ire to rise up in a Contemplation unto such things as are above their owne nature For the first orders therefore to reade the greatnesse the wisedome and providence of God in any of the inferiour orders or in subjecta creatura in the Fabrick of the world hoe descendere potius quam saltus dare this is rather to goe downe then to leape To view the greatnesse and majestie of God in themselves in looking into their owne pure nature hoc illorum est per planum ire this is their plaine way they neither rise nor fall in doing thus But they are said to leape when they ascend into a simple and naked Contemplation of the Power the Wisedome the Majesty of God as he is in himselfe and so behold with admiration that Fountaine of beauty of goodnesse of order of proportion The second and third Hierarchies they are onely said to leape when they doe rise in a speculation into the orders above them and from thence are furnished with matter of admiration concerning the Divine power and wisedome For although it be granted that these inferiour orders have also their simple contemplations doe behold the face of God too enjoy the beatificall vision as well as the other yet this may be called illorum volatus potius quam tripudium rather their flight then their leaping because wee know hee that leapes doth not multum elongere se à stationis suae loco removes not himselfe farre from the place he was in before which we finde contrary in a flight when the thing that flies works it selfe many times into a vast distance Therefore because those orders of Angels which are here set out unto us by the name of rammes in their leapes doe never use but a simple Contemplation and the other inferiour orders never but a speculation most fitly hath the Psalmist laid his comparison together Montes exultaverunt ut arietes colles sicut agni ovium For the mountaines then to skip like rammes is when Contemplative men in a kinde of sacred extasie and overflowing of the soule doe climbe up into pure notions of the Deity abstracted from speculations doe behold the face of God not in the glasse of the creature but as he is in himselfe all splendor all glory all brightnesse all goodnesse And for the hills to skip like lambs is when speculative men doe climbe up into an admiration of God by beholding the works of his handâ— as St. Paul to the Romans 1.20 For the invisible things of him that is his eternall power and Godhead are seene in the creation of the world being considered in his workes Pensemus ergo c. Let us therefore conceive if we be able what a mighty prerogative and grace it is for our humane and fraile natures to be likened in the motions of our minds unto the glorious Angels And let us therfore praise the GOD of Angels and men who hath made us a little lower then the Angels to crowne us with glory and worship O blessed soule and truely happy who can take such leapes as these who leaving the dull senses asleepe can secretly steale from the body and mount up in a moment unto the familiarity of Angels bee partakers of their joyes be present at their spirituall delicates and with them leape from one degree of knowledge and illumination to another and with infinite delight and admiration still bee knowing of that immensity which can never bee fully knowen Lord let my soule ever leape after this manner and I shall not envie all the flattering courtship that the world can shew me But I make haste to the Quare the cause of this leaping What aile yee O yee mountaines c. reade but the next verse and the Question is answered A facie Domini mota est terra for so good Translations as I told yee reade it The earth was moved at the Face of the Lord. Hugo set downe foure severall faces of Christ Facâ—m 1 Viventis The face of Christ living or the face of his Poverty And this face did he shew in his Nativity and after in his whole life being made poore for our sakes so that hee had not so much as whereon to lay his head 2 Morientis The face of Christ dying or the face of his Griefe And this face did hee shew us upon the Crosse which seemed to becken to all Passengers and to say in the Prophet Ieremies words Lam. 1.12 Have yee no regard all yee that passe by this way behold and see if there bee any sorrow like unto my sorrow 3 Iudicantis The face of Christ Iudging or the face of his Anger And this face will he shew to the wicked ones in the day of judgement 4 Regnantis The face of Christ reigning or the face of his Glory and pleasure And this face will hee onely shew to the Saints in the Kingdome of Heaven But I must make bold in the midst of these foure to insert one face more of Christs which Hugo Cardinalis did not thinke of and that is Facies resurgentis The face of Christ arising from the dead subduing the grave and leading Captivity captive And this is the face of Christ meant here at the sight of which the Earth was moved The Mountaines skipped c. And what thing is there so heavy that could sit still and behold this face O let not us then be more insensible then the Mountaines and Hills to which wee are compared for we must know that the strength of the comparison doth not lie in the ponderousnesse of the Mountaines No wee ought not to imitate them in this but it doth consist in the height in their neernesse to heaven and their distance from the common roades of men Lift up your heads therefore O yee gates and be yee lift up yee everlasting doores and the King of glory will come in First then O yee mountaines of the earth who doe enjoy a vicinity and kinde of familiarity with God and heaven Yee men of contemplation who by the advantage of your height have a far clearer and neerer prospect of God and of the wonders that are in him then they who are upon the little Hills and Plaines of the earth below O lift up your heads on high in a thankfull acknowledgement and admiration of the wisedome the power the mercy of our God who sent his onely Sonne in whom he was well pleased into the world that he by his poverty his ignominie his obedience his death might make an atonement for our sins And this is the day wherein that gracious worke was perfectly finished this is the day wherein our Saviour Christ having entred into the house of that strong man Death and bound him like a Giant refreshed with wine issued out of the Grave in triumph Or once This is the day which the Lord hath made let us reioyce and be glad in it For be sure that the Lord lookes for greater higher and more frequent leapes from you for purer and
Aristotles answer who sayes that Iustice and Equitie doe not Discrepare in genere sed gradu quodam they are not contrary but doe onely differ a little in degree Equitie making up what the Law in it selfe was deficient in being as I sayd before onely universaliter loquens able onely to speake generally and not to every particular case in which cases equity interprets the Law not opposes it but what is more then all this we have the example of God himselfe for it In the day that yee eate of that Tree yee shall dye the death There was the Law which he gave to our first Parents this Law was presently broken But does God now deale with them according to the strict sentence of this Law No. Out of his infinite 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his admirable mercy whereas hee might have justly slaine them presently he suffers them to live that they might have a space for Repentance The like are frequent in the Scriptures nay the whole world is nothing else but a great Booke full of the like examples For alas should the Lord have executed the strict rigour of Iustice upon every one of us we had beene carryed immediately from the wombe of our Mother unto the Grave I am not so farre a Patron for mercy that I desire Iustice should any whit suffer No I subscribe to that voyce Fiat Iustitia Let Iustice be done though the world parish but yet with Aristotles limitation Equitie does not any way change oppose or alter that Ius naturale that naturall justice but having degrees it mittigates the strictnesse of the Law where the Law-giver has not left any thing exprest I have showne yee thus farre what this Veyle is and the necessity of it to be over the face of MOSES the Civill Magistrate I will now descend to the manner both of the framing and wearing it And because the wearing of it belongs to the Magistrate upon the Bench onely the framing of it to many and divers kinde of people I will follow a while the Particulars These five severall sorts of men then doe concurre to the framing or making of this Veyle The Accuser Witnesse Iury-man Advocaâ—e or Pleader Officer I can but touch upon them and first for the Accuser whether in Iudiciall Controversies or in causes criminall who brings the materials for this Covering Let him take heed that he be not found a rayser of false reports a speaker against his Brother Psal 50. And one who slandereth his owne mothers Sonne For be sure then that the Lord will goe on with the 21. verse And will reproove thee and set before thee the things that thou hast done We know one of whose greatest and most glorious Titles it is to be called the Accuser of the Brethren and know that whoever he be that participates in the Action must also have his share in the Name and afterwards inherit the punishment too If thou wilt doe the workes exercise the Trade of the Divell which is to accuse falsely expect no other recompence but the reward of the Divell which is to perish utterly But what is it to accuse falsely Not onely Struere de proprio calumnias Innocentiae to create a false report upon an innocent person meerely of our owne heads which the Oratour calls vernaculum crimen a domesticke crime such a crime as is borne with us at home in our owne breasts and has no being but there Such an one was that of Iezebels where it was Naboths Vineyard that had blasphem'd and not himselfe but also to aggravate a small crime and so to blow it up into a quantity when through the multiplying-Glasse of a little glozing Rhetorick they can make an Ant seeme an Elephant which was so common amongst the Roman Pleaders that CICERO calls it Accusatoria Consuetado the Custome of the Accusers And it is to be wish'd that it was not too frequent amongst our Word-Merchants who sell ayre and Syllables as men doe horses in a Faire he who bids most is the welcommest man be the Cause what it will An other way of accusing falsely is when thou tel'st the Truth though it bee nothing but the Truth with a wicked intent ayming to doe mischiefe So Doeg though he told Saul nothing but the truth concerning Ahimelech the Priest his releeving of David yet because his intent was ill and he was prickt forward by mischiefe to make that narration we shall finde DAVID Psal 52. Branding him with the Title of a Lyer Thy tongue imagineth wickednesse and with lyes thou cuttest like a sharpe Razor 2. The Witnesse is the next in ranke And let him onely know this that as hee is here brought to beare witnesse against his Neighbour so shall his owne conscience one day be brought to beare witnesse against him which if it finde him peccant shall never leave calling and crying in the cares of that great and righteous Iudge untill hee have passed that irrevocable Sentence against him In what a desperate condition then are all they who make no more of bearing false witnesse against theyr Neighbour I and in taking the just and powerfull Iudge of all the World to record that their false Calumniations are Truths then that Emperour did of cutting off the heads of Poppies O consider this you who are to lay your hands upon the Booke It is not the abatement of the thirtieth part of a Fine when you depose in your Landlords cause nor the Summering of a Horse or a Cow it is not the countenance of the best man as yee call him that is the richest man in the Parish who if thou swearest for him lustily and to the purpose and commest to him beforehand to know of your good Master what it is that will doe the deed peradventure will when thou hast drawne Gods curse upon thee so by thy perjurie that thou art not able to live honestly adventure his credit with the two next Iustices to make thee an Ale-house-keeper and so thou shalt live upon the sinnes and intemperance of the People curst both of God and men Alas it is not this nor greater things then these thou shalt gaine by thy oath which can lye in ballance against the displeasure of so great and righteous a God whom thou as much as in thee was hast endeavour'd to make a mocke of 3. And for the Iurer almost the same admonition will serve for him Thou shalt not follow a Multitude to doe evill Exod. 23. When thou takest thy oath consider with thy selfe whether it be upon the life or estates of men thou goest that thou swearest to bring in thy verdict as thy conscience shall dictate to thee according to truth and Iustice Thou art not bound to follow the first man like horses in a Teame because hee has the fayrest Feather in his Crowne because he has beene an old Iury-man and has layd many a poore Cleargy man on his backe has got himselfe a name amongst the easie swearers of the Laitie No
this motion of the Mountaines to be reall and literall and understand it of Mount Sinai with the former opinion but so as that this Mountaine should turne and spread it selfe over the Children of Israell like a Canopy or cloath of state but this seemes to be fabulous Trevetus makes mention of some other of the Rabbines who report that when their fore-fathers removed their Tents from the river Zared and pitch'd on the other side of Arnon in their passage great multitudes of the Amorites did lye in ambush for them in the secret places of the vally and rocks of Arnon which thing the Lord the Keeper of Israel who neither slumbers nor sleeps perceiving immediatly caused the rocks and hills of Arnon to fall upon them and so destroy'd them Lyranus and Aiguanus would understand this leaping of the Mountaines Causaliter The Mountaines of Arnon leap'd for joy i. they caused the hearts of the Israelites to leape in them for joy when at the Torrent or streame of Arnon which divides the Moabites and the Amorites the Hills which were on the other side of the banke of the river Miraculosè inclinaverunt vsque ad partem in qua erat populus ut liberè transire possent Did miraculously at the command of God encline and bow downe themselves to the people who were on the other side of the river becomming as it were a bridge for them to passe over And for this they quote Numb 21.14.15 Num. 21.14.15 Wherefore it shall be spoken in the booke of the Battels of the Lord what thing hee did in the red Sea and in the rivers of Arnon and at the streame of the river which goeth downe unto the dwellings of Ar and lyeth upon the border of Moab Wee see that the Text joynes the miracle of the red Sea and the businesse of the rivers of Arnon together and therefore say they there must needes be a miracle here as well as at the red Sea Others of the Jewish Writers doe concurre with this last opinion concerning the bowing downe of the Mountaines to give an easie passage to the Israelites but they deny it to be over the rivers of Arnon and will have it to be done in the vallyes and unpassable hollownesses lying betwixt the craggy rockes of Arnon And even there is a disagreement betwixt those who are of this opinion too For some of them have a great minde to have these rocks and hills after they had bowed downe themselves to fill up the vally and make the way plaine for the passage of the people like Izachar in the 49. of Genesis to see that rest was good and therefore to lye still and couch downe under the burthen Those rockes say they after they had lyen downe to give them way were pleas'd with their new lodging so that there they lye still till this day And this place they will have to be where the mountaines of the Desert of Arnon doe requiescere et inclinare Paulatim donec terminentur in Ar doe lay downe their heads as weary rest themselves and end almost in a Plaine by the Citie of Ar. But others who are for the bowing down of them are against the lying still of the rocks saying that as soone as they had bowed downe themselves and done the businesse Divina virtute ad locum suum reversos esse By an other miracle did retire back againe to their former place to their old hibitation where they still remaine unlesse some Earth-quake hath displac'd them since Amongst these Cajetan also stands stiffe for the reall motion of these mountaines and mee thinks his reason is good for it which is drawne from the â—ontext for we see that this motion of the hills is reckoned and reported in the same Story with the dividing of the red Sea and the beating backe of Iordane The Sea saw it and fled Iordane was driven backe the mountaines skipped like Rammes c. both which first were realities and therefore great probability that this was reall too But hee can by no meanes digest that interpretation of the rockes of Arnon For sayes he first here is no mention made of rockes but of mountaines Secondly not of mountaines bowing downe and stooping but of mountaines leaping and skipping I wil trouble yee no farther with strange opinions only this I 'le say if this Motion of the Mountaines be to be understood in the proper and literall sense as without any inconvenience it very wel may then I have reason with a good approved Authour to thinke that it is the likeliest to be meant of Mount Sinai which having divers heads or tops within the vast compasse of it might be called so many severall mountaines And this was done when the Lord froÌ„ thence delivered the Law to the People for there we read in the 20. of Exod. 18. And all the Mount trembled exceedingly Exod. 20.18 Which trembling of that Mountaine I doe apprehend was not only caus'd by terrour feare at the presence of the Lord but also that joy had a hand in causing that action too Ioy feare met together in the word reverence and so the mountaine trembled And thus wee are able to bring this trembling of the mountaine into the compasse of the word in our Text Exultaverunt montes the mountaines leapt for joy but their leaping proceeded from such a joy as was accompanied with a reverent feare there was trembling mixt with their joy Wee come now to the second Interpretation which is a great deale higher and quite remov'd from the letter as this leaping and skipping of the mountaines and hills points at the joy which was at the resurrection of Christ And I told yee as yee may remember that it was either in the the Figure or in the mysterie In the Figure which is a Prosopopaeta which doth ascribe the actions of living creatures to creatures insensible Psal 98 8. So in the 98. Psalme 8. Let the stouds clap their hands and let the mountaines rejoyce together Psal 96. â— Let the field be joyfull and all that is in it let all the Trees of the Wood rejoyce So that we need not to make this place good be driven to that strange opinion which some attribute to Origen who ascrib'd a soule and sense to Mountaines Woods Trees and other inanimate creatures In the mysterie and so it doth depicture out unto us the joy of Angels and men But for our easier passage through the words wee will observe in the Text these things Quid What it is they doe They leape or ship Qui Who they be that leape The Mountaines and the Hills Quomodo After what manner like Rammes and young Sheepe Quare The cause or reason of this leaping What ayle yee O yee mountaines And that 's exprest in the next verse A facie domini mâ—ta est terra a facie dei Iacob The Earth was moved at the face or presence of the Lord It was the face or presence of the
more exalted notions approaching neere unto the contemplation of Angells then he doth from the Hills and Plaines For to whom much is given of him shall much be required So that as Saint Paul said of himselfe concerning preaching of the Gospell Woe is me if I preach not the Gospell so may I say of my self and of all our whole Tribe the Tribe of Levi with me of all the Priests of the Lord the Sonnes of the Prophets who are as it were a portion set apart for God himselfe and like the mountaines neerer heaven are or at the least should be farther removed from the plaines of the earth worldly cares imployments to the end that being freed from these outward destractions and disturbances wee should the more intend the honour of God and the good of his people Woe he unto us if wee above other men doe not leape for joy doe not sing songs of deliverance unto the God of our redemption In the next place O yee Hills praise yee the Lord. 'T is Davids counsell Psalme 148. Yee speculative men who are not yet growne up to the altitude of mountaines yee who are not able yet to climbe into a simple contemplation of God but doe behold his wisedome and power in the Glasse of the creature in the Creation Government of the world O doe yee leape too and although yee cannot yet fetch such Masculine leapes as the Rammes do let not this discourage yee Here is a degree of comparison for you too doe it like the Lambes or the young ones of the Flock Nor must we exempt the Fields the Plaines of the Earth from bearing a part in this joy the men of action and secular businesse they must come in for their share too and although they cannot leape or skip like the mountaines or the hills yet we will finde out an imployment for them too Whilst the mountaines and the hills dance before the presence of the Lord and trace it in comely figures together the fruitfull vallyes shall sing unto them as they passe and this I am sure they are able to doe For David in one of his Psalmes brings them in in the very same action and makes the moving cause of it to bee onely the fruitfulnesse of the Earth The vallyes saith he stand so thick with corne that they doe laugh and sing But wee have a greater cause then the fruitfulnesse of the Earth to move us the fruitfulnesse of heaven is fallen upon us and the Day-spring from on high hath visited us Hee whom the other day wee left hanging upon the Crosse the scorne and laughter of Passengers and hath lyen as imprisoned in the house of death for three dayes and three nights hath now broken from the prison of the Grave and to our endlesse comfort and eternall Salvation loosed and shaken off the bands of death not onely for himselfe over whom death shall have no more dominion but also for us too For now since his conquest Death hath lost his strength nor shall the Grave be able now to hold any of us hereafter The force of the Prison wall is decayed and through the breach which his blessed Resurrection hath made therein shall we finde a way unto eternity of living Let us therefore who are the Vallyes Plaines of the Earth though we are not able to leape and skip after the manner of the mountaines and hills who have higher and purer revelations then our selves although wee cannot sing unto the honour of our Saviour in so heavenly a straine or in so wel penn'd Anthemes as they yet let us not faile to doe our endeavours though it bee in a more homely Musick for the Lord doth not despise the Musick even of an oaten reede tuned to his Praise and he can discover a sweetnesse even in the harsh note of a sigh or a groane which is pointed to him Let us therefore for this present joyne our selves in Chorus with old Zachary Luke 1. and say Blessed be the Lord God of Israel for hee hath visited and redeemed his people Amen THE THIRD SERMON PREACHED Upon Saint Peters Day JOHN 21. VER 17. He said unto him the third time Simon the sonne of Jona lovest thou mee and Peter was sory because he said unto him the third time lovest thou me and said unto him Lord thou knowest all things thou knowest that I love thee Iesus said unto him Feede my Sheepe VPon the day dedicated to the memory of St. Peter wee have made choyce of a Text wherein we finde St. Peter sorrowfull and indeede wee should doe wrong to the holy Apostle if we should at all remember him without his sorrow Never feare that sorrow for sinne will ever spoile the face of a good Christian 't is the comeliest thing about him and he doth St. Peter the most honour who pictures him weeping Alas to call to minde onely the sinnes and imperfections of this holy man onely to mention how shamefully he denied his Master and to leave out his bitter weeping and his repentance which is the best part of the story were to bring him upon the stage onely to disgrace him but that man doth St. Peter right who remembers his repentance as well as his sinne Wee have in this Scripture then these three things 1. Peters sorrow Hee was sory saith the Text Secondly The cause of his sorrow And that is we see our Saviours saying unto him the third time lovest thou me Thirdly The effect of St. Peters sorrow And this is double Neerer or farther off The effect which I call the neerer is St. Peters answer Lord thou knowest all things thou knowest that I love thee The effect of his sorrow which I call the farther off is the reply of Christ unto Peters answer Iesus said unto him Feede my Sheepe 1. Peter was sory What Peter might this be That Peter who in the Gospell read for this day by reason of that cleare Confession Thou art Christ the Sonne of the living God was pronounced blessed by the mouth of Christ That Peter to whom were given the Keyes of the Kingdome of heaven so that whatsoever he bindes on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever he looses on earth shall be loosed in heaven Yes Even the very same Peter even the very same Simon the sonne of Ionas whom our Saviour himselfe in that 16. of St. Mathew proclaimed blessed He is sorrowfull First Peter the blessed is sorrowfull Certainly then it is not altogether such an accursed and hatefull thing to endure affliction and troubles here upon earth as it is supposed it is Be comforted then thou who art in misery art persecuted or afflicted for thou seest that Saint Peter here who was in the opinion of no lesse then Christ a blessed man hee was in sorrow hee was griev'd which did not a whit diminish his blessednesse but rather encrease it Secondly Peter the holy is sorrowfull O then it is in vaine to looke for true felicity here
on earth The greatest Saints of God we see are not without their rainie dayes and tempests a perpetuall calme is onely to be found in heaven Nay Peter who to his inward gifts and graces of the spirit had also an outward competency of corporall goods he was full he wanted nothing hee was newly risen from a Feast he enjoy'd the company of his friends and his companions were round about him no small blessing Nay hee had the bodily presence of Christ himselfe Nor was hee furnished onely for the present but hee had also provision for many dayes no lesse then a Stock of an hundred fifty and three great fishes for hereafter so that hee might have said with the rich Foole in the Gospell Soule take thy rest thou hast goods enough layd up for thee No all this cannot shut griefe out of the heart of Saint Peter Peter for all this was sorie Let us learne therefore from hence to know that true joy which is without any mixture of griefe is not to be found in any earthly good whatsoever not in thy riches not in thy dainties not in thine honors not in the multitude and greatnesse of thy friends No Seeke for that in any other place except it be in heaven and bee sure that thou shalt lose thy labour 2 But why is Peter sory because his Master asks him whether he loves him or no What could there be in this which could grieve Saint Peter One would have thought that this should rather have made him joyfull to heare his Lord and the Lord of the whole world to talke so familiarly with him to take such particular notice of him and of his love No this is not all For wee finde our Saviour saying the very same words unto him twice before and yet he was not a whit mov'd at it then but now he sayes unto him the third time lovest thou mee As if some secret influence had beene wrapt up in those words and so convay'd into his soule yee may discerne a suddaine alteration in the man What should the meaning of this be Shall wee say that there is any Magick or Witchcraft in the number of three Wee must not say it But this wee may say A hidden vertue or power there was in those words of our Saviour repeated thrice unto him Alas at the first and second speaking of them Peter did not know the meaning of our Saviour but no sooner doth he come upon him with that question the third time but then hee begins to recollect himselfe and verily beleeve that there is something in it more then ordinary As if Peter had dialogued thus with himselfe What should this meane that my Lord and Master doth so often repeat these words to mee Lovest thou mee lovest thou mee lovest thou mee Would not this once named have served the turne Is it possible that Christ can affect empty repetitions which are like clouds without water Certainly all his words are ponderous nor doth a syllable fall from his blessed lips but what is full of meaning and mysterie No lesse then thrice together lovest thou me O my tormented conscience I have it One deepe calls upon another because of the noyse of the water pipes Now our Apostle begins to dive a little into the mystery of the number 3. and thinks with himselfe what he can call to mind within the compasse or intimation of that number which may concerne himselfe And sure he shall not need to be long in meditation about it If hee chance to bee forgetfull wee 'l bring the Cocke againe to waken his memory and that shall crow but once to tell him that hee hath denied his Master thrice O it was this which touched him to the quicke his mind presently upon Christs third repetition ran backe to his threefold deniall Now Peter understands the intent of his Master but yet sure not all his intent for then hee would never have grieved for the matter He fixes onely upon that part of it which did respect the hainousnesse of his former sinne and called that backe to his memory it is likely he never thought at that time upon the other part of Christs intention which was the good and honour of St. Peter that by this threefold open confession of his Lord and Saviour hee might as much as in him lay expiate his threefold deniall of him This was certainly the chiefest reason why our Saviour urges this to Peter the third time that hee might give him an occasion to redeeme the honour which hee had lost before Hee denied him thrice before and now to make amends for that he confesses him as often But it runnes in the Text And Peter was sory because hee said unto him the third time lovest thou mee which implies that Peter was not so much grieved for the sinne of his deniall it selfe as hee was at the unkindnesse as hee supposed of our Saviour who first seemes to make it a great doubt whether Peter loved him or no in asking him so often And well hee might doubt of it although to speake properly Christ could not doubt of any thing because he knew all things for Peter by his former denialls had given him sufficient cause to doubt And secondly by this threefold Question seemes to upbraid Peter with the same businesse that the Cock told him of before And this is the nature of us all who commonly doe thinke so well of our selves that we account it a great disparagement to have our faith or hope our love or our religion called in question No let us alone wee are well wee love God and wee love Christ wee hope for heaven and wee know all shall bee well with us To what purpose are all these questions With Peter we are sory if any one asks us whether we love Christ or no In the next place wee are of the same nature with St. Peter too by any meanes we doe not love to heare of our sinnes We doe not reade here that CHRIST was any whit plaine or open with Peter Hee did not tell him of his sinne in a diameter in a straight line for wee finde not a word of any denials mentioned but onely tacitely and insinuatingly doth hee by his threefold confession bring backe to his memory his threefold deniall which hee knew could not chuse but do it It is likely that the rest of the company who were present with them at this discourse tooke no notice at all of his meaning it was onely knowne to Peter himselfe who had a vigilant monitor within him his conscience quickning his apprehension and yet for all this Peter is grieved And it was well he was but grieved hee was not angry as many of us will bee now adayes when we heare our darling sinnes a little touched O yee will hug us of the Clergy so long as wee let yee alone so long as wee doe not bring backe your sinnes to your memory wee are quiet and honest men so long as
reason of sicknesse which is a present evill then it is under the reason and name of the privation of good which is health But which of them soever hath the preheminence in the first place of object doth not much concerne us Let it suffice us to know that neither of them both have any thing to doe with Christ For how can hee who is Goodnesse it selfe lose that which is good and can any evill bee said to happen to him who is the fountaine from whence is derived all that is good 2 The second Cause of Griefe they say is Concupiscentia concupiscence or a desire of that absent good which wee are sensible of that wee want And as the first Cause was Causa sicut finis the object to which griefe doth tend so this is Causa sicut unde A Cause as from whence the beginning of the motion is As in the naturall appetite of a stone or any other heavy body being to move downwards the cause as the end is the place whither it tends the center of gravity having a kinde of Magnetique vertue in it which drawes it thither The cause as from whence is the naturall inclination of that body arising from the forme of it which is heavinesse So the cause of griefe as the end is the evill which is present but the cause as from whence this motion is is the inward inclination of the appetite which doth encline chiefly and in the first place to that which is good and secondarily and by consequence to the shunning of evill Now this concupiscence or desire longing after good finding it absent and in the roome of it its contrary which hee hates is immediatly turned into a griefe or rather not turned into a griefe but it still remaines with the griefe to make the griefe the greater continually desiring that which cannot be had But neither is this cause able to lay any hold upon Christ for can hee desire any absent good who hath all that is good continually present with him 3. The third Cause they will have to be Appetitus unitatis A desire of unity or union And this is nothing else but the second reason cloathed in another phrase Or if there be any it is but a little Metaphysical difference which doth not consist in the thing it selfe but in the reason of maner of apprehending the thing And so after the same manner that the desire of good was said there to cause griefe so here the desire or appetite of Unity which is nothing else but good apparelled in another kinde of dresse for the good of every thing wee know doth consist in a certaine kinde of Unity And therefore the Platonicks who were altogether for Harmony and said That the whole frame of the world was nothing else but a Musicall Instrument set in tune by the hand of that primum ens and primum principium which is God doe as well make unum à Principium as bonum Both which bonity and unity by the way of Participation although comming infinitely short of that excellence which is in the fountaine of that bonity and unity is communicated to the creatures as conducing to their perfection Now when any thing is cut off from this unity of the creature or added which is superfluous although it be but in his apprehension onely and not really finding his unity infringed which is the perfection of the crearure desiring this unity which is absent and finding a present impediment immediatly this desire begets a griefe But neither can this cause come neere or once touch Christ for hee is so farre from wanting or desiring this secondary unity this unity of the creature that hee is Vnus cum unitate prima One with unity and bonity it selfe 4. The fourth cause which they render is this Potestas cui non potest resisti A stronger power which cannot be resisted For if a present or conjoyned evill be the proper object of sorrow as is already proved then that must needs be a cause of that sorrow which makes or works the presence or conjunction of this evill and that is a stronger power For although many times wee suffer damage and hurt by a power which simply and in it selfe is lesse as in our slumbers wee are often troubled and molested by a Gnat so poore a creature that one fillip of a man is able to destroy a million of them yet in that regard that it hurts it must be called a greater Siâ—nâ—nullo modo major esset nullo modo posset nocere saith Aquinas For if in some kinde it were not greater it were impossible it should hurt us in any kinde But what power in the world can be greater then he to whom all power in heaven and earth is given We are not yet got out of the Labyrinth Let us once more consult with the Text. And when he was come neere he beheld the Citie and wept for it The knot is untyed the verse interprets it selfe He wept for it Not for himselfe Hee doth agere personam alterius Hee wept for the Citie Delirant reges plectuntur Achivi was the old saying The Kings commit the offence and their Subjects suffer for it But here we may justly invert that speech and say Delirat populus plectitur eorum Rex The people the Jewes have sinned and their King the King of the Jewes hee beares the punishment of their sinne And the Citie of Ier. might very opportunely have used those words of David with a little alteration in the last Chapter of the second booke of Samuel Behold I have sinned yea I have done wickedly but this Sheepe what hath he done What hath he committed that his eyes should send forth such plenty of teares as they doe And wept for it The wonder ceases For now wee are able to finde all those foure severall causes already mentioned in this griefe of our blessed Saviour First For in the first place Ier. had lost shee had quite deprived her selfe of all her good by her sinnes and obstinacie and evill was also hard at her doore Destruction did hang over her head like the sword in the twine threed over the head of the Parasite in the Throne wayting but when the breath of the Lord would breake it in sunder And therefore he wept Secondly There was concupiscentia a desire of that absent good they were deprived of Which desire should have beene in them but because a kinde of Lethargy and Stupidity had seized them he who bore the infirmities of us all entertaines it into his owne bosome into his owne affections Hee desired the good of them which they did not themselves and therefore he wept Thirdly he desired also their vnity their perfection which doth consist in the concatenation as it is tyed to or derived from as the beames from the Sunne that primum unum bonum that first One unity it selfe God Which chaine of participation being broken and a separation made by reason of their sinnes
therefore he wept Fourthly Hee perceived also that there was potestas fortior a power which was too strong for them the power of hell sin and darknesse which did beare rule over them and therefore he wept He wept not for the dead Citie for the walls which were shortly to be overthrowne for her faire Towers and buildings which were shortly to be demolished for her Temple which hee knew was afterwards to be defiled and cast downe to the ground not one stone left upon another Hee did not weepe principally I say for this Although peradventure his griefe might cast an oblique eye thither too but the chiefe cause of his mourning was the sinnes and blindnesse of the people Which Action as it doth confute the Heresies of Valentinian Cerdon and others who deny Christ to have had a naturall body and affirme that hee was not borne of a woman neither had flesh nor suffered any Passion but had a body meerely phantasticall and did faine onely to suffer and besides shewes unto us his infinite mercy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which was touched with a fellow-feeling of our infirmities So especially it teacheth us what the true use of teares is They are not to be lavished out upon every slight occasion but to be reserved to bee spent for sinne That is their proper object I doe not goe about to make a mutilation in our affections or to Preach the Doctrine of the Stoicks to yee who would have no passions at all There is a sorrow there is a debt of teares which we owe and Nature will exact the payment of us to the Urne of our deceased Parents Children religious Governours Kinsfolks and Friends Ioseph weepes for his Father Iacob seaven dayes Gen. 50. The children of Israel wept for Moses in the plaine of Moab 30. dayes Deut. 34. But yet with Ioseph wee must weepe for our Father Iacob but seaven dayes i. our mourning must be moderate wee must not with the Egyptians bewaile him seventy dayes as men without hope as they did in the third verse of that Chapter of Genesis We cannot weepe too much for our sinnes for any thing else wee may There be other remedies which God hath provided for our lesse dangerous maladies and we are to use them If thou beest deprived of thy goods take Iobs confection and try what good that will doe thee The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away blessed be the name of the Lord. Naked I came out of my mothers wombe and naked I shall returne againe Which very consideration we see wrought a cure upon that good man Doe not weepe for this it is not worth thy teares Vnicus raptus est filius as St. Ierome to Paula comforting her for the death of her daughter Bresilla Durum quidem sed tolerabile quia sustulit ille qui dederat Is thy onely sonne or thine only daughter ravished from thine eyes by an untimely death T is hard but yet to be endured when thou considerest that it is that same gracious God who lent thee that sonne or that daughter that hath taken them from thee againe neither must thou weepe too much for this But I cannot follow any more particulars and I have dwelt too long in this little Bay into which I diverted We will now make out into the river again And wept for it saying the force of the streame yee see carries mee downe into the next verse O if thou hadst knowne even thou at the least in this thy day Loquitur lachrymas He doth not onely weepe teares but he speakes teares One word as it were trickling downe after another separated from its fellowes as if there were no acquaintance betwixt them O if thou hadst knowen there he stops even thou there he makes another stop at the least in this thy day there hee stops againe those things which belong unto thy Peace What now Like a great Violl with a narrow mouth hee is here quite stopt up with his owne fulnesse Not a drop more yet Those thoughts of sorrow which knock at his lips for passage like a crowd at a little doore while every one strives to be first the passage is clogged up and none of them can get through But I discover something else comming out But now are they hid from thine eyes Quid hoc Domine Iesu quid hic sibi vult verborum saltus What should this meane what dependance have these last words upon the former Art not thou who art the Word it selfe able to make a congruity in thy words Thou who wast able to create such a ravishing harmony in the world one thing so sweetly in a comely subordination depending upon another canst not thou make musicke of a sentence make that agree together Yes Here is agreement Here is Musick More here is Rhetorick More then that here is the height the very iexcellence of all Rhetorick in this broken speech of our Saviour For if words bee nothing else but our thoughts apparelled in ayery syllables but the expression of our thoughts then of necessity those must needs be the best words which come neerest to the true expression as that Picture is the best not that hath the smoothest or the most pleasingest countenance but which most resembles the life it represents Now wee would account him but an ill describer of a Passion whether of joy sorrow anger or any other who makes his sense and words runne in a fine smooth oylie course without any breaches or abruptions as if the Soule in that troubled sea of Passion like the King-fisher in the Halcion dayes were at leasure to build a curious and well-ordered nest of words No Christ here doth so truely set forth to us the Image of a troubled Soule as they may seeme not to bee words which hee speaks but as if sorrow scorning to use the help or mediation of words should speake it selfe in its owne proper language O if thou hadst knowen even thou at the least in this thy day the things which belong unto thy peace What then As in that speech of the Father who being found weeping and the cause of his sorrow demanded answered Filius unicus habilis pollens ingenio Adolescens My sonne my onely sonne a young man of faire hopes and being able to goe no farther had his imperfect speech made up by a stander by relieving his halting sentence though small reliefe unto himselfe by adding that word Obiit diem is dead which hee for the greatnesse of his griefe was not able to pronounce himselfe So must we make up this imperfect speech of Christs which the thought of the sinnes and neere-drawing confusion of the City would not suffer him to finish Si cognovisses tu If thou hadst but knowne the danger thou art in and me thy Saviour who am here at hand to deliver thee out of that danger What then Thou wouldest have wept as I doe now thou wouldest have turned all thy jollity into mourning and repenting thee