regaine a desperate debt which is as good as nothing be the fruits and sign of a bad conence God help the good Come tell not mee of griping and Oppression The world is hard and he that hopes to thrive must gripe as hard What I give I give and what I lend I lend If the way to heaven bee to turne begger upon earth let them take it that like it I know not what ye call Oppression The Law is my direction but of the two it is more profitable to oppresse then to bee opprest If debtors would bee honest and discharge our hands were bound but when their failing offends my bags they touch the Apple of my eye and I must right them His Punishment BUt hah what voice is this that whispers in mine eare The Lord will spoil the soul of the Oppressors Prov. 22. 23. Pro. 21. 22. Rob not the poor because he is poore neither oppresse the afflicted in the gates for the Lord wil plead their cause and spoile the soule of those that have spoyled him Ezek. 22. 19. The people of the land have used oppression and exercised Robbery and have vexed the poor and needy yea they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath Zach. 7. 9. Execute true judgement and shew mercy campâ—ssion on every man to his brother and oppresse not the widow nor the fatherlesse nor the stranger nor the poore and let none of you imagine evill in your hearts against his brother But they refused to hearken therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of Hosts His Proofes Bernard p. 1691. We ought so to care for our selves as not to neglect the due regard of our neighbour Bern. ibid. He that is not mercifull to another shall not find mercy from God but if thou wil'st bee mercifull and compassionate thou shalt bee a benefactor to thy owne soule His Soliloquy IS it wisdom in thee O my soul to covet a happinesse or rather to account it so that is sought for with a judgement obtained with a Curse and punished with damnation And to neglect that good which is assured with a promise purchased with a blessing and rewarded with a Crowne of Glory Canst thou hold a full estate a good pennyworth which is bought with the deare price of thy Gods displeasure Tell mee what continuance can that Inheritance promise that is raised upon the ruines of thy Brother Or what mercy canst thou expect from heaven that hast denyed all mercy to thy Neighbour O my hard-hearted soul consider and relent Build not an house whose posts are subject to be rotted with a curse Consider what the God of truth hath threatned against thy cruelty Relent and turn compassionate that thou mayst be capable of his compassion on If the desire of Gold hath hardened thy heart let the tears of true Repentance mollifie it soften it with Aarons oyntment untill it become wax to take the impression of that seale which must confirme thy Pardon His Prayer BUt will my God bee now entreated Is not my crying sin too loud for pardon am I not sunk too deep into the jaws of Hell for thy strong arme to rescue Hath not the hardnesse of my heart made me uncapable of thy compassion O if my teares might wash away my sin my head should turne a living Spring Lord I have heard thee speake and am affraid the word is past and thy judgements have found me out Fearfulnesse and trembling are come upon mee and the Jaws of hell have overwhelmed mee I have oppressed thy poore and added affliction to the afflicted and the voyce of their misery is come before thee They besought mee with teares and in the anguish of their souls but I have stopt mine ears against the cry of their complaint But Lord thou walkest not the ways of man and remembrest mercy in the middest of thy wrath for thou art good and gracious and ready to forgive and plenteous in compassion to all that shall call upon thee Forgive mee O God my sins that are past and deliver me from the guilt of my Oppression Take from mee O God this heart of stone and create in my breast a heart of flesh Asswage the vehemency of my desires to the things below and satisfie my soul with the sufficiency of thy Grace Inflame my affections that I may love thee with a filiall love and incline me to relie upon thy fatherly providence Let me account godlinesse my greatest gaine and subdue in me my lusts after filthy lucre Preserve me O Lord from the vanity of self-love and plant in my affections the true love of my neighbours Endue my heart with the bowells of compassion and then reward me according to thy righteousnesse Direct mee O God in the wayes of my life and let a good Conscience be my continuall comfort Give me a willing heart to make restitution of what I have wrongfully gotten by oppression Grant me a lawfull use of all thy Creatures and a thankfull heart for all thy benefits Be mercifull to all those that groan under the burden of their owne wants and give them patience to expect thy deliverance Give me a heart that may acknowledge thy favours and fill my tongue with praise and thanksgiving that living here a new life I may become a new creature and being ingraffed in thee by the power of thy grace I may bring forth fruit to thy honour and glory The Drunkards Jubile VVHat Complement will the severer world allow to the vacant houres of frolique-hearted youth How shall their free their joviall spirits entertain their time their friends What Oyle shall bee infused into the lampe of deare society if they deny the priviledge of a civill rejoycing Cup It is the life the radicall humour of united soules whose love-digested heat even ripens and ferments the greene materialls of a plighted faith without the help whereof new married friendship fals into divorce and joyn'd acquaintance soon resolves into the first Elements of strangenesse What mean these strict Reformers thus to spend their houâ—e-glasses and bawle against our harmless Cups to call our meetings Riots and brand our civil mirth with stiles of loose Intemperance where they can sit at a sisters Feast devoure and gurmundize beyond excesse and wipe the guilt from off their marrowed mouths and cloath their surfeits in the long fustian robes of a tedious Grace Is it not much better in a faire friendly Round since youth must have a swing to steep our soule-afflicting sorrows in a chirping Cup then hazard our estates upon the abuse of providence in a foolish cast at Dice Or at a Cockpit leave our doubtfull fortunes to the mercy of unmercifull contention Or spend our wanton dayes in sacrificing costly presents to a fleshly Idoll Was not Wine given to exhilarate the drooping hearts and raise the drowzie spirits of dejected souls Is not the liberall Cup
the Sucking-bottle of the sons of Phebus to solace and refresh their palats in the nights of sad Invention Let dry-brain'd Zelots spend their idle breaths my cups shall be my cordialls to restore my care-befeebled heart to the true Temper of a well-complexioned mirth My solid Braines are potent and can beare enough without the least offence to my distempered Senses or interruption of my boon companions My tongue can in the very Zenith of my Cups deliver the expressions of my composed thoughts with better sense then these my grave Reformers can their best advised prayers My Constitution is potproofe and strong enough to make a fierce encounter with the most stupendious vessell that ever sailed upon the tides of Bacchus My reason shrinks not my passion burns not His Judgement O But my soule I heare a threatning voyce that interrupts my language Woe bee to them that are mighty to drinke Wine Esa. 5. 22. Prov. 20. 1. Wine is a mocker strong drink is raging and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise Esay 5. 11. Woe be to them that rise up early in the morning to follow strong drink that continue till night untill wine enflame them Prov. 23. 20. Be not amongst wine-bibbers 1 Cor. 5. 1. Now I have written unto you not to keep company if any that is called a brother be a drunkard with such a one no not to eate His Proofs Aug. in lib. pen Whilst the drunkard swallows wine wine swallowes him God disregards him Angels despise him Men deride him vertue declines him the devill destroyes him Aug. ad sac virg. Drunkennesse is the mother of all evill the matter of all mischiefe the wel-spring of all vices the trouble of the senses the tempest of the tongue the shipwracke of chastity the consumption of time a voluntary madnesse the corruption of manners the distemper of the body and the destruction of the soul His Soliloquy MY soule it is the voice of God digested into a judgment There is no kicking against Pricks or arguing against a divine Truth Pleadest thou Custome Custome in finne multiplies it Pleadest thou society Society in the offence aggravates the punishment Pleadest thou help to invention Woe be to that barennesse that wants such shouers Pleadest thou strength to beare much wine Woe to those that are mighty to drinke strong drinke My soule thou hast sinned against thy Creator in abusing that creature hee made to serve thee Thou hast sinned against the creature in turning it to the Creators dishonour Thou hast sinned against thy self in making thy comfort thy confusion How many want that blessing thou hast turn'd into a curse How many thirst whilst thou surfeitest What satisfaction wilt thou give to the Creator to the Creature to thy selfe against all whom thou hast transgrest To thy selfe by a sober life to the Creature by a right use to thy Creator by a true repentance the way to all which is Prayer and Thanksgiving His Prayer HOw truly then O God this heavie woe belongs to this my boasted sin How many judgments are comprised and abstracted in this woe and all for mee even me O God the miserable subject of thy eternall wrath Even mee O Lord the marke whereat the shafts of thy displeasure levell Lord I was a sinner in my first conception and in sinne hath my mother brought me forth I was no sooner but I was a slave to sin and all my life is nothing but the practise and the trade of high rebellion I have turn'd thy blessings into thy dishonor and all thy graces into wantonnesse Yet hast thou been my God even from the very wombe and didst sustaine mee when I hung upon my mothers breast Thou hast washed mee O Lord from my pollution but like a Swine I have returned to my mire Thou hast glaunced into my breast the blessed motions of thy holy Spirit but I have quenched them with the springtides of my born corruption I have vomited up my filthinesse before thee and like a dog have I returned to my vomit Be mercifull O God unto me have mercy on me O thou son of David I cannot O Lord expect the childrens bread yet suffer mee to lick the crums that fall beneath their table I that have so oft abused the greatest of thy blessings am not worthy of the meanest of thy favors Look look upon me according to the goodnesse of thy mercy and not according to the greatnesse of my offences Give me O God a sober heart and a lawfull moderation in the enjoyment of thy Creatures Reclaim my appetite from unseasonable delights lest I turn thy blessings into a curse In all my dejections be thou my comfort and let my rejoycing be onely in thee Propose to mine eyes the evilnesse of my days and make mee carefull to redeem my time Wean me from the pleasure of vain society and let my companions bee such as feare thee Forgive all such as have been partners in my sinne and turn their hearts to the obedience of thy laws Open their eares to the reproofs of the wise and make them powerfull in reformation Allay that lust which my intemperance hath inflam'd and cleanse my affections with the grace of thy good Spirit make me thankfull for the strength of my body that I may for the time to come return it to the advantage of thy glory The Swearers Apologie VVIll Boanarges never cease And will these Plague-denouncers never leave to thunder judgements in my trembling eare Nothing but plagues Nothing but judgements Nothing but damnation What have I done to make my case desperate And what have they not done to make my soul despaire Have I set up false Gods like the Egyptians or have I bowed before them like the Israelites Have I violated the Sabbath like the Libertines Or like cursed Cham have I discovered my Fathers nakednesse Have I imbrued my hands in blood like Barabbas Or like Absolon defiled my fathers bed Have I like Jacob supplanted my elder brother Or like Ahab intruded into Nabals vineyard Have I born false witnesse like the wanton Elders Or like David coveted Vriahs wife Have I not given tithes of all I have Or hath my purse been hidebound to my hungry brother Hath not my life beene blamelesse before men and my demeanor unreprovable before the world Have I not hated Vice with a perfect hatred and countenanc'd Vertue with a due respect What meane these strict observers of my life to ransack every action to carp at every word and with their sharp censorious tongues to sentence every frailty with damnation Is there no allowance to humanity No grains to flesh and blood Are we all Angels Has mortality no priviledge to supersede it from the utmost punishment of a little necessary frailty Come come my soul let not these judgement-thunderers fright thee Let not these qualmes of their exuberous zeal disturbe thee Thou hast not cursed like Shimei nor rail'd like Rabshekah nor lied like Ananias nor slander'd like thy
crookednesse of my condition can expect nothing but the Fornace of thy indignation I know the insolence of my corrupted nature can hope for nothing but the execution of thy judgements Yet Lord I know withall thou art a gracious God of evill repenting thee and slow to wrath I know thy nature and property is to shew compassion apt to conceive but readier to forgive I know thou takest no pleasure in destruction of a sinner but rather that hee should repent and live In confidence and full assurance whereof I am here prostrate on my bended knees and with an humbleheart Nor doe I presse into thy holy presence trusting in my own merits lest thou shouldest deale by me as I have dealt by others but being encouraged by thy gracious invitation and heavy laden with the burthen of my sinnes I come to thee O God who art the refuge of a wounded soule and the Sanctuary of a broken spirit Forgive O God forgive me what is past recalling and make me circumspect for the time to come Open mine eyes that I may see how vaine a thing I am and how polluted from my very birth Give me an insight of my owne corruptions that I may truly know and loath my selfe Take from me all vaine-glory and self love and make me carelesse of the worlds applause Endue me with an humble heart and take this haughty spirit from me Give me a true diâ—covery of my owne merits that I may truely fear and trembâ—e at thy judgements Let not the worlds contempt deject me nor the disrespects of man dismay me Take from mee O God a scornfull eye and curb my tongue that speaks presumptuous things Plant in my heart a brotherly love and cherish in me a charitable affection Possesse my my soule with patience O God and establish my heart in the feare of thy name that being humbled before thee in the meeknesse of my spirit I may be exalted by thee through the freenesse of thy Grace and crowned with thee in the Kingdome of Glory The Covetous Mans care BEleive me the Times aâ—e hard and dangerous Charity is grown cold and friends uncomfortable an empty Purse is full of sorrow and hollow Bags make a heavy heart Poverty is a civill Pestilence which frights away both friends and kindred and leaves us to a Lord have mercy upon us It is a sicknes very catching and infectious and more commonly abhord then cured The best Antidote against it is Angelico and Providence and the best Cordiall is Aurum potabile Gold-taking fasting is an approved soveraigne Debts are all humours and turne at last to dangerous obstructions Lending is a meer consumption of the radicall humour and if consumed brings a patient to nothing Let others trust to Courtiers promises to friends performances to Princes favours Give me a Toy call'd Gold give me a thing call'd Mony O blessed Mammon how extreamly sweet is thy all-commanding presence to my thriving soule In banishment thou art my deare companion In captivity thou art my precious ransome In trouble and vexation thou art my dainty rest In sicknes thou art my health In griefe my only joy in all extremity my only trust Vertue must vaile to thee Nay Grace it self not relisht with thy sweetnes would even displeas the righteous palates of the sons of men Come then my soul advise contrive project Go compasse Sea and Land leave no exploit untryed no path untrod no time unspent afford thine eyes no sleep thy head no rest Neglect thy ravenous belly uncloath thy backe deceive betray sweare and forsweare to compasse such a friend If thou be base in birth 't will make thee honorable If weak in power it will make thee formidable Are thy friends few It will make them numerous Is thy cause bad It wiâ—l make thee Advocates True wisedom is an excellent help in case it bend this way and learning is a gentile Ornament if not too chargeable yet by your leave they are but estates for term of life But everlasting Gold if well advantag'd will not onely blesse thy daâ—es but thy surviving children from generation to gâ—neration Come come et others fill their brâ—ines with deare bought wit turn their pence inâ—o expenceâ—ull charity and store their bosomes with unprofitable pâ—ety let them lose all to save their â—maginary consciences and begger themâ—elves at home to be thought honest abroad Fill thou thy â—aggâ—s and barnes and ay up for many yeâ—rs and take thy rest His Proofs BUt O my soule what follows wounds my heart and strikes me on my knees Thou foole this night will I take thy soul from thee Luk. 12 20. Matth. 6. 24. Ye cannot serve God and Mammon Job 20. 15. He hath swallowed down riches and he shall vomit them up again God shall cast them out of his belly Prov. 15. 17. He that is greedy of gaine troubles his own house but he that hateth gifts shall live 2 Pet. 2. 3. Through covetousnesse they shall with feigned woâ—ds make merchandize of you whose judgement now of a long time lingâ—eth not and whose damnation slumbreth not Nilus in Paraenes Woe to the covetous for his riches forsake him and hell fire takes him Augustine O thou covetous man why dost thou treasure up such hidden mischiefe why dost thou dote on the Image of the King stamped on coine and hatest the Image of God that shines in men Augustine The riches which thou treasurest up are lost those thou charitably bestowest are truly thine His Soliloquy VVHat thinkst thou now my soule If the judgement of holy men may not inform thee let the judgements of thy angry God enâ—orce thee Weigh thy owne carnall effections with the sacred Oracles of heaven and light and darknesse are not more contrary What thou approvest thy God condemnes What thou desirest thy God forbids Now my soul if Mammon be God follow him if God be God adhere to him Thou canst not serve God and Mammon If thy conscience feele the hook nibble no longer Many sinnes leave thee in the way this followes thee to thy lives end the root of evill the canker of all goodnesse It blinds Justice poysons Charity strangles Conscience beslaveâ— the affections betrayes friendship breaks all relations It is a root of the Devils owne planting pluck it up Think not that a pleasure which God hath threatned nor that a blessing which heaven hath cursed Devoure not that which thou or thy heire must vomit up Be no longer possest with such a Devill but cast him out and if he be too strong weaken him by Fasting and exorcize him by Prayer His Prayer O God that art the fulnesse of all riches and the magazeen of all treasure in the enjoyment of whose favour the smalest morsell is a rich inheritance and the coursest poulse is a large portion without whose blessing the greatest plenty enriches not and the highest diet nourishes not How have I an earthworm and no man fixt my whole heart upon this transitory world and neglected
comforts then His Sentence COnsider O my soule and know that the day will come and after that another wherein for all these things God will bring thee to judgment Eccles. 11. 9. Prov. 14. â—3 Even in laughter the heart is sorrowfull and the end of that mirth is heavinesse Eccles. 2. 2. I said in my heart Goe to now I will prove thee with mirth and therefore enjoy pleasure and behold this also is vanity I said of laughter it is mad and of mirth what doth it St. James Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth and been wanton ye have nourished your hearts as in the day of slaughter Eccles. 7. 4. The heart of the wise man is in the house of mourning but the heart of fooles is in the house of mirth His Proofes Isid. in Synonymis Pleasure is an inclination to the unlawful objects of a corrupted mind allured with a momentary sweetnes Hugo Sensuality is an immoderate indulgence of the flesh a sweet poyson a strong plague a dangerous potion which effeminates the body and enerves the soule Cass. Lib. 4. Ep. They are more sensible of the burthen of affliction that are most taken with the pleasures of the flesh His Soliloquy VVHat hast thou now to say O my soule why this judgment seconded with divine proofes backt with the harmony of holy men should not proceed against thee Dally no longer with thy owne salvation nor flatter thy owne corruption Remember the wages of flesh are sin and the wages of sinne death God hath threatned it whose judgements are terrible God hath witnessed it whose words are Truth Consider then my soul and let not momentarie pleasures flatter thee into eternity of torments How many that have trod thy steps are now roaring in the flames of hell and yet thou triflest away the time of thy repentance O my poor deluded soul presume no longer repent to day lest to morow come too late Or couldst thou ravell out thy dayes beyond Methusalem tell me alas what will eternity be the shorter for the deduction of a thousand yeers Be wisely provident therefore O my soul and bid vanity the common sorceresse of the world farewell life and death are yet before thee Chuse life and the God of life will seal thy choice Prostrate thy self before him who delights not in the death of a sinner and present thy petitions to him who can deny thee nothing in the name of a Saviour His Prayer O God in the beauty of whose holinesse is the true joy of those that love thee the full happinesse of those that fear thee and the onely rest of those that prize thee In respect of which the transitory pleasures of the world are lesse then nothing in comparison of which the greatest wisdom of the world is folly and the glory of the earth but drosse and dung How dare my boldnesse thus presume to presse into thy glorious presence What can my prayers expect but thy just wrath and heavie indignation O what return can the tainted breath of my polluted lips deserve but to bee bound hand and foot and cast into the flames of Hell But Lord the merits of my Saviour are greater then the offences of a sinner and the sweetnesse of thy mercy exceeds the sharpnesse of my misery The horrour of thy judgments have seized upon me and I languish through the sense of thy displeasure I have forsaken thee the rest of my distressed soule and set my affections upon the vanity of the deceitfull world I have taken pleasure in my foolishnesse and have vaunted my self in mine iniquity I have flattered my soule with the hony of delights whereby I am made sensible of the stink of my affliction wherefore I loath and utterly abhor my self and from the bottom of my heart repent in dust ashes Behold O Lord I am impure and vile and have wallowed in the puddle of mine own Corruptions The Sword of thy displeasure is drawn out against me and what shal I plead O thou preserver of mankind Make me a new Creature O my God and destroy the Old man within me Remove my affections from the love of transitory things that I may run the way of thy Commandements Turne away mine eyes from beholding vanity and make thy testimonies my whole delight Give mee strength to discern the emptiness of the creature and inebriate my heart with the fulness of thy joyes Bee thou my portion O God at whose right hand stand pleasures for ever more Be thou my refuge and my shield and suffer mee not to sinke under the corruptions of my heart let not the house of mirth beguile me but give me a sense of the evil to come Accept the free-will offerings of my mouth and grant my petitions for the honour of thy Name then will I magnifie thy mercies O God and praise thy name for ever and ever The Vain-glorious mans vaunt VVHat tell'st thou me of Conscience or a pious life They are good trades for a leaden spirit that can stand bent at every frown and want the braines to make a higher Fortune or courage to atchieve that honour which might glorifie their names and write their memories in the Chronicles of Fame 'T is true Humility is a needfull gift in those that have no quality to exercise their pride and patience is a necessary grace to keep the world in peace and him that hath it in a whole skin and often proves a vertue born of meer necessity And civil honesty is a fair pretence for him that hath not wit to act the Knave and makes a man capable of a little higher stile then Foole And blushing modesty is a pretty innocent quality and serves to vindicate an easie nature from the imputation of an il-breeding These are inferiour Graces that have got a good opinion in the dull wisdome of the world and appeare like water among the elements to moderate the body Politique and keep it from combustion nor doe they come into the work of honour Virtue consists in Action and the reward of action is Glory Glory is the great soule of the little world and is the Crowne of all sublime attempts and the point whereto the crooked wayes of policy are all concentrick Honour consults not with a pious life Let those that are ambitious of a Religious reputation abjure all honorable Titles and let their dough-bak'd spirits take a pride in suf-ferance the Anvile of all injuries and bee thankfully baffled into a quiet pilgrimage Rapes murthers treasons dispossessions riots are veniall things to men of honour and oft co-incident in high pursuits Had my dull Conscience stood upon such nice points that little honour I have wonne had glorified some other arme and left me begging Morsells at his Princely gates Come come my soule Id factum juvat quod fieri non licet Fear not to doe what crownes thee being done Ride on with thy Honour and create a name to live with faire Eternity Enjoy thy purchas'd Glory
as the merit of thy renowned Actions and let thy memory entaile it to succeeding Generations Make thy owne game and if thy conscience correct thee check thy saucy Conscience till shee stand as mute as metamorphos'd Niobe Feare not the frownes of Princes or the imperious hands of various Fortune Thou art too bright for the one to obscure and too great for the other to cry downe His Verdict BUt harke my soule I heare a voice that thunders in mine eare I will change their glory into shame Hos. 4. 7. Psal. 49. 20. Man that is born in honour and understandeth not is like the beasts that perish Prov. 25. 27. It is not good for to eate too much boney so for men to search their own glory is not glory Jer. 9. 23. Thus saith the Lord Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom neither let the mighty man glory in his might nor let the rich man glory in his riches But let him that glorieth glory in this that he understandeth and knoweth mee that I am the Lord Gal. 5. 26. Let us not bee desirous of vain-glory c. His Proofes St. August The vain glory of the world is a deceitfull sweetness an unfruitfull labour a perpetuall fear a dangerous bravery begun without providence and finished not without repentance S. Greg. He that makes transitory honour the reward of a good worke sets eternall glory at low rate His Soliloquie VAin-glory is a Froth which blowne off discovers a great want of measure Canst thou O my soul be guilty of such an emptinesse and not bee challeng'd Canst thou appeare in the searching eye of heaven and not expect to be cast away deceive not thy self O my soul nor flatter thy self with thy own greatnesse Search thy self to the bottome and thou shalt find enough to humble thee Dost thou glory in the favour of a Prince The frown of a Prince determines it Dost thou glory in thy strength A poor Ague betrayes it Dost thou glory in thy wealth the hand of a thiefe extinguishes it Dost thou glory in thy friends One cloud of adversity darkens it Dost thou glory in thy parts thy own pride obscures it Behold my soul how like a Bubble thou appearest and with a sigh break into sorrow the gate of heaven is strait canst thou hope to enter without breaking The Bubble that would passe the Floodgates must first dissolve My soule melt then in tears and empty thy self of all thy vanity and thou shalt find divine repletion evaporate in thy Devotion and thou shalt recruit thy greatnesse to eternall Glory His Prayer ANd can I choose O God but tremble at thy judgements or can my stony heart not stand amazed at thy threatnings It is thy voice O God and thou hast spoken it It is thy voice O God and I have heard 〈◊〉 Hadst thou so dealt by me as thou didst by Babels proud King and driven me from the sons of Men thou hadst but done according to thy righteousnesse and rewarded mee according to my deservings What couldst thou see in mee lesse worthy of thy vengeance then in him the example of thy justice Or Lord wherein am I more uncapable of thy indignation There is nothing in me to move thy mercy but in misery Thy goodness is thy selfe and hath no ground but what proceedeth from it self yet have I sinned against that goodnesse and have thereby heaped up wrath against the day of wrath that insomuch had not thy Grace abounded with my sin I had long since bin confounded in my sin and swallowed up in the gulph of thy displeasure But Lord thou takest no delight to punish with thee is no respect of persons thou takest no pleasure in the confusion of thy creature but rejoycest rather in the conversion of a sinner Convert mee therefore O God I shall be then converted make me sensible of my own corruptions that I may see the vilenesse of my own condition Pull downe the pride of my ambitious heart humble mee thou O God and I shall bee humbled Weane mee from the thirst of transitory honour and let my whole delight bee to glory in thee Touch thou my conscience with the feare of thy name that in all my actions I may fear to offend thee endue me O Lord with the spirit of meeknesse and teach me to overcome evill with a patient heart moderate and curb the exorbitances of my passion and give me temperate use of all thy creatures Replenish my heart with the graces of thy Spirit that in al my ways I may be acceptable in thy sight In all conditions give me a contented minde and upon all occasions grant me a gratefull heart that honouring thee here in the Church militant before men I may be glorified hereafter in the Church triumphant before thee Angels where filled with true glory according to the measure of grace thou shalt be pleased to give me here I may with Angels and Archangels praise thy Name for ever and ever The Oppressors Plea I Seeke but what 's my owne by Law It was his owne free Act and Deed The execution lies ◠for goods or body and goods or body I will have or else my money What if his beggerly children pine or his proud wife perish They perish at their own charge not mine and what is that to mee I must be paid or he lie by it untill I have my utmost farthing or his bones The Law is just and good and being ruled by that how can my faire proceedings bee unjust What 's thirty in the hundred to a man of Trade Are we born to thrum Caps or pick straws and sell our livelihood for a few teares and a whining face I thanke God they move mee not so much as a howling Dog at midnight I 'le give no day if heaven it selfe would bee security I must have present money or his bones The Commodities were good enough as wares went then and had he had but a thriving wit with the necessary help of a good merchantable Conscience hee might have gained perchance as much as now hee lost but howsoever gaine or not gaine I must have my mony Two tedious Termes my dearest gold hath laine in his unprofitable hands The cost of Suit hath made me bleed above a score of Royals besides my Interest travel half pints and bribes all which does but encrease my beggerly defendants damages and sets him deeper on my score but right 's right and I will have my money or his bones Fifteen shillings in the pound composition I le hang first Come tell not mee of a good Conscience a good conscience is no parcell of my Trade it hath made more Bankrupts then all the loose wives in the universall City My conscience is no foole It tells mee that my owne 's my owne and that a well-cramm'd bagge is no deceitfull friend but will stick close to mee when all my friends forsake mee If to gaine a good Estate out of nothing and to
accusers They that censure thy gnats swallow their own camels what if the luxuriant stile of thy discourse doe chance to strike upon an obvious Oath art thou straight hurried into the bosome of a Plague What if the custome of a harmlesse oath should captivate thy heedlesse tongue can nothing under sudden judgment seiz upon the what if anothers diffidence should force thy earnest lips into a hasty oath in confirmation of a suffering truth must thou be straight ways branded with damnation was Ioseph mark'd for everlasting death for swearing by the life of Egypts King was Peter when he so denyed his master straight damn'd for swearing and forswearing O flatter not thy self my soul nor turn thou Advocate to so high a sin Make not the slops of Saints a precedent for thee to fall His Arraignment IF the rebukes of flesh may not prevail heare then the threatening of the Spirit which saith The Plague shalt not depart from the house of the swearer Exod. 20. 7. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain for the Lord will not hold him guiltlesse that taketh his name in vain Zach. 5. 3. And every one that sweareth shal be 〈◊〉 off Swear not at all neither by heaven for it is Gods throne nor by the earth for it is his foot stoole But let your communication be yea yea nay nay for whatsoever is more then these commeth of evill Mat. 5. 34. Jer. 23. 10. Because of swearing the Land mourneth His Proofes Aug. in Ser. The murtherer killeth the body of his brother but the swearer murthers his own soule Aug. in Psal. 88. It 's well that God hath forbidden man to sweare lest by custome of swearing in as much as wee are apt to mistake we commit perjury there 's none but God can safely sweare because there 's no other but may be deceived August de Mendacio I say unto you Sweare not at all lest by swearing ye come to a facility of swearing from a facility to a custome and from a custome ye fell into perjury His Soliloquie OWhat a judgement is here How terrible How full of Execution The Plague the extract of all diseases none so mortall none so comfortlesse It makes our house a Prison our friends strangers No comfort but in the expectation of the moneths end I but this judgement excludes that comfort too The plague shal ne'r depart from the house of the swearer What never death will give it a period No but it shall bee intail'd upon his house his family O detestable O destructive sin that leaves a Crosse upon the dores of Generations and layes whole families upon the dust A fin whereto neither profit incites nor pleasure allures nor necessity compels nor inclination of nature perswades a meer voluntary begun with a malignant imitation and continued with an habituall presumption Consider O my soul every Oath hath been a naile to wound that Saviour whose blood O mercy above expression must save thee Be sensible of thy Actions and his sufferings Abhor thy self in dust and ashes and magnifie his mercy that hath turn'd this judgment from thee Goe wash those wounds which thou hast made with teares and humble thy self with prayer true repentance His Prayer ETernall and omnipotent God before whose glorious name Angels and Archangels bow and hide their faces to which the blessed Spirits and Saints of thy triumphant church sing forth perpetuall Hallelujah's I a poor Sprig of disobedient Adam doe here make bold to take that holy name into my sin-polluted lips I have hainously sinned O God against thee and against it I have disparaged it in my thoughts dishonoured it in my words profaned it in my actions and I know thou art a jealous God and a consuming fire as faithfull in thy promises so fearfull in thy judgements I therefore fly from the dreadfufll Name of Jehovah which I have abused to that gracious name of Jesus wherein thou art well pleased in that most sacred name O God I fall before thee and for his beloved sake O Lord I come unto thee Cleanse thou my heart O God and then my tongue shall praise thee Wash thou my soule O Lord and then my lips shall blesse thee Work in my heart a feare of thy displeasure and give me an awfull reverence of thy Name Set thou a watch before my lips that I offend not with my tongue Let no respects intice me to be an instrument of thy dishonour and let thy attributes be precious in mine eyes teach me the way of thy Precepts O Lord and make me sensible of all my offences let not my sinful custome in finning against thy Name take from my guilty soule the sense of my sin Give mee a respect unto all thy Commandements but especially preserve me from the danger of this my bosome sin Mollifie my heart at the rebukes of thy servants and strike into my inward parts a feare of thy judgements Let all my communication bee order'd as in thy presence and let the words of my mouth bee governed by thy Spirit Avert those judgments from me which thy Word hath threatned and my sin hath deserved and strengthen my resolution for the time to come Work in me a true godly sorow that it may bring forth in me a newnesse of life Sanctifie my thoughts with the continual meditation of thy Commandements and mortifie those passions which provoke mee to offend thee Let not the examples of others induce me to this sin nor let the frailties of my flesh seek figleaves to cover it Seal in my heart the full assurance of thy reconciliation and look upon me in the bowells of compassion that crowning my weak desires with thy all-sufficient power I may escape this judgement which thy justice hath threatned here and obtaine that happinesse thy mercy hath promised hereafter The Procrastinators Remora's TEll me no more of fasting prayer and death they fill my thoughts with dumps of Melancholy These are no subjects for a youthful ear no contemplation for an active soul Let them whom sullen Age hath weaned from aery pleasures whom wayward fortunâ— hath condemn'd to sighs and groanes whom sad diseases have beslaved to drugs and diets let them consume the remnant of their wretched dayes in dull devotion Let them afflict their aking soules with the untunable discourses of mortality Let them contemplate on evill dayes and read sharp Lectures of their own experience For me my bones are full of unctious marrow and my blood of sprightly youth My faire and free estate secures me from the feares of fortunes frowne My strength of constitution hath the power to grapple with sorrow sicknesse nay the very pangs of death and overcome 'T is true God must bee sought What impious tongue dare be so basely bold to contradict so known a truth and by repentance too What strange impiety dare deny it Or what presumptuous lips dare disavow it But there 's a time for all things yet none pâ—efixt
for this no day designed but At what time soever If my unseasonable heart should seek him now the work would bee too serious for so green a seeker My thoughts are yet unsetled my fancy yet too too gamesome my judgment yet unsound my Will unsanctified to seeke him with an unprepared heart is the high way not to find him or to find him with unsetled resolution is the next way to lose him and indeed it wants but little of profanenesse to bee unseasonably religious What is once to bee done is long to bee deliberated Let the boyling pleasures of the rebellious flesh evaporate a little and let me draine my boggy soul from those corrupted inbred humors of collapsed nature and when the tender blossomes of my youthfull vanity shall begin to fade my setled understanding will begin to knot my solid judgement will begin to ripen my rightly guided will be resolved both what to seek and when to find and how to prize till then my tender youth in her pursuit will bee disturb'd with every blast of honour diverted with every fâ—ash of pleasure misled by Counsell turned back with feare puzled with doubt interrupted by passion withdrawne with prosperity and discourag'd with adversity His Repulse TAke heed my soule when thou hast lost thy self in thy journey how wilt thou finde thy God at thy journeys end Whom thou hast lost by too long delay thou wilt hardly find with too late a diligence Take time while time shall serve that day may come wherein Thou shalt seek the Lord but shalt not finde him Hos. 5. 6. Esay 55. 6. Seek the Lord while he may be found call upon him while ne is neare Heb. 12. 17. Hee found no place for repentance though he sought it with tears carefully Thou fool this night will I take thy soule from thee Revel. 2. 21. I gave her a space to repent but shee repented not Behold therefore I will cast her His Proofs Greg. lib. Mor. Seek God whilst thou canst not see him for when thou seest him thou canst not find him seek him by hope and thou shalt finde him by faith In the day of grace hee is invisible but neare in the day of judgement he is visible but far off Ber. Ser. 24. If we would not seâ—k God in vaine lâ—t us seek him in truth often and constantly let us not seeke another in stead of him nor any other thing with him nor for any other thing leave him His Soliloquie O My soul thou hast sought wealth and hast either not found it or cares with it thou hast sought for pleasure and hast found it but no comfort in it Thou soughtest honour and hast found it and perchance fallen with it Thou soughtest friendship and hast found it false society and hast found it vaine And yet thy God the fountaine of all wealth pleasure honour friendship and society thou hast slighted as a toy not worth the finding Be wise my soule and blush at thy own folly Set thy desires on the right objâ—ct Seek wisdom and thou shalt find knowledge and wealth and honour and length of days Seek heaven and earth shall seek thee and deferre not thy Inquest lest thou lose thy opportunity to day thou maist find him whom to morrow thou mayst seek with teares and misse Yesterday is too late to morrow is uncertain to day is onely thine I but my soule I feare my too long delay hath made this day too late fear not my soul he that has given thee his Grace to day will forget thy neglect of yesterday seek him therefore by true repentance and thou shalt finde him in thy Prayer His Prayer O God that like thy precious Word art hid to none but who are lost and yet art found by all that seek thee with an upright heart cast downe thy gracious eye upon a lost sheep of Israel strayed through the vanity of his unbridled youth and wandred in the wildernesse of his own invention Lord I have too much delighted in mine own ways and have put the evil day too far from me I have wallowed in the pleasures of this deceitfull world which perish in the using have neglected thee my God at whose right hand are pleasures for â—vermore I have drawn on iniquity as with cart-ropes and have committed evill with greedinesse I have quencht the motions of thy good spirit and have delayed to seek thee by true and unfained repentance In stead of seeking thee whom I have lost I have withdrawne my self from thy presence when thou hast sought me It were but justice therefore in thee to stop thine eares at my petitions or turn my Prayers as sin into my bosome But Lord thou art a gracious God and full of pity and unwearyed compassion and thy loving kindnes is from generation to generation Lord in not seeking thee I have utterly lost my self and if thou find me not I am lost for ever and if thou find me thou canst not but find me in my sins and then thou find'st me to my owne destruction How miserable O Lord is my condition How necessary is my confusion that have neglected to seek thee and therefore am afraid to bee found of thee But Lord if thou look upon the all-sufficient merits of thy Son thy justice will bee no loser in shewing mercy upon a sinner In his name therefore I present my self before thee in his merits I make my humble approach unto thee in his name I offer up my feeble Prayers for his merits grant me my petitions Call not to minde the rebellions of my flesh and remember not O God the vanities of my youth Inflame my heart with the love of thy presence and relish my meditations with the pleasure of thy sweetnesse Let not the consideration of thy justice overwhelm me in despaire nor the meditation of thy mercy perswade mee to presume Sanctifie my will by the wifdome of thy Spirit that I may desire thee as the chiefest good Quicken my desires with a fervent zeale that I may seeke my Creator in the dayes of my youth â—each mee to seeke thee according to thy will and then bee found according to thy promise that living in mee here by thy grace I may hereafter raign with thee in glory The Hypocrites prevarication THere is no such stuffe to make a cloake on as Religion nothing so fashionable nothing so profitable it is a Livery wherein a wise man may serve two Masters God and the world and make a gainefull service by either I serve both and in both my selfe in prevaricating with both Before man none serves his God with more severe devotion for which among the best of men I work my own ends and serve my self In private I serve the world not with so strict devotion but with more delight where fulfilling of her servants lusts I work my end and serve my self The house of Prayer who more frequents then I in all Christian duties who more forward then I I fast
with those that fast that I may eat with those that eat I mourne with those that mourne No hand more open to the Cause then mine and in their families none prayes longer and with louder zeale Thus when the opinion of a holy life hath cryed the goodnesse of my Conscience up my trade can lack no custome my wares can want no price my words can need no credit my actions can lack no praise If I am covetous it is interpreted providence if miserable it is counted temperance if melancholy it is construed godly sorrow if merry it is voted spirituall joy if I bee rich 't is thought the blessing of a godly life if poor supposed the fruit of conscionable dealing if I be well spoken of it is the merit of holy conversation if ill it is the malice of Malignants thus I sail with every winde and have my end in all conditions This Cloake in Summer keepes mee cool in winter warm and hides the nasty Bag of all my secret lusts Under this Cloake I walk in publik fairly with applause and in private sin-securely without offence and officiate wisely without discovery I compasse sea and land to make a Proselyte and no sooner made but hee makes me At a Fast I cry Geneva and at a Feast I cry Rome If I be poor I counterfeit abundance to save my credit if rich I dissemble poverty to save charges I most frequent Schismaticall Lectures which I find most profitable from whence learning to divulge and maintaine new doctrines they maintaine mee in suppers thrice a weeke I use the help of a lie sometimes as a Religious stratagem to uphold the Gospel and I colour oppression with Gods judgement executed upon the wicked Charity I hold an extraordinary duty therefore not ordinarily to be performed What I openly reprove abroad for my own profit that I secretly act at home for my owne pleasure His Woe BUt stay I see a handwriting in my heart damps my soul 't is charactered in these sad words Woe be to you hypocrites Mat. 23. 13. The triumphing of the wicked is short and the joy of the bypocrite is but for a moment Job 20. 5. Job 15. 34. The congregation of the hypocrites shall be desolate Psal. 11. 9. An hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his neighbor but through knowledge shall the just be delivered Luke 12. 1. Beware of the leaven of the Phariscâ—s which is hypocrisie Job 36. 13. The hypocrites in heart heape up wrath they die in their youth and their life is amongst the unclean His Proofes Salvian de Gubern Dei l. 4. The hypocrites love not those thing they professe and what they pretend in words they disclaime in practise their sin is the more damnable because ushered in with pretence of piety having the greater guilt because it obtaines a goodly repute Hieron. Ep. Endeavour rather to be then to beâ— thought holy for what profits iâ— thee to be thought to be what thâ—â— art not and that man doubles hiâ— guilt who is not so holy as the world thinks him and counterfeitâ— that holinesse which he hath not His Soliloquie HOw like a living Sepulcher did I appeare without beautified with gold and rich inventions within nothing but a loathed corruption so long as this fair Sepulcher was clos'd it past for a curious Monument of the Builders Art but being opened by these spirituall Keyes 't is nothing but a Receptaâ—le of offensive putrefaction In what a nasty dungeon hast thou my soule so long remain'd unstifled How wer 't thou wedded to thy owne corruptions that couldst endure thy unsavoury filthinesse The world hated me because I seemed good God hated mee because I onely seemed good I had no friend but my self and this friend was my bosome enemy O my soul is there water enough in Iordan to clense thee Hath Gilead Balme enough to heale thy superannuated sores I have sinned I am convinced I am convicted Gods mercy is above Dimensions when sinners have not sinned beyond repentance art thou my soule truly penitent for thy sin Thou hast free interest in his mercy fall then my soule before his Mercy seat and he will crown thy penitence with his pardon His Prayer O God! before the brightnes of whose All-discerning eye the secrets of my hearts appeare before whose cleare omniscience the very entralls of my soul lie open who art a God of righteousnesse and truth and lovest uprightnesse in the inward parts How can I chuse but feare to thrust into thy glorious presence or move my sinfull lips to call upon that Name which I so often have dishonoured and made a Cloake to hide the basenesse of my close transgressions Lord when I look into the progresse of my filthy life my guilty conscience calls mee to so strict account and reflects to mee so large an Inventory of my presumptuous sins that I commit a greater sinne in thinking them more infinite then thy mercy But Lord thy mercies have no date nor is thy goodnesse circumscribed The gates of thy compassion are alwayes open to a broken heart and promise entertainment to a contrite spirit the burthen of my sinnes is grievous and the remembrance of my hypocrisie is intolerable I have sinned against thy Majesty with a high hand but I repent mee from the bottome of an humble heart As thou hast therefore given mee sorrow for my sinnes so crowne that gift in the freenesse of remission Bee fully reconcil'd to me through the all-sufficient merits of thy Sonne my Saviour and seal in my afflicted heart the full assurance of thy gratious favour Be thou exalted O God above the heavens and let mee praise thee with a single heart cleanse thou my inward parts O God and purifie the closet of my polluted soul fix thou my heart O thou searcher of all secrets and keep my affections wholly to thee Remove from mee all by and base respects that I may serve thee with an upright spirit take not the word of trueth out of my mouth nor give me over to deceitfull lips Give mee an inward reverence of thy Majesty that I might openly confesse thee in the truth of my sincerity Be thou the only object and end of all my actions and let thy honour be my great reward Let not the hopes of filthy lucre or the praise of men incline mee to thee neither let the pleasures of the world nor the feares of any losse entice me from thee Keep from mee those judgements my hypocrisie hath deserved and strengthen my resolution to abhorre my former life Give mee strength O God to serve thee with a perfect heart in the newnesse of life that I may bee dellvered from the old man and the snares of death then shall I praise thee with my entire affections glorifie thy name for ever and eâ—r The Ignorant mans faltering YOu tell mee and you tell me that I must be a good man and serve God and doe his will and so I doe for ought I know
thee the only desirable good I blush O Lord to confesse the basenesse of my life and am utterly asham'd of my own foolishnesse I have placed my affections upon the nasty Rubbish of this world and have slighted the inestimable Pearl of my Salvation I have wallowed in the mire of my inordinate desires and refused to bee washt in the streams of thy compassion I have put my confidence in the faithfulnesse of my servant and have doubted the providence of thee my gratious Father I have served unrighteous Mammon with greedinesse and have preferred drosse and dung before the pearly gates of New Jerusalem Thou hast promised to be all in all to those that fear thee and not to fail the soul that trusts in thee but I refused thy gratious offer and put my confidence in the vanity of the Creature But gratious God to whom true Repentance never comes unseasonable that findest an eare when sinners finde a tongue regard the contrition of a bleeding heart and withdraw not thy mercy from a pensive soule Give mee new thoughts O God and with thy holy Spirit new mould my desires inform my will and sanctify my affections that they may rellish thy sweetnesse with a full delight Create in me O God a spirituall sense that I may take pleasure in things that are above Give mee a contented thankfulnesse for what I have that I may neither in poverty forsake thee nor in plenty forget thee Arm me with a continuall patience that I may chearfully put my trust in thy providence Moderate my care for momentary things that I may use the world as if I used it not Let not the losse of any earthly good too much deject me lest I should sinne with my lips and charge thee foolishly Give me a charitable hand O God and fill my heart with brotherly compassion that I may chearfully exchange the corruptible treasure of this world into the incorruptible riches of the world to come and proving a faithfull steward in thy spirituall houshold I may give up my account with joy and be made partaker of thy eternall joy in the Kingdome of thy glory The Self-lovers Self-fraud GOd hath required my heart and he shall have it God hath commanded truth in the inward parts and he shall be obeyed My soule shall prayse the Lord and all that is within me and I will serve him in the strength of my desires And in common Cases the tongues profession of his Name is no lesse then necessary But when it lies upon a life upon the saving of a livelyhood upon the flat undoing of a reputation the case is altered My life is deare my faire possessions pretious and my reputation is the very Apple of mine eye To save so great a stake me thinks equivocation is but veniall if a sinne â—f the true loyalty of mine heart stands sound to my Religion and my God my well-informed Conscience tels me that in such extremities my frighted tongue may take the priviledge of a Salvo or a mentall reservation if not in the expression of a faire compliance What shall the reall breach of a holy Sabbath dedicated to Gods highest glory be tolerated for the welfare of an Oxe May that breach be set upon the score of mercy and commended above sacrifice for the savegard of an Asse And may I not dispence with a bare lippe deniall of my urg'd Religion for the necessary preservation of the threatned life of a man for the saving of the whole livelyhood and subsistence of a Christian What shall I perish for the want of â—ood and die a Martyr to that foolish conscience which forbids me to rub the eares of a little standing Corne Iacob could purchase his sick fathers blessing with a down-right lie and may I not dissemble for a life The young mans great possessions taught his timerous tongue to shrink from and decline his hearts profession and who could blame him Come if thou freely give thy house canst thou in conscience be denied a hiding room for thy protection The Syrian Captain he whose heart was fixt on his now firme resolv'd and true devotion reserved the house of Rimmon for his necessary attendance and yet went in peace Peter upon the rock of whose confession the Church was grounded to save his liberty with a false nay with a perjur'd tongue nay more at such a time when as the Lord of life in whose behalf he drew his sword was questioned for his innocent life denied his Master and shall I be so great an unthrift of my blood my life to lose it for a meere lippe-deniall of that Religion which now is setled and needs no blood to seale it His Retribution BUt stay my conscience checks me there 's a judgement thunders Hark He that denies me before men him will I deny before my Father which is in heaven Matth. 10. 33. 2 Tim. 3. 1 2. Know that in the latter dayes perillous times shall come For men shall be lovers of their owne selves Isai. 45. 23. I have sworn by my selfe the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousnesse and shall not returne that unto me every knee shall bow and every tongue shall sweare Rom. 10. 10. With the heart man beleeveth unto righteousnesse and with the mouth confession is made to salvation Luke 9. 26. Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and my words of him shall the Son of man be ashamed when he shall come in Glory His Proofs Augustine The love of God and the world are two different things if the love of this world dwell in thee the love of God forsakes thee renounce that and receive this it 's fit the more noble love should have the best place and acceptance Theoph. It is nâ—t enough onely to beleeve with the heart for God will have us confess with our mouth every one that confesses Christ is God shall finde Christ professing to the Father that that man is a faithfull servant but those that deny Christ shall receive that fearful doom Nescio vos I know you not His Soliloquy MY soule in such a time as this when the civill Sword is warme with slaughter and the wasting kingdom welters in her blood wouldst thou not give thy life to ransome her from ruine Is not the God of heaven and earth worth many kingdomes Is thy welfare more considerable then his glory dar'st thou deny him for thy owne owne ends that denied thee nothing for thy good Is a poore clod of earth we call Inheritance prizable with his greatnesse Or a puffe of breath we call life valuable with his honour in comparison of whom the very Angels are impure Blush O my soule at thy owne guilt He that accounted his blood his life not worth the keeping to ransome thee a wretch lost by thy own rebellion deserves he not the abatement of a lust to keep him from a new crucifying My soule if Religion binde thee not if judgements terrifie thee not if naturall affection incline
thee not yet let common reason perswade thee to love him above a trifle that loved thee above his life And thou that hast so often denied him denie thy selfe for ever and he will own thee repent and hee 'l pardon thee pray to him and he will heare thee His Prayer O God whose glory is the end of my creation and whose free mercy is the cause of my redemption that gavest thy Sonne thy onely Sonne to die for me who else had perished in the common deluge of thy wrath What shall I render for so great a mercy What thankfulnesse shall I returne â—or so infinite a love Alas the most that I can do is nothing the best that I can present is worse then nothing sinne Lord if I yeeld my body for a sacrifice I offer nothing but a lumpe of filth and loathsome putrefaction or if I give my soul in contribution I yeeld thee nothing but thy Image quite defaced and polluted with my lusts or if I spend the strength of the whole man and with both heart and tongue confesse and magnifie thy Name how can the praises of my sinfull lips that breath from such a sink be pleasing to thee But Lord since thou art pleased in thy well-pleasing Son to accept the poverty of my weak endeavours send downe thy holy Spirit into my heart clense it from the filth of my corruptions and make it fit to praise thee Lord open thou my mouth and my lips shall shew forth thy praise Put a new song into my mouth and I will praise thee and confesse thee all day long I will not hide thy goodnesse in my mouth but will be showing forth thy truth and thy salvation Let thy praises be my honour and let thy goodnesse be the subject of my undaunted Song Let neither reputation wealth nor life be pretious to me in comparison with thee Let not the worlds derision daunt mee nor examples of infirmity deject me Give mee courage and wisedome to stand for thy honour O make mee worthy able and willing to suffer for thy Name Lord teach me to deny my selfe and to resist the motions of my owne corruptions create in mee O God a single heart that I may love the Lord Jesus in sincerity remember not O Lord the sinnes of my feare and pardon the hypocrisie of my self-love Wash me from the staines and guilt of this my hainous offence and deliver me from this fearfull judgement thou hast threatned in thy Word Convince all the Arguments of my unsanctified wit whereby I have become an advocate to my sinne Grant that my life may adorâ—e my profession and make my tongue an instrument of thy glory Assist me O God that I may praise thy goodnesse and declare thy wonders among the children of men Strengthen my faith that it may trust Thee and let my works so shine that men may praise thee That my heart beleeving unto righteousnesse and my tongue confessing to salvation I may be acknowledg'd by thee here and glorified by thee in the Kingdome of glory The Worldly Mans Verdour FOr ought J see the case is even the same with him that prayes and him that does not pray with him that sweares and him that feares an oâ—th I see no difference if any those that they call the wicked have the advantage Their crops are even as faire their flocks as numerous as theirs that weare the ground with their religious knees and fast their bodies to a skelliton nay in the use of blessings which only makes them so they farre exceed they terme me reprobate and stile me unregenerate 'T is true I eate my labours with a jolly heart drinke frolick cups sweeten my paines with time-beguiling sports make the best advantage of my owne pray when I thinke on 't sweare when they urge me hear Sermons at my leasure follow the lusts of my owne eyes and take the pleasure of my own wayes and yet God be thanked my Barnes are furnisht my sheep stand sound my Cattle strong for labour my pastures rich and flourishing my body healthfull and my bags are full whilst they that are so pure and make such conscience of their wayes that run to Sermons figge to Lectures pray thrice a day by the houre hold faith and trâ—th prophane and drinking healths a sinne do often finde leane harvests easie flocks and emptie purses Let them be godly that can live on Aire and Faith and eaten up by Zeale can whine themselves into an Hospiâ—all or blesse their lips with charitable scrapps If godlinesse have this reward to have short meals for long prayers weake estates for strong faiths and good consciences upon such bad conditions let them boast of their pennyworths and let me be wicked still and take my chance as falls Let me have judgement to discover a profitable Farme and wit to take it at an easie Rent and Gold to stock it in a liberall manner and skill to manage it to my best advantage and luck to finde a good encrease and providence to husband wisely what I gaine I seek no further and I wish no more Husbandry and Religion are two severall occupations and look two severall wayes and he is the onely wise man can reconcile them His Withering BUt stay my soule I fear thy reckoning failes thee If thou hast judgement to discover wit to bargaine Gold to employ skill to manage providence to dispose canst thou command the Clouds to drop or if a wet season meet thy Harvest and with open sluces overwhelme thy hopes canst thou let downe the floodgates and stop the watry Flux Canst thou command the Sunne to shine Canst thou forbid the Mildewes or controll the breath of the Malignant East Is not this Gods sole Prerogative And hath not that God said When the workers of iniquity doe flourish it is that they shall bee destroyed for ever Psal. 92. 13. Job 21. 7. Wherefore do the wicked live become old ye are mighty in power 8. Their seed is establisht in their sight and their off-spring before their eyes 9. Their houses are safe from fear neither is the wrath of God upon them 10. Their Bull gendereth and faileth not their Cow calveth and casteth not her Calfe 21. They send forth their little ones like a flock and their children daunce 12. They take the Timbrell and the Harp and rejoyce at the sound of the Organ 13. They spend their dayes in wealth and in a moment they go downe to the Grave His Proofs Nil in Paraenes Wee be to him that pursues empty and fading pleasures because in a short time he fats and pampers himself as a Calf to the slaughter Bernard There is no misery more true and reall then false and counterfeit pleasure Hierom. It 's not onely difficult but impossible to have heaven here and hereafter To live in sensuall lusts and to attain spirituall blisse to passe from one paradise to another to be a mirrour of felicity in both worlds to shine with glorious rayes
come who will both bring to light the hidden things of darknesse and wil make manifest the counsell of the heart Rom. 14. 13. Let us not therefore judge one another any more but judge this rather that no man put a stumbling blocke or an accusation to fall in his brothers way Psal. 50. 6. God is judge himselfe His Proofs St. Augustine Apparant and notorious iniquities ought both to be reproved and condemned but we should never judge such things as we understand not nor can certainly know whether they be done with a good or evill intent St. Augustine When thou knowest not apparantly judge charitably because it 's better to thinke well of the wicked then by frequent censuring to suspect an innocent man guilty of an offence St. Augustine The vnrighteous Iudge shall bee justly condemned His Soliloquy HAs thy brother O my soul a beam in his eye And hast thou no moat in thine Clear thy owne and thou wilt see the better to cleanse his If a Theife bee in his Candle blow it noâ— out lest thou wrong the flame but if thy snuffers be of Gold snuffe it Has he offended thee Forgive him Hath he trespassâ—d against the Congregation Reprove him Hath he sinned against God Pray for him O my soule how uncharitable hast thou been How Pharisaically hast thou judg'd Being sick of the Iaundies how hast thou censur'd another yellow And with blotted fingers made his blurre the greater How has the pride of thine owne heart blinded thee toward thy selfe How quick sighted to another Thy brother has slipt but thou hast fallen and hast blancht thy owne impiety with the publishing his sin Like a Flie thou stingest his sores and feed'st on his corruptions Iesus came eating and drinking and was judg'd a glutton Iohn came fasting and was challengâ—d with a devill Iudge not my soule lest thou be judged maligne not thy brother lest God laugh at thy destruction Wouldst thou escape the punishment judge thy selfe Wouldst thou avoid the sin humble thy selfe His Prayer O God that art the onely searcher of the Reines to whom the secreâ—s of the heart of man are only known to whom alone the judgement of our thoughts our words deeds belong and to whose sentence we must stand or fall I a presumptuous sinner that have thrust into thy place and boldly have presumed to execute thy office do here as humbly confesse the insolence of mine attempt and with a sorrowfull heart repent me of my doings and though my convinced conscience can look for nothing from thy wrathfull hand but the same measure which I measured to another yet in the confidence of that mercy which thou hast promised to all those that truly and unfainedly beleeve I am become an humble sutor for thy gratious pardon Lord if thou search me but with a favourable eye I shall appeare much more unrighteous in thy sight then this my uncharitably condemned brother did in mine O looke not therefore Lord upon me as I am lest thou abhor me but through the merits of my blessed Saviour cast a gratious eye upon me Let his humilitie satisfie for my presumption and let his meritorious sufferings answer for my vile uncharitablenesse let not the voice of my offence provoke thee with a stronger cry then the language of his Intercession Remove from me O God all spirituall pride and make me little in my own conceit Lord light me to my selfe that by thy light I may discerne how dark I am Lighten that darknesse by thy holy Spirit that I may search into my own corruptions And since O God all gifts and graces are but nothing and nothing can be acceptable in thy sight without charity quicken the dulnesse of my faint affections that I may love my brother as I ought Soften my marble heart that it may melt at his infirmities Make me carefull in the examination of my owne wayes and most severe against my owne offences Pull out the beam out of mine owne eye that I may see clearly and reprove wisely Take from me O Lord all grudging envy and malice that my seasonable reproofs may win my brother Preserve my heart from all censorious thoughts and keep my tongue from striking at his name Grant that I make right use of his Infirmities and read good Lessons in his failings that loving him in thee and thee in him according to thy command wee may both bee united in thee as members of thee that thou mayest receive honour from our communion here and we eternall glory from thee hereafter in the world to come The Liars Fallacies NAy if Religion be so strict a Law to binde my tongue to the necessity of a truth on all occasions at all times and in all places the gate is too strait for me to enter Or if the generall rules of down-right truth will admit no â—ew exceptions farewell all honest mirth farewell all trading farewell the whole converse betwixt man and man If alwayes to speak punctuall truth bee the true Symptomes of a blessed soule Tom Tell troth has a happy time and fooles and children are the only men If truth sit Regent in what faithfull breast shall secrets finde repose What kingdome can be safe What Common wealth can be secure What warre can be successefull What Stratagem can prosper if bloody times should force Religion to shroud it selfe beneath my rooâ—e upon demand shall my false truth betray it Or shall my brothers life or shall my owne be seis'd upon through the cruell truth of my down-right confession or rather not be secured by a faire officious lie shall the righteous Favorite of Egypts Tyrant by vertue of a loud lie sweeten out his joy and heigthen up his soft affection with the Antiperistasis of teares and may I not prevaricate with a sullen truth to save a brothers life from a bloodthirsty hand shall Iacob and his too indulgent mother conspire in a lie to purchase a paternall blessing in the false name and habit of a supplanted brother and shall I question to preserve the granted blessing of a life or livelihood with a harmelesse lie Come come my soul let not thy timerous conscience check at such poor things as these So long as thy officious tongue aymes at a just end a lie is no offence So long as thy perjurious lips confirme not thy untruth with an audâ—ciâ—us brow thou nâ—edst not feare The weight of the cause releeves the burthen of the Crime Is thy Center good No matter how crooked the lines of the circumference be Policie allowes it If thy journies end be heaven it matters not how full of Hell thy journey be Divinity allowes it Wilt thou condemn the Egyptian Midwives for saving the infant Israelites by so merciful a lie When martial execution is to be done wilt thou fear to kill When hunger drives thee to the gates of death wilt thou be afraid to steale When civill warres divide a Kingdome will Mercuries decline a lie No circumstances
excuse as well as make the lie Had Caesar Scipio or Alexander been regulated by such strict Divinity their names had been as silent as their dust A lie is but a faire put off the sanctuary of a secret the riddle of a lover the stratagem of a Souldier the policy of a Statesman and a salve for many desperate sores His Flames BUt hark my soule there 's something rounds mine eare and calls my language to a recâ—ntation The Lord hath spoken it Liers shall have their part in the lake which burâ—eth with fire and brimstone Revel. 21. 8. Exod. 20. Thou shalt not raise a false report Levit. 19. 11. Ye shall not deal falsely neither lie one to another Prov. 12. 22. Lying lips are abomination to the Lord but they that deal truely are his delight Prov. 19. 5. He that speaketh lies shall not escape Ephes. 4. 5. Put away lying and every one speak truth with his neighbour for we are members one of another Revel. 21. 27. There shall in no wise enter into the new Ierusalem any thing that worketh abomination or that maketh a lie His Proofes S. Augustine Whosoever thinkes there is any kind of lie that is not a sin shamefully deceives himself mistaking a lying or cousening knave for a square or honest man Gregor. Eschew and avoid all falshood though sometimes certain kind of untruths are lesse sinfull as to tell a lie to save a mans life yet because the Scripture saith The lyer slayeth his own soul and God will destroy them that tell a lie therefore religious and honest men should alwayes avoid even the best sort of lies neither ought another mans life be secured by our falsehood or lying lest we destroy our owne soule in labouring to secure another mans life His Soliloquy WHat a child O my soule hath thy false bosome harbâ—rd And what reward can thy indulgence expect from such a father What blessing canst thou hope for from heaven that pleadest for the son of the devill and crucifyest the Son of God God is the Father of truth To secure thy estate thou deniest the truth by framing oâ— a lie To save thy brothers life thou opposest the truth in justifying a lie Now tell me O my soul art thou worthy the name of a Christian that denyest and opposest the nature of Christ Art thou worthy of Christ that preferrest thy estate or thy brothers life before him O my unrighteous soule canst thou hold thy brother worthy of death for giving thee the lie and thy selfe guiltlesse that makest a lie 〈◊〉 but in some cases truth destroyes thy life a lie preserves it My soule was God thy Creator then make not the devill thy preserver Wilt thou despair to trust him with thy life that gave it and make him thy Protector that seeks to destroy it Reforme thee and repent thee O my soul hold not thy life on such conditions but trust thee to the hands that made thee His Prayer O God that art the God of truth whose word is truth that hatest lying lips and abominatest the deceitfull tongue that banishest thy presence all such as love or make a ly and lovest truth and requirest uprightnesse in the inward parts I the most wretched of the sonnes of men and most unworthy to be called thy son make bold to cast my sinfullâ— eies to heaven Lord I have sinned against heaven and against truth and have turned thy grace into a lie I have renounced the wayes of righteousnesse and harbour'd much iniquity within me which hath turned thy wrath against me I have transgrest against the checks of my own conscience and have vaunted of my transgression which way soever I turne mine eye I see no object but shame and confusion Lord when I look upon my selfe I finde nothing there but fuell for thy wrath and matter for thine indignation and my condemnation And when I cast mine eyes to heaven I there behold an angry God and a severe revenger But Lord at thy right hand I see a Saviour and a sweet Redeemer I see thy wounded Son cloathd in my flesh and bearing mine infirmities and interceding for my numerous transgressions for which my soule doth magnifie thee O God and my spirit rejoyceth in him my Saviour Lord when thou lookest upon the vast score of my offences turne thine eyes upon the infinite merits of his satisfaction O when thy justice calls to mind my sinnes let not thy mercy forget his sufferings Wash mee O wash me in his blood and thou shalt see me cloathed in his righteousnesse Let him that is all in all to me be all in all for me make him to me sanctification justification and redemption Inspire my heart with the spirit of thy truth and preserve me from the deceitfulnesse of a double tongue Give me an inward confidence to relie upon thy fatherly providence that neither fear may deterre me nor any advantage may turne me from the wayes of thy truth Let not the specious goodnesse of the end encourage me to the unlawfulnesse of the meanes but let thy Word be the warrant to all my actions Guide my footsteps that I may walke uprightly and quicken my conscience that it may reprove my failings Cause me to feel the burthen of this my habituall sin that comming to thee by a true and serious repentance my sins may obtaine a full and a gratious forgivenesse Give me a heart to make a Covenant with my lips that both my heart and tongue being sanctified by thy Spirit may be both united in truth by thy mercy and magnifie thy name for ever and for ever The revengefull mans rage O What a Julip to my scorching soul is the delicious blood of my Offendâ—r and how it cooles the burning Fâ—ver of my boyling veynes It is the Quintessence of pleasures the height of satisfaction and the very marrow of all delight to bathe and paddle in the blood of such whose bold affronts have turn'd my wounded patâ—ence into fury How full of sweetnesse was his death who dying was reveng'd upon three thousand enemies How sweetly did the younger brothers blood allay the soul-consuming flame of the elder who took more pleasure in his last breath then heaven dâ—d in his first Sacrifice Yet had not heaven to demned his action nature hâ—d found an Advocate for his passion What sturdy spirit hath the power to rule his sufferâ—ng thoughts or curbe the headstrong â—uâ—y of his Irascible affections Or who but fooles that cannot taste anjnjury can moderate their high-bred spirits and stop their passion in her full carrier Let heavy Cynicks they whose leaden soules are taught by stupid reason to stand bent at every wrong that can digest an injury more easily then a complement that can protest against the Lawes of nature and cry all naturall affection downe let them be Andirons for the inâ—urious world to worke a Heat upon let them finde shoulders to receive the paineful stripes of peevish Mortalâ—s and to bear the wrongs
of daring insolence Let them be drawne like Calves pâ—epar'd for slaughter and bow tâ—eâ—r servile necks to sharp destruction let them submit their slavish bosomes to be trod and trâ—mpled under â—oot for every pleasure My Eagle spirit flies a higher pitch and like ambitious Phaeton climbes into the fiery Chariot and drawne with fury scorne revenge and honor rambles through all the Spheares and brings with it confusion and combustion my reeking sword shall vindicate my reputation and rectifie the injuries of my honorable name and quench it selfe in plenteous streames of blood Come tell not mee of Charity conscience â—r transgression My Charity reflects upon my self begins at home and guides by the justice of my passion is bound to labour for an honourable satisfaction My conscience is blood-proofe and I can broach a life with my illustrious weapon with as little â—eluctation as kill a Flea that â—ucks my blood without Commission and I can drinke a health in blood upon my bended knee to reputation His Retaliation BUt hark my soule I heare a languishing a dying voyce cry up to heaven for vengeance It cries aloud and thunders in my startling eare I tremble and my shiveâ—ing bones are filled with hoâ—ror â—t cries again â—mâ— and heare what heaven replies All that take up the sword shall perish by the sword Mâ—tâ—h 26. 52. Levit. 10. 18. Thou shalt not avenge or bear any grudge against the Children of my people but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy selfe I am the Lord Deut. 32. 35. To me belongeth vengeance and recompence Ezek. 25. 12 13. Because that Edom hath delt against the house of Iudah by taking vengeance and hath greatly offended and revenged himselfe upon them Therefore thus saith the Lord God I will also stretch out mine hand upon Edom and will cut off man and beast from it Matth 5. 39. Resist not evill but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek turn to him the other also His Proofs Tertull. What 's the difference between one that doth an injury and another that outragiously suffers it except that the one it first and the other second in the oâ—ence but both are guilty of mutuall injuâ—y in the sight of God who forbids every sinne and condemnes the offender Tertull. How can we honour God if we revenge our selves Gloss. Every man is a murtherer and shall be punished as Cain was if he doe as Cain did either assault his brother with violence or pursue him with hatred His Soliloquy REvenge is an Act of the Irasâ—â—ble affections deliberated with malice and executed without mercy How often O my soule hast thou cursed thy selfe in the perfectest of Prayers How often hast thou turn'd the spirituall body of thy Saviour into thy damnation Can the Sun rise to thy comfort that hath so often set in thy wrath So long as thy wrath is kindled against thy brother so long is the wrath of God burning against thee O wouldst thou offer a pleasing sacrâ— fice to heaven Goe first and be reconciled to thy brother I but who shall right thy honour then Is thy honour wrong'd Forgive and it is vindicated I but this kinde of heart-swelling câ—n brook no Powltesse but revenge Take heed my soule the remedy is worse then the disease If thy intricate distemper transcend thy power make choyce of a Physitian that can purge that humour that foments thy malady Rely upon him submit thy will to his directions he hath a tender heart a skilfull hand a watchfull eye that makes thy welfare the price of all thy paines expecting no reward no fee but prayses and Thanksgiving His Prayer O God that art the God of peace and the lover of unity and concord that dost command all those that seek forgivenesse to forgive that hatest the froward heart but shewest mercy to the meek in spirit With what a face can I appeare before thy mercy-seat or with what countenance can I lift up these hands thus stained with my brothers blood How can my lips that daily breathe revenge against my brother presume to own thee as my father or expect from thee thy blessing as thy childe If thou forgive my trespasses O God as I forgive my trespassers in what a miserable estate am I that in my very prayers condemn my selfe and doe not only limit thy compassion by my uncharitablenesse but draw thy judgements on my head for my rebellion That heart O God which thou requirest as a holy present is become a spring of malice These hands which I advance are ready instruments of base revenge My thoughts that should be sanctified are full of blood and how to compasse evill against my brother is my continuall meditation The course of all my life is wilfull disobedience and my whole pleasure Lord is to displease thee My conscience hath accused me and the voyce of blood hath cryed against me But Lord the blood of Jesus cryes louder then the blood of Abell and thy mercy is farre more infinite then my sinne The blood that was shed by me cryes for vengeance but the blood that was shed for me sues for mercy Lord heare the language oâ— this blood and by the merits of this voyce be reconciled unto me That time which cannot be recalled O give me power to redeem and in the meane time a setled resolution to reform Suppresse the violence of my head-strong passion and establish a meek spirit within me Let the sight of my own vilenesse take from me the sense of all disgrace and let the Crown of my reputation be thy honour Possesse my heart with a desire of unity and concord and give me patience to endure what my impenitence hath deserved â— Breath into my soule the spirit of love and direct my affeâ—â—ions to their right object turn all my anger against that sinne that hath provoked thee and give me holy revenge that I may exercise it against my selfe Grant that I may love thee for thy selfe my selfe in thee and my neighbour as my selfe Assist me O God that I may subdue all evill in my selfe and suffer patiently all evill as a punishment from thee Give me a mercifull heart O God make it â—low to wrath and ready to forgive Preserve me from the act of evill that I may be delivered from the feare of evill that living here in charity with men I may receive that sentence of Come ye blessed in the kingdom of glory The secure mans Triumph SO now my soule thy happinesse is entaild and thy illustrious nâ—me shall live in thy succeeding Generations Thy dwelling is establish'd in the fat of all the land thou hast what mortall heart can wish and wantest nothing but immortalitie The best of all the land is thine and thou art planted in the best of Lands A land whose Constitutions make the best of Government which Government is strengthened with the best of Laws which Lawes are executed by the best of Princes whose Prince whose Lawes whose Government whose land