his Will whom he loves nor will never seek to please him You shall never have any good of a Maid that is compelled to Marry against her Will She will be but the more perverse the more you endeavour to humour her Have a Care lest thou neglâ—â—â— thy own Good And when thou art well hope not in vain for higher preferment lest thou justle thy self out of all and repent too late A Hen or some other Fowl aiming at the End of Procreation by the impulse of the natural Spirit counts it no toil to sit upon her Eggs a whole Month or more or less and is willing to be confined without the Element of her Pleasure and Recreation Mayest thou be as willing to promote the Glory of God the End of thy Journey and Labour which to promote is the right Heaven of Mans Soul To which place O King of Heaven direct us all Amen CHAP. X. The Souls Transmigration § 1. Christ the Lawful King BEtter is a Poor and Wise Child the innocent off-spring of God than an old and foolish King that tyrannizeth over the pure Seed who will no more be admonished as being Reprobate or past Reproof For out of an infectious Prison or Dungeon of Darkness he cometh to Reign as being no lawful Heir and not of the Right Line He is an Usurper Whereas also every Subject the Faculties of his Mind that is born in his Kingdom becomes Eternal Beggars I considered all the Living which walk under the Sun of Time with the second Child of Regeneration that shall stand up and sit in the Divine Throne Eternally in his stead There is no end of all the People and Subjects of illegal Tyrants even of all that have been before them in â—â—cifers Apostacy whose Seed lives in the Humane Generation They also that succeed or come after either before or after the end of this World shall not rejoyce in Lucifer or an Humane Usurper This also is Vanity and Vexation of God's Holy Spirit The Humane Commonwealth comes to Ruine under a Foolish Prince even as the Feet stumble by the Intoxication of the Head In the Day of Prosperity be joyful and when things fadge well between thee and thy Virgin let thy Heart be merry But in the Day of Adversity when thou art crossed in thy Desire or Love by the Sorceress consider what thou art a doing God also hath set the one over against the other to the end that Man should find nothing after and Superior to the fair Virgin of God worthy to be sought after §. 2. His Right to Reign THe Fire of Hell and the Ocean-Womb of Eternity are good Servants but bad Masters The Virgin it is true should be Queen in the Humane Republick And the Spirit of the Soul Vice-Roy But if Man inverteth the right Order he himself must pay the Forfeiture or suffer the Penalty Yet the Rebel must have his due And as the Proverb saith He that cannot bear to be a Servant let him be his own Servant When thy Work is done and the Crown obtain'd then rest in Security but wo to him that hath an ill Name in his Youth He will be suspected by the Virgin As having put the Crown of blooming Youth upon the Serpents Head But if thou follow Vertue thou mayest become the Head of all thy kindred Therefore O Son of the Virgin if thou seest the oppression of the Poor Spirit of the Soul in the Humane Republick Marvel not at the matter and if thou beholdest a violent perverting of Justice and Judgment in the Soulish Province for a time wonder not For he that is higher than the proudest and highest Mind regardeth And there be higher than they For the Spirit though ost as a Servant walking a Foot in low place is higher than the Rebel Soul O Man mark what I say I the Preacher returned and reflected upon all the Oppressions that are done under the Sun of this vain Light And behold the Tears of such as were oppressed and the sighing of the Spirit of the Soul and they had no Comforter And on the side of the Soul there Oppressour there was Power for there was no Compulsion to draw him to Sin against his Will but he would not open his Ear of Compassion Wherefore I praised the Dead that are already Dead even the Mortal Animals more then the Living that are yet alive for a time but are like to dye the Eternal Death Yea better is he then both they which have not yet been who hath not seen the Evil that is done under ehe Sun of Time and Eternity An Embryo is more happy than the false Birth Yea an Eunuch is happier than he that is joyned to the Witch like Traduction of a false Will which rebelleth against the Will of the Deity All these things have I seen in the Days of my Conversation in the Vanity There is a Just one the Spirit that perishe or rather vanishes in his Righteousness And there is a wicked one the false Mind who prolongeth his Life of Eternity in his wickedness and yet would willingly Dye but shall not find Death §. 3. False Judgment THis also have I seen and applied my Heart to every Work that is done under both Suns there is a Time wherein one Ruleth over another as the Soul oveâ— the Spirit to his own Eternal Hurt And so I saw the wicked buried in the Abyss who had come and gone from the Place of the Holy by his Aposâ—acy And they were forgotten in the Holy City where they had done any good for their good Works did not follow them This is a great Vanity Because Sentence against an evil Work is not executed speedily for the Spirit of the Soul or Conscience hath not Power to pronounce it till the Day of Death therefore the Heart of the Soul Son of the Humane Root is fully set upon mischief by plotting against his own Judge and working wickedness against God's Friend But know this though a Sinner do evil an hundred times and the Days of his Eternity be prolonged in Pain and Horrour Yet surely I know that it shall be well with the Spirit of the Soul that fears to Sin against God's Law and to the Soul that consents to the Spirit and fears before him And so all is well that ends well But it shall not be well with the Wicked neither shall he prolong his Days of Vanity in this inferiour World which are as a Shadow and whose Spirit will vanish as an Image in a Looking-glass because he feareth not God and to offend his Virgin There is a Vanity which is done upon the Earth of Humanity that there be Just men unto whom if they Apostatize it happens according to the Work of the Wicked And if the Father hath eaten sower Grapes the Child of this Apostate as by Transmigration of or into an unlucky off-spring his Teeth shall be set on Edge Again there be wicked ones to whom if they retract it
the Wise and their Works are in the hand of God and weighed in the Ballance of Equity No Man knoweth either Love or Hatred Joy or Sorrow and how it will be in the other World by all that is before him in this World All things come alike to all There is one Event to the Righteous and to the Wicked God maketh the Sun and Rain to come upon the Just and Unjust His Divine Sun enlightens every one that comes into this World both the Clean and the Vnclean Him that sacrificeth his Lusts and him that sacrificeth not Him that sweareth to Gods Covenant and him that fears the Oath of Divine Allegiance and him that forswearâ—s it This seems an evil among all things that are done under the Sun that there is one Event unto all Yea also the Heart of the Sons of Men is full of Evil and Madness is in their Heart while they live and after that they go to the Dead For to him that is joyned to all the Living in the holy World there is hope in this Life-time for a living Dog which may be cultivated by degrees is better than a dead Lion And the Living know that they shall dye the Eternal Death if they cut themselves off from the Root But the Dead who die the second death know not anything at all but only pain neither have they any more a reward from God for the memory of them when the Days of Mourning shall be past is for ever forgotten Also their Love and their Hatred and their Envy is so perished that it can never hurt any of the Celestial Incolists Neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the Sun of their Eternity in the dark Center of their Abyss §. 10. All alike Relieved by a Poor Wise Man SO I returned and saw under the clear Sun of Divine Light that the Race is not always to the Swift nor the Battel to the Strong nor yet Bread to the Skilful Tiller of the harsh Earth nor yet Favour to Men of Skill But Time and Chance happeneth to them all and a wise Man discerneth both Time and Judgment But a wise Man also knows not his time As the Fishes that are taken in an evil Net and as the Birds that are caught in the Snare so are the Sons of Men snared in an evil time or Unlucky Hour of the Enemies temptation when it falleth suddenly upon them and that for want of Divine Skill and Wisdom with which whoever is endued he cannot be cheated This wisdom also have I seen under the Sun and it seemed great unto me There was a little Microcosmick City and few skilful Soldiers within it And there came a great King against it and by Authority from Luciscer besieged it and built great Bulwarks against it Now there was found in it a poor contemptible wise Man and he by his Wisdom delivered the City by giving his Life for the Inhabitants Yet no Man remembred that same poor servile Man Then said I Wisdom is better than strength nevertheless the poor Mans Wisdom is despised and his words are not heard The Words of the Wise are heard in quiet as a still pure Voice more than the cry of a King that ruleth among Fools and his losty loud words in the streets of Confusion Wisdom is better than Weapons of War But one sin ful Affection destroyeth much Good and by its jarring spoils the still Harmony in the Humane Harp even as one scabbed Sheep infects the whole Flock CHAP. II. The Souls Longing § 1. Crying Give Give VAnity of Vanities faith the Soul's Spirit All extern Objects are a vexation of my Spirit Now O Man saith the Eternal Preacher of the holy Gospel Knowest thou what thy Soul and what the Spirit of thy Soul is The Soul is a dry Hunger It is a longing Anguish It is a Fire without Fewel Lay thy hand upon thy Brest and feel thy own Root the Heart and then tell me dost thou feel no panting there No Breathing or Longing there No Hungring nor Thirsting there Art thou sensible of no Labour and Travail there No restless and incessant Crying there Crying Give give O give me that which I labour for O give me that which I seek after Even as every thing would fain live so would I Thou wilt say That 's the throboing and motion of the Heart and Pulses proceeding from the Vital Spirit Tho' that be true yet Life and Sense in Man are rooted in the Abyss of the Source of Eternal Joy and Delightful Affection of a thing Loved And that is the Soul who cries in the Gate of Mans Pallace Give me some Food true Food for me § 2. Seven-fold Craving O Saith the Spirit of the Soul Pity me my dear Soul O pity a poor Prisoner Bring me out of this Dungeon of Confinement enlarge my Habitation that I may find my late home again and solace my hankering eager Mind with my own dear Family and Relations Oh have pity upon a poor Beggar Give me a little Food to satisfie a hungry craving Soul O give me a little Water out of the Living Fountain to quench the great thirst and furious fire of my Passion O have compassion upon a poor Pilgrim shew me the way to a quiet lodge of Repose I want the shadow of a great Rock in this weary Land I cannot take a Nap of sweet sleep and refreshment in this parched Heath Here is no spreading Elm nor Beech nor Fountain of Chrystal Streams no warbling River beside which I may take my rest to recreate my languishing and tired Spirits O come dear Shepherd to seek thy roving Sheep Call me again with thy Melodious Shepherds Pipe I listen at times to hear it but cannot I dare not bleat my self lest the Wolves hear me O come blessed Shepherd and stand upon a high place where thy Voice may be audible Come skipping upon these Mountains and leaping upon the Hills of my wandring Mind For I am quite â—â—â—ed in this tedious Wilderness O give Rest to my travailing weary Spirit O this is not my Rest O somebody have mercy upon a distracted Innocent condemned by false Witnesses to be confined as in Bedlam I cannot set my heart at rest because of a pannick Fear that seizeth upon me Oppression makes a wise Man mad and besides himself O some Skilful Musician come and refresh my Senses and self-afflicting Conscience with the Har mony of the holy Gospel and the Melody of the blessed Tidings of Everlasting Serenity O who will pity a poor wounded and sick Person Give me some heavenly Balm or Cordial to heal my heavy heart and to slop the raging of my Sore and the swelling of my furious Agony Break the sence that separates me from my desired Object O shew mercy to a poor naked Person O I have been stripped naked in a Wilderness by Thieves and Murderers they have whipped me and smote me with sore Boils all over As
therefore the Time shall come that thou shalt call to me but I shall be married to another Who was thy Rival in the time when I would have consummated the Wedding with thee Be not entangled with one that will bring thy Soul to ruine and who is far inferiour to the Souls Nobility For there are an indefinite number of these gone out into the World to trapan Mankind Whereof there are variety of kinds but especially seven As sprung forth from the Mystical Mother of Harlots They Lust after the best richest greenest fairest strongest tallest wittiest soundest noblest and most durable Essences And they find too many humane Souls fit for their turn They perceive that the Souls of Men are Eternal and Excellent Fair Lovely and Lively Essences As being made after the Image and Similitude of the Divine Being Now every Created Being lusteth after something that is of a higher Nature than it self that in the Fruition thereof it self may be perfected §. 4. The Blind falling Headlong FOR every Creature groaneth and travelleth for its own Perfection But cannot attain it without the Assistance of some one above him Hence it is that this sevenfold Whorish Spirit is become an earnest Attractor and Enticer of the immortal Souls of Adam's off-spring And for to solemnize the Wedding-seast she furnishes her Table and presents Man with the delicate Dishes of Pleasure and false Joy viz. Counters for Gold But when she hath once got the Poor Soul within her Net and cropt off the Flower of the noble Affections of the Heart which the right Virgin should have had and so spoiled the Spirit of the Mind with a false Vizzard or Mark of Infection when Mans Body fall as a Leaf to the Grave and the Souls Wedding-day draws on and he is to be settled in one of the two Eternal States Then this false Whore crâ—eth Aha! Thou humane Soul thou art Eternal I am but Temporal and Mortal and thou dost partake of my Mortality Eternally to seek Death and yet never Die I had my Pleasure with thâ—e Go now into Eternity I indeed was only the cause of alluring of thee to Sin But how thou must answer for it thy self I am but for a time In the end I return to the Original Abyss of Nihility Now here ariseth a great Question seeing Mans fate is so dismâ—â— Whether hath his unlacky Soul sinned or his Parents that he is thus born Blind Answ No Soul is born stark Blind But if some one should be so born yet there is Veâ—tuâ— bestowed through the Merit of the perfect Sacrifice upon every Soul to open his blind Eyes if he do not wilfully neglect the means of washing them in the Pool to which he is sent But if he will not go where his Virgins great Champion and Physician doth seâ—d him then let him groap in his Blindness For there is no Man that hath Power over his Spirit and passionate Mind that loves a Harlot without the Assistance of the foresaid great Counsellour Prince of Peace in Mental Calmness Now these foresaid Whorish Jezebels have painted their Faces and adorned themselves with an Image of seeming Beauty like the Fruits of Sodom which when touched will fall into Ashes but no real Beauty They lay waâ— at the Head of every Humane Street Some are like Hartors that receive hire And some scorn hire like Marrons that commit Adultery and take Strangers to defile their Husbands Beds And are contrary to common Harlots in that they give Gifts to all Lovers that they may come to defile them §. 5. For Destruction of the Individuum FIrst the Thief or surveying Harlot that surveys the whole World comes and saith All this will I give thee if thou Marry me and be joyned to my Nature in the Bed of my Friendship under Ground There I will nourish thee and thou shalt have the Entrails of the Earth for thy Chest and Coffer But I do not promise thee to see Day-light for many a Year if ever But there like a Slave in the American Mines thou shalt see Gold and Silver enough and thou shalt sleep among the heaped Treasures But the Spirit of the Soul cryeth O this is not Happiness O who will release me out of this under-ground Prison If this were Felicity then my Purse would be better than my self A Horse is not esteemed by his Trappings nor a Man by his Rich Concubine The Womb of this Whore is a snare of Temptation Which catcheth in the Pit of Perdition She gapes like a Gulf for the Mind of Man And spreads like a Sea for his Soul She is beautified by the Hand of her Whorish Mother Who writes on her Face sweet Solace But O Son of Man Child of God legal Heir of the Kingdom of Heaven If thou hast Oxen do thou offer Oblations And if thou hast Sheep thou shalt Sacrifice to God And if thou hast Children thou shalt candidly Consecrate them With the Wife of thy Wedlock to the Lord That his Heavenly Blessings may be upon thee Which the World doth hold for a Curse And yet knows not the Curse on the earthly Blessings Nor how they are a Curse unto them Who strive for Content in much But when they have much are hungry Yea they thirst as the gaping Grave whose Womb consumes them that gape after her But if thou hast the Virgin be thou content For she will make thee to flourish as a fruitful Field Thy Gardens shall be garnished with Greens With the fashions and fragrancies of Flowers Having Hope thy Seed shall spring up And in Faith shalt thou fill thy Vessels If this Harlot cannot prevail then comes the Riotous Luxurious or Swinish Jezebel I see saith she thou art a quiet harmless Man Wilt thou therefore live in Joy Get thee Wine and strong Drink Drink until the Poyson thereof be enraged Quaff this noble Liquor in Bowls Strive to conquer thy Companions in the Valour of Bacchus's Souldiers Eat the Lambs out of the Flock and Calves out of the Stall And make thy Body as mine is a Sepulchre of Dead Carkasses Put far away the Evil Day Let not thy Conscience trouble thee nor Reproofs awaken thee So thou shalt be an easie-hearted Sot or Voluptuous Flog-like Epicure of whom much shall be made in the Swine-house until thou be fully fattened for the House of Slaughter Come therefore along with me to the Banquetting house And we will cast away Care and remove that Melancholick Fit with a cherupping Glass We will treat thee with variety of Dishes dressâ—d after a new Fashion with poinant Sawces We will rant it and make merry over the Witness of God in the Conscience For this Solace is better than Gold or Silver Spend it away prodigally upon thy Lusts and gratifie thy Luxurious Palate And we will anticipate Prayer in the Morning with the Incense of our burning Lusts as preferring Sacrifice before Devotion Oh but in the midst of my Mirth my Heart is sad saith the Souls
Images upon Tables and made Law to distinguish every Mans Propriety from another But those Laws being not able to Bridle them they at last invented there was a Just Eye in secret that observed every Unjust Action That so they might be afraid to steal or commit Fornication Answ That God made Man upright and that Man found out many Inventions part of which was the Languages now extant we acknowledge But withal we affirm That the first Language was a Natural Mental Speech Let such an Atheist read History For he shall find there is no History that shews the Manners of any People but it shews also or gives a hint of their Religion The Voice of every Animal likewise calling to the Lord of Nature when any sudden fear seizeth upon them proves a Superiour Power There was one told his Friend That when he was young he thought there was no Hell in the Conscience but now being old he began to doubt what if there be one Now seeing the Atheist pleads That as the Flame of an Extinguished Candle dissolves and loseth it self in the Circumambient Air even so the Taper of Life vanisheth into pure AEther and is no more when the Law of Union of Body and Soul is violated and broken Second Spira Answ Here some Atheist may perhaps acknowledge as Reason will force any one that hath common Sense that there is a First Mover Which is demonstrated in all things So many Fountains from one Trunk or Bole which is the Ocean So many Branches from one Root So many Members receiving a Radical Life from one Heart so many Stars receiving Light from one Fountain of Light the Sun But seeing he will not acknowledge that God will be so cruel to be the Cause of an Everlasting Hell to the Soul of Man I acknowledge the same thing Yet there is a Hell and that Eternally For if it were not so Man would have destroyed the whole Creation ere this time in which there is such an an excellent Order and sympathetical Harmony between Superiours and Inferiours between Bodies and their Spirits and rifled the Closet of him that sits Eternally upon the Fire the Root of every Being As God made all Visibies of Nothing or rather out of his own invisible Essence So thou O Chymical Atheist makest of the whole nothing § 8. By Religion and Dreams AGain The Atheist asserteth That Pride and Humility are but one thing only they differ a little in Circumstances For Pride looks upon all its desired Accomplishments to be behind i◠Humility expects its Perfections as being before it not yet attained And so Humility is a kind of Pride saying to it self Thou shalt be advanced to Honour some time or other Answ But let him know that right Honour is an Advancement of Love For in Heaven there is not the least defire of Revenge As may be seen in the Son of God himself than whom none is more Honourable yet He is that which helpeth and saveth Nature which is gone out of its Order and becomes a Servant of Servants stooping to Death for the sake of Mankind The Babe is greatest in Heaven But Honour that rigorously ruleth by Force is no Honour He is not long feared that is not always loved It is true God alone by his Power must keep up the Wall and Fence of the Gulf between the two Natures to keep them in Harmony which Harmony he himself is in the Abstract Or else the Fire of Hell would break in and destroy the being of the first Essence in the Love-World which was without beginning But the Atheist yet imagines that because he dreams of frightful things and the Idea's that he hath of them impress afflicting Resentments upon his Spirits as if they were real but when he awakes he saith all vanishes Second Spira Answ We will suppose a Man in a terrible Melancholick Dream and that the said man should Eternally remain in that Condition wherein the Soul is as really disturbed frighted and put out of Harmony as if he had been awake That is The Fright that he is assaulted with is real to the Imagination of the Soul as may be perceived that it many times trembles and continues in a trembling posture after waking a long time Now you will say all vanishes and passeth into Silence when the Soul recovers it self by the outward Senses Answ But suppose it had no such recourse as to seiz upon the Body and wake it when it is so exceedingly affrighted to rid it self out of the supposed imminent Danger Suppose it were then in the Sleep of Death and the Body will not be waked where shall the Body seek shelter then The temporal Sleep being a true figure of Death even the first Death or sleep of the Body in the Grave And as the Soul is sensible of a real Joy or Sorrow in Dreams and Visions So also in Death why may not it feel the same Seeing the Soul by its creative Imagination frames either an Heaven or Hell to it self and is really sensible thereof without the use of the material Organs while the Body is incapable of Sense in sleep or which is all one dead to the Natural Functions of the External Sensoriums So that it is very clear and plain against all Atheistical Deniers of the Souls Immortality even an Eternal Testimony for Gods being and the Souls everlasting abode either in Life or in feeling Deaths Property called Pain or Hell that there is no material thing that can hurt or afflict the Soul either in Sleep or Death but only its own Imagination or Turba which the Worm of the Soul causeth Thus in Dreams the Passion wherewith the Soul is affected seems a Shadow of a Fancy after waking So the matter of this outward World seems and is indeed nothing more than a Shadow in respect of the two Real Substantial Eternal Worlds For when this World was made or rather New-modelled or formed yet there was no new matter under the Eternal Sun §. 9. By Love's Passion AGain The Atheist objecteth The Irrational Animals dream as well as Man And therefore the Phantacy that fancieth Images in sleep is Temporary Answ In the Creation of the World there was no new thing done but what was done in the Eternal Mystery before in the Nonage of Time And all Created Beings will eternally abide in the Figure and Shadow Yet in the Stilness For when we say Beasts have no immortal Souls it must be meant they enter back again or downwards into the Root of their First Constitution That is Though they are now out of their first Order yet the Breach thereof shall not be imputed to them because it was not their Fault but Mans and they sprung forth each according to his kind or Eternal Property in the Seed of their Souls of Life so they shall be manifest Eternally in the same But the Atheist objecteth still That the Conceit of the Soul is very deceitful and as unconstant as Proteus For
Frantick or Parasite not considering that two are better then one Because they have a good Reward of their Labour For if they fall the one will lift up his Fellow But wo to him that is alone when he falleth into Misery For he hath not his Virgin to help him Speaking like a Guilty Sinner and if thou spare to speak thou 'lt spare to speed O Guilty Soul Again if two lye together in the Bed of Purity then they have heat But how can one be warm alone And if one prevail against him two shall withstand him But the threâ—fold Cord of God the Soul and â—is Virgin is not quickly broken Or else rather then Love the Virgin Man often chooseth to fall in love with Jezebel who will not love him again For as he proved cruel hard-hearted and cross to the fair Virgin that loved him for it is a sad thing that true love should ever be lost and it is a most sad thing to love and not to be loved again So he is men with and requited in his kind and shall never attain the thing loved and this is Mans wo There is no other Misery nor any other thing that will be cause of Pain nor any other cause of Anguish Horrour and Eternal Despair but only this which is because he slighted his own potentially-good Fortune whereof he will eternally Repent God never ordained muchless created and sramed Man to Eternal Perdition But Mans Destruction is of himself And observe this for a certain Truth Man hated God before God rejected Man §. 2. Virgin-Vertue HEre some one may Object that this Virgin is meaner and not of so excellent a Beauty as this Harlot is supposed to be Answ In no wise imagine so the sault lies in the blindness of the Lover This fair Virgin is most excellingly Beautiful both by innate Beauty and precious Ornaments wherewith her Mother attired her and dressed her up She is the Daughter of the Deity For an insinite number of Virgins flow from the Fountain of Divine Vertue and have been Eternally in Heaven and intended for Brides to the Humane Offspring There are threescore Queens and fourscore Concubines and Virgins without number but this Divine Virgin is born in Heaven and is in Heaven in perpetual Youth And for Man Souls-sake and to fulfil the Creators Will Woeth him appearing at times unto him with most glorious and serene Smiles and Speeches She is called by the Sirname of Fair Vertue or Divine Form She is far more Rich than the Soul More Fortunate More Potent More Noble More Beautiful More Wise More Sound then the Soul And yet she thinks it no disparagement to be espoused to Him If he would be but willing First she makes her Address to her Virgin-Mother and intreats her that she would grant her the favour of going out to see the Daughters of the Humane Land as rejoycing in the habitable Parts of it her delight also being also with the Sons of Men As one brought up with the Creator his duily delight rejoycing always before him Yes saith her Virgin-Mother Gods Eternal Bride Go I know thou wilt not suffer thy self to be defiled Choose whom thou likest if thou canst gain his Love and be espoused to him And when she hath pitched her Affections upon a Soul she returns back and shews him to her Mother and saith O dear Mother behold is a Child of Adam which pleaseth my Eye shall I have him for my Bridegroom Yes Win his Affections to thy self and be eternally united to him Then she useth all means to compass her ends First she endeavours to draw him by her looks And to ravish his Heart with her Eyes as with one of her Aspects And with one Chain of her Neck which her Virgin-Mother gave her My Beloved is like a Roe or a young Hart skipping upon the Greening Meadows Behold he standeth behind our Wall He looketh forth at the Windows shewing himself through the Casements of the Creation Then was I in his Eyes as one that found favour He looked again on me as if he esteemed my Beauty and counting me all fair as if no Spot were in me O then I was in great Hopes to attain nay Ends I was many times restless for by Night upon my Bed I oft thought upon him I sought him whom my Soul loveth I sought him but I found him not For sometimes I doubted whether he loved me as I loved him §. 3. The Beginnings of Grace I 'LL rise now said I and go about the Streets and in the Broad-ways and will count no Labour irksome to seek him whom my Soul loveth I sought him I went to Bed again I slept in the Platonick Silence but my Heart waked as in a Divine Dream it seemed as if the Voice of my Beloved knocking at the Door was calling me Saying open to me my Sister Gods Daughter my unspotted Dove For my Head is filled with Dew And my Looks with the drops of the Night of Anguish But me thought I answered in the Vision I have put off my Coat How shall I put it on now in the Cold I have washed my Feet in the pure Fountain how shall I desile them Then me thought my Beloved put his Hand in at the hole of the Door and then my Bowels were moved for him I rose up to open to my Beloved And my Divine Hands being perfumed with Myrrh and my â—ingers with Odours dropped Odoriserous Juice upon the Look of the Door I opened to my Beloved but my Beloved had withdrawn himself and was gore His Voice still me thought sounded in my Ears My Soul failed to think how pleasantly he spake I sought him but I could not find him I called him but he gave me no answer The Watchmen that went about the City met me to whom I said saw ye him whom â—y Soul loveth But instead of giving me an Answer and direâ—â—ing me they smote me and wounded me in the Dark The keepers of the Wall took mâ— Vail from me O! Angelical Daughters of the Coelestial City I charge you if you find my Beloved that ye tell him how I am sick of Love My Heart is filled with Perplexity and Sorrow I expected here no fatal stroke of Mortal Wound or Contagion of Disease In the Blessed Regions whence I came Death is Out lawed and Sin an Exile at least wise a Terrour only heard of by the Ear Pleasures are there boundless because unlimited to the Partakers For Excess and Intemperance are Strangers in our Courts Our Rural Fields are blessed with the beanteous Beams of the Orient Sun of Eternity who shines through the Casement of the New Creation And our Radiant Morning can scarce raise a blush before our Blessed Titan is ready to unvail his splendid Face § 4. The Excellency of Vertue WHy said the Coelestial Daughters art thou so concerned Why wouldâ—st thou leave so blessed an Habitation For whose sake hast thou undertaken this Travail and Trouble What is
for thee now the Flowers of thy Virgin Beauty appear on my humane Earth The Time of Melody of Birds is come And the ravishing Voice of my Musical Virgin is heard in my Land Heark The Queristers of the Grace-inspiring Air do change their Notes The Black-bird and Thrush are my Companions in the Greening Groves They refresh my inspired Somâ— with a Divine Song of Praise to their Creator While I endeavour to bear the burden with my slender Shepherds-pipe And then pretty Philomel closes up the Day of Alacrity with sweet Epithalamiums And the Lark admiring the Beauty of my late-risâ—n Light mounts the fair Welkin to partake of its splendour And the rest of the Aerial Trâ—op manage the Consort tilâ— the Cool of the Blessed Evening Here he Plower flyeth with the â—assel And the Phesant keep slight with the Fâ—lcon Neither doth the P rtridge know Engine or Noosy Thread nor dreads the switter slight oâ— the Hawk Nor is the Lark dared with the Hobby §. 8. The Contentment of Vertue THE Figtâ—â—e putteth forth her Green Figs And the Vines of chearfulness with the tender Grape of Delight in the Patâ—s of pure Veâ—tue new budding in the hâ—dge of Distinction of the two Natures giâ—e a â—ragiant Sâ—â—â—sâ— Let every one enjoy himself in true Rest and Tranquâ—lity under his Vâ—ne and under his Fig-tree Where none shall make him afraid For now the golden Ages are again returning Jam redit Virgo redeunt Satâ—rnia regna Arise my Love my Fair one and come away Come with me from the sair Fâ—rrest my Sister Go with me from the greening Grove my Spouse Look from the Mountains of my late moanings from the Top of the Rocks of despair From the Lions Den From the Laborious Hills of the Leopards No wild Beast hath Power to hurt us while thou art our Princess For the Kâ—ds with the Flock Sport with the Wolf and run about the Bear for Diversion The Lion lies down with the Lamb and eats Grass as an Ox Nor is any thing of Emulation known in this sacred Creation For the Tyger sports with the Herd and the Dove Queen of the Fowls takes Wing with the Eagle and Vulâ—ure her Subjects And the little Child may lead the Lion upon the Mountain of the Leopards And the Suckling may play at the hole of the Asp and Cockatrice and receive no hurt As being the Regenerate Babe of the Blessed Birth None shall hurt or destroy in all this holy Mountain Come my Dear Shepherd Let us go into the fair Fields of Eden Let us lodge in the Aâ—gelical Villages who live in the next Nature of our Neighbourhood Let us get up early to the Vineyards of Life Let us see if the Heart-chearing Vine of spiritual Joy doth sloarish Whether the Grape of the Regeneration appears and the Pomâ—granates of Eternal Refreshments bud forth There will I give thee my Loves in the Garden of Dâ—lights Where no Cankers or Caterpillars breâ—d out of Putresaction Nor are Northern Blasts injurious to us Our Fields are full fraught with Flowers and Odorates For no Serpent hath Admission to taint the Fruit of Life And our Earth in abundance brings forth Pleasures whose Womb is the Store-house of Heavenly Treasures The Humane Plant is Odoriferous and at â—ur Gates are all manner of pleasant Fruits of Eternal Life which I have laid up for thee O my Beloved §. 9. The acceptable Sacrifice BVT tell me O Shepherd tell me O thou whom my Soul lâ—veth where thou feedest thy Sheep and where thou makest thy â—locks to rest at No n and I will meet thee in thy Rural Pastures O let me not be as one turned aside from the Frocks of thy Companions O thou Princess wilt thou condescend to my Rural Recreations Wilt thou of a Princess become a Shepherâ—ess If thou wilt debase thy self so low then go thy way forth by the Tracks of the Flock of Innocency and thou shalt see how I feed the Kids and Lambs beside the Shepherds Tents and preserve them in their Innocent State For here the Golden Rule must be kept among all the Creatures where each one doth justice by kind and not that the dread of Punishment should compel them For the Râ—y of Justice is so generally distributed that it naturally shines in every one â—he Creatures of tâ—is New Creation which is â—lso the beginningless live pâ—rely by instinct not making their Bodies the Sepulchre of dead Carkasses Here the Innocent Lamb because not knowing the Terrors of Death would readily if occasion were proffer his Throat to the shrines of the Altar And the Calf is so far from fear that he dreads not the formidable stroke of Separation because he knows by natural instinct there is no Butcherly or Bloody Dog in this Land There is no living here for the Rapacious §. 10 The Authority of Vertue BEhold thâ—u art fair in my Eye O dear Shepherdess Also this Green place of Repose is pleasâ—â—t The Beams of our Arbors are Cedar and the Rafâ—erâ— of ou Pastoral House are of Fir. See how the lofty Cedars lifâ— up their Majestick Heads And the Martial Oak stand by them The trembling Aspâ—hakes his Palsiâ— Crown Behold iâ— is calm in this cook â—avâ— behind this Bâ—ech of Tranquility where the Vine full-loaded with Grapes of Purity is a Shadow of Pleasure embracing the Olive under the Holy Mount And the Eglantine entangles it self with the Rose The Honey-Suckle ties knots about the Arbortes Oh! some body take away the Foxes and chase the Young Wolves that spoil the Vines For our Vines have tender Grapes being but newly budding in the Gardâ—n of my Heart My Beloved is mine and I am his He feedeâ—h his Lambs in a Meadow of Lillies Hunters of tame Beasts and Men of Violence will starve here For Death being an exile cannot seed their devouring Appetites The Ditties of the Melodious Birds will fright Fowlers into their own â—ot and Place Nor can the Fishes be deceived by the Angler who is forced to keep within his bounds For here is no Treachery nor Treason in this Holy Land Swoâ—dâ— are beaten into Plough-shares wherewith we dig the Gardens not for Necessity but Recreation Spears are turned into Pruning-Hooks to dress the bowers of Contentment And murdering Guns are made Instruments of Musick and sweet Melody Here the Creatures make Sport and Pastime with Danger as if Death and Destruction were Sanctuaries aries unto them When fair Aurora began to appear and the Shadows of Eternal Death fled away I saw my Beloved skipping like a Young Hart without Gall upon the Mountains of Manna Even where fear is altogether unexperienced and the Grave such a Stranger that its greedy devouring Jaws are satisfied not gaping for Carkasses to fill the Womb of Putrefa ion For nothing can languish or be sensible of Smart Because Pain is uncreated And Death altogether unknown CHAP. VI. The Whores Suit §. 1. Backsliding BUT after all these amorous Enjoyments of each
of the Spirit of the World destroyeth his own Soul A wound and dishonourable stigmatized Mark shall he get which shall never be wiped away in this World or in that to come For Jealousie is the rage of a Rival Therefore he will not spare in the Day of Vengeance he will not regard any Ransom neither will he rest Content though thou givest all that thou art worth Neither will the Spirit of the Soul be reconciled though thou shouldst give him all the Substance of thine House for a Bribe §. 10. Misery the End of Vice NOW the Covenant is a Lamp and the Law of Loving the Virgin is Eternal Life And the reproof of her Instruction is the high Way to Heaven When thou goest she shall lead thee When thou sleepest she shall keep thee When thou art awake she shall talk with thee in Divine Contemplation By her thy Days shall be multiplied upon the Eternal Earth and the Years of thy immortal Life shall be endless Therefore keep thy Heart true to the Virgin with all Diligence for out of it are the issues of Life and Death Believe not the Whore in her flattering Speech for she is a Lyar when she cries Stoln Waters are sweet and a secret Banquet in a Corner of Darkness is pleasant Be sure that her Cave leads to the Shadow of Death and her Guests go to the Depths of Hell And a desperate wo is pronounced against them that delight to lurk in the holes of Guilt and despise the light of Purity lest their Deeds should be reproved Come to my Tavern saith she It is indeed a House of Sin but not of Darkness For our Candles and hellish Squibs never go out It is like a Country near the Frozen Zone as clear at Midnight as at Noon Beware therefore O humane Souldier For armed Mars doth not so much wound thee as this naked Venus The Sorceresses Mouth drops as the Honey-comb and her Lips are smoother then Oil but her end is as Wormwood it will cost the Soul that loves her many a bitter Tear Her Instruments are sharp as a two edg'd Sword It will cut the Conscience to the Heart Her Feet go down to the Abyss And her steps lead to the Hell of Eternal horror Lest thou ponder the Paths of Life Her ways are moveable that thou canst not know them Remove thy way therefore far from her And come not nigh the Doors of her House CHAP. VII The Virgins Espousal §. 1. Reconcilement IF the Soul recant and change his Mind Fair Virgin-Vertue bearing no grudge in her pure Mind welcometh and entertains him again most joyfully unless he be stigmatized with the Disease of the Stews and so renews their mutual Acquaintance And the Virgin wandring in her Shepherds Rural Fields The long absence of her late Beloved had grieved her Spirit She had enquired of Passengers did they see a Shepherd passing along that way They answered No It was but a little that I passed from them saith she even from the pretended Guides into Paradise but I found him whom my Soul loveth I held him and would not let him go until I had perswaded him to come into my Virgin-Mothers Habitation in Heaven and into the Chamber of her that conceived me of the Divine Seed Who is this said the neighbouring Angels who were Proxime to the Deity as Princes before a Monarch Virgin that cometh out of the Wilderness of Wo and Despair leaning upon the Breasts of her Beloved I raised thee up said he under the Tree of Life there thy Virgin Mother brought thee forth in the upper Paradise There she conceived thee as an Holy Birth of Newness of Life in the Womb of her Virgin-Purity I charge you O ye Daughters of the Holy City said she by the Roes of Paradise and by the Hinds of Edens fair Fields that ye stir not up nor awake my Beloved until he please for he is very weary after his Journey and long Travel upon the Mountains of Vanity And requires a due time of Rest from his Labours and vain Wandrings And now the wearied Bees return home with laden Thighs The tired wandring Sheep that had forgotten their resting place have found their Fold of rest where they may lye down with the Leopards in a safe and quiet repose And now when I perceived how he admired my transcendant Beauty and the form of God in my aspect My Cheeks being comely with rows of precious Jewels and how I was adorned with Topazes and Rubies with Amethysts and Saphires with Diamonds and Gold I gave him a present of borders of Gold with knobs of Silver and the richest Gems For our Mountains are big with Mines and the Veins of our hidden Treasures are Infinite When my Royal Shepherd sits at my Table my Spikenard sends forth the Odours thereof Abundle of Myrrh is my welbeloved unto me My Pastoral Friend is unto me as a Cluster of Camphire in the Vineyards of Eden Because of the Savour of this pure Ointment wherewith I besprinkled thee thy new Name of Vertue is as heavenly Oil poured forth out of Golden Vials full of sacred Odours §. 2. Consecration of the Soul I Am the Holy Rose and the Lilly of the low Vallies As the Lilly among Thorns so is my Love said he among the Daughters of Vanity As the Apple-tree of Eternal Life among the Trees of the divided Properties in the Wood. So is my Beloved among the Sons of worldly Wisdom I sate down under his Shadow with great Delight and the Fruits of his rural Trees were sweet to my Taste He brought me to his Banqueting Arbor and his Banner over me was the Canopy of Love I am come said he into my Gardens my Sister I have led thee through a Wilderness my Spouse I have conducted thee into the Meadows of May Blessed be the Hour that first I saw thy Face I have brought thee to the Rivers of Milk and Honey which flow in this Land of Rest and Rural Refreshment Thou hast accompanied me my lovely Mate to the Mountains of Myrrh and the Holy Hills of Frankincense I have gathered my Flowers said I in the Meadows with my Aroma's in the Vallies Here in this perfect State of Holiness the Earth is not unburdened with Tillage neither is it wounded with Culture Come now said he O fair Virgin of Purity sit down with me under this Vine and under this Fig-tree where none can make us afraid And we will take a walk in the calm Evening in the cool of the Eternal Day and the Divine Springs and aquaeducts shall refresh our Spirits after our Journey Thy Breath is as the Odors of Myrrh as the pure gale of Refreshment upon my late-languishing Spirits Awake O. Eternallybreathing Spirit Come thou Divine Wind and blow upon the Garden of my longing Heart that the Spices thereof may flow out to the rejoycing of our Minds Come my fair one into my rural Garden and eat these pleasant Fruits I have gathered