my time in idleness Have I taken care to spend it for Eternity As for the Mind Have I endeavour'd to disposses my Mind of Evil thoughts to day Have I called in Pious and Spiritual Reflections Have I resisted Wandring thoughts in Prayer Have not I suffered worldy thoughts to eat out the virtue of my Prayers Have I in my supplications represented to my Mind Gods Greatness Goodness Majesty and Holiness And was I sensible of my Spiritual Wants and Necessities all the time Have I been much in holy Ejaculations to day Was God first and last in my thoughts when I Waked this morning and went to Rest last night As for the Conscience Have I made Conscience of the least Sins to day Have I conscientiously discharged the Duties of my several Relations Have I done as a person in such a Relation would and should have done Have I made Conscience of doing a thing which I have either known or feared to be a Sin Have not I made light of Sin Have not I laught at those Sins I should have Mourned at Have I been concern'd at other Mens Sins as well as at mine own As for the Passions and Affections Have not I given way to the Workings of Pride and Anger to day Have not I been angry with my Neighbor without a Cause Have not I in a Passion given men ill Language Have not I said that in my Wrath which now I wish I had not Have not I been fiery and hot upon very slight and trivial occasions Have not I mistrusted Gods Providence Have not I been more careful about making provision for the Flesh than about enriching of my Soul Have not I found greater joy in temporal than in spiritual Blessings Hath not such a vanity such a Present such a Gift affected and ravished me more than the news of Gods Grace and Pardon and the influences of the Holy Ghost Have I watcht against Wrath and Envy and Malice and immoderate Grief and carnal Mirth Have I got ground of such a corruption Have I been better to day than yesterday Have I serv'd God without distraction more to day than I have done formerly Such questions as these you may put to your Hearts if you mean to take your outward and inward man into consideration But then 2. If you had rather make the Ten Commandments your Rule the Account may be taken in this manner As to the First Commandment Have not I this day confided in the Creature more than in the Creator Have not I been wilfully ignorant of some Truth that hath been brought to my Ears Have not I despised God by rejecting some motions of his Holy Spirit Have not I lived to day like a Man that doth not believe the Promises and threatnings of God Have not I doubted of some Truth revealed in the Word of God or lived as if I had doubted of his Providence Hath my Faith been lively this day Did not I sink into carnal Security Have I exercised my Hope in God Have I expressed my love to God to day Have not I loved some outward thing more than God Hath not my love to God been in words only Hath it discover'd it self in actions Have I desired to be at peace with God and to be united unto him more Have I done nothing that hath savour'd of hatred or contempt of God As to the Second Commandment Have I feared God to day and have I feared him more than all the men I have had to do with Have I been very cautions of offending him Have I abhorred the motion when I have been tempted to any Evil Have I obeyed God in sincerity Hath there been any known Sin that I have not shunn'd or hath there been any known Duty which I was not more forward to perform than to omit Have not I exalted my self or thought my self better than my Neighbours Have I given God all the Glory and have I spoke very modestly of my self Have not I been peevish and impatient under such a Providence that hath crossed my Designs Have not I indulged my self in Hypocrisie Have I been more desirous to be than to seem good Have I given God that Worship to day which is due to him Have I prayed to him in Truth and praised him with joyful Lips As to the Third Commandment Have not I this day neglected an opportunity of giving good Counsel and Advice to men related to me Have not I shunn'd discourses of God and Holiness Have I admired and adored Gods Holy Attributes Have not I broke forth into rash Oaths Have not I been ashamed of standing up for the Glory of Gods name Have I trembled to see God abused Have I shew'd Courage and Resolution when I have seen or heard my God dishonour'd Have not I scandalized some Persons by my Actions Have not I abused my Christian Liberty Have I magnified Gods Mercies and dared to own God in the Blessings I have received Have not I extenuated or denied Gods Mercies Have not I neglected the Gifts of God that are in me Have not I by my lukewarmness betray'd Christ's Cause Have not I neglected my Duty of Prayer upon the account of some Wordly Interest Have not I begg'd of God things contrary to the Will of God As to the Fourth Commandment which doth in a special manner respect the Lords day Have I gone this day with joy into the House of God Have I heard the Word and treasured it up in my Heart Have not I aimed more at the information of my Judgment than at warming my Affections Was it Curiosity or Piety that led me to the Temple Have I gathered my thoughts together in the publick Prayers of the Church and hath my Heart and Desires gone along with the Supplications the Minister of God put up to Heaven Have not I thought of my Trade and Farms and Oxen while I have been repeating the words after Gods Minister Have I meditated and bid my thoughts fly up to Heaven to take a view of my Eternal rest Have I Read in private Have I called my Family together read to them instructed them made them give me an account of what they remember Have not I preferred my Worldly profit to day before my Duty Have not I stayed away from the publick Worship of God for wordly Gain When I received the Holy Sacrament to day were my thoughts fixed on the Cross of Christ Was my Soul affected with the Mystery of Gods love Did my Sins grieve me when I beheld Christ Crucified Did the sight of Christs Crucifixion fill me with indignation against my Sins Did it fill me with serious deliberate Resolutions to watch against them Did it fill me with Praises and Adorations of the stupendious Humiliation of the Son of God Did it make me resolve to imitate him in his Holiness Have I according to the Apostles Command laid in store as God hath prospered me the foregoing week Have I laid aside somewhat of my Gain for Pious uses
than our anger our commiseration more than our passion and our tears more than our stripes The injury he hath done us is not so great as that he hath done to himself and he is to be pitied the more because may be he doth not pity himself we are not only to weep with them that weep but to weep over those too that have cause to mourn for themselves and are blinded and do not for that 's the greater misery He that is sensible of his misery and weeps may yet find out a way to be freed from it but he that is not and consequently is not affected with it runs on and locks up all the Gates of Mercy and Recovery against himself whence must necessarily arise those everlasting Plagues prepared for the Divel and his Angels 5. A ready belief of all the good that is said of our neighbours Indeed this is a sign of a generous mind of a Soul enamoured with goodness and so in love with it that it would have no man bad but is desirous that all mankind should meet in this Center A sanctified Soul doth attentively listen to such Reports rejoyces at the Blessing God hath conferr'd upon it's neighbour and if the good things said of him be not true it however wishes they were so Such a man hopes that the very shadows of his neighbours Graces are substantial things and though he would not if he could help it suffer sin upon him or sooth him into counterfeit Piety yet till he hath certain knowledge to the contrary he believes he is that man he seems and is reported to be A true Christian hath a Soul greedy after Goodness and is glad of an opportunity to think well of his neighbour That which makes him loth to believe any ill of him makes him believe all that is said in his commendation for he abhors that which is evil sin is odious to him because God hates it and therefore he would have no man guilty of it and because Goodness is exceeding lovely and amiable in his eyes and God loves it therefore he would have all men love Goodness that God may love them and that draws this charitable Belief from his mind he believes what he would have to be true and so makes good that character St. Paul gives of Charity that it thinks no evil but rejoyces in the Truth 1 Cor. 13. 4 5. And this is that Exercise that is incumbent upon you Men Fathers and Brethren an Exercise of that necessity that you must declare Enmity and War against that Law of nature Whatsoever you would that men should do unto you even so do ye to them if you neglect or undervalue it Is there any of you that would not be thus dealt withal would not you have others put such charitable interpretations on your Words and Actions and will not you express the same civility to others would you have others subject to this Rule and would you except your selves would you have others live up to this Light and would you love Darkness better would you have others discharge their Duty to you and would you be excused from discharging yours to them what can be more unreasonable where is your Justice your Equity your Religion would you have others wash your errours white and would you throw Ink on theirs would you have others smooth the rough outside of your Offences and put on them the skins of Lambs and would you put the Lions skin on theirs It is ill manners as well as irreligion and do not your Hearts and Consciences smite you for it You are for Peace and Quietness but are your sinister constructions of your neighbours Actions the way to it Charitable interpretations will preserve you from a storm but where you abate nothing of the fault your passions must needs rise into a Tempest Calmness of mind is so great a Blessing that a wise man would purchase it at any price and when you may have it at so cheap a rate as the favourable interpretations of what your neighbours say or doe Will ye stand out and refuse the Treasure This Exercise will preserve you from a thousand sins and as many inconveniencies too We see how Men when once they give way to uncharitable censures how they run from one sin to another and know not where to stop this uncharitableness leads them on to envy envy to wrath wrath to backbiting backbiting to revenge revenge stops their progress in goodness and who can reckon up all the evils that flow from this polluted Spring These evils you avoid by your favourable interpretations and consequently lessen your account with God so much you strike off from the sum of your sins and consequently are more expedite in your way to Heaven What should you do but imitate your Father which is above How loath is he to believe our rebellion against him Truly they are my people saith he children that will not lye so he became their Saviour Es. 63. 8. He knows our frame and remembers that we are but dust saith the Royal Prophet Psalm 103. 14. And shouldst not thou also have compassion on thy fellow-servant even as I had pity on thee saith the Son of God Matth. 18. 33. Shall God allow grains in offences and shall not we Shall he remember we are dust and shall we forget that our Neighbours are so and subject to mistakes and errours How can we expect God will deal favourably with us if we do not deal so with our fellow Christians What do we call our selves Christians for if we will not learn to run in this race This charitable interpretation of what we see or hear is the very character which is to distinguish us from Jews Heathens and Infidels if we want this mark how shall Christ distinguish us from the Goats Who hath made you Judges of your Neighbours Who opened a Window to you into their hearts Why do you usurp God's Authority Hath he appointed a Day to judge the World in and will you prevent that Judgment Are you ever like to love your Neighbours as you selves while you reject this Exercise And if you are resolv'd not to learn it how will ye be able to appear at the great Tribunal Have you forgot that this Charity is the root of all Virtues Have not you heard that this makes the Soul beautiful and lovely in the eyes of him that gave it Have you forgot that this is the Bond that unites the Soul to its Creator This is the Harp which cheers the heart both of God and Man This opens the Gate of Heaven This is the Gold of the Sanctuary without which we are blind naked poor and miserable This enlarges the Soul whereas suspicion and rash judgment doth contract it This is the most excellent gift and speaking in divers Languages and giving our Bodies to be burnt and the greatest Learning in the World The Eloquence of Angels the Rhetorick of the greatest Orators the greatest
temper and exercises himself unto Godliness when he is alone as well as when he converses with his neighbours nay is more industrious to please his kind and merciful Master when retired from the sight of Men than he ordinarily is when the World looks upon him He is afraid of sin though there be no Magistrate by to overaw him and durst not commit any thing that is offensive to God or injurious to his Neighbour were he in a Desart or in a Denn He doth good cheerfully while none but God looks upon him and is glad he hath an opportunity of doing it in Secret because he would not be so much as suspected to be guilty of Hypocrisie He is as modest in his Closet as in his Dining-room and behaves himself with the same gravity in a Vault that he would do in his Parlour He is sensible no place can escape an All-seeing Eye and that there is no corner so secret but the Father of Lights shines into it He remembers that God will call him to an Account for secret sins as well as for notorious Offences and therefore hath the same veneration for his Holiness when all men are gone from him as he hath when he is surrounded with society He lives in the sense of Gods Omnipresence and whether he is on a Hill or in the Valley God is the same to him The place he knows makes no variation in Gods Purity and wherever the man is God cannot be far from him He pities or smiles at the Sinner that flatters himself that God sees him not because he lurks in a Cave and nothing appears so absurd to him as to fancy that he that made the Eye should not pierce into the remotest corner Indeed not to fear God when we are alone is not to fear him at all and he that shunns undecencies before Men only shews that they are the Gods whom he serves Sobriety before men only is a Sign that nothing but Credit and Interest keeps us in awe and except we dread the very appearance of evil when God alone is with us we are but a better sort of Atheists What doth it signifie to believe a God and to walk as if there were none and to what purpose is it to adore him when his greatness can have no influence upon our Consciences To see in secret is Gods Prerogative and we then deny it when in secret we dare break his Law and affront his Glory He could not be God if he took no notice of our Thoughts and Actions when we are alone and therefore not to fear him when we are in private is to say with the Fool there is none To be delighted with unlawful Objects in our minds while God looks on is as great an irreverence as if a man should spue before a Prince may considering the vast distance between a mortal King and the immortal God infinitely greater and therefore he that stands more in awe of a Prince than of his God doth as good as Blaspheme for it is a tacit assertion That Dust and Ashes deserves greater Honour than the King of Heaven Every Prayer of such a man will be a witness against him in the last day for in every Prayer he acknowledges God's All-seeing Purity and by that acknowledgment condemns himself for not living in private like a man that did profess and believe that Truth He that thinks he fears God when he is careless of his Honour and Omnipresence in secret may as well think he loves his Father and Mother when he calls them all to nought and slights them like dirt under his Shooes and indeed if ever any man was guilty of Hypocrisie such a man that believes God sees him and acts as if his Eyes were shut must be a most notorious dissembler It is a perfect contradiction to believe Gods Omniscience and not to stand in awe of it and the contrariety of the Mind and Actions in this case is so great that did we not judge of Mens Wisdom by their Worldly Prudence we should think such a man rather distracted than impious If the whole World were present with us and the whole race of Mankind were within our view it is not so much as when God is present with us being alone for the Great Creator of all these men is with us He on whose shadow the vast Legions of Angels wait He at whose Name all Creatures bow their knees and whose Hand hath made all things is with us at such times and he that is afraid of the Creature why should not he stand in awe of the Creator Is the Tool a greater thing than the Workman or the Pot of greater consequence than the Potter that did make it and though we see him not with our Eyes yet our minds may perceive and feel him and though he doth not justle us in our walks or rest yet if we be sensible that he is we cannot but be sensible if we will that he is present too It 's not want of Power but want of Will that makes us careless of taking notice of him for we cannot own our common Principles or any Dictates of Nature but we must own his Presence and we had as good deny our own Being as deny his standing by us wherever we are and being displeased with the sins we practice God is every where present that we may always bear his Image in our minds Indeed how can we forget him that doth every moment remember our frame and remember our wants and necessities and doth not forget our work and labour of Love What a mighty favour do we count it if a King doth think of us or admits us into his Presence and shall not we think it a wonderful mercy that the King of Glory the everlasting Father the Prince of Peace is never absent from us and is pleased always to take notice of us The sick man receives Comfort if a friend do visit him and should not our Souls rejoyce our weak our sinful Souls that God doth always look upon them and takes their concerns into consideration If a Prince vouchsafe a favourable look to a Servant he thinks himself happy and shall not we count our selves so when our God never turns away his Eyes from us Behold how the vulgar run to see a King pass by Our God not only passes by us but this mighty God remains with us always every moment encircles us with the beams of his-Majesty and shall not we stand amazed at his Brightness Nay look how men hasten to see a Monster some unkown African Beast and shall not our hearts leap to think that an incomprehensible Beauty is continually about us The Queen of Sheba comes from afar to behold the Jewish King in his Glory and when she sees him wonders we every day behold a far greater and far more splendid Monarch and do we make nothing of it How shall not we work to do him service that works all our Blessings for
first Christians amazed the unbelieving World and their Power and Number quickly grew so formidable that the Emperors themselves began to be startled at their progress and therefore employed their Might and Greatness to oppose it To crush their towering Piety the Heathens shewed them Racks Flames Gibbets Grid-irons Cauldrons boyling Oyl Lions Bears Wild-Bulls and set before them the Worldly Prudence of Philosophers but by the Grace and Assistance of that JESUS who strengthned them they were more undaunted at their Torments than their Hangmen did fight with Lions and smile and were more daring than the Flames they suffered in firmer than the Racks that broke their Bones and by their practises surmounted all the great Acts that were ever done by Heroes and the most famous Conquerors They overcame Death by a desire of Death and were more willing to die than their Executioners to suffer them Their Blood proved the Seed of the Church and the more they Massacred the more their numbers grew till the Emperors themselves became Christians and were forced to yield to the Faith and Patience of JESUS and the Christians at last gave Law to those who at first did Stab and Murder them and Conquered them in the end who in the beginning Butcher'd them like Dogs and such inconsiderable Animals And now SIR it 's very likely that some who may chance to read these Lines will look upon the Account I have given you as a Spiritual Romance an Emblem rather of what Men might be were they in a more perfect State than of what they generally were But they that shall pass this Censure on the Premises do but betray their ignorance and I can only send them to the Writers in those Ages when Christianity was deck'd and adorn'd with these Jewels and quoted by my Author such as Ignatius Polycarp Justin Martyr Irenaeus Athenagoras Minutius Felix Tertullian Clemens Alexandrinus Origen Cyprian and others that succeeded them and if people to favour their Lusts will neither believe nor take pains to search into the truth of things all that can be said is that they are resolute in their Infidelity Sir I am perswaded you have chosen the better part and as I do not question your Belief of these passages so that these Saints may be your Pattern and their Actions the great Rule of your Life and the Spirit of God your Guide in these ways of Holiness is the hearty Wish and Prayer of SIR Your Affectionate Friend and Servant Anthony Horneck FINIS Vid. Cassian lib. 2. Instit c. 10 August Epist. ad Probam * In Imitation possibly of St. Bartholomew the Apostle of whom it is reported that he Pray'd a hundred times a day S. Ephrem c. 1 Hom. de or and Deo a Vid. August Ep. ad Probam b Tertul de Orat c. 1. Sine agmine verborum Oratio c Cassian collat 9. c. ult Sacrificia medullata d Vid. Laurent justinian de inter conflict c. 10. Vid. Misna Beracoth c. 4. Sect. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rabbi Nechuniah filius Kanae precatus est in ingressu suo in Synagogam itemque in egressu suo precationeÌ„ breveÌ„ c. Rabban Gamaliel ait Unoquoque die orabit homo octodecim benedictiones c. Si quis insidet asino descendat si verò non potest descendere avertat faciam suam versus Jerusalem precetur c. Qui sedet in navi aut in curru aut in ratibxs diriget cor suum versus Sanctum Sanctorum precetur c. Vid. Teres Vit. c. 31. Athanas. Vit. S. Antonii 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vid. Mosch Prat. Spir. c. 159. Vid. Ruffin vit patr l. 3. P. 38. Matth. 25. 27. Massech Aboth c. 2. Sect. 8. R. Bechai in Chobat Lebaboth c. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Signa humilitatis quinque Primum Cum quis in spiritum suum dominium exercet quando quis irà excandescit in illum Secundum Cum quis patienter onus suum fert quando infortunium ipsi in opibus accidit Tertium Cum quis spernit eum qui ipsum laudat ob factum bonum confitetur peccatum quod refertur eum commisisse Quartum Cum quis ad honorem vel magras divitias promovetur in praecedenti humilitate mansuetudine perseverat Quintum Cum quis seipsum corripit Vid. Cassian Collat. 15. c. 7. Vid. Bed lib. 2. c. 2. a Vid. Ruffin vit Pat. lib. 3. c. 12. b Vid. Martyrol Rom. 28. Decemb. Menolog Graecorum 24. Decemb. c Vid. Vincent spec Histor lib. 15. Martyrol Rom 14. Martii Menolog Graec. 25 Julii Prater quidam interrogavit Senem quid est Humilitas Et respondit ei Senex ut bene facias his qui tibi mal faciunt Pelag. in Vit. Pa. c. 63. Numb 22 23. R. Bechai Haddajan 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ca. 7. fol. 64. Edit Mant. 1589. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ambr. de Offic. lib. 1 c. 2. 3. 1 Cor. 12. 31. a Ubi sedent duo qui Legem tractant cum illis est shekinah Rabini in Pirke Aboth Non sunt in Conventu tres nisi Deut sit quartus sive multi sive pauct sint ipse cum eis est Mahom. Alcor Surat 58. Cur Deus vocatur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quia ubicunq congregatisunt Justi invenitur cun istis Midrash Tillim act Psalm Paschas c. 44. Rem 12. 2. Vid. Hicron Vit. Pauli c. 3. Vid. Stob. Serm. 36. de Garrulitate Vid. Epictet Enchirid c. 40 41 42. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Vid. Porphyr de Antro Nymph Vid. Tavern Pers. Trav. l. 5. c. 17. 2 Kings 8. 13. Vid. Vincent Specul Histor l. 15. Diabolus Serpens est lubricus cujus si capiti id est primae suggestioni non resistitur totus in intima cordis dum non sentitur illabitur Isidor lib. de Summ. Bono c. 1. Gen. 19. 20. Can. 2. 15. Gen. 3. 6. Gen. 34. 1. Numb 25. 1 2. 2 Sam. 11. 2. Josh. 7. 21. 2 Sam. 13. 1 2. Esth. 3. 5. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Alex. Paedag. l. 3. c. 11. Qui videt is peccat quite non viderit ergo non cupiet facti crimina lumen habet Propert. lib. 4. Eleg. vid. Casp. Barth in notis ad Claudian 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 M. Antonin Lib. 3. Sect. 2. a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Porphyr de abstin I. 1. Sect. 33. b Cassian Collat. 7. c. 27. Ruffin Hist. lib. 2. c. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ajebat Diogenenes Didymoni moecho medico cum curaret Virginis oculum in Laert. lib. 6. de Diog. Ideo humani generis Creator Conditor Deus opificii sui naturam prae omnibus emendationemque cognoscens illic curam adhibuit medicinae unde causas morbi principaliter nover at emanare Cassian institut lib. 6. c. 12. Vid. Athenagor legâ—â— pro Christ. Vid. Senec in excerpt Vid. Plutarch Pericl Cicer Offic. l. 1 Lamentat 3. 51. Omnibus ad