blood and ruine are making merry without Can we complaine of obscurity when scarce any open place is secure enough How happy was the Church under ground when in that darknesse there was light enough to see heaven In that narrow imprisonment they were yet free from persecution Those seven thousand which Elijah knew not of were well known to him that preserved them And when Elijah himself was sought for by Iezabel where had he been if he had been every where They that have strength enough to burn in glorious flames may scorne to save themselves by flight but if God afford this help to our weaknesse we have reason to be thankful for an easie judgement which appointed as the means of our deliverance turns into a blessing Let me be separated from the comfortable society of my dear friends deprived of the benefit of my owne countrey aire exposed to misery and the contempt of strangers alwayes forgotten never observed let me be an obscure dark inmate a son of earth an ignominious bastard in the worlds opinion a neglected slave I shall think this disgrace a great honour if I may rest safely under the shadow of the Almighty LXII Although mans greatest excellency above other creatures consists in the nobility and worth of his Soul yet there are other points of high value and concernment in the matter forme and use of all the parts of which the body is composed not to be found in any other creature besides Man Whereby we are taught that Almighty God having prepared and built this earthly lodging for such a spiritual guest it is therefore not to be neglected no not after the dissolution Our bodies are the bodies of immortal souls whilest living not to be abused by intemperance when dead not to be cast away with a dishonourable neglect Our Members are the Organs of a divine Spirit without which it cannot exercise those admirable faculties from whence proceed all those operations of grace and vertue which make men great and famous in the world favourites of heaven and glorious Saints Our happinesse is not compleat till both meet They that destroy and vilifie this outward fabrick as much as in them lies endeavour a perpetual divorce and separation LXIII The heart is the spring of life and the fountaine of all vitall spirits dispersed into every part of the body yet notwithstanding this preheminence and dignity it cannot subsist without the coole refreshing of the lungs or the veines proceeding from the liver or the strings of the sinews or the necessary support and guard of the ribs and bones which are as so many strong Forts and Bulwarks on every side Thus the greatest men who in regard of their power and authority have the lives of others at their command are yet so farre from being able to maintain their own greatnesse that without the aid and defence of inferiours they must needs fall to dust Nothing but Almighty God is absolute of it selfe and there is not any thing that depends not in such sort at least of something else as that it cannot remain long in any firm state and condition without the service of another Who then can be so proud as to advance himself above his neighbour in such an high conceit as not to knowe he may want the least of Gods creatures for his preservation No man is great but by comparison which implies so much defect that he stands in need of more then what he hath or is to constitute the worth or being which he enjoys LXIV The Newter is an Hermophrodite in his opinion One of little use or benefit to his Countrey He dares hardly professe any religion but for the time thinkes that best which is most prevalent We may well wonder to see the strange distractions of Church and Common-wealth but we may wonder more that any should be so indifferent to partake of either side such men love truth onely for their ease and can easily dispence with conscience for a little pleasure But they that are thus content to serve two Masters at once shall have none but the devil to serve at last He that will halt between two opinions can never go upright in his conversation and we may safely conclude that that man hath little grace that hath too much Religion LXV We may finde by experience that our inward corruptions are more dangerous than outward provocations There is no such baite as the affection Self which many times betrayes the sweetest natures and best dispositions to an unruly wantonnesse Lust is a Serpent which if once entertained windes it self into the Soul and gnawes the Conscience while it destroys the body till in the end it prove an inextricable misery of madness When the memory shall recollect the secret pleasures of our wanton youth and knows not whether to entertain them with horror or delight but is feaver-shaken betwixt both being kept warm with the remaining embers of desire and benummed with the feare of hell what a hard knot will this be to untie what a labyrinth to get out of what a riddle to resolve if there were no other remedie the due condsideration of the holinesse of God were a sufficient coercion from this evil When I contemplate the divine Nature void of all profanesse and filthy corruption so full of purity and absolute perfection that will not endure the least defilement of sinne my thoughts run round in a desperate carere I begin to condemn my self and almost repent that I was made a man How is it possible to please him that can delight in nothing but a spotlesse innocence while we bear about us this heavy burden of miserable uncleannesse How was the wisdom of Solomon befooled that could not shut his eyes from beholding this vanity where was the vertue of those holy Patriarchs that could not drive off such a wickednesse what was the integrity of Davids heart that would entertain such a deceitful monster was this the unhappinesse of their condition and can I be free Lord what flesh and blood are we made of if circumvented with the necessity of such a sinful misery which yet by the contemplation of the infinite and celestial beauty may be restrained though while we dwell here in this earthly Tabernacle we cannot procure a total suppression How can I runne into any actual transgression of dishonesty if I believe the God of chastity cannot behold such a debauchment without offence When therefore I feele a wanton provocation dancing in my blood and the fire of lust begin to keep her unchast revels in this consecrated Temple I use no other charm but thus whisper to my self How can I do this great evil and sinne against God LXVI Those afflictions strike deepest which bereave us of the object of our love How many parents are unwilling to be rid of a charge by the losse of a child desiring still to be happy in the riches of their poverty How loath was David to part with his
visible motion advance themselves by degrees into a fruitful state and condition The creature without life is not without action With what a brave carere the shining Sunne spreads his diurnal pace And how the sister Moon in a constant change follow this leading dance How nimble is the fire how piercing is the air How the Sea rowles about with perpetual waves All which may teach man a lesson of laborious diligence and raise him from the lethargy of a non-imployment Laziness corrupts both the body and the minde Nothing can be so tedious and irksome as to want business Exercise keeps the heart in tune and feeds the spirits with a lively sense whereas doing nothing disorders the brain and starves the quickest wits into a dull discontent VIII Boldness is an Ornament to a vertuous man but when 't is put on to boulster up a vicious act nothing more odious Bashful vertue 't is a foolish sin and bold vice is a sinful bravery Too much modesty intangles the soule with many impediments and over-daring drives headlong into infinite dangers Remorse for sinning is a divine grace but to be ashamed of goodnesse is the next way that leads to impiety How many good natures have betray'd themselves for want of courage to deny an unreasonable importunity As I would not stubbornly reject the worst request so I shall never grant the beâ—t without some intimation of power in the libertie of a denial I will neither accept nor afford any thing in such a manner but that the world shall see I could easily forbear to confer and as easily refuse a benefit IX If a man were nothing but all eare yet a boundlesse tongue would tire his patience And commonly those that are tedious in their discourse are also impertinent He that regards his matter will not strive for words He that loves to hear himself talk considers not what will please others How was poore Horace tortured with the shuffling shifting voice of Crispinus Like the scraping of a trencher or the noise of a drum to a learned Student such are the ill sounds of a talkative mouth to a judicious hearer The teeth and lips seeme to be drawn out as a circle to keep in the slippery speech which must needs run some hazard when it runs too far without these lines of communication But if a present danger cannot fright the secure speaker I wish those that love to speak much would consider that one day they must give an account for every idle word X. It is an easie task to censure another Hardly any thing can be undertaken without some mistakes No man can express himself so exactly but a censorious critick will finde matter enough to work upon We may easily spy a fault where there are many vertues It is not always a part of wisdom to discover a folly Ignorance is a busie fool that would seem wise by condemning others when it knows least it self He that is alwayes raking in ashes will but foule his own face and he that seeks to diminish the credit of his neighbour may cast a blemish upon his own reputation XI There are certain birds of Paradise which make the best musick in a Cage The sweet singer of Israel was most full of melody in his greatest Afflictions David could blesse God in a cave Iob on the dunghill The prison sometimes is the Saints Quire where the heart is at liberty while the body is under restraint and their very groans are acceptable notes of praise and benediction The good mans sorrow is never without some joy Our very hope can afford us songs of deliverance When our heavenly father makes up the consort who can forbeare to tune his voice and keep time with him Heaven and happinesse waits upon them that with patience attend his leasure Gods presence translates the Dungeon into a Sanctuary turns Babylon to Hierusalem captivity into triumph Our Jaylors are our life-guard our enemies our servants since they serve but as instruments to his will upon us who is indeed our Master He is happy enough that can patiently expect salvation As the Marriner keepes under hatches till the tempest be allayed so our present misery is nothing but a safe retiring till all dangerous stormes be blown over and we arive at last to the Haven of our Rest. XII In experience I shall observe this Rule rather spend too little then too much For covetousness there may be some satisfaction but the Prodigal is lost beyond all Redemption He that spends above his abilities will never be able to make himselfe amends I had rather deceive the expectations of others then cosen my self He that straines his estate to be accounted liberal may be thought covetous when all 's spent for the world is most apt to censure those that decline their former course Give God his due in Tythes the poor in Almes and thy self in Necessaries and there will remaine no great superfluitie of wealth to cast away in vanity XIII Our joys in this world do not alwayes run smooth and clear The best Contentments have some kinde of muddy mixture the sweetest cup hath some Lees at the bottom Our outward peace is frequently interrupted our inward peace is oftentimes eclipsed Here is no constant satisfaction in this Region of vicissitude Our comforts are neither full nor permanent We must look for that happinesse in heaven Who would live in this vale of brittle earth where every thing consumes and nothing is everlasting In the highest advancement some clouds will overshadow us In the heighth of joy there may be a depth of sorrow There is a kinde of connexion in contrarieties Here prosperity and adversity are linked together It is said of Hezekiah after his glorious victory over the host of Zenacherib that in those dayes Hezekiah was sick to the death Those dayes are these dayes and all dayes in our sphere where the greatest blessings are perpetually attended with some discontents and such sometimes that sicknesse or death would be a blessed remedy XIV Nothing makes the work of God in the compositions of our bodies more admirable then the beauty of their shape and curious Art used in the workmanship For this cause the Royal Prophet considering his Creation cries out as one ravished with admiration I will praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made No image or picture can be compared with the form of a mans body no imbroydered piece can be so well wrought or set out with such variety of excellent figures But when we consider that besides there is a soul inclosed in this exquisite frame as farre above it as that above all other things we cannot be so unthankful or unreasonable as not to acknowledge that the divine hand of heaven hath a peculiar influence of benediction and favour to the race of mankinde beyond all other Creatures whatsoever XV In every work we are to regard as well the manner of performing it as the work it self
It is not enough to say our prayers to go to Church to hear a Sermon to receive the Sacrament to gives alms but all this must be performed with hearty devotion Though the Ark be brought to his place of Rest yet God is not well pleased to have it drawn with Oxen in a Cart The widows two mites were more acceptable then all the others wealth she gave all she had with all her heart whereas they perhaps out of pride or ostentation cast in their superfluities into the common treasure A cup of cold water freely given shall not want a reward Our best services are nothing worth if not seasoned with truth and discretion Therefore God once made a breach upon his people because they sought him not after the due order Our duties are undutiful if not duly marshalled and fitly ranked Service without a method is worse then ill manners No action can be well done without a good meaning none well meant without a comely and decent behaviour Every circumstance must bear the sense of sound wisdome and cleare justice XVI Beauty is a grace that proceeds from the proportion agreement and harmony of things it is then most seemly in the body of man when it follows nature alone without any blemish or defect How far we may use the help of Art and disguise a deformity to appeare more comely then we are by our Creation a sober Christian may easily resolve As God is not pleased if we mangle and maâ—erate our bodies with cruel tortures so he cannot but be offended when we over-garnish them with gaudy colours and lay on the varnish of a deep complexion It is to be feared that they can hardly speak from their heart that cannot blush from their own blood When the face can dissemble so well the tongue may be suspected too A painted feature is the emblem of vice which would seem to be adorned with the blushing colours of vertue when she intends nothing but temptation We are not to disfigure our faces when we fast in our greatest sorrow nor reform them too much when we feast in our highest mirth we must not mar Gods work we must not mend it so as if it should need no additions of glory hereafter XVII Wicked men judge of other mens afflictions by their own The Amalekite was very well pleased with the death of Saul and therefore thought the news would be welcome to David for which instead of a reward he lost his life It sounds very ill in Davids ear that his enemy was destroyed though he stood betwixt him and a Crown He desires not to rise in his Throne by the fall of another He finds no matter of joy in a Kingdome got by blood Thus different are the thoughts of a good soul from the vaine conceits and imaginations of a worldly minde Therefore they deceive themselves that measure the disposition of others by their own standard The giddy drunkard thinkes the world runs round as well as his braines The vitious man accounts vertue an impossibility and will not be perswaded that there is any such thing indeed as conscience or Religion till at last woful experience constraine him to confess the truth with too late Repentance XVIII The prosperity of wicked men may breed in weak mindes some doubt of Gods providence They live as if they had a security for everlasting happiness Whereas vertue lies unregarded and contemned assaulted with continual stormes of misery The bold sinner never misses of preferment but modest innocence may starve without compassion How seldome do we see any preferred for his deserving qualities Villany is so much in fashion that 't is absurd to be vertuous 'T is true Vice is the gallant of this world and the only favourite of fortune but our observation may yet inform us that shame is the consequent of sin There are few exorbitant crimes but have their attended torments though not alwayes apprehended Both punishments and blessings have their season of maturity The Judgements of God never faile though they may be protracted Some corrections are in secret All offences are not branded with a publick mark If there were no other torment but the guilt it selfe it were enough to express the misery of a sinful life XIX The soul in respect of the body may be compared to an excellent Workman who cannot labour in his occupation without some necessary instruments and those well wrought and prepared to his hand The most skilful Musician cannot raise any harmony from an instrument of musick out of tune We are therefore to be very careful of these external parts since the spirit which moves in them can naturally produce no actions of worth if this instrumental frame be out of order Hence it is that those men who abuse their bodies by the violence of intemperate sinnes are sometimes over-taken either with a sleepy dulnesse or a wilde distraction Their souls are not able to produce any worthy Act after a defect contracted upon their Organs or else are unwilling to be restrained and confined to a bad lodging or a loathsome dungeon A good servant is a credit to his Master a fine case is an Ornament to the jewel a sound body is an honour to his immortal mistris and is most fit to be a partner with her in everlasting glory Whereas we may justly fear that they who bury themselves alive in rottennesse shall inherit nothing but that which is worse then corruption a generation of perpetual torments XX It is strange to see what alterations time will make Those works which were built to perpetuate the memory of our Ancestors are now laid level with the dust how miserable were man if all his happinesse consisted in the remnant of a glorious Name and yet this was all the immortality which some expected after death The strongest Bulwarks of Renown cannot resist the breath of all-devouring age Change and decay are the elements of every state and condition The most ancient monuments and bones of the dead have been defaced with sacrilegious hands There is so little certainty in what we enjoy that we cannot hope to bequeath an infallible substance to our posterity We may sometimes observe more changes in a few years then in all probability of expectation many ages could produce The world is like a Lottery where a man may be made or undone in a moment The same person is Craesus to day and Irus tomorrow There is no confidence or assurance in any worldly thing we can neither recal what is past command what is present nor prevent what is to come XXI Amongst all those varieties of instruments made for the service and use of man we cannot but admire the great nobility and worth of speech with which he is endued above other creatures By this we can convey our counsels and thoughts to one another without this there would be but little benefit of the sense and understanding which God hath bestowed upon us Beasts have a
the glorious state of wickednesse but therein contemplate the justice of Divine Providence for vertue is not distinguished by any sensible reward from vice And who dares consult with the eternal wisdome or who can compare with Omnipotence This makes me chearful in the greatest calamity and contemne all worldly things in respect of an honest fame LXXIII I know the separation of the body and soul in regard that nature abhors all evacuation dis-union and dissolution may be said to be unnatural yet I can apprehend this dis-junction as a necessary means to a more glorious redintegration and incorruptible union I know that there is a mutual relation and commerce a friendly society and interchangable conversation betwixt these two Yet I can see an image of Divinity a picture of heaven an impresse of eternity in the inward part which cannot appear and shine forth in its true lustre in that genuine purity and brightnesse till this dirty clay this red earth this body of dust be scoured off and refined for a resurrection I know that both shall meet againe so purified so rarified so together glorified as now I cannot conceive an expression to certifie my understanding but can understand enough to strengthen and confirme my faith I believe and know that both shall be renued with such perfection and absolute grace that there shall be no roome left fit for a temptation for a disease the Soul without hope or fear or anger or grief free from all tumultuary passion and rebellious lusts the body free from all paine and anguish and sicknesse the whole man void of all necessity of sin and misery I will not fear death that is the occasion of all this blessednesse Life is nothing else but a progresse unto death and death is nothing else but an entrance into life I know it is the end of all misery and the beginning of all happiness Against the fear of death and the desire of death I do thus conclude I wil so live that I may die happily I will so die that I may live eternally Lord give me thy grace here and I will not doubt of thy glory hereafter LXXIV Let our course of life be what it will we shall finde misery enough Abroad the Courts of Justice torment us as much as our own cares at home The Countrey is a kind of oppression with continual labours the Sea a confusion of dangers Travel if we go out rich is but a temptation of spoile and rapine if poore a provocation of scorne and contempt Matrimony is no more then a conjunction of mutual calamities and a single life a solitary mischief Children are monuments of care and barrenness a curse of Oblivion Youth is a tormenting fury Age a stump of weaknesse What is all this life of ours which we dote upon so much but a point of time a little grain of salt a summer flower a fading pleasure and yet sleep like a severe Publican and other idle diversions our officious enemies toile away above half this inconsiderable stock of nature What is Man but an Earthen vessel a fraile bottle a statue of snow or wax that melts at every blaze and will admit any impression a rotten chip a withered leaf a course thread spun out into Atomes This is that animal {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} a creature for a day that starts up like a mushrum and vanishes like a shoure of frogges All things under the Sunne are vanity but he is All vanity a circle a whimsey a figure a fancy a feather a trifte a nothing a dream of a shadow and the shadow of a dream He is but a living carkasse a walking Ghost something in a trance a monument of death If this be our condition while we live who would not be ambitious to die LXXV We are but generated dust at first and at last degenerated ashes The soul in the body is but confined as it were to some dark prison The grave is not so strait a lodging to the body as the body is to the soul for the body is not sensible of this narrow imprisonment but the soule every day feels the iron weight of her fleshly fetters The flesh is a burden to the soul are we afraid of ease we shall never finde rest and quiet till God the Lord and proprietary call for his abused talent and repose it safe in those eternal Mansions What a benefit is this to be deprived of that darknesse and stupidity which hindred our prospect to be estated in an unchangable condition to enjoy an undeterminable felicity why should we be lesse unwilling to put off this fleshly garment than we are to undress our selves every night why should we be loath to change this vile body for eternity to shift this thread-bare-coat to be superinvested with immortal glory what but some strange misbelief and infidelity can obstruct the desire of this happy dissolution The world is full of miseries and heaven is full of blessings enough to excite the most dull heart to pant after this glorious change Death in it self is nothing are we afraid of nothing are we frighted with a Chimaera How shall I encounter with an Host if I tremble at a shadow There is nothing fearful in death if we embrace it with a good conscience An honest man cannot die a dishonest death It is reported of the Emperour Vespasian that when he lay upon his death-bed breathing out his last he made a sudden start and raised himself upon his feet Being requested to lie down again he refused and yeelded up his spirit with these words Oportet imperatorem stantem mori It behoves an Emperor to die standing which with a little change may become the mouth of a good Christian Oportet Christianum triumphantem mori It behoves a Christian to die triumphing LXXVI Every day we suck in fresh aire and breath it out again Our very Being is but an Emblem of mortality but after death we are no more dead then we live indeed when we cannot die Here we die many deaths but hereafter we shall live one everlasting eternal life Here we are subject to many inconveniences and much distress there we are free from all Who would not more willingly pass out of this world and if it were lawful thrust himself out than stay behinde in a throng of woful confusions can there be a worse Hell then is exercised on Earth if there be any greater torment then the guilt of sin sure it is prepared for those that remaine miserable in the judgement What is it that doth so trouble our apprehension Other afflictions because usual and familiar we endure well enough by acquaintance with our misery we can arme our selvs against the violence of fortune the fury of injustice the raging of poverty the cruelty of a Tyrant Familiarity they say breeds contempt now what more common then Death what more natural what a world is gone before us of all sorts and degrees Kings Prophets
overcome without blows to conquer not only the power but the affections and will of an adversary What can be more honourable than for malice to obtain mercy for cruelty compassion for hatred friendship The evil which we think to drive away by an indiscreet revenge will return with Usury and thus we make a reciprocal bargaine of inveterate hatred When both sides demand satisfaction and neither side will grant it what can be expected but everlasting discord what shall be the period of such a controversie By repining at an injury we make it our own and then it may well hurt the Authour Who would be willing to do himself a mischief He that loves himself cannot hate his neighbour For my own sake I will forbear a revenge for whatsoever hurt another may suffer thereby I am sure to feele the smart at home What unequal injustice is this We can soone forget a great benefit but never lose the remembrance of a small displeasure and when perhaps the same man had a good intention in both and when we also have offended in a greater measure In point of policy I will pardon him that by my example he may be compelled to favour me Can he expect forgivenesse from God that will not forgive his neighbour We cannot hope for more then we are willing to part with How can I addresse my selfe to the Throne of grace with any confidence or hope of reward when my own prayers shall prove me a notorious liar how can I from my heart say Forgive us as we forgive when I am resolved never to forgive LXXXII Some would have this word Ira Anger to be derived from uro to burn because it burns and consumes all before it It consumes the lodging wherein it lies the heart it consumes the object whither it goes and looks death and destruction upon every thing in the way So the Philosopher defines it A burning or boyling of the blood or an exuberancy of heat about the heart Or you may derive our word Anger from Ango which first sagnifies to strangle or suffocate and then by Metaphor to torment vex grieve or trouble as well the mind as the body And this reaches to both it destroys the vital parts and hinders the due operation and exercise of the intellectual faculties it puts all out of frame and order So the moral definition fits very well which terms this troublesome grief {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} appetitum recontristationis an appetite or desire of interchangable sorrow of continual distraction Others would have Ira come from Ire to go because the angry man goes out of himself and runnes mad but whither he will go or where he will stop God knows for the devil drives him If he be so mad to increase the flames let him enjoy his fiery death alone Let him live like the Salamander and die like the Phaenix Oh sweet revenge I would be loath with my load of mutual wrath to increase the Funeral Peal It is the sweetest revenge to forget an injury If thou be angry indeed let not the person but his sin offend thee Be angry and sin not Be angry with sin or else you sin in not being angry Be angry with any thing but sin and you cannot but sin in being angry Be angry and sin not be not angry and sin Consider betimes what thou hast done or said in thy inconsiderate wrath which with too late repentance thou mayst wish were now made void Whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of judgement saith our Saviour When the blood begins to revel in your veines give this sudden check to that rebellious motion I am strangely affected now but I shall be of another minde by and by Why should I deliver that in anger which cannot be unsaid when I am pleased why should I do that now in these mad fits which will vex me when I am well in my wits After a showre of wrath comes a flood of grief Cannot Religion and Piety and Conscience obtaine that of me at this instant which a little time will enforce LXXXIII The best way to suppresse Anger is to compose and fold up the affections that they may never ravel out that there may be no commotion or at least no appearance of sedition or disturbance in the irascible faculty Not to be angry at all is the best character the most fit similitude the sweetest representation of the Deity To overcome evil with good to asswage the malice of a wicked heart with the goodnesse of a temperate disposition is the perfection of Christian charity To restrain anger is the part of a discreet man a valiant champion but to give way to the violence of this wild passion is farre beneath the dignity of humane nature I am loath to wrong the sensual creatures with a comparison When we see a man set out with this brave demeanour of his parts a flaming eye cheeks somewhat pale and sometimes red a wry mouth foaming lips trembling joynts a roaring voice a wavering and inconstant gesture this verily is the posture and complexion of Mars himself He that knows how to use a looking glass may thus circumscribe every limb and in spite of his Creation make himself a Beast Nothing can represent a man so deformed and ugly as this foule vice The difference betwixt an inraged person and a frantick man we finde to be no more than betwixt a short and a continual madnesse Anger is a fit of frenzy and that a perpetuity of rage madnesse both the difference is onely in the time Both the same disease though one more violent or one an ague the other a Feaver which agree in quality though not in the extent and power and sometimes one succeeds the other an Ague multiplies into a Feaver and anger begets madness with the succession of many supernumerary evils To conclude If thou finde it an hard task to appease a raging spirit think what the Saviour of the world suffered in thy behalf What made him lay down his beloved soul for thee an injurious and despightful enemy with what meekness did he suffer reproach and bonds and stripes and wounds a medley of cruel torments and to close up his stomack a disgraceful ignominious death why doest thou boast of thy relation to the Head if thou wilt not maintaine an entire friendship and union in the body If thine enemie be not worthy of pardon then surely he is not worth thine anger Nevertheless he deserves more from thee than thou canst expect from God Thou hast felt the experience of a loving mercy and wilt use nothing but extream severity The least offence against the Majesty of heaven is more than all the injuries or injustice that the world can give yet the infinite power is willing to look over and passe by many sinnes and transgressions to renew and confirme his innumerable mercies notwithstanding all affronts expecting onely repentance and