all deformed with the desolations of warre and turned into rude heapes or while it is euen now flaming with the fire of ciuill broiles they couet yet stil to liue in it preferring it to all other places of more peace and pleasure and shalt thou seeing nothing but peace and blessednes at home nothing but trouble abroad content thy selfe with a faint wish of thy dissolution If heauen were thy Iayle thou couldest but thinke of it vncomfortably Oh what affection can be worthy of such an home Chap. 27. LAstly if we can recall any pregnaÌ„t Testimonies of Scripture concerning our Theme those shall fitly conclude this part of our Meditation Of Scripture for that in these matters of God none but diuine authoritie can coÌ„mand assent and settle the conscience Witnesses of holy men may serue for colours but the ground must bee onely from God There it is saith the spirit of God which cannot deceiue thee that all teares shall be wip't from our eyes there shall bee no more death nor sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more paine yea there shall not onely be an end of sorrowes but an abundant recompence for the sorrowes of our life as hee that was rapt vp into the third heauen and there saw what cannot hee spoken speakes yet thus of what he saw I count that the afflictions of this present time are not worthy of the glory which shall bee shewed to vs It was shewed to him what should hereafter be shewed to vs and hee sawe that if all the world full of miseries were layed in one balance and the least glory of heauen in another those would bee incomparably light yea as that diuine Father that one dayes felicitie aboue were worth a thousand yeeres torment belowe what then can bee matched with the eternitie of such ioyes Oh how great therefore is thy goodnes O Lord which thou hast layd vp for them that feare thee and done to them that trust in thee before the sonnes of men Chap. 28. THE most difficult and knotty part of Meditation thus finished there remayneth that which is both more liuely and more easie to a good heart to bee wrought altogether by the affections which if our discourses reach not vnto they prooue vain and to no purpose That which followeth therefore is the very soule of Meditation whereto all that is past serueth but as an instrument A man is a man by his vnderstanding part but he is a Christian by his will and affections Seeing therefore that all our former labour of the braine is only to affect the heart after that the minde hath thus trauersed the point proposed throgh all the heads of reason it shall indeuour to find in the first place some feeling touch sweete rellish in that which it hath thus chewed which fruit through the blessing of God will voluntarily follow vpon a serious Meditation Dauid sayes Oh taste and see how sweete the Lord is In Meditation wee doe both see and taste but we see before we taste sight is of the vnderstanding taste of the affection Neither can we see but we must â—aste we can not knowe â—right but wee must needes bee affected Let the heart therefore first conceiue and feele in it self the Sweetnesse or bitternesse of the matter meditated which is neuer done without some passion nor expressed without some hearty exclamation Oh blessed estate of the Saints O glorie not to bee expressed euen by those which are glorified O incomprchensible saluation What sauour hath this earth to thee Who can regarde the worlde that beleeueth thee Who can thinke of thee and not bee rauished with woonder and desire Who can hope for thee and not reioyce Who can knowe thee and not bee swallowed vp with admiration at the mercie of him that bestowes thee O blessednesse worthy of Christs blood to purchase thee worthie of the continuall songs of Saints and Angels to celebrate thee Howe should I magnifie thee Howe should I long for thee how should I hate all this world for thee Chap. 29. AFter this Taste shall followe a Complaint wherin the heart bewayleth to it selfe his owne pouerty dulnesse and imperfection chiding and abasing it selfe in respect of his wants and indisposition wherein Humiliation truly goes before glory For the more we are cast downe in our conceit the higher shall GOD lift vs vp at the ende of this exercise in spirituall reioicing But alas where is my loue where is my longing where art thou O my soule what heauinesse hath ouertaken thee Howe hath the worlde bewitched and possessed thee that thou art become so carelesse of thine home so senselesse of spiritual delights so fond vpon these vanities Doest thou doubt whether there bee an heauen or whether thou haue a God and a Sauiour there O farre bee froÌ„ thee this Atheisme farre bee from thee the least thought of such desperate impiety Wo were thee if thou beleeuedst not But O thou of little faith doest thou beleeue there is happinesse and happinesse for thee and desirest it not and delightest not in it Alas how weake and vnbeleeuing is thy beleefe how cold and faint are thy desires Tel me what such goodly entertainemeÌ„t hast thou met withall here on earth that was worthy to withdraw thee froÌ„ these heauenly ioyes what pleasure in it euer gaue thee contentment or what cause of dislike findest thou aboue Oh no my soule it is onely thy miserable drowzinesse only thy securitie The world the world hath besotted thee hath vndone thee with carelesnesse Alas if thy delight bee so colde What difference is there in thee froÌ„ an ignorant HeatheÌ„ that doubts of another life yea froÌ„ an Epicure that denies it Artthou a christian or art thou none If thou be what thou professest away with this dul and senselesse worldlinesse away with this earthly vnchearfulnesse shake off at last this profane and godlesse securitie that hath thus long weighed thee downe froÌ„ mounting vp to thy ioies Looke vp to thy GOD and to thy crowne and say with confidence O Lord I haue wayted for thy saluation Chap. 30. AFter this CoÌ„plaint must succeede an harty passionate Wish of the soule which ariseth clearely from the two former degrees For that which a man hath found sweete and comfortable complaines that hee still wants hee cannot but wish to enioy O Lord that I could waite and long for thy saluation Oh that I could minde the things aboue that as I am a stranger in deed so I could be also in affectioÌ„ Oh that mine eyes like the eyes of thy first Martyr could by the light of faith see but a glimpse of heauen Oh that my heart could bee rapt vp thither in desire How should I trample vpoÌ„ these poore vanities of the earth How willingly should I indure all sorrowes all torments how scornefully should I passe by all pleasures how should I be in trauel of my dissolution Oh when shall that blessed day
quench those riuers of brimstone that feede this flame where there is no intermission of complaints no breathing from paine and after millions of yeeres no possibility of comfort And if the rod wherewith thou chastisest thy children O Lord euen in this life be so smart and galling that they haue been brought downe to the brim of despaire and in the bitternesse of their soule haue intreated death to release them What shal I think of their plagues in whose righteous confusion thou insultest and sayest Aha I wil auenge me of mine enemies Euen that thou shalt not bee thus miserable O my soule is some kind of happines but that thou shalt bee as happie as the reprobate are miserable how worthy is it of more estimation than thy selfe is capable of Chap. 25. AFterthis oppositiō the mind shall make cōparison of the matter meditated with what may neerest resemble it and shall illustrate it with fittest similitudes which giue no small light to the vnderstanding nor lesse force to the affection Wonder then O my soule as much as thou canst at this glory and in comparison thereof contemne this earth which now thou treadest vpon whose ioyes if they were perfect are but short and if they were long are imperfect One day when thou art aboue looking downe from the height of thy glory and seeing the sons of men creeping like so many Ants on this mole-hill of earth thou shalt thinke Alas how basely I once liued was yonder silly dungeon the place I so loued and was so loath to leaue Thinke so now before-hand and since of heauē thou canst not yet account of the earth as it is worthy How hartlesse and irkesome are yee O yee best earthly pleasures if ye be matched with the least of those aboue Howe vile are you O ye sumptuous buildings of kings euen if all the entrailes of the earth had agreed to enrich you in compason of this frame not made with hands It is not so hie aboue the earth in distance of place as in worth and maiestie we may see the face of heauen from the heart of the earth but from the neerest part of the earth who can see the least glory of heauen The three disciples on mount Tabor sawe but a glimpse of this glory shining vpon the face of their Sauiour and yet being rauished with the sight cryed out Master It is good being here and thinking of building of three Tabernacles for Christ Moses Elias could haue been content themselues to haue lien without shelter so they might alwaies haue enioyed that sight Alas how could earthly Tabernacles haue fitted those heuēly bodies They knewe what they sawe what they said they knew not Lo these 3. disciples were not trāsfigured yet how deeply they were affected euē with the glory of others how happy shal wee be when our selues shal be changed into glorious and shall haue Tabernacles not of our own making but prepared for vs by God and yet not Tabernacles but eternal mansions Moses sawe God but a while and shined How shal we shine that shal behold his face for euer What greater honour is there than in Souereignty what greater pleasure than in feasting This life is both a kingdome and a feast A kingdome He that ouercomes shall rule the nations and shall sit with me in my Throne O blessed promotion Oh large dominion and royall seate to which Salomons throne of yuory was not worthy to become a footestoole A feast Blessed are they that are called to the Marriage supper of the Lambe Feastes haue more than necessitie of prouision more than ordinary diet but marriage-feasts yet more than common abundance But the marriage-feast of the Sonne of God to his blessed spouse the Church must so farre exceed in all heauenly munificence and varietie as the persons are of greater State and Maiestie There is new wine pure Manna and all manner of spirituall dainties and with the continuall cheare a sweete and aunswerable welcome while the bridegrome louingly cheares vs vp Eate O Friends drinke make you merrie O welbeloued yea There shalt thou be my soule not a guest but how vnworthy soeuer the Bride her selfe whom hee hath euerlastingly espoused to himselfe in truth and righteousnesse The contract is passed here belowe the mariage is cōsummate aboue and solēnized with a perpetual feast So that now thou mayest safely say My welbeloued is mine and I am his Wherefore hearken O my soule and consider and incline thine eare forget also thine owne people and thy fathers house thy supposed home of this world so shall the King haue pleasure in thy beauty for hee is thy Lord and worship thou him Chap. 26. THE verie Names and Titles of the matter cōsidered yeeld no small store to our Meditation which being commonly so imposed that they secretly comprehend the nature of the thing which they represent are not vnworthy of our discourse What neede I seeke these resemblances whē the very name of life implieth sweetnesse to men on earth euen to them which confesse to liue with some discontentment Surely the light is a pleasant thing and it is good to the eyes to see the Sunne yet when Temporall is added to Life I know not how this additiō detracteth somthing and doth greatly abate the pleasure of life for those which ioy to thinke of Life grieue to thinke it but Temporall So vexing is the ende of that whose continuance was delightfull But nowe when there is an addition aboue Time of Eternitie it makes life so much more sweete as it is more lasting and lasting infinitelie what can it giue lesse than an infinite contentment Oh dying and false life which wee enioy here and scarce a shadowe and counterfeit of that other What is more esteemed than glory which is so precious to men of spirit that it makes them prodigall of their blood proud of their wounds carelesse of themselues and yet alas how pent and how fading is this glory affected with such dangers and deaths hardly after all Trophees and monuments either knowen to the next sea or suruiuing him that dyes for it It is true glorie to triumph in heauen where is neither enuie nor forgetfulnesse What is more deare to vs than our Countrey which the worthy and faithfull Patriotes of all times haue respected aboue their parēts their children their liues counting it onely happie to liue in it and to die for it The banisht man pines for the want of it the trauailer digests all the tediousnesse of his way all the sorrowes of an ill iourney in the only hope of home forgetting all his forraine miseries when hee feeles his owne smoake Where is our Countrey but aboue Thence thou camest O my soule thither thou art going in a short but weary pilorimage O miserable men if wee account our selues at home in our pilgrimage if in our iourney we long not for home Doest thou see men so in loue with their natiue soyle that euen when it is
soule make vse of that heauen wherin thou art and be happie Thus we haue found that our MeditatioÌ„ like the winde gathers strengthin proceeding and as naturall bodies the neerer they come to their places moue with more celerity so doeth the soule in this course of meditation to the vnspeakeable benefite of it selfe Chap. 35. THe Conclusion remaineth wherin we must aduise like as Physicians doe in their sweats and exercise that wee cease not ouer-suddenly but leaue off by little and little The mind may not bee suffered to fall headlong from this height but must also descend by degrees The first whereof After our Confidence shall be an hearty Gratulation and thankesgiuing For as man naturally cannot bee miserable but he must complaine and craue remedie so the good heart cannot finde it selfe happie and not be thankefull and this thankefulnesse which it feeles and expresses makes it yet more good and affects it more What shall I then doe to thee for this mercie Othou Sauiour of men What should I render to my Lord for all his benefites Alas what can I giue thee which is not thine owne before Oh that I could giue thee but all thine Thou giuest mee to drinke of this cuppe of saluation I will therefore take the cuppe of saluation and call vpon the name of the Lord Praise thou the Lorde o my soule and all that is within mee praise his holy name And since here thou beginnest thine heauen begin here also that ioyfull song of thankes-giuing which there thou shalt sing more sweetly and neuer ende Chap. 36. AFter this Thankesgiuing shall followe a faithful recommendation of our selues to God wherein the soule doth chearfully giue vp it selfe and repose it selfe wholly vpon her Maker and Redeemer committing her selfe to him in all her wayes submitting her selfe to him in all his wayes resoluing in all things to glorifie him and to walke worthy of her high glorious calling Both which later shal bee done as I haue euer found with much life and comfort if for the full conclusion wee shall lift vp our heart and voyce to God in singing some Versicle of Dauids diuine Psalmes answerable to our disposition and matter whereby the heart closes vp it selfe with much sweetenesse and contentment This course of Meditation thus heartily obserued let him that practises it tell we whether he find not that his soule which at the beginning of this exercise did but creepe and grouell vpon earth doe not now in the Conclusion soare aloft in heauen being before aloofe off doe not now find it selfe neere to God yea with him and in him Chap. 37. THus haue I endeuoured right Worshipfull Sir according to my slender faculty to prescribe a Methode of Meditation Not vpon so strict tearmes of Necessitie that whosoeuer goeth not my way erreth Diuers paths leade oft-times to the same end and euery man aboundeth in his owne sense If experience and custome hath made another forme familiar to any man I forbid it not as that learned Father sayde of his Tralation Let him vse his owne not contemne mine If any man bee to chuse and beginne let him practise mine till he meete with a better Master If an other course may be better I am sure this is good Neither is it to be suffered that like as fantasticall men while they doubt what fashion'd sute they should we are put on nothing so that wee Christians shuld neglect the matter of this worthy businesse while we nicely stand vpon the forme thereof Wherein giue mee leaue to complain with iust sorrowe and shame that if there bee any Christian duetie whose omission is notoriously shameful and preiudicial to the soules of professors it is this of Meditation This is the very end God hath giuen vs our soules we misse-spend them if we vse them not thus How lamentable is it that wee so imploy them as if our facultie of discourse serued for nothing but our earthly prouision as if our reasonable and Christian mindes were appointed for the slaues and drudges of this bodie onely to bee the Caters and Cookes of our appetite The worlde filles vs yea cloyes vs we finde our selues worke enough to thinke What haue I yet Howe may I gette more What must I lay out What shall I leaue for posterity How may I preuent the wrong of mine aduersarie how may I returne it What answeres shall I make to such allegations What entertainement shall I giue to such friends What courses shall I take in such suits In what pastimes shall I spend this day in what the next What aduantage shall I reape by this practise what losse What was sayd answered replied done followed Goodly thoughts and fitte for Spirituall mindes Say there were no other worlde how could wee spend our cares otherwise Vnto this only neglect let mee ascribe the commonnesse of that Laodicean temper of men or if that bee worse of the dead coldnesse which hath striken the hearts of many hauing left them nothing but the bodies of men and visors of Christians to this onely They haue not meditated It is not more impossible to liue without an heart than to bee deuout without Meditation Woulde GOD therefore my words could be in this as the wise man sayes the wordes of the wise are like vnto Goades in the sides of euery Reader to quicken him vp out of this dull and lazy security to a chearfull practise of this Diuine MeditatioÌ„ Let him curse mee vpon his death-bed if looking backe from thence to the bestowing of his former times hee acknowledge not these houres placed the most happily in his whole life if he then wish not he had worne out more daies in so profitable and heauenly a worke DEO SOLI GLORIA The benefit vses of Meditation Which are vniuersall to al Christians and not to bee appropriated to some professions The description and kinds of Meditation Concerning Meditation Extemporall Cautions of Extemporal Meditation Of MeditatioÌ„ Deliberate Wherein first The qualities of the person Of whom is required First that he be pure from his sinnes Secondly that he be free from worldly thoughts Thirdly that he be constant and that First In his set Tymes Secondly that he be Constant in the CoÌ„tinuance * Sauing our iust quarrel against him for the Councel of Constance Of the Circumstances of Meditation And therin First Of the place Secondly of the Time Of the Site and gesture of the body * Gerson ** Guliel Paris * Dionys Carthus Of the matter Subiect of our meditation The order of the worke it selfe The EntraÌ„ce into the worke 1. The coÌ„mon entrance which is Prayer Particular proper entrance into the matter which is in our choice thereof The proceeding of our meditation And therin a Methode allowed by some authors reiected by vs. The scale of Meditation of an Author ancient but namelesse * Degrees of Preparation 1. Question What I thinke should think 2. Excussion A repelling of what I should not thinke 3. Choice or Election Of what most necessary expedient comely * Degrees of proceeding in the vnderstanding 4. Commemoration An actual thinking vpon the matter elected 5 Conseleration A redoubled Commemoration of the same till it be fully knowen 6. Attention A fixed and earnest coÌ„sideratioÌ„ wherby it is fastened in the mind 7 Explanation A cleering of the thing considered by similitudes 8 Tractation An extending the thing considered to other points where all questions of doubt are discussed 9. Diindication An estimation of the worth of the thing thus handled 10. Consâ—tion A confirmation of the estimation thus made 11. Rumination A sad and serious Meditation of all the former till it may worke vpon the affections From hence to the degrees of affection Premonitions concerning our proceeding in the first part of Meditation The practise of Meditation wherin First wee begin with some description of that we meditate of Secondly followes an easie voluntary diuision of the matter meditated 3. A consideration of the causes therof in al kinds of them 4. The Consid of the Fruits Effects 5. ConsideratioÌ„ of the Subiect wherin or wherabout it is 6. Consid of the Appendances and Qualities of it 7. Of that which is Diuers froÌ„ it or Contrary to it 8. Of coÌ„parisons and similitudes whereby it may bee most fitly set forth 9. The Titles and Names of the thing coÌ„sidered 10. CoÌ„sid of fit testimonies of Scripture concerning our Theme Of our second part of Meditation which is in the affections Wherin is required a Taste and rellish of what we haue thought vpon Secondly a CoÌ„plaint bewailing our wants and vntowardnes Thirdly an harty wish of the soule for what it coÌ„plaineth to want 4. An huÌ„ble Confession of our disability to effect what we wish 5. An earnest PetitioÌ„ for that which wee confesse to want 6. A vehement enforcement of our Petiuon 7. A chearfull Confidence of obtaining what wee haue requested enforced The Conclus of our Meditation in what order it must be First with Thankesgiuing Secondly with Recommendation of our soules and wayes to God An Epilogue Reproouing the neglect Exhorting to the vse of Meditation
THE ARTE OF DIVINE ME DITATION Profitable for all Christians to knowe and practise Exemplified with a large Meditation of eternall life By IOSEPH HALL ¶ Imprinted at London by Humfrey Lownes for Samuel Macham and Mathew Cooke and are to bee sold in Pauls Church-yard at the signe of the Tigers head 1606. To the right Worshipful Sir Richard Lea Knight all increase of true honour with God and men SIr euer since I began to bestow my selfe vpō the commō good studying wherin my labours might bee most seruiceable I still found they could bee no way so well improued as in that part which concerneth deuotion and the practise of true piety For on the one side I perceiued the number of Polemicall bookes rather to breede than ende strifes and those which are doctrinall by reason of their multitude rather to oppresse than satisfie the Reader wherein if we write the same things we are iudged tedious if different singular On the other part respecting the Reader I sawe the braines of men neuer more stuffed their tōgues neuer more stirring their hearts neuer more emptie nor their handes more idle Wherefore after those suddē Meditatiōs which passed me without rule I was easily induced by their successe as a small thing moues the willing to send foorth this Rule of Meditation and after my Heauen vpon earth to discourse although by way of example of heauen aboue In this Arte of mine I confesse to haue receiued more light from one obscure namelesse Monke which wrote some 112. yeeres agoe then from the directions of all other writers I would his humility had not made him niggardly of his name that wee might haue knowen whome to haue thanked It had been easie to haue framed it with more curiositie But God and my soule knowe that I made profit the scope of my labour and not applause and therefore to choose I wished rather to be rude than vnprofitable If now the simplicitie of any Reader shall bereaue him of the benefite of my precepts I knowe hee may make his vse of my example Why I haue honored it with your name I need not giue account to the world which already knowes your worth and deserts and shall see by this that I acknowledge them Goe you on happily according to the heauenly aduise of your Iunius in your worthy and glorious profession still bearing your selfe as one that knowes vertue the truest nobility and Religion the best vertue The God whom you serue shal honor you with men and crowne you in heauen To his grace I humbly commend you requesting you onely to accept the worke and continue your fauour to the Author Your Worships humbly deuoted IOS HALL THE SVMME OF THE Chapters THE benefite vses of Meditation Cap. 1 The description kinds of Medit. Cap. 2 Concerning Meditation Extemporal Cap. 3 Cautions of Extemporary Medit. Cap. 4 Of Meditatiō deliberate wherein first the qualitie of the person of whom is required 1 That he be pure from his sinnes Cap. 5 2 That he be free from worldly thoughts Cap. 6 3 Constant In the time set Ca. 7 In cōtinuance Ca. 8 Of other necessary circumstances and 1 Of the place fit for meditation Cap. 9 2 Of the time Cap. 10 3 Of the site and gesture of body Cap. 11 Of the matter and subiect of Medit. Ca. 12 The order of handling the worke it selfe Cap. 13 The entrance into the worke 1. Common entrāce which is prayer Ca. 14 2. The particular proper entrāce into the matter which is in our choice thereof Cap. 15 The proceeding of our Meditation therein a Method allowed by some Authors reiected Cap. 16 Premonitions cōcerning our proceeding in the first part of Med. C. 17 The practise of Meditation the first part wherof in the vnderstanding therein 1. We begin with some descriptiō of that which we meditate of Ca. 18 2 An easie and voluntary diuision of the matter meditated Cap. 19 3 A consideration of the causes therof in al the kinds of them Ca. 20 4 The Consid of the Fruits and Effectes Cap. 21 5 The Consid of the subiect wherin or wherabout it is imployed Cap. 22 6 Consid of the Appendances and qualities of it Cap. 23. 7 Consid of that which is contrary to it or diuers from it Cap. 24 8 Of Comparisons and similitudes wherby it may bee most fitly set forth to vs. Cap. 25 9 The Titles and Names of the matter considered Cap. 26 10 Consid of fit Testimonies of Scripture cōcerning our Theme Cap. 27 Of the second part of Meditation which is in the affections wherein is 1 First required a taste and rellish of what we thought vpon Ca. 28 2 A complaint bewayling our want and vntowardnes Cap. 29 3 A hearty wish of the soule for what it complaines to want Ca. 30 4 An humble confession of our disability to effect what wee wish Cap. 31 5 An earnest Petitiō for that which we cōfesse to want Cap. 32 6 A vehement enforcement of our Petition Cap. 33 7 A cheerefull confidēce of obtaining what we haue requested and enforced Cap. 34 The conclusiō of our Meditation in what order Cap. 35 First with thanksgiuing for what we are confident to be granted Ibid. Secondly with a Recommendatiō of our soules and wayes to GOD. Cap. 36 The Epilogue reprouing the neglect exhorting to the vse of Meditation Cap. 37 THE ART OF DIVINE MEDITATION Chap. I. IT is not I suppose a more bolde than profitable labour after the indeuours of so many cōtēplatiue men to teach the Art of Meditation An heauenly businesse as any belongs either to man or Christian and such as wherby the soule doeth vnspeakeably benefit it selfe For by this do we ransacke our deepe false harts find out our secret enemies buckle with them expell them arme our selues against their re-entrance By this wee make vse of all good means fit our selues to all good dueties by this we descrie our weakenesse obtaine redresse preuēt tentatiōs cheere vp our solitarines temper our occasions of delight get more light to our knowledge more heate to our affections more life to our deuotion by this we grow to be as wee are straungers vpon earth and out of a right estimation of all earthly things into a sweet fruitiō of inuisible comforts by this wee see our Sauiour with Steuen we talke with God as Moses and by this we are rauished with blessed Paul into Paradise and see that heauen which we are loath to leaue which we cannot vtter This alone is the remedie of security and worldlines the pastime of Saints the ladder of heauen and in short the best improuement of Christianitie Learne it who can and neglect it who list hee shall neuer find ioy neither in God nor in himselfe which doeth not both knowe and practise it And how euer of olde some hidden Cloysterers haue ingrossed it to themselues and confined it within their Celles who indeede professing nothing but contemplation
throgh their immunitie from those cares which accompany an actiue life might haue the best leasure to this busines Yet seeing there is no man so taken vp with action as not sometimes to haue a free minde and there is no reasonable minde so simple as not to bee able both to discourse somewhat and to better it selfe by her secret thoughts I deeme it an enuious wrong to conceale that from any whose benefit may bee vniuersall Those that haue but a little stocke had neede to knowe the best rules of thrift Chap. 2. THe rather for that whereas our Diuine Meditation is nothing else but a bending of the mind vpon some spirituall obiect through diuers formes of discourse vntill our thoughts come to an issue and this must needs be either Extemporall and occasioned by outward occurrences offred to the mind or Deliberate and wrought out of our owne heart which againe is either in Matter of Knowledge for the finding out of some hidden trueth and conuincing of an heresie by profound trauersing of reason or in Matter of Affection for the enkindling of our loue to God the former of these two last wee sending to the Scholes and masters of Controuersies search after the later which is both of larger vse and such as no Christian can reiect as either vnnecessary or ouer-difficult For both euery Christian had neede of fire put to his affections and weaker iudgements are no lesse capable of this diuine heate which proceedes not so much from reason as from faith One sayes and I beleeue him that Gods Schoole is more of Affection than Vnderstanding Both lessons very needefull very profitable but for this our age especially the later For if there bee some that haue much zeale little knowledge there are more that haue much knoweledge without zeale And hee that hath much skill and no affection may do good to others by information of iudgement but shall neuer haue thanke either of his own heart or of God who vseth not to cast away his loue on those of whom hee is but knowen not loued Chap. 3. OF Extemporal Meditatiō there may be much vse no rule forasmuch as our conceits herein varie according to the infinite multitude of obiects and their diuers manner of profering thēselues to the minde as also for the suddennesse of this acte Man is placed in this Stage of the worlde to viewe the seuerall natures and actions of the creature To view them not idly without his vse as they doe him God made all these for man and man for his owne sake Both these purposes were lost if man should let the creatures passe carelesly by him onely seene not thought vpon He onely can make benefit of what he sees which if hee doe not it is all one as if hee were blind or brute Whēce it is that wise Salomon puttes the sluggard to schoole vnto the Ant and our Sauiour sends the distrustfull to the Lillie of the field In this kinde was that Meditation of the Diuine Psalmist which vpon the viewe of the glorious frame of the Heauens was led to woonder at the mercifull respect GOD hath to so poore a creature as man Thus our Sauiour tooke occasion of the water fetcht vp solemnely to the Altar from the Well of Shilo on the day of the great HOSANNAH to meditate and discourse of the Water of life Thus holy and sweete AVGVSTINE from occasion of the water-course neere to his Lodging running among the pebbles sometimes more silently sometimes in a baser murmure and sometimes in a shriller note entred into the thought and discourse of that excellent order which God hath settled in all these inferiour things Thus that learned and heauenly soule of our late Estye when wee sate together and heard a sweet consort of Musicke seemed vpon this occasion carried vp for the time before-hand to the place of his rest saying not without some passion What Musicke may we thinke there is in heauen Thus lastly for who knowes not that examples of this kinde are infinite that faithfull and reuerend Deering when the Sunne shined on his face now lying on his death-bed fell into a sweet meditation of the glory of God and his approaching ioy The thoughts of this nature are not onely lawfull but so behooueful that we cannot omit them without neglect of God his creatures our selues The creatures are halfe lost if wee only imploy them not learne somthing of thē GOD is wronged if his creatures bee vnregarded our selues most of all if wee reade this great volume of the creatures and take out no lesson for our instruction Chap. 4. WHerein yet cautiō is to be had that our Meditatiōs be not either too farre-fetcht or sauouring of Superstition Farre-fetcht I cal those which haue not a faire easie resemblāce vnto the matter frō whēce they are raised in which case our thoghts proue loose heartles making no memorable impression in the mind Superstitious when we make choice of those grounds of Meditation which are forbidden vs as Teachers of Vanity or imploy our owne deuices though well grounded to an vse aboue their reach making them vpon our owne pleasures not only furtherances but parts of Gods worship in both which our Meditations degenerate and growe rather perillous to the soule Whereto adde that the minde bee not too much cloyed with too frequent iteratiō of the same thought which at last breedes a wearinesse in our selues and an vnpleasantnesse of that conceit which at the first entertainement promised much delight Our nature is too ready to abuse familiaritie in any kinde and it is with Meditations as with Medicines which with ouer-ordinary vse lose their Soueraignety and fill in stead of purging God hath not straited vs for matter hauing giuen vs the scope of the whole world so that there is no creature euent action speach which may not afford vs new matter of Meditation And that which we are wont to say of fine wittes we may as truely affirme of the Christian hart that it can make vse of any thing Wherefore as trauellers in a forreine countrey make euery fight a lesson so ought wee in this our pilgrimage Thou seest the heauen rolling aboue thine head in a constāt and vnmoueable motion the starres so ouer-looking one another that the greatest shewe little the least greatest all glorious the ayre full of the bottles of raine or fleeces of snowe or diuers formes of fiery Exhalations The sea vnder one vniforme face full of strange and monstrous shapes beneath the earth so adorned with variety of plants that thou canst not but tread on many at once with euery foote besides the store of creatures that flie aboue it walke vpō it liue in it Thou idle Truant doest thou learn nothing of so many masters hast thou so long read these capitall letters of Gods great booke and canst thou not yet spell one worde of them The brute creatures see the same things with as cleare perhaps
no practise of others can prescribe to vs in this circumstance It shall bee enough that first we set our selues a time secondly that we set apart that time wherein wee are aprest for this seruice And as no time is preiudiced with vnfitnesse but euery day is without differēce seasonable for this worke so especially Gods day No day is barren of grace to the searcher of it none alike fruitfull to this which being by God sanctified to himselfe and to bee sanctified by vs to God is priuiledged with blessings aboue others for the plentifull instruction of that day stirtes thee vp to this action and filles thee with matter and the zeale of thy publike seruice warms thy heart to this other businesse of deuotion No MANNA fell to the Israelites on their Sabaoth our spiritual MANNA fals on ours most frequent If thou wouldest haue a full soule gather as it fals gather it by hearing reading meditatiō spiritual idlenesse is a fault this day perhaps not lesse than bodily worke Chap. 11. NEither is ther esse variety in the Site and gesture of the body the due composednes whereof is no little aduantage to this exercise euen in our speach to God we obserue not alwaies one and the same position sometimes we fall groueling on our faces somtimes we bow our knees sometimes stand on our feete somtimes we lift vp our handes sometimes cast downe our eyes God is a Spirit who therefore being a seuere obseruer of the disposition of the soule is not scrupulous for the body requiring not so much that the gesture thereof should be vniforme as reuerēt No maruell therefore though in this all our teachers of meditation haue commended seueral positions of body according to their disposition and practise One sitting with the face turned vp to heauen-ward according to the precept of the Philosopher who taught him that by sitting and resting the mind gathereth wisedome Another leaning to some rest towardes the left side for the greater quieting of the heart A third standing with the eyes lift vp to heauen but shut for feare of distractiōs But of all other mee thinkes Isaacs choice the best who meditated walking In this let euery man be his owne master so bee wee vse that frame of body that may both testifie reuerence and in some cases help to stirre vp further deuotion which also must needes be varied according to the matter of our Meditation If we thinke of our sins Ahabs soft pase the Publicans deiected eyes and his hand beating his breast are not vnseasonable If of the ioies of heauen Steuens countenance fixed aboue and Dauids hands lift vp on hie are most fitting In all which the body as it is the instrument and vassall of the soule so will easily follow the affections therof and in trueth then is our deuotion most kindly whē the body is thus commaunded his seruice by the spirit and not suffered to goe before it and by his forwardnesse to prouoke his master to emulation Chap. 12. NOw time and order cal vs frō these circumstances to the matter and subiect of Meditation which must be Diuine Spiritual not euill nor worldly O the carnal and vnprofitable thoughts of men We all meditate one how to do ill to others another how to doe some earthly good to himselfe another to hurt himselfe vnder a colour of good as how to accomplish his lewd desires the fulfilling whereof prooues the bane of the soule how he may sinne vnseene and goe to hell with least noise of the world Or perhaps some better mindes bend their thoughts vpō the search of naturall things the motions of euery heauen and of euery starre the reason and course of the ebbing and flowing of the Sea the manifold kinds of simples that growe out of the earth creatures that creepe vpon it with all their strange qualities and operatiōs Or perhaps the seueral formes of gouernement and rules of State take vp their busie heads so that while they would bee acquainted with the whole world they are strangers at home and while they seeke to knowe all other things they remain vnknowen of thēselues The God that made them the vilenesse of their nature the danger of their sinnes the multitude of their imperfections the Sauior that bought them the heauen that he bought for them are in the meane time as vnknowen as vnregarded as if they were not Thus do foolish children spend their time and labour in turning ouer leaues to looke for painted babes not at all respecting the solide matter vnder their hāds We fooles when will we be wise and turning our eyes from vanity with that sweete singer of Israel make Gods Statutes our song and meditation in the house of our pilgrimage Earthly things profer themselues with importunity Heauenly things must with importunitie bee sued to Those if they were not so little worth would not be so forward and being so forward need not any meditation to solicite them These by how much more hard they are to intreate by so much more precious they are being obtained and therfore worthier our indeuour As then we cannot goe amisse so long as wee keepe our selues in the tracke of Diuinitie while the soule is taken vp with the thoughts either of the Deitie in his essence and persons sparingly yet in this point and more in faith and admiration then inquiry or of his attributes his iustice power wisedome mercie trueth or of his works in the creation preseruation gouernement of all things according to the Psalmist I will meditate of the beautie of thy glorious Maiestie and thy wonderfull workes so most directly in our way and best fitting our exercise of Meditation are those matters in Diuinity which can most of all worke compunction in the hart most stirre vs vp to deuotiō Of which kind are the Meditatiōs concerning CHRIST IESVS our Mediatour his Incarnation Miracles Life Passion Burial Resurrection Ascension Intercessiō the benefit of our Redēption the certaintie of our Election the graces and proceeding of our sanctification our glorious estate in Paradise lost in our first Parents our present vilenes our inclination to sin our seuerall actuall offences the tētations sleights of euill Angels the vse of the Sacraments nature practise of faith repentance the miseries of our-life with the frailty of it the certainty and vncertainty of our death the glory of Gods Saints aboue the awfulnes of iudgement the terrors of hel and the rest of this qualitie wherein both it is fit to haue variety for that euen the strongest stomacke doeth not alwayes delight in one dish yet so to chāge that our choice may be free from wildnesse and inconstancie Chap. 13. NOW after that we haue thus orderly suited the person his qualities with the due circūstances of Time Place disposition of body and substance of the matter discussed I knowe not what can remaine besides the maine busines it selfe and the maner and
degrees of our prosecution thereof which aboue all other calles for an intentiue Reader and resolute practise Wherein that we may auoide all nicenesse and obscurity since wee striue to profit we will giue direction for the Entrance Proceeding Conclusion of this Diuine worke Chap. 14. A Goodly building must shew some magnificence in the gate and great personages haue seemely Vshers to goe before them who by their vncouered heads commaund reuerence and way Euen verie Poets of old had wont before their Ballads to implore the aid of their Gods And the heathen Romans entred not vpō any publike ciuile busines without a solemne apprecation of good successe How much lesse should a Christian dare to vndertake a spirituall worke of such importāce not hauing craued the assistance of his GOD which me thinkes is no lesse than to professe hee could doe well without Gods leaue When we thinke euill it is frō our selues when good from God As prayer is our speach to God so is each good Meditation according to Bernard GODS speach to the heart The heart must speake to God that God may speake to it Prayer therefore and Meditation are as those famous twinnes in the storie or as two louing Turtles whereof separate one the other languishes Prayer makes way for Meditation Meditation giues matter strength and life to our prayers By which as all other things are sanctified to vs so we are sanctified to all holy things This is as some royall Eunuch to perfume and dresse our soules that they may be fit to conuerse with the King of heauen But the prayer that leades in Meditation would not be long requiring rather that the extension and length should be put into the vigor and feruencie of it for that it is not here intended to be the principall businesse but an introductiō to another and no otherwise than as a Portall to this building of Meditation The matter whereof shall be that the course of our Meditation may bee guided aright and blessed that all distractions may be auoided our iudgements inlightened our inuentions quickned our willes rectified our affections whetted to heauenly things our harts enlarged to God-ward our deuotion enkindled so that we may finde our corruptiōs abated our graces thriuē oursoules liues euery way bettered by this exercise Chap. 15. SVch is the cōmon entrance into this work There is another yet more particular proper wherein the mind recollecting it self maketh choice of that Theme or matter wherupon it will bestowe it selfe for the present settling it selfe on that which it hath chosen which is done by an inward inquisition made into our heart of what we both doe should thinke vpon reiecting what is vnexpedient vnprofitable In both which the soule like vnto some noble Hauk le ts passe the Crowes and Larkes and such other worthlesse birdes that crosse her way and stoopeth vpon a foule of price worthy of her flight after this manner What wilt thou muze vpon O my soule thou seest how little it auailes thee to wander and roue about in vncertainties thou findest how little sauour there is in these earthly things wherewith thou hast wearied thy selfe Trouble not thy self any longer with Martha about the many needlesse thoughts of the world None but heauenly things can afford thee comfort Vp then my soule and mind those things that are aboue whence thy selfe art Amongst all which whereon shouldest thou rather meditate than of the life glory of Gods Saints A worthier employment thou canst neuer finde than to thinke vpon that estate thou shalt once possesse and now desirest Chap. 16. HItherto the Entrāce after which our Meditation must Proceed in due order not troubledly not preposterously It begins in the vnderstāding ends in the affections It begins in the braine descends to the heart Begins on earth ascends to heauen Not suddenly but by certain staires degrees til we come to the highest I haue found a subtill Scale of Meditation admired by some professors of this Arte aboue all other humane deuises and farre preferred by them to the best directiōs of Origen Austen Bernard Hugo Bonauenture Gerson and whosoeuer hath been reputed of greatest perfection in this skil The seueral staires whereof lest I should seeme to defraud my Reader through enuie I would willingly describe were it not that I feared to scarre him rather with the danger of obscurity from venturing further vpon this so worthy a businesse yet lest any man perhaps might complaine of an vnknowen losse my Margent shall find roume for that which I hold too knotty for my Text. In all which after the incredible commendations of some practicioners I doubt not but an ordinary Reader will easily espie a double fault at the least Darkenesse and Coincidence that they are both too obscurely deliuered and that diuers of them fal into other not without som vain superfluity For this part therfore which cōcerneth the vnderstāding I had rather to require only a deep and firme Consideration of the thing propounded which shall be done if we followe it in our discourse through all or the principall of those places which natural reasō doth afford vs wherein let no man plead ignorāce or feare difficulty we are all thus farre borne Logicians Neither is there in this so much need of skil as of industry In which cours yet we may not be too curious in a precise search of euery place argumēt without omissiō of any though to be fetcht in with racking the inuētiō For as the mind if it go loose and without rule roues to no purpose so if it be too much fettred with the giues of strict regularity moueth nothing at all Chap. 17. ERe I enter therfore into any particular tractatiō There are three things whereof I would premonish my Reader concerning this first part which is in the vnderstanding First that I desire not to binde euery man to the same vniforme proceeding in this part Practise and custome may perhaps haue taught other courses more familiar and not lesse direct If then we can by anie other method worke in our hearts so deepe an apprehension of the matter meditated as it may duely stirre the affections it is that only wee require Secondly that whosoeuer applieth himself to this direction thinke him not necessarily tyed to the prosecution of all these Logicall places which hee findes in the sequell of our Treatise so as his Meditation should be lame and imperfect without the whole number for ther are some Themes which wil not beare all these as when we meditate of God there is no roume for Causes or Comparisons others yeeld thē with such difficultie that their search interrupteth the chiefe work intēded It shal be sufficient if we take the most pregnant most voluntary Thirdly that whē we sticke in the disquisitiō of any the places following as if meditating of Sin I cannot readily meet with the Material Formal