IMPRIMATUR. March 30th. 1693. Guil. Lancaster. DIVINE AND MORAL DISCOURSES ON Divers Subjects. LONDON; Printed for Samuel Keble at the Turks Head in Fleetstreet, 1693. TO THE QUEEN. Madam, THese Papers are Humbly Dedicated to Your Majesty, by Your Majesties Dutiful and Obedient Subject The Contents. 1. OF the Christian Religion page. 1 2. Of the Benefits of Patience in particular page. 6 3. Of Divine Love. page. 8 4. Of Mortification. page. 11 5. Of Charity. page. 15 6. Of Humility. page. 19 7. Of Prudence. page. 28 8. Of the Advantages of the Great in respect of Religion and it's Rewards. page. 42 9. Of true Wisdom. page. 53 10. Of a Virtuous Obstinacy. page. 67 11. Of Peace. page. 70 12. Of Contemplation and the Active Life. page. 74 13. Of Prayer. page. 82 14: Of the many and Contradicting Christianities in Christendom. page. 87 15. Prayers. page. 89 16 Thanksgiving. page. 92 Short Expressions of Comfort. HE who loves Beauty, and to be beloved again; let him love God, who is the greatest Beauty and the greatest Lover. He who loves riches, let him love God, who is an Infinite Treasure of riches. He who is Ambitious, and loves honour, let him love God the Fountain of honour. He who loves pleasure, let him love God, at whose right hand there are pleasures for evermore, and who is himself an Infinite Fountain of Joy. He who loses his Soul, has lost all. He who secures his Soul, has secured all. One moment in Heaven will satisfy for all that we have suffered on earth. The condition on which the happiness of Heav●n is promised us, is, that we will be happ● on earth, by living according to virtue. God will protect us, and support us, and reward us, in his own Service. None are Wise, or Great, or Happy, but the virtuous. Virtue is a Nobler thing then a Crown. Nothing is wit or parts, but virtue and happiness, and nothing so dull, and stupid, and weak, as 'vice, and misery, let the man be nere so pert, or nere so grave. Nothing can befriend us but virtue, Nothing can touch or hurt us but sin. A good life is the best sense in the world; and 'vice is the greatest incense and irreason in nature. Of the Christian Religion in general. 'TIS certain there is nothing so charming, so advantageous as the practise of the Christian Religion, while it secures to us all the comforts of this Life, and of that to come; that purifies our Bodies, and adorns our Souls, that raises our Hope, and inflames our Love, and rejoices our Faith, and banishes Despair by the infinite Love and Mercy of the Holy Trinity, that attends this holy practise, which disperses our Sorrows and aaverts our Griefs, but swells our Joys, and inflames our triumph, and chafes our Hope, and descends the Angels, and mixes Heaven with human Life, and drowns the World in a Deluge of Joys, and an Ocean of Comforts, overflowing all with unspeakable satisfactions and pleasure. If unspeakable joys can Charm, if everlasting hopes can move, if ecstasies as long as Eternity and endless Rapture can prevail with us to love our own happiness, and befriend our own Beings, we cannot choose but be in love with Religion, and charmed with Virtue, the sure means of so much triumph, and such large Joys, that are bigger then our Notions, and stretch themselves over all Eternity, and hold out as long as God: And now what can we wish for more then Religion assures us of? if happiness can provoke us, here it is to be had; if our own desires can satisfy us, here we shall enjov them and more, there is nothing that's pleasant or profitable but shall flow in upon us in the fullest measures, and overflow our souls for ever. The most unbounded fancy will find itself exceeded by Religion, which gives beyond what that can imagine, and surpasses it's most heated desires, and instead of contracting, it enlarges our desires, and gives them more than satisfaction; it entertains our reason with just and equal Objects, and feeds it with rational and proper satisfactons, and always keeps in it's view, that which is luscious, great and divine, pure and Noble, firm and Everlasting; in Religion no labour shall be lost, no sorrow shall be able to oppress us, no pleasure shall abuse us, no vanity ensnare us, but we shall be wise for ourselves, and wise for ever, we shall be useful to others by the greatest charity of our devotions, if we are poor, and by the lesser charity of our alms too, if we are rich; we shall be always employed to the height of our beings, and exert the perfection of our Natures, and act above them in the Elevations of Grace. None of our actions shall be lost, or recoil with mischief upon us, we shall be strangers to the confusions that attend on pride, and escape the Storms of passion, and the racks of Envy, and the disgraces of Lust, and the toils, and the labours, and the precipices; and after all the folly of Ambition, and a Sad, a foolish, and an empty Greatness; and sit down in the peace, and wisdom, and quiet, and joys, and security, if not in the transports of a fair, an easy, and a wise happiness at present, and a ravishing hope that can't be described but by uneasy joys, and furies of happiness, and convulsions of pleasure, and Agonies of delight. And now who can employ his labours wisely any where else? where the income is no less then Infinite, and Eternal, in which Angels assist, and attend him; that Cloud of glorious Witnesses, who fan the Toils of the Confessors and Martyrs, and the Labours of the lapsed and the Penitent, with the brightest Joys, and peaceful Whispers. And whither should we now go for Happiness, but to Religion, the Mother of Satisfactions and Content, the Parent of Delight and Hope, of present Joy and future Immortality. Of the Benefits of Patience in particular. WHoever considers the vast and eternal Rewards that are proposed in the other Life, will soon be persuaded to believe, that all we can suffer in this Life is easy and little, joined with the Assistances that are given us from Heaven for our support, and if we consider that we suffer for him who is Infinitely Beautiful, and loves as infinitely, and is infinitely Glorious, and is infinitely able to make us happy, and in finitely willing, our very miseries will be luscious and charming, and our Sufferings will be drowned in Joys unspeakable and full of Glory. 'Twill be pleasant to suffer for so much Beauty, and his Will will always be charming, and his Love will always charm us: now whatever we do or suffer for an infinite Beauty, and an infinite Love, cannot be without transports and ecstasies; the feigntings of Love, that turns all into joy and ravishment, into peace and consolation and the bigger joy will drown the lesser misery; the visits of Love, and the eruptions of Heaven, and the kindness of the supreme Beauty, breaking in upon the Soul, will make every thing unspeakably charming and triumphant, such as no human Joys can equal, nor all the World is able to purchase; such as the Caesars never knew, nor the bloody Conqueror ever tasted, but such as the Martyrs have felt, and the Confessors enjoyed, and have confessed they were greater then their pains, and harder to bear, and some of them have died of Love and Joys, who survived all their torments and outlived their pains, but Love was stronger then Death, and overcame Life and it to, and carried them on its Flames to Eternal Triumphs and Glory, to behold that beauty face to face, whom they loved so much, and whose enjoyment they sought through Flames and Death, and at last obtained through the Interest of miseries and death, the unspeakable advantages that attend on Sufferings and Patience in a Religion that's lavish of Crowns and Rewards, and scatters sceptres, and Palms, and everlasting Glories amongst them that resist unto blood striving against Sin. Of Divine Love Nothing but Love can writ of Love, 'tis all experience and joy, transport and Obedience, it comes from God, and returns to God, the Sovereign Beauty, the Infinite Lover, the source of happiness, and bounty, 'tis the height and quintessence of Religion, the happiness of Angels, that that made the Worlds, and preserves them from ruin, that created, redeemed, and sanctified Mankind; that Makes Religion Charming, and Duty pleasure, and Obedience Liberty; that refines the soul, and purifies the body, the great Enemy of hypocrisy and Rebellion, that that makes us Noble and sincere, humble and Great, easy, resolute, and Constant, that inflamed the Martyrs, and preserved the Confessors, 'tis that heaven that waits not for death, but mingles with this mortal life, and comes down upon it in showers of transport and illapses of joy, and tumulous uneasy happinesses, that rend us with their greatness, that are fierce and violent, and act like Pangs and Agonies, and the Face of Heaven is covered with Tempests while the joy is too great for a Calm, and ferments into Storms and Violence. Oh Sacred Passion! Oh Divine Pain! Oh sweetest Pleasure! food of Angels! reward of Martyrs! consolation of the humble! how shall we be satisfied with thy delights! when shall we be transformed into thee! when we have found thee, we have found Heaven, when we enjoy thee, we enjoy all things, even God himself; for God is Love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him; he is ravished with Beauty, and filled with Love, and satisfied with Knowledge, and desires nothing more, but to love and suffer more for the infinite Beloved, to be always doing that that pleases him most and to be humble to the utmost, because, that pleases him most to adore his Beauty, and to imitate his Love, and to know his Will, and to perform it with ardour, and to hate his own, and to love Mankind, who bears the Image of the Infinite Beloved, and is still longing for the Beatifick and Eternal Vision, that grasps in it all Happiness, and draws after it all Joys, where millions of Angels are fixed in an everlasting ecstasy, and gaze, and love out eternal Ages, singing Hallelujahs, and Glory, and Love, to the Sovereign Beauty for ever and ever. Of Mortification. LEt no man pretend to love Pleasure that does not love the practise of Mortification, both of Body and Mind, hence the Health, hence the Purity, hence the Beauty and the Joy of both. By this we conquer Earth, in order to the conquest of Heaven, by this we conquer ourselves first, and then our Enemies, by it we resind all that's foolish and mischievous in the World, the oppressions of Gluttony, and the deluges of Intemperance, and the vanity of Pride, and the unreasonableness of Covetousness, and the paleness of Envy, and the stupidity of Cunning, and the losses of Dishonesty, and the poverty of Oppression. It sets us quiter above this World and all that's mortal or corruptible; and in order to clear the way to a firm, and pure, and lasting Happiness, it cuts off all the falsest Pretences to it, as Lust, and Ambition, Luxury, and Power, and fixes it in that that is spiritual and everlasting, fitted to the greatness and duration of the Soul, in Divine Love and Devotion, in Chastity, and forgiving injuries, in humility and a true Ambition, in Wisdom and Goodness, in Temperance and Generosity, in Patience and Crowns, in Faith and Everlasting Kingdoms, and makes us greater then Caesars or Consuls, and gives us better triumphs, and chafes us to nobler Conquests; by it the Soul is raised to its true Glory, made wise and strong, noble and clean, active and ambitious, humble and great, discerns, pursues, and overtakes its interest, and seizes on Eternal Glories. And whoever considers the emptiness of the things of this World, how false and uncertain, how trifling and vain, how disappointing and sad, will soon be convinced that he can employ his time in nothing more advantageous then in subduing the Follies and Miseries of the World, and retrenching all that's hurtful to the Body and Soul, and bringing each to their proper nourishment and stint, and in effect, Mortification is nothing else but a cutting off whatever is a hindrance or an enemy to our true Happiness, and where is the harm or the loss in all this? by Temperance we cut off Dropsies and Fevers, and almost the whole list of Distempers, that wait on our follies, and punish our excesses by Humility, the storms and the rages of an incensed Pride, that's torn with affronts, and racked with contempt, and rive the miserable man that's subject to the merciless and Cruel distemper; and he that's loving and kind, escapes the whips and snakes of Envy, and consuming Malice, that live upon the blood, and feed on the very Vitals, and consume the spirits, and fret him into a Skelliton and vex him to a Ghost. By Chastity we escape the Convulsions, the pollutions, the disgraces, and the distempers of Lust, that Wars against the Soul that Enemy of it's Crown and Glory, that subdues its beauty, and darkens it's faculties, and clogs it's soar, and conceals Heaven, and overcasts the glorious prospect, and sullies all it's bright designs, that turns the Soul into body, and the body into Beast; and to conclude, Mortification, by which I mean that of the Soul as well as that of the body, is the removal of every misery, and the Introduction of every Joy. Of Charity. WHoever is a Lover of himself, must be a Lover of this duty, that in the end tends so much to our own interest, tho that ought not to be our design; while I become my Brothers friend, I render God mine, and Heaven, and everlasting kingdoms are the unspeakable Rewards of a charitable Religion, and he, who will not practise this duty, is resolved to do nothing for himself, that is, he is resolved to manage his Interests without the blessing of God, or the assistance of his Neighbours, he will neither do good nor receive good, he forsakes the interest of Mankind, and is forsaken of Mankind, he will act by himself, and perish by himself, he will take care for one, and will be that one, the World will take no care at all of. He has rejected the best Principle in Nature or Religion, that which makes Heaven and Earth happy, that by which the Angels are Angels, and that for want of which Devils are Devils, he has separated himself from the whole Creation, and excluded himself from the common Providence of the World, he has broken out from Society, and that Commonwealth, that ties the World, and sits a single Creation and Government by himself, and will prosper only from himself, and by himself, without any regard to a common good, or a mutual assistance, he has divested himself of all the Sentiments of a tender Humanity, and of that Love, without which no Man can be happy. But the Charitable Man on the other hand is good and happy as an Angel, is acted by Heaven and Love, and differs little from the Angels, as he was made but a little lower than they, and comes as near the life of Heaven, as a mortal Body will let him, and acts by that principle which alone gives Happiness to Mankind; he loves, and while he does so, is obliged to be happy, and his Soul is charmed with the brightest pleasures, and the purest Joys, and over flows with that passion, that is itself very joy, and the very life and heaven of the Soul, its greatest duty and its greatest reward; 'tis more than ease and peace, 'tis positive happiness, and a substantial pleasure, that makes every thing delightful and entertaining, that's good or innocent, and in that degree we converse with it, we converse with Heaven, and have reached all the Perfection our Souls are capable of in this Life, for there is nothing higher or happier than Love, for God himself is that excellent thing, by it he created and rules the World, and wherever it is in its full perfection, there is Heaven; this the Angels experience in their ministries here below, while they come down with breasts flaming with Charity and Love, bringing their Heaven with them, that is a boundless love to God and Man. Of Humility. HUmility is the Foundation of Religion, the Pillar of Virtue, the security of a good Life, the Duty and the Wisdom of a Man, the terror of the Devil, the restorer of the human Nature, and the great Example of the Son of God. This is it restores the broken Penitent, and and recovers the lapsed, and secures the Faithful, that puts Temptations to Flight, and the Tempter too, that charms the Angels, and is admired by Men, and pleads with God, and obtains Heaven, and rescues from Eternal ruin. Is any Man Ambitious? Let him be Humble, and he shall be as great as he can desire: O may the same mind be in us all, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, for which God also hath highly exalted him, there is nothing truly Great, but Humility, or truly mean, and despicable, and little, but Pride: though Humility descend to the bottom of the lowest valleys, yet it rises to the utmost bounds of the everlasting Hills, crowning the Penitent and the Confessor with eternal Wreaths of Glory, and the Valley of tears becomes fruitful and glorious as the Garden of Eden, and from the River of Tears that issues thence, is the whole World refreshed. Whoever would be truly wise, let him be truly humble and he shall be so. Whoever would be truly happy, let him be truly humble, and he shall be so. Whoever would be secure from all evils spiritual and temporal, let him be truly humble, and he shall be so; let him that loves peace love humility, for from pride only cometh War; it avoids all things, it obtains all things, it guards, it comforts, it releives, it strengtheners, and gives Palms and Crowns. The Angels wait upon't, and before it fly Legions and Millions of the Evil Spirits. Heaven is always open to it, and by it the vast ascent is rendered easy and safe, and the dangerous road of life, secure. The Eye, and the favour, and the Light of the countenance of God is always upon't, to rescue, to cherish, and to Crown all its sufferings, and contempts, and labours, it's persecutions and toils from the folly and the wickedness of men and Devils, and secures it's road to eternal Kingdoms, and to the flaming Courts of Glory, and to him, who for the joy that was set before him, and for our Salvation, endured the across, despising the shane, and is now set down at the right hand of God, and in the Majesty of the Father, exalting that nature of ours in which he humbled himself above Heaven and Earth, and at whose Name the whole Creation bows. If this duty of humility were in it's full practise in the world, how great would be the peace of Mankind, how would Storms and Wars cease, Ambition and Revenge sleep, and the rage of the conqueror, and the terrors of the Invader: This one Virtue would supply the use of Laws, and the necessity of Sanctions, would take away the Judge and the Executioner, the Officer, and an untimely death, the Oppressor and the Tyrant, and Peace and Love would administer the World, and Umpire all the differences in it, and Furv would be no more; nor the Shield, nor the Sword, nor the Battle. The Tyrant and the Virgin, the Conqueror and the Infant, the King and the Helpless would Sit down in equal strengths and security, and the power of the Strong would be the guard and protection of the Weak, and the defence of the helpless and of the trembling Maid. To this duty would be owing all the happinesses and joys of friendship, and an unbroken Love of Mutual Offices, and Rival Services, which are all interrupted, broken, and disper'st by the quarrels, and exceptions of Pride, and an unsociable Honor, and a Malancholy Ambition, and by a Peevish Solitary Haughtiness, which is the bane of Society and happiness, and of all that's innocent or cheerful in the World. By it the Trumpet and Alarm, would be turned into the Pipe, and the Tabret, and the Harp; and the Shrieks of the Slain, and the Groans of the Battle, into the Songs of Virgins, and the Smiles of Peace. And the Panther would be a Lamb, and the Consul and the Admiral would quit the Seas and the Field, and cat the Bread of Peace, and drink the Wine of Love. And Armies would disperse, and Fleets would serve the Merchant, for want of Cruel and Ambitious Leaders, of Luxemburgs and Tourvils, of Catanetts and Destrees. To Humility would be owing all the Ease of Life, and undifficulty of living happy, for Humility would add Greatness and Content, to that condition which the haughty Man can't live on, 'twould make us always thankful and Glad, and to find rest every where, and turn the Painful soar, and the weary climb into the easiness of a descent, and a Fall that's received on a Bed of Down, 'twould make the Servant as happy as the Lord, and by how much the more contented, by so much the happier. And in that degree that Ambition racks the mind, and Pride makes every thing troublesone and uneasy, in the same degree does Humility make all quiet and easy, and gives sleep to the Soul that was tortured with Ambition, and burst with Pride. It fixes the Man in his Condition, and he seeks no farther, he would for his ease fall yet lower, but for a Crown would not rise higher, if he is constant to his wisdom and his happiness, and virtue. And there he safely beholds, and at a secure distance, the Rises and the Falls of the Ambitious man, his Rocks, his precipices, and his plunges, now hanging on the top of the craggy Precipice, then losing his desperate hold falling down head long into the Abyss and bottom of infamy and despair, there wallowing in his ruin. It makes all safe and firm about us as there is nothing lower, so there is nothing securer; 'tis even and constant, and as it has no floods, so it has no ebbs, 'tis a happiness equally diffused over the face of life, and above all other duties of Religion most secures to us the Favour and the protection of God, and is most remarkable in the Example, and precepts, and life of Christ, who descended from the highest Glory, to the lowest condition of human nature; he himself has set us the vast copy, and has lived before us that we should follow his Example and rewards, and what can Kings or Emperors do greater then follow so great a Leader, him by whom both the worlds were made, and was above all sceptres and Purples, and yet took upon him the Form of a servant, and made himself of no reputation, and humbled himself even to the death of the across, who at the same time thought it no robbery to be equal with God. And what greater example can they propose to themselves, and after his authority, what can be judged so truly great, as to be truly Humble, and like the Infinite Jesus, who taught us by his life, and bought us with his death, who laid aside all his Glory and all his happiness for the salvation of man, and Oh that Mankind that was redeemed and saved with so much humility and condescension, would imitate the great Example, and that none would think that mean, that was made great in the life of the Holy Jesus, and was the great Assistant towards our Salvation. Of Prudence. THis is so necessary a Virtue, that without it all the other Virtues will quickly whither and decay, 'tis the Strength, and Band, and Guard, and Overseer of all the other virtues, without it we shall but do and undo, and Imprudence will put us as far back, as Zeal will set us forward. And here I shall relate a famous passage of Antony the famous Hermit of Egypt, that Angel of the Desert, and of whom St. jerome writes with so much praise, and so much admiration, while he himself for four years together lead that life, accompanied only by Angels and wild Beasts, and Prayers, and Fasts, and Hymns, and sacred Books, and probably had spent his whole life in those Deserts of Syria, whither he retired from the world, to live in a clearer view of Heaven, and in stronger Contemplations of virtue, and safer from the incursions and Devastations of the Enemy the world, and in a closer fellowship with Angels, had not the Arrian Inquisitors forced him from his Retreat, and from those Quires of Angels with which he says, he sometimes though thimself surrounded, and disturbed his peaceful Empire, and his lonesome Reign. The passage is this, Many Holy Men assembled themselves once at the Cell of great Anthony, to advice with him what were the most efficacious and secure means to arrive at the perfection of a Holy Life, and a complete Virtue and Happiness: and when the debate had lasted from Evening almost to Morning, each discoursing earnestly and long on the subject, in ordder to discover the shortest and the safest road to happiness and an entire Virtue, and when each had delivered his different judgement, one Judging it chiefly to consist in fasting and watching, while by these means the mind being purified, and cleansed, and raised, it might the more easily unite itself to God, others placed it in an entire throwing off the World, and all its interests, and cares, and interruptions, that so the mind being loose and disengaged from those clogs and impediments, that hang like weights about her and keep her down from her true happiness, may with a quicker flight, and a freer soar reach itis longed for happiness and perfection. Others the desert, and an immense Solitude, and the Sacred Horrors of the Wilderness, and an unbroken Silence, where the Soul has nothing else to do, but seize directly on its happiness, by strong and perfect Contemplations, by pure and constant prayer, and an uninterrupted Holiness, and a Heaven broken in upon Life, cleared from all the storms and shipwrecks, the dangers and the impertinencies, the cruel miseries and more cruel pleasures, the false joys and the sincere sorrows, of a miserable, uncertain, and confused world, thatis made up of noise, and show, and ruin. Others said it lay chiefly in Charity and good Works, and that our Saviour seems in a manner to appropriate the kingdom of Heaven to the practise of this Duty, and when most of the night had been spent in delivering their several Judgments, on this great subject, Intulit demum Beatus Antonius, at last the Blessed Antony, the Angel of the desert began, I grant says he, that all those things you have named are not onely Good and Holy, but also highly necessary to be practised by all that seek the Glories of the other World, but the many miscarriages, and the sad and mournful ruin of many great Men formerly and lately, and within our own knowledge will no way allow me to give any of them the chief place on this occasion, for have we not known several that after having exceeded in these duties, that have fasted themselves to Skellitons, and having given themselves wholly up to prayer and to watching, even to the exceeding the powers of Nature, to Hymns and Praises, and reached the utmost Perfection of Humanity, and Charity, that they were the wonder and admiration of all Men, and a Glorious Spectacle to Angels and to Men, yet all of a sudden, and to the Terror and Horror of the desert; we have seen them after so long and glorius a Course, after the Labours, and the Improvements, and the Victories, and the Wonders of so many years, when we had reverenced them as Angels, whose Lives they had so nearly copied, and who seemed to us, to be at the same time in Heaven and the body too, yet by horrid and miserable delusions, and by the stratagems of the subtle and Invisible Enemy, all of a sudden, thrown down from the heights of Glory and Happiness, to the very bottom and Abyss of Ruin and loss, and the Glorious Life that had been carried on for so many years, and with so much admiration, and even to a very old age by some,( Witness Old Heron the Hermit, the Glory and the Horror of this desert, whom you have all admired and wept) extinguished in a hideous and an amazing death, all blotted and spoiled by miserable delusions, and the wil●ss of the dark and execrable Foe. Therefore the way to discover what that is that best promotes, and perfects, and Secures our Religion and Passage to God and a better World, is to find out the cause of the ruin and miscarriage of these Great Men. 'tis certain that the want of discretion alone was the utter loss and ruin of them, which directs us always to keep the middle path, and avoid extremes of both hands, not to exceed in Virtue itself, or go too fast to Heaven itself, but to do Justice to Nature and the Body, which else, one time or other, will have their Arrears in the excesses of a scandalouss intemperance and Debauch, in miserable libertinism, and excursions from the former strictness and severity of life; nor of the other hand, under the pretence of doing Justice to the body, and the demands of Nature, to lash out into excess and riot, Discretion is that which in the Gospel is called the Eye and the Light of the body, which our Saviour says, if it be single the whole body shall be full of light, but if evil the whole shall be full of darkness, for this being the Guide and Director of all our actions, if it been't forcified with a true judgement and an exact Wisdom, the whole Man shall be overrun with error and 'vice, for itself being dark and blind, it necessary follows that all that depends upon it's directions, must be subject to the utmost ruin and miscarriage, to this purpose, and with the approbation of all, spake the incarnate Angells, who was well verst in all the various arts of Satan to ruin Virtue, and to overset a well-meaning, but an imprudent Zeal and Religion. Thus spake he, who had grappled with him alone for so many Years together in the dreadful conflicts of the desert, who had observed all the turnings, and windings of the Serpent, and who was thoroughly skilled in the policies and strength of the adversary; and whoever considers the Nature of Religion, and the designs of the Enemy, and his own weakness, will quickly allow that there is nothing to be done, that will last long, and endure to the end, without the utmost assistance of this Virtue of Prudence, that must at the same time oversee the work of Religion, and keep an Eye on the Enemy, thatis always attacking us with stratagem and force, with Power and Address, and has made such miserable Breaches in the greatest Men, that seemed to be the Forts and Bulwarks of Religion, how has he powered in Ruin upon them, on the first discovery of a weak place, and the works that were so long a rearing, and with so much pains carried of, on a sudden demollisht and thrown down, or so miserable shattered, and broken, that nothing but the Infinite Mercy and Goodness of God, whose Compassions never fail, and of whose Goodness there is no end, could ever repair them again, and who is always ready to the assistance and deliverance of those Faithful Souldiers that fight Manfully in his service, tho they fall they shall not be cast away, for the Lord supporteth and raiseth them with his pitty, yea even as a Father pities his own Son. But a spiritual prudence with the assistance of the Spirit of God would have prevented the wound, and fore bruise, and the sad fall, would have kept the happy Man, still happy in an uninterrupted joy, in a clear view of Heaven, and in the direct road to it: a Holy Prudence would have prevented the labours and the sorrows, the travail and the Throes of a bitter repentance, that's like the setting of a broken arm, or a hard Escape after a shipwreck, or the condition of the Man in the gospel, that was left half deaad on the road by the Highway-men, we can not be too circumspectly against our own weakness, and against the wariness and strength of the Enemy, who is always awake, and projecting, and acting, who never grudges us his malice or his pains, who always stands in the dark to us, and we in the light to him, who has the parts of an Angel, and the wickedness of what he is, whose skill in holy things is great, and use of them execrable, while he played the Scriptures against Jesus and battered him, as it were, from Heaven, and no doubt but he often takes our ruin too out of the Scriptures, who have not that infinite presence of mind to answer and stun him, that Jesus, who is God blessed for ever, had, who thundered upon him out of the same Scriptures, which he had polluted and desecrated by quoting 'em to such desperate and infernal purposes; and our Holy Saviour, our Infinite Friend, the Captain of our Salvation, the Great Leader and General of the Christians, seems to have given way to the Tempter, only to instruct and discipline his Souldiers in the Arts of foiling him, to teach them how to grapple with the Powers of Darkness, and to return Scripture for Scripture, and while he endeavours to poison us out of the very Fountains of Life, to give him of the same Waters till he burst, and to assert their Holy meaning while he debauches them with his Gloss, and while he is flying the fiery Darts at us, to cut him down with the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying always with all Prayer and Supplication in the Spirit, and crying out to the God of Help, who is mighty to save, and who views the Battle, and pities our wounds, and binds them up himself with the Bowels of a Father, and then Crowns us with Garlands and Joys, with laurels and Glory; and when we have sufficiently sweated and bled, translates us to Palaces and everlasting kingdoms, where the Martyr bleeds no more, and where the secret and unprais'd Labours of the Confessor are divulged and crowned, in the presence of myriad of flaming Spirits, who congratulate his humble and vanquished miseries, while the glorious Martyr ascended to Heaven, born up by Acclamations and Triumph, and had a quicker passage into the Bosom of Glory, and the Mansions of Rewards, and to the General of his Salvation, who saw him fighting and dying in his Cause, and expireing under the Banner of the across, and deputed Angels to receive and conduct his Glorious Soul to lyre and Triumph for ever in the kingdoms of Glory. Of the Advantages of the Great, in Respect of Religion and its Rewards. WHen I consider the Glorious and Immortal Rewards of virtue and Religion, I cannot but conclude them happiest, who are in the best circumstances for obtaining,( by the Goodness and Mercy of God) the largest share of them, such as Kings and Princes, and those who act in the most eminent Stations under them, whose Examples may turn Millions to Righteousness, and themselves shine as the Stars for ever and ever, for setting the happy Example by the Grace of God given them, without which no man whatsoever can live, or move, or have his Being, as a Christian. What shall I say of Theodosius the Emperor, and to what shall I equal his Glory, and his Life, so full of Triumph and wonders, who was perfect Emperor, and perfect Hermit; right Ancient Roman, and right Primitive Christian: Claudian says he was too much beloved of Heaven, and that the Winds and the Seas were confederate to his Glory, and better Historians than a Poet say, the Stars in their courses fought against his Enemies, and that the Winds blew under his Banners, and served under him in Storms, and swept the Foe, like that ancient River of Kishon. He was in Battle like a destroying Angel, and in private Fasted and Prayed like a Saint. The following Memoir of him, if not authentic, yet is very entertaining. 'Tis said a certain Hermit had lived forty years in the desert, retired wholly from the World, and applying himself with great care and earnestness to the salvation of his Soul, a desire at length entered into his mind to know if any exceeded him in humble Mortification, whereupon he desired God to reveal it to him, that he might follow his Example and 'twas answered him that the Emperor Theodosius, notwithstanding that he was Master of the greatest Glory in the World, was not inferior to him in Humility, or in overcoming himself. The Hermit with this answer, repaired to the Imperial Court, where he had easy access to the Courteous and Religious Emperor, to whom the Servants of God, such as were famous for sanctity of life, were always welcome, not long after he found means to speak to him, and to know his secret Religious Life, and his Holy Exercises. At first he only acquainted him that he gave large Alms, that he kept under his Body by discreet austerities, that he observed Matrimonial Chastity, and that he caused Justice to be distributed exactly. These things seemed well to the Hermit, especially in so great a Man, but still humbly thought he had gone as far himself, if not farther; for he had renounced all, and given away all he possessed for the sake of Christ, which he thought was more then to give part in Alms, he never knew woman in his life, which he thought was more then the observance of Conjugal Chastity, he never did injury or injustice to any, which was more than to cause it to be kept towards others, his abstinence from what ever was pleasant or delightful, was continual and uninterrupted, which he modestly judged was then to abstain and mortify at certain times, so that something unsatisfied at this account, he humbly importuned the Emperor to conceal nothing from him, and that it was the Divine will he should do so, the Emperor thus importuned, said to him. Know then that when I assist at the Horse Courses, and other Entertainments in the Circus where my presence is expected, I so withdraw my mind from those glorious vanities, and Enemies of true happiness and wisdom, that though my Eyes be open, and I seem to look on them, yet I see them not, but employ myself inwardly and secretly in the midst of so much show and noise, and vanity, and Crowd, on objects much greater and happier, and that exceed all the vain and melancholy noise, & glory, and show of this World; with Glories and Happinesses which the giddy and uncertain People neither gave me nor can take from me, and when their Entertainments are at an end, mine are not, but rather increased and enlarged, by the removal of those Enemies of true Joy and Happiness. The Hermit remained astonished at this sort of desert, and at this sort of Mortification, which he readily granted was beyond all his life, and any thing he could pretend to. Know also said the Emperor that I live by my Labour, for I transcribe certain parchments in a fair hand, which being sold the price pays for my food. With this Example of Poverty in the midst of so great riches, and such Temperance in the midst of so much affluence, that under Purples and Empire, and all the Labours and triumphs of the war, and the harder trials of a soft, and treacherous, a luxurious, and dispiriting Peace, he wore the hardships and poverty, the necessities and humility of a private man. The Hermit was perfectly amazed, and satisfied that the Throne stood as near Heaven as the desert, and that the wondrous Emperor and he, were about the same business. The Truth of all this in substance is affirmed to us by the best accounts of this Great Man, who was Good and Courteous as a Seraphim, Humble and Austere, as this or any other Hermit. If he surpassed this wondrous Inhabitant of the desert, and at the same filled all the duties of an Emperor, a Father and a General, who shall doubt to prefer this Man, this Master and Servant, this Lord and Vassal of Mankind, that sweats and bends under the weight of a Crown, and at the same time toils in all the duties of a private Christian, to the lonesom Man, that converses only with Angels and tigers, and eats with the wild Ass and the Leopard, and sleeps with the Serpent, and watches with the Stars, tho he were paler than the Moon, or leaner then an Italian Harlot, or humble as his Cell, or constant to his Duty as the Rock he lives in to his place, or roared in his Repentance, like the Waves of the neighbouring Sea, in its hollow bottom: For still he saves and serves but one, and is undisturbed as the lion of die Wilderness, that never hears the roar of the Hunter, and beholds he Storm from his Cave in which the World is torn and driven, where he sleeps and wakes like an Inhabitant of another World, while the Prince and the public Man, the Emperor and the King toil for the preservation of the World, and ride Admirals in the Storm, and set their Faces against the Tempest and the Winds, and their hands to the Helm; and while the Hermit is saving his single stake, they are toiling for all Mankind, and are ready to perish themselves to save the World, and the innumerable passengers committed to their care, and if the Hermit preys for the whole World which he has wholly forsaken, so does the Emperour or the Queen, and works in the Storm too, which the Hermit does not, that's departed, hugging his Plank, and triumphing in a single Salvation; while his Brethren are sinking in the Ship he has quitted, and which perhaps his help would have saved. Surely Kings and Queens are they, who by turning many to righteousness shall themselves shine like the Stars for ever and ever, they shall rise like the Martyrs from the toils and the labours of Empire, to eternal Crowns, and everlasting kingdoms, to Reign and Triumph in earnest, whereas on Earth they were but as the Servants of Mankind, and Ministers of the common Good, they were glorious as Generals and Admirals, as Governours and Lieutenants, under the great Administrator of the World, but the Harvest and the triumph is not till death, ' till they are broken with Cares and consumed with Empire, and crushed into their Graves by the weight of their Crowns and Purples, ' till their hands are galled with holding the sceptre as the labouring Mans with the Spade, ' till their Minds are spent into Epilepsis and Appoplexes, and suspension of thought and life, ' till they are consumed with Counsels and Fears, wîth Watchings and Concern, and at last like St. Paul are offered up a Sacrifice on the Service of us all. And now what shall I say of the glorious Reward of so much Labour and Martyrdom, of so much Care and Death, such as the stormed master, nor the bloody Plain ever knew, for their Contentions are fierce but short, and their Labours die in a short struggling, and a few hours, and are presently crowned again with Songs and Mirth, with Tabret and Harp, with soft and easy Joys, such as never come near the Throne, or dwell upon the Temples of Kings. Of true Wisdom. HOw much the Wisdom of the World, and true Wisdom differ may be seen by that expression of Scripture, If any Man in this World seemeth to be wise, let him become a fool, that he may be wise; that is, let him pursue a Wisdom that's quiter opposite to that of the World, and is therefore reputed folly by it. That enstead of managing the interests of this life to the best advantage, and pursuing Worldly honors and Pleasures, teaches to despise them all, and to hold Nothing for Our Interest, but Eternal Happiness, Eternal Honour, and Eternal Advantages, and bids us look on the utmost that can be made of this life, as impertinence and loss, as labour and toil to no purpose, as an improveing a less misery to a greater, as a making ourselves that with a great deal of Art, and Industry, that we may be by nature, and to our hands. And therefore directs us to quiter other courses from those of Human Wisdom, it bids us pursue that that will answer our pains, and by Methods, that will Demonstrate our Wisdom, things that will last as long as God, and Heaven, and our Souls, that are as big as our Hopes. and as long as Eternity, that are rational, Clean, and Substantial, that comfort sollidly, and that will outlast a dream, or a fancy, or a mistake, and will be found within and about the Soul, at the end of a Thousand Ages, Warmeing and Transporting, Cherishing and Ravishing it for ever, that outlast the World and all its Pageantry, that are worthy of the Power and Bounty of God, and for which the Son of God Himself endured theCross, and despised the shane, and is now set down in the eternal possession at the right hand of the Father. Surely this is Wisdom, to propose and compass that that satisfies the thirst of Angels, and then which Fancy and Extravagance can think of nothing greater or longer, and that at the price of the labours of a few Years, and a short Life; it may be a few Daies, or a few Houres, joined to the Infinite Value of our Saviours Blood, that gives all the value to what we do or suffer, for what can be too Generous for an Infinite Love, or what recompense too Great, for the Blood of the Son of God, that was enough to redeem as many Worlds as Men. The Honours we secure by the Goodness of God, are to become the Sons of God, and Heirs of God, and Joint heirs with Christ, the Society of Angels, and the Loves of Cherubims, the Embraces of Archangels, and the Friendship of the Prophets, to behold the triumphs of the Martyrs, and our own, if we have suffered( by the assistance of God) much and well, but especially of those that were racked upon the Throne, and were Tort ur'd in Purples and ermine, and died of the public Good, and of the common Salvation, whom Empires and Care had dispatched, and the ingratitude and folly of a rude and giddy People, that regard neither the Honour nor the Labours of a Crown. Such as the First charles of the English, who the Author of the Supplement to Davilah's History of France,( a wise Venetian) says was a pattern for all Princes, except in his Opinion, for he was himself unreform'd in his. How vast was his Religion? And how great were his Troubles? who can tell his Patience but the Holy Spirit that supplied it? Whom did he provoke? and how was he provoked? he forgave the wickedness of his Enemies, while they refuse to forgive his virtues, he was great, and humble, and Good, and Miserable, and Holy, and perscuted, Sic occulos, Sic ille manus, Sic ora ferebat. And in all things followed the Example of his Prince and Saviour, and was numbered amongst the Transgressors, in his Humiliation his judgement was taken away, he was taken from Prison and from judgement, and who shall declare his sorrows. He was cut off from the land of the living, he made his grave with the wicked, because he had done no Violence, neither was any deceit found in his Mouth. But he now sees of the travail and of the sorrows of his Righteous Soul, and is satisfied for ever, Et te Catalina minaci pendentem Scopulo, Furiarumque Ora trementem, I Daecius! I, Nostrum! Meliorihus utere Fatis! shine forth for ever, like the Son in the Kingdom of the Father, let him triumph for ever above, with Constantine, and Theodosius, and with our own Most Holy Edward, and so great a Digression was due to so Great a Memory, who shall make our Histories Mourn, and our Annals Sad and Horrid for ever. And they that red his Tragedy will weep, and Posterity will mourn over so much Misery for no other reason but because he was Holy, and Just, and Good, & Servantissimus aequi. But to return, True Wisdom will direct us to the proper means, for the securing the Highest Ends, 'twill labour with us, and be with us, 'twill enable us, and assist us, 'twill Direct and Conduct us, and at last instate us in the Eternal Glories we pursued, and without it, we shall dwell upon every folly, and run after every mistake, and obey our Fancy, and miss both our way and our End. We shall pursue our ruin with labour and sorrow, and walk in darkness and Error and every step will be a fall, and every fall a bruise, and we shall tumble from one precipice to another, till at last, we have accomplished our sorrows, and perfected our ruin. But True Wisdom, which is the Gift of God alone, will secure us from all this misery and folly, and will led us through Happiness to Happiness, through a Glorious Way to a Glorious End, for her ways are ways of Pleasantness, and all her paths are peace, she is a three of life to them that lay hold on her, Happy is every one that retaineth her, she is more precious than Rubies, and the Things Thou canst desire, are not to be compared unto her. As many as are the ruins that attend on 'vice, so many are the deliverances we receive from Wisdom, that's to be preferred to sceptres and Thrones, and in comparison of which riches are of no esteem, and all gold in respect of Her, is as a little sand, and silver is no more then day, She is beyond Health and Beauty, and the Light itself, for the Light that comes from her never goes out, all good things together come with her, and she is the Mother of them, for she is a Treasurer unto Men that never failes, for thus she speaks of her self in the Book of Wisdom, Whatever is Desirable, whatever is Praiseworthy, whatever is Charming, whatever is Profitable, and Lasting, flows from her, for in her is an understanding Spirit, Holy, One Onely, Manifold, Subtle, Lively, Clear, Undefiled, Plain, not subject to hurt, Loving the thing that is good, Kind to Man, steadfast, Sure, Free from care, Having all Power, seeing all things, and going through all, understanding, Pure and most subtle Spirits, for Wisdom is more moving than any motion, the passeth and goeth through all things by reason of her pureness, for she is the breath of the power of God, a pure Influence flowing from the Glory of the Almighty, therefore can no defiled thing fall into her, for she is the brightness of the Everlasting Light, the unspotted mirror of the power of God, and the Image of his Goodness. And being but one, the can do all things, anal remaining in her self, she maketh all things New, and in all Ages entering into Holy Souls, she maketh them friends of God, and Prophets, for God loveth none, but him that dwelleth with wisdom, for she is more Beautiful then the Sun, and above all the Order of Stars, being compared with the light, she is found before it, in that she is conversant with God, she magnifies her Nobility, yea the Lord of all things himself loved her, for she is privy to the mysteries of the knowledge of God, and a Lover of his works, it riches be a possession to be desired in this life, what is richer than Wisdom, that worketh all things, and if prudence work, who of all that are, is a more cunning workman then she? and if a man love righteousness, her labours are Virtues, for she teacheth Temperance and Prudence, Justice and Fortitude, which are such things, as men can have nothing more profitable in this life, if a man desire much Experience, she knoweth things of old, and conjectureth aright things to come, she knoweth the subtleties of speeches, and can expound dark Sentences, Wisdom is glorious, and never fadeth away, who so seeketh her early, shall have no great travel, to think therefore upon her, is perfection of Wisdom, and whoso watcheth for her, shall quickly be without Care, for she goeth about, seeking such as are worthy of her, sheweth her self favourably to them in the ways, and meeteth them in every thought. For the very beginning of her, is the desire of discipline, and the care of discipline, is Love, and Love is the keeping of her Laws, and the giving heed to her Laws, is the assurance of incorruption, and incorruption maketh us near unto God. Wisdom was with thee which knoweth thy works, and was present with thee, when thou madest the World, and knew what was acceptable in thy sight, and right in thy Commandments, for so the ways of them that lived on the Earth were reformed, and Men, were taught the things that are pleasing to God, and were saved through Wisdom thus Wisdom of her self, whose fetters are a strong defence, and whose chains are a rob of Glory. For there is a golden Ornament upon her, and her bands are purple lace, thou shalt put her on as a rob of honour, and put her about thee as a Crown of Joy: And thus the Son of sirach. What can now be thought of? what can be desired? What can be wished for that Wisdom does not in abundance supply us with? The Treasures of both Worlds are from it, Temporal and eternal joys, Peace and Love, the Rest and Triumph of the Soul, Security and Salvation, Hope and everlasting Fruition, Crowns, and sceptres, and Kingdoms, Defence and Strength, liberty and Power, Victory and everlasting Extacies. Of a Virtuous Obstinacy. HE who can count the ruins that flow from a weak and mischievous Civility, from the preferring a Ceremony before our Souls, and being Complaisant to being saved, may count the Advantages that flow from a Wise and Noble Rigor, from a Manly and Christian severity of Manners, of Resolution, and of Religion, that secures our wise designs, and perfects what we have begun, and bears down the World and it's follies, and brings the Wise Man safe to his Port, thro' Storms and Calms, thro' Rocks, and pirates, and Sands, thro' a false and an outrageous World, thro' Flatteries and Threats, thro' Custom, and Fashion, and discouragement, that shows us the value and disvalue of every thing, and bids us grasp the former like Death, and pursue with Resolution, and persist undaunted and unwearied, and force our way thro' a distempered Age, and a disordered World, with the Courage of Soldiers, that would rather die then not overcome, that Trains us to the hardest Grapples, and bids us declare eternal war against Easiness and folly, and to Dispute it to the last, when attacked with Strength and Rage, rather then surrender our Interest and our happiness, or Deliver up our Souls and our heaven, or if becalmed with pleasures, and weakened by temptation, it alarms all the powers of the Soul, and throws off the soft ruin, and frights the treacherous happiness, and undoing Joy, and bids the Soul be strong and firm in its Interests, and Resolute and obstinate against the Betrayer and the Invader, and assert the Powers of wisdom and Fortitude, against Force, or Mine, against the Pestilence that walks in darkness, or the Arrow that flies by day, and neither will suffer its Power to be delivered into Captivity, nor its Beauty into the Enemies hand, but makes it rouse like a Giant refreshed with Wine, and put its enemies to a perpetual shane, it rejects the snare, and the Treaty, and the Temptation, and will take nothing in Exchange for the Soul. Of Peace. WHO can speak to the value of this Virtue? who can tell how much the Happiness of Heaven itself consists in't? the Angels poured it on Earth at the Birth of our Saviour, and he poured it out again in a double Effusion a little before his death, my Peace I give unto you, my Peace I leave with you. Whoever is a friend to Mankind, whoever wishes well to the World, will admire and promote this Blessing and Happiness, the balm of Societies, the the Joy of kingdoms, the Blessing of Nations, the Restorer of Order, and the Preserver of the World. Oh execrable War? that stainest the Ocean and the Land, that scatterest horror and groans, and travail'st with desolation and death, that puttest the World in Arms and Misery, by thee are we robbed of that sacred blessing of Peace, and by thee deprived of the many blessings that flow from that one. By thee the Nations are divided, and Kingdoms torn, from thee is toil, and misery, sorrow and travail, a labouring and Ambitious mind, and a frighted Conscience, that turnest the peaceful, World into a Howling Wilderness, from thee are Rivers of human blood, and by thee the City is a forest, and the Prince falls like a Lion or a Tiger, before thee fly Order, and Government, Joy and Peace, and Mirth and Innocence, and a good Conscience, and in thy hideous train and follow, go Murders, and Spoil, and Fire, the weeping Widow, and the exposed Infant, and the Father slain by the Son: and which is more execrable, the friend by his friend, the Captive and the miserable Prince, and the Holy Man bound, flaming Altars and Blasphemy: and the troubled, and the Impious tyrant, marching slow and heavy, gloomy and Cruel, with a load of guilt and horror, for the blood and happiness of the World. Therefore O Sacred Peace of Mind and Societies, how shall we sufficiently prise thy blessings, by which the Nations flourish, and from which there is Joy over the World? that makest the single man to rejoice, and Mankind to triumph, that filleth the breast with content, and the World with blessing, that Restoreth Societies, and Order, and turneth the forest into a Kingdom, and Armies into Commonwealths, and in the place of the laurel and Oak, planteth the Vine and the Olive, and turneth the Tyrant and the General, into Magistrates of Peace, and the Oppressors into Righteousness: That breaketh the arrows of the Bow, the Shield, the Sword, and the Battle, and by whom all the Men whose hands were mighty, have found nothing. They shall prosper that Love thee. Of Contemplation, and the Active Life. IN these two Charmels run all our Happiness, in the one we behold, in the other we serve him whom our Souls love, in the first we gaze on his beauties, and contemplate his Glory and Majesty, his Power and Love, his Greatness and condescension, his Omnipotency and Eternity; in the latter, we exert our Creations, and act our Beings, and do what we were made for, and minister to the Glory of the Almighty, we do good, and are blessed, and offer the Sacrifice with which God is so much pleased, we serve in our Generation, and lay hold on Eternal life. The first sometimes raises us up to Heaven, and sometimes brings down Heaven to us, and is the union of both Worlds, and enlarges the Soul, which by it often mounts to Heaven, notwithstanding the weight and encumbrance of the body, and views the Eternal Palaces of Glory, and the Mansions of the blessed, and the Ineffable Glories of Jesus, the Redeemer and Saviour of the World, who died and is risen again, and is set an the right hand of the Father; by the latter we serve Mankind, and labour in the works of Charity, and entertain strangers, and sometimes Angels, and add to our Faith, Works, and make our Religion profitable and useful, that others are the betrer for our Christianity, and the Age we live in, and while we ensure our own Salvation, we endeavour that of others too, our labours are common, and we aim at the good of all, as well as of ourselves, we are Generous, and public, Noble and enlarged, Good and Kind, contriving that every one may be as happy as ourselves, and placing our own happiness in the felicity of others, enlarging their Joys, an lessening their miseries, and abating their sorrows, and endeavouring that all the World may be as easy as ourselves, and the single man is concerned for the whole human Nature, and the private man for the Common-wealth, and becomes a Father to his Country, and a Common-Good, and the Servant of Virtue, and a Friend to Religion, and promotes its Interests, and blesses Mankind, and the Worlds his family, and his great design, is the common Salvation, and the perfect and eternal happiness of all, that human Nature may rejoice, and that Religion, and Virtue, and life, might overspread the whole World, and that sin and misery, 'vice and ruin, might be banished for ever, here he labours, here he swears, here he toils, and for this great end, he sacrifices his rest and ease, his private Interest and advantage, and in the accomplishment of it, is abundantly recompensed. By Contemplation we survey the end of our labours, and in the Active life, we perform them, by Contemplation we taste the eternal Joy, and dwell for a while in Heaven, and converse with Angels, as this body will endure, as this impertient Life will permit, and in the Active life, we perform the Conditions to which so great rewards are promised, and sight the Battels, that are crowned with eternal Victories and wreaths, with laurels and Heaven; and discharge those duties, that secure our everlasting happiness, and by patient continuance in well doing, seek, and at last obtain Glory, honour, Immortality, and eternal Life. In the Contemplative Life we converse with ourselves, and our hopes, with the purest Notions of virtue and happiness, and the Soul often intercourses with Angels, and I suppose chiefly with him thatis appointed for her Guard, and for her Director, and whether she will or no, with the evil Spirits, that are always arguing in the behalf of 'vice, and soliciting to ruin, by a thousand fallacies, and Enthusiastick Delusions, with Arguments and Philosophy siner then any is taught, or learnt in the Schools, by Images and Ideas, that Court and Charm even to the forcing of the corrupt will; and great is their advantage from their immaterial and Spiritual Natures, by which they join the Soul in closer argument, and when the argument is weak, the Impulse is strong, and the Delusion, repeatted and immodest, and the chief seat of the mind is attacked with strength and Violence; and if Ignorant or Infirm, is quickly overcome; but chiefly is the Soul attacked, by one single Spirit, that uncessantly solicits its ruin, and spares neither Arguments, nor pains, nor Industry, to defeat its happiness, and the Care of the good Angel, that watches as uncessantly for its security and one of the great advantages of Meditation is to defeat the Stratagems and the fallacies of the Spiritual enemy, of whose wil●ss St. Paul himself had large experience and trouble, for there is in them, the subtlest address, the deepest policy, the slyest Insinuation, the most moving Images, and the strongest Ideas and persuasions; finer then any in Oratory, and arguments subtler then any in philosophy. In the Active life, we follow the great President, who went about doing good, whose life was Charity, and who died of Love, and who has declared his Religion is nothing but love, and showing it, and has given the highest honours to those that have most of it. God is Love, and he that dwelleth in Love, dwelleth in God, and God in him, are the words of the Greatest Lover that ever was, by whose Love the World stands out of Eternal flames, for he died for that end, and by whose Love, and by the Doings, and Sufferings of whose Love, the World hopes for Everlasting Bliss, and he who best follows this Glorious Example, takes the best means to secure this Everlasting Happiness, and lives more like the Holy Jesus, then any Hermit or Monk in the World, for he like the Holy Jesus, labours in the common good, and is not satisfied with a private Salvation, and he preys and meditates as well as the Hermit too, for so may a General in the very Agony and doubt of the Battle, and a Prince in the midst of council, and the labouring man in the sweat of his toil. Of Prayer. WHoever considers the Attributes of God, and reflects that he is all Power, all Goodness, by his Grace, can scarce cease from a constant address to the Infinite Object. For in him is an Infinite source of help, an unexhausted Goodness, an endless Mercy, that drowns the offence, and covers the Offender, and charms him by patience into a better life, and stronger Vows, and Humbler and Sincerer Addresses; his Glory draw; the Admiration of the whole World, which is one Common Prayer, and a united, secret, Constant Devotion of the whole Creation, Adoring the Creating Power, and blessing the Mercy of the Upholding Power, that pardons Iniquity, Transgression, and Sin, that's slow to Anger, and of Infinite Goodness. That made the Man, and therefore lets the sinner live, till he repents, to live for ever: The unlimited Mercy of the Infinite Being, draws a universal praise, and Love, from all the Creatures he has made and preserved; he is always blessing, and 'tis our duty to be always praising him, his Love has no bounds, nor ought our Zeal and Affection to him have any; such Infinite Beauty and Perfection, ought to be attended with endless Vows and Address, with the incessant Sacrifice of Adoration and Love, and such a readiness and Power to assist and help, must needs be thronged with Altars and Devotion. But is there any greater Joy and Honour than Prayer? when the Sinner approaches the presence and mercy of the Creator, to be caressed and Forgiven, to be pardoned and restored, and to be clothed with the Garments of Joy, instead of the Garments of Vengeance, and the Spirit of Heaviness, what Honour Equal to that of talking to the Almighty? and being answered by the Eternal, to be admitted into an Infinite Presence, to expose our miseries and declare our wants, and to entreat for succours and aid, while Millions of Angels are present at the Address, and are concerned at our wants, and our guilt, and rejoice at the Bounty and Mercy of the Eternal King, though they can't but with astonishment cry out, what is man that thou art mindful of him. By Prayer we Cancel the terrible debt of sin, that lies heavy on our Salvations, and presses down our Souls to the nethermost Hell; but all through the Merits and Intercession of the Eternal Son, and Holy Spirit; by Prayer we rise from the Hell of guilt, and the Furies of Despair, to the peace of God, and to the Hope of Sons and Heirs, and to the rapturous expectation of Eternal Bliss; from Tears and Repentance, to hallelujahs, and Victory, and Praise; from trembling at his Justice, to rejoicing in his mercy, and Triumphing in his Salvation. By Prayer we triumph over the Powers of Darkness and Hell, and overcome in the Agony of Temptation, and resist even unto blood striving against sin; by Prayer we bind the Evil Spirit, and avoid the Pestilence that walks in darkness, and go upon the Lion and the Adder, the young Lion and the Dragon, and shun the Arrow that slies by day; it opens and shuts the Heavens, and Casts the Battle, and restores Peace, and appeases Calamities, and blesses the World; by it we proceed in the Difficulties of Virtue, and subdue ill habits, and plant good, and become wise, and Holy, and Everlastingly Happy. Of the many and contradicting Christianities in Christendom. MAy they find mercy in that day who first divided the Unity of the Faith, and with it destroyed the bond of peace, and righteousness of Life. I think it reasonable to infer from those words of our Saviour to St. Paul; Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me! that he is capable of a holy trouble and concern in his Glorified State, as likewise from the sympathy of the Head with the body and the Members; and if so, what can we imagine our Holy Saviour to be more concerned at, then the tearing and rendding his most sacred body the Church, into so many sects and madnesses. Whoever is a Setter up of new Religions, is a Setter up of new Gods, and whoever does so, is so far from being a Christian, that he is not so much as a Socrates, a Jew, or a good Mahometan. To restore the Purity and Unity of the first Christanity, and to take away the scandal of so many Religions, and so little life, would be an enterprise worthy the greatest Power and the greatest Piety in the World, and of all the travels of Great Endoxia's Labouring Mind. Prayers. O Everlasting Purity and Holiness, gives us such an imitation of thy Perfection, such a compliance with the Example and the words of thy Holy Child Jesus, such a concurrence with the Inspirations of the Holy and eternal Spirit that we ma please thee in all things through Jesus. O Infinite Beauty and Love, O Boundless Mercy and Compassion, Charm us with thy Beauty, inflame us with thy Love, astonish and convert us with thy Patience, and through him who offered himself on the Altar of the across, bring us to thy Glories. O our Saviour, O our Redeemer, grant that we may live so as that thou mayst see of the travail of thy Soul and be satisfied Hear us by thine Agony and bloody sweat, by thy across and Passion. O Eternal Spirit, by thy painful and inutterable Intercessions, cleanse our Bodies, raise our Souls, purify our Natures, strengthen our Reason, enlarge our Hopes, confirm our Faith, inflame our Charity, and make our Lives answerable to our Faith, and to the great and exceeding Promises, who art Infinite as the Father and the Son. O Holy Blessed, and Infinite Spirit, eternal Comfortor, Fountain of Regeneration and Sanctification, enable us to know thy motions, and to obey them, and to know the counterfeit motions of evil Spirits, and to resist them, restore one baptism, fill us with thy fruits, adorn us with thy Gifts, and hear us by thy Coming and Descent, and by the groans of thy Intercessions. O holy, sacred, and Incomprehensible Trinity, be Gracious to the whole Creation, extirpate Error and wickedness, enlarge the bounds of the Gospel give it the uttermost parts of the Earth for its Possession, but especially those who have corrupted its Purity, and destroyed its power, and Unity. Let its Dominion be from the one Sea to the other, and from the River to the Worlds end, let its Course be swift as the Suns, and let it travel with a brighter Glory, and let its Empire hold with the World. A Thanksgiving. eternal Father, give us all such a sense of thy Infinite Goodness, that we may thank thee as we ought, and praise thee uncessantly, and love thee with our lives, accept the general Thanksgiving of the World, receive ours in particular, blessing thee for thyself, for the Son of thy Love, for the effusion of the eternal Spirit, for the united Glories, and the confederate Goodness of the Holy and unconceivable Trinity, that conspired to our Redemption, and abandoned the Angels. For the life of Jesus in the flesh, for the Holy Religion he gave, for the Infinite value of his death, and for the Triumphs of his Resurrection, and for the coming of the Holy Ghost. To thee be all praise and Honour Obedience and Love for ever. virtue alone is Heaven, and 'vice is Hell. Alive we are damned, or with the Happy dwell. As we in 'vice or virtue do excel. Here we are blessed or cursed, if virtuous crowned, Tho poor, if vicious cursed, tho Crowns abound. Rouse then my frighted Soul! and obstinately wise, Reject the Ruin, and secure the prise. No more of sacred virtue or of Faith dispute, Thy Breast confirms the first, of th'last, the Creed confutes thy doubt. The short, plain, Apostles Creed is all thy Faith; Live and Believe, is all the sacred Scripture saith. FINIS.