AB Iove principium, Virgil. Eclog. 3. In praefat. was the Law of Nature; the Gentiles were wont to begin from their Oracles and Oratories. It was ever the style of the Civill Law, Reg. Aluredi ad leges suas. to begin à Deo optimo maximo. Our old Saxon Lawes had the ten great Precepts of the Decalogue prefixed in their front. Sr. H. Spelman in concil. And it is said of Scipio Africanus, Aul. Gellius in noct. Attic. that it was his custome before the day broke out, to go into the Capitol, in cellam Iovis; and there to stay a great while, as if he were advising with his god, concerning the Common-wealth's good. Psalm 119. But the example of David may stand for all, who, in all his streights, Is. Bargrave Parliament-Serm. 1624. in all his undertakings, went to ask counsell of the Lord of Hea­ven and Earth. Thus it is, that the children of God, are to consult with God, to [...]uspicate all their solemn actions, Apoc. 1. 8. to preface all great consultations for the com­mon good, with some such religious Acts, as shall best conduce to the glory of God, making their Creator, who is the Alpha and Omega of all Creatures, the be­ginning and ending of all their actions.

IT is said of S. Cyprian, that in a Dreame he saw the Proconfull give order to the Clark of Affizes, Pont. Diaconus in vita ejus, ut est vid [...]re in [...]p. praefixâ operibus ex edit. Sim. to write down his Sentence (which was to be beheaded) which when the Clark by signes made known to S. Cyprian, the good Bishop desired some delay of the Execution, that he might set his house in order; and the Clark answered him in his dreame, That his Pe [...]ition was granted; and so it fell out accor­dingly, that that day twelvemonth after he had this dreame, Goulartij. House of mourning, or Fun. Se [...]m [...]ns. his head was strook off: Thus it hath been from the beginning, that God hath been so gracious to ma­ny of his children by Dreames, or otherwise to give them notice of their departure [Page 2] hence, Quae sensu vol­vuntur vota di­urno, Tempore noctur­no reddit amica quies. Claud. to some the hath made known the year, to some the moneth, to some the very day and hour; and not onely so, but the manner also of their death; some per viam lacteam by the pleasant passage of Nature, some per viam sanguineam, the blo­dy way of Martyrdome, &c. Dreames therefore, as they are not with Eastern people Superstitiously to be observed, so neither are they amongst us Christians, totally to be neglected as idle and vaine nocturnall phantasies.

IT is mentioned of a City, Conr. Zvinge­ri. Theat. hum. Vitae. strongly besieged by a potent Enemy, which hol­ding long out, was brought to extream want, no hope of reliefe appeared; Famine and Sword, the two sad concomitants of War, attended; the one without affrighting, the other within dismaying, the poor Inhabitants; insomuch that they were even at their witts end; and thereupon fell upon a serious con­sultation, Paul. De Wann. Serm. de Tempt. what was best to be done for their better safety, the result whereof was this, That there should be a considerable number of dead bodies, Speculum Ex­emplorum. (of which they had great store lay starved in the streets) clap'd up in Armour, and set upon the Walls in the still time of the night, that so next morning, the Enemies upon sight thereof, might be somewhat amazed, which fell out accordingly; for it was thereby conceived, that some fresh supplies were brought in to their assistance; and thereupon the Siege was raised, Peccati morti­ficatio, Diaboli flagellum. and the City relieved. This distressed City, so strongly besieged, Sedul. Hybern. is the Soul of Man; the potent Enemy that lyeth before it is the Devill, that great Commander in chief, over all such Regiments, as the World and the Flesh can possibly raise for his service. And what course must the poore Soul take in such a case? Surely no other, but, consultation first had with God by Prayer, to set out it's dead and mortified lusts and affections; and then no doubt, the Devill, upon the sight thereof, will quit the place, and never for the time to come, adventure his whole strength to so little purpose.

THere is a story, how that one offered to give his Horse to his fellow, Mart. ab [...] Norvarri Con­cilia. in [...]ap. de oratione &. horis canonicis. In Dialogo ad Luciferium. upon condition, he would but say the Lords Prayer, and think upon nothing but God. The proffer was accepted, and he began; Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. But I must have the Bridle too, said he. No, nor the Horse neither, said the other; for thou hast lost both, already. And thus it is, that too too many, Men and Women, in their both private and publick addresses, unto God by prayer, are by the suggestions of Sathan, walking with St. Hierom in the Galleries of Rome, having their hearts roving after pleasures of sin, their thoughts taken up with the things of this world, and their whole Man set upon vanity; Non vox, sed votum, &c. whereas they should rather minde that which they are about, keep close to God, and be so watchfull and intentive over their souls, that their hearts and tongues may go comfortably together: Esay. 6. 5. 5. Psalm. 4. 1. 2. For, the outward worke onely, is but like the loathsome smoak of Sodome; whereas the inward devotion of the heart, is not unfitly compared to the pleasant perfume, of the sweetest Frank­incense.

AS in Nature so in Government, Nothing is permanent that is violent; It is therefore hard to see an old Tyrant, Aver. Metaph. Thales Miles. Foelix crimini­bus nullus erit diu. Ausonius. Plin. nat hist. lib. 8. cap. 11. was the saying of a Wiseman; And good reason had he for so saying. For though for a time he may uphold his State by force and policy, yet in the end divine Justice confounds his practices and in­fatuates his counsells to his owne ruine and overthrow; For, as in that mortall warre betweene the great Elephant and poysonfull Dragon, this one with his ta [...]le enclaspeth that others feet, making him fall, and he in his fall bursteth himselfe, and cursheth that other in pieces: So when Ambition and Envy meet as Comba­tants [Page 3] in the heart of a Man, Sir Rob. Dal­lington's Apho­risms. he needes no outward force to assail him; For the venemous tayle of his Envy entangleth the winged sect of his Ambition, making him fall, Ingens mole sua, &c. and in the fall to burst with his own weight.

THe Dolphin finding himself unable to hurt the Crocodile, Plin. nat. hist. Lib. 8. Chap. 25. by reason of his hard scales which no weapon can pierce, diveth under him, and with his sharp fin striketh him into the belly being Soft and tender, and so killeth him. Thus, what Nature taught the Creature, Experientia docet. Experience hath taught Man; To strike the Enemy where he may, Militem priva­tum, non solum debere esse vo­lentem, &c. with most hurt; and leave things impossible un­attempted; for Prudence is of force, where Force prevailes not; Policy goes be­yond strength, and contrivance before action: Hence is it, that direction is left to the Commander, Execution to the Souldier, who is not to aske Why, Zenoph. Cyro­paed, Lib. 2. but to do What he is commanded.

THe Constitution of a Man's body is best known by his pul [...]e; Iean. Bodin. de la Republi­que. Justitia Remp. firmat. if it stirre not at all, then we know he is dead; if it stirre violently, then wee know him to be in a Fever; Ant. Bonfinius, Lib. 3. rerum. Hungar. if it keep an equall stroake▪ then we know he is sound and whole: In like manner we may judge of the state of a Kingdom, or Common-weale, by the manner of execution of Iustice therein, for Iustice is the pulse of a Kingdom; If Iustice be violent, then the kingdome is in a Fever, in a bad estate; if it stirre not at all, then the Kingdom is dead; but if it have an equall stroake, the just and or­dinary course, then the Kingdom is in a good condition, Jer: 22. 15. it is sound and whole without the least corruption imaginable.

SOcrates telleth that when a terrible fire in Constantinople had fastned on a great part of the City and tooke hold of the Church, Lib. 7. Chap. 28. the Bishop thereof went to the Altar, and falling downe upon his knees, I. White Serm. at St. Paul [...]s London. 1612. would not rise from thence, till the fire blazing in the Windowes, and flashing at every doore, was vanquished, and the Church preserved, Flectitur ira­tus voce rogante Deus. Ovid. so that with the flouds of his devotion he slaked the fury of that raging Element: And the same shall be the force of Englands prayers, for Eng­lands peace and welfare, if wee be fervent therein; Hereticks and Schismaticks may range, Enemies conspire, and the People rise up in tumults; Psal. 50 [...]5. but let us trust in him that never forsaketh them, that faithfully call upon his holy name.

A Man cannot behold the Sun in the Eclipse, it so dazeleth his eyes; Rich. Holds­worth. Serm. at St. Pauls Lon. 1624. What doth he then? He sets down a basin of water, and seeth the image of the Sun shadowed in the Water: So seeing we cannot behold the infinite God, nor compre­hend him, we must then cast the eyes of our Faith upon his image, Christ Iesus; When we look into a cleare glasse, it casteth no shadow to us; Videmus D [...]um per Christum, &c. but put steele upon the back, then it casteth a reflex, and sheweth the face in the glasse: So when we cannot see God himselfe, Fulgent. we must put the Manhood of our Lord Iesus Christ (as it were a back to his Godhead) and then we shall have a comfortable reflex of his glory.

IT is sayd, that there stands a Globe of the World at one end of the Library in Dublin, D. Staughtons Sermon. and a Skeleton of a Man at the other; there it is, that one need not study [Page 4] long for a good lesson. Haud ullas portabit opes Acherontis ad undas, Propert. And what lesson is that? Though a Man were Lord of all that he sees in the Map of the world, yet he must dye, and become himselfe a Map of Mortality: And therefore, if the Devill tempt him with a View of the glory of the World, Matth. 4. Omnia haec tibi dabo; he may resist him with the words of our Saviour, Sed quid proderit homini? &c? What will it profit a Man to win the whole world, Mark. 8. 36. and to lose his owne soul?

A Tender hearted Father walking with his little Son, B. White Serm at St. Pauls. London. 1617 suppose in the City, when he perceives him gaze up and down, and wander from him, withdraws himselfe behind some pillar, or hides himselfe in some corner of the street; not that he means to lose him, but to make him cry and seek after him, and keep closer to him afterwards: So doth our heavenly Father with us, he correcteth eve­ry son whom he loveth, he hides himselfe, Exigu [...] percus­sus fulminis ictu Fortior ut possit cladibus esse suis. Ovid. ep. and, as it were, pulls in the beams of his Gracious favour for a time, when wee are rambling about in our thoughts, and [...] in our imaginations; but it is to make us cry after him the louder, and to keep closer to him for the time to come, and to walke more circumspectly than ever wee did before.

IF a Man stain were found in the field, Deu [...]. 21. 7. and it not known who slew him, God provided That the Elders of the next City should wash their hands in the blood of an Hey [...]er, and say; Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it: be mercifull O Lord unto thy people Israel whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto thy People of Israel's charge; Eph. [...]dal. Ser. at Mercers Chappel. Lon­don 1642. and the blood shall be forgiven them. So this, one day, will be a comfort to the Consciences of all well minded men, that they may appeal, to the great God of heaven, that they have prayed heartily for peace, have Petitioned humbly for peace, Pa [...]m te posci­mus omnes. have been contented to pay dearly for peace, and to their powers, have endeavoured to refraine from sins, the only breakers of Peace; and therefore trust that the Christian, English, Protestant blood which hath al­ready been, and hereafter may be shed, shall never be visited on their score, or layd to their charge.

DAngerous was the mistake committed by Sir Francis Drake in 88. when, neg­lecting to carry the Lanthorn (as he was commanded,) in the dark, Tho. Fuller Holy State. he chased five hulks of the Dutch Merchants, ubi virtus dis­cretionis perdi­tur, &c. supposing them to have been of his Enemies the Spaniards: such and worse Errors may be committed in the Reforming of a Church or Commonwealth; good mistaken for bad, Greg. lib. 3. moral. and bad mistaken for good; where the light of knowledge is wanting for direction.

IT was wont to be a Tryall, Rich, Staini­hurst, de rebus Hybern. whether land belonged to England, or Ireland, by putting in Toads, or Snakes, or any other venemous Creature into it: and if they lived there, it was concluded, that the land belonged to England; if they died, to Ireland. Rom. 6. 12. So, if venemous Lusts live in us, if sin reign in our mortall bodies, we be­long to Hell; Jos. Shute, Sermon at S. Mary. Wolnoth L [...]m­bards [...]eet, Lon­don, 1619. Iohn 14. 2. but if they dy by Mortification, if there be no life in them, then shall we be sure to set up our eternall rest in Heaven, and be made heires of Heaven, and have full possession of those Mansions, which Christ our elder brother hath prepared for us.

IF a Man, travelling in the King's highway, be robbed between Sun and Sun, sa­tisfaction is recoverable upon the County, R. Skinner, Serm. at Court, 1626. where the robbery was made, but, if he takes his journey in the night, Via divine▪ via [...] being an unseasonable time, then it is his own perill, he must take what falls. So, if a man keep in God's wayes, he shall be sure of God's protection; but if he stray out of them, he exposeth himself to danger.

THe Physician turns the hour-glasse, and resolves the physick shall work so long; R. Stock, Serm. at Alhallowes Breads [...]. Lon. 1616. the impatient Patient [...], and thinks every hour two, till he be refreshed; but the other knowes the fittest time, and will not till then afford any comfort at all. Thus the children of God cry out in the midst of their heavy pressures, Rev. 6. 10. How long, Lord, how long? Shall the rod of the wicked lye alwaies upon the back of the righteous? Psal. 125. 3, Tempus [...] tempus op­portunum. But he hath turned the glasse, he will not hearken to their cry; they must stay their time, he knowes best when and how to deliver them; had they but so much Faith as to believe it, or Patience to wait for it.

CHildren shoot arrowes on purpose to [...] them, and never so much as look where they light; but Men, when they shoot, aime at the mark, and go after the arrow, to see how neer it falls: So, wicked carnall men, when they have said, not made, their prayers to Almighty God, it is but Opus operatum, Edw. Wilki­son Serm. at St. Pauls Lond. 1639. they have no more regard of them: But God's children, when they, upon the bended knees of their [...]ouls, dart out their Prayers, when they pour out their requests unto him, they look after their Prayers, eye them up into Heaven, observe how God enter­tains them; and wait for a happy return, at his good will and pleasure.

IN a sheet- Almanack, D. Price Serm. at Christ-Church Lond. 1620. and man may uno intuntu, at one view, see all the months in the year, both past and to come; but in a book- Almanack, as he turneth to one month, so he turneth from another, and can but look onely on the present. This is the true difference betwixt the knowledge of God and Man; 1 Joh. 3. 20. he looketh in one in­stant of time to things past, present, and future; 1 Cor. 2. 11. but the knowledge of Man reacheth onely to a few things past, and present, but knoweth nothing at all of things that are to come, that's God's peculiar so to do, and a piece of Learning too high for any mortall man to attain unto.

THe great Conquerour of the world caused to be painted on a Table, Plutarch in vi­tâ Alexandri. a Sword in the compasse of a Wheel; shewing thereby, that what he had gotten by the Sword, Jos. Shure Serm. at St. Pauls Lond. 1619. was subject to be turned about by the wheel of Fortune. Such is the con­dition of all things here below, whether they be Riches, Honours, or Preferments, there is no more hold to be had of them, than Saul had of Samuel's lap; they do but like the Rainbow, Act. 20. shew themselves in all their dainty colours, Nihil in vitae durabile▪ non o­pes, non honores, and then vanish away; and if by chance they stay with us as long as death, they do but like Saint Paul 's friends, bring us to the grave, as they brought him to the ship, and there [Page 6] leave us: So uncertain, non potentia, &c. Const. Minos, Annal. deceitfull, unconstant, are the things of this world, to the owners thereof.

THe Church of Christ (saith St. Hilary) is aptly resembled to a Ship, Com. in Matth. chap. 13. for as the Ship is small in the fore-deck, Boys. Postills. Terras Astr [...] reliquit. broad in the middle, little in the stern: so the Church in her beginning was exceeding little, in her middle age flourishing; but in her old age, Luk. 18. [...]. her company will be so small, and her beliefe so weak, that when the Son of man shall come to judge the [...]ons of men, he shall scarce find faith on the earth.

THemistocles intending to sell a Farm, Plutarch in Apophth [...]gm. Ant, in Melissa. p. 2. Serm. 33. T. Westfield, Serm. at St. (as Plutarch hath it) caused the Cryer to proclaim, that it had amongst other commodities, A good Neighbour, as being assured, that this one circumstance would be advantagious to the sale, and much induce the Chapman to purchase it. And surely, he that hath a good Neigh­bour, hath a good morrow; but, [...] Lond. 1641. a Minister that liveth amongst such, hath got a rich Benefice; he may acknowledge with David, (rebus sic stantibus) that his Lot is fallen into a fair ground; Psal. 120. and blesse God, that he is not a brother to the Dragons, and a companion to the Estriges of the times; nor constrained to his great grief to dwell with Meshec [...], and to have his habitation amongst the tents of Kedar.

THe bunch of grapes that the Spies of the children of Israel carried from the land of Promise, Numb. 13. (it is Luther's observation) was born by two strong men up­on a pole or staffe; Iohn Boys, [...] he that went before could not see the grapes, Mar. Luth. in loc. com. de Christo. but he that was behinde might both see and eat them. So the Fathers, Patriarcks, and Prophets of the Old Testament, did not in like manner see the bunch of Grapes, that was the Son of God made man, Plus vident ocu­li qu [...]m oculus. as they that came behinde, the Evangelists, Apostles, Disciples, under the New Testament, both saw and tasted it, after Iohn had shew­ed this Grape, Joh. I. 1 [...]. Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world.

AS a passenger in a storm, that for shelter against the weather, steppeth out of the way, betaketh him to a fair spread Oak, standeth under the boughes, with his back close to the body of it, and findeth good reliefe thereby for the space of some time; till at length commeth a suddain gust of winde, that [...]ea­reth down a main arme of it, which falling upon the poor passenger, either mai­meth or mischieveth him, Th. Gataker's Parley with Princes. that resorted to it for succour. Thus falleth it out not with a few, meeting in the world with many troubles, and with manifold vexa­tions, they step asiae out of their own way, and too too often out of Gods, to get un­der the wing of some great one, and gain, it may be, some aid and shelter thereby for a season; but after a while, that great one himself comming down headlong, and falling from his former height of favour, Nulla fides pi [...] ­tas (que) viris, &c. or honour, they are also called in question, and so fall together with him, that might otherwise have stood long enough on their own legs, if they had not trusted to such an arm of flesh, such a br [...]ken staffe, that deceived them.

RIches, Th. Ga [...]aker's True Content­ment in God's way, a Sermon. 1619. though they have alas Aquilinas, great Eagle's wings, to flie away from us whilst we are here in this world, yet have n [...] Passerinas quidem, not [Page 7] so much as little Sparrowes wings to fly after us, and follow us when we go hence. Nihil attulisti, nihil hinc at [...]olles, Job 1. 21. We brought nothing into this world, neither shall we carry any thing hence. [...] tel­lus & domus, &c. Naked came we [...] world, and [...] naked must we return again. Hora [...]. c [...]. 2. 3.

AS one that hath been either robbed himself, [...] or that hath his friend murthered, If he have the party apprehended, Evang. and said fast in prison, is not presently out of patience, Eccles. 8. 11. because he [...]eeth him not instantly executed, but is well content qui­etly to expect the time of the Assizes, Th. Gataker's Appeal from Princes to God. though it be half a year after, as long as he is sure, that he shall then have Iustice against him. So ought we not presently to flye out, because evill doers prosper, or grow impatient, i [...] we see not justice done instantly, so soon as our hasty hearts shall require it, upon those we suppose have wronged us; but rest content to stay God's leasure, and to expect that day of his great Assize, when we shall be sure to have justice done us, according to that which the equity of our cause shall require; Carcer ejus est cor ejus.. remembring withall, that all wicked ones are in the mean while in this world, Bernard as in God's Jayle, under the chaynes of a guilty conscience, out of which there is no possible means of escape, without judgment.

THe old Grecians, Eustath. in Homeri Iliad [...] Th: Gataker's Gain of godli­nesse: that had fed altogether on Achorns before, after that bread came in amongst them, they made no reckoning of their mast any more, but kept it onely for their swine: And leathern and iron mony began to grow out of request amongst the Lacedemonians, after that gold and silver came in use. So when a man hath once found the favour of God in his heart, Seneca de bene­fic. and the love of God in Christ hath once lighted on it, Virtutibus a [...] ­rum vilius. and got assurance of it, he ceaseth then to be greedy of this worlds trash, which is, in regard of it, but as drosse, or peeble stones, to gold and diamonds, Horat. as mast to the best bread-corn; yea, rather of far lesse worth or value to that, than either of these are to it.

IT is observed, B. Hall occasio­nall Meditat. Vilius argentum est auro. that gold is both the fairest, and the most solid of all Mettalls, yet is the soonest melted with the fire; others, as they are coorser, so more churlish, and hard to be wrought on by a dissolution. Thus a sound and a good heart is easily melted into fear and sorrow for sin, Horat. by the sense of God's judgments, whereas the carnall minde is stubborn and remorselesse. All mettalls are but earth, yet some are of a finer temper than other; all hearts are flesh, yet some are through the power of grace, more capable of spirituall apprehensions, than others are.

SEt a narrow mouthed glasse neer to a Bee-hive, B. Hall, ut an­tea. and you shal soon perceive how busily the Wasps resort to it, being drawn thither by the smell of that sweet li­quor, wherewith it is baited; and how eagerly they creep into the mouth of it, and fall down suddainly from that slippery steepinesse, into that warry trap, from which they can never rise; but after some vain labour and wearinesse, they drown and die: Now there are none of the Bees that so much as look that way, they passe directly to their hive, without any notice taken of such a pleasing bait. Thus idle and ill disposed persons, In promptu cau­sa est, &c. are easily drawn away with every temptation, they have both leasure and will to entertain every sweet allurement to sin, and wantonly prosecute their own wicked lusts, Ovid. till they fall into irrecoverable dam­nation; Variam semper dant otia men­tem. Lucan. whereas the diligent and laborious Christian, that follows hard and con­scionably the works of an honest calling, is free from the danger of those deadly [Page 8] enticements, and laies up honey of comfort against the winter of evill.

SAint Basil complained of the covetous rich in his age, Serm. in divi­tes [...]. because they preferred on­ly that kind of devotion, I. Boys Ser­mont. which is without cost; as, to pray for fashion, and fast out of miserablenesse; but they would not offer one half-penny to the poor. Such are to be found in our daies, [...] who are content to hear God's Word read, and preached, with their hatts on their heads, and leaning on their elbowes, and (if need be) they will make bitter invectives against Atheism and Popery; yet they are willing to serve God with that which cost them nought: Let but the Parish impose an ordina­ry charge, towards the necessary repairs of the Church, or the Pastour desire but some oyl for his lamp, accustomed Offerings for his better subsistence, you shall have them as a bulrush in a wet place, so dry, that a penny is as easily skrewed from them, as a new coat from a child, or a sword from a souldier enraged.

WE read in our Chronicles of King Oswald, Bedae hist. lib. 3. cap. 6. that as he sat at Table, when a fair silver dish, full of regall delicacies, was set before him, and he rea­dy to fall to, hearing from his Almoner, that there were great store of Poor at his gates, pitiously crying out for some reliefe, did not fill them with words, as, God help them, Jam. 2. 16. God relieve them, God comfort them, &c. but commanded his Steward pre­sently, to take the dish off the Table, and distribute the meat, then beat the dish all in pieces, R. Holds­worth Serm. at S. Peter po [...]r. and cast it among them. This was true charity. Words, be they never so adorned, cloath not the naked; be they never so delicate, feed not the hungry; be they never so zealous, Lond. 1630. warm not him that is starved with cold; be they never so oyly, Verbis non sol­vendum est quid­quam. Terence. cure not the wounded; be they never so free, set not them free that are bound, visit not the sick or imprisoned.

BEfore the destruction of the holy City and the Temple, I [...] lib. de [...] I [...]d. Iosephus wirteth of a man troubled in minde, that ran about the City, crying, Wo to the City, Wo to the Temple, Wo to the Priests, Wo to the People; and last of all, Wo to myself: at which words, he was slain on the Walls by a stone out of a sling. Let us take away but one letter, D. Featly Cla­vis mystica. Divide & im­para. Machiav. Mark 3. 24. turning WO into O, and his prophecy may prove our admonition: O that the World, O that this Nation in the World, O that this great City of the Nation, O that both City and Country would yet be wise, and lay it to their hearts, that our distractions will prove our destructions; That a Kingdome divided within it self cannot long stand.

THe Naturalists observe, Plinius, [...] that the Females of Birds oftentimes lay eggs with­out Cocks, but they are Ov [...] subventanea, egges filled with wind, unfit to be hatched. Such is the issue of most mens love now adaies, it bringeth forth Par­tus subventaneos, windy brats, good words, large promises, and happy wishes, but no deeds, little or no performance at all.

IT is a thing that the Emperour Caligula is laughed at in all Stories: Sueton hist. Xyphilinus, house of mour­ning. There was a mighty Navy provided, well Man'd and Victualled; and every one expected, that the whole Country of Greece should have been invaded, and so it might have been: but the Emperour had another designe in hand, and employed his Souldi­ers to gather a company of Cockle-shells, and pibble stones, and so returned home again. Just such another Voyage doth almost every man make here in this World, [Page 9] were the particulars but truly cast up, Discite in hoc mundo supra mundum esse, &c. God hath given us so much time, it may be twenty, thirty, or forty years; it may be but a day, or two more: In this time, he hath furnished us with that, which may be a means to conquer Heaven it self: Ambros. lib. de Virg. Now if we lay out this little onely about wife, or children, or to purchase a little wealth, is not this to spend money for that which is not bread? to labour for that which satisfieth not? Is not this the greatest folly that may be?

CIcero in his time laughed at the folly of those men, Lib. 1. epist. 15. ad Atticum. Qui amissâ Republicà prisci­nas suas fore salvas sp [...]rare videntur, who seemed to conceive such a windy hope, that their Fish-ponds, and places of Pleasure should be safe, when the Common wealth was lost. Preface to the B. of Winchest. Serm. And we may well mourn over the security of most men in our times, such as look for personall safety, in the midst of publick danger; that take more care for their trifling fardells, Res tua tunc agitur, &c. than the preservation of the ship they go in: But let such know for certain, that if the Publick suffer either in Church or State, no man's private; pleasure or profit can stand firm unto him; no man's, what­soever he be.

JOsephus reporteth, In lib. Antiquit. that Solomon being but twelve years of age, when he first be­gan to govern, the People listning to that Sentence which he gave, at his first sitting in judgment, touching the two women that contested about their child, Dividatur aequaliter, Let the child be cut in twain, many laughed at it, deeming it to be a childish Sentence; 1 King. 3. 26. but afterwards, weighing the discreet course that he had taken, in justifying the truth, without any further proof or testimonies, they then cryed out, Cuspinianus. De coelo elapsus, The King is sent us down from Heaven. But on the other side, there was one Phocas, a most cruell Emperour of Constantinople; whereupon a religious Monk, in a corner of his Cell, thus complaineth unto God, Cur fecisti eum Imperatorem? Why didst thou make him Emperour? Who had no sooner made his moan, Christ. [...]onse cae Quadrag [...]s [...] ­ma. but was answered with a voice from Heaven, Non inveni pejorem, I could not find a worse. And certainly, nothing can more manifest the love of God unto a People or Nation, than in having given them wise and religious Governours; Delirant Reges plectuntur A­chivi. and there cannot be a more plain argument of his wrathfull displeasure, than to cast a wicked Ruler over the People; for, as God is pleased with a People, he gives them Governours accordingly.

THales Milesius, Plutarch in Convi. the prime wise man of Greece, being demanded, What he had observed to be of most difficulty in the world, Diogen. La­ert. in Vita. Psal. 55. answered, Tyrannum se­nem, To see a Tyrant live to be an old man. Thus, if cruelty and oppression, sacri­ledge and prophanenesse, Sine caede & sanguine pauci Descendunt Re­ges & sicca morte Tyranni, murther and manslaughter, promise to themselves long life, it is a wonder, and more than God hath warranted: For, Sanguinarii non dimidia­bunt dies suos, Blood-thirsty men shall not live out half their daies. Juvenal.

THe Roman Censors took such a dista [...]t at the son of Africanus, Ammian. Mar­cellin. for his debauched life, that they took a Ring off his finger, in which the image of [...] father was engraven; because he so much degenerated from his father's excellent parts, they would not suffer him to wear his father's picture in a Ring, whose image he bare not in his minde. D. Featly Sermons. Neither will God suffer any to bear his Name, and be accounted His Sons, who bear not His Image, who resemble not His Attri­butes in their vertues, Et quae non fecimus ipsi vix ea nostra voco. His Simplicity in their sincerity, His Immutability in their con­stancy, His Purity in their chastity, His Goodnesse in their charity, His Iustice in their integrity, &c.

WHen Cyrus took the King of Armenia, Xenoph. cyro [...]. lib. 3. and his son Tigranes, and their wives and children prisoners, and upon their humble submission, beyond all hope, gave them their liberty and their lives; in their return home, as they all fell a commending Cyrus, some for his personage, some for his puissance, some for his cle­mency; Tigranes asked his wife, What thinkest thou of Cyrus? is he not a comely and a proper man, of a majestick presence? Truly (said she) I know not what manner of man he is, I never looked on him. Why, quoth he, where were the eyes all the while? up [...]n whom didst thou look? I fixed my eyes, saith she, all the while upon him, (meaning her hus­band) who in my hearing offered to Cyrus, to lay down his life for my ransome. And thus▪ if any question the devout soul, whether she be not enamoured with the beauty of Cherubins, Seraphins, Angells and Saints, with the pomp and splendour of that Heavenly Court; D. Featly, ut antea. her answer will be that of Tigranes his wife, That she never did so much as cast a look upon them, Si Christum dis­cis, satis est [...] [...]aetera n [...]scis. because her eyes were never off Him, who not onely offered to lay, but did lay down his life for her, and ransomed her with his own blood: Whom should she have in Heaven but Him, who hath none on Earth but her?

THe Panther carries with him a sweet se [...]t, Plinii nat. hist. lib 8. cap. 17. but an ugly face; that, enticeth beasts after him; this, affrights them: therefore he hideth his head, till he have the prey within danger. Rob. Dalling­ton's Apho­risms. So is the favour of soveraignty and greatnesse very sweet, but the ugly face of those means by which it is gotten, men see not; and so run into the Toyle, and perish in the pursuit: For, being once embarqued in so bad a cause, Nec [...]nim lex justior ulla est, &c. Ovid. the farther they wade, the deeper they are drown'd in the whirlpool of their own errours; the more they weave in the Loom of such deceitfull plots, the faster they are ensnar'd in the trap devised for others.

HOw sick soever a man be with Physick, Lud. [...] Gra­nada meditat. he is not affraid of dying, because he considers, the Physitian in wisdome gave him, what now occasioneth his pre­sent sicknesse and distemper. No more should we be dismaied at the bitternesse of our cup, Superanda om­nis fortuna fe­rendo est. Virg. if (with Christ) we did but take notice: It is the Cup that our heavenly Father hath mingled, and hath given us onely for our correction, not confusion.

AUgustus the Emperour hearing, Macrob. Sat. lib. 2. cap. 4. that a Gentleman of Rome, notwithstanding a great burthen of debt, wherewith he was oppressed, slept quietly, and took his ease, desired to buy the bed that the lodged on: His servants marvailing there­at, D. King, lect. on Jonah. he gave them this answer, That it seemed unto him to be some wonderfull bed, and worth the buying, wher [...]on a man could sleep, that was so deeply engaged. Surely, if we did but consider with our selves, the duty and debt we owe to God, to Man, to our Country, to our Family, to home-born and strangers, especially to the houshold of Faith, it would make us vow with our selves, never to suffer our eye-lids to slumber, nor the temples of our heads to take any rest, untill we have finished that charge whereunto we are appointed, and perfected the account, wherewith we are intrusted.

IT is said of the Pismires, Th. Mouffe [...]'s Insector. that to prevent the growing (and so the corrupting) of that corn which they hoord up for their winter-store, they bite off both the ends [Page 11] thereof, wherein the generating power of the grain doth consist. Tho. Fuller's Holy State. Thus, when we have committed any sin, we must pray to God so to order it, that the procreation thereof may be destroyed, and that by a true and unfeigned sorrow, we may con­demn it to a blessed barrennesse, that there be no more of the breed.

APelles, the famous Painter of Greece, Clem, Alexan. Paedog. lib. 2. cap. 12. having observed, that one of his Schol­lars had painted Helena, set out with much gold and embroidery, said unto him, O adolescens, quum non possis pingere pulchram, fecisti divitem; Ala [...]s poor young man, Mich. Jemin. Com. on▪ Prov. when thou couldest not draw her fair, thou hast made her rich. Thus many do set a fair outside on the body, and utterly neglect the inside of the soul; pamper the body, but starve the soul; trick up the body with gold and silver, whilst the soul is naked of all grace and goodnesse.

AThenaeus reporteth of Milesius, Deipnosoph. lib. 13. that having bought a Dolphin alive, and let­ting him go again into the Sea; Mich. Jermin. ut ante [...]. afterward, himself being cast away by ship­wrack, and ready to perish in the midst of the waters, Ingratus vir [...] ­lium est perfora­tum. Lucianus. the Dolphin took him, and carried him safe to the shore. But, though it be more than probable, that the truth hath suffered shipwrack in this narration, yet the application is good; That it is more than beastly ingratitude for any man, to reward evill for good, not to be thankfull for a courtesie received.

IN the body of Man, Mich. Jermin. ut antea. one Member will not lie to another, the hand will not lie, in telling what it toucheth; the tongue will not lie, in telling what it tasteth; the eye will not lie, Quae vera sunt, loqui, virum in­genuum decet. Ephes. 4. 25. in telling what it seeth; but every Member is a true witnesse to an­other, a true witnesse to his neighbour. And thus it should be in the body Politick of Government and Society, in the Mysticall body of the Church and Christiani­ty, that seeing we are members one with another, every one should speak the truth to his neighbour; and such should be the care of those especially, as professe Christianity, as to lose their breath, rather than to use their breath, in speaking any untruth of another.

IT was a good saying of that poor woman, Pag. 1874. edit. ult. in the Book of Martyrs, who being threatned to have but a little bread one day, and a little water on the next; re­plyed, Th. Plummer a Serm. at St. Paul's Lond. 1616. If you take away my meat, God, I hope, will take away my hunger: If God give but a little, he can make that little serve the turn, and then enough is as good as a feast. Well then, is thy provision small? thy appetite shall be lesse. Is there but a little meal in the barrell, a little oyl in the cruse? God will make it hold out. Is that little coorse, Natura pauci [...] contenta. and none of the finest? Brown bread and the Gospell (said Mr. Greenham) is good chear; Iovis omnia plena. and indeed, Brown bread, and the blessing of God, is a rich banquet. It is not the greatnesse and daintinesse of the fare, Virgil. nor the cloathing in soft raiment, but God's good blessing that doth nourish and strengthen the body of man. God makes bread to be a staff and a stay to satiate the righteous man, when the wicked may have the staff broken to them, Prov. 13. 25. but the [...]ay taken away; they eat, and are not satisfied; they drink, but their thirst is nothing at all quenched.

AS the Reubenites, Numb. 23. having taken a liking of the Country which was first con­quered, because it was commodious to the feeding of their Cattle, (though [Page 12] it were far from the Temple, Joh. Down­ham 's Warfare. where they might have [...]ed their [...]ouls) and there­fore to enjoy it, renounced all interest in the land of Promise. Thus do the worldly Reubenites of our times, Solum non Coe­lum amatur. they their hea [...]s and affections upon the earth, and earthly vanities, Rhemig. Rhe [...]. because they are at hand, and fit to feed their sensuall and brutish appetites, preferring it before the heavenly Canaan, and Temple of God's holi­nesse, where their [...]ouls might be satisfied with those ravishing joyes, and transcen­dent pleasures, which are at God's right hand for evermore.

THere is mention made of two famous Philosophers, Plutarch de co­hibenda ir [...]. falling at variance, Aristippus and Aeschines: Aristippus comes to Aeschines, Shall we be friends? Yes, with all my heart, saies Aeschines. Remember (saith Aristippus) that though I am your elder, yet I sought for peace. True, saies Aeschines; and for this, I will alwaies acknowledge you to be the more worthy man; for I began the strife, and you the peace. This was a Pagan glasse, Je [...]m▪ Bur­rough 's Heart- divisions. but may very well serve a great many fiery spirited Chri­stians, to see their blemishes in. How usuall is it now for a man to say, I will be re­venged upon such or such a one, [...]. he hath done me wrong, I will be even with him: and so he may too. But I'l shew him a way how he may be above him. How's that? For­give him; for by yielding, pardoning, putting up the wrong, he shewes power over his passion, over himselfe, and that's a far greater thing, than to have power over another.

LOok upon a candle; R. Prior. how it fails before it be well lighted, or is drowned with much moisture, A Serm. at the Funer. of B [...]. Smith, 1632. Vive memor le­thi, hoc quod loquor inde est. Persius. or is puffed out with the winde, or is extinguished by the hand of man, or goeth out of its own accord. So Man, if not entombed in his mothers bel­ly, dyeth not in the cradle, withereth not growing up, be not conquered when ablest to conquer, but doth hold out till old age; then, die he must. Una via vitae, shut the door of the Womb, and then no entrance into this World; but being here, mori­endi mille figurae, so many are the passages hence, that there is no stopping of them: So that poor, fragil, weak man, is alwaies in a dying condition, he dies daily, 1 Cor. 15. 31.

THe Eagle before he setteth upon the Hart, Plin. nat. hist. lib. 10. cap. 20. Th. Play [...]er's Serm. rolleth himself in the sand, and then flyeth at the Stagg's head, and by fluttering his wings, so dustyeth his eyes, that he can see nothing, and so striketh him with his tal [...]ns where he listeth. You may read of an unclean Spirit in the Gospell, Mat. 12. 43. Ovid. Metam. which led the possessed man into dry places. Now the sand and the dust, with which this Eagle the Devill filleth his wings, are earthly desires, and sensuall pleasures, wherewith after he hath put out the eyes of the carnall man, he dealeth with him at his pleasure. Mercury could not kill Argus, till he had cast him into a sleep, and with an inchanted rod closed his eyes; and the devill cannot hurt any man, till he have lull'd him asleep in security.

TWo men playing at Tables by an inch of candle in the night time, Gabr. Inchi­nus de quat. no­vissimis. and be­ing very earnest in their game, the candle goeth out, and they perforce give over, Si nunquam mo­reretur, &c. Bern. [...]. [...]52. who (no doubt) if the light had lasted, would have played all night very willingly. This inch of candle is the time of life, allotted to a wicked man, who is resolved to spend it all in sinfull pleasures and pastimes; and, if it would last per­petually, he would never lea [...]e his play: And therefore sith he would sin eternally (though by reason the light of his life goeth out, he cannot) he deserveth eternall punishment.

IT is said of the Cranes, Aristot. [...]. that when they fall out amongst themselves, the fight is so fearfull and fierce, that they beat down one another, and so are taken as they fight. This shewes the fruits of civill dissentions, the case of such as will diviae one against another, till they become a prey to the publick Enemy; whereof the Apo­stle giveth warning, Gal. 5. 15. If ye bite and devour one another, take [...]eed lest ye be consumed one of another.

IT was a comfortable speech which the Emperour used to Galba in his child­hood and minority, Sueton in vita Cl. Nero. when he took him by the chin, and said; Tu, Galba, quando (que) imperium degustabis; Wal [...]. Soul's ornament, a Serm. 1616. Magna tamen spes est in boni­tate Dei: Thou Galba shalt one day sit upon a Throne. Thus it cheareth the Saints of God, how little, how mean soever in the eyes of the World, that they shal one day reigne with Christ, and be install'd with him, and receive as it were Stallum in Choro, and vocem in Capitulo, a seat in the Quire, and a voice in the Chap­ter of that blessed Temple which is above, whilst the whole world shall cry with those, Ovid. epist. Theodoret. hist. lib. 6. cap. 22. Vicit Deus, & Christus ejus, The Lord and his Christ hath got the victory, the Lord and his Saints do reigne for evermore.

WHen God is disposed to hang up a Picture in his Church, Joh. Williams B. Lincoln. to be well obser­ved of all that shall come after, Serm. at a Fast, Westm. 162 [...]. that the people which shall be born may praise the Lord, he doth it not by limming and painting, but by the art of cutting and embroyderie: For, the Painter deales but in colours, ordinary colours, which, according to the strength of his imagination, he tempers, and laies out to the view of the eye; but the Embroiderer, he deals in more costly matter, takes the cloth of gold and silver, which he mangles into a thousand pieces, bits, and frag­ments, to frame and set out his curious Imagery. So Almighty God being to adorn his Church, not with blocks and stones, but with some rare pictures of Christian vertues, works not these in ordinary colours, men of low degree; but in gold and silver, men of eminency, Princes, and Nobles, and great Estates. Abraham, Gen. 22. 12. a great, rich, and mighty man, a Patriarck of his Country, was first tempted in his son, Numb. 12. 3. and then set up for an example of obedience. Moses, another Prince and Po­tentate, was first afflicted in Egypt, and then erected in the Church for an image of meeknesse. David, a King, first persecuted by Saul, and then accounted a statue of uprightnesse. Iob, the greatest man in all the East, was, and many others since him, have been pull'd in pieces with a thousand miseries, but in the latter end shall be blessed up, as patterns of patience and princely resolution. These are such as God first mangles, and cuts into bits and pieces, with crosses, calamities, and deep temptations; but afterwards, when he finds them supplied and humbled with sorrow and repentance, he makes up again into most heavenly and angelicall forms and images, to be looked on by us, in the Church Militant, and to look upon Him in the Church Triumphant.

THe story sets out Neptune in a Statue, Vinc. Cartari. Imagini de Dei [...] Antichi. holding those two terrors of the Sea, Scylla and Charibdis in chains, with this inscription, as if calling to the ships:

[Page 14]And let all drooping spirits lift up themselves in this assurance, Job 41. 2. that God holdeth the Church's enemies in chains, having his hook in their nose, Esa. 37. 29. and his bridle in their lips; Ad cujus toni­trua contremis­cunt, &c. so that when they seem to be beyond and above all bounds and limits what­soever, even then, Tertul. ad Sca­pulam, cap. 28. if he do but utter his voice, in token of his commanding power, it is enough to make their Chariot-wheels drive heavy, and to crush them into Atomes.

AS the morning Star in the midst of the clouds, B. King's lect. on Jonah. and as the Moon when it is at full; as the flower of the Roses in the spring of the year, and as the Lillies by the springs of waters; as the branches of the Frankincense in the time of summer, and as a vessell of massy gold, set with all manner of pretious stones, and as the fat that is taken from the Peace-offering: De tot modò millibus unus. Ovid. So is one Henoch that walketh with God, when others walk from him; one Rhahab in Iericho; one Elias, that boweth not his knee to Baal; one David in Meseck, one Hester in Shushan, one Iudith in Bethulia, one Ioseph in the Sanhedrim of the Iewes, one Gamaliel in the Council of the Pharisees, one Innocent and Righteous man, in the midst of a crooked and fro­ward Generation.

A Friend gives me a Ring, Rob. Harris's Hezekiah's re­covery. I'le wear it for his sake; a Book, I'le use it for his sake; a Iewell, I'le keep it for his sake; that is, so, as may best expresse my love, 1 Cor. 10. 31. and report his goodnesse. And were we truely thankfull to our God, we would then use all his tokens for his sake, do all things to his glory; we would eat our meat to Him, wear our cloaths to Him, spend our strength for Him, live, to Him, sleep to Him, die for Him, &c. thus we should do: But alas, we use his bles­sings, 2 King. 9. 12. as Iehu did Iehoram's messengers, 2 Sam. 19. David, Goliah's sword, we turn them a­gainst their Master, and fight against Heaven with that health, wir, wealth, friends, means, and mercies, that we have from thence received.

IN Queen Marie's daies, Acts and Monu­ments, p. 1785. Tibi absit quod ad resuscitanda corpora, &c. the body of Peter Martyr's wife, was, by the charity of that time, taken out of her grave, and buried in a dunghill, in detestation of that great Schollar her husband, sometimes Professour of Divinity in the Uni­versity of Oxford. Augustin. de Civitate Dei. lib. 22. But when the tide was once turned, and that Queen Elizabeth of happy memory, swayed the Scepter of this State, her bones were reduced to their place, Th. Fuller Ser. at S. Dunst. East Lon. 1647 and there mingled with the bones of St. Frideswide, to this intent, that if ever there should come an alteration of Religion in England again, (which God forbid) then they should not be able to discern the ashes of the one from the other. Thus Death hath mixt and blended the bodies of men, women, and chil­dren, with the flesh of beasts, birds, and serpents; hath tossed, typed, and turned their ashes both into aire and water, to puzzle (if possible) the God of heaven and earth, to find them again, but all in vain: He can call for a finger out of the gorge of an Eagle, for a leg out of the belly of a Lion, for a whole Man out of the body of a Fish: If the devill, Esa. 9. 6. or thy corrupt reason, shall suggest, that this is impossible, make no other answer but this, Gen. 17. 1. God is omnipotent, God is infinite.

POpe Silvester, Bapt. Platina. in Vita. when he was bid to beware of Ierusalem, for that whensoever he should come thither, he should surely dye; he thereupon flattered himself, that he should then live long enough, for he was sure, that he should never tre­vell thither; Dan. F [...]tly's Sermons. little thinking, that there was a Church in Rome of that name, into which he had no sooner set his foot, but he met with his evill Genius, as Brutus [Page 15] did at Philippi, A dangerous fire that begins in the b [...]dstr [...]w. W. Cant. Pref. to reply against Fisher. and suddainly ended his wretched daies. Now it is not Rome in Ita­ly which we so much need to fear, but Rome in England; not Amsterdam in Holland, but Amsterdam in England: The Popish faction on one side, and the Schismaticall party on the other side, both of them fire-balls of dissention in the State▪ and of schim in the Church, to set all in a combustion.

PH [...]ton, in the Poet, Ovidii Metam. lib. 2. takes upon him to drive the Charriot of the Sun; but through his inconsiderate rashnesse, Importabilis abs­que scientia est zelus, &c. sets the world in a combustion. What a Horse is without a Rider, Serm. 49. in Cant. or a hot-spur'd Rider without an Eye, or a Ship in a high Wind, and swelling sail, without a Rudder; such is Zeal without Know­ledge. Knowledge is the eye of the Rider, that chooseth the best way; the bridle in the hand, to moderate the pace; the rudder in the ship whereby it is steered safely. St. Bernard hits full on this point, Discretion without zeal is slow-pa [...]ed; and zeal without discretion is strong-headed; let therefore zeal spur on dis [...]retion, and disore­tion reyne in zeal.

IT is said of Saul, 1 Sam. 15. 1. Duobus annis regnavit, that he reigned two years over Israel, when notwithstanding, according to the computation of men, he reigned twen­ty; but the Scripture reckons onely upon the dates of grace, Josiah Shute Serm. at St. Mary Wol­noth Lombard street Lond. 1623. not counting those at all which either went before, or followed after. A Musitician is commended, non tam multum, sed tam bene, not that he played so long, but that he played so well. And thus it is, not the daies of our life, but the goodnesse of our life; not the length of our prayers, but the fervency of our prayers; not the measure of our pro­fession, but the sincerity of our profession, that is acceptable unto God Al­mighty.

HEe that sees a flock of birds sitting on his ground, Isidor Pelu­sio [...]. in Epist. cannot make himselfe any assurance, that therefore they are his own, and that he may take them at his pleasure. Thus he that hath riches, and thinks himself fully possessed of them, may be deceived, Joh. Daven­port Ser. at S. Laur. Jury Lond. 1617. and soon deprived of them; a small spark of fire may set them flying, a thiefe may steal them, an unfaithfull servant may imbezle them, a souldier, a wrack at sea, a bad debtor at land; there's a hundred waies to set them packing: They have wings, and hop from branch to branch, from tree to tree, from one man to another, seldom to him that is the true owner of them.

THat workman should do ill, Joach. Myn­cing Schol. in. lib. 3. Institut. Fons [...]a. who having built a house with ano­ther man's purse, should go about to set up his own Arms upon the front thereof; and in Iustinian's Law it was decreed, That no workman should set up his name within the body of that building, Quadrag. Serm which he made out of another man's cost. Thus Christ sets us all at work, it is he that bids us to fast, and pray, and hear, and give almes, &c. But who is at the cost of all this? whose are all these good works? Surely God's. Iovis omnia plena. Virgil. Man's poverty is so great, that he cannot reach a good thought, much lesse a good deed: All the materialls are from God, the building is His; it is His purse that paid for it: Give but therefore the glory and the honour thereof unto God, and take all the profit to thy self.

YOu shall have a man scrape and crouch, and keep a do with a man he never saw or knew before, one that he is ready, it may be (when his back is turn'd) to curse; but yet he will do this for his almes, for his gain, to make a prey, a use of him some way or other; this man loves his almes, loves his prey, loveth his bounty; Funerall Ser­mons. but all this is no argument of love to the man. Thus, for a man to make towards God, and to seem to own him, and to be one of the generation of those that seek his face, to addresse himself in outward conformity, and many other things, by which another may (if he have no other ground) judge charitably of him; yet all this is nothing, except a man may discern something, that may give him a tast, Deus propter se­ipsum diligendus e [...], Ambros. that his spirit doth uprightly and sincerely seek God, that he loveth God for God himself, that he loveth Grace for grace it self, he loveth the Commandments of God, because they are God's commandments, &c. And thus it is, that our love, our desire after God must be carried sincerely, not for any by and base resp [...]cts what­soever.

THere be many things that move, and yet their motion is not an argument of life: A Windmill, when the wind serveth, moveth, and moveth very nimbly too; yet this cannot be said to be a living creature; no, it moveth only by an external cause, by an artificiall contrivance; it is so framed, that when the wind sitteth in such or such a corner, Mart. Day, fun. Serm. 1619 it will move, and so having but an externall motor, and cause to move, and no inward principle, no soul within it to move it, it is an argument, that it is no living creature. So it is also, if a man see another man move, and move ve­ry fast in those things, which of themselves are the waies of God; you shall see him move as fast to hear a Sermon, as his neighbour doth, is as forward and hasty to thrust himself, and bid himself a guest to the Lord's Table (when God hath not bid him) as any. In omnibus re­bus princip [...]a sunt diligenter con [...]deran [...]a. Fr. Guichard lib. 1. Now the question is, What principle sets him a work; if it be an inward principle of life, out of a sincere affection, and love to God and his Ordi­nances, that carrieth him to this, it argueth, that man hath some life of grace: but if it be some wind that bloweth on him, the wind of state, the wind of law, the wind of danger, of penalty; the wind of fashion or custom, to do as his neighbours do: If these, or the like, be the things that draw him thither, this is no argument of life at all; it is a cheap thing, it is a counterfeit and dead piece of service.

THe gods of the Gentiles were senslesse stocks and stones, Dan. Featly clavis. not able to apprehend, much lesse to revenge an injury done unto them. Well therefore might the Philosopher be bold with Hercules, to put him to his thirteenth labour, in seething of his dinner; and Martial with Priapus, in threatning him to throw him into the fire, Esa. 8. 11. if he looked not well to his Trees. A child may play at the hole of a dead Aspe, and a silly woman may strike a dead Lion; but who dare play with a living Serpent? who dare take a roaring Lion by the beard? Let Christians then take heed, how they provoke the living God, Heb. 12. 29. for He is a consuming fire, and with the breath of his mouth, he is able to throw down the whole frame of Nature, and destroy all crea­tures from the face of the earth.

IT is not possible, that those things which are knit together by a bond, should hold fast together, after the bond it self is broken; nor can a sinew hold steddy the joynt, if it be sprayned, or broken, or cut assunder. Religion is the band of all soci­ety, the strongest sinew of Church or Commonwealth; God forbid there should be [Page 17] any rupture, any sprain in this sinew. Dan. Featly, ut anteà. The like of Unity; Pluck i [...] you can a beam from the body of the Sun, it will then have no light; break a branch from the Tree, it will bear no fruit; sever a River from the Spring, it will be soon dried up; cut a member from the body, Cyprian de simplicit. Prae­lat. it soon dyeth; cast a Pumice-stone into the water, and though it be never so big, which it remains entire, and the parts whole together, it will swim above water; but break it once into pieces, and then every piece of it will sink to the very bottom. Fulcrum impe­riorum est ser­vare Religio­nem & Vnita­tem. Lips. in praefat▪ ad Poli­ocret, Thus, both Church and Commonwealth, which are suppor­ted, and as it were held up by Religion and unity, peace and concord, are ruined and destroyed by discord, dissention, schism, and faction. O tam bonum quam jucundum; How happy are such a People, such a Nation, such a Church, such a State, as live to­gether in peace and unity!

WHen upon newes of earthquakes, M. Tul. Cice­ro. de Arusp. respon. and other prodigious signes, the Sooth-sayers foretold great calamities that were to befall the State of Rome, un­lesse the wrath of the gods were suddainly appeased; the Orator determineth the point most divinely; Dan. Featly's Sermons. Faciles sunt deorum ira, &c. God will be easily reconciled to us, if we be reconciled one to another. And most true it is, we cannot be one with God, so long as we are one against another: when we are at peace one with another, then God will be at peace with us; and if God be at peace with us, all creatures shall be in league with us, so that neither devill nor man, nor any thing else, shall have any power to hurt us.

IT was a sad confession, that, by the testimony of a B. D. Sarum. reverend ear-witnesse, drop'd from the mouth of a very considerable person in Scotland; Ioh. Spotswood Hist. of Church of Scotland, in Epist. to the Reader. viz. That it was true, he, with the rest of his Nation, had buried Episcopacy, and their antient Mo­narchy, in one and the same grave; but upon the sad consequences of it they would be con­tent to tear up the very earth of that grave with their teeth, so that they might but raise both of them up again. And such is the precipitate folly, and madnesse of many, that are at this day to be found in the midst of us, [...]. Mich. Aposto lius in paroe­miis. who act ill at the first, and then to their great griefe, consider what they have so acted; such as have, and do still, run headlong upon one mischievous designe or other, and then, Phrygian-like, repent when it is too late, wishing that undone which is done; whereas one day they will finde, to their great losse, Serò sapiunt phryges. E­rasm. Ad [...]g. Prov. 22. 3. that the safest course had been, with prudent Promethe­us, to have foreseen a danger, and shun'd it, then with foolish Epimetheus, in the want of due consideration, to go on, and be deservedly punished.

DIonysius the Tyrant, Justin. hist. lib. 51. entring into a Temple of Idolls, took away from the chie­fest amongst them, a Cloak of gold; and being demanded why he did it, his answer was, This Cloak is too heavy for the summer, and too cold for winter. Taking likewise a golden Beard from Aesculapius, he said, That his father Apollo having no beard, Christ. Fonse­ca Serm. there was no reason his son should wear any. But this was but a mask for his covetousnesse. And thus it is with some in these daies, they will strip the Church of her maintenance, Quadragesimal. to keep the Clergy from lazinesse; and they tell us, that the King's Daughter is all glorious within; so as they may pocket up her Rayments of needlework, and fine gold, it is no matter how she is without. They professe encou­ragements to the Ministers of the Gospell, and in the mean time pare off a great deal of their necessary maintenance. But let them know, Sr. Ben. Ru­diard's Speech. That it is scandalous maintenance that makes a scandalous Minister; and * Jam. Sibald's Serm at Spittle. 1638. that a beggerly clergy, is alwaies the signe of a bankrupt Religion.

MAny sitting up so long at play, Christ. Fonse­seaca, ut antea. are necessitated to go to bed darkling. This our living in this world, is a kind of playing or gaming, whose bed is Eterni­ty: Let us then study to give over this play in some good time, and not stay at it, till the very snuffing and topping of the candle go out, lest darknesse overtake us, and we take up our lodging in hell to all eternity.

IT was the pride of Seneca, Epist. 2. and he boasted much, Ubicunque ago, Demetrium cir­cumfero, That wheresoever he went▪ he bare Demetrius with him. O that we could but say the like of God, Ubicunque ago, Deum circumfero, Wheresoever I go, I bear Christ Iesus with me, not in a materiall Crucifix, or a visible Picture of him wrought in gold, D. Bargtave's Serm. at St. Marg. Westm. 1624. or framed in silver, but the sweet remembrance of my blessed Saviour, that is ever with me; the print of his love, the example of his ver­tue, the image of his goodnesse, the record of his mercy, all the miracles that he wrought for my conversion, all the miseries that he endured for my liberty, all the indignities that he sustained for my salvation; the power of his death, the tri­umphs of his Crosse, the glory of his rising, the comfort of his appearing, is that which I lay as Camphire between my breasts, Nobile [...]. that which I hugge with all my soul; wheresoever I go, whatsoever I do, Christ is still with me, (saith the devout soul) as the lot of mine inheritance, as the crown of my felicity.

Quench not the Spirit, Com. in loc. 1 Thess. 5. 19. Nec in te, nec in alio, (saith Aquinas) Quench it not in your self, by forbearing to hear the Word preached; quench it not in others, by discouraging them that do preach, for so St. Chrysostom under­stands the place, taking an example from the Lamp J. Donne, Serm▪ at S. Pauls Lond. 1627. that burnt by him whilst he was preaching: You may quench (saies he) this Lamp, by putting in water, and you may quench it, by taking out the oyl. So a man may quench the Spirit in him­self, if he smother it, or suffocate it with worldly pleasures and profits: And he may quench it in others, if he withdraw the favour, or the maintenance which keeps the Preacher in a carefull discharge of his duty.

IT was the advice of the late E. of Salisbury to his son, In his book of Precepts. That as in a project of War to be fo [...]led once by the Enemy, it would be very hard to recruit; so in the choice of a Wife, Ux [...]r bona [...]ha­ra supellex. to err but once, is to be undone for ever; and the rather, because, as in a Lottery, there may be an hundred blanks drawn, before one prize; many a bad Wife made choise of, before one, that may become a fit helper, is so much as thought on.

Noah is commanded, Gen. 6. 16. to make a window in the top of the Ark, and a dore in the side of it; Mat. Stiles, a Sermon at St. Pauls. a window is for the eye to look out at, a dore is for the whole body to go out. And he that will ever be a good Christian, must not onely make a window for contemplation, Dan. 6. as Daniel did, at which he prayed thrice a day; but a dore for action, Gen. 18. as Abraham did, at which he sat once a day. At the window of contemplation he must meditate with a very good heart, to keep the Word; at the dore of action he must go out, to bring forth fruit with patience.

NIcaula the Queen of saba could never be quiet in her own Country, Th. Playfer's Sermons. till she came to Solomon; but when she saw his glory, and heard his wisdome, then her heart failed her, she had enough, she could desire to see and hear no more. So the soul of a true Christian can never be quiet in the strange Country of this world, till it come to Christ the true Solomon, the King and Prince of peace eternall.