ordinary course of generation first liue the life of vegetation then of sense of reason afterwards That instant wherein the heauen and the earth were created in their rude matter there was neither day nor light but presently thou madest both light day Whiles wee haue this example of thine how vainely do wee hope to bee perfect at once It is well for vs if through many degrees wee can rise to our consummation But alas what was the very heuen it selfe without light how confused how formelesse like to a goodly body without a soule like a soule without thee Thou art light and in thee is no darkenesse Oh how incomprehensibly glorious is the light that is in thee since one glimpse of this created light gaue so liuely a glory to al thy workemanship This euen the bruite creatures can behold That not the very Angels That shines foorth onely to the other supreme world of immortality this to the basest part of thy creation There is one cause of our darkenesse on earth and of the vtter darkenesse in hell the restraint of thy light Shine thou O God into the vast corners of my soule and in thy light I shall see light But whence O God was that first light The sunne was not made till the fourth day light the first If man had then beene he might haue seene all lightsome but whence it had come he could not haue seene As in some great pond we see the bancks full wee see not the springs whence that water ariseth Thou that madest the Sunne madest the light without the Sunne before the Sunne that so light might depend vpon thee and not vpon thy Creature Thy power will not be limited to meanes It was easie to thee to make an heauen without a Sunne light without an heauen day without a Sunne time without a day It is good reason thou shouldest bee the Lord of thine owne workes All meanes serue thee why doe wee weake wretches distrust thee in the want of those meanes which thou canst either command or forbeare How plainly wouldst thou teach vs that wee creatures neede not one another so long as wee haue thee One day we shall haue light againe without the Sunne Thou shalt be our Sunne thy presence shall be our light Light is sowne for the righteous This Sunne and light is but for the world below it selfe thine only for aboue Thou giuest this light to the Sunne which the Sunne giues to the world That light which thou shalt once giue vs shall make vs shine like the Sunne in glory Now this light which for three daies was thus dispersed thorow the whole heauens it pleased thee at last to gather and vnite into one body of the Sunne The whole heauen was our Sunne before the Sunne was created but now one starre must be the Treasury of light to the heauen and earth How thou louest the vnion and reduction of all things of one kind to their owne head and center So the waters must by thy command be gathered into one place the sea so the vpper waters must be seuered by these aery limits from the lower so heauy substances hasten downeward aud light mount vp so the generall light of the first daies must bee called into the compasse of one sunne so thou wilt once gather thine elect from all coasts of heauen to the participation of one glory Why doe wee abide our thoughts and affections scattered from thee from thy Saints from thine Annointed Oh let this light which thou hast now spread abroad in the hearts of all thine once meet in thee Wee are as thy heauens in this their first imperfection be thou our Sunne into which our light may be gathered Yet this light was by thee interchanged with darknes which thou mightst as easily haue commanded to bee perpetuall The continuance euen of the best things cloieth and wearieth there is nothing but thy selfe wherein there is not satiety So pleasing is the vicissitude of things that the intercourse euen of those occurrents which in their owne nature are lesse worthy giues more contentment then the vnaltered estate of better The day dies into night and rises into the morning againe that we might not expect any stability heere below but in perpetuall successionâ— It is alwaies daie with thee aboue the night sauoreth onely of mortalitie Why are we not heere spiritually as wee shall be heereafter Since thou hast made vs children of the light and of the day teach vs to walk euer in the light of thy presence not in the darknesse of error and vnbeleefe Now in this thine inlightned frame how fitly how wisely are all the parts disposed that the method of the creation might answer the matter the forme both Behold all purity aboue below the dregges and lees of all The higher I goe the more perfection each element superiour to other not more in place then dignity that by these staires of ascending perfection our thoughts might climbe vnto the top of all glory and might know thine empyreal heauen no lesse glorious aboue the visible than those aboue the earth Oh how miserable is the place of our pilgrimage in respect of our home Let my soule tread a while in the steps of thine owne proceedings and so thinke as thou wroughtest When wee would describe a man wee begin not at the feete but the head The head of thy Creation is the heauen how high how spatious how glorious It is a wonder that we can looke vp to so admirable an height and that the very eye is not tyred in the way If this ascending line could bee drawne right forwards some that haue calculated curiously haue found it 500. yeares iourney vnto the starrie heauen I doe not examine their arte O Lord I wonder rather at thine which hast drawne so large a line about this little point of earth For in the plainest rules of art and experience the compasse must needs be six times as much as halfe the height Wee thinke one Iland great but the earth vnmeasurably If wee were in that heauen with these eies the whole earth were it equally inlightned would seeme as little to vs as now the least starre in the firmament seemes to vs vpon earth And indeed how few stars are so little as it And yet how many void and ample spaces are there besides all the starres The hugenesse of this thy worke O God is little inferiour for admiraon to the maiesty of it But oh what a glorious heauen is this which thou hast spred ouer our heads With how pretious a vault hast thou walled in this our inferior world What worlds of light hast thou set aboue vs Those things which wee see are wondrous but those which wee beleeue and see not are yet more Thou dost but set out these vnto view to shew vs what there is within How proportionable are thy works to thy selfe Kings erect not cotages but set foorth their magnificence in sumptuous buildings so hast thou done O
Contemplations VPON THE PRINCIPALL PASSAGES OF THE Holy Storie The First Volume In foure Bookes By J. H. D. D. LONDON Printed by M. Bradwood for Sa. Macham 1612. To THE HIGH AND MIGHTY PRINCE HENRY Prince of WALES his Highnesses vnworthy seruant dedicates all his labours and wishes all happinesse Most gracious Prince THis worke of mine which if my hopes and desires faile me not time may heereafter make great I haue presumed both to dedicate in whole to your Highnesse and to parcell out in seuerals vnto subordinate hands It is no maruell if Bookes haue this freedome when wee our selues can and ought to be all yours while wee are our owne and others vnder you I dare say these Meditations how rude soeuer they may fall from my pen in regard of their subiect are fit for a Prince Heere your Highnesse shall see how the great patterne of Princes the King of Heauen hath euer ruled the World how his substitutes earthly Kings haue ruled it vnder him and with what successe either of glorie or ruine Both your peace and warre shall finde heere holy and great examples And if historie and obseruation bee the best Counsellours of your youth what storie can bee so wise and faithfull as that which God hath written for men wherein you see both what hath beene done and what should bee What obseruation so worthie as that which is both raised from God and directed to him If the proprietie which your Highnesse iustly hath in the worke and Author may draw your Princely eies and heart the rather to these holy speculations your seruant shall bee happier in this fauour than in all your outward bountie as one to whom your spirituall progresse deserues to bee dearer than his owne life and whose daily suit is that God would guide your steps aright in this slipperie age and continue to reioice all good hearts in the view of your gracious proceedings Your HIGHNESSES humbly deuoted seruant IOS HALL Contemplations THE FIRST BOOKE The Creation of the World Man Paradise Cain and Abel The Deluge TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE THOMAS Earle of EXCETER one of his Maiesties most honorable Priuy Counsell All grace and happinesse RIght Honorable I knew I could not bestow my thoughts better than vpon Gods owne historie so full of edification and delight which I haue in such sort indeuoured to doe that I shall giue occasion to my Reader of some meditations which perhaps hee would haue missed Euery helpe in this kinde deserues to be precious I present the first part to your Honour wherein you shall see the world both made and smoothered againe Man in the glorie of his creation and the shame of his fall Paradise at once made and lost The first man killing his seede the second his brother If in these I shall giue light to the thoughts of any Reader let him with me giue the praise to him from whom that light shone foorth to me To whose grace and protection I humbly commend your Lordship as Your Honours vnfainedly deuoted in all obseruance and dutie IOS HALL Errata PAge 2. line 9. read vnperfect p. 18. l. 1. for mighty re weighty p. 19. l. 10. for whether r. whither p. 21. l. 1 for incensible r. insensible p. 27. l. 6. for which vile read which is vile p. 28. l. 8 for the r. their p. 30. l. 3. for be otherwise r. be no otherwise p. 42. l. antepen for measure r. pleasure p 44. l. 7. for wrought r. taught p. 47. l. penult for as r. and. p. 5â— l. 17. for these r. those pag. 74. l. 12. for great y r. gently p 91. l. penult for least r. lest p. 100. l. 13 for quall r. equall p. 116. l. 5. for whether r. whither pag. 119 l. 16. for should Sarah r. should liue in Sarah p. 123 l. 8. for neither r. either p. 128. l. 1. for his r. this pa. 130. l. 15. for any r. and. p. 147. l. 1. for for r. from pa. 148. l. penult for professe r. professe not pa. 154. l. 13. for these r. those p. 181. l. 6. for eares r. teares pa 231. l 16 for really r reall ly p. 248. l. 16. for affliction r. affection p. 251. l. vl for vnbeleeuing r. vnbeseeming pag. 288. l. 6. for times r. time p. 318. l. 5. for more proficiency r. meere vnproficiency Besides the reader must be intreated to pardon the misse-pointing especially of the three first bookes as the want of stops pag 27. l. 10. p. 55. l. â—2 p. 56. l. 15. p. 57. l. 10. p. 64. l. vlt. p. 70. l. 14. p. 71. l. 9. p. 77. l. 10. p. 98. l. 10. p. 111. l. penult p. 121. l. 2. p. 125. l. 9. p. 132. l. 1. pag. 146. l. 2. p. 151. l. 3. pa. 174 l. 12. p. 180. l. 10. p. 190. l. 13. p. 194. l 17. p. 198. antepen p. 221. l. 12. p. 233. l. 18. p. 243 l. 15. Through fault of the copie Contemplations THE FIRST BOOKE The Creation WHat can I see O God in thy Creation but miracles of wonders Thou madest something of nothing and of that somthing all things Thou which wast without a beginning gauest a beginning to time and to the world in time It is the praise of vs men if when we haue matter we can giue fashion thou gauest a beeing to the matter without forme thou gauest a form to that matter and a glory to that forme If wee can but finish a sleight and vnperfest matter according to a former patterne it is the height of our skill but to beginne that which neuer was whereof there was no example whereto there was no inclination wherin there was no possibility of that which it should bee is proper onely to such power as thine the infinite power of an infinite creator with vs not so much as a thought can arise without some matter but heere with thee all matter arises from nothing How easie is it for thee to repaire all out of something which couldest thus fetch al out of nothing wherin can we now distrust thee that hast prooued thy self thus omnipotent Behold to haue made the least clod of nothing is more aboue wonder then to multiply a world but now the matter doth not more praise thy power then the forme thy wisedome what beauty is heere what order what order in working what beauty in the worke Thou mightest haue made all the world perfect in an instant but thou wouldest not That wil which caused thee to create is reason enough why thou diddest thus create How should we deliberate in our actions which are so subiect to imperfection since it pleased thine infinite perfection not out of need to take leasure Neither did thy wisedome heerein proceede in time onely but in degrees At first thou madest nothing absolute first thou madest things which should haue being without life then those which should haue life and being lastly those which haue being life reason So we our selues in the
vse these two in the midst of the Garden a spirituall Life is the act of the soule knowledge the life of the soule the tree of knowledge and the tree of life then were ordained as earthly helpes of the spirituall part Perhaps he which ordained the ende immortality of life did appoint this fruit as the meanes of that life It is not for vs to inquire after the life wee had and the meanes we should haue had I am sure it serued to nourish the soule by a liuely representation of that liuing tree whose fruite is eternall life and whose leaues serue to heale the nations O infinite mercy man saw his Sauiour before him ere hee had need of a Sauiour hee saw in whom hee should recouer an heauenly life ere hee lost the earthly but after man had tasted of the tree of knowledge hee might not taste of the tree of life That immortall food was not for a mortall stomacke Yet then did he most sauour that inuisible tree of life when he was most restrayned from the other O Sauiour none but a sinner can rellish thee My tast hath bin enough seasoned with the forbidden fruit to make it capable of thy sweetnesse Sharpen thou as well the stomacke of my soule by repenting as by beleeuing so shall I eate in despight of A-Adam liue for euer The one tree was for confirmation the other for tryall one shewed him what life hee should haue the other what knowledge hee should not desire to haue Alas he that knew al other things knew not this one thing that he knew enough how Diuine a thing is knowledge whereof euen innocencie it selfe is ambitious Satan knew what he did If this bayt had beene gold or honour or pleasure man had contemned it who can hope to auoide error when euen mans perfection is mistaken He lookt for speculatiue knowledge hee should haue looked for experimentall he thought it had beene good to know euill Good was large enough to haue perfected his knowledge and therein his blessednesse All that God made was good and the maker of them much more good they good in their kinds hee good in himselfe It would not content him to know God and his creatures his curiosity affected to know that which God neuer made euill of sin and euill of death which indeed himselfe made by desiring to know them now we know well euill enough smart with knowing it How dear hath this lesson cost vs that in some cases it is better to be ignorant And yet do the sons of Eue inherit this saucy appetite of their grandmother How many thousand soules miscarry with the presumptuous affectation of forbidden knowledge O God thou hast reuealed more then we can know enough to make vs happy teach me a sober knowledge and a contented ignorance Paradise was made for man yet there I see the serpent what maruell is it if my corruption find the serpent in my closet in my table in my bed when our holie parents found him in the midst of Paradise no sooner is he entred but he tempteth hee can no more bee idle then harmlesse I doe not see him at any other tree hee knew there was no danger in the rest I see him at the tree forbidden How true a serpent is he in euery point In his insinuation to the place in his choyce of the tree in his assault of the woman in his plausiblenes of speech to auoid terror in his question to moue doubt in his reply to work distrust in his protestation of safety in his suggestion to enuy and discontent in his promise of gaine And if hee were so cunning at the first what shall wee thinke of him now after so many thousand yeares experience Onely thou O God and these Angels that see thy face are wiser then hee I doe not aske why when hee left his goodnesse thou didst not bereaue him of his skill Still thou wouldst haue him an Angell though an euill one And thou knowest how to ordaine his crait to thine owne glory I do not desire thee to abate of his subtilty but to make me wise Let me beg it without presumption make me wiser then Adam euen thine image which he bore made him not through his owne weaknes wise enough to obey thee thou offeredst him al fruits and restrainedst but one Satan offered him but one and restrained not the rest when he chose rather to bee at Satans feeding then thine it was iust with thee to turne him out of thy gates with a curse why shouldest thou feede a rebell at thine owne boord And yet wee transgresse daily and thou shuttest not heauen against vs how is it that wee find more mercy then our forefathers His strength is worthy of seuerity our weaknesse finds pittie That God from whose face he fled in the garden now makes him with shame to flye out of the garden those Angels that should haue kept him now keep the gates of Paradise against him It is not so easie to recouer happinesse as to keepe it or leese it Yea the same cause that droue man from Paradise hath also withdrawne paradise from the world That fiery sword did not defend it against those waters wherwith the sins of men drowned the glory of that place neither now do I care to seek where that paradise was which we lost I know where that Paradise is which we must care to seeke and hope to finde As man was the image of God so was that earthly Paradise an image of heauen both the images are defaced both the first paterns are eternall Adam was in the first and stayed not In the second is the second Adam which saide This day shalt thou be with mee in Paradise There was that chosen vessell heard and saw what could not bee expressed by how much the third heauen exceeds the richest earth so much doth that Paradise wherto wee aspire exceed that which we haue lost Cain and Abell LOoke now O my soule vpon the two first brethren perhaps twins and wonder at their contrary dispositions and estates If the priuiledges of nature had beene worth any thing the first borne child should not haue bin a reprobate Now that wee may ascribe all to free grace the elder is a murderer the yonger a saint though goodnesse may bee repaired in our selues yet it cannot bee propagated to ours Now might Adam see the image of himselfe in Cain for after his owne image begot hee him Adam slew his posterity Cain his brother we are too like one another in that wherein we are vnlike to God Euen the cleerest grain sends forth that chaffe from which it was fanned ere the sowing yet is this Cain a possession the same Eue that mistooke the fruit of the garden mistooke also the fruit of her owne body her hope deceiued her in both so many good names are ill bestowed and our comfortable expectations in earthly things do not seldome disappoint vs doubtlesse their education was holy
liue banished from God carying his hell in his bosome and the brand of Gods vengeance in his forehead God reiects him the earth repines at him men abhorre him himselfe now wishes that death which he feared and no man dare pleasure him with a murder how bitter is the end of sin yea without end still Cain finds that he killed himselfe more then his brother wee should neuer sin if our foresight were but as good as our sence The issue of sin would appeare a thousand times more horrible then the act is Pleasant The Deluge THe world was grown so foul with sin that God saw it was time to wash it with a flood And so close did wickednes cleaue to the authors of it that when they were washt to nothing yet it would not off yea so deepe did it sticke in the very graine of the earth that God saw it meet to let it soke long vnder the waters So vnder the Law the very vessels that had touched vncleane water must either be rinced or broken Mankind began but with one and yet he that saw the first man liued to see the earth peopled with a world of men yet men grew not so fast as wickednes one man could soone and easily multiply a thousand sins neuer man had so many children so that when there were men enough to store the earth there were as many sins as would reach vp to heauen whereupon the waters came downe from heauen and swelled vp to heauen againe If there had not been so deepe a deluge of sin there had beene none of the waters From whence then was this superfluity of iniquity Whence but from the vnequall yoke with Infidels These mariages did not beget men so much as wickednesse from hence religious husbands both lost their piety and gained a rebellious and godlesse generation That which was the first occasion of sinne was the occasion of the increase of sinne A woman seduced Adam women betray these sons of God the beauty of the apple betrayd the woman the beauty of these women betrayd this holy seed Eue saw and lusted so did they this also was a forbidden fruit they lusted tasted sinned died the most sins begin at the eyes by them commonly Satan creeps into the hart that soule can neuer bee in safety that hath not couenanted with his eyes God needed not haue giuen these men any warning of his iudgement They gaue him no warning of their sins no respite yet that God might approue his mercies to the very wicked hee giues them an hundred twenty yeares respite of repenting how loath is God to strike that threats so long hee that delights in reuenge surprises his aduersary whereas hee that giues long warnings desires to be preuented if we were not wilfull we should neuer smart Neither doth hee giue them time onely but a faithful teacher It is an happy thing when hee that teacheth others is righteous Noahs hand taught them as much as his tongue His businesse in building the Arke was a reall sermon to the world wherein at once were taught mercy and life to the beleuers and to the rebellious destruction Mee thinks I see those monstrous sonnes of Lamech comming to Noah and asking him what he meanes by that strange worke whether hee meane to saile vpon the dry land To whom when he reports Gods purpose and his they go away laughing at his idlenes and tell one another in sport that too much holinesse hath made him mad yet cannot they al flout Noah out of his faith he preaches and builds and finishes Doubtles more hands went to this work than his many a one wrought vpon the Arke which yet was not saued in the Arke Our outward works cannot saue vs without our faith wee may helpe to saue others and perish our selues what a wonder of mercy is this that I here see One poor family called out of a world and as it were eight graines of corne fanned from a whole barne ful of chaffe one hypocrite was saued with the rest for Noahs sake not one righteous man was swept away for companie For these few was the earth preserued still vnder the waters and all kinds of creatures vpon the waters which else had been all destroyed Still the world stands for their sakes for whom it was preserued Else fire should consume that which could not be cleansed by water This difference is strange I see the sauagest of all creatures lions tygers beares by an instinct from God come to seeke the Arke as we see Swine foreseeing a storme run home crying for shelter men I see not Reason once debauched is worse then brutishnesse God hath vse even of these fierce and cruell beasts and glorie by them even they being created for man must liue by him though to his punishment how greatly do they offer submit themselues to their preseruer renewing that obeysance to this repairer of the world which they before sin yeelded to him that first stored the world He that shut them into the Arke when they were entred shut their mouths also while they did enter The Lions faune vpon Noah and Daniel What hart cannot the maker of them mollifie The vnclean beasts God would haue to liue the cleane to multiplie and therefore hee sends to Noah seauen of the cleane of the vncleane two He knew the one would annoy man with their multitude the other would inrich him Those things are worthie of most respect which are of most vse But why seven Surely that God that created seuen daies in the week and made one for himselfe did heere preserue of seuen cleane beasts one for himselfe for Sacrifice He giues vs sixe for one in earthly things that in spirituall we should be all for him Now the day is come all the guests are entred the Ark is shut and the windowes of heauen opened I doubt not but many of those scoffers when they saw the violence of the waters descending and ascending according to Noahs prediction came wading middle-deep vnto the Ark and importunately craued that admittance which they once denied But now as they formerly reiected God so are they iustly reiected of God Ere vengeance begin repentance is seasonable but if iudgement bee once gone out wee cry too late while the Gospell solicites vs the doores of the Arke are open if wee neglect the time of grace in vaine shal we seeke it with teares God holds it no mercy to pitty the obstinate Others more bolde then they hope to ouer-runne the iudgement and climbing vp to the hye mountaines looke downe vppon the waters with more hope then feare and now when they see their hils become Ilands they climbe vp into the tallest trees there with palenes and horror at once looke for death study to auoid it whom the waues ouertake at last halfe dead with famin and halfe with fear Lo now from the tops of the mountaines they descrie the Ark floting vpon the waters and beholde with enuy that which
before they beheld with scorne In vain doth he flie whom God pursues There is no way to flie from his iudgements but to flie to his mercy by repenting The faith of the righteous cannot bee so much derided as their successe is magnified How securely doth Noah ride out this vprore of heauen earth and waters He heares the powring downe of the raine aboue his head the shrieking of men and roaring and bellowing of beasts on both sides him the raging and threats of the waues vnder him hee saw the miserable shifts of the distressed vnbeleeuers and in the meane time sits quietly in his drye Cabin neither feeling nor fearing euill he knew that he which owed the waters would steere him that hee who shut him in would preserue him How happy a thing is faith What a quiet safety what an heauenly peace doth it worke in the soule in the midst of all the inundations of euill Now when God had fetcht againe all the life which he had giuen to his vnworthy creatures and reduced the world vnto his first forme wherein waters were ouer the face of the earth it was time for a renouation of al things to succeed this destruction To haue continued this deluge long had beene to punish Noah that was righteous After fourty daies therefore the heauens cleare vp after 150. the waters sink downe How soone is God weary of punishing which is neuer weary of blessing yet may not the Arke rest suddenly If we did not stay som-while vnder Gods hand we should not know how sweete his mercy is and how great our thankfulnesse should bee The Arke though it was Noahs sort against the waters yet it was his prison he was safe in it but pent vp hee that gaue him life by it now thinks time to giue him liberty out of it God doth not reueale all things to his best seruants beholde hee that tolde Noah 120. yeares before what day he should go into the Arke yet foretels him not now in the Arke what day the Arke should rest vpon the hils and hee should goe forth Noah therfore sends out his intelligencers the Rauen and the Doue whose wings in that vaporous ayre might easily descry further then his sight The Rauen of quicke sent of grosse â—eede of tough constitution no foule was so fit for discouery the likeliest things alwaies succeed not Hee neither will venter farre into that solitary world for feare of want nor yet come into the Arke for loue of liberty but houers about in vncertainties How many carnall minds flye out of the Arke of Gods Church and imbrace the present world rather choosing to feed vpon the vnsauory carcasses of sinfull pleasures then to be restrained within the straite lists of Christian obedience The Doue is sent forth a foule both swift and simple She like a true citizen of the Arke returnes and brings faithfull notice of the continuance of the waters by her restlesse and empty returne by her Oliue leafe of the abatement how woorthy are those messengers to be welcome which with innocence in their liues bring glad tidings of peace and saluation in their mouthes Noah reioyces and beleeues yet still hee waites seuen daies more It is not good to deuoure the fauours of God too greedily but so take them in that wee may digest them oh strong faith of Noah that was not weary with this delay some man would haue so longed for the open ayre after so long closenes that vpon the first notice of safety hee would haue vncouered and voyded the Ark Noah stayes seuen daies ere hee will open and well neere two moneths ere hee will forsake the Arke and not then vnlesse God that commanded to enter had bidden him depart There is no action good without faith no faith without a word Happy is that man which in all things neglecting the counsels of flesh blood depends vpon the commission of his maker FINIS Contemplations THE SECOND BOOKE Noah Babel Abraham Isaac sacrificed Lot and Sodom Imprinted at London by Melch. Bradwood for Samuel Macham and are to be sold at his shop in Pauls Church-yard at the signe of the Bull-head-1612 TO THE RIGHT Honourable the LORD STANHOPE one of his Maiesties most Honourable priuy Counsell All grace and happinesse RIGHT Honourable I durst appeale to the iudgment of a carnall Reader let him not bee preiudicate that there is no history so pleasant as the sacred set aside the maiestie of the inditer none can compare with it for the Magnificence and Antiquity of the matter the sweetnesse of compiling the strange variety of memorable occurrences And if the delight bee such what shal the profit be esteemed of that which was written by God for the saluation of men I confesse no thoughts did euer more sweetly steale me and time away then those which I haue employed in this subiect and I hope none can equally benefit others for if the meere relation of these holy things bee profitable how much more when it is reduced to vse This second part of the world repaired I dedicate to your Lordship wherein you shall see Noah as weake in his Tent as strong in the Arke an vngratious son reserued from the Deluge to his Fathers curse modest piety rewarded with blessings the building of Babell begun in pride ending in confusion Abrahams faith feare obedience Isaac bound vpon the Altar vnder the hand of a Father that hath forgotten both nature and all his hopes Sodom burning with a double fire from hell and from heauen Lot rescued from that impure Citie yet after finding Sodom in his caue Euery one of these passages is not more full of wonder then of edification That spirit which hath penned all these things for our learning teach vs their right vse and sanctifye these my vnworthy meditations to the good of his Church To whose abundant grace I humbly commend your Lordship Your Lordships vnfainedly deuoted in all due obseruance Jos Hall THE SECOND BOOKE Noah NO sooner is NOAH come out of the Ark but hee builds an Altar not an house for himselfe but an Altar to the Lord Our faith will euer teach vs to preferre God to our selues delayed thankfulnesse is not woorthy of acceptation Of those few creatures that are least God must haue some they are all his yet his goodnesse will haue man know that it was he for whose sake they were preserued It was a priuiledge to those very bruit creatures that they were saued from the waters to be offered vp in fire vnto God what a fauour is it to men to bee reserued from common destructions to be sacrificed to their maker and redeemer Lo this little fire of Noah through the vertue of his faith purged the world and ascended vp into those heuens from which the waters fell and caused a glorious raine-bow to appeare therin for his security All the sins of the former world were not so vnsauory vnto God as this smoke was pleasant No perfume can bee so sweete