elaborate iconographic scene viewed by man writing in book Gen. 28. cap. a 16 ad fin. Heb. 13. cap. 14: 15: 16 
 view of a City by the sea  
 depiction of Jacob's ladder (Genesis 28. 11-16) Ἀπ ἄρτι ὄπσεσθε τον οὐρανὸν ἀνεφγότα καὶ τουσ ἀγγέλουσ του Θεου αναβαινοντασ καὶ καταβαινοντασ επι τον υιὸν τοῦ ανθρωπου Joan. 1.52.  
 depiction of Jacob's altar at Bethel (Genesis 28. 17-22) 
Bethel   
 inset seal of (?) the Lion of Judah   monogram Design. W. Faithorne Sculp   

THE ASCENTS OF THE SOUL: OR, DAVID's Mount TOWARDS GOD's House. BEING PARAPHRASES ON THE FIFTEEN PSALMS of DEGREES.  
Written in Italian, By the Illustrious GIO. FRANCISCO LOREDANO, a Noble Venetian, 1656. Rendered into English, Anno Dom. 1665.  
Né si comincia ben, se non dal Ciélo.  
LONDON, Printed by A. G. and J. P. for Robert Harford, at the Angel in Cornhill, 1681.   

 decorative headpiece To the most Honoured LUCINDA.  

AS the kind Sun (which cheers our dying Muse)  
From the bright East, brings day, and with it, views  
The World's fair Parts; but finding none so sweet  
As th' Orient Beauties, whom he first did greet;  
Back to his Morning Mistress he doth run;  
Ending his round Heat there, where he begun.  
So, though my Rhimes, like straggling Waters, fled  
From Wit's clear Spring; from You, the Fountain's Head;  
Yet now my Fancy pays its final Stream  
To its first Helicon, and fairest Theme.   

For sure, 'tis heavens, with your blessed Influence,  
('Tis not th' Extreams usual Coincidence)  
Which as it did at first our Verse Baptise;  
So now redeems These from Idolatries.  
That their late wandering Feet no more may roam;  
But (like the elder Brothers) keep at home.  
While You restore our Music, and renew  
Our Mind, to sing again to God, and You.  
See here our Muse washes her Feet, and all;  
Turns Penitent, that had been Prodigal:  
And as a Magdalen, with all her Store,  
She worships Goodness; but doth waste no more.  
She sends her Honey back, to that dear Hive,  
Where she'll be buried, (if not kept alive.)   

Then with her Notes, (Swanlike) she'll end her Days,  
Singing Your Worth, her Requiem, and God's Praise.    

To the most Honoured LUCINDA.  
MADAM,  
YOU may smile, while I blush, that You find me speak in Print, when You know I love no such phrase or thing; because it argues an affectation, which I have not till now, been guilty of. But since it is too general a Disease, that Poverty and Laziness bring upon Linguists; no wonder if my Converse with some such, hath infected me at this time, when remembering how I used from beyond Seas to Congratulate Your New-year with some Foreign Present: And finding none of that Store left by me, (which was dearly bought, and far fetched) I turned from my Cabinet, to my Closet, and there found this Venetian Crystal, so finely wrought and polished by the Author, and not ill set (perhaps by my putting a File unto it) as I was resolved to make an Offering of it to that Shrine Your Oratory, wherein are many things worth the admiring; but none more than the pious behaviour of Yourself.  
This is so excellently useful, as that we may be pardoned for desiring a Reflection of it. And therefore, Madam, I send this Mirror of Devotions, not to direct or dress Yours; but to display them unto others, and to do my Duty so far to all the Good; as to do You Right in the discovery of so rare a Goodness as Yours is; which hath not only emboldened me to venture up the Stairs to Your Praying-place, and to revisit these Degrees, (whereon I went above ten Years ago) but likewise to show the World how Your Piety is exemplary like David's; it hath led and instructed a numerous Train to follow You (though very hardly) up a great way towards the Mountain of Holiness.  
And, Madam, since this Age doth want such Precedents in Worth, in Goodness, and in Place, as Your late noble Lord, and Father, have been; we may earnestly beg of God to add to Your Honour and Prosperity Fifteen Degrees, and prolong Your wonderful Life marvellously farther than Hezekiah's. If then You might see Your Sons not go backward in the World, but getting up (like the Children of Israel) out of Egypt, to the best and most difficult Advancements; I mean, up the many Steps to the House of God, (there to praise his Blessings, and to pray for Yours.) I doubt not but it would be a Token of much Comfort and Honour to Yourself, and of as much Happiness and Benefit to them, as to him, who is ready to say, (with the elder Brother, Gen. 27.31.) Arise, and taste kindly of thy Son's Service, that thy Soul may bless me also.   

TO THE READER.  
ALTHOUGH the Author's glorious Dedication of this Book (To the Queen of Heaven,) together with several other Reasons, would have made me no more in love with this sort of Compliments, than the many are who have wrote long Discourses against Prefaces, (and so have sentenced themselves with a Witness, by condemning the very Act in which they were found Guilty:) Yet finding by the sad Example of most the Ingenious, who have failed in their attempts against Epistles prefatory (as he did, who designed a great Building without Inlets or Addresses to it,) that it is a hard matter for People to avoid the Road, and run over Hedge and Ditch, without being judged Men of odd Designs: I therefore take the beaten tract to the Town, and am content to keep pace with another's Motion; having took no course to appear before, nor being now spurred on to this Publication by any Sentiments, but those of Gratitude . Were I stung by such a Gad-fly as Vainglory, I would not Print a Translation now, (which was made above ten years ago) to dub me a Writer; when the Form of it, as much as the Matter, will be so dull and insipid to the Wits of this time. (These are for no Book-learning, no writing by Gentlemen, unless it be (at the Modish Rate) strangely extravagant, profane, or foul.)  
Therefore as I leave these Gallants to the Tyranny of that Genius by which they both act and suffer; so purposely have I dismounted their expectation of any pass-time from me; for I have slipped the Spring, I have lost the Season for youthful Publications; and now I seek to have Audience incognito with a grave Senator.  
This, methinks, may be sufficient Proof, that I neither qu●t●, nor expect the stolen Title of an Author, for all I am now like one in a Preface. Most Eyes are upon Books, as upon a Horse-Race; on the first Start, or at the ending, more than upon the best part of the Heat.  
In short, I tell the Readers what they may find here, though I cannot tell what they may like; for if they look for much Roman Ceremony, or Papal Devotion, they will go away unsatisfied: For I have changed the Religion, as much as the Language of my Author; and allowed myself the same Christian liberty in turning or trimming this Piece of his, which he likewise took in some of his Translations: That as the Signior dressed it for his Country, 
Vede loquinto Vol. del Sig. Gio. Fr. Loredano, nel praefatio sua, All' Historia Catal.  I may look after it in mine, and bear the blame, if this Stranger be took for a Jesuit. If I conceal some of his Expressions, 'tis not to abuse his intent of appearing to the World a true Catholic; he is now, I trust, Orthodox, and English too: Nor would I damp his Spiritual Heats, while I fan Superstition from his great Ingenuity and Zeal.  
I know the Silk his words put on is pure Venetian, of too curious a Fabric for me to mend, or indeed to meddle with farther than to add a List of courser Materials to the Piece.  
Lest it should seem too nice in its Address to the holy Altars, and there be reproved (like an Agag) for its Delicacy, (falling under the Censures which many such Works have incurred, of having more Wit than Zeal in it) and too much Rhetoric for much Religion) I have rebated the point of Loredano's stile; and where I have cut off some reiterated Elegancies, and Musical words, that (as long Fuges) were but to the same Tune; I took away the Lap of the Senator's Robe, I hope without doing him any injury at all.  
'Tis pity a rich Sleeve should be so long, as to hang (like their Laticlavians) in the Dirt; 
Acts 25.23. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  or that Berenice's appearance should hinder Agrippa's Christianity.  
I am more apt to exclude Tertullus, than St. Paul; and therefore, instead of Oratory, put in Scripture into the Work; that what is lost in Fancy, may be retrieved in Devotion.  
And surely no time nor labour would be lost, could I be but as much more useful to the Reader, as I should be just to the Writer, in setting forth his Thoughts with the same pious Impressions and Advantages which they once brought to my Heart. To this they have done good, (as I may publicly own;) and I am not of so straight, so narrow a Spirit, as not to endeavour to communicate a good, according to the Nature, and my Experience of it.  
Indeed before I travelled into Italy, I heard so much ill said of that Country, (especially of the Venetians in it) that I was possessed with a prejudice like his, 
John 1.46.  who cried, Can there any good come out of Galile●? And also prompted by the irreligion of too many Travellers, to think that Contagion the Epidemical Disease of Foreigners, (principally those of higher Rank.)  
Therefore when I went abroad, lest I should learn Vices more fast than Language, or live (as formerly) in the proud Greek and Roman conceit, that every Land was barbarous, but our own; and all the World was naught, but England. I was curious to find out what was Spiritual (and rightly so called) beyond Sea, if the lawful Issue of a Noble Laic; I looked upon such a piece of Devotion as more capable of doing good, than the more elaborate Volumes of Churchmen; (who are not thought well enough on, because they make it their business to write well) whereas the slighter Essays of other Gentlemen (which are not of the long Robe) fall more gratefully into the hands of great Persons, and by Emulation of the precedent (if no better motive) work often upon them some Pious effect.  
Being acquainted with the Truth , and with the mighty number of Memoires, and other Works, lately put forth by the Noblemen of France, I ramassed a good quantity of the most Illustrious modern Writers in Italy; and amongst them, the first which I laid hold on, was the Third of the seven Volumes of the Honourable Signior Gio. Francisco Loredano's Works; 
Stamp. à Venetia, 1654.  which though set out with all the Garnish that the Poets and Painters could enrich them with, yet discouraged my perusal of them, because I found the beginning of this Volume very Toyish and Romantic.  
Till I considered that Men's Books are oftentimes like their Lives; the first Parts of them slight and youthful, (and such Leaves as will scarce hid a Nakedness, nay, were better skipped over than perused;) yet their latter Ends may be Grave and Pious, well-ordered and disposed, as the Freeze and Cornice of all their Works.  
So I searched on for the Pearl among the Shells; and left not this great and brisk Wit, till I found him terminate so well in Meditation, as that I fixed my hand upon his Table, thus to Copy out his Piety, if not his Eloquence; and to say (to those who cried, Come from among them) Come and see, is not here a Prophet? Though he might have been formerly a Saul, he is now with the divinest David; and this his properest Subject merited Discovery, though it lay hid, like Saul, in a heap of Stuff.  
Nor was I content only to open the Mine, or fetch out the Oar; but also to fine it from the Dross; that this silken Ladder might be useful, where stronger (like the Bibles) were not so portable, for to raise or keep up some Devotion in me.  
And this, I thank God, it did, by my often looking on it; as La Scala Santa once had done too, when it happened to me at Rome, (as to St. Paul at Athens) that I had a good opportunity from an Idolatrous place, to pray with much Fervour and Charity for myself, and all Men, that we might not be mistaken, or Hypocritical, in our Worshipping of God, while with Pity I considered the Superstitions of some Christians there, who adored Stocks and Stones more than their Maker; and with shame thought upon the Profaneness of others among Protestants, that would not allow God a peculiar manner, nor place of Worship.  
Thus have you the occasion of the Title I give to this Book, and shall have something concerning the Frontispiece.  
Though by the way take notice, that I was never a Promoter of Superstitious Pilgrimages; nor so far reconciled to the Church of Rome, as to follow her Steps farther than the Church of England approves them: For all I have gone up the Stairs , and the Ascents of Loredano's Soul, I hope with some such true Efforts as that Illustrios' Senator designed in his Preface, and endeavoured in his Paraphrase; to which good Act, this is but a Scene, or rather as the Curtain which may now be drawn away, lest it hinder the Spectators better Objects.  
I have fancied the whole Piece to be a Sk●tch of Jacob's Vision, and David's Psalter, like Israel's Scale, reaching to the Divine Throne, whereon devout Spirits have scope to run descant up and down, and by the various Motions of their Piety, (as by the several Degrees of their Understandings) they make better Music than the imagined Spheres could ever be supposed to do: For surely, thereupon is grounded the best Harmony of Heaven and Earth; and thereon we shall meet with a grateful Consort, when we are left never so much alone by the World.  
For they who make no use of the Psalms, nor Feast upon them by frequent Meditation, are as obnoxious to Errors, as I can be in any of these Thoughts. Therefore like a Travelling Pilgrim to Mount Zion, I pursue my Journey, hoping to reach the end of it, by doing some good to myself, if not to others.  
And as Jacob was required to make an Altar of those Stones on which he rested in his Journey (when he beheld Heaven's Eyes upon him, 
Gen. 35.1.  and Angels moving to and fro for his Succour;) so I thought myself obliged to make an Offering to God, 
2.  (as a grateful Monument) of that which had bettered me in my Progress, and helped me to see who was with me in the way that I went; 
3.  so as to bring me again to my Father's House in peace.  
May then these Contemplations (and our whole Lives too) be like Jacob's Ladder, scaling Heaven itself; and having their highest ones there, (while some others may be yet upon the low Earth) and while good Thoughts and Actions (like Celestial Ministers) ascend to Heaven, and condescend to Earth, let God be set at the end of all we do, that we may receive much Good from such gracious Prospects, and our Pillars (like Jacob's) be Anointed to God's Service.  
For my part, I desire to build no Babel, (of several Languages) but would bring some Materials unto Bethel; though the top of my performance reach no farther than to lay the Footpace to God's House.  
If David (such a Master-builder) thought it Honour enough for him to be but as one of the Nethinim in the Temple; it will be more than Grace enough for me to be there (if but as a Gibeonite) in any degree serviceable to the Flames of ●iety, or Wells of Salvation; while I officiate in both those parts of Divine Worship, the two chief Duties of Religion, Prayer and Thanksgiving.  
We see the Soul hath several Steps to take, and many Rounds whereby to be exercised in her Addresses to God; and they are the Perches whereon she can best recreate or rest her State, while she is in this Cage of the Body. Let us therefore make her as Musical, and as Harmonious, as we may, therein.  
The very Pagan Worship was Spiritual enough to recommend Hymns and Singing to the Religious, (of what sort soever they be;) and had I not mentioned far better Motives from Holy Scripture, I should avow myself constrained to this following Psalmody, by the convincing words of several Heathens, 
Lib. 1. Diss●rtationum Arrian. per tot. cap. 17.  such as those of Epictetus, cited by Arrian, and partly quoted in my Title-page.  
Nor am I discouraged in doing that, which others have done better before me; since I hear the Virtuous throughout every Age, as well as throughout the Bible, (like those spoken of in the Revelations) singing in the words of the Princely Prophets, (David and Isaiah) Come let us go up unto the House of the Lord, 
Rev. 15.2, 3, 4, 5.  etc. I was glad when they said, not I'll, but Eamus, Let us go up.  
For though my Head or Hand be not publicly engaged in the Service of God, or of my King; yet neither my Retreat nor Sloathfulness shall make me so bad a Servant, or a Subject, as not to employ my Pen and Ink, and Blood too, for Religion and Loyalty, as occasion may be offered.  
At present, being happy in a longed-for Recess, I have the grateful Leisure afforded me (which many good Persons want, and might better improve) to thank God, that notwithstanding our desperate Provocations of him (which commensurately heighten our Fears and Dangers) we are not yet sunk down into that utter darkness of the days of Antichrist, when the saying, or singing of Psalms, will be rejected with the Church. But we have liberty to go up, with David, into God's House, and there still beg those surest Mercies which are best for all Men, as well as for me, and so should be desired for us all.  
So be it.   

 headpiece: portrait of Giovanni Francesco Loredano with coat of arms (repeated on subsequent pages) 
Joannes Franciscus Lauredamus  Lauredanus Laureandus Facundus es. Clarus eris in annos THE AUTHOR'S EPISTLE TO THE READER.  
THAT Pen which hath so often played the Fool upon the Stage of this vain World (by soothing most of the fantastic Humours, both of our own Genius, and of the Age) would gladly now take up, (like a reduced Prodigal) staying the Torrent of its wilder Courses, that it might a while bemoan its Errors, and beg God's favour, and so raise its Plumes to a braver pitch; taking a glorious flight to the highest place of Paradise: For,  
The Glory of this World is raked up, or rather buried, in the Ashes of our Humane Nature; and he is a mad Lover of Vain Glory, who is a pretender to Immortality, in a Place and Condition, where every thing is Mortal, like himself.  

* Here the Author reflects on his former Works, he having writ many Volumes on the several Subjects here quoted, which have been most curiously set forth with ingenious Frontispieces and Recommendations.  But how shall we stir up, or awake the Divine Love, that we have either made sad, and heavy, or made to rest, and cease, from doing us good, by a long Series of Offences? Alas! no Tales, or new Romances, dreamed by the finer Wits, to please or propagate the Age's Vanity; nor any serious Histories drawn (like Minerals) out of dark Recesses, by the Curiosity of their Undertakers, to profit and adorn Posterity; no, nor any politic Maxims that dare teach the Art of Government to the Experience of mighty Princes, will now help us to work that Blessed Effect.  
It is needful to withdraw from the fruitless Works, from the hurtful Charms of vain Science and Verbosity; to avoid the Point and Praise of Men; to shun the Title and Esteem of a Master in worldly Arts, and to run with devout Requests to entreat the offended Goodness, and loving Kindness of our God.  
He continually bows down his Ear to such Cries as (bringing with them the Repentance of the Heart) come in the stead of Holocausts 〈◊〉 Heaven. Therefore that I might at last get thither, (though I have been long a Malefactor) I have walked up some Steps, (laid by the Royal Prophet) which may bring us safely to God's House, and from thence to Eternal Felicities. And would to God my Heart could travel more with my Hand, that the Relishes of my Soul may be as devout, as those of my Pen may seem! And that I had mounted these Degrees with such purity of Affection, as this Jacob's Ladder should be raised, whose top reaches even to Heaven.  
So that whosoever desires to rise to the most glorious Palace of the Son of God, if he would reach unto the ineffable Pleasure of a Divine Vision, he must walk up these fifteen Stairs which lead to Holiness and Happiness, and the main Industry labours in vain to get up to these, without Faith and good Works.  
Therefore I have here shown (with David) that there are fifteen Degrees to the holy Mount, and high Place of Heaven; since to advance us thither are so requisite, not only the eight Beatitudes, but the seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit: And he that in this Valley of Vision knows not how to pass on from strength to strength, will surely take the wrong way to Zion.  
These are called Steps of Ascent, because who ever intends to make use of them, should do it for his Advancement unto God; for his climbing up by Grace, and not suffer his humblest Thoughts to stoop so low, as to give any great Respect, or Entertainment, unto Earthly Objects.  
The five first Degrees are for Christian Noviciats and Pupils, those who begin their Journey towards Heaven in the way of Celestial Love, and venture to pass through the difficulties of Temptation, the hardship of Affliction, the Swords and Pikes of Censure, and Calumniations. They are such as (with David on his way to Victory) stay themselves on their God, fix their Confidence (with Jacob in his Journey) upon Heavenly Succours, and rejoice in Spiritual Supports, and press on forward in the hopes of Rewards; and in fine, have so much true Humility, as to attribute the small Progress of their Repentance not at all to their own strength, but wholly unto God.  
The five next Degrees assist Proficients in the same Love of God, and of Religion, who are forward in the way of Mastering their Passions, and so are more confident, as better Confirmed, not only to further themselves, but others too, in Divine Contemplations; as well as encourage and invite to a Plus ultra, to a making on in the Love of God, till they have clearly made it out to themselves.  
They can meekly beg of God a Confirmation of his Grace, and of their Strength; nor expect any reward, nor conceit any Merit, nor seek any Commendation, either for the exercise of Patience in Adversity, or for doing their Duty in that Condition wherein God hath placed them.  
The last five Degrees are for the highest Form of Professors; such as are nearest the top of Perfecton above, and the Kingdom of Heaven here below; who can pray for their Persecutors, do good to those that do them hurt, and accompany their own tried Patience with desires of trying it still more and more: Begging nothing more of God than Lowliness, and Nothingness of Spirit, under all the greatest Demonstrations of his Favour, lest (with St. Paul) they should be exalted above measure, and grow unworthy (by being Proud) of that Love, with which they long to be made one, in an Eternal Charity. Therefore taking their Hearts quite off from the World, and divorcing their Thoughts from Terrene Objects, they employ their whole Man in beginning their Heaven upon Earth, by the continual blessing and praising of God.  
And I pray God these Words may be read with such Thoughts, as may stir up each several sort of Christians to the devoutest Action within their Capacities, kindling in every Breast one Spark or other more bright and fervent, than that can possibly be which is struck out of the black Flint of my Heart, who (like Absalon) have heaped up more Stones of Gild for the Erection of a Monument in Hell, than I have enjoyed Hours of Life, for the steering my Course to the Glories of Paradise.  
Every Book that speaks of God, should be (as a Terminus, or Law-Stone) either to inform, or reform our Footsteps; and those Columns are not (like Enoches) of Worth, nor of Duration, that build not up the House of Wisdom. Those Figures stand but for Ciphers; those Letters are but Mutes, that do not teach the Ignorant the Right way, or at least, turn the Erroneous from the Wrong.  
Nevertheless I acknowledge myself not less unapt to Correct the one, than unable to Guide the other, being neither fit for the Office of a Monitor, nor of a Master.  
For what I have written, hath been rather to wake my own dying Devotion, than to watch for the Encomiums of others; and for once I can protest the Puff of worldly Applause, (which often Tympanies the soundest Minds with Ambition) did not blow up the Feathers of my Quill to this its present Flight and Undertaking.  
He that aspires to Abraham's Honour (to talk with God as a Man speaks with his Friend) doth not give heed to those Whispers of the Serpent, to those vain Hopes, (I mean) which Fame and Reputation, those (Terrae Filiae) Children of the Giant, bring along with them to deceive us here.  
I once thought to be Dictator to myself alone, because Devotion is a Spirit, and like Camphire, if let out too far, or blown about, most commonly 'tis lost, and vanishes away: But when I viewed David, (like Jonathan) climbing up the Rock, and commanding his Armour-bearers to follow him. I had also the courage, both to attend and imitate him, in beckening unto others to creep along with me upon these Stairs which lead unto David's Fortress, unto the God of Gods in Mount Zion, and unto his Temple, where every one must speak of his Honour.  
And who knows but some others incited (perhaps by my weakest endeavours) may assist hereafter with better address, those who are getting up these Holy Rounds (this Scala Santa) of Meditation? As we see a little Star shines before the Sun, as it were to raise and light up a far greater and more useful Guide than itself.  
But (without any more Preamble) not to detain, or deceive the Reader, let me tell him, who is not pleased with this Book, That he may be pleased in regarding the Subject; and if he shall look herein, and find any thing that is good, it is to be returned with due Interest of Praise to God, the true Owner of it, who was the Framer of the World from Nothing, and the Maker of Mankind Upright, though we have sought out many strange Inventions, both to be, and to do Wrong: So that Mistakes, and Men, go hand in hand together; and all the Errors here we must yield to be our own.   

IN Psalmorum Laudem.  CHORUS. 1. Angelorum, &, 2. Hominum. CHORUS. 
THE PSALMS are Paradises Spring;  
Streaming Refreshments every way.  
They, 1. Wine, 2. Oil, 1. Milk, 2. And Honey bring,  
1. To Cheer, 2. To Cure, 1. To Feed, 2. T' Allay.  
1. When we are merry, Psalms we sing,  
2. When we're afflicted, Psalms we say.  
1. They heavens, 2. And Earth's Devotions wing,  
1. While Angels Praise, 2. Or Men do Pray.  CHORUS. 
The PSALMS are Paradises Spring,  
Streaming Refreshments every way, etc.   

 decorative headpiece THE ASCENTS OF THE SOUL.  

The first Step upon the First PSALM of Degrees, being the 120 PSALM.  Ad Dominum cum tribularer, etc. 
O Most Gracious God, when I have fathomed the tossing Billows of my troubled Spirit, either by the depth of humane anxieties, or by some thwarting dispensation of that Providence that moves upon the great Abyss: (and was termed Fortune, by the Heathens, rolling the whole Globe upon Waves of incertain Casualties) Nay, when the Storms of my violent Passions make my wicked heart like a raging Sea (foaming out nothing but mire and dirt) in filthy Motions, and in tyrannical or rebellious Actions. O then, with Humility, Contrition, and Sincerity of Intention, I endeavour to strike sail, for fear of the Shipwreck of a good Conscience, and make haste to put into the Harbour of thy Goodness and Compassion. Then,  
I entreat that unsealed and unexhausted Spring of Mercy, which (without upbraiding any for want of worthiness) imparts to all of the fullness of his Grace. I have access to thy Throne, O Father of Lights, and to Thee, O Glorious Sun of Righteousness, that without respect of persons, hast shined upon the just and the unjust, and lookest so kindly on the Universe, as to offer thy Beams and Beauties unto all.  
While on the other side, Thou merciful Lord (crowning thy Eternal Glories with the continued Acts of thy Pity) hast so far lessened thy Greatness, as to receive my Petitions, and not only heard my Prayers by thy Favour, but heaped up Answers to them by thy Grace. So that my ever-craving needs have never wanted seasonable supplies, nor my desires wearied out thy Bounty: But every wish of mine hath worn some token of thy good will to Mankind, and every Prayer hath been returned (like an acceptable Messenger) with marks of favour.  
Seeing then I was made a Creature by thy Love at first, and a new Creation by thy Mercy now; I return again, O Father, with the Prodigal, to beg the excesses of thy Tenderness, the loud soundings of thy Bowels towards me; 'Tis more than ordinary preserving or creating goodness that I want: And Thou, my Everlasting God, hast ever been my Saviour, so that to deny me now the continuance of thy Favour, or the blessing of thy Protection would be to lose the fruit of thy Labour, and the end and Harvest of thy former care.  
Therefore let thy Love be still the Banner over me, while the Tongues of those who are eloquent in fraud and falsehood storm my Ears daily with Inveaglements, for the drawing my Heart off from paying its due homage of Thankfulness and Obedience to Thee, the Great and Almighty King.  
With the fears of thy Judgements they scare my remembrance of my faults, with the snares of their Allurements, they would draw me aside out of the way that leads to Life; And with false Flatteries, they would indulge my compliance with Sin, and masking Vice under the show of Virtue, seek to betray my soul, (that is too easy and pliable) to the Charms of Sense, and to the Pleasures of the World.  
But alas! I perceive (though somewhat too late) how these Mouths of Hell, and Oracles of Satan would christian Cruelty with the name of Justice, and name a cursed Revenge, the Way of Honour. With them, Covetousness is but Frugality; Luxury, the Law of Nature; and Envy, noble Emulation. So that being well nigh lost, and cast away amongst the dark mists or false lights of their vain conceits, I find myself deterred from good, and stayed unhappily in evil.  
And truly, O most gracious God, without the assistance of thy Grace, and the protection of thy Love, without the buttress of thy Power, and the foundation of thy Wisdom, What feeble Jerichoes are all our Breasts? How may the strongest Walls of all our Virtues, and the highest Towers of noble Resolutions be pulled down (as it were with ridiculous Rams-horns) with the Breath of a naughty Woman, with the blast of an evil Tongue! And who is there (since Adam, Solomon, Lot, and Peter, were blown down) that can avoid the fascinations either of flattery, or of falsehood of the Parasite or Calumniator? Who can resist the force, or withstand the mischief of such ensnaring Words, as the Liars Lips enter the Soul withal?  
The Syren's of the World, the Circe's of the Devil, and all the Idols of Sensuality may sooner be passed by, and more easily got from by the exercise of Prudence, by the rules of Reason, and by the restraint of Laws, than the snares that are laid by a deceitful wicked Mouth. And these are so much the more invincible and unavoidable, by how much they are invisible and unknown, being spread over with the specious pretences either of Piety, or of Friendship.  
The other mischiefs of this frail state here, may be grievous, dangerous, and mortal, but none so comparably to a false, malicious, and dissembling Tongue, which is a painted Sepulchre, full of nothing but Emptiness, Rottenness, Hollowness, and precipices instead of Amity, Righteousness, Holiness, and Piety, which it so much pretends to, as that it oftentimes entraps the most just and innocent, and tramples them under the feet of Calumny and Disgrace.  
But O what fruit have you in those things whereof you may be now ashamed? O ye perfidious Doegs! What Pleasure, what Profit, what Honour do ye gather from your Lies, and from your falsehoods, O ye deceitful Men? Do ye Flatterers (who are the most venomous tame Beasts) look for reward, or hope for praise, or expect immunities? No, no, your Company is too Pernicious, your Teeth too Poisonous, your Sin too Presumptuous, to expect any thing from Heaven but Hate and Vengeance.  
For the Javelin's darted from a strong and steady arm gash not the Flesh with deeper wounds than the Words of a treacherous and faithless Tongue pierce the Soul of the ingenious to the quick. The glowing Coals of Juniper, (which have the singular property of keeping Fire) do not reserve, or afford so much heat as an evil Tongue can throw upon our affections, for that (saith the Apostle) is set on fire of Hell.  
Wherefore, my God, I trust while thou dost rain down Plagues upon such sacrilegious Sinners (as thou didst upon Sodom and Gomorrah, thou wilt preserve my soul (as thou didst righteous Lot's) that was vexed with the wicked Conversation of his Neighbours) so that I may not be overthrown amongst the Pits of Dissimulation, nor be shipwrecked in those unstable Waters, where many a wise Pilot hath been cast away.  
Lord! I would not run on the shelves of such persuasions, as drive men on further to their own Ruin: But by the wont effects of thy Omnipotence, deliver me from those mistrusts and misunderstandings that (too much indulging the impotence of Nature) take off the Man from doing his Devoir, and from obeying thy Commands, and stays him amongst sinful Complacencies and Delights.  
Against such, O Lord, arm thy just wrath, and let thy disdain strike them on the Mouths, who full of mischief and deceit become the burying places of others fame and reputation.  
O let the arrows of such cursed Tongues, and the Goals of their traitorous Mouths, become Thunderbolts to chastise their malice; and lightning, to flash for ever in their Faces, and fire to punish their Offences everlastingly.  
And here now, Lord, the multitude of my Crimes committed at the instance of Sacrilegious Tongues, comes (with their Curses) fresh into my mind. Here the remorses of my Conscience tell me of the Sins (and Plagues) I have contracted by my compliance with their vain conceits (and company) who have too frequently taken me off from the performance of my Duty, and the observation of thy Holy Laws. Woe is me, wicked Wretch! O how weak! O how miserable am I! Like the Prodigal, I have stayed too long from home, from my Father's Mansion; from thy Love and Protection! And alas, How long have I stayed in a strange Land, and rebelled, like Absalon, in the sight of the Sun, before Heaven, and against Thee, O God Declaring myself no Son, that I might be a Slave to the Tyranny of my basest Affections, and a Traitor to my Sovereign Lord! Surely, much too long and most unhappy hath been my Travel through this Wilderness, where I have made Woldly-mindedness my sole Companion; so that I may say too too many, because Evil have been the Days of my Pilgrimage.  
And surely, no greater mishap can befall a Man, than to find himself outlawed from thy Care, and made a Vagabond, like Cain, in the Land of Aberrations, under the Rule of Evil Spirits, and among his own Deceive and Temptations; such evil Companions as may well be termed Arabians, from the Rudeness of their Behaviour, the Badness of their Neighbourhood, the darkness and deformity of their appearances, whereby (that Dove) the Soul, that is conversant amongst them, is blacked and sullied, as if she had lain among the Pots, and lost her silver Wings, and is by so much the more unpleasant and unfit for the Eyes of thy Purity, by how much the more pains thou hast took to make thy Psyche without spot or blemish, or any such thing, as the ugliness of Vice disguises the Soul withal.  
Free me therefore, O merciful Lord, from the iniquity and perverseness of those Tongues that have not known the way of Peace, nor had they known it, would have loved it; because, like the grand Enemy in the Gospel, they are continually sowing the Seeds of Hatred, and the Teeth of Discord.  
Nay, while they wear the Vizards of kindness and of peaceableness, they conspire treacherously against the welfare of such as would adore and serve Thee.  
Such Tongues, O God, flattering the sensual Appetite, subjugate Reason unto it, and make falsehood and blasphemies so allied to them, as that although they veil the mischief of their deformities, they cannot hid them. For, Can these Aethiopians change their Skins? No, they will appear the Black Sons of Cham, and like Leopards, full of Spots, let them daub over their Actions never so deceitfully.  
Lord, I wish that my Soul, being wholly devoted to Peace, may thereby join itself to thy favour, and not stray at all from thy Commandments, but carefully trace thy divine Examples.  
O Blessed Jesus! Thou hast born so good a Will to Man, as to will Peace on Earth, as well as in Heaven, that Glory may be to God in the Highest. Thou didst teach on the Mount, how that Hatred should be banished, that Envy (not Justice) should fly from Earth, and that Prayers should be put up for all, even for our Persecutors, and Kindness reserved for our very Enemies.  
Thou gavest thy Apostles Peace for the best Present thou couldst make them on Earth; Thou didst leave them Peace for a Legacy, when thou goest hence, and they shall receive from Thee everlasting Peace for their felicity in Heaven.  
At thy Birth, the Angels were Heralds, who proclaimed a General Peace; And what did thy bitter Death bring, but the sweetest pacification? As the first Words at thy Resurrection were of Peace.  
But Gracious God, if thou deliverest me not from that Ishmaelite, (who pursues me with deadly hatred) and from his Children, who follow him in Flatteries and Accusations: I see, alas! the Repose of my Soul is so much broken by their Assaults, and its own Impotencies, as that it may despair of Safety. Because, without Divine Assistance, no body can resist the Witckcraft of those Tongues, that are the Firebrands of the Devil, and by his instigation, like the Fool in the Proverbs, throw about Fire and darts, and (as if in jest) work nothing but mischief and deceit.   

The second Step upon the second PSALM of Degrees, being the 121 PSALM.  Levavi Oculos. 
O My Soul! What dost thou look at? What dost thou look for? What dost thou look after? Whence spring the Hopes which yield some ease to the Troubles and Evils of thy Condition? Who is he that can deliver thee from the Arrests of Justice? Where wilt thou be secured from the Thunder of Divine Vengeance? See round about thee, nay within thee there are Ten thousand Witnesses (who are accusers also) of the Exorbitances of thy Passion. Observe both by the late and sad Chastisements of others (not so bad as thyself) how ready the abused Patience of the Almighty is to change itself into Fury at thy continued provocations. Is not thy Conscience gnawing thee like a Vulture? and ready to fly in thy very Face to reprehend the vanity of thy desires, the extravagance of thy Appetite, the blindness of thy Affection, and the infidelity of thy Opinions? Therefore gape no longer after the Tantalising fruit of Sodom; stare not at the Tinsel Glories of this World; but lift up thy Spiritual Eyes in Love, and Prayer, and Contemplation, to the Rock of Ages, to the utmost bounds of the everlasting Hills, to the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, those Mountains of perfection who enclose within the bowels of their Love all the Treasures of Wisdom and Holiness, and the only means of our Salvation.  
Look up unto the top of this Pisgah and see all that blessed Land; see from this Summit how those lower Heights who never feel the showers of our Sorrows, nor fear the clouding of their Heads in Darkness, I mean the Beatified Saints and Angels (who have such glorious Elevations through the Magnetic force of God's goodness upon theirs) that like the Hill of the Lord they are venerably to be regarded, and though thy weak sight can reach no higher than these Hills, O learn from these thy Fellow-creatures the vast distance of thine own unworthiness! when but compared even to them in whom thou hast found Folly, and be confounded with Shame at thy far grosser failings, so shalt thou learn to turn off the Thorns of the Flesh, to turn out the Love of the World, and to turn away the Messengers of Satan.  
Thou shalt learn the right Methods of a sincere and incorrupt Life, thou shalt learn to behold, and beholding admire that Height of Glory that is above, and admiring thou shalt learn to get up to that innumerable Company of Saints and Angels already gone to an eternal Passover before the Lord in his Holiest Zion, and thou shalt not only have the Ministry of Angels but the help and protection of that great Angel of the Covenant the Holy Jesus, to guide thee up safely unto those who are gone before.  
But since, O most gracious God the Aids which thy Creatures afford are but instrumental and Ministerial, without force or advantage, but by thy Will and Permission.  
I therefore look from them unto Thee directly, having recourse to thy Pity only, and imploring thy Assistance.  
Thou art my Creator, my Redeemer, my Comforter; my God and my Rock, if thou shouldst reject my Supplications, to which of the Saints should I turn to offer them up?  
If Thou shouldst deny a Remedy for my weak Condition, from what Angel? or from what Bethesda could I hope for succour?  
If Thou, who art the Fountain of goodness, shouldst deny me to drink freely of the Waters of Life (for the restitution and repair of my Spiritual health) from what peculiar Stream or Cistern could one become so Loathsome and despicable, by reason of Infirmities, as I am, from whom, I say, could such a one as I expect a draught, nay so little as a drop of Comfort?  
'Tis true Lord! my yielding to the guidance of a blind Leader hath subjected the liberty of my Will to the Tyranny of my Senses, and These adoring some weak and brittle reflection of thy Loveliness, (in the fadeing beauty of some dying Objects) have made Earth my Heaven, and so engaged me amongst worldly enjoyments, as to give me neither List nor Leisure to regard the delights above; but a Cloud of terrene satisfactions (which will soon vanish as a Mist) have taken my Jesus, my true Joy, out of my sight: and I must confess, I have been less willing to look on the feasting and refreshing Vessels of Heavenly Joys, than God hath been to prepare a Table, and to let down a Banquet for my Soul.  
O! how have I scornfully passed by, and turned my head away from the good Samaritan? When my Saviour hath bowed down his Head, even unto my Ear, and called upon me thus,  
Is it nothing unto thee, O thou that passest by? Is it nothing that I have unbarred Heaven Gates for thee, and broken down the Gates of Hell? Behold and see quite through my Body, how the way to Paradise lies open to you: and since there are so many passages made thither for Sinners through my Wounds and Heart, why will you not believe that I am the Way.  
O my dear God I cannot excuse either my neglects or infidelity; but I know our grievous offences do Crown the glorious Actings of thy goodness, and the innumerable Train of those who are conquered by thy clemencies do make such splendid Triumphs in Heaven as thou most delightest in.  
The wondrous Frame and machine of the Heavens, the spacious Theatre of the Earth, with all the movements and spectators round about them, is the great Ball thou givest unto rational considerations, and was the work of thy Hands alone.  
Nothing itself was matter enough for thy Omnipotency, from whence to build up the mighty Fabric of the Universe. So that by the same power thou didst Create, thou mayst also Relieve and Redeem me from the Miseries wherein I am plunged by my Sins.  
Without thy most Divine Assistance all my good intentions flag and vary from the strict observance of thy Commands. My Nature habituated and grown old in Evil, wanting thy help on every side, finds the Precipices of its endless Ruin. Thou only O my God mayst withhold my falling, uphold my weak endeavours, and raise me out of the Gulfs of my Condition which is sinking down to the lowermost Hell.  
Under the safeguard of thy friendly Aspect mine Eyes fear not the blinding of themselves on Sublunary Glories, my Tongue dares not Profane itself with the vain discourse of this lose Age, my Feet will not follow the motions of the Flesh, my Hands will find themselves obliged to pious Actions, and my Ears will not admit of other sounds than such as Echo forth thy greatness and thy Glories.  
'Tis so indeed, most dear Redeemer! that under the Banner of thy Love I fear not the Forces of those Enemies both to thy Cross and to my Crowning, I am sure the Captain of my Salvation will put to flight whole Armies of those aliens of vain and intemperate affections who would Lord it over thine Inheritance, O Lord! and thou wilt heal my backslidings so, as that Sin shall not be finished to bring forth Death eternal.  
Comfort thyself then O my Soul! that the care of God in preserving of men is so great as not to let him seem to slumber when thou hast occasion of thy Shepherd's Staff; nor will he prove such a stupid Patron as Baal did, 
1 Kings 18.27, 28.  when entreated by his Votaries.  
But if thy greater provocations hinder not his pity, this will ever be at hand to support, to supply thy deficiency; and we have no reason to doubt or deny the effects of his Vigilance who with such unwearied and constant attendance makes the Angels wait upon our Motions.  
Nay, although we leave, and tyre God by our Sins; yet for all our wilful Defections and Errors God hath never yet left or abandoned us.  
This great Eye of the Universe is never closed, never blinded by our juggle, never imposed upon by appearances, never heavy with Sleep; he decks the Glories of his goodness with the particular kindness which he hath for the Sons of Men.  
If then the Majesty of the most High not only by the Actings of his bounty, but by the Ministry of his Angels thus guards and governs, aids and accompanies frail Humanity; how comes it to pass O my Soul! that thy Affections run from such Fellowship, from such Defence to expose themselves to the Shadows of Vanity, or the dangers of Sensuality?  
Why dost thou venture thyself so alone like Hagar in a barren Wilderness far from Heaven, from Angels, and from God, to seek for Earthly satisfactions, or to let a servile corrupt Wilfulness domineer over the?  
O resist stoutly the assaults of the common Enemy, who (if it were possible) would allay the scorching of his own flames by throwing thee and other Souls into them. Therefore quench the violence of those Tendencies that sink thy Soul down from Heaven. Master the power of such Affections, as despoiling thee of thy most noble part would  thee with the filthy Rags of Sin: and then fear not Soul! for God is with thee.  
Indeed Lord, if my frailties did not rob me of the favour, thou shouldst be my Master, teaching me the things which belong unto my peace, Thou shouldst be my Guide, not only unto but through Paradise. Thou shouldst be my safe Convoy to defeat the Enemy of his rejoicing at my falls. Thou also shouldst be my keeper to detourne me from the Snares which are daily spread for me by the pleasures of Sense: and I am weak (as Hezekiah once said) Lord do thou undertake for me. Take upon thee my Guardianship and thou shalt see how valiantly I will resist all the Temptations of the Devil. If thy most powerful Arm dost shield my tender Heart, O Lord! what Power, though ever so insolent, dares shoot an Arrow or throw a Dart against it? If thy Right-hand be my Support, what Force can over-turn me? Heaven hath no Thunder, Earth hath never a Mouth, nor Hell itself an Abyss for such as sit under the shadow of the Almighty. When the great God sets his Hand to the Charter of our Protection, or to the securing of our safety, what alteration can all the changes of the World make on us? None, not any, Non si ruat Orbis: We cannot wander as erewhile from his mind, nor so grossly transgess his Precepts.  
Rejoice then O my Soul! that God hath undertaken thy defence by all his Divine care and industry, and hath made his Son a Hostage for our security, while he continually holds thee up by the outstretched Arm of his Favour.  
O most Glorious God it is thou alone that rulest all the Motions, the Ragings, the Madness of the World, and its Elements. Thou sittest above the Heavens, (saith the Psalmist) thou presidest over all thy Works by thy Power and Mercy, so that thou canst allay the force of every Influence in such an Almighty sort as that the Sun shall have no feavourish Darts, nor the Moon any malignant Aspects to cast on those who are shielded by thy Protection.  
The Fire in its own quality is so violent and greedy, as never to say it hath enough, but after it hath devoured all in its way is ready to feed (like Envy) on itself; how is it by the Heavenly Providence tempered in its unbridled Nature, and restrained from doing Mischief, as held in from destroying both itself and others?  
What shall I then say of those Flames of sensuality, those Fits of Intemperance, those Epilepsies of Lasciviousness, those Rapes and Violences committed upon (and much against) our own Constitutions, which without a singular effect of Divine Clemency would soon torment and consume our Nature.  
And who is there but some time or other plays the Curtius, and desperately throws himself into the Gulf of Danger, rather than he will offer to turn the Stream of Pravity, which carries away our Affections so much the more precipitously and mischievously, as we allow, it Natural and Born ● us. What force then O Lord! without thy Sovereign help can bear the Shock of Ambition, or bridle the fury of Passions, or resist the Assaults of Lust? Thou alone, most Gracious God mayest enlighten the blindness of my Mind, enable the weakness of my Heart, and invigorate the desperate estate of my Soul.  
He that thinks to go out by himself in his own strength alone against the Uncircumcised Enemies of our Peace, he knows not what he hath about him; how unprovided he is of Armour, and of Force to encounter such Giants as may defeat him even by the falseness of his own Nature. Man of himself being now so entangled, (in his own Land as it were) so hampered by his depraved and carnal Sense, as that his very presuming to fight his Adversary with his own sorry Weapons, is the showing but of his Pride and Weakness, (the faults charged on David, and the Sins of Goliath) the defying of the Most High, and the disgracing the Armies of the Living God.  
My safety therefore shall depend only upon God's defence, whose continual Guard and seasonable Reliefs, free me from the injurious Accidents happening in the Day or in the Night. So that all my time and life finds itself exempt, or secured from such continual Perils as are encountered in an Age so full of Sin and Violence, and therefore so full of Miseries as this Present is.  
O how dost thou disarm the furiousness of my Enemies, and of the whole Creation, Dearest Lord? How dost thou stop the Mouths of the fiercest Monsters? (which are opened against Mankind since the Fall.) It is thou who dost blunt the Cruelties of Thiefs and Tyrants, and calmest the most violent Storms, and humblest the most Lofty Pride. All Misfortunes, all Disasters, all Calamities are overcome by thy Power, and made beneficial to us by thy Providence.  
Continue therefore thy Favours towards my poor Soul, which oppressed by the weight of its Earthly-mindedness sinks down into the Pit without the support of thy Love. O●●rcover it as thou didst Hezekiahs, and see how the Devil (that is ever employing his usual Malice) is always in Ambush, or in open War against her. With the Complacencies of the Appetite he Charms her, with the Heats of Ambition he Chafes her, with the Pleasures of Sense he Diverts, with the Snares of Beauty he Entraps, and with the Glories of the World he quite dazzles me, frail Mortal, so that being near lost and carried away by his cunning Devises (of which I would not be longer ignorant, O Lord!) I struggle with the utmost effort to break away from the specious promises and puissance of my Adversary, that my Mind may not be debauched by the fair shows of the Flesh, nor my Soul enslaved to the unreasonable passions of the Body: But that she may fly to thy Aid, imploring thy Succour, and sheltering me under the Wings of thy Protection.  
Surely, dear Lord! I have not tired out thy Pity, for all the Maladies of my Heart do want a continual Medicine; and uninterrupted applications of a Divine Hand; grant therefore O my God through thine immediate Care and infinite Commiseration the whole course of my Life may be so directed as that I may observe thy Commands, and the end of my Designs may be wholly thy Glory; the Scope of my Desires, thy Service, and thy Love, the Centre of my Affections.  
May the bright Emanations of thy Grace so shine upon my do, as they having their beginning and end under thy Favour, nothing may draw me from thy Laws, or from my hopes of Happiness.  
In a special manner do I beg thy Help O dear Redeemer! in that hour when the Man being attacked with the Horrors of Death, grows faint and weary (like Thirsting Samson) and is in danger of quitting the Field to his greatest Foes and most dangerous Assailants. In that blackest hour (which is the Power of Darkness) oh let me have thy clearest Guidance! O let me have that supernatural Assistance which the most dreadful Conflicts do require.  
And now cheer up my Soul with the assurance that thou hast recommended thyself unto a faithful Creator, who will keep thee to the uttermost, and defend thy proceed. He will not suffer thee to lose the excellency of thy first being, nor to be always blurred with the Sordidness of Earth. He can Seal up all thy Faculties in the Contemplation of his Greatness, and having blessed the Periods of thy Life here, will promote thee to Glory in the Ages of Eternity. AMEN.   

The third Step upon the Third PSALM of Degrees, being the 122 PSALM.  Laetatus sum in his, etc. 
O My God what greater Consolation can a Soul receive here than to be fed with the Hopes of enjoying thy Divine presence hereafter? The Mirth of this World is so mixed, so dashed with Vanity or Repentance, that 'tis no ways comparable to what Eternal Beatitude can promise. Honours and Earthly Grandeurs are overloaded with the burden of observances, dissimulations and business, Worldly Riches are accompanied with Labour, Snares, and Vexatious Contests. The delights of sense are vanished almost before enjoyed, and of them nothing remains afterward but dissatisfaction. All the goods of Nature or of Fortune are very frail and momentary proving their felicities but vain and fantastic.  
But the enjoyment of the Light of God's Countenance, the introduction into the privy Chambers of Heaven which are hanged with Eternity, and furnished with all real good is so great a favour, so inestimable a Jewel, so unparalleled an advantage, as that the Soul itself cannot comprehend much less the tongue express it.  
How am I then arrived? O dear Redeemer! to a blessed pitch of Confidence by considering though I find myself a very unworthy Sinner yet I may come (as I am called) into the Land of the living, into the Kingdom of Heaven, and when this Earthly Tabernacle shall be dissolved, I shall have a Throne, a Seat, a Building not made with hands, Eternal in the Heavens.  
What greater happiness? O my God can a Soul promise itself, then by seconding thy divine Commands, be secure of inheriting such a Throne, such a Seat, such a Kingdom in the portion of the blessed? and in the presence of Saints and Angels Communicate of thy own Greatness, and of thy Glory? What delights can equal those of the Celestial Paradise? Speak no more of an Earthly one, for what satisfactions may keep pace with the Vision of my God? (Adam himself could but view his works in the Universe.) But,  
O thou great Ineffable, Incomprehensible, Transcendent! Wilt thou ever become the Object of those Eyes that have been profaned by Worldly Spectacles? In thy presence is Life, full Content, and endless Joys, and these I shall as fully possess, (being instated by thy Favour) as Angels or other perfect Spirits have them, so my desires shall be still feasted with the Contemplation of thy Goodness, and my affections shall triumph in their eternal enjoyments and the insatiable Nature of my Soul and sense will find enough to entertain and quiet them in the infinite Treasure of thy Love and Wisdom.  
But because he deserves no admission into the Closets of the Righteous who hath made his abode amongst the Carnalities of the World and enslaved his reason to the service of sin. I pray thee most gracious God, to stay the feet of my long from going up too hastily, too rashly: Hold my thoughts yet longer upon the Reflection of my own demerits, and then afterward fix them on the sole contemplation of Heavenly things, so I shall better find the Obligation I have to serve thee with pure intentions, and suitable operations and not continue still only fit to be shut out of the new Jerusalem that is above.  
That Jerusalem I mean whose walls are built up of several orders of Virtues, whose stately Palaces are reared by the Law of Moses, the Revelations of the Prophets, and the labours of the Apostles, the sufferings and Patience of Saints, and the power of the Gospel, wherein the glorious Majesty of Christ Resides, and the best Apartments are set off with Love and Charity, and the Angels are the bright Courtiers; Thrones, Dominions and Powers, chief Officers, Arch-Angels the Guards, and the blessed inhabitants are the just made perfect.  
What then should a man do? or rather what should he not do or suffer, to get to this Jerusalem above? O my Soul! thou must know that Heaven is a free and General native Country, that is arrived at not by nobleness of Birth, nor by the pride of Life or living, not by the glories of Ancestors, nor by the Wealth nor Honours of the Earth, but by the Holines●acts of our desires, the sincerity of the Heart, the temperance of the Tongue, and the Righteousness of our Actions.  
Here then my Soul fix all thy Complacencies; thou hast already cloyed thy appetite on the momentary pleasures of a short Life, and thou findest how brief they are in the fruition, how bitter in the recantation of them.  
Get up therefore, get up to this new Jerusalem which the pity and goodness of my God doth promise thee, while by his infinite Mercies he lets thee taste the fruit of his planting, the wonderful Conjunctions of Faith and eternal Glories, and will let thee partake of the chief good (that common portion of such as are found worthy to be called the children of God.)  
Hast thou no reason then, O Soul! to give thyself up absolutely to the goodness of my God? what should hinder or impeach thy submission? is not this due to the merits of his goodness and to the demerits of thy former Operations? Yea surely by so much the more art thou obliged to his service, by how much the more his bounties have been extended towards thee. Therefore after all this his payment of thy debt of transgressions, I find thee bound more fast to thy debt of Duty, to fear God's Power, to adore his Majesty, to be humbled for my Pride, and ashamed of my follies.  
Heaven is no place thou knowest for the unclean, there are none but Innocents' or Penitents, such as have needed no Repentance or else have used it.  
O thou most gracious Monarch of the World! whosoever pretends to approach thy Throne, to partake of thy Glories, or to enter into thy garden of Life: He must of necessity be installed with the Vesture of thy Grace and be stripped of all Earthly compliances which so entangle men amongst the snares of Offences or the miseries of this Life.  
All they who to this time have stayed in the Presence-chamber of the Heaven of Heavens, have been signalised with the special characters of thy Love (without which all our endeavours are alike Blind and fruitless,) they alone have gained that place and honour, by the sincerity of their Consciences, by the purity of their Lives, by the cleanness of their hands in thy sight O Lord, as saith the Psalmist.  
Let this be owned by (those Children of Israel, those chosen people and that Royal Priesthood of Thine,) who being advanced to an heavenly height by the steps of their Virtues, have made thy greatness (conjoined with thy goodness) to be Echoed through the Universe, to the shame and confusion of others more obliged who notwithstanding they be enriched by millions of Benefits yet know not how to respect the Donor, acknowledge the Gift, or sanctify thy Holy name therewithal.  
Lord I am sensible of the backwardness of my Heart to any gratefulness, it is conscious of its own Gild, and would not go no farther till it hath confessed, how the observation of thy Commands hath been the least of its care, and thy Love, (which ought to have been the first desire of my Heart) hath by my ignorance been so neglected, as that the fading sparks of a beautiful look have more easily inflamed it then thy presence.  
As many Objects as have been offered to my sense, became so many Idols, to the which my passions were devoted.  
Thy divinest Name hath been cast out of my Mouth in a Thousand vain asseverations, and these have been uttered to no other end, then to give Credence to the vanity of my intentions, or the falsehood of my Speeches. How then, can these Eyes, these Ears, these Hands, these words of mine, plead themselves guiltless of any Crime? since they have or would have offended in all, and this conviction of my own guilt, frights me with the thoughts of thy coming with thy Holy ones to judge the World, lest I be then found in the number of such profane wretches as shall be shut forth of thy Celestial Mansions.  
I therefore dread that last and great Assizes of thy Saints, most glorious God I fear that general Summons, and the Assembly of thy first born, lest when that Bench sits upon the examination of my Actions and Omissions, how I have neglected the directions of their Doctrine, and not imitated the goodness of their Manners, nor traced the footsteps of their Charity, nor admired the proofs of their Patience: I being so vile a sinner, (such reprobate silver) may be rejected, for if I am apprehended without the wedding garment of Christ's righteousness; I have nothing to say for myself, no plea to make, saving the inexpressible desire of my poor Soul, not to be excluded with Dogs, but to enter into the Holiest City the new Jerusalem.  
I confess good Lord, that I have neither worth nor will, to follow the conducts of thy grace, nor to arrive at thy Favour: all the courses of my Life have been great aggravations of my guiltiness, for I have slighted thy Omnipotency, by prideing myself in thy extraordinary gifts. The very sight and heat of the Sun have appeared, not the Loans of thy peculiar bounty but things made on purpose for my convenience.  
The return and pleasure of each season, hath been reckoned the unavoidable actings of sublunary Creatures. Thunder, Lightning, and storms of Hail, were too often counted the necessary effects of second causes. Thus Brutish have I been, thus blind and yet I knew full well there would not be a Breath of Air, nor so much as a lease wag unless it were by thy appointment, that makes every Creature live and move and have a Being.  
Yet alas, for all I can so speciously declare this, I must confess also that many a time when my tongue undertook to disclose thy Name, with the due Attributes of thy greatness; my wild heart hath then witheld its assent, and been ready to give the lie to my speech.  
Since therefore all that I can say of myself speaks me very guilty before thee O Lord, I Plead, not any Merits but those of my Saviour's Passions, not any goodness but that of thy Divine Nature; afford me these, through thy Grace, and then I shall have that peace (which is an inseparable accident to it) I shall have such a Magazine of blessing as may render my Soul like a strong fortress, well provided against the assaults of the World, and the snares of the Devil.  
Gracious Lord! I have often begged the favour of thy mercy to draw me out of that wretched state of my prevarications, and from the slavery of Concupiscence, and from the Tyranny of evil habits, I know how weak, how blind, how false or infirm, our own Nature finds itself at the best, and therefore he that supposeth (without the assistance of thy goodness, without the armour of thy Grace, without the encouragement of thy Love,) either to quell the impetuousness of his Lusts, or to get up to the holy Hill, destroying like a Jonathan all his enemies in his way, such a one must surely be more than a Man, or mistakes himself grossly; for he should know 'tis only from the excess of thy pity, that a sinner is turned from the evil of his way.  
The prodigal soul that hath long strayed, can never make up its losses nor mend its condition, unless it be by the inexhausted treasures of thy Grace.  
Help me therefore, and redeem me from the power of Satan unto God, that being entrusted with thy Talents I may show forth to all thy manifold goodness, and tender Bowels of Compassions so that sinners (many with myself) may be farther converted unto Thee, and by my example inflamed with thy Love, renounce Earthly Toys and pay thy Clemency the due Tribute of penitential Tears.  
And from whence dear God art yet more glorified then by forgiving us poor sinners? Thy mercies are likewise a guide for ours, since all the Acts of thy goodness and kindness, may in some degree be imitated by man. He was form after thy Image, and the more just and holy he is, the more doth he approach unto Thee. That Prince who best resembles God on Earth, must own his power to reward or to punish from thy special grant O Jesus.  
The Martyrs have essayed to copy out thy patience, the Virgins thy purity, Confessors thy truth, and Hermits thy Innocence. But alas! How far short are they of the Original? They have represented thy image as St. Paul speaks but as in a glass very darkly, and deficiently. For as the Heavens are higher than the Earth so far more excellent are thy operations and affections than ours,  
The proofs of thy goodness are infintly Transcendent and inexpressible, rather to be admired then exemplifyed, and did not all the Prerogatives of Heaven and Earth, concur to set forth thy greatness and to speak thee the Lord of Hosts: Yet thy goodness alone would describe thee most admirably according as thou declaredst thyself unto Moses, the Lord, the Lord merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in truth and goodness.  
Therefore extend these glorious attributes towards my relief, and advance thy lovely Titles, by the forgiveness of my sins, I have no farther cause to urge, but that by how much the more unworthy my Soul is of pardon, by so much the more will thy pity be adored in the pardoning of me.   

The fourth Step on the fourth PSALM of Degrees, being the 123 PSALM.  Ad te Levavi, etc. 
COme Lord! O come and and help my sinking Soul, that being seared with many troublesome Illusions, will let me fall (I doubt) into the dark of sin, I have experienced to my cost how much the ill propensities of my Nature corrupt my sentiments, and habituating me to the relish of tentation, almost persuade me 'tis impossible to resist.  
I live indeed with myself, far from myself, at such a distance from a good mind, as to be without the neighbourhood or acquaintance of my own bad one.  
Self love deludes me with false reflexes and gives to vice itself the surname of Virtue, it makes me a self-deceiver and a gross flatterer of my own opinions, so that I am apt to spare and connive at myself in the midst of my greatest delinquencies; but not to entertain myself any longer among the miseries I contract, nor to cast away my life too blindly amongst errors. I lift up the Eyes of my Soul to the light of thy divine Presence, and with a steady Faith, a lively Hope, a most ardent Love, a fixed Contemplation, a strong Patience, and a sincere Endeavour, I implore thy Assistance, and entreat thy Mercy.  
My sight hath lost its ability in regarding worldly Objects, and I would not enjoy any other Visive faculty, but that which thy wonderful grace may afford me, let him aim and look at dirt, who full of earthly designs waits for all his comforts here below, I who for my part store my chiefest Treasure of bliss and solace in a Heaven above, turn all my thoughts and my affections towards thee, who art my only Lord and Master; I have ventured again to lift up these two doors of mine eyes, these humble gates of vision, even to the lofty Throne of thy Majesty, and my desires have made bold to enter like Esther unto Artaxerxes, even into the Cabinet of thy graces and glories; unto the bosom of thy Love Christ Jesus, and they have found admittance hitherto by the confidence thy goodness, and pity doth afford Them in a Saviour.  
I acknowledge myself like an humble slave that waits for pardon of his faults, Relief of his necessities, protection from injuries, freedom from his chains, deliverance from further persecutions, in a word I expect through thee my dear Redeemer Jesus whatsoever may advantage my outward man, or felicitate my inward. I am not for retireing any farther from thy presence like a guilty Cain, since it is by the light of thy countenance, by the favour of thy grace, that I would chase away the thick clouds of my sins, and never more lose the light of thee, my Father which art in Heaven, etc.  
Thou art the Chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof, the putting thee far away from us is the foolish and desperate attempt of losing God, of losing his favour indeed as Ionas once did to meet with what is monstrously Horrid, but not of getting out of thy sight (as that Prophet did experiment) for though we go down into Hell: There art Thou also and thine eye can reach us.  
Therefore will I keep mine eye fixed on thee: O thou Father and fountain of Lights! and will fear to fall under any such eclipses as thy displeasure, or my transgressions may bring upon me. I was once so hoodwinked by the pleasures of sin, as to be led about fond by the false glitterings of the World, I have been dazzled by a frail Woman's beauty so as to think there hath been no Heaven like a kind look from her, nor have I looked at any other happiness, then hath shone from from her eyes, which were two wandering stars alas, which in a little space of time must set without hopes of shineing out again.  
My blind ambition carried me no farther then mortals praises and my designs smelled of the ground from whence they sprang, my passions grew not feebler while my person did but waxed more robust as I grew older, and when I became nearer to my end (and had less need of worldly entertainments such as wealth and honour,) than I became more greedy after them.  
How base is that mental Idolatry enslaves us to the worship of that which hath itself no more value than is given by the opinion of some foolish adorers? and as the female graces of shape or complexion come as it were by accident, so these are subject to ten Thousand casualties from them, neither gave these to themselves, nor can keep them, (unless by great deceit and Colour.) I now see what phantasms all those honours are, which are sought with great pain, possessed with fear, and lost again with torment.  
Therefore dearest God I am returning to thee and leaving worldly pomps and passions, to thee alone address my prayers, my desires and my vows. I will be like those Domestics, who serve faithfully and and seek Diligently to please their Lord, by minding his business, and his beck, that they may please and profit him to the utmost.  
I will attend with longing eyes for thy favour and pardon, and look to thy mercy seat, while I cast not a glance upon the glories of the world (as I have done, 
Psalm 19  that Basilisk shall no more inven●ome my life by its regards, but shall be trampled under the feet of my contrition; luxury, and vain glory, shall be trod down into the dust as low as Humility can lay them or me; and the richest entrails of both Indies shall have no treasures big enough to bribe my desires from the service of thy Heavenly Majesty.  
Have mercy then, O gracious Lord! have mercy on thy poor indebted steward, and deliver me from the evil of this defect and transgression, both from sin and suffering by grace and glory.  
If thou dost not by the transcendencies of thy power and goodness, free me from the miseries of my guilt, and restore me to some degree of pardon (which is Innocence in thy sight) where can I firm my hopes, from whom can I expect Salvation?  
I was formed according to thy Image, embellished with thy resemblance in a superfluity of spiritual and temporal endowments, and yet I could not for all this preserve myself in a state of purity or safety: So that without the renewed favours of thy goodness, I might expect nothing but thunders and lightnings from the Throne, and flashes from the lake that burns for ever. Without thy Assistance O my God I am afraid of thy foregoing promises, that I shall not be able to keep my word with thee, nor keep my heart from worldly lusts, for indeed I have sound my spirit running out of itself too often, into the Arms of sin and mischief; frail humane nature being utterly disabled from maintaining thy favour, without thy overruleing grace.  
I am not a little sensible of the impotent commotions of my Soul, and the frequent domineering of my passions, sometimes Ambition drives me after the seeking a trouble (which our ignorance calls a Title) of Honour. Sometimes I am wracked with suspicion of disgrace, or I hunt after reputation by any means but by godliness. Now I am afraid of dying, or of leaving that to the earth which was borrowed of her for me: anon I am vexed in the possession or acquest of Riches which some call felicities, others find to be torments, and then complain of any slight mischance as if these happened without thy providence, or were not produced by my demerits.  
Thus my state doth sufficiently experience, each excess of humane wretchedness by the agitation of my faculties to my disturbance or danger, nor without thy help and mercy, Lord can I find how to get out of this wretched condition, nor how to keep myself well if I were out.  
My weak shoulders stoop under the weight of thy commands as if these were like my sins too heavy for me to bear; and my corruptions exhale matter continually to cross my resolutions, of not offending thee.  
Stay therefore O Lord, and take the sword of thy Spirit, and stop the way for me. Stetch forth thy hand above the fury of mine adversaries, and shield me with thine arm against them.  
Let not the fiery darts of my Concupiscenses divert or prevent thy bounties or turn thy patience into displeasure. For (as I have said before) I must again acknowledge, that (without thy continual aid) I shall become a prey to their force and malice who (to the disparagement of thy power) would in spite of it subdue and enslave me.   

The Fifth Step on the Fifth PSALM of Degrees, being the 124 PSALM.  Nisi quia Dominus, etc. 
IF in defence of my known weakness, thy power O God were not provided with a like infinity of commiseration; and if this did not seasonably come in to my relief, how should I Stem the tide of Passions which dangerously swells up my breast? what would become of me in such a deluge as they would throw upon me? Ah! let the purest Soul confess, and the choicest Spirits acknowledge together with the Elect and confirmed Angels: that if the Holiness of a Saviour had not sheltered theirs; if Jesus had not bid the Waves and Winds be quiet and obey him; who of them all might not have sunk down and perished in the stormy Lake? Had not Christ halcyoned the proud storms of our Passions, had he not quelled the miseries of this life, who could have born them? who amongst us could have rid safe through such tempests? or have held out against such attacks as the sin beleaguered Soul encounters? None could have promised ease or a sanctuary to our vexed minds, none could have reached to the serenities of Heaven.  
Our strength is weakness (say the Scriptures) if not strengthened by divine supplies. The Metal, or condition of our humanity is too brittle to be trusted, if not backed by the author of our Salvation.  
Keep therefore with my heart continually O God that the Image of thy Son may not fall in darkness or in the shadow of death, nor that soul be lost for which he took to himself a body.  
If I have not thine aid O Lord! I cannot get out of the dungeon of my sins, nor avoid the stings of that infernal scorpion, but thou without looking on the demerit of my crimes, and the transgressions of my past life, wilt I hope assist and deliver me from the perils both of soul and body, wherewith I may be surrounded.  
I am ready to cry out who is sufficient for these things? How can I resist the attempts of the flesh, the allurements of the world, or the assaults of our cunning adversary the devil? I am entangled as the unhappy Laocoon is said to be. 
Aenoid. lib. 2.   
When three such poisonous serpents, crawling out of the earth are twisted against me: They make sure of my ruin; and how can I break the knots of such a triple League? since the beauty but of one face (adorned with several charms) had almost got the command of my heart? and the solace of idleness, the sweets of riches, the savour of vain glory many times captive my affections ere I am ware of them, what may not the cunning therefore of the Father of these falsehoods impose upon me, since he differs not in power from the best of the Angels, but in the manner of his operations, if not restrained by thine immediate hand?  
When such dangerous enemies had attacked my inconsideratness, and battered my cowardice, I having but little or no constancy nor integrity, I had certainly become the prey of their malice, and they must needs have left me in the very jaws of death and damnation.  
Away then from me all ye instruments of sin and mischief above named, go ye buisy seducers of the best men's ways, Ye with your juggle dazzle the eyes of the Soul, that like a Sodomite it should not find the Door of Life, the way to get into the City of the Lamb, ye so varnish over the Copy of Falsehood, as it proves a hard matter to discern her from the Original of truth; and our Consciences are hurt (not purged) by your sugaring over the draught of Sin.  
Nevertheless, O merciful God let that invincible power by which Lucifer was tumbled down from Heaven, and Hell itself led Captive, free me from these Hunters after my Life, these noisome Pestilences to my Health, these tyrannic Nimrods' against my Liberty; if their malice be once turned into fury what shall I do? for if thou hadst not been my Refuge and Fortress I had fallen through that baseness of Mind which is incident to the Sinner, who doubts of finding any Friend in his own Heart, or any Evidence in his Conscience, but what will be against himself. If thou hadst not by thy unspeakable bounty afforded me some patience and perseverance to disentangle me from many wicked devices, perhaps the Waves of my Afflictions and Trials would have swallowed up all the Faculties of my Soul, and made my Heart a Cage of unclean Birds, a Vessel full of nothing but what was foul and bestial.  
But by thy aid I must acknowledge it is that I have given place to Charity and Forgiveness (without regarding the nice punctilios of the blinded World) than when Egged on by the desire of Revenge, (which is the keenest Goad in the sides of Flesh and Blood) I strove to set up myself far above myself even in thy Throne of Vengeance. But,  
For all I might have once too vainly thought to secure the best share of thy favour, when I made a Covenant with my Eyes (which are as Tinder to the Fire of Amorous passions) not to stoop at any Female Object: and when I farther attempted to set up the Government of Reason over all the mutinies of my sense, and so to get a Triumphal-Wreath by the passing safely through those dangers which threatened to overwhelm my Soul. O Lord! I find now that I Designed too much; Doing so little and Considering less; that without thy gracious and continual Assistance, without the extremest Acts of thy bounty my utmost endeavours had been but Flourishes in the Air, and Paeans before a Victory. They might have alarmed my Adversary, awaked his greater force and policies. But the escaping his malicious devices would have been without the compass of my Power and Arms.  
When I perceived this, I could discover also that it was thy good will I should gain a Conquest, and though my strength was but weakness, yet that this my weakness should not be wrought upon too far by all the force and cunning of my Adversaries.  
Therefore gracious Lord! I pray, that thy Goodness may have its due praise, that thy Mercy be greatly blessed, and thy Greatness glorified; since thou hast not suffered my visible or invisible Foes to triumph over me, but thou hast delivered me (like Daniel from the jaws of those abaddon's) who would have torn and miserably destroyed, even my better part, my Soul.  
O that I could immortalize my Voice to resound thy Name more Gloriously! O that all my Words might become Spirits, and that I could devote them all to the service of my God, as a small acknowledgement of the grace received from thee!  
However I fall short I will endeavour to speak myself not insensible though unworthy of thy Favours. I will try if my Arms (who have hitherto served as Chains to embrace the Debauches of the World) may be turned into Columns erected unto Heaven in Thanksgiving and supplications for thy help. I will try if my Mouth (which hath been the Gate of Dishonesty) may become a Theatre echoing forth thy Praise, as in thy holy Temple. I will strive to fit up my Heart into a Lamp for thine Altar, where it should be still flaming with a Zeal for thy Glory.  
It hath been a Vessel foully savouring of the smutty affections of Earth, but I hope to cleanse it from such taints, now that I may liken my Soul to a Bird, which hath broken through the Snares of the Fowler.  
Thanks to thy Pity gracious Lord! I now find the Devil was not so skilful in laying his Snares, as thy Wisdom hath been in the defeat of his Stratagems. He like Nimrod is a mighty Hunter, ever pursuing our fearful Hearts, that he may chase them from their repose and shelter, and then surprise, take, and slay them. His Toils are the Pleasures of the World, his Darts are a Thousand Temptations, his Hounds are profane and wicked men, and what pains doth this Enemy of mankind refuse? so that he may but compass his ends, by entangling us in wretched bondage, and enslaving us under the dominion of Sin?  
He hath sometimes endeavoured to enthral me by a handsome Face, whispering it out as a Ray of thy fairest Light: and hath made use of the Gloworm Lustre in two sparkling Eyes to lead me out of thy way, into a Night of error, and when therein, now would he scare me with the severity of thy Justice, anon lull me asleep with the excess of thy Mercy; and then divert me by the evil customs of others, or charm me by my own bad Inclinations, persuading by false and carnal Reasonings.  
But, dearest God how little doth the allurements of this Circaean World bewitch us? how heavily do the Goads of Sense drive us on? how soon are the juggle of the grand Impostor manifest when our Souls are directed, defended, and instructed by thy Goodness? Let the greedy pursuers pitch their Nets and make ready their Arrows upon the String, all their designs and Bows shall be broken by thy commiserating care, O Lord.  
If at any time the many incentives to Sin do take hold of me I trust by thy helping hand to recover my Liberty.  
'Tis true my blessed Redeemer! these Eyes of mine have strangely confined their happiness within the proportions of external Beauties. 'tis true my Mouth hath not echoed thy Glories, but proved the Temple of Sensualities, my Heart hath rebelled against thee, and sworn allegiance to the World, my Hands would not hold that purity thou requirest in them, nor would my Fancy be less than my God. For my own Opinion hath Exacted my Worship, and I have not been moved at all towards Offices of Charity; & in Acts of Faith have been weak and wavering.  
But yet Lord 'tis as true that the Devil all this while hath gone cunningly about me, to watch and to hedge in my ways that I might not escape his artifices; so that my failings have been occasioned less by my own naughtiness than by his, and chief through his cunning Traps and devices, whereby my unwary Foolishness hath been inveigled.  
Now that I can find myself in some such freedom as Repentance brings along with it. I can discern the Devil's malice, and Sin's Fetters broken, my Sense being led in Triumph by my Reason. I rally all my Spiritual Forces for the service of my God, and for the Worship of that goodness which hath rendered me such a mighty Object of it.  
Mine Eyes shall summon all their Visive Powers to look up unto Jesus, my Mouth shall be no longer as sounding Brass or as a cracked Trumpet, giving false alarms, but like a Seraphim's touched with the fire of thine Altar to echo forth Thanks and holiness to the lord 
Exod. 4.25, 26.  My Heart shall throw all its affections (now Circumcised) at the Feet of thy Grace, and my Hands shall be lift up continually to implore and to praise thy Mercies, O my God; because thou only by the Rays of thy Favour canst enlighten my Soul in such a manner as that it may drop no more into the Darkness of Sin.  
All our humane Strengths are nothing worth; no more to be trusted too than the Reeds of Egypt; all our safety and refuge lies in thy Power. The welfare of my little World depends on his Arm who hath made all the other Worlds, 
Job 26.6, 7.  and hanged the Universe upon Nothing, stretching forth the Globe over the empty place.   

The sixth Step on the sixth PSALM of Degrees, being the 125 PSALM.  Qui confidunt, etc. 
O Ye Sons of mortal men, 
Psal. 4.5.  how long will ye turn your Bodies into weapons of Sin, your Souls into Vessels of Dishonour, your Glory into Shame; your Shame into your Boast? in believing Vanities, and seeking after false things? On what Rock but Christ can you anchor the Hopes of your Salvation and Eternity?  
Will ye trust the fading Beauties of Flesh and Blood, which are superfluous gifts of Nature, vanished in a moment, scarcely entertained or taken notice of before they take their leave and are gone?  
Will ye confide on the Vigour and strength of youth? Know Death makes no distinction of ages, and after a short space of time both Youth and Health are dissolved into the imperfections of decrepit years.  
But perhaps ye will trust (as ye ) upon the worldly Honours? but ponder a while what Weights they are; and like Pharisaïcal burdens too grievous for most good men to carry. Experience shows that too many, even of the best, by the desire or Act of Ruling others grow irregular themselves, and disordering their own thoughts and quiet thereby, distemper their felicities, if not debauch their Souls: and who so trusts in uncertain Riches is worse than a Gospel Fool. Gold is but a Wasp though it look yellow, it hath Wings to fly away from us, and stings to leave behind it at its departure, even such stings as are like Goads, apt to push on our greedy and brutish appetites to the most sordid and sinful Actions.  
But ye would have a Cordial made up of all these ingredients, that rare Catholicon called Worldly felicity, which ye think might recover and secure the Spirits from all those Qualms and Lypothymies that many times seize upon them, notwithstanding all your false jollities and merry Companions. But alas what is any happiness of this lower Globe, but like itself turning about. 'Tis but a Scene upon this Theatre, 'tis shifted and changed often from one to another; and appears always moving and inconstant, as long as this life's Opera is acting.  
Trust then in God, and in God alone, for if you be under his protection you need fear neither the Infirmities of Life nor the Injuries of Death.  
Let God be your Honour, Joy, Delight, and Treasure; in him consists all Happiness and Glory. Wherefore,  
Blessed God, as long as I am sheltered by thy Divine Goodness, I will not fear the Tongues of this evil World, nor the Venom of that most evil One, let them join all the force of their Malice and perfidiousness together, I will remain firm and unshaken like Mount Zion, and baffle their attempts and deride their ineffectual fury.  
The good Angels are appointed by thy great care over us, to be a watchful Guard and Bulwark for our weakness, and they are called Mountains of strength from the excellency of their natures and thy supporting Grace. But for all that they are not strong enough (or rather not commissioned) to keep us always from the attacks of Sin, or from the Snares of the Devil.  
Doubtless those Guardian Spirits direct us to Good, and very oft do turn us from Evil.  
But alas the pravity of our Nature makes it not still capable of Angellike persuasion, we are so immersed in the satisfaction of our Lusts, and so enured to sinful compliancies, that we have neither Ear nor Heart left us to listen to the Whispers of Holy Spirits. We still want O Lord! thy Admonitions, Assistance, and Conduct; 'tis to the Glory of thy Omnipotence only, that I own my safety. Henceforth I live with a cheerful trust sprung from the greatness of thy Mercy, that thou wilt ever stand by my Soul in its frequent perils, and every action of my Life shall be smiled on with the favour of thy presence, and with the direction of thy Will.  
For, as the Mountains give a defence and shelter round about the City of God, so God (who is the Rock of Ages, a vast Mountain of Power and Charity) will continually succour and secure his People.  
Since 'tis the peculiar effect of thy gracious Providence, O my God to favour and defend such who (relying on thy Pity) still implore thy help, and Sanctuary themselves under thy Providence; this is always ready to lend a helping hand to such as rightly ask it, and although sometimes the Righteous Cause is oppressed by wicked Judges, and Cruelty domineers over Goodness, and the Purple of Tyrants is double died in the Blood of Innocents', yet all this is done upon righteous and wise grounds.  
Thereby thou hast a mind, O Lord! to try the Constancy of thy Servants, to Correct their Errors, to exercise their Patience, to brighten or refine their Graces, or else thou wouldst have them serve for excellent patterns and directions for others, that they may become thy Portion, and be fit to address themselves to thee, and then thou sufferest not their Slavery to be tedious, nor their Rod too heavy. Because they who are thus Obedient both to thy preceptive and providential Will are thy Children, 
Heb. 12.5, 6, 7.  whom thou Chastisest as a Father, and wilt not suffer the Scourge of the Wicked to dwell long upon thine Inheritance, 
Psal. 80.4.  especially when it earnestly begs Relief.  
It would be no less contrary to that Dear Relation thou standest in to us, than to the proper goodness of thy Nature, not to restrain the fury of the impious, didst not thou hook up Leviathan in dne time, it might be dangerous, that thy weak and infirm Disciples (waving thy protection) would departed from thee, and either abandon themselves to Vice (charmed by the short prosperity of evil doers) or else grow fearful of Persecution, and so put forth their hands to Iniquity, and render themselves uncapable of thy Compassion.  
Therefore most Gracious Lord do not forsake them who adore the greatness of thy Love and Wisdom, and study to observe the Holiness of thy Will and Pleasure. Heap thy bounties on their Goodness, which hath no other end but God and Righteousness. O how blessed is the Man who by the integrity of his Affection, hath fouled neither Hand nor Tongue in the blemish or blood of his Neighbour! How blessed is he that by not obeying the usurpations of Sin, hath not made his Reason close Prisoner to his Concupiscence! He is also blest, who content with what he hath, would not rob nor envy the enjoyments of others. And he is blest too, that by the sincerity of his Behaviour, by the probity of his Life, by the faithfulness of his Heart, by the innocence of his Eyes, hath endeavoured to fit himself for the High-calling whereunto he is called in Jesus Christ; and thereby gain thy favour, and work out his own Salvation.  
I am assured O Lord that thou powerest forth the Treasure of thy Blessings on them who make straight paths for their Feet, who keep the way of Righteousness, and are as constant as Courageous to resist all Vice; since to accommodate the Thoughts, and fix the Will to thy Dispensations, is the way to get Christ, and to be found in him, not having our own Righteousness.  
But on the contrary, Those who forget thy greatness, O Lord! and fall down to the Worship of themselves; those who enter the wrong way into their Mother's Womb, and embowel the Earth to steal away her Treasure, and seem to have no other end thereby than to bury their Souls and Hopes therein; Those who being swallowed up in Voluptuousness believe no other Paradise than the delights of Flesh and Blood: or those who place next their own misfortunes, every prosperous event of others, such as choke all Virtue by imperious appetites; and Sacrifice their best faculties unto Fury and Madness; turning all Sobriety and Reason out of doors. Lastly, such as being lost to themselves, and in their own Opinions too, sometimes knowing not how to wake themselves out of the Lethargy of Vice, nor get up beyond the terms of nothing (that is, Sin and Vanity.) Such as all these are, I say, these unhappily cursed ones, shall be struck down from Heaven's glorious presence, like Nimrod's Giants, with hot Thunderbolts, they shall be confounded with Babel's Workmen, and become the wretched Objects of the severity of such Corrections as are given by a Hand no less Powerful and Just, than Jealous and Pure. They shall feel the Scorching of those immortal Flames, which yet can never burn out their Spots, since they have rendered themselves Heirs of Wrath, and Children of the Devil; whereas the Righteous (, such as may be set far from these Goats) blest with thy Love and Protection, O Lord, shall enjoy the serenity of that peace which resides in thy favour, and surpasseth our Understanding.   

The seventh Step on the seventh PSALM of Degrees, being the 126 PSALM.  In Convertendo Dominus, etc. 
O My God how can I express the Consolation of my Soul? My Words are lost in my joy of Heart, and can break forth but lamely at my Lips, for I behold myself Redeemed, I find myself delivered also from the dangerous Labyrinth of my winding Errors, thanks be to thy goodness only.  
The confused Chaos of my Life hath been called to by thy Word, and looked on by the Beams of thy Grace, nay, distinguished and reform by thy Son into a new Lump, a new Conversion.  
The mischiefs of my guiltiness are not aggravated by the continual Remorse of Conscience, but my steps are directed by sweet methods how to keep thy Statutes to the end.  
Terrene Objects have now no privilege to control my Thoughts. My Delights and Desires retain no other relish than of a Crucified Saviour. Mine Ears took up with the name of Jesus, cannot understand or listen to the low dumb Music of Vanity. Mine Eyes are fascinated by one glance of thine, and follow none of those Wildfires which did use to misguide them. My Taste savouring the things of God, the Glories of another State, disgusts those Treats which Satan entertained me withal (while he would have me take Stones for Bread:) All those Appetites which mere most my own, and seemed Connatural to a deluded mind, (having left me nothing but Shame and Sorrow) they take their leave of me (I trust for ever) not to return any more (with seven Devils worse than themselves) to possess me.  
Wherefore advanced by so much Grace, and replete with so much Happiness as to find Favour in thy sight, O most gracious Lord! how great is my Jubilee! how infinite my Consolation!  
Methinks the rough and narrow way to Heaven is now made plain and smooth before my Face, and my Feet are not apt to wander so as they did formerly, but are more steadily guided to the Observance of thy Commands: and I find these, as David saith, exceeding broad on every side of me, that I have no Temptation (without much perverseness) to departed from them. My Conscience doth not Goad me with unsound Repentance, or unsafe Despair. Mine Eyes do not stay themselves on terrene Objects, except it be to make them more contemptible, even to my outward sense. The Sin that erewhile was the Idol of my enjoyments, is now the Subject of my Hate and Abhorrence. My Actions are leveled at the love of Virtue. My Desires are converted (from the enhansing my Account, and running on further on the score of guilt) to the making all the satisfaction I can, for the Debts I have contracted, and my hope is grounded on thy Mercy (not on my poor endeavours) for the raising up the Pillar of my constant happiness.  
And can the Mouth that is filled with such good things savour any thing else than the repetition of thy Bounty, and the excesses of thy Love? Surely my Tongue shall be now as the Pen of a ready Writer, and being urged on by the Solace of my Heart, (shall like the Angels by whom thou dost secure me) resound the Praises, and the Proofs of thy Divinity, far and near, by thy saving and conserving of my state.  
O dearest Lord! thou hast condescended, more than once, to seek and to save that which was in danger to be lost, and to call not the Righteous but Sinners to thee! How doth the particular care thou takest of Sinners, even to this day, increase and burnish the Glories of thy Name, Jesus!  
When the very Heathens view the Smoke of Sensualities to a disappearance, and the brighter Sparks of holy Affections mounting up in lieu of the other in us. When they observe the Rebellions of our Hearts turned into Evidences of Obedience, and shall behold such a Worm as I am, the greatest of Sinners, no longer a servant of Sin but a contemner of the World and a resister of the Devil; surely they will glorify the Operations of thy Power, and the mightiness of thy love, in the Pardon and Conversion of so frail a Creature.  
Even those very Animals (as the Apostle calls them) who were lost in the Labyrinths of their vicious Habits, 
1 Cor. 2.14, 15.  and sought not the Clew of Repentance to help them out of Perdition. 
Psal. 51.  They shall be converted unto thee, through the demonstratio of thy goodness to others they shall be convinced (as the Idiotae were in the Primitive Church) and be constrained to magnify thy Kindness, implore thy Mercies, and advance thy Praises.  
For to see a man who in himself is poor and naked, and stripped by his Infernal Enemies of all succour, divested of all good, and left in a more wretched condition than the wounded Traveler to Jericho, or than the Daemoniack among the Tombs to behold such an one clothed and in his right mind, dressed in the needful habit of Reason, and trimmed up with the ornaments of Grace, installed in the Throne of Piety, which is at the Feet of Jesus, and there instructed better than under a Gamaliel. What an Argument of Wonder may be such an example? and such an one I wish to be; that while I stir up admiration by the recount of what thou hast done for my Soul I may persuade the un-resolved that thou canst do far more for them, and that these are but small instances of thy Almightiness in respect of its infinity. Thou canst do, thou canst suffer, much more for the good of Mankind, if so be they will but credit thy mighty Works, and not be like Bethsaida and Capernaum. Woe be to such as believe not the marvellous testimonies of thy good will to the Sons of Men. For didst not thou, Eternal Lord! incorporate thyself with our nature, as if thou didst esteem it braver than thy own Divinity? Art thou not ready to wash out the stains of our Nature even with the Life and Blood of thy assumed one which hath so wonderfully overvalued ours? Wouldst thou not load thy most glorious person to remove our Burdens? taking off the pressures of our base Captivity by the perfect ease of thy Yoke?  
Lord Jesus! thou hast humbled thyself to a servile state, to a conversation upon earth, to reconcile contradictions, the Son of God, and the Sons of Belial, and so to unite the most sinful to the most Holy, though not as they are impure, as themselves; but as cleansed by thy Grace, and Redeemed to be thine. By these effectual merits of thy working upon Earth by Water and Blood, by thy Tears and Prayers, by thine Agony and Bloody Sweat, by thy Cross and Passion, and by the coming of the Holy Ghost (though he be grieved also) in the handing of the benefits thou hast purchased for such Enemies as we have been, both to them, to thy Spirit, to thy Love, and to thee. The sense of these overflowing Bounties like strong perfumes to a weak body, might easily dissipate my Spirits and untie my being, I might be soon unloosed from Life and all the World, as I desire to be, by the full apprehensions of their Vigour. In the mean time good God accept my Heart, all Jubilee, and Thanksgiving, for that thou hast dealt so strangely with thy Servant as to give me enough, nay all, yea, more than this All, far more than my Capacities or the Universe may contain. I have all and abound, and what more can a Sinner expect or Receive? What more can a God do for such a Sinner? Yes, he can still enlarge my measures for Reception, as well as fill them more and more unto Eternity. Bless the Lord then always, O my Soul! and least at any time thy Joys should flag or lessen; be daily taking preservatives against Sin, and get farther from the Plague of this mortal condition, from the Offending of so Good a Lord; O could I fly out of the reach of such infection, I might then judge my satisfaction no less secured than unspeakable! whereas the frequent receipts of thy Kindness paid here with cold affections or ungrateful acts, cast too oft a a damp over the Wings of my joy, and is a sad abatement of that Towering comfort which I might pitch upon in the Expressions of thy Love and mine.  
Free me therefore I beseech thee, dearest Lord! from the Bondage of my Corruptions, Suffer not the wounds of Original Sin to rankle or gangrene in my Heart, lest these become so outrageous as to refuse or fear the help of thy Hand for its healing and binding up.  
Such a Wolf did once eat off the Breasts of the beloved Spouse, the Church of Israel, and turned her to a dry and barren Wilderness. But, Lord, prevent the spoil that such ravenous furies would make in thy Vineyard, and heal our Souls though we have Sinned against thee.  
Let not the filthiness of my actual Offences poison the health or Salvation of my State: let not worldly greatness or sensual pleasures inveigle my Thoughts from thy worship, to other services (which indeed are mere slaveries and the basest of such.) But as the South-winds (or Sirocco's) do usually impregnate and swell up Torrents, so let the Gifts and Graces of thy Holy Spirit augment all probity and Virtue in my Soul, tending to the Ocean of Eternal Perfections. And farther empower my Heart to be truly penitent that the Springs from thence running through my Eyes, may help to wash off the spots which have besmeared my Conscience.  
I Know, Great God that whosoever doth exercise himself in the Olympics of true Devotion, he that outbraves the fashions or flatteries of the World, he that adores thy Greatness with humility and fixes his hopes on Gelestial Objects: He it is that sows to the Spirit such a Seed that will instantly bear Thirty fold in the return of more Grace, and hereafter an hundred in the Harvest of Glory. And he that sheds the Teats of Religious mourning upon Earth shall reap Comfort and Joy in Immortality, when all Tears shall be wiped off, and Sorrows and Sigh shall melt away.  
Give me then leave to attend thee with all sorts of the Grain of Tears. I would weep for the pardon of my Gild, to save myself from the Foulness of it, I would weep for displeasing thee, as for the deserving thy Vengeance, and this to quench the fervours of my Lusts. I would weep over the Miseries of our present Mortality, to solace my downcast Spirit in her clayie Prison and Relegation. I would weep for my Tamuz, for my Adonis, for my Adonai, for myself and for others, 
Ezech. 8.14.  for my vile Idolatries and Prostitutions, for my Spiritual Fornications, for my own and others manifold defilements, according as thou, dear Lord! didst advise thy people when thou didst command them saying, Weep not for me, but weep for yourselves; and I will weep for thee also, O my Adonai, my Love, my Dove, my Undefiled one, for having treated thee so savagely and occasioned others to affront thee too, and 〈◊〉 to procure ease and satisfaction to thyself, to others, and to me. Even to the screwing up of the Joys and Harmony of the Celestial Mansions. And Lastly, I will weep to increase my Thirst of that Country which thou hast promised us above, that I may fill up such a Nilus here, as may render the Egypt of my Condition more fruitful under all thy Providences.  
Now that I find myself embarrassed in great straits, in a World Malevolent to real Bliss, where the Prince of it is still trying the strength of my Constancy, and Sense is offering violence to my Reason, where Company by ill examples and incitements increase my frailties, where Beauty, Ambition, Honours and Anger, Covetousness and Sloth, would play the dalilah's to abuse and snare me; give me leave, O God while I am a Travelor in the Vale of Misery to dig up Fountains of Penitential Waters, to cleanse off the Scales from my Eyes which have been so often blinded by the treacheries of my and Enemies, and thine.  
O that I could now cultivate the ground of my Heart by Fasting, Prayers and Tears, by deeds of Charity and Offices of Devotion and then with the Four and twenty Elders in the Revelations, demise at thy Feet such Crowns and Palms, such Talents and Abilities as thou hast put into my Hands to account for in thy Kingdom; for thine is the Dominion, Power and Glory, and thou art only worthy to receive the Profits of thine own. No Soul can taste more joy than his that can approach unto thy dreadful Throne with a Conscience so void of Offence (as not to accuse itself) and with a small treasure of good Works (such a Present as the Patriarch sent the Egyptian Governor, Gen. 43.11.) which may bring whole sheaves again to us.  
Finally, Grant that all my Faculties may count themselves bound to honour thy name for ever; that my Heart may be all on fire for thy Love, and my Affections own no other Object nor employ but thy Service, nor my Senses relish other Beauties, Hopes, or Acquests than those of Heaven and Eternity.  
Let me have with thee all the Conditions and Qualifications of a true Votary in Serving, Imitating and Suffering, serving thy Commands with all my Powers, Copying thy Actions with all diligence, and enduring all oppositions with an humble fortitude, that I may reap the fruit of Holiness, and its end Everlasting Life. Amen.   

The eighth Step on the eighth PSALM of Degrees, being the 127 PSALM.  Nisi Dominus aedificaverit. 
MY Soul is so beleaguered with dangers, that like a long besieged City; 'twill fall at last into the Enemy's Hands, unless it be relieved by thine extreme Compassion, what pitiful succour hath all things besides thee brought? alas I can hardly own that I have been helped even by the best preaching of thy Ministers, nay, what good doth Moses and the Prophets to my wretched State? All thy most holy Doctrine, O thou Holy of Holies! all those most excellent patterns and precepts of Saints and Martyrs afforded to me, reach not far enough to jog my Senses out of the Lethargy of Sin, unless thou stretch forth thy Arm, O God (even Christ out of thy own Bosom) and put him into mine, that that Sun of Righteousness may enlighten and enliven my dark Breast. This hath devoted all its affections to thy service, 'tis true, but indeed it cannot keep them to their duty without thy constant overlooking of them. Although in thy holy Sacraments thou breathest down thy Spirit for us to receive, what care do we take (for all thine) to Welcome, House, or entertain it by the small remainders of Faith, Hope, or Charity.  
And as all their Efforts are vain and fruitless, who toil to build up their worldly satisfactions without thy blessings; so is all the industry of the Mind to no purpose for the acquiring or preserving of Grace, without thy good will or Divine assistance, since from thee we have our principles and beginnings, our conservation, protection, and perfection.  
Without thee (as thou hast told us) we can do nothing but we must likewise know that thou art not far from any one of us, nor forsakest such as seek thee truly.  
Many do mis-conjecture that the height of Walls, the depth of Waters, the thickness of Works, the courage of Men, the goodness of Arms, the fullness of Provisions, the watchfulness of Guards, and the wisdom of Commanders will secure any Regular Fortification; when alas all the Ramparts will founder, all the Bastions and Lines fall in together, (like the walls of Jericho) the Curtains will drop down, or rend in pieces, (being too thin and slight to keep out an Enemy) while wrapped in them the sleepy Sentinels shall be carried off to Eternal Slumbers, unless thy Providence and Protection, O Lord of Hosts be over such a Fortress, for it is thy favour that must be its strong Tower and Rock of defence, and Magazine of safety; without that all we can do signifies nothing. How far can humane industry advance to raise a man up (like Jeremiah out of the Dungeon) from the pit of Sin, or despair? or to support him in thy presence? till thou sayest the Comfortable Edict, I will be thou clean? 'Tis true the Angels are ministering Spirits, and Holy men help instrumentally to the conservation of Grace, and to the disposing of our Minds to good by their exhortations and examples. And,  
'Tis certain that I am not seldom affected with the consciousness of my provocations, so that I resolve then vigorously to spend the residue of my days amongst the Rigours of an Austere Repentance: while my Remembrance shames me with the Thoughts of thy abused patience (which must needs be turned into fury, and this be embittered by delay.) Yet for all this without thy special Grace and particular assistance all my Resolutions are but Spider's Webs, my strongest attempts but as Stubble before a consuming fire, very weak and ridiculous motions. It is not in Man (saith the Prophet) to direct his Steps.  
Therefore trust not, O mortal men! either to yourselves or to your possessions; trust not your enjoyments of great Knowledge, or of great Strength, no not of the chief Natural or Corporeal Faculties, no more than you would credit the turning Wheel of Fortune, or the Top of worldly Pomp and Honours.  
Can ye think by robbing your Eyes of Sleep, your Minds of Rest, your Limbs of Ease, or your Bodies of Health, ye may do any thing on your own score, to gain the applause of Heaven, or to throw open the Gates of Paradise? No, no, the Roots of your Merit should be set on another Ground, it is not a Plant that will grow in the barren soil of our Earth, we must have God's daily Cultivation, his Love, his Shelter, and his Sun too, or else we shall go without it.  
And to obtain some worthiness of thy Regard, some favour in thy sight, a sound and sincere reliance upon Christ doth avail more than all the Watch, Fast, Austerities and Rods, which some make such a bustle withal, and too often to little purpose; for their rising at Midnight or before Day, is but a walking in darkness; their arrogant reliance on their own Performances, is but increasing the difficulties of such achievements as depend not on our own Strength or Merit; but on God's , and his alone good pleasure.  
Assist me therefore, O most gracious Lord! with such a Grace as may gratify my humble requests, and graciously receive the submisness of my Heart in all its acts of Penance with sincerity of Address, of Trust, and Obedience to thee, and to thee only, (for to which of the Saints may I turn?)  
That although I have been long embraced within the Arms of Sin, I may now break away from that Harlot, and from the bondage of my Gild, and fly unto thee for a place of rest in the Bosom of thy Favour and Compassion.  
Lord suffer not the naughtiness of my Heart to inveigle me to any further expectation of Comfort, or hope of Satisfaction, than in those things that are above, and there promised me by thy Truth and Goodness. Let not Worldly concerns, or poor transitory Prizes allure my Soul, which stoops too oft at low Objects; she should tower more out of sight of Earth, like a Bird of Paradise, and direct her mount to that Summit, or height where should be her Airy, and which was her Country, Ah! did she ply her Wings thitherward (like thy holiest Dove) she would not be endangered by the Floods of Humane unhappiness, she would reach home with her Olive and Myrtle branches, with Peace, and Purity.  
While Employing all the Labours of my Life and long of my Heart after a sight of God in such Righteousness, (as Peace and Holiness bring along with them) I myself might be secured both in Life and in Death; and I should find Death but as a sleep and Heaven as an Inheritance, long promised to the Faithful, and laid up for us in those promises; as laid out in that other Life, where those who are faithful unto Death may expect a full satisfaction of their Pains, Hopes and desires, and meet with a farther Solace in a Knowledge of one another, and of all their Fellow-brethrens, even the whole flock of Christ; which shall then appear in his Presence, and enter into his Joy, and triumph in his Courts to all the Ages of an happy Eternity.  
I will therefore, O my God assert myself thy Creature, the work of thy Almighty Power, the Fruit of the Body of Christ, begotten again to a lively hope by his blood, and seeking Regeneration by his Ordinances, and by my Faith; so that I may not love the World nor the things of it, but do the will of our Father which is in Heaven.  
But doth it not require much Sweat, vast Pains and violent Exercises, and very great Self-denial, to enter in at the straight Gate, and to walk worthy of the Denomination of a Son of God? Yea surely. 'Tis therefore needful to leave off the pursuit of all those vain complacencies which have served only to amuse and to deceive me here below.  
'Tis needful, O my Soul! that thou being armed by devout Prayer and Fasting, shouldest be sober and watchful to repel the most furious attacks of his Temptations, who is come forth against thee like a ravenous Lion. 'Tis needful for thee to make Reason thy Pilot, Religion thy Load-star for thy better passage through the waves of this troublesome Life, and if thou steerest wisely in the faithless Sea of this World, weathering all the storms of Impetuous affections, thou mayest at last arrive at the Haven where thou wouldst be: and as the feigned Son of Jupiter is said to overcome the many-headed Monster, so thou mayest by thy several Labours in Charity, Love, Faith, Repentance, and Restitution, subdue the Hydra of Sin, and approve thyself a Child of God according to the Apostles assertion.  
Now thou mayest understand that the Sons of God are like Arrows in the Hands of a Giant, they wound the Hearts of God's Enemies, and scatter such as delight in Mischief; destroying and beating down what is evil, quickening Faith and working Love in the Godly; and the Effects of such Divine Instruments as these, are the discouragement of Sin, the feeding the Hungry, Clothing the Naked, succouring the Poor, entertaining the Stranger, visiting the Prisoner, freeing the Captive, burying the Slain, correcting the Obstinate, counselling the Ignorant, comforting the Afflicted, assisting the Weak, forgiving the Injurious, and praying for the Persecutors. In fine, all the most accomplished performances of the Memory, Will and Intellect, are but as so many barbed Arrows put into our Hands by God to be shot against his Enemy Satan, and (the maker of the Devil,) Sin.  
How happy then is the Christian Warrior, who makes use of these Weapons! How happy is the Jonathan that can strip himself of his Harness of Worldly mindedness, of the full Quiver of his Lusts, of the Girdle of Self-love (wherewith he is too often girded) for the sake of the Son of David! He is Lovely as much as Lowly, who can hate himself and all things here below. He is Just and strong indeed, who can do Violence to his own Interest for the greater benefit thereby to his Neighbour. He is wise, that can choose a Saviour's Thorns rather than the sweetest Flowers of Sin, which are but for a season. He is Noble, that makes use of Greatness chief for the Glory of God. He is Rich, that will lavish his Mammon here to make himself Friends therewith hereafter. And he in truth, is the alone happy man who with ardent affection and continued watchfulness hears, receives and obeys the truth of thy Work, and allows no Resting place, no Ark, nor any Asylum, to unlawful desires or inordinate affections within him.  
Such men as these , they are who in the midst of the Fire, the Thunder and Lightnings, Cries and Terrors of the last Judgement, shall never be daunted in the presence of their Judge, nor by the Indictment of their Accusers.  
For being kept in perfect Peace by the stay of their Souls on thee, good Lord! they are safely brought into the Harbour of a quiet Conscience, and under the shelter of a mighty Jesus, who is able to save them to the uttermost from all their Adversaries, and from all such accusations as may not then touch the justified by Christ, although they may serve to convince other Sinners, and display the Ungodliness of Sin.   

The ninth Step on the ninth PSALM of Degrees, being the 128 PSALM.  Beati, qui timent. 
HE that would gain the Beatitude of thy Favour, O Lord! must of necessity fear thy greatness and obey thy precepts, so that he is the blessed man upon Earth that knows exactly how to guide his Feet into the ways of Peace, into the paths of thy Commandments, and doth meet with no other inconveniences in his way, than the doubts he may sometimes encounter about thy Love and Favour to him. The fear of thy Power, and the Reverence of thy greatness, is so needful, even for the very best, 
Dan. 4.31, 32. jer. 51.9.  else why hath thy justest Vengeance armed itself with Thunder to strike down the presumptuous? Why hast thou by Fire from Heaven extinguished the memorial of Transgressor's?  
Why didst thou command the Waters to climb above the highest Mountains, but that thou mightest overcome the greatest Sinners? and show how by thy wrath (as by thy Love) thou couldst hid a multitude of faults. Thou hast bred Monsters within men by conscious apprehensions, and often surroundest those scylla's with terrors of guilt. Thou hast many times suffered thine Enemies to punish one another by their Cruelties. And not seldom by Earthquakes, by panic Confusions or Fears, by Portentous Signs, and strange 
* Such as were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, frequently heard before the Destruction of Jerusalem.  Voices, thou wouldst instruct all them who listen to thee, speaking either on Earth or from Heaven, and thou wouldst also correct the infidelity of others, and thereby convince such how thou art to be feared.  
Yet surely the fear that is struck into us by the Effects of thy Power is not so kindly welcome to thee, nor so agreeable to us, as that which proceeds from a sense of thy Love and pity: and I know by experience that thou wouldst be loved chief, because thou art Long-suffering, rather than Omnipotent; and thou hast proved thyself most a God by showing mercy, in being not called now the Lord of Hosts, but the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and in him thou art our Father which art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy Name, etc. How wonderfully this advances the proof of thy Clemency above that of thy Power! to the end that man's Fear and Reverence of thee may Spring rather from his filial affection, than from thy Supreme Authority.  
And doubtless he that fears thee, O my God out of a regard to thy Statutes, that he may not infringe them, nor hazard the Loss of thy Favour, nor lose the Hopes of his Adoption, or of his Admission into the Joy of his Lord, he surely reaps the best of Heaven and Earth, the truest Comforts of this life and of a better. Therefore I wish all Mankind would take such a Course as this! How healthful then would be your Sweats, how blessed your Pains, how profitable your Labours, O ye Mortals! who too often spend your Strength in vain, and your time in fruitless works of darkness. Then your Wealth would not be impaired and blasted as 'tis now frequently by the Rapine of others, 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  by the Rigour of ill seasons, or by a Thousand Cross events, but it would be an enjoyment as sweet as 'tis a Possession, and serve for your just Satisfactions and Necessities, as well as for the profit of many more. The care you would then take to be Charitable, and the sincerity ye would use in the Application of your Mammon to good purposes, would make it return double to you (like Job's Estate) and be preserved to you by God himself: who seeing you not besmeared with Envy or Covetousness, in respect of these deceitful Goods, or misled by Pride, or Worldly-mindedness, he would delight in your Abundance together with yourselves, and (while ye tasted the sweets of all your Industry) he, the good Husbandman (so called John c. 15. v. 4.) would also taste a grateful, because a gracious Return and Relish of that full Cup of yours, which he had first put into your hand, as likewise of that penalty (which we may thus happily undergo) how in the Sweat of our brows we may eat here comfortably, and get up to God's holy Hill at last.  
For let us be convinced, 'tis by taking pains, and in the fear of the Lord, that all the Felicities of every estate must be acquired.  
Universal Nature hath no Bliss, nor Pleasure for such as do not fear and tremble, pant, and struggle after it, in God's way. Such as do, lack nothing (saith the Scripture). The Stars and Elements jointly concur, not to fight against them (as against Sisera) but to pour upon them benign influences, nay the Incarnate Wisdom of the Deity, which is the Bridegroom of every pious, and lowly Soul, continually waters the Garden of his Spouse, and (like the Spirit in the Blood) runs through the abstrusest Channels of the Breast, and sometimes produces the Peace of God (which passeth all understanding,) sometimes it nurture's Chastity (which is as admirable as rare,) now it presents it modesty, by which the most exorbitant ambitions may be checked, and then points it out to the means of acquiring true Honour. Sometimes it exhorts to the Possession of that Heritage St. Peter speaks of, which is all one with a happy Eternity: 
1 Pet. 1.4.  and directs the wand'ring Thoughts (which were nigh lost upon worldly Objects) to the contemplation of the Greatness, and of the Goodness of that Portion prepared in Heaven.  
At other times it augments the proofs of a right Charity, which gilds the way to Happiness.  
And thus at last true Wisdom proves a Vine, which being planted in our mortal earth, proves like Joseph very fruitful, and brings forth Clusters unto Holiness, stretching out its Roots towards the Well of Life, and its Arms to kiss the top of Glory, and rests its whole force and State upon the sufficient strengths of a Saviour.  
Hence comes it to pass, that all the Operations of such an one as fears God, spring constantly from his Union with the Eternal Wisdom, and are very complete acts of Probity and Virtue.  
His thoughts mount even to the third Heaven, not stooping in their flight towards mortal things, for any other reason, than to make it afterward force up the higher; his Heart becomes so emptied of Vanity, that no Impressions find long harbour there, but such as Limn out Divine Love. His eyes enamoured with the Beauties of Heaven, meet no objects here below, but such as seem unworthy its regards. His Tongue that perhaps had been an Echo to the Licentiousness of the Age, now utters nothing but what is full of moral conclusions for himself, full of good Counsels for others, and more full of acknowledgements of God's kindness to all.  
Those his desires which were once inveigled by the prettiness of a Face, by the possession of Wealth, or by the vanity of Honour, now are settled on the Glories of Heaven, on the Indies of another World, on the Beauties of Holiness, on the Charms of the Grace of God, that hath appeared unto all men.  
And thus the men which are rightly said to fear the Lord, (Mal. chap. 4.) and reverence him indeed with sacred Worship, they are renewed in the Spirit of their minds, and are still fresh and flourishing like Olive-branches in the House of their God.  
They are (Festoons) the Garlands which crown his Temples, and embellish his Triumphs for ever more. About their rich adornments and noble stations, we may find enwreathed such instructions, (as the Psalmist presents us here) Lo! thus shall be done to the Man whom the King will Honour; Lo! thus shall he be blessed that feareth the Lord.  
Whosoever therefore will learn to join Obedience to a Devout fear, by holding down his own restif Will to the Law of God, and (being jealous of his natural Infirmities) prove still solicitous to be safe by taking care not to offend in Thought, Word, or Deed, such a man may be assured of Divine Grace, and the Consequence of this both in time, and beyond it also.  
Lord, I perceive thou requirest nothing of me but a willing mind; but that Fear, and that Obedience, that should be as easily, as duly given thee; and how come we to Sin, but by disobedience? what is the chief occasion of our offending thee, but the not dreading thine Anger? If I would learn rightly how to fear, I might shun the Hazards both of Life and Death. Negligence for the most part makes us Contumacious, whereas on the contrary Fear drives away neglect, deters us from Vice, learns us Discretion, fences the Soul against temptation, and plies it to all probity, of which in some sort it may be termed the chief Cause. Therefore,  
Grant me thy Grace, O merciful God to be qualified by the acts of Love, and Charity, to fear thy Power and Majesty, without ceasing (as Joseph did,) under the greatest temptations. Grant that being enamoured with the sanctity of thy Precepts, I may not be perverted by the enveiglements of Sins, nor by the vanities of this Age. Grant that losing my Heart from all Worldly dissoluteness, it may abide a Vessel of Honour, and Purity, of Holiness, and Election: By these means, O my God I shall hope thy blessing, and, dearest Lord! thou canst not deny the effects of thy Grace, towards those who serve thee humbly, and love thee sincerely, and trust entirely upon thee.  
Wherefore, my Soul being parched up with the fervour of my Love for thee, waits like a thirsty Land, for the Dew of thy blessing to refresh it, so as to make it recover the verdure of its Hopes, and shoot up like the poor Mustard seed until its Arms may reach up to Heaven, and take hold of that Glorious Eternity, which makes thy Church there Triumphant.  
Extend thy acoustomed goodness (for thine Arm, O Lord! is not shortened that it cannot save) and answer, I beseech thee, my Prayers, with such Blessings, as are still sought for by the good, and feared by the evil, hoped for by the Faithful, and despaired of by the Castaway. For they are Sanctified Mercies, and the chief blessing of Sanctification, which secure a future Inheritance, as likewise many temporal Felicities, of those kinds as are ordinarily thrown unto the Worst, and but seldom allowed unto Gods own Children, without a superabundant measure of Holiness, and devout Care; but these being bound up with the richest Jewels of the Crown, inaugurate us with the Earnest of thy Spirit, and ensure us that after the troublesome exile of this mortal Life, we shall be made Heirs of that Glorious Kingdom, which is inconceivably Happy, and Desirable, and for which we implore thy Favour, through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.   

The tenth Step on the tenth PSALM of Degrees, being the 129 PSALM.  Saepe expugnaverunt. 
FEar not Temptations, O my Soul! the Apostle saith, We should count it all joy when we enter into them, for these are but to exercise thy Patience, to prove thy Sincerity, and to justify thy Fidelity. How canst thou hope to arrive at God's Favour, like one of his dear Children, unless thou endure the Fiery trial?  
Resist therefore, O my Soul! if it should be even to Blood, because at last, even by the Temptation, God can make a way for thy escape, and thy God shall be with thee, thy tribulation shall but complete the worthiness of thy condition.  
How oft in the more florid times of Youth, when that cooler reason, like a Winter fled from the Spring of Sense, (and by the growing heat of this, the other was driven away:) then how did the great Enemies of my Welfare play their Game most cunningly, to estrange my Heart from due Obedience to its Maker? How oft did those deadly Foes of mine make use of the Charms of such Beauty, as had but borrowed all its fine Feathers from Art, and adorned its Trophies with the spoils of many Graves? and all this to fetter me like a Bondslave, to fix me to this lower World, so that I might not be able to run the way of the Commands of God, nor to find the Path of Life, and Tranquillity. Thus my Companions, whether good or bad, can witness against me, for to both indeed, (though in different manners) I have imparted the Conspiracy of my rebellious Affections.  
There are some debauched persons, who have too often accompanied me, and there are some devout persons who have admonished me, when I have been in the midst of my Extravagancies, and I must confess, (that for all the Aid I have craved, and the Advice I have desired, of the best men for the mastering of my Sensualities,) the very Principles, and first motions of my Repenting have been laid at terribly, and much attacked by the Suggestions, and Temptations of my invisible Foes, and by the ill examples, and false colours of my apparent Friends, who indeed have been the mortalest Adversaries to my welfare, by representing Lust to me, as an unavoidable warmth of Nature; Anger, as the Effect of my Vigorous Soul; Avarice, as the Daughter of Prudence; Idleness, as the Balsam of Health; Gluttony, as the needful Magazine for the Body; Envy, as the wise and usual Virtue of Emulation; Pride, as a convenient quality for Highborn persons, and to be assumed, together with the titles of our Ancestors.  
In fine, by their Tyrannising over my Will, they have not left tempting of me, till through their Authorities, and worse Examples, together with my own Corruptions, I have been drawn into the foulest Crimes, and most dangerous Offences.  
But now being armed by the Power of thy Glorious Name, O holy Jesus! and by the Divinity of thine Instructions, I hope to overcome all the Malice, and all the Violence of my Adversaries, who shall be so lost in their own Confusion, and Disappointments, as that they shall only serve to advance the proof of my Constancy, and to accelerate the destruction of their own Malice.  
For alas! how often have these cruel hunters laid snares to entrap my Soul by Sin? They have alured me by the feigned sweetness of Worldly Pleasures; they have persuaded me to offend out of a rash confidence of Pardon; they have diverted me with such Sensualities; as might soon abuse my Constitution; they have entrapped me with such false arguments, as might soon deceive the simple, and betray the innocent.  
Lord! How often have they derided thy Power, with impious, and profane Discourses, becoming the Oracles of Hell, they have vented Blasphemies against thy Holiest Name? And, Ah! too often, with Raillery, and Scorn, have they attacked my Obedience, and overthrown my observance of thy Precepts. Every-ways they did so batter my Faith, that I seemed to bear in my Bosom the rebukes of many, and to have the weight of their Sin upon my Shoulders; this was a Load so insupportable to my weakness, as hereupon my Afflictions became the more grievous, by their continuance upon me in such a woeful manner.  
But Lord! that Sovereign Justice of thine, which deals Rewards, and Punishments; (and is constantly impartial in thy Corrections, as in thy Remunerations,) 'tis that which at last hath discovered the Cheats, defeated the force, and repulsed the pride of those impious Sinners, who ensnared my Safety, contrived my Ruin, and digged Pitts (as the Prophet saith) for my Soul.  
Thou, most Glorious God hast done Gloriously, thou hast trod down the Pride of those spurners at thy Greatness, thou hast yoked their stiff Necks, for all their wild boasting, that they go down with the most pompous Train, and with the best Company. How will they dwell in darkness? lost in the Confusion of Eternal Shame, and in the total Eclipse of thy Favour; who with Infernal Malice did persecute him that worshipped thee, and despised him that served thee, and hated him that loved thee? Shall such at all enjoy the sweet fruits of thy bounty? Or be remembered when thou makest up thy Jewels, any otherwise than to be condemned, and blotted out of the Book of Life? No surely, they shall sink under the weight of their Crimes, and be buried, as well as die, in those Sins wherein they chose to live.  
In the mean time, what Praise and thanks do I not owe to my Gracious Redeemer's goodness? since thou, Lord! hast been so ready to free my Shoulders from the burden which might have broke my Back, and my Heart from those Snares that would have endangered my Life or Liberty. With what excess of Pity hast thou corrected the mistakes, and prevented those slips of my Carriage, that might have driven me down a Precipice of Despair?  
Thou, dearest Lord! hast washed out the spots of my Uncleanness, which would have made me odious to God, and Man. Thou hast healed those Wounds which were grown old and rankled by my Carnal compliances, and would have rendered my safety very doubtful; so that the Enemies of my Salvation, and of thy Glories, O God shall no farther triumph over my weakness, nor Captivate my will that is so bound to thy Goodness.  
But those our Enemies who would not have thee to rule over my Soul, may become like the Herbs growing on the House top, that whither and come to nothing e'er they can attain to any perfection of growth or Beauty. So let their vain Images be despised and neglected, as that nothing of them may be saved or gathered up by the meanest care of Men or Angels, at that great day of Harvest, when every one's Works shall be made manifest of what sort they are.  
Deal thus, Great God with those impious wretches, who are guilty of High-Treason against thy Majesty, and of Felony against my Soul; let them fall the Victims of thy just Displeasure, and help by their punishment to mitigate the Sorrows of such poor wretches, as they drew into the Nets of their Sins, and so into joint sufferance with themselves: and let them glorify thy Name, even in the Fire, through that probation of thine unalterable Justice.  
In the World let them meet with no success, until they Repent; let them hast away like Shadows of the Night, because they have loved Darkness, and ventured to hid themselves from the sight of God.  
Nor may they be Blessed by any one that passeth through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, so that they may be shut out of all hopes of Happiness, for indeed obstinate Sinners are like the Ground which the Lord hath Cursed; unworthy to have one Shower of good Wishes, or Consolations bestowed upon them from good men, and much more uncapable of the Dew of God's Blessing. But, Ah! let not my Portion be with such, nor shut up my Life with the Bloody-minded, but empower me to resist the Malice of the Evil-ones, and so to rely upon thy Favour, as to live under thy Protection and Cognisance, and to be known for ever by the white Stone with a new name, even by the blessing of thy holiest Name, O Lord Jesus! Amen.   

The eleventh Step on the eleventh PSALM of Degrees, being the 130 PSALM.  De profundis, etc. 
O Lord how wretched, woeful, lamentable is the Condition of a Sinner! who being turned into his own Enemy doth nothing but lay Ambushes for himself; while he forgets ungratefully thy benefits, he becomes most worthless, and hated both of Heaven and Earth! He deserves no Mansion but in Hell. Alas, unhappy Sinner! how art thou forsaken by thy Creator, Redeemer, and Comforter, even by all of thy God and thy hopeless state is the more dreadful, being accompanied with the fearful expectation of Judgement. Thy Crimes bring with them unspeakable bitterness, because they fore-bode Eternal Torments, and thy Life is but a continual Death, by reason of the gnawings of Conscience, the Horror of thy guilt, and the domineering of thine Enemies over thee.  
Yet for all this with the lowest Humility that is due to the height of thy State, and to the meanness of mine own; while the requests of my Heart keep time with the Words of my Mouth, I am bold to cry aloud for Mercy, and beg thy Compassion, O Lord God although thy Mercy and Compassion may seem to stoop too low, while they take up my Petitions unto thine Ears. And if these are better employed in harkening to the Echoes of thy Glories, to the laud's of thy Saints, and to the Harmony of Heaven, yet let them not disdain the importunity of those long after thee, which arise from a firm desire, and a deliberate Resolution, and address themselves to the Footstool of thy Goodness.  
O Lord, I know the King of Israel is a merciful King. I know thou takest pleasure in hearing the Requests of thy poor Creatures, especially if they proceed from humble Hearts, and contrite Spirits. I know that thou art ready to put a stop to the Music of Heaven, and to give a pause to thine own Praises, rather than the Prayers of such a poor Supplicant's should not be listened to.  
Therefore Receive with grateful attention those cries of mine, which bring with them the true evidences (as I trust) of Conversion, as well as of Contrition. It is the great prerogative of thy Uncircumscribed Majesty, as to hear and determine of my guilty State; So by thy Mercy to receive my Petitions, and reprieve me from the Sentence passed on me by reason of my Crimes.  
Therefore I beg thou wouldst not regard the number of my Sins, nor the Quality and Aggravations of them, which I will not pretend to enumerate by some few instances, because thou knowest the minutest grain of my Offences. Thou hast a particular of them all. And,  
Shouldest thou weigh our Gild in the Balance of thy Justice only, shouldst thou be extremely severe in thy punishment of what is amiss about us, if thou shouldst not in thy Displeasure think upon thy pity, and give this leave to Plead while the other arraigns; O Lord, who might abide thy presence, or stand before thee in Judgement? The brightest Angels are not pure in respect of thee, and the most Holy would scarce be safe! Where then should the Wickekd and Sinner appear, but in the bottomless Pit of Destruction? Had thy Wisdom thought good to have set thee only upon the Correction of our failings, the World itself, as well as we, had been long since buried in the Cinders of our last Funerals; and wholly burnt up with the Fire of thy just Displeasure.  
But since thou hast set thy Pity and , thy Son and thy Spirit, as better Advocates between thy own Purities and thy Creatures Frailties, than Man's weakened Nature or worse Infirmities could be: for we all are too apt to set these on pleading for us, as being ever near us, yet, Ah! let us beseech thee rather to listen to the others in our behalf, harken to that chiefest Councillor of thyself and us, the most holy, and gracious Paraclete; and hear thy Son Interceding for us Wretches, more freely than we hear him instructing of us.  
Continue the incomparable Acts of thy Mercy, and exercise the accustomed proofs of thy goodness towards us, with the merits of Christ's precious Blood wash out my spots, with the floods of my Tears quench the fire of my Lusts, that I may not be found the Heir of Wrath, or Child of the Devil.  
For indeed the true Repentance of a Sinner is the sole effect of thy Bounty. Man that is now made up of nothing but the mud of Earthly Debauches, cannot so little as look up to Heaven (with the Publican, though he look no higher than the Clod he stands on) without thy special influencing aid. But this Ray thou hast promised by Ten thousand solemn attestations, and 'tis the Light of Mankind which thou hast afforded, that it might light every one coming into the World. Saints and Prophets have born witness that thou art the God of Sins, if Penitent; thou art the Redeemer of the most vile and miserable when they truly return to their Father's embraces.  
Let it then be an Addition to thy Glories, that thou hast more of Pity, than I have of Provocation, and that thou yet retainest better Dispositions to pardon Sins, than I have Inclinations to commit them. Through the excess of thy Goodness, thou hast bounded thy own self, and given less to thy Power and Justice than it might have challenged, and therefore have I long waited for thy Salvation, O Lord.  
I have endured the Stings of delay while I looked for thy Redemption, and sighed for the effects thereof; and I must avert my Labour hath not been in vain, for I have found the Hopes thou gavest me, to be answered; thy Word concerning me to be true and good; and thy promises to be performed.  
They may be left to their own deceive; who wait upon the vanity of the world, and build their expectations on mortal assurances. My Heart being fixed on the verity of thy Covenant, on the certainty of thy Promises, on the Anchor of a lively Hope, secures itself of meeting with such favour as is inseparable from thy Majesty.  
For my own part, I am guilty of a Thousand Crimes, nor is there any thing in me but Filth, and Frailty.  
I have triumphed in my Vices, as if I had liberty to commit them, and not to overcome them, even while I denied my betters the liberty of reprending them.  
Instead of abasing myself to the Dust, (that Principle of my Being) I have dared to contend with Omnipotence Death and Hell have been imagined Dreams and Phantasms, only to scare the simple; and not to be Instruments of thine anger, to scourge the guilty.  
But yet my Soul doth humbly now suppose itself an Object, not less proper for thy incomprehensible Mercy, because of its infinite Unworthiness, and will rely only upon that Mercy of thine, since it is worse than Folly to trust in any thing else.  
He that doth place his hopes under the protection of great men, doth but pass away his Liberty into the Hands of Tyrants. He that found'st his security on the Commonweal's, builds up his Comforts on great Improbabilities. He that counts Wealth the Mine of all Happiness, is not acquainted with the Wheel of Fortune; he that soothes himself with pleasures in worldly Knowledge, knows not enough the weakness and incertainty of our Understandings, as well as of all intelligible Subjects; and whosoever presumes upon his own Merits let him call to mind from whence he came, and whither he must return; being liable to Myriads of Infirmities, and to more than a single Death.  
Friends themselves, and Health, (the best of humane enjoyments) are in this point like Honours, Riches, and other mortal entertainments, very short and transient, under the influences of a changing state, subject to alterations from our own age; as much as from the malice of our Enemies.  
Therefore, O Mortals! cast your Anchor on no other security but on my God; there is no Rock like him, as I have experienced. He can Love us freely, and Defend us fully, he doth heal our Infirmities, and makes up our Losses, he protects our Weakness, and succours our want.  
Where he associates, there it is that Felicity both Roots and Flowers; To him let us have recourse every Watch of the Night, and every Minute of the Day. To him let us offer up both our Lives and Deaths, the Beginning, and Accomplishment of all our Undertake.  
For, he that is all Goodness, hath no other Scope but our Happiness. 
Deut. 32.4.  By how much the more our humane Ignorance tempts us out of the Road to Heaven, by so much the more his Pity strives to lead us the right way, and to keep us in it.  
For all 〈◊〉 universal Impiety weaves a Spider's Webb in every one's Mansion; 
Prov. 30.28.  and Pride heaps up Mountains of Gild to defy Heaven; while Avarice scrapes up Dirt to make an Idol of it, and Lasciviousness dissolves its own pleasure by excess: though Gluttony returns often with the Dog, and Idleness looks after no good, nor Anger meets with any thing but Precipices.  
Yet for all these the goodness of God abides continually, and is not discouraged by our Unworthiness, (when even this is aggravated by his Love) but strives the rather to appear still as far above our Vileness, and beyond our Merits, as the Heavens are distanced from the lowest Earth.  
And, shall I not fly to this City of Refuge, when pursued by a many ful-mouthed Sins, that cry aloud for Vengeance? the Diseases and Corruptions of my Nature, and Condition, are not so inveterate, but there is Balm in Gilead, and a Physician there, who can ease them.  
My Wounds, though festered by long and evil Habits, are not gangrened by Despair, nor is thy Hand shrunk up into thy Bosom, but thou wilt put it forth to reach me a Cure. Thy Remedies, O Lord! are always ready as thy mind to recover us and thou art never weary of well doing.  
Thou alone canst reduce me into a state of doing better than I have done, Thou alone canst pour the Oil and Wine into my Hurts, and bear the Charges of my Recovery. Lord! lay down the price of this, and give Bail for me thy Insoluble Debtor.  
As thou didst upon the cursed Tree Redeem thy Israel from trouble, so let the Merits of thy bitter Passion be the powerful means of my deliverance from the slaveries of Sin, that I may serve thee without base Fear, without any great Disease, or Disgust, or Lukewarm indifference.  
It must be the heat of thy Love which can dissipate such bad Distempers of my Soul, as have brought an Ague upon my Devotion, and a Plague upon my Heart. Lord! see me set right again, by the health of thy Countenance; when I am made whole, see that I Sin not again, lest worse things fall upon me. But assure the whole residue of my time, by such a just and severe Repentance, (for my past Infirmities) as that I may never relapse into them, nor thou strive with me, who have contended too long with thee: But crowning the greatness of thy Glories, by the Pardon of my greatest Sins, thou mayest give me leave to rely wholly on thy sweet Compassion, till I may take Harbour in a Course of Sanctity, in the state of Justification, and at last, in a full and perfect Redemption. Amen.   

The twelfth Step on the twelfth PSALM of Degrees, being the 131 PSALM.  Domine, non est exaltatum Cor, etc. 
O Lord! I perceive the greatest Enemy of Mankind leaves no means un-attempted whereby he may draw us out of thy blessed way. Sometimes with prosperous Success, and sometimes with earthly Grandeurs, he well-nigh masters such (to their Eternal Ruin) as he durst not assail by Crosses, or by Want.  
At other times, when neither fair means nor foul will do his Work, he takes a stranger course, and represents to those too good Opinions, (which we ordinarily have of ourselves) a long Bead-roll of Religious Performances, that we Priding ourselves in our own do might infect them, and arrogate that to our own merit, which is wholly due to thy goodness.  

* Aristot. in Eth. 1.4. & 4.3. inquit, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Ita fecrunt Optimi Gentium (Stotcorum scilicet & Epicuraeorum) qui dixerunt. Nos exaequat Victoria Caelo, immo & ipse Philosophorum & Romanorum Imperator, Marcus Aurelius erat famae suae curiosissimus, etc.  The Best men of all are too much addicted to this Sacrilege; and few there are, alas! who are so well bred in Humility, as not to like their own Reputation, or not to covet Glory here, no less than above.  
Who doth not think too well or too much of his Service, if it appear faithful to God, and Charitable to others? while he is patiented in Adversity, and temperate in all his Desires; Is he not apt to be exalted above measure?  
Therefore while I purpose with myself to avoid the Pride and Pomps of the World, and to give myself up wholly to the execution of thy Commands, let not my Heart applaud itself in private, but so turn mine Eyes to thy Testimonies, that they may not cause, nor discover any Vainglory about me.  
Give me such a likeness to my Jesus, such a lowliness of Spirit, as to refer all things duly to thy bounty, and nothing to my Power or Merit.  
And as by the excesses of undeserved lovingkindness, thou hast advantaged my Birth with the Characters of Illustrious Parentage. Thou hast enriched my Wellbeing with many temporal Honours, and Privileges above others: so grant that I may not exceed the Limits of my Duty, nor presume to take thy Praises to myself.  
For my Birth (whether high or low) was not my choice, but thy good Will, and I can no more secure my Life, than I could at first choose it. For my Death shall come as my Life did, when it shall please thee to send it; and that too, shall pull off all disguises; leaving me naked, as from my Mother's Womb, and in no better a condition than the poorest Mortal. And this the Princely Job taught both himself and us, when humbled to the very Dunghill. 
Job 1.20, 21.   
Worldly Honours are designed by thy good Providence to be Spurs to our Virtue, while we ride through the short Stages of this frail Life, and they should be looked on as streams issuing from thee their Fountain; so that when we grow proud of them we kick against thee, and make brutish returns of Ingratefulness to thy special favours.  
Humane Learning (which is mere ignorance in respect of thy knowledge) is an Ointment that is flyblown, corrupt and unsavoury; when the Philosopher is such a Fool as to glory in his Wisdom.  
Therefore entertain my notions, good Lord! within the compass of a just moderation, that they may not boil over with conceit, or opinion; nor build Castles in the Air, (like Aesop's Eagles) soaring above the proper reach of my own capacities.  
Give me, I beseech thee, an exact and sober understanding of myself, that Pride may have nothing to do within me, nor without. But that Humility may take its right place about me, and not be wrongfully ejected by Worldly Circumstances.  
Though Titles, Wealth, and Friends, may difference me from others. Gracious Father! I desire that my best skill may be used in the accommodating me to others, in the levelling my conceit of myself to him that hath the meanest thoughts of me; while I confess myself as miserable a Sinner as mortal a Creature, as the most abject wretch in the World can be.  
If I strive for Precedence, let it be only as Christ's Disciples did, to be nearer to Jesus, to outstrip others in Prayer, and Fasting, and such like Acts of Piety as may prove, that I have drank of his Cup of Grace.  
I would divest myself of all such habits as like false Glasses render me bigger than the Life, and count my best efforts for thee to be nothing in comparison of what thou hast done me, dear Saviour! and thus will I traffic for true Glory, by getting all the Praise and Honour which I can for thee, till I come into the Harbour of thy Eternal Grace, and Goodness.  
Should I indulge the Pride of my Nature, I should lose the pleasure of thy Love. For Pride is a Sin so heinous as that it could transform an Angel, and throw him out of Heaven, and Man out of Paradise, for both their High-Treasons against thy Majesty; whereas Humility is the eldest Sister of the Graces, and the first born of the Beatitudes, having promises like the Fifth Commandment, both for this Life and a better; and although Haughtiness of Temper is one of the Goads of Nature which bushes Man forward (since he was made with expectation of Dominion) yet Lord! abase this Domineering humour, lest Pride, that is the Queen of Vice, and first begotten Child of Sin, and the immediate Successor of Wrath, and Vengeance, lest Pride, I say, should get the better of that Lowliness, I would still keep in my Soul for the better imitation of my Saviour.  
When I consider how that dangerous forementioned Crime hath armed Legions of Angels to revenge it; I fear lest it should make me be (not like David in this Psalm) but like an unhappy Child of Rachel, snatched away from the Bosom of my dearest Parent, as unworthy of the sweet and precious Milk of thy Word; or of any Spiritual refreshment.  
But for all Humility is so needful, (as the Mother of Virtues) yet a man should not rely upon the brittle staff of the best natural performances, even in the very Duty of meekness, and lowliness of Mind. Since our Salvation is secured by thy goodness, and in our holiest Operations there is no Merit to Redeem us from Sin, or to entail thy Graces on us, upon thee alone we must ground our hopes; from thee only springs our Happiness, by thy good pleasure Eternity is consigned to us.  
He that sets his Heart on Riches, what doth he, but rear up Pinnacles, whereon his Soul may be tempted, and his Life endangered? Gold is said to be Devoted to Pluto, because he that trusts therein can promise himself nothing at the last but the lowermost Pit. Honours, are rather the Gifts of Fortune than of Merit, and abandon, men usually at the approach of Calamities. Friends are gained by interest, and lost by Death, if not by some odd Casualty before. Health is short and fleeting, made so by change of Diet, Air, and every motion of Soul or Body. In fine,  
All mortal Hopes and Joys are liable to the Tempests of innumerable Accidents.  
Thou only, Almighty Lord! art He that changest not, and therefore art my safe Anchor-hold, and the Rock of my Hope.  
In thee Devout Souls pitch their absolute trust, because there is no time wherein thou art not able, willing, and ready to accommodate them with Mercies, and with thine infinite Beneficence. Amen.   

The thirteenth Step on the thirteenth PSALM of Degrees, being the 132 PSALM.  Memento Domine, etc. 
O Gracious Lord! Look with the Eyes of thine infinite compassion upon a wretched Sinner, and remember that I am thy Servant, I am thy Servant, and the Son of thy Handmaid; let me refuge myself now at thine Altars, though I have been such an Idolater, as to worship most of the World's Naughtiness.  
I have adored earthly pleasures, yet deny me not thy favourable protection, look not upon me as on such an huge offender (who hath warred against thy Holiness, by heaps upon heaps of vain aspiring thoughts.) But,  
Consider me as thy Creature, as a penitent and humble Convert, who may be a fit Object for thy mighty Compassion, through the sense I have at present of my Vileness. This is great, since I have been Impotent, Impious, nay Sacrilegious.  
My Tongue hath dared to profane thy sacred Attributes. My Hands have not spared the Blood or Honour of others, my Heart hath pitched its delight among brutish and sensual pastimes, even such as have been repugnant to thy laws, and to those of Humanity.  
But now that by my Conversion thou mayest be glorified; Hast thou not obliged thyself by the truth of thy promises, to receive such guilty ones as are Weary and heavy laden? because thou art a God of Mercy, and There is more joy in Heaven for one Sinner that Reputes, than for Ninety and nine such Righteous persons, as think with the Pharisees, they need no Repentance.  
I know mine Eyes have been treacherous Scouts to my Soul. I know mine Ears have been like the Adder's, and deaf to thy Commands, and to every good Exhortation, though open to the Whispers of a lying World. The motions of my outward man, like those of my inward, have been but to hurry me to ruin. I know my Heart hath been most vain in its desires, blind in its appetites, mad in that indulging of them: yet I rely upon thy Pity, and despair not of thy Forgiveness.  
As thou didst comply with the Vehement struggle of Jacob for a Blessing, when he had cause enough to fear his own weakness; so do thou afford me thy Guidance and Protection, that I may not only begin well to turn towards Thee, but that I may go on from Strength to Strength to meet Thee, and if thy Grace so forward my Regeneneration, I shall not doubt of performing what I have promised, (that is) to give Thee all which the devoutest Soul can offer.  
My Heart would have no other place to recreate its affections in, but in the Presence-Chamber of thy Love.  
What do the richest Marbles signify (though they have often sweat under the Tools of Cunning Workmen, for the adorning of some Closet for me) if my Rocky Heart be not broke by thy divine Precepts? The Battles wrought in Tapestry, which hid the nakedness of my Walls, do silently upbraid my Vanity, Hypocrisy, the Commotions, and Quarrels that engage my Soul by many differing Passions; all which make spoil of my Reason, instead of serving her.  
While the Eye Tries itself, through a long Prospect of Apartments, wherein much skill might be likewise tired by its Observations of Ten thousand Rarities: even there my Remembrance offers me an Inventory of my faults, which seem desperate enough to snatch the Golden Sceptre of thy goodness, even out of thy Hand, and to cut me off from all hopes of Mercy.  
Yet Lord! cast me out of doors, let me be only covered with the Canopy of Heaven; take away, not only my Fineness and Superfluities, but my Ease and Prosperity: nay, even my Houses and Lands, my other Comforts, and Health too, from me, rather than deny me thy Grace, for what greater Blessing can I beg than it?  
The Favours of Princes are lightnings that blind us with their Splendour. Riches and Beauty corrupt daily; They seemingly depend upon strange uncertain accidents.  
Power and Honours are no less dangerous than Elevating: But the possession of thy Favour is a boundless Gulf of Happiness. What Golden Shours of ineffable sweetness are poured into their breasts who enjoy the privilege thereof?  
Wherefore although I should deny Sleep to mine Eyes, and Slumber to their Lids, for thy sake, O God yet even by such actions I should meet with the greater Repose: nay, with that unspeakable Quiet, and serenity of thy beloved and chosen People.  
So that I desire not that any part of me should find Ease and Rest, without a sensibility of thy Grace, and a respect to thy Will.  
All my Bones shall say, Lord! Who is like thee? and as thou hast obliged, so do thou unite all my disorderly affections: Bind them with the Cords of Divine Love unto thine Altars; that they may not be undone by the dissoluteness of this Age; strengthen my Weakness, encourage my Resolutions to get the better of my Frailties, and of my Inconstancy, lest I fall into every Temptation of Sin, or Snare of the Devil. I seek no farther security than thy Favour, no fairer Boon than thy Grace, no fuller Bliss than thy Bosom affords.  
But to obtain these, Lord! there is requisite a more entire Obedience to thy Will, a continued Repentance of my Transgressions, and a resolution fixed rather upon dying than offending Thee any more.  
And is not this Disposition the Ephratah mentioned, wherein we may find Christ?  
Surely he that can behave himself Righteously, Soberly, and Holily towards the World, Himself, and Satan, need not doubt but that he may see God's Face, and Live also.  
For God is good, and doth good to all such as keep his Testimonies, and walk in his ways.  
Where there is any goodness, he will not be a far off, Where there is any true Piety there is God at hand: for he loves to Crown his own Gifts, and to Glorify his own Graces, and to have his delights with the Sons of Men, when these are willing to become the Sons of God, by coming to his only begotten Jesus Christ.  
This I have found by experience; and how great is my Obligation to thee, most dear Redeemer! who would suffer thyself to be found in the sharp Covert of my Breast, in that strong Wood, where Sin left none of the Cedars of God (which are full of Sap) but only a few Shrubs of impotent affections, which are so full of Briars, and Asperities, as that they opposed thy entrance into my Soul, and presented Thee with nothing, but another Crown of Thorns.  
Yet since I have not only heard of Thee with the Hearing of the Ear, but my other Senses have been sufficient Witnesses of thy inestimable Kindness, and of thy Addresses to me, that I might find thee. O that I may find such favour in thy sight, as to have a sight still of thy Favour! Let my Worshipping of Thee keep some measure with thy Working upon me, that I may be renewed day by day.  
Undress my Soul of all such mean Garbs, and sinful Compliances, as will render it uncomely or unfit for thy sight. This Soul, dear Lord! of which thou wouldst be the Maker and Redeemer also; doth not more triumph in thy present bounty than it is afraid to forfeit it. Therefore,  
Come now, and take up thy abode therein: Shall my Sins keep Thee knocking at the Door? No, dearest Lord! come in; my Lord come in while I am ready (as thy Spouse should always be) to entertain Thee my beloved Bridegroom.  
What Sinners need despair of Mercy, while a Saviour Invites, Entreats, and even pulls them by force out of the Sodom of their Sins and dangers, unto a Repentance which may bring them to Salvation? And,  
How easily is Heaven opened by the Tears of Contrition? How pleased is the Divine Pity at such Tears?  
These Showers return again upon the Earth with Peace to it, Good will to Men, they bring God Glory, and his Glory to us, they cause Heaven's Jubilee, and the Angel's Triumph, because the Return of a Sinner is the most grateful Tribute that the Creature can offer to its Creator, and God delights himself in the Election of such Instruments as are changed from Vessels of dishonour, and fitted for his service by Conversion: Since the procurement of his Grace and Favour is not the Fruit of our Merit, but of his own Goodness.  
For all we may Weep, Sigh, Pray, Fast, make Restitution, give Alms, resolve against Sin, and mortify our Passions, and bridle our Affections, and our corrupt Appetites, in some decent manner; yet our Nature hath many Frailties, and renders our best deeds so imperfect, as without the excess of thy Compassion, without the Merits of Christ's sufferings we should still be found such wicked and unprofitable Servants, as to have no more hope than worth in our best performances.  
On therefore, O my Soul! and (for all thy former demerits) endeavour by the devoutest applications of God's Grace to be raised unto Mount Zion: and to be made thyself a Temple, an Habitation for the God of Jacob, where thy Lord himself may delight to dwell; thou canst not aspire to more Happiness than to be a Mansion for his Son, and Spirit.  
Therefore know the way of truth, and walk in it, make right paths for thy Feet, since they that wander through Ignorance, are lost or confounded by their own darkness.  
Let thy Knowledge, and thy Zeal prevent thyself, and other Sinners too, from rejoicing in their own Errors; by due Austerities detourn them from their Perverseness. By good Counsel assist others in their affairs, and succour them in their affliction. With the Shield of Patience break through the thickest Ranks of thine Adversaries, and overcome them by thy Charity. Receiving Injuries without being galled by them, without retorting such venomed Artillery, but rather pray for Enemies, do good to such as hate and persecute, and then thou shalt find (as the Hospitable King of Israel did) that God shall be on thy side, 
2 King. 6.16, 23.  and more for thee than against thee.  
But woe to that Soul that by its disbelief of God's Word hath trespassed so heinously, as to drive away God's Love that was unwilling to leave it. Woe to that Soul which becomes blind by its profane Obstinacy, in such a manner as to make itself an Object of God's Scorn and derision then, when it might be the Object of his Love and Delight!  
No Words, no Thought can exemplify the direful miseries of that State, which becomes so infinitely wretched as not only to be left Sentenced by God, but justly Punished and Condemned: Nay, Scorned and derided and instead of being pitied by the unspeakable Bowels of an Heavenly Father, (for its perpetual loss and torment) have the Furnace of Hell made seven times hotter, by the derision of God and holy Angels, as if they rejoiced, and took pleasure in the Pains of the Damned: while they adore and praise the Justice, and Holiness of God, in giving to each one his due. And,  
Thus it comes to pass, as there is Joy in Heaven for the conversion of a Penitent; so there may be Joy too there, for the eternal Punishment, and deserved Ruin of an un-repenting and obstinate Offender.  
As we may infer from the words of Divine Wisdom spoken in the First Chapter of Proverbs from the 24th Vers. to the end of that Chapter. 
Prov. 1.24.   
So that of all those many Showers of Grace that God so plentifully and continually sends down, in these days of our Visitation; there will not be one drop left to cool the tongue of a Dives, when he may be sweltering in perpetual Flames. All that which might have nourished and feasted the Soul; turns to its Poison, and infects it more with the Disease and Nature of the Devils.  
But on the other side, How blessed is the choice Spirit which laying hold on the Promise, and obeying the Precepts of its God, thrives so wonderfully under his gracious Blessing, 
Dan. 4.12, 13.  as to be fruitful notwithstanding its height, and out of danger of falling.  
No evil Spirit shall have power to cast it down since it is watched by an Angel, and an Holy one receiving the Birds of Paradise within its Arms.  
O Lord! What Solace, and what Happiness may I not secure to myself, if I have the favour of thy good Will and Protection? for thou dost not baffle the hopes of such as anchor themselves upon the Rock Christ Jesus; thou dost not break the Knees that are bowed down, or bruised in their frequent Devotion before thee.  
Thou dost not weary our Expectations, neither dost thou hate our Prayers or our Persons: but thou lovest thy Creature, yet not his Sin, Thou hearest his requests by Christ's Intercessions.  
Thy Promises (not blended with self-interest) are never subject to alteration, as men's are too much. Thine immense bounty is the Parent of thy good Will to Mankind; and is unchangeable, because exempt both from Jealousy and Fear. Thy wisest Providence leads all our operations through several amazing Labyrinths to most excellent ends, and many times far otherwise than we designed them.  
Thy Mercy, that is so tender as to be wrought on by a Mortal's Sighs or Tear, calls every Sinner, watches, and waits his leisure (as it were) accepts and welcomes him almost at any time, after it hath provided the Festival too for his Cheer, without any Contribution, or Charges of the Guest.  
Thy Wisdom is a depth past fathoming too, and therein like, (though transcending our Demerits) it knows (though we do not) always who are thine, and can work good and Glory out of the worst of man's Misery, and the Devil's Malice.  
O that this fore-praised Wisdom, and Love of thine, may work these following Effects.  
First, Let the one subdue those Adversaries of thy Glory, and my Good, who oppose themselves to my thorough Conversion, Tyrannising over my Will, and perverting the devout Affections that now and then warm my Heart.  
Secondly, Let the other enrich my Soul with Grace. As David was blessed in thy Love, and became an Illustrious Instrument for the advancing thy Glory: So I may be installed for ever with the tokens of thy Favour, and with the ornaments of thy meek and holy Spirit.  
I see the World arrayed with Vanity, and daubed over with excesses, its sweets (like too hot perfumes) strongly assault the weakness of our senses, and the softness of my Constitution discover the Rebellions of the Flesh against the Spirit.  
I fear my Levity, and inconsideration will lay me open to the inveiglements of my subtlest Foes. And shall I not pray then against their wickedness? that thou wouldst frustrate their attempts against me, and confound their Devices. Lest I be confounded, who repair to thy holiest Sanctuary for Protection.  
Save me then, O Lord! who Renouncing the Devil and his Works, and forsaking the Pomp's and Vanities of this wicked World, and all the sinful Lusts of the Flesh, would be faithful unto death, and receive from thee alone a Crown of Life, of Grace here, and Glory hereafter. Amen.   

The fourteenth Step on the fourteenth PSALM of Degrees, being the 133 PSALM.  Ecce quam bonum, etc. 
LIft up thyself, O my Soul! and be thou raised up from the burden of my Sins, unto the Throne of the Most High: for though God be the absolute dispenser of his own Grace, yet he loves to have it coveted, and looked after by Mankind, since his delights are placed amongst us. Be sure not to leave his presence; wander no more like a Cain from his sight: for although nothing be covered from his inspection, yet as he that travels far Northward banishes himself from the Sun's power, and will not be advantaged by his heat, so much as if he stayed near the place where the Sun makes his Bed at Noon: So neither can he receive the warmest influences of God's Favour, who departs from it, like an offending Adam.  
Therefore, O my Soul! Renounce thy Worldly affections altogether, and know that whosoever leaves his Heart to be entrapped by the fair semblances of Earthly Toys, may lose his share in an Eternity of Glory, while he embraces nothing but a Cloud, and catches unhappily at a Shadow.  
Alas! all Sublunary things are too slight to be compared with the pleasures at God's Right-hand. What is most complete here is ever assailed by its contraries, and what appears most Gygantick, or mighty, is but the greater Imposture, cheating our apprehension by the cast of a huge Shadow.  
That which is sweetest to our Senses is encompassed with the most stings, as our loveliest Roses have the sharpest prickles; here is no Honey but what is scoured with Wormwood, and the whole course of our Lives is but a L'ambigue, a strange Hotchpotch of Good and Evil. But in God, in God alone is found true Good, and perfect Happiness.  
Many things that are useful are not pleasant, and many pleasant things are noxious. Fasting, Abstinence, and large Alms-deeds enrich the Mind, mortify the Passions, while they seem to impair our Worldly Concernments.  
On the contrary, the satisfaction of sensuality may caresse the Body, but they torture the Soul. In God alone meets that Profit and pleasure which constitute the chief Good. Therefore,  
O my Soul! with fervent Devotion, sincere Conversion, and settled Resolution, be fixed to thy Redeemer, and enjoy such bliss as is made over to those who are acquainted with God's Mind, and obedient to his Commands.  
How unhappy are the Scorners of such acquaintance, and Union with God; Sat not thou in their place, if thou meanest to be happy: for they have took leave of their Felicity, they have shaken hands with Faith, and Charity; they are Eclipsed from the Beams of the Sun of Righteousness.  
Yet let those sottish Animals inform me (if they can) why the bright Planet of the Day is so welcome to universal Nature? Why the sending forth its Light and Heat draws up their Eyes, and the Faculties of the whole World, as it were, to the admiration of itself? Why are the four Elements so needful, if they be not Communicative and assistant to every Body? and is not the Maker of these much more wonderful, as much more necessary to us all?  
He that will lean to his own imaginations, makes them his Idols; and forfeits the Inheritance, that might be had by Communion with God. But he that with a right affection, and with Filial Reverence binds up all Cravings within the good pleasure, and will of God, may receive all the Joys that can be handed to him by a Deity, for such an Observance. Such Union of a Soul to Christ, is more sweet and acceptable to Heaven, than was that holy Oil which the High-priests only were to make and use.  
And as the Heavenly dew that falls upon the Hills of Hermon, and of Zion, brings fruitfulness to their Rocks, and Health to their Inhabitants, so the Largesses of the Divine Bounty, many ways advantage all such as are united to a Saviour, and to one another by a copious Charity.  
The Dew comes down silently from Heaven, and waters the Earth, being nourishing, and medicinal: and such a Celestial thing is Love and Concord, Curing all the Diseases of the Mind.  
It softens the very Marbles of a proud Niobe, improves the sterile bottom of Goodworks; sweetens the Asperities of Contrition, and prevents the withering of our Hopes.  
Send down this precious Dew upon my Soul, O Lord! as thou didst another on the Fleece of Gideon, that being over-shadowed by thy Love, I may never Divorce myself again from it, but value my affections (as thou dost) even as Faculties more considerable than are all those earthly Objects upon which they have been too often cast away: but since Mundanities are so imperfect Comforts, & so vanishing; they should be despicable. And I would devote my Heart altogether to those Joys of thine, which are Eternal.  
Guard it therefore with a generous Fortitude to resist all the assaults of the Devil, to disarm all my Senses, to defeat all my Corruptions, from ever having any more Power to make me rebel against thy Goodness. And, Lord! command all the Forces of my Soul to concur in the desires of thy Mercy, in the doing thy Will, in the magnifying thy Greatness; so shall I be secure of thy Grace here, and of thy Glory hereafter. Amen.   

The fifteenth Step on the fifteenth PSALM of Degrees, being the 134 PSALM.  Ecce nunc benedicite. 
O My Soul! how art thou engaged by the Mercies of thy Creator to reinforce thy Powers for the setting forth his Praise; Now lay the Top-stone of thy Happiness in the blessing of thy dear Redeemer; who hath suffered thee to get up thus near unto him, and to free thee from Sin, hath showed the mighty skill of his Mercy in divers manners.  
First, In the delivering thee from the perils of Infidelity and Profaneness:  
Secondly, In giving thee the due confidence thou oughtest to have in his Goodness.  
Thirdly, In letting thee see how all true pleasures flow from him, who is all Love and Kindness.  
Hath he enriched thee with the Ornaments of Hope? Hath he built thee upon the Groundwork of Charity, with the strength of a right Faith? Hath he taught thee the fear of the Lord, and the respect due to his Command? Hath he showed thee the Consequence of Holy Sorrow, Meekness, and Exinanition? and at last invited thee to all Happiness, by a perfect union to Himself? And,  
Art thou not inaugurated with a Crown of Privileges? Art thou not wholly subdued to God, and overcome by such powerful Reasons to confess, that Religion must needs be thy greatest advantage, and highest advancement also?  
Then forget not thyself so much as not to exalt his Merits, and bless his Mercy, and declare what he hath done for thee, as Loudly, as Plainly, as Continually, as 'tis possible for thee to do.  
If thou slip the time for these requisite performances, (and which is thy time but the present?) It will look like an Act of Ingratitude, and an effect of Obduration.  
To the wicked, saith God, What hast thou to do to take my Name in thy Mouth, since thou hatest to be reform. O Lord! thou wilt have none of their Commendations, who indeed are unworthy to utter thy holiest Name, being thy professed Enemies, their Addresses are but like the gnash of the Damned, mere Profanations, and no Worship of Thee.  
But thy Servants are the Echoing Trumpets of thy Goodness; Thou lovest their Eulogies, whom thou hast adorned with thy Favours, and Redeemed from the Tyranny of their Accuser.  
Consider then again and again, O my Soul! how Great! how Incomprehensible! is the Goodness of thy God since he would Create thee after his likeness, and give thee Understanding, and Dominion over and above thy Fellow-creatures? Since he would place thee at first but little lower than the Angels, and hereafter will promote thee even above those blessed Spirits; since he would save thee with no less a Price than his Son's Blood; and make thee the chief Magazine, or Storehouse of all the Treasures of his Grace: since he would Manumitt thee by his Service, from the Tyranny of thy Sensualities, and from the Slavery of great Transgressions (which bind up Lucifer himself in Chains of Darkness.) O! do not fall (like him) again into the Hell of Ingratitude, since thou art raised thus into the Favour of the Most High: Employ thy faculties to his Honour, else thou art such another unworthy Monster as deserves to be entombed in the bottom of that Gulf which burns for Ever and Ever.  
Show at least how thou savourest the things of God, by acknowledging of them; 'Tis true, thou canst never render unto him according as thou hast received, yet return thy improved Talents, and thy utmost abilities, or else thy cheerful readiness, for the owning thyself Obliged, and not unkind, to the Donor.  
Suffer no Excuse or Accident to put thee off from thinking of his Goodness, or from thanking of it.  
Thy Prosperity is the Issue of his Providence, not of thy Merit. God (saith the Wise man) enables us to get Wealth, and all good Fortune. Thy Adversaries celebrate his Wisdom, for by them art thou taught how he knows thy desert, and would try thy Patience, and deals not so hardly by thee as he is provoked.  
Therefore in all Conditions set forth his most worthy Praise; with clean Hands, and a pure Heart lifted up by devout Expressions. Let us lead on our Desires, and endeavours to set the Crown upon his Head, and to put the Sceptre into his Hand, whose right it is.  
I mean let our Church (with that which is Triumphant) ascribe All Honour, Power, Dominion, and Glory unto him who sits upon the Throne, and unto the Lamb, for evermore: blessing God every manner of way, whereby the Creature may be said to Glorify his maker. As,  
First, By speaking of God with that Reverence which the Majesty of his Person doth require.  
Secondly, By living according to the Rules of Probity, that by our good actions, both ourselves and others may think well of his Service.  
Thirdly, By rendering unto God the Honour due to his Name, in whatsoever condition may we be, that whether he gives or takes away, there may be no shipwreck of a good Conscience, or of a cheerful Spirit, because we own our dependence not upon ourselves but Him.  
Fourthly, By Giving Thanks always for all things unto God, 
Eph. 5.20.  (as saith the Apostle) while we entertain a grateful Taste and Remembrance of the most ordinary Mercy, for there is none to be looked upon as little, if we justly regard either God or ourselves.  
NOW, most Gracious Lord! since thou hast called up my Soul to this exalted Throne of Felicity, to this highest Round of Heavenly Comfort, (to wit) to the resounding of thy Praises, for the efficacy of thy Favours towards a penitent Sinner: I beseech thee, dearest Lord! shower down continual thy Gifts and Graces upon my humbled Soul, that it may be fruitful in every good Work, and show no wretched marks of its former Sterility, though it Merits not the smallest Dew of thy Blessing, nor the least warmth of thy Love; (having scarce put out the fire of extravagant Lust.) Yet since thou hast founded the vast Machine of the Universe upon the empty place; Thine outstretched arm can amend and sanctify whatever is amiss about me.  
Thou art both our Lord, and our God; a Maker, and Redeemer too; whose Operations are beyond all impossibilities, and thy Benefits above our Desires, espcially in Heavenly things, no less than above our Deserts.  
However, give me leave, here at last, to beseech thee so to fit me for thine Eternal Entertainments, by a thankful Sense, and constant relish of thy Love and Goodness to me here, as that I may pass along safely and contentedly through the many disquiets of this mortal Life, to the continual Praising, and endless Fruition of thee in Heaven.  
our Father which art, etc.    

A COROLLARY.  
HAving got up thus far by the help of others, (with aching Knees, and sobbing Respirations) my Soul craves leave to pause and look about her, lest these Ascents become to her condition, like the Scalae Gemoniae to condemned Wretches, Degrees of Punishment, and sad occasions of more certain Ruin. These lofty Mounts afford me a fair prospect of the good Way my Thoughts should take toward Heaven: But, alas! I find at the same time how I am grovelling upon Earth, and the feet of my Affections would rather step down, than go up so high a Hill, as that of God's House.  
Therefore have I need of Jacob's Staff to lean upon in my infirmest State, 
Heb. 11.21. Gen. 47.9. Eph. 3.18. Heb. 10.39, 36.  and to point out how few and evil the days of the years of my Pilgrimage have been, and to fathom better both God's Love and mine, that I may get up still nearer the point of Life, (even in Death itself) and be keeping on my Journey here, for here is not my Rest.  
And as I want a Jacob's Staff, (such a help and Monitor, and Vision, as that holy Traveller had at Bethel) so I desire likewise that Jacob's Ladder, which according to St. Basil, (in his Homilies on the Psalms) is the Exercise of a devout Soul, so employing itself, as that God may come down to it, and the Soul be raised up to Heaven, by these five several Degrees or Ascents.  
The first is a generous neglect of all outward and temporal Advantages, in respect of Heavenly ones; a forsaking of our Nets, like true Converts, and Christian Disciples, 
Mark 1.18.  for the attendance on the Lord Jesus; and not only renouneing (with St. Paul) such things as we counted Gain, but,  
Secondly, Contemning, and even loathing the most admired sensual pleasures, nay, the World itself, when set in competition with Christ out Saviour:  
Because, in the third place, a we ought to love nothing in comparison of Christ, if we would be love by him: 
Mat. 10.37. Cant. 5.10.  If we esteem him not most amiable, we are not warmed with a right, or kindly flame of Devotion, (which implies a transcendent value for the adored Object of our Worship.) We are but Samaritans in our pretended Religion, and shall hardly arrive at the fourth Step,  
Which is a readiness not only to be bound, but to die for his Name: And this propensity for the meeting Death itself in the way to Life, 
Acts 20.24.  is a good Token or part of the noblest Mortification, which prefers God and his Sanctity before Life, nay, before Salvation, and will secure us from finding Death in the Errors of our Lives.  
Nay, lastly, will strengthen us to climb up to the Top-round of these Spiritual Exercises, 
Psal. 73.25.  even to the uniting our Souls by the divinest Charity unto God himself, who is Love and the Man that can get thither (saith St. John) dwells in Gods, 
1 John 4.16.  and God in him.  
These Five Ascents are to be often mounted, and if in honour to the holiest Trinity, they are thrice gone over in our youthfullest, in our strongest, and in our oldest Age, we shall be perfect in our Duty by such Repetitions of it, and not think the Fifteen Ascents to God's House at all too many, or too steep, or tiresome.  
FINIS.   

ERRATA.  
IN the Epistle to the Reader, Page 1. Line 28. for quote, read Court. p. 3. l. 48. read Sketch. p. 4. l. 19 for ones, read ends. l. 49. read Ite.  
In the next Epistle of the Author, at l. 12. insert its. p. 2. l. 12. read to Heaven. p. 3. l. 8. read perfect ones.  
In the Book, p. 8. l. 7. read thee. p. 9 l. 2. read it natural, and born with us. l. 32. read or recover it.   

THE Eucharist at Easter, 1657, ON THE Happy Recovery Of my Most Dear and Honoured LUCINDA.  
ANGELS, come tune my Joys, since they require  
Notes pure and high, like those which ye inspire;  
Blessed Saints of Heaven! could ye impart your Mirth,  
Then might I learn to sing of one on Earth,  
One, who hath not your Glory, yet your Grace;  
One equals you in Piety, not Place,  
Because she lives: Nor can I more express  
To tell, what 'tis the World calls Happiness;  
And since she lives, I pray for nothing more,  
But how to praise that help I did implore.  
O God (who art most powerful) do thou please  
To give me thankfulness, who gav'st her ease;  
Give strength (as to her Body) to my Brain,  
That with her health, may Harmonise my strain,  
And breath still vigorously, like my past Fears,  
In Lines more numerous than were erst my Tears;  
While every gladsome Verse records at once  
My Gods and Mother's Resurrections:  
Within the Spheres of which, two Blisses move,  
All I enjoy below, hope for above:  
But all my Words and Actions needs must be  
Lame Offerings, fit for Vulcan, not for Thee.  
I cannot sing like David, nor can I  
Be even like Saul, when Saul did prophecy;  
Yet by that Harp which was his cure, I find  
A Tongue to ease my overjoyed Mind:  
Therefore my Song shall fill the thankful Choir,  
My Voice shall consort with the Hebrew Lyre,  
To drown its Hoarseness in those sweeter Lays,  
So hiding my Defects, but not thy Praise.   


The CXVI. PSALM.  

verse 1 I Love to praise thy Love most high,  
Who to my Praise gav'st ear;  
verse 2 While I have Breath, to thee I'll cry,  
For thou my Cry didst hear.   

verse 3 Hell's Prison made my Soul afraid,  
Death's Snares beset me round;  
Till to thy Name I sought for aid,  
Nothing but Woes I found.   

verse 4 But when I prayed, Lord ease my Woe,  
O Lord! save thou my Soul;  
verse 5 His Grace and Goodness God did show,  
Making his Patient whole.   

verse 6 His Love and Justice is displayed,  
Shiclding the lowly'st Head;  
And raising mine, whom Grief had laid  
Down low, even near the Dead.   

verse 7 Then Soul, said I, gad not abroad,  
To lose thy sought-for Rest:  
Thou seest Love fills the Heart of God;  
O make that Love thy Host!   

verse 8 That Love, which keeps thee from the Grave,  
Thy Foot from falls, thine Eye  
verse 9 From Tears, and gives thee Life to have  
This spent in Piety.   

verse 10 Thus I believed, and therefore prayed,  
Till Troubles shook my Trust;  
verse 11 Then rashly said, all Men are made  
Of Falsehood, as of Dust.   

verse 12 But what bring I to thee? I'll take  
The Cup of Blessing, Lord;  
verse 13 And bless thy Name, whose Mercies make  
Our Duty our Reward.   

verse 14 I'll pay my Vows in sight of them,  
Whose Lives most holy are;  
verse 15 Whose Deaths are in thine Eyes esteem,  
(As it's own sight) most dear.   

verse 16 Thy Handmaid's Son, thy Servant Lord,  
Thy Servant, Lord, am I!  
Bound faster to thee by the Cord,  
Which thou art pleased t'untie.   

verse 17 I'll offer still unto thy Name  
My Life, my Praise, my Prayer;  
verse 18 I'll pay my Vows in sight of them,  
Whose Lives most holy are.   

To God the Father, God the Son,  
And God the Holy-Ghost,  
Be Glory; and let every one  
Strive who shall praise God most.   
HALLELUJAH.   

The XXVII. PSALM.  LUCE tuâ fruamur LUCE. 

verse 1 GOD is my Soul's dear Light,  
What should I fear but him?  
God is my Life's chief Health and Might,  
What else should dreadful seem?   

verse 2 When wicked ones (my Foes)  
Approach me to devour,  
They shall fall down, for they that risen  
Have fallen into my Power.   

verse 3 Though many Troops besiege,  
None shall my Heart dismay;  
Though Men against me Battle pitch,  
God's strength shall be my stay.   

verse 4 This only Grace, this boon  
Of God I now desire;  
That in his House I may have room  
To pray in, and retire.   

verse 5 There I his Pleasure taste,  
I have his shelter there;  
There on a Rock I shall be placed  
In times of Grief and Care.   

verse 6 For all my Foes surround,  
When God their Siege hath raised;  
Around his Courts with joyful sound,  
God shall be greatly praised.   

verse 7 O therefore hear me, Lord,  
When I rejoice or cry!  
Comfort or Mercy still afford,  
And to my Call reply.   

verse 8 When once it heard thy Grace,  
my Heart to thee could speak;  
O Lord, thou saidst, Seek ye my Face!  
Thy Face, Lord, will I seek.   

verse 9 Thy Face O never hid,  
Nor turn it once away!  
O Leave me not, my God, my Guide,  
Whose strength is all my stay!   

verse 10 When Friends no care had took,  
Thou didst for me provide;  
Nay, when my Parents me forsaken,  
Thou laidst me not aside.   

verse 11 Lord, teach me thy plain way,  
To shun each crooked Path;  
Because my Foes would have me stray,  
verse 12 O save me from their wrath!   

See how the Faithless rise  
Against me, and their Breath  
Would first ensnare by Calumnies,  
Then cut me off by Death.   

verse 13 Lord, I had fainted quite,  
Had I not hoped to see  
Thy Goodness in this Life, to light  
My Soul t' Eternity.   

verse 14 Wait then on God, poor Soul!  
Take Courage, kiss his Rod;  
For he shall make thee strong, and whole,  
Wait then I say on God.   

Glory and Praise allow  
To God in Trinity,  
As at the first he was, is now,  
And evermore shall be.    

The XXIII. PSALM paraphrased.  

THE King of Heaven, the God of Love,  
Takes up a Shepherd's Crook;  
(As David did) his Son above,  
To his few Sheep will look:  
Then, though in Deserts they are left, 
1 Sam. 17.20.   
How safe are those few Sheep!  
How safe am I from wolvish Theft,  
Where Christ the Fold doth keep.   

For while I wake, he lets me feed  
By th' Sunshine of his Eye;  
When I want Rest, (if ought I need)  
His Arm's my Canopy:  
So that I shall not fear Death's Night;  
Nay, when Time's Bell has gone,  
Darkness (that harbours many a Spirit)  
Shall let my Soul alone.   

My Soul, 
Return.  arrayed then in its Light,  
Such Glories shall put on,  
As they that make my Shepherd white,  
Who is my Shield, and Sun.  
He from a howling Wilderness,  
(Of Savages th' Abode)  
Hath brought me by his right Address  
Into fair Canaan's Road.   

There up and down meek Lambs he leads,  
While Tides of Joy flow by;  
Can his Flock want, who kindly feeds  
Young Ravens, when they cry?  
Like Israel's Leader by the Flood, 
Exod. 14.2.   
He bids his Army stay;  
Then (as he gave Elijah Food) 
1 King. 19.8.   
He cheers them in their way.   

The power and goodness of our God 
Return.   
Are our advance and stay; 
Exod. 14.16.   
Elisha's Staff, and Moses' Rod; 
2 King. 4.29.   
Do Wonders less than they:  
They save the Poor, support the Weak;  
Heal sick Folks, help the Blind:  
Soft Hearts they bed, hard ones they break;  
Thus nurturing the Unking.   

For all Saul's envy, Doeg's hate,  
My Head and Beard is crowned;  
In spite of Foes I fit in state,  
With Ease and Plenty round.  
My Bowl's with Wine swelled to the brim,  
With Oil my Temples shine;  
God is with me,  I with him;  
His Goodness 'tis, not mine.   

His Grace (and not their own) anoints 
Return.   
Kings, to the sway they bear;  
His Spirit Royal Feasts appoints,  
His Son is our best Cheer.  
O that towards God my days could move  
Fast, as to Death they tend!  
My Thanks should keep pace with his Love,  
And (like it) never    
END.