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A13263
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The Athenian babler a sermon preached at St. Maries in Oxforde, the 9. of Iuly, 1626, being Act-Sunday / by Humphry Sydenham ...
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Sydenham, Humphrey, 1591-1650?
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1627
(1627)
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STC 23561; ESTC S530
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27,777
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47
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without sollidnesse of matter but Copiosa aegestas as Saint Augustine stiles it a gaudie pouertie and like some vnhappy Tillages where there is more of Poppie and Darnell then good Corne But where the materials are cleane the language keem'd there is the workmanship of an exact Pen-man If they are both well mixt and cemented there is a choyce master-piece Apelles himselfe hath beene there And howeuer the discourse that is so brusht and swept others haue thought too effeminate for the Pulpit yet in some it is no way of affectation but of knowledge High fancies cannot creepe to humble expressions and the fault is oftentimes in the preiudice or weakenesse of the receiuer not in the elaboratenesse of the Pen-man Sermons are not to bee measured by their sound or the haste and vncharitablenesse of a dull organ the Eare is a deceitfull one full of winding and vncertayne doores and often carries false messages to the Sence the Eye as it is a more subtle organ so a more certayne and though that bee sometimes deceiued too when it is not master of the distance yet vpon stricter perusall of the obiect it giues you vncorrupt intelligence when wordes passe for the most part by our cares like tunes in a double consort which wee may heare not distinguish And yet notwithstanding though at Athens amongst Philosophers this polite way of discourse may bee passable and draw on sometimes approbation sometimes applause yet at Ephesus where PAVL is to encounter Beasts it is but meere Babling Act. 26.13 And to what purpose those loftie varieties in sprinkled Congregations Raptures and high visions are for Cesarea Act. 28.14 when PAVL is to speake before Agrippa thinner exhortations will serue the Brethren at Putcoli And when all those descants and quauerings of the plausible and harmonious tongue shall loose their volubilitie and sweetnesse and forget to warble as the time will come the Preacher tels vs when all those Daughters of Musicke shall bee brought low the plaine song must take at last Eccles 12. that which is set to euery capacitie and eare and yet will affoord you as well her varieties of satisfaction as delight to the judicious sollid fluentnesse to apprehensions lower-roofed wayes more troden to aduise and comfort to the weake and Soule-sicke the still voyce to the obstinate and remorselesse lowder sounds perchance this thunderclap may breed a shower that shower a sun shine Teares and Comfort are the succissory children of reprehension sometimes the twinnes Let the sword of the Spirit then cut both wayes but more to reproofe then menacing master thy Vineger with Oyle so thou shall not so much sharpen the heart of the Sinner as supple it some grow more refractary by rebuke and some more slexible For it is with the word of a Preacher as it is with Fire which both mollisies and hardens Steele according to the varietie of heates If wee deriue onely from one Throne coles of fire and hot Thunderbolts wee kindle dispaire in him wee teach not reformation It is the temperate and gentle fire sparkles into zeale when that which is too high and turbulent growes at an instant both flame and ashes Psal 141.5 Let the Righteous smite mee friendly sayes the Kingly Prophet but let not their precious balmes breake my head I allow reprehension a Rod but not a Fleyle a hand to lash the transgressions of the time not as some doe to thresh them PAVL will prescribe the Spirituall combatant a Sword but not a Speare Achillis except hee had the Grecians which would both wound and cure Marah may haue bitter waters but Gilead must haue balme too for the broken heart Where sinnes are full kern'd and ripe I deny not a Sickle to cut them downe but the sinner whither as Corne for the Barne or Chaffe for the fire I leaue to the disposall of the great Haruestman In the apparition of GOD to Eliah on Mount Horeb you know the Text 1. King 19.11.12 and therefore guesse at the allusion A strong winde rent the Mountaines and brake in pieces the Rocke before the Lord but the Lord was not in it and there was a great Earthquake and a Fire but the Lord was not in it And in those windes and fires and earthquakes which are both seene and heard on our Horeb heere the Lord oftentimes is not in them for then the mountainous and rockie heart would bee cleft a sunder now it is vnbattered and rib'd with Adamant proofe against perswasion Knowing that these are but Men of Thunder counterfeit thunder too and there is a GOD that rules the true his hot bolts and coles of Fire they quake and tremble at not those fire-workes and squibs and flashes heere below which spleenaticke men fling about as they thinke to terrour but they returne by scorne Bernard â—e triplies Câ—â—lod It is true sayes Bernard Sermo est Ventus but it is not alwayes Ventus vrens surge Aquilo veni Auster perfla hortum meum sluant Aramata illius Arise O North and come O South the one you know is moyst and the other cold yet both of these must blow on the garden of the Spouse that the Spices thereof may flow out Cant. 4.6 Cant. 4.6 In the Song of Moses did not Doctrine drop as the raine and Speech still as dew as the shower vpon Hearbes and as the great raine vpon the Grasse Deut. 32.2 I confesse on Synay once there was a thicke Cloud Lightning and Thunder and the mountayne smoaked Exod. 20.18 but the Text sayes The people fledde from it But on mount Tabor the Cloud was bright the Sunne cleere and a Voyce heard in stead of Thunder and then the Disciples cry Edificemus Domine Mat. 17.2.4 5. Let vs build heere Amongst the numberlesse Gods the Heathens had and the diuers wayes of Sacrifice they appeased them with the Romaines had their Hostiam Animalem in which the Soule onely was consecrated to GOD the Host they offered must bee pure and choyse not of Bulls or Swine as creatures fierce and vncleane but of Kids and Lambes more innocent and milde and of these too such as were not lame or diseased or had Caudam aculeatam or Linguammgram sayes my Antiquary Alexandâ—aâ— Alex lib. 3. cap 12 You see stings in the tayle and blacknesse in tongue are exempted heere and thought vnfit for this sacrifice of the Soule Let the virulent Babler leaue the Letter and take the Allegorie and hee hath applyed For venemous and foule language doth exasperate and obdure euen those which the modest and gentle pierces Let Billowes beate against a Rocke they fall backe without wounding it yet if moderate and gentle drops fall on a Stone they hollow it not by violence Jn Praefat. Apolog but the often Distillation Sheepe sayes Nazianzene are not to bee gouerned by rigour but perswasion all those impulsions of necessitie and force carry with them a shew of tyrannie and hold
Tongue and the subduing of our manisold rebellion in the mortification of the Looke there were no sanctitie but here But the heate of this mans zeale is like that of Glasse which will bee blowne into any forme according to the fancy of him that blowes it sometimes into that of a Serpent sometimes of a Doue but more often of a Serpent then of a Doue not for the wisedome of it but the venome Euery word is a sting against the Church her Discipline truth of Gouernment Hee Babbles shrewdly against each Institution of it State Ceremonies makes them adulterate the dresses of the Great whore and sets all without the walls of reformation which Wheele and Role not with the giddinesse of his tenents The Golden-mouthed Homilist in his fourth vpon the Acts Chrysost speaking of that miraculous way of the Holy Ghosts descent vpon the Apostles in the day of Penticost obserues nimbly thus There came a sound from Heauen As it were of a Rushing and mightie winde and there appeared to them Clouen tongues As it were of Fire Rectè vbique additum est Velut nequid sensibile de Spiritu suspicareris sayes the Father And indeed in those phanaticke Spirits though the Tongues bee fiery and the voyce as the Windes rushing yet in themselues there is nothing sensible For as those which appeared to the Apostles were but Velut igncae Chrysost Homil. 4. 〈◊〉 Act. and Velut flatus so this orall vehemency is but Velut Zelus and Velut Indignatio False fire or at best but some hot exhalation in the braine set on fire by continuall motion and agitation of the Tongue and there it burnes sometimes to the madnesse of the Professour most times of the Disciple Againe these Tongues are said to sit vpon the Apostles Sedendi verbum stabilitatem ac mansionem denotat the same Father sitting presupposes Stabilitie and Mansion but most of these haue neyther eyther in their opinion or course of life but as the contribution ebbes or flowes so they hoyse or strike sayle eyther way sometimes for the wide mayne sometimes for the next harbour Againe the Apostles are sayd there to bee filled with the Holy Ghost Rectè repleti non enim vulgaritèr acciperunt gratiam Spiritus sed eosque vt implerentur the Father still Where the Spirit powres out it leaues no part emptie it doth fill fill vp euen to the brim giues power of speaking roundly and fully where it doth giue power no Rhumaticke Enthusiasmes no languishing ejaculations but such as the Spirit indeed haue dictated such as flow from lippes immediately touched with the true Cherubin and a Tongue swolne with inspiration Againe the Tongues which sate vpon the Apostles were clouen Tongues Vide Geneua Notes in 2. chap. Acts. other tongues Vers 4. and S. Marke calls them new Tongues They were not confined then to a single dialect to Babling meerely in our Mother tongue but the Text sayes they had diuers Tongues of the Parthian and Mede and Elamite Phrygian and Pamphilian and of those of Lybia which is beside Cyreue And in those and other Tongues too they spake the sonderfull workes of God Act. 2.11 Lastly this Vision they saw when they were in the Temple not in a Cloyster a Barne a Wood a Conuenticle and they were in the Temple with one accord too with one Office one Spirit one Minde one Faith not heere a Separatist there a Brownist yonder a Familist neere him an Anabaptist but as their Faith was one so was their life and if brought to the test their death too That was not Religion with them which was deuided â—lin lib 18. cap. 2. nor that not vnity of opinion which they would not burne for Some Heathens haue shewed such resolution and truth euen in their false Religion such were those Aruales Sacerdotes of olde amongst the Romaines Caesar lib. 3. Galli the Solduni amongst the Aquitans the Aegiptians also had their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so called because promiscuously enioying each others benefites as in one Religion so in one Loue they would dye together such were the Hunnes Hyberi Cantabri and others Alex. ab Alex. Lib. 1. Cap. 26. Cap. 12. lib. 3. which were joynt-sharers of each others miseries and fortunes and if one by disaster or disease met with Calamitie or Fate the other sought it Placidamque petunt pro vulnera mortem If in matters therefore as well Morrall as Diuine there was such reciprocation of old and not onely in Religions which were tainted and smelt not of the true GOD but in that too which hath beene touched and influenced by the Spirit of the Almightie there was such punctuall correspondence then why such combustion now Why those dayly scarres and wounds both by the Tongue and Penne Why so much gall in our Pulpit such wormewood at the Presse Why those Ciuill-warres in our owne tenents Such stabbings in particular opinions Such heart-burnings in our Brethren to the great disquiet of our Mother Church and her Sonne they so labour to disinherit the Protestant the wounded Protestant who hath beene now so long Crucified betweene the non Conformist and the Romanist that at length hee is inforced to flye to Caesar for sanctuary and in the very rescue and Appeale like the poore man betweene Jerusalem and Jerico hee falls into the hands of Thieues two desperate cut-throates and enemies to the Truth and him the Pelagian and the Arminian But no more beloued of those Daggers and Stillettoes to our owne brests by the cruelty of our owne Tribe Know dissention is the very gate of ruine and the breach at which destruction enters Ciuill-warres are as dangerous in matters of Religion as State and proue the Earth-quakes both of Church and Common-wealth The story of the Romanes shafts is both old and troden but very pertinent in the Bundle they neuer felt injury of hand one by one were the conquest of a finger and Tacitus speakes of Apronius Souldiers Satis validi si simul c. as long as they marched in their combined rankes they stood aloofe all danger but these deuided they grew the prey and slaughter of the Aduersary and thus Dùm singuli pugnunt vniuersi vincuntur A mutiny or rent in an Army is the Souldiers passing-bell Death followes or dispaire of victory when those which are knit-vp in one heart of courage and affection trample on distrust as if they had already worne the palme and glory of their Tryumph And it speeds no better in a deuided Church where Scismes and Factions like so many rents and breaches haue hewed-out a way to her ouerthrow and ruine No more struglings then by vnnaturall twinnes in the wombe of our Rebecca No more warre in her members no more Bablings in their tongue no more venome in their Penne to the great aduantage of the Aduersary whose artillery is ready his bow bent the arrow on the string and malice leuelling at the very bosome of the Church I pray God not of the State too and waites onely opportunity to loosen it But let vs with all humblenesse of mind meekenesse Ephes 4. ver 2.3.4.5.6 long suffering supperting one another through loue endeauour to keepe the vnity of the Spirit in the bond of peace knowing there is one Body one Spirit one Lord one Faith one Baptisme one GOD and Father of all who is aboue all through all and in you all And now PAVL hath bin at Athens past his bickerings with the Epicure and the Stoicke had their censure Hee is a Babler He is now rigged for Corinth and by this time arriued there where I leaue him Jn earnest Disputation with the Graecians in the Synagogue Act. 19.5 The Stoicke is returned to his Porch too the Epicure to his Garden But heere is an Athens too though no PAVL or at least no such Paul and yonder sits a Stoicke and hee whispers to his Epicure What will this Babler say He sayes Glory to GOD on high in Earth peace goodwill towards men Hee sayes hearty and true Allegeance to his Soueraigne wishes the budding and continuance of a temporall Crowne heere and the assurance of an immortall one hereafter Hee sayes florishing to his Church his Common-wealth his People swift and fierce destruction to his Enemies foraigne and if hee haue any such domestique Hee sayes courage to his Nobility vnity to his Clergie loue to his Gentry loyaltie to his Commonalty In fine Hee sayes prosperity to Athens heere vnanimity true brotherhood happie successe to your studies to your designes and The grace of our Lord IESVS CHRIST to you all and with you all Amen Gloria in excelsis Deo FINIS