c 1 Di fcottrfeoftrite happine .. executed fromHeaven ; , when the Church wearesher mour- ning weed,linceritydroops, and the godlyhangdown th it heads ; in fuch black and difmall dayes, they are impatient ofalltemporall comfort, they willingly put on fidnefle, to entertain penitency,hum.iliation and orrow : But theyare cloathedwith joy and lightfoinneíf_, whenmercy and falva- tion are wifely and feafonably proclaimed out of the Booke oflifé; when Religion fpreads and profpers,ánd divinetruth hath free paífage ; when whole States have efcaped the bloo- dyPapifts Gun-powder, and the royal' brefts ofKings their empoyfoned knives,and in Each like joyful' andhappy times. Thus the thoughts and innioft aft-edions, of Gods child have theirchanges,-their feverall feafons and facce;fions, as it plea- feth the Lord to ofEr, or execute mercy or judgement out ofhisWord,or in the world abroad: But the thoughts ofthe formali Hypocrite, though they fuffir indeed many alterati- ons, and diftra Lions about earthly objets ; they ebbe and flowwithdifcontent or comfort, ashis outward ftate is fa- vouredor frownedupon by theworld : yet fpirituall occur- rents,obfervable with devotion and reverence for the good ofthe foule, have no great power to worke upon them. Sa- cred times, or dayesof affliction, are not wont to make any fuch impreilion, or tobreed extraordinary ffirrings, and mo- tions in them. Let judgements blaft,or mercies bleffe a king- douie;let Gods Word find fmoothand even way, or rubs and oppolition ; let prophaneneffe be countenanced, or íincerity cherished, he takes nothought : fo he may fleep: in a whole skin,and keepentire his worldly comforts, his thoughts con- tinue heavy,dull and formal'. He may conforme and contort with the times in his outwardgeftures, wordsand afions ; but ordinarily his thoughts admitno change, fave only,fo far as his private temporali felicity is endangered by publike judgements,or enlargedby ihowres ofinercies and bleflings. fromHeaven,I cannot enlarge this point at this tine : only I will give oneinítance in their differenceofthoughts upon the Sabbath day. The Sabbath day is, as it were, thefaire-day ofthe foule, L 2 where -`< 0
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