SAd Experience confirms, what THE ANCI­ENT OF DAYES foretold; That the last Times shall be worst: For, in this Dotage of the World (where Atheism stands at the right hand of Profaneness, and Superstition on the blinde Side of Ignorance; where there is unmer­cifull Oppression, and overmerciful Connivence) her be­loved Favorites, (who are of past things mindeless, of fu­ture regardless, having different Opinions, yet but one RELIGION, Money, one GOD, Mammon) do laugh at OTHERS, who fall not down, and worship the Gol­den Image that secular Nabuchodonisors have set up; But, let them, who think themselves safe in the Herd, being night-wildred in their Intellects, prosecute their Sensuality, which will soon, like Dalila, put out their Eyes; For, earthly Complacencies, and exteriour Gaities are not only Chaff in the hand, VANITIE, but also Chaff in the Eye, VEXATION OF SPIRIT. How art thou, foolish World, loaden with Sin, fond of Trifles, neglect­ing Objects fit for CHRISTIANS, fit for Men! Could thy Minions consider, that thou canst give but what thou hast, a smoak of Honour, a shadow of Riches, a sound of Pleasure, a blast of Fame, which can neither adde to Length nor Happiness of Life; That thy whole Self art an overdeer Bargain, if bought of the Devil, at the expence of a deadly Sin, when as sudden Chance or Sicknesse may snatch and rend them hence in a Mo­ment, [Page] they would not then so madly rant it as they do, but court Sobreity, being aware of the Dangers that proceed from, and wait upon the abused Opulency of an indulgent Fortune, whose Caresses are apt to swell into Exorbitances of Spirit, and run wildly into Disso­luteness of Manners. But, for want of Circumspection, Men grow covetous as Iewish Merchants, ambitious as Eastern Potentates, factious as the giddy Multitude, revengefull as Iealousie, and proud as Vsurpers; though soon such swallow'd Baits dissolve into a gally Bitter­nesse; Wherefore, it were highly to be wished, that in the midest of their Extravagancies they would ponder, that nothing is more unhappy then the Felicity of Sin­ners, who prosper as if they were the Beloved of GOD, when, indeed, by His Patience they are only (probably) hardned to their more dreadful Destruction! How, how will eternal Anguish be aggravated by temporary past Happinesse! If we contemplate what unspeakable Tor­ments are for ever there, we should have no cause to envie Worldlings Prosperity, but rather wonder that their Portion on Earth is not greater, and that ever they should be sensible of Sicknesse, Affront or Trouble; since, if their Fortunatenesse should far exceed their Ambition, it could not any way recompence that Tor­ture for an Hour, which yet shall hold to the Duration of an infinite Eternity! when as all the Play and Pa­geantry of Earth is ever changing▪ and nothing abides but the Stage of the World, and the Spectator GOD. That Blisse is not true of whose Eternity we may doubt▪ View then, Christian Reader, the Folly of [...]ll Counsell unmaskt, and demonstrated that all Policie is wretched [Page] without Piety, without Scriptural Wisdom, without CHRIST the Essential Wisdom; And that all Iniquity has so much of Iustice in it, that it usually condemns, yea leads it self to Execution; witnesse Absolons Head, Achi­tophels Hands, and the Surrender of Caesars Cittadell, (summoned by Iudgements Herald, and all his Glories Cobweb-guard yielded to the Storm) just before the Statue of Pompey, whose Ruine he had so ambitiously pursued. Would then any Wise man choose to be Cae­sar for his Glorie, Absolon for his Beauty, Achitophel for his Policie, Dives for his Wealth, or Iudas for his Office? Seeing then that Happinesse consists not in the Affluence of Exorbitant Possessions, nor in the Hu­mours of fickle Honour, all external Splendors being unsatisfactory, let Christians neglect terrestrial Vanities, and retire into the Recesses of Religion, nothing being so great in humane Actions as a pious knowing Minde, which disposeth great Things, and may yield such per­manent Monuments, as bring Felicity to Mankinde a­bove the Founders of Empires; being an Antepast to the overflowing FEASTS of ETERNITIE. Man endued with Altitude of Wisdom, in the sweetnesse of Consci­ence and Height of Vertue, is of all Creatures sub-An­gelical the ALMIGHTIES Masterpiece, the Image of his MAKER, a Candidate of DIVINITY, and Model of the Vniverse; who, in holy Colloquies, Whisprings, and secret Conferences with GOD, findes HIM a Tor­rent of Pleasure, a Fountain of Honour, and an inex­haustible Treasure; whose divine Life is a Character of the DIVINE NATURE, by taking GOD for the Text, Truth for the Doctrine, and Holinesse for the Use; [Page] without which the highest Endowments of the most refined Wit are but the quaint Magick of a learned Lunacie. Most wretched therefore are they, beyond all Synonima's of Misery, whose undisciplin'd Educa­tion leaves them unfurnisht of Skill to spend their Time in any Thing, but what in the prosecution of Sin tends to Death; Wealth and Greatnesse rendring them past Reproof, ev'n ready to tempt their very Tempter; where­by they are wholly enclin'd to Sensualities, being in their Entertainments commonly intemperate in their Drink humerous, their Humours quarrelous, their Duels damnable, concluding a voluptuous and brutish Life in a bloody and desperate Death, preferring the Bodie before the Soul, Sence before the Spirit, Appetite before Reason, temporary Fooleries, phantastick Visits, idle Courtships, gay Trifles, fascinating Vanities (as if the Pleasure of Life were but the smothering of pretious Time in those things, which are meer Puffs in Expecta­tion, Vanitie in Enjoyment, and Vexation of Spirit in Departure) before solid Goodnesse, and eternal Exultati­ons. To divert thee therefore from such Shelves of in­discreet Vice, and to direct thee to the safe and noble Channel of Vertue, ev'n to Faith with good Works, to Piety w^th Compassion, to Zeal with Charity, & to know the End which distinguisheth thee from a Beast, and to chuse a good End, w^ch differenceth thee from an evil Man; be so much thine own Friend, as to peruse seriously this spiritual Poem, which treateth on Sub-coelestials, Coelestials; and Super-coelestials, whereby a delightful Curiousness may steal thee into the Pleasure of Goodnesse. Know then that Sub-coelestials, or Sublunaries have their Assign­ment [Page] in the lowest Portion of the Universe, and being wholly of a corporeal Nature, do enjoy Spiritual Gifts, the Chief of which is Life, by Loan onely; where there is no Generation without Corruption, no Birth without Death. From the Surface of the Earth to the Center is 3436 Miles, the whole Thickness 6872 Miles, the whole Compsse 21600 Miles; from its Center to the Moon is 3924912 Miles. Now Coelestials, or ae­thereal Bodies are seated in the middle, which, partici­pating of a greater Portion of Perfection, impart innu­merable rare Vertues, and influential Efficacies to Things below, not enduring a Corruption, only sub­ject, having obtained their Period, to change. The glorious Projection and Transfusion of aetheral Light, both of the Sun and of the Stars of the six Magnitudes constitute, by astronomicall Computation, more than 300 Suns upward to the EMPYRAEAN HEAVEN. A Starre in the Equator makes 12598666 Miles in an Hour, which is 209994 Miles in a Minute, a Motion quicker than Thought. Super-coelestials are Intelligencies, alto­gether Spiritual and Immortal, excellent in their Beings, intuitive in their Conceptions; such as are the glorious Quire of the Apostles, the exulting Number of the Prophets, the innumerable Army of crown'd Martyrs, triumphing Virgins, charitable Confessors, &c. or the blessed Hierarchie of Angels, participating somewhat of GOD and Man; having had a Beginning as Man, and now being immortall with GOD, having their Immortality for his Sempiternity; void of all Mixture, as is GOD, and yet consisting of Matter and Form as doth Man; Subsisting in some Subject and Substance [Page] as doth Man, yet being incorporeal, as is GOD; They having Clarity, Impassibility, Subtility, and Agility, having Understanding without Errour, Light without Darkness, Joy without Sorrow, Will without Perturba­tion, Impassibility without Corruption; pure as the Light, ordained to serve the LORD of Light; They are local and circumscribed by Place, as is Man; yet are they in a place not properly by way of Circumscripti­on, but by way of Definition; though they cannot be in several Places at once, yet are they able in a Mo­ment to be any where, as GOD alwayes is every where; of admirable Capacity and Knowledge, resem­bling GOD; yet ignorant of the ESSENCE of GOD, much lesse see they all Things in IT, in that like Man. Ev'n these Incorporeal Substances would pine and starve, if an All-filling, and infinitely All-sufficient and Super­abundant GOD were not the Object of their high Contemplation, whose Blisse of theirs is the neerest Ap­proach to that Divine MAJESTIE, WHO is a true, real, substantial, and essential NATURE, subsisting of HIM­SELF, an eternal BEING, an infinite ONENESSE, the radical PRINCIPLE of all Things; whose ESSENCE is an incomprehensible Light, His POVVER is Omnipo­tency, and his BECK an absolute Act; WHO, before the Creation, was a BOOK rowl'd up in HIMSELF, ha­ving Light only in HIMSELF; WHO is a SPIRIT ex­istent from everlasting to everlasting; One ESSENCE▪ Three SUBSISTENCIES; whose DIVINE NATURE is an essential and infinite UNDERSTANDING, which knowes all Things actually alwayes; which cannot possibly be comprehended by any finite Creature, much lesse by [Page] Man, groveling on Earth in the Mud of Errour and grosse Ignorance, who are unable by any Art or In­dustrie to finde out the true Nature, Form and Vertue of the least flie or gnat. The whole Vniverse is the Looking-glasse of GODS Power, Wisdom, and Boun­tie; HE loves as Charitie, knows as Truth, judges as Equitie, rules as Majestie, defends as Safety, works as Vertue, reveals as Light, &c. HE is a never deficient Brightnesse, a never weary Life, a Spring ever-flow­ing, the Principle of Beginning, &c. If any Creature knew what GOD is, he should be GOD; for none knoweth HIM but HIMSELF, who is Good without Qualitie, great without Quantitie, present without Place, everlasting without Time; WHO by a Bodie is no where▪ by Energie every where, A­bove all by Power, beneath all by sustaining all, without all by compassing all, within all by penetrating all, being absent seen, being present invisible; of WHOM to speak, is to be silent, WHOM to value is to exceed all Rate, WHOM to define, is still to encrease in Defini­tion; INFINITENESSE being the right Philosophers Stone, which turns all Metals into Gold, and one Dram of IT being put, not only to a Seraphin, or to a whole Element, but even to the least gnat in the World, or the least mo [...]e in the Sun, is of Force to make it true and very GOD: For, first It maketh it to be the first ES­SENCE, derived from none other. 2. It maketh it to be but One, because there cannot be two INFINITES; where there are two, there is Division; where Division, there is end of one, and beginning of another, and so no IN­FINITE. 3. It maketh the Subject to be immaterial, for [Page] no Matter can be INFINITE; for, a Body is contained, and, if contained, not infinite; being without Matter, it is also without Passion; for, sola materia patitur; and so becometh also immutable, for there can be no Change without Passion. 4. It maketh a thing to be immove­able, for whatsoever moveth hath Bounds, but in INFI­NITE there is no Bounds. 5. The INFINITE THING is simple, for in Composition there is Division and Qua­lity, and so by consequent Limits. Thus, INFINITE­NESSE distinguisheth from all Creatures, and is first primary without Cause, but existing absolutely in HIM­SELF, and of HIMSELF, and is to all other Things the Cause and Beginning, yet not diminishing HIM, having all their Essence, but no part of his ESSENCE from Him. But, ô, here the most superlative Expressions of Elo­quence are no other than meer Extenuations. I tread a Maze, and thread a Labyrinth on Hills of Ice, where, if I slip▪ I tumble into Heresie; I am with S. Peter in the Deep, where, without the Hand of POWER, I should sink eternally, and be swallowed up by the bottomlesse Gulf. The Prosecution of this Argument were fitter for the Pens of ANGELS, than for the Sons of Corruption; whereof we may say, that if all should be written of INFINITENESSE, not only the whole World, but even Heaven It Self would not suffice to hold the Books which should be written. I satisfie my Incapacitie with rejoycing in GODS Incomprehensibility. And now, de­scending from these amazing Heights, know, Reader, that Divine Poesie is the internal Triumph of the Mind, rapt with S. Paul into the third Heaven, where She contemplates Ineffables: 'tis the sacred Oracles of Faith [Page] put into melodious Anthems that make Musick ravish­ing, no earthly Jubilation being comparable to It; It discovers the Causes, Beginnings, Progresse, and End of Things, It instructeth Youth, comforteth Age, graceth Prosperity, solaceth Adversity, pleaseth at Home, de­lighteth abroad, shortneth the Night, and refresheth the Day; No Star in the Sphear of Wisdom outshines It: Natural Philosophy hath not any thing in it which may satisfie the Soul, because that is created to something more excellent then all Nature; but this Divine Rapture chains the Minde with harmonious Precepts from a di­vine Influence, whose Operations are as subtle and re­sistlesse as the Influence of Planets; teaching Mortals to live as in the Sight of GOD, by whom the Coverts of the thickest Hypocrisie (that white Devil) are most cleerly seen thorough. Now 'tis Iudgement begets the Strength, Invention the Ornaments of a Poem; both These joyn'd form Wit, which is the Agility of Spirits: Viva­city of Fancie in a florid Style disposeth Light and Life to a Poem, wherein the Masculine and refined Pleasures of the Vnderstanding transcend the feminine and sensual of the Eye: From the Excellencie of Fancie proceed grateful Similies, apt Metaphors, &c. Sublime Poets are by Nature strengthned, by the Power of the Minde in­flamed, and by divine Rapture inspired; They should have a plentiful stock to set up, and manage it art­fully, their Conceptions should be choice, brief, per­spicuous, well-habited. In Scripture Moses, Iob, David, Solomon, and others, are famous for employing their Ta­lents in this kinde. S. Paul likewise cited three of the Heathen Poets (whom he calls Prophets) as evident [Page] Convictions of Vice, and Demonstrations of Divinity. viz. Epimenides to the Cretians. Tit. 1. 12. [...]. Menander to the Corinthians, 1 Cor. 15. 33. [...]. And Aratus to the Athenians. Acts 17. 28. [...] From these Results I fell in love with our more divine and Christian Poesie, observing that in the Sayings and Writings of our Blessed SAVIOUR and his Disciples, there are no lesse than sixty Authorities produced from above fourty of Davids Psalms. Hence from that high Love, which hath no Weapons but fierie Rayes, my Spirit is struck into a Flame to enter into the secret and sacred Rooms of Theologie, and, Reader, if thou wilt not prejudice thine own Charity by miscrediting me, I dare professe, thou wilt neither repent of thy Cost or Time in reviewing these Intervall Issues of spiritual Recreation, which may thus, happily, prove a pleasant Lure to thy pious Devo­tion: May likewise thy Charity suggest to thy Belief, that I have done my best to that End, and if thou think­est that I have wanted Salt to preserve them to Posterity, know that the very Subject It self is Balsam enough to make them perpetual. Delightest thou in a Heroick Poem? If Actions of Magnanimity and Fidelitie ad­vancing moral Vertue merit the Title of Heroick, much more may THEOPHILA, a Combatant with the World, Hell, and her own Corruptions, gain an eternal LAUREL; Whose Example and Precepts, well follow'd, will with­out Doubt bring Honour, Joy, Peace, Serenity, and Hopes full of Confidence. The Composer hath extract­ed out of the even Mixture of Theorie and Action this cordial Water of saving Wisdom, by distilling Them [Page] through the Limbeck of PIETY, whereof they drink to their Souls Health, who not only take it in, as parch­ed Earth does Rain, but turn it into nourishment by a spiritual Digestion, being made like It Divine. This me­trical Discourse of his serious Day, to which he was led by Instigation of Conscience, not Titillation of Fame, inoculates Grafts of Reason on the Stock of Religion, and would [...] have all put upon this important Consideration, that the Life of Nature is given to seek the Life of GRACE, which bringeth us to the Life of GLORIE; the obtainment of which is his only Aim, being fully perswaded, that as every new Star gilds the Firmament, and encreaseth its first Glorie: So those, who are In­struments of the Conversion of Others, shall not only introduce new Beauties, but, when Themselves shine like other Stars in GLORY, they shall have some Reflexi­ons from the Light of Others, to whose fixing in the Orb of HEAVEN they Themselves have been Instru­mentall. He would not run thee out of Breath by long­winded Strains; for in a Poem, as in a Prayer 'tis Vi­gour not Length that crowns it; [...].

He wisheth it might be his Happinesse to meet with such Readers, as discern the Analogie of Grounds, as well as the Knowledge of the Letter, and have as well a Systeme of Reason, as the Understanding of Words: yea, such as have Iudgement and Affections refin'd, and with THEOPHILA be Love-sick too, which Love is never [Page] more eloquent, than when ventilated in Sighs and Groans, HEAVENS delighted Musick being in the bro­ken Consort of Hearts and Spirits, the Will there ac­cepted for the Work, and the Desire for Desert. Be­hold here in an Original is presented an Example of Life, with Force of Precepts, happy who coppy them out in their Actions! Indeed Examples and Precepts are as Poems and Pictures; for, as Poems are speaking Pictures, and Pictures are silent Poems: so Example is a silent Precept, and Precept a speaking Example: And as Mu­sick is an audible Beauty, and Beauty a visible Musick: So Precepts are audible Sweets to the Wise, and Exam­ples silent Harmony to the illiterate, who may unclasp and glance on these Poems, as on Pictures with Inadver­tency; yet He who shall contribute to the Improve­ment of the Author, either by a prudent Detection of an Errour, or a sober Communication of an irrefragable Truth, deserves the venerable Esteem and Welcome of a good ANGEL; And He who by a candid Adherence unto, and a fruitful Participation of what is good and pious confirms Him therein, merits the honourable En­tertainment of a faithful Friend: But he who shall [...] ­duce him in Absence, for what in Presence he would seem to applaud, incurres the double Guilt of Flattery and Slander; and he who wounds Him with ill Reading and Misprision, does Execution on Him before Iudgement.

Now He who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, bring those to everlasting Life, who love the Way, and Truth in Sincerity!