meere Strangers to this life of Faith I expect not reading should put life and spirit into them onely I pray for such that they may heare Gods voyce in the Ministerie and liue but as for thee whom the Law hath wounded and the Gospell is healing who art euen at the byrth and stickest betweene the knees onely wantest power to come into the light who liuest but feelest not thy life holdest Christ but with benummed hands beleeuest but canst not yet beleeue thou hast Faith What is the matter thou art still ensnarled in the cords of death Why loosest thou not thy handkerchiefes and commest out of thy Graue and walkest chearefully in the Land of the liuing Suffer Faith to doe her perfect worke in thee to forme Christ in thee suffer not thy selfe alwaies to bee detained in the throwes and throbs of feare and doubt The Common causes of this slownesse of beleefe and snares of Death I obserue in most to be one of these three First Immoderate aggrauation of sinne Secondly Foolish and proud humilitie Thirdly Preposterous desire of Sanctification before Iustification First Thou wouldest beleeue but thou hast beene a sinner Whom came Christ to saue but sinners And whom doth hee iustifie but the vngodly Oh! but thy sinnes are Scarlet crying scandalous sinnes Said I not all things are possible to Faith onely if thou canst beleeue Are not all faults easily pardonable to an infinite mercy which exceedes Mans as Heauen doth Earth which can redilier forgiue seuenfie then Man seuen offences Well did Marâ—â—â—s answere the Diuell himselfe obiecting his former life to him that euen his might bee pardoned if hee could beleeue Did not Christ take the flesh of Rahab and Bathsheba and did hee refuse to take their sinnes vpon him Did not his blood wash Dauids bloody sinne as white as snow Doth not he delight to forgiue much that hee may binde to loue much Shall not his fauour abound to the sense of thy Faith where sinne hath abounded to the wounding of thy heart But thou art an olde habituate sinner As if Christ came from Heauen to cure onely small fearres greene cuttes and not deepe inuetorate woundes diseases of eight of twelue of eight and thirty yeares olde to cast out single Diuels and not Legions also Oh then take heede thou adde not to thy great and many sinnes a greater then all Cains sinne which was greater in infidelitie then in fratricide All thy help is to looke of thy selfe an obiect of confusion and to looke vpon Christ an obiect of consolation And then how fiery and deadly so euer thy sting bee by meere looking a strange cure I confesse yet most approued that is by sole beleeuing thou shalt be cured and liue Secondly But forsooth thou wilt be more mannerly then so with Peter thou wilt not suffer Christs precious hands to wash thy foule feete Take heede thy modesty turne not into pertinacy lest he swear in his anger thou shalt haue no part in him if thou stubbornly refuse his gratious offer he liked well the humility of that Cananitish that bore the terme of dogge but better her confidence that would not be said nay of the crums of his table And shalt thou not tenne times more honour him and please him in trusting his mercy and sealing to his truth then in fearing his iustice and dreading his power Take heede of pride in the clothes of humilitie Bee not deceiued It is pride and high pride not to come when thou art called Faith is obedience and obedience is more acceptable then curtesie complement The sooner thou commest the better welcome It is rudenesse and not good manners not to do as thou art bidden to doe yea so often and earnestly charged to doe To doe the worke of God is to beleeue in him whom he hath fealed and sent to be thy Sauiour Thirdly Oh! but thou wouldest faine first repent amend and doe some good workes and then thou wouldest bee bold to come That is thou thinkest thou shalt not be welcome vnlesse thou come with thy cost Thou wouldest accept of a pardon if thou mightst pay for it but his are free and he bids thee come and buy without siluer or else he saies thou and thy money perish Thou wouldest goe the old and naturall way to worke What shall I doe to inherit euerlasting life but that is now farre-done and impassable through our infirmity Besides before thou canst walke or worke thou must be aliue Did Christ indent with Zacheus for Restitution and almes or Paul bid the Iaylour first repent become a new man and then beleeue No they knew that the one would voluntarily necessarily together immediately follow or rather accompany the other Wherefore swim out of these weedes lay hold on the Rocke and to facilitate thy birth by the Act of beleeuing set beefore thy eyes Christs freedome to all suitors in the time of his flesh repelling none that truely desired the price of his blood And especially Gods esteeme of Faith aboue all other Graces Deeds or Acts of thine Study striue endeauor to beleeue as thou doest in a difficult point to conceiue Pray for a faculty and for the act of beleeuing Be not euer beleeuing and neuer a beleeuer euer beginning to liue and neuer liuing Liue to day to day is Saluation offered steppe from death to life and write this day thy birth day and number from hence the dayes of thy life in which of a Childe of perdition thou are made the sonne of GOD through Faith and so made foreuer Doest thou beleeue this with thy whole heart Driue on the Charriot of thy life with ioy and reioycing till thou come to the marke But what signe shall I haue of the truth of my Faith May it not bee presumption if without repentance and sanctitie How shall I be sure it is not that vaine and dead Faith Saint Iames speaketh of At the first it shall suffice to finde and feele a change of the minde an vnfained purpose desire and resolution of new vniuersall obedience which is contemporary with Faith though the younger and a second brother in order of Nature which where it is sufficeth to warrant Faith and to embolden the confidence in the first act of conuersion Zacheus the Iaylor and all new Conuerts had not any more could haue no experience of amendment of life and yet relyed vpon the word Beleeue and thou shalt bee saued CHAP. VI. The vse of Faith to young men in Christianity PVT off now thy sackcloth and ashes put on the garments of ioy and gladnesse Let not white raiment be wanting nor oyle to thy head Liue I say liue to day liue to morrow liue oh Christian for euer Not for one or a fewe dayes But all the dayes of thy life This thou mayst doe if thou wilt learne to vse thy Faith not as men vse Wedding apparell for a weeke or two after Marriage and then lay it vp for high and solemne dayes onely
come from the dead that hath made proofe of this way and life and would speake of his own experience would we heare Behold Paul slaine by the Law reuiued by the Gospell what doe wee thinke of him Did he not from the time of his conuersion to the time of his dissolution enioy a constant tenour of ioy liue if euer any comfortably happily And doth not hee tell vs euen while he liued in the flesh that he liued by the Faith of our Lord Iesus Christ. Surely he must needs be blessed that liueth by the same faith with Bloffed Paul Come therefore you which desire to see good dayes and lay holde on the waies of life Beleeue and liue CHAP. II. Christ the Fountaine and Faith the meane of Life WHat then Commit we sacriledge against Christ in deifying of Faith Rob we the Lord to adorne the seruant with his diuine honours God forbid Let that be giuen to Christ which is Christs and that to Faith which is Faiths Let the power of life and death be intirely reserued euer ascribed to the Lord of life the well of life the light and life of the World the breath of our nosthrils the life of our liues Thy body oh man hath it soule which enliues it and so hath thy soule its soule whereby it liues and that is Christ the quickning spirit Take away the soule from the body and earth becomes earth seuer Christ and the soule what is it but a dead carrion Elementary bodies lighten and darken coole and warme die and reuiue as the Sunne presents or absents it selfe from them Christ is to our soules the Sunne of righteousnesse Sin parts vs Faith reunites vs And so wee liue primarily and properly by Christ as by the soule by Faith secondarily as by the spirits the bond of soule and body by a personall and speciall faith appropriating Christ to the beleeuer as the leg or arme liues by proper sinews arteries and nerues vniting it to the liuer heart and head such an one as Paul had in Christ that dyed for him whereby hee ingrosseth the common God to himselfe as if his and no bodies else Thus saith hee himselfe that is the Truth and the Life I am the Life and Resurrection of the World hee that beleeueth in mee though hee be dead yet shall he liue and not die And this is the testimony of those three heauenly and earthly witnesses God gaue life to the Sonne And he that hath the Sonne hath Life And he that hath Faith hath the Son So that whateuer we lend to Faith it redoundes to the honor of Christ neither haue we any sinister intent to praise the wombe or the paps of Faith but to cast all vpon Christ who giues and works this Faith in vs vivisies and nourishes it yea iustifies the imperfection thereof by the perfection of his merit Nay let Faith knowe that if shee should waxe arrogant towards her Lord or insolent ouer her fellow seruants she should Lucifer-like fall from her dignity and in so doing of the best of graces become the worst of vices Verily what hath the habite of Faith in it selfe considered better or equall with loue Is it not a poorer and meaner Act to beleeue then to loue more like a beggarly receiuing then a working and deseruing hand Haile then oh Faith freely graced graciously exalted aboue all Christs Handmaides Thy Lord hath looked vpon thy meane estate because that hauing nothing of thine owne as other Vertues haue whence thou mightest take occasion to reioyce thou mightest the better exclude that hatefull Law of boasting the more humbly and frankely reflect all vpon thy Lord who willingly emptied himselfe that he might fill thee with honour whiles hee sayes to the cured of the Palsey Goe thy way thy Faith hath saued thee Hence forth cals hee thee no more seruant or friend but stiles thee as Adam his Spouse Chauah the Mother of all Liuing Counts it no iniurie to diuide his praises with thee likes it well that thou which doest nothing but by him shouldest bee said to doe all things which he doth To purifie the heart to ouer come the world to saue men c. And è contra hee to doe nothing without thee which yet does all of himselfe Hee could worke no Miracles in Capernaum because they had no Faith So glorious and wonderfull things are spoken of thee I had almost said so omnipotent is thy strength which hast said to the Sunne and Moone Stand yee still yea if but as big as the least graine canst say to the greatest Mountaines Remoue What can God doe which Faith cannot doe if requisite to bee done Questionlesse Iustifying Faith is not beneath miraculous in the sphere of it owne actiuitie and where it hath the warrant of Gods Word It 's not a lesser power then these to say Thy Sinnes are forgiuen thee thy person is accepted of God what-euer thou askest thou shalt haue c. Wherefore we need not doubt vnder Christ without feare of Praemunire or offence to his Crowne and Dignity to affirme of Faith That it is Gods arme and power to the enliuing and sauing of euery beleeuer as it is written The Iust shall liue by Faith CHAP. III. The third kinde of the Life of Faith BVt least wee seeme to speake swelling thinges whiles we soare in the Cloud of generalities let vs descend to some solide particulars Three thinges there are whence commeth Death to the Soule of Man Sinne with the guilt thereof giues the first deadly blow exposing it to the wrath of God who is a Consuming fire whose anger is the messenger of Death whence came the first Thunderbolt striking thorough the Soule that sentence of God to Adam Thou shalt dye And such as Nathans to Dauid Thou hast sinned and art the childe of Death The second is the spott and corruption of sinne deprauing yea deading all the faculties of man to spirituall actions which made Paul cry out That which I would doe I doe not And wretched man that I am who shall deliuer me from this body of Death Thirdly that swarme of plagues and army of punishments in the re-reward wherof comes first a second death All which made Iob cry out Why is light giuen to him that is in misery and life vnto the bitter in soule which long for death more then for treasures and ioy when they can finde the graue Were it not for these three man might liue fare and doe well but sin hauing entred into the World brought in Death with it which reigneth and triumpheth ouer the sonnes of Adam with this three-forked Scepter of Guilt of Corruption of Punishment Here comes in Faith with a three fould Antidote brings vs to the Tree of Life whose fruit and whose leaues heale vs of the sting and deadly poyson of Sinne working in vs a three-fold life opposite to the forenamed deaths The first is the life of righteousnesse discharging vs
This indeed is the fashion of beleeuers at their first conuersion beeing iustified to haue peace and ioy in beleeuing the remission of their sinnes and for a while to bee glad of their estate but then to neglect and determinate the vse of Faith as if it had now done all it should or could doe except till they relapse againe into some foule sinne then to recouer life againe vsing it as Vsquebath and strong Waters for swones and heart qualmes onely not being acquainted with a dayly and quotidian improuement of it which ought to bee as constant and continuate as is the vse of Fire and Water of Salt of Bread or Wine or whateuer is more ordinary and necessary then other such as no part of our liues may well be without Serues Faith for entrance and beginnings and not for proceedings and encreasings Are we not nourished by the same Elements of which wee consist Is Faith the Midwife and breeder of ioy and peace and not the Nurse and Foster-mother of them Cherishing and feeding thee till thou come to a full and perfect age in Christ Is not the fruit of it sweeter in the eare then in the blade Hearken therefore to mee oh thou of little Faith and lesse vse of it Doest thou desire to haue a continuall feast to reioyce alwaies in the Lord I know thou desirest it with all thy soule Let me prescribe a Dyet a daily dyet without omission strictly to bee kept The Lord giue thee and mee grace to obserue it Looke how duly thou refreshest thy bodyly spirites by vse of repast or recreations so often at the least bee sure to cheere vp thy Soule by the vse of thy Faith Let thy soule haue two or three walkes a day vp to Mount Tabor that is into some retyred place of Meditation and Prayer such as Isaaks Field Gornelius his Leaded Dauids Closet c. But what is there to be done I answere Still make vse of thy Faith But what is that you call vsing of Faith I now come to the point to the chiefe misterie of Spirituall life Shore vp thy soule in this Mount to conuerse with Christ. Looke what promises and priuiledges thou doest habitually beleeue now actually think of them rowle them vnder thy tongue Chew on them till thou feele some sweetnesse in the palate of thy soule View them ioyusly seuerally Sometimes muse of one sometimes of another more deepely and lest as Patients oft doe in Physicions Billes thou still complaine of obscurity thus doe thinke with thy selfe how excellent a thing it is to haue all thy debts cancelled how sweet a thing to haue God appeased how glorious a thing to bee the sonne of God how happy and safe a condition for thee to bee sure thy perseuerance and saluation how pleasant a state to bee â—â—â—â—â— of the fiere of death 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 how 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of glory Feastmakers in ancient time had speciall officers that cheered vp their guests they thought it not enough to set store of meate beefore them but one must come in and say Fall too and be merry Let vs eate and drinke It is a good time c. Thus say thou to thy selfe as Paul to the Corinths 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let us feast and bee merry Christ hath made vs Holy-dayes our Paschall Lambe is slaine Haue any more cause to bee merry With these Soliloquies mingle some Eiaculations to heauen for grace and ayde And leaue not descend not this Mount till thou findest and feelest thy soule in some cheerely plight reuiued and warmed with these spirituall Flagons of Wine in the strength whereof thou mayest walke all the day following This is that which the Spâ—â—se calles Walking into the Gardens and eating of the fruits c. which in plaine termes I call vsing of Faith and liuing by Faith Which if thou wilt duely inure thy selfe vnto thou wilt not maruell why I called it Ascending Mount Tabor thou wilt say thy selfe vpon good proofe It is good to be here dayly to be here often to come hither This is that exercise of Faith which paul inioynes Timothy and calles stirring vp or in kindling Fire in the Embers vnstirred glowes not heats not the house Sugar in the cup vnstirred sweetens not the Wine And in such it is all one not to haue Faith and not to vse it It may well bee said of Money-hoorders they haue no quicksiluer no currant money they haue no more that which they haue then that which they haue not And so of such beleeuers as doe not thus vse their Faith they haue no liuely Faith They were almost for matter of feeling and for present benefit and comfort be without Faith A man is little the better for a sleeping habit It is a rare portion saith Salomon and that which GOD giues onely to such as are good in his eyes to make vse of wealth to eate drinke and bee merry it is a much rarer to vse Faith What is a man the better for a Locke if he haue not the Key to vse it withall It is not a Trade but a Trade well followed It is not Land but Land well tilled that maintaines men Oh that this did as clearely appeare to the world in the matter of Faith as it doth in all other habits graces giftes vertues and good things whatsoeuer that the principall beauty and benefit of them consists in vse fruition and action not the bare profession yea the very increase and perfection of them Vse limbes and haue limbes the more thou doest the more thou mayest The oftner the liberall man giues Almes and does good turnes the more his liberality growes and shines Vse will breed perfectnesse and through disuse things perish and come to nothing as the Plowsheare laid vp rusts and consumes imployed glisters doth good and lasts the longer Let any man diligently and throughly improue and great will be his faith and great the ioy it will bring in CHAP. VII An inforcement of the former vse with a reproofe of the neglect and disuse of Faith WHerefore I say again Liue by Faith againe I say alwaies liue by it reioyce alwaies through Faith in the Lord. I dare boldly say It is thy fault and neglect of this exercise if thou suffer either thy own melancholly humor or Satan to interrupt thy mirth and spirituall alacritie and to detaine thee in dumps and pensiuenesse at any time What if thou beest of a sad constitution of a darke complexion Is not Faith able to rectifie nature is it not stronger then any ellebore Doth not an experienced both Diuine and Phisition worthily preferre one dramme of it before all the Drugges in the Apothecaries shop for this effect Hath it not soueraigne vertue in it to excerebrate all cares expectorate all feares and griefes euacuate the minde of all ill thoughts and passions to exhilerate the whose man But what good doth it any to haue a Cordiall by him if he vse it not to weare
a sword souldier like by the side and not to draw it forth vpon an assault when a dump ouer-takes thee if thou wouldest say to thy soule in a word or two Soule why art thou disquieted know and consider in whom thou beleeuest would it not presently returne to it rest againe would not the Master rebuke the Windes and Stormes and calme thy minde presently Hath not euery man something or other wherewithall hee vseth to put away dumps to driue away the ill spirit as Dauid with his Harp some with merry company some with a cup of sack most with a pipe of Tobacco without which they scarce ride or goe if they misse it a day together they are troubled with rhumes dulnesse of spirits they that liue in Fennes and ill ayres dare not stirre out without a morning draught of some strong liquor Poore silly smoaky helps in comparison of the least taste but for dishonouring of Faith I would say whiffe or draught of Faith Oh! that wise Christians would as often take the one as idle Guls doe the other would not the drawing in of sweete ayer from the pretious promises breede excellent blood and cheerely spirits It is a mystery in bodily health that to keepe the arteries and the nosthrils veines and other passages to the head heart and liuer cleere and free from colds and obstructions maintaines a healthfull and cheerefull temper The Pipe of Faith is the same to the soule Hee that is Astmaticall narrow breathed or straight breasted in his Faith cannot bee but lumpish and melancholly Wherefore as thou louest thy mirth aboue all other tend this vitall artery aboue all keepings keepe thy Faith and it will keepe thy ioy It will keepe it an euen euerflowing current without ebbe and flowe clouds and eclipses turning euer vpon the hinges of heauenly and solid mirth And indeed how or why should it be otherwise Doe not Christians consider how vnseemely it is for them to goe drooping hanging the head Is any so simple to think because hee is a Christian that hee should affect a sad carriage a deiected look a demure countenance like an image Away with such Monkish hypocrisie How doth it become the Righteous to reioyce Do they not consider how they wrong themselues of the maine benefit of their Iustification what is a Christian but his mirth wherein doth the kingdom of Heauen consist but in Ioy Doe they not see how they offend standers by and beholders Is not heauinesse a check that driues away and mirth as a lure that wins to the liking of their profession Men wonder to see a rich man that hath the world at will all things at hearts desire to be but in a fit of heauinesse What say they should hee ayle The Irish aske such what they meane to die but I wonder a thousand times more to see one that hath Christ to friend that beleeues God to be his shepheard that knowes all must worke for the best to bee at any time out of tune or out of sorts For a Nâ—abal to be all a mort like a stone it is no newes to me but to see Nehemiahs countenance changed there must needs be some extraordinary cause should such a man as he feare or carke or grieue What if it doe not yet appeare what thou shalt bee Is a yong Ward prouder and gladder in his minority of an vncertaine reuersion then a yeoman of his present estate And is not Faith an Hypostasis and euidence to thee of an infallible inheritance Canst thou bee sad which mayest say not to thy belly but to thy soule Thou hast not many goods but fulnesse of all treasures layd vp not in the earth where moath and canker and theeues may come but in heauenly places out of the Deuils reach and that not for many yeares but for euer and euer neuer to bee taken from thy soule nor thy soule from them Oh thou vaine man shew mee thy Faith by thy ioy if thou liuest dumpishly and yet say thou liuest by Faith I wil as soone beleeue thee as him that shall say hee hath the Phylosophers stone and liues like a beggar If it were euer well with thy Faith could it euer bee amisse with thee should not the temper of thy body follow the temper of thy soule and the temper of thy soule the temper of thy Faith The body may incline thy soule but the soule commands the body and Faith is the Lord of them both According to thy Faith so be it vnto thee so will it be with thee Vse thy Faith and haue ioy encrease thy Faith encrease thy ioy CHAP. VIII The vse of Faith to a growne Christian. NAy Christian now I haue gotten thee hither I must draw thee yet a pegge higher and tel thee it is a small thing for thee to come to an ordinary pitch of cheerefulnesse except thy ioyes exceedes the mirth of a worldling yea of a professed Epicure in the qualitie and quantitie of it If thy mirth bee not a sweeter and more rauishing mirth of an higher kinde of a more pure defecate nature of a more constant tenure then any Carnall man what euer thou disparagest Faith thou art very little and yong in the Kingdome of Heauen which consists not in meates and drinkes but in ioy vnspeakeable and glorious in the ioy of the Holy Ghost And must not that needes bee another manner of ioy then euer entred into the heart of a naturall man then euer a Sardanapalus tasted of Yes vndoubtedly So must bee construed that text 1. Cor. 2. not of the ioyes of Heauen which here the spirituall man himselfe cannot tell what they shall be but of the Gospels ioy of the Wine and Fatlings already prepared and now reuealed to the beleeuer by the Spirit which if the carnall man scorne and scoffe at thou canst no more helpe him or prooue to him then a seeing man to a blinde man that hee sees orient rich colours It is enough for thee to secretly feele and enioy it Only it ought in thy life so to be expressed yea so to shine in thy forehead so to be read in the very face of thee that their teeth may be set on edge and that they may enquire what is thy beloued aboue other beloueds what is that makes this man thus merry in all estates Thus let them enuy at thine let not thy soule descend to theirs Are not the gleanings of Ephraim better then the vintage of Abiezer Shouldest thou that hast tasted of the grapes of Canaan long after the Onions and Garlick of Aegypt Is Pharphar like vnto Iordan hast not thou Riuers of water euer flowing out of thy belly and wilt thou stoope to their puddle waters to their stolne waters blousing carding dicing whoring c. which should not thy soule altogether lothe and abhor after the taste of Faiths Nectar and Ambrosia But euen their ordinary and lawfull delights the wine and oyle musicke hunting hawking c. to these God allowes thee
to stoope for thy bodies sake as the Eagle to the prey or as Gideous souldiers to soope thy handfull not to swill thy belly full If Plato could tell the Musitians that Phylosophers could dine and sup without them How much more easie is it for Saint Augustine to weane himselfe from the childish rattles and may games of carnall delights to bee merry without the Fiddle Good leaue hast thou yea right and title to vse all externall recreations wherof before thou wert but an vsurper but vse them aright as if thou vsedst them not knowing how to put thy knife to thy throat and how to be without them to bee as one that liueth not by them but by Faith Were it not odious to see a man that hath a spouse peerelesse for beautie to liue with a deformed blouse to see one professing some liberall Science to liue by some base manuall trade no better fight is it to see a Christian vpholding his ioy by course and earthly pleasures that hath more noble and generous yea Angelicall delights then which what hath heauen better but in degree only and manner of fruition what hath this world comparable Alas poore Phylosophers when I read your Treatises of Tranquillitie of mind of consolation of remedies against both Fortunes though in some things you come neere the kingdome of Heauen yet how dull are your comforts to one of ours the highest of yours to the lowest of ours Had you but through a creuis or Lettice seene the things which the eie of Faith seeth with open face how would you in comparison of Christianisme haue loathed your Stoicisme and Epicurisme Had you but with the tip of your tongue tasted of Faiths dainties how would you haue magnified Faith aboue all your Cardinall vertues you that so composed your liues by ieiune and empty contemplations of an autarky in vertue by the rules of nature what stately liues would you haue led and liued if the grace and hopes of the Gospel had appeared to you by the rules of Faith As for you Poets of the lighter and pleasanter veine when I read your oades and sonnets chaunting out your choice ioyes and loues your wishes and vowes framing a conceited happinesse to your selues as the highest you could imagine or desire what low streines and meane aire do I reckon them in comparison of our Christian and diuine hymnes what pittifull subiects for such sublimated wits what difference between your oaten pipes and our heauenly harpes Salomon that loued both these loues liued both liues and sung songs of both sorts when God raised his muse to an higher tune and taught it to sing the song of songs how despised he his former windy vanities in comparison of his new spirituall delicacies Wherefore O Christian that hast such transcendent obiects of thy thoughts aboue al other men why shouldest thou not euer keepe thy soule vpon the wing euer in a manner bee in the third heauens rowling and tumbling thy soule in these beds of roses I meane these meditations of thy Iustification sanctification and saluation through Christ without which why should one day passe thee why any one part of a day why should not thy soule haue her due drinkes breakfasts meales vndermeales beuers and after-meales as well as thy body Thus to redeeme time thus to taske and tye thy soule to such heauenly round of worke would it not make the Mill of time pleasant the yoke of businesse easie would not pretious time glide swiftly and easily away like a boate with full winde and tide needing no oares or a free mettald horse needing no spurres needing no idle pastime to driue it before thee shall it not be a pleasure to thee to want other pleasures Thus mayest thou make all thy daies Christ-tides Easters Whitsundaies Birthdaies and Holydaies not enuying Foelix his felicitie Festus his festiuitie nor Diues his daily purple and delicious fare but liuing a life kingly and Angelicall in comparison of the vulgar sort CHAP. IX An obiection answered and passage made to the life of Sanctification HAppily thou replyest all this were possible and easie were it not for that euen amiddest this diligent practise of Faith euen in the stricktest watch in many things the best faileth many knowne frailties will escape and more escape vnknowne And how can mirth chuse but bee damped with frequent slips The answere is such an one as keepes the watch of his God and pretermits no day without the forementioned duties shall seldom or neuer fall into any foule slough and dash the ship of his Faith against any dangerous Rocke and if hee doe long hee cannot lye but his Faith will set him on worke to goe out weepe bitterly and make his peace presently with his Lord and Conscience that he may enioy his wonted repasts And for his ordinary infirmities it will daily fetch him out a pardon of course washing and scouring his soule euery morning and eueuing more duely then any Pharisie his face or hands and set him on worke euery day as hee runnes into arrerages to draw the redde lines of Christs Crosse ouer the blacke lines of Gods Debt Booke And what if as an All-seeing God hee sees our violation of his Lawe and knowes better then our owne Consciences euery peccant Act of ours in thought word or deed what if GOD looke vpon the Hand-writing against vs Doth hee not see the Billes cancelled with the Pretious Blood of his Sonne and our Suretie Which for matter of guilt defilement and punishment is all sufficient to expunge couer nullifie abolish and wholly to take away our sinnes in such sort that he neither sees will see nor can see them as sinnes and debts bearing action against vs obliging vs to any penalty no more then the Creditor who though hee sees the Items in his Booke and knowes what debts haue beene yet sees them crossed cleared And what thought then neede the Debtor take for such debts Why but is not this to make Faith a Pandar to sinne And to make good the Papists and Worldlings slander of Solifidians that make no more of it but drinke and take Tobacco sinne and beleeue get a pardon of the olde and a licence for the new Oh peeuish and froward Generation to whom it is not giuen to knowe the mysterie of Faith which is of the nature of Soueraigne mundifying waters which so wash off the corruption of the ulcer that they coole the heate and stay the spread of the infection and by degrees heale the same And of Cordials which so comfort and ease the heart as also they expell the noxious humours and strengthen nature against them These are ministred onely to prepared bodies these pearles are not for Swine this Diuinity wee Preach not in Gath and Askelon to vncircumcised prophane ones that will turne euery good thing to their owne destruction But this belongs to the sealed Fountaine to the Spouse of Christ alone which when shee hath washed her feete how loath is shee
to foule them againe When shee hath appeased her Beloued howe doth shee adiure her-selfe and others by the Hyndes and Roes not to awaken and offend him againe The Text sayeth Not euery hypocrite euery profligate professor of Faith that liues as hee listes shall liue by his Faith but the Iust or Righteous Which golden sentence is indeede ambiguously enunciated of purpose by the Holy Ghost that it may either way bee taken The Iust by his Faith shall liue Or The Iust shall liue by his Faith yet so as it hath but one right eare to bee holden by and that is onely for the hand of the Righteous man Implying that whosoeuer beleeues or liues by his Faith is also and must of necessity bee a righteous man a Iust man not onely imputatiuely but inherently in part such an one as vnfainedly loueth righteousnesse studieth the practise of it denieth and hateth all vnrighteousnesse endeuoureth euery day to bee more and more righteous and so deserueth the denomination of righteous So that looke how the rationall Soule includeth and implyeth the animall so doth Iustification Sanctification being indiuiduall CHAP. X. How Faith Sanctifies and Mortifies SO I slide into the second part or kinde of Christian life consisting in holinesse and righteousnesse which I shall easily demonstrate not onely to bee an indiuiduall companion but a naturall and necessary effect of Faith For looke how the strength of the heart breedes not onely cheerefulnesse but actiuenesse Motion as well as health whence it is that life is put for liuelinesse and agility driues away all lassitude hebetude and indisposition brings in aptnesse and delight to stirre the like doth Faith in the soule which may as the former in the body for a time stand with some sleight distempers spots of the skinne atche of limbes but not long with deadly diseases either vanquishing them or vanquished by them This noble vse of Faith will excellently appeare in both the parts of this newe life Mortification and Viuification And in each of these two manner of wayes doth Faith produce this effect partly as a moouing partly as a procreant cause In the first kinde admirable is the Pitho Saada of Faith aboue all the Oratory in the World All the common incentiues taken from profitte pleasure and honour all the Topicke places of Logicke Figures of Rhetoricke what poore and weake engines are they to the irresistable peâ—arre of Faith which sayeth but Ephata and presently our Euerlasting Gates yeeld and stand open For thus it goes to worke with vs Hath Christ giuen himselfe for thee forgiuen thee so many debts conferred fauours of all kindes vpon thee and what hast thou to retribute If thou giue all thy goods to the poore thy body to the fire thy soule to his seruice yea were euery hayre of thine head a man or Angell were not all short of recompence Louest thou louest thou this Sauiour of thine and darest thou or wilt thou dare to venture vpon any thing displeasing him is there any thing too good too heard or deare for him Mary if thy teares will washe his feete wilt thou not poure them out Is thine haire too good to bee the towell Is there any Spicknard too costly for his head Ioseph the LORD requireth the handsell of thy Tombe and wilt thou deny him Zacheus louest thou thy wealth aboue his honour that hath saued thee Stephen louest thou thy life aboue thy Master Can or did any Beleeuer giue the nay to these melting commaundes or commaunding entreaties of Faith will it take the repulse Doth it not constraine and extort more then all rackes and strapadoes allure more then all wages and prizes Doth not this Magnes as easily drawe weighty yron as other Iet doth strawes So that when thou wouldest bee sure to speed and obtaine any thing of thine vntoward heart set Faith a worke to make the motion and that will be sure to speede not onely by this perswading facultie but also by a Diuine power secretly effecting what it requires conueying into the heart will and abilitie vnto the deede It stands not without doores as a Mendicant Flexanimous perswader but enters into the closets of the heart shootes the barres vnlocks the boults takes away all reluctation and redaction infuseth a plyable willingnesse of woluish and dogged makes the Will Lambe-like and Doue-like of wilde and haggard morigerous and mansuete No otherwise then the medicine curing the vicious stomacke and restoring it to health makes it long for wholesome meate as before for coales and ashes All this it doth by fetching supernaturall efficacie from the death and life of Christ yea part of that mighty power where by Christ raised himselfe from the dead cured all diseases and wrought all his miracles By the vertue whereof it metamorphizeth the heart of man creates and infuseth new principles of action Make triall of this in mortifying the flesh to sinne and quickning thy spirit to holinesse For example complainest thou of some preualent corruption some violent passion that oft carries thee headlong against thy desire and resolution as Castrusius to Hierom who shall helpe mee subdue Nebuzardan Goliah Holofernes my raging lustes that are too mighty for mee Answere thy selfe as Dauid himselfe to the like Through thee O Lord shall wee doe valiantly ouer Edom shall I cast my shooe c. yea when thou hast spent all thou hast vpon other Phisitions tried all morall conclusions of purposing promising resoluing vowing fasting watching selfe-reuenging yet get thee to Christ and with a finger of Faith touch but a hem of his garment and thou shalt feele vertue come from him to the curing of thy disease What if thou hast often encountred thy enemie and receiued the foyle relapsed after victorie yet cast not away the sheeld of Faith but with the Israelites against Beniamites the second and third time set a fresh in the name of the LORD and they shall flye before thee Complainest thou with Augustine of his in-bred hereditary habituall inueterate vices holding thee in the Adamantine chaines of custome against which thou hast often resolued and resolued modo modo now I will leaue them and now I will forsake them why should I not as well as such and such as Potitian and Victorinus and yet they keepe thee Prisoner still full against thy will and endeauours Find out the cause which hee had reuealed to him in te stas non stas Thou standest vpon thine owne feete and therefore fallest so foulely thou wilt like a childe goe alone and of thy selfe and therefore gettest so many knocks Dye to thy selfe renounce the broken reede of thine owne free-will which hath so often deceiued thee and put all thy trust in the grace of Christ And it will crucifie the olde man and giue him his Hoc habet his deathes wound pierce his sides and breake his knees in peeces Be weake in thy selfe and strong in the Lord and through Faith thou shalt bee more then Conquerour
Leaue tuggling and strugling with thy sinne and fall with Iacob to wrestle with Christ for a blessing and though thy selfe goe limping away yet shalt thou bee a Prince with God and bee deliuered from Esaus bondage Yea what if Satan what if Legions of Principalities and powers haue long held possession in some strong fort of thy heart beginne to pleade prescription scorning as the Iebusites to bee eiected out of their impregnable tower hast thou Faith and canst thou beleeue persist in resisting and hee shall flye and thou shalt see him fall like lightening before thee Christ raised from the dead not onely the daughter of Iairus which was yet within bed not layd forth nor the Sonne of the Widdow newely carryed out of the Gate to buriall but Lazarus that had foure daies lyen in the graue to that ende sayeth Augustine That such as haue long beene dead in sinne yea such as vpon whom Satan hath rowled the stone of Custome and such as stinke in the nostrilles of the world through putrified soares of sinnes should not yet despaire but know that which falles out in frequent experience Faith can cure diseases past all other cures and hopes Through Faith thou shalt roule away the stone from the Caue of Makpelah and take out the fiue Kings that haue domineered and tyrannized ouer thee set thy feete in the neckes of them and triumph ouer them CHAP. XI How Faith Viuifies ANd what is there yet further thou wouldest haue Faith doe for thee Oh sayest thou it is not enough to bee healed of the disease vnlesse thou mayest take vp thy bedde and walke yea leape and skippe as the Lame restored to his limmes Oh! that I could finde that life of Grace which I see in some that can make it their meate and drinke to doe the will of God Though I be not pestered and mastered with any reigning corruption yet I finde my selfe so dull and vntoward that I take no pleasure in my life Know also that this quickning power Faith only can helpe thee withall To pray to meditate to haue thy conuersation in heauen to keepe a Sabbath cherely is as easie to thee as to Iron to swimme and stones to ascend vpward but nothing is impossible to Faith it can naturalize these things vnto thee metamorphize thee make thee a new creature of a moule of the earth a soule of heauen of a snaile a dromedarie such a change as the Sunne workes in the vapour when of an earthy heauy substance it makes it light and aery apt to ascend into the middle Region Such a change Cyprian saith hee felt in his conuersion And how else came Dauid to that high delight in Gods seruice that he loued the Commandements of God more then thousands of gold and siluer the honey and the honey combe that hee rose at mid-night to meditate in them The selfe-same duties may be done by the Ciuill man and by the beleeuer for the outside and deede done both may goe to Church heare a Sermon reade a Chapter but the one goes as the Beare to the stake as a slaue to the mill and the dullard to schoole in comparison of the other who hath a different internall principle which is as a spring and oile to the wheeles that makes them goe smoothly and currantly makes the yoake light and easie They that trust in the Lord shall renue their strength lift vp the wing as the Eagle runne and not bee weary walke and not faint Faith it is that fetcheth sap from the roote Christ that makes euery tree bring forth fruite in it kinde euery Christian in his owne calling What else made Dauid so worthy a Souldier what taught his fingers to fight so that a bowe of steele was broken in his hand What made Paul an able Minister of the Gospell gaue him the doore of vtterance made his tongue as the penne of a readie writer Hee beleeued therefore hee spake What made Onesimus of a false eye-seruant trusty to his Master as to the Lord The like might bee said of all trades and sciences Looke what a full treasurie of all sorts of graces Christ hath stored vp in him Faith dreineth and deriueth them out of his fulnesse to the vse of euery seuerall Christian euen Grace for Grace Faith is the Conduit Cocke that watereth all the Herbes and flowres in the Garden All which the more I consider the more I pitty the preposterous care and vnhappy trauell of many well affected who study the practise of this and that vertue neglecting this cardinall and radicall vertue As if men should water all the branches of a Tree and not the roote Faine would they abound and shine in patience meeknesse zeale yet establish and roote not themselues in Faith that should maintaine all the rest are ambitious to doe good workes build Hospitalles giue Almes but study not to doe the worke of the Father And what is the worke of the Father but to beleeue in the Sonne whom hee hath sealed and sent into the world to bee relyed on for Saluation which worke is the gratefullest work that we can performe and which will make gratefull all that we doe besides without which all that we can doe will not please him What cares hee for thy thousands of Rammes thy Riuers of Oyle Hath he not shewed thee Oh man that he that trusteh in his Sonne honoureth him most of all in putting to his Seale that hee is true This honour if thou wouldest doe vnto him hee would honour thee with all other graces and withhold no ornament no good thing from thee if it be fit for thee Meeke thou shalt be as Moses patients as Iob zealous as Dauid thy soule and life embroadered with all kinde of shining Graces as the high Priests apparell with Iewels Wherefore adde this prescript to the former when thou art on the toppe of Mount Tabor solacing thy soule in thy Lord and his fauour through Faith feasting and banqueting with him as Ester with Ahasuerosh Bethinke thy selfe what suite thou hast to him what troublesome enemy thou wouldest bee ridde off suppose it bee some potent Haman of prid make but thy complaint and it shall bee executed and crucified before thine eyes Consider what grace thou standest in neede of and make thy petition as Achsah to Caleb And hee shall giue thee the springs aboue and the springs beneath This prescript if thou wilt dayly obserue some daies more largely and feruently as the Spirit that blowes how and where it lists shall assist and as occasion shall require but euery day some what more or lesse though I will not promise thee thou shalt attaine to perfection of degrees such as the perfected spirits of the Iust enioy in glory because here thou shalt euer beleeue but in part and therefore bee holy but in part yet this I dare promise as thou growest from Faith to faith so shalt thou grow from strength to strength in all other graces till by degrees
thou attaine to the fulnesse and maturitie of Age in Christ which shall make thee a Saint in earth alight in this darke world and make thee able to liue in holinesse and righteousnesse all the dayes of thy life with much more comfort to thy selfe and credit to the Gospell then strangers to this life of Faith either doe or imagine may be done CHAP. XII How Faith vpholds life in Affliction SAy then O Christian is there any thing yet behinde that may impeach the cōpleat happinesse of a beleeuers life speake now if there be any thing that hinders it which Faith cannot helpe Oh! yes saies the Flesh which euer is cowardly and loues ease though a man be neuer so iustified and sanctified yet may he liue in pouerty in crosses yea in great manifolde pressures and what a life can there bee in such extremities Oh how doth Faith heere lift vp the Crest shine and triumph aboue Nature Reason and all Morall Vertues in her incomparable valour Being in all these not as they onely a patient perforce or a meere bearer but more then Conquerour not onely not daunted but reioycing to fall into manifold trials and tentations knowing it selfe to bee the Adamant that nothing will breake the Palme that sinckes not vnder the waightiest of burthens the Oyle that euer ouer-swims the greatest quantity of water you can powre vpon it the sheate Anchor that holds when all other Tackling breakes Here is the Crowne and Garland of Faith Were it not for Conflicts what superexcellent vse were then of Faith Euery Cock-boat can swim in a Riuer euery sculler saile in a Calme in daily and ordinary gusts euery man of a patient temper or cheerely disposition can hold vp the head but when a blacke tempest comes a tenth waue flowes and one deepe calls another nature yeeldes spirits faint heart failes then to stand erect then to liue and raigne that onely can Faith doe which hath the Word for the Compasse and Christ at the helme The greatest aduersities that are are but the exercise yea the soile and luster of Faith Man gloryes when he can tame Tygers and Lyons thinks himselfe a stately king when hee can make an Elephant bow and stoope to him when he leads a Beare on the Ring or can handle a Serpent without hurt but what a small conquest is this to that of Faith When it makes shame pouertie sickenesse persecutions banishment yea death it selfe not onely not dreadfull and harmefull but tractable and seruiceable Questionlesse great and sundry aduantages hath a Christian by vertue of his Faith aboue any Naturian or Politique by all his reason onely heere is the defect of Christians that they want skill or else forget to holde vp their shield when a Dart comes suddenly vpon them Like him that was robbed by a Theefe with a staffe onely in his hand hauing himselfe a Pistole at his backe ready charged but surprised vpon the sudden altogether vnmindefull or vnable to vse it And if a man hath a Target that is impenetrable what is hee the better if his heart or Arte faile him when hee should defend himselfe by it This makes Christians when they ayle any thing with Saul to runne to Endor with Asa to send out to the Physitians as if Faith could stand them in no steed When therefore a storme rises presently runne and awaken thy sleeping Faith knocke at Faithes doore ho Faith helpe at a pinch now doe thy office and Faith will presenly ayde and releeue thee with one of these speciall cordials First whereas sense and reason did but dimmely and cloudily suggest to their followers certaine broken and confused opinions little better then dreames of destinie and prouidence Faith will confidently and euidently assure thee of this ground of comfort that the least ticke befalles thee not without the ouer-ruling eye and hand not onely of a wise God but of a tender Father and fellow-feeling elder brother who knowing thy mould doth more exactly measure out euery Crosse vnto thee then the carefullest Apothecaries do their Scruples and Drammes of dangerous Physicke Secondly out of this Principle Faith will extract these infallible conclusions this estate is not the Axe of Perdition but the Pruning Knife of Affliction this Cuppe is not a potion banefull but medicinable how bitter and wringing soeuer Whateuer befals being in Christ it cannot bend to thy confusion condemnation or vtter vndoing but an issue shall bee giuen out of it What terrible noyse soeuer the storme shall make ouer thy head it shall bee but as Hailestones vpon the Tiled or Leaded House that rattle more then hurt Thou art kept by the power of his might the euill one shall not touch thee thou art in safe harbour vnder the Rocke Christ and mayest know in whom thou hast trusted and art sure neuer to be confounded If it be sicknesse or pouerty it is in thy Fathers owne hand if the rodde bee in some malicious enemies hand if hee turne thee ouer to a seruant to scourge thee and dresse him in the Diuels habit to scare thee yea though Satan himselfe buffette thee yet he stands by lookes on will moderate and number the stripes the Diuels could not goe one inch beyond commission in the Swine hee knowes thy strength is not the strength of Whales or stones and therefore will not permit them to lay on more then thou shalt well beare his wisdome grace will be sufficient for thee Hee that is in good termes with a Prince feares not the approach of Heraulds or Purseuants he that is out of debt feares not Baylifes or Sergeants but imagines they come vpon some good Messages Afflictions are scarrbugges to wicked men as bushes to theeues but if thou bee a beleeuer at peace with GOD in Christ they lay off their terrible Vizard and come with an amiable countenance GOD thy Father hath giuen the whole Host and Army of afflictions more inuiolable charge then Danids Doe the younge man my Sonne Absolon no harme Doe my annointed no harme Thirdly Faith will further assure that he hath not onely giuen them a prohibition or negatiue commission but an affirmatiue iniuuction to doe thee all good that may be he hath said vnto them purge refine trye exercise breed the quiet fruit of righteousnesse giue him experience of his faith make him bring forth more fruit so that though there be in thy Phisicke some maligne or poysonful ingredients yet being administred by him that knowes thy temper and disease and entirely affects thy health it shall bee so mingled with allaies and correctors that the confection shall be good and all together shall and must worke for the best When thou feelest thy bowels wring or as in a Sea-sicknesse are dead sicke for the present remember thou shalt bee the better many daies after And though with Iob and Dauid thy querulous flesh complaine and grunt and groane yet when it is ouer a little thou shalt bee able to say Oh
this was good for me I would not for any thing but I had borne the yoake in my youth that I may liue the more comfortably in age Considering that sicke thou art and that of many humours thy Father should not loue thee if he should feede thee with sweete meate and mingle no Aloes with them much folly is bound vp in thy back and if thy indulgent father should forbeare the rodde he should hate and not loue thee Fourthly Moreouer Faith will reminde thee of Christs partnership in thy affliction and of thy conformity with him the first borne onely begotten and entirely beloued sonne of God if hee that was without sinne yet was not without stripes wilt thou looke to bee a cockered Adoniah And what if the Crosse bee heauy and thou a weake Childe yet Christ a Gyant at one end beares part of it and makes it light and easie hee is quicke of feeling when Stephen is stoned saith Saul why persecutest thou mee Besides what more honourable Badge and Cognisance canst thou haue of thy Sonship then this resemblance of him not as now glorified in the heauens which thou must stay for till thou come there but as in the way to glory when hee despised the shame suffered the Crowne of thornes the Scepter of Reed the spittings buffetings mockes and mowes and all reproches of vile sinners the piercing of the Speare and shewed himselfe to be the Sonne of God not by descending from the Crosse but by enduring the Crosse And shall I not saith he drinke the Cup which my Father hath tempered and if thou wilt bee his Disciple the first lesson in his Schoole is Christs Crosse Deny thy selfe take it vp and follow him And glory with the Martyrs now am I like my Lord and Master Lastly Faith will set before thee as before him the infinite recompence of rewarde not onely renowne in this World which yet by Faith the patience not onely of Iob but of all Martyrs haue obtained but that farre most excellent Hyperbolicall weight of glory Which Paul eying counted his afflictions which to vs would haue beene intollerable light and momentany not worthy the naming in comparison which made him not onely not weepe and howle but sing in the Dungeon and reckon it a speciall fauour and honour to be counted not onely a beleeuer but a sufferer for Christ. And God forbid that a beleeuer should glory in any thing so much as in the Crosse of Christ in his wounds and scarres for his Lord and Master As that worthy Vincentius sayd to the Tyrant Threaten these things to your Courtiers and Carpet Knights Rackes Strapadoes torments are but a play to vs we Souldiers chuse to bee in Christs Garrison rather then in the Court in the Field and fore-front of the battle then in the Pallaces of Princes The more hazard and perill the more glory and honour And what else desire wee but to dye dayly that the life in Christ may be manifested in vs Yea in the very instant of Death Faith helpes the beleeuer to liue so as he may be said not to see death neuer to dye but that requires a iust Treatise by it selfe Let all the complaints greeuances wants and miseries of the world be searched and gaged the bottome will bee found either to be want of Faith or of the vse and practise of Faith So that we may well say with Augustine to any christian sinking vnder his crosse or shrinking at his enemy Hast thou lost thy Faith And conclude with that worthy Ensigne-bearer of Christ Many are the troubles of the Righteous but by Faith wee stand by Faith we fight by Faith we ouercome CHAP. XIII An Epistle to the Reader pressing the vse of Faith NOw Reader for so I chuse to call thee in a Postcript whē thou hast reade the Booke rather then in a Preface when thou maist there leaue as many do Giue me now leaue to grapple with thee and minister to thee an Iutergatory or two How many doest thou knowe within thy conscience liue this life of Faith Many thou seest liue by their Lands by their wits by their shifts but how many by their Faith For the want of this vse of Faith Doe not many poore christians thinke and say of it as a poore labouring countrey-man sayd to his neighbour in serious priuate talke That he neuer beleeued there was any such summe as a thousand pounds of money but that onely rich men gaue it out so in boasting or pollicy to excite others to labour so saith the common Protestant out of doubt there is no such sweetnesse in the life of Faith for wee see not beleeuers so cheerefull and contented aboue other men If Attists and Trades-men did no more dayly and duely follow their worke then most Christians doe practise their Faith would they not be starke beggars But to aske thee a more profitable question Leaue iudgeing of others and answer mee in good serious sooth between God and thy soule Hast and doest thou thy selfe liue by thy Faith Let mee a little put thee to it prooue and examine thy selfe and take for instance this present weeke or day past wherein thou readest this little Manuell How hast thou and vsually doest thou spend the day what thought diddest thou awake withall what was thy morning draught for thy soule next thy heart what hath cheered and made thee merry in priuate and in company whether thy sports and meales more then thy heauenly ejaculations Deale plainely not with me and this booke which yet shall witnesse against thee if thou refuse to practise it when thou hast read it but with thy selfe Hast thou or hast thou not challenged some time more or lesse halfe or quarter of houre at the least for this exercise of thy Faith hast thou not troubled thy selfe about the many things that this one onely needefull hath beene forgotten that which only should be called worke and businesse hast thou not melted the day yea it may bee the weeke or moneth past and made thy soule wholly to fast and pine for want of these refeshings if so as I most iustly feare it in most of my Readers how much more in such as are vsually no readers why then let thy heart smite thee for thy folly smite thou thy selfe vpon the thigh and say how haue I liued or rather not liued but consumed precious dayes in time-eating Vanities How comes it about that the greatest part of my life is the least part wherein I haue liued Oh then recouer and recollect thy selfe before thou goe hence and be no more Wilt thou dy before thou hast liued as Boyes slubber out Bookes before they learne their lesson Oh learne to liue this life It is neuer too late it is neuer I am sure too soone it is no shame to learne it what age or condition soeuer thou bee of Bee thou Prince Potentate Nobleman or Gentleman though few such Readers I looke for remembring well what Bradford