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upon Human Nature; but even thefe will turn to good account, if born with Meeknefs and Modefty, and Silence. For thefe are the very Methods by which God brings the Fidelity of his Servants to the Touch; 'tis thus that he difcovers whether they have gained a Conqueft over Nature and themselves. And no fort of Mortification is of happier confequence that that which exposes Men to the Sight and Suffering of things, to which their own Minds are most violently averfe; especially, when what they cannot but conceive moft unfit, moft abfurd and odd, constrains them to go againft their own Senfe, and fubmit to a higher Power, without any referve to the private Judgment of their own Reason in the Cafe. This is indeed. hard, and a Perfection of Submiffion not eafie to be compafs'd; but did Men but confider how vaft the Advantages of a Temper fo refigned are at prefent, how glorious the Reward of it hereafter, and how quickly the Troubles it expofes them to will end in that Reward, the Comforts of fuch Difcipline would be fenfible and great,and they would even enjoy their Afflictions and Temptations, fuftained with fo fure, fo bright a Prospect of the mighty, the approaching Recompence.

For this fhort empty Pleasure, which now thou chufeft for my fake to decline, fhall be compenfated with folid and everlasting Joy in Heaven: And there thy largest Wishes fhall be gratified; there fhall be plenty of every thing that is good, Fruition perfec and fecure, free from the leaft Allay of Fear, or Pofe fibility of future Loffes; between thy Will and mine shall then be perfect Harmony; no Oppofition there,no Obftruction; butevery thing fhall confpire to fulfil all thy, Heart's Defire, and render thy Happiness as exquifite as Finite Nature is capable of. Thy prefent Ignominy born with Patience, fhall there be paid with brighter Glory; thy Mourning Weeds exchanged for Robes

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of Light and Joy; and he who fits here in the lowest Place, fhall there be feated on an Eternal Throne. Let it not then be grievous to thee, to humble and fubmit thy felf to the capricious Humours of Men with whom thou converfeft in this World; but rather fo compofe thy Mind, and order all thy Actions, as readily and meekly to comply with the Commands of thy Superiors, the Defires of thy Equals, the Requefts of thy Inferiors, to do for all what lawfully thou mayeft, and to endure patiently whatever they fhall, but ought not, to do to thee. Let Vain Men pursue Vanity, leave them to their own Methods; let them place their Glory and Happiness in fuch Objects as their own Mistaken Judgments fhall determine them to; let them admire, and above all things covet a celebrated Name, and popular Applaufe; but do thou place thy Excellence and Honour in the Contempt of thy felf, thy Diligence in difcharging my Commands, thy Zeal in feeking and advancing my Honour and Kingdom; and let this be firft and chief in thy Defires, That whether thou live, thou may't live unto the Lord; or whether thou die, thou mayft die unto the Lord; that whether by Life or Death, the Lord Fefus may be magnified in thy Body.

Rom. xiv.

Phil. i. 20.

CHA P. LV.

An Act of Refignation to God in Time of Ad

Difciple.]

Beffe

verfity.

Leffed be thy Wifdom and Goodness, O holy Father,which performs all thy Will; for what thy Will decrees, cannot be otherwife than good and wife. Give me Grace, I befeech

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thee, to rejoice, not in my felf, or any other, but in thee alone; for thou only art my Hope and Crown, my Joy and Glory: All I have is received at thy bountiful Hand, bountiful to a moft unworthy Creature, who neither could procure, nor deferve the least of all thy Mercies: And thou, by giving and compleating, haft not loft thy Property and Right in all, which by thy means I enjoy or do. For what am I, alas! but a weak helplefs Wretch? acquainted with Mifery from my very Cradle, and wafted with Trouble and Vexation; my Face grown old with Tears, and my Heart perplexed and broken with Doubts and Sorrows, and vehement Paffions. I beg and long moft earnestly for the Bleffing of Peace, that Peace and inward Confolation which thy Children feed and feaft upon. If thou fhalt fill my Soul with this, it will overflow with Joy and Praife, and continually breathe out holy Hymns to the Honour of thy Name; but if thou turn away thy Face, as fometimes thou feeft fit to do, I find my felf unable to run in the Way of thy Commandment; and proftrating my felf in the Anguish of my Soul, I beat my Breaft, and wring my Hands, for the lofs of that Light and Comfort, that Strength and Protection which I enjoyed, while under the Shadow of thy Wings, and defended from the Affaults of Sorrow and Adverfity.

Righteous Father, (then fay I) the time is come when thou art pleafed to try me, but even at this time, and at all others, praised be thy Name. Deareft Father, it is very meet, that, now thou call'ft me to it, I fhould fuffer in obedience to thy Will. Most honoured Father, this is thy Hour, even that important Hour, which thou from all Eternity haft ordained to be the Seafon of my outward Oppreffion and Discomfort, becoming the Inftrument of endless Life and Joy to me: But, though this Heavinefs may endure for a Night, yet Light, and Glory will return

in the Morning. This, holy Father, is thy own Appointment, and what thou willeft thou never willeft in vain. For even this Suffering in the prefent Life is a Mark of thy Favour aud Friendship; the Returns, the Inftruments, the Manner, the Continuance of my Afflictions are all of thy permitting; for nothing is or can be done without thy Providence and Direction, without fome wife and excellent Defign. Even I my Pfalm cxix. felf am fenfible, how good it is for me to have been afflicted, that I might learn thy Statutes,and utterly difcard all Pride and Carnal Confidences. The Shame and Self-reproach I laboured under, hath taught me to expect Relief from God, and not from Man. And all my Afflictions put me upon contemplating the unfearchable Depths of thy Providence, which with a wonderful Temper of Juftice and Equity, layeth thefe Burthens upon Bad and Good, without any nice or Difcriminating Marks of Love or Hatred in this present World.

I will therefore render most unfeigned Thanksgiving to my God, for that in marvellous Kindness he hath not fpared the Rod when it was convenient for me: I acknowledge his Mercy, even in the Pains and Croffes, and Sorrows I have endured, whether of Mind, or Body, or Eftate; and yet much more for thofe Refreshments and Remedies, which thou alone haft afforded me. For vain is all the Help of Man, but thou art the true, the powerful Phycian of Souls, Deut. xxxii. thou woundest and healeft; thou bringeft down to the Gates of Hell, and raifeft up again. Thy Chaftifement fhall teach me Wifdom; thou shalt beat me with the Rod, and I fhall not die. Behold me, Lord, moft willingly fubmitting to thy Difcipline; O ftrike, and fpare not, fo thou bend my stubborn Heart, and bring down my high Spirit; and make me tra&table and obedient. I, Lord, and Mine are at thy difpofal, put forth thy Hand and touch them as thou plea

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pleafeft. For this I know, that how grievous foever thefe Temporal Croffes may be, yet better is it to feel the weight of thy hand here, than hereafter. All things are naked and open to thee, even the inmoft Receffes of our Hearts; Thou knoweft the things that will be before they are, and needeft not that any fhould inform thee what is done upon Earth. Thou feeft what will contribute moft to my Improvement in Goodness how great and good effect Diftreffes have, to scour the Ruft from our unactive Minds, and brighten all our Virtues; Take then, my God, thy own Meafures; I only beg, that thou would'st not difdain and give me over, and think me unworthy thy Care,for thofe Blemishes and Misdemeanours of my Life, which none are better acquainted with; which none indeed are thoroughly acquainted with, but thou the Searcher of Hearts alone.

Work in me, I intreat thee, a true Amendment: Inftruct me in all things fit for me to know, Dispose me to love all things worthy my Affection; to think, that every thing deferves my Praise in proportion as it pleases thee; to esteem nothing highly, but what is precious and honourable in thy fight; to look with a generous Difdain upon all that thou thinkest vile, and never be reconciled to what thou hateft. Let me not, I beseech thee, judge by outward Appearances, the feeing of the Eye, or the hearing of the Ear, which are fubject to infinite Delufions and Miftakes; but give me a right Judgment in all things, whether they relate to this or another State, to the outward, or the inner Man, and, above all, let it be my fpecial Care to inform my felf in thy Will concerning me. Men, who form their Judgment upon Senfe, often err; Men, who fet their Affections upon the fenfible Objects of this World, are frequently difappointed and miferable: For is a Man, for inftance, one whit the better, because he is grown greater in other Mens

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