death and expect it Take heede least you so fasten your eyes vppon the first death of the body that you should not look beyond it to the second which alone is worthy of trēbling worthy of teares For this though terrible to Nature yet is common to vs with you You must dye What doe wee else And what differs our end from yours but in hast and violence And vvho knowes whether in that It may bee a sickenesse as sharpe as suddaine shal fetch vs hence It may bee the same death or a worse for a better cause Or if not so There is much more miserie in lingering Hee dies easily that dyes soone But the other is the vtmost vengeaunce that GOD hath reserued for his enemies This is a matter of long feare and short payne A few panges lets the soule out of prison but the Torment of that other is euerlasting after tenne thousand yeares scorching in that flame the payne is neuer the neerer to his ending No time giues it hope of abating yea time hath nothing to do with this eternity You that shall feele the paine of one minutes dying thinke what paine it is to be dying for euer and euer This although it bee attended with a sharpe paine yet is such as some strong spirits haue indured without shew of yeildance I haue herd of an Irish Traitor that when he lay pining vppon the wheele with his bones broke asked his friend if hee changed his countenance at all caring lesse for the paine then the shew of feare Few men haue dyed of greater paines then others haue sustained and liue But that other ouer-whelms both body and soule and leaues no roome for any comfort in the possibility of mitigation Heere men are executioners or diseases there fiends Those diuels that were ready to tempt the gracelesse vnto sinne are as ready to follow the damned with tortures Whatsoeuer becom of your carcasse saue your soule from these flames and so mannage this short time you haue to liue that you may die but once This is not your first sinne yea God hath now punnished your former sins with this A fearefull punishment in it selfe if it deserued no more your cōscience which now beginnes to tell trueth cannot but assure you that there is no sinne more worthy of hell then murder yea more proper to it Turne ouer those holy leaues which you haue too much neglected now smart for neglecting you shall finde Murderers among those that are shut out from the presence of God you shall finde the Prince of that darknes in the highest stile of his mischief termed a Man-slayer Alas how fearefull a case is this that you haue heerein-resembled him for whome Topheth was prepared of old and imitating him in his action haue endangered your self to partake of his tormēts Oh that you coulde but see what you haue done what you haue deserued That your heart could bleed enough within you for the bloud your handes haue shed That as you haue followed Satan our common enemy in sinning so you could defye him in repenting That your teares could disapoint his hopes of your damnation What an happy vnhappinesse shall this be to your sad friendes that your better part yet liueth That frō an ignominious place your soule is receyued to glory Nothing can effect this but your Repentance and that can do it Feare not to looke into that horrour which should attend your sinne and bee now as seuere to your selfe as you haue beene cruell to another Thinke not to extenuate your offence with the vain Titles of man-hood what praise is this that you were a valiaunt Murderer Strike your owne breast as Moses did his Rooke and bring down Riuers of tears to wash away your bloud-shed Do not so much feare your iudgment as abhorre your sinne yea your selfe for it And with strong cries lift vppe your guilty hands to that God whom you offended and say Deliuer mee from blood-guiltines O Lord. Let me tell you as without repentance there is no hope so with it ther is no condemnation True penitence is strong can grapple with the greatest sin yea with all the powers of hell What if your hands be red with blood Behold the blood of your Sauiour shall wash away yours If you can bath your selfe in that your Scarlet soule shall be as white as Snow This course alone shal make your Crosse the way to the Paradice of God This plaister can heale all the sores of the foul if neuer so desperate Onely take heede that your heart bee deepe enough pierced ere you lay it on else vnder a seeming skinne of dissimulation your soule shall fester to death Yet ioy vs vvith your true sorrowe whome you haue grieued with your offence at once comfort your friends and saue your soule EPIST. IX To Mr. Iohn Mole of a long time nowe prisoner vnder the Inquisition at Rome ¶ Exciting him to his wonted Constancie and incouraging him to Martyrdome WHat passage can these lines hope to finde into that your straight and curious thraldome Yet who would not aduenture the losse of this paines for him which is ready to loose himself for Christ what do we not ow to you which haue thus giuen your self for the cōmon faith blessed be the name of that God who hath singled you out for his Champion made you inuincible how famous are your bonds How glorious your constancy Oh that out of your close obscurity you could but see the honour of your suffring the affections of Gods Saints in som an holy enuy at your distressed hapines Those wals cannot hide you No man is attended with so many eyes from earth heauen The Church your Mother beholdes you not with more compassion then ioy Neither can it bee sayde how shee at once pitties your misery and reioyces in your patience The blessed Angels looke vpon you with gratulation and applause The aduersaries with an angry sorrowe to see themselues ouercome by their captiue their obstinate cruelty ouer-matched with humble resolution and faithfull perseuerance Your Sauiour sees you from aboue not as a meer spectator but as a patient with you in you for you yea as an agent in your indurance victory giuing new courage with the one hād and holding out a Crowne with the other Whom would not these sights incorage who now can pitty your solitarinesse The harts of all good men are with you Neither can that place be but full of angels which is the continuall obiect of so many Prayers yea the God of heauen was neuer so near you as now ye are remooued from men Let me speake a bold but true worde Jt is as possible for him to bee absent from his Heauen as from the prisons of his Saints The glorified spirits aboue sing to him the persecuted soules below suffer for him and crie to him he is magnified in both present with both the faith of the one is as pleasing to him as the triumph of
lessons of grace there he learnes what belongs to a Sauiour what one hee is what he hath done and for whom how he became ours we his now finding himselfe in a true state of danger of humilitie of neede of desire of fitnes for Christ he brings home to himself al that he learns and what he knowes he applies His former Tutor he feared this hee loueth that shewed him his wounds yea made them this binds and heales them that killed him this shewes him life and leades him to it Now at once he hates himselfe defies Satan trusts to Christ makes account both of pardon and glory This is his most precious Faith whereby he appropriates yea in grosses Christ Iesus to himselfe whence hee is iustified from his sinnes purified from his corruptions established in his resolutiōs comforted in his doubts defended against temptations ouercomes all his enemies Which vertue as it is most imploied and most opposed so carries the most care from the Christian hart that it be sound liuely growing Sound not rotten not hollow not presumptuous sound in the Act not a superficiall conceit but a true deepe and sensible apprehension an apprehension not of the braine but of the heart and of the heart not approuing or assenting but trusting and reposing Sound in the obiect none but Christ he knows that no friendship in heauen can do him good without this The Angells cannot God will not Ye beleeue in the Father beleeue also in me Liuely for it cannot giue life vnlesse it haue life the faith that is not fruitfull is dead the fruits of faith are good workes whether inward within the roofe of the heart as loue awe sorrow piety zeale ioy and the rest or outward towards God or our bretheren obedience and seruice to the one to the other reliefe and beneficence These he beares in his time sometimes all but alwayes some Growing true faith cannot stand still but as it is fruitfull in workes so it increaseth in degrees from a little seede it proues a large plant reaching from earth to heauen and from one heauen to another euery showre and euery Sun addes something to it Neither is this grace euer solitary but alwaies attended royallie For hee that beleeues what a Sauiour hee hath cannot but loue him he that loues him cannot but hate whatsoeuer may displease him cannot but reioice in him hope to inioy him and desire to enioy his hope and contemne all those vanities which he once desired and enioyed His minde now scorneth to grouell vpon earth but soareth vp to the things aboue where Christ sits at the right hand of God and after it hath seene what is done in heauen looks strangely vpon al worldly things He dare trust his faith aboue his reason and sense and hath learned to weane his appetite from crauing much Hee stands in awe of his owne conscience and dare no more offend it then not displease himselfe Hee feares not his enemies yet neglects them not equally auoiding security and timorousnesse Hee sees him that is inuisible and walks with him awfully familiarly He knowes what he is borne to and therefore digests the miseries of his wardship with patience hee findes more comfort in his afflictions then any worldling in pleasures And as hee hath these graces to comfort him within so hath hee the Angels to attend him without spirits better then his owne more powerfull more glorious These beare him in their armes wake by his bed keepe his soule while hee hath it and receiue it when it leaues him These are some present differences the greatest are future which could not bee so great if themselues were not witnesses no lesse then betwixt heauen and hell torment and glory an incorruptible crowne and fire vnquēchable Whether Infidels be leeue these things or no we know them so shall they but too late What remaynes but that wee applaud our selues in this happines walke on clearly in this heauenly professiō acknowledging that God could not do more for vs that we cānot do enough for him Let others boast as your Ladiship might with others of ancient and noble houses large Patrimonies or dowries honourable commaunds others of famous names high and enuied honors or the fauors of the greatest others of valor or beauty or some perhaps of eminent learning and wit it shall bee our pride that we are Christians To my Lady Honoria Hay Ep. IIII. Discoursing of the necessity of Baptisme and the estate of those which necessarily want it MADAME MEthinks children are like teeth troublesome both in the breeding and loosing oftentimes painful while they stand yet such as we neither would nor can well be without I goe not about to comfort you thus late for your losse I rather congratulate your wise moderation Christian care of these first spirituall priuiledges desiring only to satisfie you in what you hard as a witnesse not in what you needed as a mother Children are the blessings of Parents and baptisme is the blessing of children and parents Wherein there is not only vse but necessity Necessity not in respect so much of the end as of the precept God hath enioyned it to the comfort of parents and behoofe of children which therefore as it may not be superstitiously hastened so not negligently differred That the contempt of baptisme damneth is past all doubt but that the constrained absence thereof should send infants to hel is a cruell rashnesse It is not their sinne to die early death is a punishment not an offence an effect of sinne not a cause of torment they want nothing but time which they could not cōmand Because they could not liue a while longer that therfore they should die euerlastingly is the hard sentence of a bloody religion I am onely sorry that so harsh an opinion should bee graced with the name of a father so reuerend so diuine whose sentence yet let no man pleade by halues He who helde it vnpossible for a child to be saued vnlesse the baptismall water were powred on his face held it also as vnpossible for the same infant vnlesse the sacramētal bread were receiued into his mouth There is the same ground for both the same error in both a weaknes fit for forgetfulnes seeyet how ignorāt or il meaning posterity could single out one half of the opinion for truth and condemne the other of falshood In spight of whom one part shall easily conuince the other yea without al force since both cannot stand both will fall together for company The same mouth which said vnlesse ye be borne againe of water and the holy Ghost said also Except yee eate the flesh of the Sonne of man and drinke his blood An equall necessity of both And lest any one should plead different interpretations the same Saint Austin auerres this later opinion also concerning the necessary communicating of children to haue beene once the common iudgement of the Church of Rome A sentence so displeasing that you
the other Nothing obligeth vs men so much as smarting for vs words of defence are woorthy of thankes but pain is esteemed aboue recompence How do we kisse the woundes which are taken for our sakes and professe that we would hate our selues if wee did not loue those that dare bleed for vs How much more shal the God of mercies be sensible of your sorrowes and crowne your patience To whom you may truely sing that ditty of the Diuine Psalmist Surely for thy sake am I slaine continually and am counted as a Sheepe for the slaughter What neede I to stir vp your constancy which hath already amazed and wearied your persecutors No suspition shall driue me heereto but rather the thirst of your praise He that exhorts to persist in well-doing whiles he perswades commendeth Whether shoulde I rather send you then to the sight of your own Christian fortitude which neither Prayers nor threats haue bin able to shake Heere stands on the one hand Liberty Promotion Pleasure life and which easily exceeds al these the deare respect of wife and children whome your onely resolution shall make Widdow and Orphanes these with smiles and vowes and teares seeme to importune you On the other hand bondage solitude horror death and the most lingering of all miseries ruine of posterity these with frowns and menaces labour to afright you Betwixt both you haue stoode vnmooued fixing your eyes either right forward vpon the cause of your suffering or vpwards vppon the Crowne of your reward It is an happy thing when our owne actions may be either examples or arguments of good These blessed proceedings call you on to your perfection The reward of good beginnings prosecuted is doubled neglected is lost How vaine are those temptations vvhich would make you a looser of all this praise this recompence Go on therfore happily keepe your eies where they are and your heart cannot bee but where it is and where it ought Looke still for what you suffer for whom For the truth or Christ what can be so precious as truth Not life it selfe All earthly things are not so vile to life as life to truth Life is momentary Truth eternall Life is ours the Truth Gods Oh happy purchase to giue our life for the Truth What can we suffer too much for Christ He hath giuen our life to vs he hath giuen his own life for vs. What great thing is it if he require what he hath giuen vs if ours for his Yea rather if he cal for what he hath lent vs yet not to bereue but to chaunge it giuing vs Gold for our clay glory for our corruption Behold that Sauiour of yours weeping bleeding dying for your alas our soules are too strait for his sorrowes we can be made but paine for him He was made sin for vs we sustain for him but the impotent anger of men hee strugled with the infinite wrath of his Father for vs. Oh who can endure enough for him that hath passed thorough Death and hell for his Soule Thinke this and you shall resolue with Dauid I will bee yet more vile for the Lord. The woorst of the despight of men is but Death and that if they inflict not a disease wil or if not that Age. Heere is no imposition of that which would not be but an hastening of that which will bee An hastening to your gaine For behold their violence shall turne your necessity into Vertue and profit Nature hath made you mortall none but an enemie can make you a Martyr you must die though they will not you cannot die for Christ but by them How coulde they else deuise to make you happie Since the giuer of both liues hath said Hee that shall loose his life for my sake shall saue it Loe this alone is lost with keeping and gained by losse Say you were freed vppon the safest conditions and returning As how welcome should that newes be more to yours then to your selfe Perhappes death may meete you in the way perhaps ouer-take you at home neither place nor time can promise immunitie from the common destinie of men Those that may abridge your houres cannot lengthen them and while they last cannot secure them from vexation yea themselues shall followe you into their dust and cannot auoide what they can inflicte death shal equalie tirannize by them and ouer them so their fauors are but fruitlesse their malice gainefull For it shall change your prison into heauen your Fetters into a Crown your Iailours to Angels your misery into glory Looke vppe to your future estate and reioyce in the present Beholde the Tree of Life the hidden Manna the Scepter of Power the Morning-Starre the white garment the newe name the Crowne and Throne of Heauen are adressed for you Ouercome and enioy them oh glorious condition of Martyrs whom conformity in death hath made like their Sauiour in blessednesse whose honour is to attend him for euer whō they haue ioyed to imitate VVhat are these which are arayd in long white robes and whence came they These are saies that Heauenly Elder they which came out of great Tribulation and vvashed their long Robes and haue made their long Robes white in the bloude of the Lambe Therefore they are in the presence of the Throne of GOD and serue him day and night in the Temple and hee that sitteth on the Throne will dwel among them and Gouerne them and leade them vnto the liuelie Fountaines of waters and GOD shall wipe all teares from their eyes All the elect haue Seales in theyr fore-heades But Martyrs haue Palme in theyr handes All the elect haue White Robes Martyrs both white and long White for their Glorie long for the largenesse of their Glorie Once redde with theyr owne bloude now white with the bloude of the Lambe There is nothing in our bloude but weake obedience nothing but merrit in the Lambes-bloud Behold his merite makes our obedience Glorious You doo but sprinckle his feet with your bloude Loe hee washes your long white Robes with his Euerie droppe of your bloude is answered with a streame of his and euerie droppe of his is woorth Riuers of ours Precious in the sight of the Lorde is the Death of his Saintes Precious in preuention Precious in acceptation precious in remuneration Oh giue willingly that which you cannot keepe that you may receyue what you cannot leese The way is steepe but now you breath towardes the top Let not the want of some few steps loose you an eternall rest Put too the strength of your owne Fayth The Prayers of Gods Saints shall further your pace that gracious hand that sustaines heauen and earth shall vphold and sweetly draw you vp to your glory Go on to credite the gospell with your perseuerance and shew the false-hearted Clients of that Romayne-Court that the Trueth yeildes reall and heartie professours such as dare no lesse smart then speake for her Without the wals of your restraint where can
can neither be impotent nor vnmercifull It is the Lord let him doe what he will VVoe were vs if euils could come by chance or were let loose to alight where they list now they are oueruled wee are safe The destinie of our sorrowes is written in heauen by a wise and eternall decree Behold he that hath ordained moderates them A faithfull God that giues anissue with the tentation An issue both of their end and their successe He chides not alwayes much lesse striketh Our light afflictions are but for a moment not so long in respect of our vacancy and rest If we weepe somtimes our teares are precious As they shall neuer be dry in his bottle so they shall soone be dry vpon our cheekes Hee that wrings them from vs shal wipe them off how sweetly doth he interchange our sorrows and ioyes that wee may neither be vaine nor miserable It is true to be strooke once in anger is fearefull his displeasure is more then his blow In both our God is a consuming fire Feare not these stripes are the tokens of his loue hee is no Son that is not beaten yea till he smart and cry if not till he bleed no parent corrects anothers child and he is no good parent that corrects not his owne Oh rod worthy to be kissed that assures vs of his loue of our adoption VVhat speake I of no hurt short prayses doe but discommend I say more these euills are good looke to their effects What is good if not patience affliction is the mother of it tribulation bringeth forth patience VVhat can earth or heauen yeeld better then the assurance of Gods spirit Afflictions argue yea seale this to vs. Wherein stands perfect happinesse if not in our neare resemblance of Christ VVhy was man created happy but because in Gods image The glory of Paradise the beauty of his body the duty of the creatures could not giue him felicity without the likenesse to his creator Behold what we lost in our height we recouer in our misery a conformity to the Image of the Sonne of God hee that is not like his elder brother shall neuer be coheire with him Lo his side temples hands feet all bleeding his face blubbred ghastly spitted on his skin al pearled with a bloody sweate his head drouping his soule heauy to the death see you the worldling merry soft delicate perfumed neuer wrinkled with sorrow neuer humbled with afflictions What resemblance is here yea what contrariery Ease slayeth the foole it hath made him resty and leaues him miserable Be not deceiued No man can follow Christ without his Grosse much lesse reach him and if none shall reigne with Christ but these that suffer with him what shall become of these iolly ones Go now thou dainty worldling and please thyselfe in thy happines laugh alwaies and bee euer applauded It is a wofull felicity that thou shalt find in opposition to thy redeemer He hath saide woe to them that laugh Beleeuest thou and dost not weepe at thy laughter and with Salomon condemne it of madnes And againe with the same breath Blessed are ye that weepe who can beleeue this and not reioyce in his owne teares and not pitty the faint smiles of the godlesse Why blessed For ye shal laugh Behold we that weepon earth shal laugh in heauen wee that now weepe with men shall laugh with Angels while the fleering worldling shal be gnashing and howling with diuels we that weepe for a time shall laugh for euer who would not be content to differ his ioy a little that it may be perpetuall and infinite VVhat mad man would purchase this crackling of thornes such is the wordlings ioy with eternal shrieking tormēt he that is the dore and the way hath taught vs that through many afflictions wee must enter into heauen There is but one passage and that a strait one It with much pressure wee can get through and leaue but our superfluous rags as torne from vs in the crowd we are happy Hee that made heauen hath on purpose thus framed it wide when we are entred and glorious narrow and hard in the entrance that after our paine our glory might be sweeter And if before hand you can climbe vp thither in your thoughts looke about you you shall see no more palmes then crosses you shall see none crown'd but those that haue wrestled with crosses and so rows to sweat yea to blood and haue ouercome All runs here to the ouercommer and ouercomming implies both fighting and successe Girde vp your loynes therefore and strengthen your weake knees resolue to fight for heauen to suffer in fighting to persist in suffering so persisting you shall ouercome and ouercomming you shall bee crowned Oh reward truely great aboue desert yea aboue conceit A crowne for a fewe groanes And eternall crowne of life and glory for a short and moment any suffering How iust is Saint Pauls account that the afflictions of this present life are not worthy of the glory which shall be shewed vnto vs O Lord let me smart that I may reigne vphold thou me in smarting that thou mayest holde mee worthy of reigning It is no matter how vile I be so I may be glorious VVhat say you would you not bee afflicted VVhether had you rather mourne for a while or for euer One must bee chosen the election is easie Whether had you rather reioyce for one fit or alwayes You would doe both Pardon me it is a fond couetousnes and idle singularity to affect it What That you alone may fare better then all Gods Saints That God should strew Carpets for your nice feet onely to walke into your heauen and make that way smooth for you which all Patriarks Prophets Euangelists Confessors Christ himselfe haue found rugged and bloody Away with this selfe loue and come downe you ambitious Sonne of Zebedee and ere you thinke of sitting neare the throne bee content to bee called vnto the Cup. Now is your tryall Let your Sauiour see how much of his bitter potion you can pledge then shall you see how much of his glory he can afford you Be content to drinke of his Vineger and gall and you shall drinke new wine with him in his kingdome To Master Peter Moulin Preacher of the Church at PARIS EP. VI. Discoursing of the late French occurrents and what vse God expects to be made of them SInce your trauels here with vs wee haue not forgotten you but since that your witty and learned trauels in the common affaires of Religion haue made your memory both fresh and blessed Beholde whiles your hand was happily busie in the defence of our King the heads and hands of traitors were busie in the massacring of your owne God doth no memorable and publick act which he would not haue talked of read construed of all the world How much more of neighbours whom scarce a sea seuereth from each other how much yet more of brethren whom neither land nor
were solue not when your hart is once thus setled it shall commaund all things to aduantage The World shall not betray but serue it and that shall be fulfilled which God promises by his Salomon VVhen the wayes of a man please the Lord he wil make his enimies also at peace with him Sir this aduice my pouerty affoorded long since to a weake friend I Write it not to you any otherwise then as Schollers are woont to say their part to their Maisters The world hath long and iustly both noted and honoured you for eminence in wisedome and learning and I aboue the most I am ready with the awe of a Learner to embrace all precepts from you you shall expect nothing from me but Testimonies of respect and thankefulnesse EPIST. III. To S George Fleetwood ¶ Of the remedies of sinne and motiues to auoyde it THere is none either more common or more troblesom guest then Sin Troublesome both in the solicitation of it and in the remorse Before the act it wearies vs with a wicked importunity after the act it torments vs with feares and the painful gnawings of an accusing Conscience Neyther is it more irkesome to men then odious to God who indeed neuer hated any thing but it and for it any thing How happy were we if we could be rid of it This must be our desire but cannot be our hope so long as wee carry this bodie of sinne and death about vs yet which is our comfort it shall not carry vs though wee carry it It will dwell with vs but with no commaund yea with no peace Wee grudge to giue it house-roome but wee hate to giue it seruice This our Hagar wil abide many strokes ere she be turned out of doores she shall go at last and the seede of promise shall inherit alone There is no vnquyetnesse good but this and in this case quietnesse cannot stand with safetie neither did euer warre more truly beget peace then in this strife of the soule Resistance is the way to victory and that to an eternall peace and happynesse It is a blessed care then how to resist sinne how to auoyd it and such as I am glad to teach and learne As there are two grounds of all sin so of the auoydance of Sinne Loue and Feare These if they be placed amisse cause vs to offend if aright are the remedies of euill The Loue must be of God Feare of Iudgement As he loues much to whom much is forgiuen so hee that loues much will not dare to dooe that which may neede forgiuenesse The heart that hath felt the sweetnesse of Gods mercies will not abide the bitter rellish of sinne This is both a stronger motiue then Fear and more Noble None but a good heart is capable of this grace which who so hath receyued thus powerfully repelles tentations Haue I found my God so gracious to me that hee hath denyed mee nothing eyther in earth or heauen and shal not J so much as deny my owne will for his sake Hath my deare Sauiour bought my soul at such a price and shall he not haue it Was hee crucified for my sinnes and shall I by my sinnes crucifie him againe Am J his in so many bonds and shall J serue the Diuel O God! is this the fruit of thy beneficence to me that J should wilfully dishonor thee Was thy blood so little worth that I should treade it vnder my feete Dooth this become him that shall be once glorious vvith thee Hast thou prepared heauen for me and do I thus prepare my selfe for heauen Shall I thus recompence thy loue in dooing that which thou hatest Satan hath no Dart I speak confidently that can pierce this Shielde Christians are indeed to oft surprized ere they can holde it out there is no small pollicy in the suddainenesse of temptation but if they haue once setled it before their brest they are safe and their enemy hopelesse Vnder this head therefore there is sure remedie against sinne by looking vpwardes backwards into our selues forwards Vpwards at the glorious Maiesty and infinite goodnesse of that God whom our sinne would offend and in whose face we sin whose mercies whose holynesse is such that if there were no hel we would not offend Backwards at the manifold fauours whereby we are obliged to obedience Into our selues at that honourable vocation wherewith he hath graced vs that holy profession we haue made of his calling and grace that solemne vowe Couenant whereby we haue confirmed our profession the gracious beginnings of that spirit in vs which is grieued by our sinnes yea quenched Forwards at the ioy which will follow vpon our forbearance that peace of conscience that happy expectation of glory compared with the momentary and vnpleasing delight of a present sinne All these out of Loue Fear is a retentiue as necessary not so ingenuous Jt is better to be wonne then to be frighted from sinne to be allured then drawne Both are little inough in our pronesse to euil Euil is the onely obiect of feare Heerein therefore wee must terrifie our stubburnnesse with both euils Of losse and of sence that if it be possible the honor of the euent may counteruaile the pleasure of the tentation Of losse remembering that now we are about to loose a God to cast away all the comforts hopes of ano her world to rob our selues of all those sweete mercies we inioyed to thrust his spirit out of doores which cannot abide to dwell within the noysom stench of sinne to shut the doores of heauen against our selues Of sence That thus we giue satan a right in vs power ouer vs aduantage against vs. That wee make God to frowne vpon vs in heauen That we arme all his good creatures against vs on earth That we do as it were take Gods hand in ours scourge our selues with all Temporall plagues and force his curses vpon vs and ours That we wound our owne consciences with sins that they may wound vs with euerlasting torments That we do both make an hell in our breasts before hande and open the gates of that bottomlesse pit to rereceiue vs afterwards That wee doe now cast Brimstone into the Fire and least we should faile of tortures make our selues our owne fiends These vvhat euer other terrors of this kinde must be layde to the soule vvhich if they be throughly vrged to an heart not altogether incredulous Wel may a man aske himselfe how he dare sin But if neyther this Sunne of mercies nor the tempestuous Winds of iudgement can make him cast off Peters cloake of vvickednesse hee must bee clad vvith confusion as vvith a cloak according to the Psalmist I tremble to thinke hovv many liue as if they vvere neyther beholden to God nor affrayde of him neyther in his debt nor daunger As if their heauen and hell vvere both vpon earth Sinning not onely vvithout shame but not vvithout mallice It is theyr least ill to do
Christ her husband neuer diuorc't her No his loue is still aboue their hatred his blessinges aboue their censures Do but ask them were we euer the true church of God If they deny it Who then were so Had God neuer Church vpon earth since the Apostles time till Barrow Greenwood arose And euen then scarce a number nay when or where was euer any man in the worlde except in the Schooles perhaps of Donatus or Nouatus that taught their Doctrine and now still hath hee none but in a blind lane at Amsterdam Can you thinke this probable If they affirme it when ceased we Are not the pointes controuerted still the same The same Gouernment the same doctrine Their minds are changed not our estate Who hath admonished euinced eccommunicated vs and when All these must be done Will it not be a shame to say that Francis Iohnson as he tooke power to excommunicate his Brother and Father so had power to excōmunicate his Mother the Church How base and idle are these conceits Are we then heretickes condemned in ourselues wherin ouerthroew wee the foundation What other God Sauiour Scriptures Iustification Sacraments Heauen do they teach beside vs Can al the Maisters of seperation yea can al the churches in Christendome set forth a more exquisite and woorthy confession of Faith then is contained in the Articles of the Church of England Who can hold these and be hereticall Or from which of these are we reuolted But to make this good they haue taught you to say that euery trueth in Scripture is fundamentall so fruitfull is errour of absurdities Whereof stil one breedes another more deformed then it selfe That Trophimus was left at Miletum sicke that Pauls Cloake was left at Troas that Gaius Paules hoast saluted the Romaines that Naball was drunke or that Thamar baked Cakes and a thousand of this nature are fundamentall how large is the separatists Creed that hath all these Articles If they say al Scripture is of the same author of the same authority so say we but not of the same vse is it as necessary for a Christian to knowe that Peter hosted with one Simon a tanner in Ioppd as that Iesus Christ the son of God was born of the Virgin Mary What a mōster is this of an opiniō that al trueths are equal that this spiritual house should be all foundation no wals no roofe Can no man be saued but hee that knowes euery thing in scripture Then both they and we are excluded heauē wold not haue so many as their Parlor at Amsterdam Can any man be saued that knowes nothing in Scripture It is far frō them to bee so ouercharitable to affirm it you see thē that both al truths must not of necessity be known some must these we iustly call fundamental which who so holdeth al his hay stubble through the mercy of God condemn him not stil he hath right to the church on erth hope in heauē but whither euery truth be fundamētal or necessary discipline you say is so indeed necessary to the wel-being of a church no more it may be true without it not perfect Christ cōpares his spouse to an army with banners as order is to an army so is Discipline to the Church if the troups be not well marshalled in their seuerall ranks moue not forward acording to the discipline of warre it is an army stil cōfusion may hinder their succes it cannot bereaue thē of their name it is as beautiful proportiō to the body an hedge to a vineyard a wal to a Citty an hem to a garment seeling to an house It may be a body vineyard Citty garment house without them it cannot be wel and perfect yet which of our aduersaries vvill say wee haue no Discipline Some they graunt but not the right as if they sayde Your Citty hath a Bricke-wall indeede but it should haue one of hewen stone your Vineyard is hedged but it should be paled ditched while they cauill at what wee want wee thanke God for what wee haue and so much we haue in spight of all detraction as makes vs both a true Church and a worthy one But the mayn quarrel is against our Ministery and forme of worship let these be examined this is the Circle of their censure No Church therefore no Ministery and no Ministery therefore no Church vnnatural sons that spit in the face of those spirituall Fathers that be got them and the Mother that bore them What woulde they haue Haue wee not competent guifts from aboue for so great a function Are we all vnlearned vnsufficient Not a man that knowes to deuide the word aright As Paul to the Corinthes is it so that there is not one wise man amongest vs No man vvill affirm it some of them haue censured our excesse in some knowledge none our defect in all What then Haue we not a true desire to do faithful seruice to God and his Church No zeal for Gods glory Who hath beene in our harts to see this Who dare vsurp vpon God condemn our thoughts Yea we appeale to that only Iudge of harts whether he hath not giuen vs a sincere longing for the good of his Syon he shall make the thoughts of al hearts manifest and then shall euerie man haue praise of God if then wee haue both ability and will to do publick good our inward calling which is the mayne poynt is good and perfect for the outward what want wee Are we not first after good triall presented approued by the learned in our Colledges examined by our church-gouernors ordaind by imposition of hāds of the eldership alowed by the congregations we are set ouer do we not labor in word doctrine do we not carefully administer the sacraments of the Lord Iesus haue we not by our publick means won many soules to God what shuld we haue do more Al this yet no true Ministers we passe very little to be iudged of thē or of mans day but our ordainers you say are Antichristian surely our censurers are vnchristian tho we shold grant it some of vs were baptized by hereticks is the sacrament annihilated and must it bee redoubled How much lesse ordination which is but an outward admission to preach the gospel God forbid that we shold thus condemne the innocent more hands were laid vpon vs then one of them for the principall except but their perpetual honor som few immateriall rites let an enemy say what they differ from Super-intendents can their double honor make them no elders Jf they haue any personal falts why is their calling scourged Looke into our Sauiours times what corruptions were in the very Priesthood It was now made annual which was before fixed singular Christ saw these abuses was silent heere was much dislike and no clamour we for lesse exclaim seperate euen personal offences are fetcht into the condemnation of lawfull courses God giue both pardon
you looke beside encouragements of suffering Beholde in this how much you are happier then your many predecessors Those haue found friends or wiues or children the most dangerous of al tempters Suggestions of weakenes when they com masked with loue are more powerfull to hurt But you all your manie friendes in the valour of their Christian loue wish rather a blessed Martyr then a liuing and prosperous reuolter yea your deare wife worthy of this honour to be the wife of a Martyr preferres your faith to her affection and in a courage beyond hir Sex contemnes the worst miserie of your losse professing she woulde redeeme your life with hirs but that she would not redeeme it with your yeildance and while shee lookes vppon those manie pawns of your chast loue your hopefull Children wishes rather to see them fatherlesse then their Father vnfaithfull The greatest part of your sufferings are hers She beares them with a cheerefull resolution She diuides with you in your sorrowes in your patience she shall not bee diuided in your glory For vs we shall accompanie you with our Prayers and followe you with our thankefull commemorations vowing to Write your name in red Letters in the Kalenders of our hearts and to Register it in the monuments of perpetual Records as an example to all posteritie The memoriall of the iust shal bee blessed EPIST. X. To all Readers ¶ Containing Rules of good aduise for our Christian and ciuill carriage I Grant Breuitie where it is neyther obscure nor defectiue is very pleasing euen to the daintist iudgments No maruaile therefore if most men desire much good couÌ„sel in a narrow room as some affect to haue great personages drawne in little Tablets or as we see worlds of Countreyes described in the compasse of small Mappes Neither do I vnwillingly yeild to sollowe them for both the powers of good aduice are the stronger when they are thus vnited and breuitie makes counsell more portable for memorie and readier for vse Take these therefore for more which as I would faine practise so am I willing to commend Let vs begin with him who is the first and last Informe your selfe aright concerning God without whome in vaine do we know all things Bee acquainted with that Sauiour of yours which paid so much for you on earth and now sues for you in heauen without whom wee haue nothing to doe with God nor he with vs. Adore him in your thoughts trust him with your selfe Renew your sight of him euerie day and his of you Ouer-look these earthly things when you do at any time cast your eyes vppon heauen thinke there dwels my Sauiour there I shall be Call your selfe to often reckonings cast vp your debts paiments graces wants expences imploiments yeeld not to thinke your set Deuotions troublesome Take not easie denialles from your selfe yea giue peremptory denials to your selfe Hee can neuer bee good that flatters himselfe hold nature to her allowaunce and let your wil stand at curtesy happy is that man which hath obtained to be the Maister of his owne heart Thinke all Gods outward fauors and prouisions the best for you your own abilities and actions the meanest Suffer not your minde to bee either a Drudge or a wanton exercise it euer but ouerlay it not In al your businesses look throgh the world at God whatsoeuer is your leuell let him bee your scope Euery day take a view of your last and thinke either it is this or may be Offer not your selfe either to honour or labour let them both seeke you Care you onely to be woorthy and you cannot hide you from God so frame your self to the time companie that you may neyther serue it nor sullenly neglect it and yeeldâ— so far as you may neither betray goodnesse nor countenance euil Let your words bee few and digested It is a shame for the tongue to cry the heart mercie much more to cast it selfe vpon the vncertaine pardon of others eares There are but two things which a Christian is charged to buy and not to sell Time and Truth both so precious that we must purchase them at anie rate So vse your friends as those which should be perpetuall may bee chaungeable while you are within yourselfe there is no daunger but thoughts once vttered must stande to hazard Do not hear from your selfe what you would be loath to hear from others In al good thinges giue your eye and eare the ful scope for they let into the minde restraine the tongue for it is a spender fewe men haue repented them of silence In all serious matters take counsel of daies nights and friends let leasure ripen your purposes neither hope to gain ought by suddennesse The first thoughtes may be confident the second are wiser Serue honestie euer though without apparant wages she wil pay sure if slow As in apparell so in actions know not what is good but what becomes you how manie warrantable acts haue mishapen the Authors Excuse not your owne ill aggrauate not others and if you loue peace auoide Censures comparisons contradictions out of good men chuse acquaintance of acquaintance friends of friends familiars after probacion admit them afâ—eâ— admittance chaâ—ge them not Age commendeth friendship Do not alwayes your best it is neither wise nor safe for a man euer to stand vpon the top of his strength If you would be aboue the expectation of others 〈…〉 your selfe 〈…〉 after your pâ—â—â—â— not after your minde 〈◊〉 To where you may deny except vpon Confidence of deâ—â—â—â— or hope to require Eyther frequent â—â—liâ—s or complaints are wearisome to any friende Rather smother your griefes and wantes aâ— you may then be either querulous or importunate Let not your face belye your heart nor alwaies tell tales out of it he is fit to liue amongst frends or enimies that can be ingenuously close Giue freely sell thriftily Change seldome your place neuer your state either 〈…〉 conueniences or swallow them rather theen you should run from your selfe to auoide them In al your reckonings for the world cast vp some crosses that appeare not either those will come or may Let your suspicions bee charitable your trust fearfull your censures sure Giue way to the anger of the great The Thunder and Cannon will abide no fence As in throngs we are affraid of losse so while the world comes vpon you look wel to your soule There is more danger in good then in euil I fear the number of these my rules for Precepts are wont as nayles to driue out one another but these intended to scatter amongest many and I was loath that anie guest should complain of a niggardly hand Daintie Dishes are woont to be sparingly serued out homely ones supply in their bignesse what they want in their worth FINIS Index Expurg Homil. in 1. Cor. 7. De bono coniugij cap. 19. De bono coniug c. 9. c. 16.
euill Behold they speake for it ioy in it boast of it inforce to it as if they vvould send challenges into heauen make loue to destruction Their leudnesse cals for our sorrowe and zealous obedience that our God may haue as true Seruants as enimies And as vvee see naturall qualities increased vvith the resistaunce of theyr contraries so must our grace vvith others sinnes We shal redeeme somvvhat of Gods dishonour by sinne if vve shal thence grovv holye EPIST. IIII. To Mr. Doctor Milburne ¶ Discoursing how farre and wherein Popery destroyeth the foundation THe meane in all thinges is not more safe then hard whether to finde or keep as in al other morality it lyeth in a narrow roome so most in the matter of our censures especially concerning Religion wherein we are wont to be eyther carelesse or too peremptory How farre and wherein Popery raceth the foundation is worth our inquiry I neede not stay vpon wordes By foundation we mean the necessary groundes of Christian faith This foundation Papistry defaces by laying a new by casting downe the old In these cases addition destroyes he that obtrudes a new worde no lesse ouerthrowes the Scripture then hee that denÌ„yes the olde yea this very obtrusion denies he that sets vp a newe Christ reiects Christ Two foundations cannot stand at once The Arke and Dagon Now Papistry layes a double how foundation The one a new rule of faith that is a new word The other a new Author or guide of Faith that is a newe head besides Christ God neuer layde other foundation then in the Prophets and Apostles vpon their Diuine writing he meant to build his Church which hee therefore inspired that they might be like himselfe perfect and eternall Popery buildes vppon an vn-written word the voyce of old but doubtful Traditions The voyce of the present Church that is as they interpret it theyrs with no lesse confidence and presumption of certainety then any thing euer Written by the finger of God If this be not a new foundation the old was none God neuer taught this holy Spouse to knowe any other husband theÌ„ Christ to acknowledge any other head to followe any other Shepheard to obey any other King he alone may be inioyed without iealousie submitted to without danger without errour beleeued serued without scruple Popery offers to impose on Gods Church a King shepheard head husband besides her owne A man a man of sin He must know all things can erre in nothing direct inform animate coÌ„mand both in earth and Purgatory expounde Scriptures cannonize Saints forgiue Sins create new Articles of Faith and in all these is absolute and infallible as his Maker who sees not that if to attribute these things to the son of God bee to make him the foundation of the Church Then to ascribe them to another is to contradict him that sayde Other foundation can no man lay then that which is layde which is Iesus Christ. To lay a new foundation doth necessarily subuert the old yet see this further actually done in particulars wherein yet this distinction may cleare the way The foundation is ouerthrowne two wayes either in flat tearmes when a mayne principle of faith is absolutely denyed as the deity and consubstantiality of the sonne by Arrius the Trinity of persons by Sabellius and Seruetus the resurrection of the bodye by Himeneus and Philetus the last Iudgement by Saint Peters Mockers Or secondly by consequent when anie opinion is maintained which by iust sequell ouer turneth the trueth of that principle which the defendant professes to holde yet so as hee will not graunt the necessity of that deduction so the Ancient Mâ—nâ—i of whom Ierom speaketh while they vrged Circumcision by consequent according to Paules rule reiected Christ so the Pelagians while they defended a full perfection of our righteoushes in our selues ouerthrew Christes iustification and in effect sayde I beleeue in Christ and in myselfe so some Vbiauitaries while they hold the possibility of the conuersion and saluation of reprobates ouerthrow the Doctrine of Gods eternall decree and immutability Popery comes in this latter rank and may iustly be tearmed heresie by direct consequent Though not in their graunt yet in necessarie proofe and inference Thus it ouerthrowes the truth of Christs humanity while it holds his whole humaine body locally circumscribed in heauen at once the same instant wholy present in ten thousand places on earth without circumscription That whole Christ is in the formes of bread with all his dimensions euery part hauing his own place and figure and yet so as that he is wholly in euery part of the breade Our iustification while it ascribes it to our owne workes The Al-sufficiency of Christs owne Sacrifice whiles they reiterate it daily by the handes of a Priest Of his satisfaction while they holde a payment of our vtmost farthings in a deuised Purgatory Of his mediation while they implore others to ayde them not only by their intercession but their merites suing not onely for their Prayes but their gifts The value of the Scriptures whiles they hold them insufficient obscure in points essentiall to saluation bind them to an vncertaine dependance vpon the Church Besides hundreds of this kind there are heresies in actions contrary to those fundamentall practises which God requires of his As prohibitions of Scriptures to the Laity Prescriptions of deuotion in vnknowne tongues Tying the effect of Sacraments and Prayers to the externall worke Adoration of Angels Saints Bread Reliques Crosses Jmages All which are as so many reall vnderminings of the sacred foundation which is no lesse actiue then vocall By this the simplest may see what we must holde of Papists neyther as no Heretiques nor yet so palpable as the worst If any man aske for theyr conuiction In the simpler sort I grant this excuse fayre and tollerable Poore soules they cannot bee any otherwise informed much lesse perswaded Whiles in trueth of heart they hold the maine principles which they know doubtlesse the mercie of God may passe ouer their ignorant weakenesse in what they cannot know For the other I feare not to say that many of their errours are wilfull The light of truth hath shined out of heauen to them and they loue darkenesse more then light Jn this state of the Church hee shall speake and hope idly that shall call for a publique and vniuersall euiction How can that be when they pretend to bee Iudges in their owne cause Vnlesse they wil not be aduersaries to themselues or iudge of vs this course is but impossible As the Diuell so Antichrist will not yeelde both shall bee subdued neyther will treat of peace what remains but that the Lorde shall consume that wicked man which is now clearely reuealed with the breath of his mouth abolish him with the brightnes of his coÌ„ming Euen so Lord Iesus come quickly This briefly is my conceit of Popery which I willingly refer to your clear deepe iudgement being