and base-born Monster and Spawn of the Devil Vice abounding in all manner of horrible wickedness who for this very reason were destroyed with their Cities by Fire and Brimstone from Heaven yet nevertheless before they were consumed so great a lover is Jehovah of Godliness that he told Abraham if there were but ten righteous persons in that City viz. such who had entertained Godliness and were true lovers of him he would spare the City for their sakes but it appeared there was but one man who shewed him countenance and was in love with him And yet before the City was burned the Angels bid him haste and be gone for Godliness was such a sure defence to him the Angel could do nothing till he was gone forth Sodom could not take Fire whilst righteous Lot was in it I might proceed further and shew you who they were that entertained Godliness in the succeeding Ages for the space of more than two Thousand Years and what great blessings he brought unto them and what they suffered for his sake but I can but give a brief hint or two upon this account 't is known to all what Joseph suffered for him by his envious Brethren and how Godliness advanced him for his Integrity to him at last Moreover the Children of Israel after Joseph was dead were through that love they bore to him grievously oppressed by the mighty King of Egypt but it proved his own utter Ruine in the end David for the love he bare to him was for many Years together greatly persecuted but afterwards Godliness raised him to great honour and made him very ich and sat a Crown upon his Head All along I might shew you in Ancient daies he was very much hated and persecuted nay and some of his true Friends and Favourites were for his sake cast into a fiery Furnace and another into a Lions Den yet they never lost any thing by him nor did they ever repent the Entertainment they gave him If we should come lower into the Times of the Gospel 't is well known what usage he met with in our Lord and Saviour Jesus and his Blessed Apostles afterwards also by the Heathen Emperours he was most abominably hated and persecuted and all those who entertained him were put to all manner of cruel Deaths and Torments imaginable Lastly we might also shew you what hard usage he met with by counterfeit Godliness I mean Papistry for near 1200 Years how many of his dear Children and Servants have for the sake of him been burn'd to Death and otherwaies tormented in most Nations of Europe but let what hath been said suffice touching the Antiquity gray Hairs and usage of True Godliness in former days CHAP. II. Shewing who the chief Enemies of Godliness are HAving given you a brief Account of the Pedigree Original and Antiquity of True Godliness wherein occasionally hath been hinted some of those great Abuses he met withal in Ancient times I judg it may not be amiss before I come to treat of his Travels and Entertainment in these latter daies and how it fares with him at this present juncture to give a Description of some of his chiefest Adversaries to the end the true lover of Godliness may be aware of them and those who have a mind to be accquainted with him and are hindred from receiving him into their Houses may know the Cause and Reason of it now 1. One of the chiefest Enemies of this great Prince and Favourite of Heaven is the Devil nor is there any one that hates him more 2. Sin alias Vice alias Lust 3. The Flesh 4. The World But because this general and common description is not sufficient to discover the great danger Men and Women are in by certain other secret and domestick Enemies who are the cursed Agents and Servants of those grand Adversaries of True Godliness some of which many are ready to entertain as Friends not suspecting the fatal danger they are in thereby I shall upon this therefore give you an account of a few of them and tell you their Names The First I shall begin with is Vnbelief a very dangerous Fellow 2. Pride 3. Vain-glory. 4. Formality 5. Hypocrisie 6. Oppression 7. Heresie 8. Superstition 9. Idolatry alias Papistry 10. Prosperity 11. Persecution 12. Ignorance 13. Blind Zeal 14. Vain Hope 15. Sloth alias Idleness 16. Covetousness 17. Old Custom 18. Evil Example 19. Self-Righteousness 20. Presumption 21. Despair 22. Slavish Fear 23. A Sensual Pleasure And 24. Apostacy with many other of like quality too tedious here to reckon up but by mentioning the Names of these you may easily discern who and what the others are who with their Attendance are all implacable Enemies to True Godliness and as much as lies in them endeavour to hinder his being entertained wheresoever he comes as you will find in the ensuing History of his Travels Now the Reason why True Godliness hath so many Enemies I had thought to have shewed in this place but because I will not hinder you from the main scope and design of this Treatise I shall reserve them for a more convenient place CHAP. III. Shewing how Godliness having received a Commission to Travel and visâ—t the Children of Men comes to a certain Town on the Confines of Babylon where one Riches dwelt and of his usage and evil intreatment there THE Great and Mighty Jehovah the God and Father of true Grace and Godliness out of his great Mercy and Infinite Goodness to Mankind graciously was pleased to send them a Saviour yea a great and mighty Saviour or one able to save to the uttermost all that come to God by him and to the end that they might have the knowledge of this Blessed Saviour he hath sent the Gospel amongst them but in his eternal Wisdom hath so decreed and ordained it that no Man should have any saving benefit by this Glorious Saviour but he who doth receive entertain and kindly embrace True Godliness whensoever he is sent to visit them and to the end therefore that they might not miss of so great a Blessing which Godliness brings along with him I may safely adventure to say according to my present Method and to pursue my Allegorical Discourse Godliness hath received Commission from the King of Heaven and Earth to travel to see who would embrace and entertain him Moreover it appears his Commission was very large he was not limitted to the small Confines of Jury nor to ttravel only in the Land of Canaan but to go into all the World or to travel into all Nations Countries and Kingdoms of the Earth and to visit the Rich and Poor the Old and Young as well the King on the Throne as the Beggar on the Dung-hill even all Bond and Free Male and Female nor was he sent to travel alone but had a very rich and glorious Retinue alwaies with him neither did he come o any man's House empty handed but brought along with him
but they having an implacable hatred against him because they know he is an utter enemy to all Treasons Idolatries Superstitions Murthers Fornications Witch-crafts and all other horrible Crimes and cursed Abominations of their unchast defiled and bloody Mistress in a clandestine way endeavoured to bring True Godliness and many of his Friends and Favourites into Contempt and thereby set all the Inhabitants of the Isle against him which Designs of theirs was managed divers manner of waies and though some of their Stratagems were happily discovered yet some others of them too far prevailed amongst the generality of People who God knows Naturally are adverse to him having as you have heard grievous Enmity in their Hearts against him Now True Godliness perceiving how the Inhabitants of the said Island were Corrupted partly by these Babylonians and partly by other evil Impostors and Seducers whose Errors greatly prevailed and how generally People of all sorts were drawn away by the subtilty of Appollyon and the Pollution and Treachery of their own Hearts to all manner of Vice and Ungodliness he being by this means brought into great Contempt began to be very sad considering what a brave Isle for Grace and Holiness it had formerly been nay and that which added to his Trouble was those great Divisions and Animosities that were amongst those who Professed themselves to be his chiefest Friends together with the consideration of the great Evils and Enormities of their Lives for it was come to such a pass that it was hard to discern the Professor as they were called from the Profane Pride Covetousness want of love and zeal to him abounding wonderfully amongst the generalty of them so that he evidently saw that he was grievously slighted disowned and neglected almost by all sorts whatsoever and that the favour and countenance which most people shewed him was but from the teeth outwards and that they not heartily and cordially love and delight in him Moreover he perceived also that there was a grand Conspiracy carrying on by Apollyon and his Emissaries in many Countryes where he had been formerly countenanced and that the Babylonians were in great hopes to get counterfeit Godliness set up in his stead began to make a grievous lamentation after this manner Godliness's Lamentation HOW shall I express my grief or utter my complaint O the sorrow that seizes on my Soul I that am the noble Off-spring of the universal Monarch of the whole World the true Favourite of Heaven the true interest of all Nations Kingdoms and Common-wealths a fit companion for Princes and all the noble ones of the Earth the only benefactor of all Mortals that continually seeks the good and eternal felicity of their Souls who strives to deliver them from Wrath and Judgment and to stop the destroying Angel from executing vengeance Should this day be thus slighted villified censured and stigmatized and have all manner of cursed and detestable evils and abominations laid to my charge Foâ— First I am charged with Heresie an horrible crime indeed but 't is no other than I was of old times accused with But what is the Heresie What my Doctrine is is shewed in the first chapter of this Book to which I refer the reader but I may say with St. Paul After that way which they call Heresie so I teach men to worship the God of their Fathers and not to believe any thing but what is written in the Old and New Testament Counterfeit Godliness 't is true may be justly charged upon this account whose errors are capital as hath been evinced again and again by many worthy Protestants Secondly I am accused to be a common Disturber a meer Make-bate setting one man against another the Father against the Son and the Son against the Father the Mother-in-law against the Daughter-in-law and the Daughter-in-law against the Mother-in-law dividing Cities Towns and Villages setting Neighbour against Neighbour O how doth this wound my heart Was ever any dealt with as I am Shall such things as these be fathered upon me I do this day protest and declare before God and all the World I am abused and unjustly charged for I am for Peace Unity and Concord and alwayes do teach it I abhor Strife and Contention and every evil work and have endeavoured to bring all men to live in love one with another but if it fall out at any time where I am received that the Father is set against the Son and the Son against the Father or one Neighbour against another 't is not I that am the cause of it but that cursed enemy Pride Vnbelief and Sensuality that is in the hearts of the adverse party they having espoused the interest of Apollyon my grand Enemy and alas it will be so unless I could connive at or bear with those cursed evils which are in the hearts of men But can it be supposed that Virtue should wink at or side with filthy Vice or True Godliness allow of and indulge men in Ungodliness or Truth joyn or close in with Error Alas should I do this I should lose my very being and be no more what I am for as 't is impossible for Light to have fellowship with Darkness or Christ to have concord with Belial so 't is for me to allow of or bear with any of the evil enormities of the children of men should my Children do it they would at that very instant cease to be my Children therefore let all the World bear me witness this day that I clear my self of those foul crimes and calumnies that I am charged with And further to vindicate my self I call in my old friend Saint James pray hear what he hath to say about the horrible charge brought against me St. James pray speak to this great case from whence come that Strife Wars and Contention that is in the World Am I the cause of it James From whence come wars and fighting among men Come they not hence even of their lusts that war in their members Ye lust and have not ye kill and desire to have and cannot obtain c. If you have bitter envyings and strife in your hearts glory not lie not against the truth mark that this wisdom descendeth not from above but is earthly sensual devillish O blessed St. James thou hast cleared me for I True Godliness am the Truth whosoever receives me receives the Truth the Doctrine of Truth and the Truth of Grace But pray St. James go on Where envying and strife is there is confusion and every evil work But the wisdom that is from above is first pure then peaceable gentle easie to be entreated full of mercy and good fruits without wrangling and without hypocrisie It is enough I alwayes teach men and women who embrace me to be holy peaceable gentle and easie to be entreated full of mercy to hate hypocrisie and all the deeds of the flesh Therefore take notice if any who are called by my name or profess love
live as Trees and Plants do and though there was offered him a Cabinet of rich Jewels yet he would not so much as stretch out his Arm to take hold of it and notwithstanding he had many fiery darts stuck in his Breast yet he would not be at the pains of pulling them forth by which means he was in a sad and lamentable condition I remember a very wise man told me that he hides his hand in his bosome and it grieveth him to bring it again to his mouth by the means of these two lazy Felows Sloth and Idleness Ignorance told him he had received True Godliness already and that he had dwelt in his house ever since he was a Child and that Baptism brought him in and that the chief business which God required of him was to get Bead and Clothes for his Family Vnbelief told him that those things which Godliness talked of were meer Fictions being unseen things there was no reallity in them But when he question'd the truth of what Vnbelief spoke upon this account then the Wretch told him however they were things far out of his reach and that he had no part nor lot in them neither could they if it was possible to obtain them answer his present necessities Light-fingers told him he had been for a great while his best Friend and if it had not been for him he had been starved to Death long before now Distrust fell into discourse with his thieving Brother and positively said if he turned Light-fingers out of his House as he knew he must if Godliness came in he would certainly go a begging from door to door Wastful told him that True Godliness if entertained would never suffer him to buy such good pieces of Beef and Mutton c. as he was us'd to do on trust unless he knew he was able to pay for them and that he would not suffer him to go any more to merry Meetings and carowse it amongst good Fellows at the Alehouse nor recreate himself at Cards Bowls Nine-pins and other Sports for Money on Holidays and that he must be content with such mean Clothes and Fare he had got and never lose a days work to gratifie the lusts of the Flesh and that also he must change his Company which particularly was grievous to Poverty to hear Carping-Cares filled his head so full of distracting thoughts that he had no time to think of God Christ nor his own Soul from one weeks end to another but his great study was either to think where to borrow Money and so get more in debt or else how to pay what he ow'd to get out of debt or what he should do for work Trade being grown by the badness of Times very dead by this means Villain fill'd with sad thoughts not knowing how he should get more Bread when that he had was eaten up and more Clothes when they he had would hang on no longer besides it could not go out of his mind but that at one time or other he should be Arested and thrown into a Goal having many times fearfully broke his word Faint-heart and Fear-man presented to him the danger he would be in upon any consideration if True Godliness were entertained For first they told him how contemptible Real Godliness was grown at this present time being of very little credit or esteem amongst any sort and degrees of men in the world by reason of Vice which which was never more rampant insomuch that True Godliness was like to be driven out of the world and forc'd to flye into some hole or corner of the Earth to hide himself Mr. Riches who is the Lord of the Mannor hath beat him away from his door and hateth him with a perfect hatred now if you entertain him he will soon hear of it and so will become your deadly Enemy and pull down your Cottage or warn you out or be sure not let you have a farthing of the Poors Money nor never set you to work any more and what will become then of thy poor Wife and Children Nay said they we will tell you more Do you not hear what cruel Edicts the Prince of the Ancient Gauls Countrey hath made against True Godliness and how many of the Protestant Churches he hath pulled down and utterly demolished and how he is persecuted almost every where Come say they 't is that pleasant and lovely Form of Counterfeit Godliness that will in little time be generally embraced and those who entertain True Godliness must expect to be reproached and basely reviled Moreover do you not hear how many Thousands in France and in other places who have for a long time entertained him have turned him out of doors they are weary of him or afraid to own him and is this a time for you to think of embracing him Poverty said they pity your self and have more wit you are poor enough already and this is the way to make you more miserable If Riches will not entertain him who hath many advantages to relieve and help himself in distressing Times and sad exigencies over what Poverty hath or can promise himself there is no ground of encouragement for you to open to him Upon this poor Poverty resolv'd not to let True Godliness have a Lodging in his House but rather instead thereof to put stronger Bolts and Bars on his Door Godliness having waited all this while to hear what these cursed enemies of his would say and perceiving they had now done he broke silence and began of speak after this manner Godli Well Poverty I expected but little less from you when I perceived you were resolved to hearken to those graceless Villains you lodg in your House for they I hear would do their worst to keep me out but I shall now however to undeceive you answer them all First as to these lazy Companions Sloth and Idleness who will not suffer you to labour for the good neither of Body nor Soul they have in part brought you into this poor and miserable condition you are in Oh how many have they brought to beg their Bread from door to door and stirred up others to rob steal and commit horrible Murders to uphold them in their loose lazy and ungodly lifes by which means they have brought and daily do bring a number of men and women to the Gallows but the greatest mischief they do is to the Souls of men for they have cast thousands into such a deep sleep that never awake until they lift up their eyes in Hell they will not suffer men to labour to find out their great danger till it is too late and others when they do perceive their woeful condition are hindred by them from endeavouring timely and in a right manner to get out they many times cry Lord help us and Lord have mercy upon us but never strive to take hold of the offers and tenders of his Grace and Mercy by cleaving to Christ and