OH my Soul, what anxious Thoughts disturb thy Peace! Why art thou cast down, and why art thou so disquieted within me! Is there no Ground of Hope left to cast the Anchor of thy Faith upon? Drop on holy Jesus, who will uphold and sustain thee. Nay tho' I have search'd all the City thro', yet I can hear no Tidings of him.

Arise, O my Soul, come let's up once more, make enquiry, perhaps he hath lain him down to sleep,The contrite Heart of an humble Soul falls in Love with the Excellency of Jesus, and thirsteth after him. till the Morning break. Watchmen, Watchmen, did you see my Beloved go this way; Tell me, tell me quickly, for my Soul hath long desired to speak with him, and my Heart thirsts after my Love, my Dove, and undefiled One.

Who is your beloved; that we cannot but take notice of him,The Answer of All. I pray now, What is your Beloved more than another; Oh, my beloved is a Bundle of Myrrh, like a Cluster of Camphire in the Valley of Engiddi! my beloved is fair, having Dove's Eyes, and is the chiefest of ten Thousands. O that I had my Beloved, I would not let him go, but he should lye all night betwixt my Breasts. O therefore, tell me quickly, good Watchmen, that I may find him whom my Soul longs for, Why truly, you seem to be much troubled, and we pity thee; we must confess; a Rude Multiude ran this way with Staves, Clubs, and Halberts, and a Candle and Lantern, whispering as they went, but know not what they said or meant, but this we heard them say, He's in the Garden of Gethsemane. Aye, and are ye sure they said so? Then my beloved is there, I will follow hard after him, lest the Rabbles find him whom my soul loves. Hark, hark my soul, methinks I hear his Voice most bitterly crying out Lord, where art thou; What are they a doing to thee; O my Soul run to his Relief, aye, but whether; 'Tis dark, and the Voice comes from far, and I know not the way. O good Watchmen, pray now lend me, tell me, or shew me the way. We can't go from our Rounds, nor will we, to seek out we know not who, but keep on this Road which leads to the Garden of Gethsemane, and you'll find him, we believe. Well, I will haste away as fast as I can.

What, Lord have I found thee overflow'd with bloody, sweat, pleeding with thy Father,The Soul finde its Saviour praying and sweating in the Garden. Doth the heavy Loads of Grief overwhelm thy Heart; Can'st not speak my dear Lord? Why so sad, O holy Jesus. Who has injured my Love; What no comfort yet? Speak Lord, I pray thee, lest I faint for want of one Word proceeding from thy precious Lips to my poor drooping Soul.

Behold, Sinners, see what I am now doing for thee. Behold, every Faculty and Power of my Body and Soul is almost spent, in wrestling with my Father for thy Salvation! But his Wrath is great, and be my Passion never so great, yet there is nothing will do; nothing can make Attonement but my Life. The Cup must not pass from me, my Father's Will must be doue; and I am very ready it should be so; Nay, I the Lord of Life, am willing to stoop to Death, Hell, and the Grave, to free thee from the just Wrath of an angry God.

Look, Sirs, Behold the Hour is come, wherein I must be betrayed? Gentlemen, Who do ye want? My Name's Jesus of Nazareth; D'ye seek me? Hark ye, you have a sign whereby you know the Person you want. Come Kiss. me: Judas, for lo, I long till all be fulfilled. O my dear God, what shall I do? I'll go along with thee, O Lord, where ever thou art, there let me be also. O wicked Soldiers forbear; what draw their Swords! Lord, I fear they'll kill thee. What Judas hast thou no remorse of Conscience at the betraying of thine own Lord and Master, who suffered thee to eat and drink with him at his sacred Table; Thou wantedst not Money, for thou hadst thy Master's Purse and all at dispose, therefore why didst thou s • ll him? O covetous Judas, for the lucre of Money, thou hadst sold thy ever blessed Jesus, and thy own Salvation too? Better had it been if thou hadst never been born. And then Malchus, can'st thou not believe it is the Lord of Life, the King of Isreal, the King of Glory, since thy Ear is healed, but at the stretching out of his Hand? O Lord, stretch forth thy Hand, and put the Finger of Mercy into my Soul, thro' the Key-hole of my Heart, that I may be healed of all my Sins and Infirmities? Lord, if thou wilt thou can'st make me clean. Ah, Soldiers, where are you hailing Jesus? Peter wilt thou not go along with thy Master? What stand off, to deny him; O come, and let us follow hard after him? perhaps with our earnest Cries and Entreaties we may persuade him to let him go. Well Peter if thou wilt not go, I'l • go by my self. O blessed Jesus, what art thou led as a Lamb to the Slaughter! (Not by the way. That Soul which would enjoy the Blessings of a Christ, must be contented to bear his Cross. Sure thou never didst offend or injure them in the least, for thou wert all Meakness, when reviled, reviled not again. But my dear Lord, where are we now? What, vile Rebels, smite your Saviour, and spit i • • is Face like Bruits! O Lord, why dost thou not cut them off.

Peace, silly Soul, (saith Christ) Know ye not that I have a Baptism to be baptiz'd with! And Lo, how I long till it is accomplished! Thinkest thou not, if I would resist, I would Pray to my Father, and he would give me more than Twelve Legions of Angels to rescue me! But how then shall the Scriptures be fulfilled, and his Will be done! All this is nothing to what I must undergo for thy Salvation. Ah, my dear God, my blessed Jesus, let me participate of thy Afflictions, let me resign up all to thee who art King over all, blessed for ever.

But, my bless • d Jesus, What Hall is this we are in! What the Judgment-Hall! Surely Lord, their Feet are swift to shed innocent Blood, and their Hearts thirst after Destruction. O Annas, thou High Prist, what take Counsel again Jesus of Nazareth, and deliver out of the Treasury thirty Pieces of Silver to cursed Judas, to betray his Master! better hadst thou delivered out of the Treasury of thy Heart, all thy evil Corruptions, and implore Mercy at his Feet. And now my Soul attend to their Proceedings against thy Lord, and see how unmercifully they are with him. First they carried him to Annas, in order to get Counsel against him; but he finding the Witnesses were not fully agreed, (for one said this thing, another that, and a third quite contrary) gave them longer time to confer about it, that they might One and All, bring in an Accusation to the Purpose. And the better to Effect this he sends them to Caiaphas the High Priest. But he, upon Examination, finding them Confus'd in their Evidence was willing to release him. Upon this rusht into the Assembly many false Witnesses, but they Contradicting one another also, made a very tumultuous Uproar among them. At last came in some few who affirmed, That he raised Lazarus from the Grave after he had been four Days dead and began to stink, which Miracle drew many of the Jews to believe on him, and this said they, we do not affirm only as a Report, but matter of Fact; for some of us not only heard him say at the Grave's mouth, Lazarus, come forth bound Hand and Feet, with grave Cloaths about him, and a Napkin on his Head. Lo, this we have both seen and heard, with many other things besides.

O my dear Lord, What is it they witness against thee? Do they affirm thou raised Lazarus from the Grave? What then, ye faithless and perverse Generation, is it not lawful to do good rather than Evil? Verily, your Hearts are seared, otherwise they would not act contrary to Law and Reason. And O holy Jesus, who raised up Lazarus to Life, raise thou my Soul out of the Grave of Sin, to live the Life of Righteousness.

Then the Chief Priests and Elders with the Scribes and Pharisees, farther consulted and said, What do we? This Man doth many Miracles, and if we let him alone, all Men will believe on him, and the Romans will come and take away our Place and Nation. Miserble Jews how fearful are you lest any should venture on him, and Believe, seeing his Miracles! Lord, I will freely part with all for thy Sake, Yea, let who will come and possess this earthly Substance, I am content, so I may enjoy the Influence of thy blessed Spirit, which none can rob me of. But Caiaphas said unto them, Ye know nothing at all, nor consider that it is Expedient for us, that no Man should die for the People, and that the Nation perish not. And this he spake not of himself, but God ordered it so, that the Prophecy should come out of his own Mouth, to condemn him at the last Day. And from that time forward, they took counsel to put him to Death. Hitherto all they did, could not accomplish their wicked Designs. At last mad at Heart, they, with a detestable and wicked Resolution, contrived to hire two impudent Soldiers to Swear against him in the High Priest's Hall. Accordingly the Wretches came, and with loud Voices and open Mouths, Cryed, saying, This Fellow said, I am able to destroy the Temple of God and raise it in three Days. And so indeed he was; for he sp • ke nothing but the Truth, (meaning his Body as the Apostle Paul s • ys, our Bodies are the Temple of the Holy Ghost) and that in three Days he sh •• ld raise it ••• m the Grave. But neither these Fellows, nor his Judges had as yet known the Scriptures, • or Power of G • d. Then said the High Priest. It is true what these t • o witness against thee▪ • ut Jesus h • ld his Peace. Then said the High Priest, I con • ure the • by the • iving G • d to tell us whether thou art Christ the S • n 〈◊〉 the living God. And Jesus, when it was put 〈…〉 to him in these three great Truths, Art thou Chr ••• the Son of the living God! Answered I am Then the High Priest rent his Cloaths and said, What need we any farther Witness against him; Ye have all heard how he hath blasphemed; what think ye; And they all with one consenting Voi • e, c • ndemn'd him to be guilty of Death.

Then they began to Spit on him, and to buffet him, and strike him with the Palms of their Hands, reviling him as a seditous Fellow, blindfolding and smiting him on the Face, saying, Prophecy now unto us, thou, Christ, who is it that smote th • e. At last, finding they could not agree together, as to putting him to Death, and to pass Sentence on him, (for they all agreed in the just Merits of his Condemnation) yet he must first be sent to Pontius Pilate their chief Governor.

And now, O my Soul, didst thou ever hear such Arrogance, Malice, and Envy before! Could any imagine their Hearts should be so hardened, who void of any Pity and Compassion, hunted and worried the Lord of Hosts from one Place to another. Well might he say, Foxes have Holes, and Birds of the Air have Nests, but the Son of Man have no where to lay his Head. O my Soul, doth it not make thee tremble to see Christ, thy God, King, and Redeemer, haled by rude Soldiers to Condemnation. Ah, my dear Jesus, what made thee descend from Heaven to Earth, become Man, and be born in an open Stable, in such Poverty and Misery, but Love, celestial Love, to make Satisfaction to thy Father, for all my heinous Sins committed against thy ever blessed Majesty. O dear and wonderful Lord, how shall I require thy Love! O let me never fall away from Thee, nor thy Faith, but be stedfast to the End; and happy are all they that after they have denied with Peter their Redeemer, find a Door of Mercy open to receive them again. O Peter, dost thou not remember thy Master's Words now! What curse and swear you know him not, when but a little before you said, Though I should Dye with thee, yet will I not deny thee! How hast thou forgotten thy own Promise and Ingagement made to thy departing and dying Saviour! Now Peter art thou in the Gall of Bitterness, and in the Blood of iniquity Doth not the Arrows of the Almighty wound thy Soul, now thou seest thou art fallen? O let him that standeth, be cautious lest he fail in the same manner as thou hast done!

And now, my Soul, hark, what are they going to do? O dear Lord God, precious Jesus, what will nothing appease the Tumult, but thy Death? O Pilate, proceed not to condemn thy Redeemer, but rather suffer thy Body to be torn in Pieces by the Multitude.

And Pilate, seeing nothing would avail, nor would they suffer him to be released, after he was scourged, buffetted, smitten, spit upon, reviled, mocked, and hist at, with his Head crowned with sharp Thorns, which like Needles pierced his tender Brain; and his Body is scorn cloathed with a Purple Robe. Thus dealt with, they admitted no Plea for him, but cryed out, Release unto us Barabbas, and crucify this seditious Fellow Jesus; away with him, away with him. Pilate seeing this, and that the Uproar was great, called for Water, and washing his Hands, said, I am innocent of the Blood of this just Person, see you to it. Then answered all the People, His Blood—Nay, hold Gentlemen, (saith Pilate) here your King stands, I have examined him, and endeavoured to trap him in his Replies, and lo! I find no fault at all in him. But they cried out the more outragiously, Crucify him, Crucify him: his Blood be upon us, and on our Children. Then released he Barabbas, and scourging Jesus delivered him to be Crucified.

Ah, cruel Pilate, who hast thou Condemned? The Lord of Glory, the Son of God, and redeemer of the World. See yonder, how He's haled away from thee, stooping under the Burden of his Cross, and his feeble Legs trembling by Reason of its Weight; so that with the Dust, Dirt, Crowd, Sweat, Blood, and want of Sustenance, to revive his fatigued drooping Spirits, the blessed Jesus is ready to sink. Can'st thou look after him, Pilate, and see all this, and thy Heart and Soul not faint and bleed? O Lord, let me with the happy Cyrenian, help to bear thy Cross.

And, after they had abused him, and put many Indignities upon him, they led him towards Golgotha to crucify him? where they gave him Vinegar and Gall to drink, and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.

And now, O blessed Jesus, what Eye can endure to see or behold thee? How with rude, brawny Fists, and sear'd Hearts, they force, twist, pull, hale, and extend thy sacred Hands, which were always doing Good, and Healing Diseases, now Nailing to the Cross? What Heart cannot but Mourn, and Lament bitterly, as not being able to behold thee? Surely, our very Souls must be pricked, and our Hearts break within us, to see thy ever blessed Side pierced, springing out Streams of Blood.

And now, dear Jesus, to see how with uncontrouled Severity, they pierced thy Hands and Feet, and penetrate thy Nerves and Sinews, forcing the sacred Blood out of thy tender and delicate Veins upon the Cross, and all for me, and my Sins, dost thou endure this Torment, and shed so many Drops of Blood, crying out in the Bitterness of thy Soul, behold and see if the there be any Sorrows like unto my Sorrow. O