which was not long after but in the midst of my idle and sensual life I had intermissions of consideration not without some trouble my bashfulness which I always had in a measure more than ordinary did much incline me to drink finding that did embolden me for which reason I have wisht I had been brought up at some publick School rather than in my Fathers House supposing that strange company and being from under the tender wing of my dearest Mother I might have been rouzed up by being put more to my shifts and my bashfulness abated by being accustomed to the company of strangers And indeed I found manifestly that being so much confined to home through the carefull fear and love both of my Father and Mother bashfulness and melancholy did so gain upon and take root in me that it was always a great disturbance to my life I found likewise my memory both slow and not retentive occasioned by that fixtness which was upon me and that occasioned by the want of business to employ my memory and inform my judgment and excite my thoughts which contributed much to fix me more in melancholy and want of confidence which though not so considered of by my Father and Mother yet I found manifestly in my self it was a great occasion of mischief to me and did expose me to a loose life But Lord had I stirred up in my self that stock of Grace and those Divine Principles which were infused into me by thy self the fountain of holiness and purity and the instiller of holy motions thou wouldest undoubtedly have come into my soul with such controuling power as would have reduced my disordered mind to an obedience to thy heavenly will the absence of which hath bred in me so great matter of discomfort but if thy goodness shall spare me for so much future obedience as may place me in the favour of thy self I shall more esteem it than thousands of Gold and Silver A Prayer I Desire Eternal Jesus to call upon Thee from the depth of my sorrows upon Thee O Divinity incarnate whose mercies are bottomless and whose Merits can bury the most vast extuberances of repented sin from the eye of thy Fathers Justice and secure the relenting sinner from the stroke of his Omnipotent hand which nothing can intercept but thy self who art all and whose intire Obedience can answer all the objections of Divine fury and out-wrastle Justice when she makes her greatest assaults But O my presumptuous soul though it be true that the Mercies of God in Christ exceed all proportions and that there are continuall springs of compassion which are ever flowing from the breasts of his goodness yet how can that avail thee while thou art bathing thy self in sensuality and courting thy treacherous lusts who were the murtherers of the blessed Jesus whom if thou chase from thee which thou must needs do if thou welcome thy sins she goes along with the blessed Lamb and never leaves him where he is she is still to be sound and had not he come into the visible world she had never presented her self to mankind but they must have been ever separated from the Glories of Eternity What can the best extracted cordial do to a man who is naturally dead neither can these cordials of salvation advantage thee who art spiritually so Most blessed Lord make me a subject capable of thy mercy by faith and repentance for else the preparations of thy mercy will be my greatest misery to see redemption at a distance causeth a languishment of the soul here if she have any residues of Grace while mercy is not irrecoverable but to see her removed when she can never return yet so many times offered in the day of Grace is the most bitter ingredient of eternal misery Suffer me most glorious Jesus who am but dust and ashes to speak unto my Lord and let me ask at the mouth of wisdom how it comes to pass that my heart should pant after thee now and anon grow cold and disobedient can Christ and Belial be inmates together If I love thee and desire thee above all things to day why do I leave thee next since thou art more delectable the second day than the first and the third day than the second since thy essential sweets do not like those thou hast created glut the appetite but become the more gratefull the more frequently they are tasted Oh it is my original corruption which strives to demolish those reparations of Grace which are in my soul by thy death and to obscure those reinfused sparks But Lord let thy additional Grace joyned to that twinkling light which yet remains in me improve it to such a flame by thy frequent supplies that by its light I may discover my sins and by its heat they may be consumed who would betray me into that fire which should ever light me and ever burn me but never consume me Blessed Redeemer I have not onely my own inherent sinfulness and the spirit of spirits separated from thy self to encounter withall but there is another cause in nature which depresses my soul from rising up to her Lord the flesh which is ever warring against the spirit and besides the usuall evils of it there is more in me than the bodies of men do often bring with them thou know'st it Lord for thou made'st me and since thou did'st I am silent I know thou madest me to thy Glory what though I have more of earth in the composition of my body than others have by which the motion of my animal and vital spirits is obstructed though my apprehension and memory be not so quick and retentive if I obey my Redeemer and hearken to his charms the spirit of Jesus shall inspire and quicken my soul which if it be nimble and active in its correspondencies to the Rules of Christ I shall have a large amends for the splene and dulness of my body But when I have been troubled with the incumbency of this weight I have not looked up unto my blessed Jesus whom I might have seen through my thickest blood since that excellent spirit which I am by Creation doth not require the body to its sublime operations but instead of this most injured Saviour I have run to thy Creatures for help yet that I might have done for they had not been but to preserve my being and support my natural life but ah wretch that I am I have made an inordinate use of them and turned thy blessings into my own curses instead of putting my soul into a more serviceable estate for thy glory by correcting the disproportions of my temperament I have defaced her beauty with intemperance and exposed her to the assaults of Lusts and Devils But Oh most meek and mercifull Jesus though I made a resignation of my self thou didst not give me away by substracting the residues of thy Grace but my spirit even in her most deliberate aberrations from thy Rule was the
Burial but afterwards he consented to it and desired his Neighbours might accompany him to his Grave He often desired me to be buryed in the vault by him I have something in memory of a dream that he told me of when he waked a little before his last sickness he dream'd that the day of Judgment was come and the Lord appearing in the clouds and calling the Elect he was left behind upon which being grievously afflicted he prayed earnestly and the Blessed Jesus look'd back and called him and he went with great joy and was received into Heaven with the rest of the Elect. He was full of fears as to his future condition while he was here But now I question not but he is received into the joy of the Lord. He was a sickly man for many years troubled with Convulsion Fits and shortness of breathing which made him fear sudden Death and pray dayly against it But his last sickness was the Yellow-jaundice with a very sore throat and a violent Feaver And though he was in very much pain he bore it with a great deal of patience speaking comfortably to all about him so that they said they never were with any one that made a better end He was much in Prayer I think I heard him say the Lords Prayer near twenty times in one day when he was so weak that he could hardly bring out his words He desired me not to be troubled and said God would provide for me and prayed God to send us a happy meeting He often told me his Prayer for me was That God would bless me with the Blessings of his right hand and of his left I cannot remember half the Heavenly Expressions he had when Mr. Benson the Minister of our Parish prayed by him He said to me Mr. Benson is a good Man he speaks so sweetly when he speaks of God He desired the Bell might be rung and asked many times after it if it did not ring He departed this life on the 10 th day of May 1678. being Friday the day after Ascension And I hope he hath received the benefit of the precious Passion and glorious Resurrection and Ascension of our dearest Lord and ever blessed Saviour Jesus He had formerly desired me not to be by him when he was dying lest seeing me should make him unwilling to leave this world and lest I should by any sudden passion disturb his soul departing But at last he very much called upon me not to leave him so I stayed with him to the last and though my trouble was not to be expressed yet I thank God I did not in the least disturb him He endured much pain in his sickness but at last I could not perceive he had any but his breath grew shorter and shorter and so he went away without the least gasp or groan His thoughts and discourse were much of death long before he would say our life was but as a dream or the shadow of a dream and as a vapour And when he saw any disturbed for fear of losses in this world he would say none are ever undone till they come to Hell He loved much to dispute about Religion but once being disputing against Predestination and fearing he had spoken something irreverent he was extremely afflicted I never saw any one express more sorrow and writ what I here set down and have under his own hand by me I did immediately strip my self of it and threw my self down before the Throne of Grace by which it had no propriety in me I did it whatever it was to vindicate God's mercy I have committed my cause to God who knows my thoughts and let him deal with me according to his infinite goodness and wisdom let Satan do what he can against me I know my Saviour is the Captain of my Salvation I have here endeavoured to give what account I can of my dear Husbands life but I know I come very short of what might have been observed by one of a better memory that had been with him so much as my self I hope the Christian Reader into whose hands these Papers shall come will pardon all imperfections in the Stile or Method and make the best use of what was so well design'd by the Author The fulfilling of whose Will in setting forth his Book and discharging my duty in clearing him to the world is the only cause I venture to appear in Print Sarah Freman I Received a Letter from a very Reverend Divine that gives this account of my dear Husband which I write in his own words That he was in many respects the most remarkable instance of humility the greatest example of godly sorrow and the most admirable Precedent of self-denial and sincere detestation of sin in himself and passionate care that it might not infect others which I have known And of this it pleased the all-wise guider of all things to make me a very heedful witness about 18 years ago when I preached at the Savoy for Dr. T. F. Not many daies after I was summon'd to wait on Sir George Freman a person then altogether unknown to me whom he entertained with a most doleful tenderness of affection and with manly because Christian showers of tears spoke after this manner Sir You are to me as I suppose I am to you a stranger I thank you for your Sermon at the Savoy where I was your Auditor I do not think you aimed at me but sure I am your discourse pierced my heart I could scarce think any one there besides concerned I dare say none more than my self I am that miserable man who have not remembred my Creator in the daies of my Youth my Text was Eccles. xii 1. and now what shall I do what shall I do give me your advice assist me with your Prayers Thus in one person perceiving many blessed marks of true penitents wounded with S t Peter's hearers who were pricked to the heart Acts 2. inquisitive with the Baptist's pious Auditors S t Luke 3. vowing amendment with David and commanding it in those under his care sending to me as good Josiah did to Huldah the Prophetess I did as soon as I had recover'd my self from that tumult of passions which a sight so unexpected did raise apply my self according to my poor ability with utmost compassion to aid the sorrowful patient of the Almighty who was pleased after diverse weeks conference prayers and meditations on several Texts of Scripture and such like means used by my self and others of far more experience to raise up his troubled spirit bowed down with the dreadful apprehensions of God's heavy displeasure and to stay him with some comfortable hopes that our heavenly Father would not cast him off for ever nor always shut up his loving kindness and tender mercy For which with what singular expressions of penitential sorrow he prepared himself I am not able to utter With what zealous indignation did he call to mind his sins With what
theirs who did reject it And I would very fain be satisfied how the Dissenters from Ecclesiastical Ceremonies can quarrel with the Church of England for imposing things in their own nature indifferent that is not prohibited by God in his revealed will how they can I say except against the imposition of such lawfull things and plead it is for this reason to avoid giving offence to tender consciences which consciences cry out before they are hurt and yet maintain that themselves may publickly omit this great duty of saying the Lords Prayer and that to the offence of so many well-grounded consciences who can by no means dispense with it The Church of England out of her prudent care to preserve Order and Uniformity in the exteriour part of Gods worship imposeth a lawfull thing or action and that 's a sin the Presbyterian dispenseth with the not performing of a necessary duty and that 's no sin The Church of England magnifies Christs Prayer and that 's idolizing a Form the Presbyterian despiseth it and that 's good Religion The Parliament of England of which the Fathers of the Church are a very considerable part do cause the illegitimate Covenant to be burnt and that 's a great wickedness the Presbyterian slights the Divine Energy of the Lords Prayer legitimate as Tertullian calls it which is far worse than the bare action of burning the paper wherein it is printed or written and that 's not ill at all But it may be they will say to me you make a discourse concerning the excellency of the Lords Prayer we may ask you the same question that one was asked who insisted long upon the praise of Hercules Quis unquam vituperavit Herculem which of us ever spoke against the excellency of the prayer It is true I never heard any man in terminis do it as I said in the beginning of my discourse for that were open blasphemy and persistence in it would merit excommunication from the society of Christians but you do implicitely and inclusively or otherwise why do you not use it Actions speak more than words and cry aloud in the ears of God either for reward or judgment But some of them do object that they do use it sometimes but they are not bound to use it alwayes To this I answer that the intermitting of its use doth imply the setting of but a gradual esteem upon it and that they do not acknowledge its supereminency above all other prayers If a man that is prescribed an excellent dyet-drink which never sail'd the cure of some disease which he labours with and is ordered by his Physician to take it every day if he intermit but one day it will argue that he doth not so highly approve of it that is that he doth disapprove of it in a degree proportionable to the discontinuance of it So if any man do make use of the Lords Prayer sometimes and sometimes useth it not what doth this omission of his unless it be through forgetfulness but secretly whisper to the understanding that he doth not intensively and absolutely approve of it but partially and in gradibus remissis For to say the Lords Prayer is the best prayer and yet to say it is not requisite to use it at all times of prayer is a most absurd assertion and to be exploded by all judicious men for if it be the best and that most transcendently why should any other prayer justle it out It is true that many times there is incumbent upon the soul the guilt of so many great and often repeated sins that the deep apprehension of the spirit at such a time requires more room and a greater field of language to rove up and down in and to unbosome her remorse to God whom she hath offended she would come to a more particular repentance and insist upon all the circumstances which may aggravate her guilt and be argument of sorrow to her in her self-condemning that by her timely sentence upon her self she may avoid that irrevocable sentence which Christ at the last day will pronounce against those who justifie themselves and therefore is not satisfied in her deep recesses of grief with that petition in our Lords Prayer Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us and therefore other prayers are allowable because the soul doth by them as it were divide her repentance into smaller parcels and make it more fine by sifting it into single circumstances but when this penitent Soul hath recollected all she can for the accusation of her self and finds that in her memory she can discover no more being troubled she cannot now let her make a sure conclusion with this perfect prayer which is a summary of all her wants in which she confesseth all her sins and asketh forgiveness for all and not for her own sins only but for the sins of the whole Church by which Petition of the Lords Prayer we are most sweetly taught how diffusive our Charity should be and now having confessed all her sins and begged pardon of God for all her own and others sins she can strain at no more but finding in this prayer a sweet repository of all her scruples commits her self to God till the next time that he shall honour her so highly as to let her enter again into that near Communion with himself which Prayer gives us So that to conclude though the Lords Prayer do not exclude the use of other Prayers especially when they are collected out of Scripture yet it comes with full commission for the use of it self Especially at the conclusion of our devotions For then all other forms of Prayer which are like rivulets and little streams should retire into this Prayer as they into the Ocean to cover their imperfections One thing I shall add more and that concerning the brevity of it for although various expressions are allowed to the Soul in her passions for sin which when they are found in the concerns of repentance are most exceeding acceptable to God in Christ yet that is caused by the unaptitude of the body to answer readily to the first motions of the soul. And therefore the soul cannot communicate her notions but by a longer successiveness of discourse but those that have most evaded their passions and are advanced nearer to a ready use of their noble faculties may with the Lords Prayer perform the act of repentance thoroughly and obtain pardon for their sins with all temporal blessings without a fear or groan or any farther enlargements of themselves and rise up as much advanced as any others in all the concernments of their salvation FINIS A DEHORTATION FROM ALL SIN BUT Particularly the Sin OF DRINKING Reader IF thou hast been hitherto carefull to lead a good life according to the rule of Gods Word I entreat thee to persevere for the Lords sake unto the end that thou mayest receive the end of thy hope even the salvation of thy soul which upon
Golden Remains OF Sir GEORGE FREMAN Knight of the Honourable Order OF THE BATH BEING CHOICE DISCOURSES ON Select Subjects LONDON Printed by J. M. and are to be sold by Henry Bonwicke at the Red-Lyon in S t Paul's Church-Yard 1682. PREFACE THE great charity the Author had for souls lest any should take example by seeing him drink and the desire he had of making what restitution he could was the reason he desired me to set out his Treatise against Drinking after his Death And as I who was constantly with him must needs know him better than any other so I think my self obliged to do him that right as to let the world know he was not the Man they generally took him for I can justly say I never knew any one of a more tender Conscience after he had been in company if upon inquiry into himself he found he had committed a sin in drinking too much or done any thing he thought extravagant he would very much lament himself and hath sent for the company he was with and given them good advice perswading them to a holy life He has made resolutions to drink nothing but small Beer which he hath kept till the violence of his fits seized on him so severely that he has been forced to drink some Wine to relieve him from them but hath been extreamly troubled and said to me what a miserable condition am I in that these fits should force me to that I would fain quite cast off and would take it with great caution and say Lord give a blessing so far as I may lawfully pray For his Family Duties he was careful there should be Prayers morning and evening For some time he had a Minister in the House which said the Church Prayers twice a day when he was gone he performed the duty himself and when he was not able by reason of his illness he order'd one of his Sons to do it Several times when he rose from Prayers he would give his Servants good instructions And when he could not go to Church by reason of the violence of his Fits he would speak to me to take care that his Children and Servants went and bid me tell them the reason why he did not go lest they should take example by his staying away which he said he would never do if it pleased God he had his health It was his constant practice before he went abroad though it was never so little a way first to go to his Prayers and beg a blessing of God For his Charity in giving Alms he had bowels of mercy he seldom gave Alms but he shed tears of compassion for their misery And when they return'd thanks in praying for him he would say to me they do me much more good by their prayers than I can do them with my Alms What a mercy it is that I have so much plenty who deserve no more than they On the Lords day he had many of the Poor dined with his Servants which he would speak to with a friendly kindness and look on them with much joy that they received refreshment at his Table He gave yearly Pensions one to a very ancient Widow and another to an ancient Gentleman who died and then he gave it to his Brother being in the like want He relieved several Knights and Gentlemen in their distress feeding cloathing and assisting them with mony towards the burying their dead And every Christmass he gave money to the Poor of Betchworth and Brockham And as an encouragement to Charity he used to say it is the best way of putting money to use to give it to the Poor As he was thus eminent in this Virtue of Alms-giving so he was no less in that hardest part of Charity which is forgiving Enemies He received as much wrong as a slanderous tongue could do him but was so far from returning evil for evil that contrary to that he asked me what he should do to do that party good my answer was I knew no way but Prayer which he immediately betook himself to after a solemn manner on his knees with me and after that told me he had Prayed at Church and in his bed for that party and though he received the wrong yet he first desired to be reconciled I could give several other instances of his returning good for evil for he never bore malice against any but still endeavoured to overcome his Enemies with kindness His Charity to souls was so diffusive that he wrote several short dehortations from sin and exhortations to a holy life and used to cast them privately about the streets that some finding them might by the grace of God be wrought upon to forsake their sins One of the Papers I have by me with these words in it Fear to do ill for thou know'st not how soon death may overtake thee He was very just in all dealings careful to pay his debts and in accounting would rather be a loser than any should suffer by him He many times used this expression Whose Ox have I taken He was humble kind and courteous to the meanest of his Neighbours and never slighted any Gentleman for his poverty but used them with as much respect as those that had great Estates He was a Loyal Subject to his King a true Son of the Church of England and very much against Popery He was a loving Father to his Children a very kind Master to his Servants and I must ever owne it he was a most tender loving Husband to me which he shewed in taking care to the utmost of his power to provide for me and to his last in his extraordinary kind expressions to me on his death-bed Above two years before his death a great Affliction befell him which brought much anguish on his spirits so that when he hath been at Prayers with his Family he could scarce bring out his words for tears and he being naturally melancholy great afflictions must needs lie heavier upon him and be harder to overcome had he not had a great support from Heaven But through Gods grace they turned so much to his advantage and weaned him so from this world that his discourses to me were as Sermons treating of Death and the happiness of the next world He said the day of our death might very well be called the day of our birth giving us a greater enlargement than when we came from the inclosure of our Mother's womb And told me he and I should do as my Lady Falkland advised her friends not love one another too much but endeavour to wean our affections knowing one must go before the other telling me also of one that when he had word brought him of the death of his only Son said I knew I begat a mortal When troubles were on him he would say Heaven will recompence all Heaven is a sweet place there is no disturbance but all Peace and Love He hoped he might overcome his troubles which he could never
have done had he not had a greater succour than any on Earth but God was all in all to satisfie his soul. He used to say all my strength is in God had I not depended on the Holy Jesus I had been dead e're this He could not lay himself to sleep but with some of these expressions Jesus is my strength God is a very present help in trouble in him we live move and have our being It is he that performeth all things for us All my fresh springs are in thee O Lord. He used to have the Italian Testament Bishop Hall's Book called The Balm of Gilead with other good Books at his beds-head which he would read in before he went to sleep finding some comfortable sentence suitable to his condition of which he would discourse with me as he laid himself to rest He used in great troubles to take the Bible and open it at adventure and then read what he first found which often hath been so suitable to his condition that he hath received great comfort and writ the places down which I have by me His heart was so much set on Heaven that he wonder'd how any Religious person could concern himself for any of these vain and transitory things and would use this expression of D r Hammond Let God govern the world And when he heard of any false reports he said Let us not trouble our selves but consider how we stand in the sight of God He was very fearful of taking Gods name in vain Insomuch that when Fits seized violently on him and pain made him cry O Lord he was troubled lest he had broken that Commandment who said he is able to help me but he in this my great extremity He could not endure to hear any one swear and hated a lye He wrote some of our blessed Saviours Sermon on the Mount which he intended to write out resolving to get it by heart and make it his practice but death seized him before it was finished He had a great love to the Word of God and said to his Sister on his death-bed I love Gods word and I fear him When he first waked in the morning he said God be blessed that I have lived to see the light of another day Lord grant that I may spend it to thy service and that Collect of the Church Prevent us O Lord in all our doings c. And when he rose crossing his Arms he said In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Amen and then he said the Lords Prayer which he had a high veneration for afterwards he read a Psalm He did not use long Prayers but short Ejaculations often both day and night When I have waked in the Morning I have seen him lifting up his hand with so great devotion that it hath moved my affection He delighted much in discourses of Religion and holy Meditations and hath told me in his bed he hath had such sweet Meditations as have raised him even to Heaven I am not able to express how excellently he would speak of his love to the Holy Jesus and the blessed Trinity He said he loved God above all and not any thing in comparison of him and that he would be a Martyr for God If he were sure his sins were forgiven and the pain of death over he could willingly leave this world for he desired to be dissolved and to be with Christ. He hath reckon'd to me the many dangers he had escaped and the many blessings he had received admiring the great goodness of God that had preserved him to that present and had given him time to repent of his sins and bestowed many undeserved blessings on him He told me he had desired some temporals which God denyed him but he look'd on it as a mercy and clearly saw that it was better for him to be in that very condition God had placed him in and would often speak of Gods Providence He was a great lover of the company of Divines and could not abide to see them slighted He had several of them in his prayers and desired the benefit of theirs for himself Satan would tempt him to lay aside his confidence in the mercies of God but he resolved and armed himself by faith against those assaults and hath said to me that he could as plainly see Satan in his malicious designs and temptations against him as if he saw him with his bodily eyes And sometimes Satan tempted him to infidelity but he did resist him and presently said the Creed I heard him say on his Death-bed Satan would tempt me but I will not believe him And then said I believe in God c. which made me think he had the same temptations then which he had told me of at other times And that that good God that had sustain'd him to that time would not then leave him but strengthn'd his faith to the last gasp About half a year before his Death he had many scruples which proceeded from the tenderness of his Conscience and made him full of fears lest in this or that he had offended and though when company came to see him he seem'd as chearful as he could yet when they were gone he would be troubled for any word or action he might offend in and did examine himself of his former life with sorrow for all he had done amiss He had very humble thoughts of himself and would judge and blame himself rather than others and often say a proud Man could not go to Heaven He was of a very sweet disposition and so tender hearted that he could not endure to see any creature in misery and hath told me of one that put his only Son to death for delighting in putting out the eyes of birds thinking he would be a cruel Man And though he was thus tender hearted yet upon a good account he had great courage as he hath shewed in his readiness to serve his King in the Surrey rising and at other times though he never had the fortune to be in any action He was a very good Scholar understood Hebrew Greek Latine and Italian and had the French Tongue as perfect as a Native He had great skill in Musick and delighted very much in it He had a great love to any he thought loved God Once a poor man came begging that said he had been taken by the Turks and used very cruelly but rather than he would deny Christ he would be torn in pieces I cannot express how much my Husband rejoyced to hear him say so and he was so taken with him that he gave him both Money and Cloaths There was a poor Woman that used to sit with the rest of the Poor at his Servants Table and he heard she had the report of a good Woman he took her to his own Table and used her with much respect He had such humble thoughts of himself that for some time he would not allow himself decent
object of thy infinite mercy and as thy Apostle S t Peter in his diffidence was supported by thy graciously extended Arm from being drowned in the sea of waters so was my soul secured by thy stupendous compassion from being overwhelmed by the consequences of my sin Most dear Jesus inflame my soul I beseech thee so with thy love that being set on fire with thee it may like unto these elementary flames which thou hast made be still tending upwards in heavenly aspirations till its desire shall arrive to a most happy fruition Sweet Jesus my Redeemer pardon thy Creature who dare thus to expostulate with thee the enquiries into Men and Books return upon us with a retinue of errours unless we come to Thee who art the Oracle of Divine Truth It is most true Lord that we must use those means to attain Knowledge which thou hast laid before us and not dream for infusions of truth to drop from thy treasures of wisdom into the gaping idleness of our life such Enthusiastick Spirits must know their ignorance of the value of truth that it should be so poorly attainable before they can be in a capacity of further information A Prayer O Eternal and most merciful Lord God whose eyes are alwayes upon the Children of men look down I humbly beseech thee upon me who in great distress of mind and anguish of spirit do here prostrate my self both soul and body before thy Divine Majesty beseeching thee who art the God of all consolation to assist and comfort me thy poor Servant though exceeding sinfull with refreshments from thy self and let thy heavenly support be alwayes ready to hold me up that I may not sink under the burthen of sad and melancholy apprehensions which so incessantly oppress my soul Lord let thy holy spirit from above so raise my dejected spirit from the depth of sorrow and frightfull imaginations which do continually assault me Dear Father I confess that my life hath been a continual reiteration of sin and daily repetition of all wickedness and impiety that time which should have been measured out in praising and magnifying thy holy Name hath been spent in the service of Satan that grand enemy of thy Truth and our Salvation I have made a profession of godliness in outward appearance but have denied the power thereof as if I had favoured Religion for no other end but to preserve my Name from scandal and reproach and so O Lord have preferred my own temporary credit before the honour of thy holy Name and my own eternal safety all the sins that in thy decalogue for a Christians life thou hast forbidden to be done do I stand guilty of O Lord and all the duties thou hast commanded thy people to perform O Lord I have neglected and therefore all the judgments thou hast denounced against sinners O Lord I have most justly deserved so that most righteous God when I look upon thy Justice recorded in thy sacred Word and then behold my own sinfulness which I cannot see but in the same glass I find such a disproportion that nothing is then left to me but the expectation of thy everlasting displeasure But dear Father if thou whose most pure eyes cannot behold the least sin with approbation should'st strictly enquire into the Lives of men even the best men and be extream to mark what they have done amiss none were sufficient to stand before thee and endure thy touch for there is none that doth good no not one But thou Lord hast another look wherein Mercy reigns in abundant measure and casts so sweet regards towards the souls of repenting sinners as can in one moment raise them from death to life for which we bless thee for which we praise thee O sweet Jesus the author and finisher of our salvation who hast satisfied thy Fathers wrath and hast given us access by Grace through thy infinite merits and here O Lord I am emboldened to renew my petition first for the pardon of all my sins past in his blood and then dear Father for all spiritual blessings and temporal which thou seest conducible for me but especially O Lord in this Prayer I beg for a chearfull heart without which I cannot serve thee as I ought being indisposed to those holy Duties which thou requirest from me by the incumbency of sadness and a disturbed phantasie strange fears and deep imaginations do take hold upon me but remove them I beseech thee and establish in me the fear of thy Name and no other fear sorrow or sadness for having sinned against thee that I may be alwayes merry in Jesus Christ and may run with chearfulness the race which thou hast set before me Lord hear me for the sake of thy beloved Son and my sweet Saviour let my prayers and daily cryings come before thee but let my sins be never heard O Lord I will ever be lifting up my voice unto thee Lord send me comfort from thy Holy Place that while I live in this world I may be a comfort and a delight unto my self and not a burthen but above all things a persevering Christian through Jesus Christ. Amen FINIS PHYSIOLOGIA OR The Nature of EXTERNALS briefly discuss't SHEWING That no true Pleasure can be deriv'd from SENSIBLE OBJECTS 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plut. contra Chrysip LONDON Printed by J. M. for Henry Bonwicke at the Red Lyon in S. Paul's Church-yard MDCLXXXI TO THE Highly Honourable GEORGE DUKE of BUCKINGHAM His GRACE My Lord I Am encouraged from Your Graces former Respects to me and the honour of being related to Your Person to dedicate to Your Grace this Enchiridion The matter of the discourse in it out of my Duty to Virtue I dare not but call good though not the management of it since by the Rule of Morals Good doth Constare ex Integris and will not admit of the least Evil or smallest Errour into its composition The simplicity of my intentions will only endure this touchstone which I may safely say are to promote Truth and no wayes to obtrude Falsities I humbly offer to Your Graces Patronage only that part of it which hath escap't misprisions as for the other it will be enough that it be defended from the rude attacques of the world under the Authority of Your Graces Protection though not of Your Approbation Your Graces most humble and firmly devoted servant George Freman PHYSIOLOGIA Or the Nature of EXTERNALS briefly discuss't BElzebub the Lord of Flies as his Name signifies in the Hebrew is with his swarms of revolted spirits continually buzzing about the Souls of Men and suggesting to our minds falsities for truths perswading us that not Internal but External things are the matter of true Pleasure that so causing us to erect our hopes upon a rotten foundation at the time of our death when that shall fail the structure may fall to the ground nay much lower even into the Abyss of despair The sad issues of this suggestion are much