Midnight and Daily Thoughts.  
In PROSE and VERSE.  
BY Sir WILLIAM KILLIGREW.  
LONDON, Printed for Randal Taylor, near Stationers-Hall, M DC XC IU.   

To Sir William Killigrew, On view of his Book of Midnight and daily Thoughts.  
WHen first I read your pious Sheets, it wrought  
Within my Soul such sympathetick Thought,  
I seemed your Transcript, joying so to be,  
Or else transported as your Simile.  
Thus ravished with myself, I further tried  
To gain converse with you; that amplified,  
I found and more improved what I had took,  
Your constant Practice doth expound your Book,  
With this difference only, I might call  
That the Copy, you the Original.  
I am so full of you, whate'er I write  
Flows from your Pen, and you do mine indite.  
Your Dream of Heaven is so drawn and placed,  
As if of Heaven itself you had a taste,  
And prepossession, which will ever last:  
And your angelic Thoughts, so scattered, where  
If Heaven can be on Earth, sure it is there.  
Your Dream of Hell I cannot barely name,  
Unless I snatch my Finger from your Flame.  
I feel the sting of your Expressions so,  
As if in pain, and forced to undergo.  
Death you've drawn to life so clear, that I  
In love with life, by reading choose to die;  
Unless I lived like you, exalted quite  
With future joys, and holy Anchorite.  
Your Poems run so natural you indite,  
It seems a self-denial not to write.  
'Tis much, that in your Age of Eighty eight,  
Your Mind's so full of vigour and of weight,  
Truly inspired; and as your Days decline,  
The more you write, still that is more Divine.  
There's nothing languid, all your Lines last long,  
Like Honey in a Lion, sweet and strong.  
Proceed (blessed Sir) and prove exemplar, even  
To make Disciples here, and Saints in Heaven.  Ri. Newman.  

On Sir William Killigrew's Nightly and Daily Thoughts.  
WHat Muse a lofty Fame for him can raise,  
Whose whole Ambition is to fly from praise;  
Or fix him gracious with the Multitude,  
Who only courts a sacred solitude,  
Whose Commerce when awake in Vision lies,  
When sleeping dreams him up into the Skies●  
All that his Friends can do, is to invite  
Others to reap what he alone can write,  
Without the help of Learning, or of Toil,  
As genuine Plants spring from their native Soil.  
And that's true Fancy which one cannot shun,  
Flowing like Emanations from the Sun.  
Most Poets strive to make the World admire;  
To be believed is all he needs desire;  
Whose Doctrine to gain Faith wants no relief,  
But his high untaught Pen strains our Belief.  
Sincere Devotion Midwife to his Brain,  
Bows to the lowest his angelic strain;  
And his Example Grace abroad do breed,  
Making him read by those who cannot read.  
A broken Spirit is his soundest part,  
And th'humble Style suits best his soaring heart.  Hen. Birkett.  

To my Honoured Friend Richard Newman, Esq  
SIR,  
I Live so much alone, that I have not found a Friend to whom I could communicate this new Bundle of my Midnight and Daily Thoughts, on which I dare not trust my own Judgement, (nor show to any of my own Relations, who are such Critics in Devotion, Eloquence, and Wit, that my mean Talon doth beget Contempt) left I should suffer in the World's Opinion. Yet it is not my Design to flatter you, or to commend myself, but to beg a real Favour of you to read them: And if you do, without a Compliment, think them fit for the meanest Understandings to gain Profit by them, they shall be printed; else not. I want skill to search Learned Authors for a lofty Strain to gain Applause, and only write such Emanations as my dull Brain afford me: From whence the Benefit I find, and Pleasure that I have in spending my solitary Hours thus, is ample Recompense, besides the Hope of doing good to others, beyond the Vanity of being praised: Who am  
Your most Humble Servant, W. Killigrew.   

To Sir William Killigrew.  
SIR,  
SInce you are pleased to communicate to me before others, the Book of your Midnight and Daily Thoughts, and in the Front thereof ennobled my Name by way of Dedication, I have not only diligently, but devoutly pernsed, and applied the same to my own Heart, and find myself both elevated and bettered by it. I have also imparted it to some of my most dear and learned Friends, who stick not to say with me, That they admire such Heavenly Inspirations, which cannot be called by any other Name, and with they could write the like; and all agree to pray you, that it may be forthwith printed; for the Devotional Part thereof transcending, for some Uses, all the deep Notions and Learning in the World; one Practical Page thereof being, in my Opinion, more acceptable to GOD, and comfortable to the Reader, than a Library of critical Authors: And methinks I can say as our Blessed Saviour in another case: I thank thee, O heavenly Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto Babes. Even so, Father, for so in seemeth good in thy sight, Luke 10.23. I shall only add this, That whereas you seem in your Letter to give me leave to put out any of your late Meditations, or to correct or transpose any of them, because of some Repetitions you are told are in them, I must really tell you, I am afraid of doing any such thing, for fear or violating such sacred Raptures; casting with myself, that though they seem to me Repetitions, yet they are no more to be rejected, than the Repetitions of the Lord's Prayer, which hath been so used and sanctified by our Saviour's own Lips. Thus concluding, I and my Friends nameless, desire you to have them printed before you die. From  
Your Affectionate Friend, Ri. Newman.   

An Answer to my kind Friend's Preface in his Letter.  
SInce God Himself is pleased to guide my Pen,  
To rectify the Steps of unlearned Men,  
I am much pleased, yet dare no Praises own,  
All which (I know) are due to God alone:  
But daily pray that I may take delight  
To practise these great Lessons that I write.  
Tho' I'm afraid this Book will have the fate,  
That better Books than mine have had of late,  
To be laid by, when once it is read over,  
And ne'er be looked on, nor e'er thought on more;  
Like those Romantic Stories that are writ,  
To show their Author's Eloquence and Wit.  
But when good Meditations fill a Mind,  
Which by the Holy Spirit is refined,  
Each Paragraph which such good Men shall read,  
Devotion will receive, and in them breed  
Fresh flaming Zeal produced by holy Seed,  
Whose Soul's with various Joys will entertain,  
And let their still-encreasing Stock remain,  
Till their devout, experimental Part,  
By Faith, the intrinsic value of this Art,  
Shall such Angelic Fire in them create,  
As may, with them, Heaven's Bliss participate;  
And as their glittering Bubbles do decay,  
Their lightened Souls with holy Vigour, may  
So fix their Minds, and all their Hopes employ,  
Make them assured of their eternal Joy.   

Midnight and Daily THOUGHTS.  

On Christian Epicurism.  
IF all the Epicurisms in the World were joined in one, they could not produce one moment of such serene Delights unto the Heart of Man, as is comparable to the Soul's Joy, in a divine Elevation unto God by Meditation; for when such sacred Illuminations in Devotion do defeend from above, to enlighen the Souls of pious Men with transporting Joy, inessable, and not to be described! Tho' they be but saint Ideas of Heaven, they beget such Comforts while those holy Flames last, that Men may guests thereby those illustrious Glories they shall participate of, when they come to the possession of their eternal Bliss in the presence of GOD, which a great reprobate become regenerate, can best judge of, even as well as if a Man risen from the dead, should bring the same News to him. Thus St. Paul, the greatest Sinner, became an Epecurean Saint. 
When Age and Zeal by Grace have luft subdued,  
Let not foul Gluttony thy Soul delude,  
Left carnal Fancies should to Age prescribe  
Luxurious Diets, more Wine t'imbibe  
Than Nature does require for our Support,  
Or Conscience can admit in any sort;  
For when our Surfeits do our Sense abuse,  
Such Drunkenness no Language can excuse.    

Reader,  
THE Author is advise, instead of an elaborate Preface from some kind Friend, to publish this little Book of his Midnight and daily Thoughts, without being polished by a more learned Pen. Tho' some great Clerks do not allow illiterate Men to write Devotion, this Writer does believe, that all Men ought to do some good in this World, proportionable to the Talon given them by God; and doth therefore humbly hope, to show such unlearned People as himself, that the Ploughman and the Cobbler may find the way to Heaven without Greek or Latin, by an usual exercise of divine Meditations; and also to show some plain Products of his own Time so spent, by which his Heart does find much Joy by serving God entirely, by frequent practice thereof, with great comfort of Grace here, and some encouraging assurance of Glory in the next World: Which he hopes also may raise other Men's Thoughts to an higher degree of Pleasure and Piety, than his Talon can reach; though he does endeavour to think himself into Heaven before he is called thither, really believing that a sincere, hearty Devotion, is as acceptable to God in plain Language, as in Wit and Eloquence, which the generality of Mankind understand not. 
If thou a Scholar art, thou soon wilt find  
That I am none; I pray thee be so kind,  
As all Grammatick Errors to excuse;  
I know not Latin, nor the Grammar use:  
Or if thou art a nice dogmatic Wit,  
And wilt dispute against all that I have writ,  
I then must into Heaven for refuge fly,  
Because I seek not Praise, but Piety;  
And have desired (if then) till I am dead,  
These private Papers be not published.  
In truth these Meditations were not made  
For public view; and I am much afraid  
That you will say so too, my Midnight Thoughts,  
They are without art contrived, full of Faults  
Throughout; but yet some pious, learned Men,  
Approve Devotion from my vulgar Pen,  
Which show my freer Spirit, who have writ  
Plain Lessons without Eloquence or Wit,  
Fit to be printed for the Public Good,  
That may be the mere Mobb be understood.    

On my old Friend's Hieroglyphic Pictures of Eternity.  
T'Hy Time is with thy Life of equal date,  
And should be prized as equally thy fate.  
Then lay thy Wonder by, without delay  
Prepare to claim a share in that long Day.  
Thou needest no Serpent-Skull, nor Skeleton,  
To mortify thy Heart by looking on,  
When thy own Glass doth show thee every day,  
How thy Bleer-eyes, and wrinkled Face decay;  
Emblem to make thee see, and teach thee why  
Thou shouldst live every moment fit to die.  
With joyful Thoughts, and most divine Content,  
To be thy own eternal Monument.  
Thou knowst that God's allseeing Eye observes  
What every motion in Man's Heart deserves.  
Since nothing from his Knowledge can be hid,  
Do thou do nothing that he has forbid;  
But now redeem thy misspent Time that's past,  
To gain a blessed Eternity at last;  
So reconciled, that a short Summons may  
Thy Soul from hence to Paradise convey,  
By blessed Angels to Seraphic Peace,  
Where Joys on Joys eternally increase.   

On Divine Ambition.  
HAppy are they who can this World despise,  
And firmly serve their God without disguise,  
With no design of Avarice or Pride,  
Or any other vicious Acts to hide;  
But have Ambition to be rich and great,  
To shelter the oppressed that need retreat;  
To help the Blind, the Hungry, and the Lame,  
In honour to their own and God's great Name;  
To show their Power, and have it understood,  
They seek the Nation's, and therein their good.   

On the Five Senses.  

Awake, dull Soul, left this lethargic Fit  
Benumb thy Senses, and thou fall by it:  
Thus to permit thy Appetites to sway,  
Will ruin them, and cast thyself away.   

I.  
When Earth, and Air, and Seas, are vexed to find  
Excessive Rareties of every kind,  
To please thy Palate cooked with cost and care;  
Wish then some heavenly Manna were thy fare.   

II.  
When rich Arabian Spices shall be spent,  
To make sweet Odours to delight thy Scent,  
Think on that costly Ointment that was shed,  
With such Devotion on thy Saviour's Head.   

III.  
When Lutes and Harps do cast away thy Cares,  
Abate thy Sorrows, and do please thy Ears;  
And mortal Voices do great solace bring,  
Think on the Choirs of Angels how they sing.   

IV.  
When thou art ravished with some gentle touch,  
Think if the Spear or Crown of Thorns were such;  
Or when much pleased with what ' doth softest feel,  
Think when whose Hands were pierced through with Steel.   

V.  
When thy vain Eyes are dazzled at the fight  
Of some bright Beauty with too much delight;  
Look upward to the Throne of Grace, there see  
More glorious Rays sent thence to lighten thee.   

Thus may my Soul rejoice in either sense,  
Be satisfied, and yet learn good from thence;  
The world enjoy, and yet from Crimes be free,  
By turning Pleasure into Piety.    

On Man's Frailty.  

Frail Man, whose highest Comfort is  
To create hopes and dream of Bliss;  
Born still to learn, by learning find  
The more we see, the more we're blind.  
Desire does all our Joys imply,  
Fruitions cloy, not satisfy.   

Our wished ends attained, we still create  
New thoughts, which new desires do animate;  
From age to age repining at our lot:  
We still desire to have, what we have not.  
Our active souls no contentation have;  
No fixed delight between the womb and grave.   

Yet though our God have thought it good,  
Thus to endow our flesh and blood  
With frail desires to earthly things,  
Which nought but pain and sorrow brings,  
He hath our souls created free,  
T'enjoy much more felicity.  
When our heart's flame with his celestial fire,  
He will the object be of our desire:  
There may our fancies work, and never cease;  
And then will our desires, our joys increase.  
Such raptures never cloy, nor fail to bless  
Such fouls with everlasting happiness.   

The world, if we consider right,  
Doth dazzle rather than delight,  
With wealth and honours, that decay,  
With strength and power that pass away:  
Vain objects, full of hopes and fears,  
Freight with few joys and frequent tears.  
Where pride, or lust, or gluttony excel,  
We see short hours of true contentment dwell.  
Though our Creator hath the Creatures made,  
For men, he has ordained them all to fade,  
That nothing here might fix our wand'ring Sense,  
But his divine and heavenly influence.    

On Humane Frailty.  
LOrd, I confess, when I at midnight wake,  
And think how Christ did suffer for my sake,  
When all the world seems dead, and I alone,  
Freed from my Cares, and Care's confusion,  
Then does thy Spirit bear the only sway,  
Taking the burden of my sins away;  
Then does thy dazzling beams of glory free  
My heart from fears, with joy to worship thee:  
Then with an humble, holy confidence,  
I row myself on thy Omnipotence;  
Which fills my painting heart with such excess  
Of bliss, methinks those joys should ne'er go less.  
But when the Sun appears, and I do rise,  
The world betrays my heart deceives my eyes,  
With wont vanities, as heretofore,  
And I forget my vows to sin no more.  
Thus I grow worse and worse, and cannot frame  
My thoughts to perfect holiness; though shame  
And trouble at the danger I am in,  
Makes me abhor the slavishness of sin.  
Nature and Custom has in me begot  
Such earthliness, I cannot move a jot  
Towards Heaven, until thou think'st it fit  
To cure my fancy, and restore my wit,  
That by thy grace I may enable be  
To fix my heart upon eternity.   

On Repentance.  
REpentance easy seems, when we regard  
Either the punishment, or the reward:  
We can confess, and moan our wretched state,  
And humbly our offences aggravate.  
To sigh, to weep, to sorrow for what's past,  
Because our sins our souls and bodies waste,  
Does but attrition prove, and show some sense  
Of our condition; 'tis not penitence,  
Until we cast our vanities away,  
And learn to make our appetites obey;  
Till we can all habitual crimes forsake,  
Hate him we love, and a new pleasure take  
To raise our souls to such an holy choice,  
That each thought may of Heaven make us rejoice.  
'Tis such a total change, a self-denial,  
Causes the only penitential trial;  
At which the Angel's joy, and for our sake  
Do an high holiday in Heaven make.   

On Christmas-Day.  
COme, oh come! let us rejoice and wonder,  
When the King of Kings lays by his thunder,  
And will in gentle language have it said,  
His only Son was in a Manger laid,  
To show the poor, the humble and the proud,  
More glory in that lowness, than a crowd  
Of Princes, with their trains did ever bring  
To celebrate the birth of earthly King.  
Thus homely born! we read this heavenly Lad,  
As Ioseph's Son, was ever meanly clad;  
Until the purple Robe, and thorny Crown,  
Became the jewish shame, and his renown.  
Who would submit to that mock-dignity,  
In highest scorn to his Divinity,  
Who might command all Princes then to meet,  
And lay their crowns and sceptres at his Feet.  
Foolish Herod! how blind, how strange a strife  
Showd'st thou to murder the young Lord of Life!  
Unmindful of that new-created Star,  
Which guided those wise Worshippers so far,  
To justify the Prophecies of old,  
By his Forefathers so precisely told.   

On Good-Friday.  
THe jews by ancient Prophecies not taught,  
Nor by those miracles Christ daily wrought;  
Nor at his death would they converted be,  
When they did high and mighty wonders see!  
The darkened Sun, the Temple Veil quite rend,  
The cloven Rocks, nor risen Saints then sent,  
Could e'er persuade those misbelieving men  
T'avoid those miseries befell them then:  
Yet we, more foolish and more blind than they,  
Anew do crucify him every day.  
Our high contempts do aggravate our sin,  
'Cause we believe the glory he is in.  
To us his Resurrection has revealed,  
What his Humanity from them concealed.  
What yearly tribute should we Christians pay,  
What Sacrifice will best become this Day,  
On which the Lord of Life was then content  
To dignify an earthly monument!  
May we rejoice to find ourselves set free  
From all the guilt of past impiety?  
Or, must we blush at our own Crimes, for shame  
To see Christ feel the pains due to our blame?  
Both; we must do both: eyes dissolved in tears  
Must raise our grief, must wash away our fears.  
And yet our frighted souls may justly bring  
Joys mixed with sorrows, for his suffering.   

On Easter-Day.  
LOok, look, rejoice and wonder! see, O see!  
The Lord is risen! by whose Spirit we  
Must rise and find our souls, more interest have  
In this his Resurrection than his Grave.  
Though we attend at Golgotha, there fall  
With our Highpriest, who was Aaronical;  
On this Day let new Vows our Hearts new deck,  
That we may rise with our Melchisedeck;  
Whose Blessing shows that we more interest have  
In this his Resurrection than his Grave.   

On the Lord's Supper on Easter-Day.  
THe Table is prepared, the King attends,  
His Guests come slowly in, yet still he sends  
Ambassadors abroad, to summon all,  
And chide in such as come not at first call.  
Strange Kindness! that we dust and ashes are,  
So much his business, and so much his care,  
That nothing less than his own Flesh and Blood,  
Shall this day be to us mysterious Food.  
Haste then, and put thy wedding garment on,  
This is the Bridegroom's Coronation;  
And thou, my soul, envited art, to be  
Vvashed from all stains, and clothed with purity.  
A blessed Feast, and highest honour this,  
Each worthy guest to God invited is;  
And every heart that heretofore was Hell,  
Will now turn Paradise, where God will dwell.  
Thus, thus we may a prepossession take  
Of Heaven and God, who only for our sake  
Came down from Heaven, that he himself might be  
The guide and way to our felicity.   

On the Fear of Death.  

WHy dost thou shrink, my soul, what terror see,  
To cause such high impiety,  
That thus from age to age thou wouldst endure?  
Prayest thou for his, for such a Cure,  
As may more time in Vanity misspend?  
To what doth this averseness tend,  
That thus thou still enamoured art  
Of thy disease and smart?  
Or dost thou grudge the dirty grave  
Should thy dead Carcase have?   

This Giant Death, which hath so long controlled  
The World, submits unto the bold;  
His threatening dart, nor point nor sharpness hath  
To men of piety and faith.  
Thou knowst all this, my soul, yet still dost cry,  
Thou wouldst not die, and knowst not why.  
If thou beest frighted by a Name,  
Then thou art much to blame,  
And poorly weak, if terrour-struck,  
By a fantastic look.   

Women and Children teach thee a disdain,  
To fear the passage, or the pain:  
The ancient Heathens courted Death, to be  
Remembered by Posterity:  
And shall those Heathens then more Courage show,  
Than thou that dost thy Maker know?  
The misbelieving Christian may  
Shake at his latter day;  
Till than not mindful of his sin,  
Nor the danger he is in.   

But thou that hast conversed with God and Death,  
In Speculation, shall thy Breath  
Unwillingly expire, into his hand,  
That comes to fetch it by Command.  
From God that made thee, art thou loath to be  
Possessed of thy Felicity,  
Because thy Guide looks pale, and must  
Convey thy flesh to dust?  
Though that to worms converted be,  
What is all this to thee?   

Thou shalt not feel Death's sting, but instant have  
Full joys and triumph o'er the Grave,  
Where thy long loved Companion Flesh shall rest,  
Until it be refined, new dressed  
For thy next wearing, in that holy place,  
That Heaven, where thou shalt face to face,  
With Saints and Angels daily see  
Thy God, and ever be  
Replenished with celestial Bliss.  
Oh my Soul, think on this.    

On God's wondrous Works.  
GReat are the works of God, and wonders all;  
The first we hear of we do Chaos call;  
But in the Scripture it is nowhere said,  
How, or of what, Chaos itself was made;  
We only know from that confused Name,  
That lump of something, Nothing, all things came.  
Great and good was the work of the first hour,  
'Cause Chaos then had no resisting power;  
All things did naturally then submit  
Without dispute, to what our God thought fit,  
Till man was made, the Prince of all the rest,  
And freewill given, which taught him to contest  
With his Creator, and resist his hand,  
Whose word alone does Heaven and Earth command.  
To show us greater wonders yet behind,  
Miracles of a more transcendent kind,  
Our Saviour's Birth, and Resurrection,  
Pre-designed by God for man's redemption!  
'Tis strange to think, and wonderful to see,  
That man to God so great concern should be!  
Whose heart is full of high antipathy  
To his Commands; fierce to impiety.  
By nature cross, by industry so framed,  
That by itself it never can be tamed;  
Which most accursed, resisting quality,  
Only belongs to its carnality.  
So that God's greatest work, we may conclude,  
Is when man's heart by grace is so subdued,  
That all its appetites converted be  
From its own nature, unto purity  
Of life towards God, which justly may be thought  
The highest Miracle that e'er was wrought.   

To the Repiner.  
DOst thou repine, vain man, 'cause thou art born  
Subject to pains, to scandals, and to scorn,  
When Christ himself, in all perfection made,  
Felt more than thou, and was himself betrayed?  
Alas, poor wretched, miserable thing,  
That must be dust! suppose thou wert sole King  
Of all this Earth, and didst the World control,  
What would it signify, if thy own Soul  
This minute may  
Be ta'en away.  
When that sad hour shall come, what horrors then  
Possess the hearts of such wise worldly men?  
As present joys do seek, and ne'er pretend  
To Heaven, until it be too late to mend;  
Till sudden death their joys surprise, and Fear  
In high amazement doth unmasked appear;  
Then those Repiners will want a pretence  
To Courage, and their frighted Souls fly hence,  
As men were made  
To be afraid.  
Thus the Repiners do create their shame,  
While those inspired with a bright Christian flame,  
Humbly submit to all from Heaven sent,  
Are thankful, and most happily content,  
When the Divine Hand does remove those toys,  
Which the Repiner counts his only joys.  
But if the holy Spirit do thy heart  
Possess, there dwell, thou truly happy art,  
Canst not repine,  
While God is thine.   

On lost Time.  

IT is our Business every day  
To pass the time we cannot stay;  
This minute's mine, but it is gone,  
Past call, while it is thinking on.  
'Tis pleasant, and we think it fine,  
To spend our time on a design  
To get some honour, and increase  
Our wealth, till the hour of our decease,  
Not using what we do possess,  
In hopes to gain more happiness.  
Thus for some nothing, or a toy,  
We lose the time we might enjoy:  
So that indeed we do believe,  
And only dream that we do live.  
To be thus vain, and thus profuse  
Of Time, admits of no excuse,  
While our desires do still make room  
For some new pleasure that's to come,  
Wishing more wings to Time for haste,  
Not thinking how ourselves do waste,  
How much we lose, how little gain,  
When we our wishes do obtain,  
Till age and our experience, brings  
Our Souls to long for heavenly things▪  
Which is the sure and only way  
To call Time ours, make it obey  
Our Wishes, and in some degree  
May join Time to Eternity.    

A Good Conscience is a continual Feast.  
THo' Flesh and Blood be so imperfect made,  
That we must sin, yet be not thou afraid;  
For a pure Heart, with the Soul that's resigned  
To God, does Pardon and Protection find.  
When our whole Hearts endeavour to do all  
That God commands, than that endeavour shall  
Accepted be; if it endure the Test,  
Grace will increase, and we are surely blessed.  
Who ever does attain to this degree  
Of Faith, will be so filled with Piety,  
That neither pains nor losses can annoy;  
It will convert all sorrows into joy.  
A heart thus set, and firmly fixed, must needs  
Produce delicious Fruits; such holy Seeds  
Bring forth such heavenly Thoughts, in Souls refined,  
That every minute does new feast the mind  
With pious strive, which do raise the state  
Of humble hearts, and Grace on Grace create,  
Till we get interest in God, and then  
Converse with Angels, as before with Men.  
And thus our high-grown Fancies will behold  
Pleasures too great, too glorious to be told.   

On Temptation.  

TEmptation rightly scanned and understood,  
Is certainly ordained to do us good;  
To show that our frail nature ever needs  
Our prayers for Grace, to justify our deeds.   

Never to be tempted, leaves no trial  
To measure Virtue by: Self-denial  
Is the scale; 'tis no merit to forbear  
To do the things for which we do not care.   

To be tempted is no crime; but to yield  
Unto temptation, and to quit the field  
To a known Enemy, is worthy blame,  
When our resistance would the Tempter shame.   

Still to be tempted by some high delight,  
And piously resist that appetite,  
Does exercise our Faith; 'tis the only way  
T'express our Love, and show that we obey.   

To be tempted, Honour is, if we do  
Forbear to act, and quit the object too:  
Such skirmishes will much advantage gain,  
Till we a perfect Victory obtain.   

To be tempted is a bliss, if we find  
Sufficient Grace to satisfy the mind;  
For when we make our master-sin our slave,  
We joy in Life, and triumph o'er the Grave.   

To be tempted unawares by a thought,  
Or a wish, it is nature, and no fault:  
If Grace does nip the bud of our desires,  
Custom in time will teach to quench those fires.   

To master all temptation, is a sign  
That we have something in us more divine  
Than Nature can afford; by which we know  
God's Spirit does such Victories bestow.    

To be Regenerate.  

TO be regenerate, to be newborn,  
We rise like the clear Sun in a fair morn,  
After a dismal night of rain and winds;  
For such are our tempestuous, wicked minds,  
Full fraught with terrors, darkness and dismay,  
While sin doth reign, and satan bears the sway.   

To be regenerate, is to put on  
The bright raiment of the Resurrection.  
The hardest Lesson that was ever taught,  
The greatest Miracle that e'er was wrought,  
Was Paul's Conversion, and Mannassehs Crimes  
Forgiven (the hope and wonder of all times.)   

To be regenerate, does put our God  
Unto a double task; his Grace and Rod  
Are both employed; for he must first subdue  
The old man's crimes, ere he can frame a new.  
It was Christ's highest business to convert  
Our stubborn hearts, who labour to pervert  
The benefit of his most precious Blood,  
So freely shed, so little understood!    

How to overcome Temptations by Meditation.  
WHen Satan does our fickle hearts assault  
With pleasing Objects that do cause revolt  
From God, with subtle arts he does surprise,  
Before we can discover his disguise.  
He has as many advocates within,  
As we have appetites to plead for sin.  
How shall we then avoid to be his prey,  
When thus we do ourselves, ourselves betray?  
'Tis dangerous to treat, unsafe to fight  
With foes at home (the Enemy in sight:)  
So that our only safety to retreat,  
Send up our Souls unto the Mercy-seat  
Of God; there fly for succour, and there dwell  
Out of the reach of all the powers of hell;  
There Satan cannot come, dares not molest  
That Soul, where Christ doth claim an interest.  
When thus our God's engaged to defend,  
Wise Satan will not offer to contend;  
He does our weakness, and his Own Strength know.  
When our vain hearts and we do dwell below,  
Unsensible of those eternal joys,  
Do entertain ourselves with earthly toys,  
Then is his time to dazzle our weak eyes,  
And win our hearts with glittering vanities.  
But if we love not this Captivity,  
We must contemplate our eternity.  
Tho' flesh be a dull lump that cannot fly,  
Our thoughts have nimble wings to pierce the sky.  
Rise upward then, my Soul, till thou obtain  
The highest pitch of Faith, which will sustain  
Thy love to God, and bring thee by degrees  
To taste and relish heavens felicities.  
A pious fancy raised by faith will reach  
Some glimpse of glory, and in time will teach  
Thee to converse with Angels, and to know  
Their glorious Mansions (while I dwell below;)  
Thou may'st of Bliss a prepossession take,  
Till both do Heaven our habitation make.  
And thus thy unity with Christ discern  
The only Comfort, and the high Concern.  
When thou art full of these great joys above  
And dost return, this ecstasy of love  
Will bring our God along; and we shall here  
The same Heaven have, as if we both were there.  
For Souls with such Divinity possessed,  
In spite of all temptations must be blessed.  
And thou, my Soul, by this celestial art  
Wilt soon spiritualise my fleshy heart:  
Such antepasts of Bliss will raise desire,  
From smoking flax unto a flaming fire;  
Which will my trust confirm, my hope assure,  
And will unto eternity endure.  
Then Satan will on his own Envy feed,  
And we shall gain a Victory indeed.   

Queries.  
HAst thou forsaken thy known sins that were  
Just arguments for all thy doubts and fear?  
Do Gospel-Graces in thy heart now grow,  
Where various Vanities did overflow?  
Canst thou overcome thyself, the World subdue?  
Caesar was a less Conqueror than you.  
Dost thou love and fear thy God, dost thou dread  
To do amiss, and trust in Christ thy Head?  
Is the Resurrection thy firm belief?  
Does it equal the crucified Thief?  
Dost thou think Heaven, in all its Beauty, shines  
Brighter than Diamonds from our earthly Mines?  
Dost thou fancy what that great glory is,  
That fills the Saints with everlasting Bliss?  
Dost thou believe thyself shall have a share  
In Paradise, as an adopted Heir?  
I do not doubt but thou wilt now, say Ay  
To all those Queries of thy Piety.  
There is yet one behind, put to the test,  
Will try the intrinsic value of the rest:  
Dost thou desire to be dissolved, to be  
With Christ, new-cloathed with his Divinity?  
The object of thy Faith and Prayers possess,  
Which frees from ills, and fills with happiness?  
If the approach of death does make thee start,  
Examined well, thou art not right at heart:  
It is the business of our life to die,  
And to fear death is infidelity  
In some degree, or madness to desire  
To be in Heaven, that dost from Heaven retire.  
To this some pious Christian may reply,  
How can we choose but be afraid to die,  
When Christ, the head of our Humanity,  
Sweat drops of Blood in his great agony?  
But his Passion differed from the small pain  
We feel; he did the wrath of God sustain;  
And on himself he all the torments drew,  
Which for the sins of all the world were due;  
And by that act alone, destroyed the sting  
Of death, that so he might more easily bring  
Mankind to Heaven, leaving us no pretence  
To fear the passage, but our diffidence  
In the success. We either doubt the bliss,  
Or doubt that we the happiness shall miss.  
Young Babes, who neither fear nor fancy have,  
Like equally the Cradle and the Grave.   

A Pious Man fears no Danger.  
DOth sickness, poverty, and shame, unite  
Their forces, and together against thee sight?  
Do griefs abound, do evil tongues desame  
Thy honest actions, and asperse thy name  
With Lies? Art thou from honour tumbled down,  
And dost now plow the Seas for new renown,  
Where the loud winds do make high waves to rage,  
Till they create a storm, which does engage  
Thy ship amongst rocks, that in the bottom lie,  
And the next moment toss thee to the sky;  
Where thunder, with fierce lightnings, do conspire  
To lick thee up into a flaming fire;  
As if the Heavens did with the Seas contest,  
Which of their power could most disturb thy rest?  
Or hast thou 'scap'd the storm, and now on shore,  
Dost meet with greater terrors than before?  
Do the Mountains move, and great Cities shake?  
Does the Earth open, and a passage make  
Unto the dark Centre, as if the world  
Should once again be into Chaos hurled,  
And all the joys and glories thou hast seen  
Be quite forgot, as if they'd never been?  
Wouldst thou be free from such Calamities  
As these, trample on dangers and despise  
The terrors of the world? Thou must then stand  
Under his wings, that does the world command;  
There six thy heart and hopes, and thou wilt find  
Contentment for thy Body and thy mind.  
There's no safety nor joy to be compared  
To Piety, nor peace like hearts prepared  
For Heaven. We must live so, that when we die,  
We may account that change felicity.   

The Power of Faith.  
'TIs but a weak expression of our Faith,  
Our Love and Gratitude to Christ, who hath  
By his Death freed us from eternal fires,  
If we do only bridle our desires.  
It is not zeal enough that we refrain  
Our petty appetites, and do constrain  
Our fancies, and affections to retire  
From acts of momentary high desire.  
Nor is it yet enough to be content  
With frequent losses, as a punishment  
For our past crimes; we should our thoughts inure  
To pains; our hearts and bodies must endure  
Something beyond easy self-denials,  
And be armed for such fiery trials,  
As the first Martyrs felt: If God command  
The Grid-iron, or the Rack, we must not stand  
Amazed; he can enable us to sustain  
The torments of such deaths, and flight the pain;  
His Power is still to us the same, so we  
As great faith have, and suchlike piety,  
To love and serve our God, as much as they  
In those days did, not terrors can dismay:  
For where the holy Spirit does prevail,  
It is not possible that strength should fail.  
If we have faith enough, there is no doubt  
But we may walk on fire, and tread it out.   

An Ejaculation.  
LOrd, I have done what lies in me,  
The work does now belong to thee;  
I have resigned my heart,  
'Tis thine, who only art  
Able to keep what is thy own;  
Which I cannot, if left alone;  
But shall fall back again,  
And merit thy disdain.  
It is thy pleasure, and thy will,  
I should depend upon thee still,  
And never dare to trust  
The frailty of my dust,  
Which by nature does incline  
To be more earthly than divine.  
Thus I can only stand,  
Supported by thy hand.   

On Prayer.  
THe Lord regards not words, we may  
Be silent, and yet pray:  
'Tis the intention of the heart,  
That doth our zeal impart.  
Tho' vocal prayers be daily used,  
Our sighs are not refused;  
And our good deeds for prayers do go,  
'Cause God esteems them so.  
Our Charity and Mercy shown,  
Will plead our Cause alone:  
Such acts of our obedience,  
Is the best eloquence.  
And does in Heaven gain more regard,  
For pardon and reward,  
Than a whole age was ever known  
To get by words alone.  
Our alms do double use obtain,  
And multiply our gain;  
When penitence does plead for sin,  
And gratitude steps in,  
Acknowledging the grace we have,  
Must raise us from the grave,  
And put us in a decent frame  
To call upon God's Name;  
These practic Prayers will do the deed,  
And help us at our need;  
Much better than a story told  
In language rude and bold;  
Such as rash fancies do throw out,  
From wants, from fears, or doubt  
Of our Condition, which may be  
Words without modesty.  
When pious works fail not to bring  
Us Blessings from the King  
Of Heaven, the Searcher of our hearts,  
Beyond the reach of arts  
In language, by him all disguised  
Formalities despised,  
And the poor holy Ignorant,  
Will sooner get a grant  
Of his desire, than thou or I,  
With all our Oratory.  
When our good works and words agree,  
They both accepted be.   

On Charity.  
WHen we hear a poor Beggar cry  
For food, how can we him deny!  
Or if some raiment he do need,  
Are we not bound to cloth and feed  
Our Christian Brother in distress,  
When Charity is blessedness?  
Yet Charity does not consist  
In alms alone, we must assist  
Our friends with Counsel, if need be,  
To lead them unto Piety;  
And by our own example show,  
That we the way to God do know,  
Oh! 'tis an acceptable thing,  
When we can Souls to Heaven bring;  
For though Men can no merit have,  
They near it come that Souls do save.   

On Discontent for Poverty.  
HAst thou thy Fortunes lost, and now,  
Poor Man, dost live thou knowst not how?  
And art so much bereaved of sense,  
As not to see God's Providence,  
That thus without thy loss or care,  
Provides thee of all necessary fare?  
Why art thou then so discontent,  
To call this Plenty, Punishment?  
It is not well to make such moan,  
'Cause all thou seest is not thy own?  
Thy heart is earthly, and thy mind  
Will neither peace nor comfort find.  
Though the whole World thou didst enjoy,  
Something would still thy heart annoy.  
Didst ever yet see any thing  
Did thy expected Pleasure bring?  
Or didst thou ever anywhere,  
Once find the Joys thou look'st for there?  
But now methinks I hear thee cry,  
Thou grievest for thy Posterity,  
While thou dost doubt the same great hand,  
That does the Heaven and Earth Command,  
Should less provide for them than thee:  
All this is great Impiety.   

On Mercy.  

IT is or aught to be, while we do live,  
Our Prayers to be forgiven, as we forgive;  
Yet I do fear that most of us offend  
This way too oft, what e'er we do pretend.   

For I have known some Men so full of rage,  
When a flight injury did them engage,  
That neither sleep nor food could do them good,  
While their unlawful Vengeance was withstood.   

Others there are more mild, will only try  
Whether they can subdue their Enemy;  
And if that fail, they will not then refuse  
To take submission, 'cause they cannot choose.   

And some will seem as if they did not see,  
Nor understood a downright Injury,  
But will fierce Malice in their hearts retain,  
Until they can return it back again.   

And some do highest wrongs receive, and bear  
Them patiently with smiles, because they dare  
No other do, unless to make it worse,  
In private they do whisper out a Curse.   

Some too there be so cautious and so wise,  
All offered wrongs do seemingly despise,  
But their whole lives will study how they may  
Return the injury the safest way.   

And some will make their adversary know  
His error and their power, and then will show  
Such Mercy, as himself may boast, and be  
(If rightly understood) an injury.   

And some so sweet and gentle are, they still  
Remit all injuries to God, who will  
(They hope) in his good time the quarrel take,  
And of their Foes some sad example make.   

Too few there be who rightly understand  
The weight and scope of this so great command,  
This prime Christian Duty, so much admired  
By heathens, and so much to be desired.   

Some good men there are, who know Mercy is  
God's highest Attribute, and they in this  
Come near unto his own Divinity,  
When freely they forgive an injury.   

We should do good for evil, love and pray  
For those bad men that wrong us every day  
In friends or fortune, life, or our good name,  
'Tis our Religion to forgive the same.   

Lord, turn the hearts, and open wide the eyes  
Of those mistaken men (our enemies)  
Who wrong themeselves, and let them timely see  
How much they anger thee, and hurt not me.    

On Despair.  
AMongst Satan's chief Magazine of Arms,  
To fight against men's Souls none does such harms,  
As those despairs which he in clouds le's fly  
At faithless men, when we draw near to die.  
He treats our Youth at first with such delights,  
As do most please men's appetites;  
With lusts, with gluttony, and avarice,  
Or what will more our eyes and hearts entice  
To follow him into his hidden snares,  
Where once engaged, he leads us to despairs,  
And throws such mists before our dazzled eyes,  
We cannot find ourselves in his surprise;  
But do run on in pleasures, and rejoice,  
Mistaking his deceits for our own choice;  
And so applaud our wits for our success  
In sin, and do admire our activeness;  
And ne'er discern this subtle Agent stand,  
With all his wicked Instruments at hand,  
Ready and glad to be employed, while we  
Make haste to Hell by our impiety,  
Till youth and vigour with its power decrease,  
And cause our evil appetites to cease  
From wicked acts; yet he'll not give us over,  
Nor quit us so! He has new sins in store:  
When wrinkled age adorns us with grey hairs,  
He terrifies our hearts with high despairs;  
Shows us the ills that we have done, too great  
For pardon are, and now too late to treat  
With Heaven; having resigned ourselves to Hell,  
No holy Charm can e'er dissolve that Spell;  
And dictates thus to our affrighted sense,  
Repentance cannot balance our offence,  
Who have so many years our God refused,  
So many ways his Laws and Grace abused,  
That in his Justice he can ne'er forgive  
Our Crimes: Thus he torments us whilst we live.  
When flattering objects fail, he thus presents  
Our fancies with despairing arguments,  
That we must never hope to see God's face,  
'Cause we have sinned beyond the reach of Grace,  
Outgone the merit of Christ's Blood, and have  
Done things beyond the power of God to save.  
Thus by degrees he leads us to despair,  
Never to hope for better than we are;  
And thus by doubting God's Omnipotence,  
To aggravate his wrath and our offence;  
Unless our great and glorious God do please  
To free us from this Devil, and this Disease,  
So deadly to our Souls, and let us see  
We may be yet redeemed by Piety,  
If we get Grace to pray, and to repent,  
With constant fervent zeal and full intent  
For ever to forsake, and truly hate  
Those horrid Sins we doted on of late.  
If we get faith to love and serve God thus,  
No doubt he doth already pity us,  
And will in time forgive; there's no dispute  
But Mercy is God's highest Attribute;  
Severe in Justice, yet of Grace not scant,  
When chief of Sinners was the greatest Saint.   

Our Reason must unto our Faith Submit.  
LOrd, I have searched my heart, but do still doubt  
It is not pure enough, not clean throughout,  
Nor can be, till the Holy Ghost comes in,  
And do assist in casting out of sin;  
That so he may possession take for thee,  
And I may hold my heart in Fealty,  
To pay my God a thousand Thanks a day,  
While thus thy Holy Spirit does bear sway.  
O Holy Ghost! when thou art once possessed,  
I shall not dare disturb so blessed a Guest  
With a vile act, or a vain thought that may  
Lessen my Bliss, and drive my God away.  
Thy presence will my wavering heart direct  
To Heaven, and will from Enemies protect  
My Soul and me, while thou art my defence.  
Who dares contest with thy Omnipotence!  
So cleansed, and so informed, I shall soon learn  
To worship thee aright, and shall discern  
The Mystery of Faith; my Reason teach  
How to submit to what it cannot reach.  
Faith shall take place, my Fancy shall retire;  
And I will be contented to admire  
The mighty Secrets of thy glorious Throne,  
Which thou reserv'st unto thyself alone.  
Lord, tho' my heart can never understand  
The manner nor the motion of thy hand,  
Nor all my Zeal and Fancy raise a thought  
To comprehend thy Essence as I ought:  
I can persuade my Reason to give way  
Unto my Faith; for if thy Gospel say  
'Tis so, it is enough; I do believe,  
Thou wonder how a Virgin did conceive,  
And bring a Son who was both God and Man;  
And do not doubt thy holy Spirit can  
Dwell in my heart, and teach me to prevent  
Doubting that Christ is in the Sacrament,  
Or searching of thy high Divinity,  
How the Godhead becomes a Trinity.  
I can see thee now in the Creation,  
Full as great as in the Resurrection:  
Though I know not how all these come to pass,  
Thy Word says so it is, and so it was;  
And I believe't; while thou art mine, my Faith  
No curiosity nor doubting hath.   

To the Ambitious, Envious Man.  
DOes that Man's honour and his wealth abound?  
Is his felicity sufficient ground  
For thee to envy what he does possess,  
When thou dost feel no want, though thine be less?  
Such envy dwells not in a noble heart:  
Yet I will teach thee a mysterious art  
Shall make ambition, and thy envy swell  
As high as Heaven, and yet thou shalt do well.  
Thou want'st not understanding, nor a wit,  
But want'st the will and grace to manage it.  
Let the dull Clown still multiply his Cows,  
And make't his business to enlarge his Mows;  
The wary Merchant traffic on the Seas,  
The Soldier kill as many as he please;  
The Usurer enjoy his full-stuffed Bags,  
And the gay Courtier boast his golden Rags;  
And greatest Lords to highest Titles born,  
Search all the World, they never can adorn  
Themselves with wealth, or glories that shall last  
Unto eternity. Then do not waste  
Thy life on trifles, let thy envy rise;  
Do thou contest with those that Heaven do prize,  
With all that do pretend a better right  
Than thou, to be God's greatest Favourite.  
'Tis a noble and a brave Religion,  
That allows thy envy and ambition,  
To trample on the World in spite of fate,  
Until thy forehead knock at Heaven Gate.   

To the Luxurious Man.  
ARe thy brave Statues, Pictures, Jewels, Plate,  
Which cost so many thousand pounds of late,  
Destroyed? Is thy vast Building, with thy Land,  
Torn from thee by some unjust powerful hand?  
And dost thou sit computing the great cost  
Of all thy Pleasures, and this Treasure lost,  
With a half broken heart, and dost not see  
All this is to deface thy Luxury,  
Which did thy Soul besot? Till these were gone,  
Thou hadst no leisure time to think upon  
Thy God, who thus in Mercy and in Love,  
Doth that calamity from thee remove,  
That thy free heart may only Him adore,  
And so be richer than thou wert before.  
If Heaven and Earth be God's, and he be thine,  
Thou ought'st to thank him rather than repine;  
Then will thy long-sick Soul recover health,  
And thou possess an everlasting wealth;  
Free from the Cares and Fears that daily hap  
To Men that seek their Bliss in Fortune's lap.   

Love thy Neighbour as thyself.  
IT is a prime and great Commandment,  
To Love our Neighbour as ourselves. God meant  
Us happiness on Earth, that did impose  
Severest Laws, to make us love our Foes;  
Including that our Friendships would not need  
A Law, when hearts in unity agreed.  
But we that still his Will prevaricate,  
Do change this pleasant Precept into hate.  
Throughout the World the daily Mischiefs show,  
That Neighbourhood but little love do know.  
We see the best of Men do often do  
What they themselves would not be done unto.  
And few of us there be that do believe  
Our plenty should our Neighbour's wants relieve.  
How few the sick do visit, or endure  
The smallest Charges for a poor Man's Cure!  
And yet we hope our God ourselves will bless,  
Who neither Love nor Charity express.  
To love our Neighbour as we ought, would be  
Mongst Men, angelical Felicity.   

My Took is easy, and my Burden light.  
JESUS Christ, the great Pattern of our Lives,  
Does bid us follow him, and loves who strives  
To imitate him most; for he that can  
But near him come, will be a blessed Man.  
'Tis not commanded, nor expected is,  
That our own righteousness should equal His;  
Our God from us doth nothing more require  
Than our utmost endeavours and desire  
To do his Will: He only calls us to,  
What he does give us Grace and power to do.  
He wills us to believe, obey, and love;  
But does not give us mountains to remove.  
His yoke is easy, and his Burden light;  
We make of Molehills Mountains in our sight.   

To a strong young Man.  
T'Hou'rt young, 'tis true, and strong & mayest yet  
Live many years; but do not thou forget,  
That young and healthy People often die,  
By various accidents, as suddenly  
As old; nor yet expect that death must bring  
A Fever, to fore-shew thou art dying,  
When death with thee divides this minute's breath;  
Though we call the last act of dying, death;  
Because we then do cease to die no more,  
When we are dying all our lives before.  
Thy youth, and my grey head now dying are;  
Thou needest no other Summons to prepare  
For Heaven; but observation every day,  
What multitudes of young men drop away.  
Only the old Man's Dream is almost gone,  
The young Man's Dream but newly is begun.  
The longest is like twinkling of an eye,  
Moment's compared unto eternity.   

On Hypocrisy.  
HE errs that owns his Crimes in the World's sight,  
To avoid being thought a hypocrite:  
We are not bound our frailties to reveal,  
But may our shame with modesty conceal,  
Rather than aggravate our sins against God,  
By boasting that we do contemn his Rod.  
But he that does a feigned Zeal put on  
To cloak his sins, doth scorn Religion.  
And does not only with his base intents  
Contemn Obedience to Commandments;  
But does that way design his God should shroud  
His wickedness under a holy cloud,  
And does God's Goodness mock, thus to presume  
Rudely to move his anger to consume  
Such madmen as do his known power despise,  
By daring to affront him in disguise;  
Who thinks a Vizard on his face can hide  
His heart; God does such hypocrites deride,  
And will in fury finite so bold offence,  
As undervalues his Omnipotence.   

To GOD.  
WHen I look back on my past life, the ills  
That I have done my heart with horror fills;  
And does amaze my frighted Soul to see  
Thy Judgements due to such impiety.  
But since thy Mercy hath so long forborn  
To smite, and thou art pleased at last to turn  
My heart to Heaven, when I was running on,  
Heaping sins on sins, to my perdition,  
I bless thy Name that would not let me go  
To Hell, nor suffer me to perish so.  
This Grace gives hope, and does my Faith increase  
To Confidence, that thou wilt now release  
Me from the punishments, and from the shame  
Due to my Crimes, and make me love thy Name.  
It is thy own great Work, the honour's thine;  
I cannot own a virtuous thought for mine.  
Shall I then fear to raise my thoughts to thee,  
When thou dost fill my heart with Piety!  
When my assurance is thy gift, I may  
Approach thy glorious Throne, and humbly say,  
Thy Grace hath such a Confidence begot,  
As cannot be in one that loves thee not.  
Lord, let this love increase, let it endure  
Unto my end; make my Election sure,  
That I may feast my Soul with thoughts of thee  
My God, the Fountain of Felicity:  
Thus filled with Grace, and by thy Spirit led,  
I shall for ever live, when I am dead;  
And with true courage, when I come to die,  
Shall gladly pass to my eternity.   

On a bold, profane Sinner.  
WE may well fear great Judgements in our times,  
That dare to boast and glory in our Crimes:  
To sin, is humane frailty; but to slight  
Religion, and to make't our chief delight  
To show how we can triumph in the act  
Of every sin, does aggravate the fact,  
And make us worse than Heathens heretofore,  
Who never scorned those Gods they did adore.  
But Christians now do take the liberty  
To own no Joy, but in the infamy  
Of their worst deeds; and do a War proclaim  
With Heaven, as if they could their God desame.  
The Giant's war (by Poets feigned) came short  
Of those, who use Devotion as a Sport;  
And rally on their Priests, who stories tell,  
To awe the ignorant with Heaven and Hell,  
While Wit and Courage do disdain to be  
Frighted from Pleasure, by such Foppery.  
Thus some gay Gallants of our age do treat  
Their God, as if his Precepts were a cheat,  
To make us live in fear, and trembling die  
With idle Dreams of an Eternity.  
If these Opinions, like Contagions, spread,  
God may in rigour strike the Nation dead;  
Then sow the Land with Dragon's teeth, fit seed  
For soil, that does such monstrous people breed.   

On Eternal Life.  
NO sooner born than we begin to die,  
By Nature taught to cry we know not why;  
Till riper years do teach us wicked arts,  
To cozen and betray our wanton hearts;  
That boldly dare our great Creator brave,  
By sinning from our Cradle to our Grave:  
Sad fate for Souls, thus destined to obey  
The various Vices of corrupted Clay!  
Involved in dangers that we do not fear,  
Because the certain ruin seems not near,  
Till some diviner light our hearts inform,  
How to fail safe in this devouring storm.  
Blessed be that light, which does from terror free,  
And make us Victors in Captivity:  
For Souls by Grace enlarged, will quickly taste  
Such Joys, as no Eternity can waste.  
Thus born to live, and yet ordained to die,  
And live again, is such a mystery,  
As only Faith can reach, and show us how  
To outlive Death, by pious living now,  
Which will a prepossession take of Bliss.  
And such angelical transports as this,  
Will such a blessed celestial Courage give,  
We shall be glad to die, that we may live.   

On Valour and Fear.  

VAlour mistaken through the World we see,  
When rashness looks like Magnanimity;  
When senseless Drunkards, vapouring in the Street  
For want of Courage, quarrel all they meet;  
When practised danger brings the meanest Clown  
To vie with Alexander for Renown;  
When shame will fear remove, and money hire  
The scum of Men to face the Cannon's fire;  
We must some other Rules for Valour find,  
That grows from Virtues of a higher kind.  
These Men do not know why  
They do not fear to die.   

Experience shows, the Valiant and the Wife  
May start at the first glimpse of a surprise,  
And may avoid such squabbles as will slain  
Their Courage, and no jot of Credit gain.  
High Valour and true Virtue brightly shine,  
When they're asserted by a Cause Divine.  
When King and Country, or thy Church wants aid,  
'Tis basest Cowardice to be afraid;  
True Courage will endeavour to create  
Safety to them, though ruin be their fate.  
These are the Men know why  
They do not fear to die.    

On Repentance.  
WHen Adam fell, GOD did a Curse disperse  
On all Mankind throughout the Universe;  
And on his Issue did Contagion spread,  
Till CHRIST appeared to bruise the Serpent's Head;  
Then Penitence and Piety began  
To be refined, and called relapsed Man,  
By Rules and Christ's Example, to possess  
Heaven, with his united happiness.  
So that repenting sinners Heaven must fill,  
Because there's none on Earth but have done ill;  
Though sighs and tears may a good Prologue be  
To introduce Repentance, yet we see  
High Structures, on such thin Foundations built,  
Have tumbled with much noise and greatest guilt.  
So that to pray, and fervently desire  
To be enlightened by celestial Fire,  
How to forsake our sins, if not too late,  
Denominates who is regenerate.   

On Easter-Day.  
HOw Christ triumphed o'er the Grave and Hell,  
Is joy to think, tho' terrible to tell.  
When Rods had made his sacred Body bleed,  
And purple Robes did aggravate that Deed;  
When Pilate, to consummate all his Scorns,  
Adorned his Temples with a Crown of Thorns;  
Hard were their hearts who did endure to see  
Their Saviour bleeding, bound to set them free.  
Those than who did his Agonies deride,  
When they had pierced his feet, his hands and side,  
Were of much harder metal made, more fit  
For their descent into th'infernal Pit;  
While dying Christ, by a diviner fate,  
Gave Heaven to the repenting Reprobate;  
To show whom Faith and Penitence sustain,  
Will sure a place in Paradise obtain.  
Blessed then were those whose eyes were never dry,  
After they saw their Lord and Saviour die;  
Till searching in the Sepulchre, they find  
That sacred Body could not be consigned  
To Earth, which was declared before must rise,  
To cheer their hearts, and dry their blubbered eyes.  
When the dull mist of Nature was removed,  
They saw and knew whom they adored and loved:  
Surprised with joy, transported with delight,  
They trembling do approach his awful sight;  
Until enlightened they at last grow bold,  
By recollecting what he had foretold;  
Which fixed their Faith, and by a joyed Converse,  
He then his Resurrection did rehearse;  
And by his Spirit made them understand,  
And look for his Ascension then at hand.  
Thus filled with heavenly Wisdom, they retired,  
Well satisfied with what they most desired:  
And by their Records of these Truths do teach  
Us by a lively Faith, how we may reach  
The same assurance, and like Comforts find,  
Unless we will be obstinately blind.  
If we can sin subdue, this world despise,  
This day we may with Christ to Heaven rise.   

On late Repentance.  

VAin Men, who do presume to live in sin,  
Hoping to end as easy as begin;  
When Custom and Time such habits do beget,  
That easy Nature to our Wills submit,  
And force our hardened hearts with them comply,  
To glut our Senses till the hour we die;  
As if one Moment were enough to gain  
That Mercy we for many years disdain;  
With all our power thus blindly running on  
In high contests, to our confusion.   

Thus heedlessly our Youth does bear the sway,  
And middle age too willingly obey,  
Still thinking as our Bodies do decay,  
We may repent: But age will not give way  
To quit his feeble appetites, grown bold  
By Custom then, does scorn to be controlled.  
And when no active vigour does remain,  
Delights to tell and think sins o'er again.  
By such sad precedents we learn too late,  
And march to Hell in a triumphant state.    

A Rapture.  
O Lord, thou seest the Secrets of my heart,  
Beyond what sighs or tears, or words impart;  
Yet I must daily worship and adore  
Thy Name, too much neglected heretofore;  
Now own, thou art the mighty Lord of Host,  
One God, the Father, Son, and holy Ghost.  
What Reason wants, we must by Faith supply;  
For finite ne'er can reach infinity.  
Thou lov'st a zealous heart, and dost require  
Our best endeavours, than grantest our desire.  
When servant Prayers the greatest pleasure brings,  
In our addresses to the King of Kings.  
And makes our joy in carnal appetites  
Submit to higher and divine delights,  
Which fire the heart, and make Devotion warm,  
That inward works like a Seraphic Charm.  
Lord, bless my age, that I may end my days  
In a delightful Rapture of thy praise.   

On the Felicity of constant Health.  
THo' honour with renown and greatest wealth  
God's Blessings are, they can't contest with health;  
For happiness, which is the root that brings  
More pleasure unto Beggars than to Kings;  
When fits of Gout, Strangury, or the Stone,  
Do all or any of them come alone.  
Health makes us eat and drink, and sleep at ease  
When wealth creates, but cures not a Disease.  
What would not a daily sick rich Man give,  
To have a poor Man's health while he does live?  
His Plate, his Jewels, with his Bags of Gold,  
Will ease no pain, tho' all he has were fold.  
Which shows that all Mankind should daily pray  
For health, and not by wealth be led astray.  
For there's no joy like a contented mind,  
Tho' 'tis with poverty and health confined.   

On lost Innocence.  
Tho' we cannot lost Innocence recall,  
Repentance will preserve from farther fall,  
And Faith in Christ will then recover all:  
So we by him shall Victory obtain,  
And God by mercy will the Glory gain.  
And thus by grace and savour of God's love,  
We may with joy triumph, all fears remove;  
Which will our hearts revive, new hopes create,  
And raise our Souls to our first blessed state.  
And thus from sin by Christ's great Merit freed,  
We may as God's adopted Sons proceed,  
With Duty and Obedience to his Will,  
Till he in Heaven does all our hope fulfil.   

To a young Man surprised by Death.  
THo' Death has many ways to be disguised,  
We have as many not to be surprised;  
So that surprise is but a lame excuse,  
Which rather doubly trebles the abuse;  
When we are placed by God upon the guard,  
Who proffers life eternal for reward.  
But thou, young Man, for pain may'st loudly groan,  
Or is'st for grief to die thou mak'st such moan?  
If by the first thou dost find any ease,  
'Tis well; the second adds to thy disease,  
And by a great mistake disturbs thy heart,  
With a false fancy that thou dying art.  
Now thy beloved Carcase does decay,  
Which should unto thy Soul raise no dismay.  
But cheer thy heart, and so enrich thy mind  
With joyful thoughts of a diviner kind;  
For when God calls for thy last puff of Breath,  
He'll bring thee to eternal life, not death;  
For so 'twill prove, and be more truly said,  
That thou beginnest to live when thou art dead.   

The Dream of a reconciled Sinner.  
SOmething I saw, more glorious to behold  
Than can (I now awake) by tongue be told;  
Such glittering rays, too glorious to impart,  
When raptures flow in a Seraphic heart,  
Which only can behold so bright a shine;  
To testify such Dreams must be divine,  
That comforts sleeping Souls with such delights,  
As are inessable to waking sights.  
Tho' God some secret Counsels doth conceal,  
He may a glimpse of Glory thus reveal,  
To fix such hearts as mercy does afford,  
When Penitents are unto Grace restored;  
To show some bright Ideas of his Throne,  
To such adopted Sons as he will own.   

On Happiness.  
HAppy is he who can his Joys impart  
Unto a trusty sympathising heart;  
Happy is he whose griefs are only known  
Unto himself, and to his God alone;  
Happy is he can do his Neighbour good,  
And have his goodness rightly understood;  
Happy is he who by example can  
Reduce a rigid, misbelieving Man;  
Happy is he whose Virtue is so strong,  
That when he can, will not revenge a wrong:  
Most happy he, who heartily can pray  
For such a Foe as doth his Friend betray.   

On Devotion.  
TRue Devotion is the supremest Good,  
If rightly practised, when 'tis understood;  
But those enlightening Joys most Men do feel,  
May prove much short of a Seraphic Zeal.  
Pure Piety is a great mystery,  
That puzzles our divine Philosophy;  
Inspired by God's propitious fixed Decrees,  
Which humane Nature feels, but never sees;  
And yet doth consecrate their lives desire,  
Who God's great Attributes do most admire  
And does those secret Riddles so unfold,  
That we may understand what we are told,  
And then by higher Raptures, antedate  
The heavenly Pleasures of our future state,  
By sacred Joys, that fill a righteous heart  
With godly thoughts, too lofty to impart:  
For no Man can angelic Fancies paint,  
But he who is, or hopes to be a Saint.   

On relapsing into Sin.  
THo' Piety and Grace in hearts prevail,  
Our Fancies and our Natures are so frail,  
That every object of our old desires,  
Are ready to unkindle such new fires,  
That few good Men are found, who dare to say,  
They really desire to die this day.   

On Hope.  
WE work for wealth and honour while we live,  
With all the Perquisites that God can give;  
We rack our Fancies, and disturb our Brains,  
We tyre our Bodies, and take mighty pains;  
When at the last our pampered Bodies must  
Be eat by worms, and then return to dust.  
Here nothing we possess, but hope in time  
To gain our peace and pardon for our Crime:  
But then by Grace restored, and snatched from Hell,  
We shall in bliss and glory ever dwell.   

To my Friend, to justify my Retirement.  
SIR,  
I Do value your Friendship much, and take your Advice very friendly, To forsake my solitary Life, and to return unto the Conversation of my Friends; and this with very civil (though with very sharp) Reflections on my Retirement, in the Opinion of the World (as you say;) as if some Discontent, or love to a lazy Life (rather than Devotion) had made me bury myself alive (which my Age might very well excuse at 88 Years) if I had no better Arguments to justify my Repose this way. But now you shall have my Reasons at large, which I did not think fit to declare in that Company, at that time. For,  
When I considered how many Years I had lived in Idleness and Vanity, and such Sins as were in fashion with most Men of great Estates, with as full a swing as my wild Fancy could reach: In which kind of short-lived, mistaken Felicities, I found no real Satisfaction; but still roving from worse to worse, it pleased God to induce me to think of Heaven, and how to get thither by a timely Repentance, in a Retirement from all worldly Delights, and all public Concerns; but do not pretend to be an inspired Quaker, nor a professed Hermit; though I do believe that both those Callings may have pious Men, that do abhor Hypocrisy in Devotion as much as I do, who think it to be the next greatest Sin to that against the Holy Ghost.  
Yet I must own, that my solitary Life is become so delightful, that my Bosom-Joys are much above all the Pleasures that I have formerly known, and largely shared in the Courts of Four great Kings; in which there might be many Saints (though I was none.) By which I judge, that those who live (as I then did) in the pomp and splendid Crowds of such great Assemblies, can seldom have the opportunity to delight in frequent Prayers, nor time to relish the deliciousness of such servant Addresses unto Heaven, as my solitary hours afford me: So that such busy Men are not often refreshed with those daily Comforts, and secret spiritual Joys, as slow in Souls totally resigned to God: For when God sees the Integrity of such Men's Hearts, as do value their Hopes of Heaven above all earthly Fruitions, he gives them a cheerful, hearty Devotion, to be their highest Felicity in this World, with great assurance of Glory in the next.  
And whoever will try to live so much alone with God, will find such enlightening Comforts to his Soul, in frequent, servant Prayers and Meditations, as will increase his Joys until he go to Heaven; and all the way thither, will entertain his Heart with celestial Delights, so much above the Pleasure of this World, that they are inessable to be described by words, or to be conceived, but by choose who feel how much spiritual Joys, in a divine Conversation with God, does transcend all carnal Enjoyments, with as much elevated hopes of a prepossession of Heaven, as Men are capable of in this World.  
Though I have read in a divine Author, That the Soul that is upon good grounds fully assured of its future Bliss, is already in Heaven, and has begun to take possession of Glory. If this be so (as I hope it is) our eternal Bliss begins and fixes here; which ought to baffle the Joys and Troubles of this World, and the Terror of Death also, with a constant, present Felicity to be with God the moment we expire. For I do believe, that God mocks no Man with a hope of Heaven that he shall miss of, if he seek it as he ought. I do not say that I do this, but I do aver, That I will not change the Happiness I have in my Retirement, to be a Prince without it. I do own God's Mercies to me in every thing, and do serve him the best I can in all things, and do envy no Man's Talents who can serve him better.  
I write not to instruct wise Men, but to show some Ideas of Devotion, for such weak Brains as mine to work upon.  
If these be not good Arguments for my Retirement, I wish that you may find better in your public Conversation.  
Your humble Servant, W. K. January 5. 1692.   

On Humane Weakness.  
WE have no means to please Almighty God,  
But to beg Mercy, and avoid his Rod;  
We have no Joys on Earth that can sustain  
Our Souls, or free our Flesh from constant pain.  
Our hearts alone are only ours to give,  
And only can dispose 'em while we live;  
And that's so hard a Task, we always find  
Some difficulties, still divert the mind  
From Heaven, where all good Men desire to be,  
Yet fear to go, which is a Mystery,  
And such a Riddle, that 'twere worth the while  
Ourselves unto ourselves to reconcile.   

We must all die.  
THo' we know not when, we do all know why  
It is decreed by God that we must die:  
And since no remedy can death prevent,  
To free us from that fatal punishment,  
Let us consider how we surely may  
The daily Terrors of that Doom allay.  
The first thoughts then that should our hearts possess,  
Our Souls are not deprived of happiness,  
Whose lasting Essence must for ever be  
Immortal, living by the same Decree.  
But where! the Question is; for none can tell,  
Whether he be destined to Heaven or Hell,  
Till by the light of Scripture, or by Grace,  
We may be certain of the better place.  
For than will death our blessed Souls convey  
To our immortal Bliss, the surest way.  
This is a Lesson for all Men to learn,  
But is decrepit age's chief concern,  
Who ought to watch for their last puff of Breath,  
Which brings true life, tho' we do call it Death,  
Which only faithless Men and Children fright,  
But to good Men proves their supreme Delight.   

On Ninevehs Repentance.  
IF God an Angel should from Heaven send,  
To bid us fast and pray, can we pretend  
To feast and dance, and not our God offend?  
When we his Goodness and his Will withstand,  
By slighting of so gentle a Command;  
Instead of Fire and Sword, when Tyrant's rage,  
Slew Saints by thousands in the former age.  
Much greater now will our Offences prove,  
When we despise such favour and such love.  
When Piety and Grace so fast decay,  
That (as we ought) few neither fast nor pray,  
But careless throw our precious time away;  
As if the world were given us to defy  
Our God, and show we scorned to comply,  
Till he appears in Glory, with such power,  
As wiil both Heaven and Earth by fire devour.  
Our wanton wealth and luxuries do look,  
As if our stubborn Nation were forsaken  
By God, until our Nineveh repent  
In sackcloth and in ashes, to prevent  
Our fatal Doom, and his just Punishment.  
Unless our Princes do without delay,  
Teach all the People how to fast and pray,  
We may be all together swept away.  
But this God's love and anger may divide,  
So as to lay his flaming Sword aside;  
And with his glorious Shield and Spear to rise,  
And free us from our subtlest Foes surprise.  
Thus we may convert God's severe Decree  
To love (by our profound humility)  
And find delicious Joy to fast and pray,  
When servant, sacred Zeal bears all the sway.   

On Dying daily.  
TO write of Dying, and to spend our breath  
In long discourses of approaching death,  
Is not the daily dying we should learn,  
Nor is such practice of so much concern;  
For we should live in every respect  
Like-pious Men; or we that rule neglect,  
Which is the true superlative degree  
Of dying daily, while we living be.  
To live in Heaven while we on Earth remain,  
Will greater joy, and highest honour gain;  
For death by God is unto good Men sent,  
To give eternal life, not punishment.   

On the desire of Variety.  
'TIs strange Man's nature should be so inclined,  
To relish nothing that is most refined,  
Without variety, which we pursue,  
Tho' worse than what we have, because 'tis new.  
Yet thus we daily seek for more content  
By vicious ways, which proves our punishment;  
When downright honesty would more prevail  
For bliss, when all our wand'ring wishes fail.  
Yet Nature will its natural desires  
Maintain, and such variety requires,  
That often turns our present joys to pain,  
And makes our losses greater than our gain.   

On a covetous rich Man.  
IF wealth can hardly pass a needle's eye,  
Men may with joy their poverty supply,  
With hopes to pass, who have no weighty packs  
Of such rich glittering bundles at their backs,  
As over-load their Souls with householdstuff,  
When little food and raiment is enough  
To pass them through this World: Such golden streams  
As brightest shine, prove but fantastic dreams,  
Which mock their sleep with some false pleasing sight  
Of shadows, that do vanish with the night.  
Tho' this unto poor me may seem most true,  
'Twill find but little credit with rich you:  
To part with any parcel of your store,  
To clothe the naked, and to feed the poor;  
Tho' Christ declares 'tis him whom we do feed,  
When we relieve his Children in their need;  
And may with justice rather curse than bless  
Such wicked men as do his poor oppress.   

On negligent cold Prayers.  
IF thy Devotion be not always alike delightful, Examine thy own heart, if thy Addresses to God be alike zealous, if thy fervency of Spirit be not sometimes slackened; and then do not wonder if God gives cold encouragement to cold Petitions; he values his great Blessings at a higher price, than to part with them to Men that mind not what they ask, nor unto whom they pray. He gives his bright shining favours, only unto flaming hearts, that think of God with awful reverence, and pray with such angelical adoration in their approaches to the Throne of Mercy, as may obtain the secret joy of a divine rapture in Devotion; with such Ideas of eternal bliss, as will not be purchased at an easier rate, than a whole heart offered up to God in a daily Sacrifice.   

On a Desire to die.  
IT is a great mistake to think all Men desire to be with God, whose afflictions make them desire to die, only to be rid of their uneasiness on Earth, as if they could flatter God to welcome them to Heaven, who never had a thought of going thither, until their Joys on Earth forsook them. Such Men should consider, that God's allseeing Eye searches the heart, and discerns when Men's chief arguments for love to him are his divine Perfections, and their gratitude for Benefits received; such a flaming Zeal may raise Men's Souls to such inessable Joys on Earth, as Men truly pious can only judge of.   

On frequent Meditation.  
AS our Saviour said, when he likened Heaven to a Grain of Mustard-feed; so may I say of a Grain of divine Meditation; if it be sown in a rectified heart, it will in a little time grow unto so great a Joy, that nothing can reach nearer to Heaven; for it will raise the Soul of such a Man thither, that sets himself to a constant practice of blowing those divine Sparks into a flaming love of God, by frequent Meditations; which ought to be the Souls food daily, to make them live unto eternity in Heaven, and by custom will create fresh Joys every day, so fast and delightful, as is inessable to be expressed by words; nor can any Man's fancy reach those constant pleasures, but he that feels and relishes such divine Ecstasies as a spiritualised Soul can rise to.   

On Time misspent.  
TIme is the greatest Treasure that we have  
For use, between our Cradle and our Grave;  
Which we still study how to pass away,  
Tho' no Man can its pace one moment stay.  
'Tis strange that Nature should such Joys resist,  
By which we naturally do subsist;  
So often tired with idle thoughts in health,  
As if we knew not how to spend such wealth;  
But daily-wish we could to Time add wings,  
Tho' his approach no welcome tiding brings;  
Yet various hopes still in our hearts create  
Fresh Objects to abuse, not mend our Fate.   

How to improve our Time.  
FIrst is to be contented with our Lot,  
Not to repine for that we yet want not.  
When health with food and raiment will suffice,  
We may abounding Plenty then despise,  
For the short time that we on Earth remain.  
But they who would celestial Joys obtain,  
May think Time slow, whose sure tho' lazy pace,  
Keeps them too long from seeing of God's face,  
Whose righteous Souls, by Meditation, fly  
Faster than Time can pass their Destiny;  
And so a quicker prepossession take  
Of Heaven, than lingering long-lived Time doth make.  
When Meditations are divinely set,  
God and our Souls are in conjunction met.  
Thus me may outride Time, our Joys improve  
By greater speed, when we converse above,  
In frequent Raptures of Seraphic Bliss,  
While our diviner Thoughts do practise this.   

How to excuse, and how to inform unlearned Men.  
IT is not possible for unlearned Men to judge the Opinions of great Doctors, who seldom do agree in the nicest points of the divine Philosophy, because the Greek, the Hebrew, and the Syriack Characters, do afford various Senses to dispute on, and to exercise their Wit to inform the World the right way to Heaven, which too often does produce quite contrary effects in the Thoughts of universal Ignorants, who know no rule to judge the right, and so do doubt of all. Let such Men walk in the plainest and most trodden paths to Heaven, and be comforted with assurance, that 
He who does love God most, will serve him best,  
And will by Faith in Christ be surely blest.    

On Doomsday.  
SInce Saintlike Innocence from Earth is fled,  
And ancient Virtue in most Nations dead,  
It shows Religion so deformed grown,  
By various Sects, that most Men now have none;  
But such vile Pretences for Ambition,  
That Anti-Christians only dare to own;  
Tho' covertly too many do combine  
To propagate so wicked a Design,  
Such as no sad Example can prevent,  
Nor make such bloody Tyrants e'er repent;  
Who think an universal Monarch might  
Destroy whole Nations, for his own delight,  
By daily breach of God's direct Command,  
When Love and Charity for Ciphers stand;  
While Fire and Sword do desolations make  
Throughout the World, that will no warning take,  
But still provoke our much-incensed God,  
To smite us with his most devouring Rod,  
To terrify such Sinners in our Times,  
As do exceed bold Korah's fatal Crimes;  
With flaming Streams and gaping Earth devour  
Millions of Men, with Cities, in one hour.  
That makes us shake, and in amazement stand,  
To think our Doomsday may be near at hand;  
When Seas may swallow Islands on command,  
As well as Earth does Cities on the Land.   

On Sickness and Health.  
OF sick Men's Zeal we make no kind of doubt,  
When the sharp pains of Strangury, or Gout,  
Molest them, with such restless agony,  
That good Men are compelled to wish to die,  
Because their flesh no longer can sustain  
Patience, with such intolerable pain.  
If our foundation for all joy in wealth,  
Be best supported by a constant health;  
How much more Zeal than may our strength and ease  
In gratitude afford, than a Disease  
Pretends to? only to avoid the Rod,  
When our health clearly shows our love to God,  
By making ready with serene delight,  
For a quick Summons to our Maker's sight;  
When we do frequent Hallelujahs sing,  
That without pain will us to Heaven bring;  
With cheerful hearts more gratitude express,  
Than sick Men's sighs and groans aloud profess.   

All Men must die.  
WE must die, and 'tis happy that we must,  
And not our natural affections trust,  
Lest our weak Faith beget in us content  
To dwell on Earth, as a just punishment,  
For loving of so troublesome a Fate;  
And valuing Heaven at so low a rate,  
As ne'er to wish that we may thither go,  
While God will give us leave to live below.  
To finish some great Business, we pretend  
From time to time, until our Journey's end.  
But God s Decree will our defects supply,  
Who has ordained that all who live shall die:  
When he calls, Death admits of no delay,  
All arguments laid by, we must obey.   

To my proud, rich Censurer.  
YOu say true, I a Beggar am, and poor,  
But have had more than you have, heretofore;  
Honesty and Poverty were no Crimes  
Accounted, amongst wise Men in former times.  
And if we now consider right, there's none  
But Beggars from the street-Cripple to the Throne▪  
The ragged poor beg alms of all they see  
Of my dependers, and they beg of me;  
And I as humbly beg the Prince I serve,  
For such grants, as I think I do deserve;  
My Prince that in a higher station stands,  
Begs of the Parliament, whom he commands;  
And they beg their Elections, and the Purse  
Of all the People, which is much the worse;  
And all the Nation beg for Grace from God,  
For Peace and Plenty, as their livelihood.  
So that the whole World is in some degree,  
Liable to some kind of Beggary.  
If thy loose tongue do want an argument  
To rail, My want is a just punishment  
For my past luxuries, which I confess  
Were daily acted to a great excess.  
And unto which thou may'st as justly add,  
My many sins, while I was blindly mad.  
Yet after all, in Charity might tell  
By what well known great accidents I fell,  
To want; and yet if justice I obtain,  
I shall my former Lands and State regain.  
Till then, let not thy heart my want despise;  
For I am happier in this disguise,  
Than all thy wealth and gayest robes make thee,  
Which I have worn, with more variety,  
Than thy thin Fortune will thy pride allow,  
Of which thou so much prat'st, and boastest now.  
But if injustice does 'gainst me prevail,  
My faith in God's great Mercy, will not fail.  
To give me Paradise, instead of Gold,  
With present joys too glorious to be told.  
I scorn thy Wealth, thy Titles, and thy Wit,  
And only unto God's Decrees submit,  
And all thy malice do forgive; etc.   

On Gratitude.  
LOrd, let my Gratitude rejoice, to find  
My Nature is so much by Grace refined,  
That thou hast weaned me from the World, and made  
Me learn to know thy will, yet still afraid  
Of a relapse, till thy divinest light  
Guides and inflames my heart with such delight,  
As will create Seraphic Joys to see,  
And to observe, adore, and worship thee;  
Then will my zeal be fixed, and my retreat  
From fading glories, to thy Mercy-feat;  
Will fill my Soul with Raptures so divine,  
As will declare thee mine, and make me thine;  
Than which, there does no greater bliss remain,  
But thy beatick Vision to obtain.   

On Faith, as the best Wedding-Garment.  
LOrd, every my heart with Faith, as the best  
Wedding-Garment, for this most sacred Feast;  
Left doubting of thy mercy should create  
More sin, to raise and aggravate thy hate,  
Instead of pardon for those Crimes are past,  
And leave no remedy for this at last.  
Such doubting strikes at thy Omnipotence;  
To flight thy Mercy is a great offence,  
Next to presuming on't with insolence.  
I therefore beg thy holy Spirit may  
Direct my Faith, and teach me how to pray.   

On a Reprobate's Repentance.  
I Thank my God, that now my Zeal doth burn,  
Like the joyed Prodigal's, in his return:  
Tho' not adorned with glorious Robes and Rings,  
To fix the reconciled Sons of Kings.  
I meet my Father with his smiling face,  
After his anger, and my just disgrace,  
Who will so great a Reprobate embrace;  
And with blessed Comforts make my heart aspire  
To such a Sonship as I most desire;  
Such as may Adam's Innocence excel  
In paradise, before he finned, and fell.   

The Hope of a true Penitent.  
LOrd, now my Soul does relish a delight  
In thee; I am assur'dly in the right,  
And will not doubt but my addresses may,  
With hope, encourage my joyed heart to pray,  
For a prime place in the great Judgment-day,  
Where no Man's Virtue can by merit claim  
Such Mercy, as belongs to God's great Name,  
Where Sorrow only and Repentance can  
Restore to savour a relapsed man.  
Thus will the solitary hours I spend  
In worshipping of God, in glory end,  
If I perform the Sonship I pretend.   

On Faith with Repentance.  
LOrd, let thy grace and mercy never cease,  
To make my joy and gratitude increase,  
By hating my beloved former Crimes,  
(And repetitions) in these purer Times.  
Since now 'tis clearly taught and understood,  
That we are ransomed by our Saviour's Blood,  
When worthily received, with faith and love,  
'Twill comfort bring, and sure Salvation prove.  
With what care then (as an invited Guest)  
Should I prepare for this celestial Feast!  
Where Penitence with Faith assur'dly brings  
Full pardons unto Beggars as to Kings.  
Words quickly said, and are as soon forgot,  
As our past sins, which we remember not  
So often as we ought, with grief and shame,  
Nor long rejoice to be thus freed from blame,  
That by a miracle of mercy gain  
Eternal bliss, through our great Prophet slain.   

On a good Man's desire to be in Heaven.  
THose who dare shake the Hourglass in Death's hand,  
To make the quicker passage for the Sand,  
Have mounting Souls, with a serene delight,  
To hasten us to God's beatick sight,  
And surely may a better welcome gain,  
Than those that longer would on Earth remain.   

To a careless Sinner.  
THou dost not, sure, believe that thou shalt die,  
Or never think'st upon it seriously;  
Because thou liv'st as if thou didst disdain,  
After this life, ever to rise again:  
Else thou wouldst set a higher price upon  
The Glories of thy Resurrection:  
For 'tis not possible a Man of sense  
Can always hold so ill intelligence  
With Heaven, as not to wish, or not to fear,  
He never may, or never would come there.   

Some Caveats.  

WHen petty Pleasures are procured with Gold,  
When youth is gone, and we decrpeid old,  
There's no more Gusto than a Tale twice told.   

The greatest Monarches, while they flourished,  
Were honoured and adored; but being dead,  
Were soon forgot, and only pitied.   

So that whatever Marble Tombs pretend,  
All their gay glories never can defend  
Their pampered bodies from the Beggar's end.   

Caesar and Alexander both became  
The highest splendour of a glorious Name;  
And yet in some things both deserved blame.   

So that, when Men have all the World subdued,  
They may themselves, and all their Fame delude,  
Unless they do in Piety conclude.   

Those mighty Hero's cared not to be good,  
(But brave) because they never understood  
The sacred Sanction of our Saviour's Blood.   

But those who saw the Miracles he did,  
And heard how boldly he their Crimes forbid,  
Are justly scourged, instead of being chid.   

What's our due then, who do believe, yet run  
The course which that accursed Crew begun,  
To flight God, and re-crucifie his Son?   

Which shows Men want some Caveats to restrain  
The idle Fancies of a busy Brain,  
That frequent losses bring, instead of gain.   

These serious Thoughts are Caveats to despise  
Such Crimes, as from our idle hours may rise,  
And captivate our Senses in disguise.   

Till by a power divine we can obtain  
Such bright, serener joys, as will sustain  
Our Souls, and to eternity remain.   

For we are born to learn, and to express,  
By daily actions, what we do profess  
To purchase everlasting happiness.    

On Poverty.  
PUre honest Poverty in former times,  
Was no disgrace; but now our latter Crimes  
Have introduced new kinds of punishments,  
To expiate our sins, for old Contempts  
In luxury, and such profuse expense,  
That we are now chastised for that offence,  
With Penury, to make us own our shame,  
And free all present accidents from blame:  
Which from God's mercy now to us is sent,  
To make our most obdurate hearts repent.  
And yet there may such poverty proceed  
From wicked Men, whose malice have decreed  
Our ruin, to get wealth for their support,  
In spite of right, or their damnation for't.  
And such absurd, base scandals do invent,  
That no man's innocence can e'er prevent.  
From such Devils, good Lord, deliver me,  
As hate all those, who truly worship thee;  
And with profound repentance do submit  
To all the judgements that our God thinks fit;  
And make the poverty I now endure,  
For all excesses past a perfect cure.   

On Pride.  
OF all the Vanities I know, 'tis Pride,  
Which all the World most justly may deride,  
That like an Ass, with golden Trappings dressed,  
Thinks himself 'bove all other Beasts the best;  
And when he brays, does all that hear him fright,  
Mistaking their amazement for delight;  
Like gilded Fools, that only learn of late  
To strut, and make loud noise when they do prate;  
For Pride did ne'er the greatest man adorn,  
Nor free him from God's hate, and wise Men's scorn.  
Satan for Pride, and for Ambition sell,  
With his accursed Crew, from Heaven to Hell.   

On Pride's Kindred.  
PRide's next of kin, are such as do despise  
Their Neighbours, for the Motes in their dark Eyes;  
Who first their own Beams should remove, then learn:  
That Rule, by which they may such Motes discern,  
And by this caution constantly prevent  
Such rash Censures, that do raise discontent  
Between good Friends, who seldom will endure  
A blind Man's Precepts, till himself he cure.   

On this Day's Sacrament received.  
Septemb. 3, 1693. LORD,  
I Did believe, but not such joy conceive  
As since I did thy Sacrament receive,  
To ratify thy mercy, and my zeal,  
By adding of thy Holy Spirit's Seal  
Upon my heart, to manifest thy love,  
And all my doubts and fears by faith remove,  
Which made me shrink from death; but now my voice  
Shall Hallelujahs sing, and Soul rejoice,  
To celebrate this Victory obtained  
O'er all my fins, by thy blessed Conduct gained.  
How great then is my Obligation grown,  
If thou wilt this day my Election own,  
By adding joys on joys, and grace on grace,  
Till I in glory come to see thy face!  
And now adore and worship thy great Name,  
With warm addresses from this sacred Name.   

On Adoption.  
I Have read, that he who lives in a constant, uniform Obedience to the Gospel, and performs the Conditions required in it, departs sincerely from iniquity, and shuts up the ways that lead him into temptation, may give himself as strong and comfortable an assurance, that he is an adopted Child of God, as if a voice from the Clouds should tell him so; and is a good argument for frequent Meditations.   

How to know when our Sins are forgiven.  
IT has been asked, How a Soul may know when her Sins are forgiven? and answered thus: When she finds the same affection to God, with his that said, I hate iniquity, and all false ways I utterly abhor. Yet David, who said so, did die, and so must we. Tho' our Souls may, by the same grace, become of the same temper with his, and our sins be forgiven too; yet we may consider how few Men do slip out of this World into eternity, with a joyful hearty delight to be with God (through divine Love) which is the highest perfection of an holy life; and is our greatest assurance to manifest our sins forgiven, when our Souls are by faith so fixed on God, as to know no joy so great as such spiritual Comforts do raise, when we desire to be in Heaven; which taught David to hate iniquity, and to abhor all false ways; and so reduced him from all his sins, to become a man after God's own Heart.   

On Reconciliation before we die.  
IF we fully consider our manifold sins, and the horrid Punishment due unto us for them, if not forgiven before we die, 'twill make us tremble at the approach of Death. But if we do believe in Christ's plenteous Redemption, with GOD's immense Mercy to deliver us from Hell's eternal Torments, and exalt us unto Heaven's eternal Joy and Glory; it may be justly said, Happy is that Man who can obtain such a Reconciliation with GOD before he die (as daily to delight in the Meditation of a sudden Death, with inward assurance of his eternal Bliss the moment he expires) which is the highest Exaltation of Joy on Earth, and will be the greatest Comfort at the hour of Death; and aught to be the chief Business of all Men to live and die so, who do march every moment, from our Cradles, dying, towards our Graves.   

On Heavenly Joy.  
WHate'er we do on Earth, we all pretend  
Heaven is our Home, Heaven is our Journey's end.  
That's true Seraphic Joy, when we do find  
Such elevated Bliss, as fills the Mind  
With high transports of God's celestial Throne,  
And all our meaner Objects we disown:  
Yet sometimes spoil our blessed angelic rest,  
To roll on Roses, when on Thorns is best,  
Vainly thinking some diviner Grace  
May smooth afflictions with a smiling face;  
When sighs and tears (if they come not too late)  
More surely can our heavenly Joys create.  
When God observes our Zeal to do our best  
To please, we shall assuredly be blessed;  
And may expect to find more Penitents  
Encircling of God's Throne, than Innocents':  
Which shows sincere Repentance surely can,  
With a fixed Faith, restore relapsed Man.  
Thus may our high-raised, warm addresses prove  
Bright Ecstasies of the divinest Love.  
Then will our Souls from dross be clean refined,  
And by our sacred Chemist be calcined,  
Fit for a Choir of Angels to attend  
Such Saints, and sing them to their Journey's end.   

On taking heed of all our Ways.  
WHen God reduces Sinners, to take heed  
Of all their ways, in thought, in word and deed,  
Repentance then will be of little use,  
When all our actions will need no excuse:  
We shall the World subdue, and stoutly stand  
In full obedience unto God's Command.  
And then will Death in glorious Robes descend  
To guide, not fright us, at our Journey's end.  
So that if we take need in all our ways,  
We shall the Devil defeat, and wear the Bays.   

To a Friend.  
My dear Friend,  
I Have read in a divine Author, That if God be with us, he will make us see that he is with us; and will not depart from our sight, until he has brought us never to depart out of his. Which is a Lesson of high concern to Men in his World; for Thus to enjoy God here, is to be in Heaven before we die. When our souls are thus transported with a continual divine Conversation with Almighty God, we may taste and relish his celestial Joys to some degree, so as to invite us to value his spiritual Comforts above all carnal Fruitions. So that our great Business is to improve this Blessing to the highest reach of humane Fancy, by a daily practice of holy Meditions, to contemplate and observe how God doth infuse this joyful enjoying of Him into our souls, by the secret working of the Holy Ghost; when we set ourselves with zealous integrity to find him there, to conserve with us on this great lesson of his immense Mercy, with our humble prayers to be enlightened from above, to participate of such angelical Delights, as far as our frail Nature will admit of; which by frequent use, will bring us to such an habit of holy living, that God God will manifest his presence ever with us, by an inward Felicity of Divine Comforts, to such an assurance of our Election unto eternal Bliss, as is ineffable to be described: So that when we raise our Thoughts with a divine Desire, to know as much of God as we can know, and of his being with us, he will add of his Grace to enlarge our Capacities to such heavenly Trances in Devotion, that we shall be with him, and he with us, as we do with, with such a joy as will dread all diverting Occasions that shall obstruct those Emanations of his holy Spirit working in us.  
And thus if we do entertain ourselves by such frequent addresses to find God, he will daily meet, and ever dwell with us, if we unseignedly desire to dwell with him; and will give us such a glimpse of his eternal Bliss, as may fix our hearts on Heaven, and make us live every moment in a joyful Expectation of Death's quickest Summons thither; and by this frequent entertainment of thy Soul with God, Thou, my Friend, wilt find such a communication with God on Earth, to be the highest Perfection of Piety, and a felicity much more delightful than all other Diversions, which can never reach such Seraphic Joys, as I with to thee my Friend.   

On the Fear of Death.  
IF we fully consider our manifold Sins, and the horrid Judgement due unto us for them, it may well be said, Happy is that Man who can obtain such a Reconciliation with God before he die, as daily to delight in the meditation of a sudden death, with inward assurance of his eternal Bliss the moment that he expires. Because all our Ideas of the divine Felicities above, do seldom invite Men to welcome Death with cheerful Hearts: Our fears are so much stronger than our Faith, that too many Men do rather think, than find they do believe that Christ's plenteous Redemption will cancel all their Crimes, and bring them into Heaven; and therefore dare not really rejoice to look on death; but start back from such angelic Happiness, as he brings good Men to participate of, in God's eternal Glory, which natural infirmity of doubting, can only, by an illustrious Faith, be removed; and that Faith, by frequent Prayers, be obtained. Then, thus to live, and so to die, will make us live and die in great tranquillity, though not to reach St. Stephen's Faith, who saw Heaven open to him; yet to so great a degree of divine Raptures in Devotion, as to be filled with elevations of an inward assurance of our Election, which must come from God, when the Soul is in such a blessed Trance of celestial Delight, that is inessable to be described. How near such joy is to the joy we read of in Paradise; when servant Zeal is by a lively Faith so raised, and fixed in God by frequent Meditations, it is a wonder that such Men can fear to die, or doubt togo to God with cheerful Hearts, when thus invited, and thus led by his holy Spirit, with such bright illuminations of surprising joys, while those divine Flames last, cheeras cannot be related. When Men's hearts are warmed with such Seraphic high Transports of Love and Mercy from Almighty God, to give true Penitents some taste of their eternal Glory; that being thus enlightened, they may not fear to die but rather welcome death, who comes to carry them to Heaven, which is the highest Exaltation of the Soul's joy, so to delight in God, that the expectation of Heaven may be more pleasant, than all the momentary Fruitions of this World are compared unto a blessed incomprehensible Eternity, 
Which neither Wit nor Fancy can express,  
When multiplying numbers make it less;  
When neither first nor last can e'er be known  
Points so far distant, yet so joined in one,  
That the eternal Circle shows us none,  
But is a secret known to God alone.  
'Tis such a sacred Riddle, so profound,  
That humane Wisdom never can expound;  
But leaves us still to wonder and adore,  
What will be after, and what was before.    

On the Power of Faith.  
THough Men by Nature born to fear, and to avoid what may seem hurtful, yet that fear by Grace and Faith may be converted into divine Valour of the highest kind, as is evident by the Three Children in the fiery Furnace, and by Daniel in the Lion's Den; which with other the like Examples, should invite such Men as trust in God, not to fear what he only can prevent, if he thinks fit; and though a fearful Man cannot remove a Molehill for want of Faith, much less Mountains; how little Faith then have we, when the noise only of Ill News does affright our unsettled Souls with dismal apprehensions of what may never happen more than the ill event brings with it, if it do, unto such pious men as live prepared to bear afflictions for few moments here, with faithful, joyful Thoughts of their eternal Happiness in Heaven. So that we see the Power of Faith will remove the greatest terror, and work Miracles, when Men dare trust in God. 
Lord, give me grace to live, as I do write,  
And as thy holy Spirit shall indite,  
To manifest thy mighty Mercy shown  
To such a Reprobate as must own.    

Christ's Doctrine to suffer.  
CHrist's Doctrine is with patience to inure  
Ourselves to suffer, what he did endure  
On Earth; from that malicious, cursed Crew,  
Who scorned his Miracles, and boldly slew  
Their blessed Messiah, who did then submit  
To die, because his Father did think fit,  
That we, redeemed by his precious Blood,  
Might trust in him, who died to do us good;  
And now may sighing sing, and weeping pray  
Our death may prove our highest Holiday,  
When we with Christ in Paradise appear,  
And shine amongst those blessed Angels there.   

On the Power of Love to God.  
TO love and fear God, is what every good Christian doth own, and what most Men think they do; but very few, I fear, do understand what it is to love and fear Him as we ought, with all our Heart, Soul, and Mind, above all other Objects whatever; which is a Lesson of great use to bring Men to Heaven; who know that we are dying every moment that we live, and can not with more pleasure here, than we shall find by serving God thus: For those who can love him with all their Heart, and Mind, will worship, and adore him with the same Zeal, and will obey, praise, thank, pray, and trust in him with the like servant affection, in all their divine addresses, with their utmost endeavours to be with him in Heaven; which God never will reject; nor can eternal Bliss be purchased at a lower rate of Love. 
Thus God exposes Heaven, to entice  
Good Men, to purchase at the Market-price;  
When Love, with all its Perquisites, comply,  
To fix a blessed Immortality  
On such exalted Souls, as take delight  
To meditate on his beatick sight.  
When their enlightened Faith does bring them there,  
(Enriched with love) they'll bid adieu to fear,  
And leave no arguments to justify  
Such timorous Men, as dare not think to die;  
Though their eternal joy will then be such,  
That none will have too little, or too much.  
And those who truly love, will surely find  
Their happiness by God is predesigned,  
Who sees the heart and thoughts of every Man,  
That loves and serves him to the best they can.    

On Faith.  
WHen Faith grows strong, our Fancies will soar high,  
To search the secrets of Eternity;  
Which to our Souls are of so near concern,  
That no man can a greater Lesson Learn,  
Nor have a more serene, celestial Bliss,  
Than he'll enjoy, by practising of this  
Great step, which by degrees will lead him on  
To the sacred Seat of his Adoption,  
Where Faith 'bove all the Gifts of Grace will shine,  
With Love in Bliss, and Glory most divine.   

On God's Mercy.  
OUr God from us his Glory keeps concealed,  
Because it would destroy us, if revealed:  
His essence we can never understand;  
'Tis well if we obey his just Command;  
For God to mortal Man will never teach  
Such great Secrets; because what we can reach,  
By Nature cloys, as soon as had or known:  
He therefore lets us live by Faith alone;  
Still subject to so many hopes and fears,  
That our prime Joys are damped by frequent tears,  
Which daily do our sorrows multiply,  
Until death comes, to tell us we must die;  
The only remedy ordained to cure  
All sorts of evils that we here endure.  
Yet God in mercy makes amends at last,  
To free us from all miseries are past,  
By raising them to blifs, who do their best  
To gain a share in his eternal rest;  
Which best in God's esteem is to do all  
Was done by blessed St. Stephen and St. Paul.   

On true Valour.  
HAppy are they, who in these letter days,  
Are filled with love, with gratitude and praise  
To God, whose joyful Soúls do ever fly  
With highest thoughts of their Eternity;  
And by the actions of their lives declare,  
That Faith in Christ, has conquered their despair,  
For all past Crimes; and now with Death has made  
Strict Friendship, never more to be afraid  
Of his most sick alarms, in disguise,  
Nor of his quickest Summons by surprise.  
And thus the greatest Cowards in the Land,  
For Valour may in competition stand.  
With any Hero's of the former age,  
Or those who now in a just cause engage,  
When Courage is a Virtue to be brave,  
And sets a Crown on such a Soldier's grave.   

On Relapsed Man in Paradise.  
WHen Youth with strength, wealth, and beauty flourish,  
Some short joys our wanton hearts may nourish;  
But when old age is much decrepit grown,  
We ought with sighs and tears great Sorrows own,  
For idle hours that we have vainly spent,  
Without the sense of shame or punishment;  
And if we die in that unhappy state,  
All hopes of mercy than will come too late;  
So that if age revive, and propagate  
Past sins, till they do greater Crimes create,  
'Twill turn old Age's Blessings into hate.  
Then let no mortal man presume to think  
He cannot see, when he is pleased to wink;  
For no Man yet was ever such a Sot,  
That Age his former Crimes had so forgot,  
That on his Crutches thinks 'tis boldly brave,  
Loaden with Crimes to creep into the Grave.  
Much worse than Youth, when crossed in his desire,  
In a mad fit, dares leap into the fire:  
Which shows, that all our Ages here, ne'er can  
Retrieve the Curses of relapsed Man;  
Till faith in Christ create a brighter flame,  
Impow'ring men to have a surer claim  
To Heaven, at our blessed Saviour's cost,  
Than that, which Adam's disobedience loft.  
By which, we the intrinsic Treasure find  
Of future joys, in a Seraphic mind.   

On the Power of Faith.  
IF all Men did our Christian Graces understand, That like good Heralds we might rank them according to their antiquity and merit, Faith may claim the highest dignity and place, as of just right, to be the most fixed foundation on the blessed Rock of our Salvation, which will, unmoved, with stand the greatest Storms, when lofty Structures built on Sand, are, with Wind and Rain, soon tumbled down. And if we mind those mighty Miracles of the first Ages, they all relate unto Faith. Our blessed Saviour also used to say, Whosoever believeth in me, shall never die: (Do you believe that I can do this? and then, Be it done according to your Faith) Thy Faith has made thee whole. The Woman with the bloody Issue, had no other application for her Cure but Faith. 
Without Faith, what signifies our Creed?  
And to what purpose did our Saviour bleed!  
If we all Doubting could from Faith divide,  
Pure Faith would then in greatest triumph ride.  
God grant all those the Power of Faith, that die  
In joyful Hopes of blessed eternity;  
When their departing Souls will gladly own,  
By faith they rise from Dunghills to a Throne.    

How to delight in GOD.  
THe Text says, Delight in the Lord, and he will give thee thy hearts desire: And no doubt but if we delight in him, with the highest faculty of our Souls (above all carnal appetites) with contemplation of his glorious Essence and Attributes, in frequent servant Prayers, with continual Gratitude for his daily Mercies. To adore him as we might, we should find such a rejoicing in God, to be the most voluptuous felicity that the heart of Man is capable of● But we mock ourselves too often with a belief of this Felicity, by a careless searching short in our own Hearts, for a clear proof of the divine Perfection of this delighting in God; which every Man must find in himself; for no Man can correct the unseen Errors of his Neighbour's heart. So that it must be every Man's concern to examine his own Conscience, how much he rejoices in God, more than in all worldly Fruitions; and according to his proportion in excelling therein, his peace of Conscience will prove the more exalted joyful Feast, and will create in him the greatest hope of his heart's promised desire, and is the furest way to remove our natural Fear of Death, who only can lead us to glory; which all Men ought to think on, more than all other affairs in this World: For if we delight in God as we ought, 
We should the clear intrinsic value find,  
When Grace enriches a delighted Mind,  
That trusts in God; and by such blessed converse,  
Excels all pleasures of the Universe,  
Which no Man's Faith nor Fancy can conceive,  
Till that delightful practice gives him leave:  
Then Souls enlightened by that holy fire,  
Will pass to Paradise when they expire;  
An higher Bliss can no Man's heart desire  
Though worldly joys may all our Senses please,  
The Soul's joy makes them all but a disease.  
But when God's glory in our Souls doth shine,  
It shows those holy Raptures are divine.   
Yet we ought not to think, that every petty pleasing Object that assaults our Senses, doth deserve the Name of a Delight, more than little Children have for every new Baby they do see. But when the Soul's supreme delight is so fixed on God, that every address brings men as near to him as Souls can come while they are involved in Clay; yet by a flaming Zeal, and such high mounting Faith, as doth believe that God is everywhere, and Heaven with him, and them, are altogether at that time there. Where such joys may grow up to such a divine Delight in God, as will come nearest unto his beatick sight (tho' few Men seek it by such practice as we might) and therefore cannot fancy such transcending Bliss on Earth, as those hermetick Livers have, who daily do converse in Heaven, with great delight, in expectation of a quick Summons thither; and such Piety may be truly called, Delighting in God. 
'Tis said my Book does need apology,  
To beg a Pardon for tautology;  
Which is a Crime I never understood,  
If the repeated matter be all good;  
David's Example, as my Pattern, may  
Excuse that Error, and for pardon pray.    

On the Power of Divine Meditation.  
DAvid says God requires no Sacrifice,  
But Penitence and Faith; he does despise  
The Blood of Beasts; We are to thank and praise  
His holy Name, and honour him always.  
And if we trust him as we ought, Mankind  
Will be, by frequent Comforts, so refined,  
That we on Earth shall have a daily taste  
Of his eternal Peace, and joys at last.  
If David's Rules authentic be, That God  
Had rather use his Mercy than his Rod,  
And proffers Heaven at so cheap a rate,  
T'invite us to become regenerate.  
What labour less can mortal Men invent,  
To gain God's favour, and escape his punishment!  
If thus our Duty may his Favour claim,  
All Men will trust and honour his great Name.  
Such Ecstasies in Meditation will  
Men's heads with glorious heavenly Visions fill;  
And by degrees our Souls with joys advance,  
To think that we are there in such a trance;  
And find that such enlightening Zeal as this,  
Is emanation for our future Bliss.   

A Dream of Heaven.  
THough Sleep Death's Image be, I have been now,  
I know not where, conveyed I know not how!  
Where something did appear so dazzling bright,  
I could not see its Glory, for the Light.  
My Soul suprized with Wonder; and amaze,  
Methought I prayed, and did forbear to gaze:  
Frighted and pleased at what I liked, and feared,  
I found it was a Dream of Heaven appeared;  
Which waking fled; but did my Fancy fill  
With blessed Ideas, which abide there still  
With such transporting joy, that I can weep  
To think of what I had, and could not keep.   

On a Dream of Hell.  
STart not, my Soul, 'tis but a Dream, to show  
The dismal Terrors of eternal Woe,  
Which unrepenting Sinners feel below:  
Where Satan with his cursed Crew do dwell,  
For their Ambition tumbled down to Hell;  
While we rejoice on the Divine Presence  
Of our exalted Bliss, by Penitence.  
Those fiery Streams, we seem to see,  
May give us joy to find that we are free  
From that sad Doom, where Torments never cease,  
But rather to Eternity increase:  
While our Conversion doth aloud proclaim,  
What mighty Honour due to God's great Name;  
Who will, in Mercy, save a Reprobate,  
If his Repentance do not come too late?   

On Death.  
'TIs very strange the World should still comply,  
To think that Death is sent to make us die,  
By leading us to Immortality:  
And the same moment does our souls convoy  
From worldly slavery to eternal joy.  
So that we ought to find some other Name  
For God's great Messenger, that bears our blame  
Alone, tho' Life and Death are both the same  
Moment our eternal Lot, to end this strife,  
We may treat Death as our first step to Life:  
No terror find by our remove from hence,  
When all our Happiness proceeds from thence.    

The Postscript.  
IF Heaven be what we read, or hear and see, or do believe to be the glorious Habitation of the more glorious Trinity, that we pretend to love, to obey, to truth, worship and adore, as one united God, who has created Heaven and Earth, the Sea, and all therein; and from whom we do expect eternal happiness, when our Souls expire. How can we justify this Creed, if in our actions we daily do transgress what we so daily do profess, as if our present moments did afford us more concern, to pamper fading Flesh for being Worm's meat in the Grave, above the nourishing of our Souls with heavenly Manna, to endure unto eternity.  
If this be Gospel-Truth (as I think it is) I cannot choose but wish and pray, that my Retirement may produce the like Effects in others, by reading what I write, to obtain the high Felicity I privately enjoy, transcending all the glittering Vanities that I have seen, and too largely sharedin; but now know no Felicity in this World, to be compared unto the Joy of living ever ready to go out of it, which is not so easily done, as said, though we endeavour all we can. 
Now, Reader, I have nothing else to say;  
But wish thee Grace to meditate and pray,  
Which will high joys create, and teach thee why  
True Piety will never fear to die,  
When armed with such Divine Philosophy.   
FINIS.   

ADDENDA  

On our cold desire to go to Heaven.  
WE seem to prise the other World 'bove this▪  
But fear to go to that undoubted Bliss.  
We find few Men, who would with Enoch fly,  
From hence to Heaven, (that dare soar so high!)  
Or with Elijah, would take like delight,  
To mount his Fiery Chariot, in his flight.  
Our Faith, for such Celestial Joy, comes short  
Of our Fruitions here; where our Support  
Is what we see, and what we understand;  
Which we prefer, before God's best command.  
Tho' Reason, and Religion, both agree  
To bring us to a Blessed Eternity;  
In the same moment, we are raised from hence,  
Through Faith, by God's Divinest Influence:  
Which only can Immortal Life Create  
By Death, destroying this our Mortal Fate.  
So that, till we with God's Decree comply,  
We do not truly Live, until we Dye.   

To a Friend in a sit of the Gout.  
WElcome thy pain, my Friend; this Gout is sent  
In Mercy to fore-warn, and to prevent  
Thy Gluttonies', and Epicurean Crimes,  
Which were unpractised in our Father's times.  
This is the effect of strong Falernian Wine,  
And pride, to wash thy Feet in Muscadine;  
By eating Mushrooms stewed with Ambergris,  
And the fat Livers of the jews fed Geese,  
With Peacock's Eggs in gravy, to support  
Thy Luxuries, and now thou'rt punished for't.   

On the Fear of Death.  
'TIs strange, that all Mankind should be afraid  
To Die! nor any arguments persuade  
Wise Men, from the terror of a Name;  
Death is God's Messenger, and we to blame,  
To antedate his Arrant, with such fear,  
As doubts to go with Him, we know not where  
Thou Death's power, only can our Souls convey  
To Heaven; if we God's Holy Laws Obey.  
But we still struggle with undaunted strife  
To keep our dying Bodies, from true Life.  
For want of Faith, left Death should by mistake  
Led our sad Souls to the Infernal Lake;  
When such gross misdoubting Grace, only can  
Force Death to fright a misbelieving Man:  
Which shows the Glory of our future State,  
Is left to our own Option; not to Fate.   

On true Devotion.  
WHen true Devotion is our chief delight,  
We may presume, 'tis pleasing in God's sight,  
And to our Souls; will sacred Bliss reveal,  
To fix and to eternalise our Zeal;  
And while we live, our blessed thoughts direct,  
To the Seraphic Joys of God's Elect.  
And will by our Adoption when we die,  
Declare the glory of that dignity.   

On God's wondrous Works.  

WHen we consider God's Word and Deed,  
And see the products of the smallest Seed,  
It doth our wonder greatly antedate  
With joy, and in our hearts fixed Faith create,  
It doth all doubtful thoughts, with truth confute,  
When fancy guides our Fingers on the Lute.  
But yet these petty arguments of sense,  
Must all submit to God's Omnipotence,  
In wonders of a higher nature shown!  
Which all the Christian World admires, and own.   

But know not how the boisterous Sea or Land  
Do steady stand; (by God's Supreme Command.)  
Who has the Sun and Moon so firmly set,  
With Stars, in their fixed Spheres, that no Man yet,  
Can by his Industry or Art declare,  
How high or what circumference they are,  
And yet the Seat of God's Celestial Bliss,  
Is still to be admired! above all this  
Where God himself, Enthroned is pleased to dwell,  
Which must in Glory, all the rest excel.   

Tho' these be wonders of a large extent,  
There be some of much more wonderment!  
That God should all Offences here forgive,  
And grant us daily comforts while we live.  
By our Souls washing in the Crimson Flood,  
Of our Blessed Saviour's Sacramental Blood,  
By which he does our Claim to Heaven advance,  
When we approach in a Seraphic Trance;  
And own his Mercies with entire delight,  
To glory in his bright Beatick sight.   

The more we think, the more we wonder! and  
The less of Miracles we understand;  
Why the same Earth, should every year produce  
Such various Fruits and Herbs, for humane use;  
If Faith and Gratitude did not combine,  
To think such Meditations are Divine.  
When God with secret Bliss, such joys imparts  
As does create true Zeal in pious hearts;  
And doth their Souls, with flaming Love invite  
To Paradise; inessable to write;  
Unless his Holy Spirit should indite.    

To my Old Sick Friend.  
MY good Old Friend, why so sad? does thy Age decline so fast? that the Idea of thy Grave frights thee with fear to die. Are we not all dying? and none knows who shall go next, nor how soon be gone; if this occasion thy dismay, I will teach thee an Antidote that will dispel the Poison of that Serpent's bite, and turn that universal carse of Death, into a State of Bliss; if thou canst raise thy dejected Spirit to a quick sense of sharing the Eternal Joys of Heaven, with those departed Saints, who by Faith, Prayer, and Penitence, are now exalted thither.  
Let thy melancholy Meditations and Preparations for the Grave, be changed from a Gaol delivery; into a constant, cheerful, zealous Conversation, in thy Divine Retirements, with God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; by a total Resignation of thy Soul, and all thy concerns unto them; and think with pleasure how near thou art arrived to thy Journeys end, to be with them in Paradise. Then such Celestial Thoughts will be thy most pleasant entertainment, and surely meet with surprising joy from Faith in Christ's plenteous Redemption; which will beget a hearty, speedy welcome unto Death's arrival, who comes to conduct thee to Eternal Bliss; and thou wilt also find, that every devout step towards this felicity of thy approaching Salvation; will make thy heart dance with a Saintlike delight, to battle the terrors of the Grave; with a serene prospect of thy Eternal Happiness at hand; and so make thy last hours full of Angelical transporting joy to be with God, the moment thy Soul expires; fix thy heart thus, and all sad Thoughts will vanish, when a sincere Faith becomes predominant. 
Thy Heart by practice, will delight in this  
Divine Elixir of Eternal Bliss.    

On vain Projectors.  
NO mortal Man can limit or restrain,  
The boundless fancies of another's brain;  
But may such Fetters on his own Thoughts lay,  
As will keep them from wand'ring much astray;  
But naturally, Men add wings to try,  
How high their vain ambitious Hearts can fly,  
Until like Icarus, their waxen Wings  
Do melt, and all their hopes to ruin brings.  
But when our Souls do with Angellick Love  
Soar high; they will Celest'al joys improve  
To flaming Zeal, and raise our hearts so high;  
As will discern our Immortality.   

To my Rich Friend become Poor.  
TEll me, Old Friend, and speak the truth,  
If twenty Dishes in thy Youth,  
Did then more please, and gratify  
Thy Stomach with that Gluttony,  
Which did Diseases daily breed;  
Till now thou dost on one Dish feed.  
Tell me if now thy constant health  
Gives not more joys than thy lost Wealth  
Afforded; by thy vast excess,  
In frequent Treats and Wantonness;  
Which made a noise, more than content,  
For all thy charge and time misspent.  
When to the Poor, half that expense,  
Would have procured God's Providence;  
And sav'd the loss of thy Estate,  
Which thou hast thought upon too late;  
Tho' now thou dost aloud profess,  
Thy Poverty proves Blessedness.   

On Injustice.  
IF Charity to Men, be God's Command?  
Justice, must in much higher favour stand;  
If neither can in wicked Men find place;  
They slight God's Anger, and despise his Grace.  
But these are petty Crimes, when Avarice  
Doth harden hearts for gold; and Souls entice,  
To sell Salvation at so cheap a Rate;  
Such villainous intentions aggravate.  
When a designed premeditated cheat,  
With a boldfaced fraud, shall just Right defeat,  
And a false Cause by power shall justify;  
Hell only can reward such Infamy;  
For God with indignation does declare,  
He will Poor Men's Oppressors never spare.   

Against Momentary joys.  
NOW let my Friend, from sighs and sorrow cease,  
For Crimes repent; let thy joy increase,  
For thy serene assurance, lately gained,  
Of pardon, by thy Saviour's Blood obtained;  
Let thoughts of thy Eternal Glory rise,  
And scorn all Earthly Baubles that surprise  
Unsteady Souls, with present fading Toys  
That cloud the brighter Beams of Heavenly joys.  
And boldly do those glittering bubbles try,  
In hope they'll last unto Eternity.  
Who raise their idle fancies, by their wit,  
To practise Atheism, rather than submit  
To part with present Moment's of delight,  
To purchase Heaven, with God's Beatick sight▪  
Who with his known Decrees, will not comply,  
But think to live, till they are pleased to die.  
Tho of such Men, it may be truly said,  
They are that moment, both alive and dead.   

The Terror of Death, by Death is cured.  
IF Death were not for Sin from Heaven sent;  
It could not be esteemed a punishment;  
To be delivered from our daily woe,  
While 'twixt our Roses, Thorns, and Thistles grow,  
So that our care should be, to weed our hearts  
From soul excrescents, by such holy Arts,  
As will that fatal sting of Sin destroy,  
And so convert our sorrows into joy;  
When we the Pangs of such a Death endure,  
As doth produce both Punishment, and Cure.   

To my Old Friend on his Birthday.  
MY Friend, thou dost well to celebrate thy Birthday, as a vowed Sacrifice to God; because he did reserve the first born to himself of Living Creatures, and thou art one; But let not thy Altar be adorned with a superfluous Treat, with too many slagons of rich Wine, and Tables thronged with Wealthy Guests, as if it were a Bacchanalian Feast: But such a moderate Meal for thy own Servants, with some Poor Neighbours, that may soberly rejoice to see a New Year begin, with a propitious prospect of thy ensuing happiness; and pray thy Piety and charity may Shine round about thy Habitation here on Earth, until thou art advanced to Heaven.   

Death is the Beggar's highest Holiday.  
'TIs but a saint Felicity, that any Man can have in all the Honours, Treasures, and Pleasures of this World, without a joyful inward assurance of his Salvation; when the next moment, an angry Neighbour, or a Tyrant Prince, can end his days: Or Sickness by tormenting pains turn all his joy into sorrow while he lives; with despairing terrors worse than all, at the approach of Death; when a poor pious Beggar, will die transported full of Celestial Joys for his highest Holiday, and be as welcome into Heaven, as the greatest Monarch. 
And therefore may be well and truly said,  
Both Souls are of the same sine Substance made.    

To my merry Friend.  
WHY now so joyful my good Friend? has thy Prince's smiles this Morning added new feathers to thy Heart? that makes it fly so high His frowns to morrow may turn those gay feathers into Lead; tho' thou deserve not such a change: Consider now such frequent sad Fates, as do besal the craftiest Men, that only truth in mortal accidents for their support in Princes savours; and raise thy Souls delight in Service of the King of Kings, whose savours will endure unto Eternity, above the reach of Earthly Storms; and then thy Prince's favours will have a sure foundation to subsist on, with higher joys than any Sycophants black Arts, by Malice or by Envy can disturb thy Peace or Pleasures; when a good Conscience is so centred, and so fixed on God. For no Man can imagine, the constant felicity, of a strict pious Life, in all conditions; but he that is so reconciled with a lively Faith to God, as cheerfully to part with all the glittering Bubbles of this World, to enjoy everlasting Bliss in Heaven, which ought to be the supreme hope of our best endeavours.   

On the fear of Death.  
THO Men by nature Born to fear, to Die  
May still account it a great misery,  
When Piety and Prayer can't prevail,  
To change the power of that severe Entail;  
Tho' all our Hearts, and Souls do still agree,  
To frame our Minds to God's most blessed Decree  
Because no other means, (like that the best)  
To bring Mankind to his Eternal Rest.  
Yet our weak Faith cannot the credit gain,  
By Heavenly joys, and glory to obtain,  
Such Courage and a Valour so Divine,  
Rather to Die with joy, than to repine  
To part with fading pleasures; that no Age  
Can for one moments certain time engage,  
They shall abide; nor can find any cure,  
That Men on Earth, for ever shall endure.  
How great a shame and folly then, that we  
Should fear to go, where we desire to be?  
And so prefer our miseries on Earth,  
Before a blessed and glorious cheerful Death;  
That will in gratitude the surest way,  
Our Souls to God in Paradise convey;  
When Faith, with such a Zeal shall so comply,  
'T will show a Godly Gallantry to Die.   

On the Art of Meditation.  

WHO will the Art of meditation learn,  
Must make each Paragraph his chief concern.  
For some few moments to consider on,  
Lest reading more created confusion;  
And unavoidably disturb the Brain,  
With more at once, than what it can retain;  
When Piety by Art is thus refined,  
It will rejoice the heart, enrich the mind  
With sacred Thoughts; beyond all Earthly care;  
Till flesh be turned into Angelic Air.   

All Men should live as ever in God's sight,  
And make Devotion their supreme delight.  
And then observe, how God does Grace return,  
To make Seraphic Joy the brighter bourn.