never pitied; where the glutton, that once would not give a crust of bread, now begs for one drop of water, and yet, alas, if whole rivers of water should fall into his mouth, how should they quench those rivers of brimstone that feed this flame? where there is no intermission of complaints, no breathing from pain, and, after millions of years, no possibility of comfort. And if the rod wherewith thou chastisest thy children, O Lord, even in this life, be so smart and galling, that they have been brought down to the brim of despair, and, in the bitterness of their soul, have entreated death to release them; what shall I think of their plagues, in whose righteous confusion thou consultest, and sayest," Aba, I will avenge me of mine enemies?" Even that thou shalt not be thus miserable, O my soul, is some kind of happiness; but that thou shalt be as happy, as the reprobate are miserable, how worthy is it of more estimation, than thyself is capable of!"

CHAPTER XXV.

8. Of Comparisons and Similitudes whereby it may be most fitly set forth.

AFTER this opposition, the mind shall make comparison of the matter meditated with what may nearest resemble it; and shall illustrate it with fittest similitudes, which give no small light to the understanding, nor less force to the affection.

"Wonder then, O my soul, as much as thou canst, at this glory; and, in comparison thereof, contemn this earth which now thou treadest upon; whose joys, if they were perfect, are but short, and, if they were long, are imperfect. One day, when thou art above, looking down from the height of thy glory and seeing the sons of men creeping like so many ants on this mole-hill of earth, thou shalt think, Alas, how basely I once lived! Was yonder silly dungeon the place I so loved, and was so loth to leave?? Think so now beforehand; and since of heaven thou canst not, yet account of the earth, as it is worthy.

How heartless and irksome are ye, O ye best earthly pleasures, if ye be matched with the least of those above! How vile are you, O ye sumptuous buildings of kings, even if all the entrails of the earth had agreed to enrich you, in comparison of this frame not made with hands! It is not so high above the earth in distance of place, as in worth and majesty. We may see the face of heaven from the heart of the earth, but from the nearest part of the earth, who can see the least glory of heaven? The three disciples, on mount Tabor, saw but a glimpse of this glory shining upon the face of their Saviour, and yet, being ravished with the sight, cried out, "Master, it is good to be here," and, thinking of building three tabernacles, (for Christ, Moses, Elias,) could have been content themselves to have lain without shelter, so that they might always have enjoyed that sight. Alas, how could earthly tabernacles have fitted those heavenly bodies? They knew what they saw; what they said, they knew not. Lo, these three disciples were not transfigured, yet how deeply they were affected even with the glory of others! How happy shall we be, when ourselves shall be changed into glorious, and shall have tabernacles, not of our own making, but prepared for us by God! And yet not tabernacles, but eternal mansions. Moses saw God but a while, and shined; how shall we shine, that shall behold his face for ever! What greater honour is there, than in sovereignty? What greater pleasure, than in feasting? This life is both a kingdom and a feast―a kingdom; "He that overcometh shall rule the nations; and shall sit with me in my throne:" O blessed promotion! O large dominion and royal seat, to which Solomon's throne of ivory was not worthy to become a footstool-a feast; "Blessed are they, that are called to the marriage-supper of the Lamb." Feasts have more than necessity of provision, more than ordinary diet; but marriage-feasts yet more than common abundance; but the marriage-feast of the Son of God to his blessed spouse, the church, must so far exceed in all heavenly munificence and variety, as the persons are of the greater state and majesty: there is new wine, pure manna, and all manner of spiritual dainties; and, with the continual cheer, a sweet and answerable welcome: while the

Bridegroom lovingly cheereth us up, "Eat, O friends, drink, and make you merry, O well beloved." Yea, there shalt thou be, my soul, not a guest, but, how unworthy soever, the bride herself whom he hath everlastingly espoused to himself in truth and righteousness. The contract is passed here below; the marriage is consummate above, and solemnized with a perpetual feast; so that now thou mayest safely say, "My well-beloved is mine, and I am his. Wherefore hearken, O my soul, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people and thy father's house," thy supposed home of this world: "so shall the King have pleasure in thy beauty; for he is thy Lord, and worship thou him."

CHAPTER XXVI.

9. The Titles and Names of the Thing considered.

THE very names and titles of the matter considered, yield no small store to our meditation; which, being commonly so imposed that they secretly comprehend the nature of the thing which they represent, are not unworthy of our discourse.

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"What need I seek those resemblances, when the very name of Life implieth sweetness to men on earth, even to them who confess to live with some discontentment? Surely the light is a pleasant thing; and it is good to the eyes to see the sun;" yet, when Temporal is added to Life, I know not how this addition detracteth something, and doth greatly abate the pleasure of life; for those who joy to think of life, grieve to think it but temporal; so vexing is the end of that whose continuance was delightful. But now, when here is an addition, above time, of eternity, it maketh life so much more sweet as it is more lasting; and, lasting infinitely, what can it give less than an infinite contentment? O dying and false life which we enjoy here, and scarcely a shadow and counterfeit of that other! What is more esteemed than glory, which is so precious to men of spirit, that it makes them prodigal of their blood, proud Div.-NO. XXXVIII.

H

of their wounds, careless of themselves? and yet, alas, how pent and how fading is this glory, effected with such dangers and death! hardly, after all trophies and monuments, either known to the next sea, or surviving him that dieth for it! It is true glory to triumph in heaven, where is neither envy nor forgetfulness. What is more dear to us than our country, which the worthy and faithful patriots of all times have respected above their parents, their children, their lives; counting it only happy to live in it, and to die for it? The banished man pines for the want of it; the traveller digesteth all the tediousness of his way, all the sorrows of an ill journey, in the only hope of home, forgetting all his foreign miseries, when he feeleth his own smoke. Where is our country, but above? Thence thou camest, O my soul; thither thou art going in a short, but weary pilgrimage. O miserable men, if we account ourselves at home in our pilgrimage; if, in our journey, we long not for home! Dost thou see men so in love with their native soil, that even when it is all deformed with the desolations of war and turned into rude heaps, or while it is even now flaming with the fire of civil broils, they covet yet still to live in it, preferring it to all other places of more peace and pleasure? And shalt thou, seeing nothing but peace and blessedness at home, nothing but trouble abroad, content thyself with a faint wish of thy dissolution? If heaven were thy gaol, thou couldest but think of it uncomfortably. O what affection can be worthy of such a home?"

CHAPTER XXVII.

10. Consideration of fit Testimonies of Scripture concerning our Theme.

LASTLY, if we can recall any pregnant testimonies of scripture concerning our theme, those shall fitly conclude this part of our meditation-of scripture, for that in these matters of God, none but divine authority can command assent and settle the conscience. Witnesses of holy men

may serve for colours, and the ground must be only from God.

"There it is,” saith the Spirit of God which cannot deceive thee," that all tears shall be wiped from our eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain:" yea, there shall not only be an end of sorrows, but an abundant recompense for the sorrows of our life; as he that was rapt up into the third heaven, and there saw what cannot be spoken, speaketh yet thus of what he saw, "I reckon, that the afflictions of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." It was shewed unto him, what should hereafter be shewed unto us; and he saw, that if all the world full of miseries were laid in one balance, and the least glory of heaven in another, those would be incomparably light, yea, as a divine father says, that one day's felicity above were worth a thousand years' torment below. What then can be matched with the eternity of such joys? "O how great, therefore, is this thy goodness, O Lord, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; and done to them that trust in thee, before the sons of men!"

CHAPTER XXVIII.

Of our SECOND PART of Meditation, which is in the Affections-wherein is required, 1. a Taste and Relish of what we have thought upon.

THE most difficult and knotty part of meditation thus finished, there remaineth that which is both more lively and more easy unto a good heart, to be wrought altogether by the affections; which if our discourses reach not unto, they prove vain and to no purpose. That which followeth therefore, is the very soul of meditation, whereto all that is past serveth but as an instrument. A man is a man by his understanding part, but he is a Christian by his will Cand affections.

Seeing therefore that all our former labour of the brain is