Experience, historie, and divinitie Divided into five books. Written by Richard Carpenter, vicar of Poling, a small and obscure village by the sea-side, neere to Arundel in Sussex. Who being, first a scholar of Eaton Colledge, and afterwards, a student in Cambridge, forsooke the Vniversity, and immediatly travelled, in his raw, green, and ignorant yeares, beyond the seas; ... and is now at last, by the speciall favour of God, reconciled to the faire Church of Christ in England? Printed by order from the House of Commons.

An Act of the feare of God.

O Lord, I feare thee, because as thou hast made me of nothing; so, thou canst reduce me to nothing, in one turne of an instant. Which perhaps, would be a greater losse of my selfe, then to be lost in Hell. Because then I should not be thy creature; I should have no being, no dependance of thee; but should be lost branches, tree, roote and all. It had beene better for Judas that he had never beene borne; because then hee should never have tasted of life, or being. But when he was▪ Judas; which was better for him,

not to be, or to be miserable; thou onely knowest. I feare thee, because as thou art infinitely mercifull; so, thy justice is infi∣nite. And because, sinne being but a tempo∣rall thing, quickly committed, and past over; and sometimes as soone almost for∣got, as committed, a meere flash; is answe∣red notwithstanding, with eternall punish∣ment; as fighting against an eternall God. And yet, I feare thee not as a slave, but as a sonne. For I have more love towards thee, then feare of thee, though I much feare thee. And also my hope weighs down my feare. And though all this be true, teach me to worke out my salvation with feare and trembling; with a great feare, which may cause trembling.