and quiet times would owe But to the Valour which subdues his Foe O daring conqu'ring Virtue 't is we prize As this claims Glory as its just desert Shelves Sands and Tempests are the Exercise And Honour of the skilful Pilots Art. Who boasts a Virtue that was never tri'd Is a stout Seaman by a Fire-side Great Praise we to our wise Creator owe Who tho he hath not which he eas'ly could Made all things sweet and smooth to make them so Gives us the pow'r all Earth he made not Gold But gives th' Elixir which can do as much Turning course Stones to pure Gold by its touch On the Rain that fell in June 81. after a long Drought from the beginning of April begun in my Iourney WHilst gracious Lord thy Creatures all around Give thee what praise they can shall Man be found The only sensless dull and silent Thing Shall he be mute whilst ev'n the Fields do sing Their pleasedness is in their Colour seen How soon the parched Earth looks fresh and green The thankful Corn its head doth humbly bend Flow'rs and Herbs sweet Odors heaven-ward send The chearful Birds which in all Weathers sing And thereby chide and shame Mans murmuring Now use their utmost Art and strain their Throats To warble forth their sweet melodious Notes The duller Beasts hear this and straightway they As dancing to this Musick Frisk and Play. A noble gratitude they teach whilst for these showrs They thankful are whose benefit is ours And what shall we who more receive than they And more can render shall not we repay Those thanks to which the lower Creatures all As well as our Creator do us call And both we disobey and both we wrong If we with all the rest joyn not our Song Since they by us their Praises send to Hea'vn By us who know all good Things thence are giv'n And who with Speech and Reason were indu'd First to conceive then shew our Gratitude Wherefore I do adore that Providence Which these enriching Showers doth dispence That to the languishing and parched Earth And dying Grain and Herbs gives life and birth The thirsty Fields which could no moisture get From Springs or Rivers are refresht with wet In such a way as would mirac'lous seem Did not the commonness abate esteem What makes the Vapours to ascend on high And there condense to Clouds that fill the Sky What makes those hollow Clouds strong to contain Within their Wombs vast Treasuries of Rain And what supports them when thus weighty grown To keep them from a sudden tumbling down Justly we may applaud justly admire The Chymistry of that Coelestial Fire Which from salt Seas fresh Vapors doth extract Like thanks and wonder doth that Art exact Which makes the Clouds to hover as they fall And breaks and parcels them in drops so small Which on the Earth whilst gently they distil Revive those Fruits which Flouds and Spouts would kill Thus Lord thy Works thy Glory do proclaim Both Heav'n and Earth conspire to praise thy Name Ev'n every pile of Grass and every Show'r Which makes that Grass to grow doth shew thy Pow'r No less they shew thy Bounty to us all On whom thy Sun doth shine thy Rain doth fall How wondrous is that Bounty which renews Daily those Gifts which daily we abuse Mercy is thy delight O teach us more To imitate that Mercy we adore And whilst the Earth improves the Sun and Rain Let us not still receive thy Gifts in vain Let warmth and softness in our Hearts be wrought And holy Fruits unto perfection brought Such Fruits as may our Benefactor please Who sends these Gifts and greater Gifts than these He gave his Son his Son did shed his Blood By goodness God designs to make us good And this design his Goodness doth pursue Whilst he affords the rich and heavenly Dew Of 's Word and Grace to quicken and renew Our thirsty Souls O God thou art all Love On this alone we live here and above This doth preserve that Life which first it gave From this the comforts of our Life we have This now gives Grace and Glory hath prepar'd By this we Work from this have our reward And since this Love with blessings fills our days Lord give us Hearts as full of Love and Praise Such Hearts as may direct our Hands and Tongues To pious Actions and to grateful Songs And as each Moment brings from God above Mercy through which we live and breathe and move So Lord let every pulse and every Breath And every action praise Thee until Death Which stops that Breath our Souls shall thither raise Where love's our Life and all our Work is praise And what Crowns all where Death shall not destroy This blessed Life of Love and Praise and Joy. On a Cross with a Crown upon it in Burton betwixt Lancashire and Kendale Sept. 18. 80. THis day in Riding through a Town Upon the Cross I saw a Crown Which straightway brought unto my mind What we in Holy Writ do find That Christ did first his Cross sustain Before he was advanc'd to reign And this is every Christians case Who wins the prize must run the race Our selves we first must well behave E're modestly Rewards we crave Bearing the burthen of the day E're we receive the evening-pay And Conquer in our Christian fight Before we have to Triumph right And many sorrows undergo Before the Joys of Heav'n we know Lord to thy Orders I submit Confessing they are just and sit Reason doth teach us and thy Word The Servant 's not above his Lord By Patience and Obedience he To Glory went and so must we But since thy Grace alone doth send Help in the way bliss in the end Such measures of this Grace impart As may both give strength and desert Lord furnish me with pow'r and skill To do and suffer all thy Will Make me but willing to obey And what commands thou pleasest lay Make me but able to abide And how thou wilt let me be tri'd Lord help me so thy yoke to wear Help me my burdens so to bear That when they shall be both laid down I may receive a glorious Crown On the sight of Furness Fells Iune 19. 71. OFT have I seen a barren Mountain shroud Its lofty head within a liquid Cloud There at its will thus height still makes things proud Quaffing up Vapours which had else been Rain Drinking all up yet sending nought again But still a barren Mountain doth remain Whilst humble Valleys which do lye below Waiting till Heaven its kindly Dews bestow In Corn and Wine in Milk and Honey slow Thus greedy proud impatient minds that crave Still more and more from Heaven or nothing have Or yield no Fruit of whatsoere it gave Whilst humble Souls by silent patience Which strongly wooes soon get great blessings thence And thither still return their recompence On the Parting of Ways in a Iourney I Often as I Travel find Divided ways
Iohn Rawlet B. D. Died Septemb r 28 th 1686. Aetat 44. Poetick Miscellanies OF M r JOHN RAWLET B. D. And late Lecturer of S. Nicholas Church IN THE TOWN and COUNTY OF New-Castle upon Tine Et prodesse valent delectare Poetae A verse may find him who a Sermon flies And turn delight into a Sacrifice Herbert LICENSED Novemb. 22. 1686. Rob. Midgley LONDON Printed for Samuel Tidmarsh at the King's-Head in Cornhill near the Royal Exchange 1687. An Epitaph on the Reverend and truly pious Mr. Iohn Rawlet B. D. made by his sorrowful Friend I. M. RAwlet's Remains lodge in this humble Cave As he was free from pride so is his Grave But Virtue needs no Pyramids It s worth Bribes not the Heraulds pains to blaze it forth As Diamonds shine by their own native Rayes And Phoebus his own glittering beams displays So great deserts are their own Monument No Tomb no Epitaph's so eloquent Whilst others therefore their proud Marbles boast He rests with greater honour but less cost On his Divine Poems REader expect not here the filth of th' Stage Poems that please but more debauch the Age. His chaster Muse such heavenly strains doth sing As Angels chant to their Immortal King. By such pure harmony he tun'd his heart In the Coelestial Choir to bear a part THE CONTENTS AN Epitaph on the Reverend and truly Pious Mr. John Rawlet Pag. i On his Divine Poems ii An Invitation to the Holy Communion with directions c. Pag. 1 On the Holy Communion 4 Another Poem of the same 6 Directions for receiving the Holy Communion 8 For early rising on a Lord's-day Morning 11 Morning Thoughts 13 Directions for the Evening 16 On Whitsunday 18 On Ascension 23 On Divine Love. 25 On Death 30 Midnight Meditations 46 A description of True Prayer 51 How to get and keep a quiet mind in all Conditions 53 A Preservative against Temptations 57 On Solitude 59 The sum of our Duty 68 Whilst I was hearing Musick 70 On a great Thunder and storm June 1. 1671 72 Calmness in a Storm c. 74 On the Rain that fell in June 1681. 77 On a Cross with a Crown upon it in Burton 83 On the sight of Furness Fells 86 On the parting of ways in a Iourny 88 An account of my life in the North. 90 Paraphrases Of Palm 19. 57. Thou art my Portion O Lord. 94 Of Psalm 39. 6 7. 96 Luke 11. 14 c. 101 Of Seneca ' s Thyestes Act. II. 103 A Plain Paraphrase 104 His first Epistle to Lucilius 105 His 70 Epistle 109 Of Horace's Ode 22. 128 Martial's Epigram lib. 1. 6. 132 Inscriptions and Epitaphs For M. M. upon her recovery at Antwerp 133 Written on Dr. Patrick's Devout Christian given to a Friend 135 An Epitaph designed for William Banks Esquire 136 On A. M. a tender Infant 138 On Bishop Wilkins's Picture 139 True Beauty 141 On my own Picture 142 AN INVITATION TO THE Holy Communion WITH DIRECTIONS FOR THE Due Receiving it HArk we are call'd O friends Away away All things are ready make no more delay Are all things ready and shall only we For whom they are prepar'd unready be We that forbidden Fruit did long to taste Shan't we when call'd to our Lord's table haste When food provided is which will restore The blessedness our eating lost before Let us then hasten and this Call obey 'T is with the Prince that we must dine to day Whose Sacred presence calls us to prepare And fit our selves Hast must not banish care Hither approach all fair and clean within From the defiling love of every sin All bath'd in purest streams of hallowed tears Which help to wash our stains and drown our fears The Souls first dipt in this preparation flood Are fit for farther cleansing by Christ's blood Repentance is a second innocence Joyn'd with resolves for new obedience Draw nigh with faith and holy love adorn'd And deep humility which though it 's scorn'd By blinder mortals is in Gods own Eye The Souls true beauty richest gallantry With ardent longings come enflam'd to tast The deepest sweets of this divine repast The grace and comfort here diffus'd abroad And on the well-prepared Soul bestow'd Beg him to fit you thus who did invite You hither for both meat and appetite Do come from him and by the hand that spread Our Table must our Souls be furnished And when in th' Wedding garment we are drest With humble boldness to this Sacred feast Let us approach this wondrous banquet where The Master of the Feast becomes our cheer ON THE Holy Communion THE Son of God made Man his life laid down To save our Life to purchase us a Crown He bore the Cross and that we might retain The memory hereof he did ordain His Sacred Supper as his Churches Feast When he bestows upon each humble Guest Those greater blessings which he represents By Bread and Wine the outward Elements He doth himself in this familiar way With Pardon Grace and Glory too convey To such who whilst by faith they these receive To him themselves entirely back do give Thus is a Marriage union finisht and Christ and the Soul linkt in a mutual band Thus at one Feast we mingle griefs and joyes Christ's death and our own Nuptials solemnize And if indeed our Faith and Love herein Are with Repentance joyn'd if we for sin Sincerely grieve sincerely plight our Troth In Heaven we shall enjoy the fruits of Both. ON THE Holy Communion OUR blessed Lord who loved us and gave Himself for us us by his death to save That this his love and death might never be Forgotten hath ordain'd a feast when we With grateful hearts should still record his love And to blest purposes his death improve Oft let 's remember then and praise our Lord At 's Holy Table where he doth afford To worthy Guests Peace Pardon Grace and Joy Pleasures that satisfie but never cloy And let us still set Jesus in our sight In all our actions by this Copy write That our dear Lord beholding us may find His Sacred Image in our Life and Mind Thus let us with great Zeal and Holy strife Christ's death remember imitate his Life So shall we grow in grace till from this state Our Lord to Glory shall his friends translate Then shall we be where blessed Jesus is And feast with him in perfect endless bliss DIRECTIONS FOR RECEIVING THE Holy Communion CHrist calls us to his Table but who 's fit In such an High and Holy place to sit Only the Souls that are adorn'd with Grace May here in presence of their Lord take place Such whom the knowledge of his wondrous love To deepest sorrow for their sins doth move Who place on him their Love and Confidence And render a sincere Obedience To all his Laws who make God's Love their Treasure Preferring it above Wealth Honour Pleasure Who do in Charity with all Men live And those who wrong them from their
divide my mind Perplext I stand and don 't well know Whether I here or there should go At length I forward must advance Guided by guesses or by chance And when I have some paces gone I find they both do meet in one This gives my mind some recompence For th' former trouble and suspence Thus in Religions nicer ways One here and there another strays Each fiercely cries that he 's i' th' right And both my tender mind affright Then to the Sacred Rule I go To see if this my way doth show This humble Souls in great things guides But subtle trisles ne're decides When nothing thence is understood The footsteps of the wise and good With care I trace and on I hold Till my maturer thoughts grow bold To slight this trifling difference As seeming of mean consequence Since in all things of weight they both agree And I in them with both this quiets me An account of my Life in the North. Bene qui latuit bene vixit SInce you dear friend wonder how here I live This homely Verse a brief account shall give I live if not in pleasure yet at case Not in loud laughters but in silent peace And tho I rarely meet with merriment I more a stranger am to discontent Here 's no excess nor are things needful scant I seldom feast but yet I never want No dainties here to luxury invite Our food serves well the sober appetite Which need not be with poignant Sawces drest Our healthful Hunger of all Sawce is best Doctors we have none nor much need them here The Doctors we more than Diseases fear For Country-folks think they sell death to dear Altho I lie not on a rich Down-bed Yet do sweet sleeps refresh my weary head No Walks or Gardens here but yet the Field And fragrant Meadows equal pleasures yield No Lutes or Viols entertain my ear But more melodious Birds I daily hear Riches I have not nor do riches need Whilst here at easy rates we clothe and feed I have no Servants whom I may command Nor have I work that needs a Servants hand I am not high enough to envied be Nor do I one whom I should envy see Here 's no applause to make me proud or vain Nor do I meet with censures or disdain My people if they are not wise and great Are not untractable through self-conceit No factious giddy heads that make a Schism For fear of Popery or Arminianism No sawey arrogant controllers such That cry This is too little this too much No such vile wretches who their Preacher hate 'Cause he reproves sin at too smart a rate Wherefore I envy not flocks of more wealth Which give more trouble whilst they have less health If of Companions I have no great store With my own mind I may converse the more And from my old Friends tho I am confin'd Letters may keep us in each others mind Or if whilst buried here I lose their love I 'l fix my mind on surer things above But need I Friends need I Companions crave Whilst I as many Friends as Neighbours have Or if I want the joy of bosom Friends I 'scape the pain which still that joy attends For whilst they live our hearts oft ake with fear But break and bleed when of their death we hear And if I want the comfort of a Wife I have the pleasures of a single life If I no Gallants here nor Beauties see From slavish Love and Courtship I am free What fine things else you in the South can name Our North can shew as good if not the same Ev'n as in Winter you have shorter Nights But Summer us with longer Days requites Thus if my want of joy makes life less sweet Death then will seem less bitter when we meet But what is this Worlds Joy 'T is Innocence And Virtue that do truest joys dispence If Innocence and Virtue with me dwell They 'l make a Paradice of an Hermits Cell On Psal. 19. 57. Thou art my portion O Lord. DIstemper'd men whose Souls are all on fire For earthly toys do heighten their desire By what they reach to and the more they have The less content the more they still do crave Wealth Honours Pleasures all do but enflame Corrupted Appetites not fill the same As Oil when thrown upon a raging fire Quenches it not but makes the flame rise high'r So they in burning Fevers whilst they think To cool their heat encrease it with cold drink The best of creatures never were design'd By their Creator to content the mind But are bestow'd to lead us unto him We up these Streams should to the Fountain swim Only those blessed Souls who place their love On God himself and on the Joys above That solid satisfaction do attain Which others hunt the World for all in vain God is our centre and our place of Rest He fills alone the most enlarged breast He who enjoys him always of excess Will ne're complain nor be of emptiness Who doth enjoy him fully Once but tast His sweetest goodness and thou ne're wilt wast Thy time or love thy serious thought or pains Of things that merit not the name of gains Him thou wilt make thy Portion and thy Lot Nor spend thy Coin for that which profits not In him are heighths and depths of good to move And satisfy his peoples boundless love On Psalm 39. 6 7. IN a retired Hermitage I dwell Where no disturbance can approach my Cell Where scarce with any noise my ears are struck But th' gentle murmurs of a purling Brook Or the soft whispers of the Winds that move The trembling Leaves of an adjoyning Grove Or the sweet musick of the winged Quire Unto whose mirth and freedom I aspire Here with a calm and easie mind I sit From throngs from bus'ness and from passions quit And hence as from an higher Region I The ways of mortals on this Earth descry Their toilsom follies and their fruitless pains Heavy their toils alas but small their gains Shadows they follow dote on painted toys Strangers to manly solid lasting joys Here see the Earthworm lab'ring in a Mine For heaps of Clay which tho he doth refine It 's still but glittering Clay yet the poor slave Here digs till unawares he finds his Grave Where down he lies but leaves behind his Gold For which his Liberty his Ease his Soul he sold His Gold he leaves oft to an unknown Heir Who wildly wasts the fruits of all his care Strange madness this which Misers hath possest Who starve themselves to make their Heirs a feast Here see the proud Man hunting after Fame And yet by vice and bus'ness blots his name Adores himself and would have all adore And therefore is by all despis'd the more Scorns to submit to any Man and yet To his own Passions vilely doth submit He lavishes much labour skill and time Up into some high dignity to climb On which his vain designs if Fortune smile Tott'ring and
which reconciles The Savage Beasts and angry Elements Turns rage and fury into friendly smiles And mischief either conquers or prevents To him vvho doth the great Creator love The World of creatures all vvill harmless prove This Armour 's strong tho light a Coat of Mail Not to be pierc'd by Bullet or by Steel It gives a strength o're vvhich nought can prevail May I its force vvithin my breast but feel Fearless I 'le follovv vvhither Fate shall call Smiling I 'l bear vvhatever shall befall Place me on Northern Hills of frozen Snovv On vvhich the Pole-star doth directly stand There will I give the love and praise I owe To him whose love makes that a pleasant Land. 'Gainst frosts and Snows Love is the only charm These flames melt Snows these flames my breast shall warm Or throw me on the parched Lybian Sands Where flaming Sun-beams do the Trav'ler burn Love all Divine those scorching heats withstands Gods Love will Deserts to a Garden turn His Smiles his Words are Fountains Shades and Breeze Each place is Paradice when I have these No Winter frosts this holy Love shall chill No prosp'rous Summer's heat shall it abate But higher it shall flame and higher still Till it to Heav'n my Soul in Flames translate God's Love is all I crave in Heaven above On Earth below I only craves Gods Love. Lib. 1. Martial Epigram 6 tum AN Eagle once a Child aloft did bear The Child secure the Eagle most in fear Thus Caesars Lions sport them with their Prey The Hare in their wide Mouth doth safely play Which then the greater Wonder shall be thought A mighty Power each to pass hath brought Jove did the first the latter Caesar wrought For M. M. upon her Recovery when at Antwerp OH praise the Lord my Soul humbly adore The riches of his Grace which more and more To me his Handmaid hath been still exprest Let Love and Praise be equally encreast 'T was God who first did Life and Reason give By him I am preserv'd in him I live His Mercy and his Pow'r did lately save My Soul from Death my Body from the Grave 'T is just I to my God should wholly live Who hath renew'd the Life he first did give Thou that didst make me put my mind in frame Make me thy Servant who thy Creature am As thou hast lately made my Body whole So do much more for my more precious Soul. What thou hast wrought without now work within My pain is gone Lord cleanse me from my Sin Thy healthful Spirit upon me bestow That I in Grace may daily stronger grow So strengthen me that I may walk in ways Of Holiness and Peace through all my daies Till thou shalt take me hence to live above In endless Joys with thee the God of Love. Written on Dr. Patrick's Devout Christian given to a Friend IN Prayer the Tongue hath but the lesser part Devotion 's chiefly seated in the Heart This with our Lips we humbly must express And in our Lives by serious Holiness They who on Earth with Heart Lips Life adore Their God in Heav'n shall praise him evermore Whilst then our Pray'rs begin and end the Day Let 's daily live as strictly as we pray Au Epitaph design'd for that most excellently accomplisht and Publick-spirited Gentleman William Banks Esq of Winstantly in Lancashire who died at Chastleton in Oxfordshire Iuly 6. 76. UNder this Monument the Reliques lie Of a Great Man all that of him could die Who whilst he liv'd liv'd to the noblest ends To serve his God his Country and his Friends Wherefore his God his Friends his Country give Freedom from Death and make him still to live His Soul with God in Regions lives above In Regions like his Soul all Peace and Love With dearest Friends his precious Memory Lives fresh and fragrant nor with them shall die His grateful Country doth preserve his name Just Praises and true Tears Embalm the same His lovely Picture still hath Life and Breath In hopeful Children so small Power hath Death Over good Men who when they seem to yield Then like their dying Lord they win the Field Only the Grave in peace retains their Dust Until the Resurrection of the Just. Multis ille bonis flebilis occidit Nulli flebilior quam mihi On A. M. a tender Infant HEre Sweetness lies and Innocence whose Breath Was stopt by early not unfriendly Death She 's gone to rest just as she did begin Sorrow to know before she knew to sin Death that doth Sin and Sorrow thus prevent Is the next Blessing to a Life well spent ON Bishop WILKINS'S Picture Decemb. 30. 82. THis is his Shadow who was once the Glory And Pillar of our British Church whose Story Ages to come shall wondring read this Age Shall mourn his death tremble at its presage He was all that which makes men great and good But 's loss will make his Worth best understood His just Description I no more can give Than th' Painter can make this his Picture live His truer Picture lives within my mind And in the pious Works he left behind In both my sorrows some relief shall find Till his great Soul ere long I meet above Amongst blest Spirits in Heav'nly Joy and Love. True Beauty LET blind Admirers handsom Faces praise And graceful Features to great Honour raise The Glories of the red and white express I know no beauty but in Holiness If God of beauty be the uncreate Perfect Idea in this lower State The greatest beauties of an human mold Who most resemble Him we justly hold Whom we resemble not in flesh and blood But being pure and holy just and good May such a Beauty fall but to my share For Curious Shape or Face I ne're shall care On my Picture SEE here the Shadow of another Shade Which like its Picture soon away will fade To Worms and Moths a Portion soon will fall Both short-liv'd Copy and Original And yet rejoice my Friends since th' unseen mind Lives when dead Shades and Corps are lest behind And shall we be concern'd what will become Of fading Faces rotten Bones and Tomb Whilst th' unseen Mind whose form no art can draw Exempted is from Deaths severer Law Virtue doth Life and lasting Beauty give Virtue and virtuous minds for ever live With God they live in joys together where Of losing God Joys Friends is no more fear Rejoice then Friends this Glory make your choice Always do good always in God rejoice FINIS Books Written by Mr. John Rawlet B. D. and sold by Samuel Tidmarsh in Cornhil A Treatise of Sacramental Covenanting with Christ shewing the ungodly their contempt of Christ in their contempt of the Sacramental Covenant With a Preface chiefly designed for the satisfaction of Dissenters and to exhort all men to Peace and Vnity An Explication of the Creed the Ten Commandments and the Lords Prayer with the addition of some Forms of Prayer A Dialogue betwixt two Prorestants in answer to a Popish Catechise called a short Catechism against all Sectaries plainly shewing That the Members of the Church of England are no Sectaries but true Catholicks and that our Church is a sound part of Christ's holy Catholick Church in whose Communion therefore the People of this Nation are most strictly bound in Conscience to remain The Christian Monitor containing an earnest Exhortation to an Holy Life with some directions in order thereto written in a plain and easie Stile for all sorts of people Poetick Miscellanies
Heart forgive Who pure and sober are in all their ways And in God's Service vow to spend their days Art thou but such a one thou art the Guest Whom Christ bids welcome to this Heavenly Feast With Love and Joy his Death Commemorate Whilst here thou feed'st and hereby Consecrate Thy self entirely to him and he will His promises and thy desires fulfill He 'll own thee for his Servant and bestow Such Blessings as thou needest here below Ev'n here he seals to thee Pardon and Peace And all thy Graces shall receive Increase Until at length he raise thee far above To taste the fullest Fruits of his dear love Where we no more shall need our Bread and Wine Ravisht with glorious Sights and Joys Divine Wherefore who in those Heavenly Joys would share To sup with Christ on Earth let them prepare FOR EARLY RISING ON A Lords day Morning THis day our blessed Lord did early rise Let all his pious Servants do likewise His good Disciples rose before the light That his dead Body they with spices might And tears embalm then let devotion raise Us up to give our God and Saviour praise Thus let our Songs of praise shorten the night Till we shall come into that heavenly light When we shall hear no more of nights and days No more shall cease to love rejoyce and praise O blest employments these Saints truly blest Who thus emploi'd enjoy eternal rest This holy Rest let me this day begin Resting to God from business care and Sin. And let me in thy day and service find Such pleasure and such profit to my mind As may excite me all the following Week And my whole Life my dearest Lord to seek Not in a Garden or a Cave of Stone But in the Heavens where on his glorious Throne He doth exalted sit at God's right Hand Thousands of Angels round about him stand There free from sin and sorrow sloth and sleep There let me an eternal Sabbath keep Morning Thoughts BOth God and Satan by my Bed-side stand My Morning-thoughts are crav'd on either hand He that gets these is like to have the day What then shall God be empty sent away No Lord but let the whole made holy be By these First-fruits I offer up to thee I praise thee for this last Nights quiet rest The Peace and Safety wherewith I am blest I praise thee my good God that to my sight Once more thou hast restor'd the Morning-light My Strength and Time which thou do'st thus renew I Consecrate to thee they are thy due Be with me this whole day Save me herein From danger if thou please chiefly from sin All the day long Lord keep me in thy fear And make me ever sensible how near Thou art In private or in company Let me remember thy all-seeing Eye Upon me plac'd that I my self may frame To do thy Will to glorifie thy Name In sin with others let me not comply But speak act think as knowing thou art by Good Lord preserve me from that hainous Crime Mis-spence of short uncertain precious Time. O let me not my golden hours wast But live this day as if it were my last That I may mind the work I have to do Set Death and Judgment Heav'n and Hell in view Let me from Christ my Head fresh strength derive That I by Faith in thy dear Son may live Let me do others good my self at least Let sin this day be weakned grace increast Help me to spend it so that I at Night May looking back upon it take delight And in Eternity thy Name may praise For this and all my well-improved Days DIRECTIONS FOR THE EVENING REview at Night the Actions of the day What time was well spent what was thrown away Bless God for Mercies and confess the sin Thou know'st thou hast been guilty of therein To God through Christ for Pardon humbly pray Resolve against it for the following day Dare not to close thy eyes before thou make All Reckoning clear Perhaps thou may'st awake Before God's Judgment-Seat How dar'st thou look Him in the Face should he present a Book Of sins unpardon'd But if thou hast made Thy Peace through Christ thou need'st not be afraid Both Soul and Body are secur'd from harms Thou lodg'd in such a gracious Fathers Arms Who all his Children will in safety keep And so thou boldly may'st go die or sleep ON WHITSUNDAY ALL hail great day Day of our new Creation And of Redemption the sure confirmation Almighty Love that did us first create In holiness and bliss when from that state By our Apostasie our selves we threw Into that state doth us again renew This did the blessed Jesus undertake And by his Spirit wrought which for his sake On us was shed and which doth fully show Christ is God's Son by making Christians so He being now advanc'd on Gods right hand Doth exercise his regal Power and By all the Miracles of this great day Not only doth his present power display But also shews his future purposes And doth effect them by such signs as these A rushing Wind do his Disciples hear And cloven fiery Tongues on them appear God both in Wind and Fire and Voice is here Through all the World this wind commotion makes Which both the Heathenish State and Jewish shakes For not the Idol-temples fall alone But also that of the great Solomon This fire soon grew into a mighty flame And as if that strong wind had driven the same Through the whole World it did with brightness shine And did the World enlighten and refine Those Cloven Tongues th' Apostles mouths did fill And did convey to them such wondrous skill In all the Languages the World had known That they exactly spoke them as their own And whilst in these they do the Gospel preach Their hearers they do both surprise and teach These were to them Letters of Credence given To shew their Embassy deriv'd from Heaven What God inflicted once for punishment Now as a blessing on the World is sent Variety of Tongues that did disperse All Nations now unites the Universe The Babel-builders it did then confound But now the Christian Church even from the ground To such a vast firm structure doth it raise As may engage Spectators to his praise Whose wisdom can make all things serve his ends The same thing hurts his Foes and helps his Friends What to th' Apostles he did then direct Hath on each single Christian some effect O Sacred Spirit within my Soul repeat These blessings which once made this day so great Breath thou upon me with that heavenly Wind Which may refresh and purifie my Mind Kindle within me and preserve that fire Which may with holy love my Breast inspire And with an Active zeal my mind enflame To do thy will to glorifie thy name Furnish me richly both with gifts and Grace To fit me for the duties of my place So open thou my Lips my Heart so raise That both my
nor ill those things are which the wise Always and which sometimes the rash despise 'T is virtue only hath deserv'd the name Of good which ' midst all Fortune 's still the same Walks with a noble and regardless state Rendred by none dejected nor elate That ought is good beside what 's honest this Conceit destructive of all Virtue is Hence men will think they may and strive to find Somewhat that 's good not seated in the mind But this Opinion is false this course Repugnant is to Reason Virtues source He the good man you will confess appears Who most religiously the Gods reveres Who what misfortunes ever him befall Doth with a chearful patience bear them all As ord'red by an higher Providence Which to each one his portion doth dispence Then with an argument this strengthens us Since pious Honesty doth dictate thus To be submissive to the Gods and not Fret at mischances nor bewail our lot Nor quarrel at their Orders but resign Our selves to them and do what they enjoyn If any thing but Honesty may go For good what inward vexings hence will flow An anxious wish a long life to attain Follow'd with carking restlesness to gain Life's Utensils which is an endless care Roving and vain which no wise man can bear But Honesty that certain good is found Which our affections and pursuits can bound If pomp wealth pleasures make us happy then We may the Gods less happy judg than men If Souls exist from bodies separate We justly hope a more exalted state Than what they now arrive at whilst immerst In duller matter but it will be worst If these enjoyments which she doth partake By th' bodies mediation for its sake Are real goods But how absurd is this To think the Souls release can worst its bliss Shall the wide World-expatiating free mind Fall short of what it was when earth-confind If ought external's good we must confess Beasts share herein and so in blessedness But Honesty the only good we call For which wise men dare do and suffer all But raise thy thoughts a while and then if clear This notion doth not to thy self appear I 'l make thy self the judg Imagine then Thy death might hugely serve thy Country-men Would'st thou not it with patience now confess Suffer yea and embrac't with willingness See what a price on Honesty you set Whilst ev'n for it you all things else forget You for the common good dare dye altho You dye as soon as of your death you know Else in a small time intervening they Who nobly dye rewarding pleasures may Conceive Tho slaughter'd Heroes in their Grave Of Earths affairs no farther knowledg have Tho their brave actions here perform'd create No satisfaction in a future state Yet whilst they in premeditation view The fair advantages which will ensue Their deaths which like themselves had noble ends Their Countries good or safety of their Friends They suffer not but rather death enjoy Whilst in a pleasing extasy they dye But yet e'en they whose more surprizing fate Deprives them of the last great pleasure that Their forethoughts might afford without delay Dare fearless meet their hasty death whilst they All other interests wave content alone A well-deserving action to have done Offer disswasives to their enterprize Tell them their more deserving memories Will not survive them long their Country too Unkind will undervalue what they do To all they 'l answer These are by-respects This work not for self-relative effects But for its Honesty we undertake Which nothing can perswade us to forsake This is th' apparent good which not alone The perfect but all generous minds do own All other things men study to attain Are poor enjoyments mutable and vain Empty of ought but trouble For they are Got and possest with equal anxious care And tho indulgent fortune may amass And heap them on her favourites alas They are but burthens which the bearers press Sometimes o'rewhelm them with their weightiness The Purpled Nobles Silken Gallants those Men gaze at so if search'd into disclose Themselves but owners of an happiness The Stage-play Actor borrows from his dress Which richly glorious with a stately port Like the great one he personates extort To 's assum'd self some few hours reverence from Wanton spectators who returning home Are soon of those opinions dispossest He into 's former meanness is undrest They are not great whom raised we behold To Honours heights or Mountain tops of Gold Their advantageous standing puts a chea On common eyes which misconceive them great And fail to take their altitude aright Measuring the Ground they stand on for their height A Dwarf 's a Dwarf tho plac'd upon an Hill A Giant in a Vail's Gaint still But we for th' man mistake his ornaments For what 's his own but borrow'd accidents Divest him of his Riches Honours those Bounties of flatt'ring Fortune which impose On ignorant admirers whose short view Reacheth but outsides wave his Body too Then make a judgment of him whether he Great from himself or from externals be Can he with lively looks heart undistrest Behold the glitt'ring Blade set to his breast As careless whether's Soul by 's mouth or by His wider wound forth from his body fly Can he with an unmoved patience bear The great'st misfortunes And when he shall hear Threatnings of Tortures Prison Banishment Or all that witty Tyrannies invent As their own pleasures and the Coward 's fears Can boldly say No danger now appears To me I long since have forethought them all Learn'd to prepare for whatsoe're may fall Preexpectation doth alleviate ill Which blinder confidents of fortune will As not foreseen and sudden strange esteem And this surprisal makes it greater seem For what intolerable did appear At the first sight by use men learn to bear What sufferings Fools that Providence the Wise Doth teach who thereby doth familiarize Ills to himself whilst daunted those cry We Thought not such fortunes did await us he Did to the worst himself obnoxious know Come what will come he knew it might be so A Paraphrase on the 22d Ode of Horace Integer vitae c. THE upright man whose heart and life is pure From guile and vice needs neither Sword nor Spear His Virtue ever makes him so secure He needs no Bow nor pois'ned Arrows wear Cowards or wrathful men themselves thus arm The good man neither does nor fears he harm He that has tam'd the Tyger in his Breast Wild Lusts and Passions safe may take his road Through Woods and Deserts never-fearing-Beast All will adore him as a petty-God All will approach him with deep reverence Paying the homage due to innocence As I the other day did careless rove Having no weapon but a well-string'd Lute I spi'd an huge fierce Wolf within the Grove Who by my musick charm'd did there stand mute And wondring seem'd to listen whilst my Verse Did th' praises of eternal love rehearse Strange sire of heav'nly love