be displaced of their region though they were cast out of the man having further work to do in that place If this be so surely the Devills that are appointed to cause and foment divisions and dissentions above all regions love to be in the region of Churches for no where do divisions such hart as there and at this time especially for now the Devils see they cannot prevail to get men to their old superstitious vanities but some reformation there wil be they now seek to mingle a perverse spirit of division amongst men hoping they shall prevail here though they could not hold their own in the former God put enmity between Satan and the Saints but it is the Devil that puts enmity between Saints and Saints When we hear fearful thundring and see terrible storms and tempests many people say that ill spirits are abroad surely these blustering storms of contention are raised and continued from evill spirits But the truth is all the Devils in hel could do us no great hurt in dividing us from God or from one another were it not for the corruption of our own hearts Wherefore as the Lord says to Israel Perditio tua ex te thy destruction is from thy self So may we now say of England Divisio tua ex te thy division is from thy selfe The causes of our divisions from our selves may be referred to three heads 1. Dividing principles sometimes our divisions come down from our heads to our hearts 2. Dividing distempers sometimes they go up from our hearts to our heads 3. Dividing practises and these come from head and heart they foment and encrease both We will begin with dividing principles Except some care be taken of the head it will be in vaine to meddle with the heart to cry out against our heart-distempers the chief cause of many of our divisions lies here It is to little purpose to purge or apply any medicine to the lower parts when the disease comes from distillations from the head CHAP. IV. Dividing Principles The first There can be no agreement without Vniformity THis Principle hath a long time caused much division in the Church The right understanding wherein the weaknesse and falsenesse of it lyes will help much to Peace to joyn us sweetly together In the substantials of worship Unity is necessary there all are bound to go by the same rule and to do to the uttermost they are able the same thing But the circumstantials of worship have a two-fold consideration They are either such as though but circumstances to some other worship yet have also in themselves some divine worship some spirituall efficacie something in them to commend our service unto God or to cause some presence of God with us or to work us nearer to God by an efficacy beyond what they have in them of their owne natures As for instance Time is a circumstance but the Lords day hath a worship in it commending our service to God and an efficacie to bring God to us and raise us to God this not from any naturall efficacie of the time but from Gods institution Now in such circumstances as these there ought to be uniformity for these have institutions for their rule and are not at mans liberty to be altered as he thinks best in prudence But there are other circumstances which are onely naturall or civill subservient to worship in a naturall or civill way They are conversant about worship but have nothing of worship in them but are meerely naturall or civill helps to it When we worship God we do something as men as well as worshippers hence we have need of some naturall or civill helps As for instance when we meet to worship God wee being men as well as Christians must have a conveniency of place to keep us from the weather to know whether to resort and of time to know when There must be order Many cannot speak at once to edification modest and grave carriage is required of us as a society of men meeting about matters of weight In these circumstances and other of the like nature there is no worship at all there is no spirituall efficacie there are only naturall or civill helps to us while we are worshipping therefore for these circumstances humane prudence is sufficient to order them The right understanding of this takes away a great prejudice that many have against such as desire to keep to Divine Institutions not onely in Substantials but in the Circumstantials of worship they thinke it an unreasonable thing that divine Institution should be required for every circumstance in worship this hath bred a great quarrel in the church and well may it be thought unreasonable if we required Institutions for circumstances in worship which are but naturall or civill helps and have no worship at all in them for that indeed were endlesse and a meer vanity Certainly Institutions are to be required onely in things that are raised beyond what is in them naturally in tendring my respects to God by them or expecting to draw my heart nearer to God or God nearer to me in the use of them The contention about Uniformity is much encreased for want of a right understanding of this difference in the circumstantialls of worship did we understand one another in this wee might soon have Peace as concerning this thing In these latter sorts of circumstances we must also distinguish There are some that must of necessity be determined as time and place it is therefore necessary there should be an uniformity in these in all the members of every society respectively that they agree to meet in the same place at the same time naturall necessity requires this but naturall necessity requires not the binding of severall Churches to Uniformity in things of this kind The urging Uniformity beyond the rule in such things hath in all ages caused wofull divisions in the Church Eusebius tells of Victor Bishop of Rome about two hundred yeares after Christ broke off communion from all the Churches of Asia for not keeping Easter the same time he did The controversie was not about Easter but onely about uniformity in the time Never hath there been greater breaches of unity in the Church then by violent urging Uniformity But further there are other naturall civill circumstances which need not at all be determined though there be a liberty and variety in them yet order and edification is not hereby hindered As for instance In hearing the word one stands as Constantine was wont constantly to do another sits one is uncovered another is covered one hath one kind of garment another another yet no rules of modesty or gravity are broken Now if any power should violently urge uniformity in such like circumstances and not leave them as Christ hath done here they make the necessity of uniformity a dividing principle upon these four grounds 1. This is a straitning mens naturall liberties without satisfying their reason 2. This hath been
me thus proud men and women in their families whatsoeuer children or servants do amisse what you do it on purpose to anger me do you When the winde comes crosse the streame the waters rage So does the will and affections of a proud heart when any thing crosseth it 3ly Pride makes men swell beyond their bounds the way to keep all things in union is for every man to keep within his bounds the swelling beyond tends to the breaking all in pieces Hab. 2. 5. He is a proud man neither keepeth at home who enlargeth his desire as hell and cannot be satisfied If any humour of the body goeth beyond its bounds it brings much trouble to it the health and peace of the body consists in the keeping of every humour within its vessell and due proportion 4ly Pride hardens mens hearts Dan. 5. 20. His minde is hardned in his pride If you would have things cleave you must have them soft two flints will not joyn the Spanyard hath a Proverb Lime and stone will make a wall if one be hand yet if the other be yeelding there may be joyning and good may be done not else 5ly Pride causes men to despise the persons actions and sufferings of others nothing is more unsufferable to a mans spirit then to be vilified A proud man despises what others do and others what he does every man next to his person desires the honour of his actions If these two be contemned his sufferings will likewise be contemned by the proud This also goes very neer to a man one man thinks what another man suffers is nothing no matter what becomes of him another thinks his suffering's nothing and no matter what becomes of him O at what a distance now are mens hearts one from another 6ly Pride causes every man to desire to be taken notice of to have an eminency in some thing or other if he cannot be eminent on one side he will get to the other he must be taken notice of one way or other when he is in a good and peaceable way God makes some use of him yet because he is not observed and looked upon as eminent he will rather turn to some other way to contend strive to oppose or any thing that he may be taken notice of to be some body that he may not goe out of the world without some noyse What shall such a man as I of such parts such approved abilities so endued by God to doe some eminent service be laid aside and no body regard me I must set upon some notable worke something that may draw the eye of observance upon me I have read of a young man who set Diana's Temple on fire and being asked the reason he said That he might have a name that the people might talk of him Because he could not be famous by doing good he would by doing evill Proud spirits wil venture the setting the Temple of God yea Church and State on fire that they may have a name whatsoever they do or suffer to get a name they will rather venture then dye in obscurity that of all things they cannot bear 7. A proud man would have others under him and others being proud too would have him under them he would have others yield to him and others would have him yield to them where will the agreement then begin What is that which hath rent and torne the world in all ages that hath brought woful distractions perplexities confusions miseries in all Countreys by wars but the pride of a few great ones seeking to bring one under another Those wasting Wars of the Romans between Sylla and Marius Caesar and Pompey were they not from hence It is hard for men in great places and of great spirits to accord long Melancthon in his Comment upon Prov. 13. 10. says concerning such men there was wont to be this Proverb Duo montes non miscentur Two mountains will not mixe together 8ly A proud man makes his will to be the rule of his actions and would have it to be the rule of other mens too and other men being proud too would have their wils the rule of though there be nothing else but pride and in the Hebrew it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dabit jurgium give contention if there be no cause given it will make it Now let every man looke into his own heart and see what pride hath been and still is there and be humbled before the Lord for this All you contentious froward quarrelsome people you are charged this day from God to be men and women of proud spirits and what evill there is in our sadd divisions that pride in your bosome is a great cause of Saint Paul did beat down his body left after he had preached to others he should become a reprobate Let us all and especially Ministers labour to beat down our spirits lest after all our profession and glorious shews we at last become Reprobates at least such as God may cast out for the present in this world taking no delight in making use of what in such times as these are to have hearts swoln and lift up in pride God is now about the staining the pride of the earth How unseasonable and dangerous is it for a Marriner to have his top-sails up and all spread in a violent storme it is time then to pull downe all lest he be sunck irrecoverably The point of a needle will let the wind out of a bladder and shall not the swords of God the swords of Warre and Plague that have got so deep into our bowels let out the windy pride of our hearts The haughtinesse of men shall be bowed downe and the Lord himself will be exalted The Lord humble us that he may reconcile us not only to himselfe but to one another CHAP. XVI Selfe-love the second dividing distemper THis is neer akin to the former Phil. 2. 3. Let nothing be done through strife Ver. 4. Looke not every man on his owne things but every man also on the things of others This is the cause of strife because men looke so much on their owne things Many will have no peace except their own party be followed Jehu-like What hast thou to do with peace follow me It is not Peace but Party that they mind Maxima pars studiorum est studium partium The greatest part of their studies is to study sides and parts Luther upon Psal 127. hath a notable speech I am of that opinion sayes he that Monarchies would continue longer then they doe were it not for that same litte Pronoun Ego that same I my selfe Yea certainly could this same Selfe be but laid aside all governments and societies would not only continue longer but flourish better Selfe-love is the cause of our divisions First where this prevails men love to take in all to themselves but let out nothing from themselves this must needs divide societies in Church and State
may be devoured one of another We read Ezek. 5. 3 4. the Prophet was bid to bind up a few hairs in his skirt which was to signifie a few of the people which were preserved from that common calamity but after these were cast into the fire and fire came forth from these to all the house of Israel Polanus upon the place hath this note that grievous evils may come upon those who have been preserved from former common miseries and those who for a while have been preserved by their contentions and divisions may be the cause of woful evil to others God forbid that this Text should be fulfilled in us Let not a fire come from us who yet are so graciously preserved to devour the house of Israel 4ly God in this work of his hath joyned severall sorts of instruments men of severall opinions he hath made them one to do us good why should not we be one in the enjoyment of that good Let the one part and let the other part have their due honour under God in the mercy God hath made use of both and why may not both enjoy the fruit of this mercy together in the Land Fiftly We were not without some feares lest God should leave us in the work of Reformation begun but now God speaks aloud to encourage us he tels us he owns the worke Now what doth this require of us A little Logick will draw the consequence Hath God declared himself that he intends to go on in this work he hath begun Then let us all joyn together to further it to the uttermost we can let us not exasperate the spirits of one another in ways of strife and opposition but let every one set his hand and hand to this worke that he may be able to say Oh Lord God thou that knowesâ— the secrets of all hearts knowest that upon this great mercy of thine my heart was so moved that whatsoever I could possibly see to be thy will for the furtherance of this great work of Reformation and that I was able to doe I did set my selfe to doe it and am resolved to spend my strengâ—h and life in it If every one did thus oh what glory might God have from this mercy of his 6ly When the Lord comes to us with mercies and such great mercies he expects we should rejoyce in them and sing praise but how can we sing without Harmony Prayer requires an agreement Mat. 18. 19. If two of you shall agree on earth touching any thing they shall aske it shall be done for them Surely Praise requires agreement much more Psalms out of tune are harsh to the eare disagreement of heart is much more to the Spirit of God 7. Surely when God hath done so much for us it must be acknowledged to be our duty to study what sacrifice would be best pleasing to him some sacrifice we must offer If there be any more acceptable to him then other surely he deserves it no. If a friend had done some reall kindness for you you would be glad to know what might be most gratefull to him wherein you might testifie your thankfulness Is this in your hearts Do you now say Oh that we did but know what is the thing that would be most pleaâ—ing to God what sacrifice would smell sweetest in his nostrils The Lord knowes we would fain offer it whatsoever it be I will tell you That we would lay aside our divisions our frowardnesse that we would abandon our contentions and strife that we would put on the bowels of mercies kindnesse humblenesse of minde meekenesse long-suffering forbearing one another forgiving one another If any man hath a quarrell against any even as Christ forgave you so also do ye Col. 3. 12. And 1. Pet. 3. 4. A meeâ—e and a quiet spirit is in the â—ight of God of great price it is much set by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Psal 15. 17. The sacrifice of God that which is in stead of all sacrifices is a broken spirit Our hearts have been broken one from another in our unhappy divisions oh that now they could break one towards another in love and tenderness Here would be a sacrifice more esteemed of God then thousands of Rams and ten thousand Rivers of Oyle Loving mercy and walking humbly is preferred above such sacrifices Micah 6. 8. 8ly God might have sodeâ—'d us together by the fire of his wrath he might have made our blood to have been our cement to have joyned our stinty hearts together but it is otherwise God seeks to draw us to himselfe and one to another by the cords of love the allurings of his mercy Ninthly what can have that power to take off the sowrnesse of mens spirits like mercy the mercy of a God surely if any thing possibly can sweeten them that must needs do it We read 1 Sam. 11. 11 12 13. a notable experiment of the efficacy of mercy to sweeten mens hearts After Saul had slain the Ammonites some of the bosterous spirits would have had him to have slain those who formerly had rejected him but mark Sauls answer ver 13. There shall not a man be put to death this day Why For this day the Lord hath wrought salvation in Israel Though Saul at another time was a man of a harsh and cruell spirit yet now mercy sweetens him that which he was one day by the sense of mercy that should we be not only in the day of our Thanksgiving but in the course of our lives When salvation came to the house of Zacheus O what a sweet temper was he in Behold halfe of my goods I give to the poore and if I have wronged any one I restore foure-fold Salvation is this day come to the Kingdome O that all we had hearts to say If wee have wronged any wee will restore if wee have wronged any in their names by word or writing any way we will restore Mercy and love calls for mercy and love if we were in a right tune there would be a sympathy between the bowels of God and ours as in two Lures if the string in one be wound up to be answerable to the other if you then strike one string the other will move though lying at a distance Now Gods love Gods bowels move let our love our bowels move answerably 10. God shewes that he can owne us notwithstanding all our infirmities Was ever Kingdome in a more distempered condition then ours hath been of late and yet the Lord hath owned us Why should not we own our Brethren notwithstanding their infirmities Why should our divisions cause uâ— to call off one another seeing our divisions from God hath not provoked him to cast us off 11. Is it not in our desires that this great Victory might be pursued that it might not be lost as others in great part have been Surely it cannot be pursued better then to take this advantage of it to unite our selves more together then ever we have done
descivistis Things are not come to this passe in this City The Lord forbid that there should ever be that degenerating from that unity and love heretofore hath been that there should be cause to say Shall you still be called Cives qui à pristina unitate à pristino amore mutuo descivistis who have departed from your former unity and mutuall love Oh no Let brotherly love continue Heb. 13. 1. Let none take your crowne but abide glorious in the eyes of the whole Nation about you and all strangers that come in to you We pray for the peace of London Let them prosper that love it Peace be within her walls and prosperity within her Palaces If any shall say the City is not guilty herein it is but some few private men I gladly answer as Scipio in his forenamed speech did to the Carthaginians making such an objection Libenter credam negantibus I am very willing to beleeve it Only do you make it appear to be so by knitting your selves so much the more strongly together by how much any amongst you seeks to disunite you A second aggravation of the misery of our divisions is Surely none will pitty us in all that evill that comes upon us by them If God should have suffered our enemies to have prevailed against us all the Protestant party in the world would have pittied us If those who escaped had fled for their lives to them they would have entertained them with much compassion But if we mischief our selves by our divisions we shall be looked upon as contemptible in the eyes of all If we should flye to them we may expect to be entertained with rebukes You are an unworthy generation God put a price into your hands to have done your selves and all the Protestant party good you might have freed your selves from thraldome and many wayes have been helpfull to us but you had such proud envious quarrelsome spirits that you brake asunder one from another you mischieved one another and so have undone your selves and your posterity yea are not worthy to live amongst men Can we be able to bear such rebukes as these Every man that is in misery desires to be pittied but this misery is like to be such as no pitty can be expected in it Thirdly our consciences will fly in our faces telling us that we may thank our selves for all this It is a great part of the torment of the damned that their consciences shall be alwayes upbraiding them for bringing so much evill upon themselves This shall be the gnawing of that worm of conscience for ever Fourthly our misery is and will be aggravated by the executioners of it our familiars our brethren those who not long since were dear to us will be made use of to make us miserable How great a misery will this be When the men of Judah came up to Samson to deliver him to the Philistines Judg. 15. 11 12. sayes Samson to them But sweare to me that ye will not fall upon me your selves He thought it a very grievous thing for the men of Judah to fall upon him He did not so much regard what the Philistines could do against him Certainly there is nothing in the world more sad then for one brother to make another miserable The History of that Warre between Sylla and Marius tells of one having slaine a man not knowing him but after he looked and found it was his brother in the anguish of his heart because he had slaine his brother he took his sword and ran it into his own bowels It is a great evill to be an instrument of evill to our brethren and to suffer evill from our brethren This consideration might be enough to stop us in our divisions and cause us to think of wayes of joyning Plutarch in the forecited place the life of Pelopidas sayes that the Poets write that the misfortune of Laias who was slaine by his brother Oedipus was the first originall cause that the Thebans began to be in such love one with another to joyn in that Holy Band before mentioned If this were cause enough to take us off from our contentions we have enough of this amongst us The Lord be mercifull to us Fiftly the misery of our contentions in the Civill State is such as if we be overcome we are undone for our outward condition we and our posterity are made slaves if we do prevaile yet there is sadnesse in our conquest That is a miserable war which is thus The Civill Wars of the Romans were such Nullos habitura triumphos there was no triumph but sadnesse even in the victory Sixthly what help can there be for we wilfully make our selves miserable if men will undoe themselves who can helpe it Except God comes in from heaven with a mighty hand to help our wound is incurable Thus you have seen what evill and bitter things our divisions are their root is evill and bitter and they are the root of much evill and bitter fruit We reade Gen. 38. 29. that Pharez was the son of Tamar Pharez signifies division fraction from whence he had his name Tamar signifies a Palm tree Ab amaritudine sayes Pagnine according to some from bitternesse Division comes from bitternesse and begets like it selfe nothing but bitternesse CHAP. XXX Cautions about our Divisions that we may not make an ill use of them but try if it be possible to get good out of them OUr Divisions are very evill yet let us not make them worse then they are and let us take heed that we be not made morse by them Wherefore we shall First shew what are those ill uses which many make of them Secondly that it is no such strange thing as some would make it that there should be divisions in times of Reformation Thirdly how it comes to passe that godly men are divided who above all men one would think should agree Fourthly why these differences are so strong and sometimes so sharp amongst those men who seem to come very near together in the maine the matter of whose difference lyes in smaller things Fiftly how far God himselfe and Christ and the Gospel may be said to have a hand in our Divisions Sixtly What good uses we should make of our Divisions For the first The ill uses that many make of our Divisions are First Some upon the evills they see and feel in them think it was better with us heretofore and wish we had those times againe Just like the murmuring Israelites as soon as they were put to any straits they wished they were in Egypt again it was better with us then say they Yea Num. 16. 13. out of discontent with their present condition they commend the Land of Egypt wherein they were Bond-slaves to be a Land that flowed with milk and hony murmuring at Moses that brought them out of such a Land The Land of Canaan that God promised to carry them to was a Land that flowed with milke and
IRENICVM TO THE LOVERS OF Truth and Peace HEART-DIVISIONS OPENED In the Causes and Evils of them WITH Cautions that we may not be hurt by them And Endeavours to heal them By JEREMIAH BURROUGHES Opinionum varietas Opinantium unitas non sunt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 LONDON Printed for ROBERT DAVVLMAN MDCLIII To the Reader WHether the fiery tryall of contention or of persecution be greater is hard to determine God hath wrought to free us from the one we have brought upon our selves the other Every man is angry that others are not of his minde we have been so divided that it is the infinite mercy of God that our enemies have not come in at our breaches and divided all among themselves before this time Were our divisions onely betweene the good and bad they were not so grievous Chrysostome sayes It is better to be hated for Christ then to be beloved for him How much better then is it to be hated for Christ then to be beloved for sinne The reason he gives of that strange assertion of his is If thou beest loved for God it is an honour to thee and thou art a debtour for that honour If thou beest hated for him God is a debtour to thee he owes honour to thee for so he is pleased to be to his poore servants But our divisions have been and still are between good men even Gods Diamonds do cut one another good men cause afflictions to good men every man is plotting working winding for himselfe Every man strives like Apelles and Protogenes who shall draw the subtilest line to attain his owne ends but few strive who shall draw the straightest who shall in the most direct course work himselfe and all his wayes to God and publique Good Who can meddle with this fire that is kindled among us and not burn his fingers A mans good affections happily may be approved but his prudence will be questioned But what I finde Luther writes in an Epistle to his friend Nicolas Gerbelius in the like case shall satisfie me Cupio ego inveniri Christi Ecclesiae suae fidelis si prudens esse non potuerim minister I desire howsoever to be a faithfull Minister of Christ and his Church if I cannot be a prudent one The standing in the gap is more dangerous and troublesome then the getting behinde the hedge there you may be more secure and under the winde but it is best to be there where God looks for a man That which Pelopidas said to his wife taking her leave of him as he was going out of his house to the Warres is a speech worthy of all men in publique place She comes weeping to him and prayes him to look well to himselfe he answers her My good wife it is for private souldiers to be carefull of themselves not for those in publique place they must have an eye to save other men lives It may be when you are going about a work that hath hazard and trouble in it your wives or some friends of yours will with great affection desire you beseech you to have a care of your selves that you bring not your selves into trouble or danger oh take heed of that rather never meddle let others doe that work if they will you should answer It is for private men to take care of themselves but men in publique places are called to look to the publique that it suffers not through their neglect Some come into the gap not to make it up but to keep it open yea to make it wider the Lord deliver me from such a spirit God knows I had rather die then be a cause of so great an evill What this endeavour of mine may work in mens hearts God knowes If it meet with a son of peace I hope it will speake peace it will establish peace in such a heart if with a son of strife it may worke ad modum recipientis That which is intended to be an Irenicum may prove to be a Polemicum a bone of contention Those things which God himselfe ordaines for union the Sacraments are by mans corruption made the occasion of the greatest contention in the Christian world No marvell then that what comes from mans sincerest intentions and best endevours be turned quite crosse Like enough these leaves may meet with some boisterous Reader that may beat them one against another that may pry and picke to finde that in them which is not looking thorough the contradictions of his owne spirit he may think he sees the like here Let the lines be never so straight yet he will wrest and pul them what he can to make them lye crosse I am so far from being sollicitous that they are so indeed that the speciall thing I desire of thee is the laying one thing to another the comparing one thing with another Remember what the subject is Divisions Differences I have in it to deale with various spirits opinions wayes remember the scope is to seeke the composing of them what I can If you see me now neare to the one side and by and by neare to the other which yet are very wide from one another be not rash to judge that I am off my center reade on and see what the issue may come to This path of mine hath beene upon sharpe stones cutting shels and pricking thornes yet thorough the helpe of the shooe of the preparation of the Gospel of peace I doe not finde my feet cut Peace is pretious to me I feele the sweetnesse of it I am willing to do what I can to honour it The publique jarres contentions disturbances abroad in Church and Common-wealth are very grievous They say there are in the world such things in Families also I have brought here some water if my line had been longer my bucket had beene fuller You have here what I delivered some things are added especially quotations of Authors and Histories When they grow to be many I thinke them fitter for the Presse then the Pulpit I was the more willing these things should come forth to publique view because otherwise what other men apprehended to be my minde would be put into their owne words and so rendred in an evill appearance But will Printing help The boldnesse of this age is such as not onely to make a mans words sound otherwise then when they came from him and so traduce him but confidently to averre that there are such things written in such Bookes of such men which never yet came into their thoughts much lesse into their pen. With what boldnesse hath it been said and printed againe and againe that I in that Book entituled The glorious name of God The Lord of Hosts did call the Earle of Essex the Lord of Hosts Surely the sight of these men is extramittendo not intramittendo they send forth species of their owne dyed with the evill of their hearts and then they say they finde them in such a book No man
shift for himself In mens lusts there are contradictions no vertue is contrary to another but vices have nothing but contrarieties and contradictions in them Mens lusts oppose and fight against one another in mens hearts no marvail then when there are such stirs within though they break forth into quarrels and contentions without If a man be quarrelsom in his family no wonder if when he comes abroad he quarrels and contends with his neighbours also Sixtly In mens lusts there is violence violence and peace cannot stand together Isa 60. 18. God promises peace and there promises that violence should be no more heard in their Land Mens lusts are boisterous and unruly especyally when they have been acting a while at the first venting they seem to be fair but after a while they grow outragious violent and boisterous dispositions are unfit for society You shall find in experience men who seem to be of weake spirits of softly tempers very remisse in what they do ordinarily yet let the lusts of these men be engaged in any cause to any side O how violent and impetuous will they be they care not what they say or do they will divide from God from the publique from their dearest friends from their neerest relations from what themselves have made profession of heretofore from their credit profit from their own peace from any thing and all to serve a lust engaged in such a businesse it is a dangerous thing to have a mans lust engaged nothing can stand against an engaged lust a man runs on head-long he will break his conscience he will desperately endanger his eternall breaking to maintain the engagement of his lust 7ly In the lusts of mens hearts there is an antipathy against God against his wayes purity of his Ordinances his Saints Gen. 3. 15. I will put enmity between thee and the woman between thy seed and her seed In Antipathy the opposition is 1. In the nature of the things therefore it s deeply rooted it comes not in accidentally you may find two sheep fighting upon some accident but the natures are not opposite like the Wolfe and the Sheep 2. The cause of this opposition is secret wicked men have their spirits rise against the godly but they are not able to say why The husband loved his wife while she was carnall now God hath turned her heart she is more obedient then ever she seeks to give him content in all things more then before she is more usefull to him in all occasions more faithfull every way more lovely then before only she is godly now and was not so before but his heart is now quite off from her he dares not say that it is for her godlinesse if he hath any conviction himself but so it is that now he looks upon her with an evil eye an estranged heart So a wicked Father or Mother who loved their child exceedingly before God was pleased to work upon him yet now the child is more dutiful then he was but the heart of the father or mother is taken off from him can hardly endure him ready to take any exception against him their countenances are lowring and sadd towards him they can give no reason for this their change but as they were wont to say of Christians Such a man is a good man but he is a Christian Bonus vir Caius Seius sed Christianus non amo te I love you not but I can give no reason Hoc tantum possum dicere Non amo te all that I can say is this that I do not love you 3. It is a setled constant opposition This hath been in all generations the great cause of division between the men of the world and the Saints and still it continues the same you may see the same spirit of the old opposers of godlinesse and godly men working in our days the names of things may be changed but the same kind of men for the same things are opposed and hated now in the same manner as in former generations 4. It is very strong ungodly men are exceedingly imbittered against the Saints Ezek. 26. 6. Because thou hast clapped thine hands and stamped with the feet and rejoyced in heart with all thy despight against the Land of Israel This spirit of bitternesse and indignation that was in them against the people of God is seminally at least in all wicked men 5ly The enmity of Antipathy is incurable it can never be taken away except one ceases to be in its nature what it was there can be no compounding things that are so contrary one of them must cease to be or turned into another nature or else the â—pposition will be everlasting The great divisions amongst us are those that are between the seed of the woman and the seed of the Serpent some division there are between those who are the seed of Christ but the great stirs in the Kingdom come from the evill spirit there is in the seed of the Serpent against the godly in the Land In the beginning of the Parliament when mens liberties and estates being involved in one there was good agreement all men rejoyced generally the countenances of those who were not Popish and Prelaticall were serene they had comfortable aspects one upon another but when those whose spirits were opposite to the power of godlinesse saw how the godly amongst them rejoyced how their heads were lifted up how their hearts were filled with hopes of good dayes wherein Religion should be countenanced and honoured that Antipathy that was in their hearts against the ways of God boy-led in them though they were glad that they should be freed from some burdens yet to see those whom they hated in their hearts to rejoyce so much they could not beare but their spirit rose against them and in opposition to them they have raised these stirs they have made these woful distractions that are amongst us Lastly the lusts of mens hearts are the cause of our divisions because God requires every man according to his place to make opposition against them the cause of the strife lyes not in those who oppose them they do but their duty but in in those who nourish such lusts within them yet we finde it ordinarily that those who are most corrupt will cry out against those who oppose them in their wicked wayes as the cause of strife and divisions as if they were the troublers of Israel whereas indeed themselves the wicked lusts of their own hearts are the troublers of Israel those who oppose their lusts desire all good to their persons I remember Augustine in his Book about the unity of the Church hath this passage The Son doth more grievously persecute his father by living naughtily then the father him by chastising him duely Sarahs Maid did more trouble her by her wicked pride then shee her Maid by her deserved correction Those men who are most faulty are the men who are to be charged to be the
false opinion as if he had the malignity of those thousand evill things in his spirit I finde our Divines who have been of peaceable spirits have condemned very much this fastening of dangerous consequences of mens opinions upon those who hold the opinions and yet whose hearts are as much against such consequences as possibly may be deduced from them as any In their giving rules for peace they advise to take heed of this as a thing which makes Brethren who are different in their opinions unlikely ever to become one Davenant sayes It is abhorrent to charity and right reason that any because of consequences from what he holds neither understood nor granted by him should be thought to deny or reject a fundamentall Article which he firmly beleeves expresly asserts and if he were called to it whould seale the truth of it with his bloud Truer and more gentle sayes he is the judgment of that great and peace-making Divine Bucer who sayes It is our part not to look at what may follow from an opinion but at what followes in the consciences of those who hold it The eleventh dividing Practice To commend and countenance what we care not for in opposition to what we dislike WHen such as professe godlinesse shall make much of wicked men shall commend them joyne with them embrace them yea be well pleased with the bitternesse boisterousnesse boldnesse of their daring spirits because there may be use made of them against those men and wayes they differ from this is an evill which brings guilt upon themselves and makes the division between them and their Brethren very great If your hearts be right and your cause be good you need not make use of any thing that is evill to comfort your hearts or to maintaine your cause The Lord will not be beholding to the evill the bitternesse of mens spirits for the furtherance of his cause and why should you God will not take the wicked by the hand neither shouldest thou Are not your spirits strengthned against your adversaries when you see them calling in Papists and all manner of the refuse of men wicked and treacherous Can you thinke that these are the most likely to maintaine the Protestant Religion and the liberty of the Subject Why doe you seek to strengthen your selves by stirring up vile men to joyne with you such as heretofore your hearts were opposite to How comes it to passe you can close so lovingly now You can smile one upon another and shake hands together How comes it to passe you doe rejoyce the hearts of evill men they encourage you and you encourage them Those unsavoury bitter expressions that come from them you can smile at and be well pleased with because they are against such as differ from you blow up that sparkle of ingenuity that heretofore hath been in you lay your hands upon your hearts bethinke your selves is it the Spirit of Jesus Christ that acts us in such a way wherein we are Surely this is not the way of peace but of division and confusion The last dividing Practice The Practice of Revenge WHen any provoke you you say you will be even with him there is a way whereby you may be not even with him but above him that is forgive him Practising revenge is the way to continue divisions to the end of the world such offend me therefore I will offend them and therefore they offend me againe mee againe and I them and so it may run in infinitum they deny mee a kindnesse therefore I will deny them and therefore they will deny mee so these unkindnesses run on endlesly divisions will have a line of succession where will it where can it stop if this be the way of men Paulus Fagius in his Notes upon Leviticus cap. 19. v. 18. sayes If Reuben should say to Simeon Lend me thy Axe and he should answer I will not the next day Simeon hath need of an Axe and he comes to Reuben and sayes I pray lend me your Axe and Reuben answers No you would not lend me yours yesterday the Jewes accounted this to be Revenge There is much more malignity in our revengefull practices one upon another then this Basil invelghing against requiting evill for evill in his tenth Sermon speakes thus to a revengefull heart Doe not make your Adversary your Master doe not imitate him whom you hate be not you his looking-glasse to present his forme and fashion in your selfe Revenge God challengeth to himselfe as his presume not to encroach upon Gods proprietie to get up into Gods seate and doe his worke thou hast enough to doe of thine owne And it is very observable how God stands upon his challenge of revenge as his owne as that which he by no meanes will suffer others to meddle with in those Scriptures where this is mentioned the challenge is doubled yea sometimes trebleâ— as Psal 94. 1. O Lord God to whom vengeance belongeth O God to whom vengeance belongeth So Nahum 1. 2. The Lord revengeth the Lord revengeth the Lord will take vengeance on his Adversaries Heb. 10. 30. Vengeance belongeth to me I will recompence saith the Lord and againe the Lord will judge his people You must not think revenge to be so light a matter How unbeseeming are revengefull practices to Christian profession Many of the Heathens were above such things Plutarch reports of Phocion That when he had done notable service for the Athenians yet was put to death by them but being asked a little before his death whether he had any thing to say to his sonne Yes sayes he that I have I require of thee my sonne that thou never wishest ill to the Athenians for this they doe to me How farre are most of us from this we can hardly passe by an ill looke without revenge but if we conceive our selves to be wronged in words or actions then revenge rises high such things must not be born A Gentleman of very good credit who lived at Court many yeeres told me that himselfe once heard a great man in this Kingdome say He never forgave man in his life and I am moved the rather to beleeve it to be so because I have been told by some other Gentlemen that the same man would when he was walking alone speake to himselfe and clap his hand upon his breast and sweare by the Name of God that he would be revenged hee would be revenged and that she who lay in his bosome was wont to sit alone and sing to her selfe Revenge Revenge O how sweet is Revenge If they get power into their owne hands and are so uxorious as they must needs give way to have things managed according to the will of their revengefull wives what peace what security is there like to be Sir Walter Rawleigh in his History of the World tells of the sad case of the Lacedemonians when Nabis having power in his hands having a wife Apega a woman full of
he was wont They hinder the blessing of God Psalm 133. The Psalmist commending the love of Brethren concludes There the Lord commanded the blessing even life for evermore There that is where the love of Brethren is there is a blessing a blessing commanded by God it comes with power and this no less then life and this life for evermore God dwels in Salem sayes Luther not in Babylon where there is peace not where there is confusion Lastly yea they hinder all good They are like the Torrid Zone nothing can prosper under it When the Dog-star rises no plants thrive as an other times When a fire is kindled in a Town the bels ring backward When fires of contention are kindled in places all things go awke There is little joy in any thing Thus you see how great evill there is in our divisions in respect of what good we lose by them now then consider whether it be possible that any gain we can get by them can recompense this loss can any thing got by them quit the cost But if it could be supposed our loss may be recompensed yet I am sure nothing can countervail the evill there is in them in respect of the sinfulness of them That is the next head CHAP. XXVIII The sinfulnesse of our Divisions THough there be sin in many things mentioned yet we considered them in reference to our good that was hindred but now let us consider what venome of sin there is in them The number 2. hath been accounted accursed because it was the first that departed from unity The departure from that unity God would have is a very cursed thing for it hath much sin in it That which S. Aug. sayes of originall sin we may well apply to our divisions They are sin the punishment of sin the cause of sin nothing but a heap of sin First they are against the solemn charge and command of God and of Jesus Christ 1 John 3. 23. This is his commandement that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another as he gave us commandement It is not an arbitrary thing that we should love one another but it is the command of God and a great command joyned to that of beleeving in his Son Jesus Christ The one is as truly necessary to salvation as the other Let men talk of faith of believing on the Son of God of trusting to free grace in Christ yet if they have dividing contending spirits no love no sweetness no grace of union with the Saints their faith is a dead faith And because God stands much upon this to have his people live together in love at the beginning of the verse he sayes it is his commandement at the end of the verse he sayes he gave us commandement And it is also observable that he sayes of the commandement of love that he gave us that commandement It is a gift for it is a sweet commandement We should not onely submit to it as being bound by the authority of it but we should open our hearts to it and embrace it joyfully as a gift from God The commandement of love God gives us as a gift from his love The excellency of these commandements are further amplified ver 24. And he that keepeth his commandements dwelleth in him and he in him I do not thinke that you can finde in all the Scripture any command of God in one ver and a piece of another so inculcated and commended Again chap. 4. 21. This commandement have we from him that he who loveth God loves his brother also If you think you have any command to love God or to believe in Jesus Christ know the same authority layes a command upon you to love your brother also Joh. 15. 12. This is my commandement that ye love one another as I have loved you And ver 17. These things I cowmand you that ye love one another Christ you see likewise makes a great matter of the Saints loving one another Surely the sinne then must needs be great that breaks such a great commandement as this upon which God the Father and Jesus Christ his Son layes so much weight Secondly these unkind and unloving divisions are against the prayer of Jesus Christ yea against that prayer he made for us a little before he died Joh. 17. 21. he prayes to his Father that all who did believe and should after believe on him might be one as his Father is in him and he is in his Father and that they may be one in the Father and him as if he should say Oh Father I am now going out of the world and I foresee when I am gone even those whom thou hast given me who are one in me and in thee will meet with strong temptations to divide them one from another but oh Father I beseech thee let thy fatherly care be over them to keep their hearts together that they might be united in the strongest union that is possible for creatures to be united in Oh Father let them be one as thou and I am one Would we not be loath to lose the benefit of that heavenly prayer of Christ for us in that 17. of Joh. read it over see what soul-ravishing excellency there is in it seeing he hath expresly said he intended us who live now in it as well as those Disciples who then lived with him let us prize this prayer as being more to us then ten thousand worlds Luther writes a chiding Letter to Melancthon By those sinfull distrustfull fears and carking thoughts of yours sayes he you do irritas facere praeces nostras you make void our prayers How great then is the evill of our divisions by them we do what in us lies to make void as concerning us the prayer that blessed prayer of Jesus Christ Sathan sayes Christ to Peter hath desired to winnow you like Wheat but I have prayed for you that your faith fail not He shall not prevail sayes Christ Why Because I have prayed for you Oh blessed Saviour is not thy prayer against our divisions as strong Canst not thou prevail with thy Father as well in this as in that We know thy Father did and does ever hear thee some way or other this prayer of CHRIST is and shall be heard yet our sin is not the less for it tends to the frustrating of Christs prayer Sathan desires to winnow us in our divisions but he desires not to have the Chaffe divided from the Wheat he rather would have the Chaffe mixed with the Wheat The mixing the Chaffe with the Wheat makes a great stirre amongst us But Christs prayer which helped Peter in his winnowing we hope will help us in ours only let not us do any thing that makes against it Thirdly our divisions are against our own prayers How often have many who now are estrang'd from one another heretofore so prayed together as their hearts have seemed to melt one into
otherwise then you expected you vent your selves against them in quarelling in giving ill language in vilifying and scorning your strength runs out this way but there are a generation of men who being wronged improve their strength in patient bearing yet in making their moan to God in the exercise of faith in committing their cause to him Mat. 18. from 24. to 31. you have the story of the servant who had ten thousand talents forgiven him who yet took his fellow-servant by the throat who ought him a hundred pence and put him into prison the Text sayes When his fellow servants saw what was done they were sorry and came and told their Lord what was done You do not hear them cry out of their fellow-servant O what a vile base wretch was he who would deal thus with his fellow No but they went and told their Lord. It is not the way of Christians when they apprehend wrong done to give ill language to seek to right themselves or others by bitter provoking expressions but their hearts being filled with griefe if they must needs vent it if quiet debates with their Brethren will not ease them let them vent themselves in the powring forth their complaints to the Lord. Seventhly there is much sinne in our divisions for they stir up much corruption on all sides both in our selves and others As if you shake a glass of water that has dirt in the bottome the dirt spreads it self all over so doth the dirty stuffe in our hearts these divisions causing a commotion in them that corruption is now discovered that neither our selves nor others had thought had been in us Do not you say in your hearts and it may be one to another Who would have thought it possible that so much filthy staffe should lie so long in such mens hearts undiscovered which now appeares since these unhappy divisions have been amongst us James 3. 16. Where there is envying and strife there is confusion and every evill worke When Snakes are cold they lye still but if the heat of fire come to them then they hisse and put forth their stings Thus mens corruptions heat by the fire of contention that is kindled amongst us begin to stirre to act yea to rise very high The reason that some give of that prohibition of the Apostles Ephes 4. Let not the Sunne goe downe upon your wrath which also I finde Chrysostome upon the place gives is because when mens wrath is stirred by contending if it continues in the heat of it till night as they lye upon their beds their corruptions will be boyling they will lye musing and plotting against those that contend with them their thoughts in the night season will worke up their corruptions to a great height have you not found it so when the Sunne was gone downe upon your wrath you could hardly sleepe that night William the Conquerour in his first yeer commanded that every night at eight a clock a Bell should be rung and that all people should then put out their fire which was called the Curfew Bell it were well that some were admonished every night to cover the fire of their passions We stirre up likewise the corruptions of others in these our divisions doe you not see those distempers formerly mentioned working and breaking forth in your Brethren when you provoke them in your contending with them O pitty pitty thy Brother if thou canst not pitty thy selfe does it not grieve thee that thy Brother should bring sinne upon himself Were it not better for thee to suffer then for thy Brother to sinne It is an evill thing to be an occasion of griefe to our Brethren The Lord does not willingly grieve the children of men but to be occasion of sinne to them is much worse When did you ever meet with your Brethren and had your spirits put into any heat but after your parting when you began to be coole you then saw canse to grieve for unbeseeming words carriages breakings forth of passion that there was either in you or them Sometimes in a froward debate there is more sinne committed in one houre then there is otherwise in a whole twelvemonth between those who live lovingly and sweetly together yea sometimes such corruptions are stirred by differences and divisions that one would think were not competible to a Saint namely the rejoycing in the evill of other men yea of godly men David said his zeal had ever consumed him because his enemies had forgotten Gods word but some mens zeale doe even consume them because their friends do remember Gods Word the more inoffensive they walke the more are they troubled it were endlesse to mention the uncharitablenesse wrong malice injustice oppression cruelty with the abundance of other sins that are caused by our divisions Eightly Yet further as they stirre up sinne so they harden in sinne Fire hardens the clay into a brick Thus are mens hearts hardened in evill by our divisions men who heretofore had tender spirits their hearts were redy to relent upon any brotherly admonition now they are stiffe they stand out sturdily yea behave themselves scornfully O this fire of contention hath baked their lusts hath hardned their hearts Ezek. 11. God promises to give his people one heart and this heart should be a heart of flesh While the hearts of the Saints are united they are tender but when they divide they grow hard Hence is the reason why Brethren being falne out it is so hard to convince either of them of any ill carriage they are angry they think they do well to be angry and all because their hearts are hardened Jonah was in a pettish mood his heart was hardened with it let God himself come now to convince him he stands it out he will by no meanes acknowledg himselfe faulty no what he does he will justifie he does well to be angry Ninthly there is much sinne in them for they are a meanes to keep off others from Gods wayes if this be their religion for men to quarell one with another I will have none of it Carnall hearted men use to charge Religion with all the miscarriages of the Professours of it You know what Saint Paul sayes 1 Cor. 14. If men speak with strange tongues aud there comes in one unlearned will they not be to him as Barbarians will they not say they are mad Thus when the men of the world looke upon those who professe Religion and see their carriages their wayes strange divided amongst themselves will they not think them even mad people I charge you sayes the Church Cant. 3. 5. by the Roes and by the Hindes that you stir not up my Beloved till he please This by some is interpreted thus The Roes and Hindes are shy and fearfull creatures by them are signified such as are observers of the wayes of the Church and ready to take offence at any thing they see amisse in them therefore I charge you say those who are faithfull that
Ephraim and Ephraim against Manasseh and they together against Judah for all this his anger is not turned away but his hand is stretched out still When we are thus one against another the anger of God is not turned away from us we may feare his hand will yet be further stretched out against us so long as our wrath one against another continue so hot certainly Gods wrath is not appeased We read of Abraham when he was about sacrificing Isaac he found a Ram entangled in the bryars which God had prepared for him to be a sacrifice We are this day entangled in the bryars and we know not how to get out it is a signe that we are prepared to be a sacrifice even to the wrath of God Secondly by them we serve the designes of our enemies what would they have given when they first divided from us to have procured so great divisions amongst our selves as have been yet are If a Million would have purchased them rather then they should not have been they would no question have given it I am sure they further their designes more then many Millions would have done Hoc Ithacus velit magna mercentur Atridae We have often said that some who have kept at the Parliament have served the designes of the King and those about him better then they who were with him Certainly those who foment divisions amongst us do serve our enemies turne more then many that are with them When in our contentions our spirits rise one against another and we reproach one another we do not consider sayes Nazianzen how unsafe it is to put weapons into our enemies hands Yea he thought in his time though neer thirteen hundred yeers since the divisions of the Churches to be a great means to further and hasten the comming of Antichrist for so he sayes in the same Oration before quoted I verily fear lest Antichrist should come sodainly upon these our divisions and lest he should take the advantage of these our offences and distempers to raise his power over us Let those therefore who cry down Antichrist so much cry down divisions also lest they prove to serve the designes of Antichrist in a very great-measure though they think not so Thirdly by these we make our selves a scorn to our enemies Hosea 17. ult The rage of their tongue shall be their division in the land of Egypt When Malignants hear our rage one against another we are a derision amongst them these Egyptians jeere us they contemne us and all the power we can make against them I find in one of Melancthons Epistles a story of one Bessarion exhorting the Princes to concord that they might joyne against the Turks he brings in this Apologue There was a war between the wolves and the dogs news came to the wolves that there was a hâ—ge army of dogs comming against them intending to tear them in pieces the wolves sent an old wolfe out to be a scout he comes and tells them there were indeed a great company of dogs more then themselves were but they need not fear for he perceived they were of different colours Upon this the wolves made nothing of them accounting it an easie matter to deale with them who were so differing amongst themselves In the same manner sayes Melancthon doe Staphilus and Canisius and others of the pogish faction triumph in respect of us upon which he folls to prayer That the Sonne of God the Lord Jesus Christ would governe them and make all in our Churches to be one in him Fourthly yea by these we are like to be made a prey to our enemies Here many sad storyes might be told you of the prevailings of enemies against divided people The divisions of Israel at this time made them a prey to their adversaries which you may see cleerly if you read 2 Kings 17. afterwards the divisions of the other tribes made them a prey to the Romans When the Turks have prevailed over Christians do not all stories tell us it hath been through the divisions of Christians When Normans Danes prevailed in England it was by the advantage they had of our divisions if we will still divide and contend our condition may prove to be like two birds peâ—king at one another in the mean time the Kite comes and catches them both away Fiftly if God should free us from our enemies yet we are like to devoure one another and this is a greater misery then to be devoured by the common adversary Gal. 5. 15. If ye bite and devour one another take heed ye be not consumed one of another What biting and devouring was this It was not in an open hostile way they did not take up Arms one against another but by their different opinions and contentious carriages in matters of Religion Their differences in the matters of Religion were very great Non de finibus sed de haereditate not about the bounds but the inheritance it selfe yet unpeaceablenesse and violence in their carriages one towards another though the matter of their difference was so great is condemned and threatned by the Apostle Do not our Adversaries say Let them alone and they will devoure one another God gives us good hope that he will deliver us from our enemies but the hearts of many godly and wise men tremble within them fearing lest that wolvish distemper of ours should feed upon our own flesh when the matter that it had to feed upon from without is taken away Sixtly if we should not devour one another yet being thus divided we are like to perish of our selves as those Insecta which after they are cut asunder yet the severall parts live they wriggle up and down a little while but they cannot hold long So it is like to be with us except we joyn we cannot live Seventhly these divisions are like to make many miserable indeed for if God be not mercifull to them and that soon they are like to be such a rock of offence as to split them upon which they are running they are in very great danger to make shipwrack of their consciences yea I fear some have done it already if it be not so the Lord be mercifull to them and prevent it The spoiled houses the torn estates the maimed bodies of men caused by our divisions are sad objects to look upon but the broken maimed spoiled consciences that these have caused and are like further to cause were and yet are like to be objects before us to be lamented with tears of bloud This shipwrack of conscience it may be is not felt now but it will prove horrour of conscience hereafter Eighthly they are like to lay a foundation of much evill to posterity this consideration is almost as sad as any We think it a great evill that Kings children shold be brought up in the sight of bloud that they should be in danger to have principles of cruelty or tyranny infused into them in their
tender age we are afraid lest the muddy water they drink now should breed diseases in them that may break out afterward Surely it is a great evill also for the children of the Church to be brought up in the sight and exercise of divisions in matters of Religion that that knowledge of Religion which they now take in should be as troubled waters full of soyle In the beginning of this Parliament there was as hopefull a generation of young ones comming up as ever the Sun saw but many of them have lost their lives in this publique Cause God will certainly take a valuable consideration at the hands of the adversaries for their blood especially we have cause to blesse God for them God made use of them to stop the rage the overflowing of the proud adversaries upon us they have served their generation and have been more usefull in it then others who have lived 70. or 80. yeers formerly but for those who are preserved these divisions in the things of Religion have spoiled many of them they are carryed away with such a strange kind of spirit of error of conceitednesse folly wilfulnesse bitternesse licentiousnesse and boldnesse that their hopefull beginnings are lost so that the next generation is like to reap very sowr bitter and unwholsome fruits of these our quarrels and contentions By what hath been said you may see why the Spirit of God Prov. 6. 19. puts the sowers of discord amonst those whom God hates What the harvest of such seed is like to be we shall see in the next Head Aggravations of the misery that comes by our divisions FIrst our misery is the greater because it is still increasing Divisions make way for divisions we beat our brethren till they cry and then we beat them because they cry is not this hard dealing We read in our Chronicles that those who were born in England the yeare after the great mortality 1349. wanted some of their cheek teeth if we should judge of mens teeth by their biting one would think that now men had more teeth or at least farre sharper then they were wont to have there was never such biting as now there is Yet thanks be to God this increase is not in all places not in our Armies time was when we were much afraid of divisions there but now we hear they are comfortably united Dividing terms are not heard amongst them as formerly though there be differing judgements their hearts and armes are open one to another they love one another they are willing to live and dye one with another The blessing of the Almighty be upon you go on and prosper the Lord is with you he hath done great things by you and delights to use you in great services for the honour of his Name and good of his people You have had and have the prayers of the Saints they blesse you and blesse God for you Souldiers united in love and hating that which is vile are exceedingly strengthned in valour Plutarch reports of a Theban band that were but three hundred yet were the most terrible to the enemies of any and did the greatest services They were called the Holy Band because they hated dishonest things and were willing to venture their lives for honest causes fearing dishonourable reproach more then honourable danger But though this was one cause why it had that name yet Plutarch thinks that the first cause why it was called the Holy Band was from their intire love one to another By the selfe same reason sayes he that Plato calleth a lover a divine friend by Gods appointment These Thebans together with other of their Countreymen had a great power of the Lacedaemonians to resist such a power as the Athenians for feare of it left off to protect them renouncing that league that they had before with them Every man said the Thebans were undone But these despised Thebans meeting with the Lacedaemonians about the City of Tegyra where according to the compute of some they were sixe to one and a warlike valiant people one came running to Pelopidas the Captain of the Thebans saying Sir we are falne into the hands of the Lacedaemonians Nay are they not falne into ours sayes Pelopidas And so it fell out for they utterly routed them In all the warrs that the Lacaedemonians ever had as well with the Grecians as with the barbarous people no Chronicle ever mentioned that they were overcome by any number equall in battell Whereupon these Thebans grew so terrible to their enemies that none durst for a long time encounter with them After this battell Pelopidas would never seperate them one from another but keeping them together he would alwayes begin with them to give a charge in his most dangerous battells Yet notwithstanding all this service they had ill requitall from the people for when their Captain Pelopidas came home they stirred up a party against him that sought to break him though they could not prevaile It is farther reported of this Band that it was never broken nor overthrowne till the battell of Choeronea where it seems they had some added to them And see what love and valour will doe in an Army unto death Philip taking a view of the slaine bodies there he saw foure hundred dead on the ground one hard by another all of them thrust thorow with Pikes on their breasts and being told that it was the Lovers Band he fell a weeping for pitty saying Woe be to them that thinke these men did or suffered any evill or dishonest thing Ever since our Armies have been united God hath wonderfully blessed them Shall men of warre be at peace and is this comely and shall men of peace be at warre how uncomely will this be Yet so it is The seeds of dissentions never sprung up more against us then of late they have done The spirits of men seeme to be heat and ready to boyle one against another in this City more then heretofore they have done The Lord hath made London a blessing to the whole Kingdome and the neighbour Kingdomes too The children not yet borne will have cause to blesse God for London for their union their faithfulness their courage their bounty and shall now when God is about bringing in rest to us from the rage of our enemies a fire of dissention be kindled amongst us Shall the comfort of all our former mercies and future hopes be lost by raising up of new quarrels and must this come from the City The Lord forbid The Lord make you like Jerusalem a City Compact at unity within it selfe Your very name carries unity in the face of it Civis à coeundo says Cicer quod vinculo quodi societatis in unū coeunt quasi Coivis I remember I have read in Livy a notable speech of Scipio to the Citizens at Carthage By what name sayes he shall I call you I know not Shall I call you Cives qui à patria vestra