is accidentally and from without And therefore S. Chrysostome excludes In Ep ad Coloss none from the comfortable use of the Scriptures but makes generall Proclamation to all sorts of people Audite quotquot est is mundani c. Hearken all ye men of the world that have wives and children how S. Paul the Apostle of Christ commandes you to read the Scriptures and that not slightly or perfunctorily but with great diligence Yea the same Father is so eager upon the point that he doth as it were force and thrust the Bible into the peoples hands Take the Bible into your hands saith he in your houses at home So likewise S. Ierome most Jerome gravely and divinely urges upon the same place of Scripture that Lay-men ought to have the Word of God not only sufficiently but abundantly whereby they may bee able to teach and to counsell others But bee it granted that some places of Scripture are obscure and darke it were but a fallacy à secundum quid ad simpliciter as the Logicians call it to argue from thence that the Scriptures are full of darknesse because some are difficult to some therefore all are dangerous to all sorts of vulgars The Prophet David reades a contrary Lecture to us and tels us That the Word of God is a Lanthorne unto our feete and a light unto our pathes And therefore Saint Chrysostome buildes upon a sure foundation Omnia clara plana In Gen. Hom. 29. sunt in Scripturis Divinis saith he quaecunque necessaria sunt manifestasunt All things are cleare and plaine in the Holy Scriptures whatsoever things are necessary for us are also manifested unto us Whereupon Clemens Alexandrinus makes an other Proclamation as hee is quoted by the same Chrysostome Audite qui est is In 2 Thes Hom. 3. longè auditè qui prope nullis caelatum est verbum Hearken yee that be farre off hearken yee that bee neere the Word of God is hid from no man As Moses to the Israelites It is neither in heaven Deut. 30. that wee need hire any to climbe for it nor yet beyond the Seas that we need get any travell for it but the Word of God is in our owne mouthes and in our owne hearts to doe it Luâ— est communis omnibus Clem Aleâ— orat aâ—hort ad gentes illucesâ—it nullis in verbo Cymmâ—rius As God so his Word is that common Light that inlightneth every man that comes into this world in it there is no darkenesse at all So Irenaeus Scripturae in aperto Lib. 1. cap. 45. sunt c. The Scriptures are plainâ— and without doubtfulnesse and may bee read indifferently of any So Saint Ierome The Lord hath spoken by his Gospell not that a few should understand him but that all For certainely beloved the Spirit of God is a free Spirit bound neither to the sharpenesse of our wit nor to the deepenesse of our learning for many times the simple and illiterate man being illuminated sees more then the Scribe or the great disputer of this world According to that clause of our Saviours prayer Matth. 11. I thanke thee O Father Lord of heaven and earth for that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto Babes Whereupon Epiphanius divinely Solis Spiritus Lib. 2. Sancti filiis facilis est Scriptura The Scriptures are plaine and cleere onely to the children of the holy Ghost The Spirit breatheth where it listeth without which wee can neither live nor move nor have any spirituall being we are meere dead men and therefore must needs be blind men But to those that are illuminated whether learned or unlearned there ariseth up light in darkenesse There is food of all sorts for all sorts of people So Fulgentius In Scripturis Divinis Serm. de con abundat quod robustus comedat quod parvulus sugat In the Word of God there is plenty sufficient strong meate for men milke for Babes It is the Bridegroomes Wine-cellar wherein he feasteth and comforteth his beloved Spouse with Flagons and Apples and delicates of all sorts whereof shee hath free welcome and liberty bibere inebriari to drinke and to bee satisfied and to drinke and to bee more then satisfied So farre are the reverend Fathers you see from fathering the abortives of heresie and schisme upon the sacred Scriptures that they rather indeed proclaime them to be the severe step-mother or murderesse of such Cockatrices in the egge Irenaeus confesses ingenuously that the onely cause of the Valentinian heresie was Scripturarum Dei ignorantia the peoples blindnesse and ignorance of the Scriptures So Saint Chrysostome concerning the errour of the Manichees in his time Manichaei Ad Heb. hom 8. omnes haereses decipiunt simplices The Manichees and all heresâ—es deceive the simple But if our mindes bee illuminated by often reading and hearing of the Scriptures we may be able to discerne both good and evill So likewise Theophylact Illis qui scrutantur Divinas Scripturas nihil potest illudere nothing can deceive them that diligently search the Holy Scriptures it is the candle whereby the theife is discovered So the ancient of dayes himselfe unto the Sadduces Yee erre not because Math. 2â— yee know but because yee know not the Scriptures For heresies or schismes arise not from the Scriptures themselves or any darknesse in them but from the ignorance and pravity that is in mans understanding they are rather discovered and suppressed by Scripture Should I tell you that a blind man may better avoyd dangers then he that seeth Or that a naked man in the middest of his enemies may better acquit himselfe then he that is compleately armed Or that the full fed I picure is neerer starving then the miserable captive that is debarred all kinde of sustenance you might well thinke I were mad So certainely it argues no lesse frenzie and in compossibilitie of minde to broach such unreasonable and unlikely doctrines But to winde up this controversie in one word It were an easie matter me thinkes to catch the adversary in his owne gin if wee did urge him to nominate what manner of persons hee thinkes meete in his owne conscience to be exempted from the reading of the Scriptures Hee cannot say old men for shame they are the very staffe and comfort of their age It was the sweete amabaeum and burden to Davids song when hee was aged In Gods Word will Psal 58. 10. I rejoyce in the Lords Word will I comfort me Not young men for pitty they are the onely curbe to restraine the heate and fury of their tamelesse youth for wherewithall shall a young man cleanse his waies but by ruling Psal 119. 9. himselfe according to Gods word Surely the Apostle S. Paul thought it the best breeding hee could possibly bestow upon his sonne Timothie 2 Tim. 3. 15. to bring him up in the knowledge
me a sinner The event in the former part of the 14. verse 14. I tell you this man departed to his house justified rather then â—â—â— the other The Application in the latter part of the same verse For every one that exalteth himselfe shall be brought low and he that humbleth himselfe shall be exalted The Preface admits of a threefold Quaere The first is what may be the meaning or signification of the word Parable The second is what may be the reason why our Saviour so often in the Gospel spake unto the people by parables The third and last is what may be the occasion why he spake and delivered this parable which appeares by the Text to be a discoverie of three grosse corruptions in certaine of his auditours The first was a presumptuous self-confidence by reason of a fond conceit of merit in their owne workes They trusted in themselves That presumptuous selfe-confidence begat an arrogant conceit of inherent righteousnesse that they were just And that arrogant conceit of inherent righteousnesse hatched the third generation of the viper That they vilified and despised others Also hee spake a parable to certaine that trusted in themselves that they were just or Righteous and despised others The first Quaene leades us to the Etymologie or signification of the word Parable which is taken either in the worser or in the better part When it is taken in the worser part it signifies a by-word a word of reproach or a fable As the Israelites Psal 44. 14. in the Psalme Posuisti nos Domine in parabolam Thou hast â—â—ade us O Lord a parable or a proverbe or a by-word amongst the heathen So the Lord by his servant Moses threatens a rebellious Deut 28. people that They shall become a wonder a proverbe and a by-word amongst all nations So that holy man Ioh complaines in Iob 17. 6. the heate of his miserie that God had made him a proverbe or a by-word of the people And so not onely David the type but the Psal 69. 12. sonne of David the substance complaines that he became a parable or a proverbe unto the people and that the very drunkards made songs upon him When it is taken in the better part it signifies either some grave and weighty matter such as David uttered upon his Harpe Or else Psal 49. 4. some short and sweete sentence such as Salomon delivers in his Proverbes Or else some darke obscure or figurative speech when the truth is wrapped up in a similitude or a comparison as in a riddle Thus the Lord commanded the Prophet Ezechiel to speake a parable Ezek. 24. 3. unto the rebellious house and say Prepare a pot and put water in it c. Ezechiel 24. 3. Vnder which shaddow is represented both the sinne and the punishment of impenitent Ierusalem And in this sence our Saviour tels his Disciples Matth. 13. Matth. 13. That hee spake unto the people by parables that seeing they might not see and hearing they might not heare neither understand that the Prophecy of Isaiah might bee fulfilled upon them And this must needs be the most genuine and proper signification of the word parable from the Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 assimulare being nothing else as Thomas Aquinas notes but Sermo similitudinarius qui aliud dicit aliud significat A comparative or an Enigmaticall kinde of speech speaking one thing and signifying another as it plainly appeares not onely in this but in all the parables of the Gospell The second Quaere leades us to the reason why our Saviour so often in the Gospel spake unto the people by parables which I find to be threefold First for the accomplishment of Scripture-prophecies This was our Saviours owne reason Matth. 13. before mentioned therefore doe I speake to them in parables that the prophecy of Isaiah might bee fulfilled upon them Secondly for the confirmation of other Scripture-prophecies to give us to understand that Christ spake not onely by the same spirit but with the very mouth and phrase and language of all the holy Prophets that ever were since the world beganne whose writings are full of comparisons similitudes and parables Thirstly and lastly That the mysteries of the Kingdome might be hidden from the wise and prudent of this world and onely revealed unto babes in Christ that to them onely might bee given to know the secrets of the Kingdome but to others in parables And therefore the holy Scripture is aptly compared by Saint Gregory unto â—o flumen in que agnus ambukt Elephaâ— na tet Ep. ad Leand. a flood wherein the Lambe may wade and the Elephant swim Though parables are darke mysteries unto the proude and skornefull yet they are made â—pert and plaine unto the humble and meeke Our blessed Saviour in his infinite wisedome conceived it to bee the quaintest and most profitable kind of teaching to instruct the simple people by similies and parables which being once truly understood doe mightily delight the understanding helpe the memory move the will captivate the affections cast downe the imaginations and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ How strangely did Nathans parable winde it selfe secretly into the heart of David convincing him so modestly and so strongly too that his owne mouth condemned him to be that man of blood the parable intimated Our Saviour 2 Sam. 12. caught the Iewes in the very same trap by putting a question unto them in the parable of the Vineyard and ungracious husbandmen When the Lord of the Matth. 21. 20. Vineyard shall come saith he what shall hee doe to these husbandmen They themselves replye and plead themselves guilty in the very answer following Hee will cruelly destroy those wicked men and let out his Vineyard to others Wherupon our Saviour inferres most bitterly but most justly Therefore I say unto you the kingdome of God shall be taken from you If Seneca held the use of parables Epist 59. so necessary to wade through the shallow studie of humanitie that hee calls them Imbecillitatis nostrae adminicula props and supporters of our weakenesse how much more needfull are these bladders to beare us up in the maine Ocean of Divinitie they may be something windy but exceeding profitable Discentem et audientem in rem praesentem adducunt saith Seneca Plaine similitudes familiar examples and homely comparisons doe force more doctrine into vulgar apprehensions then subtill reasons solid arguments or accurate discourses When every Mechanicke is argued withall in his owne language every Tradesman in his owne occupation and every countrey Swaine in the naturall dialect of his owne barbarisme it must needs informe the understanding reforme the will and so mightily edifie the whole man that it wil even pierce through to the dividing asunder of the soule and of the spirit of the joynts and of the marrow nay it will dive
we have done with it wee shall finde it will reach us all and spare none for as much as he that is soundest at the heart may at one time or other if hee flatter not himselfe too much discover in himselfe some dregs of hypocrisie some spice of the Pharisee Let every one then in the feare of God apply the parable onely to himselfe as ingenuously taxing his owne conscience as Nathan did David and say Tu es homo Thou art the man our Saviour now taxes and the Preacher now speakes to That so every one resolving to mend one God in his mercy may mend all And upon this good resolution by the blessing of the Author we may venter upon the Parable Two men went up into the Temple to pray the one was a Pharisce and the other a Publican That great Divell incarnate Hypocrisie in devotion is heere discovered unto us by our blessed Saviour by a parable of two men as like in outward shew that it is very hard to discerne the one from the other but as different in inward substance as light and darknesse Their behaviour is expressed in the words of this Text joyntly together then severally and apart in the verses following At first sight a man would thinke all were well Here are first Duo homines two men good company Here is secondly ascensus in Templum they walke and they talke and they converse together and they goe up into the Temple together a good posture Here is thirdly Devotio a seeming strong devotion They goe up into the Temple to pray a good exercise But alas heere is the leaven that sowres all and swels all the leaven of Pharisees The one was a Pharisee and the other a Publican Duo homines two men why good company and once a rarity to bee found upon the face of the earth Without all question societie is both commendable and comfortable by the principles of nature and grace to for though unum bonum covâ—rtuntur by our mecaphysicall discipline yet hee that soares but one degree higher shall finde that the most perfect unitie is best pleased to admit of a Trinitie No doubt to signifie that as there can bee no true societie without an unitie so there can bee no perfect unitie without a Societie Went these two men up into the Temple they could not have trod a fayrer path A journey that David undertooke with great alacritie and cheerefulnesse especially when hee went up into the Temple with companie the more the merrier I was glad saith hâ— when they said unto me Wee will goe into the house of the Lord. It is a good sight to see men go by twoes into the Temple but a farre more blessed to see them flocke by tens and hundreds and thousands As blessed bee God in this and divers other Congregations in this Kingdome Went these two men up into the Temple to pray they could not have gone with a better resolution nor performed a better exercise Had they gone but singly up into a private chamber or a closet to pray and beene still it had beene no question an acceptable sacrifice of righteousnesse Devotion bee it never so private if it be hearty shall never returne emptie without a blessing It is like Davids Tree planted by the Psal 1. waters side whose leafe never withers but still brings forth fruit in due season whatsoever it doth it shall prosper It is a fruitfull Vine continually bearing clusters of ripe grapes whose roote is charity whose stocke faith whose top hope whose spreading twigges are laden with fruite the workes of mercie and whose flourishing blossomes are the wholesome wordes of wisedome As the morning Starre in the midst of a cloud As the Moone Eccle. 50. when it is at full As the Sun shining upon the Temple of the most high As a bright raine-bow in faire clouds As the flower of Roses in the spring As Lillies by the rivers of water As fire and incense in the Censer As a vessell of massie gold beset with all manner of precious stones As a faire Olive tree that is fruitfull As a Cipresse tree that growes up to the clouds And as the fat that is taken from the Peace-offering so is the I am 5. 16. prayer of the righteous man if it be fervent It is paled in like the garden of Eden with everlasting mercies when the best of our sacrifices are layed waste and common It floates like Noahs Arke upon the waters of affliction when the best of our thoughts are overwhelmed and perish It buds and bloomes like Aarons rod and brings forth ripe Almonds when the best of our works remaine dry and wither This one sheafe stands upright and this one starre sparkles when the rest of the hile fall flat upon the ground and all wandering Comets are quite obscured Abigals bottles of Wine and frayles of Raisons were never so welcome to hungry David in the wildernesse of Parran Nor the shadie Iuniper tree so delectable to the Prophet in the parching Sun Nor Iacobs fat Kid so acceptable to his fatheâ— Isaac in his sicknesse Nor the sight of young Benjamin so pretious to his brother Ioseph when he was the chiefe Governor of Pharaohs Court in Egypt Nor the Wals of Ierusalem so deare unto the Iewes that kissed them at their returne from captivity as zealous and hearty prayer is unspeakeably comfortable to the soule of a distresled sinner It fils the mouth with laughter and the heart with gladnesse It gives light to them that sit in darknesse and life to them that sit in the shaddow of death it is Damonibus flagellum animae subsidium Deo sacrificium Aug. A scourge to the Divell a prop to the Soule a Sacrifice to God which God cannot despise It is the continuall feast of a pined conscience the onely solace in a Sea of sorrowes Call upon me in the time of trouble saith the Lord so will I heare thee and thou shalt praise mee It is the very Lodovicus Granaâ—eus station of the soule in the presence of God and the station of God in the presence of the soule God lookes upon her with the Eye of mercy and she glances upon God with the eye of humility What shall I say more It is the food of the Soule the quintescence of all spirituall comfort the obtaining of all the graces and favours of the great King of Heaven the ravishing seale of that interchangable kisse of peace betwixt the Bridegroome and the Bride that spirituall Sabbath wherein the Creator himselfe desires to rest that Lodge in the forrest of Libanus wherein the true Salomon solaces himselfe and enjoyes his delights with the sonnes of men It is milke for Babes strong meat for men provision for the traveller an haven to the mariner victory to the militant and glory to the triumphant It is physicke to the sicke joy to the afflicted strength to the weake It amends the bad it confirmes the good it comforts all
said Oh let it not displease my Lord that I petition so earnestly for sinners being a sinner my selfe So Iacoh Gen. 32. Minor sum omnibus Gen. 32. miserationibus tuis O Lord I am not worthy the least of all thy mercies So David 2 Sam. 7. 2 Sam. 7. Quis ego quae domus mea who am I O Lord what is my house that thou hast brought mee hitherto So Daniel 9. We have sinned Dan. 9. and have committed iniquitie and have done wickedly O Lord righteousnesse belongeth unto thee but unto us open shame But this Map of irregularitie begins at the wrong end with an Ago gratias and in stead of accusing himselfe condemnes his brother In generall Non sum sicut caeteri I am not as other men are In speciall non sicut istâ— Publicanus I am not as this Publican for I fast twice in the weeke and I give tithe of all that I possesse And this makes his devotion as corrupt in substance as in forme puft up with nothing but battologies and tautologies and idle repetitions Hee might aswell have expressed all his perfections by that one word just as did the Publican his imperfections by that one word sinner for if he were just hee could bee no extortioner and if no extortioner without question hee payed his tithes and if he fasted often it argues that he was continent and if more righteous then all men it must needs bee granted that he was more just then the Publican But it seemes this vaine babler loves to heare himselfe talke as if he came not to pray unto his God but to prate unto his owne sweet-selfe As Thomas Aquinas upon the place and as the words of the text expressely insinuate The Phariseâ— stood and prayed with himselfe thus His devotion then beeing so voide of forme and voide of substance cannot choose but be altogether ineffectuall for marke first how arrogantly he pleades Non sum sicut cateri I am not as other men are It had beene an extreme point of arrogancie to have advanced himselfe above some men or above most men but to vilifie and contemne all men and especially the penitent Publican it must needes bee the part of an incarnate Lucifer and more then the spice of Ero similis altissimo I will bee like unto the most high and place my neast above amongst the starres of God For upon earth you see hee acknowledges no man equal to himselfe Whereby he seemes mightily to disparage both the wisedome and the goodnesse of God as if God were bound only to blesse and to inrich him And therefore the sinne of pride is most aptly compared to a whirlewind that turnes up whole Cedars by the rootes and to its power will indure nothing to subsist before it There is no sinne else but will bee sociable and admit of too many companions only this divellish pride is of so sterne and austere a nature that it brookes no equall it exalts itselfe not only against all that is called man but all that is called God Againe marke how ridiculously hee pleades I fast twice in the weeke and I give tithe of all that I possesse As if a begger should come to the doore and aske an almes and shew his Rings and Robes and costly ornaments a man would thinke that rags and wounds would sooner speed his suite So this proud begger or bragger rather shews not his rags but his robes not his wounds but his worth not his miserie but his braverie Ergojam plenus es Pharisaee Aug. saith S. Augustine upon the place Hee is full and needes not almes he is whole and needs Reu. 3. 17 no physitian He thankes his God with the Church of Laodicea That he is rich in grace and increased in goods and wants nothing and Knowes not that hee is wretched and miserable and poore and blinde and naked The case of such a man must needs be as desperate as that sicke patients that having a veine opened by a Chirurgeon le ts out his best blood that maintaines life and onely retaines the worst that hastens death So this Pharisee here le ts out all his goodnesse at once that should maintaine his spirituall health and keepes his wickednesse close to himselfe the onely speedy way to hasten his everlasting death Yet such are the sacrifices that these fooles offer continually to the Almightie It is the language of Balaam Num. 23. Numb â—5 when his Maker met him septem altaria ordinavi I have prepared seven altars and offered upon every altar a Bullocke and a Ram As if God were so respectlesse that he would not or so blind that hee could not see the best of our actions Wee neede not feare the omnisciencie of God who sees not only the deede but the will and duely weighs and considers every circumstance of both Let Abraham testifie Genes 22. Hee was ready there to offer up the sacrifice enjoyned him by the Angel with an Ecce ego twice Behold heere I am At the first call to receive the fiat Heere At the second call to act the fiat Heere And God was as ready to consider and to commend and to reward every circumstance of his obedience so wracked and tortured upon such a multiplicitie of difficulties with a quia fecisti hanc rem By my selfe I have sworne saith the Lord Because thou hast done this thing and hast not spared thine onely sonne Therefore I will surely blesse thee and greatly multiply thy seede As if God should have said unto Abraham thus Abraham I see thy will and I see thy deed and I accept thy will for thy deed and I weigh and consider every circumstance of both to bee full of difficultie I see thou art ready for my sake to sacrifice not a beast but a man not a servant but a sonne not one amongst many but an only Sonne and he not an ordinary or a disrespected Sonne but a beloved Isaac upon whose life depends the whole burden of the promised blessing All these circumstances I weigh as weighty and ponderous indeede and by my selfe I sweare quia fecisti hanc rem Because thou hast done this thing this great thing this thing beyond a name Therefore I will surely blesse thee and greatly multiply thy seed Mary Magdalen Luk. 7. can testifie the like who received such strange approbation from our Saviour for that poore entertainement she gave him for anointing his feete that hee weighed and considered every circumstance to the great disparagement of Simon the house-keeper For turning to the woman and speaking unto Simon he said Seest thou this woman I entred into thine house and thou gavest me no water to my feete but she hath washed my feete with teares and wiped them with the haires of her head Thou gavest me no kisse but she since the time that I came in hath not ceased to kisse my fâ—ete Mine head with oyle didst thou not annoint but she hath annointed my
but delude himselfe as the Prophets dreamer did who ate by imagination at mid-night and when hee awoke from sleepe his soule had nothing Let every member of the body then and every facultie of the minde be so subject to the higher powers of the heart that as the Ninivites presumed not to venter upon their Generall humiliation without lawfull authoritie from the King and the Councell so let neither the body bowe nor the head droope nor the hand smite without a lawfull Fiat from the heart and affections So bee it Then shall I be sure both to seeme as I am and to be as I seeme Not to be intùs Nero foris Cato totus ambiguus Monstrum A Saint without and a Divell within an hypocrite in both a meere monster But like unto Nathauael a true Israelite in whose heart and hand and tongue there is no guile So then to conclude the point in the Apostles language When I come into the Temple to doe my humble service I will bowe my heart to the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ and I will bowe my body also for he is the Creator of that too My heart shall droope first and my head shall droope next first my heart shall bleed and then my hand shall smite and so shall I be sure mine Organs are in tune and I may begin my service when I please And so I passe from the Organ to the Quire from the pipe to the voyce from the instrument to the Song Deus propitius esto mihi peccatori O God be mercifull to mee a sinner Wee are now come unto the song it selfe you see ready prickt unto our hands by the hand and heart of humilitie it selfe an excellent artist in his kinde the humble Publican The first note hee reaches is a note above Ela no lower then the highest Oh God God then it seemes is the first note hee reaches and higher he cannot reach neither for name nor puritie nor glory Hee is a transcendent note above all notes for name They shall know saith David that thou whose name is Iehovah art the most high God over all the earth Hee is such a transcendent note of puritie that the Moone shines not and the Starres are impure in his sight and the Cherubims clap their wings Esa 6. 3. upon their faces and cry continually Holy holy holy is the Lord of Hosts And hee is such a tranâ—cendent note of glory that hee is Psal 104. Psal 68. 13. Psa 50. 1. become exceeding glorious saith David hee is clothed with Majestie and honour Hee decks himselfe with light as with a garment and spreads out the heavens like a curtaine The Chariâ—ots of this God are twentie thousands even thousands of Angels This is the Lord even the most mightie God that hath spoken and called the world from the riâ—ing of the Sunne unto the going downe thereof The glorious Majestie of this God shall indure for ever Blessed be his glorious name for ever and let all the earth bee filled with his Majestie Amen Amen Now the Diapason that answers to this high trebble is a deep base Deepe indeed he reaches a note below Gam ut baser then the basest a sinner This Base was once a Meane if hee could have kept himselfe there Minuisti eum paulò ab Angelis saith David thou madest him a little inferiour to the Angels an innocent and a spotlesse man in his estate of integritie but his voyce beeing crackt by over-reaching himselfe this homo became homulus and so fell a note lower and by multiplication of errour this homulus became mulus a note lower yet a beast and no man a worme or vermine and no beast the basest of all bases a Sinner Now then for a judicious Artist to tel me justly how many Eights there may bee betwixt this high treble and this deepe base this mightie Iehovah and this silly worme this fountaine of puritie and this sinke of impietie this glorious Majesty and this despectible misery this great God and this wretched sinner There had need you see to bee two good closing parts to make the Musicke sweet and full betwixt these two extreame Extreames the trebble and the base and so behold there is A true Tenor to close with the Base that alwayes sings Me in E la Me to make the Musicke full by an humble and heartie confession of sinne or else it could never be And a sweet Meane to close with the Trebble to make the Musicke harmonious by an humble and heartie apprecation of mercy Deus propitius esto mihi peccatori O God bee mercifull to mee a Sinner This for the Diapasons now for the closing parts And first I beseech you marke how truly the Tenor closes with the Base To bee a sinner and not to know it is the part of a bungler Qui peccare Epicuruâ— â— se nescit non vult corrigi It was the best doctrine that ever Epicure preached To bee a Sinner and to know it and not to acknowledge it is the part of a fumbler to slubber and shift a sinne from the man to the woman and from the woman to the Serpent this is but muffling the conscience and juggling with God But the skilfull and ingenuous Artist will both know and acknowledge and rather aggravate then mince a sinne He will both produce and accuse and condemne himselfe as Ionas to the Mariners Novi Quia propter me there is his mee in Ela me Take Ion. 1. mee and cast mee into the Sea for I know that for my sake this mightie storme is come upon you Deus propitius esto mihi peccatori O God be mercifull to mee a Sinner When the Tenor closes thus truly with the base that makes the Musicke full So full indeed that it even ravished all the Saints of God they were never in quiet till they had learned this part It was the part of David to Nathan Peccavi I 2 Sam. 12 2 Sam. 24 have sinned And againe to God himselfe both with a restriction to the person and aggravation to the sinne Valdè peccavi I have exceedingly sinned And Ego sum qui peccavi And Ego sum qui inique egi It is I and only I that have done wickedly The part of Iob 7. 1 sim 1. 15. Iob Peccavi I have sinned And the part of the very chiefest Apostle to proclaime himselfe the very chiefest Sinner Ego peccatorum primus I am the chiefest sinner Let presumptuous Pharisees then harpe upon an harsher stiâ—ine and say God be mercifull to this or that man most odious and abominable sinners God I thanke thee I am not as these men are But oh may it be my part and oh may it bee all their parts at the very last close of our service and at the last blast that shall give breath unto the Organ That breath and pipe and voyce and all may humbly conclude with this Publican Deus propitius esto mihi peccatori O God bee