The works of George Swinnock, M.A

Then called I upon the Name of the Lord, O Lord, I beseech thee deliver my soul out of the belly of Hell, cried I unto thee, and •hou didst hear my voice; For thou hast delivered my Soul from Death, mine Eyes from Tears, and my Feet from falling. Thou wast the good Samaritan, that hadst compassion on me, that didst bind up my wounds, pouring in Oil and Wine, and undertake my cure; Thou didst send a Barnabas, a Son of Consolation to me, to proclaim liberty to me a poor captive, and the opening of the Prison to me that was bound. How beautiful were his feet, that brought the glad ridings of peace to my poor soul? O that I might be able to support the weak, and comfort the feeble-minded, with the same comforts wherewith I my self have been comforted of God!

Then called I upon the Name of the Lord, O Lord, I beseech thee deliver my soul out of the belly of Hell, cried I unto thee, and •hou didst hear my voice; For thou hast delivered my Soul from Death, mine Eyes from Tears, and my Feet from falling. Thou wast the good Samaritan, that hadst compassion on me, that didst bind up my wounds, pouring in Oyl and Wine, and undertake my cure; Thou didst send a Barnabas, a Son of Consolation to me, to proclaim liberty to me a poor captive, and the opening of the Prison to me that was bound. How beautiful were his feet, that brought the glad ridings of peace to my poor soul? O that I might be able to support the weak, and comfort the feeble-minded, with the same comforts wherewith I my self have been comforted of God!

⁴I Wish that I may be both faithful and wise, to recover a fallen Brother out of his sin and error; Jonathan, a true friend of David, promised to tell him if there were any danger, and accordingly warned him, whereby he saved his life. I profess my self a lover of my Christian Companions, but I am false in my profession, if I suffer sin to lye upon them. Yet I confess it is a difficult work to perform this duty in a right manner. The best plaster may be ineffectual, if it be not fitly applied; I can seldom with Moses seek to unit quarrelling Christians, but one of them with the Hebrew, is ready to quarrel with me, and say, Who made thee a Ruler, or a Judge over us? Men are seldom more touchy then when their sores are searched; and therefore he that would not have their wounds to bring them into a Fever or Fury, must handle them with much wariness; I desire that Wisdom, Courage, and Love, may be the ingredients of which all my medicines may be compounded. Wisdom, that I may observe the quality and temper of the Offender, the nature of his offence, and the sittest season and manner of administering the reproof; the quality of the person, if he be my Superior, that I may do it with reverence, rather exhorting and beseeching, the plainly rebuking; The temper of the offender; if he be of a fierce nature, that I may so manage my work with meekness, as when I am endeavouring to heal his distemper, I may not increase it; The nature of the offence, If the sin be small, that I may not make it great, by giving stronger medicines then