in the kingdome of Christ I will not lighten my burden by the memory of a corporall death but make my yoake easie by dying daily without which to die well can neuer be 34 The Laborinth of nature is more intricate and vnsearchable then the mysteries of diuinity Man hath a whole world of causes effects and ends of scruples and ambiguities in the one to exquire and discusse by himselfe and the helpe of his owne inuention and when hee hath strained his capacitie to the highest he must leaue more knots and difficulties vntouched then hee hath cleered and vntyed and what hee imagines perspicuously resolued lyes still in the way of reasonable opposition as partly true and partly false in all like the Sunne with the better halfe eclipsed But in the Theory of saluation if any more causes be necessary to be known then the efficient meritorious and instrumentall which are the Father the Sonne and Faith any other effect then the sauing of the soule or other end but the glory of God we may finde them truely reuealed by the Spirit of trueth I will passe by that immense Vniuersitie of Gods inscrutable wisedome with admiration and conteine my selfe in the suruey and search of mine owne little world where I finde a tenement of mortall clay inhabited with an immortall guest the reason whereof in their differences I conceiue to bee that the body being framed out of so fraile and contemptible a matter should waxing lofty be beaten down with that inherent apprehension Thou art but dust and ashes And thy soule contrarywise ennobled with the diuine image of her infusor should loath to vouchsafe an inglorious descent to the allectations of the flesh The end of their coniunction also that the body as through the ponderousnes of the predominant elements it declineth sinketh downeward so through the propertie of innate corruption it yeelding to a sluggishnesse sleepe and death in sinne should by the liuely and quickning faculty of the soule be eleuated and rouzed vp to associate her in an heauenly conuersation 35 I find an euen carriage is best that may impart curtesie to all too much familiaritie and secrets vnto none It was a wise shift of a noble Romane whose Lady importunate to know what was debated of that day at the Councell Table when he could not but in some sortsatisfie her instant demand hee answered the Priests had seene a Larke flying in the ayre with a golden helmet on his head and holding a speare in his foote which being heard shee broke the matter immediately to one of her maids shee againe to an other of her fellowes and so forward till it was spread through the Citie and passed for currant but then it receiued a checke and so was staied Some friends are of that sort they will curiously diue into ones brest and by serious inquisition make themselues priuy to the secrets of his knowledge to such I will commit no more then what my minde is ouercharged withall at the present meaning to take it vp againe in another place others are faster lockt but as faulty otherwise though Muske bee one of the sweetest perfumes it is none of the wholesomest and familiaritie though delightfull is incommodious for the concomitant disrespect and following contempt 36 So farre as auncient Fathers accord with holy Writ I will make vse of them and thus I will carie Augustine in my heart Bernard in my mouth and the rest of them before mine eies for soundnesse befits our faith a patheticall and feeling speech is requisite in praier and religious precedents are necessary for the whole life 37 Humane society is like a Ruby that being put into the fire certain houres becommeth afterward of the colour of a burning coale If I addict my selfe to the company of the vertuous I shall bee answerably affected if of the laciuious and disordered of a like blemished reputation 38 Alfonsus King of Aragon after an oratour had concluded an ample Panagerick of his praises answered if thou hast said trueth I thanke God for it if otherwise God grant mee grace that I may doe it Vicious philaty is now generall Vmpire insomuch as he that praiseth most pleaseth best and it is hard to say whither that good King did more heartily attribute glory vnto God or most now arrogate merit to themselues The faithfull heere see God darkely through a glasse which may bee a reason the greater part see him not at all and therefore glory in a sacralegious vsurpation of his due praises as not acknowledging any supernaturall efficient cause besides their owne nature and dexteritie If any thing praise worthy proceed from mee I am but the instrument God is the principall agent It is the effect of his grace and the manifestation of his goodnesse God in euery creature set a chracter of his glory in man his whole image that he might bee knowne to bee wholy his and not his owne 39 Cruell inuentions when flowing from ambitious policy are vsually layd frustrate to the vexation of the complotters the proceedings of Pharaoh and Haman against the Iewes doe witnesse it wherein we see cares and anxieties by due iustice aggrauated vpon them both and Gods people safely deliuered from the malice of them both If I be not conscious I will not feare the disfauour of the mightiest their most enuious proiects of iniustice shall bee reflected from the glasse of mine innocencie to their owne trouble and disgrace 40 When the Sonnes of God ioyned themselues to the faire daughters of men they brought foorth no other fruit but Giganticke and monsterous ofsprings and when the soule condescendeth to the smooth enticement of the flesh thereon followeth the conception of hellish thoughts which breake foorth into horrid and mischieuous designements 41 The Scythian will accuse the Romane ayre as infectious and breeding feuers which is neuerthelesse very wholsome The Blackmoore wil deride the Indian as ill coloured lesse beautifufull then himselfe So custome and nature acquainting euery one best with his owne confirmes in him also a better liking of it then of others I will accustome my selfe so neere as I can to that which is good that I may dispraise nothing in others but what is euill and like nothing in my selfe but what I cannot liue well without 42 I will not bee to liberall in praising any nor to forward this sauours of folly that of flattery bee his vertues resplendent they will shine to others as well as to me if more concealed and priuate they shall be mistrusted of the ignorant for al me and I haply for them if more particular in application to my selfe then to others they will be neglected as lesse materiall and impertinent much forwardnesse is a a note of indiscretion euincing my affectation rather of the party then of his good parts Whatsoeuer I know of the well deseruing though I may speake it publikely for the incouragement of others yet will I bee no common actor but rather a studious
their loue to true Iustice indeede is nothing lesse then they would heerein praise it to be Experience proclaiming another right deplorable cause thereof to be Nil tamen attuleris c. For gifts blind the eies of the wise yet so that they will neuer see to vndertake the indigent till they haue thus put them out Gods house cals vpon such pompeous Landlords for tribute to repaire her ruines but they haue so many euils Deuils fashions conformities deformities lie nibling at their bagges gaping for maintenance that Caesar cannot haue his due neither can they spare ought to the honor of God whereas to the former Noctes atque dies patet atri ianui Ditis Their bags the mouth of Plutoes sable caue Which beare this thirsty Motto still we craue Lye euer open to the hand of sinne Where Grace in vaine petitions to come in It shall neither mooue them to passion nor compassion to pitty nor piety to see the gates of Sion which the Lord so highly preferreth to lye waste Againe this Sanctuary opens her doore that the King of glorie according to his promise may come in when his seruants shall repaire to that place where hee hath put his Name to do him worship But heere is found vsually as a confluence of a great many so not of many great whereof some rest satisfied with a few typid petitions of their owne at home being onely a morning sacrifice for the whole day and offered vp in a Closet without any testimony but of their owne consciences that is enough to free them of hypocrisie and as they are perswaded to obtain remission here and a reward in heauen Others heare them from other men but without a mentall consent or ioyning of the heart as the sequell of their behauiour shamefully confesseth neither of them loues a fiery zeale for affecting a carnall prosperity they cannot beare to bee eaten vp with the zeale of Gods house Howbeit the Church stands not as a Rocke in the Sea to bee auoyded but as a Cliffe on the shoare to shew vs that thither we should direct our course Neither did the people of God in their banishment vow the prelation of Ierusalem to their chiefest ioy but that they were there most happy where they could freely serue the Lord. For all this they hauing builded their sumptuous houses by the might of their power for their honour as proudly said Nabuchadnezzar they resolue it is time for them wholy to repose in these and leaue their rooms in the Lords house empty The Adamites were a Sect whose custome modesty is loath to mention But they deuised them a Church after an hot-house for the space of seruice time they went all naked Men and Women and the virgins preached vnto the rest Are not such houses made if I may so say our most frequented Churches Or I would such Preachers were not most reuerenced best beloued Beeing with them our Adamites as those other iudge themselues in Paradise one word distilling from the tongue of such an Oratresse gaines soules and bodies to her seruice more then many vigilant Diuines can ouercome to God The Arke of the Lord was accounted the glory of Israel The glory is departed from Israel for the Arke of God is taken 1. Sam. 4.22 But we like Gentiles of vncircumcised hearts doe not so esteeme of his Temple but cast vp our accounts another waies and goe a whoring after heathenish abominations yet not imagining a Queene of Heauen but imagining an earthly Mistresse to worship her who works a stranger effect with her flexible audience then Saint Pauls long Sermon did with Eutichus he fell downe in a sleepe and was taken vp dead Act. 20.9 notwithstanding his heauenly doctrine but they if halfe dead are by her mortall incantations throughly quickned and reuiued This is a pleasure conceiued partly in the eye and for that the Philosophers condemne our choice saying it is praeclarius homine dignius Coelum potius quam coelata intueri hoc pulcherrimum opus inter micantibus astrorum luminibus tanquam floribus adornatum quam ficta picta gemmis distincta mirars More excellent and worthy of a Man to behold the Heauens then any thing fashioned and set forth by the art of Man and rather to admire the beauty of that fabricke graced with luminous Lamps to put vs in mind of our Creator of our calling of our Country that the first is God and not Man secondly that we being christians haue lastly not Earth but Heauen for our Country thē as the sense may fairely beare it womē in respect of their monstrous vncouth disguisments feigned painted and adorned with Iewels It hath also its conception partly in the eare by reason of effeminate adulation and bewitching blandishments for as Lactantius aply Oratio cum suauitate decipiens capit mentes quo voluerit impellit Speech sweetly season'd doth intrap mens minds And as it list seduce in sundry kinds And forasmuch as such pellacious charmes doe vndoubtedly draw them to a dislike aspernation of the simple speech of the Gospell of Christ and are irratamenta vittorum quae ad corrumpendos animos potissime valent the spurs of vices which mghtily preuaile to the corruption and deprauation of our soules it is needfull to conclude with the Author of these words Ergo tollenda sunt nobis We must therefore void abandon and renounce them WHAT AND HOW FARRE PLEASVRES ARE lawfull and to be vsed ALbeit affliction was dictated by Christ to his Disciples through them to all the faithfull for the very portion which they are to expect and receiue from the World in this world yet was it not with an absolute inhibition of all outward pleasure or any full exception taken thereunto it being meant onely so much as was necessaty for them because it is a Point in Christs Church that through many tribulations they must enter into the Kingdome of Heauen And the godly haue beene somtimes excited by the Prophets from God himselfe to reioyce in regard he would remoue this grieuance from thē and in stead of affliction cast out their enemies giuing them rest and a release from his iudgements Reioyce O Daughter Sion be ioyfull O Israel be glad and reioyce with all thy heart O Daughter Hierusalem the Lord hath taken away thy iudgements he hath cast out thine enemies Zep. 3.14.15 The Preachers comparatiue position It is better to enter into the house of mourning then into the house of feasting doth not ouerthrow our priuiledge of some recreation it proouing chiefely the prestantiority of mourning as it serueth to expresse the mortification of our members that are on earth and the inconuenience of inordinate feasting as it is the vsuall brother of euill concupiscence There is a two-fold ioy lawfull and granted 1. The one a meere outward ioy rising either from the beneficiall temper and constitution of Nature of which Prou. 17.22 A ioyfull heart causeth good health by this
to seeke when I should vse him Or in one respect like an Eele to be found most certainly in a thunder but not in another then to slipp from me when I thinke my hold surest 4 I would haue him in one respect like a Toade to carry a Iewell in his head wisedome but not in an another to beare poison in his heart 5 I would haue my friend of whither sex in one respect like the purest metall to waste nothing in the tryall but not in an other to be common to all as well as to my selfe 6 I would haue him in one respect like a greene Peasestalke not onely to shew faire blossomes but perform answerable fruit but not in another to be so temporary and wither before winter I would haue him in one respect like the Horse-leach to cling fast to me for my cure but not in another when he hath sucked his fill to fall from mee 8 I would haue him to me as I would bee to him when occasion shall make me the Orbe then him to be the Planet and on the conrrary that we might follow one anothers motion and helpe finish each others course more then our owne 9 I would haue him like the Rainbow a messenger of faire weather after a tempest but not like two together neither doe I desire him of so many colours 10 I would haue him like Hesperus though it bring newes of night yet it shines and giues light with a stedfast and incomparable clerenesse aboue all other 11 I would not haue him like a Comet that makes a starlike shew but differs from it in matter nature and place 12 I would not haue him like the twilight to carry the face of day and night 13 Nor like a snaile that being gently handled and apishly talked vnto put forth its hornes and discouers it selfe but with the least pricke striks into the shell 14 I would not haue him a Meteore imperfectly mixed 15 I will be to him a bow of steele to shoote his arrow as well as mine owne without breaking 16 I could endure my shee friend in one respect like a Bee that is busie for the wealth of her hiue but not in another to sting me when I vse her but kindly and touch her softly Or else like a toothlesse Snake I would bee glad to possesse her when all her poison is out Otherwise if shee will needs proue treacherous I can wish her a very Sloeworme blind and deafe that hauing a sting she may neither heare any cause why nor see how to anoy me with it Equals are best in euery kind To beare two bodies of one mind All disproportion Nature flyes Friendship enstrang'd from nature lyes Were I therefore worthy to enioy a Friend of mine owne choosing I would not haue him much greater then my selfe for greatnesse is commonly attended by ambition and that suggesteth how it is vnfit for Eagles to play with flyes they cannot rise by stooping but if they wil build their neft in the Sunne they must still be looking vpward after it to looke a squint marrs the grace and comlinesse of that part which should be the seat of feare and respect Therefore such an one will not vnlesse in priuate bestow the heartles comfort of a minutes familiar conference or a pleasing aspect and to be commoner with the Camelion will quickly starue mee It may bee good to haue such a Fauourite would hee put into my handes a deed of gift for mine authoritie I will say so to But for me to gather peables till I haue promised pearles come from India I had as good creepe into the ground there to take vp a certaine and durable rest as be ouer wrought and pined with an empty expectation of causuall promise Relation vnto him will somewhat auaile the credit I am content to iustifie it but to haue credit to take vp and not abilitie to lay downe will imparage the honesty yet will I reuerence him as my superiour and esteeme his proferred curtesies but neuer with ouermuch confidence least through such presumption neglecting to prouide otherwise for my selfe I become at length vtterly destitute I would not haue one though mine equall in birth yet too rich being my selfe but poore for riches will transport him so farre from reason that if he be a young denizon and hath a rib lesse then a married man he becomes proud luxurious and prodigal which are three parasites that will flatter his estate from himselfe his good liking from me his fidelitie from all His clothes are fitted for the Stage of great mens Tables where hee procures the hierogliphick of the Seruingmans larger obseruation in a cleane trencher and the vulgar to salute his worship whersoeuer he bathes his liuer with wine he must purge his reines with women to all conuentions of good fellowship an affirmation if you shall meet vs there stands as firme as an inuitation with intreaty in such obedience doeth hee subscribe vnto his pleasure and after he is blowne vp with a fiery whiffe and that Bacchus hath tyed the wings of Mercury to his tongue then to euery insinuating humorist doth he breake his heart by corners which is round to none and in the dissoluing of the dissolute and drunken Session hee lets loose his Angels to returne him the superscription of Bonus socius If an old Stoick whose heremitical affectiōs haue wandered alone past the cape de bona spe he shall haue more cosins then kindred be better befriended then Nature euer meant him and some will rather deriue their alliance from Iapheth then they will be excluded his entertainement which is the blood of their hope that they shall haue the wearing of his shoes after his death they hang vp their bagges as spiders their cobwebbs waiting with his fall what may fal into them So that I once mooued from my station and looking that the bias of his loue should holde as anciently toward me can blaze no other Armes but a dogge snatching at a flie with this Motto By chance I catch or misse Therfore I will not cast vp my lure to a Buzzard when I am sure to catch the best Faulcon by the meanes I will passe no estate of my loue to him that will giue me no better securitie for my pay If an Adamite that hath his Eue and young euils about him he will in things forbidden obey the voyce of the woman therefore not hearken to mine that first violated Gods so vnlesse I bee hers as well as his I shall stand with my foote in the Sunne and my head in the fire if I be affected of both and the children vnnaturall not yeelding to the Parents will a law to them nor sealing with awfull consent what they determine I shall haue loue with a vengeance no kindnesse without a curse and yet in future time I or mine stand ingaged to them for the good turnes done by their Ancestors without them I must thanke the Kite for my hens well