and founded in the mystical Union of the Son of God with the Nature of Man in the promised Seed and establisht upon better promises Hence issued that Living Fountain of all that beneficence that comforts his chosen Flock in the state of Grace and beautifies their Souls in Glory CHAP. II. The Government of the World administred by preventing Providences and Mercies THe most Wise and Holy God having finish'd all in number weight and measure and adjusted all the proportions of Heaven and Earth in his Sacred Balance that not the least Atom of dust in the Mountains or Drop in the Ocean or Vapour in the Air but came out of his accurate Scales and setled in their due place by his arbitrement Neither is his Infinite Wisdom more radiant and magnificent in the composure of the vast circumference of the Celestial Bodies then admirably curious and stupendious in those minute and numerous Creatures which by reason of their smalness fly the sight of man Insomuch that the Majesty of God is most illustrious and conspicuous in those lesser Beings which the world never understood till he blessed it with the rare invention of Microscopes By which we are assisted to contemplate his Glory while sitting under he shadow of a Plant that grows it a canker'd Rose leaf Hook Micrograph p. 124. as well as of he tallest Cedar May not admiration be inflamed to view the quick and voluble motion of those Eels that swim up and down in their little Sea of a drop of Vinegar more then when Mariners from their Ships gaze at the tumblings of Whales in he Atlantick Ocean Or when we consider the fineness of those Spirits that agitate the Nerves of Mites or of those supposable Creatures that may draw their origin from the corruption of those little bodies or creep among their hairs while yet alive As Mites in Spiders Power p. 19. Or when we view by the aid of those discovering Glasses the 8 Eyes in a Spider or the 24 Teeth in the mouth of an Ant as black as Ebony as well as those vast Ivory Tusks in the head of the generous Elephant Or when we delight our Eyes in the rare textures of vivid marbling colours in the flowers of Eye-bright Panzies or the chequer'd Fritillary as well as the prophetical varieties in the Rainbow We may well cry out with Pliny while he descants on the great voice of a Gnat flying about in a Summers Evening Rerum natura nusquam magis quam in minimis tota sit Plin. l. 11. c. 2. That the great God of Nature is never more admirable then in framing the least of Beings But howsoever unspeakably and unimaginably glorious his Divine Providence shines in the management and government of all his works It is yet most admirable in his preventing goodness to the sinful sons of Adam and much more to his own chosen Inheritance As to Man in general he makes his Sun to rise every morning upon the unjust and his Moon to fill her Orb with light upon the Turkish Crescent Psal 65.11 His paths in the Clouds drop fatness upon the fields of bloody Tyrants and his Ocean is open and sweet Western Gales often swell he Sails of rambling and roving Pirates The Earth is full of his goodness Psal 119.64 He spread and fill'd the Tables of Heliogabalus with his hidden Treasures No Inhabitant but is laden with his benefits however abused to their luxury pride and wantonness His Mercies are over all his Works He makes the out-goings of the Morning Psal 65.8 121.8 and Evening to sing He preserves the goings out and comings in of the Children of Men. All the operations and influences of second causes are primarily ascribed to him Psal 139.15 The formation of our bodies when curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the Earth was of his secret texture The race of the Sun the bright appearance of Venus like the Moon and the nimble motions of Mercury and the 4 Planets dancing their measures about Jupiter and all the Ordinances of Heaven they are his he sets the dominion of them in the Earth He binds up the sweet influences of the Pleiades in April Job 38.33 and looseth the frosty bands of Orion in November when he pleases he is the Father of the Rain and the pearly drops of Dew he hath begotten them from the Morning Womb. Amos 5.8 He calleth for the waters of the Sea and poureth them out upon the face of the Earth the Lord is his Name He sends the turbulent and tempestuons winds out of the hollow of his Hand Psal 104.32 He looketh on the Earth and it trembleth he toucheth the Hills and they smoak he shook lately the Cities of Ragusa and Rimini into ruines He cast up out of the bowels of Aetna the late dreadful River of sulphureous flames to run six miles breadth by the City Catania into the Sea He kindles the Lightnings in the Regions of the Air and they answer to him Job 38.35 here we are 'T is the voice of his Thunder that breaketh the Cedars of Lebanon and makes Mount Sirion to skip like a young Unicorn Psal 29.5 6. Whatever he pleaseth that he doth in Heaven and Earth Psal 135.6 in the Seas and in all deep places He causeth Grass to grow for the Cattle Psal 104.14 c. and Herbs for the service of Man the Wine to rejoyce his Spirits the Oyl to make strengthen his heart He gives life his face to shine and Bread to strengthen his heart He gives life and food to all Creatures they wait upon him to receive their meat in due season he opens his Hand every morning the Fowls of the Heaven fly to his feet and are filled with good The Gardiner may plant and his servant may water but 't is God that gives increase to the stature of Vegetables their Verdure their Flowers and Fruits 1 Chron. 3.6 Mat. 6.28 He clothes the Tulips of Persia those Lillies of the Plains of Shushan with more Royal Attire then Solomons As to the Church in special he often and mercifully prevents the fears of his people How graciously he dealt with Jacob in the case of Laban Gen. 31.24 commanding him in the night not to speak roughly to his servant from good to bad and made the face of Esau to shine upon him as the face of God Gen. 33.10 In the time of Famine he planted a Corn-field in the bottom of a barrel of meal for Elijah and an Olive-yard in a cruse for the Widow of Sarepta and opened as it were the Windows of Heaven in the time of Elisha and poured out Corn among the poor in the streets of Samaria Such stupendious Mercies which the ungrateful world calls hap and fortune are the sudden and sweet dispensations of his Heavenly and Holy Providence He is pleased out of his munificent bounty to prevent our expectations with sudden and surprizing benefits
vocal Instruments for new Songs to bear a part with the Harmony of Angels for ever CHAP. V. Of the Instruments used for conveyance of these Mercies WHatever Hand presents our Mercies or whosoever's Heart was inclin'd to hand them all flowes from the grand Original Every Mercy is the Fruit of the Thoughts of God When David was poor and needy Ps 40.17 Gods thinking upon him enrich'd his Spirit But Instruments must have their due place in our respect and reverence since God honours them They were Golden Pipes that convey'd Golden Oyl in Zechaery Zech. 4.12 Heavens Ambassadors deserve Angelical Salutations remembring what 's due to Servants without prejudice to Divine Glory who bends and inflects the hearts of of men to shew that Benevolence which passes through them as a River between its Banks but springs from the infinite Fountain of Divine Mercy Few or no Enjoyments but have their enamelled means and methods of Providence and when its Beryl Wheels move towards us full of Eyes and Glory Ezek. 10.13 we may cry out with admiration of God O Wheel Our Health Beauty Feature Strength good Name Estate Utterance or any other Endowment of Soul or Body are the Product of Divine Love though second Causes may intervene for those very causes have their Creation Motion and Direction and Success from God Children are the Heritage of the Lord Ps 127.3 and yet the fruit of the Womb by his Reward Prov. 18.22 He that findeth a Vertuous Wife as if by casualty obtaineth favour of the Lord by the Designation of Heaven Whoever wishes he receives those wishes dropt into his Heart from higher influence Gen. 24.31 And faithful Eliezer must be called the Blessed of the Lord when he knocks at the Door and brings the Tidings The Presents which David sent from the Spoils of Amalek to his Friends though taken from his Enemies 1 Sam. 30.25 yet were given of the Lord. Senders and Messengers may vary but all comes from Heaven God is pleased sometimes to send an Olive-Branch by the Hand of a Dove to Noah Food by the Mouth of a Raven to Elijah at Cherich and sometimes by a Jay to others sometimes a Star passes before the Zabii the Wisemen of the East and enlightens them to Bethlchem and otherwhile an Angel is employed to the Prophet at Rithmah and many times the Methods of great Mercies are deep and intricate and we can never dive to the bottom of Wisdoms Ocean The stately River Nile rises from a latent head and the foundations of Famous Cities are under ground The Great and Holy God sometimes stirs up the Hearts of Relations most times Strangers and now and then even Enemies themselves are turned to help and favour his People Ps 106.46 Rare is that story of a good Woman at Sandwich imprisoned by the Major for a Religious Meeting and being askt by him how she would do in Prison being poor She reply'd I serve such a Master that rather than I shall starve I shall be fed from your Table The Magistrates Wife overhearing her confidence in God sent every day constantly from the Majors house a portion of Meat for about three Weeks being the time of her Restraint So that whatever are the Motives in the Hearts of inferiour Agents still the Supreme and Heavenly Cause is to be eyed with Adoration and Worship Many may unwillingly profit us we then owe not the benefit to them but the great Incliner the Soveraign Mover of Hearts Let us not trouble our Spirits about that question Quo animo with what design their Favours are calculated to our use Ignoble Spirits may perform some noble Actions upon a superstitious or vainglorious aim as to merit Heaven to gain applause to restrain the barkings of Conscience to stop the Mouth of Reprovers and to oblige men to their humours or some base intrigue or other Of all persons Ministers should be most sagacious and the Seers of the Temple must be blind in such Emergencies When sordid tempers exact difficult Secrecies for a little pelf while themselves spend ten times more on a base lust like those that fat their Horses for a riding or their Slaves at Algier for to sell in the Market at a higher Price Homines vaenalis animae that buy and sell their souls for advantage and are meer Merchants of all the Benefits they exert to others Some Mens Favours are like Chrystal Glasses of a curious frailty every Spider of suspicion cracks them He that ponders too much upon the Publican return of his benefits gratifies the trade of gain and covetousness not his Conscience to God or the genuine good of others There be many that take a pride to be counted liberal when they let fall a few drops of charity upon famished poverty and love that the Sun should shine upon their forward bounty and make their Cock crow at the scratching out a few Corns from their lofty Dunghills that can empty their laden Stomachs into China Dishes and hang Jewels and Pearls the price of whole Cities upon their Ears and vest themselves with the Tribute of large Territories and make as great a noise in scattering their Offals among the Poor as when the Russian Emperor blows his Trumpet after Dinner and all the World must know when they give that which their high-fed Lap-curs many times refuse They 'le wear Silk Garments like the Roman Matrons of such a fine Web that neither their Bodies are defended from weather nor their Chastity from observation but think much of a few Rags to cover a poor Lazarus at the Door God gives them Hundreds by the Year and they carry single Pence in their Pockets or brass Farthings to buy off the Clamours of Conscience But yet such as are inward Enemies to true Evangelical Charity shall be Instruments sore against their will to preserve the Soul of the Needy from death and ruine Wicked and debauched Persons Prov. 13.22 shall in the issue lay up Treasures for the Righteous But when Instruments act generously like wise Stewards of the manifold Talents of Gods Mercies they are to be highly esteemed like the Gold Ring that encompasses an Orient and Sparkling Diamond They are to be nourished and cherished like the Doves of Aleppo to whose Feet the Missives and Letters of Merchants are tyed for speedy conveyance Embassadors are Sacred Persons and are to be sacredly handled The very Feet of them that bring glad tidings of Peace and Mercy are to be washt and anointed with Oyl and counted beautiful There 's a Glory shines upon the Sandals of them who come down from Heaven and we ought to crows the Footsteps of the Messengers of Heavenly Favours with Branches of Olives and the persons sent back to Heaven with grateful Acclamations to the Harps of Joy to hold in consort with the Host of Angels praising the Divine Beneficence CHAP. VI. The Beneficial Improvement of sudden and unexpected Mercies WOnderful Mercies speak
its Faeces or Terra damnata having opened it by Chymical Anatomy and other Methods we may infer something though but rudely of its Nature Or when we observe its Power in several Effects and Experiments in cleansing the Blood from Leprosies and Scorbutical Infections or the Head and its Nerves from dizziness swimmings and paralytical or waterish resolutions of the Tone of any its curious Engines by its Volatile Tincture We conclude its powerful vertue in Physick though as to the modus operandi the Methods and Manner of its influence we are still at a loss But alas an Angel hath an other-guess Knowledge by an intuitive speculation into the profundity and depth of its Nature without Argument or Process of Medicinal Trials which Method of ours is but a mean low and crazy inquisition and subject to foul Errors But in that Angelical manner we may deem that the Soul shal arrive to that high dignity of penetrating into its Objects by intuition far beyond what Adam or Noah or Solomon ever attained What pleasant work will the Material Beings which may then survive the fatal Fire administer to the Souls Contemplation in that happy Pitch 2 Pet. 3.12 13. whereby to glorifie and honour the infinite wise Creator of all When as these things which we now handle by sense and the dwindling light of the Soul like a Rush-candle in this Night of ignorance being the Objects of our laborious and erring speculations are but middle beings between thousands transcending these in Magnitude and Glory and such innumerable minute essences vastly beneath us as to our power of inquisition as the others are in sublimity beyond and above us So that it may be questioned whether the Majesty of our infinitely to be adored Maker will in that day shine forth more radiantly in the Heavens and other stupendious portions of his Workmanship for greatness or the unspeakable curiosity of Nature in the lesser Fabricks which sink beneath our observation for excess of littleness which the Acumen of our Eyes are not able to discern Besides these upon what immaterial Objects may we a little imagine shall the Soul then feastits Paradisian Faculties Such as may entertain our thoughts with sacred wonder and sit down in the dust of astonishment that their unconceiveable varieties will fill up the capacity and run beside the august and comprehensive Spirits of the Cherubims and yet the Saints shall have and enjoy some cognizance of these transcendent pleasures For the Soul in Glory shall have a neerer Union to Christ then now nay than Angels themselves Heb. 2.16 For he took not upon him the Nature of Angels Joh. 17.22 And our Blessed Lord prays that the Saints may be one even as the Father and the Son are one They shall constitute one mystical body with the Son in a purer and closer Union than possible in this wilderness state The Hypostatical Union of Christ to the Deity is of a sublimer nature than the most Glorified Creature can unfold For the Angels do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 stoop and pry into the Mystery of the Golden Mercy-seat 1 Pet. 1.12 and were fixed in that place continually to abide and therefore the Cherubims in that Emblem were made of one piece of Massy Gold together with the Mercy-seat Exod. 25.19.37.7 to shew not only the standing of the Elect Angels by the vertue of Christ's Mediatorship 1 Tim. 5.21 but also to indicate that they could never exhaust and drink in the Knowledge of the Mystery of that Union Mat. 18.10 though they are constantly beholding the Face of our Heavenly Father Yet still this Mystical Union implies a Glorious Approximation of the Saints to Christ in some similitude with Christs Union to the Deity Joh. 17.12 For the Glory which the Father gave unto Christ hath Christ given to the Saints who are blessed in Heavenly Places in Christ and shall sit down with him in his Throne Eph. 1.3 as he is set down with the Father on the paternal Throne Rev. 3.21 and as all Judgment is committed to the Son so shall Saints also judge both the World and Angels A glimpse of this Glory in this State shines into the heart from the Spirit of Christ dwelling in Saints They that are joyned to the Lord Paul says not shall pertake of but are one Spirit 1 Cor. 6.17 and thereby in an unspeakable manner become Partakers of the Divine Nature Yet we must ponder on these Deeps with sacred caution For this Mystical Union is infinitely distinct from Hypostatical The Spirit of Christ as he dwells in the Head though in a more eminent manner yet so he also does intimè pervadere enter into the Essence of the Souls of Saints and this Inhabitation may be embleme◠by the Rational Souls dwelling in the Animal Spirits of the Bloud But in Christ the Head he dwells fully and in the Members according to distinct measures and proportions Col. 2.9 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Again the state of the Soul shall be admirable not only in the Limpid Chrystalline clearness of its glorified Eye but the unclothed Majesty of the Objects without Vails and Curtains and the pure Emanation or Eradiation of their Beams into the Soul Saints shall be like unto God and see him as he is a word that has no bottom which Heaven it self cannot sufficiently expound to a finite capacity We shall see him without the Glass of Reflection by Argument as here inferring his Divine Power and God-head from the Works of Creation and without the Magnifying Glass of Ordinances to help the weakness of our spiritual senses and without the Perspective Glass of Faith and promises They shall behold his Face 1 Joh. 3.2 Rev. 22.4.1 Cor. 13.12 Joh. 14.8 Exod. 33.20 23. and know as they are known Philip's desire of having the Father shewn shall then suffice indeed when glorified Saints shall enjoy what was denied to Moses not only to contemplate the Being of Beings but as the Causality the Fountain and Principle of all Essences yea and comprehend with all Saints by the Spirit the unlimited Eph. 3.16.19 unfathomable Love of Christ and be filled with all the fulness of God and hereaster conceive more how the three infinite Persons stand in relative Glory and enjoy more ample light as to the Sons Eternal Generation and the Spirits Divine and Everlasting Procession They shall drink of the River of Light that flows from his Essence Here upon Earth we behold the Sun at a distance but cannot mount up to walk in those Mountains of brightness But then the Church shall be clothed with the Sun of Righteousness Rev. 12.1 There was of old a little spark of Glory in the Temple Ps 27.4 and Holy David desired to see that beauty which shined in the Sanctuary But Oh what perfusions of Glory shall animate the soul in Heaven when it shall be illustrated with the morning knowledge of Angels
We may justly wonder at the ravishing delight of those Holy Spirits wherewith they are nourished to ever-springing and soul-fustaining Extasies in their Ministration before him and studying the beautiful Volumes of his Essence Saints shall see him as distinct from all Creatures and unvailed of all Relation and yet take superlative pleasure in that all the Excellencies in their God are in him as an Everlasting Father and he that sitteth on he Throne shall dwell among them Rev. 7.15 17. and the Lamb in the midst of the Throne shall feed them in the Pastures of Glory and lead them to Living Fountains of Water In that day it 's likely they may understand more of his Eternal Counsels of Election Creation Redemption and Salvation then now and dive into the Ocean of his inscrutable Providences and walk among those Coral Rocks and Mines of Pearl that now lye hid in the great Deeps It 's no small advantage to this withering old Age of the World to reflect upon the Passages of all successive Generations both before and since the Floud both before and since the Incarnation of our Blessed Saviour 'T is a Cordial to refresh our drooping Spirits in this sink and sullage of times to recal the state of the three Worlds in Peter 2 Pet 3.6 7. and to gather Maxims for direction in difficult and stormy Deluges To revolve the Prophesies and their fulfillings as to the rise growth decrease and fall of the 4 mighty Monarchies in Daniel and to observe that when they touch'd upon the Church the Apple of his Eye how then they began to totter and decline to ruine and thereby to encourage us as to the fatal Destruction of all the Adversaries that shall arise till the Glory of the New Jerusalem That all the Toes of Daniels Image shall as certainly be broken in pieces as the Head and Shoulders Dan. 2.35 the Legs as the Breast and Belly and the Statue shall become like the Chaff of the Somer thresning flowers which the Wind shall carry away and no place be found for them and the Stone that smites that Image shall become a great Mountain a Glorious Kingdom filling the whole Earth But these though such Illustrious Fruits of the Eternal Counsels of God are small things in comparison of what the Saints shall see perfectly in the Mount of Glory Then the reasons of all the motions of the Wheels in Ezekiel conveying the Chariot of Cherubims shall shine as bright as the Wheels themselves Then they shall admire at Heavens Reasons of state for all the Intricacies Perplexities and afflictions of the Church in all Ages and Nations the Foundation of the glory which then shall follow Then shall the saints behold an object which shall transform the Subject of the Spectator into the same refulgent Glory to be like him as he is 1 Joh. 3.2 Ps 34.5 As they in the Psalmist were enlightned by vision and the longer they behold the optick Nerve of the Soul will advance stronger into the depth of Intellectual beauties 2 Cor. 3.18 and be changed from Glory to Glory Yea when their countenances shine beyond the Sun in his strength they shall sit down in the Kingdom of their Father at a Glorious Supper where blessed Angels shall attend the great Lord and Bridegroom of his Church They shall drink abundantly Songs 5.1 Hebr. Mat. 26.29 Rev. 2.9 be inebriated with new Wine and eat of the Tree of Life in the midst of the Paradise of God alluding to that of Eden in the State of Innocence While the Learned dispute about that Trees real existence in nature Danaei mund antiq p. 31. Ep. Augustin de civ l. 13. c. 21. Junius c. though hid from mortals in the Regions of Mesopotamia while others fancy it to be the Imputrible Cedar and that a first Ens or Balsamick Oil may be extracted from it for prolongation of Life Helmont Grembs while they argue let us determine that Saints shall then seed upon the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Tree of Life Is 65.22 the Lord Jesus himself when the union of our nature in and by him to the Divine shall communicate to all his Mystical Members Eternal Life not only by donation but influence The Jews affirm Joh. 10.28 that Manna tasted to the Palate of their Fathers according to every ones wish and sancy However that story stands we are certain that in this Bread of Life the very desires and wishes of Saints shall be transcended It hath not entred into the Heart of Man to conceive what is prepared for them that love him 1 Cor. 2.9 That Heavenly Feast will be soul-satisfying to the utmost When I awake says David i. e. in the Resurrection Morning I shall be satisfied with thy Likeness For in the Presence or Face of God will be fulness of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a word used for the Exhilaration of the Spirits by Wine Ps 17.15.16.11 Judg. 9 1◠Eccl. 10.19 For infinite Grace and Glory will shine from the Light of his Countenance Rivers of Eden or pleasure flow at his Right Hand for evermore Ezek. 47.7.12 Rev. 22.1 to nourish the delicious Trees of Paradise for Food and Medicine whereby to preserve a Glorious Immortalily in the Life to come In that Triumphal Coronation and Nuptial Feast there will be satiety without cloying satisfaction connex'd with longing a continual enjoyment of the same delights without fear or sense of deprivation For its Duration shall be everlasting It shall never be sung Tibi deserit hesper Olympum No evening shadows shall darken these Olympian Mountains Saints shall never rise from that Festival Table Is 35.10 Rev. 7.17 but everlasting Joy shall set upon their heads and hearts and the everlasting Father shall wipe away all Tears yea the spring of Tears out of their Eyes There King Solomon will sit down with all his Glory in that day in the gladness of his Heart Song 3.11 There will be present the everlasting Comforter abiding with the Saints for ever Joh. 14.16 Rev. 22.17 Heb. 12.22 The Spirit faith Come as well as the Bride There will be an innumerable company of Angels Luk. 24.4 in their Gorgeous Attire of white and shining Raiment and Crowns of Gold upon their Heads Rev. 4.4 Oh what a glittering shew will stand round about the Celestial Saphire Throne Whenas one Angel in his magnificent pomp and splendour were enough to extinguish the Sun and all the bright Lamps of the inferiour Heavens Rev. 21.23 There will be the whole Congregation of the First born from Abel to Enoch from Noah to Abraham from Moses to Samuel under the waving Standards of the Tribes of Israel solacing in each others communion Lazarus talking in the Arms of Abraham and beloved John once again asking questions in the Bosom of Christ The persecuted Thessalonian Brethren shall be the Joy and Crown of Rejoycing to Holy Paul
delicious and pleasant lustre upon prospects and Land-shapes where Hills and Dales Woods and Plains Rivers and Seas Castles and Cities and the carcases of ancient ruines and hanging Rocks are curiously drawn by the Pencil of nature Nay the sweet singer of Israel depaints the Churches garments Ex opere Phrygionico Ps 45.14 like Joseph's Coat with changeable Silks and the * Ps 68.13 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Isa 54.12 greens of gold compared with the flowing colours that wave in the necks of Doves The Evangelical Prophet and the bosome Disciple build up the Towers of Zim the streets and walls of the new Jerusalem with Saphires Carbuncles Agats and pleasant stones lay the pavement of that glorious City with malleable transparent Gold There is nothng renders our preventing mercys so illustrious and glittering in glory as their wonderful changes and successive varieties in all ages and times of life When we first hung on the breasts of our Mothers we suckt in the sweet nectar of preventing mercy we drew our milk out of the milky way in Heaven Yea as prudent Physicians cure an infant by a potion to the nurse thus hath our gracious God by hidden means transmitted frequent cures to hidden maladies How hath our youth flowed with fragrant mercies and riper years smelt deliciously like a Garden of Pomgranates Cant. 4.13 How hath the goodness of God crowned gray hairs with a wreath of holiness honour and happiness How have the loving Angels carried some triumphant to Heaven who feared their setting in a dark cloud of horrour and despair Let 's take some turnes in this Garden of Eden and eye the curious walk of secret sudden and various mercies 1. Secret mercies whereof some are never fully known in this life like mazes and labyrinths and close arbours which the vultures eye could never discern strange and unforeseen deliverances whereof ensuing providences have made beautiful discoveries as Saul and his men went on one side of the Mountain when David escaped on the other in the Wilderness of Maon Some have been preserved by a Cobweb others by a Hen laying of eggs others by shoals of fishe in time of great persecution When afflictions themselves have been Seminaries of mercy and the dark and stormy showers of April have rained down flowers of savour end plentiful crops of summer deliverances 2. Sudden mercies in plunges of distress When the Church hath dream't of nothing but drinking the Wine of astonishment yet awakned at the brink of streams in the South How have the Saints been supported Ps 126.4 sustained enlightned How have doors opened on a sudden and Iron shackles been struck of by Angels and Jaylors bathed with their tears the prints of their own stripes How have the oars struck light in a dark tempest and the Ships we sail in ploughed up sparkles from the briny billows of the Ocean in a stormy night there being a native fire in salt from which the rapid motion hath extracted light Affliction it self hath taught a way to the haven of deliverance Nay usually when we begin to be willing and humble and patient to set down by the affliction and to consider Gods gracious dealings in the depths of correction to erect us into some thankful cheerful and admiring thoughts that it is not worse that thousands drink of more bitter cups and all out of hell is stupendious mercy Many times the wind of Divine favour blows from a fresh corner and our feet are set upon the rock that is higher then us 3. New and various mercies God seldom delivers in the same methods There was never the same face of Heaven from the Creation to this day The aspects clouds and weather do always vary as the shells on the Sea-shore and the pebble-stones none exactly alike No veins on the handback no lines in the palm no features in the millions of faces no voices from the windpipe no gate in the postures of walking but if curiously observed do differ to admiration No temptations no graces no afflictions and no deliverances are fully conformed to an union We have new songs for every moment had we hearts to tune them When Gods wisdom takes one mercy away his beneficent bounty sends another When some setting Stars dip their flaming rays in the Western Ocean new ones glitter in the East Never did the same water bubble from the same fountain but as God is the inhexhaustible spring of new and amiable Mercies So we find he adorns the Out-rooms of the World and the Chambers of the Tabernacle of his Church with the Diaper and Tapestry-hangings of the curious Needlework of his Providence Such Wisdom dwells with Prudenee Pro. 8.12 and finds out the Knowledge of witty Inventions All the curiosities of Art and the cunning devices of Artificers are from God the swarthy Plow-man derives his seasons and management of his Lands Is 28.26 Tillage and Culture from Heaven The Women that sit at the Wheel Exod. 35.25 26. turn it about by the direction of God for the Ornaments of the Tabernacle The Weaver the Embroyderer and the ingenious Lapidary learnt all in the School which is above the Stars Exod. 35.35 the most admirable of all Inventions have dropt into the Fancy from the Celestial Intelligence For what the vain unthankful world calls casualty is a graft upon the minds of Men cut from the Trees of Paradise Accident is the Mother of far more excellent Inventions than Industry Glass was found out by the Tyrian Merchants Polyd. Vâ—r. gil l. 2. c. 22. when boyling or broyling their Meat upon lumps of Nitre on the Sands of the River Belus * Munstâ—r Cosmogr l. 1. c. 173 174. Gun-powder was found out by a Monk A. 1354. and Printing by a Souldier A. 1440. and the Minerall Spaw at Tunbridge by a Page The purple colour by Hercules his Dog as 't is storied in Pollux l. 1. c. 4. and thousands of the like which were pleasant to recite did they not over-swell the proper place And shall we not think that infinite wisdom cannot always present new and ravishing wonders of Mercies upon the Stage Tullies Offices first printed A. 1466. Salmuth in Pancirol p. 244 246. from him who is unconceiveable in counsel and as admirable in working When we study in this Library we still find new Lines and new Editions we sail upon new Coasts and see new Stars as in the Southern Hemisphere and enjoy a new set of Creatures and smell at many Leagues distant fragrant odoriferous Sents as of Cinamon from the Mountains of Ceylon in India of Rosemary from Spain Cedar from Lebanon that perfume the very thoughts af a Saint and the further we travel the more delicious are the surging Tops of the Hills of Canaan and the more we taste the more surprising sweetness astonishes our Palates like the Queenpine in Barbadoes that supplies and transcends expectation with new and rasive savours and tunes our
insist here nor hint about the Earth that the very Soyl where Corn grows gives a various Tincture to it and makes some more wholesome than others as may be considered in reference to Grain produced in Mineral Countries Should I amplify about Waters Water it might over-flow a Volume But this Element being truly Terra fluens Earth in Flux is impregnated with the various Salts and Sulfurs that it finds in the bellies of those mountains whence discharg'd and in the Chanels of those Champions where it sports and plays in curious Maeanders and pleasant Turnings And therefore according to its differing imbibitions is sometimes wholsom and often pernicious to humane bodies Schoockius de cerevisia Bochart de animal par 1. p. 292. 2 Kin. 2.19 Untzer p. 967. Willis Henr. de Rochas and hence 't is of great concern in Brewing and all Offices of the Kitchen For instance The Waters about Jericho were naught causing Women to miscarry The Waters among the Alps procure the Kings Evil. The Water of the River Po breeds the Stone Those at Watford in Northamptonshire make men bald at 30 and those at Carleton in Leicestershire induce a wharling in the Throat Veget. de remilit l. 3. c. 2. Juvenal sat 13. v. 161. and generally the stagnant corrupt Waters of Fennes are dangerous by naughty Ferments for the Pestilence Such as are taken up at Fountains are replenish'd with the Atoms of that Earth whence they spring and such as are near great Cities are not so wholesome especially when convey'd home by Leaden Pipes and landed and kept in Cisterns of the same Metal Plin. l. 31. c. 7. Vitruv. Lang. Ep. Albert. de Met. l. 3. c. 4. Majer Symbol p. 494. as Pliny Vitruvius Albertus Magnus Langius Majerus and other of the Learned have observ'd that Griping of the Guts Bloody Fluxes and Kings Evil are tormenting Diseases to such Inhabitants which I could wish were attended by the worthy Citizens of London my dear native City If the Earth and Water minister so many inconveniencies to the prosperous Health of Man Air. how can the Air be free which is always fill'd with Vapours and Steams from both Whence some Solutions may arise to the questions about the various Products of different Winds blowing from the Horizon Why the Nitre of the North makes the Air so bitter and the Sulfur of the South so contagious Why the East so parching and blasting being mixt with mineral Atoms from the Mountains of Germany Hungary and Thrace and in Jewry from the Mine Hills of Arabia though there may be other latent Causes intermixt Are not some places noxious to the Brain by vegetable Fumes as Arbours of Night shade Walks of Walnut and Woods of Box Nay do not many Animals where frequent infect the Air as Naturalists have observed and to name but one for warning sake Arnold It 's noted by Arnoldus out of Avenzoar that the continual usage of Cats is so unwholesome to the Body of Man that it often produces the Phthisick and Consumption of the Lungs And so do many Learned Physicians testifie by experience In Ramsey of Poysons But to hasten Fire it may not be unfit to observe that the Air may be much impaired as to wholesomeness by the very culinary Fires which we use where scarcity of Trees forces many to use dryed Cow-dung Turff Peat Seacoal and Canol instead of Wood. The crude Sulfur Arsenical Fumes that fill the Air of our city are doubtless great causes of the multitudes of Consumptions within those Walls by drawing so constantly those corroding Fumes into the Lungs Not to mention that the very Body may be much molested by Itches and Scabs in sitting by Seacoal Fires Arnold siquis p. 64. b. and the very Meat that 's roasted and Beer warmed by them is not so wholesome Bacon Nat. Hist p. 202. Let the Learned Bacon vouch my fears who affirms that the vapors of Seacoal as well as Charcoal in a close Room hath killed many and stealing in by little and little induces only faintness without any manifest strangling And to this I can attest with great thankfulness for my deliverance being forced to sit in a close Room for a long time in a late Winter and found evident recovery by change of Fuel O what cause have we to magnifie the Name of God for the sweet Air we breath in and to sweeten it more with the Musick of our Praises and that all within us should bless his Holy Name That every Western Wind with its fresh and wholesome Gales should open the Flowers of Thankfulness that every sense and all their Organs that every Nerve should strive to string the Harp of Praise Ps 139.4 not a thought in our Heart or word in our Mouth but should be known to him altogether in the Echoings and Resoundings of his Gloey That our Spiriturl Senses should be ever exercised in making him their lovely Object Heb. 5.14 and his Holy Bosom the Center of all their Songs Shall the Holy Psalmist lead the Quire Praise him all his Angels and all his Hosts Ps 148.1 Praise him Sun and Moon with all the Stars of light The Heaven of Heavens and the Waters above the Heavens The Dragons and all Deeps Fire and Hail Snow and Vapor Stormy Wind fulfilling his Word of command Mountains and all Hills Fruitful Trees and all Cedars Beasts and all Cattel creeping Insects and flying Fowl Kings of the Earth and all People Princes and all Judges Young Men and Maidens Old men and Children Praise ye the Name of the Lord for his Name is alone excellent his Glory is above Earth and Heaven Let every bright Lamp of the Firmament prove a falling Star and worship at his Footstool Let the cold Influences of the Moon wax warm with motion in the Chariot of Praise upon the mighty Waters Let the healing Balsam of the Sun which cherishes the surface of the Earth its Inhabitants from Pole to Pole inflame every living Creature with his Glory Let the Sea roar and the fulness thereof Let every River wash the Pavement of his Temple Ezek. 47.1 and run under the Threshold of his Sanctuary Let the savage Lions hasten and the ravenous Eagles fly to his Altar and pant to expire in its Flames Let all the Spices of India and Arabia perfume the Mansion of his Honour Let all Minerals Rocks and Mountains pour out streams of Oil to attend his Sacrifice Let all the Vines of Lebanon Eschcol and Sibmah thirst to empty their blood-red Liquor for Drink-offerings Let mighty Aetna Vesuvius and Hecla cast up their flaming Bowels upon his Hearth in Zion Isa 31.9 and turn all his Sacrifices into ashes Let his Priests be clothed with Salvation and his Saints sing aloud for joy for the Lord reigneth Let the whole Earth rejoyce and the multitude of Isles be glad thereof Let the Holy Angels answer from Heaven with
of Hony though little Water The French though Papists exprest their affections with briny Tears and beating their famish'd Trunks with loud cries Mon Dicu mon Dicu My God My God Cleanness of Teeth sharpned their Appetites to the Bread of Life At length they kept a Solemn day of Prayer when every day was a continual Fast Duty ended a Lad from the Topmast-head descried a Vessel and Heaven sent a benign Gale which soon brought them together She proved a Bermudas Merchant to their excessive joy which took in Mr. Leverton with his English supplyed the Rochellers wants and so they parted Upon conference the chief Person in the Ship being the Governour of Bermudas tells Mr. Leverton that that their Ship came newly from England and at her arrival fell in between two Rocks To get her off they took out their Guns and heavy Wares The next Tide rises with a violent Storm while most of the Seamen were ashore and hurries them among the liquid Flouds where the French found them on purpose to bring deliverance at the end of prayer After that a fair Gale conducts them safely to Bermudas where they who had embraced the Throne of Grace in their absence with Holy Hands now embrace their Friends with happy Arms and entertain them joyfully who had been both carried out and brought in by Prayer Here we have a French Calm at Sea awakened into a Breeze for a Haven Enjoyment and an English Calm in Haven rouzed into a Storm for Sea-adventures and both excited by Prayer The French have a storm within the Ship though a calm without and the English have a storm without to bring to the former a calm within O the vehement power of Prayer that raises storms quells the boysterous Waves at pleasure Here 's a Ship full of Provision hurried out to the Main to fetch famish'd Orators to the Harbour of Plenty What manner of Man is this Mark 4.41 said the Disciples of our Lord that the Winds and the Sea obey him O invincible Faith O Soveraign and Imperial Prayer that commandest both Calms and Storms Master carest thou not that we perish Mark 4.38 cries Prayer Christ delights to be awakened by his Holy Spouse and lays Storms asleep Christ always sails in the Ship of Prayer and though this Pilot be asleep yet he steers safely he sees the hidden Rocks and secret Shelves and needs no Star nor Compass He knows the Mystery of Longitude and wants no Tables of the four Planets attending Jupiter or the Spots of the Moon or Minute Watches to give the Distance of the first Meridian But who can measure the Length of his Love to the Church Eph. 3.18 or fathom the Depths of his Wisdom in manifestations of his Love He fins the Sails of the Churches Ship with prosperous Gales to bring her into safe Chambers He turns Calms into Storms to obey his Churches cries Ps 107.29 and raises the Waves of the Sea to invert the Psalmist that Saints are glad because of a Storm to bring them to a calm Haven O happy Storms that drive the Saylant Church to Heaven O happy Heaven that enjoys a perpetual an everlasting Calm CHAP. XII The Centemplation Mount or the Permanent Mercies of Heaven MOSES and XERXES took a view of their puissant Armies the first from a Mountain in the Plains of Moab Deut. 3.25 the other in the Plains of Abydus One rejoyced to see the Land of Canaan and the goodly Range of Lebanon extending 40 Miles in length which Israel was now ready to possess The other wept that his burthensom bulk of Barbarous Nations within a 100 Herod l. 7. p. 401. years would raise so many heaps of Bones or tumuli slightly turft over where on Death might stand and blow his Trumpet of Triumph Saints have but Jordans Valley to pass through into Eternal Joys while others wasting their precious time in vaine designs suddenly slip into eternal wo. Saints militant after many a sharp Combat enter victoriously into Paradise And although some may encounter with Fainting Drooping Qualms yea it may be set in a Cloud yet what an extasie of spirit will surprize them who after many Labyrinths and Mazes of trouble unexpectedly enter the ravishing Glories of Heaven The best may labour under fears and tears but one hour there makes amends for all When these Mists will be scattered in that Radiant Morning and all Tears wash'd away in those Rivers of Pleasure which run through the Streets of New Jerusalem Here the Inhabitants of the Earth build plant travel sail and fight upon an Atom The whole World is but an invisible point to the external Convex of Heaven and all its Inhabitants like the small Dust of the Balance Is 40.15 or a drop perishing from the Bucket nay less than nothing less than vanity The smallest Atom that rejoyces in the Sun Beams at a Chamber Window far transcends the whole Globe of Earth and Water if a Man were imagined to stand in one of the fixed Stars it could not be discern'd by the most curious Glasses nay if one stood in the Sun this circumference of about 21000 Miles could not be discovered For if the Sun be about 167 times bigger than this Earth Gassend è Ptol. in Epicur p. 784. as some Astronomers have determined while others enlarge the Suns Diameter to to much vaster extension and yet appears to us not to exceed 32 Minutes of such a Degree whereof 360 measures the Circumambient Line of the Ecliptick being its Race round about the Heavens Then the Earth must needs shrink into the visibility of a few seconds or less Nay more some have conceived by calculation that the whole Orb of the Earth's supposed motion about the Sun who is very probably the Centre of that Planetary Vortex as the Cartesians call it wherein we subsist is but a point to the Systeme or Sphear of the fixed Stars and that if the Earth all its annexed Beings were utterly annihilated it would not be wanted as being comparatively so insiderable a Particle of the Universe Plutarch de placitis l. 2. c. 13. Heraclides and the Pithagoreans held every Star to be a World What a smoak and smother do miserable Mortals raise about a petty Kingdom when Geometrical proportion may prove a Molehill to be vastly more considerable to the earth than the Earth is to the Empyraean Circumference then may an Ant shine upon a straw a more glorious Emperour than we imagine If then the inferiour Pavement of Heaven if the out Offices of the starry Chambers be so magnificent what 's the Chamber of Presence that are those Supercelestial spaces Mat. 13.43 where the Saints shall shine like so many Suns in the Kingdom of their infinitely Blessed Father Let 's a little contemplate the glorious State of the Saints after the Resurrection as far as we with sobriety and submission in this our Valley-state may inquire into those deep
and fire of water and pressure may destroy that Body which otherwise hath no internal principle of dissolution So that though there were granted such a Noble Balsam of Life as the Adeptists glory of their Elixir yet would it not avail against External Invasions But here our Gracious God hath brought Life and Immortality to light by the Gospel purchase 2 Tim. 1.10 Here 't is appointed for oil once to dye But there Heb. 0.27 Statutum est non mori It 's a statute Law in Heaven Rev. 21.4 there shall be death no more nor sickness or pain those warning Canons those presaging Bells that ring the loud Lectures of Mortality There will be no Titans to raise any Babel Towers against those sublime and solid Mansions When once the Saints have dipp'd their Bodies in the River of Jordan and gone into Canaan they are beyond the story of Achilles invulnerable and impenetrable all over Rev. 22.2 The Leaf of the Tree of Life is tasted as soon as ever they come within the gates of Paradise is Medicine for without as well as within 1 Pet. 5.4 and the Chaplet or Immortal Crown which they wear in Heaven is formed of the Leaves of that blessed and everliving Tree Since we have touch'd a while upon the Harp of the Body let 's take some view of that Divine Musician the Soul who is then ready to sound the Praises of his Blessed Redeemer who will find no ill humour to affect him resulting from the Bodies Temperament or the Copula the connexive medium between them both For cleare serene and joyful Spirits will nimbly circulate through all the Nerves to associate in the Council Chamber of the Brain where the Animal Soul sits as Queen Regent on the Glandula pinealis the Pine Kernel to dispatch her winged Embassadors There will be no inflammations adustions or corruptions of Blood but all perfect sanguine without impure mixture no infected Air no seculent Food to alienate the state of Complexion All the Humours will stand in aequilibrio in exact poise to a Grain No inconvenient objects to surprize irritate or discompose the Spirits to the least alteration The Old Philosophy held nothing to be in the understanding but what was first in Sense which if universally spoken is but a Fable For what are the connate and concreated notions of the Soul urged by the Platonists And what are those spiritual infusions poured into the Hearts of Believers from Heaven Job 32.8 38.36 Eccl 2.28 but clear Evictions that that Soul can act independent from the Body But how much more when they shall be enthroned in Glory 1 Cor. 15.28 when God shall be all in all and the Soul shall be drawn into more immediate contemplation of God Corporeal Species are in vaine to suck and draw in the Marrow of Incorporeal Objects when the Understanding and all its Powers shall equal if not transcend Heaven it self in purity Then all the Faculties of the Soul shall be intended and amplified into a grand and august capacity to entertain more noble conceptions of the Mystical Union of our Redeemer to the Deity and of the Saints themselves to their Beloved Saviour of the sevenfold Luminaries of the Spirit of Christ to the Saints Rev. 3.5 of his Divine Communications and influences into the Soul They shall behold those streams of the Rivers of light They shall be able to discourse with Angels without Interpreters the Language of spirits shall be familiar That Phrase so frequent in the Hebrew Original of Scripture of God's speaking to the Heart Hos 2.14 which is here sometimes sweetly perceived by Saints shall be then explain'd The gentle Voice which Austin heard in the Garden by Milan Confes l. 9. c. 12. that melted him into tears and from whence he dates his Conversion shall be then more audible and more intelligible Then what is now one great portion of misery in our lapsed state that we so little understand the nature of our own Souls that Christians run to Heathen Oracles to know what 's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the first Act of an Organical Body and such Barbarous obscurities shall be hurl'd into the Ocean of Oblivion Then we shall see the Face of our own Souls in Glasses of our own Polishing Here we see 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in a Riddle 1 Cor. 13.12 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hesych in a dark saying and those that would expound the soul confound it more If they had stept with Endymion they had dream'd more pleasantly Butthen the Eye of the Mind shall know no humour but Chrystalline the Retina shall be a capacious Net indeed to cast over the Ocean of the Universe There will arise a most perfect Union between the understanding will and affections and no such Combats about them as some nice Quidditarians assign There will be no inferior Appetite to suggest or abstract from its refined Notions The gracious Habiliments of the Soul shall be more superefluent Gracious habits nay rather activities in perpetual motion springing up to the brim and flowing over God will pour in such an unction of the spirit that shall invigorate the wheels of the soul full of eyes to move by the Spirits instinct conduct like the vision of Cherubims to the Prophet Ezekiel Ez. k. 1. 10. Such a fulness of excellency that swallows up all sinful emulation and envy Saints shall know with better satisfaction what are the Dimensions of the Love of God in Christ Jesus Eph. 3.19 which will so adequately fill the Soul that the Body shall require no sustenance but the Ambrosian Food of Divine Love and Glory Who could have imagin'd the Soul of a Man could have been Hypostatically united to the second person in the Glorious Trinity so that as he is the Son of Man he is said to know the Thoughts of Men Mat. 9.4 6. Act. 17.34 to forgive sins and to judge the world To to glorious an extent can Omnipotent Power exalt the Soul of Man by union to the Deity The Saints moreover shall rise up in some manner to that Excellent Estate of Intuition Luk. 20.36 1 Cor. 13.8 like to the Holy Angels who draw not the Water of Knowledge out of the deep Well of Inferences and long Consequences This manner of gathering Intelligence per discursum shall then probably vanish and perish and be extinguish'd by that Meridian Light of Eternity Here we argue by premisses ex concessis ignota We lay down Maxims Positions and Theorems take some data postulata and deduce mediums from several common places of Arguments As if we would search out the Nature of a Star an Animal a Vegetable or Mineral We argue if we can à priori from its Causes and component Principles or a posteriori from its Effects and Properties For instance in Antimony when we consider its Sulfur its Salt its bloud-red Oil its Phlegm and Vinegar
deriving all her nocturnal beauty from the Sun Eâ—e 1.14 so must Saints shine by the comeliness of Christ And as a Gracious Husband labours to change his Spouse into his own Image and likeness by kindnesses precepts and example that he may take the more delight in her person Ps 45.10 So does our spiritual Solomon change the hew of his Egyptian Queen to deem of things and persons as her Lord and Husband judges and frames her Spirit to delight in doing his Will and Pleasure and take the highest solace in obedience to enjoy a heavenly freedom mixt mith aimiable and joyful reverence He roots out of her heart all changeable affections worldly fancies and hankering longings after the fond fashions of Shechem Gen. 34.1 and all carnal inclinations to the Daughters of Canaans Linage and all the beggerly humours of the besotted world and to pass by with a Holy scorn all the pitiful Pageantry of this perishing and fading life and rise to a mean estimate of the Baubles and trifles that inchant a carnal Heart At length she arrives to a noble and generous judgment counting all but dung and dross that she may win Christ As her Prince of life was crucified by the World for her Redemption so she begins to be crucified to it in token of conformity to him and at length becomes all glorious within She takes down the Pendants of folly Ps 45.13 and hangs all her Jewels within Her Pearls and Diamonds are the gracious Sermons and dying Prayers of her Holy Lord they hang at her ears Songs 1.13 they lye between her Breasts all night Her clothing is of the Gold of Ophir made with Needlework of divers colours Judg. 5.30 twined by the Daughters of the New Jerusalem The 12 precious Stones in the breast-plate of Aaron are upon her Heart She is Holy like him and goes about doing good with the ornament of a meek and quiet Spirit with a Crown of Carbuncles of flaming love to Christ upon her Head and thus reflecting the Glory of Christ here is preparing and fitting for fuller visions and brighter reflections of Glory hereafter Here 's nothing but noise and confusion in the dust and smoak of folly This World is like the Sea in Habakuk Hab. 1.14 where the great Fish swallow the small storms and pirats rocks and sands shipwrecks and new furprizing dangers every moment Let 's long and pack up for our best and sweetest home looking upon every secret Mercy every joyful income of the Spirit as so many earnests of glory as so many bent tokens put in hand to secure Heaven Let 's draw off and wean our affections from sublunary vanishing Vapors which perish in the very use Carnal persons in their heights have but a wordly Heaven and Saints while here in their lowest depths by the Sunshine of divine Favour have a sweet portion of Heaven here upon Earth Oh what a Heaven shall they have in Heaven it self Here though sometimes deep in the mire of affliction yet when conscience sings 't is fair above head still travelling towards Zion Since our natures are chang'd like a Cion or Graft inserted into the Vine of the Church we shall in due time be transplanted to Paradise Strengthen assurance by perseverance and both by the promises to each and mix prayer with Praises Our Harps must always sound while our Sacrifice burns on the Altar Every day adds to the treasury of evidence Like laborious Bees increase your stock from the flowers of Scripture and the Honey of Assurance will sweeten every Prayer and cheer persevering grace and enliven the strings of praise till we come with Harps in our hands well tuned to the Gate of Heaven Let our chaste Souls be a Garden enclos'd to Christ Our eyes ears Song 4.12 affections seal'd and shut up from worldly communion Hearken O Daughter Ps 45.10 11. and forget thine Egyptian people and thy Fathers house in Zoan So shall the King of Glory greatly desire to see and enjoy thy beauty for he is thy Lord and worship thou him Some Passages to be inserted in page 26. which through a casualty did happen to be misplaced AS that Person in Bisseter Market who having a piece of Bread in his Mouth and turning suddenly to answer a question while the Bread was swallowing was immediately choack'd and though he survived about two or three days yet no remedy prevailed Remarkable was that providence of a poor Taylor at Reading choak'd with a bit of Mutton having wish'd it to himself as he was eating if he had stoln the Stockings whereof he was accused Which story is set down in the Register of one of the Parishes of that Town A sudden accident also besell Colonel Rossiter endeavouring to crack a Plum-stone as I am informed brake a Tooth and thereby lost his Life I would not let pass two or three stories more of signal providences as to sudden accidents There lived some time since in Grassechurch-street LONDON a Vintner Mr. Fowler by name who playing with his little Child abed received a scratch of a Pin First it rankled and cost him a Hundred Pounds-under design of cure but at length his Arm was cut off and shortly after lost his life There hapned also a notable memorial of Divine providence upon a Child in Bishops-gate Parish where sometime the good hand of God was pleased to use my poor labours in the honourable service of the Ministry This little Child looking up through a wooden case to a ponderous Jack-weight in that very moment the Weight drop'd down and kill'd it I have also received intelligence of a Person worthy of credit that a Woman having a very fair Hand molested by a Wart and submitting to the skill of a Chirurgeon at Thomas Hospital in Southwark in order to cure But the sore place began to be angry at the improper Medicines and Festers and shortly receives from his hand the cure of all her Diseases To end with a comfortable story My good Friend Mr. Ch. Morton then at Sea and yielding to the advice of a Ship-Chirurgeon to lay the Lapis Infernalis to eat down a Wart his Arm swelled very dangerously but the Lord delivered him So true is that saying of Paracelsus That the greatest Wounds may issue prosperously and little Scratches may end disastrously since the Keys of Life and Death are in the Hand of God FINIS Books printed toy and are to be sold by John Hancock at the Sign of the three Bibles in Popes Head Alley in Cornhill TWelve Books lately published by Mr. Tho. Brooks late Preacher of the Gospel at Margarets New Fish-street 1. Precious Remedies against Satans Devices or Salve for Believers and Vnbelievers Sores being a Companion for those that are in Christ or out of Christ 2. Heaven on Earth Or a serious Discourse touching a Well-grounded Assurance of Mans Everlasting Happiness 3. The Vnsearchable Riches of Christ held forth in 22 Sermons 4. Apples
of Gold for Young Men and Women Or the Happiness of being Good betimes 5. A String of Pearls Or the best Things reserved till last 6. The Mute Christian under the Smarting Rod with Sovereign Antidotes against the most miserable Exigents 7. An Ark for all Gods Noahs in a Stormy Day 8. The Crown and Glory of Christianity in 48 Sermons on Heb. 12.14 9. The privy Key of Heaven Or a Discourse of Closet Prayer 10. An Heavenly Cordial for such as have had or escaped the Plague 11. A Cabinet of choice Jewels or a Box of precious Oyntment Containing special Maxims Rules and Directions in order to the clearing up of a Mans Interest in Christ and his Title to all the Glory of another World 12. Londons Lamentations The Godly Mans Ark in several Sermons To which is added Mrs. Moors Evidences for Heaven By Edmund Calamy B. D. at Aldermanbury Christs Communion with his Church Militant By Nicholas Lockyer Sin the Plague of Plagues by Ralph Venning A true Narrative of those two never to be forgotten Deliverances one from the Spanish Invasion in 88 the other from the Hellesh Powder Plot Nov. 5. 1605. By Mr. Sam. Clark The Accurate Accountant or London Merchant Being Instructions for keeping Merchants Accounts By Tho. Brown Accomptant Short Writing the most Easie Exact Lineal and speedy Method that hath ever yet been obtained as thousands in this City and elsewhere can from their own experience testifie By Theophilus Metcalfe Also a Book called a Schoolmaster to it explaining all the Rules thereof A Word of Advice to Saints or a choice Drop of Honey from the Rock Christ A Coppy Book of the Newest and most Vseful Hands with Directions for Spelling and Cyphering Bridges Remains Being eight choice Sermons By the late Reverend Mr. William Bridge of Yarmouth A Disswasive from Conformity to the World Also Gods Severity against Impenitent Sinners By Henry Stubbes Minister of the Gospel Vennings Remains being the substance of many Sermons By Mr. Ralph Venning prepared by himself for the Press a little before his Death The Poor Mans Family book By Richard Baxter Luthers 34 special and choice Sermons Comae Berenicis or the Hairy Comet being a Prognostick of Malignant Influences from the many Blazing Stars wandring in our Horizon Gospel Love Heart Purity and the Flourishing of the Righteous Being the last Sermons of that late Eminent Divine Mr. Joseph Caryl The Young Mans Guide to Blessedness or seasonable Directions for Youth in their unconverted estate By R. Matthew Minister of the Gospel Causa Dei or an Apology for God wherein the Perpetuity of Infernal Torments is evinced and his both Goodness and Justice defended Also the Nature of punishments in general and of Infernal ones in particular displayed by R. Burthogge The Legacy of a Dying Mother to her Mourning Children being the Expiences of Mrs. Susanna Bell Published by Tho. Brooks King James his Counterblast to Tobacco To which is added a Learned Discourse touching Tobacco by Dr. Maynwaring wherein Men may see whether Tobacco be good for them or no. Strength in Weakness being a Sermon preached at the Funeral of Mrs. Martha Brooks late Wife of Mr. Thomas Brooks Minister of the Gospel To which is added some experiences of the Grace and Dealings of God observed and gathered by a near Relation of the said Mrs. Brooks An Excellent Cathechism by the late Reverend Mr. Jeremiah Burroughs A Discourse of Christs Coming and the Influence which the Expectation thereof hath on all manner of Holy Conversation and Godliness By Theophilus Gale The Shepherds Legacy or forty years experience of the Weather The Young Mans Conflict with and Victory over the Devil by Faith Or a true and perfect Relation of the Experiences of Tho. Powel begun in the fifteenth and continued till the seventeenth year of his Age. Theological Treatises 1. Production of Mans Soul 2. Divine Predestination 3. The True Church Regiment 4. Predictions of Messias 5. Christs two Genelogies 6. The Revelation revealed 7. Christs Millenary Reign 8. The Worlds Dissolution By Robert Velvain Christs certain and sudden Appearance to Judgment by Samuel Malbon A brief Dâ—scription of New York and the Places thereto adjoyning with Directions and Advice to such as shall go thither by Dan. Denton A Cry for Labourers in Gods Harvest Being a Sermon preached at the Funeral of Mr. Ralph Venning By R. Bragge Minister of the Gospel Christian Directions shewing how to walk with God all the day long by Th. Gouge The Young Mans Guide through the Wilderness of this World to the Heavenly Canaan by Tho Gouge Conscience the best Friend upon Earth or the Happy Effects of Keeping a Good Constience by Henry Stubbes Patience and its Perfect Work under sudden and sore Trials Orthodox Paradoxes Theoretical and Experimental or a Believor clearing Truth by seeming Contradictions With an Appendix of the Triumph of Assurance over the Law Sin World Wants c. To which is added The New Command Renewed or Love one another with Ten Rules for the Right Vnderstanding of Scripure by Ralph Venning A.M. An Awakening Call from the Eternal God to the Vnconverted with Seasonable Advice to them that are under Convictions to prevent their miscarrying in conversion by Samuel Corbyn A. M. Now in the Press a Rebuke to Back sliders and a Spur to Loyterers published to awaken a Sleepy Age by R. A. Author of Vinditiae Pietatis FINIS