rigid Vertue be the Directors and Meafures of thy Pleafures.

MEDITATION.

Unhappy is it for thee, O my Soul, that thou wert born in Egypt, and art not senfible of the pleafures of true Canaan!. therefore thou turneft thy Eyes fo often on the World, and at the fame time that thou. Should't have thy Heart wholly in Heaven at the hour of Prayers, thou thinkeft on the Delicaies of fpiritual Egypt, that thou feddeft on, when thou waft yet a flave of Hell. Thou haft not yet tafted the pleasures of devout and pious Souls, that fay, I am fatisfied as it were with Marrow and Fatnefs I have tafted of the Goodness of the Lord; his Love is pleasanter than Wine,and sweeter than the Honey-comb; let him kifs me with the kiffes of his Mouth: Oh would to God I had been honoured with thofe fecret Commerces, with which my Saviour honours fome great priviledg'd Souls, that fill them with Joy amidst their Pains, and makes them fing in Prifons and in Fetters. Learn then,

my

my Soul, learn then to feek thy pleasures and delights in God: He is the Spring of Joys, and all that comes not from him, ends in grief and fadness, in tears, defpairs, and gnafhings of Teeth. What doft thou wish for, ob my Heart? What doft thou hunger and thirst after? Doft thou love Beauty? God will give it thee, and thou shalt find it in him; by converfing with him, thou fhalt become glorious and full of light. Doft thou love Life and Health? He is the Spring of Life, and in his Light fhall we see Light; and he will give thee Life that fhall be always healthy, always vigorous, and that is Life Eternal. Doft thou love Pleafures? He will make thee drink Rivers of Pleafures, and make thee glad with Wine prepar'd by the Divine Wisdom, that faith, I have mixed my Wines, I have flain my Fatlings. He will caufe thee to fee Objects that will ravifh thee; and make thee bear fuch fweet and charming Mufick as the Confort of the Saints and Angels needs must make, when they are chanting out the Praifes of the Eternal God. And canft thou then be fenfible of the vain Pleafures of this World,

H2

after

after thou haft receiv'd, or doft at least in bopes poffefs, fuch charming Joys and Plea fures?

PRAYE R.

O God, my God, Divine Saviour, come thou and fill my Soul with those fweet Joys thou doft communicate unto thy faithful Servants. Give me the Bread that came from Heaven, the true Manna, and the food of Angels; make me once tafte thofe pleasures, that extinguish quite all fenfe of others of this World, and take from me the relish of its diverfions. Let thy Sabbaths be my delight, and let thy Word be sweeter than the Honey and the Honey-comb. Let Meditation on the good things thou prepareft in Heaven for those that love thee, enchant me in fuch manner, that I may quite defpife the world, and give my felf entirely to thy fervice. Cause thou the Heavens to bow and come down to the earth in favour of me; enlarge my Heart, and make a little Paradife therein, and spread abroad such an abundance of the light of thy Grace

that,

that it may come near the light of thy Glory. Caufe thou thy ftreams to flow across this Paradife; plant there the Tree of Life, and pour down fuch an affluence of good Things, that I may look upon, with the greateft contempt imaginable, the joys and riches of this earth; and being feated on the Throne where thou haft plac'd my foul, fhe foul, fhe may confider all the Palaces on earth, as fo many wretched huts and despicable cabins.

CHA P. IV.

Of the Cares and Perplexities of this World, a fourth Source of Indevotion.

A

Nother Branch of the Love of

the World, and a new Obstacle to Devotion, is, the Cares and Perplexities of the World: Black and difmal Spirits, that frequently withdraw us from the Company of our Saviour Chrift, to lead us amongst the Tombs, and walk us in the Ruins of our Fortune and our Greatness. There are in the World more miferable

miserable than happy People, so that this Temptation is at least as common as the foregoing one. We love this World exceedingly, and therefore when we lofe it, heartily bewail our Lofs. A Man whom contrary Winds have driven from his defired Haven, can't chufe but turn his Eyes that Way, and loses not the fight of it without an inconceivable deal of Trouble. If he would lay himfelf to reft, the Image of his Country, Wife and Children, and his Friends, return inceffantly upon his Mind, and continue on his Grief and Pain. So an afflicted Soul that would retire into it self, and unite with God, fees in the midst of his Devotions the Images of his Misfortunes, that awake his Griefs, and draw him down from Heaven, to plunge him in the bottomlefs Abyss. These are the Wafps and Gnats, whofe ftings are fharp and piercing. While we are fixt to any good Work, and give our whole Attention to it, then come these Infects, and pierce fo to the quick, that a Man cannot forbear to put out his Hand. These are the Rods with which the Egyp