content which is the greatest riches Are we Sin sick here 's a shop of Soul medicines Are we fainting here 's a Cabinet of cordialls Are we Christ-less here 's the Star that leadeth unto Christ Are we Christians here 's the band that keeps us in Christ Are we afflicted here 's our solace Are we persecuted here 's our Protection Are we deserted here 's our recovery Are we tempted here 's our Sword and Victory Are we young here 's our beauty Are we old here 's our wisdom while we live here 's the rule of our Conversation when we dye here 's the hope of our Glorification Oh blessed Scriptures Who can know them and not love them who can love them and not delight to meditate in them day and night who can meditate in them and not desire to love them love to desire them and both desire and love to understand them The Sacred Scripture is the Book of Books the book of Life whose original is eternal whose essence is incorporeal whose knowledg is life whose writing is indelible whose respect is desirable whose doctrine is easie whose depth is unsearchable whose words are innumerable and only one word All. To conclude take one instance of the experience of Mrs. Katharine Bretergh of Bretergholt in Lancashire Who was wont to task her self to read eight Chapters a day at least who in her sickness before her death fell into great distress of Soul through an apprehension of the severity of Gods Justice the greatness of her Sins waâ—… of Faith in and love to God sometimes she would cast heâ— Bible from her and say It was indeed the book of Life but she had read the same unprofitably and it was become to her the book of Death Sometimes she would say Her sins had made her a prey to Satan a spectacle to the World a disgrace to Religion and a shame to her Husband Kindred and all to true Christians and here she would weep bitterly she wished she had never been born or that she had been any other Creature then a Woman she cryed out oftentimes Wo wo wo a weak a woful a wretched a forsaken woman and such like pitiful complaints against her self with tears trickling down her cheeks but at last she was restored to joys and comforts unspeakable by means of the holy Scriptures Oh said she My Soul hath been compassed about with terrours of death fear within and fear without the sorrows of Hell were upon me knots and knors were upon my Soul a roaring Wilderness of wo was within me but Blessed blessed blessed be the Lord my God who hath not left me comfortless One time she took Bible in her hand and joyfully kissing it and looking up towards Heaven she said Oh Lord it is good for me that I have been afflicted that I might learn thy Statutes the law of thy mouth is better to me then thousands of Gold and Silver She desired her Husband to read some part of Scripture he read the 17 of John as he read vers 9. I pray not for the World but for them which thou hast given me for they are thine She interrupted him saying Oh Lord Jesus dost thou pray for me Oh blessed and sweet Saviour dost thou pray for me Oh how wonderful how wonderful how wonderful are thy mercies read on said she the blessedst reading that ever I heard the comfort whereof doth sweeten my Soul When he came to ver 34. Father I will that they whom thou hast given me be one with me Stay said she and let me meditate on the goodness of the Lord for now I perceive and feel the countenance of my Redeemer Christ is turned towards me and the bright shining beams of his mercy are spread over me Oh! happy am I that ever I was born to see this blessed day Praise praise Oh praise the Lord for his mercies he hath brought me out of darkness and the shadow of death Oh sweet Saviour shall I be one with thee as thou art one with thy Father and wilt thou glorifie me with that glory which thou hadst with the Father before the World was And dost thou so love me who am but dust and ashes to make me partaker of thy own glory What am I poor wretch that thou art so mindfull of me Oh how wonderful is thy love c. Thus she continued ravished in Spirit and triumphing in Gods prayses till her last At last with a sweet countenance and still voice she said my warfare is accomplished and mine iniquities are pardoned Lord whom have I in Heaven but thee and I have none on Earth but thee my flesh faileth and mine heart also but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever He that preserveth Jacob and defendeth Israel he is my God and he will guide me unto Death guide me O Lord my God and suffer me not to faint but keep my Soul in safety And with that she presently departed this life Thus we see how useful the holy Scripture is to every Christian Soul and how God thereby gives comfort to those who are his when all other comforts fail them make it ever therefore thy delight and thy daily companion for take all the rarest writings now extant in the world none of them all can thus raise up a drooping Spirit or disconsolate Soul from the depth of wo and horror none of them can fill the heart thus brimful of sweetest peace none of them all can thus enlarge and entranse the Spirit to extasies of Heavenly Joy and ravishments through apprehensions of Gods love and mercy above grief above temptation above sin above all fear of Death that King of Terrours as this blessed word of God can who would not now labour to understand the Scriptures who would not treasure up and kiss and embrace and greedily swallow down these Soul-reviving Cordials CHAP. XLVII IN Civil things follow the most in matters of Religion the fewest in all things follow the best so shall thy ways be pleasing to God so shall thy behaviour be plausible with men but follow not a multitude in the evil of Sin lest thou share with the multitude in the evil of punishment the number of the offendors diminisheth not the quality of the offence As the multitude of suiters draws more favour to the suit so the multitude of sinners draws more punishment upon the sin the number of Fagots encreaseth the fury of the fire CHAP. XLVIII HAth any wounded thee with injuries meet them with patience hasty words rankle the wound soft language dresses it forgiveness cures it and oblivion takes away the scar It is more noble by silence to avoid an injurie then by Argument to overcome it CHAP. XLIX LEt not mirth be thy profession lest thou become a make-sport he that hath but gained the Title of a Gester let him assure himself the fool is not far off wrinckle not thy face with too much laughter lest thou become ridiculous The Suburbs of
comforter prove thy tormenter and if thy conscience condemn thee God who is greater then thy conscience shall much more condemn thee be assured there is no action though never so secret though never so small that can escape the pen of this ready Scribe but all thou dost shall be recorded and that so clear and evident that go where thou wilt and do what thou canst the characters thereof shall never be cancell'd or raced out till God appear in Judgment And as there is no greater peace on this side Heaven then the peace of Conscience so there is no greater torment on this side Hell then a wounded Conscience Though the World should rattle about thine ears and the waves of affliction beat never so hard upon thee yet thou may'st sit merry at the feast of a good Conscience as secure as that child which in a Ship-wrack was with his Mother upon a planck securely sleeping whom when she awaked with his pretty countenance sweetly smiling asked a stroake to beat the naughty waves as if they had been his play-fellows Oh that sweet harmonious melody when this Bird in the bosome sings clear Oh the Peace and Comfort of innocency the tranquility of a spotless mind Oh the serenity No Spanish skie so clear as a good Conscience On the contrary Philo Judaeus reporteth that Flaccus play'd all the parts of cruelty that he could invent against the Jews for their Religion but when the doom of Calligula fell upon him and he was banished to Andros an Island near Greece he was so tormented with the memory of his bloody iniquity and the fear of suffering for it that if he saw any man walking softly near unto him he would say to himself this man deviseth to work my destruction if he saw any go hastily surely this is not for nothing he maketh speed to kill me if any man spake him fair he suspected that he would cozen him and sought to entrap him if any talked roughly to him then he thought that he contemned him if meat were given him in ample manner this is but to fat me as an Ox for the slaughter thus his Conscience that he had so often abused did ever mind him that some vengeance was to follow either from God or Man or both If thou sin often against thy Conscience at length it will remember thee and all the consorts of Musick in the World cannot stop its cry that nothing but destruction waiteth on thee if thou walk abroad Sonus excitat omnis suspensum thou wilt be afraid of every leaf that shakes if thou stay at home nothing but horrour attends thee in the day thou art struck with variety of sad apprehensions in the night thou art troubled with fearful dreams and strange apparitions Such is the Hell of a guilty Conscience CHAP. LXXVIII BE neither too much affected with the vaine applause of the multitude nor too confident in their uncertain opinion for whom to day they cry up they will cry down to morrow None ever more careful in Gods house then Moses none deeper in his favour none more graced with Miracles none more careful of the peoples good or more honoured by them yet if they be once distressed and straightned in their provisions they will stone Moses to death and set up a new Governour How did the people at first entertain Paul even as an Angel of Light and were ready to pull out their eyes for him not long after hearkning to Seducers St. Paul was accounted their enemy and they ready to pull out his eyes and give them to their false Apostles Our Saviour Christ shall have Hosannah to day and the next day they cry out Crucifie him Nothing more unconstant then the Multitude thou canst not tell where to find them nor when thou hast them nothing more ungrateful thou canst make no account of any recompence from them in short therefore be as far from desiring their love as fearful to deserve their hatred ruine lies in both the one will hugg thee to death the other will crush thee to destruction to escape the first be not ambitious to avoid the second be not seditious CHAP. LXXIX LEt the providence of the Ant and the prudence of the worldly wise instruct thee for thy Souls health the Ant by Natures instinct layeth up her store for winter the wise provide a cloak for the wet a staff for old age a scrip for the Journey and a banck of money to flye to when occasion serveth see thou lay up for thy self treasures in heaven which cannot be spoyled by hostile invasion nor wrung from thee by power nor won by law nor mortgaged by debt nor impaired by publick calamity nor changed by Kings or Parliaments nor violated by death it self get assurance of Gods favour by the lively exercise of unfeigned faith the daily practice of serious Repentance and the frequent use of fervent Prayer whereby thou mayst be enabled to stand in the evil Day and bear up with joy and peace in the worst of times the hour of Death and the day of Judgment CHAP. LXXX SEe thou promise not to thy self more felicity peace or comfort from this world then it can give A Velvet slipper cannot cure the Gout neither can a down bed give ease in an Ague fitt all second causes move in a subserviency to the cause of Causes whatsoever is here below is but a pipe of conveyance from God the fountain of all good and there be many wayes whereby these pipes become stopt many interruptions crosses and disappointments attend us in our best estate Jonah's condition was but bad at best to be tossed too and fro in a dangerful Ship the bones whereof aked with the violence of every surge that assayled it the Anchors Cables and Rudders either thrown away or torn in pieces at length he is cast into the Sea a merciless and implacable Sea roaring for his life more then ever Lyon roared for his prey the bottom whereof seemed as low to him as the bottomless pit and no hope left to escape by Ship or Boat no Tabula naufragii no plank or piece of board appearing whereby to recover the Land beside all these to fill the measure of his sorrow up to the brim the burning of Gods anger against his sin like a river of Brimstone this is our case in this vail of misery we are tumbled and tossed in a vessel as frail as Jonah's Ship which every stream of calamity is ready to dash in pieces every storm of disease able to split where oftentimes neither Anchor nor Rudder is left neither head nor heart nor hand in case to give any comfort where though we have the kindness of Friends the duty of Children the obedience of Servants the convenience of wealth and the advice of Physicians we cannot use their service where we have a grave before us greedy to receive but never to return us till Worm's have consumed us But if the anger of God for our sins
the Churches feathers lest thou fly to thy own ruine That God who chose the Tribe of Levi for his Inheritance promised to be theirs and will protect them if thou deprive him of his blessing he will pursue thee with his curse Impropriations are bold Metaphors but being continued are deadly Allegories One foot of Land in Capite encumbers the whole estate The Eagle snatched a cole from the Altar but it fired her Nest CHAP. XXXVI BE not unstable in thy resolutions nor various in thy actions nor unconstant in thy affections so deliberate that thou mayst perform so perform that thou mayst persevere Mutability is the badge of infirmity CHAP. XXXVII SIt down content with Gods allowance what ever thy condition be he knoweth best what is best for thee let thy endeavour be to please him in what thou dost and to be pleased with what he doth Dost thou want things necessary grumble not perchance it was necessary for thee to want endeavour lawfully to supply it if God bless not thy endeavours bless him that knoweth what is necessary for thee hast thou but a little make it not less by murmuring hast thou enough make it not too much by unthankfulness he that doth not contentedly and thankfully accept the least favour he hath received is unworthy of the least favour he can receive and that thou mayst the better be content consider thy own merit thou dost enjoy far more and far better then thou canst deserve and remember thy self with all thy concerns to be at the wise gracious and absolute dispose of the omnipotent and omniscient God whose purposes thou canst not vary with all thy fretting and discontent thereby thou dost only make thy being the more uncomfortable and add to thy burden dost thou look on thy right hand and find some above thee look on thy left and thou shalt see some below thee but if thou hast no inferiour wait but a while and thou shalt have no superiour the grave which hastneth to come upon all living makes all equal and puts a period to all thy pressures CHAP. XXXVIII ARt thou subject to any great vanity or secret folly nourish it not if it will be entertain'd encourage it not if it grow stronger yet more strongly strive against it if too strong pray against it if it weaken not joyn fasting to the prayer if it shall continue add perseverance to both if it decline not add patience to all and thou hast conquered it however blabb not thy folly lest thou appear impudent nor boast of it lest thou seem insolent every mans vanity ought to be his greatest shame and every mans folly ought to be his greatest secret CHAP. XXXIX TAke heed thou harbour not that vice called Envy lest anothers happiness be thy torment and Gods blessing thy curse it being the property of envy ever to maligne an others prosperity Vertue corrupted with vain-glory glory turnes Pride Pride poysoned with malice becomes envy joyn therefore humility with thy vertue and pride shall have no footing vain-glory shall find no entrance CHAP. XL. PRovidence is an exercise of reason experience an act of sence by how much reason excells sence by so much providence exceeds experience Providence is the rational Daughter of wisdom Experience the Empirical Mistris of Fools if thou hast providence to fore-see a danger let thy prudence rather prevent it then fear it the fear of future evils oftentimes brings a present mischief whilest thou seekest to prevent it practise to bear it he is a wise man that can avoid an evil he is a patient man that can endure it but he is a valiant man that can conquer it Never fear any thing but what thy industry may prevent be confident of nothing but what fortune cannot defeat It is no less folly to fear what is impossible to be avoided then to be secure when there is a possibillity of being deprived CHAP. XLI IF God hath sent thee a Cross take it up and follow him use it wisely lest it be unprofitable bear it patiently lest it be intollerable behold in it Gods anger against thy sin and his love towards thee in punishing the one and chastening the othâ—s if it be light sleight it not if heavy murmur not Not to be sensible of a judgment is the symptome of an hardned heart to be displeased with Gods pleasure is the sign of a rebellious will And to faint in the day of adversity argues thy strength to be but small CHAP. XLII BE ever mindful of thy latter end lest Death come upon thee unawares and find thee unprepared and thou repent that thou hast lived being now to dye and to dye eternally expect it for it will come if thou expect it as a friend prepare to entertain it if as an enemy prepare to overcome it Death hath no advantage but where it comes a stranger yet come it will for spend an hundred years in Earths best pleasures and after that an hundred more to which being spent add a thousand and to that ten thousand more the last shall as surely end as the first are ended and all shall be swallowed up in Eternity he that is born to day is not sure to live a day he that hath liv'd the longest is but as he that was born yesterday the happiness of the one is that he hath lived the happiness of the other is that he may live and the lot of both that they must die it is no happiness to live long nor unhappiness to dye soon happy is he that hath lived long enough to dye well he shall live for ever look upon thy burning taper and there see the Emblem of thy life the flame is thy soul the wax thy body and is commonly a 〈◊〉 long the wax if 〈…〉 tempered can â—ut 〈…〉 length and who can 〈…〉 it if ill tempered it 〈…〉 the faster yet last his length an open window shall hâ—s tâ—n either an extinguisher shall put out both husband them the best thou canst thou canst not prolong them beyond their date leave them to the injury of the wind or to the mercy of a wasteful hand thou dost hasten their end but still they burn their length but puff them out and thou hast shortned their passage which else had brought them to their appointed end bodies according to their constitution stronger or weaker according to the quality or inequality of their Elements have their date and may be preserved from shortning but they cannot be lengthened neglect may wast them ill diet may hasten them unto their journey's end yet they have lived their length a violent hand may interrupt them a sudden death may stop them and they are shortned it lies in the power of man either permissively to hasten or actively to shorten but not to lengthen or extend the limits of his natural life he only if any hath the Art to lengthen out his Taper that puts it to the best advantage CHAP. XLIII TAke heed rather what thou
time to beguile Do not O do not trouble me So sweet content I feel and see All my joyes to this are folly Naught so Divine as Melancholy I 'le change my state with any wretch Thou canst from Goal or dunghil fetch My pains past cure an other Hell I may not in this torment dwell Now desperate I hate my life Lend me an halter or a knife All my griefs to this are jolly Naught so damn'd as Melancholy 'T is hard to be cheerful without levity or serious without Melancholy we verge to extreams inconveniencies and snares attend all constitutions and complexions and like Sylogismes Sequimur deteriorem partem Cheerfulness is most like to do the body good and the Soul hurt that therefore soul and body may receive good and no hurt be cheerfully serious and seriously cheerful while cheerfulness is the sayl let seriousness be the ballast of the Vessel if thou want ballast thou wilt move too swiftly if thou want sayles thou wilt move too slowly CHAP. LXXI IF through the variety of Objects and the diversity of occasions thou canst not take an exact account of thy temper and inclination when thou art awake consult thy dreams which though superstitiously abused by some yet have their signification for God revealeth secrets in thoughts from visions of the Night when deep sleep falleth upon men If thou frequently spend thy sleep in dalliance with stolen salutes and sweet embraces thy constitution is Sanguine and thou hast cause to suspect thy self of wantonness if in chiding quarrelling and finding fault thy disposition is contentious if thy dreams be revengeful remembring and requiting old antiquated injuries they point out thy malice if they run upon Gold and Silver contracts and projects for the gaining and encreasing of an estate they argue thy covetousness some by dreams have understood the death of Friends at a great distance yea the very month and day of their own death thy genius if hearkned to will shew thee strange things when thou 〈◊〉 asleep things to come and 〈◊〉 which concern thee though in agitation at a great distance yet in this be cautious though it be the certain experience of many CHAP. LXXII IF thou be deficient in estate and thy strength be but small let thy discretion supply this defect gather honey with the Bee from every flower not regarding the colour of the flower nor the soyle wherein it grows yet with this caution that thou leave it as fair and sweet as before Prudence is oftentimes of force where force prevaileth not if thou canst not have a straight wind to carry thee to thy desired haven make thy best use of a side wind yea rather strike Sayle then perish in the storm what thou canst not effect by thy self possibly thou mayst bring to pass by another or by another way that Fort which cannot be taken by storm may by a long siege or supprize be forced to yild The Dolphin finding himself unable to hurt the Crocodile by reason of the hard Scales upon his back which no weapon can pierce diveth under him and with his sharp Fins striketh him into the belly being soft and tender and so killeth him attempt what thou canst and leave things impossible unattempted CHAP. LXXIII IN all thy ways keep in Gods way and God will keep thee in all thy wayes If a man travelling in the Kings high way be robbed between Sun and Sun satisfaction is recoverable upon the Countrey where the robbery was committed but if he take his journey in the night it being an unseasonable time then it is at his own peril he must take what falls If thou keep in Gods way thou shalt be sure either of Gods protection from danger or of satisfaction for thy damage but if thou stray out thou dost expose thy self to danger CHAP. LXXIV BE neither too ambitious of nor too confident in the favour of great men for thereby thou wilt create many inconveniences to thy self yet disoblige none Sometimes their favour is bought at so dear a rate that 't is not worth the having frequently 't is but of short continuance and when his favour is gone thou art exposed more the object of his displeasure then before or perhaps this great one coming into disfavour with those who are greater then he thou art brought down with him whereas thou mightest have stood longer hadst thou stood upon thy own leggs A passenger in a Storm for shelter betakes himself to the Covert of a fair spreading Oake where for a time he findeth relief till at length he receiveth more damage by the dropping of the boughs then if he had been exposed to the weather or a suddain gust of wind happening teareth down a main Arme of the Oake which falling upon the poor passenger maimeth or mischieveth him that fled to it for shelter CHAP. LXXV MAke Gods glory the ultimate end of all thy actions and God shall give thee his everlasting glory when all thy actions have an end A friend gives me a Ring I 'le wear it for his sake A Book I 'le use it for his sake A Jewel I 'le keep it for his sake that is so as may best express my love and report his goodness were we truly thankful to our God we would then use all his tokens for his sake and do all things to his glory we would eat our meat to him wear our cloathes to him spend our strength for him live to him and die for him however see thou use not his blessings as Jehu did Jehorams Messengers or David Goliahs Sword to turn them against their Master and fight against Heaven with that health wit wealth friends means and mercies that thou hast from thence received CHAP. LXXXVI SEE thou practise what thou knowest of the will of God and that God who hath given thee an heart to do according to what thou knowest will give thee an understanding to know what thou shouldest do but ever let thy inquiry be after those truths which God hath revealed and not after curiosities Where God hath set a boundary as to the mount of old seek not thou to pass lest it be to thy ruine Curiositie in this kind hath been the Mother of many heresies when men hath been busily witty rather to pry into then believe the profound Mysteries of God Think not to dive into the Mystery of Christs Incarnation till thou understand thy own Regeneration be not like those who busie themselves to know where Lazarus his Soul was when his body lay three dayes in the Grave and in the mean time care not what becomes of their own Souls rather bewail then imitate the many intrusions upon God and the things of God that have been of late As there needs a spurr unto good and saving knowledge so abridle unto that knowledge which is curious and presumptuous Blessed is that knowledge which maketh wise to sobriety CHAP. LXXVII SIn not against thy conscience lest that which should be thy chief