A WINDING-SHEET Wrapped vp in a Letter from an onely liuing Brother sent to his few suruiuing Sisters DENOVNCING Vnto them the sad Sentence of Death and directing them how to bee prepared for the happie Entertainment of it IOB 17.13 14. Though I hope yet the Graue shall bee mine house and I shall make my bed in the darke I shall say to Corruption Thou art my Father and to the Wormes Thou art my Mother and my Sister PHILIP 1.23 To bee loosed and to bee with CHRIST is best of all MAT. 24.46 Blessed is that Seruant whom his Master when hee commeth shall finde so doing LONDON Printed by B. A. and T. F. for F. C. and are to bee sold at his Shop on new Fishstreet-Hill 1626. A TO MY DEAREST AND MOST LOuing Sisters M.W. D.B. and E.G. an holy Life and a blessed Death in CHRIST IESVS SISTERS vnto your Brother all as deere As Sisters ought to bee vnto a Brother A token of my loue I send you heere True loue will flame or at the least will smother Though it bee but a slender paper-scrowle It further may the safety of your Soule Should J wish to you Coffers packt with Gold Or wish you noble Ladyes at the Court Should I you wish more dayes then can bee told And with long dayes all meriment and sport What would these great these glorious wishes proue But the vaine breath of a meere carnall loue Could J you make all these things which I write Nay should I you aduance to state of Queenes With Beauties grac'd procure you all delight With length of dayes the richest Judian Mines And yet the care of your poore soules omit This were nor loue nor honesty nor wit Life ends in Death and death will quite vndoe The goodliest frame of earthly happinesse What then would all this glory come vnto What come of vs and of our outward blisse All vanish would and in that wofull houre If wee preuent not Hell might vs deuoure From which most dreadfull dolefull dismall place GOD of his mercy deare your soules deliuer And you vouchsafe his rich and sauing Grace Jnto this gulfe that you doe tumble neuer Oh therefore while this gracious time doth last Make your saluation sure and hold it fast Make sure make fast and in your health prepare Against the houre of your most certaine Death Thrice happie you if you prepared are When you must render vp your fatall breath This I doe pray for this J doe contend For this to you this little Scrowle I send A Winding-Sheete 't is call'd which you I send Refuse it not let it as welcome bee As euer was from your best loued Friend Your Wedding-gowne your Ring or better fee The Wedding-gowne you must be hind you leaue The Winding-sheete your body must receiue The Wedding-gowne in time away doth weare And oft with it the wedding comforts fade Fresh springing comforts fall vnto their share Which in their Winding-sheet in peace are layde And there in peace who doe desire to lye Let them oft put it on before they dye Doe so with this vse it and on it muse Read it and to your reading practice adde So Death shall neuer bring you heauy newes But bee a welcome guest a message glad A day wherein to CHRIST you shall bee wed Your Sheet a Gowne your Graue the Marriage bed Your Brother in the flesh and in CHRIST J. E. A WINDING-SHEET DEARE Sisters wee haue all beene a good while vpon our journey to our long home and there is none of vs which is not past or at least come to the middle way of this journey though wee were certaine that wee should fulfill the Age prescribed vnto Mankind Psal 90.10 But of this it were folly for any of vs to promise or presume any thing The terme of this our mortall life is vncertaine and vnknowne Whosoeuer is most backward vpon this way by reason of yeares may by the sudden stroke of Death get the start of his or her fellowes Wee haue seene both of our neere Friends as our Brother W. E. and Sister D. C. some good while since more lately our Sister A. E. and these younger then our selues goe before on this way whose staffe standeth next the doore wee know not And certainly Death hath giuen lowd bounces at some of our doores who haue beene brought so neere vnto it that our recouery was beyond our owne and others hope You will say wherefore doe you write these things which wee all so well know Why but to tell you all and my selfe that we must make better vse of these things then I feare wee yet haue done It standeth vs vpon to labour our hearts that wee may be touched with some deepe and serious sense of our mortall case and not slightly to examine our selues how wee are fitted for that houre It is an ordinary fashion for vs vpon the death of Friends or others to breath out a sigh or two with some such words or wishes Thus wee see what wee are and whereto wee must or God make vs ready for him But I doubt our care to make tryall of our fitnesse and to make our selues fit doth vanish with our words and is nothing but the smoake of a suddaine passion But good Sisters wee must know that there is no trifling in a businesse of this nature Death is an aduersary with whom perforce wee must grapple and a thing which first or last wee must vndergoe And as once wee shall dye and that but once so vpon that once dying doth depend our euerlasting weale or woe Marriage is said to bee a mighty thing which wee are with much aduisement to thinke of ere wee attempt For oft our Wedding-day doth proue the first or last of all the good and pleasant dayes of our life but much more is it so with the day of our Death For haue wee beene vnhappie in our match If nothing else at length Death will vntie the knot and release vs of that misery but after Death no change or alteration of our estate can bee expected Dye wee well wee are for euer as wee say made men nay for euer blessed and glorious Saints in Heauen Dye wee ill woe be vnto vs that euer we were borne Wee shall for euer bee out casts from the Blessed presence of GOD and companions with all Damned wretches and Diuels of Hell Alas then that wee should make so light account of this houre that wee should spend so few thoughts about it and cast away so much of our precious time on other things of no moment Would wee not hold him a very sot and idle fellow who hauing some great businesse in hand whereon his whole Estate or his Life did depend neglecting that should spend his time and money in walking London streets seeing the Lyons Beares Exchange and other Monuments of the Citie Loe what is this but our owne case There doth lye vpon vs the most weighty businesse that can bee and whereon doth
stand our eternall Blisse or Misery namely to bee ready for Death and to dye in the LORD How doe wee forget our selues then that letting this lye by the walls wee passe away our liues as a Dreame and employ the most and best of our time and strength in walking the Streets on the gawdy Toyes of the world and hunting after the profits and pleasures of it which at the last cast when wee shall most need comfort will stand vs in no stead but rather adde to our griefe and misery This is an errour which holy DAVID doth blame in mens courses Psal 39.7 Doubtlesse Man walketh in a shadow or amidst shadowes and doth disquite himselfe in vaine hee heapeth vp riches and cannot tell who shall gather them They are but fleeting shadowes and emptie shewes of good things rather then things truely good with which men are deluded pursuing them with much sweat and toyle and vexing their soules with many feares and cares about them but alas all in vaine For as they haue onely shadowes when they haue got them so they cannot hold them nor yet leaue and bestow them to whom they would But there is a Wisedome which MOSES the man of GOD doth desire that hee might set his heart vpon Psal 90.12 LORD teach mee so to number my dayes that I may apply my heart vnto Wisedome And wherein standeth this but in preparing our selues for Death And to say truth this is the onely true Wisedome one dram whereof is more worth then all the carnall Prouidence and worldly Wit that is of such account with men though it fill our Coffers with Gold and bring in worldly wealth aboue our hearts wish The more that wee apply our hearts to this wisedome and employ our time about it the more wise and prouident shall wee proue to haue beene for our best good and the sooner wee doe see about it so much the safer worke shall wee make for our Soules Our Life is heere assigned vs to make ready for Death which if it were much longer and more certaine then it is were yet at the shortest for such a businesse how much more in this shortnesse and vncertainty thereof This worke then cannot bee too earely begun nor earnestly followed which is of that great importance for our Eternall good or ill and for which so short a time and that vncertaine is allotted vs. Heere then I desire you to goe along with mee and wee will consider what is the best course to fit our selues for Death and gather out of GODS Word which onely can instruct vs with this wisedome some Obseruations which by GODS assistance may giue vs all some helpe and furtherance in this matter First then it is a good step of preparation vnto Death thoroughly to vnderstand that wee are fraile and mortall Creatures with the cause from whence it springeth that is Sinne and the consequent thereof namely Eternall happinesse or miserie MOSES doth take his rise heere and fetcheth this wisdome of making ready for Death from a serious apprehension of our Mortalitie LORD teach mee sayth hee so to number my dayes c. Psal 90. What is this numbring of our dayes but to haue a right vnderstanding and to take a serious notice of our life how short and fraile it is Let vs know this and ponder vpon it with the circumstances therof and it will excite vs to an industrious and constant care of Dying in the LORD whereof while wee haue little right knowledge lesse thought wee are both vnready and carelesse to make ready for Death It is a speciall part of that waking which our SAVIOVR doth pronounce Blessed Luk. 12.37 Blessed are those Seruants whom the LORD when hee commeth shall finde waking A man that is fallen into a sound sleepe doth not for the time know what his estate and case is much lesse scanne and ponder it with himselfe It is the waking man onely who can and doth vnderstand the condition of his health credit and abilitie and employ his thoughts about them to maintaine or amend the same Wee may bee sure then that wee haue well shaken off that drowsie sleepe wherein by Nature wee lye knowing little and minding lesse our mortall state sinfull condition GOD and the future Life when wee begin duely to vnderstand deepely apprehend and earnestly minde among other Spirituall things our fraile and mortall Nature our sinne which hath brought vs vnder the dominion of Death and the issue of it which is as I said Eternall woe or happinesse It is not a common thing thus to awake and rare is the man that is endued with this vnderstanding of his Mortalitie It is a mysterie not learned but in GODS Schoole and that by the teaching of GOD himselfe onely Wherefore else doth MOSES craue it of GOD but that he was the onely teacher of it LORD teach mee to number my dayes c. Psal 90. And DAVID likewise LORD let mee know mine end and the measure of my dayes what it is Psal 39.4 By humaine Arithmeticke men attaine to rare skill in numbring they learne to diuide multiply adde and substract they are able to cast vp great summes and euen account infinite numbers Geometrie doe teach men to measure Lands to take the distance of Places the height of Hills and Towers yea by Art men aduenture to define the Compasse of the Earth the breadth of Heauen the height and magnitude of Starres and Spheares But there is no Art or skill that can teach vs aright to number our Dayes or measure our Life but the Heauenly arithmeticke taught vs in Gods word no Master hath any faculty to instruct vs hereunto but GOD himselfe who must open this mysterie vnto vs giue vs wisedome to apply our heart vnto it Nature and Reason can giue vs but a slender view and shallow vnderstanding of this thing What therefore is more common with vs then to take a false measure of our life who of vs truely doth number his dayes We imagine all our life to bee of many elles length which is but of an hand bredth Wee conceiue not perhaps that wee shall liue euer nor doe wee duely consider that wee may shortly and suddenly that wee must certainely Dye and that to our euerlasting torment if we preuent it not Children for want of discretion vnderstand nothing of their Mortalitie Young men who are in the floure and prime of their yeares thinke that Death cannot yet bee neere them and that it were but lost labour for them to thinke on it Men of more mature age encumbred with multitude of worldly businesse haue not leysure to consider of it And of Old men none is so aged who is not perswaded that hee shall or may liue yet a Yeare a Moneth a Weeke or at least a Day longer It will heere bee said that Heathen men haue worthily discoursed of our Mortalitie And who doth not acknowledge that he is Mortall I grant it and cannot but admire the speeches
and as a Bird from the hand of the Fowler If a man bee indebted to another and haue not to satisfie or bee loth to pay another mans debt his way is to humble himselfe vnto his Creditour to begge his fauour to sollicite his Friends that they would pay or at least intreat for him And this businesse hee must follow not coldly but earnestly not giuing rest vnto himselfe nor his friends till hee bee free and then for afterward hee must play the good husband looking to it that by vnthrifty courses or rash surety hee fall not againe into the like case Now it is certaine that wee shall not any day or time of the day looke ouer matters betweene GOD and vs but wee shall finde our selues further in arrerages with GOD then wee are able to satisfie It is not then safe or wisedome for vs carelesly to passe it ouer but ere wee sleepe or take our rest let vs get the booke crost and our debts cancelled For which intent wee must humble our selues to GOD confesse our sins accuse our selues vnto him acknowledge our vnsufficiency to satisfie bewayle our wofull case into which we haue brought our selues implore and bee earnest with the LORD for his mercy to pardon and forgiue our sins and to giue vs Grace that wee may be more wary and better husbands for our Soules in time to come Wee must try our friends of whom in this case we haue onely one who can doe vs good that is Iesus Christ whom we must by Prayers sollicite and beseech to vndertake the matter and intercede for vs with his Father nay whom by Faith in Prayer wee must take and present to Almighty GOD desiring him to take CHRIST surety for vs and to accept in our behalfe of that full payment and satisfaction which hee hath made in his Death and Sufferings And this beeing done wee must renew our Couenant with GOD and take new and vnfained purposes to leaue all our vnthrifty courses to bee good husbands for our Soules to keepe out of debt at least not wilfully and carelesly to runne behind hand with GOD strongly crying for his Grace without which wee can doe nothing to worke in vs a faithfull performance of these our purposes and desires If wee shall thus doe day by day it cannot bee said what peace wee shall haue in our soules with what boldnesse and confidence wee shall walke before GOD and with what comfortable resolutions expect Death As a man out of debt walketh boldly before men and is not afraid of a Bayliff though hee see him come toward him but if a man be greatly in debt hee walketh by night and whensoeuer hee goeth abroad hee goeth in great feare and if hee see a Bayliffe come toward him taketh him to his heeles mistrusting that he commeth to arrest him and haue him to Prison Nay feareth almost euery stranger I may say euery bush to bee a Bayliffe that watcheth to catch him So is it here If wee thus keepe euen with the LORD we shall haue great boldnesse and not shrinke at the approch of Death as if it should doe vs any hurt But if we neglect this course and abide securely in the LORDS debt as we shall haue little quietnesse all our life so the thought and approch of Death will bee most gastly whom we cānot otherwise apprehend of but as a Purseuant to carry vs away to Hell I will conclude all this with that of ZOPHAR Job 11.13 14.15 If thou prepare thine heart and stretch out thine hands toward him If iniquitie bee found in thine hand put it farre away and let no wickednesse dwell in thy tabernacle Then truly shalt thou lift vp thy face without spot and shalt be stable and shalt not feare Your affectionately louing brother and most carefull of your eternall welfares I. E. IN CONCLVSION OF THIS Worke. A Winding Sheet is here sent from a Friend To warne three Sisters for their latter end Shewing them how to be prepar'd for death Before hee come to stop their vitall breath A worke so great that who so findeth this Shall haue great glory with eternall blisse That tongues of Angells nor of men can tell The Ioyes so great the freedome is from Hell This Winding-sheete was onely sent to Three Neuer intending it should Printed bee But that which then was pointed but for them Must now perused be of many men Now God grant grace to them and many more That in reading this they may haue such store Of faith repentance and a sound conuersion To withstand sinne and all hellish temptation Then they may say to Death where is thy sting And to the Graue which is a cruell thing Wee conquered haue you all through Christ our head And so our Grau's become the sweetest bed There shall wee rest and lye without all paine Till the last Trumpe doth sound Then rise againe And then shall meet our Sauiour in the Ayre And so sit downe with him as in a Chaire Judging the Twelue tribes with all other men And after that ascend with Christ in heauen And there behold the glory which hee had With God the Father e're the world was made D. W. FINIS
there haue beene set vpon at vnawares and taken away vnprepared as they were It is then extreame folly for vs in any place or time to promise to our selues securitie from the stroke of Death an Enemy that like the Iewes against PAVL hath vowed our destruction that will make no league or take no truce with vs that no brazen Tower can exclude no Guifts winne no Prayer intreat an Enemy that doth chase vs continually sometime in visible forme of open danger and sicknesse sometime in an inuisible figure of secret perils and diseases that hath a thousand wayes to assault and as many weapons to kill vs being neuer farre from vs and oft neerer then we thinke of whose mortall stroke no fence can ward off nor armour resist What then can wee doe other if wee will doe wisely but euer meditate of our Death and expect it alwayes Euen as well in the Prime of our yeares as the Winter of our age in Health as Sicknesse at a Banquet and in the middest of our mirth as in a Battaile and amongst the carkasses of dead and cryes of dying men Yea but you will say this will marre all our mirth For who can laugh and bee merry if his heart bee euer taken vp with the sad memory of Death and such a ghastly Image bee still before his eyes It may bee that this meditation will indeed quell and coole our Carnall mirth which wee take in laughing gaming dauncing and such outward things And if it doe so farewell such mirth Some affirme of Oxymel a syrupe pleasantly tart compounded of Water Honey and wine Vineger boyled together that where Flegme doth abound it auayleth prettily to extenuate and cleanse it away but if that bee wanting it preyeth on the substance and strength it selfe of Nature and the frequent vse of it rotteth the Teeth dulleth the Sight hurteth not seldome the Stomacke alwayes the Sinewes It may bee then wholesome as a medicine to them that are circumspect in the vse of it but it is ineuitably hurtfull to them that turne it into a vsuall food Euen so this worldly mirth is highly prized and praised as a soueraigne medicine to preserue our bodily health and to put ouer sorrowes and qualmes off the heart wherein also perhaps it may doe somewhat wisely and warily vsed but it is perillous yea pernicious to the sound state of our better part our Soule I meane chiefely if it bee followed as a Trade and taken vp as a dayly Diet. For what doth it but steale our hearts from GOD our time from his seruice make the Diuell a faire way to ensnare vs and giue Death an opportunitie to seaze vpon vs at vnawares And then what commeth of all our merriment and sport but euerlasting woe and lamentation As CHRIST hath it in Luke 6.25 Woe bee vnto you that laugh for you shall mourne and lament No good seed doth prosper in ground that is too ranke and rich Nor is there any place in an heart disposed onely to this Carnall mirth for godly sorrow true repentance feruent and frequent prayer serious meditation of GODS Word nor finally for this serious Spirituall wisedome in making ready for Death of which the heart carnally merry cannot endure the sight or thought Anger or griefe saith SALOMON Eccles 7.5 is better then laughter for by a sad Countenance the heart is made better Our Children learne not most where they laugh most and haue most sport and play The best Schoole for learning is a place of sober and moderate Discipline to restraine Children from wanton liberty and sometime to make them smart for it and other faults So the schoole of CHRIST where wee are to learne true wisedome is not the House of mirth and feasting but of godly sorrow and mourning Wee shall then sustaine no losse if by this meditation of Death wee leese and abate any thing of this worldly mirth which is the bane of our soules health But for our true spirituall Ioy in GOD it will further that making vs so much the more to minde and seeke heauenly things to solace our hearts in the hope of them to hasten our repentance and labour for the assurance of a life more stable and certayne by how much the more wee minde the vncertainty and end of this our Mortall life and all the comforts of it And as for lawfull and Christian solace in outward blessings it will not hinder that but direct and keepe it within compasse that it bring not an obliuion of GOD and better things on vs and a securitie in the neglect of our saluation and the meanes thereof It is not briefely the Christian expectation of Death that will marre our good and honest mirth but a seruile feare thereof and vnreadinesse for it The more that wee shall in a Christian sort expect Death the more ready shall wee bee for it and the lesse shall wee stand in feare of it As a man forewarned is thereby also well fore-armed so a godly expectation of Death is a good degree of preparation thereunto In the third place this wee must take heed of that wee bee not farre engaged into the world nor deepely plunged into the affaires of it if wee will bee in a readinesse for Death The approach of the Enemy and the allarme vnto the Battaile is vnwelcome and heauy newes vnto a Souldier who is turned Merchant that hath great Trade by Land and Sea hath got his houses full of Merchandize and Coffers of money or is become a iolly Farmer hauing about him a great stocke of Corne or Cattle And so will Death bee vnto vs if wee keepe our hands full of worldly businesse and haue our hearts set on the cares and pleasures thereof No man sayth PAVL 2. Timoth. 2.4 that goeth on Warre-fare is intangled with the businesses of this Life that hee may please him which hath chosen him for a Souldier It is a speciall point of a good Souldier to bee alway ready at his Captaynes call bee it neuer so sodaine Such a one will therefore keepe himselfe free from other imployments that all times hee may attend his Captaynes pleasure in going whether hee shall send him and doing what hee shall Command What are wee but GODS Souldiers vnder IESVS CHRIST our Generall whom to please ought to bee our speciall care and to that end must wee keepe our hearts and hands free from the intanglements of this worlds affaires and delights that wee may at all times bee ready for whatsoeuer seruice hee shall put vs to bee it to hazard our liberty credit or wealth for his names sake or at his call though very suddaine to lay downe and giue vp our liues Surely to meddle farre with worldly matters and hamper our selues with them must needes bee a maine impediment to this readinesse For these cares and pleasures if once they insinuate into vs will so intrench themselues in our heart that it will not bee easie to expell them Nay they will justle
out of place or much hinder this most speciall and greatest care to make ready for Death drowning all thought thereof by their continuall buzzing in our hearts and eares and taking away our time by worldly employments which they will one after another without rest put vpon vs. Good-fellowes as they are misnamed and Ruffians cannot brooke the presence of sober and ciuill men nor will they admit of such into their Chamber where they intend to bee frolike and merrie or at least will not rest till they haue thrust them out of doores if by chance they bee amongst them As ill can worldly cares and pleasures consist and agree with spirituall and religious which they will eyther greatly disturbe or vtterly put out of place as whose fellowship is vnpleasing to them Nay to say truth godly thoughts and purposes cannot thriue and grow vp to their maturitie among worldly cares and pleasures Which as Thornes and Bryers ouershadow and choake vp the good seed of GODS Word sowen in the Hearts of men Luk. 8.14 Besides this vnspeakeable mischiefe how vnwilling doe they make vs to depart this Life when our time approacheth O Death saith one how bitter is thy remembrance to a man that hath pleasure in his Riches But how much more terrible is the presence it selfe of Death to such a one Did not the backwardnesse of the Guests which were inuited to the Kings wedding Feast come from hence euen from their worldly cares pleasures and businesse One had a Farme which hee must needes goe out and see Another had a yoake of Oxen to proue A third had married a Wife whom hee must Wayte on and a Family growing on him which hee must care for Luk. 14.18 c. Thus for one thing or other none could finde leasure or get their goodwils to come vnto the Feast that is to embrace the Gospell of IESVS CHRIST From the sound profession whereof if worldly profits and pleasures doe keepe vs when yet it doth permit vs soberly to vse and enioy the same much more will they make vs vnwilling to dye when wee must leaue all such things and appeare before our Iudge Almightie GOD to giue account how wee haue gotten and vsed them Is it not an ordinary complaint of men that Death doth come too soone vpon them And whence growes it but hereof that they are too much ensnared and entangled with the World For what doth the Young-man complaine of but that hee is taken away in the flowre of his yeares before hee doth know the world and haue thoroughly tasted the pleasures of it And what doth the Elder alledge but that hee dyes in the middest of much businesse and hottest pursuite of his game The one could bee content hee thinkes to dye if hee had well satisfied himselfe with the delights and pleasures of the world and the other if hee had brought about the world to his minde for his Wife and Children It is then a great let vnto our readinesse to remoue hence when wee step too farre into the world and hamper our selues with the affaires thereof Wherein also wee are deceiued by a vaine confidence that wee can at our pleasure and on short warning vnwinde our selues from these intanglements and rid our hands of them But how alas was poore SAMPSON beguiled with this conceit When suffering DALILAH to shaue off his lockes against his vow and to fetter him hee thought as at other times the Philistims assailing him to breake all and free himselfe but the Lord beside his expectation being gone from him he was not able so to doe but was taken prisoner by them and his eyes being put out he became a drudge to grinde in prison and a May-game vnto his enemies No lesse feare is there that they who suffer themselues to bee intangled and fettered with worldly occasions shall finde it much harder to cleere themselues then they imagined For earthly cares and pleasures are very heauy stuffe and presse downe yea oppresse such soules as vndertake them Luk 21.34 And they doe further beside their weight beset vs with such cunning and hang so fast vpon vs as it is Heb. 12.1 that wee cannot escape from them and shake them off at pleasure If wee haue made them our familiars in our health they will not in sicknesse be cast off but like importunate companions will then hang about vs presse vpon vs hinder our best consultations about our last passage distract our thoughts to thinke and dispose of them and dull our spirits that wee shall not be able to pray to receiue and apprehend any spirituall instructions and comforts or constantly and cheerefully to meditate on the future life As a poore bird caught in a snare at vnawares feedeth securely not mistrusting her owne freedome vntill vpon the sight of the Fowler shee assailing to flye away findeth her selfe to hang fast and that the more shee struggleth and fluttereth to get loose the more she doth intangle her selfe and so beating her selfe to extreme wearinesse shee at length falleth into the Fowlers hands Euen so our soules being entangled with cares and pleasures as it were snares wee all the time of our health nothing doubt but that wee are free enough vntill that vpon the approach of Death when wee would get loose wee finde our soules so fast hung and fettered that with all their struggling and contention they cannot escape but vnlesse God of singular mercy set them free they become a prey to death and to him that hath the power of death that is the Deuill The Lord therefore giue vs wisedome to keepe our hearts free from these snares to haue our conuersation without couetousnesse and to be content with things present The Lord teach vs to keepe within compasse that wee doe not ouerload our hearts and heads with worldly cares nor out of an inordinate loue of the world thrust and ingage our selues further thereinto then that with ease and at the first call wee may retire It were an happy thing for vs I am sure if wee would imbrace that good aduise of St. Paul 1 Cor. 7. that is hauing wife and children to bee as if wee had none Hauing bought or otherwise gotten large reuenewes to be as if wee possessed no such thing and to vse the world as those that did not vse it or would not abuse it Whatsoeuer comforts as wife children wealth credit dignity GOD shall beslow vpon vs there is no doubt but that hee doth allow vs to vse them as some solace to vs in this land of our Pilgrimage occasions of honest labour and trauaile and furtherances of doing good and our better seruing him But such a loose affection ought wee alway to carry toward them that the inordinate loue of them doe neyther cause vs to make any breach in our Conscience to get or keepe them nor to encumber our selues with worldly businesse while wee heere sojourne nor at GODS summons to bee vnwilling eyther to hazard them all for the