so euen thy praises must come from thy 〈◊〉 to set forth thy glory Thou desirest not sacrifice else would I giue it or had giuen it In regard of the heauy burthen of many sins oppressing my soule and the feareful apprehension of thy iust indignation conceiued against me to ease and free my selfe to appease and please thee what would I not doe what would I not suffer what would I not offer But I haue nothing whereby I might redeeme thy fauour towards mee For if I had Mountaines of Gold if I had Riuers of Oyle if I had tenne thousand sacrifices to bestow vpon thee it booted mee nothing they are all thine owne already and besides thou makest not account or esteeme of any of these things at all which I doe not deliuer to disallow or altogether disualue all kinde of 〈◊〉 by slaughter of Beasts and Birds appointed by thee and prescribed by thine owne Law but because these are signes onely and representations to the weake capacities of mortall men of that reall effectuall renowned and eternall sacrifice once to be offered for the redemptition of mankinde I know O Lord by the illumination of thy holy Spirit that it is an inward and internall not an outward or externall sacrifice which thou being a spirit delightest in Thou lookest vpon the heart and pious affections thereof alone I conceiue that to draw thine owne people from the superstitious Idolatry whereunto the Gentiles through the blindnesse of their vnderstanding and the delusions of Satan were so prone and so much addicted and to teach them to embrace such worship of thee as thou shouldest prescribe not themselues 〈◊〉 thou hast instituted sundry kindes of sacrifices vpon seuerall occasions to be offered vnto thee with an indulgent respect to our infirmity who being carnall delight in outward shewes without which wee cannot so easily comprehend those inward seruices and spirituall duties to bee performed by vs and euer with relation to the true substance of the hearts affections to be erected and consecrated wholly to thine honour For thou hast not 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for thy selfe 〈◊〉 wouldest not drinke the bloud of Bulls and Goats The eternall God doth neither hunger nor thirst c. But a single and sincere minde fearing God of those that offer such things as they haue from thee is a sweet smelling and well-pleasing sacrisice to thee by thy gracious acceptation who dost not so much regard the thing that is done in this kinde as the minde where with it is done and the end wherfore it is done to wit thine owne glory Thou dost not respect the shadow but the substance not the shel but the kernell not the chaffe but the corne not the signe but the thing signified At least thou doeft not esteem the type without the truth nor the figure in any degree of comparison with that which is represented thereby and therewith to be presented vnto thee that is a broken heart The sacrifices of God in the plurall number because this one is many sacrifices this one is all the sacrifices that thou expectest at our hands A broken heart a contrite spirit diuers words importing one and the same thing is a heart wounded a spirit deiected and perplexed with the sight and sense of sin committed mourning and melting into teares through the remorse of conscience grieuously lamenting that it was so wretched and wicked as gracelesly and vngratefully to reiect the iust lawes of so powerfull a Iudge and to neglect the kinde inuitations of so pittifull a Father and all for a little vaine idle foolish frothy and fruitlesse pleasure which was mingled with 〈◊〉 in that little time wherein it was so greedily 〈◊〉 and pleasingly 〈◊〉 Now 〈◊〉 doth thy gracious goodnesse wonderfully shew and 〈◊〉 forth it selfe that thou not only 〈◊〉 to teach vs what to doe and what to say how to 〈◊〉 our actions and frame our supplications that both in word and deed wee may please thee but also whē we haue offēded displeased thee to tell vs how to pacifie and appease thee againe The Sacrifices of God are c. Nay further thou dost not require such a sacrifice as must be procured and purchased from abroad with much care and cost farre fetcht and deare bought as they say but such a sacrifice as we haue or may haue in our owne bosomes 〈◊〉 à te extrâ to quaeritur Thou requirest nothing from mee but what is within mee Beyond all this thou doest vs the honour and trustest vs with the office of Priests that wee may be sure to see this Sacrifice duly performed We must our selnes for our 〈◊〉 offer vp our 〈◊〉 in humility contrition which is 〈◊〉 only 〈◊〉 and vnbloody 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thee Euery 〈◊〉 as a 〈◊〉 Priest 〈◊〉 a victime within 〈◊〉 to offer the franke-Incense that must be put vpon the Altar in his owne bowells in his owne heart a Sacrifice that is of force to 〈◊〉 and winne thee to compassion he neede not seeke for a beast abroade to slaughter and burne to ashes he hath within himselfe that hee may and should kill He may slay sin he may mortify his earthly members he may strike with the hammer of sound repentance vpon the hard Anuile of his stony heart till it be mollified bruised and brayed to pieces and then it will be thy time turne as it is thy greatest honour to binde vp and heale the wounded and broken hearted Hee may kill and sacrifice to thee his Bull of pride his Goat of lasciuiousnesse his Ramme of stubbornenes his Birds of flying and wandering imaginations and so the rest of his carnall sensuall affections which being beastly doe turne men into beasts defacing that Image of thee wherein they were created to holinesse and righteousnesse The morall whereof is this He may in a life of vertue and piety offer vp the death of his vices iniquities to thee He that repents his sins doth chide and braule quarrell and brabble hee doth expostulate and fall out with himselfe in this tune Oh vnhappy wretch why wouldest how couldest thou so basely stoope to the lure of fleshly wantonnesse of wordly profit of spitefull reuenge of trecherous infidelity how couldest thou be induced to sell thine inheritance for a mesle of Pottage thy euer during treasure in heauen for a little flitting and vnconstant trash of the world What fruite hast thou now of 〈◊〉 the forbidden fruite of enioying those sinfull and momentany pleasures whereof thou art so much ashamed was not the terrible voice of the Law thundring out hell and damnation of power to fright thee from rebellion were not the sweete promises of the Gospell of force to inuite thee to the 〈◊〉 and constant seruice of God Nay beyond chiding and brauling a true penitent must chastise and punish himselfe Thy Lustice O God although it be fully satisfied by that all sufficient obedience and propitiatory Sacrifice of the Lambe
things in heauen earth for the seruice of man and man for thy seruice who hast disposed all things in number 〈◊〉 and measure who hast caused all things contained in holy Writ to be recorded for the instruction and direction of thy Church and chosen giue me grace so to behold this mirror of humane frailety and diuine mercy with the eye of true iudgement that I may not with the Spider draw poyson to the destruction but with the Bee sucke such honey as may bee gathered out of it to the solace of my sinfull soule Thou diddest permit Dauid being an holy Prophet as well as a mighty King aduanced anoynted specially for the gouernement of thy people to fall fouly into the heynous and grieuous sinnes of Adultery and Murder that no man might presume of thy fauor or confide in his owne strength but euermore serue thee in feare and reioyce in thee with reuerence Thou didst also endue him with grace after his fall by humiliation and repentance to rise againe and recouer his former estate notwithstanding his long security and carelesse continuance vpon the dregs of his wickednesse as it were in contempt of thy Iustice that no man might dispaire of thy rich and tender mercy Thou didst propound his fall for caution that all men might shun that dangerous racke whereon he suffered shipwracke his repentance for imitation that euery man plunged into the sea of sinne might catch hould of the planke of repentance to saue himselfe from drowning As thou didst bring light out of darkenesse and life out of death so dost thou in an incomprehensible manner draw good out of euill turne the very sinnes of thy seruants to thy glory and their good Farre be it from mee to vouch this example by way of excuse or defence much lesse warrant to offend as hee did howbeit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hope confidently with Dauid when and after I haue offended through thy gracious goodnesse and free promise by the teares of mine eyes the contrition of my heart and prayer of my spirit to obtaine a full and gracious pardon of all my offences whatsoeuer Thou canst not O Lord but be highly displesed when wormes of the earth dust and ashes rottennesse and corruption hauing without any desert at all beene adorned with thy gifts and enlightened with thy graces shall presume of thy fauour so farre as vngraciously and vngratefully instead of thankes and prayses to returne contempts and dishonours to thy diuine Maiesty But on the other side thou canst in no wise endure that the most wretched caitiffe the most shamefull and wilfull sinner that Satan can furnish out of hell should despaire of thine endlesse and bottomelesse mercy wherein aboue all other things thou dost so much delight and glory which doth so farre surmount thy iustice as thou dost continually wooe inuite thy greatest enemies to the participation thereof O Lord being a sinner as Dauid was I cannot but pray for mercy as he did and because I haue grieuosly sinned pray for great mercy and because I haue many times and many waies multiplied my sins so as they are growne to a number numberlesses pray for a multitude of thy tender mercies that the whole debt-booke wherein my sinnes are registred may be quite crossed and defaced I must begge againe and againe that thou wilt wash me againe againe wash mee thorowly from the pollution and filth of my sinne Giue me grace O Lord to see my sinnes fully to confesse them freely intirely to giue thee the glory to take the shame to my selfe deseruedly Giue me leaue to lay open my festred wounds and lothsome sores to thy viewe in abasement and humiliation to stirre thy bowels of tender commiseration Make me to loue in my selfe what thou louest inme to wit truth and sincerity of heart accept O Lord my honest study and faithfull indeuour for true and full performance Let me solace my soule in the conscience of my vnfained sorrow for my sins past and my true though weake desires to serue thee better in time to come for which purpose enable me with wisedome teach me the art of godlinesse and the mysteries thereof in my hidden parts And because the Leprosie of sin hath infected mee from top to toe temper and prepare for mee a powerfull purgation with those ingredients which are of strongest operation that is without shadowes or figures the bloud of that Immaculate Lambe slayne from the beginning of the world applied by a liuely faith to my diseased soule Be pleased to bathe my vgly soule in thy Lauer of Iustification till I become white and bright in thy pure and piercing eyes Let mee when I am confounded in my selfe and cast downe into the Dungeon of Sorrow through the sight of my sinnes yet hopefully and zealously seeke ioy and comfort in thee and thy saluation Let mee so place my sinnes before mine owne sorrowfull face that thou mayest hide thy face at least thine angry face from them or rather so quite deface them that they may 〈◊〉 be to be seene hereafter that they may 〈◊〉 rise vp in iudgement either to shame me in this or condemne me in the next world And because my iustification which consists in thy free remission of my sinnes cannot subsist without sanctification and holinesse of conuersation as the light of that Lampe and heate of that fire And because it is impossible to draw a cleane out of an vncleane thing I beseech thee Lord to worke a wonder on me that is to create a cleane heart within mee Purge the fountain and then the streames which 〈◊〉 from it in my thoughts words and actions will be clearer and purer Giue mee a 〈◊〉 spirit that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 carry my selfe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thee and for 〈◊〉 this spirit 〈◊〉 becomes decayed and distorted by the peruersnesse of my nature and obliquity of my transgressions vouchsafe to renew it in me from time to time by a continuall supply of thy heauenly grace Although I haue many wayes and times deserued thy iust indignatiō yet for thy mercies sake abandon me not from thy presence banish mee not from thy Courts let me behold thy face though ouerclouded with a storme of displeasure Although I haue grieued yea and despighted thy good spirit when it endeauoured my reformation direction and consolation yet I beseech thee not to take it vtterly from me let not that holy fire though raked vp vnder the ashes of my sins bee quite extinguished When thou doest for my sinnes bereaue mee of the comfortable confidence I found in the assurance of thy saluation giue mee leaue to claime still mine interest in it euen when I tremble and quake at thy iudgements and thereby to craue a restitution of that tranquility of minde and peace of conscience which I formerly enioyed with contentment make mee by the want rightly to value the worth of so great a fauour then which
houses that at their comming in and going out they might bee euer mindfull of their iourney and passage to death If those Heathen by the light of nature tooke so wise a course how much more ought Christians by the lampe of grace still behold their sins as their Graues wherein their soules must lye eternally buried vnlesse they bee timely raised and thorowly renewed by repentance As the sight of the Brazen Serpent did cure the sting of the serpents so the 〈◊〉 and displeasing sight of my sins doth take away the biting of these serpents So then in the middest of the discontent which I finde in this fearefull and wofull sight of my grieuous sins there is this singular comfort that thou in mercy turnest thy face from them thou castest them behinde thee while I set them before mee They doe not deepely displease thee and me at one and the same time when they procure my sorrow and humiliatiō they cease to prouoke thine anger and indignation My sins neuer 〈◊〉 mee but when they delight mee they neuer displease thee but whē they please me Wherefore as fóule as the obiect as odious as the 〈◊〉 is in my better iudgement I am contented with an impatient patience still to represent it to my soule because howsoeuer in it selfe vgly it vshers me by degrees to the view and contemplation of thy vndeserued loue and fauor which at length as the bright sun dispels all the cloudes of care and mists of Melancholy and raises my deiected heart to the participation of vnspeakable consolation Wretched and vnhappy I was in committing so great and grieuous sinnes but I am happy in a sort in this vnhappinesse if I haue eyes to see my sins being committed to see them as it were thorow a perspectiue glasse so as they may seeme in ful proportion as great to mee as they are in deed Satan deales with his vassales as the Rauen doth with the Lambe the Rauen first picks out the silly creature his eyes and then carries him out of the way securely to deuoure him First Satan blindes me in sinne and then hee bindes me in the chaines of darknesse as fast as hee can of purpose to throw me into vtter darkenesse When after shippewracke I see the Rocke which I could not foresee before I fell vpon it I striue by all meanes to auoyde it the second time When I see my sinnes past in the true lineaments of their vgly shape I cannot but bee shie and wary to shun the like monsters euer after When the bayted hook of sinne is cast before me I see the baite of pleasure only but not the hooke of thy iudgements but after I haue beene catched and felt and seene the bare hooke without a bayte I become circumspect and suspect euery bit I swallow for feare lest I be ensnared againe My sinne is euer against me ranged as it were and marshalled in battaile aray against me My sinne doth proudly affront and directly oppose mee nay it doth euen outface mee shamelesly Before Nathan came vnto me I had cast my sinnes behinde my backe his message hath caused mee to transpose them for now they are set before my face they stand stoutly against me euen to my face My sinne O Lord as it is a witnesse so is it an informer against my conscience it charges and conuicts me before thy iudgement seate I haue no hope of preuarication I see no way of euasion It makes hue and crie against mee with eager pursuite it will not giue ouer till I be apprehended and deliueted into the hands of iustice When there is no man to vexe mee outwardly I torment my selfe inwardly as holy Iob confessed in those words Why hast thou set me ouer against thee I am become burden some euen to my selfe Thou diddest set his sinnes against him which made him conceiue that thou diddest set him against thee as a marke to shoote thine arrowes of anger at but when 〈◊〉 began thorowly to feele thou diddest begin graciously to ease him of his burden My sinne as it opposes against mee so it interposes betweene thee and me in such sort as neither my prayers can ascend to thee nor thy graces descend to mee vnlesse thy mercy interuene to keepe the peace and cleere the passage betweene vs. Against thee thee only haue I 〈◊〉 Now my inclosed sorrow must haue vent my oppressed conscience must be disburthened This knowledge and representation breeds an acknowledgement and recognition of my sin The contrition of my heart forceth from me a confession of my mouth I can hold no longer but must needs with teares in mine eyes and anguish in my soule crie out Peccaui and with an ingemination by way of aggrauation Against thee against thee onely to declare my iust indignation against my selfe for committing so foule and grieuous faults against that great Maiestie and that gracious goodnesse which I haue so highly offended And thus doe I limit and as it were appropriate my offences as committed against thee alone for many causes For although I haue sinned against Heauen and against Earth yet is there no witnesse of my sinne on earth but thou O God in Heauen so closely and cunningly haue I carried it That I defiled the wife to conceale that destroyed the life of Vriah was not knowne to the world that I so treacherously and cruelly exposed to slaughter a great troope of Souldiers fighting for mee and vnder my command to couer my wicked designe against Vriah was hidden from the eyes of men Thou knowest and seest all things wherefore against thee onely haue I sinned Againe though there bee no man that dare reprooue mee that will accuse me that cā punish me being a King and aboue the Law yet euery King and kingdome vpon earth is subiect to thee the King of Kings and thy soueraignety I must render thee an account of my demeanour which I tremble and quake to thinke of Moreouer although I haue not onely sinned against thee in Heauen but scandalized men on earth also yet it vexeth mee beyond all comparison that I haue wittingly and presumptuously offended thee Although all the world should 〈◊〉 emee yet it is too too much to me to finde and feele thee my Iudge that mine own conscience doth summon mee before thy Tribunall and frame my proces against me before thy Iudgement seate In this case no flattery of my seruants who according to the fashion of Court doe sooth and claw their Masters can lessen my paine asswage mine anguish or pacifie my conscience Say what they will or can I must say still Against thee against thee only I haue offended Furthermore none but thou that art iust and without sinne hast of right the cognizance of sinne and coertion of offenders Sinners are not competent Iudges of sinners Men doe murmur and grudge to giue account of their sinfull actions to sinfull men who are tainted with the same or greater vices but
shalt bee found iust and pure and it is my part as to beleeue there is equity and iustice in all thy proceedings 〈◊〉 sometimes through my blindnesse I cannot sometimes through my 〈◊〉 I will not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so euen when 〈◊〉 doe most bitterly smart to bridle my vnruly passions and with a calme and subdued heart to kisse the rod wherewith I haue been scourged and to indeuour by all meanes that thy righteousnesse as it is indeed so it may shine cleere and bright to the face of all the world Behold I was borne in iniquitie and in sinne hath my mother conceiued me Vpon the straight inquisition and exact suruay of my selfe and my sinnes searching and ransacking euery corner of my house of clay I haue found a noysome sincke and filthy puddle or rather a poysoned and poysonous spring a paternall or a parentall sinne an hereditary a radicall and originall sinne whence all the sinnes of my thoughts words and deedes are continually and plentifully deriued This is that canker of sin which being bred in the bone will neuer out of the flesh This is the law of my members which doth alwaies resist the Law of my minde the euerliuing seed of rebellion which maintaines the implacable warre betweene the flesh and the Spirit which will neuer 〈◊〉 till mortality hath put on immortality and death the last enemy be swallowed vp in victory This is peccatum peccans a sinning or a spurning sinne It is a sinne a punishment of sinne and a cause of sinne Which yet I do not alleadge to excuse or extenuate but rather to accuse my selfe and aggrauate my sinne knowing right well that the viler I am in mine owne the more acceptable I shall bee in thy sight and hoping that the franke confession of my miserable condition proceeding from true humiliation and contrition will the rather moue thy tender compassion as beggers vpō earth to stir the bowels of pitty in their beholders lay open to their view their grieuous sores and lothsome diseases The greater misery is the fitter obiect of thy greater mercy the more desperate the malady the more honourable will the cure bee to the Phisician Where my sinne abounds thy grace delighteth to superabound For the onely and singuler sinne of Adam as of him that bare the person of all his posterity is iustly the sinne of the whole posterity and all being guilty of sinne by his singuler sinfull act thou O God in thy Iustice diddest permit the naturall propagation of sinne in his off-spring which deserued such a punishment for such a sinne Hereupon it commeth that my inbred corruption and the inherent sting of sensuality in mee who sinned in Adams as Leui tithed in Abrahams loynes is not the first cause of my guilt but a fruite or reward thereof according to thy iust iudgment whence it may well bee termed the penalty of sinne For that prime sin the chiefe source of sinne which the further it runneth the faster it increaseth by this streame falling into it growes in the end to such a strong and forcible current as doth euen carry and compell me violently to sinne if thy grace do not resist the 〈◊〉 thereof because hence doe flow my sinfull passions my euill affections my sinister inclinations and from them my sinnes of action or omission which are sins of action also in their full perfection or imperfection rather which I daily or rather hourely and continually commit In which regard my woe arising from mine owne wickednesse my case is most deplorable euery way Wherefore I beseech thee with the eyes of pitty and mercy to behold it I was conceiued in sinne And therefore there is no sinne that I am not apt and ready to conceiue yea to engender and produce from imagination to assent from assent to delectation from delectation to resolution from resolution to execution if thou O Lord doe not beget me anew by the immortall seed of thy Word if thou doe not quell and extinguish in me this old seede which will alwaies be springing and sprouting in the ranke soyle of my sinfull flesh When my mother first warmed me in her bowels shee conceiued sinne when she brought me forth into the world she was deliuered of a child of sinne The child in the mothers wombe is held to be a part of the mother and vndoubtedly the mother hath a great share in the Child before shee depart with it besides her nature and substance shee imparts vnto it her qualities inclinations and dispositions being as it were a scion takē from her tree and a collop cut out of her flesh That which is borne of flesh is flesh and therefore holy 〈◊〉 asketh this vnanswerable question Who shall appeare cleane before thee or Who 〈◊〉 bring a cleane thing out of an 〈◊〉 Not onely actuall 〈◊〉 but 〈◊〉 and naturall not the second motions of it onely put into forme but the first that are vnshapen doe plot and contriue the treason are authors if not actors of it they bring fewel to the fire which afterwards is kindled and set a burning that fomentation of sinne is not onely the cause of sinne and the punishment of sinne but sinne it selfe This is that threefold cord euery part and piece whereof is sinfull that bindes me fast to the barre of thy iustice First Adam his primitiue sinne then the diriuation of sinne to all his posterity and afterwards the particular actions of sinne proceeding from them both Now if I were a sinner in my mothers wombe when and where shall I be faultlesse If I were so bad before I saw the light how should I not be much worse when through the corruption of the world and the contagion of sin I haue sucked in the infectious aire thereof How can it bee but that my inbred naughtinesse must needes gaine strength and gather increase And what can the progresse and end bee when the beginning of my life is so 〈◊〉 and sinfull If I bee cast out of my mothers wombe into the roade-way of sinne and trauell the iourney of sin still onward let mee but recount the vanity of 〈◊〉 childhood the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 my youth the slips or rather falls of my 〈◊〉 age the infirmities of my old age and I shall 〈◊〉 finde that from my 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 to my death and 〈◊〉 I trod the way not of life but of sinne 5. 〈◊〉 I was conceiued in sinne 6. Behold thou louest Truth c. IN these two Ecce's which are happily sorted together I desire to intimate two remarkeable things The one is the misery of my wretched condition The other the largenesse of thy tender affection The first Ecce is on thy part Behold O Lord my conception and birth in sinne behold mee drowned and ouerwhelmed in a sea of sin The other Ecce is on my part I behold in thee O Lord a fire of loue because thou louest the least sparkles of grace in mee which mounting vpwards make me
creature which thy hands haue made and fashioned looke vpon thine owne Image which thou hast stamped vpon me looke not vpon my sinnes which haue blemished and disfigured my soule which haue almost quite defaced that thine Image and in stead thereof haue placed the very portraicture of Satan Although custome of sinning haue made my sin another nature in me although I be so compassed with infirmities so inclosed in my corruptions as they may seeme to be incorporated in me and become my very substance yet thou O Lord canst distinguish between the 〈◊〉 and the rust between thine owne and Satans worke between man and a sinner Thou canst looke on that which thou hast made and look off that which I haue marred with one and the same Eye of pitie and mercie When thou seekest a sinner thou 〈◊〉 the man and not his sinne that thou mayest despise the sin which is mans worke and not lose the man which is thy worke Hee that loseth a precious Iewell seeketh it in all the sluts corners and stickketh not to rake the kennell and stirre the dunghill to finde it The Iudge when he will pardon lookes vpon the man not vpon his fault the father when he is disposed to pitty his child thinkes vpon his owne affection and not vpon his sonnes transgression Euen so O Lord thou art mindfull of thine owne worke that thou mayest forget the worke of another thou turnest thy face to the tone that thou mayest hide thy face from the tother O Lord at least hide thine angry face from me I cannot deny but that I neede correction and am not therefore altogether vnwilling to beare it if thou holdest it meete Correct me but not in thy fury chastize me but not in thy displeasure let mine afflictions be instructions not destructions rather medicines then punishments castigations not condemnations Let them be the wounds of a louer Let me perceiue thy grace euen when thou doest seeme to frowne vpon me let me discerne the sweete sunshine of thy mercy thorow the thickest cloudes of thy fiercest wrath I will follow the way which thou hast taught me I will set my sinnes before mine owne face that thou mayest hide thy face from them I will remember that thou maiest forget them I will confesse that thou mayest forgiue them I am much ashamed and agreeued to see mine own sinnes I am much more ashamed and agreeued that thou with thy pure eyes and bright face shouldest behold the fowlenesse and filthines the folly and madnesse the absurdity and grossenesse of them Yet O Lord let mee behold my sinnes alwaies so as thou wilt be pleased to hide thy face from them altogether Thou canst but thou doest not alwaies because thou wilt not sometimes in fauour see the faults 〈◊〉 thy people Thou diddest not because thou wouldest not see iniquity in Jacob nor peruersenesse in Israel If thou canst not in Iustice but looke towards my sinnes yet I beseech thee in mercy to suffer the Blood of thine Immaculate Lambe to interuene betweene thy glorious face and my lothsome corruptions Let that spectacle either diuert or restraine thy sight and hinder the representation of the vgly shapes of my faults to thy pure and perceiuing eyes Looke vpon that precious obiect first and there stay and terminate thy sight or at least looke through it as men looke through a coloured glasse that the foule obiect may appeare in the colour of the glasse and not in his owne colours Let the robe of the Lambes innocency couer the shamefull nakednesse of my vnrighteousnesse so as it may be hidden from thy angry face and fearefull countenance Blot out all my transgressions When a man feeles his soule laden with the burden and his 〈◊〉 affrighted with the apparition of some one or two grieuous offences lately done hee begs earnestly for pardon of those sinnes in particular or 〈◊〉 his sinnes indefinitely 〈◊〉 falls not at the first into computation or consideration of the rest of his sinnes in former times committed The fresher wounds seeme euer the more fearefull and the new terrible obiect doth so dazle and confound the soules sight as it cannot looke either beyond or besides it But the more grieuous and enormous sinnes after awhile doe occasion vs to make a more narrow inquisition and take a more exact suruey of the whole course of our sinfull life whereby wee cannot but finde that we haue runne into many errors and manifold crimes the remembrance and recognition whereof wee had formerly in a sort neglected Then we beginne seriously to consider that in this generall muster there is not any one sin seeme it neuer so light or slight but being an offence against an infinite Maiesty and a violation of the whole Law of God deserueth an heauy iudgement in the seuerity of 〈◊〉 and that if some of our sinnes 〈◊〉 bee remitted and others retayned we remaine still in a most wofull condition therefore doe not content ourselues with a praier that some or many of our spots and sinnes may bee wyped out but craue with a note of vniuersality an abolition of them all Blot out all my transgressions my sinnes in thought word and deede my sinnes of omission and my sinnes of action my sinnes of childhood youth middle-age and elder yeeres my sins of infirmity and my sins of presumption my sinnes within and my sins without my body my bloody and my vnbloody sinnes my sinnes committed in mine own person and my sins committed by others through my ill example for they are mine too my single sinnes committed by me as a priuate person my double sinnes committed by me as a publike magistrate who when hee sinneth doth rather teach then act sinne my lesser and my greater sinnes the sins of Soueraignes are 〈◊〉 sinnes my secret and open my knowne and vnknowne sins who can tell how 〈◊〉 he offendeth my sinnes past present yea and to come for whilst I liue in this body of death I cannot but sin all my sinnes whatsoeuer when I say all I except none no minyon or darling sinne at all Thou diddest command 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be 〈◊〉 away Who is not sinfully 〈◊〉 and whose sinnes are not more in number then the haires of his head Let them all come vnder the Raisor of true repentance and then they will come within the reach of thy free remission Not one Egyptian escaped out of the red Sea Saul was commanded to kill all the Amalekites men such as offend of malice women such as offend of infirmity children such as transgresse out of ignorance onely Create in mee a cleane heart and renew a right spirit within me Whoso beggeth Iustification which is the foundation will seeke Sanctification also which is the goodly frame 〈◊〉 thereupon and cannot but after sinnes committed and remitted shine and flourish in holinesse of life and conuersation Hee that hath that fire cannot
not onely in the aliens reprobates but euen in the domesticks of the houshold of faith in thy most inlightned and best disposed children euen in the Elect themselues and those that are sealed vp for the Day of Redemption Wherefore I must say freely as I may truly I am thy workemanship not onely of thy power as all other creatures are but of thy mercy also created in Christ vnto good workes whereof he is the sole Author and Actor working effecaciously in mee both the will and the deed according to his good pleasure O Lord giue me a liuely Faith thy Gift alone which hath power to quicken my dull to enlyue my dead to purifie my impure heart Giue me grace stedfastly to beleeue thy Word to take sure hold of thy promises euermore to cleaue and sticke fast to thy goodnesse Kindle this fire in my soule which will inflame my loue of all good duties on the one and on the other side waste and consume eate vp and de uoure my concupiscence and all my carnall desires and cause them to returne into that dead sea whence they were first exhaled Renew a right Spirit within me Hee whose spirit is deserted by Gods Spirit loseth the vigor and viuacity of his spirit his spirit waxeth old crooked in him Sinne where it inuades makes such spoile and hauocke of all goodnesse and vertue in the soule as it cannot subsist vnlesse it be timely repaired and truly renewed by repentance When a man lyes groueling vpon earthly and houering vpon fleshly desires his spirit which should directly 〈◊〉 vpward is bowed downe and made crooked A 〈◊〉 spirit then is a sincere and vpright heart raysed and lifted vp into heauen and heauenly things What is sinne else but an obliquity a depriuation or deprauation of that rectitude and vprightnesse which was originally and should be continually in the soule if it were throughly purged and purified I haue impayred this rectitude and vprightnesse which once I had in some measure by my heynous and enormous transgressions and therefore resort to thee for helpe who onely art able to renewe and repaire it againe Giue me O Lord a spirit rectified in it selfe directed by thy Spirit corrected by thy discipline and erected to thy glory a spirit firme without failing constant without varying and durable without decaying that I may happily choose new waies walke in them carefully and perseuere in them constantly giue me grace to turne ouer a new leafe as they say to abandon the old man with the lusts and affections thereof and to put on the new man and so to serue thee in holinesse and newnesse of liuing all the dayes of my life hereafter I doe wittingly and thankefully ascribe the purity of my heart to thy Creation the vprightnesse of my spirit to thy renouation alone as to giue thee thy due honour so to preuent and anticipate the proud and fond conceit of those men if any such there be or shall be hereafter who to grace thēselues wil abate the power diminish the lustre of thy grace who though they cannot but confesse that they neede the assistance of thy Spirit that they are holpen by thy both preuenting and following grace yet betweene those two graces for their own credit will needes vainely interpose or rather violētly intrude mans reason whereby he chuseth what is good and mans will whereby he assenteth to thy diuine power in the blessed worke of regeneration But hereby I take secret comfort in my selfe to preserue my perplexed soule from vtter despaire that I discerne the foulenesse of my heart feele the weaknes of my spirit and therefore pray earnestly for a purification of the one and a renouation of the other for I know I cannot craue either of those graces without some measure of grace As the sunne cannot be seene but by the Sunne nor the light be perceiued but by meanes of the light so neither can I begge a full cleansing of my heart without some cleanenesse in it nor a through-renouation without some newnesse in my decayed spirit at least in true affection and vnfaigned desire Cast me not away from thy presence and take not thy holy Spirit from me I feare and cannot but feare thy face and yet I feare withall to be cast from thy face 〈◊〉 presence Mine owne 〈◊〉 makes me on the one side to feare the face of a seuere Iudge and my worthlesse weaknesse on the other being not able to subsist at all without the light of thy countenance makes mee desire thy presence and sight What-euer thou doe with me while thou lookest vpon me I shall indure though not without feare and perplexity But if thou cast me quite away from thy presence I am vtterly vndone for euer The presence of the Physicion is a present if not helpe yet comfort to the sicke patient But thy presence Lord being the soueraigne Physicion ministers all comforts and cures all maladies both of soule and body Therefore I loue the habitations of thy house and the place where 〈◊〉 honour dwelleth As the hunted and chased Hart desireth the water brookes So longeth my soule after thee When shall I come and appeare before thee O how amiable are thy Tabernacles My soule euen longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord. One day in thy Courts where thou art present and resident is better then a thousand elsewhere I had rather bee a dorekeeper there then to dwell at liberty and in iollity in the tents of the vngodly The priuation of Gods presence is the position of all misery and the withdrawing of his countenance drawes with it all manner of discomforts Heauen it selfe were not heauen if thou wert not there present and Hell could not be hell if thou wert not absent thence To bee cast out of thy presence is to be cast out of ioy into sorrow out of light into darkenesse out of life into death not the first onely but the second also out of heauē into hel The very sight and vision of thee is of it selfe and in it selfe the height of happinesse In thy presence is the fulnesse of ioy and at thy right hand is plenty without satiety of pleasure and delight for euermore Wherefore though I haue multiplyed and increased my contumacie beyond all measure yet I beseech thee O Lord not to excommunicate me I submit my selfe with teares in mine eyes and anguish in my heart humbly and wholly to thy discipline I am content to endure any penance rather then to bee banished from thy presence What the want of this presence is none can know but he that feeleth and he that feeleth cannot make another know by any relation Hee may indeuour to shaddow it out slenderly but hee is not able fully to expresse it If the Master turne his seruant out of doores if the Father abandon his sonne from his fight if the King command his subiect from the Court that hee come not within the Vierge how
the house of thy habitation I euen I that lost my way in my pilgrimage and fell among theeues who robbed me of my garment of godlinesse of my 〈◊〉 of righteousnesse of my girdle of gladnesse and wounded mee with bitter Arrowes and 〈◊〉 darts almost to death I I say being reduced into the way againe refreshed and comforted raysed and set on horsebacke as it were will teach others carefully to kepe themselues in the right way to shunne idlenesse and security and all other occasions of sinne to auoyde such inconueniences as by wofull experience I haue found and felt with intolerable griefe I will teach Transgressors by instruction and 〈◊〉 will teach them by example also Men are more effectually perswaded by the workes they see then by the words they heare by Princes acts then by their Edicts I will ioyne both precept and practice together my words shall bee working words and my deeds shal be speaking deeds Nay I will not only teach them by my words and by my deedes but by my writings also I will cause my Psalmes the webs which my restlesse soule hath wouen to be sung in Gods Tabernacle while I liue when I die bequeath them to God his Church to be vsed in all succeeding ages which I hope will bee of some force to mollifie and qualifie the hard and stony hearts of retchlesse and impenitent sinners I will vse all the wayes I can to teach sinners in thy wayes and I will endeauour to reclaime all sorts of sinners from their euill wayes As there bee seuerall sorts and degrees of transgressors so I will apply my counsailes and admonitions in seuerall kindes respectiuely I will teach sinners of infirmity that they yeeld not at all to the assaults and allurements of sinne that they fight couragiously in that neuer-dying combate betweene the flesh and the Spirit that in no wise they suffer themselues to be carried away Captiues to sinne that they let not sinne raigne howsoeuer it will remaine in their mortall bodies I can and will tell them out of knowledge and experience that if they giue the water passage but a little they shall not bee able to withstand the Current of their owne concupiscence that a little sparke of a wanton looke vpon Bathsheba bred such a huge flame of lust in mee as I could not quench That Satan is subtile and will cunningly insinuate himselfe euery way hee will seeke to make the breach where thy fortification is weakest hee will vndermine if hee cannot batter thy strongest castle if he see where thou mynest he will countermine That he makes semblance sometimes to strike at one place when he intends to hit another that now and then he faignes to make a retraite when he returnes suddenly againe to finde thee the more vnprouided That he is like those Pyrates which alwaies carry in their shippes flags of peace when they intend nothing but warre that when they hold out those flagges their enemies may hold them for friends and so become their prisoners and that therefore it behoueth them to watch continually and carefully to keepe Centinell ouer themselues and in time of peace more then in time of warre The shippe that saileth many times incurres more danger when the Sea is quiet then when stormes arise for in the calme water the Saylers ride without care or dread of danger but in time of tempest they prouide for euery mischiefe that may befall I will tell them that sinners are linked and chayned nexed and twisted together so as one still draweth on another and the lesser euer a greater that Satan that foule thiefe and old Setter hath in each pack of Theeues little sins like little boyes to creepe in at the windowes or other narrower passages then open dores for greater sinners like greater theeues to enter sreely so spoile the goodman of the house of all goodnesse vertue at their pleasure I will teach sinners of presumption that as God is mercifull so hee is iust that wee must not so remember his mercy as we forget his Iustice. Our Lord is sweete but yet vpright All his wayes are mercy and truth These bee the two feete whereby hee walketh in his wayes that euery sinner that will truly turne to God must lay handfast on both these feete for if he lay hold on mercy onely letting passe iustice and truth he must needes perish by presumption If he apprehend Iustice onely without mercy he cannot but perish by desperation Let him therfore kisse both these feete that hee may in respect of Gods iustice retaine feare in respect of his mercy conceiue hope I 〈◊〉 teach them to tune their notes to my ditty I 〈◊〉 sing of mercy and 〈◊〉 I will not sing vnto thee 〈◊〉 mercy alone nor iudgement alone O God 〈◊〉 mercy and iudgement ioyned together I will teach them what an absurd cōsequence and vnkindly kind of reasoning it is In as much as God is merciful louing and long suffering therefore I will abuse his mercy and continue my wicked courses I will doe what liketh my wilfull appetite that the Argument in morall congruity as well as logicall diuinity holds strongly in the quite contrary forme God is gracious and expects my conuersion and the longer he expecteth the heauier will bee my punishment when it commeth if I neglect or rather contemne the riches of his patience and gentlenesse and therefore I ought euen to day before to morrow to heare his voyce and presently to accept of his vndeserued mercie Whereunto I will adde another consideration of great waight and much feare and that is Though God promise pardon to him that repents yet hee doth not promise repentance to him that offends Repentance is his gift alone Though hee offer thee grace to day thou knowest not whether hee will offer it againe to morrow though hee affoord thee life and memory this weeke little doest thou know whether thou shalt enioy these fauours the next Finally I will teach them to take my whole period together and not to catch at one piece onely for their aduantage or disaduantage rather which is against the rules both of Law and Logicke for when I haue said The eyes of the Lord are vpon the iust and his eares are bent to heare his prayers I adde on the other side in the same sentence But the face of the Lord is against them that doe euill to roote out their memory from off the earth My last Corollarie and conclusion shall be Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord Therefore serue the Lord in feare and reioyce in him with reuerence I will teach transgressors in all kindes and degrees that they doe not at any hand through the terrour of their owne sinnes or apprehension of Gods displeasure either by cowardize or carelesnesse quite despaire of Gods abundant mercie I will vse my best
more to abhor the bloud of man wherein his life consisteth Deliuer mee O God from the guilt of that bloud which I haue spilt by the 〈◊〉 of Captaine 〈◊〉 and so many Souldiers vnder his commaund from the punishment of that sinne threatned by Nathan that bloud should not depart from my house and finally from future bloud that I may neuer embrew my hands in bloud hereafter The teares of those widdowes whose husbands were slaine in that disastrous assault made at Rabbah the cryes of those children whose Fathers then lost their liues haue mounted vp to 〈◊〉 do frame my Enditement and make my Processe against me before thy Tribunall and doe call instantly for iudgement according to the iust law of Retaliation He that sheddeth mans bloud his bloud shall be shed Wherefore that I may the sooner obtaine my pardon in such latitude as I desire it I doe re-enforce my prayer with all manner of zeale and earnestnesse Deliuer me O God thou that art the God of my saluation I double thy Name when I tender this single supplication hoping by my affectionate insinuation and vehement compellation to draw thy gracious compassion towards me I take hold of thee as it were with both my hands I cry incessantly for pardon of this sin which cries so eagerly in thine eares for vengeance against me Thou God of my saluation I said elsewhere that saluation is the Lords because it can flow from no other fountaine but here I desire to apply it particularly to draw the water to mine owne Mill and to appropriate it as it were wholly to my selfe Thou art of that gracious nature as wee cannot better please thee then by challenging a speciall interest in thy loue by assuring our selues that thou art ours so that howsoeuer our premisses be generall for remission of sins our conclusion must be speciall proper and peculiar Thou art my God and the God of my saluation I will sing ioyfully or aloud of thy Righteousnesse The satisfaction should be answerable to the trespasse done and the retribution to the benefit receiued in some proportion As to a greater sinne a deeper repentance is due so for a more bountiful fauor a larger returne of thankefulnesse is of congruence required I haue grieued beyond measure for my bloody sinne for the inestimable benefit of my free pardon I know not what to render againe In briefe I can returne nothing but praises and thankes a poore requitall for so rich a mercy But sithence I can yeeld no better no other it is meete I should improoue this and set it forth to the vtmost aduantage Wherefore I will sing ioyfully with a liuely spirit with a cheerefull heart I will sing vocalissimè Alleluia My tongue shall become a Trumpet of thy praises which shall sound them out lustily and loudly I will bestow all my breath and strength in proclayming thine honour I will become a chiefe Chanter I will eleuate the note in the highest straine I will so chant out thy praises as thou shalt take notice of it abundantly and so as the noyse may be heard not only in my priuate Chappell or Oratory but in the chiefe Cathedrall Churches in the greatest congregations on Earth yea euen in the blessed Synode of Angels and Saints in heauen Nay I will not onely sing my selfe but I will call in others also to make vp a full Quire O come 〈◊〉 vs sing loudely let vs 〈◊〉 reioyce c. Thy righteousnesse that is Thy faithfulnes and truth in accomplishment of thy gracious promises to such as truly and sincerely repent and humbly hopefully craue pardon for their sinnes for true iustice doth much consist in the due performance of promises Thou thy selfe hast made thy selfe our debtor not by receiuing from vs. but by promising to vs. No man can say vnto thee Render Lord what thou hast receiued but euery man may and must say Performe O Lord what thou hast promised All thy waies are mercy and truth Mercy whereby thou forgiuest sinners and Truth whereby thou makest good thy promises O then how happy are the people whose God is the Lord who by his 〈◊〉 promise is become their faithfull debtor and whose iustice giues assurance of his mercy whose mercy and truth are met together and whose righteousnesse and peace haue kissed each other So as by a reuerent confidence and a holy kinde of boldnesse I may 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 thee in this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the worth of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of thy promise not to lay my sinnes to my charge bee they neuer so many neuer so great I may pleade my interest in the death of my Sauiour and in thy faithfull promise and free pardon to this effect O my God thou that art the God of my saluation it is agreeable to diuine and humane iustice to keepe promise to performe couenant In the new and sacred couenant it is the Article of Inprimis as they say that thou wilt forgiue the sinnes of thy people remember their iniquities no more Make good then thy word and full agreement really and effectually It stands not with thy iustice to exact twice one and the same debt of mee My suerty and elder Brother Christ Iesus hath paied the debt which I owed hath suffered the punishment which I deserued wherefore enter not into iudgement with thy vnworthy seruant O Lord but for the 〈◊〉 of his death and passion accepted by thee with free consent for full satisfaction let me be acquited and discharged of all my transgressions whatsoeuer I will rely and repose my selfe securely vpon thy word and promise because thou hast ratified and confirmed it with an oath with a solemne oath Thou hast sworne by thy selfe because there is no greater to sweare by by thy 〈◊〉 the Lord Iehouah sware vnto Dauid Truth that is a true oath a faithful promise or Truth that is God sware vnto Dauid He will not turne away the face of his Anoynted his seed shall indure for euer thou hast sworne by thy life I will not the death of a sinner if he repent he shall liue Oh happy people for whose cause thou vouchsafest to sweare Oh most miserable wretches if we beleeue thee not when thou swearest Thy word O Lord is an 〈◊〉 in it selfe and of it selfe so faithfull thou art but to giue vs full 〈◊〉 thou dost condescend to our capacity and infirmity thou makest assurance to men after the manner of men with whom a promise clothed with an oath seemes of greater strength and validity then a bare and naked word and therefore out of abundance of thy loue dost vse a protestation or adiuration otherwise needlesse to remooue out of our incredulous hearts all distrust and colour of dubitation 15 Open thou my lips O Lord and c. BVt I haue beene too forward now I thinke of it to engage my selfe so deepely to sing ioyfully and sound loudly thy righteousnesse I confesse I haue promised more
slaine from the beginning of the world yet as a fruite of our repentance expects from vs a holy reuenge vpon our selues We must iudge our selues that wee bee not iudged and least our iudgements become fruitlesse and elusory We must put them in execution seuerely without pitty or partiality Let vs therefore preuent his face of Maiesty his countenance of Authority by confession wich confession is a profession of forsaking our former faults The Iudge we cannot the iudgement we may preuent if we take the opportunity and repent truly and timely of our sinnes thou wilt mercifully and graciously repent thee of the iudgements denounced doomed against vs. Therefore it be houeth euery man to keepe a Court at home and therin to sit as chiefe iustice to indict and arraigne himself at the barre of his owne conscience where he findes the fault there to inflict punishment In as much as at these Assizes the heart must needes be found the greatest offender because from the heart doth flow all vaine and sinfull imaginations all idle and wicked words all lewde and scandalous actions let him doe Iustice vpon his heart in the first place let him correct the pride of it by humiliation the wantonnesse of it by contrition the iolity of it by sorrow the stubornenesse of it by weeping the gluttony of it by fasting the couetousnesse of it by almes-giuing and so according to the rule of Physicke cure each contrary by his contrary affection The physicke must bee applied to that part of the body which is ill affected the salue laid vpon the place that is sore Where the sinne breedes swels there must the sinner cut and launce He must pricke his heart to the quicke and let out store of teares as the former and latter rayne As our hearts haue beene fatted and pampered as it were with sinne so they should grow leane and meagre againe by sorrow for sinne Looke how much the lesse I spare my selfe so much the more wilt thou spare me My repentance doth in a sort execute thy vengeance and with a temporall vexation doth preuent and auoide thine eternall damnation by casting me downe it lifts me vp by making me vgly in mine own it presents me pure in thine eyes by accusing it doth excuse by condemning it doth acquite me It is a kind of vnhappinesse to be seared and cauterized with an hot yron and fretted with an eating powder but those meanes and medicines which doe cure by sharpenesse and sowernesse by the benefit which they procure doe excuse their distastfulnes and by the succeeding profit do allay the present paine By sin thy spirit takes occasiō to increase grace not by the nature of sinne but by the soueraignety of that spirit which euen of sinnes makes a plaister against sin For I being as sicke of sorrow as of sinne may hopefully resort to thee the Physitian of my soule whose end of comming into the world is to cure the sicke especially such as feele themselues sicke enen at the heart I must breake my golden Calfe that is any idoll of sinne which my corrupt heart doth serue and worship I must burne it with zeale and with contrition grinde it to powder and then strowing it vpon the water of teares drinke it vp againe By this thy gracious meanes an Antidote will bee drawne out of poyson the oyle will cure the bitings of Scorpions the worme wil gnaw the wood the moth the cloth that bred it the very excrements of my sinfull soule like dung and mannor will fatten and make it fruitefull in goodnesse The hunted and wounded Hart by eating of an herbe knows how to helpe and heale himselfe and to make the arrow that pierced his ribbes to fall to the ground The Swallow when she hath put out the eyes of her young ones knowes by an herbe of her owne name how to restore their sight againe Thy herbe of grace the iuyce whereof is our repentance doth expell the fiery darts of Sathan shot by sinne into our soules and this eye-salue doth cause vs though neuer so much blinded with sinne to see both our error in committing and thy mercy in pardoning our offences The most powerfull rhetoricke to mooue thee to pitty is repentance and the most delightfull Musicke in thine eares is that dolefull ditty tuned to a trembling tongue and a quauering voyce peccaui in coelum c. Against thee against thee onely I haue offended The string bends the strongest bowe the fire mollifies the hardest steel the Goates blood breakes euen the Adamant I hope my harts humble and melting repentance will appease thy hottest and heauiest indignation conceiued against me The most worne and torne linnen by contusion and grinding in the Mill makes smooth and white paper Euen so my most base and rotten ragges of vanity and wickednesse by true contrition with thy benediction will produce a cleane heart and renew a right spirit within mee The corruption and consumption of the one will prooue the generation or regeneration of the other To sacrifice to kill are expressed by one and the same word in holy writ because euery sacrifice was slaine in thy Leuiticall lawe but this breaking of my heart and offering my body in sacrifice to thee is an Euangelicall sacrifice because therin which may seeme strange the sacrifice is slaine and yet liueth For it is my faith not my death which thou seekest thou thirstest for my holy desires not my polluted blood thou art appeased with my willingnesse to renounce the world not with my departure out of the world This was Abraham the Father of all thy faithfull ones his sacrifice which thou requiredst of him For what did Abraham but offer his owne body in his Son What didst thou require of him but his Faith who as thou diddest command his Sonne to be offered so thou wouldest not suffer him to be killed I hold it a wise and an aduantageous course in any man to dye to sinne that hee may liue to righteousnesse to mortifie the old man that hee may bee quickened in the new to dye daily that hee may liue eternally Wherefore I will dye that I may not dye I will wound my hart with temporary contrition that I may auoyde the deadly wounds of 〈◊〉 who desires my euerlasting destruction I will liue a dying life that I may not dye a 〈◊〉 death For thy sake are we killed all the day long and right deare in thy sight is this death of thy Saints Here I can bee contented to stirre vp an holy emulation betweene those that thus dye and such as are stoned burned or otherwise done to death for defence of thine honor and testimony of thy trueth who by excellency are termed Martyrs These dye but once and at once their paine is soone past but the other dye a lingering death they dye daily and continually It is accounted a mittigation of cruelty and a