review your Catalogue of old Sins and your holy resolutions against them that you may be still humbled for the one and be put in mind to perform the other And because I have here mentioned the Catalogue of Sins I shall in the next place shew you the reasons and benefits of keeping such a Catalogue or Narative by you and afterwards direct you to the manner of doing it by giving you â—n Exemplification thereof in some Sins Reasons why we ought to keep such a Narrative or Catalogue of our Sins and the benefits of it 1. FIrst the committing of our Sins to such a Diary or Catologue â—eeps them in perpetual Memory and makes them in David's phrase Psal â—1 3 to be ever before us so that we may Novas agere penitentias renew our â—epentance for them which probably was â—ot so compleat at first as it ought to have been besides we should think such Sins never sufficiently bewailed and repented of and possibly too our memory may be too willingly treacherous we may forget them or at least the aggravating Circumstances of them we desire God indeed not to remember them but then we our selves must and ought 2. The committing of our Sins to such an Accomptal makes us presently to remember when God sends any Judgment upon us for what particular Sin it is Punishment is the natural effect and consequence of Sin God many a times spares when we deserve punishment but he never punishes us without our demerits yea God many times doth so adapt the punishment to the sin that we may very intelligibly read the one in the other and then we shall have this benesit that understanding the Cause we may hasten to the Cure confess and bewail the same kiss his Rod acknowledge the Justice of his proceedings and say Righteous art thou O Lord and just are thy Judgments This affliction is but the genuine product of my Sin I may thank my self for it and therefore I will bear the Indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him the Cup is bitter but salutary God chastens me here that he may satisfie his Justice and spare me hereafter And so the Sin repented of the removal of the Judgment soon follows seeing it hath answered that end for which it was sent 3. The keeping our sins in memory hath this great benefit in it to teach us how to arm our selves against the same sins for the time to come If we have been once foiled by an Adversary it is ten to one but if we have adverted to it we may easily remember what it was that gave him the advantage over us and so like Alfrid strongly prepare against the next Assault Si modo victus erat ad crastina bella parabat It will be no difficult matter having an account of your sin and the circumstances of it to re-collect also what inducements and temptations prevailed against you at what avenue the sin entred and so thou mayst immediately guard and fortifie thy self that thou do not twice fall by the same Stratagem 4. It is profitable that you may see what strength you have got over them and know how to keep your ground against them Though an Enemy be several times repulsed yet if he be still potent subtil and malicious he will not cease to assassinate King Alfrid sate as unquiet when he was Conqueror as when he was conquered Si modo victor erat ad crasâ—ina bella pavebat We have entered the lists against a strong and malicious Combatant 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Enemy of Mankind by way of Eminency and he is constantly upon his Guard going his Round and seeking whom he may devour and so subtil that like Hanibal he will lay an Ambush even in the smoothest Field let us not therefore â—emit our watchfulness or diminish our force lest he again enter and our last Estate be worse than the first 5. A fifth Reason is That we may frustrate the Devils great Design and Endeavour which is either to make them appear small in our Eyes when they are indeed very great or else to hide them altogether from us until the Judgment of the great Day No sin is indeed positively small being committed against a God of infinite purity and holiness but comparatively so with relation to other sins but yet the Devil is such an Impostor that he would needs perswade us that even great sins are no sins at all or very small ones peccadillo's and tells us as Lot of Zoar Is it not a little one 'T is but a small inconsiderable Lust a humane Frailty this will not ruin thy Soul many thousands are guilty of far greater than this Thus he will endeavour to hood-wink thee for the present but then at the hour of Death or day of Judgment he will take off this Vail and open thine Eyes when to thine astonishing amazement thou wilt find how miserably how irremediably thou hast been deceived The constant sight of thy sins will be apt to raise thy thankfulness to God for being delivered from the power of them Sin is the greatest Evil and if we once come to be sensible of it we shall not only fly from it but have our hearts enlarged with the greatest thankfulness to God for our delivery from the power and dominion of it Lastly The keeping of such a Catalogue is very profitable that by reflex thoughts on our sins we may be kept in the greater humility and low opinion of our selves We have generally in our Natures an inbred Principle of Pride which puffs us up with a vain conceit of our selves and more especially in respect of Grace with which being but slenderly imbued we are presently opinionated of our selves undervalue others and think that we have arrived to the very 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and heighth of Grace in a moment not unlike your young Sophisters who having suddenly suck'd in some of the Elements of Logick and Philosophy think as well or better of themselves than the Doctors of the Chair Now the serious remembrance of our former Obliquities and Follies will be apt to chastise this Vanity and correct our Pride It is storied of the Peacock that though his Train be never so much expanded and his Crest elevated yet one glance of his Eye upon his black Feet will presently depress his Crest shrink and contract his Plume In the highestâ— thoughts of our selves the consideration of our great enormous sins if we be any way pious or ingenious will humble us and make us confess That in us dwelleth nothing that is good He that covereth his sin shall not prosper but he that confesseth his sin shall find mercy The manner of keeping your Narrative and an Exemplification of it in some Sins SUffer no sin to pass by you unregarded and make every day a particular reflection upon the actions of the day as before directed that you may discover what sins you have been guilty of and what most inclined to And
and no doubt when it is performed with good ends and designs as it is an act of Austerity and holy Revenge upon our Selves so by God's Mercy it will procure that Mortification that we aim'd at by it and we shall find either the Temptation removed or God impowering us from on High with Grace sufficient to withstand it 3. It is very profitable and instrumental for the removing or prevention of Judgments and that either particular upon thy Self Family or Friends or National Ahab though a wicked King yet because he fasted and humbled himself before God tho positive Judgments were denounced against him he receives a Suspension of them in his days 1 Kings 21.27 and 29. and tho David found not that effect when he fasted for the Child 2 Sam. 12.16 because his Sin was notorious and scandalous and God would have the punishment as publick to yet it is manifest that David expected it and thought that the readiest way to attain it The Heathen Ninevites succeeded in their Fast for the removal of a general Judgment upon the whole City Jonah 3.5 they proclaimed a Fast and in the tenth verse you have the good success of it God repented of the evil that he had said he would do unto them and he did it not Lastly Fasting is very seasonable when we have any extraordinary thing to beg of God I do not give much Credit to the many Stories amongst the Romish Credentials and what great things have been done by Prayer and Fasting but we have a much surer Word of Prophesie we know what the effect of Hester's Fast was Esther 4.16 how she obtained her request for the deliverance of the Jews We know that when Paul and Barnabas were to be ordained Apostles there was Fasting as well as Prayer premised Acts 13.3 Therefore if we have any Internal Mercy or Grace to desire of God or if we have any extraordinary External Blessing to implore at his Hands let us unto our Prayer joyn Fasting also One Emolument more I will by way of surplusage subjoyn which probably with some sort of persons may be more perswasive than all the rest and that is the advantage of it upon the Score of Health In most Constitutions when the Stomach does as it were keep Holy day and is not charg'd with a new load or taken up with the concocting of new Food it hath time to digest Crude and Superflous Humours which oppress it and so after Concoction either manifestly evacuates or insensibly dissipates them so that that which could not be before digested by a full Stomach is now effectually performed by an empty one All the ways and passages of the body are by this means rendred open and ready for Exclusion Fasting powerfully opens Obstructions makes Respiration more Free and Easie and the Mind and all the Senses more chearful quick and vegate Fasting is not onely the Physick of the Soul but the Body too Many Diseases have been by this prevented many cured Hence that of Fernelius Quos igitor morbos inediâ— non sustulit Medicatione curato So that you see if we had nothing else in Prospect but our own Health Fasting or rather in this sense Abstinence seems most fit and reasonable It will be impossible for me to prescribe to every one how often they ought to fast Every Man's piety and his necessary occasions must instruct him in the frequency of this Duty From those who labour and are bound in the Sweat of their Brows to procure a Competency for themselves and their poor Family little of this Duty is expected However seeing they ought to separate some time before the receiving of the Holy Sacrament for Examination of themselves Prayer and Preparation they cannot do better than add Fasting also But for those who are not under such indispensible necessities and have any tolerable leisure their Piety certainly may well prompt them to set apart one Day every Week for Fasting Calling themselves to an Account of their Sins Humiliation and Prayers unto God for Pardon Preventing or Strength'ning Grace It is Observed even in the outward affairs of this World that those who keep the closest Accounts thrive best and though there be a Day-Book as they call it in which they set down the Debentures of every Day yet once in a Week at least these are all summ'd up and put into a better Form in the great Shop-book that they mey be found and review'd upon all occasions Thus ought the Spiritual Merchant do likewise though he examines himself every day for the Sins thereof yet he ought to have other particular days to look them over again that so having a few of them altogether it may make him more humble more penitent If thou therefore art a Man of leisure and God hath wrought in thy Heart to set apart one Day in a Week thus to humble thy self before him to be reconciled to and to be at peace with him and thy own Conscience thou hast thy liberty to choose which Day of the Week thou wilt for this purpose only give me leave to inform thee That it hath been the Practise of the Primitive Christians and that not without some reason and it is the Command of our Church too to set a part Friday for that purpose as being the Day of our Blessed Saviour's Crucifixion which was thus long observ'd by the Christians after his Passion Others choose rather Saturday for that Action which was likewise kept as a Fast by the Christians who bewailed our Saviours absence he now lying in the Grave And others observe the same day because it may serve as a preparation to the Lords Day which may be best sanctified when some Preparatory Religious Acts have gone before casting off the Cares and Thoughts of the World before-hand that they may attend upon the Lord without distraction Either of these I judge convenient enough neither do I think it necessary to bind you to either of them Prudence and your own occasions must prescribe to you in this However this is my Custom I always design Fryday for my Fasting day because if by any Interposition of Friends or Company or accidential Business I am then hindred from my Design I may have the benefit of another Day i. e. Saturday to perform my Devotions in You may also perhaps see cause to set apart a particular day or days in a year to humble your self for any great or capital Sin that day committed or to praise God for any great mercy or deliverance that day received And that you may perform this Exercise the better I shall give you some particular Rules or Directions for it Rules for a Religious Fast THe Evening before you fast insert some such Petitions as these by way of preparation into your private Prayers O blessed God to whom all hearts are open and all desires known and from whom no secret is hid I could not think a good thought unless thou hadst first infused it into my Soul
Lord I beseech thee mercifully hear my prayer and spare me who now confess my sins unto thee that I whose conscience by sin is accused by thy merciful pardon may be absolved from all my offences through Christ our Lord. Amen O most Mighty God and Merciful Father who hast compassion upon all Men and hatest nothing that thou hast made who wouldest not the Death of a Sinner but that he should rather turn from his Sin and be saved mercifully forgive me my Trespasses receive and comfort me who am grieved and wearied with the Burthen of my Sins Thy property is alwayes to have mercy to thee only it appertaineth to forgive Sins Spare me therefore good Lord spare me whom thou hast redeemed Enter not into Judgment with thy Servant who am vile Earth and a miserable Sinner but so turn thine anger from me who meekly acknowledg my vileness and truly repent me of my faults and so make hast to help me in this World that I may ever live with thee in the World to come through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen This being done you are next to review your Sins again and consider what were the occasions which drew you into each particular Sin and then consider and think of those ways and mean by which you may for the future avoid them and arm your self before-hand with reasons and holy resolutions against their assaults whensoever they invade which you may do well to commit to Writing After this consider what Graces directly oppose your Vices that you may in the next place petition for them for it is not enough that you are pardoned but you must also remember that that will not stand you in stead If you again return to your Old Vices An Examplification of this you have in one or two Sins following As January I fasted and upon Examination I found my self guilty of unclean and unchast thoughts and that with delight and approbation which sometimes brake forth into corrupt frothy Discourse and immodest or unclean Actions Upon reflecting into the Causes of this Sin I found them to be Eating and Drinking too highly keeping light or idle Company not keeping that Guard over my self as I ought nor behaving my self in all places with that gravity and seriousness as I should and giving way to the first motions of vain and impure thoughts Upon which I resolved to use my self to a spare low Diet to avoid Drinking much Wine or Strong Liquors to avoid light Company and not suffer mine ears to hear or my tongue to utter any frothy or corrupt Communication to carry my self always with a becoming gravity in my behaviour to deport my self as in the immediate presence of God remembering that he is a God of infinite Purity and Holiness I will be watchful over my own Heart that I do not permit any unclean thoughts or fancies to enter within me much less give them Entertainment and as soon as they offer themselves to my fancy I will endeavour to divert them by holy and heavenly Meditations And last of all I will be frequent in my prayers to God for a clean heart and purity of spirit and for the Graces of Temperance and Chastity When I fasted likewise I found my self guilty of muth deadness and dulness in my Devotions vain and wandring thoughts in them c. Upon Examination of my self I found the great Causes of it to be the want of keeping my self continually in a serious frame and temper of spirit my not spending some some time in Meditation before I came to pray my want of frequency in my Devotions and want of the due sense of God's great and dreadful Majesty and my own necessities of those things I come to pray for Upon which I resolved constantly to keep my self in an habitual frame and temper of piety to be more frequent in Prayer and to praemeditate of the dread and awfulness of that Majesty before whom I appear to consider before-hand that nothing but what is hearty and from the ground of the Soul will be accepted by him and how great need I have of those things I ask I will pray often for the Spirit of Devotion and Sincerity and will be sure to watch over my thoughts when I am at my Devotions but if any such enter I will presently repel them and then pray with greater fervency to cross the Devil's design therein These meditations and resolutions being over you may begin again thus O Lord increase my weak Faith Lord I believe help thou mine unbelief and give me Grace to live and die according to my belief for I believe in thee O God the Father Almighty Maker of Heaven and Earth And in Jesus Christ thy only Son our Lord who was conceived by the holy Ghost born of the Virgin Mary suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead and buried He descended into Hell The third day he rose again from the dead He ascended into heaven and siteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead I believe in the Holy Ghost the Holy Catholick Church the Communion of Saints the Forgiveness of Sins The Resurrection of the Body and the life everlasting Amen O Lord be with my Spirit O Most gracious God make me careful to discharge and perform all my Vows and Resolutions which I have made unto thee both in publick and in private Make me a serious and professed enemy to every sin and to all ungodliness especially O Lord to all c. Here meition thy most prevailing Sins and Corruptions and let no sinful thought surprize me without a sorrowful sigh no ungracious word pass me without a suddain retractation and devour confession no wicked action defile me without a sincere and godly humiliation Unto each measure of sin enable me to allow a due measure of sorrow Let those sins that have been reigning over me be at set times constantly revenged by me and as my body hath been a deep sharer in my Sins so let it have a daily share in my Sufferings Help me at set times to deny my self some of those outward Enjoyments which thou O Lord in mercy hast allowed me as a true sign of my godly sorrow for that sinful excess which I have too oft taken without thine allowance Let those sinful hours which have been vainly lost in idleness and emptiness be willingly redeemed in a constant observation of Religious Duties Let no day pass me with out a solemn and devout task of Devotion no hour without some sweet Ejaculation and when at any time the troubles and disturbances of this frail life shall deny me happy opportunities for those heavenly performances what is wanting in act let it be made up in desire which thou Lord I trust wi lt graciously accept and look upon because faithfully intended These and whatever mercies thou knowest needful and requisite I humbly beg in the name and for the sake of Jesus Christ
if there be any sin upon Examination found besides the common Frailties of humane Nature in which your Conscience must not be partial commit it to your Diary and when you summ up all on your Fast-day you may have a particular Paper Book for that purpose and proceed after this method Jan. I fasted and found my self guilty of unclean and unchast thoughts and with delight and approbation of my will Of some frothy and corrupt Communication and of a propensity to unclean Actions Upon Examination of my self I find that drinking of Wine or strong Liquors using too plentiful Feeding Softness and Delicacy and suffering my thoughts to rove and wander hath been the chiefest cause that hath drawn on this Sin Upon which I intend God assisting me thus to regulate my self for the future 1 First I will labour to keep my body under by a low spare Diet avoiding drinking much Wine or Strong Drinks by spare sleeping and using hard postures in my Prayers 2 I will keep a strict Watch over my Thoughts and not permit any that are sinful or unclean to enter within me much less give them entertainment but as soon as they offer themselves to my fancy I will labour to divert them by holy and heavenly Meditations and Ejaculations 3 I will avoid all light and vain Company frothy Discourse idle Talk and the like 4 I will pray often unto God for a clean Heart and purity of Spirit for Temperance and Diligence Likewise found my self guilty of mis-spending my time in vain and idle Thoughts Discourse Company Keeping Recreations c. which I purpose by God's grace thus to avoid 1 First I will consider every morning what I am to do that day what time my Business or my Studies exact from me and so draw out as it were a platform of the whole days business allowing my self so much time for this thing and so much for the other that I may have no time to spend idly 2 I will be often thinking how precious my time is that I shall shortly give a strict account for it and that for ought I know time this day may expire in eternity or at least may be no more as to me God hath taught me the great value of it by his strait-handedness in the distribution of it insomuch that he gives me not two minutes together but when he gives me one he takes away the other 3 I will fill up the chasms and intervals of my business with holy Meditations and take all opportunities to bless and praise Almighty God and to excite others to do the same Lastly I will watch over my own heart â—nd withdraw my thoughts when I perceive them ramble That so in the whole series and connexion of them I may be careful to prevent what is idle and impertinent and may use my self to think only of such things of which if a Man upon a sodain should ask me What it is I am thinking I may freely answer with that Royal tho Pagan Philosopher this and that Antonin Medit. p. 55. Found my self also Guilty of much deadness dulness and wandering Thoughts in my Devotions Exaamining my self I found the cause to be want of keeping my self always in an habitual temper of seriousness and piety want of due praemeditation before I come to pray and not keeping that watch over my own heart in prayer as I ought Upon which I resolved by God's assistance 1 First To endeavour to abstract my self from multiplicity of business and cares in the World and by frequent returns of my Soul to God to keep my self in an habitual frame and temper of piety continually 2 I will always before my Devotions prepare my self with such Meditations as these That that God before whom I am now going to appear is a God of infinite Majesty and Glory That nothing but what is hearty and from the ground of the soul is accepted by him That it is the fervent prayer only that is effectuaal and prevaileth with him How great need I have of those things that I come to ask and that for ought I know this may be the last opportunity I may have to put up any petition unto God 3 I will be sure to keep a strict watch over my heart in prayer and if I find my thoughts stragling I will presently chide my self and recollect them with greater fervency to cross the Devil's design therein 4 If all my care cannot yet prevent I will implore God's mercy and pardon after and continue to pray for the Spirit of Supplication and Devotion until I have obtained it Lastly Found my self guilty of some â—incture of Hypocrisie directing my Words and Christian Actions to the end of praise and esteem of Men to be thought Religious c. which I purpose â—o avoid 1 By considering the hainousness of â—his Sin how detestable it is to God â—nd odious to Man 2 If I embrace this praise of Men â—his is like to be all the reward I shall have for all my strict and holy Walking â—erily saith our Saviour of the Scribes â—nd Pharisees who did all their holy â—uties for ostentation and to be seen of Men they have their reward and may expect none from God in another World 3 Let me take care of harbouring any thoughts of my own Excellencies in respect of Grace c. or of ascribing any praise and glory to my self which is due only to God and say Not unto me not unto me but unto God give the glory Thus I have given you a taste of the manner of keeping your Narrative and the examples of it in some Sins which you may your self enlarge as there is occasion The use of this Narrative or Catalogue of Sins is obvious to every one especially good Christians who alone oâ— else such as desire to be so I suppose give themselves the trouble of perusing this Manual I have given some Account of it before and shall therefore now but briefly touch on it The great use of it is That on days of Fasting and Humiliation especially before the Sacrament you may read them over with a serious consideration examining your own Conscience strictly with all the heightning circumstances which may make them seem more odious in thy sight and raise in thee a deeper Sorrow Contrition and Repentance for them also to work in thee serious Resolutions against them for the time to come and that not only in general but particular every sin and consider what it was that induced thee to the commission of this or that sin and resolve to avoid the occasions of it for the future and also what it is that may be most useful to thee towards the attainment of this or that Grace which thou either wantest or is but faint and weak in thee And as it will be fit for thee to keep by thee a Catalogue of thy Sins so I judge it will be no less profitable also to preserve a Catalogue of any extrordinary Mercies that God
multiplicity of Lusts and Sins insnared with passions amazed with fears divided between cares and impertinencies wearied with labours loaden with diseases afflicted with want evil spoken of with and without a cause I have had many disappointments and losses been unfortunate in my Friends and Relatives and which is worst of all I have been daily harrassed with many impetuous Lusts and Temptations My sins have prevailed against me I have displeased my God and wounded my own Conscience interrupted my hopes of Heaven and am continually tormented with evil and wicked inclinations I find still a Law in my Members warring against the Law of my Mind and bringing me into Captivity to the Lavv of Sin and Death Those things vvhich I vvould do I cannot do but those things that I would not do those I do O Wretched Man that I am Who shall deliver me from this Body of Sin and Death that I carry about me I am afraid lest my Faith should fail lest having received the Grace of God and tasted of the heavenly Powers I should again be entangled by the Snares of my old beloved Lusts and so forfeit all my right to Heaven lose the Reward of all my strict and circumspect Walking and not continue faithful unto Death But O my Soul there is something the remembrance of which alleviates my grief and sweetens this bitter Cup These my sorrows will not last long a few years are the most and they will suddenly come and then I shall go the way whence I shall not return I shall then cease to grieve any more cease to sorrow cease to fear and cease to sin any more for ever All tears shall then be wiped away from mine Eyes and there shall be no more Sickness nor Sorrow nor Death nor Crying nor Pain I shall then have perfect rest and joy peace and quietness without any interruption for in his presence is fulness of joy and at his right hand are pleasures for evermore Though the way be foul and troublesome yet the Journey is but short and the end will be pleasant and peaceable and this consideration shall make me go cheerfully away with my present burthen for when a few years are come then I shall go the way whence I shall not return Meditations before or at Dinner or Supper 1. VVHen you see the Table spread Meditate on Gods Fatherly goodness and providence towards all his Creatures what vast infinite numbers there are and yet he carefully as a loving Father for his Children provides for them all their Meat in due season 2. Meditate how much more gracicious God is to thee who hath richly furnished thy Table and prepared these his good Creatures for thee without any great care or trouble of thine whereas there are many thousands in the World far better than thy self who are sentenced to a necessitous Condition and are enforced daily to tug at the Oar to delve in the Dirt to wash their Faces and bathe their Bodies in their own Sweat and yet for all this must be content at last with course Fare and hungry Stomachs 3. Meditate that every Creature of God is good if it be received with Thanksgiving and that it is sanctified by the Word of God and by Prayer and therefore resolve always to implore his blessing on the same in the first place 4. Meditate that several of Gods Creatures lose their lives to preserve thine whose Nature have as great a repugnancy to Annihilation as thy own and as thou now feedest on them so the Worms shall shortly feed on thee and let this excite thee to be temperate in the use of them and so to eat and drink as may the better dispose thee for any service of God thy Neighbour or thy self Let not the daintiness of the Cheer tempt thee to Luxury remembring that it is the greater Vertue to abstain when there is the greater Temptation 5. Lastly Meditate that God who filleth things living with his goodness expects no other return but praise and thanksgiving therefore when thou hast eaten and art full have a care that thou forget not to pay him that so easie Tribute Occasional Meditations Vpon the sight of a Dying Friend IT was not many days since that we had sweet Commerce together and our Conversation was dear to each other we frollick'd it till the Night parted us and then our separation was as the shadow of Death We thought the Nights tedious and the Days long till we should be again happy in each others Embraces but â—o how soon the Scene is altered my Friend is arrested by a fatal Disease and is just expiring his last Breath I came to comfort him and to receive Comfort and Satisfaction from him but alass all that is left me to do now is to be only a witness of his dying groans to close his Eyes and to receive his departing Breath Those Arms that used to hug and imbrace me at our first Meetings are now become so weak and languid that he cannot shake hands at parting nor lift them up unto his Maker That Tongue that was formerly the Conduit of Eloquence and Charm'd all that heard him by its sweet and mellifluous Expressions into a sensible but silent admiration is now become mute and speechless that he cannot as much as take his Vltimum Vale or bid me farewell at parting Those Ears that were heretofore delighted with pleasant Discourse and melodious Sonnets are now become thick of hearing and cannot distinguish between the soft murmurs of some and the louder cries of other his mournful Friends nor can admit of the least comfortable Advice in this his greatest extremity His Eyes sometimes so sparkling and sprightly that they would not suffer the most minute Object to pass their Advertency are now become so dull and heavy that they can scarce peep out of their Casements to behold the most glorious Object nay not so much as to salute that Heaven which he is just going to be the possessor of That countenance which a few days since was so amiable and pleasant as to attract the Eyes as well as raise the Envy of all beholders is now so pallid and ghastly and his Cheeks so bedewed with Cold Sweats that his dearest Friends and Relations draw the Curtains about him that they may not contemplate his grim Visage In a word his brother Body the Receptacle of his Divine Soul and partner with her in all her Actions which till now kept an indissoluble Relation with it is turning into Dust and says to the Grave Thou art my Father and to the Worms my Mother and my Sister Job 17.13 Good God how great a change is this in so short a span of time This shall teach me to put a very slight estimate on all the imperfect Perfections of this World and to seek after those things which alone are truly valuable This shall teach me also to think often of my latter end and all the days of my appointed time to wait until