bestow Thy pains to hear them they 'l infuse and brew Their own designs and tell thee all is true That they declare they 'l tell thee that they 're sent As Messengers from Heav'ns high Parliament Believe me Soul 't is I that can display The Gospels Colours better far than they There 's nothing in that Volume so abstruse But I can winde and twist it to my use And there is nothing in this world can be Stil'd worth a Work but can be done by me I can do all it lies within my power To make thee poor or rich in half an hour I can command whole Legions to attend Upon my honor Say what nobler friend Canst thou embrace I 'le be a friend to all That will give audience to my faithful call I 'le make them swell with riches they shall have As much nay if not more than they can crave Am I not rare and rich and high and great Incomprehensible Is not my seat The throne of happiness Yet cannot I Invite thee to my sweet eternity Come gentle Soul into my twining arms I 'le hug thee I 'le delight thee with my charms I 'le shew thee all my Joys nothing shall lie Hid from the view of thy all gazing eye Happy beyond expression Soul Satan slay The Progress of thy tongue and give me way That I may vent my thoughts for you have spoke At large already and is this the stroke Which you intend shall wound me Be assur'd The blow's but small and well may be endur'd Sat. What mov'd to passion Is thy mind disturb'd With foul mistrust pray let those thoughts be curb'd What dost thou think I am perfidious Fie 'T is folly to condemn before you try Alas alas what profit can accrue To me by wronging such a Soul as you What I express is onely for your good But what is more than grave advice withstood I doubt these weak these empty thoughts presage A tempest guarded with a storm of rage Well then storm on and when thy storm is spent Sit down and meditate and then repent Soul Repent Oh happy word although exprest By a foul mouth those that repent are blest How dare thy hellish lips usurp a word Fill'd with divinity but will afford No rest no comfort to thy horrid Soul Be gone be gone and if thou canst condole Thy self thou art if Logick prove but true Curst in the Major and the Minor too Bless me ô heav'n what blust'ring stormy weather Drove such a vile prodigious Monster hither Touch-stone of baseness dost thou come to prove Whether I 'm gold or dross thou mayst remove Thy forward hopes because I hope to be Metal at last for Heav'n and not for thee Be gone fallacious wretch I cannot brook Thy golden baits I have descry'd thy hook Father of Lyes thy policy is built Upon the sands and plaister'd o're with guilt Thy tongue foretells a storm if so be sure Thy sand-built policy shall not endure Flattery 's the life of baseness and that Art Is well imprinted in thy subtile heart Dost thou believe that I can entertain Belief from thee Or dost thou think to reign Within my brest No no thy cloudy powers Are at the best but falsifying showers Be satisfi d I cannot give the least Of credit to thee nor I dare not feast My thoughts with such uncertainties I know Thy dyet must and will corrupt to woe Thou bidst me not condemn before I make Some tryal of thy trust If I should take Such green advice I quickly should undo My wretched self and in condemning you What profit could I have or what relief Could I epect to mitigate my grief My accusations would be blown as dust Before the wind I 'le neither try nor trust Sat. Nor try nor trust Art thou resolv'd to cross My real motions Do and see whose loss Will prove most weighty if I lose the heat Of thy weak love my loss will not be great But if I should withdraw my love from thee How like a Map of well-drawn misery Wouldst thou appear be wise corect thy thoughts Neglected favors prove the greatest faults Take my instructions for 't is I must bring Content unto thee 't is a glorious thing To be immortal prethee Soul decline Thy former ways say shall I call thee mine Mine mine thou art I 'le load thee with renown Let me but conquer thou shalt wear the Crown How pleasing are my joys how full of peace Are all my ways my glories still increase I 'm great and good I take delight to win Distressed Souls and lead them from their sin I cannot chuse but pity those that lye Vpon the beds of sensuality My melting Soul is always free to give Comfort to them that study how to live Alas the care and trouble that I take Is more for their content than my own sake My gates are always open they that venture To come to me shall with a welcom enter And when they call and cry I will appear My self unto them and rejoyce to hear Their sad complaints I will not hide my face From them that seek the glory of my grace I cannot be unconstant I must grieve To hear their sorrows and I will relieve I will be pitiful to them that trust In me alone I cannot be unjust I cannot no I cannot Earth shall move Sooner than I will falsifie my love I am eternal they that will endeavor To gain my love shall have my heart for ever Soul 'T is not your empty words shall make my brest Stoop to the flatt'ry of thy vain request Though I have ears to hear I have a mind That will not shake at the hard-breathing wind Of your discourse what you pretend for reason Is nothing but the froth of private treason 'T is not your multiloquious tongue can turn The Biass of my Soul or make me spurn At Holy Writ 't is not your fond conceit Of being good shall make me to retreat From Heav'ns Commands 't is not your promis'd joys Can make me chearful or your painted toys Can lure me to your fist 't is not the dart Of your vain love can penetrate my heart 'T is not your seeming clemency can make My Soul to love you for your Pities sake 'T is not your always-open gates that shall Entice my steps to your large Guilded Hall 'T is not your self-appearance shall invite My well-composed thoughts to your delight 'T is not your greatness that shall make me yield To your desires Religion is my shield I le neither fear nor love your rash evasions Nor give attendance to your smooth perswasions ' Nis difficult to serve two Masters well Who strays from Heav'n must needs approach to Hell I am advis'd to shun the broad-path'd ways That lead to ruine what the Scripture says I must believe 't is dangerous to fly Without the wings of true Divinity The Scriptures are my way my light my guide And they that go without them needs must slide The paths
DIVINE MEDITATIONS UPON Several Subjects Whereunto is annexed GODS LOVE AND Man's Vnworthiness WITH SEVERAL Divine Ejaculations Written by JOHN QUARLES LONDON Printed by T. J. for Peter Parker and are to be sold at the first shop in Popes-head Alley on the right hand next Cornhil 1671. To my Esteemed Friend JAMES HOBARTE of Hales in the County of Norfolk Esquire SIR IF I am bold it is in fulfilling your desires I am confident you well remember when we were Prisoners together that your self gave me the several subjects of these short Meditations I confess I have no cause to blush at the subjects but I fear you will find cause to blush at the bad performance of your desires however I have done my endeavor and if you please to own it worth your acceptance I shall own your acceptance worth my labor and ever remain Affectionately yours JOHN QUARLES TO THE READER Kinde Reader LEt me lay this Injunction upon thee before thou permittest thy eye to survey this little Volume that thou wilt resolve to pardon I will not say for what for fear thou shouldest be scrupulous and not read The subject is Divine and I confess too good to be so badly handled however I have done my endeavour and Alexander did no more when he conquered Kingdoms But Reader because I will not detain thine eye too long in one place I bid thee Farewel To my Muse TEll we presumptuous Muse how dar'st thou treat Vpon a Subject so sublime so great Alas how dare thy infancy aspire So high as Heaven where the Celestial Quire Of Soul-enchanting Angels hourly sing Anthems of joy to their mellifluous King This is a task that invocates the best And loftiest quills Heav'ns love must not b'exprest With wanton language he that shall presume To labour in this work must first perfume His Soul with true Divinity and breathe Celestial ayrs that Readers may perceive Their Author labours with a serious heart T'embalm his actions with divinest art This is a field whose spacious bounds extend Themselves to infinite who strives to end Shall still begin and having once bâ—gun This pleasing progress must not cease to run Vntil he stops in Heaven there lies the gain Who runs with Faith is certain to obtain If then my Muse thou canst divinely mount This sacred Stage thou needst not fea rt ' account Thy actions prosperous strive thou to stand Guarded with Faith and Heav'n will lend a hand To prop thee up his power will infuse Sufficient matter for an active Muse To work upon his wisdome will direct Thy painful hand his Mercies will correct Thy rambling thoughts and teach thee to proclaim Th' unsumm'd up glories of his Royal Name Abandon Earth and bid vain thoughts adieu Thou canst not serve thy God and Mammon too Rouse then and let thy well-prun'd Eagles wings Mount thee aloft let not terrestial things Disturb thy resolutions let them all Evade thy mind thy thoughts must grow too tall For such low toyes stir up thy zealous fire And what thou canst not well express admire DIVINE MEDITATIONS Upon several subjects I. GRoans midnight groans usurp the Commonwealth Oh my infringed Soul I know no health Nor feel no pleasure all my joyes are fled I know not where and I am worse than dead Heav'n shouldring Atlas if compar'd to me Bears nothing mine 's a weighty misery II. Ah me can nothing cure me is my grief So much insanable that no relief Can flow from Gilead do my sins obstruct Those tydes of grace which usually conduct Refreshments to me Oh most dismal fate He feels a plague too soon that grieves too late III. Cimmerian mists alas and what are they Compar'd to me less than a glorious day The sense of my own blindness makes me know The blindness of my senses Can a woe Be more exub'rous here 's a grief refin'd A seeing Body and a Soul that 's blind IV. The sight-deprived wretch whose darkned fate Makes day and night as 't were incorporate And knowes no difference but still gropes about And finds his Day within his Night without But I sad I being muffled up in sin Find Day without alas but Night within V. Saddest of thoughts Oh that I could espy One gracious Sun-beam that my willing eye Might like the dawning of the Infant-day Grow by degrees and at the last display Some glorious rayes to my endarkened heart I 'de hug that light and never let it part VI. But I unhappy I whose former dayes Consum'd in ill have quite expell'd the rayes Of future happiness and now I see All evil is epitomiz'd in me Too late I grieve for what I feel too soon The Sun le ts fall his fiercest rayes at noon VII Though foggy vapours oftentimes ascend Being exhaled by a Solar friend From Earths chill brest and for a season shroud Themselves within an entertaining cloud Yet at the last unwilling to remaine Discloud themselves and fall to Earth again VIII But ah my sin-exhaling soul is fill'd With noysome fogs that cannot be distill'd They keep a forc'd possession and encrease Within me nay and riot out my peace Needs must the Empire of a troubled brain Feel store of torments where such Neroes raign IX Corporeal griefs compartivelay merit The name of Pleasures to a troubled spirit Martyrs have taught that temporary pains If well improv'd swell into future gaines Grief 's banisht quite from him that dyes forgiven A Storm on Earth portends a Calm in Heaven X. As woe and trouble commonly await Upon the frailty of a humane state So Grace and Mercy evermore are found Attending where Divinity sits crown'd Ah! would it not be undiscreetly done To sit in darkness to avoid the Sun XI If Heaven should please to banish from our sight His glorious Lamp whose most diffusive light Gives life to nature all things would retire Into a Chaos and the world expire The Soul 's a World-divine and Christ's the Sun Who shining not the World is chang'd not done XII We may observe when happiness concludes How soon the sad and fatal interludes Of Misery appear for Grief and Joy Are Initiators When our sins destroy The happiness we had Ah then appears Mischief attended with an hoast of fears XIII Adam unhappy man with what a grace Could he present himself before the face Of his well-pleas'd Creator till the heat Of his own lust compel'd him to retreat From Gods commands Ah then his new-bred fear Made him afraid to see as well as hear XIV Let but the apples of the tender eye Receive a sudden touch and by and by The sympathizing part will quickly be Frighted as 't were into a mutiny So when the Sin toucht soul begins to smart The sentiate faculties must bear a part XV. Courage in Sin is but a Sin enlarg'd Which like a deep-mouth'd Cannon over-charg'd Recoyles or breaks Had Peter found no vent For his denying-sins his soul had rent It self in pieces Blest is he and wise That can
There is no danger like a non-ag'd grief XXLII The wise man grieves not that he undergoes Affliction but because he fully knowes His many sins deserv'd as many more If ten times doubl'd than he did before Patience in things adverse like Stars shine bright And most transparent in the darkest night XLIII 'T is good to be afflicted or else he That spoke it took delight in Misery If Davids sins infect thee let thy heart Be bath'd in Davids tears and then thou art Indeared unto Heaven for he that lent Much time to sin must borrow to repent XLIV Repentance leaps to Heav'n if we expect A future blessing we must not neglect This present business which if we delay Wee 'l want to morrow what we lost to day But let 's consider e're our time be spent How soon we sin and yet how late repent XLV He that delayes Repentance makes great haste To his own ruine and commits a waste Upon his Soul for every hour we spend And not repent we wilfully befriend Our Adversary Hell whose Gins being set He lyes and watches when to draw the Net XLVI The Net being drawn well may we run about And make our selves more fast attempting out Then our betrayed Souls may sadly say Had we repented when 't was said to day This Net hath not insnar'd us nor we cry We that did ever sin must ever dye Gods Love AND Mans Vnworthiness GOD how that word hath thunder-clapt my Soul Into a ravishment I must condole My forward weakness Ah where shall I find Sufficient Metaphors t' express my mind Thou heart-amusing word how hast thou filld My Soul with Halelujahs and distil'd Wonders into me Oh that I could break My heart in pieces and divinely speak My mind in Raptures that the frantique Earth May bath it self in these sweet streams of mirth Then rouze my Soul and practise how to turn Thy wonders into language do not burn Thy sacrâ—d fuel in a place where none Can have the benefit but thee alone Hoist up thy Sails and let thy speedy motion Hurry thee hence into the boundless Ocean Observe thy Compass keep a constant pace And Heav'n will steer thee to the Port of Grace 'T is strange to think how the Almighty can That is so pure love such a thing as Man Whose primitive corruption makes him worse Than nothing whose Rebellion claims a Curse More than affection How can Heav'n endure A thing that can be nothing but impure Man like a word that 's void of reason sounds In every ear his very name expounds A misery at best he needs must be But vain And how can Heav'n love vanity Man like a shadow flies before the Sun Of his Afflictions and is still undone By his own doing he 's his own pursuer And how can Heav'n love such a self-undoer Man like a naked worm is often found Digging himself into the loathsom ground Of ruine he 's a Traitor to his Bliss And how can Heav'n love such a worm as this Man like a flash of lightning courts the world With lavish flames and by and by is hurl'd Into that Nothing whence at first he came Then how can God love such a short-liv'd flame Man like a Reed is evermore inclin'd To shake and totter with each blast of wind He 's always running to the ground with speed And how can Heav'n love such an earthly Reed Man like the dust is always blown and tost From place to place and flies till it has lost Its Center never resting in one place Then how can Heav'n love that which flies in 's face Man like a Fly still buzzes up and down From cup to cup and sips on till he drown Himself in pleasure fears no stander by And how can Heav'n love such a drunken Fly Man like a Rain-bow oftentimes appears Clothed in colours but can claim no years No days nay hardly hours but must decay And how can heav'n love that which loves no stay Man like a bubble floats upon the waves Of his desires whilst every blast enslaves His brittle substance fill'd with windy troubles And how can heav'n love such unconstant bubbles Man like the froth spew'd from the Oceans brest Is tyded up and down but knows no rest Nor Perpetuity and can betroth It self to nothing Heav'n loves no such froth Man like the wind is every moment flying To every place and hares to be complying Or resting any where how can it be That Heav'n can love so much inconstancy Man like a Swallow loves the fragrant spring Of earths delights but with a spreading wing Flies from the Winters more congealed Brest And how can Heav'n love such a Summer Guest Man like a smoak presumptuously aspires Into the air and by and by retires Himself to nothing nothing's his conclusion And how can Heav'n love such a base confusion Man like a fire whose green and scragged fuel Denies to burn until it fights a duel With the encountring Bellows which at last Obtains the conquest then it burns as fast And seems as 't were ambitious to expire Then how can Heav'n love such a raging fire Man like an Arrow being once let go Out from the Archers well commanded Bow Affronts the Clouds at last having spent the store Of his small strength sals down seems t' adore Th' inferior Earth which with a welcome hides His down-cast head within her wounded sides Where he remains and scorns to be withstood Man can be anything but what is good And cannot Man be good strange kind of tone What has he wept himself into a stone Like Niobie no sure I fear his eyes Were never loaded with such large supplies Ah could he weep a Flood Heav'n that prepares His ears to hear would bottle up his tears In his remembrance every drop should shine Like Pearls absconded in a golden Myne His sins command a Deluge could his head Be turn'd into a fountain could he shed An Ocean at a drop it could not cover His sins which are mountainous from the Lover Of real drops for he would soon descry Those sand excelling crimes where ere they lie Yet would his Soul so much compassionate The flowing sorrows of his watry state That with a calming hand he would remove His rocky sins and hide them with his Love He would have pity and with speed consent T' express his love when all our tears are spent Should Heav'n who justly may for every sin Drop down a Plague and make it live within Mans guilty Soul the world would quickly be Transform'd and chang'd into a leprosie Let none despair for Heav'ns known mercies can Out infinite the greatest sins of man Oh love beyond degree Shall Heav'n indulge Himself to Man and shall not Man divulge A gratefulness to him whose hand prepares To wipe away his sin-poluted cares Ungrateful Miscreant how canst thou view Thy former Miseries and not renew Thy thanks to him whose Power set thee free And brought thee back from thy Captivity Hast
my heart and every sorrow speaks A volume at a word yet yet must I Return unheard 't is misery to dye And pain to live thus in despair I draw The loathsom air Destruction knows no Law Grief rains a flood of doubt into my Soul Ah me I can do nothing but condole I am despis'd and if I bend the force Of my desires to him he will divorce All thoughts of pity and with rage re-double Th'unsum'd up sums of my infringing trouble I sail into the Straits both wind and tyde Prevail against me and I have no guide To Pilot me unto the long'd-for Port Of pleasing happiness I am a sport To threatning Ruine whose presumptuous waves Out-dares my Soul whilst every blast enslaves My reeling Pinnace If I strive to go Towards Scylla Scylla will contemn my wo Alas in vain I can expect relief Scylla will bark at my unbridled grief Or if my head-long vessel chance to hit Against Charybdis I am torn and split Into ten thousand peices Oh hard hap Thus am I tossed in Destructions lap Where shall I find a heart that will advise My friendless Soul and audiate my cries I will not thus desist I must implore He that 's lost once sure can be lost no more Adams Petition to God Once more thou Metropolitan of all The spacious world I here presume to call Upon thy mercy Oh let me inherit The pleasing fruit of thy re-pleased Spirit I am thy fabrick Oh some pity take Preserve the building for the Builders sake Cloath not thy brow with frowns but let thine eye That rests inshrin'd with glorious Majesty Reflect upon my sorrows Oh encline Thy willing ears to hear this grief of mine Oh do not say I shall as soon remove A mountain as thy heart thou canst not love Let not such harsh imbitter'd language flow Out of a mouth so sweet I know I know Thou art as good as great oh therefore bow Thy sacred ears to hear oh hear me now Bestow some scraps on me that have deserv'd Nothing but stripes for I have fondly swerv'd From thy commands have committed treason Against thy Majesty Great God of Reason View my en-humbled Soul see how it lies Before thy sight a weeping Sacrifice I know thou knowst I am a hainous sinner Yet pity me that am a young beginner In this rich art of begging Do not slight My real prayers I know thou tak'st delight In being merciful Oh let me not Return unanswer'd or my prayers forgot Oh hear the sorrows of my bleeding state Let my complaints make thee compassionate And let the fervor of my language turn Thy thoughts to pity quench these flames that burn My wasting Soul speak peace to me that find A civil war in my uncivil mind Oh I have tasted of thy hot displeasure Too much Ah shall thy vengeance know no measure Say 't is enough though Lord I must confess I have deserved more yet give me less Thus with a melting heart I end my Suit Ah me how bitter is forbidden fruit Gods Reply Thou bold-fac'd Orator how dar'st thou come Before me or be otherwise than dumb Tell me how dar'st thou interrupt my brest I hate to see thee or hear thy Request Audacious wretch What has my Judgment made Thy heart grow peremptory Have I laid Too small a burthen on thee If I have I 'le lay a greater thou apostate slave I will not note thee nor I will not hear Thy words which have usurp'd my deafned ear Love thee for what be 't known sad wretch I scorn To love a thing so base so vile forlorn And if I cannot love how can it be That I can pity such a worm as thee I le neither love nor pity for my heart Is Adamantine thou shalt feel the smart Of my displeasure Go my Soul disdains To look upon thee thou art so fill'd with stains And smel'st too much of Fruit to find respect Thou art the subject of my great neglect Thou art a barren Soil nothing will grow Upon thy heart except the seeds of woe Tell me from what conceit thou dost derive Thy working confidence that thou dar'st drive Thy language to my ears and be so bold T' approach my sight and wilt not be control'd Art thou resolv'd to make what dost thou mean My ears thy stage and every word a scean Sum up thy small thy weak deserts and see What large respects thou hast deserv'd from me I plac'd thee in a Garden not to eat The fruit for bidden but to keep it neat Had not the violation of my Laws Mov'd me to anger thou hadst had no cause T' have felt the burthen of my weighty stroke Or live thus much subjected to the yoke Of thine owns sins most shameful is that Loss That 's crown'd with negligence great the cross That 's made with a self-hand they that clime Above their strengths impropriate a crime To their own Souls Destruction is the end Of all Rebellion Ruine knows no friend Suppose I should invest and entertain Your Soul with Love and call thee back again The Tree is still the same the fruit as sweet Thy appetite as great and thou mayst meet A Serpent too whose oratorious skill May soon entreat thee to enact his will He has a voice to tempt and thou an ear Will re-assume the priviledge to hear He has a hand to give and thou another Freely to take thus wouldst thou smother Thy new delights therefore I will not trust A heart that can be nothing but unjust Thou great Mugul of baseness cease to plead Thy tongue 's a canker and thy words are lead Thy sins have made thee not deserve the air Thou entertain'st hadst thou imploy'd thy care To serve me when I lov'd thee thou hadst had My heart-delighting joys to make thee glad But now expect no favour for no Art Of thine shall ever captivate my heart Hie thee unto the shades of grief bewail Thy sequestrated happiness no bail Of thy procuring will I take to set Thy Soul at liberty I will not let The vision of a comfort creep within Thy rambling thoughts thou art a slave to sin Hadst thou but lov'd or fear'd me at the first Th'adst been as happy as th' art now accurst If now thou lov'st me I shall quickly prove It is for fear alone and not for love Thy heart is steel'd with wickedness thy faults Are sparks enlivened by thy flinty thoughts Breath out thy groans unto a senseless rock And let thy sighs like hammers beat and knock Against her scragged sides thou shalt as soon Have her consent as mine to grant thy boon 'T is therefore vain to multiply thy words For ah my brest my hardened brest affords Thy Soul no pity and the more thy cry Attempts my ear the less I will reply Alas thy guilt-o're-burth'ned words renew Fresh thoughts of rage I cannot hear thee sue Without impatiency for ah the longer Thou crav'st thou mak'st my sury grow the stronger
the terror Of thine own Conscience which will alway stare Upon thy face and load thee with despair 'T is not a Habeas Corpus will remove The body of thy sin none can disprove The Will of God what he resolves to do Must neither be withstood nor div'd into It lies beyond thy power to perswade Thy God to pity whom thy Sins have made A wrathful Judge what he intends must be Derived from himself and not from thee For thou hast nothing in thee worth the name Of good because thy glory 's turn'd to shame Thou art corrupt and vile in every part And who can know the evil of thy heart Which like the Ocean that no art nor eye Can search her bottom or her banks descry Therefore til heav'n shall please to change the state Of thy condition Reason bids thee wait For be assur'd the promis'd seed will spread It self abroad and bruise the Serpents head Even as the Fountain whose exuberous brest Is always fluent and admits no rest But with a cheerful willingness she sends Her Christal tokens to her smaller friends Even so our God dâ—stilleth from above The healing streams of his refreshing love For ah the lustre of his Sun-bright eye Is drown'd in tears when our sad Souls prove dry Oh admiration that a God so just Should rain down flouds upon a heap of dust Oh Mercy that so much incens'd a God Should send forth Mercy and keep in his Rod His Soul is fill'd with pity and his eyes Begin to view th' unsariate miseries Of Adams down-cast off-spring Though his ear Seems unto us resolved not to hear Their bitter cries nor note the sad Devotions Of their contristed hearts yet by the Motions Of his blest Soul he sends his Son and Heir Into this wretched world that he might bear The Cross of our Transgressions and expel The clouds of Sin and conquer Death and Hell Thus by his death we liv'd and by his grief Our new-calm'd Souls were furnisht with relief Oh sudden change That winde which did before Drive wretched man upon the threatning shore Of unavoiding ruine fills the sails Of his desires with mild and prosperous gales The Boreas of his sin does now surcease His full-mouth'd blasts and Zephyrus speaks peace Unto his ship wrack'd Soul and now he rides Upon the new-tam'd backs of pleasing Tydes Oh that my tongue were able to rehearse The love of God with an Angelike Verse Oh that some Heav'nly Deity would fill The black mouth'd concave of my wandring quil With pure celestial Ink that I might write In heav'nly characters and learn t' indite Jehovahs praises in a style as high As my desires and make the lofty Skie Eccho with Hallelujahs that the Earth May like a Mid wife hug the joyful birth Of every word and make each corner ring With peals of joy the Glories of our King Is man deliver'd from the painful womb Of his foul sin and raised from the tomb Of everlasting death and shall not we Applaud that hand which set such pris'ners free What shall we be afraid to crack and break The chains of silence and attempt to speak The dialects of Angels No let 's call Upon his name that rais'd us from a Fall Let 's stretch our lungs with a warbling breath Sing to the life how we were rais'd from death And when our tongues are wearied let 's express By heav'nly signs our real thankfulness But stay where runs my quill what have I lost My self in raptures or else am I tost Into the Air of pleasure by the wind Of true delight If passion proves so kind I am content Oh may I always rest Adorn'd and crown'd with a heav'n ravisht brest O love ineffable Must wretched Man The spawn of baseness and the unmeasur'd span Of everlasting infancy be made Loves object Must th' Almighty's love be said To dwell in Man whose tongue cannot deliver The least of thanks unto so great a Giver Will the Sun-gazing Eagle that soars high Descend t' assist the web-infolded Fly Will he that hearkens with a willing ear To pleasing musick turn away to hear Confounding discords or will any woo A perjur'd enemy to come and go Into his Courts will any hand forbear To strike at him that labors to impair His worth and contumeliously upbraid His upright deeds Will he that is betray'd Affect the Trayor and with patience sue For reconcilement when as death is due All this blest Heav'n will do that he might place Vain man within the Covenant of Grace Consider man how often hath this Mirror Of pure affection woo'd thee from thine error Thou inconsiderate dust which every winde Can puff away how canst thou prove unkinde To such a Lover that delights to spin His bowels out to nourish thee within His milky bosom Shall his bounty crave Thy base acceptance Shall he be a slave To his own slaves Ah shall thy God implore And beg of beggars to receive his store Does he whom Heav'n and Earth cannot contain No nor the Heav'n of Heav'ns stoop down to gain Thy dull respects And ah wilt thou not raise Thy stupid Soul an inch to give him praise Thy fervent Prayers he always will admit Then how canst thou remember to forget A God so mindful How canst thou forbear To numerate his love without a tear How can thine eyes when thou observ'st the Sun Refuse to weep to see him daily run His painful Progress and rejoyce to greet The Earth with lustre to direct thy feet Thy sinful feet which every moment slide Into Rebellion loaded with thy pride How canst thou choose when thou behol'dst the ground Whereon thou tread'st but voluntary drown'd Thy self in briny flouds to think what care Indulgent Heav'n hath taken to prepare For thee before thou wert and how his hand Hath for thy profit fertiliz'd the Land How can thy rocky heart refuse to vent A stream of bloud when thou beholdst th'extent Of the unbounded Ocean how it hides Within the bosom of her swelling Tydes Diversities of Fish which live to seed Thy gulf of gluttony at time of need Uncloud thy thoughts O Man and thou shalt set He who ordained all these things for thee Created thee for him that thou mayst give The praise to him that lends thee leave to live Be serious Man consider how thou hast Converted all these blessings into waste Know that the great Edificer of things Furnisht thy Soul with Reason gave thee wings To fly above all mortals and hath crown'd Thy head with heaps of Honor and hath bound Inferior creatures prentice to thy will And this he did because thou shouldst fulfill Thy Gods Commands but thou that wert the best Hast made thy self more loathsome than the rest And by thy most derested deviation Abus'd thy glory of thy free Creation Though the Majestick Eagles will despise To be assistant to th' intangled Flies Yet Heav'n will from his lofty Throne descend And with a speedy cheerfulness defend The sons
Craving thy succour Where 's thy love become Because th' art deaf ah wu'dst thou have him dumb Or dost thou think because thy panch is fill'd He cannot hunger He that first distill'd Those mercies on thy head expects that thou Shouldst feed thy Brother with a cheerful brow Say not thou canst not give thy treasure's light But let thy heart record the widows mite So Heav'n will fill thy Cisterns to the brim And feed thy Soul because thou hast sed him Should the Grandfather of true Charity Pass by the gates and hear thee beg and cry And not relieve thee should he slight thy prayers And scorn to take a survey of thy tears Wouldst thou not grieve and pine thy self to dust And almost say thy God was much unjust To turn away his ears from thy complaint And disrespect thy pray'rs and let thee faint For want of food Ah whither wouldst thou fly To feed thy famish'd Soul should Heav'n deny But ah he cannot for his melting Soul Is always free and willing to condole The sad conditions of distressed Man Who only strives to do but what he can To contradict him yet he 'l hear our grief In multitudes of mercies lies relief When our impris'ned Souls peep throw the grates Of this corrupting Earth our God dilates Himself unto us and he sends us meat From the rich store-house of his lofty seat He hears and hearing pities pitying sends And sending blesses and with blessing ends Even as the Sun which every day surrounds The sublime Globe and pries into the bounds Of this dark Center let his Beams reflect Upon a Molehil with as much respect As on a Mountain for his glorious Beams Shine always with equivalent extreams Even so the great and powerful Three in One That sits upon his all-inlight'ning Throne Does not deny to let his mercy crown The poorest Peasant with as much renown As the most stateliest Emperor though he Invests his body with more dignity Yet he 's but earth and must at last decay For Prince and Peasant go the self same way Their earth must turn to earth their Souls return To him that gave them or for ever burn There 's no distinction one infused breath Made them alike and both must live in death Or everlasting life both must commence Divines in Heav'n there 's no preheminence But all equality all must express With equal Joy their equal Happiness Rouse up dull man and let thy wak'ned Soul Be vigilant oh let thy thoughts enroul The love of God engrave it in thy brest That his resounding tongue may read thee blest O let thy sighs like Pens and let thy tears Like Ink transcribe the Love th'indulgent cares Of thy Creator that himself may find Within th' unblotted volume of thy mind Himself recorded so will he imbrace Thy spotless Soul and fill thee with his grace Incline thine ears and let thâ— heart rejoyce To hear the strains of his harmonious voice Harken and thou shalt hear his Prophets sing Th' admired Mercies of the glorious King Thus saith the great and ever-living One That rules the heav'ns governs earth alone 43. Thus saith the Lord that takes delight to dwel Amongst his Saints that formed Israel Created Jacob let thy sorrows flee Out of thy brest I have redeemed thee 'T was I that made thy clouded visage shine And call'd thee by my Name for thou art mine I will be with thee when thy feet shall wade Thorow the waters I will be thy aid I le make thee walk through Rivers and the waves Shall prove ambitious to become thy slaves And when thou walkest through the raging fire Th' unruly flames shall not presume t' aspire Or kindle on thy garments I alone The Lord thy God and Israels holy One And thy dear Saviour that was always true Gave Aegppt Seba and Ethiopia too To ransome thee for thou wert my delight And always pretious in my gracious sight Honors were heapt upon thee and thou wert The tender love of my affecting heart Therefore even I that am well pleas'd will give People for thy dear sake that thou mayst live Fear not for I am with thee and I 'le stand In thy defence and my all-grasping hand Shall bring thy seed from the remotest places And fill thee with my satisfying graces 6. My tongue shall call unto the North and say Unto the South Give and they shall obey Bring from a far my Sons and Daughters all Hear my loud voice be active when I call 7 I have created them and I proclaim They shall be call'd and honour'd by my Name I 'le usher forth the blind and make them see The splendent Glories of my Majestie I le cure the deaf and make their hearts rejoyce To hear the Ecchoes of my warbling voice Thus hath our God unty'd the tongues and broke His Prophets lips thus have his Prophets spoke And wilt thou be O man so much obdure As not to credit him that will assure Perpetual happiness Thou canst not ask That which he cannot give do but unmask Thy shamefac'd Soul that so thou mayst discry Jehovahs mercies with a faithful eye Descant upon his promises advise With thy own thoughts let reason make thee wise Inspect thy self weigh well thy own condition And thou shalt find thou want'st a good Physitian To cure thy maculated Soul Alas Thou art like water stop'd up in a glass So weakly fortifi'd and fenc'd about That one weak knock soon lets the Pris'ner out Vain lump of vanity what can this Earth Afford thy thoughts more than a short-liv'd mirth A mirth that fills thee with deluding toys And like a Tyrant afterwards destroys Dot'st thou on Earth For what because her pleasure Can guild thy wanton eye because her treasure Can cram thy bags because her Syrens song Can ravish thee because her power can throng Thy Soul with luxury because her charms Can court thee with delight because her arms Can pleasingly imbrace thee and impost Thy heart with gold and lull thee when th' ast lost Thy self in sleep Is this the little All That this great World can boast of Must we call These things our pleasures No they 'l prove our Our golden Fetters and our silken Snares These are the Joys we love these are the things cares That make us fly with our Icarian wings Up to Ambitions Court and there presume To gaze so long until our waxen plume Dissolve with heat and like presumptuous slaves Tumble our selves into the raging waves Of speedy Ruine Ruine's all that we Must hope t' obtain from Earths base treasurie Let 's scorn her wealth and say O Earth thou art A painted Mistress with a rotten heart Let 's hate to love that we may love to hate Th'unconstant glory of her fickle state Even as the subtile Crocodile prepares Her flatt'ring heart and eye-commanding tears To woo her Prey to come within the power Of her command that so she may devour With more facility and make her jaws To
and love thy Name Make haste O God for I do waste My Soul with grief O God make haste Ejaculat. 70. Lord thou that underneath thy wing Didst keep me in and from the womb Assist my age that it may sing Thy praise in ages yet to come Preserve my Soul protect my name Shame be to them that seek my shame Ejaculat. 71. Great Prince of peace whose Kingdome brings Justice Redemption power and peace That bends the knees and hearts of Kings And fill'st all Nations with encrease All praises Honour Glory be Ascrib'd alone great Prince to thee Ejaculat. 72. O God whose dreadful Voice like Thunder Affrights the Earth and shakes the Air Whose Works and Ways are full of wonder That hear'st my plaints and grant'st my pray'r Forsake me not but when I stray O let thy Crook reform my way Ejaculat. 73. O thou whose mercy did begin Before all Time unty'd to Times As thou forgav'st our Fathers Sin Be likewise gracious to our Crimes Th' art now a God as well as then And we as they no more than men Ejaculat. 74. O God the Sion of my Soul Is wholly deso ate and waste Where thou shouldst rule my lusts controul O Lord relieve O God make haste Then shall my heart and tongue proclaim Eternal praises to thy Name Ejaculat. 75. Glorious Creator once more shine On this our poor distressed Land Defend and dress thy fading Vine And bless the man of thy right hand Let thy Free-grace inflame our hearts And we will sing thy praise in parts Ejaculat. 76. O God our Song our Strength whose hand Hath broke our Bonds and set us free Incline our hearts to thy Command And we will own no God but thee Conduct and feed us as thy Flock And give us honey from thy Rock Ejaculat. 77. Direct O God the Judges brest Preserve his handâ—s his eyes upright That he may vindicate th' opprest And guardhim from injurious might O let him know that he shall be As Judge of others judg'd by thee Ejaculat. 78. Lord cast thine eyes upon thy Foes Confound their Troops that are combin'd Against thy Flock which thou hast chose Make them like chaff before the wind Defeat their Plots with sudden shame That they may seek Jehovah's Name Ejaculat. 79. Lord teach mine Eyes my Will my Heart To see to choose and to desire Thy beauteous Courts wherein thou art O fill my thoughts with holy fire Be thou my Sun whose glorious Rayes May light my Soul to sing thy praise Ejaculat. 80. O God remit thy Peoples Sin And shew the Sun-shine of thy face Repress thy fury and begin T' inspire us with thy saving Grace That Righteousness and truth may meet And light our hearts and lead our feet Ejaculat. 81. Great Spring from whence all mercy flows To them that trust and love thy Name Give me thy strength and then my Foes Shall see thy greatness and their shame Be thou my Way my Truth my Light So shall I live and die upright Ejaculat. 82. Sim the glory of the Earth And subject of my holy Passion May all the Well-springs of my mirth Be founded upon thy foundation Of all delights I wish no other Than to be Son to such a Mother Ejaculat. 83. Lord let thy fury cease to burn Or else my Soul must cease to be Can praises issue from the Urn What thanks can ashes give to thee Enough if thou but undertake me Let death surprise let friends forsake me Ejaculat. 84. Lord thou whose mercy fails not those That build their trust upon thy Name Protect my Soul from all my Foes Then shall my tongue thy worth proclaim So shall the remnant of my days Be crown'd in Peace and thou with Praise Ejaculat. 85. Eternal God before whose Eyes A thousand years seem as a day Direct our hearts and make us wise To use that time we cannot stay Send joy in our sad hearts and bless Our prosperous actions with success Ejaculat. 86. Though thousands here ten thousand there Do daily fall before mine eye I will not faint I will not fear Beneath the wings of the most High Let me be guarded Lord by thee Then I 'le not fear nor faint nor flee Ejaculat. 87. Lord purge my Soul that I may learn To read my fortunes by thy hand Let my instructed Soul discern That worldly bliss is not thy brand Lord in thy Mercy make me thine I have enough shower thou or shine Ejaculat. 88. Great Monarch of the World disclose Thy Power and make thy Glory known Out-flood the floods of all my Foes And in my heart fix thou thy Throne Plant Holiness within my brest O Lord my strength O God my rest Ejaculat. 89. Just God of Vengeance cast an eye Upon my poor afflicted brest O send me help O hear my cry And let thy comforts be my rest Suppress my Foes and set me free That have no Hope no Help but thee Ejaculat. 90. Great God of Gods Great King of Kings From whom by whom we live we be In whom my Soul her triumph sings To whom alone bowes every knee Teach me thy way thy Will 's my Feast Thy Crook my Guide thy Fold my Rest Ejaculat. 91. Lord let our Jesus and thy Christ Be all the subject of our mirth Let Satans power be dismist And let him rule and judge the earth Then then Eternal Peace shall be Return'd to us and praise to thee Ejaculat. 92. Great King of Glory who art drest In Clothes of Clouds in Robes of Fire Make evil hateful to my brest Then shall I love thee most intire Then shall my bosome reap that light Which thou hast sown for the upright Ejaculat. 93. Great God of Wonders that dost ope The Gate of Life to our glad days And found'st a help beyond all hope O give us mouths to give thee praise So guide our ways just Judge that we May joyfully be judg'd by thee Ejaculat. 94. Great God whose promise is to hear Whose practise is to pardon Sin Let my petitions find an ear And cleanse my leprous Soul within Thou Lord art holy teach my heart To sing thy praises as thou art Ejaculat. 95. Eternal Maker grant that we May praise thee with a chearful heart Guide thou our ways and let us be The sheep where thou the Shepherd art For Lord thy truth is always sure And thy great Mercy shall endure Ejaculat. 96. Lord teach my heart to walk upright In publique rev'rence private fear Keep thou the humble in thy sight And to the proud be thou severe Then shall thy Saints in triumph show Thy Mercy and thy Justice too Ejaculat. 97. O God how poor a thing is man Begot in sin and born in sorrow Our breath 's a blast our life a span But here to day and gone to morrow How needfnl Lord is thy support Our days are bad our times are short Ejaculat. 98. O thou within whose tender brest Full streams of sweet compassion flow Whose Mercies cannnot be
away All darkness from thy Courts by night Bless us and them that they and we May bless thy name first blest by thee Ejaculat. 128. Let every wonder that I see In Heav'n and Earth and in the Seas Advance some honour Lord to thee That didst and canst do what thou please Let others worship wood and stone My Soul shall bless thee Lord alone Ejaculat. 129. Good God where e're I cast mine eye On Earth beneath or Heaven above I see thy goodness and I spy Perpetual pledges of thy love Thy favors through the world extend And of thy mercy is no end Ejaculat. 130. Lord if my tongue and busie quill Be not in Sions praise imploy'd Then let my hand forget her skill And be my tongue for ever ty'd Thy praise shall be my chief delight Whilst tongue can speak or hand can write Ejaculat. 131. Kindle O Lord my love with zeal Light my affections with thy flame Give my tongue courage to reveal The secret glory of thy name Be thou my God in all distress And let thy hand be my redress Ejaculat. 132. Lord thou that mad'st me and dost pry Into the secrets of my heart From whose all presence none can fly Nor hide them there but where thou art Inform my Soul inflame my brest And lead me to eternal Rest Ejaculat. 133. Lord keep me from my self that am The greatest Foe I need to fear O cover thou my face with shame And give my sins no dwelling here Subdue my flesh and then my spirit Shall sing the praises of thy merit Ejaculat. 134. Lord when my grief shall find a tongue To cry for help find thou an ear Whilst others seek to do me wrong Make thou O God my conscience clear In those self-snares they have prepar'd Let my insnarers be insnar'd Ejaculat. 135. When winter fortunes cloud the brows Of summer friends when eyes grow strange When plighted faith forget their vowes When Earth and all things in it change O Lord thy mercies fail me never Where once thou lov'st thou lov'st for ever Ejaculat. 136. Judge not my actions by the Laws For then my sorrows are but just But let thy mercies plead my â—â—â—se For in thy mercy is my trust Those that oppose my Soul oppose I am thy servant they thy foes Ejaculat. 137. What is there Lord what is in me To hope for safety from thy power What help can I expect from thee That merit vengeance every hour How great so e're my sins have bin Thy mercy's greater than my sin Ejaculat. 138. Great God whose Kingdome hath no end Into whose secrets none can dive Whose mercy none can apprehend Whose Justice none can feel and live What my dull heart cannot aspire To know Lord teach me to admire Ejaculat. 139. O Lord my Judgment 's dark and blind It cannot judge 'twixt good and ill My will is captiv'd and confin'd It wants a freedome how to will Great Lord of power great God of might Release my bands restore my sight Ejaculat. 140. Great God whose goodness doth repleat And fill our Coasts with full encrease That feed'st us with the fat of wheat And glad'st thy Sion with thy peace How more than others are our days Extreamly bound to give thee praise Ejaculat. 141. Shall frost and snow give praise to thee And shall my Soul not bear a part Lord frost and snow appear to be Not half so cold as is my heart Shine glorious Sun thy beams but felt My frost will thaw my snow will melt Ejaculat. 142. Great God to whom all praise belongs Whom Sion fings and Israel fears O stop those lusts that stop our tongues And fright thy glory from our ears Do thou enlarge what flesh retains And bind those Kings our lusts in chains Ejaculat. 143. Lord season my unsavory sprite And bridle my too head-strong will That I may always take delight In acting good and shunning ill O give me grace to understand My life is always in thy hand Ejaculat. 144. Direct my steps Lord be my way And make thy paths my sole delight That like a traveller I may Not fail to rest with thee at night O me how happy and how blest Lord should I be in such a Rest Ejaculat. 145. Lord let the morning of my grief Find out a night of lasting pleasure Thou art the God of my relief In poverty thou art my treasure I care not Lord how poor I be Unto the world if rich to thee Ejaculat. 146. Lord let thy sacred fire thaw The Ice of my hard-frozen zeal And let thy will be my known Law So shall my heart thy worth reveal And with a halalujous Song My tongue shall praise thee all day long Ejaculat. 147. Great King of Peace be pleas'd to send Thy peace to our distemper'd Land O we are bad reach us t' amend And let not ruine be our brand Then shall our lavish lips deliver Our thanks in Peace to our Peace-giver Ejaculat. 148. If it be so that we must fight Lord make our crimes to prove our Foes For thou our God dost take delight To see such pleasant Wars as those O may such wars as these encrease Until our conquests end in Peace Ejaculat. 149. Lord let the praises of thy Power Advance the power of thy praises Let every day let every hour Praise thee till hours fail and days To thee all power and praise be given By Saints on Earth by Souls in Heaven THE END Isa * Psal 81. 16.