The souls exaltation A treatiseThe soules exaltation A treatise

First, the Lord is said to pass a work or an action upon the creature, when he puts some kind of ability upon the creature, either spiritual, or natural: as when the Lord makes a wicked man, a good man; an adulterous man, a chaste man; and of an envious proud malicious man, a patient meek and holy man; and this we call a natural change, because there is a gracious frame put into ⟨p. 140⟩the heart and soul which overpowers the creature, and all things are become new; new affections, new desires: but this is not all, for here is the difficulty.

First, the Lord is said to passe a worke or an action upon the creature, when he puts some kind of abilitie upon the creature, either spirituall, or naturall: as when the Lord makes a wicked man, a good man; an adulterous man, a chaste man; and of an envious proud malicious man, a patient meeke and holy man; and this we call a naturall change, because there is a gracious frame put into ⟨p. 140⟩the heart and soule which overpowers the creature, and all things are become new; new affections, new desires: but this is not all, for here is the difficultie.

Secondly, the Lord is said to make a change upon the creature, when he takes off some relations and respects which the creature had, and puts upon it some other respects, he doth not put them into the soul, but puts the soul into another room, and they are not naturally qualities, but only relations, which are imprinted upon the soul of man, and these are called moral, and of this kind is justification, as thus: Take a Prentice that is bound by covenant and Indenture for so many years, and he is now fallen into an ague, or a burning fever, he hath two relations: First, he is an apprentice: Secondly, he hath a weak sickly distempered body: now there may be a double change wrought in this man, according to this double disposition: first the master burns the Indentures, and gives him his time, and sets him free from his service, and he that was an apprentice before, is now a freeman, this is a moral change, for all this while he is as sick as he was before: but the former relation is quite gone, and the master cannot now command him to his service; now the fellow servants cannot domineer over him, because he is not now a servant: but now the wise Physician he comes, and he by good means helps the man of his disease, and brings him to a fair, sweet, and wholesome temper of body, and now there is a