he will not so much as enioyne his Philemon but labours with an Obsecro when he might haue vs'd a Mando Though I might be much bold in Christ to enioyne thee yet for loue 's sake I rather beseech thee Phil. 7.8 So that where Loue is there is still an Obsecro where it is not there is commonly a Damno Hence 't is that the Pulpit is so often the Mount of Terror and of Vengeance the Throne of personall eiaculations the Altar where some belch nothing but fire and brimstone vomit the Ite maledicti too vncharitably and which is worst too particularly who scare and terrifie when they should entreat and in stead of Beseeching fall to Reuiling Rom. 12.11 who vnder a pretence of feruency of the Spirit and seruing the Lord sincerely ransacke God's dreadfull Artillery and call out all his Instruments of Iustice to assist them his furbisht sword and glittering speare his bowe of steele and sharpe-set arrowes his horse with warre-like trappings neighing for the battell his smoaking iealousie and deuouring pestilence his flaming meteors and horrid earth-quakes his storme his whirle-wind and his tempest flouds and billones and boylings of the deepe his cuppe of displeasure and vials of indignation his dregs of fury and besome of destruction his haile stones and his lightnings his coales of Iuniper and hot thunder-boles Thus in fearefull harnesse hauing muster'd vp all God's Iudgements in a sull volly they at once discharge them against the pretended corruptions of particular men whom their virulence labours rather to traduce then their Deuotions to reforme And this is but a spirituall-distraction a deuout phrenzy a holy madnesse through which like the Lunaticke in the Gospell they fall sometimes into the water Marke 9.22 sometimes into the fire Nothing will satisfie them but flouds and flames flouds to o'er-whelme the sinner or flames to martyr him But Quis furor ô ciues quae tanta dementia Publicke reproofes when they are cloath'd with Terror not onely disparage but dis-hearten They breake the bruizedreede Esay 42.3 and quench the smoaking flaxe run many on the shelues of despaire where they make an vnhappy shipwracke of their faith and not of their faith onely but of their body also exposing it to poyson or the knife to strangling or to the floud to the wilfull precipitation of some Towre or Cliffe or the vnnaturall butchery of their owne hands and so tormenting the body for the soule by a temporall death at length they feele the torments both of soule and body by an eternall death Thus if Incisions bee made too deepe in the vlcers of the Soule and the spirituall wound search'd too roughly it more relishes of cruelty then of Loue and he that doth it rather preaches his owne sinne then endeuours to cure anothers Qui delinquente superbo vel odioso animo corrigit Jsid lib. 3. de summo Bono cap. 91. non emendat sed percutit Rebukes which taste of enuie or superciliousnesse do not reforme but wound and in stead of lenifying and making more tractable indifferent dispositions they stubborne them knowing that reproofes too tartly season'd are the seruices of Spleene and not of Zeale 't is call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Zeale from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the seething and boyling of a pot Now a pot you know not temperatly fir'd boyles ouer and certainely if Moderation sometimes blow not the Cole but wee make virulence the bellowes of our zeale it not onely seeths and rises to passion and distemper but boyles ouer to Enuy and Vncharitablenesse And therefore our Apostle deuiding the properties of true Charity from a false zeale makes this one Symptome of that great vertue Charitas non aemulatur Estius in 1. Cor. cap. 13.3 Cyp. lib. de zelo Linore 1 Cor. 13.3 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Originall non zelat That is as Cyprian reades non inuidet enuies not for zeale in her perfection and as it leanes to vertue is but emulation but screw'd vp to vice 't is enuy Enuy Nay 't is fury Isid lib. 3. de summo Bono cap. 91. Quicquid proteruus vel indignans animus protulerit obiurgantis furor est non dilectio corrigentis saith the Father what in way of Admonishment passion produces is Reuiling and not admonishment and doth not touch so properly on sincerity as malice And therefore Enuies and Euill-speakings are link'd with Guile and Hypocrisie By Saint Peter Lay aside all guile Hypocrisies and Enuies and euill-speakings 1 Pet. 2.1 A temperate reproofe will mould and worke vs to reformation when an Inuectiue fires vs In cap. 5. Luae Illa pudorem incutit Haec indignationem mouet saith Ambrose That touches vs with remorce and slumbers and becalmes all passion This kindles our Indignation and with that our stubbournesse For certainely harsh speeches doe not so properly moue as startle vs and are like sharpe sawces to the stomacke which though they sometimes stirre the appetite yet they gnaw And for this Error some haue censur'd Saint Chrysostome himselfe That if He could haue moderated his zeale and temper'd his reproofes with a little mildnesse especially to the Empresse Eudoxia He might haue done more seruice to his Church and rescued his honour from the staine both of Imprisonment and Exile I presse not this so farre Beloued to fat and pamper vice or rocke and lull men in a carelesse sensuality Though I doe Beseech yet I would not fawne This were to kill our young with colling them and with the Iuie barren and dead that tree which we embrace I know a Boanerges is sometimes as well requir'd as a Barnabas a sonne of Thunder as of Consolation But these haue their vicissitudes and seasons There is an vncircumcised heart and there is a Broken Spirit There is a deafe Adder that will not be charm'd and there are good Sheepe that will heare Christ's voyce For these there is the spirit of Meekenesse for the other loud and sharpe Reproofes If Nabal's heart be stony the Word is call'd a Hammer let that batter it If Israel haue a heart that is contrite and wounded Gilead hath Balme in it and there is oyle of comfort for hïm that mournes in Sion Thus as our Infirmities are diuers so are the cures of the Spirit sometimes it terrifies sometimes it Commands sometimes it Beseeches But let not vs terrifie when we should but Command nor Command when wee should Beseech lest wee make this Liberty a Cloake for our Maliciousnesse 1. Pet. 2.16 In all exhortations first make vse of the still voyce and if that preuaile not Cry alowd vnto the Trumpet and if that be not shrill enough raise the Thunder-clap Aug. lib. 2. de sermone Domini in monte seâ—m 1. But this latter Rarò magnâ necessitate saith Augustine seldome and vpon great necessity Ità tamèn vt in ipsis etiam obiuâ— gatienibus non nobis sed Deo seruiatur intestinus If we must needs
as a span-long and that our Age is as nothing before thee and surely euery man in his best slate is altogether vanitie I haue done now with the text and should begin with the occasion of it the death of our Honourable Friend but I was commanded only for a Sermon not for a Panegyricke that I suppose you might haue had here in a more keene and accurate discourse mine I confesse like my griefes heauie and bedew'd True sorrow is more heartie then Rhetoricall and not so fit for applause as for a groane Your sauning eloquence playe's to much with the tongue and leaue's the inward man vnsearcht but my bosome is ingag'd here and not my lips and that is too full to be emptied in this span-long of an Auditorie the world shall haue it in an impartiall Anniuersarie or should I vent my respects heere I could bee only your Remembrancer not your Informer The Country was not so much a stranger to his worth but must acknowledge this truth with me that hee was not guiltie of any peculiar sinne either of greatnesse or of youth no lofty-ones of arrogance or scorne no grinding-ones of cruelty or oppression no flaming-ones of ryot or of lust no base-ones of anxiety or solicitude no lewdones of prophanation or debauchment no biting-ones of rancour or detraction no creepingones of Insinuation or popularitie no painted-ones of ceremony or hypocrisie but all his Actions went by the line and the square as if his life had beene an exact Epitome both of moralitie and Religion There was nothing mortall about him but his Body and that was too frayle a cabbonet for those rich eminences to lodge in Plin Paneg. so that as Plinie told his Traian mortalitas magis finita est quam vita his life was not terminated but his mortality Goodnesse and vertue which were his being haue a kinde of Diuinitie in them and so not mortall Bonus a Deo differt tantum tempore saith the Stoicke Sen. Ep. 73. Betweene God and a good man there is no distinction but in time nor in that neither if he meane as it seeme's he do's a titularie God Idem Ibid. not an essentiall for nulla sine Deo mens bona there is no good minde without a God in it and that 's the reason I thinke great men were first cal'd Gods for greatnesse presupposeth some raritie and perfection in it and where that is there is a kind of God head And if it were euer in greatnesse it was heere whether you take greatnesse for the name or for the spirit not that hee was either haughtie or supercilious but of a temper truly generous and heroicke and what is aboue either truly Christian A fast friend and a noble brother A munificent and open-handed Master and what I know and therefore speake and speake that you should know and so imitate an vncorrupted Patron no fire-brand in his Countrey nor Meteor in his Church a flash and falfe-blaze in Religion he was so farre from approuing that hee loathed neither was hee so benighted in his intellectuals as to be led vp and downe in a peruerse ignorance and darknesse by an Ignis fatuus your vocall puritie and tongue deuotion and furious zeale euen when hee was no more a dying man but a Saint and the words of dying Saints are Oraculous to me hee both censur'd and disclaimd wishing the walles of our Hierusalem built vp stronger in Vnity and Peace and a more temperate and discreet silence amongst the wayward Hot-spurres of our Spirituall Mother And indeed this Clamorous Sanctitie this affected dresse of holinesse without is not the right dresse Prou. 30.12 There is a generation saith the Prophet that are pure in their owne eyes and yet is not washed from their filthines the ragge or the menstruous cloute not so loathsome as some of these Our bodies you know are call'd the Temples of the Holy Ghost our heart the Altar of that Temple true deuotion the fire of that Altar sighes and groanes and sobs the sacrifice for that fire These cast-vp the acceptable odour these only these the sweet incense in the nostrils of the Almightie The Hecatombe and outward pompe of sacrifice hath too much of the beast in it the many-headed beast the multitude that within is of the spirit and that of the spirit is the true Child 's of God And this our noble friend had without glosse or varnish his life a recollected Christianitie his sicknesse a penitent humiliation and his death an vnbattered assurance of his richer estate in glory Insomuch that I knew not whether I might enuie or admire that God had bestowed such a plentifull mortification on a Secular condition and left Diuinitie so barren No Viper in his bosome nor Vulture at his heart no convulsion or gripe of Conscience no pang of the inward man so he confest to me for the reigue of any darling sinne And indeed his priuate meditations groanes soliloquies pensiue eleuations of eyes and spirit rapture 's full of sublimitie and contemplation such as the heart could only eiaculate and not the tongue vndaunted resolutions and defiance of death and all her terrours spake him glorisied before hee died And thus hauing made a full peace with God and with the world he sang his Nunc dimittis and made a willing surrender of his Soule into the hands of his Redeemer where hee hath now his Palme and white Robe his Pennie of true happinesse and Crowne of euer lasting glorie to which God bring vs with him for Iesus Christ his sake Amen Gloria in Excelsis Deo FINIS THE RICH MAN'S WARNING-PEECE A SERMON VPON OCCASION FORMERLY PREACHED AND NOW published by the Author Humfrey Sydenham late Fellow of Wadham Colledge in Oxford Monendi sunt diuites qui tanta patiebantur pro auro quanta erant sustinenda pro Christo inter tormenta nemo Christum confitendo amisit Nemo aurum nisi negando seruauit quocirca vtiliora erant fortasse tormenta quae bonum incorruptibile amandum docebant quà m illa bona quae sine vllo vtili fructu dominos sui amore torquebant Aug. lib. 1. de ciuit Dei cap. 10. AT LONDON Imprinted by Felix Kyngston for Nathanael Butter 1630. TO THE GREAT ORNAMENT OF HER SEX AND NAME MISTRIS ANNE PORTMAN c. THE accumulation of Honours here and of Glory in future My worthiest WHat you formerlie vouchsafed to peruse in a rude transcript J here present you in a character like your selfe and vertues faire and legible J thinke it my prime honour that it must now weare your liuery and what shall immortall it your name Had it nothing else to make it liue in the opinion and esteeme of others this were enough to giue it both countenance and eternity Greatnesse can onely patronize our endeauours Goodnesse glorifies them Vnder that stampe and seale of yours J haue aduentured it abroad that you might know my respects are the same in publike which they
Diamonds nay all the Treasure the wombe of the Earth or bowels of the great Deepe haue swallowed yet euen in these flouds hee thirsteth in this surset he is hungry in these Riches poore O the Inexhaustednesse of Humane Appetite Quod naturae satìs est Homini nò est Sen Epist 119. Nature hath not in her vast store-house wherewith to supply our bottomlesse Desires those Desires I meane which attend our Choice For as they depend on the Imaginations of men which are fertile and euer blooming as this Power represent's the formes and Images of infinite Obiects so our desires multiply strangely to pursue all those things the Imagination hath propounded insomuch that we prosecute them oftentimes without Rule or Measure and there is sooner an end of vs then of our Couetousnes I know there are Desires Innocent enough if they had their Bounds But their Excesse and Restlesnesse doth blemish their pursuite the Chrysolite the Berill and the Saphire and all the sparkling and shelly Maiestie of Pearle and Stone are the Obiects of a harmelesse delight if we could vse them moderately But we suffer our selues to be transported with such violent Affections and we seeke them with such enraged heate that 't is rather Madnesse then Desire Nay of all humane Aspirations there are none so lawlesse and Exorbitant as those which wander after Riches For whereas the Rest aime only at the Ioy and Content which may arriue them by the possession of their Obiects and so lull and slumber like two loude and steepe Currents which meeting in a Flat kisse are silent Those of Riches grow more violent by Abundance like the flame of a great fire which increaseth by casting wood into it There can be no true Riches without Content and there can be no true content where there is still a Desire of riches will you haue the Reason the Moralist giue 's it Sen. Epist 112. but not home Plùs incipit habere posse qui plùs habet Hee that hath much begin's to haue a possibilitie to haue more and thus as our Heapes are inlarged so are our Affections and They once Inordinate the Heart is instantly rent asunder with the whitle-winds and distempers of various lusts sometimes it hunt 's for Treasure sometimes for Honours and Preferment and hauing gotten the possession of these still fight 's against her owne Satisfaction by desiring more Insomuch that if we could empty the Westerne Parts of Gold and the East of all her Spices the Land of her vndig'd and the Sea of her shipwrack't store if we could lay on our Masse to the very Starres yet Desire is as woman and the Graue as Death and Hell which will not bee satisfied Such are the restlesse wandrings of our Affections set once on Temporalls that They finde neither Banke nor Bottome there is no rest to man's Soule but in God's Eternall Rest for there being no proportion betweene Spirits and Bodies 't is impossible that the infinite desires of the Soule should be confin'd to Creatures heere below as Things too Languishing and Transitorie for such Diuine Substances to reside in with full satisfaction or finall Rest The heart of man not fixt in the contemplation of Eternitie is alwayes erraticke and vnstable Et omni volubilitate volubilius saith Augustine more voluble then volubilitie it selfe It trauel's from one Obiect to another seeking rest where there is none but in those fraile and fleeting Temporals in which our Affections are as 't were shackled and let bound It shall neuer find any Lasting and true Content For our Soule is of that vast comprehensiuenesse and our Desire of that wilde Latitude and Extent that no Finite Excellencie or Created Comfort can euer fill it but it is still tortur'd on the Racke of restlesse Discontent and Selfe-vexation vntill it fasten vpon an Obiect infinite both in Endlesnesse and Perfection only admit it to the Face of God by Beatificall Vision and so consequently to those Riuers of pleasure and fulnes of Ioy flowing thence and then presently and neuer till then It 's infinite desire expire's in the Bosome of God and lie's downe softly Bolt walke with God pag. 125. with sweetest peace and full contentment in the embracements of euerlasting Blisse And now O Earth Earth Earth heare the Word of the Lord. Thou whose Bodie and Soule and Desires are lumpish Earth meerely thrice Earth Raise thine Affections from this Dull Element where they now grouell and looke vp to the Hils from whence thy saluation commeth why do they flutter heere about corruptible Glories Why doe they stoope to false and vaine Comforts such as are not only open to Casualtie but to Danger Riches are to Both to Both in a triple way First in their Acquisition Secondly Possession Thirdly Depriuation In their Acquisition first As the Partridge sitteth on egges and hatcheth them not so He that getteth Riches and not by right shall leaue them in the midst of his Age and at his End bee a foole Ier. 17.11 Next in their Possession where Moth and rust doth corrupt them and where Theeues breake through and steale Math. 6.9 Lastly in respect of their Depriuation or Losse He hath swallowed downe Riches and Hee shall vomit them vp againe God shall cast them out of his Belly the Increase of his house shall depart and his goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath Iob 20.15 28. Loe how the Hand of Iustice houers heere and with a Double Blow strike's through the very Ioynts and marrow of the Worldling euen to the sundring and dissipation both of his Posteritie and Fortunes His goods shall flow away and the Increase of his house shall depart shall depart whither to the Graue with whom two lamentable Companions The Foole and the Beast that perisheth So saith the Singer of Israel in his 49. Psalme thrice in that one Psalme at the sixth verse He trust's in his wealth and glorie 's in the multitude of his Riches and at the tenth Verse He is a foole and brutish and leaueth his goods to others O vaine Insolence O transitorie height what After all those ouerflowings and swarmes of Treasure must he leaue his Substance to Others Yea to others perchance neither of his Tribe nor Countrey Please you to looke vpon him at the eleuenth Verse his very heart is transparent and you may discouer his inward thoughts Hee conceiue's his house shall continue for euer and his Dwelling-place to all generations and therefore cals his Lands after his owne Name yet view him againe at the fourteenth Verse He is a Beast a silly one a sheepe laid in the graue Death shall feed vpon him and the vpright shall haue Dominion ouer him in the morning and his strength shall consume in the pit from his Dwelling-place Once more He is twice in that Psalme stil'd A Man of Honour but 't is sauc'd with a Neuer thelesse He abideth not at the twelfth Verse and He vnderstandeth not at the
twentieth Verse and in both He is a Beast that perisheth Marke how the Spirit of God paint's out this very Earth-worme this great Monopolist of pelfe and Rubbish He is ignorant Transitorie Sensuall He abideth not hee vnderstandeth not and anon he dieth Dieth no perisheth perisheth as a Beast doth as if the Soule rotted with the Body or his Memory with the Soule no Remainder either of Name or Fortune and which is worst of Honour so saith the Text What though rich and the Glory of his house increased yet He shall carry away nothing with him his Honour shall not descend after him verse 17. what carry nothing away with him not that Glorious Earth that Gaudy Luggage his Soule Doted on that shining Saint that Burnish'd Deity which he could at once both touch and worship what not the Cabonet he hug'd and clasp'd not the Gold hee Idol'd nothing of Treasure or Repute or Name Of neither All these false beames which were wont to dazle him shall bee now clouded in perpetuall darknesse where they shall neuer see light againe thus the Text doome's him at the nineteenth Verse of the same Psalme Seeing then All earthly Dependences are vaine and fragile and there can be no true peace but that which looke's vpward Take for Conclusion the aduice of Siracides Lay vp Treasures according to the Commandement of the most High Ecclus 39. and they shall bring thee more profit then gold Treasures of the most high What are These How laid vp and where The Commandement of the most High tell 's thee Lay vp for your selues Treasures in heauen Bags which waxe not old the good foundation against the time to come the hold of eternall life the Euerlasting Memoriall before God that Treasure which the Angell shewed Cornelius in the Vision euen thine Almes and thy Prayers not thy large-lung'd Prayers without Almes such as the old Pharisee bleated in his Synagogue or the New one in his Conuenticle but thine Almes and thy Prayers hand in hand with one cheerefulnesse and Truth thy hearty Zeale towards God and thy willing Charity towards Man and both these in secret and without noise Such and only such are Golden Vialls full of Odours sweet Incense in the Nostrils of the Almighty They shall yeeld a pleasant smell as the Best Myrrhe as Galbanum and Onyx and sweet Storax and as the fume of Frankincense in the Tabernacle Heere are Treasures which neuer faile where no Moth corrupteth nor Thiefe approcheth these shall fight for thee against thine Enemies better then a mighty shield or a strong speare If thou breake the Staffe of thy Bread vnto the hungry and afflicted God shall make fat thy Bones and satisfie thy Soule in Drought Thou shalt be like awatred Garden and like a spring whose streames faïle not Treasures thou shalt lay vp as Dust and Gold of Ophir as the stones of the Brooke Thy Pastures shall be cloth'd with flockes the Valleys also shall stand so thicke with Corne that they shall laugh and sing In fine Thou shalt take root in an honourable place euen in the portion of the Lord's Inheritance when thou shalt be exalted as a Cypresse-tree vpon the Mountaines of Hermon like a Palme tree in Engedy and as a Rose plant in Iericho And at length when the Glory of those Earthly Mansions must bee left when thou canst bee no longer Steward but art to passe thy strict Account before the Great House-holder at the Generall and Dreadfull Audit when the Booke of all our Actions shall be vnclaps'd thine shall be found square and euen and thou shalt receiue that happie Applause and Remuneration Well done thou good and faithfull Seruant Enter into thy Masters Ioy. Which the Lord grant for Christ Iesus sake Amen Gloria in excelsis Deo Rode caper vites tamen hic cùm stabis ad Aras In tua quod fundi cornua possit crit FINIS VVATERS OF MARAH AND MERIBAH OR THE SOVRCE OF BITTERNES AND STRIFE SWEETNED AND ALLAYED By way of Aduice Refutation Censure Against The Pseudo-zelots of our Age By HVMPHREY SYDENHAM Master of Arts late Fellow of Wadham-Colledge in OXFORD Disposui nasum secare faetentem timeat qui criminosus est quid ad te qui te intelligis innocentem De te dictum putae in quodcunque vitium stili mei mucro contorquetur HIERON ad MARCELLINVM LONDON Printed by Elizabeth Allde for Nathaniel Butter An. Dom. 1630. TO THE FRIENDS INDEEDE both of my Name and Fortunes Sir Ralph Sydenham and Edward Sydenham Esquire Seruants to his Sacred Maiestie My dearely honour'd WHilst I labour to ioyne you so closely in my respects let me not sunder you in your owne like two great men who the neerer they are in place the farther off in Correspondence I presume 't is no Solecisme to linke you together in one Dedication whom Nature hath twisted so fast in one Blood and Education in one vertue and Familiarity a knot I hope indissoluble in one heart It is not my lowest glory that I can boldly and in a breath speake Kinsman and Friend and Patron and these three in two and these two but one A rare harmony where Affections are so strung that touch them how and where and when you please they are still vnisons I haue hitherto found them so in all my wayes both of Aduancement and Repute and these set me vp in a double gratulation and applause in my Hosanna's for you to my God and then in my Reports to men This is my All of requitall yet and yours I beleeue of expectation which lookes no farther then an ingenuous acknowledgement of your Fauours such as the procliuity of your owne worth hath suggested not any industrious proseqution of mine which could haue beene contented to haue worne an obscurer Title but that it must now vaunt in a Rich one That of Your Seruant-Kinsman HVM SYDENHAM VVATERS OF MARAH AND MERIBAH TEXT Rom. 12.1 I Beseech you Brethren by the mercies of God to offer vp your Bodies a liuing Sacrifice holy acceptable to God which is your reasonable seruice THe Text hath a double fore-head one lookes towards the Letter the other the Allegory that of the Letter glances on the Legall Sacrifice by the Iewe that of the Allegory on the Spirituall by the Christian the one was a carnall oblation of the Body onely the other a Misticall of the Affections That spake in the rough Dialect of the Law Horror Blood and Death This in the sweet language of the Gospell Brethren and Beseeching and Mercies of God Here then is no Hecatombe or slaughter of the Beast no Bullocke or Ram or Goate slaine for immolation as of old but the Sacrifice required here must be Liuing 't is a Body must be offer'd and not a Carcasse here 's no death but of in bred corruptions no slaughter but of carnall lusts and concupiscences Affections must be mortified and not the Body that subdued onely and chastis'd not slaine and yet still a Sacrifice