might make our calling and election sure It is a fearful thing to die without reconciliation And with what confusion of face and horrour of spirit if we die in that state shall we appear before the Iudge of all the world when he shall come in the Clouds of heaven with his holy Angels and all mankind from the first man created unto the last that shall be borne upon the earth shall appear before his Judgement-seate Me thinks I see the remisse lukewarme professour and the hypocritical factious pretender of sanctity looking up to the Clouds and crying out O that throne that flaming white and glorious throne and he that sits thereon with the sharp sickle in his hand and the crown of pure gold upon his head Revel 14.14 from whose face the heaven and the earth flye away and the foundations of the world are brought to nothing Oh! is he the Lamb that was slain whose blood was poured out like water upon the earth to save his people from their sins Is he the Prince of life that was crown'd with thornes scourged spit upon crucified pierced through and murthered and comes he now to judge the world Oh! It is he It is he miserable wretch that I am What shall I do or whither shall I go Such will be the dreadful agonies and concertations in that day betwixt the Hypocrite and his conscience betwixt the enemies of Gods truth and their gasping undone souls When the people that forget God shall go down quick into hell and the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed and laid open before Angels and men For in that day all their dark and private lusts their closet-sins bosome-councels specious pretences and bloody machinations which now like so many foul spirits lurk in their gloomy breasts shall be forced out and will appear as visible to all mankind as if they were written with the beams of the Sun upon the pure and unclouded firmament In the mean while the very fowles of the aire and their own horrid guilt either in time of distraction which they are alwayes subiect to or in their sleep which is alwayes fraught with penal visions and spiritual tumults may make a full discovery of their most secret villanies before the appointed time It was a blessed and a glorious age the Primitive Christians lived in when the wildernesse and the solitary places were glad for them and the desert rejoyced and blossom'd as the rose When the blood of Christ was yet warme and the memory of his miracles and live fresh and vigorous what Zeale what powerful faith what perfect charity hearty humility and true holinesse was then to be found upon the earth If we compare the shining and servent piety of those Saints with the painted and illuding appearance of it in these of our times we shall have just cause to fear that our Candlestick which hath been now of a long time under a Cloud is at this very instant upon removing But I had rather you should be informed of their true holinesse and love to Christ by an Eye-witnesse that was conversant with them and went in and out amongst them then by a bare relation from my pen. Heare therefore what he saith Vidi ego verè vidi the saurum Christi in humanis absconditum vasculis c. vidi enim apud eos multos Patres in terra positos coelestem vitam agentes novos quosdam Prophetas tam virtut bus animi quà m vaticinandi officio imbutos c. Nonnullos namque â—orum ità ab omni malitia cogitatione suspicione vidimus alienos ut nec si aliquid mali adhuc in seculo gereretur meminissent tanta in eis erat tranquillitas animi tantúsque in eis inoleverat bonitatis affectus c. Commanent autem per cremum dispersi separati cellulis sed charitatis vinculo connexi Ob huc autem dirimuntur habitaculis ut silentii sui quietem intentionem mentis nec vox aliqua nec occursus ullus aut sermo aliquis otiosus obturbet Intentis ergo in suo quisque loco animis velut fideles servi adventantem dominum expectant Omnes hi nullam cibi aut indumenti aut ullius horum sollicitudinem gerunt Iustitiam regnum Dei requirunt armis orationum pugnant scuto fidei ab inimico insidiante protecti patriam sibi coelestem conquirunt I have seen saith he and I was not deceived the treasure of Christ laid up in earthen vessels for amongst those Christians in Egypt I have seen many Fathers who had here upon earth already begun the heavenly life and regenerate Prophets who were indued not onely with holy habits but had received therewith the Spirit of promise for I have known many of them that were so free from malice perverse thoughtfulnesse and suspition as if they had never known that there were such evill wayes to be followed in the world Such a great tranquillity of mind and such a powerful love or longing after goodnesse had wholly possessed them They lived dispersed up and down the wildernesse and separated from one another in several Cells or Cots but knit all together in the perfect bond of Charity The reason of their distinct and distant habitations was because they would not have the silence of their retirements disturbed nor their minds diverted from the contemplation of heavenly things by any noyse sudden occurrence or idle discourse for this cause they have every one their particular mansion where with intentive or earnest minds they do like faithful servants expect and look for the coming of their Master They take no thought for meat and drink and cloathing nor for any such accommodations they seek onely the Kingdome of God and the righteousnesse thereof they fight with the weapons of prayer being guarded with the shield of faith from the devices of their spiritual enemies so travel on towards their heavenly countrey This was the old way and whether we are in it or out of it is not hard to be decided A pretended sanctity from the teeth outward with the frequent mention of the Spirit and a presumptuous assuming to our selves of the stile of Saints when we are within full of subtilty malice oppression lewd opinions and diverse lusts is I am sure a convincing argument that we are not onely out of it but that we have no mind to returne into it The way to heaven is wet and slippery but it is made so with teares and not with blood it is through the vale of miseries and the raine filleth the pooles Psal. 85. There is no voyce in those shades of Palme but the voyce of the Turtle which is alwayes groning and Naturalists say she hath no gall It is ill coming to the Lamb of God in a Wolfes skin They that do so must be taught that he hath another attribute and they shall finde him a Lion It is strange that after the experience of almost six thousand
unto his glorious body according to the working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himselfe even unto Iesus Christ the Prince of the Kings of the earth and the first begotten of the dead be glory and dominion for ever and ever Amen A Prayer when thou findest thy self sickly or when thou art visited with any Disease MOst merciful and wise God who bringest light out of darknesse and true comforts out of the greatest afflictions I do in all humility and with all my soule resigne my selfe unto thy divine pleasure and give thee most hearty and unfeined thanks for this thy present visitation an infallible argument of thy fatherly love and that tender care which thou hast of my salvation Thou gavest me health and I took no notice of thy gift and but very little of the Giver Thou gavest me dayes of gladnesse and I numberd them not Wherefore with most true sorrow for my unthankfulnesse and with all the sad Resentments of a most penitent heare I do acknowledge thy justice adore thy providence and beg thy mercy O righteous Father Though I have gone astray do not thou cast me off though I am no more worthy to be called thy son yet have thou a minde to the work of thine own hands Confirme my faith sanctifie my affections give me a lively and enduring hope with an unwearied patience And strengthen me in all my Agonies with the celestial assistance and inexpressible refreshments of thy overcoming spirit Thou that didst give to thy blessed and faithful Martyrs such a glorious measure of thy Almighty spirit as encouraged them for thy sake to be sawed asunder to be burnt stoned and beheaded give unto me now such a gracious portion of the same Comforter as may leade me through death unto life Or if thou wilt in mercy restore me again and enlarge my time give me I beseech thee a thankful heart holy resolutions and a stedfast spirit to performe them And for Iesus Christ his sake never suffer me to forget thy tender and fatherly compassion or to fall again into my old sins and heap up for my self thy eternal anger and most just indignation For what end soever thou hast sent this present sicknesse whether for my dissolution or for a temporal correction of my sinful life grant I beseech thee that both may be for thy glory and the salvation of my poore soule purchased with the precious blood of thine only Sonne and my dear Redeemer to whom with thee and the holy Ghost be ascribed by Angels and men all wisdome dominion and majesty for ever and ever Amen! A Prayer in the hour of Death O My most blessed and glorious Creatour that hast fed me all my life long and redeemed me from all evil seeing it is thy merciful pleasure to take me out of this fraile body and to wipe away all teares from mine eyes and all sorrowes from my heart I do with all humility and willingnesse consent and submit my self wholly unto thy sacred will I desire to be dissolved and to be with my Saviour I blesse and praise thy holy name for all thy great mercies conferred upon me from the first day of my life unto this present hour I give thee all possible thanks for this gracious kind visitation in which thou art mercifully pleased to order this last act of thy poor creature to thy glory and the fruition of those heavenly comforts which have already swallowed up my whole spirit O let all that come after me speak of thy wondrous mercies and the generations which are yet unborn give praise unto thy name Lord Iesus Christ my most loving Redeemer into thy saving and everlasting Armes I commend my spirit I am ready my dear Lord and earnestly expect and long for thy good pleasure Come quickly and receive the soul of thy servant which trusteth in thee Blessing and honour and glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb and to the holy Ghost for ever and ever Amen Glory be to God on high and on earth peace good will towards men Blessed be God alone Thrice blessed three in one MAN IN Glory OR A Discourse of the blessed state of the Saints in the New JERUSALEM Written in Latin by the most Reverend and holy Father ANSELMUS Archbishop of Canterbury and now done into English Printed Anno Dom. 1652. To the Reader Reader ANSELMUS Archbishop of Canterbury lived here in Britaine in the reigne of Rufus and striving to keep entire the Immunities of the Church which the spirit of Covetousnesse and Sacriledge did then begin to encroach upon he was twice banished first by William the second called Rufus or red-hair'd and after by Henry the first his youngest brother and successor Men of fierce and unmanagable spirits they were and by so much the fitter for the throne The first was such an infamous lover of money that the Neophyte-Iews were at a constant fee with him for renouncing Christianity and the later like a true son of Ottoman caused his eldest brothers eyes to be pull'd out who was then his prisoner in the Castle of Cardiffe To avoid the fury of Rufus who had thus banished him our Author here retired into France and shelter'd himself in the Abbey of Clunie where by way of discourse with that reverend family he shed forth this Dissertation which at the same time it proceeded from him was exactly taken and put into writing by Eadinerus a Canon regular of the Church of Canterbury and his Amanuensis in his banishment Some brokages and disorderly parcels of it are to be found in his book De similitud but the entire and genuine discourse was first made publick at Paris 1639. where it took so well that it was presently translated into French This much I thought fit to acquaint thee with and so I shall leave thee to thy owne affaires which I wish to be such as may bring thee to the fruition of those joyes which are showne thee here through a glasse darkly and but in part untill that which is perfect shall come and this which is in part shall be done away Thy Friend HEN. VAUGHAN Here holy Anselme lives in ev'ry page And sits Arch-bishop still to vex the age Had he foreseen and who knows but he did This fatal wrack which deep in time lay hid Had never like Elias driv'n him hence A sad retirer for a slight offence 'T is but just to believe that little hand Which clouded him but now benights our land For were he now like the returning year Restor'd to view these desolations here He would do penance for his old complaint And weeping say That Rufus was a Saint Revel Chap. 7. 1. ANd after this I beheld and lo a great multitude which no man could number of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues stood before the throne and before the Lamb clothed with white robes and palms in their hands 2. And cried
and from the inward darknesse of their minds passe at last into the outward eternal darknesse O most miserable and undone soul to whom thy Sunne is set that everlasting glorious Sun which in thy holy Elects never setteth but is alwaies at the height full of brightnesse and Consolation A heavie night sits in the noone-day upon those souls that have forsaken thee They look for light and behold darknesse for brightnesse and they walk in obscurity They grope for the wall like the blind as if they had no Eyes They stumble at noone-day as in the night they are in desolate places as dead men But on those that walk with thee an everlasting day shines This Sun of the firmament hath his Course it riseth setteth comes up again and again goes down But thou Lord knowest no vicissitudes thou art the Ancient of dayes thou art the Rock of ages from Everlasting to Everlasting O thou the same to day and yesterday and for evermore Thou bright and morning Starre springing from on high illuminate me who am now sitting in darknesse and in the shadow of death O light of light the brightnesse of thy Fathers glory inlighten all inward obscurities in me that after this life I may never be cast into the outward darknesse O most blessed most merciful and Almighty Iesu abide I beseech thee with me for it is towards Evening and the day is far spent Luke 24. As long as thou art present with me I am in the light but when thou art gone I am in the shadows of death and amongst the stones of emptinesse When thou art present all is brightnesse all is sweetnesse I am in my Gods bosome I discourse with him watch with him walk with him live with him and lie down with him All these most dear and unmeasurable blessings I have with thee and want them without thee Abide then with me O thou whom my soul loveth Thou Sun of righteousnesse with healing under thy wings arise in my heart refine quicken and cherish it make thy light there to shine in darknesse and a perfect day in the dead of night A Prayer for the Evening MOst gracious Almighty God! full of loving kindnesse and long-suffering whose mercy is above all thy works and thy glory above the heavens whose truth reacheth unto the Clouds and whose words shall never passe away forgive me I beseech thee my transgressions this day my vain thoughts idle words and loose conversation my exceeding neglect and forgetfulnesse of thee my headlong inclinations and lusting after the world preferring this land of Cabul before the snow of Lebanon and a broken Cistern before the Well of life Justly O Lord might'st thou have shewed me thy back this day and cut me off from amongst thy people Ier. 18.17 but thou hast had mercy and not sacrifice thou hast shed upon me the light of thy Countenance and removed my sins farre out of thy sight I know O my God it is not in man to establish his own ways it is thy Almighty arme must do it It is thou alone that hast led me through this day and kept me both from doing and from suffering evill And now O thou preserver of men What shall I do unto thee What shall I render unto my Lord for all the mercies and loving kindnesses shewed unto thy servant this day and all the dayes of my life hitherto I will offer unto thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call upon the name of the Lord. I will ever love thee fear thee praise thee and trust in thee My song shall be of thee in the night season and in the day time I will be speaking of thy wondrous works thy most merciful and liberal arme I will make thee my Delight in the house of my pilgrimâ—ge and I shall alwayes with all my strength with all my heart and with all my soul ascribe unto thee all glory wisdome majesty dominion and honour this day and for evermore Amen A Prayer when thou art going into bed MOst glorious and onely wise God! to whom the light and the darknes are the same whose dwellings are eternal and in whose Kingdome there is no need of Candles nor of the light of the Sunne look I beseech thee upon thy servant who tarries in this place all night Gen. 28.11 And forasmuch as thou out of thy tender love and Compassion on thy Creatures hast ordained this time for their repose and refreshing that having past through the Cares and dangers of the day they might under the shadow of thy wings finde rest and security keep me I most humbly beseech thee from the hours and the powers of darknesse watch over me this night in thy Almighty providence and scatter all the rebellions and devices of my Adversaries Inlighten my soul sanctifie my body govern my affections and guide my thoughts that in the fastest closures of my eye-lids my spirit may see thee and in the depth of sleep be Conversant with thee Suffer me not O my God to forget thee in the dark or to say The Lord seeth me not The Lord hath forsaken the earth Ezek. 8.12 but so keep me in thy fear and sanctifie me with thy grace that all the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart may be alwayes of thee Make my soul to thirst for thee and my flesh also to long after thee And at what time soever thou shalt awake me from this bodily sleep awake also my soul in me make thy morning-star to arise in my heart and let thy spirit blow upon my garden that the spices thereof may flow out Quicken me O Lord according to thy wonted kindnesse so shall I seek thee early and make my prayer unto thee with joyful lips And now O my most loving and faithful Creatour take me I beseech thee into thy Almighty protection stretch over me the Arme of thy mercy let thine Eye be towards the work of thine own hands and the purchased possession of thy onely begotten and my most merciful Redeemer Iesus Christ Amen ¶ As often as thou dost awake in the night be sure to lift up thy heart unto God in this or the like short Ejaculation Holy holy holy Lord God of Sabbath heaven and earth are full of the majesty of thy glory By resorting thus unto God thou shalt finde a great furtherance and cheerfulnesse in thy spiritual exercises and besides it will keep always about thee the savour of life And because thou shalt not be unfurnished upon any incident occasions I have strowed here this handful of savoury herbs which thou mayest take up as thou findest them in thy way EIACULATIONS When the Clock strikes BLessed be the houre in which my Lord Iesus was borne and the houre in which he died O Lord Remember me in the houre of death When thou intendest any businesse or Journey O do well unto thy servant that I may live and keep thy Word When thou art persecuted Haste thee O God to deliver me
me a heart of flesh renew a right spirit within me cloath me with white raiment and anoint mine Eyes with Eye-salve that I may know and see how wretched and miserable and poore and blinde and naked I am and may be zealous therefore and repent O thou that didst cause the waters to flow out of the stonie rock and gavest to Magdalen such store of teares that she washed thy feet with them give to me true remorse and such a measure of repentance as may become a most miserable sinner I confesse dear God that I am not worthy of the least of thy mercies much lesse to appear at this great and solemne Feast this Feast of mercy and miracles where none but with holy hands pure intentions crucified affections and renewed spirits should presume to enter But as for me I am all uncleannesse a polluted vile creature and nothing belongs unto me at this great day but confusion of face and an utter separation from this glorions and saving Communion I have wasted thy stock consumed thy talents and destroyed thy goods I was restlesse and unquiet till I had found out wayes to offend thee I have broken thy Commandments laid open thine Inclosures and most grievously trespassed against thy truth and against the light of mine own Conscience I have preferred rottennesse and dust to the treasure of thy word and mine own voluptuousnesse to thy revealed will And now O thou preserver of men What shall I do unto thee Against thee onely have I sinned and my transgressions are ever in thy sight Lord God! I lay me down at thy footstoole and if thou wilt be extreme to mark what is amisse I shall from my very heart acknowledge and adore thy Justice But O my dear Creatour for Christ Jesus his sake have mercy upon me look not on my deserts but on thy glory O Lord do not refuse me but reforme and restore me O Lord hearken and do and deferre not but speak peace to my troubled soul and send thy loving spirit to strengthen and confirme me in the way of holinesse bring me home O Lord and leade me now unto these living waters incorporate me into the saving vine and purge me that I may bear more fruit O cast me not away like an abominable and withered branch but make me to flourish in the Courts of thy house where thy Children are like Olive-branches round about thy table O Lord hear and have mercy and forgive me and be reconciled unto me for Christ Iesus his sake To whom with thee and the holy Ghost be glory in the Church through all ages world without end Amen A Meditation before the receiving of the holy Communion HOly holy holy is the Lord God of Hosts the whole earth is full of his glory Behold to the Moone and it shineth not and the Starres are darknesse in his sight The Pillars of heaven do tremble and are astonished at his reproof O who then am I that I should appear before thee or what is man that thou shouldest regard him O light of light the all-seeing light that shineth in darknesse and the darknesse comprehendeth it not what will become of me when I shall appear before thy glorious and searching Eye What an habitation of darknesse and death wilt thou finde within me What abominable desolations and emptinesse What barrenesse and disorders wilt thou see there Many a time hast thou knockt and I have shut the doors against thee thou hast often called and I would not answer Sleeping and waking early and late day and night have I refused instruction and would not be healed And now O my God after all this rebellion and uncleannesse wilt thou come and lodge with me O Lord where shall I prepare and make ready for thee What communion can there be betwixt light and darknesse purity and pollution perfection and deformity O Rose of Sharon thou undefiled and everlasting flower the glory of the fields and the first fruits of the dead shall the wilde Asses and the beasts of the wildernesse feed now upon thee Wilt thou give the bread of life unto dogs and cast thy pearls before swine O Iesus Christ the lover and the redeemer of all humble and penitent souls Thou that feedest among the Lilies untill the day breaks and the shadows flee what is there in my heart where onely tares and thistles grow that thou canst feed upon Thy blessed body was wrapt in fine and white linen which is the righteousnesse of the Saints It was laid in a new and undefiled grave hewen out of a rock wherein never man was laid before But all my righteousnesse is a filthy rag my heart neither new nor undefiled but a nest of unclean birds where they have not onely laine but hatched and brought forth their viperous young ones I confesse dear God I confesse with all my heart mine own extrem unworthyness my most shameful and deplorable condition But with thee O Lord there is mercy and plenteous redemption Thou dost not use to reject and cast off those that unfeignedly repent and return unto thee the great design and end of thine Incarnation was to save sinners Thou hadst never come into this world but for thy love to thy lost sheep and those thou didst then love thou dost love still unto the end Thou didst not come unto the whole but to the sick The first had there been any such had no need of a Physician and the last hadst not thou come to restore them had perished for ever It was thy gracious pleasure while thou wert here in the world to receive Publicans and sinners and though thou art now ascended to thy Father yet hast not thou changed thy nature Thou art the same yesterday to day and for evermore Thy life here was nothing else but a pilgrimage and laborious search after sinners that thou mightst finde them out and make them whole And how willingly O blessed Jesus didst thou lay down thy robes of glory and cloath thy self with flesh that thou mightst afterwards lay down thy life a propitiation for our sins How many scorching and wearisome journeys didst thou undergo for our sakes How many cold and tedious nights didst thou watch and spend abroad in prayer when the birds of the aire lay warme in their nests and thou hadst not a place to put thy head in In the day time I finde thee preaching in the Temple and all night praying in the Mount of Olives a little after on thine own Sabbath travelling for me in the corne-field Another time wearied with thy journey sitting on the Well of Iacob and begging a draught of that cold water from the woman of Samaria Now again I meet thee on the Asse made infinitely happy by so glorious a rider by the God of Ieshurun who rideth on the heavens and in his excellencie on the skies Sure it was his simplicity and ordinary contempt with man that made him so acceptable in thy sight But Oh! with what language
that are more permanent we may by the doctrine of contrarieties make them as useful as any of the former And this is elegantly done by the poet who was then serious and stayed enough though somewhat passionate Nam mihi quid prodest quod longo flumina cursu Semper inexhaustis prona feruntur aquis Ista manent nostri sed non mansêre parentes Exigui vitam temporis hospes ago What is 't to me that spacious rivers run Whole ages and their streams are never done Those still remain but all my fathers di'd And I my self but for few dayes abide Thus he of the water-course which he saw would out-run him and will do so with all that come after him But the quick tyde of mans life when it is once turned and begin to ebbe will never flow again The Spring comes constantly once a yeere and flowers when the frosts are past keep house no longer under ground but feel the Sun and come abroad The leaves come again to whisper over our heads and are as green and as gay as ever but mauâ—dieth and wastesh away yea man giveth up the ghost and where is he In these sad contemplations was the Brittish Bard when he broke out into this Eloquent complaint Mis mawrddh rhyddhig Adar Pob peth y ddhaw trwr ddhayar Ond y marw maur vy garchar In March birds couple a new birth Of herbs and flowers breaks through the earth But in the grave none stirs his head Long is th' Impris'ment of the dead The dayes of darknesse are many and he that goeth down to the grave shall not come up his place shall not know him nor shall he returne to his house he shall not be awaked nor raised out of his sleep untill the heavens be no more These last words were put in for our comfort and imply the resurrection or the time of restoring all things This was manifested to Ezekiel by the vision of dry bones with a noise and a shaking amongst them and they came together bone to bone and were clothed with sinews flesh and skin and the breath of life entered into them and they stood upon their feet an exceeding great army We have it also confirmed out of the mouth of Iesus Christ himself Iohn 5.28 29. his words are these Marvel not at this for the hour is coming in the which all that are in the grave shall hear his voyce And they shall come forth that have done good unto the resurrection of life but they that have done evill unto the resurrection of condemnation The Scripture is every where full of these proofs But I shall insist only upon three 1. For I know that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the later day upon the earth And though after my skin worms destroy this body yet in my flesh shall I see God Whom I shall see for my self and mine eyes shall behold and not another though my reins be consumed within me Job 19 25 26 27. 2. Thy dead men shall live together with my dead body shall they arise Awake and sing ye that dwell in the dust for thy dew is as the dew of herbs and the earth shall cast out the dead Isa 26.19 3. Behold O my people I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves And ye shall know that I am the Lord when I have opened your graves O my people and brought you up out of your graves and shall put my spirit in you and yee shall live Ezek. 37.12 13 14. And thus have we most full and absolute promises from the divine spirit and from Iesus Christ who is the life of the world for the redemption of our bodies Nor are we left destitute of very clear and inexcusable demonstrations of it in nature We see mortal men when the body and substance of vegetables is consumed in the fire out of their very ashes to make glasse which is a very bright and noble body how much more shall the Immortal and Almighty God who created all things of nothing out of dust and corruption raise us up incorrupt and glorions bodies Thou fool saith St. Paul that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die first and that which thou sowest thou sowest not that body which shall be but bare grain but God giveth it a body as he pleaseth There are in nature many creatures which at certain seasons that their spirit is inconsistent with fall into a dormition or dead sleep which differs little from death and convey themselves into secret places as hollow trees or some desolate ruines where they may rest in safety during that season as being taught by some secret informant that they shall awake again Here have we a clear type of the resurrection for what else is death but sleep as the Apostle calls it A great Philosopher and Secretary to nature discoursing of the resurrection of the dead tells us that he oftentimes lighted upon some of those creatures in that dark state of dormition and did dissect some of them and cut off the limbs of others and yet saith he could I perceive no signe of life at all in them their arteries and flesh being as hard and as dry as a stick but casting them into a pot of seething water they would soften by degrees and shortly after stir about and those very parts which were dissected would give very clear and satisfactory Indications of life This is so strong a Symboll of the resurrection that I think it needlesse to make any application Onely this I shall adde that the curious observers of nature reckon these creatures amongst those of the lunar order And indeed if we consider well the nature of that planet whose sphere is the veil or partition drawn betwixt us and Immortality and whose relation to this lower world is more intimate and of a greater tye then any of the other six we shall finde that she exactly typifies and demonstrates unto us those two famous states of terrestrial bodies viz. their state of darknesse and their state of glory their dissolution and restoration for she doth agonizare and suffers a monethly recession of light and in a short time becomes full again And I pray are not light and life compatriots What else is death but the recession and absence of life or darknesse but the absence of light Sic nostros casus solatur mundus in astris So our decays God comforts by The Stars concurrent state on high Do not we see divets birds of this regiment such as are commonly known to us with other meaner Creatures as silk-worms and the humble-bee which yet are not so contemptible but they may serve us for noble instances in this point seeing there is in them a living spirit and that creatures of the same rank with them are recorded in Gods own word yea and are own'd by him as memorable and select Instruments of his service as Joshuah Cap. 24. ver 12. And
yeares men will hazard so highly as to purchase a few dayes false honours with the losse of eternal and true glory In what a horrid darknesse and agony will the pleasures of this world leave us after we have cast away our bodies and souls in the acquisition of them how suddenly must the rich man leave his barnes and the oppressour his ill-gotten power how do they labour under the load of their private guilt and feele the flames of hell while they are yet alive With what gloomy and despairing looks do they passe from hence as if that eternal darknesse they are going into were already in their faces It was a sad and a dark reply that Henry the fourth made to his hasty son when he had taken away the Crowne God knowes said he and sighed what right I had unto it Tyrants and oppressors may very well be compared to the Hyaena while they prosper and devoure the prey there is nothing to be seene amongst them but mirth and triumphs but when they have drank blood enough when they are full and cloyed then they weepe The onely difference is this that the Hyaena's teares are deceitful but the teares of Tyrants springing from their inward guilt and horrour are wofully true though like storms in harvest they are unprofitable and prodigious The difference betwixt the righteous and the wicked is to be seen in their death The good man goes hence like the Sunne in the summers evening chearful and unclouded his memory is precious here with men and his spirit is received into the joy of his Master This Saint Hierome saw in the death of Paul the Heremite whose coate of Palm-leaves he preferr'd to the purple robes of the proud Let me now saith he aske the great men of this world whose possessions are numberlesse and whose dwellings are of marble what was it that was ever wanting to this poor old man They drink rich wines out of gold and he drank clean water out of the fountains They have silk and gold weav'd into their coates and he had not so much as the coursest wooll But then is he out of that simple habit carried into Paradise and they out of their silk and gold into hell Paul the Heremite hath no covering but the common earth Their karkasses are laid up in costly Sepulchres of marble and brasse but Paul shall be raised to glory and they to condemnation And presently after directing his speech to the Reader he concludes thus Who ever thou art that shalt reade this Book I beseech thee to remember Hieronymus the sinner who if God would grant him his desire had rather be master of Paul the Heremites coate with his rewards then of the purple robes of Princes with their punishments A dinner of herbes with a good conscience is heavenly fare and godlinesse is great gaine if we would be contented therewith I do not so much admire Apitius his feasts and Cleopatra's banquets of dissolved pearles as I do the Raven of Elias and Hilarion's Crow Neither can I in this place passe by that old Cilician and Countrey-man to Saint Paul who I verily beleeve for a reward of his contented and harmlesse life had the honor and the happinesse to have it described and left for ever upon record to posterity by that inimitable Prince and Patriarch of Poets Virg. lib. 4. Georgie Namque sub Oebaliae memini me turribus altis Corycium vidisse senem cui pauca relicti Jugera ruris erant nec fertilis illa juvencis Nec pecori opportuna seges nec commoda Baccho Hic rarum tamen in dumis holus albáque circum Lilia verbenásque premens vescúmque papaver Regum aequabat opes animo serâque revertens Nocte domum dapibus mensas onerabat inemptis Primus vere rosam atque Autumno carpere poma Et cum tristis hyems etiamnum frigore saxa Rumperet glacie cursus fraenaret aquarum Ille comam mollis jam tum tondebat Acanthi AEstatem increpitans seram Zephirósque morantes Englished thus I saw beneath Tarentum's stately towers An old Cilician spend his peaceful houres Some few bad acres in a waste wild field Which neither Grasse nor Corne nor Vines would yield He did possesse There amongst thorns and weeds Cheap Herbs and Coleworts with the common Seeds Of Chesboule or tame poppeys he did sowe And Verveyne with white Lilies caus'd to grow Content he was as are successeful Kings And late at night come home for long work brings The night still home with unbought messes layd On his low table he his hunger stayd Roses he gather'd in the youthful Spring And Apples in the Autumn home did bring And when the sad cold winter burst with frost The stones and the still streams in Ice were lost He would soft leaves of Beares-foot crop and chide The slow West-winds and lingring Summer-tyde Saint Hierome in the life of Antonius who was nobly borne and as tenderly bred tells us that about the age of eighteen his parents being then dead he gave away all his possessions resolving upon a strict religious life betook himself to the wildernesse where having erected for himself a poore narrow Cottage he digg'd hard by it and found a well with whose streams he watered a small piece of ground which he did sowe and set with some ordinary herbs for his own provision To this place thus furnished by his industrie the wild asses would in great numbers very often resort and not contented to borrow of his water they would some times trespasse upon his garden and make bold with his sallads But he upon a time comming amongst them commanded the leader of them which he had observed to guide the rest to stand still and beating him upon the sides with his hand reproved him in these words What is the reason that thou com'st to eat that which thou hast not sowen Et exinde saith my Author acceptis aquis ad quas potandas ventitabant nec arbusculam nec holera unquam contigebant We see by these Examples how safe it is to rely upon our Masters promise and how needlesse and superfluous in the Christian state this worldly abundance is This our Saviour himself hath admonished us of and upraids our dffidence with the examples of the birds and the lilies of the field Certainly it is dangerous medling with the world It is like the Torpedo he that catcheth it comes to lose his life by the bargain Love not the world saith St. Iohn neither the things that are in the world if any man love the world the love of the Father is not in him We should therefore be very cautious how we deal with it or with the followers and favourites of it Condescend to men of low estate saith the chosen vessel This is good counsel but it lies so low that most men tread upon it very few are they that will stoop to take it up There is