DIVINE MEDITATIONS Upon Some of the Virtuous, and Vicious WOMEN, in the SCRIPTURES: Wherein, as in a Glass, every one may see their own Faces; whether Fair, or Foul; Deformed, or Comely.  
A Work worthy their Spare-Hours; which, by the Grace of God, may work an holy Emulation in many, either to Equal, or Outvie their SEX in VIRTUE.  
By WILLIAM HARVEY, Minister of the WORD of GOD.  
A Virtuous Woman is a Crown to her Husband: but she, that maketh ashamed, is as rotteness in his Bones.  Prov. xii. 4. 
Who can find a Virtuous Woman? For her price is far above Rubies.  Prov. xxxi. 10. 
Contraria juxta se posita magis elucescunt.  
LONDON, Printed for the Author, 1661.   

TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE, THE COUNTESS of South-Hampton, And the COUNTESS of North-Hampton, WILLIAM HARVEY wisheth all Happiness in this life, and that, which is to come.  
RIGHT Honourable, and Virtuous Ladies, when I pitched upon this Subject, I had You in my Thoughts: my Ambition was to beg your Patronage. As Your Fortunes, so are Your Virtues parallel; and, like the Gemini in the Zodiac, embrace each other. Your Titles of Honour are remote, and distinct, opposite to other: but, as the needle in the Compass, You ever tend to one star; and, with the King's Daughter, are both glorious within. I shall present to Your view a Tragicomedy: the Actors be all Women, though their parts differ. Here You have Virtue, and Vice displayed; both brought upon the Stage in lively Colours. To attract Your attention, the Several Scenes are Sacred; for each Theme is drawn from Holy Writ: an no Water, but that, which flows from the pure Fountains of the Scriptures. Your Honours must not expect any Plot, or Enigmatical passages, to puzzle rather, then please the Spectators; neither look for sublime, and high expressions; for, the Subject being feminine, the matter must not speak big. Here Your Ladyships shall see plain dealing, and every woman's praise, or dispraise, as she deserves. If any one's mouth open, they bark not at me; but God; for I have spoken nothing, but that, which the Holy Ghost thought fit to Record. The ultimate end is God's Glory, the next an holy imitation, and detestation either of Vice, or Virtue. As Contraries put together do illustrate each other: So Sanctity, and Impiete, oppositely placed, will by far, seem more lovely, or loathsome. Should we, at once, behold a glorious Sun at one hand brightly shining, in a serence, and clear day, with no Cloud interposing; and, on the other hand, the Moon totally eclipsed with thick, and black Clouds, o'respreading the whole face of the Heavens, from whence proceeded fearful Thunderings, and Lightnings, with impetuous Storms, and Tempest, threatening another deluge of Waters to drown this great World again: how dreadful would the one, and how amiable, and delightful would the other seem? Grace of it self is lovely; but, compared with sin, will look more lovely. So a gracious Woman, compared with one  is graceless, how transcendent? I humbly desire Your Honour's acception, and pardon, and rest  
Your Honours humble servant WILLIAM HARVEY, The meanest of them, that serve at the Altar.   

TO THE HONOURABLE, AND VIRTUOUS LADY, the LADY HILLIARD, of W. Horsly in Surrey. Grace, Mercey, and Peace.  
MADAM,  
SHould I have left You out, I had been guilty of much Ingratitude; which is a thing so foul, as that alone objected, is sufficient to make one odious to God, and man. Your Ladyship hath often supplied my Necessities, and never did I return from You empty. As Philip the Eunuch, You have many a time made me go away rejoicing; for the Oil of Your Goodness never stayed so long, as there was a Vessel more to receive it. I know Your Ladyship affects not Popularity: neither would have a Trumpet blown before You; being confident, that Your Right hand was ever ignorant of the Actions of Your Left. That God, which seethe in Secret, reward You openly. This is only to express my Thankfulness for all Your noble Favours; and to let the World know how much I am obliged to You. Again, who should protect Virtue, but the Virtuous? A glorious Frontispiece speaks somewhat within, and often begets a Desire of Inspection: So Virtue (We say) from a handsome, and comely Person, is more Acceptable; So Books owned, and protected by Noble Wights, have the better Entertainment from those Hands they happen to fall into. But I will detain the Reader no longer: A Small City must have Gates proportionable, lest it run out. Thus, in all Observance, I Rest,  
Your Ladyships humble Servant WILLIAM HARVEY.   

DIVINE MEDITATIONS.  

First Meditation upon Eve.  
THIS was the Mother of us all, the Common Womb of the World. Here man had his first rise, and descent. And, as Rivers come from the Sea; So all have their Breath from her. But, O my heart! As Jepthah broke out with Sorrow, and Reluctancy, when his Daughter came out to meet him; So must we needs Say 
(a) Judges, xi. 35.  Aliss, our Mother! thou hast brought us very low, and thou art one of them, that troublest us. Hinc illae lacrbymae! This is the cause of my Woe, and makes my tears trickle down, like a Shower of Rain. Thou wast the cause of our life: true, we must acknowledge it; But withal, through thy Fall, the whole World fell with thee. O the Sad Catastrophe! Into what a Sea of miseries didst thou plunge thy Progeny! Now nothing, but wring of hands. In 
(b) Matt. two. 18.  Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning; Rachel weeping for her Children, and would not be Comforted, because they were not. Upon this thy lapse it had been better for us, we had never been born, never seen the Sun, that glorious Lamp of Heaven. An Ugly Yoad, or fell Dragon is in a happier condition. All Sensitive, and Vegetative Creatures far transcend the Rational. The eating of one Apple shook the Universe; and made the Stars fall from heaven. By thee we lost Paradise, not a Terrestrial only, but a Celestial.— But this is not all: the one half of our miseries is not told us. Our wretchedness, and infelicity 
(c) 1 King x. 7.  exceed the fame, that ye have heard.— How my Soul trembles! My Thoughts trouble me, the joints of my Loins are loosed, and my Knees for fear smite one against another. Belshazzar's sad Catastrophe is ours.  
Through thee, we lost not heaven 
(d) Poena Damni.  alone, enough to cause a Nabal's heart to die within him, and become like a Stone; but likewise gained that of 
(e) Poena Sensus.  Sense. 
(f) Isaiah! xxx. 33.  A Tophet, a Yelling, and Confused Pit made deep, and large; the Pile whereof is Fire, and much Wood; and the Breath of the Lord, like a Stream of Brimston, doth Kindle it. The prayer of Saint Augustine shall be ever mine. Here (O Lord) bu●… me to ashes, cut my body to pieces, that thou mayest save me for the future. O, let my Soul live with Thee, and no matter, though I suffer in this world a thousand exquisite deaths.  

(g) Job. xxxviii. 2.  But who is this, that darkens Counsel without Knowledge? 
(h) Chap. xl. 5.  Once have I spoken, but I will not answer; yea twice but, I will proceed no further. How is wretched man 
(i) Quantum multatus ab illo!  altered! What a glorious change upon the Sudden! The heavens Smile upon us, all is Serene, and clear. No dire Eclipse, or dark Cloud, to obscure our Sun. Man, reassume thy Courage; Wipe of the Tears from thy Cheeks; behold, a harmless Dove comes to thee with an Olive branch in her mouth, and the Waters are abated. O golden Sentence! 
(k) Gen. iii. 15.  The Seed of the Woman shall break the Serpent's head. No Honey, or Honeycomb so Sweet. I am even Ravished with the Contemplation, and as it were rapt into the third Heaven. Now Satan do thy worst, thy Venom is spit. 
(l) Psal. cxlvi. 1, 2.  Praise, ye the Lord: Praise the Lord, O my Soul! While I live, will I praise the Lord! I will Sing praises unto my God, while I have any being.— Eve, thou hast now given us Heaped measure, pressed down, and running over. A full Compensation hast thou made us. Thy, and our God, hath caused thee to be Instrumental in our Restauration. By Faith in that promised Messiah to come, art thou Saved; and we by Faith in him, as Come already, dead, buried, risen, and ascended into heaven.— In thy State of Innocency thou hadst free will, but subject to temptation. Yet thy Fault was freely perpetrated, and not committed by Coaction. Thou hadst power from above to Stand; thank thy Self for thy fall. Thy destruction is of thyself, O Israel! Sweet Father, whom thou lovest now, thou lovest ever. We may fall into Sin, and fall again; but not finally, nor totally. Thy Promises in Christ Jesus are without Repentance: like the Law of the Medes, and Persians, they altar not. Heaven and Earth shall pass away, but Thy word shall not fail.  
O Lord, Support us with thy Grace, and Sweet Influences of thy blessed Spirit; that we fall into no Sin. If thou forstake us, we perish. Let him, that thinketh he stands, take heed, lest he fall. Father, Cloth us with Humility, as with a Garment, and make us Sensible of the heavy Weight of our Sins. As weary, and heavy-laden, let us make to him, who took our Transgressions upon him, that knew no Sin, that we may have Rest, even the forgiveness of all our Sins, lest they sink us into irrecoverable Perdition. O Jesus, sis mihi Jesus. Amen.   

2. Meditation upon Sarah.  
THis may be the World's Mistress, or the Females Tutouress, to learn her Sex Obedience. She knew well, that Man was not made for the Woman; but the contrary: and therefore tends the end of her Creation. She scorns to stand in Competition with her Husband; but nulls a parity, and calls him Lord.  
A Scanctified Woman is a rare Creature; having more Lustre in her, than any twinkling Star. How calm the Sea is, when there's no wind stirring! Her house is as Silent, as the night. There is no Pro and Con; for no sooner said, but done. Happy that Man in the fruition of such a Wife. He is 
(a) Prov. xxxi, 23.  known in the Gates, when he sitteth among the Elders of the Lord. No Harmony like to Still-Musick. The Man eats, drinks, and sleeps in quiet. No disturbance, where there is such a Consort; for his days are prolonged; he dies in peace, and is gathered to his Fathers in a good old age. Here's an help meet for him; because in two distinct Bodies there's but one Soul. O, what Contentment is there, where there is such an accord! In such a well-tuned Instrument there can be no flaw; but every Touch enchanteth the ear, and attracts attention.  
To you then, whose Lot is fallen into so fair a ground; Be not you Imperial, and unnatural. Prove not unkind to a Spouse so lovely, who hath made you all, as so many Pompey's, and Caesar's. Return love for love, and grieve not, causeless, so harmless a Creature. Suffer not a Tear to sully so Sweet a Face; but tender her contentment, as the Apple of your Eye. Who, in his right Wits, would injure such a Bed-fellow? Compare Light and Darkness, Heaven and Hell, with a perverse woman to Such a Wife: and what a vast disproportion! If ever there was a Paradise on Earth, it's here. Except the Fear of God, and the Joys of Heaven alone, to such a woman there is no compare. Let no Churlish Nabal ever kiss her Lips; much less crop the flower of her Youth. A Wight, so rarely accomplished, let no rude hand attempt once to touch.   

3. Meditation upon Rebekah.  
MOdest, and faithful Rebekah, thou comest next to hand, a Daughter well becoming such a Mother. Thou shamest not thy kind; for thou enjoyest her virtues. Thou,  Penelope! How many may blush to read thee! The unplucked Rose, and Lily, not more pure. No Snow in Salmon whiter. Thou wast as innocent, as a newborn Babe; true, as the Turtle-done to her Mate; and, though married, ever a Virgin. Like Joseph, thou wert of Canon-proof, and no assault could once Seal thy Walls. As a well-disciplined Army, none could break thy Ranks; but always thou puttest the Enemy to a rout.— O thou one of a thousand! unparalleled, incomparable woman! What Bays sufficient to Crown thy Temples? Thy memory is Sweet, and Lovely: and thy chost fellows praise thee. How an I transported with thee? My Genius promp me: and yet, alas! my Pen falls short of her encomiums.—  
Look into this Prospective, you weaker vessels, behold a lively pattern for your imitation. Cast your eyes upon this Sampler, and write after this fair Copy. Your Bodies are the Temples of the Holy Ghost, defile them not then. No unclean thing can enter heaven. Shake off your Paramours, if you love your Souls, and be faithful to your married beds. Wrong not your Husbands, your own flesh, your precious Souls. It will be bitterness in the later end, believe me. God is pure, and hates all uncleanness. Cast not away that better part, which is capable of Immortality. Your pleasures are but momentary, which, so soon, as enjoyed, vanish.   

4. Meditations upon Abigail.  
WIse Abigail, thou art now my Subject, pity, a Fool should have been thy Husband; for Nabal was his name, and folly was with him. He was a Churl too, that, hadst thou not been wise, one house had been too little for both. A Crooked piece of Timber sometime is in a fair Building, and a perverse man my have a complete woman; else the whole Fabric would fall.— This is none of the meanest blessings, had a man but eyes to see it. Setting the Grace of God aside, and the ornaments of the Soul, a virtuous woman hath no Peer.— See how this fair Water quencheth the violence of Fire. David is resolved to cut off root, and branch, all that appertained to Nabal. Like Jehu he marcheth Furiously, intent upon Revenge, for the unmanly affront of that Fool. She presently goes forth to encounter him, a weak woman with a man of war. Hear her Rhetoric. 
(a) 1 Sam. xxv. 24, and so along, etc.  Upon me, my LORD, upon me let this Iniquity be, and let thine Handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine Handmaid, etc. Not a word, but hath its weight, and Emphasis, Good God, how immense is thy wisdom, when a poor woman is so rare! Needs must thou, our Creator, be wise, when a Silly Creature is so accomplished. This Wisdom was that wisdom, which was from above, pure, peaceable, gentle, easie-to-be-intreated, etc. James iii. 17. Like the holy cyl, with which the vessels of the Sanctuary were anointed, it had the best Ingredients. Here was no Machiavellian Policy, or Cromwellian. Stand off, ye Sons of Belial, you brats of a perverse woman. Her Tongue was touched with a coal form the Altar: theirs set on fire of h●ll, earthly, Sensual, Devilish. The S●n now makes for the Cloak. She attempts it, and effects it. As a sudden dam reared up, she turns the Torrent another way. A blessed Success! See, how low are the waters now? Jordan is driven back: and that face, which was once Terrible, now Smiles. Not one drop of blood spilt. The big Mountain is delivered of a mouse. What Instrument so mean, but succeeds through divine assistance. Abigail, thou play'dst thy part well, and wentest of the Stage with a Plaudit. Thou wert not unrewarded neither, for thy Share was much; the Corydon dies, and in his room steps up a Prophet, and a King.   

5. Meditations upon Naomi, and Ruth.  
HEre are a pair of Virtues; they go hand in hand, and one God serves them both. Ruth, happy for thee, thou met test with such a Mother; and Naomi, no less happy wert thou, in having such a Daughter. Call thyself no more Mara; for thy Daughter-in-law, which loved thee, was beloved of God. How wonderful are thy ways, O Lord, How unspeakable thy Goodness! God is no respecter of persons; but whom he will save shall be saved, whosoever saith Nay. No reason can be shown 
(a) Stat pro ratione voluntas.  for it, but this, It is his will, his pleasure. Thus the Apostle concludes. So them, it is not of him, that willeth, nor of him, that runneth; but of God, that showeth mercy. Rom. ix. 16.  
How Attractive is Heaven! How doth Grace add wings, where there were leaden heels before! How greedily doth she now Swallow that, which once her Stomach loathed. For a Moabite to become an Israelite; an Idolater, a true worshipper of God; a Devil, a Saint; and that upon the sudden, is a strange Metamorphosis. All the Blocks in her way she removes. Neither her Country, people, her Sister-in-law, who returned back, nor her Gods can stay her progress. The place she went to, she knew not, all were Strangers to her; besides this, she was in a wanting Condition: yet none of these can stop her. 
(b) Ruth. i. 16.  For whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge; thy people shall be my people, and thy God, my God. No relation can obstruct those, whom God means to call. Now they arrive at Bethlehem, yet poor, and indigent.— Faith gives us no Charter to exempt us from poverty. This Lot often falls upon God's dearest children. Affliction commonly is their Coviator, their fellow-traveller, and companion. Yet, in this low Ebb, they were not dejected; nor forsaken of God. The Young woman gleans in the field of Boaz, & God gives her favour in his Sight, under whose Wings of providence she came to . Never any, that trusted in him, was confounded. Will God shake them off, that cling unto him? Can a natural Mother see her Child cry after her, and her Bowels not yearn upon it? Much less, will God turn his back upon those, who make such haste after him. But see how the goodness of the Lord dog's her, and follows her step by step. 
(c) Ruth iii.  My daughter, shall I not seek rest for thee, that it may be well with thee? Here's no love lost (as we use to say) a full Compensation is made, and an ample retribution. Mark this, you unnatural women, and die your Cheeks into a blush. Hang down your heads, for shame, you degenerate Mothers, you Masculine Creatures, and Stony Niobes. The ostrich lays her Eggs, and then leaves them to the mercy of the Traveller; So, many procreate Children, and leave them at Six, and Sevens, to Sink, or Swim, all's one to them. Is this Religion? Is this all the fruits of their Profession? The savage Bears are more natural; for they lick their young into a form, and are indulgent to them. One would not think so sweet a Creature was so Cruel. But 'tis no News, 
(d) Latet anguis sub Herba.  for a Snake often to lie under the Smooth Grass; and for Sodom's Golden Apples to vanish into Smoke.  
To proceed, Ruth obeys her Mother, comes softly to Boaz, uncovers his feet, and lays her down by him. The man awakes, and is afraid 
(e) Ruth iii. 9  I am Ruth thine handmaid (says she) Spread therefore the Skirt over thine Handmaid; for thou art a near Kinsman. She ventures hard, and puts to Sea; but, God giving her a favourable wind, makes a good voyage, returns to Naomi Richly-laden, with a promise from Boaz, to perform the part of a kinsman to her.— Take the Result of all. The Marriage is Solemnised with Acclamations of Joy; a general Consent, and Content, and she, who, of late, gleaned a few ears after the Reapers, is now Mistress of the whole field.— Religion, and Modesty is a fair Portion; and weighs more with Wise men, than either Wealth, or Beauty. 
(f) Gen. xiv. 21.  Give me the Persons, and take the goods to thyself, said the King of Sodom to Abraham So, for My part, give me the Woman, and let who will, take the Portion, and proportion to himself. Though, I confess, when all concur in one, these Simples make an excellent Compound. Yet, put Virtue into one Scale, and the rest in the other; it weighs them all down to nothing.— Naomi, thy Daughter now is better to thee, than Seven Sons; for she is thy Support in thine old-age. As choice Spirits of Life, she strengthens thy feeble knees. Goodwas it for thee to be afflicted; for thou must now confess, with that Sweet Singer of Israel, thy Rod, and thy Staff comfort me. To Conclude, their Lives were Tragic mical, a Medley, a Composition of Sour and Sweet. Yet, though their day was somewhat dark & gloomy, the going-down of their Sun was clear.   

Meditations upon the Shunammite.  
CHarity, I seldom meet with thee, and therefore we must not part so. Greatness, and Goodness to meet in one, is a glorious fight. To do good to all is our Duty; but especially to the household of Faith. The Object adds Lustre to it, and Crowns it. This Woman hath scarce her fellow: which puts me in mind of that Maxim in Philosophy, 
(a) Nul simile est idem.  No like is the same. Let us come to particulars.— And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a Great Woman, and she compelled him to eat bread. I must stop at this middle point. Compelled him, said I? Is there such an one living? It's a rare Bird upon Earth then, somewhat like a black Swan. 'Tis well now adays, if Importunity gets any thing. Were the Prophet living now, he would hardly find the like entertainment. He might implore the Charity of some Females, who are called Christians too, (but Ironice) until his heart ached, and with them 
(b) 1 King. xviii. 26, 27.  Cry aloud from Morning till Noon, and from Noon till Night, and yet have no voice, nor any to answer, nor any, that regarded. The Prophets far worse, than any, in our late Times of Reformation, or rather Deformation, they, with the weakest, ever went to the Wall, unless some confiding Boys, with their Shel● upon them, who should have gone to Jericho till their Beards had grown; Or Such old Peny-fathers', those excellent Tex●uaries, and Boanerges, who could bawl loudest Curse ye Meroz. These indeed were fed at Jezebel's Talbe. No Muzzel-man among the Turks in higher esteem. The poor Elishas, as if they had the Curse of Elie's Posterity, were fain to crouch for a piece of Silver, and a Morsel of Bread. So sad was their Condition, and so deplorable.— But my Shunammite, thou Sanctified Woman, and Glory of thy Sex; thou hadst a better Spirit, to the Shame of future Ages, and to kindle an holy zeal of Emulation in nobler Souls.  
Yet this is but positive all the while; She ascends a degree higher. And so it was, as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread.— She was not weary of welldoing; but, like the Sun, rejoyed to Run her course. She was none of those, that give a bit, and a knock: and she Scorned to return that Common, and penurious Objection, You were here once before. Grace is Communicative, and, like the Widon's Oil, never stops so long, as there is a vessel more to receive it. Perseverance in Goodness makes a Christian complete. You did run well, who did hinder you; Gal. v. 7. Many for a Spirit run Swiftly, their Setting cut is Violent, but that's not perpetual, like Jades, they are soon tired, the Chariot-wheels of their Devotion are taken off, that, at last, they drive heavily, One jeeringly said to Hannibal; 
Hannibal, 
(c) Vincere scis, Hannibal, uti Victoria nescis.  to get the Victory thou knowst full well,  
But after how to use't, thou canst not tell.   
To begin in the Spirit, and to end in the Flesh, is to no purpose; we lose both our Oil, and Toil. Not to go forward is to go backward. The Exit proves all our actions, and Crowns the Play— To make her Superlative, and I have done.  
Let us make a little Chamber, I pray thee, on the Wall, and let us set for him there a Bed, and a Table, and a Stool, and a Candlestiks: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither. I should scarce have given Credit to it, had it not been Recorded in Sacred Writ. And I awake yet, or in a dream? I can but admire yet at this Arabian Bird, when I compare her with the Scornful Dames of this Age. A Dancing-Master, or a Fiddler, hath free Ingress, Egress, and Regress, when the poor man of God must stand without, and blow his fingers; for he hath no pottage to cool. Out come the servants, this Gill, and that Flurt, Cerberus the Porter, whose Fathers they would sometime have scorned to set with the dogs of their stock, (as holy Job once said in his agony, Job. xxx. I.) and they look on them as sour as a Carb. The Prophets have not a word to say being first seen by the Basilisks, and stand dumb as Planet-struck. Democritus Juniour saw how it was with the Ministers in his time, when he broke out in these words: 
Dat Galenus 
(a) Burton in his Preface before his Melancholy.  opes, that Justinianus honores;  
Sed Genus & Species Cogiturire pedes.  
The rich Physician, honoured Lawyer Rides,  
Whilst the poor Scholar feet it by their Sides.   
But for the Scum of the World, the Riff-raff, every base Mechanic & Trencher-waiter, to affront, and scorn the Ambassadors of the most High, is a Sin transcendent, a Shame to Religion, and an hissing to the whole earth.— Pardon me, you more Noble Wights, and forgive me this wrong. Some of you have taken in the poor wand'ring Levite, and, with Obadiah, have fed the Lord's Prophets with Bread and Water. Samaritan like, you have poured oil into the deep wounds of many, that have been half-dead in misery, ready to breath out their last. You have given drink unto them, that were ready to perish, and wine unto those, that were of heavy hearts, that they might drink, and forget their poverty; and remember their misery no more. Prov. xxxi. 6, 7. This you did, to your Perpetual praise, and let his Right-hand forget his Cunning, that proves ingrate. Here was some Intermission of Sorrow, a time of breathing, had not that wild gored marred the pottage, that they could eat no more of it. Let them ever be an hissing, a byword, and a Proverb to all after-ages, that were the first breakers of this peace, who Resolved upon the Question, That no suffering Minister, in the cause of God, and his King, should have House, or Home, or where to lay his head.— You Pretenders of Reformation, you wicked haman's, and Sons of Ammeda●ha, you Cannibals, and bloodsucking Horseleeches: the pit, which ye have digged for others, you may chance fall into yourselves. Look to in, for as sure, as the Lord liveth, the same measure will be measured to you again, if you repent not. There is a God, that sits in heaven, shall laugh you to Scorn, and have you in derision. But this by way of digression. To our subject. God, who will not let a Cup of Cold water pass unrewarded, returns a blessing equivalent. For her charity, he fructifies her womb, and gives her a Son. Never was Bread yet cast upon the waters, but in due time it was found again. He, that giveth to the poor, dareth unto the Lord, and he will repay it. The Sea supplies all Rivers, and yet is full; the Sun affords Light, and Heat to all Sublunaries without Substraction; One Candle lights many, and no diminution: So Charity, (though thought prodigal) is a full Sea, a transparent Sur, and a Candle notextinguished.   

Meditaion on Bathsheba.  
FAir Venus had a Mole, the Sun sometime is Eclipsed, the Moon in her Wane, and thou, Bathsheba (though otherwise virtuous) hadst thy failings. I would willingly go backward, and cover thy nakedness, should I not be thought partial. Yet I will not blaze thee to thy shame, but, as a Mercurie's finger, set thee up, to direct all Travellers the right way. Thou didst wash thyself; so thou mightest, who should hinder thee? But herein thou erredst; it was too public, thou wert visible, the King saw thee, and thy Beauty charmed him. My Construction of thee shall be Candid. I believe thou didst it not to that intent, to blow that fire, which was apt enough to kindle of itself, neither didst thou imagine thy Sovereign a spectator. But thou mightest have been more private, and this mischief has not happened.— Of all the Senses, the Eye is most affective, and what Poison penetrates the Heart, is let in at that Window. No object more attractive, than Beauty for, be the Metal never so hard, this Loadstone will draw it. Nothing hath been able to divert the Current of this stream. What Remora can put a stop to such a Vessel in its Carrier? Samson could slay a thousand Men with the Jawbone of an Ass, and yet one Delilah makes an Ass of him, puts out both his Eyes, so that he grinds at the Mill and becomes ridiculons to the uncircumcised Philistines. When that Wretch Balaam could no way curse the people of God, he puts this Stumbling-block before them, and they presently fall. This She-Divel puts them more to a rout, than an host of armed men. Solomon was Wise, yet in his old Age becomes a Child again, his wife draws his heart from the living Lord, and he falls down to an Idol. One wanton Helen, in ten years' Wars, caused a slaughter of more, than a Million of Men. What should I say more? The Triumphs, and Victories, obtained by this thing called Woman, no Tongue is able to express. This Wish of Valerius Maximus to his Friend shall be mine.— The Omnipotent God deliver thee from an Omnipotent Woman.— But let's not do Bathsheba too much wrong neither. She did not prostitute herself, as a Mercenary Strumpet. No; she was strongly Courted, and Imporiuned, and that by a King. Which Circumstances lessen her Fault, and extenuate her sin.— She was no Shutile-Cock, or Tennis-ball, to be tossed, and banded by every Gamester but like a Royal fort won by storm. Who can wash their hands in innocency? They, that are without sin, let them throw the first stone. Good God what are we without thy supporting hand, without assisting Grace? If thou forsakest us, we fall. 
(a) Vae ettam laudibili vitae hominum; Si, remota misericordia, discutias eam. Aug.  Miserable were that Conversation, though never so pure, if thou shouldst examine it without a Compassionate Ey. Much Dross would be found in the finest Gold, when it comes to the fire. What is a blinking Candle to the Sun? How deformed, and foul would an Ethiopian seem, compared with an exquisite beauty? The very Angels are not pure in his Sight. Strike we then our Topsails, and let us vailour Bonnets, Down with your Tails, you Birds of Juno, and proud Peacocks cast your Crowns before his Throne, fall down before him, and worship him, that sits on it, who liveth forever, and ever.— Let me give this Caveat only to either Sex and I have done.— And first, to you, the weaker.  yourselves with Modesty, as with a Garment Eat all occasions of Sin, admit not any Lascivious embrace frown upon all Compliments, that tend to dishonour and, Basilisk like, strike them dumb with looks. Who dare speak obscenely to a  Ear, or lay Rude hands on a resolved Spirit? A Castle, which stands out a Storm, or two, wearies the Enemy, and makes him raise his Siege. However, consent not to the motion but still reply in Negatives. But, if through Divine permission, they prove too strong for you, it's a Rape, no Conquest.— A word unto you of the more worthy Gender. God hath given you the Prerogative, you have the Birthright, lose it not for a Mess of Pottage. Let not one base Lust deface the Image of your Creator. To be foiled by your inferior is dishonourable: and for the Foot to rule the Head, is another Antipodes, and no less, the Monstrous. Let not her, who was given to thee for an Help, be the occasion of thy fall; lest thou be like one of those Simple ones, a man void of understanding, that goeth as an Ox to to the Slaughter, or as a Fool to the Correction of the Stocks Prov. seven. 7, 22. Yet in this thou art only Passive, and that's enough too; for her house is the way to Hell, going down to the Chambers of death verse 27. But to importune, aggravates thy fault. And now, thou man after God's own heart, thou wert more in the Transgression, then Bathsheba, deeper in the mire, than she. Thou wert her Sovereign, and shouldest have been rather to her a Shelter from the Storm, an Haven of repose, and a refuge in time of need. What's a Trembling Partridge in the gripes;;;;;;;;;; of a towering Falcon? Sweet God how soon may we lapse, when thy choicest Saints have fallen? If any be guilty this way, with Amnon, hate the Sin seven times more, than e'er you loved it, turn that Tamar out, and bar the door after her.   

Meditations upon the Virgin Mary.  
EVE, thou wert not so bitter to us, but here's one as Sweet. Thou didst eat of a sour Apple, and thy children's Teeth were set on edge. Through thee we all were at a loss, in a winding maze, and labyrinth of Sorrow, not knowing which way to get out. Thou didst drive us both from a Terrestrial and Celestial Paradise. But Marry, like to Ahimaaz, hath outrun thee, and brought us good tidings, even of great joy to all people. She was delivered of a son, whose name is Jesus, who shall save his people from their sins. O the height, and depth, the length, and breadth of God his goodness towards mankind! Those, that sat in darkness, and in the Shadow of death, have seen a marvellous Light. Now the slaves are taken from the Galleys, and all the Prisoners set free. We are now out of Egypt, that House of Bondage, and journeying through a vast Wilderness, to the Heavenly Canaan, which flows with Milk, and Hony. Blessed art thou, fair Maiden, among Women; for, no sooner was the Voice sounded in our Eart, but our Hearts; leapt in the womb of our Bodies for joy. Our year of Jubilee is come: and not the Jews only, but the Gentiles have light, and gladness, and joy, and honour yea joy, and gladness, a Feast and a good day. Hester. viij. 16, 17. But not to Hyperbolise too much, lest I rob God of his honour, I will acquiess. Thou wert greatly beloved, and now a Glorious Saint in heaven; for God hath regarded the lowliness of his Hand-maiden, and, behold! from hence forth all Generations shall call thee Blessed. For he, that is Mighty, hath done to thee great things, and Holy is his Name. Yet we will not free thee from Original Sin (as some dream) make an exception, when the Rule is general without any. Hadst thou not born Christ in thy heart by faith, as well as in thy Womb, and brought him forth in a Sanctified life, as thou didst into the world, thou hadst but shook; the Tree, beat the Bush, or started a Hare, produced a Saviour to thy Fellows, and been a Castaway thy self. But thou shakest off those Vermin at once, puttest to Nonplus thy base Parasites, and Clawback's, as if they were Planet-struck. My Soul doth magnify the Lord, and my Spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. What Spirit then was he of, that belched this Blasphemy. Hear it, and let both Ears ringle— Mary is the Mediatrix of our Salvation, of our Conjunction, Justification, Reconciliation, Intercession, and Communication. How doth this agree with her own Magnificate? But why should I foul my hands with such dirt, and rubbish?— Learn humility from the Mother of our Lord; even from her, who was highly favoured, and be not conceited of your own worthy, she-Saints. God sees no sin in you, as you would make us believe, and therefore are above Ordinances. The Preaching of the Word, and Administration of the Sacraments according to Divine institution, concerns you not; for you are Babes of Grace, and by your second Baptism, contrary to Scripture, and the Practice of the Primitive Church, your sins are washed off. This is the Tale you tell us; though, with the Sow, that was washed, you are turned again to your Wallowing in the Mire; 2 Pet. two. 22. Never had the Devil such an Harvest since the world was, as in these late Times of Reformation: and who would think it? Any with half any might well see, what sad effects that thing, called Liberty of Conscience, would produce.   

Meditations upon Miriam.  
I Have met now with a Prophetess, and a Virgin both; one, that was Sister to a Prince, and Priest. But this did not so much Ennoble her, as her Virtues; for her chiefest Ornaments were the Graces of her Soul, and the more precious Jewels were enclosed in that Cabinet. How bravely didst thou lead thy women in their dance before the Lord? With what grace didst thou foot it? Every step sounded forth the praises of the most High. Thy Song was gracious, and, like thy Spirit, it returns to him, that gave it. The subject of it was praises, and their Object the Lord. Like the Smoke of Incense, they ascend upwards; and, as a most sweet Perfume, disperse a redolent smell throughout the Camp. Surely, this was no other, than the house of God, and this was the Gate of Heaven. Hear the burden of her song, and let it ravish your hearts, and draw them to divine contemplation. Notone syllable, but Emphatical. 
(a) Exod. xv. 21.  Sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse, and his Rider hath he thrown into the Sea.— Most Angelical! when the matter of our exaltation intends only the glory of God, when the stream of our affections run that way. Incomparable is that Harmony, when every string speaks an Hallelujah: and that voice Seraphical, which warbles forth such Musical Airs to the piercing of the Clouds. O my Soul how divine are thy raptures, into what ecstasy of joy art thou swallowed! Mayst thou, with Noah's Dove, find no rest for the sole of thy foot, till thou return to this Ark. Let that Mariner suffer Shipwreck, which will not make to this Port; and those Rivers before ever dried up whose reflux tends not to that Sea, where they have their flux, and overflowings.— Lift up thy self then, thou Worldling, and let not thy thoughts, with Staan, compass the Earth to, and fro, and walk up and down in it. Thou Dor, end not thy flight ever upon a dunghill. Prove not thyself unnatural.  

(b) Os homini sublime dedit, celumquoe tueri Jussit. Ovid.  To man an erect Front, and Face, is given;  
That he might Soar aloft, and look towards heaven.  
Seek those things, which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God; saith the Apostle: he, that was wrapped into the third heaven; Coloss. 3.1.— The Birds of the Air, the mute Fishes of the Sea, and brute Beasts will instruct thee. They all move in their proper Sphere. Philosophy will tell thee, that ponderous things tend downward, and light the contrary. Throw but a Stone in the Air, and how it will hast to its proper Centre? Take a Fish out of the water, and it will gasp for Breath. Shall all Creatures both Sensitive, Vegetative, the insectile too, the poor silly Fly, praise the Lord in their kind and is the Prince of all, Man alone, defective? Shall he so basely degenerate? The Poet will clear the Point.  
Populus me sibilat, 
Horat.   
Plaudo ipse domi, et nummos contemplar in area.—  
The people hiss at me, they laugh, and at me wink,  
At home I praise myself, and count my Chink.  
With the blind Mole, the wretch is ever under ground, and casting up always Earth above him. As a Pioneer he, and as another Nero, he rips the womb of his mother. Like green and liquid fuel, he quencheth that fire, which should kindle his thoughts into an holy Flame, and make them Sparkle, and mount upward to heaven.— Though he liveth, moveth, and hath his being from God only: yet he will not pay one Pepper corn of Thankfulness, in acknowledgement of his Lord, of whom he holds all, that he enjoys, and being but Tenant-at-will, may every minute be ejected, turned out his bense of Clay, and cast into that Infernal Prison, from whence he must never expect Redemption, till he hath paid the uttermost mite.—   

Meditations upon Hannah.  
HEre's a sterile Woman, but not Barren: for she is big with Grace, and bare in her Soul those lovely Twins of Faith, and Supplication. She was not impatient with Rachel; Give me Childen, or else I die: but humbly addresses herself to him, who hath the Key of the womb, and who alone withheld the fruit of it. She, in the bitterness of her Soul, prays to the Lord: yet her Lips move only, to prevent all sinister acceptions. She was not long-winded hypocritical Pharisee. No Enthusiast, or gifted sister, those pretenders of Sanctity, who have a name that they live, but are 
(a) Revel iii. I.  dead. Neither was it out of too much fondness, or indulgency, to dandle a puppet on her knee, which is the fault of many mothers, neglecting, the mean while, the main business, its breeding and Religious education: but vows, and performs it too, to give him unto the Lord all the days of his life. I cannot but admire her Piety, and deservedly say of her, as they sometime of Judith; There is not such a Woman in the Earth. She hath now a Son, and she brings him to Eli, and the Child ministers unto the Lord before the Priest. Our Women, for the major part, run into extremes, either they are too cruel, or too mild. The mean in which virtue consists, that arrow flieth beyond them. Some are rather Stepdames, then natural Mothers. Others again, with the Ape, kill their young with embracing. This, of the two, is more Common with the feminine gender. Their beloved Adonijahs they will not displease at any hand, or once say, Why have you done so; 1 Kings. i. 6. They give them the Rains, and care not, though they run to the Devil. Hawking, Hunting, and so forth, are the Arms they bear, that you may know from what house they come. Needs must that Garden be overgrown with weeds, when it's no better looked too. Nature without Art, or Science, is blind. We are not born religious, but are made so through grace, and virtuous education. This makes us alone differ from Brutes, and gives the distinction. Take a Colt unbroken, and who can back him? So, without discipline, and good nurturing of youth, they become unserviceable in Church, and State, and have no more Savour in them, than there is in the white of an egg. Yet this is the height of many women's ambition, if they can but leave their Brats a fair revenue, to be honoured in the World, it's all they look for; let their Souls Sink, or Swim, be Saved, or Damned. O Savage Mothers! What answer will you one day give at God's Tribunal-Seat for your neglect? Your Children shall die in their iniquity: but their blood will be required a your hand. They, whom you so dearly loved, or rather hated; will be bound to Curse you, and with horror break— Let the day perish, wherein we were born, and the night, wherein it was said, that a man-child is conceived! Why died we not from the Womb? why did we not give up the Ghost, when we came out of the Belly? Why did the knees prevent us, or why the breasts, that we should suck? Job. iii. 3, 11, 22. See, see to it in time, and be not the mean of their eternal death, to whom you once gave a temporal life.— But, to proceed, Being young, she devotes him to the Lord's service. Samuel ministers before the Lord, being a Child girded with a linen Ephod. Sam. two. 18.— She thought no Master so worthy of him, as God, nor any Service comparable to Divine. A Star seems small, and contemptible in the eyes of many, though it be great, and honourable in the Thoughts, and Acceptions of the Almighty. The Ministry is of so mean Esteem with some, that, with Jeroboam, they think the lowest of the people are good enough to serve that Turn. The younger Brother must be the Parson; when the H●ir looks a squint at it, as a thing far beneath him, a descension too base, and derogative to his Birth. Tender eyes water at the Sun; and none, but Aesop's Dunghill. Cock, will prefer a Barleycorn before a Jewel. But, Be in known unto all Men by these presents, whosoever thou art, and how high soever thou lookest; Thou honour'st not the Calling, but the Calling thee. What greater Honour, then to be Fishers of m●n? To be instrumental in the saving of one Soul, and rescuing it out of the Power of Satan, that Apollyon, and Destroyer, is more glorious, then to Conquer the whole World. I will end with that of King Charles the First of Blessed Memory.— 
(a) ΕΙΚΩΝ ΒΑΣΙΛΙΚΗ, upon the denying his Majesty the Attendance of His Chaplains.  Indeed, I think, both Offices, Regal, and Sacerdotal, might well become the same Person, as anciently they were under one Name, and the united Rights of Primogeniture. Nor could I follow better Precedents, if I were able; then those two eminent Kings, David, and Solomon; Not more famous for their Crowns, and Sceptres, than one was for devout Psalms, and Prayers; the other for his divine Parables: Whence the one assumed the Name of a Prophet, and the other of a Preacher. Titles indeed of greater Honour, if rightly placed; then any of those the Roman Emperors affected, from the Nations they subdued: it being infinitely more glorious to convert Souls to God's Church by the World; then to conquer men to a Subjection by the Sword.   

Meditations upon Phinehas.  
HEre's matter both of Joy, and Sorrow. Tidings came to this gravid Woman, and near Her Time; that the Ark of God was taken; and that her Husband, and Father-in-Law were dead.— Heavy, disconsolate News, sufficient to dissolve into Tears an heart of Flint, to break a Triangle of Stone. And, indeed, I can scarce refrain myself in the penning so Sad a Story. Her Soul, no question, was vexed within her, and, with Rebekah, in the Womb of it She had much Struggling. Yet at last the Oil swims at the Top, the deepest Wound, which went nighest her heart, was the loss of the Ark. The Glory is departed from Israel, for the Ark of God is taken; 1 Sam. iv. 22. And, this being said, She falls asleep One would have thought the Birth of her Son might somewhat have assuaged her Grief, and, as a comfortable Cordial, in part have cured, or, at least, eased the Distempers of her Spirit. But nothing will do it, like a Vessel surcharged, she sink●; and, being full of anguish, wanting Vent, bursteth.— Nothing should go so nigh a Christian, touch them more to the quick, than the decay of Religion; when they see God's Service, and his Ordinances, in an Eclipse; or, as this Good Woman, the Ark even violently taken from them, by rude, and uncircumcised Hands. I remember that Passage of Camelia, the Mother of the Gracchis; when a Matron of Campania came to visit her, and desired to have a Sight of her Jewels; She, waving it, held her in discourse, until her Sons came home: and then, pointing to them, said, Haec sunt Ornamenta mea; These are my Jewels, my Ornaments. Even so the pure Preaching of the Word, and the lawful Use of the Sacraments; which are the Marks of a true Church, are, at least should be, the Ornaments of Christians, and the only distinct Characters between the true, and false Church. The loss of these should most perplex us, as things of highest Concernment; being Means appointed of God to the eternal Welfare, and Salvation of our Souls. This should be the proper Subject of our Sorrow. To see Religion decay, Charity wax cold, the house of Prayer made a Den of Thiefs, as we have of late. To see Profession a Cloak to palliate men's Avarice; the Orthodox, able, and faithful Pastors, removed into Corners, plundered, and sequestered, and many not, as yet, restored; and to see a Company of ignorant Balaamites, more fit, with the Gibeonites, to divide Wood, rather than the Word, to pert up, and to poison the people with Errors, Heresies, and Doctrines of Devils, to the danger of many thousand Souls. This, I say, should strike a sudden Damp within us, put us into a Cold Sweat, and make us weep into a Torrent; for the Glory is departed from Israel, the Ark of God is taken. If this will not cause their Tears; I pray God they be not one day cast into utter Darkness, where there is weeping, wailing, and gnashing of Teeth for ever.  
Amen.   

Meditations upon Joseph's Mistress.  
THE fair and pleasant weather is at a Period, and the cold and deep Winter approacheth. The ways now are dirty, no walking abroad; only let us look out, and see how foul the road is, in comparison of what it was. Here is one of Nilus' Breed, a Woman-Crocodile, one, whose Tears, and actions were not only feigned, but mischievous. See how impudently, and shamelessly she courts him. And she said, Lie with me; Gen. xxxix. 7. By this Imperative voice, like another Herricano, sh● thought to blow up the chaste youth with a Gust, and frame him to her Will. The first Onset having a repulse, she thought to weary him through importunity, wherefore she solicits him day by day to condescend; Verse 10. but the powder will not take, and therefore she goes another way to work, and try, if opportunity will do it. But, alone together, and none of the men within, she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me; Verse 12. Yet, for all this Fire, the Tinder will not burn, Joseph is impregnable, and, being armour of Proof, no bullet can pierce him. Now hear, and wonder, when all her strings break, she cries Whore first, and basely pretends a Rope offered her. The Hebrew Servant, which thou hast brought unto us, came in unto me to mock me; Verse 17. O the wickedness of an imperious, whorish woman! Who would think so fair a face had so foul an heart! A Box so externally pol shed should be replenished with such venom? But no marvel, for a graceless woman to outvie a Serpent.— The Whore now is Carted, let every bed und filled throw dirt upon her; for she is hateful to God, a bane to Youth, injurious to her husband, and a shame to her Sex.— And you, Young ones, in your spring, and Flower, look upon Joseph, the world's mirror, the , the Virtuous. Can you view this piece, and not be in love with it? Can you read this, and give your strength to wowen? Yield not to a Common Prostitute. When this Siren sings, stop your ears, you run else on a Rock, or Quicksand. Let your part upon the Stage of this would be Chastity; that you may go off with a Plaudite. Keep your virginity untouched, so shall you be fit Temples for the Holy Ghost. Christ was laid in a new Tomb; if you would have his Company, let your Conversation be pure, and chaste.   

Meditations upon Delilah.  
HEre is another of the same Form, an excellent proficient in the Black-Art; one, that Couned her Lesson perfectly. She was prettily seen in Rhetoric, for she could speak well: and a Logician too, being expert in Fallacies. She prostitutes, and gives Samson her Body: but not her heart; though she gained his to his destruction. Samson was a Nazarite from his Youth, a Type of Christ, an Enemy, to the Philistines, and a destroyer of their Country by divine appointment. The Lords plough with his heifer, and promise to give her, each of them, eleven hundred pieces of silver, to get out of him where his great strength lay. See how cunningly she carries it: the Gipsy hath Honey in her mouth, but Gall in her heart. Tell me, I pray thee, where thy great Strength lieth; and so, by her importunity, urging him from time to time, that his Soul was vexed unto death, he tells her all his heart; and he, that with the Jawbone of an Ass slew a thousand men, she makes an Ass of him, puts out his Eyes, and now he grinds in the Mill, and is become a Fool to the Vacircumcised. O the mazie, and false heart of an ungracious Woman! No Toad more replete with poison, than such an unsanctified Creature. A Vicious woman cancels the bonds of Religion, and Nature. A pure Maremaid Monster, half woman, half fish; or rather an incarnate Devil: to betray a confiding Lover into the hands of implacable enemies: That of the Poet with me is Canonical; Believe not such a woman, though she should breathe her last. What act so horrid, that a Mercenary Strumpet will not do? All former Familiarity, amorous dalliance, and mutual embrace, are all buried in Oblivion. Who would trust a Whore; for, grease her in the fist, and, if she can, she'll damn thee. All the Plagues of Egypt are blessings to this Cannibal. If thou fearest God, tenderest the Peace of thy conscience, and mindest the Salvation of thy precious Soul; fly the sight of this Basilisk.— For Riddles, she is a Lamia; for enchantments, a Circe; for Cruelty, a Devil. She is so ugly, that no Pen can draw her to the Life. She is a Sea of Mischiefs, which no Line can sound, and a Remora, that puts a stop to Virtue in all Vessels, that sail by her. Samson, of a thousand Tun Burden, was stayed by it, and so hailed a shore by the Uncircumcised, and then rifled. What should I say of this Witch? Mount Aetna spits not forth more Fire, and her Smoke ascends from the bottomless Pitt. The wish of Velerius Maximus to his friend shall be mine to every individual; Det Deus omnipotens, ut omnipotenti faemina semper libereris: The Omnipotent God deliver thee from an Omnipotent woman.   

Meditations upon Jezebel.  
FRom Evil to worse. Here have I met with a precious Saint. One, whose Religion was a Cloak to cover her Villainy, a Sheep in show, a Fox indeed, a Wolf in Cruelty. These three may be compared to the three Furies; Allecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone: but, of all the Degrees, this is Superlative, and falls short of none, but the Devil, which may seem a Paradox too. It were hard to compose a Play of her, the Scene being in Hell, and the Stage so Tragical, enough to fright the Spectators. But see an Act, or two, and then discede the House with an Hiss. Ahab, being denied Naboth's Vineyard, more sick in Mind, than Body, throws himself on the Bed, where, like the troubled Sea, the Waters cast up mire, and dirt. There's no Peace, saith my God, to the wicked. In this Distraction comes up the Monntebank, who, to recover him, applieth Poison, making the Cure worse than the Disease. A dear Purchase! when a man exchangeth his Soul for a Vineyard. But see the Devilishness of this Woman. She writes Letters in Ahab 's name, and seals them with his Seal, and sends them to the Elders, and Nobles. Mark the Contents. Proclaim a Fast, and set Naboth on high among the People, and set two Sons of Belial before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God, and the King; and then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die. 1 Kings. xxi. 9, 10. O incomparable villainy! impiety in the abstract! A Woman? a Devil rather. Must Religion be a Bawd to Murder? It must: but it aggravates the Sin, and contracts more guilt to the Soul. Feigned Sanctity is a double iniquity, and they sin twice, who do it under a pretence of Holiness.— This hath ever been the Common-road to all horrid, and black deeds. When we had no King in Israel, and every man did as seemed best in his own eyes; Religion brought up the rear, and the Scattered Troops of Hypocrisy rallied, and fought under that Banner. Should the Devil appear dreadful, he would scare the Witch herself.— Our pretended Triennial, and long-winded Parliament (who made this Kingdom another Ach●ldamae a Field of Blood, and place of dead men's Sculls.) put this vizard on. Reformation, the glorious name of Reformation was all the Cry. When we were made worse, than Galley slaves among the Turks, or God's people in Egypt, who made Brick without Straw, and through intolerable burdens, and impositions, even weary of our lives: yet the Liberty of the Subject, and Reformation was pretended. But God, pitying our miseries, looked through the pillar of Fire, and of the Cloud, on the Host of these Egyptians, and troubled them, he took off their Chariot-wheels, that they drove heavily, and the Rump (though not drowned) was Sacrificed in the Fire.  
There is not a Sectary, but hath Religion for his pretence. Religion hat been the Common-sewer, through which all Kenels have run; and, like the Physicians Catholicon, applied to all foul disseases. But a seeming Saint is a real Devil. Now to our Theme again. She was the first painted woman we read of, not, like the Picts, to terrify, but to attract. Furious Jehu came to Jezreel. Jezebel paints her face, and tires her head, and looks out at a window; 2 King. ix. 30. By this she thought to captivate him, before whom two Kings could not stand. Her first Compliment was,— Had Zimri peace, who slew his Master? As if she had been no Homicide, though she murdered Naboth. O the Deadness of a cauterised Soul! Could she speak this, and yet guilty of innocent Blood? Truly, Custom in Sin takes from us all since, and feeling of it. No judgement so fearful, as a benumbed Conscience, when one perpetrates a sin, and never minds it. The Sea, that's now calm, when a storm comes, will prove turbulent, and cause it to rage, and foam. Waters, which are stopped, when the Banks give way, break in with more violence. At one time, or other, thou wilt say to thy Conscience, as Ahab to Elijah, Hast thou found me out, O mine enemy, hast thou found me? Tuta esse scelera, secura non possunt. Thy sins may, to thy thinking, be safe; but cannot be secure. Thy Conscience will bark, and by't, and without Repentance, that worm live to perpetuity. Lake Prometheus his Vulture, it will continually gnaw thy heart, and add to the measure of thy endless torments. She paints her Face, and paints her Sin, which nothing can wash off but Tears of contrition in the blood of Christ.— But hath she no Sisters living? Yes, and such, who are called Christians too, which make their sins out of measure sinful. We have many Jezebels, who, when natural Beauty falls short, they would repair by art. Angli quasi Angeli, said a Pope once of some of our Boys, who were brought before him; but, should be have seen some of our Women, he would have changed his Tale; and instead of Angels, have given them the deserved Epithet of incarnate Devils. Many so dawb, and slaver their faces, that they look more like Puppets, than women; and pictures rather, then living Creatures. As for Hypocrisy, and seeming Holiness, that show of Godliness, denying the power, not such an harvest since Adam, as in our pretended times of Reformation. Well, mark the result, Jezebel was devoured by Dogs. Repent, you degenerate women, that you become not a prey to the Devil.   

Meditations upon Athaliah.  
THE Way, as yet I see, is very foul. I thought the last would admit no Comparison; but I have now met with her Match. They may very well go for Sisters: for they are as like, as two Twins, bloody Nimrods' both, and mighty Hunters before the Lord. I may say of this as is Recorded of Caligula, 
(a) Lutum Sanguine maceratum. Suet.  a Lump of clay soaked in Blood. Her Complexion was altogether sanguine: and no water could quench her Thirst, but choice Spirits of Life; for She destroys all the 
(b) 2 Kin. xi. 1.  Seed Royal. Ambition is the Cutthroat of nearest Relations: and, where it reigns, there's no room for Virtue. Like Hell, and the Grave, it's never satisfied. If a Crown be the Gain, all the Hound's are let lose. How many have broke their Necks in the pursuit of it? Nay; how many have damned their Soul, to Climb up this Culmen? It is so sweet a Bait, that many Gudgeons have nibbled so long at it; that they have been caught to their Destruction. Caesar, and Pompey were great Gamesters at it: One could brook no Superior, the other scorned a Competitiour; but their Exit was miserable, and their Sun went down in Blood. Great Alexander, who grieved he had not more Worlds to Conquer, was nipped in the Eudina, and confined within a winding-Sheet, and a Coffin. Bajazet, the Turk, whom once all Asia could not hold, was at last cooped up in a Cage; where he might complain to his Mahomet, and dolefully Tune forth his Misfortunes. Crook'd-Back Richard, the Usurper, (who, to gain a Crown, murdered his Nephews in the Tower, and drowned his own Natural Brother, the Duke of Clarence, in a But of Malmsey) after three Years, and odd Months Reign, had his full Compensation, and Retribution: For he was slain in Bosworth field, and, being besmeared with dirt, and blood, was tied behind a Pursuivant, to the Scoff, and Wonder of both Armies. But, what need I search the Records, or look back to Antiquity? 'Tis fresh in our Memories; Oliver Cromwell, whose Name not long since was terrible, as Captain Drake's was to the Spaniards. What Seas of Blood did he wade through? What Numbers of Fatherless Children, and Widows, did he make, whose Cries, and Complaints would have forced a Sympathy from an hardhearted Jew, to condole with them? Into what Miseries were the Royal Party, those noble Souls, who fought for God, and their King, plunged? Loyalty, and Piety would then have made any miserable. King Saul 
(c) 1 Sam. xv. 9  saved alive the best of the Sheep, and of the Oxen, and of the Fatlings, and of the Lambs; but every thing, that was vile, and refuse, he utterly destroyed. But here, on the contrary, the best of men, and the fattest, harmless as Sheep, and innocent as Lambs, the nobly-born, truehearted Gentry, and the Orthodox Clergy, were hailed to the Slaughter; and the vile, refuse, and rascal People, the rebellious, and schismatical were reserved. Ambition, only Ambition, was the Devil, that let lose that accursed Bloodhound. But, mark his sad Catastrophe.— His Vale to the world was unhappy: for He 
(d) Intravit ut Vulpes, regnavit ut Lupus, mortuus est ut Canis. Dictum de Bonifacio Octavo Papa.  came in like a Fox, He reigned as a Wolf, and died like a Dog. And, behold this miscreant Woman, Hell's fourth Fury, after awhile, being put forth the Ranges, is slain; 2 King. xi. 16. Sic transit gloria Mundi. Thus the seeming Glory of the world vinisheth. And the Bladder, blow up with Wind, with one Spurn is gone.   

Meditations upon Sapphira, Acts v.  
WE say, The nigher the church, the farther from God; and, indeed, many times it proves so, take it either by way of Profession, or Station, and the Proverb will often be made good. A Possession is sold, but a part only is brought, and laid at the Apostles Feet. 'Tis impious, and irreligious to part Man, and Wife; for those, whom God hath joined together, let no man put asunder. But, it had been happy for Sapphira, she had been less indulgent, and distinct in this particular. Well; she was privy to the Sale, and to the Sin. Grace is Communicative; and so is Vice. A drowning Man plucks the next, that's to him, in with him; and one, struck with the Plague, loves Company. When Sin conceives, the Sign is in Gemini, and brings forth Twins. Sacrilege walks not alone; but must have a lie to wait upon it. Yea; for somuch, said this Poor Soul: and presently falls down at the Apostles feet, and yields up the Ghost; Verse 10. 
(a) ubi pecata, ibi procella. Aug.  A Storm is ever at the heels of Impiety: and, where Sin is Mistress, Sighs attend as Hand-maidens. As Solomon, in the Singnlar Number, addresses his Speech to his Young man, I will deliver in the Plural. 
(b) Eccles. xi. 9  Rejoice, O ye Sinners, and let your hearts cheer you, and walk in the ways of your hearts, and in the Sight of your eyes; but know ye, that for all these things God will bring you into Judgement.  
This Sin of Sacrilege, with us, as Fornication with the Papists, is counted venial; though, otherwise in God's eye, damnable. If not so; what mean the bleating of the Sheep, and the lowing of the Oxen, which I hear? (as Samuel said to Soul, in another sense 
(c) 1 Sam. XV. 14. ) Why are Live every where so small, and, with Pharaoh's Kine, so lean, and ill-favoured, that the Man of God is fain to graw upon a Crust? Is not this to make Brick without straw? And yet, which is beastly, and unreasonable, they will exact the tale of their Bricks, expect from their Minister that, which he is not able to perform. How can the Ox tread out the Corn, when his mouth is muzzled? And how can he preach, who hath not bread many times to satisfy the hungry bellies of himself, and Family? O Cruelty to be abhorred! Aves paseunt, ferae par●unt, homines saeviunt: the Birds feed us, for Elijah was fed by Rvens; Savage Beasts spare us, so the fierce Lions Daniel in the Den; but (shall I speak it?) Men only are cruel, and devour. This is that, which brings both Ministers, and Ministry in Contempt, to the scorn of the World, the shame of Religion, the dishonour of God, and, without repentance, the damnation of their Souls. For the affront, offered to them, is offered to God himself: and 'tis a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. We know who said it. 
(d) Luke x. 16.  He, that despiseth you, despiseth me; and he, that despiseth me, despiseth him, that sent me. This simple Woman came to a sudden end for keeping Back part of that, which was her own, or perhaps for concealing it only; what judgement then must they expect, who keep back, and detain from their Pastors that, which is their own? 
(e) Gen. xlix. 6.  O my Soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their Assembly, mine Honour, be not thou united. The pitiful Pharisee, who was an Hypocrite, a verbal only, and external Professor, shall one day rise in judgement against this generation, and condemn it; for he paid his Tithes even unto Mint, Anice-seed, and Cummin, when some Christians, so called Nomine, non re, in name only, would not willingly spare the paring of their Nails. Well; let them cozen, and cheat: Aurum habent Tolosanum, they, or their posterity, will be met with; and, when the hand of the Almighty lights heavy upon them, they will then cry out, as the Philistines did, when the Ark was brought into the Camp; Vae nobis! Vae nobis! Woe be unto us! Woe be unto us! Hear, and tremble; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. 
(f) Mal. iii. 8, 9, 10.  Will a man rob God? Yet ye have rob me. But ye say, Wherein have we rob thee. In Tithes, and Offerings. Ye are cursed with a Curse; for ye have rob me, even this whole Nation, etc.— Her next sin was Lying. Yea, (said she) for so much. Had she left this out, and spoken Truth: her fault had been the less, but now it's aggravated. To perpetrate a Sin, is bad enough; but to maintain it, is a great deal worse. O Sapphira! would thy Lying had perished with thee; but, thou art dead, thy Sin survives, and, like a Gangrene, hath dilated itself far and wide, as if from thee hereditary. This is thought small; for it is Epidemical: yet, it bids defiance to God, and spits in the Face of the Almighty. I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; said once thy Saviour. What therefore can be more contrary, and opposite to him; then Falsehood? Every like delights. and rejoiceth in its like; saith Philosophy. Now, thy God is Truth, yea Truth itself; by Consequent then Falsehood, and Lying must needs be audible to him. What Emolument comes by Lying? All, that I know, is only this, Shame, and not to be credited, when they speak the Truth. Let them weep; and presently we say, Crocodili Lacrymae, Behold the Tears of a Crocodile! and, let their Speech seem never so fair, and seconded by deep Oaths, and Imprecations; Yet, it is but taken as ridiculous, and as a Syren's Song, that tends only to the Ruin of the poor Mariner. The female Sex commonly is the fairer, and of a more tender Constitution; therefore more attractive: Yet nothing doth more embellish them, than Virtue, an innocent and harmless Conversation. Their Tongues, and Hearts should be ever Coviaetours, and fellow-Travellers, and nothing should put a Divorce between them. The Calves of our Lips is a Sacrifice pleasing to God; but it must be without Blemish. He cannot away with Halting, neither accept that, which wants an Eye. Me thinks, that Proverb should not be amongst Christians; Plain dealing is a jewel, and he, that useth it, dies a Beggar. How! a Beggar? this is no fair play, and those scales were not right, to weigh down so precious a Commodity. We have another equivalent, 
(g) Obsequium amicos, Veritas odium parit.  Flattery gets friends, Truth hatred: but more is the pity. Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the Streets of Askelon; lest the Daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the Daughters of the Uncircumcised triumph. Admire the depth of this sin. It's a precipice so steep, that it will strike terror in any but to look down; and, being once known, by the grace of God, deter all Passengers from coming that way. You are of your Father the Devil, and the works of your Father you will do, etc. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth; because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lv, he speaketh of his own; for he is a liar, and the father of it. John viij. 44. See who brings up the rear of the Blackguard. 
(h) Revel. xxi. 8.  But the Fearful, and unbelieving, and the Abominable, and Murderers, and Whoremongers, and Sorcerers, and Idolaters, and all Liars, shall have their part in the Lake, which burneth with Fire, and Brimstone; which is the second death.  
FINIS.