N00887:233
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.
Christianus per Ignem. Or, A Disciple WARMING himself And OWNING hi… › Meditation 20: Meditation XX.
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.
The Blast of this Meditation is no sooner over, but another succeeds. Having only a little Coal, and indeed scarce a Coal, but a Spark, before me, to Blow, I find, That if I Blow it with Fury and Fierceness, I shall utterly Lose it. But I must therefore Blow it very Gently; and with a little Gentleness in my ⟨p. 130⟩thus managing of it, I shall anon bring it into a Flame, that will be very serviceable to me.
The Blast of this Meditation is no soener over, but another succeeds. Having only a little Coal, and indeed scarce a Coal, but a Spark, before me, to Blow, I find, That if I Blow it with Fury and Fierceness, I shall utterly Lose it. But I must therefore Blow it very Gently; and with a little Gentleness in my ⟨p. 130⟩thus managing of it, I shall anon bring it into a Flame, that will be very serviceable to me.
Nutritur vento, vento resting uttur Ignis; Lenis alit […] Grandier Aura necat.
Nutritur vento, vento resting uttur Ignis; Lenis alit 〈…〉 Grandier Aura necat.
In this Thing I have an Admonition given me, How Reproofs are often to be managed: Even like the Bellows, with a Gentle Blast. When our Neighbours do amiss, 'tis our Duty to Advise them, caution them, and Reprove them. If the Reproofs be given with Fury and Fierceness, they will probably be lost; the Offender will Stand upon his Guard against all that we say, and be under an Insuperable Prejudice against us, as being his Enemies in all that we say. But let the Reproof be Dispensed with words of a Gentle […]; Confess and Commnd what is Laudable in the Delinquent, use none but Living […], and let him feel that whatever we speak, proceeds from Love, Now Perhaps, We lave gained our Brother.