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LOrd enter then into the Tower set open to thee, and dismantled wholy; which thou long since hast purchased with the price of thy bloud, and in this thy triumphal entry, as it were, so shoot forth the diuine rayes of thy countenance, that the clouds being vanished quite and slunck away, the strange por∣tents of vices, and restles Enemyes,
which lurke therein, may be con∣strayned to fly away. Search Lord with thee shinīg lamp of thy know∣ledge al the hidden corners of this thy Sanctuary. Ay-me! what hor∣rible beasts haue we here? What harpyes, what hydreas, or other monsters, more foule and virulent then these, harbour in this Porch of Hel? Ambition auarice, those base and detestable beasts, here set vp their rests here the ominous screech∣oules, here the black and fatal pro∣geny of rauens, haue built their nest. Oh! my Dearly beloued, goe on; Search with thy lanternea 1.1 the clo∣sest corners of the hart, and disco∣uering the swarine of lewd concu∣piscences, which here euen pester the miserable hart, crush & destroy them quite. I haue groan'd to thee long, but hitherto my sighs were intercepted, and the broken sound
of my strayn'd voyce, the stronger out-cryes of the Enemyes, haue so choaked and stifled, as we could not be heard. Aboue al things (for hence must you begin) survey, and illumine, my God, the abstruse and winding corners of my mind; and bringing in the light of the know∣ledge banish thence foule ignorāce of things euen necessary for the conseruation of thy Sanctuary. Alas what a faint and languishing light of faith haue we here? vnles it bor∣row force of thy light, it cannot dis∣sipate the fogs, nigh palpable, which here haue place: whereas if thou shal but shead the lightest beame of thy presence thereinto, streight shal infidelity, apostasy, ignorance of thy mysteries, or any other errour blinding the mind, euen banish quite.
Goe forward then, bring thou
thy clearest lamp, into the inmost cabins of my wil. Alas! how foule it is? How like it is Augias sta∣ble, or a sty for Swine? I blush the∣reat. How crooked and vntoward is my wil from thine, my God, who are euen rectitude, sanctity and goodnes it-self? Correct, direct this crookednes of mine; frame my vowes and effects to the most iust square and norme of thy diuine wil. But now bring that both of thine into the regions of the memory. Ay∣me! what corners and windings haue we here againe, of braw∣les, of enmityes, which frequent thoughts of iniuries feede, foster, & cherish, whereas indeed they should not once be thought vpon. But as soone as thou shalt shine therein I know wel those foule notes of in∣gratitude, vnmindfulnes of benefits; memory of ini••ries, deeply rooted,
shal cleane be expunged thence: Goe further now if you please, into those blind holes, search there with in those blacke and vgly dens; I say those secret allyes of the hart and bowels. Oh how I tremble-at it, to see how many snakes there are! What spiders, what scorpions, and other such like plagues, and alas! what a huge swarme there is of them? How many busy buzzing gnats; peeuish wasps, il-fauoured butterflyes! What a vast throng of wormes there is, and what a stench from thence exhales to heauen∣wards!
O thou most burning Sunne, who with da••ting of thy rayes hereto∣fore, didst sodainly scortch and wither the greene and flourishing Iuy,b 1.2 soake and dry vp the no∣xious humour of concupiscence, which enuirons the hart, til thou
hast quite exhausted al. The cloudy Pillarc 1.3 in times past, detecting a farre off, the snares of the Enemy, as a faithful Guide of the way, went before and conducted the peo∣ple; So let thy heauenly rayes of thy countenance strike then with a dread and horrour, who haue the face, or rather are so impudent, as to dare once hostily to inuade the hart by thee so rescued, saued, and purchased for thy self. Be there no night hereafter in this place, but let a cloudles, seren, and perpetual day here raigne: and as in the seats of the blessed Spirits, the Sunne, nor Phebe's face is to be seen, but thou Sunne of iustice plac'd in the midst of a most bright and quiet King∣dome; spreadst round about and sendst forth a glorious light:d 1.4 so, (I beseech thee) shine, burne, and flame forth in this little orbe of
Soph. 1.
Ion. 4.
Num. 1.
Apoc. 21.