A holy oyl; and, a sweet perfume taken out of the sanctuary of the most sacred scriptures : in allusion to those mentioned, Exod. chap. 30 vers. 22. to 37. : Compounded of many precious ingredients; and poured forth into eight vessels, or treatises, for the use, and benefit of the church of Christ, until his second coming. / By J.H. ; The contents of the eight treatises, which you may read in the two following pages.

Soliloquium, or Discourse.

HE that dwelleth in the secret of the most High, shall abide under the shaddow of the Almighty. Gracious God, I humbly and thankfully acknowledge, that thou hast per∣formed to me this thy promise, although I come far short of fulfilling the condition: For thou art no hard Master, (as the sloathful Servant slandered thee) but the most liberal and boun∣tiful Lord; whose grace is free, who gives without upbraiding, and who savest us temporally, spiritually, and eternally, for thy own Name sake; Even when there is but a step betwixt Us and Death.

This truth was both verified and manifested, when I and my Servant, in my Lodgings in Somerset-House, were suddainly a∣wakened out of our sweet, and quiet Nights sleep, about break of Day, on a Summers Morning, by a great noise upon my Stairs head, seconded by the most forcible breaking open of my Dining Room Door, though defended by two great Bolts, and a strong Spring-Lock: which first assault gave us only time to step out of our Beds, in our Shirts, to my Chamber-Door, with our naked Swords, and wound-up, and ready-pri••'d Pistols, charged with Bullets; against which Door, without any Parly, another assault was made, by a kind of a Roman battering Ram, which forced out, and cast into the Flore, three strong Staples, the security of my Lock and Bolts; The Door wide open, a Person unknown to me, with others following him with drawn Swords, would have entred the Chamber, not once answering my loud demand, of what they came for: Whereupon they pressing upon me even to the point of my Sword, I verily believed they intended to murder me, and the rather, because not long before, reports were spread abroad, of a design of massacring in one Night, all the then Parliament-Men in their Beds. Wherefore in self-defence, I presented my Pistol, and struck Fire against the Brest of the Leading-man without effect, which failure in all likelihood might have encouraged, and provoked him and his associates, to have rusht in upon us naked Men, and to have hew'd us in pieces; but certainly there was more with us, than was against us; else had not a valiant tryed Officer, with some Files of Souldiers; for such I understood them to be afterwards, at the sight only of two Men in their Shirts been struck with such a pannick fear, that they suddainly and with great speed ran back through the Di∣ning-Room, not stopping in their flight, nor recollecting their spi∣rits, until they came to the bottom of my Stairs. To which Stairs

top, I in my Shirt with the like speed pursued them; where, up∣on a second demand of their intentions, and who they were, the Officer told me, he was sent by Order from Major General Skip∣pon, to search a House in Somerset-House Yard, and to appre∣hend two dangerous and disaffected Persons, which before they could attach, were slipt out of their Beds, into the Cellar of that private House, which by reason of the height of that great House, above that Lean too; had a Cellar under the Cellar belonging to my Lodgings; from whence forcing up a board of the Flore they crept up into my Cellar, and from thence to my Stare-case, under which they hid themselves; and after our parly, were there found, and taken. These Persons, he told me, he and his Soul∣diers pursued through the same Hole, into my Cellar, and Lodg∣ings, supposing all to be but one, and the same House; where∣upon, I telling him my Name, and rectifying the mistake, The Officer came up to the Stair-head, and craved pardon for his rash and dangerous Error; I returning to my Bed, and he with his Prisoners, the same way that he came; (my Door into the House, Court, or Quadrangle, being all this time 〈◊〉〈◊〉 lockt, and bolted) as we left it, at our going to bed.

O Lord, how did this ignorant, and innocent mistake, by thy all wise permission and ordering, involve me into a double dan∣ger, that thou mightest redouble Mercies! had these Souldiers been more knowing in their actings, I had been more ignorant of thine; yea, if I had not been in so great danger, I had not been so graciously delivered; Thus to the answering, and satisfying of all murmurings and objections against thy Government of the World, thou dost exalt and justifie thy Holiness, Power, Wisdom, and Righteousness, in bringing forth Light out of Darkness, and that not only out of things casually evil, as here, but out of what is morally evil, as in Adam's fall; which thy Omnipotency could have impeded, did not the conjunction and greater shining forth (in the midest of this black foile) of thy Wisdome, Justice, Mercy, and all other thy Attributes, through the darkness and contrariety of Providences, and opposition of Sin and Sathan, make more for thy Glory, the Chief, Just, and Soveraign end of all thy Works; Who, but thou O Lord, who art the God of Na∣ture, canst change, and unnaturalize Nature; So that hungry Ly∣ons shall not devour thy Daniel; Fire shall not burn thy Three Children; A Whale shall not smother, and concoct thy Jonah, nor the fluid Sea flow over, and drown thy Israel! Who, but thou O Lord, at this time didst forbid a Sulphur Stone to spit forth Fire, at the collition and motion of the wheel of my Pistol, or extinguisht its sparks with Gun Powder; that thou mightest

preserve my Hand from the guilt, my Conscience from the trou∣ble, my Heart from the grief, and my good Name from the re∣proach of Man-slaughter! Who but thou O Lord did cause Man with naked Swords to recoil, and valiant Souldiers to turn their backs, and to flie from two naked Men; provoking them, and in part disarmed; that so Friends might not act as Enemies, nor pour forth the blood, and destroy the lives of one another! Who was it, but thou Almighty Saviour, that gave a right understand∣ing betwixt us, and turned our feares and dangers into a happy deliverance, and thanksgivings! Which then and now accept O Lord; who at this time didst mercifully prevent my friends, at other times, didst powerfully restrain my Enemies from taking a∣way my life; And as thy goodness hath been continued, so let my praise be perpetuated in this Memorial to future Generations, even till time shall be no more.

Amen.

Notes

• Psal. 91.2.
• Mat. 25.24. Rom 8.32. Ja. 1.5. Psal 23 3. Ezek. 20 9.
• Dan. 6 22. Dan 4 27. Jon 2 10. Exo. 14.21, 22.