be neerer thee in thy last what differs that from this but in time Correct thy dulnesse vpon former proofs or els at last thy deuotion shall want life before thy body 19 Those that come to their meat as to a medicine as Augustine reports of himself liue in an austere Christian teÌ„per shal be sure not to ioy too much in the creature nor to abuse themselues Those that come to their medicine as to meate shall be sure to liue miserablie and dye soone To come to meate as meate if without a gluttonous appetite palate is allowed to Christians To come to meat as to a sacrifice vnto the belly is a most base brutish idolatry 20 The worst that euer were euen Caine and Iudas haue had some â—autors that haue honoured them for Saints And the Serpent that beguyled our first Parents hath in that name had diuine honour and thankes Neuer anie man trod so perilous and deepe steppes but some haue followed and admired him Each master of heresie hath found some clients euen hee that taught all mens opinions were true Againe no man hath been so exquisite but some haue detracted from him euen in those qualityes which haue seemed most worthy of wonder to others A man shall bee sure to be backed by some eyther in good or euil and by some shouldred in both It is good for a man not to stand vpon his Abbetters but his quarrell and not to depend vpon others but himselfe 21 We see thousands of Creatures dye for our vse and neuer doe so much as pitty them why do we think much to dye once for God They are not ours so much as wee are his nor our pleasure so much to vs as his glory to him their liues are lost to vs ours but chaÌ„ged to him 22 Much ornament is no good signe Paynting of the face argues an ill complexion of bodie a worse minde Truth hath a face both honest and comely and lookes best in her owne colours but aboue all diuine truth is most faire and most scorneth to borrowe beautie of mans witt or tongue she loveth to come forth in her natiue grace like a Princely Matrone and counts it the greatest indignity to be dallyed with as a wanton Strumpet She lookes to command reuereÌ„ce not pleasure she would be kneeled to not laughed at To pranke her vp in vaine dresses and fashions or to sport with her in a light and youthful maner is most abhorring from her nature they know her not that giue her such entertainment and shall first knowe her angry when they do know her Againe shee would bee playne but not base not sluttish She would be clad not garishly but not in ragges Shee likes as little to bee set out by a base foyle as to seeme credited with gaye colours It is no small wisdome to know her iust guise but more to followe it and so to keepe the meane that while we please her wee discontent not the beholders 23 In worldly carryage so much is a man made of as he takes vpoÌ„ himselfe but such is Gods blessing vppon true humility that it still procureth reuerence I neuer sawe Christian lesse honored for a wise neglect of himselfe If our deiection proceed from the conscience of our want it is possible wee should be as little esteemed of others as of our selues But if wee haue true graces and prize them not at the highest others shall value both them in vs and vs for them and with vsurie giue vs that honour wee with held modestly froÌ„ our selues 24 He that takes his full liberty in what he may shall repent him how much more in what he shoulde not I neuer read of Christian that repented him of too little worldlie delight The surest course I have still found in all earthlie pleasures To rise with an appetite and to bee satisfied with a little 25 There is a time when Kings goe not forth to warfare Our spirituall warre admitts no intermission it knowes no night no winter abides no peace no truce This cals vs not into a garisoÌ„ where we may have ease and respite but into pitched fields coÌ„tinually we see our enemies in the face alwaies and are alwayes seene and assalted euer resisting euer defeÌ„ding receiuing and returning blowes If eyther wee be negligent or weary wee dy what other hope is ther while one fights the other stands still We can neuer haue safetâ—â— peace but in victory There must our resistance be couragious and constant wheâ—â— both yielding is death and all treatyes of peace mortall 26 Neutrality in things good or euil is both odious and preiudicial but in matters of an indifferent nature is safe and commendable Herein taking of parts maketh sides and breaketh vnitie In an vniust cause of separation hee that fauoureth both partes may perhaps haue least loue of either side but hath most charitie in himselfe 27 Nothing is more absurd then that Epicurean resolution Let vs eat and drinke to morrow wee shall dy As if wee were made onely for the paunch liued that we might liue yet ther was neuer any naturall man found sauor in that meat which hee knewe should be his last wheras they should say Let vs fast and pray to morrow we shall die For to what purpose is the body strengthened that it may perish whose greater strength makes our death more violent No man bestowes a costly roofe on a ruinous tenement That mans end is easie happy whom death finds with a weak bodie and a strong soule 28 Somtimes euen things in themselues naturally good are to bee refused for those which being euil may be an occasion to a greater good Life is in it self good and death-euill Els Dauid Elias and many excellent Martyrs would not have fled to hold life and auoid death Nor Ezekiah haue prayed for it nor our Sauiour haue bidden vs to flee for it nor God promised it to his for a reward yet if in some cases wee hate not life wee loue not God nor our soules Heerein as much as in any thing the peruersnesse of our nature appeares that wee wishe death or loue life vpon wrong causes we would liue for pleasure or wee woulde die for payne Iob for his sores Elias for his persecution Ionas for his gourd would presently dye and will needs outface God that it is better for him to die then to liue wherin wee are like to garrison souldiers that while they liue within safe wals and showe themselues once a day rather for ceremony pomp then neede or daunger like warrefare well enough but if once called foorth to the field they wish theÌ„selues at home 29 Not onely the least but the worst is ever in the bottome what shoulde God doe with the dregges of our age when sinne will admitt thee his Clyent no longer then God shall be beholdeÌ„ to thee for thy seruice Thus is God dealt-with in all other offrings The worst least sheafe must bee
HOLY Obseruations LIB I. ALSO Some fewe of DAVIDS Psalmes Metaphrased for a taste of the rest By IOS HALL AT LONDON Printed by H. L. for Samuel Macham and are to be sold at his shop in Paules Church-yard at the signe of the Bull-head 1607. To the right Honorable EDWARD Lord Denny Baron of Waltham my most boūtifull Patron Grace PEACE Right Honorable THis aduantage a scholler hath aboue others that hee cannot be idle and that hee can worke without instruments For the mind inured to contemplation will set it selfe on work when other occasions faile and hath no more power not to study then the eye which is open hath not to see somthing in which businesse it carries about his owne Library neither can complain to want books while it enioyeth it selfe I coulde not then neglect the cōmodity of this plentifull leasure in my so easie attendance heere but though besides my course and without the help of others writinges must needs busie my selfe in such thoughts as I haue heere giuen account of to your Lordship such as I hope will not bee vnprofitable nor vnwelcome to their Patron to their Readers I sende them forth from hence vnder your honorable name to shewe you that no absence no imployment can make mee forget my due respect to your Lordship to whom next vnder my gracious Maister I haue deseruedly bequeathed my selfe and my indeuours Your goodnesse hath not wont to magnifie it selfe more in giuing thē in receiuing such like holy presents the knowledge whereof hath intitled you to more labours of this nature if I haue numbred aright then any of your Peeres I misdoubt not either your acceptation or their vse That GOD who hath aboue all his other fauours giuen your Lordship euen in these careless times an heart truly religious giue you an happy increase of all his heauenly graces by my vnworthie seruice To his gracious care I daily commende your Lordship with my Honorable Lady wishing you both all that litle ioy earth can afford you and fulnesse of glory aboue Non-such Iuly 3. Your Lo Most humbly deuoted for euer In all duty and obseruance Ios Hall HOLY Obseruations AS there is nothing sooner dry then a teare so there is nothing sooner out of season thē worldly sorrowe which if it be fresh and still bleeding findes some to comfort and pitty it If stale and skinned ouer with time is rather intertained with smiles then commiseration But the sorrowe of repētance comes neuer out of time Al times are alike vnto that eternitie whereto we make our spirituall moanes That which is past that which is future are both present with him It is neither weake nor vncomely for an old man to weepe for the sinnes of his youth Those teares can neuer be shed either too soon or too late 2 Some men liue to be their own executors for their good name which they see not honestly buried before thēselues dy Some other of great place and ill desert part with their good name breath at once There is scarce a vicious man whose name is not rottē before his carcasse Cōtrarily the good mans name is oft times that heyr to his life eyther borne after the death of the parent for that enuy wold not suffer it to come forth before or perhaps so well growen vp in his life time that the hope therof is the staffe of his age and ioy of his death A wicked mans name may be feared awhile soone after it is eyther forgotten or cursed The good mans eyther sleepeth with his bodie in peace or waketh as his soule in glorie 3 Oft times those which show much valor while there is equall possibility of life when they see a presēt necessity of death are found most shamefully timorous Their courage was before grounded vpon hope that cut off leaues them at once desperate and cowardly wheras men of feebler spirits meete more cheerefully with death because though their courage bee lesse yet their expectatiō was more 4 I haue seldome seene the son of an excellent and famous man excellent But that an ill bird hath an ill egge is not rare children possessing as the bodily diseases so the vices of their Parēts Vertue is not propagated Vice is euē in them which haue it not raigning in themselues The grain is sowen pure but comes vp with chaffe husk Hast thou a good son Hee is Gods not thine Is he euill Nothing but his sinne is thine Help by thy praiers and indeuors to take away that which thou hast giuen him and to obtaine from God that which thou hast canst not giue Els thou maist name him a possession but thou shalt finde him a losse 5 These things be comly pleasāt to see worthy of honor frō the beholder A young Saint an old Martyr a religious souldier a cōscionable States-man a great man curteous a learned man hūble a silent woman a child vnderstanding the ey of his Parēt a mery cōpaniō without vanitie a friende not changed with honour a sick man cheerefull a soule departing with cōfort and assurance 6 I haue oft obserued in mery meetings solemnly made that somewhat hath fallen out crosse eyther in the time or immediately vpon it to season as I thinke our immoderation in desiring or inioying our friends and againe euentes suspected haue proued euer best God herein blessing our awfull submission with good successe In all these humane things indifferency is safe Let thy doubtes bee euer equall to thy desires so thy disappointmēt shall not bee grieuous because thy expectation was not peremptory 7 You shall rarely finde a man eminent in sundry faculties of mind or sundry manuarie trades If his memory be excellent his fantasie is but dull if his fancie be busie and quick his iudgement is but shallow If his iudgement be deep his vttrance is harshe which also holds no lesse in the actiuities of the hand And if it happen that one man be quallifyed with skill of diuers trades and practice this variety you shal seldom finde such one thriuing in his estate with spirituall giftes it is otherwise which are so chayned together that who excels in one hath some eminencie in more yea in all Look vpon faith shee is attended with a Beuie of Graces Hee that beleeues cānot but haue hope if hope patience He that belieues and hopes must needes finde ioy in God if ioy loue of God hee that loues God cannot but love his brother his love to God breedes piety care to please sorrow for offending feare to offend His loue to men fidelity Christian beneficēce vices are seldō single but vertues go euer in troups they go so thicke that sometimes some are hid in the croud which yet are but appear not They may be shut out from sight they cannot be seuered 8 The Heauen euer mooues and yet is the place of our rest Earth euer rests and yet is the place of our trouble Outwarde motion can be no
terrible is worthy of a Christians contempt what is pleasant to bee turned ouer with a scorne The meane requires a mean affection betwixt loue hatred We may not loue them because of their vanitie wee may not hate them because of their necessarie vse It is an hard thing to bee a wise host and to fit our entertainment to all comers which if it be not done the soule is soone wasted eyther for want of customers or for the mis-rule of ill guests 69 God and man build in a contrary order Man layes the foundatiō first then addes the walls the roofe last God began the roofe first spreading out this vault of heauen ere he layd the base of the earth Our thoughtes must followe the order of his worke-manship Heavē must be minded first earth afterwarde and so much more as it is seene more Our meditation must herein follow our sense A fewe miles giue boundes to our view of earth wheras wee may neere see half the heaven at once Hee that thinkes most both of that which is most seene and of that which is not seene at all is happiest 70 I haue euer noted it a true signe of a false heart To be scrupulous and nice in small matters negligent in the mayne whereas the good soule is still curious in substātiall points and not carelesse in things of an inferiour nature accounting no dutie so small as to bee neglected and no care great enough for principall duties not so tithing mint and cummin that he should forget iustice and iudgement nor yet so regarding iudgement and iustice that he should contemne mint cummin Hee that thus misplaces his conscience will bee found either hypocriticall or superstitious 71 It argues the world full of Atheistes that those offences which may impeach humane societie are entertained with an answerable hatred and rigor Those which do immediately wrong the supreme maiestie of God are turned ouer with scarce so much as dislike If wee conuersed with God as we doe with men his right would bee at least as precious to vs as our owne All that conuerse not with God are without God not only those that are against God but those that are without God are Atheists Wee may be too charitable I feare not to say that these our last times abound with honest Atheists 72 The best thing corrupted is worst An ill man is the worst of all creatures an ill Christian the worst of all men an ill professor the worst of all Christians 73 Naturally life is before death and death is only a priuation of life Spiritually it is contrary As PAVL sayth of the grayne so may wee of man in the businesse of his Regeneration Hee must die before hee can liue yet this death presupposes a life that was once and should bee God chooses to haue the difficultest first we must bee content with the payne of dying ere we feele the comfort of life As wee dy to nature ere we liue in glory So wee must die to sinne ere we can live to Grace 74 Death did not first strike Adam the first sinfull man nor Cain the first hypocrite but Abel the innocent and righteous The first soule that met with death overcame death the first soule that parted from earth went to Heaven Death argues not displeasure because he whō God loved best dyes first and the murtherer is punished with living 75 The lives of most are mis-spent only for want of a certayne ende of their actions Wherin they doe as vnwise Archers shoot away their arrows they know not at what mark They liue only out of the present not directing thēselues and their proceedings to one vniuersall scope whence they alter vpon all change of occasions and neuer reache anie perfection neither can doe other but continue in vncertaintie and end in discomfort Others ayme at one certaine marke but a wrong one Some tho fewer leuell at the right end but amisse To liue without one maine and common ende is idlenesse and folly To liue to a false ende is deceit and losse True Christian wisdom both shows the end and findes the way And as cunning Politickes have many plots to compasse one and the same designe by a determined succession so the wise Christian fayling in the meanes yet still fetcheth about to his steadie ende with a constant change of indeuours Such one onely lives to purpose and at last repents not that hee hath lived 76 The ship-wrack of a good conscience is the casting awaie of all other excellencies It is no rare thing to note the soule of a wilfull sinner stripped of all her graces and by degrees exposed to shame so those whom wee have knowen admired have fall'n to bee levell with their fellows and from thence beneath them to a mediocrity and afterwards to sottishnes and contempt belowe the vulgar Since they haue cast awaie the best it is iust with God to take away the worst and to cast off them in lesser regardes which haue reiected him in greater 77 It hath euer bin counted more noble and succesfull to set vpon an open enemie in his owne home then to expect till hee set vppon vs whiles wee make onely a defensiue warre This rule serues vs for our last enemy Death whence that olde demand of Epicure is easily answered whether it bee better Death should come to vs or that we should meete him in the waie meet him in our minds ere hee seize vpon our bodies Our cowardlinesse our vnpreparation is his aduantage wheras true boldenesse in confronting him dismayes and weakens his forces Happie is that soule that can sende out the scoutes of his thoughts before-hand to discouer the power of Death afarre off and then can resolutely incounter him at vnwares vpon aduantage such one lives with securitie dies with comfort 78 Manie a man sends others to heauen and yet goes to hell himselfe and not fewe hauing drawn others to hell yet themselues returne by a late repentance to life In a good actiō it is not good action it is not good to searche too deeply into the intentiō of the agent but in silēce to make our best benefit of the worke In an euil it is not safe to regard the qualitie of the person or his successe but to consider the action abstracted from all circumstances in his owne kind So we shall neither neglecte good deedes because they speede not well in some hands nor affecta prosperous euill 78 God doth some singular actions wherein we cannot imitate him some wherein wee may not most wherin he may and would fain be followed He fetcheth good out of euill so may wee turn our owne others sinnes to priuate or publique good we may not doe euill for a good vse but wee must vse our euil once done to good I hope I shall not offende to say that the good vse which is made of sinnes is as gainefull to God as that which arises from good actions Happie is that man that can