even that Sunne whereof it is said unto you that feare the Lord shall the Sunne of righteousnesse arise health shall be under his wings and whereof the proud and wicked shall say The light of righteousnesse hath not shined unto us and the Sunne of understanding rose not upon us Hee shall bee our Summer Now fruits in Winter time appeare not in the root Thou observest how dry Trees are in winter He that knows not the observation of these things prunes the dry Vine before the fruit come and perchance next Spring it becomes so dry as it brings forth neither flower nor fruit when it should come Both these are alike in winter this liveth that is dead But the life of this and the death of that are both in secret The Summer approacheth life appeareth in this death is discovered in that Beauty of leaves precedeth plenty of fruit succeedeth the Vine is attired with that beauty in her leafe which she retains in her root Therefore my Brethren we are now while we are here in our condition like other men Like as they are borne eat drinke live and are cloathed and so passe over their life even so the Saints Sometimes doe these things deceive men whence it is they say Behold since this man became a Christian did his head never ake Or now being a Christian enjoyes hee more than I doe O dry Vine Thou observest the Vine planted neere thee how naked it is in winter but never how dry it is by heat of summer The Lord our beauty will come who lay hid in the root and then will He exalt the horne of his people after this our captivity wherin we mortally live Whence it is that the Apostle saith Iudge nothing before the time untill the Lord come who will lighten things that are hid in darknesse and then shall everie man have praise of God But thou wilt say where is any root where is any fruit If thou beleevest thou knowest where thy root is For there it is where thy Faith is where thy Hope and Charity is Heare the Apostle for yee are dead They appeared as it were dead in winter Heare how they live And your life is hid saith he with Christ in God Behold where thou hast thy root When then shalt thou bee adorned with beauty When shalt thou be multiplied in fruit Heare what followeth When Christ which is our life shall appeare then shall yee also appeare with him in glory THE Soules Jubilee Gathered from Saint Augustine in his Tract Upon the 85. Psalme Upon these words Rejoyce the Soule of thy servant for unto thee ô Lord doe I lift up my Soule For thou Lord art good and mercifull of great kindnesse unto all them that call upon thee REjoyce the Soule of thy Servant Rejoyce her because unto thee do I raise her She was in earth and in earth shee felt bitternesse Now lest she should pine away through bitternes and so lose all thy gracious sweetnesse I have raised her up unto thee Rejoyce her with thee For thou onely art joyfulnesse the World is full of bitternesse Surely very rightly doth he exhort his members that they have their hearts on high Let them then heare it doe it let them lift that up unto heaven which is in an evill state while it is upon Earth For there the heart doth not corrupt if it be lifted up unto God If you have corne in low places lest it should corrupt you remove it higher doe you then seeke to prepare a place for your corne and will you suffer your heart to corrupt on Earth you remove your corne to an higher room lift up your heart unto heaven But how may I doe this will you say What Cords what Pulleis what Ladders are needfull These staires are thy affections thy way is thy will By loving thou ascendest by neglecting thou descendest Standing on Earth thou art in Heaven if thou love God For the heart is not lifted as the body is raised The body that it may be raised changeth her place but the heart that it may be roused changeth her will For unto thee O Lord doe I lift up my soule for thou Lord art good and mercifull therefore rejoyce her As one wearied and tediously affected with the bitternesse of earthly things shee desires to bee sweetned and hath sought the fountaine of sweetnesse but could not find it on earth For what way soever she turned herselfe she found scandals tribulations feares tentations In what man living safe security Of whom certaine joy And if not of himselfe how much lesse from another For either men are evill and of necessity wee must suffer them yet hoping withall that they may be changed or they are good and so wee ought to love them yet fearing withall lest they become evill because they may be changed There the wickednesse of those begetteth bitternesse of soule here care and feare equally surprize us lest hee fall away from us who walked sometime uprightly among us What way soever then the heart shall turne her she findes bitternesse in earthly things shee has not wherewithall to sweeten her unlesse shee lift her selfe up unto God her Maker For thou Lord art good and mercifull What is this mercifull Thou supportest mee till thou perfectest me For truly my Brethren I will speak as a man unto men and of men Let every one bring hither his heart and behold himselfe without flattering and without glozing Nothing is foolisher than flattering seducing ones self Let every one then consider and see what and how many things are acted in mans heart and how for most part our very praiers are hindred by various thoughts so as our hearts will scarcely stand firme before God It desires so to enjoy it selfe that it may stand and in some sort it flyes from it selfe yet for all this it findes no lettices by which it may confine her thoughts or barres by which it may restraine her distractions and wandring motions and stand joyfully before her God Rare it is that a prayer should occurre devoutly fixt amongst so many prayers Now every one would say that what befalleth him befalleth not another unlesse we found in the Sacred Scripture of God that David in one place prayed and said O Lord I have found my heart that I may pray unto thee Hee said hee had found his heart as if it used sometimes to fly from him and he to pursue it as a fugitive and could not lay hold on it and to cry unto the Lord My heart hath forsaken me Therefore Brethren considering what hee here saith Thou art good and mercifull I conceive that for this cause he cals him a mercifull God for that hee suffereth these things in us and yet expecteth prayer from us that hee might perfect his good work in us And when we have given it him by offering our oblation of prayer unto him hee receiveth it freely and heareth it friendly
very Wind h 'as as great a share in them as shee h'as Nor did they deserve so much loving when they were in their very height of enjoying Being such as were got with Care kept with Feare and lost with Griefe proper things to dote on The fulnesse of them could not stay one poore Fit of an Ague nor get a reprive at Deaths hand for a minute Besides that long unwilling Adieu of the unhappie possessour at his heavie departure O Death how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that liveth at rest in his possessions Seeing then no outward thing should so much delight man as to withdraw his thoughts from the Maker of man Or so trouble him in his passage or translation from Earth as to divert his affections from heaven in his remove from Earth Seeing all things are not onely vanity but affliction where such as are highliest possest of them are most ensnared and deluded by them Seeing the beauty riches pleasures and contentments of earth are no sooner appearing than vanishing no sooner found than lost Why doest thou tremble O my flesh why are thou so troubled O my Soule and why art thou so disquieted within mee put thy trust in the Lord and hee will deliver thee Yea but I heare thee in a silent secrecy framing this reply These worldly respects are not the things that make Death appeare so terrible unto mee Noe I can freely bid farewell to the world there is nothing in it that makes mee enamour'd of it I see nought at all in it but sinne or occasions of sinne Neither did I ever possesse ought which did not afflict mee more in the forgoing than it delighted mee in the enjoying Tell me then poore fearfull soule what is it that so much troubles thee in this thy passage What is it that makes thee so shake and shudder in this thy dissolution O my sinnes my sinnes it is the remembrance of my sinnes which makes mee unwilling to depart from this place where I committed them or to fix mine eyes on that place which is so pure as it cannot abide them I cannot thinke of that place wherein I have not sinned nor of that houre wherein I have not highly transgressed And can one minutes repentance discharge such long arrerages O my perplexed soule remember to thy comfort that divine Cordiall At what time soever a Sinner repenteth c. As I live I would not the death of a sinner c. My mercie I will not take from him There is mercie with the Lord and therefore is hee feared Hee shall call upon mee and I will dedeliver him in the time of his necessitie Draw yet nearer and thinke of the saying of that sweet Father O humble teare thine is the Kingdome thine is the Power thou art not affraid to enter in and appeare before the presence of the Judge thou though thou enter alone shalt never returne alone whatsoever thou askest thou shalt have thou overcommest the invincible and bindest the Omnipotent This Angelicall Wine will bring thee to the societie of the Angels Doubt not stagger not Raise and rouse up thy selfe with the wings of faith Whence comes it that the Soule dyeth because Faith is not in it Whence that the bodie dyeth Because a Soule is not in it Therefore the Soule of thy Soule is Faith No evill then can befall thee so thy faith doe not faile thee Where watry eyes make faith their Anchor they promise a calme Sea and a safe arrivall to the Christian passenger And though late repentance be seldome true yet true repentance never comes too late That devout and well-prepared Father when hee was readie to die with much sweet assurance and Christian confidence spake thus to Stillico and others about his bed I have not lived so among you that I am ashamed to live longer to please God and yet againe I am not affraid to dye because wee have a good LORD Though thou canst not in thine owne approvement so truly say this crowne thy passage with a devout wish Desire to bee dissolved and to bee with Christ Present him with a pious devotion to thy inward'st thoughts Imagining him even now bowing his precious head to kisse thee spreading his gracious armes to imbrace thee his Angels comming forth to meet thee the whole Hoast of Heaven to conduct thee to the Palace of Eternitie after this thy approaching dissolution from this vale of misery Let nothing divide thee from that love which is in thee to Christ Iesus One Houre in his Courts is better than a thousand in the Courts of Princes Humbly commend thy selfe to his protection who made thee to his affection who redeemed thee to his direction who sanctifi'd thee Feare it not timorous soule but thy Fathers power will defend thee his Sonnes Wisedome will enrich thee the Holy Spirits goodnesse will comfort thee even in these pangs of death which assaile thee Oh how sweet is the remembrance of these things to mee There is nothing now that may divide mee from Him to whom I am spiritually espoused There is no Friend so deare to mee as Hee who gave his life for mee No Honour so highly valued of mee as his who became a reproach for mee that by his owne dishonour hee might honour mee No pleasure so delightfull as his presence whose sight shall ever cheere mee No possession like his fruition who is my portion in the Land of the Living to whom to bee joyned shall ever joy mee Every minute then seemes grievous every moment tedious till I bee dissolved that I may see him after whom I have so longed to whom to bee united I have so thirsted in whose sweet presence to remaine in whose Courts to abide I have so desired These pangs I feele are to mee cheerefull these Messengers of my approaching dissolution to mee gratefull these humane wrastlings which I now endure to mee delightfull I know well I am such metall as I must bee tried before I bee fined O! as I draw by little and little nearer my end so may I in true love draw nearer to thee To thee my Redeemer in whom my trust is placed my confidence planted my hopes crowned my Pilgrim-dayes happily closed my heritage after these dayes of my Pilgrimage possessed I feele now my longing Soule fleeting from this darke Cell this noysome shell of corruption every gaspe now promiseth a dissolution My breath is corrupt my dayes are cut off and the Grave is readie for mee I enter'd this world with a Shrique and I leave it with a Sigh Nor doe I sigh for that I love it or am unwilling to leave it but for that I have beene too long divided by living in it from Him in whom my desires are here fixed there filled The houre is come and it is welcome the houre of my translation to glory Come LORD JESUS come quickely Amen FINIS Errata's PAge 102. line 7. for He reade They. p. 116. l. 8. for
it in your Businesse love it in your Wives love it in your Children love it in your Servants love it in your Friends love it in your Enemies This is that peace which Heretiques have not Now what doth peace here amidst the uncertainties of this Region in this Pilgrimage of our mortality where as yet no one is transparent to another none seeth the heart of another what doth peace It judgeth not of things uncertaine it confirmes not things unknowne It is apter to conceit well of man than evilly to suspect him It grieves her not much to have erred in conceiving a good opinion of him that was ill-affected But dangerous it is to conceit ill of him who perchance is good not knowing how hee is disposed whom we so rashly judged What doe I lose if I beleeve such an one is good If it be uncertaine whether he be evill albeit you are to be cautelous whether this be so yet are you not to condemne him as if it were so this Peace commandeth Seeke peace and ensue it Heresie what doth it teach It condemnes those it knowes not it condemnes the whole World We do now desire that peace which we have here in hope For as yet what peace is there in us The flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh Where is there full peace in any one man when shall it be full in any one man Even then when it shall be full in all the citizens of Hierusalem When shall there be full peace When this corruptible hath put on incorruption and this mortall hath put on immortality then shall there be full peace then firme peace Nothing then contesteth against the soule in man shee is not against her selfe nor in any part wounded there is no frailty of the flesh no corporall want no hunger no thirst no heat no cold no wearinesse no want no provoking to wrath nor surely any cautelous care of avoyding a foe or affecting a friend All these things my Brethren fight against us wee have not yet full and perfect peace In that ye have cryed who even now hearing the name of peace out of your desire to peace have cryed this cry of yours proceeded from thirst not from fulnesse THe same Father Augustine a glorious Light of the Church a constant Champion for the truth and a powerfull evincer of all such Errors as opposed the Truth in his love to peace composed likewise this sweet Meditation to beget in every devout heart the like affection Gathered out of his Tract upon the 36. Psal. Upon these words Meeke men shall possesse the Earth and shall have their delight in the multitude of peace Ver. 23. Upon which with a passionate devotion an affectionate passion hee analiseth thus This Earth whereof we have so often spoken is holy Hierusalem The Meeke shall be delivered from this their pilgrimage and shall live for ever with God and of God Therefore shall they possesse the Earth for an inheritance And what shall their riches be They shall be delighted in the multitude of peace For the wicked hee may be delighted in the multitude of Gold in the multitude of Silver in the multitude of Servants lastly in the multitude and store of Wealth of delicious Wines sumptuous and luxurious Feasts But admit hee should be alwayes stored alwayes in these suted were not his case to be lamented But what shall be thy riches what shall bee thy dainties Multitude of peace Thy Gold shall bee peace thy Silver peace thy Farmes peace thy Life peace thy God peace Whatsoever thou desirest shall be to thee peace That which is here Gold cannot be unto thee Silver That which is Wine cannot bee unto thee Bread That which is unto thee Light cannot be drinke whereas thy God shall bee to thee all things Thou shalt eat him and never hunger Drinke him and never thirst Be enlightned by him and never become blind Bee supported by him and never faile Hee wholly shall possesse thee wholly and entirely Thou shalt suffer there no extremities for another have him with whom thou shalt possesse all enjoy all and hee enjoy thee all who is all in all because thou and hee who is joyned in societie with thee shall be one Which one God himself shall wholly enjoy in you who shall possesse you This is the end of a man that loveth peace ☞ Summa â—hilosophia Crucis Scientia ☜ Christi vita Christiani Philosophia Christian Philosophy A Meditation culled out of S. Augustine in his Tract upon the 148. Psalme upon these words His praise is above the earth and the heavens for he hath exalted the horne of his people Ver. 13. WHat is his Praise in Heaven and in Earth Is it because he praiseth No But because all things praise him all things cry unto to him the beauty of all things is in some sort the voyce of those which praise the Lord. The Heaven cryeth to the Lord Thou hast made me not I my selfe The Earth cryeth Thou hast fashioned me not I my selfe How then doe these cry When thou considâ—rest these and findest this in these out of thy consideration they cry out of thy voyce they cry His praise is in Heaven and in Earth Consider the Heaven it is beautifull consider the Earth it is beautifull both of them are together very beautifull It is he that made them he that guides them it is his command that governs them It is hee that alters times supplies moments Even Hee of himselfe supplies them All things therefore doe praise him whether they be in station or motion whether they be from Earth below or from Heaven above whether they be in declining or renewing When thou seest these and rejoycest in these and art lifted up in Contemplation to Him that made these and considerest how these invisible things of his are understood by these which are made then is His praise in Heaven and in Earth that is thou praisest him for things earthly thou praisest him for things heavenly And because Hee made all things and that there is nothing better than Him whatsoever He made is below Him and whatsoever seemes pleasing in these is lesse pleasing than Hee is Let nothing then so much please thee in these which he hath made as He himselfe by whom they were made But if so thou love this which He hath made thou art much more to love Him by whom they were made If these be so beautifull which He hath made much more beautifull is Hee by whom they were made His praise is in Heaven and in Earth and he shall exalt the horne of his people Now in this Vale of teares and field of tares is the Horne of his people humbled in threshings tribulations temptations beating of brests When shall the Horne of his people be exalted When the Lord himselfe shall come and our Sun shall arise not this which is seene with our eyes and ariseth on the good and evill but
Amen Of the presence of the Conscience in every place Gathered out of Saint Bernards Meditations Cap. XIII I Cannot conceale my sinnes because whither soever I goe my Conscience is with mee carrying with her whatsoever I have laid up in her bee it good or evill Shee keepes for mee living shee renders to mee dying whatsoever shee hath received from mee to bee laid up in her or kept by her If I doe well shee is present or if I seeme to doe well and thence become proud shee is present likewise Shee is present with mee living shee followes mee dying every where is there inseparable confusion for mee according to the quality of that which is laid up in my Conscience by me Thus thus in mine owne house and from mine owne family have I accusers witnesses Judges and tormentors My Conscience doth accuse mee my memory is a witnesse against mee Reason is my Judge Will my Prison Feare my Tormentor delight my torment For so many as there have beene of evill delights so many there shall bee of sharpe and painfull torments for thence are wee punished whence wee are delighted A consideration right pithy profitable and proper to inforce in us a more serious Meditation of the former WHither then wilt thou fly O miserable soule or where wilt thou make thy retire Neither to the East nor to the West nor to the desart Mountaines Fly thou maist but escape thou canst not Woe is mee what a day of terror will that bee when thou shalt finde no place to secure thee no friend to speake for thee no meanes to reprive thee all to reprove thee none to relieve thee When Adam must bee brought from his bushes and Sarah from behind the doore and man shall say to his Conscience â—s Ahab said to Elias Hast thou found mee O mine Enemyâ— Poore guilty soule though â—hou shouldst fly from the Field to the City from the â—ity to thy House from thy House to thy Chamber yet wouldst thou finde no rest For there even there where â—he wals inclose thee privacie seemes to secure thee the Curtaines of the Night to obscure thee yet there will thy surcharged Conscience accuse thee thy Memory witnesse against thee the rule of Reason judge thee thy Will imprison thee Feare torture thee Delight torment thee Miserable Creature where pleasure becomes a torture delight a torment Alas if thou hadst none without thee to hunt thee thou hast one within thee will haunt thee afflict thee affright thee though none should pursue thee The wicked flee when none pursueth O cast thine eye upon thy selfe and see if thou bee not one of this number What hast thou done during thy wayâ—aring in this vale of misery that might deserve the least drop of Gods mercy What sinnefull motion hast thou not admitted what sensuall action not committed what spirituall direction not omitted Behold thy state in sin conceived by sinne deceived and into Satans family received Thou hast surâ—eted in the delights of sinne and estranged thy thoughts from the joyes of Sion Thou hadst rather enjoy the pleasures of sinne for a season and to the slavery of sense subject the Principality of reason than by contempt of Earth lay thee a sure foundation in heaven Miserable soule what will become of thee when these earthly joyes shall bee taken from thee when these time-suting friends which seeme to love thee shall leave thee and by reason of that corrupt shell wherein thou sojournest shall loath thee When left to thy selfe and through anguish of spirit well neare bereft thy selfe thou shâ—lt call for comfort but none will come neare thee for one of thy many friâ—nds but none will heare thee for one minutes rest but none will ease thee for the least hope of comfort but none will cheere thee Where canst thou looke and not finde new objects of grieâ—e If to Heaven see how thy sinnes have incensed it if to Earth see how thy example hath defil'd it if to Hell see how thy sinnes purchase hath deserved it What hast thou to plead for thee What succour what shelter to secure thee Alas now thou art to bee presented before a Judge who is upright and will not bee bribed who is all-seeing and will not bee blinded who is equally minded and will not be bended Forged oathes cannot delude him personall respect deprave him hireling Advocates by perswasion draw him or powerfull Potentates by countenance ore-awe him The Judges of the Earth shall bee judged by him and the Kings of the Earth shall tremble before him O what will become of thee sinne-soiled soule in these straits of extremity these intricate mazes of misery Poore thou art and who will enrich thee naked of good workes and who will cloath thee Hungring after this world which cannot feed thee thirsting after honours which cannot fill thee O how long hast thou preferred the prodigals huskes of vanity before the delitious viands of eternity How long hast thou turned in thy bed like a doore on the hinges promising thy selfe security when nothing was farther from thee O reflect upon thy misery and implore gods mercy Even that God in whose sight the very Heavens are uncleane such is his purity That God which came not to call the righteous but the sinner to repentance such is his piety Art thou sick Yea sin-sick soule-sick Teares are the best Electuary to cure this desperate malady The penitents brine is the Angeâ—s wine When Sinners weepe Angels rejoyce for right well they know that they which Sow in teares shall reape in joy Bee a Turtle then in thine heart passionatly throbbing a Pelicane in thy brest compassionately piercing an Hart in thine eyes incessantly weeping a Swan in thy voyce deaths Elegy singing a Philomel in thy note for thy lost chastity â—ighing a Crane in thy life circumspectly watching O shut yea speedily shut I say thine eyes from vanity that the Objects of Heaven may onely delight thee shut thine eares from levity that the subject of vertue may invite thee shut all thy senses from the deluding motives of sensuality that reason may bee thy guide the love of God thy goad Heaven thy goale peace of conscience thy crowne of glory Shut the doore of thine inner Chamber and there poure out thine heart to Gods honour where reposing and from the world retyring thou maist thus invoke him thus invite him Let nothing bee unto mee I beseech thee pleasant without thee nothing sweet nothing specious nothing appeare unto mee without thee precious Let all things appeare vile unto mee without thee Whatsoever is contrary to thee let it bee displeasing to mee and let thy good-will and pleasure be my indeficient desire and endevour Let it irke mee to rejoyce without thee let it delight mee to rejoyce with thee and weep with thee O good JESU if it bee so sweet to weep for thee how sweet is it to rejoyce for thee Thus to meditate is to recreaâ—e
man is composed and compacted by so much more difficulty and violently is he dissolved hence it appeareth that the separation of my body and soule was more painfull than the death of others Also my blessed flesh by how much more it was freer from all spot or blemish of sin by so much also it became more sensible of torments Now concerning my Spirituall martyrdome which I suffered in my Soule as I said before unto thee it began at such time as I was first conceived in the wombe of my mother or that my Soule was infused into my body and continued without intermission 33. yeeres and a halfe till such time as my Soule was separated from my body upon the Crosse. So as I became a Martyr even in the Wombe of my Mother Wherfore I was not so much as one moment without the most bitter martyrdome of my Spirit Because whatsoever I suffered in the Night when I was taken or the Day following when I was slaine in mocking reviling spitting nayling and stretching upon the Crosse c. This throughly and wholly my most holy Soule long before suffered But thou art especially to consider that those dolorous piercing darts of the Virgin my blessed mother became the excessivest Object of my sorrowes who having a tender and respective eye to all my dolours in perfect Charity as became the condition of her motherly excellency so much grieved for my sorrowes as was sitting for such a woman to grieve And all the sorrowes of my Mother continually wounded my mind So as my Mothers Crosse ministred unto mee a new Crosse. Another Object of my continuall sorrow was all those martyrdomes which were at any time done or to bee done upon any of mine Elect for me So as in very truth I say unto thee that all those paines griefes tribulations persecutions and miseries which any man was to suffer or should suffer aswell in body as in soule from Adam even to the very last man that shall bee borne to the end of the World all these I suffered alwayes in my Soule must fully and through my compassion they did more hurt me and more sharply grieve me than any mans corporall paine which hee actually suffereth ever personally did And there are two causes which give sufficient testimony of the truth hereof One is because I in the glasse or mirrour of my Divinity did behold all things created and to bee created things past present and to come which were to me present And I from the very first instant of the infusion of my Soule into my Body began alwayes to observe till such time as I gave up my Ghost upon the Crosse all the paines which I was to endure and whatsoever all my Elect from the beginning of the world had at any time suffered and such as being not yet borne were to suffer even to the end of the world all this I suffered in the inferiour faculties of my Soule And in each of these was I more inwardly and grievously tormented in my Spirit than any one could be in his owne proper body at such time as hee is to suffer tortures or torments Another cause which procured so great paine in my Spirit was abundant love For love begetteth griefe and heavinesse in the spirit So as by how much thy love towards me was more intensive or greater by so much more is thy soule tormented with my Death and Passion And because I have alwaies and above comparison loved thee and every man more than hee can love himselfe therefore have I suffered greater paine than all that which any one hath ever suffered upon earth or was to suffer or shall suffer to the end of the world Thou knowest that when Paul had consented to the death and stoning of Stephen and did persecute Christians I said unto him Saul Why persecutest thou me And yet he persecuted not me in my owne proper person but in the persons of my beloved friends because what good or evill soever befalleth my friends befalleâ—h me And this proceedeth from the great love which I beare unto men Thus therefore maist thou consider how and by what meanes my Passion exceeded in paine the passions of all that ever suffered or shall suffer because I suffered both in my Body and Soule and that immaculate and by nature delicate and for so long time to wit for thirty foure yeeres did I suffer martyrdom in my Spirit both for my selfe and all my Elect. Laurence in one night was broyled on a gridiron Bartholomew in one day was slaine Katherine in one houre was broken on a Wheele c. All these tortures never hurt any one of them so much in their owne bodies as they tormented me in my Soule for thirty foure yeeres Whence Isay Truly he hath suffered for our infirmities and borne our sorrowes And therefore I could never laugh but often weepe appearing as one of forty yeeres when I was scarce thirty Which came to passe by reason of the continuall Justice which I incessantly bore for my Passion that was to come and the suffering of my Elect which I alwaies clearly beheld and painfully suffered by strength of imagination Whereupon I oftimes said unto my Father Many are my grones and my heart is sorrowfull To thee likewise doe I say that thou maist bee moved with compassion and affection towards mee that my life is waxen old with heavinesse and my yeeres with mourning Sinner Surely O my good Jesu as I have heard and understood no conceit can sufficiently apprehend the depth of those anguishes and sorrowes of thy most holy Soule nor griefes and passions of thy Body But a very deepe question doth trouble my mind to wit how heavinesse paine or anguish could befall thy blessed soule seeing it was alwaies in great joy through Contemplation of thy Divinitie which was so amiable to behold that if the damned in Hell could but behold the amiable countenance of God as the blessed Spirits doe in the Kingdome of Heaven they could bee tormented by no griefe nor heavinesse either by the fire of hell or sight of the Devils in hell Christ. It is true that my pure and blessed soule was glorified albeit my Body was mortall For my Soule from the very instant of her conception and ever after even when I was upon the Crosse was as glorious and in as great joy and delight in respect of her superiour faculties as she is at this day in heaven sitting at the right hand of God my Father But in respect of her inferiour faculties she was in a continuall and incessant heavinesse and sorrow for the causes aforesaid Which could not bee by course or order of Nature that in one and the selfe-same soule together and at once there should be so great joy and so great heavinesse for this was miraculous and supernaturall Because according to the course of nature joy and delight doe expell sorrow and griefe so as they cannot suffer together in one and the
sentence the Sonne for the servant was injuriously cast out of his inheritance by the husbandmen of the Vineyard the Law of Moses Therefore thy Apostle saith That Jesus might sanctifie us hee suffered without the gate And well it was that he suffered without that he might bring us back againe to within for we have entrance by his bloud But I beseech thee most loving Jesu from the very inward affection of mine heart by those paines with which as with most sharp arrowes thy most sweet heart was pierced and those of the Virgin thy blessed Mother at the hearing of that sentence of thycondemnation that I may deserve through thy merits to be delivered in the houre of my death and the last day of judgement from thatsharp and terrible word of the sentence of eternall damnation which thou wilt thunder out against the reprobates Depart from me yee cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devill and his angels Christ. Happy is he from whose memory the last judgement never departeth that by the feare thereof hee may preserve his life from naughtinesse and pleasure of the flesh For surely that judgement is highly to be feared wherin all things are made manifest without witnesses where the Hoast of all the Angels and Saints shall stand round about and every creature shall tremble with exceeding feare before my Tribunall seat What will they say then who in this short time have lived negligently and carelesly Meane time I expect you patiently and invite you all to my kingdome lovingly Time will come when I shall require an account of you for this your negligence and shall say unto you For you am I made crooked for you I say am I made crooked upon the earth for you am I scourged for you with spittings defiled for you is my face buffeted for you am I unjustly condemned for you am I crucified for you upon wood am I hanged with gall am I fed and with vinegar quenched that I might make you all Saints eternally crowned I have called you all my Brethren I have offered you to my Father I have sent you my holy Spirit I have promised sed to you Paradise What should I have done more and I have not done it that ye might be saved Tell me ye Sinners What have yee suffered for me your governour who when I was just suffered so great things for your sakes These truly shall bee demands proper for that day of judgement Sinner Alas miserable wretch that I am what shall I say or what shall I doe when I shall not bee able to shew ought that is good before so great a Judge Christ. Amend thy life while time is change thy manners overcome evill temptations by resisting punish sinnes committed by lamenting Let thy sinne find thee here a punisher that thou maist find me there no Judge but a Saviour If thou doest these things faithfully and with constant affiance thou shalt bee secure in the terrible day of vengeance Neither let the greatnesse of thy sinnes terrifie thee for I am much more mercifull than thou art finfull Surely great is thy misery but infinite is my mercy If thou bee asinfull man I am the Lamb of GOD that taketh away the sins of the world who came not to call the just but sinners In a word more mercy and love shalt thou finde in mee than thou darest either hope for or wish for A FAMILIAR Expostulation of the Flesh to GOD the Father â—ouching CHRIST By 〈…〉 Booke enâ—â—â—led Stimulus Amoris Cap. XIV GIve eare how the Flesh lifteth up the Soule against the Spirit contemplatively raised yea even against Christ. For saith the Flesh I preferre my complaint to thee God the Father just and of infinite mercy touching thy Sonne beseeching thee that thy justice would consider the injury done mee and that thy mercy would condescend to my misery This thy Sonne full of knowledge and power hath circumvented me by his wisdome and 〈…〉 violence by his power This thy Sonne by his wisdome cloathing himselfe with flesh became like unto mee and by his too much humilitie and ineffable benignitie craftily entred in upon me He became more humble than all hee became despicable to all hee tooke upon him the necessities of all he bore the infirmities of all he vouchsafed to be most cruelly crucified for all to be afflicted as well with compassion as in his most grievous passion through meere affection to all to expresse the love of his heart by the opening of his side and from thence to derive those Sacraments which gave remedy to all mankinde What should I say more Hee hath ordained his flesh for meat his bloud for drink and promised himselfe for a reward inasmuch as he girded himselfe and being to depart thence ministred to such as eat at thy table By all these meanes and many others which I neither know nor am able to declare hath hee not onely wondrously allured my Soule deputed to the support and comfort of mee but by entring in unto her hath so highly drawne her by his power and so joynd her unto him by his delights as now shee cares not at all for mee but rather afflicts dejects treads downe and vilifies mee and that which seemes grievouser than all things else she loves those that lay this disgrace on me remembring him or them more especially in her prayer who inferre these injuries on me and if none as yet be done mee shee desires that hereafter they may bee done me Thus am I mortified and she cares not Thus lye I grovelling in mud and shee rejoyceth Yea it is the very highest pitch of her desire to see my sorrow with new sorrow multiplied that my sorrow might bee more sensibly conceived This seemes to bee her glorie to bring injuries contumelies and whatsoever is worst upon me Thus leaves shee mee desolate and afflicted meane time it is her desire to remaine still with thy Sonne still to bee fed with his flesh made drunk with his bloud and wheresoever he is to be ever with him Now she appeareth like a small tender infant with him in the manger now she embraceth him in the armes of the blessed Virgin now is she nourished with him with the milke of the Virgin Now she hungers with him now shee thirsts with him now is shee spit upon with him now is shee wounded with him now is shee sorrowfull upon the Crosse with him now with thee in heaven rejoyceth she with him shee is comforted with him wheresoever hee goe shee goes with him shee cannot endure to bee from him shee can intend herselfe to nought without him What shall I say to thee O Father touching thy Sonne who hath made my soule given unto me so drunke with his love and thus estrang'd her from mee If hee hath robb'd mee thou maist command restitution to be made me Neither seemes it to me a small injury thus to deprive me of this precious and inestimable jewell
of my mind For why doth my soule appointed for me only love thy Sonne why doth she thus hate mee why relinquisheth shee all things concerning me Behold how she swallowed up with the incomparable love of thy Sonne walketh as one without sense now there is nought else shee heareth nought else shee thinketh or tasteth nought else shee smelleth being alwaies desirous to rest in his armes There is shee joyed there is she cheered there abundantly delighted there made drunke with too much love is shee lodged Neither is it to be wondred at if this my Soule cleave so constantly to thy Sonne Because unlesse she were harder than stone and more insensible than iron seeing thy Sonne hath done such great things for her she can doe no lesse than this for him Yea where is that stone so hard which would not rend with the heat of so great love yea melt like wax if all these aforesaid benefits should be done it I doe not then complaine to thee O most benigne Father of my Soule for that shee hath done no more than she ought but of thy Sonne who hath so forcibly allured her with the benefits of his mercy and by that meanes left mee in so great misery An Answer of the Father to the Flesh. Cap. XV. ATtend and hearken what answer this most gracious Father makes to the Flesh. Forasmuch as thou art my creature I will shew thee Justice with Mercie Whereas then thou wert ordained to bee the Soules Hand-maid yet hadst ever a desire to play the Mistresse and demeaning thy selfe alwaies inordinatly hast caused her to serve thee and not mee by making her prone unto all evill and which is worse hast subjected her who was made after my image to the bondage of Satan Thou I say who hast made her worse than any brute beast being by thee defiled and abâ—ominably polluted yea above all darknesse blackned and so much altered as I cannot know that noble creature stamped and formed to so glorious a feature Needfull it was then because I loved her so much that was inclosed in thy Flesh that my Sonne should take Flesh upon him that so hee might allure her to his and my love And because the Soule by cleaving to thee her Flesh was become dead it was my will that my Sonne who became Flesh should be slaine for her that she might be quickned Neither was this in my Sonne any circumvention or deceiving but mine and his ineffable vouchsafing And because thou O Flesh hast done evilly ever from thy first infusion but my Sonne hath beene inflamed towards thy Soule with exceeding affection and hath wholly given himselfe up for her redemption therefore my justice exacteth many things especially that I wholly and totally resigne her unto him and that shee abhorre thee more than dung and that she desire that thou maist bee abhorred of all But forasmuch as thou hast be sought not onely my Iustice but Mercy it is my will that thou in some measure bee refreshed with that present sweetnesse which thy Soule feeleth in my Sonne yea more than all this I will hereafter endow thee most nobly and most perfectly and if thou beest truly obedient to thy Soule from henceforth deliver thee from eternall punishment and bring thee to an inheritance gloriously permanent where I live eternally resident A pithy Meditation upon this Expostulation and Answer to inflame the Soule with a devout fervour IS it so O my Soule that shee whom thou hast so daintily cockred with whom thou hast so familiarly conversed and to whom thou hast so easily consented is thy domestick Enemy and by so much more fearfull because domesticall Chastise her whoÌ„ thou hast cherished estrange thee from her with whom thou hast so freely consorted incline not to her to whose advice thou hast so freely condescended It is Ismael that playeth with thee who whilest she playes with thee playes upon thee Looke upon that gracious Shepherd who hath sought thee fix thine eye upon that precious price with which he bought thee The worth of the whole world comes farre short of the worth of that price be it then thine highest honour to advance his praise Let no sinne soile that image which is so richly beautified Let no cloud obscure that light which was so freely bestowed Hee that tooke on him Flesh for thee hee that in his Flesh suffered so much for thee hee that gave himselfe to gaine thee and shew'd himselfe so truly thine to retaine thee Let him solely and wholly have thee Suffer not thy Flesh to converse with thee till she become a true Convert in the practice of piety Better is it for thee by contempt of thy Flesh to augment thine owne honour than by obedience to thy Flesh to procure thy dishonour Short is the Fight but great is the Conquest Recoile not for thou hast him for thy Chiefetaine who hath vanquish'd that foe who to this houre hath given all Chiefetaines the foile Fight valiantly then under his banner embrace all contempts for his honour Erect the eye of thy Faith to Heaven while thou directest thy feet on Earth that after thy well-past pilgrimage on Earth thou maist bee rewarded with a lasting inheritance in Heaven Amen GENERALL Rules of living well The highest pitch of Wisdome's pieâ—y By which man 's taughâ— both how to live die EVery day drawest thou nearer than other to Death Judgement and Eternity Bethinke then with thy selfe every day how thou maist stand in the severe discussion of death and judgment and how thou maist eternally live Thou art to take an exact account of all thy thoughts words and deeds because an exact account is to be given of all thy thoughts words and deeds Thinke every evening that death is that night approaching Thinke every morning that death is that day accoasting Deferre not thy conversion nor the performance of any good action till to morrow because to morrow is uncertaine but death is ever certainly waiting There is nothing that hinders piety more than delay If thou contemne the inward calling of the holy Spirit thou shalt never come to true conversion Doe not defer thy conversion nor the practice of any religious action to thy old age but offer unto God the flower of thy youth Uncertaine is old age to the young but certaine destruction attendeth him that dieth impenitently young There is no Age more fit for the service of God than youth flourishing in abilities both of body and mind For no mans sake oughtst thou to take in hand an evill action for not that man which thou so respectedst but God in whose brest all the treasures of wisdome are stored shall in the end judge thy life Doe not then preferre any mans favour before the honour of thy Maker In the way of the Lord wee either increase or decrease Take examination then of thy life every day whether in the practice of piety thou increasest or decreasest To stand in the way of the Lord is
that it might depart from me And he said unto me my grace is sufficient for thee for my power is made perfect through weaknesse He heard him whom he had disposed to damnation and heard not him whom hee prepared to salvation The sick patient asketh many things of his Physician yet the Physician gives them not hee heares him not after his will but for his health Make God then thy Physician aske of him health and hee will bee thy health not only as outward health but as he himself is all health Love not then any health beside him but as thou hast it in the Psalme Say unto my Soule I am thy Salvation What is it unto thee what hee give thee so he give himselfe unto to thee Now wouldst thou that hee give himselfe unto thee What if that thou wouldst have hee will not give thee that hee may give himselfe unto thee Hee removes impediments from thee that hee may enter in unto thee Brethren observe and consider what God gives here unto Sinners and hence gather what hee keepes in store for his Servants To Sinners that blaspheme him hee gives daily the benefits of Heaven and Earth hee gives fountains fruits health children wealth abundance All these goods things none giveth but God Hee that gives such things to the sinfull what thinkst thou stores hee up for his faithfull Doest thou thinke this of him that hee who gives such things to the evill reserves nothing in store for the good yes truly hee reserves not onely earth but heaven Nay perchance I speake of something too low when I speake of heaven hee reserves himselfe who made Heaven Beautifull is heaven but more beautifull is the Maker of Heaven But saist thou I see Heaven but I see not him Thou hast eyes to see Heaven But thou hast not as yet an heart to see the Maker of Heaven To that end came hee from Heaven to Earth that hee might cleanse thine heart whereby he might bee seene who made Heaven and Earth But freely with patience expect salvation Hee knowes best with what medicines to cure thee Hee knowes best how to cut thee how to seere thee Thou art become sick through sinne hee comes not onely to cheere but to cut and seere Doest thou not see what paine men suffer under the hands of their Physicians who promise unto them an uncertaine hope of life Thou shalt bee cured saies the Physician thou shalt bee cured if I cut thee And this is but the promise of man and promised to man Neither is hee certaine who speakes it nor hee who heares it because hee speakes it unto man who made not man nor perfectly knoweth what may become of man yet gives man credit to these words of man who knowes not what becomes of man hee submits his members unto him hee suffers himselfe to bee bound or sometimes unbound he is cut and seer'd and perchance hee recovers health for a few dayes yet after this short recovery of health hee knows not when hee must dye and perchance hee dyes while he is in cure or perhaps hee cannot bee cured But to whom hath God at any time promised and deceived Iâ—ius Horreo Suâ—â—ma affluentia Cujus cordiâ— Scrinio Sana Conscientia THE Christian Storehouse Rendred from Saint Augustine in his Tract upon the 64. Psalme upon these words Wee shall bee satisfied with the pleasures of thine House even of thine holy Temple WHat are those good things of the house of God Brethren let us suppose to our selves some rich House imagining it to bee stored with all good things how plenteous it may be what store of vessels of gold and silver there may bee how numerous a family what abundance of stock and store in a word how the House it selfe may delight us with pictures and structures of marble arched Roofes curious Columns specious Spaces sumptuous Rooms behold such things are desired but as yet out of the confusion of Babylon Prune all these desires O Citizen of Hierusalem prune all these if thou wilt returne to thine heavenly City let not captivity delight thee But if thou hast already begun to goe out of Babylon doe not looke behind thee doe not loyter in the way There want not yet Enemies to perswade thee to stay still in thy captivity and exile Let not then the speeches of the wicked prevaile with thee Desire the House of God and desire the good things of that house but not such as thou usest to desire either in thine owne House or in thy Neighbours or Patrons House There is goodnesse of another nature in this House What need wee to declare what those good things be of that House Let him expâ—esse them who singeth in his going out of Babylon We shall bee satisfied with the pleasures of thine House What are those pleasures Sometimes perchance wee erected our hearts to gold to silver and other pretious things doe not seeke such these oppresse they doe not refresh Let us here then meditate of those pleasures of Hierusalem those pleasures of the House of the Lord those pleasures of the Temple of the Lord because those pleasures which are of the House of the Lord those are pleasures of the Temple of the Lord. Wee shall bee satisfied with the pleasures of thine House Holy is thy Temple wonderfull in righteousnesse These are the pleasures of that House Hee sayes not thy holy Temple wonderfull in Pillars wonderful in Pictures wonderful in Marbles wonderfull in gilded buildings but wonderfull in righteousnesse Thou hast outward eyes wherewith thou maist see marble structures golden statues but within is the eye wherewith thou maist view the beauty of Righteousnesse within I say is the eye wherewith thou maist view the beauty of Righteousnesse If there bee no beauty in Righteousnesse whence is it that the Righteous old man is loved What may his body present to delight the sight Hee presents crooked lims a rugged forehead an head whitened with hoary haires weaknesse in all parts full of aches and complaints But perchance though this decrepit old man delight not thine eyes hee may delight thine eares With what voyce with what song For though perchance while hee was young hee sung well all those ayres are decayed with age For can the sound of his words possibly delight thine eares seeing he can scarcely pronounce his words through the dropping decay of his teeth Yet if hee bee just if he covet not that which is anothers if hee out of his owne distribute to the necessity of others if he admonish discreetly and understand rightly if hee beleeve sincerely if hee bee ready for the profession of truth to bestow even his decayed lims for many have beene Martyrs when they were old wee are moved to love him But whence is it that wee love him What good thing doe wee see in him with these eyes of our flesh Nothing There is then a certaine beauty of righteousnesse which wee see with the eyes of our heart and which wee
to surprize us As a Plate or Lamell of gold set unto our eyes doth no lesse hinder our sight than a plate of iron so it behoveth us to renounce and remove from our minds all instable mortall creatures be they never so noble if wee will enjoy that most excellent Good which is God In true deniall the whole Summe of Perfection consisteth without which none shall profit what way soever hee turne him Almightie God grant us grace that with incessant endevour wee may perpetually strive to deny mortifie relinquish resigne goe forth of our selves and dis-esteeme our selves Amen TO HIS MOST Deare and affectionate Sisters their faithfull Brother dedicates THIS Passionate Pilgrim AS A living Memoriall of his unfained love never dying MY teares my joyes my widdow-weed my Bride My prize heav'ns praise my love Christ crucifide THE PASSIONATE PILGRIM Breathing A Contemplative Mans Exercise Offering A Penitent Soules Sacrifice THE Contemplative Mans Exercise Or Penitent Soules Sacrifice The wise mans heart is ever fixt on God And with a filiall kisse receives his rod. GOe to now miserable man flye a little thine occupations retire thy selfe for a space from thy tumultuous cogitations Lay aside now thine onerous cares and set apart thy laborious distentions Reserve thy selfe a while for God and rest thy selfe a little in him Enter into the chamber of thy mind shut out all things besides God and those things which helpe thee to seeke him and having shut thy gate seeke him Say now O my heart say now O my Lord I seeke thy countenance thy countenance O Lord doe I seeke Goe to therefore now my Lord God teach mine heart where and how it may seeke thee where and how it may find thee O Lord if thou beest not here where may I seeke thee being absent But being everie where why doe I not see thee present But surely thou inhabitest a light inaccessible But where is that light inaccessible Or how shall I come to that light inaccessible Or who will guide mee and bring mee to it that I may see thee in it Then with what signes with what face shall I seeke thee I have not seene thee O Lord my God I have not knowne thy face What shall hee doe O most high Lord what shall this thy forraine banisht one doe What shall thy servant doe doubtfull of thy love and far casten off from thy face Hee longeth to see thee and thy face is far from him Hee desireth to come unto thee and thine habitation is inaccessible Hee desireth to find thee and knoweth not thy place Hee affecteth to seeke thee and knoweth not thy countenance O Lord thou art my God and thou art my Lord and I never saw thee Thou hast made mee and re-made mee and all those good things which I have hast thou bestowed on mee and I have not yet knowne thee Finally to see thee was I made yet have not I done that for which I was made O miserable condition of man to lose that for which hee was made O hard and harsh chance is this Out alas what ha's hee lost and what ha's hee found What is gone and what abideth Hee hath lost happinesse for which hee was made and hee hath found unhappinesse for which hee was not made That is gone without which nothing is happie and that abideth which of it selfe is nothing but unhappie Man did eat the bread of Angels which now hee tastes not now hee eats the bread of sorrowes which then hee knew not O the publique lamentation of men the universall mourning of the children of Adam Hee flowed in all plenteous manner wee sigh for hunger Hee abounded wee fast Hee happily possest and miserably lost wee unhappily need and miserably beg and alas wee remaine emptie Why did hee not keepe for us when he easily might what we so grievously want Why h'as hee thuâ— shut the light from us and brought darknesse upon us Wretched men whence are wee expulsed and whereto are we forced Yea whither are wee headlong throwne where overwhelmed From our Countrey to exile from the sight of God to our blindnesse From the joy of immortalitie into the bitternesse and horrour of death Miserable exchange from how great good to how great evill Great losse great griefe nothing but griefes But out alas for me unhappy wretch one amongst the rest of the miserable children of Eve divided from God what have I done what have I begun Whither did I goe whereto am I come to what did I aspire in what doe I now sigh I sought for good and behold trouble I went towards God and behold I became an offender against my selfe I sought for rest in my secret paths and I found tribulation and sorrow in my inward parts I would have laughed through the joy of my minde and I was enforced to rore through the griefe of mine heart Joy was expected and behold how sighes were increased How long Lord wilt thou forget us How long wilt thou turn thy face from us When wilt thou look upon us and heare us When wilt thou enlighten our eyes and shew thy face to us When wilt â—hou restore thy selfe to us O Lord look upon us heare us enlighten us Shew thy selfe to us that it may be wel with us without whom it is so ill with us Have mercie on our labours and endevors directed to thee who are able to doe nothing without thee Enlighten us helpe us I beseech thee O Lord let mee not despaire through fainting but respire by hoping I beseech thee O Lord mine heart is made bitter with her desolation Sweeten it with thy consolation I beseech thee O Lord I hungry have begun to seeke thee let me not depart fasting from thee I hunger-starv'd have come unto thee let me not depart unfed from thee I poore come to thee rich I miserable to thee mercifull let me not depart empty and contemned and if before I eat I sigh grant that after my sighs I may eat O Lord I am become crooked and cannot but looke downward raise mee that I may looke upward mine iniquities are gone over mine head they overwhelme me and as an heavie burden presse me Free and disburden mee lest the ditch stop her mouth upon me Let me look upon thy light though a farre off though from the deepe Teach mee to seeke thee and shew thee to mee seeking thee because neither can I seeke thee unlesse thou teach mee nor finde thee unlesse thou show thee Let mee seeke thee by desiring desire thee by seeking finde thee by loving love thee by finding I confesse O Lord and I give thankes because thou hast created in mee this thine Image that being mindfull of thee I might think of thee and love thee But so abolished is this image with the blemishes of vice and so darkned with the smoake of sinne as it cannot doe that for which it was made unlesse thou renue and reforme it I presume not O Lord to pierce thine height for
selfe but a Planet in both Fixt I could not bee till some constant Calling admitted mee I resolved then seeing I found nothing either in Court or Citie but cares Cares in the one of getting to hoord and gather cares in the other of getting to spend and scatter in the one more rinde than pith in the other more pith than rinde This partaking more of Complement that of Substance yet a naturall straine of Insinuation in both but their Objects different The one making a cringe for fashion the other for gaine While the former makes his vowes too familiar with his protests to be beleeved the other sees too deepe a glosse of his commodities with shopoaths to be lik't The one with a low dook of your Servants Servant proclaimes him the Servant of time and no ones servant This I wholly dislik't for I found the title of Servant otherwise applyed by that Divine Vessell of Election that devout Sanctuarie of Sanctification that pure Mirrour of Supreme Contemplation His title was as it was likewise of others of his Fellow-Labourers Paul a servant of Iesus Christ Iames a servant of Iesus Christ Iude a servant of Iesus Christ. With this Complement These began their Epistles A Sainâ—-like Preamble an heavenly Courâ—â—hip Such as all Christians are to imitate The other with his subtill weights and measures reserving ever my best thoughts for the best made mee suspect him that hee sold his commodities by retaile and his conscience by whole sale Upon review of these I say I resolv'd to leave those Cinnamon Trees of the Court with their sweet rindes and those Palmato's of the Citie with their broad shades and to turne honest Countrey-man where my Parents providence had setled a competent estate upon mee Here I lookt to finde nothing but plaine dealing where I found in very deed nothing lesse For upon a more serious perusall of that life with the benefits that rose from it and conditions of those who were borne and bred in it I found a cunning Colt wrapt up in a russet coat Men as apt to catch as if they had beene hatcht in the Harpies nest Such as would not stick to hazard their part and portion in the Tabernacle for a Symoniacall Contract And still I went on to dive into the qualitie of those Ilanders Where I found some pining through want others repining at their neighbours wealth few or none coÌ„tent w th their estate yet none so poore in estate as hee would not though hee spared it from his belly have a fee in store to maintaine a suit Long I had not remained in this fashion till it pleased the Prince to put mee in Commission for administration of Iustice a vertue and a choyce one too yet such an one as by the abuse of man not of time may be compared to the Celedony stone which retaineth her vertue no longer than it is rubbed with gold For my carriage therein I appeale to such as knew mee many imperfections and failings Heaven knowes accompanyed mee which by an humble acknowledgement of mine owne wants an earnest desire of supply by Gods grace became so rectified in mee as what before seemed crooked was by that golden Rule of his divine Will in mee streightned Thus have I passed my dayes traced many wayes where the longer I lived the more I sinned which caused mee to wash my couch with teares and to remember the follies of my Youth Manhood and Age with anguish of heart O how much it now grieves mee to have grieved so much at the sight or thought of gray haires and to have grieved so little at the thought or sight of my sinnes May it then bee my care to call for grace lest I bring my gray haires with lasting sorrow to theiâ— grave O may the remainder of my dayes teach mee to number my dayes that I may goe to him and live with him who is the length of dayes His Death MEMORIALL X. WElcome thou unwelcommest to man because I have in part puâ— off man through his grace by whom I am and who for mee became man to free mee from the curse of the Law due to man O Death how terrible hadst thou been unto mee if hee who dyed for mee had not conquer'd thee And yet many things present themselves before mee which highly perplex mee Sinnes nothing but sinnes muster themselves before mee to affright mee Yea sinnes which I never thought of till now appeare foule and ugly unto mee But I know my Redeemer liveth and that with these eyes I shall see him Though the Furies of Sinne and Satan enter their pleas against mee though my secret Sinnes tell mee that I am the child of disobedience that I have justly incurred Gods heavie wrath and displeasure and that my strange sinnes have deservedly made me a Stranger and Alien to the house of my Father Though my whole course hath beene a continued curse by transgressing his Law who satisfied the Law for me Though I have made every Creature mine Enemie by offending that heavenly Maker who made them and me Though I finde no good thing in mee not one Witnesse within mee to speake for mee Not one day nay not one houre of my life without Sinne to accuse mee Not one poore worke of Charitie so pure and without Vain-glory as to plead for mee Not one Friend amongst all those many who profest themselves mine to appeare for mee Yet have I One who h'as vanquished Death Sinne and Satan One who will Cure my Wounds because I have opened them and Cover my Sinnes because I have discovered them One who will bring mee home to my Fathers house bring forth his best roabe to adorne me put a ring on mine hand to inrich me and bring me to his Great marriage Feast which shall for ever refresh me One who wil turne his Curse into a Blessing and with the sight of his Dearest Selfe satisfie my longing One who as hee made his Angels Ministers for mee on Earth will make them my Companions in Heaven One who though hee could see no good thing in me will of his owne free goodnesse supply mee One who will send his holy Spirit to witnesse for mee and will shew to his Father those Prints of his Love those Skars of his Wounds to speake for mee One who will evince the testimony of Sinne so as though it accuse mee it shall never impeach me One who is all charity and with the eyes of mercy will looke on my misery and in this houre of my necessity will plead for mee One who when all my friends shall leave mee will cleave neare mee and at the houre of my death will so defend mee that mine Enemie may have no power over mee Yet for all this old Acquaintance cannot be so easily parted I feele a trembling in my flesh it is death to her to be divided from her Soule Therefore shee desires still to bee a Cottage though a crazie one for the entertainment of
such a Guest And though every pusse every blast threaten her fall yet hopes shee with a little repairing to hold out still Foolish flesh if thou lov'st that Guest as thou professest why doest thou lodge her under such rotten tarrases For whilest thou keep'st her in that crazie Cottage thou hold'st her from a princely Palace ' Las shee came to thee not to bee a Dweller but a Sojourner Give her leave then to goe home againe for in a strange Land is shee while shee lodges with thee O but I heare thee answer This Stranger if you please to style him so is as loth to part with mee as I with her Is it so poore Soule hast thou wallowed so long in mire or encamped so long in these shades or shrouds of clay as thou beginnest to bee enamoured of them and never remove from them Is it so that thou hast beene such a long stranger in thy owne Countrey as thou hast quite forgot it or carâ—st not much if thou never see it H 'as the life of a Souldier so taken thee or the straying libertie of a Pilgrim so seaz'd upon thee as thou preferrest a wandring life before a setled being in thy Countrey Woe is mee for thee But 'pray thee tell mee what is it that hath so woo'd and wonne thee from thy first Love O I heare thee or that false Idumite which holds thee cry out O must I leave my Friends Honours Pleasures and Possessions Yes thou must leave and lose all Thy Friends and Honours may perchance accompany thee to â—hy Grave but there they will leave thee and for thy Pleasures and Possessions they will not doe thee that graâ—e to attend thee to thy grave â—â—r before thou come there â—hey have vow'd to leave thee These are strong stayesâ—o â—o depend on faire props to rely on firme foundations to build on I see then Languishing Soule what it is that holds thee Thou either griev'st to lose what thou here lovest or feares to feele there what thou for thy sinne deservest O my Soule by this may any one gather that thou hast beene a constant worldling For if thou hadst possessed the things of this life without loving of them thou wouldst easily lose them without grieving for them Seeing whatsoever without love we enjoy without griefe we forgoe But stay a little stay a very little and with patiâ—nce heare mee Be not O bee not so fast glued to Earth that thy thoughts become loosened from Heaven I know well it is thy Flesh which thus disquiets thee It is shee who suggesteth these things to thee Wrastle then with her and give her the foile it is better that shee faile than thou fall Tell her oh tell her For this will charme her Those worldly Friends on whom shee so much relyes can neither deliver themselves nor her from Death They may professe much and vow to intercede for her to any Prince or Potentate breathing while shee is living flesh but dying they will leave her for a prey to her Brothers and Sisters And all their friendly teares will be then dried up Sorrow takes quickly a Surfet in the Funerall of her dearest Friend His poore corps is with earth no sooner covered than their Time-love becomes discovered These be the shadowes wherewith our Flesh-flyes are deluded They may remember us sometimes while wee live on earth but they soone forget us when wee are laid in earth Aske her then will shee be stayd by these friends of which Time makes shadowes or injury profest foes Secondly if Friends have not in them such firme dependence as to promise any assurance hopes shee from Honours to receive any sure footing or continuance No tell her these are of all temporary blessings most various and dangerous Various in respect of the Object from whence shee receives them being man and consequently apt enough upon the least occasion to change his minde And dangerous in respect of those corrivals and privie underminers whose highest taske it is to bring these Favourites into disgrace O how happie had many beene had they never knowne what Honour meant For as it incumber'd them living so it distracted them dying exposing them to many dangers both living and dying Aske her then will shee bee staid by these Honours which can neither privilege her from death nor comfort her at the houre of death nor secure her after death Thirdly if shee bee thus forsaken of all her Honours what can she expect from Pleasures Laâ— These long since left her when Age seaz'd on her and thrice happy shee had shee left them before they left her If there bee pleasure in cramps and aches her weake decrepit limbes retaine stilâ— a memory of them These she h'as constantly to attend her nor vow they to leave her till the cold Earth receive her For now those Ivory-beds Carpets and Laces are but as so many racks and tortures to her when shee remembers them All these have left her in paine and if shee taste pleasure in that may she long enjoy it But thouâ—h those more active pleasures have wholly left her shee sees her Buildings and to leave them and to whom shee knowes not it deepely grieves her Those pleasant walkes which with the helpes both of Art and Nature shee so carefully contrived those shadie delightfull Arbours wherein shee so retiredly and contentedly reposed Those silent Groves christall Springs dainty Refectories wherein shee so delightfully sported bathed banquetted must she lose all these and for a cover of mouldred earth wherein all her beautie lyes buried It must bee so there is no remedie the cold earth must receive her perished beautie Nor should the losse of all these grieve her seeing these were so confined to time as they could promise no constancie to her Yea they deserved rather to bee loathed than loved seeing the Sight of them too often estranged her thoughts from Him that made them Aske her then where bee all those who sometimes enjoyed these pleasures to the full Where those Objects wherein they delighted Looke Reade Their Memories are as Letters written in dust Their glorious Buildings have lost the Names of their founders They sleepe in their earth but that Account sleepeth not which they mnst render for their vanities on earth Fourthly seeing her forepast pleasures have wholly left her but the bitter remembrance of the abuse of them stayes with her the sweetnesse of the one being spent but the bitternesse of the other left what content may shee finde in her Possessions the Worldlings Minions 'Las nothing these are tane from her and bestowed on another Shee is now to goes to her long home and another is to possesse her dwellings Though here shee held passing of time a meere pastime and a large possession the Sole Solace of a Worldling now she findes enough of Earth in a very smal portion of it No matter now whether her Granars be enlarged her Revenues increased her Treasures slored These be none of hers The