THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 
 GIFT 
 
 From the Library of 
 
 Henry Goldman, Ph.D. 
 
 1886-1972
 
 - 
 
 c 
 
 . >
 
 \ 
 
 \

 
 Good Thoughts 
 Bad Times 
 
 and 
 Other Papers 
 
 BY THOMAS FULLER, D. D. 
 
 BOS TON 
 
 IK KNOR AND FIELDS 
 1863
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1863, by 
 
 TICK NOR AND FIELDS, 
 in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts 
 
 UNIVERSITY PRESS: 
 
 WELCH, BIGELOW, AND COMPANY, 
 
 CAM BRIDGE.
 
 TO 
 
 WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT, 
 
 THE LIFE-LONG DEFENDER OF IMPARTIAL LIBERTY, 
 THIS EDITION OF 
 
 FULLER'S GOOD THOUGHTS IN BAD TIMES 
 
 IS DEDICATED 
 
 BY THE PUBLISHERS.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 ; J-^-^ HE author of this book lived and 
 
 //f|7,;v' : wrote in stirring times. A chaplain 
 
 fiV I vj . 
 
 in the army during the great civil 
 7^^^^-K war in England, he collected, when 
 on his marches and countermarches through 
 the country, materials for his admirable works. 
 He was born in 1608, and died in 1661, so that 
 much of his fifty-four years of life was spent 
 among no very peaceful scenes. He followed 
 the army with a loyal heart and courageous 
 spirit, and wrought earnestly to mitigate the vi- 
 olence of hostile parties. Possessed of extraor- 
 dinary abilities, the king sought him out, and 
 invited the eloquent minister to preach before 
 him. One of the wittiest and wisest divines 
 who have ever ascended the pulpit, he has left 
 behind him a fame second to none who have 
 laboured to elevate and make their fellow-crea- 
 tures better. Those who heard him preach in
 
 vi PREFA CE. 
 
 his little church in the Strand hung upon his 
 persuasive lips with eager delight, and it was said 
 by a contemporary, that even the windows and 
 sextonry of his small chapel were crowded as if 
 bees had swarmed to his mellifluous discourse. 
 
 Whether he lifted up his voice in the taber- 
 nacle or in the garrison, he was ever the same 
 earnest advocate of whatsoever he thought was 
 just and true. Once during the war he so 
 animated the troops to a vigorous defence, that 
 they fought the besiegers to the abandonment 
 of their enterprise with the loss of more than 
 a thousand men. 
 
 He wrote many books that will always be 
 read and remembered. "Next to Shakespeare," 
 said Coleridge, " I am not certain whether 
 Thomas Fuller, beyond all other writers, does 
 not excite in me the sense and emulation of 
 the marvellous ; the degree in which any given 
 faculty or combination of faculties is possessed 
 and manifested,' so far surpassing what we would 
 have thought possible in a single mind, as to 
 give one's admiration the flavour and quality 
 of wonder. Fuller was incomparably the most 
 sensible, the least prejudiced great man, in an 
 age that boasted of a galaxy of great men. 
 In all his numerous volumes on so many dif- 
 ferent subjects, it is scarcely too much to say 
 that you will hardly find a page in which some
 
 PREFACE. vii 
 
 one sentence out of every three does not de- 
 serve to be quoted by itself as a motto or as 
 a maxim." 
 
 Fuller's best-known writings are " The His- 
 tory of the Holy War," " The Holy and Pro- 
 fane State," " The Church History of Britain," 
 " The History of the Worthies of England," 
 and " Good Thoughts in Bad Times." His 
 religion was of a practical kind, and his per- 
 sonal piety ever commended itself as springing 
 from a clean heart. Though a warm advocate 
 of the monarchical form of government, he 
 held "he rights of the people in sacred respect. 
 11 A Commonwealth and a King," said he, "are 
 no more contrary than the trunk or body of 
 a tree and the top branch thereof: there is a 
 republic included in every monarchy." 
 
 An anecdote recorded of Fuller, in Basil 
 Montague's " Selections," illustrates the good- 
 ness of his heart as well as his ready wit. Dr. 
 Fuller had an extraordinary memory. He could 
 name in order the signs on both sides the way 
 from the beginning of Paternoster Row at Ave- 
 Maria Lane to the bottom of Cheapside. He 
 could dictate to five several amanuenses at the 
 same time, and each on a different subject. 
 The Doctor making a visit to the Committee 
 of Sequestrators sitting at Waltham, in Essex, 
 they soon fell into a discourse and commenda-
 
 viii PREFACE. 
 
 tion of his great memory ; to which he replied, 
 " 'T is true, gentlemen, that fame has given me 
 the report of a memorist, and if you please, I 
 will give you an experiment of it." They al 
 accepted the motion, and told him they should 
 look upon it as an obligation, praying him to 
 begin. " Gentlemen," says he, " I will g : ve 
 you an instance of my memory in the particu- 
 lar business in which you are employed. Your 
 worships have thought fit to sequester an honest 
 but poor cavalier parson, my neighbour, from his 
 living, and committed him to prison ; he has 
 a large family of children, and his circumstances 
 are but indifferent ; if you will please to release 
 him out of prison, and restore him to his par- 
 ish, I will never forget the kindness while f live ! " 
 Fuller died just as his earthly prospects began 
 to look brightest^ A bishopric was about to 
 have been granted him, when the chancel of his 
 church at Cranford was opened to receive his 
 remains. The Latin inscription over his body 
 has the rare merit of telling the truth concern- 
 ing the sleeper below, for he is certainly one of 
 the most illustrious, as well as one of the most 
 original, writers of our language. He is never 
 barren or tedious, and his imagination follows in 
 rank that of Taylor and others among the great 
 names in English literature. One of his biog- 
 raphers says, " He was a kind husband, a tender
 
 PREFACE. ix 
 
 father to his children, a good friend and neigh- 
 bour, and a well-behaved, civilized person in every 
 respect" He used to call the buzzing polemics 
 that were rife in his time "insects of a day," 
 and he had all the liberal attributes of a great and 
 noble character. He was, as we learn from sev- 
 eral authentic accounts, of a joyous temperament 
 and boundless good-nature ; endowed with that 
 happy buoyancy of spirit which, next to religion 
 itself, is the most precious possession of man. 
 Untiring humour seemed the ruling passion of 
 his soul. Quaintly and facetiously he thought, 
 wrote, and spoke, preferring ever a jocose turn 
 of expression even in his gravest discourses. 
 With a heart open to all innocent pleasures, and 
 purged from the " leaven of malice and unchar- 
 itableness," it was as natural that he should be 
 full of mirth as it is for the grasshopper to chirp, 
 or bee to hum, or the birds to warble in the 
 spring breeze and the bright sunshine. "Some 
 men," says he, in his Essay on Gravity, " are of 
 a very cheerful disposition ; and God forbid that 
 all such should be condemned for lightness. O, 
 let not any envious eye disinherit men of that 
 which is their portion in this life, comfortably 
 to enjoy the blessings thereof! " 
 
 He is described as a person whose physiogno- 
 my was an index to his natural character. He 
 had a fine robust frame, light fhxen, curling
 
 x PREFACE. 
 
 hair, bright blue smiling eyes, and a frank, 
 hearty manner. He loved the walks of com- 
 mon life, and was never weary of gossip with 
 the country people. His sympathy went out 
 to meet those who were oppressed, and his large 
 nature embraced all mankind. He will always 
 be honoured and loved, for he had "genuine 
 veneration for all that is divine, and genuine 
 sympathy for all that is human." 
 
 This volume of Good Thoughts in Bad 
 Times is reprinted now in this country because 
 there is much in it of a nature relevant to our 
 own disturbed state. Fuller wrote and practised 
 that he might eradicate error and implant the 
 loftiest virtues in the heart of man. His mission 
 was incomparably the highest God vouchsafes 
 to mortals, and in peace and war he wrote and 
 spoke such wisdom as time treasures for the 
 benefit of the world. In our own days of trial 
 it will be well to remember such words as these, 
 which he penned when his own land was 
 plunged in dangers manifold. " Music is sweet- 
 est near or over rivers, where the echo thereof 
 is best rebounded by the water. Praise for pen- 
 siveness, thanks for tears, and blessing God over 
 the floods of affliction, makes the most melo- 
 dious music in the ear of Heaven." 
 
 Boston, January, 1863.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 GOOD THOUGHTS IN BAD TIMES. 
 
 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS 5 
 
 SCRIPTURE OBSERVATIONS 25 
 
 HISTORICAL APPLICATIONS 42 
 
 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 62 
 
 GOOD THOUGHTS IN WORSE TIMES. 
 
 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS 85 
 
 SCRIPTURE OBSERVATIONS 104 
 
 MEDITATIONS ON THE TIMES 123 
 
 MEDITATIONS ON ALL KIND OF PRAYERS . . 142 
 
 OCCASIONAL MEDITATIONS 161 
 
 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS IN BETTER 
 TIMES. 
 
 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS ON THESE TIMES . . 185 
 
 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF A WOUNDED 
 CONSCIENCE. 
 
 DIALOGUE I. What a wounded Conscience is, where- 
 with the Godly and Reprobate may be tortured . 299
 
 xii CONTENTS. 
 
 DIAL. II. What use they are to make thereof, who 
 neither hitherto were, nor haply hereafter shall be, 
 visited with a wounded Conscience . . . 303 
 
 DIAL. III. Three solemn Seasons when Men are sur- 
 prised with wounded Consciences . . . 307 
 
 DIAL. IV. The great Torment of a wounded Con- 
 science, proved by Reasons and Examples . . 3 1 1 
 
 DIAL. V. Sovereign Uses to be made of the Torment 
 
 of a wounded Conscience 317 
 
 DIAL. VI. That in some cases more Repentance must 
 
 be preached to a wounded Conscience . . . 320 
 
 DIAL. VII. Only Christ is to be applied to Souls truly 
 
 contrite 325 
 
 DIAL. VIII. Answers to the Objections of a wounded 
 Conscience drawn from the Grievousness of his 
 Sins 329 
 
 DIAL. IX. Answers to the Objections of a wounded 
 Conscience drawn from the Slightness of his Re- 
 pentance 334 
 
 DIAL. X. Answers to the Objections of a wounded 
 
 Conscience drawn from the Feebleness of his Faith 342 
 
 DIAL. XI. God alone can satisfy all Objections of a 
 
 wounded Conscience 345 
 
 DIAL. XII. Means to be used by wounded Consciences 
 
 for the recovering of Comfort .... 347 
 
 DIAL. XIII. Four wholesome Counsels for a wounded 
 
 Conscience to practise ...... 356 
 
 DIAL. XIV. Comfortable Meditations for wounded 
 
 Consciences to muse upon 360 
 
 DIAL. XV. That is not always the greatest Sin where- 
 of a Man is guilty, wherewith his Conscience is most 
 pained for the present 366 
 
 DIAL. XVI. Obstructions hindering the speedy flow- 
 ing of Comfort into a troubled Soul . . -3/O
 
 CONTENTS. xiii 
 
 DIAL. XVII. What is to be conceived of their final 
 Estate who die in a wounded Conscience without 
 any visible Comfort 374 
 
 DIAL. XVIII. Of the different Time and Manner of 
 the coming of Comfort to such who are healed of a 
 wounded Conscience ...... 380 
 
 DIAL. XIX. How such who are completely cured of 
 
 a wounded Conscience are to demean themselves . 384 
 
 DIAL. XX. Whether one cured of a wounded Con- 
 science be subject to a Relapse .... 388 
 
 DIAL. XXI. Whether it be lawful to pray for, or to 
 pray against, or to praise God for, a wounded Con- 
 science 391 
 
 THE CONCLUSION OF THE AUTHOR TO THE READER 396
 
 GOOD THOUGHTS IN 
 BAD TIMES.
 
 To the Right Honourable 
 THE LADY DALKEITH, 
 
 Lady Governess to her Highness the 
 Princess Henrietta, 
 
 MADAM, 
 
 IT is unsafe in these dangerous days for any to go abroad 
 without a convoy, or, at the least, a pass ; my book hath 
 both in being dedicated to your Honour. The Apostle saith, 
 Who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof ? 1 Cor. 
 I am one of your Honour's planting, and could heartily wish 
 that the fruit I bring forth were worthy to be tasted by your 
 judicious palate. Howsoever, accept these grapes, if not for 
 their goodness, for their novelty : though not sweetest rel- 
 ished, they are soonest ripe, being the first fruits of Exeter 
 press, presented unto you. And if ever my ingratitude should 
 forget my obligations to your Honour, these black lines will 
 turn red, and blush his unworthiness that wrote them. In 
 this pamphlet your Ladyship shall praise whatsoever you are 
 pleased but to pardon. But I am tedious, for your Honour 
 can spare no more minutes from looking on a better book, her 
 infant Highness, committed to your charge. Was ever more 
 hope of worth in a less volume ? But O ! how excellently 
 will the same, in due time, be set forth, seeing the paper is so 
 pure, and your Ladyship the overseer to correct the press ! 
 The continuance and increase of whose happiness here, and 
 hereafter, is desired in his daily devotions, who resteth 
 
 Your Honour's in all 
 
 Christian service, 
 
 THOMAS FULLER.
 
 GOOD THOUGHTS IN 
 BAD TIMES. 
 
 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS. 
 
 I. 
 
 ORD, how near was I to danger, yet 
 escaped ! I was upon the brink of 
 the brink of it, yet fell not in ; they 
 are well kept who are kept by thee. 
 Excellent archer ! Thou didst hit thy mark in 
 missing it, as meaning to fright, not hurt me. 
 Let me not now be such a fool as to pay my 
 thanks to blind Fortune for a favour which 
 the eye of Providence hath bestowed upon me. 
 Rather let the narrowness of my escape make 
 my thankfulness to thy goodness the larger, 
 lest my ingratitude justly cause, that, whereas 
 this arrow but hit my hat, the next pierce my 
 head.
 
 L 
 
 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS. 
 
 II. 
 
 ORD, when thou shalt visit me with a 
 sharp disease, I fear I shall be impatient ; 
 for I am choleric by my nature, and tender by 
 my temper, and have not been acquainted with 
 sickness all my lifetime. I cannot expect any 
 kind usage from that which hath been a stranger 
 unto me. I fear I shall rave and rage. O 
 whither will my mind sail, when distemper shall 
 steer it ? whither will my fancy run, when dis- 
 eases shall ride it ? My tongue, which of itself 
 James j s a fip^ sure w j}} \>Q a w ild-fire when the fur- 
 nace of my mouth is made seven times hotter 
 with a burning fever. But, Lord, though I 
 should talk idly to my own shame, let me not 
 talk wickedly to thy dishonour. Teach me the 
 art of patience whilst I am well, and give me 
 the use of it when I am sick. In that day 
 either Lighten my burden or strengthen my back. 
 Make me, who so often, in my health, have dis- 
 covered my weakness presuming on my own 
 strength, to be strong in sickness when I solely 
 rely on thy assistance. 
 
 III. 
 
 LORD, this morning my unseasonable visit- 
 ing of a friend disturbed him in the midst 
 of his devotions : unhappy to hinder another
 
 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS. 7 
 
 man's goodness. If I myself build not, shall I 
 snatch the axe and hammer from him that doth ? 
 Yet I could willingly have wished, that, rather 
 than he should then have cut off the cable of 
 his prayers, I had twisted my cord to it, and 
 had joined with him in his devotions ; however, 
 to make him the best amends I may, I now re- 
 quest of thee for him whatsoever he would have 
 requested for himself. Thus he shall be no 
 loser, if thou be pleased to hear my prayer for 
 him, and to hearken to our Saviour's interces- 
 sion for us both. 
 
 IV. 
 
 LORD, since these woful wars began, one, 
 formerly mine intimate acquaintance, is 
 now turned a stranger, yea, an enemy. Teach 
 me how to behave myself towards him. Must 
 the new foe quite justle out the old friend? 
 May I not with him continue some commerce 
 of kindness ? Though the amity be broken on 
 his side, may I not preserve my counterpart 
 entire ? Yet how can I be kind to him, with- 
 out being cruel to myself and thy cause? O 
 guide my shaking hand, to draw so small a line 
 straight : or rather, because I know not how 
 
 O * ' 
 
 to carry myself towards him in this controversy, 
 even be pleased to take away the subject of 
 the question, and speedily to reconcile these 
 unnatural differences.
 
 8 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS. 
 
 V. 
 
 LORD, my voice by nature is harsh and 
 untunable, and it is vain to lavish any 
 art to better it. Can my singing of psalms be 
 pleasing to thy ears, which is unpleasant to 
 my own? yet though I cannot chant with the 
 nightingale, or chirp with the blackbird, I had 
 rather chatter with the swallow, yea, rather 
 
 xxxviii. 14. . . 
 
 croak with the raven, than be altogether silent. 
 Hadst thou given me a better voice, I would 
 have praised thee with a better voice. Now 
 what my music wants in sweetness, let it have 
 
 Psaims m sense, singing praises with understanding. 
 Yea, Lord, create in me a new heart (therein 
 
 Ephes. t ma ke melody), and I will be contented 
 with my old voice, until in thy due time, being 
 admitted into the choir of heaven, I have an- 
 other, more harmonious, bestowed upon me. 
 
 VI. 
 
 LORD, within a little time I have heard 
 the same precept in sundry places, and 
 by several preachers, pressed upon me. The 
 doctrine seemeth to haunt my soul ; whither- 
 soever I turn, it meets me. Surely this is from 
 thy providence, and should be for my profit. 
 It is because I am an ill proficient in this point, 
 that I must not turn over a new leaf, but am
 
 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS. 9 
 
 still kept to my old lesson : Peter was grieved 
 because our Saviour said unto him the third 
 time, Lovest thou me? But I will not be John 
 offended at thy often inculcating the same pre- 
 cept : but rather conclude, that I am much 
 concerned therein, and that it is thy pleasure, 
 that the nail should be soundly fastened in me, 
 which thou hast knocked in with so many 
 hammers. 
 
 VII. 
 
 LORD, before I commit a sin, it seems to 
 me so shallow, that I may wade through 
 it dry-shod from any guiltiness : but when I 
 have committed it, it often seems so deep that 
 I cannot escape without drowning. Thus I am 
 always in the extremities: either my sins are 
 so small that they need not my repentance, or 
 so great that they cannot obtain thy pardon. 
 Lend me, O Lord, a reed out of thy sanctuary, 
 truly to measure the dimension of my offences. 
 But O ! as thou revealest to me more of my 
 misery, reveal also more of thy mercy: lest if 
 my wounds in my apprehension gape wider 
 than thy tents, my soul run out at them. If 
 my badness seem bigger than thy goodness, 
 but one hair's breadth, but one moment, that 
 is room and time enough for me to run to 
 eternal despair.
 
 10 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 LORD, I do discover a fallacy, whereby I 
 have long deceived myself. Which is 
 this: I have desired to begin my amendment 
 from my birthday, or from the first day of the 
 year, or from some eminent festival, that so my 
 repentance might bear some remarkable date. 
 But when those days were come, I have ad- 
 journed my amendment to some other time. 
 Thus, whilst I could not agree with myself 
 when to start, I have almost lost the running 
 of the race. I am resolved thus to befool my- 
 self no longer. I see no day to to-day, the 
 instant time is always the fittest time. In 
 Daniel Nebuchadnezzar's image, the lower the mem- 
 bers, the coarser the metal ; the farther off 
 the time, the more unfit. To-day is the golden 
 opportunity, to-morrow will be the silver sea- 
 son, next day but the brazen one, and so long, 
 till at last I shall come to the toes of clay, and 
 be turned to dust. Grant, therefore, that to- 
 J ma y hear thy voice. And if this day 
 
 be obscure in the calendar, and remarkable 
 in itself for nothing else, give me to make 
 it memorable in my soul thereupon, by thy 
 assistance, beginning the reformation of my 
 life.
 
 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS. 11 
 
 IX. 
 
 LORD, I saw one, whom I knew to be 
 notoriously bad, in great extremity. It 
 was hard to say whether his former wickedness 
 or present want were the greater ; if I could 
 have made the distinction, I could willingly 
 have fed his person, and starved his profaneness. 
 This being impossible, I adventured to relieve 
 him. For I know that amongst many objects, 
 all of them being in extreme miseries, charity, 
 though shooting at random, cannot miss a right 
 mark. Since, Lord, the party, being recovered, 
 is become worse than ever before, (thus they 
 are always impaired with affliction who thereby 
 are not improved,) Lord, count me not acces- 
 sary to his badness, because I relieved him. 
 Let me not suffer harm in myself, for my de- 
 sire to do good to him. Yea, Lord, be pleased 
 to clear my credit amongst men, that they may 
 understand my hands according to the simpli- 
 city of my heart. I gave to him only in hope 
 to keep the stock alive, that so afterwards it 
 might be better grafted. Now, finding myself 
 deceived, my arms shall return into my own 
 bosom.
 
 12 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS. 
 
 X. 
 
 LORD, thy servants are now praying in 
 the church, and I am here staying at 
 home, detained by necessary occasions, such 
 as are not of my seeking, but of thy sending ; 
 my care could not prevent them, my power 
 could not remove them. Wherefore, though 
 I cannot go to church, there to sit down at 
 table with the rest of thy guests, be pleased, 
 Lord, to send me a dish of their meat hither, 
 
 Numb. anc [ f ee( j mv gou i w jth h ]y thoughts. Eldad 
 and Medad, though staying still in the camp 
 (no doubt on just cause), yet prophesied as 
 well as the other elders. Though they went 
 not out to the spirit, the spirit came home to 
 them. Thus never any dutiful child lost his 
 legacy for being absent at the making of his 
 father's will, if at the same time he were em- 
 ployed about his father's business. I fear too 
 many at church have their bodies there, and 
 minds at home. Behold, in exchange, my body 
 here and heart there. Though I cannot pray 
 with them, I pray for them. Yea, this comforts 
 me, I am with thy congregation, because I 
 would be with it.
 
 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS. 13 
 
 XI 
 
 LORD, I trust them hast pardoned the bad 
 examples I have set before others, be 
 pleased also to pardon me the sins which they 
 have committed by my bad examples. (It is 
 the best manners in thy court to heap requests 
 upon requests.) If thou hast forgiven my sins, 
 the children of my corrupt nature, forgive me 
 my grandchildren also. Let not the transcripts 
 remain, since thou hast blotted out the original. 
 And for the time to come, bless me with bar- 
 renness in bad actions, and my bad actions 
 with barrenness in procreation, that they may 
 never beget others according to their likeness. 
 
 XII. 
 
 LORD, what faults I correct in my son, 
 I commit myself: I beat him for dab- 
 bling in the dirt, whilst my own soul doth 
 wallow in sin: I beat him for crying to cut 
 his own meat, yet am not myself contented 
 with that state thy providence hath carved unto 
 me: I beat him for crying when he is to go 
 to sleep, and yet I fear I myself shall cry when 
 thou callest me to sleep with my fathers. Alas ! 
 I am more childish than my child, and what 
 I inflict on him I justly deserve to receive
 
 14 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS. 
 
 from thee : only here is the difference : I pray 
 and desire that my correction on my child may 
 do him good ; it is in thy power, Lord, to 
 effect that thy correction on me shall do me 
 good. 
 
 L 
 
 Numb. xi. 
 28. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 ORD, I perceive my soul deeply guilty 
 of envy. By my good will I would 
 have none prophesy but mine own Moses. I 
 had rather thy work were undone, than done 
 better by another than by myself: had rather 
 that thine enemies were all alive, than that I 
 should kill but my thousand, and others their 
 ten thousands of them. My corruption repines 
 at other men's better parts, as if what my soul 
 wants of them in substance she would supply 
 in swelling. Dispossess me, Lord, of this bad 
 spirit, and turn my envy into holy emulation. 
 Let me labour to exceed them in pains, who 
 excel me in parts : and knowing that my sword, 
 in cutting down sin, hath a duller edge, let 
 me strike with the greater force ; yea, make 
 other men's gifts to be mine, by making me 
 thankful to thee for them. It was some com- 
 fort to Naomi, that, wanting a son herself, she 
 Ruth iv. brought up Ruth's child in her bosom. If my 
 soul be too old to be a mother of goodness,
 
 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS. 15 
 
 Lord, make it but a dry-nurse. Let me feed, 
 and foster, and nourish, and cherish the graces 
 in others, honouring their persons, praising their 
 parts, and glorifying thy name, who hath given 
 such gifts unto them. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 LORD, when young, I have almost quar- 
 relled with that petition in our Liturgy, 
 Give peace in our time, O Lord; needless to 
 wish for light at noonday ; for then peace was 
 so plentiful, no fear of famine, but suspicion 
 of a surfeit thereof. And yet how many good 
 comments was this prayer then capable of! 
 Give peace, that is, continue and preserve it ; 
 give peace, that is, give us hearts worthy of it, 
 and thankful for it. In our time, that is, all 
 our time : for there is more besides a fair morn- 
 ing required to make a fair day. Now I see 
 the mother had more wisdom than her son. 
 The Church knew better than I how to pray. 
 Now I am better informed of the necessity, of 
 that petition. Yea, with the daughters of the 
 horseleech, I have need to cry, Give, give peace pr Y - 
 in our time, Lord.
 
 16 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS. 
 
 XV. 
 
 LORD, unruly soldiers command poor peo- 
 ple to open them their doors, otherwise 
 threatening to break in. But if those in the 
 house knew their own strength, it were easy 
 to keep them out, seeing the doors are threat- 
 ening-proof, and it is not the breath of their 
 oaths can blow the locks open. Yet silly souls, 
 being affrighted, they obey, and betray them- 
 selves to their violence. Thus Satan serves 
 me, or rather, thus I serve myself. When I 
 cannot be forced, I am fooled out of my integ- 
 rity. He cannot constrain, if I do not consent. 
 If I do but keep possession, all the posse of 
 hell cannot violently eject me : but I cowardly 
 surrender to his summons. Thus there needs 
 no more to my undoing but myself. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 LORD, when I am to travel, I never use 
 to provide myself till the very time ; 
 partly out of laziness, loath to be troubled till 
 needs I must ; partly out of pride, as presuming 
 all necessaries for my journey will wait upon 
 me at the instant. (Some say this is scholars' 
 fashion, and it seems by following it I hope to 
 approve myself to be one.) However, it often
 
 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS. 17 
 
 comes to pass that my journey is finally stopped, 
 through the narrowness of the time to provide 
 for it. Grant, Lord, that my confessed im- 
 providence in temporal, may make me suspect 
 my providence in spiritual matters. Solomon 
 saith, Man goeth to his long home. Short E :ies. 
 
 11 i si. 5. 
 
 preparation will not nt so .long a journey. U 
 let me not put it off to the last, to have my 
 oil to buy, when I am to hurn it. But let Matth - 
 
 xxv. 10. 
 
 me so dispose of myself, that when I am to 
 die, I may have nothing to do but to die. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 LORD, when in any writing I have occasion 
 to insert these passages, God willing, 
 God lending me life, etc., I observe, Lord, 
 that I can scarce hold my hand from encircling 
 these words in a parenthesis, as if they were not 
 essential to the sentence, but may as well be left 
 out as put in. Whereas, indeed, they are not 
 only of the commission at large, but so of the 
 quorum, that without them all the rest is noth- 
 ing ; wherefore hereafter I will write those 
 words fully and fairly, without any enclosure 
 about them. Let critics censure it for bad 
 grammar, I am sure it is good divinity.
 
 18 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 LORD, many temporal matters, which I have 
 desired, thou hast denied me ; it vexed me 
 for the present that I wanted my will ; since, 
 considering in cold blood, I plainly perceive, 
 had that which I desired been done, I had been 
 undone ! Yea, what thou gavest me, instead of 
 those things which I wished, though less tooth- 
 some to me, were more wholesome for me. 
 Forgive, I pray, my former anger, and now 
 accept my humble thanks. Lord, grant me one 
 suit, which is this, deny me all suits which are 
 bad for me : when I petition for what is unfit- 
 ting, O let the King of heaven make use of his 
 negative voice. Rather let me fast than have 
 Numb. q ua il s given with intent that I should be choked 
 
 xi. 33. 
 
 in eating them. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 LORD, this day I disputed with myself, 
 whether or no I had said my prayers this 
 morning, and I could not call to mind any 
 remarkable passage whence I could certainly 
 conclude that I had offered my prayers unto 
 thee. Frozen affections, which left no spark of 
 remembrance behind them I Yet at last I 
 hardly recovered one token, whence I was as-
 
 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS. 19 
 
 sured that I had said my prayers. It seems 
 I had said them, and only said them, rather by 
 heart than with my heart. Can I hope that 
 thou wouldst remember my prayers, when I had 
 almost forgotten that I had prayed ? Or rather 
 have I not cause to fear that thou rememberest 
 my prayers too well, to punish the coldness and 
 badness of them ? Alas ! are not devotions thus 
 done in effect left undone ? Well Jacob ad- Gen - xUU - 
 
 12. 
 
 vised his sons, at their second going into Egypt, 
 Take double money in your hand ; peradven- 
 ture it was an oversight. So, Lord, I come 
 with my second morning sacrifice : be pleased to 
 accept it, which I desire, and endeavour to pre- 
 sent with a little better devotion than I did the 
 former. 
 
 XX. 
 
 LORD, the motions of thy Holy Spirit were 
 formerly frequent in my heart ; but, alas ! 
 of late they have been great strangers. It seems 
 they did^ot like their last entertainment, they 
 are so loath to come again. I fear they were 
 grieved, that either I heard them not atten- E P heg - lv - 
 tively, or believed them not faithfully, or prac- 
 tised them not conscionably. If they be pleased 
 to come again, this is all I dare promise, that 
 they do deserve, and I do desire they should be
 
 John xx. 
 19. 
 
 20 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS. 
 
 well used. Let thy Holy Spirit be pleased, not 
 
 Rev. m. O nly to stand before the door and knock, but 
 
 20. J 
 
 also to come in. If I do not open the door, it 
 were too unreasonable to request such a miracle 
 to come in when the doors were shut, as thou 
 didst to the apostles. Yet let me humbly beg of 
 thee, that thou wouldst make the iron gate of 
 Acts m. m y near t O p en o f its own accord. Then let thy 
 Spirit be pleased to sup in my heart ; I have 
 given it an invitation, and I hope I shall give 
 it room. But, O thou that sendest the guest, 
 send the meat also ; and if I be so unmannerly 
 as not to make the Holy Spirit welcome, O let 
 thy effectual grace make me to make it wel- 
 come. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 LORD, I confess this morning I remembered 
 my breakfast, but forgot my prayers. 
 And as I have returned .no praise, so thou 
 mightst justly have afforded me no protection. 
 Yet thou hast carefully kept me to tUfe middle 
 of this day, intrusted me with a. new debt 
 before I have paid the old score. It is now 
 noon, too late for a morning, too soon for an 
 evening sacrifice. My corrupt heart prompts 
 me to put off my prayers till night ; but I know 
 it too well, or rather too ill, to trust it. I fear,
 
 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS. 21 
 
 if till night I defer them, at night I shall forget 
 them. Be pleased, therefore, now to accept 
 them. Lord, let not a few hours the later 
 make a breach ; especially seeing (be it spoken 
 not to excuse my negligence, but to implore 
 thy pardon) a thousand years in thy sight are 
 but as yesterday. I promise hereafter, by thy 
 assistance, to bring forth fruit in due season. 
 See how I am ashamed the sun should shine on 
 me, who now newly start in the race of my 
 devotions, when he like a giant hath run more 
 than hah his course in the heavens. 
 
 XXII. 
 
 LORD, this day casually I am fallen into a 
 bad company, and know not how I came 
 hither, or how to get hence. Sure I am, not 
 my improvidence hath run me, but thy prov- 
 idence hath led me s into this danger. I was 
 not wandpring in any base by-path, but walk- 
 ing in the highway of my vocation ; wherefore, 
 Lord, thou that calledst me hither, keep me 
 here. Stop their mouths, that they speak no 
 blasphemy, or stop my ears, that I hear none ; 
 or open my mouth soberly to reprove what I 
 hear. Give me to guard myself; but, Lord, 
 guard my guarding of myself. Let not the
 
 22 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS. 
 
 smoke of their badness put out mine eyes, but 
 the shining of my innocency lighten theirs. 
 Let me give physic to them, and not take infec- 
 tion from them. Yea, make me the better for 
 their badness. Then shall their bad company 
 be to me like the dirt of oysters, whose mud 
 hath soap in it, and doth rather scour than 
 defile. 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 LORD, often have I thought with myself, I 
 will sin but this one sin more, and then 
 I will repent of it, and of all the rest of my sins 
 together. So foolish was I, and ignorant. As 
 if I should be more able to pay my debts when 
 I owe more : or as if I should say, I will wound 
 my friend once again, and then I will lovingly 
 shake hands with him ; but what if my friend 
 will not shake hands with me? Besides, can 
 one commit one sin more, and but one sin 
 
 Gon. vu. more ? Unclean creatures went b^ couples 
 
 2 j . 
 
 into the ark. Grant, Lord, at this instant I 
 may break off my badness : otherwise thou 
 mayest justly make the last minute wherein I 
 do sin on earth to be the last minute wherein I 
 shall sin on earth, and the first wherein thou 
 mightst make me suffer in another place.
 
 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS. 23 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 LORD, the preacher this day came home 
 to my heart. A left-handed Gibeonite 
 with his sling hit not the mark more sure than Jud e es xx 
 he my darling sins. I could find no fault with 
 his sermon, save only that it had too much 
 truth. But this I quarrelled at, that he went 
 far from his text to come close to me, and so 
 was faulty himself in telling me of my faults. 
 Thus they will creep out at small crannies who 
 have a mind to escape ; and yet I cannot deny 
 but that that which he spake (though nothing 
 to that portion of Scripture which he had for 
 his text) was according to the proportion of 
 Scripture. And is not thy word in general the 
 text at large of every preacher ? Yea, rather 
 I should have concluded, that, if he went from 
 his text, thy goodness sent him to meet me ; 
 for without thy guidance it had been impossible 
 for him so truly to have traced the intricate 
 turnings of my deceitful heart. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 LORD, be pleased to shake my clay cottage 
 before thou throwest it down. May it 
 totter awhile before it doth tumble. Let me 
 be summoned before I am surprised. Deliver
 
 24 
 
 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS. 
 
 me from sudden death. Not from sudden 
 
 death in respect of itself, for I care not how 
 
 short my passage be, so it be safe. Never 
 
 any weary traveller complained that he came 
 
 too soon to his journey's end. But let 
 
 it not be sudden in respect of me. 
 
 Make me always ready to receive 
 
 death. Thus no guest comes 
 
 unawares to him who 
 
 keeps a constant 
 
 table.
 
 SCRIPTURE OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 I. 
 
 V -^ ORD, in the parable of the four sorts 
 of ground whereon the seed was 
 sown, the last alone proved fruitful. 
 There the bad were more than the 
 good : but amongst the servants two improved 
 their talents, or pounds, and only one buried 
 them. There the good were more than the 
 bad. Again, amongst the ten virgins, five were 
 wise and five foolish : there the good and bad 
 were equal. I see that concerning the num- 
 ber of the saints in comparison to the repro- 
 bates, no certainty can be collected from these 
 parables. Good reason, for it is not their prin- 
 cipal purpose to meddle with that point. Grant 
 that I may never rack a Scripture simile beyond 
 the true intent thereof, lest, instead of sucking 
 milk, I squeeze blood out of it. 
 
 2t 
 
 Matth. 
 xiii. 8. 
 
 Matth. 
 xxv. 18 
 
 Luke xix. 
 20. 
 
 Matth. 
 xxv. 2.
 
 26 SCRIPTURE OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 II. 
 
 LORD, thou didst intend from all eternity 
 to make Christ the heir of all. No 
 danger of disinheriting him, thy only son, and 
 so well deserving. Yet thou sayest to him, 
 .Ask of me and I will give thee the heathen 
 for thine inheritance, &c. This homage he 
 must do for thy boon, to beg it. I see thy 
 goodness delights to have thy favours sued for, 
 expecting we should crave what thou intendest 
 we should have ; that so, though we cannot 
 give a full price, we may take some pains for 
 thy favours, and obtain them, though not for 
 the merit, by the means of our petitions, 
 
 III. 
 
 LORD, I find that Ezekiel in his prophecies 
 is styled ninety times, and more, by this 
 appellation, Son of man ; and surely not once 
 oftener than there was need for. For he had 
 more visions than any one (not to say than 
 all) of the prophets of his time. It was neces- 
 sary, therefore, that his mortal extraction should 
 often be sounded in his ears, Son of man, lest 
 his frequent conversing with visions might 
 make him mistake himself to be some angel. 
 Amongst other revelations it was therefore
 
 SCRIPTURE OBSERVATIONS. 27 
 
 needful to reveal him to himself, Son of man, 
 lest seeing many visions might have made him 
 blind with spiritual pride. Lord, as thou in- 
 creasest thy graces in me, and favours on me, 
 so with them daily increase in my soul the 
 monitors and remembrancers of my mortality. 
 So shall my soul be kept in a good temper, and 
 humble deportment towards thee, 
 
 IV. 
 
 ORD, I read how Jacob (then only accom- 
 panied with his staff) vowed at Bethel, 
 that if thou gavest him but bread and raiment, GeD 
 
 L 
 
 Gen.xxviii. 
 
 20-22. 
 
 he would make that place thy house. After 
 his return, the condition on thy side was over- 
 performed, but the obligation on his part wholly 
 neglected: for when thou hadst made his staff 
 to swell, and to break into two bands, he, after 
 his return, turned purchaser, bought a field in on-xxxiii. 
 Shalem, intending there to set up his rest. But 
 thou art pleased to be his remembrancer in a 
 new vision, and to spur him afresh, who tired 
 in his promise. Arise, go to Bethel, and make Gen - XXXT - 
 there an altar, &c. Lord, if rich Jacob forgot 
 what poor Jacob did promise, no wonder, if I 
 be bountiful to offer thee in my affliction what 
 I am niggardly to perform in my prosperity. 
 But O ! take not advantage of the forfeitures,
 
 28 SCRIPTURE OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 but be pleased to demand payment once again. 
 Pinch me into the remembrance of my prom- 
 ises, that so I may reinforce my old vows with 
 new resolutions. 
 
 L' 
 
 V. 
 
 ORD, I read when our Saviour was exam- 
 ined in the high-priest's hall, that Peter 
 stood without, till John (being his spokesman 
 to the maid that kept the door) procured his 
 admission in. John meant to let him out of the 
 cold, and not to let him into a temptation : 
 but his courtesy in intention proved a mischief 
 in event, and the occasion of his denying his 
 master. O let never my kindness concur in 
 the remotest degree to the damage of my friend. 
 May the chain which I sent him for an orna- 
 ment never prove his fetters. But if I should 
 be unhappy herein, I am sure thou wilt not 
 punish my good-will, but pity my ill-success. 
 
 VI. 
 
 LORD, the Apostle saith to the Corinthians, 
 God will not suffer you to be tempted 
 above what you are able. But how comes he 
 to contradict himself, by his own confession in 
 his next epistle ? where, speaking of his own 
 2 Cor. i. s. sickness, he saith, We were pressed out of
 
 SCRIPTURE OBSERVATIONS. 29 
 
 measure above strength. Perchance this will 
 be expounded by propounding another riddle of 
 the same Apostle's : who, praising Abraham, 
 saith, That against hope he believed in hope. Rom - iv 
 That is, against carnal hope he believed in 
 spiritual hope. So the same wedge will serve 
 to cleave the former difficulty. Paul was 
 pressed above his human, not above his heav- 
 enly strength. Grant, Lord, that I may not 
 mangle and dismember thy word, but study it 
 entirely, comparing one place with another. 
 For diamonds can only cut diamonds, and no 
 such comments on the Scripture as the Scrip- 
 ture. 
 
 VII. 
 
 LORD, I observe that the vulgar translation 
 reads the Apostle's precept thus : Give 2 Peter 
 diligence to make your calling and election sure 
 by good works. But in our English Testa- 
 ments these words, by good works, are left out. 
 It grieved me at the first to see our translation 
 defective ; but it offended me afterwards to see 
 the other redundant. For those words are not 
 in the Greek, which is the original. And it 
 is an ill work to put good works in, to the 
 corruption of the Scripture. Grant, Lord, that, 
 though we leave good works out in the text, 
 we may take them in in our comment. In that
 
 30 SCRIPTURE OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 exposition which our practice is to make on 
 this precept in our lives and conversations. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 Matth. i. T ORD, I find the genealogy of my Saviour 
 J J strangely checkered with four remark- 
 able changes in four immediate generations. 
 
 1. Roboam begat Abia ; that is, a bad father 
 begat a bad son. 
 
 2. Abia begat Asa; that is, a bad father a 
 good son. 
 
 3. Asa begat Josaphat ; that is, a good father 
 a good son. 
 
 4. Josaphat begat Joram ; that is, a good 
 father a bad son. 
 
 I see, Lord, from hence, that my father's 
 piety cannot be entailed ; that is bad news for 
 me. But I see also, that actual impiety is not 
 always hereditary ; that is good news for my 
 son. 
 
 IX. 
 
 LORD, when in my daily service I read 
 David's Psalms, give me to alter the 
 accent of my soul according to their several 
 subjects. In such psalms, wherein he confess- 
 eth his sins, or requesteth thy pardon, or prais- 
 eth for former, or prayeth for future favours,
 
 SCRIPTURE OBSERVATIONS. 31 
 
 in all these give me to raise my soul to as high 
 a pitch as may be. But when I come to such 
 psalms wherein he curseth his enemies, O 
 there let me bring my soul down to a lower 
 note. For those words were made only to fit 
 David's mouth. I have the like breath, but 
 not the same spirit to pronounce them. Nor 
 let me flatter myself, that it is lawful for me, 
 with David, to curse thine enemies, lest my 
 deceitful heart entitle all mine enemies to be 
 thine, and so what was religion in David prove 
 malice in me, whilst I act revenge under the 
 pretence of piety. 
 
 X. 
 
 LORD, I read of the two witnesses, And Rev. xi. 7. 
 when they shall have finished their testi- 
 mony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bot- 
 tomless pit shall make war against them, and 
 shall overcome them, and kill them. They 
 could not be killed whilst they were doing, but 
 when they had done their work; during their 
 employment they were invincible. No better 
 armour against the darts of death than to be 
 busied in thy service. Why art thou so heavy, 
 O my soul? No malice of man can antedate 
 my end a minute, whilst my Maker hath any 
 work for me to do. And when all my daily 
 task is ended, why should I grudge then to go 
 to bed?
 
 32 SCRIPTURE OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 XI. 
 
 Matth. T ORD, I read at the transfiguration that 
 J J Peter, James, and John were admitted 
 to behold Christ ; but Andrew was excluded. 
 
 Markv. g o again at the reviving of the daughter of the 
 ruler of the synagogue, these three were let in, 
 
 Markxiv. and Andrew shut out. Lastly, in the agony 
 the aforesaid three were called to be witnesses 
 thereof, and still Andrew left behind. Yet he 
 was Peter's brother, and a good man, and an 
 apostle : why did not Christ take the two pair 
 of brothers ? Was it not pity to part them ? 
 But methinks I seem more offended thereat 
 than Andrew himself was, whom I find to 
 express no discontent, being pleased to be ac- 
 counted a loyal subject for the general, though 
 he was no favorite in these particulars. Give 
 me to be pleased in myself, and thankful to 
 thee, for what I am, though I be not equal to 
 others in personal perfections. For such pecu- 
 liar privileges are courtesies from thee when 
 given, and no injuries to us when denied. 
 
 XII. 
 
 LORD, St. Paul teacheth the art of heav- 
 enly thrift, how to make a new sermon 
 of an old. Many (saith he) walk, of whom I
 
 SCRIPTURE OBSERVATIONS. 33 
 
 have told you often, and now tell you weeping, Phil Ui - 
 that they are enemies to the cross of Christ. 
 Formerly he had told it with his tongue, but 
 now with his tears ; formerly he taught it with 
 his words, but now with weeping. Thus new 
 affections make an old sermon new. May I 
 not, by the same proportion, make an old 
 prayer new ? Lord, thus long I have offered 
 my prayer dry unto thee, now, Lord, I offer it 
 wet. Then wilt thou own some new addition 
 therein, when, though the sacrifice be the same, 
 yet the dressing of it is different, being steeped 
 in his tears who bringeth it unto thee. 
 
 L 
 
 XIII. 
 
 ORD, I read of my Saviour, that when he 
 was in the wilderness, then the devil ^ atth- iv - 
 
 leaveth him, and behold angels came and min- 
 istered unto him. A great change in a little 
 time. No twilight betwixt night and day. 
 No purgatory condition betwixt hell and heav- 
 en, but instantly, when out devil, in angel. 
 Such is the case of every solitary soul. It will 
 make company for itself. A musing mind 
 will not stand neuter a minute, but presently 
 side with legions of good or bad thoughts. 
 Grant, therefore, that my soul, which ever will 
 have some, may never have bad company.
 
 28am. 
 
 34 SCRIPTURE OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 LORD, I read how Cushi and Ahimaaz 
 ran a race, who first should bring tidings 
 of victory to David. Ahimaaz, though last set- 
 ting forth, came first to his journey's end ; not 
 that he had the fleeter feet, but the better 
 brains, to choose the way of most advantage. 
 For the text saith, So Ahimaaz ran by the 
 
 xviii. 23. * 
 
 way of the plain, and overran Cushi. Prayers 
 made to God by saints fetch a needless com- 
 pass about. That is but a rough and uneven 
 way. Besides one steep passage therein, ques- 
 tionable whether it can be climbed up, and 
 saints in heaven made sensible of what we say 
 on earth. The way of the plain, or plain way, 
 both shortest and surest, is, Call upon me in 
 the time of trouble. Such prayers, though 
 starting last, wih 1 come first to the mark. 
 
 XV. 
 
 LORD, this morning I read a chapter in 
 the Bible, and therein observed a mem- 
 orable passage, whereof I never took notice 
 before. Why now, and no sooner, did I see it ? 
 Formerly my eyes were as open, and the let- 
 ters as legible. Is there not a thin veil laid 
 over thy word, which is more rarefied by read-
 
 SCRIPTURE OBSERVATIONS. 35 
 
 ing, and at last wholly worn away ? Or was 
 it because I came with more appetite than be- 
 fore? The milk was always there in the 
 breast, but the child till now was not hungry 
 enough to find out the teat. I see the oil of 
 thy word will never leave increasing whilst 
 any bring an empty barrel. The Old Testa- 
 ment will still be a New Testament to him who 
 comes with a fresh desire of information. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 LORD, at the first Passover God kept touch 
 with the Hebrews very punctually; at 
 the end of the four hundred and thirty years, Kxod - xii 
 in the self-same day it came to pass, that all 
 the hosts of the Lord went out of the land of 
 Egypt ; but at the first Easter God was better 
 than his word. Having promised that Christ 
 should lie but three days in the grave, his 
 fatherly affection did run to relieve him. By 
 a charitable synecdoche, two pieces of days were 
 counted for whole ones. God did cut the Rom - ix - 
 
 28. 
 
 work short in righteousness. Thus the meas- 
 ure of his mercy under the law was full, but 
 it ran over in the gospel.
 
 36 SCRIPTURE OBSERVATIONS, 
 
 XVII. 
 
 LORD, the Apostle dissuadeth the Hebrews 
 from covetousness, with this argument, 
 because God said, I will not leave thee nor 
 forsake thee. Yet I find not that God ever 
 gave this promise to all the Jews, but he spake 
 
 Josh. i. 6. it only to Joshua when first made commander 
 against the Canaanites ; which, without vio- 
 lence to the analogy of faith, the Apostle appli- 
 eth to all good men in general. Is it so that 
 we are heirs apparent to all promises made to 
 thy servants in Scripture ? Are the characters 
 of grace granted to them good to me ? Then 
 
 Gen. xiv. w m j saV) w ith Jacob, I have enough. But 
 because I cannot entitle myself to thy promises 
 to them, except I imitate their piety to thee, 
 grant I may take as much care in following 
 the one, as comfort in the other. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 aen. i. ii. T ORD, I read that thou didst make grass, 
 \J herbs, and trees the third day. As for 
 
 Gen. i. 16. the sun, moon, and stars, thou madest them 
 on the fourth day of the creation. Thus at 
 first thou didst confute the folly of such who 
 maintain that all vegetables, in their growth, 
 are enslaved to a necessary and unavoidable
 
 SCRIPTURE OBSERVATIONS. 37 
 
 dependence on the influence of the stars. 
 Whereas plants were even when planets were 
 not. It is false that the marigold follows the 
 sun, whereas the sun follows the marigold, as 
 made the day before him. Hereafter I will 
 admire thee more, and fear astrologers less ; 
 not affrighted with their doleful predictions of 
 dearth and drought, collected from the com- 
 plexions of the planets. Must the earth of 
 necessity be sad, because some ill-natured star 
 is sullen ? as if the grass could not grow with- 
 out asking it leave. Whereas thy power, 
 which made herbs before the stars, can pre- 
 serve them without their propitious, yea, against 
 their malignant aspects. 
 
 L 
 
 XIX. 
 ORD, I read how Paul, writing from Phuemo 
 
 ver. 22. 
 
 Rome, spake to Philemon to prepare 
 
 him a lodging, hoping to make use thereof ; yet 
 we find not that he ever did use it, being mar- 
 tyred not long after. However, he was no 
 loser, whom thou didst lodge in a higher man- 
 sion in heaven. Let me always be thus de- 
 ceived to my advantage. I shall have no cause 
 to complain, though I never wear the new 
 clothes fitted for me, if, before I put them on, 
 death clothe me with glorious immortality.
 
 38 SCRIPTURE OBSERVATIONS, 
 
 XX. 
 
 LORD, when our Saviour sent his Apostles 
 abroad to preach, he enjoined them in 
 Matth. x one Grospel, Possess nothing, neither shoes nor 
 Mark vi. s. staff. But it is said in another Gospel, And he 
 commanded them, that they should take noth- 
 ing for their journey, save a staff only. The 
 reconciliation is easy. They might have a staff, 
 to speak them travellers, not soldiers ; one to 
 walk with, not to war with ; a staff which was 
 a wand, not a weapon. But O ! in how dole- 
 ful days do we live, wherein ministers are not, 
 as formerly, armed with their nakedness, but 
 need staves and swords too to defend them 
 from violence. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 LORD, I discover an arrant laziness in my 
 soul. For when I am to read a chapter 
 in the Bible, before I begin it, I look where 
 it endeth. And if it endeth not on the same 
 side, I cannot keep my hands from turning 
 over the leaf, to measure the length thereof 
 on the other side ; if it swells to many verses, 
 I begin to grudge. Surely my heart is not 
 rightly affected. Were I truly hungry after 
 heavenly food, I would not complain of meat. 
 Scourge, Lord, this laziness out of my soul;
 
 SCRIPTURE OBSERVATIONS. 39 
 
 make the reading of thy word not a penance, 
 but a pleasure unto me ; teach me, that as 
 amongst many heaps of gold, all being equally 
 pure, that is the best which is the biggest, 
 so I may esteem that chapter in thy word 
 the best that is the longest. 
 
 XXII. 
 
 LORD, I find David making a syllogism, 
 in mood and figure, two propositions he 
 perfected. 
 
 18. If I regard wickedness in my heart, Psaim ixv 
 the Lord will not hear me. 
 
 19. But verily God hath heard me, he hath 
 attended to the voice of my prayer. 
 
 Now I expected that David should have 
 concluded thus : 
 
 Therefore I regard not wickedness in my 
 heart. 
 
 But far otherwise he concludes : 
 
 20. Blessed be God, who hath not turned 
 away iny prayer, nor his mercy from me. 
 
 Thus David hath deceived, but not wronged 
 me. I looked that he should have clapped the 
 crown on his own, and he puts it on God's 
 head. I will learn this excellent logic ; for I 
 like David's better than Aristotle's syllogisms, 
 that, whatsoever the premises be, I make God's 
 glory the conclusion.
 
 40 SCRIPTURE OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 LORD, wise Agur made it his wish, Give 
 me not poverty, lest I steal, and take the 
 name of my God in vain. He saith not, lest 
 I steal, and be caught in the manner, and then 
 be stocked, or whipped, or branded, or forced 
 to fourfold restitution, or put to any other 
 shameful or painful punishment. But he saith, 
 Lest I steal, and take the name of my God 
 in vain: that is, lest, professing to serve thee, 
 I confute a good profession with a bad con- 
 versation. Thus thy children count sin to 
 be the greatest smart in sin, as being more 
 sensible of the wound they therein give to 
 the glory of God, than of all the stripes that 
 man may lay upon them for punishment. 
 
 L' 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 ORD, I read that when my Saviour dis- 
 possessed the man's son of a devil, he 
 
 Markix. en j ome( J t ne ev il spirit to come out of him, 
 and enter no more into him. But I find, 
 
 Luke iv. is. that when my Saviour himself was tempted 
 of Satan, the devil departed from him for a 
 season. Retreating, as it seems, with mind to 
 return. How came it to pass, Lord, that he 
 who expelled him finally out of others did not 
 propel him so from himself? Sure it does not 
 follow, that because he did not, he could not
 
 SCRIPTURE OBSERVATIONS. 41 
 
 do it. Or that he was less able to help him- 
 self, because he was more charitable to relieve ' 
 others. No; I see my Saviour was pleased 
 to show himself a God in other men's mat- 
 ters, and but a man in such cases wherein 
 he himself was concerned. Being contented 
 still to be tempted by Satan, that his suffer- 
 ings for us might cause our conquering through 
 him. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 LORD, Jannes and Jambres, the apes of 2Tim - iU - 
 Moses and Aaron, imitated them in turn- 
 ing their rods into serpents ; only here was 
 the difference : Aaron's rod devoured their Exod - vii - 
 
 12. 
 
 rods. That which was solid and substantial 
 lasted, when that which was slight, and but 
 seeming, vanished away. Thus an active fancy 
 in all outward expressions may imitate a lively 
 faith. For matter of language there is noth- 
 ing what grace doth do, but wit can act. 
 Only the difference appears in the continu- 
 ance : wit is but for fits and flashes, 
 grace holds out, and is lasting; 
 and, good Lord, of thy good- 
 ness, give it to every 
 one that truly de- 
 sires it. 
 
 8t
 
 HISTORICAL APPLICATIONS. 
 
 I. 
 
 ?} HE English ambassador some years 
 since prevailed so far with the 
 Turkish emperor, as to persuade 
 him to hear some of our English 
 music, from which (as from other liberal 
 sciences) both he and his nation were natu- 
 rally averse. But it happened that the musi- 
 cians were so long in tuning their instruments, 
 that the great Turk, distasting their tedious- 
 ness, went away in discontent before their 
 music began. I am afraid that the differences 
 and dissensions betwixt Christian churches 
 (being so long in reconciling their discords) 
 will breed in pagans such a disrelish of our 
 religion, as they will not be invited to attend 
 thereunto.
 
 A 
 
 HISTORICAL APPLICATIONS. 43 
 
 II. 
 SIBYL came to Tarquinius Superbus, M - Varro ' 
 
 ' Solinus, 
 
 king of Rome, and offered to sell untopiimus, 
 him three tomes of her Oracles : but he, count- f alicar ' 
 
 &c. 
 
 ing the price too high, refused to buy them. 
 Away she went and burnt one tome of 
 them. Returning, she asketh him, whether 
 he would buy the two remaining at the same 
 rate : he refused again, counting her little better 
 than frantic. Thereupon she burns the sec- 
 ond tome ; and peremptorily asked him, wheth- 
 er he would give the sum demanded for all 
 the three for the one tome remaining; ; other- 
 
 O * 
 
 wise she would burn that also, and he would 
 dearly repent it. Tarquin, admiring at her 
 constant resolution, and conceiving some ex- 
 traordinary worth contained therein, gave her 
 her demand. There are three volumes of 
 man's time ; youth, man's estate, and old age ; 
 and ministers advise them to redeem this time. E P he8 - v - 
 
 16. 
 
 But men conceive the rate they must give 
 to be unreasonable, because it will cost them 
 the renouncing of their carnal delights. Here- 
 upon one third part of their life (youth) is 
 consumed in the fire of wantonness. Again, 
 
 O ' 
 
 ministers counsel men to redeem the remain- 
 ing volumes of their life. They are but de- 
 rided at for their pains. And man's estate is
 
 44 HISTORICAL APPLICATIONS. 
 
 also cast away in the smoke of vanity. But 
 preachers ought to press peremptorily on old 
 people, to redeem, now or never, the last vol- 
 ume of their life. Here is the difference : the 
 sibyl still demanded but the same rate for the 
 remaining book; but aged folk (because of 
 their custom in sinning) will find it harder 
 and dearer to redeem this, the last volume, 
 than if they had been chapmen for all three 
 at the first. 
 
 III. 
 
 Merionethshire in "Wales there be many 
 
 Cambren- 
 
 I 
 
 sis, and A mountains, whose hanging tops come so 
 Camden, c ] ose together, that shepherds sitting on sev- 
 scnption era! mountains may audibly discourse one with 
 . tbat another. And yet they must go many miles 
 before their bodies can meet together, by the 
 reason of the vast hollow valleys which are 
 betwixt them. Our sovereign and the mem- 
 bers of his Parliament at London seem very 
 near agreed in their general and public pro- 
 fessions ; both are for the Protestant religion ; 
 can they draw nearer ? Both are for the priv- 
 ileges of Parliament ; can they come closer ? 
 Both are for the liberty of the subject ; can 
 they meet evener ? And yet, alas ! there is 
 a great gulf and vast distance betwixt them 
 which our sins have made, and God grant that 
 our sorrow may seasonably make it up again.
 
 HISTORICAL APPLICATIONS. 45 
 
 IV. 
 
 WHEN John, king of France, had com- 
 municated the order of the knight- 
 hood of the star to some of his guard, men 
 of mean birth and extraction, the nobility ever 
 after disdained to be admitted into that de- 
 gree, and so that order in France was extin- 
 guished. Seeing that now-a-days drinking, and 
 swearing, and wantonness are grown frequent, 
 even with base beggarly people ; it is high 
 time for men of honour, who consult with 
 their credit, to desist from such sins. Not 
 that I would have noblemen invent new vices 
 to be in fashion with themselves alone, but 
 forsake old sins, grown common with the mean- 
 est of people. 
 
 V. 
 
 LONG was this land wasted with civil war 
 betwixt the two houses of York and 
 Lancaster, till the red rose became white with 
 the blood it had lost, and the white rose red 
 with the blood it had shed. At last, they were 
 united in a happy marriage, and their joint 
 titles are twisted together in our gracious sov- 
 ereign. Thus there hath been a great differ- 
 ence betwixt learned men, wherein the do- 
 minion over the creature is founded. Some 
 
 4
 
 46 HISTORICAL APPLICATIONS. 
 
 putting it in nature, others placing it in grace. 
 But the true servants of God have an un- 
 questioned right thereunto : seeing both nature 
 and grace, the first and second Adam, creation 
 and regeneration, are contained in them. Hence 
 their claim is so clear, their title is so true, 
 ignorance cannot doubt it, impudence dare not 
 deny it. 
 
 T 
 
 VI. 
 
 Roman senators conspired against Ju- 
 lius Csesar to kill him : that very next 
 iiutarch in morn j n g Artemidorus, CaBsar's friend, delivered 
 
 Julius . . ' 
 
 .CjBgar. him a paper (desiring him to peruse it) wherein 
 the whole plot was discovered : but Ca3sar 
 complimented his life away, being so taken 
 up to return the salutations of such people 
 as met him in the way, that he pocketed the 
 paper, among other petitions, as unconcerned 
 therein ; and so, going to the senate-house, 
 was slain. The world, flesh, and devil have 
 a design for the destruction of men ; we min- 
 isters bring our people a letter, God's word, 
 wherein all the conspiracy is revealed. But 
 who hath beh'eved our report ? Most men 
 are so busy about worldly delights, they are 
 not at leisure to listen to us, or read the 
 letter ; but thus, alas ! run headlong to their 
 own ruin and destruction.
 
 HISTORICAL APPLICATIONS. 47 
 
 VII. 
 
 JT is reported of Philip the Second, king of 
 Spain, that besieging the town of St. 
 Quintin, and being to make a breach, he was 
 forced with his cannon to batter down a small 
 chapel on the wall, dedicated to St. Lawrence. 
 In reparation to which saint, he afterwards 
 built and consecrated unto him that famous 
 chapel in the Escurial in Spain, for workman- 
 ship one of the wonders of the world. How 
 many churches and chapels of the God of St. 
 Lawrence have been laid waste in England 
 by this woful war ? And, which is more (and 
 more to be lamented), how many living tem- 
 ples of the Holy Ghost, Christian people, have 
 therein been causelessly and cruelly destroyed ? 
 How shall our nation be ever able to make 
 recompense for it ? God of his goodness for- 
 give us that debt which we of ourselves are 
 not able to satisfy. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 N the days of King Edward the Sixth, the sir John 
 
 lord protector marched with a powerful j n e [ h * Life 
 army into Scotland, to demand their young of Edward 
 
 J , to the Sixth. 
 
 queen Mary in marriage to our king, accord- 
 ing to their promises. The Scotch refusing 
 
 I
 
 48 HISTORICAL APPLICATIONS. 
 
 to do it, were beaten by the English in Mus- 
 selborough fight. One demanding of a Scot- 
 tish lord (taken prisoner in the battle), "Now, 
 sir, how do you like our king's marriage with 
 your queen?" "I always," quoth he, "did like 
 the marriage, but I do not like the wooing, 
 that you should fetch a bride with fire and 
 sword." It is not enough for men to propound 
 pious projects to themselves, if they go about 
 by indirect courses to compass them. God's 
 own work must be done by God's own ways. 
 Otherwise we can take no comfort in obtain- 
 ing the end, if we cannot justify the means used 
 thereunto. 
 
 IX. 
 
 A SAGAMORE, or petty king in Vir- 
 ginia, guessing the greatness of other 
 kings by his own, sent a native hither, who 
 understood English : commanding him to score 
 
 o * O 
 
 upon a long cane (given him of purpose to 
 be his register) the number of Englishmen, 
 that hereby his master might know the strength 
 of this our nation. Landing at Plymouth, a 
 populous place (and which he mistook for all 
 England), he had no leisure to eat, for notch- 
 ing up the men he met. At Exeter the difficul- 
 ty of his task was increased ; coming at last to 
 London (that forest of people) he broke his
 
 HISTORICAL APPLICATIONS. 49 
 
 cane in pieces, perceiving the impossibility of 
 his employment. Some may conceive that 
 they can reckon up the sins they commit in one 
 day. Perchance they may make hard shifts 
 to sum up their notorious ill deeds : more diffi- 
 cult it is to score up their wicked words. But 
 O how infinite are their idle thoughts ! High 
 time, then, to leave off counting, and cry out, 
 with David, Who can teU how oft he offend- ff 1 " 1 ^ 
 
 12. 
 
 eth ? Lord, cleanse me from my secret sins. 
 
 M 
 
 X. 
 ARTIN DE GOLIN, master of the Munster ' 8 
 
 rr, . -, i Cosmogra- 
 
 leutonic order, was taken prisoner by p h y , Book 
 the Prussians, and delivered bound to be be- ni - p - 878 
 headed. But he persuaded his executioner 
 (who had him alone) first to take off his costly 
 clothes, which otherwise would be spoiled with 
 the sprinkling of his blood. Now the prisoner, 
 being partly unbound, to be unclothed, and 
 finding his arms somewhat loosened, struck the 
 executioner to the ground, killed him after- 
 wards with his own sword, and so regained both 
 his life and liberty. Christ hath overcome the Jo 
 world, and delivered it to us to destroy it. But 
 we are all Achseans by nature, and the Baby- 
 lonish garment is a 'bait for our covetousness : 
 whilst, therefore, we seek to take the plunder 
 
 ibn xvi. 
 
 33.
 
 50 HISTORICAL APPLICATIONS. 
 
 of this world's wardrobe, we let go the mas- 
 tery we had formerly of it. And too often 
 that which Christ's passion made our captive 
 our folly makes our conqueror. 
 
 XI. 
 
 I READ how Pope Pius the Fourth had a 
 great ship, richly laden, landed at Sand- 
 wich in Kent, where it suddenly sunk, and so, 
 with the sands, choked up the harbour, that 
 ever since that place hath been deprived of 
 the benefit thereof. I see that happiness doth 
 not always attend the adventures of his Holi- 
 ness. Would he had carried away his ship, 
 and left us our harbour. May his spiritual 
 merchandise never come more into this island, 
 but rather sink in Tiber than sail thus far, 
 bringing so small good and so great annoyance. 
 Sure he is not so happy in opening the doors 
 of heaven, as he is unhappy to obstruct havens 
 on earth. 
 
 XII. 
 
 T EFFRY, Archbishop of York, and base son 
 il to King Henry the Second, used proudly to 
 protest by his faith, and the royalty of the king 
 his father. To whom one said, You may some- 
 times, sir, as well remember what was the hon-
 
 HISTORICAL APPLICATIONS. 51 
 
 esty of your mother. Good men when puffed 
 up with pride, for their heavenly extraction 
 and paternal descent, how they are God's sons 
 by adoption, may seasonably call to mind the 
 corruption which they carry about them. I 
 
 have said to the worm, Thou art my mother. Job xvii> 
 
 . I*- 
 
 And this consideration will temper their souls 
 
 with humility. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 1 COULD both sigh and smile at the sim- 
 plicity of a native American, sent by a 
 Spaniard, his master, with a basket of figs, and 
 a letter (wherein the figs were mentioned), to 
 carry them both to one of his master's friends. 
 By the way, this messenger ate up the figs, but 
 delivered the letter, whereby his deed was dis- 
 covered, and he soundly punished. Being sent 
 a second time on the like message, he first took 
 the letter (which he conceived had eyes as w r ell 
 as a tongue) and hid it in the ground, sitting 
 himself on the place where he put it ; and then 
 securely fell to feed on his figs, presuming that 
 that paper which saw nothing could tell noth- 
 ing. Then, taking it again out of the ground, 
 he delivered it to his master's friend, whereby 
 his fault was perceived, and he worse beaten 
 than before. Men conceive they can manage
 
 52 HISTORICAL APPLICATIONS. 
 
 their sins with secrecy; but they carry about 
 them a letter, or book rather, written by God's 
 Bom. U. 15. finger, their conscience bearing witness to all 
 their actions. But sinners being often detected 
 and accused, hereby grow wary at last, and, 
 to prevent this speaking paper from telling any 
 tales, do smother, stifle, and suppress it, when 
 they go about the committing of any wicked- 
 ness. Yet conscience (though buried for a 
 time in silence) hath afterwards a resurrection, 
 and discovers all, to their greater shame and 
 heavier punishment. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 JOHN COURCY, Earl of Ulster, in Ireland, 
 endeavoured fifteen several times to sail 
 over thither, and so often was beaten back 
 Annai. again with bad weather. At last he expostu- 
 
 Hibera. in ' . . . . . \ . 
 
 anno 1204 ; lated his case with (jrod in a vision, complaining 
 
 and Cam- o f }j ar( j measure : that, having built and re- 
 den's Brit., . . 
 
 P . 797. paired so many monasteries to (jrod and his 
 saints, he should have so bad success. It was 
 answered him, that this was but his just pun- 
 ishment, because he had formerly put out the 
 image of the Trinity* out of the cathedral 
 church of Down, and placed the picture of 
 
 * Lawfully, I presume, to apply a Popish vision to confute a 
 Popish practice.
 
 HISTORICAL APPLICATIONS. 53 
 
 St. Patrick in the room thereof. Surely God 
 will not hold them guiltless who justle him 
 out of his temple, and give to saints that ad- 
 oration due alone to his divine majesty. 
 
 XV. 
 
 1 
 
 THE Libyans kept all women in common. 
 But when a child was born, they used to 
 send it to that man to maintain (as father there- 
 of) whom the infant most resembled in his com- 
 plexion. Satan and my sinful nature enter 
 common in my soul in the causing of wicked 
 thoughts. The sons by their faces speak their 
 sires. Proud, wanton, covetous, envious, idle 
 thoughts, I must own to come from myself. 
 God forgive me, it is vain to deny it, those chil- 
 dren are so like to their father. But as for 
 some hideous, horrible thoughts, such as I start 
 at the motion of them, being out of the road of 
 my corruption (and yet which way will not that 
 wander ?) so that they smell of hell's brimstone 
 about them: these fall to Satan's lot to father 
 them. The swarthy blackness of their com- 
 plexion plainly shows who begot them; not 
 being of mine extraction, but his injection.
 
 54 HISTORICAL APPLICATIONS. 
 
 M 
 
 XVI. 
 
 ARCUS MANLIUS deserved exceed- 
 ingly well of the Roman state, having 
 valiantly defended their Capitol. But after- 
 ward, falling into disfavour with the people, 
 he was condemned to death. However, the 
 people would not be so unthankful as to suffer 
 him to be executed in any place from whence 
 the Capitol might be beheld. For the prospect 
 thereof prompted them with fresh remembrance 
 lib. o f his former merits. At last, they found a low 
 'place in the Petiline grove, by the river gate, 
 where no pinnacle of the Capitol could be per- 
 ceived, and there he was put to death. We 
 may admire how men can find in their hearts to 
 sin against God. For we can find no one place 
 in the whole world which is not marked with a 
 signal character of his mercy unto us. It was 
 said properly of the Jews, but is not untrue of 
 all Christians, that they are God's vineyard. 
 Mark xU. And God fenced it, and gathered out the stones 
 thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, 
 and built a tower in the midst thereof; and also 
 digged a wine-press therein ; which way can 
 men look, and not have then* eyes met with 
 the remembrance of God's favour unto them? 
 Look about the vineyard, it is fenced ; look 
 without it, the stones are cast out ; look within
 
 HISTORICAL APPLICATIONS. 55 
 
 it, it is planted with the choicest vine ; look 
 above it, a tower is built in the midst thereof; 
 look beneath it, a wine-press is digged. It is 
 impossible for one to look any way, and to avoid 
 the beholding of God's bounty. Ungrateful 
 man ! And as there is no place, so there is no 
 time for us to sin, without being at that instant 
 beholden to him ; we owe to him that we are, 
 even when we are rebellious against him. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 A DUEL was to be fought, by consent of Annal - 
 t Hibern. in 
 
 both kings, betwixt an English and a anno 1204; 
 
 French lord. The aforesaid John Courcy, Earl * nd ^ 
 
 J ' den's Brit., 
 
 of Ulster, was chosen champion for the Eng-p. 797. 
 lish ; a man of great stomach and strength, but 
 lately much weakened by long imprisonment. 
 Wherefore, to prepare himself beforehand, the 
 king allowed him what plenty and variety of 
 meat he was pleased to eat. But the monsieur 
 (who was to encounter him) hearing what great 
 quantity of victuals Courcy did daily devour, 
 and thence collecting his unusual strength, out 
 of fear, refused to fight with him. If by the 
 standard of their cups, and measure of their 
 drinking, one might truly infer soldiers' strength 
 by rules of proportion, most vast and valiant 
 achievements may justly be expected from some 
 gallants of these times.
 
 56 HISTORICAL APPLICATIONS. 
 
 I 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 HAVE heard that the brook near Lutter- 
 worth, in Leicestershire, into which the 
 ashes of the burnt bones of Wickliffe were cast, 
 never since doth drown the meadow about it. 
 Papists expound this to be, because God was 
 well pleased with the sacrifice of the ashes of 
 such a heretic. Protestants ascribe it rather to 
 proceed from the virtue of the dust of such a 
 reverend martyr. I see it is a case for a friend. 
 Such accidents signify nothing in themselves 
 but according to the pleasure of interpreters. 
 Give me such solid reasons, whereon I may 
 Eccies. sii. rest and rely. Solomon saith, The words of 
 the wise are like nails, fastened by the masters 
 of the assembly. A nail is firm, and will hold 
 driving in, and will hold driven in. Send me 
 such arguments. As for these waxen topical 
 devices, I shall never think worse or better of 
 any religion for their sake. 
 
 XIX. 
 pmtarch in \ LEXANDER the Great, when a child, 
 
 Aterander ~ was checked by his governor Leonidas 
 
 the Great. f or being over-profuse in spending perfumes: 
 
 because on a day, being to sacrifice to the gods, 
 
 he took both his hands full of frankincense, and
 
 HISTORICAL APPLICATIONS. 57 
 
 cast it into the fire: but afterwards, being a 
 man, he conquered the country of Judaea (the 
 fountain whence such spices did flow), and sent 
 Leonidas a present of five hundred talents' 
 weight of frankincense, to show him how his 
 former prodigality made him thrive the better 
 in success, and to advise him to be no more nig- 
 gardly in divine service. Thus they that sow 
 plentifully shall reap plentifully. I see there is 
 no such way to have a large harvest as to have 
 a large heart. The free giving of the branches 
 of our present estate to God, is the readiest 
 means to have the root increased for the 
 future. 
 
 XX. 
 
 THE poets fable, that this was one of the 
 labours imposed on Hercules, to make 
 clean the Augean stable, or stall rather. For 
 therein, they said, were kept three thousand 
 kine, and it had not been cleansed for thirty 
 years together. But Hercules, by letting the 
 river Alpheus into it, did that with ease which 
 before was conceived impossible. This stall is 
 the pure emblem of my impure soul, which 
 hath been defiled with millions of sins for more 
 than thirty years together. O that I might by 
 a lively faith, and unfeigned repentance, let the 
 stream of that fountain into my soul, which is
 
 58 HISTORICAL APPLICATIONS. 
 
 opened for Judah and Jerusalem. It is impos- 
 sible by all my pains to purge out my unclean- 
 ness ; which is quickly done by the rivulet of 
 the blood of my Saviour. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 THE Venetians showed the treasure of 
 their state, being in many great coffers 
 full of gold and silver, to the Spanish ambassa- 
 dor. But the ambassador, peeping under the 
 bottom of those coffers, demanded whether that 
 their treasure did daily grow, and had a root ; 
 for such, saith he, my master's treasure hath : 
 meaning both his Indies. Many men have 
 attained to a great height of piety, to be very 
 abundant and rich therein. But all theirs is 
 but a cistern, not fountain of grace, only God's 
 goodness hath a spring of itself in itself. 
 
 XXII. 
 Justin, lib. rr^HE Sidonian servants agreed amongst 
 
 xviii. p. 
 
 lee. -- themselves to choose mm to be- their 
 
 king who, that morning, should first see the 
 sun. Whilst all others were gazing on the east, 
 one alone looked on the west. Some admired, 
 more mocked him, as if he looked on the feet, 
 there to find the eye of the face. But he first
 
 HISTORICAL APPLICATIONS. 59 
 
 of all discovered the light of the sun shining on 
 
 the tops of houses. God is seen sooner, easier, 
 
 clearer in his operations than in his essence. 
 
 Best beheld by reflection in his creatures. For Kom. i. 20. 
 
 the invisible things of him, from the creation of 
 
 the world, are clearly seen, being understood by 
 
 the things that are made. 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 AN Italian prince, as much delighted with 
 the person as grieved with the prodigality 
 of his eldest son, commanded his steward to 
 deliver him no more money but what the young 
 prince should tell his own self. The young gal- 
 lant fretted at his heart, that he must buy 
 money at so dear a rate, as to have it for telling 
 it, but (because there was no remedy) he set 
 himself to task, and being greatly tired with 
 telling a small sum, he broke off in this con- 
 sideration. Money may speedily be spent, but 
 how tedious and troublesome is it to tell it ! 
 And by consequence how much more difficult 
 to get it ! Men may commit sin presently, 
 pleasantly, with much mirth, in a moment. 
 But O that they would but seriously consider 
 with themselves how many their offences are, 
 and sadly fall accounting them ! And if so 
 hard truly to sum their sins, sure harder sin-
 
 60 HISTORICAL APPLICATIONS. 
 
 cerely to sorrow for them. If to get their 
 number be so difficult, what is it to get their 
 pardon ? 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 T KNOW the village in Cambridgeshire 
 A where there was a cross full of imagery. 
 Some of the images were such, as that people, 
 not foolishly factious, but judiciously conscien- 
 tious, took just exception at them : hard by, the 
 youths of the town erected a Maypole, and, to 
 make it of proof against any that should en- 
 deavour to cut it down, they armed it with iron 
 as high as any could reach. A violent wind 
 happened to blow it down, which, falling on the 
 cross, dashed it to pieces. It is possible what is 
 counted profaneness may accidentally correct 
 superstition. But I could heartily wish that all 
 pretenders to reformation would first labour to 
 be good themselves, before they go about the 
 amending of others. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 piutarch in T READ that ^geus, the father of Theseus, 
 A hid a sword and a pair of shoes under a 
 great stone ; and left word with his wife (whom 
 he left with child), that when the son she should 
 bear was able to take up that stone, wield that
 
 HISTORICAL APPLICATIONS. 61 
 
 sword, and wear those shoes, then she should 
 send him to him : for by these signs he would 
 own him for his own son. Christ hath left in 
 the custody of the Church our mother the sword 
 of the Spirit, and the shoes of a Christian con- 
 versation, the same which he once wore him- 
 self, and they must fit our feet, yea, and we 
 must tak5 up the weight of many heavy crosses, 
 before we can come at them: but when we 
 shall appear before our Heavenly Father, 
 bringing these tokens with us, then, 
 and not before, he will acknowl- 
 edge us to be no bastards, 
 but his true-born 
 children. 
 
 83
 
 CONTEMPLATIONS. 
 
 I. 
 
 HEN I look on a leaden bullet, 
 therein I can read both God's 
 mercy and man's malice. God's 
 mercy, whose providence, foresee- 
 ing that men of lead would make instruments 
 of cruelty, did give that metal a medicinal vir- 
 tue ; as it hurts, so it also heals ; and a bullet 
 sent in by man's hatred into a fleshy and no 
 vital part, will (with ordinary care and curing), 
 out of a natural charity, work its own way out. 
 But oh ! how devilish were those men who, to 
 frustrate and defeat his goodness, and to coun- 
 termand the healing power of lead, first found 
 the champing and empoisoning of bullets ! 
 Fools, who account themselves honoured with 
 Bom. i. so. the shameful title of being the inventors of evil 
 things, endeavouring to out-infinite God's kind- 
 ness with their cruelty.
 
 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS. 63 
 
 II. 
 
 I HAVE heard some men, rather causelessly 
 captious than judicially critical, cavil at 
 grammarians for calling some conjunctions dis- 
 junctive, as if this were a flat contradiction. 
 Whereas, indeed, the same particle may con- 
 join words, and yet disjoin the sense. But, 
 alas ! how sad is the present condition of Chris- 
 tians, who have a communion disuniting. The 
 Lord's Supper, ordained by our Saviour to con- 
 join our affections, hath disjoined our judg- 
 ments. Yea, it is to be feared, lest our long 
 quarrels about the manner of his presence cause 
 the matter of his absence, for our want of char- 
 ity to receive him. 
 
 III. 
 
 I HAVE observed that children, when they 
 first put on new shoes, are very curious to 
 keep them clean. Scarce will they set their 
 feet on the ground for fear to dirt the soles of 
 their shoes. Yea, rather they will wipe the 
 leather clean with their coats ; and yet, per- 
 chance, the next day they will trample with the 
 same shoes in the mire up to the ankles. Alas ! 
 children's play is our earnest. On that day 
 wherein we receive the sacrament, we are often
 
 64 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS. 
 
 over-precise, scrupling to say or do those things 
 which lawfully we may. But we, who are 
 more than curious that day, are not so much as 
 careful the next ; and too often (what shall I 
 P8ahn say ?) go on in sin up to the ankles : yea, our 
 
 jcxxviii.4. . J J 
 
 sins go over our heads. 
 
 IV. 
 
 I KNOW some men very desirous to see the 
 devil, because they conceive such an appa- 
 rition would be a confirmation of their faith. 
 For then, by the logic of opposites, they will 
 conclude there is a God because there is a devil. 
 Thus they will not believe there is a heaven, 
 except hell itself will be deposed for a witness 
 thereof. Surely such men's wishes are vain, 
 and hearts are wicked ; for if they will not be- 
 lieve, having Moses and the prophets, and the 
 apostles, they will not believe, no, if the devil 
 from hell appears unto them. Such apparitions 
 were never ordained by God as the means of 
 faith. Besides, Satan will never show himself 
 but to his own advantage. If as a devil, to 
 fright them, if as an angel of light, to flatter 
 them, how ever to hurt them. For my part, I 
 never desire to see him. And O (if it were 
 possible) that I might never feel him in his mo- 
 tions and temptations ! I say, let me never see
 
 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS. 65 
 
 him till the day of judgment, where he shall 
 stand arraigned at the bar, and God's majesty 
 sit judge on the bench ready to condemn him. 
 
 V. 
 
 1 OB SERVE that antiquaries, such as prize 
 skill above profit (as being rather curious 
 than covetous), do prefer the brass coins of the 
 Roman emperors before those in gold and silver. 
 Because there is much falseness and forgery 
 daily detected, and more suspected, in gold and 
 silver medals, as being commonly cast and coun- 
 terfeited, whereas brass coins are presumed upon 
 as true and ancient, because it will not quit cost 
 for any to counterfeit them. Plain dealing, 
 Lord, what I want in wealth may I have in sin- 
 cerity. I care not how mean metal my estate 
 be of, if my soul have the true stamp, really 
 impressed with the unfeigned image of the King 
 of Heaven. 
 
 VI. 
 
 LOOKING on the chapel of King Henry 
 the Seventh, in Westminster, (God grant 
 I may once again see it, with the saint who be- 
 longs to it, our sovereign, there in a well-con- 
 ditioned peace,) I say, looking on the outside 
 of the chapel, I have much admired the curious 
 5
 
 66 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS. 
 
 workmanship thereof. It added to the wonder, 
 that it is so shadowed with mean houses, well- 
 nigh on all sides, that one may almost touch it 
 as soon as see it. Such a structure needed no 
 base buildings about it, as foils to set it off. 
 Rather this chapel may pass for the emblem of 
 a great worth living in a private way. How is 
 he pleased with his own obscurity, whilst others 
 of less desert make greater show : and whilst 
 proud people stretch out their plumes in osten- 
 tation, he useth their vanity for his shelter; 
 more pleased to have worth than to have others 
 take notice of it. 
 
 VII. 
 
 THE mariners at sea count it the sweetest 
 perfiime when the water in the keel 
 of their ship doth stink. For hence they 
 conclude that it is but little, and long since 
 leaked in ; but it is woful with them when 
 the water is felt before it is smelt, as fresh 
 flowing in upon them in abundance. It is the 
 best savour in a Christian soul when his sins 
 are loathsome and offensive unto him. A hap- 
 py token that there hath not been of late in 
 him any insensible supply of heinous offences, 
 because his stale sins are still his new and daily 
 sorrow.
 
 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS. 67 
 
 VIII. 
 
 I HAVE sometimes considered in what trou- 
 blesome case is that chamberlain in an inn, 
 who, being but one, is to give attendance to 
 many guests. For suppose them ah 1 in one 
 chamber, yet if one shall command him to come 
 to the window, and the other to the table, and 
 another to the bed, and another to the chim- 
 ney, and another to come up stairs, and an- 
 other to go down stairs, and all in the same 
 instant, how would he be distracted to please 
 them all. And yet such is the sad condition 
 of my soul by nature, not only a servant, but 
 a slave unto sin. Pride calls me to the win- 
 dow, gluttony to the table, wantonness to the 
 bed, laziness to the chimney, ambition com- 
 mands me to go up stairs, and covetousness to 
 come down. Vices, I see, are as well contrary 
 to themselves as to virtue. Free me, Lord, 
 from this distracted case ; fetch me from being 
 sin's servant to be thine, whose service is per- 
 fect freedom ; for thou art but one and ever the 
 same, and always enjoinest commands agreeable 
 to themselves, thy glory, and my good. 
 
 I 
 
 IX. 
 
 HAVE observed, that towns which have 
 been casually burnt have been built again
 
 68 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS. 
 
 more beautiful than before ; mud walls, after- 
 wards made of stone ; and roofs, formerly but 
 thatched, after advanced to be tiled. The 
 i Peter iv. Apostle tells me, that I must not think strange 
 concerning the fiery trial which is to happen 
 unto me. May I likewise prove improved by 
 it. Let my renewed soul, which grows out 
 of the ashes of the old man, be a more firm 
 fabric, and stronger structure : so shall afflic- 
 tion be my advantage. 
 
 X. 
 
 Matth. vi. X^VUR Saviour saith, When thou doest alms, 
 ^^/ let not thy left hand know what thy 
 right hand doeth. Yet one may generally ob- 
 serve, that almshouses are commonly built by 
 highway sides, the ready road to ostentation. 
 However, far be it from me to make bad 
 comments on their bounty ; I rather interpret 
 it, that they place those houses so publicly, 
 thereby not to gain applause, but imitation. 
 Yea, let those who will plant pious works, 
 have the liberty to choose their own ground. 
 Especially in this age, wherein we are likely, 
 neither in by-ways nor highways, to have any 
 works of mercy, till the whole kingdom be 
 speedily turned into one great hospital, and 
 God's charity only able to relieve us.
 
 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS. 69 
 
 XI. 
 
 HOW wrangling and litigious were we in 
 time of peace ! How many actions were 
 created of nothing ! Suits we had commenced 
 about a mouthful of grass, or a handful of hay. 
 Now he, who formerly would sue his neigh- 
 bour for pedibus ambulando, can behold his 
 whole field lying waste and must be content. 
 We see our goods taken from us and dare say 
 nothing, not so much as seeking any legal re- 
 dress, because certain not to find it. May we 
 be restored in due time to our former prop- 
 erties, but not to our former peevishness. And 
 when law shall be again awaked (or rather 
 revived), let us express our thanks to God for 
 so great a gift, by using it not wantonly (as 
 formerly, in vexing our neighbours about tri- 
 fles), but soberly, to right ourselves in mat- 
 ters of moment. 
 
 XII. 
 
 ALMOST twenty years since I heard a 
 profane jest, and still remember it. 
 How many pious passages of far later date have 
 I forgotten. It seems my soul is like a filthy 
 pond, wherein fish die soon, and frogs live long. 
 Lord, raze this profane jest out of my memory.
 
 70 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS. 
 
 Leave not a letter thereof behind, lest my cor- 
 ruption (an apt scholar) guess it out again ; 
 and be pleased to write some pious meditation 
 in the place thereof. And grant, Lord, for 
 the time to come, (because such bad guests 
 are easier kept out,) that I may be careful not 
 to admit Avhat I find so difficult to expel. 
 
 XIII. 
 
 I PERCEIVE there is in the world a good- 
 nature, falsely so called, as being nothing 
 else but a facile and flexible disposition, wax 
 for every impression. What others are so bold 
 to beg, they are so bashful as not to deny. 
 Such osiers can never make beams to bear 
 stress in church and state. If this be good-na- 
 ture, let me always be a clown ; if this be good- 
 fellowship, let me always be a churl. Give 
 me to set a sturdy porter before my soul, who 
 may not equally open to every comer. I can- 
 not conceive how he can be a friend to any, 
 who is a friend to all, and the worst foe to 
 himself. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 HA is the interjection of laughter ; Ah is 
 an interjection of sorrow. The differ- 
 ence betwixt them very small, as consisting
 
 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS. 71 
 
 only in the transposition of what is no substan- 
 tial letter, but a bare aspiration. How quickly, 
 in the age of a minute, in the very turning of 
 a breath, is our mirth changed into mourning ! 
 
 XV. 
 
 I HAVE a great friend whom I endeavour 
 and desire to please, but hitherto all in 
 vain : the more I seek, the farther off I am 
 from finding his favour. Whence comes this 
 miscarriage ? Are not my applications to man 
 more frequent than my addresses to my Maker ? 
 Do I not love his smiles more than I fear Heav- 
 en's frowns ? I confess, to my shame, that 
 sometimes his anger hath grieved me more than 
 my sins. Hereafter, by thy assistance, I will 
 labour to approve my ways in God's presence ; 
 so shall I either have, or not need his friend- 
 ship, and either please him with more ease, 
 or displease him with less danger. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 THIS nation is scourged with a wasting 
 war. Our sins were ripe ; God could 
 no longer be just if we were prosperous. Bless- 
 ed be his name that I have suffered my share 
 in the calamities of my country. Had I poised
 
 72 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS. 
 
 myself so politically betwixt both parties, that 
 I had suffered from neither, yet could I have 
 taken no contentment in my safe escaping. 
 For why should I, equally engaged with others 
 in sinning, be exempted above them from the 
 punishment ? And seeing the bitter cup, which 
 my brethren have pledged, to pass by me, I 
 should fear it would be filled again, and re- 
 turned double, for me to drink it. Yea, I should 
 suspect that I were reserved alone for a greater 
 shame and sorrow. It is therefore some com- 
 fort that I draw in the same yoke with my 
 neighbours, and with them jointly bear the bur- 
 den which our sins jointly brought upon us. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 WHEN, in my private prayers, I have 
 been to confess my bosom sins unto 
 God, I have been loath to speak them aloud ; 
 fearing (though no man could, yet) that the 
 devil would overhear me, and make use of my 
 words against me. It being probable, that, 
 when I have discovered the weakest part of 
 my soul, he would assault me there. Yet 
 since, I have considered that therein I shall 
 tell Satan no news, which he knew not before. 
 Surely I have not managed my secret sins with 
 such privacy, but that he, from some circum-
 
 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS. 73 
 
 stances, collected what they were. Though 
 the fire was within, he saw some smoke with- 
 out. Wherefore, for the future, I am resolved 
 to acknowledge my darling faults, though alone, 
 yet aloud ; that the devil, who rejoiced in partly 
 knowing of my sins, may be grieved more by 
 hearing the expression of my sorrow. As for 
 any advantage he may make from my confes- 
 sion, this comforts me : God's goodness in 
 assisting me will be above Satan's malice in 
 assaulting me. 
 
 XVIII. 
 
 IN the midst of my morning prayers I had a 
 good meditation, which since I have for- 
 gotten. Thus much I remember of it, that 
 it was pious in itself, but not proper for that 
 time. For it took much from my devotion, 
 and added nothing to my instruction ; and my 
 soul, not able to intend two things at once, 
 abated of its fervency in praying. Thus snatch- 
 ing at two employments, I held neither well. 
 Sure this meditation came not from him who 
 is the God of order ; he useth to fasten all his 
 nails, and not to drive out one with another. 
 If the same meditation return again when I 
 have leisure and room to receive it, I will say 
 it is of his sending, who so mustereth and
 
 74 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS. 
 
 marshalleth all good actions, that, like the sol- 
 diers in his army, mentioned in the Prophet, 
 Joel u.8. they shall not thrust one another, they shall 
 walk every one in his own path. 
 
 w 
 
 XIX. 
 
 HEN I go speedily in any action, Lord, 
 give me to call my soul to an account. 
 It is a shrewd suspicion that my bowl runs 
 downhill, because it runs so fast. And, Lord, 
 when I go in an unlawful way, start some rubs 
 to stop me, let my foot slip or stumble. And 
 give me the grace to understand the language 
 of the lets thou throwest in my way. Thou 
 Hosea ii. 6. hast promised, I will hedge up thy way. Lord, 
 be pleased to make the hedge high enough 
 and thick enough, that if I be so mad as to ad- 
 venture to climb over it, I may not only sound- 
 ly rake my clothes, but rend my flesh ; yea, 
 let me rather be caught, and stick in the hedge, 
 than, breaking in through it, fall on the other 
 side into the deep ditch of eternal damnation. 
 
 XX. 
 
 COMING hastily into a chamber, I had 
 almost thrown down a crystal hour- 
 glass. Fear lest I had, made me grieve as if
 
 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS. 75 
 
 I had broken it. But, alas ! how much pre- 
 cious time have I cast away without any regret ! 
 The hour-glass was but crystal, each hour a 
 pearl ; that but like to be broken, this lost out- 
 right : that biit casually, this done wilfully. A 
 better hour-glass might be bought ; but time lost 
 once, lost ever. Thus we grieve more for toys 
 than for treasure. Lord, give me an hour-glass, 
 not to be by me, but to be in me. Teach me to Psalm xo - 
 
 12 
 
 number my days. An hour-glass to turn me, 
 that I may apply my heart unto wisdom. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 WHEN a child, I loved to look on the 
 pictures in the Book of Martyrs. I 
 thought that there the martyrs at the stake 
 seemed like the three children in the fiery Dan. m. 27 
 furnace, ever since I had known them there, 
 not one hair more of their head was burnt, 
 nor any smell of the fire singeing of their 
 clothes. This made me think martyrdom was 
 nothing. But oh, though the lion be paint- 
 ed fiercer than he is, the fire is far fiercer than 
 it is painted. Thus it is easy for one to en- 
 dure an affliction, as he limns it out in his 
 own fancy, and represents it to himself but 
 in a bare speculation. But when it is brought 
 indeed, and laid home to us, there must be
 
 76 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS. 
 
 the man, yea, there must be God to assist the 
 man to undergo it. 
 
 T 
 
 XXII. 
 
 TRAVELLING on the plain (which not- 
 withstanding hath its risings and fall- 
 ings), I discovered Salisbury steeple many miles 
 off; coming to a declivity, I lost sight thereof; 
 but climbing up the next hill, the steeple grew 
 out of the ground again. Yea, I often found 
 it and lost it, till at last I came safely to it, and 
 took my lodging near it. It fareth thus with 
 us, whilst we are wayfaring to heaven, mounted 
 I)eut - on the Pisgah top of some good meditation, 
 we get a glimpse of our celestial Canaan. But 
 when either on the flat of an ordinary temper, 
 or in the fall of an extraordinary temptation, 
 we lose the view thereof. Thus, in the sight 
 of our soul, heaven is discovered covered, and 
 recovered ; till, though late, at last, though 
 slowly, surely, we arrive at the haven of our 
 happiness. 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 LORD, I find myself in the latitude of a 
 fever ; I am neither well nor ill ; not so 
 well that I have any mind to be merry with 
 my friends, nor so ill that my friends have
 
 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS. 77 
 
 any cause to condole with me. I am a proba- 
 tioner in point of my health. As I shall be- 
 have myself, so I may be either expelled out of 
 it, or admitted into it. Lord, let my distem- 
 per stop here and go no farther. Shoot thy 
 murdering pieces against that clay castle, which 
 surrendereth itself at the first summons. O 
 spare me a little, that I may recover my 
 strength. I beg not to be forgiven, but to be 
 forborne my debt to nature. And I only crave 
 time for a while, till I am better fitted and 
 furnished to pay it. 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 IT seemed strange to me when I was told, 
 that aqua-vita3, which restores life to others, 
 should itself be made of the droppings of dead 
 beer ; and that strong waters should be extract- 
 ed out of the dregs (almost) of small beer. 
 Surely many other excellent ingredients must 
 concur, and much art must be used in the 
 distillation. Despair not then, O my soul! 
 No extraction is impossible where the chemist 
 is infinite. He that is all in all can produce 
 anything out of anything ; and he can make 
 my soul, which by nature is settled on herzeph. i. 12. 
 lees, and dead in sin, to be quickened by the 
 infusion of his grace, and purified into a pious 
 disposition.
 
 78 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 HOW easy is pen and paper piety for one 
 to write religiously ! I will not say it 
 costeth nothing, but it is far cheaper to work 
 one's head than one's heart to goodness. Some, 
 perchance, may guess me to be good by my 
 writings, and so I shall deceive my reader. 
 But if I do not desire to be good, I most of all 
 deceive myself. I can make a hundred medi- 
 tations sooner than subdue the least sin in my 
 soul. Yea, I was once in the mind never to 
 write more ; for fear lest my writings at the last 
 day prove records against me. And yet why 
 should I not write ? that by reading my own 
 book, the disproportion betwixt my lines and 
 my life may make me blush myself (if not 
 into goodness) into less badness than I 
 would do otherwise. That so my 
 writings may condemn me, 
 and make me to condemn 
 myself, that so God 
 may be moved 
 to acquit 
 me.
 
 GOOD THOUGHTS IN 
 WORSE TIMES.
 
 5TO THE CHRISTIAN READER. 
 
 I read the description of the 
 tumult in Ephesus, Acts xix. 32, 
 (wherein they would have their 
 Diana to be jure divino, that it fell 
 down from Jupiter,) it appears to me the too 
 methodical character of our present confusions. 
 Some therefore cried one thing, and some an- 
 other, for the assembly was confused, and the 
 more part knew not wherefore they were come 
 together. O the distractions of our age ! And 
 how many thousands know as little why the 
 sword was drawn, as when it will be sheathed. 
 Indeed (thanks be to God !) we have no more 
 house-burnings, but many heart-burnings ; and 
 though outward bleeding be stanched, it is to 
 be feared that the broken vein bleeds inwards, 
 which is more dangerous. 
 
 This being our sad condition, I perceive 
 controversial writings (sounding somewhat of 
 drums and trumpets) do but make the wound
 
 82 TO THE CHRISTIAN READER. 
 
 2 Kings m. the wider. Meditations are like the minstrel 
 the prophet called for, to pacify his mind dis- 
 composed with passion, which moved me to 
 adventure on this treatise as the most innocent 
 and inoffensive manner of writing. 
 
 I confess, a volume of another subject, and 
 larger size, is expected from me. But in Lon- 
 don I have learnt the difference betwixt down- 
 right breaking, and craving time of their cred- 
 itors. Many sufficient merchants, though not 
 solvable for the present, make use of the lat- 
 ter, whose example I follow. And though I 
 cannot pay the principal, yet I desire such small 
 treatises may be accepted from me, as interest, 
 or consideration money, until I shall, God will- 
 ing, be enabled to discharge the whole debt. 
 
 If any wonder that this treatise comes pa- 
 tronless into the world, let such know that 
 dedications begin now-a-days to grow out of 
 fashion. His policy w r as commended by many, 
 (and proved profitable unto himself,) who, in- 
 stead of select godfathers, made all the con- 
 gregation witnesses to his child, as I invite 
 the world to this my book, requesting each 
 one would patronize therein such parts and 
 passages thereof as please them, so hoping that 
 by several persons the whole will be protected. 
 
 I have, Christian reader (so far I dare go, 
 not inquiring into thy surname, of thy side,
 
 TO THE CHRISTIAN READER. 83 
 
 or sect), nothing more to burden thy patience 
 with. Only I will add, that I find our Saviour 
 in Tertullian, and ancient Latin Fathers, con- 
 stantly styled a sequestrator,* in the proper no- * Seque 
 tion of the word. For God and man being 
 at odds, the difference was sequestered or re- 
 ferred into Christ's hand to end and umpire it. 
 How it fareth with thy estate on earth I know 
 not ; but I earnestly desire, that in heaven both 
 thou and I may ever^ be under sequestration 
 in that Mediator for God's glory and our good, 
 to whose protection thou art committed by 
 
 Thy brother in all 
 
 Christian offices, 
 
 THOMAS FULLER.
 
 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS. 
 
 I. CURIOSITY CURBED. 
 
 SOFTEN have I thought with myself, 
 what disease I would be best con- 
 tented to die of. None please me. 
 The stone, the colic, terrible as 
 expected, intolerable when felt. The palsy is 
 death before death. The consumption a flatter- 
 ing disease, cozening men into hope of long 
 life at the last gasp. Some sicknesses besot, 
 others enrage men, some are too swift, and 
 others too slow. 
 
 If I could as easily decline diseases as I could 
 dislike them, I should be immortal. But away 
 with these thoughts. The mark must not 
 choose what arrow shall be shot against it. 
 What God sends I must receive. May I not
 
 86 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS. 
 
 be so curious to know what weapon shall 
 wound me, as careful to provide the plaster of 
 patience against it. Only thus much in gen- 
 eral : commonly that sickness seizeth on men 
 which they least suspect. He that expects to 
 be drowned with a dropsy, may be burnt with 
 a fever ; and she that fears to be swoln with a 
 tympany may be shrivelled with a consumption. 
 
 II. DECEIVED, NOT HURT. 
 
 HEARING a passing-bell, I prayed that 
 the sick man might have, through Christ, 
 a safe voyage to his long home. Afterwards 
 I understood that the party was dead some 
 hours before ; and it seems in some places of 
 London the tolling of the bell is but a preface 
 of course to the ringing it out. 
 
 Bells better silent than thus telling lies. What 
 is this but giving a false alarm to men's devo- 
 tions, to make 'them to be ready armed with 
 their prayers for the assistance of such who 
 have already fought the good fight, yea, and 
 gotten the conquest? Not to say that men's 
 charity herein may be suspected of superstition 
 in praying for the dead. 
 
 However, my heart thus poured out was not 
 spilt on the ground. My prayers, too late 
 to do him good, came soon enough to speak
 
 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS. 87 
 
 my good-will. What I freely tendered, God 
 fairly took, according to the integrity of my 
 intention. The party I hope is in Abraham's, 
 and my prayers I am sure are returned into my 
 own bosom. 
 
 III. NOR FULL, NOR FASTING. 
 
 LIVING in a country village, where a bur- 
 ial was a rarity, I never thought of death, 
 it was so seldom presented unto me. Coming 
 to London, where there is plenty of funerals, 
 (so that coffins crowd one another, and corpses 
 in the grave justle for elbow-room,) I slight and 
 neglect death, because grown an object so con- 
 stant and common. 
 
 How foul is my stomach to turn all food 
 into bad humours ? Funerals neither few nor 
 frequent, work effectually upon me. London 
 is a library of mortality. Volumes of all sorts 
 and sizes, rich, poor, infants, children, youth, 
 men, old men, daily die ; I see there is more 
 required to make a good scholar, than only the 
 having of many books : Lord, be thou my 
 schoolmaster, and teach me to number my days, 
 that I may apply my heart unto wisdom.
 
 88 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS. 
 
 IV. STRANGE AND TRUE. 
 
 I READ, in the Revelation, of a beast, one 
 of whose heads was, as it were, wounded 
 to death. I expected in the next verse that 
 the beast should die, as the most probable con- 
 sequence, considering : 
 
 1. It was not a scratch, but a wound. 
 
 2. Not a wound in a fleshy part, or out-limbs 
 of the body, but in the very head, the throne 
 of reason. 
 
 3. No light wound, but in outward appari- 
 tion, (having no other probe but St. John's 
 eyes to search it,) it seemed deadly. 
 
 But mark what immediately follows : And 
 his deadly wound was healed. Who would 
 have suspected this inference from these prem- 
 ises. But is not this the lively emblem of my 
 natural corruption? Sometimes I conceived 
 that, by God's grace, I have conquered and 
 killed, subdued and slain, maimed and mor- 
 tified, the deeds of the flesh : never more shull 
 I be molested or buffeted with such a bosom 
 sin : when, alas ! by the next return, the news 
 is, it is revived and recovered. Thus tenches, 
 though grievously gashed, presently plaster 
 themselves whole by that slimy and unctuous 
 humour they have in them ; and thus the in- 
 herent balsam of badness quickly cures my cor-
 
 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS. 89 
 
 ruption, not a scar to be seen. I perceive I 
 shall never finally kill it, till first I be dead 
 myself. 
 
 V. BLUSHING TO BE BLUSHED FOR. 
 
 A PERSON of great quality was pleased 
 to lodge a night in my house. I durst 
 not invite him to my family prayer ; and there- 
 fore for that time omitted it : thereby mak- 
 ing a breach in a good custom, and giving 
 Satan advantage to assault it. Yea, the loosen- 
 ing of such a link might have endangered the 
 scattering of the chain. 
 
 Bold bashfulness, which diirst offend God 
 whilst it did fear man. Especially consider- 
 ing, that, though my guest was never so high, 
 yet by the laws of hospitality I was above 
 him whilst he was under my roof. Hereafter, 
 whosoever cometh within the doors shall be 
 requested to come within the discipline of my 
 house ; if accepting my homely diet, he will 
 not refuse my home devotion ; and sitting at 
 my table, will be entreated to kneel down by it. 
 
 VI. A LASH FOR LAZINESS. 
 
 QHAMEFUL my sloth, that have deferred 
 O my night prayer till I am in bed. This 
 
 7
 
 90 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS. 
 
 lying along is an improper posture for piety. 
 
 Indeed, there is no contrivance of our body, but 
 
 some good man in Scripture hath hanselled it 
 John. s. with prayer. The publican standing, Job sit- 
 i Kings ting, Hezekiah lying on his bed, Elijah with his 
 
 face between his legs. But of all gestures give 
 E P hes. iu, me g^ p au l' s : p or this cause I bow my knees 
 
 14. * 
 
 to the Father of my Lord Jesus Christ. Knees, 
 when they may, then they must be bended. 
 
 Weever's 
 
 I have read a copy of a grant of liberty from 
 
 Fun. Mon., l J * 
 
 P. 635. Queen Mary to Henry Ratcliffe, Earl of Sussex, 
 giving him leave to wear a nightcap or coif 
 in her Majesty's presence, counted a great fa- 
 vour, because of his infirmity. I know, in case 
 of necessity, God would graciously accept my 
 devotion, bound down in a sick dressing ; but 
 now whilst I am in perfect health it is inex- 
 cusable. Christ commanded some to take up 
 their bed, in token of their full recovery ; my 
 laziness may suspect, lest thus my bed taking 
 me up prove a presage of my ensuing sickness. 
 But may God pardon my idleness this once, 
 I will not again offend in the same kind, by his 
 grace hereafter. 
 
 VII. ROOT, BRANCH, AND FRUIT. 
 
 A 
 
 POOR man of Seville in Spain, having 
 a fair and fruitful pear-tree, one of the
 
 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS. 91 
 
 fathers of the Inquisition desired (such tyrants' 
 requests are commands) some of the fruit 
 thereof. The poor man, not out of gladness to 
 gratify, but fear to offend, as if it were a sin for 
 him to have better fruit than his betters, (sus- 
 pecting on his denial the tree might be made his 
 own rod, if not his gallows,) plucked up tree, 
 roots and all, and gave it unto him. 
 
 Allured with love to God, and advised by my 
 own advantage, what he was frighted to do, 
 I will freely perform. God calleth on me to 
 present him with fruits meet for repentance. Matth- 1U * 
 Yea, let him take all, soul and body, powers 
 and parts, faculties and members of both, I 
 offer a sacrifice unto himself. Good reason ; 
 for indeed the tree was his before it was mine, 
 and I give him of his own. 
 
 Besides, it was doubtful whether the poor 
 man's material tree, being removed, would grow 
 again. Some plants transplanted (especially 
 when old) become sullen, and do not enjoy 
 themselves in a soil wherewith they were un- 
 acquainted. But sure I am when I have given 
 myself to God, the moving of my soul shall be 
 the mending of it, he will so dress atpew and John " 
 icaBaipetv, so prune and purge me, that I shall 
 bring forth most fruit in my age.
 
 92 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS. 
 
 VIII. GOD SPEED THE PLOUGH. 
 
 I SAW in seed-time a husbandman at plough 
 in a very raining day ; asking him the rea- 
 son why he would not rather leave off than 
 labour in such foul weather, his answer was 
 returned me in their country rhyme: 
 
 Sow beans in the mud, 
 
 And they '11 come up like a wood. 
 
 This could not but mind me of David's 
 expression, They that sow in tears shall reap 
 ' 'in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, 
 bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come 
 again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with 
 him. 
 
 These last five years have been a wet and 
 woful seed-time to me, and many of my afflicted 
 brethren. Little hope have we, as yet, to come 
 again to our own homes, and in a literal sense, 
 now to bring our sheaves, which we see others 
 daily carry away on their shoulders. But if 
 we shall not share in the former or latter har- 
 vest here on earth, the third and last in heaven 
 we hope undoubtedly to receive.
 
 G 
 
 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS. 93 
 
 IX. CRAS, CRAS. 
 REAT was the abundance and boldness 
 
 of the frogs in Egypt, which went up Exod - viii - 
 and came into their bed-chambers, and beds, and 
 kneading-tfoughs, and very ovens. Strange 
 that those fen-dwellers should approach the fiery 
 region ; but stranger that Pharaoh should be 
 so backward to have them removed ; and being 
 demanded of Moses when he would have them 
 
 sent away, answered, To-morrow. He could Exod - viu - 
 
 J 10. 
 
 be content with their company one night, at 
 
 bed and at board, loath, belike, to acknowledge 
 either God's justice in sending, or power in 
 remanding them, but still hoping that they 
 casually came, and might casually depart. 
 
 Leave I any longer to wonder at Pharaoh, 
 and even admire at myself; what are my sins 
 but so many toads, spitting of venom and 
 spawning of poison ; croaking in my judgment, 
 creeping into my will, and crawling into my 
 affections. This I see, and suffer, and say with 
 Pharaoh, To-morrow, to-morrow I will amend. 
 Thus, as the Hebrew tongue hath no proper 
 present tense, but two future tenses, so all the 
 performances of my reformation are only in 
 promises for the time to come. Grant, Lord, 
 that I may seasonably drown this Pharaoh-like 
 procrastination in the sea of repentance, lest 
 it drown me in the pit of perdition.
 
 94 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS. 
 
 X. GREEN WHEN GRAY. 
 
 IN September I saw a tree bearing roses, 
 whilst others of the same kind, round about 
 it, were barren ; demanding the cause of the 
 gardener, why that tree was an exception from 
 the rule of the rest, this reason was rendered : 
 because that alone being clipped close in May, 
 was then hindered to spring and sprout, and 
 therefore took this advantage by itself to bud 
 in autumn. 
 
 Lord, if I were curbed and snipped in my 
 younger years by fear of my parents, from 
 those vicious excrescences to which that age 
 was subject, give me to have a godly jealousy 
 over my heart, suspecting an autumn-spring, 
 lest corrupt nature (which without thy restrain- 
 ing grace will have a vent) break forth in my 
 reduced years into youthful vanities. 
 
 XI. MISERERE. 
 
 /TpHERE goes a tradition of Ovid, that fa- 
 bus, lib. ii. , . . 
 eieg 10. -* mous poet, (receiving some countenance 
 
 from his own confession,) that when his father 
 was about to beat him for following the pleas- 
 ant but profitless study of poetry, he, under 
 correction, promised his father never to make a 
 verse, and made a verse in his very promise.
 
 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS. 95 
 
 Probably the same in sense, but certainly more 
 elegant for composure, than this verse which 
 common credulity hath taken up : 
 
 Parceprecor, genitor, posthac non versificabo. 
 
 Father, on me pity take, 
 Verses I no more will make. 
 
 When I so solemnly promise my Heavenly 
 Father to sin no more, I sin in my very prom- 
 ise ; my weak prayers made to procure my 
 pardon, increase my guiltiness. O the dulness 
 and deadness of my heart therein ! I say my 
 prayers as the Jews eat the passover, in haste. Exod - xii - 
 And whereas in bodily actions motion is the 
 cause of heat ; clean contrary, the more speed 
 I make in my prayers, the colder I am in my 
 devotion. 
 
 XII. MONARCHY AND MERCY. 
 
 IN reading the Roman (whilst under consuls) 
 and Belgic History of the United Provinces, 
 I remember not any capital offender, being con- 
 demned, ever forgiven, but always after sen- 
 tence follows execution. It seems that the very 
 constitution of a multitude is not so inclinable 
 to save as to destroy. Such rulers in aristoc- 
 racies or popular states cannot so properly be 
 called gods, because, though having the great
 
 96 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS. 
 
 attributes of a deity, power and justice, they 
 want (or will not use) the most godly property 
 of God's clemency, to forgive. 
 
 May I die in that government under which 
 I was born, where a monarch doth command. 
 Kings, where they see cause, have graciously 
 granted pardons to men appointed to death ; 
 Dan. IT. 9. herein the lively image of God, to whom be- 
 longs mercies and forgivenesses. And although 
 I will endeavour so to behave myself as not to 
 need my sovereign's favour in this kind, yet, 
 because none can warrant his innocency in all 
 things, it is comfortable living in such a com- 
 monwealth, where pardons heretofore on oc- 
 casion have been, and hereafter may be pro- 
 cured. 
 
 XIII. WHAT HELPS NOT HURTS. 
 
 A VAIN thought arose in my heart, in- 
 stantly my corruption retains itself to be 
 the advocate for it, pleading that the worst that 
 could be said against it was this, that it was a 
 vain thought. 
 
 And is not this the best that can be said for 
 it? Remember, O my soul, the fig-tree was 
 charged, not with bearing noxious, but no fruit. 
 Yea, the barren fig-tree bare the fruit of an- 
 noyance, cut it down, why cumbereth it the
 
 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS. 97 
 
 ground ? Vain thoughts do this ill in my 
 heart, that they do no good. 
 
 Besides, the fig-tree pestereth but one part 
 of the garden, good grapes might grow at the 
 same time in other places of the vineyard. 
 But seeing my soul is so intent on its object 
 that it cannot attend two things at once, one 
 tree for the time being is all my vineyard. A 
 vain thought engrosseth all the ground of my 
 heart ; till that be rooted out, no good medita- 
 tion can grow with it or by it. 
 
 XIV. ALWAYS SEEN, NEVER MINDED. 
 
 IN the most healthful times, two hundred and 
 upwards was the constant weekly tribute 
 paid to mortality in London. A large bill, but 
 it must be discharged. Can one city spend 
 according to this weekly rate, and not be bank- 
 rupt of people ? At leastwise, must not my 
 shot be called for to make up the reckoning? 
 
 When only seven young men, and those Plutarchl1 
 
 * Lives, in 
 
 chosen by lot, were but yearly taken out ofiheseo. 
 Athens to be devoured by the monster Mino- 
 taur, the whole city was in a constant fright, 
 children for themselves, and parents for their 
 children. Yea, their escaping of the first was 
 but an introduction to the next year's lottery. 
 Were the dwellers and lodgers in London
 
 98 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS. 
 
 weekly to cast lots who should make up this 
 two hundred, how would every one be affright- 
 ed? Now none regard it. My security con- 
 cludes the aforesaid number will amount of in- 
 fants and old folk. Few men of middle ago, 
 and amongst them surely not myself. But oh ! 
 is not this putting the evil day far from me 
 the ready way to bring it the nearest to me? 
 The lot is weekly drawn (though not by me) 
 for me, I am therefore concerned seriously to 
 provide, lest that death's prize prove my blank. 
 
 XV. NOT WHENCE, BUT WHITHER. 
 
 FINDING a bad thought in my heart, 1 dis- 
 puted in myself the cause thereof, whether 
 it proceeded from the devil, or my own corrup- 
 tion, examining it by those signs divines in this 
 case recommended. 
 
 1. Whether it came in incoherently, or by 
 dependence on some object presented fo my 
 senses. 
 
 2. Whether the thought was at full age at 
 the first instant, or, infant-like, grew greater 
 by degrees. 
 
 3. Whether out or in the road of my natural 
 inclination. 
 
 But hath not this inquiry moi*e of curiosity 
 than religion ? Hereafter derive not the pedi-
 
 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS. 99 
 
 gree, but make the mittimus of such malefac- 
 tors. Suppose a confederacy betwixt thieves 
 without and false servants within, to assault 
 and wound the master of a family : thus wound- 
 ed, would he discuss from which of them his 
 hurts proceeded ? No, surely ; but speedily 
 send for a surgeon before he bleed to death. 
 I will no more put it to the question, whence 
 my bad thoughts come, but whither I shall 
 send them, lest this curious controversy insen- 
 sibly betray me into a consent unto them. 
 
 XVI. STORM, STEER ON. 
 
 THE mariners sailing with St. Paul bare 
 up bravely against the tempest whilst 
 either art or industry could befriend them. 
 Finding both to fail, and that they could not 
 any longer bear up into the wind, they even 
 let their ship drive. I have endeavoured in 
 these distemperate times to hold up my spirits, 
 and to steer them steadily. A happy peace 
 here was the port whereat I desired to arrive. 
 Now, alas ! the storm grows too sturdy for the 
 pilot. Hereafter all the skill I will use is no 
 skill at all, but even let my ship sail whither 
 the winds send it. 
 
 Noah's ark was bound for no other port, but 
 preservation for the present (that ship being all 
 
 Acts xxyii. 
 15.
 
 100 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS. 
 
 the harbour), not intending to find land, but to 
 float on water. May my soul (though not sail- 
 ing to the desired haven) only be kept from 
 sinking in sorrow. 
 
 This comforts me, that the most weather- 
 beaten vessel cannot properly be seized on for 
 a wreck which hath any quick cattle remaining 
 therein. My spirits are not as yet forfeited to 
 despair, having one lively spark of hope in my 
 heart, because God is even where he was be- 
 fore. 
 
 XVII. WIT OUTWITTED. 
 
 JOAB chid the man (unknown in Scripture 
 by his name, well known for his wisdom) 
 for not killing Absalom, when he saw him 
 hanged in the tree, promising him for his pains 
 ten shekels and a girdle. 
 
 But the man, having the king's command to 
 the contrary, refused his proffer. Well he 
 knew that politic statesman would have dan- 
 gerous designs fetched out of the fire, but with 
 other men*s fingers. His girdle promised might 
 in payment prove a halter. Yea, he added 
 2 Sam. moreover, that had he killed Absalom, Joab hiin- 
 
 xviii. 13. . 111 i- IP . i 
 
 sell would have set himself against him. 
 
 Satan daily solicits me to sin (point blank 
 against God's word), baiting me with proffers
 
 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS. 101 
 
 best pleasing my corruption. If I consent, he Rev - xii - 
 who last tempted first accuseth me. The fawn- 
 ing spaniel turns a fierce lion, and roareth out 
 my faults in the ears of Heaven. Grant, Lord, 
 when Satan shall next serve me, as Joab did 
 this nameless Israelite, I may serve him as the 
 nameless Israelite did Joab, flatly refusing his 
 deceitful tenders. 
 
 XVIII. HEREAFTER. 
 
 DAVID fasted and prayed for his sick son, 
 that his life might be prolonged. But 
 when he was dead, this consideration comforted 
 him : I shall go to him, but he shall not return 2 o Sam - xii - 
 to me. 
 
 Peace did long lie languishing in this land. 
 No small contentment that to my poor power. 
 I have prayed and preached for the preservation 
 thereof. Seeing, since it is departed, this sup- 
 ports my soul, having little hope that peace here 
 should return to me, I have some assurance 
 that I shall go to peace hereafter. 
 
 XIX. BAD AT BEST. 
 
 LORD, how come wicked thoughts to per- 
 plex me in my prayers, when I desire 
 and endeavour only to attend thy service ?
 
 102 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS: 
 
 Now I perceive the cause thereof; at other 
 times I have willingly entertained them, and 
 now they entertain themselves against my will. 
 I acknowledge thy justice, that what formerly 
 I have invited, now I cannot expel. Give me 
 hereafter always to bolt out such ill guests. 
 The best way to be rid of such bad thoughts in 
 my prayers, is not to receive them out of my 
 prayers. 
 
 XX. COMPENDIUM DISPENDIUM. 
 
 P 
 
 >OPE BONIFACE the Ninth, at the end 
 of each hundred years, appointed a jubi- 
 lee at Rome, wherein people, bringing them- 
 selves and money thither, had pardon for their 
 sins. 
 
 But centenary years returned but seldom ; 
 popes were old before, and covetous when they 
 came to their place. Few had the happiness to 
 fill their coffers with jubilee-coin. Hereupon, 
 Clement the Sixth reduced it to every three 
 and thirtieth, Paul the Second and Sixtus the 
 736, coi. 2. F ourt h to everv twenty-fifth year. 
 
 Yea, an agitation is reported in the conclave, 
 to bring down jubilees to fifteen, twelve, or ten 
 years, had not some cardinals (whose policy 
 was above their covetousness) opposed it. 
 
 I serve my prayers as they their jubilees.
 
 PERSONAL MEDITATIONS. 103 
 
 Perchance they may extend to a quarter of an 
 hour, when poured out at large. But some 
 days I begrudge this time as too much, and 
 omit the preface of my prayer, with some pas- 
 sages conceived less material, and run two or 
 three petitions into one, so contracting them 
 to half a quarter of an hour. 
 
 Not long after, this also seems too long ; 
 
 I decontract and abridge the abridgment of 
 
 my prayers, yea (be it confessed to my 
 
 shame and sorrow, that hereafter I 
 
 may amend it) too often I shrink 
 
 my prayers to a minute, 
 
 to a moment, to a 
 
 Lord have mercy 
 
 upon me !
 
 SCRIPTURE OBSERVATIONS. 
 I. PRAYER MAY PREACH. 
 
 41 b 42 Xi ' 5f|lSlSp ATHER l thallk the6 ' (^ OUr 
 
 Saviour, being ready to raise Laza- 
 rus,) that thou hast heard me. And 
 I know that thou hearest me always, 
 but because of the people that stand by, I said 
 it, that they may believe that thou hast sent 
 me. It is lawful for ministers in their public 
 prayers to insert passages for the edifying of 
 their auditors, at the same time petitioning God 
 and informing their hearers. For our Saviour, 
 glancing his eyes at the people's instruction, did 
 no whit hinder the steadfastness of his looks, 
 lifted up to his Father. 
 
 When, before sermon, I pray for my sover- 
 eign and master, king of great Britain, France, 
 and Ireland, defender of the faith, in all causes, 
 and over all persons, &c., some, who omit it 
 themselves, may censure it in me for super- 
 fluous. But never more need to teach men
 
 SCRIPTURE OBSERVATIONS. 105 
 
 the king's title, and their own duty, that the 
 simple may be informed, the forgetful remem- 
 bered thereof, and that the affectedly igno- 
 rant, who will not take advice, may have all 
 excuse taken from them. Wherefore, in pouring 
 forth my prayers to God, well may I therein 
 sprinkle some by-drops for the instruction of 
 the people. 
 
 II. THE VICIOUS MEAN. 
 
 ZOPHAR, the Naamathite, mentioneth a j bxx ' 12 ' 
 sort of men, in whose mouths wickedness 
 is sweet, they hide it under their tongues, they 
 spare it, and forsake it not, but keep it still in 
 their mouths. This furnisheth me with a tri- 
 partite division of men in the world. 
 
 The first and best are those who spit sin out, 
 loathing it in their judgments, and leaving it in 
 their practice. 
 
 The second sort, notoriously wicked, who 
 swallow sin down, actually and openly commit- 
 ting it. 
 
 The third, endeavouring an expedient betwixt 
 heaven and hell, neither do nor deny their lusts ; 
 neither spitting them out nor swallowing them 
 down, but rolling them under their tongues, epi- 
 curizing thereon, in their filthy fancies and 
 obscene speculations.
 
 106 SCRIPTURE OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 If God at the last day of Judgment hath three 
 hands, a right for the sheep, a left for the goats, 
 the middle is most proper for these third sort of 
 men. But both these latter kinds of sinners 
 shall be confounded together. The rather be- 
 cause a sin thus rolled becomes so soft and 
 supple, and the throat is so short and slippery a 
 passage, that insensibly it may slide down from 
 the mouth into the stomach ; and contemplative 
 wantonness quickly turns into practical unclean- 
 ness. 
 
 III. STORE NO SORE. 
 
 JOB had a custom to offer burnt-offerings 
 according to the number of his sons ; for he 
 said, It may be that my sons in their feasting 
 have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. It 
 may be, not it must be ; he was not certain, but 
 suspected it. But now, what if his sons had not 
 sinned ? was Job's labour lost, and his sacrifice 
 of none effect ? O no ! only their property was 
 altered ; in case his sons were found faulty, 
 his sacrifices for them were propitiatory, and 
 through Christ obtained their pardon ; in case 
 they were innocent, his offerings were eucha- 
 ristical, returning thanks to God's restraining 
 grace, for keeping his sons from such sins, 
 which otherwise they would have committed.
 
 SCRIPTURE OBSERVATIONS. 107 
 
 I see in all doubtful matters of devotion, it is 
 wisest to be on the surest side ; better both lock 
 and bolt and bar it, than leave the least door of 
 danger open. Hast thou done what is disput- 
 able whether it be well done ? Is it a measur- 
 ing cast whether it be lawful or no ? So that 
 thy conscience may seem in a manner to stand 
 neuter, sue a conditional pardon out of the court 
 of heaven, the rather because our self-love is 
 more prone to flatter than our godly jealousy to 
 suspect ourselves without a cause ; with such 
 humility Heaven is well pleased. For suppose 
 thyself over cautious, needing no forgiveness in 
 that particular, God will interpret the pardon 
 thou prayest for to be the praises presented unto 
 him. 
 
 IV. LINE ON LINE. 
 
 MOSES, in God's name, did counsel Josh- 
 ua, Deut. xxxi. 23 : Be strong, and of a 
 good courage, for thou shalt bring the children 
 of Israel into the land which I sware unto them. 
 God immediately did command him, Josh. i. 6 : 
 Be strong, and of a good courage ; and again, 
 ver. 7 : Only be thou strong and very courageous ; 
 and again, ver. 9 : Have not I commanded thee ? 
 be strong and of a good courage ; be not afraid, 
 neither be thou dismayed. Lastly, the Reuben-
 
 108 SCRIPTURE OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 ites and Gadites heartily desired him, ver. 18 : 
 Only be strong and of a good courage. 
 
 Was Joshua a dunce, or a coward? did his 
 wit or his valour want an edge, that the same 
 precept must so often be pressed upon him ? No 
 doubt neither ; but God saw it needful that 
 Joshua should have courage of proof, who was 
 to encounter both the froward Jew and the 
 fierce Canaanite. 
 
 Though metal on metal, colour on colour, be 
 is.xrviu. f a l se heraldry, line on line, precept on precept, 
 is true divinity. 
 
 Be not therefore offended, O my soul, if the 
 same doctrine be often delivered unto thee by 
 different preachers : if the same precept, like the 
 Gen. ui. 24. sword in Paradise, which turned every way, 
 doth hunt and haunt thee, tracing thee which 
 way soever thou turnest, rather conclude that 
 thou art deeply concerned in the practice there- 
 of, which God hath thought fit should be so 
 frequently inculcated into thee. 
 
 V. O! THE DEPTH. 
 
 HAD I beheld Sodom in the beauty thereof, 
 and had the angel told me that the same 
 should be suddenly destroyed by a merciless 
 element, I should certainly have concluded that 
 Sodom should have been drowned ; led there- 
 unto by these considerations :
 
 SCRIPTURE OBSERVATIONS. 109 
 
 1. It was situated in the plain of Jordan, a 
 flat, low, level country. 
 
 2. It was well watered everywhere ; and Gen ui. 10. 
 where always there is water enough, there may 
 sometimes be too much. 
 
 3. Jordan had a quality in the first month to l Chron - 
 
 * J xii. 15. 
 
 overflow all his banks. 
 
 But no drop of moisture is spilt on Sodom, it 
 is burnt to ashes. How wide are our conjec- 
 tures, when they guess at God's judgments ! 
 How far are his ways above our apprehension ! 
 Especially when wicked men with the Sodomites 
 wander in strange sins, out of the road of com- 
 mon corruption, God meets them with strange 
 punishments, out of the reach of common con- 
 ception, not coming within the compass of a ra- 
 tional suspicion. 
 
 VI. SELF, SELF-HURTER. 
 
 WHEN God, at the first day of judgment 
 arraigned Eve, she transferred her fault Gen. m. 13. 
 on the serpent which beguiled her. This was 
 one of the first-fruits of our depraved nature. 
 But ever after regenerate men in Scripture, 
 making the confession of their sins (whereof 
 many precedents), cast all the fault on them- 
 selves alone: yea, David, when he numbered * Chron - 
 
 xxi 1 
 
 the people, though it be expressed that Satan
 
 110 SCRIPTURE OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 provoked him thereunto, and though David 
 probably might be sensible of his temptation, yet 
 he never accused the Devil, but derived all the 
 
 ichron. guiR. on himself: I it is that have sinned: good 
 
 xxi. 17. 
 
 reason, for Satan hath no impulsive power ; 
 he may strike fire till he be weary (if his 
 malice can be weary) ; except man's corruption 
 brings the tinder, the match cannot be lighted. 
 Away, then, with that plea of course : " The 
 Devil owed me a shame." Owe thee he might, 
 but pay thee he could not, unless thou wert as 
 willing to take his black money as he is to 
 tender it. 
 
 VII. GAD, BEHOLD A TROOP COMETH. 
 
 THE Amalekite who brought the tidings to 
 David began with truth, rightly reporting 
 the overthrow of the Israelites ; cheaters must 
 get some credit before they can cozen, and all 
 falsehood, if not founded in some truth, would 
 not be fixed in any belief. 
 
 But proceeding, he told six lies successively : 
 
 1. That Saul called him. 
 
 2. That he came at his call. 
 
 3. That Saul demanded who he was. 
 
 4. That he returned his answer. 
 
 5. That Saul commanded him to kill him. 
 
 6. That he killed him accordingly.
 
 SCRIPTURE OBSERVATIONS. Ill 
 
 A wilful falsehood told is a cripple not able 
 to stand by itself, without some to support it ; it 
 is easy to tell a lie, hard to tell but a lie. 
 
 Lord, if I be so unhappy to relate a falsehood, 
 give me to recall it, or repent of it. It is said 
 of the pismires, that to prevent the growing 
 (and so the corrupting) of that corn which they 
 hoard up for their winter provision, they bite 
 off both the ends thereof, wherein the generating 
 power of the grain doth consist. When I have 
 committed a sin, O let me so order it that I may 
 destroy the procreation thereof, and, by a true 
 sorrow, condemn it to a blessed barrenness. 
 
 VIII. OUT MEANS, IN MIRACLES. 
 
 WHEN the angel brought St. Peter out 
 of prison, the iron gate opened of its 
 own accord. But coming to the house of Mary 
 the mother of John, mark, he was fain to stand 
 before the door and knock. When iron gave 
 obedience, how can wood make opposition ? 
 
 The answer easy. There was no man to 
 open the iron gate, but a portress was provided 
 of course to unlock the door ; God would not 
 therefore show his finger, where men's hands 
 were appointed to do the work. Heaven will not 
 super-institute a miracle, where ordinary means 
 were formerly in peaceable possession. But if
 
 112 SCRIPTURE OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 they either depart or resign (ingenuously con- 
 fessing their insufficiency) there miracles suc- 
 ceed in their vacancy. 
 
 Lord, if only wooden obstacles (such as can 
 be removed by might of man) hindered our hope 
 of peace, the arm of flesh might relieve us. But 
 alas ! they are iron obstructions, as come not 
 within human power or policy to take away. 
 No proud flesh shall therefore presumptuously 
 pretend to any part of the praise, but ascribe 
 it solely to thyself, if now thou shouldst be 
 pleased, after seven years' hard apprenticeship 
 in civil wars, miraculously to burn our inden- 
 tures, and restore us to our former liberty. 
 
 IX. MILITARY MOURNING. 
 
 SOME may wonder at the strange incohe- 
 rence in the words and actions, 2 Sam. 
 i. 17: 
 
 And David lamented with this lamentation 
 over Saul and over Jonathan his son : also he 
 bade them teach the children of Judah the use 
 of the bow. 
 
 But the connection is excellent. For that is 
 the most soldier-like sorrow, which in midst of 
 grief can give order for revenge on such as have 
 slain their friends. 
 
 Our general fast was first appointed to be-
 
 SCRIPTURE OBSERVATIONS. 113 
 
 moan the massacre of our brethren in Ireland. 
 But it is in vain to have a finger in the eye, if 
 we have not also a sword in the other hand ; 
 such tame lamenting of lost friends is but lost 
 lamentation. We must bend our bows in the 
 camp, as our knees in the churches, and second 
 our posture of piety with martial provisions. 
 
 X. NO STOOL OF WICKEDNESS. 
 
 SOMETIMES I have disputed with myself, 
 which of the two was most guilty, David, 
 who said in haste, All men are liars, or that psa ! m 
 wicked man who sat and spake against hispsaimi. 
 brother, and slandered his own mother's son. 20 ' 
 
 David seems the greater offender; for man- 
 kind might have an action of defamation against 
 him, yea, he might justly be challenged for giv- 
 ing all men the lie. But mark, David was in 
 haste, he spake it in transitu, when he was pass- 
 ing, or rather posting by ; or if you please, not 
 David, but David's haste rashly vented the 
 words. Whereas the other sat, a sad, solemn, 
 serious, premeditate, deliberate posture, his mal- 
 ice had a full blow, with a steady hand, at the 
 credit of his brother. Not to say that sat carries 
 with it the countenance of a judicial proceeding, 
 as if he made a session or bench-business thereof, 
 as well condemning, as accusing unjustly.
 
 114 SCRIPTURE OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 Lord, pardon my cursory, and preserve me 
 from sedentary sins. If in haste or heat of pas- 
 sion I wrong any, give me at leisure to ask thee 
 and them forgiveness. But O let me not sit by 
 it, studiously to plot or project mischief to any 
 out of malice prepense. To shed blood in cool 
 blood, is blood with a witness. 
 
 XI. BY DEGREES. 
 
 2 Kings Q| jE by wna t stairs wicked Ahaz did climb 
 O up to the height of profaneness. 
 
 ibid. ver. First, he saw an idolatrous altar at Damas- 
 10. 
 
 cus. Our eyes, when gazing on sinful objects, 
 
 are out of their calling and God's keeping. 
 
 Secondly, he liked it. There is a secret fas- 
 cination in superstition, and our souls are soon 
 bewitched with the gaudiness of false service 
 from the simplicity of God's worship. 
 
 ibid. ver. Thirdly, he made the like to it. And herein 
 Uriah the priest (patron and chaplain well met) 
 was the midwife to deliver the mother altar of 
 Damascus of a babe, like unto it, at Jerusalem. 
 
 aid. vr. Fourthly, he sacrificed on it. What else 
 could be expected, but that, when he had tuned 
 this new instrument of idolatry, he would play 
 upon it. 
 
 ibid. ver. Fifthly, he commanded the people to do the 
 like. Not content to confine it to his personal 
 impiety.
 
 SCRIPTURE OBSERVATIONS. 115 
 
 Lastly, he removed God's altar away. That 
 venerable altar, by Divine appointment peace- 
 ably possessed of the place for two hundred 
 years and upwards, must now be violently eject- 
 ed by a usurping upstart. 
 
 No man can be stark naught at once. Let us 
 stop the progress of sin in our soul at the first 
 stage, for the farther it goes, the faster it will 
 increase. 
 
 XII. THE BEST BED-MAKER. 
 
 WHEN a good man is ill at ease, GodP salmxli - 
 promiseth to make all his bed in his 
 sickness. Pillow, bolster, head, feet, sides, all 
 his bed. Surely that God who made him 
 knows so well his measure and temper, as to 
 make his bed to please him. Herein his art is 
 excellent, not fitting the bed to the person, but 
 the person to the bed, infusing patience into 
 him. 
 
 But O, how shall God make my bed, who 
 have no bed of mine own to make ? Thou fool, 
 he can make thy not having a bed to be a bed 
 unto thee. When Jacob slept on the ground, Gen- 
 who would not have had his hard lodging, there- 
 withal to have his heavenly dream ? Yea, the Fox> 
 poor woman in Jersey, which, in the reign of 
 Queen Mary, was delivered of a child as she 
 
 xxviii.
 
 116 SCRIPTURE OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 was to be burnt at the stake, may be said to be 
 brought to bed in the fire. Why not ? if God's 
 Rev. ii. 22. justice threatened to cast Jezebel into a bed of 
 fire, why might not his mercy make the very 
 flames a soft bed to that his patient martyr ? 
 
 XIII. WHEN BEGUN, ENDED. 
 
 THE Scripture giveth us a very short ac- 
 count of some battles, as if they were 
 flights without fights, and the armies parted as 
 soon as met, as Gen. xiv. 10 ; 1 Sam. xxxi. 1 ; 
 2 Chron. xxv. 22. 
 
 . 
 
 Some will say the spirit gives in only the sum 
 of the success, without any particular passages 
 in achieving it. But there is more in it that so 
 little is said of the fight. For some time the 
 question of the victory is not disputed at all, but 
 the bare propounding decides it. The stand of 
 pikes, ofttimes no stand, and the footmen so fitly 
 called as making more use of their feet than 
 their hands. And when God sends a qualm of 
 fear over the soldiers' hearts, it is not all the 
 skill and valour of their commanders can give 
 them a cordial. 
 
 Our late war hath given us some instances 
 hereof. Yet let not men tax their armies for 
 cowardice, it being probable that the badness of 
 such as stayed at home of their respective sides
 
 SCRIPTURE OBSERVATIONS. 117 
 
 had such influence on those in field, that sol- 
 diers' hearts might be fear-broken by the score 
 of their sins who were no soldiers. 
 
 XIV. TOO LATE, TOO LATE. 
 
 THE elder brother laid a sharp and true Lukexv - 
 charge against his brother prodigal, for 
 his riot and luxury. This nothing affected his 
 father ; the mirth, meat, music at the feast, was, 
 notwithstanding, no whit abated. Why so ? 
 Because the elder brother was the younger in 
 this respect, and came too late. The other had 
 got the speed of him, having first accused him- 
 self (nine verses before), and already obtained 
 his pardon. 
 
 Satan (to give him his due) is my brother, 
 and my elder by creation. Sure I am, he will 
 be my grievous accuser. I will endeavour to 
 prevent him, first condemning myself to God 
 my father. So shall I have an act 8f indemnity 
 before he can enter his action against me. 
 
 XV. LAWFUL STEALTH. 
 
 I FIND two (husband and wife) both steal- 
 ing, and but one of them guilty of felony. 
 And Rachel had stolen the images that were Qen- xxxi> 
 her father's, and Jacob stole away unawares
 
 118 SCRIPTURE OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 to Laban the Syrian. In the former a com- 
 plication of theft, lying, sacrilege, and idolatry ; 
 in the latter no sin at all. For what our con- 
 science tells us is lawful, and our discretion 
 dangerous, it is both conscience and discretion 
 to do it with all possible secrecy. It was as 
 lawful for Jacob in that case privately to steal 
 away, as it is for that man who finds the sun- 
 shine too hot for him, to walk in the shade. 
 
 God keep us from the guilt of Rachel's 
 stealth. But for Jacob's stealing away, one 
 may confess the fact, but deny the fault therein. 
 Some are said to have gotten their life for a 
 prey, if any, in that sense, have preyed on 
 (or, if you will, plundered) their own liberty, 
 stealing away from the place where they con- 
 ceived themselves in danger, none can justly 
 condemn them. 
 
 XVI. TEXT IMPROVED. 
 Numb. T HEARD a preacher take for his text : Am 
 
 xxii. 30. 
 
 I 
 
 not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden 
 ever since I was thine unto this day? was I 
 ever wont to do so unto thee? I wondered 
 what he would make thereof, fearing he would 
 starve his auditors for want of matter. But 
 hence he observed : 
 
 1. The silliest and simplest, being wronged, 
 may justly speak in their own defence.
 
 SCRIPTURE OBSERVATIONS. 119 
 
 2. Worst men have a good title to their own 
 goods. Balaam a sorcerer; yet the ass con- 
 fesseth twice he was his. 
 
 3. They who have done many good offices, 
 and fail in one, are often not only unrewarded 
 for former service, but punished for that one 
 offence. 
 
 4. When the creatures, formerly officious to 
 serve us, start from their wonted obedience, (as 
 the earth to become barren, and air pestilential,) 
 man ought to reflect on his own sin as the sole 
 cause thereof. 
 
 How fruitful are the seeming barren places 
 of Scripture. Bad ploughmen, which make 
 balks of such ground. Wheresoever the sur- 
 face of God's word doth not laugh and sing 
 with corn, there the heart thereof within is 
 merry with mines, affording, where not plain 
 matter, hidden mysteries. 
 
 XVII. THE ROYAL BEARING. 
 
 GOD is said to have brought the Israelites Exod - 
 out of Egypt on eagles' wings. Now 
 eagles, when removing their young ones, have 
 a different posture from other fowl, proper to 
 themselves, (fit it is that there should be a dis- 
 tinction betwixt sovereign and subjects,) carry- 
 ing their prey in their talons, but young ones
 
 120 SCRIPTURE OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 on their backs, so interposing their whole bodies 
 betwixt them and harm. The old eagle's body 
 is the young eagle's shield, and must be shot 
 through before her young ones can be hurt. 
 
 Thus God, in saving the Jews, put himself 
 betwixt them and danger. Surely God, so 
 loving under the Law, is no less gracious in the 
 Gospel : our souls are better secured, not only 
 Colo*, in. aDove his wings, but in his body ; your life is 
 hid with Christ in God. No fear then of harm ; 
 God first must be pierced before we can be 
 prejudiced. 
 
 XVIII. NONE TO HIM. 
 Matth. U1. 1"X is said of our Saviour, his fan is in his 
 
 I 
 
 hand. How well it fits him, and he it ! 
 Could Satan's clutches snatch the fan, what 
 Luke xxii. wor k would he make ! He would fan as he 
 
 31 
 
 doth winnow, in a tempest, yea, in a whirl- 
 wind, and blow the best away. Had man the 
 fan in his hand, especially in these distracted 
 times, out goes for chaff all opposite to the 
 opinions of his party. Seeming sanctity will 
 carry it away from such, who, with true but 
 weak grace, have ill natures and eminent cor- 
 ruptions. 
 
 There is a kind of darnel, called lolium mu- 
 rinum, because so counterfeiting corn, that even
 
 SCRIPTURE OBSERVATIONS. 121 
 
 the mice themselves (experience should make 
 them good tasters) are sometimes deceived 
 therewith. Hypocrites in like manner so act 
 holiness, that they pass for saints before men, 
 whose censures often barn up the chaff, and 
 burn up the grain. 
 
 Well then! Christ for my share. Good 
 luck have he with his honour. The fan is in 
 so good a hand it cannot be mended. Only his 
 hand who knows hearts is proper for that em- 
 ployment. 
 
 XIX. HUMILITY. 
 
 IT is a strange passage, Rev. vii. 13, 14: 
 And one of the elders answered, saying 
 unto me, What are these who are arrayed in 
 white robes? and whence came they? And 
 I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he 
 said unto me, These are they who have come 
 out of great tribulation, &c. 
 
 How comes the elder, when asking a ques- 
 tion, to be said to answer ? On good reason : 
 for his query in effect was a resolution. He 
 asked St. John, not because he thought he 
 could, but knew he could not answer ; that 
 John's ingenuous confession of his ignorance 
 might invite the elder to inform him. 
 
 As his question is called an answer, so God's 
 10
 
 122 
 
 SCRIP TURE OBSER VA TIONS. 
 
 commands are grants. When he enjoins us, 
 Repent, believe, it is only to draw from us a 
 free acknowledgment of our impotency to per- 
 form his commands. This confession be- 
 ing made by us, what he enjoins he 
 will enable us to do. Man's own- 
 ing his weakness is the only 
 stock for God thereon 
 to graft the grace 
 of his assist- 
 ance.
 
 MEDITATIONS ON THE TIMES. 
 
 I. NAME-GENERAL. 
 
 frr'BER had a son born in the days Gen. x. 25. 
 when the earth was divided. Con- 
 ceive we it just after the confusion 
 \\., of tongues, when mankind was par- 
 celled out into several colonies. Wherefore 
 Eber, to perpetuate the memory of so famous 
 an accident happening at the birth of his son, 
 called him Peleg, which in the Hebrew tongue 
 signifieth partition, or division. 
 
 We live in a land and age of dissension. 
 Counties, cities, towns, villages, families, all 
 divided in opinions, in affections. Each man 
 almost divided from himself, with fears and 
 distractions. Of all the children born in Eng- 
 land within these last five years, and brought to 
 the font (or, if that displease, to the basin) to 
 be baptized, every male may be called Peleg, 
 and female Palgah, in the sad memorial of 
 the time of their nativity.
 
 124 MEDITATIONS ON THE TIMES. 
 
 II. WOFUL WEALTH. 
 
 BARBAROUS is the custom of some Eng- 
 lish people on the seaside to prey on the 
 goods of poor shipwrecked merchants. But 
 more devilish in their design, who make false 
 fires to undirect seamen in a tempest, that 
 thereby from the right road they may be misled 
 into danger and destruction. 
 
 England hath been tossed with a hurricane 
 of a civil war. Some men are said to have 
 gotten great wealth thereby. But it is an ill 
 leap when men grow rich per saltum, taking 
 their rise from the miseries of a land, to which 
 their own sins have contributed their share. 
 Those are far worse (and may not such be 
 found ?) who, by cunning insinuations, and false 
 glossings, have, in these dangerous days, trained 
 and betrayed simple men into mischief. 
 
 Can their pelf prosper, not got by valour 
 or industry, but deceit? surely it cannot be 
 wholesome, when every morsel of their meat 
 is mummy (good physic but bad food), made 
 of the corses of men's estates. Nor will it 
 prove happy, it being to be feared, that such 
 who have been enriched with other men's ruins 
 will be ruined by their own riches. The child 
 of ten years is old enough to remember the 
 beginning of such men's wealth, and the man
 
 MEDITATIONS ON THE TIMES. 125 
 
 of threescore and ten is young enough to see 
 the ending thereof. 
 
 III. A NEW PLOT. 
 
 WHEN Herod had beheaded John the 
 Baptist, some might expect that his 
 disciples would have done some great matter 
 in revenge of their master's death. But see 
 how they behave themselves. And his disciples 
 came and took up the body and buried it, and 
 went and told Jesus. And was this all ? and 
 what was all this? Alas, poor men, it was 
 some solace to their sorrowful souls that they 
 might lament their loss to a fast friend, who, 
 though for the present unable to help, was will- 
 ing to pity them. 
 
 Hast thou thy body unjustly imprisoned, or 
 thy goods violently detained, or thy credit 
 causelessly defamed? I have a design where- 
 by thou shalt revenge thyself, even go and tell 
 Jesus. Make to him a plain and true report 
 of the manner and measure of thy sufferings : 
 especially there being a great difference betwixt 
 Jesus then clouded in the flesh, and Jesus now 
 shining in glory, having now as much pity and 
 more power to redress thy grievances. I know 
 it is counted but a cowardly trick for boys, 
 
 when beaten but by their equals, to cry that 
 11
 
 126 MEDITATIONS ON THE TIMES. 
 
 they will tell their father. But, during the 
 present necessity, it is both the best wisdom 
 and valour, even to complain to thy Father in 
 heaven, who will take thy case into his serious 
 consideration. 
 
 IV. PROVIDENCE. 
 
 MARVELLOUS is God's goodness in pre- 
 serving the young ostriches. For the 
 
 job xxxix. o ]j one l eave th h er 6 gg S j n th e earth, and 
 warmeth them in the dust, forgetting that the 
 foot may crush them, or that the wild beast 
 may break them. But Divine Providence so 
 disposeth it, that the bare nest hatcheth the 
 eggs, and the warmth of the sandy ground dis- 
 closeth them. 
 
 Many parents, which otherwise would have 
 been loving pelicans, are by these unnatural 
 wars forced to be ostriches to their own chil- 
 dren, leaving them to the narrow mercy of 
 the wide world. I am confident that these 
 orphans (so may I call them whilst their par- 
 ents are alive) shall be comfortably provided 
 for, when worthy master Samuel Hern, famous 
 for his living, preaching, and writing, lay on 
 his death-bed, (rich only in goodness and chil- 
 dren,) his wife made much womanish lamenta- 
 tion, what should hereafter become of her little
 
 MEDITATIONS ON THE TIMES. 127 
 
 ones: Peace, sweet heart, said he, that God 
 who feedeth the ravens will not starve the psalm 
 
 cxlvii. 9. 
 
 Herns. A speech censured as light by some, 
 observed by others as prophetical, as, indeed, 
 it came to pass that they were well disposed of. 
 Despair not, therefore, O thou parent, of God's 
 blessing, for having many of his blessings, a 
 numerous offspring. But depend on his prov- 
 idence for their maintenance: find thou but 
 faith to believe it, he will find means to ef- 
 fect it. 
 
 I 
 
 V. COALS FOR FAGOT. Prov.xxv 
 
 22. 
 
 N the days of King Edward the Sixth, when F<> X 'S Mai 
 Bonner was kept in prison, reverend T 
 
 p. 
 
 having his bishopric of London, would never 
 go to dinner at Fulham without the company 
 of Bonner's mother and sister; the former al- 
 ways sitting in a chair at the upper end of the 
 table ; these guests were as constant as bread 
 and salt at the board, no meal could be made 
 without them. 
 
 O the meekness and mildness of such men as 
 must make martyrs ! Active charity always 
 goes along with passive obedience. 
 
 How many ministers' wives and children 
 now-a-days are outed of house and home, ready 
 to be starved ! How few are invited to their
 
 128 MEDITATIONS ON THE TIMES. 
 
 tables who hold the sequestrations of their hus- 
 bands' or fathers' benefices ! Yea, many of 
 them are so far from being bountiful, that 
 they are not just, denying or detaining from 
 those poor souls that pittance which the Par- 
 liament hath allotted for their maintenance. 
 
 VI. FUGITIVES OVERTAKEN. 
 
 THE city of Geneva is seated in the 
 marches of several dominions, France, 
 Savoy, Switzerland; now it is a fundamental 
 law in that signiory, to give free access to all 
 offenders, yet so as to punish their offence ac- 
 cording to the custom of that place wherein the 
 fault was committed. This necessary sever- 
 ity doth sweep their state from being the sink 
 of sinners, the rendezvous of rogues, and head- 
 quarters of all malefactors, which otherwise 
 would fly thither in hope of indemnity. Herein 
 I highly approve the discipline of Geneva. 
 
 If we should live to see churches of several 
 governments permitted in England, it is more 
 than probable that many offenders, not out of 
 conscience, but to escape censures, would fly 
 isam. from one congregation to another. What Na- 
 bal said sullenly and spitefully, one may sadly 
 foresee and foresay of this land, Many servants 
 now-a-days will break every man from his mas-
 
 MEDITATIONS ON THE TIMES. 129 
 
 ter; many guilty persons, abandoning that dis- 
 cipline under which they were bred and brought 
 up, will shift and shelter themselves under some 
 new model of government. Well were it then 
 if every man, before he be admitted a member 
 of a new congregation, do therein first make 
 satisfaction for such scandalous sins whereof 
 he stands justly charged in that church which 
 he deserted. This would conduce to the ad- 
 vancing of virtue and the retrenching of noto- 
 rious licentiousness. 
 
 VII. BOTH AND NEITHER. 
 
 A CITY was built in Germany upon the * u g n m s * r ' 
 river Weser, by Charles the Emperor lib. in. 
 and Vuidekind first Christian Duke of Sax- cap ' 450 
 ony ; and because both contributed to the struc- 
 ture thereof, it was called Mine-thine (at this 
 day, by corrupt pronunciation, Minden), to 
 show the joint interest both had in the place. 
 Send, Lord, in thy due time, such a peace in 
 this land as prince and people may share there- 
 in ; that the sovereign might have what he just- 
 ly calls mine, his lawful prerogative : and leave 
 to the subjects their propriety. Such may be 
 truly termed an accommodation which is ad 
 commodum utriusque, for the benefit of both 
 parties concerned therein.
 
 130 MEDITATIONS ON THE TIMES. 
 
 VIII. FED WITH FASTING. 
 
 T 
 
 salmon may pass for the riddle of the 
 river. The oldest fisherman never, as 
 yet, met with any meat in the maw thereof, 
 thereby to advantage his conjecture on what 
 bill of fare that fish feedeth. It eats not flies 
 with the perch, nor swallows worms with the 
 roach, nor sucketh dew with oysters, nor de- 
 voureth his fellow fishes with the pike: what 
 hath it in the water but the water? yet sal- 
 mons grow great, and very fat in their season. 
 How do many (exiles in their own country) 
 subsist now-a-days of nothing, and wandering 
 in a wilderness of want (except they have man- 
 na miraculously from heaven) they have no 
 meat 011 earth from their own means. At what 
 ordinary, or rather extraordinary, do they diet, 
 that for all this have cheerful faces, light hearts, 
 and merry countenances? Surely some secret 
 comfort supports their souls. Such never de- 
 sire but to make one meal all the days of their 
 PTOV. xv. Jives on the continual feast of a good conscience. 
 The fattest capons yield but sad merrythoughts 
 to the greedy glutton in comparison of those 
 delightful dainties which this dish daily affords 
 such as feed upon it.
 
 MEDITATIONS ON THE TIMES. 131 
 
 IX. BARE IN FAT PASTURE. 
 
 FORESTERS have informed me, that out- 
 lodging deer are seldom seen to be so 
 fat as those which keep themselves within the 
 park. Whereof they assign this reason : that 
 those stragglers, though they have more ground 
 to range over, more grass and grain to take 
 their repast upon, yet they are in constant fear, 
 as if conscious that they are trespassers, being 
 out of the protection, because out of the pale 
 of the park. This makes their eyes and ears 
 always to stand sentinels for their mouths, lest 
 the master of the ground pursue them for the 
 damage done unto him. 
 
 Are there any which unjustly possess the 
 houses of others ? Surely such can never with 
 quiet and comfort enjoy either their places or 
 themselves. They always listen to the least 
 noise of news, suspecting the right owner should 
 be re-estated, whose restitution of necessity 
 infers the other's ejection. Lord, grant that 
 though my means be never so small, grant they 
 may be my means, not wrongfully detained 
 from others having a truer title unto them.
 
 132 MEDITATIONS ON THE TIMES. 
 
 X. MUCH GOOD DO YOU. 
 
 intarch's y^v J^E Nicias, a philosopher, having his shoes 
 V^/ stolen from him, May they, said he, fit 
 his feet that took them away. A wish at the 
 first view very harmless, but there was that 
 in it which poisoned his charity into a mali- 
 cious revenge. For he himself had hurled or 
 crooked feet, so that in effect he wished the 
 thief to be lame. 
 
 Whosoever hath plundered me of my books 
 and papers, I freely forgive him ; and desire 
 he may fully understand and make good use 
 thereof, wishing him more joy of them than 
 he hath right to them. Nor is there any snake 
 under my herbs, nor have I (as Nicias) any 
 reservation, or latent sense to myself, but from 
 my heart do desire, that to all purposes and 
 intents my books may be beneficial unto him. 
 Only requesting him, that one passage hi his 
 (lately my) Bible [namely, Eph. iv. 28] may 
 be taken into his serious consideration. 
 
 XL THE USE OF THE ALPHABET. 
 
 THERE was, not long since, a devout but 
 ignorant Papist dwelling in Spain. He 
 perceived a necessity of his own private prayers 
 to God, besides the Pater Nosters, Ave Marias,
 
 MEDITATIONS ON THE TIMES. 133 
 
 &c., used of course in the Romish Church. 
 But so simple was he, that how to pray he 
 knew not. Only every morning, humbly bend- 
 ing his knees, and lifting up his eyes and hands 
 to heaven, he would deliberately repeat the 
 alphabet. And now, said he, O good God, 
 put these letters together to spell syllables, to 
 spell words, to make such sense as may be most 
 to thy glory and my good. 
 
 In these distracted times I know what gen- 
 erals to pray for. God's glory, truth, and 
 peace, his Majesty's honour, privileges of Par- 
 liament, liberty of subjects, &c. But when I 
 descend to particulars, when, how, by whom 
 I should desire these things to be effected, I 
 may fall to that poor pious man's A, B, C, 
 D, E, &c. 
 
 XII. THE GOOD EFFECT OF A BAD CAUSE. 
 
 GOD, in the Levitical law, gave reward to 
 the woman causelessly suspected of her 
 jealous husband, that the bitter water, which 
 she was to drink in the priest's presence, should 
 not only do her no harm, but also procure her Numb. 
 children, if barren before ; that water (drunk 
 by her to quench the fire of her husband's 
 jealousy) proved like the spa unto her, so
 
 134 MEDITATIONS ON THE TIMES. 
 
 famous for causing fruitfulness. Thus her inno- 
 cence was not only cleared but crowned. 
 
 His gracious Majesty hath been suspected to 
 
 be popishly inclined. A suspicion like those 
 
 Nat. Hist. mus hrooms which Pliny recounts amongst the 
 
 lib. xix. 
 
 cap. 2. miracles in nature, because growing without 
 a root. Well, he hath past his purgation, a 
 bitter morning's draught hath he taken down 
 for many years together. 
 
 See the operation thereof; his constancy in 
 the Protestant religion hath not only been as- 
 sured to such who unjustly were jealous of 
 him, but also, by God's blessing, he daily grows 
 greater in men's hearts, pregnant with the love 
 and affection of his subjects. 
 
 XIII. THE CHILD-MAN. 
 
 in his Life, TQHN GERSON, the pious and learned 
 finem. ** Chancellor of Paris, beholding and be- 
 moaning the general corruption of his age, 
 in doctrine and manners, was wont to get a 
 choir of little children about him, and to en- 
 treat them to pray to God in his behalf. Sup- 
 posing their prayers least denied with sin, and 
 most acceptable to Heaven. 
 
 Men now-a-days are so infected with malice, 
 that little children are the best chaplains to 
 pray for their parents. But O, where shall
 
 MEDITATIONS ON THE TIMES. 135 
 
 such be found, not resenting of the faults and 
 factions of their fathers ? Gerson's plot will 
 not take effect, I will try another way. 
 
 I will make my address to the holy child Acts iv. 27. 
 Jesus, so is he styled even when glorified in 
 heaven ; not because he is still under age (like 
 Popish pictures, placing him in his mother's 
 arms, and keeping him in his constant infancy), 
 but because with the strength and perfection 
 of a man he hath the innocency and humility 
 of a child ; him only will I employ to intercede 
 for me. 
 
 XIV. WORSE BEFORE BETTER. 
 
 STRANGE was the behaviour of our Sav- 
 iour toward his beloved Lazarus ; informed 
 by a messenger of his sickness, he abode two John 3d. e. 
 days still in the place where he was. Why 
 so slow ? bad sending him on a dying man's 
 errands. But the cause was, because Lazarus 
 was not bad enough for Christ to cure, intend- 
 ing not to recover him from sickness, but revive 
 him from death, to make the glory of the mir- 
 acle greater. 
 
 England doth lie desperately sick of a violent 
 disease in the bowels thereof. Many messen- 
 gers we despatch (monthly fasts, weekly ser- 
 mons, daily prayers) to inform God of our sad
 
 136 MEDITATIONS ON THE TIMES. 
 
 condition. He still stays in the same place, 
 yea, which is worse, seems to go backward, 
 for every day less likelihood, less hope of help. 
 May not this be the reason, that our land must 
 yet be reduced to more extremity, that God 
 may have the higher honour of our deliverance ? 
 
 XV. ALL SIN, ALL SUFFER. 
 
 T 
 
 mariners that guided the ship in the 
 tempest, Acts xxvii. 30-32, had a de- 
 sign for their own safety with the ruin of the 
 rest; intending (under pretence of casting out 
 an anchor) to escape in a boat by themselves. 
 But the soldiers prevented their purpose, and 
 cut off the cord of the boat, and let it fall into 
 the sea. One and all : all sink, or all save. 
 Herein their martial law did a piece of exem- 
 plary justice. 
 
 Do any intend willingly (without special 
 cause) to leave the land, so to avoid that 
 misery which their sins, with others, have 
 drawn upon it ; might I advise them, better 
 josh. chap, mourn in, than move out of sad Zion. Hang 
 out the scarlet lace at the casement (eyes made 
 red with sorrow for sin), but slide not down 
 out of the window without better warrant. 
 But if they be disposed to depart, and leave 
 their native soil, let them take heed their fly-
 
 MEDITATIONS ON THE TIMES. 137 
 
 boat meets not with such soldiers as will send 
 them back, with shame and sorrow, into the 
 ship again. 
 
 XVI. EAT WORTHILY. 
 
 SAUL, being in full pursuit of the flying 
 Philistines, made a law that no Israelite l Sam- x " r- 
 
 24. 
 
 should eat until evening. But it was the judg- 
 ment of Jonathan, that the army, if permitted 
 to eat, had done greater execution on their 
 enemies. For time so lost was gained, being 
 laid out in the necessary refection of their 
 bodies. 
 
 Yea, mark the issue of their long fasting. 
 The people at night, coming with ravenous 
 appetites, did eat the flesh with the blood, to* bld>ver- 
 the provoking of God's anger. 
 
 Many English people, having conquered some 
 fleshly lusts which fight against their souls, were 
 still chasing them, in hope finally to subdue 
 them. Was it a pious or a politic design to 
 forbid such the receiving of the sacrament, their 
 spiritual food? 
 
 I will not positively conclude that such, if 
 suffered to strengthen themselves with that 
 heavenly repast, had thereby been enabled 
 more effectually to cut down their corrup- 
 tions. Only two things I will desire.
 
 138 MEDITATIONS ON THE TIMES. 
 
 First, that such Jonathans who, by breaking 
 this custom, have found benefit to themselves, 
 may not be condemned by others. Secondly, 
 I shall pray that two hungry years make not 
 the third a glutton. That communicants, two 
 twelvemonths together forbidden the Lord's 
 Supper, come not (when admitted thereunto) 
 with better stomach than heart, more greedi- 
 ness than preparation. 
 
 XVII. DEVOTIONS DUPLICATE. 
 
 WHEN the Jewish Sabbath, in the prim- 
 itive times, was newly changed into 
 the Christian's Lord's day, many devout people 
 twisted both together in their observation, ab- 
 staining from servile works, and keeping both 
 Saturday and Sunday wholly for holy employ- 
 ments. 
 
 During these civil wars, Wednesday and Fri- 
 day fasts have been appointed by different au- 
 thorities. What harm had it been if they had 
 been both generally observed. 
 
 But alas ! when two messengers, being sent 
 together on the same errand, fall out and fight 
 by the way, will not the work be worse done 
 than if none were employed ? In such a pair 
 of fasts it is to be feared that the divisions 
 of our affections rather would increase than 
 abate God's anger against us.
 
 MEDITATIONS ON THE TIMES. 139 
 
 Two negatives make an affirmative. Days 
 of humiliation are appointed for men to deny 
 themselves and their sinful lusts. But do not 
 our two fasts more peremptorily affirm and 
 avouch our mutual malice and hatred? God 
 forgive us, we have cause enough to keep ten, 
 but not care enough to keep one monthly day 
 of humiliation. 
 
 XVIII. LAW TO THEMSELVES. 
 
 SOME sixty years since, in the University of 
 Cambridge, it was solemnly debated be- 
 twixt the heads, to debar young scholars of that 
 liberty allowed them in Christmas, as inconsist- 
 ent with the discipline of students. But some 
 grave governors maintained the good use there- 
 of, because thereby in twelve days they may 
 more discover the dispositions of scholars than 
 in twelve months before. That is a vigilant 
 virtue indeed, which would be early up at 
 prayers and study, when all authority to pun- 
 ish lay asleep. 
 
 Vice, these late years, hath kept open house 
 in England. Welcome all comers without any 
 examination. No penance for the adulterer, 
 stocks for the drunkard, whip for the petty 
 larcener, brand for the felon, gallows for the 
 murderer.
 
 140 MEDITATIONS ON THE TIMES. 
 
 God all this time tries us as he did Heze- 
 schron. kiah, that he might know all that is in our 
 hearts. Such as now are chaste, sober, just, 
 true, show themselves acted with a higher prin- 
 ciple of piety than the bare avoiding of pun- 
 ishment. 
 
 XIX. A NEW DISEASE. 
 
 THERE is a disease of infants (and an 
 infant disease, having scarcely as yet 
 gotten a proper name in Latin) called the rick- 
 ets ; wherein the head waxeth too great, whilst 
 the legs and lower parts wain too little. A 
 woman in the west hath happily healed many, 
 by cauterizing the vein behind the ear. How 
 proper the remedy for the malady I engage 
 not, experience ofttimes outdoing art, whilst 
 we behold the cure easily effected, and the 
 natural cause thereof hardly assigned. 
 
 Have not many now-a-days the same sickness 
 in their souls? their heads swelling to a vast 
 proportion, and they wonderfully enabled with 
 knowledge to discourse ? But, alas ! how little 
 their legs, poor their practice, and lazy their 
 walking in a godly conversation ! Shall I say 
 that such may be cured by searing the vein 
 in their head, not to hurt their hearing, but 
 hinder the itching of their ears.
 
 MEDITATIONS ON THE TIMES. 141 
 
 Indeed, his tongue deserves to be burnt that 
 talks of searing the ears of others ; for faith 
 cometh by hearing. But I would have men 
 not to hear few sermons, but hear more in 
 hearing fewer sermons. Less preaching better 
 heard (reader, lay the emphasis not on 
 the word less, but on the word bet- 
 ter) would make a wiser and 
 stronger Christian, digesting 
 the word from his heart 
 to practise it in 
 his conver- 
 sation. 
 
 12
 
 MEDITATIONS ON ALL KIND 
 OF PRATERS. 
 
 I. NEWLY AWAKED. 
 
 ,Y the Levitical law, the firstling of 
 every clean creature which opened 
 the matrix was holy to God. By 
 the moral analogy thereof, this first 
 glance of mine eyes is due to him. By the 
 custom of this kingdom there accrueth to the 
 landlord a fine and heriot from his tenant tak- 
 ing a farther estate in his lease. I hold from 
 God this clay cottage of my body (a homely 
 tenement, but may I in some measure be as- 
 sured of a better before outed of this). Now, 
 being raised from last night's sleep, I may seem 
 to renew a life. What shall I pay to my land- 
 lord? even the best quick creature which is to 
 be found on my barren copyhold, namely, the 
 calves of my lips, praising him for his protec- 
 tion over me. More he doth not ask, less I
 
 ALL KIND OF PRAYERS. 143 
 
 cannot give ; yea, such is his goodness and my 
 weakness, that before I can give him thanks 
 he giveth me to be thankful. 
 
 II. FAMILY PRAYER. 
 
 LONG have I searched the Scriptures to 
 find a positive precept enjoining, or prece- 
 dent observing, daily prayer in a family; yet 
 hitherto have found none proper for my pur- 
 pose. Indeed I read that there was a yearly * Sam - xx - 
 sacrifice offered at Bethlehem for the family of 
 Jesse ; but if hence we should infer household 
 holy duties, others would conclude they should 
 only be annual. And whereas it is said, Pour 
 out thine indignation on the heathen, and on 
 the families which have not called on thy name ; 
 the word taken there in a large acceptation 
 reproveth rather the want of national, than 
 domestical service of God. 
 
 But let not profaneness improve itself, or cen- 
 sure family prayer for will-worship, as want- 
 ing a warrant in God's word. For where 
 God enjoineth a general duty, as to serve and 
 fear him, there all particular means (whereof 
 prayer a principal) tending thereunto are com- 
 manded. And surely the pious households of Gen>xviiI - 
 Abraham, Joshua, and Cornelius, had some j os h. xxiy. 
 holy exercises to themselves, as broader than 15 ' 
 
 Acts x. 2.
 
 144 MEDITATIONS ON 
 
 their personal devotion, so narrower than the 
 public service, just adequate to their own pri- 
 vate family. 
 
 III. SELF WITHOUT OTHER SELF. 
 
 SOME loving wife may perchance be (though 
 not angry with) grieved at her husband 
 for excluding her from his private prayers ; thus 
 thinking with herself, Must I be discommuned 
 from my husband's devotion? what, several 
 closet-chapels for those of the same bed and 
 board ? Are not our credits embarked in the 
 same bottom, so that they swim or sink to- 
 gether? May I not be admitted an auditor 
 at his petitions, were it only to say Amen there- 
 unto? 
 
 But let such a one seriously consider what 
 zech. xu. the prophet saith : The family of the house of 
 David apart, and their wives apart ; the family 
 of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives 
 apart. Personal private faults must be privately 
 confessed. It is not meet she should know all 
 the bosom sins of him in whose bosom she 
 lieth. Perchance being now offended for not 
 hearing her husband's prayers, she would be 
 more offended if she heard them. Nor hath 
 she just cause to complain, seeing herein Na- 
 than's wife is equal with Nathan himself; what
 
 ALL KIND OF PRAYERS. 145 
 
 liberty she alloweth is allowed her, and may 
 as well as her husband claim the privilege 
 privately and apart to pour forth her soul unto 
 God in her daily devotions. 
 
 Yet man and wife at other times ought to 
 communicate in their prayers, all other ex- 
 cluded. 
 
 IV. GROANS. 
 
 HOW comes it to pass that groans made in 
 men by God's spirit cannot be uttered ? 
 I find two reasons thereof. First, because those 
 groans are so low and little, so faint, frail, and 
 feeble, so next to nothing, these still-born babes 
 only breathe without crying. 
 
 Secondly, because so much diversity, yea, 
 contrariety of passion, is crowded within the 
 compass of a groan, they are stayed from being 
 expressive, and the groans become unutterable. 
 
 How happy is their condition who have God 
 for their interpreter ? who not only understands 
 what they do, but what they would say. Dan- 
 iel could tell the meaning of the dream which 
 Nebuchadnezzar had forgotten. God knows the 
 meaning of those groans which never as yet 
 knew their own meaning, and understands the 
 sense of those sighs which never understood 
 themselves. 
 
 13
 
 146 MEDITATIONS ON 
 
 E 
 
 V. EJACULATIONS, THEIR USE. 
 
 IJACULATIONS are short prayers darted 
 up to God on emergent occasions. If no 
 other artillery had been used these last seven 
 years in England, I will not affirm more souls 
 had been in heaven, but fewer corses had been 
 buried in earth. O that with David we might 
 have gaj^ M V h ear t j s fi xe d, being less busied 
 about fixing of muskets. 
 
 The principal use of ejaculations is against the 
 Epbes. vi. erv d ar t s of the Devil. Our, adversary injects 
 (how he doth it God knows, that he doth it we 
 know) bad motions into our hearts, and that we 
 may be as nimble with our antidotes as he with 
 his poisons, such short prayers are proper and 
 necessary. In barred havens, so choked up with 
 the envious sands, that great ships, drawing 
 many feet of water, cannot come near, lighter 
 and lesser pinnaces may freely and safely arrive. 
 When we are time-bound, place-bound, or per- 
 son-bound, so that we cannot compose ourselves 
 to -make a large solemn prayer, this is the right 
 instant for ejaculations, whether orally uttered, 
 or only poured forth inwardly in the heart.
 
 ALL KIND OF PRAYERS. 147 
 
 VI. THEIR PRIVILEGE. 
 
 EJACULATIONS take not up any room in 
 the soul. They give liberty of callings, so 
 that at the same instant one may follow his 
 proper vocation. The husbandman may dart 
 forth an ejaculation, and not make a balk the 
 more. The seaman nevertheless steer his ship 
 right in the darkest night. Yea, the soldier 
 at the same time may shoot out his prayer to 
 God, and aim his pistol at his enemy, the one 
 better hitting the mark for the other. 
 
 The field wherein bees feed is no whit the 
 barer for their biting ; when they have taken 
 their full repast on flowers or grass, the ox may 
 feed, the sheep fat, on their reversions. The 
 reason is because those little chemists distil only 
 the refined part of the flower, leaving the grosser 
 substance thereof. So ejaculations bind not 
 men to any bodily observance, only busy the 
 spiritual half, which maketh them consistent 
 with the prosecution of any other employment. 
 
 VII. EXTEMPORARY PRAYERS. 
 
 IN extemporary prayer, what men most admire 
 God least regardeth. Namely, the volu- 
 bility of the tongue. Herein a Tertullus may 
 equal, yea exceed, Saint Paul himself, whose
 
 148 MEDITATIONS ON 
 
 10 r X speech was but mean. O, it is the heart keeping 
 time and tune with the voice which God lis- 
 teneth unto. Otherwise the nimblest tongue 
 tires, and loudest voice grows dumb, before it 
 
 neb. via. comes half-way to heaven. Make it, said God 
 to Moses, in all things like the pattern in the 
 mount. Only the conformity of the words with 
 the mind, mounted up in heavenly thoughts, is 
 acceptable to God. The gift of extemporary- 
 prayer, ready utterance, may be bestowed on a 
 reprobate, but the grace thereof (religious affec- 
 tions) is only given to God's servants. 
 
 VIII. THEIR CAUSELESS SCANDAL. 
 
 SOME lay it to the charge of extemporary 
 prayers, as if it were a diminution to God's 
 majesty to offer them unto him, because (allud- 
 2 Sam. mg t David's expression to Oman the Jebu- 
 
 xxiv. 24. 
 
 site) they cost nothing, but come without any 
 pains or industry to provide them. A most 
 false aspersion. 
 
 Surely preparation of the heart (though not 
 premeditation of every word) is required there- 
 unto. And grant the party praying at that 
 very instant fore-studieth not every expression, 
 yet surely he hath formerly laboured with his 
 heart and tongue too, before he attained that 
 dexterity of utterance properly and readily
 
 ALL KIND OF PRAYERS. 149 
 
 to express himself. Many hours in night no 
 doubt he is waking, and was by himself prac- 
 tising Scripture phrase, and the language of 
 Canaan, whilst such as censure him for his 
 laziness were fast asleep in their beds. 
 
 Suppose one should make an entertainment 
 for strangers with flesh, fish, fowl, venison, 
 fruit, all out of his own fold, field, ponds, park, 
 orchard, will any say that this feast cost him 
 nothing who made it? Surely, although all 
 grew on the same, and for the present he 
 bought nothing by the penny, yet he, or his 
 ancestors for him, did at first dearly purchase 
 these home accommodations, whence that this 
 entertainment did arise. 
 
 So the party who hath attained the faculty 
 and facility of extemporary prayer (the easy 
 act of a laborious habit), though at the instant 
 not appearing to take pains, hath been formerly 
 industrious with himself, or his parents with 
 him (in giving him pious education), or else 
 he had never acquired so great perfection, see- 
 ing only long practice makes the pen of a 
 ready writer. 
 
 D 
 
 IX. NIGHT PRAYER. 
 
 EATH in Scripture is compared to sleep. 
 Well then may my night prayer be re-
 
 150 MEDITATIONS ON 
 
 sembled to making my will. I will be careful 
 not to die intestate ; as also not to defer my 
 will-making till I am not compos mentis, till 
 the lethargy of drowsiness seize upon me. 
 
 But, being in perfect memory, I bequeath my 
 soul to God; the rather because I am sure 
 the Devil will accuse me when sleeping. O 
 the advantage of spirits above bodies ! If our 
 c^ay cottage be not cooled with rest, the roof 
 falls afire. Satan hath no such need: the 
 night is his fittest time. Thus man's vacation 
 is the term for the beasts of the forest, they 
 move most whilst he lies quiet in his bed. 
 
 Lest, therefore, whilst sleeping I be outlawed 
 for want of appearance to Satan's charge, I 
 commit my cause to him who neither slum- 
 bers nor sleeps : Answer for me, O my God. 
 
 D 
 
 X. A NOCTURNAL. 
 AVID, surveying the firmament, brake 
 
 consider the heavens, the work of thy fingers ; 
 the moon and the stars, which thou hast cre- 
 ated ; what is man, &c. 
 
 How cometh he to mention the moon and 
 stars, and omit the sun ? The other being but 
 his pensioners, shining with that exhibition of 
 light which the bounty of the sun allots them.
 
 ALL KIND OF PRAYERS. 151 
 
 It is answered, This was David's night med- 
 itation, when the sun, departing to the other 
 world, left the lesser lights only visible in heav- 
 en; and as the sky is best beheld by day 
 in the glory thereof, so it is best surveyed 
 by night in the variety of the same. 
 
 Night was made for man to rest in. But 
 when I cannot sleep, may I with this psalm- 
 ist entertain my waking with good thoughts. 
 Not to use them as opium, to invite my cor- 
 rupt nature to slumber, but to bolt out bad 
 thoughts, which otherwise would possess my 
 soul. 
 
 XI. SET PRAYERS. 
 
 SET prayers are prescript forms of our own 
 or other's composing; such are lawful 
 for any, and needful for some to use. 
 
 Lawful for any. Otherwise God would not 
 have appointed the priest (presumed of them- 
 selves best able to pray) a form of blessing 
 the people ; nor would our Saviour have set 
 us his prayer, which (as the town-bushel is 
 the standard both to measure corn and other 
 bushels by) is both a prayer in itself, and a 
 pattern or platform of prayer. Such as ac- 
 cuse set forms to be pinioning the wings of 
 the dove, will by the next return affirm, that
 
 152 MEDITATIONS ON 
 
 girdles and garters, made to strengthen and 
 adorn, are so many shackles and fetters, which 
 hurt and hinder men's free motion. 
 
 Needful for some. Namely, for such who 
 as yet have not attained (what all should en- 
 deavour) to pray extempore by the spirit. But 
 as little children, to whom the plainest and 
 evenest room at first is a labyrinth, are so 
 ambitious of going alone, that they scorn to 
 take the guidance of a form or bench to direct 
 them, but will adventure by themselves, though 
 often to the cost of a knock and a fall. So 
 many confess their weakness in denying to 
 confess it, who, refusing to be beholden to 
 a set form of prayer, prefer to say nonsense 
 rather than nothing in their extempore expres- 
 sions. More modesty, and no less piety, it 
 had been for such men to have prayed longer 
 with set forms, that they might pray better 
 without them. 
 
 I 
 
 XII. THE SAME AGAIN. 
 
 T is no base and beggarly shift (arguing 
 a narrow and necessitous heart), but a 
 piece of holy and heavenly thrift, often to use 
 the same prayer again. Christ's practice is 
 Matth. mv directory herein, who the third time said 
 
 HVL44. , J J . 
 
 the same words.
 
 ALL KIND OF PRAYERS. 153 
 
 A good prayer is not like a stratagem in 
 war, to be used but once. No, the oftener 
 the better. The clothes of the Israelites, whilst 
 they wandered forty years in the wilderness, 
 never waxed old, as if made of perpetuano in- 
 deed. So a good prayer, though often used, 
 is still fresh and fair in the ears and eyes of 
 Heaven. 
 
 Despair not then, thou simple soul, who hast 
 no exchange of raiment, whose prayers can- 
 not appear every day at Heaven's court in 
 new clothes. Thou mayest be as good a sub- 
 ject, though not so great a gallant, coming 
 always in the same suit. Yea, perchance the 
 very same which was thy father's and grand- 
 father's before thee, (a well-composed prayer 
 is a good heir-loom in a family, and may he- 
 reditarily be descended to many generations,) 
 but know thy comfort, thy prayer is well 
 known to Heaven, to which it is a constant 
 customer. Only add new, or new degrees 
 of old affections thereunto, and it will be 
 acceptable to God thus repaired, as if new 
 erected. 
 
 M 
 
 XIII. MIXT PRAYERS. 
 
 IXT prayers are a methodical compo- 
 sition (no casual confusion) of extern-
 
 154 MEDITATIONS ON 
 
 pore and premeditate prayers put together. 
 Wherein the standers still are the same, and 
 the essential parts (confession of sin, begging 
 of pardon, craving grace for the future, thank- 
 ing God for former favours, &c.), like the 
 bones of the prayer, remain always unaltered. 
 Whilst the movable petitions (like the flesh 
 and colour of thy prayers) are added, abridged, 
 or altered, as God's spirit adviseth and ena- 
 bleth us, according to the emergencies of pres- 
 ent occasions. 
 
 In the midland sea, galleys are found to be 
 most useful, which partly run on the legs of 
 oars, and partly fly with the wings of sails, 
 whereby they become serviceable both in a 
 wind and in a calm. Such the conveniency 
 of mixt prayer, wherein infused and acquired 
 graces meet together, and men partly move 
 with the breath of the Holy Spirit, partly row 
 on by their own industry. Such medley pray- 
 ers are most useful, as having the steadiness of 
 premeditate, and the activity of extemporary 
 prayer joined together. 
 
 XIV. TAKE YOUR COMPANY ALONG. 
 
 IT is no disgrace for such who have the 
 gift and grace of extemporary prayer some- 
 times to use a set form, for the benefit and
 
 ALL KIND OF PRAYERS. 155 
 
 behoof of others. Jacob, though he could have 
 marched on at a man's pace, yet was careful 
 not to over-drive the children and ewes big Gen - xxxUi - 
 
 13. 
 
 with young. Let ministers remember to bring 
 up the rear in their congregations, that the 
 meanest may go along with them in their de- 
 votions. 
 
 God would have created the world extem- 
 pore, in a moment, but was pleased (as I 
 may say) to make it premeditately, in a set 
 method of six days, not for his own ease, 
 but our instruction, that our heads and hearts 
 might the better keep pace with his hands, 
 to behold and consider his workmanship. 
 
 Let no man disdain to set his own nim- 
 bleness backward, that others may go along 
 with him. Such degrading one's self is the 
 quickest proceeding in piety, when men pre- 
 fer the edification of others before their own 
 credit and esteem. 
 
 XV. PRAYER MUST BE QUOTIDIAN. 
 
 AMONGST other arguments enforcing the 
 necessity of daily prayer, this not the 
 least, that Christ enjoins us to petition for daily 
 bread. New bread we know is best; and in 
 a spiritual sense, our bread, though in itself 
 as stale and mouldy as that of the Gibeonites,
 
 156 MEDITATIONS ON 
 
 is every day new, because a new and hot 
 blessing, as I might say, is daily begged, and 
 bestowed of God upon it. 
 
 Manna must daily be gathered, and not pro- 
 visionally be hoarded up. God expects that 
 men every day address themselves unto him, 
 by petitioning him for sustenance. 
 
 How contrary is this to the common prac- 
 tice of many. As camels in sandy countries 
 are said to drink but once in seven days, and 
 then in prcesens, prceteritum^ et futurum, for 
 time past, present, and to come, so many 
 fumble this, last, and next week's devotion 
 all in a prayer. Yea, some defer all their 
 praying till the last day. 
 
 Constantine had a conceit, that because bap- 
 tism washed away all sins, he would not be 
 baptized till his death-bed, that so his soul might 
 never lose the purity thereof, but immediately 
 mount to heaven. But sudden death prevent- 
 ing him, he was not baptized at all, as some 
 say, or only by an Arian bishop, as others 
 affirm. If any erroneously, on the same sup- 
 position, put off their prayers to the last, let 
 them take heed, lest long delayed, at last 
 they prove either none at all or none in ef- 
 fect.
 
 ALL KIND OF PRAYERS. 157 
 
 XVI. THE LORD'S PRAYER. 
 
 IN this age we begin to think meanly of the 
 Lord's prayer ; O how basely may the Lord 
 think of our prayers ! Some will not forgive 
 the Lord's prayer for that passage therein, as 
 we forgive them that trespass against us. 
 
 Others play the witches on this prayer. 
 Witches are reported (amongst many other 
 hellish observations, whereby they oblige them- 
 selves to Satan) to say the Lord's prayer back- 
 wards. Are there not many, who, though they 
 do not pronounce the syllables of the Lord's 
 prayer retrograde (their discretion will not suf- 
 fer them to be betrayed to such a nonsense sin), 
 yet they transpose it in effect, desiring their 
 daily bread before God's kingdom come, pre- 
 ferring temporal benefits before heavenly bless- 
 ings. O, if every one by this mark should be 
 tried for a witch, how hard would it go with all 
 of us ! Lamiarum plena sunt omnia. 
 
 XVII. ALL BEST. 
 
 AT the siege and taking of New Carthage in 
 Spain, there was a dissension betwixt the 
 soldiers, about the crown mural due to him who 
 first footed the walls of the city. Two pretended 
 to the crown : parts were taken, and the Roman
 
 158 MEDITATIONS ON 
 
 army, siding in factions, was likely to fall foul, 
 Plutarch in and mutually fight against itself. Scipio the 
 
 Scipio'8 J \ , ./ 
 
 Life, p. general prevented the danger by providing two 
 187 - mural crowns, giving one to each who claimed 
 it, affirming that, on the examination of the 
 proofs, both did appear to him at the same 
 instant to climb the wall. O let us not set 
 several kinds of prayers at variance betwixt 
 themselves which of them should be most 
 useful, most honorable. All are most excel- 
 lent at several times, crown-groans, crown-ejac- 
 ulations, crown-extemporary, crown-set, crown- 
 mixed prayer ; I dare boldly say, he that in 
 some measure loves not all kind of lawful pray- 
 ers, loves no kind of lawful prayers. For if we 
 love God the Father, we can hate no ordinance, 
 his child, though perchance an occasion may 
 affect one above another. 
 
 XVIII. ALL MANNER OF PRAYER. 
 
 IT is an ancient stratagem of Satan, (yet still 
 he useth it, still men are cheated by it,) to set 
 God's ordinance at variance, as the disciples fell 
 out amongst themselves, which of them should be 
 the greatest. How hath the reader's pew been 
 clashed against the preacher's pulpit, to the 
 shaking almost of the whole church, whether 
 that the word preached or read be most effectual
 
 ALL KIND OF PRAYERS. 159 
 
 to salvation. Also, whether the word preached 
 or catechised be most useful. But no ordi- 
 nance so abused as prayer. Prayer hath been 
 set up against preaching, against catechising, 
 against itself. Whether public or private, church 
 or closet, set or extempore prayer be the best. 
 See how St. Paul determines the controversy, 
 Trda-r) Trpoaevxfj, with all manner of prayer (so ^ g phes ' T1> 
 the Geneva translation) and supplication in the 
 spirit. Preferring none, commending all lawful 
 prayer to our practice. 
 
 XIX. TO GOD ALONE. 
 
 AMONGST all manner of prayer to God, I 
 find in Scripture neither promise, precept, 
 nor precedent to warrant prayers to saints. And 
 were there no other reason, this would encour- 
 age me to pray to Christ alone, because 
 
 St. Paul struck Elimas blind ; Christ made 
 blind Bartimeus see. St. Peter killed Ananias 
 and Sapphira with his word ; Christ with his 
 word revived dead Lazarus. The disciples for- 
 bade the Syrophoenician woman to call after 
 Christ, Christ called unto her after they had 
 forbidden her. All my Saviour's works are 
 saving works, none extending to the death of 
 mankind. 
 
 Surely Christ, being now in heaven, hath not
 
 160 
 
 MEDITATIONS. 
 
 less goodness because he hath more glory, his 
 bowels still yearn on us. I will therefore rather 
 present my prayers to him who always did heal, 
 than to those who sometimes did hurt. 
 And though this be no convincing ar- 
 gument to Papists, it is a comfort- 
 able motive to Protestants. 
 A good third, where so 
 good firsts and sec- 
 onds have been 
 laid be- 
 fore.
 
 OCCASIONAL MEDITATIONS. 
 
 I. LOVE AND ANGER. 
 
 SAW two children fighting together 
 in the street. The father of the one 
 passing by, fetched his son away and 
 corrected him ; the . other lad was 
 left without any check, though both were equal- 
 ly faulty in the fray. I was half offended, that 
 being guilty alike, they were not punished 
 alike : but the parent would only meddle with 
 him over whom he had an undoubted dominion, 
 to whom he bare an unfeigned affection. 
 
 The wicked sin, the godly smart most in this 
 world. God singleth out his own sons, and 
 beateth them by themselves ; whom he loveth iieb. m. e 
 he chasteneth. Whilst the ungodly, preserved 
 from affliction, are reserved for destruction. It 
 being needless that their hair should be shaved is. vii. 20. 
 with a hired razor, whose heads are intended for Matth - Ui - 
 the axe of divine justice. 
 
 14
 
 162 OCCASIONAL MEDITATIONS. 
 
 H 
 
 II. UPWARDS, UPWARDS. 
 
 OW large houses do they build in Lon- 
 don on little ground ! Revenging them- 
 selves on the narrowness of their room with 
 store of stories. Excellent arithmetic ! from the 
 root of one floor to multiply so many chambers. 
 And though painful the climbing up, pleasant 
 the staying there, the higher the healthfuller, 
 with clearer light and sweeter air. 
 
 Small are my means on earth. May I mount 
 my soul the higher in heavenly meditations, re- 
 lying on Divine Providence ; He that fed many 
 Matth. xiv. thousands with five loaves, may feed me and 
 mine with the fifth part of that one loaf, that 
 once all mine. Higher, my soul ! higher ! In 
 bodily buildings, commonly the garrets are most 
 empty, but my mind, the higher mounted, will 
 be the better furnished. Let perseverance to 
 death be my uppermost chamber, the roof of 
 which grace is the pavement of glory. 
 
 III. BEWARE, WANTON WIT. 
 
 I SAW an indenture too fairly engrossed ; 
 for the writer (better scrivener than clerk) 
 had so filled it with flourishes that it hindered 
 my reading thereof; the wantonness of his pen 
 made a new alphabet, and I was subject to mis- 
 take his dashes for real letters.
 
 OCCASIONAL MEDITATIONS. 163 
 
 What damage hath unwary rhetoric done to 
 religion ! Many an innocent reader hath taken 
 Damascene and Theophilact at their word, 
 counting their eloquent hyperboles of Christ's 
 presence in the sacrament, the exact standards 
 of their judgment, whence after ages brought 
 in transubstantiation. Yea, from the Father's 
 elegant apostrophes to the dead (lively pictures 
 by hasty eyes may be taken for living persons), 
 prayers to saints took their original. I see that 
 truth's secretary must use a set hand in writing 
 important points of divinity. Ill dancing for 
 nimble wits on the precipices of dangerous doc- 
 trines. For though they escape by their agility, 
 others (encouraged by their examples) may be 
 brought to destruction. 
 
 IV. ILL DONE, UNDONE. 
 
 I SAW one, whether out of haste or want of 
 skill, put up his sword the wrong way; it 
 cut even when it was sheathed, the edge being 
 transposed where the back should have been; 
 so that, perceiving his error, he was fain to 
 draw it out, that he might put it up again. 
 
 Wearied and wasted with civil war, we that 
 formerly loathed the manna of peace, because 
 common, could now be content to feed on it, 
 though full of worms and putrefied : some so
 
 164 OCCASIONAL MEDITATIONS. 
 
 desirous thereof, that they care not on what 
 terms the war be ended, so it be ended: but 
 such a peace would be but a truce, and the 
 conditions thereof would no longer be in force 
 than whilst they are in force. Let us pray that 
 the sword be sheathed the right way, with 
 God's glory ; and without the dangerous dislo- 
 cation, of prince and people's right : otherwise it 
 may justly be suspected, that the sword put up 
 will be drawn out again, and the articles of an 
 ill agreement, though engrossed in parchment, 
 not take effect so long as paper would continue. 
 
 V. APACE APACE. 
 
 ROWING on the Thames, the waterman 
 confirmed me in what formerly I had 
 learnt from the maps ; how that river, west- 
 ward, runs so crooked, as likely to lose itself in 
 a labyrinth of its own making. From Reading 
 to London by land, thirty ; by water a hundred 
 miles. So wantonly that stream disporteth 
 itself, as if as yet unresolved whether to advance 
 to the sea or retreat to its fountain. 
 
 But the same being past London, (as if sen- 
 sible of its former laziness, and fearing to be 
 checked of the ocean, the mother of all rivers, 
 for so long loitering ; or else, as if weary with 
 wandering, and loath to lose more way; or
 
 Heb. xu. 
 13. 
 
 OCCASIONAL MEDITATIONS. 165 
 
 lastly, as if conceiving such wildness inconsist- 
 ent with the gravity of his channel, now grown 
 old, and ready to be buried in the sea,) runs in 
 so direct a line, that from London to Gravesend 
 the number of the miles are equally twenty 
 both by land and by water. 
 
 Alas ! how much of my life is lavished away ? 
 O the intricacies, windings, wanderings, turn- 
 ings, tergiversations, of my deceitful youth ! I 
 have lived in the midst of a crooked generation, PM. u. is. 
 and with them have turned aside unto crooked Psalm 
 
 CXXT. 5. 
 
 ways. High time it is now for me to make 
 straight paths for my feet, and to redeem what 
 is past by amending what is present and to 
 come. Flux, flux (in the German tongue quick, 
 quick) was a motto of Bishop Jewel's, pre- ^ his Life 
 saging the approach of his death. May I make 
 good use thereof; make haste, make haste, God 
 knows how little time is left me, and may I be 
 a good husband to improve the short remnant 
 thereof. 
 
 VI. ALWAYS THE RISING SUN. 
 
 I HAVE wondered why the Romish Church 
 do not pray to Saint Abraham, Saint David, 
 Saint Hezekiah, &c., as well as to the apostles 
 and their successors since Christ's time ; for 
 those ancient patriarchs, by the confession of 
 
 15
 
 166 OCCASIONAL MEDITATIONS. 
 
 Papists, were long since relieved out of limbo 
 (soon out who were never in), and admitted 
 to the sight and presence of God. Especially 
 Abraham, being father of the faithful, as well 
 Gentile as Jew, would (according to their prin 
 ciples) be a proper patron for their petitions. 
 
 But it seems that modern saints rob the old 
 ones of their honour ; a Garnet, or late Bernard 
 of Paris, have severally more prayers made 
 unto them than many old saints have together. 
 Jer. ii. is. New besoms sweep clean ; new cisterns of fond 
 men's own hewing most likely to hold water. 
 
 Protestants, in some kind, serve their living 
 ministers as Papists their dead saints. For aged 
 pastors, who have borne the heat of the day in 
 our Church, are justled out of respect by young 
 preachers, not having half their age, nor a quar- 
 ter of their learning and religion. Yet let not 
 the former be disheartened, for thus it ever was 
 and will be: English Athenians, all for novel- 
 ties, new sects, new schisms, new doctrines, new 
 disciplines, new prayers, new preachers. 
 
 VII. CHARITY, CHARITY. 
 
 HURCH story reports of Saint John, that 
 being grown very aged (wellnigh a hun- 
 dred years old), wanting strength and voice to 
 make a long sermon, he was wont to go up into
 
 OCCASIONAL MEDITATIONS. 167 
 
 the pulpit, and often repeat these words : Babes, 
 keep yourselves from idols ; brethren, love one 
 another. 
 
 Our age may seem sufficiently to have pro- 
 vided against the growth of idolatry in England. 
 O that some order were taken for the increase 
 of charity ! It were liberty enough, if for the 
 next seven years all sermons were bound to 
 keep residence on this text : Brethren, love one 
 another. 
 
 But would not some fall out with themselves, 
 if appointed to preach unity to others ? Vin- 
 dictive spirits, if confined to this text, would 
 confine the text to their passion ; by brethren 
 understanding only such of their own party. 
 But O ! seeing other monopolies are dissolved, 
 let not this remain against the fundamental law 
 of charity. Let all bend their heads, hearts, 
 and hands, to make up the breaches in church 
 and state. But too many now-a-days are like 
 Pharaoh's magicians, who could conjure up with Exod> viii - 
 their charms more new frogs, but could not 
 remove or drive away those multitudes of frogs 
 which were there before. Unhappily happy 
 in making more rents and dissensions, but un- 
 able or unwilling to compose our former dif- 
 ferences.
 
 168 OCCASIONAL MEDITATIONS. 
 
 I 
 
 VIII. THE SENSIBLE PLANT. 
 
 HEARD much of a sensible plant, and 
 counted it a senseless relation (a rational 
 beast, carrying as little contradiction), until, be- 
 holding it, mine eyes ushered my judgment into 
 a belief thereof. My comprehension thereof is 
 this. God having made three great stairs (vege- 
 table, sensible, and reasonable creatures), that 
 men thereby might climb up into the knowledge 
 of a Deity, hath placed some things of a middle 
 nature as half paces betwixt the stairs, so to 
 make the step less, and the ascent more easy for 
 our meditations. 
 
 Thus this active plant, with visible motion, 
 doth border and confine on sensible creatures. 
 Thus in Afric, some most agile and intelligent 
 mannasites may seem to shake (forefeet shall I 
 say, or) hands with the rudest savages of that 
 country, as not much more than one remove 
 from them in knowledge and civility. 
 
 But by the same proportion may not man, by 
 custom and improvement of piety, mount him- 
 self near to an angelical nature. Such was 
 Gen. v. 22. Enoch, who, whilst living on earth, walked with 
 Phii.iu.2o. God. O may our conversation be in heaven. 
 For shall a plant take a new degree and proceed 
 sensible, and shall man have his grace stayed for 
 want of sufficiency, and not whilst living here
 
 OCCASIONAL MEDITATIONS. 169 
 
 commence angel, in his holy and heavenly affec- 
 tions ? 
 
 IX. CHRIST MY KING. 
 
 I READ how King Edward the First inge- 
 niously surprised the Welsh into subjection, 
 proffering them such a prince as should be, 
 
 1. The son of a king. 
 
 2. Born in their own country. 
 
 3. Whom none could tax for any fault. 
 
 The Welsh accepted the conditions, and the 
 king tendered them his son Edward, an infant, 
 newly born in the castle of Carnarvon. 
 
 Do not all these qualifications mystically cen- 
 tre themselves in my Saviour ? 
 
 1. The King of heaven saith unto him, Thou Psaim . r 
 art my son, this day have I begotten thee. 
 
 2. Our true countryman, real flesh, whereas 
 he took not on him the nature of angels. 
 
 3. Without spot or blemish, like to us in all 
 things, sin only excepted. 
 
 Away, then, with those wicked men who will Luk 
 not have this King to rule over them. May he 
 have dominion in and over me. Thy kingdom 
 come. Heaven and earth cannot afford a more 
 proper prince for the purpose, exactly accom- 
 plished with all these comfortable qualifica- 
 tions. 
 
 e xix. 
 
 14.
 
 170 OCCASIONAL MEDITATIONS. 
 
 I 
 
 X. TRIBULATION. 
 
 FIND two sad etymologies of tribulation. 
 One from tribulm, a three-forked thorn, 
 which intimates that such afflictions, which are 
 as full of pain and anguish unto the soul as a 
 thorn thrust into a tender part of the flesh is 
 unto the body, may properly be termed tribula- 
 tions. 
 
 The other from tribulus, the head of a flail, or 
 flagel, knaggy and knotty, (made commonly, as I 
 take it, of a thick black thorn,) and then it im- 
 ports, that afflictions falling upon us as heavy as 
 the flail threshing the corn are styled tribula- 
 tions. 
 
 I am in a strait which deduction to embrace, 
 from the sharp or from the heavy thorn. But, 
 which is the worst, though I may choose whence 
 to derive the word, I cannot choose so as to 
 Acts xiv. d ec } me the thing ; I must through much tribula- 
 tion enter into the kingdom of God. 
 
 Therefore I will labour, not to be like a young 
 colt, first set to plough, which more tires him- 
 self out with his own untowardness (whipping 
 himself with his misspent mettle) than with the 
 weight of what he draws : and will labour 
 
 O * 
 
 patiently to bear what is imposed upon me.
 
 OCCASIONAL MEDITATIONS. 171 
 
 XI. BEWARE. 
 
 I SAW a cannon shot off. The men at whom 
 it was levelled fell flat on the ground, and so 
 escaped the bullet. Against such blows, falling 
 is all the fencing, and prostration all the armour 
 of proof. 
 
 But that which gave them notice to fall down, 
 was their perceiving of the fire before the ord- 
 nance was discharged. O the mercy of that 
 fire ! which, as it were, repenting of the mis- 
 chief it had done, and the murder it might 
 make, ran a race, and outstript the bullet, that 
 men (at the sight thereof) might be provided, 
 when they could not resist, to prevent it. Thus 
 every murdering piece is also a warning piece 
 against itself. 
 
 God, in like manner, warns before he wounds ; 
 frights before he fights. Yet forty days and 
 Nineveh shall be destroyed. O let us fall down 
 before the Lord our maker ; then shall his anger 
 be pleased to make in us a daily passover, and 
 his bullets, levelled at us, shall fly above us. 
 
 XII. THE FIRST-FRUITS. 
 
 PAPISTS observe (such are curious priers 
 into Protestants' carriage) that charity in 
 England lay in a swoon from the dissolution of
 
 172 OCCASIONAL MEDITATIONS. 
 
 abbeys, in the reign of King Henry the Eighth, 
 till about the tenth of Queen Elizabeth. 
 
 As if in that age of ruin none durst raise 
 religious buildings, and as if the axe and ham- 
 mer, so long taught to beat down, had forgot 
 their former use to build up for pious intents. 
 See Cam- At last comes William Lambert, Esquire, and 
 in Kent,' p. fi rst founds an hospital at Greenwich in Kent, 
 327 - calling that his society, (like politic Joab, after 
 2 Sam. xii. D av id's name,) the poor people of Queen Eliza- 
 beth. And after this worthy man followed many, 
 that we may almost dazzle Papists' eyes with 
 the light of Protestant good works. The same 
 Papists, perchance, may now conceive charity so 
 disheartened in our days by these civil wars and 
 the consequences thereof, that no Protestants 
 hereafter should be so desperate as to adventure 
 upon a public good deed. O for a Lambert 
 junior (and I hope some of his lineage are left 
 heirs to his lands and virtues), who shall break 
 through the ranks of all discouragements ; so 
 that now English Protestants, being to begin a 
 new score of good works, might from him date 
 their epoch. Such a charity deserves to be 
 knighted for the valour thereof.
 
 OCCASIONAL MEDITATIONS. 173 
 
 XIII. THE RECRUIT. 
 
 1READ how one main argument which the 
 Apostle Paul enforceth on Timothy, to make 
 full proof of his ministry, is this : For I am now aum.iv. 
 ready to be offered, and the time of my departure 
 is at hand. Thus the dying saints, drawing near 
 to heaven, their mark is the best spur for the 
 surviving to make the more speed in their 
 race. 
 
 How many excellent divines have these sad 
 times hastened to their long home (so called in 
 Scripture, not because long going thither, but 
 long [ever] tarrying there) ! How many have 
 been sorrow-shot to their heart ! O that this 
 would edge the endeavours of our generation, 
 to succeed in the dead places of worthy men ! 
 Shall the Papists curiously observe and suffi- 
 ciently boast, that their Stapleton was born on y- 
 the same day on which Sir Thomas More was pietoni. 
 beheaded, (as if his cradle made of the other's 
 coffin,) and shall not our nurseries of learning 
 supply the void rooms of our worthies deceased ? 
 No sin, I hope, to pray that our Timothies come 
 not short of our Pauls ; as in time, so in learn- 
 ing and religion. 
 
 Eccles. xii. 
 5.
 
 174 OCCASIONAL MEDITATIONS. 
 
 XIV. THE MONGREL. 
 
 1FIND the natural philosopher, making a 
 character of the lion's disposition, amongst 
 other his qualities reporteth, that first the lion 
 feedeth on men, and afterwards, if forced with 
 extremity of hunger, on women.* 
 
 Satan is a roaring lion, seeking whom he may 
 devour. Only he inverts the method, and in 
 his bill of fare takes the second course first. 
 Ever since he over-tempted our grandmother 
 Eve, encouraged with success, he hath preyed 
 first on the weaker sex. It seems he hath all 
 the vices, not the virtues, of that king of beasts ; 
 a wolf-lion, having his cruelty without his gen- 
 erosity. 
 
 XV. EDIFICATION. 
 
 1READ in a learned physician how our prov- 
 ident mother, Nature, foreseeing men (her 
 wanton children) would be tampering with 
 the edge-tools of minerals, hid them far from 
 them, in the bowels of the earth ; whereas she 
 exposed plants and herbs more obvious to their 
 eye, as fitter for their use. But some bold 
 empirics, neglecting the latter as too common, 
 
 * Iu viros priusquam in feminas saeviL Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. 
 viii. cap. 10.
 
 OCCASIONAL MEDITATIONS. 175 
 
 have adventured on those hidden minerals, oft- 
 times (through want of skill) to the hurt of 
 many, and hazard of more. 
 
 God, in the New Testament, hath placed 
 ah 1 historical and practical matter (needful for 
 Christians to know and believe) in the be- 
 ginning of the Gospel. All such truths lie 
 above ground, plainly visible in the literal 
 sense. The prophetical and difficult part comes 
 in the close. But though the Testament was 
 written in Greek, too many read it like He- 
 brew, beginning at the end thereof. How 
 many trouble themselves about the Revela- 
 tion, who might be better busied in plain 
 divinity ! Safer prescribing to others, and 
 practising in themselves, positive piety ; leav- 
 ing such mystical minerals to men of more 
 judgment to prepare them. 
 
 XVI. MAD, NOT MAD. 
 
 I FIND St. Paul in the same chapter confess 
 and deny madness in himself. Acts xxvi. 
 11 : And being exceeding mad against them, 
 I persecuted them even unto strange cities. 
 Ver. 25 : When Festus challenged him to be 
 beside himself, I am not mad, most noble 
 Festus. Whilst he was mad indeed, then 
 none did suspect or accuse him to be dis-
 
 176 OCCASIONAL MEDITATIONS. 
 
 tracted; but when converted, and in his right 
 mind, then Festus taxeth him of madness. 
 Munst. There is a country in Africa, wherein all 
 
 Cosmog. 
 
 the natives have pendulous lips, hanging down 
 like dog's ears, always raw and sore. Here 
 only such as are handsome are pointed at for 
 monsters in this age, wherein polluted and un- 
 clean lips are grown epidemical ; if any refrain 
 their tongues from common sins, they alone 
 are gazed at as strange spectacles. 
 
 XVII. THE DEEPEST CUT. 
 
 BEHELD a lapidary cutting a diamond 
 with a diamond hammer and anvil, both 
 of the same kind. 
 
 Mai. iii.i7. God in Scripture styled his servants his 
 jewels. His diamonds they are ; but alas ! 
 rude, rough, unpolished, without shape or fash- 
 ion, as they arise naked out of the bed of 
 the earth, before art hath dressed them. See 
 how God, by rubbing one rough diamond 
 against another, maketh both smooth. Bar- 
 n abas afflicts Paul, and Paul afflicts Barna- 
 
 39 
 
 bas, by their hot falling out ; Jerome occa- 
 sioneth trouble to Rufinus, and Rufinus to 
 Jerome. 
 
 In our unnatural war, none I hope so weak 
 and wilful as to deny many good men (though
 
 OCCASIONAL MEDITATIONS. 177 
 
 misled) engaged on both sides. O how have 
 they scratched, and rased, and pierced, and 
 bruised, and broken one another! Behold Heav- 
 en's hand grating one diamond with another; 
 as for all those who uncharitably deny any 
 good on that party which they dislike, 
 such show themselves diamonds in- 
 deed in their hardness (cruel 
 censuring), but none 
 in any commenda- 
 ble quality in 
 their condi- 
 tions.
 
 M IXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 IN BETTER TIMES. 
 
 LET YOUR MODERATION BE KNOWN TO ALL MEN. 
 THE LORD IS AT HAND.
 
 To 
 
 The Truly Honourable and Most Virtuous Lady, 
 THE LADY MONCK. 
 
 MADAM, 
 
 I HAD the happiness, some sixteen years since, to be 
 minister of that parish wherein your Ladyship had your 
 nativity, and this I humbly conceive doth afford me some 
 title to dedicate my weak endeavours to your Honour. 
 
 It is notoriously known in our English Chronicles, that 
 there was an ill May-day, Anno Dom. 1517, in the ninth 
 year of King Henry the Eighth, wherein much mischief was 
 done in London, the lives of many lost, and estates of more 
 confounded. 
 
 This last good May-day hath made plentiful amends for 
 that evil one, and hath laid a foundation for the happiness 
 of an almost ruined church and state ; which as under God 
 it was effected by the prudence and valour of your noble 
 and most renowned husband, so you are eminently known 
 to have had a finger, yea, a hand, yea, an arm happily 
 instrumental therein. God reward you with honour here, 
 and glory hereafter, which is the desire of millions in the 
 three nations, and amongst them of 
 
 Your Honour's most humble Servant, 
 
 Zion College, May 2, 1660. 
 
 THOMAS FULLER.
 
 'THE COURTEOUS READER. 
 
 'Ji- *Y^ -K JUSTLY presume thee too much 
 , Christian and gentleman to trample 
 on him who prostrates himself. I 
 . confess myself subject to just cen- 
 sure, that I have not severally sorted these 
 contemplations, setting such which are, 1. Of 
 Scripture ; 2. Historical ; 3. Occasional ; 4. 
 Personal ; distinctly by themselves, which now 
 are confusedly heaped, or rather huddled, to- 
 gether. 
 
 This I confess was caused by my haste, the 
 press hourly craving, with the daughter of the 
 horseleech, Give, give. 
 
 However, such a confused medley may pass 
 for the lively emblem of these times, the subject 
 of this our book. And when these times shall 
 be reduced into better order, my book, at the 
 next impression, may be digested into better 
 method. Meantime I remain 
 
 Thy Servant in Christ Jesus, 
 
 THOMAS FULLER
 
 MIX? CONTEMPLATIONS ON 
 THESE TIMES. 
 
 I. PLAY AN AFTER-GAME. 
 
 E read how at the rebuilding of 
 the walls of Jerusalem, Neh. iii. 
 12 : Next unto him repaired Shal- 
 lum, the son of Halohesh, he and 
 his daughters. Was it woman's work to handle 
 a trowel ? Did it consist with the modesty of 
 that sex to clamber scaffolds? 
 
 Surely those females did only repair by the 
 proxy of their purses, in which sense Solomon 
 is said to have built the temple. 
 
 Our weaker sex hath been overstrong in 
 making and widening the breaches in our Eng- 
 lish Zion, both by their purses and persuasions. 
 To redeem their credit, let them hereafter be 
 as active in building as heretofore they were in 
 breaking down. 
 
 Such wives, who not only lie in the bosoms, 
 but lodge in the affections, of loving husbands,
 
 186 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 who are empowered with places of command, 
 joining IMPORTUNITY to their OPPORTUNITY, may 
 be marvellously instrumental to the happiness 
 of our nation. 
 
 We read of Ahab, 1 Kings xxi. 25, that 
 none was like him, who sold himself to work 
 wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom 
 Jezebel his wife stirred up. By the same pro- 
 portion that person will prove peerless in piety, 
 who hath a godly consort in his bosom, season- 
 ably to incite him, who is so forward in himself 
 to all honorable actions. 
 
 II. MIRACULOUS CURE. 
 
 WE read, Luke xiii. 11, of a woman 
 who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen 
 years, and was bowed together, and could in 
 no wise lift up herself. This woman may pass 
 for the lively emblem of the English nation ; 
 from the year of our Lord 1642 (when our 
 wars first began) unto this present 1660, are 
 eighteen years in my arithmetic ; ah 1 which time 
 our land hath been bowed together, past possi- 
 bility of standing upright. 
 
 Some will say that the weight of heavy taxes 
 have caused this crookedness. But alas ! this 
 is the least and lightest of all things I reflect at 
 in this allusion. It is chiefly the weight of our
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 187 
 
 sins, Heb. xii. 1, which doth so easily beset us. 
 Our mutual malice and animosities which have 
 caused this incurvation. 
 
 A pitiful posture wherein the face is made to 
 touch the feet, and the back is set above the 
 head. God in due time set us right, and keep 
 us right, that the head may be in its proper 
 place. Next the neck of the nobility, then the 
 breast of the gentry, the loins of the merchants 
 and citizens, the thighs of the yeomanry, the 
 legs and feet of artificers and day-laborers. As 
 for the clergy (here by me purposely omitted) 
 what place soever shall be assigned them ; if 
 low, God grant patience ; if high, give humility 
 unto them. 
 
 When thus our land in God's leisure shall 
 be restored to its former rectitude, and set up- 
 right again, then I hope she may leave off her 
 steel bodies, which have galled her with wear- 
 ing them so long, and return again to her 
 peaceable condition. 
 
 III. HAND ON MOUTH. 
 
 IT is said, Gen. vi. 11, how before the flood 
 the earth was filled with violence. Some 
 will say, with Nicodemus, How can these things 
 be ? violence being relative, and requiring a 
 counterpart. Though such tyrants were ham-
 
 188 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 mers, others must be patient anvils for them to 
 smite upon. Such persons, purely passive in 
 oppression, were to be pitied, not punished ; to 
 be delivered, not drowned in the flood. 
 
 But the answer is easy, seeing we read in the 
 same chapter, ver. 5, that God saw that the 
 imagination of the thoughts of man was only 
 evil continually. God plainly perceived that the 
 sufferers of violence would have been offerers of 
 it, if empowered with might equal to their mal- 
 ice. Their cursedness was as sharp, though 
 their horns were not so long ; and what they 
 lacked in deed and actions, they made up in 
 desires and endeavours. So that in sending a 
 general deluge over all, God was clearly just, 
 and men justly miserable. 
 
 Let such Englishmen who have been of the 
 depressed party during our civil wars, enter into 
 a scrutiny and serious search of their own souls, 
 whether or no (if armed with power) they 
 would not have laid as great load on others as 
 themselves underwent. Yea, let them out of a 
 godly jealousy suspect more cruelty in themselves 
 than they can conceive. Then will they find 
 just cause to take the blame and shame on 
 themselves, and give God the glory that he 
 hath not drowned all in a general deluge of 
 destruction.
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 189 
 
 IV. AT LAST. 
 
 A LADY of quality, formerly forward to 
 promote our civil wars, and whose well- 
 intending zeal had sent in all her plate to Guild- 
 hall, was earnestly discoursing with a divine 
 concerning these times, a little before dinner ; 
 her face respecting the cupboard in the room, 
 which was furnished with plenty of pure Venice 
 glasses : " Now," said she, " I plainly perceive, 
 that I and many of my judgment have been 
 abused with the specious pretences of liberty and 
 religion, till in the indiscreet pursuance thereof 
 we are almost fallen into slavery and atheism." 
 
 To whom the other, betwixt jest and earnest, 
 replied : " Madam, it is no wonder that now 
 your eyes are opened ; for so long as this cup- 
 board was full of thick and massy plate, you 
 could perceive nothing through them ; but now 
 so many clear and transparent glasses are sub- 
 stituted in their room, all things are become 
 obvious to your intuition." 
 
 The possessing of superfluous wealth some- 
 times doth hinder our clear apprehensions of 
 matters ; like a pearl in the eye of the soul, 
 prejudicing the sight thereof; whilst poverty 
 may prove a good collyrium, or eye-salve unto 
 us, to make a true discovery of those things we 
 knew not before. 
 17
 
 190 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 V. MISTAKEN. 
 
 I BEHELD honour as of a mounting and 
 aspiring nature, and therefore I expected, 
 rationally enough as I conceive, to have found it 
 ascending to the clouds. 
 
 I looked upon wealth as what was massy, 
 ponderous, and by consequence probable to settle 
 and be firmly fixed on the earth. 
 
 But oh! how much is my expectation frus- 
 trated and defeated ! For David, Psalm vii. 5, 
 maketh mention of honour lying in the dust ; 
 and Solomon his son, Prov. xxiii. 5, informeth 
 me, how riches certainly make themselves wings, 
 and flee away as an eagle toward heaven : what 
 I looked for below is towered aloft, and what I 
 expected above is fallen below. 
 
 Our age hath afforded plentiful experiments 
 of both : honour was near the dust, when a new 
 nobility of a later stamp were in a fair likelihood 
 to have outshined those of a purer standard. 
 The wealth of the land doth begin (to use the 
 falconer's phrase), to fly to lessen. And if 
 these taxes continue, will soon fly out of sight. 
 So uncertain and unsafe it is for men to bottom 
 their happiness on any earthly perfection.
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 191 
 
 VI. TRUTH. 
 
 I SAW a traveller in a terrible tempest take 
 his seasonable shelter under a fair and thick 
 tree : it afforded him protection for a good time, 
 and secured him from the rain. 
 
 But, after that it held up, and was fair round 
 about, he unhappily continued under the tree so 
 long, till the droppings thereof made him soundly 
 wet, and he found more to condemn his weak- 
 ness than pity his wetting. 
 
 A Parliament is known to be the best refuge 
 and sanctuary to shelter us from the tempest of 
 violence and oppression. It is sometimes the 
 sole, and always the surest, remedy in that kind. 
 But alas ! the late Parliament lasted so long, 
 that it began to be the grievance of the nation, 
 after that the most and best members thereof 
 were violently excluded. 
 
 The remedy turned the malady of the land, 
 and we were in fear to be drowned by the 
 droppings of that tree, if God of his gracious 
 goodness had not put an unexpected period to 
 their power. 
 
 A 
 
 VII. AFTER-BORN. 
 
 LADY big with child was condemned to 
 perpetual imprisonment, and in the dun-
 
 192 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 geon was delivered of a son, who continued with 
 her till a boy of some bigness. It happened 
 that one time he heard his mother (for see 
 neither of them could, as to discern in so dark a 
 place) bemoan her condition. 
 
 Why, mother, (said the child,) do you com- 
 plain, seeing you want nothing you can wish, 
 having clothes, meat, and drink sufficient ? Alas ! 
 child, (returned the mother,) I lack liberty, con- 
 verse with Christians, the light of the sun, and 
 many things more, which thou, being prison- 
 born, neither art nor can be sensible of in thy 
 condition. 
 
 The post-nati, understand thereby such strip- 
 lings born in England since the death of mon- 
 archy therein, conceive this land, their mother, 
 to be in a good estate. For one fruitful harvest 
 followeth another, commodities are sold at rea- 
 sonable rates, abundance of brave clothes are 
 worn in the city, though not by such persons 
 whose birth doth best become, but whose purses 
 can best bestow them. 
 
 But their mother, England, doth justly bemoan 
 the sad difference betwixt her present and for- 
 mer condition, when she enjoyed full and free 
 trade without payment of taxes, save so small 
 they seemed rather an acknowledgment of their 
 allegiance than a burden to their estate ; when 
 she had the court of a king, the House of Lords,
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 193 
 
 yea, and the Lord's house, decently kept, con- 
 stantly frequented, without falsehood in doctrine, 
 or faction in discipline. God of his goodness 
 restore unto us so much of these things as may 
 consist with his glory and our good. 
 
 VIII. A HEAP OF PEARLS. 
 
 1SAW a servant maid, at the command of 
 her mistress, make, kindle, and blow a fire. 
 Which done, she was posted away about other 
 business, whilst her mistress enjoyed the benefit 
 of the fire. Yet I observed that this servant, 
 whilst industriously employed in the kindling 
 thereof, got a more general, kindly, and contin- 
 uing heat than her mistress herself. Her heat 
 was only by her, and not in her, staying with 
 her no longer than she stayed by the chimney ; 
 whilst the warmth of the maid was inlaid, and 
 equally diffused through the whole body. 
 
 An estate suddenly gotten is not so lasting to 
 the owner thereof, as what is duly got by industry. 
 The substance of the diligent, saith Solomon, 
 Prov. xii. 27, is precious. He cannot be counted 
 poor that hath so many pearls, precious brown 
 bread, precious small beer, precious plain clothes, 
 &c. A comfortable consideration in this our age, 
 wherein many hands have learned their lesson of 
 labour, who were neither born nor bred unto it.
 
 194 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 IX. SILENT SADNESS. 
 
 TWO captains on the same side in our civil 
 wars, discoursing together, one of them 
 (with small cause and without any measure) did 
 intolerably boast of his personal performances, as 
 if he had been of the quorum in all considerable 
 actions ; at last, not ashamed of, but weaned 
 with his own loquacity, he desired the other 
 captain to relate what service he had done in 
 these wars ; to whom he returned, " Other men 
 can tell you of that." 
 
 We meet with many, living at the sign of the 
 Royalist, who much brag of their passive ser- 
 vices (I mean their sufferings) in the late war. 
 But that spoke in the wheel which creaketh 
 most doth not bear the greatest burden in the 
 cart. The loudest criers are not always the 
 largest losers. 
 
 How much hath Sir John Stowel lost ? How 
 many new gentlemen have started up out of the 
 estate of that ancient knight ? What hath the 
 Lord Craven lost ? Whether more, or more 
 unjustly, hard to decide ? Others can tell of 
 their and many other men's sufferings, whilst 
 they themselves hold their peace. 
 
 Here we dare not speak of him who, though 
 the greatest loser of all, speaketh nothing of him- 
 self; and therefore his silence putteth a greater
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 195 
 
 obligation on us, both to pity him here on earth, 
 and pray for him to Heaven. 
 
 X. LOST AND KEPT. 
 
 THIS seeming paradox will, on examination, 
 prove a real truth, viz. that though Job 
 lost his seven thousand sheep consumed by fire 
 of God, Job i. 16, (understand it, by his per- 
 mission, and Satan's immission,) yet he still 
 kept the wool of many of them. 
 
 For Job, in the vindication of his integrity, 
 (not to praise but purge himself,) doth relate, 
 how the loins of the poor blessed him, being 
 warmed with the fleece of his sheep (Job xxxi. 
 20). So much of his wool (in the cloth made 
 thereof) he secured in a safe hand, lending it 
 to God (in poor people), Prov. xix. 17, as the 
 best of debtors, being most able and willing to 
 repay it. 
 
 Such as have been plundered of their estates 
 in these wars may content and comfort them- 
 selves with this consideration, that so long as 
 they enjoyed plenty they freely parted with a 
 proportion thereof to the relief of the poor : 
 what they gave, that they have ; it still remain- 
 eth theirs, and is safely laid up for them in a 
 place where rust and moth do not corrupt, nor 
 thieves break through and steal.
 
 196 MIKT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 XI. ALL. 
 
 THE Magdeburgenses, out of a spirit of op- 
 position to the Papists, over-prizing the 
 person and actions of St. Peter, do, in my mind, 
 on the other side too much decry him, causelessly 
 cavilling at his words to our Saviour (Mark x. 
 28) : Ecce reliquimus omnia, Behold, we have 
 left all and followed thee. 
 
 What, say they, had he left ? He maketh 
 as if he had left great matters, and a mighty 
 estate ; whereas this his all was not more than 
 an old ship, some few rotten nets, and such- 
 like inconsiderable accommodations. 
 
 But Bellarmine (always ingenuous, sometimes 
 satirical) payeth them home for their causeless 
 exception against that Apostle : What ! saith 
 he, would they have him have left more than 
 he had ? All was all, how little soever it was. 
 
 Different, I confess, is the standard and meas- 
 ure of men's losses in this time. Some, in 
 preserving of their consciences, have lost man- 
 ners ; others farms, others cottages. Some 
 have had a hin, others a homer, others an 
 ephdh of afflictions. However, those men must 
 on all hands be allowed the greatest losers who 
 have lost all (how small soever that their all 
 was), and who, with the widow (Mark xii. 
 44), have parted with oXov rov ftlov avr&v, 
 all their livelihood.
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 197 
 
 XII. GOOD ACCOUNTANT. 
 
 1WAS present in the West country some 
 twenty-five years since, when a bishop made 
 a partage of money collected by a brief amongst 
 such who in a village had been sufferers by 
 a casual fire ; one of whom brought in the 
 inventory of his losses far above all belief. 
 
 Being demanded how he could make out his 
 losses to so improbable a proportion, he alleged 
 the burning of a pear-tree growing hard by 
 his house, valuing the same at twenty years' 
 purchase, and the pears at twenty shillings per 
 annum, presuming every one would be a bear- 
 ing year ; and by such windy particulars did 
 blow up his losses to the sum by him nom- 
 inated. 
 
 Some pretend in these wars to have lost 
 more thousands than ever they were possessed 
 of hundreds. These reckon in, not only what 
 they had, but what they might, yea, would 
 have had. They compute not only their pos- 
 sessions, but reversions, yea, their probabili- 
 ties, possibilities, and impossibilities also, which 
 they might desire, but could never hope to 
 obtain. 
 
 The worst is, I might term many of these 
 men anti-Mephibosheths, who, out of his loyalty 
 to David, 2 Sam. xix. 30, Let them take all,
 
 198 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 said he, forasmuch as my lord the king is come 
 home again in peace unto his own house. But 
 these, except they may have all, and more than 
 all, they ever possessed, care not a whit whether 
 or no the king ever return; so unconcerned 
 are they in his condition. 
 
 XIII. NO TITTLE OF TITLE. 
 
 TWO young gentlemen were comparing 
 their revenues together, vying which of 
 them were the best. My demesnes, saith the 
 one, is worth two, but mine, saith the other, is 
 worth four hundred pounds a year. 
 
 My farms, saith the one, are worth four, but 
 mine, saith the other, are worth eight hundred 
 pounds a year. 
 
 My estate, saith the one, is my own, to which 
 the other returned no answer, as conscious to 
 himself that he kept what lawfully belonged to 
 another. 
 
 I care no^ how small my means be, so they 
 be my means : I mean my own without any 
 injury to others. What is truly gotten may be 
 comfortably kept. What is otherwise may be 
 possessed, but not enjoyed. 
 
 Upon the question, What is the worst bread 
 which is eaten? One answered, in respect of 
 the coarseness thereof, Bread made of beans.
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 199 
 
 Another said, Bread made of acorns. But the 
 third hit the truth, who said, Bread taken out 
 of other men's mouths, who are the true pro- 
 prietaries thereof. Such bread may be sweet 
 in the mouth to taste, but is not wholesome in 
 the stomach to digest. 
 
 XIV. FREELY, FREELY. 
 
 A GRAVE divine in the West country, 
 (familiarly known unto me,) conceiving 
 himself over-taxed, repaired to one of the gov- 
 ernors of the king's garrisons for to move for 
 some mitigation. 
 
 The governor perceiving the satin cap of this 
 divine to be torn, Fie, fie, said he, that a man 
 of your quality should wear such a cap ; the 
 rats have gnawed it. O no, sir, answered he, 
 the rates have gnawed it. 
 
 The print or impression of the teeth of taxes 
 is visible in the clothes of many men, yea, it 
 hath corroded holes in many men's estates. 
 Yea, as Hatto, Archbishop of Mentz, is reported Monster's 
 
 , , , , Cosmog. in 
 
 to have been eaten up by rats, so the vermin German. 
 of taxes, if continuing, is likely to devour our 
 nation. 
 
 However, let us not in the least degree now 
 grudge the payment thereof. Let us now pay 
 taxes that we may never pay taxes ; for, as
 
 200 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 matters now stand, our freeness at the present 
 may cause our freedom at the future, if once 
 the arrears of the army and navy were dis- 
 charged. 
 
 I care not how much I am let blood, so it be 
 not by the adventure of an empiric, but advice 
 of a physician, who I am sure will take no more 
 ounces from me than may consist with my 
 safety, and need doth require. Such the piety 
 and policy of the present Parliament, they will 
 impose no more payments than the necessity of 
 the estate doth extort. The rather because 
 they are persons (blessed be God) of the primest 
 quality in the nation, and let us blood through 
 their own veins, the greatest part of the pay- 
 ments they impose lighting first on their own 
 estates. 
 
 XV. CRY WITHOUT CAUSE, AND BE 
 WHIPT. 
 
 I HAVE known the city of London almost 
 forty years, their shops did ever sing the 
 same tune, that trading was dead. Even in the 
 reign of King James (when they wanted noth- 
 ing but thankfulness) this was their complaint. 
 . It is just with God, that they who com- 
 plained without cause should have just cause to 
 complain. Trading, which then was quick, and
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 201 
 
 in health, hath since been sick, yea, in a swoon, 
 yea, dead, yea, buried. There is a vacation in 
 the shops in the midst of high term ; and if 
 shops be in a consumption, ships will not be 
 long in good health. 
 
 Yet I know not whether to call this decay of 
 trade in London a mishap or a happy miss. 
 Probably the city, if not pinched with poverty, 
 had never regained her wealth. 
 
 XVI. SPRING BEGAN. 
 
 1MEET with two etymologies of bonfires. 
 Some deduce it from fires made of bones, 
 relating it to the burning of martyrs, first fash- 
 ionable in England in the reign of King Henry 
 the Fourth. But others derive the word (more 
 truly in my mind) from boon, that is, good, and 
 fires ; whether good be taken here for great, or 
 for merry and cheerful, such fires being always 
 made on welcome occasions. 
 
 Such an occasion happened at London last 
 February, 1659. I confess the llth of March 
 is generally beheld as the first day of the spring, 
 but hereafter London (and in it all England) 
 may date its vernal heat (after a long winter of 
 woes and war) from the llth of February. 
 
 On which day so many boon-fires (the best 
 new lights I ever saw in that city) were made ;
 
 202 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 although I believe the fagots themselves knew 
 as much as some who laid them on for what 
 purpose those fires were made. 
 
 The best is, such fires were rather prophetical 
 than historical, not so much telling as foretelling 
 the condition of that city and our nation, which, 
 by God's gracious goodness, is daily bettered 
 and improved. 
 
 But O the excellent boon-fire which the con- 
 verted Ephesians made, Acts xix. 19 : Many 
 also of them which used curious arts brought 
 their books together, and burned them before 
 all men : and they counted the price of them, 
 and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. 
 
 What was a pint of ashes worth, according to 
 that proportion. But oh ! in the imitation of 
 the Ephesians, let us Englishmen labor to find 
 out our bosom sin, and burn it (how dear soever 
 unto us) in the flames of holy anger and indig- 
 nation. Such boon-fires would be most profit- 
 able to us, and acceptable to God, inviting him 
 to perfect and complete the good which he had 
 begun to our nation. 
 
 XVII. THE HAND IS ALL. 
 
 A GENTLEWOMAN some sixty years 
 since came to Winchester school, where 
 she had a son, and where Dr. Love (one emi
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 203 
 
 nent in his profession) was then schoolmaster. 
 This tender mother, seeing the terrible rods 
 (the properties of that school), began with tears 
 to bemoan the condition of her son, subject to 
 so cruel correction. To whom the schoolmaster 
 replied : Mistress, content yourself, it matters 
 not how big the rod be, so it be in the hand of 
 Love to manage it. 
 
 Alas ! he was only Love in his surname ; but 
 what saith the Apostle, 1 John iv. 16 : God is 
 love, even in his own essence and nature. 
 
 What then, though the wicked be not only a 
 rod in the hand of God, but what is worse, a 
 sword, Psalm xvii. 13, the wicked which is thy 
 sword, they shall do no hurt as long as God 
 hath the ordering of them. 
 
 A pregnant experiment hereof we have in 
 (the, call it, rod or sword of) our late civil war, 
 which lasted so long in our land, yet left so 
 little signs behind it. Such who consider how 
 much was destroyed in the war may justly 
 wonder that any provision was left, whilst such 
 who behold the plenty we have left will more 
 admire that any was ever destroyed. 
 
 XVIII. ALL TONGUE AND EARS. 
 
 w 
 
 E read, Acts xvii. 21, All the Athe- 
 nians, and strangers which were there,
 
 204 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 spent their time in nothing else but either to 
 tell or to hear some new thing. 
 
 How cometh this transposition? tell aTtid 
 hear ; it should be hear and tell ; they must 
 hear it before they could tell it; and in the 
 very method of nature, those that are deaf are 
 dumb. 
 
 But know, it is more than probable that 
 many Athenians told what they never heard, 
 being themselves the first finders, founders, and 
 forgers of false reports, therewith merely to 
 entertain the itching curiosity of others. 
 
 England aboundeth with many such Athe- 
 nians ; it is hard to say whether more false coin 
 or false news be minted in our days. One 
 side is not more pleased with their own factions 
 than the other is with their own fictions. 
 
 Some pretend to intelligence without under- 
 standing, whose relations are their own con- 
 futations. I know some who repair to such 
 novelants on purpose to know what news is 
 false by their reporting thereof. 
 
 XIX. GIVE AND TAKE. 
 
 THE Archbishop of Spalatro, when Dean 
 of Windsor, very affectionately moved 
 the prebendaries thereof to contribute bounti- 
 fully towards the relieving of a distressed for-
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 205 
 
 eigner, reporting him a person of much worth 
 and want ; to whom one of the company re- 
 plied: Qui suadet sua det, Let him who per- 
 suadeth others, give something of his own. 
 But the Archbishop, who was as covetous as 
 ambitious, and whose charity had a tongue 
 without hands, would not part with a penny. 
 
 The Episcopal party doth desire and expect 
 that the Presbyterian should remit of his rigid- 
 ness in order to an expedient betwixt them. 
 The Presbyterians require that the Episcopal 
 side abate of their austerity to advance an 
 accommodation . 
 
 But some on both sides are so wedded to 
 their wilfulness, stand so stiff in their judg- 
 ments, are so high and hot in their passions, 
 they will not part with the least punctilio in 
 their opinions and practices. 
 
 Such men's judgments cannot pretend to the 
 exactness of the Gibeonites, Judges xx. 16, 
 that Ijjiey hit the mark of the truth at a hair's 
 'breadth, and fail not, yet will they not abate a 
 hair's breadth in order to unity ; they will take 
 all, but tender nothing; make motions with 
 their mouths, but none with their feet, for 
 peace, not stirring a step towards it. 
 
 O that we could see some proffers and per- 
 formances of condescension on either side, and 
 then let others who remain obstinate, and wilT 
 
 18
 
 206 MI XT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 embrace no peace, be branded with Pharez, 
 Gen. xxxviii. 29, the breach be upon them. 
 
 I 
 
 XX. CHARITY, CHARITY. 
 
 "N my father's time, there was a fellow of 
 Trinity College, Cambridge, a native of 
 camd. Carlton, in Leicestershire, where the people 
 
 Brit, in 
 
 Leicester- (through some occult cause) are troubled with 
 ure ' a wharling in their throats, so that they cannot 
 plainly pronounce the letter R. This scholar, 
 being conscious of his infirmity, made a Latin 
 oration of the usual expected length, without an 
 R therein ; and yet did he not only select words 
 fit for his mouth, easy for pronunciation, but 
 also as pure and expressive for signification, to 
 show that men might speak without being 
 beholden to the dog's letter. 
 
 Our English pulpits, for these last eighteen 
 years, have had in them too much caninal 
 anger, vented by snapping and snarling spirits 
 on both sides. But if you bite and devour one 
 another, (saith the Apostle, Gal. v. 15,) take 
 heed ye be not devoured one of another. 
 
 Think not that our sermons must be silent if 
 not satirical, as if divinity did not afford smooth 
 subjects enough to be seasonably insisted on in 
 this juncture of time ; let us try our skill 
 whether we cannot preach without any dog let-
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 207 
 
 ter or biting word : the art is half learned by in- 
 tending, and wholly by serious endeavouring it. 
 I am sure that such soft sermons will be 
 more easy for the tongue of the preacher in pro- 
 nouncing them, less grating to the ears of pious 
 people that hear them, and more edifying to the 
 heart of both speaker and hearers of them. 
 
 XXL BUT ONE FAVOURITE. 
 
 WE read how Abraham (Gen. xxv. 5) 
 gave all he had unto Isaac. As for his 
 six sons, Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ish- 
 back, and Shuah, which he had by Keturah his 
 concubine, he only gave them gifts, and sent 
 them away into the east country. 
 
 England hath but one Isaac, or legitimate 
 religion of the Church, namely, the Protestant, 
 as the doctrine thereof is established in the 
 Thirty-nine Articles. But how many spurious 
 ones she hath (whether six, sixty, or six score) 
 I neither do know nor will inquire, nor will I 
 load my book and trouble the reader with their 
 new, numerous, and hard names. 
 
 O may the state be pleased so far to reflect on 
 this Isaac, as to settle the solid inheritance upon 
 him ! Let the Protestant religion only be coun- 
 tenanced by the law, be owned and acknowl- 
 edged for the received religion of the nation.
 
 208 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 As for other sects (the sons of Keturali), 
 we grudge not that gifts be bestowed upon 
 them. Let them have a toleration (and that I 
 assure you is a great gift indeed) and be per- 
 mitted peaceably and privately to enjoy their 
 consciences both in opinions and practices. Such 
 favour may safely (not to say ought justly to) 
 be afforded unto them so long as they continue 
 peaceably in our Israel, and disturb not the 
 estate. 
 
 This gift granted unto them, they need not to 
 be sent away into the east or any other country. 
 If they dislike their condition, they will either 
 leave the land, and go over seas of their own 
 accord, or else (which is rather to be desired 
 and hoped for) they will blush themselves out 
 of their former follies, and by degrees cordially 
 reconcile themselves to the Church of England. 
 
 XXII. CALMLY, CALMLY. 
 
 WE read, (Gen. iii. 8,) that when God 
 solemnly proceeded in the sentencing 
 of our first parents, he was heard walking in the 
 garden in the cool of the day; to teach men, 
 when they go about matters of moment, (wherein 
 not only the present age, but posterity, is also 
 concerned,) to becalm their souls of all passion. 
 But alas ! much reformation made (rather under
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 209 
 
 than) by King Charles, was done in the heat of 
 the day, in the dog-days of our civil discords, 
 and midsummer moon of our military distrac- 
 tions. So that possibly, when that which was 
 done in the heat of the day shall be reviewed, 
 even by the self-same persons, in the cool of the 
 day, they will perceive something by them so 
 reformed, now to need a new reformation. 
 
 But this motion (and all that follow) I humbly 
 lay down at their feet who have power and place 
 to reform, who may either trample upon it or 
 take it up, as their wisdoms shall see just occa- 
 sion. 
 
 XXIII. TRY AND TRUST. 
 
 IT was wisely requested by the children of the 
 captivity, Dan. i., and warily granted by the 
 king's chamberlain unto them, that, by way of 
 trial, they should feed on pulse for ten days, and 
 then an inspection to be made on their coun- 
 tenances, whether the lilies therein did look as 
 white and roses as red as before, that so their bill 
 of fare might be either changed or continued as 
 they saw just occasion. 
 
 Let such new practices as are to be brought 
 into our Church be for a time candidates and 
 probationers on their good behaviour, to see how 
 the temper of the people will fit them, and they 
 fadge with it, before they be publicly enjoined.
 
 210 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 Let them be like St. Paul's deacons, 1 Tim. 
 iii. 10, first be proved, then be used if found 
 blameless. I cannot, therefore, but commend 
 the discretion of such statesmen, who, knowing 
 the Directory to be but a stranger, and consid- 
 ering the great inclination the generality of our 
 nation had to the Common Prayer, made their 
 temporary act to stand in force but for three 
 years. 
 
 XXIV. ALIKE, BUT CONTRARY. 
 
 I OBSERVE in Scripture, that power to do 
 some deeds is a sufficient authority to do 
 them. Thus Samson's power to pluck down the 
 two fundamental pillars of the Dagon's temple, 
 was authority enough for him to do it. 
 
 Elijah's power to make fire to come at his call 
 on the two captains was authority enough to do 
 it, because such deeds were above the strength, 
 stature, and standard of human proportion. 
 
 However, hence it doth not follow that it is 
 lawful for a private man with axes and hammers 
 to beat down a Christian church, because Samson 
 plucked down Dagon's temple ; nor doth it fol- 
 low that men may burn their brethren with 
 fagot and fire, because Elijah called for fire from 
 heaven ; these being acts not miraculous but 
 mischievous, and no might from heaven, but
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 211 
 
 mere malice from hell, required for the achieving 
 thereof. 
 
 Here it is hard to say which of these two 
 things have done most mischief in England ; 
 public persons having private souls and narrow 
 hearts consulting their own ease and advantage, 
 or private persons having vast designs to invade 
 public employments. This is most sure, that 
 betwixt them both they have almost undone the 
 most flourishing church and state in the Christian 
 world. 
 
 XXV. CHASMA, PHASMA. 
 
 HOW bluntly and abruptly doth the seventy- 
 third Psalm begin ! Truly God is good 
 to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. 
 
 Truly is a term of continuation, not inception 
 of a speech. The head or top of this psalm 
 seems lost or cut off, and the neck only remain- 
 ing; in the room thereof. 
 
 O 
 
 But know that this psalm hath two moieties ; 
 one unwritten, made only in the trying-house of 
 David's heart : the other written, visible on the 
 theatre, beginning as is aforesaid. 
 
 Thomas Aquinas, sitting silent in a musing 
 posture, at the table of the king of France, at 
 last brake forth in these words : Condusum est 
 contra Manichceos, It is concluded against the
 
 212 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 Manichseans ; which speech, though nonsense to 
 the persons in the place, at the best indepen- 
 dent, without any connection to the discourse at 
 table, had its necessary coherence in the mind 
 of that great schoolman. 
 
 David, newly awaking in this psalm out of the 
 sweet slumber of his meditation, openeth his 
 eyes with the good handsel of these words : 
 Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are 
 of a clean heart. A maxim of undoubted truth, 
 and a firm anchor to those who have been tossed 
 in the tempest of these times. 
 
 XXVI. SHARE AND SHARE-LIKE. 
 
 HESHIRE hath formerly been called chief 
 of men. Indeed, no county in England 
 of the same greatness, or (if you will rather) of 
 the same littleness, can produce so many fam- 
 ilies of ancient gentry. 
 
 Now let it break the stomachs, but not the 
 hearts, abate the pride, not destroy the courage, 
 of the inhabitants of this shire, that they mis- 
 carried in their late undertakings, not so much 
 by any defect in them as default in others. 
 
 If ten men together be to lift a log, all 
 must jointly o-vvavTiXapfidveiv, that is, heave 
 up their parts (or rather their counterparts) 
 together.
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 213 
 
 But if nine of them fail, it is not only uncivil, 
 but unjust that one man should be expected to 
 be a giant to do ten men's work. 
 
 Cheshire is Cheshire (and so I hope will ever 
 be), but it is not all England ; and valour itself 
 may be pressed down to death under the weight 
 of multitude. 
 
 The Lord Bacon would have rewards given In U8 Ad " 
 
 vancement 
 
 to those men who, in the quest of natural exper- of Leam- 
 iments, make probable mistakes, both because mg ' 
 they are industrious therein, and because their 
 aberrations may prove instructions to others after 
 them ; and to speak plainly, an ingenious miss is 
 of more credit than a bungling casual hit. 
 
 On the same account let Cheshire have a 
 reward of honour, the whole kingdom faring the 
 better for this county's faring the worse. 
 
 XXVII. NATALE SOLUM DULCEDINE, ETC. 
 
 1MUST confess myself born in Northamp- 
 tonshire, and if that worthy county esteem 
 me no disgrace to it, I esteem it an honour 
 to me. The English of the common people 
 therein (lying in the very heart of the land) 
 is generally very good. 
 
 And yet they have an odd phrase not so usual 
 in other places. 
 
 They used to say, when at cudgel plays (such
 
 214 MI XT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 tame were far better than our wild battles) one 
 gave his adversary such a sound blow as that he 
 knew not whether to stand or to fall, that he set- 
 tled him at a blow. 
 
 The relics and stump (my pen dares write no 
 worse) of the Long Parliament pretended they 
 would settle the church and state ; but surely 
 had they continued, it had been done in the dia- 
 lect of Northamptonshire ; they would so have 
 settled us, we should neither have known how to 
 have stood, or on which side to have fallen. 
 
 XXVIII. SEASONABLE PREVENTION. 
 
 WHEN the famine in Egypt had lasted so 
 long, the estates of the people were so 
 exhausted by buying corn of the king, that, 
 their money failing, they were forced to sell 
 their cattle unto Joseph, Gen. xlvii. 17 ; and 
 this maintained them with bread for one year 
 more. 
 
 But the famine lasting longer, and their stock 
 of cattle being wholly spent, they then sold all 
 their lands, and after that their persons, to Jo- 
 seph, as agent for Pharaoh, so that the king of 
 Egypt became proprietary of the bodies of all 
 the people in his land, Gen. xlvii. 23 : Then 
 Joseph said unto the people, Behold, I have 
 bought you this day, and your land, for Pharaoh.
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 215 
 
 If our taxes had continued longer, they could 
 not have continued longer. I mean, the nation 
 was so impoverished, that the money (so much 
 was hoarded up, or transported by military 
 grandees) could not have been paid in specie. 
 
 Indeed, we began the war with brazen trum- 
 pets and silver money, and then came unto 
 silver trumpets and brazen money, especially in 
 our Parliament half-crowns. 
 
 We must afterwards have sold our stocks of 
 cattle, and then our lands, to have been able to 
 perform payments. This done, it is too, too sus- 
 picious ; they would have seized on our persons 
 too, and have envassalled us forever unto them. 
 
 But, blessed be God, they are stricken upon 
 the cheek-bone, Psalm iii. 7, whereby their teeth 
 are knocked out. Our fathers were not more 
 indebted to God's goodness for delivering them 
 from the Spanish Armada, than we are from our 
 own English army. 
 
 XXIX. WOLF IN A LAMB'S SKIN. 
 
 BUT where is the Papist all this while ? 
 One may make hue and cry after him. 
 He can as soon not be, as not be active. Alas ! 
 with the maid in the Gospel, he is not dead, but 
 sleepeth ; or rather, he sleepeth not, but only 
 shutteth his eyes in dog-sleep, and doth awake
 
 216 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 when he seeth his advantage, and snappeth up 
 many a lamb out of our flocks. 
 
 Where is the Papist? do any say? Yea, 
 where is he not ? They multiply as maggots in 
 May, and act in and under the fanatics. What 
 is faced with faction is lined with Popery ; 
 Faux's dark lantern, by a strange inversion, is 
 under our new lights. 
 
 Quakers of themselves are a company of dull, 
 blunt, silly souls. But they go down to the 
 Romish Philistines, and from them they whet 
 all the edge-tools of their arguments : a formal 
 syllogism in the mouth of an Anabaptist is plain 
 Jesuitical equivocation. 
 
 Meantime we Protestant ministers fish all 
 night and cateh nothing ; yea, lose many, who 
 in these times fall from our Church as leaves 
 in autumn. God in his due time send us a 
 seasonable spring, that we may repair our losses 
 again. 
 
 XXX. VARIOUS FANCIES. 
 
 1KNOW not what Fifth-Monarchy men 
 would have, and wish that they knew them- 
 selves. 
 
 I dare not flatly condemn them, lest I come 
 within the Apostle's reproof, 2 Peter ii. 12: 
 Speaking evil of things they understand not.
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 217 
 
 If by Christ's reigning they only intend his 
 powerful and effectual ruling by his grace in 
 the hearts of his servants ; we all will, not turn, 
 but continue, Fifth-Monarchy men, having al- 
 ways been of this judgment since we were of 
 any judgment ; had we as many arms as fingers, 
 we would use them all herein to embrace their 
 persons and opinions. 
 
 But some go farther, to expect an actual and 
 personal reign of Christ on earth a thousand 
 years, though not agreeing. 
 
 For herein since some make him but about to 
 set forth, others to be well onwards of his way, 
 others to be alighting in the court, others to 
 stand before the door, others that he is entering 
 the palace, according to the slowness or swift- 
 ness of their several fancies herein. 
 
 However, if this be but a bare speculation, 
 and advanceth not any farther, let them peace- 
 ably enjoy it. But if it hath a dangerous 
 influence on men's practices to unhinge their 
 allegiance, and if the pretence to wait for Christ 
 in his person be an intent to slight him in his 
 proxy (the magistrate), we do condemn their 
 opinion as false, and detest it as damnable, 
 leaving their persons to be ordered by the wis- 
 doms of those in authority.
 
 218 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 XXXI. MADE LOYAL. 
 
 WHEN King Edward the First marched 
 into Scotland, the men of the bish- 
 opric of Durham refused to follow his standard, 
 pleading for themselves, that they were holy- 
 work folk, only to wait on the shrine of St. 
 Cuthbert, and not to go out of their own coun- 
 try. But that wise and valiant prince can- 
 celled their pretended privileges. 
 
 He levelled them with the rest of his subjects 
 for civil and military as well as holy-work folk, 
 and made them to march with his army against 
 his enemies. 
 
 If Fifth-Monarchy (alias first-anarchy) men 
 challenge to themselves, that (by virtue of their 
 opinion they hold) they must be exempted from 
 their obedience to the government, because 
 they, forsooth, (as the lifeguard to his person,) 
 must attend the coming of Christ to reign on 
 earth : such is the wisdom of the state, it will 
 make them know they must share in subjection 
 with the rest of our nation. 
 
 But charity doth command me to believe 
 that, in stating their opinions, Fifth-Monarchy 
 men's expressions are more offensive than their 
 intentions, mouths worse than their minds, 
 whose brains want strength to manage their 
 own wild notions : and God grant their arms
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 219 
 
 may never have power to produce them into 
 action. 
 
 XXXII. ATTEND, ATTEND. 
 
 SOME of those whom they call Quakers 
 are, to give them their due, very good 
 moral men, and exactly just in their civil trans- 
 actions. In proof whereof let me mention this 
 passage, though chiefly I confess for the appli- 
 cation thereof, which having done me (I praise 
 God) some good, I am confident will do no 
 hurt to any other. 
 
 A gentleman had two tenants, whereof one, 
 being a Quaker, repaired to his landlord on the 
 quarter-day : Here, thou, said he, tell out and 
 take thy rent, without stirring his cap, or show- 
 ing the least sign of respect. 
 
 The other came cringing and conge*ing : If it 
 please your worship, said he, the times are very 
 hard, and trading is dead, I have brought to 
 your worship five pounds (the whole due being 
 twenty) and shall procure the rest for your 
 worship with all possible speed. 
 
 Both these tenants put together would make 
 a perfect one, the rent-completing of the one, 
 and tongue-compliments of the other. But 
 seeing they were divided, I am persuaded that 
 of the two the landlord was less offended with
 
 220 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 the former, imputing his ill manners to his 
 folly, but ascribing his good dealing to his 
 honesty. 
 
 God expecteth and requireth both good 
 works and good words. We cannot make our 
 addresses and applications unto him in our 
 prayers with too much awe and reverence. 
 
 However, such who court God with luscious 
 language, give him all his attributes, and (as 
 King James said of a divine, who shall be 
 nameless) compliment with God in the pulpit, 
 will be no whit acceptable unto him, if they do 
 not also endeavour to keep his commandments. 
 
 It is the due paying of God's quit-rents 
 which he expecteth ; I mean, the realizing of 
 our gratitude unto him for his many mercies, 
 in leading the remainder of our lives according 
 to his will and his word. 
 
 XXXIII. NO REMEDY BUT PATIENCE. 
 
 ONCE a gaoler demanded of a prisoner 
 newly committed unto him, whether or 
 no he were a Roman Catholic. No, answered 
 he. What then, said he, are you an Anabap- 
 tist? Neither, replied the prisoner. What, 
 said the other, are you a Brownist, or a 
 Quaker ? Nor so, said the man, I am a Prot- 
 estant, without wealth or gard, or any addition,
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 221 
 
 equally opposite to all heretics and sectaries. 
 Then, said the gaoler, get you unto the dun- 
 geon ; I will afford no favour to you, who shall 
 get no advantage by you. Had you been of 
 any of the other religions, some hope I had to 
 gain by the visits of such as are of your own 
 persuasion, whereas now you will prove to me 
 but an unprofitable prisoner. 
 
 This is the misery of moderation; I recall 
 my word (seeing misery properly must have 
 sin in it). This is an affliction attending mod- 
 erate men, that they have not an active party to 
 side with them and favour them. 
 
 Men of great stature will quickly be made 
 porters to a king, and those diminutively little, 
 dwarfs to a queen, whilst such who are of a 
 middle height may get themselves masters 
 where they can. The moderate man, eminent 
 for no excess or extravagancy in his judgment, 
 will have few patrons to protect, or persons to 
 adhere unto him. But what saith St. Paul, 
 1 Cor. xv. 19 : If in this life only we have hope 
 in Christ, we are of all men the most miserable. 
 
 XXXIV. POTTAGE FOR MILK. 
 
 IN these licentious times, wherein religion lay 
 in a swoon, and many pretended ministers 
 (minions of the times) committed or omitted in 
 
 19
 
 222 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 divine service what they pleased ; some, not 
 only in Wales, but in England, and in London 
 itself, on the Lord's day (sometimes with, some- 
 times without a psalm) presently popped up 
 into the pulpit, before any portion of Scripture, 
 either in the Old or New Testament, was read 
 to the people. 
 
 Hereupon one in jest-earnest said, that for- 
 merly they put down bishops and deans, and 
 now they had put down chapters too. It is 
 high time that this fault be reformed for the 
 future, that God's word, which is all gold, be 
 not justled out to make room for men's ser- 
 mons, which are but parcel-gilt at the best. 
 
 XXXV. MODERATE MAY MEET. 
 
 WHEN St. Paul was at Athens, Acts 
 xvii. 18, then certain philosophers of 
 the Epicureans and of the Stoics encountered 
 him, &c. 
 
 Some will say, Why was there no mention 
 here of the Peripatetics and Academics, both 
 notable sects of philosophers, and then numer- 
 ous in the city of Athens ? 
 
 The answer is this : These being persons 
 acted with more moderate principles, were con- 
 tented to be silent, though not concurring in 
 their judgments ; whilst the Epicureans and
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 223 
 
 Stoics were violent in the extremes, the first 
 for the anarchy of Fortune, the other for the 
 tyranny of Fate. 
 
 Peace in our land, like St. Paul, is now 
 likely to be encountered with two opposite 
 parties, such as are for the liberty of a common- 
 wealth, and such as are for an absolute mon- 
 archy in the full height thereof; but I hope 
 neither of both are so considerable in their 
 number, parts, and influence on the people, but 
 that the moderate party, advocates for peace, 
 will prevail for the settling thereof. 
 
 XXXVI. WHAT, NEVER WISE! 
 
 IN the year of our Lord 1606, there hap- 
 pened a sad overflowing of the Severn Sea, 
 on both sides thereof, which some still alive do 
 (one I hope thankfully) remember. 
 
 An account hereof was written to John 
 Stow, the industrious chronicler, from Dr. Still, 
 then Bishop of Bath and Wells, and three other 
 gentlemen of credit, to insert it in his story ; 
 one passage wherein I cannot omit : 
 
 Stow's Chronicle, p. 889. " Among other 
 things of note, it happened that, upon the tops 
 of some hills, divers beasts of contrary na- 
 ture had got up for their safety, as dogs, cats, 
 foxes, hares, conies, moles, mice, and rats, who
 
 224 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 remained together very peaceably, without any 
 manner or sign of fear of violence one towards 
 another." 
 
 How much of man was there then in brute 
 creatures? How much of brutishness is there 
 now in men ? Is this a time for those who are 
 sinking for the same cause to quarrel and fall 
 out ? I dare add no more but the words of the 
 Apostle, 2 Tim. ii. 7: Consider what I say; and 
 the Lord give you understanding in all things. 
 
 XXXVII. RECEDE A TITTLE. 
 
 1SAW two ride a race for a silver cup ; he 
 who won it outran the post many paces : 
 indeed, he could not stop his horse in his full 
 career, and therefore was fain to run beyond 
 the post, or else he had never come soon 
 enough unto it. 
 
 But presently after when he had won the 
 wager, he reined his horse back again, and 
 softly returned to the post, where from the 
 judges of the match he received the cup, the 
 reward of his victory. 
 
 Surely many moderate men designed a good 
 mark to themselves, and propounded pious 
 ends and aims in their intentions. But query 
 whether, in pursuance thereof, in our late civil 
 destruction, they were not violented to outrun
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 225 
 
 the mark, (so impossible it is to stop a soul in 
 the full speed thereof,) and whether they did 
 not in some things overdo and exceed what 
 they intended. 
 
 If so, it is neither sin nor shame, but honour- 
 able and profitable, for such persons (sensible 
 of their over-activity) even fairly to go back to 
 the post which they have outrun, and now 
 calmly to demonstrate to the whole world that 
 this only is the true and full measure of their 
 judgments, whilst the rest was but the super- 
 fluity of their passions. 
 
 XXXVIII. BEAT THYSELF. 
 
 I SAW a mother threatening to beat her lit- 
 tle child for not rightly pronouncing that 
 petition in the Lord's prayer : And forgive us 
 our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass 
 against us. The child essayed and offered as 
 well as it could to utter it, adventuring at te- 
 passes, trepasses, but could not pronounce the 
 word aright. Alas ! it is a shibboleth to a child's 
 tongue, wherein there is a confluence of hard 
 consonants together ; and therefore if the mother 
 had beaten defect in the infant for default, she 
 deserved to have been beaten herself. 
 
 The rather because what the child could not 
 pronounce the parents do not practise. O how
 
 226 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 lispingly and imperfectly do we perform the 
 close of this petition : As we forgive them that 
 trespass against us. It is well if with the child 
 we endeavour our best, though falling short in 
 the exact observance thereof. 
 
 XXXIX. WITHOUT BLOOD. 
 
 IT passeth for a general report of what was 
 customary in former times, that the sheriff 
 of the county used to present the judge with a 
 pair of white gloves at those which we call 
 maiden assizes, viz. when no malefactor is put 
 to death therein ; a great rarity (though usual 
 in small) in large and populous countries. 
 
 England, a spacious country, is full of numer- 
 ous factions in these distracted times. It is 
 above belief, and will hardly find credit with 
 posterity, that a general peace can be settled in 
 our nation without effusion of blood. 
 
 But if we should be blessed with a dry peace, 
 without one drop of blood therein, O let the 
 white gloves of honour and glory be in the first 
 place presented to the God of heaven, the prin- 
 cipal giver ; and a second white pair of grati- 
 tude be given to our general, the instrumental 
 procurer thereof.
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 227 
 
 XL. AGAINST THE HAIR AND THE 
 FLESH. 
 
 ALL devils are not equally easy to be ejected 
 out of possessed people ; some are of a 
 more sullen, sturdy, stubborn nature, good (or 
 rather bad) at holdfast, and hard to be cast 
 out. 
 
 In like manner all bosom sins are not con- 
 quered with facility alike, and these three are of 
 the greatest difficulty : 
 
 1. Constitutionary sins, riveted in our tem- 
 pers and complexions. 
 
 2. Customary sins, habited in us by practice 
 and presumption. 
 
 3. Such sins to the repentance whereof resti- 
 tution is required. 
 
 Oh ! when a man hath not only devoured 
 widows' houses, Matt, xxiii. 14, but also they 
 have passed the first and second concoction in 
 his stomach ; yea, when they are become blood 
 in the veins, yea, sinews in the flesh of his es- 
 tate, O then to refund, to mangle and disinter 
 one's demesnes, this goeth shrewdly against 
 flesh and blood indeed ! But what saith the 
 Apostle, Flesh and blood shall not inherit the 
 kingdom of God. 
 
 Yet even this devil may be cast out with fast- 
 ing and prayer, Matt. xvii. 21. This sin, not-
 
 228 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 withstanding it holdeth violent possession, may 
 by those good means, and God's blessing thereon, 
 have a firm ejection. 
 
 XLI. A FREE-WILL OFFERING. 
 
 WHEN Job began to set up the second 
 time, he built his recruited estate upon 
 three bottoms : 
 
 1. God's blessing. 
 
 2. His own industry. 
 
 3. His friends' charity. 
 
 Job xlii. 11 : Every man also gave him a 
 piece of money, and every one also an ear-ring 
 of gold. Many drops meeting together filled 
 the vessel. 
 
 When our patient Job, plundered of all he 
 had, shall return again, certainly his loyal sub- 
 jects will offer presents unto him (though they, 
 alas ! who love him best can give him least). 
 Surely all is not given away in making the 
 golden calf, but that there is some left for the 
 business of the tabernacle. 
 
 But surely those have cause to be most boun- 
 tiful, who may truly say to him what David said 
 humbly to the God of heaven, 1 Chron. xxix. 
 14 : Of thine own have I given unto thee.
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 229 
 
 XLII. A GOOD ANCHOR. 
 
 ISAAC, ignorantly going along to be offered, 
 propounded to his father a very hard ques- 
 tion, Gen. xxii. 7 : Behold the fire and wood, 
 but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering ? 
 
 Abraham returned, God will provide himself 
 a lamb for a burnt-offering. 
 
 But was not this gratis dictum of Abraham ? 
 Did not he herein speak without book ? Where 
 and when did God give him a promise to pro- 
 vide him a lamb ? 
 
 Indeed, he had no particular promise as to this 
 present point, but he had a general one, Gen. 
 xv. 1 : Fear not, Abraham, I am thy shield, and 
 thy exceeding great reward. Here was not 
 only a lamb, but a flock of sheep, yea, a herd of 
 all cattle promised unto him. 
 
 It hath kept many an honest soul in these 
 sad times from sinking into despair, that though 
 they had no express in Scripture that they 
 should be freed from the particular miseries 
 relating to this war, yet they had God's grand 
 charter for it, Rom. viii. 28 : And we know 
 that all things work together for good to them 
 that love God, to them who are the called 
 according to his purpose.
 
 230 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 XLIII. EYES BAD, NOT OBJECT. 
 
 I LOOKED upon the wrong or back side of 
 a piece of arras : it seemed to me as a con- 
 tinued nonsense, there was neither head nor foot 
 therein ; confusion itself had as much method 
 in it : a company of thrums and threads, with 
 many pieces and patches of several sorts, sizes, 
 and colours, all which signified nothing to my 
 understanding. 
 
 But then looking on the reverse or right side 
 thereof, all put together did spell excellent pro- 
 portions and figures of men and cities. So that 
 indeed it was a history, not wrote with a pen, 
 but wrought with a needle. 
 
 If men look upon our late times with a mere 
 eye of reason, they will hardly find any sense 
 therein, such their huddle and disorder. But, 
 alas ! the wrong side is objected to our eyes, 
 whilst the right side is presented to the high 
 God of heaven, who knoweth that an admirable 
 order doth result out of this confusion, and 
 what is presented to him at present may here- 
 after be so showed to us as to convince our 
 judgments in the truth thereof.
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 231 
 
 XLIV. EVER, NEVER. 
 
 WE read, Psalm Iv. 19: Because they 
 have no changes, therefore they [the 
 wicked] fear not God. 
 
 Profaneness is a strange logician, which can 
 collect and infer the same conclusion from con- 
 trary premises. Libertines here in England, 
 because they have had so many changes, there- 
 fore they fear not God. 
 
 Jacob taxed Laban, Gen. xxxi. 41 : Thou 
 hast changed my wages ten times. I have 
 neither list nor leisure to inquire how far our 
 alterations of government, within these few 
 years, fall short of that number. 
 
 But it is a sad truth, that as King Mithridates 
 is said to have fed on poison so long, that at last 
 it became ordinary food to his body; so the 
 multitude of changes have proved no change 
 in many men's apprehensions, being so common 
 and ordinary it hath made no effectual impres- 
 sion on their spirits. Yea, which is worse, 
 they (as if all things came by casualty) fear 
 God the less for these alterations. 
 
 I 
 
 XLV. HEAR ME OUT. 
 
 MUST confess myself to be (what I ever 
 was) for a commonwealth : but give me
 
 232 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 leave to state the meaning of the word, seeing 
 so much mischief hath taken covert under the 
 homonymy thereof. 
 
 A commonwealth and a king are no more 
 
 o 
 
 contrary than the trunk or body of a tree and 
 the top branch thereof; there is a republic in- 
 cluded in every monarchy. 
 
 The Apostle speaketh of some Ephesians, in 
 the ii. and 12, aliens from the commonwealth 
 of Israel : that the commonwealth is neither 
 aristocratical nor democratical, but hath one 
 sole and single person, Jesus Christ, the su- 
 preme head thereof. 
 
 May I live (if it may stand with God's good 
 will and pleasure) to see England a common- 
 wealth in such a posture, and it will be a joyful 
 object to all who are peaceable in our nation. 
 
 XLVI. MONS MOBILIS. 
 
 I OBSERVE that the mountains now extant 
 do fall under a double consideration. 
 Those by creation, and those by inundation. 
 The former were of God's making, primitive 
 mountains ; when at the first his wisdom did 
 here sink a vale, there swell a hill, so to render 
 the prospect of the earth the more grateful by 
 the alternate variety thereof. 
 
 The second by inundation were such as owe
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 233 
 
 their birth and being to Noah's flood : when the 
 water lying long in a place, (especially when 
 driven on with the fury of the wind,) corroded 
 a hollow, and so by consequence cast up a hill 
 on both sides. 
 
 For such mountains of God's making, who 
 either by their birth succeed to estates, or have 
 acquired them by God's blessing on their lawful 
 industry, good success may they have with their 
 wealth and honour. And yet let not them be 
 too proud, and think, with David, that God 
 hath made their mountain so strong it cannot be 
 moved ; but know themselves subject to the 
 earthquakes of mutability as well as others. 
 
 As for the many mountains of our age, 
 grandized by the unlawful ruin of others, swoln 
 to a tympany by the consumption of their 
 betters ; I wish them just as much joy with 
 their greatness as they have right unto it. 
 
 XLVII. NOT INVISIBLE. 
 
 A WAGGISH scholar (to say no worse), 
 standing behind the back of his tutor, 
 conceived himself secured from his sight, and 
 on this confidence he presumed to make antic 
 mocks and mouths at him. Meantime his tutor 
 had a looking-glass (unknown to the scholar) 
 before his face, wherein he saw all which his
 
 234 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 pupil did, and the pupil soon after felt some- 
 thing from his tutor. 
 
 Many things have been done in hugger- 
 mugger in our age, profane persons conceited 
 that their privacy protected them from Divine 
 inspection. Some say with the wicked in the 
 psalm, Tush, shall the Lord see ? 
 
 But know that, Rev. iv. 6, before the throne 
 there was a sea of glass, like unto crystal. This 
 is God's omnisciency. Sea, there is the large- 
 ness ; crystal, there is the pureness thereof. In 
 this glass all persons and practices are plainly 
 represented to God's sight, so that such who sin 
 in secret shall suffer openly. 
 
 XLVIII. BEST RACE. 
 
 GOD hath two grand attributes, first, op- 
 timuS) that he is the best of beings. 
 Secondly, maximus, that he is the greatest of 
 essences. It may justly seem strange that all 
 men naturally are ambitious, with the Apostles, 
 Luke xxii. 24, to contest and contend for the 
 latter, who shall be accounted for the greatest. 
 Outward greatness having no reality in itself, 
 but founded merely in outward account and 
 reputation of others. 
 
 But as for his goodness, they give it a go- 
 by, no whit endeavouring the imitation thereof; 

 
 ON THESE TIMES. 235 
 
 whereas, indeed, greatness without goodness is 
 not only useless, but also dangerous and de- 
 structive, both to him that hath it and those 
 who are about him. 
 
 This is a fruit of Adam's fall, and floweth 
 from original corruption. Oh ! for the future 
 let us change this our ambition into holy emu- 
 lation, and fairly run a race of grace, who shall 
 outstrip others in goodness. 
 
 In which race strive lawfully to gain the 
 victory, supplant not those that run before thee, 
 justle not those who are even with thee, hinder 
 not those who come behind thee. 
 
 XLIX. FEED THE LAMBS. 
 
 WHAT may be the cause why so much 
 cloth so soon changeth colour? It is 
 because it was never wet wadded, which giveth 
 the fixation to a colour, and setteth it in the 
 cloth. 
 
 What may be the reason why so many now- 
 a-days are carried about with every wind of 
 doctrine, even to scour every point in the com- 
 pass round about? Surely it is because they 
 were never well catechised in the principles of 
 religion. 
 
 O for the ancient and primitive ordinance of 
 catechising ! every youth can preach, but he
 
 236 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 must be a man indeed who can profitably cate- 
 chise. 
 
 Indeed, sermons are like whole joints for 
 men to manage, but catechising is mincemeat, 
 shred into questions and answers, (fit for chil- 
 dren to eat, and easy for them to digest,) whilst 
 the minister may also, for the edification of 
 those of riper years, enlarge and dilate himself 
 on both as he seeth just occasion. 
 
 L. NAME AND THING. 
 
 THERE is a new word coined, within few 
 months, called fanatics, which, by the 
 close stickling thereof, seemeth well cut out 
 and proportioned to signify what is meant there- 
 by, even the sectaries of our age. 
 vidit. Some (most forcedly) will have it Hebrew, 
 derived from the word to see or face one, im- 
 porting such whose piety consisteth chiefly in 
 visage, looks, and outward shows ; others will 
 have it Greek, from </>ai>o/icu, to show and ap- 
 pear; their meteor piety consisting only in 
 short blazing, the forerunner of their extinction. 
 But most certainly the word is Latin, from 
 fanum, a temple ; and fanatici were such who, 
 living in or attending thereabouts, were frighted 
 with spectra, or apparitions, which they either 
 saw or fancied themselves to have seen. These
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 237 
 
 people, in their fits and wild raptures, pre- 
 tended to strange predictions : 
 
 " Ut fanaticus cestro 
 
 Percussus, Bellona tuo, divinat et ingens 
 Omen habes, inquit, magni clarique triumphi." 
 
 Juv. Sat. 4. 
 
 " Ut mala quern scabies et morbus regius urget, 
 
 Aut fanaticus error." 
 
 Hor. in Poet. 
 
 It will be said we have already (more than a 
 good) many nicknames of parties, which doth 
 but inflame the difference, and make the breach 
 the wider betwixt us. It is confessed ; but 
 withal it is promised, that when they with- 
 draw the thing we will subtract the name. 
 Let them leave off their wild fancies, 
 inconsistent with Scripture, antiqui- 
 ty, and reason itself, and then 
 we will endeavour to bury 
 the fanatic, and all 
 other names, in 
 perpetual ob- 
 livion.
 
 MIX? CONTEMPLATIONS ON 
 THESE TIMES. 
 
 I. ALL AFORE. 
 
 DEAR friend of mine (now I hope 
 with God) was much troubled with 
 an impertinent and importunate fel- 
 low, desirous to tell him his fortune. 
 For things to come, said my friend, I desire not 
 to know them, but am contented to attend Divine 
 Providence ; tell me, if you can, some remarka- 
 ble passages of my life past. But the cunning 
 man was nothing for the preter tense (where his 
 falsehood might be discovered), but all for the 
 future, counting himself therein without the 
 reach of confutation. 
 
 There are in our age a generation of people, 
 who are the best of prophets and worst of histo- 
 rians ; Daniel and the Revelation are as easy to 
 them as the ten commandments and the Lord's 
 prayer : they pretend exactly to know the time 
 of Christ's actual reign on earth, of the ruin of
 
 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS. 239 
 
 the Romish Antichrist, yea, of the day of judg- 
 ment itself. 
 
 But these oracles are struck quite dumb, if 
 demanded anything concerning the time past ; 
 about the coming of the children of Israel out 
 of Egypt and Babylon, the original increase 
 and ruin of the four monarchies ; of these and 
 the like they can give no more account than 
 the child in the cradle. They are all for things 
 to come, but have gotten (through a great cold 
 of ignorance) such a crick in their neck, they 
 cannot look backward on what was behind 
 them. 
 
 II. TRUE TEXT. FALSE GLOSS. 
 
 A HUSBANDMAN, anabaptistically in- 
 clined, in a pleasant humour came to his 
 minister, and told him, with much cheerfulness, 
 that this very seeds-time the words of the Apos- 
 tle, 1 Cor. ix. 10, were fulfilled : That he that 
 plougheth may plough in hope. 
 
 Being desired farther to explain himself; 
 I mean, said he, we husbandmen now plough in 
 hope that at harvest we shall never pay tithes, 
 but be eased from that Antichristian yoke for 
 the time to come. It seemeth he had received 
 such intelligence from some of his own party, 
 who reported what they desired.
 
 240 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 He might plough in hope to reach his nine 
 parts, but in despair to have the tenth ; especially 
 since God hath blessed us with so wise a Parlia- 
 ment, consisting not only of men chosen, but of 
 persons truly the choice of the nation, who will 
 be as, if not more, tender of the Church's right 
 than their own interest. They have read how 
 Pharaoh, king of Egypt, Gen. xlvii. 22, would 
 in no case alienate the lands of the priests. The 
 very Gypsies, who generally have no good name, 
 (condemned for crafty cheaters and cozeners,) 
 were conscientiously precise in this particular, 
 and they would not take away what was given 
 to their God in his ministers. 
 
 III. FOUL MOUTH STOPT. 
 
 \ MBITIOUS Absalom endeavoured to bring 
 ~\. a scandal on his father's government, 
 complaining, the petitioners who repaired to his 
 court for justice were slighted and neglected. 
 2 Sam. xv. 3 : See, thy matters are good and 
 right, but there is no man deputed of the king to 
 hear thee. 
 
 But we know the English proverb, Ill-will 
 never speaketh well. Let us do that justice to 
 David, yea, to our own judgments, not to believe 
 a graceless son and subject, against a gracious 
 father and sovereign.
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 241 
 
 Some malecontents (Ishmaels, whose swords 
 are against every one) seek to bring a false 
 report on the Parliament, as if the clergy must 
 expect no favour, not to say justice, from them, 
 because there are none in the house elected and 
 deputed either to speak for them or hear them 
 speak for themselves. 
 
 Time was, say they, when the clergy was 
 represented in the House of Lords by two arch- 
 bishops and four-and-twenty bishops. Time was, 
 when the clergy had their own convocation, 
 granting subsidies for them, so that their purses 
 were only opened by the hands of their own 
 proxies ; but now, though our matters be good 
 and right, there is no man deputed to hear us. 
 
 I am, and ever will be, deaf to such false and 
 scandalous suggestions ; if there be four hundred 
 and odd (because variously reckoned up) in the 
 House of Parliament, I am confident we clergy- 
 men have four hundred and odd advocates for us 
 therein. What civil Christian would not plead 
 for a dumb man ? Seeing the clergy hath lately 
 lost their voice they so long had in Parliaments ; 
 honour and honesty will engage those pious 
 persons therein to plead for our just concern- 
 ments. 
 
 21
 
 242 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 IV. ATOMS AT LAST. 
 
 1MEET not, either in sacred or profane writ, 
 with so terrible a rout as Saul gave unto the 
 host of the Ammonites, under Nahash their 
 king, 1 Sam. xi. 11 : And it came to pass, that 
 they which remained were scattered, so that two 
 of them were not left together. And yet we 
 have daily experience of greater scatterings and 
 dissipations of men in their opinions. 
 
 Suppose ten men, out of pretended purity, but 
 real pride and peevishness, make a wilful separa- 
 tion from the Church of England, possibly they 
 may continue some competent time in tolerable 
 unity together. 
 
 Afterwards, upon a new discovery of a higher 
 and holier way of divine service, these ten will 
 split asunder into five and five, and the purer 
 moiety divide from the other, as more drossy and 
 feculent. 
 
 Then the five in process of time, upon the 
 like occasion of clearer illumination, will cleave 
 themselves into three and two. 
 
 Some short time after, the three will crumble 
 into two and one, and the two part into one 
 and one, till they come into the condition of the 
 Ammonites, so scattered that two of them were 
 not left together. 
 
 I am sad, that I may add with too much
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 243 
 
 truth, that one man will at last be divided in 
 himself, distracted often in his judgment be- 
 twixt many opinions ; that, what is reported of 
 Tostatus, lying on his death-bed, in multitu- 
 dine controversiarum non habuit, quod crederet; 
 amongst the multitude of persuasions through 
 which he had passed, he knoweth not where to 
 cast anchor and fix himself at the last. 
 
 V. AN ILL MATCH. 
 
 DIVINE Providence is remarkable in or- 
 dering, that a fog and a tempest never 
 did, nor can, meet together in nature. For as 
 soon as a fog is fixed, the tempest is allayed ; 
 and as soon as a tempest doth arise, the fog is 
 dispersed. This is a great mercy; for other- 
 wise such small vessels as boats and barges, 
 which want the conduct of the card and com- 
 pass, would irrecoverably be lost. 
 
 How sad, then, is the condition of many sec- 
 taries in our age ; which in the same instant 
 have a fog of ignorance in their judgments, and 
 a tempest of violence in their affections, being 
 too blind to go right, and yet too active to stand 
 still.
 
 244 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 VI. DOWN, YET UP. 
 
 HYPOCRITE, in the native etymology of 
 the word, as it is used by ancient Greek 
 authors, signifieth such a one, qui alienee per- 
 sonce in comoedia aut tragcedia est effector et rep- 
 rcesentator, who in comedy or tragedy doth 
 feign and represent the person of another ; in 
 plain English, hypocrite is neither more nor less 
 than a stage-player. 
 
 We all know that stage-players some years 
 since were put down by public authority ; and 
 though something may be said for them, more 
 may be brought against them, who are rather 
 in an employment than a vocation. 
 
 But let me safely utter my too just fears ; 
 I suspect the fire was quenched in the chim- 
 ney, and in another respect scattered about the 
 house. Never more strange stage-players than 
 now, who wear the vizards of piety and holi- 
 ness, that under that covert they may more 
 securely commit sacrilege, oppression, and what 
 not. 
 
 In the days of Queen Elizabeth, a person of 
 honour or worship would as patiently have di- 
 gested the lie as to have been told that they 
 did wear false pendants, or any counterfeit 
 pearl or jewels about them, so usual in our age ; 
 yet would it were the worst piece of hypocrisy
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 245 
 
 in fashion. O, let us all labour for integrity 
 of heart, and either appear what we are, or be 
 what we appear ! 
 
 VII. CALEB, ALL HEART. 
 
 I WAS lately satisfied in what I heard of 
 before, by the confession of an excellent 
 artist, (the most skilful in any kind are most 
 willing to acknowledge their ignorance,) that 
 the mystery of annealing of glass, that is, baking 
 it so that the colour may go clean through it, is 
 now by some casualty quite lost in England, if 
 not in Europe. 
 
 Break a piece of red glass, painted some four 
 hundred years since, and it will be found as red 
 in the middle as in the outsides ; the colour is 
 not only on it, but in it and through it. 
 
 Whereas, now all art can perform is only to 
 fix the red on one side of the glass, and that 
 ofttime so faint and fading, that within few 
 years it falleth off, and looketh piebald to the 
 eye. 
 
 I suspect a more important mystery is much 
 lost in our age, viz. the transmitting of piety 
 clean through the heart, that a man become 
 inside and outside alike. O the sincerity of 
 the ancient patriarchs, inspired prophets, holy 
 apostles, patient martyrs, and pious fathers of
 
 246 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 the primitive Church, whereas only outside 
 sanctity is too usual in our age. Happy the 
 man on whose monument that character of Asa 
 (1 Kings xv. 14) may be truly inscribed for 
 his epitaph: Here lieth the man whose heart 
 was perfect with the Lord all his days. Heart 
 perfect, O the finest of wares ! All his days, 
 O the largest of measures ! 
 
 VIII. FIE, FOR SHAME. 
 
 CONSIDERING with myself the causes of 
 the growth and increase of impiety and 
 profaneness in our land, amongst others this 
 seemeth to me not the least, viz. the late many 
 false and erroneous impressions of the Bible. 
 Now know, what is but carelessness in other 
 books is impiety in setting forth of the Bible. 
 
 As Noah in all unclean creatures preserved 
 but two of a kind, so among some hundreds 
 in several editions we will insist only on two 
 instances. 
 
 In the Bible printed at London, 1653, we 
 read, 1 Cor. vi. 9: Know ye not that the 
 unrighteous shall inherit the kingdom of God ? 
 for not inherit. 
 
 Now, when a reverend doctor in divinity did 
 mildly reprove some libertines for their licen- 
 tious life, they did produce this text, from the
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 247 
 
 authority of this corrupt edition, in justification 
 of their vicious and inordinate conversations. 
 
 The next instance shall be in the Bible 
 printed at London in quarto (forbearing the 
 name of the printer, because not done wilfully 
 by him) in the singing Psalms, Ps. Ixvii. 2 : 
 
 That all the earth may know 
 The way to worldly wealth, 
 
 for godly wealth. 
 
 It is too probable that too many have perused 
 and practised this erroneous impression, namely, 
 such who by plundering, oppression, cozening, 
 force, and fraud, have in our age suddenly ad- 
 vanced vast estates. 
 
 IX. LITTLE LOUD LIARS. 
 
 I REMEMBER one in the University gave 
 for his question, Artis compendium artis dis- 
 pendium. The contracting of arts is the cor- 
 rupting of them. Sure I am, the truth hereof 
 appeareth too plainly in the pearl Bible printed 
 at London, 1653, in the volume of twenty- 
 four ; for therein all the dedications and titles of 
 David's Psalms are wholly left out, being part 
 of the original text in Hebrew, and intimating 
 the cause and the occasion of the writing and 
 composing those Psalms, whereby the matter 
 may be better illustrated.
 
 248 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 The design may be good to reduce the Bible 
 to so small a volume, partly to make it the more 
 portable in men's pockets, partly to bring down 
 the price of them, that the poor people may the 
 better compass them. But know that vilis, in 
 the Latin tongue, in the first sense signifieth 
 what is cheap, in the second sense what is base. 
 The small price of the Bible hath caused the 
 small prizing of the Bible, especially since so 
 many damnable and pernicious mistakes have 
 escaped therein. 
 
 I cannot omit another edition in a large 12mo. 
 making the Book of Truth to begin with a loud 
 lie, pretending this title : 
 
 Imprinted at London by ROBERT BARKER, etc., Anno 1638. 
 
 whereas, indeed, they were imported from Hol- 
 land, 1656, and that contrary to our statutes. 
 What can be expected from so lying a frontis- 
 piece but suitable falsehoods, wherewith it 
 aboundeth ? 
 
 O that men in power and place would take 
 these things into their serious considerations ! 
 a caution too late to amend wjiat is past, but 
 early enough for the future to prevent the 
 importing of foreign, and misprinting of home- 
 made Bibles.
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 249 
 
 X. NAME GENERAL. 
 
 WE read of Joseph (when advanced in 
 the court of Pharaoh), that he called 
 his eldest son, Gen. xli. 51, Manasseh ; for God, 
 said he, hath made me forget all my toil, and my 
 father's house. 
 
 Forget his father's house ! the more unnatural 
 and undutiful son he (may some say) for his 
 ungodly oblivion. 
 
 O no ! Joseph never historically forgot his 
 father's house, nor lost the affection he hare 
 thereunto, only he forgot it both to the sad and 
 to the vindictive part of his memory ; he kept 
 no grudge against his brethren for their cruel 
 usage of him. 
 
 If God should be pleased to settle a general 
 peace betwixt all parties in our land, let us all 
 name our next-born child (it will fit both sexes) 
 Manasseh. That is, forgetting ; let us forget all 
 our plunderings, sequestrations, injuries offered 
 unto us, or suffered by us ; the best oil is said 
 to have no taste, that is, no tang. Though we 
 carry a simple and single remembrance of our 
 losses unto the grave, it being impossible to do 
 otherwise, (except we rase the faculty of mem- 
 ory, root and branch, out of our mind,) yet let 
 us not keep any record of them with the least 
 reflection of revenge.
 
 250 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 XL APT SCHOLARS. 
 
 MOTHERS generally teach their children 
 three sins before they be full two years 
 old. 
 
 First, pride : Point, child, where are you 
 fine ? Where are you fine ? 
 
 Secondly, lying : It was not A that cried, it 
 was B that cried. 
 
 Thirdly, revenge : Give me a blow, and I will 
 beat him. Give me a blow, and I will beat him. 
 
 Surely children would not be so bad, nor so 
 soon bad, but partly for bad precedents set be- 
 fore them, partly for bad precepts taught unto 
 them. 
 
 As all three lessons have taken too deep im- 
 pressions in our hearts, so chiefly the last of re- 
 venge. How many blows have been given on 
 that account within our remembrance, and yet I 
 can make it good, that we in our age are more 
 bound to pardon our enemies than our fathers 
 and grandfathers in their generation. 
 
 For charity consisteth in two main parts ; in 
 donando et condonando, in giving and forgiving. 
 Give we cannot so much as those before us, our 
 estates being so much impaired and impover- 
 ished with taxes unknown to former ages. 
 
 Seeing, therefore, one channel of charity must 
 be the less, the stream thereof ought to run
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 251 
 
 broader and deeper in the other. The less we 
 can give, the more we should forgive : but alas ! 
 this is the worst of all, that giving goeth not so 
 much against our covetousness, but forgiving 
 goeth more against our pride and ambition. 
 
 XII. ALL WELL WEARIED. 
 
 TWO gentlemen, father and son, both of 
 great quality, lived together ; the son on 
 a time, Father, said he, I would fain be satisfied 
 how it cometh to pass, that of such agreements 
 which I make betwixt neighbours fallen out, 
 not one of twenty doth last and continue. 
 Whereas not one of twenty fails wherein you 
 are made arbitrator. 
 
 The reason, answered the other, is plain. No 
 sooner do two friends fall out, but presently you 
 offer yourself to compromise the difference, 
 wherein I more commend your charity than 
 your discretion. Whereas I always stay till the 
 parties send or come to me, after both sides, 
 being well wearied by spending much money 
 in law, are mutually desirous of an agreement. 
 
 Had any endeavoured, some sixteen years 
 since, to have advanced a firm peace betwixt 
 the two opposite parties in our land, their suc- 
 cess would not have answered their intentions, 
 men's veins were then so full of blood, and 
 purses of money.
 
 252 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 But since there hath been so large an evacua- 
 tion of both, and men begin soberly to consider 
 that either side may (by woful experience) 
 make other miserable, but it is only our union 
 can make both happy, some hope there is, that a 
 peace, if now made, may probably last and con- 
 tinue, which God in his mercy make us worthy 
 of, that we may in due time receive it. 
 
 XIII. O, INCONSTANCY! 
 
 to 8 h 2 8Brit T EARNED Master Camden, treating in an 
 I -J astrological way under what planet Britain 
 is seated, allegeth but one author, viz. Johannes 
 de Muris, who placeth our island under Saturn, 
 whilst he produceth three, viz. the friar Perscru- 
 tator, Esquidius, and Henry Silen, which place 
 Britain under the moon. 
 
 It will add much (in the general apprehen- 
 sion of people) to the judgment of the latter, 
 that so many changes and vicissitudes in so short 
 a time have befell our nation ; we have been in 
 twelve years a kingdom, commonwealth, protec- 
 tordom, afterwards under an army, Parliament, 
 &c. Such inconstancy doth speak us under the 
 moon indeed ; but the best is, if we be under 
 the moon, the moon is under God, and nothing 
 shall happen unto us but what shall be for his 
 glory, and, we hope, for our good ; and that we 
 may in due time be under the sun again.
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 253 
 
 XIV. RECOVERED. 
 
 TYRANNUS was a good word at first, im- 
 porting no more than a king ; the pride 
 and cruelty of some made the word to bear ill, 
 as it doth in the modern acceptation thereof. 
 
 Providence, as good a word as any in divinity, 
 hath suffered so much in the modern abusing 
 thereof, that conscientious people begin to loathe 
 and hate it. For God's providence hath been 
 alleged against God's precepts. King's bare 
 word was never in our land produced against his 
 broad seal. Yet success (an argument borrowed 
 from the Turks) hath been pleaded as the voice 
 of God's approbation against his positive and 
 express will in his word. 
 
 But God hath been pleased to vindicate his 
 own honour, and to assert the credit of provi- 
 dence, which is now become a good word again. 
 If impulsive providence (a new-coined phrase) 
 hath given the late army their greatness, ex- 
 pulsive providence (a newer phrase) hath given 
 them their smallness : being now set by, laid 
 aside as useless ; and not set by, so far from 
 terrifying of any, by few they are regarded.
 
 254 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 XV. GRATITUDE. 
 
 TVTEWCASTLE on Tyne is, without corri- 
 
 JL\ val, the richest town in England, which 
 
 Camden's k e f ore the Conquest was usually known by the 
 
 Brit, in /.,*- 
 
 Northumb. name or Monk- Chester. 
 
 Exeter must be allowed of all, one of the 
 
 neatest and sweetest cities of England, which 
 
 Hem in anciently by the Saxons was called Monk- Town. 
 
 Devon. / J 
 
 both which names are now utterly out ot use, 
 and known only to antiquaries. 
 
 God hath done great things already, whereof 
 we rejoice, by the hand of our great general, in 
 order to the settlement of our nation. When 
 the same (as we hope in due time) shall be com- 
 pleted, not only Newcastle and Exeter shall 
 have just cause, with comfort, to remember their 
 old names, but every county, city, market-town, 
 parish, and village in England may have the 
 name of Monk put upon them. But oh, the 
 modesty of this worthy person is as much as 
 his merit, who hath learned from valiant, wise, 
 2 Sam. xu. an( j j O y a ] J oaD to do nothing prejudicial to Da- 
 vid, and delighteth not so much in having a 
 great name, as in deserving it.
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 255 
 
 XVI. THE HEIR. 
 
 I EVER beheld Somersetshire, in one respect, 
 as the most ancient and honourable shire in 
 England. For Glastonbury in that county was 
 the British Antioch, where the Britons were 
 first called Christians, by the preaching of Jo- 
 seph of Arimathea, though the truth of the 
 story be much swoln by the leaven of legen- 
 dary fictions. 
 
 But hereafter Somersetshire, in another re- 
 spect, must be allowed the eldest county in 
 England; as Christianity first grew there, so 
 charity first sprang thence, in that their sober, 
 serious, and seasonable declaration, wherein they 
 renounce all future animosities in relation to 
 their former sufferings. 
 
 Now, as the zeal of Achaia provoked very ZCOT.O..Z. 
 many, so the example of Somersetshire hath been 
 precedential to other counties to follow it. Kent 
 and Essex since have done, and other shires are 
 daily doing the same ; yea, and I hope that 
 those counties which lag the last in writing, will 
 be as forward as the first in performing their 
 solemn promises therein.
 
 256 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 XVII. SAD TRANSPOSITION. 
 
 IT seemeth marvellous to me that many me- 
 chanics, (few able to read, and fewer to write 
 their names,) turning soldiers and captains in 
 our wars, should be so soon and so much im- 
 proved. They seemed to me to have commenced 
 per saltum in their understandings. I profess, 
 without flouting or flattering, I have much ad- 
 mired with what facility and fluentness, how 
 pertinently and properly, they have expressed 
 themselves, in language which they were never 
 born nor bred to, but have industriously acquired 
 by conversing with their betters. 
 
 What a shame would it be, if such who have 
 been of genteel extraction, and have had liberal 
 education, should (as if it were by exchange of 
 souls) relapse into ignorance and barbarism ! 
 
 What an ignominy would it be for them to 
 be buried in idleness, and in the immoderate 
 pursuit of pleasures and vicious courses, till 
 they besot their understandings, when they see 
 soldiers arrived at such an improvement, who 
 were bred tailors, shoemakers, cobblers, &c. 
 
 Not that I write this (God knoweth my 
 heart) in disgrace of them, because they were 
 bred in so mean callings, which are both honest 
 in themselves and useful in the commonwealth ; 
 yea, I am so far from thinking ill of them for
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 257 
 
 being bred in so poor trades, that I should 
 think better of them for returning unto them 
 again. 
 
 XVIII. BIRD IN THE BREAST. 
 
 IS AW two men fighting together, tih 1 a 
 third, casually passing by, interposed him- 
 self to part them ; the blows of the one fell on 
 his face, of the other on his back, of both on 
 his body, being the screen betwixt the fiery 
 anger of the two fighters. Some of the be- 
 holders laughed at him, as well enough served 
 for meddling with matters which belonged not 
 to him. 
 
 Others pitied him, conceiving every man con- 
 cerned to prevent bloodshed betwixt neighbours, 
 and Christianity itself was commission enough 
 to interest him therein. 
 
 However, this is the sad fate which attended 
 ah 1 moderate persons, which will mediate be- 
 twixt opposite parties. They may complain 
 with David, They have rewarded me evil for 
 good, and hatred for my good-will. Yet let 
 not such hereby be disheartened, but know that 
 (besides the reward in heaven) the very work 
 of moderation is the wages of moderation. For 
 it carrieth with it a marvellous contentment in 
 
 his conscience who hath endeavoured his utmost 
 22
 
 258 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 in order to unity, though unhappy in his suc- 
 cess. 
 
 XIX. FAIR HOPES. 
 
 A TRAVELLER who had been newly 
 robbed inquired of the first gentleman 
 he met, who also was in a melancholy humour, 
 (a cause having lately gone against him,) 
 where he might find a justice of peace, to 
 whom the gentleman replied : You ask for two 
 things together, which singly and severally are 
 not to be had. I neither know where justice is, 
 nor yet where peace is to be found. 
 
 Let us not make the condition of our land 
 worse than it was ; Westminster Hall was ever 
 open, though the proceedings of justice therein 
 were much interrupted and obstructed with 
 military impressions. Peace, we confess, hath 
 been a stranger unto us a long time, heart- 
 burnings remaining when house-burnings are 
 quenched ; but now, blessed be God, we are in 
 a fair probability of recovering both, if our sins 
 and ingratitude blast not our most hopeful ex- 
 pectations. 
 
 w 
 
 XX. RIDDLE UNRIDDLED. 
 
 E read, (1 Sam. xv. 11,) that when 
 Absalom aspired to his father's king-
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 259 
 
 dom, with him went two hundred men out of 
 Jerusalem, that were called, and they went in 
 their simplicity, and they knew not anything. 
 If any have so little charity as to call these 
 persons traitors, I will have so much confidence 
 as to term them loyal traitors, and (God will- 
 ing) justify the seeming contradiction. 
 
 For they lodged not in their hearts the least 
 disloyal thought against the person and power 
 of King David. But alas ! when these two 
 hundred were mixed among two thousand, ten 
 thousand, twenty thousand of active and de- 
 signing traitors, these poor men might in the 
 violent multitude be hurried on, not only be- 
 yond their intentions, but even against their 
 resolutions. 
 
 Such as are sensible with sorrow that their 
 well-intending simplicity hath been imposed on, 
 abused, and deluded by the subtlety of others, 
 may comfort and content themselves in the sin- 
 cerity of their own souls ; God, no doubt, hath 
 already forgiven them, and therefore men ought 
 to revoke their uncharitable censures of them. 
 And yet Divine justice will have its full tale of 
 intended stripes, taking so many off from the 
 back of the deceived, and laying them on the 
 shoulders of the deceivers.
 
 260 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 XXI. NO RECORD TO REMAIN. 
 
 1 NEVER did read, nor can learn from any, 
 that ever Queen Elizabeth had any ship- 
 royal, which in the name thereof carried the 
 memorial of any particular conquest she got 
 either by land or by water. Yet was she as 
 victorious as any prince in her age, and (which 
 is mainly material) her conquests were mostly 
 achieved against foreign enemies. 
 
 The ships of her navy had only honest and 
 wholesome names, the Endeavour, the Bona- 
 venture, the Return, the Unity, &c. 
 
 Some of our modern ships carry a very great 
 burden in their names ; I mean the memorial of 
 some fatal fights in the civil wars in our own 
 nation, and the conquerors ought not to take 
 much joy, as the conquered must take grief in 
 the remembrance thereof. 
 
 I am utterly against the rebaptizing of Chris- 
 tians, but I am for the redipping of ships, that 
 not only some inoffensive, but ingratiating 
 names may be put upon them ; the Unity, the 
 Reconciliation, the Agreement, the Concord, 
 and healing titles, (I speak more like a book- 
 man than a seaman,) and others to that pur- 
 pose.
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 261 
 
 XXII. ALL FOR THE PRESENT. 
 
 THERE is a pernicious humour, of a catch- 
 ing nature, wherewith the mouths of 
 many, and hearts of more, are infected. Some 
 there are that are so covetous to see the settle- 
 ment of church and state according to their 
 own desires, that if it be not done in our days, 
 say they, we care not whether it be done at all 
 or no. 
 
 Such men's souls live in a lane, having weak 
 heads and narrow hearts, their faith being little, 
 and charity less, being all for themselves and 
 nothing for posterity. These men, living in 
 India, would prove ill commonwealth's-men, 
 and would lay no foundation for porcelain or 
 china dishes, because despairing to reap benefit 
 thereby, as not ripened to perfection in a hun- 
 dred years. 
 
 Oh ! give me that good man's gracious tem- 
 per, who earnestly desired the prosperity of the 
 Church, whatsoever became of himself, whose 
 verses I will offer to translate: 
 
 Seu me terra tegit, seu vattum contegit cequor ; 
 Exoptatapiis scecula fausta precor. 
 
 Buried in earth, or drowned in the main, 
 
 Eat up by worms or fishes ; 
 I pray the pious may obtain 
 
 For happy times their wishes.
 
 262 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 28am.xix. ^nd jf we ourselves, with aged Barzillai, be 
 superannuated to behold the happy establish- 
 
 Heb. M. is. ment of church and state, may we, dying in 
 faith, though not having received the promises, 
 bequeath the certain reversions of our Chim- 
 hams, I mean the next generation which shall 
 rise up after us. 
 
 XXIII. COURTESY GAINETH. 
 
 1HAVE heard the royal party (would I 
 could say without any cause) complained 
 of, that they have not charity enough for con- 
 verts, who came off unto them from the op- 
 posite side ; who, though they express a sense 
 of and sorrow for their mistakes, and have 
 given testimony, though perchance not so plain 
 and public as others expected, of their sincerity, 
 yet still they are suspected as unsound ; and 
 such as frown not on, look but asquint at them. 
 
 This hath done much mischief, and retarded 
 the return of many to their side ; for had these 
 their van-couriers been but kindly entertained, 
 possibly ere now their whole army had come 
 over unto us ; which now are disheartened by 
 the cold welcome of these converts. 
 
 Let this fault be mended for the future, that 
 such proselytes may meet with nothing to dis- 
 courage, all things to comfort and content them.
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 263 
 
 Let us give thenmot only the right hand of 
 fellowship, but even the upper 'hand of superior- 
 ity. One asked a mother who had brought 
 up many children to a marriageable age, what 
 art she used to breed up so numerous an issue ; 
 " None other," said she, " save only, I always 
 made the most of the youngest." Let the Ben- 
 jamins ever be darlings, and the last born, 
 whose eyes were newest opened with the sight 
 of their errors, be treated with the greatest affec- 
 tion. 
 
 XXIV. MODERATION. 
 
 ARTHUR PLANTAGENET Viscount 
 Lisle, natural son to King Edward the 
 Fourth, and (which is the greatest honour to 
 his memory) direct ancestor, in the fifth degree, 
 to the right honourable and most renowned lord 
 general George Monk, was, for a fault of his 
 servants, (intending to betray Calais to the king 
 of France,) committed to the Tower by King 
 Henry the Eighth, where, well knowing the fury 
 and fierceness of that king, he daily expected 
 death. 
 
 But the innocence of this lord appearing after 
 much search, the king sent him a rich ring 
 off his own finger, with so comfortable words 
 that, at the hearing thereof, a sudden joy over- Speed- 
 charged his heart, whereof he died that night ; 692 .
 
 264 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 so fatal was not only the anger, but the love, 
 of that king. 
 
 England for these many years hath been in a 
 languishing condition, whose case hath been so 
 much the sadder than this lord's was, because 
 conscious of a great guilt, whereby she hath 
 justly incurred God's displeasure. If God of 
 his goodness should be pleased to restore her to 
 his favour, may he also give her moderation 
 safely to digest and concoct her own happiness, 
 that she may not run from one extreme to an- 
 other, and excessive joy prove more destructive 
 unto her than grief hath been hitherto. 
 
 XXV. PREPARATIVE. 
 
 TWILIGHT is a great blessing of God to 
 mankind : for, should our eyes be instant- 
 ly posted out of darkness into light, out of mid- 
 night into morning, so sudden a surprisal would 
 blind us. God, therefore, of his goodness, hath 
 made the intermediate twilight to prepare our 
 eyes for the reception of the light. 
 
 Such is his dealing with our English nation. 
 We were lately in the midnight of misery. It 
 was questionable whether the law should first 
 draw up the will and testament of dying divin- 
 ity, or divinity first make a funeral sermon for 
 expiring law. Violence stood ready to invade
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 265 
 
 our property, heresies and schisms to oppress 
 religion. 
 
 Blessed be God, we are now brought into a 
 better condition, yea, we are past the equilib- 
 rium; the beam beginning to break on the 
 better side, and our hopes to have the mastery 
 of our despairs. God grant this twilight may 
 prove crepusculum matutinum^ forerunning the 
 rising of the sun, and increase of our happiness. 
 
 XXVI. REVENGE WITH A WITNESS. 
 
 T^REDERIC the Second, Emperor of 
 
 r, . T-.. . _ , , ,. Theat-voL 
 
 many, being at .risa, in Italy, and dis- vil . lib . ^ 
 
 tressed for want of money to pay his army, P- 1959 > 
 
 J J 'sub titulo 
 
 sent for Petrus de Vineis, an able man, who 
 formerly had been his secretary, but whose 
 eyes he had caused to be bored out for some 
 misdemeanour. 
 
 Being demanded of the Emperor which way 
 lie might most speedily and safely (as to out- 
 ward danger) recruit his treasury, his secretary 
 gave him counsel to seize on the plate of all the 
 churches and monasteries of that city, which 
 he did accordingly, and amongst the rest he 
 took zonam auream, or the golden girdle, out of 
 one church, of inestimable value. 
 
 This blind secretary, returning home to his 
 wife, told her, " Now I am even with the Em-
 
 266 MI XT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 peror for putting out my eyes, having put him 
 on such a project which I hope he will pursue 
 to his own destruction. He hath made me a 
 spectacle to men, but I have made lu'm a mon- 
 ster unto God." 
 
 Let such who are concerned herein see what 
 success the Emperor had in this his expedition, 
 founded on sacrilege ; and the longer they look 
 thereon, the worse I am sure they will like it, 
 to bar further application. 
 
 XXVII. A GNAT, NO GNAT. 
 
 ONE, needlessly precise, took causeless ex- 
 ception at a gentleman for using the word 
 " in troth " in his discourse, as if it had been a 
 kind of an oath. The gentleman pleaded for 
 himself, that " in truth " was a word inoffensive, 
 even in his judgment who accused him. 
 
 Secondly, that he was born far north, where 
 their broad and Doric dialect pronounced truth, 
 troth, and he did humbly conceive the tone of 
 the tongue was no fault of the heart. 
 
 Lastly, he alleged the twenty-fifth Psalm as 
 it is translated in metre : 
 
 To them that keep his testament, 
 The witness of his troth. 
 
 And thus at last, with much ado, his seeming 
 fault was remitted. 

 
 ON THESE TIMES. 267 
 
 I am afraid if one should declare for troth 
 and peace, and not for truth and peace, it would 
 occasion some offence ; however, rather than it 
 should make any difference, the former will be 
 as acceptable to the north of Trent, as the 
 latter will please all good people south thereof. 
 
 XXVIII. SILENCE AWHILE. 
 
 HAD not mine eyes, as any other man's 
 may, read it in the printed proclamations 
 of King Edward the Sixth, (when the pulpits, 
 generally Popish, sounded the alarm to Kett's 
 rebellion, and the Devonshire commotion,) I 
 would not have believed what followeth: 
 
 2 Udw. VI. Sept. 13. 
 
 " By these presents, Wee inhibite generally 
 all manner of Preachers whatsoever they be, to 
 preach in this meane space,* to the intent that the 
 whole Clergy might apply themselves in prayer 
 to Almightie God, for the better atchieving of 
 the same most G-odlie intent, and purpose of Ref- 
 ormation." 
 
 What hurt were it if in this juncture of time 
 all our preaching were turned into praying for 
 one month together, that God would settle a 
 happy peace in this nation ? 
 
 * This lasted in full force but for some few weeks.
 
 268 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 However, if this be offensive to any, and 
 giveth cause of distaste, the second motion may 
 be embraced : that for a year, at least, all pul- 
 pits may be silent as to any part of differences 
 relating to our times, and only deliver what 
 belongeth to faith and good works. 
 
 XXIX. SEND HUMILITY. 
 
 1DO not remember that the word Infinite 
 is in Scripture attributed to any creature 
 save to the city of Nineveh, Nahum iii. 9: 
 Ethiopia and Egypt were her strength, and it 
 was infinite. 
 
 But what is now become of Nineveh ? It is 
 even buried in its own ruins, and may have this 
 epitaph upon it: 
 
 HIC JACET FINIS INFINITI. 
 Here lieth the end of what was endless. 
 
 He who beheld the multitude of actors and 
 beholders at the mustering in Hyde Park on 
 the twenty-fourth of April last, will say that 
 there was an infinite number of people therein. 
 Some would hardly believe that the whole na- 
 tion could afford so many as the city of London 
 alone did then produce. 
 
 My prayer shall ever be, that this great city 
 may be kept either in the wholesome ignorance
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 269 
 
 or humble knowledge of its own strength, lest 
 the people numberless prove masterless therein. 
 And let them remember (God forefend the par- 
 allel) what is become of great Nineveh at this 
 day, annihilated for the pride thereof! 
 
 XXX. RATHER FOLD OVER THAN 
 FALL SHORT. 
 
 SOLOMON'S temple was seven years in 
 building, 1 Kings vi. 38. And such who 
 seriously consider the magnificence thereof, will 
 more wonder that it was done so soon, than 
 doing so long. 
 
 Now had Solomon at the beginning of this 
 building abolished the tabernacle made by 
 Moses, because too mean and little for so 
 mighty and so numerous a nation, God had 
 been seven years without any place of public 
 service. 
 
 But that wise prince continued the taberna- 
 cle to all uses and purposes until the temple 
 was finished, and then, 1 Kings viii. 4, They 
 brought up the ark of the Lord, and the taber- 
 nacle of the congregation, and all the holy ves- 
 sels that were in the tabernacle, even those did 
 the priests and the Levites bring up. And as it 
 followeth afterwards, ver. 6 : They brought in 
 the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto his
 
 270 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 place, into the oracle of the house. And cer- 
 tainly all the rest of the tabernacle, consisting 
 of such materials as might be taken down and 
 kept in chests and coffers, were deposited in 
 the temple, though it may be no use was made 
 thereof. 
 
 It had been well if, before the old govern- 
 ment of the Church was taken down, a new 
 one had first been settled. Yea, rather let 
 God have two houses together, than none at 
 all ; lest piety be starved to death with cold, 
 by lying out of doors in the interval betwixt 
 the demolishing of an old, and the erecting of 
 a new church discipline. 
 
 XXXI. NO MAN'S WORK. 
 
 HRIST when on earth cured many a spot, 
 especially of leprosy, but never smoothed 
 any wrinkle ; never made any old man young 
 again. 
 
 But in heaven he will do both, Eph. v. 27 : 
 When he shall present it to himself a glorious 
 church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any 
 such thing ; but that it should be holy and 
 without blemish. 
 
 Triumphant perfection is not to be hoped for 
 in the militant church ; there will be in it 
 many spots and wrinkles as long as it consist-
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 271 
 
 eth of sinful mortal men, the members thereof: 
 it is Christ's work, not man's work, to make 
 a perfect reformation. 
 
 Such, therefore, are no good politicians who 
 will make a sore to mend a spot, cause a wound 
 to plain a wrinkle, do a great and certain mis- 
 chief, when a small and uncertain benefit will 
 thereby redound. 
 
 XXXII. THREE MAKE UP ONE. 
 
 YOUNG King Jehoash had only a lease of 
 piety, and not for his own but his uncle's 
 life, 2 Kings xii. 2 : He did that which was right 
 in the sight of the Lord all his days, wherein 
 Jehoiada the priest instructed him. 
 
 Jehu was good in the midst of his life and a 
 zealous reformer to the utter abolishing of Baal 
 out of Israel, but in his old age, 2 Kings x. 31, 
 he returned to the politic sins of Jeroboam, 
 worshipping the calves in Dan and Bethel. 
 
 Manasseh was bad in the beginning and mid- 
 dle of his life, filling Jerusalem with idolatry ; 
 only towards the end thereof, when carried into 2 Chron - 
 
 111 i i if i ^xxiii' 15. 
 
 a strange land, he came home to himself, and 
 destroyed the profane altars he had erected. 
 
 These three put together make one perfect 
 servant of God. Take the morning and rise 
 with Jehoash, the noon and shine with Jehu,
 
 272 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 the night and set with Manasseh. Begin with 
 youth-Jehoash, continue with man-Jehu, con- 
 clude with old-man-Manasseh, and all put to- 
 gether will spell one good Christian, yea, one 
 good perfect performer. 
 
 XXXIII. SERO, SED SERIO. 
 
 XTEBUCHADNEZZAR observed three gra- 
 -L ll dations in plundering the temple ; first, 
 he mannerly sipped and took but a taste of the 
 wealth thereof, 2 Chron. xxxvi. 7 : He carried 
 of the vessels of the house of the Lord to Bab- 
 ylon. 
 
 Next, he mended his draught, and drank very 
 deep, ver. 10 : When the year was expired, Ne- 
 buchadnezzar sent and brought Jehoiachin to 
 Babylon, with the goodly vessels of the house 
 of the Lord. 
 
 Lastly, he emptied the cup, not leaving one 
 drop behind, ver. 18 : And all the vessels of 
 the house of the Lord, great and small, brought 
 he to Babylon. 
 
 It was the mercy of God to allow his people 
 space to repent : had they made their seasonable 
 composition with God after the first inroad, 
 they had prevented the second ; if after the 
 second, they had prevented the last and final 
 destruction.
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 273 
 
 God hath suffered our civil wars some six- 
 teen years since, first to taste of the wealth of 
 our nation ; and we met not God with suitable 
 humiliation. His justice then went farther, and 
 the sword took the goodly vessels, the gallantry 
 and gayety of England from us ; 1. Our massy 
 plate ; 2. Pleasant pictures ; 8. Precious jewels ; 
 
 4. Rare libraries ; and 5. Magnificent palaces 
 [Holdenby, Theobalds, Richmond] ; carrying 
 majesty in their structure ; 1. Melted down ; 
 2. Sold ; 3. Lost, or drowned ; 4. Transported ; 
 
 5. Levelled to the ground. 
 
 God grant that we may sue out our pardon 
 by serious repentance, before all the vessels, 
 great and small, be taken away in a renewed 
 war, that the remnant of wealth which is left in 
 the land may be continued therein. 
 
 XXXIV. BY DEGREES. 
 
 WE read that the nails in the holy of 
 holies, 2 Chron. iii. 8 and 9, were of 
 fine gold. Hence ariseth a question, how such 
 nails could be useful ? pure gold being so flexi- 
 ble that a nail made thereof will bow, and not 
 drive. 
 
 Now, I was present at the debate hereof, 
 betwixt the best working-goldsmiths in London, 
 where, among many other ingenious answers, 
 
 23
 
 274 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 this carried away the credit for the greatest 
 probability thereof, viz. that they were screw- 
 nails, which had holes prepared for their recep- 
 tion, arid so were wound in by degrees. 
 
 God's work must not be done lazily, but lei- 
 surely: haste maketh waste in this kind. In 
 reformations of great importance, the violent 
 driving in of the nail will either break the 
 head, or bow the point thereof, or rive and 
 split that which should be fastened therewith. 
 
 That may insensibly be screwed which can- 
 not suddenly be knocked into people. Fair 
 and softly goeth for ; but, alas ! we have too 
 many fiery spirits, who, with Jehu, drive on 
 so furiously they will overturn all in church 
 and state, if their fierceness be not seasonably 
 retrenched. 
 
 XXXV. GOOD AUGURY. 
 
 I WAS much affected with reading that 
 distich in Ovid, as having somewhat ex- 
 traordinary therein : 
 
 Tarpeia quondam proedixit ab ilice cornix, 
 sl, bene nonpotuit dicer e, dixit, erit. 
 
 The crow sometimes did sit and spell* 
 
 On top of Tarpie-Hall ; 
 She could not say, All 's well, all 's well, 
 
 But said, It shall, it shall. 
 
 * To foretell; hence Spelman.
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 275 
 
 But what, do I listen to the language of the 
 crow, whose black colour hath a cast of hell 
 therein, in superstitious soothsaying ? Let us 
 hearken to what the dove of the Holy Spirit 
 saith, promising God's servants, though the 
 present times be bad, the future will be better, 
 Psalm xxxvii. 11 : The meek shall inherit the 
 earth, and shall delight themselves in the abun- 
 dance of peace. 
 
 XXXVI. SUBTRACT NOT, BUT ADD. 
 
 A CO VETO US courtier complained to 
 King Edward the Sixth, of Christ's Col- 
 lege in Cambridge, that it was a superstitious 
 foundation, consisting of a master and twelve 
 fellows, in imitation of Christ and his twelve 
 apostles. He advised the king, also, to take 
 away one or two fellowships, so to discompose 
 that superstitious number. 
 
 O no, said the king, I have a better way 
 than that to mar their conceit, I will add a 
 thirteenth fellowship unto them ; which he did 
 accordingly, and so it remaineth to this day. 
 
 Well fare their hearts who will not only 
 wear out their shoes, but also their feet, in 
 God's service, and yet gain not a shoe-latchet 
 thereby. 
 
 When our Saviour drove the sheep and oxen
 
 276 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 out of the temple, lie did not drive them into 
 his own pasture, nor swept the coin into his 
 own pockets when he overturned the tables 
 of the money-changers. But we have in our 
 days many who are forward to offer to God 
 such zeal which not only cost them nothing, 
 but wherewith they have gained great estates. 
 
 XXXVII. SEND SUCH MUSIC. 
 
 w 
 
 IE read, 1 Kings viii. 55, that Solomon, 
 when he had ended his excellent 
 prayer, he blessed the people. But was not 
 this invading the sacerdotal function ? seeing it 
 Numb. vi. was no f. crown work, but mitre work to do it. 
 
 23. 
 
 No, surely, Solomon's act therein was lawful 
 and laudable, there being a threefold blessing. 
 
 1. Imperative ; so God only blessed his peo- 
 ple, who commandeth deliverances for Israel. 
 
 2. Indicative ; solemnly to declare God's 
 blessing to, and put his name upon, the people, 
 and this was the priest's work. 
 
 3. Optative ; wishing and desiring God's 
 blessing on the people, and this was done by 
 Solomon. 
 
 Yea, it is remarkable that, in the same chap- 
 ter, ver. 66, the people blessed the king. O 
 happy reciprocation betwixt them ! when the 
 king blesseth his people, if his words be rightly
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 277 
 
 understood, all may be well. But when a 
 people blesseth their king, all is well. 
 
 XXXVIII. BY HOOK AND BY CROOK. 
 
 MARVELLOUS was the confidence of 
 those merchants, James iv. 13 : Go to 
 now, ye that say, To-day or to-morrow we 
 will go into such a city, and continue there a 
 year, and buy, and sell, and get gain. 
 
 What false heraldry have we here, presump- 
 tion on presumption ! What insurance office 
 had they been at to secure their lives for a 
 twelvemonth ! 
 
 But, this being granted, how could they cer- 
 tainly promise themselves that they this year 
 should get gain, except they had surely known 
 what would have been dear the next year ? 
 Merchandising is a ticklish matter, seeing many 
 buy and sell, and live by the loss. 
 
 Either, then, trading in those times was 
 quicker and better than in ours, or (which is 
 most probable) they were all resolved on the 
 point, to cheat, cozen, lie, swear, and forswear, 
 and to gain by what means soever. 
 
 Our age and land affordeth many of their 
 temper, and of such St. Paul speaketh, 1 Tim. 
 vi. 9 : They will be rich. Will, whether God 
 will or will not ; will, though it cost them the
 
 278 MJXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 forfeiture of their conscience to compass their 
 
 designs. 
 
 XXXIX. WITHOUT CARE NO CURE. 
 
 A WOMAN, when newly delivered of a 
 child, her pain is ended, her peril is but 
 new begun ; a little distemper in diet, or a 
 small cold taken, may inflame her into a fever, 
 and endanger her life. Wherefore, when the 
 welfare of such a person is inquired after, this 
 answer-general is returned. She is well for 
 one in her condition ; the third, fifth, and ninth 
 days (all critical) must be expected, till which 
 time bene-male is all the health which the Latin 
 tongue will allow her. 
 
 England is this green woman, lately brought 
 to bed of a long-expected child, Liberty. Many 
 wise men suspected that she would have died 
 in travail, and both child and mother miscarry. 
 But God be thanked for a good midwife, w*ho 
 would not prevent, but attend the date of na- 
 ture. 
 
 However, all, yea, most of the danger is not 
 yet past. Numerous is the multitude of male- 
 contents, and many difficulties must be encoun- 
 tered before our peace can be settled. 
 
 God grant the woman be not wilful in fits of 
 her distemper, to be ordered by the discretion
 
 OAT THESE TIMES. 279 
 
 of her nurses, which now in Parliament most 
 carefully attend her recovery. 
 
 XL. KEEP YOUR CASTLE. 
 
 SOON after the king's death I preached in 
 a church near London, and a person then 
 in great power, now levelled with his fellows, 
 was present at my sermon. Now, I had this 
 passage in my prayer : God in his due time 
 settle our nation on the true foundation 
 thereof. 
 
 The [then] great man demanded of me, 
 what I meant by true foundation. I answered, 
 That I was no lawyer, nor statesman, and 
 therefore skill in such matters was not to be 
 expected from me. 
 
 He pressed me farther to express myself, 
 whether thereby I did not intend the king, 
 lords, and commons. 
 
 I returned that it was a part of my prayer 
 to God, who had more knowledge than I had 
 ignorance in all things, that he knew what was 
 the true foundation, and I remitted all to his 
 wisdom and goodness. 
 
 When men come with nets in their ears, it is 
 good for the preacher to have neither fish nor 
 fowl in his tongue. But, blessed be God, now 
 we need not lie at so close a guard. Let the
 
 280 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 gentleman now know, that what he suspected 
 I then intended in my words ; and let him make 
 what improvement he pleaseth thereof. 
 
 XLI. TOO MUCH BENEATH. 
 
 KING Henry the Seventh was much trou- 
 bled (as he was wont to say) with idols, 
 scenecal royaletts, poor, petty, pitiful persons, 
 who pretended themselves princes. 
 
 One of these was called Lambert Simnel, 
 whom the king at last, with much care and cost, 
 some expense of blood, but more of money, 
 reduced into his power and got his person into 
 his possession. Then, instead of other punish- 
 ment, he made him a turn-broach, and after- 
 wards (on his peaceable behaviour) he was 
 Lord Ba- preferred one of the king's under-falconers, and, 
 
 con, in the r 
 
 Life of King as one tartly said, a fit place for the buzzard, to 
 Henry \n.k ee p naw ks, wno W ould have been an eagle. 
 
 The king perceived that this Lambert was 
 no daring, dangerous, and designing person, 
 and therefore he would not make him, who 
 was contemptible in himself, considerable for 
 any noble punishment imposed upon him. 
 
 Royal revenge will not stoop to a low ob- 
 ject ; some malefactors are too mean to be 
 made public examples. Let them live, that the 
 pointing of people's fingers may be so many
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 281 
 
 arrows to pierce them. See, there goes ingrat- 
 itude to his master; there walks, &c. 
 
 Such a life will smart as death ; and such a 
 death may be sanctified for life unto them: 1 
 mean, may occasion their serious sorrow, and 
 cordial repentance, whereby God's pardon and 
 their eternal salvation may be obtained; which 
 ought to be the desire of all good Christians, as 
 well for others as themselves. 
 
 XLII. PATIENCE AWHILE. 
 
 THE soldiers asked of John Baptist, Luke 
 iii. 14, &c. : And what shall we do ? 
 Every man ought (not curiously to inquire 
 into the duty of others, but) to attend his own 
 concernments. The Baptist returned : Do vio- 
 lence to no man, neither accuse any falsely ; 
 and be content with your wages. 
 
 Good counsel to the soldiers of this age. Do 
 violence to no man, plunder no man, accuse no 
 man falsely. 
 
 Make no men malignants by wrongful infor- 
 mation, and be content with your wages. 
 
 But I have heard some of the most moderate 
 of the soldiers, not without cause, to complain : 
 " He is a mutineer indeed who will not be con- 
 tent with his wages ; but alas ! we must be 
 content without our wages, having so much of
 
 282 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 our arrears due unto us : this is a hard chapter 
 indeed. And John Baptist himself, though 
 feeding hardly on locusts and wild honey, could 
 not live without any food." 
 
 Indeed, their case is to be pitied, and yet 
 such as are ingenuous amongst them will be 
 persuaded to have patience but awhile, the 
 nation being now in fermentation, and tending 
 to a consistency. The wisdom of the Par- 
 liament is such, they will find out the most 
 speedy and easy means to pay them ; and such 
 their justice, no intent is there to defraud them 
 of a farthing, whatsoever ill-affected malecon- 
 tents may suggest to the contrary. 
 
 XLIII. IN THE MIDDLE. 
 
 GOD in his providence fixed my nativity 
 in a remarkable place. 
 
 I was born at Aldwinkle, in Northampton- 
 shire, where my father was the painful preacher 
 of St. Peter's. This village was distanced one 
 good mile west from Achurch, where Mr. 
 Brown, founder of the Brownists, did dwell, 
 whom, out of curiosity, when a youth, I often 
 visited. 
 
 It was likewise a mile and a half distant 
 east from Lavenden, where Francis Tresham, 
 Esquire, so active in the Gunpowder Treason, 
 had a large demesne and ancient habitation.
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 283 
 
 My nativity may mind me of moderation, 
 whose cradle was rocked betwixt two rocks. 
 Now, seeing I was never such a churl as to 
 desire to eat my morsel alone, let such who 
 like my prayer join with me therein. 
 
 God grant we may hit the golden mean, and 
 endeavour to avoid all extremes ; the fanatic 
 Anabaptist on the one side, and the fiery zeal 
 of the Jesuit on the other, that so we may be 
 true Protestants, or, which is a far better name, 
 real Christians indeed. 
 
 XLIV. AMENDING. 
 
 ALL generally hate a sluttish house, wherein 
 nastiness hath not only taken livery and 
 seizin, but also hath been a long time in the 
 peaceable possession thereof. 
 
 However, reasonable men will be contented 
 with a house belittered with straw, and will dis- 
 pense with dust itself, whilst the house is sweep- 
 ins;, because it hath uncleanness, in order to 
 
 o ' * 
 
 cleanness. 
 
 Many things in England are out of joint for 
 the present, and a strange confusion there is in 
 church and state ; but let this comfort us, we 
 trust it is confusion in tendency to order. And, 
 therefore, let us for a time more patiently com- 
 port therewith.
 
 284 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 XLV. TOO MUCH TRUTH. 
 
 SOME, perchance, will smile, though I am 
 sure all should sigh, at the following story. 
 
 A minister of these times sharply chid one of 
 his parish for having a base child, and told him, 
 he must take order for the keeping thereof. 
 
 " Why, sir," answered the man, " I conceive 
 it more reasonable that you should maintain it. 
 For I am not book-learned, and ken not a letter 
 in the Bible ; yea, I have been your parishioner 
 this seven years, present every Lord's day at 
 the church, yet did I never there hear you read 
 the ten commandments ; I never heard that 
 precept read, Thou shalt not commit adultery. 
 Probably, had you told me my duty, I had not 
 committed this folly." 
 
 It is an abominable shame, and a crying sin 
 of this land, that poor people hear not in their 
 churches the sum of what they should pray for, 
 believe, and practise ; many mock-ministers hav- 
 ing banished out of divine service the use of the 
 Lord's prayer, creed, and ten commandments. 
 
 XLVI. AS IT WAS. 
 
 SOME alive will be deposed for the truth of 
 this strange accident, though I forbear the 
 naming of place or persons.
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 285 
 
 A careless maid, which attended a gentle- 
 man's child, fell asleep whilst the rest of the 
 family were at church ; an ape, taking the 
 child out of the cradle, carried it to the roof of 
 the house, and there (according to his rude 
 manner) fell a dancing and dandling thereof, 
 down head, up heels, as it happened. 
 
 The father of the child, returning with his 
 family from the church, commented with his 
 own eyes on his child's sad condition. Bemoan 
 he might, help it he could not. Dangerous to 
 shoot the ape where the bullet might hit the 
 babe ; all fall to their prayers as their last and 
 best refuge, that the innocent child (whose 
 precipice they suspected) might be preserved. 
 
 But when the ape was well wearied with its 
 own activity, he fairly went down, and formally 
 laid the child where he found it, in the cradle. 
 
 Fanatics have pleased their fancies these late 
 years with turning and tossing and tumbling of 
 religion, upward and downward, and backward 
 and forward ; they have cast and contrived it 
 into a hundred antic postures of their own 
 imagining. However, it is now to be hoped, 
 that, after they have tired themselves out with 
 doing of nothing, but only trying and tamper- 
 ing this and that way to no purpose, they may 
 at last return, and leave religion in the same 
 condition wherein they found it.
 
 286 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 XLVII. NOT SO, LONG. 
 
 SOLOMON was the riddle of the world, 
 being the richest and poorest of princes. 
 
 Richest, for once in three years the land of 
 Ophir sailed to Jerusalem, and caused such 
 plenty of gold therein. 
 
 Poorest, as appeareth by his imposing so in- 
 tolerable taxes on his subjects, the refusal of the 
 mitigation whereof caused the defection of the 
 ten tribes from the house of David. 
 
 But how came Solomon to be so much behind- 
 hand ? Some, I know, score it on the account 
 of his building of the temple, as if so magnifi- 
 cent a structure had impaired and exhausted his 
 estate. 
 
 But in very deed, it was his keeping of seven 
 hundred wives and three hundred concubines, 
 and his concubines in all probability more ex- 
 pensive than his wives (as the thief in the can- 
 dle wasteth more wax than the wick thereof). 
 All these had their several courts, which must 
 needs amount to a vast expense. 
 
 How cometh the great treasure of our land to 
 be low, and the debts thereof so high ? Surely 
 it is not by building of churches ; all the world 
 will be her compurgators therein. It is rather 
 because we maintain (and must for a time for 
 our safety) such a numerous army of soldiers.
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 287 
 
 Well it had been both for the profit, credit, 
 and conscience of Solomon, to have reduced his 
 wives to a smaller number, as we hope in due 
 time our standing army shall be epitomized to a 
 more moderate proportion. 
 
 XLVIII. THANK GOD. 
 
 A NUNCIO of the Pope's was treated at 
 Sienna, by a prime person, with a great 
 feast. It happened there was present thereat a 
 syndic of the city (being a magistrate, parallel 
 in his place to one of our aldermen), who, as 
 full of words as empty of wit, engrossed all the 
 discourse at the table to himself, who might 
 with as good manners have eaten all the meat at 
 the supper. 
 
 The entertainer, sorry to see him discover 
 so much weakness to the disgrace of himself, 
 endeavoured to stop the superfluity of his talk. 
 All in vain : the leaks in a rotten ship might 
 sooner be stanched. At last, to excuse the 
 matter (as well as he might) he told the 
 nuncio privately, You, I am sure, have some 
 weak men at Rome, as well as we have at 
 Sienna. We have so, said the nuncio, but we 
 make them no syndics. 
 
 It cannot be otherwise but that, in so spacious 
 a land, so numerous a people as England is, we
 
 288 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 must have many weak men, and some of them 
 of great wealth and estates. Yea, such who are 
 not only guilty of plain and simple ignorance, 
 but of ignorance guarded and embroidered with 
 their own conceitedness. But, blessed be God, 
 they are not chosen Parliament men ; the diffu- 
 sive nation was never more careful in their 
 elections of their representatives. 
 
 God grant, that, as the several day's works in 
 the creation were singly by God pronounced 
 good, but the last day's work (being the collec- 
 . i. si. tion and complication of them all) very good, 
 so these persons, good as single instruments, 
 may be best in a concert as met together. 
 
 XLIX. CAN GOOD COME FROM 
 IGNORANCE ? 
 
 KING James was no less dexterous at, than 
 desirous of, the discovery of such who 
 belied the father of lies, and falsely pretended 
 themselves possesssed with a devil. 
 
 Now a maid dissembled such a possession, and 
 for the better colour thereof, when the first 
 verses of the Gospel of St. John were read 
 in her hearing, she would fall into strange fits 
 of fuming and foaming, to the amazement of the 
 beholders. 
 
 But when the king caused one of his chap-
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 289 
 
 lains to read the same in the original, the same 
 maid (possessed it seems with an English devil, 
 who understood not a word of Greek) was 
 tame and quiet, without any impression upon 
 her. 
 
 I know a factious parish, wherein, if the 
 minister in his pulpit had but named the word 
 kingdom, the people would have been ready to 
 have petitioned against him for a malignant. 
 But as for realm, the same in French, he 
 might safely use it in his sermons as oft as he 
 pleased. Ignorance, which generally inflameth, 
 sometimes, by good hap, abateth men's malice. 
 
 The best is, that now one may, without dan- 
 ger, use either word, seeing England was a 
 kingdom a thousand years ago, and may be 
 one (if the world last so long) a thousand 
 years hereafter. 
 
 L. TRUSTING MAKETH ONE TRUSTY. 
 
 HARLES the Second,* King of the Scots, 
 when a child, was much troubled with a 
 weakness in his legs, and was appointed to wear 
 steel boots for the strengthening of them. 
 
 The weight of these so clogged the child, 
 that he enjoyed not himself in any degree, but 
 
 * From the mouth of my worthy friend, now gone to God, 
 D. Clare, chaplain then to his Highness. 
 24
 
 290 MIXT CONTEMPLATIONS 
 
 moaned himself, fasting at feasts, yea, his very 
 play being work unto him, he may be said to be 
 a prisoner in his own palace. 
 
 It happened that an aged rocker, which 
 waited on him, took the steel boots from his 
 legs, and cast them in a place where it was hard 
 to find them there, and impossible to fetch them 
 thence, promising the Countess of Dorset (gov- 
 erness of the prince) that, if any anger arised 
 thereof, she would take all the blame on her- 
 self. 
 
 Not long after, the king, coming into the 
 nursery, and beholding the boots taken from 
 his legs, was offended thereat, demanding, in 
 some anger, who had done it. 
 
 " It was I, sir," said the rocker, " who had 
 the honour, some thirty years since, to attend 
 on your Highness in your infancy, when you 
 had the same infirmity wherewith now the 
 prince, your very own son, is troubled. And 
 then the Lady Gary (afterwards Countess of 
 Monmouth) commanded your steel boots to be 
 taken off, who, blessed be God, since have gath- 
 ered strength and arrived at a good stature." 
 
 The nation is too noble, when his Majesty 
 (who hitherto hath had a short course, but a 
 long pilgrimage) shall return from foreign parts, 
 to impose any other steel boots upon him than 
 the observing the laws of the land, (which are
 
 ON THESE TIMES. 291 
 
 his own stockings,) that so with joy and com- 
 fort he may enter on what was his own inherit- 
 ance. 
 
 But I remember, when Luther began first to 
 mislike some errors in the Romish Church, and 
 complained thereof to Staupitius, his confessor, 
 he used to say unto him, AH in cellam et ora, 
 Get you gone into your cell and pray. So 
 will I do, (who have now done,) and 
 leave the managing of the rest to 
 those to whom it is most prop- 
 er to advance God's glo- 
 ry and their coun- 
 try's good. 
 Amen.
 
 THE 
 
 CAUSE AND CURE 
 
 OF A 
 
 WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 
 
 THE SPIRIT OF A MAN WILL SUSTAIN HIS INFIRMITY; BUT A 
 WOUNDED SPIRIT WHO CAN BEAR? PROV. XVlii. 14. 
 
 25
 
 To 
 
 The Right Honourable and Virtuous Lady, 
 
 FRANCES MANNERS, 
 Countess of Rutland. 
 
 MADAM, 
 
 BY the judicial law of the Jews, if a servant had children Exodus 
 by a wife which was given him by his master, though xxl ' 4- 
 he himself went forth free in the seventh year, yet his children 
 did remain with his master, as the proper goods of his pos- 
 session. I ever have been and shall be a servant to that 
 noble family, whence your Honour is extracted. And of late 
 in that house I have been wedded to the pleasant embraces of 
 a private life, the fittest wife and meetest helper that can be 
 provided for a student in troublesome times : and the same 
 hath been bestowed upon me by the bounty of your noble 
 brother, Edward Lord Montague. Wherefore, what issue 
 soever shall result from my mind, by his means most happily 
 married to a retired life, must of due redound to his Honour, 
 as the sole proprietary of my pains during my present condi- 
 tion. Now, this book is my eldest offspring, which, had it 
 been a son, (I mean, had it been a work of masculine beauty 
 and bigness,) it should have waited as a page in dedication to 
 his Honour. But finding it to be of the weaker sex, little in 
 strength, and low in stature, may it be admitted (madam) to 
 attend on your Ladyship, his Honour's sister. 
 
 I need not mind your Ladyship how God hath measured 
 outward happiness unto you by the cubit of the sanctuary, 01 
 the largest size, so that one would be perplexed to wish more 
 than what your Ladyship doth enjoy. My prayer to God 
 shall be, that, shining as a pearl of grace here, you may shine 
 as a star in glory hereafter. So resteth, 
 Your Honour's, 
 
 In all Christian offices, 
 
 THOMAS FULLER. 
 Boughton, January 25, 1646.
 
 THE CHRISTIAN READER. 
 
 S one was not anciently to want a 
 wedding-garment at a marriage feast, 
 so now-a-days wilfully to wear gaudy 
 clothes at a funeral is justly censura- 
 ble as unsuiting with the occasion. Wherefore, 
 in this sad subject, I have endeavoured to de- 
 cline all light and luxurious expressions : and 
 if I be found faulty therein, I cry and crave 
 God and the reader pardon. Thus desiring 
 that my pains may prove to the glory of God, 
 thine, and my own edification, I rest, 
 
 Thine in Christ Jesus, 
 
 THOMAS FULLER
 
 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF A 
 WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 
 
 DIALOGUE I. 
 
 What a -wounded Conscience /j, wherewith the 
 Godly and Reprobate may be tortured. 
 
 TIMOTHEUS. 
 
 "rt^F ! ^>|p EEING the best way never to know 
 a wounded conscience by woful expe- 
 rience, is speedily to know it by a 
 sanctified consideration thereof: give 
 me, I pray you, the description of a wounded 
 conscience, in the highest degree thereof. 
 
 PHILOLOGUS. It is a conscience frightened at Pealm 
 the sight of sin, and weight of God's wrath, 
 even unto the despair of all pardon during the 
 present agony. 
 
 TIM. Is there any difference betwixt a broken Psalm " 
 
 . . 17. 
 
 spirit and a wounded conscience, in this your 
 acception ? 
 
 PHIL. Exceeding much : for a broken spirit 
 is to be prayed and laboured for, as the most
 
 300 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 healthful and happy temper of the soul, letting 
 in as much comfort as it leaks out sorrow for 
 sin : whereas, a wounded conscience is a misera- 
 ble malady of the mind, filling it for the present 
 with despair. 
 
 TIM. In this your sense, is not the con- 
 science wounded every time that the soul is 
 smitten with guiltiness for any sin committed ? 
 
 PHIL. God forbid : otherwise his servants 
 would be in a sad condition, as in the case of 
 i Sam. David, smitten by his own heart, for being, as 
 he thought, overbold with God's anointed, in 
 cutting off the skirt of Saul's garment; such 
 hurts are presently healed by a plaster of 
 Christ's blood, applied by faith, and never come 
 to that height to be counted and called wounded 
 consciences. 
 
 TIM. Are the godly, as well as the wicked, 
 subject to this malady? 
 
 PHIL. Yes, verily ; vessels of honour, as well 
 as vessels of wrath in this world, are subject 
 to the knocks and bruises of a wounded con- 
 science. A patient Job, pious David, faithful 
 Paul, may be vexed therewith, no less than a 
 cursed Cain, perfidious Achitophel, or treacher 
 ous Judas. 
 
 TIM. What is the difference betwixt a 
 wounded conscience in the godly, and in the 
 reprobate ?
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 301 
 
 PHIL. None at all, ofttimes, in the parties' 
 apprehensions ; both, for the time being, con- 
 ceiving their estates equally desperate: little, 
 if any, in the wideness and anguish of the 
 wound itself, which for the time may be as 
 tedious and torturing in the godly, as in the 
 wicked. 
 
 TIM. How then do they differ ? 
 
 PHIL. Exceeding much in God's intention : 
 gashing the wicked, as malefactors, out of 
 justice ; but lancing the godly, out of love, as 
 a surgeon his patients. Likewise they differ in 
 the issue and event of the wound, which ends 
 in the eternal confusion of the one, but in the 
 correction and amendment of the other. 
 
 TIM. Some have said, that, in the midst of 
 their pain, by this mark they may be distin- 
 guished, because the godly, when wounded, 
 complain most of their sins, and the wicked of 
 their sufferings. 
 
 PHIL. I have heard as much ; but dare not 
 lay too much stress on this slender sign, (to 
 make it generally true,) for fear of failing. 
 For sorrow for sin and sorrow for suffering 
 are ofttimes so twisted and interwoven in the 
 same person, yea, in the same sigh and groan, 
 that sometimes it is impossible for the party 
 himself so to separate and divide them in his 
 own sense and feeling, as to know which pro- 
 
 26
 
 302 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 ceeds from the one and which from the other. 
 Only the all-seeing eye of an infinite God is 
 able to discern and distinguish them. 
 
 TIM. Inform me concerning the nature of 
 wounded consciences in the wicked. 
 
 PHIL. Excuse me herein : I remember a 
 passage in St. Augustine,* who inquired what 
 might be the cause that the fall of the angels 
 is not plainly set down in the Old Testament, 
 with the manner and circumstances thereof, 
 resolves it thus : God, like a wise surgeon, 
 would not open that wound which he never 
 intended to cure. Of whose words thus far I 
 make use, that, as it was not according to God's 
 pleasure to restore the devils, so, it being above 
 man's power to cure a wounded conscience in 
 the wicked, I will not meddle with that which 
 I cannot mend : only will insist on a wounded 
 conscience in God's children, where, by God's 
 blessing, one may be the instrument to give 
 some ease and remedy unto their disease. 
 
 * " Angelicum vulnus verus medicus qualiter factum sit indi- 
 care noluit, dum illud postea curare non destinavit" De Mirab. 
 Scrip, lib. 1, c. 2.
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 303 
 
 DIALOGUE II. 
 
 What use they are to make thereof, who neither 
 hitherto were, nor haply hereafter shall be, visited 
 with a wounded Conscience. 
 
 TIMOTHEUS. 
 
 ARE all God's children, either in their life 
 or at their death, visited with a wounded 
 conscience ? 
 
 PHTL. O no : God invites many with his 
 golden sceptre, whom he never bruises with 
 his rod of iron. Many, neither in their con- 
 version, nor in the sequel of their lives, have 
 ever felt that pain in such a manner and meas- 
 ure as amounts to a wounded conscience. 
 
 TIM. Must not the pangs in their travel of 
 the new birth be painful unto them? 
 
 PHIL. Painful, but in different degrees. The 
 Blessed Virgin Mary (most hold) was deliv- 
 ered without any pain ; as well may that child 
 be born without sorrow, which is conceived 
 without sin. The women of Israel were spright- Bxod. i. 19. 
 ful and lively, unlike the Egyptians. The for- 
 mer favour none can have in their spiritual 
 travel; the latter some receive, who, though 
 other whiles tasting of legal frights and fears, 
 yet God so preventeth them with his blessings Psahn xxL 
 of goodness, that they smart not so deeply 
 therein as other men.
 
 304 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 TIM. Who are those which commonly have 
 such gentle usage in their conversion ? 
 
 PHIL. Generally such who never were 
 notoriously profane, and have had the benefit 
 of godly education from pious parents. In 
 some corporations, the sons of freemen, bred 
 under their fathers in their profession, may set 
 up and exercise their father's trade, without 
 ever being bound apprentices thereunto. Such 
 Qai. iv. 26. children whose parents have been citizens of 
 
 Eph. ii. 19. 
 
 Heb.xu.22. new Jerusalem, and have been bred in the 
 mystery of godliness, oftentimes are entered 
 into religion without any spirit of bondage 
 seizing upon them, a great benefit and rare 
 blessing where God in his goodness is pleased 
 to bestow it. 
 
 TIM. What may be the reason of God's 
 dealing so differently with his own servants, 
 that some of them are so deeply, and others 
 not at all, afflicted with a wounded conscience ? 
 
 PHIL. Even so, Father, because it pleaseth 
 thee. Yet in humility these reasons may be 
 assigned, 1. To show himself a free agent, 
 not confined to follow the same precedent, and 
 to deal with all as he doth with some. 2. To 
 render the prospect of his proceedings the more 
 pleasant to their sight who judiciously survey it, 
 when they meet with so much diversity and 
 variety therein. 3. That men, being both igno-
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 305 
 
 rant when, and uncertain whether or not God 
 will visit them with wounded consciences, may 
 wait on him with humble hearts in the work of 
 their salvation, looking as the eyes of the ser- 
 vants to receive orders from the hand of their Psalm 
 
 cxxiii. 2. 
 
 master; but what, when, and how, they know 
 not, which quickens their daily expectations 
 and diligent dependence on his pleasure. 
 
 TIM. I am one of those whom God hitherto 
 hath not humbled with a wounded conscience : 
 give me some instruction for my behaviour. 
 
 PHIL. First, be heartily thankful to God's 
 infinite goodness, who hath not dealt thus 
 with every one. Now because repentance hath 
 two parts, mourning and mending, or humilia- 
 tion and reformation, the more God hath abated 
 thee in the former, out of his gentleness, the 
 more must thou increase in the latter, out of 
 thy gratitude. What thy humiliation hath 
 wanted of other men, in the depth thereof, let 
 thy reformation make up in the breadth thereof, 
 spreading into an universal obedience unto all 
 God's commandments. Well may he expect 
 more work to be done by thy hands, who hath 
 laid less weight to be borne on thy shoulders. 
 
 TIM. What other use must I make of God's 
 kindness unto me? 
 
 PHIL. You are bound the more patiently to 
 bear all God's rods, poverty, sickness, disgrace,
 
 306 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 captivity, &c., seeing God hath freed thee from 
 the stinging scorpion of a wounded conscience. 
 
 TIM. How shall I demean myself for the 
 time to come? 
 
 PHIL. Be not high-minded, but fear ; for 
 thou canst not infallibly infer, that, because 
 thou hast not hitherto, hereafter thou shalt not 
 taste of a wounded conscience. 
 
 TIM. I will, therefore, for the future, with 
 continual fear, wait for the coming thereof. 
 
 PHIL. Wait not for it with servile fear, 
 but watch against it with constant carefulness. 
 There is a slavish fear to be visited with a 
 wounded conscience, which fear is to be 
 avoided, for it is opposite to the free spirit 
 of grace, derogatory to the goodness of God 
 in his Gospel, destructive to spiritual joy, which 
 we ought always to have, and dangerous to the 
 soul, racking it with anxieties and unworthy 
 suspicions. Thus to fear a wounded conscience, 
 is in part to feel it antedating one's misery, and 
 tormenting himself before the time, seeking for 
 that he would be loath to find : like the wicked 
 Luke d. in the Gospel, of whom it is said, Men's hearts 
 
 26 
 
 failing them for fear, and looking for those 
 things which are coming. Far be such a fear 
 from thee, and all good Christians. 
 
 TIM. What fear, then, is it, that you so lately 
 recommended unto me?
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 307 
 
 PHIL. One, consisting in the cautious avoid- 
 ing of all causes and occasions of a wounded 
 
 O 
 
 conscience, conjoined with a confidence in God's 
 goodness, that he will either preserve us from, 
 or protect us in the torture thereof; and if he 
 ever sends it, will sanctify it in us, to his glory 
 and our good. May I, you, and all God's ser- 
 vants ever have this noble fear (as I may term 
 it) in our hearts. 
 
 DIALOGUE III. 
 
 Three solemn Seasons when Men are surprised with 
 wounded Consciences. 
 
 TIMOTHEUS. 
 
 WHAT are those times wherein men 
 most commonly are assaulted with 
 wounded consciences? 
 
 PHIL. So bad a guest may visit a man at any 
 hour of his life ; for no season is unseasonable 
 for God to be just, Satan to be mischievous, 
 and sinful man to be miserable ; yet it happens 
 especially at three principal times. 
 
 TIM. Of these, which is the first ? 
 
 PHIL. In the twilight of a man's conversion, 
 in the very conflict and combat betwixt nature 
 and initial grace. For then he that formerly 
 slept in carnal security is awakened with his
 
 308 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 fearful condition : God, as he saith, Psalm 1. 21, 
 setteth his sins in order before his eyes. Im- 
 primis, the sin of his conception. Item, the 
 sins of his childhood. Item, of his youth. Item, 
 of his man's estate, &c. Or, Imprimis, sins 
 against the first table. Item, sins against the 
 second ; so many of ignorance, so many of 
 knowledge, so many of presumption, severally 
 sorted by themselves. He committed sins con- 
 fusedly, huddling them up in heaps ; but God 
 sets them in order, and methodizes them to his 
 hand. 
 
 TIM. Sins thus set in order must needs be a 
 terrible sight. 
 
 PHIL. Yes, surely, the rather because the 
 metaphor may seem taken from setting an army 
 in battle array. At this conflict, in his first 
 conversion, behold a troop of sins cometh, and 
 when God himself shall marshal them in rank 
 and file, what guilty conscience is able to 
 endure the furious charge of so great and 
 well-ordered an army? 
 
 TIM. Suppose the party dies before he be 
 completely converted in this twilight condition, 
 as you term it, what then becomes of his soul, 
 which may seem too good to dwell in outer 
 darkness with devils, and too bad to go to the 
 God of light? 
 
 PHIL. Your supposition is impossible. Re-
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 309 
 
 member our discourse only concerns the godly. 
 Now God never is father to abortive children, 
 but to such who, according to his appointment, 
 shall come to perfection. 
 
 TIM. Can they not therefore die in this in- 
 terim, before the work of grace be wrought in 
 them? 
 
 PHIL. No, verily. Christ's bones were in 
 themselves breakable, but could not actually be 
 broken by all the violence in the world, because 
 God hath fore-decreed, A bone of him shall 
 not be broken. So we confess God's children 
 mortal ; but all the power of Devil or man may 
 not, must not, shall not, cannot, kill them 
 before their conversion, according to God's 
 election of them to life, which must be fully 
 accomplished. 
 
 TIM. What is the second solemn time where- 
 in wounded consciences assault men ? 
 
 PHIL. After their conversion completed, and 
 this either upon the committing of a conscience- 
 wasting sin, such as Tertullian calls peccatum 
 devoratorium salutis, or upon the undergoing 
 of some heavy affliction of a bigger standard 
 and proportion, blacker hue and complexion, 
 than what befalls ordinary men, as in the case 
 of Job. 
 
 TIM. Which is the third and last time when 
 wounded consciences commonly walk abroad?
 
 310 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 PHIL. When men lie on their death-beds, 
 Satan must now roar, or else forever hold his 
 peace ; roar he may afterwards with very anger 
 to vex himself, not with any hope to hurt us. 
 There is mention in Scripture of an evil day, 
 which is most applicable to the time of our 
 
 Rev.iii.io. death. We read also of an hour of temptation ; 
 
 isa.Hv. 7. and the prophet tells us there is a moment, 
 wherein God may seem to forsake us. Now 
 Satan being no less cunning to find out, than 
 careful to make use of, his time of advantage, 
 in that moment of that hour of that day, will 
 put hard for our souls, and we must expect 
 a shrewd parting blow from him. 
 
 TIM. Your doleful prediction disheartens me, 
 for fear I may be foiled in my last encounter. 
 PHIL. Be of good comfort: through Christ 
 we shall be victorious, both in dying and in 
 death itself. Remember God's former favours 
 bestowed upon thee. Indeed, wicked men, 
 from the premises of God's power, collect a 
 conclusion of his weakness, Psalm Ixxviii. 20 : 
 Behold he smote the rock, that the waters 
 gushed out, and the streams overflowed : can 
 he give bread also ? can he provide flesh for his 
 
 isam. people? But God's children, by better logic, 
 
 2 Cor i. 10. fr m tne prepositions of God's former preserva- 
 tions, infer his power and pleasure to protect 
 them for the future. Be assured, that God,
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 811 
 
 which hath been the God of the mountains, 
 and made our mountains strong in time of our 
 prosperity, will also be the God of the valleys, 
 and lead us safe through the valley of the pBa!m 
 
 J xxiii. 4. 
 
 shadow of death. 
 
 DIALOGUE IV. 
 
 The great Torment of a wounded Conscience, proved 
 by Reasons and Examples. 
 
 TIMOTHEUS. 
 
 I 
 
 S the pain of a wounded conscience so great 
 as is pretended? 
 
 PHIL. God saith it, we have seen it, and prov - 
 
 , . xviii. 14. 
 
 others have felt it, whose complaints savour as 
 little of dissimulation, as their cries in a fit of 
 the colic do of counterfeiting. 
 
 TIM. Whence comes this wound to be so 
 great and grievous? 
 
 PHIL. Six reasons may be assigned thereof. 
 The first drawn from the heaviness of the hand 
 which makes the wound ; namely, God himself, 
 conceived under the notion of an infinite angry 
 judge. In all other afflictions, man encounters 
 only with man, and in the worst temptations, 
 only with Satan ; but in a wounded conscience, 
 he enters the lists immediately with God him- 
 self.
 
 312 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 TIM. Whence is the second reason brought ? 
 Heb.iv.i2. PHIL. From the sharpness of the sword 
 wherewith the wound is made, being the word 
 of God, and the keen threatenings of the law 
 therein contained. There is mention, Gen. iii. 
 24, of a sword turning every way : parallel 
 whereto is the word of God in a wounded 
 conscience. Man's heart is full of windings, 
 turnings, and doublings, to shift and shun the 
 stroke thereof if possible ; but this sword meets 
 them wheresoever they move, it fetches and 
 finds them out, it haunts and hunts them, 
 forbidding them, during their agony, any en- 
 trance into the paradise of one comfortable 
 thought ? 
 
 TIM. Whence is the third reason derived ? 
 
 PHIL. From the tenderness of the part itself 
 which is wounded ; the conscience being one of 
 the eyes of the soul, sensible of the smallest 
 hurt. And when that callum, schirrus, or in- 
 crustation, drawn over it by nature, and hard- 
 ened by custom in sin, is once flayed off, the 
 conscience becomes so pliant and supple, that 
 the least imaginable touch is painful unto it. 
 
 TIM. What is the fourth reason ? 
 
 PHIL. The folly of the patient; who being 
 stung, hath not the wisdom to look up to Christ, 
 the brazen serpent, but torments himself with 
 his own activity. It was threatened to Pashur,
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 313 
 
 I will make thee a terror to thyself: so fares it Jer. xx.4. 
 with God's best saint during the fit of his per- 
 plexed conscience ; he hears his own voice, 
 he thinks, this is that which so often hath sworn, 
 lied, talked vainly, wantonly, wickedly; his 
 voice is a terror to himself. He sees his own 
 eyes in a glass, he presently apprehends, these 
 are those which shot forth so many envious, 
 covetous, amorous glances ; his eyes are a terror 
 to himself. Sheep are observed to fly without 
 cause, scared (as some say) with the sound of 
 their own feet : their feet knack because they 
 fly, and they fly because their feet knack : an 
 emblem of God's children in a wounded con- 
 science, self-fearing, self-frightened. 
 
 TIM. What is the fifth reason which makes 
 the pain so great ? 
 
 PHIL. Because Satan rakes his claws in the 
 reeking blood of a wounded conscience. Beel- 
 zebub, the Devil's name, signifies in Hebrew the 
 Lord of flies, which excellently intimates his 
 nature and employment ; flies take their felicity 
 about sores and galled backs, to infest and in- 
 flame them : so Satan no sooner discovers (and 
 that bird of prey hath quick sight) a soul terror- 
 struck, but thither he hastes, and is busy to 
 keep the wound raw, there he is in his throne 
 to do mischief. 
 
 TIM. What is the sixth and last reason why 
 a wounded conscience is so great a torment ?
 
 PTOV. 
 
 314 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 PHIL. Because of the impotency and in- 
 validity of all earthly receipts to give ease 
 thereunto. For there is such a gulf of dis- 
 proportion betwixt a mind-malady and body- 
 medicines, that no carnal, corporal comforts 
 can effectually work thereupon. 
 
 TIM. Yet wine in this case is prescribed in 
 i. Scripture ; Give wine to the heavy-hearted, 
 that they may remember their misery no more. 
 
 PHIL. Indeed, if the wound be in the spirits, 
 those cursitors betwixt soul and body, to recover 
 their decay or consumption, wine may usefully 
 be applied : but if the wound be in the spirit, 
 in Scripture phrase, all carnal, corporal comforts 
 are utterly in vain. 
 
 TIM. Methinks merry company should do 
 much to refresh him. 
 
 PHIL. Alas ! a man shall no longer be wel- 
 come in merry company than he is able to sing 
 his part in their jovial concert. When a hunted 
 deer runs for safeguard amongst the rest of the 
 herd, they will not admit him into their com- 
 pany, but beat him off with their horns, out 
 of principles of self-preservation, for fear the 
 hounds, in pursuit of him, fall on them also. 
 So hard it is for man or beast in misery, to find 
 a faithful friend. In like manner, when a set 
 of bad-good-fellows perceive one of their society 
 dogged with God's terrors at his heels, they will
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 315 
 
 forsake him as soon as they can, preferring his 
 room, and declining his company, lest his sad- 
 ness prove infectious to themselves. And now, 
 if all six reasons be put together, so heavy a 
 hand, smiting with so sharp a sword on so tender 
 a part of so foolish a patient, whilst Satan seeks 
 to widen, and no worldly plaster can cure the 
 wound, it sufficiently proves a wounded con- 
 science to be an exquisite torture. 
 
 TIM. Give me, I pray, an example thereof. 
 
 PHIL. When Adam had eaten the forbidden 
 fruit, he tarried a time in paradise, but took 
 no contentment therein. The sun did shine 
 as bright, the rivers as clear, as ever before, 
 birds sang as sweetly, beasts played as pleas- 
 antly, flowers smelt as fragrant, herbs grew 
 as fresh, fruits flourished as fair, no punctilio 
 of pleasure was either altered or abated. The 
 objects were the same, but Adam's eyes were 
 otherwise ; his nakedness stood in his light ; a 
 thorn of guiltiness grew in his heart before any 
 thistles sprang out of the ground ; which made 
 him not to seek for the fairest fruits to fill his 
 hunger, but the biggest leaves to cover his 
 nakedness. Thus a wounded conscience is 
 able to unparadise paradise itself. 
 
 TIM. Give me another instance. 
 
 PHIL. Christ Jesus, our Saviour, he was 
 blinded, buffeted, scourged, scoffed at, had his
 
 316 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 hands and feet nailed to the cross, and all this 
 while said nothing. But no sooner apprehended 
 he his Father deserting him, groaning under 
 the burden of the sins of mankind imputed 
 unto him, but presently the Lamb (who hitherto 
 was dumb before his shearer, and opened not 
 his mouth) for pain began to bleat, My God, 
 my God, why hast thou forsaken me? 
 
 TIM. Why is a wounded conscience by David 
 Psaim resembled to arrows, Thine arrows stick fast in 
 
 xxxviii. 2. 
 
 me { 
 
 PHIL. Because an arrow, especially if barbed, 
 rakes and rends the flesh the more, the more 
 metal the wounded party hath to strive and 
 struggle with it : and a guilty conscience pierces 
 the deeper, whilst a stout stomach with might 
 and main seeks to outwrestle it. 
 
 TIM. May not a wounded conscience also 
 work on the body to hasten and heighten the 
 sickness thereof? 
 
 PHIL. Yes, verily, so that there may be em- 
 Ooi. iv. 14. ployment for Luke, the beloved physician, (if 
 the same person with the Evangelist,) to exer- 
 cise both his professions : but we meddle only 
 with the malady of the mind, abstracted from 
 any bodily indisposition.
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 317 
 
 DIALOGUE V. 
 
 Sovereign Uses to be made of the Torment of a 
 wounded Conscience. 
 
 TIMOTHEUS. 
 
 O BEING the torture of a wounded conscience 
 O is so great, what use is to be made thereof? 
 
 PHIL. Very much : and first, it may make 
 men sensible of the intolerable pain in hell fire. 
 If the mouth of the fiery furnace into which 
 the children were cast was so hot that it burnt 
 those which approached it, how hot was the 
 furnace itself! If a wounded conscience, the 
 suburbs of hell, be so painful, O how extreme 
 is that place where the worm never dieth, and 
 the fire is never quenched ! 
 
 TIM. Did our roaring boys (as they call 
 them) but seriously consider this, they would 
 not wish God damn them, and God confound 
 them, so frequently as they do. 
 
 PHIL. No, verily : I read in Theodoret of 
 the ancient Donatists, that they were so am- 
 bitious of martyrdom (as they accounted it), 
 that many of them, meeting with a young 
 gentleman, requested of him, that he would be 
 pleased to kill them. He, to confute their 
 folly, condescended to their desire, on condi- 
 tion, that first they would submit to be fast 
 
 27
 
 318 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 bound: which being done, he gave order that 
 they should be severely scourged, and then 
 saved their lives. In application : when I hear 
 such riotous youths wish that God would damn 
 or confound them, I hope God will be more 
 merciful than to take them at their words, and 
 to grant them their wish ; only I heartily desire 
 that he would be pleased sharply to scourge 
 them, and soundly to lash them with the frights 
 and terrors of a wounded conscience. And I 
 doubt not but that they would so ill like the 
 pain thereof, that they would revoke their 
 wishes, as having little list, and less delight to 
 taste of hell hereafter. 
 
 TIM. What other use is to be made of the 
 pain of a wounded conscience? 
 
 PHIL. To teach us seasonably to prevent 
 what we cannot possibly endure. Let us shun 
 the smallest sin, lest, if we slight and neglect 
 it, it by degrees fester and gangrene into a 
 wounded conscience. One of the bravest spirits * 
 that ever England bred, or Ireland buried, lost 
 his life by a slight hurt neglected, as if it had 
 been beneath his high mind to stoop to the dress- 
 ing thereof, till it was too late. Let us take 
 heed the stoutest of us be not so served in our 
 souls. If we repent not presently of our sins 
 
 * Sir Thomas Norris, President of Minister, ex levi vulnere ne- 
 gkcto sublatus. Camden's Elizab. An. 1641.
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 319 
 
 committed, but carelessly contemn them, a 
 scratch may quickly prove an ulcer ; the rather, 
 because the flesh of our mind, if I may so use 
 the metaphor, is hard to heal, full of choleric 
 and corrupt humours, and very ready to rankle. 
 
 TIM. What else may we gather for our in- 
 struction from the torture of a troubled mind. 
 
 PHIL. To confute their cruelty who, out of 
 sport or spite, willingly and wittingly wound 
 weak consciences: like those uncharitable Cc- 1Cor - 7iiL 
 
 12 
 
 rinthians, who so far improve their liberty in 
 things indifferent, as thereby to wound the con- 
 sciences of their weaker brethren. 
 
 TIM. Are not those ministers to blame, who, 
 mistaking their message, instead of bringing 
 the Gospel of peace, frighten people with legal 
 terrors into despair ? 
 
 PHIL. I cannot commend their discretion, 
 yet will not condemn their intention herein. 
 No doubt their desire and design is pious, 
 though they err in the pursuit and prosecu- 
 tion thereof, casting down them whom they 
 cannot raise, and conjuring up the spirit of 
 bondage which they cannot allay again : where- 
 fore, it is our wisest way to interweave promises 
 with threatenings, and not to leave open a pit 
 of despair, but to cover it again with comfort. 
 
 TIM. Remaineth there not, as yet, another 
 use of this point?
 
 320 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 PHIL. Yes, to teach us to pity and pray for 
 
 those that have afflicted consciences, not like 
 
 P8alm lxix - the wicked, who persecute those whom God 
 
 hath smitten, and talk to the grief of such 
 
 whom he hath wounded. 
 
 TIM. Yet Eli was a good man, who, notwith- 
 
 1 8am. i. standing, censured Hannah, a woman of sorrow- 
 is 14 
 
 ful spirit, to be drunk with wine. 
 
 PHIL. Imitate not Eli in committing, but 
 amending his fault. Indeed, his dim eyes could 
 see drunkenness in Hannah where it was not, 
 and could not see sacrilege and adultery in his 
 own sons, where they were. Thus, those who 
 are most indulgent to their own, are most cen- 
 sorious of others' sins. But Eli afterwards, 
 perceiving his error, turned the condemning 
 of Hannah into praying for her. In like man- 
 ner, if in our passion we have prejudiced or 
 injured any wounded consciences, in cold blood 
 let us make them the best amends and repara- 
 tion. 
 
 DIALOGUE VI 
 
 That in some Cases more Repentance must be 
 preached to a wounded Conscience. 
 
 TIMOTHEUS. 
 
 SO much for the malady, now for the rem- 
 edy. Suppose you come to a wounded
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 321 
 
 conscience, what counsel will you prescribe 
 him? 
 
 PHIL. If, after hearty prayer to God for his 
 direction, he appeareth unto me, as yet, not truly 
 penitent, in the first place I will press a deeper 
 degree of repentance upon him. 
 
 TIM. O miserable comforter! more sorrow 
 still ! Take heed your eyes be not put out 
 with that smoking flax you seek to quench, 
 and your fingers wounded with the splinters 
 of that bruised reed you go about to break. 
 
 PHIL. Understand me, sir. Better were my 
 tongue spit out of my mouth, than to utter a 
 word of grief to drive them to despair who are 
 truly contrite. But on the other side, I shall 
 betray my trust, and be found an unfaithful dis- 
 penser of divine mysteries, to apply comfort to 
 him who is not ripe and ready for it. 
 
 TIM. What harm would it do ? 
 
 PHIL. Raise him for the present, and ruin 
 him, without God's greater mercy, for the fu- 
 ture. For comfort daubed on, on a foul soul, 
 will not stick long upon it ; and, instead of 
 pouring in, I shall spill the precious oil of God's 
 mercy. Yea, I may justly bring a wounded 
 conscience upon myself, for dealing deceitfully 
 in my stewardship. 
 
 TIM. Is it possible one may not be soundly 
 humbled, and yet have a wounded conscience ?
 
 322 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 PHIL. Most possible: for a wounded con- 
 science is often inflicted as a punishment for lack 
 of true repentance : great is the difference be- 
 twixt a man's being frightened at, and humbled 
 for, his sins. One may passively be cast down 
 by God's terrors, and yet not willingly throw 
 himself down as he ought at God's footstool. 
 
 TIM. Seeing his pain is so pitiful as you have 
 formerly proved, why would you add more 
 grief unto him? 
 
 PHIL. I would not add grief to him, but 
 alter grief in him ; making his sorrow, not 
 greater, but better. I would endeavour to 
 change his dismal, doleful dejection, his hideous 
 and horrible heaviness, his bitter exclamations, 
 which seem to me much mixed in him with 
 pride, impatience, and impenitence, into a will- 
 ing submission to God's pleasure, and into a 
 kindly, gentle, tender Gospel repentance for his 
 sins. 
 
 TIM. But there are some now-a-days who 
 maintain that a child of God after his first con- 
 version needs not any new repentance for sin 
 all the days of his life. 
 
 PHIL. They defend a grievous and danger- 
 ous error. Consider what two petitions Christ 
 couples together in his prayer : when my body, 
 which every day is hungry, can live without 
 God's giving it daily bread, then and no sooner
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 323 
 
 shall I believe that my soul, which daily sin- 
 neth, can spiritually live without God's forgiv- 
 ing it its trespasses. 
 
 TIM. But such allege, in proof of their opin- 
 ion, that a man hath his person justified before 
 God, not by pieces and parcels, but at once and 
 forever in his conversion. 
 
 PHIL. This being granted doth not favour 
 their error. We confess God finished the cre- 
 ation of the world, and all therein, in six days, 
 and then rested from that work, yet so that his 
 daily preserving of all things by his Providence 
 may still be accounted a constant and continued 
 creation. We acknowledge in like manner, a 
 child of God justified at once in his conversion, 
 when he is fully and freely estated in God's 
 favour. And yet seeing every daily sin by him 
 committed is an aversion from God, and his 
 daily repentance a conversion to God, his jus- 
 tification in this respect may be conceived en- 
 tirely continued all the days of his life. 
 
 TIM. What is the difference betwixt the 
 first repentance, and this renewed repentance? 
 
 PHIL. The former is as it were the putting 
 of life into a dead man, the latter, the recover- 
 ing of a sick man from a dangerous wound: 
 by the former, sight to the blind is simply 
 restored, and eyes given him ; in the latter, 
 only a film is removed, drawn over the eyes,
 
 324 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 and hindering their actual sight. By the first, 
 we have a right title to the kingdom of Heaven ; 
 by our second repentance, we have a new claim 
 to Heaven, by virtue of our old title. Thus 
 these two kinds of repentance may be differ- 
 enced and distinguished, though otherwise they 
 meet and agree in general qualities : both hav- 
 ing sin for their cause, sorrow for their com- 
 panion, and pardon for their consequent and 
 effect. 
 
 TIM. But do not God's children after com- 
 mitting of grievous sins, and before their renew- 
 ing their repentance, remain still heirs of Heav- 
 en, married to Christ, and citizens of the New 
 Jerusalem ? 
 
 PHIL. Heirs of Heaven they are, but disin- 
 heritable for their misdemeanour. Married still 
 to Christ, but deserving to be divorced for their 
 adulteries. Citizens of Heaven, but yet out- 
 lawed, so that they can recover no right, and 
 receive no benefit, till their outlawry be re- 
 versed. 
 
 TIM. Where doth God in Scripture enjoin 
 this second repentance on his own children? 
 
 PHIL. In several places. He threatens the 
 Eev. u. 5. Church of Ephesus (the best of the seven) 
 with removing the candlestick from them, ex- 
 cept they repent : and Christ tells his own 
 disciples, true converts before, but then guilty
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 325 
 of ambitious thoughts, that except ye be con- Matth - 
 
 i o xviii.3. 
 
 verted ye shall not enter the kingdom of Heav- 
 en. Here is conversion after conversion, being 
 a solemn turning from some particular sin ; in 
 relation to which it is not absurd to say, that 
 there is justification after justification : the lat- 
 ter as following in time, so flowing from the 
 former. 
 
 DIALOGUE VII. 
 
 Only Christ is to be applied to Souls truly contrite. 
 
 TIMOTHEUS. 
 
 BUT suppose the person in the minister's 
 apprehension heartily humbled for sin, 
 what then is to be done? 
 
 PHIL. No corrosives, all cordials ; no vin- 
 egar, all oil; no law, all Gospel must be pre- 
 sented unto him. Here, blessed the lips, yea, 
 ! beautiful the feet of him that bringeth the tid- 
 ings of peace. As Elisha, when reviving the 2KinESiv - 
 son of the Shunamite, laid his mouth to the 
 mouth of the child; so the gaping orifice of 
 Christ's wounds must spiritually, by preaching, 
 be put close to the mouth of the wounds of 
 a conscience : happy that skilful architect that 
 
 can show the sick man that the head-stone Zecha - iv - 
 
 i. 
 of his spiritual building must be laid with 
 
 shouts, crying, Grace, grace.
 
 326 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 TIM. Which do you count the head-stone 
 of the building, that which is first or last laid ? 
 
 PHIL. The foundation is the head-stone in 
 honour, the top stone is the head-stone in 
 height. The former the head-stone in strength, 
 the latter in the stature. It seemeth that God's 
 Spirit, of set purpose, made use of a doubtful 
 word, to show that the whole fabric of our sal- 
 vation, whether as founded, or as finished, is 
 the only work of God's grace alone. Christ 
 is the alpha and omega thereof, not excluding 
 all the letters in the alphabet interposed. 
 
 TIM. How must the minister preach Christ 
 to an afflicted conscience? 
 
 PHIL. He must crucify him before his eyes, 
 lively setting him forth ; naked, to clothe him ; 
 wounded, to cure him ; dying, to save him. 
 He is to expound and explain unto him the dig- 
 nity of his person, preciousness of his blood, 
 plenteousness of his mercy, in all those loving ' 
 relations wherein the Scripture presents him : 
 a kind father to a prodigal child, a careful hen 
 to a scattered chicken, a good shepherd that 
 bringeth his lost sheep back on his shoulders. 
 
 TIM. Spare me one question : why doth he 
 not drive the sheep before him, especially seeing 
 it was lively enough to lose itself? 
 
 PHIL. First, because though it had wildness 
 too much to go astray, it had not wisdom
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 327 
 
 enough to go right. Secondly, because proba- 
 bly the silly sheep had tired itself with wander- 
 ing ; Habakkuk ii. 13, " the people shall weary 
 themselves for very vanity," and therefore the 
 kind shepherd brings it home on his own shoul- 
 ders. 
 
 TIM. Pardon my interruption, and proceed, 
 how Christ is to be held forth. 
 
 PHIL. The latitude and extent of his love, 
 his invitation without exception, are powerful- 
 ly to be pressed ; every one that thirsteth, all 
 ye that are heavy laden, whosoever believeth, 
 and the many promises of mercy, are effectually 
 to be tendered unto him. 
 
 TIM. Where are those promises in Scripture ? 
 
 PHIL. Or rather, where are they not? for 
 they are harder to be missed than to be met 
 with. Open the Bible (as he who drew his 1Kin ss 
 
 xxii. 34. 
 
 bow in battle) at a venture. If thou lightest 
 on an historical place, behold precedents ; if on 
 doctrinal, promises of comfort. For the latter, 
 observe these particulars : Gen. iii. 15 ; Exo. 
 xxxiv. 6 ; Isa. xl. 1 ; Isa. liv. 11 ; Mat. xi. 28 ; 
 xii. 20 ; 1 Cor. x. 13 ; Heb. xiii. 5, &c. 
 
 TIM. Are these more principal places of con- 
 solation than any other in the Bible ? 
 
 PHIL. I know there is no choosing, where 
 all things are choicest. Whosoever shall select 
 some pearls out of such a heap, shall leave be-
 
 328 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 hind as precious as any he takes, both in his own 
 and others' judgment ; yea, which is more, the 
 same man at several times may in his apprehen- 
 sion prefer several promises as best, formerly 
 most affected with one place, for the present 
 more delighted with another : and afterwards, 
 conceiving comfort therein not so clear, choose 
 other places as more pregnant and pertinent to 
 his purpose. Thus God orders it, that divers 
 men (and perchance the same man at different 
 times) make use of all his promises, gleaning 
 and gathering comfort, not only in one narrow, 
 land, or furlong, but as it is scattered clean 
 through the whole field of Scripture. 
 
 TIM. Must ministers have variety of several 
 comfortable promises? 
 
 PHIL. Yes, surely : such masters of the as- 
 sembly being to enter and fasten consolation in 
 an afflicted soul, need have many nails provided 
 beforehand, that if some for the present chance 
 to drive untowardly, as splitting, going awry, 
 turning crooked or blunt, they may have others 
 in the room thereof. 
 
 TIM. But grant Christ held out never so 
 plainly, pressed never so powerfully, yet all is 
 in vain, except God inwardly with his Spirit 
 persuade the wounded conscience to believe the 
 truth of what he saith. 
 
 PHIL. This is an undoubted truth, for one
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 329 
 
 may lay the bread of life on their trencher, and 
 cannot force them to feed on it. One may 
 bring them down to the spring of life, but 
 cannot make them drink of the waters there- 
 of: and therefore, in the cure of a wounded 
 conscience, God is all in all, only the touch 
 of his hand can heal this king's evil : I kill Deu ^ 
 and make alive, I wound and I heal, neither 
 is there any that can deliver out of my hand. 
 
 DIALOGUE VIII. 
 
 Answers to the Objections of a wounded Conscience, 
 drawn from the Grievousness of his Sins. 
 
 TIMOTHEUS. 
 
 GIVE me leave now, sir, to personate and 
 represent a wounded conscience, and to 
 allege and enforce such principal objections 
 wherewith generally they are grieved. 
 
 PHIL. With all my heart, and God bless 
 my endeavours in answering them. 
 
 TIM. But first I would be satisfied how it 
 comes to pass, that men in a wounded con- 
 science have their parts so presently improved. 
 The Jews did question concerning our Saviour, 
 How knoweth this man letters, being never JohnyIL 
 learned? But here the doubt and difficulty 
 is greater. How come simple people so subtle
 
 330 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 on a sudden, to oppose, with that advantage 
 and vehemence, that it would puzzle a good 
 and grave divine to answer them ? 
 
 PHIL. Two reasons may be rendered thereof. 
 1. Because a man in a distemper is stronger 
 than when he is in his perfect health. What 
 Samsons are some in the fit of a fever ? Then 
 their spirits, being raised by the violence of their 
 disease, push with all their power. So it is in 
 the agony of a distressed soul, every string 
 thereof is strained to the height, and a man 
 becomes more than himself to object against 
 himself in a fit of despair. 
 
 TIM. What is the other reason ? 
 
 PHIL. Satan himself, that subtle sophister, 
 assists them. He forms their arguments, frames 
 their objections, fits their distinctions, shapes 
 their evasions ; and this discomforter (aping 
 God's Spirit, the Comforter, John xiv. 26) 
 bringeth all things to their remembrance, which 
 they have heard or read, to dishearten them. 
 Need, therefore, have ministers, when they 
 meddle with afflicted men, to call to Heaven 
 aforehand to assist them, being sure they shall 
 have hell itself to oppose them. 
 
 TIM. To come now to the objections which 
 afflicted consciences commonly make ; they may 
 be reduced to three principal heads ; either 
 drawn from the greatness and grievousness
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 331 
 
 of their sins, or from the slightness and light- 
 ness of their repentance, or from the faintness 
 and feebleness of their faith ; I begin with the 
 objections of the first form. 
 
 PHIL. I approve your method ; pray proceed. 
 
 TIM. First, sir, even since my conversion, I 
 have been guilty of many grievous sins ; and, 
 which is worse, of the same sin many times 
 committed. Happy Judah, who, though once 060 - 
 
 Tviii 9fi 
 
 committing incest with Thamar, yet the text 
 saith, that afterwards he knew her again no 
 more. But I, vile wretch, have often re-fallen 
 into the same offence. 
 
 PHIL. All this is answered in God's promise 
 in the prophet, Though your sins be as scar- isaiah i. is. 
 let, I will make them as snow. Consider how 
 the Tyrian scarlet was dyed, not superficially 
 dipped, but thoroughly drenched in the liquor 
 that coloured it, as thy soul in custom of sin- 
 ning. Then was it taken out for a time and 
 dried, pvit in again, soaked and sodden the sec- 
 ond time in the fat; called therefore Bl/3a<j>ov, 
 twice dyed ; as thou complainest thou hast been 
 by relapsing into the same sin. Yea, the colour 
 so incorporated into the cloth, not drawn over, 
 but diving into the very heart of the wool, that 
 rub a scarlet rag on what is white, and it will 
 bestow a reddish tincture upon it ; as perchance 
 thy sinful practice and precedent have also in-
 
 332 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 fected those which were formerly good, by thy 
 badness. Yet such scarlet sins, so solemnly and 
 substantially coloured, are easily washed white 
 in the blood of our Saviour. 
 
 TIM. But, sir, I have sinned against most 
 serious resolutions, yea, against most solemn 
 vows, which I have made to the contrary. 
 
 PHIL. Vow-breaking, though a grievous sin, 
 is pardonable on unfeigned repentance. If thou 
 hast broken a vow, tie a knot on it to make it 
 hold together again. It is spiritual thrift, and 
 no misbecoming baseness, to piece and joint thy 
 neglected promises with fresh ones. So shall 
 thy vow in effect be not broken when new 
 mended : and remain the same, though not by 
 one entire continuation, yet by a constant 
 
 Compare successive renovation thereof. Thus Jacob re- 
 Gen, xxvlli. i i i i p -r i i 
 
 20, with newed his neglected vow or going to Bethel ; 
 
 Gen. xxxv. anc [ t ^j s mus t thou do, reinforce thy broken 
 vows, if of moment and material. 
 
 TIM. What mean you by the addition of that 
 clause, if of moment and material ? 
 
 PHIL. To deal plainly, I dislike many vows 
 men make, as of reading just so much and pray- 
 ing so often every day, of confining themselves 
 to such a strict proportion of meat, drink, sleep, 
 recreation, &c. Many things may be well done, 
 which are ill vowed. Such particular vows 
 men must be very sparing how they make.
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 333 
 
 First, because they savour somewhat of will- 
 worship. Secondly, small glory accrues to God 
 thereby. Thirdly, the dignity of vows is dis- 
 graced by descending to too trivial particulars. 
 Fourthly, Satan hath ground given him to 
 throw at us with a more steady aim. Lastly, 
 such vows, instead of being cords to tie us 
 faster to God, prove knots to entangle our 
 consciences : hard to be kept, but oh ! how 
 heavy when broken ! Wherefore, setting such 
 vows aside, let us be careful, with David, to 
 keep that grand and general vow: I have^ lmC3ax ' 
 sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep 
 thy righteous judgments. 
 
 TIM. But, sir, I have committed the sin 
 against the Holy Ghost, which the Saviour of 
 mankind pronounceth unpardonable, and there- 
 fore all your counsels and comforts unto me are 
 in vain. 
 
 PHIL. The Devil, the father of lies, hath 
 added this lie to those which he hath told be- 
 fore, in persuading thee thou hast committed 
 the sin against the Holy Ghost. For that sin 
 is ever attended with these two symptoms. 
 First, the party guilty thereof never grieves 
 for it, nor conceives the least sorrow in his 
 heart for the sin he hath committed. The 
 second, which followeth on the former, he 
 never wishes or desires any pardon, but is de- 
 
 28
 
 334 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 lighted and pleased with his present condition. 
 Now, if thou canst truly say that thy sins are 
 a burden unto thee, that thou dost desire for- 
 giveness, and wouldest give anything to com- 
 pass and obtain it, be of good comfort, thou 
 hast not as yet, and by God's grace never 
 shalt, commit that unpardonable offence. I 
 will not define how near thou hast been 
 unto it. As David said to Jonathan, there is 
 not a hair's breadth betwixt death and me ; 
 so it may be thou hast missed it very nar- 
 rowly, but assure thyself thou art not as yet 
 guilty thereof. 
 
 DIALOGUE IX. 
 
 Answers to the Objections of a wounded Conscience 
 drawn from the Slightness of his Repentance. 
 
 I 
 
 TIMOTHEUS. 
 
 BELIEVE my sins are pardonable in them- 
 selves, but alas ! my stony heart is such, that 
 it cannot relent and repent, and therefore no 
 hope of my salvation. 
 
 PHIL. Wouldst thou sincerely repent? thou 
 
 Mark xvi. (J os t repent. The women that came to embalm 
 
 Christ did carefully forecast with themselves 
 
 who shall roll away the stone from the door of 
 
 the sepulchre? Alas I their frail, faint, feeble
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 335 
 arms were unable to remove such a weight. 
 
 O 
 
 But what follows ? And when they looked, 
 they saw that the stone was rolled away, for 
 it was very great. In like manner, when a 
 soul is truly troubled about the mighty burden 
 of his stony heart interposed, hindering him 
 from coming to Christ ; I say, when he is 
 seriously and sincerely solicitous about that 
 impediment, such desiring is a doing, such 
 wishing is a working. Do thou but take care 
 it may be removed, and God will take order 
 it shall be removed. 
 
 TIM. But, sir, I cannot weep for my sins ; 
 my eyes are like the pit wherein Joseph was 
 put; there is no water in them, I cannot 
 squeeze one tear out of them. 
 
 PHIL. Before I come to answer your objec- 
 tion, I must premise a profitable observation. 
 I have taken notice of a strange opposition be- 
 twixt the tongues and eyes of such as have 
 troubled consciences. Their tongues some have 
 known (and I have heard) complain that they 
 cannot weep for their sins, when at that instant 
 their eyes have plentifully shed store of tears : 
 not that they spake out of dissimulation, but 
 distraction. So sometimes have I smiled at 
 the simplicity of a child, who being amazed, 
 and demanded whether or no he could speak, 
 hath answered, No. If in like manner, at the
 
 336 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 sight of such a contradiction betwixt the words 
 and deeds of one in the agony of a wounded 
 conscience, we should chance to smile, know 
 us not to jeer, but joy, perceiving the party in 
 a better condition than he conceiveth himself. 
 
 TIM. This your observation may be comfort- 
 able to others, but is impertinent to me. For, as 
 I told you, I have by nature such dry eyes that 
 they will afford no moisture to bemoan my sins. 
 
 PHIL. Then it is a natural defect, and no 
 moral default, so by consequence a suffering, 
 and no sin which God will punish. God doth 
 not expect the pipe should run water where he 
 put none into the cistern. Know also, their 
 hearts may be fountains whose eyes are flints, 
 and may inwardly bleed, who do not outward- 
 ah H. 3. ly weep. Besides, Christ was sent to preaph 
 comfort, not to such only as weep, but mourn 
 in Zion. Yea, if thou canst squeeze out no 
 liquor, offer to God the empty bottles ; instead 
 of tears, tender and present thine eyes unto 
 him. And though thou art water-bound, be 
 not wind-bound also ; sigh where thou canst 
 not sob, and let thy lungs do what thine eyes 
 cannot perform. 
 
 TIM. You say something, though I cannot 
 weep, in case I could soundly sorrow for my 
 sins. But alas ! for temporal losses and crosses, 
 I am like Rachel, lamenting for her children,
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 337 
 
 and would not be comforted. But my sorrow 
 for my sins is so small that it appears none at 
 all in proportion. 
 
 PHIL. In the best saints of God, their sor- 
 row for their sins being measured with the 
 sorrow for their sufferings, in one respect will 
 fall short of it, in another must equal it, and 
 in a third respect doth exceed and go beyond 
 it. Sorrow for sins falls short of sorrow for 
 sufferings, in loud lamenting or violent utter- 
 ing itself in outward expressions thereof; as 
 in roaring, wringing the hands, rending the 
 hair, and the like. Secondly, both sorrows 
 are equal in their truth and sincerity, both far 
 from hypocrisy, free from dissimulation, really 
 hearty, cordial, uncounterfeited. Lastly, sor- 
 row for sin exceeds sorrow for suffering, in 
 the continuance and durableness thereof: the 
 other like a land-flood, quickly come, quickly 
 gone ; this is a continual dropping or running 
 river, keeping a constant stream. My sins, 
 saith David, are ever before me ; so also is the 
 sorrow for sin in the soul of a child of God, 
 morning, evening, day, night, when sick, when 
 sound, feasting, fasting, at home, abroad, ever 
 within him. This grief begins at his conversion, 
 continues all his life, ends only at his death. 
 
 TIM. Proceed, I pray, in this comfortable 
 point.
 
 338 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 PHIL. It may still be made plainer by com- 
 paring two diseases together, the toothache and 
 consumption. Such as are troubled with the 
 former shriek and cry out, troublesome to them- 
 selves, and others in the same and next roof: 
 and no wonder, the mouth itself being plaintiff, 
 if setting forth -its own grievances to the foil. 
 Yet the toothache is known to be no mortal 
 malady, having kept some from their beds, 
 seldom sent them to their graves ; hindered 
 the sleep of many, hastened the death of few. 
 On the other side, he that hath an incurable 
 consumption saith little, cries less, but grieves 
 most of all. Alas ! he must be a good husband 
 of the little breath left in his broken lungs, not 
 to spend it in sighing, but in living ; he makes 
 no noise, is quiet and silent ; yet none will say 
 but that his inward grief is greater than the 
 former. 
 
 TIM. How apply you this comparison to my 
 objection ? 
 
 PHIL. In corporal calamities, thou corn- 
 plainest more like him in the toothache, but 
 thy sorrow for thy sin, like a consumption, 
 which lies at the heart, hath more solid heavi- 
 ness therein. Thou dost take in more grief 
 for thy sins, though thou mayest take on more 
 grievously for thy sufferings. 
 
 TIM. This were something, if my sorrow for
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 339 
 
 sin were sincere, but alas ! I am but a hypocrite. 
 There is mention in the prophet of God's besom Isalah xiv- 
 of destruction ; now the trust of a hypocrite, 
 Job viii. 14, is called a spider's web ; here is 
 my case, when God's besom meets with the 
 cobwebs of my hypocrisy, I shall be swept into 
 hell-fire. 
 
 PHIL. I answer, first in general: I am glad 
 to hear this objection come from thee, for self- 
 suspicion of hypocrisy is a hopeful symptom of 
 sincerity. It is a David that cries out, As for 
 me I am poor and needy ; but lukewarm Laodi- 
 cea that brags, I am rich, and want nothing. 
 
 TIM. Answer, I pray, the objection in par- 
 ticular. 
 
 PHIL. Presently, when I have premised 
 the great difference betwixt a man's being a 
 hypocrite, and having some hypocrisy in him. 
 Wicked men are like the apples of Sodom, soifams 
 
 i n i -i i i . i . Polyhistor 
 
 seemingly fair, but nothing but ashes within. i n j u da. 
 The best of God's servants are like sound 
 apples, lying in a dusty loft (living in a wicked 
 world),. gathering much dust about them, so 
 that they must be rubbed or pared before they 
 can be eaten. Such notwithstanding are sin- 
 cere, and by the foUowing marks may examine 
 themselves. 
 
 TIM. But some in the present day are utter 
 enemies to all marks of sincerity, counting it
 
 340 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 needless for preachers to propound, or people to 
 apply them. 
 
 PHIL. I know as much ; but it is the worst 
 sign, when men of this description hate all 
 signs : but no wonder if the foundered horse 
 cannot abide the smith's pincers. 
 
 TIM. Proceed, I pray, in your signs of sin- 
 cerity. 
 
 PHIL. Art thou careful to order thy very 
 thoughts, because the Infinite Searcher of the 
 heart doth behold them ? Dost thou freely and 
 fully confess thy sins to God, spreading them 
 open in his presence, without any desire or 
 endeavour to deny, dissemble, defend, excuse, 
 or extenuate them? Dost thou delight in an 
 universal obedience to all God's laws, not think- 
 ing with the superstitious Jews, by over keeping 
 the fourth commandment, to make reparation 
 to God for breaking all the rest ? Dost thou 
 love their persons and preaching best, who most 
 clearly discover thine own faults and corrup- 
 tions unto thee? Dost thou strive against thy 
 revengeful nature, not only to forgive those who 
 have offended thee, but also to wait an occasion 
 with humility to render a suitable favour to 
 them ? Dost thou love grace and goodness even 
 in those who differ from thee in point of opinion 
 and civil controversies ? Canst thou fee sorrow- 
 ful for the sins of others, no whit relating unto
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 341 
 
 thee, merely because the glory of a good God 
 suffers by their profaneness? 
 
 TIM. Why do you make these to be the 
 signs of sincerity? 
 
 PHIL. Because there are but two principles 
 which act in men's hearts, namely, nature and 
 grace ; or, as Christ distinguishes them, flesh 
 and blood, and our Father which is in Heaven. 
 Now seeing these actions, by us propounded, 
 are either against or above nature, it doth neces- 
 sarily follow, that where they are found, they 
 flow from saving grace. For what is higher 
 than the roof and very pinnacle, as I may say, 
 of nature, cannot be lower than the bottom and 
 beginning of grace. 
 
 TIM. Perchance, on serious search, I may 
 make hard shift to find some one or two of 
 these signs, but not all of them, in my heart. 
 
 PHIL. As I will not bow to flatter any, so I 
 will fall down, as far as truth will give me leave, 
 to reach comfort to the humble, to whom it is 
 due. Know to thy further consolation, that 
 where some of these signs truly are, there are 
 more, yea all of them, though not so visible 
 and conspicuous, but in a dimmer and darker 
 degree. When we behold violets and prim- 
 roses fairly to flourish, we conclude the dead of 
 the winter is past, though as yet no roses or 
 July flowers appear, which long after lie hid
 
 342 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 in their leaves, or lurk in their roots ; but in 
 due time will discover themselves. If some of 
 these signs be above ground in thy sight, others 
 are under ground in thy heart, and though the 
 former started first, the other will follow in 
 order ; it being plain that thou art passed from 
 death unto life, by this hopeful and happy spring 
 of some signs in thy heart. 
 
 DIALOGUE X. 
 
 Answers to the Objections of a wounded Conscience 
 drawn from the Feebleness of his Faith. 
 
 B 
 
 TIMOTHEUS. 
 
 IUT faith is that which must apply Christ 
 unto us, whilst (alas!) the hand of my 
 faith hath not only the shaking, but the dead 
 palsy ; it can neither hold nor feel anything. 
 
 PHIL. If thou canst not hold God, do but 
 touch him, and he shall hold thee, and put feel- 
 Phii.iu.i2. ing into thee. Saint Paul saith, If that I may 
 apprehend that for which also I am apprehended 
 of Christ Jesus. It is not Paul's apprehending 
 of Christ, but Christ apprehending of Paul, 
 doth the deed. 
 
 TIM. But I am sure my faith is not sound, 
 because it is not attended with assurance of sal- 
 vation. For I doubt (not to say despair) there-
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 343 
 
 of. Whereas divines hold, that the essence of 
 saving faith consists in a certainty to be saved. 
 
 PHIL. Such deliver both a false and danger- 
 ous doctrine ; as the careless mother killed her l Kin s 8 U1 - 
 
 19. 
 
 little infant, for she over-laid it : so this opinion 
 would press many weak faiths to death, by lay- 
 ing a greater weight upon them than they can 
 bear, or God doth impose ; whereas to be as- 
 sured of salvation is not a part of every true 
 faith, but only an effect of some strong faiths, 
 and that also not always, but at some times. 
 
 TIM. Is not certainty of salvation a part of 
 every true faith? 
 
 PHIL. No, verily, much less is it the life and 
 formality of faith, which consists only in a re- 
 cumbency on God in Christ, with Job's resolu- 
 tion, Though he slay me, yet will I trust in J bxm.i5. 
 him. Such an adherence, without an assurance, 
 is sufficient, by God's mercy, to save thy soul. 
 Those that say that none have a sincere faith 
 without a certainty of salvation, may with as 
 much truth maintain, that none are the king's 
 
 7 O 
 
 loyal subjects but such as are his favourites. 
 
 TIM. Is then assurance of salvation a pecu- 
 liar personal favour, indulged by God, only to 
 some particular persons? 
 
 PHIL. Yes, verily: though the salvation of 
 all God's servants be sure in itself, yet is only 
 assured to the apprehensions of some select peo-
 
 344 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 pie, and that at some times ; for it is too fine 
 fare for the best man to feed on eveiy day. 
 
 TIM. May they that have this assurance 
 afterwards lose it ? 
 
 PHIL. Undoubtedly they may ; God first is 
 gracious to give it them, they for a time care- 
 ful to keep it ; then negligently lose it, then 
 sorrowfully seek it. God again is bountiful to 
 restore it ; they happy to recover it ; for a while 
 diligent to regain it, then again foolish to forfeit 
 it, and so the same changes in one's lifetime, 
 often over and over again. 
 
 TIM. But some will say, If I may be infalli- 
 bly saved without this assurance, I will never 
 endeavour to attain it. 
 
 PHIL. I would have covered my flowers, if 
 I had suspected such spiders would have sucked 
 them. One may go to heaven without this 
 assurance, as certainly, but not so cheerfully, 
 and therefore prudence to obtain our own com- 
 fort, and piety to obey God's command, obliges 
 us all to give diligence to make our calling and 
 election sure, both in itself and in our appre- 
 hension.
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 345 
 
 DIALOGUE XI. 
 
 God alone can satisfy all Objections of a wounded 
 Conscience. 
 
 TIMOTHEUS. 
 
 BUT, sir, these your answers are no whit 
 satisfactory unto me. 
 
 PHIL. An answer may be satisfactory to the 
 objection, both in itself and in the judgment 
 of all unprejudiced hearers, and yet not satis- 
 factory to the objector, and that in two cases : 
 First, when he is possessed with the spirit of 
 peevishness and perverseness. It is lost labour 
 to seek to feed and fill those who have a greedy 
 horseleech of cavilling in their heart, crying, 
 Give, give. 
 
 TIM. What is the second case ? 
 
 PHIL. When the bitterness of his soul is so 
 great and grievous, that he is like the Israelites Exod vi. 9. 
 in Egypt, who hearkened not to Moses, for 
 anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage. Now 
 as those who have meat before them, and will 
 not eat, deserve to starve without pity ; so such 
 are much to be bemoaned, who through some 
 impediment in their mouth, throat, or stomach, 
 cannot chew, swallow, or digest comfort pre- 
 sented unto them. 
 
 TIM. Such is my condition ; what then is to 
 be done unto me?
 
 346 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 PHIL. I must change my precepts to thee 
 xc. into prayers for thee, that God would satisfy 
 thee early with his mercy, that thou mayest" 
 rejoice. Ministers may endeavour it in vain : 
 whilst they quell one scruple, they start an- 
 other ; whilst they fill one corner of a wounded 
 conscience with comfort, another is empty. 
 Only God can so satisfy the soul, that each 
 chink and cranny therein shall be filled with 
 spiritual joy. 
 
 TIM. What is the difference betwixt God's 
 and man's speaking peace to a troubled spirit ? 
 
 PHIL. Man can neither make him to whom 
 he speaks to hear what he says, or believe what 
 he hears. God speaks with authority, and doth 
 both. His words give hearing to the deaf, and 
 faith to the infidel. When, not the mother of 
 Christ, but Christ himself, shall salute a sick 
 soul with Peace be unto thee, it will leap for 
 joy, as John the babe sprang, though im- 
 prisoned in the dark womb of his mother. 
 Thus the offender is not comforted, though 
 many of the spectators and under officers tell 
 him he shall be pardoned, until he hears the 
 same from the mouth of the judge himself who 
 hath power and place to forgive him ; and then 
 his heart revives with comfort. 
 
 TIM. God send me such comfort : in the 
 mean time, I am thankful unto you for the 
 answers you have given me.
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 347 
 
 PHIL. All that I will add is this. The 
 Lacedemonians had a law, that if a bad man, 
 or one disesteemed of the people, chanced to 
 give good counsel, he was to stand by, and 
 another, against whose person the people had 
 no prejudice, was to speak over the same 
 words which the former had uttered. I am 
 most sensible to myself of my own wicked- 
 ness and how justly I am subject to exception. 
 Only my prayer shall be, that whilst I stand 
 by, and am silent, God's Spirit, which is free 
 from any fault, and full of all perfection, would 
 be pleased to repeat in thy heart the self-same 
 answers I have given to your objections : and 
 then, what was weak, shallow, and unsatisfy- 
 ing, as it came from my mouth, shall and will 
 be full, powerful, and satisfactory, as re-inforced 
 in thee by God's Spirit. 
 
 DIALOGUE XII. 
 
 Means to be used by wounded Consciences for the 
 recovering of Comfort. 
 
 TIMOTHEUS. 
 
 AilE there any useful means to be pre- 
 scribed, whereby wounded consciences 
 may recover comfort the sooner? 
 PHIL. Yes, there are.
 
 10. 
 
 348 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 TIM. But now in the present day, some 
 condemn all using of means. Let grace alone 
 (say they) fully and freely do its own work : 
 and thereby man's mind will in due time return 
 to a good temper of its own accord : this is the 
 most spiritual serving of God, whilst using of 
 means makes but dunces and truants in Christ's 
 school. 
 
 PHIL. What they pretend spiritual will prove 
 airy and empty, making lewd and lazy Chris- 
 tians : means may and must be used with these 
 cautions. 1. That they be of God's appoint- 
 ment in his word, and not of man's mere in- 
 vention. 2. That we still remember they are 
 but means, and not the main. For to account 
 of helps more than helps is the highway to 
 S$flre them hinderances. Lastly, that none 
 rely barely on the deed done; which conceit 
 will undo him that did it, especially if any 
 opinion of merit be affixed therein. 
 
 TIM. What is the first means I must use ; 
 for I re-assume to personate a wounded con- 
 science ? 
 
 PHIL. Constantly pray to God, that in his 
 due time he would speak peace unto thee. 
 
 TIM. My prayers are better omitted than 
 performed ; they are so weak they will but 
 bring the greater punishment upon me, and 
 involve me within the prophet's curse, to
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 349 
 
 those that do the work of the Lord negli- 
 gently. 
 
 PHIL. Prayers negligently performed draw 
 a curse, but not prayers weakly performed. 
 The former is when one can do better, and 
 will not ; the latter is when one would do 
 better, but, alas ! he cannot : and such failings, 
 as they are his sins, so they are his sorrows 
 also : pray therefore faintly, that thou mayest 
 pray fervently ; pray weakly, that thou mayest 
 pray strongly. 
 
 TIM. But in the law they were forbidden to 
 offer to God any lame sacrifice, and such are Deutxv - 
 
 J 21. 
 
 my prayers. 
 
 PHIL. 1. Observe a great difference betwixt 
 the material sacrifice under the law, and spir- 
 itual sacrifices (the calves of the lips) under 
 the Gospel. The former were to be free from, 
 all blemish, because they did typify and resem- 
 ble Christ himself. The latter (not figuratively 
 representing Christ, but heartily presented unto 
 him) must be as good as may be gotten, though 
 many imperfections will cleave to our best per- 
 formances, which by God's mercy are forgiven. 
 2. Know that that in Scripture is accounted 
 lame which is counterfeit and dissembling;;, Cin 
 
 O ' \* 
 
 which sense hypocrites are properly called halt- l ^e 3 
 ers,) and therefore if thy prayer, though never 
 so weak, be sound, and sincere, it is acceptable 
 with God.
 
 350 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 TIM. What other counsel do you prescribe 
 me? 
 
 PHIL. Be diligent in reading the word of 
 God, wherein all comfort is contained ; say not 
 that thou art dumpish and indisposed to read, 
 but remember how travellers must eat against 
 their stomach ; their journey will digest it ; 
 and though their palate find no pleasure for 
 the present, their whole body will feel strength 
 for the future. Thou hast a great journey to 
 go, a wounded conscience has far to travel to 
 find comfort, (and though weary, shall be wel- 
 come at his journey's end,) and therefore must 
 feed on God's word, even against his own dull 
 disposition, and shall afterwards reap benefit 
 thereby. 
 
 TIM. Proceed in your appointing of whole- 
 some diet for my wounded conscience to ob- 
 serve. 
 
 PHIL. Avoid solitariness, and associate thy- 
 self with pious and godly company: O the 
 blessed fruits thereof! Such as want skill or 
 boldness to begin or set a psalm, may compe- 
 tently follow tune in concert with others : many 
 houses in London have such weak walls, and 
 are so slightly and slenderly built, that, were 
 they set alone in the fields, probably they would 
 not stand an hour ; which now ranged in streets, 
 receive support in themselves, and mutually re-
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 351 
 
 turn it to others ; so mayest thou in good soci- 
 ety, not only be reserved from much mischief, 
 but also be strengthened and confirmed in many 
 godly exercises, which solely thou couldst not 
 perform. 
 
 TIM. What else must I do? 
 
 PHIL. Be industrious in thy calling : I press 
 this the more, because some erroneously con- 
 ceive that a wounded conscience cancels all 
 indentures of service, and gives them (during 
 their affliction) a dispensation to be idle. The 
 
 inhabitants of the bishopric of Durham pleaded Camd - 
 . . Brit - in 
 
 a privilege, that King Edward the First had Durham. 
 
 no power, although on necessary occasion, to 
 press them to go out of the country, because, 
 forsooth, they termed themselves holy-work-folk, 
 only to be used in defending the holy shrine of 
 St. Cuthbert. Let none in like manner pre- 
 tend that (during the agony of a wounded con- 
 science) they are to have no other employment 
 than to sit moping to brood their melancholy, 
 or else only to attend their devotion ; whereas 
 a good way to divert or assuage their pain 
 within, is to take pains without in their voca- 
 tion. I am confident, that happy minute which 
 shall put a period to thy misery shall not find 
 thee idle, but employed, as ever some secret 
 good is accruing to such who are diligent in 
 their calling.
 
 352 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 TIM. But though wounded consciences are 
 not to be freed from all work, are they not to 
 be favoured in their work? 
 
 PHIL. Yes, verily. Here let me be the 
 advocate to such parents and masters, who have 
 sons, servants, or others, under their authority, 
 afflicted with wounded consciences. O, do not, 
 with the Egyptian taskmasters, exact of them 
 the full tale of their brick! O, spare a little 
 till they have recovered some strength ! Un- 
 reasonable that maimed men should pass on 
 equal duty with such soldiers as are sound. 
 
 TIM. How must I dispose myself on the 
 Lord's day? 
 
 PHIL. Avoid all servile work, and expend 
 it only in such actions as tend to the sanctify- 
 ing thereof. God, the great landlord of all 
 time, hath let out six days in the week to 
 man to farm them ; the seventh day he re- 
 serves as a demesne in his own hand : if there- 
 fore we would have quiet possession, and com- 
 fortable use of what God hath leased out to us, 
 let us not encroach on his demesne. Some Pop- 
 ish people* make a superstitious almanac of the 
 Sunday, by the fairness or foulness thereof, 
 guessing of the weather all the week after. 
 But I dare boldly say, that, from our well or 
 
 * If it rains on Sunday before mess, it will rain all the week 
 more or less. A Popish old rhyme.
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 353 
 
 ill spending of the Lord's day, a probable con- 
 jecture may be made how the following week 
 will be employed. Yea, I conceive we are 
 bound (as matters now stand in England) to 
 a stricter observation of the Lord's day than 
 ever before. That a time was due to God's 
 service, no Christian in our kingdom ever did 
 deny: that the same was weekly dispersed in 
 the Lord's day, holy days, Wednesdays, Fridays, 
 Saturdays, some have earnestly maintained: 
 seeing therefore all the last are generally neg- 
 lected, the former must be more strictly ob- 
 served ; it being otherwise impious, that our 
 devotion, having a narrower channel, should 
 also carry a shallower stream. 
 
 TIM. What other means must I use for ex- 
 pedition of comfort to my wounded conscience ? 
 
 PHIL. Confess that sin or sins, which most 2 Sam - xil - 
 perplexes thee, to some godly minister, who by Matth. m. 
 absolution may pronounce and apply pardon 6 ' 
 unto thee. 
 
 TIM. This confession is but a device of 
 divines, thereby to screw themselves into other 
 men's secrets, so to mould and manage them 
 with more ease to their own profit. 
 
 PHIL. God forbid they should have any other 
 design but your safety, and therefore choose 
 your confessor, where you please, to your own 
 contentment ; so that you may find ease, fetch
 
 354 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 it where you may ; it is not our credit, but your 
 cure, we stand upon. 
 
 TIM. But such confession hath been counted 
 rather a rack for sound, than a remedy foi 
 wounded consciences. 
 
 PHIL. It proves so, as abused in the Romish 
 Church, requiring an enumeration of all mortal 
 sins, therein supposing an error, that some sins 
 are not mortal, and imposing an impossibility, 
 that all can be reckoned up. Thus the con- 
 science is tortured, because it can never tread 
 firmly, feeling no bottom, being still uncertain 
 of confession, (and so of absolution,) whether 
 or no he hath acknowledged all his sins. But 
 where this ordinance is commended as con- 
 venient, not commanded as necessary, left free, 
 not forced, in cases of extremity sovereign use 
 may be made, and hath been found thereof, 
 neither magistrate nor minister carrying the 
 sword or the keys in vain. 
 
 TIM. But, sir, I expected some rare inven- 
 tions from you for curing wounded consciences : 
 whereas all your receipts hitherto are old, stale, 
 usual, common, and ordinary ; there is nothing 
 new in any of them. 
 
 PHIL. I answer first, if a wounded con- 
 science had been a new disease, never heard 
 of in God's word before this time, then per- 
 chance we must have been forced to find out
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 355 
 
 new remedies. But it is an old malady, and 
 therefore old physic is best applied unto it. 
 Secondly, the receipts indeed are old, because 
 prescribed by him who is the Ancient of Days. Dan. vu. 9. 
 But the older the better, because warranted by 
 experience to be effectual. God's ordinances 
 are like the clothes of the children of Israel, f eut ' xxix ' 
 
 ' o. 
 
 during our wandering in the wilderness of 
 this world, they never wax old, so as to have 
 their virtue in operation abated or decayed. 
 Thirdly, whereas you call them common, would 
 to God they were so, and as generally practised 
 as they are usually prescribed. Lastly, know 
 we meddle not with curious heads, which are 
 pleased with new-fangled rarities, but with 
 wounded consciences, who love solid comfort. 
 Suppose our receipts ordinary and obvious ; if 
 Naaman counts the cure too cheap and easy, 2 Kins3 v> 
 none will pity him if still he be pained with 
 his leprosy. 
 
 TIM. But your receipts are too loose and 
 large, not fitted and appropriated to my malady 
 alone. For all these (pray, read, keep good 
 company, be diligent in thy calling, observe 
 the Sabbath, confess thy sins, &c.) may as well 
 be prescribed to one guilty of presumption, as 
 to me, ready to despair. 
 
 PHIL. It doth not follow that our physic is 
 not proper for one, because it may be profitable 
 for both.
 
 356 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 TIM. But despair and presumption, being 
 contrary diseases, flowing from contrary causes, 
 must have contrary cures. 
 
 PHIL. Though they flow immediately from 
 contrary causes, yet originally from the common 
 fountain of natural corruption : and therefore 
 such means as I have propounded, tending 
 towards the mortifying of our corrupt nature, 
 may generally, though not equally, be useful 
 to humble the presuming, and comfort the de- 
 spairing ; but to cut off" cavils, in the next dia- 
 logue we will come closely to peculiar counsels 
 unto thee. 
 
 DIALOGUE XIII. 
 
 Four wholesome Counsels, for a wounded Conscience 
 to practise. 
 
 TIMOTHEUS. 
 
 P 
 
 |ERFORM your promise ; which is the first 
 
 counsel you commend unto me ? 
 PHIL. Take heed of ever renouncing thy 
 filial interest in God, though thy sins deserve 
 that he should disclaim his paternal relation 
 Luke xv. to thee. The prodigal, returning to his father, 
 did not say, I am not thy son, but I am no more 
 worthy to be called thy son. Beware of bas- 
 tardizing thyself, being as much as Satan desires,
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 357 
 
 and more than he hopes to obtain. Otherwise 
 thy folly would give him more than his fury 
 could get. 
 
 TIM. I conceive this a needful caution. 
 
 PHIL. It will appear so if we consider what 
 the Apostle saith, that we wrestle with princi- Ephes. 
 palities and powers. Now wrestlers in the 
 Olympian games were naked, and anointed 
 with oil to make them sleek and glibbery, so 
 to afford no holdfast to such as strove with 
 them. Let us not gratify the Devil with this 
 advantage against ourselves, at any time to dis- 
 claim our sonship in God : if the Devil catches 
 us at this lock, he will throw us flat, and hazard 
 the breaking of our necks with final despair. 
 Oh no ! still keep this point : a prodigal son I 
 am, but a son, no bastard; a lost sheep, but 
 a sheep, no goat; an unprofitable servant, but 
 God's servant, and not absolute slave to Satan. 
 
 TIM. Proceed to your second counsel. 
 
 PHIL. Give credit to what grave and godly 
 persons conceive of thy condition, rather than 
 what thy own fear (an incompetent judge) may 
 suggest unto thee. A seared conscience thinks 
 better of itself, a wounded worse, than it ought : 
 the former may account all sin a sport, the 
 latter all sport a sin: melancholy men, when 
 sick, are ready to conceit any cold to be the 
 cough of the lungs, and an ordinary pustule no
 
 358 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 less than the plague sore. So wounded con- 
 sciences conceive sins of infirmity to be of pre- 
 sumption, sins of ignorance to be of knowledge, 
 apprehending their case more dangerous than it 
 is indeed. 
 
 TIM. But it seems unreasonable that I should 
 rather trust another saying, than my own sense 
 of myself. 
 
 PHIL. Every man is best judge of his own 
 self, if he be his own self; but during the swoon 
 of a wounded conscience, I deny thee to be come 
 to thy own self: whilst thine eyes are blubber- 
 ing, and a tear hangs before thy sight, thou 
 canst not see things clearly and truly, because 
 looking through a double medium of air and 
 water ; so whilst this cloud of pensiveness is 
 pendent before the eyes of thy soul, thine estate 
 is erroneously represented unto thee. 
 
 TIM. What is your third counsel ? 
 
 PHIL. In thy agony of a troubled conscience, 
 always look upwards unto a gracious God to 
 keep thy soul steady ; for looking downward on 
 thyself thou shalt find nothing but what will 
 increase thy fear, infinite sins, good deeds few 
 and imperfect: it is not thy faith, but God's 
 faithfulness, thou must rely upon ; casting thine 
 eyes downwards on thyself to behold the great 
 distance betwixt what thou deservest and what 
 thou desirest, is enough to make thee giddy,
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 359 
 
 stagger, and reel into despair : ever therefore 
 
 lift up thine eyes unto the hills, from whence P 8almC3nd - 
 
 cometh thy help, never viewing the deep dale 
 
 of thy own unworthiness, but to abate thy pride 
 
 when tempted to presumption. 
 
 TIM. Sir, your fourth and last counsel. 
 
 PHIL. Be not disheartened, as if comfort 
 would not come at all, because it comes not 
 all at once, but patiently attend God's leisure ; 
 they are not styled the swift, but the sure m er- Isaiahlv-3> 
 
 f TA i and Iviii. 8. 
 
 cies of David : and the same prophet says, the 
 glory of the Lord shall be thy reward : this we 
 know comes up last to secure and make good 
 all the rest : be assured, where grace patiently 
 leads the front, glory at last will be in the rear. 
 Remember the prodigious patience of Elijah's 
 servant. 
 
 TIM. Wherein was it remarkable? 
 
 PHIL. In obedience to his master : he went 
 several times to the sea ; it is tedious for me to 
 tell what was not troublesome for him to do, 
 one, two, three, four, five, six, seven times 1King9 
 
 /* i i l t xviii. 43. 
 
 sent down steep (Jarmel, with danger, and up 
 it again with difficulty, and all to bring news 
 of nothing, till his last journey, which made 
 recompense for all the rest, with the tidings 
 of a cloud arising. So thy thirsty soul, long 
 parched with drought for want of comfort, 
 though late, at last shall be plentifully re- 
 freshed with the dew of consolation.
 
 360 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 TIM. I shall be happy if I find it so. 
 PHIL. Consider the causes why a broken leg 
 is incurable in a horse, and easily curable in a 
 man : the horse is incapable of counsel to sub- 
 mit himself to the farrier, and therefore, in case 
 his leg be set, he flings, flounces, and flies out, 
 unjointing it again by his misemployed mettle, 
 counting all binding to be shackles and fetters 
 unto him ; whereas a man willingly resigns 
 himself to be ordered by the surgeon, prefer- 
 ring rather to be a prisoner for some days, than 
 a cripple all his life. Be not like a horse or 
 mule, which have no understanding : but let 
 James i. 3. patience have its perfect work in thee. When 
 isa. ixi. i. God goes about to bind up the broken-hearted, 
 tarry his time, though ease come not at an in- 
 stant, yea, though it be painful for the present, 
 in due time thou shalt certainly receive comfort. 
 
 DIALOGUE XIV. 
 
 Comfortable Meditations for wounded Consciences to 
 muse upon. 
 
 TIMOTHEUS. 
 
 FURNISH me, I pray, with some comfort- 
 able meditations ; whereon I may busy 
 and employ my soul when alone. 
 
 PHIL. First, consider that our Saviour had 

 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 361 
 
 not only a notional, but an experimental and 
 meritorious knowledge of the pains of a wounded 
 conscience when hanging on the cross. If Paul 
 conceived himself happy being to answer for 
 himself, before King Agrippa, especially because 
 he knew him to be expert in all the customs 
 and questions of the Jews ; how much more 
 just cause has thy wounded conscience of com- 
 fort and joy, being in thy prayers to plead be- 
 fore Christ himself, who hath felt thy pain, and 
 deserved that in due time by his stripes thou 
 shouldst be healed ? 
 
 TIM. Proceed, I pray, in this comfortable 
 subject. 
 
 PHIL. Secondly, consider that herein, like 
 Elijah, thou needest not complain that thou art 
 left alone, seeing the best of God's saints in all 
 ages have smarted in the same kind: instance 
 in David : indeed, sometimes he boasts how he 
 lay in green pastures, and was led by still Psalm 
 waters ; but after he bemoans that he sinks 
 in deep mire, where there was no standing. Psalm lxix - 
 What is become of those green pastures ? 
 parched up with the drought. Where are 
 those still waters ? troubled with the tempest 
 of affliction. The same David compares him- 
 self to an owl, and in the next Psalm re- Com P are 
 sembles himself to an eagle. Do two fowls , with 
 fly of more different kind? The one the P8alm ciii -
 
 362 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 scorn, the other the sovereign ; the one the 
 slowest, the other the swiftest ; the one the 
 most sharp-sighted, the other the most dim- 
 eyed of all birds. Wonder not, then, to find 
 in thyself sudden and strange alterations. It 
 fared thus with ah 1 God's servants, in their 
 agonies of temptation ; and be confident there- 
 of, though now run aground with grief, in due 
 time thou shalt be all afloat with comfort. 
 
 TIM. I am loath to interrupt you in so wel- 
 come a discourse. 
 
 PHIL. Thirdly, consider that thou hast had, 
 though not grace enough to cure thee, yet 
 enough to keep thee, and conclude that he 
 whose goodness hath so long held thy head 
 above water from drowning, will at last bring 
 thy whole body safely to the shore. The wife 
 of Manoah had more faith than her husband, 
 . xui. an( j thus she reasoned : If the Lord were 
 
 23. 
 
 pleased to kill us, he would not have received 
 a burnt and a meat offering at our hands. 
 Thou mayest argue in like manner : If God had 
 intended finally to forsake me, he would never 
 so often have heard and accepted my prayers, 
 in such a measure as to vouchsafe unto me, 
 though not full deliverance from, free pres- 
 ervation in, my affliction. Know God hath 
 .done great things for thee already, and thou 
 mayest conclude, from his grace of supporta-
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 363 
 
 tion hitherto, grace of ease, and relaxation 
 hereafter. 
 
 TIM. It is pity to disturb you ; proceed. 
 PHIL. Fourthly, consider that, besides the 
 /'private stock of thy own, thou tradest on the 
 public store of all good men's prayers, put up 
 ' to heaven for thee. What a mixture of lan- 
 \ guages met in Jerusalem at Pentecost, Par- -4-cts a. 
 I thians, Medes, and Elamites, &c. But con- 
 ceive, to thy comfort, what a medley of prayers, 
 \ in several tongues, daily centre themselves in 
 / God's ears in thy behalf, English, Scotch, Irish, 
 French, Dutch, &c., insomuch, that perchance 
 \ thou dost not understand one syllable of their 
 (prayers, by whom thou mayest reap benefit. 
 
 TIM. Is it not requisite, to entitle me to the 
 profit of other men's prayers, that I particu- 
 larly know their persons which pray for me ? 
 
 PHIL. Not at all, no more than it is needful 
 that the eye or face must see the backward 
 parts, which is difficult, or the inward parts of 
 the body, which is impossible ; without which 
 sight, by sympathy they serve one another. 
 And such is the correspondency by prayers 
 betwixt the mystical members of Christ's body, 
 corporally unseen one by another. 
 TIM. Proceed to a fifth meditation. 
 PHIL. Consider, there be five kinds of con- 
 sciences on foot in the world ; first, an ignorant
 
 364 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 conscience, which neither sees nor saith any- 
 thing, neither beholds the sins in a soul, nor 
 reproves them. Secondly, the flattering con- 
 science, whose speech is worse than silence 
 itself, which, though seeing sin, soothes men 
 in the committing thereof. Thirdly, the seared 
 conscience, which hath neither sight, speech, nor 
 Ephes. ir. sense, in men that are past feeling. Fourthly, 
 a wounded conscience, frighted with sin. The 
 last and best is a quiet and clear conscience, 
 pacified in Christ Jesus. Of these, the fourth 
 is thy case, incomparably better than the three 
 former, so that a wise man would not take a 
 world to change with them. Yea, a wounded 
 conscience is rather painful than sinful, an afflic- 
 tion, no offence, and is in the ready way, at 
 the next remove, to be turned into a quiet con- 
 science. 
 
 TIM. I hearken unto you with attention and 
 comfort. 
 
 PHIL. Lastly, consider the good effects of a 
 wounded conscience, privative for the present, 
 and positive for the future. First, privative, 
 this heaviness of thy heart (for the time being) 
 is a bridle to thy soul, keeping it from many 
 sins it would otherwise commit. Thou that 
 now sittest sad in thy shop, or walkest pensive 
 in thy parlour, or standest sighing in thy cham- 
 ber, or liest sobbing on thy bed, mightest per-
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 365 
 
 chance at the same time be drunk, or wanton, 
 or worse, if not restrained by this affliction. 
 God saith in his prophet to Judah, I will hedge HOB. a. s. 
 thy way with thorns, namely to keep Judah 
 from committing spiritual fornication. It is 
 confest that a wounded conscience, for the 
 time, is a hedge of thorns (as the messenger 
 of Satan, sent to buffet St. Paul, is termed a 
 thorn in the flesh). But this thorny fence J Cor - 3di - 
 keeps our wild spirits in the true way, which 
 otherwise would be straggling : and it is better 
 to be held in the right road with briers and 
 brambles, than to wander on beds of roses in 
 a wrong path, which leads to destruction. 
 
 TIM. What are the positive benefits of a 
 wounded conscience? 
 
 PHIL. Thereby the graces in thy soul will be 
 proved, approved, improved. Oh, how clear 
 will thy sunshine be, when this cloud is blown 
 over ! And here I can hardly hold from envy- 
 ing thy happiness hereafter. Oh that I might 
 have thy future crown, without thy present 
 cross ; thy triumphs, without thy trial ; thy 
 conquest, without thy combat ! But I recall 
 my wish, as impossible, seeing what God hath 
 joined together, no man can put asunder. 
 These things are so twisted together, I must 
 have both or neither. 
 
 30
 
 366 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 DIALOGUE XV. 
 
 That is not always the greatest Sin whereof a Man 
 is guilty, wherewith his Conscience is most pained 
 for the present. 
 
 TIMOTHEUS. 
 
 IS that the greatest sin in man's soul, where- 
 with his wounded conscience, in the agony 
 thereof, is most perplexed? 
 
 PHIL. It is so commonly, but not constantly. 
 Commonly, indeed, that sin most pains and 
 pinches him, which commands as principal in 
 his soul. 
 
 TIM. Have all men's hearts some one para- 
 mount sin, which rules as sovereign over all the 
 rest? 
 
 PHIL. Most have. Yet, as all countries are 
 not monarchies governed by kings, but some 
 by free states, where many together have equal 
 power ; so it is possible (though rare) that one 
 man may have two, three, or more sins, which 
 jointly domineer in his heart, without any dis- 
 cernible superiority betwixt them. 
 
 TIM. Which are the sins that most generally 
 wound and afflict a man, when his conscience 
 is terrified ? 
 
 PHIL. No general rule can exactly be given 
 herein. Sometimes, that sin in acting whereof
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 367 
 
 he took most delight ; it being just, that the 
 sweetness of his corporal pleasure should be 
 sauced with more spiritual sadness. Sometimes, 
 that sin which (though not the foulest) is the 
 most frequent in him. Thus his idle words 
 may perplex him more than his oaths, or 
 perjury itself. Sometimes that sin (not which 
 is most odious before God, but) most scandalous 
 before men does most afflict him, because draw- 
 ing greatest disgrace upon his person and pro- 
 fession. Sometimes, that sin which he last com- 
 mitted, because all the circumstances thereof 
 are still firm and fresh in his memory. Some- 
 times that sin which (though long since by him 
 committed) he hath heard very lately power- 
 fully reproved ; and no wonder, if an old gall 
 new rubbed over smart the most. Sometimes, 
 that sin which formerly he most slighted and 
 neglected, as so inconsiderably small that it was 
 unworthy of any sorrow for it, and yet now it 
 may prove the sharpest sting in his conscience. 
 
 TIM. May one who is guilty of very great 
 sins sometimes have his conscience much trou- 
 bled only for a small one ? 
 
 PHIL. Yes, verily : country patients often 
 complain, not of the disease which is most 
 dangerous, but most conspicuous. Yea, some- 
 times they are more troubled with the symptom 
 of a disease (suppose an ill colour, bad breath,
 
 368 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 weak stomach) than with the disease itself. So 
 in the soul, the conscience ofttimes is most 
 wounded, not with that offence which is, but 
 appears, most ; and a sin incomparably small 
 to others, whereof the party is guilty, may 
 most molest for the present, and that for three 
 reasons. 
 
 TIM. Reckon them in order. 
 
 PHIL. First, that God may show in him, that 
 as sins are like the sands in number, so they 
 are far above them in heaviness, whereof the 
 least crumb taken asunder, and laid on the con- 
 science by God's hand, in full weight thereof, 
 is enough to drive it to despair. 
 
 TIM. What is the second reason ? 
 
 PHIL. To manifest God's justice, that those 
 should be choked with a gnat-sin, who have 
 swallowed many camel-sins, without the least 
 regret. Thus some may be terrified for not 
 fasting on Friday, because indeed they have 
 been drunk on Sunday : they may be perplexed 
 for their wanton dreams, when sleeping, because 
 they were never truly humbled for their wicked 
 deeds, when waking. Yea, those who never 
 feared Babylon the great, may be frightened 
 with little Zoar; I mean, such as have been 
 faulty in flat superstition may be tortured for 
 committing or omitting a thing in its own 
 nature indifferent.
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 369 
 
 TIM. What is the third reason? 
 
 PHIL. That this pain for a lesser sin may 
 occasion his serious scrutiny into greater of- 
 fences. Any paltry cur may serve to start 
 and put up the game out of the bushes, whilst 
 fiercer and fleeter hounds are behind to course 
 and catch it. God doth make use of a smaller 
 sin, to raise and rouse the conscience out of 
 security, and to put it up, as we say, to be 
 chased, by the reserve of far greater offences, 
 lurking behind in the soul, unseen and unsor- 
 rowed for. 
 
 TIM. May not the conscience be troubled at 
 that which in very deed is no sin at all, nor 
 hath truly so much as but the appearance of 
 evil in it ? 
 
 PHIL. It may. Through the error of the 
 understanding, such a mistake may follow in 
 the conscience. 
 
 TIM. What is to be done in such a case ? 
 
 PHIL. The party's judgment must be recti- 
 fied, before his conscience can be pacified. 
 Then is it the wisest way to persuade him to 
 lay the axe of repentance to the root of cor- 
 ruption in his heart. When real sins in his 
 soul are felled by unfeigned sorrow, causeless 
 scruples will fall of themselves. Till that root 
 be cut down, not only the least bough and 
 branch of that tree, but the smallest sprig,
 
 370 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 twig, and leaf thereof, yea, the very empty 
 shadow of a leaf (mistaken for a sin, and 
 created a fault by the jealousy of a misin- 
 formed judgment) is sufficient intolerably to 
 torture a wounded conscience. 
 
 DIALOGUE XVI. 
 
 Obstructions hindering the speedy flowing of Comfort 
 into a troubled Soul. 
 
 H 
 
 TIMOTHEUS. 
 
 >OW comes it to pass, that comfort is so 
 long a coming to some wounded con- 
 sciences ? 
 
 PHIL. It proceeds from several causes : either 
 from God, not yet pleased to give it; or the 
 patient, not yet prepared to receive it; or the 
 minister, not well fitted to deliver it. 
 
 TIM. How from God not yet pleased to give 
 it? 
 
 PHIL. His time to bestow consolation is not 
 yet come: now no plummets of the heaviest 
 human importunity can so weigh down God's 
 clock of time, as to make it strike one minute 
 before his hour be come. Till then, his mother 
 John u. 4. herself could not prevail with Christ to work 
 a miracle, and turn water into wine : and till 
 that minute appointed approach, God will not
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 371 
 
 in a wounded conscience convert the water of 
 affliction into that wine of comfort which makes 
 glad the heart of the soul. 
 
 TIM. How may the hinderance be in the 
 patient himself? 
 
 PHIL. He may as yet not be sufficiently 
 humbled, or else God perchance in his provi- 
 dence foresees, that as the prodigal child, when 
 he had received his portion, riotously misspent 
 it, so this sick soul, if comfort were imparted 
 unto him, would prove an unthrift and ill hus- 
 band upon it, would lose and lavish it. God 
 therefore conceives it most for his glory, and 
 the other's good, to keep the comfort still in 
 his own hand, till the wounded conscience get 
 more wisdom to manage and employ it. 
 
 TIM. May not the sick man's too mean opin- 
 ion of the minister be a cause why he reaps no 
 more comfort by his counsel ? 
 
 PHIL. It may. Perchance the sick man hath 
 formerly slighted and neglected that minister, 
 and God will now not make him the instrument 
 for his comfort, who before had been the object 
 of his contempt. But on the other side, we must 
 also know, that perchance the party's over-high 
 opinion of the minister's parts, piety, and cor- 
 poral presence (as if he cured where he came, 
 and carried ease with him) may hinder the 
 operation of his advice. For God grows jeal-
 
 372 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 ous of so suspicious an instrument, who prob- 
 ably may be mistaken for the principal. Where- 
 as a meaner man, of whose spirituality the 
 patient hath not so high carnal conceits, may 
 prove more effectual in comforting, because not 
 within the compass of suspicion to eclipse God 
 of his glory. 
 
 TIM. How may the obstructions be in the 
 minister himself? 
 
 PHIL. If he comes unprepared by prayer, or 
 possessed with pride, or unskilful in what he 
 undertakes ; wherefore in such cases, a minister 
 may do well to reflect on himself (as the dis- 
 ciples did when they could not cast out the 
 Devil), and to call his heart to account, what 
 may be the cause thereof: particularly whether 
 some unrepented for sin in himself hath not 
 hindered the effects of his counsels in others. 
 
 TIM. However, you would not have him 
 wholly disheartened with his ill-success. 
 
 PHIL. O no ; but let him comfort himself 
 with these considerations. First, that though 
 the patient gets no benefit by him, he may gain 
 experience by the patient, thereby being en- 
 abled more effectually to proceed with some 
 other in the same disease. Secondly, though 
 the sick man refuses comfort for the present, 
 yet what doth not sink on a sudden may soak 
 in by degrees, and may prove profitable after-
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 373 
 
 wards. Thirdly, his unsucceeding pains may 
 notwithstanding facilitate comfort for another 
 to work in the same body, as Solomon built a 
 temple with most materials formerly provided 
 and brought thither by David. Lastly, grant 
 his pains altogether lost on the wounded con- 
 science, yet his labour is not in vain in 
 Lord, who without respect to the event will 
 reward his endeavours. 
 
 TIM. But what if this minister hath been 
 the means to cast this sick man down, and now 
 cannot comfort him again ? 
 
 PHIL. In such a case, he must make this sad 
 accident the more matter for his humiliation, 
 but not for his dejection. Besides, he is bound, 
 both in honour and honesty, civility and Chris- 
 tianity, to procure what he cannot perform, 
 calling in the advice of others more able to 
 assist him, not conceiving, out of pride or envy, 
 that the discreet craving of the help of others 
 is a disgraceful confessing of his own weakness : 
 like those malicious midwives, who had rather 
 that the woman in travail should miscarry, than 
 be safely delivered by the hand of another more 
 skilful than themselves.
 
 374 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 DIALOGUE XVII. 
 
 What is to be conceived of their final Estate who 
 die in a wounded Conscience without any visible 
 Comfort. 
 
 TIMOTHEUS. 
 
 WHAT think you of such, who yield up 
 their ghost in the agony of an afflicted 
 spirit, without receiving the least sensible degree 
 of comfort ? 
 
 PHIL. Let me be your remembrancer to call 
 or keep in your mind what I said before, that 
 our discourse only concerns the children of 
 God : this notion renewed, I answer. It is 
 possible that the sick soul may receive secret 
 solace, though the standers-by do not perceive 
 it. We know how insensibly Satan may spirt 
 and inject despair into a heart, and shall we not 
 allow the Lord of heaven to be more dexterous 
 and active with his antidotes than the Devil is 
 with his poisons? 
 
 TIM. Surely, if he had any such comfort, he 
 would show it by words, signs, or some way, 
 were it only but to comfort his sad kindred, and 
 content such sorrowful friends which survive 
 him ; were there any hidden fire of consola- 
 tion kindled in his heart, it would sparkle in 
 his looks and gestures, especially seeing no
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 375 
 
 obligation of secrecy is imposed on him, as 
 
 on the blind man, when healed, to tell none Markviii - 
 
 thereof. 
 
 PHIL. It may be he cannot discover the com- 
 fort he hath received, and that for two reasons : 
 First, because it comes so late, when he lies in 
 the marshes of life and death, being so weak, 
 that he can neither speak, nor make signs with 
 Zechariah, being at that very instant when the 
 silver cord is ready to be loosed, and the golden 
 bowl to be broken, and the pitcher to be broken 
 at the fountain, and the wheel to be broken at 
 the cistern. 
 
 TIM. What may be the other reason? 
 
 PHIL. Because the comfort itself may be in- 
 communicable in its own nature, which the 
 party can take and not tell ; enjoy, and not 
 express ; receive, and not impart : as by the 
 assistance of God's Spirit, he sent up groans Rom - viii - 
 which cannot be uttered, so the same may from 
 God be returned with comfort which cannot 
 be uttered ; and as he had many invisible and 
 privy pangs, concealed from the cognizance of 
 others, so may God give him secret comfort, 
 known unto himself alone, without any other 
 men's sharing in the notice thereof. The heart ft 1 '- 3dv - 
 knoweth his own bitterness, and a stranger doth 
 not intermeddle with his joy. So that his com- 
 fort may be compared to the new name given
 
 376 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 Rer. ii. 17. to God's servants, which no man knoweth, save 
 he that receiveth it. 
 
 TIM. All this proceeds on what is possible or 
 probable, but amounts to no certainty. 
 
 PHIL. Well, then, suppose the worst, this is 
 most sure, though he die without tasting of any 
 comfort here, he may instantly partake of ever- 
 lasting joys hereafter. Surely many a despair- 
 ing soul, groaning out his last breath with fear 
 and thought to sink down to hell, hath pres- 
 ently been countermanded by God's goodness 
 to eternal happiness. 
 
 TIM. What you say herein, no man alive can 
 confirm or confute, as being known to God 
 alone, and the soul of the party. Only I must 
 confess that you have charity on your side. 
 
 PHIL. I have more than charity, namely, 
 Matth.v.4. God's plain and positive promise, Blessed are 
 such as mourn, for they shall be comforted. 
 Now though the particular time when be not 
 expressed, yet the latest date that can be al- 
 lowed must be in the world to come, where 
 such mourners, who have not felt God in his 
 comfort here, shall see him in his glory in 
 heaven. 
 
 TIM. But some who have led pious and godly 
 lives have departed, pronouncing the sentence 
 of condemnation upon themselves, having one 
 foot already in hell by their own confession.
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 377 
 
 PHIL. Such confessions are of no validity, 
 wherein their fear bears false witness against 
 their faith. The fineness of the whole cloth of 
 their life must not be thought the worse of, for 
 a little coarse list at the last. And also their 
 final estate is not to be construed by what was 
 dark, doubtful, and desperate at their deaths, 
 but must be expounded by what was plain, 
 clear, and comfortable in their lives. 
 
 TIM. You then are confident, that a holy 
 life must have a happy death. 
 
 PHIL. Most confident. The logicians hold, 
 that, although from false premises a true con- 
 clusion may sometimes follow ; yet from true 
 propositions nothing but a truth can be thence 
 inferred ; * so, though sometimes a bad life may 
 be attended with a good death, (namely, by 
 reason of repentance, though slow, sincere, 
 though late, yet unfeigned, being seasonably 
 interposed,) but where a godly and gracious 
 life hath gone before, there a good death must 
 of necessity follow ; which, though sometimes 
 doleful (for want of apparent comfort) to 
 their surviving friends, can never be danger- 
 ous to the party deceased. Remember what St. 
 Paul saith, Our life is hid with Christ in God. COLULS. 
 
 TIM. What makes that place to your pur- 
 pose ? 
 
 * Ex veris possunt, nil nisi vera sequi.
 
 378 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 PHIL. Exceeding much. Five cordial obser- 
 vations are couched therein. First, that God 
 sets a high price and valuation on the souls 
 of his servants, in that he is pleased to hide 
 them : none will hide toys and trifles, but what 
 is counted a treasure. Secondly, the word hide, 
 as a relative, imports, that some seek after our 
 souls, being none other than Satan himself, that 
 roaring lion, who goes about seeking whom he 
 may devour. But the best is, let him seek, and 
 seek, and seek, till his malice be weary, (if that 
 be possible,) we cannot be hurt by him whilst 
 we are hid in God. Thirdly, grant Satan find 
 us there, he cannot fetch us thence : our souls 
 are bound in the bundle of life, with the Lord 
 our God. So that, be it spoken with reverence, 
 God first must be stormed with force or fraud, 
 before the soul of a saint sinner, hid in him, 
 can be surprised. Fourthly, we see the reason 
 why so many are at a loss, in the agony of a 
 wounded conscience, concerning their spiritual 
 estate : for they look for their life in a wrong 
 place, namely, to find it in their own piety, 
 purity, and inherent righteousness. But though 
 they seek, and search, and dig, and dive never so 
 deep, all in vain. For though Adam's life was 
 hid in himself, and he intrusted with the keep- 
 ing his own integrity, yet, since Christ's coming, 
 all the original evidences of our salvation are
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 379 
 
 kept in a higher office, namely, hidden in God 
 himself. Lastly, as our English proverb saith, 
 he that hath hid can find ; so God (to whom 
 belongs the issues from death) can infallibly find Psalm 
 out that soul that is hidden in him, though it 
 may seem, when dying, even to labour to lose 
 itself in a fit of despair. 
 
 TIM. It is pity but that so comfortable a doc- 
 trine should be true. 
 
 PHIL. It is most true: surely as Joseph and Luke a. 48. 
 Mary conceived that they had lost Christ in a 
 crowd, and sought him three days sorrowing, till 
 at last they found him, beyond their expectation, 
 safe and sound, sitting in the temple : so many 
 pensive parents, solicitous for the souls of their 
 children, have even given them for gone, and 
 lamented them lost, (because dying without 
 visible comfort,) and yet, in due time, shall find 
 them, to their joy and comfort, safely possessed 
 of honour and happiness, in the midst of the 
 heavenly temple and church triumphant in 
 glory.
 
 380 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 DIALOGUE XVIII. 
 
 Of the different Time and Manner of the coming 
 of Comfort to such who are healed of a wounded 
 Conscience. 
 
 H 
 
 TIMOTHEUS. 
 
 OW long may a servant of God lie under 
 
 the burden of a wounded conscience ? 
 Acts i. 7. PHIL. It is not for us to know the times and 
 the seasons, which the Father hath put in his 
 own power. God alone knows whether their 
 grief shall be measured unto them by hours, or 
 days, or weeks, or months, or many years. 
 
 TIM. How then is it that St. Paul saith, that 
 icor. x.i3. God will give us the issue with the temptation, 
 if one may long be visited with this malady? 
 PHIL. The Apostle is not so to be under- 
 stood, as if the temptation and issue were twins, 
 both born at the same instant ; for then no 
 affliction could last long, but must be ended as 
 Acts ix. 33. soon as it is begun ; whereas we read how ^Eneas, 
 truly pious, was bedridden of the palsy eight 
 
 Matth.ix. J ,. j , iY j 
 
 2. years ; the woman diseased with a bloody issue 
 
 Luke xiu. twelve years ; another woman bowed by infirmity 
 John v. 5. eighteen years ; and the man lame thirty-eight 
 
 years at the pool of Bethesda. 
 
 TIM. What then is the meaning of the 
 
 Apostle ?
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 381 
 
 PHIL. God will give the issue with the temp- 
 tation ; that is, the temptation and the issue 
 bear both the same date in God's decreeing 
 them, though not in his applying them : at the 
 same time wherein he resolved his servants 
 shall be tempted, he also concluded of the 
 means and manner how the same persons should 
 infallibly be delivered. Or thus : God will 
 give the issue with the temptation ; that is, as 
 certainly, though not as suddenly. Though 
 they go not abreast, yet they are joined suc- 
 cessively, like two links in a chain ; where one 
 ends, the other begins. Besides, there is a two- 
 fold issue ; one, through a temptation ; another, 
 out of a temptation. The former is but medi- 
 ate, not final ; an issue to an issue, only support- 
 ing the person tempted for the present, and 
 preserving him for a future full deliverance. 
 Understand the Apostle thus, and the issue is 
 always both given and applied to God's chil- 
 dren, with the temptation, though the temptation 
 may last long after, before fully removed. 
 
 TIM. I perceive, then, that in some a wound- 
 ed conscience may continue many years. 
 
 PHIL. So it may. I read of a poor widow, MeicWor 
 in the land of Limburgh, who had nine chil-vita ihoo- 
 dren, and for thirteen years tog-ether was m is- logorum 
 
 J Exterorum, 
 
 erably afflicted in mind, only because she had p. ws. 
 attended the dressing and feeding of her little 
 
 31
 
 382 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 ones before going to mass. At last it pleased 
 God to sanctify the endeavours of Franciscus 
 Junius, that learned godly divine, that, upon 
 true information of her judgment, she was pres- 
 ently and perfectly comforted. 
 
 TIM. Doth God give ease to all in such man- 
 ner, on a sudden? 
 
 PHIL. O no : some receive comfort suddenly, 
 and in an instant they pass from midnight to 
 bright day, without any dawning betwixt. Oth- 
 ers receive consolation by degrees, which is not 
 poured, but dropped into them by little and 
 little. 
 
 TIM. Strange, that God's dealing herein 
 should be so different with his servants. 
 
 PHIL. It is to show, that, as in his proceed- 
 Jamesi.17. ings there is no variableness, such as may im- 
 port him mutable or impotent, so in the same 
 there is very much variety, to prove the fulness 
 of his power, and freedom of his pleasure. 
 
 TIM. Why doth not God give them consola- 
 tion all at once ? 
 
 PHIL. The more to employ their prayers, 
 and exercise their patience. One may admire 
 ii. 8. why Boaz did not give to Ruth a quantity of 
 corn more or less, so sending her home to her 
 mother, but that rather he kept her still to 
 glean ; but this was the reason, because that 
 is the best charity which so relieves another's
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 383 
 
 poverty, as still continues their industry. God, 
 in like manner, will not give some consolation 
 all at once, he will not spoil their (painful but) 
 pious profession of gleaning; still they must 
 pray and gather, and pray and glean, here an 
 ear, there a handful, of comfort, which God 
 scatters in favour unto them. 
 
 TIM. What must the party do when he per- 
 ceives God and his comfort beginning to draw 
 nigh unto him ? 
 
 PHIL. As Martha, when she heard that John xi. 20. 
 Christ was coming, stayed not a minute at home, 
 but went out of her house to meet him ; so 
 must a sick soul, when consolation is coming, 
 haste out of himself and hie to entertain God 
 with his thankfulness. The best way to make 
 a homer of comfort increase to an ephah (which 
 is ten times as much), is to be heartily grateful Exod - xvi - 
 for what one hath already, that his store may be 
 multiplied. He shall never want more, who is 
 thankful for and thrifty with a little : whereas 
 ingratitude doth not only stop the flowing of 
 more mercy, but even spills what was formerly 
 received.
 
 384 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 DIALOGUE XIX. 
 
 How such who are completely cured of a wounded 
 Conscience are to demean themselves. 
 
 TIMOTHEUS. 
 
 GIVE me leave now to take upon me the 
 person of one recovered out of a wound- 
 ed conscience. 
 
 PHIL. In the first place, I must heartily con- 
 gratulate thy happy condition, and must rejoice 
 at thy upsitting, whom God hath raised from 
 the bed of despair : welcome David out of the 
 deep, Daniel out of the lion's den, Jonah from 
 the whale's belly, welcome Job from the dung- 
 hill, restored to health and wealth again. 
 
 TIM. Yea, but when Job's brethren came to 
 visit him after his recovery, every one gave him 
 11. a piece of money, and an ear-ring of gold : but 
 the present I expect from you, let it be, I pray, 
 some of your good counsel for my future de- 
 portment. 
 
 PHIL. I have need to come to thee, and com- 
 est thou to me ? Fain would I be a Paul, sit- 
 ting at the feet of such a Gamaliel, who hath 
 been cured of a wounded conscience in the 
 height thereof: I would turn my tongue into 
 ears, and listen attentively to what tidings he 
 brings from hell itself. Yea, I should be worse
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 385 
 
 than the brethren of Dives, if I should not be- 
 lieve one risen from the dead, for such in effect 
 I conceive to be his condition. 
 
 TIM. But waiving these digressions, I pray 
 proceed to give me good advice. 
 
 PHIL. First thankfully own God thy princi- 
 pal restorer, and comforter paramount. Re- 
 member that, of ten lepers, one only returned Luke X7U - 
 to give thanks, which shows, that by nature, 
 without grace overswaying us, it is ten to one 
 if we be thankful. Omit not also thy thank- 
 fulness to good men, not only to such who 
 have been the architects of thy comfort, but 
 even to those who, though they have built 
 nothing, have borne burthens towards thy re- 
 covery. 
 
 TIM. Go on, I pray, in your good counsel. 
 
 PHIL. Associate thyself with men of afflicted 
 minds, with whom thou mayest expend thy time 
 to thine and their best advantage. O how ex- 
 cellently did Paul comply with Aquila and Pris- 
 cilla ! As their hearts agreed in the general 
 profession of piety, so their hands met in the 
 trade of tent-makers, they abode and wrought Acts xvUi - 
 together, being of the same occupation. Thus 
 I count all wounded consciences of the same 
 company, and may mutually reap comfort one 
 by another ; only here is the difference ; they 
 (poor souls) are still bound to their hard task
 
 386 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 and trade, whilst thou (happy man) hast thy 
 indentures cancelled, and, being free of that pro- 
 fession, art able to instruct others therein. 
 
 TIM. What instructions must I commend 
 unto them? 
 
 2 Cor. 1.4. PHIL. Even the same comfort wherewith 
 thou thyself wast comforted of God : with Da- 
 vid, tell them what God hath done for thy soul ; 
 Lukexxii. an( j w it n Peter, being strong, strengthen thy 
 brethren : conceive thyself like Joseph, there- 
 fore, sent before, and sold into the Egypt of a 
 wounded conscience, (where thy feet were hurt 
 in the stocks, the irons entered into thy soul,) 
 that thou mightest provide food for the famine 
 of others, and especially be a purveyor of com- 
 fort for those thy brethren, which afterwards 
 shall follow thee down into the same doleful 
 condition. 
 
 TIM. What else must I do for my afflicted 
 brethren ? 
 
 PHIL. Pray heartily to God in their behalf: 
 when David had prayed, Psalm xxv. 2, O my 
 God, I trust in thee, let me not be ashamed ; in 
 the next verse, (as if conscious to himself, that 
 his prayers were too restrictive, narrow, and 
 niggardly,) he enlarges the bounds thereof, and 
 builds them on a broader bottom : Yea, let none 
 that wait on thee be ashamed. Let charity in 
 thy devotions have Rehoboth, room enough:
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 387 
 
 beware of pent petitions confined to thy private 
 good, but extend them to all God's servants, but 
 especially all wounded consciences. 
 
 TIM. Must I not also pray for those servants 
 of God, which hitherto have not been wounded 
 in conscience? 
 
 PHIL. Yes, verily, that God would keep them 
 from, or cure them in, the exquisite torment 
 thereof. Beggars, when they crave an alms, 
 constantly use one main motive, that the person 
 of whom they beg may be preserved from that 
 misery whereof they themselves have had woful 
 experience. If they be blind, they cry, Master, 
 God bless your eyesight ; if lame, God bless 
 your limbs ; if undone by casual burning, God 
 bless you and yours from fire. Christ, though 
 his person be now glorified in heaven, yet he is 
 still subject, by sympathy of his saints on earth, 
 to hunger, nakedness, imprisonment, and a 
 wounded conscience, and so may stand in need 
 of feeding, clothing, visiting, comforting, and 
 curing. Now when thou prayest to Christ for 
 any favour, it is a good plea to urge, edge, and 
 'enforce thy request withal, Lord, grant me such 
 or such a grace, and never mayest thou, Lord, 
 in thy mystical members, never be tortured and 
 tormented with the agony of a wounded con- 
 science, in the deepest distress thereof. 
 
 TIM. How must I behave myself for the time 
 to come ?
 
 388 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 PHIL. Walk humbly before God, and care- 
 fully avoid the smallest sin, always remember- 
 John v. 14. ing Christ's caution: Behold, thou art made 
 whole ; sin no more, lest a worse thing come 
 unto thee. 
 
 DIALOGUE XX. 
 
 Whether one cured of a wounded Conscience be sub- 
 ject to a Relapse. 
 
 TIMOTHEUS. 
 
 MAY a man, once perfectly healed of a 
 wounded conscience, and for some years 
 in peaceable possession of comfort, afterwards 
 fall back into his former disease ? 
 
 PHIL. Nothing appears in Scripture or reason 
 to the contrary, though examples of real relapses 
 are very rare, because God's servants are care- 
 ful to avoid sin, the cause thereof; and being 
 once burnt therewith, ever after dread the fire 
 of a wounded conscience. 
 
 TIM. Why call you it a relapse ? 
 
 PHIL. To distinguish it from those relapses 
 more usual and obvious, whereby such who 
 have snatched comfort before God gave it them, 
 on serious consideration that they had usurped 
 that to which they had no right, fall back again 
 into the former pit of despair ; this is improp-
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 389 
 
 erly termed a relapse, as not being a renew- 
 ing, but a continuing of their former malady, 
 from which, though seemingly, they were never 
 soundly recovered. 
 
 TIM. Is there any intimation in Scripture of 
 the possibility of such a real relapse in God's 
 servants ? 
 
 PHIL. There is ; when David saith, Psalm 
 Ixxxv. 8, I will hear what God the Lord will 
 speak, for he will speak peace unto his people, 
 and to his saints, but let them not turn again to 
 folly : this imports that if his saints turn again 
 to folly, which by woful experience we find too 
 frequently done, God may change his voice, and 
 turn his peace, formerly spoken, into a warlike 
 defiance to their conscience. 
 
 TIM. But this methinks is a diminution to 
 the majesty of God, that a man, once com- 
 pletely cured of a wounded conscience, should 
 again be pained therewith : let mountebanks 
 palliate, cures break out again, being never 
 soundly, but superficially healed : He that is all 
 in all never doth his work by halves, so that 
 it shall be undone afterwards. 
 
 PHIL. It is not the same individual wound in 
 number, but the same in kind, and perchance a 
 deeper in degree: nor is it any ignorance or 
 falsehood in the surgeon, but folly and fury in 
 the patient, who, by committing fresh sins, 
 causes a new pain in the old place.
 
 390 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 TIM. In such relapses, men are only troubled 
 for such sins which they have run on score 
 since their last recovery from a wounded con- 
 science. 
 
 PHIL. Not those alone, but all the sins which 
 they have committed, both before and since 
 their conversion, may be started up afresh in 
 their minds and memories, and grieve and per- 
 plex them, with the guiltiness thereof. 
 
 TIM. But those sins were formerly fully for- 
 given, and the pardon thereof solemnly sealed, 
 and assured unto them ; and can the guilt of 
 the same recoil again upon their consciences ? 
 
 PHIL. I will not dispute what God may do in 
 the strictness of his justice. Such seals, though 
 still standing firm and fast in themselves, may 
 notwithstanding break off, and fly open in the 
 feeling of the sick soul : he will be ready to 
 i Kings n. conceive with himself, that as Shimei, though 
 once forgiven his railing on David, was after- 
 wards executed for the same offence, though 
 upon his committing of a new transgression, 
 following his servants to Gath, against the posi- 
 tive command of the king ; so God, upon his 
 committing of new trespasses, may justly take 
 occasion to punish all former offences ; yea, in 
 his apprehension, the very foundation of his 
 faith may be shaken, all his former title to 
 heaven brought into question, and he tor-
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 391 
 
 merited with the consideration that he was 
 never a true child of God. 
 
 TIM. What remedies do you commend to 
 such souls in relapses ? 
 
 PHIL. Even the self-same receipts which I 
 first prescribed to wounded consciences, the 
 very same promises, precepts, comforts, coun- 
 sels, cautions. Only as Jacob, the second time 
 that his sons went down into Egypt, com- 
 manded them to carry double money in their 
 hands ; so I would advise such to apply the 
 former remedies with double diligence, double 
 watchfulness, double industry, because the ma- 
 lignity of a disease is riveted firmer and deeper 
 in a relapse. 
 
 DIALOGUE XXI. 
 
 Whether it be lawful to pray for, or to pray 
 against, or to praise God for, a wounded Con- 
 science. 
 
 TIMOTHEUS. 
 
 IS it lawful for a man to pray to God to visit 
 him with a wounded conscience ? 
 PHIL. He may and must pray to have his 
 high and hard heart truly humbled, and bruised 
 with the sight and sense of his sins, and with 
 unfeigned sorrow for the same: but may not 
 
 Gen. xliii. 
 12.
 
 392 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 explicitly and directly pray for a wounded con- 
 science, in the highest degree and extremity 
 thereof. 
 
 TIM. Why interpose you those terms ex- 
 plicitly and directly? 
 
 PHIL. Because implicitly and by conse- 
 quence, one may pray for a wounded con- 
 science : namely, when he submits himself to 
 be disposed by God's pleasure, referring the 
 particulars thereof wholly to his infinite wis- 
 dom, tendering, as I may say, a blank paper 
 to God in his prayers, and requesting him to 
 write therein what particulars he pleases ; 
 therein generally and by consequence, he may 
 pray for a wounded conscience, in case God 
 sees the same for his own glory, and the par- 
 ties' good ; otherwise, directly he may not pray 
 for it. 
 
 TIM. How prove you the same ? 
 
 PHIL. First, because a wounded conscience 
 is a judgment, and one of the sorest, as the 
 resemblance of the torments of hell. Now it 
 is not congruous to nature, or grace, for a man 
 to be a free and active instrument, purposely 
 to pull down upon himself the greatest evil that 
 can befall him in this world. Secondly, we 
 have neither direction nor precedent of any 
 saint, recorded in God's word, to justify and 
 warrant such prayers. Lastly, though praying
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 393 
 
 for a wounded conscience may seemingly scent 
 of pretended humility, it doth really and rankly 
 savour of pride, limiting the Holy One of Israel. 
 It ill becoming the patient to prescribe to his 
 heavenly physician what kind of physic he shall 
 minister unto him. 
 
 TIM. But we may pray for all means to in- 
 crease grace in us, and therefore may pray for a 
 wounded conscience, seeing thereby at last piety 
 is improved in God's servants. 
 
 PHIL. We may pray for and make use of all 
 means whereby grace is increased : namely, 
 such means as by God are appointed for that 
 purpose ; and therefore, by virtue of God's in- 
 stitution, have both a proportionableness and 
 attendency in order thereunto. But properly, 
 those things are not means, or ordained by God, 
 for the increase of piety, which are only acci- 
 dentally overruled to that end by God's power 
 against the intention and inclination of the 
 things themselves. Such is a wounded con- 
 science, being always actually an evil of punish- 
 ment, and too often occasionally an evil of sin ; 
 the bias whereof doth bend and bow to wicked- 
 ness : though overruled by the aim of God's 
 eye, and strength of his arm, it may bring men 
 to the mark of more grace and goodness. God 
 can and will extract light out of darkness, good 
 out of evil, order out of confusion, and comfort 
 
 32
 
 394 THE CAUSE AND CURE OF 
 
 out of a wounded conscience: and yet dark- 
 ness, evil, confusion, &c. are not to be prayed 
 for. 
 
 TIM. But a wounded conscience, in God's 
 children, infallibly ends in comfort here, or 
 glory hereafter, and therefore is to be desired. 
 
 PHIL. Though the ultimate end of a wound- 
 ed conscience winds off in comfort, yet it brings 
 with it many intermediate mischiefs and mal- 
 adies, especially as managed by human cor- 
 ruption : namely, dulness in divine service, 
 impatience, taking God's name in vain, despair 
 for the time, blasphemy ; which a saint should 
 decline, not desire ; shun, not seek ; not pursue, 
 but avoid, with his utmost endeavours. 
 
 TIM. Is it lawful positively to pray against a 
 wounded conscience ? 
 
 PHIL. It is, as appears from an argument 
 taken from the lesser to the greater. If a man 
 may pray against pinching poverty, as wise 
 PTOV. xxx. Agur did ; then may he much more against a 
 wounded conscience, as a far heavier judgment. 
 Secondly, if God's servants may pray for ease 
 under their burdens, whereof we see divers 
 i Kings particulars in that worthy prayer of Solomon ; 
 I say, if we pray to God to remove a lesser 
 judgment by way of subvention, questionless 
 we may beseech him to deliver us from the 
 great evil of a wounded conscience, by way 
 of prevention.
 
 A WOUNDED CONSCIENCE. 395 
 
 TIM. May one lawfully praise God for visit- 
 ing him with a wounded conscience? 
 
 PHIL. Yes, verily. First, because it is agree- J TheB - v - 
 able to the will of God, in everything to beEphes. v. 
 thankful : here is a general rule, without limita- 2a 
 
 Psalm ciii. 
 
 tion. Secondly, because the end, why God 22, and 
 makes any work, is his own glory ; and a cxlv- 10 ' 
 wounded conscience being a work of God, he 
 must be glorified in it, especially seeing God 
 shows much mercy therein, as being a punish- 
 ment on this side of hell-fire, and less than our 
 deserts. As also, because he hath gracious in- 
 tentions towards the sick soul for the present, 
 and when the malady is over, the patient shall 
 freely confess that it is good for him that he was 
 so afflicted. Happy then that soul, who, in the 
 lucid intervals of a wounded conscience, can 
 praise God for the same. Music is sweetest near 
 or over rivers, where the echo thereof is 
 best rebounded by the water. Praise 
 for pensiveness, thanks for tears, 
 and blessing God over the 
 floods of affliction, makes 
 the most melodious 
 music in the ear 
 of Heaven.
 
 THE CONCLUSION OF THE AUTHOR 
 TO THE READER. 
 
 now God knows how soon it may 
 be said unto me, Physician, heal thy- 
 self, and how quickly I shall stand in 
 need of these counsels, which I have 
 prescribed to others. Herein I say with Eli to 
 
 1 Sam. iii. ", i T i T . . J 
 
 is. Samuel, It is the Lord, let him do what seem- 
 
 2 Sam. XT. e fa nmi goO( j . w j tn David to Zadok, Behold, 
 
 here am I, let him do to me as seemeth good 
 Actsxxi. unto nim With t ] ie disciples to Paul, The 
 
 will of the Lord be done. But oh how easy it 
 is for the mouth to pronounce, or the hand to 
 subscribe these words ! But how hard, yea, 
 without God's grace, how impossible, for the 
 heart to submit thereunto ! Only hereof I am 
 confident, that the making of this treatise shall 
 no ways cause or hasten a wounded conscience 
 in me, but rather on the contrary (especially if, 
 as it is written by me, it were written in me) 
 either prevent it, that it come not at all, or defer 
 it, that it come not so soon, or lighten it, that
 
 CONCLUSION. 397 
 
 it fall not so heavy, or shorten it, that it last not 
 so long. And if God shall be pleased hereafter 
 to write bitter things against me, who have Job xm. 26. 
 here written the sweetest comforts I could for 
 others, let none insult on my sorrows : But 
 whilst my wounded conscience shall lie like Acts m. 2. 
 the cripple, at the porch of the temple, may 
 such as pass by be pleased to pity me, and per- 
 mit this book to beg in my behalf the char- 
 itable prayers of well-disposed people ; 
 till Divine Providence shall send 
 some Peter, some pious min- 
 ister, perfectly to restore 
 my maimed soul 
 to her former 
 soundness. 
 Amen. 
 
 Cambridge : Stereotyped and Printed by Welch, Bigclow, Sc Co.