nor they that are his much the most things of the world and the best things of the world leave us at the worlds end send us gawl'd and weary out a pack-horse has but beans and oats many care and carry for they know not who A rich man lately going with his son by water towards London Bridg Father said the young man there is a brave play to day at the Dukes Play-house let us go see it O villain said the Father wouldst thou go and have me too when there is a great vessel to look after Damn me chuse you said the Son I will go calling another boat and so stept away but they are both dead now and a vast estate gone and no body knows where almost Oh! how many do the like care and care as the old man did and have nothing many times but sin and the gawled conscience to carry them to the grave a sad reward and curse upon over covetous men but the world at best is but as a spoke in a wheel one is uppermost to day and another to morrow and though corn wine and oyl be the worlds happiness Psal 4. 7. yet this is at an end when he or the world is they ravish in expectation not in fruition but heavenly things are sweet in both and the worlds all is nothing at all at last many desie it and the Devil in their mouths and yet serve both in their hearts it is not the having the world in our hands or our hands in the business of the world but our making an Idol of it serving it more than the Creator God blessed for ever 'T is a great peice of wisdom to hide faults and ignorance sometimes yet learned Rome and Greece the two great schools of the world by all their learning did not define whether there were many Gods or one and were for many years the greatest Idolaters in the world notwithstanding all their wisemen but wisdom is good with an inheritance and true wisdom chooses God and Christ for a portion The Lord is my portion saith my soul and whom have I in heaven but thee saies David Psal 73. 25. Sir Edward Petto saith that if wee do ill the pleasures are but short and the pains remain for ever but if we do well the good does so too and 't is good to wait on God who waits to be gracious to such as call upon him Some men find want of comfort and others find comfort in want because God is with them when thou goest through the fire and through the water I will be with thee saith the Lord Isa 43. 2. And Tertullian sayes of young Ladies if they were cloathed with Silks and Piety Sattins and Sanctity Purple and Modesty God would be with them and love and like them better too A man may love morality civility and not Grace Rome would prove the truth by miracles when she should prove miracles by truth but her whole Golden Legion is a fiction of forged lyes and that he that wrote it had a brazen face and a leaden heart they willingly believe lyes and God in judgment suffers them so to do because they receive not the love of the truth 2 Thes 2. 10 11 12. And Vespasian was tired with a triumph and Ladies have been so with musick and a play-house all is but vanity of vanities at the long run besides Christ and the Knowledge of him Yea all else is but Golden Dreams and 't is better to fear and dream of Hell than to drop into it to think of Jollity and find misery is said or to dream of Heaven upon Earth and to wake by Death in Hell is sad indeed Time passes a pace and all post some where 'T is dangerous putting off that to day which thou must do or else it may be utterly undone to morrow Contemplation and Meditation are good things 'T is as the smell of the Rose and Jessemin sayes one Some men are ashamed to sin before a child but what we are afraid to do before men we should be to think before God And 't is better to spend our time in doing good than bare talking or getting Riches either If we should be thankful for little Mercies Riches and Honour what should we be for God himself and the pardon of sin The Tongue blessing God without the heart is but a tinkling Cymbal and the heart blessing God without the tongue is sweet but still musick but the heart and tongue together makes the sweetest harmony in the world And if the Larks and Birds sing so merrily to the morning Sun we should much more to our Creator and Redeemer Let all the world praise thee O God Let all the world praise thee saith the Psalmist Psal 67. 3. And you Noble Ladies who have best voices and least to do should be most engaged in that good work But Honour is a snare and visits many and needless too sometimes Better stay at home and think Lord what am I What do I Whither go I so fast a little time will put me in a Bason Every man is but a bag full of Dust at the best and Death turns us into Ashes and that Dust may be squeezed into a small place And 't is probable the Grave-man takes up some of that sometimes to sling upon another when he cryes Dust to Dust and Ashes to Ashes But this is certain after a little while every man will be no man A good Gentlewoman being sick was askt whether she were willing to Live or Dye What God pleased Ay but sayes one If God should put it to you but then said she I would refer it to him again And a brave Grace it is to be resigned so patiently to God's will in every thing And there are four Reasons for it The Holiness The Sovereignty Eternity and Goodness of his Will But he that sins and quarrels against this good and holy Sovereign and Eternal Will of God does but do what in him lyes to make him send him Soul and Body into Hell But cut me hack me kill me sayes Austin so thou savest my Soul And oh what an Emphasis does the Scripture frequently put upon the word Soul Hear and your Soul shall live Isa 55. 3. He that sins against me wrongs his own Soul Prov. 8. 36. Fear not them that can kill the Body but him that can throw the Body and Soul into Hell What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his Soul Matth. 16. 26. Thou Fool this night shall thy Soul be taken from thee Luke 12. 18. Matth. 12. 28. Soul mercies Soul-promises and Soul-salvation must needs be great And the Great God by his absolute Sovereignty claims and sayes All Souls are mine Ezek. 18. 4. But most are like the poor Woman Mr. Burroughs mentions who when her house was burning ran about to save some little trisles but forgot her Child in the Cradle But then supposing it to be burnt though indeed it was
to the best of our power and who can do too much for him who is all and will be all for ever He gives us all we have and though we can give nothing to him yet he accepts of what we give to any so it be for his Honour and the highest Honour on Earth is to be good and extensively doing good like the Air. 'T is but a little while at best that we can work and it may be you and the great good Ladies of that Family will never have such an opportunity to help erect a thing that may last perhaps to the last period of time and be so long for the Honour of your Noble Sex and Family also and therefore pray despise not the day of small things nor this good design Most Great and Right Honourable Countess AS your Noble Name and Title is beloved by all some for worth in that brave Warrier who yet lost his head in the daies of Queen Elizabeth and others for that brave Knight your Father who lost his in the late times for Loyalty to his Prince both which will hardly be forgotten and especially whilst your Lord continues as he does to do all good and good Offices for his King and Country may such Peers flourish and be as they are indeed Pillars of our Nation which do bear up Prince and Peoples Happiness and Honour And for this may Children love you yea Children yet unborn will when they come to know the worth of our Religion which if lost our Bodies would be all slaves and our Souls in danger to be damned for ever by Antichristian Errours O Madam who can love enough whilst he loves his Country so exceeding well and the Protestant Interest also May you yours and himself all long live live for us for our Prince and Nation once a Terrour unto others but especially for himself and true Happiness for to live to God is best of all We may live to our selves and Fortunes our King and Country forget Heaven and so be lost and miserable to Eternity which will be Heaven when all is done and no home is like that and he that made it for his favour is better than life it self and may that favour which he bears to his Chosen ones be to you and yours also yea may you all see the good of his Inheritage and be blessed in Soul and Body with all your Right Noble Issue here and hereafter pray every one of us Most Great and Right Noble Countess SAies the Lord I have set watchmen upon thy walls O Jerusalem that shall never hold their peace day nor night Your brave Lord most Noble Madam may be said to be the same if ever faithful warning was given to a Prince and Nation of dangers near and Counsels to prevent even at the brink your Lord hath certainly done it with strength of Wisdom Zeal and Boldness that never man spake better And now what shall we say of this our great Nations Seer that loves Scotland England Ireland and the Protestant Interest all the world over it being extensive like the Truth it self and the holy Gospel who can love more than every place where it is professed or preserve Liberty and Interest our only Jewels better than strongly to oppose all enemies for which may his Noble Name and Memory live and his Lordship sit as long as ever States-man served a Prince and for his Zeal to Prince and People let both love him and the Love of God dwell in him the blood of Christ be his Laver and when ever his great Soul shall leave this little lower sinful World let the holy Angels guard him and our Lord Jesus Christ personally present him to the Father to sing the high praises of God and the Lamb to all Eternity And when any of his near and Noble Family and Race have served their Generations and fallen asleep may they do the same and so successively to the World's end pray we Poor Hospital Boys Right Honourable and Noble Countess SOlomon tells us Wisdom is the principal thing and if it be as it is most deservedly accounted an excellent piece of Wisdom to know all the Laws and Statutes of a Nation What is it then to know the Laws and Statutes of Heaven the Will and Pleasure of the great and mighty Monarch Lord God of Heaven and Earth which your Lord yet doth Surely this must needs make him to be a great Figure and a great Statesman in this our Kingdom And may many many such States-men be to Rule and Govern the Great People of this Nation under our most excellent and good natur'd Prince And may their Wisdom be ever hearkened to and their hearts be zealous for his Greatness and all the Peoples Interest for he that serveth both shall never miscarry to his Honour and the wisest Ones Applause May your Lord steer in this Chanel miss all Rocks especially what may hurt his Soul live to his God and himself as well as his Prince and Country for Eternity is a long thing and may he you and all your Noble Issue be ever happy in it Pray one and all we Hospital-Boys Right Honourable Madam MAny and great have the Changes been which your Ladiship have known but this is certain there is a great and unchangeable good God who lives for ever and because he is so therefore the Sons of Jacob are not consumed Madam 't is this God and his Love we must stick to for nothing else will do us long good all things fail and fade set that aside the fairest Beauty and the sweetest Rose the richest Garment with the greatest Wealth and Honour will be left on Earth to die like other things but the Living God and the Living Word Jesus Christ who lives with and by the Father shall abide for ever Joh. 6. v. 57. And whosoever believes in him shall never dye c. 11. v. 26. Oh Madam may you so live live for ever with the Son and his Saints in the Kingdom of the Father to drink of the new Wine namely his Love which he speaks of Oh! 't is that that must be our portion if we have any thing worth the speaking of What 's the fluttering up and down the world or the Enjoyment of the world with all Accommodations in and Applauses of it if we lose our Souls as Christ speaks what shall it profit us That 's a Jem or inestimable Jewel never to be Rated but in Eternity it comes next of all to God and Christ it 's immortal ever living and shall never die if sin does not hurt it nothing can God Almighty make Christ to be our Righteousness both in Life Death and Eternity and that we may know this his Righteousness which is nigh and this Salvation which he so often and affectionately calls upon us for to mind saying Hearken hearken unto me my People Give ear unto me oh my Nation This my is a sweet word Scripture myes and Scripture ours are all so Oh!
spoil so great a Gem and Jewel or Immortal thing Christ will save us now Christ will save us ever if we be but willing yet he will never bleed more but he prays and mediates for us still for he makes continual Intercession Rom. 10. 4. and his blood speaks better things than the blood of Abel that cryed down vengeance upon Cain but Christ's blood crys up forgiveness unto us Oh Father let them come to me if they will be mine Joh. 17. 24. And may you both dwell with him for ever but oh live a little if you have not live to him a little if you cannot much time being now short lay up as much as can be Treasure in Heaven where no Rust nor Thieves can come Lands Debts Rents and Houses may be all lost but Treasure in Heaven can never miscarry and if ever we indeed mean to come there it must be by faith in our Lord Jesus Christ Money will not buy Pardon Blood nor Tears cannot nor the Fruit of our Bodies go for the sin of our Souls Micah 6. 7. But Christ's Blood is Currant Coin Oh stick to that Rock which will not fail when the Silken Stockin and the Silver Shoe must off and never on more nor the Soul return to the same Body Vanity of Vanities how is all but froth and vanity besides Christ and therefore if he be not ours we are lost for nothing for nothing but a Dream a Bubble and a Fancy yea and our Souls to Eternity Madam WE have presumed to offer one of these to the Lady Player Mrs. Love and Madam Pilkinton with a few humble Lines as now we do to your most great Right Honourable Ladiship from all which we most humbly pray that this Good Work which in charity must be so accounted may be a little countenanced by you the four Beloved Ladies of this mighty City for if any names be deservedly great and famous more than others sure it is yours and those other three above mentioned And may your Names live from generation to generation whilst your Walls and Gates last and your Souls to Eternity after all May Hell never be known nor Heaven lost by you nor none of yours especially your dear Husbands But may they be all four for ever Citizens in the New Jerusalem walk hand in hand with the Lamb and his Redeemed ones to the Fountains of Living Water where God shall be all in all and they alwaies drinking from the River of his Pleasures Rev. 7. 17. Psal 36. 8. So prays one and all our Charity School-house Madam THE great God and his Providence has made Sir Thomas the Father as it were of all the famous Apprentices of London and onely sole Judge between the great Merchant and his Man and not so but an Eye for the Nation also piercing through and through the greatest Intrigues Policies Stratagems that Malice Hell or Rome can lay against our King Kingdom or Religion Liberty and Interest Gems and Jewels of greater value than the Gold of Ophir in a true sense But in your sphere Madam this little little Work is not to be despised in the least but a Scriptural Honour it is to be owned the Lady of Charity and a Mistress or great Benefactor to one of their little Schools Light is light truth truth a spark is fire and true Charity praise worthy to the world's end and so long may your Name Praise and Honour live and our House also Madam LOve is from the Fountain and Divine Being of all good May that ever flow in your Name and Nature and be as natural to you as the Rose and Buds are to the Summer and then when this Spring and your Charity shall flow up in and from you to the barren Hill of Highgate where your School-house stands it will then become a feeding filling Spring too for Charity will feed us and praise flow from us to the famous City-Ladies names which shall never be forgotten but be fairly Registred and read from one Age and one Generation to another And now may the Love of God Almighty the pure Joys and Comforts of his holy Spirit ever abide with you and yours whilst you abide in this Tabernacle of Clay and he constantly guide you through the Wilderness of this bewitching barren wicked World till you come to the last period of Life and wrap you up then in the Righteousness of God's dear and anointed only Christ to shine as the Sun in the Kingdom of the Father for ever more praies thirty six of us and our Minister also Most Worthy Madam THere are four Gates in the City four Seasons in the Year four Ladies nigh together that will hardly be forgotten but shall be beloved for their Husbands sakes their own too for their praise is truly praise-worthy their virtues all eminently specious But now dear Madam would it not be a high and great Honour to see you our four Citizens Ladies with your four well-beloved Husbands our constant Parliament men for London chosen more by hearts than hands and a many brave judicious sober Citizens waiting on them all standing one by one as it were on the brow of our Hill saying one to the other There is the Tower and the Monument the Old Change Guild-Hall and Blackwell-Hall which some would fain burn again there is Bow-Steeple the Holy Bible the Silver Bells of Aaron the godly outed Ministers the melodious Musick of the Gospel Smithfield Martyrs yet alive and the Best Society the very Best in all the world for Civility Loyalty Men and Manners with the greatest cash bulk mass and stock of all sorts of Silks Cinnamon Spices Wine Gold Pearl Spanish-Wooll and Cloaths with the River Nilus and the stately Ships of Turshish to carry in and out the great Merchandizes of the world And may all this with the dew of Hermon her Silver Drops with your godly Ministers yet unrestored ever be to the World's end and to your Live's end May you and yours be beloved as you are And now the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and all Consolations bless you both in Spirit Soul and Body Sickness Health Life and Death here and for evermore prayes all we your poor youngest Hospital-Boys of Highgate and to help them is most Charity ever The old fares well thanks be to a good City and their Benefactors in it for which God Almighty bless them and their Government to the world's end with Peace Health Wealth Honour and the Power of Religion Most Honourable Madam THE Best have not alwaies Love boiling in them yet at sometimes nothing works so strongly as Divine Goodness in their Souls and now we think we see in your heart hand and eye all lifting up unto the Hills from whence alone has your Salvation and Deliverance been we think we hear you still say God has been my Helper my Rock and my Salvation and I will bless him he hath inclined his Ear unto me therefore will I love
you be his servants you shall sing and others shall weep grieve and mourn Isa 65. 14. You shall drink and others shall be thirsty The Heavens declare his wondrous work saith the Psalmist and the Earth is full of his Goodness Psal 8. 1. And will you be full of Sin Enmity and Folly Oh! God forbid that such lovely Creatures as many of you young Lords and Ladies be should be full of sin Sin is an evil an evil Disease in the Soul and to the Soul it kills it worse than Leprosie to Eternity if Christ do not save it Oh! value him fly to him clasp about him that ye never miscarry in Time nor Eternity Compare both how short is one and long the other The pleasures of sin are but for a season Heb. 11. 25. Moses left Pharaoh's Court preferring afflictions before these pleasures which betrays into Gulphs Snares and Rocks Do not you make your selves unhappy in another world when you may do well in both A thousand years should be more valuable than fourscore However let not fourscore be more to you than three or fourscore thousand thousand thousand This is certain Riches Honours Estates and Courtships with all that is Terrene and Sublunary shall fly away Heaven and Earth shall pass away before one Jot or Tittle of God's Word Joh. 2 17. Luk. 21. 33. 'T is a very dangerous thing though you do not mind it to be irreligious Pleasure one day in God's Court is worth a thousand elsewhere Psal 114. 10. Oh! taste and see the sweet and honey of it Less pains will serve for Eternal Life than some take for Temporal yea to dress themselves What! three hours about that and not a quarter at prayers Some get great Fortune by Marriages others a little by Plough Cart and pains others by Play and that 's almost cheating but get the Lord Jesus Christ and you get all 1 Tim. 4 8. This world you see but do not you believe the other and the Resurrection-state if you do not you are Sadduces and irrational Do not you see all things spring again every year Dead Seeds and Corn bring the same Grain and shall not man spring again as well as Worms Flies and Spiders which seem to be dead all the Winter yet live again in the Summer Oh! believe the Resurrection-state and the Promises for Godliness hath one for both worlds But this lies in wickedness 1 Joh. 5. 19. Ephes 2. 2. Shall honours pleasures profits be your portion ever it cannot be Oh look ye after another world then Why choose you not then that that you would have when you come to dye let me dye the death of the Righteous and my latter end be like unto his Num. 23. 10. And every one will say and wish so Let go sin and sorrow take faith and you shall do it how much better is that than fancy heaven and earth than earth and not heaven God can give a thousand pleasures a river of pleasures Psal 36. 8. But vain sinful pleasures are certainly the way to hell 2 Tim. 3. 4 And I could never reconcile them and Religion together said a great one Lovers of pleasures that are sinful are really Lovers of Death yea the whores house goes down to death her feet take hold on hell Prov. 2. 16. 5. 5. He that cannot cease from sin and repent of it must needs be damned for it it is an ill bed-fellow and a worse grave fellow And a cutting saying it was to the Jews that they should dye in it Joh. 8. 21. If ye believe not that I am he you shall die in your sins sayes Christ Sinful lusts make men beasts and sinful wrath makes men Devils What! kill a man in anger Go into the field to seek honour but find Death and Hell live a Murtherer or dye by one If furious sparks did mind the sparkles of an eternal fire and how much the Devil is glad when he finds such fools they would never do as they do sight and damn one another for a thing of nought many times My Life is of more worth said the Philosopher to the rude Mariners who were swearing and careless in a storm than to be cast away And indeed Life is a thing to be valued at a high rate And upon a Life well spent depends Eternal happiness therefore 't is the wise and not fools that redeem time for Eternity The Aegyptians pictured time with three heads a Dog a Lion and a Wolf a Dog signifying Time to come flattering and a Lion to denote Time present strongly working and a Wolf denoting Time lost or past to be biting And Death on a dark Throne with a Rod in one hand and a Key in the other as if by one he drove us together and the other he lockt us up Oh Ladies every moment of time commands Regions of Blessedness when 't is improved but lost it becomes a Worm in conscience and eats to Eternity If men in health and Duellers did but mind this they would not send one another to Hell as they do Certainly such Duellers will be sad repenters as I said before in another world Do they believe a God or do they not If there be a God he is a Rewarder of Virtue and will certainly punish all unpardoned sins which lead us into Gulphs Snares and Rocks Say when temptations are upon you to any great sin Now are the Philistines come and the Cords of Death and Hell are upon me shall I be foolish base vile and unclean do this and wrong my own soul Prov. 8. 36. And all that hate me love death sayes Solomon Some vices have short pleasures long throws and after-pains if vice sin sinful sin and folly have spoiled youth Have a care of old Age one foot is in the grave What! sin all your life and have Heaven at last no it will be Hell And I had rather be in it sayes a Father without sin than in Heaven filled with it Oh! take a fair farewel of it betimes it never did will nor can do any one good no it cannot it brings all the losses crosses in the world on us here or hereafter And how can we think of going to Heaven if we do not live to it but leave a Hell of sin seeds and spawn by bad example behind us or if we should live for Heaven a little and lose it for want of living a little more would it not be sad A good bargain lost for want of a second or third bidding proves a great vexation many times one step more and all had been well and safe but to lose a Heaven for nothing for nothing for want of a little Religion and being serious in it bites to Eternity Oh! if you fall but a step or two short this will be your case and you will never come in Take heed and again take heed O ye great Ones of the times Lords Ladies and others that ye do not miscarry in the daies of Eternity
for our Souls And though our care be great for the Body yet a man may be as happy in Russet as in Cloth of Tissue A golden Cap and a rending Head a Silken Stockin and a sore Foot or a great Estate and the torment of the Stone or Gout in the great Toe is a grievous misery And I see sayes the Emperor that sovereignty commands no diseases nor the seas having set himself and chair on the shore at the Tides coming in crying back back and I command you proud waves back but the Emperor was fain to move And Bardue Coesar cryed I begot him mortal when word was brought him his only Son was dead which was the reward of Trophimus after he had finished the famous Oracle of Apollo and beg'd that which was the best for him and 't was promised in three dayes he should have it in which time he died But 't is our duty said Seneca to dye often yet one complained against the long life of a Raven and his own short but the old Romans counted it Ominous to see one and not two in the morning as if it had betokened Wife or Husband's death yet though that be the most known 't is the most unknown thing in the world The Sexton Clerk and Coffin-maker are most apt to forget their own though they nail up and bury others and the best Men Citizens and their Neighbours too when they have got their rings and gloves but 't is ill preparing for death when t is a burden to live Sick repentance is seldom true and 't is certain 't is labour and trouble enough to be head and heart sick and then a man can hardly do any thing but mind his ease or pillow Oh! put not off your Will but especially your souls weal and happiness to a dying hour My care was when young to live well and 't is now to dye well said a Heathen Physicians Lawyers and Ministers cannot be heard at once and it may be friends are troublesom too Come to live well is best and that will prevent the worst Oh! then play not the Courtiers part who some say do all things late Rise late Dine late Sup late and Repent late many times never but it is never too late if true but it should be of the whole man but when death has folded up mens dayes opportunities are all gone Moles see and Swans sing a little before they dye but a true Saint and a Simeon sayes let me depart in peace for mine eyes have seen thy salvation Luk. 2. 29. But the fashion of this world is to put men in mind of dying when they see they cannot live above a day or two longer but as I have lived uncertain so I now dye doubting said a wise man and a great Scholar yet after a thousand thousand millions of years eternity will be as long as ever sadly and suddenly will all worldly pleasures be turned into walking dreams and great Alexander is less now than a little whiteish to thistle down which the least wind or air rouls about the world passes away 1 Cor. 7. 31. time is short sayes Burroughs and sayes he the word signifies folded up to the last end or fag of it like a peice of cloth but eternity is still as long as ever Oh! set your house in order 2 King 20. 4. as the Prophet said to the good King if every one has not an house yet every one has a soul as well as a body and there be great affairs that concern both and the greatest wits in the world have been concerned for them said the Right Honourable the Earl of Northampton and have ever found sooner or later the power of God or Religion in their consciences yea the Great and Godly ones Oh my soul my soul said the French Cardinal And Oh mine said the wretched Pope And thou must never be merry more To dye safe is a good thing and the best of men are best at last and have heaven in their Bosoms and Breasts and say Let me go let me go Oh Christ thou are mine said another The Jews said God kissed Moses's soul out of him And the Minister said so he did a great Ladyes in Essex But though some men dye not so comfortably yet they all dye safely who have the habits of true Grace in their souls and many very bad men seem to dye quietly and go to hell like a Lamb in dull diseases consumptions senslesness and hardness of their hearts in sins for Satan can let men alone well enough when he knows he has them sure enough but 't is a sad thing to have a mans eyes never opened till they are sing'd and burnt open in hell break from him and sin now by true and timely repentance and you make sure work for ever Go forth go forth said one to his soul thou hast served God and trusted Christ many years and now Heaven is just at hand and this dying Body of mine shall live again as Job speaks Job 26. 27. and my Soul return with the Joys of Heaven to fetch it to it self Some say There are veins or strings in a man's Tongue which reach to the Heart and when they break he dyes But when heart and tongue shall speak this oh what a comfort is it in a dying hour Plato though a Heathen said All men almost were out of the way because they did not seek after the mind of God and that those did dye most comfortably that lived by reason and adored the first Being Therefore sayes Lucicrema to his friends when he had called for the Glass and combed his head Now clap your hands if I have acted my part well And Seneca sayes Since Nature has stamped a God in the mind of every man and the belief of him arose not from custom nor was enacted by a Law it necessarily follows there must be a Deity the belief is so natural And Cato sayes Epicurus did dread Death more than any thing in the world upon this account Lord Chancellor Edgerton sayes The Atheist and Prophane layes a wager with the Pious but upon mighty odds for one ventures his Life and Soul or the Life of his Soul for ever and the other but his Lust and Sin which is yet his Interest to be without and yet if it were on equal ground the disproportion is vast and infinite and what a sad surprize will he be in when by death he shall be instantly seized by horrid Spirits And this truth of reward and punishments will be tryed in a little time And 't is but a little while and every man shall be no man And though every one should strive to mend one that the world may be better yet may we not think that the world is angry with some because they are no worse When good men are sorry in themselves they are no better but he that is angry with sin and repents of it shall not easily sin in his anger when he
saved she presently ran mad to think she should mind little trisles and forget that Many scramble for a little Dirt Dust Gold and Honour but when Death comes they will cry out Oh my Soul I would give for Heaven so much said a Knight at Brumpton But it was once said of a Lady That she and her two Children did thrive in the Truth John 2. 4. We wish you and yours the like For the soul is more worth than the body yea than all the green and glory in the world besides And I would saies Sterry if God should put it to my choice that all the vines greens and flowers in the world should everlastingly wither rather than one soul finally perish for whom Christ dyed but yet yet for all this Christ is more worth being God-man than all the fouls in the world put together how much better are soul-comforts than bodily ones and so for mercies Oh! let me have the Cream sayes one and let others take the scum'd milk sorrow for sin and contrition is good but it must not keep us from believing and hopeing in him carnal joys breed sorrow but spiritual sorrow breeds joy and is a repentance never to be repented of 2 Cor. 7. 10. In wicked laughter the heart is sad or should be for sayes Christ woe be to you that laugh Luk. 6. 25. but in holy mourning the heart is secretly glad therefore blessed are all ye that mourn for ye shall be comforted Matth. 5. 4. but some mourn for the shame and not for sin sorrow lies heavier on the wicked than sin but sin is heavier than sorrow on the godly my sin is ever before me saith David Psal 51. 3. And against thee have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight 51. 4. Oh! that bad men would confess and go to God by Christ and repentance if they don't he will never come over to them whilst the world stands but send them into hell 't is the height of wickedness to do ill and think it well done and go on swearers swear again and swear for grace and think it a brave thing to be damn ye and so do poor Rascals Dray-men Footmen Coach men and Porters and all for grace the of imitating huffing Sparks but little do such Wretches Worms Atheistical Heathen Mortals think what sins they brought with them into the world and what hellish damning and despairing fears will tend them when they are going out unless they dye brutish or like one that has no sense of another world Dr. Manto Dr. Manto Fetch him quickly or some other good man said one A Horse a Horse a Kingdom for a Horse said crook-backt Richard and more would these give if they were able if they did but know how the Devil waited for their souls 'T was Saul's Case and a sad cry he made God has forsaken me and the Philistines are upon me and the Devils the Devils will be about such men if they do not repent Christ paid dear for their souls but those that buy sins with damnation set but little on them Let none of us fool our selves sin will prove a deadly downfal if we do not rise by faith and repentance in the mean time it never did any man good nor never will saies the Practice of Piety 'T is one thing to sin and another to be overcome or taken by sin but 't is sad if that which comes from God should daily cause us to sin against and forget him yet high fortunes lead some men to sad lives and fashions yea they think it strange to say their prayers or do as others do when they are newly come out of France and exceeding modish Oh! my Son my Son said old Fox when he was just come from beyond Sea sure this is not my Son Samuel in this habit But 't is a less sin or less danger to offend Christ or one of his servants than to be offended with Christ or his Church yet the least wrongs his own soul Prov. 8. 36. and private ones have publick shame many times yet 't is a lesser danger to commit a sin we are inclined to delight in than really to delight in the sin we commit Yet Fools will be Fools though they go to Hell for their folly But a wise man and a good will weep and sigh to see a foolish laugh and sin Come Gentlemen forsake it before it forsake you or you be forsaken of God 'T is a hard thing to lose him and all for nothing or to look up to Heaven with one Eye and down to the World and Vanity with another And 't is hard to commit one sin alone Sin hangs to sin as spawn to spawn and links to links in a Chain 'T is easie and hard to tell but a Lye something or other will tend or go along with it Come throw up the purpose and throw up the habit of all sin and you may do well enough The pleasures of it are but short If they say to you as Jael said to Sisera Turn in my Lord Turn in to me fear not I will give thee Milk or Honey But it proved a Nail in his head And I will leave one in your Conscience said that brave Bohemian Martyr John Husse and your sins will prove as a Nail there if they be not washed away And no man living can give a reason why he should commit the least against a good God Yet some that are very wise will give a reason for all other Actions But In good Troth and By Faith and Troth are great sins in Gown-men and Divines and Drinking Joking and Drolling will make them lose ground and not be reverenced 'T was pious holy Preaching strict and blameless living got their first Estimation in the world And nothing else will ever keep it up God's Servants are called his Sons and Daughters 2 Cor. 6. 18. And Ministers that Preach to them or the World either should be very holy Be holy for I am holy saith the Lord 1 Pet. 1. 16. Lev. 11. 44. They are called Suns Stars and Angels Rev. 1. 20. and Shepherds that must watch or give account for the blood of our Souls if they miscarry But I am free from the blood of all men sayes St. Paul Act. 20. 26. And I will seal with my blood what I have preacht said that brave Martyr John Philpot Latimer And he did so to the astonishment of all beholders for it abundantly gushed out at his heart after he had been a long time in the Fire Well good men and good Ministers have the Law Love and Grace of God in their hearts and do for love of Souls more than money Neither do they love chopping and changing But a great Benefice is a great temptation even to a good man but to many is certainly a great sin in Giver and Receiver But I will live and dye with my Flock as I should Joh. 10. v. 4. said a good man And 't is more honour to be
honest Mr. Perkins that old Puritan Minister did calling upon God for the pardon of all his Sins both as to Commission and Omission Policarpus being pierced with a Sword issued so much Blood that it almost quenched the Fire and amazed the Beholders as it were At his Apprehending they hurried him so fast along that they broke his Leg crying This is the Father of the Christians and the despiser of our God said the Heathens And says Ignatius the first Martyr as we read of When the Beasts have ground me and my Bones with their Teeth I shall be as God's White Bread and I will worship none none but the God of Heaven Said another And none but Christ none but Christ said that brave English meek and humble Martyr John Lambert when half burnt by Henry the 8th for denying the real Presence in the Sacrament The Soul is in the Body but not the Body So Believers are in the World but not the World said another Doctor Hall said The English Clergie were the Worlds wonder He means the Painful Pious Preaching ones and would some were in again that were long ago put out Tertullian wrote Day and Night and made an Apology for the Christians and complained That too many Lawyers did almost as much hurt as Souldiers But Pliny told the Heathen Emperor The Christians did none but pray'd in the Night and sung Hymns to one Jesus but they would not Lye Steal nor commit Adultery but did visibly eat together But the Souldiers wearing all Crowns of Lawrel upon their Heads for a great Victory which the Emperour had obtained A private Christian wore his upon his Arm saying It did not become him nor his Fellows to be Crowned with it Head Heart Feet Milt and Liver are all failing said a great Divine Arise make ready mount my Soul and go away I saw not you my Children when you were in the Womb God that fed you then will be a Father to you when I am gone and you shall not want I am weary of Sin and willing to Die God's Mercy is unspeakable One Saterday Morning especially I found the power of Religion and the certainty of the other World and Divine Eternal Love Glory glory to the Deliverer of my Soul out of all doubts about it Origen was fastened by the Neck with an Iron Chain his Feet in a pair of Stocks till he died Paul and Barnabas differed a little Act. 15. 39. But in Heaven Luther and Zyngulus will agree together said a Father though here in some things they could not Come Oh sweet Jesus Christ thou bright Morning-Star come I desire to be with thee said Holland Zepheron was said to be the Blind Man's Eyes and the Lame Man's Feet And the Lady Warwick gave both Books Clothes and Money for the Schooling both in England and Wales And a great Countess that lives in or near the Strand being lately in the Country was informed of a very poor Family which she went in Person for to see and finding the poor Woman Sick and Weak having two or three Children in the Bed and no other Boulster but an old Straw Cushion she presently caused a good Caudle and saw it made for the Woman gave her a very considerable sum of Money and ordered Boulster Bed or Blanckets for the Children and all this is good Charity and Humility too And to breed up poor ignorant Countrey Boyes to know God and themselves is the same which shall be endeavoured in your School-House yea 't is as much as to feed the Blind and Lame and in some sence rather more for the Soul is better than the Body To teach a young Bird to sing or young Boys to fear God is the best thing in the World The Light of Europe is the Gospel and the life of Preaching is for holy Living but Persecution brings Death and Life too Says a Father Death in one hand and Life in the other it kills the Body and crowns the Soul I have Lived long and Sinned long saith Beza but now I am willing and would fain Die to be rid of it giving God thanks for six things And some signal Mercies every good Man may find besides his daily ones Basil being profer'd Honours to Apostarize cryed They were changeable being threatned with Confiscation and Banishment he cried he need not fear he had little to loose and for Banishment Heaven was his Home or Country as for his Death they might do it with one blow You are mad said they Ay and ever will be for Divine Love is to me a never failing Treasure Francis Junus was converted with that Text In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God John 1. 1. And by this through the tender Mercies of God was I brought Home and when a Prodigal and a great Sinner comes Home there is great joy in Heaven Perkins converted a poor Thief that was going to be Hanged thus he wringing of his Hands upon the Ladder Perkins asked him why he was afraid to die Oh said he 't is t'other t'other Death I am afraid of Ah man come down a little and see what God's good Grace can do for thee and by Prayer so opened the nature of Sin and then of God's free Grace and Mercy by Jesus Christ for the Pardoning of it that he made the man both chearful and willing to Die He wrote many Books and frightned Sinners with that word Damn and yet would open the Blood Death and Merits of Jesus Christ in the Preaching of the holy Gospel Most wise Men desire the Lawyer and Phisician to deal plainly with them and Lords and Ladies should not love a Flatterer in the Pulpit nor a Chaplain that is not Holy Harmless or Exemplary in the Family Ambrose boldly reproved Theodotius the Emperor and used to say Men embrace Gold but refuse Salvation put off that on any account and catch at good Bargains The World is a Bird in Hand Heaven is one in the Bush like the Frenchman that would not leave his part in Paris for Paradise Theodoret said The delight of the Soul is to know its Maker And the great learned Earl of Leicester said Man differ'd in nothing more from a Beast than in his Reason especially Heavenly Reason Wisdom and Vnderstanding Hierom would not live in Rome because it savoured so much of Paganism and sinful Pleasures hardly of any true Christianity which is an inward Mystical and outward mortifying Thing and indeed it has not been long free from one Wickedness or another Ignorance Uncleanness Persecution Idolatry Sodomy and therefore well may she be called the Mother of Harlots who takes Money and Rent for so many Stew-Houses yearly and it is as good Money to him as the best which comes into his Cosser But if my Father or Mother Brothers Sisters and Children were all before me weeping and hanging on me to keep me in a sinful Life I would despise them all and fling them to the Ground saith
greatest of all Sinners said St. Paul And if I were equal says Deering in holiness to Abraham Isaac and Jacob and had the purity of Angels yet I would confess my self a Sinner and expect no Salvation but in Christ and from his Righteousness And if I had the excellency of all Creatures in Heaven and Earth I would still rely upon that for as there is but one Sun for all the World so there is but one Communion and Saviour for all Saints Oh! that I might live more to him or die to go to Heaven says a Father He is my Life he is my All said another And whenever thou art tempted to Uncleanness Lust or Pride consider what thou art already by Sin in respect of its desert and punishment and what thou shalt be in the Grave when thou hast lain a Month or two there and thy thoughtful Lusts and Plumes will quickly fall as the Soul is the Life of the Body so God is the Light and Life of the Soul When the Soul departs the Body dies and so the Soul dies too when God leaves it for when he forsakes us he utterly overthrows us and gives us a deadly Wound But Anselmus says That Christ died for Elect Men and Angels For Men that they might rise out of Sin and for Angels that they might not fall into it And if they should go to Hell that do not feed the Hungry and cloath the Naked Mat. 25. 42. what will become of them that oppress the Poor and take from them Prov. 14. 31. Ezek. 12. If want of Charity shall be Tormented what will become of Covetous Oppressors One said of Gregory the Great That he was the worst and the best Bishop worse than all that went before him and better than all those that have succeeded who used to be troubled when he read these words Son remember in thy Life-time thou receivedst thy good Things Luke 16. 25. A great Preacher said in his Life-time he was often tempted to despair but God gave him strength to overcome it But the same subtile Serpent in my Sickness would have persuaded me That my Labours and Fidelity in the Ministery had even merited Heaven but blessed be God that gave me strength to overcome him by bringing these two Scriptures especially What hast thou that thou hast not receiv'd 1 Cor. 4. 7. yet not I but the grace of God which was with me 1 Cor. 15. 10. These Texts made the Enemy get away ashamed Fools go laughing to Destruction as well as to the Correction But do any thing with me says another so thou save my Soul I had rather be in Hell without Sin than in Heaven with it Sayes Anselmus Ambition is a gilded Misery a secret Poyson and an hidden Plague the Parent of Envy the Original of Vice and Moth of Holiness Oh the unhappiness of great Men said a great Earl in the Tower that know no other end of their Greatness than to abuse Inferiours Young men middle-aged and old are oft surprized by Death and Ladies too while the Gown is making But this is life eternal to know thee the eternal true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent John 17. 3. And said a great Scholar and English Gentleman now in being I have studied almost all the Learning in the World and find more mystery in that short saying of Paul to Timothy This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the World to save Sinners 1 Tim. 1. 15. But when we consider what was done to John Huss of Bohemia and Thomas Cranmer Bishop of Canterbury in Queen Maries days we have just reason in this Land to fear the worst Dr. Cranmer was discourst about the lawfulness of King Henry's Divorce from Queen Catharine his Brothers Wife and his judgment was The King would do well to consult the Word of God and take able Divines counsel This advice was hearkned to and he sent for by the King and so dispatch'd away to Rome to dispute it with the Pope and the Earl of Wiltshire Ambassador along with him And it is said when they both came before the Pope the Pope put his Foot out for them to kiss the Earl's Spaniel being young fond and foolish and it may be train'd up catcht him by the Toe but however Cranmer and the Earl both scorn'd to kiss after him and presently after his return he was made Archbishop of Canterbury and soon after the Proverb grew Do him but a shrewd turn and he will be your Friend as long as you live And some say by Nature he Was a very Charitable Man I wish you Ladies for your own sakes were so too But we have no reason to complain nor I hope never shall against your most Noble Sex He was the freest from Passion of any man in the World But when they had set him upon a high Scaffold in Queen Maries dayes to make his Recantation for owning the Protestant Principles Dr. Cole having made a sad Popish Sermon to him to take his Death patiently and to rejoice in his Conversion as he called it After Sermon Cranmer said Pray you good People pray for me who have contrary to Truth and my Conscience for fear of Death Signed a Writing of Recantation for which this Hand of mine shall be first burnt holding it up with many tears running down his cheeks and at the fire he held it out that all might see it first burnt never stirring of it but once to wipe his Face to the grief of many Beholders in the Year 1556. But for John Huss he was burnt in the Year 1415. There being a Council about three Popes the Cardinals being divided after Alexander the fifths Death to which Council the Emperor commanded John Huss to go giving him his safe conduct to pass and return in which journey he preacht and set up letters of his judgment in every City At Constantine he was sent for by the Cardinals imprisoned and tyed up to a Rack against a Wall many Nobles and Lords of Bohemia petitioned for him but that would do no good But a good thing it is for great Lords to appear on the behalf of poor Ministers when imprisoned and persecuted for the Truth yea there were fifty of them in Bohemia that stood up and petitioned for him and Jerom of Prague A brave pattern for all Ages when the Truth is suffering but yet all signifi'd nothing For when the Council had degraded and condemned him he kneeled down saying Lord Jesus forgive them they know not what they do In degrading of him they pared off the hair so close that they even cut the skin off his Crown the Council having made an Order That Faith was not to be kept with Hereticks Going to be burnt they put upon him a Triple Crown of Paper all painted over with ugly Devils which when he saw he said My Lord Jesus did wear a Crown of Thorns for me and I will this for
his sake And now said they We do commit thy Soul to the Devil We believe it was in the Name of the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost for usually such wickednesses are so pronounced But I said John Huss do commit it to my dear Redeemer Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ As he lifted up his head the Crown of Paper fell off but they put it on again saying Let him be burnt with his Masters the Devils And as they tied his Neck with the Chain he smiling said This I suffer for Preaching of the Holy Gospel singing three times with a loud voice Lord Jesus Christ thou Son of the Living God have mercy on me He told them at his Death God would raise up out of the Ashes of the Goose for so Huss's Name signified in the Bohemian Language in 100 Years a Swan in Germany whose Singing would affright all the Vultures which was exactly fulfilled in Luther But for Jerom of Prague he was so bold and zealous that he wrote certain Letters which he sent to Constantine to be set up upon the Gates of Noblemen and Cardinals shewing the purity and clearness of his Faith and Doctrine for which he was accused and that he was ready to come and make good all he had Preached His great Crime was he had thundered against the ill Lives of the Monks and Fryers but being taken into custody he was sadly used fed with Bread and Water and tyed almost Neck and Heels together so that he sell sick After a long time they required him to subscribe That John Huss was justly put to Death which he did partly for fear of Death and hoping to escape their hands But he soon repented saying before the Council All the Sins he ever committed in his Life did not half so much gnaw and trouble his Conscience as that pestiferous Sin When they had condemned him he said I Cite you all to answer it within 100 Years before the most High Judge of Heaven and Earth in the mean time I leave a remorse and nail in your Consciences He was bound to the Image of John Huss and had a Paper-Crown of red Devils painted on his head When the Executioner went to kindle the Fire behind him he bade him do it before his Face saying If I had been afraid of Death I had not come to this place for I had opportunities to escape but this Soul of mine in burning flames Oh Christ I will offer thee And for his Oration that he made before the Council it is said That no Tongue is able to express that learned Elegancy and Braveness of his Speech shewing what the Best of Men had still suffered in all Ages Latimer was a zealous Papist till Mr. Blinny converted him and then he was made Bishop of Worcester he preached twice a day and in Queen Maries days he was laid up in the Tower As he rode through Smithfield he said that had groaned for him many Years He used to pray for three things First That as God had made him a Preacher of his holy Word that he might seal it with his Blood if called thereunto Secondly That God of his Mercy would restore his Gospel to England once again once again Shall we not prize it Thirdly That the Lord would preserve Queen Elizabeth and make her a Comfort to the Comfortless Realm At his Burning the Blood run out of his Heart so abundantly as if all the Blood in his Body had gathered there according to his Prayer which struck the beholders with Astonishment In the Fire he stroakt his Face with his Hand crying out Oh! Father of Heaven receive my Soul and so died 1555. Ridley in the same Year writing to Latimer he said Good Father assist me with your Prayers for unless God stand by me I shall play but the part of a white liver'd Knight At his hearing he stood bare till the Cardinal named the Pope and then he put on his Cap. A Woman weeping for him a day before his Suffering he cried Ah! Mistress I see you love me not it appears you will not be at my Marriage to Morrow meaning his Burning nor will be therewith contented A Friend offering to watch with him he cried I intend to go to Bed and sleep as quietly as ever I did in my Life At the Stake he cryed Into thy Hands I commend my Spirit Lord Jesus receive my Soul But the Fire being prest down by much Wood he desired for Christ's sake to let the Fire come up to him his lower part and Legs were quite burnt before his upper part so that he fell into the Fire He going one day by Water the Thames being very rough and the Watermen being a little fearful he cried Fear not you carry one that must be Burnt and not Drowned John Bradford was persuaded by Booker to enter upon the Ministry and he modestly complained of his want of Parts and Learning Oh! says Booker be not discouraged if you have not fine Manchet give them Barley Bread But being in Prison Condemned one comes running to him Oh! Mr. Bradford I bring you heavy News you must be burnt to Morrow I saw your Chain a buying At which he plucked off his Cap saying I thank God for it the Lord make me worthy lifting up his Eyes to Heaven saying Life with God's displeasure is worse than Death and Death with his true Favour is better than Life Oh England repent of thy Sins repent beware of Idolatry and false Preachers and take heed they don't deceive you A good Prayer And to another he said Be of good comfort my Brother for we shall have a merry Supper with the Lord. He was so Charitable that in a hard Time he sold his Jewels and Rings to relieve them that were in Want He was so humble that he often subscribed some of his Letters The most miserable hard Hearted unthankful Sinner John Bradford a painted Hypocrite Rowland Taylor was a great Preacher and would often visit the Poor and Sick and relieve them too when Bedridden but being threatned by the Bishop's Pursurvant he said I know my Cause to be so good and just that I will appear before them and to their Beards resist their false Doings I fear not their Lordly looks nor the Proudest of them all Going to the Fire he told the Sheriff I shall deceive a great many being a fat Man for said he I thought the Worms in Hadley Church-yard must have had me but now I see I must be Burnt Giving one or two Leaps and said God be praised I am almost at Home But the People cryed Oh dear Father and good Shepherd God help and succour thee as thou hast done us many times and our poor Children and so they went weeping all along the Streets for him To whom he said I have preached to you God's Truth and Word and now am going to seal it with my Blood In the Flames he cried Merciful Father of Heaven for Jesus Christ my
as great and experienced a Saint and Servant of Christ as ever liv'd that is an in-dwelling in every part of our Body yea and Soul too saith Perkins and Bishop Vsher Indeed both and every part of both is miserably defiled through Adam's Fall and this in-dwelling of sin in us makes good men mourn and hinders them also that they cannot do what they would and makes them too too often do what they should not Rom. 7. 19. I hope you Ladies and Gentlewomen find it so And this is the true cause of their mourning and complaining But blessed are they that mourn upon this so good and gracious an account for they shall be comforted first here 2dly hereafter and a thousand promises are made to them in the Holy Writ Comfort ye comfort ye my people saith the Lord. Speak ye comfortably unto Zion her Warfare is accomplished her Victory is ended her Sins are pardoned Isa 40. 1 2. And blessed is the man whose sin is pardoned Psal 32. 1. This real blessedness is beyond the tongue of men or Angels to set out and oh that it might be yours and that you could mourn and secretly weep and now and then on the knee drop a tear in the Closet upon this account that you have lived to your selves your Lords Pleasure Sin and the World so much and Christ so little God would certainly comfort you with a thousand secret Soul-comforts in the pardon of Sin the sense of his love and assurance of Christ to your Souls and this assure your selves shall be your last and lasting comforts if you be Sin-mourners and Forsakers of it But Thirdly Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the Earth Mat. 5. 4. Yea and God too in the Earth For thus saith he that is High and Holy I will dwell with him that is of a meek and lowly Spirit Mat. 11. 29. May this high and holy One dwell and abide in all your Ladyships Hearts Souls and Families may he secretly be your Comfort Day and Night but you must be meek and I am meek and lowly says Christ Humility is a great Grace in a great Person and well becomes your most Noble Sex yea and Lords too but this Meekness is a quiet submissiveness of Grace in your wills to the Will of God in all his Providences to you and yours whereby you say as it were with holy David If he has pleasure in me he will bring me back again And with good old Ely It is the Lord 2 Sam. 3. 18. And with Paul and his Friends after weeping for him The Will of the Lord be done Acts 21. 14. And like our Lord Jesus Christ in his Agony about passing of the bitter Cup in his Bloody Agony Not my Will but thy Will be done This is a brave frame indeed for Ladies on the Knees to hold up the little Hands kiss the Rod quietly and patiently submit to all the Providences Losses and Afflictions because God as a Father sends them for good and holy ends to his Servants best known to himself and if you patiently take them as his Children without Murmuring then are you Meek Patient ones indeed 'T is the sturdy Oaks that resist the Winds and are split but the gentle Reed yields And stubborn Sinners quarrel at the Providence and Will of God but good Men and Women submit serve some divine design or other and this is the way to inherit the Earth That is to say All your outward Earthly Comforts namely Honour Riches and Prosperity yea Heavenly and Inward too Does God take one Child Be quiet lest he take another Does he take one part of your Estate or Comfort He can take another yea He can take all as he did Job's and restore it again Blessed be his holy Name Job 1. 21. Oh! labour to be Meek and lowly and he will lead and guide you through the Wilderness of this miserable wretched sinful and bewitching World in all your plentiful Enjoyments till you come to himself in Glory But Fourthly Blessed saith our Saviour are they which do hunger and thirst after Righteousness What Righteousness God's Christ's Abraham's Isaac's Jacob's Jews and Gentiles Faith's Righteousness and the fruit of this Righteousness is Sanctification By Righteousness here is meant that which God imputes to Men or Women and makes Sinners compleat and happy in which is indeed his Son's Righteousness or that which is often called his Son's Active and Passive Obedience as God and Man in our Nature to the whole Will and Law of God Christ you know did all the Will of God in a way of Obedience Submission and Observance to his holy Law and so fulfil every Branch of it to a tittle for had he failed in one he could never have Justified us who do still come short in all as we are in our selves But he suffered all the Will of God too in a way of satisfaction for our Breach and Breaches of this his holy Righteous Perfect Good and Heavenly Law given by God himself unto Moses in the Mount Exod. 19. 20. Yea as he fulfilled this and satisfied for the Breach of it so he did the Levitical or Ceremonial Law also for he was Circumcised and Baptized for us in both and all which he stood as a Man or God-Man and Surety for us or as one in our Room Stead Place or Company And as he fulfill'd the Law for us in the Active Obedience of his Life so he did all the Law required or God ever desired of him in his Will to do and in his Death he satisfied the Justice of God for all that we or Adam ever did against him or his most pure and holy Law Yea he did it to the full uttermost and over too whereby he has as it were an infinite Overflowing endless Merit in his Hand to shew the Justice of God in our behalf why he should deliver us from Hell and all the Curse and Curses of the Law which dreadful ones you may read in Deut. 27. 15 16 17 18. which implies Eternal Death to all out of Christ for it saith Cursed is every one that continueth not in all that is written and not only so but to give us everlasting Life and Glory Pray Ladies mind this seriously for it is this Obedience of Christ and his Righteousness and that and that alone which being imputed reckoned and conveyed or given unto us becomes before God in a way of strict Justice and equal Righteousness our Justification and so eternal Salvation and you nor none of you nor any living can be saved otherwise and therefore well may and well ought you for to mind it And how Isaiah and Paul says He was made Sin and died for us as well as Born for us that we might be made the Righteousness of God in him 2 Cor. 5. 21. Now this Righteousness is called God's Righteousness Christ's Righteousness Abraham's Jews and Gentiles Faith's and the Saints Righteousness Rev. 19. 8. And first It is
Papists The last and general Closing Letter that is thus presumed to be offered ANd now most Noble Great and Right Honourable Ladies Gentlewomen and others 'T is not many Weeks nay Days since your poor Orator Supplicant or Petitioner was in his own and others apprehension at the brink of Death and the Grave and so many Days together But God was pleased by Doctor Cox my alone Physician to raise me up again And though in my Sickness my Life seemed to be flying away like an Eagle in the Air and the World and the Things thereof to be passing away as if they had never been yet yet I did secretly resolve if God should raise me up to perform or finish this poor little scribled and yet serious short brief and harmless Pocket-Book with the Ladies Letters which yet I humbly entreat your Noble Ladyships to peruse and view over and over in some serious leisure Hour persuading my self that though your Breasts are full of Piety Virtue Wisdom and Virtuous Thoughts yet you may find some if not many brief hints of Truth Religion and Virtue well worth your pious Thoughts or Memory for as Eternity is a very serious thing so every Sickness that brings one near the Borders of it or from the Borders of it should make us very serious and to Speak and Act as those that have been near another World though not in it And truly if I were no more nor longer to be in this than just to finish these few Lines and humbly on the bended Knee to present them to your Lilly Hands and so to lie down and die at your Feet yet would I seriously do it in the way of Prayer to your Honours First That the short Hints might be weighed and weighed again and again in your most strict serious and retired Thoughts whether they be really so as they seem to be hinted to you and if you find them indeed so to be by the standard Golden Rule Reed or Touchstone of God's holy Word then not to slight and say Pish Fool or cry This simple Man will never a done for 't is of more concern than so Truth is Truth and serious Things must and will be serious whether we mind or count them so or no. And this I assure you if ever you come as come you must to a Fit and Bed of Sickness I mean a thorow Sickness that your life seems in your own others thoughts to be flying away you will be then thinking of your immortal ever-living and never-dying Souls And it may be in a dowsed manner not knowing well where you are or what Day it is whether Day or Night The Watch Candle being in the Room the Curtains drawn little or no Company to speak to you because of the high Feaver or other Distemper but yet in that hour it may be Fears Doubts Conscience will be working and secret Questions will be working in you whether you must and shall Die now or no go to the Grave leave your golden Hangings Rooms Honours and Relations going to the silent and be seen no more whilst it may be are just in the middle of some great Design or other as your Supplicant was in these Papers or setting up of your little Charity-School at High-Gate But be it what it will every Design must break off if Death really come with and at the end of your Sickness and then no remembrance of you or yours will be after a very little while Oh Madams for our Lord Jesus Christ's sake and your own Souls I beseech you mind a little the house of mourning Eccles 7. 2. which he says 't is so good to go to and the Bed of sickness before it comes and especially what to do before it comes that its coming may not be as a damp and death to your spirits when it comes It 's said the Cockatrice never kills but when it sees us before we see it Oh be before-hand with your Sickness and prepare in Life for Death and Health for Sickness and assure your selves you may as well persuade your selves that Michaelmas will never come because April is and May is at hand as that Sickness and Death will not come because Health Wealth Honour and all about you is now as you would have it and more comforts seem to promise to you also from a Son or Daughter 's great Match or Purchase which you are just a making But yet Michaelmas comes in course and Winter too when one Flower will not be left But now against the height and heart of that and all that is cold and killing unto Creature-comforts set a never-failing good God aside make him your portion and with the Prophet Habakkuk say Though the labour of the Olive should fail Flocks Herds and the Fruits of the Field yield no increase yet I will rejoyce greatly I will joy in the God of my salvation Habbak 3. 17 18. But this must nor can ever otherwise be but by true Faith in the Love Life Blood Death and Merit of our Lord Jesus Christ with holy walking in the sanctifying graces of his Spirit six or seven of which you may eminently find I shall hint at in the first Sermon our Lord Jesus Christ ever preach'd Mat. 5. 3 4 5 6 7 8. First blessed are the poor in Spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven by purchase purpose promise and eternal preparation Mat. 25 34. Come ye blessed of my Father and receive a Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the World Oh blessed Poverty that enriches men with the Kingdom of Heaven This poverty of Spirit is nothing else but a sensible want of Grace and Christ and every good thing in our selves through the discovery of original sin to us by the Fall of Adam whereby we go out of our selves as knowing our selves to be lost by the purity and spirituality of God's most holy inward piercing Law the ten Commandments by which we go out of our selves as knowing our selves to be most miserable wretched creatures and lost in our selves seeing no hope nor help any ways but in Gods mercy thorough Christ and this brings us to be like the poor Prodigal or Publican Luke 18. 11. to cry Lord be merciful to me poor lost sinner and grant that I may find Christ and pardon for my Soul and by Prayer Reading Hearing Preaching Meditating make out after him in an humble persevering way And this is the Poverty to which the Kingdom of Heaven belongs that is the Gospel with all its Promises and everlasting Kingdom of Glory too which God grant you and yours may all find But secondly ver 4. Blessed are all they that mourn for they shall be comforted that is for sin in-dwelling of original and actual sin and upon that account cry out like great St. Paul O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of sin Rom. 7. 24. Mark Ladies Sin has a Body yea in Paul it had though he was