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MEDIT. VII.
Vpon the singing of a blind Finch by night.
A Dear friend, who was a great observer of the works of God in nature, told me, That being entertain'd with a sight of many rarities at a friends house in London; among other things, his friend shewed him a Finch, whose eyes being put out, would frequently sing, even at midnight. This Bird in my opinion, is the lively Emblem of such careless and unconcerned persons, as the Prophet describes, Amos 6. 4, 5, 6. who chant to the viol, when a dismal night of trouble and affliction hath overshadowed the Church. You would have thought it strange to have heard this Bird sing in the night, when all others are in a deep silence; except the Owl, an unclean Bird, and the Nightingal which before we made the Emblem of the Hypocrite. And as strange it is, that any except the profane and hypocritical, should so unseasonably express their mirth and jollity; that any of Sions chil∣dren Should live in pl••••sure, whilest she her ••elf lyes in tears. The people of God in Psal. 137. tell us, in what postures of sorrow they sate; even like birds, with their heads under their wings, during the night of their Captivity. How shall we sing the Lords song in a strange land? 'Tis like enough, such as can sing and chaunt in the night of the Churches trouble, have well feathered their nests in the dayes of her prosperity; however let them know, that God will turn their unseasonable mirth into a sadder note; and those that now sit sad and silent, shall shortly sing for joy of heart, when the winter is past, the rain over and gone, the flowers appear again upon the earth, and the time of the singing of Birds is come.