once to have pierâ—ed his Head his Side his Hands and his Feet with thy crimson sinns to have ingaged his precious Soule to death but thou must be every houre crucifying him with new Oaths hatefull curses sinfull imprecations O what maist thou thinke will become of thee What hope what helpe in the depths He cannot choose but turne that Head from thee which thou hast so dishonoured that sweet and lovely Face from thee which thou hast so buffeted that precious Side from thee which thou hast so wounded those immaculate Hands from thee which thou hast so nailed those beautifull Feet from thee which thou hast so bored And now whither wilt thou fly seeing there is no refuge for thee neither in the Mountaines nor in the Valleyes Nay the Depths shall not cover thee from the Sight of his Majesty Thou mightst indeed have found a Resting place in the holes of the Rock but they are shut from thee by reason of thine impenitency O wilt thou in this case this fearfull case and condition suffer thine head to take any rest O wilt thou abuse those sweet Motions of Grace and become worse and worse the nearer thou art to thy Grave Wo is mee for thee for I must suffer with thee and receive the wages of sin for inuring my mouth to Oaths and inthralling thee my poor Soule to the reward of shame O my mouth how apt hast thou beene to learne an Oath before thou hadst well learn'd to speake Often hadst thou in thy Mouth to dishonour him seldom in thine Heart to meditate of him O how unseemly will his praise sound in thy polluted Lipps how dry and unacceptable thy devotions from so corrupt an heart O my good God look not upon mee as I have beene but as I resolve hereafter by thy grace to bee Clense thou mine Heart and my Mouth that with the one I may beleeve unto righteousnesse with the other I may confesse my Sinns with the good things which thou hast done for mee unto Salvation Let onely yea yea and nay nay be in my communication whatsoever else is ofSin unlesse it bee before a Magistrate to witnesse a truth O my Maker keepe thou my Tongue for it is a slippery member So direct it that it may utter nothing but to thine honour CHAP. 16. His dishonour to the Lords Day MAy not God bee serv'd with his owne May not he who appointed Sixe dayes for the use and service of man reserve one for the more pâ—culiar service and worship of himselfe It is not much that he hath required of thee and what service ha's hee received from thee In the very beginning after God had created man bestow'd upon him his owne Image and put him in possession of a World of delights in one Garden one â—den He gave Adam a command a strict command and upon a great forfeiture Yet became Man soone disobedient no long time in the Garden till a convicted Delinquent Now behold as of all those Trees Adam was but of one restrained So of all the dayes in the Weeke there is but one which God hath for himselfe reserved yet neither that nor this must be observed Thou needest no Arguments to perswade thee that the Sabbath is morall being so far from making it Evangelicall as thou didst make it thy day to satisfie thy lusts At best thou thoughtst thy self well imployed that day if thou bestow'd it upon sight of a Wake a Morrice dance or the sociable frequent of an Ale-house Yet had it beene better for thee to have digg'd then have danced to have plow'd then so to have unhallow'd this holy Day the Sabbath How carefull wouldst thou be of observing a profane meeting where God was never remembred but in Oaths Such merry Meetings might not be forgotten the end whereof was to forget God and his Iudgments and if it were possible to put farre from them the â—vill day But as the fumes of drinke begot â—orgetfulnesse in the Evening so the sense of sinne begot bitternesse in the Morning O my God! one Day and but one Day and must thy commands be neglected that one Day Was there no day for thee thou profane Pilgrim to commit sin with greedinesse to follow thy loose lusts with eagernesse nor to slave thy selfe to all filthinesse but that very day that peculiar day which God had ordained for his owne honour and wherein his Sanctuarie should be made the house of Prayer Was this the way to make thy handyworke to prosper or give a blessing to thy Labour If at any time thy occasions not of necessity but pleasure sollicited thee thou held'st it no sâ—ruple of conscience to dispence with the Sabbath thou wouldst crave leave of God nay thou wouldst take leave against the expresse will and warrant of God Neither must occasion of profit nor pleasure suffer least neglect for Gods honour But admit either through want of employment or feare of Presentment thou repaire to the Temple How didst thou behave thy selfe there Did not thy irreverence and neglect of his Worship bring thee to that passe that thou went'st forth with an heart more unsanctified then thou cam'st in Was not thine heart wandring in the World while thy body was at Church Did not the houre seeme long unto thee whilest thou wer 't thus undevoutly busied in this thy enforced Practise of Piety Yes yes unthankfull Pilgrim thou knowest this too well No houre could be more tedious then so imployed how then could that stony Soile of thine Heart beâ—e fructified how could thy seered Conscience be edified Better had it been for thee not at all to come to it then by this thy repairing to it thus to prophane it O God of Sabbath O God of rest who hast ordained thy Sabbath the type of our rest Make mee to know that it is thy Day which I am to observe and thy House whereto I repaire Thou hast sanctified thy Sabbath Sanctify me likewise for thy Sabbath Thy house is an house of Prayer in my Lipps let there be praise in mine Heart Prayers and make thou pure the viol that it may more acceptably poure forth those odours of her Prayers CHAP. 17. Hee confesseth how this bloody-issue of sinne streamed forth likewise into a breach of the Second Table and first of disobedience to his Parents PRomises of long life prosperity and successe in the World are and have been ever perswasive Orators to the eare of a Worldling Long life is a comfortable thing to a Worlding because hee who setts his rest upon the World expects small comfort after this present World Had there been no further hope of future happinesse this very promise of long dayes might have brought thee to Obedience But alas this was the lowest of my thoughts the least of my cares I desired in mine Heart to be the Master of an estate before Nature would allow me it I took my portion and went away into a farre Countrey And there I plaid the riotter
her that loose Libertine thy fleshly Idumaean are thy works of righteousnesse accompted as a a menstruous Cloath by her art thou brought to nothing esteemed as a vaine thing and in manner nothing For tell me O tell me poore deluded Soule what other thing is this Flesh whose society thou seemest so highly to tender but meere foame made Flesh and cloathed with fraile honour But shouldest thou consider O my Soule what will become of her how after Death her honour shall lye in the dust how shee shall be stinking Carrion full of misery and corruption meate for wormes Againe how neatly so ever shee seeme now tricked trimmed and tyred shee is no more but Flesh and that Flesh and the beauty thereof as the flower of the field Againe wouldest thou but consider her present condition as thou hast already heard of her Originall corruption and read an Atomy Lecture on her beauty to allay the heat of thy fancy Wouldst thou I say but consider with a cleare and dis-intereslsed eye what goeth out by the mouth nosthrills and other passages of the body thou wouldest soone confesse that thou never lookst upon a more stinking Dunghill Againe shouldest thou but reckon up all her miseries how shee is loaden with sinnes surprized with passions polluted with illusions prone alwayes to all manner of evill and addicted to al vice thou wouldest find thereby meanes of this staine of sinne full of all confusion and shame For by company of this flesh became man like unto vanity because from it and none but it drew man that staine of concupiscence by which he became attached attainted so wholly crooked and corrupted as he set his love on nothing but vanity practised nothing but workes of iniquity O leave to love her then whose love is thy losse estrange thee from her wayes for her pathes lead unto death And now give mee leave to talke a little with thee O my Flesh And first resolve mee if ever I came into any place wherein I could promise to my selfe peace In this populous Citie I cannot take my walke in any street wherein I am not subject to bee taken by thy deceit Thou sendest forth those two light Spies to purvey and bring in Objects of lust by these am I wounded by these doe I suffer a continual Combat Neither are these wounds cured now when my youth has left mee when these daily Messengers of death summon me For though I bee neere my Grave I am nothing richer in Grace Though those follies of my youth have now left me and woe is mee that I did not leave them before they left me yet other aged maladies grow strong in me against which I must prepare my selfe for the encounter or I am undone for ever Would you heare what my distempers are They are these Though few bee my houres hoary my haires yet am I as numerous in my worldly cares as if I were but even now entring into the world I cannot without an envious eye see my Neighbours field flourish others prosperity gives me occasion of repining others adversity grounds of rejoycing Honour I would have yet can I hardly support my selfe much lesse that Honor which is conferred on me Alas poore mouldred earth Now when I carry about me such constant Companions of my mortality when Aches Cramps and Coughes are my ages livery Now when Death waits at the Wicket and bids me come away and leave the world seeing it is weary of me and fit me for my shrowding sheet being all that is left me yet have I a moneths mind to be greater or richer or more eminent in the eye of the World as if I could dispense with age or make a truce with death Thus am I encountred with new temptations Night and day am I beleagred nor can I find any rest so fierce and furious is this Combatant my Flesh. O how justly then may I complaine of this my houshold enemy And how may I escape her subtilty It is her Delicacy that has undone me for by pamphering her have I famished my selfe I tooke pitty of her weaknesse and I cherish'd her and behold now I am abused by her Shee has wounded mee with her eye no with both her eyes has shee surpriz'd mee For with her right eye she shew'd me prosperity and by inclining to her caused me to commit idolatry And with her left eye shee darted adversity at mee and so made me murmure against him that made me O how I feele my selfe now failing and falling to earth yet how are my thoughts so glued to earth as if they had no other place to thinke on O my God from the depth of thy mercy looke upon the depth of my misery thou knowest my necessity let me not become a prey to mine enemy Sweet Iesu thou hast taught my fingers to fight give mee the mastery in this combat with my flesh CHAP. 6. What assaults he suffer'd by thy Divell both in company and privacy O Thou envious one was it not sufficient for thee to lose thy selfe by the Pride but like a cruell cunning Nimrod haunt day and night after innocent blood Thou art for ever lost and thou wouldst have my poore soule in the same state And to bring thy purpose about thou hast practised with people of my owne family to betray my Fort unto the Enemy Thou hast winnowed me and as thou found mee affected thou wrought upon me Thou had baites in store for every soule to take him napping in his Darling sinne If thou fouâ—dst him labor of that birth wherein thou perished thou couldst suggest to him thoughts of his owne abilities bring him to a disdaine of others Tell him the State did not take sufficient notice of his worth Advise him to hold an higher opinion of himselfe and by conâ—emning others to raise his owne estimate But whereto aâ—me all these trains to undoe him for being fed with these conceits he begins to aspire to places of honour wherein being crossed of his hopes he fals into discontent which clozeth the unhappy Scene of his life in misery and contempt Or deprived of what hee once enjoyed and to an unexpected thraldome consined with the heavy memory of his former felicity and present misery hee either lives desperately encountred with those affrighting thoughts of danger or takes his leave at once both of life and honour Againe if thou foundst him Covetous thou hadst Achans wedge and Gehaza's treasure in readinesse for him Hee shall have his desires and a Leprosie to boot If riotous the Rich-mans table could not bee better furnished his delicious and liquorish appetite must bee satisfied nothing wanting that may tend to surfetting but with those Rioters before the Flood hee little knowes how neare hee is perishing If lascivious his flesh must want no provocation to bring this deluded Minion to destruction Fancies by night and more visible Objects by day are sent forth to seaze on his heart and make him forgetfull of God If Passionate
at first it distasâ—ed mee for how could it sound well in the eare of reason to heare one breake forth into the immerited praise of an immoderate passion yet the conceit of revenge wrought so strongly on my affection that howsoever I opposed the premisses I approved well of his Conclusion O Lord terrible and just what would become of me if thou shouldst have my sinnes in thy remembrance or shouldst punish mee in thy wrathfull displeasure and yet beare I a malicious heart to my Brother Hee many times with many teares has besought my pardon yet would not all these worke in mee any remorse or compassion O looke downe upon mee with the eye of thy mercy remove from mee the spirit of fury and arme mee with the shield of patience and lenity I know Lord thou hast commanded vs not to suffer the Sunne to goe downe upon our wrath and yet many Sunnes nay many seasons have gone downe on my wrath I slept securely while wrath encompassed my bed and revenge lay a pillow for my head O thou mild Lambe imprint the memory of thy example in the Tablet of mine heart make mee to love mine enemy and with a wise Virgin Lampe fed with the oyle of charity follow thee my sweet Spouseâ— unto the heavenly Citie CHAP. 55. Sloath. BVt amongst all others who had liberally partak't of my bounty there was one who so little deserv'd it that in a carelesse security as one respectlesse of any courtesie hee would all the day long take his rest and scarcely rise without much adoe to take his necessary repast And one day I chanc'd to find him when all his Companions were addressing themselves to one exercise or another turning or rather rowling himselfe in his bed like a doore upon the hinges So as I begun to take him under hand and to reprove him bidding to shake off Sloath for shame and prepare himselfe for some taske lest in time he might incurre Margites censure who because hee neither digged plowed nor did any good thing all his time was not onely barred all civile society living but was not admitted to have his ashes deposited in the Vrne of his Ancestors dying I desired to know further of him what content hee could take in groveling after that manner in his bed of security while every creature according to his ranke or quality discovered some token of their industry And in a sluggish manner hee told mee how there was none but at one time or other hee might thrive provided that hee kept his shop Now what did any one know but that it was his Calling to make his shop his bed Neither was hee as hâ—e impudently pretented unimployed when hee seemed for rest most addicted For that very morning and no longer since hee told mee that hee kept his bed not so much for his owne ease as for composing a maine difference which two noble Ladies had referred to him For there had lately appeared to him two brave women attired in princely habit who contended much for superiority and the names of these two Ladies were Euphuia and Argia Now these after such time as they had appeared before him discovered both their Descents and Callings For Euphuia as she proved her selfe descended from an industrious family so shee shewed her selfe a true daughter for shee was wonderfully given to industry Whereas Argia was clear of another humor for nothing suited better with her disposition then to doe nothing These two accordingly as they stood severally affected brake forth into commendations of what their natures stood most inclined to Euphâ—ia affirmed that nothing improved any ones private estate or countrey more then Industry The other with no lesse confidence spake all she could in praise of privacy and a sleepy kind of security saying how that was well got that was got in a warme bed and that Timandra purchas'd as much pleasure in the embrace of her friend as ever Thalestris did in the discomfiture of her Foe The other to advance the honour of Armes with all other honest manuall employments with much moderation reproved her frowardnesse telling her that shee did but all this to shew her wit for else shee would spend no breath in commending Sloath which was the death of a living soule But said he so strangely did theâ—e two cloze in the knitting up of their arguments as with mutuall consent the difference was referred to me Now I am here consulting with my pillow to whether of these two I should give the preheminence Nor doe I intend to rise till I have composed the difference Thus did my lazie Guest play the easâ—e Arbitrator desiring rather a nappe in a corner then discharge the part of a Moderator So as I might easily conjecture to what side hee inclined most by his aversenesse from labour And indeed I must freely confesse I begunne not altogether to dislike his humour For when hee had more fully acquainted mee with the quality of his condition how and in what manner hee had ever lived how hee had shunned all publike employments desiring rather a Writ of ease then to dis-ease his owne quiet for anothers good Againe what a madnesse it was to toyle or turmoile ones selfe in the world to have a sickle in anothers corne or to have an oare in every ones boat To be accounted a wise and subtile Commissioner and so spend his spirits about a fruitlesse or thankelesse labour To play the carking Husband in gathering for a progeny of hopelesse Rake-hels To afflict himselfe in the hoording up of that which is got with paine and toyle kept with care and feare and lost with pangs and griefe No no said hee let the world wagge so I may enjoy my rest draw my Curtaines close take my morning nappe let the Husbandman meet with a Snake in the way Let the thirsty worldling play the Mole digge and delve I shall rather pitty his folly then envy his happinesse This humour the more I observed it the more I affected it So as I begunne to imitate my Guest and to sing the Sluggards Lullabe with yet a little and then a little And though poverty came so upon mee yet the enjoyment of a little Summer made me forgetfull of an ensuing Winter An hundred excuses would I mould purposely to sleepe securely and free my selfe of all busines though it did never so nearely concerne mee Either there was an Adder in the way or the weather was unseasonable or some indisposition to health injoyned me to keepe my bed Thus did my delicacy bring mee to security which howsoever I flatter'd my selfe was so farre divided from me as in the end I found my perplexed estate ever to danger most ingaged where weaknesse of opinion dreamed to mee that I was most secured O my Lord thou who art that heavenly Husbandman that desirest nothing more then Labourers in thine Harvest and art ready to pay every Workeman his penny though hee have but laboured one houre in thy Vineyard