■ 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Theological Seminary, 
 
 BX 5021 .A1 A32 
 Adams, Thomas, f1. 1612- 
 1 653. 
 
 The three divine sisters, 
 
 Book, N»,., ^ 
 
 J From the AUTHOR. ^ ^[ 
 
 I 
 
THE THREE DIVINE SISTERS, 
 
 FAITH, HOP n, AND OHARITT. 
 
 THE LEAVEN; OR, A DIRECTION TO HEAVEN. 
 A CRUCIFIX; 
 
 A SBKMON UPON THB PASSIOW. 
 
 SEMPER IDEM; 
 
 TH» lUMnTABLB M It R 0 T OF JESUS CHRIST 
 ETC. ETC. ETC. 
 
 BT THB 
 
 REV. THOMAS ADAMS, 
 
 INTRODUCTION BY THE REV. W. H. STOWELL, 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 ROBERT CARTER, 58 CANAL STREET; 
 AND PITTSBURG, 50 MARKET STREET. 
 
 1847. 
 
Digitized by tine Internet Arcliive 
 in 2015 
 
 https://arcliive.org/details/threedivinesisteOOadam 
 
THE 
 
 THREE DIVINE SISTERS. 
 
 Now kbUeth Itilh, hope, charity, these three ; but the eiettest of these It 
 charity.-l Cor.xlU. 13. 
 
CONTE NTS. 
 
 Tho 'nii-00 Divine Sislejs. Faith, Hope, and Charity, . 1 
 The Loavea or, A Direction to llearen, . . .21 
 A Crucifix or, A Sermon upon the Passion, . . 43 
 Semper Idem or I'he Immutable Mercy olJesus Christ, 69 
 Heaven 3 Gate, or. The Passage to Paradise, .... 87 
 Kaiesty in Misery cr I'he i'ower of Christ e-.-en Dying, . 109 
 
 The Fool and his Sport, . 131 
 
 The Christian'B Walk; or. The Kings Highway oi' Charity, 143 
 Love's Copy; or, I'he Best Precedent ol Charity, . . .169 
 God 3 Bounty ; or, 'I'he Blessings of both his Hands, . . 187 
 
 rolitio Hunting 227 
 
 The Taming of the Tongue 261 
 
INTRODUCTION TO ADAMS' WORKS; 
 
 REV. W. H. S T O W E L L, 
 
 FmaSIDBNT or the INDEFBI<IOE>TCOLI.EOE(B0TUEnaA,ll. 
 
INTRODUCTION TO ADAMS' WORKS. 
 
 The series of AVorks -nhich tliis Volume introduces, is intended 
 to rni.sw of writings less general!)' I.noisn than those which have 
 already appeared ; and the Author, for w hom we now bespeak the 
 reader's favour, is one of whom, jicrhaps, less is known than of 
 any others whose works will be rcDublishcd. To prevent confusion 
 and mistake, we bcKiM by statin'j, that he is nut Thnmns Adam, 
 Rector of Wintringham, in Lincolnshire, author of a volume of 
 sermons, and of the well-known " I'rivatc Thoughts," who died 
 in 1784. 
 
 Neither is ha the Thomas .\dams nunlioncd in Wood's Athcmo 
 Oxouleiises, as admitted " a student ol lli azi nuose CoUetce. (_)xford, 
 July 1040; Bachelor of Arts in r.-hruaiy 3, 1052; ami Fellow of 
 the same college in 1G52, wlio, after lie liad taken the degree of 
 Jlaster, became a frequent prpaclii r in th"se jiarts ; was removed 
 from his fellowship in 1652, fir nonconformity ; went to ]>ondon, 
 and carried on his nonconformity by preaching in conventicles. He 
 hath written The Main Principles of Christian Keligion, in 107 short 
 articles or aphorisms, generally received, as l;eing proved from 
 Scrijiturc ; now further cleared and confirmed by the consonant 
 doctrine recorded in the Articles and Homilies of the Church of 
 Entrland, under fiur heads, viz. Of things to be believed, &c. 
 London, 1675-77, October; mncii about which time the author 
 di"d." 
 
 The Tliimias Ad.ams thus spolu n of was j/'>«;i_7cr brother to lii- 
 cbard .Vdams, one of the editors of Charnock's works on " I'rovi- 
 ilence and on the Attributts," a minister's son of Worrall, in Che- 
 shire, and originally of Caiabri 1-e, where he was examined and 
 
INTRODL'CTIOX TO AUAMS' WORKS. 
 
 admitted bachelor of arts, 26th March 1644. Afterwards he went 
 to Oxon, when the garrison thereof was surrendered to the Parlia- 
 ment ; was admitted a student of Brazenno.se College 24th March 
 1646, aged 20 years, and soon after made fellow thereof. " In 
 1655 he left his fellowship, being about that time beneficed at ist 
 Mildreds, Bread Street, in London; and, in 1662, he was removed 
 for nonconformity, — from which time to this he hath continued a 
 nonconformist preacher, and now liveth, if I mistake not, in South- 
 wark. Under his name hath been published several sermons."* 
 
 In Palmer's edition of Calamy's Nonconformist's Memorial, the 
 following brief account is given of the Thomas Adams already men- 
 tioned : — •" He performed all his exercises with applause ; and, being 
 generally esteemed for his learning, piety, good humour, and dili- 
 gence, he passed through all offices which a person of his under- 
 standing was capable of. He had a competent number of pupils 
 under his care. Upon his ejection, he settled with Sir Samuel 
 Jones, then near Salop, Shropshire, afterwards near Northampton, 
 and was very usefid in his family. He was afterwards chaplain 
 to the Countess Dowager of Clare. He had two brothers, who 
 lived in London, one of whom was Mr R. Adams before mention- 
 ed. His labours in that honourable family, by his catechising and 
 weekly preaching, were very acceptable. He died on December 
 11,1670. His works are, 'Protestant Union; or. Principles of 
 Religion, wherein the Dissenters agree with the Church of Eng- 
 land,' in two sheets, price 2d ; ' The Main Principles,' &c., the work 
 mentioned by Wood." 
 
 The Thomas Adams, of whose writings we are about to lay some 
 specimens before the public, was minister at WUlington, Bedford- 
 shire, and a preacher at Paul's Cross, in 1612, which must have been 
 several years before the Nonconformist minister of the same name 
 was bom. 
 
 His collected works were published by himself in 1630, when the 
 younger brother of Richard Adams could not have been three years 
 old. 
 
 The works ascribed to Thomas Adams, the Nonconformist, both 
 by Wood and by Calamy, are not the works published by the 
 Thomas Adams now before us. An Exposition of the Second 
 Epistle of Saint Peter was pubhshed in 1633. It is announced in 
 the title-page as by the Rev. Thomas Adams, the Rector of St 
 Gregory's, London. It is dedicated to Sir Henry Martin, Knight, 
 
 * Wood's Athenae Oxonienses, vol. i. p. 1 08, 2d edition. London, 1721. 
 
INTRODUCTION TO ADAMS' WORKS. 
 
 Judge of his Majesty's High Court of Admiralty, and Dean of the 
 Arches Court of Canterbury. This work was republished by Mr 
 Holdsworth, corrected and revised by the Rev. James Sherman, in 
 1842. 
 
 From a comparison of the date of the Exposition with that of the 
 publication of " The Workcs," and of a reference to farther publica- 
 tions in the preface to " The Workes" in 1630, with the reference 
 in the dedication of the Exposition to former works in 1633, toge- 
 ther with numberless internal evidences of sentiment and expression, 
 we gather that they are undoubtedly the production of the same mind. 
 
 The " Workes," from which the treatises composing these two 
 volumes are taken, had been published in smaller editions of thin 
 quarto volumes, during several years ; and, in 1630, the author 
 published them all in one folio volume of 1240 pages. This volume 
 is dedicated to William Earl of Pembroke, the active and liberal 
 promoter of the establishment of Pembroke College, Oxford, at that 
 time (1624) Chancellor of the University, whose successor, Philip 
 Earl of Pembreke, was one of the lords, joined with the ministers, 
 in the Assembly of Divines held at Westminster in 1643. There 
 is a second dedication to Henry Earl of Manchester, Viscount Man- 
 deville, whose successor, Edward Earl of Manchester, probably his 
 son, was likewise one of the lords in the Westminster Assembly, 
 and one of the distinguished moderate Presbyterian leaders in the 
 Parliamentary army. He was accused by Charles I. of high trea- 
 son, with the five members of the House of Commons. After the 
 battle of Newbury, his party suspected him of a leaning towards 
 the King. He favoured the restoration of Charles II., and was 
 chamberlain of the household to that monarch. — From these dedi- 
 cations, it appears that some of the sermons had been severally pa- 
 tronized by these noblemen ; and to the Earl of Manchester he 
 says : — " At the preaching of these thoughts, I was bound to your 
 lordship for your favourable car ; in the publishing of them, to your 
 favourable eye ; and now, a third obligation you may lay upon me, 
 by your lordship's kind re-acceptance." 
 
 The dedications are followed by an address " To my dearly be- 
 loved charge, the parishioners of Saint Bennett's, near to Saint Paul's 
 Wharf, London ;" in which he says — " I well know the burden 
 of preaching in this city. We may say of it, in another sense, as 
 Christ said of Jerusalem, 0 thou that killest the prophets ! Many 
 a minister comes to a parish with his veins full of blood, his bones 
 of marrow ; but how soon doth he exhaust his spirits, waste his 
 vigour ! and albeit there are many good souls for whose sake he is 
 
xii ixtro:)u:tion- to ada-is' wonss. 
 
 cimtcnt to iiialic himself a sacri lci', ypt thtrc are .some so unmerci- 
 ful that, after all his lahmirs, woiil'l sr u l liini a beggar to his pravc. 
 I tell you but the faults of somr. To you I am thankful." 
 
 " To the candid and ingenious reader," he says, " I cannot but 
 take notice, that much injury hath been done to the buyers of such 
 great books by new editions, so that, by the swelling of the later 
 impressions, the former are esteemed imjierfect. lie satisEcd and 
 assured that to this volume nothiii- shall ever l)c added. If the 
 Lord enable me to brinf; forth nny other work of better use to I lis 
 church, it shall be published by itself, .ind never prejudice this. 
 . . . . I hear of some idle drones humming out their dry 
 derisions, that we (forsooth) affect to be men in print ; as if that 
 were the only end of these publications. Hut let the communica- 
 tion of goodness stop their mouths. Speech is only for presence, 
 writings have their use in absence. Q>io lirent Itbrif, non licet ire 
 rnihi: — Our books may come to be seen, where ourselves shall 
 never be heard. These n:ay preach when the author cannot, and 
 (which is more) when he is not. The glory be only to Ood, the 
 comfort to your souls and mine ; with which prayer, I leave you to 
 Him that never leaveth his." 
 
 The Sermons and Treatises are sixty-three in number, of whicli 
 the last is entitled "The Soldier's Ilounur; " from Judges v. 8, 9. 
 " They chose new rjnds ; then livr.s tnir in the rjntes : iras there a 
 shield or fprar srcn <i)ii(tr(/ f-irlij thoiisaiirl in Isriiel f My heart is 
 toward the governors o flsrm /, that offered themsdres u-illinglij air.oiig 
 the people. Bless ye t lie Lord." It was preached "to the worthy 
 company of gentlemen that exercise in the Artillery Garden ; and 
 now at their second request, iiublished tn further use, 1629." 
 
 Another of these sermons, in Whiteh.iU, " being the first Tuesday 
 after the departure of King James into blessedness, 1G25," is en- 
 titled " The Sinner's Alourning Hal)it,''from the words, " Il7iCyr/i)rc, 
 / abhor mysel/^ and repent in dust and ashes ; " in which tlie only 
 allusion (and that scarcely obvious) to the departed monarch is 
 in the iirst sentence : — " This is in many dear regards a mourning 
 and penitential season ; therefore I thought it best to accommodate 
 it with a penitential sermon." It is a touching discourse, abound- 
 ing in passages of great brightness, of which we give a specimen. 
 
 " If I should give you the picture of Kepentauce, I woidd tell 
 you that she is a virgin fair and lovely ; and those tears which seem 
 to do violence to her bea.ity, rather, indeed, grace it. Her breost 
 is sore with the strol<es of her own jicnitent hands, which are always 
 cither in Moses' position on the mo.int, lifted up tuwar Is heaven, 
 
IXTROUUCTIOX TO ADAMS' WOKKF!. xill 
 or the publican s in tli« temple, smilinri her /losoni. Iler knees are 
 hardened with constant prav)!!'.' ; l.'i r voice is ho:irso with calling to 
 Iieaven : and when slie eannc)t spea;;. ,^hc delivers her nniiil in 
 crro.ins. There is not a tear tails trom hvr. hut an anL'el linl.is a 
 bottle to catch it. bhc thinks cverv man s sm less than her oivn : 
 evcrv mansgood deeds more. Jler e(H!i]iinirt;oiis are iiiisiir::k,i]ile. 
 known only to God and to hnsi l.. eouid wish, not onlv incn. 
 
 but even beasts, and trees, an 1 stones, to nioiirn with lier. .-^Iio 
 th nks ill 1 
 that thr !,1, • : I , I ,■ ,1 I ...... ;. . , , ,.,,„■,. lied. 
 
 JI ro 
 
 with tl 11111/ I rn 
 
 Ihj t I — li hi 111 t 11 h r tl t he 1 at 
 
 ccpted in Jesus ( hnsr. 
 
 I 1( I 1 h 1 \1 1 1 I I ^ s tat n non m f hi st 
 Cliiireh, at the triennial visitation ol' the Risht lleverend Father in 
 God. the Lord Bishop of L.mdon : in winch he maintains, thon-h 
 with little if any controversial ar^mnont, the episcopal form of 
 church government, makiiia- a wretehdl distiiietu/ii hetwei^n si'ers, 
 winch signifies, •■the duty ol each pastor over his dock. ■ and orc;'- 
 seers. such as " must visit and overlook both flock and seers : ■ and 
 adverting contemptiionslv to parity in covcrnment. as --the mother 
 of confusion and disorder, ' ami to "those that would be priests 
 without any order at all. that refuse to be ordered. l!;it he sharply 
 rebukes the prelates, who "lorded over («ods heritage. 
 
 " Paul and Barnabas. Pont was a man ol ardent zeal. Bar- 
 nabas IS interpreted 'the son of r^jnxulation.' Paul would have 
 Barnabas along with hnn. that the lenity ol the one mieht some- 
 what mitisrate and qualify the fervour of the other. Thus. Mosrs 
 was with J'Jias. when they both met with Christ transfiiriired on 
 the mount, Klias was a licry spirited pronliet, mflaaied with holy 
 zcil : Moses, a prophet ot a meeic and mild sinrit. These two 
 together are fit servants to wait upon tno !>on oi God. I do not 
 say that either Paul wanted compa.ssion, or Barnabas fervency ; but 
 this I say. that both these tempers are a liappy composition m a 
 visiter, and make his breast to lie the sacred ark. wherein lay both 
 Aaron s rod and the golden pot of manna: the rod of correction, 
 and the mannix of consolation : the one corrosive, the other a 
 cordial, (spiritual fathers should be liKC natural mothers, that have 
 both ubern and ve.rheni : or like lices. liavin<r much honey, but not 
 without a stinsr. Only let the stm?- be the least in their desire or 
 mtention. and the List m execution : — hke God himsell, ' Qui ha'jcl 
 
xiv INTEODUCTION TO ADAMs' WOBKS. 
 
 in jmleslate vindictam., sed marult in usu inisericordiam' (strong to 
 avenge, but loving to shew incrcv). 
 
 " There have been sonic who did pnt lime and gall into the milk : 
 yi:a. mimAti-rcd pro hcte vc/ifnum (poison instead of railU) ; Banners 
 and (iardiiicrs, that gave too sliarp physic for the dispcsition of their 
 patients. 
 
 "That, as the Antioohians said of Julian (taking occasif*i br the 
 Bull which he stamped on his coin), have gored the world to 
 death. That, as if they had Suul' s commUsion to vex the Church 
 of Clirist, have ccpiicliidcd their visitations in blood. 
 
 " I!ut mercy, ii.) Icis than holiness, becomes the brcastjilate of 
 Aaron." 
 
 The following passage, few of our readers will refuse to acknow- 
 ledge, savours more of the cliurchman in the days of Laud, than 
 can find favour with men of better times, and of a better spirit. 
 
 " I deny not the necessity of jurisdiction, both corrective and co- 
 active, tbe one restraining where is too much forwardness, the other 
 enfiireing where is slackness. There is a rod, and there is a 
 sword. " * 
 
 The Puritans of the Church of England, at the beginning of the 
 seventeenth century, were of two classes, the conforming and the 
 non-conforming. The first class were those who conformed to the 
 laws and usages of the Church, as enforced under the authority of 
 James the First, by the wily and intolerant Archbishop Bancroft. 
 Their Puritanism concerned points of doctrine, adhering to the Cal- 
 vinism of the Reformers, in opposition to the Popery encouraged by 
 the Queen of Charles the First, and to the Arminianism of Land, 
 who, in a treatise drawn up for his patron, the Duke of Buckingham, 
 attempted to prove that Arminianism was orthodox, and that the 
 Anti-arminian tenets were no better than JJoctrina/ Puritanism. 
 
 The Calvinistic divines were favoured by James until after the 
 Synod of Port. But the Court clergy were distinguished soon after- 
 wards for their Arminianism ; and all the preachers who adhered to 
 the earlier theology of the Reformers, and to the earlier theology of 
 the monarch himself, were branded by the name of Doctrinal Pu- 
 ritans. To this class belonged the writer of the following dis 
 courses. Excepting in his published works, we find no trace of him. 
 He appears to have taken no degree. We find no references to him 
 in the Athena; Oxonienses, or in any other of the records of th'ise 
 times. The dates of several of these discourses show that he was a 
 
 • Visitation Sermon. 
 
IXTRonUtTION TO /.dams' IVOUKK. XV 
 ]nil)lic preacher at the l)eginninj; of the reisii of James the First, 
 and that in his youth he was the conteinporary of the great men 
 that atlomcd the close of Elizabeth's reifcii. During his life, .some 
 of the most reniarkahle events in the history of Europe oeeurreil, 
 and not a few of those steps were taken in this country ivhieh have 
 been followed by consequences of deep moment, both in the slate 
 and in the church. 
 
 Henry the Fourth of France had professed tlie Catholic faith, M liile 
 he cherished an ardent and enlightened regard for the Protestants 
 of France, GermaRy, Holland, and Great Britain ; maintained a close 
 alliance with England ; encouraged Casauljon, Scaliger, Tluianus, 
 and other eminent scholars ; and, by the vigour of his government 
 under the administration of Sully, won for himself the gratitude of 
 his subjects, the admiration of Europe, and the hatred of the Catholic 
 League. Holland had asserted her independence. In England, 
 the Parliament had been providentially saved from the gunpowder 
 plot. The sagacious Cecil had died in the midst of the difficulties 
 accumulating around his sovereign. The king and the nation were 
 engaged in an earnest struggle for tyranny on the <jne hand, and for 
 freedom on the other. Haleigh had ended his bold romantic ad- 
 ventures, and his wearisome imprisonment, on the scafi'old. The 
 Church of Scotland had resisted the Ejiiseopacy attempted to 
 be imposed upon her by the king. Large portions of the 
 clergy and laity of England were weaned from the Established 
 Church ; and new parties arose which have flourished ever since. 
 The translation of the Bible ; the colonization of New Ply- 
 mouth by the Pilgrim Fathers ; the Hampton Court Conference ; 
 the extended jurisdiction of the High Commission Court, the fall 
 of Lord Bacon, the execution of Strafford, and the breaking out of 
 the Civil War — all passed on the stage of pubhc affairs, while 
 Thomas Adams was quietly meditating and delivering these dis- 
 courses. He was junior to Bishop Hall, some of whose writings 
 he quotes, and wdiom, in many respects, he resembles : in both ^ve 
 have the same varied learning, somewhat ostentatiously displayed ; 
 the same fondness for antithesis and quaint conceits ; the same rich- 
 ness of Scriptural illustration ; the same pungency and pathos in 
 appealing to the conscience and the affections ; the same fervour of 
 piety and soundness of doctrine, in an age of " negligence and disor- 
 d:rJy courses." Adams was contemporary with Sibbs, the admirable 
 author of the " Bruised Reed" and the " Soul's Conflict," and of other 
 >vorks pnblislied from notes taken as he preached, whose writings 
 were useful in leading Baxter to behold the love of God in the 
 
xvi ixxnonucTioN to adams' works. 
 
 redemption by Clirist ; :i little later than Arminius, Whitgift, 
 Cartwriglit, anrl lIiM.krr, — nil of whcin died a few years before tbc 
 first of tlio jiul llslud s-vMiniis ( f A<1aiiis; and a little earlier tl;an 
 Ilanmioiia. !';ir.M-,v, \\]vr, I'axf'-r, a:;.-l Jeremy Tajdor. It is 
 imioh to lir r; --r: ttr.l liint Iiave iM't materials for judging how 
 far Ada:iis \va^ n^s'u iat-l with ntiy of tliesc remarkable dirinep, in 
 what degree he syiniiathize 1 with them, or what influence he may 
 have derived fr.im those who prei cdcd liim, or imparted to those 
 who followed him. AVith all of tl'.eni he a.srccd in his opposition 
 to IVr.irry. l"roM, so,,.,' .,f ihcp.i l.p dilTrr.'d on imints of doetrine— 
 from llarri.w's ni'.iniaiiism, from Taylor's I'clairlanism, and from 
 ]!axtrr's rrcsliyti'riaiiism. In;'. rlor to Hooker in the fulness and 
 majesty of his eloquence, and to I'axter in the keenness of liis logic, 
 the comprehensiveness of his theologj-, and especially in the 
 burning power and jdainness of his language ; he may be fitly com- 
 pared to L'an-QW in th.e thoroughness which exhausts his subjects, 
 and to Taylor, as we have formerly hinted, in the poetic splendour 
 of his imagery ; though he is preatly c-xeelled by both in different 
 respects — by Barrr.\v, in the steady flow of calm reasoning, and by 
 Taylor, in the exitberanf-e of his learning and the graceful ease 
 with whieli he pours out his ever-charming illustrations. At tlie 
 time — in the very year — in wl-.ich Adams published the collection of 
 his works, Dr Davenant, bishop of Salisbury, lost favour at Court, 
 for preaching the doctrine of predestination, stated in the seven- 
 teenth article of the Church of England ; and, for the same offence, 
 several clcrgA-men were severrly piniished. During the same 
 year, Leighton was finf>d ten tlionsand pounds, whipped, jiilloried, 
 lost his cars, had his nose slit, was branded on the face as a sower 
 of sedition, and imprisoned for life, for a rude and vehement attack 
 upon the bishops. That .same year, too. Laud was introducing into 
 the churches of London, Lambeth, and both the Universities, 
 the Popish ceremonies ; for preaching against which, as well as 
 against Arminianism, several clergymen were driven from Oxford. 
 Amid those stirring movements, it is somewhat provoking that we 
 have no clue to the part taken by our worthy divine. It is not 
 unlikely that he belonged to a numerous class of men, wdio in that 
 age, as indeed in all ages, quietly pursued the duties of their calling, 
 conforming in outward things to the Establishment, and yet preach- 
 ing doctrines directly opposed to the Court divinity. Of King 
 James he speaks in his sermons in the strain of flattery which 
 abounded in those days, and from which no parties were exempt, 
 lie complains, as wc have seen, of the ravages made upon the liv- 
 
INTRODUCTION TO AUAMS' WOKKS. Xvil 
 
 ings of the clergy. He denoimces the vices of the. asc Some of 
 his sermons were at Paul's Cross, one at Whitehall, one at a visi- 
 tation, one at the election of Lord Mayor of London. He was at 
 one time the minister of St Gregory's t'hurch, near St Paul's, 
 which, in 1633, was the scene of a violent disimte between the 
 parishioners and the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's, aliiuit tiiniinc; 
 the communion table, in tlio middle of the chureb, into an altar 
 at the upper end. In 1030, the year in which Adams' cull. i t. :1 
 works were published, tliat church was pulled do\\ n to make r...ii!i 
 for the improvements which BisliopLaud was makini; in St Paul's. 
 As Adams was announced as rector of St Gregory's in a work 
 published three years after, it is probable that he retained bis title 
 after tlie congregation had been transferred to Christ Church, wliero 
 he preached his visitation sermon, unless there was another church 
 with the same designation. All these facts prove him to have been 
 rich in those endowments wbirb have been honoured by every church 
 in every age, ivhiletln' stylr nf liis dedicatinns indieates that he lived 
 in friendship with persons ufliiub station in the enini'ry. That he was 
 a firm opponent of Popery is mai;i:Vst in every part of Iiis writings, 
 especially in his treatise on the " Happiness i,( the (.'hurcb." Let 
 this pungent pa5S.age from a won lerl'ul iierfor.nanfc, entitled " The 
 Wiite Devil," suffice : — '• Put 1 am to deal wltli m.ne but tliieves, 
 and those private ones: and because Judas is thi> i rci ' deuf, I will 
 begin with him that is most like him. Aeenrdiii- tn the jirovcrb 
 which the Grecians had of Philo-Juda;ns, ' Killi. r I'/nlo followed 
 Philo, <„■ Phih) iiuiliifc'l Plat,,.' Let me oidy cliauge the names : 
 either Jiidas plaiicd the Pope, or the Pope platjs the Jndtif. This is 
 the most subtle thief in the world, and robs all Christendom with a 
 good colour. Who can say he hath a black eye, or a light finger? 
 for experience hath taught him, tliat, cvi pellis leoiiis nnn siifficif, 
 viilpiiM est assuenda ; when the lion's skin cannot threat, the fox's 
 .skin can cheat. Pope Alexander was a beast, that, having entered 
 like a /or, he must needs raigne like a lion ; worthy he was to die 
 like a dog ; for vis vonxilli expers, mule rtiit sua ; power without 
 policy, is lilte a piece without powder. Many a jmpe sings that 
 connnon ballad of hell : — Iii'jenio peril qui miser ipse men ; — Wit, 
 whitlier wilt thou '.' woe is nie ! my wit hatli wrought my misery ! 
 To say truth, their religion is nothing in the circumstance, but craft ; 
 and policy maintains their hierarchy ; as Judas' subtlety made him 
 rich. Judas was put in trust with a groat deal of the devil's business, 
 yet not worse than the Pope. Judas pretended to serve the ])oor, 
 and robbed them ; and doth not the Pope, think you ? Are there 
 no alms-boxes rifled and emptied into the Pope's treasury ? Oi r 
 
Xviii INTRODUCTION TO ADAMS' WORKS. 
 
 fathers say that the poor gave Peter-pence to the Pope ; but our 
 grandfathers cannot tell us that the Pope gave Caesar-pence to the 
 poor. Did not he sit in the holy chair (as Augustus Caesar on his 
 imperial throne) , and cause the whole Christian world to be taxed ? 
 And what ? did they freely give it ? No ; a taxation forced it. 
 What right, then, had the Pope to it? Just as much as Judas 
 had to his Master's money. Was he not, then, a thief? Yet what 
 need a rich man be a thief? The Pope is rich, and needs must, for 
 his eomings-in, be great : — he hath rent out of heaven, rent out of 
 hell, rent out of purgatory ; but more sacks come to his mill out of 
 purgatory than out of heaven and hell too, and for his tolling, let 
 the world judge. 'Therefore,' saith Bishop Jewel, '/le tcould he 
 content to lose hell and heaven too, to save his puryatory.' Some, 
 by pardons, he prevents from hell,— some, by indulgences, he lifts 
 up to heaven, — and infinite, by ransoms, from purgator)-. Not a 
 jot without money. Cruces, altaria, Christum. He sells Christ's 
 cross — Christ's blood — Clirist's self; all for money. Nay, he hath 
 rent from the very stews, a hell above ground, and swells his coffers 
 by the sins of the people : he suffers a price to be set on damnation ; 
 and maintains lust to go to law for her own ; gives whoredom a 
 toleration under his seal ; that hist, the son of idleness, hath free 
 access to liberty, the daughter of pride. 
 
 "Judas was a great statesman in the devil's commonwealth, for he 
 bore four main offices, — either he begged them shamefully, or he 
 bought them brlbingly, or else Beelzebub saw desert in him, and 
 gave him them gratis, for his good parts ; for Judas was his white- 
 boy; he was, 1. An hypocrite ; 2. A thief; 3. A traitor; 4. A mur- 
 derer. Yet the Pope shall vie offices with him, and win the game 
 too, for plurality. The Pope sits in the holy chair, yet a devil. 
 Perjury, sodomy, sorcery, homicide, parricide, patricide, treason, 
 murder, &c., are essential things to the new papacy. He is not 
 content to be steward, but he must be vicar, nay, indeed, lord him- 
 self; — for what can Christ do, and the Pope cannot do? Judas was 
 nobody to him. He hath stolen Truth's garment, and put it on 
 Error's back, turning poor Truth naked out of doors. He hath 
 altered the primitive institutions, and adulterated God's sacred laws. 
 He steals the hearts of subjects from their sovereigns, by stealing 
 fidelity from the hearts of subjects, and would steal the crown from 
 the king's head ; and all under the shadow of religion. This is a 
 thief — a notalilc, notorious thief ; but let him go. I hope he is 
 known well enough, and every true man will bless himself out of 
 his way." 
 
 As to his doctrinal theology, Adams w.ts clearly a Calvinist, a.s 
 
INTUODUCTION TO ADAMS' WORKS. xix 
 
 will appear in the following extract : — " The first born, which are 
 written in heaven. Tliis is a description of the persons of whom 
 the Church consists. The Church itself is a number of men which 
 God hath set apart by an eternal decree, and in time sanctified to 
 become real members of it. They are written in heaven ; there's 
 their eternal election ; and they are the first-born, that is, ?ieii'-born ; 
 there's their sanctification. For the two parts of the description, 
 their primogeniture, and registering in God's books, are but bor- 
 rowed speeches whereby God would ratify the everlasting predesti- 
 nation and salvation of his Church; that, as the first-born is not to 
 be defeated of his inheritance, and the enrolled names are never to 
 be obliterated, so certainly shall they inherit eternal life. They are 
 called, and called out of the world. Many wicked are created before 
 them, but thej' are elected in God's decree to life before the other ; 
 for the wicked are not chosen at all. The book of life itself, where- 
 in only arc written the names of the elect, whom God hath ordained 
 to salvation for ever. None written in heaven can ever be lost ; 
 yet they object against it. Psalm Ixix. 28, Let them be blotted nut 
 of the book of the living, and let them not be ivrittcn amom/ the 
 righteous. Hence they infer that some names once there recorded 
 are afterwards put out ; but this opinion casteth a double aspersion 
 upon God himself. Either it makes him ignorant of future things, 
 as if he foresaw not the end of the elect and reprobate, and so were 
 deceived in decreeing some to be saved ; or that his decree is mu- 
 table, in excluding those upon their sins whom ho hath formerly 
 chosen. From both these weaknesses St Paul vindicates him : 2 
 Tim. ii. 19, The foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal: 
 ' The Lord knoweth them that are his.' First, The Lord knows 
 them that are his ; this were not true if God's prescience could be 
 deluded. Then, his foundation stands sure: but that were no sure 
 foundation, if those he had decreed to be his should afterwards fall 
 out not to be his. The very conclusion of truth is this ; Lnpossi- 
 bilis est delatio — they which are written in heaven can never come 
 into hell. To clear this from the opposed doubt among many, I 
 will cull out three proper distinctions. 
 
 " 1. One may be said to be written in heaven simpliciter, and se- 
 cundum quid — he that is simply written there. In quantum pra'des- 
 tinatus ad vitam — because elected to life can never be blotted out. 
 He that is but written after a sort may ; for he is written, Non se- 
 cundum Dei prcBscientiam, sed secundum proRserifem justitiam — not 
 according to God's former decree, but according to his present 
 righteousness. So they are said to be blotted out, not in respect of 
 
XX I.\-n;ol.L-rT|(JN T) ADA.\;s' WUEKS. 
 
 God's knawlc(l,i,'p, for In- 1 iim\ss th. y w, rc never written there ; bnt 
 accorJing to tlieir iire^'iit i .ii,,liti.,i,, apostatizing from grace to sin. 
 
 " 2. iScnic are lilutto'l out, /kui ••> riiinhn)i rei I'crlfafcm, t>cd livminum 
 fipiiiiuiioii — not acronliii;!,' to tlie trutli of the thing, but according to 
 men's opinion. It i- nsel'ul |usnal] in the Scriptures to say a thing 
 is donr, iiiiiukIi) iniint.'sint jii-ri, wlien it is declared to he done. 
 Hj-pocrites liave a simulation of outward sanctity, so that men in 
 charity judge them to be written in heaven. But when those glister- 
 ing stars appear to be only ii/)ics fiitui, foolish meteors, and fall down 
 from the Hrmament of the C'luiri h, then we say they are blotted out. 
 The written e.r-cj/a/e;/^';/, by a perfect being, are never lost; but 
 eX'Opp'in nttii^ l:y a dissenibled appearance, may. Some, God so 
 writes, in «■ ut iimji/irifer Iiiihiliu i i-ilaiii, that they liave life simply 
 ill themselves, though not o/' themselves. Others, he so writes, vt 
 liabcdut null in ."r, fed in swi a.'i.sa, from which falling, they are said 
 to be obliterated. 
 
 " o. .Vngiistiiie says, we must not so take it, that God writes first 
 and then daslietb out ; f"r. if a Tilate could say, Quod sa i/isi, scripsi ; 
 what I have written, 1 have written, and it shall stand; shall God 
 say, (liioil srripsi, c.r/nuir/dni ; what I have written, I will wipe out, 
 and it shall iwl stand V 
 
 " To eonelr.de, they that are u-ril/cn in hcarcn can never be lost. 
 Woe, then, to that religion which teacheth even the best saint to 
 doubt of his salvation while he livetli. llath Christ said, Believe, 
 and shall man say, Uc i;lit 'J'his is a rack and strappado to the con- 
 seienee ; f'r he that doubteth fif his salvation, doubteth of God's 
 love ; and In; tliat doubteth of God's love, cannot heartily love him 
 a.uain. If this love he wanting, it is not possible to have true peace. 
 U the terrors of this triiuhled couseien'ee ! It is like an ague ; it 
 may have intermission, Ijut the fit will come and shake him. An 
 unto^^•^rd beast is a troiil le to a man ; an unt<iward servant is a 
 great trouble ; an untoi\ ard wife a greater trouble ; but the greatest 
 trouble of all is an nnti ward conscience. Biexscd is the man whose 
 sins are f'irgivcn ; where there is no remission of sins, there is no 
 blessedness. Now, there is ro true blessedness but that which is 
 enjoyed ; and none is enjoyed mili ss it be felt ; and it cannot be felt 
 unless it be ]iossess<'d ; :a\'.\ it is not ji. ssessed unless a man know it ; 
 and how does he know it that dou! ts whether he hath it or not? 
 
 " All souls are passeng( rs iti tliis workl ; our way is in the middle 
 of the sea : we ha\ e no sure footing : which way soever we cast our 
 eyes, we see nothing but deep waters, tlie Devil and our own flesh 
 raising up against us ini:nite stcrms. God directs us to Christ as 
 
INTRODUCTION TO ADAMS' WOliKS. Xxi 
 
 to a sure anchor-hold ; he bids us undo our cables, and fling up our 
 anchors in the vail, fasten them upon Josus : we do so and are safe. 
 But a sister of ours passing in the ship with us, that hath long 
 taken upon her to rule the helm, deals unkindly with us : she cuts 
 in pieces our cables, throws away our anchors, and tells us we may 
 not presume to fasten them on the Rock, our Mediator. She 
 rows and rowls us in the midst of the sea, through the greatest 
 fogs, and fearfullest tempests : if we follow her course, we must 
 look for inevitable shipwreck. Tlie least flaw of wind will overturn 
 us, and sink our souls to the lowest gulf. — No, they that arc ivrit- 
 teu in the eternal leaves of heaven, shall never be wrapped in the 
 cloudy sheets of darkness. A man may have his name written in 
 the chronicles, yet lost ; written in durable marble, yet perish ; 
 written on a monument equal to a colossus, yet be ignominious ; 
 written on the hospital gates, yet go to hell ; written on his own 
 house, yet another come to possess it. All these are but writings 
 in the dust, or upon the waters, where the characters perish so soon 
 as they are made . They no more prove a man happy than the fool 
 could prove Pontius Pilate a saint, because his name was written 
 in the Creed. But they that are written in heaven, are sure to in- 
 herit it." • 
 
 His " Meditations on some Parts of the Creed" extend over more 
 than a hundred and fifty closely printed folio pages. They are 
 not included in the Selections announced for the present .series. 
 They are rich in solid thought, deep learning, scriptural and spiri- 
 tual theology, e.xpcrinicntal piety, practical wisdom, expressed with 
 great force of language, and enlivened Ijy an inexhaustible fertility 
 of ingenious, happy, and sometimes highly poetical illustration. 
 These, indeed, are the characteristics of all his writings. But one 
 feature of them, which to some readers may wear the appearance of 
 tediousness, is so important, and so suggestive, both to ministers, 
 as teachers, and to all Christians, as learners of divine truth, that 
 we cannot allow it to pass without special observation. We refer now 
 to the strictlij expository form of these discourses. The author leads 
 the reader, at once, to the Bilde. lie keeps him there. He analyses 
 the words of the passage under consideration. He largely illus- 
 trates the historical circumstances. He dr.iws by easy and natural 
 inference, suitable lessons of a i)ractical character. Analogies 
 .start up : these are instantly dealt with. Fables, anecdotes, clas- 
 sical poetry, gems from the Fathers and other old writers, are 
 
 • Tlic Happiness of the Cliurih. Woikes, fol. 1030. 
 
IXTRODUCTIOX TO ADAMS' WOBKS. 
 
 SKittprcd over nearly pvery page. But the starting point is ever- 
 more tlie langiiaije of Holy Scripture. We confess that, apart 
 from all other attractions, we have a growing- conviction of the 
 incomparable superiority of this mode of teaching religion over 
 every other. It has prevailed in every age of the church in wliich 
 Christianity has flourished. 
 
 Expository dlscouises on large paragraphs of Scripture, are 
 eminently conducive to the instruction of the human race in the 
 highest wisdom. But such is not exactly the metliod of these 
 volumes. Instead of unfolding the meaning and connexion of a 
 large portion of Scripture, or expounding consecutively an entire 
 hook, as he does in the Exposition of the Second Epistle of Peter, a 
 strikingand generally brief passage is chosen; itswordsare explained, 
 — its bearing is pointed out,— its applications are unfolded to the 
 various characters of men, whether bad or good, and to the various 
 ranks, conditions, professions, opinions, joys, and sorrows of huma- 
 nity. To do this, after the fashion of his own age, this author 
 brings out the powers of a vigorous understanding, and the stores 
 of many years' accumulation, aided by wonderful ingenuity ; and en- 
 gaging the reader by unexpected turns of wit, by imagerj- which is 
 sometimes coarse and strong, but not unfrequently displaying great 
 delicacy and beauty. By perpetually keeping before his readers the 
 v^ord of God, as an acknowledged authority, he wields a moral in- 
 fluence over our minds, which no reasoning on general principles 
 could secure. We are far from vouching for the soundness of all 
 his interpretations, or the accuracy with which, at all times, he uses 
 the words of Scripture ; yet we cannot withhold our admiration of 
 his prevailing method. — AVe are the more disposed to give promi- 
 nence to this characteristic, because we perceive in religious dis- 
 courses of the eighteenth century, and in not a few of the present 
 day, a preference for a style of religious instruction, which runs 
 into the extreme of making very chary use, and even taking but slisht 
 notice, of the most perfect lanijuacie in the world. It is certainly 
 better for any man to clothe his own thoughts in his own words, than 
 in any other; but in teaching the truths of religion, urging its 
 duties, or ministering either its rebukes or its consolations, ali our 
 reading, observation, and experience plea 1 on behalf of a copious 
 and judicious use of Scripture language, not interwoven with the 
 fabric of a human composition, but standing out in the majesty of 
 its own truth, and the sacredness of its own inspiration. The 
 author now before us affords a happy example, to a considerable 
 extent, of the fulness of meaning which there is in Scripture, with - 
 
INTRODUCTION TO ADA5IS' WORKS. Xxjii 
 
 out the torturing miscalled senses of a passage ; while the eapahilities 
 of a learned and ingenious teacher are excited in calling attention 
 to that meaning, imbuing the thoughts with it, writing it with living 
 freshness on the inward tablets of the spirit. Is it not immeasurably 
 better for us to deal thus with the revealed wisdom of heaven, than 
 to dry it like a skeleton for the anatomist, by endless philological 
 discussions, or to cover it ynth the misty light of an ever-changing 
 philosophy ? 
 
 Without disparaging the labours of scholars, or the speculations 
 of metaphysicians, we must say, that the best fruit of such studies 
 is the power they give, or improve, of bringing out the clear truth 
 of Scripture, as the daylight of our practical life, the restraint of 
 our passions, and the comforter of our hearts in sorrow and in 
 death. 
 
 The treatises we are now bringing out of the obscurity of two 
 centuries, contain a rich treat for all who love pertinent and felicit- 
 ous enforcement of the practical lessons of the Bible. We can 
 scarcely say that the pieces chosen are better than the rest. They 
 are quite as good. — Their very titles are full of genius. None of 
 them can be considered as a strictly doctrinal discussion, though, in 
 all of them, some more than others, there are statements of doctrine, 
 and as we have already seen, elaborate arguments in vindication of the 
 doctrine, or rather of the interpretation of the passage, from specula- 
 tive objections. The bare mention of the titles of discourses not cm- 
 braced in the present series, will convey a favourable impression of the 
 wide range which the author has taken, and the terseness with which 
 he can express himself. The Gallant's Burden. — The White Devil. 
 — The Black Saint. — The Fatal Banquet.— The Sinner's Passing 
 Bell.— The Wolf and the Lambs.— Mystical Bedlam.— The Vic- 
 tory of Patiance. — Presumption running into Despair. — Hea- 
 ven made sure. — The City of Peace. — The Forest of Thorns. 
 — Not only are the titles admirably chosen ; the whole com- 
 position will be found in keeping with them. In a treatise on 
 " The Soul's Sickness," he describes nineteen spiritual disorders 
 analogous to those of the body, explaining their causes, and pre- 
 scribing the remedies. We can give only one example. — " Incon- 
 stancy — a kind of staggers. There is a disease in the soul called 
 Inconstancy, not unfitly shadowed to us by a bodily infirmity pos- 
 sessing the superior part of man. Vertigo, a swimming in the 
 head ; a giddiness, or the staggers. The disease in the body is de- 
 scribed to be an astonishing and darkening of the eyes and spirits, 
 that the patient thinks all that he seeth to turn round, and is sud- 
 
XXIV ISTIIODUCTIOX TO ADAMs' M-OEKS. 
 
 denly compassed with darkness. The parallel to it in the soul is 
 laconstancy, a motion without rule, a various aspect, a diversifjHng 
 intention. Tlie inconstant man is like a Puur contrell. If he 
 should change his apparel so fast as his thought, how often in a day 
 would he shift himself? He would be a Proteus too, and vary 
 kinds. The reflection of every man's views melts him ; whereof 
 he is as soon glutted. As he is a noun, he is only adjective, de- 
 pending on every novel i>ersuasion ; as a verb he knows only the 
 present tense. To-day he goes to the quay to be shippwl for 
 Rome ; but before the tidra come, his tide is turned. One party 
 thinks him theirs ; the adverse theirs ; he is with both — with nei- 
 ther ; not an hour with himself. Because the birds and beasts be 
 at controvers}', he will be a bat, and get liim both wings and teeth, 
 lie would come to heaven but for his halting. Two opinions (like 
 two watermen) almost pull him apieccs, when he resolves to put 
 his judgment into a boat, and go somewhither: presently he steps 
 back, and goes with neither. It is a wonder if his affections, being 
 but a little lukewarm water, do not make his religion stomach-sick. 
 Inditfercnce is his ballast, and opinion his sail ; he resolves not to 
 resolve. He knows not what he doth hold. He opens his mind 
 to receive notions, as one opens his palm to take a handful of 
 water ; he hath very much, if he could hold it. He is sure to die, 
 but not what religion to die in ! he demurs like a posed lawj-er, aa 
 if delay could remove some impediments. He is drunk when he 
 riseth, and reels in a morning fasting. He knows not whether he 
 should say his Pater noster in Latin or English ; and so leaves it, 
 and his prayers, unsaid. He makes himself ready for an appointed 
 feast ; by the way he hears of a sermon ; he turns thitherward ; 
 and yet, betwixt the church-gate and church-door, he thinks of 
 business and retires home again. In a controverted point, he holds 
 with the last reasoner he cither heard or read; the next diverts 
 him ; and his opinion dwells with him, perhaps so long as the 
 teacher of it is in his sight. He will rather take dross for gold, 
 tlian try it in the furnace. He receives many judgments, retains 
 none : embracing so many faiths that he is little better than an 
 
 infidel He loathes manna, after two days' feeding, and is 
 
 almost weary of the sun for perpetual shining. If the Temple 
 Pavement be ever worn with his visitant feet, he will run far to a 
 
 new teacJier His best dwelling would be his confined chamber, 
 
 where he would trouble nothing but his pillow. He is full of busi- 
 ness at church, a stranger at home, a sceptic abroad, an observer in 
 the street, everywhere a fool." — In like manner, "The Gai.i.axt's 
 
INTRODUCTION TO ADAils' \V0RK3. XXV 
 
 Burden" contains a full exposition of the remarkable words of the 
 Prophet: " The. burden of IJuinah. lU caUeth to me out of Seir, 
 Watchman, wlMt of the niglit? Watrhinan, w/i,it of t/i,- iii,jhf> 
 The watchman said, The morniiHj conifrth, and alsu liti' nii/ht : ij'i/e 
 vill enquire, enquire ye ; return, come.'' He doscribes the country 
 of Idumea. He represents the shortening of the name from Idumca 
 to Duuiah (as Aram is called Ram, and Ephcs-dammin is called 
 I'ardammim, and Damraim), as the insinuation of God's contempt 
 of that rebellious and accursed nation, by cutting short the name as 
 unworthy to stand in his Book, graced with the full length : the 
 estimation which the wicked bear with (rod is here expressed ; he 
 thinks the mention of them a blur to his sacred leaves : now, " shall 
 their persons sit in his kingdom with honour, whose names may not 
 stand in his Book without disgrace?" He then contrasts the hon- 
 our which the world is seeking with that which God bestows. The 
 " Burden" of the prophecy is considered as weighing heavy on the 
 prophet, from which he takes occasion to enlarge on the negligence 
 of ministers, and then, as heavy on whomsoei^er thcjj light, when he 
 denounces the mockers, murmurers, and all wicked and careless 
 hearers of the gospel. From the judgments on Seir, the strength 
 of Edom ; Nineveh, the pride of Assyria ; Troy, the pillar of Asia ; 
 Babylon, more a region than a city ; Carthage graced with seven- 
 teen tributary kingdoms ; Jerusalem and Rome — he then lifts up 
 this voice of warning to England : — " Let me not speak as a pro- 
 phet, but as an admonisher : It is impossible for the sin of Eng- 
 land to have the like effect. We are ready to say in pride, what 
 David spake in the assurance of faith : / cannot fall : thou, 0 Lord, 
 of thy goodness hast made my hill strong. Let us praise God for 
 that we have, and pray that our sins subvert it not. Let Dumah 
 speak with pride : though our privileges be more, let our presump- 
 tion be less : it is wise and safe to possess more than we boast of. 
 Though nature hath bound up the loins of our kingdom with a 
 girdle of waves, and policy raised another fence of wooden walls, 
 yet God must put about us a third girdle, — the bands or circle of 
 his providence — or our strength is weaker than the waters. It is 
 an old and sure rule against the atheist, against the worldlings — 
 that whole cannot be perpetual whose parts be alterable. If the 
 members of this great body, the world, change, faint, and grow old, 
 it argues a creeping decay to the whole. Let the cormorant know, 
 that would build his nest here for ever, that parts of this laud are 
 alterable, therefore the whole not permanent. If the plague takes 
 away men, the fields grow barren, nay, the wearied earth (after 
 
3Xvi INTRODUCTION TO ADAMS' WOEKS. 
 
 much industry) is dull in her fruits. Like an unnatural stcp-dame, 
 she produceth no good things of herself. If a deluge overrun us, 
 we and our glory vanish. God hath more means than one to in- 
 flict his judgments. It is with no less admiration than truth re- 
 ported, that a whole field in England is turned in one month from a 
 fertile soil to a most barren waste. It lies from the danger of 
 inundation, from the reach of the hand of war ; what then can 
 turn it to a perpetual barrenness ? Thus : God raiseth a mighty 
 wind that uncovers a mountain of sand which overspread the fruit- 
 ful valley to a great thickness, and it is made worse than C'armel 
 which God thus threatens : / will turn Lebanon into C'armel, and 
 Carmel into a forest : it lies in the power of man's sin to make God 
 curse his very blessings. The burden of Dumah is war. Mount 
 Seir fears it not. If the book of our hearts lay open to be read, I 
 think our fear of war is less than theirs. God grant our presump- 
 tion, our security, be not as great! We sit under our own Jig-trees, 
 <ind eat the fruit of our own vineyards. Our children go out by 
 flocks, and dance ; and flourish like the olive-branches round about 
 our table. Our oxen are strong to labour. Our sheep bring forth 
 thousands and ten thousands in our streets. There is no leading 
 into captivity, no dashing of our children against the stones, no com- 
 plaining in our streets. If this one blessing exceed not our thank- 
 fulness for all, my observation is deceived. But what a bold infer- 
 ence is this ! There is no war, therefore may be none, nor can we 
 be overthrown ! It is a speech as common as the stones in our 
 streets, when consideration of war is offered, ' We need fear no ene- 
 mies, if we be true amongst ourselves.' Vain security that is built 
 on ifs and ands. Who shall make us true to ourselves that have 
 been false to God ? Are there no sons of Belial amongst us, that 
 curse the prosperity of Zion, and gape for the day to cry Down with 
 it, down with it, even to the ground ? We know they have openly 
 and privately, with coat of armour and coat of mail, assaulted the 
 peace of Jerusalem, but (praise to our God) received shame in put- 
 ting off their harness. Let this make us thankful, not secure, as if 
 God could not reach his arm over our narrow seas. Behold France 
 made a cockpit for massacres by the uncivil civil wars theieof. 
 Think of the unquiet bread long eaten in the Low Countries. And 
 when thou sayest, ' We lay our heads on the pillows of peace, and 
 eat the bread of plenty,' kiss His hand with praises that feeds thee 
 with these blessings, but let not thy own strength make thee care- 
 less." 
 
 While keeping to the main idea started by the words of Scrip- 
 
INTRODUCTION TO ADAMS' WORKS. XXvii 
 
 ture, the lively and poetical imagination of this highly gifted writer 
 draws from the scenery of nature most appropriate and graceful 
 images. 
 
 " Be not too confident (whosoever) in thy Mount Seir. Every 
 mcked soul hath her Jlount Seir to trust in. They that have no as- 
 surance of rest in heaven, have their refuges and mountains of help 
 on earth. David so returns it upon the wicked : ' In the Lord 
 put I my trust ; how tlien say you to my soul, flee as a bird to your 
 mountain?' Why should I seek to foreign helps, that have settled my- 
 self in the bosom of Rest itself? Riches are a Mount Seir to the cove- 
 tous. They rest on them, as the ark on the mountains of Armenia. 
 Honour is a Mount Seir to the ambitious, against all the besieging 
 of rivals. Sensuality to the voluptuous, against all the disturbances 
 of a clamorous conscience. Pride, fraud, drunkenness, is as Mount 
 Seir to the lovers of them. But, alas ! how unsafe : if stronger 
 against, and further removed from, the hand of man, yet nearer to 
 God's hand in heaven, though we acknowledge no place far from 
 God or from his tbunder. Hut we say, it is not always the safest 
 sailing on the top of the mast. To live on the mountainous height 
 of a temporal estate is neither wise nor happy. Men standing in 
 the shade of humble valleys, look up and wonder at the height of 
 hills, and think it goodly living there, as Peter thought Tabor. 
 But when, with weary limbs, they have ascended, and find the 
 beams of the sun melting their spirits, or the cold blasts of wind 
 making their sinews slack, flashes of lightning, or cracks of thunder, 
 soonest endangering their advanced heads, then they confess (check- 
 ing their proud conceit) the low valley is safest. For the fruitful 
 dews that fall fast on the hills stay least while there, but run down 
 to the valley ; and though, on such a promontorj-, a man further 
 sees, and is further seen, yet, in the valley, where he sees less, he 
 enjoys more !" 
 
 Many passages of these discourses remind ns of the solemn and 
 tender beauty which so greatly charms us in Jeremy Taylor. 
 
 " Men and brethren, let us be thankful. Let our meditations tra- 
 vel, with David in the 148th Psalm, first up into heaven. Even 
 the very heavens and heights praise him. And those blessed angels 
 in his court sing his glory. Descend we then by the celestial bodies, 
 and we shall find the sun, moon, and all the stars of light praising 
 him. A little lower, we shall perceive the meteors and upper ele- 
 ments, the fire and hail, snow and vapour, magnifying him, even 
 the wind and storms fulfilling his word. Fall we upon the centre — 
 the veiy earth. We shall hear the beasts and cattle, mountains and 
 
xxviii INTEODUCTION TO ADAMS' WOEKS. 
 
 hills, fruitful trees and all cedars, extolling his name. The chirp- 
 ing birds still sing sweet psalms and carols to their Creator's praise, 
 every ir.oming when they rise, every evening when they go to rest. 
 Not so much as the very creeping things, saith the Psalmist, noisome 
 (Iraiioiis. and crawling serpents in the deeps, hut they do, in a sort, 
 ]Ai'-< tli^-ii- ilaki.T. Let not man, then, the first fruits of his crea- 
 t\ui.s. lor whoSL- SCO-ice all the rest were made, be unthankful." 
 Tlie following patlietic l o^sagc' occurs in a discourse on the words 
 of Jeremiah, "Is tliri.- n.. lialni in Gilead ?" which bears this 
 beautiful title, " Tin: Sinm I'as^ixo Bell ; or, a Complaint from 
 Heaven for Man's t^ius : — " If wc take these words spoken in the 
 person of the prophet, let us observe, that he is no good preacher 
 that complains not in these sinful days. Isaiah had not more cause 
 for Israel, than we for England, to cry, ' We have laboured in vain, 
 and spent our strength fur nought.' For, if we equal Israel in God's 
 blessings, we transcend them in our sins. The blood-red sea of 
 war and slaughter, wherein other nations are drowned, as were the 
 Egyptians, is become dry to our feet of pe^ce. The bread of hea- 
 ven, that true manna, satisfies our hunger, and our thirst is quenched 
 with the waters of life. The better law of the gospel is given us, 
 and our saving health is not like a curious piece of arras folded up, 
 but spread before our believing eyes, without any shadow cast over 
 the beauty of it. We have a better High Priest to make interces- 
 sion for us in heaven, for whom he hath once sacrificed and satisfied 
 on earth, with one act, with everlasting virtue. We want nothing 
 that earth can help us to, but that wliich we voluntarily xcill want, 
 and without which we had better have wanted all the rest — thank- 
 fulness and obedience. We return God not one for a thousand, not 
 a drachm of service for so many talents of goodness. We give God 
 the worst of all things, that hath given us the best of all things. 
 We cull out the least for his tithe ; the sleepiest hours for his 
 prayers ; the chippings of our wealth for his poor ; a comer of the 
 heart for his ark, where Dagon sits uppermost in his temple. He 
 hath bowels of brass, and a heart of iron, that cannot mourn at this 
 our requital. We give God measure for measure ; but after an ill 
 manner. For his blessings, Aeojuen,and shaken, and thrust togetlur — • 
 iniquities pressed domi, and running over. Like hogs we slaver his 
 pearls, turn his grace into wantonness, and turn again to rend in 
 pieces the bringers. Who, versing [turning] in his mind this 
 thought, can keep his cheeks drj- ? ' Oh that my head vrere u ateis, 
 and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might ireep day and night ! ' 
 No marvel, if the good soul tremble to think of it ; especially, when 
 
IXTRODUCTION TO APAMs' TVORKS. sxix 
 all this wickedness arisrtli (iint from Sr.ildin, ami Sidon, and Edom, 
 but) from the midst of the ,/„/,.,/,/. , Si,u.. ]\v that (■an sre this 
 and not sigh, is not a witm lurt an nt, :\iu\ sin hath olistnictcd 
 his lungs ; he cannot sorrow. i'(irlirar, tlim, ye captious sons of 
 Bdial, to complain against ns, for complaining against you. Whih; 
 this hydra of inifpiities puts forth her still growing heads, and tin; 
 sword of reproof cannot cut them ott', what should we do but mourn ? 
 Whither can we turn our eyes, but we behold and lament at once — • 
 some roving with lewdness, some raving with madness, others reeling 
 with chriety, and yet others railing with blasphemy? If we be not 
 sad, wc must be guilty. Condemn not our j'assions, but your own re- 
 bellions that excite them. The zeal of onv (mxI wliom u-e serve 
 with our spii-its, makes us, with Moses, to foi lm t ourselves. II « 
 also are men of like passions irilli i/nu. It is tin- comnion pica of us 
 all. — If you ask us wh-,- ivr -hi'w iiiir>elvrs thus weak, we return, 
 with Paul,— 11% do ,i„u tins, l!,i,„is-/ Our God hath charged us 
 not to see tlie funerals of your souls witlioiit sighs and fears. 77,«s 
 saith the Lord; timih: irith ihi/ liuml, „,i,l sl.m,/, irith /■"■I, and 
 say, Alas, for all thr rrll <il«,ml„„h.ws <.f ih. hnuse ..j' hm. I ; for 
 thetj fu.ll hj the sii-vrd, l,i/ the famine, and I,,/ thr jn -slil, nn . siiall 
 all complain of lost labours, and we brook the greatest loss in 
 silence ? — Merchants bewail the shipwreck of their goods, and com- 
 plain of pirates ; — shepherds of their devoured flocks by savage 
 wolves; — husbandmen of the tired earth, that recputes their hopes 
 with weeds; — and shall ministers see, and not sorrow for, the 
 the greatest ruin (the loss of the world were less) of men's souls? 
 They that have written to the life the downfall of famous cities, 
 cither wasted by the immediate hand of God, as Sodom, or by man, 
 as Jerusalem, as if they had written with tears instead of ink, have 
 pathetically lamented the ruins. iEneas Silvius, reporting the fall 
 of Constantinople, ' historifies,' together with her passion [sutTer- 
 ingj , his ovm compassion for it : — The murdering of children before 
 the parents' faces ; — the slaughtering of nobles like beasts ; — the 
 priests torn in pieces ; the religious flayed ; — the holy virgins and 
 sober matrons wronged and massacred ; — and even the reliqucs of 
 the soldiers' spoil given to the merciless f.re ! Oh wretched show 
 of a miserable city ! Consider Jerusalem, the city of God — the 
 queen of the provinces. Tell her towers ; mark well her bul- 
 warks ; carry in your mind the idea of her glories. And then, on 
 a sudden, behold the temple and houses burning, — the smoke of the 
 fire waving in the air, and hiding the light of the sun, — the flames 
 springing up to heaven as high as their sias had erst done ; — her 
 
XXX INTHODUCTION TO ADAMS' WOEKS. 
 
 old, yonng, matrons, virgins, mothers, infants, princes and priests, 
 prophets and Nazarites, famished, fettered, scattered, consumed ! 
 If ever you read, or hear, it without commiseration, your hearts are 
 liarder than the Romans that destroyed it. The ruin of great 
 things wrings out our pity; and it is only a Nero that can sit and 
 sing while Rome burns. But wliat are a world of cities, nay, the 
 whole world itself burning, as it must be one day, to the loss of men's 
 souls, the rarest pieces of God's fabric on earth?" — In the same dis- 
 course, there are passages remarkable for the vigour of the thought and 
 the terseness of the expression — '■ Let us avoid sin as much as we 
 may; and, though we cannot stay ourselves from going in, let us stay 
 ourselves from going on, lest our God complain against us. If we 
 make him sorrowful for a time, he can make us sorrowful for ever. 
 If we anger him, he can anger all the veins of our hearts. If, in- 
 stead of serving God by our obedience, we make him serve with our 
 sins, he will make us serve with his plagues. If we drive God to 
 call a convocation of heaven and earth — ' Hear, O heaven, and hear- 
 ken, O earth — I have nourished and brought up children, and they 
 have rebelled ag.iinst me.' If he call on the mountains to hear his 
 controversy, he will make us call on the mountains to help and 
 hide our misery. If we put God to his controversy, and make 
 him a plaintiff to enter his suit against us, he will put us to a com- 
 plaint indeed ; there/ore shall the land mourn, and every one that 
 dwelleth therein shall languish. lie will force us to repent the time 
 and deeds that ever made him to repent that he made us. He will 
 strike us with such a blow that there needeth no doubling of it. He 
 will maice an utter end ; destruction shall not rise up the second time, 
 as Ahishai would have stricken Saul at once ; and I will not smite 
 him the second time. We cannot so wrong God that he is deprived 
 of power to right himself His first complaint is, as I may say, in 
 tears ; his second in hlood. I have read of Tamerlane, that the first 
 day of his siege was honoured with his white colours ; the second 
 with the fatal red ; but the third with the final black. God is not 
 so quick and speedy in punishment ; nor come his judgments with 
 such precipitation. Nineveh, after so many forties of years, shall 
 yet have forty days. He that at last came with his fan in hb hand, 
 and fanned but eight grains of good corn out of a whole bamful of 
 cliaff — a whole world of people — gave them the space of one hun- 
 dred and twenty years' repentance. If Jerusalem >vill not hear 
 Christ's words, they shall feel his hands. They that are deaf to his 
 voice, shall not be insensible to his blows. He that may not be 
 heard will be felt . . . There is sweet mercy even in his chidings. 
 
INTKODHCTION TO ADAMS' WORKS. 
 
 He teacheth us a happy composure of our reprehensions. We arc of 
 too violent a spirit, if at least we know what spirit we are of, when 
 nothing can content us but fire from heaven. Ife that holds the 
 fires of heaven in his commanding hand, and can pour theui in floods 
 on rebellious Sodom, holds back his arm, and doth but gently loosen 
 his voice to his people. I know there is a time to hear the still 
 voice that came to Elias, or the whisperings of that voice behind : 
 ' This is the way ; walk in it' — can do little good ; and then God is 
 content we should derive from his throne thunderings and lightnings, 
 and louder sounds. The hammer of the law must soon break the 
 stony heart of rebellion ; and often the sweet balm of the gospel 
 must supple the broken conscience. Let us not transpose or invert 
 the method and direction of our office, killing the dying with the 
 killing letter, and preaching judgment without mercy, lest we reap 
 judgment without mercy to ourselves. Some men's hearts are like 
 nettles : if you touch them but gently, they will sting ; but rough 
 handling is without prejudice ; while others are like the briars that 
 wound the hard grasping hand of reproof, but yield willingly to them 
 that touch them with exhortation. One must be washed with gentle 
 baths, whilst another must have his ulcers cut with lances. Only 
 do all, not with an oblique and sinister purpose, but with a direct in- 
 tention to save. An odious, tedious, endless inculcation of things 
 doth often tire those with whom a soft and short reproof would find 
 good impression . . . 
 
 " It is objected that the thoughts of God are peace. He that is 
 covered with thunder and clothed with lightning speaks, and the 
 earth trembles ; toucheth the mountains, and they smoke for it ; 
 sharpens not his tongue like a razor, but speaks like a mournful com- 
 plaint. What, then, mean our preachers, to lift up their voices like 
 trumpets, and to speak in the tune of thunder against us ? We can- 
 not wear a garment in the fashion, nor take use for our money, nor 
 drink with a good fellow, nor strengthen one word with the credit 
 of an oath, but bitter invectives must be shot like porcupines' quills 
 at these slight scapes ! I answer, God knows when to chide and 
 when to mourn ; when to say, Get thee behind me, Satan, as to 
 Peter, and when coolly to tax Jonas, Dost thou well to be angry ? 
 But he that mourns for Israel degenerate, doth at another time pro- 
 test against Israel apostate, and swears they shall not enter into his 
 rest. We would fain do so too ; I mean, speak nothing but grace 
 and peace to you ; but if ever we be thorns, it is because we live 
 amongst briars ; if we lift up oar voices, it is because your hearts 
 are so sleepy that you would not else hear us." 
 
XXXll INTEODUCTIOS TO ADAMS' WORKS. 
 
 If any apology were needed for the fij^irative language, and the 
 varied style of illustration, in which this writer abounds, we know 
 not that one so fitting could be found as that which he himself su|;- 
 plies: — " God hath given us this liberty in the performance of our 
 callings, not only nakedly to lay down the truth, but with the helps 
 of invention, wit, art, to prevent the loathing of his mannii. If we 
 had none to hear us but Cornelius or Lydia, or such sanctified cars, 
 a mere affirmation were a sufficient confirmation. But our auditors 
 are like the Belgic armies (that consist of French, English, Scotch, 
 German, Spanish, Italian, &c.), so many hearers, so many humours : 
 the same diversity of men and minds, that, as guests at a strange 
 dish, every man hath a relish by himself — that all our helps can 
 scarcely help one soul to heaven. But of all kinds, there is none 
 that creeps with better insinuation, or leaves behind a deeper im- 
 pression on the conscience, than a fit comparison. This extorted 
 from David what would hardly have been granted, tliat, as Uavid 
 slew Goliah with his own sword, so Nathan slew David's sin with 
 his own word. Jotham convinced the Shecheraites' folly in their 
 approved reign of Abimelcch over them, by the talc of the bramble. 
 Even temporal occasions open the mines to dig out spiritual instruc- 
 tions. The people flock to Christ for his bread : Christ preaclieth 
 to them another bread, whereof he that eats shall never die. The 
 Samaritan woman speaks to him of Jacob's well ; he tells her of 
 Jesus' well, whose bottom or foundation was in heaven, whose mouth 
 and spring was downwards to the earth, cross [contrary] to all 
 earthly fountains, containing u-aler of life, to be drawn and carried 
 away on the buckets of faith. She thought it a new well ; she 
 found it a true well, whereof drinking, her souls thirst was for ever 
 satisfied. The cripple begs for an alms ; the apostle hath no money, 
 but answers his small request with a great bequest — health in the 
 name of the Lord Jesus. Ilis purse is nothing the fuller, his body 
 is much the happier. Tliis course, you see, both Christ and his 
 apostles gave us in practice and precept." 
 
 One of the attractions of Adams' sermons lies in his admirable 
 portraitures of the manners of his times. The licentiousness of 
 James's court is well known to all who are acquainted with the his- 
 tory and the literature of that age ; and the general corruption of 
 society, in tomi and country, were such as might be expected under 
 such a government. The exceptions to the prevailing tone of Eng- 
 lish manners might be found in every grade, especially among the 
 industrious citizens, the well-doing yeomanry, a portion of the clergy, 
 and not a few men of the highest rank and station. It was natural 
 
INTRODUCTION TO ADAMS' WOnKS. XXxiii 
 
 that not only courtiers, and ambassadors from other countries, Imt 
 preachers of the dai/, should often p;ive jiictiires of English soeiety in 
 their writings. Such pictures are intcrestiiii,' :is an essential part of 
 history, enabling us to form a correct judgment of the real state of 
 parties at the breaking out, during the continuance, and at the end 
 of the civil wars. To the Christians of the present day, they are of 
 peculiar value, for enabling us to estimate the moral progress of the 
 nation which has resulted from the diffusion of those principles, both 
 political and religious, which have been branded by their enemies 
 on the one hand, and honoured by their friends on the other, as the 
 Puritanism of our forefathers. 
 
 " In the infancy of the world God's blows were most [mostly] 
 outward; in this ripe (or rather rotten) age of it, they are most 
 [mostly] inward and spiritual. We have no bears to devour the 
 mockers, no fiery serpents to strike the murmurers ; God's punish- 
 ments reach most to the conscience : a sensual and senseless heart, 
 ■without apprehension of God's incensed anger, not made of pene- 
 trable stuff. If God's finger touch the body, we groan under the 
 weight : let his whole hand lie on the soul, we feel nothing. If this 
 bo not our burden and misery, what is? Like curious visiters, 
 ■svill ye not believe this age to labour of this sickness, unless you 
 behold some symptoms. Let your eyes take notice, and that not 
 without grief of soul, of the deadncss of heart among us. We ply 
 the world hard, dally with religion. We serve God in jest, our- 
 selves with all respect and earnest. Our devotions are like winter, 
 frosty, misty, and windy, of many natures, none other than cold. 
 Nothing arms, charms, and confirms our senses with attention, 
 spirits with intention, active powers with contention, but vanity. 
 Are not the benches in taverns and theatres often well replenished, 
 when these seats are thin and almost empty ? Are not the alleys 
 in this temple oftener full of walkers than the quire of petitioners? 
 Conference with the profane, ostentation of clothes, perhaps plots of 
 mischief, as frequent as suits to God : (making it a little less than 
 a den of thieves). If men stumble into the church as company, 
 custom, recreation, or (perchance) slee.]) invites many, they feed 
 their eyes with vanities ; if any drops he admitted in their ears, 
 they are entertained under the nature of conceits. Judgments 
 (they think) be none of their lessons ; they will not suffer their con- 
 sciences to apply them. Mercies they challenge and own, though 
 they have no right to them. If this estate be not a misery, burden ; 
 judgment there is none. The fire of the pestilence is well quenched ; 
 the rumoms and storms of war are laid ; the younger brother of 
 
 c 
 
XXXtV INTEODUCTIOV TO ADAMS' WORKS. 
 
 death, famine, doth not tyrannize over ns. But here it is our sins 
 and God's wrath (for them) meet, and the heart is hardened. This 
 is the sorest judgment. Let me speak a paradox, but a truth : 
 it is the plague of many that they are not plagued ; even this is 
 their punishment — the want of punishment ; and the hand of God 
 is then heaviest when it is lightest, heaviest on the conscience whea 
 it is lightest on the carcass. It is true of them what the philoso- 
 pher said of himself, thei/ are undone, that they are not undone. God 
 suffers their bodies to possess, and to be possessed of, rest ; they 
 sing to viols, dance their measures, their heads ache not, much less 
 their consciences. But (as to Israel, fat with the quails) God 
 withal sends leanness into their souls. The present indulgence gives 
 sufficient argument of future woes. They surfeit on pleasures till 
 death puts them out of breath. That worthy father, Augustine, 
 saw this, their (self-commanded) estate, and prayed against it : — 
 ' Lord, here plague, cut, massacre me, burn me, so that for ever, tliou 
 wilt spare and save me.' This is the most grievous burden. Se- 
 curity is the very suburbs of hell. There is nothing more -wretched 
 than a wretched man that recks not his own misery. An insensible 
 heart is the devil's anvil ; he fashioneth all sins on it ; and the blows 
 are not felt. We flow with those sins' to which no following pos- 
 terity will ever be able to add : so spreading an infection of sin 
 among us, that, as in a great plague, we wonder not so much at them 
 that die, as at them which scape ; so there is nothing a wonder, a 
 mirror, a miracle in nature, but he that lives unspotted of this world. 
 If you think I speak too bitterly, I would to God it were not worse 
 than I speak. I would your reformation might convince us of 
 shame, and give us cause to recant this in the pulpit. We load 
 God with our sins, and press him as a cart ^vith sheaves ; — we pack 
 up a bundle of lies, blasphemies, adulteries, perjuries, extortions, 
 frauds, and then hasten to the cross of Christ to unload them, as 
 if pressing our souls to hell with w41ful sins ; yet Christ, on the 
 least warning, must ease us. But, the promise is — not to men laden 
 with sins, but with sorrow for sins. It is such a load as must make 
 US weary, or we have no promise to be eased. But, alas, sin (which 
 is burden enough to sink the world) is made light by custom. . . . 
 How many have incurvate and oppressed souls, bowed down with 
 the spirit of infirmity (nay of rank iniquity) more than eighteen 
 years, that are not yet sensible of their own crookedness, nor the 
 cause thereof ! For it cannot be but the devoured patrimonies ot 
 many orphans — the ruins and depopulation of tovrns — the devasta- 
 tion of holy things, should be burdens too heavy for a poor crazy 
 
INTRODUCTION TO ADAMS' WORKS. XXXV 
 
 soul to Stand under ; piles of usury heavier than Etna, burdens of 
 bribes outbalancing the axle-tree, are more than the giants — theo- 
 machoi — monsters of men. and prodigies of nature, were able to 
 bear. We could not see a corrupted lawyer, citizen, cormorant, go 
 so nimbly, if they had not some help. Here it is. Tlie strong 
 man Satan (so it pleaseth Christ to term him), puts under his 
 shoulder, and makes the vessel go tight and easy, with an equal 
 balance, which could not else swim upon the waters without sink- 
 ing. Pride could not else carry a whole township on his back, 
 which his father Covetousness had (but newly) devastate, clamber- 
 ing up to honour (as Jonathan the garrison of the Philistines, by 
 the raggedness of those two rocks Bozez and Seneh, so these) by 
 the desolation of our two main rocks — the Church and the Common- 
 wealth. The unmerciful monopolies of courtiers — the unreasonable 
 prices of merchants — the hoards (if not transportation) of grain 
 with cormorants — the advantages made of the poor's necessities, 
 unconscionable fines, and rents, wringing the last penny from their 
 purses, and drop of blood from their hearts, — an intolerable weight ! 
 These wretches were never able to bear it without the aid of the 
 devil, who, while they draw with him in the same yoke, is content 
 to bear all the burden. At last, when Presumption hath left the 
 stage, and Desperation begins to knit up all with a direful catas- 
 trophe, the pulses beating slowly, the head aching vehemently, body 
 and soul refusing all proffered comfort, then the devil casts the 
 whole load on them, that at once they may despair and die ; then, 
 that which was lighter than corks or feathers, becomes heavier than 
 lead and earth. God hath often striven with them by his word. 
 They would never yield, — Thou shall overcome, 0 Lord— now 
 (perhaps with Julian, too late) they pant out — ' Thou hast over- 
 come .' ' Our crying in the day could not wake them. That cry 
 at midnight shall fetch them up, with the burden of envy, covetousness, 
 drunkenness, &c. ; and, as it was doomed to Babylon, — Look, how 
 much her glory and pleasure hath been, give her so muck torment and 
 sorrow. Nay, then the devil gets up too (like a merciless jailor) , 
 with the addition of his own weight, to aggravate their woes." 
 
 The following pithy and sarcastic passage throws much light on 
 the loving behaviour of the sons of the Church of England to their 
 mother, half a century before the ' Grand Rebellion.' 
 
 " — This is godliness — to be at cost with God. Therefore, our 
 fathers left behind them pledges, evidences, sure testimonies of their 
 religion in honouring Christ with their riches. (I mean not those 
 
XXXvi ISTRODTICTION TO ADAMS' WORKS. 
 
 in the days of Popery ; but before even the locUBts of the Papal See 
 made our nation drunk with that enchanted cup.) They thought 
 it no waste, either to Iniild new monuments to Christ's honour, or 
 to better the old ones. We may say of them, as Rome bragged of 
 Augustus C'jesar, — what they fuund of brick, they left marble ; in 
 imitation of that precedent in Isaiah (ix. 10), though with houestcr 
 hearts : — ' The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn 
 stones ; the sycamores are cut down, but we will cliange them into 
 cedars.' — In those days, charity to the Church was not counted 
 waste. The people of England, devout like tho.se of Israel, cried 
 one to another, ' Bring ye into God's house,' till they were staid 
 with a statute of Mortmain, like Moses' prohibition, they bring too 
 much. But now they change a letter (aj/ferte for a/Terte) , and cry 
 'Take away,' as fast as they gave; and no inhibition of God or 
 Moses, gospel or statute, can restrain their violence, till the ala- 
 baster box be as empty of oil as their own consciences are of 
 grace. We need not stint your devotion, but your devoration. 
 Every contribution to God's service is held waste. Now, any re- 
 quired ornament to the Church is held waste, but the swallowing 
 down (I say not of ornaments, as of things better spared, but) of 
 necessary maintenance. Tithes, fruit-offerings, all are too little. 
 Gentlemen in these cold countries have very good stomachs. They 
 can devour (and digest too) three or four plump parsonages. In 
 Italy, Spain, and those hot countries (or else nature and experience 
 too, lies) , a temporal man cannot swallow a morsel or bit of spiritual 
 preferment, but it is reluctant in his stomach, up it comes again ; 
 surely these northern countries, coldly situate, and nearer to the 
 tropic, [north pole, perhaps] have greater appetites ? The Afri- 
 cans think the Spaniards gluttons; the Spaniards think so of the 
 Frenchman ; Frenchmen, and all, think and say so of Englishmen ; 
 for they devour whole churches, and they have fed so liberally, that 
 the poor servitors (ashamed I am to call them so) , the vicars, have 
 scarce enough left to keep life and soul together, not so much as tiie 
 defence of hunger, and thirst, and cold requires. Your fathers 
 thought many acres of ground well bestowed ; you think the tithe 
 of those acres a waste. Oppression hath played the Judas witii 
 the church, and, because he would prevent the sins incurable by our 
 fulness of liro.id, hath scarce left us bread to feed upon ; Daniel's 
 diet uniong tlie lions, or Elias' in the wilderness. I will not cen- 
 sure //'"' ill this, VI' citizens. Let it be your praise, that though 
 V(.'u liwill in II //a/ hd'ims yourselves, you let not God's house /<« 
 
ISTKOnUCTTflN TO ADAMS' WORKS. XXXvii 
 
 waste. Yet sometimes it is found that some of ym/, so careful 
 in the city, are as negligent in tlic country, where your lanils 
 lie, and there the temples are often tlie ruins of your oppres- 
 sion. Your poor, undone, blood-suoked tenants not beiog 
 able to repair the windows or thi' h'ads, to keoj) out raiti or 
 'lirds: If a levy or taxation would force your lirncvolence, it 
 comes malevolently from you with a ' ^^'hy is tliis waste'.'' Kaise 
 a contribution to a lecture ; a collection for a Hrc ; an alms to 
 a poor destitute soul, and lightly there is one Jurlas iu the con- 
 gregation to cry — W/iiJ is tins waste? Yet you will say, ' If Christ 
 stood in need of an unction, though as costly as JIary s, you would 
 not grudge it, nor think it lost.' Cozen not yourselves, ye hypo- 
 crites. If ye will not do it to his Church, to his poor ministers, to 
 his poor members, neither would you to Oirist. If you clothe not 
 them, neither would you clothe Christ, if he stood naked at your 
 doors." 
 
 " Our slavery to epicurism is great in these days.. ..We sa- 
 crifice to our palates as to gods ; the rich feast, the poor fast ; the 
 dogs dine, the poor pine." 
 
 The skilful detection of motives and character hidden under the 
 disguises of religious pretension, is one of the most remarkable at- 
 tributes of this writer. 
 
 The sermon preached at Paul's Cross, March 7, 1612, is on 
 John xii. 6 — " This he said, not that he cared for the poor ; but be- 
 cause he was a thief, and had the barj, and bare what was put there- 
 in. I am to speak of Judas, a devil by the testimony of our Sa- 
 viour — Have I not chosen you ticelve, and one of you is a deoil 1 Yet 
 so transformed into a show of sanctimony, that he who was a devil 
 in the knowledge of Christ, seemed an angel in the deceived judg- 
 ment of his fellow-apostles. A devil he was — black within, and full 
 of rancour, but white without, and skinned over with hypocrisy ; 
 therefore, to use Luther's words, we will call him ' Tue White 
 Devil.' Even here he discovers himself, and makes good this 
 title. Consider the occasion thus : Christ was now at supper among 
 his friends, where every one shewed him several kindness. Among 
 the rest, Mary pours on him a box of ointment. Take a short view 
 of this affection. 1. She gave a precious unction, spikenard. 
 Judas valued it at three hundred pence, which, after the best com- 
 putation, is with us above eight pounds, as if she could not be too 
 prodigal in her love. 2. She gave him a whole pound (verse 3d). 
 She did not cut him out her devotion by piecemeal nor remnant 
 
xxxviii rimiODUCTios to adams' works. 
 
 nor serve God by the ounce ; but she gave all ! For quality, pre- 
 cious ; for quantit)-, the whole pound. Oh that our service to God 
 were answerable ! We rather give one ounce to lust, a second to 
 pride, a third to malice, &c., so dividing the whole jxiund to the 
 devil ; she gave all to Christ. 3. To omit her anointing his feet, 
 and wiping them with the hair of her head, wherein her humility 
 and zeal met : his feet, as unworthy to touch his head : with her 
 hair, as if her chief ornament was but good enough to honour Christ 
 witlial — the beauty of her head to serve Christ's feet. She brake tite 
 box ; and tliis of no worse than alabaster ; that Christ might have 
 the last remaining drop ; and the whole house was jillcd u ilh tJie 
 odour. At this repines J udas, pretending the poor, for he was 
 WHITE ; intending his profit, for he was a devil. 
 
 " In Judas' censure of Mary, many things are observable to his 
 shame — our instruction. ...Observe that Saint John lays this fault 
 on Judas only ; but Saint Matthew and Saiat Mark charge the dis- 
 ciples with it, and find them guilty of this repining, and that in both, 
 not without indignation. This knot is easily untied. Judas was 
 the ringleader, and his voice was the voice of Jacob, all charitable ; 
 but his hands were tlie hands of Esau, rough and injurious. Judas 
 pleads for the poor ; the whole synod likes the motion well ; they 
 second it with their verdicts ; their words agree, but their spirits 
 dififer. Judas had a further reach, to distil the ointment, through 
 the alembic of hypocrisy, into his own purse ; the apostles mean 
 plainly. Judas was malicious against his Master ; they simply 
 thought the poor had more need. So sensible and ample a difference 
 do circumstances put into one and the same action : presumption cr 
 weakness, knowledge or ignorance, simplicity or craft, do much ag- 
 gravate or mitigate an offence. The apostles consent to the circum- 
 stance, not to the substance, setting their hands, as it were, to a 
 blank paper. It was in them pity, rather than piety ; in Judas 
 neither pity nor piety, but plain perfidy — an exorbitant and trans- 
 cendent sin, that would have brought innocence itself into the same 
 condemnation : thus the aggregation of circumstances is the aggra- 
 vation of offences. Consider his covetousness, fraud, nialice, hj-po- 
 crisy, and you will see his sin is monstrous, sine modo, like a mathe- 
 matical line, infinitely divisible. The apostles receive the infection, 
 but not into so corrupted stomachs ; therefore, it may make them 
 sick, not kill them. Sin they do, but not unto death. It is a true 
 rule, even in good works, virtues are discerned from vices, not by 
 their offices, but by their ends or intents : neither the outward form. 
 
I 
 
 INTRODnCTION TO ADAMS' WORKS. XXxix 
 
 no, nor (often) the event, is a sure rule to meastire the action by.... 
 The same rule holds proportion in offences. Here they all sin : the 
 apostles, in the imprudence of their censure ; Judas, in the imprudence 
 of his rancour. Judas' train soon took fire in the suspectless dis- 
 ciples ; and Satan's infections shoot, through some great star, the in- 
 fluence of damnation into the ear of the commonalty. Let the ex- 
 perience hereof make us fearful of examples — 
 
 " Judas is bold to reprove a lawful, laudable, allowable work : he 
 said thus. I do not read him so peremptory in a just opportunity. 
 He could swallow a gudgeon, though he kicks at a fly. He could 
 observe, obey, flatter the compounding Pharisees, and thought he 
 should get more by licking than by biting. But here his mouth 
 waters at the money. His teeth rankle the woman's credit, for so 
 I find malignant reprovers styled. They do not mend, liut make 
 worse : they bite, they gnaw. Thus was Diogenes sumamed Cynic 
 for his snarling — the Dog of reproaches. Such forget that mercies 
 are above menaces. Many of the Jews, whom the thunders of 
 Sinai, the thunders of the law, moved not, John Baptist wins 
 with the songs of Zion. Judas could feign and favour, and fan 
 the cool wind of flattery on the burning malice of the consulting 
 Scribes. Here he is hot, sweats and swells without a cause. 
 Either he must be unmerciful, or over merciful ; either wholly 
 for the reins, or all upon the spur. He hath soft and silken words 
 for his Master's enemies ; coarse and rough for his friends. There 
 he is a dumb dog, and finds no fault ; here he is a barking cur, and 
 a true man instead of a thief. .... Observe his devilish disposition, 
 bent and intended to stifle goodness in others that had utterly 
 choked it in himself. Is the apostle Judas a hinderer of godliness? 
 Surely man hath not a worse neighbour, nor God a worse servant, 
 nor the devil a better factor, than such a one — an ^sop's dog, that 
 because he can eat no hay himself, lies in the manger, and will not 
 suS'er the horse ; he would be an ill porter of heaven gates, that 
 having no lust [desire] to enter in himself, will not admit others. 
 Is it not enough for thee, O Judas, to be a villain thyself, but thou 
 must also cross the piety of others ? Hast thou spoiled thyself, and 
 wouldst thou also mar Mary ? Nay, observe, he would hinder the 
 ■works of piety through colour of the works of charity, diverting 
 Mary's bounty from Christ to the poor, as if respect to man should 
 take the wall of God's service. Let not, then, O Judas, Charity 
 shoulder out Piety. Nay, charity will not, cannot : for faith ivorJc- 
 eth hy love. And Love never dined in a conscience, where Faith 
 had not first broken her fast. Faith and Love are like a pair of 
 
Xl INTRODUCTION TO ADAMS' W0EK8. 
 
 compasses ; whilst Faith stands perfectly fixed in the centre, which 
 is God, Love walks the round, and puts a pirdlc of mercy ahont 
 the loins. There may indeed lie a show of charity without faith ; 
 but there ean lie no sl)0\v of faith without charity. Man judgeth 
 
 h}' the hand, God liy the heai t Lastly, ohser*-e his unkindness 
 
 to Christ. What! Judas, grudf;o thy Master a little unction? 
 and (which is yet viler) from another's purse ? AVith what de- 
 traction, derision, exclamation, wouldst thou have permitted this 
 to thy fellow-servant, that repinest it to thy Master ! How hardly 
 had this been derived from thy own estate, that didst not tolerate 
 it from Mary's ! AVhat ! thy Jlaster, that honoured thee with 
 Christianity — praecd thee with apostleship — trusted thee with 
 stcwanl^liip — wilt thou deny him this courtesy, and without 
 thine own c^jst V Thy blaster, Judas ! thy Friend ! thy God ! 
 and yet, in a sweeter note, thy Saviour ! And canst not endure 
 another's frratuital kindness to him ? Shall he pour forth the best 
 unction of his blood, to bathe and comfort thy body and soul, and 
 thou not allow him a little refection? Hath Christ hungered, 
 thirsted, fainted, sweat, and must he instantly bleed and die, and is 
 he denied a little unction ? And dost ihov, Judas, grudge it ? It 
 had come more tolerably from any mouth — his friend, his follower, 
 his professor, his apostle, his steward ! Unkind, unnatural, unjust, 
 unmerciful Judas!" 
 
 Few writers are equal to this author in the rich, quaint, and 
 overwhelming abundance of imagery with which he paints the cha- 
 racters of men. Here is one specimen. Speaking of Esau, as a 
 ma)i of the _fic!cl, he says : — " There was his sport ; there was his 
 heart. Therefore did Isaac love Esau, because he did eat of 
 his venison. He loved his venison, not his conditions. Some 
 would read it thus, ' btcaiisc venison tras in his mouth,' and so turn 
 his hunting into a metaphor, as if by insinuation he had wound 
 himself into the favour of Isaac. But the other reading is better, 
 saving that, by the \vay, we may give a reprehension to such 
 mouth-hunters. If you would know who they are, they are the 
 flatterers, of whom we may say, as huntsmen of their dogs, they 
 are well-mouthed, or rather ill-mouthed ; for an ordinary dog's bit- 
 ing doth not ranlde so soon as their licking. Of all dogs they are 
 best liked to spaniels ; but they have a more venomous tongue. 
 They will fawn, and fleer, and leap up, and kiss their master's 
 hand ; but all this while they do but hunt him, and if they can 
 spring on liira at once, you shall hear them quest instantly, and 
 either present hun to the falcon, or worry and prey on him them- 
 
INTRODUCTION TO ADAHS' WORKf!. xli 
 
 selves, perhaps not so much for himself as for his feathtTS. For 
 they love, not Dominos but Dominorum, not their master's </ood, 
 but their master's r/oods. 
 
 " The golden ass, got into sumptuous trappings, thinks he hath as 
 many friends as he hath beasts coming about him. One commends 
 his snout for fairer than the lion's; another, his skin for richer 
 tlian the leopard's ; another, his foot for swifter than the hart's ; a 
 fourth, his teeth, for whiter and more precious than the elephant's ; 
 another his breath, for sweeter than the civet beast's ; and it is 
 wonder if some do not make him believe he hath horns, and those 
 stronger than the bull's, and more virtual than the unicorn's. All 
 this, while thcvdo but bunt him for his trapjiings : uncase him, and 
 you shall have them bafne and kick him ! Tliis doth Sulouiun in- 
 sinuate (Prov. xix. 4) : Riches ijatlur mam/ friends ; Imt the poor 
 is separetted from liis iieif/hfjaur. lie saitb not the rich man, but 
 riches. It is the money, not the man, tlicy hunt. 
 
 " The great one bristles up himself, and conceits himself higher by 
 the head than all the rest ; and is i}roiid of many friends. Alas, 
 these dogs do but hunt the bird of parailise for bis feathers. These 
 wasps do but hover about the gally-pot, because there is honey in It. 
 The proud fly, sitting upon the ebariot-whcel, which, hurried with 
 violence, hufl'ed up the sand, gave out that it was she whieli made 
 all that glorious dust. The ass, carrying the Egyjitian goddess, 
 swelled with the ojjinion that all those crouches, cringes, and 
 obeisances were made to him ; b\it it is the case, not the carcass, 
 they gape for. So may the chased stag boast how many hounds he 
 hath attending him. They attend, indeed, as ravens, a dying beast. 
 Acteon found the kind truth of their attendance. They run away, 
 as spiders from a decaying house ; or as the cuckoo, they sing a 
 scurvy note for a month in summer, and are gone in June or Jul}', 
 sure enough before the fall. These hunters are gone ; let them go; 
 for they have brought me a little from the strictness and directness 
 of my intended speech. But as a physician, coming to the cure, 
 doth sometimes receive some of his patient's infection, so have I 
 been led to hunt a little wide to find out these cunnin;/ hunters." 
 
 To some readers fond of curious learning, and quaint scorn of 
 errors and pretences that have faded before the light of advancing 
 knowledge, it cannot but be amusing to see how, more than two 
 hundred years ago, a man of wit and genius dealt with astrologers 
 and the folly of prognostieators. " Commend me here to all Geneth- 
 liaes, casters of nativities, star-worshippers, by this token that they 
 are all impostors, and, here, proud fools. Here be twins conceived 
 
xlii INTBODCOTION TO ADAUS' TTOHKS. 
 
 together, born together, yet of as different natures and qualities as 
 if a vast local distance had sundered their births, or as if the ori- 
 ginary blood of enemies had run in their veins. It is Saint Augus- 
 tine's preclusion of all star predictions out of this place. And since 
 I am fallen upon these figure casters, I will be bold to cast the 
 destiny of their profession, and honestly lay open their juggling in 
 six arguments. 
 
 " 1. The falsehood of their Ephemerides. 
 
 " Perhaps when some appoint rain on such a day, some frost, some 
 snow, others wind, or calm and fair weather ; some of these may 
 hit. l!ut, lighth-, he that against his knowledge, told true to-day, 
 lies to-morrow ; and he that lied yesterday, may happen right next 
 day; as a blind archer may kill a crow. For this cause (I think) 
 some were called erring or wandering stars, not so much because 
 they were uncertain in their own seats and motions, as because they 
 caused to err their clients and gaping inquisitors. And so they are 
 called erring in the same phrase and sense as Death is called pnle ; 
 not that it is pale in itself, but because it maketh those pale it 
 seizeth on. 
 
 " Therefore some of the subtler have delivered their opinions in 
 such spurious, enigmatical, dilogical terms, as the devil gave his 
 oracles, that since heaven will not follow their instructions, their 
 constructions shall follow heaven. And because the weather hath 
 not fallen out as they have before told, they will now tell us that 
 the weather falls so, that, reading their books, you would think, as 
 the beggars have their canting, they had got a new language out of 
 the elements which the poor Earth never did understand ; and it is 
 thought that canting is the better language, because it is not so 
 ambitious as to meddle with the stars ; whereof the prognosticator's 
 head comes as short, as his tongue doth of the beggar's eloquence- 
 
 "2. The state of fortune-tellers and prophecy -usurpers, which is 
 not only poor and beggarly (as if the envious Earth refused to re- 
 lieve those that could fetch their living out of the stars), but also 
 ridiculous. This is not all ; but they are utterly ignorant of their 
 own destinies. Now, he that is a fool for himself, how should he be 
 wise for others ? Thracias the soothsayer, in the nine years' drought 
 of Egypt, came to Busiris the tyrant, and told him that Jupiter's 
 wrath might be appeased by sacrificing the blood of a stranger. 
 
 " The tyrant asked him what countrj-man he was — of Egypt, or an 
 alien? He told him, a stranger. 
 
 " Thou, quoth the tyrant, art that lucky guest, whose blood shall 
 wet our soil, and give us rest. 
 
INTRODUCTION TO ADAMS' WORKS. xliii 
 
 " But I have spent too much breath about this folly of prog- 
 
 nosticators, of whom it may be said that not only the children of 
 this world are wiser in their generation than the childi-en of light, but 
 they would be wiser than the light itself. They would know more 
 than saints and angels, and search out the uninvestigahle things of 
 the Lord. If they could foresee future things, they would brag them- 
 selves equal to God. But secret things belong to God, revealed to lis. 
 
 " The other is both arrogant in man and derogant to God. And 
 Gregory says well : ' If such a star be a man's destiny, then is man 
 made for the stars, and not the stars for man.' The devils know 
 not future events, and will these boast it?" 
 
 As a writer of sermons, it may not be unimportant to notice the 
 ingenuity with which this author opens his subject, and arranges 
 his illustrations. On 1 Pet. iv. 19 — Let them that suffer according 
 to the will of God, commit the keeping of their souls to him in well- 
 doing, as unto a. faithful Creator — he thus begins : 
 
 " A true Christian's life is one day of three meals, and every 
 meal hath in it two courses. His first meal is to be born a sinner, 
 and to be new born a saint. / was born in iniquity, and in sin did 
 my mother conceive me : there is one course. ' Except a man be 
 bom again, he cannot see the kingdom of God :' there is the other 
 course. His second meal is, to do well and to suffer ill. ' Do good 
 unto all, but especially unto those that are of the household of faith :' 
 there's one course, of doing. All that live godly in Christ Jesus 
 shall suffer persecution : there's the other course, of suffering. The 
 third meal is, to die a temporal death, to live an eternal life. The 
 first is his breakfast, and herein he is naturally born in sin, and con- 
 demned for sin ; spiritually, born again in righteousness, and justi- 
 fied from sin. The last is his supper, wherein there is one bitter 
 dish — Death : It is appointed to all men once to die ; to all once, to 
 many twice ; for there is a second death, and that is truly a death, 
 because it is the death of life ; the other rather a life, for it is the 
 death of death, after which there shall be no more death. There- 
 fore, rise that you may not fall ; rise now, by a righteous life, lest 
 you fall into an everlasting death. If the soul will not now rise, the 
 body shall one day be raised, and go with the soul to judgment. 
 The second course is incomparably sweet — to live after death. I 
 say after death ; for a man must die that he may live : so that a 
 good supper brings a good sleep. He that lives well shall sleep 
 well. He that now apprehends mercy, mercy shall hereafter com- 
 prehend him. Mercy is the last end ; no hope beyond it : and this 
 is the time for it ; the next is of justice. The middle meal between 
 
Xliv IXTItODUCTION TO ADAMS' WOKKS. 
 
 both these is our dinner ; and tliat consists in doing good and suffer- 
 ing evil. Anil on these two courses my text spreads itself. First, 
 they that su ffer according to the tci/l of fjod, — there's the passion. 
 Secondly, they may trust God vith their souls in well-doiiiij, — there's 
 the action. More particularly, in the words we may consider five 
 gradual circumstances. 
 
 " 1. The sufferance of the saints ; they that su ffer. 2. The inte- 
 grity of this sufferance ; according to the will of God. 3. The com- 
 forts of tliis intefjrity ; maij commit their souls to God. 4. The bold- 
 ness ol tliis conifurt ; as unto a faithful Creator. 5. The canrion of 
 tliis l)(il(lncss ; in ircU-doing. ... It is the part of a Christian to 
 suffer wlu'rcsoevi r he is ; let him expect it. Adam was set upon in 
 I'aradise ; J ob in the dunghill. J ob was more strong to resist temi>- 
 tatiuns in the miserable dust, than was Adam in that glorious gar- 
 den. Tlie Jews were commanded to eat sour herbs with their 
 sweet passover. Bitterness ever treads on the heels .of pleasure. 
 Jacob hath a son, .md loseth his wife : Benjamin is bom, Rachel 
 dies. Our Lady, coming from that great feast, lost her son Jesus 
 three days. Seven days slie bad eaten sweet bread ; here followed 
 three days' sour bread f^r it. Good things are to be taken with 
 
 much thankfulness ; evil with much patience Sudden crosses find 
 
 weak souls secure ; leave them miserable ; make them desperate. A 
 looked-for evil suuirts more gently. Unexpected joys are more 
 gracious ; but unexpected evils are more grievous. Mischiefs come 
 most commonly without warning. They do not allow, as Jonas did 
 to Nintveli, forty days' respite ; not so much as an hoc nocte — this 
 night, which was allowed to the worldling — thi.i night shall they fetch 
 thy soul from thee. Happy man, that gives himself warning. He 
 that conceits what may be, arms himself against what must be . . . 
 Thou art at home in peace, singing in thine ovm vineyards. Thou 
 sittest in a shock, secure, while thy reapers fell the humble com at 
 thy foot, and fill thy banis. What if, for religion, thou shouldst 
 be sent to exile, where thou mayest weep, with Israel, to thy derid- 
 ing enemies, demanding a song of Zion — hoxv shall I sing the song 
 of joy in a strange land ? How canst thou digest the injuries and 
 brook tlie contempt of strangers ? Fear not to be scourged, but to 
 be disinherited. 
 
 " There is so much comfort in sorrow as to make all affliction to the 
 elect a song in the night. Adversity sends us to Christ, as the le- 
 prosy sent those ten. Prosperity makes us tum our backs upon 
 Christ, and leave him, as health did those nine (Luke xvii.) Da- 
 vid's sweetest songs were his tears. In misery, he spared Said, his 
 
INTBODUCTION TO ADAMS' WORKS. xlv 
 
 great adversaiy ; in peace, ho killed Uriah, his dear friend. The 
 ivicked sing with grasshoppers, in fair weather ; but the faithful (in 
 this like sirens) can sing in a storm. When a man cannot find 
 peace upon earth, he quickly runs to heaven to seek it. Affliction 
 sometimes maketh an evil man good, always a good man better. 
 
 UjTng, there is no comfort hut to trust the soul with 
 
 Ciod. So said David, Lord, into thine hands I commend my spirit. 
 So .Stephen, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. With these words our 
 Lord Jesus himself gave up the ghost. It is justice to restore 
 whence we receive. It is not presumption, but faith, to trust God 
 with thy spirit. The soul of the king, the soul of the beggar ; all 
 one to him. David was a king, Lazarus was a beggar. God re- 
 ceives both their souls. From giving up the ghost, the highest is 
 not exempted ; from giving it into the hands of God, the poorest is 
 not excepted. There is no comfort like this. When riches bring 
 cither no comfort, or discomfort ; when the wardrobe, furniture, 
 trinkets, wine, offend thee ; when thy money cannot defend thee ; 
 when thy doctors feed themselves at thy cost, cannot feed thee ; 
 when wife, children, friends, stand weeping about thee — where is 
 thy help — thy hope ? All the world hath not a drachm for thee. 
 This sweetens all: — Lord, into thy hands I commend my soul; 
 iJwu hast redeemed me, 0 thou God of truth ! Our spirit is our 
 dearest jewel. Howl and lament, if thou think thy soul is lost. 
 But let thy faith know, that is never lost which is committed to 
 God's keeping. That soul must needs pass tluougli the gates of 
 death which is in the keeping of God. Woe were us if the Lord 
 did not keep it for us while we have it, much more when we restore 
 it. While our soul dwells in our breast, it is subject to many mise- 
 ries, to manifest sins. Temptations, passions, misdeeds, distemper 
 us. In heaven it is free from all these. Let the soul bo once in 
 the hands of God, it is neither disquieted with sorrow for sin, nor 
 sin, which is beyond all sorrow. There may be trouble in the wil- 
 derness ; in the land of promise there is all peace. Then may we 
 sing, ' Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowler : 
 the snare is broken, and we are escaped.' It is there above the 
 reach of the devil. Tlicre is no evil admitted into the city of hea- 
 ven, to wrestle with the citizens thereof. Death is ready at hand 
 about us. We carry deaths enow within us. We know we shall 
 die. We know not how soon. It can never prevent us or come 
 too early, if our souls be in the keeping of God. Man was not so 
 happy when God gave his soul to him, as he is when he returns it 
 to God. Give it cheerfully, and then, hke a faithful Creator, that 
 thou givest him in short pain, he willgive thee back with endless joy. 
 
Xlvi INTRODUCTION TO ADAMS' W0BK8. 
 
 " Oh ! wretched man that most die, and knows not what 
 
 sliall hcfuiiie of his soul. The world would have it ; but he knows 
 it must not. Himself would keep it, but he knows he cannot. 
 Satan would have it, and he knows not whether he shall. He would 
 have God take it, and he knows not whether he will ! O miserable 
 luan ! that must part with his soul he knows not whither." 
 
 i)n the ordinary topics of religious consolation, we find many 
 passages of great beauty. In a discourse on the " Victory of Pa- 
 tience, " he says : — 
 
 " Our patience is our crown, and others' conversion. Euscbius, 
 from Clement, reporteth that when a wretched accuser had brought 
 Saint James to condemnation, seeing his Christian fortitude, he was 
 FO touched in his conscience, confessed himself a Giristian, so was 
 taken to execution with him, where earnestly beseeching Saint 
 James to forgive him, he, after a little pause, kissed him, and said — 
 Peace to thee, brother ! and they were beheaded together. Oh ! 
 blessed patience, which not only gets honour to ourselves, but brings 
 others to salvation, and, in all, glorifies God ! Prayer. This was 
 the apostles' refuge in the time of affliction. Acts iv. 24. Bernard, 
 in a fiction, doth excellently express this necessity, and enforce this 
 duty. He supposcth the kings of Babylon and Jerusalem (by whom 
 he means the world and the church) to be at war one against the 
 other. During this hostility, a soldier of Jerusalem was fled to the 
 castle of Justice. Siege was laid to this castle, and a multitude of 
 enemies environed and intrenched it round. There lies near this 
 soldier a faint-hearted coward called Fear. This speaks nothing 
 but discomfort ; and when Hope would step in to give some courage, 
 Fear thrusts her out of doors. While these two opposites, Fear 
 and Hope, stand debating, the Christian soldier resolves to appeal 
 to the direction of Sacred Wisdom, who was chief counsellor to the 
 captain of the castle. Justice. Hear Wisdom speak. Dost thou 
 know, saith she, that the God whom we serve is able to deliver ns? 
 Is he not the Lord of Hosts? even the Lord mighty in battle? 
 We will despatch a messenger to him with information of our ne- 
 cessity. Fear replies — What messenger ? Darkness is on the 
 face of the world. Our walls are begirt with an armed troop, which 
 are not only strong as lions, but also watchful as dragons. AVhat 
 messenger can either escape through such an host, or find the way 
 into so remote a country ? Wisdom calls for Hope, and cliargeth 
 her with all speed to despatch away her old messenger. Hope calls 
 tu Prayer, and says — Lo, here a messenger speedy, ready, trusty, 
 knowing the way. Ready ; you can no sooner call her than she 
 comes. Speedy; she flies faster than eagles, as fast as angels. 
 
INTRODUCTION TO ADAMS' WORKS. xlvii 
 
 Trusty ; what embassage soever you put in her tongue, she delivers 
 with faithful secrecy. .She knows the way to the throne of mercy ; 
 and never faints till she come to the chamber of the royal presence. 
 
 " Prayer hath her message. Away she flies, borne on the sure and 
 swift wings of Faith and Zeal, Wisdom having given her a charge, 
 and Hope a blessing. Finding the gate shut, she knocks and cries. 
 Open, ye gates of righteousness, and be ye open, ye everlasting 
 doors of glory ! that I may enter, and deliver to the King of Jeru- 
 salem my petition. Jesus Christ hears her knock, opens the gate 
 of mercy, attends her suit, promiseth her infallible comfort and 
 redress. Back returns Prayer, laden with the news of consolation. 
 She hath a promise, and she delivereth it into the hands of Faith — 
 that were our enemies more innumerable than the locusts in Egypt, 
 and more strong than the giants the sons of Anak, yet Power 
 and Mercy shall fight for us, and we shall be delivered. Pass we 
 then through fire and water — through all dangers and difficulties, 
 yet we have a messenger holy, happy, accessible, acceptable to God, 
 that never comes back without comfort — Prayer." 
 
 The passage which Adams here borrows from Bernard, is much 
 more elaborate and full, in the composition of the last of the Latin 
 Fathers. It occurs in his Sermones de Puona Spiritual!, Ser. ii., 
 the first volume of the Paris edition, folio 1632, pp. 422-424. It 
 is one of the noblest specimens of that allegorical treatment of spi- 
 ritual subjects, with which English readers are so much delighted 
 in the Holy War of Bunyan. 
 
 It would be easy and profitable to go on gathering extracts 
 from these old writings, with their not unpleasing quaintness — 
 their briUiant images — their burning rebukes — their gentle com- 
 fortings — their clear expounding of Scripture doctrine ; — their 
 plain enforcement of Christian duties ; — their striking felicities 
 of expression ; — their holy temper ; — their copious learning. But 
 we must introduce to our readers some account of " The Ex- 
 position of the Second Epistle of St Peter," of which the evi- 
 dence is not small, that it was published by the same author, 
 three years after the publication of his Discourses and Meditations. 
 Of this exposition we can truly say, we know nothing of the kind 
 in Enghsh theology that at all equals it for fulness of explanation, 
 richness of matter, depth of sagacity, originality of thought, and 
 strength and brilliancy of expression. 
 
 On the first verse, having expounded, at much length, not tedi- 
 ously, "the title" of the writer, and the reasons why he calls him- 
 self a " servant of Jesus Christ," he adds: — 
 
 "There are two special observations in this title, 'servant:^ 
 
xlviii 
 
 IJJTHODUCTION TO ADAMS' WOEKS. 
 
 Hirist's exceUenaj, and the Apostle's humUily. This extols the 
 fli,:^iity of Christ, that so famous an Apostle creeps to him on the 
 kiKcs of lowliness; Lord, I am thy servant. The world esteemed 
 him without form or comeliness, and when they see him, without 
 beauty that they should desire him. The Psalmist speaki in his 
 periioii, ' / am a worm and no man ; a reproach of men, and de- 
 spised of the people.'' ' To the Jews a stumhling-hhck, to the Greeks 
 foo/ishness.' But Peter styles himself the servant of him that was 
 crucified. Indeed, the service of Christ is the honour of the Chris- 
 tian. Our Saviour admitted and accepted this just honour, 'Ye 
 call me Master and Lord ; and ye say well, for so I am.' Men in 
 tlie world arrogate dignity to themselves, hecanse so famous men are 
 their servants. Ahasuerus might boast of his viceroys ; the Turk 
 of his bashaws ; but let all sceptres be laid down at the foot of the 
 Lamb ; all sheaves bow to the sheaf of Joseph ; all cro^vns be sub- 
 jected to Him that is crowned with imspeakable glory for ever. 
 This is a clear remonstrance of St Peter's humiUty ; a famous apostle. 
 Some have given him more, the primacy of the apostles : yet, what 
 is bis own title? A servant of Jesus Christ. The godly are no fur- 
 ther ambitious than to belong to Christ. There is a great suit to 
 be retained in the service of princes ; but the best is to serve the 
 Prince of princes. What need to wait upon a channel, that may 
 dwell by a whole river ? or serve him that serves, when we may 
 serve him that reigns ? A poor estimation of ourselves gives us 
 the richest estimation with God. ' Wliere thou wast little, I tlien 
 made thee great.'' Abraham says, I am not worthy. God dignifies 
 him to be the father of them that believe. Every Christian's 
 escutcheon must be Patience; and his motto, I serve. Yea, not only 
 saints, but angels, are glad of this title. ' Are they not all ministering 
 spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salva- 
 tion ?' "When St John would have worshipped before the feet of 
 the angel, he replied, ' See thou do it not, for I am thy fellow-ser- 
 vant.' And let me go yet higher ; the natural Son of God, and 
 that by an eternal generation, put on Him a ser*-iceable nature: 
 he took upon him the form of a servant. He was so formed, so 
 habited to service, that he endured all sorrow, and fulfilled .ill 
 righteousness. Art thou better than apostles, better than angels, 
 better than the Son of God himself, O proud dust, that thou despisest 
 the title of a servant I" 
 
 If there were any doubt that this exposition is from the 
 same Thomas Adams who wrote the Discourses, it would be 
 removed by comparing the description of Repentance, select- 
 ed from one of the sermons (pages vi. vii.), with the picture of 
 
IXTIiODLTTIOX TO ADAMs' WORKH. xlix 
 
 Repentance, of wlitch he says (Exposition, chap, i., verse 4), 
 "AVliit'Ii I desire not to ho set n]) in yonr honscs, liut to be laid 
 
 .lifin,,;,! t..n,.),r., ,-:-,rl, as ti.; ..,. : •• Vou .Iiall' ev,.n l,rr Mt.i.iR in 
 th,' .Inst, l.rr kincs liMwii,-, \wr l,:,ii(ls ^vI•i,l.;lll-, l,.;r .'y<'s wrepln;;, 
 
 lier lijis jirayini;, lier li^'art 1 caliiiu', her liin^^s pantintr Slic is not 
 
 gorgeously attired ; sackclotli is lier garment. She hangs the word 
 of God as a jewel at lier car, ami ties the yoke of Christ as a eharm 
 abo'ut her neck. Tlie groinul is her bed. She eats the bread of 
 affliction, and drinks the waters of anguish. The windows of all 
 her senses are shnt against vanity. She bills Charity stand the 
 porier at her gate^, and she gives the poor bread, even while her- 
 self is fasting. She would wash Christ's feet with more tears than 
 Mary Magdalene ; and if her estate could reach it, give him a 
 costlier unction.... Lastly, she is lifted up to heaven, where angels 
 and cherubim sing lier tnncs of immortal joy, and God bids Im- 
 mortality set her on a throne of glory!" 
 
 The preacher and exiioiuider delights in sneh portraits "The 
 
 Papists say images arc the books of idiots: but the prophet calls 
 them teachers of lies ; and all know they are occasions of sin. Let 
 me give you a picture without the offence ; behold an image without 
 sin. It is of Virtue. You shall no sooner see the medal than 
 you will straight know the face. Conceive her a virgin of un- 
 spotted chastity : fair, yet never courted with obsequious language. 
 She hath a face white as heaven, mixed with some lovely red ; — 
 white with her own innocence, ruddy with blushing at others' 
 naughtiness — of her Saviour's complexion, ' my Beloved is white 
 and ruddy.' She hath a brow clear as crystal, wherein God hath 
 written wisdom. This is lier courage ; she may be affronted, she 
 cannot be affrighted. She hath eyes that never sent out a wanton 
 look ; those casements were never opened to let in vanity. She ig 
 not poring with them on the earth, but directs them to heaven, 
 where they shall one day see her desire, even the glory of God. 
 The Lord loves those eyes. She liath lips like a thread of scarlet, 
 and her speech is comely. She hath the tongue of angels : when 
 she speaks, she ministers grace to the hearers. She diseoursetli 
 the language of Canaan most perfectly, and never opens her mouth, 
 hut the first air she breathes, echoes with the praise of her Maker. 
 Her ears are like the sanctum sanctorum of the temple : none but 
 the High Priest must enter there. They are stopped to the songs 
 of any siren, open to the mouths of any poor. What gracious 
 words she receives in at those doors, she sends them like jewels 
 
 d 
 
1 
 
 ISTEODUCTION TO ADAMS' TTOBKS. 
 
 to be laid up in the cabinet of her heart. She hath two 
 hands, one of equity, another of charity ; none for injury. She 
 gives every one his due, for justice' sake ; some more than due, for 
 mercy's sake. She gives, forgives ; does that to others which she 
 expects at the hands of Clirist. She hath bowels of mercy. Tlie 
 members of Christ are as dear to her as her most inward and vital 
 parts. She feeds them, as considering what it were to have empty 
 bowels herself. Her knees were never stiffened with pride. She 
 can easily bow them to give her superior homage, but throws them 
 down at the footstool of her Maker ; yet still the heart is lower, and 
 she never risetli without a pardon. Her feet are still travelling the 
 ways of piety, and running the race of salvation. She knows this 
 life is a journey, and no time to stand still ; therefore she is shod 
 for the puqjose with the preparation of the gospel of peace. She 
 never rests till she has gotten within the threshold of heaven. She 
 hath a white silken garment ; the snow of Lebanon is black to it ; 
 not woven out of the bowels of worms, but out of the side of 
 her Saviour. She is clothed all over vnth his righteousness, which 
 makes her beautiful in the sight of her Maker. She is girt with the 
 girdle of truth, and sins not, ' not because she cannot, but because 
 she will not' (August.) She hath a crown promised — blessedness ; 
 her Redeemer, even the King of heaven, did bequeath it her in his 
 will ; and she shall wear it in eternal glory. And let every soul 
 that knows and loves her on earth, or hopes to enjoy her reward in 
 heaven, call her blessed." 
 
 In a style less poetical, but full of truth, sound sense, and manly 
 devotion, he thus describes the man who adds to his faith virtue, 
 and to virtue knowledge : — 
 
 " Will you now take a short character of the knowing man ? He 
 desires to know all things, but first himself ; lest, knowing acquaint- 
 ance in every place, he should die a stranger to his own heart ; and 
 in himself, not so much his strength as his weakness. To know our 
 own virtues makes us proud ; our own vices, humbleth us. His 
 eyes are never both at once from home ; one keeps house, while the 
 other goes abroad for intelligence. He is blind in no man's cause, 
 but best sighted in his own. He confines himself to the circle of 
 his own affairs ; and thrusts not his fingers into needless fires. His 
 heart's desire is to know God ; and he knows there is no better way 
 to know him than through Jesus Christ. Herein consists his hap- 
 piness, for so he makes sure work for his soul. It is the best, and 
 therefore first regarded ; and he never rests till his faith be built on 
 assurance that God hath pardoned his sins, and given him a place in 
 
INTRODUCTION TO ADAMS' WORKS. H 
 
 hoavpn. The world he so far seeks to know, that he may abhor it. 
 He sees the falseness of it ; and therefore learns to trust himself 
 ever ; others, so far as not to be damaged by their disappointment. 
 Ifc knows this to be a short and miserable life, and therefore studies 
 the way to a blessed and eternal one ; that this world shall perish, 
 tlicrefore is loth to perish with it ; that money may make a man 
 richer, not better, and therefore chooseth rather to sleep with a good 
 conscience than a full purse. He had rather the world should count 
 him a fool than God ; therefore desires no more wealth than an ho- 
 nest man may bear away. He knows this world's delight consists 
 of crotchets and short songs, whose burden is sorrow : only heaven 
 hath the best music, where glorious angels and saints sing for ever 
 to the Lord of Hosts. He knows his own ignorance ; endeavours 
 to science ; and what he cannot apprehend, he begs wisdom of God, 
 not of everything, but only of so much as may make him blessed. 
 He knows how to make his passions, like good servants, to stand in 
 a diligent attendance, ready at the command of religion. If any of 
 them, forgetting their duty, be miscarried to rebel, he first conceals 
 the mutiny, then suppresseth it. He will not see every wrong done 
 him, knowing he hath done more to his Maker. After continual ac- 
 quaintance with the Scriptures, and humble familiarity with the 
 Holy Ghost, he knows the way to heaven perfectly, and runs apace 
 till he gets into the arms of his Saviour." 
 
 On the doctrine of election, while the Calvinism of the Reformers 
 is taught without reserve, there is a skilful refutation of objections, 
 and, at the same time, the truth is guarded from perversion, and the 
 Christian is taught how to derive, from his faith in this doctrine, 
 both spiritual consolation, and motives for diligent obedience to the 
 will of God. 
 
 In describing the felicity of heaven, he avails himself of an allu- 
 sion which had been made by Bernard to the crown of twelve stars, 
 in Rev. xii. 1. 
 
 " Into this little ring let us bring the discourse of that infinite 
 glory. 
 
 " Let the first star be memory without forgetfulness. The se- 
 cond star is reason without obscurity, understanding without error. 
 The third star is a perfect will of good, without perturbation. 
 The fourth star is the charity and impassibility of the body. The 
 fifth star is the renovation of all things. The sixth star is universal 
 charity without envy. The seventh star is the common and uni- 
 versal joy — ^an effect of the former. The eighth star is a love of 
 ourselves, only for. God's honour. The ninth star is the beatifical 
 
lii INTRODUCTION TO ADAMS' TTOEKS. 
 
 vision of God. The tenth star is the fulness of pleasures. The 
 eleventh star is the continual praising of God for his glory. The 
 last star of this crown is the last passage of my text, which is the 
 eternity of all — it is an ' everlasting kingdom.' This is the crown 
 of twelve stars, wherewith the God of mercy crown all our heads in 
 the everlasting kingdom of Jesus Christ. Amen." 
 
 On the expression in 2 Pet. i. 17 — " Such a voice" — he lavishes 
 a full stream of racy learning and gorgeous illustration. 
 
 " Tully commends voices: Socrates' for sweetness ; Lyslas' for 
 siihtlcty ; HyiicriJes' for sharpness ; ^schines' for shrillness; De- 
 mosthenes' for powerfulness ; gravity in Africanus ; smoothness in 
 Lcelius — rare voices ! In holy writ, we admire a sanctified bold- 
 ness in Peter; profoundness in Paul ; loftiness in John ; vehemency 
 in him and his brother James, those two sons of thunder ; fervency 
 in Simon the zealous. Among ecclesiastical writers, we admire 
 weight in Tertullian ; a gracious composure of well-mattered words 
 in Lactantius ; a flowing speech in Cyprian ; a familiar stateliness in 
 Chrysostom ; a conscionablc delight in Bernard ; and all these graces 
 in good Saint Augustine. Some construed the Scriptures allegori- 
 cally, as Origcn ; some literally, as Jerome ; some morally, as Gre- 
 gory ; others pathetically, as Chrysostom ; others dogmatically, as 
 Augustine. The new writers have their several voices : Peter 
 ^Martyr, copiously judicious ; Zanchius, judiciously copious. Luther 
 wrote with a coal on the walls of his chamber : lies et verba Phi- 
 lq)pus ; res, sine verhis LutJterus ; verba, sine re Erasmus ; nec res 
 nec verba Carlostadias. Melancthon hath both style and matter ; 
 Luther, matter without style ; Erasmus, style without matter ; Carl- 
 stadt, neither the one nor the other. Calvin was behind none, not 
 tlie best of them, for a sweet dilucidatlofi of the Scriptures, and urg- 
 ing of solid arguments against the Anti-Christians. One b happy 
 in expounding the words ; another in delivering the matter ; a third 
 for cases of conscience ; a fourth to determine the school doubts. 
 But now put all these together : a hundred Peters and Pauls ; a 
 thousand I3ernards and Augustines ; a million of Calvins and Me- 
 lancthons. Let not their voices be once named with this voice : 
 They all spake as children. This is the voice of the Ancient of 
 Days." 
 
 On another part of the same sublime passage, he observes : — 
 " This glorious vision and voice from heaven amazed the dis- 
 ciples, that ' they fell on their face, a)ul weresore afraid.' Christ, 
 •with the touch of his hand, recovered them, 'and when they had 
 lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only.' Because, 
 
1KTH0DUCT10N TO ADAJIS' WORKS. liii 
 
 indeed, he was that person only to whom both law and propliets 
 bare witness. They have done their office, and then tliey vanish, 
 that Christ may be all in all. There is only one mediator. 
 Christ ; it is he only that satisfies the law, and sanctifies tlie con- 
 science ; he only that reconciles us to God. Let Moses and 
 Elias, and all others, disappear in the work of our salvation ; 
 only give us Jesus Christ. I conclude: Peter and the rest 
 knew Moses and Elias in the mount, whom they never saw before ; 
 they being departed many hundred years before the others were 
 horn. Yet they could distinguish Moses from Elias, Elias from 
 Moses, and both from Christ, and say, This is Moses, This is Elias, 
 and ' That is Christ.' This is a lively tj^pe and shadow of that 
 glory in heaven, where every saint shall perfectly know all. Not 
 Abraham nor any of the patriarchs, not David nor any of the kings, 
 Elias nor any of the prophets, not Peter nor any of the apostles, 
 not Stephen nor any of the martyrs, not any of our friends, kind- 
 red, nor acquaintance, none of the now unknown believers scattered 
 on the face of the broad earth, shall in that place be strangers to us. 
 Our knowledge shall extend to every individual person ; all shall 
 know every one, and every one shall know all. Now let us love 
 one another, pray for one another, do good one to another ; then 
 and there we shall know one another, and all be eternally known 
 and loved of our blessed God."' Then with what holy ingenuity 
 and elegance docs he sum up the contents of a chapter, so differ- 
 ent from the cold and dry summaries of modern commentators ! 
 " The sum of this whole chapter hath been a sweet garden of 
 grace and mercy. The first flower was a salutation ; and that is 
 a wish for mercy. The fourth, an exhortation ; and that is the way 
 to mercy. The fifth, a witness of our election ; and that is an as- 
 surance of mercy. The sixth, an induction to heaven upon earth ; 
 and that is a high degree of mercy. The seventh, a testimony from 
 heaven ; and that was the voice of mercy. The eighth, a word of 
 performed prophecy ; and that was an argument of mercy. The 
 ninth, an illumination of the gospel ; and that is the light of mercy. 
 The last is the glory of heaven ; and that is the full day and perfec- 
 tion of mercy. Through these blessed degrees, my discourse hath 
 brought you : first, we began with peace ; then dwelt long with 
 grace ; and lastly are come to glory. This peace possess your 
 consciences ! this grace beautify your hearts ! and this glory 
 crown all your souls ! Now unto Him that is able to keep you from 
 falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory 
 with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, he glory 
 and '"ajesty, dominion, and power both now and ever! 4.men." 
 
lir INTRODnCTlON TO ADAMS' W0BK8. 
 
 Besides these beautiful illustrations of Scripture, the writer 
 abounds in wise suggestions of the uses which we are to make of 
 the Scriptures for ourselves. After expounding very learnedly, 
 and practically at the same time, the passage in the second 
 chapter of the Epistle respecting false prophets, he concludes by 
 saying : — 
 
 " It was thus with them; in it we may see our own case. They 
 say it is half a protection to foreknow a danger. Behold the Apos- 
 tle's fidelity, and therein God's mercy. We are forewarned. Pre- 
 cedents give light to succeeding times. We see further than the 
 fathers, because, like dwarfs, we get up on their shoulders. We see 
 with their eyes, and our own too. So Diogenes might brag that he 
 had more wit than his mother, because he had his mother-wit and 
 his own too. There is no treasure so much enricheth our mind as 
 learning — no learning so applicable to our life as history — no his- 
 tory so directing as example — no example so worthy our observa- 
 tion as that which is written by God's own finger. It was an old 
 saying, to get knowledge by another's expense and experience is, as 
 it were, to feed fat at another man's cost. Israel was God's people 
 as well as we; yea, in respect of our faith, our fathers ; therefore, if 
 they were tempted by false prophets, and sinned ; if they sinned, and 
 were punished ; let us not, having the same danger, and erring in 
 the same manner, think to escape the same punishment. 'All 
 these things happened unto them for ensamples, and are icritten for 
 our admonitimi.' God hath set up these sins, as crocodiles to terrify 
 us ; and we entertain them as sirens to seduce us !" 
 
 As one of many specimens of the graphic force and vivacity with 
 which a truth is brought home, after a long and careful exposition, 
 the following is one which can scarcely faU to strike the most care- 
 less reader : — " Now see, O renegade, whom thou refusest. Thou 
 knowest not whom thou deniest, therefore thou deniest. If thou 
 hast brought honour by thy valour, thou callest it thine; if endeared 
 a friend by thy loyalty, thou caUesthim thine; if purchased a house 
 vrith thy money, thou callest it thine. Christ hath bought thee 
 with his blood, and yet thou deniest to be his. This ransom is 
 paid ; and now, in a merciful offer, he tenders it to thee. Wilt thou, 
 in a peevish sullenness, refuse it ? Conceive this dialogue between 
 the Redeemer and thee. 
 
 " Redeemer. Open to me. 
 
 " Disciple. No, I know not whence thou art. 
 
 " R. Rise and see. 
 
 " D. No, I am in my warm bed of pleasures and carnal satisfac- 
 tion ; I ^vill nnt rise. Who art thou ? 
 
INTnODCCTlON TO AUAMS' WORKS. Iv 
 
 " R. I am Jesus, thy Redeemer. Wilt thou still swear anrl for- 
 swear ? 
 
 " U. I know none such. — R. I bought thee ; thou art mine; 
 I come to embrace thee. Deny me not. — D. Yes : take me 
 when all other delights forsake me. Let too he thine when I am 
 not my own. Till then, keep thy cheer to thyself. 1 have dreamed 
 of pleasures, and cannot come. 
 
 " Oh! obstinate hearts, whom the King of heaven must buy with 
 his Wood, woo with his grace, wait upon with liis patience, enrich 
 with his proffers of mercy, and yet, at last, be denied ! Lord, turn 
 to such as love thee ! We deny not thee. Deny not us, O good 
 LordJesiis! Amen." 
 
 Li the course of his Exposition, he is led to treat of some of the 
 most perplexing questions in the metaphysics of theology. Here 
 he displays as much penetration of intellect, and strength of rea- 
 soning, as if he never had had leisure to cull a flower of poetry, or 
 heart to frame a moving appeal. On the 6th verse of the second 
 chapter he thus writes : — 
 
 " Observe that God is not the cause of man's transgression or 
 damnation. ' Let no man say, when he is tempted, I am tempted 
 of God.' Seneca hath a saying not unlike of the gods. Dii nec 
 hahent nec dant malum : (The gods neither receive nor bestow 
 evil). But it is objected: 'It is God's will that I should thus 
 sin and thus fall ; why doth he yet find fault ? who hath resisted his 
 will ? My will is borne upon the stream of his inevitable will. I 
 sin by compulsion ; why doth he yet complain?' Oh! detestable 
 speech, that charges God with our iniquity ! than which the grand 
 devil could not war a worse above ground. Consider their dilemma: 
 evil is done, and God doth suffer it ; whether then doth he suffer 
 it against his will, or with it? If against his will, this takes away 
 his omnipotence ; if with his will, then he wOled it. For answer, 
 the will of God is partly secret, wholly just. It is two ways con- 
 sidered. First, as it is written in tables, published by a trumpet, 
 seconded with blessings, curses. Then, as concealed, written in 
 another book, wrapped up in the counsels of his own breast. What 
 God formerly (in the first sense) wills, is not always done, yea, is 
 done seldom ; what in the other respect he wills, is infallible. If 
 we press further into his secrets, we are bid stand back. Adam 
 was driven out of Paradise for affecting too much knowledge. The 
 Israelites had died the death, had they passed their bounds, and 
 climbed up to the mount. Fifty thousand threescore and ten men 
 of the Bethshemites were slain for looking into the ark. There are 
 
Ivi ISritODDCTIOS TO AOAMS' WOUKS. 
 
 some unsearchable mysteries as high as the Iiighest heavens, covered 
 yvith a curtain of sacred secrecy, not to he drai\-n till the day come, 
 wherein we shall know as we are known. Now, when men have 
 spilt blood, defiled the marriage-bed, provoked heaven with rapes, 
 treasons, depopulations, blasiiheraies, — what ! have they done the 
 will of God? Indeed, in respect of liis hidden purpose, tliey have 
 done his will, in sjjite of all their malicious and sworn contradic- 
 tions. For upon tlicni that will not do as he would liave it, he 
 will do himself as he would have it. But in respect of themselves, 
 the wicked have done what t!od willed not; for he commanded the 
 contrary, and hath expressed that will in his word !" 
 
 There is a similar example of the way of dealing with a deep 
 diflficulty, in expounding '• the aivjeh lliai sinned :" — 
 
 " The cause — which was indeed wholly in themselves. For either 
 God or man must be the connnon cause of their sin, or themselves. 
 Not man ; for had not the angels fallen first, they could not have 
 been the cause of liis fall. That nature continuing good in itself, 
 would never have prociived evil to others. Not God ; for then 
 that were injustice t.i r..n<! irn tlniu for that which he himself 
 caused. It were tiiii i I.:' ::il;e them fall, and then punish 
 
 them for falling, liiii 1. i - it, and would not prevent it ; 
 
 and in not hindering it, he si ruiLd to cause it. Indeed, this holds 
 of the creature, who is bound, foreseeing an evil, to do his best in 
 preventing it, and, otherwise, is made accessory to it. But God is 
 an absolute Lord of all, and not botmd to any of his creatures, fur- 
 ther than he bindeth himself. In Christ he hath bound himself to 
 believers ; and all his promises are j-ea and amen, and he will keep 
 his word. But shall any creature challenge him for not doing that 
 which he never promised to do ? 
 
 " But God did not confirm them in their created grace ; therefore 
 caused their fall. — Ansicer : God did not [lurpose their confirma- 
 tion ; he gave them power of willing, not will of standing. He is 
 not tied to confer more grace upon his creature than himself pleaseth. 
 It was enough that he created them righteous, without addition of 
 their confirming, lie is not bound to do whatsoever he can, nor to 
 give account of whatsoever he doth. In a word, the angels had in 
 themselves the proper cause and bcgimiing of their own fall, which' 
 was a free and flexible will. They might will good and perseve- 
 rance in good ; and — that will being mutable — they might also will 
 evil, and so fall from God. The same kind of will was in innocent 
 Adam. — But, good trees cannot bring forth bad fruit ; therefore, 
 the angels being good, could not sin of themselves. — Ansa er : 
 
INTKODUCTION TO ADAMS' WORKS. Ivil 
 
 Those words must be construed seiisu composito, rum disjuncto, 
 'in their connexion, not separately from it.) Indeed, a good tree, 
 remaining good, cannot produce evil fruit, but being changeable, it 
 may. — ^But God foresaw it, therefore the angels could not escape it. — ■ 
 Answer: Yet is not his prescience any cause of their fall, but 
 only an antecedent. Because we sin, therefore it was foreknown 
 to God, therefore we sin. God saw Judas's treason in the glass of 
 his prescience, before Judas had a member composed, or the world 
 was formed ; yet was not this the cause why Judas betrayed Christ. 
 He foresaw it ; he did neither compel it, nor command it, nor al- 
 low it. Prescience is to God as memory is to us. Memory 
 presents to us things past ; prescience to God, things to come. 
 Our memory is not the cause why things past were done, nor is God's 
 foreknowledge the cause why things to come shall be done. We 
 remtfmber some things we do ; we do not all the things we remem- 
 ber. So God foresees all he does ; he does not all he foresees. We 
 remember an orchard such a time planted that now yields good fruit 
 hy nature, not by violence : so Goi foresaw it. We remember a mur- 
 der done by will, not compulsion : so God foresaw it. Neither 
 our memory nor God's prescience caused these, but they come to 
 pass, natural, by nature ; voluntary, by mil ; contingent, by haps ; 
 necessary, by necessity. 
 
 " — But, did God only foresee it ? No ; also he decreed it : why 
 then, how could they avoid it? — Answer: He decreed to leave 
 them to themselves, that they might fall if they will, and then to 
 give them no grace of rising. — But then, as good hit me as throw 
 me : it is all one to thrust an old man down, as to take away liis 
 staff which shoiJd support him. — Ansicer : Nay ; but the old man 
 throws away his own staff, and God doth not reach it him ; they did 
 forsake their own grace, and fall by their own folly. — But here let 
 ns fall from disputation to admiration. ' Oh the depths of the wis- 
 dom of God ! how unsearchable his judgments ! and his ways past 
 finding out !' " 
 
 We have seen how skilfully this writer could vindicate the use of 
 imagery in conveying his instructions. 
 
 Observe the ingenious turn he gives to the unexpected length at 
 which he had dwelt on one part of his subject : — " As a man that 
 has seen a model of a church in a perspective piece thinks at first 
 he may soon survey it all, mthout leaving anything unobserved ; 
 but when the glass is given to him, made for the purpose, through 
 which he is to look upon it, both his eyes and mind are taken up 
 with a longer time of speculation, and he finds it work enough for a 
 
Iviii INTKODUCTIOS TO ADAMS' WOBKS. 
 
 pair of hours to note every part of that curious fabric ; many a 
 pillar and many a posture b presented to him worth his sight, 
 which at the first blush he would have passed over as not remark- 
 able. So at my entrance into this short argument (little in show, 
 infinite in sense), I promised myself a quick despatch, and thought 
 it but one day's journey at the most ; but the farther I advanced 
 into this magnificent and beautiful structure, the more my thoughts 
 grew, and the more work I found ; many a column of comfort, many 
 a door of hope, many a window of light is espied, and would not 
 he left undiscovered — that the weak might have instruction, the 
 stronger satisfaction, all consolation, and in all, God might have the 
 glory of his wisdom." 
 
 We have assumed, in a former part of this essay, that Mr Adams 
 was a man little addicted to parties, either in the church or in the 
 state, seeing that we can find no trace of him in any record within 
 our reach of the changeful times in which he lived. The remark 
 was made with anything but an intention to disparage the more forward 
 spirits by whose boldness, energy, and sufferings, the plague of despo- 
 tism was stayed, and the healthful air of liberty secured for all gene- 
 rations. But when disputes were running high, and extravagances 
 were witnessed, which we can forgive for the sake of the glorious prin- 
 ciples with which they happened to be connected, it is not surprising 
 that a man of quiet nature, a lover of order, who feared tlie disturb- 
 ance which reforms bring with them more tlian he apprehended 
 the permanent value of the reforms themselves, should think it both 
 safe and right to keep aloof. In such a position, a man preserves 
 the coolness of his mind, and judges mth more calmness than zeal 
 of the men who are heated by the contest. There are many pas- 
 sages in these writings which discover such a state of mind. Thus, 
 speaking of being " found of him in peace," after fuUy opening the 
 passage, and inculcating the spirit of peace on earth, as a prepara- 
 tion for the full fruition of its blessedness in heaven, he goes on to 
 say — " We see a fearful combustion all over the Christian world, 
 wars in some places, rumours of wars in all places ; we, therefore, 
 if we love peace, have cause to fall to our prayers for peace, that 
 God would so rule the rulers of nations and kingdoms that their 
 hearts may be disposed to peace. So our church hath taught us to 
 pray ' Give peace in our time, O Lord ;' and that ' he would give 
 unto all nations unity, peace, and concord.' For ourselves at home, 
 blessed be the God of peace for it, we have abundance of peace. We 
 lie down and rise up in peace. We go to our temples in peace. We 
 
INTRODUCTION TO ADAMS' WORKS. lix 
 
 go to OUT graves in peace. Yet the quietest waters may be moved 
 hy the vf inds ; and we are not without some tempestuous spirits that, 
 as if they had fed so long upon the sweet plenty of peace till they 
 had taken a surfeit, are loud advocates for war. ' Fear the Lord 
 and the king, and meddle not with them that are given to change. 
 The desire of change is the mother of murmuring, which breeds a 
 whispering and buzzing of false rumours into false ears. They sjyeak 
 out of the ground, and whisper out of the dust. (Isa. xxix. 4.) 
 These whisperings and murmurings, like vapours rising out of the 
 earth, multiply into the storms of sedition ; sedition grows into 
 mutiny ; and mutiny ends in confusion. They that are troubled 
 with the desire for innovation will be troubling majesty itself, and 
 had rather than do nothing, undo all. Out of their popular and 
 vainglorious humour, they would be counted angels, though it be 
 but for troubling the waters. Be the garden never so fair, they 
 would make the world believe that there is a snake under every leaf. 
 Be the intention never so sincere, they will prognosticate and divine 
 sinister and mischievous effects from it. Such men have little 
 hopes to be found of Christ in peace ; for ' the way of peace have they 
 not known.' A troubled spirit is a sacrifice to God, but a troublesome 
 spirit is far from it : it is rather a sacrifice to Satan. 
 
 " But woe to them that break the peace of the church, that blend 
 religion with contention, put those asunder which God hath joined 
 together — Truth and Peace ! With what violent passions do men bandy 
 controversies ! Ho w they do wrangle in print, and fight vrith their pens, 
 as soldiers with their pikes — all wounding the peace of the Church ! 
 With wliat bitterness of spirit do they defy one another ! I would to 
 God we had less of the polemical, and more of the positive, divinity. 
 I deny not but wisdom ought to be justified of her children : an indif- 
 ference to contrary opinions in fundamental doctrines ; the shuffling 
 of religions together in a bag, and making it all one which they 
 choose, is a cursed stupidity. So a Turk might say in scorn of us, 
 both Protestants and Papists, ' They call you heretics ; you call theni 
 idolaters ; why may not idolaters and heretics agree well enough 
 together?' But a true Christian will never make contrarieties in 
 fundamental things indiff'erent, nor the Word of God and the tradi- 
 tions of men all one. But what needs this frequency of disputations, 
 this multiplying of volumes ? Why should we answer every dog 
 that barks with barking again ? Why should we think the truth 
 utterly lost, unless we weary the press with indications of it ? The 
 tongue is afire, but the pen goes further ; adds fuel to this fire, and 
 shoots it abroad where the tongue cannot reach — of all which, being 
 
Ix I.NTKODUCTIOJf TO AUAMs' W0BK3. 
 
 of SO peace-brpaking a nature, like those hooks of curious arts (Acts 
 xix. 19), if there were a good fire made, the Church might well en- 
 dure to warm her hands at it ; for it were certainly better for us to 
 want some truth than to have no peace ; and a man that never 
 studied controversies may, without controversy, be saved. ' Strive 
 not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers ;' 
 for thereby the whole are often wounded, but the weak are seldom 
 strengthened. '■If any man may seem, to he contentious, we have no 
 such custom, neither the churches of God.' The custom of the Church 
 is to follow peace, to fly contention." 
 
 Nothing impresses the reader of this Exposition more, perhaps, 
 than the seemingly boundless affluence of the writer's resources. 
 The following introduction to an expository lecture on 2 Pet. iii. 15, 
 strikes us as singularly original and happy : — 
 
 " Among the many disputes and opinions, what became of the 
 soul of Lazarus all the time of those four days that his body lay in 
 the grave ? — Isidore Pelusiota thinks that it was in heaven ; and he 
 proves it by this reason : because Jesus u-ept at his raising. Why 
 wept he ? Life is good, and Lazarus was his friend ; and to raise up 
 his friend to life was a good work ; here was no cause of tears. Why- 
 then wept Christ ? What, did he weep for company ? Because Mary 
 wept, and Martha wept, and the people wept, therefore Jesus also 
 wept. Was this the cause of those tears ? Did he weep for com- 
 pany, or was it for affection ? As the Jews interpreted his tears : 
 ' Behold how he loved him !' But we weep for fear to lose a friend, 
 when sickness hath so far prevailed upon him that we give him up 
 for dead, and not for his reviving ; at his recovery we rather rejoice. 
 Or was it for the hardness of the work, as Martha conceived it ? 
 ' Lord, by this time he stinketli, for he hath been dead four days.' 
 Not so, certainly ; even the blind Jews could confute that opinion : 
 ' Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have 
 caused that even this man should not have died V They might con- 
 clude. He can raise him with a word, and to speak a word is no 
 such hard work. He did not, then, weep for the difficulty. Or 
 was it in a mystery ? Shall we understand, by Lazarus lying four 
 days in his grave, a sinner many years buried in the customs of sin, 
 and hardness of heart ? Indeed, there is some difficulty in raising up 
 such a dead soul. Jesus himself weeps ; he spends not only blood, 
 but tears about it. Was it for any of these reasons — for compas- 
 sion, for affection, for difficulty, or for a mystery — that Jesus 
 wept? 
 
 "Yet another, and (some think) a better reason, may be given for 
 
INTRODUCTION TO ADAMS' WORKS. 
 
 his weeping. It is this : Lazarus' soul had now left its mortal ta- 
 bernacle, and was delivered out of prison, from all the pains and sins 
 and assaults and troubles which it endured in the body. It was 
 taken up by angels into rest, peace, and glory. Now, at this rais- 
 ing up of Lazarus, it must be called down to its old dwelling ; 
 and for this Jesus wept — that a soul in triumph should be brought 
 back to warfare ; from that mount of infinite joys to descend into 
 the valley of tears ; from that place of peace to return to the region 
 of trouble; from Abraham's bosom to Adam's pilgrimage; for La- 
 zarus again to be made mortal, necessitated again, besides all sor- 
 rows, to death. This was a change that might well ask tears ; for 
 Jesus wept. I deny not but this was for the glory of God, and, in 
 effect, no more tlian happened to Moses after that glorious specula- 
 tion ; to the three apostles after Christ's transfiguration ; to Paul 
 after his rapture ; and to John after his vision. Yet, for this Jesus 
 wept." 
 
 We have now placed 1 efore the reader enough, we trust, to in- 
 terest him in this rare old preacher and expounder of the Scriptures, 
 and to prepare him to relish those of his works which are here re- 
 printed. He will find in them a rich variety of intellectual refresh- 
 ment and of spiritual instruction. To many his name will be alto- 
 gether new. He belonged to a period when the new translation of 
 the Scriptures had stirred up many minds ; ivhcn the English cha- 
 racter was about to be tried by searching tests ; when the political 
 constitution of our country was in the throes of that crisis of blood 
 and fire from which the unseen hand of God brought it forth, with 
 the strength and majesty of our native oak, that strikes its roots all 
 the deeper for the fury of the storm ; — when philosophy was taking 
 larger strides than she had ever taken before ; when poetry, in 
 every department, waved a bolder wing; when eloquence gave 
 forth a statelier tone ; when the genius of the land, rising up in the 
 dignity of freedom, was preparing for that memorable conflict which 
 was to scatter the seeds of truth, liberty, and religion through the 
 world. 
 
 Though not a Nonconformist, he was a Puritan. Though a 
 Churchman in the days of Laud, he was a Calvinist. Though un- 
 honoured by the degrees of a University, he abounded in deep and 
 varied learning. Where he was born, or when, and how he died, 
 we know not. He has left no diary, and found no biographer. 
 There is no " Old Mortality" to explore his grave, and renew his 
 epitaph. His only monument is in his works. In his own day, 
 
Ixii IKTRODUCTION TO ADAMS' WORKS. 
 
 they must have excited great attention, as we infer from the places 
 in which he preached, and from the editions tlirough which several 
 of his publications passed. There is little probability of their being 
 ever brought out again as a whole ; nor, perhaps, is this to be de- 
 sired, as every age brings its own demands, and finds its own supply. 
 We can account for tlie oljsciirity in which tliey have been so long 
 hidden, only by recollecting that there was no great party in the 
 Church, or in the nation, that would be anxious to perpetuate his 
 memory, or to do him Iionour. The Nonconformists of the age im- 
 mediately following were rich in authors of their own ; and the the- 
 ology brought into fashion at the Kestoration was not lilcely to ap- 
 X)reciate so sturdy a Calvinist, and so stem a rebuker of sin. 
 
 The modern reader may feel something like tediousncss in some 
 parts of his compositions ; but he will find him always original, fresh, 
 hearty, honest, full of matter, and plentiful in ornament. His 
 quaintness will be rather a relief from the tame monotony that has 
 so long passed for elegance. His ingenuity cannot fail to delight. 
 The more he is read, the more engaging he becomes ; and he who 
 has read him oftenest, ivill be the most eager to read him yet once 
 more. Truly he playeth well upon his instrument. 
 
 His voice is that of one unknown, and yet familiar. He caiTies 
 us with him through the fields of nature, and along the haunts of 
 busy men. He scatters round our spirits the odours of Paradise, 
 and regales ns -with the music of the skies. 
 
 He brings us to the Comforter. He draws back the vail of 
 heaven. He lifts our souls to God. He teaches us to think — to 
 pray, and shews us how to live and how to die. With a strong 
 hand he tears the covering from the hypocrite, or rolls away the 
 stone from the well's mouth, that the thirsting may drink and live. 
 Clear in his understanding, he unravels the tangled threads of spe- 
 culative theology, and weaves a web of wholesome doctrine. Witli 
 the eye of a poet, the heart of a saint, and the tongue of an orator, 
 he gives substance to abstractions, personifies the virtues, paints the 
 beauties of holiness, and brings to the ear the voices of the distant 
 and the dead. Like the prophet in the A'alley of Vision, he pro- 
 phesies to the dry bones, and they are clothed with flesh ; he pro- 
 phesies to "the IJreath," and the dry bones live. Life seems to 
 be the grand distinction of his writiings. In his hand the word of 
 truth becomes indeed a " lively oracle," and Christianity not a 
 thing but a being. His appeals are as pungent, and as solemn as 
 sentences from a throne of judgment. To preachers, and all indeed 
 who desire to speak to others of religion vrlth impression and effect, 
 
INTKODUCTION TO ADAMS' WORKS. Ixiii 
 
 we earnestly commend this writer. As Edwards conotrains to 
 closeness of thought ; as Howe inspires sublimity of sentiment ; as 
 Bates lights up the soul with a soft and silvery light ; as Owen lades 
 the mind with a harvust of ripe knowledge ; as Taylor cheers the 
 imagination with a vintage of delicious grapes ; as Baxter fires the 
 heart with longings for salvation, first of ourselves and then of 
 others ; — even so does Adams lead to those springs of graphic power, 
 of dramatic grandeur, and of subduing pathos, of which it is the fear 
 of many that they are dried up. We hope they are not dried up. 
 AVe believe they are not. We cannot but think that there are 
 minds now opening on the awful solemnities of the Christian minis- 
 try to whom this example will bo inciting. Let them look at things 
 with their own eyes, ponder them in silent and lonely thought, pray 
 over the fruits of such meditations, till they kindle into living pic- 
 tures ; and so let them pour out their feelings in the best words 
 they can find ; there will then be no just complaint of the want of 
 originality and power in the English pulpit. Scholarship will not 
 be mistaken for genius. Traditionary habits will not be substituted 
 for manly devotion. Dryness will not be felt to be necessary to 
 orthodoxy. Poetry, beauty, strength, majesty, ovenvhelming ear- 
 nestness, will gather round the preacher of the gospel, in one willing 
 audience, the scientific and the busy — the child and the sage — the 
 wealthy and the poor ; and the grand attraction to the heart of man, 
 in all his many-hued varieties, will still be as of old — The Ceoss op 
 Gbbist. 
 
TEE 
 
 THREE DIVINE SISTERS, 
 
 FAITH, HOPE, AND CHARITY. 
 
 Now abldeth faith, hope, charity, these three ; but the greatest of these is 
 charity.-I Cor. xiii. 13. 
 
 When those three goddesses, say the poets, strove for the 
 golden ball, Paris adjudged it to the queen of Love. Here 
 are three celestial graces, in a holy emulation, if I may so 
 speak, striving for the chiefdom ; and our apostle gives it 
 to Love. The greatest of these is Charity. 
 
 Not that other daughters arc black, but that Charity 
 excels in beauty. We may say of this sister, as it was said 
 of the good woman, " Many daughters have done virtuously, 
 but thou excellest them all," Prov. xxxi. 20. Paul doth 
 not disparage any when he sayeth, Cliarity is the greatest, 
 1 Cor. xiii. 13. All stars are bright, though one star may 
 differ from another in glorj'. AVe may say of graces, as of 
 the captains of the sons of Gad ; " the least a hundred, the 
 greatest a thousand." Or as the song was of Saul and 
 David: " Saul hath slain his thousands, David his ten thou- 
 
 NoTE. — The Latin quotations throughout this volume are all trans- 
 lated, although it has been deemed proper to retain the Latin as in the 
 original work. 
 
4 
 
 THE THREE DIVINE SISTERS. 
 
 sands," Faith is excellent, so is Hope ; but " the p^reatest 
 of these is Charity." 
 
 These are three strings often touched ; Faith, whereby 
 we believe all God's promises to be true, and ours ; Hope, 
 whereby we wait for them with patience ; Charity, whereby 
 we testify what we believe and hope. He that hath faith, 
 cannot distrust ; he that hath hope, cannot be put from an- 
 chor ; he that hath charity, will not lead a hcentious life, 
 for love keeps the commandments. 
 
 For method's sake we might first confer them all, then 
 prefer one. But I will speak of them according to the 
 three degrees of comparison. I. Positively. 2. Compa- 
 ratively. 3. Superlatively. The greatest of these is Charity. 
 Under which method we have involved, 1. Their order, 
 how they are ranked. 2. Their nature, how they are de- 
 fined. 3. Their distinction, how they are differenced. 4. 
 Their number, how manv are specified. 5. Their confer- 
 ence, how they are compared. 6. Lastly, their dignity, 
 and therein how far one is preferred. 
 
 Faith is that grace which makes Christ ours, and all bis 
 benefits. God gives it. " Faith is given by the Spirit," 
 1 Cor. xii. 9. By the word preached. " Faith cometh by 
 hearing," Rom. x. 17. For Christ's sake. " To you it 
 is given for Christ's sake, to believe in his name," Phil, i 
 29. This virtue is no sooner given of God, but it gives 
 God. So soon as thou bclievest, Christ is thine and all 
 his. " For he that gives us Christ, will also with him give 
 us aU things." 
 
 " Without this, it is impossible to please God," Heb. xi 
 6. Let us not otherwise dare to come into his presence. 
 There is nothing but wrath in him, for sin in us. Joseph 
 charged his brethren that they should come no more in his 
 sight, unless they brought Benjamin with them. We come 
 at our peril into God's presence, if we leave his beloved 
 Benjamin, our dear Jesus, behind us. ^Mien the philoso- 
 pher heard of the enraged emperor's menace, that the next 
 time he saw bun he would kill him, he took up the em- 
 
THE THREE DIVINE SISTERS. 
 
 5 
 
 peror's little son in his arms, and saluted him with apotcs- 
 ne. Thou canst not now strike me. God is angry with 
 every man for his sins. Happy is he that can catch up his 
 son Jesus : for in whose arms soever the Lord sees his 
 son, he will spare him. The men of TjTe were fain to 
 intercede to Herod by Blastus, Acts xii. 20. Our inter- 
 cession to God is made by a higher and surer way ; not by 
 his servant, but by his Son. 
 
 Now this Mediator is not had without a medium, Faith. 
 Fides medium, a quo remedium ; Faith is that means where- 
 by we lay hold on this Christ. Diffidence shall never have 
 Jesus for the advocate. Though every man may say, / 
 believe, Lord help my unbelief. 
 
 Saint Paul useth one word that very significantly ex- 
 presseth Faith, calling it " the evidence of things not seen," 
 Heb. xi. 1 . Fides est credere quod non vides ; eujus merces 
 est videre quod credis : Faith is to believe what thou seest 
 not ; whose reward is to see what thou believest. Now 
 the metaphor may be explained thus : 
 
 1. Christ dying made a will or a testament, sealing it 
 with his own blood, wherein he bequeathed a certain legacy 
 of inheritance to his brethren with himself. " Father, I 
 will that they whom thou hast given me, be with me where 
 I am ; that they may behold my glory which thou hast 
 given me," John xvii. 24. This is the substance of his 
 will and testament. 
 
 2. The conveyance of this will is the gospel, Whosoever 
 believes, and is baptized, shall be saved. A large patent, a 
 free and full grant. There is no exception of persons, 
 either in regard of state, quality, or countrj'. " There is 
 neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free, male nor female : 
 for ye are all one in Christ Jesus," Gal. iii. 28. The con- 
 veyance is of an ample latitude. 
 
 3. The executor or administrator of this will, if I may so 
 speak, is the Holy Ghost, that Comforter which Christ pro- 
 mised to " send, that should lead us into all truth," John 
 xiv. 16. This Spirit begets faith and sanctification in our 
 hearts, puts Abba into our mouths, applies the merits of 
 
6 THE THREE DIVINE SISTERS. 
 
 our Saviour to our souls ; and indeed " seals us up to the 
 day of redemption," Eph. iv. 30. Without his assistance 
 •we could appropriate no comfort by his will ; nor challenge 
 any legacy therein bequeathed. 
 
 4. Lastly, The evidence whereby every particular man 
 apportions to himself his title and interest, is his Faith. 
 Thou, unregcnerate soul, pleadest a legacy in this will. Go 
 to, let us join issue, and come to trial. AVhere is thy evi- 
 dence ? Here it is, my Faith. This evidence, as all other, 
 must have some witnesses. Produce thine ; and before the 
 bar of the great Chief Justice, the King's Bench of heaven, 
 let them not lie. 
 
 The first is thy Conscience. Alas ! give this leave to 
 speak without interruption (and one day it shall not flatter 
 thee). This saith, thy evidence is false and counterfeit; 
 forged by a wretched scrivener, flesh and blood : for thy 
 heart trusts in uncertainly good riches, or in certainly bad 
 vanities, more than in the living God. 
 
 The next is thy Life. Alas ! this is so speckled with sins, 
 so raw and sore with lusts, that as a body broken out into 
 blanes and biles, argues a corrupted liver or stomach with- 
 in : so the spots and ulcers of thy life demonstrate a putre- 
 fied heart. Lo, now thy witnesses. Thou art gone at the 
 common law of justice : It is only the chancery of mercy 
 that must clear thee. What wilt thou now do ? "WTiat, but 
 humble thyself in recompense for thy false faith ; take 
 prayer in thy company, for pardon of former errors ; go by 
 the word preached ; for the minister is, as it were, the re- 
 gister to ingross the deed ; and desire God on the humbled 
 knees of thy soul, to give thee a new and a true evidence. 
 Let this instruct us to some uses. 
 
 1. Be sure that thy evidence is good. Satan is a subtle 
 lawyer (and thou dost not doubt of his malice), and will 
 soon pick holes in it ; find out tricks and cavils against it. 
 He will vrinnow and sift thee, grain after grain : take heed lest 
 thou run not all to chaflT. There is a faith of saints. " Now 
 live not I, but Christ liveth in me : and the life that I Uve, 
 I live by the faith of the Son of God," Gal. ii. 20. And 
 
THE THREE DIVmE SISTERS. 
 
 7 
 
 there k a faith of devils. " Thou believest, thou doest well : 
 the devils also believe and tremble," James ii. 19. There is 
 a faith which cannot perish. " Whosoever believeth in him, 
 shall not perish," John iii. 1.5. And there is a faith, that 
 in the time of temptation falls away. The rocky ground 
 receives the word, and for a while believeth, but in the 
 time of temptation falls away, Luke viii. 13. There is a 
 faith which the world overcometh ; such was the faith of 
 Demas. And there is a faith that overcometh the world : 
 " This is the victory whereby we overcome the world, even 
 our faith," 1 John v. 4. There is a dead, idle, and infi-uc- 
 tuous faith ; and there is a lively, active, working faith, 
 Jam. ii. 14 : "Faith worketh by love," Gal. v. 6. Be sure, 
 then, that thy faith will endure the touch, even the fiery 
 trial. 
 
 2. Do not lose such a legacy as Christ hath bequeathed 
 for want of faith. Glorious is the inheritance ; but where 
 is thy evidence ? Flatter not thy soul with hope of this 
 possession, without the assurance of faith, Christ gives his 
 life for his sheep. What is this to thee that art a wolf, a 
 swine, a goat ? God dresseth his vineyard, pruneth it, is 
 provident over it. What is this to thee that art a thorn, 
 and no branch of the vine ? Look thou to be weeded up, 
 and thrown out. The blood of Christ runs fresh ; but 
 where is thy pipe of faith to derive it from his side to thy 
 conscience ? Say it should shower mercy, yet if thou want- 
 est faith, all would fall besides thee. There would be no 
 more favour for thee than if there was no Saviour. 
 
 Let then no miseries of earth, much less pleasures, quench 
 thy faith. Satan seeing this spark of fire kindled in thy 
 heart, would blow it out with storms, or work thee to 
 smother it thyself with vanities, or to rake it up in the dead 
 embers of cold security ; but believe against sight and sense. 
 As David prophesied that he should be a king. Eo plus 
 hdbet fides meriti, quo minus argumenti ; Faith shall have so 
 much the more recompense, as it had the less argument to 
 induce it. 
 
8 
 
 THE THREE DIVINE SISTERS. 
 
 Hope is the sweetest friend that ever kept a distressed 
 soul company ; it beguiles the tediousness of the way, all the 
 miseries of our pilgrimage. 
 
 Therefore dmn spiro spero, said the heathen ; but dum 
 expiro spero, says the Christian. The one, whilst I live, I 
 hope ; the other also, when I die, I hope : so Job, / will 
 hope in thee though thou killest me. It tells the soul such 
 sweet stories of the succeeding joys ; what comforts there are 
 in heaven ; what peace, what joy, what triumphs, marriage- 
 songs, and hallelujahs there are in that countrj- whither she 
 is travelling, that she goes merrily away with her present 
 burden. 
 
 It holds the head whilst it aches, and gives invisible drink 
 to the thirsty conscience. It is a hberty to them that are 
 in prison, and the sweetest physic to the sick. Saint Pa«l 
 calls it an anchor, Heb. vi. 19. Let the winds blow, and 
 the storms beat, and the waves swell, yet the anchor stays 
 the ship. It breaks through all difficulties, and makes way 
 for the soul to follow it. It teaeheth Abraham to expect 
 fruit from a withered stock ; and Joseph in a dungeon, to 
 look for the sun and stars' obeisance. It counsels a man, 
 as Esdras did the woman who, having lost her son, woald 
 needs die languishing in the disconsolate fields ; Go thy way 
 into the city to thine husband, 2 Esd. x. 17. Mourn not, 
 wretch, for the loss of some worldly and perishing deUght : 
 sit not down and die, though the fruit of thy womb be 
 swallowed in the earth ; but go home to the city, the city 
 of mercy, to tMne husband, even thy husband Jesus Christ; 
 let him comfort thee. This is the voice of Hope. 
 
 Though misery be present, comfort absent, though through 
 the' dim and waterish humour of thy heart, thou canst spy 
 no dehverance ; yet such is the nature of Hope, that futura 
 facta dicit. It speaks of future things as if they were pre- 
 sent. "We are saved by hope," Rom. \Tii. 24. Yet sic lihe- 
 rati, ut adhuc speranda sit hwreditas, postea possidenda. Nunc 
 
THE THREK DIVINE SISTERS. 
 
 9 
 
 hahemus jus ad rem, nondum in re : Wc have our inheritance 
 in hope ; which gives us the right of the substance, though 
 not the substance of the right : assurance of the possession, 
 though not possession of the thing assured. This tells us, 
 that nemo valde dolehit et diu ; no man should grieve much 
 and long. God making our misery aut tolerabilem, aut 
 brevem, either sufferable or short. 
 
 These are the comforts of Hope. Now, that you may 
 not be deceived, there is (as I said before of Faith) a thing 
 like Hope, which is not it. 
 
 There is a bold and presumptuous Hope, an ignorant se- 
 curity and ungrounded persuasion, the very Ulusion of the 
 devil, who, when he cannot prevail with dovmright evil, 
 cozens with the shadows of goodness : that how wickedly 
 and wretchedly soever a man shall live, though he furs him- 
 self warm with poor men's hearts, though he forbids his 
 brains (as on covenant) one sober hour in the year to thmk 
 of heaven, though he thirst for carouses of blood, though he 
 strives to powder a whole kindgom vnth the seed-corns o. 
 death and massacre, though he carries half a-dozen impro- 
 priate churches on his sacrilegious back, though he out-thun- 
 der heaven with blasphemies, though he trample under fiis 
 profane foot the precious blood of God's Son ; yet still he 
 hopes to be saved by the mercy of God. But we will sooner 
 cast pearls to s>vine, and bread to dogs, than the comforts of 
 Sion to such. We say not. Rejoice and tremble, but tremble 
 without rejoicing. We sing not to them, With the Lord is 
 mercy, that he might be feared ; but with the Lord is judgment 
 and vengeance ; with him is plague and pestilence, storm and 
 tempest, horror and anguish, indignation and wrath, that 
 he may Ije feared. Against this hope we shut up the bosom 
 of consolation, and the promise of safety by the merits of 
 Christ ; and so far as we are charged, the very gates of 
 everlasting life. 
 
 There is a Hope, sober, faithful, weU-groimded, well- 
 guarded, well-assured. This is like a house built on a rock. 
 The rock is God's promised mercy ; the building, hope in 
 Christ : it is (as it were) moated or intrenched about with 
 
10 
 
 THE THREE DIVEfE SISTERS. 
 
 his blood by the sweet testimony of God's Spirit to the con- 
 science : known by the charity of the inhabitants ; for it 
 keeps bread for the hungry, clothes for the naked, enter- 
 tainment for strangers. To this Hope we open the doors of 
 the kingdom of heaven ; and so far as the commission of 
 the keys leads us, we unlock the gates of eternal life, and 
 allow entrance. We call this the blessed Hope. 
 
 Charity is an excellent virtue, and therefore rare. If «rer 
 in this contentious age, wherein fratrum quoque gratia rara 
 est, the imfeigned love of brothers is strange. Woe is me ! 
 before I am come to define what love is, I am fallen into a 
 declamation against the want of it. "WTiat is here chiefly 
 commended is chiefly condemned, as if we had no need of 
 mutual succour, nor could spare a room in oiu: hearts to 
 entertain Charity, lest we should expel our old loved guests, 
 fraud, malice, and ambition. Love hath two proper objects, 
 the one immediate and principal ; the other, mediate and 
 limited. 
 
 The proper and immediate object of our love is God. 
 This is the great commandment. Thou shall love the Lord thy 
 God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy strength. 
 As if he would not leave out the least sinew or string of the 
 heart, the least faculty or power of the soul, the least organ 
 or action of the strength. So Bernard. " With all the heart," 
 that is, afiectionately. " With all thy soul," that is, wisely. 
 " With all thy strength," that is, constantly. Let the zeal 
 of thy heart inflame thy love to God ; let the wisdom of thy 
 soul guide it ; let the strength of thy might confirm it. All 
 the affections of the heart, all the election of the soul, all the 
 administration of the body. The soul judgeth, the will pro- 
 secutes, the strength executes. God can brook no rivals ; 
 no division betwixt him and Mammon, betwixt him and 
 Melchora, betwixt him and Baal, betwixt him and BeUal. 
 Causa diligendi Deum Deus est, modus sine modo : The cause 
 and motive to love God, is God ; the manner is without 
 measure. 3Iinus amat te, qui aliquid amat prater te, quod 
 
THE THREE DIVINE SISTERS. 
 
 11 
 
 non amat propter te : He poorly loves God that loves any 
 thing besides him, which he doth not love for him. 
 
 The subordinate object of love is man, and his love is the 
 effect of the former cause, and an actual demonstration of 
 the other inward affection. AVaters coming from the sea 
 boil through the veins of the earth till they become springs, 
 and those springs rivers, and those rivers run back to the 
 sea again. All man's love must be carried in the stream 
 of God's love. Blessed is he that loves amicum in Domino, 
 inimicum pro Domino ; his friend in the Lord, his enemy for 
 the Lord. " Owe nothing to any man, but this, that ye love 
 one another," Rom. xiii. 8. Other debts, once truly paid, 
 are no more due ; but this debt, the more we pay it, the 
 more we owe it ; and we stiU do acknowledge ourselves 
 debtors to all, when we are clear with all ; proverbially, / 
 owe him nothing hut love. The communication of this riches 
 doth not impoverish the proprietary ; the more he spends of 
 his stock, the more he hath. " There is that scattereth, 
 and yet increaseth," Prov. ii. 24. But he that will hoard 
 the treasure of his charity, shall grow poor, empty, and 
 bankrupt. " There is that withholdeth more than is meet, 
 but it tendeth unto poverty." Love is the abridgment of 
 the law, the new precept of the Gospel. Luther calls it the 
 shortest and the longest divinity : short, for the form of 
 words ; long, yea, everlasting, for the use and practice ; for 
 Charity shall never cease. 
 
 Thus for the first degree of comparison, positively. The 
 second is comparative; where, though it be said virtues and 
 great men must not be compared, yet we may without of- 
 fence bring them to a holy conference ; else how shall we 
 perceive the apostle's intended scope, the transcendency of 
 Charity ? I will therefore first confer Faith with Hope, and 
 then with them both, Charity. 
 
 The distinction between Faith and Hope is nice ; and must 
 warily be discovered. I will reduce the differences into 
 three respects, of order, office, and object. 
 
 For order; Paul gives Faith the precedency. " Faith is 
 the ground of things hoped for," Heb. xi. Faith always goes 
 
12 
 
 THE XnitEE DIVINE SISTERS. 
 
 before, Hope follows alter ; and may in some sort be said to be 
 the daughter of Faith. For it is as impossible for a man to 
 hope for that yrhich he believes not, as for a painter to draw 
 a picture in the air. Indeed, more is believed than is hoped 
 for ; but nothing is hoped for which is not beUeved. So 
 that on necessity, in respect of order, Faith must precede 
 Hope. 
 
 For office ; Faith is the Christian's logic : Hope his rheto- 
 ric. Faith perceives what is to be done, Hope gives ala- 
 crity to the doing it. Faith guides, adviseth, rectifieth ; 
 Hope courageously encounters with all adversaries.* There- 
 fore Faith is compared to a doctor in the schools, Hope to 
 a captain in the wars. Faith discerns the truth, Hope 
 fights against impatience, heaviness of spirit, infirmity, de- 
 jectedness, desperation. Divines have alluded to the differ- 
 ence between faith and hope in divinity, and to that between 
 wisdom and valour in philosophy. Valoiu- without wisdom is 
 rashness, %visdom without valour is cowardice. Faith without 
 Hope is knowledge without valour to resist Satan ; Hope 
 without Faith is rash presumption, and an indiscreet daring ; 
 you see their different office. 
 
 For object ; Faith's object is the absolute word, and infal- 
 lible promise of God ; Hope's object is the thing promised. 
 Fides intuetur vcrbum rei, Spes verb rem verbi : Faith looks 
 to the word of the thing, Hope to the thing of the word. 
 So that Faith hath for the object the truth of God ; Hope the 
 goodness of God. Faith is of things both good and bad, 
 Hope of good things only. A man believes there is a hell, 
 as truly as he believes there is a heaven ; but he fears the 
 one, and hopes only for the other. Faith hath for its ob- 
 jects things past, present, future. Past, it believes Christ 
 dead for our sins, and risen again for our justification. Present, 
 that he now sits at the right hand of his Father in heaven. 
 Future, that he shall come to judge quick and dead. Hope 
 only respects and expects things to come. For a man can- 
 not hope for that which he hath. You sec how in some 
 
 • Alstcd System. Theolog. lib. 3. I.oc. 17. Aug. 
 
THE THREE DIVINE SISTERS. 
 
 18 
 
 sense Hope excels Faith. For there is a faith in the devils ; 
 they believe the truth of God, the certainty of the Scrip- 
 tures ; they acknowledge Christ the Judge of quick and 
 dead ; therefore cry, " Why tormentest thou us before the 
 time ?" They have faith joined with a Popish preparatory 
 good work, /ear; "the devils believe and tremble :" yea, 
 they pray, they beseech Christ not to send them into the 
 deeps ; what then want they ? Hope, a confident expecta- 
 tion of the mercy of God ; this they can never have. They 
 beb'eve ; they cannot hope. This is the life of Christians, and 
 the want makes devils. If it were not for this hope, " we 
 of all men were most miserable," 1 Cor. xv. 19. 
 
 Charity differs from them both. These three divine 
 graces are a created Trinity ; and have some glimmering re- 
 semblance of the Trinity uncreate. For as there the Son 
 b begotten of the Father, and the Holy Ghost proceeds from 
 them both ; so here, a true faith begets a constant hope, 
 and from them proceeds Charity. " Thus is God's temple 
 built in our hearts," said Augustine. The foundation where- 
 of is Faith ; Hope the erection of the walls ; Charity the per- 
 fection of the roof 
 
 In the godly all these three are united together, and can- 
 not be sundered. We believe in God's mercy, we hope 
 for his mercy, and we love him for his mercy. Faith says, 
 there are good things prepared : Hope says, they are pre- 
 pared for me : Charity says, I endeavour to walk worthy of 
 them. So that, what good Faith believes shall be, Hope 
 expects for herself, and Charity aims at the way to get it, 
 by keeping the commandments. Faith apprehends both re- 
 ward and punishment : Hope only looks for good things for 
 ourselves : Charity desires the glory of God, and the good 
 of all our brethren. 
 
 The second degree gives way to the third, last, best ; the 
 superlative. " But the greatest of these is Charity." Time 
 will not afford me to answer all the objections which subtle 
 wits have ignorantly deduced from these words. Neither 
 were it to our purpose, then, to write Iliads after Ho- 
 mer, they have been so soundly and satisfyingly answered. 
 
14 
 
 THE THREE DIVINE SISTERS. 
 
 I will only mention two, and but report a responsive so- 
 lution. 
 
 1. The principal promises arc made to believers. " ^^^lo- 
 soever believeth, and is baptieed, shall be saved." So no less 
 a promise is made to lovers, " All things shall work to- 
 gether for good to those that love God," &c. Rom. vili. 28. 
 " God," saith the Psalmist, " is near to those that call upon 
 him." He is close by all those that suffer for him : but he 
 is within those that love him. Here is prope, intra, inttis. 
 Tliis same intra, within, is of the highest degree. " God is 
 love, and he that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, and 
 God in him," 1 John iv. 16. O unspeakable felicity! 
 
 2. If charity be greater than fiiith, then is not man jus- 
 tified by faith only. Inconsequent illation ! St Paul com- 
 mends not love for the virtue of justification : it may fail in 
 that particular action, yet receive no impeachment to the 
 excellency of it. By demonstration. A prince doth excel a 
 peasant : shall any man therefore infer, that he can plough 
 better, or have more skill in tillage? A philosopher doth 
 excel a mechanic, though he cannot grind so well as a 
 miller, or Umn so cunningly as a painter. A man is better 
 than a beast: who but a madman will therefore conclude, 
 that he can run faster than a horse, draw more than an ox, 
 or carry a greater burden than an elephant ? Though he 
 fail in these particular acts, yet none will deny but he is 
 better than a beast. 
 
 The truth is, that in faith stands originally our fellowship 
 with God. Into that hand he poureth the riches of his 
 mercy for salvation ; and were the actions of charity never 
 so great and (foolishly thought) meritorious, yet, if not the 
 effects of a true saving faith, they are lost, and a man may 
 for his charity go to the devil. And though they would 
 plead from the form of the last judgment (lilatth. xxv.) that 
 God accepts men to life for their deeds of charity, feeding, 
 clothing, relieving ; yet the Scripture fully testifies, that God 
 neither accepts these, nor ourselves for these, further than 
 they are the effects of a true faith. Our persons being first 
 justified by fiuth in Christ, then God will crown our works. 
 
THE TJIEEE DIVINE SISTERS. 
 
 15 
 
 Yet a Christian must work : for no nudifidiati, as well as no 
 nullifidian, shall be admitted into heaven. " Therefore," 
 saith the apostle, " faith worketh by love," Gal. v. 6. For 
 faith is able to justify of itself, not to work of itself Tho- 
 hand alone can receive an alms, but cannot cut a piece of 
 wood without an axe or some instrument. Faith is the 
 Christian's hand, and can without help receive God's given 
 grace into the heart ; but to produce the fi-uits of obedience, 
 and to work the actual duties required, it must have an in- 
 strument ; add love to it, and it worketh by love. So that 
 the one is our justification before God, and the other our 
 testification before men. 
 
 Theii" number is considerable ; these three, neither more 
 nor less. Why not two ? as there be two parts in man, 
 his understanding and will ; to direct these two, is sufficient 
 to salvation. By Faith the understanding is kept safe ; by 
 Charity, the will ; what needed then the mention of Hope ? 
 Yes, Hope is the daughter of Faith, and the mother of 
 Charity ; and as man hath an understanding to be informed, 
 and a will to be rectified, so he hath a heart to be com- 
 forted, which is the proper office of Hope. 
 
 But why then speaks he of no more than three ? St 
 Peter mentions eight together, 2 Pet. i. 6. And St Paul 
 himself in another place, puts in nine. Gal. v. 22. Why 
 are all these left out in this glorious catalogue ? Is it 
 enough to have these three and no more ? Are the rest 
 superfluous, and may well be spared ? Nothing so, but all 
 those virtues are comprehended under these three. As to 
 the trade of a stationer, some are required to print, some to 
 correct, some to fold, others to bind, and others to garnish ; 
 yet all belongs to one trade. There be many rays and but 
 one sun ; there is heat and light in one fire. So all those 
 graces may be reduced to these three principals, as we read 
 1 Thess. i. 3, the work of faith, and labour of love, and 
 patience of hope ; temperance, patience, godliness, &c., are 
 all servants to these three great princes, Faith, Hope, and 
 Charity. 
 
16 
 
 THE THREE DIVINE SISTERS. 
 
 Lastly, for the prclation. ^Yherein consisteth this high 
 transcendency of Charity ? In six privileges. 
 
 1. For latitude, Love is the greatest. Faith and Hope 
 are restrained within the limits of our particular persons. 
 
 ' The just man lives by his own faith, and hopes good to him- 
 self; but love is like the vine which God brought out of 
 Egypt, and cast out the heathen to plant it, which covereth 
 the mountains with the shadow of the boughs, and spreads 
 the branches unto the sea and the rivers, Psal. Ixxx. 8. It 
 is like the sun in the sky, that throws his comfortable beams 
 upon all, and forbears not to warm even that earth that 
 beareth weeds. Love extends to earth and heaven. In 
 heaven it affecteth God the I\Iaker and mover : the angels 
 as our guardians ; the triumphant saints, for their pious 
 sanctit)'. On earth, it embraceth those that fear the Lord 
 especially ; it wisheth conversion to those that do not ; it 
 counsels the rich ; it comforts the poor ; it reverenceth 
 superiors, respectcth inferiors ; doth good to friends, no evil 
 to foes ; wisheth well to all. This is the latitude of Charity. 
 Faith hath but narrow limits, but tlie extent of Love is 
 universal, not bounded with the world. Faith believes for 
 thyself, but Charity derives and drives the effects of thy 
 faith to others. Thy faith relieves thyself, thy charity thy 
 brother. 
 
 2. For perpetuity and continuance. Faith lays hold on 
 God's gracious promise for everlasting salvation ; hope ex- 
 pects this with patience ; but when God shall fulfil his word 
 in us with joy, then faith shall be at an end ; hope at an 
 end ; but love shall remain between God and us an ever- 
 lasting bond. Therefore saith the apostle, now ahidetli faith, 
 &c. Now: now three, then one, and that is Charity. AMien 
 we have possession of those pleasures which we hoped and be- 
 lieved, what longer use is there of Faith or Hope ? But our 
 loves shall not end with our lives. We shall everlastinglj' love 
 our Maker, Saviour, Sanctifier, angels, and saints ; where no 
 discontent shall breed any ire in our hallelujahs. If the use 
 of love be so comfortable on earth, what may we think it 
 will be in heaven ? 
 
THE THREE DIVINE SISTERS. 
 
 17 
 
 Thus saith Chrysostom. Only love is eternal. Now, Faith 
 and Hope hold up the hands of Charity, as Aaron and Hur 
 held up the hands of Moses ; but then their use and office 
 shall cease. Tunc non erit apes, quando erit res : Hope shall 
 not be, when the thing hoped is. Hope shaU bring in pos- 
 session, possession shall thrust out Hope. Therefore, saith 
 Augustine, is charity greater. Et si non propter eminentiam, ta- 
 men propter permanentiam : If not for the excellency, yet for 
 the perpetuity. 
 
 Thus to justify a man. Faith is greater ; but in a man 
 justified, Charity is greater. Let Faith alone with the great 
 work of oui- salvation ; but that finished, it shall end, and 
 so jield superiority to Love, which shall endure for ever. 
 
 3. For the honour and likeness it hath unto God. Faith 
 and Hope make not a man like God, but Charity doth. He 
 neither can be said to beUeve, nor to hope ; but we know 
 he loves ; yea, he is love. 
 
 4. In respect of the titles, Charity excelleth. It is No- 
 vum Mandatum, the New Commandment ; Faith was never 
 called so. It is vinculum pe>-fectionis, the bond of perfec- 
 tion. Faith is not so termed ; thy faith only ties thyself to 
 God, but love binds up all in one bundle of peace. It is 
 impletio legis, the fulfilhng of the law ; where hath Faith 
 such a title ? St Ambrose, on the funeral of Theodosius, 
 observes, that he died with these words in his mouth, Dilexi, 
 Dilexi, which he conceived to be his answer to the angels 
 asking Viim how he had behaved himself in his empire ; / 
 have loved, I have loved; that was enough. 
 
 5. Charity is more noble ; for it is a better thing to give 
 than to receive. Faith and Hope are all of the taking hand, 
 but Charity gives. K Faith gives glory to God, yet this is 
 but his own ; an acknowledgment of that to be his which 
 is his. The property of faith is to receive into itself ; the pro- 
 perty of love to lay out itself to others. 
 
 6. For manifestation ; Faith and Hope are things unseen, 
 and may be dissembled ; but Charity cannot be without 
 visible fruits ; therefore the only trial of faith and hope is by 
 charity. 
 
 B 
 
18 
 
 THE rHREE Dn'INE SISTERS. 
 
 Thus Charity is greatest, if not respectu originis, or for 
 causality, yet for dignity. 1. More honourable, because 
 like God. 2. More noble, because more beneficial to man. 
 3. More communicable, for Faith respects thyself. Charity 
 all. 4. More durable, when Faith is swallowed up in vision. 
 Hope in possession, then love remains. 5. For titles. 6. 
 For manifestation. 
 
 Thus you have commended to your souls these three 
 sbters, Faith, Hope, and Charity. Faith we must have, or 
 we are reprobates ; Hope, or wretches ; Charity, or not 
 Christians. There is a promise made to Faith, that it shall 
 have access to God, Heb. xi. 6. To -Hope, that it shall not 
 be ashamed, Rom. v. 5. But to Charity, that it shall dwell 
 in God, and have God dwelling in it, 1 John iv. 16. 
 
 I should now tell you, that as these three fair sisters 
 came down from heaven ; so in a cross contrariety, the deril 
 sends up three foul fiends from hell. Against Faith, infidel- 
 ity ; against Hope, desperation ; against Charity, malice. He 
 that entertains the elder sister, Unbelief, I quake to speak 
 his doom, yet I must ; " he is already condemned," John iii. 
 18. He that embraceth the second uglj' hag. Despair, 
 bars up against himself the possibility of all comfort, be- 
 cause he offends so precious a nature, the mercy of God, 
 and tramples under his desperate feet that blood which is 
 held out to his unaccepting hand. He that welcomes Malice, 
 welcomes the devil himself ; he is called the envious, and 
 loves extremely to lodge himself in an envious heart. These 
 be fearful, prodigious sisters ; fly them and their embraces ; 
 and remember, O ye whom Christ loves, the command- 
 ment of your Saviour, " Love one another !" 
 
 I will end with our apostle's exhortation to his Phihppians. 
 If there he any consolation in Christ, and there is consolation 
 in him when the whole world cannot afford it ; if any coi.i- 
 fort of love, and he that knows not the comforts of love 
 knows no difference betwixt man and beast ; if any fellow- 
 ship of the Spirit, by whom we are all knit into one com- 
 munion, and enriched with the same treasures of grace ; if 
 any bowels and mercy ; if imcharitableness and avarice have 
 
THE THREE DIVINE SISTERS. 
 
 19 
 
 turned our entrails into stone and iron ; if we have not for- 
 gotten the use and need of mercy ( fulfil my joy, that ye he 
 likeminded, and have the same love, Phil, ii. 1, 2. Fulfil the 
 apostle's joy only ? No, the joy of the Bride and Bridegroom 
 of the church on earth, of the saints in heaven ; the joy of 
 the blessed angels ; thejoy of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit ; 
 and last of all, the joy of your own hearts, that you " Love 
 one another." Forget not that trite but true saying, 
 
 They shall not want prosperity, 
 Tliat keep Faith, Hope, and Charity. 
 
THE LEAVEN; 
 
 OB, 
 
 A DIRECTION TO HEAVEN. 
 
 Another parable spake he unto them ; The kingdom of heaven Is like nnto leaTen^ 
 which a noman took, and bid In three measures of meal, till the whole wai 
 lcavened.-a/«ii. xUl. 33. 
 
THE LEAVEN; 
 
 A DIRECTION TO HEAVEN. 
 
 Another parable spake he unto them ; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leareni 
 which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was 
 leavened.— Jfait. liii. 33. 
 
 The word of God is pure (or perfect), saith the Psalmist, 
 " converting the soul," Psalm xix. 7 ; pure fonnally in it- 
 self, pure effectively in pm-ifying others. " Now are ye 
 clean through the word which I have spoken unto you," 
 John XV. 3. There is life in it, being the voice of life itself. 
 "Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of 
 eternal life," John vi. 68. 
 
 As God, " who at sundry times and in divers manners 
 spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath 
 in these last days spoken unto us by his Son," Heb. i. 1 ; 
 so also this Son (whom he hath appointed heir of all things, 
 by whom also he made the worlds, when he took flesh and 
 went about on earth doing good), taught the people after 
 divers fashions and forms of speech, though in all of them 
 he carried a state in his words, and taught with authority, 
 imlike to the verbal sermons of the Scribes. " He was a 
 prophet, mighty in deed and word before God and all the 
 people," Luke xxiv. 19. Sometimes he taught by explica- 
 tion, sometimes by application ; sometimes propounding, at 
 other 4,imes expounding his doctrine. Often by plain prin- 
 ciples and affirmative conclusions ; not seldom by parables 
 and dai-k sentences : in all seeking his Father's glory, his 
 
24 
 
 TlIK LKAVEX ; OR, 
 
 Church's salvation. la this chapter, plentifully by parables. 
 Divines give many reasons why Christ used this parabolical 
 form of speaking. 
 
 1. The fulfilment of Scriptures, which had so predicted 
 of liim. " I will open my mouth in a parable, I will utter 
 dark sayings of old," Psal. Ixxviii. 2. 
 
 2. That the mysteries of God's kingdom might not be re- 
 vealed to the scornful. To such it shall be spoken in pa- 
 rables, that " seeing they might not see, and hearing they 
 might not understand," Luke viii. 10. They are riddles to 
 the Cains, and paradoxes to the Judases of the world. But 
 " if our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost," 2 
 Cor. iv. 3. These come to church as truants to school, not 
 caring how little learning they get for their money ; but only 
 regarding to avoid the temporal punishment. But at the 
 great correction-day, when the schoolmaster of heaven shall 
 give them a strict examination, their reward must be abun- 
 dantly painful. 
 
 3. That Christ might descend to the capacities of the 
 most simple, who better understand a spiritual doctrine by 
 the real subjection of something famiUar to their senses. As 
 the poet says : 
 
 Segnius irritant animos demissa per aures, 
 Qiiam quae sunt oculis subjecta fidelibus: 
 
 Those things less affect the mind which are heard by the 
 ear, than those which are exposed to faithful eyes. 
 
 But the " testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the 
 simple," Psal. xix. 7. lie said once to poor fishers, " To 
 you it is given to know tlie mysteries of the kingdom of 
 God," Luke \Tii. 10. He says, not the mysteries of the 
 king, but the mysteries of his Itingdora. The former may 
 not be known, the other may, must be known. 
 
 And it is also observable, that his pai-ables were divers, when 
 yet by those sundry shadows he did aim directly at one hght. 
 He doth, as it were, draw the curtain of heaven, and describe 
 the kin^om of God by many resemblances ; yea, and some 
 of these iinum sonantia ; like so many instruments of music 
 playing one tune. In that immediately preceding parable 
 of the mustard-seed, and this subsequent of the leaven, lie 
 
A DIRECTION TO HEAVKX. 
 
 25 
 
 teacheth the same doctrine, the spreading; virtue of the Gos- 
 pel. The intention of which course in our great Physician 
 is to give several medicines for the same malady in several 
 men, fitting his receipts to the disposition of his patients. 
 The soldier doth not so well understand similitudes taken 
 from husbandry, nor the husbandman from the war. The 
 lawyer conceives not an allusion from ])hysic, nor the physi- 
 cian from the law. Furniscs dumcstica nee nurimt, nec curant : 
 ncqne forensia domesticam ayentes vitam. (Ilome-dwellers are 
 ignorant of foreign matters ; neither doth the quiet rural 
 labourer trouble his head with matters of state.) Therefore 
 Christ derives a parable from an army, to teach soldiers ; 
 from legal principles, to instruct lawj ers ; from the field and 
 sowing, to speak familiarly to the husbandman's capacity. 
 As that parable of the seed, the first in this chapter, may 
 be fitly termed the ploughman's gospel ; as Ferus saith, that, 
 when he ploughs his ground, he may have a sermon ever 
 before him. Every furrow being a line, and every grain of 
 com a lesson, bi-inging forth fruit. So Paul borrows a com- 
 parison from wrestUng, and from running in a race ; and 
 our Saviour from a domestical business (muliebriimi officiurn), 
 from leaven, " which a woman took," &c. 
 
 We may reduce the parable to three general heads, Quid, 
 ad Quid, in Quo. (1. What is compared; 2. To what; 
 3. In what.) Two natures are accorded in quodam tertio: 
 two subjects shake hands by a reconciling similitude. (1.) 
 The matter compared is the kingdom of heaven ; (2.) The 
 matter to which it is compared is leaven ; (3.) Now the 
 concun-ence of these lies in the sequel, " which a woman 
 took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was 
 leavened." Wherein are remarkable, the agent, the action, 
 the subject, the continuance. 1. The agent is a woman ; 
 2. The action is double, taking and hiding, or putting m 
 the leaven; 3. The subject is meal, or flour; 4. The conti- 
 nuance, donee fermentetur totum (until the whole mass be lea- 
 vened.) This is the in Quo, the manner of the concurrence. 
 The general points then are, what, whereto, wherein. We 
 are. according to this method, to begin with the 
 
 ^Vfiat. — The subject compared is the kingdom of heaven. 
 
26 THE LEAVEN ; OR, 
 
 This hath a diverse sense and apprehension in the Scriptures. 
 Specially it is taken three ways : 
 
 1. For the kingdom of heaven in heaven, which the 
 godly shall possess hereafter. The scope or main mark we 
 level at. That high pjTamid which the top of Jacob's 
 ladder reached to, and leaneth on. That which St Peter 
 calls " the end of our faith, even the salvation of our souls," 
 1 Pet. i. 9. Whereof David sings, "In thy presence is 
 fulness of joy, at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore," 
 Psal. xvi. 11. Which no virtue of mortal eye, ear, or 
 heart can comprehend. " The)' shall come from east, from 
 west, from north, and south, and shall sit down in the king- 
 dom of God," Luke xiii. 29. Unto which our king that 
 owns it, and Saviour that bought it for us, shall one day in- 
 vite us, if he find us marked for his sheep. " Come ye 
 blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you 
 from the foundation of the world," Matt. xxv. 34. Dear 
 Jesus, bring us to this kingdom. 
 
 2. For that which qualifies and prepares us to the for- 
 mer, grace and holiness. For into that " shall enter no 
 unclean thing, nor whatsoever worketh abomination, or 
 maketh a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's book 
 of life," Rev. xxi. 27. No flesh that is putrified, except 
 it be first purified, shall be glorified. No man goes to 
 heaven as by a leap, but by climbmg. Now this sanctity is 
 called the kingdom of heaven, 1 . Because the life it lives is 
 heavenly. Though we are on earth, our conversation is in 
 heaven, Phil. iii. 20 ; 2. Because the joy of the Holy Ghost, 
 and peace of conscience, which is heaven upon earth, is in- 
 separable from it. " The kingdom of heaven consists not 
 in meats and drinks, but in righteousness, peace, and joy 
 in the Holy Ghost," Rom. xiv. 17. 
 
 3. For that whereby we are prepared for both the for- 
 mer : this is the kingdom of heaven here meant ; and to de- 
 clare it in a word, it is the preaching of the gospel. This, 
 by the powerful co-operation of God's Spirit, begets grace 
 in this life, and grace in this life shall be crowned with glory 
 in the life to come. The word of God (which is called the 
 testimony, Isa. viii. 20, because it bears witness to itself), 
 
A DIRECTION TO HEAVEN. 
 
 27 
 
 examined and coispared in like places, calls the preachbg 
 of the gospel, the kingdom of heaven, Luke x. 11. " The 
 kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a 
 nation bringing fruits thereof," Matt. xxi. 43. The chil- 
 dren of God live in this first kingdom ; the second lives in 
 them ; the thii-d, -which is above, doth perfect both the for- 
 mer. In this kingdom we might observe, 1. Who is king? 
 2. Who are subjects ? 3. What are the laws -whereby the 
 one governs, the others are governed. 
 
 1. God is king in two respects : Potentially, in regard of 
 his Majesty ; presentially, in regard of his mercy. Poten- 
 tially he is king over all the world, governing all things, 
 actions, events, at the ends of the earth, in hell, in the court 
 of conscience. God is king, be the earth never so unquiet, 
 saith the Psalmist. He can still the raging of the sea, the 
 roaring of the waves, and the madness of the people. Thus 
 he reigns over Satan, and all his factors on earth, execu- 
 tioners in hell. lie cannot touch a swine without his hcensc, 
 nor cross a sea without his passport. lie hath a hook for 
 Senacherib, a bridle for the horses and mules, a chain for 
 that great le-viatlian, a tether for the devil. The Lamb of 
 God leads that great roaring lion in a chain : and with the 
 least twitch of his finger, gives him a non ultra (no fur- 
 ther.) All powers are inferior to, and derived from this 
 power ; to which they have recourse again, as rivers run 
 to the ocean, whence they were deduced. Let all po- 
 tentates " cast do-wn their crowns before his feet with the 
 twenty-four elders," Rev. iv. 10. All powers are sub- 
 ject to that power which is infinite. Dominion riseth by 
 degrees : there be great, saith Solomon, and yet greater 
 than they ; and yet again higher than they aU (Eccles 
 V. 8.) Begin at home : In man there is a kingdom 
 The mind hath a sovereignty over the body. Restrain 
 It to the soul, and in the soul's kingdom. Reason hath 
 a dominion over the afiections. This kingdom is within 
 man. Look without him ; behold, God hath given him 
 a kingdom over reasonless creatures. Yet among them- 
 selves, God hath set man over man ; the householder is a 
 petty king in his family, the magistrate over the commu- 
 
28 THE LEAVEN ; OR, 
 
 nity, the king over all. The heavenly bodies have yet a 
 power over us ; God is king over them, and all. God is 
 then only and solely king. 
 
 But he reigns in this place rather presentially by his 
 grace ; where his sceptre is a sceptre of righteousness, and 
 his throne man's heart. For that is so excellent a place, 
 that it is evermore taken up for a throne, either by God or 
 Satan. To the godly then is this great king most propense ; 
 though others also taste the sweets of his bounty. As the 
 earthly prince governs, and providently sustams all the 
 people of his dominions ; but those that stand in his court, 
 and feast at his table, more especially partake of his royal 
 favours. God at his own cost maintains all the world, and 
 hath done almost these 6000 years ; but he loveth Jerusa- 
 lem above all cities, and the gates of Zion above all the 
 dwellings of Jacob. All Joseph's brethren shall be feasted at 
 bis charges, but Benjamin's mess shall five times exceedthe rest. 
 There may be one favour left for Esau, but Jacob goes away 
 vrith the blessing. God is still good to all Israel ; let him 
 be best to them that are of a pure heart, Psal. Ixxiii. 1. 
 
 2. The subjects in this kingdom are the godly; not 
 such as give a passive and involuntary obedience, doing 
 God's will (as the devil doth) contra scientiam, contra cm>- 
 scientiam (against knowledge and conscience), of whom more 
 properly we may say, Proposita (lei Jiunt potiiis de illis 
 quam ab illis: (The purposes of God are rather executed 
 in them than by them.) These, though they work the 
 secret decrees oi the great king, are not of this king- 
 dom. Only they that give to him the sacrifice of a free- 
 AviU offering, that willingly and sincerely subscribe and as- 
 sent obedience to his behests. "\Miose lives, as well as 
 lips, pray that article. Thy icill he done. They are in- 
 deed subjects to this king, that are themselves kings ; Christ 
 hath made us kings and priests, Kev. i. 6. Every king on 
 earth is as it were a little god, John x. 34. Only our God is 
 the great king, able to bind kings in chai/is, and nobles with 
 fetters of iron, Psal. cxlix. 8. In respect both of his power 
 reigning over all, and of his mercy over his chosen, he may 
 ell be called King of kings ; the great king over both tern- 
 
A DinECTION TO HEAVEN. 
 
 29 
 
 poral and spiritual kings : lie is the ffing of king* For 
 all his faithful children are mystically and spiritually made, 
 and called kings in Christ, and the Lord is king of all. 
 
 3. The laws whereby this kingdom is governed are the 
 statute laws of heaven, Psal. cxlvii. 19, wi-itten of the Holy 
 Ghost by prophets and apostles, sealed by the blood of 
 God's Son ; a light to our darkness, a rule for our actions. 
 
 Upon this ground thus laid, I build a double structure or 
 instruction. 
 
 1. Christ hath a kingdom also in this world ; not of this 
 world ; himself denies it to Pilate, John xviii. 36. He would 
 none of their hasty coronation with carnal hands. Yet he 
 was and is a spii-itual king. So was it prophesied, Dan. 
 vii. 14 ; Micah iv. 7. So the angel told Mary, Luke i. 32, 
 33, " He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and 
 of his kingdom there shall be no end." So Pilate wi-ote his 
 inscription, though in the narrowest limits, Jesus of Na- 
 zareth, king of the Jews. To expect or respect the Messias 
 for a temporal prince, was the Jews' perpetual dottage, 
 the apostles' transient error. Matt. xx. 21 ; Acts i. G, 
 "Lord wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom to IsraelV" 
 But Christ is a king after a spiritual manner on earth ; 
 restraining the violence of the wolves and goats like a good 
 shepherd ; not sulTering them to annoy and infest the lambs 
 at their pleasure, or rather displeasure ; ruling his chosen, 
 overruling the reprobates, as the great master over the 
 whole family of this world. His throne is at the right hand 
 of his Father in heaven ; but his dominion is throughout all 
 ages, and extends to the ends of the earth. AVe should 
 not pass this without some useful application. 
 
 1 . If there be a kingdom of heaven here to be had, why 
 do we not seek it ? Tlie charge is not less for our good 
 than God's glory, which Christ gives ; " First seek the king- 
 dom of heaven, and the righteousness thereof, and then all 
 these things shall be added unto you," Matt. vi. 33. Seek it in 
 faith, with prayers, with tears, with reformation. Seek it first ; 
 let no worldly thing stand in your thoughts worthy of prefer- 
 ment to it. Seek it with disregard and an holy contempt ol 
 other things : for this once come, they shall be cast upon you. 
 
30 THE LEAVEN : OR, 
 
 2. Since Christ hath a kingdom here, let us rejoice. 
 " The Lord reigneth, let the e.orth rejoice : let the multi- 
 tude of isles be glad thereof," Psal. xcvii. 1 . And among 
 those lands, let the joy of England be none of the least. 
 What was foretold by Zeehariah (ix. 9), is fulfilled by our 
 Saviour, Matt. xxi. 5. " Rejoice, shout out for joy, for 
 thy King cometh." Let his exaltation be thy exultation. 
 If he were impotent and could not help, impro-ident and 
 would not, we were never the better for our King. But 
 his power is immense, his mercy infinite : He that keepeth 
 Israel, doth neither slumber nor sleep, Ps. cxxi. 4. 
 
 3. This is terror to the wicked ; they serve a king, but he is 
 not an absolute king ; his head is under Christ's girdle, nay, 
 under his feet, Matt. iv. There is in Satan, nec voluntas, nee 
 validitas (neither might nor mind), to succour his subjects, 
 his abjects. Prodigal Lucifer (the father of prodigious 
 Machiavels, that are bountiful with what is none of their 
 own, dealing states and kingdoms, like the pope, as God's 
 legacies, when God never made him executor) makes Christ 
 a bountiful offer of kingdoms. Poor beggar, he had none 
 of his own, not so much as a hole out of hell ; whereas 
 Christ was Lord of all. Disproportionable proffer ! he 
 would give the king of heaven a kingdom of earth ; the 
 glory of this lower world to him that is the glory of the 
 higher world, and requires for price to have him worship an 
 angel of darkness, who is worshipped of the angels of light. 
 Tremble ye wicked ! you serve an ill master, are subjects 
 to a cursed king. AVell were it for you if j-ou might escape 
 his wages ; well for himself if he might escape his own. 
 Both he and his subjects shall perish. " The prince of this 
 world is already judged," John x^^. 11. 
 
 4. Since there be two spiritual kingdoms on earth, and 
 we must Uve under one of them, let us wisely choose the 
 easiest, the securest, the. happiest. For ease. Satan's ser- 
 wces are unmerciful drudgerj- ; no pains must be refused 
 to get hell. " Chi-ist's yoke is easy, his burden is hght." 
 For security, we say in terrene differences, it is safest tak- 
 ing the stronger side. Why then should we forsake the 
 
A DIRECTION TO HEAVEX. 31 
 
 Strongest man, who commands the -world, and revolt to 
 the tents of Belial, the son of vanity? For happiness, 
 Christ's kingdom is the far more blessed : for countenance, 
 for continuance in the heart, solacing sunshine of his mercy, 
 and the unclouded eternity of it. 
 
 2. Our second inference is this. Such is the excellency 
 of the gospel, that it is dignified by the title of a kingdom, 
 and that of heaven. Earthly things cannot boast this pri- 
 %'ilege to have that ascribed to the means which belongs to 
 the end. Bread is not health, but the sustenance of it. 
 Reading is not learning, but the way to get it. In divine 
 graces the way is often honoured with the title of the end. 
 Faith is called life ; grace, salvation ; the gospel, the kiiig- 
 dom. Such is the infallibility of God's decrees, and the in- 
 separable effects that follow his heavenly intentions ; that the 
 means shall easily perform the office they were sent to do. 
 The preaching of the gospel shall save those whom God 
 hath determined to save by it, and shall as assuredly bring 
 them to the kingdom of heaven as if itself were that king- 
 dom. Here then is matter, 
 
 1st, Of instruction : that God hath so decreed it that 
 ■we must ordinarily pass through one kingdom into another, 
 into a greater. From the gospel of life we shall go to the 
 God of life. From the preaching of the word to that the 
 word hath preached — the " end of our faith, the salvation 
 of our souls." For we climb to heaven by Paul's stairs, 
 Rom. X. 9, 10, (and without that manner of ascending few 
 come thither) ; from preaching to believing, from believ- 
 ing to obeying ; and obeying precedes our eternal hfe. 
 Such a man shall only hear that comfortable address ; 
 " Good and faithful servant, enter into thy master's joy." 
 
 2d, Of comfort : that seeing we have the gospel, we 
 have the kingdom of heaven amongst us. They see not 
 this marvellous hght that live in their own natural dark- 
 ness ; no, nor do all see this kingdom that live in it, but 
 they alone in whom this kingdom lives. " Our gospel is 
 hid to those that are lost," 2 Cor. iv. 3. It is an offence 
 to the Gentiles, contempt of the Jews, riddles to the Athe- 
 
32 THK LEAVES ; OK, 
 
 nian stoics, a paradox to Julian, Acts xvii. 18. ; but to 
 " them that are called, both Jews' and Greeks, the power 
 of God, and the -wisdom of God," 1 Cor. i. 24. Open your 
 scornful eyes, lift up your neglected heads, ye abortive ge- 
 neration of lust and sin, the sun shines in your faces. .Sha- 
 dow not your eyes with carnal security ; remove those thick 
 clouds of ignorance and contempt interjiosed betwixt you 
 and this light. See, see, and glorify our God ; the king- 
 dom of heaven is among you. Come out of your holes, 
 ye Roman dormice ; pray for spiritual unction, ye sotted 
 worldlings, that the scales of ignorance may fall from you. 
 Waken your heavy spirits, ye mopish naturals ; live no 
 longer in the region of darkness and t}Tanny of sin, and 
 bless his name that hath called you to his kingdom. You 
 need not travel a tedious pilgrimage, leaning on the staff of 
 a carnal devotion, as the papists are forced, nor trudge from 
 east to west to seek this kingdom, as the Jews were me- 
 naced, nor cry it is too far to go to Jerusalem, and there- 
 fore fall to worship your calves, } Our little gods at home, 
 as Jeroboam pretended. But to take away all excuse, and 
 leave your obstinacy naked to the judgment-seat of God, 
 behold you need but step over your thresholds, and gatlier 
 manna ; the kingdom of heaven is among you. 
 
 3d, Of reproof: cease your despising of the gospel, ye 
 profane witlings, whose sport is to make yourselves merry 
 with God. You cannot stick the least spot of contempt on 
 the cheek of preaching but it lights on heaven itself, where 
 you will one day desire to be. AVhile you would shoot 
 arrows against the invulnerable breast of God, they shall 
 recoil with vengeance on your own heads. You little think 
 that your scurrilous jests on the word, and the messengers 
 thereof, strike at the side of Christ with the offer of new 
 wounds. You dream not that }-ou flout the kingdom of 
 hearen itself, which, when }ou have lost, you will pi-ize 
 dearer than the West Indies doth her gold or the East her 
 spices. If you knew what this kingdom was, you would 
 weigh out your blood by ounces, like gold in the balance, 
 till your heai-ts had not a drop left to cherish them for the 
 
A DIRECTION TO HEAVEN. 
 
 33 
 
 purchase of it. Behold, you may have it for less. Why 
 do you despise it ? Perhaps you make full account of this 
 kingdom, though you allow yourselves in your vanities. 
 What, will you scorn it, and yet be glad of it ? How un- 
 equal are these thoughts ! How impossible these hopes ! 
 God will not give his pearls to swine ; shall they inherit the 
 kingdom of heaven that despise it? This is the what; now 
 follows the To What. 
 
 The thing whereby this mystical nature is shadowed out 
 to us is leaven. In tliis we must confine ourselves to the 
 scope of the parable ; and as we would not look short, so 
 we will not look beyond. Sobriety must guide our course 
 in everj- sermon ; then especially, when our navigation Ues 
 through the depth of a parable. We find leaven elsewhere 
 used in the worst sense, (^latt. xvi. 6 ; 1 Cor. v. 6— 8."* 
 And before we step any further, this point presents itsell 
 to our observation. 
 
 The same things are often taken in diflTerent senses; 
 sometimes oblique, not seldom opposite. Christ in another 
 place premonisheth his apostles against the leaven of the 
 Pharisees, Sadducees, and Herodians ; the leaven of hypo- 
 crisy, of irreligion, of savage policies. And the chosen ves- 
 sel bids us, " purge out the old leaven," &c., 1 Cor. v. 7. 
 Here it is used as graciously as there grievously ; and no 
 meaner thing is likened to it than the kingdom of heaver.. 
 But I refer this note to a place where I have more liberally 
 handled it. 
 
 The intent, force, and vigour of the parable consists in 
 the propagation. As leaven spreads into the whole liunp, 
 so the gospel regenerates the whole man. This is the pith 
 and marrow of it ; yet what other resemblances serve to 
 the illustration of it, are considerable. Therefore two re- 
 mote and improper observations in the leaven shall lead us 
 to the main, which is the dilation of that and the gospel. 
 
 1. Leaven hath a quality somewhat contrary to the meal, 
 yet serves to make it fit for bread. The gospel is sour and 
 harsh to the natural soul, yet works it to newness of life 
 It runs against the grain of our affections, and we think it 
 troubles the peace of our Israel within us. Our sins are as 
 
 c 
 
34 THE LEAVEN ; on, 
 
 dear to us as our ej-e, hand, or foot (Matt. v. 29.), neces- 
 sary and ill spared members. The gospel that would divorce 
 our loves so wedded to our iniquities seems dnrus sermo, a 
 hard sa}-iiig, who can bear it ? It is leaven to Herod to 
 part with his Herodias ; to Naaman to be bound from bow- 
 ing before Rimmon. Christ gives the young man a sour 
 morsel when he bids him give his goods to the poor. Yet 
 choke the usurer with leaven when you tell him that his sins 
 shall not be forgiven till his unjust gains be restored. You 
 may as well prescribe the epicure leaven instead of bread, 
 as set him the voider of abstinence instead of his table of 
 surfeits. This is leaven indeed, to tell the incloser that he 
 enters commons with the devil, while he hinders the poor 
 to enter common with him ; or to tell the sacrilegious that 
 Satan hath just possession of his soul, while he keeps unjust 
 possession of the church's goods. When this leaven is held 
 to carnal lips it -will not go down, no, the verj' smell of it 
 offends. The combat of faith, the task of repentance, the 
 mercifulness of charity, this same rule of three is hard to 
 learn. To deny a man's self, to cashier his fanuliar lusts, 
 to lay down whole bags of crosses, and to take up one, the 
 cross of Christ ; to forsake our money, and assume poverty, 
 persecution, contempt for the gospel. Oh sour, sour leaven, 
 leaven ! No such thing shall come into the vessel of our 
 heart, among the meal of our affections ; we cannot brook 
 it. But this must come and be made welcome, or we shall 
 not be made bread for God's table. It is said of the leaven 
 that it excites the lump by its agreeable acidity. It is aci- 
 dity, but agreeable, when the soul is once sensible of the 
 virtue. God is fain to wrestle with our corruptions, and, 
 like a loving father, to follow us up and down with his leaven ; 
 we tiu-n our backs upon him, and bid him keep his leaven to 
 himself, as Daniel to Belshazzar ; keep thy rewards to thyscif, 
 and give thy gifts to another, Dan. v. 17. But when we are 
 once weary of the world's husks, and begin to long for the 
 bread in our Father'' s house, Luke xv. 17 ; do but taste and 
 digest this leaven, then that that was fel in ore (gall in the 
 mouth)^ proves viel in corde (honey in the heart), we return 
 
A DIRECTION TO HEAVEN. 
 
 35 
 
 again, and follow him for it. " Lord, evermore give us this 
 bread," John vi. 34 ; feed us with this leaven, that we may be 
 bread for thine own table. The law was not so harsh in 
 mortifying our sins, but the gospel is found more sweet m 
 saving our souls. 
 
 2. One saith of the leaven, that it raiseth the lump with the 
 heat, as the housewife's philosophy gives the cause. The 
 meal is cold of itself, and unapt to congeal. The leaven by 
 heat doth it. In the gospel preached, there is a spreading 
 heat. It is not only fire in Jeremiah's bones, but in the 
 disciples' ears and hearts, " Did not our hearts bum within 
 us," Luke xxiv. 32. " Is not my word as fire? saith the 
 Lord," Jer. xxiii. 29. In the minister's soul it is hke fire 
 shut up in the bones, which must have vent, or it will make 
 him weary of forbearing, and ring a woe in his conscience 
 if he preach not the gospel. It hath no less powerful fer- 
 vour in the Christian heart, and inkindles the kindly heat of 
 zeal, which no floods of temptation can quench, or blasts 
 of persecution blow out. This it is that thaws the fi-ozen 
 conscience, warms the benumbed spirit, and heats the cold 
 heart. Men are naturally cold at heart, and sin runs like a 
 chill ague through the general blood. The covetous proud 
 hypocrite hath a cold stomach, that for want of digestive 
 heat turns all good nourishment into crudities. Summon 
 them to just trial, feel their pulses, and they beat coldly. 
 If the minister entreat a collection for some distressed Chris- 
 tian, there is a cramp in our fingers ; we cannot untie our 
 purse-strings. It is a manifest sign that we are not leavened. 
 So long as the meal of our effects continues thus cold, we 
 are incapable of being bread. The word puts fervour into 
 our hearts, and leavens us. 
 
 The spaaial instance of this resemblance is, that the leaven 
 spreads virtue into all the meal. The gospel disperseth sal- 
 vation into the whole man. The Word of God is powerful 
 to our renovation, speeding and spreading grace into all 
 parts of us. It works us to perfection, though not that 
 gradual perfection (as the school termeth it) which is above, 
 yet to that partial perfection which Paul prays for his 
 
36 Till! LEAVEK ; OF, 
 
 Thessalonians, " The God of peace sanctify } 0u wjiolly," 
 1 Thes. V. 23, and assumes to be in his Philippians. " Let 
 as many of us as be perfect, be thus minded," Pliil. iii. 15. 
 For though justification admits no latitude, yet .sanctification 
 is wrought by degrees. And a Cliristian goes forward into 
 grace as into those waters of the sanctuary ; first to the 
 ankles, then to the knees, and so higher till all be washed, 
 as the leaven spreads till all be leavened. This doctrine will 
 more clearly manifest itself in the subsequent observations. 
 Only let us not leave it without a double use. 
 
 1 . Suffer yourselves to be leavened ; give entertaiimient 
 to the gospel in your hearts. Though it be a more blessetl 
 thing to give than to take, yet it is a less chargeable thing to 
 take than to give. It is God's bounty to give his word ; 
 do not you in a nice suUenness refuse it. " Let the word 
 dwell in you richly," Col. iii. 16. Do not pinch this leaven 
 for room, nor thrust it into a narrow comer in your con- 
 science, whilst you give specious receipt to lust, and sin, and 
 such lewd inmates. But let it soak into your veins, and 
 dilate itself into your affections, that it may breed good blood 
 in your hearts, good fruit in your conversations. 
 
 2. So judge of yourselves as you find this leaven spreading 
 in you. If }ou should hear e^cry day a sermon, or could 
 read every hour a volume, } et while your lives are barren, 
 you are but unleavened bread ; so unsavoury, that God will 
 not admit it at his board. lie hath an -unleavened hand, 
 that is not charitable ; an unleavened knee, that is not 
 humble ; an unleavened tongue, that blasphemes ; an un- 
 leavened eye, that maliceth ; an unleavened heart, that se- 
 curely offendcth. The outward working shews the inward 
 leavening, and the diffusion is an argument of the being. 
 It cannot be pent up no more than fire. It is no le.ss ojje- 
 rative than it is blessed. You have heard the ii hat, and to 
 jchat ; the in what, huic, or the concuiTcnce of these follow 
 in many particulars. Here is tlie acrent, the action, the 
 subject, the continuance. The agent is a woman , by whom 
 is shadowed the minister. And here are observable three 
 things. 
 
A DIRECTION TO HEAVEN. 
 
 37 
 
 1. The agent that must work with this leaven is a woman, 
 weak in her sex, yet the leaven works never the less for her 
 imbccihty. The minister that must put this leaven to our 
 souls is a man, a weak, sinful, despised man ; yet doth not 
 his weakness derogate from the powerful operation of the 
 Word in the hearts of God's chosen. It is the word of a 
 mighty and majestical God ; who speaks, and the mountains 
 tremble ; threatens, and the foundations of the earth are mov- 
 ed I appeal to your consciences, who have a testimony (from 
 them, and they from the Spirit, that you are God's), hath 
 not his word, spoken by a silly man, made your hearts bleed 
 within you for your sins ? Yea, hath not Felix himself 
 trembled like an aspen leaf when Paul, even his prisoner, 
 preached ? What power hath stirred you, human or divine ? 
 Tertullus could not do it, while authority and credit with 
 men seconded his eloquence. Peter taken from his nets 
 shall catch a thousand, and a thousand souls at a draught. 
 What presumptuous folly in some is it then to loathe the 
 Word of eternal truth because such a man speaks it ? God 
 must not only give them meat, but such a cook as may dress 
 it to their own fancies. Our weakness makes way for God's 
 brighter glory. " That your faith should not stand in the 
 wisdom of man, but in the power of God," 1 Cor. ii. 5. 
 Oftentimes the pillars of the church move not him whom a 
 weak leavener hath converted. It is a reason convincing 
 the wicked, confirming the faithful, that Paul gives, " God 
 hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the 
 wise ; and the weak things to confound the mighty, that no 
 flesh should glorj' in his presence," 1 Cor. i. 27, &c. 
 
 2. The leaven doth this without the woman's virtue, not 
 without her instrumental help ; but the woman in no re- 
 spect without the leaven. The minister cannot leaven his own 
 
 heart, much less the souls of others. The Word doth it ; 
 the minister is but the instrument to apply it. The physician 
 heals not the sore, but the medicine. The hand feeds not 
 the body, but the meat it reacheth to it. Neither in dis- 
 tinct terms doth faith save, but only apprehend the Lord 
 Jesus, in whom is assured salvation. Indeed, so doth God 
 
38 
 
 THE LEAVEN ; OB, 
 
 dijfnify our ministerial function, that the priest is said to 
 make the heart clean, and Timothy to save souls, by attri- 
 bution of that to the instrument which is -wrought by the 
 agent, the happy concurrence of the Spirit and the Gospel, 
 Acts. iii. 12, 16. 
 
 3. A woman is the fittest for this domestic business. Tlie 
 minister being a man, is aptest in God s choice for this spi- 
 ritual leavening. Sdould God speak iu his own person, his 
 glory would swallow us up. " For our God is even a con- 
 suming fire," Heb. xii. 29. Who hath seen God and lives? 
 Ask mount Sinai, if as stout-hearted men as we can be, did 
 not run away, tremble for fear, and entreat that Moses 
 might speak to them from God, not God himself If angels 
 should preach to us, their brightness would amaze us, and 
 m derogation to his glorj' (to whom alone it belongs, and he 
 trill not give it to another), we would fall down to worship 
 them, ready to give them the honour of all good wrought 
 on us. The Word should not be said to save, but the 
 angels. If one should rise from the dead, as Dives (having 
 learned some charity in hell that had none on earth) wished, 
 it would terrify us. Lo, then, by men of our own flesh, of 
 the same animation with ourselves, doth Jehovah speak to 
 us, that the prabe might be (not man's, but) God's. The 
 agent thus considered, let us look to the action. This is 
 double. Taking the leaven, putting it into the meal. 
 
 1 . The woman took the leaven : she hath it ready before 
 she useth it. We must firet have the gospel before we can 
 leaven your souls with it. We must not be vaporous and 
 imaginative enthusiasts, to trust all on the belief of its being 
 given at the proper time ; but with much study and pain- 
 fulness get this leaven, and apply it. AVhat betters it to 
 have a physician, that hath no medicine ; or a medicine, 
 without skill to apply it? Men think sermons as easy as 
 they are common. You that never prepare yourselves to 
 hear, think so of us, that we never prepare ourselves to 
 preach. If this cheap conceit of preaching did not trans- 
 port many, they would never covet to hear more in a day 
 than they will learn in a year, or practice all their lives. 
 
A DIRECTION TO HEAVEN. 
 
 39 
 
 Alas, how shall we take this leaven ? The skill of mingling 
 It is fetched from the schools of the prophets ; from medi- 
 tation, from books. But in these days, disqiiietness .lilows 
 no meditation ; penury, no books. You deprive us of our 
 means, yet expect our leavens : as Pharaoh required of the 
 Israelites their number of bricks, but allowed them no 
 straw. 
 
 2. We must (with the woman) hide our leaven in the 
 meal : — apply it to your consciences. AVe must preach in 
 pain of death. AVc are salt, and must melt away ourselves 
 to season you. "W'e are nurses, and must feed our children 
 with the white blood of our labours, strained from our own 
 hearts. And you must be content to let this leaven be 
 hiVden in your consciences. The word must not be laid on 
 superficially, with ii perfunctory negligence, like loose corn 
 on the floor of the heart. The seed that lay scattered on 
 the highway ; the fowls of the air picked up, and prevented 
 the fructifying. Matt. xiii. 4. This leaven must be hid from 
 the eyes, and laid up out of the reach of Satan, lest his temp- 
 tations, like ravenous vultures, devour it up. Mary hid 
 the sayings of Christ in her heart. Thy law, O Lord, saith 
 David, is within my heart. If this leaven have not taken 
 the conscience, all outward reformation is but Jehoiakim's 
 rotten wall, painted over with vermilion. What cares a 
 good market-miin how fiiir the fleece or the flesh look, if the 
 liver be specked ? It is the praise of Christ's spouse, that she 
 is all glorious within. This leaven must be hid in the meal. 
 Which is the third point, the subject, Three measures of 
 meal. Observe, 
 
 1. Three measures. We have no time to discuss the 
 literal, and numerous glosses hence inferred, and by some 
 enforced. Either what the measure is ; translated by some 
 a peck ; for this read the marginal note in the new transla- 
 tion. Or what are those three f by which some understand 
 the three parts of the world, Europe, Asia, Africa ; some 
 the whole man. which they will have to consist of the body, 
 soul, and conscience. Others refer it to the soul, wherein 
 they find the understanding, will, and affections. The un- 
 
40 THE LEAVEN ; OB, 
 
 derstanding enlightened, the will reformed, the affections 
 sanctified. But I rather take it sjjoken, not with special 
 reference to this particular number, but a finite number put 
 for an indefinite. The gospel, by the power of the Spirit, 
 doth sanctify the whole man, and gets conquest over sin and 
 Satan. Therefore, not to stretch the words of Christ fur- 
 ther than he meant them, but to keep the bounds of so- 
 briety, laying our hand on our lips, and where we under- 
 stand not, to be silent, let our instruction be this. The 
 gospel is of such force, that it can leaven us throughout ; 
 whatever we are, more or less we shall be made clean by 
 the Word. " Now are ye clean through the Word I have 
 spoken unto you," John xv. 3. 
 
 Thus God's httle beginnings have great effects. Hoc 
 discrimen inter opera Dei et mundi: (This is the difference 
 between the works of God and the world.) The works of 
 the world have a great and sweUing entrance, but mah fine 
 clauduntur, they go lame off. But the works of God, fi-om 
 a slender beginning, have a glorious issue. So unequal 
 are his ways and ours ; a little mustard seed proves a great 
 tree : a little leaven (saith Paul, though in another sense) 
 sours the whole lump. How proudly the world begins, 
 how it halts in the conclusion. The Tower of Babel is 
 begun, as if it scorned earth, and dared heaven : how 
 quickly, how easily is all dashed ! Behold Nebuchadnezzar 
 entering on the stage, with who is God ! but he goes off to 
 feed with beasts. So dissolute is. our pride at the breaking 
 out, so desolate at the shutting up. God, from a low and 
 slender ground (at least in our opinion), raiseth up moun- 
 tains of wonders to us, of praises to himself J oseph from 
 the prison shall be taken up into the second chariot of 
 P'gypt. Drowning Moses shall come to countermand a 
 monarch. David shall be fetched from the sheep-folds to 
 the throne. The world begins with great promises ; but 
 could it give as much as ever the prince of it proffered to 
 Christ, it cannot keep thy bones from the ague, thy flesh 
 from worms, nor thy soul from hell. Behold, a Uttle leaven 
 shall sanctify thee throughout ; the folly of preaching shall 
 save thy soul, and raise thy body to eternal glorj-. 
 
A DIRECTION TO HEAVEN. 
 
 41 
 
 2. This leaven must be put in flour or meal. There must 
 be a fit matter to work on. It must not be mixed -with 
 ashes, or sand, or bran, but meal. It doth no good on the 
 reprobate Jews, but broken-hearted Gentiles. Not on atheists 
 and mockers, but on repentant souls, groaning beneath the 
 burden of their sins. Hence so many come to this place of 
 leavening, and return unleavened ; their hearts are not pre- 
 pared, how should they be repaired ? They are sand or 
 dust, not meal or flour. There must be a congruity or 
 pliableness of the subject to the worker. Christ doth not 
 gather wolves and goats into his fold, but sheep. He doth 
 not plant weeds and thorns in his garden, but lilies, roses, 
 and pomegranates. The dogs and swine are excluded the 
 gates of heaven ; only the lambs enter to that holy Lamb of 
 God. Ashes and rubbish cannot be conglutinate by leaven, 
 but meal. While you bring other substances, look you to 
 be leavened ? You may put leaven to stones and rocks long 
 enough ere you make them bread. When you bring so 
 unfit natures with you, complain not that you are not 
 leavened. 
 
 3. The third observation hence serves to take awav an 
 objection raised against the former conclusion. You say 
 Christ will not accept of goats into his fold, nor thorns into 
 his vineyard ; nor can leaven work eflectually upon incapable 
 natures, as sand, stones, or ashes ; but wherefore serves the 
 word but to turn goats into sheep, and wild olives into 
 vines, and refi-actory servants into obedient sons ? The gos- 
 pel intends the expunction of the old image, and a new 
 creation of us in Christ Jesus. True, it doth so ; but still 
 there must be in you a co-working answerableness to the 
 gospel. Whiles you obstinately will continue dust and 
 stones, look you to be leavened ? First grind your hearts 
 with a true repentance for your sins ; or because you cannot 
 do it of yourselves, beseech God to break your stony bowels 
 with his Spirit, and to grind you with remorse and sorrow. 
 Of com is made bread ; but not till first it be turned to 
 meal. ITie unbeaten com will make no paste or dough. 
 Though there be matter in us — for we are reasonable crea- 
 
42 THK LEAVEN ; OR A DmECTION TO HEAVEN. 
 
 tures — j-et God must turn our com into meal, prepare our 
 hearts with fit qualities to receive his grace. True it is, 
 that God doth often work this preparation also by preach- 
 ing ; as our sermons have two subjects, the law and the 
 gospel. By the law we must be ground to meal, before 
 the gospel can leaven us. Christ here speaks of sanctifica- 
 tion, the effect of the gospel. For the law admits of no 
 repentance ; because we cannot satisfy for the evils we have 
 already committed. Thus we are com men ; but must be 
 ground to meal before fit to be leavened. There is matter 
 in the rock to build a house of, but not form, tUl it be 
 heivn and squared. Thus God by his grace must prepare 
 us to receive his grace, and by first making us meal, to 
 leaven us. Away then with that popish doctrine of self- 
 preparation by congruity ; God works first, in order of place, 
 if not of time. We weakly meet him, when his secret oper- 
 ation has once called us. AVe are men, there is in us rea- 
 son, will, capableness, which are not in a block, in a beast. 
 Yet hitherto we are but com. Our God must grind us to 
 meal by his law, and then leaven us by his gospel. 
 
 This is the subject. The continuance is, till the whole 
 be leavened. We must preach, and you must hear the 
 gospel perpetually, till you be wholly leavened. Which be- 
 cause you cannot fully attain in this world, therefore you 
 frequent the place of leavening till death. Peter doth warn 
 the pure minds of the saints (2 Pet. iii. 1) : and Paul 
 preachetb the law, even to those that know the law (Rom. 
 vii. 1.) You canuot be perfect, yet labour to perfection. 
 Sit not down with that pharisaical opinion — we are leavened 
 enough. The more you know, the more you know your own 
 wants. " Now the very God of peace sanctify you wholly, 
 and I pray God, that your whole spirit and soul and body 
 be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ. Amen," 1 Thess. v. 23. 
 
A CRUCIFIX, 
 
 A SERMON UPON THE PASSION. 
 
 ' He halh glren himself for ns. an offcrlnir nnd a sacriflcc to God for a sweet •mell. 
 
A CRUCIFIX; 
 
 A SEEMON UPON THE PASSION. 
 
 " Me hath given himself for uSianolTerlncandaiactlfice toGod for a tveet smell- 
 ing savour."— JfpAei. t. 2. 
 
 This latter part of the verse is a fair and lively crucifix, cut 
 by the hand of a most exquisite carver, — not to amaze our 
 corporal lights with a piece of wood, brass, or stone, curi- 
 ously engraven, to the increase of a carnal devotion, but to 
 present to the eye of the conscience the grievous passion, 
 and gracious compassion of our Saviour Jesus Christ, " Who 
 gave himself for us," &c. This crucifix presents to our eye 
 seven considerable 
 
 'Who, Christ. 
 What, Gave. 
 Whom, Himself. 
 Circumstances ; ^ To whom. To God. 
 
 For whom. For us. 
 
 After what manner. An offering and sacrifice. 
 Of what effect. Of a sweet savour. 
 
 The points, you see, lie as ready for our discourse as the 
 way did fi-om Bethany to Jerusalem ; only fail not my 
 
46 A CRUCIFIX ; OR, 
 
 speech, nor your attention, till we come to the journey's 
 end. 
 
 Who. — The person that gives is Christ ; the quality of 
 his person doth highly commend his exceeding love to us. 
 We will ascend to this consideration by four stairs or de- 
 grees, and descend by four other. Both in going up and 
 coming down we shall perceive the admirable love of the 
 giver. Ascendant!} — 
 
 1. We will consider him hominem, a man. " Behold 
 the man," John xix. 5, saith Pilate. We may tarry and 
 wonder at his lowest degree, that a man should give himself 
 for man. " For scarcely for a righteous man will one die," 
 Rom. V. 7. But this man gave himself for unrighteous 
 men, to die, not an ordinar}-, but a grievous death, exposing 
 himself to the wrath of God, to the tjTanny of men and 
 devils. It would pity our hearts to see a poor dumb beast 
 so terrified j how much more hominem, a man, the image of 
 God! 
 
 2. The second degree gives him hominem innocentem, an 
 innocent man. Pilate could say, " I have found no fault 
 in this man," Luke xxili. 14; no, nor yet Herod. No, nor 
 the devil, who would have been right glad of such an ad- 
 vantage. So Pilate's wife sent her husband word, " Have 
 thou nothing to do with that just man," Matth. xx^-iL 19. 
 So the person is not only a man, but a just man, that gave 
 himself to endure such horrors for us. If we pity the death 
 of malefactors, how should our compassion be to one inno- 
 cent ! 
 
 3. In the third degree, he is not only homo, a man, and 
 Justus homo, a good man ; but also magnus homo, a great 
 man, royally descended from the ancient patriarchs and 
 kings of Judah. Pilate had so written his title, and he 
 would answer, not alter it, Quod scripsi, scripsi: ("VMiat I have 
 written, I have written.) And what was that ? " Jesus of 
 Nazareth, the King of the Jews," John xix. 19. Now as 
 is the person, so is the passion : the more noble the giver, 
 the more excellent the gift. That so high a king would 
 
A SERMON UPON TUB PASSION. 
 
 47 
 
 suffer such contempt and obloquy to be cast upon him, when 
 the least part of his disgrace had been too much for a man 
 of mean condition ! That a man, a good man, a great man, 
 bore such calumny, such calamity, for our sakes. Here was 
 an unmatchable, an unspeakable love. 
 
 4. This is enough, but this is not all. There is yet 
 a higher degree in this ascent ; we are not come to our 
 full quantus. It is this : he was plus quam homo, more than 
 man ; not only maximus hominum, but vwjor hominibus, the 
 greatest of men ; yea, greater than all men. Not mere 
 Jilius hominis, but vere Jilius Dei; he was more than tlie son 
 of man, even the Son of God. As the centurion acknow- 
 ledged, " Truly this man was the Son of God," Mark xv. 
 39. Here be all the four stairs upwards : a man, a harm- 
 less man, a princely man ; and yet more than man, even 
 God himself. Solomon was a great king, but here is a 
 greater than Solomon. Solomon was Christus Domini, but 
 here is Christus Dominus. He was the anointed of the Lord, 
 but this is the Lord himself anointed. And here all tongues 
 grow dumb, and admiration sealeth up every Hp. This is a 
 depth beyond sounding. You may perhaps drowsily hear 
 this, and coldly be affected with it ; but let me say, princi- 
 palities and powers, angels and seraphims, stood amazed 
 at it. 
 
 We see the ascent. Shall we bring down again this con- 
 sideration by as many stairs ? 
 
 1. Consider him. Almighty God, taking upon him man's 
 nature. This is the first step downwards. " The word was 
 made flesh and dwelt among us," John i. 14. And " God 
 sent forth his-Son made of a woman," Gal. iv. 4. And this 
 was done, Naturam suscipicndo nostrum, non vmtando suam 
 (Aug. Epist. 120), by putting on our nature, not by 
 putting off his own. Homo Deo accessit, non Deus a se re- 
 cessit: (Humanity is united to the Godhead, but the Godhead 
 is not disassociated from itself.) He is both God and man, 
 yet but one Christ ; one, not by confusion of substance, but 
 by unity of person. Now in that this eternal God became 
 man, he suffered more than man can suffer, either living or 
 
48 A CRUCIFIX ; OK, 
 
 dead. That man should be turned into a beast, into a 
 ■worm, into dust, into nothing, is not so great a disparage- 
 ment as that the glorious God should become man. " He 
 that thought it not robbery to be equal with God, was made 
 in the likeness of man." He that is " more excellent than 
 the angels," became lower than the angels. Even the 
 brightness of God's glory takes on him the baseness of 
 our nature ; and he that laid the foundations of the earth, 
 and made the world, is now in the world made himself. 
 This is the first descending degree. 
 
 2. The second stair brings him yet lower. He is made 
 man ; but what man ? Let him be universal monarch of 
 the world, and have fealty and homage acknowledged to 
 him from all kings and emperors, as his viceroys. Let him 
 walk upon crowns and sceptres, and let princes attend on 
 his court ; and here was some majesty that might a little 
 become the Son of God. No such matter. Induit formam 
 servi: " He took upon him the form of a servant," Phil. ii. 
 7. He instructs us to humility by his own example. " The 
 Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minis- 
 ter," Matth. XX. 28. " O Israel, thou hast made me to 
 serve with thy sins," Isa. xliii. 24. He gave himself for a 
 minister, not for a master ; ad servitttlem, non ad domina- 
 tionem. He that is God's Son is made man's servant. 
 Proudly blind, and blindly poor man, that thou shouldest 
 have such a servant as the Son of thy Maker. This is the 
 second step downwards. 
 
 3. This is not low enough yet : "I am a worm, Jind no man," 
 saith the Psalmist in his person. Yea, the shame of men 
 and contempt of the people. He is called (Psalm xxiv. 7) 
 the lung of glory. " Be ye open, ye everlasting doors, and 
 the King of glory shall come in ;" but Isaiah says, He is 
 despised and rejected of men : we hid as it were our faces 
 from him : he was despised, and we esteemed him not." 
 O the pity of God, that those two should come so near to- 
 gether, the King of glorj-, and the shame of men. Qiio 
 celsior majestas, eo mirahilior humilitas: (The loftier the ma- 
 jesty, the lovelier the humility.) Thus saith the apostle. 
 
A SERMON UPON TUE PASSION. 49 
 
 " He made himself of no reputation," Diil. ii. 7. He that 
 requires all honour as properly due to him, makes himself 
 (not of little, but) of no reputation. Here was dejection, 
 yea, here was rejection. Let him be laid in his poor cradle, 
 the Bethlehemites reject him ; the manger must serve — no 
 room for him in the inn. Yea, " He came to his own, and 
 his own received him not," John i. 11. All Israel is too 
 hot for him ; he is glad to fly into Egj-pt for protection. 
 Comes he to Jerusalem, which ho had honoured vnih his 
 presence, instructed with his sermons, amazed with his mi- 
 racles, wet and bedewed with his tears ? They reject him. 
 "I would, and ye would not." Comes he to his kindred ? 
 They deride and traduce him, as if they were ashamed of his 
 alliance. Comes he to his disciples ? " They go back, and 
 will walk no more with him," John vi. 66. WiU yet his 
 apostles tarry with him ? So they say, verse 68. " Lord, 
 to whom shall we go ? thou hast the words of eternal life." 
 Yet at last one betrays him, another forswears him ; all for- 
 sake him; and Jesus is left alone in the midst of his enemies. 
 Can malice yet add some further aggravation to his con- 
 tempt ? yes, they crucify him with malefactors. The qua- 
 lity of his company is made to increase his dishonour. In 
 medio latronum, tanquam lalronum immanissiimis. In the 
 midst of thieves, as it were the prince of thieves, saith 
 Luther, He that " thought it no robbery to be equal to the 
 most holy God," is made equal to tliieves and murderers ; 
 yea, tanquam dux, as it were a captain amongst them. 
 This is the third step. 
 
 4. But we must go yet lower. Behold now the deepest 
 stair and the greatest rejection. Affligit me Deits: " The 
 Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger," 
 Lament, i. 12. "It pleased the Lord to bruise him ; he 
 hath put him to grief," Isaiah Hii. 10. No burden seems 
 heav}', when the comforts of God help to bear it. When 
 God will give solace, vexation makes but idle offers and 
 assaults. But now to the rejection of all the former, the 
 Lord turns his back upon him as a stranger ; the Lord 
 wounds him as an enemy. He cries out, " My God, my 
 p 
 
50 A CRCcinx ; or, 
 
 God, why hast thou forsaken me?" How could the sun 
 and stars, heaven and earth, stand while their Maker thus 
 complained ! Tlie former degree was deep ; he was crucified 
 with evil-doers ; reckoned amongst the wicked. Yet thieves 
 fared better in death than he. We find no Irrision, no in- 
 sultation, no taunts, no invectives against them. They had 
 nothing upon them but pain, he botli contempt and tor- 
 ment. If scorn and derision can vex his good soul, he shall 
 have it in peals of ordnance shot against him. Even the 
 basest enemies shall give it ; Jews soldiers, persecutors, yea, 
 suffering malefactors, spare not to flout him. His blood 
 cannot appease them without his reproach. But yet the 
 disciples are but weak men, the Jews but cruel persecutors, 
 the devils but malicious enemies ; all these do but their 
 kind; but the lowest degree is, God forgets him, and in his 
 feeling he is forsaken of the Highest. Weigh all these cir- 
 cumstances, and you shall truly behold the person that gave 
 himself for us. 
 
 What. — We come to the action, Dedit. Giving is the 
 argument of a fi-ee disposition. " I lay down my life ; no 
 man taketh it firom me, but I lay it down of myself. I have 
 power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again," 
 John X. 17, 18. He that gives life to us, gave up his 
 own life for us. He did not sell, set, let, or lend, but give. 
 OUatus est, quia ipse voluit. He was offered, because he 
 would be offered. No hand could cut that stone fi-om the 
 quarry of heaven ; no violence pull him from the bosom of 
 his Father, but sua misericordia, his o^vn mercy : he gave. 
 " He Cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon 
 the hills," Cant. ii. 8. He comes with willingness and ce- 
 lerity, no human resistance could hinder him ; not the hil- 
 locks of our lesser infirmities, not the mountains of our 
 grosser iniquities, could stay his merciful pace towards us. 
 
 He gave his life ; who could bereave him of it ? To 
 all the high priest's armed forces he gave but a verbal en- 
 counter, / am he ; and they retire and fall backward ; his 
 very breath dispersed them all. He could as easily have 
 
A SERMON UPON THE PASSION. 51 
 
 commanded fire fi:om heaven to consume them, or vapours 
 from the earth to choke them ; he that controls devils 
 could easily have quaUed men. More than twelve legions 
 of angels were at his back, and every angel able to conquer 
 a legion of men. He gives them leave to take him, yea 
 power to kill him ; from himself is that power which appre- 
 hends himself. Even while he stands before Pilate scorned, 
 yet he tells him, " Thou couldst have no power against me," 
 nisi dalam desuper, " unless it were given thee from above." 
 His own strength leads him, not his adversaries ; he could 
 have been freed, but he would not ; constraint had abated 
 liis merit ; he will deserve though he die. 
 
 The loss of his hfe was necessary, yet was it also volimtary ; 
 Quod amiltilur necessarium est quod emitlitur voluntarium 
 (Ambrose) ; therefore he gave up the ghost. In spite of all the 
 world he might have kept his soul within his body ; he would 
 not. The world should have been burned to cinders, and 
 all creatures on earth resolved to their original dust, before 
 he could have been enforced. INIan could not take away 
 his spirit ; therefore he gave it. Otherwise, if his passion had 
 been only operis and not voluntatis, material and not formal, 
 it could not have been meritorious, or afforded satisfaction 
 for us. For that is only done well that is done of our wiU. 
 
 But it is objected out of Heb. v. 7, that " he olTered up 
 prayers and supplications, with strong crying and tears, 
 unto him that was able to save him from death." Hence 
 some blasphemers say, that Christ was a coward in fearing 
 the natural death of the body. If he had so feared it, he 
 needed not to have tasted it. Christ indeed did naturally 
 fear death, otherwise he had not been so affected as an or- 
 dinary man. Yet he willingly suffered death, otherwise he 
 had not been so well affected as an ordinary martyr. But 
 he prays thrice. Let this cup pass. Divines usually distin- 
 guish here the sententiaries, thus : That there was in Christ 
 a double human or created wUl, the one voluntas ut natura, 
 a natural will ; the other voluntas ut ratio, a reasonable will. 
 Christ, according to his natural will, trembled at the pangs 
 of death, and this without sin ; for nature abhorreth all de- 
 
62 A CRUCIFIX ; OR, 
 
 structive things. But in regard of his rational ■will, he 'will- 
 ingly submits himself to drink that cup. Not as I u-ill, O 
 Father, hut as thou wilt. A man, saith Aquinas, -will not 
 naturally endure the lancing of any member, yet by his rea- 
 sonable will he consents to it, for the good of the whole 
 body ; reason masters sense, and cutting or cauterizing is 
 endured. So Christ, by the strength of his natural will, 
 feared death ; but by his reason, perceiving that the cutting, 
 wounding, crucifying of the Head, would bring health to 
 the whole body of his church, and either he must bleed on 
 the cross, or we must all burn in hell ; behold now he will- 
 ingly and cheerfully gives himself an offering and sacrifice 
 to God for us. 
 
 But was it a mere temporal death that our Saviour feared ? 
 No ; he saw the fierce wrath of his Father, and therefore 
 feared. Many resolute men have not shrunk at a little ; 
 divers martyrs have endured strange torments with magna- 
 nimity. But now when he that gave them strength quakes 
 at death, shall we say he was a coward ? Alas, that which 
 would have overwhelmed man, would not have made him 
 shrink ; that which he feared, no mortal man but himself 
 ever felt ; yet he feared. The despair of many thousand 
 men was not so much as for liim to fear. He saw that 
 which none saw, the anger of an infinite God ; he perfectly 
 apprehended the cause of fear, our sin and torment ; he saw 
 the bottom of the cup, how bitter and dreggish every drop 
 of that -nal was ; he truly understood the burden which we 
 make light of. Men fear not hell because they know it not. 
 If they could see through the opened gates, the insufferable 
 horrors of that pit, trembling and quaking would run like 
 an ague through their bones. This insupportable load he 
 saw ; that the sponge of vengeance must be wrung out to 
 him, and he must suck it up to the last and least drop. 
 Ever)' talent of our iniquities must be laid upon him, till, as 
 " a cart, he be laden -with sheaves," Amos ii. 13. And with all 
 this pressure he must mount his chariot of death, the cross, 
 and there bear it, till the appeased God gave way to a con- 
 summatum est : " It is finished." 
 
A SERMON UPON THE PASSION. 53 
 
 The philosopher could say, that sapiens miser magis est 
 miser, qitam stultus miser : a wise man miserable, is more 
 miserable than a fool miserable, because he understands his 
 miser}-. So that our Sa\'iour's pangs ■were aggravated by 
 the fulness of his knowledge. No marvel then if lie might 
 justly take David's words out of his mouth, " Thy terrors 
 have I suffered with a troubled mind." This thought drew 
 from liim those tears of blood. His eyes had formerly wept 
 for our misdoings ; his whole body now weeps ; not a faint 
 dew, but he sweat out solid drops of blood. The thorns, 
 scourges, nails, fetched blood from him, but not with such 
 pain as this sweat. Outward violence drew on those ; these 
 the extremity of his troubled thought. Here, then, was his 
 cause of fear. He saw our everlasting destruction, if he 
 suffered not ; he saw the horrors which he must suffer to 
 ransom us. Hinc illce lachrymce ; hence those groans, tears, 
 cries, and sweat ; yet his love conquered all. By nature he 
 could willingly have avoided this cup ; for love's sake to us 
 he took it in a willing hand ; so he had purposed, so he 
 hath performed. And now to testify his love, saith my 
 text, he freely gave. 
 
 Whom ? Himself. — This is the third circumstance ; the 
 pft, himself. 
 
 Not an angel ; for an angel cannot sufficiently mediate 
 between an immortal nature offended, and a mortal nature 
 corrupted. The glorious angels are blessed, but finite and 
 limited, and therefore unable for this expiation. They can- 
 not be so sensibly " touched with the feeling of our infirmi- 
 ties," Heb. iv. 15, as he that was, in our o\yn nature, in 
 aU points tempted like as we are, sin only excepted. 
 
 Not saints, for they have no more oil than will serve 
 their own lamps ; they have enough for themselves, not of 
 themselves, all of Christ, but none to spare. Fools cry, 
 give us of your oil ; they answer, " Not so, lest there be 
 not enough for us and you ; but go ye rather to them that 
 sell, and buy for yourselves," Matt. xxv. 9. They could 
 not propitiate for sin, that were themselves guilty of sin, 
 
64 
 
 A CRUCIFIX ; OR, 
 
 and by nature liable to condemnation. Wretched idolaters, 
 that thrust this honour on them against their wills ; how 
 would they abhor such sacrilegious glory ? 
 
 Not the riches of this world ; " We were not redeemed 
 with corruptible things, as silver and gold," 1 Pet. i. 18. 
 Were the riches of the old world brought together to the 
 riches of the new world ; were all the mineral veins of the 
 earth emptied of their purest metals, this pay would not be 
 current with God. It will cost more to redeem souls, 
 " They that trust in their wealth, and boast in the multi- 
 tude of their riches, yet cannot by any means redeem their 
 brother, nor give to God a ransom for him," Psalm xlix. 
 6, 7. The servant cannot redeem the Lord. God made a 
 man master of these things ; he is then more precious than 
 his slaves. 
 
 Not the blood of bulls or goats, Heb. ix. Alas ! those 
 legal sacrifices were but dumb shows of this tragedy, the 
 mere figures of this oblation, m}'stically presenting to 
 their faith that " Lamb of God which taketh away the sins 
 of the world." Thiy Lamb was prefigured in the sacrifices 
 of the law, and now presented in the sacraments of the gos- 
 pel, slain indeed fi-om the beginning of the world. Who 
 had power, prodesse, to profit us, before he had esse, a 
 human being himself. None of these would serve. 
 
 Whom gave he then ? Seipsum, llimself, who was both God 
 and man ; that so participating of both natures, our mor- 
 tality and God's immortality, he might be a perfect media- 
 tor. Apparuit igitur inter mortales peccatores et immorta- 
 lem justum, mortalis cum hominibus, Justus cum Deo (Aug. 
 Confes. Ub. X. cap. 43.) He came between mortal men 
 and immortal God, mortal with men, and just with God. 
 As man he sufiered, as God he satisfied ; as God and man 
 he saved. He gave himself, 
 
 1. All himself, his whole person, soul and body, godhead 
 and manhood. Though the Deity could not suffer, yet in 
 
A SERMON UPON THE PASSION. 55 
 
 regard of the personal union of these two natures in one 
 Christ, his very passion is attributed in some sort to the God- 
 head. So Acts XX. 28, it is called the " blood of God;" and 
 1 Cor. ii. 8, "The Lord of glory" is said to "becnicified." The 
 school's distinction here makes all plain. He gave Totum 
 Christum, though not Totum Chi-isti ; all Christ, though not 
 all of Christ ; Homa non valuit, Deus non voluit ; as God 
 alone, he would not, as man alone, he could not make this 
 satisfaction for us. The Deity is impassable ; yet was it im- 
 possible, without this Deity, for the great work of our salva- 
 tion to be wrought. If any ask, how the manhood could 
 suffer without violence to the Godhead, being united in one 
 person, let him understand it by a familiar comparison. 
 The sunbeams shine on a tree, the axe cuts do^vn this tree, 
 yet can it not hurt the beams of the sun. So the Godhead 
 still remains unharmed, though the axe of death did for a 
 while fell down the manhood. Corpus possum est dolore el 
 gladioi anima dolore non gladio, divinitasnec dolore iiec gladio. 
 His body suffered both sorrow and the swoi-d ; his soul sor- 
 row, not the sword ; his deity neither sorrow nor the sword. 
 Deltas in dolente, non in dolore. The Godhead was in the 
 person paLaed, yet not in the pain. 
 
 2. Himself only, and that wthout a 
 
 1. Without a partner that might share either his glory 
 or our thanks, of both which he is justly jealous. Christi 
 passio adjutore non eguit (Ambrose.) The sufferings of our 
 Saviour need no help. Upon good cause, therefore, we 
 abhor that doctrine of the papists, that our offences are ex- 
 piated by the passions of the saints. No, not the blessed 
 Virgin hath performed any part of our justification, paid 
 any farthing of our debts. But thus sings the choir of 
 Rome, Sancta virgo Dorothea, tua nos virtute bea, cor in no- 
 bis novum crea ; (Holy Virgin, Dorotha, enrich us with thy 
 words, create in us new hearts !) Wherein there is pretty 
 rh)Tne, pretty reason, but great blasphemy ; as if the Virgin 
 Dorotha were able to create a new heart within us. No, 
 
 (Pai-tner, 
 (Comforter. 
 
56 A CRUCIFIX ; OR, 
 
 " but the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin," 
 1 John i. 7. His blood, and his only. O blessed Saviour, 
 every drop of thy blood is able to redeem a beUeving world. 
 What, then, need we the help of men ? How is Christ a 
 perfect Saviour if any act of our redemption he left to the 
 performance of saint or angel ? No, our souls must die, 
 if the blood of Jesus cannot save them. And whatsoever 
 witty error may dispute for the merits of saints, the dis- 
 tressed conscience cries, Christ, and none but Christ. They 
 may sit at tables and discourse, enter the schools and argue, 
 get up into the pulpits and preach that the works of good 
 men is the church's treasure, given by indulgence, and 
 can give indulgence, and that they -vvill do the soul good. 
 But lie we upon our death -beds, panting for breath, driven 
 to the push, tossed with tumultuous waves of afflictions, 
 anguished with sorrow of spirit, then we sing another song 
 — Christ, and Christ alone — Jesus, and only Jesus; mercy, 
 mercy, pardon, comfort, for our Saviour's sake ; " Neither 
 is there salvation in any other ; for there is none other name 
 under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved," 
 Acts iv. 12. 
 
 2. Without a Comforter. He was so far from having a 
 sharer in his passion, that he had none in compassion, that 
 (at least) might anj-ways ease his sorrows. It is but a 
 poor comfort of calamity, pity ; yet even that was wanting. 
 " Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by?" Lam. i. 12. 
 Is it so sore a sorrow to Christ, and is it nothing to you ? 
 a matter not worth your regard, your pity ? Man naturally 
 desires and expects, if he cannot be delivered, ease ; yet 
 to be pitied. " Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O 
 ye my friends, for the hand of God hath touched me," Job 
 xix. 21. Christ might make that request of Job, but in 
 vain ; there was none to comfort him, none to pity him. It 
 is yet a little mixture of refreshing if others be touched with 
 a sense of our miser}- ; that in their hearts they wish U3 
 well, and would give us ease if they could ; but Christ hath 
 in his sorest pangs not so much as a comforter. The mar- 
 tyrs have fought valiantly under the banner of Ch •'.•■(, 1 , . 
 
A SERMON UPON THE PASSION. 57 
 
 cause he was with them to comfort them. But when him- 
 self suffers, no relief is permitted. The most giievous tor- 
 ments find some mitigation in the supply of friends and 
 comforters. Christ after his monomachy orsingle combat with 
 the devil in the desert, had angels to attend him. In his 
 agony in the garden, an angel was sent to comfort him. 
 But when he came to the main act of our redemption, not 
 an angel must be seen. None of those glorious spirits may 
 look through the windows of heaven, to give him any ease. 
 And if they would have relieved him, they could not. Who 
 can lift up where the Lord will cast down ? What chirur- 
 geon can heal the bones which the Lord hath broken ? But 
 his mother, and other friends, stand by, seeing, sighing, 
 weeping. Alas ! what do those tears but increase his sor- 
 row ? Might he not justly say with Paul, " What mean ye 
 to weep, and to break mine heart?" Acts xxi. 13. Of 
 whom then shall he expect comfort ? Of his apostles ? Alas ! 
 they betake them to then- heels. Fear of their own danger 
 drowns their compassion of his miser}-. He might say with 
 Job, " iliserable comforters are ye all." Of whom, then ? 
 The Jews are his enemies, and vie in unmercifulness with 
 devils. There is no other refuge but his Father. No, even 
 his Father is angry ; and he who once said, " This is my 
 beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," Matth. iii. 17, is 
 now incensed. He hides his face from him, but lays his 
 hand heavy upon him, and buffets him with anguish. Thus 
 Solus patitur : he gave himself, and only himself, for our re- 
 demption. 
 
 To WHOM ? To God ; and that is the fourth circumstance. 
 To whom should he offer this sacrifice of expiation but to him 
 that was offended? and that is God. " Against thee, thee only 
 have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight," Psalm li. 4. 
 " Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight," 
 Luke XV. 21. All sins are committed against him : his jus- 
 tice is displeased, and must be satisfied. To God ; for God 
 is angrj', with what, and whom ? with sin and us, and us 
 for sin. In his just anger he must smite ; but whom ? In 
 
58 A CRUCIFIX ; on, 
 
 Christ was no sin. Now sball God do like Annas or Ana- 
 nias ? " If I have spoken evil," saith Christ, " bear wit- 
 ness of the evil ; but if well, why smitest thou me," John 
 xviii. 23. So Paul to Ananias, " God will smite thee, thou 
 whited wall ; for sittest thou to judge me after the law, 
 and commandest me to be smitten contrarj' to the law ?" 
 Acts xxiii. 3. So Abraham pleads to God, " Shall not the 
 Judge of all the earth do right?" Gen. xviii. 25. Espe- 
 cially right to his Son, and to that Son which glorified him 
 on earth, and whom he hath now glorified in heaven ? We 
 must fetch the answer fi'om Daniel's prophecy, " The Mes- 
 siah shall be cut off, but not for himself," Dan. ix. 26. Not 
 for himself? For whom then ? For solution hereof we 
 must step to the fifth point, and there we shall find 
 
 For Whom ? For us. He took upon him our person, he 
 became surety for us ; and, lo ! now the coiu-se of justice may 
 proceed against him ! He that will become a surety, and 
 take on him the debt, must be content to pay it. Henca 
 that innocent lamb must be made a sacrifice ; " and he that 
 knew no sin in himself, must be made sin for us, that we 
 might be made the righteousness of God in him," 2 Cor. v. 
 21. Seven times in three verses doth the prophet Isaiah 
 inculcate this. We, ours, us; Isa. liii. 4, 5, 6. We were 
 all sick, grievously sick, every sin was a mortal disease. 
 Quot vitia, tot fehres. " He healeth our infirmities," saith the 
 prophet ; he was our physician, a great physician. Magnus 
 venit medicus, quia magniis jacebat (zgrotus. The whole world 
 was sick to death, and therefore needed a powerful physi- 
 cian. So was he ; and took a strange course for our cure ; 
 which was not by giving us physic, but by taking our phy- 
 sic for us. Other patients drink the prescribed potion ; 
 but our Physician drank the potion himself, and so recovered 
 us. 
 
 For us. — Ambr. Pro me doluit, qui pro se nihil habuit quod 
 doleret (De Fid. ad Grat. Ub. ii. cap. 3). He sufiered for 
 me, that had no cause to sufler for himself. 0 Domine Jesu, 
 doles non tua, sed vulnera mea : (0 Lord Jesus, thou sufierest 
 
A SEUMON UPON TDK PASSION. 59 
 
 not thine own, but my wounds.) So monstrous were our 
 sins, that the hand of the everlasting justice was ready to 
 strike us with a fatal and final blow. Christ in his own 
 person steps between the stroke and us, and bore that a 
 while that would have sunk us lor ever. Nos immortalitate 
 male ttsi sumus, ut moreremur; Chrustus mortalitate bene usus 
 est, ut viveremus (Aug. de doct. Christ, lib. i. cap. 14). 
 We abused the immortality we had, to our death ; Christ 
 used the mortality he had, to our life. Dilexit nos, he loved 
 us ; and such us, that were his utter enemies. Here then 
 was love -without hmitation, beyond imitation. Unspeak- 
 able mercy, says Bernard, that the King of eternal glory 
 should yield himself to be crucified, Pro tarn despicatissimo 
 vernaculo, immo vermiculo (Ser. de quadruplici debito) ; for 
 so poor a wretch, yea, a worm ; and that not a loving 
 worm, not a living worm ; for we both hated him and his, 
 and were dead in sins and trespasses. 
 
 Yea, for all us, mdefinitely ; none excepted that will ap- 
 prehend it faithfully. The mixture of Moses' perfume is thus 
 sweetly allegorized. God commands him to put in so much 
 frankincense as galbanum, and so much galbanum as frankin- 
 cense, Exod. XXX. 34. Christ's sacrifice was so sweetly tem- 
 pered : as much blood was shed for the peasant in the field as 
 for the prince in the court. The offer of salvation is general : 
 " whosoever among you feareth God, and worketh righteous- 
 ness, to him is the word of this salvation sent." As there is no 
 exemption of the greatest from misery, so no exemption of 
 the least from mercy. He that will not beUeve and amend 
 shall be condemned, be he never so rich ; he that doth, be 
 he never so poor, shall be saved. 
 
 This one point of the crucifix, for m, requires more 
 punctual meditation. Whatsoever we leave unsaid, we must 
 not huddle up this. For indeed this brings the text home 
 to us, even into our consciences, and speaks effectually to us 
 all : to me that speak, and to you that hear, with that pro- 
 phet's application, TTiou art the man. We are they for 
 whose cause our blessed Saviour was crucified. For us he 
 endured tho^e grievous pangs ; for us, that we might never 
 
60 
 
 A CRUCIFIX ; OR, 
 
 taste them. Therefore say we with that father, Toto nobis 
 figatur in corde, qui lotus -pro nobis fixus in cruce, (Aug. 
 de sancta -virg. cap. 55) ; let him be fixed wholly in our 
 hearts, who was wholly for us fastened to the cross. 
 
 We shall consider the uses we are to make of this by the 
 ends for which Christ performed this. 
 
 1 . To save us. This was his purpose and performance : all 
 he did, all he suffered, was to redeem us. " By his stripes 
 we are healed," Isa. hii. 5. By his sweat we refreshed; by 
 his sorrows we rejoiced ; by his death we saved. For even 
 that day, which was to him. Dies luctus, the heaviest day 
 that ever man bore, was to us. Dies salutis, " the accepted 
 time, the day of salvation," 2 Cor. vi. 2. The day was 
 evil in respect of our sins and his sufferings ; but eventually 
 in regard of what he paid, and what he purchased, a good 
 day, the best day, a day of joy and jubilation. 
 
 But if this salvation be wrought for us, it must be ap- 
 plied to us, yea, to every one of us. For that some re- 
 ceive more profit by his passion than others, is not his fault 
 that did undergo it, but theirs that do not undertake it ; to 
 apply it to their own consciences. We must not only be- 
 lieve this text in gross ; but let every one take a handful 
 out of this sheaf, and put it into his own bosom. So turn- 
 ing this fur us into for me. As Paul, " I Uve by the faith 
 of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me," 
 Gal. ii. 20. Blessed faith, that into the plural (us) puts in 
 the singular soul, me. Se dedit pro me. Ever)- one is a 
 rebel, guUty and convicted by the supreme law ; death 
 waits to arrest us, and damnation to receive us. What 
 should we do but pray, beseech, crj-, weep, till we can get 
 our pardon sealed in the blood of Jesus Christ : and every 
 one find a sure testimony in his oivn soul, that Christ gave 
 himself for me. 
 
 It serves to 
 
 us. 
 
A SERMON UPON THK PASSION. 61 
 
 2. Tliis should move us. Was all this done for us, and 
 shall we not be stirred ? " Have ye no regard ? Is it no- 
 thing to you, that I suffer such sorrow as was never suffered?" 
 Lam. i. 1 2. All his agony, his cries, and tears, and groans, 
 and pangs, were for us ; shall he thus grieve for us, and 
 shall we not grieve for ourselves ? For ourselves, I say ; not 
 so much for him. Let his passion move us to compassion, 
 not of his sufferings (alas ! our pity can do him no good), 
 but of our sins which caused them. " Daughters of Jerusa- 
 lem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your 
 children," Luke xxiii. 28. For ourselves ; not for his pains 
 that are past, but for our own that should have been, and 
 (except our faith sets him in our stead) shall be. Shall he 
 weep to us, for us, and shall we not raoiu-n ? Shall he 
 drink so deeply to us in this cup of sorrow, and shall we 
 not pledge him ? Doth the wrath of God make the Son of 
 God shriek out, and shall not the servants for whom he 
 suffered tremble ? Oinnis creatiira compatitur Christo mo- 
 rienti (Hieron. in Math.) Every creature seems to suffer 
 with Christ ; sun, earth, rocks, sepulchres ; solus miser homo 
 nan compatitur, pro quo solo Christus patitur. Only man 
 suffers nothing, for whom Christ suffered all. Doth his 
 passion tear the veil, rend the stones, cleave the rocks, shake 
 the earth, open the graves ; and are our hearts more hard 
 than those insensible creatures, that they cannot be pene- 
 trated ? Doth heaven and earth, sun and elements, suffer 
 with him, and is it notliing to us ? AVe, wretched men that 
 we are, that were the principals in this murder of Christ : 
 whereas Judas, Caiaphas, Pilate, soldiers, Jews, were all but 
 accessories and instrumental causes. We may seek to shift 
 it from ourselves, and derive this heinous fact upon the 
 Jews ; but the executioner doth not properly kill the man. 
 Solum peccatum homicida est. Sin, our sins, were the mur- 
 derers. Of us he suffered, and for us he suffered : unite 
 these in your thoughts, and tell me if his passion hath not 
 cause to move us. 
 
 And yet so obdurate are our hearts, that we cannot en- 
 dure one hour's discourse of this great business. Christ 
 
62 
 
 A CRUCIFIX ; OR, 
 
 ■was many hours in dying for us, wc cannot sit one hour 
 to hear of it. O that we should find fault with heat 
 or cold in harkening to these heavenly mysteries ; when he 
 endured for us such a heat, such a sweat, such agony ; that 
 through his flesh and skin he sweat drops of blood. Doth 
 he weep tears of gore-blood for us, and cannot we weep 
 tears of water for ourselves ? Alas ! how would we die for 
 him, as he died for us, when we are weary of hearing what 
 he did for us 
 
 3. This should mortify us. Christ delivered himself to 
 death for our sins, that he might dehver us from death and 
 our sins. He came not only to destroy the devil, but to 
 " destroy the works of the devil," 1 John iii. 8. Neither 
 doth he take only from sin, Damnandi vim, Rom. viii. 1, 
 the power to condemn us ; but also, Dominandi vim, Rom. 
 vi. 6, 12, the power to rule and reign in us. So that 
 Christ's death, as it answers the justice of God for our mis- 
 deeds, so it must kill in us the will of misdoing. Christ in 
 all parts suffered, that we in all parts might be mortified. 
 His sufferings were so abundant, that men cannot know 
 their number, nor angels their nature, neither men nor 
 angels their measure. His passion found an end, our 
 thoughts cannot. He 
 
 r At all times ^ 
 In all places 
 Suffered < In all senses > All for us, 
 
 In all members 
 In body and soul also J 
 
 1. At all times. In his childhood by poverty and He- 
 rod ; in the strength of his days by the powers of earth, 
 by the powers of hell, yea, even by the powers of heaven. 
 In the day he lacks meat, in the night a pillow. Even that 
 holy time of the great passover is destined for his djing. 
 When they should kill the paschal Lamb in thankfulness, 
 they slay the Lamb of God in wickedness. They admire 
 the shadow, yet condemn the substance. All for us ; that 
 
A SERMON UPON THE PASSION. 63 
 
 all times might yield us comfort. So the apostle sweetly, 
 " He died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should 
 live together with him," 1 Thess. v. 10. 
 
 2. In all places. In the cradle by that fox ; in the 
 streets by revilers ; in the mountain by those that would have 
 thrown him down headlong ; in the temple by them that 
 " took up stones to cast at him," John viii. 59. In the 
 high priest's hall by buffeters, in the garden by betrayers ; 
 b)- the way, laden with bis cross. Lastly, in Calvary, a vile 
 and stinking place, among the bones of malefactors cruci- 
 fied. Still aU for us, that in all places the mercy of God 
 might protect us. 
 
 3. Ju all senses. For his taste, lo ! it is afflicted with gall 
 and vinegar — a bitter draught for a dying man ! His 
 touch felt more ; the nails driven into his hands and feet ; 
 places most sensible of pain ; being the most sinewy parts 
 of the body. His ears are full of the blasphemous contu- 
 meUes which the savage multitude belched out against him. 
 Not him, but Barrabas, they cry to Pilate ; preferring a 
 murderer before a Saviour. Will you read the speeches 
 objectual to his hearing? (See Matth. xxvii. verses 29, 39, 
 42, 44, 49.) In all, consider their blasphemy, his patience. 
 For his eyes, whither can he tm-n them without spectacles 
 of sorrow ? The despite of his enemies on the one side, 
 shewing theii" extremest malice ; the weeping and lamenting 
 of his mother on the other side ; whose tears might wound 
 his heart. K any sense were less afflicted, it was his smel- 
 ling ; and yet the putrified bones of Calvary could be no 
 pleasing savour. 
 
 Thus suffered all his senses. That taste that should be 
 delighted with the wine of the vineyard, that " goeth down 
 sweetly" (Cant. vii. 9), is fed with vinegar. He looks for 
 good grapes, behold " sour grapes" (Isa. v. 4) ; he ex- 
 pects wine, he receives vinegar. That smell that should be 
 refi-eshed with the odoriferous scent of the "beds of spices" 
 (Cant. vi. 2), the piety of his saints, is filled with the stench 
 of iniquities. Those hands that sway the sceptre of the 
 heavens, are fain to carry the reed of reproach, and endure 
 
64 A CRUCIFIX ; OR, 
 
 the nails of death. Those eyes that were as a " flame of 
 fire" (Rev, i. 14), in respect of whom the verj- sun was 
 darkness, must behold the afflicting objects of shame and 
 tyranny. Those ears, which to delight the high choristers 
 of heaven, sing their sweetest notes, must be wearied with 
 the taunts and scoffs of blasphemy. 
 
 And all this for us ; not only to satisfy those sins which 
 our senses have committed ; but to mortify those senses, 
 and preserve them from those sins. That our eyes may be 
 no more full of adulteries, nor throw covetous looks on the 
 goods of our brethren. That our ears may no more give 
 so wide admission and welcome entrance to lewd reports, the 
 incantations of Satan. That sin in all our senses might be 
 done to death ; the poison exhausted, the sense purified. 
 
 4. In all members. Look on that blessed body con- 
 ceived by the Holy Ghost, and born of a pure virgin ; it is 
 all over scourged, martjTed, tortured, mangled. What 
 place can you find free ? Caput Angelicis spiritibus tremebun- 
 dum, densitate spinarum pungitur : fades pulchra prat filiis 
 hominum, Jiidaornm sputb deturpatur : Ociili lucidiores sole, 
 in morte caligantur, Sf-c, Bernard. To begin at his head ; that 
 head which the angels reverence, is crowned with thorns. 
 That face, which is " fairer than the sons of men," Psal. 
 xlv. 2, must be odiously spit on by the filthy Jews. His 
 hands that made the heavens are extended and fastened 
 to a cross. The feet which tread upon the necks of his 
 and our enemies, feel the like smart. And the mouth 
 must be buffeted which " spake as never man spake," John 
 vii. 46. 
 
 Still all this for us. His head bled for the wicked ima- 
 ginations of our heads. His face was besmeared with spittle, 
 because we had spit impudent blasphemies against heaven. 
 His lips were afflicted, that our lips might henceforth jield 
 savoury speeches. His feet did bleed, that our feet might 
 not be swifl to shed blood. All his members suffered for 
 the sins of all our members, and that our members might 
 be no more servants to sin, but " servants to righteousness 
 unto holiness," Rom. ^^. 19. Conspui voluU, ut nos lauaret: 
 
A SERMON UPON THE PASSION. 65 
 
 pelari voluit, ut velamen ignorantice a mentibus nostris mifer- 
 ret : in capite percuti, utcorpori sanitatem restilueret, Hieron. 
 He would be polluted with their spittle, that he might wash 
 us ; he would be bhndfolded, that he might take the vail 
 of ignorance from our eyes. He suffered the head to be 
 wovnided, that he might renew health to all the body. 
 
 Six times we read that Christ shed his blood ; 1. AVheu 
 he was circumcised ; at eight days old his blood was spilt. 
 2. In his agony in the garden, where he sweat drops of 
 blood. 3. In his scourging, when the merciless tormentors 
 fetched blood from his holy sides. 4. When he was crowned 
 with thorns ; those sharp prickles raked and harrowed his 
 blessed head, and drew forth blood. 5. In his crucifying, 
 when his hands and feet were pierced, blood gushed out. 
 6. Lastly, after his death, " one of the soldiers with a 
 spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood 
 and water," John xix. 34. AH his members bled, to shew 
 that he bled for all his members. Not one drop of this 
 blood was shed for himself, all for us ; for his enemies, per- 
 secutors, crucifiers, ourselves. But what shall become of us, 
 if all this cannot mortify us? " How shall we live with 
 Christ, if with Christ we be not dead ?" Rom. vi. 8. Dead 
 in deed unto sin, but living unto righteousness. As Ehsha 
 revived the Shunamite's child : " He lay upon it ; put his 
 mouth upon the child's mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, 
 and his hands upon his hands, and stretched himself upon 
 the child, and the flesh of the child waxed warm," 2 Kings 
 iv. 34. So the Lord Jesus, to recover us that were dead 
 in our sins and trespasses, spreads and applies his whole 
 passion to us ; lays his mouth of blessing upon our mouth 
 of blasphemy ; his eyes of holiness upon our eyes of lust ; 
 his hands of mercy upon our hands of cruelty ; and stretcheth 
 his gracious self upon our wretched selves, till we begin to 
 wax warm, to get life, and the holy Spirit returns into us. 
 
 5. In his sold. All this was but the outside of his pas- 
 sion ; " Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say? 
 Father save me from this hour ; but for this cause came I 
 E 
 
66 A CRUCIFIX ; OR, 
 
 unto this hour," John xii. 27. The pain of the body ia 
 but the body of pain ; the very soul of sorrow is the sorrow 
 of the soul. All the outward afflictions were but gentle 
 prickings in regard of that his soul suffered. " The spirit 
 of a man will sustain his infirmity ; but a wounded spirit 
 who can bear ? " Prov. xviii. 1 4. He had a heart within 
 that suffered unseen, unknown anguish. This pain drew 
 those strong cries, those bitter tears, Heb. v. 7. He had 
 often sent forth the cries of compassion ; of passion and com- 
 plaint not till now. He had wept the tears of pity, the 
 tears of love, but never before the tears of anguish. 'WTien 
 the Son of God thus cries, thus weeps, here is more than 
 the body distressed ; the soul is agonized. 
 
 Still all this for tis. His soul was in our soul's stead ; 
 what would they have felt, if they had been in the stead of 
 his ? All for us ; to satisfaction, to emendation. For thy 
 drunkenness and pouring down strong diinks, he drunk 
 vinegar. For thy intemperate gluttony he fasted. For thy 
 sloth, he did exercise himself to continual pains. Thou 
 sleepest secure, thy Saviour is then waking, watching, pray- 
 ing. Thy arms are inured to lustful embracings ; he for 
 this embraceth the rough cross. Thou deckest thyself with 
 proud habiliments, he is humble and lowly for it. Thou 
 ridest in pomp, he journeys on foot. Thou wallowest on 
 thy down beds, thy Saviour hath not a pillow. Thou sur- 
 feitest, and he sweats it out, a bloody sweat. Thou fillest 
 and swellest thyself with a pleurisy of wickedness. Behold 
 incision is made in the Head for thee ; thy Saviour bleeds to 
 death. Now judge whether this point (for us) hath not 
 derived a near application of this text to our own con- 
 sciences. Since then Christ did all this for thee and me ; 
 pray then with Augustine, 0 domine Jesu, da cordi meo te 
 desiderare, desiderando quoerere, qucerendo invenire, inve- 
 niendo amare, amando mala mea redempta non iterare, Medit. 
 cap. 1 : Lord give me a heart to desire thee, desiring to 
 seek thee, seeking to find thee, finding to love thee, loving, 
 no more to offend thee. 
 
A SERMON UPON THK PASSION. 
 
 67 
 
 There are two main parts of this Crucifix yet to handle. 
 I must only name them, being sorry that it is still my hap 
 to trouble you with prolixity of speech. 
 
 6. The next is the Manner ; an offering and sacrifice. 
 His whole life was an effering, his death a sacrifice. He 
 gave himself often for us an eucharistical oblation, once an 
 expiatory sacrifice. In the former he did for us all that we 
 should do ; in the latter he suffered for us all that we should 
 suffer. " WTio his own self bare our sins in his own body 
 on the tree," 1 Pet ii. 24. Some of the Hebrews have 
 afSrmed, that in the fire which consumed the legal sacri- 
 fices, there always appeared the face of a lion (Paul. Ta- 
 gius, cap. 4.) "Which mystery they thus resolve, that the 
 Lion of Judah should "one day give himself for us, a perfect 
 expiatory sacrifice. Thus, " once in the end of the world 
 hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of him- 
 self" Heb. ix. 26. 
 
 7. The last point is the Effect: Of a sweet smelling sa- 
 vour. Here is the fruit and efficacy of all. Never was the 
 Lord pleased with sinful man till now. Were he never so 
 angry, here is a pacification, a sweet savour. If the whole 
 world were quintessenced into one perfume, it could not 
 yield so fragrant a smell. We are all of ourselves putida 
 et putrida cadavera, dead and stinking carcases. The pure 
 nostrils of the Most Holy cannot endure us : behold the per- 
 frime that sweetens us, the redeeming blood of the Lord 
 Jesus. This so fills him with a delightful scent, that he 
 will not smell our noisome wickedness. 
 
 Let me leave you with this comfort in your bosoms. 
 How unsavoury soever our own sins have made us, yet if 
 our hand of faith lay hold on this Saviour's censer, God 
 will scent none of our corruptions ; but we shall smell 
 sweetly in his nostrils. Bernard for all. O dear Jesus : 
 Mori debemus, et tu solvis : nos peccavimus, et tic luis. Opiis 
 sine exemplo, gratia sine merito, charitas sine modo. We 
 should die, and thou payest it, we have offended, and thou 
 art punished. A mercy without example, a favour without 
 
68 A CRUCIFIX ; OR A SERMON UPON THE PASSION 
 
 merit, a love without measure. Therefore I conclude my 
 sermon, as we all shut up our prayers, with this one clause, 
 Through our Lord Jesus Christ. O Father of mercy, ac- 
 cept our sacrifice of prayer and praise, for his sacrifice of 
 pain and merit ; even for our Lord Jesus Christ's sake ! To 
 whom, with the Father and blessed Spirit, be aU glory, for 
 ever. Amen. 
 
SEMPER IDEM; 
 
 THE IMMUTABLE MERCT OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 ■ Jeius Obrlat, the suae yesterday, anl to-da;. and for ever."— M, xUL 8. 
 
SEMPER IDEM; 
 
 THE IMMUTABLE MERCY OP JESCS OHKIST. 
 
 ■ Jcius Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and for e 
 
 By the name of Jehovah was God known to Israel ; from 
 the time of the first mission of Moses to them, and their 
 manumission out of Egypt, and not before. For saith God 
 to Moses, " I appeared unto Abraham, and unto Isaac, and 
 imto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty ; but by my 
 name Jehovah was I not known to them," Exod. vi. 3. 
 This (I am) is an eternal word, comprehending three times ; 
 " that was, that is, and is to come." 
 
 Now, to testify the equality of the Son to the Father, the 
 Scripture gives the same eternity to Jesus that it doth to 
 Jehovah. He is called Alpha and Omega, primus et non- 
 issimus, " the First and the Last : which is, which was, and 
 which is to come," Rev. i. ; and here, " the same yesterday, 
 and to-day, and for ever." Therefore he was not only 
 Christus Dei, the anointed of God, but Christus De^is, God 
 himself anointed. Seeing that eternity, which hath neither 
 beginning nor ending, is only peculiar and proper to God. 
 
 f Centre 
 
 The words may be distinguished into a -< Circumference 
 (Mediate 
 
 line, referring the one to the other : The immovable centre 
 is Jesus Christ. The circiunference that runs round about 
 
72 SEMPER IDEM ; OR, 
 
 him here is eternity : " Yesterday, to-day, and for ever." 
 The mediate line referring them is, i *'vr*f, the same. " Jesus 
 Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever." 
 
 The Centre is Jesus Christ. 
 Jesus was his proper name, Christ his appellative. Jesus 
 a name of his nature, Christ of his office and dignity ; as 
 divines speak. 
 
 Jesus a name of all sweetness. Mel in ore, melos in 
 aure, jubilus in corde, (Ber. in Can.) : (Honey in the mouth, 
 a song in the ear, a jubilee in the heart.) A reconciler, a 
 Redeemer, a Saviour. When the conscience wrestles with 
 law, sin, death, there is nothing but horror and despair with- 
 out Jesus. He is " the way, the truth, and the life ;" with- 
 out him, error, mendacium, mors: (Error, lie, death.) Si 
 scribas, non placet, nisi legam ibi, Jesum, saith Bernard : 
 K thou writest to me, thy letter doth not please me, unless 
 I read there Jesus. If thou conferrest, thy discourse is not 
 sweet, without the name of Jesus. The blessed restorer 
 of all, of more than all that Adam lost ; for we have gotten 
 more by his regenerating grace than we lost by Adam's 
 degenerating sin. 
 
 Christ is the name of his office ; being appointed and 
 anointed of God a king, a priest, a prophet. 
 
 This Jesus Christ is our Saviour : of whose names I for- 
 bear further discoiu-se, being imable, though I had the 
 tongue of angels, to speak ought worthy tanto nomine, tanto 
 numine. All that can be said is but a little ; but I must 
 say but a little in all. But of all names given to our Re- 
 deemer, still Jesus is the sweetest. Other, saith Bernard, 
 are names of majesty; Jesus is a name of mercy. The AVord 
 of God, the Son of God, the Christ of God, are titles of 
 glory ; Jesus a Saviour, is a title of grace, mercy, redemp- 
 tion. 
 
 This Jesus Christ is the centre of this text ; and not only 
 of this, but of the whole Scripture. The sum of divinit}- is 
 the Scripture ; the sum of the Scripture is the gospel ; the 
 sum of the gospel is Jesus Clirist ; in a word, ?ii7«7 continet 
 
THE IMMUTABLE MERCY OF JKSrs CIIItlST. 73 
 
 verbum Dumini, nisi verlum Dominum. There is nothing 
 contained in the word of God, but God the word. 
 
 Nor is he the centre only of his word, but of our rest and 
 peace. " I determined not to know any thing among you, 
 snve Jesus Christ, and him crucified. Thou hast made us 
 for thee, O Christ ; and our heart is unquiet till it rest in 
 thee," 1 Cor. ii. 2. It is natural to everj- thing appeiere 
 cciitnwi, to desire the centre. But " our life is hid with 
 Christ in God," Col. iii. 3. We must needs amare, where 
 wo must ammare. Our mind is where our pleasure is, our 
 heart is where our treasure is, our love is where our life is ; 
 but all these, our pleasure, treasure, life, are reposed in 
 Jesus Christ. " Thou art my portion, O Lord," saith 
 David. Take the world that please, let our portion be 
 Christ. " We have left all," saith Peter, " and followed 
 thee," Matth. xix. 27 ; you have lost nothing by it, saith 
 Christ, for you have gotten me. Nimus avarus est, cui non 
 sufficit Christus. He is too covetous, whom Jesus Christ can- 
 not satisfy. Let us seek this centre, saith Augustine, in 
 Johan. : Quwramus inveniendum, quceramus inventum. Ut in- 
 veniendus quxratur, paratus est: ut inventus qumratur, im- 
 mensus est : Let us seek him till we have found him ; and 
 still seek him when we have found him. That seeking we 
 may find him, he is ready ; that finding, we may seek him, 
 he is infinite. You see the centre. 
 
 The referring line proper to this centre is semper idem, 
 (always the same). 
 
 Hie same. There is no mutability in Christ , " no varia- 
 bleness, nor shadow of turning," Jam. i. 17. All lower 
 lights have their inconstancy ; but in the Father of lights 
 there is no changeableness. The sun hath his shadow ; the 
 " Sun of righteousness is without shadow," Mai. iv. 2 ; 
 that turns upon the dial, but Chi-ist hath no turning. 
 " AVhom he loves, he loves to the end," John xiii. 1. He 
 loves us to the end ; of his love there is no end. Tempus 
 erit consumrnanJi, nullus consumendi misericordiam. His 
 mercy shall be perfected m, us, never ended. " In a little 
 wrath I hid my face from thee, for a moment ; but with 
 
74 SEMPER IDEM ; OK, 
 
 everlasting kindness will I have mercy upon tbee, saith the 
 Lord thy Redeemer," Isa. liv. 8. His wrath is short, his 
 goodness is everlasting. " The mountains shall depart, and 
 the hills be removed ; but my kindness shall not depart 
 from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be re- 
 moved, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee," verse 10. 
 The mountains are stable things, the hills stedfast ; yet 
 hills, mountains, yea the whole earth, shall totter on the 
 foundations ; yea the very " heavens shall pass away with a 
 noise, and the elements shall melt with heat," 2 Pet. iii. 10 ; 
 but the covenant of God shall not be broken. " I will be- 
 troth thee unto me for ever," Hos. ii. 19, saith God. This 
 marriage-bond shall never be cancelled ; nor sin, nor death, 
 nor heU, shall be able to divorce us. Six-and-twenty times 
 in one psalm that sweet singer chaunts it ; " His mercy 
 endureth for ever," Psalm cxxxvi. Jesus Christ the same 
 yesterday, and to-day, and for ever. 
 
 As this meditation distils into our believing hearts much 
 comfort, so let it give us some instructions. Two things it 
 readily teacheth us : 
 
 Dissuasive caution. 
 Persuasive lesson. 
 
 1. It dissuades our confidence in worldly things, because 
 they are inconstant. How poor a space do they remain, 
 Ti aura, the same. To prove this, you have in the first of 
 Judges, verse 7, a jury of threescore and ten kings to take 
 their oaths upon it. Every one had his throne, yet there 
 they lick up crumbs imder another king's table ; and short- 
 ly even this king, that made them all so miserable, is made 
 himself most miserable. Solomon compares wealth to a 
 ■wild fowl. " Riches make themselves wings, they fly away 
 as an eagle toward heaven," Prov. xxiii. 5. Not some 
 tame house bird, or a hawk that may be fetched down with 
 a lure, or found again by her bells ; but an eagle, that \io- 
 lently cuts the air, and is gone past recallflig. 
 
 Wealth is like a bird ; it hops all day from man to man, 
 
THE IMMUTABLE MEECY OF JESUS CHRIST. 75 
 
 as that doth from tree to tree ; and none can say where it 
 ■will roust or rest at night. It is like a vagrant fellow, 
 which because he is big-boned, and able to work, a man 
 takes in a-doors, and cherisheth ; and perhaps for a while 
 lie takes pains ; but when he spies opportunity, the fugitive 
 servant is gone, and takes away more with him than all his 
 service came to. The world may seem to stand thee in 
 some stead for a season, but at last it irrevocably runs away, 
 and carries with it thy joys ; thy goods, as Rachael stole 
 Laban's idols ; thy peace and content of heart goes with it, 
 and thou art left desperate. 
 
 You see how quickly riches cease to be the same : and 
 can any other earthly thing boast more stability ? Honour 
 must put off the robes when the play is done ; make it never 
 so glorious a show on this world's stage ; it hath but a short 
 part to act. A great name of worldly glory is but hke a 
 peal rung on the bells ; the common people are the clap- 
 pers ; the rope that moves them is popularity ; if you once 
 let go your hold and leave pulling, the clapper lies still, 
 and farewell honour. Strength though, like Jeroboam 
 (1 Kings xiii. 4), it put forth the arm of oppression, shall 
 soon fall down withered. Beauty is like an almanack : if it 
 last a year, it is well. Pleasure like lightning : oritur, 
 moritur ; sweet, but short ; a flash and away. 
 
 All vanities are but butterflies, which wanton children 
 greedily catCh for ; and sometimes they fly besides them, 
 sometimes before them, sometimes behind them, sometimes 
 close by them ; yea through their fingers, and yet they miss 
 them ; and when they have them, they are but buttei-flies ; 
 they have painted wings, but are crude and squalid worms, 
 (Anselm. Meditat.) Such are the things of this world, 
 vanities, butterflies. Vel sequendo labimur, vel assequendo 
 Icediimtr : (which when we pursue we fall, or when we over- 
 take are hurt.) The world itself is not unlike an artichoke ; 
 nine parts of it are unprofitable leaves, scarce the tithe is 
 good : about it there is a httle picking meat, nothing so 
 wholesome as dainty : in the midst of it there is a core, 
 which is enough to choke them that devour it. 
 
7 6 SEMPER IDEM ; OR, 
 
 0 then set not your hearts upon these things : calcanda 
 sunt, as Jerome observes on Acts iv. " They that sold 
 their possessions, brought the prices, and laid them down at 
 the Apostles' feet," Acts iv. 35. At their feet, not at their 
 hearts ; they are fitter to be trodden under feet, than to be 
 waited on with hearts. I conclude this with Augustine. 
 Ecce turbat muridiis, et amatur: quid si trariquillus asset t 
 Formoso quomodo hcereres, qui sic ampkcteris foedum ? Fbres 
 ejus quam colligeres, qui sic a spinis non revocas manum? 
 Quam conjideres ceterno, qui sic adhmres caduco ? Behold, 
 the world is turbulent and full of vexation, yet it is loved ; 
 how would it be embraced if it were calm and quiet ? If it 
 were a beauteous damsel, how would they dote on it, that 
 BO kiss it being a deformed stigmatic ? How greedily would 
 they gather the flowers, who would not forbear the thorns ? 
 They that so admire it being transient and temporal, how 
 would they be enamoured on it if it were eternal ? But 
 " the world passeth," 1 John ii. 17, and God abideth. 
 " They shall perish, but thou remainest : they all shall wax 
 old as doth a garment : and as a vesture shalt thou fold 
 them up, and they shall be changed : but thou art the same, 
 and thy years shall not fail," Heb. i. 11, 12. Tlierefore, 
 " trust not in uncertain riches, but in the living God," 
 1 Tim. \i. 17. And then, " they that trust in the Lord 
 shall be as Mount Sion, which cannot be removed, but 
 abideth for ever," Psal. cxxv. 1. Jeszts Christ, the same 
 yesterday, and to-day, and for ever. 
 
 2. This persuades us to an imitation of Christ's con- 
 stancy. Let the stableness of his mercy to us work a sta- 
 bleness of our love to him. And howsoever, like the lower 
 orbs, we have a natural motion of our own from good to 
 e\'il, yet let us suffer the higher power to move us supema- 
 turally from evil to good. There is in us indeed a reluctant 
 llesh, " a law in our members warring against the law of 
 our mind," Rom. vii. 23. So Augustine confesseth : iVcc 
 plane nolebam, nec plane volebam. And, Ego eram qui voleham, 
 ego qui nolebam (Confess, lib. viii. cap. 10.) I neither fully 
 granted nor plainly denied ; and it was I myself that both 
 
THE IMMUTABLE SIKUCY OF JESUS CHRIST. 
 
 would and ■would not. But our ripeness of Christianity 
 must overgrow fluctuant thoughts. 
 
 LTCsolution and unsteadiness is hateful, and unlike to our 
 master Christ, who is ever the same. "A double-minded 
 man is unstable in all his ways," James i. 8. The incon- 
 stant man is a stranger in his own house : all his purposes 
 are but guests, his heart is the inn. If they lodge there for 
 a night, it is all ; they are gone in the morning. Many 
 motions come crowding together upon him ; and like a great 
 press at a narrow door, wliilst all strive, none enter. The 
 epigrammatist wittily, (Martial, Epig. Ub. 3) : 
 
 Omnia cum facias, miraris cur facias nil: 
 Posthumc, rem solam qui facit, ille facit : 
 
 (When thou attemptest all things, why wonder that no- 
 thing is done? lie only succeeds who attends to one thing). 
 
 He that will have an oar for every man's boat, shall have 
 none left to row his own. They, saith Melancthon, that will 
 know aliquid in omnibus, (something of every thing), shall 
 indeed know nihil in toto, (master nothing.) Their admi- 
 ration or dotage of a thing is extreme for the time, but it 
 is a wonder if it out-live the .age of a wonder, which is al- 
 lowed but nine days. They arc angry ^^^th time, and say 
 the times are dead, because they jiroduce no more Innova- 
 tions. Their inquiry of all things is not quam honum (whe- 
 ther it be good), but quam novum (whether it be new.) 
 They are almost weary of the sun for continual shining. 
 Continuance is a suflicient quaiTcl against the best things ; 
 and the manna of heaven is loathed because it is common. 
 
 This is not to be always the same, but never the same ; 
 and whilst they would be every thing, they are nothing : 
 but hke the worm Pliny writes of, multipoda, that hath many 
 feet, yet is of slow pace. Awhile you shall have him in 
 England, loving the simple truth ; anon in Rome, grovelling 
 before an image. Soon after he leaps to Amsterdam ; and 
 yet must he still be turning, till there be nothing left but to 
 turn Turk. To mnter an opinion is too tedious ; he hath 
 
78 8KMPER IDEM ; OR, 
 
 been many things. WTiat he will be, you shall scarce know 
 till he is nothing. 
 
 But the God of constancy would have his to be constant. 
 Stedfast in your faitli to him. " Continue in the faith, 
 grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the 
 hope of the gospel," Colos. i. 23. Stedfast in your faith- 
 fulness to man, promising and not disappointing (Psalm xv. 
 4.) Do not aliud stantes, aliud sedentes, lest your changing 
 with God teach God to change with you. Nemo potest tibi 
 Christum auferre, nisi te illi auferas (Ambr. in luc. hb. 5). 
 No man can turn Christ from thee, unless thou turn thy- 
 self from Chiist. Por " Jesus Christ the same yesterday," 
 &c. 
 
 AVe come now to the circumference, wherein is a distinc- 
 tion of three times : past, present, future. Tempora mu- 
 tantur : the times change, the circumference wheels about, 
 but the centre is the same for ever. 
 
 AVe must resolve this triplicity into a triphcity. Christ 
 is the same according to these three distinct terms, three 
 distmet ways : — 
 
 Objective, in his "Word. 
 Subjective, in his Power. 
 Effective, in his gracious operation. 
 
 Objectively, 
 
 T /-II • 1 • it • ( Yesterday in Preordination. 
 
 Jesus Christ is the same m ) „ , . 
 
 , . J J i. i -< To-day m Incarnation. 
 
 his word: and that J „ ■ 4 v 
 
 ' (For ever m Appbcation. 
 
 Yesterday in Preordination. 
 So St Peter, in his sermon, tells the Jews, that " he 
 was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge 
 of God," Acts ii. 23. And in his epistle, that " he was 
 verily preordained before the foundation of the world," 1 
 Pet. i. 20. lie is called the " Lamb slain from the foun- 
 dation of the world," Rev. xiii. 8. Priiis profuit, quam /nil. 
 His prophets did fortell him, the t^-pes did prefigure him, 
 
THE IMMUTABLE MERCY OF JESUS CHRIST. 79 
 
 God himself did promise him. Ratus ordo Dei : the decree 
 of God is constant. 
 
 Much comfort I must here leave to your meditation. If 
 God preordained a Saviour for man, before he had either 
 made man, or man marred himself, as Paul to Timothy, 
 " He hath saved us according to his own purpose and 
 giMce, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world 
 began," 2 Tim. i. 9 ; then surely he meant that nothing 
 should separate us from his eternal love in that Saviour, 
 Kom. viii. 39. Quos elegit ijicreatos, rcdemit perditos, non 
 deseret redemptos. Whom he chose before they were created, 
 and when they were lost redeemed, lie will not forsake being 
 sanctified. 
 
 To-day in Incarnation. 
 
 " When the fulness of time was come, God sent forth his 
 Son made of a woman," Gal. iv. 4. " The Word was 
 made flesh," John i. 14 ; which was, saith Emissenus, (In 
 Hom. 2, de Nat. Christ.) : Non dcposita, sed seposita majes- 
 tate: (Not resigning his majest)-, but laWngit aside for a time). 
 Thus he became younger than his mother, that is as eter- 
 nal as his Father. He was yesterday God before all worlds, 
 he is now made man in the world. Sa7iguiiicm, quern pro 
 matre obtulit, anlea de sangidne matris accepit (Euseb. Emiss. 
 ubi supra.) The blood that he shed for his mother, he had 
 from his mother. The same Eusebius, on the ninth of 
 Isaiah, acutely, " Unto us a child is bom, unto us a son is 
 given," Isaiah ix. 6. He was Datus ex Divinitate, natus ex 
 virgine. Datus est qui erat ; natus est qui non erat. He 
 was given of the Deity, born of the Virgin. He that was 
 given, was before ; he as bom, was not before. Donum. 
 dedit Deus cequale sibi : God gave a gift equal to himself. 
 
 So he is the same yesterday and to-day, objectively in his 
 word. Idem qui velatus in veteri, revelatus in novo. In illo 
 prcedictus, in isto prcedicatus : (He who was veiled in the 
 Old, is revealed in the New Testament ; in the former pre- 
 dicted, in the latter preached.) Yesterday prefigured in 
 'ha law, to-day the same manifested in the gospel. 
 
80 
 
 SEMFKR IDEM ; OR, 
 
 For ever in Operation. 
 He doth contmually by bis Spirit apply to our consciences 
 the virtue of his death and passion. " As many as receive 
 him, to them gives be powor to become the sons of God, 
 even to them that believe on bis name," John i. 12. " By 
 one offering be bath perfected for ever them that are sanc- 
 tified," Heb. X. 14. Tliis is sure comfort to us, though be 
 died almost 1629 years ago; bb blood is not yet dry. His 
 ■wounds are as fresh to do us good as they were to those 
 saints that beheld them bleeding on the cross. The virtue 
 of bis merits is not abated, tliougb many bands of faith have 
 taken large portions out of his treasurj-. The river of bis 
 grace, which makes glad the city of God, runs over the 
 banks, though infinite souls have drank hearty draughts, 
 and satisfied their thirst. But because we cannot appre- 
 hend this for ourselves of ourselves, therefore he hath pro- 
 mised to send us the " Spirit of truth, who will dwell with 
 us," John xiv. 17, and apply this to us for ever. Thus 
 you have seen the first triplicify, how he is the same ohjeC' 
 lively in his word. Now he is 
 
 Subjectively in his power the same ; and 
 
 ! Yesterday, for be made the world. 
 To-day, for he governs the world. 
 For ever, for be shall judge the world. 
 
 Yesterday in the Creation. 
 " All things were made by him, and without him was not 
 any thing made that was made," John i. 3. " By him were 
 all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, 
 visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions, 
 or principalities, or powers ; all things were created by 
 him, and for him," Col. i. 16. All things, even the great 
 and fair book of the world, ot three so hirge leaves, Caelum, 
 Solum, Solum ; heaven, earth, and sea. The prophet calls 
 him " the everlasting Father," Isa. ix. 6 ; Daniel, the " An- 
 cient of days," Dan. vii. 9. Solomon says, that "the Lord 
 possessed bira in the beginning of bis xrny. before his works 
 
THE IMMUTABLE MERCY OF JESUS CHRIST. 81 
 
 of old," Prov. vili. 22. So himself told the unbeUeving 
 Jews, "Before Abraham was, I am," John vili. 58. 
 
 We owe, then, ourselves to Christ for our creation ; but 
 Low much more for our redemption ? Si tolum me debeo 
 pro me facto, quid addam jam pro me refecto ? In primo opcre 
 me viihi dedit: in secundo se mihi dcdit. (Bern, de dilig. Deo.) 
 If I owe him my whole self for making me, what have I 
 left to pay him for redeeming me ? In the first work, he 
 gave myself to me ; in the second, he gave himself for me. 
 By a double right, we owe him ourselves ; we are worthy 
 of a double punishment, if we give him not his own. 
 
 To-day in the Governing. 
 
 " He upholdeth all things by the word of his power," Heb. 
 i. 3. He is pater familias (a householder), and disposeth all 
 things in this universe with greater care and providence than 
 any householder can manage the business of his private fa- 
 mily. He leaves it not, as the carpenter, having built the frame 
 of an house, to others to perfect it, but looks to it himself. 
 His creation and providence are like the mother and the 
 nurse, the one produceth, the other preserveth. His crea- 
 tion was a short providence ; his providence a perpetual 
 creation. The one sets up the frame of the house, the 
 other keeps it in reparation. 
 
 Neither is this a disparagement to the majesty of God, 
 as the vain epicures imagined, curare minima, to regard the 
 least things, but rather an honour, curare injiaita, to regard 
 all things. Neither doth this extend only to natural things, 
 chained together by a regular order of succession, but even 
 to casual and contingent things. Oftentimes, cum aliud 
 volumus, aliud agimus, the event crosseth our purpose ; 
 which must content us, though it flill out otherwise than we 
 purposed, because God purposed as it is fallen out. It is 
 enough that the thing attain the one end, though it miss 
 ours ; that God's will be done, though ours be crossed. 
 
 But let me say, " Hath God care of fowls and flowers, 
 and will he not care for you" (Matth. vi. 26, 30), his own 
 image ? Yea, let me go further ; hath God care of the 
 
 F 
 
82 
 
 SEMPER IDEM ; Oli, 
 
 wicked ? Doth he pour down the happj' influences of heaven 
 on the " unjust man's ground?" Matth. v. 45. And shall 
 the faithful want his blessing ? Doth he provide for the 
 sons of Belial, and shall his own chilflren lack ? lie may 
 give meat and raiment to the rest, but his bounty to Ben- 
 jamin shall exceed. If Moab, his wash-pot, taste of his be- 
 nefits, then Judah, the signet on his finger, cannot be for- 
 gotten. The king governs all the subjects in his dominions, 
 but his servants that wait in his court partake of his most 
 princely favours. God heals the sores of the verj' wicked ; 
 but if it be told him, " Lord, he whom thou lovest is sick" 
 ( John xi. 3), it is enough, he shall be healed. The ^cked 
 may have outward blessings without inward, and that is 
 Essau's pottage without his birth-right ; but the elect have 
 inward blessings, though they want outward, and that is 
 Jacob's inheritance TOthout liis pottage. 
 
 For ever : because he shall judge the world. God hath 
 appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteous- 
 ness, " by that man whom he hath ordained," Acts xvii. 31. 
 " In the day that God shall judge the secrets of men 
 by Jesus Christ," Rom. ii. 16. Let the ivicked flatter 
 themselves that all is but talk of any coming to judgment ; 
 non aliud videre patres, aliudve nepotes aspicient ; all is but 
 terriculamenta nutricum, mere scare-babes. Scribarum 
 pennce mendaces ; they have written lies, there is no such 
 matter. But when they shall see that Lamb " whom they 
 have pierced and scorned" (Rev. i. 7), " they shall cry to the 
 mountains and rocks. Fall upon us, and cover us," Rev.vi. 16. 
 Now they flatter themselves with his death ; mortuus est, he 
 is dead and gone ; and Mortuum Casarem quis metuit f Who 
 fears even a Caesar when he is dead ? But " He that was 
 dead, liveth ; behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen. Jesus 
 Christ yesterday, and to-day, and for ever," Rev. L 18. 
 QucEsitor scelerum veniet, vindexque reorum: (the inquisitor of 
 sins, the avenger of the accused, will come.) 
 
 Here is matter of infaUible comfort to us : " Lift up your 
 heads, for your redemption draweth nigh," Luke xxi. 28. 
 Here we are imprisoned, martjTed, tortured ; but when 
 that great assize and general jail-delivery comes, mors non 
 
TUK IMMUTABLE MERCY OF JESUS CHRIST. 83 
 
 crit ultra, " There shall be no more death nor sorrow, but 
 all teai-s shall be wiped fi'om our ej-es," Eev. xxi. 4. 
 " For it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribu- 
 lation to them that trouble you. And to you who are 
 troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be re- 
 vealed from heaven, with his mighty angels," 2 Thess. i. 6, 7. 
 AVe shall then find him the same ; — the same Lamb that 
 bought us shall give us a Venite bead, " Come, ye blessed, 
 receive yom- kingdom. Surely I come quickly. Amen. 
 Even so, come Lord Jesus," Rev. xxii. 20. 
 
 Effectually in his Grace and Mercy. 
 
 C Yesterday to our Fathers, 
 So he is the same^ To-day to ourselves, 
 
 (^For ever to our Children. 
 
 Yesterday to our Fathers. 
 
 All our athers, whose souls are now in heaven, those 
 " spirits of just men made perfect," Heb. xii. 23, were, as 
 the next words intimate, saved " by Jesus the Mediator of 
 the new covenant, and by the blood of sprinkling, that 
 speaketh better things than that of Abel." Whether they 
 lived under nature, or under the law, Christ was their ex- 
 pectation ; and they were justified credendo in venturum 
 Christum, by believing in the Messiah to come. So Luke 
 ii. 25, " Simeon is said to wait for the consolation of 
 Israel." 
 
 To-day to ourselves. 
 
 His mercy is everlasting ; his truth endureth from gene- 
 ration to generation. The same gracious Saviour that he 
 was yesterday to our fathers, is he to-day to us, if we be to- 
 day faithful to him. All catch at this comfort, but in vain 
 ivithout the hand of faith. There is no deficiency in him ; 
 but is there none in thee ? Whatsoever Chiist is, what art 
 thou ? He forgave Mary Magdalene many grievous sins ; 
 so he will forgive thee, if thou canst shed Marv Magdalene's 
 
84 SKMPER IDF.M ; OU, 
 
 tears. He took the malefactor from the cross to Paradise ; 
 thither he will receive thee if thou have the same faith. He 
 was merciful to a denying apostle ; challenge thou the like 
 mercy if thou have the like repentance. If we will be like 
 these, Christ, assuredly, will be ever like himself "WTien 
 any man shall prove to be such a sinner, he will not fail to 
 be such a Saviour. 
 
 To-day he is thine, if to-day thou wilt be his : thine to- 
 morrow, if yet to-morrow thou wilt be his. But how if 
 dark death prevent the morrow's light ? He was yesterday, 
 so wert thou : he is to-day, so art thou : he is to-morrow, 
 so perhaps mayest thou not be. Time may change thee, 
 though it cannot change him. He is not (but thou art) 
 subject to mutation. This I dare boldly say : he that re- 
 pents but one day before he dies, shall find Christ the same 
 in mercy and forgiveness. Wickedness itself is glad to hear 
 this ; but let the sinner be foithful on his part, as God is 
 merciful on his part : let him be sure that he repent one 
 day before he dies, whereof he cannot be sure, except he 
 repent every day ; for no man knows his last day. Lalet 
 ultimus dies, ut observetur otnnis dies. Therefore (saith 
 Augustine) we know not our last day, that we might ob- 
 serve every day. " To-day, therefore, hear his voice," 
 Psal. xcv. 7. 
 
 Thou hast lost yesterday negligently — thou losest to-day 
 wilfully ; and therefore mayest lose for ever inevitably. It 
 is just with God to punish two days' neglect with the loss 
 of the third. The hand of f;dth may be withered, the 
 spring of repentance dried up, the eye of hope blind, the 
 foot of charity lame. To-day, then, hear his voice, and 
 make him thine. Yesterday is lost, to-day may be gained ; 
 but that once gone, and thou with it, when thou art dead 
 and judged, it will do thee small comfort that Jesus Christ 
 is the same for ever. 
 
 For ever to our Children. 
 He that was yesterday the God of Abraham, is to-day 
 ours, and will be forever our children's. As well now " the 
 
THE IMMUTABLE MERCY OF JESUS CHRIST. 85 
 
 light of the Gentiles," as before " the glory of Israel. I will 
 be the God of thy seed, saith the Lord to Abraham," Luke 
 ii. 32. " His mercy is on them that fear him, from gene- 
 ration to generation," Luke i. 50. 
 
 Many parents are solicitously perplexed how their chil- 
 dren shall do when they are dead ; yet they consider not 
 how God provided for them when they were children. Is 
 the "Lord's arm shortened?" Did he take thee from thy 
 mother's breasts ; and " when thy parents forsook thee." 
 (as the Psalmist saith), became thy Father? And cannot 
 this experienced mercy to thee persuade thee, that he will 
 not forsake thine? Is not " Jesus Christ the same yester- 
 day, and to-day, and for ever ?" "I have been young (saith 
 David), and am now old ; yet have I not seen the righteous 
 forsaken (that is granted, nay) nor his seed begging bread," 
 Psal. xxxvii. 25. 
 
 Many distrustful fathers are so carking for their pos- 
 terity, that while they live they starve their bodies, and 
 hazard their souls to leave them rich. To such a father it 
 is said justly : Dives es hceredi, pauper iiiopsque iibi. Like 
 an over-kind hen, he feeds his chickens, and famisheth him- 
 self If usury, circumvention, oppression, extortion, can 
 make them rich, they shall not be poor. Their folly is ridi- 
 culous ; they fear lest their children should be miserable, 
 yet take the only course to make them miserable ; for they 
 leave them, not so much heirs to their goods as to their 
 evils. They do as certainly inherit their father's sins as 
 their lands : " God layeth up his iniquity for his children ; 
 and his offspring shall want a morsel of bread," Job xxi. 19. 
 
 On the contrary, " the good man is merciful, and lendeth; 
 and his seed is blessed," Psal. xxxvii. 26. That the world- 
 ling thinks shall make his posterity poor, God saith shall 
 make the good man rich. The precept gives a promise of 
 mercy to obedience, not only confined to the obedient man's 
 self, but extended to his seed, and that even to a thousand 
 generations, Exod. xx. 6. Trust, then, Christ with thy 
 children ; when thy friends shall fail, usury bear no date, 
 oppression be condemned to hell, thyself rotten to dust, the 
 
86 
 
 SliMPEIl IDEM, &C. 
 
 world itself turned and burned into cinders, still " Jesus 
 Christ is the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever." 
 Now then, as " grace and peace are from him which is, and 
 which was, and which is to come ; " so glory and honour 
 be to Him, which is, which was, and which is to come ; 
 even to " Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, 
 and for ever," Rev. i. 4. 
 
HEAVEN-GATE; 
 
 OB, 
 
 THE PASSAGE TO PARADISE. 
 " And may enter in through the gates into the city."— ««». uSi, 14. 
 
HEAVEN-GATE; 
 
 OS, 
 
 THE PASSAGE TO PARADISE. 
 
 And may enter in through the gates into the city."— xxii. 14, 
 
 If we supply these words with the first word of the 
 verse, "blessed," we shall make a perfect sentence of perfect 
 comfort. " Blessed are they that do his commandments, 
 that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter 
 in through the gates into the city." 
 
 The premises quahfyus; we must be such as are Messed; 
 and who are they? Qui prcestant mandata, that do his 
 commandments. The promises cro^vn us, and these are 
 two : First, that we " may have right to the tree of life," 
 even that which " is in the midst of the paradise of God," 
 Rev. ii. 7. From whence the angel, with a flaming sword, 
 shall ket'p all the reprobate ; secondly, Et per portas iiiyre- 
 diantnr cirilalem, and may enter in through the gates into 
 the city ; when without shall be dogs and scorners, &c. ; 
 Avhosoever loveth and maketh a lie. 
 
 To the last words of the verse I have bound and bounded 
 my discourse ; wherein I find three points readily offering 
 themselves to be 
 
 In the whole there be 
 
90 IIEAVEN-GATE ; OR, 
 
 JMotus, Motion, Enter in, 
 Modus, INIanner, Through the gates, 
 Terminus, Place, Into the city. 
 
 So there is a threefold ( ^hat, an entrance, 
 
 circumstance, j How, through the gates. 
 Quo, vV hither, into the city. 
 
 The motion. Enter in. 
 
 They are blessed that enter in ; perseverance only makes 
 happy. Our labours must not cease till we can (with Ste- 
 phen) see these gates open, and our Saviour offering to take 
 us by the hand, and welcome our entrance. We know who 
 hath taught us, that only " continuers to the end shall be 
 saved." It is observable, that in the holy Spirit's letters 
 sent to those seven churches, in the second and third chap- 
 ters of this book, all the promises run to perseverers ; vincenti 
 dabitur, to him that overcomes it shall be given. Kec pa- 
 ranti ad prcelium, nec pugnanti ad sanguinem, midto minus 
 tergiver.ianti ad peccatum, sed vincenti ad victoriam. Nor to 
 him that prepares to fight, nor to him that resists to blood, 
 much less to him that shews his back in cowardice, but to 
 him that overcomes to conquest. Demas seeing this war, 
 ran away ; fell back to the security of the world. Saul 
 made himself ready to this battle, but he durst not fight — 
 glory and lusts carried him away. Judas stood a bout or 
 two, but the high priest's money made him give over, and 
 the de^Tl took him captive. But Paul fought out this com- 
 bat even to victory, though " he bore in his body the marks 
 of the Lord Jesus," Gal. vi. 17. " I have fought a good 
 fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith ; 
 therefore now there is laid up for me a crown of righteous- 
 ness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me," 
 2 Tim. iv. 7. 8. 
 
 This is a good life, saith Bernard. Mala pati, et bona 
 facere ; ct sic usque ad mortem perseverare, to suffer evU, to 
 do good, and so to continue to the end. Some came into 
 the vineyard in the morning, some at noon, others later; 
 
THE PASSAGE TO PAllADISE. 
 
 91 
 
 none received the penny but tliey that stayed till night. 
 Augustine affirms this to be almost all the contents of the 
 Lord's prayer : Hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, 
 thy -will be done (Aug. de bono Perseverantice, cap. 2.) 
 AVherein we desire that his name may always be sanctified, 
 his kingdom alwaj s propagated, his will always obeyed. 
 
 Indeed this grace perfects all graces. We believe in 
 vain, if our faith hold not out to the end ; we love in vain, 
 if our charity grow cold at last ; we pray in vain, if our 
 zeal grows faint ; we strive in vain at the strait gate, if not 
 till we enter. Venire ad reliffionem est vera dcvotio ; sed non 
 relif/iose livere vera Janinatio ; to come to the truth of reli- 
 gion is true devotion ; not to live religiously is true dam- 
 nation. Man is naturally like a horse that loveth short 
 journeys, and there are few that hold out. Whence it 
 comes that the last are often first, and the first last. " Know 
 ye not that they which run in a race, run all, but one re- 
 ceiveth the prize ?" 1 Cor. ix. 24. He that hath a good 
 horse can go faster up a hill than down a hill. He that 
 hath a good faith doth as quickly ascend the Mount Zion, 
 as the wicked descend to the valley of Hinnom. If men 
 would as strongly erect themselves upwards, as they direct 
 their courses downwards, they might go to heaven with less 
 trouble than they do gD to hell. 
 
 But he that at every step looks at every stop, and num- 
 bers his perils with his paces, either turns aside faintly or 
 turns back cowardly. They that go wandering and won- 
 dering on their journc}', are at the gates of Samaria when 
 they should enter the gates of Jerusalem. God saith, " I 
 will not leave you," Heb. xiii. 5. Will you then leave 
 God ? One told Socrates that he would fain go to Olympus, 
 but he distrusted his sufiiciency for the length of the journey. 
 Socrates told him — thou walkest every day little or much, 
 continue this walk forward thy way, and a few days shall 
 biing thee to Olympus. Every day every man takes some 
 pains ; let him bestow that measure of pains in travelling to 
 heaven, and the further he goes the more heart he gets, 
 till at last he enter through the gates into the city. 
 
92 
 
 HEAVEN-GATE ; Oli, 
 
 Bernard calls perseverance the only daughter of the high- 
 est Iving, the perfection of virtues, the store-house of good 
 works ; a virtue without which no man shall see God : (Per- 
 severantia est unica summi Regis Jilia, virtulum consummatio, 
 tntliis boni repositorium, virtus sine qua nemo vidthit Deuni.) 
 There is a last enemy to be destroyed, Death ; we must hold 
 out to the conquest even of this last adversarj'. Which 
 if it conquer us by the sting of our sin, shall send us 
 to the doors of hell : if we conquer it by our faith, it shall 
 send us to the gates of this city, heaven. All the voyage is 
 lost through the perilous sea of this world ; if we sufler 
 shipwreck in the haven, and lose our reward there, where 
 we should land to receive it, what get we, if we keep 
 Satan short of ruling us mth his force many hours, when at 
 our last hour he shall snatch our bliss fi-om us ? The runner 
 speeds all the way, but when he comes at the race's end 
 to the goal, he stretcheth forth his hand to catch the prize. 
 Be sure of thy last step, to put forth the hand of faith then 
 most strongly : Ne pcrdatiir prcemium taittis Imlioribus quoe- 
 situm ; lest the reward be lost, which thou with much la- 
 bour hast aimed at. 
 
 It is not enough, Qucerere caelum, sed acquirere ; rum Chris- 
 tum seqtii, sed conxequi : To seek heaven, but to find it ; not 
 to follow Christ, but to overtake him ; not to be brought to 
 the gates, but to enter in. " Many -will say to Christ in 
 that day. Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?" 
 Matth. vii. 22. But the " Master of the house is first risen, 
 and hath shut to the door," Luke xiii. 25. Either they 
 come too soon, before they have gotten faith and a good 
 conscience ; or too late, as those foolish virgins, when the 
 gate was shut. If then we have bogim, let us continue 
 to enter. Cvjusque casus tantb rmjorut est criminis, q^tantb 
 priusquam caderet majoris erat vii-iutis (Isidor.) Every 
 man's fault hath so much the more discredit of scandal, as 
 he before he feU had credit of virtue. Let us beware that 
 we do not slide; if slide, that we do not fall; if fall, that 
 we fall forward, not backward. " The just man" often 
 slips, and sometime " falls," Pro v. xxiv. 16. And this is dan- 
 
THE PASSAGE TO PARADISE. 
 
 93 
 
 gerous ; for if a man, while he stands on his legs, can hardly 
 grapple with the devil, how shall he do when he is fallen 
 down under his feet ? But if they do fall, they fall forward, 
 asEzekiel (Ezek. i. 28) ; not backward, as Eli at the loss of 
 the ark, 1 Sam. iv. 18 ; or they that came to surprise 
 Christ. " They went backward and fell to the ground," 
 John xviii. 6. 
 
 Cease not then thy godly endeavours ; until Contingas 
 portum, quo tibi cursus erat. Say we not like the woman to 
 Esdras, whether in ii vision or othenvise, when he bade her 
 go into the city. " That will I not do : I will not go 
 into the city, but here I will die" (2 Esdras x. 18). It is a 
 wretched sin, saith Augustine, after tears for sin not to 
 preserve innocence. Such a man is washed, but is not 
 clean. Quia commissa Jlere desinit, el iterum Jlenda commiltit. 
 He ceases to weep for faults done, and renews faults worthy 
 of weeping. Think not thyself safe, till thou art got within 
 the gates of the city. Behold thy Saviour calling, thy Fa- 
 ther blessing, the Spirit assisting, the angels comforting, the 
 Word directing, the glory uniting, good men associating. 
 Go cheerfully, till thou " enter b through the gates into the 
 city." 
 
 The Manner. Through the Gates. 
 
 Not singularly a gate, but gates. For the city is said to 
 have " twelve gates. On the east three gates, on the north 
 three, on the south three, and on the west three," Eev. xxi. 
 12. To declare that men shall come fi-om all the comers of 
 the world, " from the east, and from the west, from the 
 north, and from the south ; and shall sit do\vn in the king- 
 dom of God," Luke xiii. 29. These gates are not literally 
 to be understood, but mystically : Pro modo intrandi, for 
 the manner of entrance. The gates are those passages 
 whereby we must enter this city. 
 
 Heaven is often said to have a gate. " Strive to enter 
 in at the strait gate," saith Christ, Matth. vii. 13. " Lift 
 up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lifted up, ye everlast- 
 ing doors," saith the Psalmist, Psal. xxiv. 7. " This is 
 
94 
 
 IIEAVEX-GATE ; OR, 
 
 none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of 
 heaven," saith Jacob, Gen. xxviii. 17. There must be 
 gates to a city : they that admit us hither are the gates 
 of grace. So the analogy of the words infer ; doing the 
 commandments is the way to have right in the tree of life ; 
 obedience and sanctification is the gate to this city of salva- 
 tion. In a word, 
 
 Tlie temple had a gate called Beautiful, Acts iii. 2 ; but 
 of poor beauty in regard of this gate. Of the gates of tlie 
 sanctuary spake David in divers psalms, with love and joy. 
 " Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his court.s 
 with praise," Psal. e. 4. This was God's delight. " The 
 Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of 
 Jacob," Psal. Ixxxvii. 2. This was David's election to be 
 a porter or keeper of the gates of God's house, " rather 
 than dwell in the tents of wickedness," Psal. Lvxxiv. 10. 
 This his resolution : " Our feet shall stand within thy gates, 
 
 0 Jerusalem," Psal. cxxii. 2. Solomon made two doors 
 for the entering of the oracle : they were made of " olive 
 trees, and wrought upon -with the cai-vings of cherubims," 
 
 1 Ivings vi. 32. Tlie olives promising fatness and plenty 
 of blessings — the cherubims, holiness and eternity. These 
 are holy gates ; let everv- one pray with that royal prophet, 
 " Open to me the gates of righteousness : I will go into 
 them, and I will praise the Lord. This is the gate of the 
 Lord, into which the righteous shall enter," Psal. cxrai. 
 19, 20. 
 
 In brief, we may distinguish the gates leading to tliis 
 city into two : Adoption and Sanctification. Both these 
 meet in Christ, who is the only gate or door whereby we 
 enter heaven. " I am the door," saith our Saviour, janua 
 vilce, the gate of life ; " by me if any enter in, he shidl be 
 saved," John x. 9. 
 
THE PASSAGE TO PARADISE. 
 
 95 
 
 Adoption is the first gate. " We have received the 
 spirit of adoption," Kom. viii. 15. Without this passage there 
 is no getting into heaven. The inheritance of glory cannot 
 be given to the children of disobedience : they must first be 
 converted and adopted heirs in Christ. The grace of God 
 is twofold. There is Gratia gratis agens (grace acting freely) ; 
 and Gratia gratum faciens (grace rendering grateful). This 
 second grace, which is of adoption, is never in a reprobate ; 
 not by an absolute impossibility, but by an indisposition in 
 him to receive it. A spark of fire falling upon water, ice, 
 or snow, goes out ; on wood, flax, or such apt matter, 
 kindles. Baptism is the sacrament of admission into the 
 congregation ; of incision and initiation, whereby we are 
 matriculated and received into the motherhood of the Church. 
 Therefore the sacred font is placed at the church door to 
 insinuate and signify our entrance. So adoption is the first 
 door or gate whereby we pass to the city of glory. 
 
 This is our new creation, whereat the angels of heaven 
 rejoice, Luke xv. 10. At the creation of dukes or earls, 
 there is great joy among men ; but at our new creation, 
 angels and seraphims rejoice in the presence of God. Our 
 generation was a non esse, ad esse : fi-om not being, to be. 
 But oiu- regeneration is a male esse, ad iene esse : from a 
 being evil, to be well ; and that for ever. Through this 
 gate we must pass to enter the city; without this, death 
 shall send us to another place. No man ends this life well, 
 except he be born again before he ends it. 
 
 Now, if you would be sure that you are gone through 
 this gate, call to mind what hath been your repentance. 
 The first sign of regeneration is throbs and throes : you 
 cannot be adopted to Christ without sensible pain, and com- 
 punction of heart for your sins. The Christian hath two 
 births, and they are two gates : he can pass through none 
 of them but with anguish. Both our first and second birth 
 begin with crying. Our first birth is a gate into this world ; 
 our second is a gate into the world to come. There is some 
 pam in both. For this world, but little joy after the pain ; 
 for the other, after short sorrow, eternal glory. 
 
96 
 
 HEAVEN-GATE ; OK, 
 
 Sanctification is the second gate. Make your call- 
 ing and election sure, saith Peter, by a holy life : " For so 
 an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly, into 
 the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
 Christ," 2 Pet. i. 11. But "there shall in no wise enter 
 into it any thing that defileth ; neither whatsoever worketh 
 abomination, or maketh a he," Rev. xxi. 27. Therefore 
 Paul pra3s the " God of peace to sanctify us wholly," 1 
 Thess. V. 23. Holiness is the way to happiness ; grace the 
 g.ite of glory. But some may object from that of Paul, that 
 this sanctification must be total and perfect ; but who can 
 come so furnished to the gate ? therefore, who can enter the 
 city ? I answer : There is required only sanclijicatio via, 
 non patrice : such a sanctity as the gate can afford, though 
 far short of that within the city. The School distinguisheth 
 well. It must be communiter in toto, et universaliter in sin- 
 gulis partibus ; but not totaliler et perfecth This sanctifica- 
 tion must be communicated to the whole man, and univer- 
 sally propagated to every part, though it have in no place 
 of man a total perfection. Indeed, nullum peccatum retinen- 
 dum est spe remissionis. No sin is to be cherished in hope 
 of mercy. But we must strive for every grace we have not, 
 and for the increase of every grace we have. Quoerendum 
 quod deest bonum, indulgendum quod adest. Let us make 
 much of that we possess, and still seek for more, " striving 
 to the mark," Phil. iii. 14. And yet when all is done, 
 profectio h(ec, 7ion perfectio est ; we have made a good step 
 forward, but are not come to our full home. But stiU, Lord, 
 be merciful to me a sinner, and enter not into judgment 
 with us. 
 
 Now, since this gate stands in our own heart, give me 
 leave to describe it, and that briefly, by 
 
 The 
 
 ( Properties, 
 (Parts. 
 
 • The properties are two. It is 
 
 Low — Heaven is well called a " building not made with 
 hands," 2 Cor. v. 1 ; for it differs both in matter and form 
 
THE PASSAGE TO PARADISE. 97 
 
 from earthly edifices. For matter, it is eternal, not mo- 
 mentary ; for manner, fabricated without hands. Great 
 manors on earth have large answerable porches. Heaven 
 must needs be spacious, when a little star fi.xed in a far 
 lower orb, exceeds the earth in quantity ; yet hath it a low 
 gate, not a lofty coming in. 
 
 They must stoop, then, that will enter here. " He hath 
 filled the hungry mth good things, and the rich he hath 
 sent empty away," Luke i. 53. The rich in their own con- 
 ceits, and proud of their own worth, shall be sent empty 
 from this gate. Zaccheus climbs up into a sycamore tree to 
 lieliold Jesus ; but when Jesus beheld liim got up so high, 
 lie said. Come down ; " Zaccheus make haste, and come 
 down," Luke xix. 6. Whosoever will entertain Jesus, 
 must come down. The haughty Nebuchadnezzar, that 
 thinks with his head to knock out the stars in heaven, must 
 stoop at this gate, or he cannot enter. Be you never so 
 lofty, you must bend. God's honour must be preferred be- 
 fore your honours. It is no discredit to your worships to 
 worship God. 
 
 Little. — Christ calls it a " narrow gate," Luke xiii. 
 24. They must be little that enter ; little in their own 
 eyes, slender in the opinion of themselves. " Whosoever 
 shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he 
 shall not enter therein," Mark x. 15. Samuel to Saul: 
 " When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not 
 made the head of the tribes of Israel?" 1 Sam. xv. 17. 
 When Jesse had made all his sons pass before Samuel, he 
 asked him if none remained yet. Jesse answers. Yes, a 
 little one tending the flocks. " Fetch that little one," saith 
 Samuel, " for we \vill not sit down till he come," 1 Sam. xvi. 
 11. That httle one was he. Says the angel to Esdras, 
 " A city is built, and set upon abroad field, full of all good 
 things, 2 Esdras vii. 6, yet the entrance thereof is nar- 
 row." This is spatiosa et speciosa civitas : A city beauti- 
 ful and roomy ; yet it hath but a narrow wicket, a little 
 gate. 
 
 G 
 
98 
 
 HEAVEN-GATE ; OR, 
 
 Alas ! how will the surfeited epicure do to enter, whose 
 gluttonous body is so deformed, that it moves like a great 
 tun upon two pots ? "What hope hath an iinpropriator, with 
 four or five churches on his back, to pass tliis Uttle gate? 
 The bribing officer hath a swollen hand, it will not enter ; 
 and the gouty usurer cannot thrust in his foot. The fac- 
 tious schismatic hath too big a head, the swearer such forked 
 blasphemies in his mouth, that here is no entrance. Pride 
 hath no more hope to get into the gates of that city above, 
 than there is hope to cast it out the gates of this city be- 
 low. Much good do it with earthly courts, for it must not 
 come into the courts of heaven. 
 
 Think, O sinners ; you cannot go with these oppressions, 
 with these oaths, fi-auds, bribes, usuries, with these wicked- 
 nesses, into the gates of this city. You must shift them off, 
 or they will shut you out. 
 
 You hear the properties ; the parts are now to be consi- 
 dered, and these are four : The foundation, the two sides, 
 and the roof. The foundation is Faith ; one of the sides, 
 Patience ; the other Innocence ; the roof. Charity. 
 
 Faith is the foundation. " Be ye grounded and set- 
 tled in the faith," Colos. i. 23. Credendo fundatur, saith 
 Augustine. It is grounded in faith. All other graces are 
 (as it were) built on this foimdation. Credimus quod spera- 
 mus : quod credimus et speramus, diligimus: quod credimus, 
 speramus, et diligimus, operamur. What we hope, we be- 
 lieve ; what we believe and hope, we love ; what we be- 
 lieve, hope, and love, we endeavour to attain. So all is 
 built on faith. 
 
 Hope on faith. Nulla spes increditi: it is impossible to 
 hope for that we believe not to be. Charity on faith : why 
 should a man give all to the poor, unless he believed an 
 abundant recompense? Repentance on faith : why else suf- 
 fer we contrition for sin, if we believed not remission of sin? 
 Temperance on faith : why forbear we the pleasing vanities 
 of the world, but that we believe the transcendent joys of 
 eternity, whereof these harlots would rob us ? Patience on 
 
THE PASSAGE TO PARADISE. 
 
 99 
 
 faith : why woiild we endure such calamities with willing 
 quietness and subjection, if we believed not an everlasting 
 peace and rest to come ? All obedience on faith, that God 
 would accept it in Jesus Christ. If all be built on faith, I 
 may call it the basis and foundation of this gate. " With- 
 out faith it is impossible to please God : for he that cometh 
 to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of 
 them that diligently seek him," Ileb. xi. 6. Faith is the 
 passage-way to God ; not one of that holy ensuing legend 
 entered the city of life without this. He that hath faith 
 sh;dl enter ; yea, he is entered. " He hath everlasting life, 
 and shall not come into condemnation ; but is passed from 
 death to life," John v. 24. 
 
 Patience is one of the pillars. " Ye have need of 
 patience, that when you have done the will of God, ye 
 might receive the promise," Heb. x. 36. That when you 
 have suffered before the gates, ye may enter the city. 
 There be three enemies that assault the soul before she en- 
 ter the gates — a lion, a leopard, and a fox. The Hon is 
 the devil, who roareth with hideous eyes and bloody jaws, 
 1 Pet. T. 8. The leopard is the world, which hath a gay 
 spotted hide ; but if it take us within the clutches, it de- 
 vours us. The fox is our concupiscence, bred in us, which 
 craftily spoils our grapes, our young vines, our tender 
 graces, Cant. ii. 15. Patience hath therefore an armed sol- 
 dier with her, called Christian fortitude, to give repulse to 
 all these encounters. And what he cannot feriendo by 
 smiting, she conquers fereudo by suffering. Vmcit etiaiii 
 clum patitur. She overcomes, even while she suffers. Pa- 
 tience meekly bears wongs done to our own person ; forti- 
 tude encounters courageously wrongs done to the person of 
 Christ. She -will not yield to sin, though she die. She 
 hath the spiiit of Esther to withstand things that dishonour 
 God. " If I perish, I perish," Esth. iv. 16. 
 
 Innocence is the other pillar. As patience teacheth 
 us to bear wrongs, so innocence to do none. Patience gives 
 
100 
 
 heaven-gate; ob, 
 
 us a shield, but innocence denies us a sword. Ourselves 
 we may defend, others we must not offend. Innocence is 
 such a virtue. Qua ciiin aliis non nocet, nee sibi nocet (Au- 
 gustine). Which as it wrongs not others, so not itself. He 
 that hurts liimself, is not innocent. The prodigal is no 
 man's foe but his own, saith the proverb ; but because he 
 is his own foe, he is not innocent. TriumpJtus innocentioe est 
 non peccare ubi potest (Seneca). It is the triumph of inno- 
 cence not to offend where it may. 
 
 No testimony is more sweet to the conscience than this : 
 " Remember, O Lord, how I have walked before thee in 
 truth, and with a perfect heart," Isa. xxxviii. 3. So Job, 
 " My heart shall not condemn me for my days." Blessed 
 soul thus comforted. It smiles at the fro-vvns of earth, and 
 dares stand the thunder. Tliough there be no innocency 
 but rejoiceth to stand in the sight of mercy, yet thus in the 
 midst of injuries it cheers itself: " O Lord, thou knowest 
 my innocence." The wicked " cover themselves with vio- 
 lence as with a garment," Psa. Ixxiii. 6 ; therefore confu- 
 sion shall cover them as a cloak. " Blessed are the meek, 
 for they shall inherit the earth," Matth. v. 5. That part 
 of the earth they live in shall afford them quiet ; and their 
 part in heaven hath no disquiet in it. Si amoveantiir, ad- 
 moventur in locum, a quo non removcntur in aternum. If 
 they be moved, they are moved to a place from whence 
 they shall never be removed. " I will wash mine hands in 
 innocency : so will I compass thine altar, 0 Lord," Psa. 
 xx\-i. 6. If innocence must lead us to the altar on earth, 
 sure that must be our gate to the glorj' of heaven. 
 
 Charity is the roof, diligemlo perficitur, (Augustine) ; love 
 makes up the building. " Now abideth faith, hope, and cha- 
 rity ; but the greatest of these is chai-ity," 1 Cor. xili. 13. It 
 is a grace of the loveliest countenance, and longest continu- 
 ance ; for countenance, it is amiable ; all love it. The poor 
 respect not thy faith so much as thy charity. For continu- 
 ance, faith and hope take their leave of us in death ; but 
 charity brings us to heaven-door, and ushers us into glory. 
 
THE PASSAGE TO PARADISE. 
 
 101 
 
 " I know not what to say more in thy praise, O charity, 
 than, ut Deum de coelo iraheres, et hominem ad caelum ele- 
 vares," (Hugo de laude Charitatis) ; than thou didst 
 bring down God from heaven to earth, and dost lift up man 
 from earth to heaven. Great is thy virtue, that by thee 
 God should be humbled to man, by thee man should be ex- 
 alted to God. 
 
 You have the gates described. Let us draw a short con- 
 clusion from these two former circumstances, and then en- 
 ter the city. 
 
 The Sum. 
 
 There is no entrance to the city but by the gates ; no 
 passage to glory but by grace. The wall of this city is 
 said to be great and high (Rev. xxi. 12.) High, no climbing 
 over; great, no breaking through. So Christ saith, "No 
 thief can break through and steal," Matth. vi. 20. There- 
 fore through the gates, or no way. " CoiTuption doth not 
 inherit incorruption," 1 Cor. xv. 50. This coiTupted man 
 must be regenerate, that he may be saved ; must be sancti- 
 fied, that he may be glorified. Babel-builders may offer 
 fair for heaven, but not come near it. The giants of om- 
 time, I mean the monstrous sinners, may, ivtpnncre Pellion 
 Ossw-i lay rebellion upon presiunptlon, treason upon rebel- 
 lion, blasphemy upon all, as if they would sink heaven with 
 their loud and lewd ordinance, and pluck God out of his 
 throne ; but hell gapes in expectation of them. This gate 
 is kept, as the gate of paradise, -mih a flaming sword of jus- 
 tice, to keep out " idolaters, adulterers, thieves, covetous, 
 drunkards, revilers, extortioners," 1 Cor. vi. 9, and other 
 dogs of the same litter, " from the kingdom of God," Rev. 
 xxii. 16. 
 
 Some trust to open these gates with golden keys ; but 
 bribery is rather a key to unlock the gates of hell. Let 
 Rome seU what she list, and warrant it hke the seller in the 
 Proverbs, " It is good, it is good." Yet it is naught ; but 
 
102 
 
 HEAVEN-GATE ; OR, 
 
 were it good, God never promised to stand to the pope's 
 bargains. Otliers liave dreamed of no other gate but their 
 own righteousness. Poor souls, they cannot find the gate, 
 because they stand in their own hght. Others think to 
 pass through the gates of other men's merits : as well one 
 bird may fly with another bird's wings. For all those hot 
 promises of the works of saints for their ready money, they 
 may blow their naUs in heU. 
 
 Only grace is the gate. Per portam eccelesice intramus ad 
 portam Paradisi (Aug. Serm. 136 de Temp). We must be 
 true members of the Church, or the door of life will be shut 
 against us. Heaven is a glorious place, therefore reserved 
 for gracious men. Admittuntur ad spiritus justorum, non nisi 
 justi. To those " spirits of just men made perfect," Heb. xii. 
 23, must be admitted none save they that are justified. Kings 
 are there the company : none of base and ignoble lives can be 
 accepted. Heaven is the great Whitehall, the court of the 
 high King ; none are entertained but Alhi, such as are washed 
 white in the blood of Christ, and keep white their own in- 
 nocence. Ungracious offenders look for no dwelling in this 
 glory. You that have so httle love to the gates are not 
 worthy the city. K you will not pass through the gates of 
 holiness in this life, you must not enter the city of happiness 
 in the life to come. Thus we have passed the gates, and 
 are now come to 
 
 The City. 
 
 Now if I had been with Paul, rapt up to the third heaven, 
 2 Cor. xii. 2, or had the " angel's reed wherewith he 
 measured the wall," Rev. xxi. 17, I might say something to 
 the desci-iption of this city. But how can darkness speak 
 of that light ? or the base countrj' of earth describe the glo- 
 rious court of heaven ? " Glorious things are spoken of 
 thee, O city of God," Psal. lxxx\Ti. 3. Glorious cities have 
 been, and are in the world. Rome was eminently famous ; 
 all her citizens like so many kings ; yet was it observed, iUic 
 homines mori, that men did die there. But in this city there 
 
THE PASSAGE TO PARADISE. 
 
 108 
 
 is no dying. Mors non erit ultra. " There shall be no 
 more deathi" Rev. xxi. 4. I will narrow up my discourse, 
 to consider in this city only three things. 
 
 ! Situation. 
 Society. 
 Glory. 
 
 The Situation. 
 
 It is placed above ; " Jerusalem which is above is free, 
 the mother of us all," Gal. iv. 26. Heaven is in excelsis. 
 " His foundation is in the holy mountains," Psal. Ixxxvii. 1. 
 So was Jerusalem seated on earth, to figure this city ; built 
 on the " Quarry of heaven," Dan. ii ; " on sapphires, eme- 
 ralds, and chrj-soUtes," Rev. xxi. There is a heaven now 
 over our heads, but it shall " wax old as a garment," Heb. 
 i. 1 1 . It is corruptible, and so combustible. This city is 
 eternal ; Mount Sion, never to be moved ; a kingdom never 
 to be shaken. We are now under this lower heaven, then 
 this shall be under us. That which is our canopy, shall be 
 our pavement. 
 
 The Society. 
 
 The king that rules there, is one Almighty God, in three 
 distinct persons. He made this city for himself. " In his 
 presence is the fulness of joy, apd pleasures at his right hand 
 for evermore," Psal. xvi. 11. If he gave such a house as 
 this world is, to his enemies, what, may we think, hath he 
 provided for himself and his friends ? But will God dwell 
 there alone ? He is never alone ; himself is to himself the 
 best and most excellent company. Nevertheless, he vouch- 
 safes a dwelUng here to some citizens, and these are either 
 created so, assumed, or assigned. 
 
 1. Created citizens are the blessed angels ; who, from 
 their first creation, have enjoyed the freedom of this city. 
 They stand always in the presence of God ; they can never 
 lose their happmess 
 
 2. Assumed ; those whose spirits are already in heaven. 
 
104 IIKAVEN-GATE ; OR, 
 
 There " are the spirits of just men made perfect," Heb. 
 xii. 23. They are already in soul taken up, and made free 
 denizens of this city 
 
 3. Assigned ; the elect that live in the militant church, 
 •waiting for the day of their body's redemption ; crj ing still, 
 Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly. These are conscript!, 
 "written in the Lamb's book of life," Rev. xxi. 27. Xow 
 though we are not already in full possession, because our ap- 
 prenticeship of this life is not out ; yet we are already citi- 
 zens. " Ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow- 
 citizens with the saints, and of the household of God," 
 Ephes. ii. 19 ; and we have three happyprivileges of citizens. 
 
 1 . Libertas ; ireedom from the law, not from obedience to 
 it, but from the curse of it. Prcestemus quod possumus : quod 
 non possumus, non damnahit. Let us keep so much of it as 
 we can ; what we cannot keep shall not condemn us. Liberty 
 in the use of these earthly things ; heaven, earth, air, sea, 
 with all their creatures, do us service. " Whether things 
 present, or things to come, all are yours ; and ye are Christ's, 
 and Christ is God's," 1 Cor. iii. 22. 
 
 2. Tutela imperii ; the king's protection, Angelis mandavit. 
 " He hath given his angels charge over us, to keep us in all 
 our ways," Psal. xci. 11. Is this. all? No. "He covers us 
 with his feathers, and under his wings do we trust ; his truth 
 is our shield and our buckler," ver. 4. Our dangers are 
 many in some places, and some in all places ; we have God's 
 own guard royal to keep us. They " are sent from God to 
 minister for their sakes, which shall be heirs of salvation," 
 Heb. i. 14. I need not determine whether every particu- 
 lar person hath his particular angel. Saint Augustine hath 
 well answered, " Quando hoc nesciatur sine crimine, non opus 
 est ut definiatur cum discrimine," (Enchirid, cap. 59.) Since 
 our ignorance is no fault, let us not trouble ourselves with 
 curious discussion. Bernard directs us to a good use of it. 
 " Quantum debet hoc tibi ivfcrre reverentiam, afferre derotionem, 
 conferre Jiduciam," (Bem.) The consideration of the guard 
 of angels about us, should put into our minds reverence, 
 into our hearts devotion, into our souls confidence. 
 
THE PASSAGE TO PARADISE. 
 
 105 
 
 3. Defensio Legis, the defensive protection of the law. 
 Christ is our Advocate. "Who shall lay any thing to the 
 charge of God's elect ? It is God that justifieth," Rom. viii. 
 33. ^\e are impleaded ; Paul appeals to Caesar, we to 
 Christ. The DevU accuseth us, we are far remote : Be- 
 hold our counsellor is in heaven, that will not let our 
 cause fall, or be overthrown. " If any man sin, we have 
 an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous," 
 1 John ii. 1. 
 
 Thus are we citizens in present, shall be more perfectly 
 at last. We have now right to the city ; we shall then 
 have right in the city. We have now a purchase of the 
 possession, shall then have a possession of the purchase. 
 " Father, I will that they" (this is our Saviour's me) " be 
 with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which 
 thou hast given," John xvii. 24. Will and testament, 
 and shall not be broken. 
 
 The company then adds to the glory of this city. We 
 are loath to leave this world for love of a few friends, sub- 
 ject to mutual dislikes ; but what then is the delight in the 
 society of saints ? where thy glorified self shall meet with 
 thy glorified friends, and your love shall be as everlasting as 
 your glory. There be those angels that protected thee ; 
 those patriarchs, prophets, apostles, mart}TS, that by doc- 
 trine and example taught thee ; yea, there is that blessed 
 Saviour that redeemed thee. Often here with groans and 
 tears thou seekest him, whom thy soul loveth ; lo, there he 
 shall never be out of thy sight. 
 
 The Glory. 
 
 The glory. Non. mild si centum linguce. If I had a hundred 
 tongues, I would not be able to discourse thoroughly the least 
 drachm of that inestimable weight of glory. The eye hath seen 
 much, the ear hath heard more, and the heart hath con- 
 ceived most of all. But " no eye hath seen, nor ear heard, 
 nor heart apprehended the things which God hath prepared 
 for them that love him," 1 Cor. ii. 9. Augustine, after a 
 stand, Deiis habet quod exhibeat (In Joh. Hom. 3). God 
 
106 HEAVEN-GATE ; OK 
 
 hath something to bestow on you. If I say, we shall be 
 satiate, you will think of loathing ; if we shall not be satiate, 
 you ivill think of hunger. But ibi nec fames, nec fastidium: 
 there is neither hunger nor loathing. Sed Bern hahet quod 
 exhibeat. No sooner is the soul within those gates, but she 
 is glorious. Simikm sibi r'eddit ingredientein. Heaven shall 
 make them that enter it, like itself, glorious : as the air by 
 the sun's brightness is transformed bright. Quanta fceli- 
 citas, ubi nullum erit malum, nullum deerit bonumJ How 
 great is that blessedness, where shall be no evil present, no 
 good absent ! This is a blessed city. 
 
 Men are ambitious here, and seek to be free of great 
 cities, and not seldom buy it dearer than the captain bought 
 his burgeship. But no such honour as to be denizens of 
 this city ; whereof once made free, how contemptibly they 
 will look at the vain endeavours of wordly men ! Think, 
 beloved ; yea, know how sweet soever the gains of this lower 
 city be, it is yet far short of the gains of heaven. And you 
 will one day sa}-, there is no city like to the city of God, where 
 " shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, nor any 
 more pain," Rev. xxi. 4. Death, with all his apparitors, 
 that cites the whole world to his court, sorrow, crying, pain, 
 shall be no more. " They shall persecute you from city 
 to city," Matt. x. 23, saith Christ, till at last we come to 
 this city, and then out of their reach. 
 
 O that this clay of ours should come to such honour ! 
 Well may we suffer it to endure the world's tyranny, and to 
 be afflicted by the citizens thereof; alas, we are but ap- 
 prentices, and they will use us hardly till our years be out. 
 When that day comes, we shall be free possessors of this 
 city. 
 
 You hear now the gate and the dty, what should yea do 
 but enter ? Pass through the gate of grace, a holy and 
 sanctified life, and you shall not fail of the city of glorj' ; 
 whither once entered, you shall sing as it is in the psalm, 
 Sicut audivimus, ita et vidimus. As we have heard, so have 
 we seen in the city of our God. AVe see that now which 
 was preached to us ; yea, and ten thousand times more than 
 
THE PASSAGE TO PARADISE. 
 
 107 
 
 ever could be uttered. You shall say to Christ, as the 
 Queen of Sheba to Solomon, " I heard much of thy glory ; 
 but, behold, the one half was not told me," 1 Kings x. 7. 
 You saw Jerusalem before in a map, now you shall walk 
 through the streets, and observe the towers and bulwarks, 
 fully contemplate the glory. But my discourse shall give 
 way to your meditation. The joys are boundless, endless : 
 the Lord make us free of thb city. Amea. 
 
MAJESTY IN MISERY; 
 
 THE POWER OF CHRIST EVEN DYING 
 
MAJESTY IN MISERY 
 
 OB, 
 
 THE POWER OF CHRIST EVEN DYING. 
 
 " And behold the rait of the Temple was rent in twain, from the top to the bottom i 
 and the earth did quake, and the roclis rent : and the graves were opened, and many 
 bodies of saints which slept, arose."— 3fall*. iivil. 51. 
 
 In the lowest depth of Christ's humiliation, God never 
 left him without some evident and eminent testimony of his 
 divine power. He hangs here on the cross dying, yea 
 dead ; his enemies insulting over him, where is now his 
 God? " Khe be able to save us, let him save himself." 
 He bears not only the wrath of God, but even the reproach 
 of men. Yet even now shall his divinity appear, and break( 
 like a glorious sun through these clouds of misery. Hej 
 rends the vail, shakes the earth, breaks the stones, raiseth the 
 dead. 
 
 These two verses stand gloriously adorned with four 
 miracles. 
 
 1. " The vail of the temple was rent in twain." You 
 will say, perhaps, the substance of it was not so strong, but 
 an easy force might rend it. But, verse 50, Christ was 
 dead before, or died at that very instant. It was above 
 nature that a dying, yea a dead man, crucified in so remote 
 a place from it, should rend the vail tvithin the temple. 
 
 2. The earth did quake. Say the vail of less substance, yet 
 the huge body of the earth will try a man's strength. In 
 vain should silly man contend with that which shall devour 
 him. He cannot move the earth, the earth shall remove 
 him, from walking alive on it, to lie dead in it. Behold the 
 
112 MAJESTY IN MISERY ; OR, 
 
 power of Christ ; Terram movet, he makes the vast body of 
 the earth to tremble. 
 
 3. The rocks rent. WUl any yet say, natural causes can 
 shake the earth ? then let their maUcious cavil be choked 
 with this third miracle beyond exception ; he breaks the 
 stones, not little stones, but huge massy rocks. 
 
 4. Lastly, to stop the mouth of all adversaries to his di- 
 vine power, he raiseth up the dead. Suscitare mortuos e 
 sepulchro, is only proper to God. " No man can give a 
 ransom to God for his brother, that he should live for ever, 
 and not see corruption," Psalm xlLx. 7, 9. How much less, 
 when he is dead, recover him to life again. Here was the 
 finger of God. Now to proceed in order with the miracles. 
 
 1. Miracle. — Tlte vail of the temple, &c. This vail 
 was the partition betwixt the Sanctum Sanctorum (Holy of 
 Holies), and the Sanctum (the holy place), as it might be 
 the upper part of the quire. " Into this went the high 
 priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he 
 offered for himself, and for the errors of the people," Heb. 
 ix. 7. By the rending of this vail were many things pre- 
 signified. 
 
 1. This serves for a confirmation of that Christ spoke on 
 the cross ; " It is finished." The rending of the vail doth 
 actually echo to his words, and indeed fulfils them. Here 
 is an end put to all the sacrifices and ceremonies of the law. 
 In the New Testament is one only real and royal sacrifice, 
 Christ crucified. This was that object whereimto all those 
 rites looked ; and to them all there is now given a consum- 
 matum est. So that now ceremonia mortua, lex morti/era: 
 Ceremonies are dead, and the law of them deadly. No- 
 vum Testamentum latet in veteri, Vctus patet in novo. The 
 gospel lay hidden under the law, the law is complete in the" 
 gospel. " Now after that you have known God in his gos- 
 pel, how turn you again to the weak and beggarly elements, 
 whereunto you desire again to be in bondage?" Gal. iv. 9. 
 God's service is now simple and plain ; "in spirit and 
 truth," John iv. 23. 
 
THE POWKll OF CHUIST EVKN DYING. 113 
 
 Christ is said to be the end of the law : the moral law he 
 kept himself sincerely, and satisfied for our breaches of it 
 thoroughly. The ceremonial was referred to him, performed 
 of him, fulfilled in him, extinguished by him. They had all 
 Vigorem a Christo, relationem ad Chiistum, consummaiionem 
 in Christo : (Their efficacy from Christ, relation to Christ, 
 consummation in Christ.) lie gave them their beginning, 
 he hath also given . them their end. The vail rent, to wit- 
 ness the cancelling of that ritual obligation. " Christ hath 
 blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that was against 
 us, nailing it to his cross," Col. ii. 14. That moment was 
 their last gasp, they expired with Christ. But did all ce- 
 remonies then utterly die ? No : some were tj'pical, pre- 
 figuring Christ ; those are dead. Some are for decency and 
 order, adminicula devotionis (mere pendicles of devotion) ; 
 these are dead. The law of Jewish ceremonies is abolished, 
 but some must be retained. Christ came not to dissolve 
 order. Men consist of bodies as well as souls ; and God 
 must be served with both ; now bodies cannot serve God 
 without external rites ; the spouse of Christ cannot be with- 
 out her borders and laces. Of necessity there must be 
 some outward observances, but thus qualified : That they be 
 for number few, for signification plain, for observation sim- 
 ple ; far from ostentation, farther from superstition. Christ, 
 his spouse, must not flaunt it like a harlot, but be soberly 
 attired like a grave matron. Ceremonice quasi caremonice; 
 ceremonies are so called, because they were ordained to 
 supply the defects of our nature ; because we could not serve 
 God in that simplicity we ought, therefore we have these 
 helps. Hence it is that the nearer to perfection the fewer 
 ceremonies ; as it were, the more light the less shadow. In 
 the law were abundant ceremonies, in the gospel far fewer, 
 in heaven none at all. 
 
 This condemns the church of Rome for a glorious harlot, 
 because she loads herself with such a heap of gaudy cere- 
 monies ; and their mass for mere idolatry, which they be- 
 lieve to be a real propitiatory sacrifice of Christ, made by 
 the priests for the sins of quick and dead. This is to build 
 
114 MAJESTY IN MISERY ; OR, 
 
 up the vail here rent in pieces, and to accuse Christ of lake- 
 hood in his consummalum. est (his last saying. It is finished.) 
 Is an end put to them, and shall they still retain them ; yea, 
 obtrude them as principal parts of God's service ; yea, wor- 
 ship them, yea, bind men's consciences to them on pain of 
 damnation ? Therefore they are liable to the censure of Au- 
 gustine, who calls such Inipios sepulturcB violatores ; diggers 
 into the graves of the dead for putrefied and rotten reUcs. 
 Yea, to the judgment of God, who saith, " If ye be dead 
 with Christ from the rudiments of the world ; why, as though 
 living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, after the 
 commandments and doctrines of men? " Col. ii. 20, 22. They 
 will say, Dicit Papa sanxit concilium, thus saith the Pope, 
 thus decrees the Council ; but we. Dixit Dominus non dona- 
 tus : we hear what the Lord says in his Scripture concerning 
 the law of ceremonies, not what is said by mere men. 
 
 2. The second thing signified by the rending the vail is 
 this : The holy of holies, figured the third heaven, where God 
 showeth himself in glory and majesty to his saints. Solo- 
 mon's temple had in it three courts ; an outer court where- 
 into the people were admitted ; an inner court wherein only 
 the priests and Levites entered ; an inmost of all, where- 
 into the high priest alone entered, and that but once a-year, 
 and this was called Sanctum sanctorum. So there is a three- 
 fold heaven : First, the elementary heaven, wherein arc 
 clouds, winds, rain, dew ; and the birds are called the birds 
 of heaven, that is, of this elementarj' heaven. The second 
 is the starry heaven ; so the sun is said to " go from the 
 end of heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it," Ps. xix. 
 6. The last is the glorious heaven, the habitation of God 
 himself; and this was signified by the holy of hohes. The 
 vail signified the flesh of Christ ; the rending of the vail 
 the crucifying of Christ ; by this is made an entrance 
 into that Sanctum sanctorum, the heaven of glor)-. So 
 expressly : " Having therefore boldness to enter into the 
 holiest by the blood of Jesus ; by a new and h^^ng way 
 which he hath consecrated for us, through the vail, that is 
 to say, his flesh," Heb. x. 19. Heaven-gate was shut up 
 
TllK POWEll OF CUEIST EVEN DYING. 115 
 
 by our sins ; none but our highest and holiest Priest had 
 passage thither ; but he rent the vail, suffered his body to 
 be torn by death, that he might give us an entrance. Paul, 
 speaking of the legal use of that holiest place in the temple, 
 saith thus : " The Holy Ghost this signifying, that tlie way 
 into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as 
 the first tabernacle was yet standing," Heb. ix. 8. But 
 now, by Christ's rending the vail, Palet aid janua cceli, 
 the way of salvation is opened. Let this reach forth to us 
 two comforts. 
 
 1. There is no fear to be shut out of heaven if thou have 
 faith in Christ ; for to thee is the vail rent, the separation 
 is abolished, Christ is crucified. For so, saith St Peter, 
 " an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into 
 the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
 Christ," 2 Pet. i. 11. Indeed, to unbelievers and h}'po- 
 crites, to worldly wolves and luxurious goats, the vail is up 
 still. How should they enter the Sanctum sanctorum, that 
 never approached the Sanctum ? How shall they see the 
 glory of God, who would never entertain the grace of God? 
 No : to these there are inaccessible bars, and cherubima with 
 flaming swords, to forbid their entrance. But to every good 
 and faithful servant the vail is taken away ; and Christ says, 
 " enter thou into the joy of thy Lord," Matt. xxv. 21. 
 
 2. By this means we have in this world a free access to 
 the throne of grace by our prayers ; the vail and separation 
 of sin and wrath is rent asunder by Christ, and a clear way 
 made for our supplications. The propitiatory and mercy- 
 seat, the cherubiras of glory shadowing it, the very presence 
 of God were within the holiest ; and the people might not 
 approach it, but stood without afar off: our Saviour hath 
 torn away this vail, and opened to our petitions a free passage 
 to the seat of mercy in heaven. " Having such an high 
 priest over the house of God," saith Paul, immediately after 
 the clearing our way through the vail, " let us draw near 
 with a true heart, in full assurance of faith," &c. Heb. x. 
 21, 22. We see how fiir our prerogative excels that of the 
 Jews. They were servants, we are sons, and cry "Abba, 
 
116 MAJESTY IN MISEHY; OR, 
 
 Father ;" they had priests, we are priests ; they had a bar, 
 to us that vail is rent away. " Let us therefore come 
 boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, 
 and find grace to help in time of need," Heb. iv. 16. This 
 is singular comfort, that poor subjects may be sure of access 
 to the Iving with their petitions ; yea, more, be heard in all 
 their desires ; yea, most of all, have an Advocate at the King's 
 right hand to plead their cause. But then remember the 
 Psalmist's caution : " K I regard wickedness in my heart, 
 the Lord will not hear me," Ps. lx\-i. 18. Let the servants 
 of Baal cry never so loudly, if lewdly, their prayers are not 
 heard. To the cries of unfaithful sinners the vail is up 
 still ; and, like a thick cloud, reverberates and beats back 
 their orisons, that they cannot ascend to the throne of 
 grace. Only faith makes a free passage ; and a clear con- 
 science hath a clear voice that can pierce heaven. 
 
 3. The breaking down of this vail did make the hohest 
 and the other part of the temple all one ; whereby was 
 signified, that of two was made one, Jews and Gentiles one 
 church. " He is our peace, who hath made both one, and 
 hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us," 
 Eph. ii. 14. So that now those, the Jews, called dogs, 
 eat the bread of the children, yea, they are the children ; and 
 " Japhetis persuaded to dwell in the tents of Shem," Gen. 
 ix. 27. She is also beloved that was hated ; even the 
 church of the Gentiles is the spouse of Christ. The vail 
 that hindered, Paul calls the " law of commandments, 
 contained in ordinances ;" this " he abolished, for to make in 
 himself, of twain, one new man," Eph. ii. 15. Heaven- 
 gate is no wider open to a Jew than to a Grecian. " In 
 Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth an}thing, nor un- 
 cLrcumcision, but a new creature. And as many as walk 
 according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and 
 upon the Israel of God," Gal. vi. 16. The sun of the gos- 
 pel, as of the world, is not confined to lighten Judea only, 
 but shines universally. There is not one privilege where- 
 in the Gentle hath not as frank a share as the Jew ; the 
 sons of Hagar are adopted the sons of God ; and the free 
 
THE POWER OP CHRIST EVEN DYING. 117 
 
 " Jerusalem above is the mother of us all," Gal. iv. 26. 
 All this did our blessed Saviour work for us by rending the 
 vail ; " that he might reconcile both unto God in one body 
 by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby," Eph. ii. 16. 
 
 Oh then let us " keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond 
 of peace !" Christ hath made us at one ; let us not make our- 
 selves twain. The vail is rent, why set we up new — schisms 
 in doctrine, jars in conversation ? The bill of divorcement 
 is cancelled ; let us love our husband Christ, and, for his 
 sake, every man his brother. Let us set up no more vails, 
 lest we do it with the curse of building more Jerichos. 
 There is no bond so sure as religion ; no ligaments so strong 
 as faith and a good conscience. Wretched man, that breakest 
 these ties, and rendest thyself from them, to whom thou art 
 by Christ imitcd : a mother's, yea, a father's blessing, forsakes 
 thee ; and thou buildest up a new vail, which thou must look 
 for no more Christs to come and rend asunder ! 
 
 4. The rending of the vail teacheth us, that when men 
 sin rebelliously against God, no prerogative shall do them 
 good. The temple was one of theii* most principal privi- 
 leges, their glory, their crown. " The temple of the Lord, 
 the temple of the Lord," Jer. vii. 4. It was a figure of the 
 Church militant, as Solomon the builder was a figure of 
 Christ. For this temple's sake, God often spared them. So 
 Daniel prays, " Cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary, 
 that is desolate," Dan. ix. 17. Yet when they fall away 
 from God, and crucify their Messiah, this prerogative helps 
 not. For here God's own hand rends the vail, and after 
 gives the whole fabric a spoil to the Gentiles. " If ye will 
 not hear, if ye will not lay it to heart, I will send a curse 
 upon you, I will curse your blessings ; yea, I have cursed 
 them already, because you do not lay it to heart," MaJ. ii, 
 2. It lies in man's sin to make God curse his very bless- 
 ings, and to punish the guilty in the innocent creatures. 
 
 We see the way how we may lose temples, and peace, 
 and gospel, and all privileges, by running the courses of 
 disobedience. Who can number the blessings we have en- 
 joyed by the gospel ? Let us beware lest our ungracious 
 
118 MAJESTY IN MISERY ; OR, 
 
 and ungrateful lives rob us not of that, with all the appertinent 
 comforts. They that have travelled the Belgic provinces 
 can -witness the miserable footsteps of vrar, and the tyranny 
 of desolation. Churches and cities have no more monu- 
 ments but the ruined foundations to testify that they were. 
 Sin made way for blood and massacre ; idolatry pulled down 
 those walls, which, otherwise, the most sacrilegious hand 
 should have forborne. If there had been no enemy to raze 
 them, they would have fallen alone, rather than covered so 
 blasphemous impiety under their guilty roofs. "Peace is 
 within our walls, and prosperity within our palaces" (Psal. 
 cxxii. 7) ; blessed for ever be our God of peace for it ! Yet 
 we have a subtle adversary, Sacrilege, that encroacheth sore 
 upon us, and " hath taken many of God's houses in posses- 
 sion," Psal. Ixxxiii. 12. We cannot say, " They have 
 burnt up all the synagogues in the land" (Psal. Ixxiv. 8) ; 
 but they have done very wickedly to the Lord's sanctuaries. 
 The walls stand ; and it is well if in many places they do so ; 
 but there is not a Levite to feed the people. Alas, how can 
 there, when there is nothing left to feed a Levite ? Covet- 
 ousness would do as much hurt with us, as war hath done 
 with our neighbours : it would, but I trust in the Lord Jesus 
 it shall not. Though they have rent away God's right, 
 "tithes and offerings" (ilal. iii. 8), they shall never rend 
 away God's truth and gospel : rend themselves from it in- 
 deed they are likely to do. 
 
 6. Lastly, The vail was rent. By rending the part, God 
 did threaten the subversion of the whole. If he spare not 
 the holy of hoUes, then much less the rest. When God had 
 commanded, " Slay utterly old and young, maids and chil- 
 dren (he adds withal), and begin at my sanctuarj-," Ezek. 
 ix. 6. K God begin at his sanctuary, he will not fail to 
 end with the rest. If that shall not escape being profaned, 
 how much less houses built for riot and disorder, pride and 
 ambition ! If the temple of prayers, then surely the dens of 
 thieves. " For, lo, I be^ to bring evil on the city which 
 is called by my name, and shall ye go unpunished V" saith 
 God to the heathen (Jer. xxv. 29). If the sacred 
 
THE POWER OF CHRIST ETEN DYING. 119 
 
 things defiled by idolatry shall be subverted, never think that 
 your fair houses shall stand, when they are made coverts of 
 oppressions, and convents of superstition. When the better 
 things are not favoured, the worst have small hope. So 
 Peter reasons : " K judgment shall begin at the house of 
 God, what shall be the end of them that obey not the gos- 
 pel?" 1 Pet. iv. 17. If the strong cedars in Lebanon be 
 rooted up, woe to the rotten-rooted poplars ! If the dragon's 
 tail sweep stars from heaven, what shall become of squalid 
 earthy vapours ? Tlie temple was one of the world's greatest 
 wonders ; as curious a workmanship as sl.x and thirty 
 years could make it. It wanted not the art of man ; yea, 
 the blessing of heaven was added to it. Yet now, lo, etiam 
 pe iere ruince, this goodly building by sin was brought to 
 ruin ; yea, even the very ruins are perished. Sliall, then, 
 your forts and palaces, worldlings' paradises, full of rapine, 
 empty of charity, stand against all weathers and storms of 
 judgment ? No, stone shall fall after stone ; and ruin shall 
 one day tell the passengers, as God threatened of Jerusalem, 
 Here stood a goodly manor, a sumptuous edifice, a royal 
 palace. Or if they fall not down in themselves, they shall 
 fall to the owners, whose iniquities have defiled them. 
 
 God punisheth by certain degrees ; first he rends the vail, 
 then rends away the temple. As by David's hand he first 
 rent Saul's garment, and then rent away his kingdom. God 
 at first toucheth men lightly, in their goods, quiet, health : 
 if these stir not to repentance, he proceeds against the whole. 
 " Know ye not that ye are the temple of God ?" 1 Cor. iii. 
 16. If you set up in this temple idols, lusts, and evil affec- 
 tions, God first rends the vail, toucheth you ^vith some gentle 
 afilictions ; but if you still continue to make this temple a 
 den of thieves, the temple itself will be destroyed. 
 
 You have heard the first miracle, the rending of the vail. 
 As the Jews were wont to rend their garments when they 
 heard blasphemy against God, so it may seem the temple 
 tore its garments, rent its vail in pieces, when it heard 
 those execrable blasphemies against the Son of God. (Theo- 
 phylact). 
 
120 MAJESTY IN MISERY ; OR, 
 
 2d Miracle. — The earth did quake. The philosophers 
 having given divers natural causes of earthquakes, as by hot 
 and dry exhalations shut up in the bowels of the earth, and 
 laboiuing for vent, resisted by the earth's solidness, there 
 ensueth terr(B motus, a shaking of the earth, &c. But this 
 was an extraordinary earthquake ; for it happened exactly 
 at the very instant of Christ's death. 
 
 It might be to set forth the glory of the New Testament, 
 and to vindicate it from inferiority to the old. The law 
 was both given and renewed with an earthquake. Given to 
 the hand of Moses : " The whole mount quaked greatly," 
 Exod. xix. 18. As at the giving. Mount Sinai, so at the 
 renewing. Mount Horeb quaked, " As Elijah stood upon 
 the Mount, there passed by a strong wind, and after the 
 wind an earthquake," 1 Kings, xix. 11 ; so when the 
 Lord of the Gospel died, the earth shook, that the ministra- 
 tion of righteousness might not be less glorious than the mi- 
 nistration of death, 2 Cor. iii. 9. This miracle shall give 
 us a threefold instruction. 
 
 1. To consider the fierceness of God's wrath against sins 
 and sinners. For God, by shaking the earth, did no less 
 than threaten the utter subversion of those desperate and 
 bloody wretches. Korah and his confederates were swal- 
 lowed up of the earth for rebelling against Moses, the 
 Lord's servant. Of how much sorer punishment were these 
 worthy that had crucified (not the servant, but) the Son of 
 God ? Heb. x. 29. K the mercies of God had not been 
 gi-eater than their iniquities, they had not escaped. 
 
 By this we see how able God is to punish sinners. He 
 shews what he can do ; it is his mercy that he forbears. 
 Some of these were to be converted ; therefore, concusn, non 
 excttssi, moved not removed, shaken but not destroyed. Os- 
 tendisti populo gravia, saith the Psalmist. " Thou haft 
 shewed thy people hard things," Psal. Ix. 3. Shewed, not 
 imposed ; shook the rod, not laid it on. This forbearance 
 of God should lead us on to repentance, Eom. ii. 4. K 
 not, it is but the forerunner of vengeance. Though now 
 by moving the earth he scare and spare these Jews, yet af- 
 
THE POWER OF CJiniST EVEN DYIXG. 121 
 
 ter the earth spewed them out, as an offence to her stomach. 
 O obstinate hearts that quake not, when the senseless ground 
 quakes that bears so luiprofitablo a burden ! Cannot the 
 earth admonish thee ? it shall devour thee. Si nun monebit, 
 movebit: (if it cannot admonish, it will demohsh). K the 
 Almighty's hand stu'ring it hath not stirred thee to repent- 
 ance, a sexton's hand shall cover thee with moulds ; a weak 
 shaker shall do it. Think when God moves the earth, he 
 preacheth to thy soul. If thy heart (so little in comparison 
 of that great vast body) will not tremble, know God hath 
 one thing that shall shake thee to pieces — Death. 
 
 2. The nature of sin is here considerable; so heavy, that 
 it makes the very earth to quake. The Jews' sins were such 
 a burden, that the earth could not bear them without trem- 
 bling. The earth is fi.xed, and standeth fast, saith the 
 Psalmist, as the centre of the world ; it is strange that to be 
 moved, even so strange is the cause that moves it. It must 
 needs be a monstrous weight of iniquity that totters the 
 earth on her foundations. But why is the earth so quiet 
 now ? Do not innumerable wretciies daily crucify Christ 
 by their oaths, blasphemies, and rebellions, in himself; by 
 their persecutions and oppressions, in his members ? Is not 
 his word derided, his sacraments despised, his good crea- 
 tures abused? Why doth not the earth shrink and shake 
 at these horrid impieties ? Be still ; he that holds his hand 
 from miracles, will not hold it from plagues. They are for- 
 borne, not forgiven. God keeps silence, but he sleepeth 
 not ; the earth may spare them ; but " desolation in a mo- 
 ment shall swallow them," Psal. Ixxiii. 19. To the Jews 
 the earth moved, and they stood still ; to these the earth 
 shall stand still, and themselves shall be moved. 
 
 3. There is nothing on the earth that is not moveable, if 
 the earth itself be moveable. " God hath laid the founda- 
 tions of the earth that it should not be moved," Psal. civ. 5. 
 Yet so that he who laid it can shake it. " He shakcththe 
 earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble," Job 
 ix. 6. If the earth, then whatsoever is built upon it. "The 
 e.arth shall be burnt,'' saith Peter. "What, alone ? No ; 
 
122 
 
 MAJESTY IN MISEUY ; OR, 
 
 " the earth, with the works that are therein, shall be burnt 
 up," 2 Pet. iii. 10. The works of men's hands, the works of 
 their brains, their very thoughts shall perish. " The Lord's 
 voice shook the earth ; and he hath said. Yet once again I 
 will shake not the earth only, but also heaven," Heb. xii. 
 26. O blessed place that is not subject to tliis shaking, 
 whose jo}S have not only an amiable countenance, but a 
 glorious continuance. The things that arc shaken shall be 
 removed, but the things that are not shaken remain for ever. 
 All the terrors of this world move not him that is fixed in 
 heaven. " They that put their trust in the Lord shall be 
 as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for 
 ever," Psal. cxxv. 1. But the tabernacles and hopes of 
 the wicked shall perish together. " For the world passeth 
 away, and the lust thereof ; but he that doeth the will of 
 God abideth ever," 1 John ii. 17. Whereon, saith Augus- 
 tine, Quid visf Utrum amare temporalia, et transire cum 
 tempore ! an amare Christum, et vivere in cetemum f Whe- 
 ther wilt thou lo\'e the world and perish with it, or love 
 Christ and live for ever ? 
 
 3d Miracle. — The rocks rent, — ^A wonderful act, to 
 break stones and rend rocks. This gives us two observa- 
 tions. 
 
 1. This did foresignify the power and efficacy of the Gos- 
 pel, that it should be able to break the very rocks. As the 
 death and passion of Christ did cleave those soUd and almost 
 impenetrable substances, so the publishing of his death and 
 passion shall rend and break in pieces the rocky hearts of 
 men. So John Baptist said : " God is able of stones to 
 raise up children unto Abraham," Matth. iii. 9. The hearts 
 of Zaccheus, Mary Magdalene, Paul, were such rocks ; yet 
 they were cleft with the wedge of the Gospel. This is that rod of 
 Moses able to break the hardest rocks, till they gush out with 
 floods of penitent tears. This is Jeremiah's hammer, power- 
 ful to bruise the most obdurate hearts. The blood of the goat 
 sacrificed, of force to dissolve adamant. There is power in 
 the blood of Jesus to put sense mto stones. Blessed are 
 
THE POWER OF CHRIST EVEN DYING. 123 
 
 you if you be thus broken-hearted for him, whose heart was 
 broken for you. For " the broken heart the Lord will not 
 despise," Psal. li. 17. 
 
 2. Observe the wonderful hardness of the Jews' hearts. 
 The stones rent and clave in sunder at the cruel death of 
 Jesus ; but their hearts, more stony than stones, are no whit 
 moved. They rend not their garments, much less their 
 hearts ; when as the earth rent the stones her bones, and the 
 rocks her ribs. The flints are softer than they ; the flints 
 break, they harden. They still belch their malicious blas- 
 phemies ; the rocks relent, the stones are become men, and 
 the men stones. O the senselessness of a hard heart ; rocks 
 will sooner break than that can be mollified. Even the 
 hardest creatures are flexible to some actions : flints to the 
 rain, ii-on to the fire, stones to the hammer ; but this heart 
 yields to nothing, neither the showers of mercy, nor the 
 hammer of reproof, nor the fire of judgments ; but, like the 
 stithy, are still the harder for beating. All the plagues of 
 Eg}'pt cannot mollify the heart of Pharaoh. It is wonder- 
 ously unnatural that men, made the softest-hearted of all, 
 should be rigidiores lupis, duriores lapidihics, more cruel than 
 wolves, morQ hard than stones. I would to God all hard- 
 heartedness had died with these Jews •, but it is not so. 
 How often has Christ been here crucified, in the word 
 preaching his cross to your ears, in the sacraments present- 
 ing his death to your eyes, think, think in your own souls, 
 have not the stones in the walls of this church been as much 
 moved ? God forbid our obdurateness should be punished 
 as theirs was ! Since they would be so stony-hearted, Jeru- 
 salem was turned to a heap of stones, and the conquering 
 Romans dashed them pitilessly against those stones which 
 they exceeded in hardness. 
 
 Here let the wicked see their doom : the stones that will 
 not be softened shall be broken. There is no changing the 
 decree of God ; but change thy nature, and then know 
 thou art not decreed to death. Stony hearts shall be broken 
 to pieces with vengeance ; do not strive to alter that doom, 
 but alter thy own stony heart to a heart of flesh, and so 
 
124 MAJESTY IN MISERY ; OR, 
 
 prevent it in the particular. Wolves and goats shall not 
 enter into heaven. Thou mayest pull stars out of heaven 
 before alter this sentence ; but do it thus : leave that na- 
 ture, and become one of Christ's sheep, and then thou art 
 sure to enter. No adulterer nor covetous person, saith 
 Paul, "shall inherit the kingdom of heaven," 1 Cor. \i. 9. 
 This doom must stand, but not against thee, if thou be convert- 
 ed. " Such were ye, but ye are washed," &c. ver. 11. You 
 are not such. Had the Jews ceased to be stones, they had 
 been spared. God will root thorns and briers out of his 
 vineyard. If thou wouldst not have him root out thee, be- 
 come a vine, and bring forth good grapes. God threatens 
 to break the hairy scalp of him that goes on in sin ; yet 
 mayest thou ward this blow fi-ora thyself ; go no further on 
 in sin. "When God comes in judgment to visit the earth, 
 to shatter rocks, and break stones in pieces, thou hast a heart 
 of flesh, mollified with repentance. Let the earth quake, 
 and the rocks tear, thy faith hath saved thee, go in peace. 
 
 4th Miracle. — T7ie graves were opened, and many bodies 
 of saints which slept arose. Concerning this two questions 
 are moved. 
 
 1. Where their souls were all this while before. I an- 
 swer, where the scriptures hath no tongue, we should have 
 no ear. Most probably thus : their souls were in heaven, 
 in Abraham's bosom, and came down to their bodies by 
 divine dispensation, to manifest the power and deity of 
 Christ. 
 
 2. AMiither they went afterwards. I answer, by the same 
 likelihood, that they died no more, but waited on the earth 
 till Chiist's resurrection, and then attended him to heaven. 
 But these things that are concealsd should not be disputed. 
 Tutum est ne-scire quod tegitur. It is a safe ignorance where 
 a man is not commanded to know. Let us see what profit- 
 able instructions we can hence derive to ourselves. They 
 are many, and therefore I will but lightly touch them. 
 
 1 . This teacheth us, that Christ, by his death, hath van- 
 quished death, even in the grave, his own chamber. That 
 
THE rOWEU OF CHRIST EVEN DYIKG. 
 
 125 
 
 giant is subdued, the graves fly open, the dead go out. 
 This bears ample -witness to that speech of Christ : " I am 
 the resurrection and the life ; he that believeth in me, though 
 lie were dead, yet shall he live," John xi. 25. The bodies 
 of the saints, what part of the earth or sea soever holds their 
 dust, shall not be detained in prison when Christ calls for 
 them, as the members must needs go when the head draws 
 them. He shall speak to all creatures, Reddite quod devo- 
 rastis: restore whatsoever of man you have devoured, not 
 a dust, not a bone can be denied. The bodies of the saints 
 shall be raised, saith Augustine ; Tanla facilitate, quanta 
 ftelicitate (in Echirid), with as much easiness as happiness. 
 Desinunt ista, non penunt : vwrs intermittit vitam, non eripit 
 (Sen. Epist. 36). Our bodies are left for a time, but perish 
 not ; death may discontinue life, not disannul it. Inter- 
 mittitur, non interimitur : it may be paused, cannot be de- 
 stroyed. 
 
 2. Obsei-ve, that all the dead do not rise, but many, and 
 those saints. The general resurrection is reserved till the 
 last day ; this is a pledge or earnest of it. Now, who shall rise 
 with this comfort ? None but saints ; as here Christ takes 
 no other company from the graves but saints. " The dead 
 in Christ shall rise first," 1 Thess. iv. 16. Christ is called 
 " the first born from the dead," Coloss. i. 28. He hath 
 risen, and his shall next follow him. " Every man in his 
 own order ; Christ the first fruits, afterward they that are 
 Christ's at his coming," 1 Cor. xv. 23. "Worms and cor- 
 ruption shall not hinder. He that said " to corruption, 
 Thou art my mother ; and to the worms, You are my breth- 
 ren and sisters," said also, " I know that my Redeemer 
 liveth, and one day with these eyes I shall behold him." 
 The wicked shall also be raised, though with horror, to 
 look upon him whom they have pierced. But as Christ did 
 here, so will he at thS last, single out the saints to bear him 
 company. 
 
 3. This sheweth the true operation of Christ's death in 
 all men. We are all dead in our sins, as these bodies were 
 in their graves : now, when Christ's death becomes effectual 
 
126 MAJESTY IN MISEKY ; OK, 
 
 to our souls, we rise again and become new creatures. From 
 the grave of this world we come into the Church, the holy 
 city. But thou complainest of the deadness of thy heart : 
 it is well thou complainest : there is some life, or thou couldst 
 not feel the deadness. " The hour is coming and now is, 
 when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and 
 they that hear it shall live," John v. 25. If this word hath 
 raised thee from death, and wrought spiritual life in thy 
 heart, thou shalt perceive it by thy breathing words glori- 
 fying God ; and by thy moving in the ways, and to the 
 works of obedience. 
 
 4. Observe that these saints which arose are said to 
 have slept. The death of the godly is often called a sleep. 
 So it is said of the patriarchs and kings of Judah, they 
 slept with their fathers. So Paul saith, they "• sleep in 
 Christ," 1 Cor. xv. 1 8. The coffin is a couch ; In quo 
 moUiiLS dormit, qui bene in vita lahoravit, wherein he takes 
 good rest that hath wi-ouglit hard in the work of his salva- 
 tion before he went to bed. Falix somntts cum requie, requies 
 cum voluptate, voluptas cum aternitate. It is a sweet sleep that 
 hath peace with rest, rest with pleasure, pleasure ^vith ever- 
 lastingness. So the godly sleep, till the sound of a trumpet 
 shall wake them, and then eternal glor)' shall receive them. 
 
 5. Lastly, Observe tliat Jerusalem is called the holy city, 
 though she were at this time a sink of sin, and a debauched 
 harlot. Either as some think that she is called holy, be- 
 cause she was once holy. So Rahab is called the harlot, 
 because she was a harlot. Simon is termd the leper (!Matth. 
 xxvi. 6), for that he was a leper ; and Matthew the pub- 
 lican (Matth. X. 3), for that he was a pubUcan. Or else 
 she was called holy for the covenant's sake, in regard of 
 the temple, sacrifices, seri-ice of God ; and of the elect 
 people of God that were in it. "Whence we may infer, how 
 unlawful it is to separate from a -cTlurch because it hath 
 some corruptions. Is apostate Jerusalem that hath cruci- 
 fied her Saviour called still the holy city ; and must Eng- 
 land, that departeth in nothing from the Aiith and doctrine 
 of her Saviour, for some scarce discernible imperfections, be 
 
TUE POWER OF CHRIST EVEX DYING. 127 
 
 rejected as a foul strumpet ? But there be wicked persons 
 in it ; what then ? She may be still a holy city. Recedatur 
 ah iniquitate, non ab iniqiiis. Let us depart fi'om sin, we 
 cannot run from sinners. 
 
 Tlius we have considered the Miracles ; let us now look 
 into the causes wherefore they were wrought. 
 
 Tliese may be reduced into five. 
 In respect of 
 
 Tlie sufferer dying. 
 The creatures obej'ing. 
 The Jews persecuting. 
 The women beholding. 
 The disciples forsaking. 
 
 1 . In regard of Chrust, to testify not only his innocency, 
 but his majesty. His innocency, that he was, as Pilate's 
 wife acknowledged, a "just man," Matth. xxvii. 19. His 
 majesty, as the centurion confessed, " seeing the earth 
 quake, and the things that were done, Truly this was the 
 Son of God," Matth. xxvii. 51. He seemed a worm, no 
 man : the contempt and derision of tlic people, forsaken of 
 his confidence. In the midst of all, God will not leave him 
 without witnesses, but raiseth up senseless creatures as 
 preachers of his deity. Est mtemi Jilius qui illic pendet 
 mortuus. He that hangs there dead on the cross is the Son of 
 the eternal God. Rather than the children of God shall 
 want witnesses of their integrity, God will work miracles for 
 their testimony. 
 
 2. In regard of the Creatures, to shew their obedience to 
 their Creator ; they are not wanting to him that gave being 
 to them. These demonstrate it was their Lord that suf- 
 fered, and that they were ready to execute vengeance on 
 his murderers. The heaven that was dark would have 
 rained fire on them ; the earth that quaked, shook them 
 to pieces ; the rocks that rent, would have tumbled on them ; 
 and the graves that opened to let out all other prisoners, 
 have swallowed them quick. They all waited but his com- 
 mand to perform this revengeful execution. Who shall 
 now dare to persecute Christ in his members ? The stones 
 
1 28 MAJESTY IN MISERY ; OK, 
 
 are thy enemies, the earth gapes for thee, hell itself en- 
 largeth her jaws ; if the Lord but hiss to them, they are sud- 
 denly in an uproar against thee. Go on in your malice, 
 you raging persecutors, you cannot wrong Christ ; no, not 
 in his very members, but you pull the fists of all creatures 
 in heaven, earth, and hell, about your ears : flies from the 
 air, beasts from the earth, poison from sustenance, thunder 
 from the clouds ; yea, at last also (though now they help 
 you) the very devils from hell against you. All creatures 
 shoot their malignancy at them that shoot theirs at Christ. 
 
 3. In respect of the Jews his enemies, to shame and 
 confound them. The rocks and graves are moved at his 
 passion, not they. Lapides tremunt, homines fremnnl. The 
 stones rent ; the huge earth quakes with fear ; the Jews 
 rage with malice. ^Ve see how difficult it is to mollify a 
 hard heart; harder than to remove a mountain, raise 
 the dead, cleave a rock, shake the whole earth. It is a 
 great miracle to convert a wicked man, greater than rend- 
 ing of rocks. Moses' rod struck a rock thrice, and did it. 
 Slinisters have struck men's rocky hearts three hundred 
 times, and cannot. The graves sooner open than the se- 
 pulchres of sin and darkness ; tlie vast tarth sooner quakes 
 than men's hearts at God's judgments. 
 
 4. In respect of the Women that stood by, that their faith 
 might be confirmed. For seeing him on the cross at their 
 mercy, whose bowels never knew the softness of such a na- 
 ture, exposed to all the t}Tanny of their hands and tongues ; 
 hands that, like cruel chirurgeon's, searched everj- part of his 
 blessed body ; tongues that ran nimbly through all the pas- 
 sages of obloquy, till they had overtaken reproach itself, 
 and cast it on him. His body at the full will of the tor- 
 mentors, and his soul not without intolerable terrors ; as 
 they might judge by the strange speech that came fi-om 
 him : " My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" 
 Doth man triumph over him, and doth God forsake him ? 
 This might breed in their hearts a suspicion, either that he 
 was a deceiver, or else utterly cut off. To stifle this doubt 
 in the very birth, he shakes the earth, and rends the rocks ; 
 
THE POWER OF CHKIST EVEN PYING. 129 
 
 that as they knew liim dying liominem vman (a man truly), 
 so they might perceive him doing these miracles not hoininem 
 vierum (a man merely), but the ever-living God. These 
 wonders blow the spark of their faith, almost dying ivith 
 Christ ; and root in their hearts a deep and infallible per- 
 suasion of their Saviour. Something there is to keep the 
 faith of the elect from quenching, though Satan rain on it 
 showers of discomforts. Though no object greets the eye 
 of flesh but discouragement, yet there is a secret spirit 
 within that will never suffer the faith to fail. 
 
 5. In regard of the Disciples; to shame and convince 
 them for leaving him. Christ had said before, Si hi 
 tacerejit, loqverentur lapides. " If these (speaking of his 
 disciples) should hold their peace, the stones would imme- 
 diately cry out," Luke xix. 40. Lo, this saying is here 
 come to pass ; the disciples hold their peace, the stones 
 speak ; they forsake Christ, the rocks proclaim him. Such 
 a shame is it for apostles and ministers of Christ to hold 
 their peace, that if they be silent, the very stones shall 
 preach against them. The walls, windows, pavements of 
 churches shall cry out against such pastors that undertake 
 the office of a shepherd, and feed Christ his flock with no- 
 thing but air. And even you that come to hear, if no re- 
 morse can be put into your hearts at the relation of our 
 Saviour's death ; if you have no feeling of his sorrows, no 
 apprehension of these mysteries, no repentance of your sins, 
 no emendation of your lives, know that the very seats whereon 
 you sit, the walls of your temples, the very stones you tread 
 on, shall bear witness against you. 
 
 Now the Lord Jesus, that at his death brake the rocks, 
 by the virtue of his death break our rocky hearts, that be- 
 ing molUfied in this life, they may be glorified in the life to 
 come ! Grant this, O Father, for thy mercies' sake : O 
 Christ, for thy merit's sake ; O holy Spirit, for thy name's 
 sake; to whom three persons one only wise and eternal 
 God, be glory and praise for ever! Amen. 
 
THE FOOL AND HIS SPORT. 
 
 ** leoU Butka • mock at aln."— Aw, lir. t. 
 
THE FOOL AND HIS SPORT. 
 
 Fools make a mock at sin."— Prov. xlv. o. 
 
 The Proverbs of Solomon are so many select aphorisms, 
 or divinely moral says, without any mutual dependence one 
 upon another ; therefore to study a coherence, were to force 
 a marriage between unwilling parties. The words read 
 spend themselves on a description of two things : the fool 
 and his sport. The fool is the wicked man ; his sport, pas- 
 time, or babble, is sin. Mocking is the medium or connec- 
 tion that brings together the fool and sin ; thus he makes him- 
 self merry ; they meet in mocking. " The fool makes a 
 mock at sin." 
 
 Fools. — The fool is the wicked ; an ignorant heart is 
 always a sinful heart ; and a man without knowledge is a 
 man mthout grace. So Thamar to Amnon, under his ra- 
 vishing hands : " Do not this folly ; if thou doest it, tliou 
 shalt bo as one of the fools in Israel," 2 Sam. xiii. 12, 13. 
 Ignorance cannot exciisart a tnlo, wlful not a tanto. "Christ 
 shall come in flaming fire, rendering vengeance to them that 
 know not God," 2 Thess. i. 8. The state of these fools 
 is fearful. Like hooded hawks, they are easily carried by 
 the infernal falconer to hell. Their lights are out, how shall 
 their house escape robbing? " These fools have a know- 
 
134 
 
 THE FOOL AND HIS SPORT. 
 
 ledge, but It is to do evil," Jer. iv. 22. They have also a 
 knowledge of good, but not sckntiam approbationis, they 
 know, but the}' refuse it, so God justl)' quits them ; for 
 though he know them ad scientiam, he will not know them 
 ad approbationem ; but gives them a discedite nescio vos ; 
 " I know you not ; depart from me ye workers of iniquity," 
 Matth. vii. 27. 
 
 A man may be a fool two ways : by knowing too 
 
 1. By knowing too little; when he knoweth not those 
 things whereof he cannot be ignorant and do well. 
 " I determined not to know any thing among you, save 
 Jesus Christ, and him crucified," 1 Cor. ii. 2. But every 
 man saith he knows Christ. If men knew Christ's love in 
 dying for them, they would love him above all things ; 
 how do they know him that love their money above him ? 
 Nemo ver'e novit Christum, qui non vere amat Christum. No 
 man knows Christ truly that loves him not sincerely. If 
 men knew Christ that he should be judge of quick and 
 dead, durst they live so lewdly? Non novit Christum, qui 
 non odit peccatum, he never knew Christ that doth not hate 
 iniquity. Some attribute too much to themselves, as if they 
 would have a share with Christ in their own salvation. 
 Nesciunt et Christum et seipsos; they are ignorant of both 
 Christ and themselves. Others lay too much on Christ — all 
 the burden of their sins, which they can with all possible 
 voracity swallow down, and with blasphemy vomit up again 
 upon him. But they know not Christ who thus seek to 
 divide aquam a sanguine, his atoning blood from his cleans- 
 ing water ; and they shall fail of justification in heaven 
 that refuse sanctification 'upon earth. 
 
 2. By knowing too much; when a man presmnes to know 
 more than he ought, his knowledge is apt to be pursie and 
 gross, and must be kept low. " Mind not high things," 
 saith the Apostle, Rom. xii. 16. Festus slandered Paul, 
 that " much learning had made him mad," Acts xxvi. 27. 
 
 (Little, 
 (Much. 
 
 i 
 
TIIK FOOL AND HIS SPORT. 
 
 135 
 
 Indeed it might have done, if Paul had been as proud of his 
 learning as Fcstus was of his honour. This is the " know- 
 ledge that puffeth up," 1 Cor. viii. 1. It troubles the brain, 
 like undigested meat in the stomach, or like the scum that 
 secths into the broth. To avoid this folly, Paul forbids us 
 to " be -wise in our own conceits" (Rom. xii. 16) ; whereof 
 I find two readings, " be not wise in yourselves," and " be 
 not wise to yourselves." 
 
 Not in yourselves — conjure not your wit into the circle 
 of your own secret profit. We account the simple fools; 
 God accounts the crafty fools. He that thinks himself wise, 
 is a fool ipso facto (in very deed). It was a modest speech 
 that fell from the philosopher, Si qnando fatuo delectari vo- 
 lo, none.1t mild longe qucerendus ; me video (Sen. Ep. 13) : (If 
 I desire to hold converse with a fool, I need not go far to 
 find one out, fori find one in myself) Therefore Christ pro- 
 nounced his woes to the Pharisees, his doctrines to the 
 people. The first entry to wisdom is scire quod nescias, 
 to know thy ignorance. Sobriety is the measure for know- 
 ledge, as the Gomer was for manna. Curiosity is the 
 rennet that turns our milk into curds. 
 
 Not to yourselves ; "Let thy fountain be dispersed abroad " 
 (Prov. V. 16), saith the wisest king. Communicate thy know- 
 ledge, Matth. V. 15. Christians must be like lights, that 
 waste themselves for the good of those in God's house. 
 Scire tuum nihil est, nisi te scire hoc sciat alter: (thy knowledge 
 avails little, unless others know what thou hast learned.) 
 He that will be wise only to himself, takes the ready way to 
 turn fool. Non licet habere privatam, ne privemur ea ; the 
 closer we keep our knowledge, the likelier we are to lose it. 
 Standing water soon puddles ; the gifts of the mind, if they 
 be not employed, will be impaired. Every wicked man is 
 a fool by comparing their properties. 
 
 1. It is a fool's property, /((i!(ra non prospicere, to have 
 no foresight of future things ; so he may have from hand to 
 mouth, he sings care away. So the grasshopper sings in 
 harvest when the ant labours, and begs at Christmas when 
 the ant sings. The wicked takes as little care what shall 
 
136 
 
 THE FOOL AND HIS SPORT. 
 
 become of his soul, as the natural fool what shall become 
 of his body. Modo potiar, saith the epicure ; let me have 
 pleasure now : " It is better to be a living dog than a dead 
 lion," Eccles. ix. 4. They do not in fair weather repair 
 their house against storms, nor in time of peace provide 
 spiritual armour against the day of war. They watch not ; 
 therefore " the day of the Lord shall come upon them as a 
 thief in the night," and spoil them of all their pleasures. 
 The main business of their soul is not thought of ; nor dream 
 they of an a idite, till they be called by death away to their 
 reckoning. 
 
 2. It is a fool's property to affect things hurtful to him- 
 self. Ludit cum spinis; he loves to be plajing with thorns. 
 Neither yet quod iiocuit, docuit, hath that which hurt him 
 tauglit him caution, but he more desperately desires his own 
 mischief The wicked do strongly appropriate to them- 
 selves this quality : Cum illLs luduiit, quce illos Icedunt. They 
 hover to dally with their own vexation ; who else would dote 
 on the world, and hover lilce wasps about the gally-pot, 
 till, for one lick of honey, they be drowned in it '? WhaX 
 is your ambition, O ye world affecters, saith Augustine, but 
 to be affected of the world ? What do you seek, but per 
 midta pericula pervenire ad pltira ? per plurima ad pessima ? 
 but through many dangers to find more, through most 
 to find the worst of all? Like that doting Venetian, for 
 one kiss of that painted harlot, to live her perpetual slave. 
 The world was therefore called the fool's paradise ; there he 
 thinks to find heaven, and there he sells it to the devU. 
 Noxia qncBrunt improhi; " they haste as a bird to the snare," 
 Prov. vii. 2.3. The devil doth but hold vanity as a sharp 
 weapon against them, and they run full breast upon it; 
 they need no enemies ; let them alone, and they will kill 
 themselves. So the en\'ious pines away his own maTOW ; 
 the adulterer poisons his own blood ; the prodigal lavisheth 
 his own estate ; the drunkard drowns liis own \\t&\ spirits. 
 Wicked men make war upon themselves with the engines 
 of death. 
 
 3. It is a fool's property to prefer trifles and toys before 
 
THE FOOL AND HIS Sl'Oi:T. 
 
 137 
 
 matters of worth and weight. Tlie fool will not give liis 
 babble for the king's exchequer. The wicked prefer bodies 
 of dust and ashes to their souls of eternal substance ; this 
 sin-corrupted and time-spent world, to the perfect and per- 
 manent joys of heaven ; short pleasures to everlasting happi- 
 ness; a puff of fame before a solid weight of glory. What 
 folly can be more pitiable than to forsake corn for acorns ; 
 a state of immortality for an apple, as Adam did ; a birth- 
 right, with all the privileges, for a mess of pottage, belly- 
 cheer, as Esau did ; a kingdom on earth, j ea, in heaven too, 
 for asses, as Saul did ; all portion in Christ, for bacon, as 
 the Gergesites did ; a royalty in heaven for a poor farm on 
 earth, as the bidden guest did ? Matth. xxii. This is the 
 worldling's folly. T7Wa, bovcs, uxor, iVc : (The world, cares, 
 and the flesh, closed the gates against those invited in the 
 parable, Matth. xxii. 1-G). 
 
 Mitiidus, cttra, caro ccelum ckmscre vocatis: To esteem grace 
 and glory Jess than farms, oxen, wives ; manna than onions ; 
 mercy than vanity ; God than idols ; they maybe fitly paralleled 
 with the prodigal (Luke xv.). He forsook, 1. His father's 
 house for a strange country ; these the church, God's house, 
 for the world ; a place wherein they should be strangers, and 
 wherein I am sure they shall not be long dwellers. 2. His 
 father's inheritance for a bag of money ; so these will not 
 taiTy for their heritage in heaven, but take the bags which 
 Mammon thrusts into their hands on the present. Who 
 but a fool will refuse the assured reversion of some great 
 lordship, though expectant on the expiration of three lives, 
 for a ready sum of money, not enough to buy the least stick 
 on the ground ? This is the worldling's folly, rather to take 
 a piece of shp-coin in hand than to trust God for the in- 
 valuable mass of glory. 3. He forsakes his loving fi-iends 
 for harlots, creatures of spoil and rapine ; so these the com- 
 pany of saints for the sons of Belial ; those that sing praises 
 for those that roar blasphemies. 4. Lastly, The bread in 
 his father's house lor husks of beans ; so these leave Christ 
 the true bread of life for the draff which the s-\vine of this 
 world puddle in. Here is their folly, to fasten on transient 
 
138 
 
 THE FOOL AND HIS SPOKT. 
 
 delights, and to neglect the " pleasures at the right hand 
 of God for evennore," Psal. xvi. 11. 
 
 4. It is a fool's property to run on his course with pre- 
 cipitation; yet can he not outrun the wicked, whose " driving 
 is like Jehu's, the son of Nlmshi : " he driveth as if he were 
 mad" (2 Kings ix. 20) ; as if he had received that commis- 
 sion, " Salute no man by the way." " The wise man seeth 
 the plague, and hidcth himself, but the fool runneth on, and 
 is punished," Prov. xxvii. 12. He goes, he runs, he flies ; 
 as if God that rides upon the wings of the -wind should not 
 overtake him. He may pass apace, for he is benefited 
 by the way, which is smooth without rubs, and down 
 hill, for hell is at the bottom. Haste might be good, if 
 the way were good, and good speed added to it; but 
 this is cursus celerrimus prater viam: (the shortest way out 
 of the way). He needs not run fast ; for nunquam serb ad 
 id verdtur, a quo riunquam receditur; the fool may come 
 soon enough to that place from whence he must never re- 
 turn. Thus you see the respondency of the spiritual to 
 the natural fool in their qualities. Truly the wicked man 
 is a fool ; so Solomon expounds the one by the other (Eccles. 
 vii. 17), " Be not overmuch -wicked, neither be thou foohsh ; 
 why shouldest thou die before thy time ?" 
 
 Fools. — Observe, this is plurally and indefinitely spoken. 
 Tlie number is not small. Stultorum plena sutit omnia : (the 
 world is full of fools). Christ's flock is little, but Satan's 
 kingdom is of large bounds. Plurima pessima ; vile things 
 are ever most plentiful. Wisdom flies like the rail, alone ; 
 but fools, like partridges, by whole covies. There is but 
 one truth, but innumerable errors, which should teach 
 us — 
 
 1. Not to follow a multitude in evil. In civil actions it 
 is good to do as the most ; in religious, to do as the best. 
 It shall be but poor comfort in hell, Socios habiiLise doioris : 
 (where thou will have companions only in thy grief). Thou 
 pleadest to the Judge, I have done as others ; the Judge an- 
 swers, and thou shalt speed as others. 
 
 2. To bless God that we are none of the many; as much 
 
•niE FOOI, AKU HIS SPOltT. 
 
 139 
 
 for our grace, whereby we difTer from the fools of the world ; 
 as for our reason, whereby we differ fi-om the fools of na- 
 ture. 
 
 Now as these fools are many, so of many kinds. There 
 is the sad fool and the glad fool, the haughty fool and the 
 naughty fool. 
 
 1 . The sad or melancholy fool is the envious, that re- 
 pines at his brother's good. An enemy to all God's favours, 
 if they fall besides himself. A man of the worst diet ; for 
 he consumes himself, and delights in pining, in repining, 
 lie is ready to quarrel with God because his neighbour's 
 flock escape the rot. He cannot endure to be happy if 
 with company. Therefore envy is called by Prosper De bono 
 alter'ms tahescevtis animi crwialtis (Lib. iii. de Virtut. et Vi- 
 tiis), the vexation of a languishing mind arising fi-om an- 
 other's welfare. Tantos invidus liahet jiistcc pcence tortores, 
 (/'lantos invidiosus liahuit laiidatores:. So many as the en\'ied 
 hath praisers hath the envious tormentors. 
 
 2. The glad fool, I might say the mad fool, is the disso- 
 lute, who, rather than he will want sport, makes goodness 
 itself his minstrel. His mirth is to sully every virtue with 
 some slander, and with a jest to laugh it out of fashion. His 
 usual discourse is filled up with boasting parentheses of his 
 old sins ; and though he cannot make himself merry with 
 their act, he will with their report ; as if he roved at this 
 mark, to make himself worse than he is. If repentance do 
 but proffer him her service, he kicks her out of doors ; his 
 mind is perpetually drunk, and his body lightly dies, like 
 Anacreon, with a grape in his throat. He is stung of that 
 serpent, whereof he dies laughing. 
 
 a. The haughty fool is the ambitious, who is ever climb- 
 ing high towers, and never forecasteth how to come down. 
 Up he will, though he fall do^vn headlong. He is weary of 
 peace in the country, and therefore comes to seek trouble at 
 court, where he haunts great men, as his great spirit haunts 
 liim. When he receives many disappointments, he flatters 
 himself still with success. His own fancy persuades him, as 
 men do fools, to shoot away another arrow, thereby to find 
 
1-iO THK I'OOL AND HIS SI'OKT. 
 
 the first ; so he loseth both. And lastly, because his pride 
 will admit of no other punisher, he becomes his own tor- 
 ment ; and having at first lost his honesty, he will now also 
 lose his wits ; so truly becomes a fool. 
 
 4. The naughty fool is the covetous. This is the folly 
 that Solomon saw under the sun. You heard before of a 
 men-y fool, but the very fool of all is the avaricious ; for he 
 will lose his friends, starve his body, damn his soul, and have 
 no pleasure for it. So saith the prophet, " He shall leave 
 his riches in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a 
 fool," Jer. xvii. 11. He wastes himself to keep his goods from 
 waste ; he eats the worst meat, and keeps his stomach ever 
 chiding. He longs, like a fool, for every thing he sees ; and at 
 last m&y habere quod voluit, nonqmdvult: have whathe desired, 
 never what he desires. lie fears not the day of judgment, 
 except for preventing the date of some great obligation. 
 You would think it very pretty treason to call a rich man fool ; 
 but he doeth so that dares justify it. " Thou fool, tliis 
 night shall they fetch away thy soul from thee ; then whose 
 shall those things be, which thou hast provided?" Luke 
 xii. 20. 
 
 We have anatomized the fool ; let us behold his sport. 
 He maketli a mock at sin. 
 
 The Fathers call tliis Itifiimim gradnm, and Limen inferni; 
 the lowest degree of sin, and the verv- threshold of hell. It 
 is Sedes pestiletiticE, the scorners chair, Psal. i. I, wherein 
 the ungodly sits, blasjiheming God and all goodness. Nemo 
 Jit repente pessitmis. Xo man becomes worst at first. This 
 is no sudden evil. Men are bom sinful, they make them- 
 selves profane. Through many degrees the)' climb to that 
 height of impiety. This is an extreme progress, and almost 
 the journey's end of wickedness. Improbo latari affectu : 
 (to rejoice in evil). Thus Abner calls fighting a sport. 
 " Let the young men arise and play before us," 2 Sam. ii. 
 14. " They glory in their shame," saith the apostle (Phil, 
 iii. 19) ; as if a condemned malefactor should boast of his 
 halter. Fools make a mock at sin. 
 
 "We shall the more clearly see, and more strongly detest 
 
THE FOOL AMD lUS SPORT. 
 
 141 
 
 this senseless iniquity, if we consider the object of the fool's 
 sport — Sin. 
 
 1. Sin, which is so Contrary to goodness ; and though to 
 man's corrupt nature pleasing, jet even abhon-ed of those 
 s])arks and cinders, which the rust of sin hath not quite eaten 
 out of our nature as the creation left it. The lewdest man, 
 that loves wickedness as heartily as the devil loves him, yet 
 liath some objurgations of his own heart ; and because he 
 will not condemn his sin, his heart shall condemn him. The 
 most reprobate wretch doth commit some contraconscient 
 iniquities, and hath the contradiction of his own soul by the 
 I'emanents of reason left in it. If a lewd man had the choice 
 to be one of those two emperors, Nero or Constantine, who 
 would not rather be a Constantine than a Nero ? The most 
 violent oppressor that is cruel to others, yet had rather that 
 others should be Idnd to him than cruel. The bloodiest 
 murderer desires that others should use him gently, rather 
 than strike, kill, or butcher him. Nature itself prefers light 
 to darkness ; and the mouth of a sorceress is driven to con- 
 fess. Video melio7-a, proboque : (I perceive and approve what 
 is good, though I pursue what is evil). The most rigid 
 usurer, if he should come before a severe judge, would be 
 glad of mercy, though himself will shew none to his poor 
 bondmen. 
 
 It is then, Jirst, a contra-natural thing to make a mock 
 at sin. 
 
 2. Sin, which sensibly brings on present judgments. 
 " Thou art made whole ; sin no more, lest a worse thing 
 come unto thee," John v. 14. Sin procured the former, 
 and that was grievous, thirty-eight j ears bed-rid. Sin is 
 able to draw on a greater punishment; " Lest a worse thing 
 come unto thee." If I should turn this holy book fi-om one 
 end to the other, if I should search all fathers, j ea, all 
 witers, whether divine or human, I should evince this con- 
 clusion, that sin draws on judgment. Pedisscquus sceleris 
 supplicium : (Punishment follows close upon the heels of 
 guilt). If there be no fear of impiety, there is no hojie of 
 impunity. Our INIachiavelian politicians have a position 
 
142 THE FOOL AND HIS SPORT. 
 
 that Summa scehra incipiuntur cum periculo, peragunlur cum 
 prcemio : the greatest wickedness is begun with danger, gone 
 through with reward. Let the philosopher stop theur 
 mouths: Sceliis aliqiiis iutum, nemo securum tiUit; some 
 guihy men have been safe, none ever secure. 
 
 This every eye must see. Let adultery plead that nature 
 is the encourager and director of it, and that she is unjust 
 to give him an affection, and to bar him the action ; yet we 
 see it plagued. To teach us that the sin is of a greater la- 
 titude than some imagine it, unclean, loathsome, perjured. 
 Broad impudence, contemplative baudery., an eye full of un- 
 cleanness, are things but jested at. The committers at last 
 find them no jest when God pours vengeance on the body, 
 and wrath on the naked conscience. 
 
 Let drunkenness stagger in the robes of good-fellowship, 
 and shroud itself under the wings of merriment ; yet we see 
 it have the punishment, even in this life. It corrupts the 
 blood, drowns the spirits, beggars the purse, and enricheth 
 the carcase with surfeits — a present judgment waits upon it. 
 He that is a thief to others, is at last a thief also to himself, 
 and steals away his own life. God doth not ever forbear 
 sin to the last day, nor shall the bloody ruffian still escape. 
 Psalm Iv. 23 ; but Ids own blood shall answer some in 
 present, and his soul the rest eternally. Let the popish 
 colleges pretend a warrant from the Pope to betray and 
 murder princes, and build his damnation on their iniquitous 
 grounds, which have Par urn rationis, vtinus honeslatis, reli- 
 gionis nihil: little reason, less honesty, no rehgion. Yet 
 we see God reveals their malicious stratagems, and buries 
 them in their own pit. Percy's head now stands centinel 
 where he was once a pioneer. 
 
 If a whole land flow with wickedness, it escapes not a 
 deluge of vengeance. For England, have not her bowels 
 groaned under the heavy pestilence ? K the plague be so 
 common in our mouths. Low should it not be common in 
 our streets ? With that plague wherewith we Curse others, 
 the just God curseth us. AVe shall find in that imperuj 
 stiite of Rome, that tOl Constantine's time almost ever}- 
 
THE FOOL AND HIS SPOUT. 
 
 143 
 
 emperor died by treason or massacre ; after the receiving of 
 the gospel, none except that revolter Julian. Let not sin 
 then be made a sport or jest, which God will not forbear to 
 punish even in this life. 
 
 3. But if it bring not present judgment, it is the more 
 fearful. The less punishment wickedness receives here, the 
 more is behind. God strilces those here whom he means 
 to spare hereafter ; and corrects that son whom he pur- 
 poseth to save. But he scarce meddles with them at all 
 whom he intends to beat once for all. The almond tree 
 is forborne them who are bequeathed to the boiling pot. 
 There is no rod to scourge such in present ; so they go with 
 whole sides to hell. The purse and the flesh escapes ; but 
 the soul pays for it. This is misericordia puniens, a griev- 
 ous mercy, when men are spared for a while that they may 
 be spilled for ever. This made that good saint cry, " Lord, 
 here afflict, cut, bum, torture me ;" tit in ceternum parcas, 
 so that for ever thou wilt save me (Augustine.) No sor- 
 row troubles the wicked, no disturbance embitters their plea- 
 sures ; " but, remember," saith Abraham, to the merry lewd 
 rich man, " thou wert delighted, but thou art tormented," 
 Luke xvi. 25. Tarditas suppUcii gravitate penmtiir ; and he 
 will strike with iron hands that came to strike with leaden 
 feet. No, their hell-fire shall be so much the hotter, as 
 God Lath been cool and tardy in the execution of his ven- 
 geance. This is a judgment for sin that comes invisible to 
 the world, insensible to him on whom it lights. To be 
 " given over to a reprobate mind, to a hard and impeni- 
 tent heart," Kom. i. 28; ii. 6. If any thing be vengeance, 
 this is it. I have read of plagues, famine, death, come 
 tempered with love and mercy ; this never but in anger. 
 Many taken with this spiritual lethargy, sing in taverns that 
 should howl with di-agons, and sleep out Sabbaths and ser- 
 mons whose awaked souls would rend their hearts with 
 anguish. Fools, then, only make a mock at sin. 
 
 4. Sin that shall at last be laid heavy on the conscience ; 
 the lighter the burden was at first, it shall be at last the 
 more ponderous. The wicked conscience may for a while 
 
144 
 
 THE FOOL AND HIS SPORT. 
 
 lie asleep ; but, TranquilUtas ista tempestas est ; this calm is 
 the greatest stonn (Jeroni.) The mortallcst enemies are not 
 evermore in pitched fields, one against the other. The guilty 
 may have a seeming truce ; true peace they cannot have. A 
 man's debt is not paid by slumberuig ; even while thou 
 sleepest, thy arrears run on. If thy conscience be quiet 
 ■without good cause, remember that cedat injiisttssima pax jus- 
 tissimo hello ; a just war is better than unjust peace. The 
 conscience is like a fire under a pile of green wood, long ere 
 it burn ; but once kindled, it flames beyond quenching. It 
 is not pacifiable while sin is within to vex it. The hand will 
 not cease throbbing so long as the thorn is within the flesh. 
 In vain he striveth to feast away cares, sleep out thoughts, 
 drink down sorrows, that hath his tormentor within him. 
 When one violently offers to stop a source of blood at the 
 nostril, it finds a way doira the throat, not without hazard 
 of suffocation. The stricken deer runs into the thicket, 
 and there breaks off' the arrow ; but the head sticks still 
 within him, and rankles to death. Flitting and shifting 
 ground gives way to furtlicr anguish. The unappeased 
 conscience mil not leave him till it hath shewed him hell ; 
 nor then neither. Let, then, this fool know that his now 
 seared conscience shall be quickened ; his death-bed shall 
 smart for this. And his amazed heart shall rue his old 
 wilful adjournings of repentance. How many have there 
 raved on the thought of their old sins, which in the days of 
 their hot lust they would not think sins. Let not then the 
 fool make a mock at sin. 
 
 5. Sin, which hath another direful effect of greater lati- 
 tude, and comprehensive of all the rest. Divinam incitat 
 iram. It provokes God to anger. " The wrath of a king 
 is as messengers of death." "What is the wrath of the King of 
 kings ? " For our God is a consuming fire," Heb. xii. 29. If 
 the fire of his anger be once throughly incensed, all the rivers 
 in the south are not able to quench it. "WTiat pillar of the 
 earth, or foundation of heaven, can stand when he will shake 
 them ? He that in his wrath can open the jaws of earth 
 to swallow thee, sluice out floods from the sea to dro^Ti thee, 
 
THE FOOL AKD HIS SPORT. 
 
 145 
 
 rain down fire from heaven to consume thee. Sodom, the 
 old world, Korah, drank of these wrathful vials. Or to go 
 no further, he can set at ire the elements within thee, by 
 whose peace thy spirits are held together ; drown thee with 
 a dropsy bred in thine own flesh ; burn thee with a pesti- 
 lence begotten in thine own blood; or bury thee in the 
 earthly grave of thine own melancholy. Oh, it is a fearful 
 thing " to fall into the hands of the living God." It is 
 then wretchedly done, thou fool, to jest at sin that angers 
 God, who is able to anger all the veins of thy heart for it. 
 
 6. Sin, which was punished even in heaven. Angeli de- 
 triidunlur propter peccatum. " God spared not the angels 
 that sinned, but cast them down to hell," 2 Pet. ii. 4. It 
 could bring down angels from heaven to hell ; how much 
 more men from earth to hell! If it could corrupt such 
 glorious natures, what power hath it against dust and ashes? 
 Art thou better or dearer than the angels were ? Dost thou 
 flowt at that which condemned them ? Go thy ways, make 
 thyself merry with thy sms ; mock at that which threw down 
 angels. Unless God give thee repentance^ and another 
 mind, thou shalt speed as the lost angels did. For God 
 may as easily cast thee from the earth as he did them from 
 heaven. 
 
 7. Sin, which God so loathed, that he could not save his 
 own elect because of it, but by killing his own Son. It is 
 such a disease that nothing but the blood of the Son of God 
 could cure it. He cured us by taking the receipts himself 
 which we should have taken. He is first cast mto a sweat — 
 such a sweat as never man but he felt, when the bubbles 
 were drops of blood. Would not sweating serve ? He comes 
 to incision, they pierce his hands, his feet, his side, and set 
 life itself abroach. He must take a potion, too, as bitter as 
 their malice could make it, compounded of vinegar and gall. 
 And, lastly, he must take a stranger and stronger medicine 
 than all the rest — he must die for our sins. Behold his 
 harmless hands, pierced for the sins our harmful hands had 
 committed ! His undefiled feet, that never stood in the 
 ways of evil, nailed for the errors of our paths 1 He is spitted 
 
 K 
 
146 THE FOOL AND HIS SPOKT. 
 
 on, to purge away our uncleanness ; clad in scornful robes, 
 to cover our nakedness ; whipped, that we might escape 
 everlasting scourges. He would thirst, that our souls might 
 be satisfied ; the Eternal would die, that we might not die 
 eternally. He is content to bear all his Father's wrath, that 
 no piece of that burden might be imposed upon us ; and 
 seems as forsaken a whUe, that we by him might be received 
 for ever. Behold his side become bloody, his heart drj-, 
 liis face pale, his arms stiff, after that the stream of blood 
 had ran down to his wounded feet. O think if ever man 
 felt son-ow like him ; or if he felt any sorrow but for sin. 
 
 Now, is that sin to be laughed at that cost so much tor- 
 ment ? Did the pressure of it lie so heavy on the Son of 
 God, and doth a son of man make Ught of it ? Did it 
 wring from him sweat, and blood, and tears, and uncon- 
 ceivable groans of an afflicted spirit, and dost thou, O fool, 
 jest at it? Alas, that which put our infinite Redeemer, 
 God and man, so hard to it, must needs swallow up and 
 confound thee, poor sinful wretch ! It pressed him so far, 
 that he cried out to the amazement of earth and heaven, 
 " My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Shall 
 he cry for them, and shall we laugh at them? Thou 
 mockest at thy oppressions, oaths, sacrileges, lusts, frauds ; 
 for these he groaned. Thou scomest his gospel preached; 
 he wept for thy scorn. Thou knowest not, O fool, the 
 price of a sin : thou must do, if thy Saviour did not for thee. 
 K he suffered not this for thee, thou must suffer it for thy- 
 self. Passio aterna erit in te, si passio Aeterni non erat pro 
 te. An eternal passion shall be upon thee, if the Eternal's 
 passion were not for thee. Look on thy Saviour, and make 
 not a mock at sin. 
 
 8. Lastly, Sin shall be punished with death, Rom. vi. 26. 
 You know what death is the wages of it ; not only the first, 
 but the second death. Rev. xx. 6. Inexpressible are those 
 torments ; when a reprobate would give all the pleasures 
 that ever he enjoyed for one drop of water to cool his tongue. 
 Where there shall be unquenchable fire to burn, not to give 
 light, save a glimmering. Ad aggravatiouem, ut videant 
 
THE FOOL AND HIS SPOKT. 
 
 147 
 
 unde doleant : non ad consulationem, ne videant unde gaude- 
 ant (Isid. lib. i. de Sum. Bon.) ; to shew them the torments 
 of others, and others the torments of themselves. 
 
 But I cease urging this terror, and had rather win you 
 by the love of God than by his wrath and justice. Neither 
 need I a stronger argument to dissuade you from sin, than 
 by hb passion that died for us being enemies. For if the 
 agony, anguish, and heart-blood of Jesus Christ, shed for our 
 sins, will not move us to repentance, we are in a desperate 
 case. Now, therefore, I fitly leave Paul's adjuration, so 
 sweetly tempered, in your bosoms, commending that to your 
 consciences, and your consciences to God. " I beseech you 
 brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your 
 bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God," 
 Bom. xiL 1. 
 
THE CHRISTIAN'S WALK; 
 
 THE KING'S HIGHWAY OF C H A H I T T. 
 
1 
 
THE CHRISTIAN'S WALK; 
 
 THE KING'S HIGHWAY OF CHARITY. 
 
 " Walk in love, as Christ also hath lovod lis, and hath given himself for us, an 
 offisrlnir and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling saTour."— £i)*e«. v. 2. 
 
 Our blessed Saviour is set forth in the gospel, not only a 
 sacrifice for sin, but also a direction to virtue. He calleth 
 himself the Truth and the Way ; the truth, in regard of his 
 good learning ; the way, in respect of his good life. His ac- 
 tions are our instructions, so well as his passion our salva- 
 tion. He taught us both faciendo and patiendo, both in 
 doing and in d}-ing. 
 
 Both sweetly propounded and compounded in this verse. 
 Actively, he loved us ; passively, he gave himself for us ; 
 and so is both an example for virtue, and an offering for 
 sin. He gave himself, that his passion might save us ; he 
 loved us, that his actions might direct us. " Walk in love, 
 as Christ also hath loved us, and bath given himself for us, 
 an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling sa- 
 vour." 
 
 We may distinguish the whole (Canon, 
 verse into a sacred (^Crucifix. 
 The canon teacheth us, What ; the crucifix. How. 
 In the canon, we shall find, 
 
 (Precept. ) j . , (Exhortatory. 
 ^ jPrecedent. I " P'^'^"^ |Exemplary. 
 Tlic precept, " Walk in love the precedent or pattern, "as 
 
loi THE CHRISTIAU'S WALK ; OR 
 
 Christ loved us." Tlie precept holy, the pattern heavenly. 
 (Jlirist bids us do nothing but what himself hath done before ; 
 we cannot find fault with our example. 
 
 The crucifix hath one main stock — " He gave himself for 
 us." And two branches not unlike that cross-piece where- 
 unlo his two hands were nailed. 1. An offering or sacri- 
 fice. 2. Of a sweet smelling savour to God. 
 
 To begin with the canon, the method leads us first to the 
 precept ; which shall take up my discourse for this time. 
 " Walk in love." Here b 
 
 1. The Way prescribed. 
 
 2. Our Course incited. 
 
 The way is love, our course, walking. 
 
 Love is the Way. 
 
 And that an excellent way to heaven. Our apostle ends his 
 12th chapter of the 1st Corinthians in the description of many 
 spiritual gifts. " Apostleship, prophes}ing, teaching, work- 
 ing of miracles, healing, speaking with tongues." All ex- 
 cellent gifts ; and yet concludes, verse 31, "But covet ear- 
 nestly the best gifts ; and ) et shew I unto you a more ex- 
 cellent way," 1 Cor. chap. xiii. Now that excellent, more 
 excellent way, was charity ; and he takes a whole succeed- 
 ing chapter to demonstrate it, which he spends wholly in 
 the praise and prelation of love. 
 
 I hope no man, when I call love a way to God, will un- 
 derstand it for a justifying way. Faith alone leaning on 
 the merits of Christ, doth bring us into that high chamber 
 of presence. Love is not a cause to justify, but a way for 
 the justified. There is difference betwixt a cause and a 
 way. Faith is causa justijicando : (the cause of justification). 
 Love is via jiistificati : (the way of the justified). They that 
 .are justified by faith, must walk in charity ; for " faith 
 worketh and walketh by love," Gal. v. 6. Faith and love 
 are the brain and the heart of the soul, so knit together in 
 a mutual harmony and correspondence, that without their 
 perfect union the whole Christian man cannot move with 
 
TUE king's highway OF CHARITY. 153 
 
 power, nor feel with tendemess, nor breathe with true life. 
 Love, then, is a path for holy feet to walk in. It is 
 
 fClear | 
 A -^Near V Way. 
 (Sociable ) 
 
 Clear. — There be no rubs in Love. Nec relia tendit, 
 nec Icedere intendit. It neither docs nor desires another's 
 harm ; it commits no evil, nay, " it thinks no evil," saith 
 our apostle, 1 Cor. xiii. 5. For passive rubs, " it passeth 
 over an offence," Prov. xix. 11. It may be moved with 
 violence, cannot be removed from patience. " Charity 
 covers a multitude of sins," saith Peter, 1 Pet. iv. 8. All 
 sins, saith Solomon (Prov. x. 12), covers them partly from 
 the eyes of God, in praying for the offenders ; partly from 
 the eyes of the world, in throwing a cloak over our brother's 
 nakedness ; especially from its own eyes, by winking at many 
 wrongs offered it. " Charity suffereth long," 1 Cor. xiii. 4. 
 The back of love will bear a load of injuries. 
 
 Tliere be two graces in a Christian that have a different 
 property. The one is most stout and stern ; the other 
 most mild and tender. Love is soft and gentle ; and, there- 
 fore, compared to the " bowels," i. e. of mercy. Col. iii. 12. 
 Viscera miscericordice. Faith is austere and courageous, 
 carrj-ing Luther's motto on the shield, Cedo ladli, I peld to 
 no enemy of my faith. So said our precious Jewel ; I deny 
 my hving, I deny my estimation, I deny my name, I deny 
 myself ; but the faith of Christ, and the truth of God, I 
 cannot deny. But love is mild, long-suffering, merciful, 
 compassionate, and so hath a clear way to peace. 
 
 Near. — Love is also a very near way to blessedness, 
 and, as I may say, a short cut to heaven. All God's law 
 was at first reduced to ten precepts. The kws of nations, 
 though they make up large volumes, yet are still imperfect ; 
 some statutes are added as necessary, others repealed as 
 hurtful. But the law of God, though contained in a few 
 
154 
 
 lines, yet contains all perfection of duty to God and man. 
 There is no good thing that is not here commanded, no evil 
 thing that is not here forbidden. And all this is in so short 
 bounds that those ten precepts are called but ten words. Yet 
 when Christ came, he abridged this law shorter, and re- 
 duced the ten into two. " Thou shalt love the Lord thy 
 God with all thy heart, and thy neighbour as thyself." St 
 Paul yet comes after, and rounds up all into one. God re- 
 duceth all into ten ; Christ those ten into two ; Paul those 
 two into one. " Love is the fulfilling of the law," Eom. 
 xiii. 10. AVhich is compendium, non dispendium legis, 
 (saith TertuUian, Contr. Marcion. lib. 5) ; an abridging, not 
 enervating of the law of God. So Augustine, God in all 
 his law, nihil prmcipit nisi Charitatem, nihil culpat nisi cu- 
 jndilatem (De Doctrin. Christ, lib. 3, cap. 10) commands 
 nothing but love, condemns nothmg but lust. Yea, it is 
 not only the complement of the law, but also the supplement 
 of the gospel. Novum mandatum ; " A new commandment 
 I give unto you, that ye love one another," John xiii. 34. 
 All which makes it manifest that love is a near way to 
 heaven. 
 
 Sociable it is also ; for it is never out of company, never 
 out of the best company. The delight thereof is " with the 
 saints that are on earth, and with the excellent," Psal. xvi. 
 3. The two main objects of envy are highness and nigh- 
 ness ; the envious man cannot endure another above him, 
 another near him ; the envious man loves no neighbour. 
 But contrarily, love doth the more heartily honour those 
 that are higher, and embrace those that are nigher, and 
 cannot want society, so long as there is a communion of 
 saints. Love is the way, you hear ; our 
 
 Course is Walking. 
 As clear, near, and sociable a way as love is, yet few can 
 hit it ; for of all ways you shall find this least travelled. The 
 way of charity, as once did the wa3-s of Sion, mourns for 
 want of passengers. This path is so uncouth and unbeaten, 
 
THE king's HIGinVAY OF CnAHITY. 155 
 
 that many cannot tell whether there be such a way or not. 
 It is, in their opinion, but via serpentis, the way of a serpent 
 on the earth, or of a bird in the air, which cutteth the air 
 with her wings, and leaves no print or track behind her ; or 
 some chimera or mathematical imaginary point ; an ens ra- 
 tionale (a rational entity), -without true being. Viam dilec- 
 iionis ignorant (the way of love they know not) ; as the apos- 
 tle salth, Viam pacis^ " The way of peace they have not 
 kno^vn," Rom. iii. 17. 
 
 Others know there is such a way, but they will not set 
 their foot into it. Their old way of malice and covetous- 
 ncss is delightful; but this is ardua et prcenipta via, a hard 
 and a harsh way. Indeed, Artis tristi^sima janua nostra, the 
 entrance to this way is somewhat sharp and unpleasant to 
 flesh ; for it begins at repentance for former uncharitable- 
 ness. But once entered into this king's highway, it is full 
 of all content and blessedness ; Ad Icetos ducens per gramina 
 Jluctus. 
 
 Walk in Love. 
 
 He doth not say, talk of it, but walk in it. Tliis precept 
 is for course, not discourse. Love sits at the door of many 
 men's lips, but hath no dwelling in the heart. We may 
 say truly of that charity, it is not at home. A great man 
 had curiously engraven at the gate of his palace the image 
 of bounty or hospitality ; the needy travellers with joy spy- 
 ing it, approach thither in hopeful expectation of succour ; 
 but still silence, or an empty echo, answers all their cries 
 and knocks ; for hospitality may stand at the gate, but there 
 is none in the house. One among the rest (his hungry 
 trust thus often abused) resolves to pluck down the image, 
 with these words, if there be neither meat nor di-ink in the 
 house, what needs there a sign ? Great portals in the 
 country, and coloiired posts in the city, promise the poor 
 beggar liberal relief, but they arc often but images ; Muta 
 et VMtila signa, dumb and lame signs ; for charity is not at 
 liome, only the shadow without ; "pe illcctat inani, gives fair 
 and fruitless hopes. 
 
156 THE christian's WALK ; OB, 
 
 We are too much wearied with these shadows of charity. 
 Ambrose makes two parts of liberality ; benevolence and 
 beneficence (Offic. lib. i. cap. 30). Many will share the 
 former, but spare the latter ; they will wish some thing, but 
 do nothing ; they have open mouths, but shut hearts ; soft 
 words, but hard bowels. To these St John gives advice, 
 " Let us not love in word nor in tongue, but in deed and 
 in ti-uth," 1 John iii. 18. Opposing works to words, verity 
 to vanity. Verbal complements are not real implements ; 
 and with a little inversion of the philosopher's sense, the 
 belly hath no ears. The starved soul delights not to hear 
 charity, but to feel it. Oculatce mihi sunt manus, the poor's 
 hands have eyes ; what they receive they believe. The 
 gouty usurer hath a nimble tongue, and though he will not 
 walk in love, he can talk of love ; for, of all members, 
 the tongue, poslrema scjiescit, waxeth old last. Let a dis- 
 tressed passenger come to some of their gates, and he shall 
 have divinity enough, but no humanity ; wholesome counsel, 
 but no wholesome food. They can afford them exhorta- 
 tion, but not compassion ; charging their ears, but in no wise 
 overcharging their bellies ; they have Scripture against beg- 
 ging, but no bread against famishing. The bread of the 
 sanctuary is common with them, not the bread of the 
 buttery. If the poor can be nourished with the philoso- 
 phical supper of good moral sentences, they shall be prodi- 
 giously feasted ; but if the bread of hfe will not content 
 them, they may be packing. But, saith St James, " If you 
 say to the poor, depart in peace, be warmed, be filled ; yet 
 give them nothing needful to the body" (James ii. 16), your 
 devotion profits not, neither them nor y ourselves. There 
 is difference betwixt breath and bread, between wording 
 and working, between mere language and very sustenance. 
 
 The apostle chargeth us to walk, not to talk of love ; 
 one step of our feet is worth ten words of our tongues. The 
 actions of pity do gracefully become the profession of piety. 
 It is wittily observed, that the over-precise are so thwart- 
 ingly cross to the superstitious in all things, that they will 
 scarce do a good work, because an heretic doth it. That 
 
THF, king's nrcnwAY of chabity. 
 
 157 
 
 whereas a Papist -will rather lose a penny than a pater 
 noster, these will rather give a pater noster than a penny. 
 They are devout and free in anything that toiicheth not 
 their purses. Thus, with a shew of spiritual counsel, they 
 neglect coi-poral comfox-t ; and overthrow that by their cold 
 deeds which they would seem to build up by their hot 
 words. That the poor might well reply. More of your cost, 
 and less of your counsel, would do far better. 
 
 Do not step over it, nor cross it, nor walk beside it, nor 
 near it, but walk in it. Tlie doctrine in full strength di- 
 rects us to a constant embracing of charity. The whole 
 course of our living must be loving ; our beginning, conti- 
 nuance, end, must be in charity. Two sorts of men are 
 here specially reprovable. Some 
 
 Some have had apparent beginnings of love, whose con- 
 clusion hath halted off into worldliness ; whilst they had 
 Uttle, they communicated some of that little ; but the mul- 
 tiplying their riches hath been the abatement of their mer- 
 cies. Too many have verified this incongruence and prepos- 
 terous observation, that the filling their purses with money 
 hath proved the emptying their hearts of charity. As one 
 observes of Rome, that the decUnation of piety came at 
 one instant with the multiplication of metals. Even that 
 clergy, that being poor, cured only to feed the flock ; once 
 grown rich, studied only to fill the pail. Anmiianus Mar- 
 cellinus saith of them that, matronarum ohlationibus ditahan- 
 tur, they were enriched by ladies' gifts. And hereupon, 
 together with that unlucky separation of the Greek head 
 from the Latin body, the empire began to dwindle, the 
 Popedom to flourish. Now plenty is the daughter of pros- 
 perity, ambition of plent}-, corruption of ambition. So 
 divitice veniunt, relkjioqni fiiijit, religion brings in wealth, 
 wealth thrusts out religion. 
 
 Walk in Lore. 
 
 That seem to 
 
 (Begin in CJiarity, but end not so. 
 (End in Charity., that never walked so. 
 
158 THE CIIUISTIA^■'s WALK ; on, 
 
 To this purpose, and to prevent this ready e>il, was God's 
 charge by the pen of David. " If riches increase, set not 
 your heart upon them," Psahn Ixii. 10. For till they in- 
 crease, there is less danger. But, saith one, Socictas qum- 
 dani est, etiam omuis, vitiis et dimtm. Wealth and mcked- 
 ness are near of kin. Nimia honorum copiu, ingem mahrvm 
 occasin. Plenty of goods lightly occasions plenty of evils. 
 Goodness commonly lasts till goods come ; but condition of 
 state alters condition of persons. How many had been 
 good, had they not been great ! And as it was said of Ti- 
 berius, he would have made a good subject, but was a very 
 ill king ; so many have died good servants that would have 
 lived bad masters. God that can best fit a man's estate 
 here, that it may further his salvation hereafter, knows that 
 many a man is gone poor up to heaven, who rich would 
 have tumbled down to hell. AVe may observe this in Peter, 
 who being gotten into the high priest's hall, sits him down 
 by the warm fire, and forgets his master, Mark xiv. 54. 
 Before Peter followed Christ at the hard heels, through 
 cold and heat, hunger and thirst, trouble and weariness, 
 and promiseth an infallible adherence ; but now he sits 
 beaking himself by a warm fire, his poor Master is forgotten. 
 Thus his body grows warm ; his zeal, his soul, cold. When 
 he was abroad in the cold, he was the hotter Christian ; 
 now he is by the fire-side, he grows the colder. Oh the 
 warmth of this world, how it makes a man forget Christ ! 
 lie that wants bread, pities them that be hungrj- ; and 
 they that want fire have compassion of the poor, cold, and 
 naked ; but the warmth and plenty of the world starves 
 those thoughts. When the princes are at ease in Sion, 
 they never " grieve for the aflliction of Joseph," Amos 
 vi. 6. 
 
 Wliilst usury can sit in furs, -ambition look down from his 
 lofty turrets : lust imagine heaven in her soft embracings ; 
 epicureans study dishes and eat them ; pride study fashions 
 and wear them ; the down-trodden poor, exposed to the 
 bleak air, afflicted, famished, are not thought on. So easiU' 
 are many that begun in love, put by riches out of the way ; 
 
THE king's highway OF CnAFITT. 159 
 
 and made to forbear walking in cliarity, even by that which 
 should enable their steps. Thus avarice breeds with wealth, 
 as they speak of toads that have been found in the midst of 
 gi-eat stones. Though the man of mean estate, whose own 
 want instructs his heart to commiserate others, says thus 
 with himself: If I had more goods, I would do more good ; 
 yet experience justifies this point, that many have changed 
 their minds with their means, and the state of their purse 
 hath forespoken the state of their conscience. So they have 
 begun in the charity of the spirit, and ended in the cares of 
 the tlesh. Gal. iii. 3. 
 
 Every man hath a better opinion of himself than to think 
 thus. As Hazael answered Elisha, when the good prophet 
 told him with tears that he should burn the cities of Israel 
 with fire, slay the inhabitants, rip up the women with child, 
 and dash the infants against the stones. " Am I a dog, 
 that I should do this homd thing?" 2 Ivings viii. 13. So 
 you will not think, that being now mean, you relieve the 
 distressed ; if you were rich, that you would rob, spoil, de- 
 fi-aftd, oppress, impoverish them. O you know not the 
 incantations of the world. It is a pipe that (beyond the 
 siren's singing) makes many sober men run mad upon it. 
 I have read of an exquisite musician, of whom it was re- 
 ported that he could put men into strange fits and passions, 
 which he would as soon alter again with varj ing his notes — 
 inclining and compelling the disposition of the hearer to his 
 strains. There was one that would make trial how he could 
 aflect him, daring his best skill to work upon his boasted 
 composedness and resolution. The musician begins to play, 
 and gave such a lacrymcc, so sad and deep a lesson, that the 
 man fell into a dumpish melancholy, standing as one for- 
 lorn, with his arms wreathed, his hat pulled over his eyes, 
 venting many mournful sighs. Presently the musician 
 changeth his stroke into mirthful and lusty tunes, and so 
 by degrees into jigs, crotchets, and wanton airs ; then the 
 man also changeth his melancholy into spritely humours, 
 leaping and dancing as if he had been transformed into 
 air. This passion lasting but with the note that moved it : 
 
160 
 
 the musician riseth into wild rajjtures, masks, and antiques ; 
 whereupon he also riseth to shouting, hallooing, and such 
 frantic passages, that he grew at last stark -mad. Such a, 
 charming power,, said a worthy divine, hath the music of 
 money and wealth, and such fits it works in a man's heart. 
 First it takes him from peaceful settledness, and from great 
 conicnt in his little, and puts him into dumps ; a miserable 
 carking thoughtfulness how to scrape together much dirt. 
 Next when he hath it, and begins with delight to suck on 
 the dugges of the world, his purse, his bams, and all his, 
 but his heai-t, full, he falls to dancing and singing requiems: 
 " Soul, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry," Luke 
 xii. 20. Then shall his table stand full of the best dishes, 
 his cup of the purest wine, his back with the richest robes ; 
 and he conceits a kind of immortality in his coffers ; he de- 
 nies himself no satiety, no surquedry. But at last the 
 world's bedlam music puts him into frenzy — he grows ram- 
 pant. Runs into oppressions, extortions, depopulations, 
 rapes, whoredoms, murders, massacres ; spares not blood or 
 fiiendship, authority nor vassalage, widow, orphan, prince, 
 nor subject ; Nec harce, nec Arcs ; neither poor man's cot- 
 tage nor church's altar ; yea, if the commonwealth had 
 but one throat, as Xero wished of Rome, he would cut it. 
 Oh the unpacifiable madness that this world's music puts 
 those into who will dance after its pipe. For this cause, 
 saith our apostle, continue in the charity thou hast begun ; 
 " Walk in love." — " Ye did run well, who did hinder you?" 
 Gal. V. 7. Doth wealth keep you from charity? " This 
 persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you," verse 8. 
 God never meant when he gave you riches that you should 
 then begin to be covetous. He did not for this purpose 
 shew new mercy to you that you should take away your 
 old mercies from his. 
 
 There are others that seem to end in love, who never all 
 their days walked in this heavenly path. They have a 
 will l)ing by them, wherein they have bequeathed a certain 
 legacy to the poor — something to such a church, or such an 
 hospital. But this will is not of force till the testator be 
 
THE king's highway OF CUARITV. 161 
 
 dead, so that a man may say, though the will be ready, yet 
 to will is not ready with them ; 'for God shall not have it 
 so long as they can keep it. These can wish with Balaam to 
 die Christians, but they must live pagans. Having raised 
 thousands out of their sacrilegious and inhospitable impro- 
 priations, they can bestow the dead hope of a little mite 
 on the church. In memorial whereof the heir must procure 
 an annual recitation, besides the monumental sculpture on 
 the tomb. Be his life never so black, and more tenebrous 
 than the vaults of lust, yet, said a reverend divine, he shall 
 find a black prophet for a black cloak, that with a black 
 mouth shall commend him for whiter than snow and lilies. 
 Though his unrepented oppressions, unrestored extortions, 
 and blood-drawing usuries, have sent his soul to the infernal 
 dungeon of Satan, whose parishioner he was all his life ; yet 
 nionc}- may get him canonized a saint at Rome, and robe 
 him with spotless integrity and innocence. So divers 
 among them that lived more latronum (after the manner of 
 felons), yet in death affected cultum martyrum (the charac- 
 ter of mart}Ts). Hence epitaphs and funeral orations shall 
 commend a man's charity, who never all his days walked 
 two steps in love. 
 
 But it is in vain to write a man's charity in a repaired 
 window, when his tyrannous life is witten in the bloody and 
 indelible characters of many poor men's ruin and overthrow. 
 Nor can the nan-ow plaster of a little poor benevolence 
 hide and cover the multitude of gaping wounds made by ex- 
 tortion and unmercifulness. No, God hates the sacrifice of 
 robbery ; " their drink offerings of blood will -I not offer," said 
 David (Ps. xvi. 4). The oblation that is made up of the 
 earnings of the poor is an abomination, offending God's eye, 
 and provoking his hand. First, restore the lands and goods 
 of others injuriously or usuriously gotten ; let not an unjust 
 penny lie rotting on thy heap and heart ; and then build 
 hospitals, repair ruined holy places, produce the fruits of 
 mercy, walk in love. Otherwise it is not smooth marble 
 and engraven brass, with a commending epitaph, that can 
 any more preserve the name firom rotten putrefaction than 
 
 L 
 
162 THE christian's walk; on, 
 
 the carcase. But for all that, the memory shall stink above 
 ground, as the body doth' under it. It is a desperate ha- 
 zard, that a wicked man by a charitable will shall make 
 amends for all ; whereas, commonly an usurer's testament 
 is but a testimony of his lewd life. There is small hope 
 that they end in charity, who would never walk in love. 
 
 There be others that cannot walk in love, through a 
 double defect, either of eyes or of feet. Some 
 
 Have i ^y^s. 
 \ Eyes, but want Feet. 
 
 1. Some have the feet of affections, but they lack eyes, 
 and so cannot descry the true and perfect way of love. In- 
 deed, no man can find it without God. " Shew me thy 
 ways, O Lord ; teach me thy paths," Psal. xxv. 4. For it 
 is He that directs "sinners and wanderers to the way," ver. 8. 
 These want him, that should " lead them by the way that 
 they should go," Isa. xlviii. 17. They think that by build- 
 ing up a ladder of good works, their souls shall, on meri- 
 torious rounds, climb up to heaven. They cannot dis- 
 tinguish between viam rcrjni (the way to the kindgom^, and 
 caiisam regnandi (the cause why it is inherited.) They sup- 
 pose if they relieve seminaries, fast Lents, keep their num- 
 bered orisons, prodigally sacrifice their blood in treasons for 
 that Roman harlot, this is via dilectionis, the way of love. 
 So the silly servant, bidden to open the gates, set his shoul- 
 ders to them, but ^vith all his might could not stu: them ; 
 whereas another comes with the kej', and easily unlocks 
 them. These men, so confident in their good works, do 
 but set their shoulders to heaven's gates, alas, without com- 
 fort ; for it is the key of faith that only opens them. These 
 have nimble feet, forward affections, hearts workable to 
 charity, and would walk in love if they had eyes. There- 
 fore let us pray for them. " Cause them to know the way, 
 O Lord, wherein they should walk," Psal. cxhii. 8. 
 
 2. Others have e3-es, but they want feet ; they under- 
 stand the way of love, but they have no affection to walk in 
 
THE king's UIGHWAY OF CHARITY. 163 
 
 it. They know that false measures, foresworn valuations, 
 adulterated wares, smooth-cheeked circumventions, painted 
 cozenages, malicious repinings, denied succours, are all against 
 love. Noscunt et poscunt; they know them, but they will 
 use them. They know that humbleness, kindness, meek- 
 ness, patience, remission, compassion, giving and forgiving ; 
 actual comforts, are the fruits of love. Norunt et nolimt ; 
 they know it, but they will none of it. These know, but 
 walk not in love. It is fabled that a great king gave to 
 one of his subjects, out of his own mere favour, a goodly 
 city, happily replenished with all treasures and pleasures. 
 He does not only freely give it, but directs him the way, 
 which keeping, he should not miss it. The rejoiced sub- 
 ject soon enters on his journey, and rests not till he comes 
 within the sight of the city. Thus near it, he spies a great 
 company of men digging in the gi-ound, to whom approach- 
 ing, he found them casting up white and red earth in abun- 
 dance. Wherewith his amazed eyes grooving soon enamoured, 
 he desires a participation of their riches. They refuse to 
 join him in their gains, unless he will join himself in their 
 pains. Hereupon he falls to toiling, digging, and delving, 
 till some of the earth falls so heavy upon him, that it lames 
 him, and he is able to go no further. There he dies in the 
 sight of that city, to which he could not go for want of feet, 
 and loseth a certain substantial gift for an uncertain sha- 
 dow of vain hope. 
 
 You can easily apply it. God, of his gracious favour, 
 not for our deserts, gives man, his creature, a glorious city, 
 even that whose " foundations are of jasper, sapphire, and 
 emerald," &c. Rev. xxi. 19. He doth more, directs him 
 in the way to it : Go on this way ; walk in love. He begins 
 to travel, and comes within the sight of heaven ; but by the 
 way he spies worldlings toiling in the earth, and scraping 
 together white and red clay, silver and gold, the riches of 
 this world. Hereof desirous, he is not suffered to partake, 
 except he also partake of their covetousness and corrupt 
 fashions. Now, Mammon sets him on work to dig out his 
 oivn damnation [Effodiuntur opes irritameta mnlorum, Me- 
 
164 
 
 tarn) ; where, after a wliile, tliis gay earth comes tumbling 
 so fast upon him, that his feet be maimed, his affections to 
 heaven lost, and he dies short of that glorious city, which 
 the King of heaven purchased with his own blood, and gave 
 him. Think of this, ye worldlings, and seeing you know 
 what it is to be charitable, put your feet in this way ; Walk 
 in love. 
 
 There be yet others whose whole course is every step out 
 of the way to God, who is love ; and they must walk in love 
 that come unto him. 
 
 1. There is a path of lust ; they err damnably that call 
 this the way of love. They turn a spiritual grace into a 
 carnal vice ; and whereas charity and chastity are of a nearer 
 alliance than sound, these debauched tongues call unclean- 
 ness love. Adultery is a cursed way, though a much coursed 
 way ; for a whore is the highway to the devil. 
 
 2. There is a path of malice, and they that travel in it 
 are bound for the enemy. Their evil eye is vexed at God's 
 goodness, and their hands of desolation would undo his 
 mercies. Other men's health is their sickness ; others' weal 
 then- woe. The Jesuits and their bloody proselrtes are 
 pilgrims in this way. AVe know by experience the scope of 
 their walks. Theii' muUce was so strong as savire in saxa ; 
 but they would turn Jerusalem in acervum lapidum, into a 
 heap of stones. Yea, such was their rage, that nil reliqid 
 fecerunl, ut non ipsis dementis Jieret injuria ; they spared not 
 to let the elements know the madness of their violence. 
 They could not draw fire from heaven (their betters could 
 not do it in the days of Christ on earth) ; therefore they seek 
 it, they dig it from hell. 
 
 Here was malicious u-alking. 
 
 3. There is a counterfeit path ; and the travellers make as if 
 they walked in love, but their love is dissimulation, 1 John iii. 
 18. It is not dilectio vera, true love, which Saint John speaks 
 of; nor dilectio mera (mere love), as Luther; not a plain-heart- 
 ed love. They will cozen you unseen, and then, like the whore 
 in the Proverbs (x.xx. 20), wipe their mouths ; and it was 
 not they. Their art is, (dios pellerc aut tollere, to give 
 
THE king's HIGHWAY OF CIIAKITY. 165 
 
 others a wipe or a wound ; and, Judas-like, they salute 
 those with a kiss against whom they intend most treason. 
 
 4. There is a way directly cross to love, which neither 
 obeys God (for love keeps the commandments) nor com- 
 forts man ; for love hath compassion on the distressed. These 
 have feet swift enough, but " swift to shed blood. Destruc- 
 tion and misery are in their ways," Rom. iii. 5. They are in 
 Zedechiah's case (2 Kings xxv. 7), both their eyes are put 
 out, and their feet lamed with the captive-chains of Satan ; 
 so easily carried down to his infernal Babylon. 
 
 These are they that " devour a man and his heritage," 
 Mic. ii. 2. Therefore Christ calls their riches, not raiVra, 
 but ri itivTx, things within them, as if they had swallowed 
 them down into their bowels. The phrase is used by 
 Job, " He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall 
 vomit them up again : God shall cast them out of his belly," 
 Job XX. 15. When this vomit is given them, you shall 
 see strange stuff come from them. Here the raw and un- 
 digested gobbets of usury ; there the mangled morsels of 
 bloody oppressions ; here five or six impropriate churches ; 
 there thousand acres of decayed tillage ; here a whole cas- 
 ket of bribes ; there whole houses and patrimonies of un- 
 done orphans ; here an enclosure of commons ; there a 
 vastation of proper and sanctified things. Rip up their 
 consciences, and this is the stuffing of their hearts. 
 
 These walk cross to the cross of Christ ; as Paul saith, 
 they are enemies, cursed " walkers," Phil. iii. 18. Where- 
 upon we may conclude with Bernard, Periculosa tempora 
 jam non instant, sed extant (De confidorat. Ub. 1), the dan- 
 gerous times are not coming, but come upon us. The cold 
 frost of indevotion is so general, that many have benumbed 
 joints ; they cannot walk in love. Others so stiff and obdu- 
 rate, that they will meet all that walk in this way, and with 
 their turbulent malice, strive to jostle them out of it. There- 
 fore David prays, " Preserve me fi*om the violent men that 
 have purposed to overthrow my goings," Psal. i^v. 4. Let 
 us then, upon this great cause, use that deprecation in our 
 Litany, " From pride, vain-glory, and hypocrisy ; from 
 
166 THE christian's WALK ; OB, 
 
 envj', hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness, good Lord 
 deliver us." 
 
 I am loath to give you a bitter farewell, or to conclude 
 with a menace. I see I cannot, by the time's leave, drink 
 to you any deeper in this cup of charity. I -will touch it 
 once again, and let every present soul that loves heaven 
 pledge me ; Walk in love. 
 
 The way to life everlasting is love ; and he that keeps 
 the way is sure to come to the end. " We know that we 
 have passed from death to life, because we love the bre- 
 thren," 1 John iii. 14. For these are the works of merc}-, 
 charity, piety, and pity, so much commended in the Scrip- 
 tures, and by the Fathers, with so high titles, because they 
 are the appointed way wherein we must walk, and whereby we 
 must " work out our own salvation." Therefore, the apostle 
 claps in the neck of good works ; " laying up in store for 
 themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that 
 they may lay hold on eternal life," 1 Tim. \i. 19. Thereby 
 we lay the ground of salvation in our consciences, and take 
 assui-ed hold of eternal life. He that goes on in love shall 
 come home to life. 
 
 This comforts us ; not in a presumption of merit, but in 
 confident knowledge that this is the way to glorj' ; wherein, 
 when we find ourselves walking, we are sure we are going 
 to heaven : " and sing in the ways of the Lord, Great is 
 the glory of the Lord," Psal. cxxxviii. 5. Now, therefore, 
 " put on (as the elect of God, holy and beloved), bowels of 
 mercy, kindness, humbleness of mind," &c. Col. iii. 12. As 
 you claim any portion in those gracious blessings, election, 
 sanctification, and the love of God ; as you would have the 
 sweet testimony of the Spirit that you are sealed up to the 
 day of redemption, " put on mercy, kindness, meekness, 
 long sufiering ; " let them be as robes to cover you all over ; 
 yea, " bowels of mercies ; " let them be as tender and in- 
 ward to you as your most \ital parts. Lay forbearance and 
 forgiveness as dear friends in your bosoms. Depart fi:om 
 iniquity ; for " the high way of the upright is to depart 
 from evil; and he that keepeth his way, preserveth his soul," 
 
TUE king's HIGHWAY OF CHARITY. 1C7 
 
 Prov. xvi. 1 7. And, " above all these things, put on charity, 
 ■which is the bond of perfectness," Col. iii. 14. Walk in 
 love. " And as many as vfalk according to this rule, peace 
 be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God," Gal. 
 vi. 16. Amen. 
 
LOVE'S COPY; 
 
 THE BEST PRECEDENT OF CHARITY. 
 
 ■* Am OhrUt loved as."-£|>A«. T. *. 
 
1 
 
LOVE'S COPY; 
 
 THB BEST PRECEDENT OP CHAKITT. 
 
 •* As Christ loved u9."—£pliei. v. 2. 
 
 We distinguished the whole verse into a Canon and a 
 Crucifix. The canon consisted of a precept and a precedent. 
 Love is the subject, and it is both commanded and com- 
 mended. Commanded in the charge, which you have heard. 
 Commended in the example, which you shall hear. I de- 
 termined my speech with the precept. Walk in love. The 
 precedent or pattern remains to be propounded and ex- 
 pounded ; As ChiHst loved us. Every word is emphati- 
 cal ; and there be four, signif}ing four several -natures. 
 
 Two of these words be vincula or media, words that join 
 and unite other things ; sicut and dilexit, as and hved. As 
 directs our love to God and man, by the exemplified rule of 
 Christ loving us. Walk in love to others, as Christ loved 
 us. Loved is that blessed reconcOing nature whereby God's 
 good greatness descends to our bad baseness, and the just 
 gives to the unjust salvation. For what other nature but 
 mercy could reconcile so high majesty and so low misery 1 
 
 Here 
 
 1. As 
 
 2. Christ 
 
 3. Loved 
 
 4. Us 
 
 1. Quality. 
 
 2. Majesty. 
 
 3. Mercy. 
 
 4. Misery. 
 
172 love's copy ; or, 
 
 As, according to Zanchius' observation on this place, is 
 a note of quality, not equalittj ; of similitude, not of com- 
 parison. We must love others as Christ loved us. As, for 
 the manner, not for the measure. " Ilis love was strong as 
 death" (Cant. viii. 6); for to the death he loved us. It 
 was a bright and clear fire ; many waters could not quench 
 it ; yea, water and blood could not put it out. " God so 
 loved the world" (John ili. 16), so freely, so fatherly, so 
 fully, as no tongue can tell, no heart think. " The love of 
 Christ passeth knowledge," Ephes. iii. 19. To think of 
 equalling this love would be an impossible presumption. 
 Our love is inconstant, weak, a mingled, and often a mangled 
 love, mingled with self-love, and mangled with the wound- 
 ing affections of the world. Our love is faint, his strong ; 
 ours fickle, his constant ; ours limited, his infinite. Yet we 
 must follow him so fast as we can, and so iax as wc may ; 
 Walking in love, as he loved lis. 
 
 His walking in love was strange and admirable ; he took 
 large steps ; from heaven to earth, and from earth to hea- 
 ven. As Bernard on that speech of the chiurch concerning 
 her Beloved, " Behold, he cometh leaping upon the moun- 
 tains, skipping upon the hills," Cant. ii. 8. He leaps fi-om 
 heaven to the virgin's womb, from the womb to a manger, 
 from the manger to Egypt, from Eg}-pt to Judah, fi-om 
 thence to the temple, from the temple up to the cross, from 
 the cross down to the grave, from the grave up to the earth, 
 and fi-om the earth up to the highest glory. And he shall 
 yet have another leap, from the right hand of his Father to 
 judge quick and dead. 
 
 These were great jumps, and large paces of love. AATien 
 he made but one stride from the clouds to the cradle, and 
 another fi-om the cradle to the cross, and a third from the 
 cross to the crown. To come from the bosom of his im- 
 mortal Father, to the womb of his mortal mother, was a great 
 step. From the lowest hell, or depth of his humiUation, to 
 the liighest heaven or top of his e.x.oltation, was a large pace. 
 
 "VVe cannot take such large steps, nor make such strides. 
 These leaps are beyond our agility, our ability. Yet we must 
 
THE BEST PRECEDENT OF CHARITY. 173 
 follow bim in love ; stepping so far as we can, and walking 
 so fast as we maj'. Follow we carefully and cheerfully ; 
 though non passib'is CEquis (at a great distance behind). The 
 father, that takes his young son into the field with bows and 
 shafts, and bids him shoot after him, doth not expect that 
 the child should shoot so far as he, but so far as he can. 
 Though we cannot reach Christ's mark, yet "if there be a 
 willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, 
 not according to that he hath not," 2 Cor. xiii. 12. Now, 
 this particle as, is not barely similitudinary, but hath a great- 
 er latitude ; and serves 
 
 r Confine") TMeasure^ 
 To -< Define > the < Matter y of our Imitation. 
 (Refine ) (Manner) 
 
 1. This Sicut confines 
 our imitation, and limits it to that circumference, which 
 the present rule or compass gives it. "We may not follow 
 Christ in all things, but in this thing ; Lore, as he loved us. 
 Our imitation hath a limitation, that it may not exorbitantly 
 start out of the circle. There are special works which God 
 reserves to himself, and wherein he did never command, or 
 commend man's following ; but rather strikes it down as pre- 
 sumption. His jjower, his majesty, his wisdom, his mu-acles, 
 cannot without a contumacious ambition be aimed at. When 
 I^ncifcr aspired to be like God in majesty, he was thrown 
 out of heaven. When Adam contended to be like God in 
 knowledge, he was cast out of Paradise. When Nebuchad- 
 nezzar arrogated to be like God in power, he was expulsed 
 liis kingdom. When Simon Magus mounted to be like 
 God in working miracles, and to fly in the air, he was 
 hurled down, and broke his neck. God must not be imitated 
 in his finger, in his arm, in his brain, in his face, but in his 
 bowels. Not in the finger of his miracles, nor in the arm 
 of his power, nor in the brain of his wisdom, nor in the face 
 of his Majesty, but in the bowels of his mercy. " Be ye 
 merciful, as your heavenly Father is merciful," Luke vi. 36. 
 And saith Paul, " put on the bowels of mercy," Col. iii. 13, 
 
174 love's copy; or, 
 
 as Christ put them on ; forbear, forgive, walk in love, as 
 he loved us. Neither angel nor man did ever, or shall ever, 
 offend in coveting to be like God, in love, grace, mercy, 
 goodness. So that this sicict excludes his miracles, and di- 
 rects us to his morals. Walk in love, as, &c. 
 
 2. This Sicut defines 
 what our love should be, as Christ was to us. Now, 
 his love to us had an infinite extension, and is past the skill 
 of men or angels to describe. Yet because this is the per- 
 fect copy of our imitation, and the infallible rule whereby 
 we must square our charity, I must, according to my shal- 
 low power, wade a little into this infinite and boundless sea. 
 I will only note four sweet streams of life in his love. It 
 r Holy ~| r Merito. 
 
 Was I Hearty 
 
 \ Kind ' j^'^'"' 1 Despectu. 
 \ Constant J [ Defectu. 
 
 1. Holy. 
 
 The love of Jesus to us was Sancta et sanctlficans dilectio 
 (a sanctified and sanctifying love) ; a love holy formally in it- 
 self; and holy effectively, in making those holy on whom it 
 was set. He gave himself to us, and for us, and gave us a 
 faith to receive and embrace him. Sine quo nec dilecti, nec 
 diligentes fuissemus. Without whom we neither could have 
 received love, nor returned love. Now his love did not only 
 extend to our bodies' health, but to our soul's bliss. So he 
 loved us, that he saved us. 
 
 Our love should likewise be holy and whole, desiring not 
 only our brother's external welfare, but much more his in- 
 ternal, his eternal blessedness. He that pities not a famished 
 body, deserves justly the name of unmerciful man ; but he 
 that compassionates not an afflicted conscience, hath much 
 more a hard heart. It is an usual speech of compassion to 
 a distressed man ; alas, poor soul ; but this same alas, poor 
 soul, is for the most part mistaken. Neither the pitier nor 
 the pitied imagmes the soul pitiable. Very humanity teach- 
 
 I Modo. 
 
THE BEST PRECEDENT OF CHAniTY. 175 
 
 eth a man to behold an execution of thieves and traitors 
 with grief, that men to satisfy their malicious or covetous 
 aflections, should cut off their own lives with so infamous a 
 death. But who commiserates the endangered soul, that 
 must then enter into an eternal life or death ? 
 
 The story of Hagar with her son Ishmael is set down by 
 so heavenly a pen, that a man cannot read it without tears. 
 She is " cast out of Abraham's house with her child ; that 
 might call her master father," Gen. xxi. 14. Bread and 
 water is put on her shoulder, and she wanders into the 
 wilderness ; a poor relief for so long a jounicy, to which 
 there was set no date of returning. Soon was the water 
 spent in the bottle ; the child cries for drink to her that had 
 it not ; and Ufls up pitiful eyes, every glance whereof was 
 enough to wound her soul ; vents the sighs of a dry and 
 panting heart ; but there is no water to be had, except the 
 tears that ran down from a sorrowful mother's eyes could 
 quench the thirst. Down she lays the child under a shrub, 
 and went as heavy as ever mother parted from her only son, 
 and sate her down upon the earth, as if she desired it for 
 a present receptacle of her grief. Of her self, a good way off, 
 saith the text, as it were a bow-shot, that the shrieks, yel- 
 lings, and d}-ing groans of the child might not reach her 
 ears ; crying out, let me not see the death of the child. Die 
 she knew he must, but as if the beholding it would rend her 
 heart, and wound her soul, she denies those windows so sad 
 a spectacle ; " let me not see the death of the child. So she 
 lift up her voice and wept." Never was Hagar so pitiful to 
 her son Ishmael, as the church is to every Christian. If 
 any son of her womb will wander out of Abraham's family, 
 the house of faith, into the wilderness of this world, and pro- 
 digally part with his " own mercy" (John ii. 3) for the gawdy, 
 transient vanities thereof, she follows, with entreaties to 
 him, and to heaven for him. If he will not return, she is 
 loath to see his death ; she turns her back upon him, and 
 weeps. He that can with dry eyes and unrelenting heart 
 behold a man's soul ready to perish, hath not so much pas- 
 sion and compassion as that Egyptian bondwoman. 
 
176 
 
 love's copy ; ok, 
 
 2. Hearty. 
 
 The love of Christ to us was hearty ; not consisting of 
 shews and signs, and courtly compliments, but of actual, 
 real, royal bounties. He did not dissemble love to us when 
 he died for us. Exliihitio operis, prohatio amorLt : (the ma- 
 nifestation of his works was the demonstration of his love). 
 He pleaded by the truest and most undeniable argument, — 
 demonstration. " I love you ;" wherein ? " I give my life for 
 you." Tot ora, quot vulnera ; tot verba, quot verbera. So 
 many wounds, so many words to speak actually his love ; 
 every stripe he bore gave sufEcient testimony of his affec- 
 tion. His exceeding rich gift shews his exceeding rich love. 
 This heartiness must be in our love, both to our Creator and 
 to his image. 
 
 1. To God ; so he challengeth thy love to be condi- 
 tioned : with thy heart, with all thy heart. And this, saith 
 Christ, h primum et maximum mandutum: " the first and the 
 greatest commandment," Matt. xxii. 38. Tlie first, Quasi fir- 
 tualiter continens reliqua (Marlorat ) ; as mainly comprehending 
 all the rest. For he that loves God vrith all his heart, will 
 neither idolatrize nor blaspheme, nor profane his Sabbaths ; 
 no, nor wrong his creatures. The greatest, as requiring the 
 greatest perfection of our love (Arctius). This tlien must 
 be a hearty love, — not slow, not idle, but must shew itself. 
 Et properando et operando ; in ready diligence, in fi-uitfiil 
 and working obedience. There are many content to love 
 God a little, because he blesseth them much. So Saul loved 
 him for his kingdom. These love God pro seipsLi, not prcB 
 seipsis: for themselves, not before themselves. They will 
 give him homage, but not fealty ; the calves of their lips, 
 but not the calves of their stalls. If they feast him with 
 venison, part of their imparked riches, which is dear to 
 them ; yet it shall be but rascal deer, the trash of their sub- 
 stance. They will not feast him with the hart, that is the 
 best deer in their park. 
 
 2. To man, whom thou art bound to love as thyself; 
 where, say some, n< is but .i I im not a tantmn: (like in 
 mode, not in r.^easun ). ,1.t t! ysflf, not as miirh as thyself 
 
THE BEST PRECEDENT OF CHARITY. 
 
 177 
 
 As for the niannei, not for the measure. But this is cer- 
 tain, true love begins at home, and he cannot love another 
 .sounilly that primarily loves not himself. And he that loves 
 himself with a good heart, ivith the same heart will love his 
 brother. In quo seipsum, et propter qvod scipsum (Jacob, 
 (le Vorag. in Luc. x. Sorm. 2) : In that manner, and for 
 that cause that he lores himself. This then commands the 
 same love, if not the same degree of love, to thy brother, 
 that thou bearest to thyself. 
 
 This hearty love is hardly found. More is protested now 
 than in former times, but less done. It is wittily observed, 
 that the old manner of saluting was to take and shake one 
 another by the hand. Now we lock arms, and join breasts, 
 but not hearts. That old handful was better than this new 
 armful. Our cringes and complimental bowings promise 
 great humility, but the smothered vermin of pride lies 
 within. "We have low looks and lofty thoughts. There are 
 enough of those " which speak peace to their neighbours, 
 but mischief is in their hearts," Psal. xxviii. 3 ; whose 
 smooth habits do so palliate and ornamentally cover their 
 poison, as if they did preserve mud in crystal. The Ro- 
 mans usually painted Friendship with her hand on her heart, 
 as if she promised to send no messenger out of the gate of 
 her lips but him that goes on the heart's errand. Now we 
 have studied both textures of words, and pretextures of 
 manners, to shroud dishonesty ; but one ounce of real 
 charity is worth a whole talent of verbal. He loves us 
 best that does for us most. Many politicians (and the 
 whole world now runs on the wheels of policy) use their 
 lovers as ladders, their friends as scaffolds. When a house 
 is to be erected, they first set up scaffolds, by which they 
 build it up ; the house finished, down pull they the scaffolds, 
 and throw them into the fire. When the covetous or am- 
 bitious man hath his turn served by others, either for 
 his advancing or advantaging, for gain or glory, he jjuts 
 them off with neglect and contempt. The house is built, 
 what care they for the scaffold ? The feat is wrought, let 
 the wise and honest helpers be prisoned or poisoned, sink 
 M 
 
178 love's COPY ; or, 
 
 or swim, stand or perish. Nay, it is ■well if tbey help not 
 
 those down that helped them up. 
 
 3. Kind. 
 
 The apostle makes kindness one essential part of our love 
 (Col. iii. 12) ; derivmg it from Christ's example, who was 
 kind to us, both in giving us much good and forgiving us 
 much evil. And God commendeth, yea commandeth, the 
 inseparable neighbourhood of godliness and brotherly kind- 
 ness. " Add to your godliness brotherl)- kindness,'' 2 Pet. 
 i. 7. For there is no piety towards God where there is no 
 kindness to our brother. Now Christ's kindness to us con- 
 sisted in 
 
 Two excellent effects, i^orrigendo (in correctbg). 
 
 (Pomgendo (m bestowing). 
 
 1. In correcting our errors, directing and amending our 
 lives. Non minima pars dikctionis est, reprekendere dilec- 
 tum : it is no small part of kindness to reprove him thou 
 lovest. Therefore God saith, "Thou shalt reprove thy brother, 
 and not hate him in thy heart." A loving man will chide 
 his erring friend ; and he that does not, hates him in his 
 heart. Sic vigilet tolerantia, ut non dormiat disciplina (Aug. 
 de Verbis Apost. Serm. 22) : So let patience watch, that disci- 
 pline sleep not. This was David's desire, " Let the righteous 
 smite me, it shall be a kindness ; and let him reprove me, 
 it shall be an excellent oil, which shall not break my head," 
 Psal. cxli. 5. Our Saviour took this course, but he was piti- 
 ful in it ; not " breaking the bruised reed, nor quenching 
 the smoking flax," Matth. xii. 20. He was not transported 
 with passion, but moved with tender compassion and merci- 
 ful affection. " He was moved -svith compassion toward the 
 people, seeing them as sheep without a shepherd," Mark vi. 
 36. " As a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth 
 them that fear him," Psal. ciii. 13. And children are vis- 
 
THE BEST PRECEDENT OF CHARITY. 
 
 179 
 
 ccra purentum, saith Jerome (In Epist. Paul ad Philem.) ; 
 the very bowels of the parents. Therefore his bowels yearned 
 within him when he saw the weakly blind led by the wil- 
 fully blind, and he instructed them. It is no small mercy 
 in a father to correct his erring child. 
 
 This is one office of love almost quite forgotten in the 
 ■world. Our eyes and ears are conscious of many horrid sins, 
 whereof we make also our souls guilty by our silence. Like 
 camelions, we turn to the colour of our company. Oppres- 
 sions that draw blood of the commonwealth, move us not. 
 Oaths that totter the battlements of heaven, wake us not. 
 O where is our kindness ! whilst we do not reprove, we ap- 
 prove these iniquities. He is conscious of secret guiltiness 
 that forbeareth to resist open iniquity (Greg). Thou sayest 
 it is for love's sake thou sparest reprehension. Why, if 
 thou love thy friend, thou wilt gently rebuke his faults. If 
 thou love thy friend never so dearly, yet thou oughtest to 
 love truth more dearly. Let not then the truth of love pre- 
 judice the love of truth. 
 
 2. Jn Porrigendo, reaching forth to us his ample mercies : 
 " Giving u.s richly all things to enjoy," 1 Tim. vi. 17. 
 Where the apostle describes God's bounty, that he 
 
 1. Freely. He gives without exchange ; he receives no- 
 thing for that he gives. Ungodly men have honour, wealth, 
 health, peace, plenty. Their bellies are filled with his trea- 
 sure, and they do not so much as return him thanks. His 
 sun shines, his rain falls on the unjust and ungrateful man's 
 ground. Man when he gives, et rcspicit et recipit gratitudi- 
 iiem, both expects and accepts thanks and a return of love. 
 God hath not so much as thanks. For the good they are 
 indeed grateful ; but this gratia graii (grace to be grateful), 
 is gratia gratijicantis (grace bestowed). God gives them 
 
180 
 
 this grace to be thankful, and thej- may bless him that he 
 stirs them up to bless him. 
 
 2. Fully and richlj', as becomes the greatest king. A 
 duke, at the wedding-feast of his <laughter, caused to be 
 brought in thirty courses, and at every course gave so many 
 gifts to each guest at the table, as were dishes in the course. 
 And I have read of a queen that feasted her guests with 
 wines brewed with dissolved precious stones, that every 
 draught was valued at an hundred crowns. Here was royal 
 entertainment ; but this was but one feast. Such bounty 
 continued would quickly consume the finite means of any 
 earthly prince. Only God is " rich in mercy," Eph. ii. 4. 
 His treasury fills all the world, without cmptjing, yea im- 
 pairing or abating itself. 
 
 3. Universally ; all things. The king hath his crown, the 
 great man his honour, the mighty his strength, the rich his 
 wealth, the learned his knowledge, the mean man his peace ; 
 all at his gift. He opens his hand wide, he sparseth abroad 
 his blessings, and fills all things living with his plenteous- 
 ness. 
 
 4. Effectually ; he settles these gifts upon us. As he gave 
 them without others, so others without him shall never be 
 able to take them away. As he created, so he conserveth 
 the virtues ; strength in bread, warmth in clothes, and gives 
 iviiie and oil their effective cheerfulness. 
 
 Be thou so kind as this holy and heavenly pattern, not 
 aiming at the measure which is inimitable, but leveUing at 
 the manner which is charitable. Like Job, who used not 
 to " eat his morsels alone" (Job xxxi. 17) ; neither to deny 
 his " bread to the hungry," nor the " fleece of his flock" to 
 the cold and naked. Let thy stock of kindness be liberal, 
 though th}- stock of wealth be stinted. Give omni pelenti, 
 though not omnia petenti ; as that Father excellently. 
 
 4. Constant. 
 
 For with Christ is no variableness, "no shadow of change" 
 (Jam. i. 17) ; but " whom he once loves, ho loves for ever," 
 John xiii. 1. Fickleness is for a Laban, whose " counte- 
 
THE BEST PRECEDENT OF CHARITY. 181 
 
 nance will turn away from Jacob" (Gen. xxxi. 2), and his 
 affection fall off with his profit. I have read of two entire 
 friends well deserving for their virtues, that when the one 
 was promoted to great wealth and dignity, the other ne- 
 glected in obscurity ; the preferred, though he could not 
 di\ide his honour, yet shared his wealth to his old compa- 
 nion. Things so altered, that this honoured friend was 
 falsely accused of treachery, and by the blow of suspicion, 
 thrown down to misery ; and the other, for his now ob- 
 served goodness, raised up to a high place ; where now he 
 rerpntes his dejected friend with the same courtesy, as if 
 their minds had consented and contended to make that 
 equal which their states made different. O for one drachm of 
 this immutable love in the world ! Honours change man- 
 ners ; and we will not know those in the court wlio often 
 fed us in the country ; or if we vouchsafe to acknowledge 
 them as friends, we will not as suitors. Hereon was the 
 verse made : — 
 
 Quisquis in lioc mundo eunctis vult gratiis haberi: 
 
 Det, capiat, qujerat, plurima, pauca, nihil. 
 
 He that would be of worldly men well thought, 
 
 Must always give, take, beg, much, little, nought. 
 Men cannot brook poor friends. This inconstant charity 
 is hateful, as our English phrase premonisheth — love me 
 little, and love me long. 
 
 3. This Sicut (so as) refines 
 our love. " Walk in love, as Christ loved us ;" where as is 
 not only similitudinary, but casual. " Love, because Christ 
 loved us" (1 John iv. 19), for this cause, as after this manner; 
 which serves to purify our love, to purge it from corrup- 
 tion, and to make it perfect. Dilectio Dei nos facit ct dili- 
 gihiles et diligentes : the love of God makes us both such as 
 God can love, and such as can love God. For it is the 
 love of Christ to us that works a love to Christ in us. A 
 man will ever love that medicine that hath freed him from 
 some desperate disease. Christ's love hath healed us of 
 all our sores and sins ; let us honour and love this medicine, 
 
182 
 
 lovk's copy ; or, 
 
 compounded of so precious simples, water and blood. And 
 let us not only affectionately embnice it ourselves, but let 
 us invite others to it ; " Come and hearken all ye that fear 
 God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul," 
 Psal. Ixvi. 16. 
 
 Christ. — I have Vjoen so punctual in tliis word of qualitj-, 
 that I can but mention the rest. The word of majesty is 
 Christ, who being Almighty God, co-equal and co-eternal 
 with the Father and the Spirit, took on him our nature, 
 and was /actus homo, ut pro homine pacaret Deum : God was 
 made man, that for man he might appease God. Thus did 
 so great a majesty stoop low for our love : Nan exuendo 
 quod habuit, sed induendo quod non habnit : not by loosing what 
 he had, but by accepting what he had not, our miserable 
 nature. Ipse dilexit 7ios, et tantus ct tantum, et gratis tantiUos 
 et tales (Bern. Tract. dediligendoDeo). He that was so great, 
 loved so greatly us that were so poor and unworthy, freely. 
 
 Loved is that word of mercy, that reconciles so glo- 
 rious a God to so ungracious sinners. The cause which 
 moved Christ to undertake for us, was no merit in us, but 
 mere mercy in him. He loved us, because he loved us ; 
 in our creation, when we could not love him ; in our re- 
 demption, when we would not love him. Loved us, not 
 but that he loveth us still. But the Apostle speaks in this 
 time, to distinguish the love wherewith he now loveth us, 
 from that whereby he once loved us. " For if, when we 
 were enemies, we were reconciled to God by his death : 
 much more being reconciled, we shall be saved bj' liis life," 
 Rom V. 10. Though it be also true, that " from everlast- 
 ing he loved us," Jer. xxxi. 13. 
 
 Us is the word of misery; Us he loved that were so 
 wretched. The word is indefinite ; us, all us. Us be we 
 never so unworthy ; all us, be we never so many. 
 
 1. Us that were unworthy of his love, from whom he ex- 
 pected no correspondence. That he loved the blessed 
 
.V 
 
 THE BEST PRECEDENT OF CHAHITY. 183 
 
 angels was no wonder, because tliey ivitli winged obedience 
 execute his bests, " and do his word," Psalm ciii. 20. Yea, 
 that he loved his very reasonless and insensible creatures, is 
 not strange ; for " fire and hail, snow and vapour, stormy 
 wind and tempest, fulfil his word," Psalm cxlviii. 8. But 
 to love us, that were " weak, ungodly, sinners, enemies," 
 (Rom. v. 6-10) ; weak, no strength to deserve ; ungodly, no 
 pity to procure ; sinners, no righteousness to satisfy; enemies, 
 no peace to atone : for we hated him, and all his ; " ye 
 shall be hated of all men for my name's sake," Matth. x. 
 22 ; — to love such us, was an unexpectable, a most mer- 
 ciful love. He that wanted nothing, loved us that had no- 
 thing ; immortal eternity loved mortal dust and ashes. Oh 
 if a man had ora milk fluentia melle (a thousand tongues 
 distilling honey), yea, the tongues of angels, he could not 
 sufficiently express this love. " So God loved the world" 
 (John iii. 1 6) : mnmhim tmmundum, the unclean world ; that 
 not only not " received him" (John i. 11), but even cruci- 
 fied and killed him. 
 
 2. All of us, without exception of persons. This is the 
 " Lamb of God which taketh away the sins of the world," 
 John i. 29. The Gospel proclaims an universal si quis ; 
 " whosoever believes, and is baptized, shall be saved." Qui 
 seipsum excipit, seipsum decipit : he that excepts himself, 
 beguiles his own soul. Hence I find three inferences ob- 
 servable, which I will commend to your consciences, and 
 your consciences to God. 
 
 Dilecti ^ r Loved. ^ 
 
 Dilectos y diligamus. < Loved ones. >- Let us love. 
 
 Diligentes ) (^The loving. ) 
 
 1. We are loved ourselves, therefore let us love. He 
 that bids us love, loved us fii-st. " This is my command- 
 ment, that ye love one another." Why? " As I loved you," 
 John XV. 12. Non aliud jussit, qtiam gessit: he chargeth 
 us with nothing in precept which he performed not in 
 practice. Therefore, si tardi sumus ad amandum, non tardi 
 
184 
 
 simiis ad redamandum : though we have not been forward 
 to love first, let us not be baukward to return love. Dikcti 
 diligite. " If God so loved us, we ought also to love one 
 another." 1 John v. 11. Magnus amoris amor: (great is the 
 love of love) ; and the sole requital which God requires for 
 his rich love, is our poor love ; that only may love him, but 
 have nothing to give him that is not his. 
 
 2. They are beloved whom thou art charged to love. 
 He that bids us love others, loves them himself It is fit 
 we should love those whom Christ loves. If thou love 
 Christ, thou art bound to love others, because he loves 
 them ; yea, with that very same love wherewith he loves 
 thee. Therefore dilectos diligamus: (let us love the loved 
 ones.) 
 
 3. They also love God, whom God commands thee to 
 love. The love of Christ is so shed abroad into all Chris- 
 tians' hearts, that they unfeignedly affect Jesus their Saviour. 
 They loved him whom thou lovest, therefore love them. 
 It is fit we should love them highly that love God heartily. 
 Therefore diligentes diligamus: (the lo%'ing let us love.) 
 
 Thus you have heard love's walk or race ; now, then, 
 saith Paul, " So run that you may obtain." I will end with 
 an apologue, an epilogue, a parable. Charity, and certain 
 other rivals, or indeed enemies, would run a race together. 
 The prize they all ran for was FeUcity ; which was held up 
 at the goal's end by a bountiful lady called Eternity. The 
 runners were Pride, Prodigality, Envy, Covetousness, Lust, 
 Hypocrisy, and Love. All the rest were either diverse or 
 adverse neighbours or enemies to Charity. I will herald- 
 like shew you their several equipage, how they begin the 
 race and end it. 
 
 1 . Pride, you know, must be foremost ; and that comes 
 out like a Spaniard, with daring look, and a tongue thun- 
 dering out braves, mounted on a spirited jennet named 
 Insolence. His plumes and perfumes amaze the beholders' 
 eyes and nostrils. He runs as if he would overthrow giants 
 and dragon ; yea, even the great Red-di-agon, if he encoun- 
 tered him ; and with his lance burst open heaven gates. 
 
THE BEST PRECEDENT OF CHARITY. 
 
 185 
 
 •But his jennet stumbles, and down comes Pride. You 
 know bow wise a king hath read his destiny : " Pride will 
 have a f.dl." 
 
 2. The next is Prodigality ; and because he takes himself 
 for the true Charity, he must be second at least. This is a 
 young gallant, and the horse he rides on is Luxury. He 
 goes a thundering pace, that you would not think it possible 
 to overtake him ; but before he is got a quarter of the way, 
 he is spent, all spent, ready to beg of those that begged 
 of him. 
 
 3. Env)' will be next, a lean meagre thing, full of mali- 
 cious mettle, but hath almost no flesh. The horse he rides 
 on is Malcontent. lie would in his journey first cut some 
 thousand throats, or powder a whole kingdom, blow up a 
 state, and then set on to heaven. But the hangman sets 
 up a gallows in his way, whereat he runs full butt, and 
 breaks his neck. 
 
 4. Then comes sneaking out Covetousness, a hunger- 
 starred usurer, that sells wheat and eats beans ; many men 
 are in his debt, and he is most in his own debt ; for he 
 never paid his belly and back a quarter of their dues. He 
 rides on a thin hobbling jade called Unconscionableness, 
 which, for want of a worse stable, he lodgeth in his own 
 heart. He promiseth his soul to bring her to heaven ; but 
 taiTying to enlarge his bams, he lost opportunity and the 
 prize of salvation ; and so fell two blows short — Faith and 
 Kcpentance. 
 
 5. Lust hath gotten on Love's cloak, and will venture to 
 run. A leprous wretch, and riding on a trotting beast, a 
 he-goat, was almost shaken to pieces. Diseases do so cramp 
 him, that he is fain to sit down with I'ce misero: (alas! 
 wetch that I am) ; and without the help of a good doctor 
 or a surgeon, he is like never to see a comfortable end of 
 his journey. 
 
 6. Hypocrisy is glad that he is next to Charity ; and per- 
 suades that they two are brother and sister. He is horsed 
 on a halting hackney (for he does but borrow him) called 
 Dissimulation. As he goes, he is offering every man his hand, 
 
186 love's copy ; or, the best precedent op charity. 
 
 but it is still empty. He leans on Charity's shoulder, and 
 protests great love to her ; but when she tries him to bor- 
 row a little money of him for some merciful purpose, he 
 pleads he hath not enough to serve him to his journey's end. 
 He goes forward like an angel, but his trusted horse throws 
 him, and discovers him a devil. 
 
 7. The last named, but first and only that comes to the 
 prize at the goal's end, is Charity. She is an humble virtue, 
 not mounted as other racers, but goes on foot. She spares 
 from her own belly to relieve those poor pUgrims that travel 
 with her to heaven. She hath two virgins that bear her 
 company ; Innocence and Patience. She does no hurt to 
 others — she sufiers much of others ; yet was she never heard 
 to curse. Her language is blessing, and she shall for ever 
 inherit it. Three celestial graces. Glory, Immortality, and 
 Eternity, hold out a crown to her. And when Faith and 
 Hope have lifted her up to heaven, they take their leave 
 of her ; and the bosom of everlasting Mercy receives her. 
 
GOD'S BOUNTY; 
 
 OB. 
 
 THE BLESSINGS OF BOTH HIS HANDS. 
 
 Length of days Is tn her right hand ■ and In her left hand, riches and honour." - 
 iV».lil.J«. 
 
GOD'S BOUNTY; 
 
 OE, 
 
 THE BLESSINGS OF BOTH HIS HANDS. 
 
 * Length of days is In her right hand : and In her left hand, riches and honour.'*— 
 iVo». 111. 16. 
 
 By Wisdom here we understand the Son of God, the 
 Saviour of man. In the fii-st to the Corinthians he is called 
 the " Wisdom" of God (1 Cor. i. 24). " In him are hid 
 all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge," Col. ii. 3. 
 
 AVisdom is formerly commended for her beauty — here for 
 her bounty. " Length of days is in her right hand ; in her 
 left riches and honour." Conceive lier a glorious queen 
 sitting on a throne of majesty, and calling her children about 
 her to the participation of those riches which from ever- 
 lasting she had decreed them. 
 
 Not to travel far for distribution, the parts of this text 
 are as easily distinguished as the right hand fi-om the left. 
 Here be two hands, and they contain two sorts of treasures. 
 The right hand hath in it length of days ; the left, riches and 
 honour. 
 
 The right hand 
 
 is upon good reason preferred, both for its oivn worth 
 whereby it excels, and for the worth of the treasure which 
 it contains. It hath ever had the dignity as the dexterity. 
 
 Length of days 
 
 is the treasure it holds. This cannot be properly under- 
 stood of this mortal life ; though the .sense may also stand 
 
190 god's bounty; or, 
 
 good with such an interpretation. " For by me," saith Wis- 
 dom, " thy days shall be multiplied ; and the years of thy life 
 shall be increased," Prov. ix. 11. AVisdom is the mother 
 of abstinence, and abstinence the nurse of health ; whereas 
 voluptuousness and intemperance (as the French proverb 
 hath it) dig their own grave with their teeth. 
 
 But all a man's wisdom cannot keep him still alive. " The 
 wise nian dieth as the fool," saith Solomon, Eccles. ii. 16. 
 And the father of Solomon excludes it from having power 
 to keep a man, " that he should live for ever, and not see 
 corruption," Psalm xlix. 9. Methuselah hved nine hun- 
 dred sixty and nine years, yet he was the son of Enoch, 
 who was the son of Jared, who was the son of Mahaleel, 
 who was the son of Cainan, who was the son of Enos, who 
 was the son of Seth, who was the son of Adam, who was 
 the son of dust. The best constitutions that communicate 
 in the sanguine of the rose, and snow of the lily, have this 
 parentage ; they are the sons and daughters of dust. 
 
 This length then is not subject to the poles, nor are these 
 days measured by the sun in his zodiac ; all b pitched above 
 the wheel of changeable mortality. It is eternity that fills 
 the right hand of Wisdom. 
 
 Length of days. j^T^'J ^^^f ^"f'^^^f 
 •' *' ^ j_ Length for the etenuty. 
 
 Dates. — ^Man's life in this world is called a day ; a short 
 day, a sharp day. Short, for instat vesper. It is not sooner 
 morning, but it is presently night. The sun of life quickly 
 sets, after it is once risen. Sharp ; for miserj- is borne with 
 life, brought up with life, and to the good dies with life ; to 
 the wicked remains in death. Like Hippocrates' twins, in- 
 separable in. their beginning, process, end. So that aged 
 patriarch to Pharaoh, "My days have been few and evil," 
 Gen. xlvii. 9. So Job, "Man is of few days, and many 
 troubles," Job xiv. 1. Animal cevi hrevissimi, solicitudinis 
 infinitcB (Petrarch). And Paul calls it " the evil day," 
 Eph. vi. 13. It is somewhat to comfort, that though it be 
 
THE BLESSnSGS OF BOTH HIS HANDS. 191 
 
 sharp, evil ; yet it is but short, a day. " Redeem the 
 time, for the days are evil," Eph. v. 16. But howsoever 
 semper mali dies in seculo, yet semper honi dies in Domino, as 
 Augustine sweetly (In Psal. xxxiii.) Though the world hath 
 always evil days, yet God hath always good days. 
 
 And this day shall have no night. Nox non erit illic. 
 " There shall be no night," Rev. xxi. 25. The sun that 
 enlightens it cannot be eclipsed. " That city hath no need 
 of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it : for the glory 
 of God doth Ughten it, and the Lamb is the Ught of it," Rev. 
 xxi. 23. No clouds shall draw a veil of obscurity over it. 
 Here the light of the sun darkens the moon, and the moon 
 obscures the lustre of the stars. Sometimes half the earth 
 is in light, the rest in darkness. 
 
 But in these days, albeit " there is one glory of the sun, 
 another of the moon, and another of the stars ; and one 
 star diflFereth from another star in glory" (1 Cor. xv. 41) ; 
 yet the light of one increaseth the light of another, and the 
 glory of one is the glory of all. Dispar est gloria singulo- 
 rum, sed communis IcBtitia omnium (Aug. Medit. cap. 25). 
 So, in sum, here we live but a short day ; " Give us this 
 day our daily bread." But in that world we shall have days, 
 and those good days, and great days— days of eternal 
 length, for they shall have no night. 
 
 Length. — ^As the glory is clear for the countenance, so 
 it is long for the continuance. Nullus erit defectiis, mdlus 
 terminus : (there vdll be neither defect nor end). There shall 
 be aeterna charitas, chara CBternitas : (eternal love, and a 
 beloved eternity). God's eternal decree to choose us in Christ 
 had no beginning, but it shall have an end, when the elect 
 are taken up to glory. The possession of this decreed in- 
 heritance shall have a beginning, but no end : " We shall 
 be ever with the Lord" (1 Thess. iv. 17). God's mercy in 
 both hath neither beginnmg nor end, for it is from everlast- 
 ing to everlasting. 
 
 Here, then, is both the countenance, it is a clear day ; 
 and the contmuance, it is of length, the very same length 
 
192 god's BOUNTY : OB, 
 
 that everlastingness itself. Hezekiah's day was a long day 
 when " the shadow of the sun went ten degrees backward 
 in the dial of Ahaz," 2 Kings xx. 11. Joshua had a long 
 day when the sun stood still in Gibeon, and the moon in 
 the valley of Ajalon. " And there was no day like that 
 before it or after it," Josh. x. 14. But both these days 
 had their nights, and the long forbearing sun at last did 
 set. Here the days are so long, that it shall never be 
 night. You see the clearness and the length ; both are 
 expressed in Daniel — " They that be wise shall shine as the 
 firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness, as 
 the stars," Dan. xii. 3. There is the brightness : and that 
 ever and ever ; there is the eternity. 
 
 There is nothing made perfectly happy but by eternity, 
 as nothing but eternity can make perfect misery. Were 
 thy hfe a contmued scene of pleasures, on whose stage grief 
 durst never set his unwelcome foot ; were the spoil of 
 Noah's ark the cates of thy table ; hadst thou king Solo- 
 mon's wardrobe and treasury ; did the West Indies send 
 thee all its gold, and the East its spices, and all these lying 
 by thee whiles a late succession of years without cares 
 snows white upon thy head ; thou wert ever indulgent to 
 thyself, and health to thee. Yet suddenly there comes an 
 impartial pursuivant, Death, and he hath a charge to take 
 thee away medio de fonte leporum (from the fountain of plea- 
 sures), bathing thyself in thy delights. Alas ! what is all 
 thy glory but a short play, full of mirth till the last act, and 
 that goes off in a traged}'. Couldst thou not have made 
 death more welcome, if he had found thee lying on a pad of 
 straw, feeding on crusts and water-gruel ? Is not thy pain 
 the more troublesome because thou wast well ? Doth not 
 the end of these temporary joys afflict thee more than if they 
 had never been ? Only then eternity can give perfection to 
 pleasure ; which because this world cannot afford, let us 
 reckon of it as it is, a mere thoroughfare, and desire our 
 home, where we shall be happy for ever. 
 
THE BLESSINGS OF BOTH HIS HANDS. 193 
 
 In her left hand., riches and honour. 
 The gift of the rirjht hand is large and eternal ; of the 
 left^ short and temporal. Yet you see I am short in the 
 long part, give nie leave to be long in the short part. Herein 
 we have many things considerable. 
 
 1. That riches and honour are God's gifts. 
 
 2. That all are not so, but some ; and therefore it is ne- 
 cessary for us to learn whether God gave unto us that 
 riches and honour which we have. 
 
 3. That albeit they are his gifts, yet but the gifts of his 
 left hand. 
 
 4. That wealth and worship are for the most part com- 
 panions, for both those gifts lie in one and the same hand. 
 
 1. Riches and honour are God's gifts, therefore in them- 
 selves not evil. Sunt Dei dona, ergo in se bona : (they are 
 God's bounties, and therefore man's dainties). Saith 
 Augustine, Ne putentur mala, dantur et bonis: ne putentur 
 summa bona, dantur et malis (Epist. 70, ad Bonif) : That 
 they may not be thought evil, they are given to good men ; 
 that they may not be thought the best good, they are given 
 also to evil men. A rich man may be a good man, and a 
 poor man may be wicked. Christ sanctified riches as well 
 as poverty ; 
 
 ! Birth, 
 Life, 
 Death. 
 
 1. In his birth he sanctified poverty, when his chamber of 
 presence was a stable, his cradle a manger, his royal robes 
 coarse rags. He sanctified riches when he received of the 
 wLse men precious gifts, " gold, frankincense, and myiTh," 
 Matth. ii. 11. Quce si fuissent ipsissima mala, dedignatus 
 esset. Which, if they had been simply evil, he would not 
 have accepted. 
 
 2. In his life he sanctified poverty, when he was main- 
 tained eleemosATiarily, having no garment to put on, and 
 
194 
 
 god's bounty; or, 
 
 the good women kept him by their contributions. He was 
 glad to borrow an ass's colt when he was to ride, and to 
 angle for money in the sea when he paid tribute ; and (as 
 if he wanted a bed) to complain, " the foxes have holes, 
 and the birds of the air have nests ; but the Son of man 
 hath not where to rest his head," Matth. viii. 20. He 
 sanctified riches when he called Zaccheus (Luke xix. 2), a 
 wealthy usurer, and raised Lazarus (John xi. 44), a wealthy 
 citizen ; had his steward (John xii. 6) which gave alms to 
 the distressed, and bore his purse ; and like a prince, 
 feasted thousands at one banquet. 
 
 3. In his death. He sanctified poverty when he had not 
 a grave of his own, but was buried in another man's se- 
 pulchre (Luke, xxiii. 53) ; nay, not a sheet to >vrap him 
 in, but was beholden to another for his linen ; and even 
 dying, converted a poor malefactor on the cross by him. 
 He sanctified riches when he accepted the kindness of 
 Joseph (whom Matthew calls a " rich man," Matt, xxvii. 
 67, Mark an " honourable" Mark, xv. 42) for liis sepul- 
 ture ; and Nicodemus's costly unction, even an hundi-ed 
 pound weight, mixed with myrrh and aloes (John xix. 39.) 
 
 Though riches be to some pernicious, a fuming wine which 
 turns their brains, yet to others they are a vessel wherein 
 they may ivith more speed sail to heaven, though no com- 
 pass, star, or cause to bring them thither. Others are 
 called by David viri divitiarum, men of riches, because they 
 possess not their riches, but their riches have subjugated 
 them. AVe have a kind of presage, though we conceive it 
 not, in saj-ing of such a one, He is a man of wealth. The 
 speech signifies him a slave to his riches ; the wealth is not 
 the man's, but the man the wealth's. 
 
 But otherwise a rich man may be a good man : for 
 wickedness is not bound to wealthiness, as heat is to fire : 
 and arrogancy or lewdness may be incident to poverty and 
 baseness. Pauper superbus : a poor man proud was one of 
 Cj-prian's twelve abuses. A rotten log will jield as much 
 sawdust as a piece of good timber ; and a peasant ill-nur- 
 tured is also ill-natured. A great gentleman will shew 
 
THE BLESSINGS OF BOTH HIS HANDS. 195 
 
 more humble courtesy than a thrashing hind or a toiUng 
 ploughman. Hagar was but a gipsy, a bondwoman ; yet 
 was her e-xcellent mistress Sarah despised in her eyes, Gen. 
 xvi. 4. As Jerome reproved the monks, Quid facit sub 
 tunica pcenilenlis recjius animus : (what business has a lordly 
 spirit under the garb of penitence?) so not seldom a rus- 
 set coat shrouds as high a heart as a silken garment. You 
 shall have a paltry cottage send up more black smoke than 
 a goodly manor. It is not wealth, therefore, but vice, that 
 e-xcludes men out of heaven. 
 
 The friars and Jesuits have very strongly and strangely 
 backbitten riches ; but all their railing on it is but behind 
 the back : secretly and in their hearts they love it. AVheu 
 they are out of the reach of eyes, then gold is their sun by 
 day, and silver their moon by night. Some of them for 
 enforced want, like the fox, dispraise the grapes they cannot 
 reach. Or as Eusebius notes of Licinius the emperor, 
 that he used to r:ul at learning, and to say notliing worse 
 became a prince, because himself was illiterate. So they 
 commend nothing more than poverty, because they are, and 
 must be, poor against their wills. 
 
 Others of them find fault -svith riches, whereof they have 
 great store ; but would that none should covet it beside 
 themselves ! So the cozening epicure made all his fellow- 
 guests believe that the banquet was poisoned, that all they 
 refusing he might glut himself alone. These often cheat 
 themselves, and work their ovm bane : whilst they so beat 
 off others from the world, and wrap themselves up in it to 
 their confusion. The fox in the fable, with divers other 
 beasts, found a rich booty of costly robes and jewels. He 
 persuades the lion that he needs not trouble himself with 
 them, because he is king, and may command all at his plea- 
 sure. He tells the stag, that if he should put them on, they 
 would so molest him, that he could not escape the hunts- 
 man. For the boar, he says they would evil favouredly be- 
 come him : and the wolf he shuffles off with the false news 
 of a fold of lambs hard by, which would do him more good. 
 So all gone, he begins to put on the robes himself, and to 
 
196 god's bounty ; or, 
 
 rejoice in his lucky fraud. But instantly came the owners 
 and surprised him ; who had so puzzled himself in these 
 habiliments, that he could not by flight escape : so they 
 took him and hanged him up. 
 
 The subtle foxes, Jesuits and friars, dissuade kings from 
 coveting wealth, because of their power to command all ; 
 and great men, because it will make them envied and 
 hunted after for their trappings. Countr}-men it will not be- 
 come, they say : and all the rest, that it will hinder their 
 journey to heaven. So, in conclusion, they drive all away, 
 and get the whole world for their master the pope and them- 
 selves. But at last these foxes are caught in their own 
 noose ; for the devil finds them so wapped and hampered in 
 these ornaments, and their hearts so besotted on money and 
 riches, that he carries them with as much ease to hell as the 
 chariot drew Pharaoh into the Red Sea. 
 
 For us beloved, we teach you not to cast away the bag, 
 but covetousness. Xon faciiltatem, sed cupiditatem repre- 
 hendimus: (we condemn not wealth but covetousness.) "SVe bid 
 you use the world, but enjoy the Lord. And if you have 
 wealth, " make you friends with your riches : that they" (so 
 made friends by your charity) " may receive" (and make 
 way for) you " into everlasting habitations," Luke xvi. 9. It 
 is not your riches of this world, but your riches of grace, that 
 shall do your souls good. " Not my wealth, nor my blood, 
 but my Christianity, makes me noble," quoth that noble 
 mart}T Romanus. And though the philosopher merrily, 
 when he was asked whether were better, Wisdom or riches ? 
 answered. Riches : for I have often, said he, seen poor wise 
 men at rich fools' doors, but never rich fools at poor wise 
 men's doors. Yet wealth may be joined with wisdom, 
 goodness with greatness. Mary and Martha may be sisters : 
 righteousness and riches may dwell together. 
 
 Chrysostom on that aphorism of Christ, " Te csnnot 
 serve God and mammon" (Matth. vi. 24), observes that he 
 doth not say. Ye cannot have God and mammon ; but ye 
 cannot serve God and mammon : for he that is the servant 
 of God must be the master of his wealth. The Lord Jesus 
 
THE ELESSING3 OF BOTH HIS HANDS. 197 
 
 is able to sanctify and save the rich man's soul as well as the 
 poor man's : and to send poor Lazarus into the bosom of rich 
 Abraham. Where consider not only qui sublatiis, but quo 
 suhlatus : (who was raised, but whither he was raised) : Aug. 
 in Psal. li. Poor but good Lazaras is carried into rich 
 but good Abraham's bosom, to signify that neither 
 poverty deserves heaven, nor riches hell. Divitioe non ini- 
 qiice, sed iniquis : Riches are not unrighteous but to the 
 unrighteous. Nec culpabile est habere ista ; sed hcerere islis : 
 It is not a sin to have them, but to trust them. 
 
 As much might be said for honour. It is the Lord that 
 advanceth. " Those that honour me, I will honour," saith 
 God, 1 Sam. ii. 30. It is God, saith Job, that putteth 
 on the king's girdle, that fasteneth bis honour about him. 
 Promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, 
 nor from north nor south, but only fi-om the Lord. Hence 
 it follows, that gi'eat men may be good men : yea, hence it 
 should follow, that great men ought to be good men. 
 
 They may be good. Christ had his faithful followers 
 even in Caesar's family. Bernard indeed complained that 
 the court is wont to receive good men, but to make them 
 bad men (De Consid. lib. iv.) Bonus facilius recipere, 
 quam facere : and Plures illic defecisse bpnos, quam pro/ecisse 
 malos : The court doth sooner take good men than make 
 good men. There more good are perverted to evil than 
 evU converted to good. Yet in the court of Pharaoh was a 
 good Joseph : in the court of Darius a good Daniel : in 
 the court of Ahasuerus a good Mordecai. Neither is it 
 ever true, that Quo quis corruptior moribus, et corrumpentior 
 muneribus : the more a man is corrupt with vices, and cor- 
 rupting with bribes, so much the more set by. The Phari- 
 sees' objection is sometimes false : " Have any of the rulers 
 believed on him?" (John vii. 48). They may be good ; 
 yea, 
 
 They must be good. For they are unprinted statutes, 
 whereout every man reads his duty. They are lerjis fucto- 
 res (law makers) ; and therefore should not be legis frac- 
 tores (law-breakers). Aristotle calls them loquentes leges 
 
198 god's bounty ; or, 
 
 (speaking laws). Inferiors often set their eyes to supply the 
 place of their ears, and rather look to see their duty 
 than to hear it. All should live by precept, but most will 
 live by precedent. A superior, therefore, should teach men 
 to take the measure of his greatness by his goodness. These 
 two should be of an even length, of an equal pace. If 
 honour outruns honesty, it will hardly be overtaken. Let 
 such an one appear to the people as he would have them be ; 
 and be himself such an one as he appears. A great person 
 is like a great hill, which gives a fair prospect, but is sub- 
 ject to the lightning and thunder of censures. 
 
 2. But it may here be objected, that if riches and honour 
 be God's gifts, then is he the giver of Judas's wealth and 
 Haman's honour. Perhaps you would here learn whether 
 your riches and honours come from God or no : your de- 
 mand is requisite, and I will strive to give you satisfaction. 
 
 First, for Riches. 
 
 {Honestly gotten. 
 Justly disposed. 
 Patiently lost. 
 
 1. They are well gotten : for God is not the patron of 
 unjust gains. He can bless a man well enough without the 
 help of the devil. There are m.-my that will have wealth, 
 though they go a-fishing for it, either with Habakkuk's 
 net or Ophni's hook, Hab. i. 15. They do not only 
 trouble the waters for it, but they bloody the waters ; fetch 
 it out of the bowels and life blood of the poor. This is 
 not from God, nor will he bless it. But " as it was ga- 
 thered of the hire of a harlot, so it shall return to the hire 
 of a harlot," ilicah i. 7. 
 
 It is easy for that man to be rich that will make his con- 
 science poor. He that will defraud, forswear, bribe, op- 
 press, serve the time, use, abuse aU men, all things, swallow 
 any wickedness, cannot escape riches. AATiereas he whose 
 conscience will not admit of advancing or advantaging him- 
 self by indirect means, sits down T\-ith contented poverty. 
 
THE BLESSINGS OF BOTH HIS HANDS. ISO 
 
 But bomia non cito evasit dives : A good man seldom bc^ 
 comes rich on the sudden. Wealtli comes not easily, not 
 quickly, to the honest door. Neither let us envy the gravel 
 that sticks in the throat of injustice. For he that will 
 swallow the bait which hangs on the line of another man's 
 estate shall be choked with it. Of riches let us never de- 
 sire more than an honest man may well bear away. 3Ial- 
 Icm mi miserum sanctum quam prospcriim peccalorem: I had 
 rather be a miserable saint than a prosperous sinner, When 
 the raising of thy roof is the razing of another's foundation, 
 " the stones shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of 
 the timber shall answer it," Ilab. ii. 11. Thus noii acci- 
 pimtis (lata, sed aripimus prohibita : we take not things with 
 a beggar's hand, but with a tjTant's : they are not God's 
 gifts but our felonies. 
 
 For this cause riches are ciiUed Bona forttuice, the goods 
 of fortune ; not that they come by chance, but that it 
 is a chance if ever they be good. Tee accumulanti non 
 sjia, Hab. ii. 6. And " AVoc to him that coveteth an 
 evil covetousness to his house," verse 9. We think the 
 oppressor's avarice evil only to the houses of the oppressed ; 
 but God saitli it is most evil to his own. Whether fraud 
 or force bring in unjust gain, it is as a coal of fire put in 
 the thatch of his house. 
 
 And to shew that God is not the giver of this, he pours 
 a curse ujjon it, that often they who thus desire most wealth 
 shall not have it, the world being to them like a froward 
 woman, the more wooed the farther off. " Woe to thee 
 that spoilest, and wast not spoiled ; when thou shalt cease to 
 spoil, thou shalt be spoiled," Isa. xxxiii. 1. And " because 
 thou hast spoiled many nations, all the remnant of the 
 people shall spoil thee," (Hab. iL 8), and thou shalt be for 
 booty unto them. Many a great fish in the sea of this 
 world devours another, and instantly comes a greater 
 and devours him ; as that emperor suffered his officers 
 to be like spunies, sucking up the goods of the commonalty, 
 and being once full, he squeezed them into his own coffers 
 (Sueton in vita Yespas.) Pharaoh's lean kine that de- 
 
200 GOD S BOUNTY ; OR, 
 
 voured the fat, were yet themselves never the fatter (Gen. 
 xli. 21). 
 
 Philip was wont to say that an ass laden with gold, 
 would enter the gates of any city ; but the golden load of 
 bribes and extortions shall bar a man out of the city of 
 God. All that is so gotten is hke quicksilver, it will be 
 running. If the father leave all to his son, yet the son 
 will leave nothing for his .son, perhaps nothing for himself; 
 never resting till, 
 
 Quodcumque profunda 
 Traxit aTaritia, luxu pejore refundat.— Ciaudian. 
 
 Until he hath thrown abroad all with a fork which his 
 father got together with a rake. " The lion did tear in 
 pieces enough for his whelps, and filled liis holes with prey 
 and his dens with ravin. But I will be against thee, saith 
 the Lord, and the sword shall devour thy young Uons," 
 Nah. ii. 12. The father plays the lion for his whelps, op- 
 presseth and consumeth the poor ; but his young lions 
 which he so provides for shall be destroyed. 
 
 Non habet eventus sordida praeda bonos. — Ovid. Amor. 
 
 (Ill gotten gains never come to a good end). 
 
 We have seen huge hills of wealth, like mountains of 
 ice, thus suddenly thawed as wax with the heat of luxury. 
 But parum justo, " a little that the righteous man hath, is 
 better than the riches of many ^vicked. For the arms of the 
 wicked shall be broken" (Psal. xxxvii. 16, 17), the strength 
 of their state shall be confounded. Their wealth is not 
 God's, therefore he takes no charge of it. But the riches 
 of the good is the riches of God, and he will prosper it. 
 
 2. These riches are well disposed or used. Piety, not lust, 
 rules them. He whom God's blessings hath made rich, 
 gives God his part, man his part, and keeps the thirds to 
 himself. He returns part. 
 
 1. To God. It is reason that he who gives all should 
 have part of all. And because thou shouldst not grudge 
 it, he challengeth but a httle part, but the tenth pai-t : 
 wretched men that will not give him one who gave them 
 ten ! As Pilate's wife sent her husband word, " Have 
 
THE BLESSINGS OF BOTH HIS HANDS. 
 
 201 
 
 thou nothing to do with that just man" (Matth. xxvii, 19), 
 meddle not with God's portion, lest a voice come to tlioc 
 as to Abimelech, "Thou art but a dead man," Gen. xx. 3. 
 This was good Jacob's resolution, " Of all that thou shalt 
 give me, I will surely give the tenth unto thee," Gen. xxviii. 
 22. Go too now ye that say the gospel hath no law for tithes, 
 and that they were merely ceremonial. Jacob paid them 
 under nature ; they are therefore unnatural men that deny 
 them. You can find no law commanding your payment, 
 but you shall find a law condemning your non-pa}Tnent. 
 
 What can then be pleaded for our accui'sed impropria- 
 tions ? Did the heavenly wisdom ever give you those riche.s ? 
 Shew us your patent, and we will believe you. If ever God 
 did convey his own portion to you, shew his hand seal for 
 it. Where did ever Jesus pass away his royal prerogative, 
 or acknowledge any fine before a judge, that you say hcec 
 notra sunt, these are ours? What money did }-ou ever 
 pay him for them ? Where Is your acquittance ? Shew your 
 discharge. Oh but you plead prescription ! K you were 
 not past .shame, you would never dare to prescribe against 
 the eternal God. Nullum tempus occurrit regi: the King 
 of heaven had these from the beginning, and will you now 
 plead prescription ? You may thus undo the poor minister 
 in these terrene courts, but your plea shall be damned in 
 the courts of God. We can produce his act and deed, 
 whereby he separated tenths to himself: have you nothing 
 to shew, and will you take away his inheritance? Go to, 
 you have a law, and by your own law this proceeding la 
 intolerable. You say you hold them by your law ; by your 
 law you shall be condemned. 
 
 Perhaps you think to make amends for all, for you will 
 increase the stipend of the vicar. When the father hath 
 gotten thousands by the sacrilegious impropriation, the 
 son perhaps may give him a cow's grass, or a matter of 
 forty shillings per annum, or bestow a little whiting on the 
 church, and a wainscoat seat for his own worship. Yea 
 more, he may chance to found a little alms-house, and give 
 twelve pence a piece a-week to six poor people. O this 
 
202 god's bounty ; on, 
 
 oppressor must needs go to heaven ! AVliat shall hinder him ? 
 But it ■will be, as the byword is, in a wlieelbarrow ; the 
 fiends, and not the angels, will take hold on him. 
 
 For is it not a great piece of charity to get five hundred 
 pounds a-year from God, and to bestow twenty merks 
 a-year on the poor? AVTien David, prodding for the 
 temple's building, saw how bountifully the princes and 
 people offered, he gave solemn thanks to God, acknow- 
 ledging that they had all received this first from him. 
 " For all things come of thee, and of thine own have we 
 given thee," 1 Chron. xxix. 14. The original is, "of thine 
 hand." What here the left hand of God gave to them, 
 their right hand returns to God. They did not as our 
 church-sackers and ransackers do, rob God with the right 
 hand, and give him a little back with the left ; take fi-om 
 him a pound, and restore him a penny. AVell, you would 
 know whether God hath given you your wealth ; and he says, 
 whatsoever you have gotten by tenths was none of liis 
 giving ; and besides everlasting malediction, it shall make 
 your posterity beggars. 
 
 2. The second rule of using our riches well is (when 
 God hath his own, in the next place) tribuere cuique suum, 
 to render every man his due. If they be God's gifts, they 
 must be disposed with justice. This is double ; commuta- 
 tive and distributive justice ; the one arithmetical, the other 
 geometrical. Arithmetical is to give every one alike ; geo- 
 metrical is to give ever}- one according to his deserts. 
 First, Cum res adcequatur rei: (when the thing corresponds 
 to the thing). Secondly, Cum res adcequatur personce (when 
 the thing corresponds to the person). There are two rules 
 for him that would be just, a negative and an affirmative 
 rule. First, the negative. " Do that to no man which 
 thou would not have done to thyself," Tobit iv. 15. Quod 
 tibi noil vis, alteri ne facias. Secondly, the affirmative. 
 " Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye 
 even so to them," Matth. vii. 12. Not what every man 
 out of his disordered passions would have another do to 
 him ; but what La his composed and deliberate judgment 
 
THE BLESSINGS OF BOTH IIIS HANDS. 
 
 203 
 
 lie approves done to himself, let him do that to others. 
 Wouldst thou be relieved ? relieve. Wouldst thou borrow ? 
 lend. 
 
 If I should follow this point of just distribution as a 
 mark to discern of your riches whether they are God's 
 goods or not, how distasting would my speech be ? How 
 few of your houses ai'e filled with those treasures only 
 which the heavenly wisdom here dispcrseth ! How little of 
 them is found to come in God's name ! It may bo some of 
 your wealth was given you of God, but your evil usage 
 alters the nature of it, and it can no more properly be 
 ascribed to him. It is hard to draw this circumstance into 
 a square ; it is so confused in your actions, that I cannot 
 tell how to find a method for it in my discourse. You may 
 make your riches none of God's blessings, by using them ill 
 in respect of others, especially three waj's. 
 
 {Detinendo debita, by detaining things due to others. 
 Extrud&ndo villa, by putting forth base things for 
 good. 
 Corrumpendo titilia, by corrupting with good things 
 others. 
 
 1 . By detaining those things that are due to others ; and 
 these are 
 
 f Debts, 
 either-; „ 
 
 Promises. 
 
 1. Debts. " Owe no man any thing, but to love one an- 
 other," Rom. xili. 8. Indeed there must be some owing, 
 as there must be some lending ; without this mutual com- 
 merce we are worse than savages. But we must pay again. 
 " The wicked borroweth, and payeth not again," Psalm 
 xxxvii. 21. Debt is not deadly sin when a man hath no 
 means, but when he hath no meaning to pay. There must be 
 votal restitution if there cannot be actual. Restore quoad 
 affectum, though you cannot quoad effectum, " For if there 
 
204 
 
 be first a -willing mind, it is accepted according to that a 
 man hath, and not to that he hath not," 2 Cor. viii. 12. 
 God reckons that as done which a man vere voluit, tametsi 
 mil valuit adimplere (Bernard) : faithfully would, though not 
 fully could accomplish. 
 
 There are those who will restore some, but not all ; to this 
 they have posse but no velk ; let the creditors be content 
 with one of four. But this little detiny is great iniquity. 
 For a mite is debt as well as a million ; tam, though not 
 iaiitum, so good a debt, though not so great a debt. And 
 " he that is faithful in a little, shall be made ruler over 
 much," Matth. xxv. 23. 
 
 What shall we then say of their goods that break and 
 defraud others ? Come they from God's hand or from the 
 devil's ? Surely Satan's right hand gave them not God's 
 left. HcBC mea sunt, saitli the devil ; mece dicitice, mei divites : 
 These are mine, my riches and my rich men. O that men 
 would see this damnable sin ! methinks their terrified con- 
 sciences should fear that the bread they eat would choke 
 them, for it is stolen ; and stolen bread fills the belly with 
 gravel. They should fear the drink they swallow woulil 
 poison them, being the very blood of good householders, 
 mixed with the ^tears of widows and orphans. The poor 
 creditor is often undone, and glad of bread and water ; 
 whiles they, like hogs lurking in their styes, fat and lard 
 their ribs with the fruit of other labours. They rob the 
 husband of his inheritance, the wife of her dowrj-, the chil- 
 dren of their portions ; the curse of whole families is against 
 them. 
 
 And if this sin lie upon a great man's soul, he shall find 
 it the heavier to link him lower into perdition. They are 
 the lords of great lands, yet live upon other men's money : 
 they must riot and revel, let the poor commoners pay for 
 it. They have protections : their bodies shall not be 
 molested, and their lands are exempted. What then, shall 
 they escape ? No, their souls shall pay for it. When the 
 poor creditor comes to demand his own, they rail at him, 
 they send hun laden away, but with ill words, not good 
 
THE BLESSINGS OF BOTH HIS IIAKDS. 205 
 
 money. In the countiy they set labourers on work, but 
 they give them no hire. Tut, they .are tenants, vassals : 
 must they therefore have to pay ? Yet those very land- 
 lords will bate them nothing of their rents. But the riches 
 so had are not of God's giving, b>it of the devil's lending, 
 and he tntII make them repay it a thousandfold in hell. 
 
 2. Promises are due debts, and must not be detained. 
 If the good man promise, though -to his " own hurt, he 
 cliangeth not" (Psal. xv. 4.) Indeed now promuisis dices 
 quilibet esse potest : Men are rich in promises, but they are 
 poor in performance. More respect is had to commodity 
 than to honesty. Men have their evasions to disannul their 
 promises : either they equivocate or reserve : or being urged, 
 plead forgetfulness. But the truth is, they have sufficient 
 memory, but not sufficient honesty. It is said that a good 
 name is the best riches ; Qua semel amissa, postea 7nillis eris : 
 (which, being lost, thou art beggared indeed.) But what 
 care they for a name, so long as they save their money ? 
 
 A Pilate could say, Quod scripsi, scripsi : " "What I have 
 ■written, I have written John xix. 1 2 ; and shall not a Chris- 
 tian say. Quod dixi faciam ; What I have promised, I will per- 
 form ? Hence it comes that there is so little fiuth in the world : 
 that scriveners have so much work : that the proverb runs 
 in everj body's mouth, Fast bind, fast find : that there is 
 no hope of good deeds, but sealed and delivered : that there 
 is more trust to men's seals than to their souls ; for the 
 law of God holds us not so fast as the laws of men. 
 There is more awe of judgment in the Common Pleas 
 than of a sentence of condemnation in the court of heaven. 
 The sheriff is altogether feared, not God : there is no dread 
 of any execution but his. Is the wealth thus detained, in 
 your own consciences God's blessing ? Deceive not your own 
 souls. God requires us to be in our words as righteous in 
 all our ways. A Christian's word should be as current as 
 his coin. Thus you see this first circumstance of injustice 
 taxed. Therefore "withhold not good from them to 
 whom it is due, when it is in the power of thy hand to do 
 it," Prov. iii. 27. 
 
206 
 
 2. By putting forth base things for good. The prophet 
 Amos speaks of some that " sell the refuse of their wheat" 
 (chap. viii. G ), the basest wares : neither do they sell them 
 for base but for good. If half a score lies, backed with 
 as many oaths, will put off their vile commodities, they shall 
 not he upon their hands. Not upon their hands, I say ; 
 though upon their consciences. 
 
 Plenius aequo 
 
 Laudat vxnales.qui rult extrudere irerccs.— J^or. I. viii. tp. 
 (The merchant overpraises the goods he is anxious to sell.) 
 
 Their rule for themselves is Vincat utilitas (success to 
 selfishness) ; for others, Caveat emptor (let the buyer be- 
 ware). Either they will shew you one thing and sell you 
 another — and this cozenage hath longer arms than all other 
 tricks — and overreaches them, or they will conceal the 
 insufficiency of the wares ; and for this cause they darken 
 their shops, lest the light .should reveal their works of dark- 
 ness. " They love darkness more than light," John iii. 19. 
 Let them take heed lest it be unto them according to their 
 desires : lest as they have brought hell into their shops, so 
 their shops send them into heU. 
 
 Or if the commodity be discerned bad, you must have 
 that or none. If your necessity forceth you to buy, it shall 
 force you to buy such base stuff. This is a grievous sin in 
 all professions, especially amongst apothecaries : because 
 with their injustice may be also mixed a spice of murder. 
 But you will say, we compel none to buy our commodities : 
 we but shew them, and make the price. But it is craft 
 tcndere plagas, etsi agitaluTTts non sis : to lay snares, though 
 you drive not men into them. Or be it what it will, yet 
 rather than refuse your money, they will protest to give you 
 the buj-ing. Yea rather than fail, they will sell it you 
 cheaper than before they swore it cost them. 
 
 Quis mcttis aut pudor est properantis avari ? (what fear or 
 shame has he who burns to be rich ?) Juv. Sat. 14. What, 
 sell cheaper than they buy ? How should they then live ? 
 The answer is easy ; they live by their Ijing. 
 
 Now, doth this wealth come in God's name ? Is this the 
 
THE BLESSINGS OF BOTH HIS HANDS. 207 
 
 blessing of heaven ? Which of your consciences dare think 
 so? Saint Augustine (De Trin. lib. xiii. cap. 3) speaks of 
 ii certain jester that undertook to tell the people what they 
 all did most desire. Multitudes came to hear this : to 
 whose expectation he thus answered : — Vili rultis emere, et 
 chare vendere : You would buy cheap, and sell dear. And 
 this is every man's desire that desires to be rich more than 
 to be just. 
 
 3. By making others bad with his goods ; and here we 
 may fitly proceed to the condemnation of bribery. " A 
 gift blindeth the eyes of the ivise," Deut. xvi. 19. They 
 that see farthest into the law, and most clearly discern the 
 causes of justice, if they suffer the dusts of bribes to be 
 throAvn into their sight, their eyes will water and twinkle, 
 and fall at last to blind connivance. It is a wretched thing 
 where justice is made a hackney that may be backed for 
 money and put on with golden spurs, even to the desired 
 journey's end of injury and iniquity. 
 
 If the party be innocent, let his cause be sentenced for 
 his innocency's sake : if guilty, let not gold buy out his 
 punishment. If the cause be doubtful, the judge shall see 
 it worse when he hath blinded his eyes with bribes. But 
 the will of the giver doth transfer right of the gift to the 
 receiver. No ; for it is not a voluntary will. But as a man 
 is willing to give his purse to the thief, rather than venture 
 his life or limb : so the poor man gives his bribes rather 
 than hazard his cause. Thou sayest, the thief hath no right 
 to the purse so given ; God saith, nor thou to the bribe. 
 
 And this is sinful in a justicer, though he pass true judg- 
 ment on the cause ; but much more accursed, when for 
 this he will condemn the cause he should allow, or allow the 
 cause he should condemn. To justify the wicked, and con- 
 demn the innocent, is alike abomination to the Lord. Far 
 be fi-om our souls this wickedness ; that the ear which 
 should be open to complaints is thus stopped with the ear- 
 wax of partiality. Alas, poor Truth, that she must now be 
 put to the charges of a golden earpick, or she cannot bo 
 heai'd ! 
 
208 god's bounty ; on, blessings of both his hakds. 
 
 But to shew that these riches are not of God's giving, his 
 anger is hot against tbeni. " Fire shall consume the taber- 
 nacles of bribery," Job xv. 34. The houses or taber- 
 nacles, the chambers, halls, offices, studies, benches ; a fire 
 shall consume them. Tliey may stand for a while, but the 
 indignation of the Lord is kindled ; and if it once begin to 
 burn, all the waters in the south are not able to quench it. 
 These riches, then, come not of God's blessing ; but I pray 
 that God's blessing may be yours, though you want those 
 riches. Time, that severe moderator, chargeth me silence : 
 and I rather choose abruptly to break off my discourse than 
 immodestly to abuse your tried patience. The Lord send 
 us the gifts of his left hand at his own good pleasure, but 
 never deny us the blessings of his right, for Jesus Christ's 
 sake. Amen. 
 
GOD'S BOUNTY; 
 
 THE BLESSINGS OF BOTH HIS HANDS 
 
 (THE SECOMO BTKXOr 
 
 " Length of days is In her righ t hand : and in her left hand, riches and honour 
 
 />»». 111. 16. 
 
GOD'S BOUNTY; 
 
 OB, 
 
 THE BLESSINGS OF BOTH HIS HANDS. 
 
 •* Length of days I3 in her rigUt hand : and in her left hand, riches and honour."— 
 Prov. ill. 16. 
 
 AVe are looking into the left hand of wisdom, and there 
 have found, first, That riches and honour are God's gifts ; 
 secondly, That every man's riches and honour are not so, 
 that the mouth of wickedness might be stopped. Therefore 
 to satisfy our own consciences that they are God's bless- 
 ings to us, I observed that they must be, first, honestly 
 gotten ; secondly, justly disposed, and that by rendering 
 sincerely that which is due, first, to God ; secondly, to 
 man ; thirdly, to ourselves. Duties to others ended my 
 former discourse ; I must now begin at 
 
 Ourselves. 
 
 The third act of disposing of our riches well, when God 
 hath his portion and man his portion, is to take the thirds 
 to ourselves. It is God's will that with the wealth he hath 
 given thee, thou shouldest refresh and console thyself. 
 " Thou preparest a table before me ; thou anointest my head 
 ■with oil ; my cup runneth over," Psal. xxiii. 5. Wherefore 
 
212 
 
 G01>'s BUUNTY : on, 
 
 hath God spread a table before thee, but that thou shouldst 
 eat ? Wherefore given thee a cup running over, but that thou 
 shouldst drink ? K thou have " wine, make thy heart glad ; 
 if oil, let thy face shine ; if bread, strengthen thy spirits," 
 Psal. civ. 15. Wear thine ovm wool, and drink the milk of 
 thine own flocks. It is a blessing which the Lord gives to 
 those that fear him ; " Thou shalt eat the labour of thine 
 own hands : happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with 
 thee," Psal. cxxviii. 2. But a curse to the wicked ; that 
 they shall plant vineyards, and not taste the fruit thereof. 
 The riches that God truly gives, man truly enjoys. " Every 
 man to whom God hath given riches and wealth, and hath 
 given him power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and 
 to rejoice in his labour: this is the gift of God," Eccles. v. 
 19. Now a man may take from himself this comfort in 
 abusing his wealth ; and this many ways, especially four : 
 
 1. By spending them upon works of superstition, to the 
 dishonour of God. And this is a high degree of ingratitude ; 
 when God hath given them a sword to defend themselves, 
 and they turn the point of it upon his own breast. So God 
 gave Israel sheep and oxen, and they offer them up to Baal. 
 Many in England are beholden to God for great revenues, 
 lands, and lordships ; and they therewith maintain jesuits 
 and seminaries, his professed enemies. These use their 
 riches as the Israelites did their earrings and jewels ; God 
 gave them for their own ornament, and they turn them to 
 an idol. 
 
 2. By malice ; in abusing them to unnecessarj' quarrrls 
 and contentions of law, to the hinderance of God's peace 
 and their neighbours' welfare ; when men will put out one 
 of their own eyes to put out both their neighbour's ; nay, 
 both their own for one of his. Thus, what they get by the 
 
 Superstition, 
 
THE BLESSINGS OF BOTH HIS HANDS. 213 
 
 happiness for foreign peace, they spend in civil wars. How 
 unnatural is it for one hand thus to beat and wound ano- 
 ther ! Either of them gets a shell ; you know who goes 
 away with the meat. 
 
 3. By riot. Quicquid dant, dant vel veneri vel ventri. 
 They spend more upon the tavern than upon the tabernacle 
 — at the house of plays than at the house of praise ; more 
 upon their own hounds than upon God's poor children. 
 Julius Cresar, seeing women carry little dogs under their 
 arms, asked if they had no children. God asketh you that 
 give your bread to dogs, if he hath no children for your 
 charity. But they answer all, as the -nncked in the 1 2th 
 Psalm, " Our tongues are our own," Psal. xii. 4. They stop 
 the mouth of all exhortation to frugal courses with, It is 
 my own ; a man may spend his own as he Hst. I waste 
 none of your goods ; and what hath friend in private or 
 preacher in public to do vfith it ? But they shall find one 
 day that they were but stewards — that these riches were 
 but intrusted to them, and they shall give a strict account. 
 Nothing is properly a man's own, but peccata sua, his sins. 
 Thy sins are thine own ; thy riches, God's. 
 
 4. By miserable niggardliness, in forbearing to take his own 
 portion ; and so becometh his own consumption. No marvel 
 if such a miser starve others, when he famisheth himself. 
 Such a one is the worst vermin the land bears. Another 
 vermin seeks but to feed itself; but he, hoarding up his 
 grain, feeds many thousands of them. Let him beware lest 
 they also at last devour himself; as that German bishop, 
 that, having great store of corn in a grievous famine, refused 
 to sell it to the poor, and suffered the rats to eat it ; but, by 
 the just judgment of God, the mice and rats which he fed 
 with his grain did also feed upon him, albeit he built a 
 tower in the midst of the river Rhine to avoid them ; which 
 the Germans call still " Rats' Tower" (Act. et Mon. p. 
 185.) How shall they which slander heaven with pretended 
 dearths, be admitted as friends to that' place which they 
 have behed ? 
 
 You see how these riches must be gotten — how disposed ; 
 
214 god's bounty: or, 
 
 honestly gotten — justly dispensed. Now it follows also in 
 
 the next place that they must be 
 
 3. Patiently lost. When God gives riches to the good, 
 he gives them also a heart to trust in himself: in himself, I 
 say, not in them. " Trust not in uncertain riches, but in 
 the hving God, who giveth us abundantly all things to en- 
 joy," 1 Tim. vi. 17. He gives abundantly, but he forbiddeth 
 trust in that abundance. He commends riches to us, as a 
 great man doth a servant to his friend ; work him, but trust 
 him not ; put labour to him, not confidence in him. Wealth 
 may do us good service ; but if it get the mastery of our 
 trust, it will turn tyrant, termagant ; we condemn ourselves 
 to our own galleys. 
 
 To the godly, riches are never so dear but they can be 
 content to forego them. They receive them at God's hands 
 with much thankfulness, and they lose them with much 
 patience. When God takes aught from us, he does us no 
 wrong. Relrahit sua, non abstrahit nostra : he doth but take 
 back his own, not take away ours (Greg, in Mor). So 
 Job : " The Lord hath given, and the Lord hath taken 
 away," Job i. 21. The Lord giveth, therefore he may take 
 away. Yea, Faith says. Lord, take all, so thou give me 
 thyself. " We have left all, and followed thee," saith Peter, 
 Matth. xix. 27. Nos sequamur Christmn, catera sequentur 
 nos : Let us follow Christ, other things shall follow us. But 
 if they do not, it is gain enough to have Christ. He is too 
 covetous whom the Lord Jesus cannot satisfy. We may lose 
 divitias Dei, but never Deum divitiarim. AVe may be for- 
 saken of these riches of God, but never of the God of riches. 
 Amittamus omnia, dum haheamus habentem omnia : Let us lose 
 all, so we have him that hath all. 
 
 That was never perfectly good that might be lost. Of 
 this nature are riches ; they have made many prouder — 
 none better. As never man was better, so never wise man 
 thought himself better for them. That wise prophet would 
 never have prayed against riches, if their want had been the 
 want of blessedness. The devil indeed says, "All these 
 will I give thee ;" but the two dearest apostles say, " Silver 
 
THE BLESSINGS OF BOTH HIS HANDS. 215 
 
 and gold have I none." AVho would not rather be in the 
 state of those saints than of that devil ? Riches are such 
 things as those that have them not want them not ; those 
 that have them may want them : they are lost in a night, 
 and a man is never the worse for losing them. How many 
 kings (not fewer than nine in our island) that have begun 
 their glory in a throne, have ended it in a cell ; changing 
 their command of a sceptre for the contemplation of a book ! 
 Alas, silly things ! that they should dare ask one drachm of 
 our confidence. Non tanta in muUL^ fcelicitas, quanta in paucis 
 securilas. Thei-e is not so much happiness in the highest 
 estate, as there is content and peace in the lowest. Only 
 then God be our trust, whose mercy we can no more lose 
 than himself can lose his mercy. 
 
 Thus you see this second general point amplified. If 
 riches be God's blessings (not only in themselves — so, they 
 are always good — but to us), then they are gotten honestly, 
 disposed justly, lost patiently. As much, happily, might be 
 said for honour ; wherein I vnll briefly consider how and 
 when it is of God. 
 
 God indeed gives honour and riches, but not all honour ; 
 as you heard before, not all riches. There are four things 
 in an honoured person. First, His person ; wherein he par- 
 takes of the common condition of mankind — lives and dies a 
 man. Even the sons of princes have their breath in their 
 nostrils. Secondly, His honour and dignity. This, simply 
 considered, is of God, whosoever he be that hath it — a 
 Joseph or a Haman. Thirdly, The manner of coming to his 
 honour ; and this is no longer of God than the means are 
 good. If it be God's honour, God must give it, not man 
 usurp it. Fourthly, The managing of this honour ; and this 
 is also of the Lord, if it be right and religious. It happeneth 
 often that poteyis, the great man is not of God. " They 
 have set up kmgs, but not by me ; they have made princes, 
 and I knew it not," Hos. viii. 4. The manner of getting 
 dignity is not always of God. Richard HI. came to the 
 crown of England by blood and murder. Alexander VI. 
 obtained the popedom by giving himself to the devil ; yet 
 
216 god's bounty; or, 
 
 the dignity is of God. " By me kings reign ; by me princes 
 
 and nobles," Prov. viii. 15, 16. 
 
 It is a hard question, wherein honour consists. Is it in 
 blood, descending from the veins of noble ancestors? not 
 so, except nature could produce to noble parents noble 
 children. It was a monstrous tale that Nicippus' ewe 
 should yean a lion. Though it be true among irrational 
 creatures that they ever bring forth their like ; eagles 
 hatch eagles, and doves doves ; yet in man's progeny there is 
 often found not so like a proportion as unlike a disposition. 
 The earthy part only follows the seed, not that whose form 
 and attending qualities are from above. Honour must 
 therefore as well plead a charter of successive virtue as of 
 continued scutcheons, or it cannot consist in blood. The 
 best things can never be traduced in propagation; thou 
 mayest leave thy son heir to thy lands in thy will, to thy 
 honour in his blood ; thou canst never bequeath him thy 
 virtues. The best qualities do so cleave to their subjects, 
 that they disdain communication to others. 
 
 That is then only true honour where dignity and desert, 
 blood and virtue, meet together ; the greatness whereof is 
 fi-om blood, the goodness from virtue. Among fools dig- 
 nity is enough without desert ; among wise men desert with- 
 out dignity. If they must be separated, desert is infinitely 
 better. Greatness without virtue, laudatur ore alieno, dam- 
 natur conscientia sua, is commended by others' tongues, con- 
 demned in thine own heart. Virtue, though without promo- 
 tion, is more comforted in thine own content, than disheart- 
 ened by others' contempt. It is a happy composition when 
 they are united ; think it your honour, ye gi eat men, that 
 you are ennobled with virtues ; not that you have, but that 
 you desire honour. Let this that hath been spoken teach 
 us some lessons concerning honour. 
 
 1. Take it when God sends it, but be not ambitious of it. 
 Indigni est arripere, non accipere honorem : It is an argument 
 of imworthiness to snatch it denied, not to accept it ofiered. 
 " God resisteth the proud" (1 Pet. v. 5), opposeth himself 
 in a professed war against him, as if he held a sword 
 
THE BLESSINGS OF BOTH HIS HANDS. 217 
 
 against his breast, when he would rise up in glory to nail 
 him fiist down to the earth. But he giveth grace to the 
 humble ; like a gi-eat and good prince he gives those ser- 
 vants gi-ace and honour whom he perceives least ambitious 
 of it. Such men seek not for honour, as for a jewel they 
 would fain find, but only stumble at it, as Saul sought but 
 his father's asses, when he lighted on a kingdom. Pride, 
 like smoke, will surge upward, though it vanish into air ; 
 massy virtue, like gold, keeps below, and is more preciously 
 respected. 
 
 He that would mount, cares not what attendance he 
 dances at all hours, upon whose stairs he sits waiting, what 
 enormities he soothes, what deformities he imitates, what 
 base offices he docs prostrate himself to, so he may rise. 
 His cai-riage is alienum a sc, quite another thing from him- 
 self ; he doth glue it on indecently, that he may screw him- 
 self into favour. This man never understood the charge 
 that goes with honour ; which the most wise disposition of 
 God hath coupled together. Charge without some honour 
 would overlay a man. If a man could have honour with- 
 out some trouble, it would so transport him, that he were 
 continually in danger of running mad. The poor man 
 envies the great for his honour ; the great perhaps envies 
 the poor more for his peace : for as he lives obscurely, so se- 
 curely. He that rightly knows the many public and more 
 secret vexations incident to honour, would not (as that king 
 said of his crown) stoop to take it up, though it lay at his 
 feet before him. 
 
 2. Live worthy of that honour thou hast. Greatness 
 not hallowed with grace is like a beacon upon a high hill. 
 Qui conspiciunt, dispiciunt: they that behold it hate it, 
 though perhaps they dare not censure it. The knee may 
 be forced to reverence, but the mind cannot but abhor so 
 imworthy a statue. In his pride he stomachs the covered 
 head, or the stiff knee of a good Mordecai, fretting tbat 
 other men do not thmk hhn so good as he thhiks himsell'. 
 But indeed he doth not think himself more honourable thiu 
 others think him base. All the poor honour that ho l-.ath. 
 
218 god's BOUNTi- ; or, 
 
 is only kept above ground with his bodj- ; both corrupt, fall, 
 and rot together ; and if it be conjured up at the funeral to 
 present itself, yet it fails not to go back with the heralds. 
 
 3. Forget not your original, ye whose brows the wreaths 
 of honour have (above hopes) engirt. If the Lord hath 
 " raised you out of the dust, and lifted you up out of the 
 dunghill, and set you among the princes of the people 
 (Psal. cxiii. 7, 8) ; yet forget not your Father's house, nor 
 the place of your beginning. Miseranda ohlii io orifjinis non 
 minisse : He never truly understands what he is, that for- 
 gets what he hath been. Solomon's observation is often 
 true : " Folly is set in great dignity," Eccles. x. 6. Albeit 
 this be not the right ubi ; folly in excellency. Now these 
 excellent fools soon forget from how low estate they are 
 risen. They consider not how glad their carcases would 
 once have been of a warm covering, that are now richer 
 than lilies, more gorgeous than May ; scarce " Solomon in 
 all his glory was arrayed like one of these," Matth. vi. 29. 
 They consider not that need once made them trudge 
 through the mire even many tedious journeys, that climb 
 by unjust riches to that dignity, as in their carriages, to be 
 whirled through the popular streets. 
 
 It was Jacob's humble acknowledgment of God's mercy 
 to him : " With my staff I passed over this Jordan, and 
 now I am become two hands," Gen. xxxii. 10. If blind 
 ingratitude would suffer many proud eyes to see it, how 
 justly might divers say : With my staff came I hither 
 walking, and now I ride in triumph with attendants. To 
 these let me apply the words of the prophet : " Look unto 
 the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit 
 whence ye are digged," Isa. h. 1 . Remember your poor 
 beginning, that you may bless God for your advancing. 
 Say not only in general, Quis homo? " What is man that 
 thou, O Lord, art so mindful of him?" (Psal. viii. 4), but 
 Quis ego ? " What am I, and what is my father's house, 
 that God should thus raise me up?" 1 Sara. ix. 21. 
 
 4. J£ thou have honour, keep it, but trust it not. Nothing 
 is more inconstant ; for it depends upon inconstancy itself, 
 
THE BLESSINGS OF BOTH HIS HANDS. 219 
 
 the vulgar breath, which is hellua multorum capitum : a 
 beast of many heads, and as many tongues, which never 
 keep long in one tune. As they never agree one with ano- 
 ther, so seldom do they agree with themselves. Paul and 
 Barnabas come to Lystra (Acts xiv. 6), and raise an im- 
 potent cripple. Hereat the amazed people would needs 
 make them gods, and draw bulls and garlands to the altars 
 for sacrifice to them. Not long after, they drew Paul out 
 of the city, and stoned him. They suddenly turned him from 
 a god to a malefactor ; and are ready to Idll him, instead of 
 sacrificing to him. O the fickleness of that thing which 
 is committed to the keeping of vulgar hands ! Trust not 
 then popularity with thy honour, so it is mutable ; but trust 
 virtue with it, so it is durable. Nothing can make sure a 
 good memory but a good life. It is a foolish dream to hope 
 for immortality and a long-lasting name, by a monument 
 of brass or stone. It is not dead stones, but living men, 
 that can redeem thy good remembrance from obhvion. A 
 sumptuous tomb covers thy putrefied carcase ; and be thy 
 life never so lewd, a commending epitaph shadows all : but 
 the passenger that knew thee tells his friends that these 
 outsides are hypocritical, for thy life was as rotten as thy 
 corpse ; and so is occasioned by thy presumed glory, to lay 
 open thy deserved infamy. Neither can the common people 
 preserve thy honour whilst thou livest, nor can these dull 
 and senseless monuments keep it when thou art dead. Only 
 thy noble and Christian life makes every man's heart thy 
 tomb, and turns every tongue into a pen to write thy death- 
 less epitaph. 
 
 5. Lastly. If God gives to some men honour, it is then 
 manifest that God allows difference of persons. He ordains 
 some to rule, and others to obey ; some masters, others ser- 
 vants : he setteth some up on high, and placeth others in 
 a low degree. To repine at others' greatness and our own 
 meanness, is to cavil with God ; as if he wanted wisdom and 
 equity in disposing these inferior conditions. It is a savage 
 and popular humour to niahgn and inveigh against men in 
 eminent places. That rhyme, " When Adam delved and 
 
220 god's bounty ; or, 
 
 Eve span, who was then a gentlemam ?" seems to be 
 made among Jack Straw's followers, and to savour of re- 
 bellious discontent. God allows no man to vilify where he 
 hath honoured ; no scurrilous libels disgracing those that 
 live, yea, disparaging the very dead, shall pass the court of 
 God's justice unccnsured. Where the Lord confers and 
 confirms honour, woe to the tongue that shall traduce it. 
 This second point hath held us long, the brevity of the rest 
 shall ease it. 
 
 3. Observe that Solomon, in the donation of the left 
 liand, couples together riches and honour ; as if these two 
 were for the most part inseparable companions ; " God 
 gives to a man riches and honour," Eccles. vi. 2. First 
 riches and then honour, for it is lightly found ; so much 
 riches, so much honour ; and reputation is measured by the 
 acre. I have wealth enough, saith the worldling ; I will turn 
 gentleman, take my " ease, eat, drink, and be merry," Luke 
 xii. 45. Riches are the stairs whereby men climb up into 
 the height of dignity ; the fortification that defends it ; the 
 food it lives upon ; the oil that keeps the lamp of honour 
 from going out. Honour is a bare robe, if riches do not 
 lace and flourish it ; and riches a dull lump, tOl honour give 
 a soul to quicken it. Fitly, then, honour and riches, wealth 
 and worship, do bear one another company. 
 
 4. Lasthj. Observe that though riches and honour be 
 God's gifts, yet they are but the gifts of his left hand ; 
 therefore it necessarily follows, that every wise man will first 
 seek the blessings of the right. " First seek the kingdom 
 of God and his righteousness, and these things shall be 
 added to you," Matth. vi. 33. Godliness is the best riches 
 — riches the worst : let us strive for the former without 
 condition ; for the other, if they fall in our way, let us stoop 
 to take them up — if not, let us never covet them. It is no 
 vrisdom to refuse God's kindness, that offers wealth ; nor 
 piety to scratch for it when God withholds it. "When the 
 Lord hath set thee up as high as Haman in the court of Aha- 
 sucrus, or promoted thee to ride with Joseph in the second 
 chariot of Egypt ; were thy flock of cattle exceeding Job's 
 
THE BLESSINGS OF BOTH HIS HANDS. 
 
 221 
 
 " seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred 
 yoke of oxen," Job i. 3 ; did thy wardrobe put do^vn Solo- 
 mon's, and thy cupboard of plate Belsliazzar's when the 
 vessels of God's temple were the ornature ; yet all these are 
 but the gifts of Wisdom's left hand, and the possessors may 
 be under the malediction of God, and go down to damna- 
 tion. If it were true that sanctior qui dltior, that goods 
 could make a man good, I would not blame men's Idssing 
 this left hand, and sucking out riches and honour. But, 
 alas ! what antidote against the terror of conscience can be 
 chimed from gold ? What charm is there in brave apparel 
 to keep off the rigour of Satan? Quod lihi prcestat opes, non 
 tihi prcestat opem : That which makes thee wealthy cannot 
 make thee happy. 
 
 Jonah had a gourd that was to him an arbour. lie sat 
 under it secure ; but suddenly there was a worm that bit it 
 and it died. Compare (secretly in your hearts) your riches 
 to that gourd ; your pleasure to the greenness of it ; your 
 pomp, attendance, vanities, to the leaves of it ; your sudden 
 increase of wealth, to the growing and shooting up of it. 
 But withal forget not the wonn and the wind ; the worm 
 that shall kill your root is death, and the wind that shall 
 blow upon you is calamity. There is a greater defect in 
 this wealth and worship than their uncertainty. Non modo 
 fallacia quia duhia, verum insidiosa quia dulcia : They are 
 not only deceitful through their ticklcness, but dangerous 
 through their lusciousness. Men arc apt to surfeit on this 
 luxuriant abundance ; it is a bait to security, a bawd to 
 wantonness. 
 
 Here is the main difference between the gifts of God's 
 right hand and of his left. He gives real blessings with the 
 left, but he does not settle them upon us : he promiseth no 
 perpetuity : but with the graces of his right he gives assur- 
 ance of everlastingness. Christ calls riches the " riches of 
 deceitfulness " (Matth. xiii. 22) ; but grace "the better part 
 that shall never be taken away," Luke x. 42. David com- 
 pares the wealthy to a flourishing tree that is soon wither- 
 
222 god's bounty ; or, 
 
 ed ; but faith establisheth a man like " Mount Sion, never 
 to be removed," Psal. cxxv. 1. He that thinks he sits 
 surest in his seat of riches, " let him take heed lest he 
 fall." AATien a great man boasted of his abundance (saith 
 Paulus Eniilius), one of his friends told him that the anger 
 of God could not long forbear so great prosperity. How 
 many rich merchants have suddenly lost all ! How many 
 noblemen sold all ! How many wealthy heirs spent all ! 
 Few Sundays pass over our heads without collections for 
 shipwrecks, fires, and other casualties, demonstrative 
 proofs that prosperity is inconstant, riches casual. And for 
 honour, we read that Belisarius, an honourable peer of the 
 empire, was forced in his old age to beg from door to door. 
 Obulum (late Bdisario : (Give a mite to Belisarius). Frede- 
 rick, a great emperor, was so low brought that he sued to 
 be made but the sexton of a church. 
 
 O then let us not adhere to these left hand blessings, but 
 first seek " length of days," eternal joys never to be lost. 
 A man may enjoy the other without fault : the sin consLsteth 
 jnceferendo vel conferendo ; either in preferring riches, or in 
 comparing them with faith and a good conscience. Utere 
 caducis, fruere CBternis: Thou must necessarily use these 
 transient things, only enjoy and rest upon the everlasting 
 comforts of Jesus Christ. "\Vhen God hath assured to a 
 Christian spirit the inheritance of heaven, he joyfully pilgrims 
 it through this world : if wealth and worship salute him by 
 the way, he refuseth not their company ; but they shall not 
 stray him out of his path, nor transport his affections, for his 
 heart is where his hope is, his love is where his Lord is ; 
 even with Jesus his Redeemer at the right hand of God. 
 ISTow this man's very riches are blessed to him ; for as from 
 the hand of God he hath them, so " fi-om the hand of God 
 he hath to enjoy good in them," Eccl. ii. 24. Whereas to 
 some, saith Solomon, " I have seen riches kept for the 
 owners thereof to their hurt " (Eccl. v. 13) ; to the good 
 man they shall work to the best (Rom. viii. 28) ; blessing 
 his condition in this life, and enlarging his condition in 
 
THE BLESSIXGS OF BOTH HIS HAXDS. 223 
 
 heaven ; as the wise man sweetly, " The blessing of the 
 Lord, it niaketh rich, and he addcth no sorrow with it," 
 Prov. X. 22. 
 
 Thus in particular : if we confer the right Iiand with the 
 left, we shall generall}' learn, 
 
 1. That both God's hands are giving: it is enough if 
 man give with one hand ; but the Lord sets both his hands 
 a-doling his alms of mercy- A'e??io tuanim imam vincetutra- 
 qne manu : No man can do so much with both hands as 
 God with one hand, with one finger. He hath manum 
 plciiam, extensam, expansam : a hand full, not empty — so full 
 that it can never be emptied with giving. Innumerable are 
 the drops in the sea, yet if one be taken out, it hath 
 (though insensibly) so much the less : but God's goodness 
 can suffer no diminution, for it is infinite. !RIen are sparing 
 in their bounty, because the more they give the less they 
 have ; but God's hand is ever full, though it ever disperse : 
 and the filling of many cisterns is no abatement to his ever- 
 running fountain. Our prayers, therefore, are well directed 
 thither for blessings ; whence though we receive never so 
 much, we leave no less behind. Let this master of requests 
 in heaven have all our suits : we are sure either to receive 
 what we ask, or what we should ask. 
 
 It is externa: a hand put forth, and stretched out. 
 " Stretched out, not to receive but to give." The pro- 
 phet speaks of rulers that stretch out their hands for 
 bi-ibes, and cry, " Give ye " (Hos. iv. 18) ; but the Lord's 
 hand is put forth to offer good things. " All day long have 
 T stretched forth my hands to a disobedient people," Rom. 
 X. 21. Indeed God hath a hand ; and woe to the man 
 against whom it is stretched. Homer saith that all the 
 gods could not ward a blow of Jupiter's hand. His hands 
 are not only hands that cannot be sufficiently praised ; 
 but hands that cannot be resisted. It is a heavy hand 
 when it lights upon men in anger. " It is a fearful thing to 
 fall into the hands of the living God." When revolting Is- 
 rael fell to serve Baal and Ashtaroth, " whithersoever they 
 went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil," 
 
224 G0I>'S BOUNTY : OR, 
 
 Judg. ii. 15. When the men of Ashdod were smitten with 
 emerods, it is said " the hand of the Lord was heavj' upon 
 them," 1 Sam. v. 6. So David in his grievous miserj- : 
 " Thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me 
 sore," Psal. xxxviii. 2. It is not this hand that God here 
 stretcheth out. Bernard saith God hath two hands ; ford- 
 tudo and latiludo : A hand of strength, qua defendit potenter, 
 wherewith he protects his friends and confounds his enemies. 
 A hand of bounty, qua trihuit affiuenler, whereby he dis- 
 perseth and disposeth the largest of his gifts. (SeT. \uu. in 
 Cant.) This is the hand here put forth, manus regalLi, 
 and gives munus regale : a royal hand, full of real mercies. 
 Let us humbly kiss it. 
 
 It is expansa ; not a shut hand, but open. " Thou openest 
 thy hand and fillest all things lining with plenteousness," 
 Psal. cxlv. 16. " God gives richly," saith Paul, 1 Tim. vi. 
 18. Man is poor, because he is a creature. The very 
 name of creature infers poverty. It implies a receiving of 
 all. Quid hahes quod non accepisti ? The Creator hath the 
 possession of all, and the disposition of all, at his own plea- 
 sure. " Every good gift and every perfect gift is from 
 above, and cometh down from the Father of hghts, " Jam. 
 i. 17. Bread, in the Lord's Prayer, is called ours : Give 
 us this day our daily bread ;" but ne putetur a nobis, dicimus 
 da nobis (Aug. Epist. 143). Lest we should imagine it our 
 own from ourselves, we are taught daily to beg it of our Fa- 
 ther in heaven, whose it is. It is the Lord's hand that bar- 
 reth the gates of our cities, " that filleth our gamers vrith 
 plenty," Psal. cxliv. 13 ; that sets peace about our walls, 
 and prosperity in our palaces ; that blesseth her goings out, 
 and comings in ; even aU the works of our hands. 
 
 But what speak I of temporal things, the gifts of his left 
 hand, in comparison of length of days, everlasting joys, the 
 treasures of his right ? Repentance, humility, charity, and 
 the lady of all graces. Faith, come from his hand, and are 
 the fair gifts of God. Jpsum velle credere, Dens operatur in 
 homine (Aug. de spiritu et liter, &c. cap. 34). The first will 
 to believe is wrought in man by God. If any ask. Cur illi 
 
nLESSINGS OF BOTH HIS HANDS. 225 
 
 ita suadealur, vt persmdeatur ; ilU aulem vmi itii? AVliy dulh 
 tliis ni:in bi'Iicvc, and another remain in inlidelity V I lie 
 di;il!ns Ihi: Mie lianil of God hath been here, working iaali 
 in Ihc soul of him that belicveth. All comes from this hand 
 of mercy. (^iiisi/uis tUii enumerat mcrila sua, quid tibi oiu- 
 viu-at inuiicra tiia ? (Aug. Confess, lib. i.x. cap. 13). lie 
 tlnit reckons to God his merits, what doth he reckon but 
 God's mercies ? Qua' bo na mea, dona tua : those that are 
 iny goods, as God's gifts. 
 
 2. Though hands be here attributed to God, yet ,it is l)ut 
 by way of metaphor, — not literally and in a true propriety 
 of speech. To conceive God to be as man with human di- 
 mensions, was the heresy of the Anthropomorphites ; and 
 he tiiat thus grossly thinks of God, saitli Jerome, makes an 
 idol of God in his heart. But herein God stoops to the 
 quality of our understandings, ascribing to himself anger 
 and displeasure, as it were passions to the impassible ; 
 whereas nec Dcus affcctu capitur, nec tanrjitur ira : they are 
 not passions, but perfections. God hath a mouth, by which 
 he teacheth man wisdom ; he bath feet, by which he walketh 
 on the earth, his footstool ; he hath hands, by which lie 
 giveth food to nil flesh ; he hath none of these organically 
 as men have ; but in the variety of effects which he pro- 
 duceth. So Bernard (Serm. 4 in Cant.) : Per effect urn htxc 
 habet, non per naturam: (these he has eifectivelv, not natu- 
 rally.) 
 
 3. Observe that in the left hand there is a double benefit, 
 riches and honour ; in the right but a single one, length of 
 days ; yet this one far transcends both the other. For if 
 we should restrain it to this world, long life is a great bless- 
 ing, and more valuable than wealth and worship. But 
 taking it, as it is meant, for eternity (for this life is but a 
 span lonar ; a span then, now scarce the length of a finger), 
 as Psal. xxiii. 6, " I will dwell in the house of the Lord for 
 ever;" originally to length of days, but fitly translated 
 for ever. The left hand is as far exceeded by the right, as 
 short mortality is by everlastingness. Aged Israel to his 
 grandchildren, K[)hraini and Manassch, two sons of Joseph, 
 
 P 
 
226 god's bounty ; or blkssixgs of both his hands. 
 when the father had placed the first-born, ]\Ianasseh, to liis 
 right hand, and Ephraim, the younger, to his left ; ho, 
 crossing his hands, laid the right upon Ephraim and the 
 left upon Manasseh (Gen. xlviii. 14). AMien Joseph would 
 have removed his hands, he refused : "I know it, my son, I 
 know it. Manasseh also shall become a people, and he also 
 shall be great ; but truly his younger brother shall be greater 
 than he." The Lord doth bless many Manassehs with his 
 left hand in riches and honours ; but blessed be that Ephraim 
 to whom his right hand is commended. Lord, let others 
 enjoy the treasures of thy left hand, but lay thy right upon 
 our souls. 
 
 4. I conclude. Smce the Lord, out of both his hands, 
 pours and showers upon us these mercies, what should we do 
 but be thankful ? Shall we receive benefits by heaps ; and 
 is the incense of our gratitude of so thin a smoke ? All 
 these blessings seem to say to man. Take, and take heed. 
 Accipe, redde, cave : Receive, return, beware. Take warmth 
 fi-om me, saith Apparel ; heat from me, saith Fire ; strength 
 from me, saith Bread. Restore thankfulness to the Giver. 
 Or else beware lest the fire burn thee, water drown thee, 
 air choke thee ; lest all give destruction that should give 
 comfort. Receive in the name of God ; return in the praise 
 of God ; or beware in the fear of God. To whom, for the 
 blessings of both his hands, be glory ascribed from all lips 
 and hearts, for ever and ever. Amen. 
 
POLITIC HIIJfTING 
 
 " Ef an wu & aanDlng hnnter, & man of the field : and Jacob was a plain man> 
 idwelUng in tents."— ffm. xxT. 37. 
 
POLITIC HUNTING. 
 
 " Eiau was a cunning hunter, a man of the fleliJ ; and Jacob was a plain 
 man, dwelling in tents."— ii?. 27. 
 
 When God hath a long while deferred his actual bless- 
 ings to the importunate suppliants, and extended their de- 
 sires, at last he doubles on them the expected mercy ; so 
 he recompenseth the dilution with the dilitation and enlarg- 
 ing of his favours. Rebekah had long been barren ; and now 
 the Lord opens her womb, and sets her a-teeming ; she con- 
 ceives two at once. 
 
 It Ls observable that many holy women, ordained to be 
 mothers of men specially famous and worthy, were yet long 
 barren. Sarah, the wife of Abraham, that bore Isaac ; Re- 
 bekah, the wife of Isaac, that bore Jacob ; Rachel, the wife 
 of Jacob, that bore Joseph ; Hannah, the mother of Samuel ; 
 Elisabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. Hereof may be 
 given some reasons. 
 
 1. One Chrysostom (Horn. 49, in Gen.) gives, Ut ex mi- 
 rahili partu sterilium, prcestrueretur fides parlui Virginia : 
 That by the miraculous cliild-bearing of barren women, a 
 way might be made to believe the birth of Christ by a 
 virgin. 
 
 2. To shew that Israel was multiplied, not by natural suc- 
 cession, but by grace. So Theodoret (Quest. 74, in Gen.) 
 
 3. To exercise the faith, hope, and patience of such as, 
 notwithstanding a promise, had their issue delayed. 
 
 But now Isaac prays, God hears ; Rebekah conceives : she 
 conceives a double burden : a pair of sons struggling in her 
 womb. Her body is no less disquieted with this plenty 
 
230 POLITIC nUXTING. 
 
 than her mind was before with the lack of children. Esau 
 and Jacob were born •, brethren they are, not more near in 
 birth than different in disposition ; for " Esau was a cunning 
 hunter, a man of the field : but Jacob was a plain man, 
 dwelling in tents." 
 
 These two are the subject of my discourse, wherein I re- 
 gard their nomina, omina : names and proceedings. Their 
 names, Esau and Jacob, note their conditions for opposite. 
 The one a cunning hunter, the other a plain man. Of both 
 whom I will be bold to speak literally and liberally : lite- 
 rally, of their individual persons ; liberally, as they were 
 figures and significations of future things. 
 
 For herein is not only regardable a mere historj-, but a 
 mystery also. And as St Paul applied the true story of 
 Isaac, the sou of the free, and Ishmael, the son of the bond- 
 woman, that by these things was another thing meant (Gal. 
 iv. 24) ; so I may conclude of these two brothers in the 
 same manner, verse 29 : " A.s then, he that was born after the 
 flesh persecuted him that was bom afler the Spirit, even 
 so is it now." So it is now, and so it shall be to the end of 
 the world. 
 
 I must speak, Jirst, of the first-bom, Esau. It is probable 
 he was called Esau in regard of his manner of birth. Verse 
 25, " He that came out first, was red all over like an hairy 
 garment, and they called his name Esau." 
 
 Some derive it from the Hebrew word Qtiasah, which 
 signifieth to make ; and taken passively, it implies a perfect 
 man. For he came forth red and hairj- ; red, to betoken 
 his bloody disposition ; hairj', to shew his savage and wild 
 nature. Other children are bora with hair only on the 
 head, eye-lids, and brows, but he was hairy all over ; pro- 
 mising extraordinary cmelty. 
 
 He had three names, 1 . Esau, because he was complete. 
 2. Edom, because he was red of complexion ; or because 
 he coveted the red pottage. 3. Seir, that is, hair. 
 
 You hear his name, listen to his nature. God's Spirit 
 
POLITIC IIUNTINO. 231 
 
 gives him this character, " he was a cunning hunter," &c. 
 A name doth not constitute a nature, yet in holy writ, very 
 often the nature did fulfil the name and answer it in a 
 future congruence. 
 
 The character hath two branches, 
 
 , . ) Dition. 
 notmghisj 
 
 His condition or disposition was hunting ; his dition, por- 
 tion, or seigniory, was the field : he was a field-man. 
 
 The first mark of his character is, " a cunning hunter;" 
 wherein we have expressed 
 
 Lis 
 
 (Power, 
 j Policy. 
 
 His strength and his sleight ; his brawn and his brain. 
 BGs might ; he was a hunter. His wit ; he was a cunning 
 
 His .strength • A H/ritei- 
 
 Hunting, in itself, is a delight lawful and laudable, and 
 may well be argued for fi-om the disposition that God hath 
 put mto his creatures. He hath naturally inclined one kind of 
 beasts to pursue another, for man's profit and pleasure. He 
 hath given the dog a secret instinct to follow the hare, the 
 hart, the fox, the boar ; as if he would direct a man by the 
 finger of nature to exercise those qualities which his divine 
 wisdom created in them. 
 
 There is no creature but may teach a good soul one step 
 toward his Creator. The world is a glass, wherein we may 
 contemplate the eternal power and majesty of God. " For 
 the invisible things of him, from the creation of the world, 
 are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are 
 made, even his eternal power and Godhead," Rom. i. 20. 
 It is that great book, of so large a character, that a man 
 may run and read it. Yea, even the simplest man that can- 
 
232 
 
 POLITIC HrNTING. 
 
 not read may yet spell out of this book that there is a 
 God. Every shepherd hath this calendar, every plough- 
 man this ABC. What that French poet divinely sung, is 
 thus as sweetly Englished : 
 
 The world's a school, where, in a general story, 
 God always reads dumb lectures of his glory. 
 
 But to our purpose. This practice of hunting hath in it, 
 1. Recreation; 2. Benefit. 
 
 Delight. Though man by hb rebellion against his Crea- 
 tor forfeited the charter -which he had in the creatures, and 
 hereon Adam's punishment was that he should work for that 
 sudore viiltus, which erst sprung up naturally beneficio crea- 
 toris ; yet this lapse was recovered in Christ to beUevers, 
 and a new patent was sealed them in his blood, that they 
 may use them not only ad riecessitatem vttoe, but also in de- 
 lectationem animi. So God gives man not only bread and 
 wine to strengthen his heart, but even oil to refresh his 
 countenance. " Let thy garments be always white, and let 
 thy head lack no ointment," Eccles. i.x. 8. When Solomon 
 had found men pulling on themselves unnecessar}' vexations 
 in this world, and yet not buj-ing peace in heaven with their 
 troubles on earth, he concludes, " Then I commended mirth, 
 because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to 
 eat, and to drink, and to be merry ; for that shall abide 
 with him of his labour, the day of his life that God giveth 
 Iiim under the sun," Eccles. viii. 15. 
 
 But there is a liberty, the bounds whereof, because men's 
 affections cannot keep, it is better their understandings knew 
 not. I may say of too many as Seneca ; Nihil falicitali 
 eorum deest, 7iisi moderatio ejiis : They have happiness enough, 
 if they could moderate it. Nothing is magis proprium ma- 
 teria, say philosophers, more proper to matter than to 
 flow ; nisi aforma sistitur, unless the form restrain and stay 
 it. Nothing is more peculiar to man than to run out, and 
 to err exorbitantly, if grace direct not. 
 
 Men deal with recreation as some travellers do with ano- 
 
POLITIC HUNTING. 233 
 
 ther's grounds ; tbey beg passage through tliem in winter, 
 for avoidance of the miry ways ; and so long use it on suf- 
 ferance that at last they plead prescription, and hold it by 
 custom. God allows delights to succour our infirmity, and 
 we saucily turn them to habitual practices. Therefore Solo- 
 mon condemns it in some, as he commends it in others. " Re- 
 joice in thy youth," and follow thy vanities ; " but know, 
 that for all this, God will bring thee into judgment," Eccles. 
 xi. 9. And our Saviour denounceth a vce ridcnlibiis, for they 
 that will laugh when they should weep shall mourn when 
 they might have rejoiced. 
 
 We often read of Christ weeping, never laughing ; taking 
 his creatures for sustentation, not for recreation. Indeed 
 he afforded us this benefit ; and what we had lost, as it 
 were ex poslliminio, he recovered to us. But it were strange 
 that hceres succedcns in defmtcti locum should do more than 
 the testator ever did himself or allowed by his grant ; or 
 that servants and sinners sliould challenge that which was 
 not permitted to their Master and Saviour. But thus we 
 pervert our liberty, as the Pharisees did the law, in sensum 
 reprobum (to a corrupt sense). These hunt, but keep not 
 within God's pale, the circumferent limits wherein he hath 
 mounded and bounded our liberty.' 
 
 Benefit. Recreations have also their profitable uses, if 
 rightly undertaken. 
 
 1. The health is preserved by a moderate exercise. Se- 
 dentariam agentes vitam : they that live a sedentary life so 
 find it. 
 
 2. The body is prepared and fitted by these sportive to 
 more serious labours, when the hand of war shall set them 
 to it. 
 
 3. The mind, wearied with graver employments, hath 
 thus some cool respiration given it, and is sent back to the 
 service of God with a revived alacrity. 
 
 His policy. A Cunning Hunter. 
 But we have hunted too long with Esau's strength, let us 
 learn his sleight ; a cunning hunter. Hunting requires tantum 
 
234 
 
 POLITIC HUNTING. 
 
 artis, quantum martis (as much art as strength) ; plain force 
 is not enough, there must be an accession of fraud. There 
 is that common sense in the creatures to avoid their pur- 
 suers. Fishes will not be taken with an empty hook, nor 
 birds with a bare pipe, though it go sweetly, nor beasts 
 with Briareus' strength only, though he had an hundred 
 hands. Here'astus polentior ai-mis : (sleight surpasses might). 
 Fishes must have a bait, birds a net ; and he that takes 
 beasts must be a cunning hunter. " Can a bird fall into 
 a sn.are upon the earth, where no gin is for him ?'' Amos 
 iii. 5. N.ay, often both vises and devices, toils and toilings, 
 strength and stratagems, are all too little. 
 
 A Cunning Hunter. 
 
 It appears that Es.au's delight was not to surprise tame 
 beasts that did him ser\'icc, but wild ; for against the for- 
 mer there needed no such cunning. How easily is the ox 
 brought to the yoke, the horse to the bit, the lamb to the 
 slaughter? His intention and contention was against wild 
 and noxious creatures. 
 
 This observation teacheth us to do no violence to the 
 beasts that serve us. Solomon stamps this mark on the 
 good man's forehead, that he is " merciful to his beast." And 
 the law of God commanded that " the mouth of the ox 
 should not be muzzled that treadeth out the corn." God 
 opened the mouth of an ass to reprove the folly of Balaam, 
 who struck her undeservedly for not going forward, when 
 God's angel stood ad oppositum. 
 
 Those sports are then intolerable, wherein we vex those 
 creatures that spend their strength for our benefit. God 
 therefore often justly suffers them to know their own power, 
 and to revenge themselves on our ingratitude. The Ro- 
 man soothsayers divined that when bulls, dogs, and a^ses 
 (beasts created for use and obedience) grew mad on a sud- 
 den, helium servile imminebat, it boded some servile war and 
 insurrection. But we may truly gather, that when God 
 suffers those serviceable and domestic creatures to make 
 mutiny and rebellion against us, that he is angrj- with 
 
POLITIC HUNTING. 
 
 235 
 
 our sins ; and that they no otherwise shake off our service 
 than we have shaken off the service of God. So long as 
 we keep our covenant with the Lord, he makes a league 
 for us with the beasts of the field ; but when we fall from 
 our allegiance, they fall from theirs, and (without wonder) 
 quit our rebellion against God with their rebellion against 
 us. AVc see what we get by running from our Master ; wo 
 lose om* servants. 
 
 But if they that fly from God by contempt shall thus 
 speed, what shall become of them that fly upon God by 
 contumacy? If wicked Nabal could blame the servants, 
 qui fugiunt Dominos, that ran from their masters ; how would 
 he condemn them, qui persequutitur, that run upon them 
 with violence ? But if we band ourselves against God, he 
 hath his hosts to fight against us. Fowls in the air, fishes 
 in the sea, beasts on the earth, stones on the street, will 
 take his part against us. So long doth the hen clock her 
 chickens as she takes them to be hers ; but if they fly from 
 the defence of her -wings, she leaves them to the prey of 
 the kite. So long as we obey God, heaven and earth shall 
 obey us, and evei-y creature shall do us service ; but if we 
 turn out-laws to him, we are no longer in the circle of his 
 gracious custody and protection. 
 
 A Cunning Hunter. 
 
 As cunning as he was to take beasts, he had little cun- 
 ning to save himself. How foolish was he to part with his 
 birthright for a mess of lentile pottage ? And since there is 
 a necessary discussion of his folly, as well as of his cunning, 
 I wUl take here just occasion to demonstrate it, and that in 
 five circumstances. 
 
 1. He had a ravenous and intemperate desire. This ap- 
 pears by these phrases he used. 1. " Feed me, I pray thee" 
 (verse 30); satisfy, saturate, satiate me; or let me swal- 
 low at once, as some read it : the words of an appetite in- 
 sufferable of delay. 2. To shew his eagerness, he doubles 
 the word for haste, with that red, with that red pottage ; red 
 was his colour, red his desire. He coveted red pottage, he 
 
236 
 
 rOLlllC UUXTIXG. 
 
 dwelt in a red soil, called thereon Idumea ; and in the text, 
 Therefore u as his name called Edum. 3. He says, / am 
 faint; and (verse 32) at the point to die, if I have it not; 
 like some longing souls that have so weak a hand over their 
 appetites, that they must die if their humour be not fulfilled. 
 We may here infer two observations. 
 
 1. That intemperance is not only a filthy but a foolish 
 sin. It is impossible that a ravenous throat should lie near 
 a sober brain ; there may be in such a man understanding 
 and reason ; but he neither hears that nor follows this. A 
 city may have good laws, though none of them be kept. 
 But as in sleepers and madmen, there is habitus rationis, 
 non usiis et actiis (Sen ep. 21, ad Lucil) : Such men have 
 reason, but want the active use. Venter proBcepta non audit, 
 (Id. ep. 60) : The belly hath no ears. Though you would 
 write such men's epitaphs whilst they are living, }et you 
 cannot ; for mortem suam antecesserunt, they have ante-acted 
 their death, and buried themselves alive ; as the French 
 proverb says, They have digged their grave with their teeth. 
 The philosopher, passing through Vacia the epicure's grounds, 
 said, Hie sitiis est Vacia: not here he lives, but here he 
 lies ; as it were dead and sepulchred. The pai-siniony of 
 ancient times hath been admirable. The Arcadians lived 
 on acorns ; the Argives on apples ; the Athenians on figs ; 
 the Tyrinthians on pears ; the Indians on canes ; the Car- 
 manes on palms ; the Sauromatians on millet ; the Persians 
 on nasturtio, with cresses ; and Jacob here made dainty of 
 len tiles (iElian var. hist. lib. 3). 
 
 2. That a man may epicurize on coarse fare, for lentile pot- 
 tage was no e.xtraordinar}' fine diet. But as a man may be 
 a Croesus in his purse, yet no Cassius in his pots ; so, on 
 the contrarj', another may be (as it is said of Job) poor to 
 a proverb, yet be withal as voluptuous as Esau, ilen have 
 talem dentem, qualem mentem : such an appetite as they have 
 affection. And Esau may be as great a glutton in his pot- 
 tage as those greedy dogs (Isa. hi. 12) that fill themselves 
 with strong wines ; or those fat bulls that eat the lambs and 
 calves out of the stall (Amos \i. -4). Thus the poor may 
 
\ 
 
 POLITIC HUNTING. 23^ 
 
 sin as much in their throat as the rich ; and be epicures 
 tarn late, though not tarn laute, in as immoderate, though 
 not so dainty fare. Indeed hibour in many bodies requires 
 a nioi-e plentiful repast than in others ; and the sedentary 
 gentleman needs not so much meat as his drudging hmd ; 
 but in both this rule should be observed, Quantum naturat 
 siifficiat, non quantum gulm placeat : Not what will please the 
 throat, but what will content nature ; to eat what a man 
 sliould, not what a man would. The poor man that loves 
 delicate cheer shall not be wealthy ; and the rich man that 
 loves it shall not be healthy. As cunning as Esau was, here 
 is one instance of his folly, an intemperate appetite. 
 
 2. His folly may be argued from his base estimation of 
 the birthright ; that he would so lightly part from it, and 
 on so easy conditions as pottage. It seems he did measure 
 it only by the pleasures and commodities of this life, which 
 were afforded him by it. " I am ready to die ; and what 
 profit shall this birthright do me?" verse 32 ; which words 
 import a limitation of it to this present world, as if it could 
 do him no good afterwards. Whereupon the Hebrews gather 
 tliat he denied the resurrection. For this cause the apostle 
 brands hiniTOth the mark of jimfaneness (Ileb. xii. ICj, that 
 he changed a spiritual blessing for a temporal pleasure. 
 
 And what, O ye Esauites, worldlings, are momentary 
 delights compared to eternal ? What is a mess of gruel to 
 the supper of glory ? The belly is pleased, the soul is lost. 
 Ne\er was any meat, except the forbidden fruit, so dearly 
 bought as this broth of Jacob. A curse followed both their 
 feedings. There is no temporal thing without trouble, 
 though it be far more worthy than the lentile-pottage. Ilath 
 a man good things ? he fears to forego them ; and when ho 
 must, could either wish they had not been so good, or a 
 longer possession of them. Hath he evil? they bring grief ; 
 and he either ^v^sheth them good or to be rid of them. So 
 that good things trouble us \vith fear, evil with sorrow. 
 Those in the future, these in the present. Those, because 
 they shall end ; these, because they do not end. Nothing, 
 
238 
 
 POLITIC ULTJTIXG. 
 
 then, can make a man truly happy but eternity. Pleasures 
 may last a while in this world, but they will grow old with 
 us if they do not die before us. And the Staff of age is no 
 pole of eternity. He then hath too much of the sensual 
 and profane blood of Esau iji him that will sell everlasting 
 birthrights and comforts for transient pleasures (Ileb. xii. 16.) 
 
 3. Another argument of his folly was ingratitude to God, 
 who had in mercy vouchsafed him (though but by a few mi- 
 nutes) the privilege of primogeniture ; wherewith divines hold 
 that tlie priesthood was also conveyed. The father of the family 
 exercised it during his life ; and, after his decease, the first- 
 born succeeded in that with the inheritance. And could 
 Esau be ungrateful to a God so gracious ? Or could he 
 possibly have aspired to a higher dignity ? Wretched un- 
 thankfulness, how justly art thou branded for a prodigy in 
 nature ! There are too many that, in a sullen neglect, over- 
 look all God's favours for the want of one that their affec- 
 tions long after. Non tarn agunt gratias de tribunatu, quam 
 queruntur, qxiod non sunt evecti in consulatum : It is nothing 
 •with them to be of the court, except they be also of the 
 council. 
 
 4. His obstinacy taxeth his folly ; that, after cold blood, 
 leisure to think of the treasure he sold, and digestion of his 
 pottage, he repented not of his rashness. But, verse 34, 
 " He did eat, and drink, and rose up, and went his way ;" 
 filled his belly, rose up to his former customs, and went his 
 way without a quid feci ? (what have I done ?) Therefore it is 
 added, " he despised his birthright." He followed his plea- 
 sures without any interception of sorrow, or interruption of 
 conscience. His whole life was a circle of sinful customs ; 
 and not his birthright's loss can put him out of them. A 
 circular thing implies a perpetuity of motion, according to 
 mathematicians. It begins from all parts alike, et in seipso de- 
 finil ; ends absolutely in itself, without any point or scope 
 objectual to move to. Earth was Esau's home ; he looks 
 after no other felicity ; therefore goes his way with less 
 
POLITIC HUNTING. 
 
 239 
 
 thought of a heavenly birthright than if he had missed the 
 deer he hunted. It is wicked to sell heavenly things at a 
 great rate of worldly ; but it is most wretched to vilipend 
 them. 
 
 5. Lastly, his perfidious nature appeareth ; that though 
 he had made an absolute conveyance of his birthright to Ja- 
 cob, and sealed the deed with an oath, yet he seemed to 
 make but a jest of it, and purposed in his heart not to per- 
 form it. Therefore " he said in his heart, The days of 
 mourning for my father are at hand ; then will I .slay my 
 brother Jacob," chap, xxvii. 41. He tarried but for the 
 funeral of his father, and then resolved to send his brother 
 after him ; as Cain did Abel, because he was more accepted. 
 It is hard to judge whether he was a worse son or a brother. 
 He hopes for his father's death, and purposeth his brother's ; 
 and vows to shed blood instead of tears. 
 
 Perhaps from his example those desperate wretches of 
 England drew their instruction. They had sold their birth- 
 right, and the blessing which Jesus Christ, like old Isaac 
 dying, bequeathed in his vnH to all believers, and all the 
 interest in the truth of the gospel, to the pope for a few 
 pottage, — red pottage, dyed in their o^vn blood, for seeking 
 to colour it with the blood of God's anointed and of his 
 saints. And now, in a malicious rancour, seeing the chil- 
 dren of truth to enjoy as much outward peace as they were 
 conscious of an inward vexation, they expected but diem 
 liictus, the days of mourning, when God should translate our 
 late queen, of eternally blessed memory, from a kingdom on 
 earth to a better in heaven ; and then hoped, lilce bustards 
 in a fallow-field, to raise up their heavy fortunes vi turhi- 
 nvi, by a whirlwind of commotion. But our Pecaior Orbis 
 (which was the real attribute of Constantino) beguiled their 
 envious hopes. And, as Paterculus said of the Roman em- 
 pire after Augustus's death, when there was such hope of 
 enemies, fear of friends, expectation of trouble in all, Tmita 
 fuit itnius viri majestas, ut nec bonis, neque contra malos opus 
 foret armis : Such was the majesty of one man, that his very 
 
240 
 
 POLITIC HUNTTKG. 
 
 presence took away all use of arms. Our royal Jacob pre- 
 cluded all stratagems, prevented all the plots of these mali- 
 cious Esauites, and settled us both in the fruition of the 
 gospel and peace with it. But in the meantime God did 
 punish their perfidious machinations, as he will do perjury 
 and treason, wheresoever he find them ; for he will nail 
 upon the head of the perjurer his oath traitorously broken. 
 
 In all these circumstances it appeareth, that though Esau 
 ■was subtle to take beasts, he had no cunning to hunt out his 
 own salvation. From all which scattered stones (brought 
 together) let me raise this building of instruction. 
 
 The wsest for the world are most commonly fools for ce- 
 lestial blessings. AVicked men can senlire quae sunt carnis : 
 (appi-ehend the things of the flesh), not of the Spirit. The 
 prophet Jeremiah compounds both these, and shews how wis- 
 dom and folly maj- concur in one man. " They are wise 
 to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge," Jer. 
 iv. 22. Let them war, they have their stratagems ; let 
 them plot in peace, they have their policies. For hunting, 
 they have nets ; for fowling, gins ; for fishing, baits. Not 
 so much as even in husbandi-y but the professors have their 
 reaches : they know which way the market goes, which way 
 it will go. Your tradesmen have their mysteries, — mysteries 
 indeed, for the mystery of iniquity is in them. They have 
 a stock of good words to put off a stock of bad wares ; 
 in their particular qualities they are able to school Machia- 
 vel. 
 
 But draw them from their centre earth, and out of their 
 circumference, worldly policies, and you have not more 
 simple fools. They have no acquaintance with God's sta- 
 tutes ; and therefore no marvel if they misjudge vices for 
 virtues. As Zebul told Gaal, that he mistook umbras :non- 
 tiuni pro capilibus homiiium: (the shadows of the mountsuns 
 for men). A man may easily run his soul upon the rocks 
 of rebellion, wliilst he neither looks to the card of conscience, 
 nor regards the compass of faith. 
 
POLITIC HUNTING. 
 
 241 
 
 A man of the Field. 
 
 We have taken the first branch of his character, the 
 main proportion of his picture : " he was a cunning hunter." 
 There is another colour added : " he was a man of the field." 
 But because I take it for no other than an explanation of 
 the former attribute, an exposition of the proposition, saving 
 it hath a little larger extent, I do no more but name it. 
 
 We do not think because he is called a man of the field, 
 that therefore he was a husbandman ; but as the Septuagint 
 call him, a field man, in regard that he was continually con- 
 versant in the field. There was his sport, there was his 
 heart. Therefore (ver. 28) did Isaac love Esau, "because 
 he did eat of his venison." He loved his venison, not his 
 conditions. Some would read it thus, " lecause venison was 
 in his tnouth,^' and so turn his hunting into a metaphor ; as 
 if by insinuation he had wound himself into the favour of 
 Isaac. But the other reading is better, saving that, by the 
 way, we may give a reprehension to such mouth-hunters. 
 
 If you would know who they are, they are the flatterers. 
 Of whom we may say, as huntsmen of their dogs. They are 
 well-mouthed, or rather ill-mouthed ; for ordinary dogs' 
 biting doth not rankle so sore as their licking. Of all 
 dogs they are best likened to spaniels ; but that they have a 
 more venomous tongue. They will fawn, and fleer, and 
 leap up, and kiss their master's hand, but all this while 
 they do but hunt him ; and if they can spring him once, you 
 shall hear them quest instantly, and either present hmi to 
 the falcon, or worry and prey on him themselves, perhaps 
 not so much for his flesh as for his feathers. For they love 
 not dominos, but duminorum ; not their master's good, but 
 their master's goods. 
 
 The golden ass, got into sumptuous trappings, thinks he 
 hath as many fi-iends as he hath beasts coming about him. 
 One commends his snout for fairer than the lion's ; another 
 his skin for richer than the leopard's ; another his foot for 
 swift,er than the hart's ; a fourth his teeth for whiter and 
 more precious than the elephant's ; a last, his breath for 
 
242 
 
 POLITIC HUNTDfG. 
 
 sweeter than the civet beast's ; and it is wonder, if some do 
 not make him believe he hath horns, and those stronger 
 than bull's, and more virtual than the unicorn's. All this, 
 while they do but hunt him for his trappings : uncase him, 
 and you shall have them baflle and kick him ! This doth 
 Solomon insinuate : " Riches gather many friends ; but the 
 poor is separated from his neighbours," Prov. xix. 4. He 
 says not the rich man, but riches. It is the money, not the 
 man, they hunt. 
 
 The great one bristles up himself, and conceits himself 
 higher by the head than all the rest ; and is proud of many 
 friends. Alas ! these dogs do but hunt the bird of paradise 
 for his feathers. These wasps do but hover about the gally- 
 pot, because there is honey in it. The proud fly sitting 
 upon the chariot-wheel, which, hurried with violence, hufled 
 up the sand, gave out that it was she which made all that 
 glorious dust. The ass, canning the Egj-ptian goddess, 
 swelled with an opinion that all those crouches, cringes, and 
 obeisances, were made to him. But it is the case, not the 
 carcass, they gape for So may the chased stag boast how 
 many hounds he hath attending him. Tliey attend, indeed, 
 as ravens, a dying beast. Acteon found the kind truth of 
 their attendance. They run away as spiders from a decay- 
 ing house ; or as the cuckoo, they sing a scurvy note for a 
 month in summer, and are gone in June or July, sure 
 enough before the fall. These hunters are gone ; let them 
 go ; for they have brought me a little from the strictness 
 and directness of my intended speech. But as a physician 
 coming to cure, doth sometimes receive some of his patient's 
 infection ; so I have been led to hunt a little wide to find 
 out these cunning hunters. 
 
 Be pleased to observe two general notes, and then I will 
 come to the appUcation. 
 
 1. These two brethren were bom together, were brought 
 up together ; yet how great difference was there in their 
 composition of bodies, in their tlisposition of minds, in their 
 events of life ; or, as they say, in their fortunes ? 
 
 1. For bodies; one was rough and hmry, the other was 
 
POLITIC HUNTING. 
 
 243 
 
 smooth and plain. This is seldom seen in children begot 
 and borne of the same parents ; but seldom or never in two 
 borne at one birth. And we may go so far with the phy- 
 siognomist to say, that complexion (though not guides) yet 
 inclines the inward disposition. 
 
 2. For disposition of mind, this text shews a wide and 
 opposite difference. Esau was a " cunning hunter," a man of 
 the field ; but" Jacob " a plain man, dwelling in tents." And 
 Gregory observes from this example (Lib. 5, moral) the 
 remoteness or contrariety of worldlings' and holy men's de- 
 lights. Men of the world hunt after the pleasures of the 
 ■world, as Esau : men of grace give themselves to the con- 
 templation and study of virtue, as Jacob. 
 
 3. For events or success in this world, there was such 
 distance as greater could not be imagined ; for it is here 
 said, " the elder shall servo the younger." The privilege of 
 primogeniture belonged to Esau ; yet both that and the 
 blessing went to Jacob. If among us the eldest son sell 
 all his lands to a younger brother, many are ready to bless 
 his stars, and to say. He is born to better fortunes. Divers 
 things are here figured. 
 
 1. Literally here is intended, that the Idimaeans, the 
 seed of Esau, should be subject to the Israelites, the poste- 
 rity of Jacob. So we read, that they were subdued to Israel 
 by David. "All they of Edom became David's servants," 
 2 Sam. viii. 14, and so continued to the reign of Jotham. 
 This gave the Jews not only a superiority in temporal do- 
 minions, but in spiritual blessings, the grace and mercy of 
 God ; for they were the visible church, and Edom was 
 cut off. 
 
 2. Mystically this signifies the carnal Jews subdued to 
 the Christians ; though the other were the elder people 
 (Aug. de Civit. Deo, lib. 16, c. 25.) Therefore it is ob- 
 servable, that in the genealogy of Christ (Matth. i.), many 
 of the first-born were left out. Seth is put in for the son 
 of Adam, yet his eldest son was Cain (Luke iii. 38.) So 
 Abraham begat Isaac (Matth. i. 2), yet his eldest son was 
 Ishmael; Isaac begat Jacob, yet here his first-bom was 
 
244 
 
 POLITIC HUKTIKG. 
 
 Esau. Jacob begat Judah, yet his first-bom was Reuben. 
 And David begat Solomon in Matthew's genealogy, Nathan in 
 Luke's, j'et both younger brethren by Bathsheba. Israel is 
 called God's first-born (Exod. iv. 22), and his chosen 
 people, his appropriation. Populus Judccus adumhratiis fait 
 in his profjeiiitis : The Jews were figured in these first- 
 born ; and we the Gentiles, that were the younger brothers, 
 have got away the birthright. They are cast o£F, we graffed 
 in ; so that now the elder seiTeth the younger (Rom. xi. 24.) 
 
 Which teacheth us to look well to our charter in Christ ; 
 for it is not enough to be bom of beUeving parents, but we 
 must also be believers. Job may sacrifice for, not expiate, 
 his son's sins. It is sinful for men on earth to deprive the 
 first-born ; but God may, and doth it. " Israel stretched 
 out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim's head, who 
 was the younger ; and his left hand on Manasseh's head, 
 guiding his hands wittingly, though Manasseh was the first- 
 born," Gen. xlviii. 14. And, verse 18, '■ AMien Joseph 
 said to him. Not so, my father ; Jacob answered, I know it 
 my son, I know it." Thus generation may be cut off, re- 
 generation never. A man may be lost, though bom in the 
 faith, unless he be bora again to the faith. Neither is it 
 enough for Ishmael to plead liimself the son of Abraham, 
 unless he can also plead himself the son of God, and an heir 
 of Abraham's faith. 
 
 2. Commend me here to all Genethliacks, casters of na- 
 tivities, star-worshippers, by this token, that they are all 
 impostors, and here proved fools. Here be twins conceived 
 together, born together ; yet of as different natures and 
 qualities as if a vast local distance had sundered their births, 
 or as if the original blood of enemies had run in their seve- 
 ral veins. It is St Augustine's preclusion of all star predic- 
 tions out of this place (De Civit. Deo, lib. iv. cap. 5). And 
 since I am fallen upon these figure-casters, I will be bold to 
 cast the destiny of their profession, and honestly lay open 
 their juggling in si.x arguments. 
 
 1. The falsehood of their Ephemerides. The prognostica- 
 
I'OLITIC HUNTING. 245 
 
 tors, as if they were midwives to tlic celestial bodies, plead 
 a deep insight into their secrets ; or as if, like pliysicians, 
 they had cast the urine of the clouds, and knew where the 
 fit held them : that it could neither rain nor hail, till some 
 star had first made tliem acquainted with it. Demonstra- 
 tion hath proved these so false and ridiculous, that they 
 may rather commovere nauseam qiiam hilcm (excite our dis- 
 gust than our anger), and risum (contempt) more than both. 
 
 Perhaps when some appoint rain on such a day, some 
 frost, others snow, a fourth wind, a last calm and fair weather ; 
 some of these may hit, some of these must hit : but, lightly, 
 he that against his knowledge told true to-day, lies to- 
 morrow ; and he that lied yesterday, may happen right next 
 day ; as a blind archer may kill a crow. 
 
 For this cause, I think, some were called erring or wan- 
 dering stars ; not so much that they were uncertain in their 
 own seats and motions, as because they caused to err their 
 clients and gaping inquisitors. And so they are called err- 
 ing, in the same phrase and sense as Death is called pale ; 
 not that it is pale itself, but because it maketh those pale it 
 seizeth on ; and winter durty, not formaliter (formally), but 
 secundum effectum, because it maketh the earth durty. So 
 that rather their own speculations by the stars, than the 
 stars, are erring : both decepto sensu cum judicio, et corruptis 
 organis. 
 
 Therefore some of the subtler have delivered their opi- 
 nions in such spurious, enigmatical, dilogical terms, as the 
 devil gave his oracles ; that since heaven will not follow 
 their instructions, their constructions shall follow heaven. 
 And because the weather hath not fallen out as they have 
 before told, they will now tell as the weather falls out. So 
 that reading their books you would think, as the beggars 
 have their canting, they had got a new language out of the 
 elements, which the poor earth never did or shall under- 
 stand : and it is thought that canting is the better language, 
 because it is not so ambitious as to meddle with the stars ; 
 whereof the prognosticator's head comes as short, as his 
 tongue doth of the beggar's eloquence. 
 
246 
 
 POLITIC HUNTING. 
 
 2. The state of fortune-tellers and prophecy-usurpers, 
 which is not only poor and beggarly (as if the envious 
 earth refused to relieve those that could fetch their living 
 out of the stars) but also ridiculous. 
 
 Nil habet infaelix paupcrtas durius in se, 
 Quam quud ridiculos homines facit: 
 
 (Unhappy poverty hath nothing harder in itself, than that it 
 makes men ridiculous.) This is not all ; but they are utterly 
 ignorant of their own destinies. Now qui sibi nescius, cut 
 prcesius ? He that is a fool for himself, how should he be 
 wise for others ? Thracias the soothsayer, in the nine years' 
 drought of Egj-pt, came to Busiris the tjTant, 
 
 Monstratque piari 
 Hospitis effuso sanguiue posse JoTem, 
 
 and told him that Jupiter's wrath might be appeased by 
 sacrificing the blood of a stranger. The tyrant asked him, 
 what countr>-man he was, — of Eg}-pt, or an alien ? lie told 
 him, a stranger. 
 
 lUi Busiris ; fies Jovis hostia primus, 
 Inquit, et Egyplo tu dabis hospes aquam : 
 Thou, quoth the tyrant, art that lucky guest. 
 Whose blood shall net our soil, and give us rest. 
 
 It is reported that Biron, a French marshal, came to 
 an astrologer, to know the future success of his plots ; which, 
 because he gave disastrous, the angrj- duke began to his 
 mischievous intendments in the fate-teUer's blood. Can they 
 read other men's fates in the stars, and not their own? 
 Therefore one wittily wrote on such a book, after throwing 
 it into the fire : 
 
 Thy author foretels much ; alas ! weak friend, 
 That he could not prognosticate thy end, 
 
 3. Tlic quick moving of the celestial bodies, and their 
 remoteness from our eyes ; both our sense is too weak to 
 pierce into those fires, and those fires are too quick in mo- 
 
POUTIC HUNTING. 
 
 247 
 
 tion for our apprehension. Therefore s.aith St Augustine, 
 Si tain celeriter alter post allerum nascitur, nl cmlem pars 
 horoscopi maneat, paria cimcta quaero, <juce in nullis possunt 
 geminis inveniri (De Civ. Deo, Ub. v. cap. 3) : If one of 
 the tivins be so immediately boni after tlic other, that the 
 same part of the horoscope abide, 1 require likeness and 
 equality in them both, which can in no twins be found. "We 
 see here two brethren born together (it is most likel}') un- 
 der the reign of one planet or constellation, yet more differ- 
 ent in natures than the planets themselves. 
 
 To this they answer, that even this cause, the swift mo- 
 tion of the planets, wrought this diversity, because they 
 change their aspects and conjunctions every moment. Tliis 
 would one Nigidius demonstrate, who, upon a wheel turn- 
 ing with all possible swiftness, let drop at once two asper- 
 sions of ink, so near together as possibly he could, yet 
 stantc rota, &c. the wheel standing still, they were found 
 very remote and distant ; whereby he would demonstrate, 
 that in a small course of time a great part of the celestial 
 globe may be turned about. But this St Austin soundly 
 returns on them : That if the planetary courses and celes- 
 tial motions be so swift, it cannot be discerned under what 
 constellation any one is bom. And Gregory (Iloni. 10, sup. 
 Evang.) wittily derides their folly, that if Esau and Jacob 
 were not therefore born under one constellation, because 
 they came forth one after another, by the same reason, 
 neither can any one be born under one constellation, be- 
 cause he is not born all at once, but one part after another. 
 
 4. Vita hrevis liominum : man's short and brittle life. If our 
 age were now, as it was with the patriarchs, when the stag, 
 the raven, and long-Uved oak, compared with man's life, 
 died very young, they might then observe and understand 
 the motion and revolution of the stars, and behold their ef- 
 fects ; when, if any star liad long absented itself from their 
 contemplation, they could stay two or three hundred years 
 to see it again. But now, as an English nightingale sung ; 
 
 Who lives to age 
 Fit to be made Methuselah's page ! 
 
248 
 
 POLITIC HUNTING. 
 
 On necessity this astrologer must live so long as to have 
 observed the life of such a man, bom under such a planet ; 
 and after him another bom in the like manner. Nay, he 
 must overtake the years of Methuselah in the successive 
 contemplation of such experiments. But this life is not 
 given, therefore not this knowledge. 
 
 5. The infinite number of the stars takes from them all 
 possibility of infallible predictions. They cannot give their 
 general number ; and can they give their singular natures ? 
 
 To attempt it is imprudentia ccecissima ; to affirm it, impu- 
 dentia effrontissima : blind dotage, shameless impudence. 
 
 6. The various dispositions, conditions, natures, and stu- 
 dies, cocetaneorum, of such as are born together. So Gre- 
 gory reasons of these t\vins : Cum eodem momenta mater 
 utrumque fuderit, cur non una utriusque vitce qmlilas ( vel 
 cequalitas) fuit? (Horn. 10, in Evang.) When the mother 
 brought them both forth at one instant, how comes it to 
 pass that they have not the same quality and equality in their 
 lives ? Are not many born at the same time, and under the 
 same constellation. Quorum processus et successus varios et 
 scepe contrarios videmus? Whose proceedings and events we 
 behold so different ? 
 
 If we may give credit that Romulus and Remus were both 
 born of a vestal (defiled by a soldier) at one birth, both 
 exposed together to a vn\d desert, both taken together and 
 nourished of a she-wolf, both building and challenging 
 Rome ; yet Romulus slew his brother, and got the kingdom 
 of that city, and, after his own name, called it Rome. 
 
 If Castor, Pollux, and Helena were got by Jupiter, and 
 hatched by Loeda out of one egg, how came they to so 
 various fortunes? 
 
 Cicero mentions it for the Chaldean folly (iEnead. b. Dc 
 Di\'inat. lib. 2), that they would have omnes eodem tempore or- 
 ios, all that were bom (wheresoever) together, eddem condi- 
 tione nasci, to be born to the same condition. 
 
 But were all the infants slain at one time by Herod born 
 under one constellation ? Or all the old world drowned in 
 the deluge under one star? Or all soldiers slain in one iiiM 
 
POLITIC HUNTIXG. 
 
 249 
 
 under the same sign ? The mathematicians were wont to 
 affirm that all bom under the sign Aquarius would be fishers ; 
 but in Getulia there are no fishers (Greg. Honi. 10, in 
 Evang). Was never any there born under the sign Aquarius ? 
 The Crctians (saith Paul) wei'c always liars. What, were 
 they all bom under Mercury ? The Athenians, greedy of 
 novelties, had they all one predominant star ? The Bel- 
 gic warriors, were they therefore all borne under the reign 
 of Mars? 
 
 But I have spent too much breath about this folly of 
 prognosticators. Of whom it may be said, that not only 
 " the children of this world are wiser in their generation 
 than the children of light" (Luke xvi. 8) ; but they would be 
 wiser ipsa luce than the light itself. They would know more 
 than saints and angels, and search out the uninvestigable 
 things of the Lord. Nam si que quoB eventura sunt, pnc- 
 videant, cequiparent Jovi : if they could foresee future things, 
 they would brag themselves equal to God. But secret 
 things belong to God, revealed to us. The other is both 
 arrogant in man and derogant to God. And Gregory says 
 well : " If such a star be a man's destiny, then is man made 
 for the stars, not the stars for man." The devils know not 
 future events ; and will these boast it ? Sus Minervam sci- 
 licet. 
 
 " They grew up together ;" and presently "Esau was a cun- 
 ning hunter," Jacob " a plain man." We see that even youth 
 doth insinuate to an observer the incUnation and future 
 course of a man. The sprig shooting out of the tree bends 
 that way it will ever grow. " Teach a child a trade in his 
 youth, and when he is old he will not forget it," saith Solo- 
 mon. Esau entered quickly into the black way which leads 
 to the black gates, that stand ever ready open for black souls. 
 Patet atri janua ditis. As if he should want rather time for 
 his sport than sport for his time, he begins early, at the 
 very threshold of his life and morning of his years. Neqniti 
 (tcursus celerior quam cctatis: His wickedness got the start of 
 his age. 
 
250 
 
 POLITIC HUNTING. 
 
 And did he ever stay his course, that foohsh parents 
 should be so indulgent to their children's hccntiousness ? 
 Nay even ready to snib and check their forwardness to 
 heaven with that curb, A young saint an old devil, and wild 
 youth Ls blessed with a stayed age ? But indeed most Ukely 
 a young saint proves an old angel, and a young Esau an old 
 devil. 
 
 And hence follows the ruin of so many great houses, that 
 the young master is suffered to live like an Esau till he hath 
 hunted away his patrimony, which scarce lasts the son so 
 many years as the father that got it had letters in his name. 
 But what cares he for the birthright ; when all is gone, he, 
 like Esau, can live by the sword. He will fetch gold from 
 the Indies, but he will have it. But he might have saved 
 that journey, and kept what he had at home. If the usurer 
 liath bought it, though for porridge, he will not part with it 
 again though they weep tears. It is better to want super- 
 fluous means than necessarj' moderation. In se magna ruunt, 
 sumisque negatum est, stare diu: (Ponderous edifices fall by 
 their own weight, and lofty pinnacles never stand long) ; 
 especially when the huge colossus have not sound feet. 
 Vast desires, no less than buildings, where foundations are 
 not firm, sink by their own magnitude. And there comes 
 often fire ex rhamno out of the bramble that bums up the 
 men of Shechem ( Judg. ix. 20), and sets on fire the eagle's 
 nest in the cedars. Parum j'lsto, " A little that a righteous 
 man hath is better than the riches of many vricked," Psal. 
 xxxvii. 16. And a plain Jacob will prosper better than a 
 profane hunting Esau. Let a man begin then with God. 
 " A^Tierewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by 
 taking heed thereto according to thy word," Psalm cxix. 9. 
 
 Thus Uterally. Let us now come to some moral appUca- 
 tion to ourselves. 
 
 Hunting is, for the most part, taken m the holy Scripture 
 in the worst sense. So Nimrod was a hunter, even to a 
 proverb (Gen. x. 9) ; and that before the Lord, as without 
 fear of his majesty. Now if it were so hateful to hunt 
 beasts, what is it to hunt men ? The wicked oppressors of 
 
POLITIC HUNTING. 
 
 251 
 
 the world are here t}'ped and taxed, who employ both arm 
 and brain to hunt the poor out of their habitations, and to 
 drink the blood of the oppressed. Herein observe, 
 
 are their prey, — any man that either their wit or vio- 
 lence can practise on. Not so much beggars ; yet they 
 would be content to hunt them also out of their coasts ; 
 but those that have somewhat worth their gaping after, and 
 whose estates may minister some gobbets to their throats. 
 Aquila non capit muscas : the eagles hunt no flies so long 
 as there be fowls in the air. The commonalty, that by 
 great labour have gotten a little stay for themselves, these 
 they hunt and lie along, and prey on their prostrate for- 
 tunes. 
 
 K they be tenants, woe is them ! Fines, rents, carriages, 
 slaveries shall drink up the sweat of their brows. There is law 
 against coiners ; and it is made treason justly to stamp the 
 king's figure in forbidden mettals. But what is mettal to 
 a man, the image of God ? And we have those that coin 
 money on the poor's skins ; traitors they are to the King 
 of kings. 
 
 The whole country shall feel their hunting. They hunt 
 commons into severals ; tilled gi-ounds into pastures, that 
 the gleaning is taken from the poor which God commanded 
 to be left them ; and all succour, except they can graze in 
 the highways. And to others, to whom their rage cannot 
 extend, their craft shall ; for they will hoist them in the 
 subsidies, or overcharge them for the wars, or vex them 
 with quarrels in kw, or perhaps their servants shall in di- 
 rect terms beat them. Naboth sliall hardly keep his vine- 
 yard if any nook of it disfigures Ahab's lordship. If they 
 cannot buy it on their own price, they will to law for it ; 
 
 the ■< Manner of hunting. 
 
 The Poor 
 
252 
 
 POLITIC HUNTING. 
 
 wherein they respect no more than to have ansam querelas, 
 a colourable occasion of contention ; for they will so weary 
 him that at last he shall be forced to sell it. But Tully says 
 of that sale, Ereptio non emptio est : It is an extorting, not 
 a purchasing (Lib. 4, in Vcr.) 
 
 Thus the poor man is the beast they hunt ; who must 
 rise early, rest late, eat the bread of sorrow, sit with many 
 a hungry meal, perhaps his children crj-ing for food, while 
 all the fruit of his pains is served into Nimrod's table. Cora- 
 plain of this while you wiU, yet, as the orator said of Verres, 
 Pecuniosus nescit damnari. Indeed a money-man may not 
 be damnified, but he may be damned. For tliis is a crying 
 sin, and the wakened ears of the Lord will hear it ; neither 
 shall his provoked hands forbear it. Si tacuerint pauperes, 
 loquentur lapides : If the poor should hold their peace, the 
 very stones would speak. The fines. Takings, enclosures, 
 oppressions, vexations, will cry to God for vengeance. " The 
 stone will crj' out of the wall, and the beam out of the tim- 
 ber shall answer it)" Ilab. ii. 
 
 You see the beasts they hunt ; not foxes, not wolves nor 
 boars, bulls nor tigers. It is a certain observation, no beast 
 hunts its own kind to devour it. Now if these should pro- 
 secute wolves, foxes, &c., they should then hunt their own 
 kind, for they are these themselves ; or rather worse than 
 these, because here Jiomo homini liiptts. But though they 
 ai-e men they hunt, and by nature of the same kind, they 
 are not so by quality ; for they are lambs they pei'secute. 
 In them there is blood, and flesh, and fleece to be had ; and 
 therefore on these do they gorge themselves. In them there 
 is weak armour of defence against their cruelties, therefore 
 over these they may domineer. I will speak it boldly ; 
 there is not a mighty Nimrod in this land that dares hunt 
 his equal ; but over his inferior lamb he insults like a young 
 Nero. Let him be graced by high ones, and he must not 
 be saluted under twelve score ofl". In the country he proves 
 a termagant ; his very scowl is a prodigy, and breeds an 
 earthquake. He would be a Caesar, and tax all ; it is well 
 if he prove not a cannibal. Only Jlacro salutes Seianus so 
 
POLITIC HUNTtKG. 
 
 253 
 
 long as he is in Tiberius' favour ; cast him fi'om that pin- 
 nacle, and the dog is ready to devour him. 
 
 You hear the object — they "hunt." Attend the manner, 
 and this you shall find, as Esau's, to consist in two things : 
 force and fraud. They are not only hunters, but cunning 
 hunters. 
 
 1. For their force. They are rohusti latroncs (strong 
 spoilers), and have a violent, impetuous, imperious hunting. 
 " Desolation and destruction are in their paths," Isa. lix. 7. 
 We may say of them as TertuUian said of the Montanists, 
 Non tarn lahorant lit ccdificarent sua, quam ut destruerent 
 aliena. They seek not so much their own increasing as the 
 depopulation of others. Philosophers hold the world to be 
 composed of three concurrent principles — matter, form, and 
 privation ; holding the last to be rather a principle of trans- 
 mutation than of establishment. Oppressors, besides the 
 matter, which is the commonwealth, and the form, which is 
 justice, have denied to make necessary also privation. 
 
 There are sins which strive only intra orbem smnn furere; 
 which have no further latitude than the conscience of the 
 committer ; they are private and domestic sins, the sting 
 ■whereof dies in the proprietary. Such are prodigality, env)', 
 sloth, pride. Though evil example may do somewhat, they 
 have no further extension. But some are of so wild a na- 
 ture that they are mallets and swords to the whole country 
 about them. And these are distinctly the sins of the hand. 
 So Micah ii. 2 : " They covet fields, and take them by vio- 
 lence ; and houses, even a man and his heritage." Why 
 do they all this, but because manus potest, " It is in the power 
 of their hand?" (verse 1.) And they measure their power, 
 saith Seneca, by the span, by the reacli of their hands. In- 
 juriis vires metuntur (De Benef. lib. i.) Anaxagoras thought 
 man the wisest of all creatures, because he hath hands, 
 ■whereby he can express all signs. He might have con- 
 cluded him the most wicked of all creatures, qida manuatus, 
 because he hath hands ; for no tiger or vulture under 
 heaven is more hurtful with his claws and talons than man 
 
254 
 
 POLITIC HUKTIXG. 
 
 with his hands. Achilles asked Palamedes, going to the 
 Trojan wars, why he went without a servant ? He showed 
 liim his hands, and told him the}' were loco servorum, in stead 
 of man\' servants. Mantes organuin organorum. Their dex- 
 terity and aptness chargeth them with sins, whereof the 
 other parts arc no le.<s guilty. 
 
 For the most part, those beasts have least immanity that 
 have most strength. Oxen, and horses, and elephants, are 
 tame and serviceable, but bees and hornets have stings. 
 So wisely hath the Creator disposed, that there may not be 
 a conjunction et potential et malevolenticB : that might and 
 malice may not meet. So they are suffered to have will to 
 hurt, and not power ; or power, and not will. The cursed 
 cow hath short horns. But these hunters have got both. 
 The poet saith : 
 
 That lions do not pre; on yielding things ; 
 Pity's infeoffed to the blood of the kings. 
 
 Posse et nolle, nobile : That thou mayest harm and wilt 
 not, is, laus tua, thy praise ; that thou wouldst, and canst 
 not, gratia Dei, is God's providence. Haman would hang 
 Mordecai, and cannot ; he is a villain in hell for his intent. 
 David, when he had Saul in the cave, could hurt and would 
 not ; he is a saint in heaven. Shimei would, but cannot 
 kill, though rail on, Da-vid ; David can, and will not kill 
 Shimei. The hot disciples would have fire from heaven to 
 destroy the Samaritans, and could not ; Christ could com- 
 mand it, and would not. How rare is a man of this dispo- 
 sition among us ! If advantage hath thrust a booty into his 
 hands, the lamb is in the wolves' cave with more securitj-. 
 Plead what thou wilt, prostrate thy own innocence, aggra- 
 vate the oppressor's cruelty ; he answers as .^Isop's wolf 
 answered the lamb, " Thy cause is better than mine, but 
 my teeth are better than thine ; I ^vill eat thee." And 
 this is a shrewd in\'incible argument, when the cause must 
 be tried out bj' the teeth. Pactum noii pactum est, non 
 pactum pactum est ; quicquid Hits lubet : Bargain or not bar- 
 gain, the law must be on their sides. Nemo potentes tutus 
 
POLITIC HUNTING. 
 
 265 
 
 potest af/gredi: He coincs to his cost, that comes to complain 
 against them (Sen. in Medea.) 
 
 2. For their fraud. They are cunning hunters. They 
 arc foxes as well as lions to get their prey. Nay, the fox's 
 head doth them often more stead than the lion's skin. 
 " They hunt with a net," Mieah vii. 2. They have their 
 politic gins to catch men. Gaudy wares and dark shops 
 (and would you have them love the light that live by dark- 
 ness, as many shopkeepers ?) draw and tole customers in, 
 where the crafty leeches can soon feel theii- pulses ; if they 
 must buy, they shall pay for their necessity. And though 
 they plead, we compel none to buy our ware, caveat emptor ; 
 yet with fine voluble phrases, damnable protestations, they 
 will cast a mist of en-or before an eye of simple truth, and 
 with cunning devices hunt them in. So some among us 
 have feathered their nests, not by open violence, but politic 
 circumvention. They have sought the golden fleece, not by 
 Jason's merit, but by Medeas' subtilty, by Medeas' sorcery. 
 
 K I should intend to discover these hunters' plots, and to 
 deal punctually with them, I should afford you more matter 
 than you would afford me time. But I limit myself, and 
 answer all their pleas with Augustine : " Their tricks may 
 hold injure fori, but not in jure poll: in the Common Pleas 
 of earth, not before the King's bench in heaven." (De Vita 
 et Morib. Christ.) 
 
 Neither do these cunning hunters forage only the forest 
 of the world, but they have ventured to enter the pale of 
 the church, and hunt there. They will go near to empark 
 it to themselves, and thrust God out. So many have done 
 in this land ; and though it be danger for the poor hare to 
 preach to lions and foxes, I am not afraid to tell them that 
 they hunt where they have nothing to do. Poor ministers 
 are dear to them, for they are the deer they hunt for. How 
 many parishes in England, almost the number of half, have 
 they enipailed to themselves, and chased the Lord's deer 
 out ? Yea now, if God lay challenge to his own ground 
 against their sacrilegious appropriations, for his own titles, 
 
256 
 
 POLITIC HUNTING. 
 
 they are not ashamed to tell him they are none of his, and 
 what laws soever he hath made, they will hold them with a 
 7ion obstante. They were taken into the church for patrons 
 — defenders ; and they prove offenders — thieves ; for most 
 often patrocinia, latrocinia (patronage is spoliation). 
 
 You have read how the badger entertained the hedgehog 
 into his cabin as his inward friend ; but being wounded 
 with the prickles of his offensive guest, he mannerly desired 
 him to depart in kindness as he came. The hedgehog thus 
 satisfies his just expostulation, that he for his part found 
 himself very well at ease ; and they that were not, had rea- 
 son to seek out another place that likes them better. So 
 the poor horse, entreating help of the man against the stag, 
 ever after non equitem dorso, non frcenum depidit ore : They 
 have rid us, and bridled us, and backed us, and spurred us, 
 and got a tyranny over us, whom we took in for our fami- 
 liar friends and favourites. 
 
 3. Now for their hounds, besides that they have long 
 noses themselves, and hands longer than their noses, they 
 have dogs of all sorts. 
 
 Beagles, cunning intelhgencers. Eb laudabilior, quo 
 frauduletilior : The more crafty they are, the more com- 
 mendable (Aug. Confes. Ub. i.) 
 
 Their setters, prowling promoters ; whereof there may 
 be necessary use, as men may have of dogs, but they take 
 them for mischievous purjioses. 
 
 Their spaniels, fawuing sycophants, that lick their mas- 
 ters' hands, but are brawling ever at poor strangers. 
 
 Their great mastiffs, surly and sharking bailifls, that can 
 set a rankling tooth in the poor tenant's ribs. 
 
 They have their bandogs, corrupt solicitors, parrot-law- 
 yers, that are their properties and meer trunks, whereby 
 they inform and plead before Justice against justice. And 
 as the hounds can sometimes smell out the game before 
 their master, as having a better nose than he an eye ; so 
 these are still pickmg holes in poor men's estates, and rak- 
 ing up broken titles; which if they justly be defended. 
 
POLITIC UUNTING. 
 
 257 
 
 actio sit non liistralis, sed secularii : (The suit may last, not a 
 term, but a century). "Where if (because justice doth some- 
 times prevail) it go against them, j'et major est expensarvm 
 siimptiai, quam sente.ntim fructus: The cost is more charge- 
 able than the victory profitable. 
 
 Some of them, whose jiale is the Burse, have their blood- 
 houuds, long-nosed, hook-handed brokers, that can draw 
 the sinking estate of poor men by the blood of necessity. 
 If they spy pride and prodigality in the streets, they watch 
 over them as puttocks over a dying sheep. For pascuntur 
 scclere : they are not doves but ravens, and therefore sequ- 
 untur cadavera, follow carcasses. Oh that some blessed 
 medicine could rid our land of these warts and scabs — free 
 us from these curs ! The cunning hunters could not do so 
 much mischief without these lurchers, these insatiate hoimds. 
 
 Thus I have shewn you a field of hunters ; what should 
 I add, but my prayers to heaven and desires to earth that 
 these hunters may be hunted ! The hunting of harmful 
 beasts is commended ; the wolf, the boar, the bear, the fox, 
 the tiger, the otter. But the metaphorical hunting of these 
 is more praiseworthy ; the country wolves or city-foxes 
 deserve most to be hunted. Non est mecB parvitatis, Sfc. I 
 am too shallow to advise you de modo : I only vnsh. it 
 might be done. They that have authority to do it know 
 best the means. I will but discover the game, and leave it 
 to their hunting, naming the persons they should hunt ; they 
 know the hounds wherewithal. 
 
 1. There is the mid-boar that breaks over God's mounds 
 and spoils liis vineyard. " The boar out of the wood doth 
 waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it," 
 Psal. Ixxx. 13. This is the depopulator that will forrage 
 and lay all waste, if he be not restrained. AVhat, do you 
 call him a wasting boar ? He rather encloseth all, breaketh 
 up none. Yes ; he lays waste the commonwealth, though 
 he encloseth to himself. He wasteth societies, communities, 
 neighbourhood of people, turns them otit of their ancient 
 doors, sends them to the wide world to beg their bread. 
 
258 
 
 POLITIC HUNTIKG. 
 
 He is a bloody boar, and hath two damnable tusks ; money 
 to make him frienrls, and to charm connivance ; and a 
 wicked conscience that cares not to svnm to hell in blood. 
 The brawny shield of this boar, whereby he bears off all 
 blows of curses, is the security of his own dead heart ; he 
 thinks the cries and ululations of widows and orphans the 
 best music. 'WTien the band of God strikes him (as strike 
 him it will, and that fearfully), he even rouseth and rageth on 
 him ; and dies like an angrj- boar, foaming at the mouth, as if 
 he were spitting defiance at heaven. Let this beast be 
 hunted. 
 
 2. There is the fox, the crafty cheater, that steals the 
 grapes. "Take in the foxes," &c. (Cant. ii. 15.) It is 
 God's charge to hunt him. He turns beasts out of their 
 dens by defiling them. He sold his conscience to the devil 
 for a stoct of villanous wit. He hath a stinking breath, 
 corrupted with oaths and lies ; and a ravenous throat to 
 prey upon men's simpleness. If all tricks fail, he will coun- 
 terfeit liimself dead, that so dra^ving the fowls to feed upon 
 him, he may feed upon them (Plin.) The defrauder 
 puts on a semblance of great smoothness ; you would take 
 him for a wonderful honest man. Soft, you are not yet 
 within his clutches ; when you are, Lord have mercy on you, 
 for he will have none! 
 
 3. There is the bloody wolf, the professed cutthroat, the 
 usurer. Hunt him, seize on his den ; it is full of poor 
 men's goods. What a golden law would that be which 
 were called a statute of restitution ! Such a one as Nehe- 
 miah enacted (Neh. v. 11), that land and vineyards, houses 
 and goods, mortgaged into usurer's hands, should be restored ; 
 when he sealed it with a sacramental oath, and made them 
 swear consent to it. " And he shook his lap, and said. So 
 God shake out every man fi-om his house, and from his 
 labour, that performeth not this promise ; even thus be he 
 shaken out and emptied. And all the congregation said. 
 Amen," ver. 13. But if they will not restore by them- 
 selves, they shall by their posterity. For, as Pliny writes 
 of the wolf, that it brings forth blind whelps ; so the usurer 
 
POI.ITIC HUNTING. 
 
 259 
 
 lightly begets blind children that cannot see to keep what 
 their father left them. But when the father is gone to hell for 
 gathering, the son often follows for scattering. But God 
 is just. " A good man leaveth his inheritance to his child- 
 ren's children ; and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for 
 the just," Prov. xiii. 22. 
 
 4. There is also the badger, a beast of rapine. We have 
 fellows among us, -the engrossers of corn, the raisers of price, 
 sweeping away whole markets. We call these badgers. 
 The poor that comes with a little money, cannot speed but 
 at an unreasonable rate ; they engross all. And, by their 
 capacity, or rather rapacity, having so much in their hands, 
 they sell it at the place of their transporting, at their own 
 price. 
 
 5. The dromedary would also be better hunted. I mean 
 the vagi-ant rogues whose lives are nothing but an exorbitant 
 course ; the main begging, the by's filching and stealing; 
 only they are not so serviceable as the dromedary, which is 
 a beast of quick feet and strange speed. The reason is 
 given by Aristotle, because the extreme heat of nature doth 
 waste all the unctuosity and fatness, and thereby gives 
 greater agility. But these dromedaries are not swift. Let 
 one charitable constable amongst a hundred light on him, 
 and give him correction, and a passport to his (false-named) 
 place of birth, and he will not travel above a mile a-day. 
 Let them alone, and they will traverse their ways (Jer. ii. 
 13), which are no ways ; for they cannot keep the beaten 
 path : let them be where they will, they are never out of 
 their way. They may boast themselves of the brood of Cain, 
 for they are perpetual renegades. If the stocks and whip- 
 post cannot stay their extravagancy, there remains only the 
 gal-house. 
 
 6. Let the roaring bull be hunted ; the bulls of Bashan, 
 the bulls of Rome ; sent over by the pope ad interitum, 
 either of us or themselves ; for their end is not implere ec- 
 clesiam, but coemiterium : to fill churchyards with dead 
 bodies, not the church with living souls. No service would 
 be so welcome to them as the Sicilian vespers, or the Pari- 
 
260 
 
 POLITIC }1USTIXG. 
 
 sian mattiiis. But since no drug is current in their shops 
 but (liacathoUcon, treason and ruin, let it be first ministered 
 to themselves to purge their burning fevers. And since the 
 pope sends his bulls into England so thick, bellowing to call 
 bis calves together, and to excite their revolting from their 
 sovereign ; let them speed no otherwise than those bulls 
 once did, that called in another bull, which was Bull the 
 hangman, to dispatch them all. 
 
 If you be disposed to hunt, hunt these beasts that havoc 
 the commonwealth. Let the lambs alone, they do much 
 good, no hurt. And to this chase use all your skill : in 
 this work it shall be your commendation to be cunning hun- 
 ters. The Lord shall erapark you within the pale of his 
 own merciful providence, and restrain the savage fury of 
 your enemies. Let those, whom God hath made masters 
 of this serious game, and given commission to hunt vicious 
 persons, look to it. Let every particular man hunt vice out 
 of his own heart. If there be any violence to get the king- 
 dom of heaven, use it : if any policy to overthrow Satan and 
 his accomplices, against whom we wrestle, exercise it. This 
 war shall be your peace. You shall help to purge the land 
 of noxious beasts ; and cleanse your own hearts from those 
 lusts which, if you hunt not to death, shall hunt you to 
 death, as was the moral of Acteon. And God that gives 
 you this command and courage, shall add for it a nKM-cil'iil 
 recompense ; taking you at last from this militant cli:ise to 
 the park of his triumphant rest. Amen. 
 
TAMING OF THE TONGUE. 
 
THE TAMING OF THE TONGUE. 
 
 But the tongue can no man tame ; It Is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.*— 
 Ul. 8. 
 
 Here is a single position, guarded with a double rea- 
 son. The position is, No man can tame the tongue. The 
 reasons; 1. It is unruly. 2. Full of deadly poison. Here 
 is busy dealing with a wild member ; a more difficult task ; 
 and intractable natures have met. Tongue is the subject 
 (I mean in the discourse), and can you ever think of sub- 
 jecting it to modest reason, or taming it to religion ? Go 
 lead a lion in a single hair, send up an eagle to the sky to 
 peck out a star, coop up the thunder, and quench a flaming 
 city with one widow's tears ; if thou couldst do these, yet 
 nescit modb lingua domari (the tongue can no man tame). 
 As the proposition is backed with two reasons ; so each 
 reason hath a terrible second. The evil hath for the se- 
 cond unruliness ; the poisonfulness hath deadly. It is evil, 
 yea, unruly evil ; it is poison, yea, deadly poison. The fort 
 is so barricaded, that it is hard scaling it ; the refractory 
 rebel so guarded with evil and poison, so warded with un- 
 ruly and deadly, as if it were with giants in an enchanted 
 tower, as they fabulate, that no man can tame it. Yet let 
 us examine the matter, and find a stratagem to subdue it. 
 
 In the Proposition 
 we will observe, 1. The nature of the thing to be tamed. 
 
264 
 
 THE TAMING OF THE TONGUE. 
 
 2. The difficulty of accomplishing it. The insubjectable 
 subject is the tongue, which is, 1st, A member ; and, 2d, 
 
 He that made all made the tongue ; he that craves all, 
 must have the tongue. It is an instrument ; let it give 
 music to him that made it. All creatures in their kind 
 bless God (Psalm cxlviii). They that want tongues, as the 
 heavens, sun, stars, meteors, orbs, elements, praise him with 
 such obedient testimonies as their insensible natures can 
 aflbrd. They that have tongues, though they want reason, 
 praise him with those natural organs. The birds of the air 
 sing, the beasts of the earth make a noise ; not so much as 
 the hissing serpents, the very dragons in the deep, but 
 sound out his praise. Man, then, that hath a tongue, and 
 a reason to guide it (and more, a religion to direct his 
 reason), should much more bless him. Therefore, says the 
 psalmographer, that for the well tuning of his tongue is 
 called the Sweet Singer of Israel, " I will praise the Lord 
 with the best instrument I have," which was his tongue. 
 
 Not that praises can add to God's glorj-, nor blasphemies 
 detract from it. The blessing tongue cannot make him 
 better nor the cursing worse. Nec melior si laudaveris, nee 
 deterior si vituperaveris (Aug. in Psalm cxxxiv.) : As the 
 sun is neither bettered by birds singing, nor battered by 
 dogs barking. He is so infinitely great, and constantly 
 good, that his glory admits neither addition nor diminu- 
 
 Yet we that cannot make his name greater can make it 
 seem greater ; and though we cannot enlarge his glory, we 
 may enlarge the manifestation of his glorj-. This both in 
 words praising and in works practisbig. We know it is 
 impossible to make a new Christ, as the papists boast the 
 
 Member. 
 
 Jt is a Member. 
 
 tion. 
 
THE TAMING OF THE TONGUE. 
 
 265 
 
 almightiness of their priests ; yet our holy lives and happy 
 lips (if I may so speak) may make a little Christ a great 
 Christ. They that before little regarded hiiu, may thus be 
 bi-ought to esteem him greatly ; giving him the honour due 
 to his name, and glorifying him, after our example. 
 
 This is the tongue's office. Every member, without arro- 
 gating any merit, or boasting the beholdingness of the rest 
 unto it, is to do that duty which is assigned it. The eye is 
 to see for all, the ear to hear for all, the hand to work for all, 
 the feet to walk for all, the knees to bow for all, the tongue 
 to praise God for all. This is the tongue's office, not unlike 
 the town-clerk's, which, if it perform not well, the corpora- 
 tion is better without it. The tongue is man's clapper, and 
 is given him that he may sound out the praise of his Maker. 
 
 f Creator ad esse. 
 ^ . J Conservator in esse. 
 
 ] Recreator in bene esse. 
 Glorijicator in optima esse. 
 
 {Creator to call into being. 
 Preserver in being. 
 Restorer in well being. 
 Glorifier in best being. 
 
 He gave us being that had none ; preserved us in that 
 being ; restored us voluntarily fallen unto a better being ; 
 and will glorify us with the best at the day of the Lord 
 Jesus. Then let the tongue know. Si nan reddet Deo faci- 
 endo qwoe debet, reddet ei patiendo qua debet (August). If it 
 will not pay God the debt it owes him in an active thank- 
 fulness, it shall pay him in a passive painfiilness. Let the 
 meditation hereof put our tongues into tune. " A word 
 fittly spoken, is like apples of gold in pictures of silver," 
 Prov. XXV. 11. 
 
 It is a member you hear ; we must take it with all the 
 properties ; excellent, necessary, little, singular. 
 
 1. Excellent. Abstractively and simply understood, it is an 
 exceeding excellent member, both 
 
266 
 
 THE TAMING OF THE TONGUE. 
 
 Quoad 
 
 Majestatem. 
 Jucunditatem. 
 
 In respect of 
 
 Majesty. 
 Pleasantness. 
 
 For the majesty of it, it carries an imperious speech ; 
 wherein it hath the pre-eminence of all mortal creatures. 
 It was man's tongue to which the Lord gave license to call 
 all the living creatures, and to give them names (Gen. ii. 
 19). And it is a strong motive to induce and to beget 
 in other terrene natures a reverence and admiration of man. 
 Therefore it is observed, that God did punish the ingrati- 
 tude of Balaam, when he gave away some of the dignity 
 proper to man, which is use of speech, and imparted it to 
 the ass. Man alone speaks. I know that spirits can frame an 
 aerial voice, as the devil when he spake in the serpent that 
 fatal temptation, as in a trunk ; but man only hath the ha- 
 bitual faculty of speaking. 
 
 For the pleasantness of the tongue, the general consent 
 of all gives it the truest melos, and restrains all musical 
 organs from the worth and praise of it. " The pipe and 
 the psaltery make sweet melody ; but a pleasant tongue is 
 above them both," Eccles. xl. 21. No instruments are so 
 ravishing, or prevail over man's heart with so powerful com- 
 placency, as the tongue and voice of man. 
 
 K the tongue be so excellent, how then doth this text 
 censure it for so evil ? I take the philosopher's old and trite 
 answer. Lingua nihil est, vel bona melius, vel mala pejus: 
 Than a good tongue, there is nothing better ; than an evil, 
 nothing worse. Nihil habet medium ; aut grande bonum est, 
 aut grande malum (Hieronimus) : It hath no mean ; it is 
 either exceedingly good or excessively evil. It knows no- 
 thing but extremes ; and is either good, best of all ; or bad, 
 worst of all. K it be good, it is a walking garden, that 
 scatters in every place a sweet flower, an herb of grace to 
 the hearers. If it be evil, it is a wild bedlam, ftdl of gad- 
 ding and maddening mischiefs. So the tongue is everj- man's 
 best or worst moveable. 
 
 Hereupon that philosophical servant, when he was com- 
 manded to provide the best meat for his master's table, the 
 
THE TAMING OF THE TONGDE. 
 
 267 
 
 ■worst for the family, bought and brought to either neat's 
 tongues. His moral was, that this was both the best and 
 worst service, according to the goodness or badness of the 
 tongue. A good tongue is a special dish for God's public 
 service. Pars optima hominis, digna quce sit hostia (Pruden- 
 tius) : The best part of a man and most worthy the ho- 
 nour of sacrifice. This only when it is well seasoned. 
 Seasoned, I say, with salt, as the apostle admonisheth ; 
 not with fire (Coloss. iv. 6). Let it not be so salt as 
 fire (as that proverb speaks), which no man living hath 
 tasted. There is " a city of salt," mentioned Joshua xv. 
 62. Let no man be an inhabitant of this salt city. Yet 
 better a salt tongue than an oily. Rather let the righteous 
 reprove me, than the precious balms of flatterers break my 
 head, whilst they most sensibly soothe and supple it. We 
 allow the tongue salt, not pepper ; let it be well seasoned, 
 but not too hot. Thus a good tongue is God's dish, and 
 he win accept it at his own table. 
 
 But an evil tongue is meat for the devil, according to 
 the Italian proverb : The devU makes his Christmas pie of 
 lewd tongues. It is his daintiest dish, and he makes much of it ; 
 whether on earth to serve his turn as an instrument of mis- 
 chief, or in hell to answer his fury in torments. Thus saith 
 Solomon of the good tongue. " The tongue of the just is 
 as choice silver, and the lips of the righteous feed many," 
 Prov. X. 20, 21. But Saint James of the bad one: " It 
 is an unruly evU, full of deadly poison." 
 
 2. It is necessary, so necessary, that without a tongue I could 
 not declare the necessity of it. It converseth with man, 
 conveying to others by this organ that experimental know- 
 ledge which must else hve and die in himself. It imparts 
 secrets, communicates joys, which would be less happy sup- 
 pressed than they are expressed : mirth without a partner 
 is hilaris cum pondere falicitas. But to disburden griefs, 
 and pour forth sorrows in the bosom of a friend, O neces- 
 sary tongue ! How many hearts would have burst if thou 
 hadst not given them vent 1 How many souls fallen grovel- 
 ling under their load, if thou hadst not called for some sup- 
 
268 
 
 THE TAMING OF THE TONGUE, 
 
 portance ! How many a panting spirit hath said, I -will 
 speak yet ere I die; and by speaking received comfort? 
 Lastly, it speaks our devotions to heaven, and hath the ho- 
 nour to confer with God. It is that instrument which the 
 Holy Ghost useth in us to cry, Abba, Father. It is our 
 .spokesman ; and he that can hear the heart without a 
 tongue, regardeth the devotions of the heart better when 
 they are set up by a diligent messenger, a faithful tongue. 
 
 3. It is little. As man is a little world in the great, so 
 is his tongue a great world in the little. It is a little mem- 
 ber, saith the apostle (verse 5), yet it is a world ; yea pra- 
 vitatis univei'sitas, a world of iniquity (verse 6). It is par- 
 vum, but pravum ; little in quantity but great in iniquity. 
 What it hath lost in the thickness it hath gotten in the 
 quickness ; and the defect of magnitude is recompensed in 
 the agility; an arm may be longer, but the tongue is 
 stronger ; and a leg hath more flesh than it hath, besides 
 bones which it hath not ; yet the tongue still runs quicker 
 and faster : and if the wager lie for holding out, without 
 doubt the tongue shall viin it. 
 
 If it be a talking tongue, it is mundits garrulitatis, a world 
 of prating. If it be a wangling tongue, it is mundus litiga- 
 tion is, a world of babbling. K it be a learned tongue, it 
 is, as Erasmus said of Bishop Tonstal, mundus eruditionis, a 
 world of learning. If it be a petulant tongue, it is mundus 
 scurrilitatis, a world of wantonness. If it be a poisonous 
 tongue, it is mundus infectionis ; saith our apostle, " it de- 
 fileth the whole body" (verse 6). It is little. 
 
 So little, that it will scarce give a kite her breakfast, yet 
 it can discourse of the sun and stars, of orbs and elements, 
 of angels and devils, of nature and arts ; and hath no straiter 
 limits than the whole world to walk through. Homuncio 
 est, gigantia jactat : It is a little member, yet boasteth great 
 things (verse 5). 
 
 Though it be little, yet if good, it is of great use. A 
 little bit guideth a great horse, ad equitis libitum, to the 
 rider's pleasure. A Uttle helm ruleth a great vessel ; though 
 the winds blow, and the floods oppose, yet the helm steers 
 
THE TAMING OF THE TONGUE. 
 
 269 
 
 the ship. Though little, yet if evil, it is of great mischief 
 " A little leaven sours the whole lump," 1 Cor. v. G. A 
 little remora dangers a gi-eat vessel. A little sickness dis- 
 tempereth the whole body. A little fire setteth a whole 
 city on combustion. " Behold how great a matter a little 
 fire kindleth," verse 5. 
 
 It is little in substance, }ct (jreat ad affectum, to pro- 
 voke passion ; ad effectum, to produce action. A Jesuit's 
 tongue is able to set instruments on work to blow up a 
 parliament. So God hath disposed it among the members, 
 that it governs or misgoverns all ; and is either a good king, 
 or a cruel tjTant. It either prevails to good, or perverts 
 to evil ; purifieth or putrefieth the whole carcass, the whole 
 conscience. It betrayeth the heart, when the heart would 
 betray God ; and the Lord lets its double treason on itself, 
 when it prevaricates with him. 
 
 It is a little leak that drowneth a ship, a little breach 
 that looseth an army, a little spring that pours forth an 
 ocean. Little ; yet the lion is more troubled with the Uttle 
 wasp than with the great elephant. And it is observable, 
 that the Egyptian sorcerers failed in minimis (the less), that 
 appeared sldlful and powerful in majorihus (the gi-eater). 
 Doth Moses turn the waters into blood ? " The magicians did 
 so with their enchantments," Exod. vii. 22. Doth Aaron 
 stretch out his hand over the waters, and cover the land 
 with frogs ? " The magicians did so with their enchant- 
 ments," Exod. viii. 7. " But when Aaron smote the 
 dust of the land, and turned it into lice" (ver. 17), the magi- 
 cians could not effect the like ; nor in the " ashes of the fur- 
 nace turned into boils and blaines," chap. ix. 10. In fi-ogs 
 and waters they held a semblance, not in the dust and ashes 
 turned into lice and sores. Many have dealt better with 
 the greater members of the body than with this little one. 
 Defecerunt in minimis: virtus non minima est, minimam com- 
 pescere linguam. 
 
 4. It is a singular member. God hath given man two 
 ears ; one to hear instructions of human knowledge, the 
 other to hearken to his divine precepts ; the former to con- 
 
270 THE TAMING OF THE TOXGUE. 
 
 serve his body, the latter to save his soul. Two eyes, that 
 ■with the one he might see to his own way, with the other 
 pity and commiserate his distressed brethren. Two hands, 
 that with the one he might work for his own Uving, with 
 the other give and relieve his brother's wants. Two feet, 
 one to walk on common days to his ordinary labour. "Man 
 goes forth in the morning to his labour, and continues till 
 the evening," Psal. civ. 23 : the other, on sacred days to 
 visit and frequent the temple and the congregation of 
 saints. . But among all, he hath given him but one tongue ; 
 which may instruct him to hear twice so much as he speaks ; 
 to work and walk twice as much as he speaks. " I vrill 
 praise thee (O Lord), for I am fearfully and wonderfully 
 made : marvellous are thy works ; and that my soul know- 
 eth right well," Psal. cxxxix. 14. Stay, and wonder at 
 the wonderful wisdom of God ! 
 
 1. To create so Uttle a piece of flesh, and to put such 
 vigour into it : to give it neither bones nor nerves, yet to 
 make it stronger than arms and legs, and those most able 
 and serviceable parts of the body. So that as Paul saith, 
 " On those members of the body, which we think less ho- 
 nourable, we bestow more abundant honour : and our un- 
 comely parts have more abundant comeliness," 1 Cor. xii. 
 23. So on this httle weak member hath the Lord conferred 
 the greatest strength ; and as feeble as it is, we find it both 
 more necessary and more honourable. 
 
 2. Because it is so forcible, therefore hath the most wise 
 God ordained that it shall be but little, that it shall be but 
 one. That so the paniity and singularity may abate the 
 %'igour of it. If it were paired, as the arms, legs, hands, 
 feet, it would be much more unruly. For he that cannot 
 tame one tongue, how would he be troubled with twain ! 
 But so hath the Creator provided, that things of the 
 fiercest and fireiest nature should be little, that the malice 
 of them might be somewhat restrained. 
 
 3. Because it is so unruly, the Lord hath hedged it in, 
 as a man will not trust a -wild horse in an open pasture, but 
 prison him in a close pond. A double fence hath tlic 
 
THE TAMING OF THE TONGUE. 
 
 271 
 
 Creator given to confine it, the lips and the teeth ; that 
 through those mounds it might not break. And hence a 
 threefold instruction for the use of the tongue is insinuated 
 to us. 
 
 1. Let us not dare to pull up God's mounds ; nor like 
 ■wild beasts, break through the circular limits wherein he 
 hath cooped us. " Look that thou hedge thy possession 
 about with thorns, and bind up thy silver and gold," Eccles. 
 xxviii. 24. What, doth the wise man intend to give us 
 some thrifty counsel, and spend his ink in the rule of good 
 husbandry, which every worldling can teach himself? No. 
 Yes ; he exhorteth us to the best husbandi-y, how to guide 
 and guard our tongues, and to thrive in the good use of 
 speech. Therefore declares himself: " Weigh thy words in 
 a balance, and make a door and bar for thy mouth." Let 
 this be the possession thou so hedgest In, and thy precious 
 gold thou so bindest up. " Beware thou slide not by it, 
 lest thou fall before him that lieth in wait." Commit not 
 burglar)', by breaking the doors, and pulling do->vn the bars 
 of thy mouth. 
 
 Much more, when the Lord hath hung a lock on it, do 
 not pick it with a false key. Rather pray with David, " O 
 Lord, open thou my Hps, and my mouth shall shew forth 
 thy praise," Psal. li. 15. It is absurd in building, to make 
 the porch bigger than the house; it is as monstrous in na- 
 ture, when a man's words are too many, too mighty. Every 
 man mocks such a gaping boaster with Quid feret hie (lignum 
 tanto promissor hiatu ? (What fruit is here worthy of such 
 bragging?) Saint Bernard gives us excellent counsel. Sint 
 tua 
 
 (rara, 
 Verba. }vera, 
 
 ponderosa; 
 
 Smultiloquium, 
 falsiloquium, 
 vaniloquium : 
 
 !few, ^ (much, speaking, 
 
 true, >- contrary, -^j false speaking, 
 weighty ;) (vaia speaJdng. 
 
272 THE TAMING OF THE TONGUE. 
 
 Let thy words be few, tnie, weighty, that thou mayest 
 not speak much, not falsely, not vainly. Remember the 
 bounds, and keep the non ultra. 
 
 2. Since God hath made the tongue one, have not thou 
 a tongue and a tongue. Some are double-tongued, as they 
 are double-hearted. But God hath given one tongue, one 
 heart, that they might be one indeed, as they are in num- 
 ber. It is made simple ; let it not be double. God hath 
 made us men ; we make ourselves monsters. He hath given 
 us two eyes, two ears, two hands, two feet. Of all these 
 we will have, or at least use but one. We have one e} e to 
 pry into others' faults, not an otlier to see oui- own. "\\'e 
 have one ear to hear the plaintiff, not the other for the de- 
 fendant. We have a foot swift to enter forbidden paths, 
 not another to lead us to God's holy place. We have one 
 hand to extort, and scrape, and wound, and not another to 
 reheve, give alms, heal the wounded. But now whereas 
 God hath given us but one tongue and one heart, and bid- 
 den us be content with their singularity, we will have two 
 tongues, two hearts. Thus cross are we to God, to nature, 
 to grace ; monstrous men ; moiiocidi, monopudes : hicorde.i, 
 hilingues : one-eyed, one-footed ; double-tongued, double- 
 hearted. The slanderer, the flatterer, the swearer, the tale- 
 bearer, are monstrous (I dare scarce add) men : as misshapen 
 stigmatics as if they had two tongues and but one eye ; 
 two heads and but one foot. 
 
 3. This convinceth them of preposterous folly that put 
 all their malice into their tongue, as the serpent all her 
 poison in her tail ; and, as it were by a chemical power, 
 attract all vigour thither, to the weakening and enervation 
 of the other parts. Their hands have chiragram ; they 
 cannot stretch them forth to the poor, nor give relief to the 
 needy. Their feet podagram ; they cannot go to the chur :li. 
 Their eyes opthalmiam ; they cannot behold the mLserable 
 and pity needing. Their ears surditatem ; they cannot hear 
 the gospel preached. Oh how defective and sick all these 
 members ai'e ! But their tongues are in health ; there is 
 blitheness and volubility in them. If they see a distressed 
 
TnE TAMING OF THE TONGUE. 
 
 273 
 
 man, they can give him talkative comfort cnougli ; "Be 
 warmed, be filled, be satisfied," James ii. 16. They can fill 
 him with Scripture sentences, but they send him away with 
 a hungry stomach ; whereas the good man's hand is as 
 ready to give as his tongue to speak. But the fool's lipa 
 babbleth foolishness ; volat irrevocahik verbum. AVords run 
 like Asahel ; but good works, like the cripple, come laggmg 
 ailer. 
 
 We see the nature of the thing to be tamed, the tongue ; 
 let us consider the difficulty of this enterprise. No man 
 can do it. "Which we shall best find, if we compare it with 
 
 other °^ body, 
 
 (^creatures of the world. 
 
 With other members of the body, which are various In their 
 faculties and offices ; none of them idle. 
 
 1. The eye sees far, and beholdeth the creatures in ccelo, 
 solo, sale : in the heavens, sun and stars ; on the earth, 
 birds, beasts, plants, and minerals ; in the sea, fishes and 
 serpents. That it is an unruly member, let our grand- 
 mother speak, whose roving eye lost us all. Let Dinah 
 speak ; her wandering eye lost her virginity, caused the 
 effusion of much blood. Let the Jews speak concerning the 
 daughters of !Midian ; what a fearful apostacy the eye pro- 
 cured. Yea, let David acknowledge, whose petulant eye 
 robbed Uriah of his wife and life, the land of a good soldier, 
 his own heart of much peace. Yet this eye, as unruly as 
 it is, hath been tamed. Did not Job make a covenant with 
 his eyes, that he woidd not look upon a maid ? Job 
 xxxi. 1. The eye hath been tamed ; "but the tongue can 
 no man tame ; it is an unruly evil." 
 
 2. The ear yet hears more than ever the eye saw ; and 
 by reason of the patulous admission, derives that to the un- 
 derstanding whereof the sight never had a glance. It can 
 listen to the whisperings of a Doeg, to the susurrations of 
 a devil, to the noise of a siren, to the voice of a DeUlah. 
 
 s 
 
274 THE TAJIIXG OF THE TONGUE. 
 
 The parasite through this window creeps into the great 
 man's favour ; he tunes his warbling notes to an enlarged 
 ear. It is a wild member, an instrument that Satan de- 
 lights to play upon. As unruly as it is, yet it hath been 
 tamed. Mary sat at the feet of Christ, and heard him 
 preach with glad attention. The ear hath been tamed ; " but 
 the tongue can no man tame," &c. 
 
 3. The foot is an unhappy member, and carries a man 
 to much wickedness. It is often swift to the shedding of 
 blood ; and runneth away from God, Jonah's pace ; flying to 
 Tarshish, when it is bound for Nineveh. There is " a foot 
 of pride," Psal. xxx\'i. 11, a saucy foot, that dares pre- 
 sumptuously enter upon God's freehold. There is a foot of 
 rebellion, that with an apostate malice kicks at God. There 
 is a dancing foot, that paceth the measures of circular wick- 
 edness. Yet, as unruly as this foot is, it hath been tamed. 
 David got the victory over it. "I considered my ways, 
 and turned my foot unto thy testimonies," Psal. cxix. 69. 
 The foot hath been tamed ; " but the tongue can no man 
 tame," &c. 
 
 4. The hand rageth and rangeth with ■\'iolence, to take 
 the bread it never sweat for, to enclose fields, to depopulate 
 towns, to lay waste whole countries. " They covet fields, 
 and houses, and vineyards, and take them, because their 
 hand hath power," Mic. ii. 2. There is a hand of extor- 
 tion, as Ahab's was to Naboth ; the greedy landlord's to the 
 poor tenant. There is a hand of fraud and of legerde- 
 main, as the usurer's to his distressed borrower. There is a 
 hand of bribery, as Judas, with his quantum dahitus, what 
 will you give me to betray the Lord of life ? There is a 
 hand of lust, as Amnon's to an incestuous rape. There is 
 a hand of murder, as Joab's to Abner, or Absalom's to Am- 
 non. Oh how unruly hath this member been ! yet it hath 
 been tamed ; not by washing it in Pilate's basin, but in 
 David's holy water, innocence. " I will wash my hands in 
 innocency, and then, O Lord, wiU I compass thine altar." 
 Hereupon he is bold to say, " Lord, look if there be any 
 iniquity in my hands," Psal. vii. 3. God did not repudiate 
 
THE TAMING OF THF, TONGUE. 275 
 
 all the Jews' sacrifices, because their hands -were full of blood, 
 Isa. i. 15. David's hands had been besmeared with the 
 aspersions of lust and blood, but he had penitently bathed 
 them in his own tears ; and because that could not get out 
 the stains, he faithfully rinseth and clcansefh them in his 
 Son's and Saviour's fountain, the all-meritorious blood of 
 Christ. This made them look white, whiter than lilies in 
 God's sight. " Therefore hath the Lord recompensed me 
 according to my righteousness ; according to the cleanness 
 of my hands in his eyesight," Psal. xviii. 24. 
 
 Thus the eye, the ear, the foot, the hand, though wild 
 and unruly enough, have been tamed ; " but the tongue 
 can no man tame ; it is an unruly evil," &c. 
 
 With other creatures of the world, whether we find them 
 in the earth, air, or water. 
 
 1 . On the earth there is the man-hating tiger, yet man 
 hath subdued him ; and (they write) a little boy hath led 
 him in a string. There is tlie flock-devouring wolf, that 
 stands at grinning defiance with the shepherd ; mad to have 
 his prey, or lose himself; yet he hath been tamed. The 
 roaring lion, whose voice is a terror to wan, by man hath 
 been subdued. Yea serpents, that have to their strength 
 two shrewd additions, subtlety and malice ; that carry ve- 
 nom in their mouths, or a sting in their tails, or are all 
 over poisonous ; the very basilisk, that kills with his eyes 
 (as they write) three furlongs off. Yea all these savage, 
 furious, malicious natiu-es, have been tamed ; " but the tongue 
 can no man tame ; it is an unruly evil," &c. 
 
 2. In the sea there be great wonders. " They that go 
 down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters ; 
 these see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the 
 deep," Psal. cvii. 23, 24. Yet those natural wonders have 
 been tamed by our artificial wonders, ships. Even the levi- 
 athan himself, " out of whose mouth go burning lamps, 
 and sparks of fire. Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out 
 of a boiling caldron," Job xli. 19, 20. Squama squamce con- 
 juwjitur: " the flakes of his flesh are joined together; they are 
 firm in themselves, and cannot be moved." Yet we know 
 
276 
 
 THE TAMIXG OF THE TONGUE. 
 
 that this huge creature hath been tamed ; " but the tongue 
 can no man tame," &c. 
 
 3. In the air, the birds fly high above our reach, yet we 
 have gins to fetch them down. A lure stops the highest 
 soaring hawk ; nay, art makes one fowl catch another, for 
 man's delight and benefit ; incredible things, if they were 
 not ordinary. Snares, lime-twgs, nets, tame them all ; 
 even the pelican in the desert, and the eagle amongst the 
 cedars. Thus saith our apostle, verses 7,8:" Everj- kind" 
 (not every one of every kind, but every kind of nature of all), 
 " of beasts, of birds, of serpents, and of things in the sea, 
 is tamed, and hath been tamed of the nature of man ; but 
 the tongue can no man tame," &c. 
 
 Thus far then St James's proposition passeth without op- 
 position. " The tongue can no man tame ;" the tongue is 
 too wild for any man's taming. It would be a foolish ex- 
 ception (and yet there are such profane tongues to speak it), 
 that woman stands without this compass and latitude ; and 
 to infer, that though no man can tame the tongue, yet 
 a woman may. It is most unworthy of answer. "Women, 
 for the most part, hath the glibbest tongues ; and if ever 
 this impossibility preclude men, it shall much more anni- 
 hilate the power of the weaker sex. " She is loud ;" saith 
 Solomon ; a foolish woman is ever " clamorous," Prov. ix. 13. 
 She calls her tongue her defensive weapon ; she means 
 offensive ; a firebrand in a frantic hand doth less mis- 
 chief. The proverb came not from nothing, when we 
 say of a brawling man. He hath a woman's tongue in his 
 head. 
 
 The tongue can no man tame. Let us listen to some weightier 
 exceptions. The prophets spake the oracles of life, and the 
 apostles the words of salvation ; and many men's speech 
 ministers grace to the hearers. Yield it ; yet this general 
 rule will have no exceptions : "no man can tame it :" man 
 hath no stern for this ship, no bridle for this colt. How 
 then ? God tamed it. AVe by nature stammer as Moses, 
 till God open a door of utterance. " I am of imclean lips," 
 saith the prophet, " and dwell with a people of unclean lips," 
 
THE TAMING OF THK TONGUE. 277 
 
 Isa. vi. 5. God must lay a coal of his own altar upon our 
 tongues, or they cannot be tamed. 
 
 And when they are tamed, yet they often have an un- 
 ruly trick. Abraham lies ; Moses murmurs ; Elias, for fear 
 of a queen and a quean, wisheth to die. Jonah frets for the 
 gourd ; David cries in his heart, " All men are liars ;" which 
 speech rebounded even on God himself, as if the Lord by 
 Samuel had deceived him. Peter forswears his Master, his 
 Saviour. If the tongues of the just have thus tripped, how 
 should the profane go upright? " The tongue can no man 
 tame." 
 
 The instruction hence riseth in full strength ; that God 
 only can tame man's tongue. Now the principal actions 
 hereof are, first, to open the mouth, when it should not be 
 shut ; secondly, to shut it, when it should not be open. 
 
 To open our lips when they should speak is the sole 
 work of God. " O Lord, open thou my hps, and then ray 
 mouth shall be able to shew forth thy praise," Psal. li. 15. 
 God must open with his golden key of grace, or else our 
 tongues -will arrogate a licentious passage. We had better 
 hold our peace, and let our tongues he still, th^n set 
 them a-running till God bids them go. God commands 
 every sinner to confess his iniquities ; this charge David 
 knew concerned himself ; yet was David sUent, and then his 
 " bones waxed old" with anguish, Psa. xxxii. 3. His 
 adultery cried, his murder cried, his ingratitude cried for 
 revenge ; but still David was mute ; and so long, " day and 
 night, the hand of the Lord was heavy upon him." But at 
 last God stopped the mouth of his clamorous adversaries, 
 and gave him leave to speak. " I acknowledged my sin 
 unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will 
 confess my transgressions unto .the Lord, and thou for- 
 gavest the iniquity of my sin." It is Christ that must cast 
 out this devil. The Lord is the best opener. lie did 
 open Lydia's heart to conceive, Acts xvi. 14. He did open 
 Elisha's servant's eyes to see, 2 Kings vi. 17. He did open 
 the prophet's ears to hear, Isa. xxxv. 5. He did open Paul's 
 mouth to speak, Col. iv. 3. 
 
278 
 
 THE TAMING OF THE TONGUE. 
 
 To shut our lips when they should not speak, is only the 
 Lord's work also. It is Christ that casts out the talking 
 devil ; he shuts the wicket of our mouth against unsavoury 
 speeches. Wc may think it a high office (and worthy even 
 David's ambition) to be a " doorkeeper in God's house" 
 (Psal. Ixxxiv. 10), when God vouchsafes to be a doorkeeper 
 in our house. 
 
 Thus all is from God. Man is but a lock ; God's Spirit 
 the key " that openeth, and no man shutteth ; that shutteth, 
 and no man openeth," Rev. iii. 7. He opens, and no man 
 shuts. I must speak though I die, said Jeremiah ; " his 
 word is like fire in my bones," Jer. xx. 9 ; and will make 
 me weary of forbearing. He shuts, and no man opens ; so 
 Zacharias goes dumb from the altar, and could not speak, 
 Luke i. 22. 
 
 Away, then, with arrogation of works, if not of words. 
 When a man hath a good thought, it is gratia infusa (grace 
 infused) ; when a good word, it is gratia effusa (grace effused) ; 
 when a good work, it is gratia diffusa (grace diffused). If 
 then man caimot produce words to praise God, much less 
 can he procure his works to please God. If he cannot tune 
 his tongue, he can never turn his heart. Two usefiil bene- 
 fits may be made hereof 
 
 1. It is taught us, whether we have recourse to tame 
 our tongues. He that made the tongue can tame the 
 tongue. He that gave man a tongue to speak, can give 
 him a tongue to speak well. He that placed that unruly 
 member in his mouth, can give him a mouth to rule it He 
 can give psalms for carols ; the songs of Zion for the bal- 
 lads of hell. Man hath no bridle, no cage of brass, nor 
 bars of iron to tame it ; God can. Let us move our tongues 
 to entreat help for our tongues ; and, according to their 
 ofiice, let us set them on work to speak for themselves. 
 
 2. We must not be idle ourselves ; the difficulty must 
 spur us to more earnest contention. As thou wouldst keep 
 thy house from thieves, thy garments from moths, thy gold 
 from rust, so carefully preserve thy tongue fronj unruliness. 
 " As the Lord doth set a watch before thy mouth, and 
 
THE TAMING OF THE TONGUE. 
 
 279 
 
 keep the door of thy lips," Psal. cxli. 3 ; so thou must also 
 be vigilant thyself, and not turn over tliy own heart to se- 
 curity. " How can ye, being evil, speak good things ? for 
 out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh," 
 Matth. xii. 34. Look how far the heart is good, so far 
 the tongue. If the heart believe, the tongue will confess ; 
 if the heart be meek, the tongue will be gentle ; if the heart 
 be angry, the tongue vnll be bitter. The tongue is but the 
 hand without to shew how the clock goes within. A vain 
 tongue discovers a vain heart ; but some have words soft 
 as butter, when their hearts are keen swords ; be they never 
 so well traded in the art of dissembling, sometime or other 
 the tongue, Judas-like, will betray the master ; it will 
 mistake the heart's errand, and, with stumbling forget- 
 fulness, trip at the door of truth. " The heart of fools 
 is in their mouth : but the mouth of the wise is in their 
 heart." To avoid ill communication, hate ill cogitation : 
 a polluted heart makes a foul mouth ; therefore one day, 
 ex ore tuo, " out of thine own mouth will God condemn 
 thee." 
 
 1. It is an unruly evil. 
 
 The difficulty of taming the tongue, one would think, 
 were sufficiently expressed in the evil of it ; but the apostle 
 seconds it with another obstacle, signifying the wild nature 
 of it, unruly. It is not only an evil, but an unruly evil. 
 I will set the champion and his second together in this 
 fight, and then shew the hardness of the combat. 
 
 Bernard saith : Lingua facile volat, et ideo facile violat : 
 The tongue runs quickly, therefore wrongs quickly. Speedy 
 is the pace it goes, and therefore speedy is the mischief it 
 does. ^Vhen all other members are dull with age, the 
 tongue alone is quick and nimble. It is an unruly evil to 
 ourselves, to our neighbours, to the whole world (Erasmus). 
 
 1. To ourselves ; verse 6, " it is so placed among the 
 members, that it defileth all." Though it were evil as the 
 plague, and unruly as the possessed Gergesenes (Matth. viii. 
 28), yet if set off with distance, the evil rests within itself. A 
 
280 THE TAMING OF THE TONGUE. 
 
 leper shut up in a pcsthouse, rankleth to himself, infects 
 not others. A wild cannibal in a prison may only exercise 
 his savage cruelty upon the stone walls or iron gates. But 
 the tongue is so placed, that being evil and unruly, it hurts 
 all the members. 
 
 2. To our neighbours. Tlicre are some sins that hurt 
 not the doer only, but many sufferers. These are distinctly 
 the sins of the tongue and the hand. There are other sins, 
 private and domestic, the sting and smart whereof die 
 in the soul ; and without farther extent, plague only 
 thy own soul ; and without farther extent, plague only the 
 person of the committer. So the lavish is called no man's 
 jfoe but his own : the proud is guilty of his own vanity ; the 
 slothful bears his own reproach : and the malicious wasteth 
 the marrow of his own bones, while his envied object shines 
 in happiness. Tliough perhaps these sins insensibly wrong 
 the commonwealth, yet the principal and immediate blow 
 lights on themselves. But some iniquities are swords to 
 the country, as oppression, rapine, circumvention ; some in- 
 cendiaries to the whole land, as evil and unruly tongues. 
 
 3. To the whole world. If the vastate ruins of ancient 
 monuments ; if the depopulution of countries ; if the con- 
 suming fires of contention ; if the land manured with blood 
 had a tongue to speak, they would all accuse the tongue for 
 the original cause of then* woe. Slaughter is a lamp, and 
 blood the oU ; and this is set on fire by the tongue. 
 
 You see the latituilc and extent of this unruly evil, more 
 unruly than the hand. Slaughters, massacres, oppressions, 
 are done by the hand ; the tongue doth more. Parcit 
 manus ahscnti, lingua nemini: The hand spares to hurt the 
 absent ; the tongue hurts all. One may avoid the sword by 
 running from it ; not the tongue, though he run to the In- 
 dies. The hand reacheth but a small compass ; the tongue 
 goes through the world. K a man wore coat of armour or 
 mail of brass, yet penetrabunt spicula linguae : the darts of the 
 tongue will pierce it. 
 
 It is evil, and doth much harm ; it is unruly, and doth 
 sudden harm. You will say, many wicked men have often 
 
THE TAMING OF THE TONGUE. 
 
 281 
 
 very silent tongues. True ; they know their times and 
 places, when and where to seem mute. But Jeremiah com- 
 pounds the wisdom and folly of the Jews : that " they were 
 wise to do evil, but to do good they had no understanding," 
 Jer. iv. 22. So I may say of these, they have tongue 
 enough to speak evil, but are dumb when they should speak 
 well. 
 
 Our Saviour, in the days of his flesh on earth, was often 
 troubled with dumb devils (Luke xi. 14) ; but now he is 
 as much troubled with roaring devils. With the fawning 
 sycophant, a prattling devil ; with the malicious slanderer, 
 a brawling devil ; with the unquiet peace-hater, a scolding 
 devil ; with the avarous and ill-conscious lawyer, a wrang- 
 ling devil ; with the factious schismatic, a gaping devil ; 
 with the swaggering rufiian, a roaring de\Tl. All whom 
 Christ by his ministers doth conjure, as he once did that 
 crying devil, " Hold thy peace and come out." These are 
 silent enough to praise God, but loud as the cataracts of 
 Nilus to applaud vanity. Dav-id said of himself, that 
 " when he held his peace, yet he roared all the day long," 
 Psal. xxxii. 3. Strange ! be silent, and yet roar too, at 
 once ! Gregory answers : He that daily commits new sins, 
 and doth not penitently confess his old, roars much, yet 
 holds his tongue. The father pricked the plem-isy-vein of 
 our times. For we have many roarers, but dumb roarers, 
 though they can make a hellish noise in a tavern, and swear 
 down the devil himself; yet to praise God, they are as mute 
 as fishes. 
 
 Saint James here calls it fire. Now you know fire is an 
 iU master ; but this is unruly fire. Nay, he calls it the fire 
 of hell, blown with the bellows of malice, kindled with the 
 breath of the devil. Nay, Stella hath a conceit that it is 
 worse than the fire of hell ; for that torments only the 
 wicked ; this all, both good and bad. For it is Jiahellum 
 invidi (the fan of the envious), and flagellum justi (the 
 scourge of the good). Swearers, railers, scolds, have hell- 
 fire in their tongues. 
 
 This would seem incredible ; but that God saith it is true. 
 Such are hellish people, that spit abroad the flames of the 
 
282 
 
 THE TAMING OF THE TONGUE. 
 
 devil. It is a cursed mouth that spits fire ; how should we 
 avoid those as men of hell ! Many are afraid of hell-fire, j-et 
 nourish it in their own tongues. By this kind of language, 
 a man may know who is of hell. There are three sorts of 
 languages observed : celestial, terrestrial, and infernal. The 
 heavenly language is spoken by the saints. " Blessed are 
 they that dwell in thy house : they will be still praising thee," 
 Psalm Ixxxiv. 4. Their discourse is habituated, like their 
 course or conversation, which Paul saith is heavenly (Phil, 
 iii. 20). The earthly tongue is spoken of worldlings : " He 
 that is of the earth is earthly : and speaketh of the earth," 
 John iii. 31. Worldly talk is for worldly men. The in- 
 fernal language is spoken by men of hell ; such as have been 
 taught by the de^il : they speak like men of Belial. Now, 
 as the countryman is known by his language, and as the 
 damsel told Peter, " Sure thou art of Galilee, for thy speech 
 bewrayeth thee so by this nile you may know heavenly 
 men by their gracious conference ; earthly men by their 
 worldly talk ; and hellish, by the language of the low coun- 
 tries — swearing, cursing, blasphemy. 
 
 Well therefore did the apostle call this tongue a fire ; 
 and such a fire as sets the whole world in combustion. 
 Let these unruly tongues take heed lest by their roar- 
 ings they shake the battlements of heaven, and so wa- 
 ken an incensed God to judgment. There is a " curse 
 that goeth forth, and it shall enter into the house of the 
 swearer, and not only cut him off, but consume his house, 
 with the timber and the stones of it," Zech. v. 4. It 
 was the prophet Jeremiah's complaint, that " for oaths the 
 land mourned," Jer. xxiii. 10. No marvel if God curse 
 us for our cursings ; and if the plague light upon our bo- 
 dies, that have so hotly trolled it in our tongues ; no won- 
 der if we have blistered carcasses that hare so blistered con- 
 sciences ; and the stench of contagion punish us for our 
 stinking breaths. Our tongues must walk, till the hand of 
 God walk against us. 
 
 2. Full of deadly poison. 
 Poison is homini inimicum ; loathsomely contrary to man's 
 
THE TAMING OF THE TONGUE. 
 
 283 
 
 nature ; but there is a poison not mortal, the venom 
 ■whereof may be expelled ; that is deadly poison. Yet if 
 there was but a Uttle of this resident in the wicked tongue, 
 the danger -were less ; nay, it is full of it, full of deadly 
 poison. 
 
 Tell a blasphemer this, that he vomits hell fire, and car- 
 ries deadly poison in his mouth ; and he will laugh at thee. 
 Beloved, we preach not this of our own heads ; we have 
 our infallible warrant. God speaks it. " The poison of asps is 
 under their lips," saith the psalmist (Psalm cxl. 3). It is a 
 loathsome thing to carry poison in one's mouth ; we would 
 fly that serpent, yet yield to converse with that man. A 
 strangely hated thing in a beast, yet customable in many 
 men's tongues. Whom poison they ? First, Themselves ; 
 they have speckled souls. Secondly, They sputter their 
 venom abroad, and bcspurtle others ; no beast can cast his 
 poison so far. Thirdly, Yea they would (and no thanks 
 to them that they cannot) poison God's most sacred and 
 feared name. Let us judge of these things, not as flesh 
 and blood imagineth, but as God pronounceth. 
 
 It is observable that which way soever a wicked inan 
 useth his tongue, he cannot use it well. Mordet detrahendo, 
 lingit adulando : He bites by detraction, licks by flattery ; 
 and either of these touches rankle ; he doth no less hurt by 
 licking than by biting. All the parts of his mouth are in- 
 struments of wickedness. Logicians, in the diflerence be- 
 twi.xt vocem and sonum, say that a voice is made by the lips, 
 teeth, throat, tongue. 
 
 The psalmographer on every one of these hath set a 
 brand of wickedness. 1. The lips are labia dolosa ; " Ijing 
 lips," Psalm cxx. 2. 2. The teeth are frementes, frendentes ; 
 " gnashing teeth." 3. The tongue lingua mendax, lingua mor- 
 dax: (mendacious and mordacious). " What shall be done 
 unto thee, thou false tongue?" Psalm cxx. 3. The throat 
 patens sepulch-um : " Their throat is an open sepulchre," 
 Rom. iii. 13. This is a monstrous and fearful mouth; 
 where the porter, the porch, the entertainer, the receiver, 
 are all vicious. The lips are the porter, .and that is fraud ; 
 the porch the teeth, and there is malice ; the entertainer, 
 
284 
 
 THE TAMING OF THK TONGUE. 
 
 the tongue, and there is lying ; the receiver, the throat, 
 and there is devouring. 
 
 I cannot omit the moral of that old fable. Three chil- 
 dren call one man father, who brought them up. Djing, 
 he bequeaths all his estate only to one of them, as his true 
 natural son ; but which that one was, left uncertain. Here- 
 upon every one claims it. The wise magistrate for speedy 
 decision of so great an ambiguity, causcth the dead father 
 to be set up as a mark, promising the challengers, that 
 which of them could shoot next his heart, should enjoy the 
 patrimony. The elder shoots, so doth the second ; both hit. 
 But when it came to the younger's turn, he utterly refused 
 to shoot ; good nature would not let him wound that man 
 dead, that bred and fed him living. Therefore the judge 
 gave all to this son, reputing the former bastards. The 
 scope of it is plain, but significant. God will never give 
 them the legacy of glorj-, given by his Son's will to children, 
 that like bastards shoot through, and wound his blessed 
 name. Think of this, ye swearing and cursing tongues ! 
 
 To conclude, God shall punish such tongues in their own 
 kind ; they were full of poison, and the poison of another 
 stench shall swell them. They have been inflamed, and 
 shall be tormented with the fire of hell. Burning shall be 
 added to burning ; save that the first was active, this pas- 
 sive. The rich glutton, that when his belly was full could 
 loose his tongue to blasphemy, wanted water to cool his 
 tongue. His tongue sinned, his tongue smarted. Though 
 his torment was universal, yet he complains of his tongue. 
 That panted, that smoked, that reeked with sulphur and 
 brimstone : that burns witli the flame of hell dead, that 
 burned with it living. For a former tune of sin it hath a 
 present tone of woe. It scalded, and is scalded ; as it cast 
 abroad the flames of hell in this world, so aU the flames cf 
 hell shall be cast on it in the world to come. It hath fired, 
 and shall be fired with such fire as is not to be quenched. 
 But blessed is the sanctified tongue. God doth now choose 
 it as an instrument of music to sing his praise ; he doth 
 water it with the saving dews of Ms mercy, and will at last 
 advance it to glory. 
 

 
 
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