Selected quad for the lemma: heart_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
heart_n	affection_n	love_n	thought_n	2,136	5	6.6030	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A66656	Eurēka, Eurēka the virtuous woman found, her loss bewailed, and character examined in a sermon preached at Felsted in Essex, April 30, 1678, at the funeral of ... Mary, countess dowager of Warwick, the most illustrious pattern of a sincere piety, and solid goodness his age hath produced : with so large additions as may be stiled the life of that noble lady : to which are annexed some of her ladyships pious and useful meditations / by Anthony Walker.	Walker, Anthony, d. 1692.; Warwick, Mary Boyle Rich, Countess of, 1625-1678. Occasional meditations upon sundry subjects.	1678 (1678)	Wing W301; ESTC R233189	74,039	235

hath injoyn'd us all to cry to God for mercy for the breach of and for grace to incline our hearts to keep the fourth Commandment as well as any of the other nine and 't is not hard to observe that the streams of Religion are deep or shallow according as these Banks are kept up or neglected She was a very devout Communicant seldom omitting to prepare her Soul with solemn fasting to renew her covenant with God And in the act of receiving I cannot think of her without reflecting on S. Stephen when he saw the Heavens opened and Jesus standing at God's right hand and his face was as the face of an Angel And to encourage others to such serious preparation to that Sacred Ordinance as she us'd before it I shall shew what sweet advantages she reaped in it and by it And this I shall do by transcribing word for word out of her Diary what I find written with her own hand concerning one of the last Sacrament Days she ever enjoyed For the Sacrament which was appointed to have been administred in her Ladyships Chappel upon Easter-day was put off by reason of her falling ill in Passion week November 25. Sacrament Day AS soon as I awaked I blessed God When I had read in the Word the Chapters of the Sufferings of my Blessed Saviour I spent much time in meditating of his dying love By which thoughts I found my heart much drawn out to love him and melted by his love then with great and awful apprehensions of God upon my heart I went to pray In which duty my heart was lifted up in the high praises of God for both spiritual and temporal mercies and my affections were much drawn out in the duty in which my heart did follow exceeding hard after God for a nearer communion with him in the Sacrament than ever yet I had I then renewed my covenant with God and made promises that by his Grace enabling me I would walk more closely with him for the time to come That which in especial manner I begged of God at this Sacrament was more love to him more holiness more contempt of the world and the Glories of it that I might be more useful to the Souls and Bodies of my Fellow Christians than formerly I had been Those mercies which in especial manner I was grateful for were the Creation and Redemption of the World and for the Gospel and the Covenant of Grace and for converting Grace and for Justification and for some measure of Sanctification and for so much Patience exercised toward me before my conversion and in order to it imbittering Creature-comforts that I might seek for comforts above and for a sanctified affliction and for some degree of patience to bear it and for supports under it by the warm and lively comforts of the Holy Ghost and for returns of prayer and for so many opportunities to seek unto God and for the sweet reviving hours I had enjoyed with God in solitude by Heavenly Meditations and for the Word and Sacraments and the sanctifying motions of Gods Spirit I was in a more than usual manner melted in the duty and shed a very great plenty of tears in it which when I came from I found a longing desire to partake of the Lord's Supper and a great joy that I was going to partake of it Then I went to hear the Text was I am the way the truth and the life no man cometh to the Father but by me I was attentive at that good Sermon And by what I heard of the excellency of Christ had my heart much warmed with love to him Afterwards at the confession before the Sacrament I found my heart in a more than usual manner broken for my sins which I bewailed with great plenty of tears and from my heart judged and loathed my self for them After I had received I found my heart in an extraordinary manner warmed with love to God And my Soul did follow very hard after him to be made more holy and for Grace to serve him better than ever yet I had done I had very lively affections in the duty in which I received much joy and had sweet communion with God in it After I had at the Table of the Lord given to the Poor I came from the Sacrament with my heart in a sweet grateful and Heavenly Frame and then in private blessed God for that blessed Feast and begged strength to keep my promises I had made to God of new obedience In the Afternoon I heard again the same person upon the same Text I was in an attentive serious frame at that good Sermon The Subject of which was to shew that Christ was the only way for poor penitent sinners to come unto the Father I meditated upon the Sermons and prayed them over And had also meditations of the Joys of Heaven with the thoughts of being for ever freed from sin and of being ever with the Lord where I should enjoy him in his fullest love I found my heart much revived and my Soul did then make strong Sallies and Egresses after that blessed Rest After Family Duties were over at which I prayed with fervency I did before going to Bed commit my self to God O Lord I do from my Soul bless thee for this sweet day in which thou wert pleased to vouchsafe unto me thy most unworthy Servant more Soul-joy than thou didst give me for a long time before She was a very ferious and artentive hearer of the Word and constantly after Sermon recollected what she heard sometimes by writing always by thinking and calling it to mind that she might make it her own and turn it into practice not content to be a forgetful fruitless hearer only but a doer that she might be blessed in her deed And such she was for the external performances of Religion And though this was beautiful and lovely yet her chief glory was within in the hidden man of the heart in that which is not corruptible in that dress of Graces which adorned her Soul this string was all of Orient Pearls and evenly matched not one ill watered or of unequal size There was not one dryed or withered Limb one member wanting or defective in the new creature she was complete in Christ all of a piece The Head of her Knowledge was comprehensive and clear The Eye of her Faith was piercing and steddy The Ear of her obedience was open and light of hearing and boared at the door posts of wisdoms house Her Palate was savory and relishing to which God's Law was sweeter than the honey and the honey-comb and more esteemed than her necessary food The Cheeks of her Modesty were fair and ruddy The Arms of her desires were stretched out after God and flexible to embrace him The Hands of her Justice and Charity were strong and open The Breasts of her Bounty were well-fashioned and full of milk and the Bowels of her compassion were tender and fruitful Her hunger and

they more mis-interpreting her civility than she did the others sanctity 2. For her Defect of Anger which implies if it be faulty want of zeal against sin and sinners and so 't is an unjust charge for though I confess she could not rage and storm and discover her anger as some persons do who verifie the saying Ira furor brevis Anger is a kind of madness for her sedate composed serene mind and sweet and amicable disposition was scarce forcible to what was so contrary to her nature yet would she make deeper impressions of her displeasure for great faults than those who appeared most furious like a still soaking shower which will wet more than a driving storm And therefore 't was observ'd that if any servant had been faulty they had rather have passed the Gantlet thrice of their Lord 's most furious expressions than have once been sent for to their Lady's Closet whose treatment was soft words but hard arguments against their faults and like that silent lightning which without the noise of Thunder melts the Blade and sindgeth not the Scabbard neither the frightful hissing nor the venom'd sting but the penetrating oil of Scorpions This little is enough to extenuate her almost commendable faults and 't is a great evidence of her goodness that these things were imputed as Blemishes for they who would not spare her in these little errors shewed plainly that she was not chargeable with more or greater I am now arrived at the last Stage of this Mournful Journey to give an account of her surprising and never enough lamented death What presages she might have of its near approach she never discovered but her preparations for it had been long habitual it was one of the most constant subjects of her thinking and she used to call her walking to meditate of it her going to take a turn with death and it could never surprise or take her unprepared who was always preparing for it Yet there are some passages worthy of our remarks of the watchful kindness of Divine Providence over his own allarming them to trim their Lamps as the wise Virgins did against the coming of the Bridegroom and allowing them fit opportunities to do it as he signally did to her I shall on this consideration very seasonably add another Transcript out of her Ladyships Diary which contains an account of the last Sunday of her health being written but the very day before she was taken ill and in which God did it seems in a most remarkable manner impress the thoughts of her approaching dissolution on her Soul though there were no visible symptoms of it then upon her Body March 24. Sunday AS soon as I awaked I blessed God then I meditated and endeavoured by thinking of some of the great mercies of my life to stir up my heart to return Glory to God And those thoughts had this effect upon me to melt my heart much by God's love and to warm it with love to him Then I prayed and I was enabled in that duty to pour out my Soul to God and my heart was in it carried out to praise God and I was large in recounting of many of God's special mercies to me And whilst I was doing so I found God mighty upon my spirit and my heart in a much more than ordinary manner carried out to admire God for his goodness and to love him And I found his love make great impressions in my Breast And melting me into an unusual plenty of tears Those mercies which in an especial manner I was grateful for were the Creation and Redemption of the World and for the Gospel and the Sacraments and for free Grace and the Covenant of Grace and for the excellent means of it I had enjoyed and for the great patience God hath exercised towards me before and since my Conversion And for checks of Conscience when I had sinned and for repentance when I had done so And for a sanctified affliction and supports under it And for so large a portion of worldly Blessings After I had begged a Blessing upon the publick Ordinances I went to hear Mr. Woodroof his Text was Pass the time of your sojourning here in fear Then after a summary account of the Sermon follows In the Afternoon I heard again the same Person upon the same Text. And then follows a concise and methodical recapitulation of that Sermon also And after that I was in a serious and affected frame at both the Sermons and was by them convinced of the excellency of fearing God and of spending of the remainder of the term of my life in his service And did resolve to endeavour to spend the remaining part of my time better At both his Prayers I prayed with fervency afterwards I retired and meditated upon the Sermons and prayed them over And I had also this Evening large Meditations of Death and of Eternity which thoughts had this effect upon me to make me in an extraordinary awakened frame in which the things of another life were much realized to me and did make very deep impressions upon me And my Soul did follow hard after God for Grace to serve him better than ever yet I had done O Lord be pleased to hear my Prayers which did not come out of fained Lips and to hear the voice of my weeping for more holiness and for being more weaned from the world and all things in it After Supper I committed my self to God This was written the very last day of her health Monday Morning in which we see how God realized to her and gave her extraordinary impressions of Death Eternity and the Life to come when he was about to bring her to it for the very next day she began to be ill of that Sickness of which she died Our excellent Lady was far from their humour whose Consciences are so bad and unquiet company that they hate solitude and dare not be alone For she loved and even hugged her retirements as her greatest satisfactions And though when she was called to it she would deny her self and particular inclination as in the Universe Individuals do to obey the laws of universal Nature to comply with a duty of a larger spread as is related of the devout Marquess of Renti in the two years time he spent in repairing the seat of his Ancestors which diversion he cheerfully suffered as a willing mortification being a duty he owed to the Station in which God had placed him So she chearfully sustained the hurry of business which was inevitable to the acquitting her self of the trust reposed in her by her Lords last Will. But never did Bird take Wing when dis-intangled from a Net with greater cheerfulness nor chirp out the pleasures of its unconfined freedom more merrily than she did solace her self when she had escaped the noise and croud of affairs which ruffled and turmoyled her quiet and suspended the enjoyment of her self And when her dearest Sister was in the

understandings that they are in a spiritual sense what Job said he was in another eyes to the blind and are still teaching young Disciples what they who are old have been taught of God and so train them up in the School of Christianity And yet by imparting their knowledge of God know him not the less themselves but many times the more and by informing them of the pleasures of Religion bring them into the holy path which leads to eternal life yet hinder not their own progress toward Heaven O Lord I most humbly beseech thee let this Meditation provoke me more than ever yet I have done to impart to my Fellow Christians especially my Family under my authority what I know of thee that by my declaring how good a God thou art I may bring many others to know thee not only with a general but an experimental knowledge which will make them say as I do That thou art good and dost good O let me by declaring what thou hast done for my Soul cause others to joyn with me in adoring thee for thy greatness and loving thee for thy goodness that so we may magnifie thy name together And I may be instrumental to impart light to others and be made a burning and a shining Light my self MEDITAT IX Vpon the drawing of the Window-curtains to prevent the Suns putting out the Fire AS soon as I perceived that the shining of the Sun into the Room would put out the Fire I instantly drew the Window-curtains to prevent it Which minds me of the necessity there is that God should sometimes when he sees the Fire of Celestial Love in the hearts of his People in danger of being put out by other flames take that away from us which would take us away from him And if he doth it not by death yet to prevent our cooling in our affections doth as it were by some dark providence draw a Curtain between us and what we doat upon O Lord I beseech thee when thou seest the Fire of thy Love in my heart ready to be put out by any thing be so merciful as to draw what obscuring Curtain thou pleasest to hinder it that my love to thy Divine Majesty may be like the Fire upon the Altar that never went out O let it never be extinguish'd by any earthly object But let my love to thee drown and swallow up all creature-loves O blot our every name from my corrupted heart that hinders the deeper engraving of thy name there and remove me from what and whom thou wilt so thou wilt thereby bring me nearer to thy self Oh though I have sparks for Creatures yet let my greatest blaze blaze towards Heaven Amen MEDITAT X. Vpon a person who had great knowledge and very quick but unsanctified parts THis person who is in this very prophane Age celebrated for a great Wit and is very acceptable to all his companions upon that account does yet make so very ill use of those acute parts God hath been pleased to bestow upon him that he improves them only to make jests and to laugh at all that is either serious or sacred endeavouring as much as in him lies to make all Devotion be turn'd into Ridicule and so abuses all the knowledge that God hath bestowed upon him so contrary to the design for which 't was given him of glorifying his great Creator that he only turns it against him to his own final destruction without repentance using it as a Torch to light himself to Hell thereby O Lord I most humbly beseech thee let this Meditation make me chuse to have a little sanctified knowledge rather than the most raised and quick parts unsanctified and help me to improve those parts thou hast bestowed upon me to thy Honour that I may never fight against thee with thy own weapons but may bring some Glory to thee by them O be pleased to give me Light in my Head and Fire in my Heart even that Fire from Heaven by which I may inflame others with true zeal for thy Glory that using those weak parts for thee thou hast vouchsafed to me I may by the little knowledge I have be lighted to the Regions of Bliss whilst otheres with their greater knowledge devoid of Grace go down to utter darkness MEDITAT XI Vpon seeing a Silk-worm spin THis Silk-worm hath for a long time entertained my Eyes with observing how busily it was employed in spinning its curious Threads of Silk and that when it had made it's purse of Silk into which it has confin'd it self if the Looker to it does not wind off what it has spun rather than it will keep that weight of Silk upon its Back it will make a way to get from under it by eating a hole at the top of it and so flings it off Which minds me of those very vain persons that are puffed up with their being adorned with fine Cloaths which is being proud of putting on of that which the Silk-worm puts off This may be useful to caution me against loving and delighting in fine Silks When I do consider that all the finest and best mingled ones that can be put on to adorn me with are all spun by a poor Worm and that to be proud of Fine Cloaths is to be so of that which is the monument of our Sin for if Adam had not sinned we should have had no need of cloathing to have hid our shame And that even Pearls which are by many purchased at so dear a rate that they may adorn themselves with them are but the sickness of the Fish and that Crimson with which crown'd Heads are often cloathed is dyed with the blood of a Fish and that even Gold and Silver for which many persons venture their immortal part is digged out of the entrails of the earth And 't is in the inspired Volume told us that He that loves Silver shall not be satisfied with Silver Nor is all the Gold that is in all the Mines in the whole world worth one immortal Soul O Lord I do most humbly implore that thou wouldst by these considerations of the inconsiderableness that is in all these glittering adornments which poor deluded proud persons look on with eyes of admiration Humble me exceedingly for having in my youth been too guilty of this sin of too much loving and delighting in fine Cloaths being then too much taken up with the adorning of my vile body and too little so with adorning of my better part O Lord make me for the time to come to watch against this sin which did so easily beset me and let me never more lift up my Soul to this tinsel and pagentery vanity but make me study to be like the King's Daughter all glorious within And though thou my God has told us that those that wear gay Apparel are in King's Houses and that in thy inspired Volume the Virtuous Woman is said to have all her Houshold cloathed with scarlet and that her own

this our noble Mary or devoted themselves more unreservedly to God's love and fear and service learning to be good in very good earnest and to encrease and grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ 2. To promote this like the wise man in the Gospel Mat. 7.24 She dug deep to lay her foundations on a rock She made a strict scrutiny into the state of her Soul and weighed the reasons of her choice in the balance of the Sanctuary And with the other Builder in the Gospel sate down and considered with her self what it might cost to finish her spiritual edifice and whether she were furnished to defray that charge And also whether the grounds of her hope were firm and such as would not abuse and shame her and her evidences for Heaven such as would bear the Test and Scripture would approve And this she drew up at large with her own hand judiciously soberly modestly humbly and about twenty years since did me the honour with greatest secrecy to read it to me and obliged me with all freedom and faithfulness to give her my judgment of it which I could not but do with much approbation And this I doubt not remains amongst her many excellent Papers Having thus put her hand to the plough she looked not back but minded Religion as her business indeed and never gave suspicion of trifling in so serious a work 3. Therefore for her practice of it it was her great design to walk worthy of God in all well-pleasing to adorn her professed subjection to the Gospel by a conversation becoming it and to shew forth his virtues and praises who had called her to his marvellous Light First then she was circumspectly careful to abstain from all appearance of evil and in all doubtful cases 't was her rule to take the furest side for she would say I am sure 't will do me no hurt to let them alone Though therefore none were further from censuring others or usurping judgment over their liberties yet for her self she would never allow her self the addition of artificial handsomness used neither paint nor patch and was pleased with a saying of one of her spiritual Friends upon the reading the Book which apologizes for it O Lord I thank thee that thou gavest me not wit enough to write such a Book unless withal thou hadst given me Grace enough not to write it Neither would she play at any Games because beside many other inconveniences she judged them great wasters of precious time of which she was always very thrifty And though she was known to be a woman of good understanding yet were there three things which were too hard for her and she would confess she could not comprehend them First How those who professed to believe an Eternal Estate and it's dependance upon the short inch of time could complain of times lying as a dead commodity on their hands which they were troubled how to drive away Secondly how Christians who would seem devout at Church could laugh at others for being serious out on 't and burlesque the very Bible and turn Religion into Ridicule Thirdly How knowing men could take care of souls and seldom come amongst them never look after them And though in the forenamed particulars she was content only to give example of forbearance yet from the Play-house since the Stage hath taken so great liberty she would openly dehort her Friends with greatest earnestness She very many years since began to keep a Diary and consulted two whom she used to call her Soul-Friends and ever esteemed such her best Friends concerning the best manner of performing it This at first she used to perform every Evening but finding that inconvenient by reason of her Lords long illness which gave her many inevitable diversions and interruptions at that season she changed it into the quiet silent morning always rising early And therein amongst other things recorded the dayly frame of her own heart towards God his signal providences to her self and sometimes towards others his gracious manifestations to her Soul returns of prayer temptations resisted or prevailing or whatever might be useful for caution or encouragement afford her matter of thankfulness or humiliation And by this means she had arrived at such experience that she could conclude at least make strong conjectures of the events of things she spread before the Lord in prayer by the frame of her own heart in the performance of it as I could instance in particulars if it were convenient She used to call Prayer Hearts-ease as she often found it and though her modesty was such and she was so far from a vain affected ostentation of her gifts I cannot name one person with whom she prayed yet can I say she was as well mighty and fervent in prayer as constant and abundant in it for she sometimes using her voice hath been over-heard and her own Lord knowing her hours of prayer once conveyed a grave Minister into a secret place within hearing whom if I should name I suppose would not be denyed to be a competent Judge who much admired her humble fervency for she praying prayed and when she used not an audible voice her sighs and groans would eccho from her Closet at good distance And the very day before she died she was shut up above an hour which she spent in fervent private prayer notwithstanding her indisposition and indeed prayer was her very element in which she lived and actually died and 't was as the vital breath of her Soul and the wing that wafted it immediately to Heaven But if she exceeded her self in any thing as much as she excelled others in most things 't was in meditation this was her Master-piece for she usually walked two hours dayly in the morning to meditate alone in which divine art she was an accomplished Mistress both in set and occasional in the first chusing some select subject which she would press upon her heart with intensest thoughts till she had drawn out all its juice and nourishment and for the second like a spiritual Bee she would suck Honey from all occurrences whole Volumes of which she hath left behind her After this consecrating of the day with reading Scriptures Lectione assidua meditatione diuturna pectus suum Bibliothecam secerat Christi unde hic fervor aisi ex amere Dei unde legis Christi indefessa meditatio nisi ex defiderio ejus qui legem dedit prayer and meditation a short dressing time and ordering her domestick Affairs or reading some good Book spent the remainder of the morning till Chappel-prayers from which she was never absent and at which she was ever reverend and a devout example to her whole Family She was a strict observer of the Lords-day which is truly called the Hedge and Fence of Religion and though some please themselves to call this Judaizing to excuse the liberties they indulge themselves I am sure our Church