Secondly,tbn' he Me free frem worldly thoughts. Thirdly,thu he be conRant andth:u,Firft, intimc1nd matter. 'The Art ofVivineMeditation. A CHAP. VI. NEithcrmaythcfoulcthathopcthtoprolicby medication, fuffcr it fdfc for the time incanglcd with the world;_which is all one, as to come to Gods Jla. mingbufh on the _h•ll ofv1fions, With our!hooes onour feet. Thou feeft the bird whofe feathers arc hmed,unable to take her former Jl•ght: fa arc we,when our cho~ghts arc clingcd together by the wor!d,to foaro up toour heoven in Meditation. The paire ofbrothersmuft leave their nets ifthey wil follow Chrift;Eiifo• his oxen, ifhe will attend • Prophet. It muft be a free and a light mind that can afcend this Mount ofConrcmpbtion, overcomming this heighr, this fteepnelfe. Car.s arc an heavy load, and uneafic: thefe muft be laid downe at the bottome ofthis hill, ifwe B ever look to attaine the top. Thou art loade'd with houfhould cares , perhaps publike; I bid thee not caft them away: even thefe hav~their feafon, which thou canft not omit without impiety: I bid thee lay them down at thy Clofet dare, when thou attempreft this worke. Let them in with thee, thou !halt find them troublefome companions, ever diftralling thee from thy beft errand. Thou wouldeft think of heaven, thy Borne comes in thy way, or perhaps thy counc-Book, or thy Coffers,or ic may be,thy mind is beforehand travelling upon the morrowes journey.So while thou thinkcft ofmany things, thou thinkcft of nothing; while thou wouldcft goe many wayes,rhou ftandeft ftill. And os in a crowd, while many prelfc forward at once thorow one doore, none proceodeth; fo when variety ofthoughts tumoltuou!lythrong in upon the mind, each proverba barre to the other, and all an hindc- c ranee to him that entertaines them. CHAp, VII. ANd as our Client ofmeditation muft both be pure and frecin undertaking this task, fo al!o conftant in continuing it1Conftanr both in time and in matter, both in a fetcourfe and hour< rofcrvcd for thiswork, and in an unwea. ried prof.cution ofit once begun. Thofe that meditate by fnatches and uncertaiDe fitS, when onelyall other employments forfake them, or when gond motions are thruft upon them by necdlicy, letthemneverhope to reach to any perfeaion. For thcfe feeble beginnings ofluke-warme grace,which are wroughtin them by one fit D of feriousMedication, are foone extinguilhcdby intermiflion , and by mif.wonting peri01: This dayes mcale(thoughlarge and libcrall)!lrengthensthee not for to morrow: the body langui!heth, ifthere be not a daily fnpply of repaft. Thus feed thy foule by meditation. Set thine hourcs and kecpe them , and yecld not to an eafic difirallioo.There is no bardnclfe in this prattice,but in the beginning; ufe lhall give it not cafe ondy, but delight. Thy companion eotertaineth thee this while in lo· ving difcourfes,or fome inexpellcd bufineffe offers to interrupt thee. Never any good work !hall want fame hinderance: Either break thorow the Jets, except it be with incivility orlotre; orifthey be importunate,pay thyfclfthe time that w•s unfeafonably borrowed: andrecompence thine omitted hourcs with the double labors of another day : For thou !halt find, that deferring breeds (betide the loff'e) an in- E difpofition to g< od; So that what was before plcafant to thee beingo!t)itted, to morrow growcs harnlJ the nextday unnccelfary 1 afterward odious. To day thou canft,but wilt nor; to morrow thou couldefr,but liftcftnot; the next day thou neither wilt nor canft bend thy mind on thefe thoughts. So I have feene friends that upon negleGl of duty grow overly: upon overlinelfe firaoge;upon ftrangeneffe to nt· t<rdcfiance. Thofe, whofe very trade is Divinity, (me thinks) !hould omit noday without his line ofmeditation: thofe which arefecular men, not many; remcmbring char they have • common callingofCbriftianity to attend, as well as a fpeciall vocation in the world:and that other being morenoble andimportant, may juftly challengeboth often and diligent fervice. CH AP.
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