K>(>C>s>sX>s>s>sVv9s>v^>v^' X X>v ;>(>c>c >6>>f>>> >C>C>(>C^' >>>56c> K>CX><>vS>9N>9s>y>>y>>y>>v^ ^ 9999V99SVN ■ • - ' - o555^ - .- >(>(>(>( >K>6c>c>o >>6o(>(>o mm >CX> ><>x^6(>c>6<>; >66(x xxxx> xx>; XXX>>>>>>>>6>' >N>sX>>>>>X>>X > >^>^^RS>>>>>> XXX x>o^ :>>>>>>x>>>>>>>>>>xx / / ^ / / / /- *sV« Library of the Theological Seminary PRINCETON « NEW JERSEY Gift of The Rev. William O. Harris, '54 Librarian for Archives & Special Collections ^^^ 2002 Mr II 7C^ f^ir sjn^ r=^-ar4 W^ '■' T* -'■' "-^~is?^; Wfmi. <^\^ ^^' m^!rM^ /^-- /^- J THE RULE AND EXERCISES OF HOLY LIVING: IN WHICH ARE DESCRIBED THE MEANS AND INSTRUMENTS OF OBTAINING EVERY VIRTUE, AND THE REMEDIES AGAINST EVERY VICE, AXD CONSIDERATIONS SERVING TO THE RESISTING ALL TEMPTATIONS. TOGETHER WITH PRAYERS CONTAINING THE WHOLE DUTY OF A CHRISTIAN, AND THE PARTS OF DEVOTION FITTED TO ALL OCCASIONS, AND FURNISHED FOR ALL NECESSITIES. JEREMY TAYLOR, D.D. CHAPLAIN IN ORDINARY TO KING CHARLES THE FIRST. LONDON: PRINTED FOR C AND J. RIVINGTON; T. CADELL ; LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, AND GREEN; J. BOOKER; J. RICHARD- SON ; HATCHARD AND SON; R. H. EVANS; J. DUNCAN; J. COCHRAN ; J. BOHN ; J. PARKER, OXFORD ; AND J. AND J. J. DEIGHTON, CAMBRIDGE. 1828. J. MOVES, BOUVERIE STREET, LONDON. CONTENTS RULE AND EXERCISES OF HOLY LIVING. PAGE Dedication i CHAP. I. CONSIDERATION OF THE GENERAL INSTRUMENTS AND MEANS SERVING TO A HOLY LIFE, BY WAY OF INRODUCTION. SECTION 1. The first General Instrument of Holy Living, Care of our Time 13 Rules for employing our Time 16 The Benefits of this Exercise 22 SECTION 11. The second General Instrument of Holy Living, Purity of Intention .... 22 Rules for our Intentions 24 Signs of Purity of Intention 27 SECTION III. The third General Instrument of Holy Living ; or the Practice of the Presence of God 30 Several Manners of the Divine Presence 31 Rules of exercising this Consideration 34 The Benefits of this Exercise 37 Prayers and Devotions according to the Religion and Purposes of the foregoing Considerations 39 For Grace to spend our Time well ib. a IV CONTENTS. PAGE The first Prayers in the Morning, as soon as we are dressed 39 An Act of Adoration, being the Song that the Angels sing in Heaven . . 40 An Act of Thanksgiving, being the Song of David for the Morning .... ib. An Act of Oblation, or presenting ourselves to God for the Day 41 An Act of Repentance or Contrition ib. Prayer or Petition 42 An Act of Intercession or Prayer for others, to be added to this or any other Office, as our Devotion, or Duty, or their Needs, shall deter- mine us ib. For the Church ib. For the King ib. For tbe Clergy 4.3 For Wife or Husband ib. For our Children ib. For Friends and Benefactors ib. For our Family ib. For all in Misery 44 Another Form of Prayer, for the Morning ib. An Ejaculation 4G An Exercise to be used at any Time of the Day ib. Hymn, collected out of the Psalms, recounting the Excellencies and Greatness of God ib. Another Hymn 47 Ejaculations 48 Prayer ib. A Form of Prayer for the Evening, to be said by such who have not Time or Opportunity to say the public Prayers appointed for this Office 50 Another Form of Evening Prayer, which may also be used at Bedtime .51 Ejaculations and short Meditations to be used in the Night, when we wake 53 An Section II.] A prayer for holy Intention in the Beginning and Pursuit of any considerable Action, as Study, Preaching, &c 55 Ad Section III.] A Prayer meditating and referring to the Divine Pre- sence ib. CHAP. II. OK CHRISTIAN SOBRIETY SECTION I. Of Sobriety in the general Sense 56 Evil Consequences of Voluptuousness or Sensuality ib. Degrees of Sobriety 5^- Rules for suppressing \'oluptuousness 58 CONTENTS. V SECTION II. PAGE or Temperance in Ealing and Drinking 60 Measures of Temperance in Eating 62 Signs and Effects of Temperance 63 Of Drunkenness : 64 Evil Consequents of Drunkenness 65 Signs of Drunkenness 67 Rules for obtaining Temperance ib. SECTION III. Of Chastity 70 The evil Consequents of Uncleanness 72 Acts of Chastity in general 76 Acts of virginal Chastity 77 Rules for Widows, or vidual Chastity 78 Rules for married Persons, or matrimonial Chastity 79 Remedies against Uncleanness 82 SECTION IV. Of Humility 85 Arguments against Pride, by way of Consideration 86 Acts or Ofiices of Humility 88 Means and Exercises for obtaining and increasing the Grace of Humility 93 Signs of Humility 98 SECTION Y. Of Modesty 99 Acts and Duties of Modesty, as it is opposed to Curiosity ih. Acts of Modesty, as it is opposed to Boldness 102 Acts of Modesty, as it is opposed to Indecency 103 SECTION vT. Of Contentedness in all Estates and Accidents 106 Instruments or Exercises to procure Contentedness 110 Means to obtain Content, by way of Considerations 120 Poverty, or a low Fortune 126 The Charge of many Children , 131 Violent Necessities 132 Death of Children, or nearest Relatives and Friends 133 Untimely Death 1 34 Death unseasonable , 136 Sudden Death, or violent . 137 Being Childless ib. Evil or unfortunate Children 138 VI CONTENTS. PAGE Our own Death 1 38 Prayers for the several Graces and Parts of Christian Sobriety 139 A Prayer against Sensuality ib. For Temperance ib. For Cliastity : to be said especially by unmarried Persons 140 A Prayer for tlie Love of God, to be said by ^'irgins and Widows, pro- fessed or resolved so to live; and may be used by any one ib. A Prayer to be said by married Persons in behalf of themselves and each other 141 A Prayer for the Grace of Humility ib. Acts of Humility and Modesty, by way of Prayer and Meditation 142 A Prayer for a contented Spirit, and the Grace of Moderation and Patience • 143 CHAP. III. or CHRISTIAN JUSTICE. SECTION I. Of Obedience to our Superiors 145 Acts and Duties of Obedience to all our Superiors ib. Remedies against Disobedience, and Means to endear our Obedience, by way of Consideration 149 Degrees of Obedience 152 SECTION II. Of Provision, or that Part of Justice which is due from Superiors to Inferiors 153 Duties of Kings, and all the Supreme Power as Lawgivers ib. The Duty of Superiors, as they are Judges 156 The Duty of Parents to their Children 157 Rules for married Persons 159 The Duty of Masters of Families 160 The Duty of Guardians or Tutors 161 SECTION III. Of Negotiation, or civil Contracts 161 Rules and Measures of Justice in Bargaining 162 SECTION IV. Of Restitution 1 65 Rules of making Restitution 167 Prayers to be said, in rel-ition to the several Obligations and Offices o( Justice 172 CONTENTS. vii PAGE A Prayer for the Grace of Obedience, to be said by all Persons under Command 172 Prayers for Kings and all Magistrates, for our Parents, spiritual and natural, are in the following Litanies, at the End of the Fourth Chapter 173 A Prayer to be said by Subjects, when their Land is invaded and over- run by barbarous or wicked People, Enemies of the Religion or the Government ib. A Prayer to be said by Kings or Magistrates, for themselves and their People 1 75 A Prayer to be said by Parents for their Children 176 A Prayer to be said by Masters of Families, Curates, Tutors, or other obliged Persons, for their Charges ib. A Prayer to be said by Merchants, Tradesmen, and Handicraftsmen . . 177 A Prayer to be said by Debtors, and all Persons obliged, whether by Crime or Contract , ib. A Prayer for Patron and Benefactors 178 CHAP. IV. OF CHRISTIAN RELIGION. Of the Internal Actions of Religion 179 SECTION I. Of Faith 180 The Acts and Offices of Faith ib. Signs of True Faith 181 The Means and Instruments to obtain Faith 184 SECTION II. Of the Hope of a Christian 185 The Acts of Hope 186 Rules to govern our Hope 187' Means of Hope, and Remedies against Despair 1 88 SECTION III. Of Charity, or the Love of God 193 The Acts of Love to God 194 The Measures and Rules of Divine Love 196 Helps to increase our Love to God, by way of Exercise 197 The two States of Love to God 199 Cautions and Rules concerning Zeal 200 Of the External Actions of Religion 202 nil CONTENTS. SECTION IV. PAGE Of Reading or Hearing the Word of God 093 Rules for Hearing or Reading the Word of God 205 Advice concerning Spiritual Books and Ordinary Sermons 206 SECTION V. Of Fasting 207 Rules for Christian Fasting jj^ The Benefits of Fasting 212 SECTION \T. Of keeping Festivals, and Days holy to the Lord ; particularly the Lord's Day . ' 212 Receiving the blessed Sacrament 217 SECTION VII. Of Prayer 217 Motives to Prayer ^-^q Rules for the Practice of Prayer 219 Cautions for making Vows 22 •"' Remedies against Wandering Thoughts in Prayer 22(3 Signs of Tediousness of Spirit in our Prayers and all Actions of Religion 228 Remedies against Tediousness of Spirit 229 SECTION VIII. Of Alms 232 Works of Mercy, or the several Kinds of Corporeal Alms 233 Works of Spiritual Alms and Mercy 2:M Rules for giving Alms 235 Motives to Charity 241 Remedies against Unmercifulness and Uncharitableness 243 1 . Against Envy, by way of Consideration ib 2. Remedies against Anger, by way of Exercise 244 Remedies against Anger, by way of Consideration 247 3. Remedies against Covetousness, the third Enemy of Mercy 249 SECTION IX. Of Repentance 255 Acts and Parts of Repentance 257 Motives to Repentance 2^,3 CONTENTS. ix SFXTION X. Of Preparation to, and the Manner how to receive the Holy Sacrament of the Lord's Supper 269 The Effects and Benefits of worthy Communicating 273 Prayers for all Sorts of Men and all Necessities; relating to the several Parts of the Virtue of Religion 274 A Prayer for the Graces of Faith, Hope, Charity * . ib. Acts of Love, by way of Prayer and Ejaculation ; to be used in Private 275 A Prayer to be said in any Affliction, as Death of Children, of Husband or Wife, in great Poverty, in Imprisonment, in a Sad and Disconso- late Spirit, and in Temptations to Despair 276 Ejaculations and short Meditations to be used in Time of Sickness ' and Sorrow, or Danger of Death 277 An Act of Faith concerning the Resurrection and the Day of Judgment, to be said by Sick Persons, or meditated ' 278 Short Prayers to be said by Sick Persons ib. Acts of Hope, to be used by Sick Persons after a Pious Life . 281 A Prayer to be said in behalf of a Sick or Dying Person .' * '.".*.*.' ' ib. A Prayer to be said in a Storm at Sea ' ' * 28'> An Act of Resignation 283 A Form of a Vow in the Time of Danger ib A Form of a Prayer to be used for a Blessing on an Enterprise ib" A Prayer before a Journey ' " 284 Ad Section IV.] A Prayer to be said before the Hearing or Reading the Word of God ^ ., lb. Ad Section V. IX. X.] A Form of Confession of Sins and Repentance, to be used upon Fasting Days, or Days of Humiliation ; especially in Lent, and before the Holy Sacrament ^^ Prayer *............*...... 287 [1 .] Ex Liturgia S. Basilii magna ex parte 288 A Short Form of Thanksgiving to be said upon any Special Deliverance, as from Childbirth, from Sickness, from Battle, or imminent Danger at Sea or Land, &c 293 A Prayer of Thanksgiving after the receiving of some great Blessingj as the Birth of an Heir, the Success of an honest Design, a Victorv a good Harvest, &c " ' ^^^ A Prayer to be said on the Feast of Christmas, or the Birth of our " Blessed Saviour Jesus : the same also may be said upon the Feast of the Annunciation and Purification of the B. Virgin Mary 295 A Prayer to be said upon our Birth-Day, or Day of Baptism.'... 296 A Prayer to be said upon the Days of the Memorj^ of Apostles, Martyrs, ^^ ' 297 A Form of Prayer recording all the Parts and Mysteries of Christ's - Passion, being a short History of it: to be used especially in the Week of the Passion, and before the receiving of the Blessed Sacra- ^"^^"^ 298 ^'^y^' 301 X CONTENTS. PAGH Ad Section VII. VIII. X.J A Form of Prayer or Intercession for all Estates of People in the Christian Church. The Parts of which may be added to any other Forms : and the whole Office, entirely as it lies, is proper to be said in our Preparation to the holy Sacrament, or on the Day of Celebration 302 1 . For Ourselves ib. 2. For the whole Catholic Church ib. 3. For all Christian Kings, Princes, and Governors 303 4. For all the Orders of them that minister about holy Things ib. 5. For our nearest Relatives, as Husband, Wife, Children, Family, &c. 304 6. For our Parents, our Kindred in the Flesh, our Friends and Bene- factors ib. 7. For all that lie under the Rod of War, Famine, Pestilence : to be said in the Time of Plague, or War, &:c 305 8. For all Women with Child, and for Unborn Children ib. 9. For all Estates of Men and Women in the Christian Church 306 Ad Section X.] The Manner of using these Devotions, by way of Pre- paration to the receiving the blessed Sacrament of the Lord's Supper.. 307 A Prayer of Preparation or Address to the holy Sacrament 308 An Act of Love ib. An Act of Desire ib. An Act of Contrition 309 An Act of Faith ib . Petition 310 Ejaculations to be said before, or at, the receiving the holy Sacrament . . ib. Ejaculations to be used any time that Day, after the Solemnity is ended 313 TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE AND TRULY NOBLE RICHARD LORD VAUGHAN, EARL OF CARBERY, KNIGHT OF THE HONOURABLE ORDER OF THE BATH. MY LORD, I HAVE lived to see religion painted upon banners, and thrust out of churches, and the temple turned into a tabernacle, and that tabernacle made ambula- tory, and covered with skins of beasts and torn cur- tains, and God to be worshipped, not as he is, *' the father of our Lord Jesus" (an afflicted Prince, the King of sufferings), nor as the *' God of peace," (which two appellatives God newly took upon him in the New Testament, and glories in for ever:) but he is owned now rather as ** the Lord of Hosts," which title he was pleased to lay aside, when the kingdom of the gospel was preached by the Prince of peace. But when religion puts on armour, and God is not ac- knowledged by his New Testament titles, religion may have in it the power of the sword, but not the B II DEDICATION". power of godliness ; and we may complain of this to God, and amongst them that are afflicted, but we have no remedy but what we must expect from the fellowship of Christ's sufferings, and the returns of the God of peace. In the mean time, and now that religion pretends to stranger actions upon new prin- ciples, and men are apt to prefer a prosperous error before an afflicted truth, and some will think they are religious enough, if their worshippings have in them the prevailing ingredient ; and the ministers of religion are so scattered, that they cannot unite to stop the inundation, and from chairs or pulpits, from their synods or tribunals, chastise the iniquity of the error, and the ambition of evil guides, and the infidelity of the willingly-seduced multitude, and that those few good people, who have no other plot in their religion but to serve God and save their souls, do want such assistances of ghostly counsel, as may serve their emergent needs, and assist their endea- vours in the acquist of virtues, and relieve their dangers when they are tempted to sin and death ; I thought I had reasons enough inviting me to draw into one body those advices, which the several ne- cessities of many men must use at some time or other, and many of them daily : that by a collection of holy precepts they might less fee) the want of personal and attending guides, and that the rules for conduct of souls might be committed to a book, which they might always have ; since they could not always DEDICATTON. lU have a prophet at their needs, nor be suffered to go up to the house of the Lord to inquire of the appointed oracles. I know, my Lord, that there are some interested persons, who add scorn to the afflictions of the church of England, and because she is afflicted by men, call her '' forsaken of the Lord ;" and because her solemn assemblies are scattered, think that the religion is lost, and the church divorced from God, supposing Christ (who was a man of sorrows) to be angry with his spouse when she is, like him, [for that is the true state of the error] and that he, who pro- mised his Spirit to assist his servants in their trou- bles, will, because they are in trouble, take away the Comforter from them ; who cannot be a comforter, but while he cures our sadnesses, and relieves our sorrows, and turns our persecutions into joys, and crowns, and sceptres. But concerning the present state of the church of England, I consider, that be- cause we now want the blessings of external com- munion in many degrees, and the circumstances of a prosperous and unafflicted people, we are to take estimate of ourselves with single judgments, and every man is to give sentence concerning the state of his own soul by the precepts and rules of our law-giver, not by the after-decrees and usages of the church ; that is, by the essential parts of religion, rather than by the uncertain significations of any ex- terior adherencies : for though it be uncertain, when IV DEDICATIOX. a man is the member of a church, whether he be a member to Christ or no, because in the church's net there are fishes good and bad ; yet we may be sure, that, if we be members of Christ, we are of a church to all purposes of spiritual religion and salva- tion ; and, in order to this, give me leave to speak this great truth — That man does certainly belong to God, who, 1 . believes and is baptized into all the articles of the Christian faith, and studies to improve his know- ledge in the matters of God, so as may best make him to live a holy life. 2. He that, in obedience to Christ, worships God diligently, frequently, and constantly, with natural religion, that is of prayer, praises, and thanksgiving. 3. He that takes all op- portunities to remember Christ's death by a frequent sacrament (as it can be had ;) or else by inward acts of understanding, will, and memory (which is the spi- ritual communion,) supplies the want of the external rite. 4. He that lives chastely; 5. And is merciful; C. And despises the world, using it as a man, but never suffering it to rifle a duty ; 7. And is just in his dealing, and diligent in his calling. 8. He that is humble in his spirit, 9. And obedient to govern- ment, 10. And content in his fortune and employ- ment. 1 1 . He that does his duty because he loves God ; 12. And especially, if, after all this, he be af- flicted, and patient, or prepared to suft'er affliction for the cause of God : the man that hath these DEDICATIOX. V twelve signs of grace and predestination, does as certainly belong to God, and is his son, as surely as he is his creature. And if my brethren in persecution, and in the bonds of the Lord Jesus, can truly show these marks, they shall not need be troubled, that others can show a prosperous outside, great revenues, public assem- blies, uninterrupted successions of bishops, prevail- ing armies, or any arm of flesh, or less certain cir- cumstance. These are the marks of the Lord Jesus, and the characters of a Christian : this is a good re- ligion ; and these things God's grace hath put into our powers, and God's laws have made to be our duty, and the nature of men, and the needs of com- monwealths, have made to be necessary. The other accidents and pomps of a church are things without our power, and are not in our choice : they are good to be used, when they may be had, and they help to illustrate or advantage it : but if any of them con- stitute a church in the being of a society and a government, yet they are not of its constitution, as it is Christian, and hopes to be saved. And now the case is so with us, that we are reduced to that religion, which no man can forbid ; which we can keep in the midst of a })ersecution ; by which the martyrs, in the days of our fathers, went to heaven ; that, by which we can be servants of God, and receive the spirit of Christ, and make use of his comforts, and live in his love, and in VI DEDICATIOX. charity with all men : and they that do so, cannot perish. My Lord, I have now described some general lines and features of that religion, which I have more particularly set down in the following pages : in which I have neither served nor disserved the interest of any party of Christians, as they are divided by uncharitable names from the rest of their brethren ; and no man will have reason to be angry with me for refusing to mingle in his unnecessary or vicious quarrels ; especially while I study to do him good by conducting him in the narrow way to heaven, with- out intricating him in the labyrinths and wild turn- ings of questions and uncertain talkings. I have told what men ought to do, and by w^hat means they may be assisted ; and in most cases, I have also told them why : and yet with as much quickness, as I could think necessary to establish a rule, and not to engage in homily or discourse. In the use of which rules, although they are plain, useful, and fitted for the best and worst understandings, and for the needs of all men, yet I shall desire the reader to proceed with the following advices. 1 . They that will with profit make use of the proper instruments of virtue, must so live, as if they were always under the physician's hand. For the counsels of religion are not to be applied to the dis- tempers of the soul, as men used to take hellebore ; but they must dwell together with the spirit of a man. DEDICATIOX. Vll and be twisted about his understanding for ever : they must be used like nourishment, that is, by a daily care and meditation ; not like a single medicine, and upon the actual pressure of a present necessity. For counsels and wise discourses, applied to an actual distemper, at the best are but like strong smells to an epileptic person ; sometimes they may raise him, but they never cure him. The following rules, if they be made familiar to our natures and the thoughts of every day, may make virtue and religion become easy and habitual ; but when the temptation is present, and hath already seized upon some por- tions of our consent, we are not so apt to be coun- selled, and we find no gust or relish in the precept ; the lessons are the same, but the instrument is unstrung or out of tune. 2. In using the instruments of virtue, we must be curious to distinguish instruments from duties, and prudent advices from necessary injunctions ; and if by any other means the duty can be secured, let there be no scruples stirred concerning any other helps : only, if they can, in that case, strengthen and secure the duty, or help towards perseverance, let them serve in that station, in which they can be placed. For there are some persons, in whom the Spirit of God hath breathed so bright a flame of love, that they do all their acts of virtue by perfect choice and without objection, and their zeal is warmer, than that it will be allayed by temptation : and to such Vlll DEDICATION. persons mortification by philosophical instruments, as fasting, sackcloth, and other rudenesses to the body, is wholly useless ; it is always a more uncer- tain means to acquire any virtue, or secure any duty ; and if love hath filled all the corners of our soul, it alone is able to do all the work of God. 3. Be not nice in stating the obligations of religion ; but where the duty is necessary, and the means very reasonable in itself, dispute not too busily, whether, in all circumstances, it can fit thy particular ; but *' super totam materiam," upon the whole, make use of it. For it is a good sign of a great religion, and no imprudence, when we have sufficiently considered the substance of affairs, then to be easy, humble, obedient, apt, and credulous in the circumstances, which are appointed to us, in particular, by our spi- ritual guides ; or, in general, by all wise men in cases not unlike. He that gives alms, does best not always to consider the minutes and strict measures of his ability, but to give freely, incuriously, and abun- dantly. A man must not weigh grains in the accounts of his repentance ; but for a great sin have a great sorrow, and a great severity, and in this take the ordinary advices ; though, it may be, a less rigour might not be insufficient : ccz^ifoolUawu, or arithme- tical measures, especially of our own proportioning, are but arguments of want of love and of forwardness in religion ; or else are instruments of scruple, and then become dangerous. Use the rule heartily and DEDICATION. IX enough, and there will be no harm in thy error, if any should happen. 4. If thou intendest heartily to serve God, and avoid sin in any one instance, refuse not the hardest and most severe advice, that is prescribed in order to it, though possibly it be a stranger to thee ; for whatsoever it be, custom will make it easy. 5. When many instruments for the obtaining any virtue, or restraining any vice, are propounded, ob- serve which of them fits thy person, or the circum- stances of thy need, and use it rather than the other; that by this means thou mayest be engaged to watch, and use spiritual arts and observation about thy soul. Concerning the managing of which, as the interest is greater, so the necessities are more, and the cases more intricate, and the accidents and dangers greater and more importunate ; and there is greater skill re- quired, than in the securing an estate, or restoring health to an infirm body. I wish all men in the world did heartily believe so much of this, as is true; it would very much help to do the work of God. Thus, my Lord, I have made bold by your hand to reach out this little scroll of cautions to all those, who, by seeing your honoured names set before my book, shall, by the fairness of such a frontispiece, be invited to look into it. I must confess, it cannot but look like a design in me, to borrow your name and beg your patronage to my book, that, if there be no other worth in it, yet at least it may have the splen- X DEDICATION. dour and warmth of a burning-glass, which, borrow- ing a flame from the eye of Heaven, shines and burns by the rays of the sun its patron. I will not quit myself from the suspicion : for I cannot pretend it to be a present either of itself fit to be offered to such a personage, or any part of a just return ; but I humbly desire, you would own it for an acknowledg- ment of those great endearments and noblest usages, you have past upon me : but so, men in their religion give a piece of gum, or the fat of a cheap lamb, in sacrifice to Him, that gives them all that they have or need : and unless He, who was pleased to employ your Lordship, as a great minister of his providence, in making a promise of his good to me, the meanest of his servants, *' that he would never leave me nor forsake me," shall enable me, by greater services of religion, to pay my great debt to your honour, I must still increase my score ; since I shall now spend as much in my needs of pardon for this boldness, as in the reception of those favours, by which I stand ac- countable to your Lordship in all the bands of service and gratitude ; though I am, in the deepest sense of duty and affection. My most honoured Lord, Your Honour's most obliged. And most humble Servant, JER. TAYLOR. THE RULE AND EXERCISES HOLY L I V I N G, &c. CHAP. I. CONSIDERATION OF THE GENERAL INSTRUMENTS AND MEANS SERVING TO A HOLY LIFE, BY WAY OF IN- TRODUCTION. It is necessary, that every man should consider, that, since God hath given him an excellent nature, wisdom and choice, an understanding soul, and an immortal spirit, having made him lord over the beasts, and but a little lower than the an- gels ; he hath also appointed for him a work and a service great enough to employ those abilities, and hath also designed him to a state of life after this, to which he can only arrive by that service and obedience. And therefore, as every man is wholly God's own portion by the title of creation, so all our labours and care, all our powers and faculties, must be wholly employed in the service of God, and even all the days of our life ; that, this life being ended, we may live with him for ever. Neither is it sufficient, that we think of the service of God as a work of the least necessity, or of small employment, but that it be done by us as God intended it ; and that it be done with great earnestness and passion, with much zeal and de- sire ; that we refuse no labour, that we bestow upon it much time ; that we use the best guides, and arrive at the end of glory by all the ways of grace, of prudence, and religion. And indeed, if we consider how much of our lives is taken up by the needs of nature ; how many ycaiis arc wholly spent, 12 THE INTRODUCTION TO HOLY LIFE. before we come to any use of reason ; how many years more, before that reason is useful to us to any great purposes ; how imperfect our discourse is made by our evil education, false principles, ill company, bad examples, and want of experience ; how many parts of our wisest and best years are spent in eating and sleeping, in necessary businesses and unnecessary vanities, in worldly civilities and less useful circumstances, in the learning arts and sciences, languages or trades ; that little portion of hours, that is left for the practices of piety and religious walking with God, is so short and trifling, that, were not the goodness of God infinitely great, it might seem unreasonable or impossible for us to expect of him eternal joys in heaven, even after the well spending those few mi- nutes, which are left for God and God's service, after we have served ourselves and our own occasions. And yet it is considerable, that the fruit, which comes from the many days of recreation and vanity, is very little ; and, although we scatter much, yet we gather but little profit : but from the few hours we spend in prayer and the exercises of a pious life, the return is great and profitable ; and what we sow in the minutes and spare portions of a few years, grows up to crowns and sceptres in a happy and a glorious eternity. 1. Therefore, although it cannot be enjoined, that the greatest part of our time be spent in the direct actions of devotion and religion, yet it will become, not only a duty, but also a great providence, to lay aside for the services of God and the businesses of the Spirit, as much as we can ; because God rewards our minutes with long and eternal happiness ; and the greater portion of our time we give to God, the more we treasure up for ourselves ; and " No man is a better merchant than he, that lays out his time upon God, and his money upon the poor." 2. Only it becomes us to remember, and to adore God's goodness for it, that God hath not only permitted us to ser\ e the necessities of our nature, but hath made them to become parts of our duty ; that if we, by directing these actions to the glory of God, intend them as instruments to continue our persons in his service, he, by adopting them into reli- gion, may turn our nature into grace, and accept our natural actions as actions of religion. God is pleased to esteem it CARE OF OUR TIME. 13 for a part of his service % if we eat or drink ; so it be done temperately, and as may best preserve our health, that our health may enable our services towards him : and there is no one minute of our lives (after we are come to the use of reason), but we are or may be doing the work of God, even then, when we most of all serve ourselves. 3. To which if we add, that in these and all other actions of our lives we always stand before God, acting, and speak- ing, and thinking in his presence, and that it matters not that our conscience is sealed with secrecy, since it lies open to God ; it will concern us to behave ourselves carefully, as in the presence of our judge. These three considerations rightly managed, and applied to the several parts and instances of our lives, will be, like Elisha, stretched upon the child, apt to put life and quick- ness into every part of it, and to make us live the life of grace, and do the work of God. I shall therefore, by way of introduction, reduce these three to practice, and show how every Christian may im- prove all and each of these to the advantage of piety, in the whole course of his life : that if he please to bear but one of them upon his spirit, he may feel the benefit, like an universal instrument, helpful in all spiritual and temporal actions. SECT. I. The first general instrument of holy Living, Care of our Time, He that is choice of his time, will also be choice of his com- pany, and choice of his actions : lest the first engage him in vanity and loss ; and the latter, by being criminal, be a throw- ing his time and himself away, and a going back in the ac- counts of eternity. God hath given to man a short time here upon earth, and yet upon this short time eternity depends : but so, that for every hour of our life (after we are persons capable of laws, and know good from evil) VvC must give account to the great ^ Wv^ofAivou rm$, -ttu? iirrtv la-B-isiv cc^nTTuJi ^■•o~i ; il ^laccicu; i; Toi; j-iot; ; — Arrian. Epist. 1. i. c. 13. ]4 CARE OF 01 R rniF. Judge of men and angels. And this is it which our blessed Saviour told us, that we must account for every idle word : not meaning, that every word, which is not designed to edifi- cation, or is less prudent, shall be reckoned for a sin ; but that the time, which we spend in our idle talking and unprofitable discoursings, that time, which might and ought to have been employed to spiritual and useful purposes ; that is to be ac- counted for. For we must remember, that we have a great work to do, many enemies to conquer, many evils to prevent, much dan- ger to run through, many difficulties to be mastered, many necessities to serve, and much good to do, many children to provide for, or many friends to support, or many poor to re- lieve, or many diseases to cure, besides the needs of nature and of relation, our private and our public cares, and duties of the world, which necessity and the providence of God have adopted into the family of religion. And that we need not fear this instrument to be a snare to us, or that the duty must end in scruple, vexation, and eter- nal fears, we must remember that the life of every man may be so ordered, (and indeed must) that it may be a perpetual serving of God : the greatest trouble and most busy trade and worldly incumbrances, when they are necessary, or cha- ritable, or profitable in order to any of those ends, which we are bound to serve, whether public or private, being a doing- God's work. For God provides the good things of the world to serve the needs of nature, by the labours of the ploughman, the skill and pains of the artisan, and the dangers and traffic of the merchant : these men are, in their calling, the minis- ters of the Divine Providence, and the stewards of the crea- tion, and servants of a great family of God, the world, in the employment of procuring necessaries for food and clothing, ornament and physic. In their proportions, also, a king and a priest, and a prophet, a judge and an advocate, doing the works of their employment according to their proper rules, are doing the work of God, because they serve those necessi- ties, which God hath made, and yet made no provisions for them, but by their ministry. So that no man can complain, that his calling takes him off from religion : his calling itself and his very worldly employment' in honest trades and offices is a serving of God ; and, if it l)t' moderately pursued, and ac- CAR J. OF OUR TIME. 15 cording to the rules of Christian prudence, will leave void spaces enough for prayers and retirements of a more spiritual relio;ion. God hath given every man work enough to do, that there shall be no room for idleness ; and yet hath so ordered the world, that there shall be space for devotion. He, that hath the fewest businesses of the world, is called upon to spend more time in the dressing of his soul ; and he, that hath the most affairs, may so order them, that they shall be a service of God ; whilst, at certain periods, they are blessed with prayers and actions of religion, and all day long are hallowed by a holy intention. However, so long as idleness is quite shut out from our lives, all the sins of wantonness, softness, and effeminacy, are prevented, and there is but little room left for temptation; and therefore, to a busy man, temptation is fain to climb up together with his businesses, and sins creep upon him only by accidents and occasions : whereas, to an idle person, they come in a full body, and with open violence, and the impu- dence of a restless importunity. Idleness is called " the sin of Sodom and her dauo;hters^'* and indeed is "the burial of a living man*^;" an idle person being so useless to any purposes of God and man, that he is like one that is dead, unconcerned in the changes and necessi- ties of the world ; and he only lives to spend his time, and eat the fruits of the earth : like a vermin or a wolf, when their time comes, they die and perish, and in the mean time, do no good ; they neither plough nor carry burthens ; all that they do, either is unprofitable or mischievous. Idleness is the greatest prodigality in the world : it throws away that, which is invaluable in respect of its present use, and irreparable when it is past, being to be recovered by no power of art or nature. But the way to secure and improve our time we may practise in the following rules. ^ Ezek. xvi. 49. " Senec. 16 CAJIE OF OUR TIME, Rules for employing our Time. 1. In the morning, when you awake, accustom youself to think first upon God, or something in order to his service ; and at night also, let him close thine eyes : and let your sleep be necessary and healthful, not idle and expensive of time, beyond the needs and conveniences of nature; and sometimes be curious to see the preparation, which the sun makes when he is coming forth from his chambers of the east. 2. Let every man that hath a calling, be diligent in pursu- ance of its employment, so as not lightly or without reason- able occasion to neglect it in any of those times, which are usually, and by the custom of prudent persons and good hus- bands, employed in it. 3. Let all the intervals or void spaces of time be employed in prayers, reading, meditating, works of nature, recreation, charity, friendliness and neighbourhood, and means of spiri- tual and corporal health : ever remembering so to work in our caUing, as not to neglect the work of our high calling; but to begin and end the day with God, with such forms of devo- tion, as shall be proper to our necessities. 4. The resting days of Christians, and festivals of the church, must, in no sense, be days of idleness ; for it is better to plough upon holy days, than to do nothing or to do viciously : but let them be spent in the works of the day, that is, of religion and charity, according to the rules appointed *'. 5. Avoid the company of drunkards and busy bodies, and all such as are apt to talk much to little purpose : for no man can be provident of his time, that is not prudent in the choice of his company ; and if one of the speakers be vain, tedious, and trifling, he that hears, and he that answers, in the dis- course, are equal losers of their time. 6. Never walk with any man, or undertake any trifling em- ployment, merely to pass the time away^ : for every day well spent may become a " day of salvation," and time rightly em- ployed is an *' acceptable time." And remember, that the time thou triflest away, was given thee to repent in, to pray for pardon of sins, to work out thy salvation, to do the work of •' See cliajt. i\'. sect. f!. * S. Bern, dc Tri]tli(i ('ustndia. CARE OF OUR TIME. 17 grace, to lay up against the day of judgement a treasure of good works, that thy time may be crowned with eternity. 7. In the midst of the works of thy calling, often retire to God f in short prayers and ejaculations; and those may make up the want of those larger portions of time, which, it may be, thou desirest for devotion, and in which thou thinkest other persons have advantage of thee; for so thou reconcilest the outward work and thy inward calling, the church and the commonwealth, the employment of the body and the interest of thy soul : for be sure, that God is present at thy breathings and hearty sighings of prayer, as soon as at the longer offices of less busied persons ; and thy time is as truly sanctified by a trade, and devout though shorter prayers, as by the longer offices of those, whose time is not filled up with labour and useful business. 8. Let your employment be such, as may become a rea- sonable person ; and not be a business fit for children or dis- tracted people, but fit for your age and understanding. For a man may be very idly busy, and take great pains to so little purpose, that, in his labours and expense of time, he shall serve no end but of folly and vanity. There are some trades, that wholly serve the ends of idle persons and fools, and such as are fit to be seized upon by the severity of laws and banished from under the sun : and there are some people, who are busy; but it is, as Domitian was, in catching flies. 9. Let your employment be fitted to your person and call- ing. Some there are, that employ their time and aftairs infi- nitely below the dignity of their person ; and being called by God, or by the republic, to help to bear great burdens, and to judge a people, do enfeeble their understandings, and disable their persons by sordid and brutish business. Thus Nero went up and down Greece, and challenged the fiddlers at their trade, ^ropus, a Macedonian king, made lanterns. Har- catius, the king of Parthia, was a mole-catcher : and Biantes, the Lydian, filed needles. He, that is appointed to minister in holy things, must not sufler secular afi'airs and sordid arts to eat up great portions of his employment : a clergyman must not keep a tavern, nor a judge be an innkeeper; and it *Laudatur Caesar apud Lucaiuim, • media inter praelia semper Stellarum coelique plagis, snperisque vacavi x. 186. C 18 CARE OF OUR TIME. was a great idleness in Theophylact, the patriarch of C. P. to spend his time in his stable of horses, when he should have been in his study, or the pulpit, or saying his holy of- fices. Such employments are the diseases of labour, and the rust of time, which it contracts, not by lying still, but by dirty employment. 10. Let our employment be such as becomes a Christian; that is, in no sense, mingled with sin : for he that takes pains to serve the ends of covetousness, or ministers to another's lust, or keeps a shop of impurities or intemperance, is idle in the worst sense ; for every hour, so spent, runs him backward, and must be spent again in the remaining and shorter part of his life, and spent better. 1 1 . Persons of great quality, and of no trade, are to be most prudent and curious in their employment and traffic of time. They are miserable, if their education hath been so loose and undiscipHned, as to leave them unfurnished of skill to spend their time : but most miserable are they, if such misgovernment and unskilfulness make them fall into vicious and baser company, and drive on their time by the sad mi- nutes and periods of sin and death. They that are learned, know the worth of time, and the manner how well to improve a day; and they are to prepare themselves for such purposes, in which they may be most useful in order to arts or arms, to counsel in public, or government in their country : but for others of them, that are unlearned, let them choose good company, such as may not tempt them to a vice, or join with them in any ; but that may supply their defects by counsel and discourse, by way of conduct and conversation. Let them learn easy and useful things, read history and the laws of the land, learn the customs of their country, the condition of their own estate, profitable and charitable contrivances of it : let them study prudently to govern their families, learn the burdens of their tenants, the necessities of their neigh- bours, and in their proportion supply them, and reconcile their enmities, and prevent their law-suits, or quickly end them; and in this glut of leisure and disemployment, let them set apart greater portions of their time for religion and the necessities of their souls. 12. Let the women of noble birth and great fortunes do the same things in their proportions and capacities, nurse CARE OF OUR TIME. 19 their children, look to the affairs of the house, visit poor cottages, and relieve their necessities, be courteous to the neighbourhood, learn in silence of their husbands or their spiritual guides, read good books, pray often and speak little, and '" learn to do good vv^orks for necessary uses ;" for, by that phrase, St. Paul expresses the obligation of Christian w^omen to good housewifery, and charitable provisions for their family and neighbourhood. 13. Let all persons of all conditions avoid all dehcacy and niceness in their clothing or diet, because such softness en- gages them upon great mispendings of their time, while they dress and comb out all their opportunities of their morning devotion, and half the day's severity, and sleep out the care and provision for their souls. 14. Let every one of every condition avoid curiosity, and all inquiry into things that concern them not. For all bu- siness in things that concern us not, is an employing our time to no good of ours, and therefore not in order to a happy eternity. In this account our neighbour's necessities are not to be reckoned ; for they concern us, as one member is concerned in the grief of another ; but going from house to house, tattlers and busybodies, which are the canker and rust of idleness, as idleness is the rust of time, are reproved by the apostle in severe language, and forbidden in order to this exercise. 15. As much as may be, cut off all impertinent and useless employments of your life, unnecessary and fantastic visits, long waitings upon great personages, where neither duty, nor necessity, nor charity obliges us ; all vain meetings, all labo- rious trifles, and whatsoever spends much time to no real, civil, religious, or charitable purpose. 16. Let not your recreations be lavish spenders of your time ; but choose such which are healthful, short, transient, recreative, and apt to refresh you ; but at no hand dwell upon them, or make them your great employment : for he that spends his time in sports, and calls it recreation, is like him, whose garment is all made of fringes, and his meat nothing but sauces; they are healthless, chargeable, and useless. And therefore avoid such games, which require much time or long attendance ; or which are apt to steal thy affections from more severe employments. For to whatsoever thou hast 20 CARE OF OLM{ TIME given thy affections, thou wilt not grudge to give thy time. Natural necessity and the example of St. John, who recreated himself with sporting with a tame partridge s, teach us, that it is lawful to relax and unbend our bow, but not to suffer it to be unready or unstruno-. 17. Set apart some portions of every day for more solemn devotion and religious employment, which be severe in ob- serving: and if variety of employment, or prudent affairs, or civil society press upon you, yet so order thy rule, that the necessary parts of it be not omitted; and though just occasions may make our prayers shorter, yet let nothing, but a violent, sudden, and impatient necessity, make thee, upon any one day, wholly to omit thy morning and evening devotions; which if you be forced to make very short, you may supply and lengthen with ejaculations and short retirements in the day-time, in the midst of your employment or of your company. 18. Do not the'' "work of God negligently" and idly: let not thy heart be upon the world, when thy hand is lift up in prayer : and be sure to prefer an action of rehgion, in its place and proper season, before all worldly pleasure, letting secular things, that may be dispensed with in themselves, in these circumstances wait upon the other ; not like the pa- triarch, who ran from the altar in St. Sophia to his stable, in all his pontificals, and in the midst of his office, to see a colt newly fallen from his beloved and much valued mare Phorbante. More prudent and severe was that of Sir Tho mas More, who, being sent for by the king, when he was at his prayers in public, returned answer, he would attend him, when he had first performed his service to the King of kings And it did honour to Rusticus ', that, when letters from Cccsar where given to him, he refused to open them, till the philosopher had done his lecture. In honouring God and doing his work, put forth all thy strength ; for of that time only thou mayest be most confident that it is gained, which is prudently and zealously spent in God's service. 19. When tho clock strikes, or however else you shall measure the day, it is good to say a short ejaculation every hour, that the parts and returns of devotion may be the mea- sure of your time : and do so also in all the breaches of thy e Cassiaii, Collat. 24. v. \x\. '' .hi: xlviii. 10. * Plutanli. dv Curiosit. c. xv. CARE OF OUIl TIME. 21 sleep ; that those spaces, which have in them no direct busi- ness of the world, may be filled with religion. 20. If, by thus doing, you have not secured your time by an early and fore-handed care, yet be sure by a timely dili- gence to redeem the time, that is, to be pious and religious in such instances'', in which formerly you have sinned, and to bestow your time especially upon such graces, the con- trary whereof you have formerly practised, doing actions of chastity and temperance with as great a zeal and earnestness, as you did once act your uncleanness ; and then, by all arts, to watch against your present and future dangers, from day to day securing your standing : this is properly to redeem your time, that is, to buy your security of it at the rate of any labour and honest arts. 21. Let him, that is most busied, set apart some^ ** solemn time every year," in which, for the time quitting all worldly business, he may attend w^holly to fasting and prayer, and the dressing of his soul by confessions, meditations, and at- tendances upon God ; that he may make up his accounts, renew his vows, make amends for his carelessness, and retire back again, from whence levity and the vanities of the world, or the opportunity of temptations, or the distraction of se- cular affairs, have carried him. 22. In this we shall be much assisted, and we shall find the work more easy, if, before we sleep, every night'" we examine the actions of the past day with a particular scru- tiny, if there have been any accident extraordinary ; as long discourse, a feast, much business, variety of company. If nothing but common hath happened, the less examination will suffice : only let us take care, that we sleep not without such a recollection of the actions of the day, as may repre- sent any thing, that is remarkable and great, either to be the matter of sorrow or thanksgiving : for other things a general care is proportionable. 23. Let all these things be done prudently and moderately, not with scruple and vexation. For these are good advan- O'i Iv uvro7; ivhoxiy.ovvric, o'l; yjjuuerov, ivTgis^iff'ri^av ryiv uToXoyiav utrui) <^i(^ovTa.i.—— Procop. 2. Vandal. ' 1 Cor. vii. 5. i-riXhiv' njj sTu^i^m ; rl S' 'ioi^a. ; r'l fjt-oi liov ovk inkia-^t; ; — Pythagor. Aur. Carni. 22 PURITY OF INTEXTIOX. tages, but the particulars are not Divine commandments ; and therefore are to be used, as shall be found expedient to every one's condition. For, provided that our duty be secured, for the degrees and for the instruments every man is permitted to himself and the conduct of such who shall be appointed to him. He is happy, that can secure every hour to a sober or a pious employment : but the duty consists not scrupu- lously in minutes and half hours, but in greater portions of time; provided that no minute be employed in sin, and the great portions of our time be spent in sober employment, and all the appointed days, and some portions of every day, be allowed for religion. In all the lesser parts of time, we are left to our own elections and prudent management, and to the consideration of the great degrees and differences of glory, that are laid up in heaven for us, according to the de- grees of our care, and piety, and diligence. The benefits of this exercise. This exercise, besides that it hath influence upon our whole lives, it hath a special efficacy for the preventing of 1. beggarly sins, that is, those sins, which idleness and beg- gary usually betray men to ; such as are lying, flattery, steal- ing, and dissimulation. 2. It is a proper antidote against carnal sins, and such as proceed from fulness of bread and emptiness of employment. 3. It is a great instrument of preventing the smallest sins and irregularities of our life, which usually creep upon idle, disemployed, and curious persons. 4. It not only teaches us to avoid evil, but engages us upon doing good, as the proper business of all our days. 5. It pre- pares us so against sudden changes, that we shall not easily be surprised at the sudden coming of the day of the Lord : for he, that is curious of his time, will not easily be unready and unfurnished. SECT. IT. The second general instrument of holi/ Living, Purity of Intention. That we should intend and design God's glory in every action we do, whether it be natural or chosen, is expressed by PURITY OF INTENTION. 23 ^t. PauP, '' Wlietlier ye eat or drink, do all to the glory of God." Which rule when we observe, every action of nature becomes religious, and every meal is an act of worship, and shall have its reward in its proportion, as well as an act of prayer. Blessed be that goodness and grace of God, which, out of infinite desire to glorify and save mankind, would make the very works of nature capable of becoming acts of virtue, that all our life-time we may do him service. This grace is so excellent, that it sanctifies the most com- mon action of our life ; and yet, so necessary, that, without it, the very best actions of our devotion are imperfect and vi- cious. For he that prays out of custom, or gives alms for praise, or fasts to be accounted religious, is but a pharisee in his devotion, and a beggar ia his alms, and a hypocrite in his fast. But a holy end sanctifies all these and all other ac- tions which can be made holy, and gives distinction to them, and procures acceptance. For, as to know the end distinguishes a man from a beast, so to choose a good end distinguishes him from an evil man. Hezekiah repeated his good deeds upon his sick-bed, and ob- tained favour of God ; but the pharisee was accounted inso- lent for doing° the same thing: because this man did it to upbraid his brother, the other to obtain a mercy of God. Zacharias questioned with the angel about his message, and was made speechless for his incredulity ; but the blessed Virgin Mary questioned too, and was blameless ; for she did it to inquire after the manner of the thing, but he did not believe the thing itself: he doubted of God's power, or the truth of the messenger ; but she, only of her own incapacity. This was it, which distinguished the mourning of David from the exclamation of Saul; the confession of Pharaoh from that of Manasses ; the tears of Peter from the repentance of Judas : " for the praise is not in the deed done, but in the manner of its doing p. If a man visits his sick friend, and watches at his pillow for charity's sake, and because of his old affection, we approve it : but if he does it in hope of legacy, he is a vulture, and only watches for the carcass. The same " 1 Cor. X. 31. ° Atticiis eximie si ccenat, lautus, liabetur ; Si Rutihis, demcns Juvcn. Sat. II. P Seneca. 24 PURITY OF INTENTIOX. things are honest and dishonest : the manner of doing them, and the end of the design, makes the separation." Holy intention is to the actions of a man that which the soul is to the body, or form to its matter, or the root to the tree, or the sun to the world, or the fountain to a river, or the base to a pillar : for, without these, the body is a dead trunk, the matter is sluggish, the tree is a block, the world' is darkness, the river is quickly dry, the pillar rushes into flat- ness and a ruin ; and the action is sinful, or unprofitable and vain. The poor farmer, that gave a dish of cold water to Artaxerxes, was rewarded with a golden goblet ; and he that gives the same to a disciple in the name of a disciple, shall have a crown : but if he gives water in despite, when the dis- ciple needs wine or a cordial, his reward shall be, to want that water to cool his tongue. But this duty must be reduced to rules : — Rules for our Intentions. 1 . In every action reflect upon the end ; and in your un- dertaking it, consider why you do it, and what you propound to yourself for a reward, and to your action as its end. 2. Begin every action in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost : the meaning of which is, 1. That we be careful, that we do not the action without the permission or warrant of God. 2. That we design it to the glory of God, if not in the direct action, yet at least in its consequence ; if not in the particular, yet at least in the whole order of things and accidents. 3. That it may be so blessed, that what you intend for innocent and holy purposes, may not, by any chance, or abuse, or misunderstanding of men, be turned into evil, or made the occasion of sin. 3. Let every action of concernment be begun with prayer, that God would not only bless the action, but sanctify your purpose ; and make an oblation of the action to God : holy and well intended actions being the best oblations and pre- sents we can make to God ; and, when God is entitled to them, he will tin; rather keep the fire upon the altar bright and shining. 4. In the prosecution of the action, renew and re-enkindle your purpose by short ejaculations to these purposes: "Not PURITY OF INTENTION. 25 unto US, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name, let all praise be given :" and consider " Now I am working the work of God ; I am his servant, I am in a happy employment, I am doing my master's business, I am not at my own dispose, I am usino- his talents, and all the gain must be his :" for then be sure, as the glory is his, so the reward shall be thine. If thou brino-est his goods home with increase, he will make thee ruler over cities. 5. Have a care, that, while the altar thus sends up a holy fume, thou dost not suffer the birds to come and carry away the sacrifice : that is, let not that, which began well, and was intended for God's glory, decline and end in thy own praise, or temporal satisfaction, or a sin. A story, told to represent the vileness of unchastity, is well begun : but if thy female auditor be pleased with thy language, and begins rather to like thy person for thy story, than to dislike the crime, be watchful, lest this goodly head of gold descend in silver and brass, and end in iron and clay, like Nebuchadnezzar's image ; for from the "^ end it shall have its name and reward. 6. If any accidental event, which was not first intended by thee, can come to pass, let it not be taken into thy purposes, not at all be made use of : as if, by telling a true story, you can do an ill turn to your enemy, by no means do it; but, when the temptation is found out, turn all thy enmity upon that. 7. In every more solemn action of religion, join together many good ends, that the consideration of them may enter- tain all your affections ; and that, when any one ceases, the purity of your intention may be supported by another supply. He that fasts only to tame a rebelhous body, when he is pro- vided of a remedy either in grace or nature, may be tempted to leave off his fasting. But he, that in his fast intends the mortification of eveiy unruly appetite, and accustoming him- self to bear the yoke of the Lord, a contempt of the pleasures of meat and drink, humiliation of all wilder thoughts, obe- dience and humility, austerity and charity, and the conveni- ence and assistance to devotion, and to do an act of repent- ance; whatever happens, will have reason enough to make him to continue his purpose, and to sanctify it. And certain 1 Qui furatur ut moechetur, mcechus est magis quam fur. — Arisl. Eth. 26 PURITY OF INTENTION. it is, the more crood ends are desio-ned in an action, the more degrees of excellency the man obtains. 8. If any temptation to spoil your purpose happens in a religious duty, do not presently omit the action, but rather strive to rectify your intention, and to mortify the temptation. St. Bernard taught us this rule : for when the devil, observ- ing him to preach excellently and to do much benefit to his hearers, tempted him to vain-glory, hoping that the good man, to avoid that, would cease preaching, he gave this an- swer only ; **I neither began for thee, neither for thee will I make an end." 9. In all actions, which are of long continuance, delibera- tion, and abode, let your holy and pious intention be actual ; that is, that it be, by a special prayer or action, by a pecu- liar act of resignation or oblation given to God : but in smaller actions, and little things and indifferent, fail not to secure a pious habitual intention ; that is, that it be included within your general care, that no action have an ill end ; and that it be comprehended in your general prayers, whereby you offer yourself and all you do, to God's glory. 10. Call not every temporal end, a defiling of thy inten- tion, but only, 1. when it contradicts any of the ends of God ; or 2. when it is principally intended in an action of religion. For sometimes a temporal end is part of our duty; and such are all the actions of our calling, whether our em- ployment be religious or civil. We are commanded to pro- vide for our family : but if the minister of divine offices shall take upon him that holy calling for covetous or ambitious ends, or shall not design the glory of God principally and especially, he hath polluted his hands and his heart ; and the fire of the altar is quenched, or it sends forth nothing but the smoke of mushrooms, or unpleasant gums. And it is a great unworthiness to prefer the interest of a creature before the ends of God, the Almighty Creator. But because many cases may happen, in which a man's heart may deceive him, and he may not well know what is in his own spirit; therefore, by these following signs, we shall best make a judgment, whether our intentions be pure, and our purposes holy. PURITY OF INTENTION. 27 Signs of Purity of Intention. 1. It is probable our hearts'^ are right with God, and our intentions innocent and pious, if we set upon actions of re- ligion or civil life with an affection proportionate to the qua- lity of the work ; that we act our temporal affairs with a de- sire no greater than our necessity ; and that, in actions of religion, we be zealous, active, and operative, so far as pru- dence will permit ; but in all cases, that we value a religious design before a temporal, when otherwise they are in equal order to their several ends : that is, that w^hatsoever is neces- sary in order to our soul's health, be higher esteemed than what is for bodily ; and the necessities, the indispensable necessities of the spirit, be served before the needs of nature, when they are required in their several circumstances ; or plainer yet, when we choose any temporal inconvenience, rather than commit a sin, and when we choose to do a duty, rather than to get gain. But he that does his recreation or his merchandise cheerfully, promptly, readily, and busily, and the works of religion slowly, flatly, and without appe- tite ; and the spirit moves like Pharaoh's chariots, when the wheels were off; it is a sign, that his heart is not right with God, but it cleaves too much to the world. 2. It is likely our hearts are pure, and our intentions spot- less, when we are not solicitous of the opinion and censures of men ; but only that we do our duty, and be accepted of God. For our eyes will certainly be fixed there, from whence we expect our reward : and if v*^e desire that God should approve us, it is a sign we do his work, and expect him our paymaster. 3. He that does as well, in private, between God and his own soul, as in public, in pulpits, in theatres, and market- places, hath given himself a good testimony, that his pur- poses are full of honesty, nobleness, and integrity. For what Helkanah said to the mother of Samuel, "Am not I better to thee than ten sons ?" is most certainly verified con- corning God ; that he, who is to be our judge, is better than ten thousand witnesses. But he, that would have his virtue ■^ See sect. I. of this chapter, rule lf». 28 PURITY OF INTEXTIOX. published, studies not virtue, but glory. "He is not just', that will not be just without praise : but he is a righteous man, that does justice, when to do so is made infamous ; and he is a wise man, who is delighted with an ill name, that is well gotten." And indeed that man hath a strange* covetousness, or folly, that is not contented with this re- ward, that he hath pleased God. And see what he gets by it. He that does good works" for praise or secular ends, sells an inestimable jewel for a trifle; and that, which would purchase heaven for him, he parts with for the breath of the people ; which, at best, is but air, and that not often wholesome. 4. It is well, also, when we are not solicitous or troubled concerning the effect and event of all our actions ; but that being first by prayer recommended to him, is left at his dis- pose : for then, in case the event be not answerable to our desires or to the efficacy of the instrument, we have nothing left to rest in, but the honesty of our purposes ; which it is the more likely we have secured, by how much more we are indifferent concerning the success. St. James converted but eight persons, when he preached in Spain : and our blessed Saviour converted fewer than his own disciples did : and if thy labours prove unprosperous, if thou beest much troubled at that, it is certain thou didst not think thyself secure of a reward for your intention ; which you might have done, if it had been pure and just. 5. He loves virtue for God's sake and its own, that loves and honours it wherever it is to be seen ; but he that is en- vious or angry at a virtue, that is not his own, at the perfec- tion or excellency of his neighbour, is not covetous of the virtue, but of its reward and reputation ; and then his inten- tions are polluted. It was a great ingenuity in Moses, that wished all the people might be prophets ; but if he had de- signed his own honour, he would have prophesied alone. But he that desires only, that the work of God and religion shall go on, is pleased with it, whoever is the instrument. 6. He that despises the world and all its appendant vani- ties, is the best judge, and the most secured of his intcn- Senecii, Ep. 11.'). • St. Chrvh. 1. ii. dv Coini»uii. cordis. " St. Grc;,'. 31oral. 8. cap. xxv. PURTTV OF INTENTION. 29 tions ; because he is the farthest removed from a temptation. Every degree of mortification is a testimony of the purity of our purposes ; and in what degree we despise sensual plea- sure, or secular honours, or worldly reputation, in the same degree we shall conclude our heart right to religion and spi- ritual designs. 7. When we are not solicitous concerning the instruments and means of our actions ; but use those means, which God hath laid before us, with resignation, indifferency, and thank- fulness ; it is a good sign, that we are rather intent upon the end of God's glory, than our own conveniency, or temporal satisfaction. He that is indifferent, whether he serve God in riches or in poverty, is rather a seeker of God than of himself; and he that will throw away a good book, because it is not curiously gilded, is more curious to please his eye, than to inform his understanding. 8. When a temporal end consisting with a spiritual, and pretended to be subordinate to it, happens to fail and be defeated, if we can rejoice in that, so God's glory may be secured, and the interests of religion ; it is a great sign our hearts are right, and our ends prudently designed and or- dered. When our intentions are thus balanced, regulated, and discerned, we may consider, 1. that this exercise is of so universal efficacy in the whole course of a holy life, that it is like the soul to every holy action, and must be provided for in every undertaking ; and is, of itself alone, sufficient to make all natural and indifferent actions to be adopted into the family of religion. 2. That there are some actions, which are usually reckoned as parts o*' our religion, which yet, of themselves, are so re- lative and imperfect, that, without the purity of intention, they degenerate : and unless they be directed and proceed on to those purposes, which God designed them to, they re- turn into the family of common, secular, or sinful, actions. Thus alms are for charity, fasting for temperance, prayer is for religion, humiliation is for humility, austerity or suf- ferance is in order to the virtue of patience : and when these actions fail of their several ends, or are not directed to their own purposes, alms are mispent, fasting is an impertinent trouble, prayer is but lip-labour, humiliation is but hypo- 30 PRACTICE OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD. crisy, sufferance is but vexation ; for such were the ahiis of the pharisee, the fast of Jezabel, the prayer of Judah re- proved by the prophet Isaiah, the humiliation of Ahab, the martyrdom of heretics ; in which nothing is given to God, but the body, or the forms of rehgion ; but the soul and the power of godliness is wholly wanting. 3. We are to consider, that no intention can sanctify an unholy or unlawful action. Saul, the king, disobeyed God's commandment, and spared the cattle of Amalek to reserve the best for sacrifice : and Saul, the pharisee, persecuted the church of God, with a design to do God service : and they that killed the apostles, had also good purposes, but they had unhallow^ed actions. When there is both truth in election, and charity in the intention "" ; when we go to God in ways of his own choosing or approving, then our eye is single, and our hands are clean, and our hearts are pure. But when a man does evil, that good may come of it, or good to an evil purpose, that man does like him, that rolls him- self in thorns, that he may sleep easily ; he roasts himself in the fire, that he may quench his thirst with his own sweat ; he turns his face to the east, that he may go to bed with the sun. I end this with the saying of a wise heathen''': *' He is to be called evil, that is good only for his own sake. Regard not, how^ full hands you bring to God, but how pure. Many cease from sin out of fear alone, not out of innocence or love of virtue ;" and they, as yet, are not to be called innocent but timorous. SECT. III. The third general instrument of holy Living : or the Practice of the Presence of God. That God is present in all places, that lie sees every action, hears all discourses, and understands every thought, is no strange thing to a Christian ear, w^ho hath been taught this doctrine, not only by right reason, and the consent of all the wise men in the world, but also by God himself in holy Scripture. " Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and " St. Bern. lib. de Pra'cept, ^^ Puhliiis IMimus. PRACTICE OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD. 31 not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places, that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth''?" '* Neither is there any creature, that is not manifest in his sight : but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him, with whom we have to do •." " For in him we live, and move, and have our being ^." God is wholly in every place ; included in no place ; not bound with cords, except those of love ; not divided into parts, not changeable into several shapes ; filling heaven and earth with his present power, and with his never absent nature. So St. Augustine * expresses this article. So that we may imaoine God to be as the air and the sea ; and we all enclosed in his circle, wrapped up in the lap of his infinite nature ; or as infants in the wombs of their pregnant mothers : and we can no more be removed from the presence of God, than from our own being. Several manners of the Divine Presence. The presence of God is understood by us, in several manners, and to several purposes. 1. God is present by his essence; which, because it is infinite, cannot be contained within the limits of any place ; and because he is of an essential purity and spiritual nature, he cannot be undervalued by being supposed present in the places of unnatural uncleanness : because as the sun, reflect- ing upon the mud of strands and shores, is unpolluted in its beams, so is God not dishonoured, when we suppose him in every of his creatures, and in every part of every one of them ; and is still as unmixt with any unhandsome adherence, as is the soul in the bowels of the body. 2. God is every where present by his power *". He rolls the orbs of heaven with his hand ; he fixes the earth with his foot ; he guides all the creatures with his eye, and re- freshes them with his influence : he makes the powers of hell to shake with his terrors, and binds the devils with his word, and throws them out with his command ; and sends the angels ^ Jer. xxiii. 23, 24. > Heb. iv. 13. ^ Acts, vii. 28. ^ Lib. vii. de Civit. c. xxx. ^ Qso; Ttpn^s, tJj QovXrtffii to tSv, fiiiZajv tov tuv-to; &'(rTS« t^i olaut, outm; zcci cc%iu Eesp. ad Orthod. 32 PRACTICE OF IIIE PUFSEXCE OF GOD. on embassies with his decrees : he hardens the joints of infants, and confirms the bones, when they are fashioned beneath secretly in the earth. He it is, that assists at the numerous productions of fishes ; and there is not one hoUow- ness in the bottom of the sea, bat he shews himself to be Lord of it, by sustaining there the creatures, that come to dwell in it : and in the wilderness, the bittern and the stork, the dragon and the satyr, the unicorn and the elk, live upon his provisions, and revere his power, and feel the force of his almightiness. 3. God is more specially present, in some places, by the several and more special manifestations of himself to extraor- dinaiy purposes. First, by glory. Thus his seat is in heaven ; because, there he sits encircled with all the outward demon- strations of his glory, which he is pleased to shew to all the inhabitants of those his inward and secret courts. And thus they, that "die in the Lord," may be properly said to be " gone to God ;" with whom although they were before, yet now they enter into his courts, into the secret of his tabernacle, into the retinue and splendour of his glory. That is called walking with God; but this is dwelling, or being, with him. " I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ ;" so said St. Paul. But this manner of Divine presence is reserved for the elect people of God, and for their portion in their country. 4. God is, by grace and benediction, specially present in holy places^, and in the solemn assemblies of his servants. If holy people meet in grots and dens of the earth, when per- secution or a public necessity disturbs the public order, circumstance and convenience, God fails not to come thither to them: but God is also, by the same or a greater reason, present there, where they meet ordinarily, by order, and public authority: there God is present ordinarily, that is, at every such meeting. God will go out of his way to meet his saints, when themselves are forced out of their way of order by a sad necessity : but else, God's usual way is to be present in those places where his servants are appointed ordinarily '' to meet. But his presence there signifies nothing, but a readi- ness to hear their prayers, to bless their persons, to accept ' Mat. xviii. 20. Ilel). x. 2.-). '' 1 Kiiif^s, v. !i. Psalm rxxxviii. 1, 2. PRACTICE OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD. 33 their offices, and to like even the circumstance of orderly and public meeting. For thither the prayers of consecration, the public authority separating it, and God's love of order, and the reasonable customs of religion, have, in ordinary, and in a certain degree, fixed this manner of his presence ; and he loves to have it so. 5. God is especially present, in the hearts of his people, by his Holy Spirit : and indeed the hearts of holy men are temples in the truth of things, and, in type and shadow, they are heaven itself. For God reigns in the hearts of his ser- vants : there is his kingdom. The power of grace hath sub- dued all his enemies : there is his power. They serve him night and day, and give him thanks and praise : that is his glory. This is the religion and worship of God in the tem- ple. The temple itself is the heart of man ; Christ is the high-priest, who from thence sends up the incense of pray- ers, and joins them to his own intercession, and presents all together to his Father ; and the Holy Ghost, by his dwelling there, hath also consecrated it into a temple **; and God dwells in our hearts by faith, and Christ by his Spirit, and the Spirit by his purities : so that we are also cabinets of the mysterious Trinity; and what is this short of heaven itself, but as infancy is short of manhood, and letters of words? The same state of life it is, but not the same age. It is heaven in a looking-glass, dark, but yet true, repre- senting the beauties of the soul, and the graces of God, and the images of his eternal glory, by the reality of a special presence. 6. God is specially present in the consciences of all per- sons, good and bad, by way of testimony and judgment: that is, he is there a remembrancer to call our actions to mind, a witness to bring them to judgment, and a judge to acquit or to condemn. And although this manner of pre- sence is, in this life, after the manner of this life, that is, im- perfect, and we forget many actions of our lives ; yet the greatest changes of our state of grace or sin, our most con- siderable actions, are always present, like capital letters to an aged and dim eye: and, at the day of judgment, God shall draw aside the cloud, and manifest this manner of his pre- • I Cor. iii. 16. 2 Cor. vi. 16. D 34 PRACTICE OF THE PUEsKXCK OF CiOD. sence more notoriously, and make it appear, that he was an observer of our very thoughts; and that he only laid those things by, which, because we covered with dust and negli- gence, were not then discerned. But when we are risen from our dust and imperfection, they all appear plain and legible. Now the consideration of this great truth is of a very uni- versal use, in the whole course of the life of a Christian. All the consequents and effects of it are universal. He that remem- bers, that God stands a witness and a judge, beholding every secrecy, besides his impiety, must have put on impudence, if he be not much restrained in his temptation to sin. ** For the greatest part of sin is taken away^, if a man have a wit- ness of his conversation : and he is a great despiser of God, who sends a boy away, when he is going to commit fornica- tion, and yet will dare to do it, though he knows God is pre- sent, and cannot be sent off: as if the eye of a little boy were more awful, than the all-seeing eye of God. He is to be feared in public, he is to be feared in private : if you go forth, he spies you ; if you go in, he sees you : when you light the candle, he observes you ; when you put it out, then also God marks you. Be sure, that while you are in his sight, you be- have yourself, as becomes so holy a presence." But if you will sin, retire yourself wisely, and go where God cannot see : for no where else can you be safe. And certainly, if men would always actually consider, and really esteem this truth, that God is the great eye of the world, always watch- ing over our actions, and an ever-open ear to hear all our words, and an unwearied arm ever lifted up to crush a sinner into ruin, it would be the readiest way in the world, to make sin to cease from amongst the children of men, and for men to approach to the blessed estate of the saints in heaven, who cannot sin, for they always walk in the presence, and behold the face of God. This instrument is to be reduced to practice, according to the following rules. Rules of exercising this considcralion. 1. Let this actual thought often return, that God is omni- present, filling every place; and say with David?, " Whither ' S. Aug. dc vcihis Dominicis, c. iii. s Psal. xiii. 7, C. PRACTICE OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD. 35 shall I go from thy Spirit, or whither shall I flee from thy presence ? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there : if I make my bed in hell, thou art there," &c. This thought, by being frequent, will make an habitual dread and reverence towards God, and fear in all thy actions. For it is a great necessity and engagement to do unblamably, when we act before the Judge'', who is infallible in his sentence, all-know- ing in his information, severe in his anger, powerful in his providence, and intolerable in his wrath and indignation. 2. In the beginning of actions of religion, make an act of adoration, that is, solemnly worship God, and place thy- self in God's presence, and behold him with the eye of faith ; and let thy desires actually fix on him, as the object of thy worship, and the reason of thy hope, and the fountain of thy blessing. For when thou hast placed thyself before him, and kneelest in his presence, it is most likely, all the following parts of thy devotion will be answerable to the wisdom of such an apprehension, and the glory of such a presence. 3. Let every thing you see, represent to your spirit the presence, the excellency, and the power of God; and let your conversation with the creatures lead you unto the Creator ; for so shall your actions be done, more frequently, with an actual eye to God's presence, by your often seeing him in the glass of the creation. In the face of the sun, you may see God's beauty; in the fire, you may feel his heat warming; in the water, his gentleness to refresh you : he it is, that com- forts your spirit, when you have taken cordials : it is the dew of heaven, that makes your field give you bread; and the breasts of God are the bottles, that minister drink to your necessities. This philosophy, which is obvious to every man's experience, is a good advantage to our piety ; and, by this act of understanding, our wills are checked from violence and misdemeanour. 4. In your retirement, make frequent colloquies, or short discoursings, between God and thy own soul. " Seven times a day do I praise thee : and, in the night season also, I thought upon thee, while I was waking." So did David ; and every act of complaint or thanksgiving, ev^ery act of rejoicing or of mourning, every petition and every return of the heart in '' Boeth. 1. V. de Consol. 36 PRACTICE OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD. these intercourses, is a going to God, an appearing in his presence, and a representing him present to thy spirit and to thy necessity. And this was, long since, by a spiritual person called, " a building to God a chapel in our heart." It recon- ciles Martha's employment with Mary's devotion, charity and religion, the necessities of our calling and the employments of devotion. For thus, in the midst of the works of your trade, you may retire into your chapel, your heart; and con- verse with God by frequent addresses and returns. 5. Represent and offer to God " acts of love and fear;" which are the proper effects of this apprehension, and the proper exercise of this consideration. For, as God is every where present by his power, he calls for reverence and godly fear : as he is present to thee in all thy needs, and relieves them, he deserves thy love : and since, in every accident of our lives, we find one or other of these apparent, and, in most things, we see both, it is a proper and proportionate return, that to every such demonstration of God, we express ourselves sensible of it, by admiring the Divine goodness, or trembling at his presence ; ever obeying him, because we love him, and ever obeying him, because we fear to offend him. This is that which Enoch did, who thus " walked with God." 6. Let us remember, that God is in us, and that we are in him : we are his workmanship, let us not deface it ; we are in his presence, let us not pollute it by unholy and impure actions. God hath '' also wrought all our works in us';" and because he rejoices in his own works, if we defile them, and make them unpleasant to him, we walk perversely with God, and he will walk crookedly towards us. 7. *' God is in the bowels of thy brother;" refresh them, when he needs it, and then you give your alms in the pre- sence of God, and to God; and he feels the relief which thou providest for thy brother. 8. God is in every place : suppose it therefore to be a church : and that decency of deportment and piety of car- riage, which you are taught, by religion, or by custom, or by civility and public manners, to use in churches, the same use in all places : with this difference only, that, in churches, let your deportment be religious in external forms and circum- ' Isa. XXV i. 12. PRACTICE OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD. 37 stances also ; but there and every where, let it be religious in abstaining from spiritual indecencies, and in readiness to do good actions : that it may not be said of us, as God once com- plained of his people, " Why hath my beloved done wicked- ness in my house ^ ?" 9. God is in every creature : be cruel towards none, nei- ther abuse any by intemperance. Remember, that the crea- tures, and every member of thy own body, is one of the lesser cabinets and receptacles of God. They are such, which God hath blessed with his presence, hallowed by his touch, and separated from unholy use, by making them to belong to his dwelling. 10. He walks as in the presence of God, that converses with him in frequent prayer and frequent communion ; that runs to him in all his necessities, that asks counsel of him in all his doubtings; that opens all his wants to him; that weeps before him for his sins ; that asks remedy and support for his weakness; that fears him as a judge; reverences him as a lord ; obeys him as a father ; and loves him as a patron. The benefits of this exercise. The benefits of this consideration and exercise being uni- versal upon all the parts of piety, I shall less need to specify any particulars ; but yet, most properly, this exercise of con- sidering the Divine presence is, 1. an excellent help to prayer, producing in us reverence and awfulness to the Divine Majesty of God, and actual devotion in our offices. 2. It pro- duces a confidence in God, and fearlessness of our enemies, patience in trouble, and hope of remedy; since God is so nigh in all our sad accidents, he is a disposer of the hearts of men and the events of things ; he proportions out our trials, and supplies us with remedy, and, where his rod strikes us, his staff supports us. To which we may add this ; that God, who is always with us, is especially, by promise, with us in tribulation, to turn the misery into a mercy, and that our greatest trouble may become our advantage, by entitling us to a new manner of the Divine presence. 3. It is apt to pro- duce joy and rejoicing in God, we being more apt to delight ^ Jer. xi. 15. secun. vulg. edit. 38 PRACTICE OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD. in the partners and witnesses of our conversation ; every de- cree of mutual abiding and conversing being a relation and an endearment : we are of the same household with God ; he is with us in our natural actions, to preserve us ; in our re- creations, to restrain us ; in our public actions to applaud or reprove us; in our private, to observe us : in our sleeps, to watch by us ; in our watchings, to refresh us: and if we walk with God in all his ways, as he walks with us in all ours, we shall find perpetual reasons to enable us to keep that rule of God, *' Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice." And this puts me in mind of a saying of an old religious person ^, *' There is one way of overcoming our ghostly enemies ; spi- ritual mirth, and a perpetual bearing of God in our minds." This effectively resists the devil, and suifers us to receive no hurt from him. 4. This exercise is apt also to enkindle holy desires of the enjoyment of God, because it produces joy, when we do enjoy him ; the same desires that a weak man hath for a defender; the sick man for a physician; the poor, for a patron ; the child, for his father ; the espoused lover, for her betrothed. 5. From the same fountain are apt to issue humility of spirit, apprehensions of our great distance and our great needs, our daily wants and hourly supplies, admi- ration of God's unspeakable mercies : it is the cause of great modesty and decency in our actions ; it helps to recollection of mind, and restrains the scatterings and looseness of wan- dering thoughts ; it establishes the heart in good purposes, and leadeth on to perseverance ; it gains purity and perfection (according to the saying of God to Abraham, ** walk before me, and be perfect,") holy fear, and holy love, and indeed every thing that pertains to holy living : when we see ourselves placed in the eye of God, who sets us on work and will re- ward us plenteously, to serve him with an eye-service is very pleasing; for he also sees the heart : and the want of this con- sideration w^as declared to be the cause, why Israel sinned so grievously, *' for they say. The Lord hath forsaken the earth, and the Lord seeth not'":" ''therefore the land is full of blood, and tlie city full of perverseness "." What a child would do, in the eye of his father ; and a pu})il, before his tutor ; and a wife, in the presence of her husband ; and a servant, in ' III vita S, Antlion. '" I'sal. x. II, " Ezek. ix. 'J. PRACTICE OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD. 39 the sight of his master ; let us always do the same : for we are made a spectacle to God, to angels, and to men ; we are always in the sight and presence of the all-seeing and al- mighty God, who also is to us a father and a guardian, a hus- band and a lord. Prayers and devotions, according to the religion and purposes of the foregoing considerations. I. For grace to spend our time well. O eternal God, who, from all eternity, dost behold and love thy own glories and perfections infinite, and hast created me to do the work of God after the manner of men, and to serve thee in this generation, and according to ray capacities ; give me thy grace, that I may be a curious and prudent spender of my time, so as I may best prevent, or resist, all temp- tation, and be profitable to the Christian commonwealth, and, by discharging all my duty, may glorify thy name. Take from me all slothfulness, and give me a diligent and an active spirit, and wisdom to choose my employment ; that I may do works proportionable to my person, and to the dignity of a Christian, and may fill up all the spaces of my time with ac- tions of religion and charity ; that, when the devil assaults me, he may not find me idle; and my dearest Lord, at his sudden coming, may find me busy in lawful, necessary, and pious actions ; improving my talent entrusted to me by thee, my Lord; that I may enter into the joy of my Lord, to par- take of his eternal felicities, even for thy mercy's sake, and for my dearest Saviour's sake. Amen. Here follows the devotion of ordinary days; for the right em- ployment of those portions of time, which every day must allow for relio:ion. The Jirst Prayers in the morning, as soon as we are dressed. Humbly and reverently compose yourself, with heart lift-up to God, and your head bowed, and meekly kneeling upon your knees, say the Lord's Prayer : after which, use the fol- lowing collects, or as many of them as you shall choose '* Our Father which art in heaven," &c. 40 DEVOTIONS FOR OKDIXAHV DAYS. L An Act of Adoration, being the song that the angels sing in heaven. Holy, holy, holy. Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come ** : heaven and earth, angels and men, the air and the sea, give glory, and honour, and thanks to him, that sitteth on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever?. All the blessed spirits and souls of the righteous cast their crowns before the throne, and worship him, that liveth for ever and ever''. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and ho- nour, and power ; for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are, and were created. Great and marvellous are thy works, O Lord God Almighty: just and true are thy ways, thou king of saints ''. Thy wisdom is infinite, thy mer- cies are glorious ; and I am not worthy, O Lord, to appear in thy presence, before whom the angels hide their faces. O holy and eternal Jesus, lamb of God, who wert slain from the beginning of the world, thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every nation, and hast made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign with thee for ever. Blessing, honour, glory, and power be unto him, that sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb, for ever and ever. Amen. n. An Act of Thanksgiving, being the song of David for the morning. Sing praises unto the Lord, O ye saints of his, and give thanks to him for a remembrance of his holiness. For his wrath endureth but the twinkling of an eye : and in his plea- sure is life : heaviness may endure for a night ; but joy cometh in the morning. Thou, Lord, hast preserved me this night from the violence of the spirits of darkness, from all sad casualties and evil accidents, from the wrath, which I have every day deserved : thou hast brought my soul out of hell; thou hast kept my life from them that go down into the pit : thou hast shewed me marvellous great kindness, and hast blessed me for ever; the greatness of thy glory reacheth unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the clouds. Therefore shall every good man sing of thy praise without ceasing. O my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever. Hallelujah. « Rev. xi. 17. ^ And v. 10, 13. -i And iv. 10. ' And xv. o. DEVOTIONS FOR ORDINARY DAYS. 41 in. An Act of Oblation, or presenting ourselves to God for the day. Most holy and eternal God, lord and sovereign of all the creatures, I humbly present to thy Divine Majesty, myself, my soul and body, my thoughts and my words, my actions and intentions, my passions and my sufferings, to be disposed by thee to thy glory ; to be blessed by thy providence ; to be guided by thy counsel ; to be sanctified by thy Spirit ; and, afterwards, that my body and soul may be received into glory : for nothing can perish, which is under thy custody ; and the enemy of souls cannot devour what is thy portion, nor take it out of thy hands. This day, O Lord, and all the days of my life, I dedicate to thy honour, and the actions of my calling, to the uses of grace, and the religion of all my days to be united to the merits and intercession of my holy Saviour, Jesus; that, in him and for him, I may be pardoned and accepted. Amen. IV. An Act of Repentance or Contrition. For, as for me, I am not worthy to be called thy servant j much less am I worthy to be thy son ; for I am the vilest of sinners and the worst of men ; a lover of the things of the world, and a despiser of the things of God ; proud and en- vious, lustful and intemperate, greedy of sin, and impatient of reproof; desirous to seem holy, and negligent of being so ; transported with interest ; fooled with presumption and false principles ; disturbed with anger, with a peevish and unmor- tified spirit, and disordered by a whole body of sin and death. Lord, pardon all my sins for my sweetest Saviour's sake : thou, who didst die for me, holy Jesus, save me and deliver me : reserve not my sins to be punished in the day of wrath and eternal vengeance; but wash away my sins, and blot them out of thy remembrance, and purify my soul with the waters of repentance, and the blood of the cross ; that, for what is past, thy wrath may not come out against me ; and, for the time to come, I may never provoke thee to anger or to jealousy. O just and dear God, be pitiful and gracious to thy servant. Amen. 42 DEVOTIONS FOK ORDINARY DAYS. The Praifer, or Petition. Bless me, gracious God, in my calling to such purposes as thou shalt choose for me, or employ me in : relieve me in all my sadnesses ; make my bed in my sickness ; give me patience in my sorrows, confidence in thee, and grace to call upon thee in all temptations. O be thou my guide in all my actions, my protector in all dangers : give me a healthful body, and a clear understanding ; a sanctified and just, a charitable and humble, a religious and a contented spirit : let not my life be miserable and w^retched ; nor my name stained with sin and shame ; nor my condition lifted up to a tempting and dan- gerous fortune ; but let my condition be blessed, my conver- sation useful to my neighbours, and pleasing to thee ; that, when my body shall lie down in its bed of darkness, my soul may pass into the regions of light, and live with thee for ever, through Jesus Christ. Amen. VI. All Act of Intercession or Prayer for others, to he added to this or any other office, as our devotion, or duty, or their needs, shall determine us. O God of infinite mercy, who hast compassion on all men, and relievest the necessities of all that call to thee for help, hear the prayers of thy servant, who is unworthy to ask any petition for himself, yet, in humility and duty, is bound to pray for others. For the Church. O let thy mercy descend upon the whole church ; preserve her in truth and peace, in unity and safety, in all storms, and against all temptations and enemies ; that she, offering to thy glory the never-ceasing sacrifice of prayer and thanksgiving, may advance the honour of her Lord, and be filled with his Spirit, and partake of his glory. Amen. For the King. In mercy, remember the king ; preserve his person in health and honour; his crown, in wealth and dignity; his kingdoms, in peace and plenty ; the churches under his protection, in DEVOTIONS FOR ORDINARY DAYS. 43 piety and knowledge, and a strict and holy religion : keep him perpetually in thy fear and favour, and crown him with glory and immortality. Amen. For the Clergi/. Remember them that minister about holy things; let them be clothed with righteousness, and sing with joyful ness. Amen. For Wife or Husband. Bless thy servant [my wife, or husband] with health of body and of spirit. O let the hand of thy blessing be upon his [or Ae/'] head, night and day, and support hif/i in all ne- cessities, strengthen him in all temptations, comfort him in all his sorrows, and let him be thy servant in all changes; and make us both to dwell with thee for ever in thy favour, in the light of thy countenance, and in thy glory. Amen. For our Childreu. Bless my children with healthful bodies, with good un- derstandings, with the graces and gifts of thy Spirit, with sweet dispositions and holy habits ; and sanctify them throughout in their bodies, and souls, and spirits, and keep them unblamable to the coming of the Lord Jesus. Amen. For Friends and Benefactors. Be pleased, O Lord, to remember my friends, all that liave prayed for me, and all that have done me good. [Here name such, lohom you would speciaUi/ recommend.'] Do thou good to them, and return all their kindness double into their own bosom, rewarding them with blessings, and sanctifying them with thy graces, and bringing them to glory. For our Family. Let all my family and kindred, my neighbours and ac- quaintance l^/iere name tvhat other relations you please], receive the benefits of my prayers, and the blessings of God ; the comforts and supports of thy providence, and the sanctification of thy Spirit. 44 DEVOTIONS FOR ORDTXARY DAYS. For all in misery. Relieve and comfort all the persecuted and afflicted ; speak peace to troubled consciences : strengthen the weak : confirm the strong : instruct the ignorant : deliver the oppressed from him that spoileth him, and relieve the needy that hath no helper : and bring us all, by the waters of comfort, and in the ways of righteousness, to the kingdom of rest and glory, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. To God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ; to the eternal Son, that was incarnate and born of a virgin ; to the Spirit of the Father and the Son, be all honour and glory, worship, and thanksgiving, now and for ever. Amen. Another Form of Prayer, for the morning. In the 7iame of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Our Father, S^c. I. Most glorious and eternal God, father of mercy, and God of all comfort, I worship and adore thee with the lowest humility of my soul and body, and give thee all thanks and praise for thy infinite and essential glories and perfections, and for the continual demonstration of thy mercies upon me, upon all mine, and upon thy holy catholic church. IL I acknowledge, dear God, that I have deserved the great- est of thy wrath and indignation ; and that, if thou hadst dealt with me according to my deserving, I had now, at this instant, been desperately bewailing my miseries, in the sorrows and horrors of a sad eternity. But, thy mercy triumphing over thy justice and my sins, thou hast still continued to me life and time of repentance ; thou hast opened to me the gates of grace and mercy, and perpetually callest upon me to enter in, and to walk in the paths of a holy life, that I might glorify thee, and be glorified of thee eternally. in. Behold, O God, for this thy great and unspeakable good- ness, for the preservation of me this night, and for all other thy graces and blessings, I offer up my soul and body, all DEVOTJOXS FOR ORDINARY DAYS. 45 that I am, and all that I have, as a sacrifice to thee and thy service ; humbly begging of thee to pardon all my sins, to de- fend me from all evil, to lead me into all good ; and let my portion be amongst thy redeemed ones, in the gathering to- gether of the saints, in the kingdom of grace and glory. IV. Guide me, O Lord, in all the changes and varieties of the world ; that in all things that shall happen, I may have an evenness and tranquillity of spirit ; that my soul may be wholly resigned to thy divinest will and pleasure, never mur- muring at thy gentle chastisements and fatherly correction ; never waxing proud and insolent, though I feel a torrent of comforts and prosperous successes. V. Fix my thoughts, my hopes, and my desires, upon heaven and heavenly things ; teach me to despise the world, to repent me deeply for my sins ; give me holy purposes of amendment, and ghostly strength and assistances to perform faithfully whatsoever I shall intend piously. Enrich my understanding with an eternal treasure of Divine truths, that I may know thy will ; and thou, who workest in us to will and to do of thy good pleasure, teach me to obey all thy commandments, to believe all thy revelations, and make me partaker of all thy gracious promises. VI. Teach me to watch over all my ways, that I may never be surprised by sudden temptations or a careless spirit, nor ever return to folly and vanity. Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth, and keep the door of my lips, that I offend not in my tongue, neither against piety nor charity. Teach me to think of nothing but thee, and what is in order to thy glory and service : to speak nothing but of thee, and thy glories ; and to do nothing, but what becomes thy servant, whom thy infinite mercy, by the graces of thy Holy Spirit, hath sealed up to the day of redemption. VII. Let all my passions and affections be so mortified and brought under the dominion of grace, that I may never, by deliberation and purpose, nor yet by levity, rashness, or in- 46 DEVOTIONS FOR ORDINARY DAYS. consideration, offend thy Divine majesty. Make me such as thou vvouldest have me to be : strengthen my faith, confirm my hope, and give me a daily increase of charity, that, this day and ever, I may serve thee according to all my opportu nities and capacities, grov^^ing from grace to grace ; till at last, by thy mercies I shall receive the consummation and perfec- tion of grace, even the glories of thy kingdom, in the full frui- tion of the face and excellences of God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost ; to whom be glory and praise, honour and adoration, given by all angels, and all men, and all crea- tures, now, and to all eternity. Amen. ^ To this may be added the prayer of intercession for others, whom we are bound to remember, which is at the end of the foregoing prayer ; or else you may take such special prayers, which follow at the end of the fourth chapter [for parents, for children, &c.] After which, conclude with this ejaculation. Now, in all tribulation and anguish of spirit, in all dangers of soul and body, in prosperity and adversity, in the hour of death and in the day of judgment, holy and most blessed Saviour Jesus, have mercy upon me, save me, and deliver me and all faithful people. Amen. % Between this and noon, usually, are said the public prayers appointed by authority ; to which all the clergy are obliged, and other devout persons, that have leisure, to accompany them. ^ Afternoon, or at any time of the day, when a devout person retires into his closet for private prayer, or spiritual ex- ercises, he may say the following devotions. An exercise to be used at any time of the daij. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, ike. Our Father, &.c. The Ili/mn, collected out of the Psalms, recount ing i he excellences and greatness of God. O be joyful in God, all ye lands; sing praises unto the honour of his name, make his name to be glorious. O come hither, and behold the works of God, how wonderful he is in DEVOTIONS FOR ORDINARY DAYS. 47 his doings towards the children of men. He ruleth with his power for ever \ He is the Father of the fatherless, and defendeth the cause of the widow, even God in his holy habitation. He is the God, that maketh men to be of one mind in a house, and bringeth the prisoners out of captivity ; but letteth the run- agates continue in scarceness *. It is the Lord, that commandeth the waters ; it is the glorious God, that maketh the thunder. It is the Lord, that ruleth the sea : the voice of the Lord is mighty in operation ; the voice of the Lord is a glorious voice". Let all the earth fear the Lord : stand in awe of him, all ye that dwell in the world ''. Thou shalt shew us wonderful things in thy righteousness, O God of our salvation ; thou, that art the hope of all the ends of the earth, and of them that remain in the broad sea ^. Glory be to the Father, &c. Oi; this. O Lord, thou art my God, I will exalt thee : I will praise thy name, for thou hast done wonderful things : thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth ^. Thou, in thy strength, settest fast the mountains, and art girded about with power. Thou stillest the raging of the sea, and the noise of his waves, and the madness of his people ^. They also, that remain in the uttermost parts of the earth, shall be afraid at thy tokens; thou, that makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to praise thee. O Lord God of Hosts, who is like unto thee ? thy truth, most mighty Lord, is on every side ^. Among the gods there is none like unto thee ; O Lord, there is none, that can do, as thou doest. For thou art great, and doest wondrous things ; thou art God alone*. God is very greatly to be feared in the council of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are round about him^. Righteousness and equity is in the habitation of thy seat ; » Psal. Ixvi. 1, 4, 6. » Psal. Ixviii. 5, 6. " Psal. xxix. 3, 4. ^ Psal. xxxiii. 8. ^ Psal. Ixv. o. ^ Isa. xxv. 1. > Psal. Ixv. 0—8. ' Psal. Ixxxix. 9. » Psal. Ixxxvi. 8, D. ^ Psal. Ixxxix. 8, ir». 48 DEVOTIONS FOR ORDINARY DA VS. mercy and truth shall go before thy face. Glory and wor- ship are before him : power and honour are in his sanctuary ''. Thou, Lord, art the thing that I long for; thou art my hope, even from my youth. Through thee have I been holden up, ever since I was born ; thou art he, that took me out of my mother's womb ; my praise shall be aUvays of thee ^. Glory be to the Father, Sec. 5[ After this may be read some portion of Holy Scripture, out of the New Testament, or out of the Sapiential books of the Old, viz. Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, &c. because these are of great use to piety, and to civil conversation. Upon which when you have awhile meditated, humbly com- posing yourself upon your knees, say as followeth. Ejaculations. My help standeth in the name of the Lord, who hath made heaven and earth ^. Shew the light of thy countenance upon thy servant ; and I shall be safe ^ Do well, O Lord, to them, that be true of heart, and evermore mightily defend them^. Direct me in thy truth, and teach me ; for thou art my Saviour, and my great master''. Keep me from sin and death eternal, and from my ene- mies visible and invisible. Give me grace to live a holy life, and thy favour, that I may die a godly and happy death. Lord, hear the prayer of thy servant, and give me thy Holy Spirit. The Prayer, O eternal God, merciful and gracious, vouchsafe thy favour and thy blessing to thy servant : let the love of thy mercies, and the dread and fear of thy majesty, make me careful and inquisitive to search thy will, and diligent to perform it, and to persevere in the practices of a holy life, even till the last of my days. « Psal. xcvi. .3. «> Psal. Ixxi. 5, 0. ' Psal. cxxiv. 8. ' Psal. Ixxx. 0. ' Psal. cxxv. 4. ** Psal. xx\ . 5. DEVOTIONS FOR ORHIXARY DAYS. 49 11. Keep me, O Lord, for I am thine by creation ; guide me, for I am thine by purchase ; thou hast redeemed me by the blood of thy Son ; and loved me with the love of a father, for I am thy child by adoption and grace : let thy mercy pardon my sins, thy providence secure me from the punishments and evils I have deserved, and thy care watch over me, that I may never any more offend thee : make me, in malice, to be a child ; but in understanding, piety, and the fear of God, let me be a perfect man in Christ, innocent and prudent, readily furnished and instructed to every good work. III. Keep me, O Lord, from the destroying angel, and from the wrath of God : let thy anger never rise against me, but thy rod gently correct my follies, and guide me in thy ways, and thy staff support me in all sufferings and changes. Pre- serve me from fracture of bones, from noisome, infectious, and sharp sicknesses ; from great violences of fortune and sudden surprises : keep all my senses entire till the day of my death, and let my death be neither sudden, untimely, nor unprovided : let it be after the common manner of men, having in it nothing extraordinary, but an extraordinary piety, and the manifestation of thy great and miraculous mercy. IV. Let no riches make me ever forget myself, no poverty ever make me to forget thee : let no hope or fear, no pleasure or pain, no accident without, no weakness within, hinder or discompose my duty, or turn me from the ways of thy com- mandments. O let thy Spirit dwell with me for ever, and make my soul just and charitable, full of honesty, full of re- ligion, resolute and constant in holy purposes, but inflexible to evil. Make me humble and obedient, peaceable and pious : let me never envy any man's goods, nor deserve to be despised myself: and if I be, teach me to bear it with meekness and charity. Give me a tender conscience; a conversation discreet and affable, modest and patient, liberal and obliging ; a body 50 DEVOTIONS FOR ORDINARY DAYS. chaste and healthful, competency of living according to my condition, contentedness in all estates, a resigned will and mortified affections : that I may be, as thou wouldest have me, and my portion may be in the lot of the righteous, in the brightness of thy countenance, and the glories of eternity. Amen. Holy is our God. Holy is the Almighty. Holy is the Immortal. Holy, holy, holy Lord God of Sabaoth, have mercy upon me. A form of Prayer for the Evening, to he said bi/ such, who have not time or opportunity to say the public prayers ap- pointed for this office. I. Evening Prayer. O eternal God, great Father of men and angels, who hast estabhshed the heavens and the earth in a wonderful order, making day and night to succeed each other; I make my humble address to thy Divine Majesty, begging of thee mercy and protection this night and ever. O Lord, pardon all my sins, my light and rash w^ords, the vanity and impiety of my thoughts, my unjust and uncharitable actions, and whatso- ever I have transgressed against thee this day, or at any time before. Behold, O God, my soul is troubled in the remembrance of my sins, in the frailty and sinfulness of my flesh exposed to every temptation, and of itself not able to resist any. Lord God of mercy, I earnestly beg of thee to give me a great portion of thy orace, such as may be suffi- cient and effectual for the mortification of all my sins and vanities and disorders : that as I have formerly served my lust and unworthy desires, so now I may give myself up wholly to thy service and the studies of a holy life. n. Blessed Lord, teach me frequently aud sadly to remem- ber my sins ; and be thou pleased to remember them no more : let me never forget thy mercies, and do thou still re- member to do me good. Teach me to walk always as in thy presence : ennoble my soul witli great degrees of love to thee, and consign my spirit with great fear, religion, and ve- DEVOTIONS FOR ORDIXARY DAYS. 51 neration of thy holy name and laws ; that it may become the great employment of my whole life to serve thee, to advance thy glory, to root out all the accursed habits of sin ; that in holiness of life, in humility, in charity, in chastity and all the ornaments of grace, I may, by patience, wait for the coming of our Lord Jesus. Amen. III. Teach me, O Lord, to number my days, that I may apply my heart unto wisdom ; ever to remember my last end, that I may not dare to sin against thee. Let thy holy angels be ever present with me to keep me in all my ways from the malice and violence of the spirits of darkness, from evil com- pany, and the occasions and opportunities of evil, from perishing in popular judgments, from all the ways of sinful shame, from the hands of all mine enemies, from a sinful life, and from despair in the day of my death. Then, O brightest Jesu, shine gloriously upon me ; let thy mercies and the light of thy countenance sustain me in all my agonies, weaknesses, and temptations. Give me opportunity of a prudent and spiritual guide ; and of receiving the holy sacrament, and let thy loving Spirit so guide me in the ways of peace and safety, that with the testimony of a good con- science and the sense of thy mercies and refreshment, I may depart this life in the unity of the church, in the love of God, and a certain hope of salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord and most blessed Saviour. Amen. Our Father, &:c. Another Form of Evening Prayer lohich may also be used at bed-time. Our Father, &c. I will lift up my eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help \ My help cometh of the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved : he that keepeth thee, will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel, shall neither slumber nor sleep. ■ Psal. cxxi. 1, e,*i oX'tyou tcvrhv <7ru\v\iT'Ai- Arrian., c. 2. 1. i. '^ QiXti; okufiTia ttJcnaoLt; Su ff ivTccKTilv, a.vayKor^i>(pt7v, a.Tiy^iO'&a.t