and experience hope and hope maketh not ashamed thus is there a gradual progress from the practice of one Vertue to another altho through some accidental indisposition of our minds One Vertue may not promote the exercise of another CLIMAX Climax gradatio when the words are in such a Position that there is a gradual ascent from one to another till you arrive at the last step of the period Thus Matt. 10. 40. He that receiveth you receiveth me and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me There is here a gradual advancement in every period and the last is the highest of all In as much as the respect and honour given to God the Father upon the reception of his Son is much greater than any that is paid to the Son who in respect of his humanity and his mission from Heaven was inferiour to God the Father John 1. 11. In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God In the beginning that is before the creation of the world the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 had then his being for if he was not before all things how then could all things be made by him The first word then signifies his eternity the next his personality And the word was with God which phrase expresseth a distinct mode or manner of subsistence of the Son from the Father because no Person is said to be with himself but with another Person And the last words expresly assert his Divinity And the word was God See this Text expounded in a Sermon of his Grace the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury 1 Cor. 3. 22 23. All are yours and you are Christ's and Christ is God's Rom. 8. 30. Moreover whom he did predestinate them he also called and whom he called them also he justified and whom he justified them also he glorified Matt. 5. 27 28. Ye have heard it hath been said by them of old time Thou shalt not commit adultery But I say unto you That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart So that the Christian morality is much more refined and reaches not only to the external actions but even those of the mind the most secret imaginations Matt. 11. 9. But what went ye out for to see a Prophet yea I say unto you and more than a Prophet Matt. 8. 20. Jesus saith unto them The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head Here in these Verses there is a noble rise in the sence of the words and without much impropriety they are reducible to this Figure ANAPHORA Anaphora from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to bring back again 't is a repetition of a word in the beginning of several Sentences Thus The voice of the Lord is powerfull the voice of the Lord is full of majesty Psal 29. 4. Praise the Lord from the Heavens praise him in the height praise him all his Angels praise him Sun and Moon where the Royal Psalmist affectionately calls upon the whole order of created Beings to sing Praises to their Maker Charity suffereth long and is kind charity envieth not charity vaunteth not her self where the abstract is made use of for the concrete the charitable Person Psal 118. v. 8 9. Jer. 50. 35 36 37. A Sword is upon the Chaldeans saith the Lord a sword is upon the Inhabitants of Babylon and upon her Princes and upon her wise men a sword is upon her mighty men and they shall be dismayed a sword is upon their horses and upon their chariots This induction of Particulars with the continual application of the same term to every period renders the discourse much more emphatical and infuseth into the mind a notion of universal ruin and desolation EPISTROPHE Epistrophe conversio from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 verto This Figure returns the same word at the end of several Clauses Thus Are they Israelites so am I Are they the seed of Abraham so am I 2 Cor. 11. 22. Have we not prophesied in thy Name and done miracles in thy Name Matt. 7. 22. See Psal 106. where His mercy endureth for ever is the conclusion of every Verse and very proper to express the endless duration of his Mercy SYMPLOCE Symploce complicatio from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to fold together when the same sort of words are in the beginning and in the end of several Sentences Jer. 9. 23. Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom neither let the mighty man glory in his might let not the rich man glory in his riches And this is the very Admonition of God himself That we should not in the least place our hope and confidence upon the best of worldly things but only upon God Almighty who is only able to save and defend us EPANALEPSIS Epanalepsis resumptio from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 accipio This Figure makes use of the same word or expression in the beginning and ending of the same Sentence Phil. 4. 4. Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say Rejoice 2 Sam. 18. 33. O Absalom my son my son EPANADOS Epanados regressio This Figure employs the same word at the beginning and middle of a Sentence or in the middle and end of it as if they were inverted and the contrary sence turned upon them Isai 5. 20. Wo unto them who call good evil and evil good who put light for darkness and darkness for light Rom. 7. 19. For the good that I would I doe not but the evil which I would not that I doe How are the terms here inverted good is the object of his will but still 't is impracticable and evil tho' contrary to his will and intention◠yet that he puts into practice John 8. 47. He that is of God heareth God's word ye therefore hear it not because ye are not of God that is because ye are not regenerate by his Spirit 2 Cor. 2. 15 16. For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ in them that are saved and in them that perish to the one we are the savour of death unto death and to the other the savour of life unto life that is the Gospel is preached to all persons without any distinction but the blessed efficacy of it is extreamly different and varies according to the disposition of the receiver for 't is life and salvation to the believer but to the faithless and disobedient inevitable death and destruction PARONOMASIA Paronomasia a likeness of words derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which in composition signifies with alteration and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a name from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to change or allude to a name This Figure employs the same word to a very different purpose and sometimes it changes one letter or syllable of a word to another sence and signification Matt. 8. 22. Let
sometimes afraid to venture at a phrase or a fineness of a period lest they should deviate more from the true sence and signification of the Text and after all you will discover some elegant Turns and some Beauties of Rhetorick in the Translations which do not so clearly shine out in the very Original which I have purposely inserted sometimes to let my Reader see that if our Translators lose in one place yet they gain in another As to my own part I shall only tell you this that I was extreamly pleased when any Figure was lodg'd upon any Text of Scripture that seem'd to favour and countenance any false doctrines especially the Romish or the Socinian that I might take an occasion to make a little inroad into them and recover them from the unkind and false imprisonment of the enemy and when several other Texts of Scripture were in darkness and obscurity or under any difficulty I have endeavour'd to let in more light into them by an easie explication or a short paraphrase upon the words which perhaps were not always so very plain and obvious at least to every man's capacity and apprehension Sir I will now trouble you no farther but I hope you will receive it kindly as if in this Essay some things at least were tolerable Farewell Divine Eloquence OR AN ESSAY Upon the Tropes Figures Contained in the Holy Scriptures A TROPE A Trope is nothing else but the change of a word from its natural Signification into another whereby the Idea of any thing is more sensible to us Instance Matt. 4. 19. And I will make you Fishers of men that is Instruments of drawing and converting men unto God and our Saviour useth the term by way of allusion to them that being their former Employ Psal 65. 14. The valleys says our Psalmist shall stand so thick with Corn that they shall Laugh and Sing that is A very plentifull harvest is the occasion of joy and pleasantness laughing or singing are the proper expressions of a gay and chearfull Spirit and so those terms applied to other things by way of Analogy represent to us the excessive joy and pleasure of Plenty Luke 13. 32. Go and tell that Fox meaning Herod that crafty and politick Dissembler and the application of the term gives us a fuller notion of his Hypocrisie I shall here set down only three Affections belonging to a Trope leaving the fourth to those who are more industrious to find it out viz. Hyperbole Allegory Metalepsis HYPERBOLE Hyperbole from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to exceed This Figure represents things greater lesser or better than they are in their own natures and this sort of Trope is extremely usefull when our ordinary terms are so very weak that they carry in them no proportion with the notices of our mind and so the soul for fear of speaking too little presently flies out and enlargeth too much but let no one fansie that the use of this Figure is in the least unlawfull for if we sometimes express ourselves in the highest or in the lowest degree imaginable yet 't is no Lye for we have not the least intention to deceive any one but we only fly so extravagantly high that our discourse may come down with more force into the minds of our audience and give them such a sense of what we are talking as may oblige them to conceive 't is highly impossible or else to enlarge their thoughts about it 2 Sam. 1. 23. of the latter kind Saul and Jonathan were swifter than Eagles they were stronger than Lions and by such sensible Idea's and familiar Resemblances you conceive still but an higher notion of their mighty strength and activity Gen. 32. 12. Thy Seed shall be as the Sand of the sea which cannot be numbred for multitude and the Comparison only implies that his family should be exceeding numerous Psal 107. 26. The Waves of the sea Mount up to Heaven and go Down again to the Deep that is the foaming Waters are carried up exceedingly high and they tumble down again into the lowest places of the Earth See Luke 10. 15. to the same purpose Rom 9. 3. I could Wish that my self were Accursed from Christ and as One cut off from the Communion of his Church for my Brethren and Kinsmen according to the flesh which Wish was absolutely a thing impossible yet such a kind of Imprecation could not but give the Jews an infinite Assurance of St. Paul's excessive Love and Charity to them See John 21. 25. the World it Self could not Contain the books that should be written a figurative expression very large Gen. 11. 4. Let us Build a Tower whose Top may reach up unto Heaven that is rise up exceeding high and lofty There are two sorts of this Figure Hyperbole Auxesis and Meiosis Aaxesis James 4. 1. From whence come Wars and fightings among you Wars is a word that carries in the very sound of it a publick Dispute and Engagement of Nations against one another but the term here is only made use of by way of amplification and signifies the private quarrels and animosities of Christians among themselves Judges 5. 4 5. Lord when thou Marchedst out of Edom the earth Trembled and the heavens Dropped the clouds also Dropped with water the mountains Melted before the Lord Not that all these wonderfull Effects did then actually come to pass but they are here specified to give us a mighty notion of God's presence and how the most sacred Majesty of it strikes an universal Fear and Consternation every where Meiosis Meiosis a Figure of diminution when we use a less word or expression than the matter requires James 4. 17. To him that Knoweth to doe Good and doth it Not to Him it is Sin but not a sin of the least degree as the phrase at first sight seems to import but of a very great Aggravation being against Reason and Reflection and so a very dangerous and presumptive sin Matt. 5. 19. Whosoever shall break one of the least of these commandments and shall teach men so shall be the Least in the king dom of Heaven 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a very soft expression and much milder than such sort of false Teachers can pretend to deserve but indeed it signifies such shall be accounted as nothing and insignificant in the Church of God 1 Cor. 10. 5. But with Many of them God was not Well pleased A very soft and favourable expression God was not well pleased 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereas it is very plain by the Consequence that he was extremely angry insomuch that in the fury of his displeasure they were presently cut off and destroyed in the wilderness Matt. 3. 11. But he that Cometh after Me is Mightier than I whose Shooes I am not Worthy to Bear This was spoken by St. John not without the greatest sense of his own unworthiness even to that degree that he thinks himself not worthy to perform the offices of the meanest Servant
execution so that this infinite prospect of our thoughts derives no necessary power and influence upon them To use a lower Instance And if you your self could foresee that your friend after many changes of his mind would certainly travel into Italy such a previous knowledge of his affairs and designs by no means gives any byas to them neither is he obliged by any power of yours to prosecute his journey SYNECDOCHE Synecdoche from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to comprehend This Trope is a form of speaking when we make use of words that are more comprehensive for others which are less and so on the contrary when we put the name of a part to signifie the whole or else the name of the whole to express any particular part of it as if you say the Plague is in France when perhaps 't is only in Paris There are four sorts or species belonging to this Figure Synecdoche Generis 1. Synecdoche Generis when a general word comprehends a particular or when the universal denotes the special term Thus Luke 2. 1. It came to pass that all the world was to be taxed meaning the whole Roman Empire a small though very remarkable part of the World Exod. 9. 6. And all the cattel of Egypt died which signifies not universally as if every kind of Beast were destroyed but only or at least chiefly those that then were in the fields for that some were preserved alive is plain enough from vers 19. Thus All flesh Gen. 6. 12. and All Creatures Mark 16. 15. signifie man only And Every Creature implies only some of each sort and not all of every kind Gen. 7. 8. So All manner of four footed beasts signifies a very great number Acts 10. 12. Exod. 20. 10. Thou shalt not doe any manner of work on the Sabbath day that is no toilsome and servile labour which is the business of every other day where the universal term of negation is limited and restrained to a particular Negative So Ye shall not swear at all is a prohibition not excluding all manner of Oaths but such only as are rash and not required in a judicial way by the supreme Magistrate Matt. 27. 44. The thieves also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which were crucified with him upbraided him where the plural Number denotes the singular for only one of the two Thieves did vilifie our Saviour as appears from Luke 23. 39. Synecdoche Speciei 2. Synecdoche Speciei when a particular word or expression of a more narrow signification does imply one of a general and larger notification Thus James 1. 27. Pure religion is this to visit the fatherless and the widow in their affliction which are but a very narrow compass of Religion but they are taken more generally for any Persons under any sort of Calamity Exod. 3. 8. A Land flowing with milk and honey that is abounding with all things good and desirable Abraham and Israel two proper Names signifie the Patriarchs a word of larger extent Isai 63. 16. Exod. 20. Honour thy father and thy mother is a duty more universal and commands us to pay obedience and reverence to all Superiours especially those in high Authority Synecdoche Totius 3. Synecdoche Totius when the Name of the whole serves to denote a part of it Thus Luke 23. 43. To day thou shalt be with me in Paradise where the word thou seems to comprehend the whole man but it signifies his soul only without his body 2 Pet. 3. 6. The whole world being overflowed with water that is the earth the lowest part of the world Dan. 2. 4. O King live for ever where all duration of time even to Eternity signifies a long part of time for ever that is for a long time Synecdoche Partis 4. Synecdoche Partis when the Name of a Part or Member is made use of to notifie the whole thing or person Acts. 27. 37. And we were all in the Ship two hundred threescore and sixteen souls where the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 comprehends the whole man And the evening and the morning were the first day where the principal parts of the day signifie the entire spaces of day and night Of Figures in the Repetition of the same Sound EPIZEVXIS Epizeuxis from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to join together This Figure repeats the same word in the same Sentence by way of emphasis and so gives more life and passion to our discourses Thus How does Holy David express himself in an infinite Passion upon the death of his Son Absalom 2 Sam. 18. 33. O my son Absalom my son my son Absalom would God I had died for thee O Absalom my son my son How often are the very same words over and over again to signifie if possible the mighty grief and anguish of his Soul for the irreparable loss of his dearly beloved Son Psalm 22. 1. My God my God why hast thou forsaken me See Matth. 27. 46. The words are full of Complainings most earnestly lamenting that God himself was departed from him even when his Divine presence was most needfull to preserve him from the approach of some imminent danger but in respect of Christ figured by David they are the expressions of his Humanity representing the extreme Agony of his Passion and the inexpressible Pains and Torments See Matt. 26. 38 39. My soul saith Christ is exceeding sorrowfull even unto death See also Luke 22. 44. Luke 23. 21. But they cryed saying Crucifie him Crucifie him representing to us their most violent Importunities and loud Clamours of the People against his Life Acts 9. 4. Saul Saul why persecutest thou me A very earnest and passionate Expostulation from heaven to move and persuade Saul that he should no longer breath out threatnings and slaughters against the Church of Christ Matt. 23. 37. Oh Jerusalem Jerusalem How is the same word repeated over again very emphatically to give us the highest conception of God's trouble and mighty concernment for their impenitency and wilfull disobedience See Psalm 145. 18. Joel 1. 15. Exod. 34. 6. ANADIPLOSIS Anadiplosis derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 duplico This Figure pronounceth the same word in different Sentences when the last word of the preceding Proposition is repeated in the beginning of the following thus Rom. 14. 8. For whether we live we live unto the Lord or whether we die we die unto the Lord and therefore in either state 't is our business to preserve in our minds a lively sense of God's providence and refer our selves to his care and protection of our souls and bodies since whether we live or die we are the Lord 's See Rom. 8. 17. Phil. 2. 8. He became obedient to death even the death of the Cross and was it not still an higher instance of his great Humility and Condescension because such a sort of death was by all reputed the most infamous and shamefull way of dying Knowing that tribulation worketh patience and patience experience
thing that may be objected against us by answering by way of prevention the very objection our selves Rom. 11. 19 21 22. Thou wilt say then The branches were broken off that I might be graffed in Well because of unbelief they were broken off and thou standest by faith Be not high minded but fear For if God spared not the natural branches take heed lest he also spare not thee St. Paul here obviates the objection of the Gentiles who were inserted into the body of the Church and the unbelieving Jews who are here styled the broken branches were rejected this he tells the Gentiles was a mighty favour of God so to incoporate them with his Church but then he also assures them that they must not so far presume upon their present state and vocation For if God spare not the natural branches that is the Jews themselves take heed lest he also spare not the◠For if by your disobedience you now incurr God's displeasure you cannot in reason but expect to suffer the same unhappy fare with the Jewish Nation St. Paul discoursing of the resurrection resolves a difficult question concerning the mode and manner of the resurrection and what sort of body shall be raised up from the grave But some will say How are the dead raised up and with what body do they come 1 Cor. 15. 35 36. Thou soul Our Saviour stifles their objection by offering another so very difficult that they were unwilling to answer it Matth. 21. 24 25. I will also ask you one question which if you tell me I likewise will tell you by what authority I doe these things The baptism of John whence was it from heaven or of men This was such a Dilemma and the resolution of it so highly inconvenient that they pretend ignorance and answer We cannot tell Rom. 9. 19 20. Thou wilt say them unto me Why doth he yet find fault for who hath resisted his will Nay but O man who art thou that repliest against God Thus St. Paul anticipates their false opinion assuring them that the work of grace is of God's mere free-will and if he doth deprive some of it he is not in the least guilty of any injustice to them since he is under no obligations to conferr it upon them and this very subtraction of his grace upon their impenitency and continuance in a vicious course of life is no cause of their sin and wickedness but on the contrary their disobedience and sinfull life is the reason why God withdraws the influence of his holy spirit from them and so our sins chase away the holy spirit and render its operation ineffectual to our conversion and so the heart of Pharaoh is hardned EPITROPE Epitrope from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 concedo By this Figure we often grant a thing not unwillingly to obtain another and show more effectually the inconveniency of such a Practice or Principle Romans 2. 17. Behold thou art called a Jew and restest in the law and makest thy boast of God and art confident that thou thy self art a guide to the blind Thou therefore that teachest another teachest thou not thy self As if he said I grant thou art an Instructer of the foolish and a teacher of babes but then Why is thy conversation so unsuitable to thy doctrine Where is thy example Where is thy practice and Why are they so disagreeable to thy external profession thus How does our Apostle seem to concede all they desire to prove at last upon them that their practice was not consonant to their principles and from that absurdity more severely reprehends them Judges 10. 14. Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen let them deliver you in the time of trouble This seems no small encouragement to their practice of idolatry but in reality 't is the strongest dissuasion from it and virtually implies the disability of other gods to save and deliver them in times of danger 1 Kings 22. 15. The King said to Micaiah Shall we go against Ramoth gilead to battel or shall we forbear and he answered him Go and prosper Where the Prophet seems to encourage them to the battel though he easily foresaw the dangerous consequence of the war 1 Cor. 14 38. But if any man be ignorant let him be ignorant still that is If after such a plain and positive proof of my ministery he will nevertheless resolve to continue ignorant of it let it be at his own peril where the concession is nothing else but a discouragement to his want of understanding and reflection in a matter of so high importance See Amos 4. 4 5. where the Prophet in a way of derision seems to approve of their idolatrous practives Prov. 6. 10. Yet a little sleep a little slumber a little folding of the hands to sleep As if he said You do well to indulge your self in ease and slothfulness but then at last how does the wise Man ruturn upon the Sluggard so shall thy Poverty come as one that travelleth and thy want as an armed Man and so more fully convinceth him of the great inconveniences of an idle way of living James 2. 19. Thou believest that there is one God thou doest well the devils also believe and tremble Where after this sort of commendation of their faith he at last tells them that such a belief without a suitable practice is vain and ineffectual and that even the devils themselves have a speculative faith Matth. 5. 46. If ye love them that love you what reward have you do not even the Publicans the same I will if you please saith the Apostle allow the matter of fact yet what use can you make of it where is the commendation where is the vertue of such a practice if the worst of men doe the very same These following are called secondary Figures of a word PLEONASMUS Pleonasmus you know Sir is a Greek word and 't is uncivil to explain it in your company This Figure makes use of more words than are necessary but they give a much stronger accent and emphasis to our discourses Deuter. 33. 6. O foolish people and unwise Which sort of expression still more eminently denotes their want of wisdom and discretion Prov. 27. 2. Let another man praise thee and not thy own mouth a stranger and not thine own lips And this variety of words is not so unusefull to engage our thoughts to consider with more attention the subject matter of our discourse and the importance of it See Deuter. 13. 4. John 1. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All things were made by him and without him was not any thing made that was made And the variation of the sence in other words was very convenient to assure us that Christ was before the world and that all things in it were the works of his hand and from the universality of his creative power he must be omnipotent and therefore God for what less than infinite power it self can make and
how and when God lays in his mighty treasures of storm and tempest to confound his Enemies The falling of snow and rain may seem very accidental and according to the usual course of nature but I am satisfied that the wind and the waters are laid up as in a treasury and when God pleaseth he sends them abroad as well for the preservation of some as for the destruction of other people Thus do I conclude this Figure with these difficult and amazing questions to let you know that although God condescends to speak to us in a familiar way yet sometimes too he thinks it convenient to let us know our distance and our ignorance too when he proposeth such questions to us as declare his infinite power and greatness Such questions as are above our comprehension and so they should make us more sensible of our weakness and infirmity CHARIENTISMUS Charientismus a Figure when we return a very mild and gentle answer although we are not insensible of the provocation John 18. 23. Jesus answered him If I have spoken evil bear witness of the evil but if well why smitest thou me How does our Blessed Saviour not render evil for evil How does he patiently suffer the affront and meekly expostulate for the Injury he received and How does the soft Answer turn their wrath away Prov. 15. 1. When St. Paul was interrupted by Festus with a reproachfull language telling him that he was mad Acts 26. 24. How does our Apostle return a soft and submissive Answer to him not without the greatest deference But he said I am not mad most noble Festus v. 25. Matth. 15. 26 27. When the woman of Canaan importuned our Saviour to work a wonderfull Cure upon her daughter who was tormented with an evil spirit our Saviour tells her that It was not convenient to take the childrens bread and cast it to dogs that is It was not proper to work those Miracles among the heathen which were chiefly design'd for God's own peculiar People the Jews observe how they are here called the children and the heathen are termed the dogs And what expression can be more harsh more severe or more likely to provoke the meekest Soul to some undecent and passionate expression But how extreamly civil how courteous how very obliging is her Answer and she said Truth Lord and so still gives him the greatest Title of respect and honour 'T is true my Lord I cannot deny what you please to say Yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters table as if she had said The dogs do receive the remainders and scatterings which fall from the table so even I my self who am a Gentile or call me if you please by the vilest name so long as you will but suffer me to enjoy the same favour with the Jews I can easily dispense with any such infamous or reproachfull language Such humiliation such an humble disposition of Soul and such importunity can never be unacceptable to Almighty God and Heaven it self cannot but favour such desires And you find our Saviour himself was in no small admiration and mightily surprized with this meek and humble insinuation especially after so great a provocation for the very sound of the word so applied is very ignominious and so Christ presently tells her O woman great is thy faith be it unto thee even as thou wilt Thus an importunate Prayer accompanied with such a deep sence of our own unworthiness is still the nearest way to receive and enjoy all the blessed consequences of our Petitions and Heaven it self is overcome with such a pleasing violence Thus you see the woman was not insensible of the provocation and yet how very courtly how genteel is her Answer True my Lord yet the very dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters table and let me beg you to be so kind as to suffer me now with them to enjoy such a kind of favour such a superfluity and so Christ himself breaks out in amazement of such a most kind beseeching unexpected reply O woman great is thy faith thy belief is mighty strange and wonderfull to me and so very forcible so prevailing with me that I cannot possibly deny what you desire APODIOXIS Apodioxis This Figure not without scorn and indignation rejects any sort of argument as very absurd in it self and not reducible to practice Matth. 16. 23. How does Christ reprove St. Peter when he importunately desired our Saviour not to suffer persecution Get thee behind me Satan thou art an offence unto me for thou savourest not the things of God This is a reflection upon our Apostle of the highest nature and certainly nothing less than the greatest provocation could extort such expressions from Christ himself And now Who would think that St. Peter who was so extreamly displeasing to our Blessed Saviour and so highly condemned by him as to call him Satan a word of the greatest infamy and reproach should of all the Apostles be the only head of the Christian Church as if the rest were not as equally concerned in the foundation of Christianity as St. Peter himself whereas all the Preference that was given to this Apostle was rather with respect to his age than to any authority and power he received as an Apostle Indeed was there any preeminence among the Apostles I should think St. John deserves to be called the very chief of them all because he is remarkably distinguished by Christ himself and styled in the Gospel the disciple whom Jesus loved with more expression of kindness and affection than all the rest and Who can be so well qualified to be supream in the Church as that Person who was dearest to his Saviour And therefore certainly most deserving in himself Whereas St. Peter was guilty of the greatest Apostacy in his obstinate denial of Christ even to abjuration of him Matth. 26. 74. even when he had given his Saviour the highest kind of assurance that though all the Apostles did forsake him yet for his part he was resolved not to doe the like and yet was he the first deserter of him Acts 8. 20. But Peter said Thy money perish with thee because thou thoughtest that the gift of God may be purchased with money This was an imprecation of the highest nature Psalm 50. 21. Thou thoughtest that I was such a one as thy self but I will reprove thee for thy sins and set them before thee Matth. 7. 16. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles How then can you being evil speak good things Matth. 12. 34. and the very absurdity of the question was too manifest to require an answer LITOTES Litotes This Trope we make use of when we say not so much as we think yet such a way of speaking is often much more forcible and makes stronger impressions upon us 'T is in short a sort of Figure extreamly decent and never used without modesty and discretion What shall I praise you in