If man forsake him the Lord will stand for him and though parents cast him off yet God will gather him vp the Lord will couer his head in the day of battell the Lord will feed him in the time of famine the Lord will turne his bed in the time of his sicknesse hee shall see the face of God in righteousnesse and when hee awaketh shall bee satisfied with his Image O how excellent is the louing kindnesse of God to them that waite vpon him they shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatnesse of his house and he will make them to drinke of the Riuers of his pleasure he shall delight himselfe in the Lord and God will giue him the desires of his heart Let vs often renew these meditations in our selues and say with Dauid O how great is thy goodnesse which thou hast laid vp for them that feare thee which thou hast wrought for them that feare thee before the sonnes of men Surely the sight of this goodnesse of God will make the labour of mortification seeme easie If those that trie masteries be continent in all things for a mortal Crowne what should wee bee for an immortall If the hope of bootie will make a souldler hazard his heart-blood what should we doe in this battell where the fauour of God and the Kingdome of Heauen are ascertained to him that fights and conquers If the man that is in some degree mortified did often contemplate the felicitie that God hath prouided for him both present and to come hee would not he could not faint These meditations would so disgrace the pleasures of sinne and so commend vnto him the reward of pietie that hee would euen scorne to serue so base a thing as sinne which giues no wages but chaffe and dirt when hee might be intertained in the scruice of Christ who besides his being so infinitely excellent giues the ioy of his saluation to his souldiers for their stipend Put your selues in mind often O ye seruants of God of the consolations of the Word and Spirit of the Ioy vnspeakeable and glorious of the Peace that passeth all vnderstanding and of the hidden treasures which neither eye hath seene nor eare hath heard nor mans heart conceiued but God hath prouided for you by his Grace and reuealed to you by his Spirit and will reach vnto you with his hand If you will reiect the pleasures of sinne which are but for a season and endure the paines of fighting the good fight of fiath you cannot faint in this battell if you lend your thoughts to these encouragements you cannot but account all your labour easie if you consider the reward and end of your labour 4. Last of all we must much and often ponder vpon the death of Christ who he was Of Christs sufferings what he suffered why and for whom with the matter cause effect and end of his sufferings that so we may worke in our selues a loue and feare of God a base esteeme of our selues with an holy sorrow and indignation against sinne The death of Christ must be the death of our sinne and vpon his Crosse must we crucifie these lusts of our flesh that they may waxe faint and feeble and bee quite and cleane abolished in vs. Here wee shal see the exceeding hatefulnesse and mischieuousnesse of sinne here we shall see how odious it is to God and how harmefull to our selues Here we shall fee the infinite loue of God vnto vs and his most gracious readinesse to forgiue and helpe vs. This thought will be most auaileable to ouerthrow the power of all vngodlines in vs. The Sonne of God the King of Heauen and earth was abased and humbled and smitten and wounded for our transgressions They lay heauy vpon his soule they pressed him downe to the dust of death he died for vs that hee might redeeme vs to himselfe and make vs a peculiar people zealous of good workes O shall wee not abhorre and detest that which was so vnspeakeably grieuous to our Sauiour Shall we not shew our loue to him in casting from vs those things that caused him to be a man of forrowes and to haue experience of infirmities How bitter and tedious was sinne vnto him and shall it be delightfull vnto vs How did it make him sigh and crie and groane and bleed and shall we take pleasure in it Shall we not shew our selues thankefull to him that was so pitifull to vs that hee had rather himselfe indure the curse then that wee should bee ouer-whelmed with it Let vs often looke to him whom wee haue pierced often consider of his torment and agony and often renew in our selues the remembrance of his cursed and reprochful death and weane our hearts from the loue of vnrighteousnesse and make vs conformable vnto his death We cannot bee hold to doe euill if wee consider well how much euill he suffered for our euill doings Now these thoughts if wee accustome our selues vnto them and doe many times sequester our selues from all worldly cogitations to enlarge our hearts in them will be as a sword in the throat of our lusts and preuaile mightily to wound them to the death and as it were to let out the heart-blood of them CHAP. IX Shewing two more spirituall meanes of Mortificetion Feare and Watchfulnesse NOw to these holy meditations and prayers let vs adde also an holy feare misdoubting of our selues Feare of our selues a meanes to mortisie sin suspecting our owne weakenesse and euen trembling to thinke that we may bee grossely ouertaken Blessed is hee that feareth alwayes for this feare will bee the cause of safety to him Whiles a soulier feareth his enemie he keepes his harnesse vpon him and wil not disarme himselfe so long as he mistrusteth the approch of an enemie But security makes a man lay his weapons aside and giue himselfe to pleasure ease and sleepe and then if an enemie assault him he is soone slaine or put to flight he that is afraid of falling into some deadly sicknesse will easily bee perswaded to looke to his diet and to take some necessary physicke Say therefore in thy selfe O if I grow carelesse sinne will quickly grow strong in my weakenesse and quickly raise vp it selfe against me and doe my soule more mischiefe then tongue can expresse how haue many of Gods Saints beene foyled that were farre and farre better then my selfe shall not their misery bee my warning If such Worthies were ouerthrowne and wounded what will become of me If I grow foolishly bold and make too faire promises to my selfe feare lest one shall fall will keepe him vpright euen in a very slippery way but soone are his feet caught from him that looketh about and neuer suspecteth a fall A moderate doubting of our own strength will quicken vs to prayer and meditation This vertuous ielousie and suspition of our weaknes will make vs shunne the occasions of sinne and so preserue vs in safety when others that are more
A Care-cloth OR A TREATISE OF THE CVMBERS AND TROVBLES OF MARRIAGE INTENDED TO ADVISE THEM THAT MAY TO shun them that may not well and patiently to beare them By WILLIAM WHATELY Preacher of the Word of God in Banbury in Oxfordshire 1. Cor. 7.39 40. The Wife is bound by the Law as long as her Husband liueth but if her Husband be dead she is at liberty to be married to whom she will only in the Lord. But she is happier if she so abide after my iudgement and I thinke also that I haue the Spirit of God LONDON Imprinted by Felix Kyngston for Thomas Man 1624. TO THE COVRTEOVS READER GOod Reader Most grauely doth our Communion Booke admonish such as come to be married that they ought to enter into this estate not rashly lightly vnaduisedly to satisfie their carnall lusts and appetites like bruit beasts that haue no vnderstanding but discreetly aduisedly soberly and in the feare of God Needful it is that this counsel be sounded often in the eares of the vnmarried and not alone in that instant whē they are now about to consummate marriage For want of heeding this counsel how common is it and withall how mischieuous For men to offend in an ouer-sudden and ouer-hastie vndertaking of Marriage without the due meditation of two special things namely what be the duties of Marriage and what the difficulties it is as impossible to be well prepared for that estate as to flye without wings to goe without legs or to see without an eye yet scarce one man or woman of a number will put themselues to the paines of informing themselues beforehand of either of these two things Thus hauing blindly and headlongly cast themselues into marriage either not at all or with no firme and settled knowledge knowing what belongs vnto it what seruices they are called to performe what burdens to sustaine in it it followes as needs it must that with much hazzard to their owne soules and much vnquietnesse to themselues families and neighbours they proue vtterly carelesse of their duties and extremely impatient vnder their crosses Hence it comes to passe that marriage prooueth to many iust as the stocks vnto the drunkard into which when his head was warme with Wine or Ale hee put his foot laughingly and with merriment but a little after hauing slept out his Wine and cooled his head with a nap hee longs as much to get it out againe Hence it is that diuers houses are none other but euen very Fencing-Schooles wherein the two sexes seeme to haue met together for nothing but to play their prizes and to trie masteries Hence it is that many husbands and wiues doe fare almost alwayes as Iob fared when the Deuill had smitten his body with boyles and vlcers cursing their Wedding-day as much as he did his Birth-day and thirsting after diuorce as much as euer hee did after death Hence it is that many wedded people brooke their wedlocke in none other fashion then a dog doth his Chaine at which he neuer ceaseth snarling and gnawing that he may break it asunder and set himselfe at libertie Hence it is that the little child is no more wearie of his fine new guilded book now a little ouer-worne sullyed yea that the prisoner is no more weary of his gyues nor the Gally-slaue of his oares then many an husband of his wife and shee of him within an yeere or two and sometimes within a moneth or two after their wedding In a word from this fountaine such a streame of bitter waters doe issue as make the liues of a number in marriage like the soiourning of Israel in Marah where almost nothing could be heard but murmuring and complaining To redresse or preuent if it might be at least some of these many mischiefes I haue been bold as once Moses did cast a piece of wood into the waters of Marah to sweeten them so to publish already to the World some few directions about the duties of the married and doe now aduenture againe to put forth some other aduertisements about the troubles of Marriage Neither let it seeme superfluous to giue men tidings of troubles before they come seeing they are alwayes so much the better borne by how much they are more expected Men are indeed desirous to please thēselues rather with the sweet thoughts of comfort then to imbitter their minds with fore-fearefull conceits of miserie Also to a mind fully bent vpon a course disswasions proue tedious and hee that foretelleth inconueniences may seeme to disswade But let it be obserued withall that likely none doe meete with more crosses in marriage or beare their crosses more vntowardly then those that most dreame of finding it a very Paradise For they strange aboue measure at the cumbers they neuer fore-thought of and are put out of all patience by being so farre disappointed as to find thick mire and dirt there where they would tell themselues of nothing but faire and pleasant way And indeed none shew themselues lesse resolute in vnder-going miserie then those that make themselues most resolute to rush vpon it The same vices that breed stiffenesse in ones course will breed impatiency vnder the crosses that he meetes with in his course Wilfulnesse and frowardnesse grow like two euill branches out of one roote of folly But warinesse of mind in foreseeing and forefearing euill brings quietnesse of mind in bearing and sustaining euill and the expectation of miserie makes it at least seeme lighter because the mind is somewhat acquainted with it by contemplation When Israel would needs haue a King to rule ouer them as other Nations the Lord commandeth Samuel to testifie vnto them what should bee the manner of their King and so hee tels them what heauy burdens their much-desired Monarch should lade them withall No doubt it is as needfull for marrying persons to know what burdens their wedded condition is like to bring vpon them Wherefore I will make bold to foretel those that will enter into Marriage that they must make account in changing their estate to change for the lesse easefull and will aduise him that will follow mine aduice if not let him follow his owne mind and say ten yeres after whether was the better counsell To goe vnto Matrimonie with feare of the worst and to know before-hand that there grow Briers and Thornes in this way wheron he must needs tread that will trauaile in it Yet is not this written by me to make any man forbeare marriage whom God calleth vnto it nor to make men hazard themselues to wickednesse for feare of the cumbers of Matrimony but alone to make those willing to want marriage that may want it without sinne or hazard of sinne and to make men careful not to marry before God cals them to it and withall being called to fit themselues for it lest if they marry sooner or with lesse warines they discredit Marriage after a while as most do that are married by wishing themselues single
no paines no diligence can helpe a man vnto and from trouble by these faults where they haue a being and a working no wisdome no loue no pietie can altogether free him more then from being stung by the handling of Nettles with naked hands It were good therefore for the woman that is to marrie to put her selfe in mind of these things before-hand and to demand of her selfe in these or the like questions What if mine husband should proue vnkind and disregardfull of me What if hee should bee bitter and ragefull towards me What if hee should rate me with words of disgrace more then euer my Father or Master haue done What if hee should lay vpon me with his vnmanlike fist and that when I seeke to giue him all content Or what if he should strike mee with a more paineful and mischieuous weapon though I gaue him no cause How should I beare railing taunting or cutting termes at his mouth How cruell fierce and causelesse blowes at his hand But yeeld that he proue not so mad and mankind How if it fall out yet that he be carelesse and vnkind What if hee denie me the reasonable libertie which I desire and should enioy and will not suffer me to haue my wil in things conuenient How if he shew me a lowring countenance and an estranged carriage and that also vndeseruedly How if he grumble and grudge at mine expences though farre from being lauish and immoderate What if hee bee toylesome himselfe and put me also to harder labour then euer I endured being a daughter or a seruant What if he thinke much to allow me necessarie helpes and comforts in my weakenesse sicknesses and lying in and be then most vnkind when I need most kindnes because his niggardly humour can beare no charges Or what if he bee diuers and tetchie so that nothing in the world can please him but he will still be brawling chiding and finding fault though I bee as carefull as I can to ekepe my selfe from faults Or what if he proue a voluptuarie a drunkard an epicure spending that riotously and wastefully which were better saued to prouide for me and his children What if he be an haunter of Ale-houses or Tauernes and come home half drunk halfe mad and powre forth all his rage vpon me and my innocent children What if he consume himselfe in sports pastimes and gaming and make vs all beggers by his vnthriftinesse How could I suffer all or any of these troubles in the flesh How tedious How bitter How terrible would they seeme vnto me Or What if out of an hatefull ouer-louingnesse hee make himselfe suspicious of mine honestie and in a furious and blind apprehension of I know not what slender probabilities bee euer vpbraiding mee with being such a mans whore and such a mans whore How keene How cutting How stinging How piercing would these termes be vnto me But ah what if he should become vncleane and filthie giuen to whoredome imbracing the bosome of strangers and bringing home vnto me the feare if not the feeling of loathsome diseases How should I vndergoe this heauie burden which yet I see many compeld to vndergoe without remedie Thus should the woman consider before-hand in her thoughts the euils that may be fall her in marriage So like wise should the husband bethink himselfe in his most serious thoughts What if my wife should proue carelesse and vnhuswifely wanting forecast and skill to make the best of things and so become an hindrance rather then an helper to mine estate What if she bee daintie and lauish and will not content her selfe with mine attire and my fare What if shee bee sluttish and vncleanely and worke loathing in mee by the ill ordering of those things that should giue me most comfort What if she bee froward and snappish and returne my words vnto mee with aduantage What if shee proue a blab and withall inquisitiue so that she will bee ignorant of nothing and yet can keepe no counsell What if she be sullen and sowre and will giue me no good counenance vnlesse she haue her vnreasonable will performed in all things What if she waste my goods in vaine costlinesse of attire and in idle meetings amongst her Goffips What if she be loose and wanton and discredit my family with an euill name What if she be a very harlot and defile my bed and fill mine house with bastards so that I bee faine to breed vp yâ— seed of an adulterer in stead of mine owne off-spring What if she be mischieuously iealous and thinke that I am naught with all I speake to laying whoredome to my charge when I neuer meant it and almost inforce me to bee wicked by putting that into mine head which I neuer dreamt of How should I brooke this life How should I sustaine this burden and vndergoe this trouble to the flesh And this for the vices of the mind whereby many times a bad husband or a bad wife doe vexe and torment their yoke-fellow But if the mind be not infected with these inward diseases yet may the bodie proue weake and sickly and become little lesse trouble some Wherefore of this also should the woman consider well before-hand and so should the man What if mine husband should languish away in paine and sicknesse so that my life must be spent in attending a body still dying and as it were vnder-propping a rotten house alwaies falling What if he lye thus by me groning and tossing many dayes weekes moneths and some yeeres How shal I vndergoe the watching attendance charge griefe discomfort of an husband neither dead nor aliue but betwixt both Or for mine owne part What if breeding be roublesome so that I scarce enioy an healthie day from conception to quickning from quickning to trauel What if bringing forth be so tedious and painefull that I neuer become a mother but by going thorow the torment of an hundred deaths in one besides a long weakenesse after What if God multiply my sorrowes this way and giue me an euill stomacke pale cheekes a wan counenance faint legs and a feeble body liker a carcesse then a liuing woman How shall I beare head-ach heart-ach back-ach stomack-ach etching casting longing loathing quawmes pangs swoundings and twentie deaths a day The husband also should thinke thus How if my wife become infirme and feeble lame impotent powerlesse able neither to got nor keepe to labour nor ouer-fee nor to doe any thing but groane and sigh and hold her sides and keepe her bed to mine excessiue charge and griefe without being any way able to be an help and comfort vnto mee With what patience should I heare her groanes With what quietnesse should I looke vpon her pangs and euen be sicke in her sicknesse But in conclusion death wil approach and diuorce the husband and wife each from other of which either should thinke before it come to either yea before themselues come together How can I tell may the wife say but that
ventrous shall be sooner foyled though they be more strong when we feare our selues most wee pray most to God and most trust in him and prayer and confidence will keepe vs in safety Indeed we neuer cast off this warinesse and cautelousnesse till wee bee first beguiled with the deceitfulnesse of sinne and when it hath deceiued vs it will easily doe vs a mischiefe Looke about therefore see how thou standest inuironed with enemies see what an ill nature thou hast within thee what a violent aduersary without thee Thou art like a besieged City full of traitors the wise men in such a City will quickly mistrust and doubt the worst they will euer suspect that mischiefe is plotting against them and by fearing they become carefull to preuent it There is an excessuie feare that infeebles the knees and weakens the hands when a man casts off hope through feare and will not perswade himselfe that hee can be safe by all his indeuours Courage is gone when such feare enters and what souldier can doe any thing when his heart failes But a moderate feare that still causeth a man to cast the worst with in himselfe but alone conditionally vnlesse he be very diligent to preuent it this awakens courage and by telling of the danger before doth call vp the care of the soule to preuent it Feare was placed by God in the soule as a Watchman or Sentinell to discouer neere-approching dangers and if wee wake this Sentinell to keep his standing place and to hold his eyes from sleeping wee shall bee safe from the danger that will ouerwhelme the carelesse Feare of man breeds a snare feare of pouerty feare of death feare of disgrace in the world puts vs further into the danger but feare of sinne feare lest wee should prouoke God wound our consciences and rush vpon such courses in our folly which wee shall haue cause to rue euer after this breedeth safety and by this feare wee shall happily fulfill our saluation 2. Last of all wee must be watchfull Watchfulnesse necessarie to mortification which will surely follow from our being fearefull for feare will hold the eyes open a great while together The more waking eyes in an armie the more safety but if all be asleepe all may be surprized and killed afore they be aware When Saul 1. Sam. 26 7 8 9 10. and all his host were seyzed vpon with sleepe Dauid and Abishai came into the midst of the Campe to the Pauillion of the King and then it was easie with one blow to haue dispatched the King and discomfited the armie Spirituall watchfulnesse is as necessary against spirituall enemies as naturall wakefulnesse against naturall When Samson slept then the wicked flattering harlot Dalilah did rob him of his lockes and of his strength because against his vow of Nazariteship a Razor had passed on his head The Saints of God bee Nazarites sinne cannot put a Razor to their heads till they fal asleepe on its knees till their minde slumber and the eye of the minde winke they can hardly be drawne to taste of forbidden delights or profit but when they are heedlesse and carelesse then is their vow broken and they thinke not of it then their strength becomes weakenesse and then the Spirit is driuen from them O let Samson warne vs and let vs take heede that our mindes be not rocked asleepe in the lap of the world Prou. 4.23 24 25 26 27. This watchfulnesse is an attentiuenesse of minde to all our actions and our wayes a looking to our hearts eyes eares tngues hands feet and whole man A due considering what corruptions wee are troubled with what things hurt vs what doe helpe vs whether we grow stronger or weaker whether corruptions decay or increase and how our foule fareth A looking to the motions that arise within to the words and deeds that come forth A marking what we thinke say do whither we goe to what end vpon what warrant vpon what calling that wee be not found loose and wandring and going wee cannot tell why nor whither our selues The soule is said to bee awaken when the eye of the minde is thus obseruatiue of it selfe and so long as it is thus with vs the least striuing of lusts is noted and resisted and so the greater disorders are preuented but when this obseruation of our selues is absent sinne gets head by little and little and we find our selues in the hands of it all of a sudden and know not how to get out Wherefore to all the parts of Christian armour watchfulnesse must be ioyned for what good can weapons do to a sleeping man and how can a sleeping body fight though hee bee neuer so well armed When we forget that godlinesse is the maine businesse and that our chiefe worke is to keepe our felues vnspotted of the world and walke worthy of the calling whereto wee are called and so suffer our minds to bee drawne away with other things and neuer take care whether the things we doe be good or euill for our soules nor whether they please God or no but let the thoughts and words runne at randome as it were O how soone shall we be drawne into sin and how quickly will the members that are on earth grow big within vs Wherefore as an eye must be had still to mutinous and trecherous subiects and they must bee obserued what meetings they haue to what places they goe and what countenance they beare so must we doe with our sinnes The eye of the minde must bend it selfe to these things and not suffer any lesse needfull matter to diuert it A man in a sleepe is little different from a dead man and a Christian and sanctified soule if it fall asleepe in a carelesse neglecting and reckelesse disregarding of its owne wayes will behaue it selfe for the time but a very little better then one that is dead in sinnes and trespasses Now let your eyes bee alwayes open and bent vpon your owne wayes and then you shall walke like liuing men indeed Thus now haue I shewed you the best meanes I can gather out of Gods Word to make you prosperous in your spirituall battailes Bee moderate in the vse of bodily contents Flie farre from the occasions of sinne Powre forth your hearts often before God in confessions requests and Prayses Busie your minds continually in thinking of Gods holy nature fearefull threats against sinne and gracious promises to the vpright and of the bitter Passion of your blessed Sauiour Be alwaies fearefull of your selues be alwayes watchfull ouer your selues These things doe and your soules shall thriue and your lusts shall die and you shall happily mortifie your members which are on earth if alone you take another direction with you concerning the manner of vsing these helpes CHAP. X. Shewing in what manner we must vse all the helpes to mortification FIrst then We must vse all helpes to mortification in a good manner these things must be done seasonably we
with all thy might those thou now opposest with all thy might what corruptions thou didst follow with greedinesse thou doest as it were with greedinesse resist what thou didst once place thine happinesse in doing now it is thy greatest vnhappinesse that thou art inclined to doe This I say is an estate that should giue thee much comfort Once thou didst serue sinne now thou fightest against sinne once thou wast a willing slaue to it now thou art a resolute souldier against it Thou fallest into sinne verie seldome which thou didst runne into verie vsually Thou fallest into farre lesse euils of that kind wherein thou didst once commit farre more grieuous and now the least degrees of sinne doe more disquiet thee then once the highest did and now thou lettest not so much as the thought of that goe vnconfessed and vnlamented before God the grossest act of which thou wast wont to hide and couer and excuse and not to confesse Take courage to thy selfe therefore and enioy the beginnings of victorie and bee assured of the conclusion Thou art now in killing sinne and thou shalt kill it thou art now busie in the conflict and thou shalt deuide the spoile 6. Now all ye suldiers of Christ Iesus that find in your selues the beginnings of mortification and a firme purpose of soule to continue resisting striuing fighting blesse God that hath giuen you his Spirit of libertie in some measure and apply your selues now with all your might to consummate the worke begun Let not your hands waxe feeble nor your hearts faint Remember the words of the Apostle 1. Cor. 16.13 Watch yee stand fast quit you like men be strong He that continueth to fight shall surely ouercome Let no doubt seize vpon you to weaken your hands the Lord your God he fighteth for you beleeue his promises giue credit to his Word and you shall prosper Take comfort in your estate that haue entred into the battaile The young men and the babes in Christ which haue not yet so mightily preuailed in this warre are happie as well though they doe not so fully feele their happinesse as the old beaten souldiers and ancient Captaines to whom a larger measure of successe hath giuen a larger sense of comfort The weakest and feeblest of all Christs souldiers that layes at sinne with as much strength as his weake armes can that beares a spight to it in his soule that resolues neuer to yeeld to it whateuer come of him and that wil neuer make peace with it though hee may take foyles by it nor neuer yeeld vp himselfe into its hands thought hee may bee wounded hee doth mortifie the members that are vpon earth and hee is and let him know himselfe to be happy that comfort may make him more couragious and courage may make him more comfortable 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 FINIS Charitable Teares OR A SERMON SHE WING HOW NEEDFVLL A THING IT IS FOR EVERY GODLY man to lament the common sinnes of our Countrie Preached in Banburie Isaiah 22.12 13 14. In that day did the Lord God of Hostes call to weeping and to mourning and to baldnesse and to girding with sackcloth And behold ioy and gladnesse slaying oxen and killing sheepe eating flesh and drinking wine Let vs eate and drinke for tomorrow we shall die And it was reuealed in mine eares by the Lord of Hosts Surely this iniquitie shall not be purged from you till yee die saith the Lord God of hosts LONDON Imprinted by Felix Kyngston for Thomas Man 1623. TO THE CHRISTIAN READER THe reliques of good nature remaining in man since the fall by the worke of a common Grace preseruing them haue taught Heathen men to know and inabled them to practise many worthy duties Among the rest some of them haue abounded in a most affectionate loue to their Countrie the welfare of which they haue preferred before their owne liues and the ruine whereof they haue been carefull to preuent euen with their owne ruine Many worthy sayings haue they writte to this purpose but scarce any more diuine and more deseruing admiration haue I met withall then that one of Tully in his booke of Scipioes Dreame where he brings in a dead father now in Heauen as he supposed encouraging his sonne to doe seruice to his Countrie wherein himselfe had giuen him a most noble and notable example with this most worthy sentence There is a most sure and certaine place in Heauen for euery man that shall procure the weale of his Countrie either by freeing it from perill or increasing the happinesse of it any way To heare a Gentile tell of Heauen as of a thing certaine to heare him tell of certaine places prouided there for those that should doe vertuously to haue the seruice of ones Countrie pressed on his soule with so celestiall an argument sure it proueth that sometimes the light of Nature doth reach further then many which liue in the bosome of the Church do attaine But the purpose for which I thought of this sentence is to let it appeare how great a reckoning reason doth tell euery man that he ought to make of his Countries welfaere how carefull he should be to preserue it from dangers to adorene it with all benefits and to continue and augment the flourishing estate thereof It must needs be an happie paines from which a multitude doe reape commoditie and that one man deserueth very well of all men for whose cares or labours all doe fare the better Now if Nature and Philosophy can giue so good instructions to those that will attend them how much more perfectly should wee bee able both to learne and follow the same lessons It is a great reproch to him that goes by day-light if another trauelling alone with a candle or a torch shall see the way better then himselfe and without doubt that eye is very dim which discerneth lesse by the helpe of the Sun-beames then another may doe by the helpe of a Lampe or Taper O then how iust both blame and shame must be cast vpon vs that are nothing so regardfull of our Countries welfare the most of vs as were some Inhabitants of Heathen Rome and Athens I would to God therefore that I could inflame the soules of those that shall reade these few lines with a farre more feruents zeale to the prosperitie of this our Church and Nation then that they had before If the fire of loue did burne warmer and lighter in our hearts it would not drie up the fountaine of teares to which the booke following perswadeth but would euen melt and dissolue our now-frozen hearts into teares Those that stand in places of eminency may performe many good seruices for their Countrie we shrubs that sit in the shade below can doe nothing worth the naming but earnestly to pray for the barke in which we sayle and to lament the things that we see to threaten a miserable shipwracke thereof He that will iudge of things by appearance and make carnall
sighes and groanes vnto the Lord for the publike sinnes and whosoeuer bewayleth the generall wickednesse shal also bee deliuered from the generall punishment Therfore if any man desire to be puld as a brand out of the fire and to bee one of the two or three berries in the vtmost boughes that must hang vpon the tree when all the rest are beaten off let him prouide for his owne peace and welfare betime by making his heart to ake and his eyes to weepe for the common abominations And so you see what good this mourning will do in regard of the publike State by proroging the punishment so long as is possible and in regard of his owne selfe that mourneth by keeping him from the infection of sinne making him carefull to seeke the amendment of others and so sauing him from participating in the publike plagues CHAP. V. Containing the fourth reason of the point from the euill that will insue for want of mourning Reas 4 CArrie your thoughts a little further From the ill effects of not mourning The soule will be infected and let them consider of the euils that will necessarily follow from the absence of these teares It is certaine that no man can shun the infection of other mens sins vnlesse hee mourne for them as no mourner is infected so none but mourners can be free from infection Hee that grieues not for a sinne that others commit will easily be induced to commit it himselfe if occasion serue at least hee will soone bee drawne to like it and thinke well enough of it and then the infection hath taken the heart and hath possessed the spirits and vitall parts as it were of his soule and that is enough to kil a man though it should bee kept from breaking forth in outward action Some men by vertue of a good constitution escape the Plague in the hottest and forest of all plagues and that also though they vse few or none antidotes or remedies It is not so with our inward man in regard of sin For of so ill a complexion as it were and so vnsound and healthlesse a constitution are all our soules since the defiling of our nature by the first sinne of Adam that any sinne almost doth easily speedily vnauoydably cleaue vnto the same The driest Touchwood or Tinder that is doth not more readily take fire by any little sparke then our soules will catch a sinne by bad example And sinne it selfe is so strong and vehement in the working of it and withall so deceitefull close and insinuating that it doth almost insensibly conueigh it selfe into our inward bowels euen almost before we are aware so that vnlesse we doe moysten our selues often by the teares of godly sorrow for sin we cannot liue amongst others that do euen glow with the fire of it but wee shall also burne and glow for companie neither is there a man vnder Heauen so sanctified but hee shall become wicked with wicked men if his soule mourne not for their wickednesse Lot would sure haue been vncleane in Sodom if their vncleannesse had not vexed his righteous soule Therefore to preuent a mischiefe otherwise vnpreuentable to our selues namely the being polluted with other mens faults let vs see it a dutie and follow it to wash our selues with teares from that pollution Otherwise A men shall be carelesse of seeking of redresse of euils wee shall also pull another euill vpon our selues euen make our selues slacke carelesse and remisse in the endeuour of reforming the sinnes of our brethren Hardheartednesse in not feeling the burdensomenesse of sin will cause that a man shall sit still and let it take its course and bestow no paines to redresse it for that that one doth not feele to be euill why should hee bestirre himselfe to amend And surely hee feeles it not euill that doth not mourne for it What was the cause that the Corinthians did so carelesly tolerate the incestuous person among them Hath not the Apostle taxed it in one word saying And you haue not rather grieued that such an one might bee taken from amongst you Lo they mourned not for the sinne and therefore they chastized not the sinner in good manner as they ought to haue done for his amendment And so will it euer bee in all places and times In what measure sorrow for sinne is wanting care of amending it will be wanting also little of this if little of that and if none of that none of this wil be seene in mens liues This vnsensiblenesse of sinne is ioyned with too much sensiblenesse of other things it makes one so timorous that he dares not speake against wickednesse for feare of offending such and such it makes a man foolishly pitifull and cruelly compassionate that he cannot find in his heart to hurt the offender euen by due executions of iustice He whose heart and eyes cannot performe their office in grieuing for and lamenting sinne neither will his hand and tongue doe their offices in speaking and striuing against it The same corruptions that make the hart short in griefe and the eyes in teares will also make the tongue short in reproouing and hand in punishing Neither will any man lay a plaister to that sore which he thinkes not worth grieuing for for if it were dangerous why is not he sorry If it be not dangerous what need a plaister And so it will follow that sinne hauing none enemie to resist it none to oppose and fight against it will mightily preuaile as a fire which no man seekes to quench and so get the vpper hand till at last it grow so high crying and insufferable Publike plagues will come that the Iustice of God can no longer forbeare it but he himselfe must take the matter into his owne hand Then follow sore and heauie calamities vpon the Church and Common-wealth and the whole Nation groanes vnder Gods blowes because few or none did groane for the sinnes that prouoked him When many commit euil and none lament it then the wrath of God will surely arise then is sinne gotten to his full ripenesse and then the euils aboue-named sometimes singly sometimes altogether at once are appointed to destroy a Nation All the policie of Gouernours all the valour and courage of souldiers all the wealth of Citizens and the loue and friendship of neighbours shall not keepe a Nation in welfare nor mound it from grieuous and fearefull plagues if once the voice of sadnesse and mourning and of those that crie and weepe for the abominations of it be put to silence Then will God change their wisdome into folly catch them in the snares of their owne craft and if other meanes should faile will make them euen to vndo themselues Then shall power bee turned into weakenesse and courage into cowardice for God will fight from Heauen against them as the Prophet tels the Iewes and if their enemies were but dead carcases yet should they rise and ouercome When all cease mourning