his knâ—es to receive his burden Particulars are infinite The Prophet concludes the truth in generall tearmes All the beasts of the field pay most obsequious vassallage to man so the foules of the ayre yea and the fish of the Sea The great monsters there that make the deep to boyle like a pot are not exempted from mans government from them hath he toll of bones and oyles and tribute from all the rest How full and convincing then is the Lords question Have I been a wildernesse unto Israel No to Thy praise be it spoken a delightfull Paradise Thou hast been Thou hast furnished man with a lightsome and delightfull dwelling place a disloyall tenant though he be and Thou broughtest him in unto it as into a paradise like a rich heire ready furnished with all furniture for use for delight for ornament To the intent that man should serve Thee and serve Thee cheerefully Thou hast made all Thy creatures to serve him That he might subject himself wholly unto Thy will Thou hast put all things under his feet That he might be Thine Thine only Thou hast created all these outward things for his body his body for his soul both for thy self I conclude now with the words of Chrysost upon the contemplation of the Land and Sea and that Host of creatures in both And all these saith the Father serve for the good of them that feare the Lord theirs are all things for they are Christs Thus then let me reason the case If these things are done and bestowed before our eyes let us think what 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Châ—ys Hom. 22. in ep Ad Eph. good things are layed up for them in the heavens in those mansions there If where they are strangers and but sojourners they have so much homage so much honour where their Citie is what glory shall they have there If where their Lord said ye shall have affliction they have such a Ministry so many servants such an attendance such a guard such a retinue for the Angels are their Ministers The stones and creeping things fish and fowle are at a league with them and are their servants if so while here below then what rest what quiet what securitie above there where the Lord hath assured them shall be the place of their eternall rest What and how good and great things shall they have there So the Father reasons and concludeth the glory of the Saints and so much to the contemplation of the earth and waters The b Plin. nat Hist 2. 8. cap. 38. Aire is the next that which filleth up this vast and III. emptie place which we see above us and also filleth those crannies in the earth which we see not And whether in the waters or no I cannot tell but this we know that the fishes which we perceive not to breath do dye without it Of all the works of Gods hand it is the most admirable both for the wayes thereof and operations there-from I know not which we could want of all the creatures of God but I am sure we cannot want aire My veines arteries nerves all are quickned by it it is the soul of our breathing If I had all that heart could wish all were nothing if I wanted aire and aire must be good and wholesome too or else all would be as good as nothing Therefore it is Gods great doale to the world all share in it And it hath a kinde of ubiquitie It is every where and yet we cannot see where it is so like it is the likest of any to a spirit for it is the most bodylesse body by which name it is sometimes called As we call that for which we have no name to expresse its strange vertue and efficacy If I could go to the furthest parts of the earth or sea there it is If I could climbe up to the uppermost region there it is also If I could descend into the lowest vaults and caves of the earth there it would be found It is as inseparable from a man as his conscience is shut the windows barre the doores draw the curtaines all close yet you can as easily shut out your conscience as it The aire will come in it will visit us in what condition soever And if this may be said of the creature what then of the Creator He that hath given the creature so large a circuit three regions of the world hath yet appointed it its bounds But take we heed we limit not the Holy One of Israel By this creature we ascend neerer to the Creatour then by any other but yet we come infinitely short we must not compare God to any creature for to Him nothing is like The aire is pure and cleare of it self and in its own nature but if it were so to us it would not be agreeable to ours it would be then too rare and thin and not agreeing to our earthy and compounded bodies therefore for our benefit and comfort sometimes for our punishment too it receives alteration from beneath or from above or from about it thence it is that most times the aire refresheth and sometimes poysoneth sometimes temperately cooling sometimes again with heate scorching Sometimes it candies the herbs and trees and hideth the waters as with a stone d Job 38. 30. and then who can stand before His cold e Psal 147. 17. who casteth forth His yee like morsels for so we must resolve the Lords f Job 38. 29. question out of whose wombe came the â—ce And if it be said who can stand before His cold how much more then who can stand before Him when He is angry for our God is a consuming fire 1. Here the winds have their circuit but where there treasure is we cannot tell I know what the Poets â—aigne and what the Philosopher of the greatest experience that our part of the world had doth write hereof But the sacred Scripture saith That the Lord causeth it to blow g Psal 127. 18. 104 â— He raiseth the stormy winde for He hath appointed them their work their circuit as He hath the treasures h Job 38. 22. for the snow and haile And we heare their sound and feele them too but the place whence they come we know not nor whither they will so secret is the way of the winde And as secret is the way of the spirit but more admirable in working it casteth down strong holds too it levells high and exalted things But I am too high This we may conceive The same wind which now shaketh the lâ—afe and maketh the feather to move being charged agâ—inst am untâ—ine would have turned it up from the foundation And the same strength that bloweth up the dust if it came against the earth would shake the bottoms of it And this should make us feare before Him that whatsoever He hath done whether it seeme great or little we should confâ—sse His handy worke anâ— according
OF THE CHILDS PORTION viz GOOD EDUCATION By E. W. OR The Book of the Education of Youth that hath for some yeers lain in obscurity but is now brought to light for the help of Parents and Tutors to whom it is recommended BY Will Goudge D. D. Edm Calamy John Goodwin Joseph Caryll Jer Burroughs William Greenhill Psal 34. 11. Deut. 12. 28. Come ye children hearken unto me I will teach you the fear of the Lord that it may go well with you and with your children after you for ever when thou dost that which is good and right in the sight of the Lord thy God Chrysost As our Seminaries or seed-plots are such are the Land and Nation As the Parents house and school are such are the Town and City Printed at LONDON and are to be sold by Tho Vnderhill at the signe of the Bible in Woodstreet 1649. VVEE whose names are under-written well acquainted with the scope and purpose of this Book Tending to an orderly proceeding in a well-Timed Reformation of our selves first and our children betimes do give our attestation thereunto heartily and in all faithfulnesse Edm Calamy John Goodwin Joseph Caryll Jer Burroughes Will Greenehill THE PREFACE SHEWING the necessitie and worth of a vertuous education and may serve as an introduction to Dutie OUr great Advancer of Learning noteth an opinion of Aristotle which is this a Lib. 7. p. 375. In English Book 2. p. 263. That of those things which consist by nature nothing can be changed by custome using for example That if a stone be thrown up tenne thousand-times it will not learne to ascend and that by often seeing and hearing we doe not see or heare the better That Noble Scholler noted this for a negligent opinion so he cals it I know not why because the Philosopher doth instance in Peremptory nature and he took pains to informe us touching the same It is true saith he In things wherein nature is Peremptory Man cannot make massie bodies to hang in the Aire like Meteors he cannot make an Oxe to flye That which is crooked saith the wise man b Eccles 1. 15. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 man cannot make straight There is a Peremptory bent of nature which man cannot turne no more then he can turne back a Spring-tide or a Rushing winde This is a worke for Him and peculiar to Him Who turned Iâ—rdan back Who made the Iron Swimme Makes the Clouds those massie bodies to hang in the Aire as if they had no weight Who makes Mountaines Vallies and rough things even Raiseth children of stones stony hearts and made dry Bones live And the Parents worke in this case is to sit still I meane not any slacking of their endeavour that is to goe into his closet and spread this Peremptory bent of nature he sees in his Childe or not subdued in himselfe as the King the Letter before the Lord c â— King 19. 14. and to say it is Luthers Counsell d Poenitendum mihi praecipis sed talis sum ego miser quod sentio me nolle â—eque posse quare tuis prostratus pedibus c. Concio de poentent Anno Dom. 1518. Here is an Heart that cannot turn that will not turne turne it Lord it is Thy Worke Thine onely Turne it as Thou didst the Rivers in the South Thus where Nature is Peremptory and what we are to do in that case Nothing but look up to Him Who caused the Sunne to goe back and so the shadow in the Diall But it is otherwise in things wherein nature admitteth a latitude for we may see that a straight glove will come more easily on with use And that a wand will by use bend otherwise then it grew and by use of the voice we speak lowder and stronger and that by use of induring heate and cold we indure it the better e See a Treatise of Vse and Custome p. 26. and 39. and 69. And here in the God of Nature Who onely can change Nature and supply what man cast away and is wanting would have Man active and stirring and admits him as a fellow-worker with Himselfe By this I would gaine but thus much That I might evince the necessitie of a vertuous education and inhance the worth of the same I meane that we might set a price upon it and no ordinary one neither It were an easie taske here to enter into a common place and to give a Laudative hereof which would fill the margent and the lines Sufficeth it to know first f Reade Hist of the World first Book 4. Chap. Sect. 11. p. 14. Quint. de claris Oraâ— Isocrat Areopag 217. in sol That Nothing after Gods reserved power doth so much set things in or out of Square and Rule as education doth Secondly That we have no other means to recover our sickly and crasie nature I know my words are too short but I mean not in things that are high concerning God for in them she is not sick but dead no other meanes to pull it out of the Rubbish of Adams and of our own Ruins and to smooth over the face of it againe beautifying the same and making it comely no other means I say left us then to apply the Georgicks g p. 236. of the minde as that Noble Scholler Phraseth it he means the husbandry and Tillage thereof The effects we see in the husbanding our grounds and they are great and admirable The good Tillage of the minde produceth as great effects and concerneth man more as he thinks himselfe of more worth then a clod of earth It hath such a forcible operation as hardly any length of time or contention of labour can countervaile it afterwards we remember the old saying the truth whereof is more ancient then is the verse Ingenuas didicisse fideliter artes c. This Culture and manurance of the minde taketh away the wildnesse and barbarisme and fiercenesse of mens mindes it subdueth savage and unreclaimed desires But then as the great Scholler noteth also The accent had need be upon fideliter h p 82 that is The Culture and manurance of the minde must not be superficiall We deale not so with our ground but it must be laboured in faithfully heartily coÌ„tinually so the husbandman doth in his ground it findes him work all the yeer long And he doth his work throughly he doth not plant here a spot and there a plat of ground but he tils the ground all over that what he can and as the nature of the ground is capable he may make all fruitfull And so we must intend this businesse as we would that thing which concerns the Parent and the Childe more then anything in the world besides yea more then a World is worth Being confident of this That all things by labour and industry may be made better then Nature produced them And that God so ordained it That the industry of man should concurre in all things with
Braines S. I. H. he attained to by his sword after Death had not a roome to containe his Corps in without being purchased at the hand of another Men esteeming a living Dog more then a dead Lion saith Sam. Dan. I might remember also how Philip the Second of Spaine lessoned the Prince his sonne when he thought of a great Treasure spent and when his owne spirits were spent also And how Charles Grimst Hist of the Netherl the Father in the Waine of his greatnesse left alone and carrying the Candle before his Embassadour instructed the same Embassadour The instruction Medull Hist prophanae p. 899 is but short Goe speake of what thou hast seene me doe who had so many Princes waiting on me and learne the state of humane things The summe of all riseth to this Those things which we so greedily graspe after and lay out our precious stock of time and wit upon are no enduring Substance But yet that is not the worst They are passed and gone and many times there remaineth but Sighs behinde when a man remembers the getting and expending of them that he was unrighteous in both But take them at the best They cannot keepe the heart from trembling or the knees from smiting one against another All outward strength cannot keepe out shall I say an Armed-man nay not a silly frog out of the Chamber where the God of Hosts will bid it goe The greatest Pompe cannot prevent a Consumption by the basest Vermine of which truth Pharaoh Herod more lately Philip of Spaine before mentioned and others neerer home are very great Examples The serious consideration whereof may prevent the bewitching of profit the great Enchantresse of Mankinde so as we shall not be ensnared by deceitfull riches which make us beleeve that they can satisfie and stay the heart in the day of wrath whereas they are no strong Wall v Prov. 11. 4. but onely in a mans owne conceit But righteousnesse delivereth from death x Chap. 18. 10 11. All things are nothing without this This is all without them Therein is the substance the Kernell the quintessence of all The y 1 John 2. 16. World passethaway and the lust thereof but he that doth the will of God abideth for ever fast like mount Sion an everlasting foundation Godlinesse a 1 Tim. 6. 6. and 4 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Chrysost in Gen. 48. Hom. 66. ◠is great gaine it is profitable for all things having the promise of the life that now is and of the life that is to come And therefore if the Parent had but one request to put up for the Childe it should be That the Lord would be its portion That He would blesse him indeed for whom He blesseth are blessed b 1 Chron. 4. 10. And if he had but one instruction it should be for the getting the principall thing Get Wisedome and withall thy getting get understanding c Prov. 4. 7. The last Consideration containeth in it the very pith of reason and equitie and mightily engageth the Parent to give All diligence at this point touching the good Nurture of his Childe when I have cleared so much I have done 3. A Childe is the Parents Image right A branch from a sinfull stock An off-spring from a corrupted fountaine The Parent is the Channell which conveyeth unto it Sinne and Death This is that hereditary evill which is truely and really stated and fëoffed upon every Childe of Adam But if we will see the first originall of the conveyance we must descend as low as Adam who was the sonne of God made as every thing else very good with this excellency and prerogative royall above other things in Gods Image that is in Holinesse and righteousnesse But being in this honour he understood not but sought out many inventions d Eccles 7. 29. that is They would finde out something beyond God and so for it was not possible to be otherwise they found on t their owne finddings Sinne and Sorrow They reached forth their hand unto the forbidden fruit and did eate so they fell from their stedfastnesse and glory Then they knew both good and evill Good if they had obeyed Evill that they obeyed not Now they had experience and feeling of their good they lost and the evill they brought upon themselves Thus sinne entred into the World and by sinne death that is more evils and weightier then we can think them For we must note That the Actuall sinne of Adam determined not the bound of Misery but brought a second Misery with it the Misery of our whole Nature While Adam stood we stood in him his obedience kept his whole estate and Nature entire But when he fell we fell in him for though the sinne were a limited thing in act of eating yet it was an unlimited excesse in respect of the Committer and the frame of his revolting heart and therefore it was just with God to plague his whole Nature for that sinfull Act. So then The same hand that was reacht forth to this fruite reacht it also to the fruite of their loynes wherein that fruite was seminally as branches in a common stock And thus the Childrens teeth were set on edge so the next verse tels us And Adam begat a sonne in his owne likenesse his owne indeed that is With that generation Sinne was also derived for he begat now not the Body onely but a Man in his receptivenesse of the soule and in those bands and ties which knit body and soule to wit these spirits of reasonable Nature and by the infection of these spirits the soule is also corrupted We cannot with sobriety enquire further into this thing I know the dispute how this sinne is propagated from the Father to the Childe is very large But we may say of it as the Philosopher of that Dispute touching that supposed voide place It is an empty and vaine Dispute c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Arist phys de vacuo voide of use and to none effect It was a wise and seasonable reproofe which a Mariner in a dangerous tempest gave to the Philosopher troubling him with a Dispute touching the Windes We f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aul. Gell. lib. 1. cap. 2. ◠are at the point of sinking and you trifle out the time with a vaine discourse Enquiries touching this point have blotted much Paper and spent much precious Time and all to little purpose for so we give time to a growing mischiefe It is as if while the fire rageth on the sides and tops of houses a man should hold his hand and moove his tongue not joyne force to quench it but onely aske how it begunne where and when It was a good answer to one who would know by what Chinke sinne entred into the Childe g Hist of the Couns of Trent l. 2. p. 174 That Chinks were not to be sought where a gate stood wide open The Apostle
h Joh. 7. 30. nor trample under foot the Sonne of God counting the bloud of the covenant an unholy thing i Heb. 10. 20. Châ—ysost speaks sadly touching this abiding wrath upon the Jewes and the cause of the same 1. Tom. Hâ—m 27. oâ—al 4. for as that bloud being sprinkled on the upper doore-post that is on our hearts speaks better things then the bloud of Abell so being rejected and despised as bloud cast on the threshold and under foot k Mr. Aâ—nsw Exod. 12. 7. it speaks the sorest wrath witnesse the example we are now upon I meane the judgement of the Iews which is become a signe conspicuous to every eye as a Banner displayed or as Ensignes lifted up l Numb 16. 10. Exemplum omnium oculis expositum ut est erectum signum Trem. †3. There is a third example of a Knight who suffred above twentie yeares since on Tower-hill I will note what he spake to the people at that time when it was time to be serious for he was taking his last leave of them and of the world Thus he spake I was a great gamester and still haunted with ill luck once and it was in France having lost a great sum I solemnly wished would I might be hanged if ever I played againe I quickly forgot what I had so solemnly promised and fell to my game again But now you all see how God hath payed me home a man not likely to breath my last here in so open a place so sadly spake that sad Gentle-man at a sad time and as sad a spectacle And with many good admonitions and savoury expressions he yeelded his body to the justice of the Law and his spirit to Him who abundantly pardoneth and so dyed as one that had hope in his death †4. Dieteriâ—us in his Postills m First part imprinted â— 1631. p. 410. Colum. 2. tells us a yet sadder example not of his own knowledge but from anothers Relation of much esteeme and credit with him The Relation is this A young Gentle-woman of good note and breeding portion and proportion answerable had set her affection upon a Gentle-man but too low for her ranke or not rich enough in the friends esteeme yet to assure the young man to her and her selfe to him she solemnly wished The Divell take her if she marryed with any other The parents shortly after found out a fitter match for their daughter of their own chusing for the other liked them not I remember not well how the maide was pleased but the parents were so the match was concluded This we may note by the way If the question were put to parents what sway reason doth carry in the making of matches I beleeve they that go for wise-men might be posed or else ashamed to answer the truth Affections doe sway most with young persons Money and such by-respects with the old so the match is made and the childe is undone more of this in the second part the sequell hereof was this To Church the maide went with another not her own choosing and with the parents consent to him she was married home they return and then to dinner By that time they were set there came two gallants to the gate and seeming well appointed for a wedding solemnitie in they were brought and accordingly entertained After dinner they had their dance and these strangers the favour to dance with the Bride In the midst of the dance and so the Musick was spoyled away they whipt the Bride the friends saw her no more only her cloathes they found for the Divell had no quarrell against them so goes the Story And if so there was a feast turned into mourning and a rash wish paid home Much credit is given to the relation but this waight certainly it hath To bid us beware of that adversary who like a roaring Lion seekes whom he may destroy and waiteth but his commission when that is granted he will be as quick as he was with Iob to the uttermost extent of his chaine And yet as if we never read any of all this not how he hath tormented the body not how he delights in the vexation and paine of the creature in proud wrath as if we had neither heard nor read this both young and old speake as lightly of the Divell taking them as if he were their familiar friend and would use the creature kindly And they speake as lightly of damnation as if perishing for ever were nothing and everlasting burnings but a light matter it Lege Comerarium oper sucâ— cap. 86. pag. 482. had no more heat in it then a glow-worm we have heard that which bids us beware and instructs the father and the childe very much I have done with the tongue that unruly member which causeth our trouble and commands our watch Childrens hands must be observed also as we partly heard and now followeth § 14. We may observe children spoyling much more then they eat like calves that make many orts They cannot understand what a blessing they have in their hands therefore they cannot prise it But looke to them herein so shall you prevent a great evill and a great provocation the treading under foot Gods good creatures In an house where I once lived the children had their trencher full and their hands full and mouthes full all at once Some was spilt on the ground and some upon the trencher for commonly childrens hands are so foule that none will eate after them The parents did not well observe it and servants worse There was plentie and where that is it is hard to pick up crums sicknesse came and tooke away the parents and the Parish the children one friend takes one and the second another at home was nothing there had been too much spilt This may minde us of Christs rule and practise That the broaken meat be taken up and nothing kept so ill that it is not fit for the prisoners basket We may also consider If God send us cleannesse of teeth which we may feare it will adde much to our smart That we now want what we once spilt or suffred so to be or worse That when the fuller furnished our tables were the fuller of vomit and filthinesse they were The fuller our pastures the more like beasts we trod down with our feet and kicked with our heele The more Gods blessings were the more we forgat the Giver The more sleightly we esteemed the more carelesly we cast away the fruits of His bountie towards us The parent must remember and he must remember the childe of it often That the hungry stomack calls out for bread bread and accounts it for dainties Yea unto that soule every bitter thing is sweet n Prov. 27. 7. Water out of the rocke is o Psal 81. 16. honey to him So Chrysostome enterprets those words of the Psalme Ad pop Ant. Hom. 2. But bread is daintie indeed that 's the staffe of life it is
old man instructed his sonne by way of example and that way Exemplis vitiorum quaeque no 〈…〉 we may take nay we must if we intend the information of children Thus much touching a parents first work with his childe which is the watching over him for the rooting out of evils what these evils are and the way to prevent them CHAP. V. The implanting of good The order therein foure seasons in the Day very seasonable for this work THe childe is yet in his flower and first spring And that is the season of sowing and planting the seed of instruction which is the next work and now followeth The Preacher gives us a good lesson and incouragement both In k Eccles 11 6. the Morning sow thy seed and in the Evening withhold not thine hand for thou knowest not whether shall prosper either this or that or whether they both shall be alike good In this hope the parent proceedeth and according to his rule and charge Deut. 11. 19. Foure seasons there are in the day very seasonable for instruction according as they shall minister matter so a parent may fit his occasionall instructions These seasons are as we finde them lie in the Text though not in the same order I. In the morning when thou risest II. At noon or the season when thou sittest at the table III. When thou walkest by the way IIII. At night when thou liest â—own § 1. In the morning when thou risest There is no season in the day fitter for instruction then is the morning nor fuller thereof Now the Sunne is returning and begins to appeare on this our side of the Globe making all light and lightsome about us oh how comfortable is it to see the light and how safe to walk by it Before darknesse covered the earth and masked the face of the same and then we could not discern in what order things lay nor what way to settle about them Many doubts we have and feares in darknesse some reall though the most imaginary for it is our nature in darknesse if we finde them not there to frame them there Our way in the dark is uncertain and hazardous full of danger Learn hence What darknesse is to the outward man so is ignorance the key of some mens l Reade our Jewell 27. Art Religion to the inward I know not whereat I may stumble nor wherein I may fall nor falling how dangerously I may fall nor how irrecoverably Onely this difference there is and it is a great one betwixt him that walks in darknesse and him that lives in ignorance the darknesse of the minde He that walks in darknesse walks charily and cautelously feeling his way with one hand and fencing his face and the choice ornament thereof with the other because he hath no light to guide himself by and he knows he is in darknesse and is sensible of the danger Therefore it falls out ordinarily that he scapeth and preventeth danger because he is so sensible of the same what I feare most is like to do me least hurt for it is likely I am prepared for prevention It is not so with a man walking in ignorance and darknesse of minde He goes on boldly and confidently according as the proverb is he discernes no danger he cannot fear it The former by his carefulnesse may not fall The latter by his ignorant carelesenesse must needs fall it is not possible to be otherwise The former if he fall he will surely rise again for he knoweth he lieth not where he would The other falling lieth still and can never rise again till a light appeare unto him the one knoweth where he is and what he doth the other knoweth nothing as he ought to know There is one we may call that one as Satan called himself Legion for that one is many who holdeth ignorance to be the mother of devotion but that one is the mother of fornications and thence it is that she prevaileth with them and deceives so many for as she hath gained so she holds all she hath gained by the tenure of ignorance There is a farre greater difference betwixt a well knowing and conscientious man and an ignorant person then is betwixt a man walking in the Sun and working by it and another walking in the night when neither Moon nor Starre appeares The one clearely setteth forth the other he that worketh by the Sunne seeth all cleare about him where he is and what he doth and why he doth it he that is in darknesse discerneth nothing nor can do any thing as he ought to do and yet which is much worse living in the darknesse of ignorance he discerneth not his danger He that doth in any part understand what ignorance is and the fearfull effects of the same this ignorant man doth not will pray for himself and his as they who were upon the sea and in great danger They wished for the day m Acts 27. 29. Send forth Lord thy light and thy truth through thy tender mercie let the Day-spring from on high visit us Thus he wisheth for the day And now This Day-spring from above hath visited us we that once walked in darknesse have seen a great light and the glory thereof we have seen as the glory of the onely Sonne of God upon us who dwelt in the shadow of death hath this light shined Oh happy are the people then that are in such a case how blessed are they to whom the Sun of righteousnes hath appeared they are children of the day and of the light it is day with them alwayes day though neither Moon nor Starres appeare that is though they finde no influence from the earth or regions bordering thereupon But clean contrary it is with them to whom this Sunne of Righteousnesse appeareth not or against whom they shut their eyes as some will do though as the proverb is we should shew them the n Lact. 7. 1. Nec si Solem in manibus gestemus fidem commodabunt ei doctrinae Sun in our hands seeing but will not see How miserable are the people that are in such a case they sit in darknesse as they do on the other side of the globe when the Sun is with us nay worse then so they dwell in a land dark as Aegypt was even in the land of the shadow of death For though they have the Moon and Starres upon them I mean the confluence of all outward things yet they sit in darknesse in deep darknesse For as the Sun is to this outward world so is the Lord Christ the Sun of Righteousnesse to the world of beleevers without Him it is all dark with Him it is still light like the land of Goshen happy are the people that are in such a case blessed are the people whose God is the Lord Send forth thy truth Lord and thy light and through the tender mercy of our God let the Day-spring from above visit us This may take up our
childe did not ask then sure enough the parent did ask the childe or help the childe how to ask If the childe did not question the parent the parent did question the childe We would have the childe ask and enquire for it is a true rule He that doubts and asketh most he profiteth most And he that enquireth after nothing he knowes nothing saith another But the parent will finde the childe very slack and backward this way Few children there are who make any further enquiry but When is the next holy day Therefore here the parent must help and give the hint of a question As it requireth some sense to make an answer not absurd so it asketh some knowledge to demand a question not impertinent it exceeds the skill of a childe Therefore there is no question but the parent must help and give the hint of a question at the least and that will give an hint to further instruction It is past all question that it is an excellent way in teaching to put the lecture into questions We have our great Lord and Master a president unto us whom they found in the Temple sitting among the Doctors both hearing them and asking them c Luke 2. 46 questions It is then no novel way but ancient and authentick though now as the best things are grown out of use and fashion And it sufficeth to point onely at this way of questioning the childe so making it a party which will help it very much to reade in the volume of Gods works and to profit by reading which was the third thing 4. The fourth follows which is To give some essay herein and reade a short lecture out of this great volume of the Creatures that lieth open before us And I begin at the footstooll where we had our beginning At the Earth for it is saith the Father d Katy◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysâ—st in Gen. Ser. 1. our countrey I. our mother our nurse our table our grave An effect it is which in a measure may be perceived by mans understanding but the manner of production cannot be concieved by any spirit compassed with a mortall body Here I enquirefirst 1. What Forme or figure it hath 2. Whence its dependance 3. What its magnitude c. How farre a childes sense will help in all three Something hereof the sense will report to the understanding but it will leave the understanding of old and young in a wonderment and that as was said is but the effect of a broken knowledge The use hereof we shall see anon The first 1. For the Figure of it It is circular or round we must not look for corners in it Our sense doth not report it so if we look downward upon the convex surface of the same for the curvature or bending thereof appeares not to the eye nor is it possible it should being but a foot or there abouts in fifteen miles yet something it is But the Globe representing the same which with the earth and sea makes but one tells us what the figure of the earth is so do the waters in compassing the same and the Sun or the Heavens rouling round about But more clearely the fabrick of the heavens declares the figure of the earth whose concave we behold and see it like an Arch or Furnace over us which plainly sheweth the Fornace sâ—unmeo same figure to be of the earth And that which is demonstrated in a little circle no part of the surface thereof is uppermost and lowermost in respect of it self but lyeth in a full aspect to heaven though it seemes otherwise to us who live on this side of the Globe as it doth likewise to them who are on the other side in the South Which also clearly concludes That there are e See Plin. nat Hist lib. 2. c. 65. Aug. de Câ—vit Det. lib. 16. Cap. 9. Lact. lib. 3. câ—p 23. Antipodes though they tread not in a direct opposition to us which so posed the Ancients I meane a people for the word is improper who inhabite that other siâ—e of the Globe so clearly I say concludeth this truth and so universally that now to phrase it as one doth it scornes defence This is wonderfull to sense It is so and it must be granted to be so both to young and old for it leaves us all to wonder and no more It leaves us with our light in the darke Note it There is enough in the greatest portion of knowledge to humble us very low And enough in the least portion thereof for there is the greatest danger to puffe us up and make us swell so needfull it is to know the imperfection and shallownesle of our knowledge but more especially to know our selves to be but men And if we conceive so small a part of God here about the earth how little little is that we conceive of Him when we go higher If He be wonderfull in His foot-stoole thinke we and thinke seriously How glorious is He in His Throne This meditation should not be passed over untill it hath wrought us from wonderment to an holy trembling before Him and a godly feare There is one thing more touching the figure of the earth which offers it self and I cannot passe it by though it is very ordinary and familiar and the sense can make report thereof to the understanding It is this A circular or round figure cannot fill up that which hath corners there will be still an emptinesse It tells us this ordinary lesson That the earth and all the stuffe and lumber there cannot fillup the heart of man no more then wind or ashes can satifie the hungry stomack We may weary out our selves and lay out our stock of time and parts about the encompassing of Capacem Dei non implet minus Deo Tu Deus diligenti Te quantum praecipis oâ—â—endes Te sufficis ei Aug. Conf. 12. 15. some portion here below but it will not be a portion proportionable unto the nature of the soul it will not profit nor give satisfaction That very seale which made the impression will fill up and answer the same impression and no other for it It is only heaven and the great things thereof which give rest and peace which fills up the heart and makes it stable removed there-from the heart is like a needle shaken off from the pole starre in an unquiet trembling posture when it feeles it self like a Meteor tossed with every motion and still in doubtfull suspence f M◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Luk. 12. 29. Behold then The heaven is before us and Christ in our nature hath opened the way thither and There appeares for us And thither-ward must the soul tend if it looks for rest The Lord Christ seemes to speake to every soul as Ioseph to his brethren g Gen. 45. 20. Regard not stuffe for the good of all the land of Egypt is yours Regard not the stuffe and
yeers for though a Childe is made a patterne yet we must not be like it in understanding When we were Children we did and we spake as children and all was comely but when we out-grew Childe-hood we out-grew Childishnesse a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Clem. Alex Strom. p. 51. We had need of Milke and not of Strong Meate for we were as Babes unskilfull in the Word of Righteousnesse but now our stature is increased it were a sname that we should be Dwarfes in the Inward man the man indeed They can have no Apologie or excuse for themselves who are growne up to full yeers yet have a Childes understanding b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrysost Tom. 4. quod nemo laedit c. I suppose thee then of full Age even such an one as I would have thee who by reason of use hast thy Senses exercised to discerne both good and evill c Heb. 5. 13. 14. Childehood and youth are the Parents seed-time when they must look to their dutie The after-Age is the season of fruit when Parents expect an harvest of their paines Children then must look to their dutie that Parent and Childe may rejoyce together But alas how many Parents are deceived here even they who have not neglected their seede-time They think upon the Instructions they have given the Intreaties they have used what my son and the sonne of my wombe and what the sonne of my vowes d Prov. 3 l. 2. These they think on but how many are quite lost how few or none take what may make for ease and delight that Children learne quickly so will the Horse the Mule the Asse and the Oxe put any of these to the Wheele they will quickly finde out the number of their Rounds and never after can be deceived in their Account e Charron of wisdome This is nature still and her field is fruitfull But no Earth there is that requires more labour and is longer before it yeelds fruit then Mans nature so decaied and wilde it is growne and so rightly compared to the Sluggards field as the person is to a Colt an Asse-Colt a wilde Asse-Colt The Philosopher reasons this case very pithily f Plut. de amore prolis pag. 157. He that plants a Vineyard quickly eates the Grape So in other graines some few Moneths bring them to our hands againe and the fruite of our labours to our Eie and Taste Oxen Horses Sheepe c. they quickly serve for our use and much service they doe in Lieu and recompense for a little cost But Mans education is full of labour and cost The increase is slow the fruite and comfort farre off not within Eieshot perhaps the Parent may kenne this comfort perhaps he may live to see it and to rejoyce perhaps also he may discerne little hope he may live to heare of the miscarriage of his Childe and see that which like a back winde will put him onwards towards the pit hastening him with sorrow to the grave But In hope the Parent must doe his dutie herein also like the husbandman whose worke is never ended something he findes still that requires his eie and must command his hand or like the Painter who cannot withdraw the hand from the table before he sees his work fully perfected But herein the Parent and the Painter are very like In all his pictures saith Pliny more is to be understood then is expressed although the skill be great yet there is alwaies more in the minde In omnibus ejus operibus intelligitur plus semper quà m pingitur cum Ars summe sit Ingenium tamâ—n ultra Artem est Pliny l. 35. 10. of the Workman then the pensill could expresse to the eie of the beholder His Ingeny or Idea the proportion he hath framed in his mind is beyond his Art It is so with a Parent his care may be great and his skill somewhat and the Childe may observe both and much of both But the Childe must understand more then it can see and yet understand it cannot the yearning of the Spirit the turnings of the bowels the desire of the heart towards the Childe It is the Parent he and she onely who know the Heart of a Parent And this as one speaks very feelingly h Chrysolog de Archâ—sy Serm 33. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hec. to her son Hector Hom. Iliad 22. p. 814. Should work very much with the Childe what Care and Cost and Labour and Feare he hath put his Parents too But alas Children consider it not for if so they would give all diligence to render back their so due service But if all this work not upon the Childe it should work upon the Parent very much To consider What a barren wild nature his Childe hath taken from him Barren to every seed of Instruction and which is the griefe but not the wonder the more precious the seed is the more barren the nature is unto it the more hard to receive it And yet if this precious seed be not received and the nature of the soyle changed by it Man will sinke lower into misery then a Beast can And in ordinary matters here a Beast may as farre exceed him as he thinks he exceeds a Beast Take a man in his pure Naturalls and we finde it ordinary That a Beast exceeds him which might be further exemplified For many have written very usefully thereof I will take that which I know is of most use and this it is Defects of Reason in Beasts is supplyed with exquisituesse of sense saith Basil i Hex hom 9. pag. 100. Nay there is something more then sense in Beasts and then vegitation in Plants saith he in the same place And so saith the learned Geographer k II. Book cap. 4. sect 6. pag. 229. in his History of the world It is not sense alone which teacheth beasts at first sight and without experience or instruction to flye from the enemies of their Lives Seeing that Bulls and Horses appeare to the sense more fearefull and terrible then the least kinde of Dogs And yet the Hare and Deere feedeth by the one and flyeth from the other yea though by them never seene before and that as soone as they fall from their Dam's c. The truth is and there is great use of it for it tells us what a blow or wound we received by our fall Beasts have many excellencies and much perfection of outward sense And which is of use indeed to hide pride from our eyes they can make good improvement thereof for their safetie and some of them for their Lords-service Only man in his pure naturalls is herein below the beasts as brutish as the Swine l 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Clem. Alex. Protrep p. 44. Fishes cannot be tamed nor taught Basel Hex Hom. 7. which is the most brutish creature As unteachable as a fish and that is a creature which you can neither tame nor
〈◊〉 complains at this point Thus he speaks Horrour and amazement takes hold of me when I consider how good a Lord and Master we have how great and magnificent a benefactour yet notwithstanding how little He is feared how poorely served how unwillingly if at all obeyed On the contrary how cruell and devouring an adversary the Prince of darknesse is yet how much feared how cheerefully served how willingly o-obeyed We are broken away from our just and righteous Master who created who redeemed us and have sold our selves to a proud Lord whose lusts we do though he doth all against us to the extent of his chaine all the hurt he can all our dayes by all means And which aggravates our defection and base servitude for what a poore reward have we done this For a poore bait of profit or pleasure which is taken with delight but presently will be gravell in the teeth rottennesse in the bowels bitternesse in the latter end For so poore a thing such a scrap as this we are revolted and gone And this is the great condemnation yea more It will be the great reproach scorne and taunt which in that great day the Divell will cast even 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 upon Christ Himselfe and upon man thus beguiled and revolted for this will be the scorne and taunt Here is the man created in Thy Image bought with Thy bloud fed by Thee preserved by Thee all His dayes This reasonable man have I Thine and his professed enemy gained from Thee not with strong wrestlings neither but as easily as one can win a childe with an apple I offered him some profit a poore and shrunken commodity he eagerly ran after it I presented him pleasure but masked and under a vaile he embraced it he greedily swallowed that bait and Hell with it sinne is but Hell disguised as pleasure is but paine unmasked and so was content to be my slave for ever my slave who never wrought him any good or willed him any but all the ill and hurt I could For the love of such a Master was this man content to have his eare boared that he might not depart from me for ever Thus Saint Basil complained and this he adds more which is more then all the rest That the consideration of this reproach and taunt which the Divell will cast upon Christ and the man of His right hand was more astonishing to him then thoughts of Hell it selfe For the thoughts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 what a good Lord we neglected and how cruell a Lord we served and what wages we had for our worke will be more tormenting to the damned in hell then will be the paines therein But to return and to say as they doe who have better learned Christ We must know 1. That Satan is a devouring enemy still watching our destruction 2 As his name is such is he he will accuse us for those very sins he now tempteth us unto and will â—pbraid them to us unto the confusion of our faces 3 That we have no means to avoid his baits but by flying from them nor have we any other means to impale and insconce our selves against this Monster but in the Name of the Sonne of God the onely Name that terrifies him indeed being call'd upon and beleeved on in Truth And then by flying from and avoiding his baits those great Enchanters whereby he bewitcheth us beguiles and overcomes so many And here it is not impertinent to remember an usefull answer to a grave and weightie question proposed to an honest and learned v Isid Pelus lib. 2. ep 164. friend by way of wonder The question is this How it comes to passe That the divell now wounded in his head and spoyled by our great Captain and Prince of Salvation should yet prevaile so mightily in the world and carry so many captive as he doth and this daily which is not usuall with a spoyled enemy to do This is the question and the wonder His good friend answers And do you wonder at this saith he Truly I wonder not at all for what wonder is it that an ever diligent and watchfull enemy who neglects no time nor occasion should spoile a negligent people secure in their victory and now as souldiers drunke with prosperity snorting in their tents What wonder to sâ—e souldiers who can endure no x 2 Tim. 2. 3 4. hardnesse who will intangle themselves with affairs of this life who will sleepe in their trenches though the enemy be at their backs who neglect all necessary succours what wonder I say to see such fall even before a wounded enemy The Lion is strong the Serpent subtill and yet if the Lion be a sleep and the serpent chil'd with cold they may be overcome as easily as the weakest and simplest creatures It is an easier matter to encounter with twentie ships lying in harbour whose Mariners are a sleepe in their Cabbins or drinking in Taverns then with five prepared for the fight This was the observation of a great Commander y Hist of the World book 3. chap 11. sect 9. p. 117. and of great use here and no wonder in all this Nay rather this were to be wondred at and it were strange indeed if we doing none of those things which becommeth souldiers and conquerours they stand upon their guard and keepe watch still knowing that a wounded enemy biteth deadly and rageth furiously should be able to maintaine and make use of our victory against a mightie and now raging enemy who moveth every stone and imployeth all his Methods or Stratagems against us This were strange indeed Thus the Author answereth the question and takes of the wonder Now heare his counsell If you demand then what is to be done by us in this case I make further answer Because our adversary though he is falne and broke yet boasteth great things and is bold in his confidence and takes all his advantage from our neglects and carelesnesse a Nostris peccatis Barba iÌ„ fortâ—s sunt Nostris vitiis superamur Hier lib 2 ep â— We must keepe our watch b 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. we must labour we must endure hardnesse we must implore Gods help we must do whatsoever is to be done we must flye from the divell and unto that Name that strong-hold whereto the righteous flye and they are safe If thus we do not we betray our succours and the victory our Lord hath purchased we forfeit our own peace and our soules into the enemies hands And then we have nothing whereof to complain of the enemies strength but much whereof to accuse our own extreame folly and supine negligence This is his counsell and because it is very good we will heare the like from a latter divine a very devout Spaniard c Avâ—la's Spirit epist pag. 30. Be not negligent and secure having so watchfull and diligent an adversary for if thou be thou art instantly undone If
the same reason more incident unto them They may have lesse inward worth and beautie to commend them and therefore do they the more paint and adorne the outward Likely it is that they do not so well discerne the simple and naked truth of things and therefore delight themselves in feathers toyes flattering conceits false valuations They are not so well able to study nature as men may and can therefore may they it is not proper to say they may and yet more excuseable it is in them then in men they may please themselves with polished Art at the best but natures Ape rather then with that which is simple and naturall with very appearances affâ—ctation and pompe rather then with reality and substance rather with that which is borrowed then with that which is proper and naturall Lastly they may not be so able to study themselves The principles they consist of The foundation they stand on The vilenesse of the body The excellent worth and dignitie of the soul The faculties of both body and soul The excellency of that end for which they received them Where these defects and wants are as in all they are for naturally in all as was said there is more of the fool then of the wise and the more or lesse they are in man or woman accordingly will he and she more or lesse reckon and account of falshood and outward appearances before verities Lying and base vanities before realitie and substance and so are pay'd accordingly with winde and counterfeit ware instead of currant commoditie for these vain conceits and false valuations will prove but poore and shrunken things in the end For from hence it is and so we may go through all things that do lift up man and blow up that bubble hence it is That our clothes made for necessity and ornament yea to make us humble and thankfull humilitie and thankfulnesse still go together do prove so contrary to those ends priding us up in our own conceits and dishonouring us in the eyes of others Hence it is that we are such Fashionists so phantastick and changeable that way That the Taylor can as hardly fit us as the d Plut. Conv. 7. sapicat man so goes the fable could fit a garment for the Moon Hence it is That our haire made to cover our scalp doth in a windy humour to a base fashion cover our face and that part of it which of any should not be covered So that which was made for an ornament and we should finde it so if we wanted but an eye-brow is so nourished and let to spread out so that it makes the person look like a furie Hence it is that we do tread like the Antipodes if the word were proper clean contrary to nature hiding that which should be covered and covering that which should be hid Hence it is That our eyes feet fingers our whole gesture and deportment do make so plain a Commentary upon the heart That if I may apply it so he that runnes may read the present humour and state of the minde and will so great a discovery of our dissimulations the gesture is for that speaks to the e Many have secret hearts and transparent countenances Essayes 21. p 128. eye as the tongue to the eare Hence it is That the inward beauty is so neglected and the outward so set out and highly prized when as beauty and strength will be much wasted by one fit of an Ague yea f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c Basil in Hex Hom. 5. quite gone in one night Hence it is That Knowledge doth puff up That Learning makes proud which is not Knowledge indeed nor Learning but our ignorance and going backwards a windie and flatuous conceit of both True Learning the more it is and the truer it is the more it humbles the closer it lies the lesse noise it makes Hence it is That the rich mans wealth is his g Prov. 18. 11. Strong citie and as an high wall for all this is but in his own conceit Hence it is That men in eminency of gifts and place are so taken up with the person for a time put upon them That they both in look and speech and gesture shew that they forget their naturall condition That they must lay aside their persons and dye like men and give account as stewards what they have gained Lastly hence it is That our owne Righteousnesse seemes so lovely in our eyes when as it is but like filthy rags and dung such things we may not otherwise name so filthy they are And were it considered it would help much to cast a spewing upon our glory h Hab. 2. 16. Act. 8. 9. Thus we have seene what it is and whence it is that blows up the vaine heart of man making it think of it selfe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 above what is meet i And thence we may fetch helps and remedies against its pride for if it is but a vaine opinion a flattering concâ—it a false valuation of things that doth deceave us we must labour to rectifie our judgements and to understand the truth and realitie of things that we may not be deceived Secondly if it be the want of the right knowledge and true understanding of our selves that makes us over-value our selves we must learn to understand and read our selves a great and an hard lesson k An hard thing to know ourselves Not only the eye of the body but of the minde too wants this noble facultie of looking inward c. Translated out of St. Basi Hex Hom. 9. p. 103 and our own principles so as we may know our selves to be but men poore weake men deceitfull upon the ballance and very wanting The summe is we must study how to rectifie reason and to take a true scale and a right estimate of our selves and things not as they seeme and appeare to bee but as they are indeed at first †1. Is it my apparell that would puffe me up because my cloth is of a finer threed then some others is This is a false valuation for the sheepe had it on its backe before my selfe yet was it but a sheep then and the same now so Sr. Thomas More would prick the bladder and let out that windy conceit l Hanc ovis olim gestavit nec aliud tamen interim quà m ovis suit Vtop lib. 2. pag. 166. †2. Is it the gorgiousnesse of my apparell the pompe of the same which would puffe me up That were but a m Act. 25. 2◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fancy and a windy conceit also A poore ornament it is which is put on and off And a windy conceit it is and most unworthy of a man to be taken with the shining or glittering of some Gold-lace or Iewell who can point to the earth below him to the Lilly there And to the heaven above him to the Sun and Starres n 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
for there is the Sinon I mean the Traitor The eie is a sense of the greatest certaintie that it is of the greatest deceit too There began the first temptation from thence evil hath had its first rise ever since There are two maine reasons of this deceit The Opticks reckon 20 1. The object is full of deceit A thing may seeme crooked and be strait so may a thing seeme right and be evill 2. This organ or instrument may have its suffusions and then it will be deceived sure for it is in no case to judge Our charge then is and it concludes our rule too Ye shall do that which is right according to your rule Gods will revealed in His word ye shall not do that which is right in your own eyes y Deut. 12. 10. for that stands most crooked to your rule There is no sense you can worse trust then your eye specially when pleasure hath corrupted it cast dust into it and it is full of it even quite over cast with it We must then with all our observation observe our eye for it is pleasures great Leader and Commander And from the roofe he saw z Sam. 11. 2. I will not looke up on that which I may not touch said one who made good use of Eves eating the forbidden fruit And Achans taking the accursed thing a Joh. 7. 21. If I restraine not mine eye it is likely I cannot restraine mine hand nor my heart for now that sinne like a teare b Strad Prolu 3. p. 119. hath dropt from my eye to my breast it is likely it hath though not by force yet by cunning and plausible perswasion and subtle complying taken that fort or framed it to a readinesse of yeelding ere long He must be more then a man whose heart doth not walk after his eyes c Job 31. 7. It is very evident That our senses do deceive reason and beguile the understanding Great authoritie they have over us else we would not turne them away when we are to be let bloud or launced And the falls of great men have told us That the sense being left at randome hath vanquisht and quite overcome all former resolutions of vertue and patience Therefore looke to those out windowes d Lege Chrysost in ep Ad Rom. cap. 7. Hom. 12. and keep out from entring there An enemy is better kept out then driven out It is a point of wisdome to make our selves strong against the first encounter but a point of vanitie and folly to open the doore upon his enemy to try masteries upon the threshold There is a kinde of honey saith Zenophon which works according to the degrees of comparison A little maketh drunk more maketh mad the most killeth Beware of this little it will draw on to the tasting of more and if more the working thereof will be very like this we heard off deadly This letting in of this little by the eye or eare is like the letting in of a little thiefe by a little window who opens the doore and gates for the greater theeves to enter and to make spoyle Looke we carefully to this covenant with our eyes or else all former resolutions will be broken for the eyes are Panders for pleasure Purveyers and Caterers for lusts As in some cases our eyes watch for us so in this case we must watch our eyes 2. And we must look well too and keep a strong watch over our imagination That is a gadding facultie also and we must follow it with our best observation as a mothers eye doth her little childe which is newly out of her armes full of action and still in harmes way so we must observe our fancy That works day and night when the eye is bound up that is waking and busily employed This imaginative facultie is the souls first wheele ever turning and naturally to evill and yet as that moves so the other wheeles stirre Object But it is said That it is impossible to have command of the fancy It is the old and common objection few are morally able to apply themselves all the day to exercises becomming the day And then when darknesse commeth to command the fancie to busie it selfe about that which according to rule was done in the day time impossible this It is so Few are able none are able Few morally able no man possible able to do as was spoken and when darknesse comes as we heard Moses hand though a servant of the Lord and mightie through Him will quickly be wearied and hang down It is the propertie of the Lords Arme to have it stretched out still And this Arme of His can do what He pleaseth He can make a brittle glasse to hold together though knockt against a stone This He can do and this He hath done but it is very extraordinary He can make Moses endure fortie dayes together and keepe his thoughts as his body was in the Mount all that time But these are extraordinaries and they serve like scaffolds at the first founding and raising of a Church and when the building is up the scaffolds go down we say then That none are able to do as we heard A man is supposed in a Christian c Homo supponitur in Christiano And yet we say and we say truth that a man may command his fancy It hath great power over us and we some over it if we have not we shall be as the swine We must not despise what the Philosopher teacheth in his Ethicks That a just f 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 man is differenced from a man unjust not by sleep but by dreames And we must not deny that to the fancy in moralls which Aristotle thought possible The words immediately Honestorum hominum honesta etiam sunt soâ—â— nia Arist before were once well weighed though by some now found light They are these or to this purpose It is possible that our fancy in the night may hold some conformitie with the dayes employment for if our minde in the day-time be intent upon good employment and well fixed thereon our sleepe may rellish of the same employment also and our fancy may make return of something whereof we so fastened on in the day as well as it will do in other vanities The fancy indeed is a wild and ranging thing As it may be affected by the eye and from the stomack we can command it no more then a flock of geese in a meadow or of birds in the skie if there be a distemper in the belly or g Cujuâ— cerebrum est in ventre ingenium in Patinis Agrip. ep 28. brain the fancy follows it and by the representations thence we shall see plainly it doth if the guts be in the head and the braines in the belly so it is with some men as Agrippa to his friend the fancy will be out of order as it is certainly out of place for it will be in the
some things they have concealed which should have been made known and some things have been presented under a colour and shew and all to compasse a poore end some wealth and repute amongst neighbours but things have proved contrary they have embraced a shadow and lost the substance They preferred a poore accessory before the principall and so have been paid with winde with counterfeit coyne instead of currant I could instance in some now widows and widowers who at this present do smart openly and in the eyes of others for their reservednesse their secret and cunning contrivance and imposture this way nor could it be otherwise for it is not Gods way we cannot expect a blessing in it What I compasse by guile and cunning doth but serve to increase my after discomfort A foundation i 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Piâ—d Nem. od â— layed in unrighteousnesse will be like a tottering wall at the best but like a house built upon the sands and tending to ruine And therefore this should be a warning to those who have any hand in this so weightie and fundamentall a businesse the issues whereof are so great And hence follows their rule which is this Look wherein a man expects the greatest good and his expectation is larger in no other thing then in marriage being most ancient important fundamentall to a sweet societie of life and a great number of mutuall obligations and profitable offices flowing thence therein now in a businesse of so high concernment Let a man proceed in the greatest evidence and clearenesse of dealing not swerving one jot or haires breadth from the wayes of sinceritie and truth This is the direction and I would have it evidence my minde when my tongue cannot And now childe to make application of all to thy self and way for thy better provision considering the premises That marriage is a businesse of such and so great consequence and concernment That the band is so strait that nothing can dissolve it but death or that which is to be punished with death that if there be an errour at first it is hardly recoverable afterwards considering all this I that might command thee do intreat thee by that worthy name called upon Thee and thy sacred vow then given By all the engagements of a childe such be all thy parents travell for thy good By all the comforts thou canst hereafter look for Be well advised first before thou doest proceed in this great businesse which requires such and so much deliberation Be I say well advised first By whom not by thine own heart aske not counsell there it may be and is in such cases strangely corrupted nor by thine own eare there is prejudice nor eye that is blinded nor affections they are troubled and can give no certain answer Nor by thy self for now thou art not thy self Thy judgement and reason are quite steeped in affection k Affectiones facile faciunt opiniones Yeeld thy self wholly up to those who have the oversight and charge over thee that is my charge There leave this great businesse and submit Here shew thy obedience as thou lookest to prosper All thy deportment from the yeares of understanding and onward thy gesture thy words thy actions should all at all times sweetly and child-like speake out and shew forth thy dutie to due observance of thy parents So as all that look on thee may heare and reade it in thy whole carriage and all short enough to answer thy debt But here is the principall businesse wherein they that have the charge over thee look to be observed And as thou doest observe them here so look to prosper I will read a short story here wherein we shall see a great example of a childes dutie at this point The greater the person was the greater the example is yet not so great the person in respect of place and dignitie but we are greater then he in respect of name and profession And therefore if we Christians fall short at this point our disobedience will be as the more notorious so the more abominable Xenophon relates the story thus Instit Cyri. lib. 8. p. 665. Cyaxares would have espoused his daughter to Cyrus the great offers him a portion answerable A large countrey for her Dowry great gifts besides Cyrus thus nobly makes answer I like the Stock well I cannot dislike the Branch The portion pleaseth and proportion both all lovely and desireable But Sir I am a Childe and must deport my self herein Childe-like A Childe is no match-maker unlesse in childish and triviall things things of a low nature and of but ordinary concernment A Childe must not treat at such a point as this I have Sir a Father and a Mother both as they will treat and conclude so shall I determine and resolve you This is the example and see the old discipline and awfull respect of children in old Time to Fathers and Governours And but equall it is and very reasonable that so it should be for if the Parents will determine nothing till they aske the maide l Gen. 24. 57 58. whereof afterwards how unchild like were it to say no more for the maide to say or do any thing till she aske the Parents Esau was a bad Childe of a good Father and he shewed saith Chrysostome his untowardnesse betimes for he Ibid. matched himself without his Parents coÌ„sent And that we may know how ill such matching thrives It is upon everlasting record That they were a griefe of minde unto Isaac and Rebecca m Gen. 26. 35. And certainly if we grieve the hearts of our good Parents we do in so doing block up our own way to our desired blessing so then the best counsell I can give and the best provision a childe can make against this great and solemne time and for the better successe in this great businesse is to look carefully first to its single charge And then to leave the rest to them whose charge it is and have taken upon them faithfully to discharge the same The first is a Childes principall dutie This ruling of one well The discharging of that little great-Cure so as a man souls have no sexes as was said may quit himself like himself in that single account This I say is every single Bodies principall dutie Therefore of this first 1. We are by nature ambitious of rule like the Bramble the more unfit to govern others the more desirous We love to be in authoritie and have others under us before we have got command over our selves We would take upon us the charge of more souls so doth He or She that enter into this condition and they must be accountable for them too the greatest cure in the world before we know how weightie the charge of one soul is Marriage is an honourable estate and if well ordered there is nothing in the world more beautifull And that it may be so we must be well ordered before-hand
Indeed there is not a more unseemely and unworthy sight then to see a wife usurp the authoritie over the man It is like a body I have sometime seen whose head was bowed down so close to the breast that behind you could scarce discern any thing but the shoulders Certainly it is a seemely sight To see t There is much in the example of a good master to make all follow his steps though he say nothing yet children and servants may see enough whereby they may be taught Chrysost in cap. 17. Gen. bom 40. â— the head stand out in sight and the contrary as unseemely And as unseemely every whit if the man demean himself unworthy of his place if he be not answerable to his honour and headship it will but disgrace him the more being like a pearle set in lead or a jewell in a swines snout a skull without braines or an head without wit It is not to be doubted but the prime dutie and the very weight of the burden lyeth upon the man It is much how he leadeth the way and draweth here for the head is the Glory and Crown of the Body and to be an Head imports a preheminence and soveraigntie it implyes also a derivation of the spirits thence to the members which being intercepted the body would quickly fall into a dead palsie Vt in corporibus siâ— in imperio gravissimus est morbus qui â— capite dâ—ssâ—â—ditur Plâ—n l. 4. cp 22. â— Morbido Capite nil sanum est aeque ullum 〈◊〉 membrum efficio suo 〈◊〉 ubi quod est principale non constat de 〈◊〉 d. Gaber l. 7. pag. 234. All which strongly argueth the mans principall charge and duty to whom belongs the headship and therefore is the principall and leading example The man by his example must lead on the wife to faith else what is one in the flesh will be two in the spirit that is diviâ—ed saith Chrysologus Vir conjugem deducat ad fidem ne quod unâ—m est â— carâ—◠〈◊〉 â—â—â— d â— sum Ser. 10. As it is in printing when on Sheet is set a thousand 〈◊〉 prâ—ssâ—d after it so when the master hath a good impression upon him â—is 〈◊〉 is â—â—sily 〈◊〉 to prâ—ty If Grace that pretious oyntment be plentifully â—â—â—â—e head and heart of the Master it will quickly distill to his skirts children and servants The man is in his place though of the lowest ranke yet in his place as the great parsons in their great seas as the Adâ—irall ship that beares the Lanthorne all steare after it And indeed this man though in a low estate of life yet being out of order can blow as big and raise as great stormes proportionably in his little pond as the other doe in their great seas so Lipsius phraseth it x De Const lib. 2. chap 25. see part first p. 93. The lightnesse of my family shall be laid to my charge so my conâ—cience makes me feare for lacke of more earnest and deligent instruction which should have beene done Bishop Ridly to Master Weâ— martyr p. 1569. Therefore whether the man be in high place or low it is very much how he leadeth the way for he is as one that carryeth the Lanthorne If the husband hath received the stampe of holinesse as was said y Epistle to the first part he will quickly presse his houshold with the same impression if Grace that pretious oyntment be in the head of the head in an house it will quickly destill to his skirts Children and servants A husband should know that he is not more above his wife in place then in example Therefore what is done amisse in the house will returne upon the man as most blame-worthy My conscience makes me feare that the lightnesse of my family shall be laid upon my charge for lacke of more earnest and diligent instruction which should have been done said Bishop Ridly to Master West Woe and woe againe if we by our examples should make others to stumble at the Truth So Iohn Bradford to Iohn Carelesse z Martyr pag. 1569. Pag. 1494. It is a tradition that Matthias the Apostle was used to say If a goodmans neighbour did fall into any great sinne the goodman was to be blamed for if that goodmans life had been sutable to his Rule the Word of God then had his example according to rule so awed that neighbor that he had not so falne said Clemens of Alexandria a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Strom. l. 7. pag. 541. Much more may the same be said touching the husband and the wife the father and the child the master and the servant if any thing be amisse if things goe not straight in the family it is very likely the husband the father the master walke not according to rule but some crosse or crooked way for he is the head the leading hand The starres are eclipsed oftner then the greater lights but their eclipse we observe not but if the Sunne or Moone are eclipsed our eyes are upon them for the one rules the day the other the night Inferiors faile often in their duty but the observation is what their Superiours what their Governours doe They are in their little house as the Sunne and Moone are in the great world The little great Rulers therein Therefore it requires our Marke That it was the Man for whose faithfulnesse the Lord did undertake I know that Abraham will command his children and his household c. b Gen. 18. 19. Command marke that Command not so much by his Word though that was a command too but by example That hath more force in it more of that we call compulson Abraham will command And it was the Man that promised for himself I and my house will serve the Lord Ioshua last 15. It was the man and a man after Gods own heart that said I will walk within my house with a perfect heart Psal 101. And much reformation must follow for the removing of the wicked from his seat and sight and for the encouragement of the godly as it is plain in that place And which is more this was a great house a kingdome It was a man and one under authoritie though he had souldiers under him and they are none of the tamest creatures who did say to this man go and he went and to another come and he came and to his servant do this and he did it And to put the lowest last for indeed he was much below a Christian but quite shames him it was an old man and a darkman That had foure sonnes stout young men five daughters many servants a great retinue over all this man carried himself with such authoritie with such a Lord like command but so well tempered as his servants feared him his children reverenced him all honoured and loved him In the house you might see saith the author c Cic. de Sente the old paternall authoritie and
upon it I will set down the whole relation which is this c Xenephon de Iustâ—tut Cyri. l. 3. pag. 203. Tigranes and Armâ—nias the husband and the wife the father in law also All lay at Cyrus his mercy and when he might have taken away their libertie and their lives he dismissed them with honour granting them both So home they went well apaid When they were returned they began to commend Cyrus one for this and another for that what doest thou think said Tigranes to his wife Was not Cyrus a goodly person Truly Sir said she I cannot tell that for I looked not upon him No where were thy eyes woman on whom were they fixed On thee my deare husband said she who in my hearing didst offer thine own life a ransome for mine This gives us the reason why a good man and his goods are so easily parted whence it is that he breaks so easily through those snares his affections are more endeared to Christ Then hers were to her husband and the cause wherefore much more binding Aske then those who may properly be called the Spouse of Christ and demand of them What think ye of your possessions your livings your libertie your life They will answer They are lovely things for they are Gods blessings they came from His hand they must not be slighted in ours and they have made many wise men look backe as our Ieuell d Apol. 2. pag. 227. saith even as many as had not their faces stedfastly set toward Christ e Luk. â— 51 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But now that their eyes are fixed upon Him they see no beautie in them at all The strength of his love who poured forth His soul unto death and the brightnesse of that glory wherein Through Him they are shaâ—ers so holdeth their eye and so stedfastly that it cannot look downward to those things though otherwise very lovely with an adulteresse eye And so much to prevent snares from plentie the briefe of what was said therein is this If we deny not our riches they will cause us to deny the Lord and to say Who is Hee f Prov 30. 9. If then we would prevent a taking in that snare keep we earth and things thereon in their proper place at the foot g Psal 8. 6. If we exalt it it will presse us downeward lower then the place is where we dig it If we thinke of outwards above what is meet we shall thinke of our selves above what is comely And then our riches will be a strong Tower in our conceit h Prov. 18. 11. and we shall be so conceited of them so bottomed upon them so earthed in them that we shall say as before mentioned We are Lords we will come no more unto thee i Iere. 2 31. And then we shall so pride our selves that we will contemne disdaine and scorne others better then our selves and so bring not our selves onely into a snare but the whole City nay we shall be as those who set a City on fire who blow it up as with Gun-powder k Prov. 28. 9. Insâ—â—mmant â—â—ffâ—ant Tâ—em So much for prevention of snares from Riches in a generall way now somwhat more particularly Riches have many snares where there is fulnesse and plenty there is plenty of them But one daughter there is of plenty and fulnesse which like the hersâ—leach still cryeth give give but is never satisfied This a great snare and fiâ—ly called the great inchantresse of mankinde we commonly call it Pleasure not so properly for saith one l Isid Pelusit l. 2. epist 240. How can we call that Pleasure which causeth so much sollicitude and carefulnesse madnesse saith the Author before we take it so much trouble and wearinesse in taking so short a satâ—ety presently after and so much anxiety and perplexity of spirit anon or some while after If this be pleasure that hath so much sower and gall iâ— it then we say well when we call it so The onely remedy against this Siren or Witch is to binde our selves as one was to the mast of his Ships m Hom. Odyss lib. 12. Resolution the morall of that fiction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Clem. Alex. Ad Gentes pag. 55. with the cords of strong resolution n Psal 17. Act. 11. 23. unto a constant walking onwards in the wayes of holinesse I am fully purposed saith David c. But for preventing this snare and fortifying our selves against it and to learne us to call it by its right name something hath beene spoken in its proper place which I will not recall here There are other snares in plenty so many that it is impossible to give severall remedies against them But yet to speak in a word and yet enough for prevention that our foot be not taken by them note wee There is one thing which God hath appointed as our watch-keeper and will hold us waking and well provided against them all if it doth its office and this is feare feare I say according to Godlinesse It is the most waking affection and most serviceable of any if it doth its office It is the house porter the bodies spiall and the soules too still keeping watch it is next to love the most commanding affection our keeper and r Siâ— modâ—ratus cibus nuaquam venter expletus plures quippe sunt quae cùm vino sint sobriae ciborum laâ—giâ—aâ—e sâ—â—â—briae c. Hier. ad Hist ep 17. pag. 204. c. Lege epist 14. q Tenenâ—i codicem somnus obrepat Ibid. p. 205. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. The feare of God is a Catholike remedy c. Clem. Alex. Protrep â— 52. 86. Truths keeper also it is the best king in the world The great or little for it keeps both Tables I will say no more of it for I cannot say a little but let us observe what it will doe what good service to a man if it be right and we use it right Iude o Vers 12. the servant of Iesus Christ tels us of some who fed themselves without feare That is who fed themselves suspecting no snares at their Table or in their meate whereas according to the plenty there there are plenty of snares in both A feare now according to godlinesse will make us to prevent all So likewise there are some who goe to bed without feare as if there were no snares in sleeping nor in waking whereas in Bed wee shall finde many snares a feare according to godlinesse inables against these also There are some who rise again without feare who walk abroad without feare who converse with men and amidst the affaires of the world all this without feare as if there were no snares in all this whereas there is no lesse variety of snares then there is occasions or things in the world Feare according to godlinesse awakens a man he can look before him It armes him against all In a
〈◊〉 Chrys â—â— Matt. Hom. 25. prayer asking of Him who is the Father of lights who leades into all truth And if He joyn himself to our charriot we shall go on and encrease mightily for it is in the strength and with the encrease of God I can but point at what I would say For thy instruction this is the chief Take counsell from this word and from this Great counsellour then thou shalt be taught indeed to answer thy worthy name worthily and all those relations thou standest in as becometh first to children The chief burden of our charge as they are the chief of our possessions The rules are what was mentioned before I shall not recall 1. Thou must not set thy heart upon them as was said but keep a watchfull eye over them thereby keeping them in awe and begin betimes sit close here children are like a wilde asse colt if thou dost not over-rule them they will overthrow thee and themselves It is a pretty observation I know not how true That great mens children learn nothing by order and rule but to mannage their horse well and the reason why they are so carefull therein is because they know their horse is neither flatterer nor Courtier he will not stick to cast First part p. 253. them as soon as a meaner person if they hold him not strait in and themselves close to his back It is so here if thou doest not sit close upon them upon servants also holding a strait hand neither slacked nor strained if not they will runne headlong What ever honour is due none will be payed unlesse it be honourably commanded I mean with authoritie and with a countenance commanding a respect and a reverence Let this bridle loose once and they will let loose the bridle before thee i Job 30. 11. Essrenatè in me invâ—cti sunt quâ—si immissis vel excussis habenis Trem. first part that is they will speak unreverently and scornfully as if they were not children nor thou their Mother and the order will be inverted the childe will be above and the parent shall be below And therefore hold fast here Thus much or this little rather for I have spoken to it before that thou mayest maintain thy authoritie over them if thou loosest that thou wilt adventure thy comfort in them Covet after the best callings but be not ambitious to make them great here below It had been a good ambition in the Mother if it had been spirituall to be an earnest sutour for the preferment of her children to Christs's kingdome k Hoc praecipuum est uti piè sanclâ—que vivant dixit uxor Calv. epist 101. No preferment in the world comparable Do thy best here Grace is a sure commoditie and however the world go the trade of godlinesse cannot fail Make sure of that for thy self and thine what thou canst trade heaven-ward the world and trading here will fail l Reade Chrysost in Gen. Hom. 66. â— Put up thy prayers for them be not wanting at the Throne of Grace thy prayers may return when thou thinkest not and with much more advantage then thy cares Mark that We suppose thou hast servants too a great part of thy care and charge and then there is work enough for thy tongue thy eye and thy hand thou being a leading hand in All. 1. Work enough for thy tongue I mean not therewith to trouble thy house as some do filling it with winde as with smoak which is the abuse of the tongue but to instruct to exhort to reprove to correct also thereby to bring all to know and serve God There must be no difference none at all between children and servants It is not said m Gen. 18. 19. Abraham and his Isaac Lydia n Acts 15. 16. and her daughters but Abraham and his houshold Lydia and her houshold All alike in point of information though a difference in affection This is the praise in the Gospell that some private families were particular Churches The Church in thy house Philem. 2. And hence saith the Father o Chrysost in ep ad Cor. Hom. 12. If we observe so much it sufficeth hence all our evils which break out in Citie and Countrey ever from the neglect of this family or household We think it saith he sufficient to excuse our neglect when he or she walk in their own way the way of sinne and death That they are our servant or handmaid as if servants had no souls and we no charge over them or to use the same Fathers words as if in Christ Iesus there were either bond or free All one in our care But now heare the same Fathers reproof we do not so neglect our horse or our asse for we would have them good as we do our servants For the same may be said of us the Father p In epist ad Cor. Hom. 8. puts it down as a Caveat in way of prevention which was said of a people in Ieremiah's time q Jer. 7. 18. The children gather wood and the fathers kindled the fire and the women knead their dough So of us children and servants run after their pleasure Fathers as fast after their profit thâ— women make provision for a temporall life onely none seek the things of Christ but all their own things whence must needs follow disorder in the family confusion in the Common-wealth And so much may teach thee so to use thy tongue that it may be thy glory in the setting up and maintaining the Glorie and service of God in thy family which was the grace and glory of those families whose praise is in the Gospell and the praise of that vertuous woman She openeth her mouth with wisdome and in her tongue is the law of kindenesse Prov. 31. 26. 2. There will be much use of the eye too many servants riotously waste much children wantonly spill much be wakefull herein see that nothing be riotously abused as the swinish manner is in some families worse then brutish nor needleslly spent nor carelesly spilt Set an honourable price upon Gods gifts for thou receivest them from God opening His hand What comes from His hand must not be slighted in ours The least crum of His blessings should have its due regard And as He doth open His hand so do thou open thy heart Thou canst not open at all till He open first much lesse so wide but yet pray as the one is enlarged towards thee so the other may be enlarged towards Him in thy measure and thy hand also open to others according as He hath blessed thee If He doth give thee to eat of the fat and to drink of the sweet and to be clad with the wool Nehem. 8. 10. Remember them for whom none of all is this provided And remember withall it is one of the properties of a vertuous woman Prov. 31. 20. She stretcheth out her hand to the poore yea she reacheth out her hands to