too long to insert here concluding with some observations on Spiritual Joy told him that by the vertue of this heavenly Balsam if he hindred not its working he trusted before the following day should go down to see him perfectly cured Adding that if on the morrow the nauseousness of his Stomach all impure Qualms that is all remanent affections to sin had left him he might then after a due and holy preparation feed on the miraculous and medicinal Bread of Life CHAP. VIII The Mystical Feast unto which Theosophus carries his Charge THe next day therefore being the great Christian Festival of Easter the young man arose betimes to welcome the Morning Sun of Righteousness that now began to dawn upon his Soul and to dart in thither his beams of Life He fancied himself new risen from the death of Sin freed from the corruption of the Grave and the eternal prisons of the nethermost Pit Of the Miracle of this day he had so great an Instance upon himself that ever after he used to commemorate it as the Festival both of his Lords and by the vertue thereof of his own Resurrection He was not long up before the careful Theosophus came to give him his customary Visit who perceiving in his smiling countenance the calmness and the serenity of his mind and from the evenness of his pulse the moderation and sedateness of his passions guessing at the regular reparation of his Health cannot now any longer forbear to congratulate this his so miraculous a Recovery You see my dear Youth says he stretching out his hands to Heaven in an holy amazedness the power of that Soveraign Balsam you know who made it and who has been at the expence of a Miracle for your sake and that also no ordinary one even the God of Nature he has you see condescended to form you anew and reinstate you in Grace by giving you another and a much better life Be thankful therefore good Son and pay your Vows this day at his Altar run forth I advise you and meet now the King of Glory the Prince of Salem the Emperor of the Holy Land If you do this he will pardon all your Misdeeds will cure all your Diseases and will enter you into the Bedrol of his Pilgrims Now he is preparing to feast you at his Table he expects to find you there that he may number you among his Saints and Followers the redeemed ones of Israel Methinks I see you dear Friend my Patient I will call you no longer prepared to entertain him within your heart and am glad to see that you need not my invitation Wherefore I shall reserve what I had to say to you for them that lack it more So he left him unto his private Meditations and Prayers When not long after having invested himself in an holy but penitential dress he was led by his reverend Guide to a very fair and beautiful Temple not far off in the midst of a gloomy religious Wood commodiously enough seated for the devout retirement of the persecuted Followers of JESUS It was elevated upon a small rising decently built and for the convenience thereof a long while resorted unto by Pilgrims of all Ranks and Conditions But since the Roads to Jerusalem began to be unfrequented this also was scarce ever visited unless now and then by a few old decrepit Beggars Hither they came and having entred this holy place they fell down prostrate upon their faces worshipping towards the East They had not lain long upon the cold Pavement breathing out their Souls after JESUS and the Delights which are at his right hand before their ears were touched with the Sighs and soft Ejaculations of some religious Devotes When casting their eyes off the ground they among the rest spied their dear Eubulus Very glad you cannot but guess they were and very glad was Eubulus to find the Youth whom he loved so affectionately and had so long sought after in such a place with such a Friend and to receive them both in safety whom he heard the wild Foragers of the Voisinage thereabouts had torn and devoured Nor was their Joy any whit allayed through the reverence of the place which hindred them from so much as speaking to each other but rather increased by their mutual assistance and servency of Devotion with all the increases that a religious Joy is capable of The first Solemnities were done and the Morning-Sacrifice offered up when Theosophus made so powerful and divine an Exhortation highly valuable for its Eloquence Solidity and Piety to usher in the Feast that nothing but the length could tempt me to omit One passage however I cannot forget for having excellently discoursed upon the Author and Dignity of that heavenly Treat he tells those few who were present That it was not meant to pamper their Lusts or make them proud or lazy in the way but to be their Viaticum and spiritual Repast in their Journey to Heaven whence the Israelites leaving the Brick-kils and slavery of Egypt to pass through the Wilderness unto the Land flowing with Milk and Honey received it in the posture of travelling with their Loyns girt Sandals on their feet and a Palmers Staff in their hands Exod. c. 12. v. 12. After which with what humble deportment and veneration did they approach the holy Altar With what ravishments of joy did they come to this Coelestial Banquet With what a steddy and firm resolution did they purpose to follow their prime Leader JESUS through all Difficulties and Hazards unto the happy Land of Promise But as soon as the blessed JESUS the glorious and peaceable Prince of Jerusalem descended with Myriads of Angels attending on him how did their hearts burn within them with what transcendency of Love and vehemency of Desire did they address him But here I am struck dumb with reverence and amazement unable to describe this sacred Mystery which the Angels do with awful admiration delight to look into CHAP. IX The Penitents Regeneration NEver was its effect more visible upon any than upon this young happy Convert Through the mysterious efficacy hereof he was wonderfully chang'd into another man It drove away his tyrannick Lusts and pleasant Torturers making them lose their hold made his curst Executioners flee frightened from him his vain Desires with every cruel Vice and Murtherer of his Soul disappear His Senses were released his Brain disenchanted all his filthy and hellish Inmates exorcised not so much as one left behind but all driven out by the Priests sacred Charm The Body of our Lord Jesus Christ those sweet those all-powerful words Thus set at liberty he became free to give himself unto him who had freed him And thus washed and cleansed in the bloud of the holy Lamb he presented his Body to be from thenceforth a pure and hallowed Temple and his Soul a chast devoted Sanctuary unto the divine Spirit the Spirit of Purity and Holiness Fresh and holy thoughts began forthwith
less but greater far and nobler if any Comparison can be made betwixt a Coelestial Substance and an Earthly one Thus his stony and obdurate heart which the Thunders of the Law could not shiver is now softned with the Bloud of the Passover He who but a little while afore matter'd not the Threats and Terrors of Mount Sinai is now touched and moved with the sweet Gospel-Messages of Love and Peace Whence ever after he related great things of this Evangelical Feast how it was the Seal of his Pardon the Christian Pasport of his Heavenly Pilgrimage and the beginning of his Vnion with God And how it gave him all things even by removing him from them and making him desire nothing but JESUS and to be with him in PARADISE CHAP. X. An Eucharistical Meditation AS soon therefore as he was returned back again with the Eremit into his Cell and shut himself up in a close apartment thereof his Soul by rapturous flights of Joy strove to ascend upward and exert her self in these following Acts of devout Acknowledgment I. I am well pleased that the Lord hath thus heard the § 1. An Act of Thanksgiving and Adoration voice of my Prayer Blessed is he that now cometh in the Name of the Lord Hosanna in the highest Blessed is he that cometh in the Name of the Lord Hosanna here below Thrice hail most triumphant Prince of Heaven Hail holy wonderful eternal King great Deliverer successful Combatant the Redemption of the Captives and the Oppressed and upon this day the First-Fruits and Hopes to those that sleep of a glorious Resurrection Hallelujah Salvation and Glory and Honour and Power be to the Lord our God Blessed is he that cometh in the Name of the Lord Hallelujah I adore thee I worship thee I love thee I magnifie thee O thou Conqueror of Hell and Death victorious Champion over the Infernal Forces I will magnifie thee as much as I am able and will still strive to magnifie thee more All hail welcome sweetest Saviour Jesus welcome Lamb of God the Life-giving Sacrifice the spiritual Refection the holy and accepted Peace-Offering the Deliverance and Comfort of all faithful Souls Welcome victorious Lamb all the mighty Hosts of Heaven fall down before thee and with everlasting Praises delight to celebrate the glories and triumphs of so strange a Love And here below under their feet I would do the same Thou art the powerful and wise the Lord of Hosts the King of Loves thou art called and thy Conquests are spread abroad as far as the ends of the World When the terrours of Death encompassed me round when the nethermost Hell threatned to devour me quick and Satan was ready to grasp my polluted Soul then found I deliverance then saw I my returning Victor laden with their spoils and having trampled on and crushed their power bidding me live Behold even he whom I fought against has obtained for me the victory and has overcome me with his love and with his love has made me overcome The great God the mighty Saviour of Nations hath pitied a poor perishing wretch he hath snatched my life from out the paws of the devouring Lion and the sulphurous stench and horrors of yonder black Abyss II. But who can tell me how all this came to pass what § 2. An Act of Contrition or Humility was there in me that I should be thus highly honoured or my life worth that it should be ransomed at so dear a rate as the death of my God Why should God the Father whom I had offended send his Son to die for me Why should God the Son whom I had so sinned against bear the load and punishment of that sin Tell me what could the Creator see worthy of so great savour in such an abominable and filthy Creature or the Lord of all things in his proud presumptuous Vassal the Holiest in a sinner wallowing in his Lusts How came Vnworthiness and Pride Rebellion and Sin perverse Dust and Ashes to find thus instead of the heaviest curse and dreadfullest execution of a just and fiery Indignation so extraordinary a Blessing so far not onely above my merit but my comprehension This is all Prodigie of Mercy Shall the careless and disobedient the refractory and murmuring Servant be rewarded be feasted with his Master Shall the wilful and obstinate offender be pardoned the despicable and haughty Villain be pitied Who can believe there is so great Charity for an Enemy or such Honours as these for the vilest of the children of men This was indeed too great for me to expect or wish for will take up all the wonder of Men and Angels Ah! have have not my Crimes crucified him my Passions made him bleed and could he yet do and suffer so much for me Has not my Pride alas stript him naked my Intemperance and Luxury forced him to fast And did not my Covetousness make him poor my Ambition a slave But he hath covered my Nakedness and Folly he hath feasted me with his holy ones he hath filled me with the Riches of his Grace and hath freed me from the slavery of sin The bitterness of my Spirit hath been worse to him than the very Gall he tasted my Peevishness and Malice than the Vinacre he drank my Honours have wreath'd him a Crown of Thorns The rude Souldier pierced but his side when I pierced his very heart with sorrows My Jollity was that anguish which made his Virginal Body to be drained all over bloudy droops of Sweat My Scoffs at Religion have been far more intolerable have entred deeper into his Soul than the Contempt and Mockeries of the Pretorian Band. Nay my very Devotion and Piety has murthered him my Addresses have been criminal and traiterous and with Judas have I studied to betray him with a kiss O Prodigie of Villany But neither is this all Ah me I can scarce utter that which is still more black Oft would my Wickednesses have offered Violence even to his glorified Body and ripped up his Wounds afresh Thus have I open'd his side by violating those mysterious Sacraments which proceeded thence my best works put him to shame Nor indeed could I any otherwise have claimed his infinite Mercy but that I am infinitely vile and infinitely sinful III. Dearest Jesu how admirable are the effects of thy § 3. An Act of Wonder Goodness How glorious and condescending is thy Love that could do all this for me and how disproportionate are the Returns of thy soveraign Bounty to the deserts of a perfidious disloyal wretch I came not unto thee of my self but thou hast drawn me with Cords though I refused yet found I protection My Guilt was thy Condemnation yet through thee am I saved Thou hast reached forth to me the Scepter with the same hand which my Vanity had mocked with a Reed Could I ever expect to receive life from him whom mine Iniquities bruised and even robbed of his a Cure through his
est Genesis liber in quo virtutes pallulant Patriarcharum Paradisus Deuteronomium in quo germinant Legis praecepta Paradisus Evangelium in quo arbor vitae bonos fructus facit aeternae spei mandata diffundit per universos populos l. 6. Ep. 41. ad Sabin Then God walks in this Paradise when I read therein saith S. Ambrose This is the Paradise or Garden of the Holy Ghost whose Rivers are the Four Evangelists saith the * Moses Bar Cepha Biblioth Patr. tom 1. p. 491. Bishop of Bethraman and others The Law is a Paradise say they and so is the Gospel the †Psalterium est Paradisus animarum Cass Psalms and the Prophets and the * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sc. Pauli 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys Homil. 21. Ep. 2. Cor. Epistles are so many lesser or greater Paradises for the man to till Gen. 21. 15. and gather thence the Fruits †Lector quisquis es Paradisus esto ut Paradisum ingrediaris Aut ingressus evade Serpens huc nullus nullus aspis accedat Dolus omnis exsit omne virus Al. Novarin Elect. Sacr. l. 1. Whosoever enters must be himself a Paradise that is innocent calm and pleasant or be converted into one § 6. Both this and the former are contained under the general name of Pardés Hachócma and that too under the name of the Heavenly The one being but the Consummation and Completion of the other the first a Foretast of the last the one of ‖ Paradisus Spiritualis duplex est una est in ecclesiâ militante altera in ecclesiâ triumphante Bonav Sojourning and the other of Triumphing Saints There are also other Divisions as into that * Interior Within which is a vertuous and serene Mind that †Exterior Without which is the Church Militant that ‖ Superior Above which is the Church Triumphant that * Inferior Below which is the Affluence of Temporals Joy and Abundance in this Life Of these may the Divine Author say †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eccl. 2. 5. I have made me Gardens and Paradises and I have planted in them Trees of all Fruits § 7. But for the better explanation of the Allegory and the discovery of the Analogy betwixt both it will be necessary to premise somewhat concerning the Terrestrial Paradise The Author of Paradise Lost handsomly describes it In this pleasant Soil His far more pleasant Garden God ordain'd Out of the fertile ground he caus'd to grow All Trees of noblest kind for sight smell tast And all amid them stood the Tree of Life High eminent blooming Ambrosial Fruit Of vegetable Gold and next to Life Our Death the Tree of Knowledge grew fast by Knowledge of Good bought dear by knowing Ill. Southward through Eden c. And in another place speaking of Raphael he says Their glittering Tents he pass'd and now is come Into the Blissful Field through Groves of Myrrh And flowring Odours Cassia Nard and Balm A Wilderness of Sweets for Nature here Wanton'd as in her prime and plaid at will Her Virgin-Fancies pouring forth more sweet Wild above Rule or Art enormous Bliss Of the Fountain he says But rather to tell how if Art could tell How from that Saphire Fount the crisped Brooks Rowling on Orient Pearl and sands of Gold With mazie Error under Pendant Shades Ran Nectar visiting each Plant and fed Flowers worthy of Paradise Of the Gate he says It was a Rock Of Alabaster pil'd up to the Clouds Conspicuous far Here though I might be voluminous upon the History of Paradise and those many Inquiries concerning it that are to be found among the School-men and the Commentators lest I should exceed the bounds of a Discourse that is Introductory which I am afraid I shall nevertheless I must be very short upon each Particular First I shall shew what was known thereof to the Heathens Secondly Inquire whether it yet exists Thirdly give some account of its scituation And then lastly lay down the Grounds and Reason of the Allegory I. That the Heathen World had knowledge thereof I make no doubt It is not improbable that they should receive such a Tradition of a Garden in the East from the Sons or Grandchildren of Noah who were the Fathers of their Nations And every one has Experience enough to tell him how much Tradition and Rumor will in a short time grow unlike themselves and what they were at first But yet if it were not so the Egyptians had space and opportunity no man can deny to learn the same from the Jews and the Greek Philosophers who travelled into Egypt might learn it there For the Garden of Jupiter in Plato seems to me to be the very Translation of the * Garden of the Lord Gen. 13. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In Symp. 10. in Moses Though I know Dr. Parker in his Censure of the Platonick Philosophy will not allow this The †Et vero fabulam hanc effe Phoeniciam constat ex ipso Elysii nomine quod ex Phoenicum linguâ desumtum Ebralcè enim 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 alag 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 alats 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 alas est laetari exultare 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 aliz laetus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 alizuth exultatio Inde Elysius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A E permutatis ut in Enakim Evila c. Geogr. Sacr. l. 1. c. 34. Elysian Fields from the Descriptions we have of them I take to have been at first the Land of Eden Both signifie almost the same Eden the place of Pleasure and Elysium the Place of Joy as learned Bochart derives it Whence Jerusalem is by the Prophet Isaiah called Kirjath Alyzah c. 22. v. 2. the City of Joy and Exultation a Joyous City we render it so very well befitting the Coelestial Jerusalem and excellently expressing the Christian Elysium Besides the variety of Opinions concerning the situation of Elysium makes me the apter to believe this For some of them placed it upon the Earth others near the Empyraean Heaven others under the Earth in the Confines of Hell Of those that placed it upon the Earth some said that it was far beyond the Ocean some in Rhodes some in the Fortunate Islands some in the further part of Spain and not far from the Pillars of Hercules some about ‖ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hesych Vid. etiam Plutarcum in Vit. Sertorii Egypt others about Lesbos some said that it was an inaccessible place guarded with Thunder and Lightning The last any one may easily guess to refer unto the Flaming Sword that guarded Paradise and the rest may be without much difficulty in like manner parallel'd I know that Fancy can parallel and compare things very different but it cannot create any likeness that is real And that this is not a mere Fancy will further appear from the Writings of the Heathens who tell us they received all their
most they killed these with singing and roaring they destroyed others with fretting and pulling they lowred upon some but smiled upon others as they were sticking them into the heart they feared some Consciences hard but burned others sore and tender those were not afraid to act any thing unlawful while these on the other side were afraid to act what was lawful Thus they hamper'd both the Insensible and the Uneasie Some of their Captives foamed at mouth as if they were all in a ferment others sparkled as if they were on fire and others looked black and ghastly as any Carrion Indignation Disdain Despite Scorn Envy Revenge Outrage Repinings with a number of such-like Affections disfigured the faces of a great many this mans heart was canker'd with inward Rancor the others fester'd sorely with Carking and vain Solicitude they pricked some to death with Needles these were they whose uncontentedness would not suffer them to rest quiet and run others through with red-hot Irons these were they whose Flesh was corrupted and whose Marrow was burnt up within their bones Thus the Furies divided the Spoils among themselves laid waste the Lands and treacherously killed the poor Captives to whom they had promised Quarter Whilst Desire and that too always followed by Loathings made them greedily swallow down the poysoned Baits Nay both the Extremes hugged themselves together against Man In the Gentile Sinner the fine sparkish Opposites made Friends Gallant he observed a beseeming Foppery and Court-Flattery but in the Clown Rudenesses and Incivilities Roughness and a rugged ill-natur'd Untractableness One was Fool-hardy another Fool-wary He was too Rigorous but the other over-Easie and both thereby alike hurtful unto Virtue So much Knavery could not rid the Multitude of Folly nor Cowardise of Temerity The Deceiving and the Deceived the Blockish and the Crafty the Fantastical and the Morose lived near together and were beholding to each other for what they were The Knave led the Fool by the Nose till he himself was at last caught in the Gin and by tearing himself fluttered to get out but could not There were both the Despairing and the Desperate who presented themselves to his view the former desponded of every thing the latter of nothing and past Despair durst set upon Impossibilities whereas those through Fear durst not set upon the greatest Possibilities Affectation dressed up more than a few to be laughed at and Indecence as many to be trodden on Abjectness and Highmindedness Impudence of Brow and a Sheepish Unmanliness Arrogance and Baseness a crabbed Sourness and soft honeyed Soothing bound up as many Slaves as one another and triumphed over the weakness of those they had conquered Treachery combined with over-much Officiousness and mean Condescentions went along with them to support Tyranny Diffidence foolish Presumption hand in hand much Talk and peevish Silence looser Laughter and a Weeping-fit mutually succeeding each other Thus even Contrarieties conspired against a weak Race were reconciled to do Man an Injury But though some were so modest as but to scatter up and down among the least number of Vetaries he could see light and unsettled Spirits Selfishness littleness of Mind a love of the World Imposture and Blindness in every place with Machivellian Policy the Devices and Slights of cunning Cheats sent to impose upon the World Massacres Plots Factions Rebellions Dire Presages were seen to fill the Heavens and an hundred thousand Plagues and upwards to hover over head ready to fall REMORSE and TROUBLE of MIND brought up the Rear Thus all the Vices and the Passions were banded together against frail Man thus they divided and ruled their Conquests And in such sort did all the World except a few despised Pilgrims seem unto him enslaved by this Sorceress FOLLY and their hearts tyrannically possest by foolish hopeless Vices Whereinto these * Devils were no sooner entered but the Herd properly Luke 8. 33. enough so called ran violently down a steep place into the Lake and were choked And so which way soever the sorrowful Contemplator lookt he saw a thousand thousand Follies ridiculous Phrensies Miscarriages heavy and numberless Calamities infinite Evils A slight view whereof had heretofore when he was young such an effect upon his mind was so dreadfully amazing as struck in him a resolution presently to quit the World and seek new Countries out where Death and Sin had got no footing and where Innocence might rest secure from either Violence or Fraud Wearied with so dismal a Prospect he put up his Glass unwilling to view any longer and descended to the bottom of the Hill which was washed by the River Thamus Whos 's sadly discoloured streams had not yet lost the stain of a miserable Slaughter that was somewhere thereabout committed As if they even blushed at mans Cruelty were ashamed of that Barbarity which he gloried in and thinking it a very praise-worthy Enterprize sought perhaps to have eterniz'd in Pillars of Stone or everlasting Records The dejected Father feeling the burthen of his Grief unsupportable sate himself down under the fair spreading shade of a tall Pine Sorrow had sunk his eyes into his head and made his eye-lids come together and his heart-strings were almost ready to burst when casting in his black melancholy thoughts what he had seen he thus uttered himself CHAP. III. Theosophus meditates on the Folly and Misery of the World and thence takes occasion to run out into the Praises of Paradise GOod God! and is it possible that ever any one can be in love with such a mass of Evils such an heap of Misery and Sin What I pray can a delirious brain fancy herein so lovely Is it a great Name or a great Estate blustering Vanities or useless Superfluities Is it a Body plaister'd with Paint or a rotten Carcass gilded o'er with exterior Braveries Perhaps it may be any or all of these for nothing did I ever see but that a fool could admire and a wise man despise I see it is just so no Victory is now held so honourable as to overcome ones Reason and baffle Conscience nor Conquest so deserving as everlastingly to overthrow one self See how far the Triumphs of that bewitching Siren sinful Folly are extended See how they are all led in Chains by this their foolish Goddess and submit their necks to be trodden on by the sweet Destroyer For of a truth it is mankind is mad stark raving mad They court Misery run upon the jaws of Hell so sottishly vicious as to mistake all that is good for evil and find no Pleasure but in their own Wretchedness O prodigious and unheard-of Folly Are Anger Revenge Envy Love Discontent so delightful Passions such pleasing Perturbations of the Mind As well may we go and fancy the burnings of a Fever or St. Anthony ' s Fire as any of these nay as soon shall I be brought to think a Leper beautiful as a Woman deformed with Lust Prithee tell me therefore foolish Worldling what
Stripes which mine Immoralities both caused and deserved Is not this the height of Wonder and surprizing Extasie Was there ever Patience like to that with which my Lord hath forborn me or ever Love like this with which my Lord hath loved me IV. Look down ye blessed Spirits and see the Wonders § 4. An Act of Devout Remembrance that your God hath done here below for a miserable sinning Caitive I will declare before the great Congregation the marvellous Operations of his Almighty Love O most adorable King though I confessed my self unworthy altogether unworthy to gather up the Crums that fall from thy Table thou hast for all this placed me amongst thy friends and best beloved ones and wonderfully fed me with thy own Body and Bloud the choicest Viands of the Gospel And therefore will I thank thee thank thee now and again and thank thee for ever for that thou hast given me this Earnest of a joyful Resurrection the Food and the Medicine of Immortality and Viaticum in this Pilgrimage which I am now undertaking into a remote Country Now I know for a certain that thou hast ratified my Pardon by the effusion of thy Bloud and am fully satisfied that if I be not wanting to my self I shall one day be with thee in Paradise For what more canst thou do for me Am I not remarked with the most signal expressions of thy favour by being this day admitted to the all-powerful and venerable Mysteries Am I not united to thee Am I not incorporated with the nearest Vnion possible to thy self and honoured with the highest Honours and Priviledges of the Sons of God Thou hast entered into a new Covenant with me when I had broke the first made me one of thy Retinue and sealed my Inheritance to an everlasting Crown in the presence of thy Saints * Chap. 8. According to the word of the man of God thou hast cured all my Diseases and entered me into the Roll of thy Pilgrims For this rejoyce in the Lord Jesus O my Soul He is that mysterious Rock the Rock of Israel whence gushed out these refreshing streams in a Wilderness and thirsty Land He opened the Treasures of Heaven and rained down Mannah upon my parched Soul he filled the Hungry with good things and refreshed my drooping Spirits with unwonted Vigor Lest I should faint and die in the Wilderness he hath provided for me this same Wonderful Food and reached it forth to me by the hands of an Angel who touched me with his wings saying to my Soul Arise and eat for this journey is too great for thee 1 King c. 19. v. 7. V. O that in the strength of this Meat I may walk my § 5. An Act of Desire forty days and forty nights as did the persecuted Prophet unto Horeb the Mount of God or as the antient Pilgrims in the Desert as many years and at last enter the Promised Land and have my Portion with the Saints of Israel The Hart brayeth after the Water-brooks so panteth and breatheth my Soul O Jesus after the Rivers of Joy which are at thy right hand My Soul is athirst for the Living God O when shall I come and appear before the presence of God! VI. I have tasted and I § 6. An Act of Acknowledgment mixed with Faith and Love know that I shall live for ever if my corrupt stomach turn it not into death For thou hast said and I do believe that * Joh. 6. 54. whosoever eateth thy Flesh and drinketh thy Bloud hath everlasting life and thou wilt raise him up at the last day Thou art the Bread of Heaven the living bread which came down thence and was broken for me of which he that eats not cannot live and he that eats cannot die the incomprehensible the supersubstantial Food the Refection of Virgins and elect Souls both the Master of the Feast and the Feast it self a Priest for ever after the Order of Melchisedeck to feed and bless me Thou art the great Offering of Peace the perpetual Atonement the Lamb still standing as slain and thy Bloud speaketh better things either than that of Abel or the Sacrifices of old Thou hast admitted me to thy mysterial Supper and I know that thou wilt likewise call me to sit down at thy Marriage-Feast How joyful will it be to see a Marriage celebrated in Paradise and as was the Mother of Mankind in Paradise also brought by the Deity unto her Husband Adam to see the Bride given thee by the Almighty Father and hear the Nuptials sung by Choires of Angels to see thee joyned to thy triumphant Church in mysterious and inseparable Vnion and to participate of the joys of thy Sister thy Love thy Dove thy Vndefiled thy fair Spouse purchased with thy dearest Bloud O how happy are those that shall be then invited And shall I such an unworthy wretch be one of those happy persons Have I not these Pledges that I shall Yes I have and I will take care lest I break or lose them Wherefore I love and adore thee my bleeding Saviour I love thee because thou hast loved me and gavest thy self for me washed me in the Rivers of thy Bloud those waters of Life and Joy I love thee and O that I could love thee more For how can I but love thee for this I will love thee O Lord my strength the Lord is my Rock In the clefts of this Rock in the waters issuing thence are my Pollutions cleansed my Corruptions are mortified by thy death I have bathed my self in thy Wounds O holy and eternal Victim I have washed my Sores in the salutary Fountain of thy Side and found there health and comfort unto my languishing Spirits VII How are the Powers of Darkness that gaped for my § 7. An Act of Exultation and Joy ruine confounded and disappointed now to behold this sudden unexpected Change How do they fret and gnash their teeth and with what lamentable howlings curse themselves who were not able to hold fast their Prey Even Death and Satan are vanquished the Grave and Sin dismantled and subdued all the Enemies of my Soul discomfited and quelled Yea they that seek my Soul are scattered they are all fled from thy presence O God of Jacob Thou hast sent from Heaven and delivered me from them that would swallow me up For mine Adversaries conspired together to take away my life they fatned me for destruction many and strange were the Monsters that sought to devour me And who besides Jesus would have enter'd into the lists would have set upon so great so terrifying an Enterprize as this was for the sake of a poor evil-deserving and despised wretch Who was there in Heaven or in Earth but he whom I had infinitely offended to take up my Cause Who was there found beside either ready or able to be my Rescuer Was there any beside him who to be this suffered in my stead emptied himself bore the guilt
underwent the shame endur'd the rage of men and Devils a lingring and painful Crucifixion and the dreadful phials of his Fathers wrath Couldst thou then my dearest Saviour submit to all this for me and how weak how unanswerable are my Praises how flat and dull Lord I know thou didst and I acknowledge mine iniquities but will dispute no longer with such Goodness as thine Vnsearchable are the depths of thy Mercy and thy loving kindness past finding out I would declare the wonders of thy soveraign love and speak of all thy marvellous works but that they are so great and so astonishing so secret and so reserved that I will rather adore than pry into these Mysteries of my Redemption And I will be glad and rejoyce in thy Name because mine Enemies are turned back and put to confusion for this will I praise thee as long as I have any breath and all that is within me shall eternally magnifie thy holy Name Thou my Lord art my Light and my Salvation whom then shall I fear Thou art the strength of my life of whom shall I be afraid With thy right hand and thy holy arm hast thou rescued me from the powers of Hell raised me up like dead Lazarus from the Grave and killed those Vermin that were gnawing my flesh and consuming my Spirit Thou hast raised me with thy Call * Joh. 11. 43. Come forth See Lord at thy call even the dead obeys and comes running to thee How far do thy Conquests extend My Lord and my God thou hast gotten thy self the victory The Lamb has overcome the sprinkling of his Bloud maketh the destroying Angel pass over and hurt me not Worthy is that Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and blessing Amen Hallelujah Here he bowed down with his face to the ground in imitation of those ever-happy adoring Spirits who inhabit the LAND of GOD and in a delightsome Extasie cryed out several times Victory victory victory The Lamb hath overcome His fledged Soul before the whole Court of the great God thereupon made a most solemn Dedication of her self and with all Humility and Veneration approaching his Throne uttered these Purposes and Acts of Holy Resolution nor was at all tired with the length VIII But how shall I adde § 8. An Act of Oblation unto the triumphs of the Lamb What shall I render unto the Lord for all his Benefits towards me for all these Manifestations of his Love and Power towards a poor perishing sinner I am nothing and I have nothing but what I received from thee blessed God what therefore shall I give thee I give thee having nothing else to give that which is thine already that for which thou wast content to undergo a painful and ignominious death I give thee dearest Lord my self I am thine do with me as thou pleaseth I do here thankfully and humbly present thee all the Faculties and the Members of my Body and of my Soul My Thoughts and Words my Actions Intentions Senses Passions Desires and Endeavours my Fame Liberty and Life any Death and all I offer up to thee All the Days that I am to live all that I Can all that I Have or Am shall be entirely thine It is indeed a miserable Oblation a vile useless Gift I offer but it is that which thou demandest and with which I am sure thou wilt not be displeased that which thou hast dearly bought and which ought not to be mortgaged away by me to any other that which I cannot without the basest Ingratitude and terriblest Sacriledge keep from thee which is more than once yea than an hundred times due to thee a polluted House an idolatrous Temple and defiled it is therein to entertain the Holiest of the Lord but polluted and defiled as it is so much the more it needs him to make it clean and purge it from Idolatry * Cant. c. 3. v. 2 4. c. 6. 2. c. 7. 10. Heretofore sought I him whom my Soul loved I sought him but I found him not for I sought him in the streets and open places in the World and in my Pleasures But no sooner had I passed a little from them than I found him whom my Soul loved I took hold of him and left him not till I had brought him hither and received him into my heart Behold my Beloved is mine and I am his I am my Welbeloveds and his Desire is towards me Come in therefore holy and ever-blessed Redeemer my Love my Dearest and take possession of me I am now restored to my self by being restored to thee I am marked for thine and I am far better and more mine own than ever by being so None in Heaven or Earth did I desire but thee blessed Redeemer and lo thou hast given me thy self and by this Gift hast given me All for thou art All and without thee every thing besides is as nothing Thou art All that I love or fear All that I wish for and All that I enjoy All that I delight in worship and admire For thy sake I will despise all the trifling Pleasures and Vanities of this lower World and trample under my feet whatsoever is valued by the Folly or the Vice of the Sons of Men. IX How sweet are the Conquests § 9. The Petition of thy Love dearest Jesu I am thine I am wholly thine and do thou so keep me still Besides thee truly many Lords I had but such as would have cast me into the Prison of Intolerable Burnings and thou hast prevailed against them and gotten me to thy self I adjure thee therefore blessed Saviour by thy pretious Sufferings and victorious Passion by the tender bowels of thy Mercy and whatsoever thou countest dear never to suffer them to recruit their Forces lest they be again too hard for me never to let them after this take possession of that which is thine or profane that place which thou hast set now apart for thy Temple And that I may bless thee and exult over the mighty Armies that come forth against me defying thee the Lord of Hosts make me able to pursuse them until they be quite scattered to subdue and foil their weak Remains X. For I am resolved never more to associate my self with § 10. An Act of Resolution and Dereliction of the World thy Murtherers nor will I ever any more harbour thy Persecutors within my breast but will bear a profest Enmity to all thy Enemies and though perhaps they hide themselves in the inmost recesses of my heart yet with the justest anger and violence will I drive them thence I will not henceforwards be ashamed to wear thy Badge or to fight under the sacred Banner of thy Cross I will follow thee whithersoever thou callest and though I be beset around with Temptations and Infirmities through thy help I will break my way through them all and be more than Conquerour Nor will
Pride an Ornament a gentile Quality in the other Doth no man care for a Lethargie and every one seek Security If the Fits of an Epilepsie can be so frightful how much more the Lapses of an Apostatizing Sinner Who can endure the Burnings of a Calenture and is Lust so pleasant How much nobler I pray is Sloth than the Scurvie and what is your Froliking but the Megrim of a dizzie Brain Whosoever sure can find satisfaction in any of these may with as good reason flatter all the Diseases of humane Bodies may court the Gibbet and the Rack and take Torments for most pleasing Anodynes Let me but tell you what I heard from a Traveller in this very same Road and as coming from such an one I hope it will pierce deeper into your breast He is as daring and presumptuous a Sinner I believe as ever travelled herein a most profligate Wretch that has tried all the ways of lewd Delight and left nothing of Wickedness unessayed Yet with great seriousness he once confessed that in no act of Sin he ever took such pleasure as was able to counterpoise the sorrow he afterwards felt that he never committed what is sinful but that as soon almost he wished it never committed nor ever trod one step further but that he repented he had gone so far He told me also what ghastly frighting thoughts he had when he was alone what uneasiness he had within him and what trouble and perplexity he hath all along met with in his Travels But which is almost past belief he is so bewitched that still he foolishly continues to run on in this lamentable course he still as wilfully as ever persists in his Wickedness and cannot be perswaded so much as to step one step backwards Pray consider what I say before it be too late for all this but a short melancholy Fit made him acknowledge unto me Depart therefore hence hereafter possibly you may tell me the same as he By those past good Deeds which else will be forgotten by that Duty which you own unto your Parents by that Love which once you did or at least profest to bear unto Theophilus yea by that Love you bear unto your self I entreat and adjure you to return with me to return back into the Path of Life and everlasting Rewards You are else to all Eternity undone I had not time to resolve what to do before my Company came back whom the old man seeing slipped from me without being discover'd We have seen said they a slight Quarrel raised about the Love of Phillis Nothing of Hurt is done there is onely the Soul of Damocles by an unlucky blow sent in the shape of a Raven to play in the Flames of Hinnom And by such mad Laughter as this were the words of my dear Monitor driven out In these Jovial Merriments for several days we continued In which space I became acquainted with the voluptuous Hedonius the whoring Pamphilus the impudent Cynoeus the plotting Panurgus the ambitious Philodoxus the two Libertines Hippomanes and Atheus the laughing Buffoon Gelasinus and the trifling Adolesches Philecous the Busie-body Pseudocheus the great Lyar and his Brother the Spreader of false News Polymythus the Master of Complements Eutrapelus the lascivious Museus amongst the Rhymers Biberius among the Drinkers Huguccio and Pamphagus among the Feeders the inconstant Varius the sloathful Philypnus and several others that wore the Devils Mark T would be troublesome and tedious unto you hard for me having now forgot many of them to characterize their Persons describe their several Humours and relate all the Passages not more vicious and branded than ridiculous and odde which happened during my Abode with them Wherefore to omit all that I being at last quite tired with this kind of life resolved one way or another to break out of this stately Prison For that which at first I took for a Palace I found to be a Gaol So having one day gained a fit opportunity I fairly left them But I still continued on apace in my Journey which now grew more delicious whole Stages of it being high stately Piazza's and broad Streets At length I came to a turning which declined toward the left For I must tell you that there is above a thousand By-paths which though different or even directly opposite to each other do all alike lead unto the dismal Vale of TOPHET This way was exceeding broad and thronged by Passengers and those of no ordinary Quality as much as the great one The Streets were all Taverns and Stews which made me leave the other common Road to turn in here for better Accommodation Whereof there is a Description between two and three thousand years old which I need but to use it being so exactly fitted thereto by not onely the Wisest of Men and most understanding Observator of Humane Actions but one who had strayed with me in this very Way and had experience enough no man I believe will deny as having * 1 King 11. 1 2 3. out of his own and all the bordering Nations no less than seven hundred Wives Princesses and three hundred Concubines at his Will It was I remember very well the Twilight in the Evening as the Night began to be black and dark when I roved up and down therein and behold there met me a woman Olympia she calls her self with the Attire of an Harlot and subtil of Heart She caught me and kissed me and with an impudent face talked unto me Come said she let us take our fill of Love until the Morning let us solace our selves with Loves With much fair Speech she caused me to yield with the flattering of her Lips she forced me She caught me again and kissed me but mine heart already declined to her ways I went astray in her Paths I poor Wretch followed her straightway as an Ox goeth to the slaughter and as a Fool to the correction of the Stocks as an Ox that thinks he is a going to the Pasture willingly goeth to his own Destruction and as a Bird hasteth to the Snare not knowing that she is in danger so I saw the Bait and catched after it but guessed not that it was for my Life Not but that her House I knew well enough to be the way unto Hell and the going down to the Chambers of Death though with her Eyes I was so strangely fascinated as not to consider this but rather to esteem these outer Courts of the Eternal Prison my Heaven and my Paradise Here also I lighted upon Corinna and Glycerium Rhodope and Pamphila Philumena and Coelia and taken with their Beauty went in unto them not knowing or not thinking that the Dead were there and that their Guests were in the depths of Hell For their Lips dropt as the Honey-comb their Speech was smoother than Oyl but their End prov'd bitter as Wormwood sharp as a two-edged Sword Their Feet every one could spie went downward and their Steps took hold