N00887:369
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.
Another thing observable to me in the Ashes, is, That tho' the Wood was of several sorts, distinguishable one from another, yea, preferable one to another, yet now they are all in Ashes, there is no sensible Distinction of them, they lie together undistinguished. Behold, O my Soul, Behold the Effect of Mortality. Death is the grand Leveller. One Tree must be made Ashes as well as another: and when once we are made Ashes, What will be the Difference between Solomon and Diglus Petargus, between Croesus and Irus, between the Richest Emperor, and the Poorest Beggar! All Skulls are of equal Dignity in the Charnel house; and as Herbert Elegantly, The Brags of Life are but a nine da•s wonder; And after Death, the Fumes that spring ⟨p. 186⟩From private Bodies make as big a Thunder, As those which rise from a huge King.
Another thing observable to me in the Ashes, is, That tho' the Wood was of several sorts, distinguishable one from another, yea, preferrible one to another, yet now they are all in Ashes, there is no sensible Distinction of them, they ly together undistinguished. Behold, O my Soul, Behold the Effect of Mortality. Death is the grand Leve•ler. One Tree must be made Ashes as well as another: and when once we are made Ashes, What will be the Difference between Solomon and Diglus Petargus, between Croesus and Irus, between the Richest Emperour, and the Poorest Beggar! All Skulls are of equal Dignity in the Charnel house; and as Herbert Elegantly, The Brags of Life are but a nine da•s wonder; And after Death, the Fumes that spring ⟨p. 186⟩From private Bodies make as big a Thunder, As those which rise from a huge King.
Indeed, I have Read concerning a Difference in Dust; namely, the powder of Diamonds, or princely Dust: Gold Dust, or the Remains of Noblemen; Pin Dust, or the Remains of Trades men; Saw Dust; or the Remains of Mechanics; and Common Dust, or the Remains of the more unobserved sort of people. Yet even here 'tis confessed, All is Dust. But in Ashes there is not so much Difference to be discerned. All that we can allow, is, That our Lord Jesus Christ, at the Resurrection of the Just, will distinguish the Ashes of the Saints, which are United unto Himself, from those of other men; more Effectually, than a Load stone would any Filings of Steel, mixed with the common Ashes. Were I all this while seeking satisfaction, in Creatures, I should be doing what the Oracles of God most expressively call, Feeding on Ashes. But while we are thus Thinking on Ashes, and learning the Instructions of Piety from them, I hope we are not Feeding on Ashes.