Shall make me difcontented, fret and grieve..
I know thine Alms are best:
But above all the reft,
Condemn me not unto the Hell of Riches,
Without thy Grace to countercharm the Witches.
The Church-warden.
He Churches Guardian takes care to keep
Her Buildings always in Repairs
Unwilling that any Decay fhould creep
On them, before he is aware.
Nothing defac'd,
Nothing difplac'd
He likes; but moft doth long and love to fee
The living Stones order'd as they fhould be.
Lord, thou not only Super-vifor art
Of all our Works, but in all those,
Which we dare own, thine is the chiefeft part:
For there is none of us, that knows
How to do well
What we should do, unless by thee directed:
It profpers not that's by our felves projected.
That which we think our felves to mend, we mar,
And often make it ten times worse :
Reforming of Religion by War
Is th' Chymick Bleffing of a Curse.
Great odds it is,
That we shall miss
Of what we looked for: Thine Ends cannot
By any but by thine own Means be got.
'Tis ftrange we fo much doat upon our own Deformity, and others Scorn.
As if our felves were beautiful alone:
When that which did us most adorn
Such Decency and Order, as did place us
In high'ft Efteem, and guard as well as grace us.
Is not thy Daughter glorious within,
When cloth'd in Needle-work without
Or is't not rather both their Shame and Sin,
That change her Robe into a Clout,
Too narrow, and
Too thin, to ftand
Her need in any ftead, much less to be
An Ornament fit for her high Degree?
Take pity on her, Lord, and heal her Breaches;
Clothe all her Enemies with Shame;
All the Defpight that's done unto her, reaches
To the Dishonour of thy Name. ..
Make all her Sons
Rich precious Stones,
To fhine each of them in his proper place,
Receiving of thy Fulness, Grace for Grace.
He Deacon! That's the Minister.
True, taken gen'rally:
And without any finister
Intent, us'd fpecially,
He's purposely ordain'd to Minifter,
In facred things, t'another Officer.
At whole Appointment, in whofe ftead,
He doth what he should do,
In fome things, not in all: Is led
By Law, and Custom too.
Where that doth neither bid, nor forbid, he
Thinks this fufficient Authority :
To reconcile the World, and to attone
'Twixt it and Heaven, of two making one.
Yea, after the Order of Melchifedeck,
Thou art a Priest for ever.
With perfect Righteousness thy felf do'ft deck,
Such as decayeth never.
Like to thy felf make all thy Priests on Earth,
Blefs'd Fathers to thy Sons of th' fecond Birth.
Thou cam'ft to do the Will of him that fent thee,
And did't his Honour feek,
More than thine own: Well may it then repent thee,
Being thy self so meek,
To have admitted them into the Place
Of Sons, that feek their Fathers to difgrace.
Lord, grant that the Abuse may be reform'd,
Before it Ruin bring
Upon thy poor defpifed Church, transform'd
As if 't were no fuch thing:
Thou that the God of Order art, and Peace,
Make curs'd Confufion and Contention ceafe.
He Bifhop? Yes, why not? What doth that
Import that is unlawful, or unfit?
To fay the Overfeer is the fame
In Substance, and no hurt, I hope, to it:
But fure if Men did not defpife the thing,
Such Scorn upon the Name they would not fling, Some Priests, fome Presbyters, I mean, would be Each Overseer of his fev'ral Cure,
But one Superior, to oversee
Them altogether, they will not endure;
This the main diff'rence is, that I can fee,
Bishops they would not have, but they would be,
But who can fhew of old that ever any
Presbyteries without their Bishops were :
Though Bishops without Presbyteries many,
At first muft needs be, almost every where?
That Presbyters from Bishops first arofe,
T'affift them, 's probable, not thefe from thofe. However, a true Bishop I efteem
The highest Officer the Church on Earth
Can have, as proper to it felf, and deem
A Church without one an imperfect Birth.
If constituted fo at first, and maimed,
If whom it had, it afterwards difclaimed.
All Order first from Unity arifeth,
And th' Effence of it is Subordination:
Whoever this contemns, and that defpifeth,
May talk of, but intends not, Reformation.
'Tis not of God, of Nature, or of Art,
T'afcribe to all, what's proper to one part.
To rule and to be ruled are diftinct,
And feveral Duties, feverally belong
To feveral Perfons, can no more be linkt
In altogether, than amidit the Throng
Of rude unruly Paffions, in the Heart,
Reason can fee to act her Sovereign part.
But a good Bishop, as a tender Father,
Doth teach and rule the Church, and is obey'd.
And rev'renc'd by it, fo much the rather,
By how much he delighted more to lead
All by his own Example in the way,
Than punish any when they go aftray.
Lord, thou the Bishop, and chief Shepherd art
Of all that Flock, which thou haft purchased
With thine own Blood; to them thou doft impart
The Benefits which thou haft merited,
Teaching and ruling by thy bleffed Spirit,
Their Souls in Grace till Glory they inherit :
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The Stars, which thou doft hold in thy Right Hand,
The Angels of the Churches, Lord, direct
Clearly thy holy Will to understand,
And do accordingly: Let no Defect
Nor Fault, no not in our new Politicks,
Provoke thee to remove our Candlesticks;
But let thy Urim and thy Thummim be
Garments of Praife t' adorn thy holy Ones:
Light and Perfection let all Men fee
Brightly fhine forth in those rich precious Stones,
Of whom thou wilt make a Foundation,
To raife thy new Hierufalem upon.
And at the Brightnefs of its rifing let
All Nations with thy People fhout for Joy:
Salvation for Walls and Bulwarks fet
About it, that nothing may it annoy.
Then the whole World thy Diocefs fhall be,
And Bishops all but Suffragans to Thee.
Church Festivals.
Arrow of Time, Eternity in brief,
M Compendiums epitomiz'd, the chief
Contents, the Indices, the Title-Pages
Of all paft, prefent, and fucceeding Ages,
Sublimate Graces, antidated Glories,
The Cream of Holiness,
The Inventories
Of future Bleffed nefs,
The Florilegia of Celeftial Stories,
Spirits of Joys, the Relishes and Clofes
Of Angels Mufick, Pearls diffolved, Rofes
Perfumed, fugar'd Honey-Combs, Delights
Never too highly priz'd,
The Marriage-Rites,
Which duly folemniz'd
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