N00887:224
Christianus per ignem. Or, A disciple warming of himself and owning of his Lord:…
Christianus per ignem. Or, A disciple warming of himself and owning of his Lord: with devout and useful meditations, fetched out of the fire, by a Christian in a cold season, sitting before it. A work though never out of season, yet more particularly, designed for the seasonable and profitable entertainment, of them that would well employ their leisure [sic] by the fire-side. : [Three lines in Latin from Alsted]Christianus per ignem. Or, A disciple warming of himself and owning of his Lord: with devout and useful meditations, fetch'd out of the fire, by a Christian in a cold season, sitting before it. A work though never out of season, yet more particularly, designed for the seasonable and profitable entertainment, of them that would well employ their liesure [sic] by the fire-side. : [Three lines in Latin from Alsted]
Boston: printed by B. Green for Benjamin Eliot, 1702
Title page typeset from the transcription.
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
Upon some Dead Coals.
Though the Dead Coals on the Hearth, will not Warm ones Exterior, I will try whether my Interior can't fetch as much Warmth from them, as from the Living ones. I am therefore from these Dead Coals, to receive some Living Admonitions.
THough the Dead Coals on the Hearth, will not Warm ones Exteriour, I will try whether my Interiour can't fetch as much Warmth from them, as from the Living ones. I am therefore from these Dead Coals, to receive some Living Admonitions.
A Dead Coal, would first most naturally put one in mind, of a Dead man. The Extinction of a Coal, does (at least as with a Coal) draw a Picture of Mortality. And she that had but one Son, being afraid of his Death, Expressed her Fear, 2 Sam. 14. 7. of Quenching the Coal that was left. Now, when I see how much longer some Coals do last, than others, it invites me to think, how Long Lived some, in ⟨p. 125⟩comparison of others, are. Since the unaccountable Abbreviation of Humane Life, unto the Term, at which it hath stood for near Four Thousand years, we see, That while some Coals are put out by thousands of Accidents, before their Time, there are men who not only Live to the Term of Threescore years and Ten, but also keep some Light and Heat, unto a much Greater Age; yea, and this although they never took such a Temperate & Accurate way of Living, as did the famous Cornaro, to prolong their Lives. Though the Countries where they Live most meanly and hardly, are the Countries where they generally live the longest; and hence the Gentleman, who this present year [1700.] Published, An Account of the Islands of Orkney, mentions it as no rare thing for People there to live unto a very great Age; and that among other Instances which are no Rarities, a Gentleman is yet living at Strousa there, whose Father begat him, when he was One hundred years old, and lived until he saw this mans Children: Yet all Countries have afforded some Examples of Long vity. To Recite the Examples, would be to transcribe and pillage, whole Chapters, from those who have written Curiosities. I will only make just so much Improvement of this Reflection, as to say, That for the Duration of my Life, I entirely Refer it, and Submit it, unto the God of my Life, the God, who is the