.11 Induebatur purpura bysso Luc. 16.19 with one fiat but it was my pleasure to appear otherwise to condemn the Worlds vanity I premitted my Prophet also with a course and austere attire to demonstrate the abhorrence I had against so great and so common an abuse said plainly that such as are not like my Precursor in their attire but will go clothed in soft delicate apparel are fitter to live in the Courts of earthly Kings then in my heavenly Pallace I said also in my description of the rich man damn'd that he was apparell'd in purple and Silk meaning thereby that this was also a main step towards his everlasting damnation even as to set forth the extraordinary holyness of my Prophet Elias I said of him Vir pilosus Zona pellicea accinctus renibus 4 Reg. 1.8 that his reins were cover'd with hair cloth It is a thing worthy thy daily admiration to consider how far asunder I my Saints are from the humour behaviour of Worldlings in this very matter I was the very first Taylor that ever made up a garment in this World and made it for the most noble of all thy Ancestours in Paradise but of what did I make it was it of cloth of Gold or Silver Gen. 3. of cloth thirty forty shillings the yard was it of a most precious and costly silk no it was only of beasts skins and St. Circui erunt in meloris in pellibus caprinis egenter angustiati afflicti quibus dignus non erat mundus Heb. 11.37 Paul avers of the greatest and noblest Saints of the old Testament that they were cover'd only with goats skins and with the hair of Camels Does not this condemn the unspeakable vanity of mortals that are so extraordinary curious and rich in their apparel and take so much pride therein that they must have the spoil of all the Creatures upon Earth to cover their backs and adorn their bodys From one they take his wool from another his skin from another his hair and fur and from others their very excrements as the Silk which is nothing else but the excrement of worms Neither are they content with all these robberies upon Earth they must ransack the very Sea for Pearls to beautify their necks and turn up its Sands for precious Stones to adorn their ears They will enter into the very bowels of the Earth to finde out Gold and Silver and having borrow'd all these curiosities of other Creatures for more vile then themselves they are not content to enjoy them in private but they must shew their finery abroad and provoke people to look upon them as if all were of their own Stock What an idle complacency do they take to see Diamonds Sparkle upon their singers and how foolishly are they conceited to think the lustre thereof come from themselves When Silver Gold and Silks do glister on their bodys they look sumptuously as if all that beauty came from them When Cats-dung does smell in their garments they would have People believe that those sweet odours proceed from their own bodys And thus says my Prophet they spend their lives in vanity without any serious care of their Salvation nay they take such great delight in their rich Apparel and other vanitys that they will bring them to Church too that men may take the more notice of them and whilst they are running over a few prayers their hearts are taken up with their sine garments and their eyes are glanc'd on all sides as if they were craving the applause and admiration of the whole Assembly I hope O man thou art now convinc'd of the truth of the premises if thou can'st tell me any more of the World's vanity let me hear it at large and thou shalt know what my Judgment will be concerning them MAN It was a Question among the Heathen Phylosophers whether it is better for a Man to have much or to have enough and the ground of their debate was that he who has much desires more which shews that he has not yet enough but he that has enough is at rest and the conclusion was that he is the richest man that is content with what he has for why should a man be reputed the less rich for not having that for which he shall be banished for which his very Wife or Son shall poison him That which gives him security in War and quiet in Peace which he possesses without danger and disposes of without trouble deserves indeed the name of Riches which alone can make a man happy in this World for no man can be poor that has enough nor rich that covets more then he has Alexander after all his Conquests complain'd that he wanted more Worlds he desir'd something more even when he had gotten all And that which was sufficient for humane nature was not enough for one man I am very apt to believe that money never made any man Rich for the more he had the more he still coveted The richest man that ever liv'd is poor in my opinion and should be so in any reasonable man's judgment But he that keeps himself to the limits of nature does neither feel Poverty nor fear it whereas those which the World calls happy their felicity is a false splendour that dazles the eyes of the vulgar but our rich man is glorious and happy within himself There 's no ambition in hunger or thirst let there be food and no matter for the table the dish and the Servants nor with what meats nature is satisfi'd Those are the torments of Luxury that rather stuff the stomach then fill it It studys rather to cause an appetite then to allay it 'T is not for us to say this is not hand some that 's common the other offends my eye Nature provides for health not delicacy When the Trumpet sounds a charge the poor man knows he is not aim'd at when they cry out fire his body is all he has to look after If he be to take a journey there 's no blocking up of Streets and thronging of passages for a parting complement a small matter fils his belly and contents his mind he lives from hand to mouth without carking or fearing for to morrow He that would know the worst of Poverty let him but compare the looks of the rich and the poor and he shall finde the poor man to have the smoother brow and to be more merry at the heart or if any trouble befals him it passes over like a Cloud whereas the other either his good humour is counter fiet or his melancholly deep and ulcerated and the worse because he dares not publickly own his misfortune but he is forc'd to play the part of a happy man even with a Cancer in his heart His felicity is but personated and if he were but strip'd of his ornaments he would be contempitble In buying of