love courage greatness of minde and fervour of spirit hear how daring he speaks to Dacianus the President and see with what joy and Patience he suffers his torments The Tyrant orders him to be hoist up high upon a Rack and after a jeering way ask'd him where he was to which he answer'd with a smiling countenance I am aloft and thence do despise thee who art insolent and puff'd up with the power thou hast upon Earth Being after menac'd with more torments far exceeding the cruelty of the former he said me thinks Dacianus thou dost not threaten but court me with what I desire with all the powers and faculties of my Soul And when they tore his flesh with hooks and pinchers and burnt him with firebrands and flaming torches he cry'd out with joy in vain thou weariest rhy self Dacianus thou canst not imagine torments so horrid which I could not suffer Know then O man that Prisons Pinchers burning plates of Iron and death it self are unto good Christians recreations rather then torments and if thou beest of the number of them thou wilt be likewise of the same opinion MAN I am as much perplex'd O Lord at thy discourse as was the man of the Gospel to hear his Master accuse him of injustice and threaten to turn him out of his Stewardship what shall I do Fodere non valeo mendicare erubesco Luc. 16.3 says he I am asham'd to beg and I am not able to labour This is my case I am asham'd to see my self so remiss in my duty to thee so unwilling to undergo the least trouble to purchase thy glory and so heedless of my own salvation when I see Heathens perform such great and heroick exploits even for the bare applause of the world and for the blind approbation of their phantastical Sect. I am asham'd to see my self so remote from virtue so cold in devotion so prone to vice so inconstant in my good resolutions so averss'd to afflictions and crosses when I hear a Pagan-Philosopher that knows nothing of thy glory nothing of the everlasting happiness of thy Kingdom nothing of the unspeakable reward of thy Blessed and nothing of the eternal punishments which thou hast decree'd for the wicked tell me that there is not in the scale of nature a more inseparable connexion of cause and effect then in the case of happiness and virtue nor any thing that more naturally produces the one or more necessarily presupposes the other For what is it to be happy but for a man to content himself with his lot in a chearful and quiet resignation to the appointments of God All the actions of our lives ought to be govern'd with a respect to good and evil and it is only Reason that distinguishes by which reason we are in such manner influenc'd as if a Ray of the Divinity were dipt in a mortal body and that 's the perfection of mankinde 'T is true we have not the eyes of Eagles nor the Sagacity of hounds nor if we had could we pretend to esteem our selves for any thing which we have in common with Brutes What are we the better for that which is foreign to us and may be given and taken away As the Beams of the Sun irradiate the Earth and yet remain where they were so is it in some proportion with a holy minde that illustrates all our actions and yet adheres to it's Original Why do we not as well commend a Horse for his glorious Trapings as a man for his pompous additions how much a braver Creature is a Lyon which by nature ought to be fierce and terrible how much braver I say he is in his natural horrour then in his chains So that every thing in its pure nature pleases us best It is not Health Nobility Riches that can justify a wicked man nor is it the want of all these can discredit a good one That 's the Sovereign Blessing which makes the Professor of it valuable without any thing else and him that wants it contemptible tho' he had all the world besides 'T is not the painting gilding or carving that makes a good Ship but if she be a nimble Sailer tight and strong to endure the Seas that 's her excellency 'T is the Edge and temper of the blade that makes a good Sword not the richness of the Scabbard 'T is even the same with man 't is not money or vast possessions or eminent places or great dignitys that makes him considerable but his virtue alone I am a Christian Cor. 9.19 20 21 22. and by my profession am bound to be serviceable to all people as far as my ability can extend and their necessity requires it it 's therefore St. Paul says tho' I be free from all men yet have I made my self Servant unto all that I might gain the more Unto the Jews I became as a Jew that I might gain them that are without law To the weak became I as weak that I might gain the weak In fine I am made all things to all men that I might by all means save some This is my incumbent duty but alas I am far short of it and this brings a blâ—sâ— on my face when I see a Pagan-Philosopher preach and practice the same 'T is every man's duty says Seneca to make himself profitable to mankinde if he can to many if not to fewer if not so neither to his neighbours but however to himself There are two Republicks a great one which is humane nature and a less which is the place where we are born some serve both at a time some only the greater and some again only the less The greater may be serv'd in privacy Solitude contemplation perchance that way better then any other But it was th' intent of nature however that we should serve both A good man may serve the Publick his friend and himself too in any Station If he be not for the Sword let him take the Gown if the Bar does not agree with him let him try the Pulpit If he be silenc'd abroad let him give Counsel at home and discharge the part of a faithful friend and a Temperate companion When he is no longer a Citizen he is yet a man the whole world is his Country and humane nature never wants matter to work upon But if nothing will serve a man in the civil Government unless he be prime Minister or in the Field but to command in Chief 't is his own fault The common Soldier where he cann't use his hands fights with his very looks his example his encouragement his voice and stands his ground even when he has lost his hands and does service too with his very clamour so that in any condition whatsoever he still discharges the duty of a good Patriot Nay he that spends his time well even in a retirement gives a great example we may inlarge indeed or contract according to the circumstances of time place or
my Spiritual diseases nothing can be hid from thine eyes thou knowest the evil passions that do predominate within my brest deliver me therefore o' Lord from their tyrannical government cleanse my heart from all evil and inordinate affections to the end that being inwardly heal'd and purg'd of all the sinful products of my corrupt nature I may be the more apt to love thee the more ready to suffer for thee and the more stable to persevere in thy service When I read in thy holy Writ and hear what the learned Doctors of thy Church say of the love of God I conceive an ardent desire to partake in some measure thereof for to pretend to the full perfection of it is a thing beyond my reach unless thou givest thy helping hand to my poor endeavours 'T is absolutely the Summum bonum Matt. 11. that only can make the burdensome weighty things light that can bear equally all unequal things that can carry a burden without any toil that can make sweet and pleasant what of its own nature is bitter and uneasy The love of God presseth men on to perform great and heroick actions and does excite them to aime always at what is most perfect and pleasing to his divine Majesty Love is never content to fix its tabernacle on earth nor to be concern'd with any terrene object it must have a more noble Subject to entertain its flames It must be totally free and absolutely a stranger to all worldly affections lest they should diminish its Lustre force it out of its natural Centure to lodge with our blinde and unruly passions There 's nothing more sweet and attractive then the love of God nothing more active and strong nothing more eminent and generous nothing can exceed it in latitude extent and altitude there is nothing more pleasant and affable In fine there is nothing in Heaven or on Earth that can excell it in goodness in beauty or perfection and why because it doth proceed from God that it cann't repose in any created thing but in God alone A divine Lover will fly run rejoyce tho' he were condemn'd to lodge with Daniel among the hungry devouring Lyons He is free and enjoys his liberty tho' he were in chains and loaden with Irons as another Manasses He gives with St. Francis All for All and findes his whole delight and comfort in that very All which he makes choice of And in that one supreme All the fountain-head of all goodness he sweetly reposeth with the Spouse void of disturbance A divine Lover never looks upon the gifts tho' never so excellent but has his eyes always fix'd upon the giver neither is he content with what graces and favours he receives from God but will strive to purchase more tho' it were even with the loss of his sweet life For Love admits of no bounds its flames will rise above all limitation and measure It feels no weight values no labour invents new ways of mortifications and oftentimes affects to suffer for his beloved more then flesh and blood is able to bear The divine Lover will not regard impossibilities for he thinks that all the Austerities and rigours imaginable are both lawful and possible to him he is able therefore in his own ardent and elevated conceit to vanquish all difficultys and does indeed perform more then can be expected from Nature alone In fine his good will never fails him tho' his body should ly half dead upon the ground Love is watchful if Sleeping it 's always awake if harrass'd it 's never weary in dangers it's never fearful when frightned it 's never troubled but even as a fierce blaze and a lively flame it passes by all such events and mounts up towards the very throne of God where it lies safe from all disasters evil accidents This language perhaps is unknown to many but he who really loves God will easily understand it The fervent desire alone of a Seraphick Soul makes a pleasing noise in the hearing of God Deus meus omnia S. Frâ—nâ— Deus meus amormeus Idem In odororem unguenterum tuorum câ—rrimus Cant. 1.4 Hoc est praeceptum meum ut diligatis invicem Jer. 15.12 such was that of St. Francis My God says he and my all my God and my Love thou art all mine and I am all thine dilate my heart in thy love that I may taste inwardly how sweet it is to love thee and how pleasant it is to melt and consume in thy love Let thy love support me when I surpass my ability and when in the depth of my meditations in the excess of my fervour and in the serious consideration of thy great love for man I am beyond my senses Let my Soul praise thee for ever o' Lord and let me run with the Daughters of Sion after the odoriferous savour of thy sweet perfumes Let me never love any creature nay not my self but for thee let me also love in thee all them that love thee sincerely with their whole heart this is a Christian devoir which the law of true love requires and which Jesus the perfect model and first promoter thereof does absolutely require from all mankind and under the penalty of forfieting an eternity of Joy and the Vision of God for ever Love says thy belov'd Apostle is swift Qui non diligit fratrem suum non est ex Deo Jen. 3.10 sincere pious well dispos'd and pleasant It is strong patient faithful prudent lasting manly and never fond of its self nor its proper Interest for when ever a man begins to touch that string he immediately fals from the perfection of true love and is become no better then a Heathen who is totally a Stranger both to the love and laws of God Love is always circumspect humble 1 Cor. 15. and righteous not sluggish nor light nor addicted to foolish and idle things neither does it busie it self about vain and frivolous imploys but is sober chast Stable quiet watchful and extraordinary well guarded in all its senses 1 Cor. 10. Phil. 2. Love is subject and obedient to its Prelates and Elders but has no manner of esteem for it self for it is both vile and despicable in its own eyes Love is devout to God full of trust and hopes in him tho' he afford it not the least consolation he knows full well that love cann't appear in its full splendour but where it meets with a mixture of sorrow for St. Paul says that whoever is not in a readiness to suffer all manner of Crosses that God is pleas'd to afflict him with in this world is not at all worthy of the name of a true lover In fine Rom. 8.8 a true Lover of God must embrace manfully and with a cheerful heart and countenance whatever comes upon him either by the commission or permission of his divine will let it be never so harsh violent or displeasing to nature
perpetual decree that it can't pass it and tho' the waves thereof toss themselves yet can they not prevail tho' they roar yet can they not pass over it as if he had said hast thou not a great deal of reason to dread the Arm of so powerful a God whose omnipotency is sufficiently discover'd by this prodigious work And if he be so great in all his works thou must likewise acknowledge him to be great in the chastisement of Sinners The same Prophet was Innocent and free from the least spot of Sin being Sanctifi'd in his Mothers womb yet he trembles at the very noise of my Severity to Sinners and says there is none like unto thee O Lord thou art great and thy name is great in might Who would not fear thee O King of Nations for to thee does it appertain For as much as among all the wisemen of the Nations and in all their Kingdoms there is none like unto thee My heart is replenish'd with the fear of thy wrath and therefore have sequester'd my felf from the converse of all men into a remote wilderness to prevent thy fury and appease thy Anger with sorrow with Sighs and with a continual flood of tears Respicit Terram facit eam tremere tangit montes fumigant Psa 105. Stellae Columnae Coeli pavent contremiscuntad nutum ejus Job 26.11 Ideo sn uno die venient plagaeejus mors luctus fames igne comburetur quia fortis est Dominus Deus qui Jndicabit illam Ap. c. 18.8 Tho' this holy man was certain that my Indignation and wrath was not against him yet seeing it so great and ready to fall with all its weight upon the criminal and guilty heads of Sinners he had no less then cause to tremble being that even my looks put the Earth in a quaking fit and make the Mountains groan nay they make the Stars and even the Pillars of Heaven to tremble they are astonish'd at my reproof and why not being that the Angels and Archangels the Cherubins and Seraphins the Principalities and Powers of Heaven are all Struck into an amazement at the very aspect of my most dreadful Majesty and angry countenance not that they fear to be depriv'd of their glory but because the greatness of my indignation is such that they can't but be astonish'd at the very sight of me By this thou mayst Judge in what a deplorable condition the Damn'd will be for these are the unhappy wretches which are to feel the weight of my wrath all their plagues shall come upon them in one day everlasting death mourning and famine shall be their inheritance for ever they shall be utterly burnt with fire for strong is the Lord God who judgeth them My Apostle had a sufficient tryal of my Strength when I forc'd him out of the way of iniquity Horrendum est incidere in manus Dei viventis Heb. 10.31 and of a Persecutor of Christians made him the Defender and powerful promoter of Christianity therefore he says it 's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God not into the hands of men for they are not so powerful but criminals may fly from their violence and decline from their anger moreover they have not the authority to cast a Soul into the Dungeon of Hell It 's therefore I had warn'd my Disciples not to fear them which kill the Body Mat. 10.28 and are not able to kill the Soul but rather to fear him which is able to destroy both Soul and body in Hell And these are the hands which my Apostle calls dreadful they are them also that the wise man speaks of where he says unless ye do pennance and give that slender attonement of tears and of a hearty grief to God for your sins ye shall undoubtedly fall into the hands of the Lord and not into the hands of men By what is already said thou mayst easily conclude that as I am omnipotent and great in my power in my Majesty and in all my works I am the same in my wrath in my Justice and in the punishment which I have decreed for the Damned If thou wilt examine Scripture thou shalt finde there such dreadful effects of my Justice upon the wicked even in this life which is the only season for mercy that thou shalt be forc'd to confess that the pains of Hell must be as intollerable as they are unspeakable and that it were better for the dam'd they had never been born then to endure them for an Eternity without any hopes of redemption or of the least abatement What a terrible punishment was that of Dathan and Abiram and of all their Complices in the sight of that numerous People of Israel at the request of my Servant Moises to vindicate his innocency and punish the wrong which was intended to him by those Peoples rising in Rebellion against him I commanded the Earth to open its bowels and to swallow them alive together with all their Earthly substance down into the bottomless pit of Hell which was no sooner commanded then put in execution The punishment of Sodom and Gomorah if well consider'd is able to terify the stoutest Bully that ever appear'd on the Stage of this world to mollify his obdurate heart and force from his mouth Lord what wilt thou have me do They were so much addicted to that brutish pleasure Domine quid me vis facere Act. 9.6 and sordid Sin of the flesh that they must attempt even upon my very Angels and strive to make them the subject of their Lust this was a general corruption and therefore requir'd a general chastisement their Sins cry'd for vengeance Gen. 19.24 and tho' I was sollicited by my Servant Abraham to spare their lives for the sake of ten Just men knowing there was none but Lot who was already secured and under the safeguard of my Angels I pour'd down wild-fire and brimstone upon them and cast them headlong into Hell-fire there to increase the fatal number of the damn'd and to become partakers of their torments as they had been of their crimes on Earth Didst thou ever hear such terrible menaces as are set down in Deuteronomy Deut. 28.16 17. c. and which were exactly put in execution against the transgressours of my Law Hear how the Prophet speaks to them in my behalf Cursed shalt thou be in the City and Cursed shalt thou be in the field Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in enrfed shalt thou be when thou goest out The Lord shall send upon thee cursing vexation rebuke in all that thou set'st thine hand unto for to do untill thou be destroyed and until thou perish quickly because of the wickedness of thy doings whereby thou hast for saken me The Lord shall smite thee with a Consumption and with a Fever and with an inflamation and with an extream burning and with the sword and with blasting and they