id	author	title	date	pages	extension	mime	words	sentence	flesch	summary	cache	txt
A34857	Crab, Roger	The English hermite, or, Wonder of this age. Being a relation of the life of Roger Crab, living neer Uxbridg, taken from his own mouth, shew	1655.0		.txt	text/plain	8488	187	56	SEeing I am become a gazing stock to the Nation, & a wonderment to many friends in this my reserved life, I shall therefore indite a few lines as the most high shall direct me, wherein I shall give an account of this my undoing, owning Christ and the Prophets to be exemplary both in prophesying and practising, as far as God shall give power to any man; I having truly examined it, and often disputed it with all Sexes and Ministers in most Counties in England, and most of them grants me that the practice of Christ and the Prophets is written for our Learning: and if this be granted, that we ought to be imitators of their righteousness, hereby the judgement of God may be seen to a Sodomite generation, living now upon English ground; but first I shall begin with myself, who have transgressed the commands of God, and so found guilty of the whole Law, living in pride, drunkenness, and gluttony, which I upheld by dissembling and lying, cheating and cozening my neighbours: But now that light which enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world, according to John's writing, hath discovered the love of God to my understanding, which causeth me to withdraw from what I have done; and instead of strong drinks and wines, I give the old man a cup of water; and instead of roast Mutton, and rabbits, and other dainty dishes, I gave him broth thickened with bran, and pudding made with bran, & turnip leaves chop't together, and grass; at which the Old man (meaning my body) being moved, would know what he had done, that I used him so hardly; then I showed him his transgression as aforesaid: so the wars began, The law of the old man in my fleshly members rebelled against the law of my mind, and had a shrewd skirmish; but the mind being well enlightened, held it, so that the old man grew sick and weak with the flux, like to fall to the dust; but the wonderful love of God well pleased with the Battle, raised him up again, and filled him full of love, peace, and content in mind, and is now become more humble; for now he will eat Dock-leaves, Mallows, or grass, and yields that he ought to give God more thanks for it, then formerly for roast flesh and wines; and certainly concludes that this must be of God, if it be done out of love, and not out of self-ends; for before the old man fought with his steel sword, with his fleshly power against old men, and that envy in him begat envy in them, and both of the devil, in pretence of liberty and peace, it is easily judged of by the event; for our fighting to regulate government in the Old men, we see it still as bad, if not worse than it was before: Therefore let us put off the old man with his fleshly Laws, which reached no farther than the government of earthly bodies, so that every one for their obedience to God in this fleshly Law, receiveth a reward to uphold his fleshly body here upon Earth, and would go no further than reason could reach in the organs of flesh: Therefore this Law could never give life in the spiritual Christ, but the practificers thereof were the greatest enemies to Christ, as you shall see fully in their calling of Christ devil, and putting of him to death, Mat. 10. Thus you see what miserable creatures we are, being bred up with flesh and blood, onions and garlic, all under Mars, who God hath made governor over that humour that lusteth after flesh and blood, which is made strong in us by feeding of it, as I myself may speak by experience; for if God had commanded me to forbear flesh before I had knowledge of this my discourse, although he had sent an Angel or a man working miracles, I doubt I should have judged all to be of the devil, for the lust I had after the sweetness of flesh; even as the rich men in these our days will deny the Scripture, wherein Christ commanded the rich man in the Gospel, to sell his goods and give to the poor: But they will say, it reached no farther, than that one rich man should; for say they, if we should believe this Scripture to extend to us, we should make the poor richer than ourselves:	cache/A34857.txt	txt/A34857.txt