with those that fast that I may eat with those that eat I mourne with those that mourne No hand more open to the Cause then mine and in their families none prayes longer and with louder zeale Thus when the opinion of a holy life hath cryed the goodnesse of my Conscience up my trade can lack no custome my wares can want no price my words can need no credit my actions can lack no praise If I am covetous it is interpreted providence if miserable it is counted temperance if melancholy it is construed godly sorrow if merry it is voted spirituall joy if I bee rich 't is thought the blessing of a godly life if poor supposed the fruit of conscionable dealing if I be well spoken of it is the merit of holy conversation if ill it is the malice of Malignants thus I sail with every winde and have my end in all conditions This Cloake in Summer keepes mee cool in winter warm and hides the nasty Bag of all my secret lusts Under this Cloake I walk in publik fairly with applause and in private sin-securely without offence and officiate wisely without discovery I compasse sea and land to make a Proselyte and no sooner made but hee makes me At a Fast I cry Geneva and at a Feast I cry Rome If I be poor I counterfeit abundance to save my credit if rich I dissemble poverty to save charges I most frequent Schismaticall Lectures which I find most profitable from whence learning to divulge and maintaine new doctrines they maintaine mee in suppers thrice a weeke I use the help of a lie sometimes as a Religious stratagem to uphold the Gospel and I colour oppression with Gods judgement executed upon the wicked Charity I hold an extraordinary duty therefore not ordinarily to be performed What I openly reprove abroad for my own profit that I secretly act at home for my owne pleasure His Woe BUt stay I see a handwriting in my heart damps my soul 't is charactered in these sad words Woe be to you hypocrites Mat. 23. 13. The triumphing of the wicked is short and the joy of the bypocrite is but for a moment Job 20. 5. Job 15. 34. The congregation of the hypocrites shall be desolate Psal. 11. 9. An hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his neighbor but through knowledge shall the just be delivered Luke 12. 1. Beware of the leaven of the Phariscâ—s which is hypocrisie Job 36. 13. The hypocrites in heart heape up wrath they die in their youth and their life is amongst the unclean His Proofes Salvian de Gubern Dei l. 4. The hypocrites love not those thing they professe and what they pretend in words they disclaime in practise their sin is the more damnable because ushered in with pretence of piety having the greater guilt because it obtaines a goodly repute Hieron. Ep. Endeavour rather to be then to beâ— thought holy for what profits iâ— thee to be thought to be what thâ—â— art not and that man doubles hiâ— guilt who is not so holy as the world thinks him and counterfeitâ— that holinesse which he hath not His Soliloquie HOw like a living Sepulcher did I appeare without beautified with gold and rich inventions within nothing but a loathed corruption so long as this fair Sepulcher was clos'd it past for a curious Monument of the Builders Art but being opened by these spirituall Keyes 't is nothing but a Receptaâ—le of offensive putrefaction In what a nasty dungeon hast thou my soule so long remain'd unstifled How wer 't thou wedded to thy owne corruptions that couldst endure thy unsavoury filthinesse The world hated me because I seemed good God hated mee because I onely seemed good I had no friend but my self and this friend was my bosome enemy O my soul is there water enough in Iordan to clense thee Hath Gilead Balme enough to heale thy superannuated sores I have sinned I am convinced I am convicted Gods mercy is above Dimensions when sinners have not sinned beyond repentance art thou my soule truly penitent for thy sin Thou hast free interest in his mercy fall then my soule before his Mercy seat and he will crown thy penitence with his pardon His Prayer O God! before the brightnes of whose All-discerning eye the secrets of my hearts appeare before whose cleare omniscience the very entralls of my soul lie open who art a God of righteousnesse and truth and lovest uprightnesse in the inward parts How can I chuse but feare to thrust into thy glorious presence or move my sinfull lips to call upon that Name which I so often have dishonoured and made a Cloake to hide the basenesse of my close transgressions Lord when I look into the progresse of my filthy life my guilty conscience calls mee to so strict account and reflects to mee so large an Inventory of my presumptuous sins that I commit a greater sinne in thinking them more infinite then thy mercy But Lord thy mercies have no date nor is thy goodnesse circumscribed The gates of thy compassion are alwayes open to a broken heart and promise entertainment to a contrite spirit the burthen of my sinnes is grievous and the remembrance of my hypocrisie is intolerable I have sinned against thy Majesty with a high hand but I repent mee from the bottome of an humble heart As thou hast therefore given mee sorrow for my sinnes so crowne that gift in the freenesse of remission Bee fully reconcil'd to me through the all-sufficient merits of thy Sonne my Saviour and seal in my afflicted heart the full assurance of thy gratious favour Be thou exalted O God above the heavens and let mee praise thee with a single heart cleanse thou my inward parts O God and purifie the closet of my polluted soul fix thou my heart O thou searcher of all secrets and keep my affections wholly to thee Remove from mee all by and base respects that I may serve thee with an upright spirit take not the word of trueth out of my mouth nor give me over to deceitfull lips Give mee an inward reverence of thy Majesty that I might openly confesse thee in the truth of my sincerity Be thou the only object and end of all my actions and let thy honour be my great reward Let not the hopes of filthy lucre or the praise of men incline mee to thee neither let the pleasures of the world nor the feares of any losse entice me from thee Keep from mee those judgements my hypocrisie hath deserved and strengthen my resolution to abhorre my former life Give mee strength O God to serve thee with a perfect heart in the newnesse of life that I may bee dellvered from the old man and the snares of death then shall I praise thee with my entire affections glorifie thy name for ever and eâ—r The Ignorant mans faltering YOu tell mee and you tell me that I must be a good man and serve God and doe his will and so I doe for ought I know
thee not yet let common reason perswade thee to love him above a trifle that loved thee above his life And thou that hast so often denied him denie thy selfe for ever and he will own thee repent and hee 'l pardon thee pray to him and he will heare thee His Prayer O God whose glory is the end of my creation and whose free mercy is the cause of my redemption that gavest thy Sonne thy onely Sonne to die for me who else had perished in the common deluge of thy wrath What shall I render for so great a mercy What thankfulnesse shall I returne â—or so infinite a love Alas the most that I can do is nothing the best that I can present is worse then nothing sinne Lord if I yeeld my body for a sacrifice I offer nothing but a lumpe of filth and loathsome putrefaction or if I give my soul in contribution I yeeld thee nothing but thy Image quite defaced and polluted with my lusts or if I spend the strength of the whole man and with both heart and tongue confesse and magnifie thy Name how can the praises of my sinfull lips that breath from such a sink be pleasing to thee But Lord since thou art pleased in thy well-pleasing Son to accept the poverty of my weak endeavours send downe thy holy Spirit into my heart clense it from the filth of my corruptions and make it fit to praise thee Lord open thou my mouth and my lips shall shew forth thy praise Put a new song into my mouth and I will praise thee and confesse thee all day long I will not hide thy goodnesse in my mouth but will be showing forth thy truth and thy salvation Let thy praises be my honour and let thy goodnesse be the subject of my undaunted Song Let neither reputation wealth nor life be pretious to me in comparison with thee Let not the worlds derision daunt mee nor examples of infirmity deject me Give mee courage and wisedome to stand for thy honour O make mee worthy able and willing to suffer for thy Name Lord teach me to deny my selfe and to resist the motions of my owne corruptions create in mee O God a single heart that I may love the Lord Jesus in sincerity remember not O Lord the sinnes of my feare and pardon the hypocrisie of my self-love Wash me from the staines and guilt of this my hainous offence and deliver me from this fearfull judgement thou hast threatned in thy Word Convince all the Arguments of my unsanctified wit whereby I have become an advocate to my sinne Grant that my life may adorâ—e my profession and make my tongue an instrument of thy glory Assist me O God that I may praise thy goodnesse and declare thy wonders among the children of men Strengthen my faith that it may trust Thee and let my works so shine that men may praise thee That my heart beleeving unto righteousnesse and my tongue confessing to salvation I may be acknowledg'd by thee here and glorified by thee in the Kingdome of glory The Worldly Mans Verdour FOr ought J see the case is even the same with him that prayes and him that does not pray with him that sweares and him that feares an oâ—th I see no difference if any those that they call the wicked have the advantage Their crops are even as faire their flocks as numerous as theirs that weare the ground with their religious knees and fast their bodies to a skelliton nay in the use of blessings which only makes them so they farre exceed they terme me reprobate and stile me unregenerate 'T is true I eate my labours with a jolly heart drinke frolick cups sweeten my paines with time-beguiling sports make the best advantage of my owne pray when I thinke on 't sweare when they urge me hear Sermons at my leasure follow the lusts of my owne eyes and take the pleasure of my own wayes and yet God be thanked my Barnes are furnisht my sheep stand sound my Cattle strong for labour my pastures rich and flourishing my body healthfull and my bags are full whilst they that are so pure and make such conscience of their wayes that run to Sermons figge to Lectures pray thrice a day by the houre hold faith and trâ—th prophane and drinking healths a sinne do often finde leane harvests easie flocks and emptie purses Let them be godly that can live on Aire and Faith and eaten up by Zeale can whine themselves into an Hospiâ—all or blesse their lips with charitable scrapps If godlinesse have this reward to have short meals for long prayers weake estates for strong faiths and good consciences upon such bad conditions let them boast of their pennyworths and let me be wicked still and take my chance as falls Let me have judgement to discover a profitable Farme and wit to take it at an easie Rent and Gold to stock it in a liberall manner and skill to manage it to my best advantage and luck to finde a good encrease and providence to husband wisely what I gaine I seek no further and I wish no more Husbandry and Religion are two severall occupations and look two severall wayes and he is the onely wise man can reconcile them His Withering BUt stay my soule I fear thy reckoning failes thee If thou hast judgement to discover wit to bargaine Gold to employ skill to manage providence to dispose canst thou command the Clouds to drop or if a wet season meet thy Harvest and with open sluces overwhelme thy hopes canst thou let downe the floodgates and stop the watry Flux Canst thou command the Sunne to shine Canst thou forbid the Mildewes or controll the breath of the Malignant East Is not this Gods sole Prerogative And hath not that God said When the workers of iniquity doe flourish it is that they shall bee destroyed for ever Psal. 92. 13. Job 21. 7. Wherefore do the wicked live become old ye are mighty in power 8. Their seed is establisht in their sight and their off-spring before their eyes 9. Their houses are safe from fear neither is the wrath of God upon them 10. Their Bull gendereth and faileth not their Cow calveth and casteth not her Calfe 21. They send forth their little ones like a flock and their children daunce 12. They take the Timbrell and the Harp and rejoyce at the sound of the Organ 13. They spend their dayes in wealth and in a moment they go downe to the Grave His Proofs Nil in Paraenes Wee be to him that pursues empty and fading pleasures because in a short time he fats and pampers himself as a Calf to the slaughter Bernard There is no misery more true and reall then false and counterfeit pleasure Hierom. It 's not onely difficult but impossible to have heaven here and hereafter To live in sensuall lusts and to attain spirituall blisse to passe from one paradise to another to be a mirrour of felicity in both worlds to shine with glorious rayes
in the gap betwixt this kingdom and thy judgements that being all members of that Body wherof thou Christ art head we may all joyn in humiliation for our sinnes and in the propagation of thy honour here and bee made partakers of thy glory in the kingdom of glory The Presumptuous mans Felicities TEll bauling Babes of Bugbeares to fright them into quietnesse or terrify youth with old wives fables to keep their wilde affections in awe Such Toyes may work upon their timerous apprehensions when wholsom precepts fayl and finde no audience in their youthfull cares Tell not me of Hell Devils or of damned soules to enforce mee from those pleasures which they nick-name Sinne What tell ye me of Law my soule is sensible of Evangelicall precepts without the needlesse and uncorrected thunder of the killing Letter or the terrible paraphrase of roaring Boanarges the tediousnesse of whose language still determines in damnation wherein I apprehend God farre more mercifull then his Ministers T is true I have not led my life according to the pharisaicall Square of their opinions neither have I found judgements according to their Prophecies whereby I must conclude that God is wonderfully mercifull or they wonderfully mistaken How often have they thundred torment against my voluptuous life and yet I feele no pain How bitterly have they threatned shame against the vaunts of my vain-glory yet finde I honour How fiercely have they preacht destruction against my cruelty and yet I live What plagues against my swearing yet not infected What diseases against my drunkennesse and yet sound What danger against procrastination yet how often hath God been found upon the death-bed What damnation to Hypocrites yet who more safe What stripes to the ignorant yet who more Scotfree What poverty to the slothfull yet themselvs prosper What fals to the proud yet they stand surest What curses to the covetous yet who richer What judgements to the lascivious yet who more pleasure What vengeance to the prophane the censorious the revengefull yet none live more unscourg'd Who deeper branded then the Lyar yet who more favourd Who more threatend then the presumptuous yet who lesse punisht Thus are wee foold and kept in awe with the strict fancies of those Pulpit-men whose opinions have no ground but what they gaine from popularity Thus are wee frighted from the liberty of Nature by the politick Chimeraes of Religion whereby wee are necessitated to the observing of those Lawes whereof wee finde a greater necessity of breaking His Anathemaes BUt stay my soule there is a voyce that darts into my troubled thoughts which saith Because thou hast not kept my Lawes all the curses in this Book shall overtake thee till thou be destroyed Deut. 29 Deut. 29. 27 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against the land to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this Book 2 Chron. 34. 24 Thus saith the Lord behold I will bring evill upon this place and upon the inhabitants thereof even all the curses that are written in the book Deut. 28. 15 But if thou wilt not hearken unto the voyce of the Lord thy God to observe and doe all his commandements and his statues which I command thee this day all these curses shall come upon thee and overtake thee His Proofs Bernard It is certain thou must die and uncertaine when how or where seeing death is alwayes at thy heeles Thou must if thou bee wise alwayes be ready to die Bernard To commit a sin is an humane frailty to persist in it is a divelish obstinacy Bernard There are some who hope in the Lord but yet in vaine because they onely smooth and flatter themselves that God is mercifull but repent not of their sin such confidence is vain and foolish and leads to destruction His Soliloquy PResumption is a sin wherby we depend upon Gods mercies without any warrant from Gods Word It is as great a sin O my soule to hope for Gods mercy without Repentance as to distrust Gods mercy upon Repentance In the first thou wrongst his justice In the last his mercy O my presumptuous soule let not thy prosperity in sinning encourage thee to sinne lest climbing without warrant into his mercy thou fall without mercy into his judgement Be not deceived a long Peace makes a bloody Warre and the abuse of continued mercies makes a sharpe judgement Patience when slighted turnes to fury but ill-requited starts to vengeance Thinke not that thy uupunisht sin is hidden from the eye of heaven or that Gods judgements will delay for ever The stalled Oxe that wallowes in his plenty and waxes wanton with ease is not farre from slaughter The Ephod O mydesperate soule is long a filling but once being full the leaden cover must goe on and then it hurries on the wings of the wind Advise thee then and whilst the Lampe of thy prosperity lasts provide thee for the evill day which being come repentance will bee out of date and all thy prayers will finde no eare His Prayer GRatious God whose mercy is unsearchable and whose goodnesse is unspeakable I the unthankfull object of thy continued favours and therefore the miserable subject of thy continuall wrath humbly present myself-made misery before thy sacred Majestie Lord when I look upon the horridnesse of my sin shame strikes me dumbe But when I turne mine eie upon the infinitenesse of thy mercy I am emboldned to pour forth my soule before thee as in the one finding matter for confusion so in the other arguments for compassion Lord I have sinned grievously but my Saviour hath satisfied abundantly I have trepassed continually but he hath suffered once for all Thou hast numbred my transgressions by the haires of my head but his mercies are innumerable like the starres of the skie My sinnes in greatnesse are like the mountaines of the earth but his mercy is greater then the heavens Oh if his mercy were not greater then my sins my sins were impardonable for his therefore and thy mercies sake cover my sins and pardon my transgressions make my head a fountain of teares and accept my contrition O thou Well-spring of all mercy strengthen my resolution that for the time to come I may detest all sin Encrease a holy anger in me that I may revenge my selfe upon my selfe for displeasing so gracious a Father Fill my heart with a feare of thy judgements and sweeten my thoughts with the meditation of thy mercies Go forwards O my God and perfect thy own work in mee and take the glory of thy own free goodnesse furnish my mouth with the prayses of thy name and replenish my tongue with continuall thanksgiving Thou hast promised pardon to those that repent behold I repent Lord quicken my Repentance Thou mightst have made me a terrible example of thy justice and struck me into hell in the heigth of my presumption but thou hast made me capable of thy mercies and an object of thy commiseration for thou art a gracious God of long-suffering and slow to anger thy name is wonderfull and thy mercies incomprehensible Thou art onely worthy to be praised Let all the people praise thee O God O let all the people praise thee Let Angels and Archangels praise thee Let the Congregations of Saints praise thee let thy works prayse thee let every thing that breathes prayse thee for ever and for ever Amen FINIS
comforts then His Sentence COnsider O my soule and know that the day will come and after that another wherein for all these things God will bring thee to judgment Eccles. 11. 9. Prov. 14. â—3 Even in laughter the heart is sorrowfull and the end of that mirth is heavinesse Eccles. 2. 2. I said in my heart Goe to now I will prove thee with mirth and therefore enjoy pleasure and behold this also is vanity I said of laughter it is mad and of mirth what doth it St. James Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth and been wanton ye have nourished your hearts as in the day of slaughter Eccles. 7. 4. The heart of the wise man is in the house of mourning but the heart of fooles is in the house of mirth His Proofes Isid. in Synonymis Pleasure is an inclination to the unlawful objects of a corrupted mind allured with a momentary sweetnes Hugo Sensuality is an immoderate indulgence of the flesh a sweet poyson a strong plague a dangerous potion which effeminates the body and enerves the soule Cass. Lib. 4. Ep. They are more sensible of the burthen of affliction that are most taken with the pleasures of the flesh His Soliloquy VVHat hast thou now to say O my soule why this judgment seconded with divine proofes backt with the harmony of holy men should not proceed against thee Dally no longer with thy owne salvation nor flatter thy owne corruption Remember the wages of flesh are sin and the wages of sinne death God hath threatned it whose judgements are terrible God hath witnessed it whose words are Truth Consider then my soul and let not momentarie pleasures flatter thee into eternity of torments How many that have trod thy steps are now roaring in the flames of hell and yet thou triflest away the time of thy repentance O my poor deluded soul presume no longer repent to day lest to morow come too late Or couldst thou ravell out thy dayes beyond Methusalem tell me alas what will eternity be the shorter for the deduction of a thousand yeers Be wisely provident therefore O my soul and bid vanity the common sorceresse of the world farewell life and death are yet before thee Chuse life and the God of life will seal thy choice Prostrate thy self before him who delights not in the death of a sinner and present thy petitions to him who can deny thee nothing in the name of a Saviour His Prayer O God in the beauty of whose holinesse is the true joy of those that love thee the full happinesse of those that fear thee and the onely rest of those that prize thee In respect of which the transitory pleasures of the world are lesse then nothing in comparison of which the greatest wisdom of the world is folly and the glory of the earth but drosse and dung How dare my boldnesse thus presume to presse into thy glorious presence What can my prayers expect but thy just wrath and heavie indignation O what return can the tainted breath of my polluted lips deserve but to bee bound hand and foot and cast into the flames of Hell But Lord the merits of my Saviour are greater then the offences of a sinner and the sweetnesse of thy mercy exceeds the sharpnesse of my misery The horrour of thy judgments have seized upon me and I languish through the sense of thy displeasure I have forsaken thee the rest of my distressed soule and set my affections upon the vanity of the deceitfull world I have taken pleasure in my foolishnesse and have vaunted my self in mine iniquity I have flattered my soule with the hony of delights whereby I am made sensible of the stink of my affliction wherefore I loath and utterly abhor my self and from the bottom of my heart repent in dust ashes Behold O Lord I am impure and vile and have wallowed in the puddle of mine own Corruptions The Sword of thy displeasure is drawn out against me and what shal I plead O thou preserver of mankind Make me a new Creature O my God and destroy the Old man within me Remove my affections from the love of transitory things that I may run the way of thy Commandements Turne away mine eyes from beholding vanity and make thy testimonies my whole delight Give mee strength to discern the emptiness of the creature and inebriate my heart with the fulness of thy joyes Bee thou my portion O God at whose right hand stand pleasures for ever more Be thou my refuge and my shield and suffer mee not to sinke under the corruptions of my heart let not the house of mirth beguile me but give me a sense of the evil to come Accept the free-will offerings of my mouth and grant my petitions for the honour of thy Name then will I magnifie thy mercies O God and praise thy name for ever and ever The Vain-glorious mans vaunt VVHat tell'st thou me of Conscience or a pious life They are good trades for a leaden spirit that can stand bent at every frown and want the braines to make a higher Fortune or courage to atchieve that honour which might glorifie their names and write their memories in the Chronicles of Fame 'T is true Humility is a needfull gift in those that have no quality to exercise their pride and patience is a necessary grace to keep the world in peace and him that hath it in a whole skin and often proves a vertue born of meer necessity And civil honesty is a fair pretence for him that hath not wit to act the Knave and makes a man capable of a little higher stile then Foole And blushing modesty is a pretty innocent quality and serves to vindicate an easie nature from the imputation of an il-breeding These are inferiour Graces that have got a good opinion in the dull wisdome of the world and appeare like water among the elements to moderate the body Politique and keep it from combustion nor doe they come into the work of honour Virtue consists in Action and the reward of action is Glory Glory is the great soule of the little world and is the Crowne of all sublime attempts and the point whereto the crooked wayes of policy are all concentrick Honour consults not with a pious life Let those that are ambitious of a Religious reputation abjure all honorable Titles and let their dough-bak'd spirits take a pride in suf-ferance the Anvile of all injuries and bee thankfully baffled into a quiet pilgrimage Rapes murthers treasons dispossessions riots are veniall things to men of honour and oft co-incident in high pursuits Had my dull Conscience stood upon such nice points that little honour I have wonne had glorified some other arme and left me begging Morsells at his Princely gates Come come my soule Id factum juvat quod fieri non licet Fear not to doe what crownes thee being done Ride on with thy Honour and create a name to live with faire Eternity Enjoy thy purchas'd Glory
regaine a desperate debt which is as good as nothing be the fruits and sign of a bad conence God help the good Come tell not mee of griping and Oppression The world is hard and he that hopes to thrive must gripe as hard What I give I give and what I lend I lend If the way to heaven bee to turne begger upon earth let them take it that like it I know not what ye call Oppression The Law is my direction but of the two it is more profitable to oppresse then to bee opprest If debtors would bee honest and discharge our hands were bound but when their failing offends my bags they touch the Apple of my eye and I must right them His Punishment BUt hah what voice is this that whispers in mine eare The Lord will spoil the soul of the Oppressors Prov. 22. 23. Pro. 21. 22. Rob not the poor because he is poore neither oppresse the afflicted in the gates for the Lord wil plead their cause and spoile the soule of those that have spoyled him Ezek. 22. 19. The people of the land have used oppression and exercised Robbery and have vexed the poor and needy yea they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath Zach. 7. 9. Execute true judgement and shew mercy campâ—ssion on every man to his brother and oppresse not the widow nor the fatherlesse nor the stranger nor the poore and let none of you imagine evill in your hearts against his brother But they refused to hearken therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of Hosts His Proofes Bernard p. 1691. We ought so to care for our selves as not to neglect the due regard of our neighbour Bern. ibid. He that is not mercifull to another shall not find mercy from God but if thou wil'st bee mercifull and compassionate thou shalt bee a benefactor to thy owne soule His Soliloquy IS it wisdom in thee O my soul to covet a happinesse or rather to account it so that is sought for with a judgement obtained with a Curse and punished with damnation And to neglect that good which is assured with a promise purchased with a blessing and rewarded with a Crowne of Glory Canst thou hold a full estate a good pennyworth which is bought with the deare price of thy Gods displeasure Tell mee what continuance can that Inheritance promise that is raised upon the ruines of thy Brother Or what mercy canst thou expect from heaven that hast denyed all mercy to thy Neighbour O my hard-hearted soul consider and relent Build not an house whose posts are subject to be rotted with a curse Consider what the God of truth hath threatned against thy cruelty Relent and turn compassionate that thou mayst be capable of his compassion on If the desire of Gold hath hardened thy heart let the tears of true Repentance mollifie it soften it with Aarons oyntment untill it become wax to take the impression of that seale which must confirme thy Pardon His Prayer BUt will my God bee now entreated Is not my crying sin too loud for pardon am I not sunk too deep into the jaws of Hell for thy strong arme to rescue Hath not the hardnesse of my heart made me uncapable of thy compassion O if my teares might wash away my sin my head should turne a living Spring Lord I have heard thee speake and am affraid the word is past and thy judgements have found me out Fearfulnesse and trembling are come upon mee and the Jaws of hell have overwhelmed mee I have oppressed thy poore and added affliction to the afflicted and the voyce of their misery is come before thee They besought mee with teares and in the anguish of their souls but I have stopt mine ears against the cry of their complaint But Lord thou walkest not the ways of man and remembrest mercy in the middest of thy wrath for thou art good and gracious and ready to forgive and plenteous in compassion to all that shall call upon thee Forgive mee O God my sins that are past and deliver me from the guilt of my Oppression Take from mee O God this heart of stone and create in my breast a heart of flesh Asswage the vehemency of my desires to the things below and satisfie my soul with the sufficiency of thy Grace Inflame my affections that I may love thee with a filiall love and incline me to relie upon thy fatherly providence Let me account godlinesse my greatest gaine and subdue in me my lusts after filthy lucre Preserve me O Lord from the vanity of self-love and plant in my affections the true love of my neighbours Endue my heart with the bowells of compassion and then reward me according to thy righteousnesse Direct mee O God in the wayes of my life and let a good Conscience be my continuall comfort Give me a willing heart to make restitution of what I have wrongfully gotten by oppression Grant me a lawfull use of all thy Creatures and a thankfull heart for all thy benefits Be mercifull to all those that groan under the burden of their owne wants and give them patience to expect thy deliverance Give me a heart that may acknowledge thy favours and fill my tongue with praise and thanksgiving that living here a new life I may become a new creature and being ingraffed in thee by the power of thy grace I may bring forth fruit to thy honour and glory The Drunkards Jubile VVHat Complement will the severer world allow to the vacant houres of frolique-hearted youth How shall their free their joviall spirits entertain their time their friends What Oyle shall bee infused into the lampe of deare society if they deny the priviledge of a civill rejoycing Cup It is the life the radicall humour of united soules whose love-digested heat even ripens and ferments the greene materialls of a plighted faith without the help whereof new married friendship fals into divorce and joyn'd acquaintance soon resolves into the first Elements of strangenesse What mean these strict Reformers thus to spend their houâ—e-glasses and bawle against our harmless Cups to call our meetings Riots and brand our civil mirth with stiles of loose Intemperance where they can sit at a sisters Feast devoure and gurmundize beyond excesse and wipe the guilt from off their marrowed mouths and cloath their surfeits in the long fustian robes of a tedious Grace Is it not much better in a faire friendly Round since youth must have a swing to steep our soule-afflicting sorrows in a chirping Cup then hazard our estates upon the abuse of providence in a foolish cast at Dice Or at a Cockpit leave our doubtfull fortunes to the mercy of unmercifull contention Or spend our wanton dayes in sacrificing costly presents to a fleshly Idoll Was not Wine given to exhilarate the drooping hearts and raise the drowzie spirits of dejected souls Is not the liberall Cup
both in this globe of earth and the orbe of heaven His Soliloquy HOw sweet a feast is till the reckoning come A fair day ends often in a cold night and the road that 's pleasant ends in Hell If worldly pleasures had the promise of continuance prosperity were some comfort but in this necessary vicissitude of good and evill the prolonging of adversity sharpens it It is no common thing my soule to enjoy two heavens Dives found it in the present Lazarus in the future Hath thy encrease met with no damage thy reputation with no scandall thy pleasure with no crosse thy prosperity with no adversity Presume not Gods checks are symptomes of his mercy but his silence is the Harbinger of a judgement Be circumspect and provident my soule Hast thou a faire Summer provide for a hard Winter The worlds River ebbes alone it flowes not Hee that goes merrily with the stream must hale up Flatter thy selfe therefore no longer in thy prosperous sin O my deluded soule but be truly sensible of thy own presumption Look seriously into thy approaching danger and humble thy self with true contrition If thou procure sowre Herbs God will provide his Passeover His Prayer HOw weake is man O God when thou forsakest him How foolish are his Counsels when he plots without thee How wild his progresse when he wanders from thee How miserable till he returne unto thee How his wit failes How his wisedome falters How his wealth melts How his providence is befool'd and how his soule beslav'd Thou strik'st off the Chariot wheeles of his Inventions and he is perplext Thou confoundest the Babel of his imaginations and he is troubled Thou crossest his designes that he may feare thee and thou stopst him in his wayes that he may know thee How mercifull art thou O God and in thy very judgements Lord how gracious Thou mightst have struck me into the lowest pit as easily as on these bended knees and yet been justified in my confusion But thou hast threatned like a gentle father as loth to punish thy ungracious childe Thou knowest the crooked thoughts of man are vaine still turning point to their contrivers ruine Thou saw'st me wandring in the maze of death whilst I with violence pursued my owne destruction But thou hast warn'd me by thy sacred Word and took me off that I might live to praise thee Thou art my confidence O God Thou art the rock the rocke of my salvation Thy Word shall be my guide for all thy paths are Mercy and Truth Lord when I look upon my former worldlinesse I utterly abhorre my conversation strengthen mee with thy assistance that I may lead a new life make me more and more sensible of my own condition and perfect thou the good worke thou hast begun in me In all my designes be thou my Counsellour that I may prosper in my undertakings In all my actions be thou my guide that I may keep the path of thy Cōmandements Let all my own devises come to nought lest I presume upon the arme of flesh let not my wealth encrease without thy blessing lest I be fatted up against the day of slaughter Have thou a hand in all my just imployments then prosper thou the worke of my hands O prosper thou my handy-worke That little I enjoy confirme it to me and make it mine who have no interest in it till thou owne me as thy Child Then shall my soule rejoyce in thy favours and magnifie thy name for all thy mercies Then shall my lips proclaim thy loving kindnesse and sing thy praises for ever and ever The lascivious mans Heaven CAn flesh and blood bee so unnaturall to forget the Lawes of Nature Can blowing youth immure it selfe within the Icey walls of Vestall Chastity Can lusty diet and mollicious rest bring forth no other fruits but faint desires rigid thoughts and Phlegmatick conceits should we be stocks and stones and having active souls turne altogether passives Must we turne Ancherites and spend our dayes in Caves and Hermitages and smother up our pretious hours in cloysterd folly and recluse devotion Can rosy cheeks can ruby lips can snowy brests and sparkling eyes present their beauties and perfections to the sprightly view of young mortality and must we stand like Statues without sense or motion Can strict Religion impose such cruell tasks and even impossible commands upon the raging thoughts of her unhappy votaries as to withstand and contradict the instinct and very principles of Nature Can faire-pretending Piety be so barbarous to condemn us to the flames of our affections and make us Martyrs to our own desires Is 't not enough to conquer the rebellious actions of imperious flesh but wee must manacle her hands darken her eyes nay worse restrain the freedom of her very thoughts Can full perfection be expected here Or can our work bee perfect in this vale of imperfection This were a life for Angels but a task too hard for frail for transitory man Come come wee are but men but flesh and blood and our born frailties cannot grapple with such potent tyranny What Nature and Necessity requires us to doe is veniall being done Come strive no more against so strong a stream but take thy fill of beauty solace thy wanton heart with amorous contemplations cloathe all thy words with courtly Rhetorick and soften thy lips with Dialects of Love Surfet thy selfe with pleasure and melt thy passion into warm delights Walk into Natures universall Bower and pick what Flower does most surprize thine eye drink of all waters but bee tied to none Spare neither cost nor paines to compasse thy Desires Enjoy varieties emparadise thy soule in fresh Delights The change of pleasure makes thy pleasure double Ravish thy senses with perpetuall choyce and glut thy soule with all the delicates of Love BUt hold there is a voyce that whispers in my troubled eare a voyce that blanks my thoughts and stops the course of my resolves a voyce that chils the bosom of my soul and fils me with amazement Hark They which doe such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God Gal. 5. 21. Exodus 20 14 Thou shalt not commit Adultery Matthew 5. 28. Whosoever looks upon a woman to lust after her hath committed Adultery with her already in his heart Rom. 13. 13 Let us walk honestly as in the day not in rioting nor in drunkennesse nor in chambering nor in wantonnesse 1 Peter 2. 11. Abstain from fleshly lusts which warre against the soule His Proofes Nilus in Paraen Woe be to the fornicator and adulterer for his garment is defiled and spotted and the heavenly Bridegroom casts him out from his chast nuptials A world of presumptuous and haynous offences do arise and spring from the filthy fountain of adulterous lust whereby the gate of heaven is shut and poore man excluded from God S Gregor. Mor. Hence the flesh lives in sensuall delights for a moment but the immortall soule perisheth for ever His Soliloquy LUst
I Will sing of Iudgment and Mercy Ps 101 1. BOANERGES BARNABAS Or Iudgment Mercy for afflicted Soules Printed for R Lowndes at the Vnicorne on Ludgat hill ouer against Bell Sauage 1646 BOANARGES AND BARNABAS OR Judgement and Mercy for afflicted Soules Consisting of Meditations Soliloquies and Prayers By FRANCIS QUARLES London Printed by Rich. Cotes for Richard Royston and Richard Lownes and are to bee sold at the Vnicorn on Ludgate-hill over against Bel savage 1646. TO My most Gracious SOVERAIGN King CHARLES SIR I Beleeve you to bee such Patron of Vertue that if this Treatise had the least probability of cherishing Vice my Conscience durst not admit a thought of this Dedication to your Majesty But my own Reason seconded by better approbations assures mee these Disquisitions and Prayers are like to beget grace in those where it was not and confirm it where it was And being so usefull I dare not doubt your Patronage of this child which survives a Father whose utmost abilities were till death darkened that great light in his soule sacrificed to your service But if I could question your willing protection of it I might strengthen my Petition for it by an unquestionable commendation of the Authors publisht Meditations in most of which even those of Poetry begun in his youth there are such tinctures of Piety and Pictures of devout Passions as gain'd him much love and many Noble Friends One of that number which is not to bee numbred was the Religious Learned Peaceable Humble Bishop of Armagh whom I beseech God to blesse and make your Majesty and him in these bad sad times instruments of Good to this distracted distemper'd Church and State This is my unfained Prayer and I doubt not but all that wish well to Sion will seale it with their Amen Your Majesties Poor and most Faithfull Subject RICHARD ROYSTON The Preface Reader IT is thought fit to say this little and but this little of the Author and his Book He was for I speake to those that are strangers to his extraction breeding a branch of a deserving family and the son of a worthy father his education was in the Universities and Innes of Court but his inclination was rather to divine studyes then the law This appears in most of his publisht books which are many but I thinke in none more then this which was finisht with his life Wherein the Reader may behold according to the arguments undertaken by the Author what passions and in what degrees those passions have possest his soul and whether grace have yet allayed or expel'd them those that are inconsistible with vertue from the strong hold of his affections Such this Treatise is being such I commend it to the Reader and this wish with it that those many too many writers who mistake malice for zeal and being transported speak evill of government and meddle with things they understand not Iud 8 10. forgetting there is such sinnes as sedition and heresie sins which Saint Paul Gal. 5. 20. 21 parallels with murther and witchcraft would change their disputes into devout meditations such as these be in which the pious man shall see vertue adorned with beautifull language and vice so presented as 't is not like to infect the minde nor corrupt the conscience The method the arguments the stile all speak M. Quarles the Author of the Book and the book speaks his commendations so much that I need not commend it but I do thee to God Farewell The Table Meditation I. The Sensuall mans Solace Pag. 9. His Sentence 12 His Proofs 13 His Soliloquie 14 His Prayer 16 Meditation II. The Vain-glorious mans Vaunt c. 19 Meditation III. The Oppressors Plea c. 29 Meditation IV. The Drunkards Jubile c. 40 Meditation V. The Swearers Apologie c. 50 Meditation VI The Procrastinatâ—rs Remora's c. 60 Meditation VII The Hypocrites Prevarication c. 70 Meditation VIII The ignorant mans Faultering c. 80 Meditation IX The Slothfull mans slumber c. 90 Meditation X. The proud mans Ostentation c. 109 Meditation XI The Covetous mans Care c. 119 Meditation XII The Self-lovers Self-fraud c. 130 Meditation XIII The Worldly mans Verdour c. 141 Meditation XIIII The Lascivious mans Heaven c. 151 Meditation XV The Sabbath-breakers Profanation c. 161 Meditation XVI The Censorious mans Crimination c. 172 Meditation XVII The Liers fallacies c. 182 Meditation XVIII The Revengeful mans rage c. 193 Meditation XIX The Secure mans Triumph c. 204 Meditation XX The Presumptuous mans Felicities c. 215 The sensuall Mans solace COme let 's be merry and rejoyce our souls in frolick and in fresh delights Let 's skrue our pamper'd hearts a pitch beyond the reach of dulbrowd sorrow Let 's passe the slow-pac'd time in melancholy-charming mirth and take the advantage of our youthfull dayes Let 's banish care to the dead Sea of Phlegmatick old age Let a deep sigh be high Treason and let a solemne looke bee adjudg'd a Crime too great for Pardon My serious studies shall bee to draw mirth into a Body to analyse laughter and to paraphrase upon the various Texts of all delights My recreations shall bee to still pleasure into a Quintessence to reduce Beautie to her first principles and to extract a perfect innocence from the milk-white Doves of Venus Why should I spend my precious minutes in the sullen and dejected shades of sadnesse or ravell out my short liv'd dayes in solemn and heart-breaking Care Houres have Eagles wings and when their hasty flight shall put a period to our numbred dayes the world is gone with us and all our forgotten joyes are left to be enjoyed by the succeeding generations and we are snatcht we know not how we know not whither and wrapt in the dark bosome of eternall night Come then my soule be wise make use of that which gone is past recalling and lost is past redemption Eate thy bread with a merry heart and gulp down care in frolique cups of liberall wine Beguile the tedious nights with dalliance and steepe thy stupid senses in unctious in delightfull sports 'T is all the portion that this transitory world can give thee Let Musick Voices Masques and midnight Revels and all that melancholy wisdome censures vaine bee thy delights And let thy care-abjuring soul cleare up and sweeten the short dayes of thy consuming youth Follow the ways of thy owne heart and take the freedome of thy sweet desires Leave not delight untryed and spare no cost to heighten up thy lusts Take pleasure in the choice of pleasures and please thy curious eyes with all varieties to satisfie thy soule in all things which thy heart desires I but my soule when those evill dayes shall come wherein thy wasting pleasures shall present their Items to thy bedrid view when all diseases and the evils of age shall muster up their Forces in thy crazie bones where be thy
the Sucking-bottle of the sons of Phebus to solace and refresh their palats in the nights of sad Invention Let dry-brain'd Zelots spend their idle breaths my cups shall be my cordialls to restore my care-befeebled heart to the true Temper of a well-complexioned mirth My solid Braines are potent and can beare enough without the least offence to my distempered Senses or interruption of my boon companions My tongue can in the very Zenith of my Cups deliver the expressions of my composed thoughts with better sense then these my grave Reformers can their best advised prayers My Constitution is potproofe and strong enough to make a fierce encounter with the most stupendious vessell that ever sailed upon the tides of Bacchus My reason shrinks not my passion burns not His Judgement O But my soule I heare a threatning voyce that interrupts my language Woe bee to them that are mighty to drinke Wine Esa. 5. 22. Prov. 20. 1. Wine is a mocker strong drink is raging and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise Esay 5. 11. Woe be to them that rise up early in the morning to follow strong drink that continue till night untill wine enflame them Prov. 23. 20. Be not amongst wine-bibbers 1 Cor. 5. 1. Now I have written unto you not to keep company if any that is called a brother be a drunkard with such a one no not to eate His Proofs Aug. in lib. pen Whilst the drunkard swallows wine wine swallowes him God disregards him Angels despise him Men deride him vertue declines him the devill destroyes him Aug. ad sac virg. Drunkennesse is the mother of all evill the matter of all mischiefe the wel-spring of all vices the trouble of the senses the tempest of the tongue the shipwracke of chastity the consumption of time a voluntary madnesse the corruption of manners the distemper of the body and the destruction of the soul His Soliloquy MY soule it is the voice of God digested into a judgment There is no kicking against Pricks or arguing against a divine Truth Pleadest thou Custome Custome in finne multiplies it Pleadest thou society Society in the offence aggravates the punishment Pleadest thou help to invention Woe be to that barennesse that wants such shouers Pleadest thou strength to beare much wine Woe to those that are mighty to drinke strong drinke My soule thou hast sinned against thy Creator in abusing that creature hee made to serve thee Thou hast sinned against the creature in turning it to the Creators dishonour Thou hast sinned against thy self in making thy comfort thy confusion How many want that blessing thou hast turn'd into a curse How many thirst whilst thou surfeitest What satisfaction wilt thou give to the Creator to the Creature to thy selfe against all whom thou hast transgrest To thy selfe by a sober life to the Creature by a right use to thy Creator by a true repentance the way to all which is Prayer and Thanksgiving His Prayer HOw truly then O God this heavie woe belongs to this my boasted sin How many judgments are comprised and abstracted in this woe and all for mee even me O God the miserable subject of thy eternall wrath Even mee O Lord the marke whereat the shafts of thy displeasure levell Lord I was a sinner in my first conception and in sinne hath my mother brought me forth I was no sooner but I was a slave to sin and all my life is nothing but the practise and the trade of high rebellion I have turn'd thy blessings into thy dishonor and all thy graces into wantonnesse Yet hast thou been my God even from the very wombe and didst sustaine mee when I hung upon my mothers breast Thou hast washed mee O Lord from my pollution but like a Swine I have returned to my mire Thou hast glaunced into my breast the blessed motions of thy holy Spirit but I have quenched them with the springtides of my born corruption I have vomited up my filthinesse before thee and like a dog have I returned to my vomit Be mercifull O God unto me have mercy on me O thou son of David I cannot O Lord expect the childrens bread yet suffer mee to lick the crums that fall beneath their table I that have so oft abused the greatest of thy blessings am not worthy of the meanest of thy favors Look look upon me according to the goodnesse of thy mercy and not according to the greatnesse of my offences Give me O God a sober heart and a lawfull moderation in the enjoyment of thy Creatures Reclaim my appetite from unseasonable delights lest I turn thy blessings into a curse In all my dejections be thou my comfort and let my rejoycing be onely in thee Propose to mine eyes the evilnesse of my days and make mee carefull to redeem my time Wean me from the pleasure of vain society and let my companions bee such as feare thee Forgive all such as have been partners in my sinne and turn their hearts to the obedience of thy laws Open their eares to the reproofs of the wise and make them powerfull in reformation Allay that lust which my intemperance hath inflam'd and cleanse my affections with the grace of thy good Spirit make me thankfull for the strength of my body that I may for the time to come return it to the advantage of thy glory The Swearers Apologie VVIll Boanarges never cease And will these Plague-denouncers never leave to thunder judgements in my trembling eare Nothing but plagues Nothing but judgements Nothing but damnation What have I done to make my case desperate And what have they not done to make my soul despaire Have I set up false Gods like the Egyptians or have I bowed before them like the Israelites Have I violated the Sabbath like the Libertines Or like cursed Cham have I discovered my Fathers nakednesse Have I imbrued my hands in blood like Barabbas Or like Absolon defiled my fathers bed Have I like Jacob supplanted my elder brother Or like Ahab intruded into Nabals vineyard Have I born false witnesse like the wanton Elders Or like David coveted Vriahs wife Have I not given tithes of all I have Or hath my purse been hidebound to my hungry brother Hath not my life beene blamelesse before men and my demeanor unreprovable before the world Have I not hated Vice with a perfect hatred and countenanc'd Vertue with a due respect What meane these strict observers of my life to ransack every action to carp at every word and with their sharp censorious tongues to sentence every frailty with damnation Is there no allowance to humanity No grains to flesh and blood Are we all Angels Has mortality no priviledge to supersede it from the utmost punishment of a little necessary frailty Come come my soul let not these judgement-thunderers fright thee Let not these qualmes of their exuberous zeal disturbe thee Thou hast not cursed like Shimei nor rail'd like Rabshekah nor lied like Ananias nor slander'd like thy
accusers They that censure thy gnats swallow their own camels what if the luxuriant stile of thy discourse doe chance to strike upon an obvious Oath art thou straight hurried into the bosome of a Plague What if the custome of a harmlesse oath should captivate thy heedlesse tongue can nothing under sudden judgment seiz upon the what if anothers diffidence should force thy earnest lips into a hasty oath in confirmation of a suffering truth must thou be straight ways branded with damnation was Ioseph mark'd for everlasting death for swearing by the life of Egypts King was Peter when he so denyed his master straight damn'd for swearing and forswearing O flatter not thy self my soul nor turn thou Advocate to so high a sin Make not the slops of Saints a precedent for thee to fall His Arraignment IF the rebukes of flesh may not prevail heare then the threatening of the Spirit which saith The Plague shalt not depart from the house of the swearer Exod. 20. 7. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain for the Lord will not hold him guiltlesse that taketh his name in vain Zach. 5. 3. And every one that sweareth shal be 〈◊〉 off Swear not at all neither by heaven for it is Gods throne nor by the earth for it is his foot stoole But let your communication be yea yea nay nay for whatsoever is more then these commeth of evill Mat. 5. 34. Jer. 23. 10. Because of swearing the Land mourneth His Proofes Aug. in Ser. The murtherer killeth the body of his brother but the swearer murthers his own soule Aug. in Psal. 88. It 's well that God hath forbidden man to sweare lest by custome of swearing in as much as wee are apt to mistake we commit perjury there 's none but God can safely sweare because there 's no other but may be deceived August de Mendacio I say unto you Sweare not at all lest by swearing ye come to a facility of swearing from a facility to a custome and from a custome ye fell into perjury His Soliloquie OWhat a judgement is here How terrible How full of Execution The Plague the extract of all diseases none so mortall none so comfortlesse It makes our house a Prison our friends strangers No comfort but in the expectation of the moneths end I but this judgement excludes that comfort too The plague shal ne'r depart from the house of the swearer What never death will give it a period No but it shall bee intail'd upon his house his family O detestable O destructive sin that leaves a Crosse upon the dores of Generations and layes whole families upon the dust A fin whereto neither profit incites nor pleasure allures nor necessity compels nor inclination of nature perswades a meer voluntary begun with a malignant imitation and continued with an habituall presumption Consider O my soul every Oath hath been a naile to wound that Saviour whose blood O mercy above expression must save thee Be sensible of thy Actions and his sufferings Abhor thy self in dust and ashes and magnifie his mercy that hath turn'd this judgment from thee Goe wash those wounds which thou hast made with teares and humble thy self with prayer true repentance His Prayer ETernall and omnipotent God before whose glorious name Angels and Archangels bow and hide their faces to which the blessed Spirits and Saints of thy triumphant church sing forth perpetuall Hallelujah's I a poor Sprig of disobedient Adam doe here make bold to take that holy name into my sin-polluted lips I have hainously sinned O God against thee and against it I have disparaged it in my thoughts dishonoured it in my words profaned it in my actions and I know thou art a jealous God and a consuming fire as faithfull in thy promises so fearfull in thy judgements I therefore fly from the dreadfufll Name of Jehovah which I have abused to that gracious name of Jesus wherein thou art well pleased in that most sacred name O God I fall before thee and for his beloved sake O Lord I come unto thee Cleanse thou my heart O God and then my tongue shall praise thee Wash thou my soule O Lord and then my lips shall blesse thee Work in my heart a feare of thy displeasure and give me an awfull reverence of thy Name Set thou a watch before my lips that I offend not with my tongue Let no respects intice me to be an instrument of thy dishonour and let thy attributes be precious in mine eyes teach me the way of thy Precepts O Lord and make me sensible of all my offences let not my sinful custome in finning against thy Name take from my guilty soule the sense of my sin Give mee a respect unto all thy Commandements but especially preserve me from the danger of this my bosome sin Mollifie my heart at the rebukes of thy servants and strike into my inward parts a feare of thy judgements Let all my communication bee order'd as in thy presence and let the words of my mouth bee governed by thy Spirit Avert those judgments from me which thy Word hath threatned and my sin hath deserved and strengthen my resolution for the time to come Work in me a true godly sorow that it may bring forth in me a newnesse of life Sanctifie my thoughts with the continual meditation of thy Commandements and mortifie those passions which provoke mee to offend thee Let not the examples of others induce me to this sin nor let the frailties of my flesh seek figleaves to cover it Seal in my heart the full assurance of thy reconciliation and look upon me in the bowells of compassion that crowning my weak desires with thy all-sufficient power I may escape this judgement which thy justice hath threatned here and obtaine that happinesse thy mercy hath promised hereafter The Procrastinators Remora's TEll me no more of fasting prayer and death they fill my thoughts with dumps of Melancholy These are no subjects for a youthful ear no contemplation for an active soul Let them whom sullen Age hath weaned from aery pleasures whom wayward fortunâ— hath condemn'd to sighs and groanes whom sad diseases have beslaved to drugs and diets let them consume the remnant of their wretched dayes in dull devotion Let them afflict their aking soules with the untunable discourses of mortality Let them contemplate on evill dayes and read sharp Lectures of their own experience For me my bones are full of unctious marrow and my blood of sprightly youth My faire and free estate secures me from the feares of fortunes frowne My strength of constitution hath the power to grapple with sorrow sicknesse nay the very pangs of death and overcome 'T is true God must bee sought What impious tongue dare be so basely bold to contradict so known a truth and by repentance too What strange impiety dare deny it Or what presumptuous lips dare disavow it But there 's a time for all things yet none pâ—efixt
thee the only desirable good I blush O Lord to confesse the basenesse of my life and am utterly asham'd of my own foolishnesse I have placed my affections upon the nasty Rubbish of this world and have slighted the inestimable Pearl of my Salvation I have wallowed in the mire of my inordinate desires and refused to bee washt in the streams of thy compassion I have put my confidence in the faithfulnesse of my servant and have doubted the providence of thee my gratious Father I have served unrighteous Mammon with greedinesse and have preferred drosse and dung before the pearly gates of New Jerusalem Thou hast promised to be all in all to those that fear thee and not to fail the soul that trusts in thee but I refused thy gratious offer and put my confidence in the vanity of the Creature But gratious God to whom true Repentance never comes unseasonable that findest an eare when sinners finde a tongue regard the contrition of a bleeding heart and withdraw not thy mercy from a pensive soule Give mee new thoughts O God and with thy holy Spirit new mould my desires inform my will and sanctify my affections that they may rellish thy sweetnesse with a full delight Create in me O God a spirituall sense that I may take pleasure in things that are above Give mee a contented thankfulnesse for what I have that I may neither in poverty forsake thee nor in plenty forget thee Arm me with a continuall patience that I may chearfully put my trust in thy providence Moderate my care for momentary things that I may use the world as if I used it not Let not the losse of any earthly good too much deject me lest I should sinne with my lips and charge thee foolishly Give me a charitable hand O God and fill my heart with brotherly compassion that I may chearfully exchange the corruptible treasure of this world into the incorruptible riches of the world to come and proving a faithfull steward in thy spirituall houshold I may give up my account with joy and be made partaker of thy eternall joy in the Kingdome of thy glory The Self-lovers Self-fraud GOd hath required my heart and he shall have it God hath commanded truth in the inward parts and he shall be obeyed My soule shall prayse the Lord and all that is within me and I will serve him in the strength of my desires And in common Cases the tongues profession of his Name is no lesse then necessary But when it lies upon a life upon the saving of a livelyhood upon the flat undoing of a reputation the case is altered My life is deare my faire possessions pretious and my reputation is the very Apple of mine eye To save so great a stake me thinks equivocation is but veniall if a sinne â—f the true loyalty of mine heart stands sound to my Religion and my God my well-informed Conscience tels me that in such extremities my frighted tongue may take the priviledge of a Salvo or a mentall reservation if not in the expression of a faire compliance What shall the reall breach of a holy Sabbath dedicated to Gods highest glory be tolerated for the welfare of an Oxe May that breach be set upon the score of mercy and commended above sacrifice for the savegard of an Asse And may I not dispence with a bare lippe deniall of my urg'd Religion for the necessary preservation of the threatned life of a man for the saving of the whole livelyhood and subsistence of a Christian What shall I perish for the want of â—ood and die a Martyr to that foolish conscience which forbids me to rub the eares of a little standing Corne Iacob could purchase his sick fathers blessing with a down-right lie and may I not dissemble for a life The young mans great possessions taught his timerous tongue to shrink from and decline his hearts profession and who could blame him Come if thou freely give thy house canst thou in conscience be denied a hiding room for thy protection The Syrian Captain he whose heart was fixt on his now firme resolv'd and true devotion reserved the house of Rimmon for his necessary attendance and yet went in peace Peter upon the rock of whose confession the Church was grounded to save his liberty with a false nay with a perjur'd tongue nay more at such a time when as the Lord of life in whose behalf he drew his sword was questioned for his innocent life denied his Master and shall I be so great an unthrift of my blood my life to lose it for a meere lippe-deniall of that Religion which now is setled and needs no blood to seale it His Retribution BUt stay my conscience checks me there 's a judgement thunders Hark He that denies me before men him will I deny before my Father which is in heaven Matth. 10. 33. 2 Tim. 3. 1 2. Know that in the latter dayes perillous times shall come For men shall be lovers of their owne selves Isai. 45. 23. I have sworn by my selfe the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousnesse and shall not returne that unto me every knee shall bow and every tongue shall sweare Rom. 10. 10. With the heart man beleeveth unto righteousnesse and with the mouth confession is made to salvation Luke 9. 26. Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and my words of him shall the Son of man be ashamed when he shall come in Glory His Proofs Augustine The love of God and the world are two different things if the love of this world dwell in thee the love of God forsakes thee renounce that and receive this it 's fit the more noble love should have the best place and acceptance Theoph. It is nâ—t enough onely to beleeve with the heart for God will have us confess with our mouth every one that confesses Christ is God shall finde Christ professing to the Father that that man is a faithfull servant but those that deny Christ shall receive that fearful doom Nescio vos I know you not His Soliloquy MY soule in such a time as this when the civill Sword is warme with slaughter and the wasting kingdom welters in her blood wouldst thou not give thy life to ransome her from ruine Is not the God of heaven and earth worth many kingdomes Is thy welfare more considerable then his glory dar'st thou deny him for thy owne owne ends that denied thee nothing for thy good Is a poore clod of earth we call Inheritance prizable with his greatnesse Or a puffe of breath we call life valuable with his honour in comparison of whom the very Angels are impure Blush O my soule at thy owne guilt He that accounted his blood his life not worth the keeping to ransome thee a wretch lost by thy own rebellion deserves he not the abatement of a lust to keep him from a new crucifying My soule if Religion binde thee not if judgements terrifie thee not if naturall affection incline
kindles flames for it 's dearest friends Therefore whosoever when he should rest from sin busieth himselfe in the dead and fruitlesse workes of wickednesse and renouncing all piety lusts after such things as will bring him into eternall destruction and everlasting flames justly deserves to die and perish with the damned because when he might have enjoyed a pious rest he laboured to run headlong to his own destruction His Soliloquy MY soul how hast thou prophaned that day thy God hath sanctified How hast thou encroach'd on that which heaven hath set apart If thy impatience cannot act a Sabbath twelve hours what happinesse canst thou expect in a perpetuall Sabbath Is sixe dayes too little for thy selfe and two hours too much for thy God O my soule how dost thou prize temporalls beyond eternalls Is it equall that God who gave thee a body and sixe dayes to provide for it should demand one day of of thee and be denied it How liberall a receiver art thou and how miserable a Requiter But know my soule his Sabbaths are the Apple of his eye He that hath power to vindicate the breach of it hath threatned judgements to the breaker of it The God of mercy that hath mitigated the rigour of it for charity sake will not diminish the honour of it for prophanesse sake sorget not then my soule to remember his Sabbaths and remember not to forget his judgements lest he forget to remember thee in Mercy What thou hast neglected bewaile with conâ—â—ition â—nd what thou hast repenâ—ed forsake with resolution and what thou hast resolved strengthen with devotion His Prayer O Eternall just and all discerning Judge in thy selfe glorious in thy Son gracious who â—â—yest without a witnesse and condemnest without a jury O! I confesse my very actions have betrayed me thy word hath brought in evidence against me my own conscience hath witnessed against me and thy judgement hath past sentence against me And what have I now to plead but mine owne misery and whether should that misery flee but to the God of mercy And since O Lord the way to mercy is to leave my selfe I here disclaim all interest in my selfe and utterly renounce my selfe I that was created for thy glory have dishonoured thy Name I that was made for thy service have prophaned thy Sabbaths I have sleighted thy Ordinances and turned my back upon thy Sanctuary I have neglected thy Sacraments abused thy Word despis'd thy Ministers and despis'd their ministery I have come into thy Courts with an unprovided heart and have drawn near with uncircumcised lips And Lord I know thou art a jealous God and most severe against all such as violate thy Rest The glory of thy Name is pretious to thee and thine honour is as the Apple of thine eye But thou O God that art the God of Hosts hast published and declared thy selfe the Lord of mercy The constitution of thy Sabbath was a work of time but Lord thy mercy is from all eternity I that have broke thy Sabbaths do here present thee with a broken heart thy hand is not shortned that thou canst not heale noâ— thy ear deafned that thou canst not hear Stâ—etch forth thy hand O God and heal my wounds Bow down thine eare O Lord and heare my Prayers Alter the fabrick of my sinfull heart and make it tender of thy glory Make me ambitious of thy service and let thy Sabbaths be my whole delight Give me a holy reverence of thy Word that it may prove a light to my steps and a Lanthorn to my feet Endue my heart with Charity and Faith that I may finde a comfort in thy Sacraments Blesse thou the Ministers of thy sacred Word and make them holy in their lives sound in their doctrine laborious in their callings Preserve the universall Church in these distracted times give her peace unity uniformity purge her of all Schisme error and superstition Let the Kings daughter be all glorious within and let thine eyes take pleasure in her beauty that being honor'd here to be a member of her Militant I may bee glorified with her triumphant The Censorious mans Crimination I Know there is much of the seed of the Serpent in him by his very lookes if his words betray'd him not He hath eaten the Egge of the Cockâ—trice and surely he remaineth in the state of perdition He is not within the Covenant and abideth in the Gall of bitternesse His studied Prayers show him to be a high Malignant and his Jesu worship concludes him popishly affected He comes not to our private meetings nor contributes a penny to the cause He cries up learning and the book of Common-prayer and takes no armes to hasten Reformation He feares God for his owne ends for the spirit of Antichrist is in him His eyes are full of Adulteries and goes a whoring after his owne inventions He can hear an oath from his superiours without reproof and the heathenish Gods named without spitting in his face Wherefore my soule detesteth him and I will have no conversation with him for what fellowship hath light with darknesse or the pure in heart with the unclean Sometimes he is a Publican somtimes a Pharisee and alwayes an Hypocrite He railes against the Altar as loud as we and yet he cringes and makes an Idol of the name of Jesus he is quick-sighted to the infirmities of the Saints and in his heart rejoyceth at our failings he honours not a preaching ministery and too much leans to a Church-government hee paints devotton on his face whilst pride is stampt within his heart he places sanctity in the walls of a Steeple-house and adores the Sacrament with his popish knee His Religion is a Weathercock and turns brest to every blast of wind With the pure he seems pure and with the wicked he will joyne in fellowship A sober language is in his mouth but the poyson of Aspes is under his tongue His workes conduce not to edification nor are the motions of his heart sanctified He adores great ones for preferment and speaks too partially of authority He is a Laodicean in his faith a Nicolaitane in his workes a Pharisee in his disguise a rank Papist in his heart and I thanke my God I am not as this man His Commination BUt stay my soule take heed whilst thou judgest another lest God judge thee how com'st thou so expert in anothers heart being so often deceived in thy own A Saul to day may prove a Paul to morrow Take heed whilst thou wouldst seem religious thou appear not uncharitable and whilst thou judgest man thou be not judg'd of God who saith Iudge not lest ye be judged Mat. 7. 1. Iohn 7. 24. Iudge not according to appearance but judge righteous judgement Rom. 14. 10. But why dost thou judge thy brother or why dost thou set at naught thy brother We shall all stand before the judgement seat of Christ 1 Cor 4. 5. Iudge nothing before the time untill the Lord
excuse as well as make the lie Had Caesar Scipio or Alexander been regulated by such strict Divinity their names had been as silent as their dust A lie is but a faire put off the sanctuary of a secret the riddle of a lover the stratagem of a Souldier the policy of a Statesman and a salve for many desperate sores His Flames BUt hark my soule there 's something rounds mine eare and calls my language to a recâ—ntation The Lord hath spoken it Liers shall have their part in the lake which burâ—eth with fire and brimstone Revel. 21. 8. Exod. 20. Thou shalt not raise a false report Levit. 19. 11. Ye shall not deal falsely neither lie one to another Prov. 12. 22. Lying lips are abomination to the Lord but they that deal truely are his delight Prov. 19. 5. He that speaketh lies shall not escape Ephes. 4. 5. Put away lying and every one speak truth with his neighbour for we are members one of another Revel. 21. 27. There shall in no wise enter into the new Ierusalem any thing that worketh abomination or that maketh a lie His Proofes S. Augustine Whosoever thinkes there is any kind of lie that is not a sin shamefully deceives himself mistaking a lying or cousening knave for a square or honest man Gregor. Eschew and avoid all falshood though sometimes certain kind of untruths are lesse sinfull as to tell a lie to save a mans life yet because the Scripture saith The lyer slayeth his own soul and God will destroy them that tell a lie therefore religious and honest men should alwayes avoid even the best sort of lies neither ought another mans life be secured by our falsehood or lying lest we destroy our owne soule in labouring to secure another mans life His Soliloquy WHat a child O my soule hath thy false bosome harbâ—rd And what reward can thy indulgence expect from such a father What blessing canst thou hope for from heaven that pleadest for the son of the devill and crucifyest the Son of God God is the Father of truth To secure thy estate thou deniest the truth by framing oâ— a lie To save thy brothers life thou opposest the truth in justifying a lie Now tell me O my soul art thou worthy the name of a Christian that denyest and opposest the nature of Christ Art thou worthy of Christ that preferrest thy estate or thy brothers life before him O my unrighteous soule canst thou hold thy brother worthy of death for giving thee the lie and thy selfe guiltlesse that makest a lie 〈◊〉 but in some cases truth destroyes thy life a lie preserves it My soule was God thy Creator then make not the devill thy preserver Wilt thou despair to trust him with thy life that gave it and make him thy Protector that seeks to destroy it Reforme thee and repent thee O my soul hold not thy life on such conditions but trust thee to the hands that made thee His Prayer O God that art the God of truth whose word is truth that hatest lying lips and abominatest the deceitfull tongue that banishest thy presence all such as love or make a ly and lovest truth and requirest uprightnesse in the inward parts I the most wretched of the sonnes of men and most unworthy to be called thy son make bold to cast my sinfullâ— eies to heaven Lord I have sinned against heaven and against truth and have turned thy grace into a lie I have renounced the wayes of righteousnesse and harbour'd much iniquity within me which hath turned thy wrath against me I have transgrest against the checks of my own conscience and have vaunted of my transgression which way soever I turne mine eye I see no object but shame and confusion Lord when I look upon my selfe I finde nothing there but fuell for thy wrath and matter for thine indignation and my condemnation And when I cast mine eyes to heaven I there behold an angry God and a severe revenger But Lord at thy right hand I see a Saviour and a sweet Redeemer I see thy wounded Son cloathd in my flesh and bearing mine infirmities and interceding for my numerous transgressions for which my soule doth magnifie thee O God and my spirit rejoyceth in him my Saviour Lord when thou lookest upon the vast score of my offences turne thine eyes upon the infinite merits of his satisfaction O when thy justice calls to mind my sinnes let not thy mercy forget his sufferings Wash mee O wash me in his blood and thou shalt see me cloathed in his righteousnesse Let him that is all in all to me be all in all for me make him to me sanctification justification and redemption Inspire my heart with the spirit of thy truth and preserve me from the deceitfulnesse of a double tongue Give me an inward confidence to relie upon thy fatherly providence that neither fear may deterre me nor any advantage may turne me from the wayes of thy truth Let not the specious goodnesse of the end encourage me to the unlawfulnesse of the meanes but let thy Word be the warrant to all my actions Guide my footsteps that I may walke uprightly and quicken my conscience that it may reprove my failings Cause me to feel the burthen of this my habituall sin that comming to thee by a true and serious repentance my sins may obtaine a full and a gratious forgivenesse Give me a heart to make a Covenant with my lips that both my heart and tongue being sanctified by thy Spirit may be both united in truth by thy mercy and magnifie thy name for ever and for ever The revengefull mans rage O What a Julip to my scorching soul is the delicious blood of my Offendâ—r and how it cooles the burning Fâ—ver of my boyling veynes It is the Quintessence of pleasures the height of satisfaction and the very marrow of all delight to bathe and paddle in the blood of such whose bold affronts have turn'd my wounded patâ—ence into fury How full of sweetnesse was his death who dying was reveng'd upon three thousand enemies How sweetly did the younger brothers blood allay the soul-consuming flame of the elder who took more pleasure in his last breath then heaven dâ—d in his first Sacrifice Yet had not heaven to demned his action nature hâ—d found an Advocate for his passion What sturdy spirit hath the power to rule his sufferâ—ng thoughts or curbe the headstrong â—uâ—y of his Irascible affections Or who but fooles that cannot taste anjnjury can moderate their high-bred spirits and stop their passion in her full carrier Let heavy Cynicks they whose leaden soules are taught by stupid reason to stand bent at every wrong that can digest an injury more easily then a complement that can protest against the Lawes of nature and cry all naturall affection downe let them be Andirons for the inâ—urious world to worke a Heat upon let them finde shoulders to receive the paineful stripes of peevish Mortalâ—s and to bear the wrongs
of daring insolence Let them be drawne like Calves pâ—epar'd for slaughter and bow tâ—eâ—r servile necks to sharp destruction let them submit their slavish bosomes to be trod and trâ—mpled under â—oot for every pleasure My Eagle spirit flies a higher pitch and like ambitious Phaeton climbes into the fiery Chariot and drawne with fury scorne revenge and honor rambles through all the Spheares and brings with it confusion and combustion my reeking sword shall vindicate my reputation and rectifie the injuries of my honorable name and quench it selfe in plenteous streames of blood Come tell not mee of Charity conscience â—r transgression My Charity reflects upon my self begins at home and guides by the justice of my passion is bound to labour for an honourable satisfaction My conscience is blood-proofe and I can broach a life with my illustrious weapon with as little â—eluctation as kill a Flea that â—ucks my blood without Commission and I can drinke a health in blood upon my bended knee to reputation His Retaliation BUt hark my soule I heare a languishing a dying voyce cry up to heaven for vengeance It cries aloud and thunders in my startling eare I tremble and my shiveâ—ing bones are filled with hoâ—ror â—t cries again â—mâ— and heare what heaven replies All that take up the sword shall perish by the sword Mâ—tâ—h 26. 52. Levit. 10. 18. Thou shalt not avenge or bear any grudge against the Children of my people but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thy selfe I am the Lord Deut. 32. 35. To me belongeth vengeance and recompence Ezek. 25. 12 13. Because that Edom hath delt against the house of Iudah by taking vengeance and hath greatly offended and revenged himselfe upon them Therefore thus saith the Lord God I will also stretch out mine hand upon Edom and will cut off man and beast from it Matth 5. 39. Resist not evill but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek turn to him the other also His Proofs Tertull. What 's the difference between one that doth an injury and another that outragiously suffers it except that the one it first and the other second in the oâ—ence but both are guilty of mutuall injuâ—y in the sight of God who forbids every sinne and condemnes the offender Tertull. How can we honour God if we revenge our selves Gloss. Every man is a murtherer and shall be punished as Cain was if he doe as Cain did either assault his brother with violence or pursue him with hatred His Soliloquy REvenge is an Act of the Irasâ—â—ble affections deliberated with malice and executed without mercy How often O my soule hast thou cursed thy selfe in the perfectest of Prayers How often hast thou turn'd the spirituall body of thy Saviour into thy damnation Can the Sun rise to thy comfort that hath so often set in thy wrath So long as thy wrath is kindled against thy brother so long is the wrath of God burning against thee O wouldst thou offer a pleasing sacrâ— fice to heaven Goe first and be reconciled to thy brother I but who shall right thy honour then Is thy honour wrong'd Forgive and it is vindicated I but this kinde of heart-swelling câ—n brook no Powltesse but revenge Take heed my soule the remedy is worse then the disease If thy intricate distemper transcend thy power make choyce of a Physitian that can purge that humour that foments thy malady Rely upon him submit thy will to his directions he hath a tender heart a skilfull hand a watchfull eye that makes thy welfare the price of all thy paines expecting no reward no fee but prayses and Thanksgiving His Prayer O God that art the God of peace and the lover of unity and concord that dost command all those that seek forgivenesse to forgive that hatest the froward heart but shewest mercy to the meek in spirit With what a face can I appeare before thy mercy-seat or with what countenance can I lift up these hands thus stained with my brothers blood How can my lips that daily breathe revenge against my brother presume to own thee as my father or expect from thee thy blessing as thy childe If thou forgive my trespasses O God as I forgive my trespassers in what a miserable estate am I that in my very prayers condemn my selfe and doe not only limit thy compassion by my uncharitablenesse but draw thy judgements on my head for my rebellion That heart O God which thou requirest as a holy present is become a spring of malice These hands which I advance are ready instruments of base revenge My thoughts that should be sanctified are full of blood and how to compasse evill against my brother is my continuall meditation The course of all my life is wilfull disobedience and my whole pleasure Lord is to displease thee My conscience hath accused me and the voyce of blood hath cryed against me But Lord the blood of Jesus cryes louder then the blood of Abell and thy mercy is farre more infinite then my sinne The blood that was shed by me cryes for vengeance but the blood that was shed for me sues for mercy Lord heare the language oâ— this blood and by the merits of this voyce be reconciled unto me That time which cannot be recalled O give me power to redeem and in the meane time a setled resolution to reform Suppresse the violence of my head-strong passion and establish a meek spirit within me Let the sight of my own vilenesse take from me the sense of all disgrace and let the Crown of my reputation be thy honour Possesse my heart with a desire of unity and concord and give me patience to endure what my impenitence hath deserved â— Breath into my soule the spirit of love and direct my affeâ—â—ions to their right object turn all my anger against that sinne that hath provoked thee and give me holy revenge that I may exercise it against my selfe Grant that I may love thee for thy selfe my selfe in thee and my neighbour as my selfe Assist me O God that I may subdue all evill in my selfe and suffer patiently all evill as a punishment from thee Give me a mercifull heart O God make it â—low to wrath and ready to forgive Preserve me from the act of evill that I may be delivered from the feare of evill that living here in charity with men I may receive that sentence of Come ye blessed in the kingdom of glory The secure mans Triumph SO now my soule thy happinesse is entaild and thy illustrious nâ—me shall live in thy succeeding Generations Thy dwelling is establish'd in the fat of all the land thou hast what mortall heart can wish and wantest nothing but immortalitie The best of all the land is thine and thou art planted in the best of Lands A land whose Constitutions make the best of Government which Government is strengthened with the best of Laws which Lawes are executed by the best of Princes whose Prince whose Lawes whose Government whose land
makes us the happiest of all subjects makes us the happiest of all people A land of strength of plenty and a land of peace where every soule may sit beneath his Vine unfrighted at the horrid language of the hoarse Trumpet unstartled at the warlike summons of the roaring Cannon A land whose beauty hath surpriz'd the ambitious hearts of forrain Princes and taught them by their martiall Oratory to make their vaine attempts A land whose strength reades vanity in the deceived hopes of Conquerours and crowns their enterprizes with a shamefull overthrow A land whose native plenty makes her the worlds Exchange supplying others able to subsist without supply from forraigne Kingdomes in it selfe happy and abroad honorable A land that hath no vanity but what by accident proceeds and issues from the sweetest of all blessings peace and plenty that hath no misery but what is propagated from that blindness which cannot see her own felicitie A land that flowes with Milk and Honey and in briefe wants nothing to deserve the title of a Paradise the Curbe of Spaine the pride of Germany the ayde of Belgia the scourge of France the Empresse of the world and Queene of Nations She is begirt with walls whose builder was the hand of heaven whereon there daily rides a Navy Royall whose unconquerable power proclaimes her Prince invincible and whispers sad despaire into the fainting hearts of forraigne Majesty She is compact within her selfe in unity not apt to civill discords or intestine broyles The envie of all nations the ambition of all Princes the terror of all enemies the security of all neighbouring States Let timerous Pulpits threaten ruine let prophecying Church-men dote till I beleeve How often and how long have these loud sonnes of Thunder false prophesied her desolation and yet she stands the glory of the world Can pride demolish the Towers that defend her Can drunkennesse dry up the Sea that walls her Can flames of lust dissolve the Ordnance that protect her His overthrow BEe well advised my soule there is a voyee from heaven roare louder then those Ordnance which saith Thus saith the Lord The whole land shall be desolate Jer. 4. 27. Esay 14. 7. The whole earth it at rest and at quiet they break forth into singing Yea the Firee trees rejoyee at thee and the Cedars of Lebanon sing c. Yet shalt thou be brought down to hell to the sides of the Pit Ier. 5. 12. They have belied the Lord and said it is not he neither shall evill come upon us neither shall we see sword or famine 1 Cor. 10. 12. Let him that standeth take heed lest he fall Luke 17. 26. They did eat and drink and they married wives and were given in marriage untill the flood came and destroyed them all His Proofs Greg. Mor. A man may as soon build a Castle upon the rouling waves as ground a solid comfort upon the unceriaine ebbs and fluxes of transient pleasures St. Augustine Whilst Lot was exercised in sâ—ffering reproach and violence he continued holy and pure even in the filth of Sodom but in the mount being in peace and safety he was surprised by sensuall security and defiled himselfe with his owne daughters Our prosperous and happy state is often the occasion of more miserabl ruine a long peace hath made many men both carelesse and cowardly and that 's the most fatall blow when an unexpected enemy surprises us in a deep sleep of peace and security Greg. Mag. His Soliloquy SEcurity is an improvident carelesnesse casting out all fear of approaching danger It is like a great Calme at Sea that sore-runs a storme How is this verified O my sad soule in this our bleeding nation Wer 't thou not but now for many yeares even nuzzlâ—d in the bosome of habituall peace Didst thou foresee this danger Or couldst thou have contrived a way to be thus miserable Didst thou not laugh invasion to scorne or didst thou not lesse feare a Civill war Was not the Title of the Crown unquestionable And was not our mixt government unapt to fall into diseases Did we want good Lawes or did our Lawes want execution Did not our Prophets give lawfull warning or were we moved at the sound of judgements How hast thou liv'd O my uncarefull soule to see these prophesies fulfill'd and to behold the vials of thy angry God pour'd forth Since mercies O my soule could not allure thee yet let these judgements now at length enforce thee to a true Repentance Quench the Firebrand which thou hast kindled turne thy mirth to a right mourning and thy feasts of joy to humiliation His Prayer O God by whom kings reign and kingdoms flourish that settest up where none can batter down and pullest down where none can countermand I a most humble Sutor at the Throne of Grace acknowledge my selfe unworthy of the least of all thy mercies nay worthy of the greatest of all thy judgements I have sinned against thee the author of my being I have sinned against my conscience which thou hast made my accuser I have sinned against the peace of this Kingdom wherof thou hast made mee a member If all should doe O God as I have done Sodom would appeare as righteous and Gomorrah would be a president to thy wrath upon this sinfull Nation But Lord thy mercy is inscrutable or else my misery were unspeakable for that mercy sake bee gratious to me in the free pardoning of all my offences Blot them out of thy remembrance for his sake in whom thou art well pleased Make my head a fountaine of teares to quench that brand my sinnes have kindled towards the destruction of this flourishing kingdome Blesse this kingdom O God establish it in piety honour peace and plenty Forgive all her crying sinnes and remove thy judgements farre from her Blesse her Governour thy servant our dread Soveraign endue his soule with all religious civill and princely vertues Preserve his royall person in health safety and prosperity prolong his days in honour peace or victory and crown his death with everlasting glory Blesse him in his royall Consort unite their hearts in love and true Religion Blesse him in his princely issue Season their youth with the feare of thy Name Direct thy Church in doctrine and in discipline and let her enemies bee converted or confounded purge her of all superstition and heresie and root out from her whatsoever thy hand hath not planted Blesse the Nobility of this Land endue their hearts with truth loyalty and true policy Blesse the Tribe of Levi with piety learning and humility Blesse the Magistrates of this kingdome give them religious upright hearts hating covetousnesse Blesse the Gentry with sincetity charity and a good conscience Blesse the Commonalty with loyall hearts painfull hands and plentifull encrease Blesse the two great Seminaries of this kingdom make them fruitfull and faithfull Nurseries both to the Church and Common-wealth Blesse all thy Saints every where especially those that have stood