swadling band Iob 26.11 breakes up for it his decreed place and sets barrs and gates and saies Hither to shalt thou come no farther and here shall thy proud waves bee stayed Iob 38.9 10. Shall we yet step a staire lower and opening the Jawes of the bottom lesse pit see how powerfully hee displayes his Eanners in the dreadfull dungeon below Behold Hell is naked before him Iob 26.6 and destruction hath no covering This made our Prophet sing more generally The Lord is above all Gods whatsoever pleased him that did He in Heaven and Earth and in the Sea and in all deepe places Psal 135.6 Psal 135.6 Thus you heare God is in the world as the Soule is in the body life and government And as the soule is in every part of the body so is God in every part of the world No Quarter-master nor Vice-gerent He but universall Monarch and Commander Totus in toto Totus in qualibet parte A God every where wholly a God and yet one God every where onely One whom the vaine conjectures of the Heathen dreaming to be moe gave in the Skie the name of Iupiter in the Ayre Iuno in the Water Neptune in the earth Vesta and sometimes Ceres the name of Apollo in the Sunne in the Moone Diana of Aeolus in the windes Ex D. August Hot kerus Eccles pol. l. b. 1. Sect. 3. of Pluto and Proserpine in Hell And in fine so many guides of Nature they imagin'd as they saw there were kinds of things naturall in the world whom they honour'd as having power to worke or cease according to the desires of those that homaged and obey them But unto us there is one onely Guide of all Agents naturall and he both the Creator and Worker of all in all alone to be bless'd honour'd and ador'd by all for evermore And is God the Lord indeed Is he chiefe Soveraigne of the whole world Hath his Power so large a Jurisdiction Doth it circuit and list in Water Earth Aire Fire nay the vaster Territories of Heaven and Hell too How then doth this fraile arme of Flesh dare list it selfe against Omnipotence Why doth it oppose or at least incite the dreadfull Armies of him who is the great Lord of Hosts Why doe we muster up our troupes of Sinnes as if we would set them in battel-aray against the Almighty Scarce a place where he displaies the Ensignes of his Power but man seemes to hang out his flag of Defiance or at least of Provocation and though he hath no strength to conquer yet he hath a will to affront If he cannot batter his Fort he will be playing on his Trenches anger his God though not wound him In the earth he meetes him by his groveling Sinnes of Avarice oppression violence rapine Sacriledge and others of that stye and dunghill In the Water by his flowing sinnes of Drunkennesse Riots Surfets Vomitings and what else of that frothy Tide and Inundation In the Aire by his windy sinnes of Ambition Arrogance Pride Vain-glory and what vapour and exhalation else his fancie relisheth In the Fire by his flaming sins of Lust Choller Revenge Bloud and what else sparkles from that raging furnace In Heaven by his lofty Sinnes of Prophanation Oathes Blasphemies Disputes against the Godhead and the like And lastly as if Hell were with man on earth or man which is but Earth were in Hell already by his damned sins of Imprecations Curses Bannings Execrations and others of that infernall stampe which seeme to breath no lesse than Fire and Sulphure and the very horrors of the burning Lake Thus like those Monsters of old wee lift our Pelion upon Ossa Tumble one mountaine of transgressions upon another no lesse high than fearefull as if they not onely cryed for thunder from above but also dar'd it But wretched man that thou art who shall deliver thee from the horrour of this death 2 Thes 1.8 When the Lord shall reveale himselfe from Heaven with his mighty Angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that feare him not what Cave shall hide 2 Sam. 22.9.16 or what Rocke cover them At his rebuke the foundations of the world are discovered even at the blast of the breath of his displeasure Out of his mouth commeth a devouring flame and if he do but touch these mountaines they shall smoake Psal 104.32 if he but once lift up his iron Rod he rends and shivers and breaketh in pieces like a Potters vessell he heweth asunder the snares of the ungodly and his enemies he shall consume like the fat of Lambes Psal 37.20 O then let all the earth feare the Lord let all the Inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him let Kings throw downe their Scepters at his feet and the people their knees and hearts at those Scepters from the Cedar of Libanus and the Oke of Basan to the shrub of the Valley and the humble Hysope on the wall let all bow and tremble Princes and all Iudges of the Earth both young men and Maidens old men and children let them all seare and in searing praise and in praising sing of the Name and Power of the Lord God for his Name onely is excellent Psal 148.13 and his power and Glory above Heaven and Earth On the other side is the Lord Omnipotent indeed Hath his Power so wide a Province and extent Is the glory of his mighty Acts thus made knowne to the sounes of men Is his Kingdome not onely a great but an everlasting Kingdome His Dominion through and beyond all Generations Psal 145.13 Doth hee plant and root up prune and graft at his owne pleasure Psal 147.6 Doth hee raise the humble and meeke and bring the ungodly down to the ground Is he with his Ioseph in the prison with Eliah in the Cave with Shadrach in the Furnace with Daniel in the Den Doth hee deliver his anoynted from the persecution of Saul His Prophet from the fury of Iezcbel his Apostle from the bonds of Herod His Saint from the Sword and Fagot of the Insidell Psal 104.21 Doth hee cloath the Lillies of the field Have Lyons roaring after their prey their food from him Doth he give fodder unto the Cattell quench the wild Asses thirst feed the young Ravens that call upon him Doth he stop the mouthes of wilde beasts Quench the violence of fire Abate the edge of the Sword Shake the very powers of the Grave and all for the rescue and preservation of his servants his faithfull his beloved servants Why art thou then so sad O my soule why so sad and why so disquieted within thee Trust in God Psal 147.3 he healeth those that are broken in heart and giveth medicine to heale their sick enesse Though thy afflictions be many thy adversaries mighty thy temptations unresistable thy grievances unwieldie thy sinnes numberlesse their weight intollerable yet there is a God above in his provident watch-Tower a God
to great that wee should dare compare those Poeticke Rhapsodies with his sacred Harmony their sensuall Elegies and Madrigals with his diviner Sonnets O procul hinc procul ite prophani 'T is true his verses consisted of number and feet as well as theirs and he was as criticall in their Observation as the daintiest Lyrick or Heroicke yet there was a vast disparitie both for sublimity of matter and elegancie of expression Insomuch that Petrus Damianus the great adorer of Humane Eloquence and one whose very soule was charm'd with their prophaner Sonnets was inforc'd at length to his Dulcius immurmurat filius Iesse The Thracian Harpe and the Mercurian Pipe and the Theban Lute were but harsh and grating when the Jewish Psaltery came in place One touch of the sonne of Iesse one warble of the Singer of of Israel was more melodious than all their Fabulous incantations Clem. Alexan. paed lib. 1. c. 2. their Syrenicall fictions which were but Iucunda quaedam auribus Raucedo a kinde of plausible hoarsenesse in respect of those sweet murmures of that heavenly Turtle An Iliad of Homer or an Ode of Pindarus or a Song of Anacreon or a Scene of Aristophanes have not the juyce and blood and spirits and marrow the acutenesse elegance vigor majesty that one of his sacred Ditties are ballac'd and fraught withall And God forbid that those Ventosae nugae and Expolita mendatia those Superbi errores and Gacculae Argutiae D. Aug. Ep. 131. as Saint Augustine stiles them to his Memorius their garnished and beautifull lyes their windy trifles their vaine-glorious errours their elaborate kick-shawes their ingenious nothings should stand up in competition with one Michtam of David his Jewell his golden Song farre above their buskin'd raptures their garish Phantasmes their splendid vanities the Pageants and Land-skips if I may so terme them of prophaner wits And yet there have been some Hereticks of old Gnosticks and Nicolaitans which have rejected the Psalmes as prophano Sonnets the births of humane fancie and invention without any influence or aspiration of the holy Ghost whereas the very Spirit of God our Saviour himselfe and the Uni-vocall Consent of all the Apostles nay the hallowed Quire of Heaven and earth of Saints and Angels have acknowledged that God spake by the mouth of his servant David that he was the sweet Psalmist of Israel that his Word was in his tongue Act. 4.24 2 Sam. 23.2 he in Spirit calling him Christ the Lord Mat. 22.43 Notwithstanding he that hath a little traversed Primitive Records shall meet with one Paulus Samosetanus Euseb l b. 7. cap. 26. 29. a branded Hereticke and many other wayes infamous who in open assemblies inveighed against Expositors of Holy Story Psalmes sung to the Honour of our Lord Jesus hee caus'd to bee expung'd and raz'd out from the Church accounting them but the work-manship of noveltie the forgeries of some Neotericks and Vpstarts in the Church Instead whereof in the body of the Temple upon the high Feast of Easter he suborned cetaine women flickering and unstable creatures whom he had moulded to his owne purposes to sing loud Sonnets of his praise Though some favourers of the Heretick have been pleas'd to blaunch a little the foulnesse of his practise Pol. Syntag. l. 1. c. 32. and would not have it thought a disparagement of the Psalmes of David but of the Hymnes and holy Songs which Christians in a religious vow and zealous endeavour made afterwards in the honour of Christ and the commemoration of his Name But were they religious Songs or Psalmes that had beene thus sacrilegiously debarr'd the inheritance of the Church I stand not curiously to discusse I am sure the custome was abominable to chant their loud Panegericks there where onely should be sung Hosannahs to the Lord. For as Temples were first dedicated to the glory of God so they were still continued to the worship of his Name of his Name onely except where Superstition had interpos'd Ignorance or Heresie taken foot and so Apostates and Idols nay Devlis themselves have sometimes shar'd in that worship which was peculiar to the Lord of Hostes Or else perchance the purblind zeale or devout errours of others who have erected their glorious Pyramides to the memory and it were well only to the memory to the Adoration of some Saint or Martyr which in their primitive institution were proper onely to the God of both And for this Gods better Reverence and Majestie in his Service the Churches of old have generally mix'd Psalmes with their Devotions and Melody with their Psalmes Melody as well of Instrument as of Voyce which as it hath beene a gray-hair'd custome of most times and places so not so obsolete now or super-annuated that it should beburied wholly with that Law of Ceremonies for besides the countenance and authoritie which it found in the first ordinance it hath been the practice of Gods best servants in most ages of the Church nay in most ages of the world except that first age of Sacrifices when we read of no publike Service but by Holocaust of no Church but the Tents of Patriarchs no preaching of the Word but by Dreame or Vision when Altars wore the tongue of Religion and devotions were cast up by Incense and not by Voice But not long after them when there was not yet a Temple built but an Arke onely a mysticall porch or entrance to that Temple to come we finde a Representative Cathedrall amongst the Iewes Singing men and Psalmes and Instruments of Musicke and all the Complements of a full Quire 'T is true in the first rearing and forming of the Arke wee reade onely of Priests and Levites with their attendance and charge of no Songs or Iestruments either prepar'd yet or enjoyn'd onely two Trumpets of Silver made by Moses at the command of God and these the Israelites used not meerely for the calling of Assemblies and journying of the Camp and the Alarums for Warre but in solemne daies and times of Gladnesse the Sonnes of Aaron were to blow them over their Burnt Offerings and the Sacrifices of their Peace-Offerings as if on speciall Festivals and times of joy God could not bee prais'd sufficiently without this louder Harmony and therefore the Text sayes It was to them for a memoriall before God Numb 10.10 But afterwards the Israelites setting forward in their journey when the Arke was to remove from the Mountaine of the Lord wee finde a kinde of To Deum laudamus amongst the people Numb 10.35 Moses beginning a Magnificat to the Lord Rise up Lord let thine enemies be scattered and let them that hath thee flee before thee And this Surge Domine is by David afterwards speaking of the removing of the Arke voic'd into a Cantate Domino Sing unto the Lord sing praises unto his Name extoll him that rideth upon the Heavens by his Name JAH and rejoyce before him Psal 68.4 After this I reade no more of
first set up by Saint Ambrose in Millaine according to the custome of the Easterne Churches D. Aug. lib. 9. confes cap. 7. Ne populus maeroris taedio contabescat so that it was not only a speciall in ducement to the mortification of those which otherwise had been still secularly dispos'd but a maine cordiall and solace for them also which under the sword of Arrianisme were set apart of old for the Fiery Triall Some Philosophers are of opinion that the Spirit knoweth and understandeth onely by the help and service of the Sences Nihil est in intellectu quod non fuerit prius in sensu which if it bee generally true our eares doubtlesse are as trap-doores to our mentall faculties which as they are shut or open so shut or open to their spirituall operations But Aristotle here was too much a Naturallist and somewhat injurious to the soule in so beslaving it and setting it a begging of the senses as if it had not vertue and wisdome enough of it selfe to exercise her functions without the speciall administration of outward Adjuncts knowing that the Senses apprehend onely the simple Accidents and not the Formes and Essence of things much lesse the secrets in or above Nature which are a journey and taske for our contemplative and intellectuall powers and these also puzled sometimes in their inquisition and well nigh lost in the windings and turnings both of metaphisicall and naturall speculations And therefore doubtlesse in spirituall affaires where the Soule chiefely is imbarqu'd we are or should be more elevated to God by Reason than by Sense when we ascend to him by serious Meditations deepe Penetrations of his Word Tho. Wr. ut supra Majestie Attributes Perfections which chiefely transport those that are truely grave that are mortified indeed when this overtickling of the Sense by the plausibility of sounds this courting and complementing with the Eare by the elegance and raritie of some well-run-voluntary or descant are for Punies in devotion to whom notwithstanding they are as sensuall objects to ascend to God in Spirit to contemplate his sweetnesse blessednesse eternall felicitie though even in those also that are most pure and sanctified to whom the most curious Ayre that ere was set is not halfe so harmonious as one groane of the Spirit doe not alwayes attend those deeper cogitations but now and then intermingle their devotions with this sacred sensualitie which as a pleasant path leadeth to the Fountaine of spirituall joy and endlesse comfort And therefore let the Psalmist bee once more our remembrancer and as a remembrancer an informer too Laudate Dominum in Psalterio Psal 150.5 laudate eum in Cymbalis Iubilationis let our outward praises of the Lord so runne with those within that our Soule may magnifie him and our Spirit rejoyce in him that sav'd us and then no doubt wee may sing cheerefully of his Power and sing aloud of his Mercy so sing and sing aloud that our Psalterie may bare a part with our Cymball our heart with our tongue our sincerity with our profession our actions with our words Saint Augustine paraphrasing on that of the 104. Psalme Sing unto the Lord sing Psalmes unto him makes a criticisme betweene Cantate and Psallite Singing unto God singing Psalmes unto him Verbo Cantat Psallit Opere hee sings to God that barely professes him he Psalmes it that obeys him the one is but Religion voyc'd the other done and 't is this doing in spirituall businesse that sets the crowne on Christianity Profession onely shewes it and oftentimes scarce shewes it truly like an hypocriticall glasse which represents a feature as it would be not as it is as it desires to seeme not as it lookes Againe Psalterium pulsatur manibus D. Aug. ibid. Ore Cantatur Manibus Psallitur he that Sings makes use of the mouth hee that Psalmes it doth exercise the hand so that the mouth it seemes onely expresseth our faith the hand our good workes the one doth but tattle Religion the other communicates it And therefore our Prophet no sooner mentions his Cantate and his Psallite but immediately there followes a Narrate and a Gleriamini First Sing unto the Lord and sing Psalmes unto him and then in the next verse Talke of his wondrous works glory in his holy name So that belike He that onely sings unto God the vocall professor he doth but talke of his wondrous workes but he that Psalmes it the realist in Christianity he glories in his holy Name And to this purpose the Father doubles on the Prophet Psal 67. Sing unto God D. Aug. in Psal 67. sing praises unto his Name Cantat Deo qui vivit Deo Psallit nomini ejus qui operatur in gloriam ejus hee sings unto God that lives unto God and hee sings praises to his Name that doth something for the glory of his Name And happie is that man that so sings and sings praises that both lives and does to the glory of GODS Name And how can Gods Name be better glorified than in his House and how better in his house than by singing of his Power and Mercy his Mercy in so drawing us that wee can live unto him his Power for inabling us to doe something for his Glory And 't is well that Those whom God hath enabled to doe will doe something for Gods Glory for the Glory either of his Name of House A President this way is but Miracle reviv'd and the Thing done doth not so much beget Applause as Astonishment 'T is somewhat above Wonder to see the One without Prophanation or the Other without Sacriledge I meane not and I say I meane not to forestall the preposterous Comments of others which sometimes injuriously picke knots out of Rushes that Sacrilege which fleeces the Revenewes but the Ribbes and Entrailes of a Church defaces Pictures and rifles Monuments tortures an innocent peece of Glasse for the limme of a Saint in it Razes out a Crucifice and sets up a Scutchion Pulls down an Organ and advances an Houre-glasse and so makes an House of Prayer a fit den for Theeves And indeed this malicious dis-robing of the Temple of the Lord is no better than a Spirituall Theft and the Hands that are guilty of it are but the Hands of Achan and for their Reward deserve the hands Gebazi God is the God of Decency And Ornaments either In his House or About it as they are Ornaments are so farre from awaking his Jealousie that they finde his Approbation He that hath consulted with the Iewish Story cannot want instance this way nor illustration The Law of old required the Altar cleane the Priest wash'd the Sacrifices without blemish and this when there was yet not onely a Temple not built but not projected but this once enterpriz'd straightway stones must be choicely hewed from the Mountaines Artificers fetch'd from Tyre Cedars from Libanus Silver from Tharshish Gold from Ophir 1 King 6. 7. 2
Cron. 3.4 1 Chro 29.4 Silver and Gold in no small proportion ten thousand talents at least to overlay the walls of it besides the very beames and posts and doores o'respread with Gold Gold of Parvaim no other would serve the turne garnisht within with pretious stones and graved Cherubins 2 Chron 3. Cherubins of Gold too â—â—â—e Gold so sayes the Text vail'd over with blue and purple and crimson and fine Linnen nothing wanting for lustre or riches for beautie and magnificence for the house of a God the King would have it so Salomon the wise King and he would have it so for Ornament and not for Worship except for the worship of his God and that his God approves of with a fire from heaven 2 Chron. 7.1 And now my Brother what capitall offence in the Image of a Saint or Martyr historically or ornamentally done in the house of the Lord It invites not our knee but our eye not our Observance but our Observation or if perchance our Observance not our Devotion Though we honour Saints we doe them no worship and though sometimes wee sing of we sing not unto them wee sing of their Sufferings not of their Power and in so singing we sing unto God Sing first of his Power that he hath made them such Champions for Him and then Sing aloud of his Mercy that they were such Lights unto us And here what danger of Idolatry what colour for Offence what ground for Cavill or exception Our dayes of Ignorance and blind zeale are long since past by but it seemes not of Peevishnesse or Contradiction And certainely if Fancie or Spleene had not more to doe here than Judgement this Quarrell might be ended without Bloud We are so curious in Tything of Mynt and Cummin that we let goe the waightier matters of the Law and whilst we dispute the indifferencies of a painted roofe or window we sometimes let downe the very walls of a Church And I dare say if a Consistory did not more scarre some than a Conscience Temples would stand like those Aegyptian Monuments I know not whether a Modell of Antiquity or Desolation 'T is a misery when the life of Religion shall lye in the Tongues of men and not in their Hands or if in their Hands sometimes not in their Hearts The times are so loud for Faith Faith that the noyse thereof drownes sometimes the very Motion of good Workes and even there too where Faith is either begotten or at least strengthened in the House of the Lord That stands Naked and sometimes Bare-headed as if it begged for an Almes when our Mansions swell in pride of their Battlements the beauty of their Turrets and yet their Inhabitants still cry as the mad people did after the Floud Come Gen. 11.4 let us make Bricke let us Build But all this while No noise of an Axe or a Hammer about the House of the Lord Their project is to lift their Earth unto Heaven and it matters not though the Heaven here below lay levell with the Earth they sing of a City and a Tower to get them a Name They care not for a Temple to sing aloud in to the Name of their God And hence it is that this God makes that sometimes a way to their confusion which they intended a meanes to their Glory I have observ'd three speciall sorts of Builders in our Age and three sorts of singing by them Some build up Babel with the stones of Jerusalem Adorne their owne Mansions by demolishing of Churches and such sing onely Requiems to their owne name and are so farre from singing unto Gods that he cries out against them by his Prophet Though you build aloft Obad. 4. and nestle among the Cloudes yet I will bring you downe into the dust of the Earth Others build up Ierusalem with the stones of Ierusalem repaire one Church with the ruines of another Take from that Saint and Give unto this And in this they thinke they sing aloud unto God but hee heares not their voice or if hee heare he rebukes it Away with your sacrifices I will none of your burnt offerings Isa 1.13 they are abomination unto me saith the Lord God Others build up Ierusalem with the stones of their Babel Repaire the ruines of Gods house with their owne costs and materialls and not onely repaire but beautifie it as you see And such not onely sing unto God but sing Psalmes unto him Talke and doe to the Glory of his Name And blessed is the man that doth it doth it as it should be done without froth of ostentation or wind of Applause or pride of Singularity But from the uprightnesse and integrity of a sound heart Psa 69.9 can Sing aloud to his God 'T is my zeale to thy house that hath thus eaten me up And doubtlesse he that is so zealous for the house of the Lord the Lord also will be mercifull unto His and hee that so provides for the worship of Gods name God also will provide for the preservation of His Deut. 28. Blessed shall he be in the City and Blessed in the field Blessed in his comming in and Blessed in his going out Blessed in his basket and in his store Blessed in the fruit of his cattell and the fruit of his ground Gods speciall Providence shall pitch his Tents about him the dew of Heaven from above and the flowers of the Earth from below Before him his Enemies flying behind him Honours attending about him Angels intrenching on his right hand his fruitfull Vine on his left his Olive-branches without Health of body within Peace of Conscience and thus Psal 25.12 His Soule shall dwell at Ease and his Seed shall inherit the Land And whilst he sings unto Heaven Blessed be the Name of the Lord for his mercy endureth for ever Heaven shall rebound to the Earth and the Earth sing aloud unto him Blessed is he that putteth his trust in the Lord for Mercy shall incompasse him on every side And now O Lord it is thy Blessings which we want and thy Mercies which we beg Let thy Blessings and thy Mercies so fall upon us as we doe put our trust in Thee Lord in Thee have we trusted let us never be confounded Amen Gloria in excelsis Deo Amen FINIS The Christian Duell IN TWO SERMONS Ad Magistratum Preached at two severall ASSIZES held at TAUNTON in Sommerset Anno Domini 1634. 1635. By Humphrey Sydenham ROM 8.5 Qui secundum Carnem sunt quae Carnis sunt sapiunt Qui verò secundum Spiritum quae Spiritus sunt Vellem quidem et carnem meam esse in vita sed quia non potest sit vel Spiritus meus sit vel Anima mea D. Aug. Serm. 6. de Verbis Domini LONDON Printed by IOHN BEALE for Humphrey Robinson at the Signe of the Three Pigeons in PAULS Church-yard 1637. TO THE TRVLY NOBLE BOTH BY BLOVD and VERTVE Sir IOHN POULETT KNIGHT Sonne and Heire
seate of finne but the soule and yet the soule new borne by the spirit serves principally the Law of God which is indeed rather a freedome than a service a perfect freedome sayes our Lyturgie and because made perfect by the Spirit the spirit of freedome too Non accepistis spiritum serviiutis sedlibertatis And if Christ have made us free we are free indeed otherwise our freedome is no better than a bondage Rom. 8.15 This made the Singer of Israel warble sweetly Psa 19.7 The Law of the Lord is an undefiled Law converting the soule And the Soule in this manner converted is a kinde of undefiled soule because it so serves the Law of the Lord. Thus He that is joyned to the Lord is one spirit 1 Cor. 6.17 One Spirit How Essentially no how then accidentally one in charity consent of will grace and glory too Cornel. Lap. 1. Cor. 6.17 Quae hominem saciunt quasi Divinum Deum which make a man as t were divine so farre forth God that with God he is as one and the same spirit And therefore a chaste and a holy soule the Fathers often stile Deisponsam the Betrothed of the Lord. Now Serm. 7. sup Cant. Sponsa and Sponsus as S. Bernard notes Maximè indicant internos animi affectus And doubtlesse God doth so intimately affect a religious and a sanctified soule that in his Armes he doth imbrace it even as his Spouse and with the Beloved in the Canticls doth even kisse it with the kisses of his mouth and therefore as at first in the matrimoniall Vnion betweene man and wife Cant. 1.2 Two were made as one flesh so in this mysticall union betweene God and the Soule two are become as one spirit Againe The Commandement of the Lord is pure and giveth light unto the eyes Psal 19.8 Light unto the Eyes what Eyes the eyes I told you of before the eyes of our intellectualls the eyes of our minde which being dimm'd and clouded by the fall of the first man God doth illuminate againe by the beames of the spirit and the Eyes thus opened behold instantly the wonderfull workes of his Law and so Psa 36.10 In lumine tuo videbimus lumen In this light wee shall see light Psa 119.105 the Light of his Word and Commandements which he called A Lanthorne unto our feet and a light unto our pathes and without which we grope in ignorance and error walking in blindnesse and in the shadow of Death the way of the wicked being darknesse saith Salomon and a continuall stumbling Prov. 4.18 19 but the way of the Just as a shining Light which shineth more and more unto the perfect day And therefore S. Peter cals the word of Prophecie which is the Word of God and of his Law A Light which shineth in a darke place untill the Dawne and the Day-starre arise in our hearts 2 Pet. 1.19 Our hearts which were but the Chambers of darknesse the couch and resting place of our blinded minde God who hath commanded light to shine out of darknesse hath shin'd into 2 Cor. 4.6 shin'd into the darker corners of them To give the light of the knowledge of the Glory of God in the face of Iesus Christ who is the spirituall day-star that day-spring from on High Luk. 1.79 which through the tender mercies of God hath thus visited us giving light to them that sit in darknesse and guiding their feet in the way of everlasting peace Hereupon the Kingly Prophet ravish'd it seemes with the joy of the inward man tells us That the statutes of the Lord are right and rejoyce the heart Psal 19. V. 8. The heart which was before meerely sensuall a rude lumpe of flesh a cage of uncleane birds a bundle of sinfull and impure thoughts they new brush and sweepe and so garnish with spirituall gifts and graces that insteed of drooping they cheere and elevate it making that which was before the ground of Terror the meanes of rejoycing more desiring it now than gold than fine gold sweeter than the hony or the hony combe that to the mind regenerate the Law of God is not a service barely but a delight His delight is in the Law of God and in that Law doth he exercise himselfe day and night Psal 1.2 And indeed wherein should he be exercised what object more proper or more blessed what should the Spirit minde but the things of the Spirit what the Righteous aime at but his center and eternall resting point God hath created man for his own Glory and as Man is the end of the world so is God the end of man and his Glory of both And therefore he is call'd The Temple of the Living God and his minde the Sanctum Sunctorum in that Temple in which God is said not onely to dwell Serm. 27. Sup. Cant. but to walke 1 Cor. 6.16 O quanta illi Animae latitudo quanta meritorum praerogativa quae divinam in se praesentiam digna invenitur suscipere sufficiens capere saith S. Bernard That Soule is of a boundlesse circuit and goodnesse that can comprehend the incomprehensible God Cannot the greater World containe him and is he involv'd in the lesse Is the Minde a Temple for him to dwell in that dwelleth not in Temples made with hands Is there in Man a Tabernacle for his service at whose seete both Men and Angels fall downe and worship This then should mount him above the world and all the base Lees and dregs thereof disrobe him of his earthly garment make him put on the New man in Righteousnesse and Holines shake off the very dust from his feete those dusty corruptions which sticke so fast on his feet of frailty lifting himselfe above himselfe and retiring from all outward things into the Soule the soule unto the minde and the mind unto God may seeke his conversation in Heaven onely minding nothing but Heaven and Heavenly things every true sanctified soule being not only Heavenly saith S. Bernard but Heaven it selfe Sâ—rm 27. sup Cant. and sitting in the body tanquam Deus in suo mundo where his understanding shines as the Sunne his vertues as the Starres and his Faith as the Moone which he calls Psal 89.36 The faithfull witnes in Heaven And so Man being a kinde of Heaven to himselfe and having a God within him ruling and commanding it should alwayes have his Contemplation wing'd his thoughts towring upwards to the God of Gods in the Heaven of Heavens where there is joy unspeakeable for evermore And now you have heard what the Front of the Text meaneth by the word Mind what her office and properties and how they looke to the Law of God In the next ranke I am to sew you how the Flesh comes up with all her Forces and how that joynes with the Law of Sinne. PARS II. With the Flesh I serve the Law of Sinne. SOme Expositors leaving the Geneva Rode
tells the Gods his Judges in the fenced Cities of Iudah Take heed what you doe for you judge not for man but for God who is with you in the judgement Wherefore now let the feare of the Lord be upon you take heed and doe it for there is no iniquity with God no respect of persons nor taking of gifts 2 Chron. 19.6 7. Doubtlesse the matter is of great weight and consequence that is thus prefac'd with a double caution Take heed Take heed The formér Cavete is for a Quid facitis the latter for an ut faciatis first take heed what you doe and then take heed that you doe it too so that in matters of Judicature a deepe consideration should alwayes precede Action Deliberation Judgement And the reason of the quid sacitis if you observe it is very ponderous For you judge not for man but for God and God as the Psalmist speaketh Iudgeth amongst the gods Psal 82.1 You gods that judge men here that God shall judge hereafter and as you judge these so shall he judge you The reason of the ut faciatis is no lesse weighty neither for there is no iniquity with God he loves it not and what he loves not you are to condemne and judge and that this judgement may carry an even faile there must be no respecting of persons nor taking of gifts The eares must be both open and the hands shut the complaint of the Widdow and the Orphan and the oppressed must be as well listen'd to as the trials of the rich and mightie aswell and assoone too nay sooner for the one gives onely the other prayes and mens devotions goe with us to heaven when their benevolences with the giver moulder upon earth Let the Sword then strike where it should in the great busines of life and death let the ballance hang even in matters of nisi prius that there bee no selling of the righteous for a peece of silver Amos 8.6 or of the needy for a paire of shooes no cruell mercy in the one in remitting incorrigible of fenders no partiality in the other in siding with particular men or causes but fiat justitia et ruat coelum And when justice is thus done in your part it is not done in all manifold experience tells us that when causes have been prosecuted by all the fidelity and care of the sollicitor pleaded by all dexterity of counsel attended by al the vigilancy of the Iudge yet the mystery the wicked mystery of a decem tales shall carry them against wind and tide and a heard of mercenary ignorants for mnay of them are no better shall buy and sell a poore man his estate for eight pence This is neither christian nor morall nor scarce humane therfore for reformation of this capitall abuse it is both just necessary that such substantial men as are returnd in Iuryes should attend in their own person and not shuffle of the waight of publike affaires upon the shoulders of those who either understand not a cause when it is debated or else use not a conscience as they should in giving up their verdict but make their foreman their primus motor whom they follow like those beasts ' in Seneca non qua eundum est sed qua itur No man is to good to doe his God or King or Countrey service nay every good man thinkes it rather his honour then his burthen and therefore where there are delinquents this way let the mulct the fine bee laid on according to statute that where admonition cannot prevaile imperet Lex compulsion may And now I have performd my office done the part of a spirituall watchman blowne the cornet in Gibeah and the trumpet in Ramoth told Israell aloud her sinnes and Iudah her transgressions The next act is from the Pulpit to the Tribunall where it will bee expected that Moses should doe all things according to the patterne shewed him by GOD in the mount beere that lawes be not only written or prescribed or remembred but put in execution also and for your better encouragement herein observe what the same Moses saies to Ioshua Deut. 31.8 Bee strong and of a good courage for the Lord thy God hee it is that goeth with thee hee will not saile thee nor forsake thee To that God and to his sonne Christ Iesus with the blessed spirit bee ascribed all honour glory power and dominion both now and forever Amen Gloria in excelsis Deo FINIS The Christian Duell THE SECOND SERMON Ad Magistratum Preached at the ASSIZES held at TAUNTON in Sommerset 1635. By Humphrey Sydenham ROM 8.6 Quod sapit Caro Mors est Quod autem sapit Spiritus Vita Pax. LONDON Printed by IOHN BEALE for Humphrey Robinson at the Signe of the Three Pigeons in PAULS Church-yard 1637. TO THE NOBLE AND MVCH DESERVING Sr. WILLIAM PORTMAN BARONET SIR STartle not my Noble Sir This is no Challenge I present you with but a Flag of truce for though it have an Alarum in the Front and the subject speakes warre altogether and discord yet it prepares to peace such a peace as presupposeth victory and victory life and life Eternity To tell you here the nature of this warre it's feares stratagems dangers sufferings were but to preach by Letter and degrade a Sermon to an Epistle The following discourse shall give you a hint of all where shall find that he that is a true Christian souldier must be at peace with others though he have no concord with himselfe This is the modell of the whole fabrick and this I offer to your Noble hands which when it shall kisse be confident you cannot hold faster than please you try the heart of him that offers it Sicknesse and Age both my companion now are but ill Courtiers and as little acquainted with the nature of Ceremony as the practise A Complement then you cannot stile this but an expression of my zeale to the merits of your dead Brother to whom as I was of old a faithfull Servant so still a true honorer of his Name though not O my unhappinesse an Attendant which I cannot so much ascribe to negligence or error as to Fate But suppose either or all or others I murmure not but blesse rather and blesse thus God preserve you and yours and send you length of dayes and accumulation of honours and fruitfulnesse of Loynes that as your Fortunes looke greene and flourishing so may your Name also to the glory of your God the service of your Countrey the hope of your friends the Ioy of your Allies and the Prayers of Your wel-wishing Honorer HVM SYDENHAM THE CHRISTIAN DUELL The second Sermon GAL. 5.17 The Flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit lusteth against the Flesh T Is not my intent to perplex either my selfe or Auditorie with any curiositie of Preface or division the words are already at variance betweene themselves and so instead of farther dividing them the Text at this
for instead of those Magnificats and Hosannahs which were proper onely to the true God Act. 19. v. 28. 34. Great great is the Lord and worthy to bee praised how excellent is thy Name in all the world Psal 8. Here the unruly shout of Crafis-men and Shrine-makers so busie are Mechannicks still in matters of Religion are loud for a more glittering Deity and cause both the streets the Temple to ring Act. 19.26 Great is Diana of the Ephesians Great is Diana of the Ephesians Saint Paul therefore pittying their blindnesse and willing to reduce them from darknesse unto light tells them that they were no Gods which were made with hands but the braine-sicke sancies of those that made them and withall acquaints them with a new Divinity which they had not heard of and hearing perhaps could not well understand opens to them the mystery of a Trinity tells them of Three Persons in one God nay that three persons were but one God and yet every one of these persons a true God that there was a Father from everlasting which was Divine and a Sonne so too very God of very God begotten before the world and before all time and yet brought forth after there was a world and in the fulnesse of time This could be no lesse than a Riddle to Flesh and bloud and more apt to stagger a naturall understanding than informe it But that God who wrought miraculously in the Creation of man doth also in his Conversion His Apostle here shall doe that by the secret operations of the spirit which the subtle powers of Art and reason with all their acutenesse and sublimity cannot possibly aspire unto And now he begins to preach unto them Christ Iesus and him crucified 1 Cor. 1.23 a matter of folly unto some of stumbling unto others but of salvation here and this great worke is not to be done suddainely or with a flash but requireth both time and teares diligence and compasaion as if in matters of spirituall imployment God not onely expected the tongue or hands of his Ministers but their eyes also for so Saint Paul tells the Elders of Ephesus at Myletum Acts 20. that Hee ceased not to warne every one night and day with teares And this he did for the space of three yeeres untill a commotion being rais'd against him by Demetrius the Silver-smith one that more lov'd his owne gaine than Religion as most mercenary men doe hee departed into Macedonia leaving Timothy at Ephesus for the farther growth of that Doctrine which hee there seeded Not long after going bound in spirit to Ierusalem and from thence to Rome where he was in bonds and fearing that the Dog might againe to his old vomit hee writes this Epistle to Ephesus by Tychicus the Deacon 2 Tim. 4.12 not to the dispersed Iewes there or Iudais'd Christians as some conjecture for these had formerly revolted 2 Tim. 1.15 Phygellus and Hermogenes being chiefe but to the converted Gentiles for so he himselfe profess'd Ego Paulus vinct us Iesu Christi pro vobis Gentibus in the 3. chapter of this Epistle In which he is not onely carefull for the suppressing of Heresies which were like to rise or else already growne principally those of the Symonian Sect and the Schooles of the Gnosticks Epiph. lib. 1. contra Haeres as Epiphanius notes but also for the perfecting of that great worke of Christianity which hee had with such danger begun and with such difficulty proceeded in And therefore here like a discreet Monitor he first puts them in mind of their primitive condition what they formerly were Yee were sometimes darknesse Then of their present state and happinesse what they now stood in Ye are light in the Lord And lastly of their conversation in the future what a holy strictnesse should carry them in after-times Walke as children of light These are the branches the Text naturally spreads unto and because they are large ones and each particular full enough for the whole body of a discourse I shall pitch my meditations for the present on the former onely and so confine both my selfe and them to the very front of the Text Eratis olim Tenebrae Ye were sometimes darknesse And here lest we fall a stumbling in the darke and with the Israclite wander up and downe under the Cloud let us inquire a little what darknesse is or rather what it is not then what it is or is not in the Text here and so make up the Analogie betweene both Now darknesse is nothing else but Absentia luminis a Non-residency if I may so stile it or vacancy of light Qui diligenter considerat quid sint tenebrae snil aliud invenit quam lucis absentiam D. Aug. lib. de Gen. ad lit imperfecte And to this purpose Moses tells us that in the beginning when the earth was without forme and void Tencbrae erant super Abyssum Darknesse cover'd the face of the deepe which is all one saith Saint Augustine with Non erat lux super abyssum There was no light upon the face of the deepe So that the Father would have darknesse there to be onely Informitas sine lumine A prodigie without light blemishing and dimming that rich beauty and lustre which should radiate and enlighten the whole world And indeed if we critically enquire into the originall of things wee cannot bring darknesse within the verge of Creation wee reade of a Fiat lux let there be light but no where of a Fiant tenebrae let there be darknesse as if with darknesse God had nothing to doe nothing indeed in respect of Creation but of Ordinance or Administration For God made the Species of things Nè vel ipse privat ones non haberent suum ordinem D. Aug. ut supra not privations not made these but dispos'd them least privations themselves should not have their order God managing though not creating them who is the God of Order Now light you know is a created quality not made as I told you but ordain'd onely like a rest in a Song where though there be an intermission of voyce for the present as if there were neither voyce nor Song yet if it be rightly tim'd and order'd makes the Song more melodious and the art fuller Or like shadowes in wel-limn'd Pictures which give the other life and excellence but in themselves Non specie sed ordine placent their shape is not pleasing ' but their order Wee say not nor dare not say that God was the causer of this Ephesian darknesse but doubtlesse he was the Disposer of it otherwise it had never beene advanc'd to this Lux estis in Domino yee are now light in the Lord. God is not the Authour of any obliquity or crookednesse in our wayes but he is the Orderer and turnes them oftentimes to our punishment and his glory Nay oftentimes O the depth and riches of his mercyes ' from our punishment to our owne
eares the Dissembler with his lippes the envious with his teeth the Slanderer with his tongue the Blasphemer with his mouth the Intemperate with his Throate the Hypocrite with his heart the Incompassionate with his Bowells the Glutton with his Belly the Adulterer with his Bones and marrow the Covetous and grinding Miscreant with his bands the Purloyner with his Fingers and lastly the Transgressor in generall with his Feete that those which have beene swift heretofore in running to mischiefe and the shedding of innocent Bloud may at length bee more carefull to treade in the pathes of Righteousnesse that they which were sometimes going downe to the Chambers of Death to this Olim tenebrae in the Text to the fearefull darkenesse our Ephesian was involv'd in may at length climbe up to the Lux in Domino to bee Light in the Lord Heb. 12.23 nay to the Lord who is the Light To the generall Assembly and Church of the first-borne where the foundations are laid with Saphires and the windowes made with Agats Isa 54.11 12. and the Gates of Carbuncles and the whole Fabricke of precious Stones which as so many Lights point to that Light inaccessible to GOD the Father and his Son CHRIST JESUS to whom with the Spirit of Lights be all Glory ascrib'd for ever and ever Gloria in excelsis Deo Amen FINIS The foolish Prophet A SERMON PREACHED Ad CLERVM At the Trienniall VISITATION of the right Reverend Father in GOD WILLIAM by divine providence Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells At TAUNTON in SOMERSET Iune 22. 1636. By Humphrey Sydenham PSAL. 75.4 5. Dixi insipientibus nolite iniquè agere nolite in altum extollere Cornu vestrum LONDON Printed by IOHN BEALE for Humphrey Robinson at the Signe of the Three Pigeons in PAULS Church-yard 1637. TO THE NOBLY-INGENIOUS EDVVARD SEYMOVR Esquire This. SIR T Is acriticall age we live in where Divines and Poets have alike fate and misery most men frequenting Churches as they doe Theaters either to clap or hisse and it is with the Auditors of the one as with the Spectators of the other sometimes they bestow their Laurell sometimes their Thistle Applause sometimes sometimes censure Vnhappy Creatures that we are to be thus fed with Aire as if we no longer liv'd by the Spirit of God but the breath of the people And if this Ayre were either pure or temperate it were a passable calamity but it is for the most part poyson'd and corrupt Loose men breath their rottennesse and filth upon us and it is not wit for sooth nor bravery except it be drivell'd upon the Priest whom they all besmeare with calumny and rake the very kennell for dirt to fling at him as if he were the only prodigy of the times S. Paul's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the very dung of the world 1 Cor. 4. and the off-scouring of all things unto this day This is the common misery of our Tribe and it was mine in opening the folly of this Pseudo-Prophet which hit so unhappily with the temper of those holy Monopolizers which pretend so much to be the only men of the Spirit that the Catharist was up in Armes and Demetrius and the Zealous Crafts-men were about mine eares who put me without mercy to the push of their Pike and shot their poyson'd Arrowes even bitter words against me such as malice could only sharpen or falsehood levell But notwithstanding the Spirit of Rabshakeh and the venome of those sanctified Raylers I wanted not my Propugners amongst the impartially judicious both Divines and Layicks and with the latter of these more eminently your selfe And had I had no more it was enough that there was Seymour in it a name that involves Nobility and the better part of it Vertue and the better part of vertue humility and courtesie and all these temper'd in you with a religious observance of the Rites of the Church you live in so that you are not transported with change and novelty not apt to be misted with any false light of the times not with the Ignis fatuus of our Prophet here no Proselyte of Schisme or Innovation but a man fast to your selfe constant and resolv'd in all your actions which is an excellent temper to make a Christian of and a sure foundation to build true friendship on especially in this age of words where Integrity and Goodnesse are so rarely met with by me I am sure Your unhappy but true-hearted Servant HVM SYDENHAM THE Foolish Prophet EZECH 13.3 Thus saith the Lord God Woe unto the Foolish prophets that follow their owne spirit and have seene nothing THus saith the Lord God Israel no doubt was out of Joynt and a strange loosnesse in all her Tribes when Folly and Blindnesse and a Deluding Spirit were obtruded to her Prophets and thus thunder-clapt with an Woe too and that from the mouth of the Lord himselfe Sic dicit Dominus Deus Thus saith the Lord God 'T is not alwaies desperate with the Church of God when his Prophets are sent to it with a Cavete in their mouth matter only of caution or premonition that hath a taste no lesse of his Providence than his Mercie But when their cheekes are fill'd with a Vaevobis his hearuld of displeasure and malediction vengeance and her vialls are ever at the heeles And this under the law was customary from Go's Prophet to the people but somewhat rare and of remarke from his Prophet to their Prophets and that by speciall commaund too from Heaven in a sic dicit Dominus Deus Thus saith the Lord God But doubtles this Woe was denounced in the very heate of superstition when the Rage and Fury of the people whoring after novelties and following the blindnesse of their owne spirit hurried them along to the worshipping of stocke and stones when there were as many Prophets as there were Gods and Gods almost as things Every Hill and Mountaine had an Altar smoaking and in every Grove and under every greene Tree Incense burnt to the Queene of Heaven and all the Hoste of it when the true Lord of both was forgotten in his worship the Pagan Hecatombe had cried downe the Sacrifice of the living God and whole Heards and Droves offered to Ashteroth and Chemosh or some God of Ekron when there was scarce a Bullocke for immolation to the Lord of Hosts The Almighty therefore begins to rouze himselfe and to shew that there is no God indeed but himselfe and no true Prophet but whom he pleases to accomodate will now harnesse one of his owne and for his better choise hee goes not to the glory of Israel but amongst the captives by the river Chebar he meetes with the Sonne of Buzy an obscure Priest among the Chaldean's upon him the Spirit of the Lord must rest And because hee shall be knowne to be a Prophet of His indeed and what hee speakes to be inspir'd meerely from above the Heavens themselves
Plea of all Innovators especially those of the refin'd and nimbler cut who in mysterious and abstruser points the very Riddles and Labyrinths of Divinity elevate their Acumen whet and sharpen the very point of their Spirit by which they thrust into the closet of the Almighty nay into his very Bosome ransacke his secrets there call out his Prescience his Will his Decree his Justice bring them to the Barre Arraigne them Censure them know at a haires breadth whom he will save or damne or else they will devest him of his God-head make him unjust and so manacling his Incomprehensiblenesse to their Reason belch sometimes their prouder blasphemies that God must doe this if he be God or else he is no God And thus whilst they follow too much the heat of their owne Spirit they come within the lash of our Prophet the Insipiens takes them by the sleeve the Foole here in the Text the holy Ghost puts it on them Not I Thus saith the Lord God Woe to the foolish Prophet that followes his owne Spirit Nil Sapientiae odiosius acumine nimio your richest wits are neither over-stor'd with wisedome nor holinesse neither with the subtilty of the Serpent nor the innocency of the Dove The ordinary way of knowledge they contemne nothing pleases them but the Curvet and the Levolto Vp they must in their metaphisicall Speculations their sublimate Raptures the high built scaffolds of their owne pride and spirit which indeed are but the fury of braines intranc'd and good for nothing but the torment of themselves and others There was never any great wit without a touch of madnesse which not rightly modifi'd as it ought is a fit stocke to graft a villaine on whither in Church or State I have observed some my selfe that have past for Master-peeces and petty miracles in their way when their discourse hath beene closely Atheisme and their jeast the Scripture And he that hath but traverst a little Ecclesiasticke story shal finde That in primitive times it was the only Seminary of Heresie and Revolt witnesse those two Fire-brands of their age Iulian and Arrius T was the greatnesse of their Braines made them lose their Bowells and the foule Blasphemies they breath'd thence purchas'd them a just Herse and Tombe in their owne dung It is a fearfull thing to fall into the hands of God a dangerous into the hands of men but a most pernicious into the hands of our selves When in a presumptuous and proud dotage of our owne parts a foolish following our own spirit we commit idolatry with our owne bosome adore our selves worship the thoughts of our owne hearts not looking up to our primus Motor who rules and turnes this Machine and Frame of our little world but without any reflecting on our personall imperfections wee deifie these moulds of Earth as if wee could raise Eternity out of ashes or build Immortality on pillars of dust saying to our selves We shall bee as Gods when God saies we are but men and that man in his best honour is as the beast that perisheth You know there is a proverbe current now in our language but originally from the Spaniard O Lord keepe my selfe from my selfe and this is the tenour of our daily prayers Libera nos a malo Lord deliver us from evill What evill Ego sum malus libera me a me malo si bonus liberaverit me a malo me a me malo ero de malo bonus so the Father runnes his descant in his 30 Sermon de verbis Apostoli And doubtlesse if wee but ransacke the inward man sift the chinks and crannies of our owne breasts wee must acknowledge with the Apostle That in mee that is in my flesh dwelleth no good and therefore Libera me a malo me a me malo Lord deliver my selfe from my selfe my selfe from that evill in my selfe and my selfe from my selfe that am all evill High thoughts are but the vaine Alarums of the heart and 't is the pride of it that beats them Omnis homo qui sequitur spiritum suum superbus est Every man that followes his owne spirit is a foole we know but why a proud man good Saint Augustine the Father answers putatse aliquid esse cum nihil est He thinkes himselfe something when he is nothing and in such a thought there is both Pride and Folly and this Pride and Folly a very nothing Insomuch that we finde a blessednesse promised to those who are poore in Spirit pauperes Spiritu suo saith the Father divites autem Spiritu divino Serm. 30 de verb. Apost poore in their owne Spirit but rich in the Spirit of the Lord. True humility was ever a step to glory and to a sence and feeling of that Spirit which can either make us to know God or God us or us our selves as we should doe When my spirit was overwhelmed within mee saith David then thou knewest my path Psal 142.3 Quare defecit Spiritus tuus O Martyr in tribulatione posite When thou wert in tribulation O blessed Martyr why was thy spirit so troubled in thee the Father that made the Quaere answers it Vt non mihi arrogem vires meas ut sciam D. Aug. ut supra quod alius in me operatur istam virtutem that I might not be blowne up with a conceite of mine owne spirit not arrogate to my selfe mine owne strength but know that thou art the Fountaine of all vertues and that their streames runne from and by thee who doest only so replenish them and me that out of mine and their bellyes shall flow Rivers of living waters Thus as we are emptied of our own spirit God fils us up with his otherwise when we are full we are but empty still empty as well of knowledge as of grace groap after shadowes and refemblances of things and so are coze'nd with probabilities for truth There is but one certainty upon Earth and that is that there is nothing certaine there and there is but one knowledge in man and that is a great knowledge if he knew it well that hee knowes nothing nothing in himselfe as he should know Nosce teipsum was a wise mans Motto and indeed a hard taske if it be impartially done It is a twisting of our vanities a little closer a bringing of our selves within our selves that we may say we are men indeed that is understand our selves weigh our actions with our words and our deportment with our actions and then the Insipiens in the Text hath no reference to us we are Prophets of a diviner straine There are many Plausibilities in the world which passe currently for Gold glitter and spangle hansomely a farre off which brought unto the touch will prove at best but Alchimy or copper meere counterfeite peeces which have stamp and colour right but the mettall is naught Vniversus mundus exercet histrioniam the whole world is a meere Play where he that best dissembles acts best And such a one carries