Successor Thus we daily see a greater disgust because of some petty differences in circumstantials where yet there is agreement in the vital part of fundamental truth and holy living then because of those notorious profanesses which unchristian a man and make him as an Heathen man and a Publican 191 A Crocodile out of the River Niger drew in with ihs tail nine slaves chained together and devoured them but the Chain not being digestible proved his destruction being found in him dead Lord at how great sins dare this heart of mine venture and at how long a train as the Ox drinketh down water in huge quantity and with great delight but there is a Chain of guilt with it surely deadly that can neither be vomited nor vented this makes me cry My bowels my bowels I am pained at my very heart but the comfort is there is Balm in Gilead and a Physitian there 192 At the siege of Rochel a certain Souldier from the walls observing the Duke of Anjou afterwards Henry the 3d. to stand viewing the Fortifications fired at him which one of the Esquires of his body perceiving in the very moment stept before him and saved the life of his Lord by the losse of his own Lord the arrows of thy vengeance are levelled at the Caul of my heart and it is justice that they should smite me under the fifth rib but let that Jesus who saves his people from their sins call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a middle person step between Let the chastisement of my peace be upon him and by his stripes let me be healed 193 Marcellus at the taking of Syracusa being greatly desirous to save the life of Archimedes gave strait charg through his army That every person should endeavour his safety but a Souldier breaking in upon him at his study not knowing him slew him How much better is it to be one of those marked out by him with the writers Ink-horn by his side how much greater security in being one of those who sigh and cry for the abominations done in the midst of the City how much more certain safety had Jeremiah Baruch and Ebedmelech when Jerusalem was stormed by Nebuchadnezzar being those to whom God had promised their lives for a prey 194 Fabius Maximus dying suddenly the day before the end of his Consulship Rebius sued to be Consull for the few hours of that year which remained Lord how short hast thou made our lives if compared with the Crow or Stag and how much shorter are they made by many crosse accidents and how much shorter doe we make them by our many intemperances and how much shorter yet are they made by thy just judgement when for our presumption and carelesness in thy worship we are sick and weak and some fall asleep and yet how fond are we of this little remnant that we often hazard an immortal soul for it But Oh do thou direct my aims to that which admits of no termination as to extent of time or enjoyment 195 Some Roman Souldiers flying from Amida when taken by the Persians wandred in the deserts almost choaked with thirst till they came to a deep well whence yet they had nothing to draw the water with till necessity found out this invention They pull'd off their shirts and cut them out into long slips which they tyed together making a bunch at the end by which through a manifold repetition squeezing the hunch they drew up water enough to quench their thirst When we come to the word to draw water out of the wells of salvation we are unfurnished of Pitchers for that purpose our ears are dull of hearing our hearts fat and hard to understand here a little and there a little a frequent repetition must be often applicatious for of much we carry away but a very little our judgements but a little informed our affections but a little rectified or elevated Alas alas they that think rare attendances wil serve the turn or that they shall be told but what they know manifest that they are not sensible of their own dullnesse nor consider that the Apostle Peter thought it meet to put those often in remembrance who knew those things and were established in the present truth 199 A certain person that had sold a street of houses and laid out the money in costly apparrel came to Court and being in a prease there cryed to them To make way for one that had an hundred Tenements on his back Lord thou hast said That thou art pressed under our sins as a Cart is pressed under sheaves and the burden of our iniquity brings down from thee a burden of punishment yet is the weight of sin fo far from being grievous that instead of lamenting the pressure we boast of the number but if we are not weary and heavy laden with the sense of our transgressions now they will at that day press us down into the lowest hell 200 Neer the Lake Agnano there is a Cave into which for the experience of Travellers the neighbouring Inhabitants are wont to put their Dogs which are no sooner in but they are as dead immediately with eyes set and tongues hanging out but taken thence presently and thrown into the Lake they recover for which cause those Dogs no sooner see a stranger coming but if not timely prevented away they get them packing to the adjoyning mountains not to be got again to make a new experiment Lord thou saidst In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt dye the death and we never descend into acts of iniquity but we are afresh dead in trespasses and sins and that irrecoverably if not washed by faith and repentance in the fountain opened for sin and for uncleannesse but if we have so escaped when temptation again presents it self shall we not get us packing by no means to be brought to another tryall 200 Cleopatra the wife of Cyricoenus having taken Sanctuary at Antioch after her husbands overthrow her Sister Gryphina the wife of Gryphus most importunately solicited her death and though Gryphus much perswaded her desivery yet she her self commanded the Souldiers in to dispatch her but a few dayes after the same Gryphina falling into the hands of Cyricoenus was by him made a sacrifice to his Wives Ghost They are not our times alone that by their mutability have taught men that great lesson of moderation all ages have witnessed That the Lord is at hand a just Judge to execute vengeance on those who have not by their miseration to others shewed their sense that they also are in the body even those whom God sent out to be his Executioners he hath afterward plagued because they did their work without pitty OCCASIONALL Observations 1 IN that emendation as 't is thought to be of the English Tongue by the addition of forreign words of divers Languages though possibly we may speak more finely yet not which is the end of speech more significantly but alwayes more laborioufly few
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
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
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
he I should like it well if thou couldest shew me that of Achillis When the Papists shew their store of relicks to their credulous votaries me-thinks 't is a sad story they should conceale the Key of Heaven so as they neither enter in themselves nor suffer those that would 163 When the Duke De Birois was beheaded he demeaned himselfe more like a Lion in a toile then a Lambe on the block and was by the executioner rather trapan'd to death then fairly submitting to that present necessity So that while we admire the courage of his life we abhor his unchristianlike death Whereas our Earle of Essex though rather beyond him in high magnanimity yet manifested abundance of Christian meeknesse on the Scaffold Certainly 't is an unsound maxime of our Duellists that a man cannot be valiant and religious or that Josephs answer to his mistriss How shall I do this and sin against God would not do well in a challenge But surely Lord we are then most couragious when we are least bold to sin and most obedient to thy word and Providence 164 Alcibiades being accused by the Athenians and hiding himself when found was asked if he mistrusted the justice of his Countrey no saith he not in another matter but my life being concerned I will not trust my owne mother least she should mistake and put in a black bean instead of a white In the concernments of this life we are desirous to be most secured and will not leave important affairs upon any uncertainty but the Salvation of our souls which it might be thought we would not trust our dearest relations with we suffer to rely onely on the Colliers faith and are willing should depend upon the most improbable perswasions that can be imagined 165 Agrippina being accused by Syllana for imagining treason against her Son Nero made this her defence That Syllana being barren might think it as casie to be rid of Sons as adulterers but had she known the power of maternall affection there would have been no probability to accuse of that for which nature it selfe had provided a defence Lord if others who never tasted how good the Lord is sin against thee though the crime be manifest yet it is lesse unnaturall but if thy Sons be accused if that relation prove not their innocency 't will agravate their guilt 166 Charles Duke of Burgundy being discomfited at the battell of Naucy passing over a River was overthrowne by his Horse and in that estate was assaulted by a Gentleman of whom he craved quarter but the Gentleman being deaf slew him incontinently Yet afterwards when he knew whom he had slain he died within few dayes of meer melancholy When God intendeth to bring judgements on us he not onely findes executioners to effect his purposes but sends such as are as deaf to our intreaties as we have been to his counsels 167 Subonis Flavius being one of the conspirators against Nero and askt by him why he regarded the military Sacrament so little as to conspire his death answered him That he was faithfull to him while he deserv'd to be loved but he could not but hate him since he was his Mothers Brothers and Wives murtherer a Waggoner Stage-Player and Incendiary of the City then which speech saith the Historian nothing happened to Nero more vexatious for though he were prompt to do wickedly yet impatient to bear the wickedness he did It is not the least part of our conviction and vanity that we are not ashamed to be what we are ashamed to be thought when to be evill is a reall defection to be thought so but imaginary and rather to them that think so then to us being an evill conception existing in their mindes not otherwise applicable to us then as we are guilty 168 The Courtiers of Galba though under a severe Prince were yet as injurious to the Common-wealth as those of Nero because Galba being old and their time not likely to last long they made use of it while it endured like the Dragon which laid about him because he knew he had but a short time How much doth the consideration of the shortness of time conduce to the expedition of humane affaires what odds between our hast in a Winters and in a Summers day Yet alas how little doth the brevity of our lives enforce our indeavours to be spiritually rich we loyter away our precious opportunities in doing nothing or that which is worse then nothing 169 'T is said of Charls the Ninth King of France that accustoming himself to rip open the bellies and pluck out the bowels of those Beasts he took in hunting grew very cruel being not onely the Authour of that unparalled Parisian Massacre but also many times furious to those neere about him and beloved by him often to their very great danger 'T is safe not to have to do with the very introductions to iniquity a wise man would not come neer that precipice the very beholding of which will make a man giddy 't is common prudence to avoid that place where we judge the Air infectious Our hearts are so fruitfull of cursed lusts that they generate not by coition onely but by imagination Happy he therefore that is taught to fly the very appearance of evill and to hate not the leprous body onely but the very Garment spotted with the flesh 170 When William the Conquerour had taken sure footing in England having seiz'd the greatest part of it and intending an expedition into Kent to take that in also the Kentlshmen under the conduct of their Bishop well appointed met him not far from Smauscombe having every one a green bough in his hand and behinde them a vast tract of Woodland The men with boughs thus appearing like a Wood and the Wood behinde being thought by the Conqueror to be men with boughs he was unwilling to hazard his present Conquests by engaging with so considerable a force as he judg'd them to be and therefore chose rather to condiscend to those Conditions which they presented to him the ground of that saying Kent was never conquered and the cause that that County hath those immunities the other have not When times turn and persecutions threaten the godly they poor hearts think that there is a vast Army of opposition against them and that their deliverance is far off like those Jewes who said the time of this captivity is long therefore are ready to capitulate with the enemy and comply with those things which are neither safe nor honourable when alas the Lyon is not so fierce as he is painted nor opposition so strange but the breath of the Lord can blast it nor persecution so tedious but yet a little while and he that shall come will come and will not tarry 171 Margaret Meering being excommunicated by Rought out of that Congregation of Protestants whereof he was Pastor wherein she seemed to have hard dealing yet when Rought was imprisoned for the truth she above all
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
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
I think 't is probable their sufferings are not alwayes alike grievous nor yet their sins till then at the highest for though their executions be according to command yet their malice in the execution encreaseth their transgression and though they are now reserved in everlasting Chains under darknesse yet it is to the judgement of the last day when that everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels shall be ready for them 39 The Disciples might well marvell at that question of our Saviour Matth. 9.20 when he asketh Who touched me The people prest upon him and thronged him and he might rather ask Who touched him not than who did Alas those many thronged without consideration without design and as they prest without any purpose so to no purpose as without intention to be benefited so without benefit but the touching of Christ was a plot of the womans a project to be healed an act directed to that end for which cause the Scripture reports her healing not as casual but the result of her design and therefore records the discourse which she had with her own heart about it such touching of Christ had power to extract virtue from him and attract it to bring it out from him and bring it in to her whereas the other left him as it found him no diffusing of efficacy to those who were not prepared by any thought for it so great a difference is there between doing what we mind and not minding what we do the means of grace are seldome applyed to with design and desire of benefit that men are dismist altogether without what they came for but never marvel if those are sent away without any spiritual profit that came without any other design then to see and be seen 40 When our Lord in the storm is awaked by his Disciples Mark 4.38 they propose such a question as doth tacitely charg him with a neglect of their lives Master carest thou not that we perish I expected rather they would have minded him of his own danger than have complained that he minded not theirs for his jeopardy was greater being asleep and at least the same being embarqued with them in the same bottome But thus it often is with the servants of God in their distresses that they are apt to charge God foolishly and say of their sufferings as the wicked of their sins The Lord doth not see neither doth the holy One of Israel regard when as in all their afflictions he is afflicted and their griefs are his He hath entwisted their good with his interest and he that toucheth them toucheth the Apple of his eye then will the Lord be wanting to secure his own cause when he is careless whether those perish who uprightly serve him 41 When I read of the simplicity of John the Baptist I admire to hear that Herod feared him such a simple Fellow in such mean array with a Leather Girdle and Rayment of Camels hair poorly clad and meanly fed to be a terror to so great a Potentate if he had been in his Pontificalibus with his Cross-Keyes and Triple-Crown and the Thunderbolt of Excommunication in his hand he might have scared a Prince but saith the Text He knew him to be a just man and an holy What an honourable impression doth holiness fix upon the fore-heads of the righteous what an awe it begets in the greatest in the vilest even the very Rabshakehs while they scoffe they tremble That Image of God to which the Lion croucht when Adam was in innocency and the fierce Tiger did his homage where 't is renewed it makes the meanest honourable and brings to remembrance that God to whom the proudest must give up their accounts 42 John in the Revelation declareth his error in worshipping the Angel that shewed unto him those things Rev 19.10 We find him an impartial reporter against himself so great a fault set down without any the least extenuation not so much as a mistake pleaded the Angel indeed in his answer seems to imply that John thought him other than one of his fellow-servants but John himself calls him one of the seven Angels with the vials So free are the servants of God to take shame to themselves while others ransack far and neer to find out excuses to palliate their crimes or post them to others as Saul chargeth his sparing the spoils of Amaleck upon the people whose voyce he obeyed they are full and open in their confessions and ready to take that blame from which all would acquit them besides themselves they cry like David Lord I have sinned and I have done wickedly but these sheep what have they done But which is yet more we find John not long after faulty upon the very same account Rev 22.8 and it seems very probable if you compare Cap. 19. vers 10. with Cap. 21. vers 9. to the very same Angel he that had so clearly before discovered himself to be a fellow-servant and so seriously admonished him not to do it and so fairly directed him to the proper object of worship surely there is something in it that so holy a person as John so informed before hand and at the time of such divine Revelations should be set forth to us thus the second time failing but verily God foresaw what great idolatry there would be committed in the world by the worshipping of Saints and therefore by this action of Johns either fore-shewed it or presented a Caution against it a Caution indeed for how great an argument is it That Saints are not to be worshipped seeing they are but fellow-servants for can that Soveraign Lord endure that servants should be made his fellows or that fellow-servants should have such worship from their equals if not in present yet at least in future enjoyments 43 The Apostle Paul in that his reasoning the ease with his Corinthians 2 Cor 12.18 useth much of argument to excuse his not putting them to charges we might have expected rather something of Apology that he had been burdensome than that he had not but it is an ordinary Craft to charge the not requiring of those courtesies when the opportunity to do them are past as an unkindness which if requested when in their season would have been grumbled at but what cannot be reckoned as a down-right injury is yet imputed as a designe this not being burdensome as a crafty fetch to draw them in that they might be more securely and fully preyed upon afterwards by those whom he sent to gather his harvest after him as if Titus and the brother that came with him were appointed to do that which Paul would not so impossible is it for a Minister of the Gospel not to have been his good evil spoken of these very men that quarrelled with Paul because he put them not to charges were contented the false Apostles should bring them into bondage devoure them take of them buffet them on the face The vile exorbitants of lewd Teachers are more favourably suffered than the pious endeavours of religious Pastors wherein the edification of their flock is meerly intended 44 In that Treatment which our Saviour gives the multitudes that followed him he seems very impolitick in drawing Disciples after him to professe That who will be his Disciple must hate father and mother wife and children houses and Lands must take up the Crosse and follow him To give such hard Almonds to such soft Teeth was this the way a Countrey person would have taken another course he would have feasted his neighbours with good cheer and have soaked their hearts with strong liquor to have molified their affections have made their minds plyable this had been a likely way to have done good to have brought them fairly on but our Lord likes no Cupboard Suitors not those who follow him for the Loaves his servants must meet with storms therefore he is for such as will stand to their tackling 't is seldom therefore but the Lord quickly tryes what mettal they are of Those that draw Disciples after them they number their followers by the poll but our Lord as Gideon with his Army sends thousands away that are base and faint-hearted wherefore they are often alarmed and it never is that Godliness is long prosperous that those who are approved may be made manifest and they that are otherwise may not be hid 45 We do not read that the men which owned the Colt were any of the followers of Jesus yet assoon as they were told by the Disciples which were sent That the Lord had need of him without further dispute they let him go an invincible argument with cōsiderate men what could there be replyed in such a case had it been equall to have denyed Might not that Soveraign Lord require for his own use who supplyes so much for ours may he not justly take any thing that gives all What a ready complyance is there in particular natures to that which is more universall The heavy water will shift its Region and from the low valleys spout over the lofty mountains to avoid a Vacuum and the massy Iron forgot its weight and swam like Cork at the command of the Prophet and shall not every creature deny its private interest to serve him upon whose influence the whole world depends and it were better ten thousand worlds should perish then he should be in the least a sufferer And shall we boggle to part from those vile lusts upon his account concerning which it may be askt What profit had yet in those things Well may those generous Heroes be memorized now and to eternity who were willing to be blotted out of Gods Book and be accursed from Christ rather than the eminent concernments of divine glory should be impaired could these thus freely sacrifice their Hecatombs when we make so dainty of our Turtle Doves and young Pigeons FINIS