AVSTINS VRANIA, OR, …

AVSTINS VRANIA, OR, THE HEAVEN­LY MVSE, IN A POEM FVLL OF MOST FEELING MEDITATIONS for the comfort of all soules, at all times:

By S.A. B. of Arts of Ex. Colledge in Oxford.

Aut perlegas, aut non legas.
What e'r thou be, whose eyes doe chance to fall
Vpon this Booke, reade all, or none at all.
[figure]

LONDON, Printed by F.K. for Robert Allot and Henry Seile, 1629.

An Apologie for my Muse, that it chose this subiect before any other, which might seeme more pleasing to the Times.

I Write not newes of Ree, or our late Fleet
For Rochels ayde; or of the States that meet
In our great present Parliament, to cure
Those wounds our dearest England doth endure
For her both hid and open sinnes: Oh no;
It is not fit for me, who am so low,
To speake, when greater tongues are tyde: but I
Bring newes from Heau'n, wrapt in a mystery:
The sweetest newes that e'r was heard; and such
That cannot chuse but please: yet 'tis not much,
And therefore easier to be borne: In briefe,
It is a remedy 'gainst euery griefe
Of these our present troublous times; I meane,
To those alone that crie, Vncleane, vncleane,
And faine would be washt white from sinne, and be
Secur'd also from all the miserie
That followes it: (those Iudgements now that threat
Our Englands fall, if Mercy proue not great.)
Thus haue I thought the safest way to please,
By writing what might giue to all men ease.
S. A.
E Musaeo meo in Coll. Exon. in Oxonio. 26. Maij, 1628.

AVSTINS VRANIA, OR, THE HEAVEN­LY MVSE: Being a true story of mans fall and redemp­tion, set forth in a Poem containing two Bookes: whereof one resembles the Law, the other the Gospell:

Wherein is chiefly imitated the powerfull expressi­ons of holy Scripture: very necessary to be read of all, both Diuines and others, especially those who labour vnder the hea­uie burden of their sinnes, and would faine be comforted.

By S.A. B. of Arts of Ex. Colledge in Oxford.

1. TIM. 4.12.

Let no man despise thy youth, &c.

IOHN 3.16.

For God so loued the world, that he gaue his onely begotten Sonne, that who­soeuer beleeueth in him, should not perish, but haue euerlasting life.

ROM. 5.19, 21.

For as by one mans disobedience, many were made sinners: so by the obe­dience of One shall many be made righteous: That as sinne hath reigned vnto death: euen so might Grace reigne through righteousnesse vnto eternall life, by Iesus Christ our Lord.

LONDON, Printed by F.K. for Robert Allot and Henry Seile. 1629.

TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFVLL, THE especiall fauourer of my Studies, Mr. Dr. PRIDEAVX, the Kings Professor of Diuinitie, and the most de­seruing Rector of Exeter Colledge in Oxford, Grace and peace, &c.

Reuerend Sir!

IT may haply seeme strange vnto you, to receiue such a Present as this from my hands: but when you haue well consider'd it, and the oc­casion of it; I doubt not, but with­out further wondring, you will be ready to chal­lenge it before any other, as your owne principall due. It is not your minde, I know, that I should here proclaime vnto the world the many dutifull ties, and speciall engagements, wherein I stand bound vnto you; how that (next vnder God) I haue liu'd in this happy place aboue this foure yeeres, especially by sucking in the sweet ayre of your continuing fauours: and not so onely, but how in a neerer kinde of reference, you haue vouchsafed to take me into your owne Diuine Tutorage, and honour'd me (beyond all desert) with the priui­ledge of vsuall disputes before your selfe, amongst those that were your Noble Scholers. How much [Page] these, and the like, may serue for the illustration of your goodnes, I well know not, in that you plac'd your fauours on so low and worthlesse a subiect; but I am sure, they stand with my credit for euer to remember them: for which, and for diuers other particular respects, if I had not iust occasion to pre­sent you these first fruits of my Studies, which were nourish'd vp in your owne Garden: yet here againe I could appeale vnto you, as to a common Patron, or Godfather as it were of the Diuiner Muses. If I had made choice of any other Muse then Vrania; or if my Subiect were not Diuine, I would not haue presum'd to approach your eyes with it, or intreate the world might know it vnder your Patronage. But since all these circumstances doe so happily conspire; and if these my labours may also prooue any way beneficiall to Gods Church and Children by your good approuement; let them, I beseech you, as my first conceptions, haue leaue to breathe forth their sorrows to the world vnder your Name: Neither let it bee accounted my pride, that I seeke after the vain-glory of the world by being in Print; for these, I hope, can sufficiently witnesse for mee, that if I glory in any thing, it is with 2. Cor. 12.9. Paul, in my infirmities: after this manner would I haue the world take notice of me, and to amend in them­selues what they finde defectiue in me: but if any thing herein seeme praise-worthy, I would intreate all men to know, that this came from a higher Spi­rit, and my selfe can glory in nothing of it, but by being the Instrument. If you knew but the paines I haue suffer'd in trauell hereof, how many preci­ous [Page] houres and dayes I haue detain'd from those sports and vanities which are common to others; yea, how much time I haue stolne from my other priuate Studies (which lay of necessitie on mee in this place) and sacred them onely to this: and then againe, when I came about it with earnest in­tents, how vnaptly I was disposed for it; how rea­dy for any thing besides it; what drowzinesse would set vpon me; and when I went sometimes more happily onwards by the strength of Gods Spirit, what Legions of euill thoughts would sud­denly interrupt me; in briefe, what heauy and hard conflicts, and what a tedious trauell I haue had (as God knowes) in the producing of it, I dare pro­mise my selfe, it would make your yeelding heart e'en bleed to thinke on't. Had I gone about any any worke of vanitie, I am sure I should haue had the World, Flesh and Diuell at hand to forward it: but this hath shewed it selfe to be a worke of a contrary nature, and hath had all these (as earst Neh. 4.7, 8. Nehemiah had Sanballat and his complices) conspirators to hinder it: But now (thankes bee to my God) after two yeeres tedious trauell, I haue at length finished it. And since it has growne vp hitherto vnder your Tuition, I doe here also humbly commend it to you for its future preser­uation, and fauour in publishing it: which if you please but daine mee, I dare promise, its life shall prooue so thankefull vnto you, as besides mine owne prayers, procure you the blessings of many other soules for preseruing it. To which great fa­uour I shall onely craue this one addition for the [Page] crowning of my desires, that I may alwayes re­taine my wonted priuiledge, in being euer

Your Worships faithfull seruant, to be commanded in the Lord Iesus, Samuel Austin.
From my Study in Exe­t [...]r Colledge in Oxford, this 11. of Aprill, being the day of our Sauiours Passion: 1628.

TO THE CHRISTIAN READERS.

Good Readers!

FOr I write onely to you that haue, or at least desire earnestly to haue a part in that glory which is already in part, and shall shortly be fully re­uealed:) I haue here presented you with a birth, as farre, I suppose, beyond your ex­pectations, as it seemes, beyond the abilities of my younger yeeres: but howsoeuer, I shall intreate your kind acceptance of it, and craue you all to foster it vp in your owne bosomes; for I dare warrant you in the Lord, that if you but saue it from death by your fa­uourable warmings, it shall liue to giue you all wish­ed thankefulnesse. If I should but tell you of those fearefull conflicts I had in my trauell of it, and my many grieuous cares in nursing it hitherto, you would surely say, it were an inhumane impiety presently to stifle it. Pray peruse it well, and I hope, I shall not need much to speake for it; it hath teares enough of it selfe to enforce your pity; and is of so good a nature, you cannot well chuse but foster it. If you imagine it is too faire to bee mine, I shall not be so presumingly proud on selfe-abilitie, as quite to denie you: for I must confesse indeed, I haue had such large experi­ence of mine owne infirmities in the trauell hereof, [Page] that I can attribute nothing vnto my selfe, but the imperfections herein, and the glory of an instrument onely in producing its better parts. I haue been in­deed as a common Father, as they say, in bringing forth the matter; but the forme, life and soule of it was from God alone (the Father of life) to whose sole guiding and blessed aydance, I must alwaies thank­fully ascribe these my better performances. When I began this worke, I intended onely to treate of our Sauiours Passion, but I was so led away by that all-ruling Spirit of my God, that I ceased quickly from being mine owne man in it, and brought this to passe which now you see, Neh. 1.8. (according to the good hand of my God vpon me) both beyond mine owne aimes, and naturall abilities. And now, deare Christian friends, I humbly beseech you in the Lord, for your faithfull perusall of it: and mayEphes. 1.17, 18. the God of our Lord Iesus Christ, the Father of glory, giue vnto you the Spirit of wisedome, and reuelation in the knowledge of him, that the eyes of your vnderstandings being enlighte­ned, ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of his inheritance in the Saints.

Yours euer in the Lord Iesus, S. A.
From my Study the 11. of Aprill. 1628.

My Muse to my Censurers.

YOu that are troubled with the Dog-disease,
Pray reade me o're; then censure what you please.
Vrania.

To that famous Nursery of Learning and Re­ligion, my Mother Exeter Colledge in Oxford, all happinesse.

GReat Mother of the Muses! (thou whose fame
Hath long time been more glorious by the Name
Of thy
Mr. Dr. P [...]id.
Learn'd Rector) let, I humbly pray,
A worthlesse sonne of thine haue leaue to stray
Abroad with his poore Muse a while, to sing
A timely welcome to the weeping Spring.
Let other Muses that deriue their birth
From forraine Springs, or from some baser earth,
Enslaue their wits to toyes of Loue: but wee
Must be Diuine that take our births from thee:
My Muse shall sing of Heau'n, and in thy prayse,
Great [...], shall scorne the momentarie bayes
Of perishing mans applause, which dies away
W [...]h those that giue't, but she shall sing a Lay,
Wh [...]e Heau'n-borne wings shall raise thy Name so hie,
[...] it liue euen through eternitie.
The vnworthiest of thy sonnes, S. A.

TO MY EVER HONOVRED FRIENDS, THOSE MOST REFINED Wits and fauorers of most exquisite learning, Mr. M. Drayton, Mr. Will. Browne, and my ingenious Kinsman, Mr. Andrew Pol­lexsen (all knowne vnto me) and to the rest (vn­knowne) the Poets of these times, S. A. wisheth the accomplishment of all true happi­nesse.
Austins aduertisement.

MY Noblest Friends! you that deriue your birth
From some thing that's more excellent then earth,
From some sweet influence, or some Deitie
That liues aboue the base capacitie
Of ignorant Spheares (those rude vntutor'd braines,
That neuer trauell'd farther then their Plaines
To learne of ought, but Heards, and Flocks, or how
They might dispose a Cart, or guide a Plow:)
To you alone I write, what I of late
Haue scene and heard; the lamentable state
[Page]Of these our latter iron times; and hence
It is I speake from sad experience:
The matter's this: Occasion did inuite
Me hence of late to take a Summers-sight
Of our farre-famouz'd London, where when I
Was come, I tooke an opportunitie
For venting of these plaints of mine, which here
My Vran 'hath brought forth with many a teare,
And speakelesse pang of griefe, with losse of time
Most precious to my soule: (O that a rime
So poore as this should cost so deare!) but lo,
When I would faine haue let these waters flow
Abroad vnto my Countrimen, I went
To see how well our Stationers were bent
To further me herein: but they reply,
Sure 'twill not take, for 'tis Diuinitie:
Poems diuine are nothing worth; but if
I had portray'd a pretty Sea of griefe
For some lost Mistresse; or compos' a toy
Of loue in verse, this would haue been a Boy
Worth the conception, each would take it vp
And play with it: or had I but a cup
Of strong-breath'd Satyres mixt with spleene & gall,
And could but powre it handsomely to fall
Vpon some high-mans head, Oh, this would take
Eu'n like Tobacco, each Barbours shop would make
A sale of it: or had I but the time
Neately to weaue some loose-lasciuious rime,
Stuft with conceits of wantonnesse, Oh then
I had been call'd one of the Wits; for men
Must haue their humours, now they say; but this
Is quite against them; euery one will hisse
[Page]It off the Stage. And is it so, thought I?
Why then, 'tis time for our Diuinitie
To stirre her selfe, and speake in Ʋerse if she
Can ought perswade; O what a miserie
Is like to fall vpon this age! when men
Shall so forget themselues, as turne agen
To their first veines of childishnesse, and will
Giue any price to buy each toy of ill;
But will not giue a straw for good, altho
It be to saue their very soules? What wo
And horror's this, when men grow desperate,
To buy damnation at so deare a rate,
To pay a price for hell, but will not giue
A pin for heau'n? O that my soule should liue
To see such drearie dayes as these! But now,
Since things are so, what shall I say, or vow,
Or doe to make them otherwise? Why sure,
Great friends! my present suit's to you, whose pure
And heau'nly essences doe plainely say,
You are Diuine: let me presume to pray,
And challenge you on all those bonds that be
'Twixt God and you; 'twixt heau'ns eternitie
In blissefulnesse, and your deare soules, that hence
You aide me on with your high eloquence,
And heau'n-commanding tenors, to reuerse
(If our Diuinitie can ought in Ʋerse)
Those strong opposing humours of this age,
This wayward madnesse, this prepostrous rage
Of humane hearts which gape so greedily
To swallow sinne, and drinke iniquitie
Like water (as the
Iob. 15.16.
Scripture speakes) but good
They will not taste so much, lest their ill blood
[Page]Should be
Infected, I say, because wicked men account goodnesse as grieuous a plague to them, as the godly doe wickednesse, and there­fore as care­fully to be shunned, for feare it should dis­turbe their former course of cursed merri­ment, and put them to the paines of blessed re­pentance, whereby they might liue anew vnto God, and be sa­ued.
infected by't, and so perchance
They might be drawne from hellish ignorance
Into the glorious light of Grace, whereby
They might be brought to heauens felicity,
Before they were aware of't. O my soule!
What fury's this? How should we not controle
Such stupid waywardnesse, when now aday
Men labour more (it seemes) to finde the way
That leades to hell, then euer heretofore
The Saints for heauen? O, how should I deplore
This wretched hum'rousnesse? How should I chide
My Countrimen for this, that they'le abide
This cursed Achan to remaine so long
Within their tents, which hath done all the wrong,
Our Countrey hath of late endur'd, how-ere
Some ignorant braines thinke otherwise. But here,
O that I might obtaine but this of them,
Which is, that these my deare-wise-Countrimen
Would onely duly thinke vpon, and wey
The way wherein they goe, knowing when they
Haue had their filles of vanitie, at last
They must expect a change, that fearefull blast
Of the last Trumpe will one day
Mat. 24.31. 1. Cor. 15.52.
sound, and then
That dreary doome also will fall on them,
Mat. 25.41.
Depart from me yee curst, and they must goe
Into those prisons of eternall woe,
The deepes of euerlasting hell, where they
Shall be in paine beyond conceite; no day
Or instant shall giue ease to them, but still
They shall drinke vp those poys'nous drugs of ill,
Hells most reuengefull torturings, if they
Doe not repent themselues while 'tis to day;
[Page]I meane, ere deaths blacke night approach. O then
Thinke you on this, my dearest Countrimen.
And thou, deare Drayton! let thy aged Muse
Turne now diuine; let her forget the vse
Of thy earst pleasing tunes of loue, (which were
But fruits of witty youth:) let her forbeare
These toyes, I say, and let her now breake forth
Thy latest gaspe in heau'nly sighes, more worth
Then is a world of all the rest; for this
Will vsher thee to heau'ns eternall blisse:
And let thy strong-perswasiue straines enforce
These times into a penitent remorce
For this their sinfull frowardnesse; and then
Heau'n shall reward thee, neuer care for
That is, the esteeme, or respects of meere car­nall men.
men.
And honour'd Willy, thou whose maiden straines
Haue sung so sweetly of the Vales and Plaines
Of this our Ile, that all the men that be
Thy hearers, are enforc'd to honour thee,
Yea, and to fall in loue with thee; I say,
Let me intreate thee to transport thy Lay
From earth to heau'n: for sure thy Muses bee
So good, the Gods will fall in loue with thee,
As well as men: besides, 'tis fit thy Layes
Should scorne all Crowns, saue heau'ns eternal Bayes.
Then bid the world farewell with
vid. Sydneys last Sonnet at the end of his Arcadia.
Sydney, (he
That was the Prince of English Poesie,)
And ioyne with me (the worst of all thy traine)
To bring these times into a better straine.
And dearest Pol'sfen, last of all the three,
Which should be first by that affinitie
And int'rest that thou hast in me; I here
Intreate thy helpe amongst the rest, whose deare
[Page]And precious apprehensions reach so high,
As nought but heau'n, or pure Diuinitie
Should be the subiect of thy straines: for they
Are farre too good e're to be cast away
On earth's base worthlesse vanities, which be
At best but emblems of mortalitie,
So soone they die, and quaile away: but thine,
Thy wits, I meane, are heau'nly and diuine
Emblems of Euerlastingnesse, and can
Create conceits were neuer form'd by man,
No, nor so much as thought vpon, ere thou
Thy selfe gan'st being vnto them: but now,
Since things are thus proportion'd out, I pray
Come aide me with that heau'n-commanding sway
Of thy high Ʋerse, which rather will compell
Men to be mad, then let them goe to hell
In such a childish hum'rousnesse; nay, will
Enforce them to be good against their will,
If they can be so dull, or voide of sense,
As not loue goodnesse for selfe-excellence;
Whose sweet and louely fairenesse at first sight
Without gaine-say obtaines a soueraigne right
Ore all ingenious hearts, at least if Grace
Reside in them; then nothing else takes place.
Come then, I say, deare Drayton, Browne and thou,
And all the rest that euer made a Vow
To keepe the Muses sacred Lawes, come here
And ioyne with me, let neither loue, nor feare
Make you proue partiall, till this
The ill hu­mour which preferre [...] [...] before goodnesse, in [...] vpon any [...]ly respect [...] [...]
hum'rous rage
Be banisht quite from off our Englands Stage:
What shall I vrge you more? or why intreate?
Your Wisdomes see the cause is wondrous great,
[Page]That craues your helpe; nay more, it craues the Pen
And tongue of our best
Preachers, diuinest Pro­fessors.
Angels too: for men
Must not be humour'd thus in ill: or if
It should be so, sure, goodnesse then for griefe
Would run away, or hide her selfe, when she
Should be discourag'd thus, alas! and we
That honour her, should not once dare to speake,
O, 'twere enough to make our hearts to breake.
Be valiant then, my friends, and let all those
That wish our England well, and hate her foes;
Be of like minde with vs, yea, those that bee
The
Chiefe Go­uernours in Church and Common­wealth, who can do most in this case.
Princes of our Ile; so shall we see
Our England flourish spight of Pope, and all
That thirst with bloody hearts to see her fall.
So Goodnesse shall proue Conquerour, but ill
Shall not dare shew it selfe within this Hill
And holy Mountaine of our God, which he
Preserues by speciall prouidence; and we
To see it thus, with gladsome hearts shall sing
Our thanks to God, who rays'd so good a King
To sit on our late Dauids Throne; and may
He grow as great, as good, still let vs pray:
Yea, Peeres, and all, ioyne with my humble Pen,
And so let all the people say, Amen.
The true well-willer and seruant of you all in the Lord Iesus, S. A.

Errata.

Page 4. verse 27. for rhus, reade thus. v. 36. for intrust, r. in­struct p. 7. v. 9. for I'm, r. ioyne. p. 8. v. 31. to say, in the beginning to be left out, and in the end, for hapy, r. haply. p. 10. v. 39. for an Ambassage, r. in ambassage p. 24. v. 24. for the, r. thy. p. 25. vers. 6. for Sonne, r. Sunne. p. 28. v. 18. for there, r. here. p. 32. vers. 30. for Sonne, r. Sunne. p. 34. v 39. for gifts, r. griefes. p. 39. v. 27. for tremble, r. doe tremble. p. 41. in the Margine, for Exod. 16. r. 19. p. 42. v. 21. for hight, r. light. p. 52. v. 33. for hell, r. ill. p. 53. v. 39. for enow, r. enough.

AVSTIN'S VRANIA: OR THE HEAVENLY MVSE.

THE CONTENTS.
FIrst my VRANIA from the Spring,
Doth take occasion here to sing
Our Sauiours Passion: but her rime
Leaues that vntill a fitter time
Christs pas­siō more ful­ly describ'd in my second Booke.
In my next booke: from thence shee hies
To speake of Humane miseries
By Adams fall, and how the times
Are now corrupted ore with crimes:
At length shee falls with weeping eyes
To treate of mine owne miseries,
VVhere shee declares how first I fell
Away from God, and lay in Hell
As Prisoner fast, till his free Grace
Releasd mee from this wofull Case:
VVherein a large dispute as twere,
Twixt God and mee, shee doth declare
My penitence, and how I lye
As one that hath deseru'd to dye
By lawes iust doom, but yet depend
On His sole Grace: Thus doth shee end
My former booke, and lets me lye
To waite for mercies sweet Reply.
I That had sate neere famous Isis shore
The space of twice twelue moones, and somewhat more,
And there had heard those Heauenly Muses sing
That vse to solace by that sacred Spring;
At length I gan recall my selfe, and thought,
What? shall I stand and hearken still for nought?
[Page 2]Sure no; I will be doing too, altho
It cost me deare enough, much time, and wo:
Come then, VRANIA, come, thou sacred Mayd,
And Muse of Heau'n, goe onwards in the ayd
Of my great God, whose sole commanding spright
Shall alwayes guide thee in thy wayes aright;
Goe on, I say, in his sole strength, and sing
This dreary Canto to the weeping Spring,
A Song befitting well the time, I meane,
The Story of that lamentable Scene,
Which earst my Sauiour acted here, whilst He
Was yet on earth: Come then along with me,
And beare a part, come quickly on, I say,
For lo, my passions will no longer stay:
An allusion to the sorrow for the death of our late K. of blessed memory, K. Iames.
No sooner can an earthen Caesar dye,
But Kingdomes flow in weeping Poesy,
Our dayes are nighted, and the heau'ns o're-hung
With sable clouds, as with compassion wrung
Of what we feele, and seeming sad to rue
Our great missehaps, distils a weeping dew
To beare vs company, while all our eyes
Make silent teares to blab our miseryes:
And this the cause, we say, of dreary night,
Our Sunne is set, and we haue lost his Light:
Is't so indeed? And could that King of Kings,
That Humane-God, of whom the
Luke 1.10.
Angel brings
Such happy Tydings, and the noblest Traines
Of Heau'ns Musicians warbled out their Straines,
To solemnize his Birth, (which then began
To
Esai. 40.2.
preach Saluation to that Miser, Man)
Could He, I say, be crucified, and die,
Yet Man not melt into an Elegie?
Obdurate Clay! so sweet a Sunne to see,
And not dissolue, but still more hardned bee:
Ah cursed cruell Iewes! where were yo [...] Scribes
They could not write? What, blinded [...]h your bribes,
As were your Watch-men? Did you [...] their eies,
For feare they should bewray your villanies
By some sad Poem, writ with sable Teares
Vpon his death? Which when the peoples eares
[Page 3]Had heard, and how you'd shed his guiltlesse blood;
They needs would wish their
Iere. 9.1.
heads a Water-flood,
To wash his wounds, and to bewaile his losse,
Whom causelesse you thus tortur'd on the Crosse:
But, Tyrants, tell, how could you gaze on Him
With tearelesse eies, who suff'red for your sin?
Had you a heart, and could it choose but bleed?
Or were you men, to act so vile a deed,
As murther Him, whose very wounds did weepe,
To wash those sinnes that wounded you so deepe?
Or when you'd don't, I wonder, faithlesse Elues,
With Judas, straight you had not hang'd your selues,
To see your Tragick Action; or with speed
If yet you liu'd, bewail'd that horrid deed
In lasting Teares of penitence, and all
Turne sudden Mourners to his Funerall:
But twas not so, your infidelitie
Was
Luk. 22.37.
fore-decreed from all eternitie:
You did this not by chance, but to fulfill
The sacred
Act. 2.23.
Scriptures, and resistlesse will
Of Heau'ns great Lawgiuer: who gaue you eies
To see and weepe at others miseries:
But stubborne you peruerting all to ill,
Did what you could to crosse the Giuers will,
Blinded your selues, and would not see the Light,
Till forst you were by
Mat. 27.45. & Luke 23.44, 45. [...] generall Eclipse or darknesse at our Sauiours Passion.
vnexpected Night
To see by opposites; As those your kinne,
Who ryde in Poast the thorough faires of sinne
With hood-winkt eyes, and dreaming all is well,
Ne'r thinke on Heau'n, vntill they feele a Hell:
But then too late, alas, the smarting Rod
Doth make them learne a Heauen and a God!
Such ill Disciples you, whose faithlesse hate
Did play so long the wanton, till too late
Sad Terror taught you Lectures, Heau'ns and all
Did seeme to checke you, this Terrestriall Ball
Did
Mat. 27.51
quake and tremble that it should sustaine
Your selues, the Off-spring of that cursed Cain:
The Temples veyle, and very Rockes were rent,
As toucht with Passion, seeming to lament
[Page 4]Your deeds, and wanting tongue and teares to plaine,
They brake their stonie hearts for griefe in twaine:
And glorious Titan Heau'ns all-seeing Eye,
The sad Spectator of this Tragedy,
Withdrew it selfe, put on its sable weeds,
(Wherewith it doth lament such dismall deeds)
And all the
Rom. 8.19.
Creature clad in mourning blacke,
Did sadly seeme to mutter out it's lacke:
Meane while a secret terrour did inuade
The hearts of all, and an vnwonted shade
O're-vaild the Earth on suddaine; all was Night,
And reason good, the Sunne that gaue you Light,
You banisht from your Eyes, and would not see,
Though wrapt (alas) in rags of miserie,
Hee came to bee your obiect; but in vaine,
Hee had but hate, and labour for his paine:
Iust as his followers now that shew his Light,
They're
Psal. 22.3.3. & 4. sing.
ouercome with hatred and Despight:
Thus did you entertaine Him with the crosse,
Wh [...] harmelesse suff'red to redeeme your losse:
An [...] [...]lessed Sauiour) thus with
Math. 27.46. & Marke 15 34.
pitious Cry
Hee seemd to call on his Diuinitie,
For aydance in that Agony, wherein
Hee now lay gasping burned with the sin
Of mee and all the world, vntill at length
His God-head gaue Him all sufficient strength,
Whereby Hee ouercame: which done, Hee cry'd
Tis
Mat. 29.50. & Ioh. 19.30.
finisht, gaue the ghost, and thus Hee dy'd.
Here, passionary Eye, that dain'st to view
My weeping Meeter writ with sable Dew,
Come beare mee company, and let thine Eie
Afford me Inke to write his Elegie:
Come weepe by Art, make euery teare a verse,
The saddest now that euer hung on hearse:
And solitary Muses bring your Traines
Of skilfull'st Mourners to intrust my braines
With most Patheticke tenors, that my pen
May Eccho sorrow through the world agen:
And skilfull passions come assist mee now
With sorrowes sad Materials, shew me how
[Page 5]To frame a sable Monument for Him,
Who payd his life a ransome for my Sin:
Come weeping Mourners, Muses, Passions, all;
Come solemnize with mee his Funerall:
His funerall? alas, where am I led
To seeke the
Luke 24.5.
liuing thus amongst the Dead?
What Maries passion hath possest my braine,
To hurry me thus vp and downe in vaine
To seeke his graue? I'm quite out of the way,
I haue none Angell tells mee, where he lay:
Or if I had, what Marble Monument
Can
1. Kings [...].27. & 2. Chr. 2.6.
reach so high as bee his Continent?
Or were that Virgin
Ioh. 19.41, 42.
sepulcher wherein
His Virgin body lay (so free from sin)
Before mine Eye, yet sure my mazed wit
Could neuer frame an Epitaph to fit
That sacred Monument? for if that I
Should write (as vsuall) Here He lyes, I ly:
For Hee is
Luke [...]4.6.
Risen, and I'm sure is gone
To sit vpon his euerlasting Throne
In highest Heauens, where Saints and Angels sing
Rom. 4.10, 11.
All Glory, Honour, Power, to Him as King.
And surely Hee is worthy: But mine Eye
Presumes too farre in soaring vp so high
As
Reu. 6.1.
pry into the Heau'ns, and there to looke
On him that opens that seu'n-sealed booke:
I am not Iohn, nor
Exod. 33. [...], &c.
haue I Moses face,
Thus to presume ascend that holy place
To gaze on God: Alas, I'm quite awry,
To seeke his Tombe, or write his Elegie:
Ne'r Poet yet presum'd to cast a verse
Vpon his graue: and shall I bee peruerse?
Did they refraine, for feare they should bespot
His vndefilednesse with Inky blot
Of natures braine, which cannot reach so hie
As feigne a Graue aboue Heau'ns Canopie,
Where nothing is corrupt? And shall my braine
Presume to feigne Him backe on Earth againe,
To bury Him with Man, as though that Hee
Might
Psal. 16.10.
see corruption as wee sinners see?
[Page 6]Oh no, I may not, Art and natures Eye
Stand quite amaz'd at this great Mysterie
Which faith alone conceaues; my feebled sense
Doth want, alas, the high intelligence
Of Heau'ns pure Substances, which might endite
A higher straine by far then Humans write:
And here I want an Angels hallowed quill
To bee my Pen, and then I want to fill
That sacred Pen, in stead of stayny Inke,
Those Christall Nectars which the Blessed drinke;
The purest drops of that e're-liuing Fount
Which issues from the
Reu. 22.1.
Holy Holy Mount
Of God and of the Lambe: that so my Pen
Soaring aloft aboue the eyes of Men,
Might Touch his Tombe, and write an Elegie
Beyond the limits of Mortalitie:
All these I want, and here I fayle in all,
Foole that I was, to name his Funerall:
But pardon, Sauiour, pardon here I craue,
That thus I err'd in seeking out thy graue:
I did it not to erre, but twas to show
My loue vnfain'd to Thee, to whom I owe
My selfe and all I haue; and sure mine eine,
Had they but seen that sacred Tombe of thine,
Would thought them blest to weepe ere they we're dry,
Thereon to write with teares thine Elegie;
Might these my teares as
Luke 7.38, 47. sē: Mary Magdalen.
Maries shew to Thee
I lou'd thee much, that didst so much for mee:
Somewhat I faine would do thee e're I dye,
That I might part with thee in misery,
Who partst with mee in blisses; but tis vaine,
I must receiue, yet cannot pay againe
Without thy help, and then my pay shall bee
None other but the same
1. Ch. 29.14.
I had of Thee:
And thus thy fauours haue o'recome mee quite,
I know not what to say, or what to write:
Thy graue I may not seeke, or fly so hie,
To blot thy purenesse with my Poesie:
The Heau'ns thy Monument, the blessed Traines
Of Saints and Angels stead of mourning straines,
[Page 7]Proclaime thy triumphs in their sacred layes,
Where
Reue. 5.11, 12.
euery pious period Ecchoes prayse;
Which sweetly seemes to lull Heau'ns soules asleepe,
And steales away their teares they cannot weepe:
A fit Consort, so high an Harmonie,
Or none should dare proclaime thy victory:
And, Blessed Iesus, let this soule of mine
Though now in flesh imprison'd, yet in fine
[...] with these blessed Quiristers, and sing
All honour, glory, to my God and King:
Meane while I craue, although my feeble Eie
May not stand gazing at thy Deitie,
Yet teach it see thy passions, teach it see
The wondrous things which thou hast done for me:
Say but the word, and this my worthlesse pen
Shall tell such wonders to the eares of men,
When it reports thy fauours, that thy Glory
Shall bee far greatned by my Infant Story:
Exod. 3.11.
For who am I, alas? my childish braine
Hath nothing in it selfe but what is vaine:
How dare I speake, or write? my
Esai. 6.5.
mouth and quill
Are both alike bee inked ore with ill:
My very
Gen. 6.5.
thoughts are euill, all my man
Corrupted is; I neither will, nor can
The thing thats good, and yet by Thee I will
This very good I doe, and cannot ill:
Here show thy power, lest, now I haue begun,
I faile before the halfe my worke bee don:
Call me, as earst thy
1. Sam. [...].4 [...] &c.
Samuel from his sleepe,
And as thy
1. Sam. 16.11, 12. & Psal. 78.70, 71.
Dauid from his flocke of sheepe,
To sing thy prayses: Let my Poesy
Be as the words of
Ier. 9.1, &c.
weeping Jeremy,
To pierce the stoniest heart, and to inuite
The dullest Eares attention when I write:
Thy Spirit bee my Vrania, to distill
Such sacred Measures into this my quill,
That euery line it writes may reach a straine
Beyond the high conceits of Natures braine;
To shew from whence it came; and then my Layes
Shall still bee Ecchoes of my Makers Praise:
[Page 8]And when our brauest Poets chance to see
The vertue of Diuiner Poesie,
They'le change their Tenors all, and glory most,
To bee the Pen-man of the Holy Ghost.
And now in briefe, Ile shew, if ought I can,
The many fauours thou hast done for Man;
But chiefly those thy fauours since his Fall;
Nor mine, nor Moses pen can vtter All:
When first my Speculations fled so hie
With Eyes of faith to see thy Deitie,
My reason was o'recome, and I amaz'd
Was forst to seek the thing at which I gaz'd:
I seekt, and saw't; but all I saw (alas)
GOD de­scrib'd ac­cording to mans appre­hension of Him: Nega­tiuely.
Was this, there was a God, but what Hee was
I could not see, vnlesse by Opposite,
And so Hee was a Beeing Infinite,
Because not finite: for His Excellence
Doth farre transcend our weake Intelligenc [...]
I saw well what Hee was not, for I'm sure,
Hee was not ought dependent or impure
As wretched Humans wee; Hee was not ought
That felt our passions, or with curious thought
Was euer vext for want,
Deu. 10.14. Iob 41.11. & Psal 24.1. &c.
for all was His,
Who
Gen. 1. ch [...].
gaue to all their beeing and their blisse:
In briefe, Hee was not any thing that can
Bee properly attributed to Man,
Or to Inferiors, which might ought imply
An imperfection, or dependency.
These Negatiues I saw, but here I stay,
I could not see th' Affirmatiues, to say,
To say that this, or this Hee was; lest hapy I
Should seem to lessen much his Deitie,
By these [...]y weake assertions: But at length
It pleas'd this God of's goodnes giue mee strength
To finde him out, as good, Hee'l not deny
To those that seeke him in sincerity:
Hee wills mee
Ioh. 5.39.
search the Scriptures, ouerlook
The secret volumes of that sacred Booke
(Wherein (most Gracious) He vouchsafes to show
As much as Humans ought, or need to know
[Page 9]Concerning Him, till his Eternall Grace
Immortals vs to
1. Cor. 13▪ 12. & 1. Iob. 3.2.
see Him face to face:)
1. Cor. 13▪ 12. & 1. Iob. 3.2.
And thither then I went, where soon as I
Had entred in, and with a mazed Ey
Had lookt on Moses writ, my feeble sense
Was quite o'recome at his Omnipotence:
For there I saw how first Hee did begin
To make the spacious
Gen. 1.1, &c.
Heauens, and earth, (wherein
Hee placed Man as
Vers. 28.
Lord to rule and sway
O're all the rest, vntill hee fell away
By faithlesse disobedience to his Prince,
From whome hee had his right; and euer since
Hee prou'd disloyall to the Deitie,
Hee hath beene heire of nought but miserie:)
But when I had reuiewd this goodly Ball
Of Earth, and Heau'n, with furniture and all
Pertaining to't, as my vnhappy Sire
Sometimes in Paradise, I had desire
To know beyond my reach, the matter whence
This all was made of, but my forward sense
Was quickly ouertopt: for there mine Eye
Began at first to see my misery
Within these sacred Axioms: there I saw
A new-found Generation,
Which was that the World was made of a pre-existent Ma [...]ter or Chaos; as Ouid: or that it was Eternal, as A­ristotle, &c.
Natures law
Earst feign'd was quite abolisht, all this frame
Was made of nought but nothing, for that Name
Of God
Psal. 33.9.
was all in all; till Gracious Hee
Willing the Creature should a partner bee
In his exceeding goodnesse, spake the
Quicquod e­rat, Deus il­lud erat, &c. Lermaeus in his Translati­on of Barta's Weeke.
word,
The earth, and Heau'ns were made, and all accord
To do his will, who wills what ere hee lists,
And when Hee wills, ther's nothing that resists:
For Hee is Lord of all, and all within
This Vniuerse hath nothing but from Him;
For all was nothing, till it pleasd him say,
Let it be so; and should Hee take away
Psal. 104.9.
His face a while, behold, this goodly frame
Would turne into that nothing whence it came.
And (silly wretch) There began to view
My Nakednesse, which made me sad to rue
[Page 10]My poore estate, that durst not write one Line,
To tell the world that this, or this was mine:
For I was not mine owne, but at his will
Who gaue mee all I had, besides mine ill:
And this my Parents gaue, when earst their eyes
Were op't (as mine) to see their miseries:
A cursed gift, alas, but yet twas all
(Poore Soules) they had, after their haplesse fall:
For soone as they had trespast on that Tree,
Which God forbad them
or Ea [...]e, in the Text: Gen. 2.17.
touch, their simple fee
In Paradise was lost, their former state
Was voyded quite, both Adam and his Mate
Were
Gen. 3 last.
tumbled out at dores, and all they had
Was ta'ne away, onely they kept the bad:
And thi's that cursed portion which they left
Vnto their Issues, who no sooner reft
Of
sc. first In­tegrity.
what their Parents had, but as in spight
They'd vowd to warre against the Lord of might,
From whom they had their being, all in rage
They 'gan at once to rush vpon the Stage:
Tooke vp their Fathers Action, laid a plot
To make compleat what Adam acted not:
A Theater of all Man­kind after A­dams Fall, describ'd in their seueral conditions.
Successiuely they come, each enters in
Bedight with various Robes of Scarlet Sin,
To act their seuerall ills; each takes his place,
The greatest hee that is the least by Grace:
Here comes a Tyrannizing
Psal. 2.2.
King, and there
A flattring Courtier lulls him in the eare:
Your Maiestie is wise to lop away
Such pearching Twigs as these, that durst gainesay
Your high decrees; for bee they good or ill,
It is enough for Kings to say, We will.
Next enter in the Nobles, Dukes and Earles,
Vicounts and Lords bedeckt with gold and pearles,
All draw their swords in fury, and combine
1. Swearers & Blasphe­mers & Cur­se [...]s.
To fight against that One-Eternall-Trine:
This vomits out such horrid oathes, and words,
As pierce far deeper then a thousand swords:
2. Honour abused.
That sends an Ambassage, an angry frowne,
To tell the weaker they must needs go downe,
[Page 11]'Cause he is rising higher, and twere best
They murmur not, if that they meane to rest:
Some others that haue got a Treasury
3. Vsury, bri­bery, and the like obliqui­ties.
By lawlesse meanes, Extortion, Vsury,
By bribry or the like, and with the same
Haue bought themselues an honourable Name,
4. Pride, espe­cially odious to God and Man.
Looke vp aloft, and scorne to stoop so low,
As looke on them whom they were wont to know:
Tis high disgrace they thinke, to cast an eye
Away on such as are in misery:
And if poore soules for griefe of heart they say
The Men are proud, twere good they run away:
For they will haue their tongues that dare to prate
So lauishly on Men of their Estate:
They'l force them eat their words, and what they see,
They must not say tis ill, although it bee,
If touching them; but tis a Mystery,
Or some high point of their Nobility:
Thus pride the hatefulst of the rest is fled
So high, that it begins to take a head
Aboue our reach, and
Esai. 2.12, 13, 17.
proudly seemes to call
Some heauy Iudgement on this wicked all.
Scarce these were silent, but there came in haste
Three roaring Knights, Each bragging of the waste
That hee had made: this tells how hee had spent
Some three or foure hundred pounds of rent
Per Annum, on his whores, his hawkes, his hounds;
5. Prodigality in whoring, hunting, drinking, eating, carding, dicing.
And thus proclaimes how hee bad sold his grounds,
(The Right his Father left him) all to buy
A thousand trickes to nourish luxury:
Another boasts that he had throwne away
So much vpon the cardes and diceing play,
As ere he knew Godliest of them all
Bestow in building vp an Hospitall:
Twas I, said one, did best, another, I,
The last would needs bee first in villanie;
Thus all would haue the Mastery, and say
Twas I that wan the glory of the day.
Next follow in the Gentry, all bedight
With armour of vnrighteousnesse, to fight
[Page 12]Against their Lord and Maker; euery Lim
Had vow'd it selfe a seruant vnto Sin:
Then come the vulgar, and the rusticke crue
With Bills and Staues, and Malberts to pursue
As
Mat. 26.47.
earst the wicked Iewes, and still they add
Some ten times worse vnto the former bad:
Thus Kings and Nobles, all the hatefull traine
Meet here at once, and take their oaths againe,
To actuate at full ere they had don
Th' vnhappy Scene that Adam had begun.
Here might you see, (if that a humane Eye
Could tearelesse gaze vpon a Tragedy
Fild with such horrid Actions) euery part
Set forth with new-found euils, Satans Art
Was eminent in all, they plaid so well,
That euery one could act himselfe to Hell:
How far the men of these corrupt times exceed A­dam in their sinnes.
Adam was nothing, had he beene but here
Amongst this rout, it scarsly would appeare
That ere he did a fault, his lowly lapse
Would ne'r beene heard amongst these thunder-claps:
And should I speake, sure twere not much amisse,
His ill was good in reference to this;
For he at first, it seemes, had but a will
To know the diffrence twixt the good and ill,
And sure his aimes in this were good to stray,
If that he had not sin'd to disobey:
But when he'd erred thus, his opened eye
No sooner saw, then saw his misery:
This was his recompence, his knowledge taught
Himselfe to know that he was worse then naught:
But when hee'd seen his fault, I do not doubt,
His eye againe wept teares to wash it out:
But these had other aimes, their imbred spight
Was onely darted 'gainst the Lord of might,
To pull him downe from Heau'n, as if that they
Could authorize what e'r they did or say,
With
Psal. 12. [...]
Who shall vs controll? Their wicked will
Did aime at nothing else but what was ill:
Good was a Paradox, as strange to them
As sin at first to Adam was; for when
[Page 13]They'd knowledge once of ill, they neuer had
The least desire to know what was not bad;
As Adam on the contrary to know
(Who knew alone the good) what was not so:
They'ue found a stranger Art to know, for still
They learne new diff'rences twixt ill and ill:
And iust as Adams heart was set on fire
To know his Noueltie, so they desire
To know these ills which earst they neuer knew,
And seeme by sinning to make euil new:
Old ills are out of date, they highly scorne
To weare the threed-bare euils which were worne
By their Progenitors, they'd haue it knowne,
The euils that they were are all their owne:
And they haue found new fashions out to fit
The various Genius of each wicked wit
That seeks for Nouelties, they're so compleat
In ill, they cannot sin without conceit:
Twere base, they thinke, to act a common sin,
Vnlesse they shut some twenty more therein
By their Re-Acts, and so when they haue don't,
To send it out againe with Comments on't:
The dullest braine that neuer yet had wit
To do least good, shall scorne but hee'l commit
An ill as well as any of them all,
That studied sinning since old Adams fall:
Hee'l show you ills which neuer yet were knowne,
And without lying sweare they are his owne:
Thus cursed Man doth do his best to fill
The wofull measures of his Fathers ill:
Sin ouerflowes already, yet in spite,
They faine would haue their Actions infinite,
Would time permit; O had they eyes to see
The dismall Issues of their miserie!
Here Adam could instruct them, but (alas)
Their hearts are stones, their
Esay 47.4.
browes rebellious brasse,
They will not turne aside, tis vaine to speake,
They scorne to how, before they needs must breake:
They're alwaies digging deeper to inuent
Some new-found malice 'gainst th' Omnipotent:
[Page 14]They're alwayes eating the forbidden tree,
And yet with Adam will not learne to see
Their wretchednesse; but thinke that all is well,
Till they are falling headlong into Hell;
From whence there's no returne, but they must be
The Subiects of Eternall miserie:
The exami­nation of my selfe.
And here, alas, I'd scarsly drawne mine eye
From sadly gazing on this Tragedy,
But with reflection I began to looke
Within the secret volumes of the booke
Of this mine owne estate; where soone as I
Had lookt, I read a Map of misery
Described by my faults: for lo, within
I saw enwrapt a little world of sin:
First I began with weeping eye to see
From whence I did deriue my Pedigree;
And when I'd seen that I was Adams son,
I thought vpon the deedes that I had don,
To see my Reference to him, and there
I saw indeed that I was Adams heire:
Heire of his ills, and of his miserie,
Which he bequeathd to his Posteritie,
When first hee fell away; for since that Time
Wee all had equall portions in his Crime:
And twas his will confirmed by his Deed,
To multiplie his sin, as well as Seed:
I saw, alas, how I had gon astray
In Adams path, and learnd to disobey
Without a School-master, I saw my will
Inclinable to nothing else but ill:
Sometimes I saw there did a holy fire
Insinuate my soule, and my desire
Was throughly rauisht with a loue of good;
But suddenly there comes a freezing flood
Of fleshy thoughts, which quickly ouercame
Th' aspiring Motions of that sacred flame:
My courage slackt, my forward-seeming zeale
Hath hanging wings, a drowzinesse 'gins steale
Ore all my thoughts, and seemes to dispossesse
My soule of that new glympse of happinesse.
[Page 15]And here no sooner were mine eyes bereft
Of those sweet Sun-shines by the cloudy theft
Of imbred dulnes; but me thinkes I see
Another good more pleasing vnto mee
Then earst the former was, which doth affect
My sense so much, that straight my Intellect
Is carried quite away, I know not how
To do my passions homage, and allow
With willing blindednesse, to giue consent
In doing what my reason neuer meant.
And thus, alas, my poore Intelligence,
Which earst was high commaunder of the sense,
Is now disscepterd quite, and led away
As thrall to passion, forced to obey;
Where once it did command, and must approue
For good, what ere the senses please to loue.
Thus miserable wretch I run along
Still aiming at the right, but hit the wrong:
My senses are corrupted, heart and all
Haue drawne infection from my Fathers fall:
And as that happie
Mat. 25.16.
Steward skild to thriue,
Did adde vnto his Talents other fiue,
To show his frugalnesse, so may I write,
But in a case, alas, quite opposite:
Hee did increase his good, but h [...]plesse I
Haue added to my sin and misery,
A rhousand talents more then Adam left
To mee, and yet I added none by theft;
For they were all mine owne, I must confesse,
The bitter fruits of mine vnrighteousnesse:
I thought it not inough to haue from him
The Originary habit of my sin,
But needs I would bee sinning too, to adde
Some Actuals to th' Originals I had:
And here I wrought so well, that I could say,
My labours had preuented much the day:
For e'r the Noon-tide of my life was come,
I could haue truely said my Taske was done:
I wanted not an ill to adde to it,
To make it greater, though I might commit
[Page 16]Some more (perchance) the like, to multiply
The wofull actions of my Tragedy:
Thus in vnhappy thriftines I grow
From ill to ill, from misery to wo:
But here's my hell, alas, I cannot see
Before I'm forst to feele my miserie:
I run along with senslesse drowsines,
Th' alluring maze of sin, and wickednes,
Which seemes as twere a Paradise to mee,
Still offering fruite of that forbidden Tree,
Full
Gen. 3.6.
pleasing to mine Eyes, so good a meate
In show, I cannot choose but take and eate:
But when alas, I'ue swallowed downe the pill,
My Conscience 'gins to tell mee I am ill:
Then, not before, it wakes mee from my sleepe,
And giues me eyes to see, but not to weepe
At mine vnhappinesse; what greater griefe
To see ones wounds, not able beg reliefe?
To haue a sore disease, not feele the smart,
Are premisses of Death: the stony heart
That sees his ill, yet doth not melt within,
Portends it's frozen in the dregs of sin:
Euen such my wofull case (alas) while I
Go wandring on this maze of vanitie;
I run into a thousand ills with ease,
There's nothing seemes to hinder, or disease
My goings on in these, but all is well
Till I am come e'en to the gates of Hell:
For when I'ue sinn'd, mee thinkes a lumpe of Lead
Lyes heauy on mee, I am throughly dead
And cannot feele my selfe, I canno [...] feele
Whether my heart be made of flesh or steele:
And yet againe me thinks, I faine would weepe
To moane my selfe; but then I am asleepe:
My griefe is such, it will not let mee see
That I am sicke, till dead in miserie:
A secret dulnesse doth possesse my braine,
I needs would stirre my selfe, but all in vaine,
My life of Grace is gone away; but then
I looke behinde mee, faine I'de out agen
[Page 17]From this my dismall Labyrinth, wherein
I now am wandring on from sinne to sinne:
But when I turne me backward, there, alas,
I see the way so straite, I cannot passe;
I looke besides me then, turne all about,
But still I'm clogg'd, I see, and cannot out.
Here comes the World to meet me in the way,
And calls me foole, that thus I'd seeme to stray
From out her paths; quoth she, Y'are quite vndone,
To seeke for goodnesse: would you be my sonne,
Or haue preferment? Go [...], you are vnwise
To make a conscience, or to be precise:
Ile teach you better learning; get you skill
To flatter well, and doe what e'r is ill;
Or to be plaine, ne'r looke me in the face,
If that you wander after new-come Grace.
Then comes the flesh, and offers to mine eye
A thousand sweets; and who is 't would deny
Such goodly proffers? which I must not haue,
If Ile not backe againe, and be made slaue
To sinne and wickednesse; but if I will,
I shall haue freely all the goods of ill.
Then Satan comes, my grandest enemy,
To draw me backe againe to vanity
By his bewitching spelles; he slyly lookes
Into my thoughts, and then he baites his hookes
With what most likes me: but he represents
Mine eyes at first with thousand discontents
That lye in goodnesse straites; he makes me see
The fearefull image of my misery:
Assoone as e'r I enter, loe, my heart
Begins to beate, my wounds begin to smart,
And new-felt tortures touch me to the quicke,
Thus goodnesse giues me eyes to see I'm sicke:
But if Ile further yet in good, he telles,
My labour is in vaine, for he hath spelles
Will draw me backe againe, and then 't were best
I goe with him, or else I shall not rest
One day in quiet. Here he 'gins to show
The many wants, the miseries, and wo
[Page 18]That follow goodnesse heeles, and there I see
A thousand other blocks that hinder mee:
Here wicked thoughts disturbe me; there againe
I feele the gripings of my new-come paine:
Here pleasures dainties come inuite mine eyes
To gad abroad on thousand vanities;
I swallow vp her cates, but then I finde,
Though honey to my mouth, yet in my minde
They seeme as gall and wormewood: thus I see
I'm daily eating fruits of Adams tree;
And thus (alas) the more I would be good,
I alwaies see the more I am with-stood:
But if Ile on with Satan, all is well,
There's nothing hinders then; the way to hell
Is wondrous pleasing: first, he shewes to me,
There's neither want, nor wo, nor miserie
Within his Paradise; the path is faire,
The walkes delightsome, and so sweet an aire
As heart can wish; for pleasures doe attend
The walkers all along, euen to the end.
My relapse.
I heedlesse enter in, and giue consent
To goe into my quondam prisonment:
A prisonment? oh no; I run at will,
I haue a thousand wayes to walke in ill,
Where's earst I had but one in good, and now
I run about, and liue I care not how:
I'm senselesse of my former ills, and here
I can offend, yet neuer need to feare:
Sinne where, or what I will; me thinks I feele
No more, then though my heart were made of steele.
Mine enemies and I am friends, for they
Companion me along in all my way,
Whilest I am straying thus: but if I turne
Aside to good, my heart begins to burne,
And they are vexing me; I feele againe
The sad reuiuals of my former paine:
"Sure then said I, He that would needs be good,
"Shall neuer keepe himselfe in
S [...]. in the mirth of the world.
merry mood,
As this world goes. Then Goodnesse here God b'wy,
If this be good to liue in misery▪
[Page 19]Ile none of you, no, rather Ile be ill,
If that be so to doe what e'r one will
Without controle, to run so sweet a race,
I care not I, how farre I goe from Grace:
And thus I yeeld, alas, and thus am led
As willing captiue, downe vnto the dead.
My Voca­tion, or Cal­ling from God, after my fall, and captiuitie to fame.
But here behold, when I had quite gi'n o're,
And strength was gone, and I could fight no more;
When Satan by his Politician-spell
Had bound me fast vnto the Iawes of Hell,
As in a slumber, straight me thinks I heare
A liuing Trumpet rounds me in the eare,
With, Silly man, awake, Lo, I am He
That out of nothing first created thee,
Euen like
Gen. 1.27. Eccles. 7.29.
my selfe in holinesse; but thou
Hast sought out new inuentions, car'st not how
Thou disobey'st my voyce; thy foolish eie
Hath wander'd after nought but vanitie
Euen from thy Youth; yet nothing is amisse
Thou think'st, because thou hast a seeming blisse:
Fondling, thou art deceiu'd; thy feeble sense
May haply soothe thee, seeming to dispense
With these thy errors; but my purer eie
Both sees thy hidden sinnes and miserie.
Vp, drowzie Soule, awake; hast thou forgot
Whence thou hadst being, as thou hadst it not?
Where are thy quondam speculations? Where
Is now that Eagle-eye of faith, while're
That gaz'd vpon the Sunne, and climb'd so hie
The steepy mountaines of Heau'ns canopie,
To apprehend a God? Come, let me see,
Whether thy bastard eyes can gaze on me:
'Twas I that tooke thee from
Ps. 22.9, 10.
thy Mothers wombe,
And euer since preseru'd thee from thy tombe,
Where thou wast often falling: and 'twas I
That guided thee with my ne'r-sleeping eie
Of Prouidence: but thou
Ps. 32.8, 9.
like Horse or Mule,
Didst alwaies make vagaries from my Rule,
Till I was glad restraine thee by my Bit,
Affliction (that which taught
2. Chron. 33.12.
Manasses wit.)
[Page 20]'Twas I that fed thee with my choisest meate,
With purest milke, with finest of the wheate:
For these, and all are mine; yea, euery day
Can tell my fauours; euery night can say,
'Twas I that did
Psal. 3.5. & 4.9.
sustaine thee, and 'twas I
That haue been with thee from thine infancie,
With many feeling comforts, which did tell,
While thou wast in my fauour, all was well:
Then all indeed was well, but now I see,
Thou playst the truant, run'st away from me,
As wanton Asses vse their Dams, when they
Haue suckt their fill, they kick and run away.
Goe, Wanton, goe; keepe on thy foolish race,
Till thou hast run thy selfe quite out of Grace,
As others out of breath; I giue thee leaue
To see how well thou canst thy selfe deceiue:
An apt [...]imile.
As when the tender Mother steps aside,
And lets her infant goe without a guide;
It straggles in and out vntill it falles,
And breakes a shin or brow: but then it calles,
Good mother, come and helpe; and she must run,
Or else the weeping infant is vndone:
So haue I dealt with thee, I left thee go
To seeke thy will, to wander to and fro,
In this thy maze of vanitie, till thou
Hadst done more harme then broken shin or brow,
Thy falles were greater farre, for euery one
Did shew thou wast a Rebell, not a Sonne:
Yet as a Father, I with pittying hand
Did often raise thee vp againe to stand:
But thou more childish still, euen from on high
Wouldst fall so low, thou wast not able cry:
And such is now that dismall case, wherein
Thou ly'st thus senselesse in the deepe of sinne;
Where I could iustly leaue thee to thy will,
Vntill thou hadst thy recompence of ill,
In Lakes of burning
Reuel. 21.8
brimstone, which doe frie
That damned rout▪ whose
Mark. 9.44.
worme shall neuer die.
But I a God of
Exo. 34.6, 7.
mercy am, and show
A thousand fauours where I nothing ow.
[Page 21]
Exo 33.19. Rom. 9.15.
I fauour whom I fauour; and I giue
My graces freely: whom I will, shall liue.
Then, miserable man, awake, and see
The wondrous things that I haue done for thee:
And now bring forth thy arguments, for I
Will here dispute it with Humanitie.
Iob. 38.3.
Gird vp thy loynes, and she thy selfe a man;
Or bring thy new distinctions, if they can
Pleade for thy righteousnesse; here let me see,
I
Iob 38.3.
will demand, come thou and answer me.
Gods ex­postulacion, Iob 38.4, 6, &c.
Where wast thou, when I first began to frame
This earthly Round? and what was then thy name?
Or canst thou tell, who layd the corner-stone
Of this foundation, when there yet was none?
And where were then thy foot-steps? What wast thou?
If thou hast vnderstanding, tell me now.
I see thou art confounded: stupid sense
Stands quite amaz'd at such intelligence.
Come, I will shew thee; Ere this goodly Ball
Had beeing, I my selfe was all in all,
As earst I told thee by that sacred VVrit
Of faithfull Moses,
Psal. 103.7.
whom I did permit
To see my glorious Acts; and by his pen,
To tell my wonders to the sonnes of men.
I had no creatures then; for solely I
Tooke perfect solace in selfe-Deitie.
I needed not a helpe; for all was mine:
And all this All, was nothing but Diuine.
But afterwards,
When, and how all things were created.
with time I did begin
To make this Vniuerse, and all therein,
As I had fore-determined; to show
How farre my boundlesse goodnesse meant to flow.
All were partakers of it; all could say,
That were the workes of euery seuerall day,
VVe all are good; what need we further go
To tell you why? Our
Gen. 1.31.
God hath nam'd vs so.
And thee, O man, (most thanklesse of the rest)
I freely made to be my chiefest Guest,
And Steward in this All: I gaue thee life,
VVhich I denyde the Elements, (whose strife
[Page 22]Resembles brethrens hatred) and the Stone,
And growthlesse Minerals; for they had none.
And then I gaue thee Sense, which I denyde
To Trees and Plants, and whatsoe'r beside
Beares not the name of Animal. And then
I gaue (what sole was proper vnto men)
To distin­guish it from intui­tiue reason: because we say, that God and the An­gels are also reasonable; but it is Ra­tione intuiti­u [...], not dis­cursiuâ, as Diuines say.
Discursiue Reason, which I did deny
To brutish beasts. I caus'd thee
O [...] homini sublime dedit, [...]oelumque tu­t [...] iussit, &c. Ouid. Meta [...].
looke on high
Tow'rds me thy God, to meditate and see
Those wondrous things that I had done for thee.
And more, because I'd make thee wondrous faire,
I did
Gen. 2.7.
inspire thee with a sacred aire
Of euerlasting life; that thou could'st say,
I once had priuiledge to liue for aye.
But would'st thou vainely eleuate thy head,
To seeke the stately Palace, or the Bed,
The Chaire of State, or the delightsome Clime
Which thou possess'dst before the wombe of Time?
Or wouldst thou know thy being, and what thou wast
Before that
Gen. 1.3. Gods free goodnesse notable in preferring vs before o­ther crea­tures.
Fiat, yet my Word was past?
Foole, I will tell thee, doe but answer me
What Palaces in no place situate be?
Such Palaces, Bed, Chaire, and such a Clime,
Thou didst possesse before the wombe of Time.
And for thy selfe, since needs thou wilt presume
To flie so lofty with so base a plume,
As seeke thy being? then behold thy nest
Which thou bewray'st, thou wast a beast at best:
For you alike both nothing were; and than
Tell mee the diffrence 'twixt a beast and man,
When All a nothing was. Here, Idiot, see
The wondrous things that I haue done for thee.
'Twas not thy goodnesse; for thy selfe hadst none,
No more then Beasts, or Vegetals, or Stone:
For you were nothing, all alike to me,
That caus'd me thus to fixe my loue on thee,
Or set thee 'boue the rest; but 'twas my will
And pleasure thus to doe, and so fulfill
What I had fore-decreed, that men might know
How farre the currents of my bounty flow:
[Page 23]For I am bound to none, but all to me.
Here see the fauours I haue done for thee!
But when I had created thee as
Gen. 1.28.
Lord
O're all my houshold, who with one accord
Became as ready seruants to thine hand,
And gaue obeysance when thou didst command.
As some
Mat. 25.14, &c. A fit Simile.
great Master going farre away
To forraine Countries, telling not the day
Of his returne, commends his goods and ware
To the disposure, and the thriuing care
Of his chiefe Steward, to imploy the same
With greatest gaines vnder his Masters name,
Vntill he come againe; but then he finds,
That all his goods are left vnto the winds;
His seruant playes the vnthrift,
Luk. 12.45, 46.
spends away
He cares not what, ne'r dreaming of the day
Wherein his Master comes; but now at last
He comes indeed, but when he sees the waste
The carelesse Steward made, without delay
He reaues him of his office, takes away
His goods and honours from him, and the man
He shackles fast in prison, till he can
Make satisfaction, where he iustly lies
To suffer penance for his luxuries.
Or as the haughty Rabbies of this Time
Which grow so fast in that adult'rous clime
Of superstitious Rome (and some there be,
O England, that haue residence in thee;)
Who take the wealth I gaue them for the poore,
(Christs members here on earth) and to restore
The broken-hearted, such as Orphans be
That languish in extremes of pouertie,
Or other griefes; and
Gal 6.10.
as my seruant saith,
To feed especially my house of Faith:
And glut their coffers with 't, or throw't away
In gawdy dayes, in meates and rich aray,
To pamper vp the flesh, and to maintaine
The proud conceptions of a whorish braine:
While these poore soules (seeming with silent cryes
By teares and sighes to tell their miseries,
[Page 24]Where's else they durst not speake) are almost dead,
Some wanting rayment, others wanting bread.
But lo, the Day of reck'ning comes, and then
The Master will returne vnto these men
To see their stewardships, but when he finds
Their Talents thus consum'd, he takes and binds,
And
Mat. 25.30, 41.
casts them with a curse from out his sight,
Into the pit of euerlasting night,
Where they haue iustly thrall'd themselues to s [...]y,
'Cause Prodigals they'ue nothing left to pay.
Euen so, O Man, I dealt with thee; for I
Did giue thee all thou hast, to glorifie
My Name therewith: but thou, to crosse my will,
Hast spent away my Talents all in ill.
Those eyes I gaue thee to behold and see
The eyes right vse.
The wondrous works that I had done for thee,
To looke on thine owne miseries, and then
By due reflections lift them vp agen
To see my wondrous mercies, which would giue
Eternall solace to thy soule, and driue
Base worldly obiects quite away; and this
Would sweetly leade thee to my Land of blisse,
Hadst thou but followed it; for this would keepe
The liuelesse soule from that Lethean sleepe
Of carnall drowzinesse (the Hell wherein
They liue that place their paradise in sinne)
This would haue kept thee in so sweet an aw
Of me, thou wouldst not dare to breake my Law,
Thy loue would be so great; and thy delight
VVould onely be to walke my wayes aright:
Sometimes in pity-thou wouldst send thine eye
Abroad to those distressed soules that lye
In deepes of discontents, that thou mightst be
A fellow-partner in their miserie;
To
Rom. 12.15
weepe with them that weepe, and to compart
VVith euery one that hath a broken heart;
And this indeed would prooue so good a pill,
In purging out the reliques of thine ill,
That nothing could annoy thee▪ for thine eie
VVould scorne to looke so low as v [...]itie,
[Page 25]VVhose Basliske-sight infects the heart, and kills
The very soule with thousand poys'nous ills.
But as those windowes that admit the light
Into the roomes of former drowzie night:
Such would thy seers be, an op'ned place
To giue admittance to the Sonne of Grace,
VVhose sacred beames would quickly dispossesse
That great Ill-willer to thy happinesse,
The Prince of darkenesse, and withall expell
Those drowzie clouds, which made thy house a hell
To intertaine him in: and when thy sight
Had but a glimpse of that eternall Light,
Thy soule with Eli, throwing downe the cloake
Of cloggy flesh, which alwaies striues to choake
Thy better thoughts, would quickly soare on high
To that faire City of eternitie,
VVhere I haue speciall residence, and there
VVhen thou hadst gaz'd awhile, that cloudy care
Of earth, and earthly things would steale away,
As fearing much to interrupt the day,
Which I IEHOVAH gaue thee; and thine eie
Would still be reading true Diuinitie
To thy aspiring soule, vntill it came
To be indeed Professor of my Name
In those celestiall Schooles, there to possesse
My
Ioh. 14.2.
Mansions of eternall happinesse.
Thus, wretched soule, hadst thou but vs'd aright
Those windowes which I gaue to be a light
Vnto thy Intellect, thou hadst not bin
So fearefully inclouded thus in sinne:
But thou, alas, as carelesse of my will,
As
Luk 12.15. The eyes how corrup­ted.
he that seru'd his Master best in ill,
Mad'st hauocke of my fauours, took'st those eies,
And spent'st them both away on vanities,
To cherish vp thy flesh, and to maintaine
Those bastard issues of thy wanton braine:
Nor didst thou care for eyes, vnlesse to see
Which were the pleasingst paths of vanitie
VVherein to walke, that when thou'dst had thy fill
Of this, and that, and of the other ill,
[Page 26]To looke about for new: and thus thine eie
Did alwaies glut thee with varietie
Of new-found euill obiects, till at last
Thy sight was gone, for thou hadst made such waste
Of it in ill, that now it could not see
To doe thee good in deepes of miserie.
And as thine eye, so hast thou spent away
Thy other senses, all are gone astray
From doing what I would, and what I'de not,
All the sen­ses of man corrupted.
I'm sure thy Lethargie hath not forgot
To doe with speciall care; as if thine ill
Had been of purpose to oppose my will,
VVhich gaue thee leaue to will; yet this, not all,
Thy malice is not done, thou hast a gall
To vomit out within: the totall man
Within and out doth doe the best it can,
The corrup­tion of the inward fa­culties.
To warre against my will: within I see,
That all thy faculties corrupted bee:
Thine vnderstanding, guided by thine eie,
Doth iudge of nothing good but vanitie,
According to the sense; thus vnderneath
A seeming-sweet, thou eat'st the gall of death.
I see thy thoughts
Gen. 6.5.
all euill from thy youth,
Conceiuing nought, but (Issues of thy Ruth)
Those Twins of sinne and death: and when within
Thou hast conceiu'd that vgly Monster, sinne,
I see without, thy members all attend,
As ready Midwiues, striuing who shall send
It forth into the world, or who shall be
The second parents of thy bastardie.
I seeke thy heart; but finde congealed blood,
Or in its roome ought else that is not good;
A piece of deadned flesh, a senselesse stone;
Or all I finde is this, that thou hast none.
I looke within, alas, but this I finde,
There is no goodnesse durst approach thy minde:
The whole man corrup­ted.
All is so full of ill, without I see
There's true alleageance to impietie.
From
Esay 1.6.
top to toe, from sole of foot to head,
I looke, alas, but all thy all is dead.
[Page 27]Thus wretched man, thou'st lauish't all away
In vanitie, ne'r thinking of that day,
Wherein thy Master, I, should come and see,
How well those Talents which I gaue to thee,
Had been bestow'd. But now, behold, I come
In iustice to exact, what thou hast done
With these my goods: Where are thy Eares, and Eyes,
With all those other parts and faculties
That lye without? the Senses, and the rest?
And where are those within (which were the best)
Thy hallowed heart and memory? And where
Are now the vertues of that liuing ayre,
Which first I did inspire thee with, whereby
Thou hadst
Gen. 1.26.
resemblance of the Deitie
In holinesse? Alas, poore soule, I see
Where all these are, and need not aske of thee:
I know thy waies full well, my watchfull eie
Doth still pursue thy steps, and doth descrie
Thy secret'st paths;
Psal. 139.11, 12.
the veyles of darkest night
Can neuer hide thy actions from my sight:
For day and night are both alike to me,
Although perhaps I seem'd to winke at thee,
As though I saw thee not; but I indeed
Tooke notice of thy diligence and speed,
In following after vanity; and saw
The little care thou had'st to keep my law:
That neuer toucht thy heart of all the rest:
For thou hadst sold away thy Interest
Of willing what was good; that now thy will
Might bee a free-man in the wayes of ill.
Thus, Miser, art thou fallen off from mee,
By eating fruit of that forbidden tree,
Which Satan did entice thee to; and now
Thou'st left mee once, I see, thou car'st not how
Thy dayes are spent, but with thy fathers curse,
Thou'rt adding still to former euils worse;
As though indeede true happinesse had bin
Within these vales of misery of sin.
I'm quite forgot of thee, thy thanklesse sense
Is growne so stupid, that it feeles not whence
[Page 28]It had it selfe. Thy gracelesse memory
Hath stuft thy
Luke 2.7.
Inne so full of vanity;
I cannot haue a Stable-roome, wherein
My Residence might worke away thy sin:
But Satan's now thy chiefest guest, I see,
And he alone is all in all with thee.
Goodnesse is banisht; thou hast bid farewell
To me and it: O couldst thou see the hell
Wherein thou art, then am I sure, thine eie
Would fall a weeping straight; thy miserie
Would make thee turne another leafe, and looke
Within the sacred Records of my Booke,
VVhere thou would'st quickly learne to see thy losse,
And then in haste returne by weeping-crosse,
To me, thy God and Maker: and vnlesse
I pitty thee, thou dyest in distresse:
For lo, the reck'ning day is come, and now
Yeeld there thy Talents vp, and tell me how
I haue been glorifide by them and thee,
As was thy duty. But, alas, I see
Thou now art speechlesse; all is spent away
To pleasure Satan, and to disobey
My high behests. Goe, faithlesse Steward, hence,
Let him that was thy Master, recompence
Thy wicked labours:
Matth▪ [...]5. 30, 41.
Get thee from my sight,
Into that prison of eternall night,
VVhere's nothing else but howlings, feares, and cryes▪
The Guarduants of expresselesse miseries,
The bitter fruits of sinne, the recompence
Of those that weigh their pleasures by the sense:
And here's the freedome which thou needs wouldst haue,
To be in hell an euerlasting slaue
And where are now thy feigned friends? Oh, see
If euer they will any thing for thee,
To doe thee good; now let them shew their skill:
Sure, all their good is nothing else but ill:
For all they will, is ill; and all they can,
Is this, to worke the ouerthrow of man:
And herein they will doe their best for thee;
But goodnesse hath its being all from me,
[Page 29]These are their comforts, these their best reliefe [...],
They'll daily giue additions to thy griefes▪
First, Satan he'll accuse thee; Vanitie
Will shew it selfe as hatefull to thine eie,
As earst 'twas pleasing; and thy flesh will be
As burdens laid on man in miserie.
All will prooue broken r [...]eds to thee, or worse;
They'll all subscribe to ratifie thy curse.
Thus, Miser, hast thou brought thy selfe to Hell,
Where Iustice doomes thee lastingly to dwell
In horrid sadnesse, and despairingly
To liue a dying life, yet neuer dye.
Here, thou deplored, whither wilt thou stray
For comfort now? There's nothing good will stay
To beare thee company: no hilles will bee
So kinde in these extremes to fall on thee:
But dismall horrors, discontentednesse▪
Despairing-thoughts, and gloomy-heauinesse:
These will attend thee faithfully, and these
Will doe their vtmost all to doe thee ease.
But all their vtmost is, as if a man
Quite froze with cold, looking so pale and wan,
As scarce thou could'st discerne he was aliue,
Should haue a cup of water to reuiue
His so benummed soule; and this would be
To kill a man away from miserie:
Or were it so with thee, 'twere somewhat well,
Could they but kill thy soule, and so thy hell
Should be extinguisht presently: for then
There would be hope of freedome yet agen
From those thy tortures. But, alas, I see
These are impossibles, and cannot be;
They cannot kill that transcendentall breath,
Vnlesse it be by an immortall death,
Which neuer dyes: so though they vse their skill,
And alwaies kill thee, yet they'll neuer kill.
And whither now; O, whither wilt thou fly
For solace in these deepes of misery?
All worldly helpes are gone; thy feigned friends
Prooue now as 'twere so many hellish fiends,
[Page 30]To vexe thy soule. Thus mayst thou seeke (in vaine)
For remedies, but to increase thy paine.
And maruell not, distressed man, to see
That thou hast won a hell of misery:
VVhat couldst thou else expect, when thou would'st stray
From me, who am the true and liuing VVay
To sauing [...]health; and mad'st so light to change
My hallowed Paths, to haue the freer range
In Satans mazie waies? For all is Hell,
VVheree'r thou go'st away from me to dwell.
VVith me alone is life; and in mine
Or pre­sence. Psal. 16.12.
Eie,
There stands the fulnesse of felicitie
VVith endlesse pleasures: but from out my sight,
There are those
Mat. 25.30.
horrors of eternall night,
VVhereto thou'st brought thy selfe; and whence I see
Thou canst not get away, vnlesse by me.
O thou forsaken! whither dost thou run
To seeke the shaddowes thus, and leaue the Sun?
Come, looke on me thy
[...]. [...].4, 5.
Light: O come, arise,
And see. Alas! but thou hast lost thine eies,
And art not able see, or rise, or goe;
Vnlesse I say the word, It shall be so.
Gods first free rest [...] ­ration of man.
Then be it so, O miserable man;
Arise, and Ile be thy Physician:
Here doe I giue thee life againe; and here
I render thee those faculties, while-ere
VVhich thou had'st lost; and here I let thee see,
How mercifull I was to pitie thee.
But, Miser, come, and let thy weeping eie
Reflect awhile vpon that miserie,
VVhereto thou hadst enthrall'd thy selfe; and then
Shake off thy dreary teares, and come agen
To take thy solace in this sweet estate,
VVhich now I'ue plac'd thee in, to contemplate
On all my former fauours, and to see
Those wondrous things that I haue done for thee.
Lo, here I giue thee leaue to speake, and now
Thinke well vpon thy quondam wayes, and how
Thou'st play'd the Prodigall, and spent away
Those Talents which I gaue thee to defray
[Page 31]Thy duties here on earth, and to increase
Thy better treasures in this time of peace:
That when I came to thee, thou might'st restore
My Graces vp with many thousands more;
To shew the zealous care thou hadst to pay
So good a Creditor. Now come and say,
If thou canst pleade excuse, here speake it free:
Iob 38.3.
I haue demanded, come and answer mee.
But here, behold, when I had heard the sound
Of this reuiuing Trumpet to rebound
VVithin the hollow cauerne of mine eares,
As one distracted with vnwonted feares,
I suddenly gan wake, and from my sleepe,
I know not how, I was inforc'd to weepe.
A fit Simile from a dreame which I had in the Town of Totnes in D [...]on, 1623.
As once I well remember on a time,
VVhen earst I was within that happy Clime,
VVhereon the beautious brests of Albion stand;
And therein, where great Brutus first did land
On this our Ile; I meane, faire Totnes shore,
(VVhere Riches
Vsury much vsed in Totnes.
Load-stone drawes the golden store
By Tennes, and Hundreds; would my Pen could say,
She is as faire in Vertue, as it may,
She is in VVealth; then all would be at peace,
VVhen vse of vertue got so great increase:)
The Spring before I suckt the sacred ayre
VVhere now I liue, within Oxonia faire:
I say, I well remember on a night,
Or rather in the peepe of morning-light,
VVhen sweet Aurora with her smiling eie,
Call'd vp the birds with wonted melodie
To welcome her, and when the morning-bell
VVith dolefull tollings newly gan to tell
That it was foure; it was my happy chance
To dreame my selfe into this following Trance.
My dreame begins.
Me thought I saw (and 'twas a fearefull sight)
Our welcome day, that vsually brought light
To glad our drowzie hearts, I know not how,
Gan looke on vs with an vnwonted brow:
Heau'ns vaults, me thought, were hung so sadly o're
VVith
Ioel 2.20
gloomy clouds, as neuer: yet before
[Page 32]I'd seene the like; and glorious [...] beames
Were hid from vs, with all those [...]
Which earst we borrowed thence▪ for lo, the
Mat. 24.29.
[...]
Was dark'ned quite, and euery man beg [...]n
To tremble in his heart, and to expect
From these sad premisses, some sad effect.
Amongst the rest, a secret terror crept
Into my drowzy soule, and as I slept,
I know not how but ere this stranger, feare,
Had throughly wak'd my heart, I gan to heare
A friend of mine proclaime with hideous cryes,
The voyce I heard in my thoughts.
Come quickly, see the Angels in the skyes,
The Iudgement day is come. At which, alas,
My sleepy soule awoke: but where I was,
I could not tell; for in a doubtfull maze
Twixt feare and ioy, I was inforc'd to gaze
At what I newly saw; and at the sight,
I was so highly rauisht with delight,
That I could scarcely tell (beleeue't 'twas so)
2. Cor. 12.2
Whether my soule were in the flesh, or no.
And here, me thought, I heard the Angels say
With fearefull Trumpets, Rise and come away
To Iudgement all: and soone as e'r the sound
Was gone abroad, me thought, this goodly Round
Reuel 20.12, 13.
Deliuer'd vp the Dead; and euery one
Were brought immediately before the Throne
Of Heau'ns great Law-giuer. But when mine eie
Had seene (alas) so great a Maiestie
Should be the Iudge: said I,
Esay 6.5.
I'm quite vndone;
For lo, mine eyes haue seene this mighty Sonne
Of Holinesse; and now where shall I go,
That am so full of wickednesse and wo?
And here (alas) amidst my hopes and feares,
My dazled eyes became a flood of teares
To weepe at what I saw: for when that I
Had but a glimmering of his puritie,
I straight gan hate my selfe; for there, me thought,
That in my selfe, my selfe was worse then nought.
But here behold, in midst of these extremes,
I felt such sweet inflowings from the beames
[Page 33]Of that e'rliuing Sunne, that while mine eie
Did mostly weepe at mine owne miserie,
It gaue me greatest happinesse: for then,
Me thought, I had beyond the state of men,
A new immortall being, which I had
From Him alone, who made my soule so glad.
Thus while I loos'd my selfe, it seem'd to me,
I was
An allusion to Christs Transfigura­tion.
transfigur'd to felicitie:
VVhere I (as
Luk. 9.32, 33.
Peter) in amazednesse,
Did wish my selfe no greater happinesse,
Then there to build my biding place, and weepe
Mine eyes away in that so sweet a sleepe.
Thus passionary eie, I'ue showne to thee,
That happy vision which I once did see;
VVith euery part and circumstance; vnlesse
I faile in telling of that happinesse
VVhich then I had: and here indeed, mine eie,
I must confesse, can neuer reach so hie,
VVhile's in the flesh, to apprehend aright,
Th' expreslesse pleasures of so sweet a sight.
'Twas but a dreame indeed; yet such,
The vse to be made of this dreame.
as I
Could alwaies wish presented to the eie
Of vs, forgetfull humanes, to awake
Our drowzie soules, that we might vs betake
To higher Theories; and when we see
That miserable state wherein we bee,
To fix our eyes on Him, whose purer light
VVould so possesse vs throwly with delight,
That in a sacred pride, wee'd scorne to throw
Away our eyes on any thing below,
To set our hearts thereon; but highly looke
On Him, that keepes the euerlasting
Reuel. 3.6. & 20.12.
Booke,
Phil. 4.3.
Where blessed Soules are writ; that ere we die,
We might as 'twere shake off mortalitie,
And clothe vs with new essences: and this
Would be a new conueyance to our blisse,
To giue our soules the Heauen which we craue,
Whilest yet imprison'd in the bodies graue.
But to returne vnto my former dumpe
Wherein I was; when I had heard that Trumpe
[Page 34]With thundring sound say, Miser, come and see,
How well thy humane tongue can answer mee
At my demands. As in my fearefull dreame,
Mine eyes brast forth into a weeping streame
Of penitentiall teares, I could not speake
With ought, but sighes; whose vttrance seem'd to breake
My very heart with horror; for mine eye
No sooner saw, but lo, my miserie
Confronts me straight. I saw how I had spent
My Talents all away (which he had lent
To me) in vanitie. I saw, alas,
How slow to good; how forward still I was
In following what was ill: and here I saw
How I had made digressions from his Law
In euery point. In briefe, I saw that I
Was now a sinke of all iniquitie:
I'd quite forgot his fauours, and was gone
Away from Him, that euerliuing Sun,
To walke in darkenesse; and to goe astray
Where e'r the flesh or Satan led the way:
For I was wholly thrall'd to them; and now
I'd seene my selfe, alas, I knew not how,
To come into his presence, or to speake;
And yet I must, or else my heart will breake.
I needs must come; alas, I cannot flye,
Goe where I will,
Psal. 139.1, 2, &c.
from his all-seeing eye:
Or if I could, yet wheresoe'r I goe,
There euery thing proclaimes it selfe a foe
To my rebellious soule: and lo, within
I'm tortur'd so with horror of my sin,
That all the Balmes of Gilead cannot ease
The fearefull gripings of my sad disease.
Where's now the world? Where are those triuiall toyes,
Call'd Wealth and Honours? Or those seeming ioyes
The flattring flesh pretends? alas, I see
They all preuaile no more to comfort me,
Then heauy blowes to ease the aking head,
Or Papists Aue-Maries for the dead.
My gifts are natur'd otherwise,
Gen. 37.30.
and I,
(Alas) where shall I goe? faine would I cry
[Page 35]For helpe, but all my strayings are in vaine;
The more I wrest, the more I feele my paine.
And here should some great Mammon-Monarch come
With golden Mountaines, or with all the summe
Of earths best seeming-happinesse, (whereby
Worlds darlings vse to lesse their misery,
Or driue it quite away:) yet all to mee
Were but as light to him that cannot see.
Alas! what were't vnto a man that lyes
On his extremest bed with turn'd-vp eyes,
Looking aloofe after that liuing breath,
Whose sad depart is Herald of his death?
What were't, I say, to throw whole Seas of gold
Into his throat? this comfort were as cold
As what's most comfortlesse: Euen so I see
(O would men thinke on't) it goes now with mee,
These by-receits are but as feasting meat
To him that hath no stomacke left to eat,
They make me loath them quite. For soone as I
Gan but to gaze on heau'ns great Maiesty;
They 'peare as drugges, not worth the sight, so foule,
As farthest off from clensing of a soule,
That's so corrupt as mine. And here I finde,
There's nothing left to ease my grieued minde,
But solace from aboue, (the place from whence
I first began, to haue a quickning sense
Of what I am:) for now I see full well,
The nature of my soule doth farre excell
Ought here beneath; and seemes to come more nigh
To Heau'ns high God; claiming affinitie
As 'twere, with him, from whom at first it had
Its being perfect good: (but all its bad
Was from its selfe, whose first originall
Had beeing from its Father Adams fall:)
And now I thinke on't, our Philosophy
Seemes here authentick by Diuinity;
That telles, when e'r our acts and passions be,
There must the matter needs in both agree:
And where the action is with victory,
The agent hath the strongest faculty.
[Page 36]I'm sure 'tis true in this, my purer soule
(I meane in substance, though it be so soule
By accident) may not be wrought vpon
By these base agents of corruption,
Wealth, honours, or the like; (too vile a mud
To worke on humane soules to doe them good.)
Their matter differs all in all: for these
Are momentary salues, and can but ease
A momentary griefe, that's somewhat nie
To them in matter, and in qualitie,
As passions of the flesh, or discontent,
(Arising from what we call accident;)
The losse of friends, goods, or the like; (which come
Indeed from God, as sent to call vs home
To him, and teach vs thence that all, beside
Himselfe, are vanitie, and cannot bide
Long time with vs.) Yet here they also faile
Those that lye sole on them; for they are fraile
Themselues, and cannot be a remedy
To any one, but him that doth apply
Them rightly to his griefes, as mediums sent
From God; or else they are a punishment,
If made as gods, as mostly now they be
By such, as place their sole felicitie
In them: for so they doe not heale, but kill,
Although they giue vs not a sense of ill.
Alas, they soothe our senses fast asleepe;
And then as enemies, they slyly creepe
Vpon the soule, which if it stoope so low,
As homage them, they quickly ouerthrow,
And make it wholly slaue to them: and this
Is quite indeed to reaue it of the blisse
Which earst it had in God; and that's as bad,
As take away the essence that it had:
Which gone, its beeing else is nought but ill
And misery. And is not this to kill?
Alas, it is. Nay, shall I speake more free?
To be so ill, is worse then not to bee.
Thus wheresoe'r I go, or turne mine eie,
Within these nether vales of vanitie,
[Page 37]I feele no more of comfort, or of hope,
Then Protestants in Pardons from the Pope:
They're meere delusions all, or worse; they'd keepe
My fainting soule in a perswasiue sleepe,
That I am well; and so I should not fly
Vnto the Mercies of eternitie;
The soueraigne salue of soules, from whence alone
I must haue solace, or I must haue none.
But here behold, when I had throwly seen,
The miserable state my soule was in
By nature; and had read with wearied eies,
The tedious booke of all the vanities
Which here I saw on earth; (for all that I
Could see (alas) was nought but
Eccles. 1.2.
vanity:)
And when I'd seene that I was quite bereft
Of all my good, and there was nothing left
In me but miserie: for lo, I saw
My horrid doome was past; and by the
Gen. 2.17. Ro. 7.1, [...].
Law
I needs must die the death; and this, within
I saw engrauen in my soule by
Ro. 6.23.
sinne.
And when I'd also cast mine eyes about,
To see those wofull helpes that lay without,
Satan and faithlesse vanity; and these,
As
Iob 2.9.
Iobs vnhappy wife, would giue me ease
By killing me: for all their remedie
Was this, To curse my God, despaire and die.
I say, when I had seene what here I saw,
I gan repent, my frozen heart gan thaw
Into a flood of brinish teares, that I
Had doted earst so much on vanitie:
For here, alas, my terrors still increase;
My
Psal. 77.1, 2.
sore runnes more and more, and will not cease
Or day, or night. My soule is troubled so,
'Twill not be comforted: and I in wo
Am hurried in and out, so sore opprest
With killing griefes, and feares,
Psal. 38.3.
I cannot rest.
I looke within, and dye: without, I see
There's nothing left, alas, to comfort me,
But sad despaire. Thus, wheresoe'r I go
From God, I wander further still in wo.
[Page 38]But courage here, my fainting soule, for now
I bid defiance to the world; and vow
To prosecute with an eternall [...]
This miserable All, which I of late
Esteem'd so much: and, Satan, here farewell;
And farewell all that leade the wayes to Hell:
For now, alas vnto my griefe I see,
VVhat
Iob 16.2.
miserable comforters yee bee,
Iob 13.4.
Physicians of no value; as those friends
Of patient Iob; or rather Hellish fiends
To vex distressed [...]. Lo, here I fly
From off [...]ll, and in my misery
I run vnto my God, for onely He,
That out of nothing hast created me,
Can now againe giue life vnto my smile,
And make it
Psal. 51.7.
white as snow, though e'r so soule▪
Besides, he's
Ps. 116 5.
mercifull, and well I know;
Hee
Ps. 38.6.
lookes vpon the troubled soule below,
Himselfe hath said it, and he cannot lie:
Esay 9 [...] 15. & 66.2.
Although his habitation be on hie,
He's present with the humble, to enlyue
Their deadned soules, and sweetly to reuiue
The truly contrite heart; or were not be
Thus gracious, as he cannot chuse but be;
Yet wheresoe'r I go besides, I'm sure
Of nought but death; for they are all impure,
Meere vanitie, not good, but bad as sin,
Saue as they haue dependency on him.
VVhat may I doubt of then? Suppose I go,
And he denies his fauour, as I know
"He cannot doe, (for where he daines to giue
"His Grace to come, he giues the Grace to liue:)
Yet howsoe'r, I'm sure I cannot bee
VVorse then I am; for here, alas, I see
I am in Hell already; and vnlesse
He helpe me out there's nought but gloo [...],
Sad thoughts, ne'r dying deaths, and all that dwell
VVithin the limits of a perfect Hell,
VVill hence be my companions; and will be
As hellish furies all to torture me.
[Page 39]Then welcome here, ye sweet melodious sounds
Of that reuiuing Trumpet, whose rebounds
VVithin the turning Lab [...]inth of mine eares,
Did earstly so affright my soule with [...],
And wake'd me from that drowzie sleepe, wherein
I slumbred earst vpon the bed of sin.
And welcome here, thou sweet celestiall Sprite;
Thou very God; thou euerliuing Light,
That thus hast quickned me; and with thy beames
Hast daz'led both mine eyes to weeping streames
Of penitentiall teares, and made me see
My miserable state: and now to thee
I humbly come againe, to be my aide
In these my high disputes; that when I'ue said,
I may finde mercy; and my tongue and pen
May sing thy mercies to the sonnes of men:
Thus humbly I appeale vnto thy Throne
Of euerlasting Grace, from whence alone
I seeke for sauing solace, and implore
For mercy;
2. Sam. 24.14.
for there is enough in store.
And here, as
[...]. 4.16.
Esther, when she entred in
To th'awfull presence of the Persian King,
On hazzard of her life: euen so doe [...]
Appeale my God; and
Or if I pe­rish, I perish: in Text. My appeale to God.
if I die, I die.
O thou great Maker of this goodly frame,
And all therein; at whose dread glorious Name
The deuils tremble; by whose Word alone
This All had beeing▪ and without had none:
And thou that hast thy seat of Maiestie,
Beyond the reach of any mortall eie,
Within the
Deut. 10.14.
Heau'n of Heau'ns, and as a King
Of Kings dost sit in glory, where each thing
Is subiect to thy book, and all those traines
Of Heau'ns blest Citizens with highest straines
Doe warble forth thy prayses, and adore
That
Esay [...].3. Reuel. 4.8.
Three-Vnited-Holy, (which tofore
Hath been, and is, and shall hereafter be
From this time forward to eternitie:)
Lo, here a wretch that's summond to appeare
Before thy seat of Iudgement, there to cleare
[Page 40]Himselfe within thy fight, if that a soule
In rags of humane flesh may dare controle,
As 'twere, thy high discourse, and shew that hee
Hath reason good whence to dispute with Thee.
See, here he comes: but lo, my dazled eie
No sooner saw thy glimmering puritie,
As shining through a cloud; but there I gan
To see the spots of miserable man:
As men by opposites more plainely see
To iudge of them, so it went now with me:
For when I'd seene thy wondrous Light, and then
Reflecting on the miseries of men,
I was confounded straight, as earst was he,
Who when hee'd seene thy glorious Maiestie,
Esay 6.5.
Cry'd out, I am vndone; for here, alas,
I saw with griefe the miserable masse
Of mans corruptions, all his righteousnesse
Was but as
Esay 64.6.
clouts of nought but filthinesse:
Or at the best,
Hos 64.
it vanisheth away,
As morning-dew in brightest Sun-shine-day.
And here, alas, I gan with
Iob 40 4.
Iob to cry,
Lord, I am vile, and what shall I reply
To thee, thou Holy One? Ile lay my hand
Vpon my mouth: for who is able stand
Psal. 143.2. Ro. 3.20.
Within thy sight as iust, or able say,
He merits ought? for we are all as clay
In
Esai. 45.9. Ier. 18 6. Ro. 9.10.
Potters hands to thee, and shall I dare
To talke it with my Maker, that canst teare
Me into thousand pieces, and consume
With thy iust fury, him that durst presume
To come into thy fight, and thinkes that hee
Hath ought to iustifie himselfe with thee?
For there is none, alas, though ere so right,
That
Iob 9 2, 3.
can be iustifide within thy sight.
We
Psal. 53.1, 3. Ro. 3.23.
all haue sinn'd, and by the Law we all
Must die the death, and be in lasting thrall
To Hell and misery: and should'st thou throw
Vs head-long to that Lake, from whence we know
There's no redemption; yet we must confesse,
We haue the reward of our wickednesse,
[Page 41]And thou art iust: But yet, O Lord, with thee
There's mercy to be found: or shouldst thou bee
Thus rigrous with vs all, there would not one
Be left to tell of thy saluation.
Then here behold, a silly piece of clay,
My miserable selfe, a castaway;
A man: oh no;
Ps. 22.6.
a worme, or what is worse,
Inheritor of nought but Adams curse;
Doom'd by the Law to die, left in extremes
By World and all things else (which float as streames
Of water 'way from me; or as my friends
That loue me for some secondary ends,
But leaue me in distresse:) doe humbly now
Appeale thy Mercy-seat; and here I vow
With
Gen. 32.26.
Iacob, Ile not leaue thee, till I win
(Thy Blisse) a pardon from my death, and sin:
To thee alone I come; for onely Hee
That made the Law, is able make me free.
And thou which at beginning didst create
This corruptible lumpe in pure estate
From out of nothing, canst againe refine
Its drossie sinnes away, and make it shine
As Heau'ns bright Eie, or be as purest Snow,
Wherewith the tops of
Psal. 67.14.
Salmon ouerflow:
And though, alas, s' vncleane a wretch as I,
Dares not to scale Heau'ns spotlesse canopy,
To pleade with thee, lest when I should presume
To touch thy
Exod. 16.12. Hebr. 12.20.
Mount, thou iustly mightst consume
Me quite to nought: yet let it not offend
My Lord, if that a humane worme ascend
So high, as in humilitie to creepe
From vale of woe, and from the fearefull deepe
Wherein he is, vnto thy mercy-gate,
And there lay ope his miserable state
Before thy pittying eyes; and if my griefe
Afford me words, wherewith to force reliefe
From Mercies hands, then poore Humanitie
Shall brag, that it hath won the victorie
Of God himselfe; and when our Humanes see
What weapons best preuaile to conquer thee,
[Page 42]They'le hence make vse of them, and learne to flye
Beyond the reach of base mortalitie,
By wings of humblenesse, and waying well
Th' vnhappy state wherein they needs must dwell
As of themselues, they'll all appeale to Thee,
And all be thine, or else they will not bee:
Thus then I will proceed; my miseries
Shall be my arguments; and my replies
In answ'ring shall be alwaies to confesse,
And grant those sequels of vnrighteousnesse,
Wherewith thou canst confute me; and withall
Ile tell thee why I could not chuse but fall.
But pardon, Lord, what ere my passions speake,
"For griefe will haue its vent, or heart must breake:
First then, O Lord, (I need it not to tell;
Thou know'st my miserable case so well:)
I am a grieuous sinner, and thereby
Haue lost the gracious presence of thine Eye,
Which earst gaue life vnto my soule, and now
I'ue lost my life, alas, I know not how,
I'm left as reasonlesse, for that great hight
Which first gaue beeing to my Reasons sight,
Is gon away from mee, and all that I
Haue left, is sense to feele my misery:
Far worse then brutest Animals, for they
Take pleasure by the sense, and though they may
Bee sometimes passiue, yet at most their paine
Is but a death; yet such whereby they gaine
This happy priuiledge, which is to bee
Ne'r subiect more to paine and miserie:
But I (alas) where-e'r I run, or goe,
Am still the subiect of expreslesse woe:
No death can doe mee good, although my life
More bitter bee then can the cruell'st knife
That rig [...]rous Fate affords; yet when I thinke
Vpon that cup of Trembling I must drinke
After deaths greatest Tyranny, (vnlesse
Thy mercies pitty mine vnhappinesse)
It giues new life vnto my griefes, and I
Am alwayes kild, alas, but cannot dye:
[Page 43]And is't not reason then, a man of griefe
(So low as I) should go and seeke reliefe,
If any to be found? and where, alas,
Should sinners go, but to the Throne of Grace,
Where mercy sits as Iudge? And should not I
In these extremes of sin and misery,
Appeale to thee, my God, from whom alone
I must haue helpe, or else I must haue none?
I must, and will. But here thou wilt obiect,
Obiection from God against man.
I went astray from thee, and did
Sinnes of omission and commission.
neglect
Thy high and hallowed Lawes,
Sinnes of omission and commission.
committing still
The euils of mine owne corrupted will:
And therefore thou mayst iustly cast away
A worthlesse wretch, who needs would disobey
So Father-like a Master, that did giue
Me all I had, or else I could not liue.
'Tis true, great Lord, I must confesse,
Mans best answer.
that I
Haue brought my selfe to all this misery,
And thou mayst iustly cast me off: but lo,
Had I not brought my selfe to all this wo,
By sinning thus, what needed I to flye
To thee for mercy in my misery,
When I had none? for were I free from sin,
I then would iustle 'gainst the rig'rous din
Of Iustice mouth, and pleade with powr's diuine,
That Paradise by grant of God was mine,
With all its pertinents, to haue and hold
From this time forward, till I were so old,
That times Arithmetick would faile to tell
The number of my yeeres: for all were well,
Had I not sin'd; ah cursed humane pride!
If man had neuer sin'd, hee'd neuer dy'd:
Sinne, the Parent of death.
Death ne'r had been, if that it had not had
It's being from a Parent, all as bad
As it, I meane from
Iam. 1.15.
sinne, a thing so ill
(If we may call't a thing that's able kill
So many things) as shewes, its monstrous birth
Was not from him who made the Heauens and Earth,
With all therein: for all that e'r he made
Were perfect
Gen. 1.31.
good. But when that cursed shade
[Page 44]Of humane pride came in to interpose
'Twixt God and vs, there suddenly arose
This dang'rous mist; for lo, th'ambitious braine
Of man would needs aloft, and fondly aime
At nought but Deitie; and he would be
A
Gen. 3.5.
God himselfe, forsooth; and who but he?
He'd turne Creator too, and vndertake
To make of nought, what God could neuer make:
A high prerogatiue indeed! But see
The cursed fall of pride; when man would be
Subsistent by himselfe, scorning as 'twere,
Dependency from God: for soone as e'r
[...], the worke of man.
He left his God, alas, I grieue to tell,
He falles into the very deepe of hell.
This Man himselfe did doe: but when his will
Was done, he saw his worke, and
Man works contrary to God: for his workes went all good, as Gen. 1.31.
call'd it ill.
'Twas more then God could doe indeed; for he
Could nothing else but good, as well we see
In all his workes. Thus most vnhappy man
Brought forth this Monster sinne, which quickly ran
And spred abroad so fast its vip'rous brood,
That ill was greater growne by farre then good:
And man could say as well as God, that he
Had got a world too, but of miserie,
Of woe, of sinne, of death, of what you will,
But good: for all that e'r he did, was ill.
Thus when humanitie would climbe so hie,
As parallel with that great Deitie
That made it, lo, it tumbles downe so low,
As loses quite it selfe: for first, we know
Mans essence was immortall; but as soone
As man had sinn'd, he brought that cursed doome
Of lasting death vpon himselfe, and all
That after said Amen vnto his fall.
And thus men loos'd themselues, became not men,
That's mortall; for they were immortall then.
And 'mongst the rest, lo, here vnhappy I
A sinfull man, a man of misery,
Am fallen downe; for I, as Adam did,
Would needs be doing what thou didst forbid,
[Page 45]Eate of th'vnlawfull tree, be striuing too
To doe (a thing more then my God could do)
Something that was not good: but here, alas,
When I had seene the ill I brought to passe,
I gan abhorre my selfe, and gan to know
My miserable case, that am so low,
As now I am. And here I gan to see,
What man without dependency from thee
Is of himselfe. Alas, he is not ought,
Or worse then so, if ill be worse then nought.
But now, great Lord, I am a wretch so low,
And though in fury thou mayst iustly throw
Me downe to Hell, yet what were it for thee
To wreake thy wrath on such a worme as mee?
Simile.
What honour wert, if some couragious Knight
Should exercise the rigor of his might
Vpon a dying Infant? Would't not be
A higher part of vertue held, if he
Should pity the poore soule, take and reuiue
Its dying heart, that when it was aliue,
And knew to speake, it might in thanks haue said,
I owe to thee my being, by whose aid
I liue as now I doe? yea sure: and then,
How canst thou be more glorious with vs men,
Then by releeuing such poore soules as mine,
Which cannot helpe themselues, and make vs thine
By an eternall league? that when we see
How much we are beholding vnto thee,
We may reioyce in nothing else but this,
That we are thine; and being thus in blisse,
I meane within thy bookes againe, we may
Be alwayes praysing thee, as long as day
Shall giue vs time to liue, and when we goe
From out this wildernesse of griefe and woe,
We may in thy eternall Canaan sing
Eternall prayses vnto thee our King.
But further yet, O Lord, if misers wee
May dare expostulate so much with thee;
"Giue losers leaue to speake, for misery
"Will force a man to speake, although he die
[Page 46]For vtt'ring of his minde; and can I choose,
But vtter out my griefes, although I lose
What I haue lost already, and vnlesse
Thou heare my plaints, and pitty my distresse,
I'm sure I ne'r shall finde againe; and than
Pardon if that I speake but as a man.
A man! and what is man or? what am I
That should not sin; or that I should not dye?
Man with­out especiall dependence on God, could not chuse but sinne: in which sense also▪ Adam may be said at first ne­cessarily to haue fallen.
Am I a God? Oh no; Thou know'st full well
My brittle nature: who can better tell,
Then him that made the same? And can it be
That man should paralell so much with thee,
As not to sin, I meane as man, that is
VVithout thy Aidance, when thou shalt dismisse
Him of thy goodnesse, and himselfe shall bee
But as, and of himselfe? This were to thee
A high indignitie: As who should say,
There can by course of nature bee a day
VVithout a Sun; or more, that goodnesse can
Bee absolute, and yet contain'd in man?
VVhich is indeed to say, that there can bee
Some good without dependency from thee:
And then all that is good would not bee so;
Because thou mad'st it good, but where, or no
Thou wouldst: which all our true Diuinitie
Explodes as most abhorred Blasphemie.
Then let my Lord in mercy please to beare
VVith poore humanitie, and daine to heare
Thy seruant yet to speake; for lo, my griefe
VVill not bee silent, till I finde reliefe.
VVhat wouldst thou more of mee? should I fulfill
Thy Lawes so
Rom. 7.12.
good, that cannot ought but ill?
The Rege­nera [...]e mans voyce, ap­proued also by the expe­rience of S. Paul.
Alas, vnhappy wretch! faine would I do
The good thou would'st, but I come thereto
VVith hot intents; I feele a cooling ill
Arise within, which quite against my [...]ill
Draws me aside, and forces mee commit
A sin I hate, quite opposite to it.
And thus,
Ro 7.15, 19
with Paul, I am enforc'd to cry,
Paul, voyce being Regenerate.
The euill that I would not, that doe I;
[Page 47]The good I would, I do not. Thus I see,
There's nothing
Rom. 7.18.
good, alas, that dwells in mee;
That is, within my flesh: for if that I
Do any thing that's good, tis from on hie:
No longer I that do it, Lord, but thee,
That dost vouchsafe thy Grace to worke in mee
So great a good: for if thou but with-hold
Thy Grace awhile, I presently wax cold,
Become a deadned Lumpe, corrupt and foule;
Iust as the body when without a soule
Fit Similies.
Vnapt for any good: or else (more nie)
As matters are in our Philosophy,
In ref'rence to their formes: the forme we know,
What man is in his relati­on to God.
Doth actuate the lumpish matter so,
That it is good for any thing whereto
The same was made, but of it selfe can do
Nothing at all, but is meere passiue, dead:
Or like the body, that's without a head
To guide the same: or as an instrument,
By which the forme doth finish its intent;
Moues not, but as tis mou'd: So I to thee,
And more, haue reference; I cannot bee,
If thou sustaine mee not; or if I am,
Tis better that I were not: for I can
Bee nought but ill without thee: Thou alone
Art Soule, and Forme, and Head, and all in one,
T'enlyuen, actuate, informe and guide
This passiue piece; which else could neuer bide
So many stormes: (one while an enuious winde,
Losse of my
My deare deceased Mother.
dearest friend, with griefe of minde,
By crosse in other friends, with want, and w [...]
In their extremes: And now hurld to and fro
Betwixt my greatest enemies; that is,
By Satan, and those damned pow'rs of his:
No humane troups, but such as alwayes lurke
Vnder the veyles of world, and flesh to worke
Mans finall ouerthrow. VVe [...]t not for thee,
I had long since, alas, consumed bee
To my first nothing; or not halfe so well,
Been prison'd in the lawes of burning Hell,
[Page 48]Ne'r to come thence againe. But it is thou
That didst preserue me, and this very now,
I should fall downe to that despairing Lake,
Didst thou not raise me vp, and alwayes take
Especiall care of me. Then let it please
Thy gracious eye of pity now to ease
My gasping soule; thinke on the case wherein
It lyes thus bodyed as it were with sin,
Prest with the weight to Hell,
Wisd. 9.15.
and cannot flye,
By reason of its leprous clog so hie,
As soules vnbodyed may, to talke with thee
(In those pure places where the blessed bee)
In thine owne sweeter language, where is heard
Nought but the voyce of ioy: but I am b [...]rd
So low by sinne, that from the dismall deepe
Of these my griefes, I am enforc'd to weepe.
This is my natiue language, which I haue
Within this soile of woe, and loathsome caue
Whe [...]in I liue, and (while this soule of mine
Lyes pris'ner in this sad vnwholsome Clime
Of corruptible flesh, and haplesse I
Goe soiourne on these vales of vanitie,)
I cannot change my mourning tone, vntill
Thy mercies put a period to mine ill.
Come quickly then, O Lord, come and apply
Thy sauing salues vnto my malady:
Come quickly,
Psal. 143.7.
lest my spirit faile, and then
I fall into the pit, from whence agen,
Alas, there's no
Iob 10.21.
returne: and who is it,
Shall tell thy prayses in th'infernall pit,
VVhere's nothing else but horrors, howles and cryes,
Mat. 2 [...].30.
Teeths gnashing, and the
Esay 66.24. Mark. 9.44.
worme that neuer dyes?
But whither doe I roaue▪ where am I led
In passion thus to company the dead,
By these my fearefull doubtings? Can it be,
That he who hath his sole depends on thee,
Should perish thus? Oh, no: he builds
Ps. 91.9, 10
too hie,
That builds on thee: Tis my
Ps. 77.10.
infirmitie;
And more, alas, thou know'st I had not seene
Those miserable deepes of griefe wherein
[Page 49]I now lie plung'd, had it not pleas'd thee wake
My deadned sleepy soule, and made it ake
As now it doth: And then how can it stand
With iustice, that thy pitying mercies hand
Should giue a wound, or make a soule to smart,
And then in cruelty againe depart
Without applying any thing to ease
The tortur'd patient of his new disease;
But there to leaue him sighing to the aire,
And bleed afresh with teares vnto despaire?
Oh no; I know thy dealings are not such:
Tis sweet to smart, when mercy giues the touch:
This haue I prou'd already in extremes,
When outward passions, or more inward threanes
Did touch mee to the quick: for neuer yet
I swam in teares vnto thy Mercy-seat,
But I haue turned back so fully freight
With inward solace, stead of sorrowes plight,
That all my griefes were drowned quite, and I
Haue gladded thus to bee in misery.
If otherwise, alas, it then had bin
Far better neuer to haue left my sin,
Or knowne my miseries; if when I knew,
I so were left desparingly to rue
This my vnhappy knowledge: but from hence
I learne to iudge of pleasure by the sense
Of paine, and so I better know to prize
Thy greater mercies by my miseries:
As sickly patients by their greater griefes,
A fit simile.
Do better learne to prize of their reliefes:
Or else if thou hadst heald mee presently,
And I ne'r felt the pangs of misery
My soule was in, perchance I would not stick
To say, thou heald'st mee ere that I was sick;
As thankelesse patients mostly say to these
That heale their greatest griefes with greatest ease.
Thou therefore, Lord, whose Wisdome all-Diuine
Hath order'd all things in so sweet a line
Of neuer-iarring harmony, that they
At euery becke are ready to obey
[Page 50]Thy high behests, didst wisely preordaine
That man should haue a feeling of the paine
Himselfe was in by nature, ere that hee
Should haue that happinesse to come to thee
For euer-healing Grace: and reason good:
For if that man had neuer vnderstood
That hee was sicke, or if hee had not seene
Those deepes of misery that hee was in,
As of himselfe, how could hee humbly come
With teares of penitence before thy Throne
Of euerlasting Grace, when senselesse he
Ne'r knew so much that hee had need of thee;
But dreames that all is well with him, and why,
Alas, hee thinks there is no Deitie
Besides himselfe; And then how can hee see
So much as a beholdingnesse to thee
For any good? Where's true humilitie
When Humanes thinke they haue abilitie
Themselues to get a perfect happinesse!
As
As in mo­ralitie.
Heathens did: (And Papists do no lesse)
And lo, how all was then o'rewhelm'd with night,
When thou awhile didst but conceale thy Light
From Ethnick eyes? Where was creation then?
Alas, this was a Paradox to them
Where twas imposible that ought could bee
Made out of nought: and worlds eternitie
Which then was held, could tell they did not know
How e'r 'twas possible that they should owe
So much to thee, that didst create them all,
To shew thy glory forth And Adams fall
Was neuer heard of, whence they could not see
That wofull night, that Hell of miserie,
Which they were in; and so in humblenesse,
When they had seene the deeps of their distresse,
As earst
2. Chro. 33.22.
Manasses, get themselues to thee
For mercy; But behold, this might not bee:
Thou didst derermine otherwise, to show
That Light to vs which they did neuer know,
To wit, the wondrous things which thou hast done
For vs to whom thou giuest grace to come
[Page 51]To thee for grace; Lord, adde this one increase
To these thy fauours, that wee neuer cease
To sing on earth the mirrors of thy praise,
Till Heau'ns at last eternalize our Layes.
And now, since thou hast dain'd amongst the rest,
T'ensure mee thus of that great Interest
I haue in thee, my God, and made mee see
My many wants, whereby I come to thee
VVith thirsty soule, as
Psal. 42.1, 2▪
Dauids wearied heart
Did to the water-brooks: for lo, my smart
Enforces mee cry out to thee for ease
In griefes extremitie; and till it please
Thy mercy send thy all Redeeming grace
To free mee [...] this sad-vnhappy case
VVherein I a [...] [...]nd take away from mee
This heauy burden of my miserie,
The sin that presseth downe, the loathsome
Hebr. 12. [...].
weight
That kills my soule, that clouds mee from the light
Of thy all-ioying eyes; Alas, I see
There's nothing here that's able comfort mee:
My soule goes
Psal. 38.6.
mourning all the day, as one
Impris'ned far from his desired home,
VVhere's nought can truly comfort him, till hee
Hath won the Hauen where hee longs to bee:
Or rather as that
Luk. 15.13, 14, &c. The parable of the Prodi­gall childe fitly ap­plyed.
needy Prodigall,
VVho when hee'd had his will, and lauisht all
His portion quite away, and pouerty
Had pincht him so, he was enforst to cry
For helpe in his exteremes; but there was none
That once would giue attendance to his mone,
Of all his feigned friends, (although that they
Had flattred all that e're hee had away,
And seem'd to promise much as long as hee
Had any thing to giue; but now they see
That he was left in deepes of misery,
They run away at once and let him lie:)
Hee then gan know himselfe, and hauing seene
The fearefull deeps of want, and wo wherein
Hee now was plung'd, hee gan with weeping eyes
To thinke on these his wilfull miseries,
[Page 52]And hauing deepely counted with himselfe,
What once he was, and now (vngracious Elfe)
Whereto hee'd brought his state, hee would not rest,
But needs returne to him that lou'd him best,
His first offended Father, where he hies
All totter'd o're with ragges of miseries,
The fruits that he had got; and there he showes
His great extremes in swelling tides of woes,
Vncessant teares, and penitentiall groanes,
(For none besides would pitty these his moanes:)
Vnto his Fathers eyes; But soone as hee
(I need not speake in parables to thee,
Thou knowst it well enough:) had told his sin,
His pittying Father runnes and takes hi [...] [...]n,
Luk. 15.20.
Embrac'th him in his armes with kisse [...] [...]eet,
To shew how glad the Father was to meet
His conuert son, he yearned more to giue
Him life, then hee himselfe did yearne to liue:
For lo, before the Son could well intreate,
The Father grants; his loue was growne so great.
This is my case, O Lord, tis I that am
That wretched Prodigall, who earstly ran
Away from thee, my God, who wast to mee
By far a dearer Father, then was hee
Who was the Prodigals; and lo, tis I
That brought my selfe to all this misery
VVherein I am; but now I 'gin to see
My poore estate: Behold, I come to thee
VVith,
Luk. 15.18, 21.
Father, I haue sin'd; my deep distresse
Enforceth mee vnfainedly confesse
My wofull wandrings, that haue gone astray
From all thy sacred paths, and spent away
Thy talents all in hell, done nothing well
As earst I did confesse, and now I tell
Againe with griefe of heart, with watery eyes,
With inward sighes, with soule-relenting cryes,
With teares of penitence, and deepe-fetcht throes;
The dull expressions of my deeper woes:
(The Caracters wherewith the soule doth write
The recantations of her past delight.)
[Page 53]Lo, here I feele the reward of my ill,
The penury of Grace, which yearks me still
Into the very soule: As earst did want
The Prodigall, when all things were so scant;
And here of force I cry'd for helpe, but none
Of all my friends would hearken to my moane,
As earst I said, for they did flee away
As fast as cowards from a fearefull fray.
But when I saw that all were fled, and I
Was left alone beset with misery,
And there was none would helpe, I gan to rue
With solitary sighes, and weeping Dew,
My wilfull foolishnesse; and now I see
My running thus so farre away from Thee,
(So good a God) is cause of all my wo,
Behold, I cannot rest, vntill I go
To thee againe; for it was onely Thou
That first gau'st being to my soule, and now
There is no other Name I know full well,
That can redeeme me from the deepe of Hell,
But onely thine. Thus in extremes I flie
To thee for mercy in my miserie,
To thee alone: for lo, with griefe I see,
All other helpes are burdens vnto me;
Alas, they kill my soule, and doe but feed
My greatest foe where all my horrors breed;
This corruptible clog of flesh, that faine
Would sinke me sleeping to eternall paine,
Whence nothing may redeeme: Oh, then I pray,
Come purifie this filthy piece of clay,
By those sweet streames of thy e'r liuing Grace,
Which issue from that holy-holy place
Where thou art resident, thy purest Sprite,
(The
Iob. 14.26. & 15.26.
Comforter and pledge of true delight)
And giue my soule free liberty to see
The very fulnesse of its miserie;
Alas! It doth not see enough, I feele,
My heart continues yet as hard as steele,
It will not yeeld me teares enow to spend
In wished penitence, vntill I end
[Page 54]My little day of life: and here againe,
I am inforc'd with doubled sighes to plaine
To thee for remedy: this forceth more
Then all the miseries that went before.
Alas! and what's the reason? Sure, I see
And feele, tis nothing but the want of thee:
He that wants thee, wants all thats good, and I
By wanting thee, haue more then misery.
O then behold, if euer Prodigall
Thus pincht with pouerty, had need to call,
Good Father, come and helpe; sure, I am hee
That thus in humblenesse appeale to thee:
Or looke vpon these caracters of wo,
The rags of misery wherein I goe:
Or were not that enough, yet looke vpon
My greater want of thy saluation:
See how I sigh to thee for grace, or more;
I sigh, alas, because I am so poore
In sighes, and teares, and weeping words▪ that I
Cannot bewaile inough my misery,
By reason of my sinnes, which striue to keepe
My gasping soule in an vnhappy sleepe:
A fit simile.
Much like those lumpish clouds that I haue seene
In lowring dayes, to thrust themselues betweene
The Sun and vs, and so to keepe away
Those sweet inflowings of bright Phoebus ray,
(That quickneth vp our Spirits) by which wrong
It makes the sluggard lye a bed too long;
Enthrals vs to a drowzinesse, that wee
Are quite vnapt for good, vntill wee see
Those sleepy clouds dispell'd, and Phoebus eye
Doth cheere vs vp with new alacrity.
Such are my sinnes, and till that
Mal. 4.2.
sacred Sunne,
Which is indeed the
Ioh. 1.4, 5.
light, shall shine vpon
This sluggish soule of mine, and driue away
These cloudy aduersaries of my day,
I cannot cry with cheerefulnesse, or weepe;
The enemy enforceth so to sleepe.
O then my God, thou, thou that art the Sun,
And all I want, come quickly shine vpon
[Page 55]My deadned sleepy soule, and let thy beames
Of grace resolue my Icy heart to streames
Of faithfull feeling penitence, that I
With perfect sense of this my misery,
May swim in teares vnto thy Mercy-Throne,
There to enforce thee to compassion:
And further, let my teares be all as tongues,
To intimate the penitentiall songs
My heart endites; or rather let my pen
(As Dauids) be the Scribe to publish them.
And last of all, O let my sprites loud groanes
(Expreslesse) vtter forth the saddest Tones
That euer yet true penitent did weepe,
To wake our drowzie carnalists from sleepe;
And by a secret vertue to enforce
My hearers all to melt into remorce,
When they haue seene themselues by me; (for all
As well as I haue play'd the Prodigall,
If they but duly thinke vpon't:) and then
They'le all vouchsafe to company my pen
In weeping meeters too, or if not so,
For want of measures to expresse their wo,
Which is so measurelesse, yet out of loue,
Thus farre (
I'm sure.
I know) they will my griefes approue,
As to affoord me teares in euery line,
To write their penitence as well as mine:
Which done, I doubt not, but we all shall be
2 Cor. [...]. [...].
Compartners in the same felicitie
As well as griefes, ere my Vrania end
Her happy taske: for lo, I apprehend
Already from aboue, such sweet inspires
Of quickning mercy kindling my desires,
With glad assurances of Grace, that I
Would not lay downe, and change my misery
For all the worlds best happinesse, that can
Be coueted by any carnall man
To glut his greedy senses with: for his
Must haue its end, but mine eternall is;
I meane, my happinesse, in that I see
The sweet opposer of my miserie
[Page 56]Is now at hand. But here I must retire
My wearied Muse awhile, till my desire
Obtaine its happy complement, and I
Behold my solace with a clearer eie.
Yet ere I rest, deare Father, lo, I come
To tell in briefe, this is [...]he totall summe
Of these my weake disputes, and this is all
That I can answer thee as Prodigall.
Here I haue acted out my part; and now,
Great Maker, lo, it doth remaine that thou
Enter the Theater, lest haplesse I,
By leauing't thus, should leaue a Tragedy
Imperfect to beholders eyes, which might
Strike them with sorrow more, then with delight.
Come then and perfit it, that all may see,
There's nothing hath perfection but from thee.
Lo, I remaine the Prodigall, be thou
The louing Father: see with pity how
I am beset with miseries, and see
What great necessitie I haue of thee,
That haue not ought without thee: see agen,
How earnestly I
Psal. 42.1.
thirst for thee, and then
Looke backe vpon thy
Esay 55.1.
promises, whereby
Thou'rt bound to vs that are in misery.
Thus, Father, pity me thy sonne, and then
With lasting fauour take me home agen
Into thy armes of mercy, where when I
Am knit againe by that eternall tie
Of thy redeeming loue, my tongue and pen
Shall be continuall trumpeters to men
To tell thy mercies, and what thou hast done
For him, that was so prodigall a sonne:
O quickly then, deare Father, quickly hie
To him that is so full of misery:
Now is the time, behold, my tedious plaint
Hath tyred out my soule, and she 'gins faint
In these her deepe extremes: my teares and groanes
Enforce a silence to her weeping Tones:
These are her latest words, Come, mercy, flye,
And take me vp, Come quickly, or I dye.
[Page 57]Thus ouercome with griefe, my dolefull Muse
Kept silence with my soule; for euery sluce
My weepers had, brast forth in teares to stop
The passage of my plaints, and ouer-top
My sighes from flying vp aloft, till [...]
Had grieu'd so much, that all within [...]as dry:
My braine had lost its moisture to indite
Some dreary song my pen might weepe to write,
To giue continuance to my griefes: and heere
Because I saw that Mercy was so neere,
I did resolue to rest my selfe, and stay
Vntill my soule had seene a happier day
Proclaimed from aboue; I meane, wherein
She shall be ransomed from death and sin,
And all her present miseries: till when,
Come rest with me, my wearied Muse and Pen;
For here I vow, you shall not speake againe,
Till Mercy raise you to a sweeter straine.
The end of the first Booke.
AVSTINS VRANIA, OR T …

AVSTINS VRANIA, OR THE HEAVEN­LY MVSE: The second Booke.

Wherein is set forth the great my­stery of Mans Redemption by Christ Iesus, and (the free-will and merits of Papists being ex­perimentally confuted) the true and only meanes where­by we are to obtaine saluation is plainely declared: to the great comfort of all those that either are, or desire to be true Christians.

By S.A. B. of Arts of Ex. Colledge in Oxford.

2. COR. 1.3, 4.

Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforteth vs in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wher­with we our selues are comforted of God.

PSAL. 66.16.

Come, and heare, all yee that feare God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soule.

PSAL. 89.1.

I will sing the mercies of the Lord for euer: with my mouth will I make knowne thy faithfulnesse to all generations.

LONDON, Printed by F.K. for Robert Allot and Henry Seile. 1629.

TO THAT HONO­RABLE GENTLEMAN, Mr. IOHN ROBARTS, Sonne to my Lord Robarts, Baron of Truro in Cornwall, the accomplishment of all true happinesse both in Grace and Glory, &c.

Noble Sir!

I Haue here emboldned my selfe to intreate you also (since you came hither so seasonably) to be the se­cond God-father of these my low­ly conceptions: and my hopes are, that you will bee the easier wonne hereto, because you haue so good a Compartner, as (my great Fa­uourer) your diuine Tutor. Neither is this all, but I had many other most vrgent incitements, to for­ward these my lawfull presumings: first, in that it was my happines to be your Countryman; whence I thought it no meane disparagement, both to my selfe and Country, especially to your Honour; that our Cornwalls Muses should not finde a Patron within their owne limits. Secondly, your happy growth in all vertuous perfections within these late yeeres, (as my selfe also amongst others haue seriously obseru'd, to the great comfort of my soule) with your extraordinary zeale, and primarie deuo­tions to all diuine exercises, hath been inough to in­uite, [Page] if not enforce mee, to the humble presentment of these my desires, and vtmost seruices to forward you. If my Muse had here play'd the wanton, I should haue thought her too toyish, and altogether vnworthy your more serious, and iudicious aspect: but shee has been somewhat affected with those passions, that were sometimes yours; shee hath been bath'd in the teares of a deare mothers death; but especially, she hath desir'd to bee in all things heauenly, and to please you euen in diuine contem­plations; and therefore cannot despaire of your good patronage. I will no longer stand in com­menting, either on your vertues, or mine owne en­deauourings; only I shall intreate you to know, that there is none more sincerely desires your per­fection in goodnesse then my selfe, though haply you may haue many far better furtherers: and in confirmation of this, I haue heere humbly presen­ted you this deare (though poore) conception of mine, who, like a weeping infant, new brought into the world, beseeches you with teares for its Patro­nage; which if you but please to blesse it with, and so make it liue famous in the world by being yours, you shall not faile of his continuing prayers and thankfulnesse; who desires to be euer

Your true seruant in the Lord Iesus, Samuel Austin.
From my Study in Exe­ter Colledge in Oxford, this 11. of Aprill, 1628.

AN ADVERTISEMENT TO THE READERS ON my second Booke.

Good Readers!

IF I here come farre short of mine owne aymes, and your expectations, I shall intreate you to make this vse of it; the apprehension of that great Mystery of saluation (which I here treate of) is a matter of far greater difficulty, then at first I took it for: yea sure it is an Art so hard, and of so heauenly a nature, that Math. 16.17. Iohn. 1.13. flesh and blood can neuer attaine the knowledge of it, but it must be reuealed vnto vs from our Father which is in Heauen. Whence it came to passe, that whereas I thought presently to apprehend it vpon the first onset, without any further trouble, I was cast downe suddenly by mine owne sinnes and infirmities, euen to despaire of my selfe, and there lay for a long time in a speakelesse misery, till God of his free good­nesse at length restor'd me, and brought me to the happy sight hereof by the sweee helpe and aydance of his Word and Spirit. So that the readiest way to ob­taine this happy assurance, is to abandon all Papisti­call presumings on selfe-abilities, and to annihilate ourselues as twere, by a faithfull humility, that so wee mayIoh. 1.12. become the sonnes of God, by that sole power of Christ Iesus; and by a Eph. 4.24. new Creation be transfor­med into his blessed likenesse, till in his good time, [Page] Philip. 3.9. being found in him, not hauing our owne righteous­nesse which is of the Law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousnesse which is of God by faith, we shall at length appeare vnspotted before the presence of our God in the highest heauens, and there enioy that eternall weight of glory which hee hath prepared for vs. Now, if you make this good vse of it, you shall doe well. Fare yee well.

S. A.

AVSTIN'S VRANIA: OR THE HEAVENLY MVSE. THE SECOND BOOKE.

The Contents.
FRom out despaire my VRAN' beere
Begins to put on better cheere,
Because my God did now againe
Refresh my soule with his sweet straine
Of promis'd Grace, which shew'd to me
My debt was paid, and I made free,
Free man of Grace. But lo, when I
Thought straight t'haue seene this mystery,
My sinnes step in, and cloud my sight:
From whence began so sore a fight
Betwixt my flesh and spirit, that I
VVas forc'd e'en to despaire, and die:
Vntill my God of his free Grace
Reuiues me with a sweeter face,
And leades me on by his good Sp'rit
Vnto his VVord, which gaue me light,
VVhereby I clearely saw at length.
(Onely enabled with his strength)
That happy Mystery which he [...].
Began whil'ere reueale to me;
I meane, his loue in Christ: and there
In humbled faith, and holy feare
My Muse began againe to sing
My Sauiours Life and Passioning,
VVhich earst it did but touch: this done,
At last she cheerefully begun
To sing my thanks, and ends her Layes
VVith periods of eternall prayse.
NOt long my soule in this vnhappy case
Had laine her downe, gasping as 'twere for Grace.
[Page 66]With lowly sighes; but here she seem'd to yeeld
Her weapons vp, and to giue death the field:
For when she lookt vpon her selfe, and saw
How deadly she was wounded by the Law:
But there was no Physician might be found,
That had a Balsome for so great a wound;
She gan despaire, and with extremest breath,
To giue a forced welcome vnto death.
Thus did she of her selfe; and could it bee
Mans nature might doe otherwise, to see
His doome already past? for well I knew
There's no escape, the Law must haue its due,
The breach whereof is death; and now that I
Haue broke the same, alas, I needs must die.
Must die? But what is this? Is't but to leaue
This vitall breath as brutish beasts, and cleaue
Vnto my former earth, there to remaine
Impassible of any feeling paine,
And so ne'r to be thought on more, nor be
The subiect of a future miserie?
Oh no: but as if my vnhappy sin
Had neuer broke the Law, I'd alwayes been
Aliue in endlesse happinesse; euen so
Now I haue sin'd, I must in endlesse woe,
Die a ne'r-dying death, I [...] which is
To be depriu'd of that eter [...] blisse,
Which else I should haue had: or so much worse,
To be so long the subiect of that curse
Of tortures inexpressible. And here
The very thought did touch my soule so neere,
That more then thousand present deaths, my heart
Did seeme to taste of an eternall smart;
The wofull pledge of what I was to drinke,
When I should come to that vnhappy sinke
Of mine vnhappinesse; that Hell wherein
I should drinke vp the furious drugs of sinne.
But here, behold, in this my worst extreme,
(As earst I well remember in my Dreame)
When I was mostly glozing downe vpon
My selfe and miseries, and there was none
[Page 67]That would, or could relieue, (I meane, within
These nether vales of vanitie, of Sin,
Of Hell, of Death: where euery thing that I
Could well conceiue, had possibility
Of suffring for our faults, hath residence:
For suffrance goes no further then the sense;
Suffrance in paine I meane, (vnlesse it be
That paine of losse which our Diuinitie
Alone makes mention of.) Now there was none
That's subiect to a painefull passion,
(But what is here contain'd:) when hap'lesse I
As of my selfe would needs despaire and die.
Behold, I say, that great Omnipotence
Which first gaue being to my soule, and since
With quickning trumpets made me to awake
From out the deepe of that Lethean Lake
Wherein I lay for dead, I meane, when I
Had thrall'd my selfe to all iniquity
With great delight and willingnesse: and he
The sacred power that gaue me eyes to see
My deepes of misery, and in extremes
Did earst refresh me with such pleasing beames
From off his gracious countenance, that I
Did highly prize so great a misery:
For here at length he comes (when there was none
That would, or could releeue, but him alone:)
And with the sweetest words that e'r were sung,
(Not to be vtter'd by another tongue,
But his that authoriz'd them.) Thus he gan
To comfort me:
Gods reply to my for­mer quests.
O thou forsaken Man,
The worke that I my selfe haue made, full deare
To me thy God, although thou would'st not heare
My sweet [...]nuites, but with the Prodigall
Wouldst needs be wandring, till thou'dst lauisht all
Thy Portion out, and bought experience
Of what thou art by miserable sense
Of thine vnhappinesse. Alas, I see
[...]arre better then thy selfe canst tell to mee,
Thy many wants: I see thy great extremes;
Thy teares of penitence; thy earnest threanes
[Page 68]And longings after me: I see, I say;
And now behold, I can no longer stay
From pitying thee; my bowels yerne to show
My mercies forth, whereby to make thee know
My wondrous loue to thee. Come then, Arise
Distressed soule; shake off thy miseries,
And all thy former heauy dumps: for lo,
I here intend to terminate thy wo.
Thy day of happinesse is come, and I
Will here reueale so sweet a remedy.
For these thy grieuances, that soone as ere
Thou shalt but see a glimpse of it, thy feare
Will vanish quite away; and thou wilt be
So rauisht straight with new felicitie,
That all thy senses will be dispossest
Of thy first miseries, and wholly blest
With such expresselesse ioy, that tongue, or pen,
Though led by all the choicest Art of men,
With all their shaddowes, cannot halfe expresse
The substance of so great a happinesse.
Come then, and solace here a while, till I
Haue rays'd thee vp vnto a pitch so high,
Where when thy speculations sweetly see
The wondrous things that I haue done for thee,
Thou wilt so farre forget thy present state,
As scarcely thinke on't, saue it be to hate
Thy selfe the more, and those inferiour toyes,
Which stroue so much to interrupt thy ioyes;
That in a sacred policie, thereby
Thou may'st be knit in a farre neerer tye
To me thy God, there alwaies to possesse
The highest tide of changelesse happinesse.
And more, behold, when thy Vrania's eies
Shall feed awhile on those sweet Theories
Of mine abundant goodnesse, and shall see
How all thy happinesse depends on mee,
She will not chuse but consecrate her Layes,
To sing abroad the mirrors of my prayse.
On, my beloued then; for now behold,
My loue is growne so great, I cannot hold
[Page 69]It longer in, 'twill needs breake forth and show
Its sweet effects; and make thy soule to know
How deare that sinner is to me, that will
Repent himselfe, and leaue his former ill:
Surely
Ezek. 18.28.
he shall not dye, but liue; for I
Haue spoken it, that know not how to lye.
Tis true indeed, thou saidst, thy selfe hast play'd
The Prodigall, and now thou seek'st for aide
Of me: Behold, it is againe as true,
I am thy Father longing to renew
My former loue with thee. Lo, how I run
On Mercies feet to welcome thee my son.
Come in distressed, Come: My watchfull Eie
Hath seene at full thy deepes of miserie,
And still with care attended thee, when thou
Didst little thinke on't, till this very now.
'Twas I indeed, as earst thou didst confesse,
That made thee see this thine vnhappinesse:
And as a tender Mother to her sonne,
An apt si­mile.
That seemes in kindnesse to perswade it come,
And aske of her some thing it wants, which she
Much longs to giue: So did I deale with thee,
By mercies often sweet inuites, to moue
Thee humbly come and craue, what out of loue
I wholy meant to giue. 'Twas not in vaine
I made thee feele the horrors of thy paine;
But as a happie medium to enforce
Thy deadned soule the sooner to remorce
Of thine owne deeper miseries, and then
To seeke about for remedy: but when
Thy wofull soule had seene, that all but I,
Were fled from thee in this extremitie,
Then did I sweetly draw thee home, to see
The riches of the loue I bore to thee:
I tooke thee vp againe, and did restore
Thy lifelesse soule, when thou hadst quite gi'n o're,
And yeelded vp to Satan, sinne, and all
That were conspiratours to make thee thrall
Vnto eternall death. Alas, mine Eie
Did set full well thy poore humanitie,
[Page 70]How weake it was to any good; how prone
To any thing was ill, as though alone
It had been wholy bent to chuse the bad,
But leaue the goodnesse which at first it had.
Yea, so it was indeed; and sure it stood
With reason, when thou left'st the chiefest Good,
How sin and death were begotten by man.
(My Selfe I meane, thy God; from whom alone
All haue their goodnesse, but without haue none:)
To turne aside from me, and fondly take
Some thing for good, which thou thy selfe didst make
Without my helpe; scorning as 'twere, to be
Beholding for thy goodnesse all to me:
For lo, when thou hadst turn'd away thy sight
From me, who was alone thy
Ioh. 1.4.
Life and Light,
And all the good thou hadst; thy blinded eies
Could not but fall on contrarieties,
Take darkenesse stead of light, and so approue
The ill for good: thus thy seduced loue,
When led to like by thy adult'rous will,
Brought forth thy death, the cursed childe of ill.
Vnhappy match of thine! Yet lo, from hence
I gather'd good, by giuing thee a sense
Of thine owne wants, and making thee to see
How weake thou wast, and how thou could [...]st not be
Without my Grace; and this did make thee come
In humblenesse, as earst the straying Son
To me alone in deepes of miserie,
With,
Luk. 15.18.
Father, I haue sin'd, where soone as I
Had seene thy teares and thy humilitie,
Behold, how glad I was to pitie thee:
I
Luk. 15.20.
ran to meet as 'twere, and re-embrace
Thy soule with armes of euerlasting Grace.
All this I did for thee; but these are small:
For lo, the summe, and very chiefe of all
Is yet behind. Thus farre I'ue onely bin
All mercy, winking as it were at sin:
But lo, as I am mercifull, so I
Am all as iust, and thou must satisfie
For sinne by death: for this is also true,
My Iustice and the Law will haue its due.
[Page 71]But here, alas, I see, this very thought
Of death doth strike thee downe againe to nought;
Kills thee a thousand times with griefe, to see
How farre impossible it is for thee
To suffer that, one thought whereof alone
Is able breake the hardnedst heart of stone,
That would but thinke on it: for thus to die,
Is to despaire of all felicitie,
And be in endlesse tortures, such as none
Can tell; but those that suffer them alone.
Alas, vnhappy wretch! this is thy lot,
Thy iust desert, the fruit which thou hast got
By leauing me. But here againe arise,
Distressed soule, and wipe thy tearie eies,
To apprehend more sweetly from aboue
The mysterie of euerlasting loue,
The
Malac. 2.4.
Sunne of comfort to thy soule, that will
Dispell away these gloomy clouds of ill,
And all thy former miseries; and hence
Will rauish thee with more abundant sense
Of thine expreslesse happinesse: for by
The vtmost
Psalm. 42.7
deepe of this thy miserie,
Thou shalt perceiue by happie opposite,
Another deepe; how good, how infinite
My mercies are, that made my
The myste­ry of mans Redemption by Christ Ie­sus.
Iustice-eie
To pitie thee, because thou shouldst not die:
I made it satisfie it selfe, come downe
Esay. 53.8. Phil. 2.6, 7, 8.
From my eternall Throne, throw off its Crowne
Of glory which it had, and humbly take
Thy rags on it; and further for thy sake,
To be imprison'd in thy house of clay,
Vntill at length it suffred
Gal. 3.13. 1. Pet. 2.24.
death, to pay
That heauy debt of thine. Thus thou art free
From sinne, from death, from hell, from miserie,
And all thy former ills; and now art made
Rom. 6.18, 22. Ephes 2 4, 5, 6, 19. Especiall proofes of this.
Free-man of Grace, whereof thou'st but a
1. Cor. 13. 1. Ioh 3.2.
shade
Whiles here on earth, but shalt hereafter haue
The very substance, much as thou canst craue,
Or shalt know how to wish: (and 'twill not be
An age before my mercy comes to thee,
[Page 72]And takes thee hence, to make thee possident
Of all the happinesse which here is meant:)
Now comfort here thy soule, and come and see
Those wondrous things that I haue done for thee.
This spoke, behold, my sad attentiue sp'rite
Now raised vp, but then with wofull sight
Of my deserts, e'en tumbled downe to death;
Yet here againe reuiu'd with sweeter breath
Drawne from this sacred Oracle, which I
Heard warbling forth that pleasing Mysterie
Of euerlasting loue, it faintly gan
To vrge me thus to speake, which I as man,
Thus faintly breathed out: O sacred tongue,
That hast awak'd me with so sweet a song,
Come once againe I pray thee, let me heare
Some more of this that tickled so mine eare
With sweet celestiall rapes: O how mine eie
Doth long to see this happie Mysterie
Explained to the full! What is't I heare?
I'm freed from death, from hell; I need not feare,
My debts are paid, and all my miserie
Is freely ta'ne away from me, and I
Made
Ephes. 2.19.
Citizen of Grace, and shall possesse
Ere long, the full of changelesse happinesse.
O welcome newes! and faine would I belieue
This which I would were true: but lo, I grieue,
Because I cannot see so much, my sin
Doth lie so lumpish on my soule within,
And presseth downe so sore, alas, that I
Cannot so much as lift my drowzy eie
To apprehend this Light:
Rom. 7.24.
O wretched man!
VVho shall deliuer me? All that I can,
Seemes worse and worse: the more I seeme to stand,
The more I see Satan with all his band
Of wicked thoughts, so furiously combine
To pull me downe, that all the strength of mine
Cannot so much
For, as re­sist.
resist; but wretched I
Am hurried downe to deeper miserie.
The Rege­nerate mans changes many and mise­rable.
Thus miserable man with griefe I see
Such fearefull tumults rising still in mee,
[Page 73]That I can neuer rest, or long possesse
The sweet beholding of my happinesse.
Sometimes I feele indeed, O blessed houre!
My soule is rauisht by a secret pow'r
Descending from aboue, whose sweet inspires
Doe worke such wonders on my slow desires,
That I am carried suddenly so high
Beyond my selfe, beyond mortalitie;
As scarce mee thinkes, I would vouchsafe a thought
On any thing below, which seemes as nought,
Not worth the looking on, when I compare
Its basenesse with the price of what is there:
Alas! tis all as
Phil. 3.8.
dung, for while mine eyes
Are busied in those higher Theories,
Mee thinks I seeme in manner to possesse
A part of Heau'ns eternall Blessednesse;
Which now I am so thirsty for, and faine
Would haue those sweet assurances againe
But lo, when I had lifted vp mine eye
To apprehend this sacred Mystery
Of thine eternall loue, and
Psalm. 2.12.
kisse that
For Son, as in the Text because he is the Sun. Malach. 4.2.
Sun
Of Grace, which seem'd thus smilingly to run
To lighten mee, and by his pow'rfull beames
To
Cantic. 1.4. Ioh. 6.4, 4.
draw mee out from these my deepe extremes
Of sin and misery: Lo, here I say,
When I had thought, Sure now my wished day
Of happines is come, and I shall see
The sweet beginnings of my life with thee;
My aduersarie, Satan, hee that still
Hath been th'occasioner of all my ill,
Gen. 3.1.
Sly Serpent as hee is, that alwayes lies,
And lurks to take his opportunities
To spoyle man of his happinesse; Lo, hee
That alwayes beares immortall
Gen. 3.15.
enmity
To thee, and thine, as grieuing much that I
Should euer see that happy mystery
How the di­uell watches all opportu­nities to hin­der man from happi­nesse.
Of this thy boundlesse loue to mee; and then
When I had seene, to tell to other men
Thy wondrous workes, that they might also see
How good thou art, and so appeale to thee
[Page 74]In all their deepe extremities: whereby
Satan must downe: for when wee magnifie
Thy high and hallowed Name, then doth hee know,
That hee is neerest to his ouerthrow.
Hee sets on mee a fresh, I say; for now
Hee saw how neere his time was come, and how
I almost was beyond his reach; hee 'gins
To summon all the legions of my sins
To presse on mee at once, and interpose
As gloomy clouds, that sun which now arose
To comfort mee: and herewithall I 'gan
(O see the weakenesse of a sinfull man)
To droope, and drowzie out my time, as one
That sleepeth out the absence of the Sun
In gloomy dayes. Mee thought I had no heart
To any good: But see the damned art
Of this deceauer; when hee saw that I
Was drowzing thus, (an opportunity
Wherein most commonly hee workes his will)
"By drawing man from drowzinesse, to ill:
Hee secretly inuades on mee, and there
Layes all his wicked stratagems, to reare
A mutiny within mee; where my Sprite,
Because shee was depriu'd of that sweet light,
(Which was indeed her
Ioh 1.4.
life) did quickly yeeld,
And then my flesh gan repossesse the field.
Which done, hee represents vnto my will
New killing sin, vnder the sweetest pill
That sense can wish; so
Gen. 3.6.
pleasing to mine eye
And taste; I could not chuse but take and try,
The flesh enforced so; and Reasons sight
Was gone, I could not see to take the right.
New sin said I? Oh no, the sin was old;
Only it had put on another mold,
Seeming farre sweeter then before; but loe,
When eaten, twas the very gall of woe.
How the di­uell begui­leth vs to sin.
"Thus doth hee slyly vse to represent
"Old sin to vs, in formes of new content,
Such as hee knowes will please vs best: but when
The soule hath eaten it againe, Oh then
[Page 75]Shee sees with griefe, the sin is nothing new,
But old in all, saue in its act, and hue:
And that new-seeming good it had in show;
In proofe, alas, is nothing lesse then so.
Now, by the way, you troubled soules,
A short di­gression to my troubled Readers.
that be
In earnest longings as it were, with mee,
To see that Sun of happinesse; euen you
That faine would bid this world, and all adieu,
To solace in his light; whose vertuous beames
Will quickly wipe away all teary streames
From off your eyes, and rayse you vp so high,
As ne'r more, to bee touch't with misery;
Bee not dismai'd, I pray, although you see
Those many rubs that crosse, and hinder mee
In this my way to happinesse; but thinke
Your selues must haue the like, before you drinke
Of that pure Well of life: Expect, that hee
Which alwaies deales thus treacherously with mee,
Doth also watch your wayes; and when he spies
His fittest time, will reare vp mutinies
Within you too: for lo, hee'l neuer cease
To vex, vnlesse it bee, where all is peace
VVith him; that is, whose soules are all within
His owne precincts, as willing slaues to sin.
The temp­tation of euil thoughts es­pecially to be heeded.
And 'mongst the rest, when wicked thoughts arise,
That represent you nought but vanities,
Seeming to please the flesh; Oh then take heed,
Satan is come on you; and if with speed
You doe not cast them off, they will betray
The soule into his hands. Oh, these are they
That set on mee so sore; these are the pills
That doe induce mee to so many ills:
These interrupt my soule, when she would fly
Beyond this nether Orbe of vanity,
To contemplate her God (that only can
Giue true content vnto the soule of man:)
And these are they, (O would to God that I
Could say herein vnto my selfe, I lye:
VVould sad experience had not made mee know
The truth of this, to mine abundant wo:)
[Page 76]That slyly steale vpon, and doe surprize
Those heau'n-bent hearts, and vpward looking eyes
That would bee votaries to good, (while they
Are
Psalm. 39.12.
Pilgrims here; still traueling on the way
To their eternall blessednesse; the home,
VVhereto, they cannot rest, vntill they come;)
And carry them, euen quite against their will,
To straying paths, to wander on in ill:
And when (alas) the soule shall but digest
One little thought of ill; yea, though the least,
That make the roome for more, (so strong is ill,
The very least is great enough to kill:)
For one ill seldome goes alone; but when
That gets a hold, it
Matth. 12.45. Luk. 1 [...].26.
brings in other ten
As bad, or worse then it; which being in,
As wicked theeues, they presently begin
To fall vpon the good, and dispossesse
Them of their rights, fill all with heauinesse.
The miseries that follow sin.
But to my selfe againe: When carelesse I
Had swallowed downe this pleasing miserie
Of one vnhappy thought; O how my heart
VVas strucken straight with a benumming smart,
Prest with a heauy drowzinesse; my sin
Had cast such gloomy mists on all within.
And hereupon, (O that so light a toy
Should seeme to ship-wrack all my former ioy,
And so o're-whelme my soule with feares, that I
Should lose my selfe so long in misery.)
A Legion more (the most vnlucky shade
That euer yet did my poore soule inuade)
Of thoughts, distracted thoughts came rushing in,
And faine would haue mee (desp'rate) on in sin;
Ne'r hope for Goodnesse more; ne'r spend my paine
For that, which was so difficult to gaine:
Nay, more, alas, (O that my shamelesse pen
Should dare to whisper out to other men
Those priuate conflicts of my soule, for feare
I should offend the true religious eare:
For Christians should not once so much as name
Such things as these, lest some say, 'tis prophane:)
[Page 77]They drew mee to such dangerous Rocks,
The feare­fullst temp­tation of all others.
that I
Was put to doubtings of a Deitie;
Whether I had a God or no, that Hee
Should seeme to goe so far away from mee
In those my greatest deeps: O how my sprite
Was mazed at this vnaccustom'd fight?
How was I shaken? How was all my man
Strook downe with feare? Good God!
Psalm. 39.12. in our singing Psalmes.
how pale and wan
My outward visage was,
Eccles. 13.25, 26.
which might bewray
The grieuous conflicts of mine inward fray?
How did I walke disconsolate, as one
That had no life in him, or had alone
His life to liue in misery? wherein
Twere better not to bee, then to haue been.
But here, deare Christians▪ you,
To my Chri­stian Rea­ders.
whose happier Eyes
Are alwayes blest with feeling Theories
Of Heau'ns chiefe Goodnesse; you that sweetly run
These happy paths, ne'r clouded from the Sun,
Condemne mee not (I pray you) straight, that I
Beare not a part in that felicitie,
Which you your selues are in; but rather prayse
The goodnesse of that God, whose Gracious Rayes
Hee would in mercy make your eyes to see,
But in his Iustice hide them now from mee,
For reasons knowne best to himselfe: (and who
Shall dare gaine-say what pleaseth him to do?)
O bee
Sc. Christi­ans.
your selues, I pray; which if you bee,
Then am I sure, you'l rather pitty mee
With earnest prayers in my behalfe, that I
May win at length a happy victory
After these dreary stormes:
Iam. 5.16.
Oh, these are they
I neede especially; Good Reader, pray
To helpe mee out; and know, what now is mine,
If Iustice please, to morrow may bee thine:
Calmes seldome hold continually; and wee,
Though now in stormes, haue yet a hope to see
A fairer day. Thus may the loftiest eyes
Looke for a fall, and I may looke to rise:
And I may looke! Alas, poore soule, how faine
Would'st thou bee lifting vp thine eyes againe,
[Page 78]To see that Light of happinesse, that Sun,
Whose beames ere-while so wondrously begun
To glad thy drooping sprites, and to expell
The dismall clouds of all thy former Hell?
But, O vnhappy wretch! how doe I see
My gloomy sinnes o're-vaile and shaddow mee?
What gastly thoughts doe wrest away mine eyes,
To gad, and gaze on thousand vanities,
And various shows of ill; which giue to mee
No more content, then doth my misery?
Alas, they vex mee ten times more; for these
Will not so much as let mee seeke for ease,
Which that enforceth mee to doe; but still
They vrge mee onwards to some other ill,
Which seemes as though 'twould giue mee ease, but when
I'ue also try'd its Remedy, Oh then
I grieue to see my foolishnesse, that I
Should bee thus flatterd on in misery:
For still the more I adde to ill, the more
I adde of poyson to my festred sore,
The more I adde to weigh mee downe to Hell,
And more of paine my conscious soule doth tell,
That I of force must vndergoe, e're I
Recouer backe my first felicity.
"Such ease it seemes to fall tow'rds Hell: but then,
"Alas, how full of teares to rise agen.
And thus I adde vnto my griefes, altho
My stupid flesh would faine perswade mee no;
Oh, this is it that kills my soule, to see
Dulnesse or deadnesse of soule how miserable.
I'm sicke euen to the death, yet not to bee
Touch't truely with the sense of it, whereby
I might in haste goe seeke for remedy
With some new kinde of Rhetorick, with cryes
And teary-words; making my weeping eyes
My humble intercessors; and my groanes
To vtter forth more lamentable Tones,
Then euer yet before; which might enforce
The Heau'ns, and all vnto a new remorce:
And chiefly to appease the angry frowne
Of my Great God, whose absence throwes mee downe
[Page 79]To all those deepes of misery; that I
Should so misprize that high benignitie,
And Riches of his loue (which was to mee
The very summe of true felicitie:)
As to exchange it for a taste, or twaine
Of Satans sweets, and so to entertaine
In stead of him, those guests which now possesse
My soule with nought, but cursed bitternesse,
And sad desparing-heauy thoughts: and these
Are all the salues that Satan hath to ease
The troubled soule. O what a foole was I,
Thus to beleeue his damned flattery?
Did I not know enough before, how hee
Beguild my
Adam, and Eue.
Parents, as hee now doth mee,
To eate of the forbidden fruite, and said,
That they should bee
Gen. 3.5.
as Gods, ere hee betrayd
Their soules into his cruell hands? But then
Hee threw them downe below the state of men,
And then hee triumpht in their falls, as now
He doth in mine. But,
Gen. 3.9.
Adam, where art thou?
Or rather, where am I? Why doe I runne
Amongst the
Gen. 3.8.
trees to hide mee from the Sun?
Ile goe vnto my God againe, and there
Will neuer cease to call, vntill hee heare
From out his holy Place, and thence come downe
To take mee vp; and till that angry frowne
Bee turn'd to wonted pleasing similes; and hee
Shall sweetly come againe, and show to mee
Those endlesse Riches of his loue, wich erst
Hee 'gan reueale: for lo, I cannot rest;
My
Psal. 77.2.
soule will not bee comforted, till I
Shall see at full that happy Mystery
Of his eternall loue, whereof while-ere
I had a glimpse: O let mee but come there
To that high seate of happinesse, to see
The fulnesse of that true felicitie;
And in the mid'st of that sweet Theorie,
O let my body melt away and dye;
Or let mee dye vnto the flesh, that so
My soule may ne'r more taste of bodies woe;
[Page 80]But alwaies bee hereafter thron'd so hie,
As still enioy that happy Theorie:
Where is my God so long? O where art thou,
My
Iohn 1.4.
Light, my Life, my Happinesse? Come now,
O quickly, come and take mee vp, for feare
I fall into the gastly
Psalm. 143.7.
pit, and there
Bee none to helpe me vp againe. O why
Did'st thou in anger take away thine eye
So suddenly from mee? Thou knew'st full well,
I needs must fall downe to the pit of hell,
When thou didst faile to hold mee vp. Alas!
I knew before how poore and weake I was;
How full of misery; which made mee call,
As earst I did, to thee for helpe, when all
Were fled away besides, and there was none
That could relieue mee but thy selfe alone:
Good God! what didst thou meane in this, to show
Thy wondrous loue to mee, but straight to throw
Mee downe againe from sight of it, that I
Had not the time so much, as to apply
Least comfort to my soule from thence? for lo,
All that I learned hence, was this, to know
There was indeed a helpe, but to my griefe;
Because I was not able take reliefe,
Or any ease from thence: and sure 't had been
For mee farre better that I ne'r had seene,
Then thus to see, and not enioy that Light,
Which who once sees, can neuer take delight
In any thing besides, or be content,
Till hee become a happy Possident
Of that which hee so sweetly saw. But stay,
Rash foolish wretch! what was't that I did say
To thee, my God? What, did I say, 'twas Thou
That thus hast throwne mee downe so low? O how
My foolishnes bewrayes it selfe? 'Twas I;
Euen I my selfe, mine owne iniquity
My
Psal. 107.17, 18.
foolish turning 'way from thee, my sin
That brought me to these deepes I now am in,
Euen to the gates of death. But thou, my God,
Didst often come with thy chastizing rod,
[Page 81]To call mee home againe, and did [...] [...]ord
The sweet [...] of thy quickning Wo [...]d,
To
Ps. [...]07.20.
heale my [...]r'd soule: but foolish I
Would still bee turning back to vanity.
The Sun shone on me, but, alas, my sight
Did rather chuse to wander in the night
Of gloomy sin, then [...]scend so hi [...],
As blesse it selfe with [...] sweet Theorie
Of this thy wondrous loue to mee. But stay,
Poore foolish man▪ What is't againe, I say?
Did rather chuse?
Experi­mentall proofes a­gainst mans free will to any spirituall good▪
Al [...]s, was't in my choice
To apprehend than light, or to reioyce
In things beyond my reach? Foole that I am;
Could I do this? Sure I were more then man,
But woe is mee, Adam vnhappy Son;
My sinfull power [...] [...] now refrain'd to one,
And that is bad; I haue no
Not that Papists haue this free will, but that out of the pride of their hearts they say so, as also to defend their opinion of Merits, which is a­like deroga­torie from Gods glory.
Papists will
To take the good, or to refuse the ill,
How, when, or where I please: alas, I see
These high prerogatiues are far from mee!
I owe more to thy Grace then so: for when
At any time I take the good, Oh then
I feele within a sweet dependencie
I haue alone on thee; and 'tis not I
My selfe I meane no more, but all
1. Cor. 15.10.
thy Grace
That workes in mee, which makes mee thus embrace
That which is only good. And hence againe
I see that tale of merits is so vaine,
That I must needs confesse, my humbled hope
Can neuer build so much vpon the Pope,
That I should e'r expect by doing well,
Vnlesse by Grace, any other Heau'n then Hell:
I speake but what I feele. Now if there bee
Some sinfull sonnes of Ade, as well as mee,
That euer truly f [...]lt their hearts, Oh then
They'le also know themselues to bee but men,
And neuer build on selfe deserts, whereby,
They can win nought but hell and misery:
For all that they can doe, is ill, vnlesse
By
Ephes. 2.8.
Grace; and that is no deseruingnesse,
[Page 82]Because not theirs, but Gods; from whom alone
They haue their goodnesse; or if not, haue none▪
If they'le bee more then this, sure they must bee
The sons of Ade in his integritie,
And is it so? Good God, then what am I,
That I should go along thus heauily,
And not enioy thy countenance? Alas!
Am I of
Iob 6 12.
stone, or in my flesh of brasse,
To vndergoe these heauy stormes, to bee
So long left to my selfe, depriu'd of thee?
How is't I fall not downe to hell? or how
I die not straight in these my sins? sure thou,
Thou hast thy working hand in this, though I
Perceiue it not with my too fleshie eie;
For 'tis impossible that I should
Iam. 3.22. Wisd. 11.2 [...].
stand
Thus long, vnlesse thy all protecting hand
Did hold mee vp. Good God, then let mee know
As thou art Good, and kinde to those that show
Their griefes to thee, what is the cause that I
Should bee thus plung'd in deepest misery,
Depriu'd of thee so long why didst thou let
These
[...]udg 16.20, 21.
Philistims alone, till they'd beset
My soule about? I meane, those poys'nous pills
Of wicked thoughts, those harbengers of ills,
That now possesse my drowzie man, and thence
Do driue 'way all my good, and former sense
Of thy sweet fauours, which were wont to be
My greatest helpes in greatest miserie.
Why is't, said I? why sure tis for my sin:
Yea, blessed God, but yet there lies within
Some other cause: or else I pray thee, why
Dost thou not [...]ut me quite away▪ for I
Deserue as iustly that, as thus to be
Vext with a tedious life that wanteth thee.
But sure thou hast some other aimes, I know,
As earst that
sc. Iob.
man of Patience found, altho
Mans wisdome sees it not; thy
Iob 37.14, 23. Esay 40.28.
workes farre passe
Our feeble findings out: But yet, alas,
Pitty a wretch, come gently daine, and show,
What I my selfe know not which way to know;
[Page 83]The cause I meane; as thou art Good, come tell,
Why is't I hang so long twixt heau'n, and hell?
Why dost thou hide thy countenance? O why
Dost thou forsake me thus in miserie?
Why dost thou leaue mee to my selfe? to see
What I would doe without depends from thee?
And how behaue my selfe when I should fight
Against that aduersary of the Light,
The Prince of darknesse, that grand enemie
Vnto my peace? Alas, thou needst not try
To see what I would doe, thou know'st full well
What I must doe; despaire, and so to hell.
Thus did'st thou try thy seruant Iob; but sure
Had'st thou not gi'en him vertue to endure
Those heauy stormes, and held him vp withall
By secret Grace, hee [...]ould not chuse but fall
As well as I: for hee was man, and had
Depends alike from thee; only in b [...]d
I differ, 'cause hee was
Iob 1.1. Chap. 2.3.
vpright▪ but I
A man polluted with iniquitie:
And yet in this hee could not say, that hee
Was
Iob 9.2, 3.
righteous of himselfe, 'twas all from thee,
Euen from thy Grace: And should it please thee say,
That I am cleane and iust, why sure I may
Be right as hee; thus hee, and all as I,
In what is good, haue like dependencie
"On thee out God; and there is none that can
"Bee good himselfe, as hee is meerely man.
But come I to my selfe againe, alas!
This helpes not yet, I still am where I was,
In my old deepes of miserie; and thou
My Gracious God, O would it please thee now
At length to manifest thy selfe, and show
Thy iudgements here to mee, that I might know
Thy workes (past finding out by man,) and see
The reasons of thy dealings thus with mee.
O Lord,
Psal. 6.3.
how long wilt thou delay? how long
Shall I continue yet my plaining song,
Before thy mercies come to mee, and I
Behold at full that blessed mysterie
[Page 84]Of thy sweet
Mal. 4.2.
Sunne of Righteousnesse, which thou
Didst earst begin reueale to mee, but now
Hast clouded from mine eies againe. Alas!
I am not steele, nor is my flesh of brasse,
(As earst I said) that I should e'r endure
Such heauie fearefull brunts as these; for sure
I feele with
Psal. 88.6, 7 15, 16. H [...]man was one of the [...]ingers of Is­rael, 1. Chro. 25. & 2. Chr. 5.12▪ &c.
H [...]man now Thy wrathfull hand
Lies hard on mee; and who is able stand
Vnder its weight?) Againe, tis of a truth,
Thy terrors haue I suffred from my
Childhood.
youth
Or, with troubled minde, as in the Text, vers. 15. in our daily reading Psalmes.
Vp hitherto, so grieuous, that I lye
Like him who is euen at the point to dye
At euery min [...]es end: or else to goe
Beyond those bounds of Heman Sea of woe?
Behold, I'm dead already, yet not dead,
As Heman seem'd almost, who was but led
With outward grieuances to plaine and cry,
As here hee did, in his extremitie,
For
Vers. 8.
want of friends, or c'ause his enemies
Were multiply'd, and his aduersities
Had ouer-whelm'd him quite, yet none would heare
Or pitty him, so that he was as 'twere
A man forlorne, euen brought vnto his graue,
For want of what indeed he ought to haue.
And sure these his extremes were wondrous great,
I must confesse, whence hee might well intreat
Thy aiding face for helpe, and might complaine
For want of it, when all things else were vaine;
And either fled
As friends vse to doe in aduersitie, Psal. 38.11.
as friends, or did conspire
As foes, to clog him still in sorrowes mire.
But these (if this bee all) are gentle flawes
To my more inward stormes of soule; because
They only kill our bodies, but these
Psal. 88.7.
waues
Hurry our soules to mo [...]e vnhappy graues:
And sure 'twere nought, if I had all the griefes
This world can load mee with, yet no reliefes
At all from it; and were my friends (most deare)
Farre distant from mee, (as they are not neere:)
And were it that they all forsooke mee quite,
And euery one besides swolne vp with spight,
[Page 85]As cruell foes to vex mee still, and I
Were left implung'd in all the miserie
That worldlings can inuent, brought to my graue;
(As
Psal. 4.5.
Heman was:) Only let mee but haue
The ioy of thy
Psal. 4▪ 6. & 16. [...]1.
sweet countenance, and then
I will not once so much as grieue at them:
Let meee, I say, but haue my peace with thee,
And come what comes, all shall bee well with mee:
For all the worst that they can doe, is this,
To send my soule the sooner to her blisse.
But woe is mee, these are but toies, if waid
With my great grieuances; for lo, thou'st laid
Me in the
Psal. 88.6.
lowest pit, a dismall place
Of nought but darknesse, where no glimpse of Grace
Doth once so much as shine on mee, whereby
I might but taste some true felicity
In these my griefes, or else might cease to bee
In miserie, whiles I might speake to thee
In praises, not in plaints. Alas, I'm dead
Already, as I said, my soule's o'respred
With a benumming Lethargie of sin,
So that I'm throughly dead, but where? Within:
My body liues, alas, but wo is mee,
My soule is dead, and that for want of thee,
Which art alone her
Deut. 30.20. Psal. 42.8.
life: this is my graue,
The deepe wherein I am, that dismall Caue
Whereto I'm brought: and who, alas, am I
E'r to endure so great a misery
As this? to liue without a soule, or bee
Left to my selfe, and quite depriu'd of thee.
Alas, how oft shall I repeate, how oft
Shall I tell o're my griefes? what, is there nought
That's able comfort mee?
Psal. 77.9.
Hast thou forgot
Thy mercies, O my God? or hast thou not
Gen. 27.38
One blessing left for mee? shall it bee said,
That euer any sought to thee for aide,
And was deni'd? Or can mans miserie
Exceed the bounds of thy benignitie,
And mercie which is infinite? Oh no;
I'm quite amisse; these can bee nothing so:
[Page 86]Thy mercies neuer were forgot, nor thou
Without a blessing for a sonne, though now
Thou seemest hard in granting me; beside,
There's none e'r sought thee, that was yet deny'd
Thy sauing Grace: nor can mans miseries
Exceed the bounds of thy benignities,
And mercies which are infinite; for they
Are onely finite: but if so, I pray
Let me goe on with thee, my God, then why
Dost thou so long pro [...]ogue my miserie,
And dost not grant my suite? for I haue cry'd
To thee for mercy, but am yet deny'd
In my extremes. Alas, what wouldst thou haue?
How should I woo thee, or how should I craue
To win thy loue? Thou know'st I am but man,
And wouldst thou haue me doe more than I can?
I may not force thee whe'r thou wilt, or no,
To loue and pitie me: for were it so,
I needed not intreate so much: but I
Am
Psal. 119. [...]4.
thine, O Lord; my poore humanitie
Is subiect to thy becke, and let it bee
My glorie still, still to be so to thee.
But then what shall I doe? Where shall I goe
To ease me of this heauie griefe? for lo,
I'ue gone about as man, and done my best
To weare it out, but yet I cannot rest:
One while I thinke to driue away the paine,
By drowzying out my time: but this is vaine;
When I awake, it comes afresh: but then
The tricks of these times to driue away all discon­tents, how value and comfortlesse if truly thought on.
To trie the common helpes of godlesse men,
(Which mostly now they vse to driue away
Some melancholy dump, or drowzie day:)
I card it out awhile, (but for the Die
Indeed I hate, 'cause [...] vanitie
That hangs so much on chance, and has [...]o wit;
And fiue to one 'gainst him that laies on it.)
And then perchance,
A simile fit for these times.
as when some three or foure
Of honest Lads are met to lose an houre
Or two in sober merriment; we haue
A Bowle or twaine of Beere, (but hee's a knaue
[Page 87]They say, that drinkes not whole ones off: but I
Haue alwaies hated too this vanitie,
'Cause 't has no shew of pleasure in't, vnlesse
It be to drowne ones braines in sottishnesse,
And 'reaue him both at once of sense and wit:
Which if it please, let men delight in it;
For me, I like it not.) But here againe,
As earst I said, this helpe is also vaine,
Alas, it giues me no content: for when
I'ue spent away my time with other men,
In these, or such like fooleries as these,
And dreame all's well, because I seeme to please
My outward
Or, flesh.
fence; alas, euen then I finde
So often secret pangs within my minde,
Which come as dolefull warning-bells to toule
Such fearefull peales to my dead-sleepie soule,
That I can neuer rest in peace, vntill
I'ue quite throwne off this
Acts 28.3, 5
Viper of mine ill,
The sinne that hangeth on so fast: for this
It is alone
Esay 59.2.
that interrupts my blisse,
The cursed cloud that hath almost vndone
My wofull soule, by keeping off the Sunne
Of Grace so long from it. And here, alas,
I alwaies feele (how e'r it comes to passe)
Such inward warres, that there's no peace with me,
Nor will, before I haue my peace with thee.
Others, perchance, may feele a seeming [...]ase,
When they resort to such vaine helpes as these,
In their extremes. Indeed I cannot tell
What others f [...]le; but that it goes not well
With me I'm sure: and how-soe'r, if I
May speake the truth (for sure I dare not lye
Before my God) to them; thinke what they will,
That all is well, when nothing is not ill;
Because they haue a faire flesh-pleasing calme,
Whiles thus they run to vanitie for Balme
To cure their wounds; yet let them know (how e'r
They dreame themselues the farthest off from feare,
Because they doe not feele the same) that they
Are in the
Acts 8.23.
gall of woe: and though they may
[Page 88]Seeme senslesse for a while; yet lo, the day,
That
Eccles. 12. [...], 3, 4, 5, &c.
dolefull day will come, when they shall say,
We haue no pleasure in't; when
The hands.
they that keepe
The house, shall tremble; when the
The legs.
strong men creepe,
And bow themselues; the
The teeth.
grinders cease, and when
Those (Seers of the vanities of men,)
That
The eies.
looke out at the windowes, lose their light;
And when the
The lips.
doores are shut (because 'tis night)
And when the grinding-sound is low; and all
The
The wind­pipes.
Maides of musicke take their lowest fall;
And when there's nothing left but trembling feares;
And all desire shall faile; and when the teares
Of mourners flow about the streets, 'cause they
Are going then to their long home, the way
Of all mankind: (for
Eccles. 12.14.
that eternall One
Shall bring each worke before his Iudgement Throne,
Bee't good or bad; and there will doome the ill
Downe to the vales of lasting death; but will
Receiue the good into his holy place,
Where they shall alwaies see him
1. Cor. 13.12. 1. Ioh. 3.2.
face to face.)
And when, as earst I said, these dayes of woe
Are come, Oh then they will begin to know
All's not so well as thought with them, altho
The flesh did slyly seeme perswade them so;
I meane, when drearie daies of sicknesse come,
Or death to call them to their latest home,
(For these will come,) O then they will begin
To feele so many armies (hid within)
Of fearefull sinnes beset their sleepie soules
So suddenly, that they'le haue nought but howles
And sad despairing cries, to be their fence
'Gainst these resistlesse enemies: and sense
Will then be quicke to feele (but all too late)
What earst, alas, they did not feele to hate
Their cursed peace with flesh and vanitie,
Which is indeed a mortall
Rom. 8.6, 7
enmitie
With God himselfe: for sure the flesh and he
Are enemies, and they can ne'r agree.
So then to be at peace with flesh, is this,
To be a meerely wicked one, which is
[Page 89]Not to haue peace at all, for such haue none,
Esay 57. vlt.
There is no peace vnto the wicked (one)
So saies my God. Thus may they learne and see,
What tis to bee at peace, if not with thee.
Alas, 'tis
Rom. 8.6, 7.
death. But to returne againe
From whence I straid: Since all these helpes are vaine,
(For I am troubled still so sore, that I
Can haue no rest, while clouded from thine eie:)
Good God, what shall I doe, where shall I goe
To be deliuer'd of this child of woe?
This heauy burden of my sin, whereby
My soule is prest so low, shee cannot flye
To thee her God, there to behold and see
Those wondrous things which thou hast done for mee.
Alas, why dost thou leaue mee then? and why
Dost thou so long in anger hide thine
Iob 13.24.
Eye,
Thus to prorogue my griefes? Shall humane sense
Dare striue it out with thy Omnipotence
On selfe presumes; as though it could withstand
Thy mightinesse, or wrest from out thy hand
Thy mercies by constraint; when with one breath
Thou canst consume vs euery one to death?
Oh no, my God; such lawlesse thoughts as these
May not come neere my heart: then would it please
Thy goodnesse pitty mee at length: for why,
Thou know'st full well I cannot choose but die,
Vnlesse thou come and pitty mee. Oh then
Delay mee not, my God, but come agen,
O quickly come, reuiue mee with thy Grace,
And with those beames, (those issues of thy face)
The ioy of thy sweet
Psal. 4.6. & 16.11.
countenance; which when
My soule is fully blest withall, Oh then
Ile craue no more, saue only this, thereby
Still to enioy that blessed Theorie
Of thine eternall loue to mee, in him
Whom earst thou didst reueale; that so my sin
Might bee abolisht quite, and I may bee
Knit in inseparable Tyes to thee:
O meet me here, my God, this is the place,
The time, the opportunitie for Grace:
[Page 90]Fitter thou canst not haue, then this; for lo,
I'm wearied out, and can no further go
For want of Grace. My soule is qui [...] bereft
Of all her strength, and here, alas, I'm left
As one for-lorne, that neither can relieue
Himselfe, nor call to any else to giue
Him some Reliefe: for sure I'm growne so cold
And senslesse of my griefes, that now behold,
I cannot draw one teare from out my head
To plaine my selfe, alas, I am so dead:
So dead in sin, I meane, for want of Grace
To quicken mee, that so mine eies and face
Might flow with teares (springing from liuely sense
Of what I am:) true teares of penitence;
And euery word I speake, might tell my woes,
By weeping all along the way it goes.
O this were well, were it so well with mee,
That I could bee so good as I would bee,
Thus penitent I meane, vntill mine eies
Had throughly wept away my miseries
And sins at once; and there were none behind,
As enuious clouds, to interrupt and blind
My heau'n-b [...]t soule, when faine shee'd vp and see
Those wondrous things which thou hast done for mee.
Alas! but 'tis not so, my God, there lyes
That massie lumpe of my infirmities.
Betwixt my soule, and thee, which alwaies presse
Mee downe so low, that I must needs confesse
Mine owne vnhappy wants, whose bleared eie
Can neuer reach this sacred Mysterie
Of thine eternall loue, although it bee
No lesse then
Iohn 17.3.
lifes eternall losse to mee,
In that I cannot reach the same, and Blisse
Againe as endlesse, if I could doe this:
Yet all is one, my poore humanitie,
Alas, is too too weake, and cannot fly
It selfe to thee, to apprehend that Light,
For man could neuer saue himselfe by
2. Cor. 5.7.
sight
Without thy
Ephes 2.8.
Grace; which only purifies,
And takes 'way those ill humours from our eyes,
[Page 91]That hinder blessed sights, and in their steed
Inspires vs with those that are eyes indeed,
Those
2. Cor. 5.7. and Ephes. 1.18, compa­red with Chap. 2.8.
eyes of faith I meane, which only may
Approach (that treasure of eternall day)
Thy holy hill, there to behold and see
The
Ephes. 1.18 Col. 1 26, 27.
Riches of that Glory hid with thee
From all eternity, the
Ephes. 3.18 19.
depth, the hight
Which none can comprehend without the light
Of thy all-seeing Sprite: that
Ephes. 3.19.
mystery
Of euerlasting loue, which now mine eie
Doth long so much to see, and till I see,
Alas, there's nothing that can comfort mee:
Oh then, my God, here let thy Grace descend,
Here let it come, and put a happy end
To this my tedious night of griefe; and here
Let that sweet
Malac. 4.2.
Sunne of Righteousnesse appeare
(Which earst gan shine) in such maiestick hue,
That all these gloomy shades may bid adue;
While his sweet rayes come vsh'ring in the day,
Or run (as
Esay 40.3. Mat. 3.3.
Iohn) before, to make the way:
And here, great Lord, come raise mee vp so high
(
Psal. 119.169.
According to thy word) that now mine eie
May soare vp to thy Mercy-seate, and there
As Heau'ns pure eyes, fixt in a holier Spheare
Bee freed from all corruptions taint, while I
Go bathe my soule in that sweet Theorie
Of thine eternall loue, and when I see
Those high prerogatiues I haue by thee,
How thou hast made mee free from death, from sin,
From hell, and all those miseries wherein
I now lye plung'd, and those whereto I tend
As of my selfe, and lesse thy Grace descend
And quickly come and take mee vp, alas,
I needs must fall; and when it comes to passe,
That thy sweet
Ioh. 14. [...]6. & 15.26.
Comforter shall come, and tell
To my sad soule againe, that all is well
VVith mee: and when I feele thy quickning Sprite
That harbenger, and pledge of true delight,
Rom. 8. [...]6.
Beare witnesse vnto mine, that I am made
Eph 2.18, 19
Free man of Grace, whereof I'ue but a shade
[Page 92]Whiles here on earth, but shall hereafter haue
The very substance, much as I can craue,
Or shall know how to wish; as earst to me
Thou didst declare in that sweet mysterie
Of thy great loue; then shall my tongue and pen
Be wholly votaries to thee, and then
My sad Vrania (whose now weeping eies
Are quite worne out with plainings, teares, and cries)
When she but apprehends those gladsome raies,
Shall metamorphose all her notes to praise;
And I myselfe, with all I haue, will be
As one that's wholly consecrate to thee,
Who am alone redeem'd by thee. Oh then,
Here come, my God; here quickly come agen,
And take me vp; here let me sweetly heare
Those heau'nly tunes againe, which did while-ere
Giue such reuiuals to my soule, that I
Was almost past my Sea of miserie,
Ne'r to be plung'd in it againe; if thou
Hadst not so suddenly with-drawne the brow
Of that sweet Sun-shine of thy Grace, whereby
I 'gan to see the blessed
Rom. 8.21.
libertie
Of those who are the sonnes of God. But come,
Great Maker, now, and what thou hast begun
In me thy creature, perfit vp; that so
When after-ages shall both see, and know
How kindly thou hast dealt with me, they may
Appeale to thee in like extremes, and pray
To thee alone for helpe, seeing that I
(Dauids
Psal. 34.6.
poore man) did humbly call, and crie
To thee, and was deliuer'd: for if he
Were heard, they'le say, then doubtlesse so shall we.
What wilt thou more? This is the time and place,
As earst I said; thou seest I want thy Grace
So much, poore soule, as
We haue extreme need of Grace, when we cannot heartily pray for it.
scarce I'm able call
To thee for Grace: and if thou'lt let me fall,
Alas! I'm ready to consent, altho
It be my thraldome to eternall woe,
Ne'r thence to be redeem'd againe: nay, more,
Alas! I cannot chuse but fall, so poore
[Page 93]And weake a wretch am I, that faine if I
Might haue my will, ( [...] decreed to die)
I'd seeke out opportunities, wherein
I would enact s [...]me hig [...]vnhallowed sin,
That might exclude not quite from thee; alas!
Such are the deeds my selfe would being to passe,
And none but such; and then how canst thou haue
A fitter opportunitie to saue
Then now thou hast in me? Was euer man
Brought neerer yet to hell then now I am,
That want but one vnhappie step? Oh no;
There's none can fall to greater deepes of woe,
Vnlesse he fall to hell it selfe: for I
Am the next step, so full of miserie,
As quite ore-come with it; or one
S [...] [...] excel­l [...] l [...] ­fac [...]as [...] sum.
whose sense
Is dull'd with its exceeding violence,
That so I cannot feele my selfe, vnlesse
It be like him that's in a drowzinesse,
Or some vnhappie Lethargie, whereby
He dully feeles, but knowes not how to crie,
The dan­ger of a spi­rituall slum­ber or Le­thargy, not to be cured by any humane remedies.
Or plaine himselfe, or call for helpe: and sure
This dangerous sicknesse is beyond the cure
Of humans best preseruatiues, which can
At most but reach vnto the outward man,
To ease, or comfort that awhile: but when
Those heauie pangs oppresse the soule, O then
All these are vaine: for what were it, if I
Should liue in body, whiles in soule I die?
Alas! this were the life of death, when that
Which is my bodies life is dead. But what,
What doe I meane? Why is my troubled sprite
Distracted thus? Can griefe be infinite,
Which rises from that inward sight of sin,
Whereby we waile that wofull [...]ase, wherein
We see our selues by nature, and whereby
We learne betimes to climbe so humbly hie,
As wholly to forsake our selues, and cast
Our hopes alone on thee, who onely hast
The treasures of eternall life? Sure no;
This is that happie path, by which we goe
[Page 94]Into the way of sauing [...]; and this
Is that sweet m [...]lium to our future bli [...],
Through which indeed we must, before we may
Approach those
Ioh. 14.2.
[...] of eternall day.
Here then, deare God, here will I humbly
Ps. 130.5, 6.
waite
With lowly confidence in this my straite,
(A straite more great then
2. Sam. 24.14.
Dauids was, when hee
Did earst betake himselfe alone to thee,
Because thy mercies were so great) and here
Because thy
Esay 63.5. and Psal. 107 filled with notable proofes hereof.
mercies also are full neere
In mid'st of humanes greatest deepes, that hence
We might obserue, 'tis thy Omnipotence
And Goodnesse onely that relieues, when wee
Are ready to despaire, because we see
Nought else but
2. Cor. [...].9.
death within our selues, and how
There's nought beside can doe vs good, that thou
May'st be made
2. Cor. 15.28.
all in all▪ because, I say,
Thou art so good, here will I humbly stay,
Vntill thy mercies raise me vp, (euen here,
Confounded in my plaints, without a teare
To tell my further griefes, to verifie,
That sorrow in extremes is alwaies drie.)
Here will I lay me downe, here will I stay,
Alas, because I haue no more to say:
For lo, I'm dead in sinne and griefe; Oh then
Here let thy goodnesse shew it selfe, my Pen
And Muse can speake no more, till thou descend
And teach them more; needs must I make an end:
And thus in deepes of this my silent griefe,
I humbly waite for answer of reliefe.
Mans mi­serable secu­ritie being left to him­selfe.
Here laying downe my selfe, much like a man
That's carelesse growne, I sleepingly began
To drowzie out my dayes, not caring how
I plai'd the Prodigall with time: for now
Said I, Sure I can doe no more, mine eies
Are wearied with my teares; my sighes and cries
Haue quite ore-whelm'd my feeble soule, and I
Am plunged in so deepe a miserie,
That now I know not what to doe: alas!
For
Exod. 3.11.
who am I? My
Psal. 39.12. & 102.11.
pilgrim-daies doe passe
[Page 95]Away as shades; and still the more I haue
Of life, the more I doe approach my graue.
All this I see,
That is, woe is me.
aye me, and more then this,
That very cloud that hinders all my blisse,
My sinnes doe still increase on me; y [...], they
Will haue no interruptions, though my day
Be clouded ere so much, they will not cease
To vex my soule, nor let me liue in peace;
Alas! and these
Psal. 88.15.
distract me quite, while I
Haue not the power to make resistancie,
VVhen they oppose: but as a
Rom. 7.23.
captiue slaue,
Am forc'd to yeeld at euery thing they'le haue,
Because my Lord is farre away, (whose Grace
Alone should shield me from this great disgrace:)
And I meane-while, (O most vnhappy man!
That euer knew those deepes wherein I am)
Am brought to doubtings of my God: for he
Is not, said I; or surely if he be,
How can he yet containe himselfe, that knowes
The wondrous deepes of these my sinnes and woes,
And yet doth let me still alone till I
Am quite ore-whelm'd, and past recouerie?
Alas! he dealt not so while-ere with those
His
Psal. 22.4.
Saints of old, but sweetly would disclose
Himselfe to them, especially when they
VVere in extremes, and did but come and pray
VVith humbled hearts for his reliefe; as I
Haue often read in that
sc. the Bible.
sweet Historie
VVhich registers his workes, that holy Booke,
Which he preserues for all to ouer-looke
VVith serious meditation; which, I say,
He still preserues till Doomes approaching day,
By a resistlesse prouidence.) And then
If they were heard so soone who were but men,
As we may see in
Psal. 6, 8, 9.
Dauid,
Esay 38.5, 17.
Hezekiah,
And all the rest of sacred Prophecie:
(I speake not them as Kings, for sure with him
VVe're men
Deut. 10.17 Iob 19.34. Rom 2.11.
alike,
Rom 3.23.
concluded all in sin:)
VVhat should I say, (I say) who am a man,
As they, though not a King; who also ran
[Page 96]Vnto my God in these my deepes, and there
VVith many a weary sigh, groane and teare,
Haue often beg'd of him for Grace, that I
Might sweetly see that blessed mystery
Of those who are his happied sonnes, and yet
Am still deny'd, and can no further get,
Doe what I can? Alas, what should I say,
Or thinke, or doe? VVhat steads it mee to pray,
And neuer haue the thing I aske? alas!
My strength, said I, is not the strength of brasse,
Thus to endure without reliefe; but I
(The true Portraite of mans Infirmity)
Am readie heere to faint, to sinke, to cease
My fruitlesse sute, and hence to liue at peace,
I meane with flesh: ne'r more to toyle for this
VVhich is so hard to get, so high a blisse,
That I can ne'r attaine vnto't. I see
The way's too straite for selfe-humanitie,
To thrust its feet into; or if it can,
'Tis too-too hard to keepe as it began;
It hath so many rubs, so many Rocks,
So many slippry falls, and hindring blocks,
That 'twould discourage any one to thinke
That hee should goe, nay come vnto the brinke
Sometimes of Heau'n, and thinking all is well;
Yet straight bee tumbled downe againe to Hell.
All this I'ue knowne, (O most vnhappy I
To bee experienc'd thus in misery!)
And can I chuse but faint? who is't descryes
The feeble props of mans infirmities?
Who is't, I say, that would but rightly looke
Into the bloared volumes of mans booke,
(His secret thoughts I meane) and there ore-see
The heart in its corrupt Anatomie,
But straight hee'd say (conscious as I) that I
Must faint indeed of meere necessitie?
Obiection.
But here perhaps some happier soule will say,
Go, go, fond wretch, first cast thy sins away;
And then thou shalt bee quickly heard; for sure
Thou'rt frozen in thy dregs, a man impure,
[Page 97]That wallowest still in sin, or else ne'r doubt
Thou'dst long ere this been heard and holpen out:
For these are they that hinder thee, yea these
Doe
Esay 59.1.
sep'rate thee from God, and doe displease
His pure-ill-hating eyes, so much that hee
Hath hid himselfe so long away from thee:
Esay 59.1.
Not that hee cannot saue, or heare; but 'cause
Thou still runn'st on in trespassing his Lawes
By thy continuing euill thoughts, and by
Thy following acts full of iniquity:
For hee hath
Psal. [...]39.1, 2, 3.
knowne and searched thee, altho
The world indeed be blinde, and cannot so.
And hence it is, Hee will not heare, but will
For certaine leaue thee, till thou leaue thine ill.
To this said I, Alas! I must confesse,
My answer.
Tis true indeed, my sins, and wickednesse
Are wondrous great, aye mee, they still increase,
And I in them; (which hinders all the peace
Of my vnhappy soule:) Alas, they're such,
I am asham'd yea quite asham'd so much
As but to name them to the world, for feare
I should offend those happier Saints that heare
Of my enormities; alas! my heart
Is sicke euen to the death with them; that part
Which should be purely kept, is ouer-growne
With thousand ills full of corruption:
And these doe oft burst forth to acts as bad
As they themselues, which makes mee almost mad,
"And quite
Psal. 88.15. Sinne driues a man (some­times) out of his wits, as we say.
distracted as it were, that I
Haue not within my selfe ability
Whereby I might resist, or ouer-come
Those traitrous foes to my Saluation.
And this is it, alas, that makes mee cry
(Whith Paul) in deepes of sin, and misery;
Rom. 7.24.
Wretch that I am, who shall deliuer mee
From this vnhappy
Body, in the Te [...].
masse of death? Sure hee
That is omnipotent, 'tis hee alone,
(My God, and Sauior) besides there's none:
O then let mee bee here excus'd, if I
(Who feele my selfe thus in
Rom. 7.23.
captiuitie
[Page 98]Vnto the law of sin) powre forth my pray'r
Vnto my God; for why should I despaire
By reason of my sinnes? Sure these are they
That chiefly doe occasion mee to pray
To bee deliuer'd from them; for if I
Should ne'r bee heard whiles in iniquity,
Why surely I should ne'r bee heard, if hee
Do not in mercy take't away from mee:
For in my selfe I haue nor pow'r, nor will,
At any time to shake away mine ill;
I meane, without his Grace infus'd, O then
Why is't I am not heard, O Lord, or when
Shall I bee heard? Why dost thou linger mee,
That know [...]st so well my great infirmitie,
And to what deepes I'm like to fall, if thou
Preuent mee not with sauing Grace? O now
Come quickly therefore, quickly come, I pray,
And raise mee vp: Let none bee able say,
That euer any sought to thee for ayd
In his extremes, and that he was delay'd
So long of helpe, till all distractedly
Hee was enforc't thus to despaire and dye:
Or sure if so, if miserable men
Should bee thus dealt withall by thee, O then
How is't they should acknowledge thee? and I,
Alas! how could I other but deny
Our Con­ceptions of God.
Thy Deity with them? for surely wee
Cannot conceiue of God, vnlesse it bee
As one
Exod. 34.6.
that is most mercifull, and one
That knowes and sees our griefes, and can alone
Relieue vs in those great extremes; Nay, more,
That can, and will; for as I said before,
Hee is as truly
See Eccles. 2.11. Psal. 16.5. & 145.8, 9. Exod. 34.6. the words of God him­selfe.
mercifull, as hee
Is truly God: and then how can it bee
That I should either not despaire; or thou
Not quickly come and helpe? for surely now,
Now is the very time, I say, wherein
Because I am so deepely plung [...]d in sin,
And misery, (so deepe, alas, that I
Am almost ready to despaire, and dye)
[Page 99]It doth behooue thee come and helpe; nay sure
And rather too, because I'm so impure
And sinfull as thou seest. Alas, my sin
May not thus stop thine eares, but rather win
Thee to compassion on mee, 'cause that I
Am plunged in such deepes of misery,
By this my tyrannizing sin, which striues
Not only to destroy my soule, but driues
At theee also, seeking to ouerthrow
Thy worke of Grace, and would not men should know
The Riches of thy Goodnesse. O my Lord,
Why ist thou stay'st so long?
Mat. 8.8.
speake but the word,
And all is done, this shackled soule of mine
(In spight of all those pow'rs that do combine
To force mee downe to Hell,) shall quickly fly
Into so sweet a Heau'n of liberty,
In contemplation of thy Grace, that hence
I ne'r more shall bee brought into suspense,
Or doubtings of thy goodnesse; but shall bee
As one that hath his building sure with thee,
And cannot bee remou'd; and then mine eye
Shall haue its fill of that sweet Theorie
Which earst I did so much desire: whose light
Will straight dispell these fearefull clouds of night,
Wherein my sins had veil'd mee vp; and yeeld
Such pleasing matter, and so large a field
Of praise to recreate my soule, that I
Shall hence bee raised vp so sweetly high,
As I was sadly low before; and thence
Shall haue so much of selfe-experience,
To speake of thine abundant loue, that I
Shall nothing else but prayse thee till I dye.
O then, my Lord, here let thy mercies come
And raise mee vp, lest I bee quite vndone
In these so great extremities. Aye mee!
My soule despaires to thinke where I shall bee,
If that thou yet deferre thy helpe; for lo,
I'm euery minute ready now to go
Where-ere my sins, and Satan dragge, and they
Will dragge mee sure to hell. What shall I say,
[Page 100]Or doe, or thinke? Thou seest my miseries
Farre better then my selfe, and if thine eyes
Can yet forbeare to pity mee, Oh then
Come, come despaire, come stifle vp my pen,
And let it weepe no more; and cruell death,
Bee thou so kinde to stop my tedious breath,
That I may speake no more of griefe: for lo,
I'm wearied quite, and can no further go:
And thus throwne downe 'twixt hope and feare, I lye
As one that hopes to liue, hut feares to dye.
But here behold, mid'st of this dreary storme,
Wherein my billowing sins, and griefes had borne
My soule into so many deepes, that I
Was on the point to sinke, despaire and dye;
Behold, I say, when I had quite gi'en o're
And e'en resolu'd to yeeld to Satans Lore,
Out of my great distractednesse, wherein
I oft was tempted to such deepes of sin,
Such foule abominable acts, that I
Dare not to name them to posterity,
For feare I should offend▪ euen then I say,
(When I was headlong running downe the way
Tow'rds deaths accursed chambers, where I 'gan
To feele my selfe the miserable'st man▪
That euer was on earth, the time when I
Was plunged in my great'st extremitie:)
I 'gan to feele (O what a ioy was this?)
That long'd for Nuntius of my wonted blisse
Begin to repossesse my soule, and I
Was raised vp againe so sweetly high,
As scarce I could beleeue my selfe▪ to see
Such wonders wrought so suddenly on mee▪
And here, mee thought, with sweet inspired layes,
Hee 'gan againe my drooping soule to raise
With these, or such like happy notes;
Gods re­turne in his extremest miserie.
Come, come,
Thou sad despairing man, lo, I haue done
With thee, I see it is enough: for thou
Art too-too weake (alas) to striue, and now
Thou know'st thy selfe sufficiently, and
For it is well.
well
Thou hast done so, 'twas meet that thou shouldest dwell
[Page 101]So long on this sad Theame; for mayst thou know
(In answer to thy quests) this was to show
Man cannot any way saue himselfe, or rather be sa­ued without Gods especi­all helping Grace.
Thy weakenesse to the full, not that my selfe
Was ignorant; but thou vnhappy Elfe,
Wast hardly brought to search it out. Againe,
To teach thee, that thy lab'rings all were vaine,
Without my speciall helping-Grace; for thou
Mightst labour till thy death, yet bee (as now)
So farre to seeke as e're thou wast: and hence
This mayst thou learne for thy experience,
Against the merits of workes.
That Heau'n can ne'r bee won with workes, altho
These bee the
According to that: Bo­na opera sun [...] via ad Reg­num, sed non causa reg­nandi.
way indeed by which yee go
Thereto, and these as signes of Grace, do
Good workes shew our true faith, as Iam. 2.18.
show
That yee assuredly do thither go
If they be good; but all their good consists
Alone in
Ephes. 2.8, 9, 10. not able to this pur­pose.
Grace, from whence their beeing is.
But now, poore soule, that thou hast stai'd so long
In these thy deepes, and thence conceau'st a wrong
That's done to thee, in that I should delay
To grant thy sute, though thou didst often pray,
And yearne indeed for Grace, euen till thine eie
And heart with teares, and sighes were both worne dry:
And thou meane while most so opprest with sin,
With feares without, with trembling stormes within,
That thou couldst neuer bee at rest: nay more,
The tedious suffrings of thy sin-borne sore
Had so bedull'd thy soule that faithlesly
Thou here hadst yeelded to despaire, and dy.
Know this, I say, for answer; 'twas my will
It should bee so, (who gather good from ill:)
First therefore know in all these dreary deepes,
Mine eye was ope on thee (which neuer
Psal. 121.4. Gods admi­rable proui­dence ouer his children in all extre­mities of their temp­tations.
sleepes)
To keepe thee safe, and my wise prouidence
Ne'r suffred yet sins hainous violence
To haue it's full Carreer on thee, altho
I suffred it indeed thus far to go,
To make thy very heart to bleed, to see
Those fearefull wounds it did inflict on thee,
VVhen I but left thee to thy selfe:
Why God sometimes leaues his children.
yet hence
I taught thy soule this sweet experience,
[Page 102]To make thy soone appeale to me, when sin
Had made thee see the danger thou wast in.
My fearefull Obiection a­gainst my selfe.
But further yet, here haply thou'lt reply;
Alas, this answer will not satisfie;
Sin hath its full carreer on me; for lo,
It
Rom. 7.23.
drawes mee on e'en whe'r I will or no,
To giue consent to it; euen so that I
Am ready to enact what villany
So ere the flesh inuites; but that perchance
I'm hinderd by some outward circumstance
Of feare, or shame of men: but woe is mee!
I doe not feele, alas, that feare of thee
I would within my heart, whence 'tis that I
Am ready here to sinke, despaire, and die
For want of it: and then how can it bee
That sin can fuller yet carreer on mee!
Gods an­swer.
Alas! poore foule, 'tis true indeed, I know
Thy sins haue brought thy feeble man so low,
That thou art helplesse of thy selfe; yea sure
Vassal'd to Satan, and could'st ne'r endure
The least of these his heauy brunts, if I
Our saluati­on is wholly out of our selues from God alone.
Had not sustain'd thee by a sweet supply
Of secret Grace, but headlong wouldst haue run
Downe to thine owne destruction (wretched man!)
Saue that I would not suffer thee; and hence
It is that thou hast had this happy sense
Of these thine owne infirmities, whence thou
2. Cor. 1.9.
Despairing in thy selfe as twere, didst vow
Neuer to take thy rest, till thou hadst won
This sweet assurance that thou art my son.
O happy soule! blest bee that day, and houre
Wherein thou chos'st so good a part, to towre
So high in thy desires, as to depise
Those gay allurements, which the worldly wi [...]e
So greedily pursue; as wealth, delights
And honours (all esteem'd in their
1 Cor. 2.14.
blinde sights
As Deities;) And didst more wisely craue
(What they indeed thought
1. C [...]r. 2.14.
foolishnesse to [...],)
To bee entitled one of mine, to bee
My
Ioh. 1.12. Rom. 8.16, 17 Ephes. 2.19.
sonne by Grace, a heauenly high degree,
[Page 103]Which
Mat. 16.17.
flesh and bloud can ne'r conceiue: and hence
It is, that they led only by the sense;
Can ne'r attaine vnto't: nor thy weake eie,
Poore soule, can ere bee able reach so high,
Do what thou canst, vnlesse my
Eph. 1 17, 8
lightning Grace
1. Cor. 2.10, 12.
Reueale it thee: for tis nor
Acts 8.20. 1. Cor. 1.26.
wealth, nor place,
Nor labour that can worke it out; but I
Alone must
Ioh. 1.2. Ephes. 2 8.
giu't of my benignity.
Now what is this great gift? Why sure it is
The very Treasurie of perfect blisse:
And hence, deare soule, bee not a whit dismai'd
To passe those many deepes, my Gracious ayd
Shall still bee with thee; go, and prosper on,
'Tis worth thy suffrings to bee call'd my Son.
Thou seek'st no meane preferment; know, one aske
Is not enough; no, 'tis a weightier taske,
How hard it is to goe to heauen: ac­cording to that of Sene­ca in Traged. viz. Non est ad astra mollis è terris via. English: We must not goe to heauen on feather-beds. How short our common meerely-be­liefe comes short of hea­uen.
And craues thy longest paines; so hard an Art
For flesh and bloud to learne that 'twould dis-hart
The wisest of you all, did hee but know
The many plunges he must vndergo,
Before hee can attaine this height. Alas!
'Tis not a common, I beleeue, will passe
Thereto (only, for fashions sake:) No, no,
There is an inward feeling-faith must go
With euery word thou speak'st; and this proceeds
From my sole purer
1. Cor. 2.12. Iames 1.17.
Sprite, which only feeds
Those truly
Esay 57.15.
contrite soules, whose happier eyes
Haue seene the deepes of their owne miseries,
As thou, poore humbled soule hast done, whereby
Thou'rt made a subiect fit for mercies eie
To work vpon and pitty. Now's the time
Indeed to comfort thee,
Esay 63.5.
when pow'rs diuine
Alone can helpe, and nothing else beside
Can come so neere in this so deepe a tide,
As doe thee but least show of good, vnlesse
It bee to drowne thee quite in thy distresse,
And headlong send thee downe to Hell; Then co [...]e,
Come, my deare soule, or rather my deare son,
For so thou shalt be called hence; arise,
Shake off thy quondam sins and miseries,
[Page 104]For I thy God will haue it so: and now
Come on with me, where I will shew thee how
Thou shalt obtaine thy full desires: but know,
There's one thing yet, before thou further goe,
Which must be done; and though thou thinke it hard,
Yet neuer faint, it must, or all is marr'd:
Thou needs must vse all meanes hereto; but here
I know, thou'lt say, Alas, I cannot beare
This heauie yoake. Goe too, I know full well
What thou canst do: Nothing, but goe to hell,
Without my sauing Grace; but know with this,
Thou shalt vse all those mediums of thy blisse
With wondrous
Mat 11. vlt.
ease; and this my yoake shall bee
More pleasing farre, then worlds best ioy to thee:
For I my selfe will be thy
Psal. 18.1, 2. Gods charge which euery Child of his must per­forme; yet so, as by power from God.
strength, in whom
Thou shalt performe what ere I will, and none
Thy foes shall dare resist; or if they doe,
Thou shalt both fight with them, and conquer too,
To thine abundant hearts content. Now then
This is the taske which thou must doe, (to men
I know, full harsh:) which is still to represse
The swelling pride of thy rebellious flesh,
To
Gal. 5.24.
crucifie thy man of sinne, to die
Daily with
1. Cor. 15.31. Sinne must be cast out, ere God take posses­sion of vs.
Paul, to giue to vanitie
A resolute farewell, and part withall
That earst occasion'd thee so great a fall;
I meane, thine owne innatiue lusts: for they
Indeed are those that caus'd thy soule to stay
So long in these vnhappy deepes: but now
Thou needs must turne another leafe, and vow
Perpetuall warre against them all, yea, tho
It be against thy very selfe (in show:)
I meane against thy outward man, thy flesh,
That Stewes of ill, that Cage of filthinesse,
Which needs must be pull'd downe, and purg'd of sin,
Or my pure Sprite will neuer enter in,
To fill it full of ioy: no, no, my Grace
Cannot abide the house, till these giue place:
Out then, you diuelish lusts, goe quickly flie
Into some
Mat. 8.32. Let the swi­nish Epicure wallow in his lusts, but let the bo­dies of Gods children be consecrated to holinesse, Rom. 6.22. as pure Temples of [...]he holy Ghost, 1. Cor. 6.19.
Swinish Heard, my Deitie
[Page 105]Commands your hastening flight, you must not stay
To make it night, where I will haue it day.
And thou, dead heart, I charge thee vomit vp
The poys'nous drugs of that deceitfull cup
Which earst thy flesh did giue thee, and whereby
Sh'ath brought thee to so deepe a Lethargie,
That thou hast quite forgot thy selfe, yea, mee,
Who earst haue done such wondrous things for thee.
And you
The eyes described in briefe. Their charge.
corrupted Trades-men of the minde,
You wanton eies, you leaders of the blinde;
I charge you hence be pure, ne'r wander more
To gaze on vanities, play not the
Num. 15.3 [...]
whore
With euery idle obiect that you see,
Which cannot satisfie: but looke on mee
By often reading of my Word, and by
Perusing me in that sweet Theorie
Of my most beautious
Psal. 8.3. & 19.1, 2, &c.
Workes, where you shall see
That nought indeed is worth your eies but me.
And you corrupted
The eares charge.
Listners too, you Eares,
(Whose hollow intricate Meander beares
Each sound vnto the soule) wh'are alwaies apt
To ope your doores to ill, but closely clapt
To euery thing that's good; I charge you too,
That hence you sanctifie your selues, and doe
Nought but my will; which is to entertaine
All messengers of good, but to refraine
From hearkning vnto any ill, whereby
Thou mayst conceiue one thought of vanitie.
Yea, Mouth,
The mouths charge.
and all which haue your seuerall parts
To act in this great mysterie of Arts;
I charge you all, be pure;
Eph. 4.29.
let not a word
Be spoke of thee, but that which doth afford
Matter of praise to me; whence all may know,
The
Mat. 12.34.35, 36, 37.
Fount is pure from whence these waters flow.
Besides,
Eccles. 37.29. A Caution for too-much, or dainty fee­ding.
accustome not thy selfe to eate
Of ouer-much, or too delicious meate,
Whereby to pamper vp thy flesh; for these,
Although they seeme bewitchingly to please
Thy all-corrupted man of sinne, and feed
Thy sense with seeming pleasures, yet indeed
[Page 106]If thou but duly thinke on them, they be
The chiefe maintainers of that miserie
Which thou so fearefully hast felt; for they
Are alwaies stirring vp those foes that sway
So domineeringly o're thee, thy sin
And raging lusts, which fight so sore within
Against thy soule, against thy drooping Sp'rite,
And these are they that cause this gloomy night
Too much eating brings bo [...]h body and soule in­to a Lethar­gie.
Of drowzie carelesnesse in thee: yea, these
Would lull thee faine along in thy disease,
As one that's in a sleppe to hell, where thou
Shouldst be impris'ned fast ere knowing how:
Wherefore I charge thee specially from hence
Forbeare these luring baites which feed the sense,
But famish vp the soule: forbeare, I say,
And hence inure thy selfe to fast and pray,
A perswasion to fasting and prayer.
The readiest meanes whence to
Mat. 17.21.
cast forth this kinde
Of diuelish thoughts that so disturbe the minde.
This being duely done, 'tis now high time
I send my sanctifying pow'r diuine
To purge thine inward faculties, thy soule
And her attendants, made so lately foule
By thine owne sinnes, and thence to driue away
Those
Alluding to that of Mat. 21.12. Luk. 19.45.
theeuish lusts there gotten in to prey
Vpon thy purer parts: for thou must be
A
1. Cor. 6.19. Gods charge to the soule and her fa­culties.
Temple wholly consecrate to me
In holinesse. Wherefore I charge you all
(As subiects to my Pow'r Imperiall)
Thou
The soule. Gen. 2.7.
Breath of life, you vnderstanding parts,
And thou Inuention, searcher out of Arts:
And Memorie, so aged in thy youth,
The Register of ancient times, and truth:
And Iudgement, thou (great Vmpier of the [...]est)
VVhich alwaies fi [...]st to censure what is best;
I charge you strictly all, I say,
Mat. 8.3.
and will
That you be cleane: keepe not one thought of ill
VVithin your sacred Chancels; but
1. Ioh. 3.3.
be pure
Euen as I am: and hence yourselues inure
To nought but holy practices, that so
Thy soule and sense may both together go,
[Page 107]As two made one, and all to sing my praise
In sweetest Concords to ensuing daies.
This being also done, I say, Come now
And prosper on; here will I shew thee how
Thou shalt obtaine thy wished rest, and flye
So farre beyond thine owne abilitie,
As thou wilt wonder at thy selfe, to see
That height of happinesse thou hast in me,
Beyond conceite or vtterance. Come then
My dearest, come; here will I make thy Pen
To speake of mysteries; here Ile begin
To put a period to thy daies of sin:
Here will I
Esay 25.8. Reuel. 21.4.
wipe away thy teares, and leade
Thee forth with Dauid, where thy soule shall tread
In
Psal. 23.3.
paths of righteousnesse, till thou hast won
This sweet assurance that thou art my son.
Here then returne, returne, thou thirstie soule,
To my pure
Esay 55.1▪ [...]
Spring, since all the rest are foule,
And cannot satisfie. Here turne againe
(Where
Ioh. 5.39. as in my first Book, pag. 8.
first thou didst begin) vnto the maine
Of my sole-sauing comforts, to my Word;
I meane, that
Ioh. 4.14.
Well indeed which doth afford
True Cordials to distressed soules. Come here,
And take thy fill, thou needest not to feare▪
Of paying ought, take
Esay 55.1.
wine and milke, and buy
Without a piece, my freely bounteous eie
Lookes not for thy rewards; or if it did,
Alas, poore soule, thou hast not ought to bid
To counteruaile my Grace: for sure from thee
Comes nothing good, but what thou hast from me.
Goe then, I say, goe hasten to that Well
And Spring of life, whose vertue shall expell
These sad suspenses from thy heart, and shall
Instruct thee in the truth, and tell thee all
That thou so much desir'st, onely indeed
Thou must beleeue what e'r thy soule shall reade
Within this sacred Writ: for sure in this
Lyes hid the treasurie of
Ioh. 5.39.
life, of blisse,
Which onely true
Ioh. 6.35, 47 Obiection.
beleeuers find. But here
I know thou'lt say, Why then 'tis ne'r the neere,
[Page 108]If this condition come betweene, for I
Am growne so dead in sinne and miserie,
I cannot stirre one foot to good; and whence
Should I beleeue so farre beyond my sense,
That which I cannot comprehend? Aye me!
Faine I'd beleeue indeed that true to be,
Whose truth so much concernes my good: but, O
I see no ground, alas, I should doe so.
Here stands my miserie; my flesh, and blood
Thinke sure that newes must needs be too-too good
Ere to be true, as vsuall Prouerbs say,
That brings me tidings of that happy day,
VVhich puts a period to mine ills; for I
Am so bedull'd with tedious miserie,
That now 'tis growne a miracle to see
Some pow'rs proue yet so kinde to comfort me.
God resolues this scruple.
Alas, poore soule! 'tis true indeed, and yet
Here stay thy plaints, for here thou must forget
Thine
Psal. 45.10
owne estate: these are thy miseries
Indeed as of thy selfe, but now thine eies
Must soare beyond thy selfe, where thou shalt see
Thy happinesse consisting all in mee,
Not in thine owne abilities: and this
Is it while-ere I said to thee, which is
Indeed a
Col. 1.26.
mysterie that
Mat 26.17.
flesh and blood
Cannot conceiue, that must be vnderstood
Onely by my
Ephes. 1.17 18.
reuealing Sprite. And now
Come on therefore, I know full well that thou
Canst nothing doe herein, vnlesse it be
As hauing thine abilities from me.
But know, in me thou shalt doe all (as I
Ere-while did say.) Thus doe I magnifie
My selfe in
Esay 40.29, 30, 31. 2. Cor. 12.9.
weakenesse, thus my pow'r shall be
Made knowne the more by thine infirmitie.
On then, I say, goe hasten to that Brooke
Which runnes so sweetly through my sacred Booke,
VVhere I will surely be with thee, to leade
Thee on along, till thou hast found that Head
And Spring of life where thou wouldst be; and when
Thy so [...]le hath bath'd therein a while, euen then
[Page 109]I will begin to make thee see and know
Thy boundlesse happinesse in me, and show
Thee all the treasures of my loue, whereby
Thou shalt perceiue th' inseparable tye
Betwixt thy selfe and me. Then shalt thou reade
And vnderstand, then come and goe with speed
About my worke, and prosper still, and then
Scorning as 'twere, those vanities of men,
VVhich earst so much ore-sway'd thee, thou shalt be
Possest with nothing but delight in me.
Then all shall be at thy content, when thou
Shalt onely aske and haue; the heau'ns shall bow,
If thou but pray, and I my selfe descend
To answer thee as thy familiar friend.
Goe then, I say, 'tis time thou wer't well on
In this thy way. See how the vsh'ring
Mal. 4.2.
Sun
Inuites thy haste, the
Reuel. 22.17.
Sprite sayes, Come away
To celebrate this high-made Marriage-day:
For lo, the Lambe is ready, come and see
How much he
Iohn 15.13.
lou'd that lost his life for thee.
And where thou sayst, Alas, thou hast not pow'r
VVhence to beleeue, know 'twas an happie houre
For thee that ere thou knew'st so much, for I
Ne'r vse to heale the
Ioh. 9.39, 41.
Pharisaicall eie
VVhich thinks he sees, and yet is blinde: but know
Since I haue gi'en thee grace to stoope so low,
As to attribute all to me, that now
Thou shalt both see, and eke beleeue: for thou
Hast put thy trust in me, and since thou hast,
Mat. 15.28.
Be 't to thee as thou wilt, thy worst is past:
And hence know, thou hast ouercome in m [...],
VVho am alone thy strength, and still will be.
VVherefore I will, that here thou quickly go,
And doe as I haue said:
Ps. 33.11. Pro. 19.21. Esay 46. [...]0.
it must be so;
Vse thou no more thy weake replyes; for I
VVill haue it so, what pow'rs shall dare denie
VVhere I command? Goe on, I say, and then,
This being done, prepare thy tongue and pen,
And all thou hast, to sing of nought but praise
To me thy God: and let thy high-borne Layes
[Page 110]Rauish thy hearers all to heau'n, whiles they
Attend to thee; whence they may blesse the day
Of these thy happie miseries, and bee
As ioynt-competitors of ioy with thee.
VVhat now remaines? Behold, thy long'd for day
Is hard at hand; I will no longer stay
Thy forward thoughts: Go, go, and take thy fill
Of Sions streame; let not a thought of ill
Dare interrupt thy good intents, but bee
As happie as thy wish: hence shalt thou see
The mirrors of my loue; and know ere long,
I shall expect thy Muse to change her song.
Thus I surcease. Now let thy new-borne heart
Succeed, and act its last and happiest part.
My reuiuall and last acti­on.
This being said, behold, my deadned soule
Began reuiue, the sprite that was so foule,
(That
2. Cor. 12.7
Messenger of hell, which often brought
Me downe into such desp'rate deepes) me thought,
Did leaue me by degrees, and all gaue place
To entertaine a sweet succeeding Grace,
VVhich seiz'd vpon mine inward parts, whereby
I 'gan to feele a secret new supply
Of an vncustom'd strength, and now againe
Me thought I had a pow'r whence to refraine
From swallowing Satans luring baites, which he
Did vse erewhile thus in bewitching me.
And here me thought, by secret sweet degrees
My selfe gat ground, and Satan 'gan to leese
By sweet assistance from my God; for he
Indeed did worke these miracles in me,
(O how I wish to thanke him for't) and I
Began to feele a happie libertie
From that most loathsome slauerie, wherein
I was enshackled earst so fast in sin:
My stormes blew ore, and this my troubled Man
Seem'd to be somewhat calm'd, the clouds began
To fleet away, and an vnwonted light
Fills vp the place of former gloomie light;
VVhereby mine eies began to wake, and I
'Gan call vnto my drowzie memorie
[Page 111]Those happie notes I heard of late, from whence
I felt these holy changings in my sense
As well as in mine inward soule; and here,
With awfull reuerence, and submissiue feare
In thus repeal'd vnto my God: Great IOVE,
My re-ap­peale to God.
Thou sole Commander of the pow'rs aboue
And these below; who only with thy
Psal. 33.6, 9
word
Do'st whatsoe'r thou wilt; lo here, my Lord,
I am thy seruant, son of thine hand-maide
Bee't done vnto mee all as thou hast said:
I humbly here submit my selfe to bee
Obedient to thy will, to giue to thee
All glory due vnto this worke; for I
Desire herein no greater dignity,
Then to bee made thine instrument, by whom
Thou'st pleas'd to show thy great saluation
To mee, and all the rest of thine, which bee
Implung'd in deepes of griefe as well as mee.
Here then, great Lord,
How to pro­ceed in [...]he apprehensi­on of saluati­on.
in humble confidence
Of thy sole promis'd aide, as hauing sense
Of these mine owne infirmities, whereby
My wings are clipt with
2. Cor. 12.5, 6.7.
Paul, from soaring hie
On selfe-presumptious perfectnesse; lo, here
I doe proceed in humbled faith and feare,
Crying aloud to thee with teares of griefe,
Mark. 9.24.
Lord, I belieue, O helpe mine vnbeliefe.
Thus going on from Moses sacred Law,
Wherein ere-while with weeping heart I saw
Mine owne defects and miseries; and now
Pearching aloft to
Esay 11.1.
Esay's happier bow
Which sprang from out of Iesses root, I 'gan
To see
Esay 40.2.
saluation preach'd to sinfull man
By God himselfe, his holy Cryer calls,
Esay 40.3, 4
Prepare the way, the former humbled vales
Shall bee exalted; but the towring hill
Shall bee throwne downe as low; for lo, hee will
Esay 40.5.
Reueale his glory forth, all flesh shall see
The wondrous light of his benignitie;
Himselfe hath spoken it. And here mine eie
'Gan see some glimm'rings of that mystery,
[Page 112]Which I so much desir'd: but going on
Those pleasing high-waies of Saluation,
To finde more sweet assurances, I past
The Prophets all, by whose good help at last
I came vnto
That is, to the Gospell, or New Te­stament. Hebr. 12.22.
Mount Sion-hill, where I
'Gan see my Sauiour with a clearer eie
Then e'r I did before: this was the place,
VVherein I found that
Ier. 31.31. Ezek. 37 26. See Hebr. 8.8, 11, 24.
couenant of Grace,
VVhich earst the Prophets pointed at: the VVell
And Spring of life, where all true comforts dwell
To euery sad wearied heart, that lyes
Matth. 11.28.
O're laden with his heauie sins, and cryes
VVith
Esay 55.1, 2.
thirsty Soule for ease. Here did I finde
Those sweet reuiuals to my drooping minde,
VVhich
Mat. 16.17
flesh and bloud cannot conceiue; I meane,
VVithin the Storie of that happy Scene,
VVhich God himselfe came downe to act, when hee
Out of that boundlesse loue hee bare to mee,
And all the rest of his, tooke
Ioh. 1.14. Phil. 2.7, 8.
flesh on him,
To beare those punishments, which wee by sin
VVere subiect to, but could not beare, vnlesse
VVith euerlasting losse of happinesse,
And durance of expres [...]esse paine: which hee
Alone of
Esay 63.9.
loue did vndergo, that wee
Might haue our freedome all in him. But here,
Beeing much desirous yet to come more neere,
And pry into this sacred Fount, wherein
I might wash off my leprosie of sin,
And bee made fully whole; at length I came
The manner of our Saui­ours Birth
To Matthew's holy VVrit, mark't with the Name
Of
Mat. 1.1.
Iesu [...] in the Frontispice, where I
Did quickly finde his strange
Mat. 1 18.
natiuitie,
As
Esay 7 14. & 1 [...] [...] & 48.6, 7. & 49.9. & 61.1, &c.
was foretold: for this indeed was hee,
That should bee borne of that pure Virgin tree.
VVhich sprang from Iesse's holy Root, yea'uen hee
That was to ope the blinded eyes, to free
Vs that were pris'ners fast to sin, to preach
Luk 4.18, 19 re [...]o [...]red to Esay 61.1, 2, &c.
Good tidings to the meeke in heart, to reach
His comforts out to those that mourne; whose Name
VVas to bee called
Esay 9 6.
Wonderfull, the same
[Page 113]With God himselfe; which was
Matth. 1.21
ordain'd to saue
The people for their sins. Thus farre I haue
Gon on with
sc. Matthew [...]
him, but going sweetly on,
As I began, behold, I see anon,
The
Mat. 2.1, 1 [...]
VVise-men comming from the East, and they
Being guided by his starre, were come to pay
Their duties to this God made man, to see
And worship him; for so it
Ps. 72.10, 11 A prayer by the way.
ought to be.
O thou my God, send here thy lightning Sprite
To bee my starre also, to guide mee right,
That I may finde my Sauiour too, and then
Though not with th'offrings of those wiser men,
(For lo, I am vnwise, alas, and poore)
Yet may I truly worship him with more,
Then e're they did; with heart, with soule and all
That now I haue, or euer after shall.
Thus passing on, at length my thoughts were brought
To holy Luke, (for Mark indeed had nought
Of this his birth:) where when I ent'red in,
I saw the
Luke 1.31.
Angell speake againe of him,
As earst in Matthew's sacred Writ: but here
I went not far,
A notable change in Christs e­state.
before there did appeare
A wondrous change: this Heau'n-borne Maiestie,
Whom earst the Magi came to gratifie
With these their best adoring gifts (with
Mat. 2.11.
Gold,
With Frankincense and Myrrhe, which plainly told
How great a King, a Priest and Prince hee was,
Whome they ador'd;) I say, it came to passe,
This Maiestie so great, being now
Phil. 2.7.
disgrac'd,
As 'twere, with Ragges of humane flesh, lay plac'd
In an vnseemly manger; for the Inne
Was haply stuft so full with guests of sin,
There was no roome for this great Lord, but hee
Must seeke a Stable for his high degree,
Being thought the
Esay 53.2, 3
very scorne of men: but sure
'Twas not without a
Psal. 22.6.
Prophecy, so pure
And innocent a soule should bee thus left
Both in contempt and misery, bereft
Of worlds best seeming-comforts. But behold,
When earth, and cruell men were growne so cold
[Page 114]In charitie, the Heau'ns themselues proclaime
His wondrous worth: for
Luk. 2.9, 13
lo, a glorious Traine
Of that celestiall Quire were come to bring
This happy Tidings to the world, to sing
His high natiuitie in their high-layes,
Where euery Period eccho'd nought but prayse,
And
Luk. 2.14.
glory to our God on high, on earth
Peace, and good will tow'rds men; all from his birth
Issuing as from one onely fount: but here
I could not but admire with holy feare,
That such a gracious light should shine, yet man
Would turne away his eies, and rather ran
To follow shades of vanity, which bee
Indeed but a meere wearinesse, and flee
Away as soone as ouer-tooke, wherein
Lyes nothing hid but misery, and sin,
The Parents of eternall death. But here
Sending my thoughts from Luke, to Iohn; lo, there
I quickly found the reason out: this
Ioh. 1.5.
Light
Did shine indeed, but mans all-darkned sight
Had not the pow'r to comprehend what here
VVas offer'd him, till hee himselfe appeare
(I meane this Light) and
Ioh [...].1 [...], 13
giue it him: for hee
Must not bee borne of flesh, or bloud; but bee
New borne of God; and
Ioh. 6.44. Man cannot apprehend Christ of himselfe.
drawne as 'twere by him
To see, and come to Christ. 'Tis not within
Mans owne ability; Oh no, I see
It is my God workes all this all in mee.
Thus hauing found his happy birth, I meane,
Happy to vs
sc. True be­leeuers.
spectators of this scene,
Though not to him that acted it; I now
The Story of our Sauiours life.
'Gin trace his holy life, for here I vow,
If hee but please to giue me aid and
For life.
breath,
I'le follow him a long euen to the death.
And thus returning back to Matthew, Marke,
And Luke; thence to my John (somewhat more darke,
Though being
His subiect is of Christ the true light.
full of light) I here did see
The Prologue was begun in miserie,
As earst I'ue said, the Acts that went betweene,
VVere not lesse grieuous: who, had hee but seene
[Page 115]His
Mat. 4.1, 2, 3, &c.
conflicts in the wildernesse, when hee
Was tempted of that grandest enemie
To him and vs; who is't againe that saw
Those wordy-warres hee had
Mat. 12. & 15.
about the Law
With th'enuious Scribes and Pharises, when they
Laid all their wicked plots how to betray
His innocence to death; but hee would bleed
In heart to thinke on such a horrid deed?
For hee, good Man, did neuer harme; nay sure
Hee was so farre from this, so godly pure,
That hee was good to all his very foes,
Had neuer better friend then him, yea'uen those
That
Luk. 23.34.
sought to take away his life; yet he
Was patient still. But would you farther see
His wondrous works of mercie, how hee heales
The
Reade Mat. 9.
sick, the blinde, the lame, to some reueales
His pow'r, by raising them from death, to some,
By casting diuels forth: yet when all's done,
Much like the thanklesse
Or, Gir­gesens. Mat. 8.34. Luk. 8.26, 37
Gadarens, they faine
Would haue him leaue their coasts, 'twas not their gaine,
They thought, to lose their swinish sins; No, no,
They'le rather part by far with Christ then so.
Thus did hee wander vp and downe, good man,
Hauing not
Luk. 9.58.
where to lay his head; and can
Wee tearelesse yet stand looking on? Sure no;
Or if there be a
One of a stony heart.
stone that can doe so;
My bowels yearne, I must confesse, when I
But thinke on this; nay more, my griefe-worne eye
Doth either ouerflow, or longs to bee
Made
Ier. 9.1.
Jer'mies weeping Well, when I but see
My Sauiour thus,
Ioh. 1.11.
hee comes vnto his
sc. his owne Countrimen.
owne,
But they receiue him not; nay worse, are growne
Mat. 13.57.
Offended with him. Thus hee goes about
Meeting with still increasing-griefes throughout
The course of all his life; yet in this case
Hee ceases not his worke, but shewes his Grace
To many a sad and sinfull soule: for hee
Was
For a Phy­sician.
Phisick vnto all that did but see,
Themselues were
Mat 9 12.
sick, and needed him: but those
That stood on their owne righteousnesse (his foes,
[Page 116]The Scribes and Pharises, who thought indeed
(
Or, Iust as, &c.
Much like the Papists now) they had no need
Of Christs all-sauing helpe, but did presume
To fly to Heau'n with that deceitfull plume
Of their owne works;) hee iustly leaues to bee
Condemn'd in this their gracelesnesse, to see
The fruits of their owne froward pride, when they▪
Will go to Heau'n, yet scorning
Ioh. 10.1, 7. & 14.6. Heb. 10.20.
Christ the way,
But to leaue them, I here returne againe
Vnto my Christ, whom I haue seene in paine,
Thus farre to trauell with the load which hee
Did take on him, only to set vs free.
Now for his vsuall
Ioh. 4.32, 34.
meat, this was indeed
To do his Fathers will, to go with speed,
And finish what hee came about, not fed
With fulnesse or variety of
Bread for all other kinds of meate.
bread,
As wee vnhappy
For too-much ful­nesse makes vs lumpish, and indispo­sed to any good perfor­mances.
lumpes; but was
2. Cor. 11.27 and reade Ioh. 4.6. Christ the perfect pat­terne of hu­militie.
with Paul
In fastings oft, in wearinesse, in all
Which might expresse his misery, so far
'Yond all the Sonnes of Adam, as they are
Inferiour in integritie to him,
Who neuer harbourd the least thought of sin;
Which well might adde vnto his griefes, yet hee
Was patient still; O hearers, come, and see
Wirh rented hearts, here is a wofull scene
Continued on: thus, thus did he demeane
Himselfe in euery Act, and thus was hee
That perfect patterne of humilitie:
But, O my soule! these are the acts betweene,
And sad enough; but O there lies vnseene
The very woe of all the rest; his death,
The manner of our Saui­ours Passion and death.
And passion, this that takes away my breath
With too fast running doubled sighes, that I
Shall ne'r bee able speake sufficiently
As I desire, or as I ought, beside
I'm dull'd with former griefes, my fount is dryde,
I haue not teares enough to spend, whereby
I might re-act this wofull Tragedy
In wotds, that nothing else but weepe: yet here
I must supply something of what while're
[Page 117](At first) I neuer thought to speake, when I
Began this worke; for there in breuitie,
I scarcely spake, saue of his death: but now
My soule hath vndergone a larger vow
(Being led by that all-ruling Sprite) which here
I must performe. And thus with wonted feare,
I enter'd on the Epilogue, where I
'Gan first obserue that wondrous Agonie,
My Sauiour in the
Ioh. 18.1. Luk. 22.3 [...], 44.
Garden had, when hee
Did pray so earnestly; Lord, if it be
Thy sacred will, then let this fearefull cup
Yet passe away, and I not drinke it vp.
This fearefull cup: Good God, what hideous draught
Was this, at which thou that wast so well taught
In bearing miseries, didst yet intreate
A scape from it! Sure, sure, that feare was great,
That made thy soule to shrinke, who couldst beare more
Then all the world besides: O then wherefore
Did'st thou yet feare my Lord? Alas,
What caus'd Christs feare in his agony.
thy Sprite
Thus answers me, 'Twas at th' amazing sight
Of mine, and euery sinners sinnes, which now
Were
Esay 53.6.
laid vpon thy back; because that thou
Would'st vndergo so much for vs, to bee
A
Vers 10.
Sacrifice for these our sinnes, that wee
Might bee disburdend quite of them, and so
Bee
Gal. 3.13.
freed from that accursed weight of woe
Which follow'd them; so great, so infinite,
That neither tongue can speake, nor pen can write:
And yet thy loue was growne so
Cant. 8.6.
strong, that thou
Didst beare them all for vs. Hence was it now
Thy present plunges were so great▪ and hence
It was thou felt'st such terrors in the sense
Of thy humanitie, that made thee call
Thy Deitie to helpe; hence was
Luk. 22 44.
the fall
Of those great drops of blood, which thou didst sweat
In this thy fearefull Agonie; and yet
Do I aske why thou didst intreat? Aye mee!
Some little glimpse of this mine eyes 'gan see
Within mine owne distressed man, when I
Prest with the weight of mine iniquity,
[Page 118]Did earst implore my God to helpe: for sure,
Of all the miseries I may endure,
There's none that paralels with this, to bee
Depriu [...]d of God, which to my griefe I see
My many sinnes do oft [...]ffect, whereby
I'm driuen to such great extremity,
I know not what to do, which makes mee craue
Either his sweet returne, or else my graue,
Rather then liue, and not with him, but here,
Alas, vnhappy wretch! all that I beare,
Is iustly for my sin, but thou my Lord,
Didst
1. Pet. 2.22.
neuer sin, neither in deed, nor word,
No, nor in thought so much▪ or were it so,
Yet what speake I of these my deepes of woe,
Which bee but flea-bites, as they say, if way'd
With these of thine? for thou, alas, wast laid
Downe in the lowest hell of griefe, to beare
All paines and punishments beyond compare,
Which wee, poore soules, should else haue borne, Ay mee.
Yet this not all, those that should comfort thee
In these thy great extremities, yea'uen they
Did
Mat. 26.40.
sleepe it out as wee doe now a day,
Seeming as senslesse of thy griefes, nor would
Bee brought to watch and pray one houre: so cold
Are our affections growne tow'rds thee, though thou
Do burne in loue tow'rds vs. But whither now?
Where strayes my Muse, I say? Is not this all?
Oh no;
Psal. 42.7. in our singing Psalmes.
One griefe another in doth call:
These plunges were no sooner past, but lo,
I see the Nuntius of another woe,
Luk. 22.47.
Judas, and all his following rout, for they
Are hard at hand, and ready to betray
This guiltlesse Lambe vnto the Wolues: but here
Tis worth the notice ere wee yet draw neere
To
The High Priest. Ioh. 18.13. Luk. 3.2.
Annas house, how that our Sauiour, when
Ioh. 18.4.
Knowing the hearts of these malicious men,
Hee boldly yet steps forth to them, and said,
Who is't yee seeke? Which when they had betrayd
By naming him, hee answers,
Vers. 6.
I AM [...]EE;
At which they starting back full suddenly
[Page 119]Fell downe vnto the ground. Here was a word
That plainly told indeed, HEE was the Lord,
Whom they did now resist: but, O my soule!
Couldst thou, my Lord, so suddenly controule
Those their presumings with a word, and yet
How was't thou seem'st so quickly to forget
Thy selfe by suffring them alone, to show
Their cruelties on thee? nay, which was moe,
Thou didst restraine thy
Ioh. 18.11.
Peter too, when hee
Drew forth his sword and would huae rescude thee:
But O, how doth my reason erre? for here
The
Esay 53.10 Mat. 26.54.
Scriptures were to bee fulfill'd while-ere
Which spake of thee; whence 'twas thou didst reply
To Peter with vndaunted constancy,
Ioh. 18.11.
The cup my Father giues, shall I not drinke?
Oh yes, I must and will; or may you thinke
'T will go but bad with you, for should I not,
Your selues must doe't. Thus as hee had forgot
What hee indeeed was of himselfe, hee goes
Along with them, euen these his cruell foes,
Without least show of murmuring, vntill
At length they had accomplish't all their ill
Concerning him. And first they brought him on
To
Vers. 13.
Annas, next, to his malicious son
Caiphas and Annas were the High Priests that time: See Luk. 3.2.
Caiphas (the then High Priest:) where harmelesse hee
Was most vniustly
Ioh 18.22.
smitten: next, wee see
Him led to Pilates Iudgement Hall, where when
They had not ought T'accuse him of, yet then
With most corrupted hearts they rather sought
To free their
Vers. 40.
Barabbas, though hee had wrought
Much wickednesse with them. Thus did they bring
Our Sauiour forth, yea'uen him that was the King
Of Heauen, and Earth, placing vpon his head
A Crowne of cruell thornes; thus was he led
With scourgings, scoffings and with all disgrace
That malice could inuent on to the place
Where hee was to bee crucified: yet here
(Wondrous to speake) hee did not once appeare
So much as to repine, but went along
Much like a Lambe, ne'r muttring out the wrong
[Page 120]They did to him. And thus the Scriptures ought
To bee fulfill'd; thus was hee to bee brought
Vnto the slaughter,
Esay. 53.7.
as our Esay said,
Yet opening not his mouth; on whom were laid
The iniquities of all; and thus indeed
He was that true vnblemish'd
Leuit. 6.6. See Ioh. 1.29.
Lamb wee need
To bee our sacrifice for sin. But here,
O stay, my soule, and though thou want a teare
To weepe at this sad sight, yet let it bee
Thy wish to imitate what thou dost see;
I meane, thy Sauiour [...] patient steps: for lo,
Here's patience fit for all the Saints to know;
Yea know, and imit [...]e: but I forbeare,
And turne vnto my Christ againe euen where
I left him going on but, O my heart!
A check to my heart for not weeping at this pas­sage.
VVhence is't thou look'st on this most tragick part,
And yet not burst thy selfe to teares? Alas,
Art thou so strained vp with walles of brasse,
As yet thou canst not breake? what? shall I say,
Thou want'st a teare to celebrate this day
Of these thy Sauiours pass [...]nings? VVhy then
Come all the griefes of miserable men,
And set on [...] once, yet bee thou still
As hard as rock: ne'r weepe at any ill,
If not at this; ne'r weepe to see thy friends
Not pity thee; ne'r weepe to see their
For dear [...].
ends;
Ne'r weepe at any worldly crosse; nay more,
If thou seeme senslesse of this only sore,
And wilt not weepe to see so sad a part,
Ne'r bee thou hence call'd by the name of heart.
But O my
Because the heart i [...] the fountaine of life in man.
life! VVhy dost thou ake, and burne
So sore within my brest? VVhy dost thou mourne
So oft in secret deep fetcht sighes, and yet
Not weepe a teare? Alas, canst thou forget
Thy quondam vse, when thou wouldst freely weepe
And not bee staid? O 'twas a happy deepe
Thou then wast in, when griefe knew how to plaine
It selfe in teares, and so dismisse the paine.
But woe is mee, my fainting
1. Cor. 2.11.
sprite hath seene
Those heauier plunges that thou now art in,
[Page 121]And knowne them too-too well; Alas, my heart!
Faine wouldst thou personate this passiue part
In a more seemely weed of teares; but lo,
Thy time's not come, when God will haue it so,
Then sure it shall be so: meane while I pray,
Rest thee content, and follow on thy way.
Thus turning to my Christ againe; behold,
I finde him brought (as
Esay 53.7.
Esay had foretold)
On to his slaughter-place, where hee, good man,
Though forst by them, yet willingly began
T' embrace his latest Crosse, that wofull bed,
Whereon hee was to lay his wearied head,
In these his greatst extremes of death: but here,
O cursed Iewes, could not you yet forbeare
To cast your scorning taunts on him? Sure no;
The
Psal. 22 7, 8. Math. 27.39, 41, 42, 43, &c. Luk 22.37.
Scriptures had foretold, it should bee so;
You would not, could not choose. But cruell eyes!
What malice could haue wisht more miseries
To fall on him, then now you saw, that yet
Your wicked braines still studied how to get
Some new-inuented grieuances, whereby
To adde vnto his deepes of misery,
And
Psalm. 69. [...]6.
persecute whom God had smit? But O,
Why do I question more of this? for lo,
Your browes were
Esay 48.4.
brasse, and you were
Acts 2 23.
fore-decreed
To bee the Actors of this horrid deed:
Wherefore I now returne againe, and come
Vnto my Sauiours latest part; the Summe
And woe of all the rest, that dreary seene
Which now hee was to vndergoe, I meane
On this sad Scaffold of his latest crosse;
His Agonie in the Gar­den was [...]na sensu [...], but his last suffring on the Crosse [...]: Hayward.
The first was paine of sense, but this of [...]:
That was his bodies paine, but here againe:
His paine of soule, which is the soule o [...] pa [...]e.
For now behold (not to enlarge my verse
With each sad circumstance) I here rehearse
Only that one expreslesse plunge (of all
The great'st that euer was) when hee did call
At his extremest gaspe
Our Sauiors death and last plu [...]ge especialy notable.
My God, my God,
Why hast thou (now) forsaken mee? What rod
[Page 122]Was it that strook this wondrous blow? Aye mee!
My blessed Christ, what? God forsaken Thee?
Thy selfe forsake thy selfe? O thou my life!
How could this b [...]e? Ne'r was there fatall knife
Could cut this threed; no: Thus it came to passe,
Thy Sprite (of loue) hath told mee how it was:
Now was that wofull time at hand, wherein
Th'intolerable weight, and
Gal. 3.13.
curse of sin,
Which I and all the world had done, were cast
Vpon thy backe at once; Now was that last
And very vtmost deepe which thou while-ere
Didst seeme in thy humanity to feare▪
Now didst thou drinke of that accursed cup
Which earst thou didst intreat thou mightst not sup,
Vnlesse it were thy Fathers will; and here
Behold it was his will, and thou didst beare
Those heauie brunts alone for vs: from whence
It was indeed thou hadst such feeling sense
Of these thy miseries in vs,
Gal. 3.13, 14.
that wee
Might thereby feele our happinesse in thee.
Nay more, thou now of
Ioh. 15.13.
wondrous loue hadst tooke
Our
1. Pet. 2.24.
sinnes on thee; whence 'twas thy God forsooke
Or seem'd at least forsake thee thus▪ and why?
'Tis sin indeed vndoes that happy tie
Betwixt humanity, and God▪ for this
Is that whi [...]h
Esay 59.2.
sep'rates vs from all our blisse▪
I meane, from God▪ and this is it which made
Him thus withdraw himselfe from thee or shade▪
As 'twere, his present [...]dance from thy sight,
And leaue thee to thy selfe, prest with the weight
Of sin, and hell: and of thy Fathers rage
'Gainst these our si [...]es, since thou would'st so engage
Thy selfe for vs: and here thy soule was brought
Downe to the low [...]st plunge of woe▪ where nought
VVas left to comfort thee: but thou meane while
Being made as 'twe [...]e a desolate
Or [...].
ex [...]le.
From all true happinesse, didst vndergo
Such sad expreslesse pangs▪ that none can know
Their depth, but thou that suffer'dst them: nay, sure
That only paine of losse thou didst endure,
[Page 123]VVas more by farre in reference to thee,
Then hells most cruell torturings can bee
In reference to vs. VVhat shall I say?
This was indeed a lamentable day
For thy pure eies to see; ne'r was there griefe
Like vnto this of thine, where all reliefe
VVas held so long from thee: and here indeed,
I found that true, which I ere-while did reade,
Foretold of thee, thy
Esay 53.2.
comlynesse was gone,
And forme or beauty there (alas) was none,
To make thee now desir'd: Thou wast a man
Of
Vers. 3.
sorrow, friend of griefe, whence wee began
To hide our faces 'way from thee, or thou
Didst hide as 'twere from vs: Thus didst thou bow
Thy righteous back to heare our griefes, while wee
Like cruell Iewes, went on in tort'ring thee
By adding sin to sin: Thus didst thou
Math. 27.46, 50.
cry
Aloud for vs▪ and thus for vs didst die:
Didst die? yea, more, didst
Luk 24.6, 7. Christs Re­surrection.
rise againe, that wee
Might rise againe from sin, and bee made free
From all the pow'r [...] of death, and hell; and then,
Being thus reuiu'd by thee to liue agen
The happy life of Grace▪ till thou shalt please
To call vs gently hence, and sweetly seize
Vpon our soules, to carrie vs vp on high,
To liue with thee through all eternitie,
The endlesse life of Glorie, there where wee
Shall sing of nothing else but praise to thee.
But, O my God, thou, thou that hast been pleasd
To ayde mee hitherto; thou that hast easd
My wearied soule at length in this sweet Ford,
The sacred Spring of thy all-sauing VVord,
Come here againe, and as it pleas'd thee show
Those mirrours of thy loue to m [...]e, euen so
Enable mee, as thou hast said, that I
May sing thy mercies to posterity,
In a ne'r-dying verse, whereof each word
May speake my thankfulnesse, and each afford
Eternall matter of thy praise; Nay, more,
May here bee found a salue for euery sore,
[Page 124]To each good soule that euer felt the smart,
And terrors of a truly contrite heart.
Come then, my sweet Vrania, come againe,
And raise thy selfe, here change thy dolefull straine,
Into some happier notes of ioy, and here
Come, come, my sprites, I charge you all appeare
In ioyous readinesse, yea, soule and all.
Giue your attendance to my instant call:
For now behold, I speake; Come, come away
To celebrate this high-made Holy-day
Of reconcilement with my God. First then,
O thou sole Guider of my tongue, and pen,
And all my thoughts, and all my Acts, whiles they
Are good: Lo, here I humbly come to pay
My tributarie thanks, that thou hast brought
Me hitherto, the place which earst I sought;
And here hast rais'd my soule againe, to see▪
Those wondrous things which thou hast done for me,
When I was past recouerie; if thou
Hadst not been timely mercifull, and now
Redeem'd me by thy loue, as thou hast done,
Though by the death of [...] owne onely Sonne,
Thine owne beloued Sonne: but O my
Deut. 30.20
life,
Life of my soule, I say, whence is the
Gen. [...]5.22.
strife
I feele in me, if this be so; that I
Am subiect yet to Satans tyrannie,
And cannot praise thee as I would▪ for lo,
My sinnes step still betweene, and [...] so,
I cannot raise my drow [...]ie eies to see,
As here I ought, thy wondrous [...] to mee.
But O my God! here is the reason sure
Of this my miserie; thine eies so pure
Will not vouchsafe to loo [...] [...]; I meane,
In smiling sort, because I am not [...]:
But thou conceal'st thy co [...]nce, 'cause I
Haue broke, indeed, thy Lawes most [...]ankelesly
Both in my thoughts, and [...] ▪ and yet, alas▪
I am not truly penitent, but p [...]sse
My time in senslesnesse as 'twere, and [...]
Burst forth in teares, to wash away the blot
[Page 125]Of this my great ingratitude: aye mee,
All this is true, my God; for
Psal. 139.1, 2
thou dost see
My secret paths: and yet behold, thine eyes
Do also see my griping miseries,
How oft indeed I grieue, and sigh, and groane,
Because I am become so dead a stone;
And cannot weep, as faine I would: but here,
O thou my Lord! why should I further feare
At these mine owne deficiencies? behold,
My Sauiour burnd in loue▪ though I am cold;
His wounds did weepe, to wash away my sin,
Though I am dull; O cast thine eyes on him!
Or looke on mee, but as in Him, that when
Thou seest me, thou mayst finde mee clear'd, and then
Thou canst not bee displeas'd with mee, for hee
Hath made a full supply of all to thee,
In my behalfe. What shall I say? hee bore
My
Esay 53, 4, 5 1. Pet. 2.24.
sins, and griefes, as well thou know'st; yea, more,
Hee hath fulfill'd thy Law for me: and thou
Thy selfe
[...]al. 1.4. & 4.4, 5.
wouldst haue him so: yea sure and now
Thou'st also led mee by thy Sprite to him,
In these my deepes of misery, and sin,
To salue, and solace vp my soule; and I
Appeale to thee vnder no other tye
Or
Acts 4.12.
name but his, that
Phil. 3.9.
being found alone
Hauing his righteousnesse, and not mine owne,
(For I, alas, haue none) I thus might bee
Made perfect in thy sighs, and so might see,
And know my selfe linkt in thy loue, whereby
I'm bound to thee in this eternall tye
Of praise, and thankfulnesse. Here then, my Lord,
Come take me to thy selfe; here let thy VVord
Speake comfort to my soule; that I may bee
From hence accounted thine; here take from mee
All that is mine, my sinnes, I meane, and hence
Compose mee for thy se [...]e; Refine my sense,
With all mine inward faculties, that I
May bee made wholy thine: Let not mine eye
So much as look on what I loue, vnlesse
It please thee sanctifie the same, and blesse
[Page 126]Its sight, and vse to mee for good; and let
Mee here intreate thee teach mee to forget
Psal. 45.10.
My fathers house, this earth, I meane, that so
My soule may hence (with that
Vers. 13.4.
faire daughter) go
Vnto the King, my Christ, and there may bee
Presented glorious, all within to thee,
Roab'd only with his Righteousnesse, and thou
May'st
Vers. 11.
greatly cast thy loue on mee; for now,
Behold, I haue giu'n o're my selfe to be
Thy worshipper alone, who art to mee
My only Lord. Here will I set my heart
As
Psal. 45.1.
Dauid earst, to act its thankfull part
Of prayses to the King; here shall my pen
Become his
Which was the Pen of a ready writer.
tongue; here will I show to men
The wondrous
Ephes. 2.7.
Riches of thy loue, which thou
Hast showne to mee. Come then (my friends) for now
I will begin;
Psal. 66.16.
Come yee that feare the Lord,
Come all, I say, attend to euery word
Which I shall speake; here will I show to you
(Such things as may deserue the choycest view)
What God hath done for my poore soule, when I
Was
Psal. 118.5.
in distresse; first please you cast an eye
But back on these my many griefes, which bee
Set dully forth in this sad mappe by mee;
And you shall finde, if you haue eyes to looke,
That can refraine from drowning my poore booke,
With interrupting teares, whiles you peruse
The heauie plunges of my sorry Muse;
There shall you finde, I say, what deeps of griefe
My soule was in, there shall you finde in briefe,
The
Psal. [...]16.3.
fearefull'st plunges, and extremest smart
That euer did beset so weake a heart,
O're-whelming mee at once; there is the paine
My soule endur'd, which stroue so long in vaine,
To be redeem'd from sin; the heauiest loade
That euer yet poore wretched man abode;
There may you see the feares, despaires, and all
The sad euents that euer could befall
A perfect sinfull wretch, oppressing mee
So sore on euery side, that you may bee
[Page 127]Made tremble, but to thinke vpon't; for I
VVas sure, me thought, past all recouerie:
Yea, sure, I was in mans conceit, my soule
VVas pris'ner fast to death, writ in the roule
Of hells accursed bookes, and could not stirre
One foot so much, vnlesse it were to erre
Into some greater deepe of sinne, whereby
I needs must fall to greater miserie.
This was my case (deare friends) wherein I lay,
Bereft of helpe full many a tedious day;
So that I knew not what to doe, nor where
I might betake my selfe; all that was here,
Within this earth, I meane, did seeme to me
But as some friends of mine, which faine would be
Accounted so, but in my deepes of griefe,
They were so farre from sending me reliefe,
That at my greatest need my hopes prou'd vaine,
Thus did they helpe to adde vnto my paine.
And thus, alas, I still continued on
From bad to worse, till I was so o're-gone
VVith my increasing killing sinnes, that I
Had lost all sense of mine owne miserie;
VVhich show'd indeed, I was quite
Ephes. 2.1, 2
dead in sin,
Such was the fearefull case my soule was in.
But here behold, now you haue seene a briefe,
Or shaddow of my former tedious griefe,
And wofull deepes that I was in; I say,
Behold, when all things else were fled away,
And would not, could not comfort me; euen then
(O here was loue surpassing that of men,)
My God alone tooke hold on me, when I
VVas in my greatest deepe of miserie,
Enslau'd to sinne,
Ezek. 16.6
polluted in my blood,
(A loathsome lumpe of any thing but good,)
And there he sweetly ray [...]'d me vp, and said
Vnto me, [...]iue; lo, I will be thine aide,
(For all things else are vaine) e'en I alone,
I will redeeme thee, for besides there's none
That can redeeme;
Exod. 33.19 Rom. 9.15, 16
I will, because I will,
Of my free Grace, for thy deserts are ill,
[Page 128]As all the rest thy kinreds are, which came
From sinfull Adams loynes,
1. Sa. 12.22. Esay 43..5. & 48.11.
for mine owne Name
And goodnesse sake, I will that hence thou be
A vessell wholly consecrate to me
In holinesse. Thus did he leade me on,
As I haue showne, his sacred Word along,
Till from Mount
From the Law to the Gospell.
Sinai he had brought me vp
To Sions hill; where he gaue me the cup
Of his saluation freely, and mine eie
Began to see that happie
Ephes. 1.4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, notable to il­lustrate this.
Mysterie
Of his abundant loue in Christ, which he
Did sweetly there begin lay ope to me:
Lay ope indeed; for 'twas a treasurie
Of loue beyond conceit, the time when I
Was in my deepest plunge, prest downe by sin
Euen to despaire, the time when I was in
The very Iawes of Hell, euen then, I say,
When there was left for me none other way,
Then did my gracious God in kindnesse come
And take me vp, then did he send his Sonne,
His owne beloued Sonne, downe from on high;
And rather then hee'd suffer me to lye
In those eternall bonds of death▪ to be
Still thrall'd to Hells expreslesse miserie,
Whereto my selfe had brought my selfe, euen he,
His onely Sonne, would needs come downe to be
My
Gal. 1.4. & 3.13.
Ransomer; his loue was growne so great,
Hee'd rather leaue his wonte glorious seat
Of Maiestie, then see me thus; yea more,
Hee'd be my suretie too,
Esay 53 4. 1. Pet. 2.24.
for sure he bore
My sinnes, and griefes; he vnder-went the paine
Of death and hell for me; nought could restraine
His forward wings of speakelesse loue, but he
Would straight
Phil. 2.6, 7, 8.
vn-God himselfe, as 'twere, and be
Made man like vs, he would descend from high,
Where's earst he sate in his felicitie,
And glorie inexpressible; that he
Might take on him our poore humanitie,
The ragges of our
Gal. 3.13.
accursed flesh, wherein
He might in person answer for the sin
[Page 129]That we had done; he would become our Gage,
To vndergoe his fathers heauie rage
And wrath, so iustly due to vs; that wee
From out the hell of this our low degree,
Might bee raisd vp so high from death, from sin,
And all those deepes of misery, wherein
Wee earst lay fast implung'd, as to bee made
His happy
Rom. 8.29
Images, to haue a shade
Of his Diuinitie as 'twere, and bee
Made
Ephes. 4.24
like to him in holinesse; that wee
Might bee made
Ephes. 2.19.
Citizens of Grace, and hence
Might leade a life beyond the Spheare of sense,
That happy life of
Hab. 2.4. Gal. 2.20.
faith, I meane, in him,
Till hee e're long come end these dayes of sin,
And take vs wholy to himselfe, where we
Shall liue with him through all eternitie,
In neuer ending speakelesse ioyes, which hee
Hath merited for vs. Thus may you see
What God hath done for my poore soule, when I
Was in distresse: thus did hee
2. Cor. 12.9
magnifie
Himselfe in this weake man of mine, which hee
Hath so redeem'd to bee
1. Cor. 6.19
his owne to bee
Made only blest by being so. But here,
O thou my God, why wouldst thou yet appeare
So rig'rous to thine only Son, that hee
Should bee
Gal. 3.13, 14.
accurst thus with our miserie,
To blesse vs with his happinesse? Alas!
Thou surely could'st haue brought thy will to passe
By any other easier meanes; and then,
If needs thou'dst bee so good to vs, poore men,
By sauing vs aliue, why didst thou yet
Thus leaue thy Son, as seeming to forget
Thy loue to him, and show it vs? Why, sure,
With thee 'twas small, still to haue kept vs pure,
And n'er haue suffer'd vs to fall, if thou
Would'st endeare thy selfe to vs, as now
Thou show'st thou hadst decreed to doe; and hee
(Thy Christ I meane) might stil haue staid with thee,
In his owne speakelesse happinesse, and not
Haue spilt his precious blood to wash this spot
[Page 130]Of sin from our defiled soules. Oh no;
My reason erres, thy loue was more then so:
Thou would'st not buy vs thus for nought, though wee
VVere thine before indeed, as dues to thee
That had'st created vs of nought: but here
Thou needs would'st haue thy wondrous loue appeare,
By making vs to see our selues, what wee
VVere of our selues without depends on Thee,
To wit, meere slaues to sin, and death; and then
To
2. Cor. 6.20
buy vs with a price so high, that men
Cannot conceiue its speake lesse worth, so deare
As thine owne only Son. Hence did appeare
The wondrous
Ephes. 2.7, 8
riches of thy loue, which thou
Indeed didst show to mee and them, that now
Are thine alone by Grace: What shall I say?
Here's loue indeed beyond Compare; the day
Of my short life would surely faile, if I
Should striue but to expresse it worthily,
As it deserues. VVhat then? VVhy surely now
Ile onwards in my thanks, here will I vow,
And pay vnto my God. But what haue I,
Poore soule, to pay? Sure, I will thankfully
Take
Psal. 116.13, 14.
Dauids cup; here will I on, and call
Vpon his name: here will I sacre all
That e'r I haue vnto his praise; and now,
O thou my Lord, bee present with my vow,
And sweetly ayde thy seruant on, till hee
My conse­cration to God.
Performe at full what e'r hee vowes to thee.
First then, my God, here doe I hence commend
My selfe into thine hands; here I [...]urrend
That right thou iustly hast in mee by Grace,
And
That is, na­ture in its puritie.
nature both; here come and take thy place
Within this
1. Cor. 6.19
temple of thine owne, I meane,
This man of mine; Come thou, [...]d make it cleane
By thy alone pure-purging Sprite, and hence
Vouchafe to make continuall Residence
Vnder this lowly roofe of my
Esay 57.15, & 66.2.
poore heart,
Whereof thy selfe art Lord, that chiefest part
And roome of all my clayey house; wherein
Thou'rt also wont to take delight, if sin
[Page 131](That cursed foe of mine) come not before,
And keep thee out, by
Gen. 4.7.
lying at the doore.
But, O my God, hence let it not bee said,
That thy Omnipotence should bee afraid
At such a nothing as it were, that it
Should keepe thee out, and as a Tyrant, fit
Vsurping proudly on thy right▪ Oh no,
Bee thou thy selfe, my God; Come here and sho [...]
Thy all-commanding power, and let not sin
Dare make a start so much to enter in,
And domineere on what is thi [...]:
Psal. 119.94
for I
Am wholy thine. Come, come, and magnifie
Thy selfe in my infirmities, that hence,
Led as it were by thy Omnipotence,
I may bee alwayes doing good; nay, more,
And alwayes take delight therein: for sure,
That only giues mee true delight, when I
Am doing so in sweet dependency
On thee, my God, the chiefest good. O come
And banish throughly, as thou hast begun,
Away from mee those my most dangerous foes,
Which earst o'rewhelm'd mee with so many woes;
All my despairing thoughts I meane, and all
My thoughts of vanity, which did enthrall
My soule while ere so fast to hell, that I
Was brought into such deepes of misery,
I knew not what long time to doe. Come, come,
Euen for the Passion of thine only Son,
And free me from these tyrannies. Nay, hence
Let mee be ty'd to any paine of sense
Rather then this of
Or, of soule. sc. the losse or want of Gods ioying counte­nance, of all paines most miserable.
losse, of losse, I say,
Of thy sweet countenance. O let the day
Of that alone shine still on mee, and then
Come all the gloomy frownes of mortall men;
Come all the stormy pow'rs of Death, of Hell;
Come any thing; in thee I shall bee well:
In thee alone I shall bee well; in thee,
Knit fast (I meane) in Christ, by that sweet tye
Of thine abundant loue through him: for hee
Hath broke the bonds of hell, and set mee free;
[Page 132]Hee hath
Psal. 103.4.
redeem'd my life from death, that I
Should hence enioy the
Rom. 8.21.
glorious libertie
Of those that are thy happyed sonnes; and hence
Psal. 116, 9.
Walke on alone in thy Omnipotence,
Still prosp'ring in thy waies, which is to be
Raysd vp to heau'n, whiles yet on earth, to mee
The very chiefest happinesse that I
VVould here desire. O let mee liue, and dye
VVithin these links of thy sweet loue: for here
My hopes are firme with
Rom. 8.
Paul, no faithlesse feare
Can breake this
Ibid. vers. 29, 30.
chaine by which I'm tyde; for I
Am thine
Vers. 1.
in Christ: there's no cal [...]mity,
Vers. 38. and last.
Nor life, nor death, things present, nor to come,
Nor height, nor depth, nor ought that may be done,
Can sep'rate mee from thee in Christ. And now
VVhat yet remaines? here will I pay my vow
Of thankfulnesse to thee, my God, yea'uen here,
Led onwards in thy
Psal. 71.16.
strength, Ile sweetly steere
My leaking boate along, till it hath brought
My wearied muse vnto the shore shee sought
VVith so oft doubled teares, and sighes. But here,
O you my friends, you all I meane that feare
The Lord with me, pray ioyne your helping hand,
That wee the sooner may obtaine the Land.
Come then, I say, wee all that are combin'd
To God in Christ, hence let vs bee refin'd
From all our
Eph. 4. [...]2.
former vanities; from hence
Let vs shake off those menstruous clouts of sense,
VVhich earst wee were polluted with, and now
Bee cloath'd
Eph. 4.23, 24.
anew with Christ; hence let vs vow
Our selues as holy to the Lord, that wee
May still
Vers. 13, 15
grow vp in fai [...]hs sweet vnitie,
Till wee bee perfect men in Christ. Come, come,
Let others doe they know not what, go on
Still reu'ling in their ills, let them [...]ke vp
The seeming sweets of sins impoys'ned cup;
Let them carouse in vanity, and draw
Iniquity with ropes, ne'r stand in aw'
Of future iudgements; Let them
Ier. 5.28.
prosper still
As they suppose, by adding ill to ill;
[Page 133]Let them be carelesse of themselues, and spend
Their precious daies, ne'r thinking on the end.
Let them make flesh their guide, taking delight
In their owne lusts, still glorying in the hight
Of their ambitious titles, and their wealth,
Got by obliquitie, and lawlesse stealth:
Let them
Esay 3.16, 17 18, 19, &c.
be-pride themselues in rich attires
And robes of State, burning with lawlesse fires
Of lusts not to be nam'd; let them be fed
With choycest meates, and glutted vp with bread,
Ier. 5.7, 8.
Like pampred Horses to the full: I say,
Let them spend all their happinesse away
In these and such like vanities, nor thinke
On death at all, thou standing at the brinke
Of their vncertaine graues, and heau'ns high hand
Of vengeance ouer them doth alwaies stand
Readie to strike them downe to hell: but we
Will ioy alone in this sweet libertie
We haue in
Rom. 8.1. 1. Cor. 7.22.
Christ, we will delight, I say,
Our selues in him, in him wee'l vow, and pay
Our dues of praise vnto our God; in him
Wee'll hence
Rom 8.37. Our safety and sweet priuiledges in Christ.
triumph o're all the pow'rs of Sin,
Of death, and Hell: in Him we will expresse
Our vtmost thanks by liues of
Eph. 4.24.
holinesse,
And
Psal. 116.9.
walking in his waies, till by the hand
Of his
Psal. 143.10
good Sprite, hee'th brought vs to the Land
Of righteousnesse where we would be: on Him
We will build all our confidence, and clim
To
Ioh. 1.51. refer'd to Gen. 28.12.
Heau'n alone by Him,
Psal. 91.4.
vnder his wings
Wee'l alwaies shrowd our selues, nor shall the Kings
Of th'earth be able doe vs harme, though they
Psal. 2.1, 2.
Rage ere so much. Our foes shall melt away
Like Snow against the Sun: and 'cause wee'ue made
The
Ps. 91.1, 9.
Lord our dwelling place, vnder his shade
We shall be surely safe; ye [...],
Psal 46.2.
though the earth
Be mou'd, with all the pow'rs thereof, though death
Triumph on
Vers. 7.
euerie side of vs, yet wee
Shall surely be preseru'd, and liue to see
The wondrous riches of his loue, wherein
He hath endear'd himselfe to vs: through him
[Page 134]We shall passe all these nether-stormes, and spight
Of all with-stands, walke onwards in the light
Of his sweet countenance, still singing praise
Vnto his Name, till he at length shall raise
Our Muses to a higher pitch, where we
Shall sing his praises to eternitie,
In his ne'r-ending place of blisse, euen there
Where he himselfe remaines, where neither feare,
Nor griefe shall interrupt our ioyes, but we
Shall haue our fills of all felicitie,
And glory inexpressible; the hight,
And chiefe of which is in the
In beatifica visione Dei, as Diuines say.
blessed sight
Of this our glorious God,
1. Cor. 13.12. 1. Iohn 3.2.
whom we shall see
There face to face, euen as he is; yea, bee
Made like to him: what would you haue me say?
Mine eyes are dazled at this glorious day;
And reason stands amaz'd, when it would reach
This wondrous hight; how shall a Mortall preach
Of this immortall state? O had mine eye
But one sweet glimpse of this, how should I tye
Your eares vnto my tongue, when I should speake
Of what I saw? 'twould make your hearts to breake,
With earnest longings after it; and you
Would scorne from hence so much as take a view
Of these inferiour vanities, which be
But toyes as 'twere, not worth your thoughts, and flee
Away almost as soone as come; withall
Leauing behind them nought but cursed gall,
And bitternesse, to vex, and gripe, and grieue
Those foolish soules which did ere-while beleeue
Their false pretended sweets: but here alone
Is
Psal. 16.11.
fulnesse of all true delight, where none
Can euer be deceiu'd, vnlesse it be
As that wise
1. King. 10.
Queene of Sheba was, when she
Heard of the glory of King Sal [...]on,
And of his happinesse; but when anon
She came and saw it with her eyes, she than
1. King. 10 5, 6. Vers. 7.
In great amazednesse thereat began
Confesse, that all was true; yea sure the fame
Said she, came farre too short. If then the name
[Page 135]Of Salomon were such, behold, here's one
That's
Mat. 12.42. Luke 11.31.
greater farre then was King Salomon:
What shall I say of him! sure, my report
Will speake but truth, and yet come so farre short,
As finite doth of infinite: what then
1. King. 10.8
She spake of Salomon, and of his men,
So may I speake to thee, my God; O how,
How happie are thy Saints, which fall and bow
Before thy Maiestie? Happie, I say,
Are those that haue the priuiledge to stay
Continually with thee, there to behold
Thy glorious face, wherein,
Psal. 16.11.
as Dauid told,
Are ioyes at full▪ and sit at thy right hand,
VVhere pleasures liue for euermore; where stand
Thy blessed troopes of glorious Saints, that sing
Eternall
Reuel. 19.1, 6.
Halleluia's to their King,
To thee their King, to thee alone; for thou
Art onely
Reuel. 4.11.
worthy, O my God. And now
Here doe I craue to ioyne with them, euen I,
Though yet on earth, here doe I thankefully
Fall downe before thy glorious Throne, and here
In humbled confidence and holy feare,
I offer my poore mite to thee of praise
And thankfulnesse, in these my lowly Layes.
All glorie be to thee, my God, to Thee
And to the Lambe (which
Reuel. 5.9.
hath redeemed mee
By his deare blood) and to the sacred Sprite,
The
Ioh. 15.26.
Comforter, and pledge of true delight,
Which hath been with me hitherto, and brought
My soule into thy peace. Sure I haue nought
That's worth thy great acceptance, Lord; for I
Am poore, thou know'st, and full of miserie,
Happie in nothing else but thee, I meane,
By being thine; and yet I [...] vncleane;
(
Leuit. 13.45
Vncleane, alas, vncleane well may I cry,
Come thou and wash away my Leprosie,
And make me fit for being thine) O then
What shall I pay (who am the worst of men)
To thee for all thy mercies, Lord? VVhy here
Ile pay thee with
1. Chron. 29 14. 1. Cor. 6.20▪
thine owne, the case is cleare;
[Page 136]I offer vp my selfe to thee, with all
That here I haue; hence may it please thee call,
And count me wholly for thine owne: for now
I bid farwell vnto the world, and vow
In thy sweet aide, eternall enmitie
To all my wonted sinnes, to vanitie,
And euery luring baite of hell. And here
I humbly doe deuote my selfe in feare,
And holinesse to thee, my God, that I
May still be praysing thee vntill I die,
In all my thoughts, and words, and acts; and hence
May walke along by faith, and not by sense,
Still gladded with thy countenance, till I
Haue ouer-past the present miserie
Of this short life, and till my soule at length
Being cloath'd vpon with that immortall strength
Of my blest
Phil. 3.21.
Sauiour Christ, shall sweetly flee
Into thine hands, there to remaine with thee
In thy expreslesse happinesse, till thou
In that last day shalt swiftly come, and bow
The heau'ns, and raise my body vp (though dead
And rotned dust) and ioyne it to my
Ephes. 1.22.
Head
And Sauiour Christ, where it againe shall bee
Vnited to my soule,
Iob 19.26, 27.
and I shall see
My Sauiour with these very eyes, euen I,
Together with that blessed company
Of glorious Saints; where our immortall Layes
Shall neuer cease to celebrate thy praise.
Meane while, my Muse, here take thy long'd for rest
On this sweet shore, here liue amongst the blest
In euer happie Sympathies, and be
Vr [...] ab [...] & Heauen, quasi [...]sa C [...]el [...]s [...].
Celestiall, like thy selfe. Here cease with me,
Thy wonted tearie straines, and let thine eyes
Be solace'd still in holy Theories
And contemplations of thy God, till he
Shall raise thee vp beyond mortalitie,
To ioyne with his celestiall Quire, and sing
Eternall Halleluiahs vnto
Reuel. 5.13
Him,
And to the Lambe for euermore: Till when,
Cease not to pray,
Reuel. 22. [...]0.
Lord Iesus, come. Amen.
FINIS.

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