These are my familiars O Lord wherewith I have so often displeas'd thee rebellious ungrateful and perfidious creature as I am I have been created to thy Image and likeness but alas by my Sins I have made my Soul most like unto the Devils those monsters of ingratitude By my Sins I have often renew'd the bitter Death and Passion of Jesus thy beloved Son Quis dabit Capitimeo aquam oculis meis fontem lachrimarum plorabo die ac nocte Jer. 9.1 O how can I worthily deplore so great an evil who will give water to my head a fountain of tears to my eyes to lament both night and day my misery and malice To have contributed to thy death O Lord is of all other motives the most powerful to replenish my minde with grief and sorrow and therefore do desire to hear from thy self the particulars of it SAVIOVR KNow then that after I had taken man out of the bowells of the Earth with a Faciamnus and created him to my own Image and likeness in order to make him sole Lord and absolute Monarch of the whole Universe with full power to take and tast of all things that a most pleasant paradise could afford the fruit of Life only excepted He the ungratefull and rebellious creature considering the great advantage of his condition and the greatness of his dignity which should be to him a sufficient motive to love obey respect and praise me for ever took thence occasion to mutiny rebell and desert me and enter into a league against me with Lucifer whom I had a little before expell'd Heaven for his thoughts of Pride Ambition and who from that very moment made a vow to deface and destroy my Picture being that he could not annoy my Person This so heinous an offence deserv'd he should be immediately commanded out of that Terrestrial Paradise where he was created and liv'd like a petty Prince and where he had all other creatures even the most furious among them at his beck to do with them as he thought fit Accepisti argentum vestes a Naaman sed Lepra Naaman adhaerebit tibi semini tuo usque in sempiternum 4 Reg. 5. He was therefore turn'd off as a vagabond cast into exile and made liable to suffer the punishment even of the damn'd for as he became an associate to the Devil in Sin 't was fit he should be his companion in torment Thou hast heard of my Judgement inflicted on Gehazi my Prophets servant and how for taking Naaman's mony and cloths for the cure of his Leprosy I order'd that for his covetous transgression both he and all his generation to the worlds end should share in his Leprosy as he did in his garments Even so have I decreed against man who had so much affected Lucifers Pride and Ambition that he should be likewise infected with his Leprosy and as he was obedient to his suggestions he should partake of his punishments also Behold the fatal Metamorphosis of man and how for imitating the Devil in his rebellion he forfieted my resemblance to put on that of this most horrid and hideous Monster of Hell Man being made so abominable by sin and so great an eyesore to my divine Essence I in mercy was mov'd not to reflect so much upon the injury done to my Supream Majesty as not to condole the greatness of his deplorable misery was more inclin'd to compassionate his weakness then to be reveng'd of his crime Whereupon to repair his loss I undertook to mediate his peace with my heavenly Father and in order to so great a work I contracted with humane nature so strict an alliance that I became both God and man which was so grateful to my Father that he not only forgave man all his past transgressions but also receiv'd him into favour with all the demonstrations of joy that could be express'd Who would ever expect that so large and so dangerous a breach should ever be repair'd who would ever imagine that two things so opposit one to the other as is the divine to humane nature should come to subsist and remain together not in one house not at one table nor in one bed but in one and the self-same person This is a miracle beyond the expectation of man and indeed beyond th' expression of an Angel for there cann't be any two more contrary then is God and the Sinner yet now what two can be more firmly united or have greater influence then God and man There is nothing more sublime then God Pulvis es in pulverem reverteris Gen. 1. and nothing more vile and despicable then man Notwithstanding God with all humility descends from Heaven to man and man ascends to Heaven with God so that the action of man is the same with that of God and whatever God is said to have done may be justly imputed to man because that I am both God and man Who would ever believe that man to see him naked after his dismal fall and absconding in one corner or other in Paradise for to keep himself from Gods indignation and wrath who would believe I say that such a fordid and contemptable substance should be in time united to God in one and the same Person This was a strange union indeed and a true lovers knot for when it was upon the dissolution at the time of my Passion it did not in the least fail but was rather violently separated to shew what an amorous inclination I had to be still united to humane nature Death indeed might have taken my Soul from my body and break off that union of nature which kept them together Quod semel assumpsit nunquam dimisit Aug. but had not the power to withdraw my Godhead from either of them for that was an union of the divine person which I shall never relinquish having once fix'd upon it with all the tenderness of a most ardent love MAN O Lord I am so much oblig'd to thee for this extraordinary great favour that I am not able to return thee sufficient thanks for the way and means which thou hast taken to redeem me and my very redemption is so great a benefit that no Angelical tongue is able to express it All that I can say is that I am bound by all the ties both of nature and conscience to love thee and stand submissive to thy laws for ever Thou hast deliver'd my Soul out of the infernal Dragon's jaws and without any merit of mine but meerly through the multitude of thy mercies thou hast reconcil'd me to thy self This is eternally worthy of praise But if I consider how and after what manner thou hast done me that unspeakable favour I shall finde that it does exceed even that great work of my redemption Thy works are wonderfull in all their circumstances Mirabilis Deus in Sanctis suis and tho' man when he considers one does really believe that
who had kill'd his Master this animal runs at him and holds him fast looking on the by-standers with such a mournful countenance as if he had desir'd Justice whereupon the murderer was apprehended and forc'd to confess his crime for which he was immediately sentenc'd to dy O man If a Dog for a piece of bread had so great a love for his master and was so faithful to him as to lament and vindicate his death wilt thou not be displeas'd at thine ingratitude and principally when a dumb beast reprehends it and teacheth thee to be grateful If that irrational creature was so much incens'd against the murderer of his Master why art thou not displeas'd with those that have slain thy gracious Lord and Master and what are they but thy Sins 'T is true O man thy Sins have taken me have tyed me have scourg'd me have crown'd me have nail'd me to the Cross and were the sole occasion of my bitter death for the Jews could never have the power to crucify me but that thy Sins did both arm and incourage 'em to it Wherefore then art thou not highly displeas'd with them why dost thou not bend all thy wrath and fury against them seeing thy divine Master crucify'd by them before thine eyes and especially since my Death and Passion was design'd to breed in thy heart an eternal hatred of Sin It was in order to destroy Sin that I suffer'd death It was to set a stop to thy feet and hands which are so prone to evil even from thy very cradle that mine as an oblation for their evils were nail'd to the Cross How art thou so impious as to live after such a manner that all my pains taken for thy Salvation will signify nothing Why dost thou not tremble at the very mention of Sin seeing me suffer such cruel torments to destroy and root it clean out of the world How canst thou be so rash and so great an enemy to thy poor Soul as to dare to offend me seeing Heaven open to cast forth its thunder bolts upon thy criminal head and Hell with a dilated mouth ready to swallow thee both body and Soul MAN O My God my King my Saviour my Judge and my only comfort Thou art I confess the Eternal Wisdom and thy words to me are Spirit and Life for they have made me resolve to bid adieu for ever to Sin and to plant virtue where vice was before in great request but give me leave to ask thee what would the benefit of my redemption avail me if that of my Justification had not ensu'd for by this it is that the virtue of the former is appli'd to the diseases of my Soul and even as a plaister tho' never so soveraign will signify nothing except it be laid unto the wound so that heavenly medicine would be of no use or advantage to me if it had not been appli'd by the mediation of this unspeakable benefit to the bruises which I receiv'd in that fatal field of Eden where all mankinde were shamefully foil'd and quite overthrown in the Person of Adam The Sanctification of man does chiefly appertain to the Holy Ghost 'T is his prerogative to prevent the Sinner with the sweetness of his mercy then to call him being call'd to justify him and being justifi'd to direct him and leade him on to the end of his course and then to gratify him with a crown of glory wherefore I may justly say that this very benefit is the happy complement of all others for by this man is register'd in the number of Gods children discharg'd of the main weight of his iniquities deliver'd from the dominion and Tyranny of the Devil reviv'd from Death to Life brought from the state of Sin to that of Justice and of a child of malediction and woe he becomes the Son of God and Co-heir with thee in thy Glory Nemo potest venire ad me nisi Pater meus traxerit illum Joa 44. But this cannot be perform'd without the peculiar help and assistance of the holy Ghost as thou hast declar'd to thy beloved Disciple in these words No man can come to me except the Father who has sent me draw him whereby I conceive that neither free will nor the power of humane nature can withdraw a man from Sin and bring him to Grace unless he be help'd on by the vertue of thy divine power The Angelical Doctor St. Thomas commenting upon these words says even as a Stone by its nature still falls downwards and can never ascend without some exteriour assistance so man overpress'd by the corruption of Sin tends always downwards and is powerfully hurri'd on by his inbred inclinations to the love and desire of terene and transitory things but if he be minded to aim higher that is at the love and supernatural desire of heavenly things he must implore the assistance of thy Divine Spirit without which he shall never be able to make any progress in virtue SAVIOVR O Man thou sayst well but I would have thee practise well what thou sayst for 't is the practise and not the discourse of good things that can make thee grateful to me the serious consdieration of this unspeakable benefit should indeed press thee to it make thee most diligent to atchieve it which is a matter of greatest moment to thee for by this thou art reconcil'd to me and cleans'd from Sin which is the worst of all evils and the only evil I most hate and abhor it alone is able to bring my indignation and wrath upon thee Odisti omnes qui operantur iniquitatem perdes omnes qui loquntur mendacium Psal 5. as thou mayst unerstand by my Prophet who says of me Thou art not a God which taketh pleasure in wickedness neither shall evil dwell with thee The foorish shall not stand in thy sight Thou hatest all workers of iniquity Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing the Lord will abhor the bloody and deceitful man Thou seest by this that Sin is the greatest of all evils nay 't is the very root and origine of them all On the contrary to be in my favour the object of my most tender affection is a real happiness the fountain of all goodness and the solid foundation of all other favours and virtues Why dost thou then delay thy endeavours refuse to concur with my holy inspirations If thou wouldst once firmly resolve an amendment imploy all thy faculties to destroy Sin in thee thou shouldst then receive the benefit of Justification by which thou art deliver'd from that pernicious evil and of a mortal enemy thou art made my friend not in a common degree of friendship but in the most supream that can be thought of which is that of a Father to his Son Videte qualem charitatem nobis dedit pater ut filii Dei nominemur fimus 1. Jo. 3. My Evangelist extols this extraordinary favour very highly where he says behold
infinitely more sweet unto their Sences then that of Musk and Amber dost thou not see how immense is that light and joy of the Blessed Souls in Heaven which transmits this so unspeakable a luster and beauty unto their Bodies and how can it be less being it proceeds from my beatifical vision and that it is the very same joy which I have my self and which is sufficient to make me blessed with a blessedness equal to my self It 's therefore I say unto my beloved Servant Euge serve bone sidelis quia super fuisti sidelis super pauca multa te constituum intra in gandium Domini tui Mat. 25.21 well done thou good and faithful Servant thou hast been faithful over a few things I will make thee Ruler over many things enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. Take notice O man that I do not simply say enter into joy but to shew the greatness thereof I call it my own joy and that very joy whereby I my self become happy Observe also that there is not a Creature in this world which has not for his final end some manner of perfection and that those Creatures which are indu'd with reason and knowledge have in that perfection a particular joy and complacency which is greater or lesser according as their end is more or less perfect Now thou must of necessity acknowledge that my perfection infinitely exceeds that of all Creatures consequently the joy which is in my self for I have no end or perfection distinct from my self is infinitely greater then the joy of all Creatures and this infinite joy out of my infinite goodness I was pleas'd to impart as well to the Blessed Souls as to the Angels tho' so great and so special a felicity was in no way due unto their humane nature wherefore thou must confess that the joy of Saints which is that of my beatifical vision and wherein my joy and happiness does consist is infinite and that all the contents and pleasures of the world in comparison to it are Aloes Gall and Wormwood The Philosophers will tell thee that by how much a dilectable object closes nearer to the faculty by so much greater is the joy and delight which it produces therein natural reason will convince thee that of all objects I am the most excellent and the most delightful consequently being in the beatifical vision united to the Souls of my Saints in heaven with the most intimate union that can be in a pure creature must of necessity cause an unspeakable joy incomparably greater then all the joys reall or imaginable which can be produc'd by all the creatures that were are at present or will be extant to the end of the world for as my Divine perfection contains within it self the perfections of all created things possible and imaginable so the joy which it causes in the Souls of the Blessed must be infinitely greater then all other joys which either have or can be caus'd by the creature O man here I must reflect upon the main weakness the great folly and the wilfull ignorance of Mortals Helena the beauty of Greece did so inflame the heart of Paris that he made a vow to have her for his wife tho' it should cost the lives of millions of men utter destruction of his whole nation Jacob was so enamour'd of the fair Rachel that he made nothing of fourteen years continual Slavery to purchase the happiness of her enjoyment The People of Israel were so much taken with Absoloms beauty so charm'd with the sweetness of his discourse that they all joyn'd heart and hand with him to dethrone David his own Father their lawful King the best of Princes a man according to my own heart a Prince adorn'd with all virtues a Prince so much extoll'd for his mildness to his Subjects and for his great care of preserving them in peace with all foreign nations A Prince that ventur'd his life to fight a Goliah for the honour and redemption of Israel from the tyrannical yoak of the Philistins Non enim te abjecerunt sed me ne regnem super eos 1 Reg. 8.7 Tulit Joab tres lanceas in manusua infixit eas in corde Absolem 2 Reg. 18.14 O that a whole nation should be so much infatuate as to abdicate so worthy and so gracious a King for the love of a mortal and fading beauty for the sake of an ambitious ungrateful and deluding Absalom but I account the injury is done to me and not to David they have not rejected him but me that I should no more rule over them this is the height of ingratitude and must have a punishment equall to its demerit for Absalom shall dy by the hands even of one of his greatest Admirers and the chief of his favourits as for the People of Israel that gave their concurrence to so unhumane and barbarous an act they shall be rul'd by Tyrants that shall keep them always in a curb and make them absolute Slaves for ever Let all those who finde themselves conscious of so horrid a crime tremble at the hearing of so dreadful a chastisement Mulieres sedebant plangentes Adonidem Ezec. 18.14 The beauty of Adonis had no better success than that of Absalom for tho' the very sight of him drew love and admiration from his beholders yet at length he was to them a subject of great lamentation and sorrow O ye Sons of men Filij hominum usque quo gravi corde ut quid diligi is vanitatem queritis mendacium Et scitote quoniam mirificavit Dominus Sanctum suum Psal 4.3.4 how long will ye turn my glory into shame how long will ye love vanity and seek after false things But know ye that the Lord has extoll'd the beauty of his Saints and made it wonderful beyond the reach of humane understanding and the expression even of the very Angels for all the beauty of the world aggregated in one creature falls infinitely short of that of my Saints in Heaven how ravishing then must my beauty be which is accompanied with several other perfections that will admit of no limits as with infinite wisdom omnipotence holiness liberality bounty and all that can be imagin'd good beautyful and perfect it 's enough indeed to force even the hearts of mine enemies to love serve honour and adore me Thou art I know a great admirer of perfection tell me then if there were in the world a man as wise as an Angel wouldst thou not be as earnest to see him as the Queen of Sheba was to behold Solomon but if to this great wisdom were added the strength of Hercules or that of Sampson the victories of the Machabees or those of the greatest Conquerours that e're appear'd in this World the courage the devotion the meekness and courtesy of David the friendship of Jonathan the liberality of all the Roman and Assyrian Potentates and the greatest beautys that ever appear'd upon
esse filium hominis Mat. 16.14 I long to hear what Worldlings say of me and of my Kingdom for I suppose that some of them are apt to believe I am John the Baptist others will say perhaps that I am Elias others that I am Jeremiah or some one of the Prophets Noli me tangere Jo. 20.17 Vos autem quem me esse dicitis Ibid. v. 15. Some will think that it 's a folly for mortals to expect admittance to my Kingdom because that after my Resurrection I refus'd the Magdalen leave to touch me or to lay her hand upon any part of my garment But what dost thou say of me and of my glorious Residence MAN I Say Tu es Christus Filius Dei vivi Jo. 6.70 Et regni ejus non erit finis Luc. 1.33 that thou art Christ Son of the living God and that thy Kingdom will never have an end it 's therefore I believe that Scripture calls it the land of the living to let us understand that this wherein we abide deserves no better denomination then that of the dead Alas we know it by our woful experience to be very true for tho' Adam and his Descendants for a long time liv'd each of them so many Ages yet this fatal Epitaph mortuus est which he has entail'd upon all his posterity came at last to shew that as the world is mortal the inhabitants thereof must be of the same nature but as for thy Kingdom O Lord 't is immortal and without any end 't is therefore St. Paul says that this corruptible body of ours shall put on incorruption and of mortal become immortal This flesh of ours which now is so burdensome and does so depress our minde which is now invested with so many inconveniences subject to so many alterations griev'd with so many diseases defil'd with so many corruptions overwhelm'd with such an infinite deal of miseries and calamities shall in thy Kingdom O Lord be made glorious and advanc'd to the height of perfection It shall be endu'd with Seven gifts suitable to thy liberality and to the dignity of thy beloved Servants which are Beauty Agility Fortitude Justi fulgebant sicut sol in regno Patris eorum Mat. 13.43 Penetration Health Pleasure and Perpetuity As for the first gift which is Beauty thou hast thy self declar'd that the Just shall shine as the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father The second is Agility and this prerogative of the Just is no less then the former for by this their flesh is free'd from that lumpish heavy weight which kept their Spirits fetter'd whilst they remain'd in this life and made as light even as the Angels themselves who pass from one extremity of the world to the other in the twinkling of an eye the third gift is Supernatural Strength which does so abound in a glorifi'd body that he shall be able to move the whole globe of the Earth at thy command and give us a dry passage through the main Ocean with as much ease as thy Angel did to the People of Israel through the red Seas to avoid the Rage and fury of their pursuing Enemys The fourth is I enetration whereby he shall be able to penetrate any other bodies tho'never so hard or massy and make nothing to peirce Walls Doors the Earth and the very Firmament tho' it were made of Brass This thy glorifi'd body has perform'd after thy Resurrection for thou didst penetrate the house where thy Disciples were the Doors being all shut and at thy Ascension thou didst penetrate the Heavens also The fifth prerogative is absolute Health free from all pains of this life quit of all diseases troubles incumbrances and all other infirmitys incident to humane nature and shall be perpetually fix'd in a most perfect and flourishing state of health and felicity in no way liable to the least alteration for ever The sixth is Delight and Pleasure which shall be heap'd upon a glorifi'd body to that degree that all his senses shall finde their peculiar and proper objects in a far more delicious manner then ever they could expect in this world for his eyes shall be for ever recreated with the beatifical vision and with the sight of the most glorious and beautiful bodies of all the Saints One Sun is enough to bring a full joy over the whole continent of the Earth as also to depress the raging waves of the main Ocean in its greatest fury it revives the mortifi'd grain and makes it appear with it's green blades to assure the Labourer of it's being alive and sets at liberty all those varieties of flowers and simples which the cold season of winter kept a long time in it's prisons of Ice what joy then shall a blessed Soul conceive when he beholds as many Suns as there are Saints and when he sees himself to be one of them when he sees his hands his feet and the rest of his members to cast forth beams clearer then even the Sun in it's full height His ears shall be replenish'd wiih the most harmonious Songs and Musick of so many Quires of Angels of so many millions of Saints and of so many hundred thousands of heavenly Spirits as St. John in many several places of his Revelations makes mention of O my Soul here I would have thee stay a while and consider seriously what a great satisfaction this is to the blessed If the harp of David were so delightful to Saul and had so great a power as to asswage the fury of his passion and to recal him from that melancholy fit of which the Devil made use to destroy his Soul If the Lyre of Orpheus was able to operate such great prodigies in the World and to win the hearts not only of men but also of the Infernal Spirits if we may believe Poets who tell us that he recover'd his Wife out of their clutches with the sweetness of his melodious instruments If St. Francis thought himself already in Heaven hearing an Angel play on his instrument what pleasure what delight will a blessed Soul have when he hears the sweet harmony of so many thousands of Angels together Tradition which gives life to the best of Historys informs us that the singing of one little bird alone ravish'd a devout Monk to that degree that three hundred years seem'd no more to him then three hours what a sweetness will it be to hear the melody of those Songs which the innumerable citizens of that heavenly Jerusalem sing in praise of thee their eternal King his smell shall be recreated with the most odoriferous scent which comes from those beautiful bodies infinitely more sweet then all the perfumes of the Indies In fine the whole glorifi'd body shall be fill'd with abundance of all kind of consolation the Eyes the Ears the Nose the Mouth the Hands the Throat the Lungs the Heart the Stomach the Back nay the very Intrals and every part of the Body Inebriabuntur ab
love courage greatness of minde and fervour of spirit hear how daring he speaks to Dacianus the President and see with what joy and Patience he suffers his torments The Tyrant orders him to be hoist up high upon a Rack and after a jeering way ask'd him where he was to which he answer'd with a smiling countenance I am aloft and thence do despise thee who art insolent and puff'd up with the power thou hast upon Earth Being after menac'd with more torments far exceeding the cruelty of the former he said me thinks Dacianus thou dost not threaten but court me with what I desire with all the powers and faculties of my Soul And when they tore his flesh with hooks and pinchers and burnt him with firebrands and flaming torches he cry'd out with joy in vain thou weariest rhy self Dacianus thou canst not imagine torments so horrid which I could not suffer Know then O man that Prisons Pinchers burning plates of Iron and death it self are unto good Christians recreations rather then torments and if thou beest of the number of them thou wilt be likewise of the same opinion MAN I am as much perplex'd O Lord at thy discourse as was the man of the Gospel to hear his Master accuse him of injustice and threaten to turn him out of his Stewardship what shall I do Fodere non valeo mendicare erubesco Luc. 16.3 says he I am asham'd to beg and I am not able to labour This is my case I am asham'd to see my self so remiss in my duty to thee so unwilling to undergo the least trouble to purchase thy glory and so heedless of my own salvation when I see Heathens perform such great and heroick exploits even for the bare applause of the world and for the blind approbation of their phantastical Sect. I am asham'd to see my self so remote from virtue so cold in devotion so prone to vice so inconstant in my good resolutions so averss'd to afflictions and crosses when I hear a Pagan-Philosopher that knows nothing of thy glory nothing of the everlasting happiness of thy Kingdom nothing of the unspeakable reward of thy Blessed and nothing of the eternal punishments which thou hast decree'd for the wicked tell me that there is not in the scale of nature a more inseparable connexion of cause and effect then in the case of happiness and virtue nor any thing that more naturally produces the one or more necessarily presupposes the other For what is it to be happy but for a man to content himself with his lot in a chearful and quiet resignation to the appointments of God All the actions of our lives ought to be govern'd with a respect to good and evil and it is only Reason that distinguishes by which reason we are in such manner influenc'd as if a Ray of the Divinity were dipt in a mortal body and that 's the perfection of mankinde 'T is true we have not the eyes of Eagles nor the Sagacity of hounds nor if we had could we pretend to esteem our selves for any thing which we have in common with Brutes What are we the better for that which is foreign to us and may be given and taken away As the Beams of the Sun irradiate the Earth and yet remain where they were so is it in some proportion with a holy minde that illustrates all our actions and yet adheres to it's Original Why do we not as well commend a Horse for his glorious Trapings as a man for his pompous additions how much a braver Creature is a Lyon which by nature ought to be fierce and terrible how much braver I say he is in his natural horrour then in his chains So that every thing in its pure nature pleases us best It is not Health Nobility Riches that can justify a wicked man nor is it the want of all these can discredit a good one That 's the Sovereign Blessing which makes the Professor of it valuable without any thing else and him that wants it contemptible tho' he had all the world besides 'T is not the painting gilding or carving that makes a good Ship but if she be a nimble Sailer tight and strong to endure the Seas that 's her excellency 'T is the Edge and temper of the blade that makes a good Sword not the richness of the Scabbard 'T is even the same with man 't is not money or vast possessions or eminent places or great dignitys that makes him considerable but his virtue alone I am a Christian Cor. 9.19 20 21 22. and by my profession am bound to be serviceable to all people as far as my ability can extend and their necessity requires it it 's therefore St. Paul says tho' I be free from all men yet have I made my self Servant unto all that I might gain the more Unto the Jews I became as a Jew that I might gain them that are without law To the weak became I as weak that I might gain the weak In fine I am made all things to all men that I might by all means save some This is my incumbent duty but alas I am far short of it and this brings a blâ—sâ— on my face when I see a Pagan-Philosopher preach and practice the same 'T is every man's duty says Seneca to make himself profitable to mankinde if he can to many if not to fewer if not so neither to his neighbours but however to himself There are two Republicks a great one which is humane nature and a less which is the place where we are born some serve both at a time some only the greater and some again only the less The greater may be serv'd in privacy Solitude contemplation perchance that way better then any other But it was th' intent of nature however that we should serve both A good man may serve the Publick his friend and himself too in any Station If he be not for the Sword let him take the Gown if the Bar does not agree with him let him try the Pulpit If he be silenc'd abroad let him give Counsel at home and discharge the part of a faithful friend and a Temperate companion When he is no longer a Citizen he is yet a man the whole world is his Country and humane nature never wants matter to work upon But if nothing will serve a man in the civil Government unless he be prime Minister or in the Field but to command in Chief 't is his own fault The common Soldier where he cann't use his hands fights with his very looks his example his encouragement his voice and stands his ground even when he has lost his hands and does service too with his very clamour so that in any condition whatsoever he still discharges the duty of a good Patriot Nay he that spends his time well even in a retirement gives a great example we may inlarge indeed or contract according to the circumstances of time place or
which was only stop'd for want of Enemies He caus'd seven thousand Citizens of Rome to be slaughter'd at once and some of the Senators being startled at their crys that were heard in the Senat-house let us minde our business says Sylla this is nothing but a few Mutineers that I have order'd to be sent out of the way A glorious Spectacle says Hannibal when he saw the Trenches flowing with humane blood and if the rivers had run blood too would hav lik'd it so much the better O most gracious Saviour how couldst thou suffer such monsters of nature to live upon Earth or how came it that the ground did not swallow them into it's bowels But alas why should I admire such cruelty among men being they were set on by the Devil who has been always a most cruel Tyrant to Mankind but especially when they are deliver'd over into his power We are amaz'd to hear of such unhumame and barbarous actions we are astonish'd to think of that hellish invention of Phalaris to roste men alive in his brasen Bull But alas all these torments and bloudy slaughters are meer toys in respect of what is exercis'd in Hell for the torments there are so great that they can't be express'd and no wonder being that the only pain of fire comprizes as many torments as the body of man has Limbs Joynts Sinews Arteries c. and especially being caus'd by so penetrating a fire in respect of which our temporal fire tho' it were made of all the combustible matter in the world is no more then a painted fire And in those flames of Hell the Souls of the damn'd must burn not for an hour nor a year De cadaveribus eorum ascendet faetor Isa 34.3 Famem patientur ut canes Psa 5.7 8. nor an Age but for an Eternity and have the Pestilential vapours of so many damn'd bodys perpetually at their noses and all that time suffer hunger as dogs which is one of the greatest torments in Hell Quintillian says that Famine is the most pressing of all necessities and the most dreadfull of all evils that Plagues and Wars are felicities compar'd with this affliction If then a famine of so many months or of a shorter time as that which the Inhabitants of Jerusalem suffer'd when they were brought to that distress as to eat their Children be the greatest of temporal evils what must we believe of the famine which the damn'd shall suffer in Hell for an Eternity O Epicures and ye that make your Gods of your bellys give ear unto what the Son of God foretels of you you shall finde it in St. Luke Wo says he unto you who make it your work to pamper your bodys and fill your paunches with the most delicious viands wine that can be purchas'd for Silver or Gold for the day shall come that you shall be hunger-starv'd and with a hunger that shall continue for an Eternity A Temporal hunger may bring men to such extremitys as to eat Dogs Cats Rats Mice Snakes Toads Leather and Dung nay it has already brought several Countrys and whole Cities to that calamity and forc'd Mothers to devour their own Children and men to eat the flesh of their own arms as it happen'd to Zeno the Emperour If hunger be so great a chastisement in this life how will it afflict the damn'd in the other where they shall tear one another to peices not for a year or an Age Apoc. 18. but for an Eternity Consider my Soul how the Devil measures his torments to the damned by their offences and how God commands him as the Executioner of his Justice in-Hell to make them suffer their pains proportionable to the pleasures they took in this life this puts me in minde of a very Remarkable passage of a Noble-man who took all his pleasure in Tilting and running at the Ring this was his constant exercise which he prefer'd even before the practise of devotion and piety so that he was a perfect Worldling without any care of his Soul or the least apprehension of Hell and in this neglect of his Salvation he dy'd his Lady being otherways inclin'd and very much addicted to contemplation always earnestly imploring of God the favour to let her understand the State and condition her Husband was in which was at last granted and he was represented unto her in the same shape as she had seen him alive but not attended by the same company for he was now encompass'd with a multitude of Devils the chief commander of them in her hearing gave orders they should fit their new Guest with a pair of fiery shoes whose flames might reach his very head then he commanded they should put him on a red-hot coat of Male made full of sharp Spikes Camtip l. 2.9.2 Joan. major v. Inf. Exemp 6. Werm Mon. Carthu in fasci morum which might pierce his body in all parts to accouter him like a compleat Champion he commanded a helmet to be put on him with a pointed nail that might pierce his head and be clench'd below his feet and after this a Target was Put about his neck of so great a weight that it might crush all the bones in his body All this being punctually and speedily perform'd the Prince of darkness made a speech to his Officers to let them know that this worthy Person after he had entertain'd himself in Tilting and the like atchievements of valour and gallantry was accustom'd to refresh his weari'd limbs with sweet Baths and then to retire to some soft bed where he usually sported with other dalliances of sensuality wherefore let him now have somewhat of those refreshments which our Palace does afford to welcome so deserving a Person who has been in his life so faithful to serve us and so obedient to our Suggestions whereupon they presently hurl'd him into a fire which was prepar'd for him then forsooth to ease him they plac'd with him in a bed warm'd red hot a Toad of a huge size with most dreadful eyes which clipp'd the noble Spark very closely kissing embracing him in so rufual a manner that he roar'd out like a furious Lion and brought him even to the pangs of death Another man she saw seated in a chair of fire and certain women thrusting into his mouth burning torches and drawing them out at other parts of his body these Women she was told were his accomplices and the instruments of his Sins But what are all these torments to the eternal loss of the fruition and sight of thee my Saviour wherein our Divines do place the everlasting beatitude and Supream felicity of mankinde in the next life St Thom. part 1.7 1 art 4 7.12 art 1. 7.6 art 3. c. for the Angellical Doctor says the sight of God or to see God in his own nature or Essence is the whole substance of our everlasting happiness in the life to come what a deplorable loss then will it
mollibus vestiuntur in domibus Regum sunt Luc. 7 Mart. 3.11 Induebatur purpura bysso Luc. 16.19 with one fiat but it was my pleasure to appear otherwise to condemn the Worlds vanity I premitted my Prophet also with a course and austere attire to demonstrate the abhorrence I had against so great and so common an abuse said plainly that such as are not like my Precursor in their attire but will go clothed in soft delicate apparel are fitter to live in the Courts of earthly Kings then in my heavenly Pallace I said also in my description of the rich man damn'd that he was apparell'd in purple and Silk meaning thereby that this was also a main step towards his everlasting damnation even as to set forth the extraordinary holyness of my Prophet Elias I said of him Vir pilosus Zona pellicea accinctus renibus 4 Reg. 1.8 that his reins were cover'd with hair cloth It is a thing worthy thy daily admiration to consider how far asunder I my Saints are from the humour behaviour of Worldlings in this very matter I was the very first Taylor that ever made up a garment in this World and made it for the most noble of all thy Ancestours in Paradise but of what did I make it was it of cloth of Gold or Silver Gen. 3. of cloth thirty forty shillings the yard was it of a most precious and costly silk no it was only of beasts skins and St. Circui erunt in meloris in pellibus caprinis egenter angustiati afflicti quibus dignus non erat mundus Heb. 11.37 Paul avers of the greatest and noblest Saints of the old Testament that they were cover'd only with goats skins and with the hair of Camels Does not this condemn the unspeakable vanity of mortals that are so extraordinary curious and rich in their apparel and take so much pride therein that they must have the spoil of all the Creatures upon Earth to cover their backs and adorn their bodys From one they take his wool from another his skin from another his hair and fur and from others their very excrements as the Silk which is nothing else but the excrement of worms Neither are they content with all these robberies upon Earth they must ransack the very Sea for Pearls to beautify their necks and turn up its Sands for precious Stones to adorn their ears They will enter into the very bowels of the Earth to finde out Gold and Silver and having borrow'd all these curiosities of other Creatures for more vile then themselves they are not content to enjoy them in private but they must shew their finery abroad and provoke people to look upon them as if all were of their own Stock What an idle complacency do they take to see Diamonds Sparkle upon their singers and how foolishly are they conceited to think the lustre thereof come from themselves When Silver Gold and Silks do glister on their bodys they look sumptuously as if all that beauty came from them When Cats-dung does smell in their garments they would have People believe that those sweet odours proceed from their own bodys And thus says my Prophet they spend their lives in vanity without any serious care of their Salvation nay they take such great delight in their rich Apparel and other vanitys that they will bring them to Church too that men may take the more notice of them and whilst they are running over a few prayers their hearts are taken up with their sine garments and their eyes are glanc'd on all sides as if they were craving the applause and admiration of the whole Assembly I hope O man thou art now convinc'd of the truth of the premises if thou can'st tell me any more of the World's vanity let me hear it at large and thou shalt know what my Judgment will be concerning them MAN It was a Question among the Heathen Phylosophers whether it is better for a Man to have much or to have enough and the ground of their debate was that he who has much desires more which shews that he has not yet enough but he that has enough is at rest and the conclusion was that he is the richest man that is content with what he has for why should a man be reputed the less rich for not having that for which he shall be banished for which his very Wife or Son shall poison him That which gives him security in War and quiet in Peace which he possesses without danger and disposes of without trouble deserves indeed the name of Riches which alone can make a man happy in this World for no man can be poor that has enough nor rich that covets more then he has Alexander after all his Conquests complain'd that he wanted more Worlds he desir'd something more even when he had gotten all And that which was sufficient for humane nature was not enough for one man I am very apt to believe that money never made any man Rich for the more he had the more he still coveted The richest man that ever liv'd is poor in my opinion and should be so in any reasonable man's judgment But he that keeps himself to the limits of nature does neither feel Poverty nor fear it whereas those which the World calls happy their felicity is a false splendour that dazles the eyes of the vulgar but our rich man is glorious and happy within himself There 's no ambition in hunger or thirst let there be food and no matter for the table the dish and the Servants nor with what meats nature is satisfi'd Those are the torments of Luxury that rather stuff the stomach then fill it It studys rather to cause an appetite then to allay it 'T is not for us to say this is not hand some that 's common the other offends my eye Nature provides for health not delicacy When the Trumpet sounds a charge the poor man knows he is not aim'd at when they cry out fire his body is all he has to look after If he be to take a journey there 's no blocking up of Streets and thronging of passages for a parting complement a small matter fils his belly and contents his mind he lives from hand to mouth without carking or fearing for to morrow He that would know the worst of Poverty let him but compare the looks of the rich and the poor and he shall finde the poor man to have the smoother brow and to be more merry at the heart or if any trouble befals him it passes over like a Cloud whereas the other either his good humour is counter fiet or his melancholly deep and ulcerated and the worse because he dares not publickly own his misfortune but he is forc'd to play the part of a happy man even with a Cancer in his heart His felicity is but personated and if he were but strip'd of his ornaments he would be contempitble In buying of
and labour which they take to provide so amply for their Wives and Children is sinful and therefore will create an eternal displeasure to their poor Souls This is confirm'd by the Parable which thou didst rehearse of the Rich-man who said what must I do for I have no place vacant wherein to bestow my Fruits and he said this will I do Lac. 12.20 I will demolish my Barns and erect greater and in them will I bestow all my Fruits and my Goods And then I will say to my Soul Soul thou hast much wealth laid up for many years take now thine ease Eat Drink and be merry And did not God say unto him thou Fool this night thy Soul shall be requir'd of thee then whose shall those things be which thou hast provided So He that impiously or immoderatly lays up treasure for himself his Wife and Family expecting to enjoy it many years deserves the same title and may as suddenly be disappointed because he had improv'd his own Stock and rob'd God his heavenly King of his Custom that is He never according to his capacity bestow'd any part of his treasure in pious works as Gods law doth require And indeed if this be well consider'd We shall finde it an excessive folly and maddness too What can it be term'd else to damn ones Soul to leave ones Wife and Children rich in the world This is certainly the height of madness and a meer delusion of the Devil for one moment after We are dead We shall care no more for all our Kindred then we shall for strangers and one penny given in Alms while we liv'd for thy sake O Lord shall bring us more comfort at that day then thousands of pounds bestow'd even upon our nearest Relations to make them rich It is of such People that the Prophet Royal speaks Universa vanitas omnis homo viveâ—s Psal 39. where he says that all their actions are nothing but meer vanity for what greater vanity is there then to bequeath such vast Sums of Gold and Silver to their own kindred and leave in a manner nothing for the good of their immortal Souls Vae vobis qui trahitis iniquitatem in funiculis vanitatis Esai 56. Were we to go a long journey We would be sure to carry some provision with us for to support our bodys and We shall take no care for our Souls when they are in their departing Agony ready to begin that painful and frightful voyage of Eternity Surely such men walk unprofitably certainly they are disquieted in vain they heap up Riches and know not who shall enjoy them their life is a gathering of all kinde of vansty vanity in ambition vanity in Riches vanity in pleasures vanity in their corporal beauty vanity in their Apparel vanity in all things which they most esteem vanity in all their life vanity in their death In fine vanity in their last Will and Testament wherein their noblest part the Soul has the least share Woe be unto you says the Prophet Psal 3. that do draw wickedness in the ropes of vanity of promotion of dignity of Nobility c. these are the ropes he means and which do always drag with them a vast croud of iniqnity and Sin Thou hast O Lord a mortal hatred for the observers of superfluous vanitys 1 Reg. 17. and thou hast utterly destroy'd the whole Family and Linage of Baasa King of Israel for no other reason but because they had provok'd thee in their vanity Blessed then is that man who has not suffer'd his heart to be seduc'd with the vanity and false madness of this World Beatus vir qui non respexit in vanitates insanias falsas Psal of this Vale of tears of this deplorable banishment of this boisterous Sea so full of disasters that there 's not a day nor an hour nor a moment of our life but is attended with some misfortune or another the best Arithmetician that ever took pen in hand cannot exactly set down or calculate milerys that are incident to humane nature no tongue is able to express the manifold infirmitys of our Bodys the passions of our Souls all the affronts and injurys we receive as well from Friends as from our Foes all the tribulations and crosses that are laid upon us daily both at home and abroad This Man commences a Law-suit against us without either Equity or Justice but meerly for spite and Malice another lys in wait for us to take away our lives a third man will make it his study to blast our reputation Some are in open wars one with th' other others more subtile will bear their neighbours a mortal grudge but will make no shew of it until they meet with a favourable occasion to execute their malice Da mihi in disco caput Joannis Baptistae Matt. 14.8 the hatred of Herodias against St. John the Baptist was not publickly known to the world until she had perswaded her Daughter to ask no greater favour of Herod then to give her in a dish the head of so renown'd a Prophet and of so glorious a Martyr Some to be reveng'd of their Brothers if they can't annoy their Persons will not scruple to produce false witness to criminate them and be themselves of the number too others will make it their whole business to trot up and down like so many infernal Emissaries and publish wherever they go as well the private as the publick imperfections of this or that other body even as they do maliciously and falsely surmise and will never revoke what they had tax'd him with tho' they were even upon the borders of Hell ready to be cast therein both Soul and body so great is the malice of such desperate and unchristian Sonls There are besides thefe usual calamities an infinite number of others that are nameless because they be sudden and unexpected chances one loses an eye in a Skirmish another his arm one gets a fall from his horse and breaks his neck another in a frantick fit flings himself out of a Window and is bruis'd to death a Third man falls into a Pool or a River and is drown'd If all the Writers of this Sinful Age We live in had taken an exact account from every particular man within the same Century of what distasters had happen'd to him in his life they would certainly have matter enough to fill as many volumes as they have hairs on their heads and if all the merry passages sad rencounters that every individual man had met with in his days were put in a balance the latter would much overweigh the former so he would visibly see that for one hour of pleasure true content he had in his life he met with a hundred of misery of tribulation and anguishes now if the life of Man which is so short be intermix'd with fuch a vast deal of sorrow what a small parcel thereof can pretend to any real felicity if
amara est memoria tua homini habenti pacem indivitijs suis Eccl. 41. that had conquer'd most part of the World in less then twelve years to see himself seiz'd on by Death and Summon'd to appear before thy most dreadful Tribunal when he desir'd most to live and tast of the joy and delight of all his victories What a heart-breaking will it be to those that employ all their time in building of houses purchasing estates increasing riches procuring dignities making up matches laying out vast sums to use when they shall see themselves even as so many Princes Mules discharg'd of their treasure and turn'd off with backs gaul'd into some nasty stable nay it will be far worse with them for after their long travelling in this World loaden with gold and Silver which had extreamly gall'd their wretched Souls they shall be disburthened at the day of death and sent away with their wounded consciences to the dark and loathsome Stable of Hell there to continue for an Eternity O my Saviour these considerations well meditated are able to mollify a heart of Steel to move any man to a true repentance of his past follys to breed in him an abhorrence of the world and of all its vanitys and make him resolve to employ the remainder of his days in thy Service that art absolutely the best of Masters and whose rewards to thy faithful Servants are far surpassing the pleasures treasures of this deluding world as thou dost exceed the creatures Eternity the Time the eternal joys of thy heavenly Court the short and transitory joys and delights of this Land SAVIOVR HE must be a most perverse and hard hearted man indeed that will not love me after all the several benefits and manifold favours which I have confer'd even in this life upon the generality of mankinde which are in a manner nothing to what I have prepar'd for my Elect in the other for these are so incomprehensibly glorious that eye has never seen nor ear has ever heard neither is man's understanding capable of conceiving their excessive greatness for I am by nature infinitely good amiable and liberal consequently what I have promis'd prepar'd and decreed from all Eternity to bestow upon my Elect must be no less then my self objective as your Divines call it and formaliter the most clear the most delicious the most pleasant the most blessed union and fruition of my divine Essence for all Eternity O the Immense the inestimable the glorious the Interminable felicity of a blessed Soul that shall live and reign with God who is infinite in beauty in glory in power in wisdom and in finite in all his Attributes that shall enjoy clearly and without any interruption his blessed Vision so unspeakably comfortable satisfactory to all her senses and this too for an Eternity A God likewise that is the abundant headspring of all delights the inexhaustible fountain of all goodness the most opulent treasury of all riches pleasures Joy Perfection and of all things desirable or necessary to compleat her everlasting happiness This is the essential and principal reward of the Blessed But besides these there are other innumerable joys which I call Secundary rewards and these are also so great and so many that they do absolutely transcend all measure and number and wilt thou not O man love a God who has lov'd thee gratis and to that excess as to give thee himself all that 's in his power A God that most mercifully lov'd thee when thou wert in actual rebellion against him wilt thou not love the Eternal Father who in the excess of his love for thee did not spare his only and dearly beloved Son but deliver'd him into the power of most cruel Enemies that crucify'd him this was for thy sins alone as well as for those of all mankinde wilt thou not love him that has by the effusion of his most precious bloud free'd thee from the power and unspeakable anguishes of Hell and it 's eternal torments to place thee in the most happy company of his beloved in glory wilt thou not love him who has chosen thee even before the worlds Creation who has call'd thee by his Grace and has predestinated thee in Christ from all Eternity wilt thou not love me who am the only Son of God in whose Faith and Grace thou liv'st who has lov'd thee who has suffer'd for thee who has call'd thee to his Service who has redeem'd thee from the intollerable burthen of the Old Law from the damnable yoke of Sin and from the everlasting thraldom of Hell O man Wilt thou not love me who am so fervent a lover as to purchase thy lost Soul not with the Worlds contemptible Coin Gold or Silver but with the most precious and Sacred bloud of my whole body Wilt thou not love me who am thy Creator thy Saviour and Judge and who was in mercy pleas'd to become thy Brother and Advocate too nay I am so much in love with thee that the day before I departed the world I bequeath'd unto thee my most precious body and bloud to seed thy Soul as a perpetual monument of my tender affection to all mankind In fine wilt thou not love me who besides the aforesaid Mercys Benefits and Blessings have given thee so compassionate and so potent a Mediatrix in Heaven as is my most dear and Superexcellent Mother Saluted before my conception in these very words by my Angel Ave gratia plena Luc. 1.28 Hail Mary full of Grace the Lord is with thee Blessed art thou among Women Blessed is the fruit of thy Womb. Since I the Essential truth do affirm this they must be impertinent and reprobately Wicked who deny her that Special Prerogative Thou shouldst love as much the Holy Ghost for by his Wisdom thou wert Created and by his Providence thou wert govern'd in so much that thou can'st not produce one meritorious act without his divine Inspiration or actual motion Therefore 't is his gracious goodness which gives thee the Will and the Power to perform any good thing 't is He that is pleas'd to inhabit illnstrate and inflame thy heart with an ardent desire of thy eternal Salvation In a word thy Obligation to love and honour the most glorious Trinity is the very same as thou hast to each Sacred Person therein contain'd It being the sole Source and cause of thy eternal Happiness For what the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost have done the very same thing has the Blessed Trinity done being but one the same God in those three distinct persons O Man shall not all these powerful motives replenish thy Soul with divine love even as the Dew of Heaven doth fill the Vegetives with vivifying juice or shall not this make my grace shine in thy Soul as Davids burning Lamps of affection Psa 63.5 which no terene waters could ever extinguish I say in thy Soul that it may disperse those filthy