THE MEDITATIONS Of an HUMBLE HEART. Written only for FRIENDS, who can read it. To the Undefiled of God, Elect, Chosen and Precious.  
ELect, Chosen and Precious, whom God hath loved, and doth love, and cannot but love from Everlasting to Everlasting, with an Everlasting Infinite Love:  
who art the most delightsom Plant, of most Honourable Renown; renowned with honourable Dignity for ever; the Delight of all the Upright, the Life of all the Virtuous, the Spouse of all the Unwedded Undefiled Virgins; the Staff of Abraham's Strength, the Bread of jacob's Soul, the Succour of Joseph in time of need, the Mouth of Moses Wisdom, the Rock of Israel's Strength, the certain Hiding-place of all the Troubled, the House of all the former scattered, the Bed of Repose wherein the beautified Damsels fill themselves with the solace of most heavenly divine Delights, whose Beauty surpasseth expressions of words, whose tender Offers have invited many, whose Love hath alured the hearts of thousands, whose pleasant Countenance hath prevailed with a numberless number to love thee for ever; whose pleasant Smiles have gathered unto thee innumerable Doves of the Wilderness, and thy Virtue hath caused the barren desolate to bring forth both Bud, Blossom and Fruit in abundance; the Breath of thy Nostrils hath enlivened the Dead, the sound of thy Voice hath quickened the Weary, and by thy Power hath the Barren brought forth in abundance, whereby the Earth hath been covered with thy fruitful Riches; Thou art clothed with Innocency for ever, Thy dwelling is hid from all the disobedient children of men, Thou hast bound thyself (to live out of their sight) with thy Darlings in a stronger Covenant than all Marriages; Thou deckest thy Beloved for thyself, and then thou delightest in her; Thou preparest thy Spouse for the joy of thy heart, and then lovest her because of her beauty; Thou deckest her with Ornaments of well-refined Gold, and causest her face to shine; Thou fillest her with Glory within, and causest her to dwell among the Honourable, and walk with the choicest Virgins in the Paths of great delight, and she is become the Daughter of the King of kings; Thy Goodness doth much overcome the hearts of many, thy Wisdom pleaseth the Prudent; thy Meekness delighteth hundreds, thy Strength upholdeth an infinite number, and thy Life nourisheth thousands; thou renewest the strength of the Faint, thou turnest the shadow of Death into a Morning, thou keepest thy Flock under the shadow of thy Wing, and nourishest them with the choicest Food; thou guidest them with the hand of thy Power, and succourest them at every needful time, and thou relievest their greatest wants: the consideration of thee (which brings thy Goodness into remembrance) even filleth the hearts of the Flock of thy Fold, and thou art He who only satisfieth them for ever.  
Oh! where wast thou in the day of Adversity, and where was thy dwelling in the time of the Night? Where didst thou hid thyself in the day of Transgression, and to what place didst thou confine thyself when Iniquity ruled? and what was thy state in the time of man's Sin? Ah! how wast thou then as a slain Lamb, and as a meek Prince deprived of his Kingdom and Government? how wast thou, as a true Heir deprived of his Right, and as an only Son from the Father's House, and found not wherein to rest thy head? How wast thou grieved in that day, and how wast thou wounded by thy pretended friends? how was thy Glory defamed, and thy Honour laid aside? how was thy Beauty marred, and thy Wisdom bound up as in an obscure place? how did Darkness compass about thy dwelling? how was thy Strength put by, and thy Comeliness, as if it had not been? Wast thou not as in a Grave in the midst of all the wicked? and waste not thou taken in their pits, and lay long slain in the streets of the Sodomites, and exiled as the greatest Captives.  
Oh! where didst thou hid thyself when the Dragon cast forth his flood, when the Waves swelled, and when the Land was fruitless, when the Birth failed in the Womb, when the Seed came not to maturity; when the Blade was killed in the Spring, when the sharp nipping Frost cut down the head of the tender Herb; when the Winter nights were long, when the boisterous Storms were many; when the whole Earth was covered with thick darkness, when the Heavens were as Brass; when the Rain descended not, when the distilling Dews came not down; when the Blossom withered in the time of drought, when the Path to dwell in was not known; when the Stars shone not, when all the Lights of Heaven were eclipsed; when the Voice of the Shepherd was not known, when the Eye of the Traveler was dim; when none could direct him in his Way, nor supply him with Food for his Journey, nor Water in his greatest thirst, nor secure him in the time of the Storm, when he knew not the end of his Journey, neither perceived the way to go, nor ever could have rest till he came there; when the feet of the Virgin stuck in the mire, and the Youngman failed of strength; when no way was known but a Wilderness, when no succour was found but a Forest of most fearful devouring Beasts; when the Scorpians did by't in the daytime, when the Lion did roar in the night; when the Dragon was near to devour, when the Wolf yelled for his Prey; when the Foxes spoilt the tender Grapes, when the brazen Serpent could not be seen; when thy Lambs cried as in the day of forgetfulness, when the Young lamented the birth for want of the food; when thy Damsels fainted with thirst, when pity was not to be found amongst men; when Mercy could not be seen in Heaven, neither would the Earth open her mouth and swallow up to end the state of Misery; when this day of jacob's trouble was as in a Whirlwind, or as a combustious Thunder in the midst of heat and cold, which none doth know but the man that hath seen it; who in the bitterness of his soul hath long traveled as a Woman in her sore pangs of Sorrow, through the Warfare, in the grievous troublesome day of distress?  
Oh! how wast thou then as a Prisoner in the Pit, and where was thy place to be found, or who could search out thy dwelling? O Thou! now, well known to be, the much more than the threefold, Chiefest of ten thousand hundred thousand, and of thousands of thousands! to whom my soul's love can never be expressed.  
Arise now thou Meek One of Wisdom, speak forth thyself in thy own Virtue; let thy Spouse hear thy Voice and rejoice in thee for evermore, whom thou hast fitted for thyself, a chaste comely Virgin, to shine forth thy Glory in for ever: for thy Beauty hath often filled my heart with precious Oil, and the Desire of Thee hath drawn me out of myself; my lips at first have stammered at thy presence, but thou hast healed the wounded heart: Thou art the chiefest of all Delights, and happy are all them that know thee.  

To the Espoused Virgin.  
Arise out of the dust, awake as in the days of old; let thine Eye be more bright with the Light of the Day than in the Ages past; adorn thyself with Comeliness, deck thee with Ornaments, prepare thee with sweet Ointments; put on Beauty as a Beam of the Morning, shine forth as the fairness of the Sun; enrobe thee with Righteousness as with a Garment, and deck thyself with precious Jewels as the choicest Bride; grow up as the tender Plant, spring forth as the Lily; blossom as the Rose, be fruitful as the Vine; grow up as the Cedar, spread as the Vine-branches; let Salvation be the Wall on which thou layest hold, come forth as the increasing Herbs of the field, with many stems from one root, and many branches on every stem, and many blossoms on every branch, and (much more) many seeds of fruitful increase under or after every blossom, that the Sower may be made glad with the abundance of the increase thereof; that the good Husbandman may rejoice in his labour, that the Planter may delight in the works of his hands.  
Let thy Fruit be as of an Appletree, whose boughs therewith doth bend; let the taste thereof be as sweet as the Honey, and the smell thereof as the sweet Odour; let thy Boldness appear as the Morning, and thy Meekness as the Bay-tree that is always green; be more fruitful than Labanon; let no Female that God hath made bring forth the fruit of her womb more often than thee; in labour be more diligent than the Ant; in multiplying bring forth more often than the chiefest of the Coneys, though she make her Nest in the Rock; in fragrant smell let not the sweetest Flower or Ointment surpass thee; in Beauty let nothing exceed thee; in Meekness come not short of Sarah; in Wisdom and Prudence let neither Abigail, Ruth, Esther, nor Mary excel thee; receive thy Beloved as the choicest of Princes, and embrace him in the Arms of Righteousness for ever: bring forth according to his Nature, and let thy increase be of his own Image; keep clean thy Garments, let not thy Beauty be spoiled; defile not thy breath with the Garlic of Egypt, nor thy taste with the Grapes of Sodom; drink not any thing down which may defile the savour of thy breath that may offend thy Prince, neither let any Covering remain upon thee, which may cause him the less to love thee; let all thy ways be pleasant to Him, and all thy Robes delightsom in his Eye; let thy footsteps be ordered as in the sight of the King, and let thy words be grave and sound, which may not offend Him, that His Love may both continue and increase towards thee, and He delight in thee and rejoice over thee, and the smiles of His Countenance fully gratify thee for all the frowns of thy (former) now forsaken lovers; that thy daily delight may be in Him for ever, and flourish under his Arm as the beautiful Rose of Sharon, with its blossom of many doubles, and remain fruitful as the Olive-tree for ever.  
So will the King delight in thy beautiful Excellency, and so shall the Prince be satisfied with thy fruitful Virtue; thy Arm shall gather thee Riches, and thy Faithfulness shall give thee strength; thy Boughs shall reach over the Earth, thy spreading shall be over the Sea, and thy Fruit shall shine afar off; thy Root shall remain firm and steadfast, thy Branches shall enlarge themselves, and the weak shall lay hold on thy skirts; thy Leaves shall be pleasant to many, and thy Sap shall ever spring up from the Root; thou shalt never be forsaken in the troublesome Night, nor removed with the greatest Storm, nor overturned with Wind or Sea, but shalt be kept from the darkness which thou host seen.  
Hereby let all the Barren hear the Voice of the fruitful Vine, and she that sat in the desolate place come to see the Light of the Morning; and let the Spouse be prepared and the Virgin adorned; and let the Voice of Meekness be heard in the solitary place, and Life spring forth as the Noonday, that the Prisoner may come out of the Pit to sit in his Throne for ever, and the Captive from Exile to the Enlargedness of Dominion; that the Bounds may be broken, and the boundless known where no limit is.   

Something how the Marriage of the Undefiled Lamb, and the Virgin came at first to be.  
The slain thing had God's Power in it, even in that state; and when it became as a servant, because of man's Sin, in the great service of love to help man out of Sin, who hath power both to serve and to rule; both to lay down his Life, and to take it up again; who in himself is still the same, and his Power is exercised in his Suffering as well as in his Ruling; or, as when He exerciseth his Power in Ruling: And He that was dead is alive, and He hath taken unto Him his Great Power, and doth reign over the Creature and the Sin (having done it away) with the same Power, whereby before he came so to serve man under the Sin, as to help him from under it, and so to bring man with himself, in his Power, as it suffered by the Sin, out of the Sin, and out of that Power which captivated under, or into the committing of Sin, and so to the end of it, with Christ over it to live and reign for ever, as it is received in that way, manner and operation which at first it doth come and show forth itself in the Power of its sufferings, whose Power and Virtue therein at first is known: and so such who know Him in his suffering-state, He permitteth, chooseth and electeth to live and reign with Him in His Ruling-state.  
And so he that hath power to Reign, hath power to Suffer, and so to Suffer that he may Reign, the exercise of whose power in his Suffering is in order to his Reigning, and such as feel, know, and receive his power first enabling them with him to suffer, they with the same are brought to the end of sin and sinning, by which the suffering came upon the Just for the unjust, and as man to this is joined in his sufferings, its power worketh man's Redemption (and so not of man) or brings man back from under that power which held in the Transgression and Separation, from the Bridegroom of the soul, and takes away that which captivates it, & so breaks the wall which stood between the desired Liberty and the present Bondage, and so brings the true and lasting Peace; and so both receive each other, and are made one in each other, (and not otherwise) It is certainly so.  
And that man which truly Suffered with it, Reigns with it, who was joined to it in its Suffering, till it come to Reign, and then to submit unto it and serve it, in its Motions, Leadings, Ruling, and Governing, in the power of its Love, which winneth the heart so to do, as the chaste wife to the husband, so with it, in the power of it, man comes to Reign over that which was both contrary to it, and to the upright hearted man, until all its enemies are put under it, and so under the man that is one with it, and whose Life is in it, being truly joined to it of the Lord, (than not to be put asunder) and so loving of it, and in all things submitting to it, more than the true chaste Virgin to the Husband, living in the power, and the power living in man, and so both becoming one in Sufferings, one in Trials, one in Tribulations, one in Afflictions, one in Joy, one in Peace, one in Liberty, one in Captivity, one in Riches, one in Poverty: And so truly one, partaking with each other, in all states unseparable, may well in some measure be termed, The Marriage of the Lamb which is come, (and more of it may be known) and the Virgin being thus and more fully espoused, to the undefiled, unspotted of God, they are thus far made one, and she becomes the Daughter of the Husband's Father, the King of kings, or the Adopted Child of God.  
And thus the undefiled One of God and the Virgin of Zion, becomes one in the unspeakable Unity, which Unity being felt, both as one, (perceive me) and my Lines are understood, and my Words received in love.   
And this is written and sent forth among all Friends, who desire to hear of me, and who have known me in the invisible Truth, and such to whom the Lord hath made me serviceable in the precious things of the Kingdom of God, which is of Peace and Righteousness, where my Rest is; that hereby they may hear from me, and know that I remain in the labour of the Gospel (which is very great) and in the Fellowship of the Saints: Your Brother in the unexpressable Love of the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour, Called HUMPHREY SMITH. From Cogshal in Essex (in which parts very many of late have received the precious Truth) the twelfth day of the fifth month, (61.)  
And this may be read in such Meetings where and when Friends of the Ministry are wanting.   

LONDON, Printed for Robert Wilson, at the Sign of the Black Spread-Eagle and Windmill, in martin's Le Grand, 1661.