Kingdome to wit when all thy desires shall bee satisfied both in praising and loving mee and when I shall bee all iâ— all Therefore it is that â—hou justly cravest and justly with thy whole heart deâ—irest in that Prayer which I gave â—hee Let thy Kingdome come Wherefore O daughter if thou lovest mee rightly â—aithfully fervently thou wilt desire with all thine heart this Kingdome that is this state or condition for this with sighs thou wilt pray to wit that my Kingdome may come wherein thou maist with most sweet love bee to mee united wholly in mee melted and molded And because as I said before this cannot come to passe but by death therefore this Death which is the gate and passage to life is to my Saints in desire and life in patience Hence thou seest how a soule perfectly loving mee feareth not death For whath hath such a Soule to lose by exchange of this miserable-unhappy life but the staâ—e of sinning snares of offending occasions of ruine deceits of enemies self-frailty feares with other innumerable Occurrents which straiten the Soule either ignorâ—â—t or weake or luke-warme not to speake here of the dangers of the body and therefore alwayes fainting and falling Manythings here would the soule have which shee ought not or which she even knowes nor though shee would have them Many things would shee which she cannot In many things is the soule ignorant blind and walking among Snares or in darknesse whence shee knows not how to free her selfe How then may shee not worthily wish how not rejoyce that shee is delivered from these sorrowes and dangers Why therefore O Soule doest thoâ— feare why dost thou not desire death For tell mee what evill shall death bring unto thee If thou fearest nothing in this world death can take nothing from thee If thou love any thing in this world it is with danger yea thou lovest thine owne danger Cease therefore to love the world before death that thou maist nothing at all feare death Furthermore if thou love me onely in this life joy for that thou shalt dye for that thou shalt never enjoy what thou lovest before thou dye But I know what thou fearest Truly thou lovest nothing in this world thou possessest nothing which thou wouldst not lose or grievest to lose yet feare and terror surprize thee because thou knowest not whether thou beest worthy of love or hate thou knowest not how thou art to bee entertained by mee whether to rest or punishment O daughter thou oughtst not to bee too curious after the knowledge of these things yea it is not expedient for thee to know them Stand constantly although thou feare in hope and affiance both living and dying set thy rest upon mee Thou canst not live well of thy selfe neither canst thou dye well of thy selfe Thou hast both from mee What if I shall give thee grace to live holily shall I not also give thee grace to die happily Seeing thou hast all things from mee expâ—ctâ—â— all things of mee how canâ—â— thou expect the one and despaire of the other Of thy selfe thou canst neither live well nor dye well Put thy trust thâ—reâ—ore in mâ— cast thy thought upon mee ground all thy feare and care upon mee As thou canst resist no tentation avoid no sinne living so neither dying If I forsake thee noâ— living if I faithfully prevent tentation and moderate it in thy life that thou maist beare it I am ready to doe the very same unto thee at thy death that thou maist vanquish it Never goe to fight with thine owne weapons but rely on mee If thou rely on mee I will fight for thee And if thou have mee fighting with thee and for thee what hast thou to feare who art nothing of thy selfe And as concerning the condition or quality of death feare nothing There is no kind of death that can hurt the just for the just man with what death soever hee shall bee surprized shall bee at rest Wherefore let it trouble thee nothing whether thou die at home or abroad in thy bed or in thy field neither art thou to feare whether the death bee naturall or violent which takes thee away For if one kind of death were more unhappy than another all my Saints surely were most unhappy the most part whereof in times past in the judgement of the world and eye of flesh most unhappily ended this life Which of mine holy Martyrs dyed a naturall and timely death Whom hath not the violence of the Crosse racke fire or sword extinguished Nothing therefore shall it hurt thee whether thou dyest of the plague or an apoplexy or any other kind of death in the bed or in the field Onely watch that thou maist bee found in faith hope and charity and no death or kinde of Buriall shall harme thee But forasmuch as speaking to thee I likewise speake to them who are as yet imperfect in my love I advise you all in this that yee love innocence and hate iniquity If thou hast at any time sinned what Soule soever thou bee cease grieve repent that thou hast sinned so long as thou livest Yet so repent if thou wishest to thy selfe a fruitfull repentance that thou returne not againe to thy sins or to thy former state of sinning Alwayes expect death and prepare thy self for it as if thou wert at this very present to dye But lest some devout institution should be waÌ„ting to the weake in spirit by which supported they may learne in some sort how to dye I will adde something more to these First therefore thou oughtest to remember what mine Apostle saith and what Truth it selfe speaketh Yee have not here an abiding City but ye seâ—ke for one that is to come unto which here in this world no otherwise than in a journey yee walke as Pilgrimes Now your Pilgrimage is ended when your life is clozed Death therefore is the very last line running betwixt this exile wherein yee are and the Countrey whereto yee goe so as there is no other gate by which yee may passe from this valley of your Pilgrimage and enter your Countrey your heavenly inheritage but by death Death then most certainly doth wait for you like as a most certaine end is limited to your life But this difference there is betwixt the good and evill that here in your Pilgrimage yee all travaile mixtly all I say albeit not all in a right way yee long after your blessed Countrey all yee so long as yee are in your journey although yee wander may returne unto the true way But when yee shall come to the end of your journey in the gate it selfe that is at the point of death yee are discerned that Some of you may passe from exile unto life others to misery and eternall death It is not then lightly to bee considered nor negligently observed how every one is to bee prepared before death come For there yee leave all things after you in which
neither remembers hee those prayers of ours which we so unseasonably presented but receiveth this one which we scarcely found yet found wee humbly offered For tell me Brethren what man is he with whom if his friend shall begin to talke and he will not answer him but observes him to decline from him and to direct his discourse unto another as if he were wholly aliened from him who I say could endure this Or suppose thou should'st intercede a Judge and addresse thy selfe to him in such a place as hee may heare thee and suddenly when thou should'st speake unto him thou leavest him or entertainest some trifling discourse with thy friend how could hee endure this Yet doth God suffer so many hearts of such as pray and thinke of many wandring thoughts while they pray I forbeare to speake of thoughts hurtfull I forbeare to speake of things depraved and offensive unto God for to thinke even of superfluous thoughts is an injury unto him with whom thou speakest Thy Prayer is a speech unto God When thou readest GOD speakes unto thee When thou praiest thou speakest with God But what Are wee to despaire of man-kind and now conclude that every man is damned when any wandring thought shall creepe in upon him and interrupt his prayer If wee should conclude thus Brethren I doe not see what hope might remaine in us But forasmuch as wee have hope in God for great is his mercy let us say unto him Rejoyce the soule of thy servant For unto thee O Lord doe I lift up my soule And how have I lifted it up As much as I could as much as thou gavest me strength as soone as I was able to lay hold on my fugitive soule So long as thou stoodst before me suppose him to speake in the person of God thou entertainedst such vaine superfluous thoughts as thou scarcely pouredst forth one fixt or stable prayer unto me What more canst thou answer unto this but that thou Lord art good and mercifull mercifull thou art in suffering me I fall away through sicknesse heale me and I shall stand strengthen me and I shall bee strong Meane time till thou doest this thou sufferest mee for thou Lord art gracious and very mercifull Not onely mercifull but very mercifull For our iniquity aboundeth and thy mercy aboundeth Yea full of mercy art thou to all such as call upon thee What is it then that the Scripture saith in so many places They shall call upon me but I will not answer Certainly he is mercifull to all such as call upon him unlesse it be for that some calling upon him doe not call upon him of whom it is said They have not called upon God They call but not upon God Thou callest for what thou lovest Thou callest for what thou wishest in thee thou callest for what thou would'st have come to thee Wherefore if for this end thou call upon God that money may come to thee that an inheritance may descend to thee that temporall dignity may befall thee thou callest upon him for those things which thou desirest that they may come unto thee But thou makest God here a furtherer of thy lusts not a favourer of thy desires Is God good if he give thee what thou would'st have What if thou would'st have what is ill were hee not more mercifull unto thee in not giving thee what thou would'st have Yet for all this if hee doe not give it thee God is as nothing unto thee For thou sayest How long have I sought how oft have I sought and yet am not heard But what hast thou sought Perchance the death of thy Enemy what if he also besought thine He who created thee he likewise created him Thou art a man hee likewise is a man But God is the Judge hee hearkneth both but hee heareth not both Thou art sad for that thou art not heard in thy prayer against him be glad that hee is not heard in his prayer against thee But thou wilt say I did not seeke this I sought not the death of mine enemy but I besought the life of my child What evill sought I in this Thou soughtst no evill as thou thinkest but tell mee what if hee were taken from thee lest Sin should change his understanding But thou wilt say hee was sinfull and therefore I desir'd that hee might live that hee might reforme his life Thou desiredst that he might live better but what if God saw that he by living longer would become worse How knowest thou then whether might more redound to his profit to dye or live Seeing then thou knowest not returne into thy heart leave this to the secret counsell of God But what shall I then doe wilt thou say How may I pray How maist thou pray As thy Lord hath taught thee as thine Heavenly Master hath taught thee Call upon God as God Love God as God Nothing is better than hee desire him covet him See how this princely Prophet calleth upon the Lord in another other Psalme One thing have I desired of the Lord that I will require And what is this hee desires Even that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the dayes of my life And to what end To behold the beauty of the Lord. If then thou desirest to be the Lover of God with thy sincâ—rest affections and chastest sighes love him like him long for him languish for him than whom thou canst find nothing more joyfull nothing more gracefull nothing more cheerefull nothing more diuturnall For what more diuturnall than what is sempiternall Doe not feare that hee at any time will fall from thee who hath made thee that thou shouldst not fall from him If then thou callest upon God as God be secure thou art heard thy portion hath relation to that verse He is very mercifull to all such as call upon him Doe not then say He hath not given me this Returne unto thy heart and discharge thy conscience examine it doe not spare it If thou hast at any time called upon God for temporall benefits assure thy selfe that therefore hee did not give them thee because they would not profit thee In this Brethren let your hearts be edified your Christian hearts your faithfull hearts lest yee fall into murmuring against God by being discontented when frustrated of your desires and in vaine it is to kick against the prick Make recourse to the Scriptures The Devill is heard and the Apostle is not heard How seemes this unto you How are the Devils heard They besought him that they might goe into the heard of Swine and it was granted them How is the Devill heard He besought him that he might tempt Iob and it was suffered him How is the Apostle not heard Lest I should be exalted out of measure through the abundance of revelations there was given unto me a pricke in the flesh the Messenger of Satan to buffet me For this thing I besought the Lord thrice
a soft bed a pleasant chamber and delight of the flesh Bee ashamed therefore O my soule when thou beholdest thy Lord hanging upon the Crosse Where imagine him to bee preaching unto thee and rebuking thee after this manner I tooke for thee O man a Crowne of Thornes Thou in contempt of mee wearest a garland made of Flowers I for thee stretched out my hands upon the Crosse wilt thou reach thine forth to pleasures and dalliance I dying could not quench my thirst so much as with water wilt thou seeke after precious Wines and Viands I both on the Crosse as likewise all my life long was full of reproaches and sorrowes wilt thou bestow thy time upon honours and pleasures I suffered my side to bee opened that I might make thee even partaker of my heart wilt thou have thine exposed and opened to vaine and perillous loves A Short and fruitfull Confession of a Sinner unto God for obtaining Contrition O God of inestimable and eternall mercy God of unmeasurable piety God the Creator and Redeemer of mankind who purifiest the hearts of such as confesse their sinnes unto thee who releasest all such from the bond of iniquity as accuse themselves before the sight of thy divine majesty I beseech the power and depth of thy goodnesse with inward groanes that according to the multitude of thy mercies thou wouldst grant mee to make a pure and sincere confession before thee of all my sinnes whereof my guilty conscience doth accuse mee And that thou wouldst give mee true repentance for all such things as I have committed in naughty thoughts depraved cogitations wicked consent unjust counsell in concupiscence and uncleane delights in evill and hatefull words in malicious works in my seeing hearing tasting smelling and touching I truly even in all my members doe conceive my selfe guilty above measure because as the starres of heaven and sands of the Sea so doe I know my sinnes to bee innumerable But to thee Lord who knowest all secrets and who hast said Thou desirest the repentance of a Sinner doe I reveale all the secrets of my heart accusing my naughtinesse and my many and very great sinnes which I have committed before the eyes of thy fearefull Majesty all my wretched life long especially these here for the better increase of thy devotion and spirituall compunction maist thou particularize some of thy grievouser Sinnes with all those my evils which are open and manifest O God of mercy in thy sight And now O most gracious LORD looke upon mee and have mercy on mee and give unto mee a fountaine of teares and remission of all my sinnes through thy free mercie and that with inward confession of heart and affection of desiring remission seconded with so sincere a Confession Rectifie and reforme in mee O most loving Father whatsoever is depraved in mee either in word deed thought through my owne impietie or the Devils subtiltie and by joyning mee a member to the unity of the Church make mee partaker of thy Redemption and admit mee to the Sacrament of blessed reconciliation as one who hath no confidence but in thy mercy and compassion A Confession of Sinnes by Blessed Augustine O Mercifull pitifull great and terrible God I confesse unto thee my sins to thee to thee doe I discover my wounds for thine ineffable goodnesse bestow a Salve on mee Thou O most mild Lord vouchsafedst to say I desire not the death of a sinner but rather that hee may turne from his wickednesse and live I confesse that my life is in thy sight wicked and crooked that my life is falling into the lake of misery and my Soule perishing in my iniquities Lust sinfull delight naughty works wrath pridâ— impatience malice envy gluttony ebriety theft rapine lying perjury scurrility foolish speaking murmuring detraction ignorance infidelity distruct negligence of Gods Commandements as contagious glagues have slaine my Soule Mine heart and lips are polluted My seeing hearing tasting smelling and touching have enfeebled my Soule with sinnes and I am wholly lost as well in my cogitation as action I beseech thee O my Lord God whose mercy hath no end draw mee unto thee as thou drewest that sinfull woman As thou gavest grace unto her not to cease from kissing thy feet washing them with her teares and wiping them with her haires so graciously vouchsafe to grant unto mee that according to the greatnesse of mine iniquities thy great love may bee in mee that for thine unmeasurable piety thou maist forgive mee all my sinnes Bestow on mee pardon for evils past continence for evils present and cautelous prudence for evils to come Grant mee I beseech thee before I dye most fully to obtaine thy mercy and suffer not my dayes to bee ended till my sinnes bee pardoned but as thou willest and knowest have mercy on mee Amen A PRAIER before the holy Communion HAile O most holy flesh and bloud of Christ wherereof I am made partaker in these visible Elements Haile O thou highest sweetnesse who knowest no losing takest away all loathing destroyest death restorest life Haile thou blessed food which leadest thine Elect from the exile of this World to their Country Haile thou happy Sacrifice which art offered upon the Altar of the Crosse to God â—he Father for the whole burden of our sinnes Haile thou Manna more white than snow more sweet than honey more precious than all gold Take from mee I beseech thee O good Shepheard mine iniquities that with a purified heart and spirit I may deserve to taste these Holy of holiest Let this venerable Sacrament bee an impregnable Safeguard to mee against the deceits of the enemy that fed with this wholesome Viand I may passe the slippery wayes of this life in a blamelesse conversation and come unto thee the Bread of life and the true Lord of Angels without any hinderance of the Devils subtilty or malice O Lord heare mee bee pacified with mee attend mee and tarry not from mee O my God for thy goodnesse sake For none can bee worthy of so great a mystery unlesse thou ô Omnipotent God make him worthy Amen A PRAIER OF Th. Aquinas to be said after celebration of the holy Communion I Give thankes to thee O holy Lord OmnipoteÌ„t Father Eternall God who hast vouchsafed to refresh me thy grievous sinner and unworthy servant for no deserts of mine but for thy sole mercy sake with the precious Body and Bloud of thy Sonne our Lord JESUS CHRIST And I beseech thee that this holy Communion may not bee of guilt to mee unto condemnation but a soule-saving intercession of remission and consolation Let it bee unto mee the armour of faith and the shield of good-will Let it bee unto mee a removing of my vices a rooting out of lust and licentiousnesse an increasing of Charity and Patience Humility and Obedience and of all Vertues Let it bee a strong defence against all mine Enemies as well visible as invisible a perfect quieting and composing of my
yee trusted Bee they riches honours friends or any other vaine thing whatsoever they shall availe you nothing at the houre of death but leaving these behind you ye shall goe naked unto the Tribunall of God to receive according to your works What blindnesse nay what madnes is it then to rejoyce here in your journey to love fraile things which profit nothing to neglect the time and occasion of living well and as if without all sense of God through drousinesse and drynesse of mind to rellish those things onely which are of the flesh to have in pursuit those things onely which are outward and not at all to consider the dangerous state of the inward man and so to come unto death Alas how innumerable are those miserably wretched ones who are here deceived with the love of the world ensnared and â—y drawing after them the yoake of the Devill how unhappily slaved And thus unexpectedly they come unto death with hearts both hardned and blinded Alas how unhappy is the end of their life with whom there was never Meditation of death nor preparation for health Such things therefore are to bee rejected as hinder the spirit delight the flesh Such things to bee relinquished as are not expedient In such sort is every one to live every houre as if that were his very last wherein he should dye and goe to judgement This is the most fruitfull profitable soveraigne counsell O Daughter that thou maist live after this manner and that death may be to thee no terrour Now then if not continually yet frequently should that houre bee presented before thee as if it were before thine eyes wherein thy soule going out of thy body shall be judged for all thy workes words and thoughts This therefore oughtst thou even at this present to injoyn thy selfe that thou maist live so even now to the end thou maist be found so prepared is thou wouldst thy selfe to bee prepared whensoever death shall undoubtedly come It is the property of a most sottish and senselesse heart to deferre amendment of life to that time when time expireth when thou canst live no longer when now thou art not to amend thy life but to appeare before God as thou art already amended Surely not sinnes only but even all things doe leave thee going out of this life Thou art not then properly said to leave thy sins when thou canst now sin no more But if whilest thou hast ability to sin thou cease from sin true repentance is never to be called late but this which is deferred to the end of thy life it is to be feared that it is seldome true For if through feare of damnation only being even now to die thou sorrowest and art ready for the avoiding of punishment to performe any taske be it never so extreme to obtaine pardon Thou sorrowest not out of charity in that thou hast offended God but out of selfe-love for that thou wishest to thy selfe good and not evill For thou sorrowest because thou hast brought to thy selfe eternall damnation by thy sinnes Wheras if thou rightly sorrowest for this only wouldst thou sorrow in that thou so disobedient unto me so unthankfull to me so reproachfull to me hast not exhibited due honour and reverence unto me whom thou oughtest with al affection to have honored whatsoever should befall thee Whereas now forasmuch as thou only sorrowest for thy selfe if danger were avoided or no revenge on sinne inflicted thou wouldst never lament though thou hadst offended me a thousand yeares together True Repentance which reconcileth the soule unto me springeth from Charitie and bewaileth this especially that shee hath so greatly and grievously contemned and offended mee her best greatest gracioust and most faithfull LORD GOD her Creator and Redeemer Hence I say is his heart wounded for as much as so unthankfully so disobediently and so proudly being buâ— dust and nothing hee hath lifted up his head against me Whosoever therefore desireth to dye happily let him as mine A postle admonisheth him live soberly justly and holily An evill death followeth not a good and just life but precious in my sight is thâ— death of my Saints yea after what sort of death soever they die that is whether they dye by water or fire or in bed But to prepare thee all the better for death the Meditation whereof is the life of every wise man take here along with thee this short exercise by which every one may instruct and addresse himselfe that he may take a course to be found in that state in which he may not feare to dye Wholesome Admonitions teaching a Christian how to dye well WHATSOEVER dying thou wouldst wish that thou hadst done doe the same even now Whatsoever thou wouldst have done doe not commit this unto others to be done after thy death but doe thou it thy selfe for if thou thy selfe bee negligent of thine owne salvation and a traytour to thy selfe how shall strangers tender thy happinesse Doe not repose trust in uncertaine and vaine promises neither commit thy selfe to doubtfull events So live and so doe that thou maist bee safe in thy conscience and as if thou wert this day to dye Never goe to sleepe till such time as thou hast examined the expence of the day with the conditions and actions of thy life Discusse and call to judgement thine heart and examine all thy senses and whether thou art become better or worse this day Never goe with that conscience to sleepe with which thou darest not dye If thou findest thy selfe in that state wherein thou fearest to dye search out the cause of this feare For peradventure some sins are in thee whereof thou hast not as yet repented or refusest to confesse or else thou forbearest to abstaine from sinne and occasions of sin or thou takest upon thee some profession office or vocation which I admit not of or thou continuest in hatred or in the unjust possession of others goods or too much affected to the desire or delight of temporall affaires or taken with the inordinate love of some creature or drowned with the delight of earthly and visible things as of honour and riches thou canst not turne thy selfe to mee tasting nothing of those things which are of the Spirit but onely let loose to outward things and loathing those which are divine therefore it is that thou fearest death Because thy soule guiltie of evill in her-selfe foretelleth what torments shall befall her after death If any of these shall be in thee thou oughtest to abhorre pursue and with all thine endevour to free thee of them For which purpose and the better effecting of so glorious a designe it may helpe thee much to imitate my steps embrace my crosse and with rigour of mind and with holy hatred commenced against thy selfe to denounce warre upon all thy vices to have a purpose to sinne no more frequently and infatigably to renue the same with no infirmitie or
pusillanimity to be dejected to contemplate the examples of me and my Saints to commend thy selfe to the prayers and exhortations of good men to give way to my inward and divine inspirations to exercise prayer and holy reading never to admit of idlenesse to love silence and retirednesse These and such like doe change the naughtinesse of the mind and chase away the feare of death When thou shalt come in the end of every day say thus to thy selfe Now is my life become shorter by one day Earely when thou risest say thus to thy selfe O Gracious God now am I nearer to death by one Night An Exercise whereby earely or whensoever thou willest thou maist poure out thy heart unto God for a good death O Omnipotent eternall God my Creator and Lover I praise laud adore and blesse thee for that thou so mercifully and patiently hast suffered mee groveling in my sins and my unthankfulnes even unto this houre to which thou of thy goodnesse hast brought mee enriching me with thy benefits conferring this life with things necessary for this life upon me with an angelicall guardian protecting me and inlarging towards mee thy mercy who am injuriously â—nworthy and a spectacle of misery Ah gracious God who knoweth whether the terme of my life shall be proâ—ogued to the evening O what death shall I desire O â—ost mercifull Lord God and Father give unto mee contrition whereby with all mine heart I may bewaile my sins and my offending thee And doe not suffer my soule to goe forth from her bodie till she be reconciled to thee in mercy adopted to thee by grace adorned with thy merits and vertues inflamed with most perfect charitie and accepted according to thy all-good-will and pleasure O most gracious Lord Jesu Christ if this I desire of thee do please thee grant it unto me although I bee most unworthy to bee heard of thee grant unto me I beseech thee for thine infinite mercies and the merits of thy passion that I may bee purged in this life from all my sins that dying and through vehement and true contrition pricked and in most ardent charitie to thee united I may goe out unto thee my most sweet Redeemer being forthwith freed and secured from all damnation and future affliction Notwithstanding O most loving Jesu I doe offer and resigne my selfe unto thee whether it be to poverty penury or any other extremitie for thy glories sake according to thy good-will and pleasure beseeching thee only this that thou wouldst bee mindfull of my frailty vilenesse weaknesse and misery as also of thy goodnesse and charity that thou wouldest never forsake mee nor depart from mee but that thou wouldst alwayes wholly governe and possesse mee according to thy good pleasure Amen An oblation of Christ and his merits to his Father O Omnipotent most gracious Father I doe offer unto thee all those pains dolours reproches stripes and rebukes all adversities extremities and labours of thine onely begotten Jesu Christ the Lambe immaculate which hee suffered in his body for me likewise all his actions and every of his members afflicted for me his bloud shed for me and with prophane feet trampled also his most noble and devout Soule separated from his lovely Body for me his merits likewise and infinite vertues Likewise the powers or faculties of his Soule and body and all those vitall parts in him given up unto death for mee albeit inseparably united to his Divinity yea the whole Christ thy blessed Sonne God and man omnipotent and infirme despicable and glorious doing wonders and hanging upon the Crosse these I say doe I offer unto thy sacred Majesty to the expiation and satisfaction of all my sins and of all the world and to the mortification and extinction of all mine evill passions affections and vices to the supply of all my negligences and to thy praise and thanksgiving for all thy benefits O God be mercifull unto me a miserable sinner for his sake Have mercy on mee for the love of Jesu Christ thy beloved Son THE DYING mans Diary Or A Christians Memento mori Divided into a five dayes Exercise THere are who all the yeare long present the figure and feature of Death before them by some certaine Exercise and prepare themselves no otherwise for death than if they were even then to dye and that for the space of five dayes continually The first day they meditated of the griefes infirmities which goe before death and horrour of death unto all which they resigne themselves The next day they thinke of their â—ins confessing them with so great diligence and intention as if they were to dye presently after their confession Therefore they spend this day in sighs and teares The third day they come unto the blessed Eucharist with all the fervour they may receiving it as their Viaticum in their passage from this their exile The fourth day they make continuall supplications unto God for the unction of the Holy Spirit whereby they might be illuminated and the hardnesse of their hearts mollified And this they do as it were for extreme unction The fifth day they become most fervent Supplicants unto God for a spirituall death wherby they may perfectly dye to the world to themselves and live with God And to everie of these dayes may be applyed proper Psalmes and Prayers as also divine invocations giving of thanks for all benefits conferred by God upon them all their life long Profitable Counsell for one approaching neare the point of death O Daughter seeing thy selfe in this extremitie prepare thy soule for God so order and dispose here in thy life time of thy goods temporall that after thy death no difference nor debate may arise It is most profitable for thee to dispose of thy goods in thy life time and to redeeme thy sins whilest thou livest with works of mercie Whatsoever thou wouldest recommend to others to doe for thee labour to doe it of thy selfe For if after death thou go to eternall torment the Provision of a Will a pompous Funerall Almes and Doales after death what will these availe thee when thou art damned Offer these Oblations to me now whilest thou art living that thou mayest not onely be delivered from thy sins but by increasing in my grace never fall into damnation but by my preventing grace preserving thee from sin persevere in good works even to the end When death draweth neare see that thou wholly free thy selfe then from all unnecessarie cares and imployments strive to meet me immaculately affectionately faithfully promising nor presuming nothing of thy works but through my assured mercie to obtaine Salvation And in this faith committing and commending thy selfe and all thou hast in this world to my providence and good pleasure receive the Sacraments humbly and devoutly Those peculiar priviledges and graces also which have power in them through my merits and are given by mee as a treasure unto the Church albeit many oft-times abuse them
man is composed and compacted by so much more difficulty and violently is he dissolved hence it appeareth that the separation of my body and soule was more painfull than the death of others Also my blessed flesh by how much more it was freer from all spot or blemish of sin by so much also it became more sensible of torments Now concerning my Spirituall martyrdome which I suffered in my Soule as I said before unto thee it began at such time as I was first conceived in the wombe of my mother or that my Soule was infused into my body and continued without intermission 33. yeeres and a halfe till such time as my Soule was separated from my body upon the Crosse. So as I became a Martyr even in the Wombe of my Mother Wherfore I was not so much as one moment without the most bitter martyrdome of my Spirit Because whatsoever I suffered in the Night when I was taken or the Day following when I was slaine in mocking reviling spitting nayling and stretching upon the Crosse c. This throughly and wholly my most holy Soule long before suffered But thou art especially to consider that those dolorous piercing darts of the Virgin my blessed mother became the excessivest Object of my sorrowes who having a tender and respective eye to all my dolours in perfect Charity as became the condition of her motherly excellency so much grieved for my sorrowes as was sitting for such a woman to grieve And all the sorrowes of my Mother continually wounded my mind So as my Mothers Crosse ministred unto mee a new Crosse. Another Object of my continuall sorrow was all those martyrdomes which were at any time done or to bee done upon any of mine Elect for me So as in very truth I say unto thee that all those paines griefes tribulations persecutions and miseries which any man was to suffer or should suffer aswell in body as in soule from Adam even to the very last man that shall bee borne to the end of the World all these I suffered alwayes in my Soule must fully and through my compassion they did more hurt me and more sharply grieve me than any mans corporall paine which hee actually suffereth ever personally did And there are two causes which give sufficient testimony of the truth hereof One is because I in the glasse or mirrour of my Divinity did behold all things created and to bee created things past present and to come which were to me present And I from the very first instant of the infusion of my Soule into my Body began alwayes to observe till such time as I gave up my Ghost upon the Crosse all the paines which I was to endure and whatsoever all my Elect from the beginning of the world had at any time suffered and such as being not yet borne were to suffer even to the end of the world all this I suffered in the inferiour faculties of my Soule And in each of these was I more inwardly and grievously tormented in my Spirit than any one could be in his owne proper body at such time as hee is to suffer tortures or torments Another cause which procured so great paine in my Spirit was abundant love For love begetteth griefe and heavinesse in the spirit So as by how much thy love towards me was more intensive or greater by so much more is thy soule tormented with my Death and Passion And because I have alwaies and above comparison loved thee and every man more than hee can love himselfe therefore have I suffered greater paine than all that which any one hath ever suffered upon earth or was to suffer or shall suffer to the end of the world Thou knowest that when Paul had consented to the death and stoning of Stephen and did persecute Christians I said unto him Saul Why persecutest thou me And yet he persecuted not me in my owne proper person but in the persons of my beloved friends because what good or evill soever befalleth my friends befalleâ—h me And this proceedeth from the great love which I beare unto men Thus therefore maist thou consider how and by what meanes my Passion exceeded in paine the passions of all that ever suffered or shall suffer because I suffered both in my Body and Soule and that immaculate and by nature delicate and for so long time to wit for thirty foure yeeres did I suffer martyrdom in my Spirit both for my selfe and all my Elect. Laurence in one night was broyled on a gridiron Bartholomew in one day was slaine Katherine in one houre was broken on a Wheele c. All these tortures never hurt any one of them so much in their owne bodies as they tormented me in my Soule for thirty foure yeeres Whence Isay Truly he hath suffered for our infirmities and borne our sorrowes And therefore I could never laugh but often weepe appearing as one of forty yeeres when I was scarce thirty Which came to passe by reason of the continuall Justice which I incessantly bore for my Passion that was to come and the suffering of my Elect which I alwaies clearly beheld and painfully suffered by strength of imagination Whereupon I oftimes said unto my Father Many are my grones and my heart is sorrowfull To thee likewise doe I say that thou maist bee moved with compassion and affection towards mee that my life is waxen old with heavinesse and my yeeres with mourning Sinner Surely O my good Jesu as I have heard and understood no conceit can sufficiently apprehend the depth of those anguishes and sorrowes of thy most holy Soule nor griefes and passions of thy Body But a very deepe question doth trouble my mind to wit how heavinesse paine or anguish could befall thy blessed soule seeing it was alwaies in great joy through Contemplation of thy Divinitie which was so amiable to behold that if the damned in Hell could but behold the amiable countenance of God as the blessed Spirits doe in the Kingdome of Heaven they could bee tormented by no griefe nor heavinesse either by the fire of hell or sight of the Devils in hell Christ. It is true that my pure and blessed soule was glorified albeit my Body was mortall For my Soule from the very instant of her conception and ever after even when I was upon the Crosse was as glorious and in as great joy and delight in respect of her superiour faculties as she is at this day in heaven sitting at the right hand of God my Father But in respect of her inferiour faculties she was in a continuall and incessant heavinesse and sorrow for the causes aforesaid Which could not bee by course or order of Nature that in one and the selfe-same soule together and at once there should be so great joy and so great heavinesse for this was miraculous and supernaturall Because according to the course of nature joy and delight doe expell sorrow and griefe so as they cannot suffer together in one and the
my Crucifying in their manners who imprint the signe of my Crosse for their defence in their foreheads that by his Law they may bee formed by whose Faith they are armed For otherwise he disloyally beareth the stampe of his King whose will he doth not observe Neither doth hee rightly protect himselfe with his signe whose command he doth not obey Sinner O good Jesu vouchsafe to bestow on my hearing a fuller joy by recounting to mee thy most unworthy Sinner the rest of those benefits and fruits arising from the dayly remembrance of thy most holy Passion Christ. The memory of my death by a dayly ruminating thereof ought to burne upon the altar of thy mind for many reasons First because thou canst doe nothing more acceptable unto mee than to exercise thine heart in my most holy Passion with love compassion reverence and imitation Whereof thou canst not doubt being assured thereof by many authorities of holy Scripture Wherefore I doe advise thee to stamp my painfull love and loving paine in thy soule and to be thankfull unto me saying Set me as a signet upon thine heart As if he should say Love mee as I love thee Remember not onely how great things I have done for thee but how sharpe and unworthy things I have suffered for thee and see if thou doest not give mee an ill requitall if thou doest not love mee For tell mee who loves thee as I doe Who desireth to be loved of thee as I doe Set me therefore as a signet upon thine heart that thou maist love me with all thy strength upon thine arme that thou maist performe those things which please mee with all thine affection upon thine heart that whatsoever is deare unto thee thou maist set aside for me and alwaies preferre me and alwaies more and more love me Secondly thou oughtst continually to remember my Passion because by it thou art led by the hand to the love of God For by my Passion I have shewne to thee the quantity of my affection And love deserveth love againe Understand what I say I would not reedeme man with praier for so oft times man freeth man from captivity Nor with the price of gold and silver for so sheep and Oxen are bought but with the price of my bloud that by the price of the thing bought my love might bee weighed Do not therfore dis-esteeme thy worth consider oft times thy price If I had redeemed man with gold or silver it might have beene thought that the soule of man had beene comparable â— to temporall riches That which is redeemed is more precious than that by which it is redeemed Therefore the soule of man is more precious than my bloud Thirdly â—or stirring of devotion Whence it was that Sampson found an Honeycombe in the mouth of a dead Liâ—n I am the Lion of the Tribe of Iudâ— in whose death the honeycombe of devotion is found wherewith the spirit of man is refreshed O that thou wouldst seriously consider how upon the Crosse my mouth appeared like one halfe-alive open and my tongue bloudy surely if thou hadst an heart of iron it would have melted with compassion and devotion The fourth fruit arising from the memory of my Passion is that in it is found a guard of defence against all Enemies Whereupon my Apostle Peter Christ suffered for you arme your selves likewise with the same mind And I say Enter into the rocke As a Souldier who unable to withstand his enemy in the field flyeth to his Tents Briefly the Enemy shall prevaile nothing against him whom the daily exercise of my Passion doth delight The fifth is because with no exercise is man so much enriched as with my merits applied to him and made his by the hand of faith for the foundation of all grace and the root of merit as it hath sole relation to me and derived to man by Faith in me consisteth in the sorrow of heart and body for my Crosse. For this cause mine Elect Apostle said I have esteemed my selfe to know nothing but JESUS CHRIST and him crucified And that devout sonne of my blessed mother Bernard It is my highest philosophy said hee to know CRIST JESUS and him Crucified But thou oughtst to grieve because there are many enemies of my Crosse. For the lovers of pleasures are my persecutours they are guilty of my death not as authors or fautors but as contemners 〈◊〉 my death These are they who make the merit of my Passion in them of no effect who make themselves unworthy of mine heavenly blessing unspeakable glory who living in their delights laugh at the mysterie of my Passion who tread mee the Sonne of God under their feet and lay reproach upon the Spirit of Grace A carnall life is an injury unto God contempt of my Crosse and redoundeth to the contumely of all the blessed Trinitie The sixt is the allaying of the labours and dolours encountring man in his way of repentance and life of Religion For a devout faithfull Souldier hath no feeling of his owne wounds when hee seeth the wounds of his loving Captaine And to this end have I contemned all earthly goods that I might shew how they were to bee contemned and sustained all adverse things that I might teach how they were to bee sustained The seventh is the extinguishing of carnall desires for with the sight of my Passion whatsoever is carnalâ— decreaseth The eighth is the stirring of compunction and repentance for sinues For who is he that grieveth not highly when he recals to mind how his sinnes were so odious to God the Father that for taking them away he would have his beloved Sonne crucified and put to death The ninth is the begetting of good hope and considence For in my Crosse the Sinner hath his Sanctuary as a murderer flying for refuge to the Church-yard Nothing is so bitter even unto death which may not be cured by my death I have changed the sentence of thy eternall punishment into the crucifying of my Body subject to a dolorous languishment For I in that sentence which Pilat pronounced against me taking upon me the person of all Sinners to purge their sins wherein they had long laboured was adjudged to death for all Sinners Sinner I conceive and contemplate by this which thou my good Jesu hast said that albeit this sentence was very unjust and therefore execrable in respect of thee because man had no power over God the wicked over the just yet in respect of us it was manifold common modious and profitable and the reason hereof is amiable and venerable because hee wholly reversed that sentence pronounced upon the first man for sinne For the sentence of a dolefull exclusion was denounced against him Whence it is written The Lord cast out man from the Paradise of pleasure and set an Angell to keepe the way of the tree of life But happy and honourable was thy sentence because 〈◊〉 called back a banish'd man for by this
to goe back Let it not then delight thee to stand in the course of piety but endevour alwaies to walke in the way of the Lord. In thy conversation bee cheerefull to all distastefull to none familiar to few Live to Godward devoutly to thy selfe chastly to thy Neighbour justly Use thy friend as a pledge of affection thine enemy for a triall of thy patience all men to a well-disposed benevolence and wherein thou maist more effectually worke to beneficence While thou livest dye dayly to thy selfe and to thy vices So in thy death maist thou live to God Let meekenesse appeare in thy affection mildnesse in thy countenance humility in thy habit modesty in thy habitation patience in tribulation Let facility be in thine accesse decency in thy dresse humility in thy presence affability in thy discourse benignity in thy wayes charity in thy works Let constancy be in thine eie content in thy chest temperance in thy cup. Observe moderation in thy desires discretion in thy delights Think alwaies of those 3. things past Evil committed Good omitted Time mis-speÌ„ded Think alwaies of these 3. things present â—he shortnes of this present life the difficulty of being saved the fewnesse of those that are to be saved Think alwayes of these three things to come Death than which nothing is more horrible Judgement than which nothing is more terrible the paine of Hell than which nothing more intolerable Let thine Evening Prayers redeeme the sinnes of the forepast day let the last day of the weeke reforme the offences of the dayes gone before Thinke in the Evening how many soules are that same day thrown head-long into Hell and give thankes unto God for that hee hath given thee time to repent in There be three things above thee which ought never to depart from thy memory That Eye which seeth all things that Eare which heareth all things and those bookes wherein all things are recorded Wholly hath God communicated himselfe to thee communicate thy selfe likewise wholly to thy neighbour That is the best life which is wholly employed to the behoofe and benefit of others Render to thy superiour obedience and reverence to thy equall counsell and assistance to thy inferiour succour supportance Let thy body be subjected to thy mind and thy mind to God Bewaile thy evils past disesteeme thy goods present covet with all the desire of thine heart those goods to come Remember thy sin that thou maist grieve Remember thy death that thou maist cease from sinne Remember Gods justice that thou maist feare Remember Gods mercy lest thou despaire Withdraw thy selfe as much as thou canst from the World and devote thy selfe wholly to the service of God Thinke alwayes how chastity is endangerd by delicacy humility by prosperity and piety by employments transitory Desire to please none but Christ feare to displease none but Christ. Beseech God alwayes that as he bids what he would so he would doe what hee bids that hee would protect what is done and direct in what is to bee done Endevour thy selfe to bee what thou wouldst have thy self thought to be for God judgeth not according to the outward semblance but according to the inward substance In thy discourse beware of much speech because account shall be required of every vaine word Whatsoever thy works bee they passe not away but as certaine seeds of eternity are they bestowed if thou sow according to the flesh from the flesh shalt thou reape corruption if thou sow after the Spirit from the Spirit shalt thou reap the reward of eternall retribution After death neither shall the honours of this World follow thee nor heaps of riches favour thee nor pleasures enjoy thee nor the vanities of this World possesse thee but after the fatall and full period of this life all thy works shall follow thee As then thou desirest to appeare in the day of judgement appeare such in the sight of God at this present Thinke not with thy selfe what thou hast but rather what thou wantst Pride not thy selfe for that which is given thee but rather become humbled for that which is deni'd thee Learne to live now while thou maist live In this time is eternall life either got or lost After death there remains no time for working for then begins the time of rewarding In the life to come is not expected any worke but payment for the worke Holy Meditation may beget in thee knowledge knowledge compunction compunction devotion devotion may produce prayer Great good for peace of the heart is the silence of the mouth By how much more as thou art divided from the World so much more acceptable art thou unto God Whatsoever thou desirest to have aske it of God whatsoever thou already hast attribute it to God He is not worthy to receive more who is not thankfull for what he hath received Then stops the course or current of Gods grace to man when man makes no recourse by thankfulnesse to God Whatsoever befals thee turne it to good so often as prosperity comes upon thee thinke how occasion of blessing and praising God is ministred unto thee againe so often as adversity aâ—â—ayles thee thinke how these are admonitions for the repentance and conversion of thee Shew the force of thy power in helping the force of thy wisdome in instructing the force of thy wealth in releeving Neither let Adversity bruise thee nor Prosperity raise thee Let Christ be thy scope of thy life whom thou art to follow here in the way that thou maist come to him there in thy countrey Amongst all other things let profound humility ardent Charity be thy greatest care Let charity raise thine heart unto God that thou maist cleave unto him Let humility depresse thine heart lesâ— thou becom proud so leave him Esteem God a Father for his clemency a Lord for his discipline a Father for his sweet power a Lord for his severe power Love him as a Father devoutly feare him as a Lord necessarily Love him because he will have mercy Feare him because he will not suffer sin Feare the Lord and trust in him acknowledge thy misery and declare his mercy O God thou who hast given us to will give us likewise to performe THE SORROWFULL Soules solace Gathered from Saint Augustine in his Tract Upon the 62. Psalme Upon these words My Soule thirsteth for thee my Flesh also longeth after thee BEhold here how the Soule thirsteth and see how good it is for the Soule that thirsteth to wit because shee thirsteth after thee There are who thirst but not after God Every one that would in his owne behalfe have ought performed is in heat of desire till he have it effected and this desire is the thirst of the Soule Now see what various desires are in the hearts of men One desireth gold another silver one desireth possessions another inheritances one store of money another stock of cattle one a faire house another a wife one honours another children You see
the most precious bloud of our Lord Jesus Christ and that for his great love towards mee no merit of mine doe confesse and acknowledge publikely or by this hand-writing or in these words before the Omnipotent God and before the whole hoast of Heaven and before you so many as stand here as witnesses about me if necessitie shall so require that I am and desire so to dye a son truly obedient to the holy Catholique Church with that â—inceritie as becommeth a Christian. And I beleeve and confesse generally all and everie part particle portion or article of the Christian faith to the beleefe whereof everie Christian stands bound especially all those particular points whether plainly expressed or necessarily implyed in the twelve articles of Christian faith for as much as they were delivered unto us from the holy Spirit by the twelve Apostles and recommended to us for Evangelicall truth And I farther beleeve and adhere to their inter pretations or expositions yet not to all or everie one but to those onely which were published by the holy Fathers received admitted â—pproved and confirmed by the most sacred Councells and tried by the truest touch-stone of infallible Scripture And to be briefe I beleeve whatsoever a Christian ought truly to beleeve In which faith so immoveable and firme I rejoyce with all mine heart to dye holding and offering this writing in mine hand as a most impregnable and invincible shield against all the insults assaults deceits and subtilties of the Devill And if it so come to passe which God forbid that by instigation of the Devill or violence of sicknesse I should thinke speake or doe any thing contrarie to mine Attestation aforesaid or should fall into any apostacie diffidence or desperation I wholly revoke and reverse that whatsoever or howsoever it shall be here in the presence of you all and make it as voyd and of no effect as if I were distraught of my wits when I did it Wherefore I appeale unto you all that are here present and to thee O holy Angell to whose guard I am committed that yee beare witnesse of this my Protestation before the Omnipotent Judge Now for as much as concerneth my selfe I doe pardon and forgive all injuries of what nature qualitie or condition soever as have beene done mee desiring heartily that the like may bee done to mee by those whom I have at any time offended either in word or deed I doe likewise crave and desire with all mine heart that I may bee made partaker of all good works which either are already done or shall be hereafter done by holy men through the whole Church whensoever or whereinsoever their office or ministerie may be usefull to mee but principally of the most bitter Passion and most innocent death of our Lord Jesus Christ. And may this my naturall voluntarie and desired approch of death stand through his merits and mercies for all my sinnes And I wish to God that I had never at any time sinned either against God or his Lawes or my Superiours or my Neighbours or my selfe Lastly I give thanks to mine Omnipotent God for all his benefits bestowed upon me and I commend my body and soule into his hands and to the bitternesse of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ to whom be praise and honour and dignitie for evermore Amen AN ELEGIE OF St. Dionysius a Carthusian of the judgement of death and the sundrie casualties thereof TO Earth returnes whats'ere from Earth had birth Flower fades shade vades what 's bred is brought to Earth Nought judge I long that doubtfull bound can stay To morrow day may be my onely day Short is that day to day which well may be My day my doome a fearefull day to me A fearefull horrid day when all my store Is clos'd in clay and I can earne no more Who thinks his dayes long 'las he thinks amisse Nor long nor safe is one whole day of his In vaine speake I of dayes dayes not exprest When not one day nor houre can promise rest Thy long liv ' d hopes if so thou like extend Yet nought of nought shall come to nought i'th'end Thouâ—ands ten thousands thousand thousands were On Earth now Earth whose names lye buried here This onely rests that each receive his hire Good works deserve good gifts ungodly fire Behold the fearefull judge thy finall doome Prepare thy selfe this dreadfull day will come Feare then and quake compose direct thy mind Live to dye now and suffer what 's assign'd An Epistle of Ludovicus Blosius written to an especiall friend upon the perfecting and publishing of his worke entituled The Parlour of the Soule BEhold thou hast my dearely beloved in Christ The Parlour of the Soule which thou hast so long time desired Having now lately written The spirituall Glasse both for thy selfe and mee I had purposed to have added nothing thereto howbeit afterwards I could by no meanes satisfie thy desire unlesse I annexed unto it The spirituall Iewell Crowne and Casket all which this our Parlour containeth Which truly came later to the Presse than thou wished but take it in good part being done by the pâ—rpose and ordinance of God Now if thou setting aside sometimes thy more weightie cares and employments become delighted with the reading of such simple bookes as are published by mee as thou seemest to be delighted I doe advise thee that first thou enter into this Parlour and diligently consider and discusse those things which are therein And afterwards that thou take into thy hand that Psychagogia which I have collected some yeares agoe out of Augustine and Gregorie For the doctrine of the Fathers set downe in these two Books shall mightily comfort and confirme thee being of so good disposition and inflame thee to the love of God thy heavenly Countrey Let it not be tedious to thee ofttimes to read over these and such like devout works yea though thy reading afford small or no sweet relish to the palate of thine heart For too delicate is he who casteth aside all such holy and wholesome directions as he had once read or heard and will not read nor heare them any more I give thanks unto my Lord Jesus for that thy Brother after such time as he had read over that Tract of mine entitled Comfort for the weak hearted and now by mee published hee becomes now lesse afflicted with inordinate feare than before Let him ascribe that reliefe as received solely from God and his holy Doctors who speake unto him in that Tract of comfort He does well surely to grieve and sorrow for that hee hath offended God without measure or number all the by-past time of his life neverthelesse hee is to have his affiance and confidence in the boundlesse sweetnesse of Gods mercie Let him thinke how most of those who had slaine Christ afterwards received pardon by beleeving in Christ to the end truly that all men should learne that no crimes or offences are so
selfe but a Planet in both Fixt I could not bee till some constant Calling admitted mee I resolved then seeing I found nothing either in Court or Citie but cares Cares in the one of getting to hoord and gather cares in the other of getting to spend and scatter in the one more rinde than pith in the other more pith than rinde This partaking more of Complement that of Substance yet a naturall straine of Insinuation in both but their Objects different The one making a cringe for fashion the other for gaine While the former makes his vowes too familiar with his protests to be beleeved the other sees too deepe a glosse of his commodities with shopoaths to be lik't The one with a low dook of your Servants Servant proclaimes him the Servant of time and no ones servant This I wholly dislik't for I found the title of Servant otherwise applyed by that Divine Vessell of Election that devout Sanctuarie of Sanctification that pure Mirrour of Supreme Contemplation His title was as it was likewise of others of his Fellow-Labourers Paul a servant of Iesus Christ Iames a servant of Iesus Christ Iude a servant of Iesus Christ. With this Complement These began their Epistles A Sainâ—-like Preamble an heavenly Courâ—â—hip Such as all Christians are to imitate The other with his subtill weights and measures reserving ever my best thoughts for the best made mee suspect him that hee sold his commodities by retaile and his conscience by whole sale Upon review of these I say I resolv'd to leave those Cinnamon Trees of the Court with their sweet rindes and those Palmato's of the Citie with their broad shades and to turne honest Countrey-man where my Parents providence had setled a competent estate upon mee Here I lookt to finde nothing but plaine dealing where I found in very deed nothing lesse For upon a more serious perusall of that life with the benefits that rose from it and conditions of those who were borne and bred in it I found a cunning Colt wrapt up in a russet coat Men as apt to catch as if they had beene hatcht in the Harpies nest Such as would not stick to hazard their part and portion in the Tabernacle for a Symoniacall Contract And still I went on to dive into the qualitie of those Ilanders Where I found some pining through want others repining at their neighbours wealth few or none coÌ„tent w th their estate yet none so poore in estate as hee would not though hee spared it from his belly have a fee in store to maintaine a suit Long I had not remained in this fashion till it pleased the Prince to put mee in Commission for administration of Iustice a vertue and a choyce one too yet such an one as by the abuse of man not of time may be compared to the Celedony stone which retaineth her vertue no longer than it is rubbed with gold For my carriage therein I appeale to such as knew mee many imperfections and failings Heaven knowes accompanyed mee which by an humble acknowledgement of mine owne wants an earnest desire of supply by Gods grace became so rectified in mee as what before seemed crooked was by that golden Rule of his divine Will in mee streightned Thus have I passed my dayes traced many wayes where the longer I lived the more I sinned which caused mee to wash my couch with teares and to remember the follies of my Youth Manhood and Age with anguish of heart O how much it now grieves mee to have grieved so much at the sight or thought of gray haires and to have grieved so little at the thought or sight of my sinnes May it then bee my care to call for grace lest I bring my gray haires with lasting sorrow to theiâ— grave O may the remainder of my dayes teach mee to number my dayes that I may goe to him and live with him who is the length of dayes His Death MEMORIALL X. WElcome thou unwelcommest to man because I have in part puâ— off man through his grace by whom I am and who for mee became man to free mee from the curse of the Law due to man O Death how terrible hadst thou been unto mee if hee who dyed for mee had not conquer'd thee And yet many things present themselves before mee which highly perplex mee Sinnes nothing but sinnes muster themselves before mee to affright mee Yea sinnes which I never thought of till now appeare foule and ugly unto mee But I know my Redeemer liveth and that with these eyes I shall see him Though the Furies of Sinne and Satan enter their pleas against mee though my secret Sinnes tell mee that I am the child of disobedience that I have justly incurred Gods heavie wrath and displeasure and that my strange sinnes have deservedly made me a Stranger and Alien to the house of my Father Though my whole course hath beene a continued curse by transgressing his Law who satisfied the Law for me Though I have made every Creature mine Enemie by offending that heavenly Maker who made them and me Though I finde no good thing in mee not one Witnesse within mee to speake for mee Not one day nay not one houre of my life without Sinne to accuse mee Not one poore worke of Charitie so pure and without Vain-glory as to plead for mee Not one Friend amongst all those many who profest themselves mine to appeare for mee Yet have I One who h'as vanquished Death Sinne and Satan One who will Cure my Wounds because I have opened them and Cover my Sinnes because I have discovered them One who will bring mee home to my Fathers house bring forth his best roabe to adorne me put a ring on mine hand to inrich me and bring me to his Great marriage Feast which shall for ever refresh me One who wil turne his Curse into a Blessing and with the sight of his Dearest Selfe satisfie my longing One who as hee made his Angels Ministers for mee on Earth will make them my Companions in Heaven One who though hee could see no good thing in me will of his owne free goodnesse supply mee One who will send his holy Spirit to witnesse for mee and will shew to his Father those Prints of his Love those Skars of his Wounds to speake for mee One who will evince the testimony of Sinne so as though it accuse mee it shall never impeach me One who is all charity and with the eyes of mercy will looke on my misery and in this houre of my necessity will plead for mee One who when all my friends shall leave mee will cleave neare mee and at the houre of my death will so defend mee that mine Enemie may have no power over mee Yet for all this old Acquaintance cannot be so easily parted I feele a trembling in my flesh it is death to her to be divided from her Soule Therefore shee desires still to bee a Cottage though a crazie one for the entertainment of
very Wind h 'as as great a share in them as shee h'as Nor did they deserve so much loving when they were in their very height of enjoying Being such as were got with Care kept with Feare and lost with Griefe proper things to dote on The fulnesse of them could not stay one poore Fit of an Ague nor get a reprive at Deaths hand for a minute Besides that long unwilling Adieu of the unhappie possessour at his heavie departure O Death how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that liveth at rest in his possessions Seeing then no outward thing should so much delight man as to withdraw his thoughts from the Maker of man Or so trouble him in his passage or translation from Earth as to divert his affections from heaven in his remove from Earth Seeing all things are not onely vanity but affliction where such as are highliest possest of them are most ensnared and deluded by them Seeing the beauty riches pleasures and contentments of earth are no sooner appearing than vanishing no sooner found than lost Why doest thou tremble O my flesh why are thou so troubled O my Soule and why art thou so disquieted within mee put thy trust in the Lord and hee will deliver thee Yea but I heare thee in a silent secrecy framing this reply These worldly respects are not the things that make Death appeare so terrible unto mee Noe I can freely bid farewell to the world there is nothing in it that makes mee enamour'd of it I see nought at all in it but sinne or occasions of sinne Neither did I ever possesse ought which did not afflict mee more in the forgoing than it delighted mee in the enjoying Tell me then poore fearfull soule what is it that so much troubles thee in this thy passage What is it that makes thee so shake and shudder in this thy dissolution O my sinnes my sinnes it is the remembrance of my sinnes which makes mee unwilling to depart from this place where I committed them or to fix mine eyes on that place which is so pure as it cannot abide them I cannot thinke of that place wherein I have not sinned nor of that houre wherein I have not highly transgressed And can one minutes repentance discharge such long arrerages O my perplexed soule remember to thy comfort that divine Cordiall At what time soever a Sinner repenteth c. As I live I would not the death of a sinner c. My mercie I will not take from him There is mercie with the Lord and therefore is hee feared Hee shall call upon mee and I will dedeliver him in the time of his necessitie Draw yet nearer and thinke of the saying of that sweet Father O humble teare thine is the Kingdome thine is the Power thou art not affraid to enter in and appeare before the presence of the Judge thou though thou enter alone shalt never returne alone whatsoever thou askest thou shalt have thou overcommest the invincible and bindest the Omnipotent This Angelicall Wine will bring thee to the societie of the Angels Doubt not stagger not Raise and rouse up thy selfe with the wings of faith Whence comes it that the Soule dyeth because Faith is not in it Whence that the bodie dyeth Because a Soule is not in it Therefore the Soule of thy Soule is Faith No evill then can befall thee so thy faith doe not faile thee Where watry eyes make faith their Anchor they promise a calme Sea and a safe arrivall to the Christian passenger And though late repentance be seldome true yet true repentance never comes too late That devout and well-prepared Father when hee was readie to die with much sweet assurance and Christian confidence spake thus to Stillico and others about his bed I have not lived so among you that I am ashamed to live longer to please God and yet againe I am not affraid to dye because wee have a good LORD Though thou canst not in thine owne approvement so truly say this crowne thy passage with a devout wish Desire to bee dissolved and to bee with Christ Present him with a pious devotion to thy inward'st thoughts Imagining him even now bowing his precious head to kisse thee spreading his gracious armes to imbrace thee his Angels comming forth to meet thee the whole Hoast of Heaven to conduct thee to the Palace of Eternitie after this thy approaching dissolution from this vale of misery Let nothing divide thee from that love which is in thee to Christ Iesus One Houre in his Courts is better than a thousand in the Courts of Princes Humbly commend thy selfe to his protection who made thee to his affection who redeemed thee to his direction who sanctifi'd thee Feare it not timorous soule but thy Fathers power will defend thee his Sonnes Wisedome will enrich thee the Holy Spirits goodnesse will comfort thee even in these pangs of death which assaile thee Oh how sweet is the remembrance of these things to mee There is nothing now that may divide mee from Him to whom I am spiritually espoused There is no Friend so deare to mee as Hee who gave his life for mee No Honour so highly valued of mee as his who became a reproach for mee that by his owne dishonour hee might honour mee No pleasure so delightfull as his presence whose sight shall ever cheere mee No possession like his fruition who is my portion in the Land of the Living to whom to bee joyned shall ever joy mee Every minute then seemes grievous every moment tedious till I bee dissolved that I may see him after whom I have so longed to whom to bee united I have so thirsted in whose sweet presence to remaine in whose Courts to abide I have so desired These pangs I feele are to mee cheerefull these Messengers of my approaching dissolution to mee gratefull these humane wrastlings which I now endure to mee delightfull I know well I am such metall as I must bee tried before I bee fined O! as I draw by little and little nearer my end so may I in true love draw nearer to thee To thee my Redeemer in whom my trust is placed my confidence planted my hopes crowned my Pilgrim-dayes happily closed my heritage after these dayes of my Pilgrimage possessed I feele now my longing Soule fleeting from this darke Cell this noysome shell of corruption every gaspe now promiseth a dissolution My breath is corrupt my dayes are cut off and the Grave is readie for mee I enter'd this world with a Shrique and I leave it with a Sigh Nor doe I sigh for that I love it or am unwilling to leave it but for that I have beene too long divided by living in it from Him in whom my desires are here fixed there filled The houre is come and it is welcome the houre of my translation to glory Come LORD JESUS come quickely Amen FINIS Errata's PAge 102. line 7. for He reade They. p. 116. l. 8. for