c THE FIRST CENTVRIE OF MEDITATIONS AND VOVVES, DivineaRd Moral!. a N Meditation, thofc, which bcJin h.avenly thougbts,and prokcutc them not , arc like thoCe which kindle a fire under grewwood, and leave ir, fo foonas it but begins to flame; kefingche hopeofa good beginning, forwantoffeconding it wichafutable proceeding: when I fee my fdf to meditate, Iwillnotgiveover,tiiiicome toanitfue. lt bath been faid by feme, that the beginning is as much as themidddl; yea, more then all: but I fay, the ending is more then the beginning. • D Th<re is norhing(but Man)rhat refpcCleth greatne!fc: Nor God; not death; nor judoemenr.NotGod:he is no accepter of perIons. Nor nature: we fee the fonnes of Pri~ces born as naked as the poordl:and the poor child as fair,wdl.favoured,llrong, witty,as the heir ofNoble•. Not difeafe, death, judgemen"' they ficken alike , die alike,fare alike afrer dearh. There is nothing (bdides natura !I men) of whom good. ndfe is nor refpcCted. I will honour greameffc in others: bur for my fdf,I will elleem a dramofgoodneffe,worth a whole worldofgrearnc!fe. 3 As there is a foolifh wifdome,forhere is a wife ignorance;in not prying into Gods Arkc; not enquiring into things nor revealed. I would fain kno\v all rhat1'.11<ed, and all that I may: I leave Gods fccrets to himfelf.lt is happy for me, char God 'makes E me ofhis Court,thoughnot of his Councell. 4 As thtre is no V3cuity in nature,no more is there fpiricually. Every ve!fell is full; if not?fliquor,yrcofair_c:fois the hea_rr of man;rh.o~gh(by n~cure)it is empty of grace, yet n 1S loll ofhypowfio,and mtquuy.Now,as tr IS filled wuh grace,fo it is empty of his evillqualities;as in ave!fdl, fo much water as goes in, fo much air goes out: but mans heart is anarrow-mouthed ve!fcll,and receives grace bur by drops; and therefore takes along time to empty and fill.Now,asthcre be differences in degrees,&one heart is netter to fulne!fe then another:fo the bell ve!fdl is nor quite full,while it is in the body; becaufe there are llill remainders ofcorruption. I will neither be content withthat meafure ofgrace I baye,nor impatient ofGods delay, hut every day I will endevout to have ooedropadded to the rell:fo my !all day !hall fill up my velfell to che brim. B 5 Satan
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=