her,
_A choir of bless'd souls circling in the Father_.

178. OBSERVATION.

The Jews, when they built houses, I have read,
One part thereof left still unfinished,
To make them thereby mindful of their own
City's most sad and dire destruction.

179. THE ASS.

God did forbid the Israelites to bring
An ass unto Him for an offering,
Only, by this dull creature, to express
His detestation to all slothfulness.

180. OBSERVATION.

The Virgin Mother stood at distance, there,
From her Son's cross, not shedding once a tear,
Because the law forbad to sit and cry
For those who did as malefactors die.
So she, to keep her mighty woes in awe,
Tortured her love not to transgress the law.
Observe we may, how Mary Joses then,
And th' other Mary, Mary Magdalen,
Sat by the grave; and sadly sitting there,
Shed for their Master many a bitter tear;
But 'twas not till their dearest Lord was dead
And then to weep they both were licensed.

181. TAPERS.

Those tapers which we set upon the grave
In fun'ral pomp, but this importance have:
That souls departed are not put out quite;
But as they walked here in their vestures white,
So live in heaven in everlasting light.

182. CHRIST'S BIRTH.

One birth our Saviour had; the like none yet
Was, or will be a second like to it.

183. THE VIRGIN MARY.

To work a wonder, God would have her shown
At once a bud and yet a rose full-blown.

184. ANOTHER.

As sunbeams pierce the glass, and streaming in,
No crack or schism leave i' th' subtle skin:
So the Divine Hand worked and brake no thread,
But, in a mother, kept a maidenhead.

185. GOD.

God, in the holy tongue, they call
The place that filleth all in all.

186. ANOTHER OF GOD.

God's said to leave this place, and for to come
Nearer to that place than to other some,
Of local motion, in no least respect,
But only by impression of effect.

187. ANOTHER.

God is Jehovah call'd: which name of His
Implies or Essence, or the He that Is.

188. GOD'S PRESENCE.

God's evident, and may be said to be
Present with just men, to the verity;
But with the wicked if He doth comply,
'Tis, as St. Bernard saith, but seemingly.

189. GOD'S DWELLING.

God's said to dwell there, wheresoever He
Puts down some prints of His