a greater cannot be bestowed vpon the soule of man whiles it is confined within this valley of teares inclosed within this bodie of death And because through the frailty of my flesh and the fraud of Satan I am so prone to recidiuation and backe shding so ready to fall away from thee euen 〈◊〉 many Apostasies pardoned vnlesse I be still vpheld and supported giue me thy free spirit that 〈◊〉 may cheerefully thy firme spirit that I may constantly accomplish thy blessed will and 〈◊〉 in 〈◊〉 good duties that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vnto me And for that thankefulnesse is the best returne for benefits receiued and the strongest meanes to purchase new fauours giue mee grace as to promise so to performe gratitude euery way and euermore highly to esteeme and zealously to affect the reducing reclaiming and conuerting of sinners and impious persons those that erre in their religion or conuersation or both as the most acceptable seruice that can be done vnto thee vpon earth Teach me to vse all earnest compellation and powerfull insinuation to winne thy fauour againe when I haue forfeited it by committing some grieuous sin especially quicken mee by faith to make a particular application and appropriation as it were of thy saluation to mine owne soule which pious presumption and holy ambition thou art well pleased withall Giue me grace with the deepest straine of my hart and the loudest tone and tune of my voyce to magnifie thy marueilous goodnesse Though I be lesse then the least of thy mercies yet teach me in duty and discretion for more bountifull fauours to returne more plentifull praises If I be deliuered from a crying sinne I ought of congruence to sing aloud of thy iustice which giuing assurance of thy mercy by performance of thy couenant of grace cannot but produce an exultation of the heart and an exaltation of the voyce and tongue in the celebration of thy iust praises But alas how can I make that poore returne for thy rich mercies which mee thinkes I ought to vowe and promise When all is done I must therein also craue thy blessed assistance that thou wilt be pleased to open my lips and to vntie my tongue strings I must owe thee for that grace also and goe on thy score euen for those praises which onely by Eccho I resound vnto 〈◊〉 Blessed be thy name O Lord who in my deepest distresse and heauiest condition for my sinnes when I seeke for ease and reliefe tellest mee the meanes whereby thine anger may be appeased and thy fauour redeemed Thou requirest no sacrifice that with labour and charge should bee purchased abroad but such as is or should be at home and within me thou expectest no other satisfaction from me but the humiliation of my proud heart and the sorrow of my rebellious soule O wonderfull goodnesse O vnspeakeable mercie What more fauourable termes can be deuised or propounded then that thou wilt accept my submission and reconciliation so as I will aske thee forgiuenesse humbly and freely professe and expresse effectually mine hearty repentance for the manifold sinnes I haue committed against thy divine Maiestie Out of the the apprehension of this louing kindnesse and tender compassion if there were nothing else I ought to melt into teares of griefe breake my heard hart bruize my obstinate spirit which haue transported me so farre and plunged me so deepe into thy displeasure O Lord inable mee whom thou hast ordained a Priest for this purpose to offer daily and duly this acceptable sacrifice vnto thee which I should the more willingly present because it no way intends the destruction of my body but the correctiō of my soule I am only to slay my sensuality to quell my vnruly affections and subdue them to thy holy will for mine own good not to impech nature but to increase grace and for my better incouragemēt to this mortification thou art graciously pleased to vse this protestation that If I iudge my selfe thou wilt not iudge me if I chastise my selfe thou wilt not condemne mee if I execute my owne iust and vnpartiall sentence against mine owne heart the capitall offender thou wilt fauourably spare and mercifully pardon mee for euer O Lord I pray not for my selfe alone but for thy whole Church wheresoeuer dispersed howsoeuer distressed vpon the face of the earth As I pray that thou wilt bee mercifull to mee particularly so I beg also that thou wilt be fauourable to Sion vniuersally Being a member of that mystical body whereof thy Christ is the head so long as I haue spirituall life in me I cannot but resent such afflictions as any of thy chosen do sustaine ô Lord I pray thee for Ierusalem the kingdom wherein I liue that peace may be within her walls prosperity in her palaces I cannot but out of honest affection wish well to my brethren neighbours and companions that their persons may be protected their walls of wood or stone reedifyed fo often as neede requireth that not for necessity onely but for comelinesse also But I must still professe that I regard the Case for the 〈◊〉 sake which is compassed therewith the Common-wealth for thy house and that portion of thy Church that is preserued therein I respect chiefely Sion thy darling and the ioy of the whole earth My precious goods are imbarqued in that ship What fortune betides them I am contented shall befall me I will sympathise reioyce and mourne with them vpon all occasions I doe acknowledge no neerer affinity no deerer consanguinity no better fraternity then is Christianity nay my spirituall kindred is of more esteeme with mee 〈◊〉 any naturall or legall coniunction whatsoeuer O Lord shew thy fauor to Sion for thy good pleasures sake shee hath no other motiue to induce thee no other mediator to intercede with thee Bee gracious to her for his sake in whom thou art well pleased Be pleased of thy selfe thine owne goodnes for thy selfe thine owne glory to shew this loue vnto thy Spouse though foule in her owne nature yet faire by thy gracious acceptation These graces O Lord which I begge zealously for my selfe and others I beseech thee to grant mercifuly that I may 〈◊〉 thee with prayse and prayse thee with loue that I may thankefully acknowledge thy gracious goodnesse and in testimony thereof render vnto thee all honour and glory all manner of prayses and thankes all the dayes of my life euen for euer and euer Amen FINIS Bern. ad frat in Mon. Tertul. de Paenit Aug. in 〈◊〉 51. Chrysost. in hunc Psalmum Psal. 103. Melius impressum quà m expressum innotescit In his non capit intelligentia nisi quantum attingit 〈◊〉 Bern. in Cant. 3. Qui non gustauerit non intelliget quà m 〈◊〉 sapit mel Aug. in Psal. 30. Rom. 5. Miserationum Dei nec magnitudo mensurari nec multitudo numerari potest Basil. Ierem. 31. Psal. 38. Iob. 7. Iohn 13. Rom. 12. 〈◊〉
creature which thy hands haue made and fashioned looke vpon thine owne Image which thou hast stamped vpon me looke not vpon my sinnes which haue blemished and disfigured my soule which haue almost quite defaced that thine Image and in stead thereof haue placed the very portraicture of Satan Although custome of sinning haue made my sin another nature in me although I be so compassed with infirmities so inclosed in my corruptions as they may seeme to be incorporated in me and become my very substance yet thou O Lord canst distinguish between the 〈◊〉 and the rust between thine owne and Satans worke between man and a sinner Thou canst looke on that which thou hast made and look off that which I haue marred with one and the same Eye of pitie and mercie When thou seekest a sinner thou 〈◊〉 the man and not his sinne that thou mayest despise the sin which is mans worke and not lose the man which is thy worke Hee that loseth a precious Iewell seeketh it in all the sluts corners and stickketh not to rake the kennell and stirre the dunghill to finde it The Iudge when he will pardon lookes vpon the man not vpon his fault the father when he is disposed to pitty his child thinkes vpon his owne affection and not vpon his sonnes transgression Euen so O Lord thou art mindfull of thine owne worke that thou mayest forget the worke of another thou turnest thy face to the tone that thou mayest hide thy face from the tother O Lord at least hide thine angry face from me I cannot deny but that I neede correction and am not therefore altogether vnwilling to beare it if thou holdest it meete Correct me but not in thy fury chastize me but not in thy displeasure let mine afflictions be instructions not destructions rather medicines then punishments castigations not condemnations Let them be the wounds of a louer Let me perceiue thy grace euen when thou doest seeme to frowne vpon me let me discerne the sweete sunshine of thy mercy thorow the thickest cloudes of thy fiercest wrath I will follow the way which thou hast taught me I will set my sinnes before mine owne face that thou mayest hide thy face from them I will remember that thou maiest forget them I will confesse that thou mayest forgiue them I am much ashamed and agreeued to see mine own sinnes I am much more ashamed and agreeued that thou with thy pure eyes and bright face shouldest behold the fowlenesse and filthines the folly and madnesse the absurdity and grossenesse of them Yet O Lord let mee behold my sinnes alwaies so as thou wilt be pleased to hide thy face from them altogether Thou canst but thou doest not alwaies because thou wilt not sometimes in fauour see the faults 〈◊〉 thy people Thou diddest not because thou wouldest not see iniquity in Jacob nor peruersenesse in Israel If thou canst not in Iustice but looke towards my sinnes yet I beseech thee in mercy to suffer the Blood of thine Immaculate Lambe to interuene betweene thy glorious face and my lothsome corruptions Let that spectacle either diuert or restraine thy sight and hinder the representation of the vgly shapes of my faults to thy pure and perceiuing eyes Looke vpon that precious obiect first and there stay and terminate thy sight or at least looke through it as men looke through a coloured glasse that the foule obiect may appeare in the colour of the glasse and not in his owne colours Let the robe of the Lambes innocency couer the shamefull nakednesse of my vnrighteousnesse so as it may be hidden from thy angry face and fearefull countenance Blot out all my transgressions When a man feeles his soule laden with the burden and his 〈◊〉 affrighted with the apparition of some one or two grieuous offences lately done hee begs earnestly for pardon of those sinnes in particular or 〈◊〉 his sinnes indefinitely 〈◊〉 falls not at the first into computation or consideration of the rest of his sinnes in former times committed The fresher wounds seeme euer the more fearefull and the new terrible obiect doth so dazle and confound the soules sight as it cannot looke either beyond or besides it But the more grieuous and enormous sinnes after awhile doe occasion vs to make a more narrow inquisition and take a more exact suruey of the whole course of our sinfull life whereby wee cannot but finde that we haue runne into many errors and manifold crimes the remembrance and recognition whereof wee had formerly in a sort neglected Then we beginne seriously to consider that in this generall muster there is not any one sin seeme it neuer so light or slight but being an offence against an infinite Maiesty and a violation of the whole Law of God deserueth an heauy iudgement in the seuerity of 〈◊〉 and that if some of our sinnes 〈◊〉 bee remitted and others retayned we remaine still in a most wofull condition therefore doe not content ourselues with a praier that some or many of our spots and sinnes may bee wyped out but craue with a note of vniuersality an abolition of them all Blot out all my transgressions my sinnes in thought word and deede my sinnes of omission and my sinnes of action my sinnes of childhood youth middle-age and elder yeeres my sins of infirmity and my sins of presumption my sinnes within and my sins without my body my bloody and my vnbloody sinnes my sinnes committed in mine own person and my sins committed by others through my ill example for they are mine too my single sinnes committed by me as a priuate person my double sinnes committed by me as a publike magistrate who when hee sinneth doth rather teach then act sinne my lesser and my greater sinnes the sins of Soueraignes are 〈◊〉 sinnes my secret and open my knowne and vnknowne sins who can tell how 〈◊〉 he offendeth my sinnes past present yea and to come for whilst I liue in this body of death I cannot but sin all my sinnes whatsoeuer when I say all I except none no minyon or darling sinne at all Thou diddest command 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be 〈◊〉 away Who is not sinfully 〈◊〉 and whose sinnes are not more in number then the haires of his head Let them all come vnder the Raisor of true repentance and then they will come within the reach of thy free remission Not one Egyptian escaped out of the red Sea Saul was commanded to kill all the Amalekites men such as offend of malice women such as offend of infirmity children such as transgresse out of ignorance onely Create in mee a cleane heart and renew a right spirit within me Whoso beggeth Iustification which is the foundation will seeke Sanctification also which is the goodly frame 〈◊〉 thereupon and cannot but after sinnes committed and remitted shine and flourish in holinesse of life and conuersation Hee that hath that fire cannot
slaine from the beginning of the world yet as a fruite of our repentance expects from vs a holy reuenge vpon our selues We must iudge our selues that wee bee not iudged and least our iudgements become fruitlesse and elusory We must put them in execution seuerely without pitty or partiality Let vs therefore preuent his face of Maiesty his countenance of Authority by confession wich confession is a profession of forsaking our former faults The Iudge we cannot the iudgement we may preuent if we take the opportunity and repent truly and timely of our sinnes thou wilt mercifully and graciously repent thee of the iudgements denounced doomed against vs. Therefore it be houeth euery man to keepe a Court at home and therin to sit as chiefe iustice to indict and arraigne himself at the barre of his owne conscience where he findes the fault there to inflict punishment In as much as at these Assizes the heart must needes be found the greatest offender because from the heart doth flow all vaine and sinfull imaginations all idle and wicked words all lewde and scandalous actions let him doe Iustice vpon his heart in the first place let him correct the pride of it by humiliation the wantonnesse of it by contrition the iolity of it by sorrow the stubornenesse of it by weeping the gluttony of it by fasting the couetousnesse of it by almes-giuing and so according to the rule of Physicke cure each contrary by his contrary affection The physicke must bee applied to that part of the body which is ill affected the salue laid vpon the place that is sore Where the sinne breedes swels there must the sinner cut and launce He must pricke his heart to the quicke and let out store of teares as the former and latter rayne As our hearts haue beene fatted and pampered as it were with sinne so they should grow leane and meagre againe by sorrow for sinne Looke how much the lesse I spare my selfe so much the more wilt thou spare me My repentance doth in a sort execute thy vengeance and with a temporall vexation doth preuent and auoide thine eternall damnation by casting me downe it lifts me vp by making me vgly in mine own it presents me pure in thine eyes by accusing it doth excuse by condemning it doth acquite me It is a kind of vnhappinesse to be seared and cauterized with an hot yron and fretted with an eating powder but those meanes and medicines which doe cure by sharpenesse and sowernesse by the benefit which they procure doe excuse their distastfulnes and by the succeeding profit do allay the present paine By sin thy spirit takes occasiō to increase grace not by the nature of sinne but by the soueraignety of that spirit which euen of sinnes makes a plaister against sin For I being as sicke of sorrow as of sinne may hopefully resort to thee the Physitian of my soule whose end of comming into the world is to cure the sicke especially such as feele themselues sicke enen at the heart I must breake my golden Calfe that is any idoll of sinne which my corrupt heart doth serue and worship I must burne it with zeale and with contrition grinde it to powder and then strowing it vpon the water of teares drinke it vp againe By this thy gracious meanes an Antidote will bee drawne out of poyson the oyle will cure the bitings of Scorpions the worme wil gnaw the wood the moth the cloth that bred it the very excrements of my sinfull soule like dung and mannor will fatten and make it fruitefull in goodnesse The hunted and wounded Hart by eating of an herbe knows how to helpe and heale himselfe and to make the arrow that pierced his ribbes to fall to the ground The Swallow when she hath put out the eyes of her young ones knowes by an herbe of her owne name how to restore their sight againe Thy herbe of grace the iuyce whereof is our repentance doth expell the fiery darts of Sathan shot by sinne into our soules and this eye-salue doth cause vs though neuer so much blinded with sinne to see both our error in committing and thy mercy in pardoning our offences The most powerfull rhetoricke to mooue thee to pitty is repentance and the most delightfull Musicke in thine eares is that dolefull ditty tuned to a trembling tongue and a quauering voyce peccaui in coelum c. Against thee against thee onely I haue offended The string bends the strongest bowe the fire mollifies the hardest steel the Goates blood breakes euen the Adamant I hope my harts humble and melting repentance will appease thy hottest and heauiest indignation conceiued against me The most worne and torne linnen by contusion and grinding in the Mill makes smooth and white paper Euen so my most base and rotten ragges of vanity and wickednesse by true contrition with thy benediction will produce a cleane heart and renew a right spirit within mee The corruption and consumption of the one will prooue the generation or regeneration of the other To sacrifice to kill are expressed by one and the same word in holy writ because euery sacrifice was slaine in thy Leuiticall lawe but this breaking of my heart and offering my body in sacrifice to thee is an Euangelicall sacrifice because therin which may seeme strange the sacrifice is slaine and yet liueth For it is my faith not my death which thou seekest thou thirstest for my holy desires not my polluted blood thou art appeased with my willingnesse to renounce the world not with my departure out of the world This was Abraham the Father of all thy faithfull ones his sacrifice which thou requiredst of him For what did Abraham but offer his owne body in his Son What didst thou require of him but his Faith who as thou diddest command his Sonne to be offered so thou wouldest not suffer him to be killed I hold it a wise and an aduantageous course in any man to dye to sinne that hee may liue to righteousnesse to mortifie the old man that hee may bee quickened in the new to dye daily that hee may liue eternally Wherefore I will dye that I may not dye I will wound my hart with temporary contrition that I may auoyde the deadly wounds of 〈◊〉 who desires my euerlasting destruction I will liue a dying life that I may not dye a 〈◊〉 death For thy sake are we killed all the day long and right deare in thy sight is this death of thy Saints Here I can bee contented to stirre vp an holy emulation betweene those that thus dye and such as are stoned burned or otherwise done to death for defence of thine honor and testimony of thy trueth who by excellency are termed Martyrs These dye but once and at once their paine is soone past but the other dye a lingering death they dye daily and continually It is accounted a mittigation of cruelty and a