A span-long.

Pars prima.TO weigh the miserie of things transitory, with the glory of others more permanent and so­lid, is the most exact way to iudge of either; the life of opposites is in Comparing them, when the good seeme better; and the bad worse. Our Pro­phet therefore, in a deepe speculation of the Almigh­ty, and the fraile rarities of his creatures here below, looking vp at length to the beautie of the Celestiall hoast, Sunne, moone, and starres, brings vp man vnto to them; not to riuall their perfection, but to question his; and, after some stand, and pause, in steed of Comparison, makes an enquiry; a double one; first, what man is? and then, what is the sonne of man? in his eighth Psalme, the fourth verse.

Here is Homo, and filius hominis, and both, in the text, haue their energia, and weight of emphasis. The word enosc, or enosh, translated, man, signifies mise­rum & calamitosum hominem (saith Musculus) a man of calamitie, and sorrow; Musc. in Psal. 8.4. and 'tis giuen to all men as a remembrance of their mortality; so Psal. 9.20. Let the Heathens know that they bee Enosc, men, mortall men. Moreouer, sonne of man, hath in the roote. A­dam; vt primae originis admoneamur, Musc. ibid. to minde vs of our carnall pedigree; and that our source and of­spring is but Adamah, and so all man-kinde, earthie. And therefore some translations, following closely [Page 4]the tracke of the originall, Aynsworth. Psal. 8.4. read thus; what is sorry man that thou remembrest him, and the sonne of Adam, that thou visitest him? not what is man, that rare creature indued with wisedome, and vnderstanding, the Almightie's Master-piece, the Image of his maker, and modell of the vniuerse? But, what is Enose? what is Adam? What, the sonne of calami­tie and sorrow? the sonne of earth and fraili [...]? what is he? nay what is he not? what not of calamitie and earth? insomuch that the patient man, vnder the groane and sense of humane imperfections, and the dayly bruise of his manifold affliction, is driuen to his expostulation also, with a quid est homo,? what is man? Iob. 7.17. where we meet againe with the word Enosc, misellus homo, wretched man; and not nakedly the word, but a particle ioyn'd with it, not mah, Bolduc. in Cap. Iob. 17. but mi, (as Bolducus obserues) non quis, sed quid quaerere intendens, as if the enquiry look't not to the person, but his condition; not, who is man? but what he is? knowing that man is not only the con­crete, miserable; but, the very abstract misery it selfe; such a misery as may bee an example, and president of all others. And, if we but obserue the criticismes and curiosities of expositours vpon the word man, they are neither impertinent nor fruitlesse; for wee shall neuer meet it through the whole current of sa­cred Story without some descant and paraphrase from the Hebrew. To particular in that of Esay, where (in one text) words of opposite signification maske vnder a single antithesis, as in the fifth of that Prophesie, Bolduc. in cap. 4. Iob. 17. Incuruabitur homo, & humiliabitur vir, man shall be brought downe, and man shall be humbled. Homo, there, is in the originall, Adam, quod nomen [Page 5]infirmitatis est, a name of crazines and languish­ment. Vir, Ise, or Ish, Heroem, magnum (que) importans, which inuolues something of eminence, & renowne; and so our new translation giues it, Esa. 5. the meane man shall bee brought downe, and the mighty man shall bee humbled; so that let man bee of what condition or estate soeuer, hee shall not bee long in it, without a bringing downe, or an humbling. If he be Isc, mighty in possession and name; humiliabitur, he shal be hum­bled; if he be Adam, of course and popular condi­tion, and so humble already, yet he must be lower, incuruabitur, hee shall bee brought downe; brought downe and humbled with a witnesse, ad infernum, sayes the Text, euen vnto Hell. Aperit infernus os suum, the 16. verse of that Chapter. Esa. 5 16. But Hell is the misety of another Age; our Text hath little to doe with that, and so this place makes not for our pur­pose; but, the word Sheol will befriend vs here, and make this infernum, a graue, too, and thither we are humbled euery day; and then we aske no­more Quis? or quid est homo? who, or what is man? but, Vbi homo? where is man? Iob. 14.10. for so the pensiue man interrogates; man wasteth away, and giueth vp the ghost, and where is he? Iob. 14.10. where is hee? fuit, non vixit, he was here but now, but he is gone; gone from his Caluary to his Golgotha; his gall & vinegar in his late agonie (the bitter Crosse of his body) to his sepulchre (here) he wed out of the rocke; He was buried in a vault. his bed ready made for him in the darke, where hee lie's downe, and rises not, till this fuit hath put on a re­surrexit, this mortalitie, a resurrection. And, seeing he is now gone, let vs no more aske, Quis? aut vbi? [Page 6]who, or where man is? but once more, quid est what he is? or rather, what his Age is? or (if you please) what his dayes in that age? and then the text will answere by way of similitude and resemblance, Instar pugilli, as a span-long. A short time (no doubt) that is inch't out, or singred by the span; other things remark't in holy story, haue their dimensions lin'd­out by the farhome, or the cubit, or the foot, at least; nothing that I remember, by this fraile measure, but the life of man; a thing so fragile and momentany, that there was nothing to expresse it, but a span; a word so tumbled by Expositours, that they are somewhat driuen to the plundge, to giue the origi­nall of it a proper signification in a second language, and therefore some translations haue it instar pugil­li; or, ad mensuram pugillorum, a little handfull; so Felix, and Musculus; others ad mensuram quatuor digitorum, or palmi minoris longitudinem; the breadth of foure fingers, or small inches; so Pagnine, and Tigurina; and neere these, Iunius and Mollerus palmares posuisti dies thou hast made my dayes as a hand-breath. The word of the Septuagint, is [...], which the vulgar Latine read's mensurabi­les; and Hierome, Vide Musculum in Psal 39.6. Breues something that is measu­rable, and therefore, short. For, though the age of man, in holy writt, weare's sometimes the attribute of dayes; sometimes, of moneths; sometimes, of yeares; yet these dayes, and moneths, and yeares are not without their fraile Epithets of, vani, or, breues, or the like; so Iob is said to possesse many moneths; but they are menses vanitatis, moneths of vanitie, Iob. 7.2. & not only moneths, but yeares also; [Page 7]but these years are anni pancissimi; or breues anni, few yeares, and short Iob. 16.12. Howeuer, suppose these yeares were multiplied, and lengthned somewhat in their span, yet they are short still, because numbred. Pineda in Iob 16.22. And therefore the Latine version here, breues annos, the Hebrew reads annos numerari; and the Septuagint, annos dinumeratos, yeares to be numbred, or yeares already numbred, and not only numbred, but pre­fixt; and not prefixt barely, but circumscrib'd; circumscrib'd by the finger of the Almightie; and that in a narrow circuite, this span-long; so Iob say's, man's dayes are determined, and his moneths are with thee; thou hast appointed his bounds that hee cannot passe, Iob 14.5. Insomuch that dayes, Bolducus in cap. 16. Iob. v. 23. Pined. ibid. or moneths determined are but short; and short dayes and mo­neths, the Hebrewes call dies numeri, and menses nu­meri; dayes, and moneths of number quia pauci, & numerabiles (saith Pineda) because they are nume­rable, and therefore few. Neither are dayes only, and moneths, and yeares so stil'd, but the men of those dayes, and moneths, and yeares; so in the twelfth of Ezekiel, Ezech. 12. v. 16, 17. the Prophet speaking of the desolation of the Iewes, sayes, that God will scatter them amongst the Nations, and disperse them in their Countrey, but would leaue of them homines paucos à gladio, & à fame, some few of them, that is, homines numeri, some few that hee had selected and numbred, these he would reserue from the sword, the pestilence and the famine, that they might declare all their abho­minations amongst the Heathens, whether they came, that they might know that hee is the Lord their God.

Thus, measure, or number, of times, or seasons, in what proportion soeuer, presuppose a kinde of rottennesse and instabilitie; so our moneths are num­bred, and our dayes measur'd, Pineda in cap. 14. Iob. v. 5. Iob 14.5. that is, short. The Latine word there, is praecisi, (according to Tremeluis) decurtati, others; curtail'd and contra­cted; from the originall, Charats; which signitieth, acuere, or, praescindere; to sharpen, or cut off. So, the lostie Prophet, assuring to a remnant of Israel, their safctie form the Assirians, tell's them of a con­summatio praecisa, in the mid'st of the Land. A con­sumption decreed, Esay 10.22. the English saye's, but that ren­dring is to narrow, and will not beare vp with the latitude of the originall, and therefore not, a con­sumption; for, that linger's too much; but rather, a consummation; a precise one; such a one as ar­gues both a certaintie, and quicknesse in the doing; so quicke and certaine, as if it were done, 'ere it be­gan; and, acted, as soone as prophesied; so Ioel also call's the valley of Iehosophat, Pin. in cap. 4. Iob. vallis concisionis; mul­titudes, multitudes in the valley of concision; that is, vallis abreuiationis; or, vallis praecisionis; the val­ley of abreuiation, or cutting off; because that the vast multitude of people there met, should bee rari­fi'd, and lessen'd; Ioel 3.14. and only a few number of the Iust selected. In like sort, the dayes of man, here, may be called dies concisionis, or dies praecisi, because they are abreuiated maimed, cut off, determined, & straight­ned to a prescript time; a strict measure; this span-long, which man can neither diminish, nor dilate in his owne power; but hee is pent vp, here, in his nar­row Royaltie; his fraile inclosure, where his dayes [Page 9]are spanned out, his pillars pitch't; his non vltra li­mited; his circuits bounded; & tu posuisti terminos, and thou (O God) hast appointed those bounds, & tu posuisti dies, and thou hast made those dayes; so made them, that thou hast measured them; mea­sured them, exactly; by a span; a narrow span, which he shall neither fall short of, nor exceed, no not one tittle or punctum of it; not the breadth of the smal­lest haire, or atome; no, not the rare-spun gothsimere; or any other extenuated or imaginarie thinnesse whatloeuer. For tu constituisti, and, tu posuisti, thou hast appointed, and thou hast made it so: Iob. 14.5. Psal 33. & and what­soeuer is thy appointment, is thy Law; a Law not to be corrupted, or minced, or disanull'd, either by e­quiuocation, or partialitie, or rigour, or any other iuggling or imposture of flesh and bloud. There is none (saith Iob) that can deliuer out of thy hand. Sta­tuta eius fecisti, & non praeteribit, Iob 10.7. Lat. Interp. in 10. cap. Iob. v. 20.21. Prou. 8. v. 24. thou hast appointed man his bounds that he cannot passe, statutes which he cānot violate certain chanels & banks in thy decrees, which he cannot possibly exceed. And as thou hast established the clouds, and strengthned the fountaines of the deepe, bound vp the flouds from ouerflowing, and giuen them thy command that they shall not passe, but placed the sand as a wall about them by a perpetuall Decree; and though the waues thereof toss themselues, Ier. 5.22. yet can they not preuaile, though they roare, yet can they not swell ouer; so all those tossing; and swel­lings of flesh and bloud the surges and billowes ri­sing in the tempests of our life, Iob. 38.10, 11. haue their cliffes and shoares, & strict limits, and God hath done to them, as to the great deepe, brake vp for them his decreed place, and set baries and doores, and said, hither you [Page 10]shall come, no further; here shall your proud waues stay: for tu posuisti dies, thou hast made our dayes, and those dayes but a span-long & tu constituisti ter­minos, thou hast appointed our bounds, and those bounds wee shall not passe. Pineda in cap. 14. Iob. And therefore the affli­cted man seeme's to complaine of the Almightie, that hee had inuironed him, terminis suis, with his bounds; that is, praeceptis suis, & statutis, with his precepts, and his statute; such orecep saud statutes, as he cannot abrogate; so in the eight of the Prouerbs 29. the Wiseman speaking of the mightie prouidence of God in ruling and ordering the vast deepe, sayes Iegem ponebat aquis, hee gaue the waters a law, or a decree, that they should not passe his command, and yet the singer of Israel call's this very law, a bound, thou hast set a bound that they cannot passe, Psal. 104 9 so that, that terminus, or bound was a law to them; and this lex, or decree, a bound to vs; and neither this bound, nor law, to be ouer-past; and therefore we find it once againe spoken of in the 148. Psalme, and there is a non praeteribit, to it; it shall not passe away, passe away? No, not one iot, or tittle of it. Heauen and earth shall first passe away, before one iot or tittle, ei­ther of Gods Word or Law, his posuit, or his constituit, his bound, or his span-long, which are a law to him; a law irreuocable, both in matters of life, and death. And therefore this necessitie of fate, Saint Paul ex­presseth, by the name of a law, with a statutum est, and a semel statutum est, it is appointed to man to die, and it is once appointed. Statutum est there is the law, or the decree, and the semel once, sayes, that this law is firme, constant, inviolable; for God speake's [Page 11]once, and he speake's but once, Pinedain cap. Iob. vt iterato pracepto opus non sit, saith Pineda, that we should not expect any iteration or doubling of his command. And therefore in the seuenteenth of the Acts, we haue, though not this statutum est, the law punctually set downe, yet wee haue the statuta tempora, the times prefixt for the execution of that law; so the text, God hath made of one bloud all the nations of men, and hath determined the times before appointed and the bounds of their habitation, which they cannot passe, the six and twentieth verse of that Chapter. And least we should thinke times determined to be no law, our death, which is a thing determined, and to a time determined, is call'd, a Testament, or, a Law. Remember that death will not bee long, in comming, and that the Couenant or Law of the graue, is not shewed vnto thee. Ecclus 14.12.

So that this businesse of death and the graue, is a law certaine, and prefixt, both for the time and man­ner, and that beyond all possibilitie of alteration; and therefore whether we stile it a decree, or a sta­tute, or a law, or a testament, or a bound, Pin. ibid. or this span-long, Semper dicis aliquid quod praeteriri non pote­rit, sayes the Iesuite, there is something inuolu'd that is both constant and inuiolable; whose ram­piers, and walls, and bulwarkes, thou shalt neuer scale nor digge through; for 'tis the Almighties Ci­tadell and strong fort, so garrison'd and intrencht by his eternall power, and wisdome; the doores and gates of it so barrocade'd, and blockt-vp against all inuasions of flesh and bloud, that no earthly strata­gem, no temporall assault, no humane policie, [Page 12]shall euer raze or demolish; but it stand's vnshooke, against all tempests; firme, against all batteries; so­lid, against all vnderminings; so that if the flouds rise, and the windes blow, and the waues beat, they shall neuer stagger it.

Seeing then there is a Statutum est past vpon all mankinde, that it must once die (and that statute is not rough, though it be sometimes vnpleasing, to die once, so wee die no more, for a double death is our due, though not our pay) and knowing that there are precise bounds, and limits, and span-longs to flesh and bloud, beyond which it cannot passe, and these bounds, and spans, and limits haue the Inscription of Gods vnalterable Decree, with the authoritie of his stampe and seale, his posuit, and his constituit, let vs take vp the prayer here of our Psalmist. Aug. in Psal. 38. Lord make me to know mine end, and the number of my dayes, what it is; the number, what it is? & est, & non est, saith Saint Augustine.

The measure of our dayes you haue had in an ex­act proportion, in this span-long; but the number of them, Aug ibid. is both secret, and vncertaine: it is and it is not, truly. Nec esse possumus dicere, quod nòn stat, nèc nòn esse, quod venit, & transit, saye's the father, we cannot properly say that that is which remaynes not, nor that is not, which comes and goes. Dayes past, and future, are as no dayes. Yesterday, was; and to morrow, will be; and so, now, are not; and of such things as are not, there is no number, to-day, only, is man's; and this not long his, neither; for it is going; or if it did not goe, it is but one day, and of that, there is no number, neither; so that the totall here, [Page 13] aut nòn est, aut quasi est, is either no number at all, or, Aug. vt supra. as it were, a number. Summe vp all the minutes and houres thou canst, and those, truly, and thine owne; thou shalt make vp but one day, and that day (wholly) not thine owne neither. Let's begin from the first dawne, or houre of it; where is that houre, saith the father? 'tis gone, where is the second then? perchance thou wilt say that's gone too; but, the third (doubtlesse) thou enioy'st; that's thine owne; Aug. ibid. be it so; and yet si tertiam dabis, non diem, sed horam dabis. Doest thou talke then of number, that hast but a day, or of a day, that hast but one houre? an houre? not that neither, not that very houre thou think'st thou enioy'st; for, if some part of it bee now past, and another as yet remayning; and of that which is past thou can'st not dispose, because it is not now; nor, of that which remaynes, because it is not yet, what canst thou giue of this houre? or if thou giuest, what i'st of thine owne thou giuest? the Father is at a stand, here; and in steed of a resolution put's a quaere. Cui committam hoc verbum, vt dicam, Est? what shall I doe with the word. Est (saith hee?) 'tis but one syllable, and one moment, and three letters in that syllable, and moment. Wee cannot come to the second, but by the first, nor to the third, but by the second; and then quid mihi de hac vna syllaba da­bis? & tenes dies, qui vnam syllabam non tenes? doe we talke of yeares, and moneths, and dayes, and houres, when wee cannot giue an account of one syllable? not of one letter of it? Away then with this vaine credulitie, this fond assurance of our setled planta­tion here below; momentis transuolantibus cuncta [Page 14]rapiuntur, all things are snatcht away in moments; moments that haue wings, and no seete; momentis transuolantibus, moments that flie away, as if they were affraid of mortality, or loath to assist it. And yet, behold, our tents here are not so thinnly built, but they will endure the blasts (or breathings ra­ther) of a few dayes, a few dayes (indeed) that are spann'd-out; and when these are gone, Lord, what are we? surely, euen as nothing; as nothing before thee: so the Prophet in the words following Mine Age is as nothing before thee.

Mine Age is as nothing before thee.

Mine Age, &c.

IVstinian reads it vitamea; Pars secunda. auum meum. vulg. lat: Jun. & Trem. Musc. in Psal. 39. Aynsworth. in Psal. 39. 1. Cor. 7.31. Pagnine, tempus meum, my life, and my time; the two Fathers, Hierome and Augustine (following the Greeke) substantia mea my substance; the Caldee (not much vnlike) Corpus meam, my body; but, the Hebrew word, Cheled, signifies, the World, Psal. 17.14. vsed here, for mans life or Age, or time in the world; so that, as the fa­shion of this greater world passeth away, saith the Apostle, so doth the body and substance of the lesser; insomuch that this whole pilgrimage on earth, is but as nothing (most translations reading here vt nihil, or tanquam nihil) and though some bee so mercifull in their rendrings, Aeuum meum coram te est, ac sinon essot. Musc. Aeuum meum ac si nibil esset ante te, Molcrus. as to make mans Age a something, yet that hath but an Est, acsi non esset: or els an Ac, with a si nibil esset: so that I finde little difference in the readings, the one making mans age as nothing; the other, a something, as if it were not. But suppose it were a something, indeed, such an age [Page 15]as had a stabilitie both of dayes and yeeres, and these not spann'd so narrowly, but they might climbe vp to the miracle of a thousand yeeres, yet this huge masse of time is little better then the tanquam nibil in the Text, as nothing before thee, such a nothing, as is resembled to the decursion and sticklenes of one day, not a day present, but already spent, A yesterday, Psal. 90.4. a yester day that is past. A thousand yeeres in thy eyes are but as yester day that is past, or as a wacth in the night. Psal. 90.4.

Had our Prophet resembled it to a day, such a day as we enioy; this day, or, one houre of this day; or one minute of this houre; or, one moment, or ictus of that minute, wee might haue presupposed some stabilitie, though short-breathd, and panting, in the course of mans age; but, to a day, a day languish't, and consum'd; to yester day, to yesterday expird; how doth it whisper our frailty? how our transitorinesse? not such a frailtie, and transitorinesse, as shall here­after fade and wither, but a rotten transitorinesse, a putrisied frailty; a yester dayes frailtie and transito­rinesse; a yester day that is worme-eaten and dustie; a yesterday that is past. The naturall man then look't not home to the brittlenesse of our constitution, when he styl'd Man a creature of a day; [...]. Arist. Iob. 8.9. nor the righ­teous man, when hee cloathed him with an hester­ni sumus, we are but as yester day, Iob 8.9. but, the man after Gods owne heart (whose knowledge was as pure as his integritie) he displayes him at the full, when he makes his Age, a season obsolete; Psal. 90.4. a Calender out of date; a yesterday that is past.

And therefore in a deepe contemplation of our [Page 16]mortalitie (bottoming and sounding (as it were) all humane wretchednesse) hee opens the fleetnesse of his age by a nihil, here, a nihil (I confesse) with a tanquam to it, Mine Age is as nothing before thee: as nothing (indeed) before thee; thy Omnipotencie, thy Infinitenesse; before these, as nothing. For, if a thou­sand yeeres to thee bee but as yester day, must bee nothing to thy thousand; thy thousand thou­sands; thy myriades of thousands, thy eternitie; thy euerlastingnesse. And therefore, my Age, or, my substance, is a tanquam nihil ante te, Ante te, qui vides hoc (Saint Augustine eccho's) & cum hoc video, ante te video, ante te homines non video. I confesse, that it is nothing that I am, in respect of him; that is, ante te domine, ante te; vbi oculi tui sunt, non vbi oculi hu­mani sunt; Aug. in Psal. so the Father warble's. To a blemisht or a deluded eye (and such a one is a mortall eye) my age may be something; a something of some few dimensions, a span-long, and yet this is but a tanquam nihil, a tanquam nihil, vnto man, too; as nothing be­fore him: but to thee; to thy eyes (which are brigh­ter then those beames, which dazzle mine) those eyes, substantia mea, purè nihil; no tanquam, there; mine age is nothing; purely nothing, there. No­thing? why? vniuersa vanitas omnis homo, euery man is vanity; such a vanity as is stol'n-by; or els, now going; as, yester day; or, as a watch in the night. And, these haue their tanquam nihil, too; are as no­thing before thee; so truly nothing, that they make not vp an Age, or a day, but some few houres; e­nough to make vp the watch of a night; no more. [Page 17]But suppose this tanquam nihil beaten out to the perfection of an Age; and that age, threescore and teu: this, trodden on to an hundred; that trebled­vp to Nestors; and his, to Methusalah's; yet all these would not make vp our number of a thousand; and so, in God's eyes, would be lesse then a day; then a day that is past. Than a day? one night; nay, one poore watch in that night; a watch of some three houres-space, that's all. For the Iewes deuided their day into twelue houres, and subdiuided their night into foure watches, and euery watch, three houres. 1. Euening. 2. Midnight. 3. Cock-crow­ing 4. Dawne. Mare. 13.35. Math. 14.13. A goodly monarchhie, of flesh and bloud; a spacious; souerainty (no doubt) both in power and time; a Reigne of some three houres; three houres of a night too, not of a day; as though the time of our sway, and scepter, here, were attended meerely with ob­scurity and dulnesse, a sceane of heauinesse and slum­ber, such as are incident to this watch in the night. And, indeed, what is our life, but a very Watch? and the the time of it, but as the night season? wherein, by reason of the darkenesse that mantles, and o're­spreads it, wee grope in vncertenties and errours: the light wee haue of things is but weake and bor­rowed; a glimmering, or twinkling onely, no true light; and, rather a conceipt, and apprehension of what wee seeme to see, then an exactken or know­ledge of what wee should.

Moreouer, in this watch of ours, wee are apt to nod, and forget; forget, not onely that we are here at Sentinell; who set vs here; and the short time wee are at it, our three boures; but the strict charge of our Commander, and the danger of surprizall and [Page 18]defeat, by the inuasion of our powerfull Aduersary. But, night and frailtie (as what is our age but these?) are beauie-ey'd, and drowzie; and then, our three houres, are (perchance) no more a watch, but a dreame; And what is our age but a dreame too? a dreame of some three houres; and that's a long one (you will say) but, howeuer long, 'tis but a dreame; and, as a dreame, not long neither. But did I say, mans Age was a dreame? nay, rather, man, in that Age, Tob 20.8. a dreame. Hee flieth away, as a dreame, and is chased as a vision in the night. Iob. 20.8. So that, now, here is a dreame in a dreame, Ezechiels vision; a wheele in a wheele, this turne's in that, and yet, but one vi­sion, one dreame; or, if there be disparitie any where, 'tis in man; and he, the vainer dreame of the two.

Our life (you know) hath beene call'd a shadow; and not only a shadow, but a vaine shadow, in which man is said to walke; He walketh in a vaine shadow, in the seuenth verse of this Psalme; And not only walke's in it, but dreame's in it; so dreame's in it, that he is of it, too; and therefore the Heathen call's him vmbrae somnium, [...]. Pindar. the dreame of a shadow; and what is that, but the shadow of a shadow? for there is no­thing so truly a shadow, as a dreame, in which (often­times) there are strange obiects presented to the phantasie, whereof in nature, and true being, there is not so much, as a resemblance, no, not a shadow; and yet, euen these so captiue and shackle the whole man, that (according to the varietie of species offered) they take vs, either with delight, or horror; some­times commanding our sigh, our groane, our teare; sometime, our eleuation of spirits; our applause, our [Page 19]laughter; euen then, when our out ward senses seeme fetter'd and chain'd-vp in the bands of sleepe; and all this was but the Fisher-man's dreame in Theoeri­tus, whose Golden Bootie vanisht with his dreame, and hee awak's at length to himselfe, and his olde wants gull'd with an apparition and shadow of that substance, of which he now find's there was neither shadow, nor substance, truly, but, a dreame of both.

Againe, Dreames are the true Hieroglyphicks of our mortall state, in which the whole passages of our life, are either prophesied, or acted; and that, much to the complexion, or qualitie of humours in him that dreameth. Sometimes, they are ambitious; and then we thinke we are vpon the tops of hils, or mountaines; now on Basan, then, on Libanus; where (for our pride and loftinesse) wee are called Oakes, and Cedars; sometimes they are more humble, and deiected, and then wee grouell in bottomes, and in vallies; where, for our low estate, wee are call'd shrubs and hysop; sometimes they are presumptuous, and then we are at the fall of a steepe Cliffe, or Rocke; sometimes, they are desperate, and then we are at the quick-sand, or the gulfe; sometimes, they are vain­glorious, and then we are at the battlement, or pinna­cle of the Temple; sometimes they are pusillanimous and fearefull; and then we are at the roaring, or swal­lowing of the great deepe; sometimes they insi­nuate a kinde of auspice and blest abundance, and then we tumble in Arabian spices, gold of Ophir, Indian Diamonds; but this (for the most part) is a very dreame, such a one, as our phantasie tell's vs, in our dreame, is a dreame indeed; sometimes againe, they [Page 20]are Ominous, and then ghastly apparitions, and feare­full shreekes startle and affright vs; Galbas halter, or knife, or poyson, or some other Engine of bloud and death more horrid; lastly, sometimes they are fatall, and then we dreame that we haue feet of clay; walke in a Caemeterium, or a Golgotha, tread amongst tombes, or dead mens bones, stumble at a Coffin, or (perchance) a greene medow, and that (they say) is an infallible praediction of mortalitie; I know not whether a medow be, I am sure grasse, or a flower is; or, if not a prediction, at least, an embleme. All flesh is grasse, Esay 40 6. and the beautie thereof as the flower of the field, the grasse withereth, and the flower fadeth, Esay 40.6.

Marke, the substance of flesh and bloud (here) is but grasse, such grasse as withereth, and the beau­tie of that substance, as a flower, such a flower, as is open to all tempests, a flower of the field: and that flower of the field which fadeth too. Here is nothing but withering, and fading, no time of flourishing, as if man were a piece meerely of declination, and wa­sted before he grew. And yet loe, he groweth, and he flourisheth too, but it is for a day only; a day? nay. the first part of that day, the morning; so sayes our Psalmist. Psal. 90.6. In the morning be flourisheth, and groweth vp, Psal. 90.6. That's well; here is man, and the glory of man; he groweth, and he flourisheth; and all this is in the morning; But what followes this mor­ning, and this growth, and this flourishing? surely, a ripenesse, a sickle, and a haruest; an euening, a cut­ting-downe, and a withering. In the euening he is cut downe, and withereth, the same verse, of the same Psalme.

But, hath all flesh and bloud (the grasse here men­tioned) a time of growing vp 'ere it be cut downe? a flourishing before it wither's? wee reade of grasse, that wither's before it growes; before it growes vp, vp to any ripenesse, or perfection; and this the Psal­mist call's grasse on the house top, Psal. 129.6, 7. Psal. 119.6, 7. So thinly growne, that the mower, filleth not his hand, nor he that bindeth vp fheaues, his bosome. Oh, that the Top of a house, the maine beame, and rafters of a Family, the chiefe buttresse, and pillar of a name, should bee so barren, the fruit of it so soone fade, when those that are nearer earth, take better roote. But loe; Hee grew so thinly vp, that there is not so much left of him, as to fill a hand, not to make vp this span-long, in the text, no not this tanquam nibil; He withered before he grew-vp; wee had him only in the morning, in the blooming of youth, when the Damaske and the Lilly daunc'd in the cheeke: Before his noone, he is reapt away, and his sheafe bound-vp, and now he is gone, gone like the day you heard of, the yester day, or the watch, or the shadow, or the dreame, or the grasse, or the fraile flower, nothing remayning, but the memory, that Hee was; And why? Vniuersa vanitas omnis home; surely, man is vanitie; euerie man is vanitie; euery man, in his best state is vanitie; euery man, in his best state, is alto­gether vanitie. So the words runne in the next part. Euery man in his best state is altogether vanitie.

Pars tertia.Euerie man in his, &c.

THe translations (here) runne diuersly; so doe the fancies on them. Vniuersa vanitas omnis [Page 22]homo; August. Musculus. Mollerus. Iun. Trem. in locuin. so, Saint Augustine; omnis vanitas vniuer­sus homo; so Musculus; mera vanitas omnis homo; so Mollerus; and omnimoda vanitas omnis homo; so, Iunius and Tremelius. Euery Translation is dou­ble-strung, and harp's altogether on the plurall. The Prophet sayes not, I am vaine, or man is vaine, or, man is vanitie; nor that men are vaine, or vani­tie; but the whole series, Aynsworth in Psal. 39. and descent come within the chorus; Euerie man is vanitie; nay, euery man is euerie vanitie; all mankind, all manner of vanitie; so the Root, All Adam, all Hebeb, all mankind, all vanitie. There is nothing within the round of this little world, the whole circuit of flesh and bloud, (who­soeuer, whatsoeuer, or how great soeuer) but it is vaine, Bolduc. in cap. 11. Ioh. v. 11. vanitie, all vanitie. And therefore some Com­mentators (perusing that of the eleuenth of Iob, vers. 11. God knoweth vaine man) reade it nouit Deus ho­minum vanitatem, God knoweth the vanitie of men: or, as others, more nimbly, nouit Deus homi­nes vanitatis; God knoweth the men of vanitie. So, Saint Augustine, paraphrasing on that of the Preacher, Eccles. 1. Vanitie of vanities, all is vanitie. will not reade the words, Aug. lib de vera Religione cap. 21. Vanitas vanitatum, but vanitas vanitantium, as if men made the vanitie, and not vanitie the men, so. Ne (que) frustra additum est vanitantium, (saith the Father,) quia si vanitantes detrahas, non eritcorpus vanitas, sed in suo genere, quamuis extremam pulchritudinem, sine vllo errore remonstrabit, in his Booke, de ver a Religione, cap. 21. And, indeed, we too much iniure and disparage, not only the times we liue in, but also, those of our Pre­decessours, crying out on the vanitie of either, when [Page 23]the Stoyicke tels vs, hominum sunt ista, Sen. Epist. 56. non tempo­rum; the vanitie is in the man, and not in the Age; or, if it were there, and the vanitie of all creatures within it, man would ingrosse it all; so, the same Saint Augustine, expounding the Apostles, Aug. in cap. 8. Ro. cap. 53. vanitati sub­iecta est creatura, the creature is subiect vnto vanitie, Rom. 8. First, put's all vanitie into the creature, and then; all creatures into man, and that without the least calumnie, or, iniustice (so he professes) omnem crea­turam in ipso homine, sine vlla calumnia cogitemus, in his tract vpon the Romans, cap. 13. And, indeed, it was iust, that he who had the glory of all creatures, whil'st he stood cloathed in his integritie, should haue all their frailtie, too, when hee was disrob'd; and so it fell out at length; that hee that was the occasion of all vanitie, man, was all vanitie himselfe. Verse 4. There was a time, when he was but like vnto it, Man is like vnto vanitie, Psal. 144. now He is vanitie it selfe, 'tis his essentiall, and proper qualitie; not in part, or resemblance only, but, altogether vanitie; man is al­together vanitie. And what is that? Aug. in Psal. 38. Totum hoc quod transit vanitas dicitur. Euerie transitorinesse is a vani­tie; That which reside's not, we call vaine, because it vanisheth; so doth a vapour, we say, or a smoake, and man is both; and therefore a vanitie, and a va­nitie; or, (if you please) once more, a vanitie of va­nities; for that which the Septuagint read's so in their [...]; Hierome, and others would haue read [...], vapor fumi, and, aurea lenuis, the vapour of a smoake, or, a thinne aire; Hebel, a soone vanishing vapour, as the breath of ones mouth, or nostrils; so Viues note's vpon the Father, in his [Page 24]twentieth, De Ciuitate Dei, cap. 3. T'is true then, whatsoeuer vanisheth, we call vanitie; and man, that vanisht vanitie; insomuch that hee seeme's to bee a fraile creature, indeed; some what lesse then vanitie, or beyond it. Psal 109.23. And therefore our Prophet doth not only compare him to a shadow (which must as a sha­dow vanish) but to that shadow, when it declineth, Psal. 109.23. and it seemes this is not enough neither, and therefore, Psal 102.12. Psal. 102.12. Dies mei similes vmbrae declinatae; I am gone ae a shadow declin'd. He is gone, and declin'd, not declining, as if his passage were ra­ther coniectur'd then discern'd. And therefore, in Scripture, we seldome finde man's Age resembled to a shadow, but there is a fugit with it, fugit velut vm­bra. Iob. Iob 14.12. 14.12. Hee sties as a shadow; flie's with a nimble wing; so nimbly, that sometimes Hee out­doe's the acutenesse of our sight; I be held him (say's Dauid) and hee was gone, Psal 37.37. I sought him, and hee was no where to be found; so also, dies nostri, quasi vmbrae super terram, 1. Chron. 29.15. & nulla est mora, 1. Chron. 29.15. Our dayes are as a shadow vpon earth, and there is no stay; they passe along; nay, they flie; flie so swift­ly, that they are gone, when we thinke them going, like a gasping coale, which in one Act, glare's, and dye's; or the rude salutations of fire and powder, which but meet, and part; touch, and consume. And, indeed (if we but obserue) a shadow is not so proper a resemblance of our life, as of our death; or, rather, something betweene both. T'is an vnequall mixture of light and darknesse; or rather, a light mask't, or vayl'd-vp in darknesse, so that, the greater part must be obscuritie; and that resemble's death; what re­mayne's of light, is screen'd and intercepted, and so [Page 25]look's but dimly towards life. Euerie shadow is an im­perfect night, and euery night, a metaphoricall death. Sleepe and Death haue beene long since call'd two si­sters; and Night, the mother of them both. Moreo­uer, as euery shadow is an imperfect night, so euery life is an imperfect death. The greater the shadow is, the nearer vnto night, and so is the life protract'd, vnto death. And therefore our Prophet knowing that his earthly Tent was a little wind-shooke, and obnoxious to daily ruine, wil haue his age emblem'd by a shadow that is declin'd, ad occasum vergens, In Psal. 102.12. & 109.23. & in tenebras euanescens, saith Muscuius; hastning to darknesse, and the night, and that night, death. When the Sunne is in the Meridian, and the beames of it perpendicular to our bodies, shadowes change not suddenly, but when it begin's to decline to the fall, euery moment, almost, they vary; and therefore his dayes are velut vmbrainclinata, seu serotina, Museul. ibid. as an euening shadow which decline's with the Sunne, and so set's. For, though shadowes appeare larger, when the Sunne is neere the fall, yet that greatnesse is not fatre from vanishing; vanitie (I should say) the va­nitie in the text (here) man; whose honours and triumphs, at the height, and, in his best state, are but as shadowes at noone; and his dayes, but as shadowes neere the set; nay, not so hopefull, for they returne againe with the Sunne; but man once set, riseth not, till the Sunne and Heauens shall be no more. Iob. 14.12. And twere well that only the time of mans life were vanitie, but his actions in that time are a wilder vanitie then the other. The Poets signified so much, when they set in combustion all Greece and Asia [Page 26]for a gaudie Apple; and all Troy and Greece, for a faire Curtizan; two daintie trifles to cause such bloudie agitations in States and Empires. What, but vanitie could haue proiected it? What but this, omnimoda vanitas, put it in execution? But, who knowes not, that most things arriue mankind, as they seeme, not as they are? As wee please to fancie them, not as they proue in their owne nature? And so wee are fool'd out of the truth, and realtie of things, by a vaine ap­prehension of what they are not; shewing one thing in the rinde, an externall appearance, another, in the core and internall essence; Sophistications, Impo­stures, Lies. And therefore the Prophet complaines on the sonnes of men, that they lou'd Vanitie, and followed after lies, Psal. 4.9. not only because all worldly allurements yeeld no true contentation, and felicitie, but because (in very deed) they tend either to equiuocation, or falshood; a deceiueable falshood (so the word Cozab signifie's) which is such a lie, Aynesworth. in Psal. 4.9. as deceiue's mens expectations; and therefore that which in the twelfth Psalme, verse 3. We trans­late deceitfull lips, according to the Hebrew, is false vanitie, or vaine falshood, the word Shau noting both vanitie of words, and deeds, and sometimes that which is false too. Here upon the Prophet Agur amongst other petitions he preferr'd to his God, his principall desire was, that hee would remoue from him, vanitie and lies, Pro. 30.8. And commonly they go hand in hand; for, whatsoeuer is vain must be false too; Insomuch that vnder the word vanitie, a lie pas­ses [Page 29]srequently in Scripture, or, Vide Pineda & Boldnc. in cap. 11. Iob 11. at least in the Exposi­tions on it: so in the eleuenth of Iob, what the vul­gar read's, hominum vanitatem, vanitie of men, Pag­nine call's homines mendaces, and Caietan, homines falsitatis, lying men, or, men of falshood; Pagn. Vatab. Caiet. in cap. 11. Job. 11. and Vata­blus, (vnwilling, as it seemes, to sunder vanitie from the lie) translate's both wayes, Nouit Deus quàm va­ni, & ne quàm homines. God knoweth how vaine and false men are; And therefore in the 62. Psal. 10. the Latine hath it, Mendaces homines in stateris, men are lyes in the ballance; the English, thus, men are vanitie in the ballance. And, indeed, the whole race of mankind come's within the verge of these two words; if they be of cheape and humble conditi­on, they are call'd Vanitie; if, of a more climing, high, and noble estate, a lie. Men of low degree are vanitie, and men of high degree are alye, Psal. 62.9. Aynsworth in Psal. 62.9. A lie, or a vanitie? nay, lighter then both; so that if they were laid in ballances together, they would mount vp, sayes the text; In ballances to mount vp, they together are lighter then vanitie; intimating, Psal. 62.10. that if all men were put together in one ballance, and this vanitie and lie, in another, the ballances would mount vp, and the frailtie in mans side. A prettie piece of aeyre, and leuitie, that vanitie should weigh-downe; or, alie; childhood, or wantonnesse, or folly, or igno­rance, are not so light; nay, not the leuitie of all these, woman.

The Locust, or the Grashopper (creatures of emp­tinesse and feare) are no greater slaues of the winde then he. Hee is tossed to and froas the Grashopper, and [Page 30]driuen away as the Locust, Aug. Iun. & Trem. Psal. 30. In imagine non in vmbra. Psal. 109.23. Thus, his whole life is but a tossing, or a driuing (types of insta­bilitie, and trouble) and these in a vaine way too; so our Psalmist, here; He walke's in a vaine Image (as if his life were rather suppositious, and imaginarie, then a life indeed) and in this, he is at no peace, but he disquieteth himselfe in vaine, or, (as some read it) in vanitie doth hee make a stirre; And what is the issue of this vaine tumult? He beapeth vp riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them, in the seuenth verse of this Psalme. Of all earthly vanities this is the most superlatiue; the omuimoda vanitas in the Text, Aug. de Temp. 49. in cap. 3. is not so vaine as this. Conturbaris, ô homo (saith Augustine) Vanè conturbaris; quare? the­saurizas; cui? nescis. A rare prouidence (no doubt) to treasure vp, I know not what, for I know not whom. The Scripture scarce afford's a fleeting at tribute to flesh and bloud, but Riches haue a share in it. Men are call'd vanities, so are Riches, shadowes, so are Riches; nothing, so are Ri­ches. Hearke, Mammonist, here is a vanitie, as well of Riches, Aug. ibid. as of men, and both these a shadow, and a no­thing. But suppose those riches firme, and solid; what then? Non infructuosè conturbaris, sed vanè contur­baris, (sayes the Father) perchance the trouble is not so fruitlesse; but, 'tis as vaine; vaine? Why? Thou knowest not who shall gather them; and, if thou knowest not that, why doest thou heape them vp? or, if thou do'st, tell me, for whom? thy selfe? dar'st thou say so, that art to die? thy issue, then? dar'st thou say so of those that shall? Magna pietas! the­saurizat [Page 31]pater filijs; imò, magna vanitas, thesaurizat moriturus, morituris; the Father, still, in his nine and fortieth Sermon, de Tompore.

But grant thy heapes inlarg'd; thy fortunes, pro­sperous; thy loynes, fruitfull, yet there is a moth and gangreene haunt's that estate that is purchased with too much solicitude, the heire of it, (often­time) subiect to a fit of improuidence, or luxurie, or pride, or folly, or else, that common feuer of lust, and riot; or (perchance) the palsie of a die, shake's out his posteritie into miserie, and want; and then Ille fluenào perdidit, quod tu laborando congregâsti; Aug. vt supra. what before was a dropsie, is now growne to a con­sumption, thy baser auarice, to a reproachfull penurie; and what thou hast long fed on, with the bread of carefulnesse, is at last brought to the bread of sarrow, to the leane cheeke, the hollow eyes, and the cleane teeth; and hee that was before the obiect of thy wretchednes, and poore anxietie, is now, He that by v­sury and vniust gaine increa­seth his sub­stance, he shall gather it for him that will pittie the poore. Prou. 28.18. Vide Eccles. 2.26. Psal. 127. of another mans Charitie, and remorse; and then thou wilt ac­knowledge this vanè conturbaris, too, that thou hast disquieted thy selfe in vaine, and to no purpose hea­ped vp riches, since thou knowest not who hath ga­thered them. But, suppose thy issue, both hopefull, and prouident, such a one as will not only preserue thy treasure, but inhaunce it; yet oftentimes his vine is barren, and there are no Oliue plants about his table; God doth shut vp the wombe, or so emasculate his loynes, that either the fruit of it is abortiue, or none at all; or, if he haue any (as Bildad said vnto Iob) the first borne of death shall deuoure his strength, Iob. 18.13, 14. and [Page 32]bring him to the King of terrours, Eccles 5.4. Iob 33.34. Iob 15.33. Vide Eccles 4.8 he shall shake off his vnripe grape as the vine and cast off his flower as the Oliue; and then the vanè conturbaris comes here al­so; He hath disquieted himselfe in vaine, and heaped vp riches, and knowe's not who shall gather them. Thus, Except the Lord build the house, they labour but in vaine that build it; Psal. 127.2. Children are the heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the wombe is his reward; others may plant, and water, but be giue's the increase; and where he giue's them as blessings (as oftentimes he doe's) they are as arrowes in the hand of the strong man, Psal. 127.4.5. and happie is hee that hath his quiuer full: but when they are giuen otherwise (as they are some­times) as the whip and sword of a declining house then they are as arrowes in the hand of the Almighty; arrowes that are sharpe, and keene, shot from a dead­ly hand, and a bow of steele; arrowes that sticke fast, Iob 7. and pierce the very ioynts and the marrow; the venome whereof drinketh vp the spirits, the spirits of a Name and Family, when the light of it shall bee put out, Iob 18 5. and the sparkle of his fire shine no more. Who knowe's not that God doth often scourge the sinne of the Father in the children? and, for the foule The crimes here mencio­n'd, were Aua­rice, Oppressi­on, Sacriledge; which (spoken only in communi, and as a positiue truth in Diuinitie) the misprision, or preiudice of some did wire-draw and restraine too personally; and brought-home that to particular Families, which was intended only ingenerall, and at large. And therefore, if there bee any bosome so guiltie, as to eutertaine them otherwise, I am sorrie for the Application: the Authour is innocent. obliquities of the Predecessour, set's a rot vpon the whole Posteritie, when the name shall moulder with [Page 33]the Bodie, and the Fortunes with the name; so that the curse against the wicked man, runn's double; first, against his fortunes; they shall dry vp as a riuer, and shall vannish with noyse like a great thunder in vaine; next on his Issue; they shall not bring forth branches, but are as vncleane roots vpon a hard rocke. Eccles. 40.13, 15. Here is a vanè conturbaris, indeed; and not barely so, but, an infructuosè conturbaris, also; not only a vaine anxietie, but a fruitlesse; for, here is neither a thesaurizas, nor a congregabis; no Riches left that were heapt vp; or (if there bee) none to ga­ther them.

Thus, they that sow vanitie shall reape the winde; not a winde that shall lull and whistle them, but a winde that driue's and scatter's; scatters them, as the chaffe from the face of the whole earth. And though they grow mightie in possession, or name; so mightie, that in height they reach the very cloud's, yet God shall persecute them with his tempest, Psal. 18.12. and make them afraid with his storme; at his presence, these cloudes shall be remoued; and then, hailestones, and coales of fire. Or, though they aspire not so high, but climbe the mountaines only (though some mountaines (they say) kisse the cloudes, too) yet, tangit montes, & fumigabunt, God shall touch those mountaines, and they shall smoake; and as they smoake, vanish, and vanishing, confesse Tusolus al­tissimus super omnem terram. Thou, O Lord, art a­boue those mountaines, and not only aboue them, but all the World beside.

And I could wish that my words were altogether [Page 34]at randome here; and look't not collaterally, both to the text and the occasion. Who see's not (and let me not be thought rough, or vncharitable, in that I say, who see's not) that in latter ages the Almightie's Besome hath beene here; and, in the circuite of a few yeares, swept away many braue Worthies of the name; and not only his Besome, but his Axe too, lopt off many a hopefull twig, and glorious branch; and now of late, strooke at the The Roote (howeuer) is still greene; & I wish heartily that it may grow-vp, and bud, & branch, to the flourish­ing and perpe­tuitie of the Name; though some haue barkt at my in­tegritie, ma­king my words here, a chur­lish prophecie, of the extirpa­tion of it, and sinall doome. But such snat­lers and close­biters of mens honours, I mustproclaime ignorant, or vniust, or both; for, either they vnderstood not what I spake, or, if they did, were iniurious in their applica­tion. Hoc tu Romane caueto. Stemme, of the Family; and at a blow hewe'd downe, one of the goodliest Cedars in all our Libanus. The very stones and walls speake so much; those vntimely Blackes, and these sorrowes. And yet (me thinke's) our sor­rowes are not as they should bee; our Firre-trees howle not that their Cedar is fall'n, neither are our Harpes (as yet) hung vpon the willowes; but wee can sing an Epithalamium, when we should be sigh­ing of an Elegie, as if our proiects could befoole the Almighties, and 'twere in our power to raise or e­stablish a name, when God seeme's to threaten the pulling downe. But (O thou altogether vanitie) looke vp to the Hils aboue, and to the Heauens aboue them; and there, to the maker of them both; who sit's in his great watch-tower, and obserue's all the passages of the sonnes of men; and not only obserue's them, but laugh's them to scorne; and, childing our presumptuous and vaine designes, bidd's vs looke backe to the text here; where we may reade the sto­rie of our wretchednesse, and so acknowledge, at length with our Prophet, that, Thou, O God, hast made our dayes as a span-long, and that our Age is as nothing [Page 35]before thee; and surely euery man in his best slate is al­together vanitie.

I haue done now with the text, and should begin with the occasion of it; the death of our Honourable Friend; but I was commanded only for a Sermon, not for a Panegyricke, that (I suppose) you might haue had (here) in a more keene and accurate dis­course; mine (I confesse) like my griefes, heauie, and bedew'd. True sorrow is more heartie, then Rhetoricall; and not so fit for applause, as for a groane. Your sauning eloquence playe's to much with the tongue, and leaue's the inward man vnsearcht; but, my bosome is ingag'd here, and not my lips; and that is too full to be emptied in this span-long of an Au­ditorie; the world shall haue it in an impartiall An­niuersarie: or, should I vent my respects, heere I could bee only your Remembrancer, not, your In­former.

The Country was not so much a stranger to his worth, but must acknowledge this truth with me; that hee was not guiltie of any peculiar sinne, either of greatnesse, or of youth; no lofty-ones, of arrogance or scorne; no grinding-ones, of cruelty or oppression; no flaming-ones, of ryot, or of lust; no base-ones of anxiety, or solicitude; no lewd­ones, of prophanation or debauchment; no bi­ting-ones, of rancour, or detraction; no creeping­ones, of Insinuation, or popularitie; no painted-ones, of ceremony, or hypocrisie; but all his Actions went by the line, and the square, as if his life had beene an exact Epitome both of moralitie, and Religion. There [Page 36]was nothing mortall about him, but his Body, and that was too frayle a cabbonet for those rich eminences to lodge in, Plin: Paneg. so that, as Plinie told his Traian mortali­tas magis finita est, quam vita his life was not termi­nated, but his mortality; Goodnesse and vertue (which were his being) haue a kinde of Diuinitie in them; and so, not mortall. Bonus a Deo differt tantum tem­pore, saith the Stoicke, Sen. Ep. 73. Betweene God and a good man, there is no distinction but in time; nor in that neither, if he meane (as it seeme's he do's) a titularie God, Idem Ibid. not an essentiall; for, nulla sine Deo mens bona, there is no good minde without a God in it: and that's the reason (I thinke) great men were first cal'd Gods; for, greatnesse presupposeth some raritie and perfection in it, and where that is, there is a kind of God head. And, if it were euer in greatnesse, it was heere; whether you take greatnesse for the name, or for the spirit; not, that hee was either haughtie or supercilious, but of a temper, truly generous, and heroicke, and (what is aboue ei­ther) truly Christian. A fast friend, and a noble brother, A munificent and open-handed Master; and (what I know, and therefore speake, and speake that you should know, and so imitate) an vncorrupted Patron; no fire-brand in his Countrey, nor Meteor in his Church; a flash, and falfe-blaze in Religion, he was so farre from approuing, that hee loathed; neither was hee so benighted in his intellectuals, as to be led vp and downe in a peruerse ignorance and darknesse, by an Ignis fatuus; your vocall puritie, [Page 37]and tongue deuotion, and furious zeale, euen when hee was no more a dying man, but a Saint (and the words of dying Saints are Oraculous to me) hee both censur'd and disclaimd; wishing the walles of our Hierusalem built vp stronger in Vnity and Peace; and, a more temperate and discreet silence amongst the wayward Hot-spurres of our Spirituall Mother. And, indeed, this Clamorous Sanctitie, this affected dresse of holinesse, without, is not the right dresse. Prou. 30.12. There is a generation (saith the Prophet) that are pure in their owne eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthines; the ragge, or the menstruous cloute, not so loath­some as some of these. Our bodies (you know) are call'd the Temples of the Holy Ghost; our heart, the Altar of that Temple; true deuotion, the fire of that Altar; sighes, and groanes, and sobs, the sa­crifice for that fire; These cast-vp the acceptable o­dour; these, only these, the sweet incense in the no­strils of the Almightie. The Hecatombe, and out­ward pompe of sacrifice, hath too much of the beast in it, the many-headed beast, the multitude; that, within, is of the spirit; and that of the spirit, is the true Child's of God; And this our noble friend had, without glosse or varnish, his life a recollected Chri­stianitie; his sicknesse, a penitent humiliation; and his death, an vnbattered assurance of his richer estate in glory; Insomuch, that I knew not, whether I might enuie, or admire, that God had bestowed such a plentifull mortification, on a Secular condition, and left Diuinitie, so barren. No Viper in his bosome; nor Vulture at his heart; no convulsion or gripe of [Page 38] Conscience; no pang of the inward man (so he con­fest to me) for the reigue of any darling sinne. And (indeed) his priuate meditations, groanes, solilo­quies, pensiue eleuations of eyes, and spirit, rap­ture's full of sublimitie, and contemplation (such as the heart could only eiaculate, and not the tongue) vndaunted resolutions and defiance of death, and all her terrours, spake him glorisied, before hee died. And thus, hauing made a full peace with God, and with the world, he sang his Nunc dimittis, and made a willing surrender of his Soule into the hands of his Redeemer; where hee hath now his Palme and white Robe, his Pennie of true happinesse, and Crowne of euer lasting glorie; to which God bring vs, with him, for Iesus Christ his sake. Amen.

Gloria in Excelsis Deo.

Set not thy heart vpon them. Pars secunda.

THe Rabbines, and Hebrewes, of old, attributed the whole Regiment of man to the Heart, and made that the Throne and chaire of the Reasona­ble Soule; seating in it not onely the powers of vnderstanding; Choice, but of Will and Action too; So did the anncient Grecians; specially, their Poets. The Philosophers, on the other side, place them [Page 23]in the Braine; and leaue onely the Affections to the Heart; But, Diuinity is more bountifull, the Scripture giuing it the whole rationall power; vn­derstanding, will, iudgement, consultation, thought, endeauour; hence 'tis, that God so often scourge's the Hearts of men, commanding vs to confesse, ho­nour, loue, and feare him with all our heart; And therefore, that part is sometimes taken for the rea­sonable Soule; somtimes, for the whole man; Here­vpon the Prophet's Lacerate corda vestra, Rent your Hearts, and not your garments; and This people ho­nour me with their lips, but their Heart is farre from mee; the Heart, the Shrine and Temple where I am truely worship'd; that Holocanst and Oblation on­ly which smoke's from this Altar, beare's the ac­ceptable Odour; all other Sacrifices are abomina­ble; the Heart is God's Iewell; hee doth appropri­ate it to himselfe, onely, and wholly; the hand, or foote, or eye are not forbidden to doe their office, both in gathering lawfully, and preseruing riches; any member but the Heart may be thus employ­ed, that must not intermeddle; for this were to whore after a false Numen, and Burne Incense to a strange God: 'Tis not the meere possession or vse of riches that offend's, but the Affectation; And to this purpose, Lumbard puts in his Obseruation, with a non dicit Propheta, the Prophet saye's not, nolite habere, but nolite cor opponere; In locum. wee are not forbidden riches; but when wee haue them, to set our Hearts vpon them; so that, the errour hang's not vpon those, but vs; not on Riches, but [Page 24]that which Idoll's them, our Heart. And there­fore, Moses gaue a stong Caueat to the Israelites, that when their Folcks and heards encreased, and their Siluer, and their Gold was multiplied, they should beware le [...]st their hearts were lifted vp, and so they should forget the Lord their God. Deut. 8.13.14. Those sublunarie creatures raise not Di­straction in vs, so wee make them not our Centre, if wee rest not in them, if we can locke through them, to the Giuer; And, doubtles, wee may en­tertaine the vnrightous Mammon, not onely as a Seruant, but a Friend, by no meanes, as a Lord. There is Vertue in the true vse of it, if there be a Qualification in our desires. And therefore, S. Au­gustine disputing of that impossible Analogie be­tweene Heauen, and a Rich-man, a Camell, and the Eye of a Needle, would haue a Rich man vnderstood there Cupidum rerum temporalium, & de talibus superbientem, such a one, as ioynes Auarice to Ri­ches, and Pride to Auarice, in his 2. Booke of Euang. quaest. Cap. 47. And this is the Burden of his Inter­pretation in three seuerall Tracts more, non opes damno sed desideria, in his 10. Sermon de tempore; non Diuitiae, sed Cupiditas accusatur, in his 5. Ser­mon de verbis Apostoli; in Diuitijs reprehendo cu­piditatem, non facultatem, in his first Booke de Ci­uit. Dei. Cap. 10. A moderate and timely care of necessary temporalls is not prohibited, but the in­ordinate Appetite is cryed downe by the generall voyce and consent both of Fathers and Schoole­men; if you require a Catalogue; view more [Page 25]punctually Gregory de Valentia vpon Aquinas 2.2.3. Tome 4. disputation, 5. question. Hereupon, Sen. de Beat. vit. the Moralists, and those of rigid and seuerer Brow, would haue a wise man passe by Ríches, in con­tempt, Nonnè habeat, sed nèsolicitus habeat, not in regard of their propriety, and possession, but the dif­ficulty and eagernesse of the pursuit; which as hee can manage without Indulgence, in their fruition; so, without disturbance, in their losse; In what store house may Fortune better looke vp her Tre­sure, then there, from whence shee may fetch it without the complaint of him that keepes it? M. Cato, when he praised Curius and Caruncani­us, and the voluntary and affected pouertie of that Age, wherein it was a Capitall offence to haue some few plates of Siluer, Sen. Epist. 119. Possidebat ipse quadra­gies sestertiùm, saith Seneca, had his owne store cram'd with many a Sesterce. A wise man, as hee will not make Riches the Obiect of his pursuite, so not, of his refusall, non amat Diuitias, sed mauult; non in animam illam gazam, sed in domum recipit; nec respuit possessas Diuitias, sed contemnit; 'tis Se­neca's againe, to his Iunius Gallio, hee weigh's them so euenly betweene, Desire, and Scorne, that hee doth neither vnder-valew, nor indulge them; hee make's not his minde, their Magazine, but his House, in which he doth not locke, but lodge them; he loue's them not, properly, but by way of com­parison, not as they are riches, but as they are a­loofe from Pouerty: Yes, Stoicke, Sen. de Beat, vit. cap. 7. as they are ri­ches, they may not onely be temperately lou'd and [Page 26]desir'd, but also prayed for, prayed for as our dayly bread; not absolutely, as for our spirituall improue­ment, but by way of restriction; first humbly, with submission to the will of God; then, conditio­nally, so they proue aduantagious either to our ciuill or morall good. But here wee must warily stee [...]re betweene a vigilant prouidence, and a fret­ting solicitude, a discreete and honest care, and that which is anxious, and intemperate; for, if they are pursued either with vnlawfull, or vnbri­deled desire; they leade our Reason captiue, Blind­fold our Intellectuals, startle and disturbe our subli­mated, and better thoughts, weane our Cogitati­ons from Sacred proiect to matters of Secular em­ployment, steale from vs the exercise of spiritu­all duties, and so damp and dead all the faculties of the Inward man, that in way of Conscience or Religion, we are benum'd meerely; Naball him­selfe not so stony and churlish, not halfe so supine and stupified as we. And therefore, your earthly Sensualists haue this wofull brand set vpon them by the Spirit of God. They are men of this world, they haue their portion in this life onely. Psal. 17.14. Riches haue nothing substantiall in them that may allure vs, but our custome of admiring them, Non quia concupiscenda sunt, Sen Ep. 119. laudentur; sed quià concupiscuntur, laudata sunt, They are not praised, because they are to be desired, but they are desi­red because they are praysed. To cut out our de­sires by weake presidents is at once folly and mad­nesse; 'tis miserable to follow error by example; [Page 27]That this man hugg's his Mammon, is no authori­ty for my Auarice; I must chalke out my procee­dings by the line of precept, square them by the rules of Diuine truth; and that tel's mee Ríches are but snares, thornes, vanities, shadowes, nothing. 1. Tim 6.9. Math. 13.22. Wilt thou set thine eyes vpon that which is not? saith the Wise man; For, certainly, Riches make themselues wings, they flye away as an Eagle towards heauen, Pro. 18. Marke, all their pompe is with­out certainty, or station: Things not onely fleeting, but voluble; they steale not from vs, but they flye away; flye away as an Eagle doth, both with strong, and nimble wing; Their Ebbe is as sodaine, as their flowe doubtfull; the Text onely presup­poses the one, with a si affluxerint, if they flow a­bout thee, as if their increase were meerely casu­all: But if they doe, what then? Nolite cor oppo­nere, set not your heart vpon them; They are transitory obiects, they flye away, not only with the pinions of an Eagle, but with the wings of a Doue, of the Doue, in the Psalmist, whose wings were couered with siluer, and her feathers with gold. Riches (I confesse) haue their Beauty, and lustre; but they are false, like globes of Christall, which though they take the eye both with varietie and delight of Obiects, yet haue of themselues but a hollow and brittle glory, nihil ex his quae videmus manet, currit cum tempore: Winds and Seas are not so roling and vnstable as Riches are, when they begin to surge and swell the Heart, that is set vpon them: vides quia fluunt, Ambros. ad Mamme. non vides quia praeter flu­unt; [Page 28]fluenta sunt quae miraris; quomodò veniunt, sit transeunt, et receduntvt discas superflua non acqui­rere, Loe, how the Father, playing on the word, chide's his folly, and opening the stickle condition of these sliding Temporalls, prohibite's all desire of vnnecessary Treasure, to sweate after superflui­ties, and vaine Abundance, since the way to them is both steepe, and slippery, and like the climbing of a sandie hill to the feete of the Aged. No man can be possessed of a peaceable and quiet life that toyle's much about the inlargement of it. Seneca's habere quod necesse est, & quod sat est, may well com­pleat all earthly happines, and terminate our desires in way of riches, to haue that which is necessary, & that which is sufficient; But this latter we must bound againe with the rules of Nature, not opinion. The Epicure tels vs, If we liue according to Nature, we shall neuer be poore; if, according to opinion, neuer rich. Our naturall desires haue their lists, and Bounds; Those that are deriued from false opini­on, haue no pale; to him that goeth in a right way there is an end; Error is infinite. As there­fore there are diuers sorts of Riches, so there are of Desires, too; there are Riches naturall, and there are Riches Artificiall; there are Desires of Nature, and there are Desires of Choice. Naturall Riches, such as are surrogated to man for the supply of naturall defects; as meate, drinke, clothing; Ar­tificiall; by which Nature is not immediately re­lieued, but by way of consequence, as Coyne, Plate, Iewels, and the like, which the Art of man first [Page 29]found out for easier trafficke and exchange; or (as the vnhewed language of the Schoole. man rough's it) propter mensuram rerum venalíum. Now na­turall desires shake hands with naturall Riches; they are not infinite, but haue their measure, and growth, and proportion with the other. Artifi­ciall Riches are without period, and come vp to those desires of Choice; which because inordinate, and not modified, are noe lesse then infinite. Hee that drinke's of this water (saith Christ, by tempo­ralls) shall thirst againe, Ioh. 4. The Reason is, because their insufficiencie is most knowen when they are had, and therefore discouer's their im­perfection more; so that Naturall Riches are more exquisite, because they haue naturall desires which are infinite; The other not without Confusion and Disorder, because their desires depend on Choice, which are mutable and various; and so, Infinite. Aquin. secunda secundae, q. 1. art. 1. ad se­cundum. Cato. That Rigid censor of the Romanes, was both Home, and witty, to the superfluous vanities of his time, Any thing will suffice, if what we want we require of our selues; hee that seeke's for content, without him, looseth both himselfe, and it; not to desire, Ʋis fieri diues, Pontifice? nil cupias Mart, Sen. Epist. 119. and haue, are of a nere Bloud - Quare igitur à for­tunâ potius impetrem, vt det, quàm à me, nè petam? saith the Stoicke, Why should I rather desire of For­tune, that she would giue mee? then of my selfe that I would not desire? Riches haue nothing solid in them; for if they had, they would sometimes ei­ther fill or please vs; but they play with our ap­petites as the apples did with the lips of Tantalus, [Page 24]which he might kisse, not Taste; or, suppose, Tast them, 'tis but as water to one sicke of a violent fe­uer, now drinking eagerly to allay his thirst, en­larges it; and seeking something to coole his Tor­ments, he enflame's them. Wee are neuer in our selues, but beyond; Feare, or Desire, or Hope draw vs euer to that which is to come, and remoue our sence and consideration from that which is, to muse on that which shall be, euen when wee shall be no more. Inuentus est, qui concupisceret Aliquid post omnia. There are some, that hauing all things, haue (notwithstanding) coueted somewhat; like wide-mouth'd Glasses brimb'd-vp with rich Elix­ars; put gold in them, They are ne're the fuller; And this is a punishment euer waites vpon vn­bridled, and immoderate Appetites; Hee that lo­ueth siluer, shall not bee satisfied with siluer, nor hee that loueth Abundance, with increase, Eccle. 5.10. Miserable Desires, haue miserable effects; They degrade and deuest Man of that preheminence he hath aboue other Creatures, and bring him down to Beasts; nay, vnder them; For they hauing quen­ched their Desires, by their Fruition, remaine fully satisfied, till Nature quicken againe their Appe­tites, like plants in a fat soyle, which neuer require shewers, but in drought; those of Man are euer ra­uenous and insatiate, like barren & thirsty ground, which euen then lacks moisture, when ouer-flowed. Thoughts which streame towards wealth, or Ho­nour haue no certaine channell; but, like a Torrent or full tide, either beate downe'or else ouer-runne [Page 31]their bankes. There was neuer Mammonist, whose Excesse of Treasure, or Extent of Fortune, could limit his Concupiscence; but it might well riuall the Ambition of those Proud Kings of old, who not satisfied with the Glory of their owne Crownes, and hauing nothing more on earth to bee desired, would counterfaite the Lightning and Thunder, to haue themselues thought powerfull in Heauen also; make him Lord of the whole Earth; giue him her Mynes of Gold, Coasts of Iasper, Rocks of Diamonds; nay, all the Treasure the wombe of the Earth, or bowels of the great Deepe haue swal­lowed; yet, euen in these flouds, hee thirsteth, in this surset, he is hungry, in these Riches, poore. O the Inexhaustednesse of Humane Appetite. Quod naturae satìs est, Homini nò est. Sen Epist. 119. Nature hath not in her vast store-house wherewith to supply our bottomlesse Desires; those Desires, I meane, which attend our Choice; For as they depend on the Imaginations of men, (which are fertile, and euer blooming) as this Power represent's the formes and Images of infinite Obiects, so our de­sires multiply strangely to pursue all those things the Imagination hath propounded; insomuch, that we prosecute them (oftentimes) without Rule, or Measure, and there is sooner an end of vs, then of our Couetousnes. I know there are Desires Innocent enough, if they had their Bounds; But their Ex­cesse, and Restlesnesse, doth blemish their pursuite; the Chrysolite, the Berill, and the Saphire, and all the sparkling, and shelly Maiestie, of Pearle, and [Page 32] Stone, are the Obiects of a harmelesse delight, if we could vse them moderately; But, we suffer our selues to be transported with such violent Affecti­ons, and we seeke them with such enraged heate, that 'tis rather Madnesse, then Desire; Nay, of all humane Aspirations there are none so lawlesse, and Exorbitant, as those which wander after Riches; For, whereas the Rest aime only at the Ioy and Content which may arriue them by the possession of their Obiects, and so, lull, and slumber, (like two loude and steepe Currents, which meeting in a Flat kisse, & are silent.) Those of Riches, grow more violent, by Abundance, like the flame of a great fire, which increaseth by casting wood into it. There can be no true Riches, without Content; and there can be no true content where there is still a Desire of riches; will you haue the Reason? the Mora­list giue's it. Sen. Epist. 112. but not home, Plùs incipit habere posse, qui plùs habet, Hee that hath much, begin's to haue a possibilitie, to haue more; and thus, as our Heapes are inlarged, so are our Affections, and They once Inordinate, the Heart is instantly rent asunder with the whitle-winds and distempers of various lusts; sometimes, it hunt's for Treasure, sometimes for Honours and Preferment, and ha­uing gotten the possession of these, still fight's a­gainst her owne Satisfaction by desiring more; In­somuch, that if we could empty the Westerne Parts of Gold, and the East of all her Spices; the Land of her vndig'd, and the Sea of her shipwrack't store; if we could lay on our Masse to the very Starres; [Page 33]yet Desire is as woman, and the Graue, as Death and Hell, which will not bee satisfied. Such are the restlesse wandrings of our Affections, set once on Temporalls, that They finde nei­ther Banke, nor Bottome; there is no rest to man's Soule, but in God's Eternall Rest; for there being no proportion betweene Spirits, and Bodies; 'tis impossible that the infinite desires of the Soule should be confin'd to Creatures heere be­low, as Things too Languishing, and Transitorie, for such Diuine Substances to reside in, with full satisfaction, or finall Rest: The heart of man, not fixt in the contemplation of Eternitie, is alwayes erraticke, and vnstable, Et omni volubilitate vo­lubilius (saith Augustine) more voluble then vo­lubilitie it selfe; It trauel's from one Obiect to ano­ther, seeking rest where there is none; but in those fraile and fleeting Temporals, in which, our Af­fections are (as 'twere) shackled, and let bound, It shall neuer find any Lasting and true Content; For, our Soule is of that vast comprehensiuenesse, and our Desire of that wilde Latitude, and Extent, that no Finite Excellencie or Created Comfort, can euer fill it, but it is still tortur'd on the Racke of restlesse Discontent, and Selfe-vexation, vntill it fasten vp­on an Obiect, infinite, both in Endlesnesse, and Per­fection; only admit it to the Face of God by Bea­tificall Vision, and so consequently to those Ri­uers of pleasure, and fulnes of Ioy flowing thence; and then presently (and neuer till then) It's infinite desire expire's in the Bosome of God, and lie's [Page 34]downe softly, Bolt. walke with God, pag. 125. with sweetest peace, and full con­tentment, in the embracements of euerlasting Blisse.

And now, O Earth, Earth, Earth, heare the Word of the Lord. Thou whose Bodie and Soule, and Desires are lumpish, Earth meerely, thrice Earth; Raise thine Affections from this Dull Ele­ment where they now grouell, and looke vp to the Hils from whence thy saluation commeth: why do they flutter heere about corruptible Glories? Why doe they stoope to false and vaine Comforts, such as are not only open to Casualtie, but to Danger? Riches are to Both? to Both, in a triple way; First, in their Acquisition, Secondly, Possession, Third­ly, Depriuation. In their Acquisition, first; As the Partridge sitteth on egges, and hatcheth them not; so He that getteth Riches, and not by right, shall leaue them in the midst of his Age, and at his End bee a foole. Ier. 17.11. Next in their Possession, where Moth and rust doth corrupt them, and where Theeues breake through, and steale, Math. 6.9. Lastly, in re­spect of their Depriuation, or Losse. He hath swal­lowed downe Riches, and Hee shall vomit them vp a­gaine; God shall cast them out of his Belly; the In­crease of his house shall depart, and his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath, Iob 20.15, 28. Loe, how the Hand of Iustice houers heere, and with a Double Blow strike's through the very Ioynts and marrow of the Worldling, euen to the sun­dring and dissipation both of his Posteritie and Fortunes. His goods shall flow away, and the Increase [Page 35]of his house shall depart; shall depart? whither? to the Graue; with whom? (two lamentable Compani­ons.) The Foole and the Beast that perisheth. So saith the Singer of Israel in his 49. Psalme, thrice in that one Psalme, at the sixth verse, He trust's in his wealth, and glorie's in the multitude of his Riches; and at the tenth Verse, He is a foole, and brutish, and leaueth his goods to others. O vaine Insolence? O transitorie height? what? After all those ouer­flowings and swarmes of Treasure, must he leaue his Substance to Others? Yea, to others, per­chance, neither of his Tribe, nor Countrey, Please you to looke vpon him at the eleuenth Verse, his very heart is transparent, and you may discouer his inward thoughts. Hee conceiue's his house shall continue for euer, and his Dwelling-place to all gene­rations, and therefore cals his Lands after his owne Name; yet view him againe at the fourteenth Verse. He is a Beast, a silly one, a sheepe laid in the graue, Death shall feed vpon him, and the vpright shall haue Dominion ouer him in the morning, and his strength shall consume in the pit from his Dwelling-place. Once more, He is twice in that Psalme stil'd A Man of Honour, but 'tis sauc'd with a Neuer the­lesse, He abideth not, at the twelfth Verse; and He vnderstandeth not, at the twentieth Verse; and in both, He is a Beast that perisheth. Marke, how the Spirit of God paint's out this very Earth-worme, this great Monopolist of pelfe, and Rubbish. He is ignorant, Transitorie, Sensuall; He abideth not, hee [Page 36]vnderstandeth not, and (anon) he dieth; Dieth? no, perisheth; perisheth as a Beast doth, as if the Soule rotted with the Body, or his Memory with the Soule; no Remainder either of Name, or Fortune, and which is worst, of Honour; so saith the Text; What though rich; and the Glory of his house increa­sed? yet, He shall carry away nothing with him, his Honour shall not descend after him, verse 17. what? carry nothing away with him? not that Glorious Earth? that Gaudy Luggage his Soule Doted on? that shining Saint? that Burnish'd Deity, which he could, at once, both touch and worship? what? not the Cabonet he hug'd and clasp'd? not the Gold hee Idol'd? nothing of Treasure, or Repute, or Name? Of neither; All these false beames which were wont to dazle him shall bee now clouded in perpetuall darknesse, where they shall neuer see light againe; thus the Text doome's him, at the nineteenth Verse of the same Psalme.

Seeing then, All earthly Dependences are vaine and fragile, and there can be no true peace but that which looke's vpward; Take for Conclusion the aduice of Siracides, Lay vp Treasures according to the Commandement of the most High; Ecclus 39. and they shall bring thee more profit then gold; Treasures of the most high? What are These? How laid vp? and where? The Commandement of the most High tell's thee, Lay vp for your selues Treasures in hea­uen, Bags which waxe not old, the good foundation a­gainst the time to come, the hold of eternall life, the [Page 37]Euerlasting Memoriall before God; that Treasure which the Angell shewed Cornelius in the Visi­on; euen thine Almes, and thy Prayers; not thy large-lung'd Prayers, without Almes, such as the old Pharisee bleated in his Synagogue, or the New one, in his Conuenticle; but thine Almes, and thy Prayers, hand in hand, with one cheerefulnesse, and Truth; thy hearty Zeale towards God, and thy willing Charity towards Man, and both these, in secret, and without noise. Such, and only such, are Golden Vialls full of Odours, sweet Incense in the Nostrils of the Almighty; They shall yeeld a plea­sant smell, as the Best Myrrhe, as Galbanum, and Onyx and sweet Storax, and as the fume of Frankin­cense in the Tabernacle. Heere are Treasures which neuer faile, where no Moth corrupteth, nor Thiefe approcheth; these shall fight for thee against thine Enemies, better then a mighty shield, or a strong speare. If thou breake the Staffe of thy Bread vn­to the hungry, and afflicted, God shall make fat thy Bones, and satisfie thy Soule in Drought; Thou shalt be like awatred Garden, and like a spring whose streames faïle not; Treasures thou shalt lay vp as Dust, and Gold of Ophir, as the stones of the Brooke; Thy Pastures shall be cloth'd with flockes, the Valleys also shall stand so thicke with Corne, that they shall laugh, and sing; In fine; Thou shalt take root in an honourable place, euen in the portion of the Lord's Inheritance, when thou shalt be exalted as a Cypresse-tree vpon the Mountaines of Hermon, like a Palme tree in Engedy, and as a Rose plant in Iericho: And, at [Page 38]length, when the Glory of those Earthly Mansions must bee left, when thou canst bee no longer Ste­ward, but art to passe thy strict Account before the Great House-holder at the Generall and Dread­full Audit, when the Booke of all our Actions shall be vnclaps'd, thine shall be found square, and euen, and thou shalt receiue that happie Applause, and Remuneration, Well done, thou good, and faithfull Seruant, Enter into thy Masters Ioy. Which the Lord grant for Christ Iesus sake, Amen.

Gloria in excelsis Deo.

Brethren.

Brethren? how? by Nature? or Country? Pars 2. or Allyance? Neither; For, Aquin. parte 3. q. 28. Art. 3. ad 5. the Romane Church was then a mixt Church, a Throng of Iewes and Gen­tiles promiscuously; And these could not be pro­perly his Brethren, either in respect of Parents, or Nation, or Consanguinity; and therefore, Bre­thren, by Affection, Singulari affectu, (saith Are­tius,) Aretius in cap: 12. Rom. Pareus Ibid. And so Pareus too, Fratres compellat, vt de amore eius frater no non dubitet, He vses this sweet Compellation, Brethren, not (perchance) that they were so, either by Grace, or Nature; but, Brethren, that they might not distrust his brother­ly affection; For though of old the word Fratres was a common Attribute and name to all Belee­uers; yet, not vsed to the Romanes (here) because, Beleeuers, Sed vt fraternam beneuolentiam, Carthus. in cap 12. Rom. v. 1. & chari­tatem, in illis declaret suam, saith Carthusian; Not so much to manifest their faith, as his Charity; For though many of them were strangers to him, and some his sworne enemies, yet notwithstanding their extremity of hatred, hee would not refuse to call them Brethren, that would be his Execu­tioners. Nay, such were his ouer-flowings of Zeale and Loue; Loue towards them, for God's sake; and Zeale towards God, for theirs, that he will not onely expose his Body to tortures for them, but (if it were possible) his very Soule; And lest this should be thought a Florish meere­ly, He calls his owne Conscience to witnesse it, My Conscience bearing me record, that I could wish, Rom. 9.3. that myselfe were accursed from Christ, for my Bre­thren, [Page 22] my kinsmen according to the flesh, Rom. 9.3.

Thus, the great Lamps and Beacons of the Church, as they haue abounded euer in Grace, so in Loue too; their Charity went hand in hand with their Zeale, and sometimes out-stept it; and in­deed Charity is the very Salt of Religion, the sea­soner of all our Spirituall and Morall Actions; without which, euen our Deuotions are vnsa­uoury, our Orisons distastfull; and therefore to this great vertue, some haue made three Stories or Ascents; Polan. Syrtag. lib. 9. cap. 10. Dilection, Loue, Charity; Dilection at the foote; Loue in the mid-way; Charity at top; That, the ground-worke or foundation; Th'o­ther, the walls and body; This, the roofe and bat­tlement; Dilection (say they) includes the Iudge­ment of the Chooser, and a separation of the thing chosen from others which are not; Loue followes Dilection, by which we are vnited in affection to the thing we chose, and so loue; But Charity is greater then both, by which we so im­brace the thing lou'd, that we endeuour alwayes to preserue it in our loue. Dilection is an Effeminate, light and transitory affection; Loue more Mascu­line, though somewhat violent, and so vnstable too; Charity, sober, and hung with grauity, and inuolues both strictnesse of Tye and inuiolable­nesse. Thus the Moralist will Cryticke on the words; the Diuine is not so curious; But if he find any difference, He makes Loue and Charity towards God, Polan. Syntag. lib. 9. cap. 10. the causes of Dilection, and This the effect of the other Two, so Polanus. But indeed Charity includes all, hath a diuerse Aspect, and casts [Page 23]euery way, like a well-arted eye in a curious Sta­tue; stand what side of it you please, It seemes still to glance and dart vpon you; Sometimes It lookes ad nos, to vs, and that is our home- Charity, Charity to our selues; Sometimes supra nos, a­boue vs, and that's towards God; Sometimes praeter nos, beside vs, and that's towards our ene­mies; Sometimes iuxta nos, with vs, Aug. lib. 1. de Doct. Christiana. cap. 23. and that's towards our neighbour; Sometimes extra nos, without vs, & that's towards the Infidell; Some­times infra nos, below vs, and that's towards the world. What? Charity towards our Neigh­bour, the vnbeleeuer, and the world? and none towards the Text here, Our Brethren? Yes; Cha­rity towards our Neighbour includes that; or if it did not, Charity towards God commands it, Hoc mandatum habemus à Domino, This command we haue from God, that hee that loueth God, should loue his brother also, 1 Iohn. 4.21. So that this Diligere Deum, presupposes diligere fra­trem; and this diligere fratrem, diligere proximum; and this diligere proximum, diligere omnem hominem: so Saint Augustine, vpon our Sauiour's Diliges pro­ximum tuum, thou shalt loue thy neighbour; Manifestum est omnem heminem proximum esse depu­tandum, Aug. vt suprae. 1. Booke de doct. Christ. 30. cap. So that, to loue God, doth insinuate to loue euery man by the rules of Charity; not euery man for him­selfe only, but for God, & therefore for himselfe, because for God; according to that of the same Saint Augustine, Aug lib. 3. de Docl. Christiana. cap. 10. Charitas est metus animi ad fruen­dum Deo, propter ipsum, & se; atque prexïme, propter [Page 24]Deum. Charity is a motion of the mind, by which we enioy God for himselfe, and our selues, and our Neighbour for our God. Thou shalt loue thy God (saith Christ) with all thy heart, and thy neighbour as thy selfe. As thy selfe? how is that? with all thy heart too: so that He shares in thy whole man, as well as God; but not so Extensiuely; God principal­ly, thy Neighbour in Subordination to him. And question lesse, Ratio diligendi proximum, Deus est; hoc enim in proximo debemus diligere, vt in Deo sit: God is the Reason why we loue our Neighbour; for, in this respect we ought to loue our Neighbour, that hee be in God; and therefore 'tis manifest that the same Act in Specie (saith Thomas) is, by which we loue God, Aquin. secunda secundae. q. 25. Art. 1. Conct. and by which we loue our Neighbour, and so the very Habit of Charity must not onely extend it selfe to the loue of God, but to the loue of our Neighbour also.

Neither is this great vertue terminated here, but extendeth also to our very enemies; and that not onely out of command, because God en­ioynes it, but out of Necessity, because Charity will inforce it. The very Lawes of Charity will haue vs loue our Enemies, but not meerely, as our Enemies; for, that were to loue anothers sin; but, in vniuersali, as men, and partakers of our Nature; and, not onely, in this Generality of loue neither; Aquin. secunda secundae. q. 25. Art. 2. but sometimes, more personally, In ar­ticulo necessitatis, secundum praeparationem animi (as the Schooles flourish it) In an Article of Necessity, by some mentall preparation; To wit, That our minde should euer bee so prepar'd, that [Page 25]if Necessity did comply, we could loue our ene­my in Singulari too, more specially, more parti­cularly.

And not onely, Thus, to our enemie, but the Wicked enemy. Charity binds there, too; but there as before, Non culpâ, quâ peccatores, sed naturâ, vt diuinae beatitudinis capaces. For there are two things considerable in the wicked man, Nature, and Sin; According to Nature, which he hath from God, he is capable of Beatitude, and so, the Obiect of our Charity; But according to Sinne, by which hee stands in Diameter, Debemus in pec­catoribus odire quòd peccatores sunt, et diligere, quòd homines sint beatitudini ca­paces. Aquin. secunda secundae. q. 25. A. 6. and direct opposition to his God, and so finds an impediment of this blessed­nesse, hee is rather the But and Aime of our ha­tred, then Commiseration. And therefore, where­as the Prophet is often violent against the wicked man, debarring him (as it were) of all Charity, with his Conuertentur peccatores in Infernum, The wicked shall be turned into Hell, Psal. 9.17. 'Tis spo­ken per modum praenunciationis, non imprecationis, by way of Prophesie, not Curse; and therefore 'tis not Conuertantur peccatores, Psal. 50.10. Let the Sinners be turned; but Conuertentur, in the Future, They shall be turned; or perchance too, per modū optationis; by way of wish, yet so, that the desire of him that wishes, be not reser'd to the punishment of man, but the Iustice of him that inflicts it; Because God himselfe punishing, doth not reioyce in the destruction of the wicked, but his owne Iustice; or else, that this desire be refer'd to the remo­tion of Sinne, not the very Act of punishment, that so the Transgression be destroyed, and yet [Page 26]the Man remaine. Secunda secun­dae. q. 25. A. 7. ad 3. And there is Charity in this too, great Charity, that we wish the preseruation of the Sinner, when we desire the destruction of his Sinne; But this is Charitas secundùm naturam also, which is not onely expos'd to Man, and the worst of men, but to Creatures reasonlesse, nay, to the very Deuils themselues, whose nature we may euen (out of Charity) loue, forasmuch as we would haue those spirits to be conseru'd in suis naturalibus, Secunda secun­dae. q. 25. A. 11. Concl. as they are naturally spirits, to the Glory of that diuine Maiestie that created them, so Aquinas, secunda, secundae, quaest: 25. Art. 11.

Thus we haue followed Charity in her largest progresse, through heauen and Earth, to the Horrid pit; From God, by men, to Spirits; if there be a place or subiect else where Goodnesse may re­side or pitch on, Charity will dwell there also: It beareth all things, 1. Cor. 13.7. beleeueth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things; Are there Prophecies? They shall faile. Are there Tongues? They shall cease. Is there Knowledge? 1. Cor. 13.8. That shall vanish; but Charity shall ne­uer faile, neuer in matters of Nature, or Grace, or Glory; of the Law, the Gospell, or their Consumma­tion; Charity fulfils the Lawe, comprehends the Gospell, and compleats Both. All the Morall ver­tues lye shrin'd here; Secunda secundae quaest. 65. Art. 3. Concl. August. Serm. 46. de Temport. 1. Cor. 13.23. so Aquinas; all the Cardinall, saith Augustine; all the Theologicall, Saint Paul, though not ex confesso, yet by way of Intimation; for Faith and Hope are not onely with it, but vn­der it: The greatest of these is Charity, 1. Cor. 13. vlt. The greatest of these? All these, they are all in Cha­rity, and Charity in God; In God? God it selfe, God [Page 27]is Loue, and he that dwelleth in Loue, dwelleth in God, and God in him, 1 Iohn 4.16.

'Tis plaine then, where Charity is, there is an habitation for the Lord; and where 'tis not, there is a Thorow-fare for the Diuell; Religion is but rottennesse without it, and all this front of holi­nesse, but drosse and Rubbish: Tell me not of Faith, without thy works; nor of Prayers, without thine Almes; nor of Piety, without thy Compassion; nor of Zeale, without thy Charity; what is Deuotion when 'tis turbulent, or Conscience when 'tis pee­uish? or Preaching, when 'tis Schismaticall? I loue not Diuinity, when 'tis stipendary; nor purity, when 'tis factious: nor Reprehension, when 'tis Cruell; nor Censure, when 'tis Desperate: Orall ve­hemency hath more tongue then heart: & there­fore that Zeale which is ouer-mouth'd, wee may suspect either for counterfeit, or Malicious.

Beleeue not euery spirit, 1. Iohn 4.1. (saith Saint Iohn) but try the spirits, whether they be of God or not for many false Teachers are gone out into the world: Into the world, in all: Ages, and all Churches: Let's particularize in some, in that of the Apostles first, when vnder a pretence of sincerity, and suppressing Innouation, (labouring to establish the Iewish ceremonies more firmely,) there were some that sub­tilly cryed downe the very seeds of Christianity, as those false apostles did, which came from Iudea, vnto Antioch, and taught the Brethren; That ex­cept they were Circumcifed after the manner of Mo­ses, Acts 15. they could not bee saued; whom Paul and Barna­bas first, and afterwards Peter and Iames, and the [Page 28]rest at Ierusalem, both zealously did resist, and in their Synod, or first conuocation, powerfully suppresse. But this Pseudo-zeale in the time of the Apostles, did but smoake and sparkle (like fire vnder greene wood,) In that of the Fathers, it brake out into flames, when some turbulent and discontented spirits, burning in hatred to the true Professors, or leaning partially to some fa­ction against the Church, notwithstanding out of a meere tickling and itch of glory, offer'd themselues vnto death, for the confession of the name of Christ, Ʋide Estius in c. 13. ad Rom. as the Montanists, Nouatians, Arrians, Donatists, whom the Catholicke Church neuer honor'd with the Title of Martyrs, but reprobated and cast out as the wilfull Patriarchs of Schisme & herefie; as Saint Augustine, and Saint Cyprian more voluminously; The one, in his Disputation a­gainst the Nouatian; the other, against the Dona­tist. And doubtlesse, Suffering is not alwayes the way to Glory; 'Tis not Passion, but the Cause of it, that both creates, and crownes our Martyrdomes. Timeo dicere, Hieron. in cap. 5. ad Galat. sed dicendum est; Ierome is loth to speake it, but he must: That those Corporall tor­tures which for Religion wee vndergoe, euen Martyrdome it selfe; if it be therefore vndergone, to purchase Admiration and Applause of men, fru­strà sanguis effusus est, That blood was spilt in vaine. We honour not Martyrs, because they suf­fer, but because for Christ, and his Church, they suffer. 'Tis not thy carcasse then, but thy Charity that casts vp the gratefull Incense; and therefore those that glory in their wilfull passions vnder a [Page 29]false name of Martyrdome, Heare how Saint Au­gustine descants on: Ecce, venitur ad passionem; Aug. serm. 50. de Verbis Dom. ve­nitur & ad sanguinis effusionem; venitur & ad corpo­ris incensionem; & tamen, nihil prodest, quià Charitas deest, We offer our Bodies to the stake, our Blood to the flames, our Liues to the fury of the Tormentors, all this is nothing without Charity, 'tis that makes the Suffering glorious. 1. Cor. 13.4, 5. If I giue my Body to be bur­ned (saith Saint Paul) and haue not Charity, it pro­fiteth me nothing, nay had I all faith, so that I could re­moue mountaines, and haue not Charity, I am nothing; Not, Nullus sum, but Nihil sum, Not so much, not a Man, as not a creature, nothing.

Hearken then, thou sonne of Tumult, whose lips enter into contention, and whose mouth calleth for stroakes; Thou which raisest tempests in Religion, Pro. 8.5. and sowest thy Tares of Faction amongst the mul­titude; thou which bringest in the strange Leauen of New Doctrines, and colourest them with thy pro­bable allegations, whereby the Consciences of the Simple are intangled, and the peace of the Church disturbed, though otherwise perchance, thou art punctuall enough, both in thy conuersa­tion and thy Tenents, hast the gifts of Prophecy, vn­derstand'st all Mysteries and all Language, yet, because in some things thou hast made a breach of this Harmany in the Church, Schismatici, qui extra Ecclesiam Catholicam, prae­sentem siniunt vitam, in ignem eunt aeternum. Aug. seu potiùs. Fulgent. de fide ad Petrum Dia­conum, cap. 38 thou art a Rebell both to it, and thy Christ; and except by Retra­ctation and Submission thou art recal'd to the Fold from which thou hast wandred, thòu stand'st out-law'd and excommunicate to Heauen, and nei­ther Imprisonment nor Death can make atonement [Page 30]for thy Mistreadings. Is this harsh? 'Tis Saint Augu­stines, and he will yet goe farther: A Schism iticke brought vnto the stake, not for that Error which did separate him from the Church, but for the truth of the Word and Sacrament which he doth else maintaine, suffering the Temporall flames, to auoyde the Eternall, and beares it patiently; though that Patience be commendable, and a gift of God, yet (because in part a Schismaticke) not of that kind of gifts which are imparted filijs Ie­rusalem, but to those also which are filij concubi­narum, (saith the Father) which euen carnall Iewes, and Heretickes may haue; and concludes at length, that This suffering and patience no­thing profits Him towards Heauen; but supposes that the great Iudgement will be in this more to­lerable to Him, Aug. lib. de Pati­entia, cap. 26.27.28. Quàm si Christum negando tormenta mortémque vitâsset, Then if by denying Christ, he had euaded the cruelty of his Death and Torment: in his Booke de Patientiâ, 28. chapter.

You haue heard what primitiue times haue done for the barke and out-side of Religion; the very skin and shell of Christianity; Let vs now com­pare them a little with our owne; and wee shall finde, that they haue not any-whit gone beyond vs in the Externall profession of sincerity, tho in their suffering and Tortures they haue much. We haue deceitfull workers as well as they, 2. Cor. 11.13. Transfor­ming themselues into the Apostles of Christ, 2. Cor. 5.20. whïch glory in appearance, and not in heart.

We abhorre, That Age should out-doe ours, either in Hypocrisie or prophanenesse; wee haue our [Page 31] Donatists and Catharists, and Anabaptists, as plen­tifully as they; and some besides, They had not; the Brownist, the Barrowist, and the Familist, and one more that both fosters and incloses all these, (may he be whifper'd without offence, my Bre­thren) the Puritan; but he will not be Titled so; the very Name hangs in his Iawes, and the chiefe way to discouer him, is to call him so; That fires and nettles him, and so repining at the Name, he ownes it; and questionlesse 'tis his, though he shrowd and vaile it vnder the word Brethren in the Text; whose Purity consists much in washing of the out-ward-man; Vide Ro. Art. 19. A. 1. prop. vbi ci­tat H. N. 1. ex­hort c. 1. § 10. the Brownists to Cartwright, page 39. Barrow in his discouery, p. 33. whilst their Tenents looke to­wards a Legall righteousnesse, and a trium­phant and glorified condition of man here vpon earth; professing by their open Pam­phlets, that the visible Church, the true visible Church, is deuoid of Sinne and Sinners, and for Manners cannot erre; and therefore Paradox it, That the Assemblies of good and bad together, are no Church, but Heapes of prophane men; as if in one field, Math. 25. there were not as well Tares as Corne; in one house, vessels of wood and earth, as of gold and siluer; a Mixture of good and bad, Math. 2.3. in all Congregations; which as an Embleme of the Church visible, our Sauiour types-out in the pa­rable of the Sower, the Marriage, and the Virgins; Math. 13. Nay his Blessed Spouse, of her selfe, freely professes her deformity, Tho' I am comely, I am blacke, Cant. 1.5. O yee Daughters of Ierusalem, blacke as the Tents of Kedar. And yet These will haue her all cleane and louely, like a face without spot, or wrinkle; when wee know a Mole or Wart (sometimes) beautifies a [Page 32]feature; and in this Warre of opposites, there is both gracefulnesse, and Lustre; and therefore I suppose the Church was first compar'd vnto the Moone, not so much for change, as obnubila­tion, being obuious to clouds, and Eclipses; and when 'tis at clearest, 'tis not without a mole in her cheeke neither, at least-wise, to an ocular ap­prehension, or if it were all faire and Lucid, yet, 'tis by way of Influence, beam'd from a greater light, borrowed, not her owne; so is this of the Church too; one Sun of righteousnesse enlightens Both; and therefore, Woe vnto them, that call Light, Darkenes & Darknes, Light; make a Church of it selfe shine, which cannot, or not shine, which might, if they were not, by others; dogmatically, & perēp­torily laying downe, that where Errors are, there is no True Church, (when there was neuer any, nor will be, whil'st 'tis militant, without them;) But They are no more of the substance of our Religion, or any Essentiall part of our Churches Doctrine, 'Ro. Artic. in the Preface. then ill humours which be in, are of the Body, or Dregs in a vessell of wine, part of the wine, or vessell.

'Tis true, some Ceremonies we retaine yet, as matters of Indifferency, and not of Substance, and these (forsooth) are so hainous, that they are Thornes in their sides, and prickles in their eyes; matter of Ceremony, is now matter of Conscience, and rather then subscribe, Silence, Suspension, Imprisonment, they venture on, and sometimes suffer too; where A Brethren-Contribution more fats them, then all the Fortunes they were masters of before; and this (beloued) cannot be zeale, [Page 33]but Schisme, or if it bee zeale, [...], Rom 10.2. it wants Eyes, and Intellectuals, 'tis not according to knowledge; For what Iudgement would expose our Body vnto prison? our Calling to the staine of Separation, and Reuolt, for a thing meerely of in­differency and Ceremony? No; there is more in it, then This; the Rochet, Tippet, and the Surplesse is not that they shoot at, but the thing call'd Parity; Moses and Aaron they like not for the Ephod, and the Rod; they speake power, and command, and so intimate obedience; But these struggle for equa­lity; the Ecclesiasticke Hierarchy they would demo­lish, Episcopall corruption is the great Eye-sore; Downe with it, downe with it, euen to the ground. And yet I dare say, there are some subtle Pioners, and secret Mutiners in Common-wealth, pretending plausibly to the flourishing of Religion, which, if they could once glory in that Babel they ende­uour to erect, they car'd not, if Ierusalem were An heape of stones; 'Tis impossible, that Ciuill Authority can euer subsist without the other; and if there be once a full rent & flaw in Church-policy, what can we expect from that of State, or either, but vast Anarchy, and Confusion?

Thus, he that strikes at the Myter, God grant he catch'th not at the Scepter, and (if he could graspe it) the very Thunderbolt; no Bishop, no King, and so by consequence no God; He proclaimes him­selfe the God of Order, and These would make him the Father of Confusion; and so, in circum­stance disgod him too, seeing his greatest glory consists in the Harmony of his Creatures, the Peace of his Church, and vnanimity of his Saints [Page 34]and Seruants; and therefore (brethren) let me beseech you in the words of the Apostle, Marke them which cause Diuisions, Rom. 16.17, 18. and offences, contrary to the Doctrine which you haue heard, and auoyd them. For, they that are such, serue not our Lord Iesus Christ, but their owne Belly, and by good words, and faire speeches, deceiue the hearts of the simple, Rom. 16.17, 18, ver.

I haue yet but Beseech't you in the words of an Apostle; Let me warne you also in the Language of a Sauiour, Beware of Those which come to you in sheeps-clothing, with such a Cast of Mortification and Integrity, as if their conuersation spake no­thing but Immaculatenesse, when within they are rauening wolues: such as will not onely tondere pe­cus, and deglubere; but deuorare too; subuert whole houses for filthy lucre: Tit. 1.13. You shall know them by their fruite; Their fruite vnto the eye beautifull and glorious, but to the finger, Dust and Smoake; or if not by their fruite, by their Leaues, you may, a few wind-falne vertues which they piece and sowe together to couer their owne Nakednesse. Will you haue them in their full Dresse and por­traiture? Take the draught and paterne, then from the Pharisee, Mathew 23. There the character is exact; where if you obserue, They are twice cal­led Blind Guides: Blindnesse of knowledge brings on Blindnesse of Heart; and therefore twice also Fooles, and Blind; ver. 17.19. To this Blindnesse of Heart, Fride is annex'd; They make broad their Phylacteries, and inlarge the Borders of their Garments; ver. 5. To this Pride, vaine-glory; They loue greetings in the Market, vppermost roomes at feasts, and chiefe [Page 35]seates in the Synagogues; ver. 6.7. To this Vaine-glo­ry, Hypocrisie; They make cleane the out-side of the cup and platter, and for a pretence make long prayers; and all to be seene of men, v. 14.25. To this Hypocri­sie, Spirituall malice; They shut vp the Kingdome of Heauen against men; for they neither goe in themselues, nor suffer them that are entring, to goe in, ver. 13. Last­ly, to this Malice, there is vncharitablenesse; They bind heaur Burdens, and grieuous to be borne, and lay them on mens shoulders, but they Themselues will not moue them with one of their fingers, ver. 4. Rare per­fections, doubtlesse, for the Sanctified Child of God! Obserue the Catalogue, Blindnesse of Heart, Pride, Vaine-glory, Hypocrisie, Malice, and Vncha­ritablenesse: Let vs make it out, Enuy, and all Vn­charitablenesse, and then Liber a nos, Domine, Good Lord, deliuer vs; deliuer vs from all false-hood in his Seruices, and faction against his Church, that we may be his Ministers in Sincerity, and not in shew, as those false Teachers were of old, or our Braine-sicke and discontented. Neotericks at the present, whom Saint Paul discouers by a double Attribute, [...], and [...], vaniloqui, & Seductores; vnruly and vaine-talkers, and Decei­uers, Titus 1.10. Estius in cap. 1. Tit. v. 10.11. They talke (it should seeme) They doe not Teach; and talke vainely too; and not onely so, but his vanity must be nois'd, Lectio Hieron. in 1. cap. Tit. v. 10.11. vn­rulinesse goes with it, and Those which in their Doctrines are vaine and vnruly too, sometimes proue Deceiuers, Mentium Deceptores, (as Ierome reades it on the Text) Deceiuers of mindes, 2. Tim. 3.6. of weake and simple mindes, Mechanicks, and captiu'd women, which haue beene the disciples of [Page 36]all Schismes and all Heresies in all Ages. And such in­deed are the chiefest Proficients in their Schooles now: for none are so pinn'd to the strict obserua­tion of their Precepts, as these Silly one. There is nothing so furious as an ignorant zeale, Vide 2. Tim. 4. ver 3.4. so violent as a factious Holinesse; and therefore when their Doctrines or their practices are touch'd vnto the Quicke, and made (once) the subiect of a Pulpit Reprehension; their Charity is presently on the Racke; the Brasse sounds loud, and the Cymball tinckles shrill, their Censures are full-charg'd, and come on like a peale of Great shot, thicke and ter­rible.

The Cymball (as Caietan obserues) was an In­strument of old, Vide Estium in 1. Cor. 13.1. Magis sonorum, quàm musicum, not so musicall as loud and of more noyse then me­lody, and such as women onely vsed, both in their times of Triumph and Deuotion. A pretty Inuention for weakenesse and child-hood to play withall, and be it spoken without disparagement of some glo­ries in that Sexe, a fit type of women and their frailties; who, for the most part are taken rather with the sound of things, then the things them­selues, and are seldome without this Instrument of Noise about them. The Tongue is their proper Cymball, Psal. 150. not the well-tun'd Cymball Dauid speakes of; but the Loud Cymball, with which they doe not so much praise God, as sometimes dispa­rage men; Their Morality, and their zeale are neere one, a shrilnesse as well in their Deuotion, as their Actions, and their practice in both is a very Tinckling; Tinckling with their Feete, leade the Daunce to the next Conuenticle; Tinckling with the [Page 37] tongue too; Great talkers, in Diuinity; and if they could exchange a Parlour for a Church, or a stoole for a Pulpit, they would preach too, & ('tis thought) Edifie as much as their zealous Pastor. But Away with those Ecchoes in Religion, fitter for Silence, then Reproofe; and for pitty, then confutation; and therefore (once more) I Beseech you, and with the phrase of an Apostle too, Heb. vltimo. Bee not carried about with diuers and strange Doctrines; Halt and limp not betweene Innouation and an establish'd Disci­pline. But (as Peter said to the Cripple) In the Name of Iesus Christ of Nazareth, rise vp and walke; Acts 3.6. Re­turne vnto the Church, whence ye are straggling; not to your Stepdame, but your mother, the Mother of whom you were borne and nurs'd; dry those teares she sheads for you; peace those sighs, and groanes, & complaints, which she wailes for you; Fall vpon those Armes which will embrace you, those Bowels which yearne for you, those Paps which gaue you sucke. What went you to see? A Reed shakē with the wind? Yes, a very Reed, shakē with eue­ry wind of Doctrine; A Reed with a bruized stalke or brokē Eare, no Corne in it; or if it haue, 'tis blasted with Sedition, fitter for the Dunghil, thē the Granary.

Away then from Lebanon (my Beloued) from Lebanon; Looke from the Den of Lyons, Cant 4. [...]. and Moun­taines of the Leopards (where the peace of Religion is blood-suck't and deuour'd) and come hither to the mountaines of Myrrh; and hills of Frankincense; The Altars of the liuing God, where the Incense of his Church flames cheerefully, with no lesse truth of deuotion, then vnanimity. Loe, her golden vials, full of odours, Sacrifices both deuout and peace­able, [Page 38]Such as the heart of his peole offer, and not the hands, onely; Calues of our lips, and groanes of the Spirit, which touch both the eares and nostrils of the Almighty. Let the voyce of diuision, then, jarre no more amongst you, which if there were no­thing else to noise our frailties, were enough to speake bondage to the flesh, and not yet, our free­dome to the Spirit. For whence are strifes and enuy­ings? are they not from your lusts? And whilst one saith, I am of Paul, 1. Cor. 3.4. another, I am of Apollo, are ye not car­nall? Christ is not deuided, Cant. 6.7. his Church is one; My Doue, my vndefiled is but one, she is the onely one of her mother, the choice one of her that bare Her, Can. 6.7.

The Church, (you heare) is God's onely one, his choice one; He hath no more; and we, tho' many, are but one neither, 1. Cor. 10.17. the Churches one, Her choicest one, one Body, nay, one Bread, 1 Cor. 10.17. Moreouer, Christ's Spirit is but one; tho' it bee in many, 'tis there still one Spirit, no diuision where that is, but all peace; Ephes. 4.3. and therefore 'tis call'd the vnity of the Spirit; and this vnity must be still kept in the bond of peace. Marke, here's no wauering, or Temporary peace; but this peace must be still kept, and not slightly kept, but there is a Tye on the keeping of it, The Bond of peace: Ephes. 4.3. and 'tis this Bond that makes the vnity, and this vnity that keepes the peace, and this peace that preserues the Spirit, so that 'tis still an v­nity of Spirit, kept in the Bond of peace.

Come hither, then, my Faithfull Brother in the Lord, and let vs no more ceasure, but expostulate. Hast Thou the true Faith thou so much gloriest in? where is thy zeale? hast thou true zeale? where is thy Charity? hast thou true Charity? why art thou [Page 39] Tumultucus? Iohn 13.35. By this shall you know (saith Christ) that you are my Disciples, if you loue one another. Mutuall agreement begets Loue, and this Loue makes the Disciple, and this Disciple is knowne to be Christs, by a Si diligeritis, onely, if yee loue one another. And therefore in the first Dawne and rising of the Chri­stian Church, the chiefe thing remark'd in it by the Gentiles, was the Christian Loue: Teytul. Apol. 36. Vide vt inuicem se diligunt! vt pro alterutro mori sint paerati! as Tertullian stories it. Lo how they Loue! the Heathens cry, How ready to Dye one for another! But this L [...]ue of the Brother vnto Death, I presse not here; (for the very Infidels had their Commorientes, as well as we) but Loue vnto Sincerity and Constancy, of which he that is destitute, falls short both in Religion, and Morality. And therefore that Text in Saint Peter runs Methodically, Feare God, 1. Pet. 2.17. Ho­nour the King, but first, Loue the Brotherhood; as if there could be no true feare of God, or honour of the King, except there be first Loue to thy Bro­ther; to thy Brother? nay, the Brother-hood: [...], saith the Greeke, Achava, the Hebrew; Beza Annot. in 1. Pet. 2 17. Brotherhood, for the company and coniunction of Brethren in the Church; and in this, not so much a Coniunction of persons, as of Mindes, other­wise 'tis no Church. And therefore the multi­tude of them that beleeued at the Apostles Ser­mon, were said to bee of one Soule, and one heart, Acts 4.32. And this one Soule, and one heart; S. [...]aul calls one minde, and one Iudgement: And this one minde and one Iudgement, must not be thinly mixt, 1. Cor. 1.10.12. but perfectly icyn'd together, and so ioyn'd together, that there be no Diuision among vs; and therefore [Page 40]he coniures his Corinthians by the Name of Iesus Christ; Rom. 15.5, 6. not onely to Doe, but to Speake the same thing. I Beseech you Brethren, by the Name of our Lord Iesus Christ, that ye all speake the same thing, that there be no Diuision amongst you, but that ye be perfe­ctly ioyn'd together, in one minde, and the same Iudge­ment, 1 Cor. 1.10.

Maximum indicium malae mentis fluctuatio; Sen. Epist. 121. Ree­ling betweene opinion and opinion, is a Mentall drunkennesse and there is no such Index of a De­praued Disposition, as wauing & vnsettlednesse. And therefore the Stoicke describing the vnconstant man, Senec. Jbid. Thus lashes him, Nunquàm eundem nec simi­lem quidem, sed in diuersum aberrat; He so trauer­ses and wanders in himselfe, that hee is neither the same, nor like, but diuerse. So that the Wise man is the Man onely of Resolution; for He is one, and the same still: Praeter Sapientem n [...]mo vnus, Se­neca tells his Lucillius in his 126. Epistle. And doubtlesse, 'tis this one minde and one Iudgement, that makes both the discreet Meralist and the wise Christian: Videmus qualis sit, quantus sit, and vnus sit: Epist. 26. the same Seneca. Vnanimity is the Soule of Brother-hood, whether in that of Nature, or of Grace; And therefore, what Abraham, of old, said vnto Let, is worthy both of your memory and obseruation, Genes. 13.8. Let there be no strife betweene me and thee, nor betweene my Heardsmen, and thy Heards­men; why? We are Brethren; as if the very word did inuolue vnion, and where there was Brother-hood, there could be no strife; no not amongst their very Heardsmen, that brawling Regiment, which, for the most part, are as vnruly as the Droues they [Page 41]keepe; and in some things 'tis disputable, which is the verier Beast; for they both goe one way, Sen. Epist. 135. non quâ eundum est, sed quâ itur, As the multitude treads, so they follow, squadron'd into a Faction, as That is, not onely in the State, but the Church too; And so 'twas of old, in the time of the Apo­stles, Acts 14.4. when at Iconium there was a great vprore amongst the Iewes and Gentiles, about the prea­ching of Paul and Barnabas; in stead of sup­pressing the fury of the Tumult, the Rabble of the City was Diuided, and part held with the Iewes, and part with the Apostles, Act. 14.4.

Thus popular conuocations were euer the Nurses of Distraction; and These, now occasion the Hubub and Out-cries in Our Church; the strife is not so much betweene Lot, and Abraham, as their Heardsmen, the People more side it in Religion, then their Pastors doe; and that's the best Doctrine which They fancy; not what the Others teach. And to this purpose, They haue gotten, lately into most Corporations of the Kingdome, certaine Lapwing-Dinines, and featherlesse Professors of their owne Cut; prescribe them Principles which they may not transgresse; and not onely their Posture, Habit, and Conuersation, but the very Methode, Tone and Language cued them. Mise­rable Age, when Diuinity shall be thus slau'd to a Stipend and a Trencher! and the Apostles of Iesus Christ, for a morsell of bread! or some Mechanicke, or Leane-cheek'd Contribution, shall dispa­rage the Powr [...] and Sacrednesse of their Keyes! But fie on this Factious Holinesse, this Iezebel in Reli­gion, that smells too much of the Painter, and [Page 42]his Varnish: Let it no more with vncharitable con­tentions, or nouelty of Doctrine, or vnseasonable­nesse of suggestion, disturbe the peace of our Spirituall Mother; but let her sleepe and rest sweetly in that Diuine truth, which she hath receiued from Primi­tiue plantations, and seal'd since, with the Blood of so many Martyrs. I tharge you, O Daughters of Ieru­salem, by the Roes and Hinds of the field, that ye stirre not, or awake my Loue, vntill she please, Cant. 3.5.

'Twas long since the complaint of a disconsolate Church, and ours hath in part reuiu'd it: Eccepace ama­ritudo mea amarissima, pax ab haereticis, pax à paga­nis, bellum à filijs: O my bitter bitternesse in the dayes of peace, peace amongst pagans, peace amongst Heretickes, but warres and struglings by the twinnes of my owne womb! My sonnes, my diuided sonnes, are more vnnaturall then all these. The Protestant, that hath beene so long the Starre of the Reformed Church, the Ensigne and Standard-bearer of true Religion, must be now buffeted and spit vpon by the obloquy and scorne of vpstart Sectaries!

You then, that thus dig out the Bowels of your hallowed mother, and sticke your Daggers at her very heart; Serm. 57. de Di­uersis in Append. Hearke, Saint Augustine, the deuout Saint Augustine, All those gifts and rewards of Beatitude, which God hath treasur'd vp for his Children and Elect, in pacis conseruatione promisit, are appropriate onely to the Sonnes of peace. And hence is our Sauiours Beati pacifici, Blessed are the peace-makers; why? They shall be called the sonnes of God. Aug. Serm. 463. de Temp. Non peruenitur ad vocabulum Filij, nisi per nomen pacifici, saies the Father: They had neuer beene [Page 43]called the Sonnes of God, had they not beene first the sonnes of peace; nor entituled to the Attri­bute of Blessed, had they not beene formerly the Sonnes of God. And therefore 'tis the Substance of Christs valediction to his Disciples; Iohn 14.27. Aug. Serm. 63. de Temp. My peace I leaue with you, my peace I giue vnto you: Proficiscens voluit dare, quod desiderabat rediens in omnibus inueni­re; the same Saint Augustine; Hee gaue to all, at his departure, what he desir'd to find in all, at his returne; his peace, his blessed peace: For where there is a Congregation of men, and not of opi­nions, or of opinions, and not of loue; Christ is not there with his Pax vobis: so that where peace is not, there is no Christ; and where no Christ, no Church. Thy Religion, thy Faith, thy Hope, are dead without it, thy Groanes, thy Sighs, thy Deuctions, are false and empty, like vaults that sound meerely from their hollownesse; thy selfe like an Instru­ment that's crack'd, or a string that jarr's. And therefore to the peace-lesse Brother, that of Tertul­lian to the Gentiles, shall be both my Aduïce, and my Conclusion; Fratres vestri sumus, Tertul. Apol. 36 [...]. iure nostrae Ma­tris vnius; et si vos parum homines, qui mall fratres; at quanto digniùs, fratres & dicuntur, & habentur, qul vnū Patrem Deum agnouerunt, qui vnum Spiritum biber unt sanctitatis, qui de vno vtero ignorantiae eius­dem, advnam Lucem expauerint veritatïs? Itaque, quia Animâ, ani [...]óque miscemur, nihil de rei communi­catione dubitemus: Since we haue one God, our Father; one Christ, our Brother; one Church, our mo­ther; one Spirit, our Comforter; Ephes. 4 vlt. let vs all haue one minde, one heart, one peace, our Director; that so the God of peace, which is aboue All, may be through [Page 44] All, Cant. 4.15. and in vs All. And then Arise, O North, and come, O South, and blow on my Garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Cant. 7.12. Arise yee Soueraigne winds of the Spirit of God, and breath on this garden of the Spouse, where the Pomegranates bud forth, and the ten­der grapes appeare, that the fragrant odours of these her Plants may bee both increas'd and dispes'd, and at length carryed into the Nostrls of her well-beloued, who shall bring her out of this Wildernesse below, Cant. 3.6. like pillers of smoke, perfum'd with Myrrhe and Incense, which as swee [...]e sauours, shall ascend on high; where the Day breakes, and shadowes flye away, where Darkenesse is banish'd euerlastingly, and the Sunne of Righteousnesse shines for euer­more. To whom, &c.

Gloria in excelsis Deo.