Heart forgive Who pure and sober are in all their ways And in God's Service vow to spend their days Art thou but such a one thou art the Guest Whom Christ bids welcome to this Heavenly Feast With Love and Joy his Death Commemorate Whilst here thou feed'st and hereby Consecrate Thy self entirely to him and he will His promises and thy desires fulfill He 'll own thee for his Servant and bestow Such Blessings as thou needest here below Ev'n here he seals to thee Pardon and Peace And all thy Graces shall receive Increase Until at length he raise thee far above To taste the fullest Fruits of his dear love Where we no more shall need our Bread and Wine Ravisht with glorious Sights and Joys Divine Wherefore who in those Heavenly Joys would share To sup with Christ on Earth let them prepare FOR EARLY RISING ON A Lords day Morning THis day our blessed Lord did early rise Let all his pious Servants do likewise His good Disciples rose before the light That his dead Body they with spices might And tears embalm then let devotion raise Us up to give our God and Saviour praise Thus let our Songs of praise shorten the night Till we shall come into that heavenly light When we shall hear no more of nights and days No more shall cease to love rejoyce and praise O blest employments these Saints truly blest Who thus emploi'd enjoy eternal rest This holy Rest let me this day begin Resting to God from business care and Sin. And let me in thy day and service find Such pleasure and such profit to my mind As may excite me all the following Week And my whole Life my dearest Lord to seek Not in a Garden or a Cave of Stone But in the Heavens where on his glorious Throne He doth exalted sit at God's right Hand Thousands of Angels round about him stand There free from sin and sorrow sloth and sleep There let me an eternal Sabbath keep Morning Thoughts BOth God and Satan by my Bed-side stand My Morning-thoughts are crav'd on either hand He that gets these is like to have the day What then shall God be empty sent away No Lord but let the whole made holy be By these First-fruits I offer up to thee I praise thee for this last Nights quiet rest The Peace and Safety wherewith I am blest I praise thee my good God that to my sight Once more thou hast restor'd the Morning-light My Strength and Time which thou do'st thus renew I Consecrate to thee they are thy due Be with me this whole day Save me herein From danger if thou please chiefly from sin All the day long Lord keep me in thy fear And make me ever sensible how near Thou art In private or in company Let me remember thy all-seeing Eye Upon me plac'd that I my self may frame To do thy Will to glorifie thy Name In sin with others let me not comply But speak act think as knowing thou art by Good Lord preserve me from that hainous Crime Mis-spence of short uncertain precious Time. O let me not my golden hours wast But live this day as if it were my last That I may mind the work I have to do Set Death and Judgment Heav'n and Hell in view Let me from Christ my Head fresh strength derive That I by Faith in thy dear Son may live Let me do others good my self at least Let sin this day be weakned grace increast Help me to spend it so that I at Night May looking back upon it take delight And in Eternity thy Name may praise For this and all my well-improved Days DIRECTIONS FOR THE EVENING REview at Night the Actions of the day What time was well spent what was thrown away Bless God for Mercies and confess the sin Thou know'st thou hast been guilty of therein To God through Christ for Pardon humbly pray Resolve against it for the following day Dare not to close thy eyes before thou make All Reckoning clear Perhaps thou may'st awake Before God's Judgment-Seat How dar'st thou look Him in the Face should he present a Book Of sins unpardon'd But if thou hast made Thy Peace through Christ thou need'st not be afraid Both Soul and Body are secur'd from harms Thou lodg'd in such a gracious Fathers Arms Who all his Children will in safety keep And so thou boldly may'st go die or sleep ON WHITSUNDAY ALL hail great day Day of our new Creation And of Redemption the sure confirmation Almighty Love that did us first create In holiness and bliss when from that state By our Apostasie our selves we threw Into that state doth us again renew This did the blessed Jesus undertake And by his Spirit wrought which for his sake On us was shed and which doth fully show Christ is God's Son by making Christians so He being now advanc'd on Gods right hand Doth exercise his regal Power and By all the Miracles of this great day Not only doth his present power display But also shews his future purposes And doth effect them by such signs as these A rushing Wind do his Disciples hear And cloven fiery Tongues on them appear God both in Wind and Fire and Voice is here Through all the World this wind commotion makes Which both the Heathenish State and Jewish shakes For not the Idol-temples fall alone But also that of the great Solomon This fire soon grew into a mighty flame And as if that strong wind had driven the same Through the whole World it did with brightness shine And did the World enlighten and refine Those Cloven Tongues th' Apostles mouths did fill And did convey to them such wondrous skill In all the Languages the World had known That they exactly spoke them as their own And whilst in these they do the Gospel preach Their hearers they do both surprise and teach These were to them Letters of Credence given To shew their Embassy deriv'd from Heaven What God inflicted once for punishment Now as a blessing on the World is sent Variety of Tongues that did disperse All Nations now unites the Universe The Babel-builders it did then confound But now the Christian Church even from the ground To such a vast firm structure doth it raise As may engage Spectators to his praise Whose wisdom can make all things serve his ends The same thing hurts his Foes and helps his Friends What to th' Apostles he did then direct Hath on each single Christian some effect O Sacred Spirit within my Soul repeat These blessings which once made this day so great Breath thou upon me with that heavenly Wind Which may refresh and purifie my Mind Kindle within me and preserve that fire Which may with holy love my Breast inspire And with an Active zeal my mind enflame To do thy will to glorifie thy name Furnish me richly both with gifts and Grace To fit me for the duties of my place So open thou my Lips my Heart so raise That both my
Heart and Mouth may give thee praise As in thy Temple keep there residence Within my Soul and never part from thence Till I am fram'd and fitted by thy hand A Pillar in God's House above to stand ON Ascension Day ART thou ascended blessed Lord on high And do I on this earth still grovelling lye In muddy sensual fading pleasures drown'd Where pain and grief horrours and Hell are found O pity dearest Lord some pity take On a poor fainting Soul for thy names sake Help Lord Lord help to thee I lift mine Eyes Stretch forth thy helping hand and make me rise O raise my sinking Soul above the Mud And dirt of low delights which Flesh and Blood Relish and crave Let my exalted mind It's pleasures in thy Love and Service find But ne'r let that seem pleasant to my taste Which grieves thy Spirit and doth my Conscience waste Keep my Soul mindful of its heavenly birth That it may Heaven-ward tend wean'd from this Earth By all my falls upon this slippery Ground Grant that I nearer may to Heaven rebound And let all streams of comfort here below Up to the Fountain lead me whence they flow Let Faith and Love and Longings raise my Heart Up to the blissful place where Lord thou art Let my chief joy spring from this Faith and Love Till I ascend to thee and joyes above Divine Love. WHose Soul is once betroth'd can ever he From that engagement disobliged be The hearts which love unites in loyal bands Are chain'd as fast as by their tongues and hands Even thus am I in heart engag'd my mind Is firmly fixt but on no Female-kind The blessed Jesus is my Lord my Love He is my choice from him I 'll never move Away then all you objects that divert And seek to draw from my dear Lord my heart Go Riches Honours Beauty Bravery go Tempt these mean Souls who nothing better know That uncreated Beauty which hath gain'd My ravisht Heart hath all your glory stain'd His loveliness my Soul hath prepossest And left no room for any other guest Cease then with knocking 's to assault my Door Disturb not my repose attempt no more These gates which to the King of Glory be Made to fly open and to none but he For him I sigh I wishly look and long To be releas'd from this ensnaring throng Of poor bewildred Mortals from whose sight My Soul doth meditate a nobler slight Into the Regions of eternal Joy Where nothing shall her blessful peace annoy There 's her own home her Country 's there above That blessed Land of Life of Light and Love There my dear Friends fled hence with God are blest Thither are swiftly hasting all the rest There lives my Lord and there I long to live He gave these longings and himself will give Hast then pale Death accomplish my design Thou that break'st others wedlocks finish mine This naked breast strike with thy sharpest Dart The sweetest Cordial to a fainting Heart Release my pained Soul from this dull clod Of prisoning Earth and take her to her God That there she may her Nuptials solemnize Where neither Sin nor Death shall spoil her Joys Lord hear these groanings and some pity take On a poor gasping Soul which for thy sake From earthly home Freinds Joys and all would part To be with thee for ever where thou art O make me meet for this Translation and Then on this happy message death command In the mean time Lord shew thy self to me Till thou shalt please to take me up to thee So to mine Eyes thy glory still display That they may never look another way So let me taste the sweetness of thy Love That no allurements may my mind once move Quicken my longings and encrease that flame Which Heaven-wards lifts the Soul from whence it came Let flames of holy Love all others burn And opposition into fewel turn Let thy Sun-beams on a dark heart shine clear All our earth kindled fires will disappear In thee now let me find so much of Rest As may with more impatience fill my breast Till fill'd with thee the pains of love increase Till they shall in a full fruition cease So seize on me that we ne're more may part Till thou shalt take my Soul Lord keep my heart And dwell in me till I with thee shall dwell This Earth with thee is Heaven without thee Hell. ON DEATH I. TEll me some kind Spirit tell How comes death so terrible Thou who art already fled in triumph say Why the embodied Soul is so in love with Clay By what strange Magnetisms woo'd She so adheres to Flesh and Blood That fate must force her from that dull abode Or she would groveling lye Th' eternal Tenant of Mortality The wretch whom a malignant Fever fires And at each pore in liquid flame expires Cold death's refreshing hands to shun Doth to th' unkinder Doctor run For Juleps Blistrings and Phlebotomy And other medicinal Artillery The Fever 's vanquish'd and the Man is free But all this stir and torment only gains The priviledge of being rack'd again by these Or the severer pains Of sorne more merciless Disease Had not the Patient better fled to ' a Tomb Th' Asylum which distempers give but where they never come II. Old age it self which one would guess Should with a kind of lust Lye down and sleep in Dust Does yet the grand fatigue of life caress And gapes for its last dregs with unextinguishable Thirst When the dull eyes spirituous fire is lost Like cooling Metals fixt by Winters Frost When the bald Head depopulate and bare Looks white like some smooth Globe of Ice And of its once fair flourishing spring the Hair All that remains will not suffice The mighty summ to count To which the numerous Years that have gone or 't amount Yet even this feeble piece of Hums and Ha's That 's but the Monument of what he was Doth with his Cordials and Elixirs treat To make his wearied Pulses beat With momentary heat Still he abhors the dismal thoughts of Death Still on his guard he stands And fain he would defend his breath 'Gainst the great Conquerour's stroke though but with Crutches in his hands III. Strange Riddle of mysterious desire That Man should hope his vital fire Should Vestal prove and ne're expire That he should wish th' Eclipsed beams Like Arethusa under ground might stray In a decrepit Body's dark inglorious way And never disembogue their shining streams Into the glorious Ocean of inexhausted day Is this the Reason which we so much boast That sure unerring Guide No less our safety than our pride And would this have us in a tempest ride And endlesly be tost When one kind Shipwrack would convey us to our native Coast A coast where we might pleasure taste High with the gust of all peril past Where a perpetual spring of bliss Blooming in all the rich Luxuriancies Of never withering Ecstasis Satiates but does not cloy The ravish'd
and quiet times would owe But to the Valour which subdues his Foe O daring conqu'ring Virtue 't is we prize As this claims Glory as its just desert Shelves Sands and Tempests are the Exercise And Honour of the skilful Pilots Art. Who boasts a Virtue that was never tri'd Is a stout Seaman by a Fire-side Great Praise we to our wise Creator owe Who tho he hath not which he eas'ly could Made all things sweet and smooth to make them so Gives us the pow'r all Earth he made not Gold But gives th' Elixir which can do as much Turning course Stones to pure Gold by its touch On the Rain that fell in June 81. after a long Drought from the beginning of April begun in my Iourney WHilst gracious Lord thy Creatures all around Give thee what praise they can shall Man be found The only sensless dull and silent Thing Shall he be mute whilst ev'n the Fields do sing Their pleasedness is in their Colour seen How soon the parched Earth looks fresh and green The thankful Corn its head doth humbly bend Flow'rs and Herbs sweet Odors heaven-ward send The chearful Birds which in all Weathers sing And thereby chide and shame Mans murmuring Now use their utmost Art and strain their Throats To warble forth their sweet melodious Notes The duller Beasts hear this and straightway they As dancing to this Musick Frisk and Play. A noble gratitude they teach whilst for these showrs They thankful are whose benefit is ours And what shall we who more receive than they And more can render shall not we repay Those thanks to which the lower Creatures all As well as our Creator do us call And both we disobey and both we wrong If we with all the rest joyn not our Song Since they by us their Praises send to Hea'vn By us who know all good Things thence are giv'n And who with Speech and Reason were indu'd First to conceive then shew our Gratitude Wherefore I do adore that Providence Which these enriching Showers doth dispence That to the languishing and parched Earth And dying Grain and Herbs gives life and birth The thirsty Fields which could no moisture get From Springs or Rivers are refresht with wet In such a way as would mirac'lous seem Did not the commonness abate esteem What makes the Vapours to ascend on high And there condense to Clouds that fill the Sky What makes those hollow Clouds strong to contain Within their Wombs vast Treasuries of Rain And what supports them when thus weighty grown To keep them from a sudden tumbling down Justly we may applaud justly admire The Chymistry of that Coelestial Fire Which from salt Seas fresh Vapors doth extract Like thanks and wonder doth that Art exact Which makes the Clouds to hover as they fall And breaks and parcels them in drops so small Which on the Earth whilst gently they distil Revive those Fruits which Flouds and Spouts would kill Thus Lord thy Works thy Glory do proclaim Both Heav'n and Earth conspire to praise thy Name Ev'n every pile of Grass and every Show'r Which makes that Grass to grow doth shew thy Pow'r No less they shew thy Bounty to us all On whom thy Sun doth shine thy Rain doth fall How wondrous is that Bounty which renews Daily those Gifts which daily we abuse Mercy is thy delight O teach us more To imitate that Mercy we adore And whilst the Earth improves the Sun and Rain Let us not still receive thy Gifts in vain Let warmth and softness in our Hearts be wrought And holy Fruits unto perfection brought Such Fruits as may our Benefactor please Who sends these Gifts and greater Gifts than these He gave his Son his Son did shed his Blood By goodness God designs to make us good And this design his Goodness doth pursue Whilst he affords the rich and heavenly Dew Of 's Word and Grace to quicken and renew Our thirsty Souls O God thou art all Love On this alone we live here and above This doth preserve that Life which first it gave From this the comforts of our Life we have This now gives Grace and Glory hath prepar'd By this we Work from this have our reward And since this Love with blessings fills our days Lord give us Hearts as full of Love and Praise Such Hearts as may direct our Hands and Tongues To pious Actions and to grateful Songs And as each Moment brings from God above Mercy through which we live and breathe and move So Lord let every pulse and every Breath And every action praise Thee until Death Which stops that Breath our Souls shall thither raise Where love's our Life and all our Work is praise And what Crowns all where Death shall not destroy This blessed Life of Love and Praise and Joy. On a Cross with a Crown upon it in Burton betwixt Lancashire and Kendale Sept. 18. 80. THis day in Riding through a Town Upon the Cross I saw a Crown Which straightway brought unto my mind What we in Holy Writ do find That Christ did first his Cross sustain Before he was advanc'd to reign And this is every Christians case Who wins the prize must run the race Our selves we first must well behave E're modestly Rewards we crave Bearing the burthen of the day E're we receive the evening-pay And Conquer in our Christian fight Before we have to Triumph right And many sorrows undergo Before the Joys of Heav'n we know Lord to thy Orders I submit Confessing they are just and sit Reason doth teach us and thy Word The Servant 's not above his Lord By Patience and Obedience he To Glory went and so must we But since thy Grace alone doth send Help in the way bliss in the end Such measures of this Grace impart As may both give strength and desert Lord furnish me with pow'r and skill To do and suffer all thy Will Make me but willing to obey And what commands thou pleasest lay Make me but able to abide And how thou wilt let me be tri'd Lord help me so thy yoke to wear Help me my burdens so to bear That when they shall be both laid down I may receive a glorious Crown On the sight of Furness Fells Iune 19. 71. OFT have I seen a barren Mountain shroud Its lofty head within a liquid Cloud There at its will thus height still makes things proud Quaffing up Vapours which had else been Rain Drinking all up yet sending nought again But still a barren Mountain doth remain Whilst humble Valleys which do lye below Waiting till Heaven its kindly Dews bestow In Corn and Wine in Milk and Honey slow Thus greedy proud impatient minds that crave Still more and more from Heaven or nothing have Or yield no Fruit of whatsoere it gave Whilst humble Souls by silent patience Which strongly wooes soon get great blessings thence And thither still return their recompence On the Parting of Ways in a Iourney I Often as I Travel find Divided ways