are to run the wayes of thy Commandements but our lamenesse is least subject to thy censure when it is most under our own 85 The Elephant though of the greatest bulk and vastest strength yet above any other creature is plagued with flyes and least able to remedy that inconvenience not having so much as an haire on his tayle wherewith to drive them away Lord with how many incommodities hast thou allayed the great things of this world so that it is questionable even to carnall reason whether great matters with their many evills are more eligible then lesse with fewer troubles Oh therefore let me not be discontented with my meane estate being a greater cannot be had without discontent 86 L. Domitius having drunk poyson with intention to rid himselfe out of this world for feare of being Caesars Captive afterwards would by all meanes have hindred the operation of it Lord in our exigences and straits we are free to make large promises of what we will do for thee and give unto thee but when the storme is over and the present passion downe we wish that the obligation had never been made and devise shifts how the penalty may be avoided But let us be a shamed of this inconstancy and be established in the first resolution not onely because thou wilt not cancell the bond but because the debt is most just without it 87 That famous Cato was fourty four times cal'd into Judgement yet every time acquitted Oh how happy is it if we have envious and malicious accusers yet to have impartiall and upright Judges Lord how often doth Sathan accuse me before the Throne of thy justice yet while thy Son is my Advocate with thee I shall be acquitted not because I am not guilty but because he is Righteous 88 Alexander the Great being presented from the spoiles of Darius with a most rich Cabiner beset with Gold and what else might make it more precious and his friends each of them giving his thoughts what use it should be for said that the Books of Homer should be kept in it as judging them fittest to be reserved in so precious a receptacle Lord thou hast given us thy Scriptures better Books then those of Homer and my heart is my most precious Cabinet Let other things be rejected as lesse valuable but let these be not onely laid up but written in my heart yea let them like Aarons Almond Rod blossome and beare fruit also 89 Agesilaus in his travels was wont to lodge in the holiest places of the Temples of the Gods that they themselves might be witnesses of his private doings Lord there is no place but hath thee for a spectator and we have call'd thee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from our apprehensions of thy allseeing presence let me therefore be sahamed to do that when thou onely art conscious which I would not should be laid open to the veiw of men and Angels 90 Alexander the Great sending to the Athenians that they should deliver up the Thebans which had fled to them unlesse they would have him War upon them Phocian being desired to speak his opinion said That truly he lamented much the case of those Thebans but it were better for one City to mourne then two Lord thou requirest of us the delivery up of the concernments of flesh and bloud if we would have thee our friend though we are loath report from them yet it is better that the body lament the losse of those deare conveniences then that soule and body both lament eternally in Hell 91 At the battell of Crefcy where Edward the black Prince led the Van being then but eighteen yeares of Age the King his Father drawing up a strong party to a rising ground there beheld the conflict in a readinesse to send reliefe where it should be wanted The young Prince being sharply charged and in some danger sends to his Father for succour who delayes to send any so that another messenger comes to crave it to whom he answers Go tell my son that I am not so unexperienced a Commander as not to know when succour is wanted nor so carelesse a Father as not then to send it but he intended the honour of the day should be his sons and therefore let him with courage stand to it and be assured that help should then be had when it might conduce most to his renowne God draws forth his servants to fight in the spirituall warfare where they are engaged not onely against the strong holds of carnall reason and the exalted imaginations of their own hearts but also in the pitched field against Sathan and his wicked instruments but they poor hearts when the charge is sharpe are ready to despond and cry with Peter Save Lord we perish but God is too knowing to oversee their exigences and too much a father to neglect their succour but if help be delayed it is that the victory may be more glorious by the difficulty of overcoming 92 'T is said of Crassus that though he were the most avaritious man then living yet above all men he hated those that were so Strange it is that though likenesse be the true cause of love yet proud and coverous men admit no fellow a manifest conviction of the disorder of sin that agrees not with its selfe whereas grace never is but is loved where grace is 93 A Getulian shepherd being assaulted by a Lion and otherwise unprovided of resistance cast his loose coat upon the Lions head whereby the beast not only lost his fiercenesse but as if his strength had layen all in his eyes was by the man easily taken and bound When I have confidered what the Lions of England have suffered from the Romane Bishops I have even admired how so great strength and courage could be so amated but I observed the vaile of ignorance was throwne over their eyes which made them so rame and submissive to that See a policy so often proved of great advantage that to this day they are in doubt whether that or Divide impera be the surer Trump Thus have we seen whole heards of stronger cattell subject to the discipline of a little Boy because they poor creatures know not their owne strength and it is easie to take him at all advantage that to prevent his own calamities is without eyes 94 A certaine person at a game among the Athenians call'd Casting of the Dart slew accidentally with his Dart one of his companions Piricles spent an whole day with some Sophisters his familiars in dispute Whether the Dart or he that threw the Dart or he that instituted the sport were guilty of the mans death 'T is a Proverbe The greatest Clarks are not alwayes the wisest men and certainly this is not the least part of their folly that they delight to canvasse frivolous questions which engender strife rather then edifying and are wittily vaine more then profitably learned either to others or themselves how many are there accurately seen in
How many men have damned their souls that they might dye rich and to that end like overflowing Rivers have growne great by the ruins of their Countrey upon this account chiefly that they may go out of the world wealthy when Scypio's moderation and abstinence have reared him up a more glorious Monument then his Conquests 10 Philostratus being imployed by Ptolomy in building that famous Pharos neer Alexandria engraved in the solid and durable Marble his own name and in plaister over it the Kings that his in time being worne off his own might be seen to perpetuity Sin imprinteth in my fancy favourable and specious conceits of it but there are characters in my conscience of another tenour which will abide there when the other are vanisht and no more to be remembred 11 William Wickham being appoynted by King Edward in building a stately Church wrote in in the windows This work made William Wickham for which being charged by the King as assuming the honour of that work to himself as the author being onely overseet he answered that He meant not he made the work but that the worke made him being before but beggarly and then in great credit Lord when we read in thy Word that we must work out our own Salvation thy meaning is not that our Salvation should be the effect of our work but our work the evidence of thy Salvation 12 The Empresse Maud being closely beset by her enemies neere Winchester caused her selfe to be put into a Coffin and as one dead was safely conveighed through their Troupes Evill concupiscences beset my soul with an almost impossibility of escaping but the way to avoid them is by becoming dead to sin not to live any longer therein 13 They tell of a Tree in Japan that flourisheth and is fruitfull if kept in a dry earth but with moysture which causeth other trees to flourish withereth Such is the sincere Christian to whom the crosse is a crutch affliction raiseth up his affection and the heate of persecution makes his graces flourish and fruitfull but the gentle showers of prosperity decayeth his greennesse and usually makes his graces torpid if not livelesse 14 Among the Turks every one is of some Trade the Grand Seignior himself though Lord of so many Countries yet daily imployes himselfe in some chosen Occupation because even Adam in Paradise was by divine appointment not left idle An huge condemnation to those of our times who think it a disgrace to be ingaged in any profitable imployment whereby they may promote the common good and their own being almost all onely of the trade of that Assirian whose Motto was Ede bibe lude 15 Herbert in his travells tells of Fowle which if you shoote some the rest fly not away but render themselves an easie prey to him that will kill them How many such foolish men are there whom others harmes make not wary but are intangled in the same fetters of lust and misery wherein they have seen others and themselves have been formerly ensnared 16 The River Tigris passing through the Lake Arethusa mingleth not his waters with it but retaines its tast and colour different from that of the Lake Such should the Christian be though conversing in the world yet reserving the savour of Godlinesse and colour of religious profession unallayed 17 The Virgins of Miletus through an unkind Melancholy being their own executioners and that mischief much encreasing there was a Law made that those so dying should be carryed naked exposed to view through the City upon which that evill ceased modesty and the shame of being so laid open though after death prevailing more then all other considerations could How sad is it that among us professing Christianity there should be of the shamefacer sex straining healths through their Smocks c. and prostituting that vertue which by the heathen was estimated at so high a rate 18 The Hircanians do use to banquet under the falls of their Rivers as in the shade which are so steep that they shoote over their heads It often is that wretched sinners riot it under the guilt of those sinnes that a tender conscienced person would tremble to think of 19 They have Trunks in India called Sampatans through which they shoot arrows so invenomed that if they prick the skin it is very dangerous but if they draw bloud it is irrecoverably deadly The first motions to sin arising from that root of bitternesse appeare never without sad effects but Lord let them never draw bloud by consent from my will that their deadly venome should seize my vitalls 20 Demetrius King of Syria being taken prisoner by the King of Parthia and by him marryed to his own sister and with all desirable things entertained oft attempted and at laft effected an escape into his own Countrey Lord with what enjoyments soever I am derained from thee yet let the desire of my soule be to thy name and to the remembrance of thee and at last let me obtaine an happy escape to thee 21 Maud the Empresse being besieged by the forces of King Stephen in Oxford when the snow covered the ground made her escape thence by arraying her self and followers in white sheets Lord I am besieged by thy justice and the guilt of sin compasseth me about on every side but Oh cloath me with the white Robe of thy Sons Righteousnesse that I may escape the execution of thy vengeance 22 Sixtus Quintus being a great abettor of the Spanish Faction when a Cardinall was the greatest enemy of it when chosen Pope the Papall dignity not being compatible with the Spanish greatnesse in Italy Lord how far soever I abetted the reigne of sin in my heart before I received thy Spirit of adoption yet now let me ever be a zealous opposer of it the Kingdome of sin being so inconsistent with the dignity of a son 23 The Papists say that their pictures of the Virgin Mary are exactly like her being begun by Angels and finished by Saint Luke though 't is to be seen that in them the Painters have used their wonted liberty not two of them being in all things alike and one of them of no small fame representing a blackmore Nay there was a fellow of them that like Apelles with his Hellen from the beauties of severall courtisans before him drew the picture of this Virgine How safe and to our credit is it to continue in the truth for the children of the father of lyes at one time or other will shew their cloven feet and to our shame discover their breed 24 Though the Northern people have made many irresistible irruptions into the South like a torrent bearing all before them yet 't is observed that they never obtained any durable Empire the Southern wit being an overmatch for the Northern strength If concupiscence break forth and hurry into sin exercising some sudden acts of tyranny yet let it not get any stable dominion let the efficacy of thy grace
every day weare out the strength of sin 25 William Wickham begging of King Edward the Bishoprick of Winchester was told by him It was not fit for him he being no learned man to which he answered That in recompence thereof if his Majesty pleased to bestow it he would make many learned men which he effected by erecting Winchester Colledge How many of those goods dedicated to the incouragement of the learned have since the dayes of Henry the Eighth fallen into illiterate mens hands 't were well if they had so much of Wickhams conscience as to reimburse some of them at least to those primitive pious ends 26 A certaine person of that Parliament wherein the Statute for the releife of the poor passed and a great indeavourer for the procuring of that Act coming down into the Countrey askt his Steward what the people said of that Statute who answered that he heard a labouring man say that whereas formerly he was wont to worke six dayes in the week now he would worke but four which abuse of that good provision so affected that pious Patriot that it drew teares from his eyes in abundance Lord thou hast made many provisions in thy Word for my supportation and comfort and hast promised in my necessities thy supply and protection but let not my presumption of help from thee cause my neglect of any of those meanes for my Spirituall or temporall preservation which thou hast injoyned 27 The Sea called Sargasso though four hundred miles from any land and so deep as no ground is to be found by sounding yet abounds with an herb called Sargasso like Samper so thick that a Ship without a strong Gale can hardly make her way Lord if temptation from without be never so far removed yet the corruption of my heart doth continually send forth the bitter fruits of evill thoughts so that good purposes find very difficult passage but blow thou with the fresh gales of thy Spirit that my resolutions to serve thee may have a free course notwithstanding 28 A certain person pretending himself borne blind and cured of that defect by visiting the shrine of Saint Albon with great concourse of people admiring the Saint and praising his faith was brought before Humphrey called the good Duke of Glocester being at that place the very day of the cure who seeming to desire satisfaction on the perfectnesse of the cure askt the man What colour his gown was of he answered Purple and in that rightly and so of the colour of any other thing of which he was askt where by he discovered his own hypocrisie for said the Duke If the Saint hath given you your sight he hath not withall given you the knowledge of colours which is not attained but by experience Lord thou hast wrought a cure upon the eyes of my mind by enlightning them with thy truth but let me not render thy cure suspected by undertaking to discerne those Mysteries which are onely to be knowne by experience in heaven 29 Sir Edwin Sandys reporteth upon his own knowledge of devout Papists who have dared to perjure themselves in judgement presuming upon the present and easie remedy of confession Lord thou hast in thy Word discovered repentance and faith in the Bloud of thy Son as the meanes of blotting out of the sins of my soule and how apt is my heart to take liberty to sin with purpose of applying this remedy against the evill consequences of it but let me not so trample under my feet the Bloud of thy Covenant as an unholy thing but keepe me that such presumption may not prevaile over me 30 Upon the Coast of Norway the ayre is so subtilly peircing that it insensibly benums the members chills the bloud and brings certain death if not with speed prevented as our King James had experience when there he was a Royall Suiter to Queen Anne The ayre of ill company with a pestilent contagion doth seize the heart if not with a diligent and constant resistancy repelled Lord I would not willingly be where such a breath rageth lest like Joseph I learne to sweare by the Life of Pharoah but if by thy providence I am cast into such company let me be like Salt to season them and not be leavened by them 31 In the King of Persia's Court there was an allowance of severall Countries for the maintenance of his wives apparell one Countrey for the tire of their heads another for their necks and other for other parts of their bodies The English nation wants little now of being at that passe for if a Gentleman have twenty Farmes how many of them must be parcelled out for his wife one of them unlesse of good revenue not sufficing to furnish her with laced shooes and other tingling ornaments belonging to them And truly this vanity hath so far prevailed on both sexes that it starved the poore and driven all good hospitallity out of doores 32 Malhamut the King of Cambaia accustomed himself so to the eating of poyson that his breath was venomous to those that spake with him and those women which he used for his lust were never the subjects of a second dalliance but dyed in the congression Those that accustome themselves to sin their very company is contagious but a strict familiarity with them cannot be had without the greatest danger 33 Bajazet the great Turke being in his March against Tamerlane overheard a Shepherd sweetly tuning his Oaten pipe to whom he said Happy thou that art not distracted with these solicitous and weighty cares We oft admire the peace and contentedness of the meane estate but are more in love with the pomps and vanities of the wealthier like Alexander who said Vellem Diogenes esse si Alexander non essem 34 Apelles coming to the house of Protogenes and not finding him at home was by the servant required his name that he might tell his Master who was there to speake with him in answer to whom he askt for a pencill and therewith drew a line on a tablet there standing and bid him shew that to his Master when he came home at sight whereof by the Art exprest therein Protogenes knew none but Apelles hand did it Lord the impulses of thy Spirit of Satan and my own corruption make their accesses to my heart but without a name by which they may be knowne whose they be but if the lines drawne on the tablet of my heart be holy regular and conformable to the rules of thy Word I know then 't is thy hand that did it but if they impresse other Characters let them be disdained as none of thine and the doore shut against them as those that are minded to destroy 35 The Romane State never met with such disasterous fortune as when assailed at their own doores The Gaules and Hanniball afterward Warring upon them in Italy bringing their Common-wealth almost to an utter expiration because in forraigne Wars they fought much with Auxilliary strength beside their own
and edification by one hours private discourse than by multiplyed hours spent in publick Sermons and much were it to be wished that there were care had as to teach publickly so also from house to house 34 When the man asketh our Lord whether there were many that should be saved Luke 13.23 instead of answering his curiosity he replyeth by a profitable admonition he diverteth his thoughts from the uselesse speculation of an abstracted general into the useful consideration of his particular interest that instead of knowing the number of those that should be saved he should strive to be one of the number well were it if those little-edifying questions between Calvin and Arminius about Calling and Election were converted into serious endeavours to make our calling and election sure and there were more care to advance Christs Kingdome in our hearts then to dispute when and where his personal Reign shall be upon the earth 35 If that controversie had been proposed to one of our Rabbies which the woman of Samaria did to Jesus John 4.10 Whether Mount Gerizim or Jerusalem were the place where men ought to worship they would have told you a story out of antiquity wherein possibly they would have reached no higher than the age after Sanballat and so have mist of the true stream by not ascending to the true Primitive fountain but our Lord reduceth this controversie about worship to the proper consideration of the true object of worship not disputing how or where or when but what was to be worshipped and directing the mind to such worship as was sutable and therefore likely to be acceptable viz spiritual like the Spirit we worship and therefore we shall find God calling men off from Ceremony as he hath call'd them on to further discovery as he revealed himself more cleerly in Gospel light so the shaddows fled away and Ceremonies were reduced to be much more simple in furniture and fewer in number 36 The Apostle James layes a necessity upon us to make our faith publick by good works James 2. ult saying Faith without works is dead yet the Apostle Paul enjoyns us to keep our faith private saying Hast thou faith have it to thy self before God Rom 14. 22. Not that the Apostle Paul ho had so manifoldly evinced the excellency of faith and its efficacy to justification was unwilling it should be manifested by its fruits or were not as much for good works as the other but the difference between them is in the different faith spoken of St James speaking of that general faith St Paul of a particular the object of the first being all Gods will revealed the object of the latter being something concerning which Gods will hath not been particularly revealed the first is that for which there must be a contending by the Saints but no contending for the latter no imposing of that upon others no censuring no judging for not observance to be zealous in the first is faithfulness in the latter is factionsness of that there must be a publick profession of this such a private observation as may agree with the generals we allow and with our particular perswasion no dissolving of the golden Chain of Christian Charity for any difference of judgement in this wherein a thing and its contrary eating and not eating a day and not a day may be alike laudably observed 37 We find the reason why God brought variety of judgements upon the Jews till he had removed them out of his sight and destroyed their City by Nebuchadnezzar to be the sins of Manasseh and the innocent bloud which he shed which the Lord would not pardon 2 Kings 24.3 4. yet we read those sins were pardoned to Manesseh upon his faith and repentance and the present judgement under which he suffered removed yea Manasseh departed this life long before the destruction of Jerusalem so that the calamities then suffered little pertained unto him whom the grave had secured against such after-claps but though Manasseh were dead and his iniquities forgiven to him yet his posterity did approve his doings That reformation begun by himself and carried on to much perfection by his son Josiah was quickly interrupted by the wicked posterity that followed they by their assent subscribed to the long Bed-roll of those sins which the Father had disclaimed and added a new score of their own iniquities therefore it was just with God to reckon to them and make them pay that account which they themselves had approved and this is the way whereby a wicked generation may entail themselves heirs to the iniquities and consequently to the plagues of all precedent ages thus all the bloud from that of righteous Abel to that of Zacharias the son of Barachias is reckoned to the unbeleeving Jews and therefore wrath brought upon them to the uttermost Wherefore no wonder if we see estates gotten by bribery or oppression melting away like the untimely fruit of a woman while the succeeding heirs instead of making due restitution justifie the rapines of their progenitors and spend that by riot and prodigality which they got by extortion and cruelty 38 When our Lord commanded the Legion out of the possessed that haunted the Tombs Mark 5.10 we read That he besought him much that he would not send them out of the Countrey I began to think why the Devils should desire to abide in those parts but I found the people of the place came to Christ and desired him to depart out of their Countrey no wonder the Devils desire there to abide where the people pray the Lord to be gone 't is a sweet content to the Devils to have their Mansion there where the inhabitants love their Hogs more than their souls and give Christ not so much entertainment as they would do a Swineherd 'T is like these were Countrey-Farmers who knew no more Religion than a Collect for rain and fair weather in its season God hath promised his presence where two or three are gathered together about the affairs of his worship and the Lord saith His Father and He will come and sup and make their abode with him who loveth him keepeth his Commandements so contrarily the Devils delight to possesse those houses from whence all acts of Religion are banished and God is not named unlesse as by the damned in hell that he may be blasphemed But whereas one Evangelist sayes not out of the Countrey another sayes not into the deep though verily there be not much difference between Hell and some houses as to the sins and blasphemies committed there yet is there odds to the torments Hell is Gods house of Correction from whence those spirits are sometimes sent to be the Executioners of Gods displeasure and it is their terrour to be remitted thither therefore we hear them crying out to our Lord Not to torment them not to send them into the place of torment Till the consummation there is use of the Ministry of those evill Angels and till then
brought off but was there slaine and the horse recovered Lord in that valuation which my heart sets upon the things here let me observe that due subordination least while I too much prize the things I love much those very things procure the losse of those things I love more 48 At Boghar a Citie of the Zagaethaian Tartars there is a River which causeth to them that drinke thereof a worme in the legge which if not pul'd out or partially proves certainly deadly Such is sin if entertained in the soule begetting a guilt and fearfull expectation of Gods vengeance and surely damnable if not cleansed out by faith in the Bloud of Jesus 49 The Germans knowing themselves no matches for the Italian in respect of their craft and subtilty make amends for that want by a peremptory sticking to those resolutions which they had before considerately taken up I find my selfe no wayes able to deale with that old Serpent who hath so many methods of deceit but let him say what he will or can Lord do thou fix me irremovably on this resolution I have said I will keep thy Commandements alwayes even to the end 50 The Inns of Poland give no entertainment to the traveller but bare walls without bed or board or other accommodation whatsoever Alas how oft is my heart such a guest-chamber to good thoughts and pious designes where they find such welcome as decayed persons have from their wealthier friends 51 In Peru a man may passe from Summer to Winter in a few houres there being in the plaines a louring skie continually stormes and everdropping clouds when at the same time the mountaines have a serene heaven and a verdure in all respects suitable to a Summer season Such variety doth my heart afford where the old man rageth with unruly passions and disorderly affections and irregular concupiscences But blessed be God within a little space a better face of things is to be seen the regenerate part bringing in that calmnesse meeknesse and regularity agreable to a Gospel Sunshine yea even then the spirit is willing when the flesh is weake 52 When Cyrus besieged the Citie of Babilon the River Euphrates was the greatest obstruction to his designe till he cut out many channels and diverted the streame into them which before when united was deeply Navigable but now divided became in every place fordable The diffusion of the mind into variety of thoughts and subjects renders it uncapable of any deepe search but he is like to be profound that sums his thoughts to one purpose till obtained Vnite my heart to the feare of thy Name 53 There is a Plant in Sumbrero an Iland of India which is locomotive the roote being a worme like an house snaile if this Plant be taken up it dryeth into a solid stone by how much it had exceeded other Plants in sense and motion by so much more degenerating into a stone it exceeded in hardness Thus it is with those who being once enlightned and by a tast of the powers of the world to come transported beyond the common sort of inconsiderate soules if they apostatize they become the worst and most stony hearted of men bitter scoffers or cruel persecutors 54 The City Weinspurg of the Guelphian Faction being besieged by the Emperour and cruelly threatned the women of the City besought him they might have leave to depart taking with them only what they could carry on their backs to which he consenting they each past forth bearing on their backs their husbands If love could procure a compliance between married couples in those things not so easily nor in some respects possibly so seemely yet for generall advantage it would be found an expedient oftentimes conducing not to the comfort onely but safety of both 55 Peter Walde a rich Merchant in Lyons walking the streets with some of his friends one of them fell suddenly downe dead with which spectacle he was so affected that he immediately reformed his life became the beginner of the Waldenses which for so many ages have stood forth couragious Confessors of the Truth Lord how suddenly and unexpectedly mayest thou call for this breath that is in these nostrils and time to me shall be no more let me therefore improve the present time to do thee service and secure my soul being the time to come depends upon so much uncertainty 56 There is a tree in Mindanao the halfe of which Easterly sited is a great Antipoison but that part respecting the West the greatest poyson in the world So is it in the regenerate where the fleshly part perpetually brings forth the venomous offspring of vile lusts but the spirituall part is in a constant resistancy against those poysonfull effects 57 There are a sort of fishes in the Southern Ocean which when pursued by other fishes in the Sea fly into the ayre but are then made a prey to a Sea fowle which continually watcheth that opportunity Lord if I am in private my own unruly passions disquiet me if in publick temptations from without assault me but Oh let thy grace be sufficient for me that though I be Concussus I may not be Excussus though on every side and ever assailed yet never overcome 58 There is an Idoll in Madure a part of the East-Indies called Chocanada which they say in a vision willed a Priest to signifie to the King of Madure that one of they two must abide in his house upon which he unwilling there should be any competition between him and his Idoll resigned his Palace to him How is it that we are lesse complying with our God not expelling that worst part of our selves our lusts that he may be intempled in our hearts 59 A certain Noble man of France was wont when his Armor was buckled on and approaches made to battell to be taken with such a trembling that it loosed the retentive faculty of his body yet valourous in the face of his enemy and with much courage lost his life at the battle of Pavye Lord the very thought of what persecutions may befall because of thy truth makes my heart tremble but if thou ingage me in that combate supply me with thy assisting grace that like that Saunders my present weaknesse may be succeeded with a most stout contestation against thy most inveterate and bitterest enemies 60 The Aegyptians were wont with great cost and enquiry to search out a Bull to be their Apis whom having worshipped for a time after their superstition they drowned in a fountaine and then with great lamentation for his losse they imployed the like cost and quest for the finding of another Oh the hazards and hardships wherewith the things of this world are sought by us which being had we as foolishly spend as if indeed Satius esset quaerere quam quaesisse when like the Hawke we leave the killed Quarry and pursue that which flyes away 61 The people of Numidia are said not to wash their hands in some yeares an
with the Foot how shall I be able to stand in the day of battell when in the cause of thy truth there must be a resisting to bloud if I am nothing active in resisting of sin now am I like to abide in the Watch-tower whole nights that like the Disciples cannot watch one houre to prevent temptation Oh let me be therefore much in spirituall exercises now and in cutting off the right hands and plucking out of the right eyes of corrupt desires that I may be ready to deny the conveniences and preciousnesses of life when the emergences of thy interest shall call me to it 74 In the Province of Dariene in South America the mens heads are so hard that they will break a sword smitten on them Alas how many are there of such darkned understandings and seared consciences that those piercing discourses which have deeply penetrated others make on them no impressions but are returned back with scornes and scoffs or dasht in pieces without effect 75 Cardinall Campeius being sent by the Pope Legate into England about the divorce of Henry the eighth from the Lady Katherine Landing at Dover not in such equipage as was by Cardinall Woolsey thought meete for his dignity he sent him divers Mules and Muleters richly habited to furnish his train more pompously these passing with the said Cardinall through the City of London where all the Citizens arranged to expresse their devotion and his wel-come being disturbed by some accident fell a kicking and flinging so as down fell their Coffers broken upon the stones which were thought to containe precious treasures and rich apparell but instead thereof out flew old Bootes and Shooes broken Bridles and Girts to the solemne derision of the red Hats Lord to what purpose will it be to make a shew and but a shew of a long train of graces when my emptinesse shall be manifested at that generall assembly of men and Angells and my hypocrisie will make me but the more abundantly ashamed 77 There is a ground in some part of Italy into which what is driven is so fast detained as not to be pulled out Lord make my heart of such soile that the impressions of thy Word which alas have so often been like untimely fruit shaken off with every wind may be fixed past possibility of removall 78 The Ocean continually floweth into the Mediterranean Sea by the Straits of Gibraltar and the Euxine alwayes floweth into the same Sea by the Proponticke yet is there no appearance that the Mediterranean is more filled though no passage whereby it sends forth its waters is discovered nor seemeth the Euxine Sea any thing lessened though there appeare no supply of waters to it but by some small Rivers Many there be of large revenues but bare purses who yet are strait handed to acts of charity while others free to good works and of much meaner incomes are yet well stored with that which to those good ends they daily spend vaine expences by a private consumption wasteth the one while Gods blessing by a secret retribution returnes with interest what was laid out upon his account 79 Neere Assos there are stones which in few dayes not onely consume the flesh of dead bodies but the very bones too and there is an earth in Palestine of the same operation Lord let the mortification of this body of death in me be of the like speedy execution that those lusts which are more confirmed and seeme more durable may through the power of thy grace have a quick consumption 80 Julius Caesar having taken at Pharsalia and Thapsus the Cabinets of Pompey and Scypio his utter enemies wherein were many Letters from their partakers whereby the men and their designes against Caesar would have been discovered by a rarer example then our dayes have yeilded without once reading the inclosed Epistles caused them all to be immediately burned Lord that book wherein all even my most secret iniquities are written will by the accuser at that day be brought before thee but let thy mercy blot out that hand-writing with the bloud of thy Son that no charge may be framed there either to confound or shame me 80 'T is said of Agesilaus King of Sparto that He ruled his Countrey by obeying it gaining so far upon the Sphori and Senate by complying with what they desired that he might do what himselfe would Lord what freedom is it to be thy servant for I may then do what I will if I will do but what thou commandest in doing thy will I cannot do amisse but in serving thee serve my selfe 81 King Pirrhus being asked Whither Python or Cephesias were the best Fluteplayers answered that in his Judgement Polyperchan was the best Captaine intimating that it was not worth the enquiry who were best skil'd in those Arts which were so little pertinent Lord let me be offertedly ignorant of those things that are wicked and vaine well may the children of this world be wiser in those things of their generation then the children of Light The posterity of Cain are storied to be the first inventers of Arts they might be witty in that upon which they were wholly intent the pious seed had their aimes above they might well overlook what others saw whose eyes were fixt below but when God comes to reckon up the wits of the world those onely will be accounted witty that are so for heaven 82 Summers Henry the Eights Jester kept a Catologue of the indiscretions of the Court which the King desiring to see found his own name there for intrusting an Italian with some thousands of Crowns to buy Barbary Horses but saith the King How if he do returne and bring the Horses I gave him money for 't is then saith Summers onely the blotting out of your name and putting his in How often are we guilty of such improvidences wherein our successe is to be ascribed not to our wisdomes but others folly such successes are like wellfavoured children of an uncomely venter when though we dandle the babe yet we are ashamed of the mother whereas what is done uprightly and done prudently may like nature produce a monstrous birth but hath ever its excuse made for it though it may be blamed it can never be shamed 83 Polienclus a very fat man in an hot day perswading the Athenians in an Oration to make War with King Philip Phocian told the people they should do well to undertake it upon such a mans motion who was likely to do much with his Armor on his back that was in such a sweat with delivering an Oration We are ready to think we shall appeare much for God if we are concerned to resist unto bloud but how unlikely when we come so poorly off in our contention against any poor lust 84 Agesilaus being lame of one of his feete was wont to prevent the mocks of others by merrily jesting himselfe at his own infirmity Lord we are Mephibosheths lame in both our feet when we
Henry the Eighth to the Pope being admitted to have Audience the Pope held out his Toe to him to kisse which a Spaniell of the Eaths seeing catcht in his mouth but the Earle not liking to take his dogs leavings left the kisse which he had first hanselled Sathan offereth filthy stinking lusts under the pretence of pleasure or honour to us which vile and uncleane sinners greedily catch at and well were it if we were too curious to tast of that Cup wherein those swine have dabled 106 The War betweene the Duke of Burgudy and the Swissers began but for a load of Sheepskins wherein the Drake refusing all offers of accord lost in three battells his honour wealth and life Of how great advantage to us while we are in this world is moderation whereby even easily those differences are accommodated and mischiefes avoyded which our frowardnesse and obstinacy widen unmeasurably and many times involve us in utter ruine past recovery 107 Doctor Harvy reporteth of a Wench living in the Countrey which went to London there in that Forrest of people to conceale her shame and lay down her great belly of which being delivered in the Moneth of September and a few dayes after recovering strength went home where in December following she was brought to bed of another child to the manifest evidence of her dishonesty Lord this is not the least of my infelicities that this heart doth superfoetare a suggestion of Satan is no sooner brought forth but eftsoones my heart is delivered of another nay as Pliny reports of Ponticke Mice even the young ones yet unborne are with young Therefore Lord as to these conceptions give my heart what wilt thou give it even a barren womb and dry breasts 108 A Citizen of Megalopolis being on his death-bed and his friends lamenting by him said to them To dye is not grievous to me hoping in the other world to meet with such good company as Pythagoras Homer Hecatoeus If there be such an association of affections between those where Learning onely hath knit the knot as to make death it selfe to be desired for company let the Apostles Cupio dissolvi be no more wondred at when the company to be enjoyed are God the Judge of all and Jesus the Mediator of the new Testament and the Spirits of just men made Perfect and the bond of Union even the same Spirit 109 Henry the Eighth being an hunting an expected raine fell whereupon one of his Noblemen came to him saying It raines hard my Leig and hath spoiled your sport to whom he said And so let it raine When those things befall us which are above our power by our patient sufferance we bring them under our Command 110 At the battell of Montlhrey a Nobleman of the King of France his side fled without stay to Luzignan and an other of the Earle of Charolois side to Quesnay le Court which are above three hundred miles asunder 't were well if in all Wars the contest were who should flee farthest Certainly in the battell against sin he is surest of the victory that least comes neere it 111 Policletus being to make two Statues contrived one of them according to the exact rules of his Art the other according to the fancy of every one that came by which when he had exposed to publicke view the first was applauded by all the other laught at by those that had themselves given direction for its fashion What itching fingers hath every meane person to be medling with those in publicke imployments and they who cannot ken their A. B. C. will yet take upon them to censure their Teachers and direct for the management of their function Yea Lord we are ready to say Why is it thus and to think if we had the disposing of worldly affairs those things should never have been which have happened but we would more compendiously effect those ends which we think God proposeth to himselfe But were it so how would unruly passions and unbridled affections distort us and lead us into factions and fooleries to the vexation of others and disquieting of our selves and perverting those ends which culminantly should have been in our eyes 112 On an Iland on the North of Scotland there is a Fowle which layeth but one egg and that fastened by the slime which accompanies its production at the small end on some stone which she hatcheth by holding it in her foot but if it be removed from the place where it was fastned no Art can fix it there againe Lord thy Spirit suggesteth an holy motion and fastneth on the stone of my heart with that evidence of the holinesse justnesse and goodnesse of it which accompanieth it which if attended to by a carefull hand may be brought forth to an happy perfection but if it be let fall from my heart by suffering that evidence to coole by negligence or be disturbed by worldlinesse 't is almost impossible in the like manner to resettle it 113 There is an Hill upon the Coast of America where such plenty of Sea Fowle roost that they cover it thick with their dung so as no Plant grows there which the husbandmen carry thence for the manuring of their grounds which makes them beare with incredible fertility Lord to that end doth Satan bespread my heart with the abominable filth of uncleane suggestions that a good thought might have no abiding there But let that wicked one be disappointed of his end that what he intended should kill may become usefull to me that thy grace may be actuated and exercised by what he designed should decay it and the abhorrency of his pest may make me delight in and be more laborious in thy service 114 Alexander the Tyrant of Pheren seeing a Tragedy acted and being moved to teares by a lamentable passage in it rose up and said to one of his familiars that He was ashamed to shew himselfe commiserating the fained sufferings of others and not to take pity of the miseries by himselfe brought upon his own Citizens Lord thou hast disposed the heart of man to compassion no heart so stony but admits of some degrees distressed orphans and diseased Lazers we cannot but relent to though not releeve our greatest cruelty is to our selves to that best part of our selves our souls which may so justly lament and cry these are the wounds which I received in the house of my friends 115 Rought having been at the Martyrdome of Austoo returning home was met by a friend and asked Where he had been who answered To learne the way which he went afterwards in a fiery Chariot 'T is better to go to the house of mourning then the house of feasting Sadnesse contracting the soule Mirth dilating it But 't is excellent to be present at the departure of the servants of God many rare experiences are to be learned there Those so travelling in the very Thorniest part of the way to heaven give both choice direction and confirmation The
Devill then exercising them most and with greatest variety of temptations and those dying Swans never singing so sweetly as at their expiration 116 Charles the Seaventh King of France having a jealousie that those about him by the instigation of his son did intend to poyson him abstained from meat so long that when he would have eaten he could not his passages being shrunk up with too much abstinence and so dyed miserably of famine There is a time when Gods Spirit strives with man motions to good are frequent and vehement upon the soule when with a certaine violence we are drawne to good the feare of God is before our faces as with Balaam that we dare not rush into sin but if these strivings be still resisted these motions slighted and this feare repel'd the time will be when God will say my Spirit shall not alwayes strive 117 In the conspiracy of Otho against Galba when Otho had invaded the Army and was acknowledged by it there was a strong report that Otho was slaine which very many of the Senators and Knights of Rome hearing presented themselves to Galba professing their sorrow that the occasion to shew how much they would have done for his security was taken away of which yet when the truth proved otherwise not a man did once appeare in his defence Lord when thy justice seemes to be suspended and because thou punishest not speedily therefore thou wilt not at all how daring and presumptious is this heart what promises of pleasure and security in sin doth it make but when conscience is awakened and the expectations of thy vengeance received it is not lesse ready to despond then it was before presumptious and daring Therefore Lord though I desire to serve thee out of a principle of onenesse with thee and affection to thee yet no bonds are too many to restraine rebellious corruptions and I had rather the Rod should be ever held over me then I should grow wanton through the want of it 118 Mount Taurus hath his head continually covered with snow though elevated far toward the Sun when the much more low lying valleys are parcht with excessive fervor because the beams of the Sun passing upon those Hills obliquely affect them with little heat whereas below the heat is doubled by reverberation Those that are as I may call them single-guilt Auditors that give the word an hearing and but an hearing are left with cold and snowy affections but those have their hearts like the Disciples journying to Emaus burning within them that reflect the word back againe by meditation 119 Philip Duke of Burgundy was wont to say That the Citizens of Gaunt love their Princes Son well but their Princes never Such is the fond heart of man disliking and weary of what is in present reaching after what is to come which when obtained we as much disgust and loath as we before fondly pursued 120 Grinoeus lying upon his death bed said That he was going to that place where now Luther and Calvin agreed well together The differences of Judgment that are between good men will be composed or at least qualified in this life when persecution cometh but they will be extinguished in the other world when we shall see no more in aenigmate but face to face but the animosities that are betweene evill men arising from corrupt hearts and cursed lusts shall be exasperated in Hell where like the Army of Midian every mans sword shall be against his brother the Devils shall torment men and men one another and there shall be consent in nothing but weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth 121 Lewis the Eleventh King of France having been a great oppressor of his subjects by excessive Taxes when he grew old resolved to redresse that and other mischiefs whereby they had been oppressed but was in a short time after this purpose prevented by death There are twelve hours in the day wherein men may work but we are bad accomptants and reckon for the most part that but five which is past Eleven and therefore as to all good purposes begin too late but happy is he that alwayes makes use of the present for he is sure not to be disappoynted nor misreckoned 122 Three Martyrs being bound to one stake one of them finding his heart sadded and fainting through the apprehension of the danger went from under the chaine and fell down and prayed and therein finding that comfort he wanted rose up joyfully and going to his fellows together with them couragiously suffered Lord we can saile no further in this troublous Sea then the gales of thy Spirit drive us if those faile we are presently becalmed even then when our course is most vigorous 't is thou that not onely winds up our soules but art the spring that moves them if that be down their motion to thee-ward ceaseth for 't is thou that gives us to will and to do of thy good pleasure 123 Agesilaus hearing news of the overthrow of Pisander at the very time of his joyning battell with the Thebans caused the contrary tidings to be reported in his Camp least his Souldiers should be discouraged and came out himselfe with a Garland of flowers on his head and publickly sacrificed to the Gods giving them thanks for the goodnews We have seen much such politick Religion in our dayes when there hath been praying and fasting and giving of thanks not according to the truth of our concernments but mens ambitious ends But Lord though thou hast been thus mocked and Religion made a stalking Horse to Policy yet be thou found neverthelesse of those that seek thee in truth and thy services not lesse used because they have been thus abused 124 Theramenes coming out of an house was no sooner abroad but the house fell down and crushed them that were in it which good fortune the Athenians congratulating he said O Jupiter what is it for which thou hast farther reserved me And not long after engaging for the Common-wealth against the thirty Tyants was by them put to death Lord when thy goodnesse succoureth us in our dangers and giveth us those deliverances which thou deniest to others let us take care not so much to enjoy our selves in that safety thou hast vouchsafed us as to answer those ends wherefore thou hast preserved us 125 I read of the sister of Edward the third married to David King of Scots that she was called Jane Make-peace How fortunate were it if not every Kingdome but every Family had one deserving that name For what animosities are bandied between kindred and kindred neighbour and neighbour man and wife which an indifferent skill piously affected might easily compose 126 'T is said of the Army of Vitellius that in their march from Germany against Otho were vigorous and full of courage in induring the troubles and hardships of the War and ready to execute the commands of their Captains but in their march out of the City against Vespatian they were faint
our Gallants had soone taken up their fashion of wearing Muffs a mode unagreeing with our temperate Climate so as the weaker Sex imbrace it more for ostentation then need and unbecoming the masculine Sex who should be men of action and ready prim'd to execution which made me wonder that we being so extreamly self-lovers and selfe-conceited should so far value others inventions as so unbecomingly to be their Apes and that the fashions of every Countrey should have so many followers those onely of the Kingdome of Heaven excepted 137 There is a fountaine in Dodone which extinguisheth lighted firebrands put into it but lighteth those that are extinct Lord if I come to thy word fraught with carnall wisdome I go blinder away then I came Therefore let my mind be darke as to the consultations of flesh and bloud without fire as to worldly desires that it may be enlightned by thy counsells and enkindled with an holy zeal to thy service 138 They say that a great part of the Land of Aegypt was Sea but by the earth which Nilus brings down with it and sends abroad in its overflowings is now become firme land and exceeding fruitfull Lord this heart of mine was all Sea estuating with raging passions and productive of innumerable monstrous desires but by thy grace it is now in some part good soile Oh let this Sea diminish daily and this good ground grow every day more and more fruitfull 139 Our Countriman saith That he observed in his travells in Italy that where our Lord Christ hath one votary the Virgin Mary hath twenty much more frequent Altars and enriched Temples and services more abundantly repeated So taking is superstition that whereas true Religion being of divine appointment hath but rare and calmly affected applycants humane inventions hath Tritum atrium many and zealous devotoes Bring thy son say the Abiezrites to Joash that he may dye because he hath throwne downe the Alter of Baal We heard no such thing before spoken of when Gods Alters were said desolate 140 There is a tree called Pacovere in Brazil which beareth fruit at a certaine time very plentifully but never save that once How many such are there who at some fit have appeared gallantly upon a Religious account but have been never after heard of as engaged in any godly designe that like Hushai have stept in to play their part but are never mentioned more But Lord let my soule be like the Orange tree full of successive fruit and let not the tree fall but so as that it may beat downe some of the Devills buildings with it 141 There is a people in the South of Africa which though they have twenty wives a piece or more yet bury their children assoone as borne not being willing to be combred with their education Our teeming hearts are Instar viginti incredibly fruitfull of corrupt thoughts but though they will conceive and bring forth 't is our prudence to stifle them in the birth for they cannot be brought up without not our trouble onely but our ruine 142 The Tiger they say when hungrey is a very valiant creature not dreading any enemy but when full will flee from a dog Many have there been very daring and undaunted in the ingaging in and patrocination of good workes when their estates were mean but when they have been warme with wealth and well furred with large revenues any feeble opposition hath quelled their courages 143 In the time of Dionisius that Sicilian Tyrant the Sea was fresh for an whole day in the Bay of Siracusa Lord my heart hath a naturall saltnesse not one drop is to be fetched thence but hath an originall unsavourinesse But Oh thou that art able wouldest cure that otherwise incurable disease speake the word and thy servant shall be made whole smite thou the Rock of my heart with the Rod of thy word that thence may flow the living spring of divine charity 144 Isocrates is said to sell one Oration of his for twenty Talents Surely Learning is not so much degenerated as the price is fallen but if the inticing words which mans wisdome teacheth be at so deare a rate how precious should those volumes be of which Lord thy holy Spirit is the inditer 145 A certaine Samian named Elpis on the African shore met a Lion ☞ from whom flying and recovering the next tree the beast draws neere making shews that he had a bone in his throat with many supplicant postures requires his help who at length perswaded to descend and performing the office desired had thanks returned him by the Lion with a constant tribute of the beasts he caught during all the time of his abode in that coast 'T is not rare to find high flowne persons like this Lion submissive to and supplicating the help of those of meaner consideration in their necessities but it is rare to find such imitating this Lion in their gratitude 146 There is a beast called Catoblepas whose eyes whosoever sees dyes immediately but yet according to its name having an heavy head looks alwayes downward and so being seldome seen is lesse pernicious How virulent and ragefull are those instruments of Satan and whither would not their malice extend its selfe but that the divine Providence hath so ordered it that those curst Cowes should have short hornes 147 The Sea-Tortoises being delighted with the morning Sun so long please themselves in that injoyment that their shell being dried with the heat of the Sun they cannot merg themselves when they would but floating above the water become an easie prey to them that designe the carching them The soul that too long and unretiringly beslows its selfe on the pleasures of this world will find its selfe in no capacity to engage in spirituall affaires but at hand to be taken captive by the Devill at his will and in a promptnesse to be debauched by every temptation 148 'T is observed the Storks which in great numbers come in Summer and depart in Winter are never perceived when they come though that they are come be apparent The infusions of grace in those piously educated though the time when may many times not be discovered yet the being of it if it be will be manifest and by the effects of it evident 149 Histories tell us and my selfe have known that where Wood hath been grub'd Fountains have sprung up where before there were none If we would but pluck up those inordinate desires which waste our estates in vaine superfluities what abundance would there be of profitable conveniences to supply others 150 Agesilausbeing desired by one to heare a man that exactly counterfeited the Nightingale answered it would not need for he had often heard the Nightingale her selfe When we are called upon to heare the determinations of Counsels and Fathers and to observe the practice of Antiquitie which it were well if we did exactly imitate the truth it might be replyed It were not amifse but that we have God himselfe
designe to be glad when it is said tous Let us go up to the house of the Lord but it is better to lead in such company to be Captains of the Lords Host but then we shew what spirit we are of when like Elijah we are very jealous for the Lord in such general defections that we seem only left that we can tread the wine-presse alone though of the people there be none with us can say as Joshua I and my house will serve the Lord though all Israel beside desert his interest 182 Lewis then Duke of Orleance rebelling against Charls the eighth King of France and joyning in confederacy with the Duke of Britain was taken prisoner in battel by the Earl of Trimovil being afterward King of France and moved by some about him to be revenged of the Earl said That the Earl had done nothing but his duty and wisht That he might never find a worse Subject in time of need then the Earl in that action had approved himself Such preaching as doth search the heart awaken conscience and hedg about the soul with thorns that it cannot find its paths and takes it captive in the Lords bonds is under the censure of men as unreasonably austere and rigorous but when their eyes are opened to discern the true interests of their souls they then find that that 's the preaching fit for the recovery of souls and that they had never been cured if they had not been cauterized 183 Richard the first being in his Palace at Westminster had news brought him That the French King besieged one of his Towns beyond the Seas whereupon he vowed That he would not turn his back till he had raised the siege and immediately caused the walls to be digged down before him and without farther delay hasted over and relieved the place How many good purposes are lost for want of present execution while we pretend to consult for the fittest opportunity we loose the present opportunity and while we are determining what time to repent in we leave our selves no time wherein to repent 184 A certain Priest in France being converted to the truth and imprisoned for it being brought to examination recanted upon which recantation being delivered out of prison was in the very passage out slain by two Gentlemen that bare an old grudge to him Lord they that will not lose their lives upon that excellent accoutn of thy glory how just is it that it should be lost to them upon the unprofitable account of humane frailty or others malice what rare husbandry is ti then to lose the life for thy sake when that Rose is offered up a sweet savour to thee and shall be richly rewarded by thee which otherwise would have faded of it self or have been clipt off with the rest of the Bush 185 One claiming Justice of Aristides for injuries that another had done him told him That the same person had spoken very unhandsome and vile words of Aristides himself to whom he said Friend if he have wronged thee ought prethee make it appear for upon the account of righting thee am I at this time here not to vindicate my own wrongs When will it be that judgement shall not be perverted that the equity of the cause and not the affection of the party accused shall be considered for how often hath it been sufficient to put and keep those sheep in the Pound not because they have trespassed but have not our mark upon them and have dispatcht those Doves not because they have not been innocent but not of our colour 186 A Bishop being charged with an hainous offence and condemned to dye for it had grace given in to him before his execution so that with floods of tears he lamented his sins with an heart abundantly poured out he besought the Lord for pardon saying That he had said prayers before but never prayed till now What odds is there between the tongue when it is the tuned instrument of others invention and when it is the tunable instrument of the hearts affection when the breath that moves it is not out of the bellows of a formal devotion but the breathings of the soul to God and pantings after him how differently is the Lord affected the languid oscitancy and distracted perfunctoriness of prayer not dictated from the heart like an arrow shot from a broken bow falling short of the Throne of Grace but it is the inditings of that spirit of prayer and supplication that layes bands upon the Divine Majesty and will not let him go untill it hath a blessing 187 Philip King of Spain being minded by one of his Courtiers That that was the day of his father the Emperours resignation answered and of his repentance too intimating that that resignation was no sooner done then wisht undone With what unresolvednesse do we resolve to desert the world our hearts having secret practice with it even then when our understandings are convinced of the vanity of it and we professe most against it our repentance though as to the matter of it not to be repented of yet to be repented of as to the manner 188 Pliny reports of a Maid in his time On her marriage day changed into a man and others tell of the same metamorphosis so reall that some afterward have had wife and children Those that are espoused to Christ in the bond of the New Covenant are truly changed from the effeminacies of lust and of a vain conversation and become masculine enobled to generous and heroick designs prest to quit themselves like men 189 Archimedes being intent upon a Mathematicall demonstration at the time when Syracusa was taken a Souldier breakes into his study upon him with his sword directed at him to whom he turn'd about and said Prethee friend let me alone till I have finisht my Demonstration with which the rude fellow incensed run him through without more ado With what content have those refined souls bestowed themselves in the search of humane Science when with high satisfaction to themselves they have hunted forth out of the rude masse some more sublimed notion with what exultation have they clapt their hands at and applauded their own 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when as yet their wisdome was but of the earth earthy with what rare delight then may we be imployed in the search of those divine mysteries which the very Angels themselves desire to pry into 190 The very suspition of Protestanisme is almost Capital where the Inquisition is established but the Jews are by publick allowance suffered in Rome it self under the Popes Nose though the Protestant agree very much with the Papist in his belief as a Christian the Jew not at all In Turkey the Christians have free exercise of their Religion but the Persian Sect is so hated that a Zelez slew an Embassadour of theirs only upon the account of that difference though the Christian wholly disavow their Mahomet the Persian only dissents about his
English words being more then dissillables the other generally having their antepenultimaes A competent estate and that which is far greater are not differenced as to the content of the enjoyer for though this may ruffle more and the pomp may be greater yet it signifies the same to the owner He that hath an horse to ease his insirmity is as well supplyed in that for which an horse is usefull as he that must stay till four or five servants be ready to accompany him and he as well stored that hath an honest entertainment wherewith to bid his friend welcome and can shake hands with him in token 't is hearty as he that with a numerous service and solicitous ceremony must complement his Guest to a Non-plus 2 They say That he who will find an Hare sitting or Partridge lying must alwayes keep in his mind the Idea of those creatures as they are in that posture which the fancy being prepossessed with will presently apprehend them or any like them When the mind is forestalled with prejudice either against persons or things it soon beleeveth what it pre-conceiveth and will either find crimes or make them 3 I had a Bullock so swollen with wind that it break his Diaphragma and the poor creature dyed in great torture yet I considered it fared better with it then with a man afflicted with the Gout or Stone because wanting reason its miseries were not aggravated by a reflexion of the mind upon the pains suffered It is not the least of the happinesses of a man having grace that he is able to discern those gifts and to behold himself like the Kings Daughter all glorious within so shall it be no small addition to the infelicities of the damned that they shall have the exercises of their reason which they have so much abused to consider the goodnesse of that God of whom they are deprived and the greatnesse of those miseries by which they are punished 4 Two Goats meeting together on a long narrow Bridge the straitnesse of which was such that neither could go by other nor turn about to go back one of them lay down flat while the other went over him and so there became easie passage for both When the interest of dissenting parties meet in such narrownesses as are hard to be accommodated how much would the submission of one part to the present necessity conduce to the advantage of both 5 Being to confer the going of my Watch with a San-Diall which was to be set by the Compasse and finding it not to agree therewith my unwillingnesse to have my Watch convicted of error made me ready rather to set the Dial by my Watch then my Watch by the Dial. Lord how many times hath my self-love induced me by false interpretations and glosses to bring the strait rules of thy Word to a complyance with my irregular affections then by an holy submission to make my affections comply with the rules of thy Word 6 I saw a Kitling practising the way to mouse with active motions and ingenuous turns gaining an aptness to prey in all postures and I observe other creatures by a natural instinct are prompt to those functions which are proper to their species but man knows nothing except to cry but what he is taught Lord as my great desire is that those whom thou hast given me may not be as they were born fools so give me to care chiefly that they may be spiritually wise 7 Being abroad one day my Horse got loose and run away from me and would not be recovered till he came to the Stable Dore I followed after him full of anger and purposes of punishing till I thus considered Lord am I thus angry that a creature by thee subjected to my Dominion doth thus shake off the yoke and retract his serviceableness when I a Subject to thy Soveraignty by an originall and every way unlimitted right so often have with drawn my service from thee Oh let me with more diligence and universality approve my obedience to thee and with more patience suffer neglect from them 8 The motion of the Primum mobile not only hurryes about the inferiour Orbs but even the Comets also seated in the aire are whirl'd about with the same Circulation Not only those of the same gang are turned about by the vertigo of Faction but many times also well meaning souls of different Principles and designs are transported by their vicinity with the same passions 9 Thunder is rare with us in the winter and prodigious in that season according to that saying Winters thunder is Englands wonder because those hot and dry vapors of which Thunder is generated are not exhaled from a rigid and congealed earth as ours then for the most part is Lord when my heart was frozen in that Winter of impenitency and unbelief the thunder of conscience was not frequent that inconsiderate estate seldome producing any such apprehensions but since my soul hath been brought out of that Prison conscience hath been londer and its checks are more often O let conscience every day have lesse cause to speak but let it every day be more quick of speech 10 The return of the Sun is no less certainly expected in Green-land where the night is of some moneths then with us in the Summer Solstice when day is never quite shut in Lord that eternall glory which thou hast promised and I by faith have apprehended how far off so ever is no lesse certainly expected then that daily bread wherewith I am by thee so frequently supplyed nor let me more despair of the Sun-shine of thy favour in the long night of trouble then in those perplexities which endure but for a very little season 11 Passing with a Candle from one room to another I saw they were only enlightned as I brought the Candle in successively one after another but as soon as the Sun arose they were altogether and at once enlightned Lord the knowledge which I have of my heart is only by degrees as I view the affections and actions of it one after another but thou beholdest them at one view those that are past present and to come Oh do thou who art so perfect an Anatomist and so exactly knowest my frame what it is straiten what is irregular cure what is corrupt and supply what ever defect thou findest there 12 I took a Plumb-stone and would have crackt it but could not I would have cleft it with a knife but it was not penetrable I set it in the ground and after a few dayes I found the kernel had shot out a tender sprout which had split the shell and â—ade its passage through Lord the hamnser of assliction breaks not this stony heart the sharp sword of thy threatnings pierce it not but let the sweet efficacies of thy mercies quicken the infused principle of thy grace that it may cleave all obstacles and send forth shâ—â—ts bearing fruit to thee abundantly 13 Being in London and
desirous to know the time of the day I viewed the Clocks and by the first I saw it was past eleven by the next but half an hour after ten the third was as much in the other extream and the fourth dissented from the other three then I applyed my self to the Dials but I found them as the Clocks onely agreeing in disagreeing from one another hence I concluded there could be no dependance on them who concurred so little with themselves I therefore turned my selfe to observe the setting of the Sun which though not alwayes the same yet hath a motion ever regular and agreeable to it self and to dispose of my affairs by that The variety of opinions among learned men manifesteth That there can be no certainty where there is so much dissent therefore in the conduct of my life Lord give me Nullius jurare in verba Magistri and to respect not so much what men say who can and do erre as what thy Word saith which is alwayes consonant to its selfe and erreth not but as misapprehended or mis-reported by us 14 Two persons being in competition for a place of honour a third engageth vigorously for one of them against the other the obliged person soon forgetteth those civilities done him having obtained his ends and grows shy of his Benefactor being confident that his merits call'd for that requitall which he meant not but the dis-obliged person graves the opposition of that third person on his mind with the pen of a Diamond and catcheth at the next opportunity to shew his animosity by a smart Animadversion Vespatians Captains relieved not the Citizen of Taracene in the miseries which for their interest they suffered when they of Capua are by them severely punished for the injuries which they had offered Lord who would displease thee to please men when our services are rewarded by thee not according to their merit but thy goodness and our dis-services through thy Son are both forgiven and forgotten The businesse of Vriah is then past over with silence when Davids uprightnesse after many Generations hath a frequent and honourable memoriall 15 Being abroad one day and without a Dinner a Comrade who had forethought the worm would bite had provided a piece of powdered Beef of which he was willing to communicate which though it were dry of it self and not a drop of drink to wash it down yet I eat it up very savourily and as Darius by his puddle-water gave it great commendation Lord how many of thy mercies through our fullnesse are nauseated by us which want would make more relishing and our necessities render precious 16 Having a design to plant a nursery with Crab-stocks I found many in Hedgrows and other places which I had many times before past by and not observed Lord fix the aim of my soul on thy glory and my affections on things above then those opportunities tending to spiritual advantage will be with promptnesse embraced which before were neglected or not observed 17 Upon the Rode to London I met a Team at a stand and neither skill of the Driver nor strength of the Horses could move the Cart out of the slough till another Team came which joyned with the former drew it out presently The cryes of particular Christians have not removed those evils wherewith they have been pressed when the united supplications of the Church have been heard so well pleased is the Lord with the unity of his people that what they agree of on earth he hath promised shall be done for them in Heaven 18 I fell one time into company where he was counted of the best wit that could devise the shortest Grace and most stomacks there were too squeamish to digest a Thanksgiving that did descend to express particulars But surely such wit will be of no use in the Kingdome of Heaven and those affections will no wise agree with that place where praise shall be the only imployment of glorified spirits 19 Walking in the streets I met a Cart that came neer the wall so I stept aside to avoid it into a place where I was secure enough but being desirous to be out of all possibility of danger I got off further Lord sin is that great evill of which thou complainest that thou art pressed as a Cart is pressed how can it then but bruise me to powder Oh let me therefore think my self never sufficiently secured from its danger nor the occasions of it far enough avoided 20 I met a Coffin made of such sweet wood adorned with such curious hinges deckt with such stately appurtenances as seemed to give ornament to death it self and make a grave desireable which yet in a few hours was to be covered with dust How is the life of man imployed about and intent upon matter of ostentation and how much of a vain shew is used in death it self that so fully discovers that all is but a vain shew 21 Being in company with some persons one among them undertook to relate a story which he had but begun as the rest fell to other discourse among themselves so as that he was fain to beg their attention by many Parenthesis of commendation that it was a very pretty story How vain is it to prostitute words to those that either think they have too much wit of their own to value the conceits of others or that have too little to apprehend them 22 Horsemen say that ill-bred Mares usually bring the fattest and well-favouredst Colts which yet afterwards prove unhandsome Jades whereas those of a good strain are meager and unsightly for the first yeer but after are of rare shapes and proof The freest and fattest promises are usually of the leanest performances whereas they that engage slowly performe surely 23 On the Rode to Guildford I passed by a Chalk-pit neer the way the top of which was railed about I observed it was not for fence but caution for the avoiding the stupendious precipice whereby the unwary traveller might be endangered Lord if thou hast set us bounds in thy word 't is not out of envy or ill will unto us as the Devil suggested to our first parents but where-ever we are by thee limitted it is for our advantage and security not our detriment 24 Viewing one night a bon-fire made upon an hill a great way off and comparing it with the evening star it seemed bigger brighter then that but after I had looked upon it a while I perceived it to decay in greatnesse and light till at last it was not to be discerned but the star retained still the same quantity beauty though now and then a Cloud for a time did obscure it Many have appeared like burning and shining lights while the fuel of worldly advantages hath lasted but when that faileth they disappear when those Lamps lighted with the Celestial fire of divine grace though the clouds of crosse occurrences or mist of temptation may sometimes hinder their appearing so glorious
yet they are alwayes the same by a regular and unchangeable brightnesse 25 A neighbour of mine had a little childe which with a fall put its arm out of joynt which the father by its unquietnesse perceiving was going to a Chyrurgion for remedy but while he was in consultation about it the Childe got another fall and thereby had his arme set right again so that it found ease and grew cheerfull upon it immediately Lord why are we out of heart when crosse occurrences befall us and think our selves undone when the great ones frown on us and are ala mort when our expectations are disappointed thou art he who by thy all-disposing providence canst make the very same things as the thrust of the Spear the impostumed person harm and heal us 26 A Rose-bush clipt in May and so disappointed of bearing fruit in June yet gave forth a plentifull crop of Roses in November Lord if the Spring and Summer of my life hath been like Oneâ—imus unprofitable and without that truit which might well be expected 't is of thy mercy that I was not eradicated when as the fruitless fig-tree was accursed though the time of figs was not yet come Oh therefore let my former barrenness be recompenced with such a fruitfullness as may out-goe the usual account of a November season 27 I passed by an Ants Nest set upon so steep a bank that their provision as fast as they brought it thither tumbled down again to the bottom which they as Sisiphus with his stone with continual labour setcht up again yet for divers years changed not the scituation of the Nest though a much more convenient place was hard by How many inconveniences do foolish and absurd customs beget us while like the Irish who tye the Plow to the Horse taile we pertinaciously stick to those practices which reason condemneth as inconvenient or erroneous when a more sober advice would easily present us with that which would be more usefull though lesse used 28 I saw a sheep in a very rainy day whose well-grown fleece as it kept him warm so it drank in the wet and thereby made the inconveniency of the rain much greater As the grace of God makes a man able with patience to bear his sufferings so it makes his sufferings more for beside his particular griefs he hath a fellow-feeling of all the concernments of Gods people too 29 I overtook a friend travelling to his house which though it were a Mile out of my way yet for his good company sake I went along with him Lord if thy providence effect thy glory though out of the way of my temporal advantage yet let me not be unwilling to comply with thy providence though with the losse of my present accommodations 30 A box wherein was some quantity of Civet being opened the scent thereof diffused it self to all the by-standers but was not alike resented by all not that the odour had not an equall diffusion but because their senses were not alike good or prepared to the reception of it If there shall be different enjoyments of the glory which shall be hereafter revealed 't is probable the odds will be not in the different manner of revelation but measure of apprehension Lord let therefore my heart be enlarged with the love of thee now that it may be filled with the more enjoyment of thee then 31 I saw an Orchard planted with choice of and the choicest of fruits but no good husbandry bestowed upon it afterwards but suffered to lye undigged and over-grown with Nettles and cropt by Cattel so that the Trees were hinderly and shrubbed having nothing neer attained that growth which otherwise they would I heard a Sermon the other day wherein I heard such smart and seasonable exhortations as possest my soul with many pious purposes which yet alas wanted that good husbandry which should have caused those thoughts to flourish into good works I am sensible I have lost a precious advantage I will therefore bestir me to recollect them out of the rubbish of impertinencies which lye in my heart and will take care of them that they be fenced with circumspection stak't with resolution digged about with religious exercise wed with caution and watered with prayer 32 An Hog was wallowing in his mire while the neat Cat sat licking her self and washing her face not willing to wet her foot though for fish so much desired I praised her cleanlinesse and would have done more but that I considered it was not out of election but disposition that she was so cleanly Lord some sins are escaped me not because I have chosen thy precepts but I have a natural disinclination to them if thou hadst never forbidden it I should never have been a drunkard that cloud in the brain and fretting heat in the stomack which but one draught between meals alwayes occasioneth is a sufficient bridle against that intempenance But Oh that all the considerations which Divine or Humane Light afford were sufficient to check those sins to which my constitution violently prompteth 33 Going by water the water-man was very curious of my sitting if I turned about he said It hindered his Boats going every motion was to him a fault and my tongue could hardly be removed from side to side but 't was complained of and this that our passage might be more speedy How nice a thing is peace of conscience how small a more offends it not acts of sin only but purposes to sin nor those only but abortive motions yea concupiscences not consented to the pure eyes of an infinitely holy God are something paralled by the quick sence of a tender conscience 34 The bloud in the Arteries is full of spirits and pulse which it looseth in the veins and therefore is returned again into the heart to receive there new heat and refection Every institution though in its first instruments it were lively and profitable yet in its after traductions it generally grows languid and corrupt and had need of a review Religion in the Primitive times was like bloud in the Arteries but now as in the Veins and sure it had need be often returned to the heart again rectified by the Word 35 I saw a Tree which grew by a too potent neighbour that over-grew it and dript it shrewdly but yet it thrust forth its boughs endeavouring to gain the open Heavens and the Suns uninterrupted aspect Lord thou knowest those inordinate desires which grow so neer my heart how much my soul is dript by them and how weak all my actings of grace are because of them if it be thy will let them be grub'd up by the roots if otherwise let my soul be averse and turn away from it endeavouring after a free acting to thee that I may partake of the dews of thy grace and the shining of thy favour 36 In a field of Oats I observed there were some taller then the rest and of a much fairer shew which when I had
As when David calls himself A Dog a Flea Abigail will be a servant to wash the feet of the servants of David vers 25.41 Ziba may take all seeing the King was come again in peace 9 When I read the condition of the oath which the Spyes made to Rahab Joshua 2.19 that they would be quit of their oath if at the taking of Jericho that Scarlet thread were not tyed in the window I thought the tying of it there would be let alone till Jericho were besieged especially to avoid suspition that the Spyes were conveyed that way but the first thing I read of after the Spyes departure is The binding of the Scarlet thrend in the window She thought that Cord whereon her life hanged could not be hanged out too soon might have been too late Oh the irrationality of a late repentance Must the body be besieged with sickness before that work be done upon which eternal life dependeth How often is it that that is never done because we think to do it late and what we intend to do anon we therefore do never And surely that work is fittest to be done to day concerning which it is so unsafe to boast of to morrow 10 When the brethren of Joseph met with trouble in Egypt they said one to another Gen 42.21 We are verily guilty concerning our brother There were many years had passed since they had sold him and we hear not any thing of it till now and yet we find no prompter but their own consciences There is this advantage by affliction that it gives the soul a stand and makes it look about it begets that observation which before it had not those threshing instruments discover that chaffe before not seen and when we are emptied from vessell to vessell we see those Lees not till then apprehended Art thou come to call my sin to remembrance and slay my son saith that woman Not to call her sin into Gods remembrance that it might be punished with the death of her son as by the death of her son to call her sin into her remembrance what it was appears not probably the unlawfull generation of that son forgotten long since put in the wallet behind but exposed to view upon this occasion 11 When I read Jacobs dream and his words upon it Gen 28.17 I wondered at the coherence between them the dream representing nothing but mercy words of grace promises of benefaction in the most abundant manner and yet when he awakes he cryes How dreadfull is this place who would not have expected other inference from such words as those But Gods countenance though clear with smiles yet strikes awe in the beholder the evidences of Gods love are so far from begetting presumption that they leave the soul in an holy trembling and fear to offend When God gives into the soul the Charter of its spiritual priviledges and richly lades it with the fraight of divine promises then is it most sensible of its distance and ballasted with the apprehension of its own unworthiness When God makes Abraham of his counsel and tells him what he would do then cryes Abraham That he is but dust and ashes 12 When Lot parted from Abraham and had his choice given him whither he would go he chuseth the plain of Jordan having respect to the fruitfulness of the place and its being watered every where but without consideration of the wickednesse of the inhabitants which yet the Spirit of God intimates should have been thought of for 't is immediately added Gen 13.13 But the men of Sodom were sinners before the Lord exceedingly But how ill this carnall project succeeded besides the grieving his righteous soul from day to day with the unrighteous conversation of the wicked being carried captive by the Kings and after dispoiled of all his substance in the ruine of Sodom It being just with God that when we prize the wealth of this world before that of a better and the health of the body before that of the soul so to dispose of it that we fail of our design and that proves to our losse in that very way wherein we intended it for our gain 13 A Promise being made to Abraham of a son we read Gen. 17.17 He fell upon his face and laughed saying Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old and shall Sarah that is ninety years old bear The like promise being made to Sarah we read Gen 18.12 she laughed too saying After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure my Lord being old also Surely there appears no such difference either in the words or laughter as there was in Gods sense of it for Sarah is reproved Abraham applauded What odds doth the heart make in humane actions God discerning a vast difference in the very same works those services which are performed by heartless Formalists having a rank favour in Gods nostrils the same services acted by a truly religious Votary being a most acceptable Spectacle in the eyes of divine glory 14 I observe a strange ambition in Sarah and Rachel that rather then they would be wholly childless they would have them by their maids and that which 't is like they would have stormed at upon another account yet they themselves upon the score of satisfying their fancies are the Authors of and if their husbands get children to be born upon their knees it shall qualifie the apprehensions of their own Sterility Lord I am sensible of my barrenness that I have been to thee very fruitless the immortall seed of thy Word how often hath it been cast upon my heart without any productions but let my desire to fructifie be such that I may endeavour others may bear upon my knees that that seed through my means may be diffused to others also 15 We are told Heb 9.4 That in the Ark there was the pot of Manna Aarons rod that budded and the Tables of the Covenant Yet 1 Kings 8.9 't is said There was nothing in the Ark but the Tables of the Covenant When I observed the diversity of those Texts I thought and I suppose truly that the Relative 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 had for its Correlative 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so that the pot of Manna and Aarons rod are noted as the Contents of the Holyest of Holyes not of the Ark to which agree that Scripture Exod 16.33 where there is mention made of laying them before the Testimony not in the Ark that being reserved as a peculiar Bibliotheca for the Tables of the Law there being by divine appointment a more solemn and peculiar custody allotted to them then to any thing else in the world beside not only to keep them for observation as to preserve them from violence neither abstraction nor addition being allowed there but exact and punctual compliance the most prudential consultations of humane reason alwayes meeting with unhappy successe Sauls providence in preserving the best of the
from the improbability arguing that such a thing would not be because naturally it could not be withall tacitely suspecting the Messenger therefore the Angel tels his name and gives a sign not only to confirm the truth but chastise his unbelief They were good men both and well beloved but their different tempers required a different dispensation God is not partiall though he use variety of threshing instruments for the good corn in all is not discovered otherwise the wheel must be turned over some when the rod will suffice for another 21 We read Gen 3. ult that when Adam was expulsed Paradice That was a flaming sword turning this way and that way to preserve the Tree of Life 'T is to be wondered at that that place then should need a Guard to defend it which now needs a finger to point at it the judgements of learned men varying about nothing more than the scite of it no peculiar Tree no particular beauty distinguishing that Garden nor yet those Rivers issuing thence so punctually described giving other then a guess at it Did that Garden which Adam in innocency was to Till afterwards when the ground was curst degenerate with the rest and more hastily into a wilderness and as Corruptio opes-morum est pessima So here it should be Citissima too like Apostates that grow worse more and more speedily than other wicked ones But well might it be that that Guard should be remitted for though Adam at his first removall from Paradise might have desires of returning the present sense of so great a losse being then upon him yet this sense every day abated as the strength of sin got ground and prevailed so than that was at first desired was afterwards lesse at last forgotten besides habits of sin gathered strength daily and were confirmed by repeated acts and that depravation of nature whereinto Adams fall brought minkind was more and more inhanced and by custome in sin man was daily farther debauched so that as Gods judgements encreased continually so the means of like were farther removed and mans thoughts for it and possibility to attain it every day decayed 22 After the death of Jacob when the sons of Israel feared Joseph would remember against them what they had done to him they make this their plea Forgive the trespasse of the servants of the God of thy father There is no greater argument to prevail for a mutual compliance then unity of Religion for what should keep those at a distance that are joyned together by that straitest obligation that are one in that most superlative one thing 23 When the mother of James and John requested the Lord Mat 20.21 That her sons might sit one on the right hand the other on the left our Lord replyes to them as it seems at the first view quite besides the purpose asking them a question little pertinent to that they treated him about for what appertained their drinking of the cup he should drink of being baptized with the same baptisme to the sitting at his right hand and left in his Kingdome but if we consider it it will appear very much for these young men were solicitous about what was to be had not what was to be done their eyes were upon the end more than the way the reward than the work thought more of reaping than sowing yea before they had sown therefore our Lord remembers them of the Teary seed-time puts them in mind of the bitter cup and baptisme wherein the deep waters should go over their soul 't was time to tell them of the Stony Thorny Rode that talkt of setting down before they had well set out What store of Suitors would Heaven have if there were no more to do but go in and possesse the Land if there were never an Anakim to be fought with first beside the way to glory is through the place of a skull Christ must suffer these things and enter into his glory to the Throne over the Thorne If we suffer with him we shall be glorified together they that are before the Throne of God are such as came out of great tribulation and have washed their Robes and made them white in the bloud of the Lamb. 24 I find no sort of men more frequent than the Pharisees in their disputes with Christ of none fewer that beleeved we find these captious hearers curious questionists censorious observators but have any of the Pharisees beleeved on him these had Cats eyes that saw best in the dark knowing men in the impertinencies of the Traditions of the Elders and therefore witty to dispute against the truth no men farther removed from conversion then the carnally wise and superstiriously religious But beside to talk of Religion seems to be the business of these men they ask what is the great Commandement in the Law rather then take care to do it Religion should have its rice in the head and flow thence to the heart but when 't is a standing Pool there when men are ricketty great heads but unproportionable hearts are all for disputation nothing for observation like those who study the Philosophers stone while they would be rationally rich they become really poor 25 The Apostle Peter puts a strange question 1 Pet. 3.13 Who is he that will harm you if ye be followers of that which is good Who will Nay Who will not What a Cloud of sufferers upon that very account might be here called in to confute the Apostle nay Paul might be set against Peter he sayes 2 Tim. 3.12 All that will live Godly in this life must suffer tribulation yea Peter against himself 1 Pet 2.19 where he speaks of a man for conscience toward God enduring grief suffering wrongfully but the Apostle speaks de jure not de facto and verily innocency is not a little consolation to the sufferer a good conscience carrying alwayes Balm along with it to anoint the stripes and Sugar to sweeten the bitter Cup that tyranny or cruelty may inforce upon us beside the confidence uprightness having holdnesse makes the forehead as an iron wall serenes the front so that it retorts the shame brings the oyl of gladness instead of the confusion of face which clouds the guilty An huge satisfaction too ariseth from the reflex act of the soul when it looks into its selfe and finds fair weather there whereas guilt hath an ugly hue and terrible look and alwayes brings terrour and affrights with it 26 When the Herodians came to Christ with design to betray him though the Lord had power to have avoided their cruelty as he did that of the Jews yet he chuseth rather by a prudent reply to evade their Trap Caesars image upon their Coyn being an argument either of his right or power so that they must pay Tribute out of justice or necessity yet with such a limitation as would surely keep them within bounds reserving to God his due that that Soveraign Lord be not deprived of his right