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-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
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
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
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-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
both in this globe of earth and the orbe of heaven His Soliloquy HOw sweet a feast is till the reckoning come A fair day ends often in a cold night and the road that 's pleasant ends in Hell If worldly pleasures had the promise of continuance prosperity were some comfort but in this necessary vicissitude of good and evill the prolonging of adversity sharpens it It is no common thing my soule to enjoy two heavens Dives found it in the present Lazarus in the future Hath thy encrease met with no damage thy reputation with no scandall thy pleasure with no crosse thy prosperity with no adversity Presume not Gods checks are symptomes of his mercy but his silence is the Harbinger of a judgement Be circumspect and provident my soule Hast thou a faire Summer provide for a hard Winter The worlds River ebbes alone it flowes not Hee that goes merrily with the stream must hale up Flatter thy selfe therefore no longer in thy prosperous sin O my deluded soule but be truly sensible of thy own presumption Look seriously into thy approaching danger and humble thy self with true contrition If thou procure sowre Herbs God will provide his Passeover His Prayer HOw weake is man O God when thou forsakest him How foolish are his Counsels when he plots without thee How wild his progresse when he wanders from thee How miserable till he returne unto thee How his wit failes How his wisedome falters How his wealth melts How his providence is befool'd and how his soule beslav'd Thou strik'st off the Chariot wheeles of his Inventions and he is perplext Thou confoundest the Babel of his imaginations and he is troubled Thou crossest his designes that he may feare thee and thou stopst him in his wayes that he may know thee How mercifull art thou O God and in thy very judgements Lord how gracious Thou mightst have struck me into the lowest pit as easily as on these bended knees and yet been justified in my confusion But thou hast threatned like a gentle father as loth to punish thy ungracious childe Thou knowest the crooked thoughts of man are vaine still turning point to their contrivers ruine Thou saw'st me wandring in the maze of death whilst I with violence pursued my owne destruction But thou hast warn'd me by thy sacred Word and took me off that I might live to praise thee Thou art my confidence O God Thou art the rock the rocke of my salvation Thy Word shall be my guide for all thy paths are Mercy and Truth Lord when I look upon my former worldlinesse I utterly abhorre my conversation strengthen mee with thy assistance that I may lead a new life make me more and more sensible of my own condition and perfect thou the good worke thou hast begun in me In all my designes be thou my Counsellour that I may prosper in my undertakings In all my actions be thou my guide that I may keep the path of thy Cōmandements Let all my own devises come to nought lest I presume upon the arme of flesh let not my wealth encrease without thy blessing lest I be fatted up against the day of slaughter Have thou a hand in all my just imployments then prosper thou the worke of my hands O prosper thou my handy-worke That little I enjoy confirme it to me and make it mine who have no interest in it till thou owne me as thy Child Then shall my soule rejoyce in thy favours and magnifie thy name for all thy mercies Then shall my lips proclaim thy loving kindnesse and sing thy praises for ever and ever The lascivious mans Heaven CAn flesh and blood bee so unnaturall to forget the Lawes of Nature Can blowing youth immure it selfe within the Icey walls of Vestall Chastity Can lusty diet and mollicious rest bring forth no other fruits but faint desires rigid thoughts and Phlegmatick conceits should we be stocks and stones and having active souls turne altogether passives Must we turne Ancherites and spend our dayes in Caves and Hermitages and smother up our pretious hours in cloysterd folly and recluse devotion Can rosy cheeks can ruby lips can snowy brests and sparkling eyes present their beauties and perfections to the sprightly view of young mortality and must we stand like Statues without sense or motion Can strict Religion impose such cruell tasks and even impossible commands upon the raging thoughts of her unhappy votaries as to withstand and contradict the instinct and very principles of Nature Can faire-pretending Piety be so barbarous to condemn us to the flames of our affections and make us Martyrs to our own desires Is 't not enough to conquer the rebellious actions of imperious flesh but wee must manacle her hands darken her eyes nay worse restrain the freedom of her very thoughts Can full perfection be expected here Or can our work bee perfect in this vale of imperfection This were a life for Angels but a task too hard for frail for transitory man Come come wee are but men but flesh and blood and our born frailties cannot grapple with such potent tyranny What Nature and Necessity requires us to doe is veniall being done Come strive no more against so strong a stream but take thy fill of beauty solace thy wanton heart with amorous contemplations cloathe all thy words with courtly Rhetorick and soften thy lips with Dialects of Love Surfet thy selfe with pleasure and melt thy passion into warm delights Walk into Natures universall Bower and pick what Flower does most surprize thine eye drink of all waters but bee tied to none Spare neither cost nor paines to compasse thy Desires Enjoy varieties emparadise thy soule in fresh Delights The change of pleasure makes thy pleasure double Ravish thy senses with perpetuall choyce and glut thy soule with all the delicates of Love BUt hold there is a voyce that whispers in my troubled eare a voyce that blanks my thoughts and stops the course of my resolves a voyce that chils the bosom of my soul and fils me with amazement Hark They which doe such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God Gal. 5. 21. Exodus 20 14 Thou shalt not commit Adultery Matthew 5. 28. Whosoever looks upon a woman to lust after her hath committed Adultery with her already in his heart Rom. 13. 13 Let us walk honestly as in the day not in rioting nor in drunkennesse nor in chambering nor in wantonnesse 1 Peter 2. 11. Abstain from fleshly lusts which warre against the soule His Proofes Nilus in Paraen Woe be to the fornicator and adulterer for his garment is defiled and spotted and the heavenly Bridegroom casts him out from his chast nuptials A world of presumptuous and haynous offences do arise and spring from the filthy fountain of adulterous lust whereby the gate of heaven is shut and poore man excluded from God S Gregor. Mor. Hence the flesh lives in sensuall delights for a moment but the immortall soule perisheth for ever His Soliloquy LUst
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
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
makes us the happiest of all subjects makes us the happiest of all people A land of strength of plenty and a land of peace where every soule may sit beneath his Vine unfrighted at the horrid language of the hoarse Trumpet unstartled at the warlike summons of the roaring Cannon A land whose beauty hath surpriz'd the ambitious hearts of forrain Princes and taught them by their martiall Oratory to make their vaine attempts A land whose strength reades vanity in the deceived hopes of Conquerours and crowns their enterprizes with a shamefull overthrow A land whose native plenty makes her the worlds Exchange supplying others able to subsist without supply from forraigne Kingdomes in it selfe happy and abroad honorable A land that hath no vanity but what by accident proceeds and issues from the sweetest of all blessings peace and plenty that hath no misery but what is propagated from that blindness which cannot see her own felicitie A land that flowes with Milk and Honey and in briefe wants nothing to deserve the title of a Paradise the Curbe of Spaine the pride of Germany the ayde of Belgia the scourge of France the Empresse of the world and Queene of Nations She is begirt with walls whose builder was the hand of heaven whereon there daily rides a Navy Royall whose unconquerable power proclaimes her Prince invincible and whispers sad despaire into the fainting hearts of forraigne Majesty She is compact within her selfe in unity not apt to civill discords or intestine broyles The envie of all nations the ambition of all Princes the terror of all enemies the security of all neighbouring States Let timerous Pulpits threaten ruine let prophecying Church-men dote till I beleeve How often and how long have these loud sonnes of Thunder false prophesied her desolation and yet she stands the glory of the world Can pride demolish the Towers that defend her Can drunkennesse dry up the Sea that walls her Can flames of lust dissolve the Ordnance that protect her His overthrow BEe well advised my soule there is a voyee from heaven roare louder then those Ordnance which saith Thus saith the Lord The whole land shall be desolate Jer. 4. 27. Esay 14. 7. The whole earth it at rest and at quiet they break forth into singing Yea the Firee trees rejoyee at thee and the Cedars of Lebanon sing c. Yet shalt thou be brought down to hell to the sides of the Pit Ier. 5. 12. They have belied the Lord and said it is not he neither shall evill come upon us neither shall we see sword or famine 1 Cor. 10. 12. Let him that standeth take heed lest he fall Luke 17. 26. They did eat and drink and they married wives and were given in marriage untill the flood came and destroyed them all His Proofs Greg. Mor. A man may as soon build a Castle upon the rouling waves as ground a solid comfort upon the unceriaine ebbs and fluxes of transient pleasures St. Augustine Whilst Lot was exercised in sâ—ffering reproach and violence he continued holy and pure even in the filth of Sodom but in the mount being in peace and safety he was surprised by sensuall security and defiled himselfe with his owne daughters Our prosperous and happy state is often the occasion of more miserabl ruine a long peace hath made many men both carelesse and cowardly and that 's the most fatall blow when an unexpected enemy surprises us in a deep sleep of peace and security Greg. Mag. His Soliloquy SEcurity is an improvident carelesnesse casting out all fear of approaching danger It is like a great Calme at Sea that sore-runs a storme How is this verified O my sad soule in this our bleeding nation Wer 't thou not but now for many yeares even nuzzlâ—d in the bosome of habituall peace Didst thou foresee this danger Or couldst thou have contrived a way to be thus miserable Didst thou not laugh invasion to scorne or didst thou not lesse feare a Civill war Was not the Title of the Crown unquestionable And was not our mixt government unapt to fall into diseases Did we want good Lawes or did our Lawes want execution Did not our Prophets give lawfull warning or were we moved at the sound of judgements How hast thou liv'd O my uncarefull soule to see these prophesies fulfill'd and to behold the vials of thy angry God pour'd forth Since mercies O my soule could not allure thee yet let these judgements now at length enforce thee to a true Repentance Quench the Firebrand which thou hast kindled turne thy mirth to a right mourning and thy feasts of joy to humiliation His Prayer O God by whom kings reign and kingdoms flourish that settest up where none can batter down and pullest down where none can countermand I a most humble Sutor at the Throne of Grace acknowledge my selfe unworthy of the least of all thy mercies nay worthy of the greatest of all thy judgements I have sinned against thee the author of my being I have sinned against my conscience which thou hast made my accuser I have sinned against the peace of this Kingdom wherof thou hast made mee a member If all should doe O God as I have done Sodom would appeare as righteous and Gomorrah would be a president to thy wrath upon this sinfull Nation But Lord thy mercy is inscrutable or else my misery were unspeakable for that mercy sake bee gratious to me in the free pardoning of all my offences Blot them out of thy remembrance for his sake in whom thou art well pleased Make my head a fountaine of teares to quench that brand my sinnes have kindled towards the destruction of this flourishing kingdome Blesse this kingdom O God establish it in piety honour peace and plenty Forgive all her crying sinnes and remove thy judgements farre from her Blesse her Governour thy servant our dread Soveraign endue his soule with all religious civill and princely vertues Preserve his royall person in health safety and prosperity prolong his days in honour peace or victory and crown his death with everlasting glory Blesse him in his royall Consort unite their hearts in love and true Religion Blesse him in his princely issue Season their youth with the feare of thy Name Direct thy Church in doctrine and in discipline and let her enemies bee converted or confounded purge her of all superstition and heresie and root out from her whatsoever thy hand hath not planted Blesse the Nobility of this Land endue their hearts with truth loyalty and true policy Blesse the Tribe of Levi with piety learning and humility Blesse the Magistrates of this kingdome give them religious upright hearts hating covetousnesse Blesse the Gentry with sincetity charity and a good conscience Blesse the Commonalty with loyall hearts painfull hands and plentifull encrease Blesse the two great Seminaries of this kingdom make them fruitfull and faithfull Nurseries both to the Church and Common-wealth Blesse all thy Saints every where especially those that have stood