contrary to Charity and partly because Laws are establish'd in all publick matters well ordered for the repairing of Injuries and comforting of those who are hereby grieved Now these would be perfect Cyphers if there must be no Accompt made of them against those who are injurious and oppressive and partly because it is profitable for the very Malefactors themselves that they be sued and punished for their Wrongs and unjust Dealings and that their Prey so got should be taken from them and assuredly it is a part of Love to cause them to suffer Punishment according to due course of Law For he is lovingly and beneficially setter'd and chastis'd who is restrain'd thereby from his Oppression Upon this Head I remember the wholsome Advice which Seneca gives to Lucilius 47 Epist. in one of his Epistles It is says he behoveful to neglect N. B. Injuries and Taunts and Checks which I will call the Shadows of Injuries whether I deserve them or not For if I do it is not a proper Check or Scoff but a just Opinion given of me If not then he who was injurious should blush hereat and not my self Now if there be not one Reason and it is impossible there should why each Christian should not Con this Lesson as exactly as any Philosopher I am sure there are a great many you have been told of why he should do it better I shall add one Example to the former I have cited and soon after put a period to this Discourse and what you may in your Retirements super-add by your Meditating upon what you have heard and read and known hereof will so confirm this Duty of Love Enemy that it shall never be doubted of hereafter but put in exercise with great Zeal and Constancy The Example is this Pyrrhas King of Epyrus had heard that certain of his Subjects had injur'd his Name over their Cups amongst the Tarentines He sent for some of them and ask'd whether what he had heard and then repeated to them was true One of them answered That if they had not wanted Wine that which was told him was but Mirth and Iest to what they should have said of him This blunt Excuse of this Debauch and such a plain Confession of Truth turn'd their King's Frowns into Smiles and by this his Mildness and Love he afterward procur'd the Tarentines Thanks whenever they were sober and their Hussa's and good Wishes when in their Revels and Iollities Your Example in this case said Eumenes is very apposite and worthy to be added to those we have mention'd before and may not only confirm to our Understandings but cause our Wills to embrace and choose this Love of our Enemies as you have very pertinently noted And if in our united Devotions we would beseech Almighty God to teach us it by the Hand of his Holy Spirit without which all our Labour will be Idleness and our Care Negligence we shall prove good Proficients in this Art for as red-hot Iron burns by the 〈◊〉 which penetrates its Substance and not of it self so we become zealous or inflam'd herein not through our own dull Natures but by the Fire of Divine Love which God by his Holy Spirit kindles in us With this wholesom Advice Eumenes shut up his Discourse and Glycon not dismissing the Assembly thereupon as he had formerly done they chearfully waited to know the Reason hereof supposing as it fell out that himself would dictate something worthy of himself and useful to them And after some Premeditation he stood up and made it evident to them what an incomparable Art of Memory he had learned for a short account of the reason of his Intention being given instead of presenting them with his Note-Book as a dumb Rehearser of what the former Lecturers had deliver'd he made himself a Speaking-Book to them by a punctual Rehearsal thereof and when he had thus gratified them he dismiss'd the Assembly FINIS Advertisement Of some Books Printed for Sam. Kebleat the Turks-Headin Fleet-street SEnertus's Meditations setting forth a plain Method of Living Holily and Dying Happily Written Originally in Latin and now Translated into English The Historical Part of the Old and New Testament in Verse with One hundred and twenty Cuts being the best Use of Poetry and Sculpture 120. Epicteti Enchiridion Or the most Excellent Morals of Epictetus Made English in a Poetical Paraphrase A Collection of Private Forms of Prayers for Morning Noon and Night and other special Occasions Divine and Moral Discourses on Divers Subjects The Penitent Or Entertainments for Lent Written in French by the R. F. N. Causin and Translated into English by Sir B. B. with Sculptures Preparations to a Holy Life or Devotions for Families and private persons with Directions suited to most particular Cases Also Meditations Prayers and Rules for the more pious observing the Holy Time of Lent
Beneficial to us than the right and constant management of this Office for hereby God's Holy Word will be fruitful to us A Meditating Heart is an honest and good Heart and such is very fruitful under the means of Grace If we won't step aside and take time to fix our Thoughts upon what we hear or read in God's Word and from his Messengers we should be very extravagantly conceited to imagine that we should be ever the better for it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. By Meditation we may prepare our Souls for all Holy Performances As for Prayer and Reading Holy Writ and Receiving the Lord's Supper and forgiving and forgetting Injuries and all other Duties of Mercy and Charity This Exercise will compose our minds and fetch them in when they have been abroad upon the World and 't is fit we make our selves comely and orderly by this Act of Meditation before we approach to wait upon God We are not to Rush all of a sudden upon any Holy Duty but to consider Eccles. 5. 4. of it and prepare for it Now Meditation puts us into this way it causeth us to Wash and Trim up our Souls with sincerity and an awful Reverence that so we may enter into God's presence with that Decency and Order which becomes his Faithful Servants and Dutiful Children 3. Meditation will prove an excellent Reason 3. means against all our tempting Lusts and Corruptions and also a strong Bulwark for our Vertues and Graces For he who frequently fixeth his mind upon the Nature of Sin may through God's Grace be soon perswaded to hate and abhor it For the Nature of Sin is to be evil in it self and dangerous to the Soul which harbours it Now as a Landlord will by no proffers of advantage entertain a Guest which he knows to be an egregious Robber and will Plunder him of his Substance and Fire his House No more will the Soul admit of Sin when it considers that it will deprive him of God's Favour and inflame him with his Wrath and Displeasure If Men would in their serious Meditations set the pleasures and profits of Sin on one side and the loathsomness and danger of it on the other did they view her Portion and Dowry with one eye and her Deformity and Vicious Qualities with the other it would be an admirable way to make them defist from Courting her and to avoid her with the greatest abhorrency If they would in their Meditations Rev. 9. compare Sin as they aptly may to the Locusts mention'd in Sacred Writ which tho' they had Crowns like Gold on their Heads and the Faces of Men and their Hair like Womens yet withal had Teeth like Lyons and Tayls like to Scorpions that is did they but think what Shame and Death would follow their sinful delights and honours what bitterness lay at the bottom of Sins Cup Questionless such a thought would make them Crucify it to Death in its most rich and pleasing Attire Now as Pious Meditation would after this manner ruine sin so 't would be a means to save and secure Grace For the thoughts of the loveliness hereof would put Courage into us to engage for it against all its Spiritual Enemies and 't would invite us to quicken it with our warmest affections and hereupon we should place it in the Garrisons of our Hearts and keep those Garrisons with our greatest watchfulness Moreover Meditation is a means to encrease and multiply our Graces for this Duty will bring supply of Grace and by it we should know what Armory to go to that is where to be Releiv'd And besides all this it will employ them and not suffer them to perish by ease and idleness It will rouse up our Faith and kindle our Charity and fortifie our Hope and enliven our Desires and multiply our spiritual Ioys 't will also loosen our Affections from earthly things and give us a foretaste of Eternal Glory By Meditation we enjoy God here and 4. Reason see Heaven upon Earth This is the Souls Perspective Glass through which it may view things a far off by it we take a turn in Heaven and view the Beatifical Vision by it we make a Visit to God himself and enjoy the ravishing delights of his presence and by it we invite and bring him even into our own Houses for when we fix our minds upon him he will vouchsafe to draw near to us and hereby we Humbly and Reverently and submissively confer with him and speak to him and have as much of him as the Soul of Man can bear Believe it there can be no Intercourse between Heaven and Earth betwixt God and Man without Meditation but in the exercise of it there may and this will bring a large Harvest of Spiritual Ioy and Comfort into our Souls for true Meditating Christians are usually most acquainted with God and this acquaintance will procure the best Peace and the most real comfort And here Meletus having Cruised thus far in this Ocean of matter made into the next Port and furl'd up his Sails thinking it proper to give himself and his Friends an opportunity of unbending their Bow or some Relaxation of their strict attention that it might not slacken by too much use and also an occasion of fixing their minds upon what he had deliver'd and told them that he would Launch out a few more Leagues on this subject at their next meeting and upon their breaking up at that time he put them in mind that tho' delay seemed ill favour'd yet for the reasons beforemention'd it might prove the Mother of Beautiful Wisdom CHAP. IV. Meletus's Third Discourse of Meditation THE next meeting being come and Glycon having put the Assembly in mind of the occasion of it and then made some sign to Meletus to proceed in the same Path and with the same Foot he had begun he freely embrac'd the motion and broke silence after this following manner It is written saith Meletus of the Bird Vid. Causin de Symbol Egypt sapient P. 8. called Phatalia that it is wont to fill it self with Shell-fish and to vomit them up when he hath concocted them by the heat of his Stomack and then choose out of them those which were most proper to be eaten I would perswade my self that in like manner you have by Meditation put in good order what you have already heard and chose out some peculiar observations whereby you have been made more strong in Christian Virtues then you were before and that you may have fresh supply to add to your increase herein for Christians must like the Crocodile be growing as long as they live I shall now shew you the manner how the Duty of Meditation must be exercis'd and it is necessary that you be inform'd hereof for the manner of doing any good action is the main thing which renders it acceptable in God's sight and beneficial to us and the difficulty of it will require directions for its performance in
our practice 1. Now the first Direction in order hereto is To choose out some fit time to Meditate This will much further our design and prove helpful to us We find that our Great Master chose the early Morning For then rising up before Day he went out S. Mark 1. 25. and departed into a solitary place and prayed and the Patriarch Isaac used this Exercise in the Field at the Evening Gen 24. 69. It is not absolutely necessary to pitch just upon such a certain time and no other and if that be past or busied other ways then to lay it aside but we should as near as we can pitch on such a time wherein we are most free from our Worldly occasions Nor is it requisite that all Persons observe the very same time for all have not the same business or occasions and therefore divers hours may be most proper in this present case but some peculiar time of the Day or as oft as we can we should sequester our selves for pious Meditation And verily that part of the Day which is so us'd may procure a blessing for all the other parts for God doth not forget those who do not forget him 2dly We should find out a proper place 2. Direct for this Office such a circumstance may much further this necessary employ Solomon assures us that through desire a Man Prov. 18. 1. having separated himself seeketh and meddleth with all Wisdom The mind of Man is soon disturb'd with sights and noise and those matters which hinder the free exercise of Meditation and therefore convenient places conduce much to the right performance of it The Devil would fain burthen our Ears and employ them too much that so we being intent upon the lesser may neglect our greater concerns He would entertain and 〈◊〉 our Ears with pleasant Tales and Fables that so we might take no notice whether we be Travelling to Heaven or Hell It is his Sorrow and therefore it should be our Ioy to go into our private Apartments and there fix our minds upon our present and future condition 3dly In order to due 〈◊〉 Meditation 3. Direct we must get our Hearts into a right frame for it When we have resolv'd upon the Time and the Place then we should be as careful to order our Hearts well and in good earnest this is not an easy business for our Hearts will require some pains and study before we can bring them into a Meditatimg temper They are deceitful and so may perswade us that we are when indeed we are not so well qualified for this Duty as we ought to be To Meditate is to be very intent and serious and such a disposition is neither quickly or easily procur'd and yet this Frame we must get or we can't herein perform our Duty Now the most proper means to be thus qualified is to keep our Hearts with Mede on Prov. 4. 23. all diligence that is to watch them that they do not admit such vain and foolish things into them that may put aside this Office of Holy Meditation and if we cannot at one time we must strive at another to fix and compose our minds we must take some pains in this business and the gain of it as I have shewn will more than sufficiently recompence the hardness of the Task If we can't Meditate to day or to night we must try to do it tomorrow or some other time and follow the business to purpose till we have through Gods grace brought our Minds to a Meditating frame and when we are in tune for the Duty we shall perform it with comfort You must acknowledge that Mens Ignorance herein spoils all They suppose that a short time and little labour will serve for the Duty but when they go about it and find many worldly Cares and this and that and the other trifle put them by and take them off and oblige their Thoughts to fix on them sooner than upon Heaven and Heavenly matters then they are or may be convinc'd that to Meditate is not so easie a task as they imagin'd and then as the supposed easiness of it kept them from the exercise of it for some time so now the real difficulty of it will hinder them from any performance of it Now this may be prevented and the real knowledge of the Duty of Meditation may be obtain'd if we study to keep our Hearts in a due Frame and Disposition And to do thus we should not surfeit our Minds with inferiour things nor disorder our Bodies by Intemperance for the contrary Vertue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dic 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 frees our Souls from Vexatious Troubles and preserves them safe and sound Nor should we burthen our Memories with many Curiosities nor be always in much though perhaps not bad Company But we should be orderly and watchful and careful and sober and serious and solitary and hereby we shall keep our Hearts with all diligence and put them into a fit posture for Meditation and so exercise the Office with much delight and benefit 4thly When we would rightly Meditate 4. Direct we must preface that Office with Prayer Now Prayer is an Ascension of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heart to God and when it is presented to him with an entire and warm Affection the Tongue does not forerun the Wit that is we do not speak what we do not fore-think for God's Grace is not obtain'd by an unaccomptable Multiplication of Cyphers or Insignificant Expressions But the pious Heart shoots forth its Affections as so many keen Arrows which pierce into Heaven Upon Examination we shall find that there is not any Religious Duty which can be rightly perform'd unless it be begun with Prayer and the Reason is Because to do as we ought in Religious Matters is the Gift of God Now every S. Iam. 1. 17. good and perfect Gift cometh from above And God will not let it drop down upon us unless we first raise up our Hearts by Prayer to him Now there is no Gift of greater Benefit as you have heard than that of due Meditation and therefore this should be beg'd and earnestly beg'd of God in our daily Devotions The Difficulty of that Duty should drive us to this for if we find that we can't do a business our selves we pray help and assistance and so we should of God in this case and this may be an Argument to prevail with him to comply with our Petitions when we do pray Our Experience tells us that our Souls are weak and infirm and infected with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the plagues of Sin Now Prayer is the best and only Medicine to make them sound and so fit to exercise the Office of Meditation and the reason may be because if in Prayer we humbly and submissively acknowledge our own Weakness and declare that we cannot of our selves Meditate rightly and that we are not able to overcome
which he deals to some not only better themselves but many others also Not unlike some Physician who as my Author says burns the Thumb that he may cure the Sciatica or Pain in the Hip and orders the Remedy in one place when the Malady is in another As when God is severe with the Parent Natural or Political that he may heal their Children or Subjects from their Vices and when he bleeds the Subjects that he may save their King from his Lusts So that God hath several ways to save good and vertuous Persons and all proceeds from Care and Goodness Persons who neglect to mind seriously the Dispensations of Divine Providence and are ignorant of the admirable Method and Manner of God's dealing with his own Servants in this World are apt to take every Sorrow which God sends to them as a sign of his Anger and to think that there can be no Love in the Heart whilst the Frown is in the Forehead But to others who understand him better it is a sign that God is not angry but hereby healing them of their Sins the worst of Maladies and so have a Demonstration from him of a Love not only of Benevolence but of Complacency and Delight And let this suffice to be said of the first Lesson which we should learn from God's dealing severely with us in this World The next is this namely That we should fix our Thoughts upon the End and Reasons why God brings us into the Sorrows which we have describ'd and comply therewith If he sends them as Plaisters to cure us of our sins by Repentance it would much unbeseem us to be so Childish as to rend them off before they have wrought the Cure The puling whinning restless Patients are very troublesom to their Physitians we should by no means be so to God But when we drink the bitter Potions or see the black Cloud over us or in the Royal Prophet's Phrase When the Iniquity of our Heels compass us about that is when we are persecuted by unjust Men closely or crasty Men lay Snares for us Then go we to our Apartments and by Meditation and Prayer consider and enquire why it is so with us If because Vice abounds amongst us let us beseech God that he would give us true Repentance and forgive us all our Sins Negligences and and Ignorances and endue us with the Grace of his Holy Spirit to amend our Lives according to his Holy Word If because through Carking Care and Covetousness and by permissive Authority and Custom we have lent of our Substance upon Covenant for Advantage and Gain against the Divine Precept St. Luk. 6. 35. which enjoins us to do good and to lend hoping for nothing again Let it be our Prayer to God that be would deliver us from all hardness of Heart and contempt of his Word and Commandment And that he would be our Ruler and Guide that we may so pass through things temporal Coll. 4. p. Tr. S. that finally we lose not the things eternal If to try our gracious evil overcoming Temper to our Enemies we should pray as our great Master did Father forgive them they know not what they do If for Examples to others we should lay out our Talents of Patience and Long-suffering and not hide them in a Napkin Now if we thus exercise our selves as we are here advis'd then we shall regard God's End in our Sorrows and Distresses and he will reward us with the end of our Hopes the Salvation of our Souls And now as a Preface to my Conclusion which may release your confined Patience which as to our present occasion hath wrought its perfect work my hearty Request is That our chief Study would be to live well and to add to our stature in Piety and Vertue and to shine more and more to a perfect day This is not only our Duty at all times but our advantage when we are in Sorrow and not only an evidence that we have a good Title to God's Promises but an additional security for the payment of them to us for hereby we declare that we love God and then may be sure that all things that is all sorrowful Persecutions Rom. 8. and Afflictions shall work together for our good and hereby we shall shew that God's Physick hath workt with us and that which first made us sick hath now made us well Moreover Since as far as our Lives are from God's Commands to obey them so far are God's Ears from our Prayers to hear them therefore let us live well that in time of Sorrow we may pray unto him with Success otherwise we may have many Sorrows in the best cause and yet have no reward for such Sorrows and the Sacrifice of our Lives even for Religion and Loyalty shall be esteem'd by God but as the Cutting off a Dog's Neck We bewail the common Evils we lie under and we may well withdraw and weep for them But if we sincerely desire to see better days we should strive to live better Lives and to this end we should humbly and with our whole Hearts beseech Almighty God to sanctify the various Dispensations of his Providence to us that is cause us to walk humbly meekly and patiently in our Conversations To hate all manner of Vice Sedition and Schism and to have no fellowship with those Works of Darkness and if God hath given us holy Courage to be Confessors and Witnesses of his Truth to bless him for that excellent Gift To wait his leisure for the Redemption of his Servants from all their Troubles and in the mean time to lie secure by Faith and Devotion under his warm and comforting Wing and now and then in a submissive and resigning posture say Make no long tarrying O our God Thus let us pray and thus believe and thus live and in due time God will awake and arise and answer our Requests and we shall reap in Ioy and be exceeding glad in his Salvation Glycon's Introduction to the following Discourse of Theosebius GLycon having before Luperus's late Lecture embrac'd the late Sentiments of many Persons concerning the Affection of Sorrow namely that it is According in Deschartes c. only an unacceptable Sickness in which consists an Inconvenience which happens to Mans Soul from some Evil or Want which the Impressions of the Brain represent to it as its own or that it binds up the Soul so strictly that it must many times quit the Body to release it self and that hereupon it is such a coarse and heavy Garment put upon us which no Art can make fine and fit for use Was now made a Convert and became Luperus's Captive by the power and dint of his Arguments And observing that the chief means to continue him in this free and happy Captivity as he now thought it was God's Grace and through that his own Compliance with it and this to be obtain'd by Asking Seeking and Knocking and these Qualifications to be