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felves all in quiet, we cou'd hardly believe that we were deliver'd. We rofe up early to fee if it cou'd be true, that our Deliverance was real. Oh! Pardon us that we have not first visited our Churches, the Monuments of Thy Mercy, which Thou hast fo graciously continu'd to us during all thefe Troubles, and been fo gracious to us in them; and having taken them away fo little a while, doft now fo fpeedily restore them to us. Oh! Pardon us that we can pass by fo great a Mercy! That we can meet in Councils and in Courts, and fill the Streets with our Crowds, and leave these Monuments of thy goodness neglected, as if 'fome Inchanted Force kept their doors against us. Oh! Pardon us, good Lord, and let not this Sin redound upon all of us, whom thou haft deliver'd. For is not this to fly on the Spoil, and eat the Flesh with the Blood? (1 Sam. 14. 32.) When without fanctifying our Vi&tory, without paying onr Homage to thee for it, before Thy Altars, we run fo greedily upon enjoying the Fruits of it; and that in a tumultuous and Injurious manner, to thofe whom Thou haft put in our Power.

Soon after this I find him lamenting the decay of Piety, and prevalency of Vice; These were always matter of grief and indignation to his Mind; But chiefly after our great Deliverance, when the vileft Ingratitude was a new Aggravation of every Sin. His fenfe of these things the following Meditation will fhew; written August 17, 1690. ́

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'How do I fear that the Standard of Piety is loft in the World, and of that Holiness without which no Man fhall fee the Lord? I know Chrift will uphold his Church, and the Holy Spirit will be with it in every Age to the end. And therefore even in this Age, he has his faithful Servants. But I fear they are so few, and the number of others fo great; that either they are not ta'ken notice of in the Croud; or that People are fo hardned and blinded, that feeing they do not fee, and hearing they will not understand; but choose rather to look upC on these as Men of unneceffary Severities, than fuch as keep up the Model of the Gofpel. By this means we in this Generation may well be all Pygmies in Grace and hardly any of us come up to the measure of the Stature of Jefus Chrift; but meafuring our felves by one another, may think our felves proper Chriftians. Where do we fee Piety practic'd in all its parts, Private, Domestick, ⚫ and Publick? Some few that are much con' verfant in good Books, and Primitive Accounts of things, may have an Idea of Christianity, beyond what this Age cou'd give them: But then how eafie is it for the corruption of the Age we live in, to make this be forgotten, or hinder it from being brought down to Practice? Piety is rarely learn'd wholly by Books, we need continual Examples, and the converfation of good People, to bring thefe Notions into Practice. The ⚫ reafon of this feems to be, that Piety always always

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'felves all in quiet, we cou'd hardly believe 'that we were deliver'd. We rose up early to fee if it cou'd be true, that our Deliverance was real. Oh! Pardon us that we have not first visited our Churches, the Monuments of Thy Mercy, which Thou haft fo graciously continu'd to us during all thefe Troubles, and been fo gracious to us in them; and having taken them away fo little a while, doft now fo speedily restore • them to us. Oh! Pardon us that we can pafs by fo great a Mercy! That we can meet in Councils and in Courts, and fill the Streets with our Crowds, and leave these • Monuments of thy goodness neglected, as if fome Inchanted Force kept their doors against us. Oh! Pardon us, good Lord, and let not this Sin redound upon all of us, whom thou haft deliver'd. For is not this to fly on the fpoil, and eat the Flesh with the Blood? (1 Sam. 14. 32.) When without fanctifying our Vi&tory, without paying onr Homage to thee for it, before Thy Altars, we run fo greedily upon enjoying the Fruits of it; and that i in a tumultuous and Injurious manner, to ⚫ thofe whom Thou haft put in our Power.

Soon after this I find him lamenting the decay of Piety, and prevalency of Vice; These were always matter of grief and indignation to his Mind; But chiefly after our great Deliverance, when the vileft Ingratitude was a new Aggravation of every Sin. His fenfe of thefe things the following Meditation will fhew; written August 17, 1690.

• How

'How do I fear that the Standard of Piety is loft in the World, and of that Holiness without which no Man fhall fee the Lord? I 'know Chrift will uphold his Church, and the Holy Spirit will be with it in every

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Age to the end. And therefore even in 'this Age, he has his faithful Servants. But 'I fear they are fo few, and the number of others fo great; that either they are not ta( ken notice of in the Croud; or that People are so hardned and blinded, that seeing they do not fee, and hearing they will not understand; but choose rather to look up' on these as Men of unneceffary Severities, than fuch as keep up the Model of the Gofpel. By this means we in this Generation may well be all Pygmies in Grace and hardly any of us come up to the measure of the Stature of Jefus Chrift; but measuring our felves by one another, may think our felves proper Chriftians. Where do we fee Piety practic'd in all its parts, Private, Domestick, and Publick? Some few that are much con' verfant in good Books, and Primitive Ac'counts of things, may have an Idea of Chriftianity, beyond what this Age cou'd give 'them: But then how eafie is it for the corruption of the Age we live in, to make this 'be forgotten,or hinder it from being brought 'down to Practice? Piety is rarely learn'd wholly by Books, we need continual Examples, and the converfation of good People, to bring thefe Notions into Practice. The reafon of this feems to be, that Piety always ⚫ always

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< always decays in the Peace of the Church. 6 A good Man that lives in the continual prospect or apprehenfion of Death, is quite another thing from the fame good Man that lives out of this profpect. When the whole Church therefore lives continually in this apprehenfion, (as was the state of the Pri⚫mitive Church, for the first Three Hundred • Years after Chrift) no wonder if it be quite 'different in the measure and exercife of PieC ty, from the Church at other times. 'Tis true they were not always under actual Per• fecution, but then it must be confidered, that for fome time after God frees Men from this hard ftate, the fenfe of their former • Troubles leaves a deep Impreffion upon their Minds. They had contracted firm 'habits of ftrict and pious Living; and the firft freedom that God gave them from their L Fears, did not make them relax any thing of their strictnefs; but only encreas'd their 'thankfulness, and more cheerful serving him in their former road, till God thought fit to bring again their former ftraits upon them, & by a renewed Perfecution. And fo it was, for a while after God put a final end to their • Perfecutions, by the Emperor Conftantine's becoming a Chriftian. With what Zeal did the Chriftians flock to the publick Churches, Confecrated from Heathen Fanes, to Temples of the Living God, and cover the Pave'ments with their Proftrate Bodies? But by degrees this Fervour decay'd; Lukewarm

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