so much in the matter as in the owner Happy is that Cottage that hath an honest maister and woe bee to that Palace that is viciously inhabited LXXVII Vpon the discharging of a Peece GOod LORD how witty men are to kill one another What fine deuises they haue found out to murder a farre off To slay many at once and so to fetch off liues that whiles a whole Lane is made of Carcasses with one blow no body knowes who hurt him And what honour doe wee place in slaughter Those armes wherein wee pride our selues are such as which wee or our Ancestors haue purchased with blood The Monuments of our Glory are the spoyles of a subdu'd and slaine Enemy Where contrarily all the titles of God sound of Mercy and gracious respects to Man God the Father is the maker and preseruer of men God the Sonne is the Sauiour of Mankind God the Holy Ghost styles himselfe the Comforter Alas whose image doe we beare in this disposition but his whose true title is the Destroyer It is easie to take away the life it is not easie to giue it Giue mee the man that can deuise how to saue Troupes of men from killing his name shall haue roome in my Calender There is more true honour in a Ciuick garland for the preseruing of one Subiect then in a Lawrell for the victory of many Enemies Oh God there are enow that bend their thoughts to vndoe what thou hast made enable thou mee to bestow my indeauors in repriuing or rescuing that which might otherwise perish Oh thou who art our common Sauiour make thou mee both ambitious and able to helpe to saue some other besides my selfe LXXVIII Vpon the tolling of a passing-Bell HOw dolefull and heauy is this summons of Death This sound is not for our eares but for our hearts it calls vs not onely to our prayers but to our preparation To our Prayers for the departing Soule to our preparation for our owne departing Wee haue neuer so much need of Prayers as in our last Combat then is our great Aduersary most eager then are wee the weakest then nature is so ouer-laboured that it giues vs not leisure to make vse of gracious motions There is no preparation so necessary as for this Conflict all our life is little enough to make ready for our last houre What am I better then my Neighbours How oft hath this Bell reported to me the farewell of many more strong and vigorous bodies then my owne of many more cheerfull and liuely spirits And now what doth it but call mee to the thought of my parting Heere is no abiding for me I must away too Oh thou that art the GOD of comfort helpe thy poore Seruant that is now strugling with his last enemie His sad friends stand gazing vpon him and weeping ouer him but they cannot succour him needs must they leaue him to do this great worke alone none but thou to whom belong the issues of death canst relieue his distressed and ouer-matched Soule And for mee let no man dye without mee as I dye dayly so teach mee to dye once acquaint mee before hand with that Messenger which I must trust too Oh teach mee so to number my dayes that I may apply my heart to true wisedome LXXIX Vpon a Defamation dispersed WEre I the first or the best that euer was slandered perhaps it would bee somewhat difficult to command my selfe patience Griefe is wont to bee abated eyther by partners or precedents the want whereof deiects vs beyond measure as men singled out for patternes of misery Now whiles I finde this the common condition of all that euer haue beene reputed vertuous why am I troubled with the whisperings of false tongues O GOD the Diuell slandered thee in Paradise O Sauiour men slandered thee on earth more then Men or Diuels can reproach mee Thou art the best as thou art the best that euer was smitten by a lying and venemous tongue It is too much fauour that is done mee by malicious lippes that they conforme mee to thy sufferings I could not bee so happie if they were not so spightfull Oh thou glorious patterne of reproached innocence if I may not dye for thee yet let mee thus bleed with thee LXXX Vpon a ring of Bels. WHiles euery Bell keepes due time and order what a sweet harmonious sound they make All the nieghbour Villages are cheared with that common Musicke but when once they iarre and checke each other eyther iangling together or striking preposterously how harsh and vnpleasing is that noyse So that as wee testifie our publike reioycing by an orderly and well-tuned peale So when wee would signifie that the Towne is on fire wee ring confusedly It is thus in Church and Common-wealth when euery one knowes and keepes their due rancks there is a melodious consort of Peace and contentment but when distances and proportions of respects are not mutually obserued when eyther States or persons will bee clashing with each other the discord is grieuous and extreamely preiudiciall such confusion eyther notifieth a fire already kindled or portendeth it Popular States may ring the changes with safety but the Monarchicall gouernment requires a constant and regular course of the set degrees of rule and inferiority which cannot bee violated without a sensible discontentment and danger For mee I doe so loue the peace of the Church and State that I cannot but with the charitable Apostle say Would to God they were cut off that trouble them and shall euer wish eyther no iarres or no clappers LXXXI Vpon the sight of a full Table at a Feast WHat great Variety is here of flesh of fish of both of neither as if both Nature and Art did striue to pamper vs Yet mee thinkes enough is better then all this Excesse is but a burden as to the prouider so to the Guest It pitties and greeues mee to thinke what toyle what charge hath gone to the gathering of all these daintyes together what paine so many poore Creatures haue beene put to in dying for a needlesse Sacrifice to the Belly what a Penance must bee done by euery accumbent in sitting out the passage through all these dishes what a taske the stomacke must bee put to in the concoxion of so many mixtures I am not so austerely scrupulous as to deny the lawfulnesse of these abundant prouisions vpon iust occasions I find my Sauior himselfe more then once at a Feast this is recorded as well as his one long Fast Doubtlesse our bountifull GOD hath giuen vs his Creature not for necessity onely but for pleasure But these exceedings would bee both rare and moderate and when they must bee require no lesse patience then temperance Might I haue my option Oh GOD giue mee rather a little with peace and loue Hee whose prouision for euery day was thirty measures of fine flower and threescore measures of Meale thirty Oxen an hundred Sheep besides Venison and Fowle yet can pray
below in the Ministration to thy Saints It is that thine inuisible world the Communion wherewith can make mee truly blessed Oh GOD if my body haue fellowship here amongst Beasts of whose earthly substance it participates Let my Soule bee vnited to thee the God of Spirits and bee raised vp to inioy the insensible society of thy blessed Angels Acquaint mee before-hand with those Citizens and affaires of thine Heauen and make me no stranger to my future Glory LXXXVIII Vpon the stinging of a Waspe HOw small things may annoy the greatest euen a Mouse troubles an Elephant a Gnat a Lion a very Flea may disquiet a Gyant What weapon can bee nearer to nothing then the sting of this Waspe Yet what a painfull wound hath it giuen mee that scarce-visible point how it enuenomes and rankles and swels vp the flesh The tendernesse of the part addes much to the griefe And if I bee thus vexed with the touch of an angry Flye LORD how shall I bee able to indure the sting of a tormenting Conscience As that part is both most actiue and most sensible so that wound which it receiues from it selfe is most intollerably greeuous there were more ease in a nest of Harnets then vnder this one torture O GOD howsouer I speed abroad giue mee Peace at home and what euer my flesh suffer keepe my Soule free Thus pained wherein doe I find ease but in laying Hony to the part infected That Medicine onely abates the auguish How neare hath Nature placed the remedy to the offence Whensoeuer my heart is stung with the remorse for sinne onely thy sweet and precious merits O blessed Sauiour can mitigate and heale the wound they haue vertue to cure mee giue mee grace to apply them that soueraigne receit shall make my paine happy I shall thus applaud my griefe It is good for me that I was thus afflicted * ⎠* LXXXIX Vpon the Araignment of a Felon VVIth what terrour doth this Malefactor stand at that Barre His hand trembles whiles it is lift vp for his tryall his very lips quake whiles hee saith not guilty his countenance condemnes him before the Iudge and his feare is ready to execute him before his Hang-man Yet this Iudge is but a weake man that must soone after dye himselfe that sentence of Death which he can pronounce is already passed by Nature vpon the most innocent that act of death which the Law inflicteth by him is but momentany who knowes whether himselfe shall not dye more painfully O God with what horror shall the guilty Soule stand before thy dreadfull Tribunall in the day of the great Assizes of the World Whiles there is the presence of an infinite Maiesty to daunt him a fierce and clamorous Conscience to giue in euidence against him Legions of vgly and terrible Diuels wayting to seize vpon him a Gulfe of vnquenchable Fire ready to receiue him whiles the Glory of the Iudge is no lesse confounding then the crueltie of the Tormenters Where the Sentence is vnauoydable and the Execution Euerlasting Why doe not these terrors of thee my GOD make me wise to hold a priuy Sessions vpon my Soule and actions that being acquited by my owne heart I may not bee condemned by thee and being iudged by my selfe I may not bee condemned with the World XC Vpon the Crowing of a Cocke HOw harshly did this note sound in the eare of PETER Yea pearced his very hart Many a time had hee heard this bird and was no whit moued with the noyse now there was a Bird in his bosome that crow'd lowder then this Whose shrill accent conioyned with this astonished the guilty Disciple The weary labourer when hee is awakened from his sweet sleepe by this naturall Clocke of the Houshold is not so angry at this troublesome Bird nor so vexed at the hearing of that vnseasonable sound as PETER was when this Fowle awakened his sleeping Conscience and call'd him to a timely repentance This Cocke did but crow like others neither made or knew any difference of this tone and the rest there was a diuine hand that ordered this Mornings note to be a Summons of Penitence Hee that fore-told it had fore-appointed it that Bird could not but crow then and all the noyse in the High-Priests Hall could not keepe that sound from PETERS eare But O SAVIOVR couldst thou finde leasure when thou stoodst at the Barre of that vniust and cruell Iudgement amidst all that bloudy rabble of Enemies in the sense of all their furie and the expectation of thine owne Death to listen vnto this Monitor of PETERS Repentance and vpon the hearing of it to cast backe thine eyes vpon thy Denying Cursing Abiuring Disciple O Mercie without measure and beyond all the possibility of our Admiration to neglect thy selfe for a sinner to attend the repentance of one when thou wert about to lay downe thy life for all Oh GOD thou art still equally mercifull Euery Elect Soule is no lesse deare vnto thee Let the sound of thy faithfull monitors smite my eares and let the beames of thy mercifull eyes wound my heart so as I may goe forth and weepe bitterly * ⎠* XCI Vpon the Variety of thoughts by way of Conclusion VVHen I bethinke my selfe how Eternity depends vpon this moment of life I wonder how I can thinke of any thing but Heauen but when I see the distractions of my thoughts and the aberrations of my life I wonder how I can bee so bewitched as whiles I beleeue an Heauen so to forget it All that I can doe is to bee angry at my owne vanity My thoughts would not bee so many if they were all right there are tenne thousand by-wayes for one direct As there is but one Heauen so there is but one way to it that liuing way wherein I walke by Faith by Obedience All things the more perfect they are the more doe they reduce themselues towards that vnitie which is the Center of all perfection Oh thou who art one and infinite draw in my heart from all these stragling and vnprofitable Cogitations and confine it to thine Heauen and to thy selfe who art the Heauen of that Heauen Let mee haue no life but in thee no care but to inioy thee no ambition but thy Glorie Oh make mee thus imperfectly happy before my time that when my time shall bee no more I may bee perfectly happie with thee to all Eternitie FINIS THE TABLE MED FOL 1 Vpon sight of the Heavens moving 1. 2 Vpon the sight of a Diall 4. 3 Vpon sight of an Eclipse 7. 4 Vpon sight of a gliding Starre 9. 5 Vpon a faire prospect 12. 6 Vpon the frame of a Globe casually broken 16. 7 Vpon a Cloud 18. 8 Vpon the sight of a Graue digged vp 20 9 Vpon the sight of Gold Melted 22. 10 Vpon the sight of a Pitcher carried 24. 11 Vpon sight of a Tree full blossomed 26. 12. Vpon the report of a man suddenly strucke dead in his
insensibly wouen Either teach mee to auoyd tentation or make mee to breake thorough it by Repentance Oh let mee not bee a prey to those fiends that lye in waite for my destruction XVI Vpon the sight of a Raine in the Sunshine SVch is my best condition in this life If the Sunne of GODS countenance shine vpon mee I may well bee content to bee wet with some raine of Affliction How oft haue I seene the Heauen ouer-cast with clouds and tempest no Sunne appearing to comfort me yet euen those gloomy and stormy seasons haue I rid out patiently onely with the helpe of the common-light of the day at last those beames haue broken forth happily and cheared my Soule It is well for my ordinary state if through the mists of my owne dulnesse and Satans tentations I can descry some glimpse of heauenly comfort let mee neuer hope whiles I am in this Vaile to see the cleare face of that Sunne without a showre such happinesse is reserued for aboue that vpper region of glory is free from these doubtfull and miserable vicissitudes There O GOD wee shall see as wee are seene Light is sowne for the Righeous and ioy for the vpright in heart XVII Vpon the Length of the way HOw farre off is yonder great Mountaine My very eye is weary with the fore-sight of so great a distance yet time and patience shall overcome it this night wee shall hope to lodge beyond it Some things are more tedious in their expectation then in their performance The comfort is that euery step I take sets mee nearer to my end When I once come there I shall both forget how long it now seemes and please my selfe to looke backe vpon the way that I haue measured It is thus in our passage to Heauen my weake nature is ready to faint vnder the very conceit of the length and difficulty of this iourney my eye doth not more guide then discourage mee Many steps of Grace and true obedience shall bring me insensibly thither Only let mee moue and hope and GODS good leisure shall perfect my Saluation O Lord giue mee to possesse my Soule with patience and not so much to regard speed as certainty When I come to the top of thine holy hill all these weary paces and deepe sloughes shall either bee forgotten or contribute to my happinesse in their remembrance XVIII Vpon the Raine and Waters VVHat a sensible interchange there is in Nature betwixt vnion and diuision Many vapours rising from the sea meete together in one cloud that cloud falls downe diuided into seuerall drops those drops runne together and in many rills of water meete in the same channels those channels run into the brooke those brookes into the riuers those riuers into the Sea one receptacle is for all though a large one and all make backe to their first and maine originall So it either is or should be with Spirituall guifts O GOD thou distillest thy Graces vpon vs not for our reseruation but conueyance those many-fold faculties thou lettest fall vpon seuerall Men thou wouldst not haue drenched vp where they light but wouldst haue deriued through the channels of their speciall vocations into the common streames of publique Vse for Church or Common-wealth Take backe O Lord those few drops thou hast rayned vpon my soule and returne them into that great Ocean of the Glory of thine owne bounty from whence they had their beginning * ⎠* XIX Vpon the same Subiect MAny drops fill the Channels and many Channels swell vp the brookes and many brookes raise the Riuers ouer the bankes the brookes are not out till the channels bee empty the riuers rise not whiles the small brookes are full but when the little rivulets haue once voyded themselues into the mayne streames then all is ouerflowne Great matters arise from small beginnings Many littles make vp a large bulke Yea what is the World but a composition of atomes Wee haue seene iâ— thus in ciuill estates thâ—â— empayring of the Commons hath oft beene thâ— raising of the great their streames haue runne lowâ— till they haue beene heightened by the confluencâ— of many priuate inlets Many a meane channel hath beene emptyed to make vp their inundation Neither is it otherwise in my whether outward or spirituall condition O GOD thoâ— hast multiplyed my dropâ— into streames As out oâ— many minuts thou haâ—â— made vp my age so out oâ— many lessons thou hast made vp my competencie of knowledge thou hast drayned many benificent friends to make mee competently rich By many holy motions thou hast wrought me to some measure of Grace Oh teach mee wisely and moderately to inioy thy bounty and to reduce thy streames into thy drops and thy drops into thy clouds humbly and thankefully acknowledging whence and how I haue all that I haue all that I am XX. Vpon occasion of the lights brought in VVHat a change there is in the roome since the light came in yea in our selues All things seeme to haue a new forme a new life yea wee are not the same we were How goodly a creature is light how pleasing how agreeable to the spirits of man no visible thing comes so neere to the resembling of the nature of the soule yea of the God that made it As contrarily what an vncomfortable thing is darknesse in so much as wee punish the greatest malefactors with obscuritie of Dungeons as thinking they could not be miserable enough if they might haue the priuiledge of beholding the light yea hell it selfe can bee no more horribly described then by outward darknesse What is darknesse but absence of light The pleasure or the horror of light or darknesse is according to the quality and degree of the cause whence it ariseth And if the light of a poore candle be so comfortable which is nothing but a little inflamed ayre gathered about a moystened snuffe what is the light of the glorious Sunne the great lampe of Heauen But much more what is the light of that infinitely-resplendent Sun of righteousnesse who gaue that light to the Sunne that Sunne to the world And if this partiall and imperfect darkenesse bee so dolefull which is thâ— priuation of a naturall oâ— artificiall light how vnconceiuable dolorouâ— and miserable shall thaâ— bee which is caused through the vtter absence of the all-glorious GOD who is the Father oâ— lights O Lord how iustly doe wee pitty those wretched Soules that sit in darkenesse and the shadow of death shut vp from the light of the sauing knowledge of thee the onely true God But how am I swallowed vp with horror to thinke of the fearefull condition of those damned soules that are for euer shut out from the presence of GOD and adiudged to exquisite and euerlasting darknesse The Egyptians were weary of themselues in their three dayes darkenesse yet we doe not find any paine that accompanyed their continuing night What shall wee say to those wofull soules in whom the sensible presence of
true Clients of the Sunne how obseruant they are of his motion and influence At euen they shut vp as mourning for his departure without whom they neyther can nor would flourish in the morning they welcome his rising with a cheereful opennesse and at noone are fully display'd in a free acknowledgment of his bounty Thus doth the good heart vnto God When thou turnedst away thy face I was troubled saith the man after Gods owne heart In thy presence is life yea the fulnesse of ioy Thus doth the carnall heart to the world when that withdrawes his fauour hee is deiected and reuiues with a smile All is in our choyse whatsoeuer is our Sun will thus carry vs O God bee thou to mee such as thou art in thy selfe thou shalt bee mercifull in drawing mee I shall bee happy in following thee LVI Vpon the sound of a crack't Bell. WHat an harsh sound doth this Bell make in euery eare The Mettall is good enough it is the rifte that makes it so vnpleasingly iarring How too like is this Bell to a scandalous and ill-liued Teacher His calling is honourable his noyse is heard farre enough but the flawe which is noted in his life marres his Doctrine and offends those eares which else would take pleasure in his teaching It is possible that such a one euen by that discordous noyse may ring in others into the Tryumphant Church of Heauen but there is no remedy for himselfe but the fire whether for his reforming or iudgment * ⎠* LVII Vpon the sight of a blinde Man HOw much am I bound to GOD that hath giuen mee eyes to see this Mans want of eyes With what suspition and feare he walkes How doth his hand and staffe examine his way With what iealousie doth he receiue euery morsell euery draught and yet meets with many a post and stumbles at many a stone and swallowes many a flye To him the world is as if it were not or as if it were all rubbes and snares and downfalls And if any man will lend him an hand he must trust to his how euer faithlesse guide without all comfort saue this that hee cannot see himselfe mis-carry Many a one is thus Spiritually blind and because hee is so discernes it not and not discerning complaines not of so wofull a condition The God of this world hath blinded the eyes of the Children of disobedience they walke on in the wayes of death and yield themselues ouer to the guidance of him who seekes for nothing but their precipitation into Hell It is an addition to the misery of this inward occaecation that it is euer ioyned with a secure confidence in them whose trade and ambition is to betray their Soules What euer become of these outward sences which are common to mee with the meanest and most despicable creatures O Lord giue mee not ouer to that Spirituall darknesse which is incident to none but those that liue without thee and must perish eternally because they want thee LVIII Vpon a Beech-tree full of Nuts HOw is this Tree ouerladen with mast this yeare It was not so the last neither will it I warrant you bee so the next It is the Nature of these free Trees so to powre out themselues into fruit at once that they seeme afterwards eyther sterile or niggardly So haue I seene pregnant wits not discreetly gouerned ouerspend themselues in some one maister-peece so lauishly that they haue prooued eyther barren or poore and flatt in all other subiects True-Wisedome as it serues to gather due sap both for nourishment and fructification so it guides the seasonable and moderate bestowing of it in such manner as that one season may not be a glutton vvhiles others famish I vvould be glad to attaine to that measure and temper that vpon all occasions I might alwayes haue enough neuer too much LIX Vpon the sight of a peece of Mony vnder the Water I Should not vvish ill to a Couetous man if I should wish all his Coine in the bottome of the Riuer No pauement could so well become that streame no sight could better fit his greedy desires for there euery peece vvould seeme double euery teston would appeare a shilling euery Crowne an Angell It is the nature of that element to greaten appearing quantities vvhiles wee looke through the ayre vpon that solide body it can make no other representations Neither is it otherwise in spirituall eyes and obiects if wee looke with carnall eyes through the interposed meane of sensuality euery base and worthlesse pleasure will seeme a large contentment if with weake eyes wee shall looke at small and immateriall truthes aloofe off in another element of apprehension euery parcell thereof shall seeme maine and essentiall hence euery knack of heraldry in the sacred genealogies euery Scholasticall quirke in disquisitions of Diuinity are made matters of no lesse then life and death to the Soule It is a great improuement of true wisedome to be able to see things as they are and to value them as they are seene Let mee labour for that power and stayednesse of iudgment that neither my senses may deceiue my mind nor the obiect may delude my sense * ⎠* LX. Vpon the first rumour of the Earth-quake at Lime wherein a Wood was swallowed vp with the fall of two Hills GOod LORD how doe wee know when wee are sure If there were Man or Beast in that-Wood they seemed as safe as wee now are they had nothing but Heauen aboue them nothing but firme Earth below them and yet in what a dreadfull pit-fall were they instantly taken There is no fence for Gods hand A man would as soone haue feared that Heauen would fall vpon him as those Hills It is no pleasing our selues with the vnlikelyhood of diuine iudgemens We haue oft heard of Hills couered with Woods but of Woods couered with Hills I thinke neuer till now Those that planted or sowed those Woods intended they should bee spent with fire but Loe GOD meant they should bee deuoured with Earth Wee are wont to describe impossibilities by the meeting of Mountaines and behold heere two Mountaines are met to swallow vp a Valley What a good God it is whose prouidence ouer-rules and disposes of all these euents Townes or Cities might as well haue beene thus buried as a solitary Dale or a shrubby Wood Certainly the God that did this would haue the vse of it reach further then the noyse this hee did to show vs what hee could what hee might doe If our hearts doe not quake and rend at the acknowledgement of his infinite Power and feare of his terrible iudgements as well as that Earth did we must expect to bee made warnings that would take none LXI Vpon the sight of a Dormouse AT how easie a rate doe these Creatures liue that are fed with rest So the Beare and the Hedge-hog they say spend their whole winter in sleepe and rise vp fatter then they lay downe How oft haue
those his faithfull Seruants that haue left their bloud their spirits their liuâ—â— in these precious Papers and haue willingly wasted themselues into these during Monuments to giue light vnto others LXXII Vpon the red Crosse on a doore OH signe fearefully significant this Sicknesse is a Crosse indeed and that a bloudy one both the forme and the colour import Death The Israelites doores whose lintells were besprinkled with blood were passed ouer by the destroying Angell here the destroying Angell hath smitten and hath left this marke of his deadly blow Wee are wont to fight cheerefully vnder this Ensigne abroad and be victorious Why should we tremble at it at home Oh GOD there thou fightest for vs heere against vs Vnder that wee haue fought for thee but vnder this because our sinnes haue fought against thee wee are fought against by thy iudgements Yet Lord it is thy Crosse though an heauy one It is ours by merit thine by imposition O Lord sanctifie thine affliction and remoue thy vengeance LXXIII Vpon the change of Weather I Know not whether it be worse that the Heauen looke vpon vs alwayes with one face or euer varying for as continuall change of Weather causes vncertainty of health so a permanent setlednesse of one season causeth a certainty of distemper perpetuall moysture disolues vs perpetuall heate euaporates or inflames vs cold stupefies vs drought obstructs and withers vs Neither is it otherwise in the state of the minde if our thoughts should bee alwayes Volatile changing inconstant wee should neuer attaine to any good habite of the Soule whether in matter of iudgement or disposition but if they should bee alwayes fixed wee should run into the danger of some disperate extremity to bee euer thinking would make vs mad to bee euer thinking of our crosses or sinnes would make vs hartlesly deiected to bee euer thinking of Pleasures and Contentments would melt vs into a loose Wantonnesse to bee euer doubting and fearing were an Hellish seruitude to bee euer bold and confident were a dangerous presumption but the interchanges of these in a due moderation keepe the Soule in health O GOD howsoeuer these Variations bee necessarie for my Spirituall condition Let mee haue no Weather but Sunne-shine from thee Doe thou lift vp the light of thy countenance vpon mee and stablish mee euer with thy free Spirit LXXIIII Vpon the sight of a Marriage WHat a comfortable and feeling resemblance is heere of CHRIST and his Church I regard not the persons I regard the institution Neyther the Husband nor the Wife are now any more their owne they haue eyther of them giuen ouer themselues to other not onely the Wife which is the weaker vessell hath yeilded ouer her selfe to the stronger protection and participation of an abler head but the Husband hath resigned his right in himselfe ouer to his feebler consort So as now her weaknesse is his his strength is hers Yea their very flesh hath altered property hers is his his is hers Yea their very Soule and Spirit may no more bee seuered in respect of mutuall affection then from their owne seuerall bodyes It is thus O Sauiour with thee and thy Church Wee are not our owne but thine who hast married vs to thy selfe in truth and righteousnesse What powers what indowments haue wee but from and in thee And as our holy boldnesse dares interesse our selues in thy graces so thy wonderfully-compassionate mercy vouchsaues to interesse thy selfe in our infirmities thy poore Church suffers on Earth thou feelest in Heauen as complaining of our stripes canst say Why persecutest thou mee Thou againe art not so thine owne as that thou art not also ours thy Sufferings thy Merits thy Obedience thy Life Death Resurrection Asscension Intercession Glory yea thy blessed Humanity yea thy glorious Deity by vertue of our right of our Vnion are so ours as that wee would not giue our part in thee for ten thousand Worlds Oh gracious Sauiour as thou canst not but loue and cherish this poore and vnworthie Soule of mine which thou hast mercifully espoused to thy selfe so giue mee Grace to honour and obey thee and forsaking all the base and sinfull riuality of the World to hold mee onely vnto thee whiles I liue here that I may perfectly inioy thee heereafter LXXV Vpon the sight of a Snake I Know not what horror wee finde in our selues at the sight of a Serpent Other Creatures are more loathsome and some no lesse deadly then it yet there is none at which our bloud riseth so much as at this Whence should this bee but out of an instinct of our old enmitie Wee were stung in Paradise and cannot but feele it But here is our weaknesse It was not the body of the Serpent that could haue hurt vs without the suggestion of sinne and yet wee loue the sinne whiles wee hate the Serpent Euery day are wee wounded with the sting of that old Serpent and complaine not and so much more deadly is that sting by how much it is lesse felt There is a sting of guilt and there is a sting of remorse there is mortall venome in the first whereof wee are the least sensible there is lesse danger in the second The Israelites found theÌ„selues stung by those fiery Serpents in the Desart and the sense of their paine sent them to seeke for Cure The World is our Desart and as the sting of Death is Sinne so the sting of Sinne is Death I doe not more with to finde ease then paine If I complaine enough I cannot faile of cure O thou which art the true brazen Serpent lifted vp in this Wildernesse raise vp mine eyes to thee and fasten them vpon thee thy mercy shall make my soule whole my wound soueraigne LXXVI Vpon the ruines of an Abby IT is not so easie to say what it was that built vp these Walles as what it was that pull'd them downe euen the wickednesse of the Possessours Euery stone hath a tongue to accuse the Superstition Hypocrisie Idlenesse Luxury of the late owners Me thinkes I see it written all along in Capitall letters vpon these heapes A fruitfull Land maketh hee barren for the iniquity of them that dwell therein Perhaps there wanted not some Sacriledge in the Demolishers in all the carriage of these businesses there was a iust hand that knew hovv to make an vvholsome and profitable vse of mutuall sins Full little did the Builders or the in-dwellers thinke that this costly and warme Fabricke should so soone end violently in a desolate rubbish It is not for vs to be high-minded but to feare No Roofe is so hye no Wall so strong as that sinne cannot leuell it with the Dust Were any pile so close that it could keepe out ayre yet it could not keepe out iudgement where sinne hath beene fore-admitted In vaine shall wee promise stability to those Houses which wee haue made witnesses of and accessaries to our shamefull vncleannesses The firmnesse of any building is not