6.1 Col. 3.20 for this is right They must obey their parents in all things much more therfore in the choyce of those whom wedlock must conjoyne for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. It is in the fathers power to give his virgin in mariage 1 Cor. 7.38 and the Apostle saith that hee which doth so doeth well allthough hee which giveth her not in mariage is said to doe better The heate of desire doth often darken the eye of reason and make's us more apt to study our present content then wisely to prevent an ensueing danger Therfore must parents have power to dispose of those who for want of advice may wedde their destruction This counsell and direction taketh not off from the freedome of consent but rather sett's them at liberty who for want of discretion had not power to consent Nature is easily led amisse and unadvised youth besides other inconveniencies may fall upon the shelves of neerenesse of blood unlesse they have some to advise and direct them Those that choose without reason and marrie without advice doe but climb up a steepe and loftie rock to throw themselves downe a mighty precipice Lev. 18 Though the Leviticall law hath forbidden diverse to agree in wedlock yet often wee see that men are apt either directly to oppose that law or at least to affect most deerely those whom even nature it selfe forbiddeth wedlock allthough not directly mentioned in the law But the sager parent will easily conclude that those whom the law forbiddeth not expressely to joyne in wedlock implicitely it prohibiteth if the propinquitie of blood be equall to those whom it denyeth mariage The safest way is to avoyd such contracts as are not in words permitted by the All-mighty That mariage must needes be full of discontent which is not directly grounded on a positive law Hee who first did institute mariage did afterwards bound and limitt the institution If the spring be troubled the water of necessitie must become impure If wee doe not beginne our wedlock according to rule wee cannot expect that content which our hearts desire Those who beginne with a breach of the law can hardly live according to law Lord how many sinns and infirmities doe attend us mortalls Wee are apt to fall when wee want a guide and yet wee are unwilling to be guided by our directours The way to heaven is full of difficulties yet God hath provided us meanes to overcome them To prevent the ruine and destruction of the Kind Gen 1.28 1 Cor. 7.2 vers 5. hee instituted mariage that wee might be fruitfull and multiplie To avoide uncleanesse every man is allowed to have his owne wife and every woman her owne husband that Satan tempt them not for their incontinency To prevent a scarcitie of godly saints Eph. 6.4 hee allowed wedlock and commanded parents to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Thus our good God is pleased to give us the blessing of increase that thereby wee may adde to the number of Saints Hee giveth us a being by his power a well-being by his providence yea a christian and comfortable being by his goodnesse if wee obey his commands forget not his statutes O what a happinesse doth that mariage produce which is both begunne and continued in God! It putteth us in mind of that happie accord which was betweene Adam and Eve in innotency and when wee remember it wee strive to imitate it In our choyce wee magnifie God when wee honour our parents In our consent wee glorifie God for the use of our reason In the freedome of our consent wee are taught to be sensible how sinne had enslaved us and yet how wee are freed by the mercies of our Redeemer Thus when wee addresse our selves to God in all things and both choose consent and wedd according to his appointment our lives are full of comfort and content Those who are thus united together are carefull to live in righteousnesse towards God and in amitie and chast sobrietie among themselves In afflictions they are each a comforter to the other in prosperitie they share their plenty and increase in their issue they magnifie God for his blessings and both of them strive to make those pledges of love which resemble them selves to be more like unto God their father in heaven Eph. 5.23 As the husband is made the head of his wife so hee strives to protect her and indulgently cherisheth the flesh of his flesh Hee instructeth her in righteousnesse Gen. 2.23 1 Pet. 3.3.7 and according to knowledg hee dwelleth with her giving honour unto her as to the weaker vessell Againe as Eve was not made of the head but the rib so the good wife doeth not seeke to rule vers 5.6 Eph. 5.22 vers 33. 1 Cor. 14.35 but be governed and being thus in subjection to her owne husband shee obeyeth her Lord as Sarah did Abraham Shee willingly submitteth herselfe to her husband as unto the Lord. Him shee reverenceth him shee obeyeth and quietly and meekely asketh him at home what shee desireth to learne These ô these are the sweete contents which crowne the maried c. 7.39 if they marrie in the Lord. T is true that many times these dueties are neglected through the want of religion Gen. 3.1 and the scrpent come's often betweene the husband and wife as at first hee did betweene Adam Eve That sinne which expelled him out of heaven hee laboureth to kindle in our secret hearts and then the wind of the apple doe's blow the coales From hence ariseth the smoake of dâ—scontent from hence doeth issue the contention of her which the wise man resembleth to a continuall dropping in a very rainy day Prov. 27.15 Mar. 10.9 But those whom God hath joyned together nothing should seperate Nothing indeede should and nothing doth seperate them for 't is onely sinne which causeth dissention and that sinne is onely a privation of goodnesse Had not sinne beene acted even in that very garden where mariage was instituted that sacred yoake had never beene burdensome O that our God would be pleased to make us againe so like unto himselfe that our love might be tyed up in the bond of peace Eph. 4.3 Wee who by nature are fuller of imperfections then those that are our Lords should then be freed from the blame of disquietnesse God hath so honoured our sexe that hee hath called his Church by the name of a woman and not onely so but allso of a wife for so the Angell said to Saint Iohn Come hither Rev. 21.9 I will shew thee the Bride the Lamb's wife Of that woman of that wife of my God must I learne the duetie which I owe to my husband Eph. 5.22 To him must I submitt my selfe as unto the Lord because the husband is the head of the wife ver 23. eveu as Christ is the head of the church Him I must love to him I
must be subject in every thing Tit. 2.4 Eph. 5.24 1 Cor 7.34 Eph. 5.33 1 Pet. 3.6 1 Cor. 14.35 c. 7.10 Tit. 2.5 Col. 3.18 1 Pet. 3.1 I must care how to please him I must reverence him I must obey him as Sara obeyed Abraham calling him Lord I must be instructed by him I must not depart from him but must be discreete chast a keeper at home good obedient unto him that the word of God be not blasphemed To hin indeede I must submitt my selfe as unto the Lord but this submission must not be servile for it must be onely so as it is fitt in the Lord. Him I must love for hee is my selfe To him I must be subject as the inferiour parts are unto the head I must care how to please him both for the performance of my duety and for the quietnesse and content which will ensue upon it I must reverence him for hee is my superiour I must obey him for hee is my Lord I must be instructed by him for hee is my teacher I must not depart from him 1 Cor. 7.4 because the power which formerly I had over my selfe is resigned up to his will and pleasure I must be discreete because I am a wife chast because I must be a loyall wife a keeper at home because a house-wife good and obedient that the word of God be not blasphemed Submission is required joyned with love to avoyd anger and contention Prov. 21.19 for Solomon hath decreed that It it better to dwell in the wildernesse then with a contentious and an angrie woman Subjection and reverenceare arguments of a meeke 1 Pet 3.4 Prov. 9.13 and quiet spirit which in the sight of God is of great price for a clamorous woman is styled foolish Obedience is due to those that are our instructers seeing therfore our sexe is guiltie of ignorance 1 Tim. 2.11 wee are commanded to learne in silence with all subjection for if wee are wise in our owne conceits Prov. 26.12 the wise man saith there is more hope of a foole then of such Discretion is allso required in our sexe for long agoe did Solomon say c. 11.22 As a jewell of gold in a swine's snowt so is a faire woman which is without discretion Certainly those who submitt to their husbands who love them are subject to them carefull to please them reverence them obey them are willing to be instructed by them depart not from them and are truely discreete conscience will preserve them chast civilitie will keepe them at home and religion will make them good Ps 119.5 O that our wayes were made so direct that wee might keepe these statutes When I consider of this bond which unite's mee to my husband how can I choose but blesse my God for his ordinance When I looke upon the pledges of our mutuall love those children which God doeth send for our comfort how can I choose but magnifie his blessing Though many are the infirmities of a woman many dueties belong to a wife many cares and pangs belong to a mother yet our infirmities are aften redressed by mariage our dueties are our delight being guided and comforted by our carefull Lords and our cares and pangs are richly rewarded in our obedient children O how gracious is our God unto us who governeth us by those who are made our selves and to increase our love and obedience to our husbands giveth us the lively resemblance of both in our tender off-spring These children whom I would have obedient unto mee doe put mee in mind of that obedience which I owe to my husband and much more of that which all of us owe to our bountifull God That sacred tye of holy wedlock putteth mee in mind of the infinite love of Christ to his church Hee hath blessed mee with the first and shall I not labour to be a worthy and a thankfull partaker of his love in the last The first I enjoy though I deserve it not the last I am offered yet zealously and religiously enough I embrace it not If I neglect my love and duety to my husband I cannot expect the love of Christ Alasse by sexe I am fraile and not willing to obey by paines I am froward and not fitt for advice by sinne I am haughtie and not apt for submission Nature enclineth us to love but unlesse that love be regulated by religion it often either is sullied with impuritie or clegenerateth into hatred O what shall I provide to answer my God when hee shall stricktly examine mee concerning my duety first to himselfe next to him whom hee hath made my Lord and lastly to them who are my tender and parcelled selfe Certainly obedient enough I cannot be to God dutifull enough I can scarcely be to my husband loving and carefull enough I can hardly be of my children All of us faile in some thing or other and I feare that I am the weakest of all Every sinne displeaseth my God o what shall I doe to appease his wrath Wherewithall shall I come before the Lord Mic. 6.6 and bow myselfe before the high God Shall I come before him with Burnt offerings with calves of a yeere old vers 7. Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rammes or with ten thousand rivers of oyle Shall I give my first-borne for my transgressions Ps 51.16 vers 17 the fruite of my body for the sinne of my soule Alasse hee desireth not sacrifice hee delighteth not in burnt offering The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit a broken and a contrite heart hee will not despise To my Lord therfore will I hasten whom I have offended to my God will I addresse my selfe whom I have displeased by my manifold neglects and insteede of rivers of oyle I will swimme unto him in rivers of my teares My heart I will teach to groane so lowde that it shall be heard to heaven Each teare which I shed shall proceede from a heart so humbly sorrowfull that they shall seeme to have the faces of Angells in reflexion and I will pray that those teares may be accepted by the Angel of the covenant Mal 3.1 If through my indiscretion contentions have arisen betweene my head and the members I will meekely justifie the words of the King Solomon and not onely resemble but have even the same to which hee compareth mee Pro 27.15 I will have a continuall dropping in a very rainie day Mine eyes shall droppe and my heart shall droppe and from them both shall issue as it were water and blood that with my teares I may wash the sacrifice of my God and my heart may be made an accepted offering Mat 7.25 Yet shall not the raine descend onely and the floods come but the winds allso shall blow From mine eyes shall the raine descend and the floods of my teares shall come and then from my heart the winds shall blow From my heart I will
was as mine owne soule the sad losse of whom still doeth and still will sitt cold heavy upon my wounded heart Some comfort indeede I have in that sweete odour he left behind him from whence every Christian may receave an Aromatick perfume of learned profit and content yea even those who too unkindly were the cause of putting salt water upon that sweete waxe whereby the Tapour was extinguished To these losses afflictions I might adde many many more beside my present condition among strangers and forrainers and my continuall heart-quakes at the strickt menaces of the ruine and Desolation of my poore bleeding gasping countrie Yet while there is life there is hope even that hee who hath made our land to tremble Ps 60.2 and hath broaken it will in his owne due time heale the breaches thereof for it shaketh In this Manuall thou shalt find noe Author quoted but the Best of all and noe language but English The whole booke is in thy mother tongue and all the proofes excepting a very few are Scripture Luc 23 â—8 The weeping daughters of Ierusalem love best to be comforted in the language of Canaan Is 19.18 Here I â—ould an Ewer nay a Fountaine of â—ater to those that neede it for the reâ—eshing of their soules yet I hinder â—…ne from turning their owne Cocks â—…d letting them runne If any conâ—emne the worke as needlesse in these rightest times for so they are â—ought to be set formes of prayers beâ—…g by many dashed quite out of counâ—mance let them know that these are â—…t intended for them but for those â—ho doe neede and will use them I â—nfine not any to these Formes nor â—e I deny them to any who shall wilâ—ngly accept them In them thou hast â—e helpeâ— â—f many choice places of â—cripture 〈◊〉 for thy severall occasiâ—…s which â—eradventure otherwise would not be so ready at hand when â—ou shouldest stand in neede of them Whatsoever throughout the whole â—ooke thou findest good know that 〈◊〉 is Gods now made thine as well as mine blesse him for it What thou â—ndest here amisse except the faults of the presse I confesse it mine yet â—either wittingly nor willingly is it mine howsoever charge it to mine account Doe thou friendly reckon with mee and I will thankfully satisfie thee and be sure to remember that as it is thy duety to be thankfull for the best so thou oughtest to be charitable in thy censure of the rest Consider what I say 2. Tim. 2.7 and the Lord give thee understanding in all things Thy servant in him Phil 2.7 who tooke upon him the forme of a servant for us IOHN FEATLEY From my house in Flushing April 17. 1646. A Table of the particular contents THe First subject Teares of Godly sorrow or devout Melancholy wherein a flexible disposition apt to weepe employeth those Teares in a Sorrow for sin The Soliloquie p. 1 The Prayer p. 7 Teares from the Heart The Soliloquie confistnig of 3 parts viz 1 The wickednesse of a corrupted heart p. 11 2 Alamentation for the losse of an honest heart p. 23 3 Griefe for an old and sinfull heart and an earnest desire of a righteous new one p. 35 The Prayer p. 45 Teares of Time The Soliloquie consisting of 3 parts viz 1 A Revieuw of the time past p. 48 2 A Consideration of the time present p. 64 3 A Resolution for the time to come p. 75 The Prayer p. 83 Teares in the night The Soliloquie Devided into 3 parts fitted for the time 1 Immediately before going to bed p. 85 Evening Prayer p. 98 2 Of lying downe in the bed p. 100 3 Of awaking in the night p. 111 Teares in the Day Devided into 3 parts and fitted for the time 1 Of awakng early in the morning p. 123 2 Of beeing newly risen p 136 The morning Prayer p. 146 3 Of preparing to goe to dinner p. 149 Teares of Compassion in time of prosperity The Soliloquie treating of earthly riches and the rewarâ— of Charity p. 161 The Prayer p. 18â— 7 Teares in time of adversity in 4 Soliloquies treating of 1 A decayed estate or plenty turned into poverty p. 18â— 2 The prayer p. 204. 2. Hunger both corporall spâ—rituall p. 208 The prayer p. 23â— 3 Thirst both bodily and ghostly p. 23â— The Prayer p. 24â— 4 Nakednesse both of the Outward and Inwarâ— man p. 249 The Prayer p. 260 8 A Virgin 's Teares The Soliloquie p. 26â— The Prayer p. 27â— 9 Teares of a Married woman Soliloquie treating of thâ— dutyes of a wife to her husband p. 275 the prayer p. 29â— 10 Teares of an Aged woman p. 293 The prayer p. 307 11 Teares of a Barren woman p. 311 The prayer p. 321 12 Teares of a Childbearing woman 1 At the time when thee beginneth to fall in travell 2 After her delivery The soliloquie consisting of 3 parts 1 The Cause of the forrow and the confidence of thâ— sorrowing p. 324 2 The greatenesse of the pangs hazards and feares of a Travelling woman p. 332 3 Consolation and comfort for a woman in the bitternesse of her Travell p. 340 The prayer p. 343 2 Teares of a woman after her delivery from the paines of childbearing p. 346 The Prayer p. 351 13 Teares in time of Pestilence The Soliloquy consesting of 6 severall parts treating of 1 Mourning by example in a publick calamity p. 354 2 Severall causes of gods visitations p. 368 3 Sin especially the cause of the pestilence p. 381 4 Severall examples of dreadfull Pestilences p. 388 5 Gods threatning before his visitation p. 395 6 The duty of a Christian decreeing to whome and for whome wee ought to pray in time of Pestilence p. 403 The Prayer p. 413 â—4 Teares of her whose house is shutt up for the Pestilence The Soliloquy p. 420 The Prayer p. 431 â—5 Teares of her who is visited with the Pestilence beeing 1 Either wounded with a Sore p. 437 2 Or marked with the tokens p. 445 The prayer p. 455 â—6 Teares of a Mother for the sicknesse of her child the Soliloquie p. 461 The Prayer p. 469 â—7 Teares of a Mother for the death of her child The Soliloquie p. 473 The Prayer p. 480 â—8 Teares of a Wife for the sicknesse of her husband The Soliloquie p. 484 The Prayer p. 492 â—9 Teares of a woman lamenting the death of her beloved husband the Soliloquie p. 495 the prayer p. 506 â—0 A woman's Teares at the Funerall of her husband the Soliloquie p. 510 The Prayer p. 528 â—1 Teares of a woman in the state of Widdow-hood the Soliloquie p. 531 The Prayer p. 543 â—2 Teares of an Orphan at the death of her father The Soliloquie p. 545 The Prayer p. 561 â—3 Teares for the death of a beloved Freind or Brother The Soliloquie p. 563 the Prayer p. 573 â—4 Teares in a Cousumption or any languishing sicknesse the Soliloquie consisting of 3 parts 1 a complaint and
to day are and to morrow are cast into the oven extend thy mercy to thy distressed servant O my God thou seest the nakednesse which I suffer and thou feelest the cold which my body endures for of thee ô Christ I am a part of thy mysticall body I am a member These meane and ragged coverings doe speake at once both my wants and my desires What shall I doe ô father Shall I noe longer believe thy providence Or shall I despaire of thy power O I dare not doe either for I know that thou canst and wilt relieve mee when thou in thy wisedome shalt see it requisite Blessed Lord subdue my heart as thou hast humbled my body and forgive the sinnes of pride and discontent which harbour therein Many of thy Saints have wanted the things of the outward man yet hast thou enriched their soules with the graces of thy Spirit I know Lord that thou delightest not in the ornaments of the body Thou canst give what thou wilt and withhold what thou pleasest Lu 16.22 Distressed Lazarus who for a while did lye at the gate of gorgeous Dives was caried by Angells into Abraham's bosome Enable mee with patience to suffer my wants and willingly to submitt to thy heavenly pleasure Ps 104 1. O thou that art cloathed with Majestie and honour vouchsafe to cover my naked soule Through the merits of thy Christ let it be presented to thee both cleane and unspotted Make mee to labour the purifying thereof with a flood of my teares Io. 11.33 and accept of my groanes through the righteousnesse of him who groaned in spirit when hee beheld the teares of lamenting Marie Holy father adorne thou my inward man with righteousnesse and holinesse that it may be acceptable unto thee when it shall come to thy tribunall Nothing can hide it from thy wrath ô father but the garment of the righteousnesse of Christ my brother Wrappe mee ô Iesus in that sacred mantle that I may be hid from the wrath of the reveng-full judg Is 50 3 O thou that cloathest the heavens with blacknesse and makest sack-cloth their covering doe thou apparell my soule with the blacknesse of sorrow and the sackcloth of mourning for my crying offences And so accept of my contrition that I may hereafter appeare in a long white robe with thy holy Saints Reu 7.9 and be admitted a member of thy church tryumphant there to reigne with thee world without end through Iesus Christ my onely Lord and Saviour Amen subject 8 THE EIGHTH SUBJECT A Virgin 's teares The Soliloquie Treating of the virginitie both of the body and the soule THE EjACULATION Psal 5. vers 1. Give eare to my words ô Lord consider my meditation vers 2. Hearken unto the voyce of my cry my king and my God for unto thee will I pray THe un-maried woman saith the faithfull Apostle careth for the things of the Lord 1. Cor. 7.25 vers 34 that shee may be holy both in body and spirit Such a one am I unmaried I am but am I such a one allso in my care Doe I care for the things of the Lord that I may be holy both in body and spirit This is a question not easily resolved it is a duety not ordinarily performed The externall forme doeth commonly borrow the howers of virgins the dresses and the ornaments of the fading body imploy our minuits and our care is generally more for the day of our mariage then the time of our account Seldome doe wee vallew religion above our dresses or the service of God above the ornaments of our selves But neither is the beauty of the countenance prevalent with the All-mighty nor the neatenesse of attire vallewed in his eyes Hee love's not that care which ariseth from pride but that which discovereth a zeale for his honour The most admired beauty shall be shriveled in the flames of eternall horrour unlesse the soule be more comely by farre then the countenance The exactest features of the outward man doe illest suite with a lascivious tongue or an immodest thought Devoutest virgins are allways fairest and borrow so much of the flowers of the spring as to weare a maidens blush in the seate of beauty My God hath given mee the honour of virginitie and expecteth to be honoured both in it and by it If my soule be as un-spotted as my body is un-defiled I may hope for a seate with the tryumphant virgins Reu 14.1 With the Lamb saith Saint Iohn were a hundred fortie and foure thousand having his fathers name written in their fore-heads vers 4. These are they which were not defiled with women for they are virgins these are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever hee goeth That Lamb is Christ those hundred fortie and foure thousand virgins are the elect his name in their foreheads is their adoption by grace they follow the Lamb in the puritie of their soules and in their chast spirituall virginitie they are preserved from the pollutions and uncleanesse of the seducing tempter With these virgins I desire to sing my part for my sexe cannot hinder the hope of immortalitie With those saints which defiled not themselves with women shall accord those women not defiled with men It was an honour to our sexe and my present condition that my Saviour was borne of the virgin Mary But I must know that virginitie consisteth not so much in the chastitie of the body as the puritie of the soule Even those that are maried may have virgin soules and wee that are virgins may be spirituall adulteresses 1. Thes 4.4 Shee that preserve's her vessell in holinesse performeth a duety required by our maker but unlesse to this be added the chastitie of the soule both body and soule may suffer eternally The purest virgin is the loyallest wife for though wee never were engaged by mariage to a man yet all of us ought to be maried to Christ 2. Cor 11.2 Saint Paul saith that hee had espoused the Corinthians to one husband that hee might present them as a chast virgin unto Christ This husband is mine for to him am I espoused to him am I wedded But am I a loyall wife to this indulgent husband Doe I love him Doe I honour him Doe I obey him Have I beene allways true and faithfull unto him If every sinne be a spirituall adulterie if every transgression be a dishonour unto him ô then my conscience will write mee guilty O my sweete husband ô my Iesus what shall I say or pleade for my selfe I have forsaken my redeemer to sinne with the tempter I have declined my husband to committ un-cleanesse with that ugly serpent for hee enticed and I consented Lev 20.10 By the ould law an adulteresse was to suffer death That law doeth still remaine in force for death eternall is decreed as a punishment for those that dishonour my patient husband O what then shall I doe when hee shall question my disloyaltie
King's daughter Ps 45.13 vers 14 which is all glorious with in hath virgins for her companians when shee is brought unto the King Such a virgin should my soule have beene but alasse shee dare's not appeare in the sight of the King because shee hath left off the ornaments of her virginitie Ier. 13.23 Can the Ethiopian change his skinne or the Leopard his spotts Can my soule which is deflowred with the filthinesse of sinne ever hope to be reckoned among the number of virgins Can shee which hath assumed the impudencie of an harlot ever expect to be accounted modest Can shee which is deformed with the staines of iniquitie ever hope to be deemed faire and beautifull Alasse what shall I doe Unlesse my husband be reconciled unto mee it is impossible I should escape the torments of hell Some that have offended have found him gratious why may not I hope for a tast of his mercy Could I but appeare in his sight with beauty and comelinesse hee would presently renew his love and affection O but my soule is full of deformitie and for want of care shee is loathsome and uglie But is there noe recoverie of a decayed forme Is there noe way to restore a declined beauty Though shee be not beautifull yet let her be comely for thus shee may bee allthough shee is black To worke then will I goe Cant 1.5 Is 1.6 and wholly will I labour to make her amiable in the sight of her Lord. Alasse this state and condition which shee is in is full of horrour and disconsolate torments From the sole of the foote even unto the head there is noe foundnesse in her but wounds and bruises and putrifying sores they have not beene closed neither bound up neither mollified with oyntment Ps 38.5 Thus doe her wounds stinke and are corrupt because of my foolishnesse Thus through the stench of her wounds and the loathsomenesse of her sores and the deformitie of her scarrs and the impudencie of her lookes and the foulenesse of her face I know not what to doe to restore her to his favour Is 1.16 But I will endeavour to wash her to make her cleane and to put away the evill of her doeings from before his eyes With my teares I will wash her with my teares I will cleanse her For every spot of sin which hath defiled her I will shed a whole fountaine a river of teares Yet sooner can I drowne my selfe in my teares then they of them selves can recover her beauty It must be thou ô my Iesus that must assist mee it must be thy blood ô my husband wich must cleanse my pollutions Lord accept yet of my teares which are all that I can offer and wash this thy sinfull spouse in the larer of thy blood This must be the way to regaine his love from whose affectionate bosome my soule is divorced By this meanes onely shall shee once againe be receaved as a virgin though shee hath played the harlot with many lovers Ier 3.1 Thus therfore will I come and humbly will I crave his pardon and forgivenesse I will besiech him to preserve my vessel in honour and my soule in sinceritie I will begge I will intreate I will pray and begging and intreating and praying I will say The Prayer BLessed Lord Sonne of a virgin who didst honour virginitie when thou tookest our nature hearken to the cryes of a lamenting maide Mat 8.8 Lord I am not worthy to come unto thee I am not worthy to receave any favour from thee for I have forsaken thee my most indulgent husband Ier 3.1 and played the herlot with many lovers My soule is too foule to be called thine too often hath shee broken her vowes and promises to hope for thy love or thy gratious pardon But Lord what now shall I doe If yet I should fall into a despaire of thy mercies I should increase my disloyaltie and either deny or despise the power of thy passion So greate was thy love to the Church thy Spouse that thou gavest thy selfe to sanctifie and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word Eph 5.25.26 My soule ô Christ is a member of thy Spouse be pleased ô Iesus so to sanctifie and wash her that thou mayest present her to thy felfe without spot or wrinkle both holy and blamelesse vers 27 Zech 13.1 O thou who hast opened a fountaine to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Ierusalem Ps 51.2 for sinne and for uncleanesse doe thou wash mee throughly from mine iniquity and cleanse mee from my sinne Lord as in mercy thou hast given mee chastitie of body so give mee likewise the chastitie of mind and the puritie of soule Suffer not either the flesh or the Devill by their wicked suggestions to seduce mee to uncleanesse Though I am a weake 1 Pet 3.7 2 Cor 4.7 Act. 9.15 Rom 9.23 1 Thes 4.4 vers 5. though but an earthen vessell yet be thou pleased to make mee a chosen vessell a vessell of mercy Cause mee to keepe the vessell of my body and to possesse it in sanctification and honour and not in the lust of concupiscence like the Gentiles which know thee not O be thou my father in the grace of adoption be thou my brother in thy pitty and compassion be thou my husband in thy love and affection and be thou my Iesus in the salvation of my sick and sinfull soule Arme mee with constancy against all assaults of carnall imaginations Give mee modestie in my countenance decency in my apparell civilitie in my behaviour sobrietie in my discourse and contentednesse in my condition Make mee obedient to my parents respective to my superiours courteous to my inferiours and loving unto all Let not my adorning be outward 1 Pet 3.3 Iam 3.17 Prov 1.9 of putting on of apparell but give mee that wisedome which is from above to be as an ornament of grace unto my head and as chaines about my neck Preserve ô Christ both my body and soule in chastitie and honour while I am here upon earth as becometh a virgin espoused to thy selfe Eccl 12.7 Reu 14.3 and when my dust shall returne to the earth as it was let my spirit returne unto thy selfe who gavest it and to thee let it sing that new song with the quire of virgins before thy throne for ever and ever Amen subject 8 THE NINETH SUBJECT Teares of a woman in the state of mariage The Soliloquie Treating of the dueties of a wife to her husband THE EjACULATION Psal 5. vers 1. Give eare to my words o Lord consider my meditation vers 2. Hearken unto the voice of my cry my king and my God for unto thee will I pray MAn was created in the image of God Gen 1 27. c 2.18 vers 21 vers 22 yet because it was not good that hee should be alone the Lord did make him an helpe that was meete for him A
charitable to deceased strangers had not the price of him who dyed for all beene the unhallowed summe to purchase the field When they met with that coyne which was not for their use with that they purchased an Akeldama for foreiners But is it not all one in what part of the ground I burie my husband so I lay his body in a place that is set apart for that purpose Surely noe allthough it is equall to him yet is it not to mee Allthough at the resurrection wee shall meete againe at what distance soëver our graves shall be made yet there is some reason wee should be buried so neere as wee may that as our bodies were injoyned a mutuall society in the time of life so they might allso sleepe together in the silent dust It is but just that one grave should receave the bodies of us for whom one bed was designed upon earth that as in our lives wee were made one flesh so after our deaths wee should make one lumpe When Barzillay was offered a favour from King David and wooed to spend his time at the Court hee besought the King saying Let thy servant I pray thee turne back againe that I may dye in mine owne citty 2. Sam. 19.37 and be buried by the grave of my father and of my mother Friends have ever desired to lye by friends that those especially who were knitt together in blood affection might be joyned together in their earth and ashes In the cave of Machpelah which Abraham bought of Ephron for fowre hundred shekells of silver Gen 23.16 was buried both himselfe c 49.31 c. 50.13 Act. 5.10 and Sarah his wife There lay Isaak and Rebekah his wife and there lay Leah and Iacob her husband Though Saphira dyed by the judgment of God for the lye shee had tould yet when shee fell dead at Peter's feete and yeelded up the ghost the young men came in and caried her forth and buried her by her husband It is therfore convenient that I choose a place for the buriall of my husband where if so it may be I my selfe may be layed Convenient it is but not absolutely necessarie for the soules shall not enjoy the lesse felicitie for the remoter distance and seperation of the bodies neither shall the bodies either be sensible of the disjunction or shall it retard their meeting at the generall day Allthough the bones of Iacob were caried into the land of Canaan Gen 50.13 vers 5. and buried in the caye of the field of Machpelah which Abraham bought according as hee had made his sonne Ioseph sweare to him before his death yet hee had formerly buried his beloved Rachel in the way to Ephrah c 35.19 which is Bethlehem and there Iacob set a pillar upon her grave which was called the pillar of Rachel's grave vers 20. When the children of Israel journied from Beeroth of the children of Iaakan to Mosera Deut 10.6 Num 20.1 there Aaron dyed and there hee was buried where as Miriam his wife dyed in Kadesh and was buried there yea and Moses his brother the servant of the Lord dyed in the land of Moab Deut 34.5 vers 6. and it is fayd that God himselfe buried him in a valley in the land of Moab over against Beth-Peor but noe man knoweth of his sepulcher peradventure lest the Israelites should have committed idolatrie and worsâ—ipped him for a God Thus doe I sit and muse about the buriall of him whom so deerely I loved Yet mee think's I could most readily preserve him from the dust if either it were in my power or might bring mee content But goe hee must and I must follow him This narrow roome of his coffin must be put in trust with his mouldering earth and hee who in his life time was entertained with varietie of spacious chambers must now securely sleepe in the chamber of a grave O how it grieveth mee to see this effect of sin Had not Adam fallen my husband had not dyed But oh hee 's dead and since nor teares nor sigh's nor groanes nor cryes have power to recall him it is therfore my duety and it shall be my care to expresse my love to him in the rites of his funerall Friends shall carie him neighbours shall attend on him and my teares shall embalme him The Preacher shall be instructed in the vertue which adorned him that so hee may commend them to others for their due imitation The hearers shall greedily attend to the praises of the dead and not onely acknowledg their trueth but contentedly wish like him to live and like him to dye Now ô now another storme approacheth in mine eyes for the companie beginneth to approach my dores and my neighbours and my friends are hastening to my house But when they come let them not thinke to comfort mee lest they adde to my griefe while they vainely strive to conquer my passion I cannot allow an intermission or forbearance of teares lest I should appeare un-naturall If I doe not weepe I did not love O mee think's I could willingly weepe my selfe into a statue that I might become his monument It is the height of injustice to forbid my teares since the delight of mine eyes is now to be caried to the place of oblivion Mee think 's every thing seemeth to call for a teare which is the object of a sense Those bells which so mournfully accord in their tunes invite my neighbours to come to the funerall yet not to appeare with emptie eyes unlesse they come to learne how to weepe These herbes these strewings which lately were fresh and at ease in their beds are willing to lye even under the feete of those that will mourne and because they have noe eyes themselves to weepe us a teare they lye to receave what shall droppe from the mourners These spriggs of Rosemarie doe call to my remembrance with what joy and delight they pleased mee at my nuptialls but lest I should forget the greater happinesse of the mariage with the Lamb even this herbe which served at our wedding doe's attend at the funerall O mee think's these sprigs have sad Rhetorick sitting on their leaves for those dropps of water which hang upon them were once the blood of the fragrant flowers and now are the teares of the drooping plants Sâ— ready were these spriggs to come when I desired them that they slipped from their stemmes to attend these obsequies These exotick perfumes which delight the sense are willing to be burned rather then the living shall be offended with the dead These sable garments strike terrour into the eye and command the spectatour to lend us a sigh And what other lecture is read here or taught but God's decree of man's mortalitie The chiefe speaker and Oratour is hee who hath now forgotten to speake for the locking up of his senses the silence of his tongue and the coldnesse of his pale frozen body have more force to prove the
come to take unto him my two Sonnes to be bondmen vers 2. Then Elisha sayd unto her What shall I doe for thee Tell mee what hast thou in thine house And shee sayd thine hand-mayd hath not any thing in the house save a pot of oyle Then hee sayd vers 3. Borrow thee vessells abroad of all thy neighbours even empty vessells borrow not a few vers 5. So shee went from him and did as hee commanded her when all the vessells miraculously were filled with oyle Elisha said unto her Goe sell the oyle vers 7. and pay thy debts and live thou and thy children of the rest This the widow of Zarephath allso found true to her comfort for when shee had but an hand-full of meale in a barrell 1. King 17.12 and a litle oyle in a cruse and went to gather two sticks that shee might gee in and dresse it for her and her sonne that they might eate it and dye even then Elijah the Prophet tould her saying Thus saith the Lord of Israël vers 14 The barrell of meale shall not wast neither shall the cruse of oyle faile untill the day that hee Lord sendeth raine upon the earth example 3 3. The Lord not onely relieveth us in our wants but allso hee succoureth us in our losses and comforteth us in our sorrowes Lu 7.12 When my Saviour came nigh to the gate of the citty Naim and behould there was a dead man caried out the onely Sonne of his mother and shee was a widow and much people of the citty was with her even then vers 13 vers 14 when the Lord saw her hee had compassion on her and sayd unto her Weepe not And hee came and touched the beere and they that bare him stood still and hee sayd Young man I say unto thee arise vers 15 And hee that was dead sate up began to speake And hee delivered him to his mother example 4 4. The same Lord hath likewise comanded men to helpe us Thus though Eliphaz accuseth Iob Iob. 22 9. c 31.16 vers 22 saying Thou hast sent widowes away empty yet Iob himselfe saith If I have with-held the poore from their desire or have caused the eyes of the widow to faile then let mine arme fall off from my shoulder-blade and mine arme be broken from the bone Thus when Ioab did seeke to incline the heart os David to fetch home Absalom who had sted from him upon his killing of his brother Amnon hee had noe other way to effect his desires but by suborning the widow of Tekoah And shee came to the King 2. Sam 14.4 vers 5. and fell on her face to the ground and did obeysance and said Helpe ô King And the King said unto her What ayleth thee And shee answered I am indeede a widow woman and mine husband is dead c. And by these meanes getting audience of the King who pittied her as a widow shee prevailed at length for Absalom's pardon Thus though the un-just judg which is mentioned in the Gospel Lu 18.4 vers 5. did neither feare God nor regard man yet when a widow troubled him hee said I will avenge her of her adversarie lest by her continuall coming shee wearie mee example 5 5. In our wants wee may borrow and the rich must lend to us yea and they are forbidden to use us with crueltie or severitie They must not so much as take a pledg of us The Israëlites were forbidden it by God himselfe for so saith the Lord Deut. 24.17 Thou shalt not pervert the â—…dgment of the stranger nor of the fatherlesse â—or take a widowes raiment to pledg Yea and â—mong those that remove the land-markes Iob. 24.2 that violently take away the flocks and feede thereof vers 3. and those that drive away the Asse of the fatherlesse Iob doeth ranke and reckon them who take the widowe's oxe for a pledg example 6 6. Moreover every one must be an advoâ—ate to pleade for us Among other dueties required of Iudah the Lord not onely commandeth that shee should judg the fatherlesse Is 1.17 but allso that shee should pleade for the Widow and hee therfore sendeth his wrath and showreth his vengeance upon them because they judg not the fatherlesse vers 23 neither doeth the cause of the widow come unto them example 7 7. The judges are allso commanded to defend us and to countenance our causes Every one must be a judg to the distressed widow therfore the law runneth peremptorily Deut 27.19 Cursed be hee that perverteth the judgment of the stranger fatherlesse and widow and all the people shall say Amen example 8 8. The righteous must visit us for the Apostle saith that pure religion Iam â— 27. and un-defiled before God and the father is this to visit 〈◊〉 fatherlesse and widowes in their affliction c. example 9 9. None may afflict or oppresse us for God himselfe giveth the charge Ex. 22.22 saying 〈◊〉 shall not afflict any widow Againe by 〈◊〉 Prophet thus speaketh the Lord of host saying Zech. 7 10. Is 10.2 Oppresse not the widow Woe unto theâ— saith the Prophet Isaiah that take away the right from the poore of my people that widoweâ— may be their prey example 10 10. And lest wee should be overborne with sorrowes and lost in our griefes wee have authoritie even from God to be cheerefull and to rejoyce Deut. 16.14 So saith the Lord Thou shalt rejoyâ— in thy feast thou and thy Sonne and thy daughter and thy manservant and thy maydservant the Levite the stranger the fatherlesse the widow that are within thy gates example 11 11. Yea and wee have more freedome to enter into any religious vow then formerly was graunted us yea then when wee were under the tuition of our indulgent parents Though a virgin by the law might not fulfill her vow if it stood not with the liking Num. 30.5 and pleasure of her father yet the Lord himselfe doeth ordaine saying Every vow of a widow as well as of her that is divorced vers 9. wherewith they have bound their soules shall stand against her Saint Paul allso treating of our libertie to tye our selves in a second vow of nuptiall dueties saith The Wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth but if her husband be dead 1. Cor. 7.39 shee is at libertie to be maried to whom shee will onely in the Lord. Seeing then the Lord is so mercifull and gratious unto us who have lost the content and comfort of our guides and directours provided that wee are widowes indeede and desolate trusting in God 1. Tim. 5.5 continuing in supplications and prayers night and day why sit I thus disconsolate as if I neither had right to the societie of Christians nor were regarded by my maker Whence flow these teares Whence arise these sighes sobbs of a troubled