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T)onnes 
SERMONS 

Selected  Tassages 

WITH    AN    ESSAY 
by 

Logan  Pearsall  Smith 


OXFORD 

At  the  Clarendon  Press 


'We  thank  Mr.  Pearsall  Smith  for  the 
great  benefit  he  has  conferred  upon  us, 
and  also  for  the  serene  scholarship,  gentle- 
ness, and  perspicuity  with  which  he  leads 
us  through  the  Sahara  of  Donne's  Ser- 
mons. .  .  .  There  is  no  over-laudation  of 
Donne,  no  flippancy,  no  "showing  off" 
in  Mr.  Pearsall  Smith's  essay,  "nothing 
of  the  down  of  angels'  wings".  It  is  an 
exquisite  piece  of  work  by  a  true  man  of 
letters.'  spectator 

'Mr.  Pearsall  Smith  has  hereby  proved 
to  even  the  most  desultory  reader  that 
Donne  was  not  only  a  great  poet  and 
a  skilled  theologian,  but  also  a  supreme 
master  of  English  prose.' 

MODERN  LANGUAGE   REVIEW 


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Donne's 


SERMONS 


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T)onnes 
SERMONS 

Selected  T^assages 

WITH     AN     ESSAY 
by 


Logan  Pearsail  Smith 


OXFORD 
At  the   Clarendon   Press 


Oxford  Uni'uersity  PresSy  Amen  House,  London  E.C.4 

GLASGOW    NEW  YORK    TORONTO    MELBOURNE    WELLINGTON 

BOMBAY    CALCUTTA    MADRAS     KARACHI    LAHORE    DACCA 

CAPE  TOWN    SALISBURY    NAIROBI    IBADAN    ACCRA 

KUALA  LUMPUR    HONG  KONO 


FIRST   EDITION    I919 

REPRINTED    I  9  2  O,    1932,    1942,    I946,    I  9  5  O, 

1954,    1959,    1964 


PRINTED    IN    GREAT    BRITAIN 

AT    THE    UNIVERSITY    PRESS,    OXFORD 

BY    VIVIAN    RIDLER 

PRINTER    TO    THE    UNIVERSITY 


CONTENTS 


The  Preacher     . 
When  I  consider 
I  am  Not  all  Here 
Imperfect  Prayers 
Powers  and  Principalities 

6.  Infecting  God     . 

7.  Forgiveness  of  Sins 

8.  Forgive  my  Sins. 

9.  Let  Me  Wither  . 
ID.  Donne  and  the  Worm 

11.  Preaching  Consolation 

12.  The  Beauty  of  the  Soul 

13.  Spiritual  Liberality 

14.  Eagle's  Wings     . 

15.  The  Hour-Glass 

16.  Preaching  . 

17.  Applause     . 

18.  The  Bellman       . 

19.  Favourite  Scriptures 
The  Psalms 
Sanctified  Passions 
Style  and  Language 
Style  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
Compliments 

_  ^ .  Lying  at  Aix 

26.  Farev^rell  on  Going  to  Germany 

27.  The  Vicar  of  St.  Dunstan's  . 

28.  Funeral  Sermon  on  Magdalen  Herbert,  Lady 

vers,  1627        ...... 

29.  Death  of  Elizabeth  and  Accession  ot  James  I 


20. 
21. 

22. 
23, 
24. 

25. 


Dan- 


PAGE 

I 
2 

3 
4 

5 
6 

7 

7 

9 

10 

II 

13 
H 
15 

17 

18 

19 
20 
21 

23 
24 
26 
28 
28 
30 
31 
34 

35 

47 


VI 


Contents. 


PAGE 

30.  The  Gunpowder  Plot  ......       50 

31.  Preached    to    the    Honourable    Company    of    the 

Virginian  Plantation,  1622         ....       50 

32.  The  Mission  of  England 

.       55 

33.  James  I      .         .          .         . 

.      56 

34.  Death  of  James  I 

.       S7 

3^.  The  Plague,  1625 

58 

36.  Difficult  Times  . 

.      61 

37.  Polemical  Preaching     . 

.      62 

38.  The  World  Decays       . 

.      65 

39.  Imperfection 

.       66 

40.  Man 

.       68 

41.  Afflictions  .... 

.       69 

42.  Discontent 

.       71 

43.  The  World  a  House     . 

•       7J 

44.  Mundus  Mare     . 

■       72 

45.  The  Indifference  of  Nature  . 

.      75 

46.  Wealth       .... 

.      76 

47.  A  London  Merchant   . 

.       77 

48.  Sickness      .... 

84 

49.  Public  Opinion   . 

84 

50.  J07 

.      85 

51.  Women      .... 

.      85 

52.  Cosmetics  ..... 

87 

53.  The  Skin 

89 

54.  Mud  Walls          .... 

91 

55.  Ignorance  ..... 

92 

56.  The  Imperfection  of  Knowledge   . 

93 

57.  Change  of  Mind 

95 

58.  Reasons  and  Faith 

97 

59.  True  Knowledge 

105 

60.  Terrible  Things 

IDS 

61.  The  Fate  of  the  Heathen 

no 

62.  The  Church  a  Company 

III 

63.  God  Proceeds  Legally 

112 

64.  The  Church        .         . 

115 

65.  Reverence  in  Church  . 

118 

6S.  Going  to  Church 

120 

Contents, 


Vll 


68. 
69. 
70. 

71. 
72. 

73. 
74- 
75- 
76. 

77- 
78. 

79- 
80. 
81. 
82. 
83. 
84. 
85. 
86. 
87. 
88. 
89. 
90. 

91- 
92. 

93. 
94. 
95- 
96. 

97- 
98. 

99- 
100. 

lOI. 

102. 
103. 
104. 


Prayer 

Prayer 

The  Time  of  Prayer 

At  Table  and  Bed 

Unconscious  Prayer 

Sermons     . 

New  Doctrines    . 

Papist  and  Puritan 

Theological  Dissensions 

Despair 

The  Sociableness  of  God 

God  a  Circle 

God's  Mirror 

God's  Names 

God's  Mercies     . 

God  not  Cruel     . 

The  Voice  of  God 

God's  Language  . 

God's  Anger 

God's  Faults 

God's  Judgements 

Terrible  Things 

God's  Malediction 

God's  Power 

Access  to  God     . 

The  Image  of  God  in  Man 

Man  God's  Enemy 

The  Atheist 

The  Angels 

The  Devil. 

The  Creation 

The  Heavens  and  Earth 

The  Creation  of  a  Harmonious  World 

God  and  Adam  and  Eve 

The  World  since  the  Fall 

Silkworms  . 

Original  Sin 

Original  Sin 


PAGE 

121 
122 
122 
124 
125 
126 
129 
130 
131 
133 
133 

134 

135 
135 
136 
140 
140 
142 
144 
144 

147 
148 
149 
150 
152 
153 
154 
15s 
157 
^^1 
159 
161 
162 
163 
164 
165 
166 
168 


Vlll 


Contents, 


105. 
106. 
107. 
108. 
109. 

no. 
rii. 
112. 
113. 
114. 
115. 
116. 
117. 
118. 
119. 
120. 
121. 
122. 
123. 
124. 
125. 
126. 
127. 
128. 
129. 
130. 
131. 
132. 
133. 
134- 
135. 
136. 

137. 
138. 

139- 
140. 
141. 
142. 


The  Heart  of  the  Sinner 

Light  Sins 

The  Sin  of  Reason 

Delight  in  Evil 

Excuses 

Rebuke  of  Sin 

Names  of  Sins 

Pride 

Covetousness 

Blasphemy 

The  Burden  of  Sin 

The  Sinner 

The  Sorrows  of  the  Wicked 

The  Sins  of  Memory   . 

The  Eye  of  God 

The  World  Drowned  in  Sin 

The  Hand  of  God       . 

The  Sick  Soul     . 

Sleep 

The  Gate  of  Death      . 

Our  Prison 

All  must  Die 

Death  Inevitable 

The  Expectation  of  Death 

The  Death-bed  . 

The  Death  of  Ecstasy  . 

The  Dead  with  Us 

Mourning  . 

A  Quiet  Grave    . 

Eternal  Damnation 

Death  of  the  Good  and  the  Bad  Man 

The  Northern  Passage 

The  Resurrection 

The  Awakening  . 

The  Resurrection  of  the  Bod 

The  Last  Day     . 

The  Day  of  Judgement 

Joy    . 


Contents. 

ix 

PAGE 

143.  The  Joy  of  Heaven 

144.  Little  Stars 

219 
221 

145.  Heirs  of  Heaven  . 

221 

146.  Seeing  God 

147.  The  Sight  of  God 

148.  The  State  of  Glory      , 

222 
224 
227 

149.  Justice 

150.  Knovi^ledge  in  Heaven 

151.  Eternity     . 

152.  Eternity     . 

153.  Eternity     . 

154.  Joy  in  Heaven     . 

155.  Donne's  Last  Sermon . 

230 
.    233 
235 
235 
■    23s 
.    236 
.    23S 

t:i^:^iSiri^ 


Frontispiece 

Portrait  of  the  Author  in  his  Shroud: 
the   frontispiece  to  Death's  Duell  1632 


NOTE 

I  REFER  in  my  notes  to  the  three  folios  of  Donne*s 
Sermons  as  I,  II,  and  III  respectively.  I  is  the  first 
folio,  LXXX  Sermons,  1640  ;  II  is  Fifty  Sermons,  1649  ; 
III  is  XXVI  Sermons,  1660.  The  text  of  each  passage 
is  taken  from  the  first  appearance  of  the  sermon  which 
contains  it  in  print,  whether  in  the  folios,  or  in  the  earlier 
published  quartos  of  separate  sermons  printed  in  Donne*s 
lifetime,  or  shortly  after  his  death.  The  original 
punctuation  has  been  preserved  ;  and  also  the  original 
spelling,  except  in  the  use  of  '  i  '  for  *  j  ',  of  '  u  '  for  *  v  * 
and  vice  versa,  and  of  contractions  for  *  m  *  or  *  n  '. 
I  refer  to  Professor  Grierson's  edition  of  Donne's  Poems 
{7he  Poems  of  John  Donne,  edited  by  Herbert  J.  C. 
Grierson,  M.A.,  Oxford,  at  the  Clarendon  Press,  191 2) 
as  Poems ;  to  7he  Life  and  Letters  of  John  Donne, 
by  Edmund  Gosse  (London,  William  Heinemann,  1899), 
as  Gosse  ;  to  John  Donne,  by  Augustus  Jessopp,  D.D. 
(Methuen  and  Co.,  1897),  as  Jessopp.  Spearing  refers 
to  Miss  Spearing's  *A  Chronological  Arrangement  of 
Donne's  Sermons  *  (Modern  Language  Review,  vol.  viii, 
191 3)  ;  Coleridge,  to  Coleridge's  *  Notes  on  Donne  ',  pub- 
lished in  The  Literary  Remains  of  Samuel  Taylor  Coleridge, 
collected  and  arranged  by  Henry  Nelson  Coleridge,  1838, 
vol.  iii.    C.  and  T.  Jas.  I,  and  C.  and  T .  Charles  I,  refer 


xii  Note. 

to  7 he  Court  and  Times  of  James  the  First  (1848),  and 
The  Court  and  Times  of  Charles  the  First  (1848).  The 
references  to  Donne's  Devotions  are  to  the  first  edition 
of  1624.  Ramsay  refers  to  Miss  Ramsay's  Les  Doctrines 
medievales  chex  Donne ^  le  Poete  metaphysicien  de  VAngle- 
terre  (Oxford  University  Press,  19 17).  I  must  express 
my  special  thanks  to  Mr.  Edmund  Gosse,  C.B.,  for  his 
kindness  in  lending  me  a  number  of  very  rare  first  editions 
of  Donne's  sermons  from  his  collection  of  Donne's  works. 


INTRODUCTION 

THE  remarkable  and  somewhat  enigmatic  figure  of 
John  Donne  is  one  that  has  attracted  a  good  deal  of 
attention  in  recent  years ;  his  Hfe  has  been  studied,  his 
poems  and  letters  carefully  edited,  his  character  analysed, 
and  his  position  as  a  poet  acutely  debated.  His  harshness, 
his  crabbed  and  often  frigid  way  of  writing,  his  forced 
conceits,  his  cynicism  and  sensuaUty,  are  extremely 
repellent  to  some  readers  ;  while  to  others  his  subtlety, 
his  realism,  and  a  certain  modern  and  intimate  quahty 
in  his  poems,  illuminated  as  they  are  with  splendid 
flashes  of  imaginative  fire,  possess  an  extraordinary 
interest  and  fascination.  There  are  people  who  hate 
Donne ;  there  are  others  who  love  him,  but  there  are 
very  few  who  have  read  his  poems  and  remain  quite 
indifferent  to  him.  His  character  is  still  a  puzzle,  his 
reputation  as  a  poet,  eclipsed  for  a  long  time  and  only 
revived  in  our  own  day,  is  by  no  means  yet  the  subject  of 
final  agreement. 

In  spite  of  this  modern  interest  in  Donne,  and  the 
study  which  has  been  devoted  to  his  works,  there  is  one 
aspect  of  them  which,  until  recently,  has  received  no  very 
adequate  attention.  In  addition  to  his  poems,  his  letters, 
and  a  few  minor  prose  pieces,  Donne  left  behind  him 
an  immense  body  of  theological  writings.     By  birth  and 


^iv  Introduction. 

by  the  tradition  of  his  family  a  Roman  Catholic,  and 
for  that  reason  shut  out  in  his  youth  from  the  paths  of 
secular  ambition  which  had  so  great  an  attraction  for 
him,  he  was  of  necessity  much  preoccupied  with  theo- 
logical considerations  ;  and  it  was  not  till  after  much 
study  of  controversial  divinity  that  he  succeeded  in 
convincing  himself  of  the  truth  of  the  AngHcan  position, 
which  he  finally  made  his  own,  and  which,  even  in  his 
secular  days,  he  emphatically  defended.  When  at  the 
age  of  forty-two,  after  long  experience  of  poverty  and 
many  worldly  disappointments,  he  found  all  other  paths 
of  preferment  closed  to  him,  and  at  last,  after  much 
hesitation,  took  rehgious  orders,  he  then  began  that 
career  as  a  great  divine  and  preacher  which,  until  the 
revival  of  interest  in  his  poetry,  remained  his  principal 
claim  to  remembrance.  But  his  fame  as  a  preacher  has 
been  this  long  time  fame  at  second  hand  ;  it  is  due  to 
Izaak  Walton's  descriptions  of  his  sermons,  rather  than  to 
any  reading  of  the  sermons  themselves.  The  very 
quantity,  indeed,  of  his  sermons — and  no  Anglican 
divine  of  the  period  has  left  behind  him  such  a  number — 
has  discouraged  students  from  thorough  study  of  them  ; 
and,  indeed,  to  read  these  great  folio  volumes  is  a  task 
not  Hghtly  to  be  undertaken.  But  it  is  not  only  the 
mere  bulk  and  body  of  these  foHos,  the  great  number  and 
length  of  Donne's  sermons,  which  daunts  the  reader  ; 
there  is  much  in  the  writing  itself  which  renders  it  diffi- 
cult and  distasteful  to  the  modern  mind.  In  the  first 
place  sermons  themselves,  and  especially  old  sermons, 
have  fallen  somewhat  out  of  fashion ;  they  are  not 
often  read  now,  and  the  collected  and  republished  editions 


Introduction.  xv 

of  the  great  seventeenth  century  divines  rest  for  the 
most  part  unopened  on  our  shelves.  People  read  novels, 
biographies,  books  of  travel,  social  and  political  treatises 
instead  of  the  sermons  in  vi^hich  their  grandfathers  and 
grandmothers  delighted :  Hooker,  Barrow,  South,  Tillotson 
are  names  indeed,  but  little  more  than  names  to  most 
of  us  ;  and  even  so  great  a  writer  of  English  prose,  so 
exquisite  an  artist  as  Jeremy  Taylor,  is  famiUar  to  us 
only  in  extracts  and  selected  passages.  For  modern 
theologians  this  old  divinity,  with  its  obsolete  learning 
and  forgotten  controversies,  has  little  more  than  an 
archaeological  interest ;  while  to  the  more  secular- 
minded,  the  old  divines,  whose  severe  brows  and  square 
faces  meet  our  eyes  when  we  open  their  great  folios,  seem, 
with  their  imposed  dogmas,  their  heavy  and  obsolete 
methods  of  exposition  and  controversy,  almost  as  if  they 
belonged  to  some  remote  geological  era  of  human 
thought.  We  are  reminded  of  Taine*s  image  of  them  as 
giant  ichthyosaurians  or  megatheria,  slowly  winding  their 
scaly  backs  through  the  primeval  sHme,  and  meeting 
each  other,  armed  with  syllogisms  and  bristling  with 
texts,  in  theological  battle,  to  tear  the  flesh  from  one 
another's  flanks  with  their  great  talons,  and  cover  their 
opponents  with  filth  in  their  efforts  to  destroy  them. 

And  yet  these  old  divines  were  great  men  and  great 
writers  ;  their  voices  enthralled  the  best  and  wisest  of 
their  own  generation,  and  it  is  a  misfortune  for  their 
fame,  and  a  misfortune  for  our  Hterature,  that  they  put 
their  wisdom  and  observation  and  deep  feeling,  their 
great  gifts  of  imagination,  and  their  often  exquisite 
mastery  of   the   art    of   expression  into   the   hortatory 


xvi  Introduction. 

and  controversial  form  of  the  sermon  which  time  has 
rendered  obsolete. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  all  the  reasons,  good  or  bad, 
which  keep  us  from  reading  writers  like  Jeremy  Taylor 
and  South,  face  us  at  once,  and  seem  even  more  valid, 
when  we  open  a  volume  of  Donne's  sermons.  All  that 
has  ceased  to  interest,  all  that  actually  repels  us  in  the 
old  theology,  the  scholastic  divinity,  the  patristic  learn- 
ing, the  torturing  of  texts,  the  interpretation  of  old 
prophesies,  the  obsolete  controversies  and  refutation  of 
forgotten  heresies,  the  insistence  on  moral  commonplaces, 
the  intolerance  of  human  frailty,  and  the  menaces  of 
fearful  judgement  on  it — ^with  all  these  stock  subjects, 
Donne,  like  his  contemporaries,  filled  his  sermons.  But 
his  case  is  even  worse  than  theirs ;  not  only  as  a  theolo- 
gian was  he  of  an  older  breed,  more  remote  and  medieval 
than  Jeremy  Taylor  or  South,  he  had  also,  personal  to 
himself,  the  unhappy  faculty  of  developing  to  their 
utmost  the  faults  of  any  form  of  Hterary  expression  he 
adopted  ;  and  when  he  abandoned  verse  for  sermon- 
writing,  every  defect  of  this  kind  of  composition,  every- 
thing that  most  offends  us  in  the  old  preachers  and  sound 
expositors,  was  carried  by  him  to  a  pitch  which  gives 
him  a  bad  eminence  over  the  most  unreadable  of  them  all. 

That  sermons  like  Donne's  should  have  held  great 
congregations  spellbound  seems  astonishing,  not  only 
to  the  secular  mind,  but  to  theologians  themselves.  One 
of  Donne's  most  distinguished  successors  at  the  Deanery 
of  St.  Paul's,  Dean  Milman,  has  written  of  them  : 

'  It  is  difficult  for  a  Dean  of  our  rapid  and  restless  days 
to  imagine,  when  he  surveys  the  massy  folios  of  Donne's 


Introduction.  xvii 

sermons — each  sermon  spreads  out  over  many  pages — 
a  vast  congregation  in  the  Cathedral  or  at  Paul's  Cross, 
listening  not  only  with  patience  but  with  absorbed 
interest,  with  unflagging  attention,  even  with  deHght 
and  rapture,  to  these  interminable  disquisitions,  to  us 
teeming  with  laboured  obscurity,  false  and  misplaced  wit, 
fatiguing  antitheses.  However  set  oS,  as  by  all  accounts 
they  were,  by  a  most  graceful  and  impressive  delivery, 
it  is  astonishing  to  us  that  he  should  hold  a  London 
congregation  enthralled,  unwearied,  unsatiated.  Yet 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  was  the  case.  And  this 
congregation  consisted,  both  of  the  people  down  to  the 
lowest,  and  of  the  most  noble,  wise,  accomphshed  of  that 
highly  intellectual  age.  They  sat,  even  stood,  undisturbed, 
except  by  their  own  murmurs  of  admiration,  sometimes 
by  hardly  suppressed  tears.'  ^ 

It  is  only  necessary  to  open  a  volume  of  Donne's  sermons 
to  find  a  justification  for  his  successor's  criticism.  For 
instance,  in  preaching  to  Charles  I  at  Whitehall  on  the 
text  *  In  my  Father's  house  are  many  mansions,  if  it  were 
not  so,  I  would  have  told  you ',  he  begins : 

*  There  are  occasions  of  Controversies  of  all  kinds  in  this 
one  Verse  ;  And  one  is,  whether  this  be  one  Verse  or 
no  ;  For  as  there  are  Doctrinall  Controversies,  out  of 
the  sense  and  interpretation  of  the  words,  so  are  there 
Grammatical!  differences  about  the  Distinction,  and 
Interpunction  of  them  :  some  Translations  differing 
thereinn  from  the  Originall  (as  the  Originall  Copies  are 
distinguished,  and  interpuncted  now)  and  some  differing 
from  one  another.  The  first  Translation  that  was,  that 
into  Syriaque,  as  it  is  expressed  by  Tremellius,  renders 
these  words  absolutely,  precisely  as  our  two  Translations 
doe ;  And,  as  our  two  Translations  doe,  appUes  the 
»  Annals  of  S.  PauTs  Cathedral,  Henry  Hart  Milman,  D.D.,  2nd  ed., 
1869,  p.  32S. 

ao35»3  b 


xviii  Introduction. 

second  clause  and  proposition,  Si  quo  niinuSy  if  it  were  not 
so,  I  would  have  told  you,  as  in  affirmation,  and  confirma- 
tion of  the  former.  In  domo  Patris,  In  my  Fathers  house 
there  are  many  Mansions,  For,  ij  it  were  not  so  I  would 
have  told  you.  But  then,  as  both  our  Translations  doe, 
the  Syriaque  also  admits  into  this  Verse  a  third  clause 
and  proposition,  Vade  parare,  I  goe  to  prepare  you  a  place. 
Now  Bez.a  doth  not  so  ;  Piscator  doth  not  so  ;  They 
determine  this  Verse  in  those  two  propositions  which 
constitute  our  Text,  In  my  Fathers  house,  etc.  And  then 
they  let  fall  the  third  proposition,  as  an  inducement, 
and  inchoation  of  the  next  Verse.*  ^ 

So  the  sermon  goes  inexorably  on,  immense  paragraph 
after  paragraph  filled  with  quotations  from  the  Fathers 
and  quibbling  controversies  with  Roman  Catholic 
theologianSjtill  suddenly  the  page  lights  up  with  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  unending  day  of  eternity  unsurpassed  in  our 
Hterature,  how  *  all  the  foure  Monarchies,  with  all  their 
thousands  of  yeares.  And  all  the  powerfull  Kings,  and  all 
the  beautifull  Queenes  of  this  world,  were  but  as  a  bed 
of  flowers,  some  gathered  at  six,  some  at  seaven,  some  at 
eight.  All  in  one  Morning,  in  respect  of  this  Day ',  and 
how,  during  all  the  time  that  had  passed  since  the  Creation, 
in  this  timeless  mansion  of  Eternity,  *  there  was  never 
heard  quarter  clock  to  strike,  never  seen  minute  glasse 
to  turne  \^ 

Contrasts  almost  as  surprising  as  this  meet  us  in  the 
sermons  of  other  seventeenth  century  preachers,  and 
here  and  there  we  come  on  passages  of  poignant  expression 
and  lyrical  or  sombre  beauty  clothed  in  the  noblest 
language.     For  while  the  sermon,  regarded  merely  as 

»  I.  p.  737.  »  See  No.  153. 


Introduction.  xix 

a  form  of  literary  expression,  has  undoubted  disadvantages 
which  render  the  sermons  of  one  age  difficult  for  the  next 
age  to  appreciate,  yet  on  the  other  hand  this  form  of 
expression  is  one — ^since  its  subject  matter  is  nothing 
less  than  the  whole  of  Hfe — which  gives  the  v^ddest 
possible  scope  to  a  great  preacher.  He  can  pour  his  whole 
soul  into  his  sermon,  his  hopes,  fears,  and  self-accusations, 
the  furthest  flights  of  his  imagination,  the  ripest  results 
of  his  philosophic  meditations,  all  the  wisdom  of  mellow 
experience,  and  even  the  most  amusing  details  of  satiric 
observation.  The  very  circumstances  of  his  dehvery,  the 
ceremonious  solemnity  of  the  church  and  pulpit,  the  great 
responsibihty  of  the  occasion,  give  a  nobility  to  his 
utterance  ;  and  the  presence  of  the  congregation,  the 
need  to  speak  directly  to  the  hearts  and  minds  of  men  and 
women,  lends  a  certain  dramatic  intensity  to  all  he  says. 
Such  circumstances,  while  they  are  full  of  danger  for 
an  insincere  and  rhetorical  preacher,  provide  the  most 
splendid  opportunities  for  one  endowed  with  earnest 
purpose  and  a  sincere  imagination.  The  exhortations 
of  such  a  preacher  can  hardly  help  being  noble  in  expres- 
sion ;  and  it  is  in  the  sermon  therefore  that  we  find 
some  of  the  highest  achievements  of  EngHsh  prose — 
in  the  sermon,  or  in  prophetic  or  didactic  or  even  political 
eloquence  written  with  the  same  high  impulse  and  inspira- 
tion. For  great  prose  needs  a  great  subject  matter, 
needs  great  themes  and  a  high  spectacular  point  of 
vision,  and  solemn  and  clear  and  steadfast  conception  of 
Hfe  and  its  meaning.  It  must  handle  with  deep  earnest- 
ness the  most  profound  themes.  Good  and  Evil,  Desire 
and  Disillusion,  the  briefness  of  Life  and  the  mystery  of 

b2 


XX  Introduction. 

Death — the  universal  material  and  the  great  common- 
places of  human  thought  in  all  ages.  Such  a  mood  is  the 
mood  of  religion,  in  whatever  dogmas  it  may  be  clothed  ; 
and  it  is  the  religious  winter  w^ho  can  most  impressively 
touch  those  organ  stops  of  grave  emotion  which  move 
us  in  the  highest  achievements  of  prose  literature. 

The  seventeenth  century  divines,  moreover,  with  all 
the  lumber  which  they  inherited  from  the  past,  inherited 
much  also  that  gives  an  enduring  splendour  to  their 
works.  In  the  doctrines  of  their  faith  they  found  a  com- 
plete conception  of  existence,  a  scheme  elaborated  in  all 
its  details,  and  rich  in  memories  and  associations  accumu- 
lated from  the  dawn  of  history.  The  Creation  of  the 
world,  the  Fall  of  Man,  all  the  vicissitudes  of  the  Chosen 
People,  the  sins  and  punishments  of  their  Kings,  the 
vehemence  of  their  Prophets  and  their  supernatural  fore- 
sight, and  the  great  central  tragedy  and  hope  of  the 
Redemption — these  were  themes  that  came  to  their 
hands  elaborated  by  the  Fathers  of  the  Church  and 
by  a  whole  succession  of  medieval  writers ;  and  now,  just 
at  this  time,  the  Sacred  Books  which  were  the  original 
sources  of  this  deposit  of  Christian  history  and  doctrine 
had  been  re-translated  and  clothed  afresh  in  an  unsur- 
passable beauty  of  language. 

This  noble  diction,  this  intensity,  and  what  we  might 
almost  call  inspiration  of  language,  which  gives  so  poetic 
a  colouring  to  the  English  version  of  the  Scriptures,  was 
not  the  achievement  of  one  man,  but  almost  the  universal 
birthright  of  the  time  :  with  the  EUzabethan  dramatists 
and  translators,  the  preachers  and  theological  writers 
had  their  share  in  this  great  utterance,  which,  whether 


Introduction.  xxi 

due  to  linguistic  causes  which  ceased  to  operate,  or  to 
an  intensity  of  poetic  vision  which  afterwards  vanished, 
certainly  grows  fainter  and  thinner  and  gradually  dies 
away  as  the  seventeenth  century  advances,  and  the  age 
of  theology  is  superseded  by  the  age  of  Reason  and 
common  sense. 

If  Donne's  sermons  are  full,  as  we  have  said,  of  all  that 
in  the  old  divinity  which  has  become  distasteful  to  us, 
if  he  surpasses  the  preachers  of  that  period  in  their  faults 
and  drawbacks,  he  shares  also  in  their  achievements, 
and  indeed  in  many  ways  he  overtops  them  all.  Lost 
in  the  crabbed,  unread,  unreadable  folios  of  his  sermons, 
these  '  volumes  of  religion  and  m.ountains  of  piety ', 
there  are  pages  and  passages  of  surprising  beauty, 
which  are  nevertheless  entirely  unknown  to  English 
readers.  It  is  indeed  somewhat  curious  that  with  the 
growing  recognition  of  Donne's  merits  as  a  poet,  so 
little  attention  has  been  paid  to  the  excellence  of  his 
prose.  Equal  in  power  and  beauty  to  that  of  Sir  Thomas 
Browne  or  Jeremy  Taylor,  and  in  passionate  intensity 
surpassing  even  these  great  writers,  it  is  almost  un^ 
represented  in  our  prose  anthologies  ;  and  indeed,  the 
best  of  these,  Basil  Montagu's  Selections,  includes  no 
specimen  of  his  writing.  But  the  explanation  of  this  is 
after  all  a  simple  one;  unhke  Jeremy  Taylor  or  Sir  Thomas 
Brov^me,  Donne  was  famous  first  of  all  as  a  poet,  and  save 
for  his  Httle-known  Devotions,  he  wrote  no  small  book, 
no  Holy  Dying  or  Urn  Burial  in  which  he  gave  evidence 
of  his  powers  as  a  prose  writer.  His  shorter  prose  pieces, 
his  Paradoxes  and  Biathanatos,  and  his  elaborate  letters 
do  not  represent  him  at  his  best ;  it  is  only  here  and  there 


xxii  Introduction. 

in  isolated  passages  of  his  sermons  that  he  put  forth  his 
full  strength  ;  and  his  best  prose,  not  being  therefore 
easily  accessible,  has  almost  entirely  escaped  notice,  and 
few  even  of  the  most  enthusiastic  readers  of  Donne's 
verse  are  aware  that  however  highly  they  estimate  his 
meiits  as  a  poet,  he  is  equally  worthy  of  fame  as  a  prose 
writer — that,  indeed,  his  mastery  of  the  means  of  expres- 
sion was  perhaps  even  greater  in  prose  than  in  poetry ; 
was  less  impeded  by  those  defects  of  technique  and  tem- 
perament which  kept  him  from  reaching  the  highest 
level  of  poetic  achievement. 

The  object  of  this  volume  is  to  remedy  if  possible  this 
neglect.  After  reading  Donne's  sermons  more  than 
once,  I  have  chosen  for  reprinting  those  passages  which 
especially  impressed  me,  and  which  I  think  will  be  of 
interest  to  modern  and  secular-minded  readers  like 
myself.  Any  volume  of  selections  from  a  voluminous 
author  must  be  always  unsatisfactory,  for  there  are 
many  canons  of  choice,  many  sieves  for  the  sifting,  by 
means  of  which  such  a  selection  can  be  made.  Donne 
preached  his  sermons  of  course  for  the  purpose  of  exhorta- 
tion and  religious  edification  ;  while  there  is  much  in 
his  theology  and  controversial  preaching  which  is  now 
out  of  date,  he  nevertheless  stated  the  main  doctrines 
of  the  English  Church  with  such  moderation  and  such 
learning,  that  a  selection  of  passages  from  his  sermons 
might  make  a  useful  volume  of  Anglican  apologetics  ; 
and  it  was  indeed  with  this  object  in  view  that  they  were 
reprinted  eighty  years  ago  by  an  Anglican  divine,  Henry 
Alford  (afterwards  Dean  of  Canterbury),  in  whose  opinion 
they  were  '  one  of  the  earliest  and  best  expositions  of  the 


Introduction.  xxiii 

divinity  of  our  English  Church  ' — *  a  genuine  body  of 
orthodox  divinity  (in  the  best  sense  of  the  words)  not  to  be 
found,  perhaps,  in  any  other  English  theologian  '.^  Then, 
too,  as  a  preacher  Donne  was  a  moralist,  and  from  his 
denunciations  of  evil  and  his  exhortations  to  repentance 
might  be  made  a  handbook  of  edification  which  could  have 
its  use  and  value.^  Or  again,  taking  Donne  as  a  representa- 
tive mind  of  his  period,  one  might  use  his  sermons  for 
illustrating  the  history  of  human  thought,  and  by  selecting 
typical  pages  from  them  give  a  picture,  not  only  of  the 
theological  conceptions  of  the  time,  but  of  the  philosophy 
then  current,  and  the  main  ideas  that  were  accepted  by  the 
cultivated  men  of  that  period.  The  recent  and  learned 
volume  of  Miss  Ramsay,  Les  Doctrines  medievales  chez 
Donne^  le  Poete  metaphysicien  de  VAngleterre,^  with  its 
copious  citations  from  Donne's  sermons,  has  shown 
how  great  would  be  the  historical  interest  of  such  a  selec- 
tion, and  what  a  treasure-house  can  be  found  in  Donne's 
writings  of  passages  illustrating  the  thought  and  specula- 
tion of  the  early  seventeenth  century  in  England. 

The  purpose  underlying  this  selection  is  not,  however, 
theological,  didactic,  nor  even  historical.  It  is  concerned 
with  Donne  as  a  man,  as  an  artist  and  writer,  with  his 
personal  accent  and  speaking  voice  ;  first  of  all  with  the 
man  himself,  and  only  in  the  second  place  with  the 
doctrines  he  expounded  and  the  age  he  Hved  in.    When 

»  The  Works  of  John  Donne,  D.D.  With  a  Memoir  of  his  Life,  by  Henry 
Alford,  M.A.,  1839,  vol.  i,  pp.  v,  xxi. 

'  Such  a  selection  of  edifying  passages.  Selections  from  the  Works  oj 
John  Donne,  D.D.,  was  published,  with  no  editor's  name,  by  D.  A.  Tal- 
boys,  at  Oxford,  1840. 

*  Oxford  University  Press,  1917. 


xxiv  Introduction. 

Donne  took  orders  in  the  English  Church  the  doctrines 
and  apologetics  and  controversial  positions  of  that  Church 
were  so  to  speak  imposed  upon  him  ;  he  accepted  them 
without  demur,  and  as  Professor  Grierson  says, 

*  In  Donne's  scholastic,  ultra-logical  treatment,  the  rigid 
skeleton  of  seventeenth  century  theology  is,  at  times, 
presented  in  all  its  sternness  and  unattractiveness.  From 
the  extremest  deductions,  he  is  saved  by  the  moderation 
which  was  the  key-note  of  his  church,  and  by  his  own 
good  sense  and  deep  sympathy  with  human  nature. 
But  Donne  is  most  eloquent  when,  escaping  from 
dogmatic  minutiae  and  controversial  "  points  ",  he 
appeals  directly  to  the  heart  and  conscience.  A  reader 
may  care  little  for  the  details  of  seventeenth  century 
theology  and  yet  enjoy  without  qualification  Donne's 
fervid  and  original  thinking,  and  the  figurative  richness, 
and  splendid  harmonies  of  his  prose  in  passages  of  argu- 
ment, of  exhortation  and  of  exalted  meditation.  It  is 
Donne  the  poet  who  transcends  every  disadvantage  of 
theme  and  method,  and  an  outworn  fashion  in  wit  and 
learning.  There  are  sentences  in  the  sermons  which, 
in  beauty  of  imagery  and  cadence,  are  not  surpassed  by 
anything  he  wrote  in  verse,  or  by  any  prose  of  the  century 
from  Hooker's  to  Sir  Thomas  Browne's.'  ^ 

It  is  these  passages  which  Professor  Grierson  so  well 
describes,  passages  which  illustrate  what  he  calls  *  the 
unique  quality,  the  weight,  fervour  and  wealth,  of 
Donne's  eloquence ',  that  I  have  first  of  all  chosen, 
and  any  one  who  may  be  inclined  to  think  this  praise  of 
Donne's  prose  exaggerated  should  read — and  above  all,  read 
aloud — some  of  the  following  pages,  the  description  for 
instance  of  God's  bounty,^  which  Professor  Saintsbury  has 

^  Cambridge  History  of  Literature,  iv.  220-1 

•  p.  139. 


Introduction.  xxv 

called  unsurpassed,  perhaps  never  equalled  for  the  beauty 
of  its  rhythm  and  the  Shakespearean  magnificence  of 
its  diction  ;  or  the  great  peroration  on  *  falling  out  of 
the  hands  of  God  \  in  which  Donne  sums  up  in  a  sombre 
and  terrible  sentence — one  of  the  longest  and  most 
splendid  sentences  in  the  EngHsh  language — the  horror 
of  the  deprivation  of  God's  love,  and  of  eternal  banish- 
ment from  His  presence.^ 

The  preachers  of  this,  as  of  other  periods,  inherited 
certain  set  subjects  and  splendid  commonplaces  which 
it  was  their  practice  to  repeat  and  elaborate  and  adorn. 
The  Mercy  of  God,  the  Sinfulness  of  Man,  the  vanity 
of  this  world  and  the  sorrows  of  the  wicked,  the  sinner's 
death-bed,  the  Day  of  Judgement,  the  eternal  torments 
of  Hell,  and  the  glory  and  blessedness  of  the  saints  in 
Heaven — these  great  themes  formed  the  culminating 
points  in  their  sermons,  and  were  subjects  which  called 
for  all  their  powers.  Donne's  own  temperament  and 
experience,  his  melancholy  cast  of  thought  and  his 
mystical  sense  of  another  world,  enabled  him  to  treat 
many  of  these  themes  and  religious  pieces  with  a  vividness 
of  feeling  which  removes  them  far  from  the  region  of 
the  conventional  and  commonplace. 

The  great  subject  of  Sin  especially  preoccupied  him  ; 
his  poet's  sensibiUty  and  sensuous  nature — and  Donne 
is  the  most  sensual  of  all  the  great  EngUsh  poets — made 
the  allurements  of  the  flesh  very  real  to  him  ;  he  knew 
all  about  temptation  and  the  weakness  of  man's  moral 
nature  ;  Hke  St.  Augustine,  with  whom  he  has  been  more 
than  once  compared,  the  memory  of  his  own  transgres- 

»  pp.  2o8-IO. 


xxvi  Introduction. 

sions  and  of  the  excesses  of  his  youth  was  always  with 
him  ;  and  his  treatment  of  the  psychology  of  sin,  his 
descriptions  of  the  *  various  and  vagabond  heart  of  the 
sinner  ',  are  written  with  a  modern  subtlety  of  analysis, 
a  frankness  of  self-confession,  a  curious  mingling  of 
asceticism  and  regret,  which  we  find  nowhere  else  except 
perhaps  in  the  writings  of  St.  Augustine,  and  which  must 
hold  the  attention  of  the  least  theological  reader  ;  while 
his  denunciations  of  judgements  on  sin,  and  his  accounts 
of  the  sinner's  death-bed,  '  the  clangour  of  the  angels' 
trumpets  and  the  horrour  of  the  ringing  bell ',  are 
inspired  by  the  feeUngs  of  one  to  whom  these  judgements 
and  these  terrors  are  very  real  and  very  dreadful. 

Another  of  his  special  themes  is  the  great  theme  of 
Death.  Donne's  mind  was  in  many  ways  essentially 
medieval,  and  in  no  way  more  so  than  in  his  medieval 
sense  of  death's  horror.  Even  in  his  profane  and  secular 
poetry  we  note  a  preoccupation  with  this  thought ; 
and  when  as  a  preacher  it  was  his  duty  to  treat  of  Death 
in  his  sermons  he  spared  his  hearers  none  of  the  most 
macabre  of  his  imaginations  about  it.  There  was  an  almost 
morbid  love  of  ugliness  in  his  curious  temperament, 
a  delight  like  that  of  Swift  in  what  is  repulsive  and  even 
loathsome,  and  in  his  sermons  on  death  lie  could  freely 
indulge  his  taste  for  the  grotesque  and  the  disgusting, 
for  dreadful  details  of  the  grave's  horrors,  for  decay  and 
putrefaction,  and — ^what  was  almost  an  hallucination 
with  him — the  activities  of  the  loathsome  worm. 
Unpleasant  in  their  details  as  are  most  of  these  great 
passages,  there  is  a  kind  of  splendid  horror  about  them 
which  has  made  me  include  many — I  hope  not  too  many 


Introduction.  xxvii 

—of  them  in  this  selection  ;  they  are  very  characteristic 
of  Donne,  and  indeed  his  last  great  sermon,  '  Death's 
Duell ',  preached  in  his  final  illness  not  long  before  he 
died,  is  one  unrelieved  threnody  on  the  horror  and 
majesty  of  Death  and  the  universal  dominion  of  the 
worm. 

Donne's  third  great  theme  was  God,  his  omnipotence, 
his  mercy,  his  wrath,  and  his  terrible  justice  ;  and  so 
real  and  vivid  was  his  sense  of  God  and  the  glory  of  the 
beatific  vision,  that  unlike  other  preachers  of  the  time 
he  felt  no  need  to  terrify  his  congregations  with  the  flames 
and  physical  horrors  of  Hell — to  his  religious  mind  the 
deprivation  of  God's  love  was  in  itself  Hell,  and  no  fires 
and  tortures  could  add  to  that  punishment.  Save, 
therefore,  as  an  eternal  banishment  from  God's  presence, 
Donne  does  not  speak  of  Hell ;  but  the  description  of 
Heaven,  the  glory  of  Heaven,  was  a  theme  that  called 
forth  his  highest  powers  of  eloquence  and  impassioned 
imagination. 

Although  Donne  had  studied  the  *  new  philosophy ', 
and  was  aware  of  the  discoveries  of  Copernicus,  and  could, 
for  the  purposes  of  metaphor  and  fancy,  make  a  literary 
use  of  these  conceptions,  his  mind  still  had  its  habitation 
in  the  smaller,  earth-centred  Ptolemaic  creation  ;  the  full 
realization  of  these  new  discoveries,  the  sense  of  the  im- 
mensity of  space  and  the  unimportance  of  this  earth  in 
its  unmeasured  vastness,  was  a  more  modern  way  of  feel- 
ing in  which  Donne  had  no  share — ^which  belongs  later 
on  in  the  seventeenth  century  to  the  time  of  Pascal.  But 
contrasted  with  his  imperfect  realization  of  the  infinity  of 
space,  his  sense  of  the  infinity  of  time  was  extremely  vivid; 


xxviii  Introduction. 

the  contrast  between  eternity  and  the  brietness  of  human 
hfe  he  felt  and  described  with  sombre  and  ecstatic  impres- 
siveness.  Eternity,  the  eternity  of  God  and  Heaven,  is 
a  theme  to  which  he  continually  recurs,  and  which  sheds 
a  strange,  still  atmosphere  over  his  descriptions  of  the 
timeless  existence  of  the  Blessed  in  their  heavenly  abodes. 

The  circumstances  of  Donne's  early  Hfe,  the  strong 
Roman  Catholic  traditions  of  his  family,  and  the  atmo- 
sphere of  Roman  Catholic  devotion  in  which  he  was 
educated,  were  no  hindrance,  but  rather  a  help  to  him 
as  an  Anglican  preacher  ;  and  although,  as  duty  and 
perhaps  conviction  compelled  him,  he  denounced  what 
he  considered  the  corruptions  of  Roman  CathoHcism  as 
vigorously  as  his  fellow  divines,  yet  in  his  heart  there 
Hngered  a  certain  love  of  the  older  faith,  of  stately 
ceremonial  and  ancient  rites  and  personal  cults  and 
devotions,  which  gives  a  warmth,  an  unction,  an  un- 
protestant  glow  of  eloquence  to  his  preaching. 

As  a  poet  Donne  seems  to  have  adopted  a  certain  harsh 
and  crabbed  way  of  writing,  in  revolt  against  the  melH- 
fluence  of  the  EHzabethan  taste;  his  poems  show  here 
and  there  that  he  could,  if  he  wished,  touch  those  harp- 
strings  of  sweet  music;  but  they  also  show,  only  too 
abundantly,  that  in  this  soft  harmony  he  could  not  find 
the  medium  for  the  personal  expression  he  desired.  This 
crabbedness  shows  itself,  too,  in  his  letters  and  his  earher 
prose  writing,  and  also  in  the  uninspired  portions  of  his 
sermons.  But  when  he  was  most  in  earnest,  when  he  came 
to  treat  with  passionate  seriousness  some  great  theme  of 
faith  or  morals,  his  wilfulness  of  language  fell  from  him ; 
and  in  his  attempt  to  bring  his  message  home  to  the 


Introduction.  xxix 

hearts  of  his  congregation  he  availed  himself  without  stint 
of  his  own  gifts  as  a  poet,  and  all  the  music  and  splendour 
of  the  great  contemporary  speech. 

Donne,  indeed,  often  makes  use  of  musical  metaphors 
when  he  speaks  of  preaching  ;  the  preacher,  he  says,  is 
a  watchman,  placed  on  a  high  tower  to  sound  a  trumpet ; 
his  preaching  was  the  trumpet's  voice,  it  was  thunder, 
it  was  the  beating  of  a  drum,  the  tolling  of  a  bell  of  warn- 
ing, it  was  *  a  lovely  song,  sung  to  an  instrument  * ;  the 
preacher  should  not  speak  with  '  uncircumcised  Hps  or 
an  extemporal  or  irreverent  or  over-homely  and  vulgar 
language  '  ;  his  style  should  be  modelled  on  that  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  whose  style  was  *  a  dilligent,  and  an  artificial 
style ',  and  who  in  penning  the  Scriptures  '  delights 
himself,  not  only  with  a  propriety,  but  with  a  dehcacy, 
and  harmony,  and  melody  of  language  ;  with  height 
of  Metaphors,  and  other  figures,  which  may  work  greater 
impressions  upon  the  Readers  \^  In  addition  to  this 
august  model,  the  style  of  the  Church  Fathers  formed 
Donne's  other  model  in  his  preaching,  and  he  more  than 
once  calls  attention  to  their  '  elegant  phrases  \  their 
*  cadences  and  allusions  and  assimilations  ',  to  Jerome's 
epistles  *  full  of  heavenly  meditation  and  curious  expres- 
tions ',  to  Augustine's  study  to  *  make  his  language  sweet 
and  harmonious ',  and  St.  Bernard's  effort  to  exalt 
'  devotion  from  the  melodious  fall  of  words  '. 

Coleridge,  in  his  curious  notes  on  Donne's  sermons, 
remarks  on  the  patristic  leaven,  the  rhetorical  extra- 
vagance, the  taste  for  forced  and  fantastic  analogies, 
which  Donne  derived  from  his  study  of  the  early  Fathers; 

*   No.  22. 


^x  Introduction. 

and,  indeed,  the  influence  of  these  models,  falling  in 
as  it  did  with  his  natural  taste  for  *  wit '  and  extrava- 
gant conceits,  resulted  often  in  far-fetched  and  fantastic 
passages ;  and  there  are  whole  sermons  built  up  on  one 
metaphor,  on  blood  or  water  or  tears  or  kisses,  and  even 
on  vomit  and  circumcision,  in  which  one  image  is  turned 
and  twisted  and  elaborated  and  swollen  out  with  figurative, 
moral,  and  mystical  meanings,  grotesquely  adorned  wdth 
medical  analogies  and  legal  jargon  and  scholastic  quibbles 
and  rabbinical  speculations,  until  we  share  to  the  full 
Dean  Milman's  amazement  at  the  taste  of  those  immense 
and  attentive  congregations,  and  are  not  surprised  to 
hear  that  noblemen  and  gentlemen  were  taken  up  for 
dead,  after  listening  to  one  of  these  hour-long  conceits  and 
overwhelming  metaphors. 

But  then  again  this  cumbrous  style  takes  fire,  this  vast 
edifice  of  elaborate  adornments  blazes  up  into  a  splendid 
illumination  ;  and  remote  as  we  are  in  time  and  taste 
from  the  audiences  which  stood  for  hours  in  the  open 
air  at  Paul's  Cross,  or  filled  the  choir  of  old  St.  Paul's,  we 
share,  if  but  for  a  moment,  the  delight  which  drew  those 
ancient  crowds  to  hear  these  products  of  what  one  con- 
temporary called  his  '  Giant  phancie  \^  to  witness  the 
gleams  of  what  another  described  as  that  *  awfull  fire '  ^ 
which  burned  in  the  clear  brain  of  the  great  preacher. 

But  what  compels  our  attention  most  in  these  discourses 
is  when  Donne  *  preaches  himself '  in  them,  speaks  of  his 
past  Hfe,  his  sins  and  his  remorse  for  them,  of  his  present 
temptations,  of  his  fears  for  his  future  fate,  or  his  hopes 
of  Heaven.  *  When  I  consider  what  I  was  in  my  parents 
>  Poems,  i.  379.  •  Ibid.,  p.  371. 


Introduction.  xxxi 

loynes ',  he  begins,  *  when  I  consider  what  I  am  now,  .  .  . 
an  aged  childe,  a  gray-headed  Infant,  and  but  the  ghost 
of  mine  own  youth,  When  I  consider  what  I  shall  be  at 
last,  by  the  hand  of  death,  in  my  grave  *  ^ — it  is  in  passages 
Uke  this,  or  in  his  forecasts  of  his  own  death-bed,  *  when 
everlasting  darknesse  shall  have  an  inchoation  in  the 
present  dimnesse  of  mine  eyes,  and  the  everlasting 
gnashing  in  the  present  chattering  of  my  teeth,' ^  that 
Donne  becomes  most  impressive,  and  we  are  best  able 
to  understand  the  sombre  fascination  of  his  preaching. 

These  personal  passages  have  often  for  us  another 
interest  :  we  find  in  them  a  curious  modern  note  or 
quality  which  we  find  almost  nowhere  else  in  the  Hterature 
of  that  age.  For  in  spite  of  his  medieval  cast  of  thought 
Donne  was  in  some  ways  the  most  modern  writer  of  his 
period  ;  in  his  poems  and  in  his  strange,  feverish  Medita- 
tions there  is  a  subtlety  of  self-analysis,  an  awareness  of 
the  workings  of  his  own  mind,  which  seems  to  belong  to 
the  nineteenth  rather  than  to  the  seventeenth  century. 
We  hear  him  confessing,  for  instance,  in  one  of  his  ser- 
mons, the  wanderings  of  his  mind  in  his  strongest  devo- 
tions, and  how  in  the  midst  of  prayer  he  is  distracted  by 
the  noise  of  a  fly,  the  rattling  of  a  coach 3;  or  how,  while 
he  is  preaching,  he  is  partly  in  the  pulpit,  partly  in  his 
library  at  home ;  partly  expounding  liis  text,  and  partly 
thinking  what  his  congregation  will  say  to  each  other  of 
his  sermon  when  it  is  finished.* 

Donne  was  in  the  habit  of  drawing  a  distinction,  in 
his  letters,  between  the  Jack  Donne  of  his  earlier  hfe 

»  No.  2.  '  No.  126. 

•  No.  4.  *  No.  3. 


xxxii  Introduction . 

and  Dr.  Donne,  the  Dean  and  grave  divine  and  preacher. 
But,  as  he  himself  said,  men  do  not  change  their  passions, 
but  only  the  objects  of  them  ;  God  does  not  take  men 
from  their  calHng,  but  mends  them  in  it ;  He  loves 
renovations,  not  innovations.  Just  as  each  of  the  authors 
of  the  books  of  Scripture,  whether  they  were  courtiers 
or  shepherds  or  fishermen,  kept  the  idiom  and  the 
interests  of  their  profession  in  their  sacred  writings,  so 
the  regenerate  soul,  whether  amorous,  ambitious,  or 
covetous,  could  find  in  God  *a  fit  subject,  and  just 
occasion  to  exercise  the  same  affection  piously,  and 
rehgiously,  which  had  before  so  sinfully  transported,  and 
possesst  it'.^  So  Donne  retained  his  old  passions  and 
ways  of  thought ;  but  whereas  he  had  formerly,  as  he 
himself  says  of  St.  Augustine,  made  sonnets  of  his  sins, 
he  now  made  sermons  of  them.  Dr.  Donne  was  still 
Jack  Donne,  though  sanctified  and  transformed,  and 
those  who  have  learned  to  know  the  secular  poet  will 
find  in  the  writer  of  rehgious  prose  the  same  character- 
istics, the  subtle,  modern  self-analytic  mind  moving  in 
a  world  of  medieval  thought,  the  abstract,  frigid  scholastic 
intellect  and  the  quickest  senses,  the  forced  conceits  and 
passionate  sincerity,  the  harsh  utterance  and  the  snatches 
of  angel's  music — ^in  fact  all  that  has  attracted  or  perhaps 
repelled  them  in  the  author  of  the  *  love-songs  and  satiric 
weeds  *,  the  sensual  elegies  and  rugged  verse-letters  of  his 
earlier  period.  They  will  also  often  find  the  man  of  the 
world  beneath  the  surplice,  vvdth  his  appreciation  of 
worldly  values,  rank  and  circumstance  and  office,  and 
that  *  inward  joy  and  outward  reverence  and  dignity  that 

'   No.  21. 


Introduction.  xxxiii 

accompanies  riches '  ^  ;  the  courtier  who  had  the  courtier's 
desire  for  the  favour  of  great  persons,  and  who  pictured 
Heaven  as  a  royal  court,  and  God  as  a  king  in  his 
palace;  who  described  earthly  kings  as  metaphorical 
gods,  and  pious  courts  as  copies  of  the  Communion  of 
the  Saints. 

In  the  sermons  also  they  will  find  that  broad  humanity, 
that  sympathy  with  all  kinds  of  people,  that  good  com- 
mon sense,  which  made  Donne  a  reasonable  human  being, 
and  moved  him  often  to  declare  that  religion  was  a  serious 
but  not  a  sullen  thing,  and  a  merry  heart  and  a  cheerful 
countenance  a  better  way  to  God  than  dejection  of  spirit, 
and  all  the  *  sad  remorses  of  the  world  '.^ 

A  preacher  or  moralist  often  betrays  himself  indirectly, 
for  he  is  apt  to  see  his  own  faults  in  others,  and  to  dwell, 
in  his  exhortations,  on  the  temptations  and  weaknesses  to 
which  he  is  especially  exposed.  It  is  characteristic  of 
Donne  that  he  should  so  frequently  inveigh  against  the 
sins  of  the  senses,  and  especially  of  the  eye,  which  he 
said  was  *the  devil's  doore,  before  the  ear '2;  and  charac- 
teristic also  his  frequent  recurrence  to  the  danger  of 
remembering  past  sins — *  the  sinfull  remembrance  of 
former  sins,  which  is  a  dangerous  rumination,  and  an 
unwholesome  chawing  of  the  cud '.  *  Another  sin  to 
which  Donne  frequently  recurs  is  the  sin  of  curiosity, 
the  sin  of  the  curious  and  subtle  intellect,  which,  dissatis- 
fied vrith  the  *  solid  and  f undamentall '  doctrines  necessary 
to  salvation,  longed  for  *  birds  of  Paradise,  unrevealed 
mysteries  out  of  Gods  own  bosom  '.^    His  reprobation 

»  ii,  p.  416.  ■  iii,  p.  318.  '  i»  p.  228. 

«  ii,  p.  159'  *  i|  P-  308- 

?o25'3  C 


xxxiv  Introduction. 

of  this  unchastened  curiosity,  this  presumption  of  men 
who  '  being  but  worms  will  look  into  Heaven  \^  was 
partly,  no  doubt,  an  attack  on  the  rising  tide  of  Puritan 
and  schismatic  speculation  ;  but  it  was  also  an  indirect 
confession  of  the  attraction,  for  his  boundless  intellectual 
curiosity,  of  the  high  and  inexplicable  problems  of 
Christian  metaphysics.  Donne  echoes  Luther's  denuncia- 
tion of  the  '  hatefull,  damnable  Monosyllable,  How  '  ^  • 
again  and  again  he  warns  his  congregation  against 
inquiries  which  were  *  forc'd  dishes  of  hot  brains,  and  not 
sound  meat ',  *  spirituall  zoantonnesses,  and  unlawful  and 
dangerous  dallyings  with  mysteries  of  Divinity '  ^ ; 
and  yet  again  and  again  we  find  his  own  thoughts  losing 
their  way  among  mysteries  above  the  reach  of  reason, 
the  nature  of  the  Trinity,  Predestination,  Election, 
Original  Sin,  many  strange  scholastic  questions  about  the 
Angels,  the  Devil,  and  the  possibiHty  of  his  ultimate 
salvation,  and  such  high,  insoluble  problems  as  for 
instance  whether  the  Serpent,  as  many  of  the  Fathers 
believed,  had  feet  and  walked  upright  before  the  Fall. 

Such  was  Donne  as  he  reveals  himself  in  his  sermons, 
essentially  in  mind  and  temperament  the  same  person 
as  the  poet,  but  turning  his  native  gifts,  and  even  his 
acquired  stock  of  conceits  and  images,  to  new  and  sanctified 
uses.  The  mood  resulting  from  this  transformation  has 
been  well  described  by  Professor  Saintsbury  as  *  a  mood 
in  which  the  memory  of  bygone  earthly  delights  blends 
inextricably  with  the  present  fervour  of  devotion,  and 
which  to  a  fancy  resembUng  his  owti  might  suggest  a 
temple  of  Aphrodite  or  Dionysus  turned  into  a  Christian 
*  iii,  P-  77.  '  i.  p.  301'  '  'i.  P-  36. 


Introduction.  xxxv 

church,  and  served  by  the  same  priest  as  of  old,  with 
complete  loyalty  to  his  new  faith,  but  with  undying 
consciousness  of  the  past  '.^ 

Thus  one  tries  to  explain  Donne's  sermons  and  account 
for  them  in  a  satisfactory  manner.  And  yet  in  these,  as 
in  his  poems,  there  remains  something  baffling  which 
still  eludes  our  last  analysis.  Reading  these  old  hortatory 
and  dogmatic  pages,  the  thought  suggests  itself  that 
Donne  is  often  saying  something  else,  something 
poignant  and  personal,  and  yet,  in  the  end,  incom- 
municable to  us.  It  sometimes  seems  as  if  he  were 
using  the  time-honoured  phrases  of  the  accepted  faith, 
its  hope  of  heaven,  and  its  terror  of  the  grave,  to 
express  a  vision  of  his  own — a  vision  of  life  and  death, 
of  evil  and  horror  and  ecstasy — very  different  from  that 
of  other  preachers ;  and  we  are  troubled  as  well  as  fascinated 
by  the  strange  music  which  he  blows  through  the  sacred 
trumpets. 

From  the  sermons  themselves  we  can  gather  some 
impression  of  the  eifect  in  his  own  age  of  Donne's  preach- 
ing, either  at  court,  where  he  often  preached  before 
James  I  or  Charles  I,^  or  at  Lincoln's  Inn,  or  at  his  parish 
church  of  St.  Dunstan's,  or  in  the  open  air  at  Paul's 
Cross,  and  above  all  before  his  *  great  and  curious  audi- 
tories '  at  St.  Paul's,  when  the  choir  was  so  crowded  that 

*  Professor  Saintsbury  in  English  Prose  Selections,  edited  by  Henry 
Craik,  1894,  ii,  p.  85. 

*  It  would  appear  that  the  court  sermons,  preached  '  to  the  Nobility ' 
and  the  king,  were  sometimes  open-air  sermons.  See  C.  and  T.  Jos.  /, 
u.  386  :  *  the  king  came  hither  the  5th  of  this  present,  and  the  next  day, 
being  Palm  Sunday,  the  lord  archbishop  preached  at  court,  in  the  open- 
preaching  place '. 

C  2 


xxxvi  Introduction. 

many  of  the  poorer  sort  could  not  have  seats,  but  must 
*  stand  and  thrust ',  and  where  long  murmurs  of  approval 
sometimes,  he  said,  swallowed  up  one-quarter  of  his 
hour's  sermon.^ 

We  have  other  and  outside  evidence,  too,of  his  influence 
as  a  preacher,  and  his  manner  and  appearance  in  the  pulpit. 
A  member  of  the  Dutch  embassy  in  England,  Constantine 
Huyghens,  writes  of  the  '  wealth  of  his  unequalled  wit, 
and  yet  more  incomparable  eloquence  in  the  pulpit  *  ^  ; 
we  read  of  the  great  concourse  of  noblemen  and  gentle- 
men at  one  of  his  sermons  at  Lincoln's  Inn  *  whereof  two 
or  three  were  endangered  and  taken  up  dead  for  the  time, 
with  the  extreme  press  and  thronging  ',^  of  another  sermon 
preached  in  the  open  air  at  Paul's  Cross,  which  was  Hstened 
to  by  *  the  Lords  of  the  Council  and  other  honourable 
persons '  including  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  Bacon, 
the  Lord  Keeper,  Sir  Julius  Caesar,  the  Master  of  the  Rolls, 
Lord  Arundel,  Lord  Southampton,  and  *  divers  other  great 
men  '.* 

Izaak  Walton  has  described  for  us  his  manner  in  the 
pulpit, 

'  preaching  the  Word  so,  as  shewed  his  own  heart  was 
possest  with  those  very  thoughts,  and  joyes  that  he 
labored  to  distill  into  others  :  A  Preacher  in  earnest, 
weeping  sometimes  for  his  Auditory,  sometimes  with 
them  :  alwayes  preaching  to  himself,  Uke  an  Angel  from 
a  cloud,  but  in  none  ;  carrying  some,  as  St.  Paul  was, 
to  Heaven  in  holy  raptures,  and  inticing  others  by 
a  sacred  Art  and  Courtship  to  amend  their  lives ;  here 
picturing  a  vice  so  as  to  make  it  ugly  to  those  that 

»  No.  17.  •  Quoted  in  Poems,  ii,  p.  IxxviL 

'  See  note  to  No.  70.  *  bee  note  to  No.  29. 


Introduction.  xxxvii 

practised  it ;  and  a  vertue  so,  as  to  make  it  beloved  even 
by  those  that  lov'd  it  not ;  and,  all  this  with  a  most 
particular  grace  and  an  unexpressible  addition  of  comeh- 
ness.'  ^ 

There  are  other  evidences  of  the  manner  and  effect  of 
his  preaching  in  the  commendatory  verses  written  at  his 
death,  in  which  mention  is  made  of  his  *  speaking  action  ', 
*  pale  looks,  faint  breath,  and  melting  phrases'. 

Mee  thinkes  I  see  him  in  the  pulpit  standing. 

Not  eares,  or  eyes,  but  all  mens  hearts  commanding, 

Where  wee  that  heard  him,  to  our  selves  did  faine 

Golden  Chrysostome  was  alive  againe  ; 

And  never  were  we  weari'd,  till  we  saw 

His  houre  (and  but  an  houre)  to  end  did  draw. 

How  did  he  shame  the  doctrine-men,^ 

one  poet  writes,  and  another  : 

thy  one  houre  did  treate 
The  thousand  mazes  of  the  hearts  deceipt ; 
Thou  didst  pursue  our  lov'd  and  subtill  sinne, 
Through  all  the  foldings  wee  had  wrapt  it  in.^ 

While  another  poet  gives  in  Latin  verses  an  even  more 
vivid  picture  of  his  preaching  : 

*  Whenever  the  orator  stood  in  St.  Paul's  I  have  seen 
and  heard  with  amazement  the  wonderful  power  v^th 
which  he  held  men,  as  they  lifted  up  their  hearts  and 
eyes,  whilst  he  poured  forth  the  wise  eloquence  of 
a  Nestor,  sv/eeter  than  honey.  Now  he  holds  them 
thunderstruck  whilst  he  preaches  the  mystery  of  holy 
things  never  before  granted  to  the  people  and  not  yet 
understood  ;  they  ponder  his  words  with  admiration,  and 

>  Walton's  Lives,  1670  ;  Donne,  p.  38. 

•  Poems,  i,  p.  386.  *  Ibid.,  i,  p,  393, 

C  % 


xxxviii  Introduction. 

stand  with  outstretched  ears.  Presently  his  manner 
and  form  of  speaking  are  changed,  and  he  treats  of  sad 
things — ^fate  and  the  mournful  hour  of  death,  and  the 
body  returning  to  its  primal  ashes  :  then  you  might 
have  seen  all  groan  and  grieve,  and  one  here  and  there 
unable  to  restrain  his  tears.'  ^ 

From  these  contemporary  glimpses,  and  from  the  ser- 
mons themselves  we  can  form  some  notion  of  the  power, 
the  grace,  the  eloquence  which  made  Donne  the  most 
famous  preacher  of  the  time,  and  one  of  his  great  sermons 
an  important  event  for  his  contemporaries.  As  we  read 
these  sermons,  amid  much  that  is  remote  and  meaning- 
less to  us,  we  seem  now  and  then  to  hear  the  timbre  of 
a  living  voice,  and  then  for  a  moment  the  past  returns  ; 
and  in  the  vast,  dim-lit  cathedral  of  old  St.  Paul's  we 
seem  to  see  that  awe-struck  congregation  as  they  gaze  up 
at  the  courtly,  spectral  figure  standing  with  his  hour- 
glass in  the  pulpit,  and  pouring  forth  in  impassioned 
eloquence  his  inmost  thoughts  of  remorse  and  ecstasy, 
tus  poignant  sense  of  the  grave's  unspeakable  horror,  and 

»  Vidi, 

Audivi  &  stupui  quoties  orator  in  JEde 
Paulina  stetit,  &  mira  gravitate  levantes 
Corda,  oculosc^viros  tenuit :  dum  Nestoris  ille 
Fudit  verba  (omni  quanto  mage  dulcia  melle  ?) 
Nunc  habet  attonitos,  pandit  mysteria  plebi 
Non  concessa  prius  nondum  intellecta  :  revolvuat 
Mirantes,  tacitique  arrectis  auribus  astant. 
Mutatis  mox  ille  mode,  forma(^  loquendi 
Tristia  pertractat :  fatumcp&  flebile  mortis 
Tempus,  &  in  cineres  redeunt  quod  corpora  primes. 
Tunc  gemitum  cunctos  dare,  tunc  lugere  videres, 
Forsitan  k  lachrymis  aliquis  non  temperat. — Ibid,  i,  p.  391. 


Introduction.  xxxix 

Heaven's  unutterable  glory ;  and  this  image  is  added  to 
those  many  deeply  coloured  pictures  which,  hung  in  the 
chamber  of  the  historic  imagination,  form  for  us  our 
vision  of  that  illustrious  and  varied  period  of  English 
history. 

We  look  back  at  this  early  period  of  the  seventeenth 
century  in  England,  not  only  through  the  windows  which 
history  opens  for  us ;  we  see  it  even  more  clearly,  though 
diversely  tinctured,  through  the  minds  and  imaginations 
of  certain  writers  of  the  time  ;  fresh  in  the  morning  light 
of  Milton's  early  poems,  calm  in  the  sabbath  sunshine  of 
George  Herbert's  Temple,  or  dusky  with  the  twilight  of 
Sir  Thomas  Browne's  meditations.  It  is  the  purpose  of 
the  present  book  to  draw  aside  at  least  one  corner  of  the 
heavy  curtain  which  hides  from  us  another  casement  of 
that  age's  imagination,  a  sombre,  deep-emblazoned  gothic 
window,  through  which  nevertheless  the  sunlight  of 
to-day  sometimes  seems  to  strike,  as  it  Hghts  up  the 
ascetic,  enigmatic  figure  which  it  frames. 

Donne's  ecclesiastic  career  has  been  so  adequately 
recounted  by  his  biographers.  Dr.  Jessopp  and  Mr.  Gosse, 
that  only  the  briefest  recapitulation  is  necessary  here. 
John  Donne  was  born  in  1573  ;  he  was  the  elder  son  of 
a  rich  London  ironmonger,  who  died  in  1576  leaving 
him  a  considerable  fortune.  His  mother,  who  was 
descended  from  a  sister  of  Sir  Thomas  More,  came 
of  a  famous  Roman  CathoHc  family ;  she  had  two 
brothers  who  were  Jesuits,  and  numbered  among  her 
relatives  many  prisoners  and  exiles  for  the  sake  of  the 
Roman  faith.     She  remained  a  devout  Roman  Catholic 


xl  Introduction. 

till  the  end  of  her  life,  and  her  son's  earliest  years  were 
spent  in  an  atmosphere  of  Roman  CathoHc  devotion. 
At  the  early  age  of  eleven  Donne  went  to  Oxford,  and 
afterwards  to  Cambridge  ;  in  1590  we  find  him  in  London 
again,  and  in  1592  he  was  admitted  to  Lincoln's  Inn. 
A  young  man  of  brilliant  intellect,  the  master  of  a  con- 
siderable fortune,  he  now  found  himself,  as  a  Roman 
CathoHc,  shut  out  from  the  usual  paths  of  honourable 
ambition,  and  faced  with  the  problem  whether  he  should 
remain  in  the  old  faith,  and  so  sacrifice  his  worldly 
prospects,  or  should  join  the  English  Church  and  take 
his  share  in  the  life  and  interests  of  his  country.  Before 
coming  to  any  conclusion  he  first  surveyed  and  digested, 
he  tells  us,  '  the  whole  body  of  divinity,  controverted 
between  ours  and  the  Roman  Church  ' ;  and  if  his  final 
decision  coincided  with  his  interests,  and  if  ten  years 
later  we  find  Donne  a  convinced  opponent  of  Roman- 
ism, though  we  can  hardly  regard  his  change  of  faith  as 
due  to  a  genuine  conversion  to  AngHcanism,  or  to  any 
belief  that  it  was  alone  the  true  church,  it  does  not 
appear  on  the  other  hand  to  have  been  a  mere  apostasy 
prompted  by  political  considerations.  Donne  was 
genuinely  convinced  that  there  was  truth  in  each  form 
of  Christian  religion,  and  that  it  was  wisest  and  best  for 
each  man  to  accept  the  faith  of  his  own  country. 

When  after  his  somewhat  stormy  and  spendthrift 
youth  Donne  made  his  rash  marriage  in  1601,  and  found 
himself  desperately  poor  in  consequence,  half  in  disgrace, 
and  with  small  prospects  of  worldly  advancement,  he 
resumed  his  theological  studies ;  and  in  1605  we  find  him 
assisting    Dr.    Thomas    Morton,    afterwards    Bishop    of 


Introduction.  xli 

Durham,  in  his  controversies  with  the  Roman  Catholic 
writers.  During  the  next  few  years  he  wrote  three 
books,  the  Pseudo-Martyr,  Ignatius  his  Conclave,  and  the 
BiathanatoSy  all  of  which  were,  as  Mr.  Gosse  says,  written 
more  as  a  lawyer  than  a  divine,  though  each  was  on  the 
borderland  of  theology.  In  spite  of  his  theological 
occupations,  Donne,  as  his  letters  show,  was  still  ambitious 
of  worldly  preferment,  and  when  his  patron.  Dr.  Morton, 
became  Dean  of  Gloucester  in  1607,  and  offered  to  resign 
a  living  to  him  if  he  would  take  orders,  Donne  refused  the 
offer.  Walton  tells  us  that  this  refusal  was  due  to  a  sense 
of  his  own  unworthiness,  and  the  fear  that  the  irregularities 
of  his  past  life  might  bring  dishonour  on  the  sacred 
calhng,  but  it  is  more  likely,  as  his  letters  of  the  time 
suggest,  that  he  had  not  yet  abandoned  the  hope  of  some 
court  advancement.  But  this  hope  was  repeatedly 
disappointed  :  Donne  was  poor,  burdened  with  a  large 
family,  and  forced  to  live  in  humiliating  dependence  on 
the  bounty  of  rich  friends  ;  and  in  161 2  we  find  him 
writing  to  the  new  court  favourite,  Rochester,  that  he 
had  resolved  to  take  orders.  Rochester,  however,  seems 
to  have  discouraged  this  resolution,  and  it  was  not  till 
three  years  later,  and  after  further  disappointments, 
that  Donne,  yielding  to  the  persuasions  of  King  James 
himself,  finally  determined  to  enter  the  Church.  In 
January  161 5  he  was  ordained,  and  in  the  same  year 
he  became  one  of  the  king's  chaplains  and  was  made 
a  Doctor  of  Divinity  by  the  University  of  Cambridge. 
Donne's  earliest  court  sermon  which  has  come  down  to 
us,  and  perhaps  the  first  sermon  which  he  preached  as 
chaplain  to  the  king,  is  dated  April  21,  161 6.     Though 


xlii  Introduction. 

much  was  expected  of  him,  Izaak  Walton  tells  us,  his 
preaching  exceeded  all  expectation  ;  and  indeed,  if  we 
recall  the  circumstances  of  the  time,  when  the  Over- 
bury  murder,  one  of  the  greatest  scandals  of  EngHsh 
history,  had  just  been  made  pubHc  in  all  its  dreadful 
details  ;  when  the  once  omnipotent  favourite  of  the  king, 
the  Earl  of  Somerset,  stood  pubHcly  accused  of  com- 
plicity in  this  crime,  and  his  guilty  wife  was  imprisoned  in 
the  Tower,  Donne's  analysis  of  the  beginning  and  growth 
of  evil  in  the  sinner's  heart,  and  his  sombre  and  terrible 
denunciations  of  God's  judgements  on  the  wicked, 
must  have  produced  an  astonishing  effect  on  his  auditory, 
*  God  is  the  Lord  of  Hosts ',  he  proclaimed  to  them,  '  and 
he  can  proceed  by  Martial  Law  :  he  can  hang  thee  upon 
the  next  tree ;  ...  he  can  sink  down  the  Stage  and  the 
Player,  the  bed  of  wantonness,  and  the  wanton  actor, 
into  the  jaws  of  the  earth,  into  the  mouth  of  hell.'  *  Thou 
canst  not  lack  Examples,  that  he  hath  done  so  upon  others,' 
he  continues,  with  a  reference  that  must  have  been 
obvious  to  all,  *  and  will  no  proof  serve  thee,  but  a  speedy 
judgement  upon  thyself  ? '  ^ 

In  this  year,  1616,  Donne  was  presented  to  two 
country  livings,  and  appointed  Divinity  Reader  to 
the  Benchers  of  Lincoln's  Inn.  This  important  and 
lucrative  post,  which  involved,  it  has  been  calculated, 
the  preparation  of  not  fewer  than  fifty  sermons  a  year,  he 
held  till  he  became  Dean  of  St.  Paul's,  about  six  years 
later. 

In  March  161 7  Donne  was  appointed  to  preach  in 
the  famous  open-air  pulpit  of  London  at  Paul's  Cross, 
»  See  Nos.  87,  105,  108. 


Introduction.  xliii 

before  the  Lords  of  the  Council  and  the  City  Magistrates. 
These  sermons  at  Paul's  Cross,  which  were  preached  by 
the  most  distinguished  divines  of  England,  had  an  official 
character  of  high  importance,  and  were  one  of  the  great 
events  of  contemporary  London.  Donne  on  his  first 
appearance  in  this  open-air  pulpit  preached  a  sermon 
of  enormous  length,  which,  if  dehvered  as  printed,  must 
have  kept  his  audience  standing  for  at  least  two  hours. 
It  was,  however,  in  contemporary  opinion  '  a  dainty 
sermon ',  and  was  '  exceedingly  well  liked  *  especially 
for  the  praise  he  gave  to  Queen  EHzabeth.^ 

In  this  year  Donne  lost  the  dearly-loved  wife  whom  he 
had  married  in  such  romantic  circumstances,  and  in  his 
grief  at  this  irreparable  loss  he  seems  to  have  taken  his 
final  *  step  to  the  altar  ',  and  to  have  undergone  a  real 
conversion ;  his  mind  was  now  more  wholly  set  on 
heavenly  things ;  and  to  his  intellectual  interest  in 
theology  and  dogma  was  added  a  passionate  devotion 
which  increased  as  the  years  went  by,  till  he  became 
almost  absorbed  in  that  life  of  asceticism  and  spiritual 
exaltation  which  is  reflected  in  his  religious  poetry,  his 
meditations,  and  his  great  sermons.  The  chief  events  of 
his  remaining  years  can  be  briefly  recounted. 

In  1619  he  was  appointed  to  go  as  King's  Chaplain 
with  his  friend,  Lord  Doncaster,  on  a  mission  to  Germany. 
His  farewell  sermon  to  the  Benchers  of  Lincoln's  Inn  has 
been  preserved,^  also  one  of  the  two  sermons  he  preached 
before  the  Electress  Palatine,  afterwards  the  Queen  of 
Bohemia,  at  Heidelberg,^  and  a  sermon  he  preached  at 
The  Hague.  This  last  he  afterwards  enlarged  into  two 
»  See  No.  29  and  note.  '  No.  26.  *  No.  124. 


xHv  Introduction. 

sermons  of  considerable  length,  which  are  chiefly  re- 
markable for  the  wealth  of  sustained  nautical  metaphors 
which  pervade  them.  Donne,  who  in  his  youth  had 
sailed  with  Essex  on  two  long  voyages,  is  remarkable  as 
a  poet,  among  the  somewhat  inland  English  writers 
of  his  time,  for  his  frequent  use  of  nautical  terms 
and  his  references  to  seafaring  life  and  the  ways  of 
ships.  He  carried  this  breath  of  the  sea  with  him 
into  the  pulpit ;  his  sermons  abound  in  nautical  terms 
and  images,  and  now  he  preached  to  this  seafaring  nation 
on  the  Apostles  as  fishers  of  men,  taken  from  their  nets 
*  weather-beaten  with  North  and  South  winds,  and 
rough-cast  with  foame,  and  mud '  ^ ;  and  elaborated 
a  giant  simile  of  the  world  as  a  sea,  in  which  all  the 
inhabitants  are  fishes  to  be  caught  in  the  net  of  the 
Gospel  and  served  up  at  the  great  marriage  feast  in 
Heaven,  where,  he  added  characteristically — and  we  must 
think  surprisingly  to  the  Dutch — ^whoever  is  a  dish  is 
a  guest  also,  and  whoever  is  served  at  the  table  sits  at  it.^ 
After  his  return  to  England  he  was  appointed,  towards 
the  end  of  162 1,  to  the  Deanery  of  St.  Paul's.  His  first 
sermon  preached  in  that  cathedral  w^as  on  Christmas 
Day,  1 62 1.  This  sermon  is  a  closely  reasoned  one,  less 
adorned  with  those  elaborate  allusions  and  quotations  and 
conceits  of  which  he  was  so  fond,  but  containing  a  clear 
statement  of  the  relation  between  reason  and  faith 
which  was  the  basis  of  his  religious  philosophy.^  Donne's 
Christmas   sermons  preached  at   St.   Paul's  for  all  the 

>  i,  p.  720. 

2  No.  44.    For  other  extracts  from  this  sermon,  see  Nos.  86  and  112. 

*  No.  58. 


Introduction.  xlv 

subsequent  years  of  his  life  except  the  last  have  been 
preserved,  also  the  great  sermons  he  was  accustomed  to 
preach  there  on  Easter  Day  and  Whitsunday,  and 
a  number  of  the  sermons  which  he  also  preached  as 
Prebend  of  the  Cathedral,  besides  others  delivered 
at  various  dates  in  the  same  pulpit.  Next  to  these  in 
number  are  the  sermons  preached  at  court,  sometimes 
at  St.  James's,  but  for  the  most  part  at  Whitehall.  In 
1624  he  was  presented  to  the  living  of  St.  Dunstan's  in 
the  West,  then  a  fashionable  church,  in  which  as  parish 
vicar  he  was  able  to  come  into  closer  personal  relations 
with  his  congregation  than  he  could  with  his  great 
audiences  at  St.  Paul's ;  and  in  his  first  sermon  there  he 
described  in  the  elaborate  metaphor  of  a  marriage 
between  the  Minister  and  his  Congregation  what  he  felt 
should  be  his  relation  to  his  parishioners.^  A  number 
of  other  sermons  preached  in  this  pulpit  have  been  pre- 
served. 

Before  this  date,  however,  he  preached  two  sermons 
of  some  importance.  The  first  of  these  was  to  the 
Virginia  Company,  which  was  then  trying  to  collect  sub- 
scriptions for  the  earliest  English  colony  in  America,  and 
to  renew  popular  interest  in  this  settlement.  Donne  took 
the  point  of  view,  which  has  become  since  so  popular,  that 
English  conquest  and  colonization  was,  or  should  be,  carried 
on  for  the  purpose  of  religious  propaganda,  to  furnish 
salvation  to  the  benighted  heathen  ;  and  he  preached,  on 
this  occasion,  what  has  been  called  the  first  English  mis- 
sionary sermon.2  Later  in  this  year,  1622,  a  more 
unpleasant  task  was  imposed  on  him,  and  he  was  ordered 
»  No.  37.  •  No.  31. 


xlvi  Introduction. 

by  James  I,  who  was  then  engaged  in  his  negotiations 
for  the  Spanish  Match,  to  preach  at  Paul's  Cross  in 
defence  of  the  instructions  th  e  king  had  issued  forbidding 
the  polemical  preaching  of  Protestant  doctrines.  There 
was  an  immense  crowd  at  the  sermon  ;  but  a  con- 
temporary tells  us  that  he  gave  no  satisfaction,  speaking 
indeed,  some  thought,  as  if  he  were  by  no  means  satisfied 
himself.^  In  the  autumn  of  the  next  year  he  was  struck 
down  by  that  severe  illness  which  he  so  vividly  describes 
in  his  Devotions^  published  in  1624. 

His  next  sermon  of  public  importance  was  preached 
in  St.  James's  Palace  a  few  days  after  the  death  of  his 
old  master  James  I.  James  died  on  March  27,  1625, 
at  Theobald's  ;  the  new  king,  Charles  I,  had  shut 
himself  up  in  St.  James's  Palace,  but  on  Sunday  the  3rd 
of  April  he  sent  for  Donne  to  preach  to  him  in  the  palace 
chapel.  From  a  few  scraps  of  old  paper  preserved  by 
chance,  we  are  able  to  make  for  ourselves  a  more  than 
usually  vivid  picture  of  this  Sunday  afternoon  nearly 
three  hundred  years  ago.  Donne,  who  had  been  seriously 
ill,  was  plainly  thrown  into  great  agitation  by  the  royal 
command  to  preach  before  the  inscrutable  prince  who  was 
now  beginning  his  fateful  reign.  He  writes  to  a  friend 
at  court  begging  that  on  his  arrival  at  the  palace  he  may 
hide  himself  in  an  out-chamber  or  closet  till  the  time  for 
the  sermon.  He  must  preach  fasting,  he  says,  refusing 
an  invitation  to  dinner,  and  after  the  sermon  would  steal 

*  See  note  to  No.  37.  This  sermon,  preached  on  the  text  about  the 
stars  fighting  against  Sisera,  was  printed  in  1622  with  a  dedication  to  the 
new  favourite,  the  Marquis  of  Buckingham.  It  was  not  included  in  the 
three  folios,  but  was  reprinted  by  Alford,  vi  pp.  191-222. 


Introduction.  xlvii 

into  his  coach  and  return  home.  Another  letter  of  a  con- 
temporary witness  describes  the  very  pale  face  and  deep 
mourning  of  the  young  king  as  he  went  to  the  chapel, 
draped  in  a  plain  black  cloak  that  fell  to  his  ankles. 
Donne  began  his  sermon  with  a  discreet  reference  to  the 
death  of  the  old  king,  and  then  proceeded  to  preach 
a  controversial  sermon  against  the  Roman  Catholic  and 
Puritan  controversiaUsts  of  the  time  ^ ;  but  three  weeks 
later,  preaching  at  Denmark  House,  where  the  embalmed 
body  of  James  I  lay  in  state,  his  references  to  his  departed 
master  are  more  explicit ;  and  in  one  splendid  passage 
about  the  king's  dead  hand,  he  keeps  repeating,  at  the 
end  of  his  intricate  clauses,  the  word  *  dead  '  in  a  way 
that  makes  it  ring  out  Uke  the  tolUng  of  a  bell,  and  which 
in  his  accomplished  delivery  must  have  produced  a  strange 
effect  of  musical  and  sombre  rhetoric.^ 

In  1625  he  was  driven  out  of  London  by  the  plague 
and  took  refuge  with  his  friend  Magdalen  Herbert,  George 
Herbert's  mother,  who  was  now  married  to  Sir  John 
Danvers,  and  lived  in  Danvers  House  in  what  was  then  the 
village  of  Chelsea.  In  1627  Lady  Danvers  died  and  was 
buried  in  the  parish  church  of  Chelsea,  where  Donne 
preached  the  funeral  sermon.  In  his  unregenerate  days 
Donne  had  written  poems  to  Mrs.  Herbert,  almost  as 
a  lover ;  he  had  immortalized  her  in  those  famous  Hues, 

No  Springy  nor  Summer  Beauty  hath  such  grace, 
As  I  have  seen  in  one  Autumnall  face, 

and  now,  after  an  invocation  to  this  loved  ghost  to 
arise  from  the  consecrated  dust  in  which  she  slept,  he 

*  For  this  sermon  see  No,  75  and  note.  •  No.  34. 


xlviii  Introduction. 

proceeds,  in  a  long  and  noble  panegyric  to  paint  a  por- 
trait of  her  as  she  lived  and  as  he  and  her  family  and 
friends  knew  her — a  portrait  ^  which  is  one  of  the  most 
vivid  and  beautiful  we  possess  of  those  Elizabethan  great 
ladies  who  befriended  the  poets  of  the  time  and  still 
live  for  us  immortahzed  in  their  poems. 

Izaak  Walton  tells  us  that  he  was  present  in  the  church, 
and  saw  and  heard  Donne  weep  and  preach  this  funeral 
sermon ;  and  he  repeats  Donne's  characteristic  wish  that 
*  all  his  Body  were  turn'd  unto  tongues,  that  he  might 
declare  her  just  praises  to  posterity  '. 

The  time  was  approaching  when  Donne  must  preach 
his  own  funeral  sermon  ;  his  strength  gradually  declined, 
twice  he  was  afflicted  with  severe  illness,  and  in  1630  his 
health  finally  gave  way,  and  he  retired  to  the  country. 
But  early  in  the  next  year  he  dragged  himself  up  to 
London  to  preach  his  usual  Lent  sermon  to  the  court — 
to  sing,  as  one  of  his  panegyrists  wrote,  Hke  a  swan,  his 
mournful  dirge — ^the  great  sermon  which  was  pubUshed 
after  his  death  as  *  Death's  Duell ',  and  in  which  his 
sombre  imagination  and  his  morbid  and  fantastic  genius 
shone  forth  with  unearthly  splendour.  Walton  gives 
a  vivid  description  of  this  last  dramatic  appearance, 
how  when  to  the  amazement  of  the  beholders  he  appeared 
in  the  pulpit  *  many  of  them  thought  he  presented  himself 
not  to  preach  mortification  by  a  living  voice :  but,  mortahty 
by  a  decayed  body,  and  dying  face  ',2  and  how  as  they 
saw  his  tears  and  heard  his  faint  and  hollow  voice,  as  he 
preached  on  his  text,  *  To  God  the  Lord  belong  the  issues 
from  death,'  they  felt  that  the  text  had  been  prophetically 
*  No.  28.  •  Walton's  Lives,  1670,  Donne,  p.  71 


Introduction.  xlix 

chosen  and  that  he  had  preached  his  own  funeral  sermon. 
Donne  then  retired  to  the  Deanery  and  began  that 
spectacular  preparation  for  death,  that  *  elaborate  pubUc 
decease  *,  as  Mr.  Gosse  describes  it,  *  so  long-drawn,  so 
solemn,  so  boldly  picturesque  '  which  so  greatly  impressed 
his  contemporaries,  and  which,  in  the  monument  designed 
after  the  picture  he  had  had  painted  of  himself  dressed 
in  a  winding  sheet,  has  left  in  St.  PauPs  so  strange  and  so 
beautiful  a  memorial  for  the  admiration  of  posterity. 

Six  of  Donne's  sermons  had  been  published  in  his  life- 
time, and  he  left  at  his  death  a  large  number  prepared 
for  the  press.  His  last  sermon  was  printed  after  his 
death  in  1632,  and  in  1634  ^^^  more  sermons  were  pub- 
lished by  the  Cambridge  University  Press.  In  1640 
Donne's  son,  John  Donne,  pubUshed  the  first  folio  of 
eighty  sermons,  all  hitherto  unpubHshed,  and  in  1649 
he  printed  the  second  foUo,  Fifty  SermonSy  containing 
*  Death's  Duell '  and  the  six  published  in  1634  and 
forty-three  new  ones.  In  1660  he  published  the  third 
foUo,  entitled  XXVI  Sermons,  although  it  only  contains 
twenty-four,  as  two  of  them  were  printed  twice.  In 
1839,  Henry  Alford,  afterwards  Dean  of  Canterbury, 
pubHshed  the  154  sermons  from  the  three  folios,  and  three 
of  the  six  printed  in  Donne's  Ufetime,  in  an  edition  which 
was  mtended  to  be  a  complete  edition  of  Donne's  writings, 
though  this  plan  was  afterwards  abandoned,  and  only 
the  sermons,  the  Devotims,  the  poems,  and  the  letters 
were  included  in  it.  Alford  so  expurgated  the  poems, 
and  was  so  careless  in  his  printing  of  the  letters,  that  this 
edition  of  his  has  been  much  abused  by  scholars.  He 
idmits  that  he  bowdlerized  a  few  of  the  earUer  sermons ; 


1  Introduction. 

but  save  for  this  and  for  the  modernization  of  the  spelling, 
the  text  of  the  sermons  is  accurate,  and  as  the  old  foHos 
are  now  rare  (the  third  is  almost  unprocurable)  Alford's 
edition  is  the  one  which  is  most  accessible  to  modern 
readers.^ 

We  possess,  therefore,  i6o  of  Donne's  sermons,  of 
which  all  but  three  were  reprinted  by  Alford,  where 
they  fill  about  three  thousand  pages.  Some  of  these 
sermons  are  of  enormous  length,  and  if  preached  as 
written  must  have  taken  two  or  three  hours  to  dehver, 
instead  of  the  hour  marked  by  the  running  sands 
in  the  conspicuous  hour-glass,  to  which  Donne  was 
accustomed  to  confine  himself.  But  there  is  plenty  of 
evidence  to  show  that  we  do  not  now  possess  the  sermons 
as  he  preached  them.  Donne,  like  other  divines  of  the 
period,  took  no  fully  written  manuscript  with  him 
into  the  pulpit ;  he  preached  from  notes  ;  and  although 
when  preaching  at  court  or  at  St.  Paul's  on  great  occasions 
he  would  no  doubt  commit  much  of  his  sermon  to 
memory,  the  whole  text  would  be  written  out  from 
memory  afterwards,  and  subject  to  many  additions  and 
changes  in  the  process  of  writing.^ 

»  In  1840  Pickering  published  a  beautifully  printed  volume,  Devotions 
by  John  Donne,  D.D.,  which  contains  two  of  Donne's  sermons,  *  Death's 
Duell '  and  the  Chelsea  sermon  on  the  death  of  Lady  Danvers. 

*  In  a  letter  of  1621  Donne  promises  to  write  out  one  of  his  sermons 
for  a  friend  'though  in  good  faith  I  have  half  forgot  it*  {Gosse, ii, p.  151). 
In  1625,  when  he  had  taken  refuge  at  Chelsea  from  the  plague  in  London, 
he  says,  in  explaining  how  he  has  spent  his  time  there, '  I  have  revised  as 
many  of  my  sermons  as  I  had  kept  any  note  of,  and  I  have  written  out 
a  great  many,  and  hope  to  do  more.  I  have  already  come  to  the  number 
of  eighty,  of  which  my  son  .  .  .  may  hereafter  make  some  use '  {ibid., 
p.  225).     Donne's  sermon  preached   at  The  Hague  is  introduced  in 


Introduction.  U 

It  only  remains  to  say  a  few  words  about  the  plan 
of  this  small  volume  of  extracts  from  Donne's  sermons. 
The  arrangement  is  not  chronological,  and  indeed,  since 
many  of  the  sermons  are  undated,  such  an  arrangement 
would  be  at  the  best  highly  uncertain  and  conjectural. 
They  are  placed  in  a  certain  sequence  according  to  their 
subjects,  first  the  more  autobiographical  passages,  the 
pages  or  paragraphs  where  Donne  speaks  most  directly 
and  intimately  of  himself,  his  own  feelings  and  moods, 
his  own  conception  of  the  preacher's  office,  his  Uterary 
tastes,  and  the  references,  though  these  are  not  many,  to 
his  own  hfe  and  travels.  Next  follow  the  scanty  allusions 
he  makes  to  events  of  contemporary  history,  the  death 
of  Queen  Elizabeth,  the  accession  of  James  I,  the  Gun- 
powder Plot,  the  new  settlements  in  America,  the 
great  plague  of  1625,  and  the  death  of  King  James  ;  after 
these  come  passages  illustrating  the  more  secular  aspects 
of  his  thought,  his  remarks  on  Hfe  and  men  and  women, 
on  poverty  and  riches,  a  portrait  he  gives  in  a  funeral 
sermon  of  a  rich  London  merchant  of  the  time,  and  his 
reflections  on  the  *  new  philosophy '  of  Copernicus, 
and  on  human  knowledge  in  general.  Then  following 
the  process  of  his  thought,  we  come  to  rehgious  faith,  as 
founded  on,  and  yet  contrasted  with,  mere  human  reason, 
and  the  revelation  of  that  faith  through  the  Scriptures 
and  the  teaching  of  the  Church.  Next  follow  those 
passages   in   which   he   attains    the  greatest    heights    of 

the  first  folio,  with  this  note, '  At  the  Haghe  Decemh.  19. 161 9.  I  Preached 
upon  this  Text.  Since  my  sicknesse  at  Abney-hatche  in  Essex,  1630. 
revising  my  short  notes  of  that  Sermon,  I  digested  them  into  these  two.' 
Two  sermons  follow  on  the  same  text,  and  there  are  other  sermons  which 
seem  to  have  been  expanded  and  divided  in  the  same  way. 


lii  Introduction. 

eloquence — ^passages  in  wliich  the  body  of  that  revelation 
is  expressed,  our  knowledge  of  God  and  of  man's  fall, 
the  inheritance  of  Original  Sin,  the  corrupt  nature  of 
man,  the  sinful  state  of  the  world,  the  penalty  of  death 
with  all  its  horrors,  the  terrors  of  the  Day  of  Judgement, 
the  misery  of  the  damned,  and  the  everlasting  joy  and 
glory  of  the  blessed  souls  in  Heaven.  The  book  ends  with 
extracts  from  the  sombre  and  impressive  last  sermon,  in 
which  he  made  his  farewell  to  the  world. 


•u^      ^nC^      '*lf^      ^i(«)     ^if*^     '^V^      '^^      ''V 

,^S^!.  JSSC  i^,^^  >^S^s,  J^^^  J^^^  J^^' 


DONNE^S    SERMONS 


I.    7y^^   Preacher. 


N  the  great  Ant-hill  of  the  whole  world, 
I  am  an  Ant ;  I  have  my  part  in  the 
Creation,  I  am  a  Creature  ;  But  there 
are  ignoble  Creatures.  God  comes  nearer ; 
In  the  great  field   of   clay,  of  red  earth, 


that  man  was  made  of,  &  mankind,  I  am  a  clod ; 
I  am  a  man,  I  have  my  part  in  the  Humanity ;  But 
Man  was  worse  then  annihilated  again.  When  satan 
in  that  serpent  was  come,  as  Hercules  with  his  club  into 
a  potters  shop,  and  had  broke  all  the  vessels,  destroyed 
all  mankind.  And  the  gracious  promise  of  a  Messias  to 
redeeme  all  mankind,  was  shed  and  spread  upon  all, 
I  had  my  drop  of  that  dew  of  Heaven,  my  sparke  of  that 
fire  of  heaven,  in  the  universall  promise,  in  which  I  was 
involved  ;  But  this  promise  was  appropriated  after,  in 
a  particular  Covenant,  to  one  people,  to  the  Jewes,  to 
the  seed  of  Abraham.  But  for  all  that  I  have  my  portion 
there  ;  for  all  that  professe  Christ  Jesus  are  by  a  spirituall 
engrafting,  and  transmigration,  and  transplantation,  in 
and  of  that  stock,  and  that  seed  of  Abraham  ;  and  I  am 
one  of  those.  But  then,  of  those  who  doe  professe 
Christ  Jesus,  some  grovell  still  in  the  superstitions  they 
2025.3  B 


2  The  Preacher. 

were  fallen  into,  and  some  are  raised,  by  Gods  good 
grace,  out  of  them  ;  and  I  am  one  of  those  ;  God  hath 
afforded  me  my  station,  in  that  Church,  which  is  departed 
from  Babylon. 

Now,  all  this  while,  my  soule  is  in  a  cheeref ull  progresse  ; 
when  I  consider  what  God  did  for  Goshen  in  Egypt,  for 
a  little  parke  in  the  midst  of  a  forest  ;  what  he  did  for 
Jury,  in  the  midst  of  enemies,  as  a  shire  that  should 
stand  out  against  a  Kingdome  round  about  it  :  How 
many  Sancerraes  he  hath  deUvered  from  famins,  how 
many  Genevaes  from  plots,  and  machinations  against 
her  ;  all  this  while  my  soule  is  in  a  progresse  :  But  I  am 
at  home,  when  I  consider  Buls  of  excommunications, 
and  solicitations  of  Rebellions,  and  pistols,  and  poysons, 
and  the  discoveries  of  those  ;  There  is  our  Nos,  We, 
testimonies  that  we  are  in  the  favour,  and  care  of  God  ; 
We,  our  Nation,  we,  our  Church  ;  There  I  am  at  home  ; 
but  I  am  in  my  Cabinet  at  home,  when  I  consider,  what 
God  hath  done  for  me,  and  my  soule  ;  There  is  the  Ego, 
the  particular,  the  individuall,  I. 

2.  When  I  consider. 
jiMOROUS  soule,  ambitious  soule,  covetous  soule, 
XX.  voluptuous  soule,  what  wouldest  thou  have  in 
heaven  ?  What  doth  thy  holy  amorousnesse,  thy  holy 
covetousnesse,  thy  holy  ambition,  and  voluptuousnesse 
most  carry  thy  desire  upon  ?  Call  it  what  thou 
wilt  ;  think  it  what  thou  canst  ;  think  it  something  that 
thou  canst  not  think  ;  and  all  this  thou  shalt  have,  if 
thou  have  any  Resurrection  unto  Hfe ;    and  yet  there 


When  I  consider.  3 

is  a  Better  Resurrection.  When  I  consider  what  I  was  in 
my  parents  loynes  (a  substance  unworthy  of  a  word, 
unworthy  of  a  thought)  when  I  consider  what  I  am  now, 
(a  Volume  of  diseases  bound  up  together,  a  dry  cynder, 
if  I  look  for  naturall,  for  radicall  moisture,  and  yet 
a  Spunge,  a  bottle  of  overflowing  Rheumes,  if  I  consider 
accidentall  ;  an  aged  childe,  a  gray-headed  Infant,  and 
but  the  ghost  of  mine  own  youth)  When  I  consider  what 
I  shall  be  at  last,  by  the  hand  of  death,  in  my  grave, 
(first,  but  Putrifaction,  and  then,  not  so  much  as  Putri- 
faction,  I  shall  not  be  able  to  send  forth  so  much  as  an 
ill  ayre,  not  any  ayre  at  all,  but  shall  be  all  insipid,  tastlesse, 
savourlesse  dust  ;  for  a  while,  all  wormes,  and  after  a 
while,  not  so  much  as  wormes,  sordid,  senslesse,  namelesse 
dust)  When  I  consider  the  past,  and  present,  and  future 
state  of  this  body,  in  this  world,  I  am  able  to  conceive, 
able  to  expresse  the  worst  that  can  befall  it  in  nature, 
and  the  worst  that  can  be  inflicted  upon  it  by  man, 
or  fortune  ;  But  the  least  degree  of  glory  that  God 
hath  prepared  for  that  body  in  heaven,  I  am  not  able  to 
expresse,  not  able  to  conceive. 

3.  I  am  Not  all  Here. 

I  AM  not  all  here,  I  am  here  now  preaching  upon 
this  text,  and  I  am  at  home  in  my  Library 
considering  whether  5.  Gregory,  or  5.  Hierome,  have  said 
best  of  this  text,  before.  I  am  here  speaking  to  you, 
and  yet  I  consider  by  the  way,  in  the  same  instant,  what 
it  is  likely  you  will  say  to  one  another,  when  I  have 
done,  you  are  not  all  here  neither ;   you  are  here  now, 

B  2 


4  I  am  Not  all  Here. 

hearing  me,  and  yet  you  are  thinking  that  you  have 
heard  a  better  Sermon  somewhere  else,  of  this  text 
before  ;  you  are  here,  and  yet  you  think  you  could  have 
heard  some  other  doctrine  of  down-right  Predestination, 
and  Reprobation  roundly  dehvered  somewhere  else  with 
more  edification  to  you  ;  you  are  here,  and  you  remember 
your  selves  that  now  yee  think  of  it  :  This  had  been  the 
fittest  time,  now,  when  every  body  else  is  at  Church, 
to  have  made  such  and  such  a  private  visit  ;  and  because 
you  would  bee  there,  you  are  there. 

4.  Imperfect  Prayers, 

BUT  when  we  consider  with  a  religious  serious- 
nesse  the  manifold  weaknesses  of  the  strongest 
devotions  in  time  of  Prayer,  it  is  a  sad  consideration. 
I  throw  my  selfe  downe  in  my  Chamber,  and  I  call  in, 
and  invite  God,  and  his  Angels  thither,  and  when  they 
are  there,  I  neglect  God  and  his  Angels,  for  the  noise  of 
a  Flie,  for  the  ratling  of  a  Coach,  for  the  whining  of  a 
doore ;  I  talke  on,  in  the  same  posture  of  praying  ; 
Eyes  lifted  up  ;  knees  bowed  downe  ;  as  though  I  prayed 
to  God  ;  and,  if  God,  or  his  Angels  should  aske  me, 
when  I  thought  last  of  God  in  that  prayer,  I  cannot  tell  : 
Sometimes  I  finde  that  I  had  forgot  what  I  was  about, 
but  when  I  began  to  forget  it,  I  cannot  tell.  A  memory 
of  yesterdays  pleasures,  a  feare  of  to  morrows  dangers, 
a  straw  under  my  knee,  a  noise  in  mine  eare,  a  light  in 
mine  eye,  an  any  thing,  a  nothing,  a  fancy,  a  Chimera 
in  my  braine,  troubles  me  in  my  prayer.  So  certainely 
is  there  nothing,  nothing  in  spiritual!  things,  perfect  in 
this  world. 


Powers  and  Principalities.  5 

5.  Powers  and  Principalities. 

1  PASSE  my  time  sociably  and  merrily  in  cheerful 
conversation,  in  musique,  in  feasting,  in  Come- 
dies, in  wantonnesse  ;  and  I  never  heare  all  this  while 
of  any  power  or  principaHty,  my  Conscience  spies  no 
such  enemy  in  all  this.  And  then  alone,  between  God 
and  me  at  midnight,  some  beam  of  his  grace  shines  out 
upon  me,  and  by  that  light  I  see  this  Prince  of  darknesse, 
and  then  I  finde  that  I  have  been  the  subject,  the  slave 
of  these  powers  and  principahties,  when  I  thought  not 
of  them.  Well,  I  see  them,  and  I  try  then  to  dispossesse 
my  selfe  of  them,  and  I  make  my  recourse  to  the  power- 
fullest  exorcisme  that  is,  I  turne  to  hearty  and  earnest 
prayer  to  God,  and  I  fix  my  thoughts  strongly  (as  I 
thinke)  upon  him,  and  before  I  have  perfected  one  petition, 
one  period  of  my  prayer,  a  power  and  principaHty  is 
got  into  me  againe.  Spiritus  soporis,  The  spirit  of  slumber  Esay  29.10. 
closes  mine  eyes,  and  I  pray  drousily ;  Or  spiritus  Esa.  19. 14. 
vertiginisy  the  spirit  of  deviation,  and  vaine  repetition, 
and  I  pray  giddily,  and  circularly,  and  returne  againe 
and  againe  to  that  I  have  said  before,  and  perceive  not 
that  I  do  so  ;  and  nescio  cujus  spiritus  sim,  (as  our  Saviour  Luk.  9.  SS' 
said,  rebuking  his  Disciples,  who  were  so  vehement  for 
the  burning  of  the  Samaritans,  you  know  not  of  what 
spirit  you  are)  I  pray,  and  know  not  of  what  spirit  I  am, 
I  consider  not  mine  own  purpose  in  prayer  ;  And  by 
this  advantage,  this  doore  of  inconsideration,  enters 
spiritus  err  oris  y  The  seducing  spirit,  the  spirit  of  error,  i  Tim.  4.  i, 
and  I  pray  not  onely  negligently,  but  erroniously, 
dangerously,  for  such  things  as  disconduce  to  the  glory 


6  Powers  and  Principalities. 

of  God,  and  my  true  happinesse,  if  they  were  granted. 
Hosea4.i2.  Nay,  even  the  Prophet  Hosed' s  spiritus  fornicationum, 
enters  into  me,  The  spirit  of  fornication,  that  is,  some 
remembrance  of  the  wantonnesse  of  my  youth,  some 
mis-interpretation  of  a  word  in  my  prayer,  that  may 
beare  an  ill  sense,  some  unclean  spirit,  some  power  or 
principality  hath  depraved  my  prayer,  and  slackned  my 
zeale. 


A^ 


6.  Infecting  God, 
S  S.  Chrysostome  sayes,  every  man  is  Spontaneus 
Satan,  a  Satan  to  himselfe,  as  Satan  is  a 
Tempter,  every  man  can  tempt  himselfe  ;  so  I  will  be 
Spontaneus  Satan,  as  Satan  is  an  Accuser,  an  Adversary, 
I  will  accuse  my  selfe.  I  consider  often  that  passionate 
Luk.  5.  8.  humiliation  of  S.  Peter,  Exi  a  me  Domine,  He  fell  at  lesus 
knees,  saying,  Depart  from  me,  for  1  am  a  sinfull  man, 
O  Lord  ;  And  I  am  often  ready  to  say  so,  and  more  ; 
Depart  from  me,  O  Lord,  for  I  am  sinfull  inough  to 
infect  thee  ;  As  I  may  persecute  thee  in  thy  Children, 
so  I  may  infect  thee  in  thine  Ordinances ;  Depart,  in 
withdrawing  thy  word  from  me,  for  I  am  corrupt  inough 
to  make  even  thy  saving  Gospel,  the  savor  of  death 
unto  death ;  Depart,  in  withholding  thy  Sacrament, 
for  I  am  leprous  inough  to  taint  thy  flesh,  and  to  make 
the  balme  of  thy  blood,  poyson  to  my  soule  ;  Depart, 
in  withdrawing  the  protection  of  thine  Angels  from  me, 
for  I  am  vicious  inough  to  imprint  corruption  and 
rebellion  into  their  nature.  And  if  I  be  too  foule  for 
God  himselfe  to  come  neare  me,  for  his  Ordinances  to 
worke  upon  me,  I  am  no  companion  for  my  selfe,  I  must 


Infecting  God. 

not  be  alone  with  my  selfe  ;  for  I  am  as  apt  to  take,  as 
to  give  infection  ;  I  am  a  reciprocall  plague  ;  passively 
and  actively  contagious  ;  I  breath  corruption,  and  breath 
it  upon  my  selfe  ;  and  I  am  the  Babylon  that  I  must 
goe  out  of,  or  I  perish. 

7.  Forgiveness  of  Sins. 

SO  the  Spirit  of  God  moves  upon  the  face  of 
these  v^aters,  the  Spirit  of  life  upon  the  danger 
of  death.  Consider  the  love,  more  then  love,  the  study, 
more  then  study,  the  diligence  of  God,  he  devises  meanes, 
that  his  banished,  those  w^hom  sins,  or  death  had  banished, 
be  not  expelled  from  him.  I  sinned  upon  the  strength  of 
my  youth,  and  God  devised  a  meanes  to  reclaime  me, 
an  enfeebling  sicknesse.  I  relapsed  after  my  recovery, 
and  God  devised  a  meanes,  an  irrecoverable,  a  helpless 
Consumption  to  reclaime  me ;  That  affliction  grew 
heavy  upon  me,  and  weighed  me  down  even  to  a  diffidence 
in  Gods  mercy,  and  God  devised  a  meanes,  the  comfort  of 
the  Angel  of  his  Church,  his  Minister,  The  comfort  of 
the  Angel  of  the  great  Counsell,  the  body  and  blood 
of  his  Son  Christ  Jesus,  at  my  transmigration.  Yet  he 
lets  his  correction  proceed  to  death  ;  I  doe  dye  of  that 
sicknesse,  and  God  devises  a  meanes,  that  I,  though 
banished,  banished  into  the  grave,  shall  not  be  expelled 
from  him,  a  glorious  Resurrection. 

8.  Forgive  my  Sins, 

FORGIVE    me    O   Lord^    O    Lord    forgive    me    my 
sinnes,  the   sinnes    of  my  youth,  and   my  present 
sinnes,  the  sinne  that  my  Parents  cast  upon  me,  Originall 


8  Forgive  my  Sins. 

sinne,  and  the  sinnes  that  I  cast  upon  my  children,  in 
an  ill  example  ;  Actuall  sinnes,  sinnes  which  are  manifest 
to  all  the  world,  and  sinnes  which  I  have  so  laboured 
to  hide  from  the  world,  as  that  now  they  are  hid  from 
mine  own  conscience,  and  mine  own  memory ;  Forgive 
me  my  crying  sins,  and  my  whispering  sins,  sins  of 
uncharitable  hate,  and  sinnes  of  unchaste  love,  sinnes 
against  ^hee  and  7hee,  against  thy  Power  O  Almighty 
Father,  against  thy  Wisedome,  O  glorious  Sonne,  against 
thy  Goodnesse,  O  blessed  Spirit  of  God  ;  and  sinnes 
against  Him  and  Him,  against  Superiours  and  Equals, 
and  Inferiours  ;  and  sinnes  against  Me  and  Me,  against 
mine  own  soul,  and  against  my  body,  which  I  have  loved 
better  than  my  soul ;  Forgive  me  O  Lord,  0  Lord  in 
the  merits  of  thy  Christ  and  my  Jesus,  thine  Anointed, 
and  my  Saviour  ;  Forgive  me  my  sinnes,  all  my  sinnes, 
and  I  will  put  Christ  to  no  more  cost,  nor  thee  to  more 
trouble,  for  any  reprobation  or  malediction  that  lay 
upon  me,  otherwise  then  as  a  sinner.  I  ask  but  an 
application,  not  an  extention  of  that  Benediction, 
Blessed  are  they  whose  sinnes  are  forgiven  ;  Let  me  be 
but  so  blessed,  and  I  shall  envy  no  mans  Blessednesse  : 
say  thou  to  my  sad  soul,  ^onne  he  oj good  comfort,  thy  sinnes 
are  forgiven  thee,  and  I  shall  never  trouble  thee  with 
Petitions,  to  take  any  other  Bill  off  of  the  fyle,  or  to 
reverse  any  other  Decree,  by  which  I  should  be  accurst, 
before  I  was  created,  or  condemned  by  thee,  before  thou 
saw'st  me  as  a  sinner. 


Let  Me  Wither. 

9.  Let  Me  Wither. 

IET  me  wither  and  weare  out  mine  age  in  a  dis- 
^  comfortable,  in  an  unwholesome,  in  a  penurious 
prison,  and  so  pay  my  debts  with  my  bones,  and 
recompence  the  wastfulnesse  of  my  youth,  with  the 
beggery  of  mine  age  ;  Let  me  wither  in  a  spittle  under 
sharpe,  and  foule,  and  infamous  diseases,  and  so  recom- 
pence the  wantonnesse  of  my  youth,  with  that  loath- 
somnesse  in  mine  age  ;  yet,  if  God  with-draw  not  his 
spirituall  blessings,  his  Grace,  his  Patience,  If  I  can  call 
my  suffering  his  Doing,  my  passion  his  Action,  All  this 
that  is  temporall,  is  but  a  caterpiller  got  into  one  corner 
of  my  garden,  but  a  mill-dew  fallen  upon  one  acre  of 
my  Corne  ;  The  body  of  all,  the  substance  of  all  is  safe, 
as  long  as  the  soule  is  safe.  But  when  I  shall  trust 
to  that,  which  wee  call  a  good  spirit,  and  God  shall 
deject,  and  empoverish,  and  evacuate  that  spirit,  when  I 
shall  rely  upon  a  morall  constancy,  and  God  shall  shake, 
and  enfeeble,  and  enervate,  destroy  and  demolish  that 
constancy  ;  when  I  shall  think  to  refresh  my  selfe  in 
the  serenity  and  sweet  ayre  of  a  good  conscience,  and 
God  shall  call  up  the  damps  and  vapours  of  hell  itselfe, 
and  spread  a  cloud  of  diffidence,  and  an  impenetrable 
crust  of  desperation  upon  my  conscience  ;  when  health 
shall  flie  from  me,  and  I  shall  lay  hold  upon  riches  to 
succour  me,  and  comfort  me  in  my  sicknesse,  and  riches 
shall  flie  from  me,  and  I  shall  snatch  after  favour,  and 
good  opinion,  to  comfort  me  in  my  poverty ;  when 
even  this  good  opinion  shall  leave  me,  and  calumnies 
and  misinformations  shall  prevaile  against  me ;    when 


10  Let  Me  Wither. 

I  shall  need  peace,  because  there  is  none  but  thou,  O 
Lord,  that  should  stand  for  me,  and  then  shall  finde, 
that  all  the  wounds  that  I  have,  come  from  thy  hand, 
all  the  arrowes  that  stick  in  me,  from  thy  quiver  ;  when 
I  shall  see,  that  because  I  have  given  my  selfe  to  my 
corrupt  nature,  thou  hast  changed  thine  ;  and  because 
I  am  all  evill  towards  thee,  therefore  thou  hast  given  over 
being  good  towards  me  ;  When  it  comes  to  this  height, 
that  the  fever  is  not  in  the  humors,  but  in  the  spirits, 
that  mine  enemy  is  not  an  imaginary  enemy,  fortune, 
nor  a  transitory  enemy,  malice  in  great  persons,  but 
a  reall,  and  an  irresistible,  and  an  inexorable,  and  an 
everlasting  enemy.  The  Lord  of  Hosts  himselfe.  The 
Almighty  God  himselfe,  the  Almighty  God  himselfe  onely 
knowes  the  waight  of  this  affliction,  and  except  hee  put 
in  that  pondus  glorias,  that  exceeding  waight  of  an  eternall 
glory,  with  his  owne  hand,  into  the  other  scale,  we  are 
waighed  downe,  we  are  swallowed  up,  irreparably, 
irrevocably,  irrecoverably,  irremediably. 

10.  Donne  and  the  Worm, 

IF  my  soule  could  aske  one  of  those  Wormes 
which  my  dead  body  shall  produce.  Will  you 
change  with  me  ?  that  worme  would  say.  No  ;  for  you 
are  like  to  live  eternally  in  torment ;  for  my  part,  I  can 
live  no  longer,  then  the  putrid  moisture  of  your  body 
will  give  me  leave,  and  therefore  I  will  not  change ;  nay, 
would  the  Devill  himselfe  change  with  a  damned  soule  ? 
I  cannot  tell. 


Preaching  Consolation.  ii 

1 1 .  Preaching  Consolatioft, 

WHO  but  my  selfe  can  conceive  the  svveetnesse 
of  that  salutation,  when  the  Spirit  of  God 
sayes  to  me  in  a  morning,  Go  forth  to  day  and  preach, 
and  preach  consolation,  preach  peace,  preach  mercy, 
And  spare  my  people,  spare  that  people  whom  I  have 
redeemed  with  my  precious  Blood,  and  be  not  angry 
with  them  for  ever  ;  Do  not  wound  them,  doe  not 
grinde  them,  do  not  astonish  them  with  the  bitternesse, 
with  the  heavinesse,  vdth  the  sharpnesse,  with  the 
consternation  of  my  judgements.  David  proposes  to 
himselfe,  that  he  would  Sing  of  mercy,  and  of  judgement ;  PsaL  ioi«i. 
but  it  is  of  mercy  first  ;  and  not  of  judgement  at  all, 
otherwise  then  it  will  come  into  a  song,  as  joy  and 
consolation  is  compatible  with  it.  It  hath  falne  into 
disputation,  and  admitted  argument,  whether  ever  God 
inflicted  punishments  by  his  good  Angels ;  But  that 
the  good  Angels,  the  ministeriall  Angels  of  the  Church, 
are  properly  his  instruments,  for  conveying  mercy, 
peace,  consolation,  never  fell  into  question,  never 
admitted  opposition.  .  .  . 

What  a  Coronation  is  our  taking  of  Orders,  by  which 
God  makes  us  a  Royall  Priesthood  ?  And  what  an 
inthronization  is  the  comming  up  into  a  Pulpit,  where 
God  invests  his  servants  with  his  Ordinance,  as  with 
a  Cloud,  and  then  presses  that  Cloud  with  a  Vce  si  non, 
woe  be  unto  thee,  if  thou  doe  not  preach,  and  then 
enables  him  to  preach  peace,  mercy,  consolation,  to  the 
whole  Congregation.  That  God  should  appeare  in 
a  Cloud,  upon  the  Mercy  Seat,  as  he  promises  Moses  Levit.i5.2. 


12  Preaching  Consolation. 

he  will  doe,  That  from  so  poore  a  man  as  stands  here, 
wrapped  up  in  clouds  of  infirmity,  and  in  clouds  of 
iniquity,  God  should  drop,  raine,  poure  downe  his  dew, 
and  sweeten  that  dew  with  his  honey,  and  crust  that 
honied  dew  into  Manna,  and  multiply  that  Manna  into 
Corners,  and  fill  those  Gomers  every  day,  and  give  every 
particular  man  his  Gomer,  give  every  soule  in  the  Con- 
gregation, consolation  by  me  ;  That  when  I  call  to  God 
for  grace  here,  God  should  give  me  grace  for  grace, 
Grace  in  a  power  to  derive  grace  upon  others,  and  that 
this  Oyle,  this  Balsamum  should  flow  to  the  hem  of 
the  garment,  even  upon  them  that  stand  under  me  ; 
That  when  mine  eyes  looke  up  to  Heaven,  the  eyes  of 
all  should  looke  up  upon  me,  and  God  should  open  my 
mouth,  to  give  them  meat  in  due  season  ;  That  I  should 
not  onely  be  able  to  say,  as  Christ  said  to  that  poore 
soule.  Confide  fili^  My  son  be  of  good  comfort,  but 
Fratres  iff  Patres  mei.  My  Brethren,  and  my  Fathers, 
nay  Domini  mei,  and  Rex  mens.  My  Lords,  and  my  King 
be  of  good  comfort,  your  sins  are  forgiven  you  ;  That 
God  should  seale  to  me  that  Patent,  lie  frcedicate  omni 
Creaturcc^  Goe  and  preach  the  Gospell  to  every  Creature, 
be  that  creature  what  he  will.  That  if  God  lead  me  into 
a  Congregation,  as  into  his  Arke,  where  there  are  but 
eight  soules,  but  a  few  disposed  to  a  sense  of  his  mercies, 
and  all  the  rest  (as  in  the  Arke)  ignobler  creatures,  and  of 
brutall  natures  and  aflFections,  That  if  I  finde  a  licentious 
Goat,  a  supplanting  Fox,  an  usurious  Wolfe,  an  ambitious 
Lion,  yet  to  that  creature,  to  every  creature  I  should 
preach  the  Gospel  of  peace  and  consolation,  and  oifer 
these    creatures    a    Metamorphosis,    a    transformation, 


Preaching  Consolation.  13 

a  new  Creation  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  thereby  make  my 
Goat,  and  my  Fox,  and  my  Wolfe,  and  my  Lion,  to 
become  Semen  Dei,  The  seed  of  God,  and  Filhim  Dei, 
The  child  of  God,  and  Participem  Divines  Natures, 
Partaker  of  the  Divine  Nature  it  selfe  ;  This  is  that  which 
Christ  is  essentially  in  himselfe,  This  is  that  which 
ministerially  and  instrumentally  he  hath  committed  to 
me,  to  shed  his  consolation  upon  you,  upon  you  all ; 
Not  as  his  Almoner  to  drop  his  consolation  upon  one 
soule,  nor  as  his  Treasurer  to  issue  his  consolation  to 
a  whole  Congregation,  but  as  his  Ophir,  as  his  Indies, 
to  derive  his  gold,  his  precious  consolation  upon  the  King 
himselfe. 

12.  The  Beauty  of  the  Soul. 

/NSANIEBAT  amatoriam  insaniam  Paulus,  S.  P^w/ Theophil. 
was  mad  for  love  ;  S.  Paul  did,  and  we  doe  take 
into  our  contemplation,  the  beauty  of  a  Christian  soul ; 
Through  the  ragged  apparell  of  the  afflictions  of  this 
life  ;  through  the  scarres,  and  wounds,  and  palenesse, 
and  morphews  of  sin,  and  corruption,  we  can  look  upon 
the  soul  it  self,  and  there  see  that  incorruptible  beauty, 
that  white  and  red,  which  the  innocency  and  the  blood 
of  Christ  hath  given  it,  and  we  are  mad  for  love  of  this 
soul,  and  ready  to  doe  any  act  of  danger,  in  the  ways  of 
persecution,  any  act  of  diminution  of  our  selves  in  the 
ways  of  humiliation,  to  stand  at  her  doore,  and  pray,  and 
begge,  that  she  would  be  reconciled  to  God, 


14  Spiritual  Liberality. 

13.  Spiritual  Liberality, 


Liberalitas. 


2  Part.  AS  an  Hezekias,  a  losias  is  a  Type  of  Christ,  but  yet 

Xjl  but  a  Type  of  Christ ;  so  this  civill  Liberality, 
which  we  have  hitherto  spoken  of,  is  a  Type,  but  yet 
but  a  Type  of  our  spiritual!  Liberality.  For,  here  we 
doe  not  onely  change  termes,  the  temporall,  to  spirituall, 
and  to  call  that,  which  we  called  Liberality  in  the  former 
part.  Charity  in  this  part  ;  nor  do  we  onely  make  the 
difference  in  the  proportion  &  measure,  that  that  which 
was  a  Benefit  in  the  other  part,  should  be  an  Almes  in 
this.  But  we  invest  the  whole  consideration  in  a  meere 
spiritual!  nature  ;  and  so  that  Liberality,  which  was, 
in  the  former  acceptation,  but  a  relieving,  but  a  refreshing, 
but  a  repairing  of  defects,  and  dilapidations  in  the  body 
or  fortune,  is  now,  in  this  second  part,  in  this  spiritual! 
acceptation,  the  raising  of  a  dejected  spirit,  the  redinte- 
gration of  a  broken  heart,  the  resuscitation  of  a  buried 
soule,  the  re-consolidation  of  a  scattered  conscience, 
not  with  the  glues,  and  cements  of  this  world,  mirth,  and 
musique,  and  comedies,  and  conversation,  and  wine, 
and  women,  (miserable  comforters  are  they  all)  nor  with 
that  Meteor,  that  hangs  betweene  two  worlds,  that  is, 
Pliilosophy,  and  moral!  constancy,  (which  is  somewhat 
above  the  carnal!  man,  but  yet  far  below  the  man  truly 
Christian  and  religious)  But  this  is  the  Liberality,  of 
which  the  Holy  Ghost  liimselfe  is  content  to  be  the 
Steward,  of  the  holy,  blessed,  and  glorious  Trinity,  and 
to  be  notified,  and  qualified  by  that  distinctive  notion, 
and  specification.  The  Comforter, 

To  finde  a  languishing  wretch  in  a  sordid  corner,  not 


spiritual  Liberality.  15 

onely  in  a  penurious  fortune,  but  in  an  oppressed  con- 
science, His  eyes  under  a  diverse  suffocation,  smothered 
with  smoake,  and  smothered  with  teares,  His  eares 
estranged  from  all  salutations,  and  visits,  and  all  sounds,  but 
his  owne  sighes,  and  the  stormes  and  thunders  and  earth- 
quakes of  his  owne  despaire.  To  enable  this  man  to  open 
his  eyes,  and  see  that  Christ  Jesus  stands  before  him, 
and  sayes,  Behold  and  see,  if  ever  there  were  any  sorrow,  like 
my  sorrow,  and  my  sorrow  is  overcome,  why  is  not  thine  ? 
To  open  this  mans  eares,  and  make  him  heare  that  voyce 
that  sayes,  /  was  dead,  and  am  alive,  and  behold,  I  live  ReveLnS. 
for  evermore.  Amen  ;  and  so  mayest  thou  ;  To  bow  downe 
those  Heavens,  and  bring  them  into  his  sad  Chamber, 
To  set  Christ  Jesus  before  him,  to  out-sigh  him,  out-weepe 
him,  out-bleed  him,  out-dye  him.  To  transferre  all  the 
fasts,  all  the  scornes,  all  the  scourges,  all  the  nailes,  all 
the  speares  of  Christ  Jesus  upon  him,  and  so,  making  him 
the  Crucified  man  in  the  sight  of  the  Father,  because 
all  the  actions,  and  passions  of  the  Son,  are  appropriated 
to  him,  and  made  his  so  intirely,  as  if  there  were  never 
a  soule  created  but  his.  To  enrich  this  poore  soule,  to 
comfort  this  sad  soule  so,  as  that  he  shall  beleeve,  and  by 
beleeving  finde  all  Christ  to  be  his,  this  is  that  LiberaHty 
which  we  speake  of  now,  in  dispensing  whereof,  7he 
liberall  man  deviseth  liberall  things,  and  by  liberall  things 
shall  stand. 

14.  Eaglets  Wings. 

FOR  as  those  w^ords  are  well  understood  by  many  of 
the  Ancients,  To  the  Woman  were  given  two  wings  Revel.  12. 
of  an  Eagle,  that  is,  to  the  Church  were  given  able  and  ^"^ 


i6  Eagle's  Wings, 

sufficient  Ministers,  to  carry  and  convey  her  over  the 
Nations  :    So  are  those  words  which  are  spoken  of  God 
Deut.  32.    himself,  appliable  to  his  Ministers,  that  first,  ^he  Eagle 
'^*  stirreth  up  her  nest.  The  Preacher  stirres  and  moves, 

and  agitates  the  holy  affections  of  the  Congregation,  that 
they  slumber  not  in  a  senselesnesse  of  that  which  is  said, 
7he  Eagle  stirreth  up  her  nest,  and  then  as  it  is  added 
there,  She  Jluttereth  over  her  young  ;  The  Preacher  makes 
a  holy  noise  in  the  conscience  of  the  Congregation,  and 
when  hee  hath  awakened  them,  by  stirring  the  nest,  hee 
casts  some  claps  of  thunder,  some  intimidations,  in 
denouncing  the  judgements  of  God,  and  he  flings  open 
the  gates  of  Heaven,  that  they  may  heare,  and  look  up, 
and  see  a  man  sent  by  God,  with  power  to  infuse  his  feare 
upon  them  ;  So  she  Jluttereth  over  her  young  ;  but  then, 
as  it  followes  there,  She  spreadeth  abroad  her  wings  ;  she 
over-shadowes  them,  she  enwraps  them,  she  armes  them 
with  her  wings,  so  as  that  no  other  terror,  no  other 
fluttering  but  that  which  comes  from  her,  can  come  upon 
them  ;  The  Preacher  doth  so  infuse  the  feare  of  God 
into  his  Auditory,  that  first,  they  shall  feare  nothing  but 
God,  and  then  they  shall  feare  God,  but  so,  as  he  is  God  ; 
And  God  is  Mercy ;  God  is  Love ;  and  his  Minister 
shall  so  spread  his  wings  over  his  people,  as  to  defend 
them  from  all  inordinate  feare,  from  all  suspition  and 
jealousie,  from  all  diffidence  and  distrust  in  the  mercie 
of  God  ;  which  is  farther  exprest  in  that  clause,  which 
followes  in  the  same  place.  She  taketh  them  and  beareth 
them  upon  her  wings  ;  when  the  Minister  hath  awakened 
his  flocke  by  the  stirring  of  the  nest,  and  put  them  in 
this  holy  feare,  by  this  which  the  Holy  Ghost  cals  a 


Eagle's  Wings.  17 

Fluttering ;  and  then  provided,  by  spreading  his  wings, 
that  upon  this  feare  there  follow  not  a  desperation  ;  then 
he  sets  them  upon  the  top  of  his  best  wings,  and  shewes 
them  the  best  treasure  that  is  committed  to  his  Steward- 
ship, hee  shewes  them  Heaven,  and  God  in  Heaven, 
sanctifying  all  their  crosses  in  this  World,  inanimating 
all  their  worldly  blessings,  rayning  downe  his  blood  into 
their  emptinesse,  and  his  balme  into  their  wounds,  making 
their  bed  in  all  their  sicknesse,  and  preparing  their  seate, 
where  he  stands  soliciting  their  cause,  at  the  right  hand 
of  his  Father.  And  so  the  Minister  hath  the  wings  of 
an  Eagle,  that  every  soule  in  the  Congregation  may  see 
as  much  as  hee  sees,  that  is,  a  particular  interest  in  all 
the  mercies  of  God,  and  the  merits  of  Christ. 

15.  J  he  Hour- Glass. 

1HAVE  seen  Minute-glasses ;  Glasses  so  short-liv'd. 
If  I  were  to  preach  upon  this  Text,  to  such  a  glass,  it 
were  enough  for  half  the  Sermon  ;  enough  to  show  the 
worldly  man  his  Treasure,  and  the  Object  of  his  heart 
(for,  where  your  treasure  is,  there  will  your  Heart  be  also) 
to  call  his  eye  to  that  Minute-glass,  and  to  tell  him. 
There  flows,  there  flies  your  Treasure,  and  your  Heart 
with  it.  But  if  I  had  a  Secular  Glass,  a  Glass  that  would 
run  an  age ;  if  the  two  Hemispheres  of  the  World  were 
composed  in  the  form  of  such  a  Glass,  and  all  the  World 
calcin'd  and  burnt  to  ashes,  and  all  the  ashes,  and  sands, 
and  atoms  of  the  World  put  into  that  Glass,  it  would 
not  be  enough  to  tell  the  godly  man  what  his  Treasure, 
and  the  Object  of  his  Heart  is.  A  Parrot,  or  a  Stare, 
docile  Birds,  and  of  pregnant  imitation,  will  sooner  be 

2025»3  c 


i8  The  Hour-Glass. 

brought  to  relate  to  us  the  wisdom  of  a  Council  Table, 
then  any  Ambrose^  or  any  Chrysostome  men  that  have 
Gold  and  Honey  in  their  Names,  shall  tell  us  what  the 
Sweetness,  what  the  Treasure  of  Heaven  is,  and  what 
that  mans  peace,  that  hath  set  his  Heart  upon  that 
Treasure. 

1 6.  Preaching, 
In  conci-  "TJECAUSE  God  cals  Preaching  foolishnesse,  you  take 
'"Sr^i  21  *  ^  ^^'^  ^^  ^^^  word,  and  you  thinke  Preaching  a  thing 
under  you.  Hence  is  it,  that  you  take  so  much  liberty  in 
censuring  and  comparing  Preacher  and  Preacher,  nay 
Sermon  and  Sermon  from  the  same  Preacher  ;  as  though 
we  preached  for  wagers,  and  as  though  coine  were  to 
be  valued  from  the  inscription  meerely,  and  the  image, 
and  the  person,  and  not  for  the  metall.  You  measure 
Lam.  4. 16.  all  by  persons  ;  and  yet,  Non  erubescitis  faciem  Sacerdotis, 
Tou  respect  not  the  person  of  the  Priest,  you  give  not  so 
much  reverence  to  Gods  Ordinance,  as  he  does.  In  no 
Church  of  Christendome  but  ours,  doth  the  Preacher 
preach  uncovered.  And  for  all  this  good,  and  humble, 
and  reverend  example,  (fit  to  be  continued  by  us)  cannot 
we  keepe  you  uncovered  till  the  Text  be  read.  All  the 
Sermon  is  not  Gods  word,  but  all  the  Sermon  is  Gods 
Ordinance,  and  the  Text  is  certainely  his  word.  There  is 
no  salvation  but  by  faith,  nor  faith  but  by  hearing,  nor 
hearing  but  by  preaching  ;  and  they  that  thinke  meanliest 
of  the  Keyes  of  the  Church,  and  speake  faintliest  of  the 
Absolution  of  the  Church,  will  yet  allow.  That  those  Keyes 
lock,  and  unlock  in  Preaching  ;  That  Absolution  is  con- 
ferred, or  withheld  in  Preaching,  That  the  proposing 


Preaching.  19 

of  the  promises  of  the  Gospel  in  preaching,  is  that  binding 
and  loosing  on  earth,  which  bindes  and  looses  in  heaven. 
And  then,  though  Christ  have  bid  us,  Preach  the  Go j^W  Mar.  16.15 
to  every  creature,  yet,  in  his  own  great  Sermon  in  the 
Mount,  he  hath  forbidden  us,  to  give  holy  things  to  dogs.  Mat.  7  6, 
or  to  cast  pearle  before  swine,  lest  they  trample  them,  and 
turne  and  rend  us.  So  that  if  all  those  manifold  and  fearfuU 
judgements,  which  swell  in  every  Chapter,  and  blow 
in  every  verse,  and  thunder  in  every  line  of  every  Booke 
of  the  Bible,  fall  upon  all  them  that  come  hither,  as  well, 
if  they  turne,  and  rend,  that  is,  Calumniate  us,  the  person 
of  the  Preacher,  as  if  they  trample  upon  the  pearles, 
that  is,  undervalue  the  Doctrine,  and  the  Ordinance  it 
selfe ;  If  his  terrible  Judgements  fall  upon  every  uncharit- 
able mis-interpretation  of  that  which  is  said  here,  and 
upon  every  irreverence  in  this  place,  and  in  this  action ; 
Confesse,  that  though  he  be  the  God  of  your  salvation,  and 
doe  answer  you,  yet,  by  terrible  things  doth  the  God  of  your 
salvation  answer  you.  And  confesse  it  also,  as  in  manners, 
and  in  prayers,  and  in  preaching,  so  in  the  holy  and  blessed 
Sacrament. 

17.  Applause, 
niDONIUS  APOLLINARIS,  (a  Bishop  himselfe, 
^  but  whether  then  or  no,  I  know  not)  saith  of  another 
Bishop,  that  hearing  even  free  die  ationes  repentinas,  his 
extemporall  Sermons,  raucus  plausor  audivi,  I  poured 
my  selfe  out  in  loud  acclamations,  till  I  was  hoarse  : 
And,  to  contract  this  consideration,  wee  see  evidently, 
that  this  fashion  continued  in  the  Church,  even  to  Saint 
Bernards  time.     Neither  is  it  left  yet  in  some  places, 

c  2 


20  Applause. 

beyond  the  Seas,  where  the  people  doe  yet  answer  the 
Preacher,  if  his  questions  be  applyable  to  them,  and  may 
induce  an  answer,  with  these  vocall  acclamations,  Sir, 
toe  willy  Sir,  we  will  not.  And  truely  wee  come  too  neare 
re-inducing  this  vain  glorious  fashion,  in  those  often 
periodicall  murmurings,  and  noises,  which  you  make, 
when  the  Preacher  concludeth  any  point ;  for  those 
impertinent  Interjections  swallow  up  one  quarter  of 
his  houre,  and  many  that  were  not  within  distance  of 
hearing  the  Sermon,  will  give  a  censure  upon  it,  according 
to  the  frequencie,  or  paucitie  of  these  acclamations. 

1 8.  The  Bellman. 

HE  that  will  dy  with  Christ  upon  Good-Friday,  must 
hear  his  own  bell  toll  all  Lent ;  he  that  will  be 
partaker  of  his  passion  at  last,  must  conform  himself  to 
his  discipline  of  prayer  &  fasting  before.  Is  there  any  man, 
that  in  his  chamber  hears  a  bell  toll  for  another  man, 
and  does  not  kneel  down  to  pray  for  that  dying  man  ? 
and  then  when  his  charity  breaths  out  upon  another 
man,  does  he  not  also  reflect  upon  himself,  and  dispose 
himself  as  if  he  were  in  the  state  of  that  dying  man  ? 
We  begin  to  hear  Christs  bell  toll  now,  and  is  not  our 
bell  in  the  chime  ?  We  must  be  in  his  grave,  before  we 
come  to  his  resurrection,  and  we  must  be  in  his  death-bed 
before  we  come  to  his  grave  :  we  must  do  as  he  did, 
fast  and  pray,  before  we  can  say  as  he  said,  that  In  manus 
tuas,  Into  thy  hands  O  Lord  I  commend  my  Spirit.  You 
would  not  go  into  a  Medicinal  Bath  without  some  pre- 
paratives ;  presume  not  upon  that  Bath,  the  blood  of 
Christ  Jesus,  in  the  Sacrament  then,  without  preparatives 


The  Bellman.  21 

neither.  Neither  say  to  your  selves,  we  shall  have 
preparatives  enough,  warnings  enough,  many  more 
Sermons  before  it  come  to  that,  and  so  it  is  too  soon  yet ; 
you  are  not  sure  you  shall  have  more  ;  not  sure  you  shall 
have  all  this ;  not  sure  you  shall  be  affected  with  any. 
If  you  be,  when  you  are,  remember  that  as  in  that  good 
Custome  in  these  Cities,  you  hear  cheerful  street  musick 
in  the  winter  mornings,  but  yet  there  was  a  sad  and  doleful 
bel-man,  that  wak'd  you,  and  call'd  upon  you  two  or 
three  hours  before  that  musick  came  ;  so  for  all  that 
blessed  musick  which  the  servants  of  God  shall  present 
to  you  in  this  place,  it  may  be  of  use,  that  a  poor  bell-man 
waked  you  before,  and  though  but  by  his  noise,  prepared 
you  for  their  musick. 

19.  Favourite  Scriptures. 
ALMOST  every  man  hath  his  Appetite,  and  his  tast 
Jl\.  disposed  to  some  kind  of  meates  rather  then  others ; 
He  knows  what  dish  he  would  choose,  for  his  first,  and  for 
his  second  course.  We  have  often  the  same  disposition 
in  our  spirituall  Diet ;  a  man  may  have  a  particular  love 
towards  such  or  such  a  book  of  Scripture,  and  in  such 
an  affection,  I  acknowledge,  that  my  spirituall  appetite 
carries  me  still,  upon  the  Psalms  of  David,  for  a  first 
course,  for  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  Testament  :  and 
upon  the  Epistles  of  Saint  Paul,  for  a  second  course,  for 
the  New,  and  my  meditations  even  for  these  publike 
exercises  to  Gods  Church,  returne  oftnest  to  these  two. 
For,  as  a  hearty  entertainer  offers  to  others,  the  meat 
which  he  loves  best  himself,  so  doe  I  oftnest  present  to 
Gods  people,  in  these  Congregations,  the  meditations 


22  Favourite  Scriptures. 

which  I  feed  upon  at  home,  in  those  two  Scriptures. 
If  a  man  be  asked  a  reason  why  he  loves  one  meat  better 
then  another,  where  all  are  equally  good,  (as  the  books 
of  Scripture  are)  he  will  at  least,  finde  a  reason  in  some 
good  example,  that  he  sees  some  man  of  good  tast,  and 
temperate  withall,  so  do  •  And  for  my  Diet,  I  have  Saint 
Augustines  protestation,  that  he  loved  the  Book  of  Psalms, 
and  Saint  ChrysostomeSy  that  he  loved  Saint  Pauls  Epistles^ 
with  a  particular  devotion.  I  may  have  another  more 
particular  reason,  because  they  are  Scriptures,  written 
in  such  forms,  as  I  have  been  most  accustomed  to  ; 
Saint  Pauls  being  Letters,  and  Davids  being  Poems :  for, 
God  gives  us,  not  onely  that  which  is  meerly  neces- 
sary, but  that  which  is  convenient  too  ;  He  does  not 
onely  feed  us,  hut  feed  us  with  marrow,  and  with  fatnesse  ; 
he  gives  us  our  instruction  in  cheerfuU  forms,  not  in 
a  sowre,  and  sullen,  and  angry,  and  unacceptable  way, 
but  cheerfully,  in  Psalms,  which  is  also  a  limited,  and 
a  restrained  form  ;  Not  in  an  Oration,  not  in  Prose,  but  in 
Psalms  ;  which  is  such  a  form  as  is  both  curious,  and 
requires  diligence  in  the  making,  and  then  when  it  is 
made,  can  have  nothing,  no  syllable  taken  from  it,  nor 
added  to  it  :  Therefore  is  Gods  will  dehvered  to  us  in 
Psalms,  that  we  might  have  it  the  more  cheerfully,  and 
that  we  might  have  it  the  more  certainly,  because  where 
all  the  words  are  numbred,  and  measured,  and  weighed, 
the  whole  work  is  the  lesse  subject  to  falsification,  either 
by  substraction  or  addition.  God  speaks  to  us  in  oratione 
strictd,  in  a  limited,  in  a  diligent  form  ;  Let  us  (not)  speak 
to  him  in  oratione  solutd  ;  not  pray,  not  preach,  not  hear, 
slackly,  suddenly,  unadvisedly,  extemporally,  occasionally, 


Favourite  Scriptures.  23 

indillgently  ;  but  let  all  our  speech  to  him,  be  weighed, 
and  measured  in  the  weights  of  the  Sanctuary,  let  us  be 
content  to  preach,  and  to  hear  within  the  compasse 
of  our  Articles,  and  content  to  pray  in  those  formes 
which  the  Church  hath  meditated  for  us,  and  recom- 
mended to  us. 

20.  ^he  Psalms. 

THE  Psalmes  are  the  Manna  of  the  Church.     As  Wisd.16.20. 
Manna  tasted  to  every  man  like  that  that  he  liked 
best,  so  doe  the  Psalmes  minister  Instruction,  and  satis- 
faction, to  every  man,  in  every  emergency  and  occasion. 
David  was  not  onely  a  cleare  Prophet  of  Christ  himselfe, 
but  a  Prophet  of  every  particular  Christian  ;   He  foretels 
what  I,  what  any  shall  doe,  and  suffer,  and  say.     And 
as  the  whole  booke  of  Psalmes  is  Oleum  e^usum^  (as  the  Cant.  i.  3. 
Spouse   speaks   of   the   name   of   Christ)   an   Oyntment 
powred  out  upon  all  sorts   of  sores,  A  Searcloth  that 
souples  all  bruises,  A  Balme  that  searches  all  wounds  ; 
so  are  there  some  certaine  Psalmes,  that  are  Imperiall 
Psalmes,  that  command  over  all  affections,  and  spread 
themselves    over    all    occasions,    Catholique,    universall 
Psalmes,  that  apply  themselves  to  all  necessities.     This 
is  one  of  those  ;    for,  of  those  Constitutions  which  are  Constitut. 
called   ApostolicaU,    one   is.   That    the   Church   should  ^P°^^°^- 
meet  every  day,  to  sing  this  Psalme.     And  accordingly, 
S.  Chrysostome  testifies,  That  it  was  decreed,  and  ordained  Chrysost. 
by   the   Primitive    Fathers,    that    no   day   should   passe 
without  the  pubHque  singing  of  this  Psalme.     Under 
both    these    obHgations,    (those   ancient    Constitutions, 
called  the  Apostles,  and  those  ancient  Decrees  made  by 


24  The  Psalms. 

the  primitive  Fathers)  belongs  to  me,  who  have  my  part 
in  the  service  of  Gods  Church,  the  especiall  meditation, 
and  recommendation  of  this  Psalme.  And  under  a  third 
obHgation  too,  That  it  is  one  of  those  five  psalmes,  the 
daily  rehearsing  v^^hereof,  is  injoyned  to  me,  by  the 
Constitutions  of  this  Church,  as  five  other  are  to  every 
other  person  of  our  body.  As  the  whole  booke  is  Manna, 
so  these  five  Psalmes  are  my  Gomer,  which  I  am  to  fill 
and  empty  every  day  of  this  Manna. 

21.  Sanctified  Passions, 

y4S  the  Prophets,  and  the  other  Secretaries  of  the 
•lIl  holy  Ghost  in  penning  the  books  of  Scriptures, 
do  for  the  most  part  retain,  and  express  in  their  writings 
some  impressions,  and  some  air  of  their  former  professions  ; 
those  that  had  been  bred  in  Courts  and  Cities,  those 
that  had  been  Shepheards  and  Heardsmen,  those  that 
had  been  Fishers,  and  so  of  the  rest ;  ever  inserting 
into  their  writings  some  phrases,  some  metaphors,  some 
allusions,  taken  from  that  profession  which  they  had 
exercised  before  ;  so  that  soul,  that  hath  been  transported 
upon  any  particular  worldly  pleasure,  when  it  is  entirely 
turn'd  upon  God,  and  the  contemplation  of  his  all- 
sufficiency  and  abundance,  doth  find  in  God  fit  subject, 
and  just  occasion  to  exercise  the  same  affection  piously, 
and  rehgiously,  which  had  before  so  sinfully  transported, 
and  possesst  it. 

A  covetous  person,  who  is  now  truly  converted  to  God, 
he  will  exercise  a  spiritual  covetousness  still,  he  will 
desire  to  have  him  all,  he  vnVi  have  good  security,  the 
seal  and  assurance  of  the  holy  Ghost ;   and  he  will  have 


Sanctified  Passions.  25 

his  security  often  renewed  by  new  testimonies,  and 
increases  of  those  graces  in  him  ;  he  will  have  witnesses 
enough  ;  he  will  have  the  testimonie  of  aU  the  world, 
by  his  good  hfe  and  conversation  ;  he  will  gain  every 
way  at  Gods  hand,  he  will  have  wages  of  God,  for  he  will 
be  his  servant ;  he  will  have  a  portion  from  God,  for  he 
will  be  his  Son  ;  he  will  have  a  reversion,  he  will  be  sure 
that  his  name  is  in  the  book  of  Hfe  ;  he  will  have  pawns, 
the  seals  of  the  Sacraments,  nay,  he  will  have  a  present 
possession  ;  all  that  God  hath  promised,  all  that  Christ 
hath  purchased,  all  that  the  Holy  Ghost  hath  the  steward- 
ship and  dispensation  of,  he  will  have  all  in  present,  by 
the  appropriation  and  investiture  of  an  actual  and 
applying  faith ;  a  covetous  person  converted  will  be 
spiritually  covetous  still. 

So  will  a  voluptuous  man,  who  is  turned  to  God, 
find  plenty  and  deHciousnes  enough  in  him,  to  feed  his 
soul,  as  with  marrow,  and  with  fatness,  as  David  expresses 
it ;  and  so  an  angry  and  passionate  man,  will  find  zeal 
enough  in  the  house  of  God  to  eat  him  up. 

All  affections  which  are  common  to  all  men,  and  those 
to  which  in  particular,  particular  men  have  been  addicted 
to,  shall  not  only  be  justly  employed  upon  God,  but  also 
securely  employed,  because  we  cannot  exceed,  nor  go 
too  far  in  imploying  them  upon  him.  According  to  this 
Rule,  St.  Paul,  who  had  been  so  vehement  a  persecutor, 
had  ever  his  thoughts  exercised  upon  that ;  and  thereupon 
after  his  conversion,  he  fulfils  the  rest  of  the  sufferings 
of  Christ  in  his  flesh,  he  suffers  most,  he  makes  most  Col.  i.  24. 
mention  of  his  suffering  of  any  of  the  Apostles. 

And    according    to   this    Rule    too,    Solomon,    whose 


26  Sanctified  Passions. 

disposition  was  amorous,  and  excessive  in  the  love  of 
v^romen,  when  he  turn'd  to  God,  he  departed  not  utterly 
from  his  old  phrase  and  language,  but  having  put  a  new,  and 
a  spiritual  tincture,  and  form  and  habit  in  all  his  thoughts, 
and  words,  he  conveys  all  his  loving  approaches  and 
applications  to  God,  and  all  Gods  gracious  answers  to 
his  amorous  soul,  into  songs,  and  Epithalamians,  and 
meditations  upon  contracts,  and  marriages  between 
God  and  his  Church,  and  between  God  and  his  soul ; 
as  we  see  so  evidently  in  all  his  other  writings,  and 
particularly  in  this  text,  /  love  them,  &c. 

In  which  words  is  expressed  all  that  belongs  to  love, 
all  which,  is  to  desire,  and  to  enjoy  ;  for  to  desire  without 
fruition,  is  a  rage,  and  to  enjoy  without  desire  is  a  stupid- 
ity :  In  the  first  alone  we  think  of  nothing,  but  that 
which  we  then  would  have  ;  and  in  the  second  alone, 
we  are  not  for  that,  when  we  have  it  ;  in  the  first,  we 
are  without  it ;  in  the  second,  we  were  as  good  as  we 
were,  for  we  have  no  pleasure  in  it ;  nothing  then  can 
give  us  satisfaction,  but  when  those  two  concurr,  amare 
and  fruty  to  love  and  to  enjoy. 

22.  Styl^  and  Language. 

THE  Holy  Ghost  in  penning  the  Scriptures  delights 
himself,  not  only  with  a  propriety,  but  with  a 
delicacy,  and  harmony,  and  melody  of  language  ;  with 
height  of  Metaphors,  and  other  figures,  which  may  work 
greater  impressions  upon  the  Readers,  and  not  with 
barbarous,  or  triviaU,  or  market,  or  homely  language  : 
It  is  true,  that  when  the  Grecians,  and  the  Romanes,  and 
S.   Augustine   himselfe,   undervalued   and   despised    the 


Style  and  Language.  27 

Scriptures,  because  of  the  poore  and  beggerly  phrase, 
that  they  seemed  to  be  written  in,  the  Christians  could 
say  Httle  against  it,  but  turned  still  upon  the  other  safer 
way,  wee  consider  the  matter,  and  not  the  phrase,  because 
for  the  most  part,  they  had  read  the  Scriptures  only  in 
Translations,  which  could  not  maintaine  the  Majesty, 
nor  preserve  the  elegancies  of  the  Originall. 

Their  case  was  somewhat  like  ours,  at  the  beginning 
of  the  Reformation  ;  when,  because  most  of  those  men 
who  laboured  in  that  Reformation,  came  out  of  the 
Romane  Church,  and  there  had  never  read  the  body 
of  the  Fathers  at  large  ;  but  only  such  ragges  and  frag- 
ments of  those  Fathers,  as  were  patcht  together  in  their 
Decretat's,  and  Decretals,  and  other  such  Common 
placers,  for  their  purpose,  and  to  serve  their  turne, 
therefore  they  were  loath  at  first  to  come  to  that  issue, 
to  try  controversies  by  the  Fathers.  But  as  soon  as  our 
men  that  imbraced  the  Reformation,  had  had  time  to 
reade  the  Fathers,  they  were  ready  enough  to  joyne 
with  the  Adversary  in  that  issue  :  and  still  we  protest, 
that  we  accept  that  evidence,  the  testimony  of  the 
Fathers,  and  refuse  nothing,  which  the  Fathers  unanimly 
delivered,  for  matter  of  faith  ;  and  howsoever  at  the 
beginning  some  men  were  a  httle  ombrageous,  and 
startling  at  the  name  of  the  Fathers,  yet  since  the  Fathers 
have  been  well  studied,  for  more  then  threescore  yeares, 
we  have  behaved  our  selves  with  more  reverence  towards 
the  Fathers,  and  more  confidence  in  the  Fathers,  then 
they  of  the  Romane  perswasion  have  done,  and  been  lesse 
apt  to  suspect  or  quarrell  their  Books,  or  to  reprove  their 
Doctrines,  then  our  Adversaries  have  been.  So,  howsoever 


28  Style  and  Language. 

the  Christians  at  first  were  fain  to  sink  a  little  undei 
that  imputation,  that  their  Scriptures  have  no  Majesty, 
no  eloquence,  because  these  embellishments  could  not 
appeare  in  Translations,  nor  they  then  read  Originalls, 
yet  now,  that  a  perfect  knowledge  of  those  languages 
hath  brought  us  to  see  the  beauty  and  the  glory  of  those 
Books,  we  are  able  to  reply  to  them,  that  there  are  not 
in  all  the  world  so  eloquent  Books  as  the  Scriptures  ; 
and  that  nothing  is  more  demonstrable,  then  that  if  we 
would  take  all  those  Figures,  and  Tropes,  which  are 
collected  out  of  secular  Poets,  and  Orators,  we  may  give 
higher,  and  HveHer  examples,  of  every  one  of  those 
Figures,  out  of  the  Scriptures,  then  out  of  all  the  Greek 
and  Latine  Poets,  and  Orators ;  and  they  mistake  it 
much,  that  thinke,  that  the  Holy  Ghost  hath  rather 
chosen  a  low,  and  barbarous,  and  homely  style,  then  an 
eloquent,  and  powerfull  manner  of  expressing  himselfe. 

23.  Style  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
ExuUatio.    ^T^HE  Holy  Ghost  is  an  eloquent  Author,  a  vehement, 
A  and  an  abundant  Author,  but  yet  not  luxuriant ; 
he  is  far  from  a  penurious,  but  as  far  from  a  superfluous 
style  too. 

24.  Compliments, 

WE  have  a  word  now  denizened,  and  brought  into 
familiar  use  amongst  us.  Complement ;  and  for 
the  most  part,  in  an  ill  sense  ;  so  it  is,  when  the  heart 
of  the  speaker  doth  not  answer  his  tongue  ;  but  God 
forbid  but  a  true  heart,  and  a  faire  tongue  might  very 
well  consist  together :  As  vertue  it  self  receives  an 
addition,  hy  being  in  a  faire  body,  so  do  good  intentions 


Compliments.  29 

of  the  heart,  by  being  expressed  in  faire  language.  That 
man  aggravates  his  condemnation,  that  gives  me  good 
words,  and  meanes  ill ;  but  he  gives  me  a  rich  Jewell,  and 
in  a  faire  Cabinet,  he  gives  me  precious  wine,  and  in 
a  clean  glasse,  that  intends  well,  and  expresses  his  good 
intentions  well  too.  If  I  beleeve  a  faire  speaker,  I  have 
comfort  a  little  while,  though  he  deceive  me,  but  a  froward 
and  peremptory  refuser,  unsaddles  me  at  first.  I  remem- 
ber a  vulgar  Spanish  Author,  who  writes,  the  losephina, 
the  life  of  loseph,  the  husband  of  the  blessed  Virgin 
Mary,  who  moving  that  question,  why  that  Virgin  is 
never  called  by  any  style  of  Majesty,  or  Honour  in  the 
Scriptures,  he  sayes.  That  if  after  the  declaring  of  hei 
to  be  the  Mother  of  God,  he  had  added  any  other  Title, 
the  Holy  Ghost  had  not  been  a  good  Courtier,  (as  his 
very  word  is)  nor  exercised  in  good  language,  and  he 
thinks  that  had  been  a  defect  in  the  Holy  Ghost  in 
himself.  He  meanes  surely  the  same  that  Epifhanius 
doth.  That  in  naming  the  Saints  of  God,  and  especially 
the  blessed  Virgin,  we  should  alwayes  give  them  the  best 
Titles  that  are  applyable  to  them  ;  Quis  unquam  ausus,  Epiphan. 
(sales  he)  proferre  nomen  Marice,  iff  non  statim  addidit  Haeres.  78. 
virgo  ?  Who  ever  durst  utter  the  name  of  that  Mary, 
without  that  addition  of  incomparable  honour,  ^he 
Virgin  Mary  ? 

That  Spanish  Author  need  not  be  suspitious  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  in  that  kinde,  that  he  is  no  good  Courtier 
so  ;  for  in  all  the  books  of  the  world,  you  shall  never  reade 
so  civill  language,  nor  so  faire  expressions  of  themselves 
to  one  another,  as  in  the  Bible  :  When  Abraham  shall 
call  himself  dust,  and  ashes,  (and  indeed  if  the  Son  of 


30  Compliments. 

God  were  a  worme  and  no  man,  what  was  Ahraham  F) 
If  God  shall  call  this  Abraham,  this  Dust,  this  Worme 
of  the  dust,  ^  he  friend  oj  God,  (and  all  friendship  implyes 
a  parity,  an  equality  in  something  ;)  when  David  shall 
call  himself  ajiea,  and  a  dead  dog,  even  in  respect  of  ^aul, 
and  God  shall  call  David,  A  man  according  to  his  own 
hearty  when  God  shall  call  us,  The  Apple  oj  his  own  eye, 
The  Seale  upon  his  own  right  hand,  who  would  go  farther 
for  an  Example,  or  farther  then  that  example  for  a  Rule, 
of  faire  accesses,  of  civill  approaches,  of  sweet  and 
honourable  entrances  into  the  affections  of  them  with 
whom  they  were  to  deale  ? 

25.  Lying  at  Aix, 

IYING  at  Aix,  at  Aquisgrane,  a  well  known  Town 
-i  in  Germany,  and  fixing  there  some  time,  for  the 
benefit  of  those  Baths,  I  found  my  self  in  a  house,  which 
was  divided  into  many  families,  &  indeed  so  large  as  it 
might  have  been  a  little  Parish,  or,  at  least,  a  great  lim 
of  a  great  one  ;  But  it  was  of  no  Parish  :  for  when 
I  ask'd  who  lay  over  my  head,  they  told  me  a  family  of 
Anabaptists ;  And  who  over  theirs  ?  Another  family 
of  Anabaptists  ;  and  another  family  of  Anabaptists  over 
theirs,  and  the  whole  house,  was  a  nest  of  these  boxes  ; 
several  artificers  ;  all  Anabaptists  ;  I  ask'd  in  what  room 
they  met,  for  the  exercise  of  their  ReHgion  ;  I  was  told 
they  never  met  :  for,  though  they  were  all  Anabaptists, 
yet  for  some  coUaterall  differences,  they  detested  one 
another,  and,  though  many  of  them,  were  near  in  bloud, 
&  alliance  to  one  another,  yet  the  son  would  excommuni- 
cate the  father,  in  the  room  above  him,  and  the  Nephew 


Lying  at  Aix.  31 

the  Uncle.  As  S.  John  is  said  to  have  quitted  that  Bath, 
into  which  Cerinthus  the  Heretique  came,  so  did  I  this 
house ;  I  remembred  that  Hezekiah  in  his  sicknesse, 
turn'd  himself  in  his  bed,  to  pray  towards  that  wall, 
that  look'd  to  lerusalem  ;  And  that  Daniel  in  Babylon, 
when  he  pray'd  in  his  chamber,  opened  those  windows 
that  look'd  towards  lerusalem  ;  for,  in  the  first  dedication 
of  the  Temple,  at  lerusalem,  there  is  a  promise  annext 
to  the  prayers  made  towards  the  temple  :  And  I  began 
to  think,  how  many  roofs,  how  many  floores  of  separation, 
were  made  between  God  and  my  prayers  in  that  house. 
And  such  is  this  multipHcity  of  sins,  which  we  consider 
to  be  got  over  us,  as  a  roof,  as  an  arch,  many  arches, 
many  roofs  :  for,  though  these  habitual!  sins,  be  so  of 
kin,  as  that  they  grow  from  one  another,  and  yet  for  all 
this  kindred  excommunicate  one  another,  (for  covetous- 
nesse  will  not  be  in  the  same  roome  with  prodigality) 
yet  it  is  but  going  up  another  stair,  and  there's  the  tother 
Anabaptist ;  it  is  but  living  a  few  years,  and  then  the 
prodigall  becomes  covetous.  All  the  way,  they  separate 
us  from  God,  as  a  roof,  as  an  arch  ;  &  then,  an  arch 
will  bear  any  weight ;  An  habituall  sin  got  over  our  head 
as  an  arch  will  stand  under  any  sicknesse,  any  dishonour, 
any  judgement  of  God,  and  never  sink  towards  any 
humiliation. 

26.  Farewell  on  Going  to  Germany, 

NOW  to  make  up  a  circle,  by  returning  to  our  first 
word,  remember  :  As  we  remember  God,  so  for  his 
sake,  let  us  remember  one  another.  In  my  long  absence, 
and  far  distance  from  hence,  remember  me,  as  I  shall  do 


32  Farewell  on  Going  to  Germany. 

you  in  the  ears  of  that  God,  to  whom  the  farthest  East, 
and  the  farthest  West  are  but  as  the  right  and  left  ear 
in  one  of  us ;  we  hear  with  both  at  once,  and  he  hears 
in  both  at  once  ;  remember  me,  not  my  abiUties ;  for 
when  I  consider  my  Apostleship  that  I  was  sent  to  you, 

I  Cor.  15. 9.  I  am  in  St.  Pauls  quorum,  quorum  ego  sum  minimus,  the 
least  of  them  that  have  been  sent ;  and  when  I  consider 
my  infirmities,  I  am  in  his  quorum,  in  another  commission, 

I  Tim.1.15,  another  way.  Quorum  ego  maximus  ;  the  greatest  of 
them  ;  but  remember  my  labors,  and  endeavors,  at  least 
my  desire,  to  make  sure  your  salvation.  And  I  shall 
remember  your  religious  cheerfulness  in  hearing  the  word, 
and  your  christianly  respect  towards  all  them  that  bring 
that  word  unto  you,  and  towards  my  self  in  particular 
far  bove  my  merit.  And  so  as  your  eyes  that  stay  here, 
and  mine  that  must  be  far  of,  for  all  that  distance  shall 
meet  every  morning,  in  looking  upon  that  same  Sun, 
and  meet  every  night,  in  looking  upon  the  same  Moon  ; 
so  our  hearts  may  meet  morning  and  evening  in  that  God, 
which  sees  and  hears  every  where  ;  that  you  may  come 
thither  to  him  with  your  prayers,  that  I,  (if  I  may  be  of 
use  for  his  glory,  and  your  edification  in  this  place)  may 
be  restored  to  you  again  ;  and  may  come  to  him  with  my 
prayer,  that  what  Paul  soever  plant  amongst  you,  or 
what  Apollos  soever  water,  God  himself  will  give  the 
increase  :  That  if  I  never  meet  you  again  till  we  have  all 
passed  the  gate  of  death,  yet  in  the  gates  of  heaven, 
I  may  meet  you  all,  and  there  say  to  my  Saviour  and  your 
Saviour,  that  which  he  said  to  his  Father  and  our  Father, 
Of  those  whom  thou  hast  given  me,  have  I  not  lost  one. 
Remember  me  thus,  you  that  stay  in  this  Kingdome 


Farewell  on  Going  to  Germany.  33 

of  peace,  where  no  sword  is  drawn,  but  the  sword  of 
Justice,  as  I  shal  remember  you  in  those  Kingdomes, 
where  ambition  on  one  side,  and  a  necessary  defence 
from  unjust  persecution  on  the  other  side  hath  drawn 
many  swords  ;  and  Christ  Jesus  remember  us  all  in  his 
Kingdome,  to  which,  though  we  must  sail  through 
a  sea,  it  is  the  sea  of  his  blood,  where  no  soul  suffers 
shipwrack ;  though  we  must  be  blown  with  strange 
winds,  with  sighs  and  groans  for  our  sins,  yet  it  is  the 
Spirit  of  God  that  blows  all  this  wind,  and  shall  blow 
away  all  contrary  winds  of  diffidence  or  distrust  in  Gods 
mercy;  where  we  shall  be  all  Souldiers  of  one  Army, 
the  Lord  of  Hostes,  and  children  of  one  Quire,  the  God 
of  Harmony  and  consent  :  where  all  Clients  shall  retain 
but  one  Counsellor,  our  Advocate  Christ  Jesus,  not 
present  him  any  other  fee  but  his  own  blood,  and  yet 
every  Client  have  a  Judgment  on  his  side,  not  only  in 
a  not  guilty,  in  the  remission  of  his  sins,  but  in  a  Venite 
henedicti,  in  being  called  to  the  participation  of  an 
immortal  Crown  of  glory :  where  there  shall  be  no 
difference  in  affection,  nor  in  mind,  but  we  shall  agree 
as  fully  &  perfectly  in  our  Jllelujah,  and  gloria  in 
excdcis,  as  God  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost  agreed 
in  the  faciamus  hominem  at  first  ;  where  we  shall  end, 
and  yet  begin  but  then  ;  where  we  shall  have  continual 
rest,  and  yet  never  grow  lazie  ;  where  we  shall  be  stronger 
to  resist,  and  yet  have  no  enemy  ;  where  we  shall  live 
and  never  die,  where  we  shall  meet  &  never  part. 


.1025.3 


34  The  Vicar  of  St.  Dunstan's. 

27.  ^he  Vicar  of  St.  Dunstan^s. 
Onus,  IVT^^  ^^  ^  Matrimoniall  state,  there  is  Onus  and 
X^  Honos,  a  burden  to  be  born,  an  Honour  to  be 
received.  The  burden  of  the  sinnes  of  the  zvhole  world, 
was  a  burden  onely  for  Christs  shoulders  ;  but  the  sinnes 
of  this  Parish,  will  I7  upon  my  shoulders,  if  I  be  silent,  or 
if  I  be  indulgent,  and  denounce  not  Gods  Judgement 
upon  those  sinnes.  It  will  be  a  burden  to  us,  if  we  doe 
not,  and  God  knowes  it  is  a  burden  to  us,  when  we  do 
denounce  those  Judgements.  Esay  felt,  and  groned 
under  this  burden,  when  he  cried  Onus  Babylonis,  Onus 
Moah,  and  Onus  Damasci,  O  the  burden  of  Babylon,  and 
the  burden  of  Damascus,  and  so  the  other  Prophets  grone 
often  under  this  burden,  in  contemplation  of  other 
places  :  It  burdened,  it  troubled,  it  grieved  the  holy 
Prophets  of  God,  that  they  must  denounce  Gods  judge- 
ments, though  upon  Gods  enemies.  We  reade  of  a  com- 
passionate Generall,  that  looking  upon  his  great  Army, 
from  a  hill,  fell  into  a  bitter  weeping,  upon  this  considera- 
tion, that  in  fiftie  or  sixtie  yeares  hence,  there  will  not 
be  a  man  of  these  that  fight  now,  alive  upon  the  earth. 
What  Sea  could  furnish  mine  eyes  with  teares  enough, 
to  poure  out,  if  I  should  think,  that  of  all  this  Congrega- 
tion, which  lookes  me  in  the  face  now,  I  should  not  meet 
one,  at  the  Resurrection,  at  the  right  hand  of  God  ! 
And  for  so  much  as  concerns  me,  it  is  all  one,  if  none  of 
you  be  saved,  as  if  none  of  you  be  saved  by  my  help,  my 
means,  my  assistance,  my  preaching.  If  I  put  you  upon 
miraculous  wayes,  to  be  saved  without  hearing,  or  upon 
extraordinary  wayes  to  be  saved  by  hearing  others^  this 


The  Vicar  of  St.  Dunstan's.  35 

shall  aggravate  my  condemnation,  though  you  be  saved  : 
How  much  more  heavy  must  my  burden  be,  if  by  my 
neghgence  both  I  and  you  perish  too  ?  So  then  this 
caUing,  this  marriage,  is  a  burden  every  way.  When  at 
any  midnight  I  heare  a  bell  toll  from  this  steeple,  must 
not  I  say  to  my  selfe,  what  have  I  done  at  any  time  for 
the  instructing  or  rectifying  of  that  mans  Conscience, 
who  lieth  there  now  ready  to  deliver  up  his  own  account, 
and  my  account  to  Almighty  God  ?  If  he  be  not  able 
to  make  a  good  account,  he  and  I  are  in  danger,  because 
I  have  not  enabled  him  ;  and  though  he  be  for  himself 
able,  that  delivers  not  me,  if  I  have  been  no  instrument 
for  the  doing  of  it.  Many,  many  burdens  he  upon  this 
calling,  upon  this  marriage  ;  but  our  recompense  is,  that 
marriage  is  as  well  an  honourable  as  a  painefull  calling. 

28.  Funeral  Sermon  on  Magdalen  Herbert^ 
Lady  Danvers^  1627. 

I  PROPOSE  to  my  selfe,  and  to  this  Congregation, 
two  Workes  for  this  day ;  That  wee  may  walke 
together  two  miles,  in  this  Sabbath  dales  journey  ;  First, 
Jo  instruct  the  Living,  and  then  Lo  commemorate  the  Dead. 
Which  office,  as  I  ought,  so  I  should  have  performed 
sooner,  but  that  this  sad  occasion  surprized  me  under 
other  Pre-obligations  and  Pre-contracts,  in  the  services 
of  mine  own  Profession,  which  could  not  be  excused, 
nor  avoided.  And  being  come  now  to  this  double  worke, 
whether  I  looke  up  to  the  Throne  of  Heaven,  and  that 
Firmament,  for  my  first  worke,  The  Instruction  of  the 
Living,  or  downe  to  the  stones  of  the  Grave,  and  that 

D2 


36  Funeral  Sermon  on 

pavement,  for  1117  second  worke,  The  commemoration  of 
the  Deady  I  need  no  other  words  than  these  which  I  have 
read  to  you,  for  both  purposes  ;  For,  to  assist  the  Resur- 
rection of  your  soules,  I  say.  And  to  assure  the  Resurrec- 
tion of  your  bodies,  she  saies,  Neverthelesse,  we  according 
to  his  promise  looke  for  new  Heavens,  and  new  Earthy 
wherein  dwelleth  Righteousnesse.  .  .  . 

Close  we  here  this  Booke  of  life,  from  which  we  have 
had  OUT  first  Text,  And,  Surge,  qu^e  dormis  in  pulvere. 
Arise,  thou  Booke  of  Death  ;  thou,  that  sleepest  in  this 
consecrated  dust,  and  hast  beene  going  into  dust,  now, 
almost  a  Moneth  of  dayes,  almost  a  Lunarie  yeere,  and 
dost  deserve  such  Anniversaries,  such  quick  returnes  of 
Periods,  and  a  Commemoration,  in  every  such  yeere,  in 
every  Moneth  ;  Arise  thou,  and  bee  another  Commentary 
to  us  ;  and  tell  us,  what  this  new  Heaven,  and  new  Earth 
is,  in  which,  now,  thou  dweVst,  with  that  Righteousnesse. 
But  wee  doe  not  invoke  thee,  as  thou  art  a  Saint  in  Heaven ; 
Appeare  to  us,  as  thou  didst  appeare  to  us  a  moneth  agoe ; 
At  least,  appeare  in  thy  history  ;  appeare  in  our  memory  ; 
that  when  every  one  of  us  have  lookt  upon  thee,  by  his 
owne  glasse,  and  scene  thee  in  his  owne  Interest,  such,  as 
thou  wast  to  him,  That  when  one  shall  have  scene  thee, 
the  best  wife.  And  a  larger  number,  the  best  mother.  And 
more  then  they,  a  whole  Towne,  the  best  "Neighbour,  and 
more  then  a  Towne,  a  large  body  of  noble  friends,  the 
best  Friend,  And  more  than  all  they,  all  the  world,  the 
best  example,  when  thou  hast  received  this  Testimony 
from  the  Militant  Church,  as  thou  hast  the  recompence 
of  all  this,  in  thy  Blessed  Soule,  in  the  Triumphant, 
yet,  because  thy  body  is  still  within  these  Walls,  bee  still 


Magdalen  Herbert,  Lady  Danvers.        37 

content,  to  bee  one  of  this  Congregation,  and  to  heare 
some  parts  of  this  7ext  re-applied  unto  thee. 

Our  first  word,  Neverthelesse,  puts  us  first  upon  this 
consideration,  That  she  hv'd  in  a  time,  wherein  this 
Prophecie  of  Saint  Peter,  in  this  Chaper,  was  over- 
abundantly  perform'd.  That  there  should  bee  scoffers, 
jesters  in  divine  things,  and  matters  appertaining  to  Gody 
and  his  Religion.  For,  now,  in  these  our  dayes,  excellency 
of  Wit,  Hes  in  frophanenesse  ;  he  is  the  good  Spirit,  that 
dares  abuse  God  ;  And  hee  good  company,  that  makes 
his  company  the  worse,  or  keepes  them  from  goodnesse. 
This  being  the  Aire,  and  the  Complexion  of  the  Wit 
of  her  Times,  and  her  incHnation,  and  conversation, 
naturally,  cheerfull,  and  merry,  and  loving  facetiousnesse, 
and  sharpnesse  of  wit,  Neverthelesse,  who  ever  saw  her, 
who  ever  heard  her  countenance  a  prophane  speech, 
how  sharpe  soever,  or  take  part  with  wit,  to  the  prejudice 
of  Godlinesse  ?  From  this  I  testify  her  holy  cheerfulnesse, 
and  Religious  alacrity,  (one  of  the  best  evidences  of  a  good 
conscience^  That  as  shee  came  to  this  place,  God^s  house 
oj  Prayer,  duly,  not  onely  every  Sabbath,  when  it  is  the 
house  of  other  exercises,  as  well  as  of  Prayer,  but  even 
in  those  weeke-dayes,  when  it  was  onely  a  house  of  Prayer, 
as  often  as  these  doores  were  open  for  a  holy  Convocation, 
And,  as  she  ever  hastned  her  family  and  her  company 
hither,  with  that  cheerfull  provocation  :  For  God's  sake 
let's  go,  for  God's  sake  let's  bee  there  at  the  Confession :  So 
her  selfe,  vnth  her  whole  family,  (as  a  Church  in  that  elect 
Ladie's  house,  to  whom  John  writ  the  second  Epistle)  did, 
every  Sabbath,  shut  up  the  day,  at  night,  with  a  generall, 
with  a  cheerfull  singing  ofPsalmes  ;   This  Act  of  cheerful- 


38  Funeral  Sermon  on 

nesse,  was  still  the  last  Act  of  that  family,  united  In  it 
selfe,  and  with  God.  God  loves  a  cheerfull  giver  ;  Much 
more,  a  cheerfull  giver  of  himselfe.  Truly,  he  that  can 
close  his  eyes,  in  a  holy  cheerfulnesse,  every  night,  shall 
meet  no  distemper'd,  no  inordinate,  no  irregular  sadnesse, 
then,  when  God,  by  the  hand  of  Death,  shall  close  his  eyes, 
at  last. 

But,  returne  we  againe  to  our  Neverthelesse ;  You  may 
remember,  that  this  word  in  our  former  part,  put  us  first 
upon  the  consideration  of  Scoffers  at  the  day  of  judgement, 
and  then,  upon  the  consideration  of  Terrours,  and  sad 
Apprehensions  at  that  day.  And  for  her,  some  sicknesses, 
in  the  decUnation  of  her  yeeres,  had  opened  her  to  an 
overflowing  of  Melancholie  ;  Not  that  she  ever  lay  under 
that  water,  but  yet,  had  sometimes,  some  high  Tides  of 
it ;  and,  though  this  distemper  would  sometimes  cast 
a  cloud,  and  some  halfe  damps  upon  her  naturall  cheer- 
fulnesse, and  sociablenesse,  and  sometimes  induce  darke 
and  sad  apprehensions,  Neverthelesse,  who  ever  heard, 
or  saw  in  her,  any  such  effect  of  Melancholy  as  to  murmure, 
or  repine,  or  dispute  upon  any  of  Gods  proceedings,  or 
to  lodge  a  Jealousie,  or  Suspition  of  his  mercy,  and 
goodnesse  towards  her,  and  all  hers  ?  The  Wit  of  our 
time  is  Prophanenesse  ;  Neverthelesse,  shee,  that  lov'd 
that,  hated  this  ;  Occasional!  Melancholy  had  taken  some 
hold  in  her,  Neverthelesse,  that  never  Ecclipst,  never 
interrupted  her  cheerfull  confidence,  &  assurance  in 
God. 

Our  second  word  denotes  the  person  :  We,  Neverthelesse 
We ;  And,  here  in  this  consideration,  Neverthelesse 
shee.     This  may  seeme  to  promise  some  picture,  some 


Magdalen  Herbert,  Lady  Danvers.        39 

Character  of  her  person.  But  shee  was  no  stranger  to 
them  that  heare  me  now  ;  nor  scarce  to  any  that  may 
heare  of  this  hereafter,  which  you  heare  now,  and  there- 
fore, much  needes  not,  to  that  purpose.  Yet,  to  that 
purpose,  of  her  person,  and  personall  circumstances,  thus 
much  I  may  remember  some,  and  informe  others.  That 
from  that  Worthy  family,  whence  shee  had  her  original! 
extraction,  and  birth,  she  suckt  that  love  of  hospitality,  * 
{hospitality,  which  hath  celebrated  that  family,  in  many 
Generations,  successively)  which  dwelt  in  her,  to  her 
end.  But  in  that  ground,  her  Fathers  family,  shee  grew 
not  many  yeeres.  Transplanted  young  from  thence, 
by  mariage,  into  another  family  of  Honour,  as  a  flower  t 
that  doubles  and  multipHes  by  transplantation,  she 
multipHed  into  ten  Children,  Joh^s  number  ;  and  Job^s 
distribution,  (as  shee,  her  selfe  would  very  often  remem- 
ber) seven  sonnes,  and  three  daughters.  And,  in  this 
ground,  shee  grew  not  many  yeeres  more,  then  were 
necessary,  for  the  producing  of  so  many  plants.  And 
being  then  left  to  chuse  her  own  ground  in  her  Widow- 
hood, having  at  home  establisht,  and  increast  the  estate, 
with  a  faire,  &  noble  Addition,  proposing  to  her  selfe, 
as  her  principall  care,  the  education  of  her  children,  to 
advance  that,  shee  came  with  them,  and  dwelt  with 
them  in  the  Universitie  ;  and  recompenc't  to  them,  the 
losse  of  a  Father,  in  giving  them  two  mothers  ;   her  owne 

*  Daughter  of  Sir  Rich.,  sister  of  Sir  Fran.,  Aunt  of  Sir  Richard 
Neuport,  of  Arcol. 

t  Rich.  Herbert,  of  Blachehall,  in  Monlgomery  Esqu.  lineally 
descended  from  that  great  Sir  Rich.  Herbert  in  Ed,  4.  time,  and  father 
of  Ed.  Lord  Herbert  Baron  c/ Castle- Island,  late  Embassador  in  France, 
and  new  of  his  majesties  Councel  of  Warre. 


40  Funeral  Sermon  on 

personall  care,  and  the  advantage  of  that  place  ;  where 
shee  contracted  a  friendship,  with  divers  reverend  persons, 
of  eminency,  and  estimation  there  ;  which  continued 
to  their  ends.  And  as  this  was  her  greatest  businesse, 
so  she  made  this  state,  a  large  Period  ;  for  in  this  state 
of  widowhood,  shee  continued  twelve  yeeres.  And  then, 
returning  to  a  second  marriage,  that  second  marriage  turnes 
us  to  the  consideration  of  another  personall  circumstance  ; 
Sir  lohn  that  is,  the  naturall  endowments  of  her  person  ;  Which  were 
onely  such,  as  that,  (though   her  virtues  were   his   principall 

brother  to  object)  jet,  even  these,  her  personall,  and  naturall,  endow- 
o/Danby.  ments,  had  their  part,  in  drawing,  and  fixing  the  affections 
of  such  a  person,  as  by  his  birth,  and  youth,  and  interest 
in  great  favours  in  Court,  and  legall  proximity  to  great 
possessions  in  the  world,  might  justly  have  promist 
him  acceptance,  in  what  family  soever,  or  upon  what 
person  soever,  hee  had  directed,  and  plac't  his  Affections. 
He  plac't  them  here  ;  neither  diverted  then,  nor  repented 
since.  For,  as  the  well  tuning  of  an  Instrument,  makes 
higher  and  lower  strings,  of  one  sound,  so  the  inequality 
of  their  yeeres,  was  thus  reduc't  to  an  evennesse,  that 
shee  had  a  cheerfulnesse,  agreeable  to  his  youth,  and  he 
had  a  sober  staidnesse,  conformable  to  her  more  yeeres. 
So  that,  I  would  not  consider  her,  at  so  much  more  then 
forty,  nor  him,  at  so  much  lesse  than  thirty,  at  that  time, 
but,  as  their  persons  were  made  one,  and  their  fortunes 
made  one,  by  mariage,  so  I  would  put  their  yeeres  into 
one  number,  and  finding  a  sixty  betweene  them,  thinke 
them  thirty  a  peece  ;  for,  as  twins  of  one  houre,  they 
liv'd.  God,  who  join'd  them,  then,  having  also  separated 
them  now,  may  make  their  yeres  even,  this  other  way 


Magdalen  Herbert,  Lady  Danvers.        41 

too  ;  by  giving  him,  as  many  yeerea  after  her  going 
out  of  this  World,  as  he  had  given  her,  before  his  comming 
into  it ;  and  then,  as  many  more,  as  God  may  receive 
Glory,  and  the  World,  Benefit,  by  that  Addition  ;  That 
so,  as  at  their  first  meeting,  she  was,  at  their  last  meeting, 
he  may  bee  the  elder  person. 

To  this  consideration  of  her  person  then,  belongs  this, 
that  God  gave  her  such  a  comelinesse,  as,  though  shee  w^ere 
not  proud  of  it,  yet  she  v^as  so  content  v^ith  it,  as  not 
to  goe  about  to  mend  it,  by  any^r^  And  for  Yiqi  Attire, 
(which  is  another  personall  circumstance),  it  was  never 
sumptuous,  never  sordid  ;  But  alwayes  agreeable  to  her 
quality,  and  agreeable  to  her  company  ;  Such  as  shee 
might,  and  such,  as  others,  such  as  shee  was,  did  weare. 
For  in  such  things  of  indifferency  in  themselves,  many 
times,  a  singularity  may  be  a  little  worse,  then  a  fellowship 
in  that,  which  is  not  altogether  so  good.  It  may  be 
worse,  nay,  it  may  be  a  worse  pride,  to  weare  worse  things, 
than  others  doe.    Her  rule  was  mediocrity. 

And,  as  to  the  consideration  of  the  house,  belongs  the 
consideration  of  the  furniture  too,  so  in  these  personall 
circumstances,  we  consider  hei  fortune,  her  estate.  Which 
was  in  a  faire,  and  noble  proportion,  deriv'd  from  her 
first  husband,  and  fairely,  and  nobly  dispenc'd,  by  herselfe, 
with  the  allowance  of  her  second.  In  which  shee  was  one 
of  God's  true  Stewards,  and  Almoners  too.  There  are 
dispositions,  which  had  rather  give  presents,  than  pay 
debts  ;  and  rather  doe  good  to  strangers,  than  to  those, 
that  are  neerer  to  them.  But  shee  alwayes  thought  the 
care  of  her  family,  a  debt,  and  upon  that,  for  t\iQ  provision, 
for  the  order,  for  the  proportions,  in  a  good  largenesse, 


42  Funeral  Sermon  on 

shee  plac't  her  first  thoughts,  of  that  kinde.  For,  for 
OUT  families,  we  are  Gods  Stewards  ;  For  those  without, 
we  are  his  Almoners,  In  which  office,  shee  gave  not  at 
some  great  dayes,  or  some  solemne  goings  abroad,  but,  as 
Gods  true  Almoners,  the  Sunne,  and  Moone,  that  passe  on, 
in  a  continuall  doing  of  good,  as  shee  receiv'd  her  daily 
bread  from  God,  so,  daily,  she  distributed,  and  imparted 
it  to  others.  In  which  office,  though  she  never  turn'd 
her  face  from  those,  who  in  a  strict  inquisition,  might 
be  call'd  idle,  and  vagrant  Beggers,  yet  shee  ever  look't 
first,  upon  them,  who  laboured,  and  whose  labours  could 
not  overcome  the  difficulties,  nor  bring  in  the  necessities 
of  this  life  ;  and  to  the  sweat  of  their  hrowes,  shee  contri- 
buted, even  her  wine,  and  her  oyle,  and  any  thing  that 
was,  and  any  thing,  that  might  be,  if  it  were  not,  prepar'd 
for  her  owne  table.  And  as  her  house  was  a  Court,  in  the 
conversation  of  the  best,  and  an  Almeshouse,  in  feeding 
the  poore  ;  so  was  it  also  an  Hospitall,  in  ministring 
releefe  to  the  sicke.  And  truly,  the  love  of  doing  good 
in  this  kind,  of  ministring  to  the  sicke,  was  the  bony, 
that  was  spread  over  all  her  bread ;  the  Aire,  the  Perfume, 
that  breath'd  over  all  her  house  ;  The  disposition  that 
dwelt  in  those  her  children,  and  those  her  kindred, 
which  dwelt  with  her,  so  bending  this  way,  that  the 
studies  and  knowledge  of  one,  the  hand  of  another,  and 
purse  of  all,  and  a  joynt-facility,  and  opennesse,  and 
accessiblenesse  to  persons  of  the  meanest  quality,  con- 
cur'd  in  this  blessed  Act  of  Charity,  to  minister  releefe  to 
the  sicke.  Of  which,  my  selfe,  who,  at  that  time,  had  the 
favour  to  bee  admitted  into  that  family,  can,  and  must 
testifie   this,   that   when   the   late  heavy  visitation  tell 


Magdalen  Herbert,  Lady  Danvers.       43 

hotly  upon  this  Towne,  when  every  doore  was  shut  up, 
and,  lest  Death  should  enter  into  the  house,  every  house 
was  made  a  Sepulchre  of  them  that  were  in  it,  then,  then, 
in  that  time  of  infection,  divers  persons  visited  v^rith  that 
infection,  had  their  releefe,  and  releefe  applicable  to  that 
very  infection,  from  this  house. 

Now  when  I  have  said  thus  much,  (rather  thus  little) 
of  her  person,  as  of  a  house.  That  the  ground  upon  which 
it  was  built,  was  the  family  where  she  was  borne,  and  then, 
where  she  was  married,  and  then,  the  time  of  her  zvidozv- 
hood,  and  lastly,  her  last  marriage.  And  that  the  house 
it  selfe,  was  those  fair  bodily  endowments,  which  God 
had  bestow'd  upon  her.  And  the  furniture  of  that  house, 
the  fortune,  and  the  use  of  that  fortune,  of  which  God 
had  made  her  Steward  and  Almoner,  when  I  shall  also 
have  said,  that  the  Inhabitants  of  this  house,  (rather  the 
servants,  for  they  did  but  wait  upon  Religion  in  her) 
were  those  married  couples,  of  morall  virtues.  Conversation 
married  with  a  Retirednesse,  Facility  married  with  a 
Reservednesse,  Alacrity  married  with  a  Thoughtfulnesse, 
and  Largenesse  married  with  a  Providence,  I  may  have 
leave  to  depart  from  this  consideration  of  her  person, 
and  personall  circumstances,  lest  by  insisting  longer  upon 
them,  I  should  seeme  to  pretend,  to  say  all  the  good, 
that  might  bee  said  of  her  ;  But  that's  not  in  my  purpose  ; 
yet,  onely  therefore,  because  it  is  not  in  my  power  ;  For 
I  would  do  her  all  right,  and  all  you  that  good,  if  I  could, 
to  say  all.  But,  I  haste  to  an  end,  in  consideration  of 
some  things,  that  appertaine  more  expressly  to  me, 
then  these  personall,  or  civill,  or  morall  things  doe. 

In  those,  the  next  is,  the  secundum  promissa,  that  shee 


44  Funeral  Sermon  on 

govern'd  herself,  according  to  his  promises  ;  his  promises, 
laid  downe  in  his  Scriptures.  For,  as  the  rule  of  all  her 
civill  Actions,  was  Religion,  so,  the  rule  of  her  Religion, 
was  the  Scripture  ;  And,  her  rule,  for  her  particular 
understanding  of  the  Scripture,  was  the  Church.  Shee 
never  diverted  towards  the  Papist,  in  undervaluing  the 
Scripture ;  nor  towards  the  Separatist,  in  undervaluing 
the  Church.  But  in  the  doctrine,  and  discipline  of  that 
Church,  in  which,  God  seal'd  her,  to  himselfe,  in  Baptisme, 
shee  brought  up  her  children,  shee  assisted  her  family, 
she  dedicated  her  soule  to  God  in  her  Hfe,  and  surrendered 
it  to  him  in  her  death  ;  And,  in  that  forme  of  Common 
Prayer,  which  is  ordain'd  by  that  Church,  and  to  which 
she  had  accustom'd  her  selfe,  with  her  family,  twice 
every  day,  she  joyn'd  with  that  company,  which  was 
about  her  death-bed,  in  answering  to  every  part  thereof, 
which  the  Congregation  is  directed  to  answer  to,  with 
a  cleere  understanding,  with  a  constant  memory,  with 
a  distinct  voyce,  not  two  hours  before  she  died. 

According  to  this  promise,  that  is,  the  will  of  God 
manifested  in  the  Scriptures,  She  expected  ;  Shee  expected 
this,  that  she  hath  received  ;  Gods  Physicke,  and  Gods 
Musicke  ;  a  Christianly  death.  For,  death,  in  the  old 
Testament  was  a  Commination  ;  but  in  the  new  Testa- 
ment, death  is  a  Promise  ;  When  there  was  a  Super-dying, 
a  death  upon  the  death,  a  Morte  upon  the  Morieris, 
a  Spirituall  death  after  the  bodily,  then  wee  died  according 
to  Gods  threatening ;  Now,  when  by  the  Gospell,  that 
second  death  is  taken  off,  though  wee  die  still,  yet  we  die 
according  to  his  Promise,  That's  a  part  of  his  mercy,  and 
his  Promise,  which  his  ApostU  gives  us  from  him,  That 


Magdalen  Herbert,  Lady  Danvers.        45 

wee  shall  all  bee  changed ;  For,  after  that  promise^  that  1C0r.15.st. 
change,  follow's  that  triumphant  Acclamation,  O  death 
where  is  thy  sting,  O  grave  where  is  thy  victory  P  Consider 
us  fallen  in  Adam,  and  wee  are  miserable,  that  wee  must 
die ;  but  consider  us  restored,  and  redintegrated  in 
Christ,  wee  were  more  miserable  if  we  might  not  die ; 
Wee  lost  the  earthly  Paradise  by  death  then  ;  but  wee 
get  not  Heaven,  but  by  death,  now.  This  shee  expected 
till  it  came,  and  embrac't  it  when  it  came.  How  may  we 
thinke,  shee  was  joy'd  to  see  that  face,  that  Angels  delight 
to  looke  upon,  the  face  of  her  Saviour,  that  did  not  abhor 
the  face  of  his  fearfuUest  Messenger,  Death  ?  Shee 
shew'd  no  feare  of  his  face,  in  any  change  of  her  owne ; 
but  died  without  any  change  of  countenance,  or  posture  ; 
without  any  strugling,  any  disorder ;  but  her  Death-bed 
was  as  quiet,  as  her  Grave.  To  another  Magdalen, 
Christ  said  upon  earth,  Touch  me  not,  for  I  am  not  ascended. 
Being  ascended  now,  to  his  glory,  and  she  being  gone  up 
to  him,  after  shee  had  awaited  his  leisure,  so  many  yeeres, 
as  that  more,  would  soone  have  growne  to  bee  vexation, 
and  sorrow,  as  her  last  words  here,  were,  /  submit  my  will 
to  the  will  of  God  ;  so  wee  doubt  not,  but  the  first  word 
which  she  heard  there,  was  that  Euge,  from  her  Saviour , 
Well  done  good  and  faithfull  servant;  enter  into  thy 
masters  joy. 

Shee  expected  that ;  dissolution  of  body,  and  soule ; 
and  rest  in  both,  from  the  incumbrances,  and  tentations 
of  this  world.  But  yet,  shee  is  in  expectation  still ;  StiU 
a  Reversionarie ;  and  a  Reversionary  upon  a  long  life ; 
the  whole  world  must  die,  before  she  come  to  a  possession 
of  this  Reversion  ;   which  is  a  Glorified  body  in  the  Resur- 


46  Funeral  Sermon  on 

rection.  In  which  expectation,  she  return's  to  her  former 
charity  ;  shee  will  not  have  that,  till  all  wee,  shall  have  it, 
as  well  as  shee  ;   She  eat  not  her  morsels  alone,  in  her  life, 

Job  31. 17.  (as  'J oh  speakes)  She  lookes  not  for  the  glory  of  the  Resur- 
rection alone,  after  her  death.  But  when  all  wee,  shall 
have  been  mellowd  in  the  earth,  many  yeeres,  or  chang'd 
in  the  Aire,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  {God,  knowes 
which)  That  hody  upon  which  you  tread  now.  That 
hody  which  now,  whilst  I  speake,  is  mouldering,  and 
crumbling  into  lesse,  and  lesse  dust,  and  so  hath  some 
^notion,  though  no  lije,  That  hody,  which  was  the  ^aher- 
nacle  of  a  holy  Soule,  and  a  Temple  of  the  holy  Ghost, 
That  hody  that  was  eyes  to  the  blinde,  and  hands,  and 
feet  to  the  lame,  whilst  it  hv'd,  and  being  dead,  is  so  still, 
by  having  beene  so  lively  an  example,  to  teach  others, 
to  be  so.  That  hody  at  last,  shall  have  her  last  expectation 
satisfied,  and  dwell  hodily,  with  that  Righteousnesse,  in 
these  new  Heavens,  and  new  Earth,  for  ever,  and  ever, 
and  ever,  and  infinite,  and  super-infinite  evers.  Wee  end 
all,  with   the  valediction  of   the  Spouse  to  Christ :    His 

Cact.  8.  3.  left  hand  is  under  my  head,  and  his  right  emhraces  mee, 
was  the  Spouses  valediction,  and  good  night  to  Christ 
then,  when  she  laid  her  selfe  down  to  sleep  in  the  strength 
of  his  Mandrakes,  and  in  the  power  of  his  Spices,  as  it 
is  exprest  there ;  that  is,  in  the  infiuence  of  his  mercies. 
Beloved,  every  good  Soule  is  the  spouse  of  Christ.  And 
this  good  Soule,  being  thus  laid  downe  to  sleepe  in  his 
peace,  His  left  hand  under  her  head,  gathering,  and 
composing,  and  preserving  her  dust  for  future  Glory  ; 
His  right  hand  emhracing  her,  assuming,  and  estabHshing 
her  soule  in  present  Glory,  in  his  name,  and  in  her  hehalfe, 


Magdalen  Herbert,  Lady  Danvers.       47 

I  say  that,  to  all  you,  which  Christ  sayes  there,  in  the 
behalfe  of  that  Spouse,  Adjuro  vos,  I  adjure  you,  I  charge 
you,  O  daughters  of  Jerusalem,  that  yee  wake  her  not,  till 
she  please.  The  words  are  directed  to  the  daughters, 
rather  than  to  the  sons  of  Jerusalem,  because  for  the 
most  part,  the  aspersions  that  women  receive,  either  in 
Morall  or  Religious  actions,  proceed  from  women  them- 
selves. Therefore,  Adjuro  vos,  I  charge  you,  O  ye 
daughters  of  Jerusalem,  wake  her  not.  Wake  hei  not, 
with  any  halfe  calumnies,  with  any  whisperings  ;  But  if 
you  wil  wake  her,  wake  her,  and  keepe  her  awake  with  an 
active  imitation,  of  her  Morall,  and  her  Holy  virtues. 
That  so  her  example  working  upon  you,  and  the  number 
of  Gods  Saints,  being,  the  sooner,  by  this  blessed  example, 
fulfiPd,  wee  may  all  meet,  and  meet  quickly  in  that 
kingdome,  which  hers,  and  our  Saviour,  hath  purchac't 
for  us  all,  with  the  inestimable  price,  of  his  incorruptible 
bloud.    To  which  glorious  Sonne  of  God,  &c. 

29.  Death  of  Elizabeth  and  Accession  of  James  7. 

GODS  hand  hath  been  abundant  towards  us,  in  raising 
Ministers  of  State,  so  qualified,  and  so  endowed  ; 
and  such  Princes  as  have  fastned  their  friendships,  and 
conferred  their  favors  upon  such  persons.  We  celebrate, 
seasonably,  opportunely,  the  thankful  acknowledgement 
of  these  mercies,  this  day  :  This  day,  which  God  made 
for  us,  according  to  the  pattern  of  hi^  first  days  in  the 
Creation  ;  where,  Vesper  i^  mane  dies  unus,  the  evening 
first,  and  then  the  morning  made  up  the  day  ;  for,  here 
the  saddest  night,  and  the  joyfuUest  morning,  that  ever 
the  daughters   of  this  Island  saw,  made  up   this   day. 


48  Death  of  Elizabeth  and 

Consider  the  tears  of  Richmond  this  night,  and  the  joys 
of  London^  at  this  place,  at  this  time,  in  the  morning ; 
and  we  shall  find  Prophecy  even  in  that  saying  of  the 
Poet,  Nocte  pluit  tota,  showers  of  rain  all  night,  of  weeping 
for  our  Sovereign  ;  and  we  would  not  be  comforted. 
Matt  a.  18.  because  she  was  not  :  And  yet,  redeunt  spectacula  mane, 
the  same  hearts,  the  same  eyes,  the  same  hands  were  all 
directed  upon  recognitions,  and  acclamations  of  her 
successor  in  the  morning  :  And  when  every  one  of  you 
in  the  City,  were  running  up  and  down  like  Ants  with  their 
eggs  bigger  then  themselves,  every  man  with  his  bags, 
to  seek  where  to  hide  them  safely,  Almighty  God  shed 
down  his  Spirit  of  Unity, dindi  recollecting,  and  reposedness, 
and  acquiescence  upon  you  all.  In  the  death  of  that 
Queen,  unmatchable,  inimitable  in  her  sex ;  that 
Queen,  worthy,  I  will  not  say  of  Nestors  years,  I  will  not 
say  of  Methusalems,  but  worthy  of  Adams  years,  if  Adam 
had  never  fain  ;  in  her  death  we  were  all  under  one 
common  flood,  and  depth  of  tears.  But  the  Spirit  of  God 
moved  upon  the  face  of  that  depth  ;  and  God  said.  Let 
there  be  light,  and  there  was  light,  and  God  saw  that  that 
light  was  good,  God  took  pleasure,  and  found  a  savor 
of  rest,  in  our  peaceful  chearfulness,  and  in  our  joyful 
and  confident  apprehension  of  blessed  days  in  his  Govern- 
ment, whom  he  had  prepared  at  first,  and  preserved  so 
often  for  us. 

As  the  Rule  is  true.  Cum  de  Mala  principe  posteri  tacent, 

Plinius  ad  manifestum  est  vilem  facere  prcesentem,  when  men  dare 

Trajan.       ^^^  speak   of   the   vices  of  a  Prince  that  is  dead,  it  is 

certain  that  the  Prince  that  is  alive  proceeds  in  the  same 

vices ;   so  the  inversion  of  the  Rule  is  true  too,  Cum  de 


Accession  of  James  I.  49 

bono  principe   loquuntur,   when   men   may   speak   freely 

of  the  virtues  of  a  dead  Prince,  it  is  an  evident  argument, 

that  the  present  Prince  practises  the  same  virtues  ;    for, 

if  he  did  not,  he  vi^ould  not  love  to  hear  of  them.    Of  her, 

we  may  say  (that  which  was  well  said,  and  therefore  it 

were  pity  it  should  not  be  once  truly  said,  for,  so  it  was 

not,  when  it  was  first  said  to  the  Emperor  Juliari)  Nihil 

humile,  aut  abjectum  cogitavit,  quia  novit  de  se  semper 

loquendum  ;   she  knew  the  world  would  talk  of  her  after 

her  death,  and  therefore  she  did  such  things  all  her  life 

were  worthy  to  be  talked  of.     Of  her  glorious  successor, 

and  our  gracious  Soveraign,  we  may  say  ;    Onerosum  est 

succedere  bono  Principi,  It  would  have  troubled  any  king  Ibid. 

but  him,  to  have  come  in  succession,  and  in  comparison 

with  such  a  Queen,    And  in  them  both  we  may  observe 

the  unsearchableness  of  the  ways  of  God  ;   of  them  both, 

we  may  say,  Dominus  fecit,  It  is  the  Lord  that  hath  done  it, 

and  it  is  wonderful   in   our   eyes  :    First,  that  a  woman  Psalm  na 

and  a  maid  should  have  all  the  wars  of  Christendom  in  ^^" 

her  contemplation,  and  govern  and  ballance  them  all ; 

And  then,  that  a  King,  born  and  bred  in  a  warlike  Nation, 

and  so  accustomed  to  the  sword,  as  that  it  had  been 

directed  upon  his  own  person,  in  the  strength  of  his  age, 

and  in  his  Infancy,  in  his  Cradle,  in  his  mothers  belly, 

should  yet  have  the  blessed  spirit  of  peace  so  abundantly 

in  him,  as  that  by  his  Councils,  and  his  authority,  he 

should  sheath  all  the  swords  of  Christendom  again. 


aoa5«3 


50  The  Gunpowder  Plot. 

30.  ^he  Gunpowder  Plot. 
Psal  2. 1.  ffiUARE  jremuerunt.  Why  did  these  men  rage,  and 
<=^  imagine  a  vaine  thing  ?  What  they  did  historically, 
we  know  ;  They  made  that  house,  which  is  the  hive  of 
the  Kingdome,  from  whence  all  her  honey  comes  ;  that 
house  where  'Justice  herself  is  conceived,  in  their  preparing 
of  Laws^  and  inanimated,  and  quickned  and  borne  by 
the  Royall  Assent,  there  given  ;  they  made  that  whole 
house  one  Murdring  peece^  and  charged  that  peece  with 
Peers,  with  People,  with  Princes,  with  the  King,  and 
meant  to  discharge  it  upward  at  the  face  of  heaven,  to 
shoot  God  at  the  face  of  God,  Him,  of  whom  God  hath 
said,  Dii  estis,  You  are  Gods,  at  the  face  of  God,  that  had 
said  so,  as  though  they  would  have  reproached  the  God 
of  heaven,  and  not  have  been  beholden  to  him  for  such 
a  King,  but  shoot  him  up  to  him,  and  bid  him  take  his 
King  again,  with  a  nolumus  hunc  regnare,  we  will  not 
have  this  King  to  reign  over  us, 

31.  Preached  to  the  Honourable  Company  of  the 
Virginian  Plantation,  1622. 

BELOVED  in  him,  whose  kingdome,  and  Ghospell 
you  seeke  to  advance,  in  this  Plantation,  our  Lord 
and  Saviour  Christ  Jesus^  if  you  seeke  to  establish  a 
temporall  kingdome  there,  you  are  not  rectified,  if  you 
seeke  to  bee  Kings  in  either  acceptation  of  the  word  ; 
To  be  a  King  signifies  Libertie  and  independency,  and 
Supremacie,  to  bee  under  no  man,  and  to  be  a  King 
signifies  Abundance,  and  Omnisufficiencie,  to  neede  no 
man.    If  those  that  governe  there,  would  estabHsh  such 


The  Virginian  Plantation.  51 

a  government,  as  should  not  depend  upon  this,  or  if 
those  that  goe  thither,  propose  to  themselves  an  exemp- 
tion from  Lawes,  to  live  at  their  hbertie,  this  is  to  be 
Kings,  to  devest  Allegeance,  to  bee  under  no  man  :  and 
if  those  that  adventure  thither,  propose  to  themselves 
present  benefit,  and  profit,  a  sodaine  way  to  bee  rich, 
and  an  aboundance  of  all  desirable  commodities  from 
thence,  this  is  to  be  suflicient  of  themselves,  and  to  need 
no  man  :  and  to  bee  under  no  man  and  to  need  no  man, 
are  the  two  acceptations  of  being  Kings.  Whom  Hberty 
drawes  to  goe,  or  present  profit  drawes  to  adventure, 
are  not  yet  in  the  right  way.  O,  if  you  could  once  bring 
a  Catechisme  to  bee  as  good  ware  amongst  them  as 
a  Bugle,  as  a  knife,  as  a  hatchet  :  O,  if  you  would  be 
ss  ready  to  hearken  at  the  returne  of  a  Ship,  how  many 
Indians  were  converted  to  Christ  Jesus,  as  what  Trees, 
or  druggs,  or  Dyes  that  Ship  had  brought,  then  you  were 
in  your  right  way,  and  not  till  then  ;  Liber  tie  and 
Abundance,  are  Characters  of  kingdomes,  and  a  kingdome 
is  excluded  in  the  ^ext ;  the  Apostles  were  not  to  looke 
for  it,  in  their  employment,  nor  you  in  this  your  Planta- 
tion. .  .  . 

God  ment  from  the  first  howre,  to  people  the  whole 
earth  ;  and  God  could  have  made  men  of  clay,  as  fast 
as  they  made  Brickes  of  Clay  in  Egypt-,  but  he  began 
upon  two,  and  when  they  had  been  multiplying  and  re- 
plenishing the  Earth  One  thousand  sixe  hundred  yeares, 
the  Flood  washed  all  that  away,  and  God  was  almost 
to  begin  againe  upon  eight  persons ;  and  they  have 
serv'd  to  people  Earth  and  Heaven  too  ;  Be  not  you 
discouraged,  if  the  Promises  which  you  have  made  to 

E  7 


52  The  Virginian  Plantation. 

your  selves,  or  to  others,  be  not  so  soone  discharged  ; 
though  you  see  not  your  money,  though  you  see  not  your 
men,  though  a  Flood,  a  Flood  of  bloud  have  broken  in 
upon  them,  be  not  discouraged.  Great  Creatures  ly 
long  in  the  wombe  ;  Lyons  are  litter'd  perfit,  but  Beare 
whelps  lick'd  unto  their  shape ;  actions  which  Kings 
undertake,  are  cast  in  a  mould  ;  they  have  their  perfection 
quickly ;  actions  of  private  men,  and  private  purses, 
require  more  hammering,  and  more  filing  to  their 
perfection.  .  .  . 

God  sayes  to  you.  No  Kingdome,  not  ease,  not  abundance-, 
nay  nothing  at  all  yet ;  the  Plantation  shall  not  discharge 
the  Charges,  not  defray  it  selfe  yet  ;  but  yet  already, 
now  at  first,  it  shall  conduce  to  great  uses  ;  It  shall 
redeeme  many  a  wretch  from  the  Jawes  of  death,  from 
the  hands  of  the  Executioner,  upon  whom,  perchaunce 
a  small  fault,  or  perchance  a  first  fault,  or  perchance 
a  fault  heartily  and  sincerely  repented,  perchance  no 
fault,  but  malice,  had  othervvdse  cast  a  present,  and 
ignominious  death.  It  shall  sweep  your  streets,  and  wash 
your  dores,  from  idle  persons,  and  the  children  of  idle 
persons,  and  imploy  them  :  and  truely,  if  the  whole 
Countrey  were  but  such  a  Bridewell,  to  force  idle  persons 
to  work,  it  had  a  good  use.  But  it  is  already,  not  onely  a 
Spleene,  to  draine  the  ill  humours  of  the  body,  but  a  Liver, 
to  breed  good  bloud  ;  already  the  imployment  breeds 
Marriners  ;  already  the  place  gives  essayes,  nay  Fraytes 
of  Marchantable  commodities ;  already  it  is  a  marke 
for  the  Envy,  and  for  the  ambition  of  our  Enemies  ; 
I  speake  but  of  our  Doctrinall,  not  Nationall  Enemies ; 
as  they  are  Papists,  they  are  sory  we  have  this  Couiitrey  ; 


The  Virginian  Plantation.  53 

and  surely,  twenty  Lectures  in  matter  of  Controversie, 
doe  not  so  much  vexe  them,  as  one  Ship  that  goes,  & 
strengthens  that  Plantation.  Neither  can  I  recommend 
it  to  you  by  any  better  Retorique,  then  their  maHce.  They 
would  gladly  have  it,  and  therefore  let  us  bee  glad  to 
hold  it.  .  .  . 

Those  of  our  profession  that  goe,  you,  that  send  them 
who  goe,  do  all  an  Afostolicall  function.  What  action 
soever,  hath  in  the  first  intention  thereof,  a  purpose 
to  propagate  the  Gospell  of  Christ  Jesus,  that  is  an 
Apostolic  all  action.  Before  the  ende  of  the  world  come, 
before  this  mortahty  shall  put  on  immortahtie,  before 
the  Creature  shall  be  delivered  of  the  bondage  of  corrup- 
tion under  which  it  groanes,  before  the  Martyrs  under  Rom.  8. 
the  Altar  shall  be  silenc'd,  before  all  things  shall  be 
subdued  to  Christ,  his  kingdome,  perfected,  &  the  last 
Enemy  Death  destroied,  the  Gospell  must  be  preached 
to  those  men  to  whom  ye  send  ;  to  all  men  ;  furder  and 
hasten  you  this  blessed,  this  joyfull,  this  glorious  consum- 
mation of  all,  and  happie  reunion  of  all  bodies  to  their 
Soules,  by  preaching  the  Gospell  to  those  men.  Preach 
to  them  Doctrinally,  preach  to  them  Practically ; 
Enamore  them  with  your  Justice,  and  (as  farre  as  may 
consist  with  your  security),  your  Civilitie  ;  but  inflame 
them  with  your  godlinesse,  and  your  Religion.  Bring  them 
to  love  and  Reverence  the  name  of  that  King,  that  sends 
men  to  teach  them  the  wayes  of  Civilitie  in  this  world, 
but  to  feare  and  adore  the  Name  of  that  King  of  Kings, 
that  sends  men  to  teach  them  the  waies  of  ReHgion,  for 
the  next  world.  Those  amongst  you,  that  are  old  now, 
shall  passe  out  of  this  world  with  this  great  comfort,  that 


54  The  Virginian  Plantation. 

you  contributed  to  the  beginning  of  that  Common 
Wealth,  and  of  that  Church,  though  they  live  not  to  see 
the  groath  thereof  to  perfection  :  Apollos  watred,  but 
I  Cor.  3.  6.  Paul  planted  ;  hee  that  begun  the  worke,  was  the  greater 
man.  And  you  that  are  young  now,  may  live  to  see  the 
Enemy  as  much  empeach'd  by  that  place,  and  your 
friends,  yea  Children,  as  well  accommodated  in  that 
place,  as  any  other.  You  shall  have  made  this  Hand, 
which  is  but  as  the  Suburbs  of  the  old  world,  a  Bridge, 
a  Gallery  to  the  new ;  to  joyne  all  to  that  world  that 
shall  never  grow  old,  the  Kingdome  of  heaven.  You 
shall  add  persons  to  this  Kingdome,  and  to  the  Kingdome 
of  heaven,  and  adde  names  to  the  Bookes  of  our  Chronicles, 
and  to  the  Booke  of  Life. 

To  end  all,  as  the  Orators  which  declaimd  in  the 
presence  of  the  Roman  Emperors,  in  their  Panegyriques, 
tooke  that  way  to  make  those  Emperours  see,  what  they 
were  bound  to  doe,  to  say  in  those  publique  Orations, 
that  those  Emporors  had  done  so  (for  that  increased  the 
love  of  the  Subject  to  the  Prince,  to  bee  so  tolde,  that 
hee  had  done  those  great  things,  and  then  it  convayd 
a  Counsell  into  the  Prince  to  do  them  after.)  As  their 
way  was  to  procure  things  to  bee  done,  by  saying  they 
were  done,  so  beloved  I  have  taken  a  contrary  way  : 
for  when  I,  by  way  of  exhortation,  all  this  while  have 
seem'd  to  tell  you  what  should  be  done  by  you,  I  have, 
indeed,  but  told  the  Congregation,  what  hath  beene 
done  already  :  neither  do  I  speake  to  move  a  wheele 
that  stood  still,  but  to  keepe  the  wheele  in  due  motion  ; 
nor  persuade  you  to  begin,  but  to  continue  a  good  worke  ; 
nor  propose  foreigne,  but  your  own  Examples,  to  do  still. 


The  Virginian  Plantation.  55 

as  you  have  done  hitherto.  For,  for  that,  that  which 
is  especially  in  my  contemplation,  the  conversion  of  the 
people,  as  I  have  received,  so  I  can  give  this  Testimony, 
that  of  those  persons,  who  have  sent  in  moneys,  and 
conceal'd  their  names,  the  greatest  part,  almost  all,  have 
limited  their  devotion,  and  contribution  upon  that 
point,  the  propagation  of  Rehgion,  and  the  conversion 
of  the  people  ;  for  the  building  and  beautifying  of  the 
house  of  God,  and  for  the  instruction  and  education  of 
their  young  Children.  Christ  Jesus  himself  is  yesterday, 
and  to  day,  and  the  same  for  ever.  In  the  advancing  of  his 
glory,  be  you  so  to,  yesterday,  and  to  day,  and  the  same 
for  ever,  here  ;  and  hereafter,  when  time  shall  be  no 
more,  no  more  yesterday,  no  more  to  day,  yet  for  ever 
and  ever,  you  shall  enjoy  that  joy,  and  that  glorie,  which 
no  ill  accident  can  attaine  to  diminish,  or  Eclipse  it. 

32.  The  Mission  of  England. 

CHRIST  came  ^er  mundam  in  mundum,  by  a  clean 
woman  into  an  unclean  world.  And  he  came  in 
a  purpose,  (as  we  do  piously  beHeve)  to  manifest  himself 
in  the  Christian  Rehgion  to  all  the  nations  of  the  world  ; 
and  therefore,  Lcstentur  Insula,  saies  David,  The  Lord 
reigneth  let  the  Islands  rejoice  the  Islands  who  by  reason  of 
their  situation,  provision  and  trading,  have  most  means 
of  conveying  Christ  Jesus  over  the  world.  He  hath 
carried  us  up  to  heaven,  &  set  us  at  the  right  hand  of 
God,  &  shal  not  we  endeavour  to  carry  him  to  those 
nations,  who  have  not  yet  heard  of  his  name  \  shall  we 
still  brag  that  we  have  brought  our  clothes,  and  our 
hatchets,  and   our  knives,  and  bread  to  this  and  this 


56  The  Mission  of  England. 

value  and  estimation  amongst  those  poor  ignorant  Souls, 
and  shall  we  never  glory  that  we  have  brought  the  name, 
and  Religion  of  Christ  Jesus  in  estimation  amongst 
them  ?  shall  we  stay  till  other  nations  have  planted 
a  fals  Christ  among  them  ?  and  then  either  continue  in 
our  sloth,  or  take  more  pains  in  rooting  out  a  false 
Christ  then  would  have  planted  the  true  ?  Christ  is 
come  into  the  world  ;  we  will  do  little,  if  we  will  not 
ferry  him  over,  and  propagate  his  name,  as  well  as  our 
own  to  other  Nations. 

33.  James  1. 

WE  say  sometimes  in  scorn  to  a  man,  God.  help  you, 
and  God  send  you  wit ;  and  therein,  though  it 
have  the  sound  of  a  prayer,  wee  call  him  foole.  So  wee 
have  seen  of  late,  some  in  obscure  Conventicles,  institute 
certain  prayers,  That  God  would  keep  the  King,  and  the 
Prince  in  the  true  Religion  ;  The  prayer  is  always  good, 
always  usefull ;  but  when  that  prayer  is  accompanied 
with  circumstances,  as  though  the  King  and  the  Prince 
were  declining  from  that  Religion,  then  even  the  prayer 
it  selfe  is  Hbellous,  and  seditious  ;  Saint  Paul,  in  that 
former  place,  apparels  a  Subjects  prayer  well,  when  hee 
sayes,  Let  prayers  bee  given  with  thanks  ;  Let  our  prayers 
bee  for  continuance  of  the  blessings,  which  wee  have, 
and  let  our  acknowledgement  of  present  blessings,  bee 
an  inducement  for  future  :  pray,  and  praise  together ; 
pray  thankfully,  pray  not  suspiciously  ;  for,  beloved  in 
the  bowels  of  Christ  Jesus,  before  whose  face  I  stand 
now,  and  before  whose  face,  I  shall  not  be  able  to  stand 
amongst  the  righteous,  at  the  last  day,  if  I  lie  now,  and 


James  I.  57 

make  this  Pulpit  my  Shop,  to  vent  sophisticate  Wares, 
In  the  presence  of  you,  a  holy  part,  I  hope,  of  the  MiUtant 
Church,  of  which  I  am,  In  the  presence  of  the  whole 
Triumphant  Church,  of  which,  by  him,  by  whom  I  am 
that  I  am,  I  hope  to  bee.  In  the  presence  of  the  Head  of 
the  whole  Church,  who  is  All  in  all,  I,  {and  I  thinke  I  have 
the  Spirit  of  God,)  (I  am  sure,  I  have  not  resisted  it  in  this  i  Cor.7. 
point)  I,  (and  I  may  bee  allowed  to  know  something 
in  Civill  affaires)  (I  am  sure  I  have  not  been  stupefied 
in  this  point)  doe  dehver  that,  which  upon  the  truth 
of  a  Morall  man,  and  a  Christian  man,  and  a  Church 
man,  beleeve  to  be  true.  That  hee,  who  is  the  Breath 
of  our  nostrils,  is  in  his  heart,  as  farre  from  submitting 
us  to  that  Idolatry,  and  superstition,  which  did  hereto- 
fore oppresse  us,  as  his  immediate  Predecessor,  whose 
memory  is  justly  precious  to  you,  was  :  Their  wayes 
may  bee  divers,  and  yet  their  end  the  same,  that  is.  The 
glory  of  God  ;  And  to  a  higher  Comparison,  then  to 
her,  I  know  not  how  to  carry  it. 

34.  Death  of  James  I. 

WHEN  you  shall  find  that  hand  that  had  signed 
to  one  of  you  a  Patent  for  Title,  to  another  for 
Pension,  to  another  for  Pardon,  to  another  for  Dispensa- 
tion, Dead  :  That  hand  that  settled  Possessions  by  his 
Seale,  in  the  Keeper,  and  rectified  Honours  by  the  sword, 
in  his  Marshall,  and  distributed  rehef  to  the  Poore,  in 
his  Almoner,  and  Health  to  the  Diseased,  by  his  immediate 
Touch,  Dead  :  That  Hand  that  ballanced  his  own  three 
Kingdomes  so  equally,  as  that  none  of  them  complained 
of  one  another,  nor  of  him,  and  carried  the  Keyes  of  all 


58  Death  of  James  I. 

the  Christian  world,  and  locked  up,  and  let  out  Armies 
in  their  due  season,  Dead  ;  how  poore,  how  faint,  how 
pale,  how  momentany,  how  transitory,  how  empty,  how 
frivolous,  how  Dead  things,  must  you  necessarily  thinke 
TitleSy  and  Possessions,  and  Favours,  and  all,  when  you 
see  that  Hand,  which  was  the  hand  oJDestinie,  of  Christian 
Destinie,  of  the  Almighty  God,  lie  dead  ?  It  was  not  so 
hard  a  hand  when  we  touched  it  last,  nor  so  cold  a  hand 
when  we  kissed  it  last  :  That  hand  which  was  wont 
to  wipe  all  te ares  from  all  our  eyes,  doth  now  but  presse 
and  squeaze  us  as  so  many  spunges,  filled  one  with  one, 
another  with  another  cause  of  teares.  Teares  that  can 
have  no  other  banke  to  bound  them,  but  the  declared 
and  manifested  will  of  God  :  For,  till  our  teares  flow  to 
that  heighth,  that  they  might  be  called  a  murmuring 
against  the  declared  will  of  God,  it  is  against  our  Allegiance, 
it  is  Disloyaliie,  to  give  our  teares  any  stop,  any  termina- 
tion, any  measure. 

35.  The  Plague y  1625. 

BELOVED,  as  God  empayl'd  a  Goshen  in  Egypt, 
a  place  for  the  righteous  amongst  the  wicked  ;  so 
there  is  an  Egypt  in  every  Goshen,  neasts  of  Snakes  in 
the  fairest  Gardens,  and  even  in  this  City  (which  in  the 
sense  of  the  Gospel,  we  may  call,  The  holy  City  ;  as 
Christ  called  Jerusalem,  though  she  had  multiplied 
transgressions.  The  Holy  City,  because  she  had  not  cast 
away  his  Law,  though  she  had  disobeyed  it  :  So  howso- 
ever your  sins  have  provoked  God,  yet  as  you  retain 
a  zealous  profession  of  the  truth  of  his  ReHgion,  I  may 
in  his  name,  and  do  in  the  bowels  of  his  mercy,  call  you. 


The  Plague,  1625.  59 

The  Holy  City)  even  in  this  City,  no  doubt  but  the  hand 
of  God  fell  upon  thousands  in  this  deadly  infection, 
who  were  no  more  affected  with  it,  than  those  Egyptians, 
to  cry  out,  Omnes  Moriemur,  We  can  but  die,  and  we  must 
die  :  And,  Edamus,  iff  bibamus,  eras  moriemur.  Let  us  eat 
and  drink,  and  take  our  pleasure,  and  make  our  profits, 
for  to-morrow  we  shall  die,  and  so  were  cut  off  by  the  hand 
of  God,  some  even  in  their  robberies,  in  half-empty 
houses  ;  and  in  their  drunkenness  in  voluptuous  and 
riotous  houses  ;  and  in  their  lusts  and  wantonness  in 
licentious  houses  ;  and  so  took  in  infection  and  death, 
Uke  Judas^s  sop,  death  dipt  and  soaked  in  sin.  Men 
whose  lust  carried  them  into  the  jaws  of  infection  in 
lewd  houses,  and  seeking  one  sore  perished  with  another ; 
men  whose  rapine  and  covetousness  broke  into  houses, 
and  seeking  the  Wardrobes  of  others,  found  their  own 
winding-sheet,  in  the  infection  of  that  house  where  they 
stole  their  own  death  ;  men  who  sought  no  other  way 
to  divert  sadness,  but  strong  drink  in  riotous  houses, 
and  there  drank  up  Davids  cup  of  Malediction,  the  cup 
of  Condemned  men,  of  death,  in  the  infection  of  that 
place.  For  these  men  that  died  in  their  sins,  that  sinned 
in  their  dying,  that  sought  and  hunted  after  death  so 
sinfully,  we  have  Httle  comfort  of  such  men,  in  the  phrase 
of  this  Text,  They  were  dead ;  for  they  are  dead  still : 
As  Moses  said  of  the  Egyptians,  I  am  afraid  we  may  say 
of  these  men.  We  shall  see  them  no  more  for  ever. 

But  God  will  give  us  the  comfort  of  this  phrase  in  the 
next  House ;  This  next  House  is  Domus  nostra,  our 
DwelHng-House,  our  Habitation,  our  Family ;  and  there. 
They  were  dead ;    they  were,   but   by  Gods  goodness 


6o  The  Plague,  1625. 

they  are  not.  If  this  savor  of  death  have  been  the  savor 
of  life  unto  us  ;  if  this  heavy  weight  of  Gods  hand 
upon  us  have  awakened  us  to  a  narrower  survey,  and 
a  better  discharge  of  our  duties  towards  all  the  parts  of 
our  Families,  we  may  say,  to  our  comforts  and  his  glory. 
There  was  a  son  dead  in  disobedience  and  murmuring  ; 
there  was  a  daughter  dead  in  a  dangerous  easiness  of 
conversation  ;  there  was  a  servant  dead  in  the  practice 
of  deceit  and  falsifying  ;  there  was,  but  the  Lord  hath 
breath'd  a  new  Hfe  into  us,  the  Lord  hath  made  even 
his  tempest  a  refreshing,  and  putrefaction  a  perfume 
unto  us.  The  same  measure  of  wind  that  blows  out 
a  candle,  kindles  a  fire  ;  this  correction  that  hath  hardned 
some,  hath  entendred  and  mollified  us ;  and  howsoever 
there  were  dead  sons,  and  dead  daughters,  and  dead 
servants,  this  holy  sense  of  Gods  Judgements  shall  not 
only  preserve  for  the  future,  that  we  shall  admit  no 
more  such  dead  limbs  into  our  Family,  but  even  give 
to  them  who  were  (in  these  kindes)  formerly  dead,  a  new 
life,  a  blessed  resurrection  from  all  their  sinful  habits, 
by  the  power  of  his  grace,  though  reached  to  them  with 
a  bloody  hand,  and  in  a  bitter  cup,  in  this  heavy  calamity  ; 
and  as  Christ  said  of  himself,  they  shall  say  in  him,  /  was 
dead,  but  am  alive  ;  and  by  that  grace  of  God,  I  am 
that  I  am.  .  .  . 

Lastly,  in  this  fourth  house,  the  house  where  we  stand 
now,  the  house  of  God,  and  of  his  Saints,  God  affords 
us  a  fair  beam  of  this  consolation,  in  the  phrase  of  this 
Text  also.  They  were  dead.  How  appHable  to  you,  in  this 
place,  is  that  which  God  said  to  Moses,  Put  of  thy  shoes, 
for  thou  treadest  on  holy  ground ;  put  off  all  confidence, 


The  Plague,  1625.  61 

all  standing,  all  relying  upon  worldly  assurances,  and 
consider  upon  what  ground  you  tread  ;  upon  ground 
so  holy,  as  that  all  the  ground  is  made  of  the  bodies  of 
Christians,  and  therein  hath  received  a  second  consecra- 
tion. Every  puff  of  wind  within  these  walls,  may  blow 
the  father  into  the  sons  eys,  or  the  vnfe  into  her  husbands, 
or  his  into  hers,  or  both  into  their  childrens,  or  their 
childrens  into  both.  Every  grain  of  dust  that  flies  here, 
is  a  piece  of  a  Christian  ;  you  need  not  distinguish  your 
Pews  by  figures  ;  you  need  not  say,  I  sit  within  so  many 
of  such  a  neighbour,  but  I  sit  within  so  many  inches  of 
my  husbands,  or  wives,  or  childes,  or  friendes  grave. 
Ambitious  men  never  made  more  shift  for  places  in 
Court,  then  dead  men  for  graves  in  Churches  ;  and  as  in 
our  later  times,  we  have  seen  two  and  two  almost  in 
every  Place  and  Office,  so  almost  every  Grave  is  oppressed 
with  twins  ;  and  as  at  Christs  resurrection  some  of  the 
dead  arose  out  of  their  graves,  that  were  buried  again  ; 
so  in  this  lamentable  calamity,  the  dead  were  buried, 
and  thrown  up  again  before  they  were  resolved  to  dust, 
to  make  room  for  more. 

36.  Difficult  ^imes. 
^S  in  the  Arke  there  were  Lions,  but  the  Lion  shut 
-LJl  his  mouth,  and  cHncht  his  paw,  (the  Lion  hurt 
nothing  in  the  Arke)  and  in  the  Arke  there  were  Vipers 
and  Scorpions,  but  the  Viper  shewed  no  teeth,  nor  the 
Scorpion  no  taile,  (the  Viper  bit  none,  the  Scorpion 
stung  none  in  the  Arke)  (for,  if  they  had  occasioned 
any  disorder  there,  their  escape  could  have  been  but  into 
the  Sea,  into  irreparable  mine)  so,  in  every  State,  (though 


62  Difficult  Times. 

that  State  be  an  Arke  of  peace,  and  preservation)  there 
will  be  some  kind  of  oppression  in  some  Lions,  some  that 
will  abuse  their  power  ;  but  Vce  si  scandalizemur,  woe 
unto  us  if  we  be  scandalized  with  that,  and  seditiously 
lay  aspersions  upon  the  State  and  Government,  because 
there  are  some  such  in  every  Church,  (though  that  Church 
bee  an  Arke,  for  integrity  and  sincerity)  there  will  bee 
some  Vipers,  Vipers  that  will  gnaw  at  their  Mothers 
belly,  men  that  will  shake  the  articles  of  Religion  ;  But 
Fa  si  scandalizemur^  woe  if  we  be  so  scandaHzed  at  that, 
as  to  defame  that  Church,  or  separate  our  selves  from 
that  Church  which  hath  given  us  our  Baptism,  for  that. 
It  is  the  chafing  of  the  Lion,  and  the  stirring  of  the  Viper, 
that  aggravates  the  danger  ;  The  first  blow  makes  the 
wrong,  but  the  second  makes  the  fray  ;  and  they  that 
will  endure  no  kind  of  abuse  in  State  or  Church,  are 
many  times  more  dangerous  then  that  abuse  w*^'^  they 
oppose.  It  was  only  Christ  Jesus  himself  that  could  say 
Mar.  4. 39.  to  the  Tempest,  7ace^  ohmuiesce,  peace,  be  still,  not 
a  blast,  not  a  sob  more  ;  onely  he  could  becalm  a  Tempest 
at  once.  It  is  well  with  us,  if  we  can  ride  out  a  storm  at 
anchour ;  that  is,  He  still  and  expect,  and  surrender 
our  selves  to  God,  and  anchor  in  that  confidence,  till 
the  storm  blow  over.  It  is  well  for  us  if  we  can  beat 
out  a  storm  at  sea,  with  boarding  to  and  again  ;  that  is, 
maintain  and  preserve  our  present  condition  in  Church, 
and  State,  though  we  encrease  not,  that  though  we  gain 
no  way,  yet  wee  lose  no  way  whilst  the  storm  lasts.  It 
is  well  for  us,  if,  though  we  be  put  to  take  in  our  sayls, 
and  to  take  down  our  masts,  yet  we  can  hull  it  out ; 
that  is,  if  in  storms  of  contradiction,  or  persecution. 


Difficult  Times.  63 

the  Church,  or  State,  though  they  be  put  to  accept 
worse  conditions  then  before,  and  to  depart  with  some 
of  their  outward  splendor,  be  yet  able  to  subsist  and 
swimme  above  water,  and  reserve  it  selfe  for  Gods 
farther  glory,  after  the  storme  is  past  ;  onely  Christ 
could  becalm  the  storme  ;  He  is  a  good  Christian  that 
can  ride  out,  or  board  out,  or  hull  out  a  storme,  that  by 
industry,  as  long  as  he  can,  and  by  patience,  when  he 
can  do  no  more,  over-lives  a  storm,  and  does  not  forsake 
his  ship  for  it,  that  is  not  scandaHzed  with  that  State, 
nor  that  Church,  of  which  he  is  a  member,  for  those 
abuses  that  are  in  it.  The  Arke  is  peace,  peace  is  good 
dispositions  to  one  another,  good  intepretations  of  one 
another  ;  for,  if  our  impatience  put  us  from  our  peace, 
and  so  out  of  the  Arke,  all  without  the  Arke  is  sea  ;  The 
bottomlesse  and  boundlesse  Sea  of  Rome,  will  hope  to 
swallow  us,  if  we  dis-unite  our  selves,  in  uncharitable 
mis-interpretations  of  one  another. 

37.  Polemical  Preaching. 

THERE  was  a  time  but  lately,  when  he  who  was  in 
his  desire  and  intension,  the  Peace-maker  of  all 
the  Christian  world,  as  he  had  a  desire  to  have  slumbred 
all  Field-drums,  so  had  he  also  to  have  slumbred  all 
Pulpit-drums,  so  far,  as  to  passe  over  all  impertinent 
handhng  of  Controversies,  meerly  and  professedly  as 
Controversies,  though  never  by  way  of  positive  main- 
tenance of  Orthodoxall  and  fundamentall  Truths  ;  That 
so  there  might  be  no  slackning  in  the  defence  of  the  truth 
of  our  Religion,  and  yet  there  might  bee  a  discreet  and 
temperate    forbearing    of    personall,    and    especially    of 


64  Polemical  Preaching. 

Nationall  exasperations.  And  as  this  way  had  piety, 
and  peace  in  the  worke  it  selfe,  so  was  it  then  occasionally 
exalted,  by  a  great  necessity  ;  He,  who  was  then  our 
hope,  and  is  now  the  breath  of  our  nostrils,  and  the 
Anointed  of  the  Lord,  being  then  taken  in  their  pits, 
and,  in  that  great  respect,  such  exasperations  the  fitter 
to  be  forborne,  especially  since  that  course  might  well 
bee  held,  without  any  prevarication,  or  cooling  the  zeale 
of  the  positive  maintenance  of  the  religion  of  our  Church. 
But  things  standing  now  in  another  state,  and  all  peace, 
both  Ecclesiasticall  and  Civill,  with  these  men,  being 
by  themselves  removed,  and  taken  away,  and  hee  whom 
we  feared,  returned  in  all  kinde  of  safety,  safe  in  body, 
and  safe  in  soule  too,  whom  though  their  Church  could 
not,  their  Court  hath  chatechised  in  their  religion,  that 
is,  brought  him  to  a  cleere  understanding  of  their  Ambi- 
tion, (for  Ambition  is  their  Rehgion,  and  S.  Peters  Ship 
must  saile  in  their  Fleets,  and  with  their  winds,  or  it 
must  sink,  and  the  Catholique  and  MiHtant  Church 
must  march  in  their  Armies,  though  those  Armies  march 
against  Rome  it  selfe,  as  heretofore  they  have  done,  to 
the  sacking  of  that  Towne,  to  the  holding  of  the  Pope 
himselfe  in  so  sordid  a  prison,  for  sixe  moneths,  as  that 
some  of  his  nearest  servants  about  him  died  of  the  plague, 
to  the  treading  under  foot  Priests,  and  Bishops,  and 
Cardinals,  to  the  dishonouring  of  Matrons,  and  the 
ravishing  of  professed  Virgins,  and  committing  such 
insolencies,  Catholiques  upon  Catholiques,  as  they  would 
call  us  Heretiques  for  beleeving  them,  but  that  they  are 
their  owne  Catholique  Authors  that  have  written  them) 
Things  being  now,  I  say,  in  this  state,  with  these  men, 


Polemical  Preaching,  65 

since  wee  heare  that  Drums  beat  in  every  field  abroad, 
it  becomes  us  also  to  returne  to  the  biasing  and  beating 
of  our  Drums  in  the  Pulpit  too,  that  so,  as  Adam  did  not 
onely  dresse  Paradise,  but  keepe  Paradise  ;  and  as  the 
children  of  God,  did  not  onely  build,  but  build  with 
one  hand,  and  fight  with  another  ;  so  wee  also  may 
employ  some  of  our  Meditations  upon  supplanting,  and 
subverting  of  error,  as  well  as  upon  the  planting,  and 
watering  of  the  Truth. 

38.  The  World  Decays, 

A^  the  world  is  the  whole  frame  of  the  world,  God  Mundus 
XjL  hath  put  into  it  a  reproofe,  a  rebuke,  lest  it  should  ^^^S''"-^* 
seem  eternall,  which  is,  a  sensible  decay  and  age  in  the 
whole  frame  of  the  world,  and  every  piece  thereof.  The 
seasons  of  the  yeare  irregular  and  distempered  ;  the  Sun 
fainter,  and  languishing ;  men  lesse  in  stature,  and  shorter- 
lived.  No  addition,  but  only  every  yeare,  new  sorts, 
new  species  of  wormes,  and  flies,  and  sicknesses,  which 
argue  more  and  more  putrefaction  of  which  they  are 
engendred.  And  the  Angels  of  heaven,  which  did  so 
famiharly  converse  with  men  in  the  beginning  of  the  world, 
though  they  may  not  be  doubted  to  perform  to  us  still 
their  ministeriall  assistances,  yet  they  seem  so  far  to  have 
deserted  this  world,  as  that  they  do  not  appeare  to  us, 
as  they  did  to  those  our  Fathers.  S.  Cyprian  observed  CyprhQ. 
this  in  his  time,  when  writing  to  Demetrianus,  who  im- 
puted all  those  calamities  which  afflicted  the  world  then, 
to  the  impiety  of  the  Christians  who  would  not  joyne 
with  them  in  the  worship  of  their  gods,  Cyprian  went 
no  farther  for  the  cause  of  these  calamities,   but  Ad 

2025*3  F 


66  The  World  Decays. 

senescentem  mundurtiy  To  the  age  and  impotency  of  the 
whole  world  ;  And  therefore,  sayes  he,  Imputent  senes 
Christianis,  quod  minus  valeant  in  senectutem  ;  Old  men 
were  best  accuse  Christians,  that  they  are  more  sickly  in 
their  age,  then  they  were  in  their  youth  ;  Is  the  fault  in 
our  religion,  or  in  their  decay  \  Canos  in  pueris  videmus, 
nee  (Etas  in  senectute  desinit,  sed  incipit  a  senectute  ;  We 
see  gray  haires  in  children,  and  we  do  not  die  old,  and  yet 
we  are  borne  old.  Lest  the  world  (as  the  world  signifies 
the  whole  frame  of  the  world)  should  glorifie  it  selfe, 
or  flatter,  and  abuse  us  with  an  opinion  of  eternity,  we 
may  admit  usefully  (though  we  do  not  conclude  peremp- 
torily) this  observation  to  be  true,  that  there  is  a  reproofe, 
a  rebuke  born  in  it,  a  sensible  decay  and  mortality  of 
the  whole  world. 

39.  Imperfection, 
a.  Part.  X  NEED  not  call  in  new  Philosophy,  that  denies 
X  a  settlednesse,  an  acquiescence  in  the  very  body 
of  the  Earth,  but  makes  the  Earth  to  move  in  that  place, 
where  we  thought  the  Sunne  had  moved  ;  I  need  not 
that  helpe,  that  the  Earth  it  selfe  is  in  Motion,  to  prove 
this.  That  nothing  upon  Earth  is  permanent  ;  The 
Assertion  will  stand  of  it  selfe,  till  some  man  assigne  me 
some  instance,  something  that  a  man  may  relie  upon, 
and  find  permanent.  Consider  the  greatest  Bodies  upon 
Earth,  The  Monarchies ;  Objects,  which  one  would 
thinke.  Destiny  might  stand  and  stare  at,  but  not  shake ; 
Consider  the  smallest  bodies  upon  Earth,  The  haires 
of  our  head.  Objects,  which  one  would  chinke.  Destiny 
would  not  observe,  or  could  not  discerne  ;    And  yet, 


Imperfection.  67 

Destiny,  (to  speak  to  a  naturall  man)  And  God,  (to  speake 
to  a  Christian)  is  no  more  troubled  to  make  a  Monarchy 
ruinous,  then  to  make  a  haire  gray.  Nay,  nothing  needs 
be  done  to  either,  by  God,  or  Destiny  ;  A  Monarchy 
will  ruine,  as  a  haire  will  grow  gray,  of  it  selfe.  In 
the  Elements  themselves,  of  which  all  sub-elementary 
things  are  composed,  there  is  no  acquiescence,  but  a 
vicissitudinary  transmutation  into  one  another  ;  Ayre 
condensed  becomes  water,  a  more  solid  body,  And  Ayre 
rarified  becomes  fire,  a  body  more  disputable,  and  in- 
apparant.  It  is  so  in  the  Conditions  of  men  too  ;  A 
Merchant  condensed,  kneaded  and  packed  up  in  a  great 
estate,  becomes  a  Lord  ;  And  a  Marchant  rarified, 
blown  up  by  a  perfidious  Factor,  or  by  a  riotous  Sonne, 
evaporates  into  ayre,  into  nothing,  and  is  not  seen.  And 
if  there  were  any  thing  permanent  and  durable  in  this 
world,  yet  we  got  nothing  by  it,  because  howsoever 
that  might  last  in  it  selfe,  yet  we  could  not  last  to  enjoy 
it ;  If  our  goods  were  not  amongst  Moveables,  yet  we 
our  selves  are  ;  if  they  could  stay  with  us,  yet  we  cannot 
stay  with  them  ;  which  is  another  Consideration  in 
this  part. 

The  world  is  a  great  Volume,  and  man  the  Index  oi  Corpus 
that  Booke  ;  Even  in  the  body  of  man,  you  may  turne  *^'"^«^'* 
to  the  whole  world  ;  This  body  is  an  Illustration  of  all 
Nature  ;  Gods  recapitulation  of  all  that  he  had  said 
before,  in  his  Fiat  lux,  and  Fiat  Jirm amentum,  and  in 
all  the  rest,  said  or  done,  in  all  the  six  dayes.  Propose 
this  body  to  thy  consideration  in  the  highest  exaltation 
thereof  ;  as  it  is  the  I'emple  of  the  Holy  Ghost :  Nay, 
not  in  a  Metaphor,  or  comparison  of  a  Temple,  or  any 

F  2 


68  Imperfection. 

other  similitudinary  thing,  but  as  it  was  really  and  truly 
the  very  body  of  God,  in  the  person  of  Christ,  and  yet 
this  body  must  wither,  must  decay,  must  languish, 
must  perish.  When  Goliah  had  armed  and  fortified 
this  body.  And  lezahel  had  painted  and  perfumed 
this  body.  And  Dives  had  pampered  and  larded  this 
body.  As  God  said  to  Ezekid,  when  he  brought  him  to 
the  dry  bones^  Fill  hominisy  Sonne  of  Man,  doest  thou 
thinke  these  bones  can  live  P  They  said  in  their  hearts 
to  all  the  world,  Can  these  bodies  die  ?  And  they  are 
dead.  lezabels  dust  is  not  Ambar,  nor  Goliahs  dust 
Terra  sigillata,  Medicinall  ;  nor  does  the  Serpent,  whose 
meat  they  are  both,  finde  any  better  rellish  in  Dives 
dust,  then  in  Lazarus. 

40.  Man, 

Illis,  qui       01  /f^^  ^^)  sayes  the  Prophet  Esay,  Quasi  stilla  situlce, 

nihil  UVJL  As  a  drop  upon  the  bucket.     Man  is  not  all  that, 

Esay.40.15.  1^1  -,  1.11 

not  so  much  as  that,  as  a  drop  upon  the  bucket,   but 

quasi,  something,  some  little  thing  towards  it  ;   and  what 

is  a  drop  upon  the  bucket,  to  a  river,  to  a  sea,  to  the  waters 

above  the  firmament  ?    Man  to  God  ?   Man  is,  sayes  the 

same  Prophet  in  the  same  place.  Quasi  momentum  staterce  ; 

we  translate  it,  As  small  dust  ufon  the  balance  :    Man  is 

not  all  that,  not  that  small  graine  of  dust  ;    but  quasi, 

some  Uttle  thing  towards  it  :    And  what  can  a  graine  of 

dust  work  in  governing  the  balance  ?    What  is  man  that 

God  should  be  mindfull  of  him  ?     Vanity  seemes  to  be 

the  lightest  thing,  that  the  Holy  Ghost  could  name  ; 

and  when  he  had  named  that,  he  sayes,  and  sayes,  and 

sayes,  often,  very,  very  often.  All  is  vanity.    But  when  he 


Man.  69 

comes  to  waigh  man  with  vanity  it  selfe,  he  findes  man 
Hghter   then   vanity  :     Take,   sayes   he,  great  men,   and  Ps.  62.  9. 
meane  men  altogether,  and  altogether  they  are  lighter  then 
vanity.     When   that   great   Apostle   sayes   of   himselfe, 
that  he  was  in  nothing  hehinde  the  very  chiefest  of  the  2C0r.12.11 
Apostles,  and  yet,  for  all  that,  sayes  he  was  nothing  ;  who 
can  think  himselfe  any  thing,  for  being  a  Giant  in  pro- 
portion, a  Magistrate  in  power,  a  Rabbi  in  learning,  an 
Oracle   in   Counsell  ?      Let   man   be   something ;     how 
poore,  and  inconsiderable  a  ragge  of  this  world,  is  man  ? 
Man,  whom  Paracelsus  would  have  undertaken  to  have  L.  i.  de 
made,  in  a  Limbeck,  in  a  Furnace  :    Man,  who,  if  they  ^Zmtiom. 
were  altogether,  all  the  men,  that  ever  were,  and  are, 
and  shall  be,  would  not  have  the  power  of  one  Angel  in 
them  all,  whereas  all  the  Angels,  (who,  in  the  Schoole 
are  conceived  to  be  more  in  number,  then,  not  onely  all 
the  Species,  but  all  the  individualls  of  this  lower  world) 
have  not  in  them  all,  the  power  of  one  finger  of  Gods 
hand  :  Man,  of  whom  when  David  had  said,  (as  the  lowest 
diminution  that  he  could  put  upon  him)  I  am  a  worme  Ps.  22.  6. 
and  no  man.  He  might  have  gone  lower,  and  said,  I  am 
a  man  and  no  worm  ;    for  man  is  so  much  lesse  then  a 
worm,  as  that  wormes  of  his  own  production,  shall  feed 
upon  his   dead   body  in  the  grave,   and  an  immortall 
worm  gnaw  his  conscience  in  the  torments  of  hell. 


41.  Afflictions, 

ALL  our  life  is  a  continual!  burden,  yet  we  must  not 
-  groane  ;    A  continual!  squeasing,  yet  we  must  not 
pant ;    And  as  in  the  tendernesse  of  our  childhood,  we 


70  Afflictions. 

suffer,  and  yet  are  whipt  if  we  cry,  so  we  are  complained 
of,  if  we  complaine,  and  made  delinquents  if  we  call  the 
times  ill.  And  that  which  addes  waight  to  waight,  and 
multiplies  the  sadnesse  of  this  consideration,  is  this, 
That  still  the  best  men  have  had  most  laid  upon  them. 
As  soone  as  I  heare  God  say,  that  he  hath  found  an  upright 
matiy  that  feares  God,  and  eschews  evill,  in  the  next  lines 
I  finde  a  Commission  to  Satan,  to  bring  in  Sabeans  and 
Chaldeans  upon  his  cattell,  and  servants,  and  fire  and 
tempest  upon  his  children,  and  loathsome  diseases  upon 
himselfe.  As  soone  as  I  heare  God  say.  That  he  hath 
found  a  man  according  to  his  own  heart,  I  see  his  sonnes 
ravish  his  daughters,  and  then  murder  one  another,  and 
then  rebell  against  the  Father,  and  put  him  into  straites 
for  his  life.  As  soone  as  I  heare  God  testifie  of  Christ  at 
Mat.  3, 17.  his  Baptisme,  This  is  my  beloved  Sonne  in  whom  I  am  well 
Matt.  4. 1,  pleased,  I  finde  that  Sonne  of  his  led  up  by  the  Spirit,  to 
he  tempted  of  the  Devill.  And  after  I  heare  God  ratifie 
Matt.  17.5.  the  same  testimony  againe,  at  his  Transfiguration,  {This 
is  my  beloved  Sonne,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased)  I  finde 
that  beloved  Sonne  of  his,  deserted,  abandoned,  and 
given  over  to  Scribes,  and  Pharisees,  and  Pubhcans,  and 
Herodians,  and  Priests,  and  Souldiers,  and  people,  and 
Judges,  and  witnesses,  and  executioners,  and  he  that 
was  called  the  beloved  Sonne  of  God,  and  made  partaker 
of  the  glory  of  heaven,  in  this  world,  in  his  Transfigura- 
tion, is  made  now  the  Sewer  of  all  the  corruption,  of  all 
the  sinnes  of  this  world,  as  no  Sonne  of  God,  but  a  meere 
man,  as  no  man,  but  a  contemptible  worme.  As  though 
the  greatest  weaknesse  in  this  world,  were  man,  and  the 
greatest  fault  in  man  were  to  be  good,  man  is  more 


Afflictions.  71 

miserable   then   other   creatures,   and   good   men   more 
miserable  then  any  other  men. 

But  then  there  is  Pondus  Glorice,  An  exceeding  waight  oj  AJJjidio 
eternall  glory,  and  that  turnes  the  scale  ;   for  as  it  makes  ^^^^^  ^° 
all  worldly  prosperity  as  dung,  so  it  makes  all  worldly 
adversity  as  feathers. 

42.  Discontent, 

EVERY  man  is  under  that  complicated  disease,  and 
that  ridling  distemper,  not  to  be  content  with  the 
most,  and  yet  to  be  proud  of  the  least  thing  hee  hath  ; 
that  when  he  lookes  upon  men,  he  dispises  them,  because 
he  is  some  kind  of  Officer,  and  when  he  looks  upon 
God,  hee  murmures  at  him,  because  he  made  him  not 
a  King. 

43.  ^he  World  a  House, 

LET  the  whole  world  be  in  thy  consideration  as  one 
i  house  ;  and  then  consider  in  that,  in  the  peacefull 
harmony  of  creatures,  in  the  peacefull  succession,  and 
connexion  of  causes,  and  effects,  the  peace  of  Nature. 
Let  this  Kingdome,  where  God  hath  blessed  thee  with 
a  being,  be  the  Gallery,  the  best  roome  of  that  house, 
and  consider  in  the  two  walls  of  that  Gallery,  the  Church 
and  the  State,  the  peace  of  a  royall,  and  a  religious 
Wisedome  ;  Let  thine  owne  family  be  a  Cabinet  in  this 
Gallery,  and  finde  in  all  the  boxes  thereof,  in  the  severall 
duties  of  Wife,  and  Children,  and  servants,  the  peace  of 
vertue,  and  of  the  father  and  mother  of  all  vertues, 
active  discretion,  passive  obedience ;  and  then  lastly, 
let  thine  owne  bosome  be  the  secret  box,  and  reserve  in 
this  Cabinet,  and  then  the  best  Jewell  in  the  best  Cabinet, 


Mare. 


72  The  World  a  House. 

and  that  in  the  best  Gallery  of  the  best  house  that  can  be 
had,  peace  with  the  Creature,  peace  in  the  Church, 
peace  in  the  State,  peace  in  thy  house,  peace  in  thy  heart, 
is  a  faire  Model],  and  a  lovely  designe  even  of  the  heavenly 
Jerusalem  v^^hich  is  Fisio  pads,  where  there  in  no  object 
but  peace. 

44.  Mundus  Mare. 
Mundus  '  I  ^HE  world  is  a  Sea  in  many  respects  and  assimilations. 
JL  It  is  a  Sea,  as  it  is  subject  to  stormes,  and  tempests  ; 
Every  man  (and  every  man  is  a  world)  feels  that.  And 
then,  it  is  never  the  shallower  for  the  calmnesse,  The 
Sea  is  as  deepe,  there  is  as  much  water  in  the  Sea,  in  a 
calme,  as  in  a  storme  ;  we  may  be  drowned  in  a  calme 
and  flattering  fortune,  in  prosperity,  as  irrecoverably, 
as  in  a  wrought  Sea,  in  adversity  ;  So  the  world  is  a  Sea. 
It  is  a  Sea,  as  it  is  bottomlesse  to  any  Une,  which  we  can 
sound  it  with,  and  endlesse  to  any  discovery  that  we  can 
make  of  it.  The  purposes  of  the  world,  the  wayes  of  the 
world,  exceed  our  consideration  ;  But  yet  we  are  sure 
the  Sea  hath  a  bottome,  and  sure  that  it  hath  limits, 
that  it  cannot  overpasse  ;  The  power  of  the  greatest 
in  the  world,  the  life  of  the  happiest  in  the  world,  cannot 
exceed  those  bounds,  which  God  hath  placed  for  them  ; 
So  the  world  is  a  Sea.  It  is  a  Sea,  as  it  hath  ebbs  and 
floods,  and  no  man  knowes  the  true  reason  of  those 
floods  and  those  ebbs.  All  men  have  changes  and  vicis- 
situdes in  their  bodies,  (they  fall  sick)  And  in  their 
estates,  (they  grow  poore)  And  in  their  minds,  (they 
become  sad)  at  which  changes,  (sicknesse,  poverty, 
sadnesse)  themselves  wonder,  and  the  cause  is  wrapped 


Mundus  Mare.  73 

up  in  the  purpose  and  judgement  of  God  onely,  and  hid 
even  from  them  that  have  them  ;  and  so  the  w^orld  is 
a  Sea.  It  is  a  Sea,  as  the  Sea  affords  vi^ater  enough  for 
all  the  world  to  drinke,  but  such  water  as  will  not  quench 
the  thirst.  The  world  affords  conveniences  enow  to 
satisfie  Nature,  but  these  encrease  our  thirst  with  drink- 
ing, and  our  desire  growes  and  enlarges  it  selfe  with  our 
abundance,  and  though  we  sayle  in  a  full  Sea,  yet  we  lacke 
water  ;  So  the  world  is  a  Sea.  It  is  a  Sea,  if  we  consider 
the  Inhabitants.  In  the  Sea,  the  greater  fish  devoure 
the  lesse  ;  and  so  doe  the  men  of  this  world  too.  And 
as  fish,  when  they  mud  themselves,  have  no  hands  to 
make  themselves  cleane,  but  the  current  of  the  waters 
must  worke  that  ;  So  have  the  men  of  this  world  no 
means  to  cleanse  themselves  from  those  sinnes  which 
they  have  contracted  in  the  world,  of  themselves,  till 
a  new  flood,  waters  of  repentance,  drawne  up,  and 
sanctified  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  worke  that  blessed  effect 
in  them. 

All  these  wayes  the  world  is  a  Sea,  but  especially  it  is 
a  Sea  in  this  respect,  that  the  Sea  is  no  place  of  habitation, 
but  a  passage  to  our  habitations.  So  the  Apostle  expresses 
the  world,  Here  we  have  no  continuing  City,  but  we  seeke  Heb.13.14. 
one  to  come  ;  we  seeke  it  not  here,  but  we  seeke  it  whilest 
we  are  here,  els  we  shall  never  finde  it.  Those  are  the 
two  great  works  which  we  are  to  doe  in  this  world  ;  first 
to  know,  that  this  world  is  not  our  home,  and  then  to 
provide  us  another  home,  whilest  we  are  in  this  world. 
Therefore  the  Prophet  sayes,  Arise,  and,  depart,  for  this  is  Mic.  2.  10. 
not  your  rest.  Worldly  men,  that  have  no  farther  pros- 
pect, promise  themselves  some  rest  in  this  world,  (Soule,  Luk.  i2.ig. 


74  Mundus  Mare. 

thou  hast  much  goods  laid  up  for  many  yeares,  take  thine 
ease,  eate,  drinke,  and  he  merry,  sayes  the  rich  man)  but 
this  is  not  your  rest  ;  indeed  no  rest ;  at  least  not  yours. 
You  must  depart,  depart  by  death,  before  yee  come  to 
that  rest  ;  but  then  you  must  arise,  before  you  depart ; 
for  except  yee  have  a  resurrection  to  grace  here,  before 
you  depart,  you  shall  have  no  resurrection  to  glory  in 
the  hfe  to  come,  v^^hen  you  are  departed. 
Status  Now^,  in  this  Sea,  every  ship  that  sayles  must  necessarily 

"ivum.^^'  ^^^^  ^o^^  P^^^  ^^  ^^^  ^^^P  ^i^^^r  water  ;  Every  man  that 
lives  in  this  world,  must  necessarily  have  some  of  his  Hfe, 
some  of  his  thoughts,  some  of  his  labours  spent  upon 
this  world  ;  but  that  part  of  the  ship,  by  which  he  sayls, 
is  above  water  ;  Those  meditations,  and  those  endevours 
which  must  bring  us  to  heaven,  are  removed  from  this 
world,  and  fixed  entirely  upon  God.  And  in  this  Sea, 
are  we  made  fishers  of  men  ;  Of  men  in  generall ;  not 
of  rich  men,  to  profit  by  them,  nor  of  poore  men,  to 
pierce  them  the  more  sharply,  because  affliction  hath 
opened  a  v»^ay  into  them  ;  Not  of  learned  men,  to  be 
over-glad  of  their  approbation  of  our  labours.  Nor  of 
ignorant  men,  to  affect  them  with  an  astonishment,  or 
admiration  of  our  gifts  ;  But  we  are  fishers  of  men,  of 
all  men,  of  that  which  makes  them  men,  their  soules. 
And  for  this  fishing  in  this  Sea,  this  Gospel  is  our  net. 
Reu  Euan-  Eloquence  is  not  our  net  ;  Traditions  of  men  are  not 
gf  um.  ^^j.  j^^^g  .  onely  the  Gospel  is.  The  Devill  angles  with 
hooks  and  bayts  ;  he  deceives,  and  he  wounds  in  the 
catching  ;  for  every  sin  hath  his  sting.  The  Gospel  of 
Christ  Jesus  is  a  net  ;  It  hath  leads  and  corks  ;  It  hath 
leads,  that  is,  the  denouncing  of  Gods  judgements,  and 


Mundus  Mare.  75 

a  power  to  sink  down,  and  lay  flat  any  stubborne  and 
rebellious  heart,  And  it  hath  corks,  that  is,  the  power  of 
absolution,  and  appHcation  of  the  mercies  of  God,  that 
swimme  above  all  his  works,  means  to  erect  an  humble 
and  contrite  spirit,  above  all  the  waters  of  tribulation, 
and  affliction.  .  .  . 

With  this  net  S.  Peter  caught  three  thousand  soules  Acts  3.  4t. 
in  one  day,  at  one  Sermon,  and  five  thousand  in  another.  ^'  ^' 
With  this  net  S.  Paul  fished  all  the  Mediterranean  Sea, 
and  caused  the  Gospel  of  Christ  Jesus  to  abound  from 
Jerusalem  round  about  to  Illyricum.  This  is  the  net,  Rom.15.r9. 
with  which  if  yee  be  willing  to  bee  caught,  that  is,  to 
lay  downe  all  your  hopes  and  affiances  in  the  gracious 
promises  of  his  Gospel,  then  you  are  fishes  reserved  for 
that  great  Mariage-feast,  which  is  the  Kingdome  of 
heaven  ;  where,  whosoever  is  a  dish,  is  a  ghest  too  ; 
whosoever  is  served  in  at  the  table,  sits  at  the  table  ; 
whosoever  is  caught  by  this  net,  is  called  to  this  feast  ; 
and  there  your  soules  shall  be  satisfied  as  with  marrow, 
and  with  fatnesse,  in  an  infallible  assurance,  of  an  ever- 
lasting and  undeterminable  terme,  in  inexpressible  joy 
and  glory.    Amen. 

45.  I'he  Indifference  of  Nature. 

AFOUNTAINE  breaks  out  in  the  wildernesse,  but 
that  fountaine  cares  not,  whether  any  Man  come 
to  fetch  water,  or  no  ;  A  fresh,  and  fit  gale  blowes  upon 
the  Sea,  but  it  cares  not  whether  the  Mariners  hoise 
saile  or  no  ;  A  rose  blowes  in  your  garden,  but  it  calls 
you  not  to  smell  to  it. 


76  Wealth. 


R 


46.  Wealth. 

ICHES  is  the  Metaphor,  in  which,  the  Holy  Ghost 

hath  deHghted  to  expresse  God  and  Heaven  to 

Rem.  2.  4.  us ;  Despise  not  the  riches  of  his  goodnesse,  sayes  the  Apostle  ; 

*  And  againe,  O  the  depth  of  the  riches  of  his  wisdome  ; 

Ephes.3.8  ^4nd  so,  after,  7he  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ :   And  for 
ver.  16.  '  '     ^  -^  ' 

the  consummation  of  all,  7he  riches  of  his  Glory,  Gods 

goodnesse  towards  us  in  generall,  our  Religion  in  the  way, 
his  Grace  here,  his  Glory  hereafter,  are  all  represented 
to  us  in  Riches.  With  poverty  God  ordinarily  accom- 
panies his  comminations  ;  he  threatens  feeblenesse,  and 
warre,  and  captivity,  and  poverty  every  where,  but  he 
never  threatens  men  with  riches. 

Ordinary  poverty,  (that  is  a  difficulty,  with  all  their 
labors,  and  industry  to  sustaine  their  family,  and  the 
necessary  duties  of  their  place)  is  a  shrewd,  and  a  shppery 
tentation.  But  for  that  street-beggery,  which  is  become 
a  Calling,  (for  Parents  bring  up  their  children  to  it,  nay 
they  doe  almost  take  prentises  to  it,  some  expert  beggers 
teach  others  what  they  shall  say,  how  they  shall  looke, 
how  they  shall  lie,  how  they  shall  cry)  for  these,  whom 
our  lawes  call  Incorrigible,  I  must  say  of  them  (in  a  just 

Matt.  25.  accommodation  of  our  Saviours  words,  //  is  not  meet  to 
26. 

take  the  childrens  bread,  and  to  cast  it  to  dogs)  It  is  not 

meet,    that   this   vermin   should   devoure   any   of   that, 

which  belongs  to  them  who  are  truely  poore.     Neither 

is   there  any   measure,   any   proportion   of   riches,   that 

exposes  man  naturally  to  so  much  sin,  as  this  kinde  of 

beggery  doth.     Rich  men  forget,  or  neglect  the  duties 

of  their  Baptisme  ;    but  of  these,  how  many  are  there. 


Wealth.  77 

that  were  never  baptized  ?  Rich  men  sleepe  out  Sermons, 
but  these  never  come  to  Church  :  Rich  men  are  negligent 
in  the  practice,  but  these  are  ignorant  in  all  knowledge. 

It  would  require  a  longer  disquisition,  then  I  can  afford 
to  it  now,  whether  Riches,  or  Poverty  (considered  in 
lesser  proportions,  ordinary  riches,  ordinary  poverty) 
open  us  to  more,  and  worse  sins ;  But  consider  them  in 
the  highest  and  in  the  lowest,  abundant  riches,  beggerly 
poverty,  and  it  will  scarce  admit  doubt,  but  that  the 
incorrigible  vagabond  is  farther  from  all  wayes  of  good- 
nesse,  then  the  corruptest  rich  man  is.  And  therefore 
labour  wee  all  earnestly  in  the  wayes  of  some  lawful! 
calling,  that  we  may  have  our  portion  of  this  world 
by  good  meanes. 

47.  A  London  Merchant, 

THE  Lord  was  with  him  in  all  these  steps ;  with  him  In  vita. 
in  his  life  ;  with  him  in  his  death  ;  He  is  with 
him  in  his  funerals,  and  he  shall  be  with  him  in  his 
Resurrection  ;  and  therefore,  because  the  Lord  was 
with  him,  our  Brother  is  not  dead.  He  was  with  him  in 
the  beginning  of  his  life,  in  this  manifestation,  That 
though  he  were  of  Parents  of  a  good,  of  a  great  Estate, 
yet  his  possibihty  and  his  expectation  from  them,  did  not 
slacken  his  own  industry  ;  which  is  a  Canker  that  eats 
into,  nay  that  hath  eat  up  many  a  family  in  this  City, 
that  relying  wholly  upon  what  the  Father  hath  done, 
the  Sonne  does  nothing  for  himselfe.  And  truly,  it  falls 
out  too  often,  that  he  that  labours  not  for  more,  does 
not  keepe  his  own.  God  imprinted  in  him  an  industrious 
disposition,  though  such  hopes  from  such  parents  might 


78  A  London  Merchant. 

have  excused  some  slacknesse,  and  God  prospered  his 
industry  so,  as  that  when  his  Fathers  estate  came  to 
a  distribution  by  death,  he  needed  it  not.  God  was 
Psal.8i.ii.  with  him,  as  with  David  in  a  Dilatation,  and  then  in 
a  Repletion  ;  God  enlarged  him,  and  then  he  filled  him  ; 
He  gave  him  a  large  and  a  comprehensive  understanding, 
and  with  it,  A  pubHque  heart ;  And  such  as  perchance 
in  his  way  of  education,  and  in  our  narrow  and  contracted 
times,  in  which  every  man  determines  himselfe  in  him- 
selfe,  and  scarce  looks  farther,  it  would  be  hard  to  finde 
many  Examples  of  such  largenesse.  You  have,  I  thinke, 
a  phrase  of  Driving  a  Trade  ;  And  you  have,  I  know, 
a  practise  of  Driving  away  Trade,  by  other  use  of  money  ; 
And  you  have  lost  a  man,  that  drove  a  great  Trade, 
the  right  way  in  making  the  best  use  of  our  home- 
commodity.  To  fetch  in  Wine,  and  Spice,  and  Silke, 
is  but  a  drawing  of  Trade  ;  The  right  driving  of  trade, 
is,  to  vent  our  owne  outward  ;  And  yet,  for  the  drawing 
in  of  that,  which  might  justly  seeme  most  behoofefull, 
that  is,  of  Arts,  and  Manufactures,  to  be  imployed  upon 
our  owne  Commodity  within  the  Kingdome,  he  did  his 
part,  diligently,  at  least,  if  not  vehemently,  if  not  passion- 
ately. This  City  is  a  great  Theater,  and  he  Acted  great 
and  various  parts  in  it  ;  And  all  well  ;  And  when  he 
went  higher,  (as  he  was  often  heard  in  Parliaments,  at 
Counceil  tables,  and  in  more  private  accesses  to  the 
late  King  of  ever  blessed  memory)  as,  for  that  compre- 
hension of  those  businesses,  which  he  pretended  to  under- 
stand, no  man  doubts,  for  no  man  lacks  arguments  and 
evidences  of  his  abihty  therein,  So  for  his  manner  of 
expressing  his  intentions,  and  digesting  and  uttering  his 


A  London  Merchant.  79 

purposes,  I  have  sometimes  heard  the  greatest  Master 
of  Language  and  Judgement,  which  these  times,  or  any 
other  did,  or  doe,  or  shall  give,  (that  good  and  great 
King  of  ours)  say  of  him,  That  he  never  heard  any  man 
of  his  breeding,  handle  businesses  more  rationally,  more 
pertinently,  more  elegantly,  more  perswasively ;  And 
when  his  purpose  was,  to  do  a  grace  to  a  Preacher,  of 
very  good  abilities,  and  good  note  in  his  owne  Chappell, 
I  have  heard  him  say,  that  his  language,  and  accent,  and 
manner  of  delivering  himselfe,  was  like  this  man.  This 
man  hath  God  accompanied  all  his  life  ;  and  by  perform- 
ance thereof  seemes  to  have  made  that  Covenant  with 
him,  which  he  made  to  Abraham,  Multiplicabo  te  vehe-  Geo,  17. 
menter,  I  will  multiply  thee  exceedingly.  He  multiplied 
his  estate  so,  as  was  fit  to  endow  many  and  great  Children  ; 
and  he  multiplied  his  Children  so,  both  in  their  number, 
and  in  their  quaUty,  as  they  were  fit  to  receive  a  great 
Estate.  God  was  with  him  all  the  way.  In  a  Pillar  of 
Fire,  in  the  brightnesse  of  prosperity,  and  in  the  Pillar 
of  Clouds  too,  in  many  darke,  and  sad,  and  heavy  crosses  : 
So  great  a  Ship,  required  a  great  Ballast,  So  many 
blessings,  many  crosses  ;  And  he  had  them,  and  sailed 
on  his  course  the  steadier  for  them  ;  The  Cloud  as  well 
as  the  Fire,  was  a  Pillar  to  him  ;  His  crosses,  as  well  as 
his  blessings  established  his  assurance  in  God  ;  And  so, 
in  all  the  course  of  his  life,  The  Lord  was  here,  and  therefore 
our  Brother  is  not  dead  ;  not  dead  in  the  evidences  and 
testimonies  of  life  ;  for  he,  whom  the  world  hath  just 
cause  to  celebrate,  for  things  done,  when  he  was  ahve, 
is  alive  still  in  their  celebration. 

The  Lord  was  here,  that  is,  with  him  at  his  death  too.  In  morte. 


8o  A  London  Merchant. 

He  was  served  with  the  Processe  here  in  the  City,  but  his 
cause  was  heard  in  the  Country ;  Here  he  sickned, 
There  he  languished,  and  dyed  there.  In  his  sicknesse 
there,  those  that  assisted  him,  are  witnesses,  of  his  many 
expressings,  of  a  rehgious  &  a  constant  heart  towards 
God,  and  of  his  pious  joyning  with  them,  even  in  the 
holy  declaration  of  kneeling,  then,  when  they,  in  favour 
of  his  weakenesse,  would  disswade  him  from  kneeling. 
I  must  not  defraud  him  of  this  testimony  fro  my  selfe, 
that  into  this  place  where  we  are  now  met,  I  have  observed 
him  to  enter  with  much  reverence,  &  compose  himselfe 
in  this  place  with  much  declaration  of  devotion.  And 
truly  it  is  that  reverence,  which  those  persons  who  are  of 
the  same  ranke  that  he  was  in  the  City,  that  reverence 
that  they  use  in  this  place,  when  they  come  hither,  is 
that  that  makes  us,  who  have  now  the  administration 
of  this  Quire,  glad,  that  our  Predecessors,  but  a  very 
few  yeares  before  our  time,  (and  not  before  all  our  times 
neither)  admitted  these  Honourable  and  worshipfull 
Persons  of  this  City,  to  sit  in  this  Quire,  so,  as  they  do 
upon  Sundayes  :  The  Church  receives  an  honour  in 
it  ;  But  the  honour  is  more  in  their  reverence,  then  in 
their  presence  ;  though  in  that  too  :  And  they  receive 
an  honour,  and  an  ease  in  it ;  and  therefore  they  do 
piously  towards  God,  and  prudently  for  themselves, 
and  gratefully  towards  us,  in  giving  us,  by  their  reverent 
comportment  here,  so  just  occasion  of  continuing  that 
honour,  and  that  ease  to  them  here,  which  to  lesse 
reverend,  and  unrespective  persons,  we  should  be  lesse 
willing  to  doe.  To  returne  to  him  in  his  sicknesse  ;  He 
had  but  one  dayes  labour,  and  all  the  rest  were  Sabbaths, 


A  London  Merchant.  8i 

one  day  in  his  sicknesse  he  converted  to  businesse  ;  Thus  ; 
He  called  his  family,  and  friends  together ;  Thankfully 
he  acknowledged  Gods  manifold  blessings,  and  his  owne 
sins  as  penitently  :  And  then,  to  those  who  were  to  have 
the  disposing  of  his  estate,  joyntly  with  his  Children, 
he  recommended  his  servants,  and  the  poore,  and  the 
Hospitals,  and  the  Prisons,  which,  according  to  his 
purpose,  have  beene  all  taken  into  consideration  ;  And 
after  this  (which  was  his  Valediction  to  the  world)  he 
seemed  alwaies  loath  to  returne  to  any  worldly  businesse, 
His  last  Commandement  to  Wife  and  Children  was 
Christs  last  commandement  to  his  Spouse  the  Church, 
in  the  Apostles,  To  love  one  another.  He  blest  them,  and 
the  Estate  devolved  upon  them,  unto  them  :  And  by 
Gods  grace  shall  prove  as  true  a  Prophet  to  them  in  that 
blessing,  as  he  was  to  himselfe,  when  in  entring  his  last 
bed,  two  dayes  before  his  Death,  he  said,  Help  me  ojf  with 
my  earthly  habit,  if^  let  me  go  to  my  last  bed.  Where,  in 
the  second  night  after,  he  said.  Little  know  ye  what  paine 
Ifeele  this  night,  yet  I  know,  I  shall  have  joy  in  the  morning  ; 
And  in  that  morning  he  dyed.  The  forme  in  which  he 
implored  his  Saviour,  was  evermore,  towards  his  end,  this, 
Christ  lesuSy  which  dyed,  on  the  Crosse,  forgive  me  my 
sins ;  He  have  mercy  upon  me :  And  his  last  and  dying 
words  were  the  repetition  of  the  name  of  Jesus ;  And  when 
he  had  not  strength  to  utter  that  name  distinctly  and 
perfectly,  they  might  heare  it  from  within  him,  as  from 
a  man  a  far  off ;  even  then,  when  his  hollow  and  remote 
naming  of  Jesus,  was  rather  a  certifying  of  them,  that  he 
was  with  his  Jesus,  then  a  prayer  that  he  might  come  to 
him.    And  so  The  Lord  was  here,  here  with  him  in  his 

2025'3  G 


82  A  London  Merchant. 

Death  ;  and  because  the  Lord  was  here^  our  Brother  is 
not  dead  ;  not  dead  in  the  eyes  and  eares  of  God  ;  for 
as  the  blood  of  Abel  speaks  yet,  so  doth  the  zeale  of  Gods 
Saints  ;  and  their  last  prayers  (though  we  heare  them  not) 
God  continues  still ;  and  they  pray  in  Heaven,  as  the 
Martyrs  under  the  Altar,  even  till  the  Resurrection. 

In  funere.  He  is  with  him  now  too  ;  Here  in  his  Funerals.  Buriall, 
and  Christian  Buriall,  and  Solemne  Buriall  are  all  evidences, 
and  testimonies  of  Gods  presence.  God  forbid  we  should 
conclude,  or  argue  an  absence  of  God,  from  the  want  of 
Solemne  Buriall,  or  Christian  Buriall,  or  any  Buriall ;  But 
neither  must  we  deny  it,  to  be  an  evidence  of  his  favour 
and  presence,  where  he  is  pleased  to  afford  these.    So  God 

Gen.  15.  makes  that  the  seale  of  all  his  blessings  to  Abraham^  That 
he  should  be  buried  in  a  good  age  ;   God  established  lacob 

Gen.  46,  with  that  promise.  That  his  Son  Joseph  should  have  care 
of  his  Funerals  :    And  Joseph  does  cause  his  servants, 

Gen.  50.       The  PhysitianSy  to  embalme  him,  when  he  was  dead.     Of 

Esayii.io.  Christ  it  was  Prophecied,  That  he  should  have  a  glorious 
Buriall ;  And  therefore  Christ  interprets  well  that 
profuse,  r.nd  prodigall  piety  of  the  Woman  that  poured 

Matt.  26.  out  the  Oyntment  upon  him.  That  she  did  it  to  Bury 
him ;  And  so  shall  loseph  of  Arimathea  be  ever  celebrated, 
for  his  care  in  celebrating  Christs  Funerals.  If  we  were 
to  send  a  Son,  or  a  friend,  to  take  possession  of  any  place 
in  Court,  or  forraine  parts,  we  would  send  him  out  in 
the  best  equipage  :  Let  us  not  grudge  to  set  downe  our 
friends,  in  the  Anti-chamber  of  Heaven,  the  Grave,  in 
as  good  manner,  as  without  vaine-gloriousnesse,  and 
wastfulnesse  we  may ;  And,  in  incHning  them,  to  whom 
that  care  belongs,  to  expresse  that  care  as  they  doe  this 


A  London  Merchant.  83 

day,  7he  Lord  is  with  him,  even  in  this  Funerall ;  And 
because  The  Lord  is  here,  our  brother  is  not  dead  ;  Not 
dead  in  the  memories  and  estimation  of  men. 

And  lastly,  that  we  may  have  God  present  in  all  his  In  resune- 
Manifestations,  Hee  that  was,  and  is,  and  is  to  come,  was 
with  him,  in  his  hfe  and  death,  and  is  with  him  in  this 
holy  Solemnity,  and  shall  bee  with  him  againe  in  the 
Resurrection.  God  sayes  to  lacoh,  I  will  goe  downe  with  Gen.  46.  4. 
thee  into  Egyp,  and  I  will  also  surely  bring  thee  up  againe. 
God  goes  downe  with  a  good  man  into  the  Grave,  and  will 
surely  bring  him  up  againe.  When  ?  The  Angel  promised 
to  returne  to  Abraham  and  Sarah,  for  the  assurance  of  Gen.18. 10. 
the  birth  of  Isaac,  according  to  the  time  of  life  ;  that  is, 
in  such  time,  as  by  nature  a  woman  may  have  a  childe. 
God  will  returne  to  us  in  the  Grave,  according  to  the 
time  oj  life  ;  that  is,  in  such  time,  as  he,  by  his  gracious 
Decree,  hath  fixed  for  the  Resurrection.  And  in  the 
meane  time,  no  more  then  the  God-head  departed  from 
the  dead  body  of  our  Saviour,  in  the  grave,  doth  his 
power,  and  his  presence  depart  from  our  dead  bodies 
in  that  darknesse  ;  But  that  which  Moses  said  to  the 
whole  Congregation,  I  say  to  you  all,  both  to  you  that 
heare  me,  and  to  him  that  does  not.  All  ye  that  did  cleave  Deut.  4.  4, 
unto  the  Lord  your  God,  are  alive,  every  one  of  you,  this  day  ; 
Even  hee,  whom  wee  call  dead,  is  ahve  this  day.  In  the 
presence  of  God,  we  lay  him  downe  ;  In  the  power  of 
God,  he  shall  rise  ;  In  the  person  of  Christ,  he  is  risen 
already.  And  so  into  the  same  hands  that  have  received 
his  soule,  we  commend  his  body  ;  beseeching  his  blessed 
Spirit,  that  as  our  charity  enclines  us  to  hope  confidently 
of  his  good  estate,  our  faith  may  assure  us  of  the  same 

G  2 


84  A  London  Merchant. 

happinesse,  In  our  owne  behalfe  ;  And  that  for  all  our 
sakes,  but  especially  for  his  own  glory,  he  will  be  pleased 
to  hasten  the  consummation  of  all,  in  that  kingdome 
which  that  Son  of  God  hath  purchased  for  us,  with  the 
inestimable  price  of  his  incorruptible  blood.    Amen. 

48.  Sickness. 

PUT  all  the  miseries,  that  man  is  subject  to,  together, 
sicknesse  is  more  then  all.  It  is  the  immediate 
sword  of  God.  Phalaris  could  invent  a  Bull ;  and  others 
have  invented  Wheels  and  Racks  ;  but  no  persecutor 
could  ever  invent  a  sicknesse  or  a  way  to  inflict  a  sicknesse 
upon  a  condemned  man  :  To  a  galley  he  can  send  him, 
and  to  the  gallows,  and  command  execution  that  hour  ; 
but  to  a  quartane  fever,  or  to  a  gout,  hee  cannot  condemn 
him.  In  poverty  I  lack  but  other  things  ;  In  banishment 
I  lack  but  other  men  ;  But  in  sicknesse,  I  lack  my  self. 
And,  as  the  greatest  misery  of  war,  is,  when  our  own 
Country  is  made  the  seat  of  the  war  ;  so  is  it  of  affliction, 
when  mine  own  Body  is  made  the  subject  thereof.  How 
shall  I  put  a  just  value  upon  Gods  great  blessings  of 
Wine,  and  Oyle,  and  Milke,  and  Honey,  when  my  tast 
is  gone,  or  of  Liberty,  when  the  gout  fetters  my  feet  ? 

49.  Public  Opinion, 

THE  shame  of  men,  is  one  bridle,  that  is  cast  upon  us. 
It  is  a  morall  obduration,  and  in  the  suburbs,  next 
doore  to  a  spirituall  obduration,  to  be  Voyce-proofe, 
Censure-proofe,  not  to  be  afraid,  nor  ashamed,  what 
the  world  sayes.  He  that  relyes  upon  his  Plaudo  domi. 
Though  the  world  hisse,  I  give  my  selfe  a  Plaudite  at 


Public  Opinion.  85 

home,  I  have  him  at  my  Table,  and  her  in  my  bed, 
whom  I  would  have,  and  I  care  not  for  rumor  ;  he  that 
rests  in  such  a  Plaudite,  prepares  for  a  Tragedy,  a  Tragedy 
in  the  Amphitheater,  the  double  Theater,  this  world, 
and  the  next  too. 

SO.  Joy, 

JOY  is  peace  for  having  done  that  which  we  ought 
to  have  done  ....  To  have  something  to  doe,  to 
doe  it,  and  then  to  Rejoyce  in  having  done  it,  to  embrace 
a  calling,  to  performe  the  Duties  of  that  calling,  to  joy 
and  rest  in  the  peacefull  testimony  of  having  done  so  ; 
this  is  Christianly  done,  Christ  did  it  ;  Angelically  done, 
Angels  doe  it ;    Godly  done,  God  does  it. 

51.  Women. 

FOR,  howsoever  some  men  out  of  a  petulancy  and 
wantonnesse  of  wit,  and  out  of  the  extravagancy 
of  Paradoxes,  and  such  singularities,  have  called  the 
faculties,  and  abilities  of  women  in  question,  even  in 
the  roote  thereof,  in  the  reasonable  and  immortall  soul, 
yet  that  one  thing  alone  hath  been  enough  to  create 
a  doubt,  (almost  an  assurance  in  the  negative)  whether 
S.  Ambroses  Commentaries  upon  the  Epistles  of  S.  Paul, 
be  truly  his  or  no,  that  in  that  book  there  is  a  doubt 
made,  whether  the  woman  were  created  according  to 
Gods  Image  ;  Therefore,  because  that  doubt  is  made 
in  that  book,  the  book  it  self  is  suspected  not  to  have 
had  so  great,  so  grave,  so  constant  an  author  as  S.  Ambrose 
was  ;  No  author  of  gravity,  of  piety,  of  conversation  in 
the  Scriptures  could  admit  that  doubt,  whether  woman 
were  created  in  the  Image  of  God,  that  is,  in  possession 
of  a  reasonable  and  an  immortall  soul. 


86  Women. 

The  faculties  and  abilities  of  the  soul  appeare  best 
in  affaires  of  State,  and  in  Ecclesiasticall  affaires  ;  in 
matter  of  government,  and  in  matter  of  religion  ;  and 
in  neither  of  these  are  we  without  examples  of  able 
women.  For,  for  State  affaires,  and  matter  of  govern- 
ment, our  age  hath  given  us  such  a  Queen,  as  scarce  any 
former  King  hath  equalled  ;  And  in  the  Venetian  Story, 
I  remember,  that  certain  Matrons  of  that  City  were  sent 
by  Commission,  in  quality  of  Ambassadours,  to  an 
Empresse  with  whom  that  State  had  occasion  to  treate  ; 
And  in  the  Stories  of  the  Eastern  parts  of  the  World, 
it  is  said  to  be  in  ordinary  practise  to  send  women  for 
Ambassadours.  And  then,  in  matters  of  Religion, 
women  have  evermore  had  a  great  hand,  though  some- 
times on  the  left,  as  well  as  on  the  right  hand.  Sometimes 
their  abundant  wealth,  sometimes  their  personall  affec- 
tions to  some  Church-men,  sometimes  their  irregular 
and  indiscreet   zeale  hath   made   them  great   assistants 

Hieron.  of  great  Heretiques  ;  as  S.  Hierome  tels  us  of  Helena  to 
Simon  Magus,  and  so  was  Lucilia  to  Donatus,  so  another 
to  Mahomet,  and  others  to  others.  But  so  have  they  been 
also  great  instruments  for  the  advancing  of  true  Religion, 

Acts  17.  4  as  S.  Paul  testifies  in  their  behalf,  at  Thessolonica,  Of 
the  chiefe  zuomen,  not  a  few  ;  Great,  and  Many.  For, 
many  times  women  have  the  proxies  of  greater  persons 
then  themselves,  in  their  bosomes ;  many  times  women 
have  voices,  where  they  should  have  none  ;  many  times 
the  voices  of  great  men,  in  the  greatest  of  Civill,  or 
Ecclesiasticall  AssembUes,  have  been  in  the  power  and 
disposition  of  women.  .  .  . 

Women  of  quality  may  be  up  and  ready  early  enough 


Women.  87 

for  Gods  service,  if  they  will.  If  they  be  not,  let  them 
but  seriously  aske  themselves  that  question,  whether 
upon  no  other  occasion,  no  entertainment,  no  visit,  no 
letter  to  or  from  another,  they  could  have  made  more 
haste  ;  And  if  they  finde  they  could,  I  must  say  in  that 
case,  as  TertuUian  said.  They  have  put  God  and  that  man  TertuL 
into  the  balance,  and  waighed  them  together,  and  found 
God  too  light.  That  Mighty,  that  waighty,  that  pon- 
derous God,  that  blasts  a  State  with  a  breath,  that  melts 
a  Church  with  a  looke,  that  molders  a  world  with  a  touch, 
that  God  is  waighed  downe  with  that  man  ;  That  man, 
whose  errand,  if  it  be  but  conversation,  is  vanity,  but, 
if  it  be  sin,  is  nothing,  waighs  downe  God.  The  world 
will  needs  thinke  one  of  these  Maries,  {Magdalen)  to 
have  been  guilty  of  such  entertainments  as  these,  of 
Incontinency,  and  of  that  in  the  lowest  (that  is,  the 
highest)  kinde,  Prostitution  ;  perchance  she  was  ;  But, 
I  would  there  were  that  necessity  of  thinking  so,  that 
because  she  was  a  Woman,  and  is  called  a  sinner,  therefore 
that  must  be  her  sin,  as  though  they  were  capable  of 
no  other  sin  ;  Alas,  it  is  not  so.  There  may  be  women, 
whom  even  another  sin,  the  sin  of  Pride,  and  over- 
valuation of  themselves  may  have  kept  from  that  sin, 
and  yet  may  well  be  called  sinners  too  ;  There  may  be 
found  women,  whom  only  their  scorne  of  others,  hath 
kept  honest,  and  yet  are  sinners,  though  not  in  that  sin. 

52.  Cosmetics. 

CERTAINLY  the  limits  of  adorning  and  beautifying 
the  body  are   not   so   narrow,  so  strict,  as  by  some 
sowre  men  they  are  sometimes  conceived  to  be.    Differ- 


88  Cosmetics. 

ences  of  Ranks,  of  Ages,  of  Nations,  of  Customes,  make 
great  diflferences  in  the  enlarging,  or  contracting  of  these 
limits,  in  adorning  the  body ;  and  that  may  come  neare  sin 
at  some  time,  and  in  some  places,  which  is  not  so  alwaies, 
nor  every  where.  Amongst  the  women  there,  the  Jewish 
women,  it  was  so  generall  a  thing  to  helpe  themselves 
with  aromaticall  Oyles,  and  liniments,  as  that  that  which 
is  said  by  the  Prophets  poore  Widow,  to  the  Prophet 
2  King.  4.  Elisha,  That  she  had  nothing  in  the  house  hut  a  fot  oj  Oyle, 
is  very  properly  by  some  collected  from  the  Originall 
word,  that  it  was  not  Oyle  for  meate,  but  Oyle  for 
unction,  aromaticall  Oyle,  Oyle  to  make  her  looke  better  ; 
she  was  but  poore,  but  a  Widow,  but  a  Prophets  Widow, 
(and  likely  to  be  the  poorer  for  that)  yet  she  left  not  that. 
We  see  that  even  those  women,  whom  the  Kings  were 
to  take  for  their  Wives,  and  not  for  Mistresses,  (which 
is  but  a  later  name  for  Concubines)  had  a  certaine,  and 
a  long  time  assigned  to  be  prepared  by  these  aromaticall 
unctions,  and  liniments  for  beauty.  Neither  do  those 
that  consider,  that  when  Abraham  was  afraid  to  lose  his 
wife  Sara  in  Egypt,  and  that  every  man  that  saw  her, 
would  fall  in  love  with  her,  Sara  was  then  above  three- 
score ;  And  when  the  King  Abimelech  did  fall  in  love 
with  her,  and  take  her  from  Abraham^  she  was  fourescore 
and  ten,  they  doe  not  assigne  this  preservation  of  her 
complexion,  and  habitude  to  any  other  thing,  then  the 
use  of  those  unctions,  and  liniments,  which  were  ordinary 
to  that  Nation.  But  yet  though  the  extent  and  Umit  of 
this  adorning  the  body,  may  be  larger  then  some  austere 
persons  will  allow,  yet  it  is  not  so  large,  as  that  it  should  be 
limited  onely,  by  the  intention  and  purpose  of  them  that 


Cosmetics.  89 

doe  it ;  So  that  if  they  that  beautifie  themselves,  meane 
no  harme  in  it,  therefore  there  should  be  no  harme 
in  it ;  for,  except  they  could  as  well  provide,  that  others 
should  take  no  harme,  as  that  they  should  meane  no 
harme,  they  may  participate  of  the  fault.  And  since 
we  finde  such  an  impossibility  in  rectifying  and  governing 
our  owne  senses,  (we  cannot  take  our  owne  eye,  nor  stop 
our  owne  eare,  when  we  would)  it  is  an  unnecessary, 
and  insupportable  burden,  to  put  upon  our  score,  all  the 
lascivious  glances,  and  the  Hcentious  wishes  of  other 
persons,  occasioned  by  us,  in  over-adorning  our  selves. 

53.  The  Skin, 

C1ORRUPTION  in  the  skin,  says  lob  ;  In  the  outward  In  pelU, 
beauty.  These  be  the  Records  of  veHm,  these  be 
the  parchmins,  the  endictments,  and  the  evidences  that 
shall  condemn  many  of  us,  at  the  last  day,  our  own  skins  ; 
we  have  the  book  of  God,  the  Law,  written  in  our  own 
hearts ;  we  have  the  image  of  God  imprinted  in  our 
own  souls ;  wee  have  the  character,  and  seal  of  God 
stamped  in  us,  in  our  baptism  ;  and,  all  this  is  bound 
up  in  this  velim,  in  this  parchmin,  in  this  skin  of  ours, 
and  we  neglect  book,  and  image,  and  character,  and 
seal,  and  all  for  the  covering.  It  is  not  a  clear  case,  if 
we  consider  the  originall  words  properly,  That  lesahel  2  i?^g.9.3o. 
did  paint ;  and  yet  all  translators,  and  expositors  have 
taken  a  just  occasion,  out  of  the  ambiguity  of  those 
words,  to  cry  down  that  abomination  of  painting.  It 
is  not  a  clear  case,  if  we  consider  the  propriety  of  the 
words.  That  Ahsolon  was  hanged  by  the  hair  of  the  head  ;  2  5am.i8.9. 
and  yet  the  Fathers  and  others  have  made  use  of  that 


90  The  Skin. 

indlfferency,  and  verisimilitude,  to  explode  that  abomina- 
tion, of  cherishing  and  curHng  haire,  to  the  enveagUng, 
and    ensnaring,    and    entangling    of    others ;     ludicium 

Hieron.  patietUT  (Sternum^  says  ^aint  Hlerome,  Thou  art  guilty  of 
a  murder,  though  no  body  die  ;  Quia  vinum  attulisti,  si 
fuisset  qui  bibisset ;  Thou  hast  poyson'd  a  cup,  if  any 
would  drink,  thou  hast  prepar'd  a  tentation,  if  any  would 

Tertul.  swallow  it.  Teriullian  thought  he  had  done  enough, 
when  he  had  writ  his  book  De  Habitu  muliebri,  against 
the  excesse  of  women  in  clothes,  but  he  was  fain  to  adde 
another  with  more  vehemence,  De  cultu  foeminarum, 
that  went  beyond  their  clothes  to  their  skin.  And  he 
concludes,  Illud  ambitionis  crimen,  there's  vain-glory 
in  their  excesse  of  clothes,  but.  Hoc  prostitutionis,  there's 
prostitution  in  drawing  the  eye  to  the  skin.  Pliny  says, 
that  when  their  thin  silke  stufEes  were  first  invented  at 
Rome,  Excogitatum  ad  fceminas  denudandas  ;  It  was  but 
an  invention  that  women  might  go  naked  in  clothes, 
for  their  skins  might  bee  seen  through  those  clothes, 
those  thinne  stuffes  :  Our  women  are  not  so  careful!, 
but  they  expose  their  nakednesse  professedly,  and  paint 
it,  to  cast  bird-Hme  for  the  passengers  eye.  Beloved, 
good  dyet  makes  the  best  Complexion,  and  a  good 
Conscience  is  a  continuall  feast  ;  A  cheerfull  heart  makes 
the  best  blood,  and  peace  with  God  is  the  true  cheerful- 
nesse  of  heart.  Thy  Saviour  neglected  his  skin  so  much, 
as  that  at  last,  hee  scarce  had  any  ;  all  was  torn  with  the 
whips,  and  scourges  ;  and  thy  skin  shall  come  to  that 
absolute  corruption,  as  that,  though  a  hundred  years 
after  thou  art  buryed,  one  may  find  thy  bones,  and  say, 
this  was  a  tall  man,  this  was  a  strong  man,  yet  we  shall 


The  Skin.  91 

soon  be  past  saying,  upon  any  relique  of  thy  skinne,  This 
was  a  fair  man ;  Corruption  seises  the  skinne,  all  out- 
ward beauty  quickly,  and  so  it  does  the  body,  the  whole 
frame  and  constitution,  which  is  another  consideration  ; 
After  my  skinne,  my  Body. 

If  the  whole  body  were  an  eye,  or  an  ear,  where  were  the  In  corpore. 
body,  says  Saint  Paul ;  but,  when  of  the  whole  body 
there  is  neither  eye  nor  ear,  nor  any  member  left,  where 
is  the  body  ?  And  what  should  an  eye  do  there,  where 
there  is  nothing  to  be  seen  but  loathsomnesse  ;  or  a  nose 
there,  where  there  is  nothing  to  be  smelt,  but  putre- 
faction ;  or  an  ear,  where  in  the  grave  they  doe  not 
praise  God  ?  Doth  not  that  body  that  boasted  but 
yesterday  of  that  priviledge  above  all  creatures,  that  it 
onely  could  goe  upright,  lie  to  day  as  flat  upon  the  earth 
as  the  body  of  a  horse,  or  of  a  dogge  ?  And  doth  it  not 
to  morrow  lose  his  other  priviledge,  of  looking  up  to 
heaven  ?  Is  it  not  farther  remov'd  from  the  eye  of 
heaven,  the  Sunne,  then  any  dogge,  or  horse,  by  being 
cover'd  with  the  earth,  which  they  are  not  ?  Painters 
have  presented  to  us  with  some  horrour,  the  sceleton, 
the  frame  of  the  bones  of  a  mans  body  ;  but  the  state 
of  a  body,  in  the  dissolution  of  the  grave,  no  pencil  can 
present  to  us. 

54.  Mud  Walls. 

BEHOLD  God  hath  walled  us  with  mud  walls,  and 
wet  mud  walls,  that  waste  away  faster,  then  God 
meant  at  first,  they  should.  And  by  sinnes,  this  flesh, 
that  is  but  the  loame  and  plaster  of  thy  Tabernacle, 
thy  body,  that,  all,  that,  that  in  the  intire  substance  is 


92  Mud  Walls. 

corrupted.  Those  Gummes,  and  spices,  wliich  should 
embalme  thy  flesh,  when  thou  art  dead,  are  spent  upon 
that  diseased  body  whilest  thou  art  ahve  :  Thou  seemest, 
in  the  eye  of  the  world,  to  walk  in  silks^  and  thou  doest 
but  walke  in  searcloth  ;  Thou  hast  a  desire  to  please 
some  eyes,  when  thou  hast  much  to  doe,  not  to  displease 
every  Nose  ;  and  thou  wilt  solicite  an  adulterous  entrance 
into  their  beds,  who,  if  they  should  but  see  thee  goe  into 
thine  own  bed,  would  need  no  other  mortification,  nor 
answer  to  thy  sohcitation.  Thou  pursuest  the  works 
of  the  flesh,  and  hast  none,  for  thy  flesh  is  but  dust  held 
together  by  plaisters :  Dissolution  and  putrefaction  is 
gone  over  thee  alive  ;  Thou  hast  over  liv'd  thine  own 
death,  and  art  become  thine  own  ghost,  and  thine  own 
heU. 

55.  Ignorance, 

THE  Schooles  have  made  so  many  Divisions,  and  sub- 
divisions, and  re-divisions,  and  post-divisions  of 
Ignorance,  that  there  goes  as  much  learning  to  under- 
stand ignorance,  as  knowledg.  One,  much  elder  then  al 
they,  &  elder  (as  some  will  have  it)  then  any  but  some  of 
the  first  Secretaries  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  Bible,  that 
is  Trismegistus,  hath  said  as  much  as  all,  Nequitia  animis 
Ignorantia,  Ignorance  is  not  onely  the  drousinesse,  the 
silhnesse,  but  the  wickednesse  of  the  soule  :  Not  onely 
dis-estimation  in  this  world,  and  damnification  here,  but 
damnation  in  the  next  world,  proceeds  from  ignorance. 
And  yet,  here  in  this  world,  knowledge  is  but  as  the 
earth,  and  ignorance  as  the  Sea  ;  there  is  more  sea  then 
earth,  more  ignorance  then  knowledge  ;  and  as  if  the  sea 
do  gaine  in  one  place,  it  loses  in  another,  so  is  it  with 


Ignorance.  93 

knowledge  too  ;  if  new  things  be  found  out,  as  many, 
and  as  good,  that  were  knowne  before,  are  forgotten  and 
lost.  What  Anatomist  knovves  the  body  of  man  thorowly, 
or  what  Casuist  the  soule  ?  What  Politician  knowes  the 
distemper  of  the  State  thorowly ;  or  what  Master,  the 
disorders  of  his  owne  family  ?  Princes  glory  in  Arcanis, 
that  they  have  secrets  which  no  man  shall  know,  and,  God 
knowes,  they  have  hearts  which  they  know  not  themselves ; 
Thoughts  and  purposes  indigested  fall  upon  them  and 
surprise  them.  It  is  so  in  naturall,  in  morall,  in  civill 
things  ;  we  are  ignorant  of  more  things  then  we  know  ; 
And  it  is  so  in  divine  and  supernaturall  things  too  ;  for, 
for  them,  the  Scripture  is  our  onely  hght,  and  of  the 
Scripture,  S.  Augustine  professes,  Plura  se  nescire  quam 
scire,  That  there  are  more  places  of  Scripture,  that  he 
does  not,  then  that  he  does  understand. 

Hell  is  darknesse ;  &  the  way  to  it,  is  the  cloud  of 
Ignorance ;  hell  it  self  is  but  condensed  Ignorance, 
multiplied  Ignorance. 

56.  The  Imperfection  of  Knowledge, 

HOW  imperfect  is  all  our  knowledge  ?  What  one 
thing  doe  we  know  perfectly  ?  Whether  wee  consider 
Arts,  or  Sciences,  the  servant  knows  but  according  to 
the  proportion  of  his  Masters  knowledge  in  that  Art,  and 
the  Scholar  knows  but  according  to  the  proportion  of 
his  Masters  knowledge  in  that  Science ;  Young  men 
mend  not  their  sight  by  using  old  mens  Spectacles ;  and 
yet  we  looke  upon  Nature,  but  with  Aristotles  Spectacles, 
and  upon  the  body  of  man,  but  with  Galens,  and  upon 
the  frame  of  the  world,  but  with  Ptolomies  Spectacles. 


94  The  Imperfection  of  Knowledge. 

Almost  all  knowledge  is  rather  like  a  child  that  is  embalmed 
to  make  Mummy,  then  that  is  nursed  to  make  a  Man  ; 
rather  conserved  in  the  stature  of  the  first  age,  then  growne 
to  be  greater  ;  And  if  there  be  any  addition  to  knowledge, 
it  is  rather  a  new  knowledge,  then  a  greater  knowledge  ; 
rather  a  singularity  in  a  desire  of  proposing  something 
that  was  not  knowne  at  all  before,  then  an  emproving, 
an  advancing,  a  multiplying  of  former  inceptions  ;  and 
by  that  meanes,  no  knowledge  comes  to  be  perfect.  One 
Philosopher  thinks  he  is  dived  to  the  bottome,  when  he 
sayes,  he  knows  nothing  but  this.  That  he  knows  nothing  ; 
and  yet  another  thinks,  that  he  hath  expressed  more 
knowledge  then  he,  in  saying.  That  he  knows  not  so  m.uch 
as  that,  That  he  knows  nothing.  S.  Paul  found  that  to 
be  all  knowledge.  To  know  Christ  ;  And  Mahomet 
thinks  himselfe  wise  therefore,  because  he  knows  not, 
acknowledges  not  Christ,  as  S.  Paul  does.  Though  a  man 
knew  not,  that  every  sin  casts  another  shovell  of  Brimstone 
upon  him  in  Hell,  yet  if  he  knew  that  every  riotous  feast 
cuts  off  a  year,  and  every  wanton  night  seaven  years  of 
his  seventy  in  this  world,  it  were  some  degree  towards 
perfection  in  knowledge.  He  that  purchases  a  Mannor, 
will  thinke  to  have  an  exact  Survey  of  the  Land  :  But 
who  thinks  of  taking  so  exact  a  survey  of  his  Conscience, 
how  that  money  was  got,  that  purchased  that  Mannor  ? 
We  call  that  a  mans  meanes,  which  he  hath  ;  But  that  is 
truly  his  meanes,  what  way  he  came  by  it.  And  yet  how 
few  are  there,  (when  a  state  comes  to  any  great  propor- 
tion) that  know  that ;  that  know  what  they  have,  what 
they  are  worth  ?  We  have  seen  great  Wills,  dilated  into 
glorious  uses,  and  into  pious  uses,  and  then  too  narrow 


The  Imperfection  of  Knowledge.         95 

an  estate  to  reach  to  it ;  And  we  have  seen  Wills,  where 
the  Testator  thinks  he  hath  bequeathed  all,  and  he  hath 
not  knowne  halfe  his  own  worth.  When  thou  knowest 
a  wife,  a  sonne,  a  servant,  a  friend  no  better,  but  that 
that  wife  betrayes  thy  bed,  and  that  sonne  thine  estate, 
and  that  servant  thy  credit,  and  that  friend  thy  secret, 
what  canst  thou  say  thou  knowest  ? 

57.  Change  of  Mind, 

rHET  changed  their  minds,  and  said,  That  he  was 
a  God,  Acts  xxviii.  6.  .  .  .  Neither  have  these  men  of 
Malta  (consider  them  in  what  quality  you  will)  so  much 
honour  afforded  them,  in  the  Originall,  as  our  translation 
hath  given  them.  We  say,  they  changed  their  minds ;  the 
Original  says  only  this,  they  changed,  and  no  more.  Alas, 
they,  we,  men  of  this  world,  wormes  of  this  dunghil, 
whether  Basihsks  or  Wind  wormes,  whether  Scarabs  or 
Silkworms,  whether  high  or  low  in  the  world,  have  no 
minds  to  change.  The  Platonique  Philosophers  did  not 
only  acknowledge  Animd  in  homine,  a  soule  in  man,  but 
Mentem  in  anima,  a  minde  in  the  soul  of  man.  They 
meant  by  the  minde,  the  superiour  faculties  of  the  soule, 
and  we  never  come  to  exercise  them.  Men  and  women 
call  one  another  inconstant,  and  accuse  one  another  of 
having  changed  their  minds,  when,  God  knowes,  they  have 
but  changed  the  object  of  their  eye,  and  seene  a  better 
white  or  red.  An  old  man  loves  not  the  same  sports  that 
he  did  when  he  was  young,  nor  a  sicke  man  the  same 
meats  that  hee  did  when  hee  was  well ;  But  these  men  have 
not  changed  their  mindes ;  The  old  man  hath  changed 
his  fancy,  and  the  sick  man  his  taste ;  neither  his  minde. 


96  Change  of  Mind. 

The  Mind  implies  consideration,  deliberation,  con- 
clusion upon  premisses  ;  and  wee  never  come  to  that  ; 
wee  never  put  the  soule  home  ;  wee  never  bend  the  soule 
up  to  her  height ;  we  never  put  her  to  a  tryall  what  she 
is  able  to  doe  towards  discerning  a  tentation,  what  towards 
resisting  a  tentation,  what  towards  repenting  a  tentation  ; 
we  never  put  her  to  tryall  what  she  is  able  to  doe  by  her 
naturall  faculties,  whether  by  them  shee  cannot  be  as 
good  as  a  Plato,  or  a  Socrates,  who  had  no  more  but  those 
naturall  faculties  ;  what  by  vertue  of  Gods  generall 
grace,  which  is  that  providence,  in  which  he  inwraps 
all  his  creatures,  whether  by  that  she  cannot  know  her 
God,  as  well  as  the  Oxe  knowes  his  Crib,  and  the  Stork 
her  nest ;  what  by  vertue  of  those  particular  graces, 
which  God  offers  her  in  his  private  inspirations  at  home, 
and  in  his  publique  Ordinances  here,  whether  by  those 
she  cannot  be  as  good  an  houre  hence,  as  she  is  now  ; 
and  as  good  a  day  after,  as  that  day  that  she  receives 
the  Sacrament  ;  we  never  put  the  soule  home,  we  never 
bend  the  soule  up  to  her  height ;  and  the  extent  of  the 
soule  is  this  minde.  When  David  speaks  of  the  people, 
PsaL  2.  2.  he  sayes.  They  imagine  a  vaine  thing  ;  It  goes  no  farther, 
then  to  the  fancy,  to  the  imagination  ;  it  never  comes 
so  neare  the  minde,  as  Consideration,  Reflection,  Examina- 
tion, they  onely  imagine,  fancy  a  vain  thing,  which  is 
but  a  waking  dreame,  for  the  fancy  is  the  seat,  the  scene, 
the  theatre  of  dreames. 


Reason  and  Faith.  97 

58.  Reason  and  Faith, 

THEY  had  a  precious  composition  for  lamps,  amongst 
the  ancients,  reserved  especially  for  Tombes,  which 
kept  light  for  many  hundreds  of  yeares ;  we  have  had 
in  our  age  experience,  in  some  casuall  openings  of  ancient 
vaults,  of  finding  such  lights,  as  were  kindled,  (as  appeared 
by  their  inscriptions)  fifteen  or  sixteen  hundred  years 
before  ;  but,  as  soon  as  that  light  comes  to  our  light,  it 
vanishes.  So  this  eternall,  and  this  supernaturall  light, 
Christ  and  faith,  enhghtens,  warmes,  purges,  and  does 
all  the  profitable  offices  of  fire,  and  light,  if  we  keep  it 
in  the  right  spheare,  in  the  proper  place,  (that  is,  if  wee 
consist  in  points  necessary  to  salvation,  and  revealed  in 
the  Scripture)  but  when  wee  bring  this  light  to  the 
common  light  of  reason,  to  our  inferences,  and  conse- 
quencies,  it  may  be  in  danger  to  vanish  it  selfe,  and 
perchance  extinguish  our  reason  too  ;  we  may  search 
so  far,  and  reason  so  long  oi  faith  and  grace,  as  that  we 
may  lose  not  onely  them,  but  even  our  reason  too,  and 
sooner  become  mad  then  good.  Not  that  we  are  bound 
to  believe  any  thing  against  reason,  that  is,  to  believe, 
we  know  not  why.  It  is  but  a  slacke  opinion,  it  is  not 
Beliefe,  that  is  not  grounded  upon  reason.  He  that 
should  come  to  a  Heathen  man,  a  meere  naturall  man, 
uncatechized,  uninstructed  in  the  rudiments  of  the 
Christian  Religion,  and  should  at  first,  without  any 
preparation,  present  him  first  with  this  necessitie  ;  Thou 
shalt  burn  in  fire  and  brimstone  eternally,  except  thou 
beheve  a  Trinitie  of  Persons,  in  an  unitie  of  one  God, 
Except    thou    believe    the   Incarnation    of    the   second 

2025*3  H 


98  Reason  and  Faith. 

Person  of  the  Trinitie,  the  Sonne  of  God,  Except  thou 
believe  that  a  Virgine  had  a  Sonne,  and  the  same  Sonne 
that  God  had,  and  that  God  was  Man  too,  and  being 
the  immortall  God,  yet  died,  he  should  be  so  farre  from 
working  any  spirituall  cure  upon  this  poore  soule,  as 
that  he  should  rather  bring  Christian  Mysteries  into 
scorne,  then  him  to  a  beliefe.  For,  that  man,  if  you 
proceed  so,  Believe  all,  or  you  burne  in  Hell,  would 
finde  an  easie,  an  obvious  way  to  escape  all ;  that  is, 
first  not  to  believe  Hell  it  selfe,  and  then  nothing  could 
binde  him  to  believe  the  rest. 

The  reason  therefore  of  Man,  must  first  be  satisfied  ; 
but  the  way  of  such  satisfaction  must  be  this,  to  make 
him  see,  That  this  World,  a  frame  of  so  much  harmony, 
so  much  concinnitie  and  conveniencie,  and  such  a  corre- 
spondence, and  subordination  in  the  parts  thereof,  must 
necessarily  have  had  a  workeman,  for  nothing  can  make 
it  selfe  :  That  no  such  workeman  would  deliver  over 
a  frame,  and  worke,  of  so  much  Majestic,  to  be  governed 
by  Fortune,  casually,  but  would  still  retain  the  Adminis- 
tration thereof  in  his  owne  hands  :  That  if  he  doe  so, 
if  he  made  the  World,  and  sustaine  it  still  by  his  watchfuU 
Providence,  there  belongeth  a  worship  and  service  to 
him,  for  doing  so  :  That  therefore  he  hath  certainly 
revealed  to  man,  what  kinde  of  worship,  and  service, 
shall  be  acceptable  to  him  :  That  this  manifestation  of 
his  Will,  must  be  permanent,  it  must  be  written,  there 
must  be  a  Scripture,  which  is  his  Word  and  his  Will : 
And  that  therefore,  from  that  Scripture,  from  that 
Word  of  God,  all  Articles  of  our  BeHefe  are  to  bee  drawne. 

If   then  his   Reason  confessing  all   this,   aske  farther 


Reason  and  Faith.  99 

proofe,  how  he  shall  know  that  these  Scriptures  accepted 
by  the  Christian  Church,  are  the  true  Scriptures,  let 
him  bring  any  other  Booke  which  pretendeth  to  be  the 
Word  of  God,  into  comparison  with  these  ;  It  is  true* 
we  have  not  a  Demonstration  ;  not  such  an  Evidence  as 
that  one  and  two,  are  three,  to  prove  these  to  be  Scrip- 
tures of  God  ;  God  hath  not  proceeded  in  that  manner, 
to  drive  our  Reason  into  a  pound,  and  to  force  it  by 
a  peremptory  necessitie  to  accept  these  for  Scriptures, 
for  then,  here  had  been  no  exercise  of  our  Will,  and  our 
assent,  if  we  could  not  have  resisted.  But  yet  these 
Scriptures  have  so  orderly,  so  sweet,  and  so  powerfull 
a  working  upon  the  reason,  and  the  understanding,  as  if 
any  third  man,  who  were  utterly  discharged  of  all  pre- 
conceptions and  anticipations  in  matter  of  ReHgion, 
one  who  were  altogether  neutrally  disinteressed,  uncon- 
cerned in  either  party,  nothing  towards  a  Turke,  and  as 
Httle  toward  a  Christian,  should  heare  a  Christian  pleade 
for  his  Bible,  and  a  7urke  for  his  Alcoran,  and  should 
weigh  the  evidence  of  both  ;  the  Majesty  of  the  Style, 
the  punctuall  accomplishment  of  the  Prophecies,  the 
harmony  and  concurrence  of  the  foure  Evangelists,  the 
consent  and  unanimity  of  the  Christian  Church  ever 
since,  and  many  other  such  reasons,  he  would  be  drawne 
to  such  an  Historicall,  such  a  Grammatical!,  such  a 
Logicall  beliefe  of  our  Bible,  as  to  preferre  it  before  any 
other,  that  could  be  pretended  to  be  the  Word  of  God. 
He  would  believe  it,  and  he  would  know  why  he  did  so. 
For  let  no  man  thinke  that  God  hath  given  him  so  much 
ease  here,  as  to  save  him  by  beheving  he  knoweth  not 
what,  or  why.    Knowledge  cannot  save  us,  but  we  cannot 

H  2 


100  Reason  and  Faith. 

be  saved  without  Knowledge ;  Faith  is  not  on  this 
side  Knowledge,  but  beyond  it  ;  we  must  necessarily 
come  to  Knowledge  first,  though  we  must  not  stay  at 
it,  when  we  are  come  thither.  For,  a  regenerate  Chris- 
tian, being  now  a  new  Creature,  hath  also  a  new  facultie 
of  Reason  :  and  so  beheveth  the  Mysteries  of  Religion, 
out  of  another  Reason,  then  as  a  meere  naturall  Man, 
he  believed  naturall  and  morall  things.  He  believeth 
them  for  their  own  sake,  by  Faith,  though  he  take 
Knowledge  of  them  before,  by  that  common  Reason, 
and  by  those  humane  Arguments,  which  worke  upon 
other  men,  in  naturall  or  morall  things.  Divers  men  may 
walke  by  the  Sea  side,  and  the  same  beames  of  the  Sunne 
giving  Hght  to  them  all,  one  gathereth  by  the  benefit  of 
that  light  pebles,  or  speckled  shells,  for  curious  vanitie, 
and  another  gathers  precious  Pearle,  or  medicinal!  Ambar, 
by  the  same  light.  So  the  common  light  of  reason 
illumins  us  all ;  but  one  imployes  this  light  upon  the 
searching  of  impertinent  vanities,  another  by  a  better 
use  of  the  same  light,  finds  out  the  Mysteries  of  Religion  ; 
and  when  he  hath  found  them,  loves  them,  not  for  the 
lights  sake,  but  for  the  naturall  and  true  worth  of  the 
thing  it  self.  Some  men  by  the  benefit  of  this  light  of 
Reason,  have  found  out  things  profitable  and  usefull 
to  the  whole  world  ;  As  in  particular,  Printing,  by  which 
the  learning  of  the  whole  world  is  communicable  to  one 
another,  and  our  minds  and  our  inventions,  our  wits 
and  compositions  may  trade  and  have  commerce  together, 
and  we  may  participate  of  one  anothers  understandings, 
as  well  as  of  our  Clothes,  and  Wines,  and  Oyles,  and  other 
Merchandize  :    So  by  the  benefit  of  this  hght  of  reason, 


Reason  and  Faith.  loi 

they  have  found  out  Artillery,  by  which  wanes  come  to 
quicker  ends  then  heretofore,  and  the  great  expence  of 
bloud  is  avoyded  :  for  the  numbers  of  men  slain  now, 
since  the  invention  of  Artillery,  are  much  lesse  then  before, 
when  the  sword  was  the  executioner.  Others,  by  the 
benefit  of  this  Hght  have  searched  and  found  the  secret 
corners  of  gaine,  and  profit,  wheresoever  they  lie.  They 
have  found  wherein  the  weakenesse  of  another  man 
consisteth,  and  made  their  profit  of  that,  by  circum- 
venting him  in  a  bargain  :  They  have  found  his  riotous, 
and  wasteful!  inclination,  and  they  have  fed  and  fomented 
that  disorder,  and  kept  open  that  leake,to  their  advantage, 
and  the  others  mine.  They  have  found  where  was  the 
easiest,  and  most  accessible  way,  to  sollicite  the  Chastitie 
of  a  woman,  whether  Discourse,  Musicke,  or  Presents, 
and  according  to  that  discovery,  they  have  pursued 
hers,  and  their  own  eternal!  destruction.  By  the  benefit 
of  this  light,  men  see  through  the  darkest,  and  most 
impervious  places,  that  are,  that  is,  Courts  of  Princes, 
and  the  greatest  Officers  in  Courts  ;  and  can  submit 
themselves  to  second,  and  to  advance  the  humours  of 
men  in  great  place,  and  so  make  their  profit  of  the 
weakenesses  which  they  have  discovered  in  these  great 
men.  All  the  wayes,  both  of  Wisdome,  and  of  Craft  lie 
open  to  this  light,  tliis  light  of  natural!  reason  :  But 
when  they  have  gone  all  these  wayes  by  the  benefit 
of  this  light,  they  have  got  no  further,  then  to  have 
walked  by  a  tempestuous  Sea,  and  to  have  gathered 
pebles,  and  speckled  cockle  shells.  Their  hght  seems  to 
be  great  out  of  the  same  reason,  that  a  Torch  in  a  misty 
night,  seemeth  greater  then  in  a  clear,  because  it  hath 


102  Reason  and  Faith. 

kindled  and  inflamed  much  thicke  and  grosse  Ayre  round 
about  it.  So  the  light  and  wisedome  of  worldly  men, 
seemeth  great,  because  he  hath  kindled  an  admiration, 
or  an  applause  in  Aiery  flatterers,  not  because  it  is  so 
in  deed. 

But,  if  thou  canst  take  this  light  of  reason  that  is  in 
thee,  this  poore  snuffe,  that  is  almost  out  in  thee,  thy 
faint  and  dimme  knowledge  of  God,  that  riseth  out  of 
this  light  of  nature,  if  thou  canst  in  those  embers,  those 
cold  ashes,  finde  out  one  small  coale,  and  wilt  take  the 
paines  to  kneell  downe,  and  blow  that  coale  with  thy 
devout  Prayers,  and  light  thee  a  little  candle,  (a  desire 
to  reade  that  Booke,  which  they  call  the  Scriptures,  and 
the  Gospell,  and  the  Word  of  God  ;)  If  with  that  little 
candle  thou  canst  creep  humbly  into  low  and  poore 
places,  if  thou  canst  finde  thy  Saviour  in  a  Manger,  and 
in  his  swathing  clouts,  in  his  humiliation,  and  blesse  God 
for  that  beginning,  if  thou  canst  finde  him  flying  into 
Egypt,  and  finde  in  thy  selfe  a  disposition  to  accompany 
him  in  a  persecution,  in  a  banishment,  if  not  a  bodily 
banishment,  a  locall  banishment,  yet  a  reall,  a  spirituall 
banishment,  a  banishment  from  those  sinnes,  and  that 
sinnefull  conversation,  which  thou  hast  loved  more  then 
thy  Parents,  or  Countrey,  or  thine  owne  body,  which 
perchance  thou  hast  consumed,  and  destroyed  with  that 
sinne  ;  if  thou  canst  finde  him  contenting  and  containing 
himselfe  at  home  in  his  fathers  house,  and  not  breaking 
out,  no  not  about  the  worke  of  our  salvation,  till  the 
due  time  was  come,  when  it  was  to  be  done.  And  if 
according  to  that  example,  thou  canst  contain  thy  selfe 
in  that  station  and  vocation  in  which  God  hath  planted 


Reason  and  Faith.  103 

thee,  and  not,  through  a  hasty  and  precipitate  zeale^ 
breake  out  to  an  imaginary,  and  intempestive,  and 
unseasonable  Reformation,  either  in  CiviU  or  Ecclesiasticall 
businesse,  which  belong  not  to  thee  ;  if  with  this  little 
poore  light,  these  first  degrees  of  Knowledge  and  Faith, 
thou  canst  follow  him  into  the  Garden,  and  gather  up 
some  of  the  droppes  of  his  precious  Bloud  and  sweat, 
which  he  shed  for  thy  soule,  if  thou  canst  follow  him  to 
Jerusalem,  and  pick  up  some  of  those  teares,  which  he 
shed  upon  that  City,  and  upon  thy  soule  ;  if  thou  canst 
follow  him  to  the  place  of  his  scourging,  and  to  his 
crucifying,  and  provide  thee  some  of  that  balme,  which 
must  cure  thy  soule  ;  if  after  all  this,  thou  canst  turne 
this  little  light  inward,  and  canst  thereby  discerne  where 
thy  diseases,  and  thy  wounds,  and  thy  corruptions  are, 
and  canst  apply  those  teares,  and  blood  and  balme  to 
them,  (all  this  is.  That  if  thou  attend  the  Hght  of  natural] 
reason,  and  cherish  that,  and  exalt  that,  so  that  that 
bring  thee  to  a  love  of  the  Scriptures,  and  that  love  to 
a  beleefe  of  the  truth  thereof,  and  that  historic  all  faith 
to  z.  faith  of  application,  of  appropriation,  that  as  all  those 
things  were  certainly  done,  so  they  were  certainly  done/or 
thee)  thou  shalt  never  envy  the  lustre  and  glory  of  the  great 
lights  of  worldly  men,  which  are  great  by  the  infirmity  of 
others,  or  by  their  own  opinion,  great  because  others  think 
them  great,  or  because  they  think  themselves  so,  but  thou 
shalt  finde,  that  howsoever  they  magnifie  their  lights,  their 
wit,  their  learning,  their  industry,  their  fortune,  their 
favour,  and  sacrifice  to  their  owne  nets,  yet  thou  shalt  see,  Uahak  i. 
that  thou  by  thy  small  Hght  hast  gathered  Pearle  and 
Amber,  and  they  by  their  great  lights  nothing  but  shels 


104  Reason  and  Faith. 

and  pebles ;  they  have  determined  the  light  of  nature, 
upon  the  booke  of  nature,  this  world,  and  thou  hast  carried 
the  light  of  nature  higher,  thy  naturall  reason,  and  even 
humane  arguments,  have  brought  thee  to  reade  the 
Scriptures,  and  to  that  love,  God  hath  set  to  the  scale  of 
faith.  Their  Hght  shall  set  at  noone  ;  even  in  their 
heighth,  some  heavy  crosse  shall  cast  a  damp  upon  their 
soule,  and  cut  off  all  their  succours,  and  devest  them  of 
all  comforts,  and  thy  light  shall  grow  up,  from  a  Jaire 
hope,  to  a  modest  assurance  and  infallibility,  that  that 
light  shall  never  go  out,  nor  the  works  of  darknesse,  nor 
the  Prince  of  darknesse  ever  prevaile  upon  thee,  but  as 
thy  Hght  of  reason  is  exalted  hy  faith  here,  so  thy  Hght  of 
faith  shall  be  exalted  into  the  light  of  glory,  and  fruition 
in  the  Kingdome  of  heaven.  Before  the  sunne  was  made, 
there  was  a  light  which  did  that  office  of  distinguishing 
night  and  day  ;  but  when  the  sunne  was  created,  that 
did  all  the  offices  of  the  former  light,  and  more.  Reason 
is  that  first,  and  primogeniall  light,  and  goes  no  farther 
in  a  naturall  man  ;  but  in  a  man  regenerate  by  faith, 
that  light  does  all  that  reason  did,  and  more  ;  and  aU  his 
Morall,  and  Ci-uill,  and  Domestique,  and  indifferent 
actions,  (though  they  be  never  done  without  Reason) 
yet  their  principall  scope,  and  marke  is  the  glory  of  God, 
and  though  they  seeme  but  Morall,  or  Civill,  or  domestique, 
yet  they  have  a  deeper  tincture,  a  heavenly  nature, 
a  relation  to  God.  in  them. 


True  Knowledge,  105 

59.  7Tue  Knowledge. 

BLESSED  are  they  that  inanimate  all  their  knowledge, 
consummate  all  in  Christ  Jesus.  The  University 
is  a  Paradise,  Rivers  of  knowledge  are  there,  Arts  and 
Sciences  flow  from  thence.  Counsell  Tables  are  Horti 
conclusi,  (as  it  is  said  in  the  Canticles)  Gardens  that  are 
walled  in,  and  they  are  Fontes  signati,  Wells  that  are 
sealed  up  ;  bottomlesse  depths  of  unsearchable  Counsels 
there.  But  those  Aquce  quietudinum,  which  the  Prophet 
speaks  of,  The  waters  of  rest,  they  flow  a  magistro  bono, 
from  this  good  master,  and  flow  into  him  again  ;  All 
knowledge  that  begins  not,  and  ends  not  with  his  glory, 
is  but  a  giddy,  but  a  vertiginous  circle,  but  an  elaborate 
and  exquisite  ignorance. 

60.  Terrible  Things, 

IN  the  frame  and  constitution  of  al  Rehgions,  these 
Materials,  these  Elements  have  ever  entred  ;  Some 
words  of  a  remote  signification,  not  vulgarly  understood,, 
some  actions  of  a  kinde  of  halfe-horror  and  amazement, 
some  places  of  reservation  and  retirednesse,  and  appro- 
priation to  some  sacred  persons,  and  inaccessible  to  all 
others.  Not  to  speake  of  the  services,  and  sacrifices  of 
the  Gentiles,  and  those  selfe-manglings  and  lacerations 
of  the  Priests  of  Isis,  and  of  the  Priests  of  Baal,  (faintly 
counterfaited  in  the  scourgings  and  flagellations  in  the 
Roman  Church)  In  that  very  discipline  which  was 
dehvered  from  God,  by  Moses,  the  service  was  full  of 
mysterie,  and  horror,  and  reservation.  By  terrible  things, 
(Sacrifices  of  blood  in  manifold  effusions)  God  answered 


io6  Terrible  Things. 

them,  then.  So,  the  matter  of  Doctrine  was  delivered 
mysteriously,  and  with  much  reservation,  and  in-intelH- 
giblenesse,  as  Tertullian  speaks.  The  Joy  and  Glory 
of  Heaven  was  not  easily  understood  by  their  temporall 
abundances  of  Milke,  and  Honey,  and  Oyle,  and  Wine  ; 
and  yet,  in  these  (and  scarce  any  other  way)  was  Heaven 
presented,  and  notified  to  that  people  by  Moses.  Christ, 
a  Messias,  a  Saviour  of  the  World,  by  shedding  his  blood 
for  it,  was  not  easily  discerned  in  their  Types  and  Sacri- 
fices ;  And  yet  so,  and  scarce  any  other  way  was  Christ 
Eos.i2.io.  revealed  unto  them.  God  sayes,  /  have  multiplied  visions, 
and  used  similitudes,  by  the  ministery  of  the  Prophets. 
They  were  Visions,  they  were  Simihtudes,  not  plaine  and 
evident  things,  obvious  to  every  understanding,  that  God 
led  his  people  by.  .  .  . 

So  that  God  in  the  Old,  and  Christ  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, hath  conditioned  his  Doctrine,  and  his  Religion 
(that  is,  his  outward  worship)  so,  as  that  evermore  there 
should  be  preserved  a  Majesty,  and  a  reverentiall  feare, 
and  an  awfull  discrimination  of  Divine  things  from 
Civill,  and  evermore  something  reserved  to  be  inquired 
after,  and  laid  up  in  the  mouth  of  the  Priest,  that  the 
People  might  acknowledge  an  obligation  from  him,  in 
the  exposition,  and  application  thereof.  Nay,  this  way 
of  answering  us  by  terrible  things,  (that  is,  by  things 
that  imprint  a  holy  horror,  and  a  ReHgious  reverence)  is 
much  more  in  the  Christian  Church,  then  it  can  have 
beene  in  any  other  Religion  ;  Because,  if  wee  consider 
the  Jews,  (which  is  the  onely  Religion,  that  can  enter 
into  any  comparison  with  the  Christian,  in  this  kinde) 
yet,  we  looke  more  directly  and  more  immediately  upon 


Terrible  Things.  107 

God  in  Christ,  then  the/  could,  who  saw  him  but  by 
way  of  Prophecie,  a  future  thing  that  should  be  done 
after  ;  we  looke  upon  God,  in  History,  in  matter  of  fact, 
upon  things  done,  and  set  before  our  eyes  ;  and  so  that 
Majesty,  and  that  holy  amazement,  is  more  to  us  then 
ever  it  was  to  any  other  Religion,  because  we  have 
a  nearer  approximation,  and  vicinity  to  God  in  Christ, 
then  any  others  had,  in  any  representions  of  their  Gods  ; 
and  it  is  a  more  dazeling  thing  to  looke  upon  the  Sun, 
in  a  direct,  then  in  an  obHque  or  side  line.  And  therefore, 
the  love  of  God,  which  is  so  often  proposed  unto  us, 
i3  as  often  seasoned  with  the  feare  of  God  ;  nay,  all  our 
ReHgious  affections  are  reduced  to  that  one.  To  a  reveren- 
tiall  feare  ;  If  he  be  a  Master,  he  cals  for  feare,  and,  Mai.  i.  6. 
If  he  be  a  Father,  he  calls  for  ho7tor ;  And  honour  impHes 
a  reverentiall  feare.  And  that  is  the  Art  that  David 
professes  to  teach,  Artem  timendi.  Come  ye  children,  and  P3al.34.1a. 
hearken  unto  me,  and  I  will  teach  you  the  feare  of  the  Lord. 
That  you  thinke  not  Divinity  an  Occupation,  nor 
Church-Service  a  recreation  ;  but  still  remember.  That 
the  God  of  our  Salvation  (God  working  in  the  Christian 
Church)  will  answer  you  ;  but  yet,  by  terrible  things ; 
that  is,  by  not  being  over-fellowly  with  God,  nor  over- 
homely  vnth  places,  and  acts  of  Rehgion  ;  which,  it 
may  be  an  advancement  to  your  Devotion  and  edification, 
to  consider,  in  some  particulars  in  the  Christian  Church. 

And  first,  consider  we  it,  in  our  manners,  and  conversa-  Inmorlbm. 
tion.     Christ  sayes.  Henceforth  I  call  you  not  servants,   °  "'S-i* 
but  friends.     But,  howsoever  Christ  called  him  friend, 
that  was  come  to  the  feast  without  the  wedding  garment, 
he  cast  him  out,  because  he  made  no  difference  of  that  Mat.2«.Ta, 


io8  Terrible  Things. 

place  from  another.  First  then,  remember  by  what 
terrible  things  God  answers  thee  in  the  Christian  Church, 
when  he  comes  to  that  round  and  peremptory  issue, 
Marke  16.  q^^  ^q^  crediderit,  damnahitur,  He  that  teleeves  not  every 
Article  of  the  Christian  faith,  and  with  so  stedfast  a  behef , 
as  that  he  would  dye  for  it,  Damnabitur,  (no  modification, 
no  mollification,  no  going  lesse)  He  shal  be  damned. 
Consider  too  the  nature  of  Excomunication,  That  it 
teares  a  man  from  the  body  of  Christ  Jesus  ;  That  that 
man  withers  that  is  torne  off,  and  Christ  himselfe  is 
wounded  in  it.  Consider  the  insupportable  penances 
that  were  laid  upon  sinners,  by  those  penitentiall  Canons, 
that  went  through  the  Church  in  those  Primitive  times  ; 
when,  for  many  sins  which  we  passe  through  now, 
without  so  much  as  taking  knowledge  that  they  are  sins, 
men  were  not  admitted  to  the  Communion  all  their 
lives,  no,  nor  easily  upon  their  death-beds.  Consider 
how  dangerously  an  abuse  of  that  great  doctrine  of 
Predestination  may  bring  thee  to  thinke,  that  God  is 
bound  to  thee,  and  thou  not  bound  to  him,  That  thou 
maiest  renounce  him,  and  he  must  embrace  thee,  and 
so  make  thee  too  famiHar  with  God,  and  too  homely 
with  Religion,  upon  presumption  of  a  Decree.  Con- 
sider that  when  thou  preparest  any  uncleane  action, 
in  any  sinfull  nakednesse,  God  is  not  onely  present 
with  thee  in  that  roome  then,  but  then  tels  thee. 
That  at  the  day  of  Judgement  thou  must  stand  in 
his  presence,  and  in  the  presence  of  all  the  World, 
not  onely  naked,  but  in  that  foule,  and  sinfull, 
and  uncleane  action  of  nakednesse,  which  thou  com- 
mittedst  then  ;    Consider  all  this  and  confesse,  that  for 


Terrible  Things.  109 

matters  of  manners,  and  conversation,  7he  God  of  thy 
Salvation  answers  thee  by  terrible  things.  And  so  it  is 
also,  if  we  consider  Prayer  in  the  Church. 

Gods  House  is  the  house  of  Prayer  ;  It  is  his  Court  of  In  orations. 
Requests ;  There  he  receives  petitions,  there  he  gives 
Order  upon  them.  And  you  come  to  God  in  his  House, 
as  though  you  came  to  keepe  him  company,  to  sit  downe, 
and  talke  vdth  him  halfe  an  houre  ;  or  you  come  as 
Ambassadors,  covered  in  his  presence,  as  though  ye  came 
from  as  great  a  Prince  as  he.  You  meet  below,  and  there 
make  your  bargaines,  for  biting,  for  devouring  Usury,  and 
then  you  come  up  hither  to  prayers,  and  so  make  God 
your  Broker.  You  rob,  and  spoile,  and  eat  his  people 
as  bread,  by  Extortion,  and  bribery,  and  deceitful! 
waights  and  measures,  and  deluding  oathes  in  buying 
and  selling,  and  then  come  hither,  and  so  make  God 
your  Receiver,  and  his  house  a  den  of  Thieves.  His 
house  is  Sanctum  Sanctorum,  The  holiest  of  holies,  and 
you  make  it  onely  Sanctuarium  ;  It  should  be  a  place 
sanctified  by  your  devotions,  and  you  make  it  onely 
a  Sanctuary  to  priviledge  Malefactors,  A  place  that 
may  redeeme  you  from  the  ill  opinion  of  men,  who  must 
in  charity  be  bound  to  thinke  well  of  you,  because  they 
see  you  here.  Offer  this  to  one  of  your  Princes,  (as  God 
argues  in  the  Prophet)  and  see,  if  he  will  suffer  his  house 
to  be  prophaned  by  such  uncivill  abuses  ;  And,  Terribilis  Psal.  47-  3- 
Rex,  The  Lord  most  high  is  terrible,  and  a  great  King  over 
all  the  earth  ;    and,   Terribilis  super  omnes  Deos,   More  96.  *, 

terrible  then  all  other  Gods.  Let  thy  Master  be  thy  god, 
or  thy  Mistresse  thy  god,  thy  Belly  be  thy  god,  or  thy 
Back  be  thy  god,  thy  fields  be  thy  god,  or  thy  chests  be 


no  Terrible  Things. 

thy  god,  Terribilis  super  omnes  Deos^  The  Lord  is  terrible 

95-  3-  above  all  gods,  A  great  God,  and  a  great  King  above  all 

gods.    You  come,  and  call  upon  liim  by  his  name  here,  But 

Dent 28.58,  Magnum  U  terribile.  Glorious  and  fear efull  is  the  name  of 
the  Lord  thy  God.  And,  as  if  the  Son  of  God  were  but 
the  Son  of  some  Lord,  that  had  beene  your  Schoole- 
fellow  in  your  youth,  and  so  you  continued  a  boldnesse 
to  him  ever  after,  so,  because  you  have  beene  brought 
up  with  Christ  from  your  cradle,  and  catechized  in  his 
name,  his  name  becomes  lesse  reverend  unto  you.  And 

Psal.111.4.  Sanctum  iff  terribile,  Holy,  and  reverend.  Holy  and 
terrible  should  his  name  be. 

61.  The  Fate  of  the  Heathen, 

Fagani.  AND  as  those  blessed  Fathers  of  tender  bowels, 
XA-  enlarged  themselves  in  this  distribution,  and 
apportioning  the  mercy  of  God,  that  it  consisted  best 
with  the  nature  of  his  mercy,  that  as  his  Saints  had 
suffered  temporall  calamities  in  this  world,  in  this  world 
they  should  be  recompenced  with  temporall  abundances, 
so  did  they  inlarge  this  mercy  farther,  and  carry  it  even 
to  the  Gentiles,  to  the  Pagans  that  had  no  knowledge 
of  Christ  in  any  estabhshed  Church.  You  shall  not 
finde  a  Trismegistus,  a  Numa  Pompilius,  a  Plato,  a  Socrates, 
for  whose  salvation  you  shall  not  finde  some  Father,  or 
some  Ancient  and  Reverend  Author,  an  Advocate.  In 
which  liberaHty  of  Gods  mercy,  those  tender  Fathers 
proceed  partly  upon  that  rule.  That  in  Trismegistus, 
and  in  the  rest,  they  finde  evident  impressions,  and 
testimonies,  that  they  knew  the  Son  of  God,  and  knew 
the  Trinity ;   and  then,  say  they,  why  should  not  these 


The  Fate  of  the  Heathen.  1 1 1 

good  men,  beleeving  a  Trinity,  be  saved  ?  and  partly 
they  goe  upon  that  rule,  which  goes  through  so  many 
of  the  Fathers,  Faciejtti  quod  in  se  est.  That  to  that  man 
who  does  as  much  as  he  can,  by  the  light  of  nature,  God 
never  denies  grace  ;  and  then,  say  they,  why  should  not 
these  men  that  doe  so  be  saved  ?  And,  upon  this  ground, 
S.  Dionyse,  the  Areopagite  sayes.  That  from  the  beginning 
of  the  world,  God  hath  called  some  men  of  all  Nations, 
and  of  all  sorts,  by  the  ministry  of  Angels,  though  not 
by  the  ministry  of  the  Church.  To  me,  to  whom  God 
hath  revealed  his  Son,  in  a  Gospel,  by  a  Church,  there 
can  be  no  way  of  salvation,  but  by  applying  that  Son  of 
God,  by  that  Gospel,  in  that  Church.  Nor  is  there  any 
other  foundation  for  any,  nor  other  name  by  which  any 
can  be  saved,  but  the  name  of  Jesus.  But  how  this 
foundation  is  presented,  and  how  this  name  of  Jesus  is 
notified  to  them,  amongst  whom  there  is  no  Gospel 
preached,  no  Church  established,  I  am  not  curious  in 
inquiring.  I  know  God  can  be  as  mercifull  as  those 
tender  Fathers  present  him  to  be  ;  and  I  would  be  as 
charitable  as  they  are.  And  therefore  humbly  imbracing 
that  manifestation  of  his  Son,  which  he  hath  afforded 
me,  I  leave  God,  to  his  unsearchable  waies  of  working 
upon  others,  without  farther  inquisition. 

62.  ^he  Church  a  Company. 

THE  Key  of  David  openeth  and  no  man  shutteth ; 
The  Spirit  of  Comfort  shineth  upon  us,  and  would 
not  be  blown  out.  Monasterie,  and  Ermitage,  and 
Anchorate,  and  such  words  of  singularitie  are  not  Synonyma 
with  those  plurall  words  Concio,  Ccetus,  Ecclesia,  Synagoga 


112  The  Church  a  Company. 

^  Congregatio,  in  which  words  God  delivereth  himselfe 
to  us.  A  Church  is  a  Company,  Religion  is  Religation, 
a  binding  of  men  together  in  one  manner  of  Worship  ; 
and  Worship  is  an  exteriour  service ;  and  that  exteriour 
service  is  the  Venite  exultemus^  to  come  and  rejoyce 
in  the  presence  of  God. 


G 


63.  God  Proceeds  Legally, 
OD  proceeds  legally  ;  Pubhcation  before  Judgement. 
God  shall  condemn  no  man,  for  not  beleeving  in 
Christ,  to  whom  Christ  was  never  manifested.  'TxV 
true,  that  God  is  said  to  have  come  to  Eliah  in  that 
still  small  voice,  and  not  in  the  strong  wind,  not  in  the 
1Reg.1g.12.  Earth-quake,  not  in  the  Jire.  So  God  says,  Sibilabo 
Mat.  lo.^-j'.  populum  meum,  I  will  but  hisse,  I  will  but  whisper  for 
my  people,  and  gather  them  so.  So  Christ  tells  us  things 
in  darknesse  ;  And  so  Christ  speakes  to  us  in  our  Ear  ;  And 
these  low  voices,  and  holy  whisperings,  and  halfe-silences, 
denote  to  us,  the  inspirations  of  his  Spirit,  as  his  Spirit 
beares  witnesse  with  our  spirit ;  as  the  Holy  Ghost  insinu- 
ates himselfe  into  our  soules,  and  works  upon  us  so, 
by  his  private  motions.  But  this  is  not  Gods  ordinary 
way,  to  be  whispering  of  secrets.  The  first  thing  that 
God  made,  was  light-,  The  last  thing,  that  he  hath  reserved 
to  doe  ;  is  the  manifestation  of  the  hght  of  his  Essence 
in  our  Glorification.  And  for  Publication  of  himselfe 
here,  by  the  way,  he  hath  constituted  a  Church,  in 
a  VisibiHty,  in  an  eminency,  as  a  City  upon  a  hill ;  And 
in  this  Church,  his  Ordinance  is  Ordinance  indeed  ;  his 
Ordinance  of  preaching  batters  the  soule,  and  by  that 
breach,  the  Spirit  enters  ;    His  Ministers  are  an  Earth- 


God  Proceeds  Legally.  113 

quakey  and  shake  an  earthly  soule  ;  They  are  the  sonnes 
of  thunder,  and  scatter  a  cloudy  conscience  ;  They  are 
as  the  fall  of  waters,  and  carry  with  them  whole  Congrega- 
tions ;  3000  at  a  Sermon,  5000  at  a  Sermon,  a  whole 
City,  such  a  City  as  Niniveh  at  a  Sermon  ;  and  they  are 
as  the  roaring  of  a  Lion,  where  the  Lion  of  the  tribe  of 
Juda,  cries  down  the  Lion  that  seekes  whom  he  may 
devour  ;  that  is,  Orthodoxall  and  fundamental!  truths, 
are  estabHshed  against  clamorous,  and  vociferant  innova- 
tions. Therefore  what  Christ  tels  us  in  the  darke,  he 
bids  us  speake  in  the  light  ;  and  what  he  sales  in  our 
eare,  he  bids  us  preach  on  the  house  top.  Nothing  is 
Gospell,  not  Evangelium,  good  message,  if  it  be  not  put 
into  a  Messengers  mouth,  and  delivered  by  him  ;  nothing 
is  conducible  to  his  end,  nor  available  to  our  salvation, 
except  it  be  avowable  doctrine,  doctrine  that  may  be 
spoke  alowd,  though  it  awake  them,  that  sleep  in  their 
sinne,  and  make  them  the  more  froward,  for  being  so 
awaked. 

God  hath  made  all  things  in  a  Roundnesse,  from  the 
round  superficies  of  this  earth,  which  we  tread  here,  to 
the  round  convexity  of  those  heavens,  w^^  (as  long  as 
they  shal  have  any  beeing)  shall  be  our  footstool,  when 
we  come  to  heaven,  God  hath  wrapped  up  all  things 
in  Circles,  and  then  a  Circle  hath  no  Angles  ;  there  are 
no  Corners  in  a  Circle.  Corner  Divinity,  clandestine 
Divinity  are  incompatible  termes  ;  If  it  be  Divinity, 
it  is  avowable.  7he  heathens  served  their  Gods  in  Temples, 
suh  dio,  vvdthout  roofs  or  coverings,  in  a  free  opennesse  ; 
and,  where  they  could,  in  Temples  made  of  Specular  stone^ 
that  was  transparent  as  glasse,  or  crystall,  so  as  they  v/hich 

2025-3  I 


114  ^^^  Proceeds  Legally. 

walked  without  in  the  streets,  might  see  all  that  was  done 
within.  And  even  nature  it  self  taught  the  natural! 
man,  to  make  that  one  argument  of  a  man  truly  religious, 
Aperto  vivere  voto.  That  he  durst  pray  aloud,  and  let 
the  world  heare,  what  he  asked  at  Gods  hand  ;  which 
duty  is  best  performed,  when  we  joyne  with  the  Congre- 
gation in  publique  prayer.  Saint  Augustine,  hath  made 
that  note  upon  the  Donatists,  That  they  were  Clancularii, 
clandestine  Divines,  Divines  in  Corners.  And  in  Photius, 
we  have  such  a  note  almost  upon  all  Heretiques  ;  as 
the  Nestorian  was  called  Coluber,  a  snake,  because  though 
he  kept  in  the  garden,  or  in  the  meadow,  in  the  Church, 
yet  he  lurked  and  lay  hid,  to  doe  mischief.  And  the 
Valentinian  was  called  a  Grashopper,  because  he  leaped 
and  skipped  from  place  to  place  ;  and  that  creature,  the 
Grashopper,  you  may  hear  as  you  passe,  but  you  shall 
hardly  find  him  at  his  singing ;  you  may  hear  a  Con- 
venticle Schismatick,  heare  him  in  his  Pamphlets,  heare 
him  in  his  Disciples,  but  hardly  surprize  him  at  his 
exercise.  Publication  is  a  fair  argument  of  truth.  That 
tasts  of  Luthers  holy  animosity,  and  zealous  vehemency, 
when  he  says,  Audemus  gloriari  Christum  a  nobis  prima 
vulgatum ;  other  men  had  made  some  attempts  at 
a  Reformation,  and  had  felt  the  pulse  of  some  persons, 
and  some  Courts,  and  some  Churches,  how  they  would 
relish  a  Reformation  ;  But  Luther  rejoyces  with  a  holy 
exultation.  That  he  first  pubhshed  it,  that  he  first  put 
the  world  to  it.  So  the  Apostles  proceeded  ;  when  they 
came  in  their  peregrination,  to  a  new  State,  to  a  new 
Court,  to  Rome  it  selfe,  they  did  not  enquire,  how  stands 
the  Emperour  affected  to  Christ,  and  to  the  preaching 


God  Proceeds  Legally.  115 

of  his  Gospel ;  Is  there  not  a  Sister,  or  a  Wife  that  might 
be  wrought  upon  to  further  the  preaching  of  Christ  ? 
Are  there  not  some  persons,  great  in  power  and  place, 
that  might  be  content  to  hold  a  party  together,  by 
admitting  the  preaching  of  Christ  ?  This  was  not  their 
way  ;  They  only  considered  who  sent  them  ;  Christ 
Jesus  :  And  what  they  brought  ;  salvation  to  every  soul 
that  embraced  Christ  Jesus.  That  they  preached  ;  and 
still  begunne  with  a  Vce  si  non  ;  Never  tell  us  of  dis- 
pleasure, or  disgrace,  or  detriment,  or  death,  for  preaching 
of  Christ.  For,  woe  be  unto  us,  if  we  preach  him  not  : 
And  still  they  ended  with  a  Qui  non  crediderit,  Damnabitur, 
Never  deceive  your  own  souls.  He,  to  whom  Christ  hath 
been  preached,  and  beleeves  not,  shall  be  damned.  All 
Divinity  that  is  bespoken,  and  not  ready  made,  fitted 
to  certaine  turnes,  and  not  to  generall  ends  ;  And  all 
Divines  that  have  their  soules  and  consciences,  so  disposed, 
as  their  Libraries  may  bee,  (At  that  end  stand  Papists, 
and  at  that  end  Protestants,  and  he  comes  in  in  the 
middle,  as  neare  one  as  the  other)  all  these  have  a  brackish 
taste  ;  as  a  River  hath  that  comes  near  the  Sea,  so  have 
they,  in  comming  so  neare  the  Sea  of  Rome. 

64.  7he  Church. 

AS  Waspes  make  combs,  but  empty  ones,  so  do 
.  Heretiques  Churches,  but  frivolous  ones,  ineffectual! 
ones.  And,  as  we  told  you  before,  That  errors  and 
disorders  are  as  well  in  wayes,  as  in  ends,  so  may  we 
deprive  our  selves  of  the  benefit  of  this  judgement.  The 
Church,  as  well  in  circumstances,  as  in  substances,  as 
well  in  opposing  discipHne,  as  doctrine.    The  holy  Ghost 

I  2 


ii6  The  Church. 

reproves  thee^  convinces  thee,  of  judgement^  that  is,  offers 
thee  the  knowledge  that  such  a  Church  there  is  ;  A  Jordan 
to  wash  thine  originall  leprosie  in  Baptisme  ;  A  City 
upon  a  mountaine,  to  enhghten  thee  in  the  works  of 
darknesse  ;  a  continuall  appHcation  of  all  that  Christ 
Jesus  said,  and  did,  and  suffered,  to  thee.  Let  no  soule 
say,  she  can  have  all  this  at  Gods  hands  immediatly, 
and  never  trouble  the  Church  ;  That  she  can  passe  her 
pardon  between  God  and  her,  without  all  these  formaUties, 
by  a  secret  repentance.  It  is  true,  beloved,  a  true 
repentance  is  never  frustrate  :  But  yet,  if  thou  wilt 
think  thy  selfe  a  little  Church,  a  Church  to  thy  selfe, 
because  thou  hast  heard  it  said.  That  thou  art  a  little 
world,  a  world  in  thy  selfe,  that  figurative,  that  meta- 
phoricall  representation  shall  not  save  thee.  Though 
thou  beest  a  world  to  thy  self,  yet  if  thou  have  no  more 
corn,  nor  oyle,  nor  milk,  then  growes  in  thy  self,  or 
flowes  from  thy  self,  thou  wilt  starve  ;  Though  thou  be 
a  Church  in  thy  fancy,  if  thou  have  no  more  scales  of 
grace,  no  more  absolution  of  sin,  then  thou  canst  give 

Gregor.  thy  self,  thou  wilt  perish.  Per  solam  Ecclesiam  sacrificium 
libenter  accipit  Deus  :  Thou  maist  be  a  Sacrifice  in  thy 
chamber,  but  God  receives  a  Sacrifice  more  cheerefully 
at  Church.  Sola,  quce  pro  errantibus  jiducialiter  intercedity 
Only  the  Church  hath  the  nature  of  a  surety  ;  Howsoever 
God  may  take  thine  own  word  at  home,  yet  he  accepts 
the  Church  in  thy  behalfe,  as  better  security.     Joyne 

August.  therefore  ever  with  the  Communion  of  Saints  ;  Et  cum 
membrum  sis  ejus  corporis,  quod  loquitur  omnibus  Unguis^ 
crede  te  omnibus  Unguis  loqui,  Whilst  thou  art  a  member 
of  that  Congregation,  that  speaks  to  God  with  a  thousand 


The  Church.  117 

tongues,  beleeve  that  thou  speakest  to  God  with  all 
those  tongues.  And  though  thou  know  thine  own 
prayers  unworthy  to  come  up  to  God,  because  thou 
liftest  up  to  him  an  eye,  which  is  but  now  withdrawne 
from  a  licentious  glancing,  and  hands  which  are  guilty 
yet  of  unrepented  uncleannesses,  a  tongue  that  hath 
but  lately  blasphemed  God,  a  heart  which  even  now 
breaks  the  walls  of  this  house  of  God,  and  steps  home, 
or  runs  abroad  upon  the  memory,  or  upon  the  new 
plotting  of  pleasurable  or  profitable  purposes,  though 
this  make  thee  thinke  thine  own  prayers  uneffectuall, 
yet  beleeve  that  some  honester  man  then  thy  selfe  stands 
by  thee,  and  that  when  he  prayes  with  thee,  he  prayes 
for  thee  ;  and  that,  if  there  be  one  righteous  man  in 
the  Congregation,  thou  art  made  the  more  acceptable 
to  God  by  his  prayers  ;  and  make  that  benefit  of  this 
reproofe,  this  conviction  of  the  holy  Ghost,  That  he 
convinces  thee  De  judicio,  assures  thee  of  an  orderly 
Church  estabHshed  for  thy  rehefe,  and  that  the  appHca- 
tion  of  thy  self  to  this  judgement.  The  Church,  shall 
enable  thee  to  stand  upright  in  that  other  judgement, 
the  last  judgement,  which  is  also  enwrapped  in  the 
signification  of  this  word  of  our  Text,  ludgement,  and 
is  the  conclusion  for  this  day. 

As  God  begun  all  with  judgement,  (for  he  made  all  luduium 
things  in  measure,  number,  and  waight)  as  he  proceeded  Sap.^ii, 
with  judgement,  in  erecting  a  judiciall  seat  for  our 
direction,  and  correction,  the  Church,  so  he  shall  end 
all  with  judgement,  The  finall,  and  general!  judgement, 
at  the  Resurrection  ;  which  he  that  beleeves  not,  beleeves 
nothing ;    not  God  ;    for.  He  that  commeth  to  God  (that  Heb.  ii.  & 


ii8  The  Church. 

makes  any  step  towards  him)  must  beleeve^  Deum  remunera- 
torem^  God,  and  God  in  that  notion,  as  he  is  a  Rewarder  ; 
Therefore  there  is  judgement.  But  was  this  work  left 
for  the  H0I7  Ghost  ?  Did  not  the  naturall  man  that 
knew  no  Holy  Ghost,  know  this  ?  Truly,  all  their 
fabulous  Divinity,  all  their  Mythology,  their  Minos,  and 
their  Rhadamanthus,  tasted  of  such  a  notion,  as  a  judge- 
ment. And  yet  the  first  planters  of  the  Christian  Religion 
found  it  hardest  to  fixe  this  roote  of  all  other  articles 
^hat  Christ  should,  come  againe  to  judgement.  Miserable 
and  froward  men  !  They  would  beleeve  it  in  their  fables, 
and  would  not  beleeve  it  in  the  Scriptures  ;  They  would 
beleeve  it  in  the  nine  Muses,  and  would  not  beleeve  it 
in  the  twelve  Apostles  ;  They  would  beleeve  it  by  Apollo, 
and  they  would  not  beleeve  it  by  the  Holy  Ghost  ; 
They  would  be  saved  Poetically,  and  fantastically,  and 
would  not  reasonably,  and  spiritually  ;  By  Copies,  and 
not  by  Originals  ;  by  counterfeit  things  at  first  deduced 
by  their  Authors,  out  of  our  Scriptures,  and  yet  not  by 
the  word  of  God  himself. 

65.  Reverence  in  Church. 

THE  rituall  and  ceremoniall,  the  outward  worship 
of  God,  the  places,  the  times,  the  manner  of  meet- 
ings, [which]  are  in  the  disposition  of  Christian  Princes, 
and  by  their  favours  of  those  Churches,  which  are  in  their 
government  :  and  not  to  rejoyce  in  the  peacefuU  exercise 
of  those  spirituall  helps,  not  to  be  glad  of  them,  is  a  trans- 
gression. Now  the  Prophet  expresses  this  rejoycing  thus, 
Venite  exultemus,  let  us  come  and  rejoyce.  We  must 
doe  both.    And  therefore  they  who  out  of  a  thraldome  to 


Reverence  in  Church.  119 

another   Church   abstaine   from   these   places    of   these 

eiercises,  that  doe  not  come,  or  if  they  doe  come,  doe  not 

re  Joyce,  but  though  they  be  here  brought  by  necessity 

of  law,  or  of  observation,  yet  had  rather  they  were  in 

another  Chappell,  or  at  another  kinde  of  service  then 

in  this  :    and  they  also  who  abstain  out  of  imaginary 

defects  in  this  church,  &  think   they   cannot  perform 

Davids  De  profundis,  they  cannot  call  upon  God  out  of 

the  depth,  except  it  be  in  a  Conventicle  in  a  cellar,  nor 

acknowledge   Solomons   Excelsis   Excelsior,    that    God   is  EccUs.s-^ 

higher  then  the  highest,  except  it  be  in  a  Conventicle 

in  a  garret,  &  when  they  are  here  wink  at  the  ornaments, 

&  stop  their  ears  at  the  musique  of  the  Church,  in  which 

manner  she  hath  always  expressed  her  rejoycing  in  those 

helps  of   devotion  ;    or  if   there   bee  a   third  sort  who 

abstain,  because  they  may  not  be  here  at  so  much  ease, 

and  so  much  liberty,  as  at  their  own  houses,  all  these  are 

under  this  transgression.     Are  they  in  the  Kings  house 

at  so  much  liberty  as  in  their  own  ?    and  is  not  this  the 

King  of  Kings  house  ?     Or  have  they  seene  the  King 

in  his  owne  house,  use  that  liberty  to  cover  himselfe  in 

his  ordinary  manner  of  covering,  at  any  part  of  Divine 

Service  ?     Every  Preacher  will  look,  and  justly,  to  have 

the  Congregation  uncovered  at  the  reading  of  his  Text  : 

and  is  not  the  reading  of  the  Lesson,  at  time  of  Prayer, 

the  same  Word  of  the  same  God,  to  be  received  with  the 

same   reverence  ?     The   service   of   God   is   one   entire 

thing  ;   and  though  we  celebrate  some  parts  with  more, 

or  with  lesse  reverence,  some  kneehng,  some  standing, 

yet  if  we  afford  it  no  reverence,  we  make  that  no  part 

of  Gods  service.    And  therefore  I  must  humbly  intreat 


120  Reverence  in  Church. 

them,  who  make  this  Quire  the  place  of  their  Devotion, 
to  testifie  their  devotion  by  more  outw^ard  reverence 
there  ;  wee  know  our  parts  in  this  place,  and  we  doe 
them  ;  why  any  stranger  should  think  himself  more 
priviledged  in  this  part  of  Gods  House,  then  we,  I  know 
not.  I  presume  no  man  will  mis-interpret  this  that  I  say 
here  now  ;  nor,  if  this  may  not  prevaile,  mis-interpret 
the  service  of  our  Officers,  if  their  continuing  in  that 
unreverent  manner  give  our  Officers  occasion  to  warn 
them  of  that  personally  in  the  place,  whensoever  they 
see  them  stray  into  that  uncomely  negligence.  They 
should  not  blame  me  now,  they  must  not  blame  them 
then,  when  they  call  upon  them  for  this  reverence  in 
this  Quire ;  neither  truly  can  there  be  any  greater 
injustice,  then  when  they  who  will  not  do  their  duties, 
blame  others  for  doing  theirs. 

66,  Going  to  Church, 

BETWEENE  that  fearefull  occasion  of  comming  to 
Church,  which  S.  Augustine  confesses  and  laments. 
That  they  came  to  make  wanton  bargaines  with  their 
eyes,  and  met  there,  because  they  could  meet  no  where 
else  ;  and  that  more  fearfull  occasion  of  comming,  when 
they  came  onely  to  elude  the  Law,  and  proceeding  in 
their  treacherous  and  traiterous  reUgion  in  their  heart, 
and  yet  communicating  with  us,  draw  God  himselfe  into 
their  conspiracies,  and  to  mocke  us,  make  a  mocke  of  God, 
and  his  religion  too  :  betweene  these  two,  this  Hcencious 
comming,  and  this  treacherous  comming,  there  are  many 
commings  to  Church,  commings  for  company,  for  observa- 
tion, for  musique  :    And  all  these  indispositions  are  ill 


Going  to  Church.  121 

at  prayers  ;  there  they  are  unwholesome,  but  at  the 
Sacrament,  deadly :  He  that  brings  any  collaterall 
respect  to  prayers,  looses  the  benefit  of  the  prayers  of 
the  Congregation  ;  and  he  that  brings  that  to  a  Sermon, 
looses  the  blessing  of  Gods  ordinance  in  that  Sermon  ; 
hee  heares  but  the  Logique,  or  the  Retorique,  or  the 
Ethique,  or  the  poetry  of  the  Sermon,  but  the  Sermon  of 
the  Sermon  he  heares  not ;  but  he  that  brings  this 
disposition  to  the  Sacrament,  ends  not  in  the  losse  of 
a  benefit,  but  he  acquires,  and  procures  his  owne  damna- 
tion. 

67.  Prayer, 

1  BRING  not  a  Star-chamber  with  me  up  into  the 
Pulpit,  to  punish  a  forgery,  if  you  counterfeit  a  zeale 
in  coming  hither  now ;  nor  an  Exchequer,  to  punish 
usurious  contracts,  though  made  in  the  Church ;  nor 
a  high  Commission,  to  punish  incontinencies,  if  they  be 
promoted  by  wanton  interchange  of  looks,  in  this  place. 
Onely  by  my  prayers,  which  he  hath  promised  to  accom- 
pany and  prosper  in  his  service,  I  can  diffuse  his  over- 
shadowing Spirit  over  all  the  corners  of  this  Congregation, 
and  pray  that  Publican,  that  stands  below  afar  off,  and 
dares  not  lift  up  his  eyes  to  heaven,  to  receive  a  chcarfull 
confidence,  that  his  sinnes  are  forgiven  him  ;  and  pray- 
that  Pharisee,  that  stands  above,  and  onely  thanks  God, 
that  he  is  not  Hke  other  men,  to  believe  himself  to  be. 
if  not  a  rebellious,  yet  an  unprofitable  servant. 


122  Prayer. 

68.  Prayer. 

PRAYER  is  our  whole  service  to  God.  Earnest 
Prayer  hath  the  nature  of  Importunity ;  Wee 
presse,  wee  importune  God  in  Prayer  ;  Yet  that  puts 
not  God  to  a  morosity,  to  a  frowardnesse  ;  God  flings 
not  away  from  that  ;  Gods  suffers  that  importunity, 
and  more.  Prayer  hath  the  nature  of  Impudency  ;  Wee 
threaten  God  in  Prayer  ;  as  Gregor:  Nazi:  adventures 
to  expresse  it  ;  He  saies,  his  Sister,  in  the  vehemence 
of  her  Prayer,  would  threaten  God,  Et  honesta  quadam 
impudentia,  egit  impudentem  ;  She  came,  saies  he,  to 
a  religious  impudency  with  God,  and  to  threaten  him, 
that  she  would  never  depart  from  his  Altar,  till  she  had 
her  Petition  granted  ;  And  God  suffers  this  Impudency, 
and  more.  Prayer  hath  the  nature  of  Violence  ;  In  the 
publique  Prayers  of  the  Congregation,  we  besiege  God, 
saies  Tertul:  and  we  take  God  Prisoner,  and  bring  God 
to  our  Conditions ;  and  God  is  glad  to  be  straitned  by 
us  in  that  siege.  This  Prophet  here  executes  before, 
what  the  Apostle  counsailes  after.  Pray  incessantly ; 
Even  in  his  singing  he  prayes ;  And  as  S.  Basil  saies, 
Etiam  somnia  justorum  preces  sunt,  A  Good  mans  dreames 
are  Prayers,  he  prayes,  and  not  sleepily,  in  his  sleepe,  so 
Davids  Songs  are  Prayers. 

69.  7 he  ^ime  of  Prayer, 

THE  comfort  of  being  presented  to  God  as  innocent 
as  Adarriy  then  when  God  breathed  a  soule  into  him, 
yea  as  innocent  as  Christ  Jesus  himselfe,  when  he  breathed 
out  his  soule  to  God  :   oh  how  blessed  is  that  soule  that 


The  Time  of  Prayer.  123 

enjoyes  it,  and  how  bold  that  tongue  that  goes  about  to 
expresse  it  !  This  is  the  blessednesse  which  the  godly 
attaine  to  by  prayer,  but  not  by  every  sudden  Lord,  Lord, 
or  every  occasionall  holy  interjection,  but  by  serious 
prayer,  invested,  as  with  the  former,  so  with  that  other 
circumstance  that  remains,  In  tempore  opportuno,  In  a 
time  when  thou  may  est  be  found. 

This  time  is  not  those  Horce  stativce,  Horce  canoniccs.  In  tempore. 
those  fixed  houres  in  the  Romane  Church,  where  men 
are  bound  to  certaine  prayers  at  certaine  houres.  Not 
that  it  is  inconvenient  for  men  to  binde  themselves  to 
certaine  fixed  times  of  prayer  in  their  private  Exercises ; 
and  though  not  by  such  a  vow,  as  that  it  shall  be  an 
impiety,  yet  by  so  solemne  a  purpose,  as  that  it  shall  be 
a  levity  to  breake  it.  I  have  known  the  greatest  Christian 
Prince,  (in  Style  and  Title)  even  at  the  Audience  of  an 
Ambassador,  at  the  sound  of  a  Bell,  kneele  downe  in 
our  presence  and  pray  ;  and  God  forbid,  he  should  be 
blamed  for  doing  so  ;  But  to  place  a  merit  in  observing 
those  times,  as  they  doe,  is  not  a  right  understanding  of 
this  time  of  finding.  Nor  is  it  those  transitory  and  inter- 
locutory prayers,  which  out  of  custome  and  fashion  we 
make,  and  still  proceed  in  our  sin  ;  when  we  pretend  to 
speake  to  God,  but  like  Comedians  upon  a  stage,  turne 
over  our  shoulder,  and  whisper  to  the  Devill.  ... 

The  Manifestation  of  the  Gospel,  that  is,  the  helpeS  Prosperi- 
which  God  offers  us,  more  then  Jews,  or  Gentils,  in  the  '^* 
Ministery   of   the   Gospel,   and   the   Ordinances   of  his 
Church,  is  the  time  of  finding  God  ;   And  woe  unto  us, 
if  we  seeke  him  not  whilest  he  affords  us  these  helpes  ; 
And  then  the  time  of  affliction,  when  God  threatens 


124  '^^^  Time  of  Prayer. 

to  hide  his  face,  but  hath  not  yet  hidden  it,  but  awakens 
us  by  a  calamity,  is  a  time  of  finding  God.  But  the  best 
and  the  clearest  time  is  in  the  Sun-shine,  then  when 
he  appeares  to  us  in  the  warme  and  chearefull  splendor 
of  temporall  blessings  upon  us  ;  Then  when  thou  hast 
a  good  estate,  and  good  children  to  let  it  descend  upon  ; 
Then  when  thou  hast  good  health,  and  a  good  profession 
to  exercise  thy  strength,  and  thy  labors  in  ;  Then  when 
the  dishes  upon  thy  table  are  doubled,  and  thy  cup 
overflows,  and  the  hungry  and  thirsty  soules  of  the  poore 
doe  not  onely  feed  upon  the  crums  under  thy  table,  and 
lick  up  the  overflowings  of  thy  cup,  but  divide  dishes 
with  thee,  and  enter  into  the  midst  of  thy  Bolls ;  Then 
when  thou  hast  temporall  blessings,  (that  is  Gods  silver) 
and  his  grace  to  use  those  blessings  well,  (that  is  Gods 
gold)  then  is  the  best  time  of  finding  the  Lord,  for  then 
he  looks  upon  thee  in  the  Sun-shine,  and  then  thy 
thankfull  acknowledgement  of  former  blessings  is  the 
most  effectuall  prayer  thou  canst  make,  for  the  continu- 
ance, and  enlargement  of  them. 

70.  At  Table  and  Bed, 

THEREFORE,  beloved,  since  every  master  of  a  family, 
who  is  a  Bishop  in  his  house,  should  call  his  family 
together,  to  humble,  and  powre  out  their  soules  to  God, 
let  him  consider,  that  when  he  comes  to  kneele  at  the 
side  of  his  table,  to  pray,  he  comes  to  build  a  Church 
there  ;  and  therefore  should  sanctifie  that  place,  with 
a  due,  and  penitent  consideration  how  voluptuously 
he  hath  formerly  abused  Gods  blessings  at  that  place, 
how  superstitiously,  and  idolatrously  he  hath  fiatter'd 


At  Table  and  Bed.  125 

and  humour'd  some  great  and  useful  ghests  invited  by 
him  to  that  place,  how  expensively,  he  hath  served  his 
owne  ostentation  and  vain-glory,  by  excessive  feasts 
at  that  place,  whilest  Lazarus  hath  lien  panting,  and 
gasping  at  the  gate  ;  and  let  him  consider  w^hat  a  danger- 
ous Mockery  this  is  to  Christ  Jesus,  if  he  pretend  by 
kneeUng  at  that  table,  fashionally  to  build  Christ  a  Church 
by  that  solemnity  at  the  table  side,  and  then  crucifie 
Christ  again,  by  these  sinnes,  w^hen  he  is  sat  at  the  table. 
When  thou  kneelest  dov^^n  at  thy  bed  side,  to  shut  up 
the  day  at  night,  or  to  beginne  it  in  the  morning,  thy 
servants,  thy  children,  thy  little  flock  about  thee,  there 
thou  buildest  a  Church  too  :  And  therefore  sanctifie 
that  place  ;  wash  it  with  thy  tears,  and  with  a  repentant 
consideration ;  That  in  that  bed  thy  children  were 
conceived  in  sinne,  that  in  that  bed  thou  hast  turned 
mariage  which  God  afforded  thee  for  remedy,  and 
physique  to  voluptuosnesse,  and  licenciousnesse  ;  That 
thou  hast  made  that  bed  which  God  gave  thee  for  rest, 
and  for  reparation  of  thy  weary  body,  to  be  as  thy 
dwelling,  and  dehght,  and  the  bed  of  idlenesse,  and 
stupidity. 

71.  Unconscious  Prayer, 

THAT  soule,  that  is  accustomed  to  direct  her  selfe 
to  God,  upon  every  occasion,  that,  as  a  flowre  at 
Sun-rising,  conceives  a  sense  of  God,  in  every  beame  of 
his,  and  spreads  and  dilates  it  selfe  towards  him,  in 
a  thankfulnesse,  in  every  small  blessing  that  he  sheds 
upon  her ;  that  soule,  that  as  a  flowre  at  the  Suns 
declining,  contracts  and  gathers  in,  and  shuts  up  her 


126  Unconscious  Prayer. 

selfe,  as  though  she  had  received  a  blow,  when  soever  she 
heares  her  Saviour  wounded  by  a  oath,  or  blasphemy, 
or  execration  ;  that  soule,  who,  whatsoever  string  be 
strucken  in  her,  base  or  treble,  her  high  or  her  low 
estate,  is  ever  tun'd  toward  God,  that  soule  prayes 
sometimes  when  it  does  not  know  that  it  prayes. 

72.  Sermons. 

GOD  directs  the  tongue  of  his  Ministers,  as  he  doth 
his  showres  of  rain  :  They  fall  upon  the  face  of 
a  large  compasse  of  earth,  when  as  all  that  earth  did  not 
need  that  rain.  The  whole  Congregation  is,  oftentimes, 
in  common  entendment,  conformable,  and  well  setled 
in  all  matters  of  Doctrine,  and  all  matters  of  Discipline. 
And  yet  God  directs  us  sometimes  to  extend  our  discourse 
(perchance  with  a  zeale  and  a  vehemence,  which  may 
seem  unnecessary,  and  impertinent,  because  all  in  the 
Church  are  presumed  to  be  of  one  minde)  in  the  proofe 
of  our  doctrine  against  Papists,  or  of  our  disciphne  against 
Nonconformitans.  For,  Gods  eye  sees,  in  what  seat 
there  sits,  or  in  what  corner  there  stands  some  one  man 
that  wavers  in  matters  of  Doctrine,  and  enclines  to 
hearken  after  a  Seducer,  a  Jesuit,  or  a  Semi-Jesuit, 
a  practising  Papist,  or  a  Sesqui- Jesuit,  a  Jesuited  Lady  ; 
And  Gods  eye  sees  in  what  seat  there  sits,  or  in  what 
corner  there  stands  some  weak  soul  that  is  scandalized, 
with  some  Ceremony,  or  part  of  our  Discipline,  and  in 
danger  of  falHng  from  the  unity  of  the  Church  :  And 
for  the  refreshing  of  that  one  span  of  ground,  God  lets 
fall  a  whole  showre  of  rain  ;  for  the  rectifying  of  that 
one  soul,  God  poures  out  the  Meditations  of  the  Preacher, 


Sermons.  127 

into  such  a  subject,  as  perchance  doth  little  concern  the 
rest  of  the  Congregation.  S.  Matthew  relates  Christs 
Sermon  at  large,  and  S.  Luke  but  briefly,  and  yet  S.  Luke 
remembers  some  things  that  S.  Matthew  had  left  out. 
If  thou  remember  not  all  that  was  presented  to  thy 
faith,  all  the  Citations  of  places  of  Scriptures,  nor  all 
that  was  presented  to  thy  reason,  all  the  deducements, 
and  inferences  of  the  Schooles,  nor  all  that  was  presented 
to  thy  spiritual!  delight,  all  the  sentences  of  ornament 
produced  out  of  the  Fathers,  yet  if  thou  remember  that 
which  concerned  thy  sin,  and  thy  soul,  if  thou  meditate 
upon  that,  apply  that,  thou  hast  brought  away  all  the 
Sermon,  all  that  was  intended  by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  be 
preached  to  thee.  And  if  thou  have  done  so,  as  at  a 
donative  at  a  Coronation,  or  other  solemnity,  when 
mony  is  throwne  among  the  people,  though  thou  Hght 
but  upon  one  shilling  of  that  money,  thou  canst  not 
think  that  all  the  rest  is  lost,  but  that  some  others  are 
the  richer  for  it,  though  thou  beest  not ;  so  if  thou 
remember,  or  apply,  or  understand  but  one  part  of  the 
Sermon,  doe  not  think  all  the  rest  to  have  been  idly, 
or  unnecessarily,  or  impertinently  spoken,  for  thou 
broughtest  a  feaver,  and  hast  had  thy  Julips,  another 
brought  a  fainting,  and  a  diffident  spirit,  and  must  have 
his  Cordials.  ...  ^ 

This  excuses  no  mans  ignorance,  that  is  not  able  to 
preach  seasonably,  and  to  break,  and  distribute  the  bread 
of  hfe  according  to  the  emergent  necessities  of  that 
Congregation,  at  that  time  ;  Nor  it  excuses  no  mans 
lazinesse,  that  will  not  employ  his  whole  time  upon  his 
calling  ;   Nor  any  mans  vain-glory,  and  ostentation,  who 


128  Sermons. 

having  made  a  Pye  of  Plums,  without  meat,  offers  it 
to  sale  in  every  Market,  and  having  made  an  Oration 
of  Flowres,  and  Figures,  and  Phrases  without  strength, 
sings  it  over  in  every  Pulpit :  It  excuses  no  mans  ignor- 
ance, nor  lazinesse,  nor  vain-glory,  but  yet  it  reproaches 
their  itching  and  curious  eares,  to  whom  any  repetition 
of  the  same  things  is  irksome  and  fastidious.  You  may 
have  heard  an  answer  of  an  Epigrammatist  applyable  to 
this  purpose  ;  When  he  read  his  Epigrams  in  an  Auditory, 
one  of  the  hearers  stopped  him,  and  said,  Did  not  I  heare 
an  Epigram  to  this  purpose  from  you,  last  yeare  ?  Yes, 
sayes  he,  it  is  like  you  did  ;  but  is  not  that  vice  still  in 
you  this  yeare,  which  last  yeares  Epigram  reprehended  ? 
If  your  curiosity  bring  you  to  say  to  any  Preacher,  Did 
not  I  heare  this  Point  thus  handled  in  your  Sermon, 
last  yeare  ?  Yes,  must  he  say,  and  so  you  must  next 
yeare  againe,  till  it  appeare  in  your  amendment,  that 
you  did  heare  it.  The  Devill  maintaines  a  Warre  good 
cheap,  if  he  may  fight  wdth  the  same  sword,  and  we  may 
not  defend  with  the  same  buckler  ;  If  he  can  tempt 
a  Son  with  his  Fathers  covetousnesse,  and  a  Daughter 
with  her  Mothers  wantonnesse,  if  he  need  not  vary 
the  sin,  nor  the  tentation,  must  wee  vary  our  Doctrine  ? 
This  is  indeed  to  put  new  Wine  into  old  vessels,  new 
Doctrine  into  eares,  and  hearts  not  disburdened  of  old 
Cant. 7.13.  sins.  We  say,  as  the  Spouse  sayes,  Vetera  i^  nova,  we 
prepare  old  and  new,  all  that  may  any  way  serve  your 
holy  taste,  and  conduce  to  your  spirituall  nourishment  : 
And  he  is  not  a  Preacher  sufficiently  learned,  that  must 
of  necessity  preach  the  same  things  againe,  but  he  is  not 
a  Preacher  sufficiently  discreet  neither,   that  forbeares 


Sermons  129 

any  thing  therefore,  because  himselfe,  or  another  in 
that  place,  hath  handled  that  before.  Christ  himselfe 
varied  his  Sermon  very  little,  if  this  in  S.  Matthew,  and 
that  in  S.  Luke,  were  divers  Sermons. 

73.  New  Doctrines, 

NEW  fashions  in  men,  make  us  doubt  new  manners  ; 
and  new  terms  in  Divinity  were  ever  suspicious  in 
the  Church  of  God,  that  new  Doctrines  were  hid  under 
them.  Resistibility,  and  Irresistibility  of  grace,  which 
is  every  Artificers  wearing  now,  was  a  stuff  that  our 
Fathers  wore  not,  a  language  that  pure  antiquity  spake 
not.  They  knew  Gods  ordinary  proceeding.  They  knew 
his  Common  Law,  and  they  knew  his  Chancery.  They 
knew  his  Chief  Justice  Moses,  that  denounced  his  Judge- 
ments  upon  transgressors  of  the  Law  ;  and  they  knew 
his  Chancellor  Christ  Jesus,  into  whose  hands  he  had 
put  all  Judgements,  to  mitigate  the  rigor  and  condemna- 
tion of  the  Law.  They  knew  Gods  law,  and  his  Chancery  : 
but  for  Gods  prerogative,  what  he  could  do  of  his  absolute 
power,  they  knew  Gods  pleasure,  Nolumus  disputari  : 
It  should  scarce  be  disputed  of  in  Schools,  much  less 
serv'd  in  every  popular  pulpit  to  curious  and  itching  ears  ; 
least  of  all  made  table-talke,  and  household-discourse. 
Christ  promises  to  come  to  the  door,  and  to  knock  at 
the  door,  and  to  stand  at  the  door,  and  to  enter  if  any 
man  open  ;  but  he  does  not  say,  he  will  break  open  the  Revel.  3. 
door  :  it  was  not  his  pleasure  to  express  such  an  earnest- 
ness, such  an  Irresistibihty  in  his  grace,  so.  Let  us 
cheerfully  rely  upon  that  ;  his  purpose  shall  not  be 
frustrated  ;  his  ends  shall  not  be  prevented  ;  his  ways 
3025»3  K 


^30  New  Doctrines. 

shall  not  be  precluded  :  But  the  depth  of  the  goodness 
of  God,  how  much  good  God  can  do  for  man  ;  yea  the 
depth  of  the  illness  of  man,  how  much  ill  man  can  do 
against  God,  are  such  seas,  as,  if  it  be  not  impossible, 
at  least  it  is  impertinent,  to  go  about  to  sound  them. 

74.  Papist  and  Puritan, 

BELOVED,  there  are  some  things  in  which  all 
Rehgions  agree  ;  The  worship  of  God,  The  holi- 
nesse  of  life  ;  And  therefore,  if  when  I  study  this  hoUnesse 
of  Ufe,  and  fast,  and  pray,  and  submit  my  selfe  to  discreet, 
and  medicinall  mortifications,  for  the  subduing  of  my 
body,  any  man  will  say,  this  is  Papisticall,  Papists  doe 
this,  it  is  a  blessed  Protestation,  and  no  man  is  the  lesse 
a  Protestant,  nor  the  worse  a  Protestant  for  making  it, 
Men  and  brethren,  I  am  a  Papist,  that  is,  I  will  fast  and 
pray  as  much  as  any  Papist,  and  enable  my  selfe  for  the 
service  of  my  God,  as  seriously,  as  sedulously,  as  laboriously 
as  any  Papist.  So,  if  when  I  startle  and  am  affected  at 
a  blasphemous  oath,  as  at  a  wound  upon  my  Saviour, 
if  when  I  avoyd  the  conversation  of  those  men,  that 
prophane  the  Lords  day,  any  other  will  say  to  me.  This 
is  Puritanicall,  Puritans  do  this.  It  is  a  blessed  Protesta- 
tion, and  no  man  is  the  lesse  a  Protestant,  nor  the  worse 
a  Protestant  for  making  it.  Men  and  Brethren,  I  am 
a  Puritan,  that  is,  I  wil  endeavour  to  be  pure,  as  my 
Father  in  heaven  is  pure,  as  far  as  any  Puritan. 


Theological  Dissensions.  131 

75.  theological  Dissensions. 

PSALME  II.  3.  If  the  Foundations  he  destroyed, 
what  can  the  righteous  doe  F  .  .  . 
For,  as  wee,  at  last,  shall  commend  our  Spirits,  into 
the  hands  of  God,  God  hath  commended  our  Spirits, 
not  onely  our  civill  peace,  but  our  Religion  too,  into 
the  hand  of  the  Magistrate.  And  therefore,  when  the 
Apostle  sayes,  Studie  to  bee  quiet,  it  is  not  quiet  in  the 
bHndnesse  of  the  Eye,  nor  quiet  in  the  Deafenesse  of 
the  Bare,  nor  quiet  in  the  Lameness e  of  the  Hand ;  the 
iust  discharge  of  the  dueties  of  our  severall  places,  is  no 
disquieting  to  any  man.  But  when  private  men  will 
spend  all  their  thoughts  upon  their  Superiours  actions, 
this  must  necessarily  disquiet  them  ;  for  they  are  off  of 
their  owne  Center,  and  they  are  extra  Sph^ram  Activitatis, 
out  of  their  owne  Distance,  and  Compasse,  and  they 
cannot  possibly  discerne  the  Ende,  to  which  their 
Superiours  goe.  And  to  such  a  iealous  man,  when  his 
jealousie  is  not  a  tendernesse  towards  his  owne  actions, 
which  is  a  holy  and  a  wholesome  jeatousie,  but  a  suspition 
of  his  Superiours  actions,  to  this  Man,  every  Wheele  is 
a  Drumme,  and  every  Drumme  a  Thunder,  and  every 
Thunder- clapp  a  dissolution  of  the  whole  frame  of  the 
World  :  If  there  fall  a  broken  tyle  from  the  house,  hee 
thinkes  Foundations  are  destroyed ;  if  a  crazie  woman, 
or  a  disobedient  childe,  or  a  needie  servant  fall  from 
our  Religion,  from  our  Church,  hee  thinkes  the  whole 
Church  must  necessarily  fall,  when  all  this  while  there 
are  no  Foundations  destroyed ;  and  till  foundations  hee 
destroyed,  the  righteous  should  he  quiet, 

K  2 


132  Theological  Dissensions. 

Hence  have  wee  just  occasion,  first  to  condole  amongst 
our  selves,  who,  for  matters  of  Foundations  professe  one 
and  the  same  Religion,  and  then  to  complain  of  our 
Adversaries,  who  are  of  another.  First,  that  amongst  our 
selves,  for  matters  not  Doctrinall,  or  if  Doctrinall,  yet 
not  Fundamentally  onely  because  we  are  sub-divided  in 
divers  Names,  there  should  be  such  Exasperations,  such 
Exacerbations,  such  Vociferations,  such  Ejulations,  such 
Defamations  of  one  another,  as  if  all  Foundations  were 
destroyed.  Who  would  not  tremble,  to  heare  those 
Infernall  words,  spoken  by  men,  to  men,  of  one  and  the 
same  Religion  fundamentally,  as  Indiabolijicata,  Per- 
diabolificata,  and  Super diabolijicata,  that  the  Devill, 
and  all  the  Devills  in  Hell,  and  worse  then  the  Devill 
is  in  their  Doctrine,  and  in  their  Divinitie,  when,  God 
in  heaven  knowes,  if  their  owne  uncharitablenesse  did 
not  exclude  him,  there  were  roome  enough  for  the  Holy 
Ghost,  on  both,  and  on  either  side,  in  those  Fundamentall 
things,  which  are  unanimely  professed  by  both  ;  And 
yet  every  Mart,  wee  see  more  Bookes  written  by  these 
men  against  one  another,  then  by  them  both,  for  Christ. 

But  yet  though  this  Torrent  of  uncharitablenesse 
amongst  them,  bee  too  violent,  yet  it  is  within  some 
bankes  ;  though  it  bee  a  Sea,  and  too  tempestuous,  it 
is  limitted  within  some  bounds  :  The  poynts  are  certaine, 
knowen,  limitted,  and  doe  not  grow  upon  us  every 
yeare,  and  day.  But  the  uncharitablenesse  of  the  Church 
of  Rome  towards  us  all,  is  not  a  Torrent,  nor  it  is  not  a  Sea, 
but  a  generall  Flood,  an  universall  Deluge,  that  swallowes 
all  the  world,  but  that  Church,  and  Church-yard,  that 
Towne,  and  Suburhes,  themselves,  and  those  that  depend 


Theological  Dissensions.  133 

upon  them  ;  and  will  not  allowe  possibilitie  of  Salvation  to 
the  whole  Arke,  the  whole  Christian  Churchy  but  to  one 
Cabin  in  that  Arke,  the  Church  of  Rome  ;  and  then 
denie  us  this  Salvation,  not  for  any  Positive  Errour,  that 
ever  they  charged  us  to  affirme  ;  not  because  we  affirme 
any  thing,  that  they  denie,  but  because  wee  denie  some 
things,  which  they  in  their  afternoone  are  come  to 
affirme. 

76.  Despair, 

WHO  ever  comes  into  a  Church  to  denounce  an 
excommunication  against  himselfe  ?  And  shall  any 
sad  soule  come  hither,  to  gather  arguments,  from  our 
preaching,  to  excommunicate  it  selfe,  or  to  pronounce  an 
impossibihty  upon  her  owne  salvation  ?  God  did  a  new  Numb.  16. 
thing,  says  Moses,  a  strange  thing,  a  thing  never  done  ^°' 
before,  when  the  earth  opened  her  mouth  and  Dathan, 
and  Abiram  went  downe  quicke  into  the  pit.  Wilt  thou 
doe  a  stranger  thing  then  that  ?  To  teare  open  the 
jawes  of  Earth,  and  Hell,  and  cast  thy  self  actually 
and  really  into  it,  out  of  a  mis-imagination,  that  God 
hath  cast  thee  into  it  before  ?  Wilt  thou  force  God  to 
second  thy  irreligious  melancholy,  and  to  condemne  thee 
at  last,  because  thou  hadst  precondemned  thy  selfe,  and 
renounced  his  mercy  ? 

']'],  The  S Oct  able ness  of  God, 

OUR  first  step  then  in  this  first  part,  is,  the  sociable-  i  Part 
nesse,  the  communicablenesse  of  God  ;    He  loves  holy 
meetings,  he  loves  the  communion  of  Saints,  the  houshold 
of  the  faithfull :   Delicice  ejus,  says  Solomon,  his  delight  is 
to  he  with  the  Sons  of  men,  and  that  the  Sons  of  men 


134  The  Sociableness  of  God. 

should  be  with  him  :  Religion  is  not  a  melancholy  ;  the 
spirit  of  God  is  not  a  dampe  ;  the  Church  is  not  a  grave  : 
it  is  afoldy  it  is  an  Jrkey  it  is  a  nety  it  is  a  city,  it  is  a  king- 
dome,  not  onely  a  house,  but  a  house  that  hath  many 
mansions  in  it  :  still  it  is  a  plurall  thing,  consisting  of 
m^w^;  :  and  very  good  grammarians  amongst  the  Hebrews, 
have  thought,  and  said,  that  that  name,  by  which  God 
notifies  himself  to  the  world,  in  the  very  beginning  of 
Genesis,  which  is  Elohim,  as  it  is  a  plurall  word  there,  so 
it  hath  no  singular  :  they  say  we  cannot  name  God,  but 
plurally  :  so  sociable,  so  communicable,  so  extensive,  so 
derivative  of  himself,  is  God,  and  so  manifold  are  the 
beames,  and  the  emanations  that  flow  out  from  him. 

78.  God  a  Circle, 

ONE  of  the  most  convenient  Hieroglyphicks  of  God, 
is  a  Circle  ;  and  a  Circle  is  endlesse  ;  whom  God 
loves,  hee  loves  to  the  end  :  and  not  onely  to  their  own 
end,  to  their  death,  but  to  his  end,  and  his  end  is,  that 
he  might  love  them  still.  His  hailestones,  and  his  thunder- 
bolts, and  his  showres  of  bloud  (emblemes  and  instru- 
ments of  his  Judgements)  fall  downe  in  a  direct  line,  and 
affect  and  strike  some  one  person,  or  place  :  His  Sun, 
and  Moone,  and  Starres,  (Emblemes  and  Instruments 
of  his  Blessings)  move  circularly,  and  communicate  them- 
selves to  all.  His  Church  is  his  chariot  ;  in  that,  he  moves 
more  gloriously,  then  in  the  Sun  ;  as  much  more,  as  his 
begotten  Son  exceeds  his  created  Sun,  and  his  Son  of 
glory,  and  of  his  right  hand,  the  Sun  of  the  firmament  ; 
and  this  Church,  his  chariot,  moves  in  that  communicable 
motion,  circularly ;   It  began  in  the  East,  it  came  to  us, 


God  a  Circle.  135 

and  is  passing  now,  shining  out   now,   in   the  farthest 
West. 

79.  God''s  Mirror, 

THERE  is  not  so  poore  a  creature  but  may  be  thy 
glasse  to  see  God  in.  The  greatest  flat  glasse  that 
can  be  made,  cannot  represent  any  thing  greater  then 
it  is  :  If  every  gnat  that  flies  were  an  Arch-angell,  all 
that  could  but  tell  me,  that  there  is  a  God  ;  and  the 
poorest  worme  that  creeps,  tells  me  that.  If  I  should 
aske  the  Basihsk,  how  camest  thou  by  those  killing  eyes, 
he  would  tell  me.  Thy  God  made  me  so  ;  And  if  I  should 
aske  the  Slow-worme,  how  camest  thou  to  be  without 
eyes,  he  would  tell  me.  Thy  God  made  me  so.  The 
Cedar  is  no  better  a  glasse  to  see  God  in,  then  the  Hyssope 
upon  the  wall ;  all  things  that  are,  are  equally  removed 
from  being  nothing ;  and  whatsoever  hath  any  beeing, 
is  by  that  very  beeing,  a  glasse  in  which  we  see  God,  who 
is  the  roote,  and  the  fountaine  of  all  beeing.  The  whole 
frame  of  nature  is  the  Theatre,  the  whole  Volume  of 
creatures  is  the  glasse,  and  the  light  of  nature,  reason,  is 
our  light. 

80.  God^s  Names, 

FIRST  then,  lest  any  man  in  his  dejection  of  spirit,  Vmhra 
or  of  fortune,  should  stray  into  a  jealousie  or  suspi- 
tion  of  Gods  power  to  deliver  him.  As  God  hath  spangled 
the  firmament  v^dth  starres,  so  hath  he  his  Scriptures 
with  names,  and  Metaphors,  and  denotations  of  power. 
Sometimes  he  shines  out  in  the  name  of  a  Sword,  and  of 
a  target,  and  of  a  Wall,  and  of  a  Tower,  and  of  a  Roche, 
and  of  a   Hill ;    And  sometimes  in  that  glorious   and 


136  God's  Names. 

manifold  constellation  of  all  together,  Dominus  exercituum, 
The  Lord  of  Hosts.  God,  as  God,  is  never  represented  to 
us,  with  Defensive  Armes  ;  He  needs  them  not.  When 
the  Poets  present  their  great  Heroes,  and  their  Worthies, 
they  alwayes  insist  upon  their  Armes,  they  spend  much  of 
their  invention  upon  the  description  of  their  Armes  ; 
both  because  the  greatest  valour  and  strength  needs 
Armes,  (fioliah  himselfe  was  armed)  and  because  to  expose 
ones  selfe  to  danger  unarmed,  is  not  valour,  but  rashnesse. 
But  God  is  invulnerable  in  himselfe,  and  is  never  repre- 
sented armed  ;  you  finde  no  shirts  of  mayle,  no  Helmets, 
no  Cuirasses  in  Gods  Armory. 

8 1 .  God's  Mercies. 
Psal.ioi.i.  T  WILL  sing  of  thy  mercy  and  judgement,  sayes  David  ; 
^  when  we  fixe  our  selves  upon  the  meditation  and 
modulation  of  the  mercy  of  God,  even  his  judgements 
cannot  put  us  out  of  tune,  but  we  shall  sing,  and  be 
chearefuU,  even  in  them.  As  God  made  grasse  for  beasts, 
before  he  made  beasts,  and  beasts  for  man,  before  he 
made  man  :  As  in  that  first  generation,  the  Creation,  so 
in  the  regeneration,  our  re-creating,  he  begins  with  that 
which  was  necessary  for  that  which  followes,  Mercy 
before  Judgement.  Nay,  to  say  that  mercy  was  first, 
is  but  to  post-date  mercy  ;  to  preferre  mercy  but  so, 
is  to  diminish  mercy  ;  The  names  of  first  or  last  derogate 
from  it,  for  first  and  last  are  but  ragges  of  time,  and  his 
mercy  hath  no  relation  to  time,  no  limitation  in  time, 
it  is  not  first,  nor  last,  but  eternall,  everlasting  ;  Let  the 
Devill  make  me  so  far  desperate  as  to  conceive  a  time 
when  there  was  no  mercy,  and  he  hath  made  me  so  far  an 


God's  Mercies.  137 

Atheist,  as  to  conceive  a  time  when  there  was  no  God  ; 
if  I  despoile  him  of  his  mercy,  any  one  minute,  and  say, 
now  God  hath  no  mercy,  for  that  minute  I  discontinue  his 
very  Godhead,  and  his  beeing.  Later  Grammarians  have 
wrung  the  name  of  mercy  out  of  misery ;  Misericordia 
pTcesumit  miseriam,  say  these,  there  could  be  no  subsequent 
mercy,  if  there  were  no  precedent  misery  ;  But  the  true 
roote  of  the  word  mercy,  through  all  the  Prophets,  is 
Racham,  and  Racham  is  diligere,  to  love  ;  as  long  as  there 
hath  been  love  (and  God  is  love)  there  hath  been  mercy  : 
And  mercy  considered  externally,  and  in  the  practise  and 
in  the  effect,  began  not  at  the  helping  of  man,  when  man 
was  fallen  and  become  miserable,  but  at  the  making  of  man, 
when  man  was  nothing.  So  then,  here  we  consider  not 
mercy  as  it  is  radically  in  God,  and  an  essentiall  attribute 
of  his,  but  productively  in  us,  as  it  is  an  action,  a  working 
upon  us,  and  that  more  especially,  as  God  takes  all 
occasions  to  exercise  that  action,  and  to  shed  that  mercy 
upon  us  :  for  particular  mercies  are  feathers  of  his  wings, 
and  that  prayer,  Lord  let  thy  mercy  lighten  upon  us,  as 
our  trust  is  in  thee,  is  our  birdhme  ;  particular  mercies 
are  that  cloud  of  Quailes  which  hovered  over  the  host  of 
Israel,  and  that  prayer.  Lord  let  thy  mercy  lighten  upon  us, 
is  our  net  to  catch,  our  Gomer  to  fill  of  those  Quailes. 
The  aire  is  not  so  full  of  Moats,  of  Atomes,  as  the  Church 
is  of  Mercies  ;  and  as  we  can  suck  in  no  part  of  aire, 
but  we  take  in  those  Moats,  those  Atomes  ;  so  here  in 
the  Congregation  we  cannot  suck  in  a  word  from  the 
preacher,  we  cannot  speak,  we  cannot  sigh  a  prayer  to 
God,  but  that  that  whole  breath  and  aire  is  made  of 
mercy.     But  we  call  not  upon  you  from  this  Text,  to 


138  God's  Mercies. 

consider  Gods  ordinary  mercy,  that  which  he  exhibites 
to  all  in  the  ministery  of  his  Church  ;  nor  his  miraculous 
mercy,  his  extraordinary  dehverances  of  States  and 
Churches  ;  but  we  call  upon  particular  Consciences,  by 
occasion  of  this  Text,  to  call  to  minde  Gods  occasionall 
mercies  to  them  ;  such  mercies  as  a  regenerate  man  will 
call  mercies,  though  a  naturall  man  would  call  them 
accidents,  or  occurrences,  or  contingencies  ;  A  man 
wakes  at  midnight  full  of  unclean  thoughts,  and  he  heares 
a  passing  Bell ;  this  is  an  occasionall  mercy,  if  he  call 
that  his  own  knell,  and  consider  how  unfit  he  was  to  be 
called  out  of  the  world  then,  how  unready  to  receive 
that  voice,  Foole,  this  night  they  shall  fetch  away  thy  soule. 
The  adulterer,  whose  eye  waites  for  the  twy-Hght,  goes 
forth,  and  casts  his  eyes  upon  forbidden  houses,  and  would 
enter,  and  sees  a  Lord  have  mercy  upon  us  upon  the  doore  ; 
this  is  an  occasionall  mercy,  if  this  bring  him  to  know 
that  they  who  He  sick  of  the  plague  within,  passe  through 
a  furnace,  but  by  Gods  grace,  to  heaven ;  and  hee 
without,  carries  his  own  furnace  to  hell,  his  lustfuU 
loines  to  everlasting  perdition.  What  an  occasionall 
mercy  had  Balaam,  when  his  Asse  Catechized  him  ? 
What  an  occasionall  mercy  had  one  Theefe,  when  the 
other  catechized  him  so.  Art  not  thou  afraid  being  under 
the  same  condemnation  ?  What  an  occasionall  mercy  had 
all  they  that  saw  that,  when  the  Devil  himself  fought 
Act.  19. 14.  for  the  name  of  Jesus,  and  wounded  the  sons  of  ^ceva 
for  exorcising  in  the  name  of  Jesus,  with  that  indignation, 
with  that  increpation,  lesus  we  know,  and  Paul  we  know, 
hut  who  are  ye?  If  I  should  declare  what  God  hath  done 
(done  occasionally)  for  my  soule,  where  he  instructed  me 


God's  Mercies.  139 

for  feare  of  falling,  where  he  raised  me  when  I  was  fallen, 
perchance  you  would  rather  fixe  your  thoughts  upon  my 
illnesse,  and  wonder  at  that,  then  at  Gods  goodnesse, 
and  glorifie  him  in  that ;  rather  wonder  at  my  sins, 
then  at  his  mercies,  rather  consider  how  ill  a  man  I  was, 
then  how  good  a  God  he  is.  If  I  should  inquire  upon 
what  occasion  God  elected  me,  and  writ  my  name  in 
the  book  of  Life,  I  should  sooner  be  afraid  that  it  were 
not  so,  then  finde  a  reason  why  it  should  be  so.  God 
made  Sun  and  Moon  to  distinguish  seasons,  and  day,  and 
night,  and  we  cannot  have  the  fruits  of  the  earth  but  in 
their  seasons  :  But  God  hath  made  no  decree  to  distin- 
guish the  seasons  of  his  mercies ;  In  paradise,  the  fruits 
were  ripe,  the  first  minute,  and  in  heaven  it  is  alwaies 
Autumne,  his  mercies  are  ever  in  their  maturity.  We 
ask  fanem  quotidianum,  our  daily  bread,  and  God  never 
sayes  you  should  have  come  yesterday,  he  never  sayes 
you  must  againe  to  morrow,  but  to  day  if  you  will  he  are 
his  voice,  to  day  he  will  heare  you.  If  some  King  of  the 
earth  have  so  large  an  extent  of  Dominion,  in  North, 
and  South,  as  that  he  hath  Winter  and  Summer  together 
in  his  Dominions,  so  large  an  extent  East  and  West,  as 
that  he  hath  day  and  night  together  in  his  Dominions, 
much  more  hath  God  mercy  and  judgement  together  : 
He  brought  light  out  of  darknesse,  not  out  of  a  lesser 
light ;  he  can  bring  thy  Summer  out  of  Winter,  though 
thou  have  no  Spring ;  though  in  the  wayes  of  fortune, 
or  understanding,  or  conscience,  thou  have  been  benighted 
till  now,  wintred  and  frozen,  clouded  and  eclypsed, 
damped  and  benummed,  smothered  and  stupified  till 
now,  now  God  comes  to  thee,  not  as  in  the  dawning  of 


140  God's  Mercies. 

the  day,  not  as  in  the  bud  of  the  spring,  but  as  the  Sun 
at  noon  to  illustrate  all  shadowes,  as  the  sheaves  in  harvest, 
to  fill  all  penuries,  all  occasions  invite  his  mercies,  and  all 
times  are  his  seasons. 

82.  God  not  Cruel. 

NEVER  propose  to  thy  self  such  a  God,  as  thou  wert 
not  bound  to  imitate  :  Thou  mistakest  God,  if 
thou  make  him  to  be  any  such  thing,  or  make  him  to 
do  any  such  thing,  as  thou  in  thy  proportion  shouldst 
not  be,  or  shouldst  not  do.  And  shouldst  thou  curse 
any  man  that  had  never  offended,  never  transgrest, 
never  trespast  thee  ?  Can  God  have  done  so  ?  Imagine 
God,  as  the  Poet  saith,  Ludere  in  humanis,  to  play  but 
a  game  at  Chesse  v^ith  this  world  ;  to  sport  himself 
vnth.  making  little  things  great,  and  great  things  nothing 
Imagine  God  to  be  but  at  play  wdth  us,  but  a  gamester  ; 
yet  v^^ill  a  gamester  curse,  before  he  be  in  danger  of  losing 
any  thing  ?  Will  God  curse  man,  before  man  have 
sinned  ? 

83.  The  Voice  oj  God. 
Audivit.  TJOW  often  does  God  speake,  and  nobody  heares  the 
X  jL  voyce  ?  He  speaks  in  his  Canon,  in  Thunder,  and 
he  speaks  in  our  Canon,  in  the  rumour  of  warres.  He 
speaks  in  his  musique,  in  the  harmonious  promises  of 
the  Gospel,  and  in  our  musique,  in  the  temporall  blessings 
of  peace,  and  plenty  ;  And  we  heare  a  noyse  in  his 
Judgements,  and  wee  heare  a  sound  in  his  mercies  ;  but 
we  heare  no  voyce,  we  doe  not  discern  that  this  noyse, 
or  this  sound  comes  from  any  certain  person  ;  we  do 
not  feele  them  to  be  mercies,   nor  to  be  judgements 


The  Voice  of  God.  141 

uttered  from  God,  but  naturall  accidents,  casuall  occur- 
rencies,  emergent  contingencies,  which  as  an  Atheist 
might  think,  would  fall  out  though  there  were  no  God, 
or  no  commerce,  no  dealing,  no  speaking  between  God 
and  Man.  Though  Saul  came  not  instantly  to  a  perfect 
discerning  who  spoke,  yet  he  saw  instantly,  it  was  a  Person 
above  nature,  and  therefore  speakes  to  him  in  that  phrase 
of  submission,  Quis  es  Domine  ?  Lord  who  art  thou  ? 
And  after,  with  trembling  and  astonishment,  (as  the  Text 
sayes)  Domine  quid  me  vis  facere  ?  Lord  what  wilt  thou 
have  me  to  do  ?  Then  we  are  truliest  said  to  hear,  when 
we  know  from  whence  the  voyce  comes.  Princes  are 
Gods  Trumpet,  and  the  Church  is  Gods  Organ,  but 
Christ  Jesus  is  his  voyce.  When  he  speaks  in  the  Prince, 
when  he  speaks  in  the  Church,  there  we  are  bound  to 
heare,  and  happy  if  we  doe  hear.  Man  hath  a  natural 
way  to  come  to  God,  by  the  eie,  by  the  creature  ;  So 
Visible  things  shew  the  Invisible  God  :  But  then,  God 
hath  super-induced  a  supernaturall  way,  by  the  eare. 
For,  though  hearing  be  naturall,  yet  that  faith  in  God 
should  come  by  hearing  a  man  preach,  is  supernatural. 
God  shut  up  the  naturall  way,  in  Saul,  Seeing ;  He 
struck  him  bUnd  ;  But  he  opened  the  super-natural! 
way,  he  inabled  him  to  heare,  and  to  heare  him.  God 
would  have  us  beholden  to  grace,  and  not  to  nature,  and 
to  come  for  our  salvation,  to  his  Ordinances,  to  the 
preaching  of  his  Word,  and  not  to  any  other  meanes. 


142  God's  Language. 

84.   God^s  Language, 

GOD  multiplies  his  mercies  to  us,  in  his  divers  ways 
of  speaking  to  us.  Cosli  enarrant,  says  David,  The 
heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God  ;  and  not  onely  by  showing, 
but  by  saying  ;  there  is  a  language  in  the  heavens  ;  for 
it  is  enarrant,  a  verball  declaration  ;  and,  as  it  followes 
Hterally,  Day  unto  day  uttereth  speech.  This  is  the  true 
harmony  of  the  Spheares,  which  every  man  may  heare. 
Though  he  understand  no  tongue  but  his  owne,  he  may 
heare  God  in  the  motions  of  the  same,  in  the  seasons  of 
the  yeare,  in  the  vicissitudes  and  revolutions  of  Church, 
and  State,  in  the  voice  of  Thunder,  and  lightnings,  and 
other  declarations  of  his  power.  This  is  Gods  English 
to  thee,  and  his  French,  and  his  Latine,  and  Greek,  and 
Hebrew  to  others.  God  once  confounded  languages ; 
that  conspiring  men  might  not  understand  one  another, 
but  never  so,  as  that  all  men  might  not  understand  him. 
When  the  holy  Ghost  fell  upon  the  Apostles,  they  spoke 
so,  as  that  all  men  understood  them,  in  their  owne  tongues. 
When  the  holy  Ghost  fell  upon  the  waters,  in  the  Crea- 
tion, God  spoke  so,  in  his  language  of  Workes,  as  that 
all  men  may  understand  them.  For,  in  this  language, 
the  language  of  workes,  the  Eye  is  the  eare,  seeing  is 
hearing.  How  often  does  the  holy  Ghost  call  upon  us, 
in  the  Scriptures,  Ecce,  quia  os  Domini  locutum,  Behold, 
the  mouth  oj  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it  \  he  calls  us  to 
hehold,  (which  is  the  office  of  the  eye)  and  that  that  we 
are  to  behold,  is  the  voice  of  God,  belonging  to  the  eare ; 
seeing  is  hearing,  in  Gods  first  language,  the  language  of 
works.     But  then  God  translates  himself,  in  particular 


God's  Language.  143 

works ;  nationally^  he  speaks  in  particular  judgments, 
or  deliverances  to  one  nation  ;  &,  domestically^  he  speaks 
that  language  to  a  particular  family  ;  &  so  personally  too, 
he  speaks  to  every  particular  soul.  God  will  speak  unto 
me,  in  that  voice,  and  in  that  way,  which  I  am  most 
delighted  with,  &  hearken  most  to.  If  I  be  covetous, 
God  wil  tel  me  that  heaven  is  a  pearle,  a  treasure.  If 
cheerfull  and  affected  with  mirth,  that  heaven  is  all  Joy, 
If  ambitious,  and  hungry  of  preferment,  that  it  is  aU 
Glory.  If  sociable,  and  conversable,  that  it  is  a  communion 
of  Saints.  God  will  make  a  Fever  speake  to  me,  and  tell 
me  his  minde,  that  there  is  no  health  but  in  him  ;  God 
will  make  the  disfavour,  and  frowns  of  him  I  depend  upon, 
speake  to  me,  and  tell  me  his  minde,  that  there  is  no  safe 
dependence,  no  assurance  but  in  him  ;  God  will  make 
a  storme  at  Sea,  or  zfire  by  land,  speake  to  me,  and  tell  mee 
his  minde,  that  there  is  no  perpetuity,  no  possession  but 
in  him  ;  nay,  God  will  make  my  sinne  speake  to  me,  and 
tell  me  his  minde  ;  even  my  sinne  shall  bee  a  Sermon, 
and  a  Catechisme  to  me  ;  God  shall  suffer  mee  me  to 
fall  into  some  such  sinne,  as  that  by  some  circumstances 
in  the  sinne,  or  consequences  from  the  sinne,  I  shall  be 
drawn  to  hearken  unto  him  ;  and  whether  I  heare 
Hosannaes,  acclamations,  and  commendations,  or  Cruci- 
figes,  exclamations  and  condemnations  from  the  world, 
I  shall  stil  finde  the  voice  and  tongue  of  God,  though 
in  the  mouth  of  the  Devill,  and  his  instruments.  God 
is  a  declaratory  God.  The  whole  yeare,  is,  to  his  Saints, 
a  continuall  Epiphany,  one  day  of  manifestation.  In 
every  minute  that  strikes  upon  the  Bell  is  a  syllable,  nay 
a  syllogisme  from  God.    And,  and  in  my  last  Bell,  God 


144  God's  Language. 

shall  speake  too  ;  that  Bell,  when  it  tolls,  shall  tell  me 
I  am  going,  and  when  it  rings  out,  shall  tell  you  I  am  gone 
into  the  hands  of  that  God,  who  is  the  God  of  the  Hving 
and  not  of  the  dead,  for,  they  dye  not  that  depart  in  him. 


H' 


85.  God's  Anger. 
"ONOUR  not  the  maHce  of  thine  enemy  so  much, 
as  to  say,  thy  misery  comes  from  him  :  Dishonour 
not  the  complexion  of  the  times  so  much,  as  to  say,  thy 
misery  comes  from  them  ;  justifie  not  the  Deity  of 
Fortune  so  much,  as  to  say,  thy  misery  comes  from  her  ; 
Finde  God  pleased  with  thee,  and  thou  hast  a  hook  in 
the  nostrils  of  every  Leviathan^  power  cannot  shake  thee, 

loh^o.  19.  Thou  hast  a  wood  to  cast  into  the  waters  of  Mar  ah,  the 
bitternesse  of  the   times   cannot   hurt   thee,   thou  hast 

Exod.i^.2%.^  Rock  to  dwell  upon,  and  the  dream  of  a  Fortunes  wheel, 
cannot  overturn  thee.  But  if  the  Lord  be  angry,  he 
needs  no  Trumpets  to  call  in  Armies,  if  he  doe  but 
sibilare  muscam,  hisse  and  whisper  for  the  flye,  and  the 
Bee,  there  is  nothing  so  little  in  his  hand,  as  cannot 
discomfort  thee,  discomfit  thee,  dissolve  and  powr  out, 
attenuate  and  annihilate  the  very  marrow  of  thy  soul. 


G 


86.  God's  Faults, 
OD  in  the  Scriptures  is  often  by  the  Holy  Ghost 
invested,  and  represented  in  the  qualities  and  affec- 
tions of  man  ;  and  to  constitute  a  commerce  and  familiar- 
ity between  God  and  man,  God  is  not  onely  said  to  have 
bodily  lineaments,  eyes  and  eares,  and  hands,  and  feet, 
and  to  have  some  of  the  naturall  affections  of  man,  as 
Dcut.30.9.  Joy,  in  particular,  {The  Lord  will  rejoyce  over  thee  jor 


God's  Faults  145 

good,  as  he  rejoyced  over  thy  Fathers)  And  so,  pity  too, 
(The  Lord  was  with  Joseph,  and  extended  kindnesse  unto  Gen.39.21. 
him)  But  some  of  those  inordinate  and  irregular  passions 
and   perturbations,    excesses    and    defects    of   man,    are 
imputed  to  God,  by  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  Scriptures. 
For  so,  lazinesse,  drowsinesse  is  imputed  to  God  ;  {Azcake  Psal.44.23. 
Lord,    why    sleepest    thou  P)     So    corruptiblenesse,    and 
deterioration,    and   growing   worse    by   ill   company,   is 
imputed  to  God  ;    (Cum  perversa  perverteris,  God  is  said         18. 26. 
to  grow  froward  with  the  froward,  and  that  hee  learnes 
to   go    crookedly   with   them   that    go    crookedly)    And 
prodigahty  and  wastfulnesse  is  imputed  to  God  ;    (Jhou        44.12. 
sellest  thy  people  for  naught,  and  doest  not  increase  thy 
wealth  by  their  price)  So  sudden  and  hasty  choler  ;   (Kisse         2. 12. 
the  Son  lest  he  he  angry,  and  ye  perish  In  ira  hrevi,  though 
his  wrath  he  kindled  but  a  little)  And  then,  ilhmited  and 
boundlesse    anger,    a    vindicative    irreconciliablenesse    is 
imputed  to  God  ;    (/  was  but  a  little  displeased,  (but  it  Zech.  1. 15. 
is  otherwise  now)  /  am  very  sore  displeased)  So  there  is 
Ira  devorans  ;   {Wrath  that  consumes  like  stubble)  So  there  Exod.15.4. 
is    Ira   multiplicata,   {plagues   renewed,   and    indignation  \oh  \o.  \t. 
increased)    So   God   himselfe   expresses   it,    (/   will  fight  ler.  21.  5. 
against  you  in  anger  and  injury)  And  so  for  his  inexorable- 
nesse,   his   irreconcihablenesse,    (O   Lord   God   of  Hosts,  Psal.  80. 4. 
Quousque,  how  long  wilt  thou  be  angry  against  the  prayer 
of  thy  people  ?)    Gods  owne  people,  Gods  own  people 
praying  to  their  owne  God,  and  yet  their  God  irrecon- 
ciliable  to  them.     Scorne  and  contempt  is  imputed  to 
God  ;   which  is  one  of  the  most  enormious,  and  dispro- 
portioned    weakenesses    in    man ;     that    a    worme    that 
crawles  in  the  dust,  that  a  graine  of  dust,  that  is  hurried 
2025.3  L 


146  God's  Faults. 

with  every  blast  of  winde,  should  find  any  thing  so  much 
inferiour  to  it  selfe  as  to  scorne  it,  to  deride  it,  to  contemne 
it  ;    yet  scorne,  and  derision,  and  contempt  is  imputed 

Psal.  2. 4.    to  God,  (He  that  sittest  in  the  Heavens  shall  laugh,  the 

Prov.  1. 26.  Lord  shall  have  them  in  derision)  and  againe,  (/  will 
laugh  at  your  calamity,  I  will  mock  you  when  your  feare 
commeth.)  Nay  beloved,  even  inebriation,  excesse  in 
that  kinde,  Drunkennesse,  is  a  Metaphor  which  the  Holy 
Ghost  hath  mingled  in  the  expressing  of  Gods  proceedings 
with  man  ;  for  God  does  not  onely  threaten  to  make  his 
enemies  drunke,  (and  to  make  others  drunke  is  a  circum- 
stance   of    drunkennesse)    (so    Jerusalem    being    in    his 

Lam.  3. 15.  displeasure  complaines,  Inebriavit  absynthio,  {He  hath 
made   me   drunke  with    wormewood)    and    againe,   {They 

Esay49.26.  shall  be  drunke  with  their  owne  blood,  as  with  new  Wine) 
Nor  onely  to  expresse  his  plentifull  mercies  to  his 
friends   and   servants,   does    God  take  that   Metaphore, 

ler.  31. 14.  {Inebriabo  animam  Sacerdotis,  I  will  make   the  soule  oj 

Ver.  25.  the  Priest  drunke  ;  fill  it,  satiate  it)  and  againe,  (/  will 
make  the  weary  soule,  and  the  sorrowfull  soule  drunke)  But 
not  onely  all  this,  (though  in  all  this  God  have  a  hand) 
not  onely  towards  others,  but  God  in  his  o^vne  behalfe 

Esay43.24.  complaines  of  the  scant  and  penurious  Sacrificer,  Non 
inebriasti  me,  Thou  hast  not  made  me  drunke  with  thy 
Sacrifices.  And  yet,  though  for  the  better  applying  of 
God  to  the  understanding  of  man,  the  Holy  Ghost 
impute  to  God  these  excesses,  and  defects  of  man  (lazinesse 
and  drowsiness,  deterioration,  corruptiblenesse  by  ill 
conversation,  prodigaHty  and  wastfulnesse,  sudden  choler, 
long  irreconciablenesse,  scorne,  inebriation,  and  many 
ethers)  in  the  Scriptures,  yet  in  no  place  of  the  Scripture 


God's  Faults.  147 

is  God,  for  any  respect  said  to  be  proud  ;  God  in  the 
Scriptures  is  never  made  so  like  man,  as  to  be  made 
capable  of  Pride  ;  for  this  had  not  beene  to  have  God 
hke  man,  but  like  the  devill. 

87.  God^j  Judgements. 

HOW  desperate  a  state  art  thou  in,  if  nothing  will 
convert  thee,  but  a  speedie  execution,  after  which, 
there  is  no  possibility,  no  room  left  for  a  Conversion  ! 
God  is  the  Lord  of  Hosts,  and  he  can  proceed  by  Martial 
Law  :  he  can  hang  thee  upon  the  next  tree  ;  he  can 
choak  thee  with  a  crum,  with  a  drop,  at  a  voluptuous 
feast ;  he  can  sink  down  the  Stage  and  the  Player,  The  bed 
of  wantonness,  and  the  wanton  actor,  into  the  jaws  of 
the  earth,  into  the  mouth  of  hell  :  he  can  surprise  thee, 
even  in  the  act  of  sin  ;  and  dost  thou  long  for  such  a  speedy 
execution,  for  such  an  expedition  ?  Thou  canst  not  lack 
Examples,  that  he  hath  done  so  upon  others,  and  will  no 
proof  serve  thee,  but  a  speedy  judgement  upon  thyself  ? 
Scatter  thy  thoughts  no  farther  then  ;  contract  them  in 
thy  self,  and  consider  Gods  speedy  execution  upon  thy 
soul,  and  upon  thy  body,  and  upon  thy  soul  and  body 
together.  Was  not  Gods  judgement  executed  speedily 
enough  upon  thy  soul,  when  in  the  same  instant  that  it 
was  created,  and  conceiv'd,  and  infus'd,  it  was  put  to 
a  necessity  of  contracting  Original  sin,  and  so  submitted 
to  the  penalty  of  Adam^s  disobedience,  the  first  minute  ? 
Was  not  Gods  judgement  speedily  enough  executed  upon 
thy  body,  if  before  it  had  any  temporal  hfe,  it  had  a 
spiritual  death  ;  a  sinful  conception,  before  any  inanima- 
tion ?     If  hereditary  diseases  from  thy  parents.  Gouts 

L  2 


148  God's  Judgements. 

and  Epilepsies,  were  in  thee,  before  the  diseases  of  thine 
own  purchase,  the  effects  of  thy  Ucentiousness  and  thy 
riot ;  and  that  from  the  first  minute  that  thou  beganst 
to  live,  thou  beganst  to  die  too  ?  Are  not  the  judge- 
ments of  God  speedily  enough  executed  upon  thy  soul 
and  body  together,  every  day,  when  as  soon  as  thou 
commitst  a  sin,  thou  are  presently  left  to  thine  Impeni- 
tence, to  thine  Insensibleness,  and  Obduration  ?  Nay, 
the  judgement  is  more  speedy  then  so  :  for,  that  very 
sin  it  self,  was  a  punishment  of  thy  former  sins. 

88.  Terrible  Things. 

TerrihiUs.    ^  I  ** HOUGH  there  be  a  difference  between  timor,  and 

-L    terror,  (feare  and  terror)  yet  the  difference  is  not 

so  great,  but  that  both  may  fall  upon  a  good  man  ;   Not 

onely  a  feare  of  God  must,  but  a  terror  of  God  may  fall 

Gen.15.12.  upon  the  Best.  When  God  talked  with  Abraham,  a  horror 
of  great  darknesse  fell  upon  him,  sayes  that  Text.  The 
Father  of  lights,  and  the  God  of  all  comfort  present,  and 
present  in  an  action  of  Mercy,  and  yet,  a  horror  of  great 
darknesse  fell  upon  Abraham.    When  God  talked  person- 

Exod.13.6.  ally,  and  presentially  with  Moses,  Moses  hid  his  face,  for 
(sayes  that  Text)  he  was  afraid  to  looke  upon  God.  When 
I  look  upon  God,  as  I  am  bid  to  doe  in  this  Text,  in  those 
terrible  Judgements,  which  he  hath  executed  upon  some 
men,  and  see  that  there  is  nothing  between  mee  and  the 
same  Judgement,  (for  I  have  sinned  the  same  sinnes,  and 
God  is  the  same  God)  I  am  not  able  of  my  selfe  to  dye 
that  glasse,  that  spectacle,  thorow  which  I  looke  upon 
this  God,  in  what  colour  I  will ;  whether  this  glasse  shall 
be  black,  through  my  despaire,  and  so  I  shall  see  God  in 


Terrible  Things.  149 

the  cloud  of  my  sinnes,  or  red  in  the  blood  of  Christ 
Jesus,  and  I  shall  see  God  in  a  Bath  of  the  blood  of  his 
Sonne,  whether  I  shall  see  God  as  a  Dove  with  an  OHve 
branch,  (peace  to  my  soule)  or  as  an  Eagle,  a  vulture  to 
prey,  and  to  prey  everlastingly  upon  mee,  whether  in 
the  deepe  floods  of  Tribulation,  spirituall  or  temporall, 
I  shall  see  God  as  an  Arke  to  take  mee  in,  or  as  a  Whale  to 
swallow  mee  ;  and  if  his  Whale  doe  swallow  mee,  (the 
Tribulation  devour  me)  whether  his  purpose  bee  to  restore 
mee,  or  to  consume  me,  I,  I  of  my  selfe  cannot  tell. 
I  cannot  look  upon  God,  in  what  Hne  I  will,  nor  take 
hold  of  God,  by  what  handle  I  will ;  Hee  is  a  terrible 
God,  I  take  him  so  ;  And  then  I  cannot  discontinue, 
I  cannot  breake  off  this  terriblenesse,  and  say,  Hee  hath 
beene  terrible  to  that  man,  and  there  is  an  end  of  his 
terror  ;  it  reaches  not  to  me.  Why  not  to  me  ?  In  me 
there  is  no  merit,  nor  shadow  of  merit ;  In  God  there 
is  no  change,  nor  shadow  of  change.  I  am  the  same 
sinner,  he  is  the  same  God  ;  still  the  same  desperate 
sinner,  still  the  same  terrible  God. 

89.  GocTs  Malediction, 

THERE  is  a  malediction  deposited  in  the  Scriptures, 
denounced  by  the  Church,  ratified  by  God,  brought 
into  execution,  yet  it  may  be  born,  men  doe  bear  it. 
How  men  do  bear  it,  we  know  not ;  what  passes  between 
God  and  those  men,  upon  whom  the  curse  of  God  heth, 
in  their  dark  horrours  at  midnight,  they  would  not  have 
us  know,  because  it  is  part  of  their  curse,  to  envy  God 
that  glory.  But  we  may  consider  in  some  part  the  insup- 
portablenesse  of  that  weight,  if  we  proceed  but  so  farre, 


150  God's  Malediction. 

as  to  accommodate  to  God,  that  which  is  ordinarily 
said  of  natural!  things.  Corruptio  optimi  pessima  ;  when 
the  best  things  change  their  nature,  they  become  worst. 
When  God,  who  is  all  sweetnesse,  shall  have  learned 
frowardnesse  from  us,  as  David  speaks  ;  and  being  all 
rectitude,  shall  have  learned  perversenesse  and  crooked- 
nesse  from  us,  as  Moses  speaks  ;  and  being  all  providence, 
shall  have  learned  negligence  from  us  :  when  God  who 
is  all  Blessing,  hath  learned  to  curse  of  us,  and  being  of 
himself  spread  as  an  universall  Hony-combe  over  All, 
takes  in  an  impression,  a  tincture,  an  infusion  of  gaU 
from  us,  what  extraction  of  Wormwood  can  be  so  bitter, 
what  exaltation  of  lire  can  be  so  raging,  what  multiplying 
of  talents  can  be  so  heav7,  what  stifnesse  of  destiny  can 
be  so  inevitable,  what  confection  of  gnawing  worms, 
of  gnashing  teeth,  of  howling  cries,  of  scalding  brimstone, 
of  palpable  darknesse,  can  be  so,  so  insupportable,  so 
inexpressible,  so  in-imaginable,  as  the  curse  and  male- 
diction of  God  ?  And  therefore  let  not  us  by  our  works 
provoke,  nor  by  our  words  teach  God  to  curse. 

90.  GoiV  Power, 
yiS  some  Schoolemasters  have  usd  that  Discipline^  to 
XJL  correct  the  Children  of  great  Persons,  whose  personall 
correction  they  finde  reason  to  forbeare,  by  correcting 
other  Children  in  their  names,  and  in  their  sight,  and  have 
wrought  upon  good  Natures,  that  way,  So  did  Almightie 
God  correct  the  J  ewes  in  the  Egyptians ;  for  the  ten 
plagues  of  Egypt,  were  as  Moses  Decern  Verba,  as  the  ten 
Commandements  to  Israel,  that  they  should  not  provoke 
God.     Every  Judgment  that  falls  upon  another,  should 


God's  Power.  151 

be  a  Catechisme  to  me.  But  when  this  Discipline  pre- 
vaild  not  upon  them,  God  sold  them  away,  gave  them 
away,  cast  them  away,  in  the  tempest,  in  the  whirlewinde, 
in  the  inundation  of  his  indignation,  and  scatterd  them 
as  so  much  dust  in  a  windy  day,  as  so  many  broken 
strawes  upon  a  wrought  Sea.  With  one  word,  One 
Fiat  {Let  there  bee  a  world,)  nay  with  one  thought  of  God 
cast  toward  it,  (for  Gods  speaking  in  the  Creation,  was 
but  a  thinking)  God  made  all  of  Nothing.  And  is  any  one 
rationall  Ant,  (the  wisest  Phylosopher  is  no  more)  Is  any 
roaring  Lyon  (the  most  ambitious  and  devouring  Prince 
is  no  more)  Is  any  hive  oj  Bees,  (The  wisest  Councels, 
and  Parliaments  are  no  more)  Is  any  of  these  so  estabhshd, 
as  that,  that  God  who  by  a  word,  by  a  thought,  made  them 
of  nothing,  cannot,  by  recalHng  that  word,  and  withdrawing 
that  thought,  in  sequestring  his  Providence,  reduce  them 
to  nothing  againe  I  That  Man,  that  Prince,  that  State 
thinks  Past-board  Canon-proofe,  that  thinkes  Power, 
or  Policy  a  Rampart,  when  the  Ordinance  of  God  is 
planted  against  it.  Navyes  will  not  keepe  off  Navies,  if 
God  be  not  the  Pilot,  Nor  Walles  keepe  out  Men,  if  God 
be  not  the  SentinelL  If  they  could,  if  wee  were  walld 
with  a  Sea  of  fire  and  brimstone  without,  and  walld 
with  with  Brasse  within,  yet  we  cannot  ciel  the  Heavens 
with  a  roofe  of  Brasse,  but  that  God  can  come  downe  in 
Thunder  that  way,  Nor  pave  the  Earth  with  a  floare 
of  Brasse,  but  that  God  can  come  up  in  Earthquakes 
that  way.  God  can  call  up  Damps,  &  Vapors  from  below, 
and  powre  down  putride  dejiuxions  from  above,  and  bid 
them  meet  and  condense  into  a  plague,  a  plague  that  shall 
not  be  onely  uncureable,  uncontrollable,  unexorable,  but 


152  God's  Power. 

undisputable,  unexaminable,  unquestionable  ;  A  plague 
that  shall  not  onely  not  admit  a  remedy ,  when  it  is  come, 
but  not  give  a  reason  how  it  did  come. 

91.  Access  to  God. 
T^AVID  knew  he  could  not  retyre  himselfe  from  God 
-^-^in  his  bedchamber  ;  Guards  and  Ushers  could  not 
keepe  him  out.  He  knew  he  could  not  defend  himselfe 
from  God  in  his  Army  ;  for  the  Lord  of  Hosts  is  Lord  oj 
his  Hosts.  If  he  fied  to  Sea,  to  Heaven,  to  Hell,  he  was 
sure  to  meet  God  there  ;  and  there  thou  shalt  meet  him 
too,  if  thou  fly  from  God,  to  the  reliefe  of  outward 
comforts,  of  musicke,  of  mirth,  of  drinke,  of  cordialls, 
of  Comedies,  of  conversation.  Not  that  such  recreations 
are  unlawfull ;  the  minde  hath  her  physick  as  well  as 
the  body  ;  but  when  thy  sadnesse  proceeds  from  a  sense 
of  thy  sinnes,  (which  is  Gods  key  to  the  doore  of  his 
mercy,  put  into  thy  hand)  it  is  a  new,  and  a  greater  sin, 
to  goe  about  to  overcome  that  holy  sadnesse,  with  these 
prophane  diversions ;  to  fly  Ad  consolatiunculas  creaturulce 
(as  that  elegant  man  Luther  expresses  it,  according  to 
his  naturall  delight  in  that  elegancy  of  Diminutives,  with 
which  he  abounds  above  all  Authors)  to  the  Httle  and 
contemptible  comforts  of  httle  and  contemptible  crea- 
tures. And  as  Luther  uses  the  physick,  lob  useth  the 
Physitian  ;  Luther  calls  the  comforts.  Miserable  comforts  ; 
and  loh  calls  them  that  minister  them,  Onerosos  consola- 
tores,  Miserable  comforters  are  you  all.  David  could  not 
drowne  his  adultery  in  blood  ;  never  thinke  thou  to 
drowne  thine  in  wine.  The  Ministers  of  God  are  Sonnes 
of  Thunder,  they  are  falls  of  waters,  trampUng  of  horses. 


Access  to  God.  153 

and  runnings  of  Chariots  ;  and  if  these  voices  of  these 
Ministers,  cannot  overcome  thy  musick,  thy  security,  yet 
the  Angels  trumpet  will ;  That  Surgite  qui  dormitisy 
Arise  yee  that  sleepe  in  the  dust,  in  the  dust  of  the  grave,  is 
a  Treble  that  over-reaches  all ;  That  Ite  maledicti,  Goe 
yee  accursed  into  Hell  Jire,  is  a  Base  that  drowns  all. 
There  is  no  recourse  but  to  God,  no  rehefe  but  in  God  ; 
and  therefore  David  applied  himselfe  to  the  right  method, 
to  make  his  first  accesse  to  God. 

92.  The  Image  of  God  in  Man, 

NO  image,  but  the  image  of  God,  can  fit  our  soul ; 
every  other  seal  is  too  narrow,  too  shallow  for  it. 
The  magistrate  is  sealed  with  the  Lion  ;  the  Wolf  will 
not  fit  that  seal  :  the  magistrate  hath  a  power  in  his 
hand,  but  not  oppression.  Princes  are  sealed  with  the 
Crown ;  the  Mitre  will  not  fit  that  seal.  Powerfully,  and 
graciously  they  protect  the  Church,  and  are  supream 
heads  of  the  Church  ;  but  they  minister  not  the  Sacra- 
ments of  the  Church  :  they  give  preferments  ;  but  they 
give  not  the  capacitie  of  preferments  :  they  give  order 
who  shall  have,  but  they  have  not  Orders  by  which 
they  are  enabled  to  have  that  they  have.  Men  of  inferiour 
and  laborious  callings  in  the  world  are  sealed  with  the 
Crosse  ;  a  Rose,  or  a  bunch  of  Grapes  will  not  answer  that 
seal  :  ease  and  plentie  in  age  must  not  be  looked  for 
without  crosses,  and  labour,  and  Industrie  in  youth. 
All  men,  Prince,  and  people  ;  Clergie,  and  Magistrate, 
are  sealed  with  the  image  of  God,  with  a  conformitie 
to  him  ;  and  worldly  seals  will  not  answer  that,  nor  fill 
up  that  seal.    We  should  wonder  to  see  a  mother  in  the 


154  The  Image  of  God  in  Man. 

midst  of  many  sweet  children,  passing  her  time  in  making 
babies  and  puppets  for  her  own  dehght.  We  should 
wonder  to  see  a  man,  whose  chambers  and  galleries  were 
full  of  curious  master-pieces,  thrust  in  a  village  fayre,  to 
look  upon  sixpenie  pictures,  &  three-farthing  prints. 
We  have  all  the  image  of  God  at  home  ;  and  we  all  make 
babies,  fancies  of  honour  in  our  ambitions.  The  master- 
piece is  our  own,  in  our  own  bosome  ;  and  we  thrust 
in  countrey  fayres,  that  is,  we  endure  the  distempers  of 
any  unseasonable  weather,  in  night- journeys  and  watch- 
ings ;  we  endure  the  oppositions,  and  scorns,  and 
triumphs  of  a  rivall,  and  competitour,  that  seeks  with  us, 
and  shares  with  us.  We  endure  the  guiltinesse  and  re- 
proach of  having  deceived  the  trust  which  a  confident 
friend  reposes  in  us,  and  solicit  his  wife  or  daughter.  We 
endure  the  decay  of  fortune  of  bodie,  of  soul,  of  honour, 
to  possesse  lovers  pictures  ;  pictures  that  are  not  originals, 
not  made  by  that  hand  of  God,  Nature  ;  but  artificiall 
beauties  :  and  for  that  bodie  we  give  a  soul ;  and  for 
that  drug,  which  might  have  been  bought  where  they 
bought  it,  for  a  shilling,  we  give  an  estate.  The  image 
of  God  is  more  worth  then  all  substances  ;  and  we  give 
it  for  colours,  for  dreams,  for  shadows. 

93.  Man  God^s  Enemy. 
Inimicus.  ^  MONGST  naturall  Creatures^  because  howsoever 
JTX  they  differ  in  bignesse,  yet  they  have  some  proportion 
to  one  another,  we  consider  that  some  very  Httle  creatures, 
contemptible  in  themselves,  are  yet  called  enemies  to 
great  creatures,  as  the  Mouse  is  to  the  Elephant.  (For 
the  greatest  Creature  is  not  Infinite,  nor  the  least  is  not 


Man  God's  Enemy.  155 

Nothing.)  But  shall  man,  betweene  whom  and  nothing, 
there  went  but  a  word,  Let  us  make  Man,  That  Nothing, 
which  is  infinitely  lesse  then  a  Mathematical!  point,  then 
an  imaginary  Atome,  shall  tliis  Man,  this  yesterdayes 
Nothing,  this  to  morrow  worse  then  Nothing,  be  capable 
of  that  honour,  that  dishonourable  honour,  that  confound- 
ing honour,  to  be  the  enemy  of  God,  of  God  who  is  not 
onely  a  multiplied  Elephant,  millions  of  Elephants 
multipHed  into  one,  but  a  multiphed  World,  a  multipHed 
All,  All  that  can  be  conceived  by  us,  infinite  many  times 
over;  Nay,  (if  we  may  dare  to  say  so,)  a  multiplyed 
God,  a  God  that  hath  the  MiUions  of  the  Heathens  gods 
in  himselfe  alone,  shall  this  man  be  an  enemy  to  this  God  ? 
Man  cannot  be  allowed  so  high  a  sinne,  as  enmity  with 
God.  The  Devill  himselfe  is  but  a  slave  to  God,  and 
shall  Man  be  called  his  enemy  ?  It  is  true,  if  we  consider 
the  infinite  disproportion  between  them,  he  cannot ; 
but  to  many  sad  purposes,  and  in  many  heavy  apphcations 
Man  is  an  enemy  to  God. 

94.  Jhe  Atheist, 

POORE  intricated  soule  !  Riddling,  perplexed, 
labyrinthicall  soule  !  Thou  couldest  not  say,  that 
thou  beleevest  not  in  God,  if  there  were  no  God  ;  Thou 
couldest  not  beleeve  in  God,  if  there  were  no  God  ;  If 
there  were  no  God,  thou  couldest  not  speake,  thou 
couldest  not  thinke,  not  a  word,  not  a  thought,  no  not 
against  God  ;  Thou  couldest  not  blaspheme  the  Name 
of  God,  thou  couldest  not  sweare,  if  there  were  no 
God  :  For,  all  thy  faculties,  how  ever  depraved,  and 
perverted  by  thee,  are  from  him  ;  and  except  thou  canst 


156  The  Atheist. 

seriously  beleeve,  that  thou  art  nothing,  thou  canst  not 
beleeve  that  there  is  no  God.  If  I  should  aske  thee  at 
a  Tragedy,  where  thou  shouldest  see  him  that  had 
drawne  blood,  He  weltring,  and  surrounded  in  his  owne 
blood,  Is  there  a  God  now  ?  If  thou  couldst  answer  me. 
No,  These  are  but  Inventions,  and  Representations  of 
men,  and  I  beleeve  a  God  never  the  more  for  this ;  If 
I  should  ask  thee  at  a  Sermon,  where  thou  shouldest 
heare  the  Judgements  of  God  formerly  denounced,  and 
executed,  re-denounced,  and  appHed  to  present  occasions. 
Is  there  a  God  now  ?  If  thou  couldest  answer  me.  No, 
These  are  but  Inventions  of  State,  to  souple  and  regulate 
Congregations,  and  keep  people  in  order,  and  I  beleeve 
a  God  never  the  more  for  this  ;  Bee  as  confident  as  thou 
canst,  in  company  ;  for  company  is  the  Atheists  Sanc- 
tuary ;  I  respit  thee  not  till  the  day  of  Judgement,  when 
I  may  see  thee  upon  thy  knees,  upon  thy  face,  begging 
of  the  hills,  that  they  would  fall  downe  and  cover  thee 
from  the  fierce  wrath  of  God,  to  aske  thee  then.  Is  there 
a  God  now  ?  I  respit  thee  not  till  the  day  of  thine  own 
death,  when  thou  shalt  have  evidence  enough,  that  there 
is  a  God,  though  no  other  evidence,  but  to  finde  a  Devill, 
and  evidence  enough,  that  there  is  a  Heaven,  though 
no  other  evidence,  but  to  feele  Hell ;  To  aske  thee  then. 
Is  there  a  God  now  ?  I  respit  thee  but  a  few  houres, 
but  six  houres,  but  till  midnight.  Wake  then  ;  and  then 
darke,  and  alone,  Heare  God  aske  thee  then,  remember 
that  I  asked  thee  now,  Is  there  a  God  ?  and  if  thou  darest, 
say  No. 


The  Angels.  157 

95.  The  Angels, 

THAT  there  are  distinct  orders  of  Angels,  assuredly 
I  beleeve  ;  but  what  they  are,  I  cannot  tell ;  Dicant 
qui  possunt ;  si  tamen  prohare  possunt  quod  dicunt,  sales 
that  Father,  Let  them  tell  you  that  can,  so  they  be  able 
to  prove,  that  they  tell  you  true.  They  are  Creatures, 
that  have  not  so  much  of  a  Body  as  Jlesh  is,  as  froth  is, 
as  a  vapor  is,  as  a  sigh  is,  and  yet  w^ith  a  touch  they  shall 
molder  a  rock  into  lesse  Atomes,  then  the  sand  that  it 
stands  upon  ;  and  a  milstone  into  smaller  flower,  then 
it  grinds.  They  are  Creatures  made,  and  yet  not  a  minute 
elder  now,  then  when  they  were  first  made,  if  they  were 
made  before  all  measure  of  time  began  ;  nor,  if  they 
were  made  in  the  beginning  of  Time,  and  be  now  six 
thousand  yeares  old,  have  they  one  wrinckle  of  Age  in 
their  face,  or  one  sobbe  of  wearinesse  in  their  lungs. 
They  are  primogeniti  Dei,  Gods  eldest  sonnes  ;  They 
are  super-elementary  meteors,  they  hang  between  the 
nature  of  God,  and  the  nature  of  man,  and  are  of  middle 
Condition  ;  And,  (if  we  may  offencelessely  expresse  it 
so)  they  are  cenigmata  Divina,  The  Riddles  of  Heaven, 
and  the  perplexities  of  speculation. 

96.  The  Devil, 

SOME  of  the  ancient  Fathers,  dehvering  the  mercies  nus  omni- 
of  God,  so,  as    the   articles    of  our  Church  enjoyne  ^"^* 
them  to  bee  delivered,  that  is,  generally,  as  they  are 
delivered   in    the    Scriptures,    have   delivered    them   so 
over-generally,   that   they  have  seemed  loth   to   thinke 
the  devill  himself e  excluded  from  all  benefit  of  Chris ts 


158  The  Devil. 

comming.  Some  of  the  later  Authors  in  the  Roman 
Church,  (who,  as  pious  as  they  pretend  to  be  towards 
the  Fathers,  are  apter  to  discover  the  nakednesse  of  the 
Fathers,  then  we  are)  have  noted  in  lustin  Martyr^  and 
in  Epiphanius,  and  in  Clement  of  Alexandria,  and  in 
Oecumenius,  (and  Oecumenius  is  no  single  Father,  but 
Pater  patratus,  a  manifold  Father,  a  complicated  father, 
a  Father  that  collected  Fathers)  and  even  in  S.  lerome 
himselfe,  and  S.  Ambrose  too,  some  inclinations  towards 
that  opinion,  that  the  devill  retaining  still  his  faculty 
of  free  vnll,  is  therefore  capable  of  repentance,  and  so  of 
benefit  by  this  comming  of  Christ ;  And  those  Authors 
of  the  Roman  Church,  that  modifie  the  matter,  and 
excuse  the  Fathers  herein,  excuse  them  no  other  way  but 
this,  that  though  that  opinion  and  doctrine  of  those 
Fathers,  bee  not  true  in  it  self  e,  yet  it  was  never  condemned 
by  any  Councell,  nor  by  any  ancient  Father.  So  very 
far,  did  very  many  goe  in  enlarging  the  mercies  of  God 
in  Christ,  to  all.  But  waiving  this  over-large  extention 
and  profusion  thereof,  and  directing  it  upon  a  more 
possible,  and  a  more  credible  object,  that  is,  Man  ; 
S.  Cyril  of  Alexandria,  speaking  of  the  possibiHty  of  the 
salvation  of  all  men,  sales,  by  way  of  objection  to  himselfe, 
Omnes  non  credunt,  How  can  all  be  saved  since  all  doe  not 
beleeve  ?  but,  sales  he.  Because  actually  they  do  not 
beleeve,  is  it  therefore  impossible  they  should  beleeve  ? 
And  for  actuall  beleefe,  sales  he,  though  all  doe  not,  yet 
so  many  doe,  ut  facile  qui  pereanty  superent,  that,  by  Gods 
goodnesse,  more  are  saved,  then  lost,  sales  that  Father  of 
tender  and  large  bowels,  S.  Cyril.  And  howsoever  he 
may  seeme  too  tender,  and  too  large  herein,  yet  it  is 


The  Devil.  159 

a  good  peece  of  counsaile,  which  that  Rabbi  whom  I  Moses, 
named  before,  gives,  Ne  redarguas  ea  falsitatis,  de  quorum 
contrariis  nulla  est  demonstration  Be  not  apt  to  call  any 
opinion  false,  or  hereticall,  or  damnable,  the  contrary 
whereof  cannot  be  evidently  proved. 

97.  T^he  Creation, 

THERE  is  but  one  God  ;  but  yet  was  that  one  God 
ever  alone  ?  There  were  more  generations  (infinitely 
infinite)  before  the  world  was  made,  then  there  have  been 
minutes^  since  it  was  made  :  all  that  while,  there  were 
no  creatures  ;  but  yet  was  God  alone,  any  one  minute 
of  al  this  ?  was  there  not  alwais  a  Father  and  a  5o«, 
&  a  holy  Ghost  ?  And  had  not  they,  always  an  acquies- 
cence in  one  another,  an  exercise  of  Affection^  (as  we  may 
so  say)  a  love,  a  delight,  and  a  complacency  towards  one 
another  ?  So,  as  that  the  Father  could  not  be  without 
the  Son  and  the  holy  Ghost,  so  as  neither  Sonne,  nor  holy 
Ghost  could  be  without  the  Father,  nor  without  one 
another;  God  was  from  all  eternity  collected  into  one 
God,  yet  from  all  eternity  he  derived  himselfe  into  three 
persons  :  God  could  not  be  so  alone,  but  that  there  have 
been  three  persons,  as  long  as  there  hath  been  one  God. 

Had  God  company  enough  of  himselfe  ;  was  he  satisfied  C^eatio. 
in  the  three  Persons  I  We  see  he  proceeded  further  ;  he 
came  to  a  Creation  ;  And  as  soon  as  he  had  made  light, 
(which  was  his  first  Creature)  he  took  a  pleasure  in  it ; 
he  said  it  was  good ;  he  was  glad  of  it ;  glad  of  the  Sea, 
glad  of  the  Earth,  glad  of  the  Sunne,  and  Moone,  and 
Starres,  and  he  said  of  every  one.  It  is  good  ;  But  when  he 
had  made  All,  peopled   the  whole  world,   brought   all 


i6o  The  Creation. 

creatures  together,  then  he  was  very  glad,  and  then  he 
said,  not  onely,  that  it  was  good,  but  that  it  was  very 
good  :  God  was  so  far  from  being  alone,  as  that  he  found 
not  the  fulnesse  of  being  well,  till  all  was  made,  till  all 
Creatures  met  together,  in  an  Host,  as  Moses  calls  it ; 
then  the  good  was  extended  into  very  good. 

Angeli  Did  God  satisfie  himselfe  with  this  visible  and  discernible 

world  ;  with  all  on  earth,  and  all  between  that,  and  him  ? 
were  those  foure  Monarchies,  the  foure  Elements,  and 
all  the  subjects  of  those  foure  Monarchies,  (if  all  the  foure 
Elements  have  Creatures)  company  enough  for  God  ? 
was  that  Heptarchie,  the  seven  kingdomes  of  the  seven 
Planets,  conversation  enough  for  him  ?  Let  every  Starre 
in  the  firmament,  be  (so  some  take  them  to  be)  a  severall 
world,  was  all  this  enough  ?  we  see,  God  drew  persons 
nearer  to  him,  then  Sunne,  or  Moon,  or  Starres,  or  any 
thing,  which  is  visible,  and  discernible  to  us,  he  created 
Angels ;  How  many,  how  great  ?  Arithmetique  lacks 
numbers  to  to  expresse  them,  proportion  lacks  Dimensions 
to  figure  them  ;   so  far  was  God  from  being  alone. 

Homines.  And  yet  God  had  not  shed  himselfe  far  enough  ;  he 
had  the  Leviathan,  the  Whale  in  the  Sea,  and  Behemoth 
and  the  Elephant  upon  the  land  ;  and  all  these  great 
heavenly  bodies  in  the  way,  and  Angels  in  their  infinite 
numbers,  and  manifold  offices,  in  heaven  ;  But,  because 
Angels,  could  not  propagate,  nor  make  more  Angels, 
he  enlarged  his  love,  in  making  man,  that  so  he  might 
enjoy  all  natures  at  once,  and  have  the  nature  of  Angels, 
and  the  nature  of  earthly  Creatures,  in  one  Person.  God 
would  not  be  without  man,  nor  he  would  not  come 
single,  not  alone  to  the  making  of  man  ;  but  it  is  Faciamus 


The  Creation.  i6i 

hominem.  Let  us,  us,  make  man ;  God,  in  his  whole 
counsail,  in  his  whole  Colledge,  in  his  whole  society,  in 
the  whole  Trinity,  makes  man,  in  whom  the  whole 
nature   of  all   the   world   should   meet. 

98.  The  Heavens  and  Earth. 

NEVER  such  a  frame  so  soon  set  up,  as  this  in  this 
chapter  :  For,  for  the  thing  it  self,  there  is  no  other 
thing  to  compare  it  with  ;  for  it  is  all,  it  is  the  whole 
world.  And  for  the  time,  there  was  no  other  time  to 
compare  it  with  ;  for  this  was  the  beginning  of  time, 
In  the  beginning  God  created  heaven  and  earth.  That 
earth,  which  in  some  thousands  of  yeares  men  could  not 
look  over,  nor  discern  what  form  it  had  (for  neither 
Lactantius,  almost  three  hundred  yeares  after  Christ ; 
nor  iS.  Augustine,  more  then  one  hundred  yeares  after 
him,  would  beleeve  the  earth  to  be  round)  That  earth, 
which  no  man  in  his  person  is  ever  said  to  have  compassed 
till  our  age  :  That  earth  which  is  too  much  for  man  yet, 
(for,  as  yet  a  very  great  part  of  the  earth  is  unpeopled) 
That  earth,  which,  if  we  will  cast  it  all  but  into  a  Map, 
costs  many  moneths  labour  to  grave  it  ;  nay,  if  we  will 
cast  but  a  piece  of  an  acre  of  it  into  a  garden,  costs  many 
yeares  labour  to  fashion  and  furnish  it ;  all  that  earth  : 
And  then  that  heaven,  which  spreads  so  farre,  as  that 
subtill  men  have,  with  some  appearance  of  probabilitie, 
imagined,  that  in  that  heaven,  in  those  manifold  Spheres 
of  the  Planets  and  the  Starres,  there  are  many  earths, 
many  worlds,  as  big  as  this  which  we  inhabit  :  That  earth 
and  that  heaven,  which  spent  God  himself,  Almightie 
God,  siz  dayes  in  finishing ;    Moses   sets   up   in  a  few 

M 


1 62  The  Heavens  and  Earth. 

syllables,  in  one  line,  In  principio,  In  the  beginning  God 
created  heaven  and  earth.  If  a  Livie  or  a  Guicciardine,  or 
such  extensive  and  voluminous  authours  had  had  this 
story  in  hand,  God  must  have  made  another  world,  to 
have  made  them  a  Hbrary  to  hold  their  books,  of  the 
making  of  this  world.  Into  what  wire  would  they  have 
drawn  out  this  earth!  Into  what  leaf-gold  would  they 
have  beat  out  these  heavens  !  It  may  assist  our  conjecture 
herein,  to  consider,  that  amongst  those  men,  who  proceed 
with  a  sober  modestie  and  limitation  in  their  writing,  & 
make  a  conscience  not  to  clog  the  world  with  unnecessary 
books  ;  yet  the  volumes  which  are  written  by  them,  upon 
the  beginning  of  Genesis,  are  scarce  lesse  than  infinite. 
God  did  no  more  but  say.  Let  this  &  this  be  done ;  and 
Moses  doth  no  more  but  say,  that  upon  Gods  saying  it 
was  done.  God  required  not  Nature  to  help  him  to  do  it; 
Moses  required  not  Reason  to  help  him  to  beleeve. 

99.  ^he  Creation  of  a  Harmonious  World, 

GOD  made  this  whole  world  in  such  an  uniformity, 
such  a  correspondency,  such  a  concinnity  of  parts, 
as  that  it  was  an  Instrument,  perfectly  in  tune  :  we  may 
cay,  the  trebles,  the  highest  strings  were  disordered  first ; 
the  best  understandings,  Angels  and  Men,  put  this 
instrument  out  of  tune.  God  rectified  all  again,  by 
putting  in  a  new  string,  semen  mulieris,  the  seed  of  the 
woman,  the  Messias  :  And  onely  by  sounding  that  string 
in  your  ears,  become  we  musicum  carmen,  true  musick, 
true  harmony,  true  peace  to  you.  If  we  shall  say,  that 
Gods  first  string  in  this  instrument,  was  Reprobation, 
that  Gods  first  intention,  was,  for  his  glory  to  damn 


Creation  of  a  Harmonious  World.         163 

man  ;  and  that  then  he  put  in  another  string,  of  creating 
Man,  that  so  he  might  have  some  body  to  damn ;  and 
then  another  of  enforcing  him  to  sin,  that  so  he  might 
have  a  just  cause  to  damne  him  ;  and  then  another,  of 
disabhng  him  to  lay  hold  upon  any  means  of  recovery  : 
there's  no  musick  in  all  this,  no  harmony,  no  peace  in 
such  preaching.  But  if  we  take  this  instrument,  w^hen 
Gods  hand  tun'd  it  the  second  time,  in  the  promise  of 
a  Messias,  and  offer  of  the  love  &  mercy  of  God  to  all  that 
will  receive  it  in  him ;  then  we  are  truely  musicum  carmen^ 
as  a  love-song,  when  we  present  the  love  of  God  to  you, 
and  raise  you  to  the  love  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus  :  for, 
for  the  musick  of  the  Sphears,  whatsoever  it  be,  we  cannot 
hear  it ;  for  the  decrees  of  God  in  heaven,  we  cannot  say  we 
have  seen  them ;  our  musick  is  onely  that  salvation  which  is 
declared  in  the  Gospel  to  all  them,  and  to  them  onely,  who 
take  God  by  the  right  hand,  as  he  delivers  himself  in  Christy 

100.  God  and  Adam  and  Eve. 

WHO  hath  divided  heaven  into  shires  or  parishes, 
or  limited  the  territories  or  jurisdictions  there, 
that  God  should  not  have  and  exercise  judicium  dis- 
cretionis,  the  power  of  discerning  all  actions  in  all  places, 
when  there  was  no  more  to  be  seen  nor  considered  upon 
the  whole  earth,  but  the  garden  of  Paradise  ?  for  from 
the  beginning,  Delicice  ejus  esse  cum  filiis  hominum, 
Gods  delight  was  to  be  with  the  sonnes  of  men  ;  and  man 
was  only  there.  Shall  we  diminish  God,  or  speak  too 
vulgarly  of  him,  to  say  that  he  hovered  like  a  falcon 
over  Paradise,  and  that  from  that  height  of  heaven  the 
piercing  eye  of  God  saw  so  Httle  a  thing  as  the  forbidden 

M  2 


164  God  and  Adam  and  Eve. 

fruit,  and  what  became  of  that  ?  and  the  reaching  eare 
of  God  heard  the  hissing  of  the  serpent,  and  the  whisper- 
ing of  the  woman,  and  what  was  concluded  upon  that  ? 
shall  we  think  it  little  to  have  seen  things  done  in  Paradise, 
when  there  was  nothing  else  to  divert  his  eye,  nothing 
else  to  distract  his  counsels,  nothing  else  done  upon  the 
face  of  the  earth  ?  take  the  earth  now  as  it  is  replenished, 
and  take  it  either  as  it  is  torn  and  crumbled  in  rags  and 
shivers,  not  a  kingdome,  not  a  family,  not  a  man  agreeing 
with  himself  ;  or  take  it  in  that  concord  which  is  in  it,  as 
all  the  kings  of  the  earth  set  themselves,  and  all  the  rulers 
of  the  earth  take  counsel  together  against  the  Lord  ;  take 
it  in  this  union,  or  this  disunion ;  in  this  concord,  or  this 
disconcord;  still  the  Lord  that  sitteth  in  the  heavens 
discerns  all,  looks  at  all,  laughs  at  all,  and  hath  them  in 
derision.  Earthly  judges  have  their  districtions,  and  so 
their  restrictions ;  some  things  they  cannot  know  :  what 
mortall  man  can  know  all  ?  some  things  they  cannot 
take  knowledge  of,  for  they  are  bounded  :  no  cloud,  no 
darkness,  no  disguise  keeps  him  from  discerning  and 
judging  all  our  actions. 

loi.  The  World  since  the  Fall, 
Morietur.  XT  THEN  Paradise  should  have  extended,  as  man  should 
W  have  multiplied,  and  every  holy  family,  every 
religious  Colony  have  constituted  a  new  Paradise,  that 
as  it  was  said  of  Egypt,  when  it  abounded  with  Hermitages 
in  the  Primitive  persecutions.  That  Egypt  was  a  continual] 
City  of  Hermitages ;  so  all  the  world  should  have  been 
a  continuall  Garden  of  Paradises,  when  all  affections 
should  have  been  subjects,  and  all  creatures  servants, 


The  World  since  the  Fall.  165 

and  all  wives  helpers,  then  life  was  a  sincere  blessing. 
But,  but  a  mixt  blessing  now,  when  all  these  are  so  much 
vitiated  ;  onely  a  possible  blessing  ;  a  disputable,  a  con- 
ditionable,  a  circumstantiall  blessing  now.  If  there 
were  any  other  way  to  be  saved  and  to  get  to  Heaven, 
then  by  being  born  into  this  Hfe,  I  would  not  wish  to 
have  come  into  this  world.  And  now  that  God  hath 
made  this  life  a  Bridge  to  Heaven  ;  it  is  but  a  giddy,  and 
a  vertiginous  thing,  to  stand  long  gazing  upon  so  narrow 
a  bridge,  and  over  so  deep  and  roaring  waters,  and  desper- 
ate whirlpools,  as  this  world  abounds  with  :  So  teach  Psalgo.ia 
us  to  number  our  dayes,  saith  David,  that  we  may  apply  our 
hearts  unto  wisedome  :  Not  to  number  them  so,  as  that 
we  place  our  happinesse,  in  the  increase  of  their  number. 

102.  Silkworms. 

SHALL  we  that  are  but  wormes,  but  silke-zvormes,  but 
glow-wormes  at  best,  chide  God  that  hee  hath  made 
slozv-zoormes,  and  other  venimous  creeping  things  ?  shall 
we  that  are  nothing  but  boxes  of  poyson  in  our  selves, 
reprove  God  for  making  Toads  and  Spiders  in  the  world  ? 
shall  we  that  are  all  discord,  quarrell  the  harmony  of 
his  Creation,  or  his  providence  ?  Can  an  Apothecary 
make  a  Soveraign  triacle  of  Vipers,  and  other  poysons, 
and  cannot  God  admit  offences,  and  scandals  into  his 
physick  ?  scandals,  and  offences,  tentations,  and  tribula- 
tions, are  our  leaven  that  ferment  us,  and  our  lees  that 
preserve  us.  Use  them  to  Gods  glory,  and  to  thine  own 
establishing,  and  then  thou  shall  be  a  particular  exception 
to  that  generall  Rule,  the  Fee  mundo  a  scandalis,  shall 
be  an  Euge  tibi  a  scandalis,  thou  shalt  see  that  it  was 


1 66  Silkworms. 

well  for  thee,  that  there  were  scandals  and  offences  in 
the  world,  for  they  shall  have  exercised  thy  patience, 
they  shall  have  occasioned  thy  victory,  they  shall  have 
assured  thy  triumph. 

103.  Original  Sin, 

SCARCE  any  man  considers  the  weight  of  Originall 
sinne ;  And  yet,  as  the  strongest  tentations  fall  upon 
us  when  wee  are  weakest,  in  our  death-bed,  so  the  heavyest 
sinne  seises  us,  when  wee  are  weakest ;  as  soon  as  wee 
are  any  thing,  we  are  sinners,  and  there,  where  there  can 
be  no  more  tentations  ministred  to  us,  then  was  to  the 
Angels  that  fell  in  heaven,  that  is,  in  our  mothers  womb, 
when  no  world,  nor  flesh,  nor  Devill  could  present 
a  provocation  to  sinne  to  us,  when  no  faculty  of  ours  is 
able  to  embrace,  or  second  a  provocation  to  sin,  yet  there, 
in  that  weaknesse,  we  are  under  the  weight  of  Originall 
sin.  And  truly,  if  at  this  time,  God  would  vouchsafe 
mee  my  choice,  whether  hee  should  pardon  me  all  those 
actual  and  habituall  sins,  which  I  have  committed  in 
my  life,  or  extinguish  Originall  sinne  in  me,  I  should 
chuse  to  be  delivered  from  Originall  sin,  because,  though 
I  be  dehvered  from  the  imputation  thereof,  by  Baptism,  so 
that  I  shall  not  fall  under  a  condemnation  for  Originall 
sin  onely,  yet  it  still  remains  in  me,  and  practices  upon 
me,  and  occasions  all  the  other  sins,  that  I  commit : 
now,  for  all  my  actuall  and  habituall  sins,  I  know  God 
hath  instituted  meanes  in  his  Church,  the  Word,  and  the 
Sacraments,  for  my  reparation  ;  But  with  what  a  holy 
alacrity,  with  what  a  heavenly  joy,  with  what  a  cheerfull 
peace,  should  I  come  to  the  participation  of  these  meanes 


Original  Sin.  167 

and  seals  of  my  reconciliation,  and  pardon  of  all  my 
sins,  if  I  knew  my  selfe  to  be  delivered  from  Originall 
sinne,  from  that  snake  in  my  bosome,  from  that  poyson 
in  my  blood,  from  that  leaven  and  tartar  in  all  my  actions, 
that  casts  me  into  Relapses  of  those  sins  which  I  have 
repented  ?  And  what  a  cloud  upon  the  best  serenity 
of  my  conscience,  what  an  interruption,  what  a  dis- 
continuance from  the  sincerity  and  integrity  of  that 
joy,  which  belongs  to  a  man  truly  reconciled  to  God, 
in  the  pardon  of  his  former  sins,  must  it  needs  be  still 
to  know,  and  to  know  by  lamentable  experiences,  that 
though  I  wash  my  selfe  with  Soap,  and  Nitre,  and  Snow- 
water, mine  own  cloathes  will  defile  me  again,  though 
I  have  washed  my  selfe  in  the  tears  of  Repentance,  and 
in  the  blood  of  my  Saviour,  though  I  have  no  guiltinesse 
of  any  former  sin  upon  me  at  that  present,  yet  I  have 
a  sense  of  a  root  of  sin,  that  is  not  grub'd  up,  of  Originall 
sinne,  that  will  cast  me  back  again.  Scarce  any  man 
considers  the  weight,  the  oppression  of  Originall  sinne. 
No  man  can  say,  that  an  Akorn  weighs  as  much  as  an 
Oak  ;  yet  in  truth,  there  is  an  Oak  in  that  Akorn  :  no 
man  considers  that  Originall  sinne  weighs  as  much  as 
Actuall,  or  Habituall,  yet  in  truth,  all  our  Actuall  and 
Habituall  sins  are  in  Originall.  Therefore  Saint  Pauls 
vehement,  and  frequent  prayer  to  God,  to  that  purpose, 
could  not  deliver  him  from  Originall  sin,  and  that 
stimulus  carnis,  that  provocation  of  the  flesh,  that 
Messenger  of  Satan,  which  rises  out  of  that,  God  would 
give  him  sufficient  grace,  it  should  not  worke  to  his 
destruction,  but  yet  he  should  have  it :  Nay,  the  infinite 
merit  of  Christ  Jesus  himself,  that  works  so  upon  all 


i68  Original  Sin. 

actuall  and  habituall  sins,  as  that  after  that  merit  19 
applyed  to  them,  those  sins  are  no  sins,  works  not  so  upon 
Originall  sin,  but  that,  though  I  be  eased  in  the  Dominion, 
and  Imputation  thereof,  yet  the  same  Originall  sin  is 
in  me  still ;  and  though  God  doe  deliver  me  from 
eternall  death,  due  to  mine  actuall  and  habituall  sins,  yet 
from  the  temporall  death,  due  to  Originall  sin,  he 
delivers  not  his  dearest  Saints. 

104.  Original  Sin, 

MISERABLE  man  !  a  Toad  is  a  bag  of  Poyson,  and 
a  Spider  is  a  blister  of  Poyson,  and  yet  a  Toad  and 
a  Spider  cannot  poyson  themselves  ;  Man  hath  a  dram 
of  poyson,  originall-Sin,  in  an  invisible  corner,  we  know 
not  where,  and  he  cannot  choose  but  poyson  himself 
and  all  his  actions  with  that ;  we  are  so  far  from  being 
able  to  begin  without  Grace,  as  then  where  we  have  the 
first  Grace,  we  cannot  proceed  to  the  use  of  that, 
without  more. 

105.  l^he  Heart  of  the  Sinner, 

THE  holyest  man  cannot  at  all  times  finde  his  own 
heart,  (his  heart  may  be  bent  upon  Religion,  and  yet 
he  cannot  tell  in  which  Religion  ;  and  upon  Preaching, 
and  yet  he  cannot  tell  which  Preacher  ;  and  upon  Prayer, 
and  yet  he  shall  finde  strayings  and  deviations  in  his 
Prayer)  much  more  hardly  is  the  various  and  vagabond 
heart  of  such  an  indifferent  sinner,  to  be  found  by  any 
search.  If  he  enquire  for  his  heart,  at  that  Chamber 
where  he  remembers  it  was  yesterday,  in  lascivious  and 
lustful  purposes,  he  shall  hear  that  it  went  from  thence 


The  Heart  of  the  Sinner.  169 

to  some  riotous  Feasting,  from  thence  to  some  Blas- 
phemous Gaming,  after,  to  some  Malicious  Consultation 
of  entangling  one,  and  supplanting  another ;  and  he 
shall  never  trace  it  so  close,  as  to  drive  it  home,  that  is, 
to  the  consideration  of  itself,  and  that  God  that  made  it ; 
nay,  scarce  to  make  it  consist  in  any  one  particular 
sin.  .  .  . 

This  is  the  full  setting  of  the  heart  to  do  evil,  u^hen 
a  man  fills  himself  vidth  the  Hberty  of  passing  into  any 
sin,  in  an  indifferencie  ;  and  then  findes  no  reason  why  he 
should  leave  that  way,  either  by  the  love,  or  by  the  fear 
of  God.  If  he  prosper  by  his  sin,  then  he  findes  no  reason  ; 
if  he  do  not  prosper  by  it,  yet  he  findes  a  wrong  reason. 
If  unseasonable  flouds  drown  his  Harvest,  and  frustrate 
all  his  labours,  and  his  hopes  ;  he  never  findes,  that  his 
oppressing,  and  grinding  of  the  Poor,  was  any  cause  of 
those  waters,  but  he  looks  only  how  the  Winde  sate,  and 
how  the  ground  lay  ;  and  he  concludes,  that  if  Noah,  andEzek.14.i4. 
Job,  and  Daniel  had  been  there  their  labour  must  have 
perished,  and  been  drown'd,  as  well  as  his.  If  a  vehement 
Fever  take  hold  of  him,  he  remembers  where  he  sweat, 
and  when  he  took  cold  ;  where  he  walked  too  fast,  where 
his  Casement  stood  open,  and  where  he  was  too  bold 
upon  Fruit,  or  meat  of  hard  digestion  ;  but  he  never 
remembers  the  sinful  and  naked  Wantonnesses,  the  pro- 
fuse and  wastful  Dilapidations  of  his  own  body,  that 
have  made  him  thus  obnoxious  and  open  to  all  dangerous 
Distempers.  Thunder  from  heaven  burns  his  Barns, 
and  he  says.  What  luck  was  this  ?  if  it  had  fallen  but 
ten  foot  short  or  over,  my  barns  had  been  safe  :  whereas 
his  former  blasphemings  of  the  Name  of  God,  drew  down 


170  The  Heart  of  the  Sinner. 

that  Thunder  upon  that  house,  as  it  was  his  ;  and  that 
Lightning  could  no  more  fall  short  or  over,  then  the 
Angel  which  was  sent  to  Sodom  could  have  burnt  another 
Citie,  and  have  spar'd  that ;  or  then  the  plagues  of 
Moses  and  of  Aaron  could  have  fallen  upon  Goshen,  and 
have  spar'd  Egypt.  His  Corners  abound  with  Manna, 
he  overflows  with  all  for  necessities,  and  with  all  dehcacies, 
in  this  life ;  and  yet  he  finds  worms  in  his  Manna, 
a  putrefaction,  and  a  mouldring  away,  of  this  abundant 
state  ;  but  he  sees  not  that  that  is,  because  his  Manna 
was  gathered  upon  the  Sabbath,  that  there  were  profana- 
tions of  the  Name  and  Ordinances  of  God,  mingled  in 
his  means  of  growing  rich. 

106.  Light  Sins, 

THERE  are  some  sins  so  rooted,  so  riveted  in  men,  so 
incorporated,  so  consubstantiated  in  the  soule,  by 
habituall  custome,  as  that  those  sins  have  contracted  the 
nature  of  Ancient  possessions.  As  men  call  Manners 
by  their  names,  so  sins  have  taken  names  from  men,  and 
from  places  ;  Simon  Magus  gave  the  name  to  a  sin,  and 
so  did  Gehazi,  and  Sodom  did  so  :  There  are  sins  that 
run  in  Names,  in  FamiHes,  in  Blood  ;  Hereditary  sins, 
entailed  sins  ;  and  men  do  almost  prove  their  Gentry 
by  those  sins,  and  are  scarce  beleeved  to  be  rightly 
borne,  if  they  have  not  those  sins ;  These  are  great 
possessions,  and  men  do  much  more  easily  part  with 
Christ,  then  with  these  sins.  But  then  there  are  lesse 
sins,  light  sins,  vanities ;  and  yet  even  these  come  to 
possesse  us,  and  separate  us  from  Christ.  How  many 
men   neglect   this   ordinary   meanes   of   their   Salvation, 


Light  Sins.  171 

the  comming  to  these  Exercises,  not  because  their  undoing 
lyes  on  it,  or  their  discountenancing  ;  but  meerely  out 
of  levity,  of  vanity,  of  nothing  ;  they  know  not  what 
to  do  else,  and  yet  do  not  this.  You  heare  of  one  man 
that  was  drowned  in  a  vessell  of  Wine  ;  but  how  many 
thousands  in  ordinary  water  ?  And  he  was  no  more 
drowned  in  that  precious  liquor,  then  they  in  that 
common  water.  A  gad  of  Steele  does  no  more  choake 
a  man,  then  a  feather,  then  a  haire ;  Men  perish  with 
whispering  sins,  nay  vnth  silent  sins,  sins  that  never  tell 
the  conscience  they  are  sins,  as  often  as  with  crying 
sins :  And  in  hell  there  shall  meet  as  many  men,  that 
never  thought  what  was  sin,  as  that  spent  all  their 
thoughts  in  the  compassing  of  sin  ;  as  many,  who  in 
a  slack  inconsideration,  never  cast  a  thought  upon  that 
place,  as  that  by  searing  their  conscience,  overcame  the 
sense  and  feare  of  the  place.  Great  sins  are  great 
possessions  ;  but  levities  and  vanities  possesse  us  too  ; 
and  men  had  rather  part  with  Christ,  then  with  any 
possessions. 

107,  1^ he  Sin  of  Reason. 

PSAL.  55.  19.  Because  They  have  no  changes,  therefore 
They  fear  not  God.  In  a  Prison,  where  men  withered 
in  a  close  and  perpetual  imprisonment ;  In  a  Galley,  where 
men  were  chain'd  to  a  laborious  and  perpetual  slavery ;  In 
places,  where  any  change  that  could  come,  would  put  them 
in  a  better  state,  then  they  were  before,  this  might  seem 
a  fitter  text,  then  in  a  Court,  where  every  man  having  set 
his  foot,  or  plac'd  his  hopes  upon  the  present  happy 
state,  and  blessed  Government,  every  man  is  rather  to 
be  presumed  to  love  God,  because  there  are  no  changes, 


172  The  Sin  of  Reason. 

then  to  take  occasion  of  murmuring  at  the  constancie 
of  Gods  goodness  towards  us.  But  because  the  first 
murmuring  at  their  present  condition,  the  first  Innovation 
that  ever  was,  was  in  Heaven  ;  The  Angels  kept  not 
their  first  Estate  :  Though  as  Princes  are  Gods,  so  their 
well-govern'd  Courts,  are  Copies,  are  representations  of 
Heaven ;  yet  the  Copy  cannot  be  better  then  the 
Original :  And  therefore,  as  Heaven  it  self  had,  so  all 
Courts  will  ever  have,  some  persons,  that  are  under  the 
Increpation  of  this  text,  Th^t,  Because  they  have  no  changes^ 
therefore  they  fear  not  God  :  At  least,  if  I  shall  meet  with 
no  conscience,  that  finds  in  himself  a  guiltiness  of  this 
sin,  if  I  shall  give  him  no  occasion  of  repentance,  yet 
I  shall  give  him  occasion  of  praysing,  and  magnifying 
that  gracious  God,  which  hath  preserv'd  him  from  such 
sins,  as  other  men  have  fallen  into,  though  he  have  not : 
For,  I  shall  let  him  see  first,  The  dangerous  shpperiness, 
the  concurrence,  the  co-incidence  of  sins ;  that  a  habit 
and  custom  of  sin,  sHps  easily  into  that  dangerous  degree 

Dk'isio,  of  Obduration,  that  men  come  to  sin  upon  Reason  ;  they 
find  a  Quia,  sl  Cause,  a  Reason  why  they  should  sin  : 
and  then,  in  a  second  place,  he  shall  see,  what  perverse 
and  frivolous  reasons  they  assign  for  their  sins,  when  they 
are  come  to  that ;  even  that  which  should  avert  them, 
they  make  the  cause  of  them.  Because  they  have  no  changes. 
And  then,  lastly,  by  this  perverse  mistaking,  they  come 
to  that  infatuation,  that  dementation,  as  that  they  loose 
the  principles  of  all  knowledge,  and  all  wisedom  :  7he 
fear  of  God  is  the  beginning  of  zvisdom  ;  and,  Because  they 
have  no  changes,  they  fear  not  God. 

Part  I.  First  then,  We  enter  into  our  first  Part,  the  slipperiness 


The  Sin  of  Reason.  173 

of  habitual  sin,  with  that  note  of  5.  Gregorie,  Peccatum 
cum  voce,  est  culpa  cum  actione ;  peccatum  cum  clamore^ 
est  culpa  cum  libertate  ;  Sinful  thoughts  produc'd  into 
actions,  are  speaking  sins ;  sinful  actions  continued  into 
habits,  are  crying  sins.  There  is  a  sin  before  these ; 
a  speechless  sin,  a  whispering  sin,  which  no  body  hears, 
but  our  own  conscience  ;  which  is,  when  a  sinful  thought 
or  purpose  is  born  in  our  hearts,  first  we  rock  it,  by  tossing, 
and  tumbling  it  in  our  fancies,  and  imaginations,  and  by 
entertaining  it  with  delight  and  consent,  &  with  remem- 
bring,  with  how  much  pleasure  we  did  the  like  sin  before, 
and  how  much  we  should  have,  if  we  could  bring  this 
to  pass  ;  And  as  we  rock  it,  so  we  swathe  it,  we  cover 
it,  with  some  pretences,  some  excuses,  some  hopes  of 
covercling  it  ;  and  this  is  that,  which  we  call  Morosam 
delectationem,  a  delight  to  stand  in  the  air  and  prospect 
of  a  sin,  and  a  loathness  to  let  it  go  out  of  our  sight.  Of 
this  sin  S.  Gregory  sayes  nothing  in  this  place,  but  onely 
of  actual  sins,  which  he  calls  speaking ;  and  of  habitual, 
which  he  calls  crying  sins.  And  this  is  as  far,  as  the 
Schools,  or  the  Casuists  do  ordinarily  trace  sin ;  To  find 
out  peccata  Infantia,  speechless  sins,  in  the  heart ;  peccata 
•vocantia,  speaking  sins,  in  our  actions ;  And  peccata 
clamantia,  crying  and  importunate  sins,  which  will  not 
suffer  God  to  take  his  rest,  no  nor  to  fulfil  his  own  Oath, 
and  protestation  :  He  hath  said.  As  I  live,  I  would  not 
the  death  of  a  sinner  ;  and  they  extort  a  death  from  him. 
But  besides  these.  Here  is  a  farther  degree,  beyond 
speaking  sins,  and  crying  sins ;  beyond  actual  sins  and 
habitual  sins ;  here  are  peccata  cum  ratione,  and  cum 
disputatione  ;    we  will  reason,  we  will  debate,  we  will 


174  The  Sin  of  Reason. 

dispute  it  out  with  God,  and  we  will  conclude  against 
all  his  Arguments,  that  there  is  a  Quia,  a  Reason,  why  we 
should  proceed  and  go  forward  in  our  sin  :  Et  fudet 
non  esse  impudentes,  as  S.  Augustine  heightens  this  sinful 
disposition  ;  Men  grow  asham'd  of  all  holy  shamefac'd- 
ness,  and  tenderness  towards  sin  ;  they  grow  asham'd 
to  be  put  off,  or  frighted  from  their  sinful  pleasure,  with 
the  ordinary  terror  of  Gods  imaginary  judgements ; 
asham'd  to  be  no  wiser  than  S.  Paul  would  have  them, 

I  Cor.  1.21.  to  be  mov'd,  or  taken  hold  of,  by  the  foolishness  of  preaching; 
or  to  be  no  stronger  of  themselves  then  so,  that  we  should 

Matth.  8.  trust  to  anothers  taking  of  our  infirmities,  and  bearing 
of  our  sicknesses ;  Or  to  be  no  richer,  or  no  more  provi- 
dent then  so.  To  sell  all,  and  give  it  away,  and  make 

Luc.  12.  a  treasure  in  Heaven,  and  all  this  for  fear  of  Theeves, 
and  Rust,  and  Canker,  and  Moths  here.  That  which  is 
not  allowable  in  Courts  of  Justice,  in  criminal  Causes, 
to  hear  Evidence  against  the  King,  we  will  admit 
against  God  ;  we  will  hear  Evidence  against  God  ;  we 
will  hear  what  mans  reason  can  say  in  favor  of  the 
DeHnquent,  why  he  should  be  condemned  ;  why  God 
should  punish  the  soul  eternally,  for  the  momentany 
pleasures  of  the  body :  Nay,  we  suborn  witnesses 
against  God,  and  we  make  Philosophy  and  Reason 
speak  against  Religion,  and  against  God ;  though 
indeed,  Omne  verum,  omni  veto  consentiens ;  what- 
soever is  true  in  Philosophy,  is  true  in  Divinity  too  ; 
howsoever  we  distort  it,  and  wrest  it  to  the  contrary. 
We  hear  Witnesses,  and  we  suborn  Witnesses  against 
God,  and  we  do  more ;  we  proceed  by  Recriminations, 
and    a    cross    Bill,   with    a    Quia   Deus,    because    God 


The  Sin  of  Reason.  175 

does  as  he  does,  we  may  do  as  we  do  ;  Because  God 
does  not  punish  Sinners,  we  need  not  forbear  sins  ; 
whilst  we  sin  strongly,  by  oppressing  others,  that 
are  weaker,  or  craftily  by  circumventing  others  that 
are  simple.  This  is  but  Leoninum,  and  Vulpinum, 
that  tincture  of  the  Lyon,  and  of  the  Fox,  that 
brutal  nature  that  is  in  us.  But  when  we  come  to 
sin,  upon  reason,  and  upon  discourse,  upon  Meditation, 
and  upon  plot.  This  is  Humanum,  to  become  the  Man  of 
Sin,  to  surrender  that,  which  is  the  Form,  and  Essence 
of  man.  Reason,  and  understanding,  to  the  service  of 
sin.  When  we  come  to  sin  wisely  and  learnedly,  to  sin 
logically,  by  a  Quia^  and  an  ErgOy  that.  Because  God  does 
thus,  we  may  do  as  we  do,  we  shall  come  to  sin  through 
all  the  Arts,  and  all  our  knowledge.  To  sin  Grammatically, 
to  tie  sins  together  in  construction,  in  a  Syntaxis,  in 
a  chaine,  and  dependance,  and  coherence  upon  one 
another  :  And  to  sin  Historically,  to  sin  over  sins  of 
other  men  again,  to  sin  by  precedent,  and  to  practice 
that  which  we  had  read  :  and  we  come  to  sin  Rhetori- 
cally, perswasively,  powerfully  ;  and  as  we  have  found 
examples  for  our  sins  in  History,  so  we  become  examples 
to  others,  by  our  sins,  to  lead  and  encourage  them,  in 
theirs ;  when  we  come  to  employ  upon  sin,  that  which 
is  the  essence  of  man.  Reason,  and  discourse,  we  will 
also  employ  upon  it,  those  which  are  the  properties 
of  man  onely,  which  are.  To  speak,  and  to  laugh  ;  we 
will  come  to  speak,  and  talk,  and  to  boast  of  our  sins, 
and  at  last,  to  laugh  and  jest  at  our  sins  ;  and  as  we  have 
made  sin  a  Recreation,  so  we  will  make  a  jest  of  our 
condemnation.     And  this  is  the  dangerous  sHpperiness 


176  The  Sin  of  Reason. 

of  sin,  to  slide  by  Thoughts  and  Actions,  and  Habits, 
to  contemptuous  obduration. 


F 


108.  Delight  in  Evil, 

IRST  then,  what  is  this  setting  of  the  heart  upon  evil ; 

and  then,  what  is  this  fulness,  that  leaves  no  room 
for  a  Cure  ?  When  a  man  receives  figures  and  images 
of  sin,  into  his  Fancie  and  Imagination,  and  leads  them 
on  to  his  understanding  and  Discourse,  to  his  Will, 
tc  his  Consent,  to  his  Heart,  by  a  delightful  dwelling 
upon  the  meditation  of  that  sin  ;  yet  this  is  not  a  setting 
cfthe  heart  upon  doing  evil.  To  be  surpris'd  by  a  Tenta- 
tion,  to  be  overthrown  by  it,  to  be  held  down  by  it  for 
a  time,  is  not  it.  It  is  not  when  the  devil  looks  in  at  the 
window  to  the  heart,  by  presenting  occasions  of  tentations, 
to  the  eye ;  nor  when  he  comes  in  at  the  door,  to  our 
heart,  at  the  ear,  either  in  lascivious  discourses,  or  Satyrical 
and  Libellous  defamations  of  other  men  :  It  is  not, 
when  the  devil  is  put  to  his  Circuit,  to  seek  whom  he 
may  devour,  and  how  he  may  corrupt  the  King  by  his 
Council,  That  is,  the  Soul  by  the  Senses  :  But  it  is,  when 
by  a  habitual  custom  in  sin,  the  sin  arises  meerly  and 
immediately  from  my  self  :  It  is,  when  the  heart  hath 
usurp'd  upon  the  devil,  and  upon  the  world  too,  and  is 
able  and  apt  to  sin  of  it  self,  if  there  were  no  devil,  and 
if  there  were  no  outward  objects  of  tentation  :  when  our 
Chrysost.  own  heart  is  become  spontanea  insania,  ifS  voluntarius 
dcemon.  Such  a  wilful  Madness,  and  such  a  voluntary  and 
natural  Devil  to  it  self,  as  that  we  should  be  ambitious, 
though  we  were  in  an  Hospital ;  and  licentious,  though 
we   were  in  a  wilderness ;    and  voluptuous,  though  in 


Delight  in  Evil.  177 

a  famine  :  so  that  such  a  mans  heart,  is  as  a  land  of  such 
Gyants,  where  the  Children  are  born  as  great,  as  the  Men 
of  other  nations  grow  to  be ;  for  those  sins,  which  in 
other  men  have  their  birth,  and  their  growth,  after  their 
birth,  they  begin  at  a  Concupiscence,  and  proceed  to  a 
Consent,  and  grow  up  to  Actions,  and  swell  up  to  Habits  ; 
In  this  man,  sin  begins  at  a  stature  and  proportion  above 
all  this  ;  he  begins  at  a  delight  in  the  sin,  and  comes 
instantly  to  a  defence  of  it,  and  to  an  obduration  and 
impenitibleness  in  it :  This  is  the  evil  of  the  heart,  by 
the  mis-use  of  Gods  grace,  to  devest  and  lose  all  tender- 
ness and  remorse  in  sin. 

109.  Excuses, 

1ET  no  man  therefore  think  to  present  his  complexion 
J  to  God  for  an  excuse,  and  say,  My  choler  with  which 
my  constitution  abounded,  and  which  I  could  not 
remedy,  encHncv!  me  to  wrath,  and  so  to  bloud  ;  My 
Melancholy  cnclined  me  to  sadnesse,  and  so  to 
Desperation,  as  though  thy  sins  were  medicinall  sins, 
sins  to  vent  humors.  Let  no  man  say,  I  am  continent 
enough  all  the  yeare,  but  the  spring  works  upon  me, 
and  inflames  my  concupiscencies,  as  though  thy  sins 
were  seasonable  and  anniversary  sins.  Make  not  thy 
Calling  the  occasion  of  thy  sin,  as  though  thy  sin  were 
a  Mysterie,  and  an  Occupation  ;  Nor  thy  place,  thy 
station,  thy  oflice  the  occasion  of  thy  sin,  as  though  thy 
sin  were  an  Heir-loome,  or  furniture,  or  fixed  to  the 
freehold  of  that  place  :  for  this  one  proposition,  God 
is  no  accepter  of  persons^  is  so  often  repeated,  that  all 

2025-3  N 


178  Excuses. 

circumstances  of  Dispositions,  and  Callings,  and  time, 
and  place  might  be  involved  in  it. 

1 10.  Rebuke  of  Sin. 

THE  rebuke  of  sin,  is  like  the  fishing  of  Whales ;  the 
Marke  is  great  enough ;  one  can  scarce  misse 
hitting  ;  but  if  there  be  not  sea  room  and  line  enough, 
&  a  dexterity  in  letting  out  that  line,  he  that  hath  fixed 
his  harping  Iron,  in  the  Whale,  endangers  himselfe,  and 
his  boate  ;  God  hath  made  us  fishers  of  Men  ;  and  when 
we  have  struck  a  Whale^  touch'd  the  conscience  of 
any  person,  which  thought  himselfe  above  rebuke,  and 
increpation,  it  struggles,  and  strives,  and  as  much  as 
it  can,  endevours  to  draw  fishers,  and  boate,  the  Man 
and  his  fortune  into  contempt,  and  danger.  But  if 
God  tye  a  sicknesse,  or  any  other  calamity,  to  the  end  of 
the  line,  that  will  winde  up  this  Whale  againe,  to  the 
boate,  bring  back  this  rebellious  sinner  better  advised, 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Minister,  for  more  counsaile,  and  to 
a  better  souplenesse,  and  inclinablenesse  to  conforme 
himselfe,  to  that  which  he  shall  after  receive  from  him  ; 
onely  calamity  makes  way  for  a  rebuke  to  enter. 

111.  Names  of  Sins. 

I  Part.  X7IRST  then  in  this  mystery  of  Confession,  we  con- 
Notumfeci.  J_^  gjj^j.  Davids  reflected  act,  his  preparatory  act, 
preceding  his  confession  to  God,  and  transacted  in  him- 
selfe, of  which  the  first  motion  is,  the  Notum  feci,  I 
acknowledged  in  my  selfe,  I  came  to  a  feeling  in  my  selfe, 
what  my  sinfull  condition  was.  This  is  our  quickning 
in  our  regeneration,  and  second  birth  ;  and  til  this  come. 


Names  of  Sins.  179 

a  sinner  lies  as  the  Chaos  in  the  beginning  of  the  Creation, 
before  the  Spirit  of  God  had  moved  upon  the  face  of  the 
watersy  Dark,  and  voyd^  and  without  forme ;  He  lies,  as 
we  may  conceive,  out  of  the  Authors  of  Naturall  Story, 
the  slime  and  mud  of  the  River  ^ilus  to  lie,  before  the 
Sun-beames  strike  upon  it ;  which  after,  by  the  heat 
of  those  beames,  produces  severall  shapes,  and  formes 
of  creatures.  So  till  this  first  beame  of  grace,  which  we 
consider  here,  strike  upon  the  soule  of  a  sinner,  he  Hes 
in  the  mud  and  slime,  in  the  dregs  and  lees,  and  tartar 
of  his  sinne.  Hee  cannot  so  much  as  wish,  that  that 
Sunne  would  shine  upon  him,  he  doth  not  so  much  as 
know,  that  there  is  such  a  Sunne,  that  hath  that  influence, 
and  impression  ;  But  if  this  first  beame  of  Grace  enlighten 
him  to  himselfe,  reflect  him  upon  himselfe,  notum  facit, 
(as  the  Text  sayes)  if  it  acquaint  him  with  himselfe,  then, 
as  the  creatures  in  the  Creation,  then,  as  the  new  creatures 
at  Nilus,  his  sins  begin  to  take  their  formes,  and  their 
specifications,  and  they  appeare  to  him  in  their  particular 
true  shapes,  and  that  which  hee  hath  in  a  generall  name, 
called  Pleasure  or  Wantonnesse,  now  cals  it  selfe  in  his 
conscience,  a  direct  Adultery,  a  direct  Incest ;  and  that 
which  he  hath  called  FrugaHty,  and  providence  for  family 
and  posterity,  tells  him  plainly,  My  name  is  Oppression, 
and  I  am  the  spirit  of  covetousnesse.  Many  times  men 
fall  into  company,  and  accompany  others  to  houses  of 
riot  and  uncleannesse,  and  doe  not  so  much  as  know  their 
sinfull  companions  names ;  nay  they  doe  not  so  much 
as  know  the  names  of  the  sins  that  they  commit,  nor  those 
circumstances  in  those  sinnes,  which  vary  the  very  name 
and  nature  of  the  sin. 

N  2 


i8o  Pride. 

112.  Pride. 

SOLITUDE  is  not  the  scene  of  Pride ;  The  danger 
of  pride  is  in  company,  when  we  meet  to  looke  upon 
another.  But  in  Adams  wife,  Eve,  her  first  act  (that  is 
noted)  was  an  act  of  Pride,  a  hearkning  to  that  voyce 

Gen.  3.  5.  of  the  Serpent,  Te  shall  be  as  Gods.  As  soone  as  there  were 
two,  there  was  pride.  How  many  may  we  have  knowne, 
(if  we  have  had  any  conversation  in  the  world)  that  have 
been  content  all  the  weeke,  at  home  alone,  with  their 
worky  day  faces,  as  well  as  with  their  worky  day  clothes, 
and  yet  on  Sundayes,  when  they  come  to  Church,  and 
appeare  in  company,  will  mend  both,  their  faces  as  well 
as  their  clothes.  Not  solitude,  but  company  is  the  scene 
of  pride ;  And  therefore  I  know  not  what  to  call  that 
practice  of  the  Nunnes  in  Spaine,  who  though  they  never 
see  man,  yet  will  paint.  So  early,  so  primary  a  sin  is 
Pride,  as  that  it  grew  instantly  from  her,  whom  God 

Gen.  3.  18.  intended  for  a  Helper,  because  he  saw  that  it  was  not 
good  for  man  to  he  alone.  God  sees  that  it  is  not  good  for 
man  to  be  without  health,  without  wealth,  without 
power,  and  jurisdiction,  and  magistracy,  and  we  grow 
proud  of  our  helpers,  proud  of  our  health  and  strength, 
proud  of  our  wealth  and  riches,  proud  of  our  office  and 
authority  over  others. 

So  early,  so  primary  a  sin  is  pride,  as  that,  out  of  every 
mercy,  and  blessing,  which  God  affords  us,  (and,  His 
mercies  are  new  every  morning  we  gather  Pride  ;  wee  are 
not  the  more  thankfull  for  them,  and  yet  we  are  the 
prouder  of  them.  Nay,  we  gather  Pride,  not  onely  out 
of  those  things,  which  mend  and  improve  us,   (Gods 


Pride.  i8i 

blessings  and  mercies)  but  out  of  those  actions  of  our  own, 
that  destroy  and  ruine  us,  we  gather  pride ;  sins  over- 
throw us,  demolish  us,  destroy  and  ruine  us,  and  yet  we 
are  proud  of  our  sinnes.  How  many  men  have  we  heard 
boast  of  their  sinnes ;  and,  (as  S.  Augustine  confesses  of 
himselfe)  behe  themselves,  and  boast  of  more  sinnes  then 
ever  they  committed  ?  Out  of  every  thing,  out  of  nothing 
sin  grows.  Therefore  was  this  commandment  in  our 
text,  Sequere,  Follow,  come  after,  well  placed  first,  for 
we  are  come  to  see  even  children  strive  for  place  and 
precedency,  and  mothers  are  ready  to  goe  to  the  Heralds 
to  know  how  Cradles  shall  be  ranked,  which  Cradle  shall 
have  the  highest  place ;  Nay,  even  in  the  wombe,  there 
was  contention  for  precedency ;  lacoh  tooke  hold  of  Gen.25.26* 
his  brother  Esaus  heele,  and  would  have  been  borne 
before  him. 

And  as  our  pride  begins  in  our  Cradle,  it  continues  SuperUa 
in  our  graves  and  Monuments.     It  was  a  good  while  J^^^^"' 
in  the  primitive  Church,  before  any  were  buried  in  the 
Church ;     The    best    contented    themselves    with    the 
Churchyards.     After,  a  holy  ambition,  (may  we  call  it 
so)  a  holy  Pride  brought  them  ad  Limina,  to  the  Church- 
threshold,    to    the   Church-doore,    because   some   great 
Martyrs  were  buried  in  the  Porches,  and  devout  men 
desired  to  lie  neare  them,  as  one  Prophet  did  to  lie  neare 
another,   (Lay  my  bones  besides  his  bones.)     But  now,  i  King.  13. 
persons  whom  the  Devill  kept  from  Church  all  their  3'* 
Hves,   Separatists,  Libertines,  that  never  came  to  any 
Church,   And   persons,   whom   the   Devill   brought   to 
Church  all  their  lives,  (for,  such  as  come  meerly  out  of 
the  obligation  of  the  Law,  and  to  redeem  that  vexation, 


i82  Pride. 

or  out  of  custome,  or  company,  or  curiosity,  or  a  perverse 
and  sinister  affection  to  the  particular  Preacher,  though 
they  come  to  Gods  house,  come  upon  the  Devils 
invitation)  Such  as  one  Devill,  that  is,  worldly  respect, 
brought  to  Church  in  their  lives,  another  Devill,  that 
is,  Pride  and  vain-glory,  brings  to  Church  after  their 
deaths,  in  an  affectation  of  high  places,  and  sumptuous 
Monuments  in  the  Church.  And  such  as  have  given 
nothing  at  all  to  any  pious  uses,  or  have  determined  their 
almes  and  their  dole  which  they  have  given,  in  that  one  day 
of  their  f unerall,  and  no  farther,  have  given  large  annuities, 
perpetuities,  for  new  painting  their  tombes,  and  for  new 
flags,  and  scutcheons,  every  certaine  number  of  yeares. 

O  the  earlinesse  !  O  the  latenesse  !  how  early  a  Spring, 
and  no  Autumne  !  how  fast  a  growth,  and  no  declination, 
of  this  branch  of  this  sin  Pride,  against  which,  this  first 
word  of  ours,  Sequere,  Follow,  come  after,  is  opposed  ! 
this  love  of  place,  and  precedency,  it  rocks  us  in  our 
Cradles,  it  lies  down  with  us  in  our  graves. 


m 


113.  Covetousness, 
^AST  thou  found  honey  P  Eat  so  much  as  is  sufficient 
for  thee,  lest  thou  he  filed  therewith^  and  vomit  it. — 
Prov,  XXV.  16.  .  .  . 
Ne  satieris,  Hee  doth  not  say  yet,  lest  thou  bee  satisfied ;  there 
is  no  great  feare,  nay  there  is  no  hope  of  that,  that 
he  will  be  satisfied.  We  know  the  receipt,  the  capacity 
of  the  ventricle,  the  stomach  of  man,  how  much 
it  can  hold ;  and  wee  know  the  receipt  of  all  the 
receptacles  of  blood,  how  much  blood  the  body  can  have ; 
80  wee  doe  of  all  the  other  conduits  and  cisterns  of  the 


Covetousness.  183 

body ;  But  this  infinite  Hive  of  honey,  this  insatiable 
whirlpoole  of  the  covetous  mind,  no  Anatomy,  no 
dissection  hath  discovered  to  us.  When  I  looke  into  the 
larders,  and  cellars,  and  vaults,  into  the  vessels  of  our 
body  for  drink,  for  blood,  for  urine,  they  are  pottles, 
and  gallons ;  when  I  looke  into  the  furnaces  of  our 
spirits,  the  ventricles  of  the  heart  and  of  the  braine, 
they  are  but  thimbles  ;  for  spirituall  things,  the  things 
of  the  next  vv^orld,  we  have  no  roome ;  for  temporall 
things,  the  things  of  this  w^orld,  we  have  no  bounds. 
Hov^^  then  shall  this  over-eater  bee  filled  with  his  honey  ? 
So  filled,  as  that  he  can  receive  nothing  else.  More  of 
the  same  honey  hee  can  ;  Another  Manner,  and  another 
Church,  is  but  another  bit  of  meat,  w^ith  another  sauce 
to  him  ;  Another  Office,  and  another  way  of  Extortion, 
is  but  another  garment,  and  another  lace  to  him.  But 
he  is  too  full  to  receive  any  thing  else ;  Christ  comes  to 
this  Bethlem,  (Bethlem  which  is  Domus  panis)  this  house 
of  abundance,  and  there  is  no  roome  for  Christ  in  this 
Inne ;  there  are  no  crums  for  Christ  under  this  table  ; 
There  comes  Boanerges,  {Boanerges,  that  is,  Jilius  Tonitrui, 
the  Sonne  of  Thunder)  and  he  thunders  out  the  Fa^s, 
the  Comminations,  the  Judgements  of  God  upon  such 
as  hee ;  but  if  the  Thunder  spoile  not  his  drink,  he  sees 
no  harme  in  Thunder ;  As  long  as  a  Sermon  is  not 
a  Sentence  in  the  Starre-chamber,  that  a  Sermon  cannot 
fine  and  imprison  him,  hee  hath  no  room  for  any  good 
effect  of  a  Sermon.  The  Holy  Ghost,  the  Spirit  of 
Comfort  comes  to  him,  and  offers  him  the  consolation 
of  the  Gospel ;  but  hee  wrill  die  in  his  old  rehgion, 
which  is  to  sacrifice  to  his  owne  Nets,  by  which  his 


184  Covetousness. 

portion  is  plenteous  ;  he  had  rather  have  the  God  of 
the  Old  Testament,  that  payes  in  this  world  with  milke 
and  honey,  then  the  God  of  the  New  Testament,  that 
cals  him  into  his  Vineyard  in  this  World,  and  payes  him 
no  wages  till  the  next  :  one  lupiter  is  worth  all  the  three 
Elohims,  or  the  three  lehovahs  (if  we  may  speake  so)  to 
him.  lupiter  that  can  come  in  a  showre  of  gold,  out- 
waighs  lehova,  that  comes  but  in  a  showre  of  water,  but 
in  a  sprinkling  of  water  in  Baptisme,  and  sels  that  water 
so  deare,  as  that  he  will  have  showres  of  teares  for  it, 
nay  showres  of  blood  for  it,  when  any  Persecutor  hath 
a  mind  to  call  for  it.  The  voyce  of  God  whom  he  hath 
contemned,  and  wounded.  The  voyce  of  the  Preacher 
whom  he  hath  derided,  and  impoverished,  The  voyce 
of  the  poore,  of  the  Widow,  of  the  Orphans,  of  the 
prisoner,  whom  he  hath  oppressed,  knocke  at  his  doore, 
and  would  enter,  but  there  is  no  roome  for  them,  he  is 
so  full.  This  is  the  great  danger  indeed  that  accompanies 
this  fulnesse,  but  the  danger  that  affects  him  more  is 
that  which  is  more  literally  in  the  text,  Evomet,  he  shall 
be  so  filled  as  that  he  shall  vomit ;  even  that  fulnesse, 
those  temporall  things  which  he  had,  he  shall  cast  up. 

114.  Blasphemy, 

BLASPHEMY,  as  it  is  a  contumelious  speech,  dero- 
gating from  any  man,  that  good  that  is  in  him,  or 
attributing  to  any  man,  that  ill  that  is  not  in  him,  may 
be  fastned  upon  any  man.  For  the  most  part  it  is 
understood  a  sin  against  God,  and  that  directly ;  and 
here,  by  the  manner  of  Christ  expressing  himselfe,  it  is 
made  the  greatest  sin  ;  All  siuy  even  blasphemy.    And  yet, 


Blasphemy.  185 

a  drunkard  that  cannot  name  God,  will  spue  out  a  blas- 
phemy against  God  :  A  child  that  cannot  spell  God, 
will  stammer  out  a  blasphemy  against  God  :  If  we 
smart,  we  blaspheme  God,  and  we  blaspheme  him  if 
we  be  tickled  ;  If  I  lose  at  play,  I  blaspheme,  and  if  my 
fellow  lose,  he  blasphemes,  so  that  God  is  alwayes  sure 
to  be  a  loser.  An  Usurer  can  shew  me  his  bags,  and  an 
Extortioner  his  houses,  the  fruits,  the  revenues  of  his 
sinne ;  but  where  will  the  blasphemer  shew  mee  his 
blasphemy,  or  what  hee  hath  got  by  it  ?  The  licentious 
man  hath  had  his  love  in  his  armes,  and  the  envious  man 
hath  had  his  enemy  in  the  dust,  but  wherein  hath  the 
blasphemer  hurt  God  ? 

In  the  Schoole  we  put  it  for  the  consummation  of  Aqum.22* 
the  torment  of  the  damned,  that  at  the  Resurrection,  ^'^^'^^'^ 
they  shall  have  bodies,  and  so  be  able,  even  verbally, 
to  blaspheme  God  ;  herein  we  exceed  the  Devill  already, 
that  we  can  speake  blasphemously.  There  is  a  rebellious 
part  of  the  body,  that  Jdam  covered  with  figge  leaves, 
that  hath  damned  many  a  wretched  soule ;  but  yet, 
I  thinke,  not  more  then  the  tongue ;  And  therefore  the 
whole  torment  that  Dives  suffered  in  hell,  is  expressed 
in  that  part,  Father  Abraham,  have  mercy  upon  me,  and  Lukei6.24, 
send  Lazarus,  that  he  may  dip  the  tip  oj  his  finger  in  water, 
and  coole  my  tongue.  The  Jews  that  crucified  God,  will 
not  sound  the  name  of  God,  and  we  for  whom  he  was 
Crucified,  belch  him  out  in  our  surfets,  and  foame  him 
out  in  our  fury  :  An  Impertinent  sin,  without  occasion 
before,  and  an  unprofitable  sin,  without  recompence 
after,  and  an  incorrigible  sin  too ;  for,  almost  what 
Father  dares  chide  his  son  for  blasphemy,  that  may  not 


F 


i86  Blasphemy. 

tell  him,  Sir  I  learnt  it  of  you  ?  or  what  Master  his 
servant,  that  cannot  lay  the  same  recrimination  upon 
him  ? 

115.  ^he  Burden  of  Sin. 
'OR  mine  iniquities  are  gone  over  my  head,  as  a  heavy 

Burden,  they  are  too  heavy  for  me. — ^Ps.  xxxviii.  4 

A  second  inconvenience  intimated  in  this  Metaphore, 
Fatigat.  a  burden,  IS  the  fatigat,  a  burden  wearies  us,  tires  us  :  and 
so  does  our  sinne,  and  our  best  beloved  sinne.  It  hath 
wearied  us,  and  yet  we  cannot  devest  it.  We  would 
leave  that  sin,  and  yet  there  is  one  talent  more  to  be  added, 
one  childe  more  to  be  provided  for,  one  office,  or  one  title 
more  to  be  compassed,  one  tentation  more  to  be  satisfied. 
Though  we  grumble,  not  out  of  remorse  of  conscience, 
but  out  of  a  bodily  wearinesse  of  the  sinne,  yet  wee 
proceed  in  it.  How  often  men  goe  to  Westminster,  how 
often  to  the  Exchange,  called  by  unjust  suits,  or  called 
by  corrupt  bargaines  to  those  places,  when  their  ease, 
or  their  health  perswades  them  to  stay  at  home  ?  How 
many  go  to  forbidden  beds,  then  when  they  had  rather 
stay  at  home,  if  they  were  not  afraid  of  an  unkind  inter- 
pretation ?  We  have  wearied  our  selves  in  the  ways  oj 
wickednesse  ;  Plus  miles  in  uno  torneamento,  qudm  sanctus 
Monachus  in  decem  annis,  says  our  Holkot,  upon  that 
place,  a  soldier  suffers  more  in  one  expedition,  then 
a  Monk  does,  in  ten  years,  says  he  ;  and  perchance  he 
says  true,  and  yet  no  commendation  to  his  Monke  neither ; 
for  that  soldier  may  doe  even  the  cause  of  God,  more 
good,  in  that  one  expedition,  then  that  Monke  in  ten 
years :  But  it  is  true  as  Holkot  intended  it,  (though 
perchance   his   example   doe   not   much   strengthen   it) 


The  Burden  of  Sin.  187 

Vicious  men  are  put  to  more  pains,  and  to  doe  more 

things  against  their  own  mindes,  then  the  Saints  of  God 

are  in  the  ways  of  holinesse.    We  have  wearied  our  selves 

in  the  ways  of  wickednesse,  says  he,  that  is,  in  doing  as 

other  wicked  men  have  done,  in  ways  which  have  been 

beaten  out  to  us,  by  the  frequent  practise  of  other  men  ; 

but  he  addes  more.  We  have  gone  thorough  Deserts,  where 

there  lay  no  way  ;  that  is,  through  sins,  in  which,  wee  had 

no  example,  no  precedent,  the  inventions  of  our  hearts. 

The  covetous  man  lies  still,  and  attends  his  quarter  days, 

and   studies   the   endorsements   of   his    bonds,    and   he 

wonders  that  the  ambitious  man  can  endure  the  shufflings 

and  thrustings  of  Courts,  and  can  measure  his  happinesse 

by  the  smile  of  a  greater  man  :    And,  he  that  does  so, 

wonders  as  much,  that  this  covetous  man  can  date  his 

happinesse  by  an  Almanack,  and  such  revolutions,  and 

though  he  have  quick  returns  of  receipt,  yet  scarce  affords 

himself  bread  to  Hve  till  that  day  come,  and  though  all 

his  joy  be  in  his  bonds,  yet  denies  himself  a  candles  end 

to  look  upon  them.     Hilly  ways  are  wearisome  ways, 

and  tire  the  ambitious  man ;   Carnall  pleasures  are  dirty 

ways,  and  tire  the  licentious  man ;    Desires  of  gain,  are 

thorny  ways,  and  tire  the  covetous  man  ;    Emulations 

of  higher  men,  are  dark  and  hlinde  ways,  and  tire  the 

envious  man  ;  Every  way,  that  is  out  of  the  way,  wearies 

us  ;    But,  lassati  sumus  ;   sed  lassis  non  datur  requies  ;   we  Lam.  5.  5. 

labour,  and  have  no  rest,  when  we  have  done ;    we  are 

wearied  with  our  sins,  and  have  no  satisfaction  in  them  ; 

we  goe  to  bed  to  night,  weary  of  our  sinfull  labours, 

and  we  will  rise  freshly  to  morrow,  to  the  same  sinfull 

labours  again  ;  And  when  a  sinner  does  so  little  remember 


i88  The  Burden  of  Sin. 

yesterday,  how  little  does  he  consider  to  morrow  ?  He 
that  forgets  what  he  hath  done,  foresees  not  what  he  shall 
suffer  :  so  sin  is  a  burden  ;  it  crookens  us,  it  wearies  us  ; 
And  those  are  the  two  first  inconveniences. 

1 1 6.  7 he  Sinner. 

IT  is  thy  pleasure  O  God,  and  thy  pleasure  shall  be 
infallibly  accomplished,  that  every  wicked  person 
should  be  his  owne  Executioner.  He  is  Spontaneus  Dc^mon, 
as  S.  Chrysostome  speaks,  an  In-mate,  an  in-nate  Devill ; 
a  bosome  devill,  a  selfe-Devill ;  That  as  he  could  be  a 
tempter  to  himselfe,  though  there  were  no  Devill,  so  he 
could  be  an  Executioner  to  himselfe,  though  there  were 
no  Satan,  and  a  Hell  to  himselfe,  though  there  were  no 
other  Torment.  Sometimes  he  stales  not  the  Assises, 
but  prevents  the  hand  of  Justice  ;  he  destroies  himselfe 
before  his  time.  But  when  he  stales,  he  is  evermore 
condemned  at  the  Assises.  Let  him  sleepe  out  as  much 
of  the  morning  as  securely  as  he  can  ;  embellish,  and 
adorne  himselfe  as  gloriously  as  he  can  ;  dine  as  largely 
and  as  delicately  as  he  can  ;  weare  out  as  much  of  the 
afternoone,  in  conversation,  in  Comedies,  in  pleasure,  as 
hee  can ;  sup  with  as  much  distension,  and  inducement 
of  drousinesse  as  he  can,  that  he  may  scape  all  remorse, 
by  falling  asleepe  quickly,  and  fall  asleepe  with  as  much 
discourse,  and  musicke,  and  advantage  as  he  can,  he  hath 
a  conscience  that  will  survive,  and  overwatch  all  the 
company ;  he  hath  a  sorrow  that  shall  joyne  issue  with 
him  when  he  is  alone,  and  both  God,  and  the  devill,  who 
doe  not  meet  willingly,  shall  meet  in  his  case,  and  be  in 
league,  and  be  on  the  sorrowes  side,  against  him.    The 


The  Sinner.  189 

anger  of  God,  and  the  malice  of  the  devill,  shall  concurre 
with  his  sorrow,  to  his  farther  vexation.  No  one  wicked 
person,  by  any  diversion  or  cunning,  shall  avoid  this 
sorrow,  for  it  is  in  the  midst,  and  in  the  end  of  all  his 
forced  contentments ;  Even  in  laughing^  the  heart  is  Prov,  14. 
sorrowful,  and  the  end  of  that  mirth  is  heavinesse,  ^^' 

117.  The  borrows  of  the  Wicked, 
AND  if  we  consider  farther,  the  manifold  Topiques, 
JLJ^  and  places,  from  which  the  sorrowes  of  the  wicked 
arise.  That  every  inch  of  their  ground  is  overgrown  with 
that  venomous  weed,  that  every  place,  and  every  part 
of  time,  and  every  person  buddes  out  a  particular  occasion 
of  sorrow  to  him,  that  he  can  come  into  no  chamber, 
but  he  remembers,  In  such  a  place  as  this,  I  sinned  thus, 
That  he  cannot  heare  a  Clock  strike,  but  he  remembers, 
At  this  hour  I  sinned  thus.  That  he  cannot  converse 
with  few  persons,  but  he  remembers,  With  such  a  person 
I  sinned  thus,  And  if  he  dare  goe  no  farther  then  to 
himselfe,  he  can  look  scarcely  upon  any  limb  of  his  body, 
but  in  that  he  sees  some  infirmity,  or  some  deformity, 
that  he  imputes  to  some  sin,  and  must  say.  By  this  sin, 
this  is  thus  :  When  he  can  open  the  Bible  in  no  place, 
but  if  he  meet  a  judgement,  he  must  say,  V indie ta  mihi, 
This  vengeance  belongs  to  me,  and  if  he  meet  a  mercy, 
he  must  say,  Quid  mihi  P  What  have  I  to  doe  to  take 
this  mercy  into  my  mouth  ?  In  this  deluge  of  occasions 
of  sorrow,  I  must  not  say  with  God  to  Abraham,  Look 
up  to  heaven,  and  number  the  Starres,  (for  this  man 
cannot  look  up  to  heaven)  but  I  must  say.  Continue  thy 
dejected  look,  and  look  downe  to  the  earth,  thy  earth, 


190  The  Sorrows  of  the  Wicked. 

and  number  the  graines  of  dust  there,  and  the  sorrowes 
of  the  wicked  are  more  then  they. 

118.  The  Sins  of  Memory. 

A  HOUSE  is  not  clean,  though  all  the  Dust  be  swept 
together,  if  it  lie  still  in  a  corner,  within  Dores ; 
A  Conscience  is  not  clean,  by  having  recollected  all  her 
sinnes  in  the  Memory^  for  they  may  fester  there,  and 
Gangreen  even  to  Desperation,  till  she  have  emptied  them 
in  the  bottomlesse  Sea  of  the  bloud  of  Christ  Jesus  :  and 
the  mercy  of  his  Father,  by  this  way  of  Confession.  But 
a  house  is  not  clean  neither,  though  the  Dust  be  thrown 
out,  if  there  hang  Cobwebs  about  the  Walls,  in  how  dark 
corners  soever.  A  Conscience  is  not  clean,  though  the 
sins,  brought  to  our  memory  by  this  Examination,  be 
cast  upon  Gods  mercy,  and  the  merits  of  his  Sonne,  by 
Confession,  if  there  remaine  in  me,  but  a  Cobzveb,  a  little, 
but  a  sinfuU  delight  in  the  Memory  of  those  sins,  which 
I  had  formerly  committed.  How  many  men  sinne  over 
f:he  sinnes  of  their  youth  again,  in  their  age,  by  a  sinfull 
Delight  in  remembring  those  sinnes,  and  a  sinfull  Desire, 
that  their  Bodies  were  not  past  them  ?  How  many  men 
sin  over  some  sins,  but  imaginarily,  (and  yet  Damnably) 
a  hundred  times,  which  they  never  sinned  actually  at 
all,  by  filling  their  Imaginations,  with  such  thoughts 
as  these,  How  would  I  be  revenged  of  such  an  Enemy, 
if  I  were  in  such  a  place  of  Authority  ?  How  easily 
could  I  overthrow  such  a  wastfull  young  Man,  and  com- 
passe  his  Land,  if  I  had  but  Money,  to  feed  his  humours  ? 
Those  sinnes  which  we  have  never  been  able  to  doe 
actually,  to  the  harme  of  others,  we  doe  as  hurtfuUy  to 


The  Sins  of  Memory.  191 

our  owne  Souls,  by  a  sinfull  Desire  of  them,  and  a  sinfull 
Delight  in  them. 

119.  ^he  Eye  of  God. 
/^^OD  cannot  he  mocked,  saith  the  Apostle,  nor  God 
^^  cannot  be  blinded.  He  seeth  all  the  way,  and  at 
thy  last  gaspe,  he  will  make  thee  see  too,  through  the 
multiplying  Glasse,  the  Spectacle  of  Desperation.  Canst 
thou  hope  that  that  God,  that  seeth  this  darke  Earth 
through  all  the  vaults  and  arches  of  the  severall  spheares 
of  Heaven,  that  seeth  thy  body  through  all  thy  stone 
walls,  and  seeth  thy  soul  through  that  which  is  darker 
then  all  those,  thy  corrupt  flesh,  canst  thou  hope  that 
that  God  can  be  blinded  with  drawing  a  curtain  between 
thy  sinne  and  him  ?  when  he  is  ail  eye,  canst  thou  hope 
to  put  out  that  eye,  with  putting  out  a  candle  ?  when 
he  hath  planted  legions  of  Angels  about  thee,  canst 
thou  hope  that  thou  hast  taken  away  all  Intelligence,  if 
thou  have  corrupted,  or  silenced,  or  sent  away  a  servant  ? 
O  bestow  as  much  labour,  as  thou  hast  done,  to  finde 
corners  for  sin,  to  finde  out  those  sinnes,  in  those  corners 
where  thou  hast  hid  them.  As  Princes  give  pardons  by 
their  own  hands,  but  send  Judges  to  execute  Justice, 
come  to  him  for  mercy  in  the  acknowledgement  of  thy 
sinnes,  and  stay  not  till  his  Justice  come  to  thee,  when 
he  makes  inquisition  for  blood  ;  and  doe  not  think,  that 
if  thou  feel  now  at  this  present,  a  little  tendernesse  in 
thy  heart,  a  little  melting  in  thy  bowels,  a  little  dew  in 
thine  eyes,  that  if  thou  beest  come  to  know,  that  thou 
art  a  sinner,  thou  dost  therefore  presently  know  thy 
sinnes.    Thou  wouldst  have  so  much  tendernes,  so  much 


193  The  Eye  of  God. 

compassion,  if  thou  knewest  that  he  that  sits  next  thee, 
were  in  this  danger  of  Gods  heavy  indignation  ;  thou 
wouldst  commiserate  thy  neighbours  wretched  condition 
so  much.  But  proceed  with  thy  self  further,  bring  this 
dawning  and  breake  of  day  to  a  full  light,  and  this  little 
sparke  to  a  perfect  acknowledgement  of  thy  sinnes. 
Go  home,  with  this  spark  of  Gods  Spirit  in  you,  and  there 
looke  upon  your  Rentalls,  and  know  your  oppressions, 
and  extorsions  ;  looke  upon  your  shop-bookeSy  and  know 
your  deceits  and  falsifications ;  looke  upon  your  ward- 
robesy  and  know  your  excesses ;  looke  upon  your  childrens 
faces,  and  know  your  fornications.  Till  then,  till  you 
come  to  this  scrutiny,  this  survey,  this  sifting  of  the 
Conscience,  if  we  should  cry  peace,  peace,  yet  there  were 
no  peace. 

120.  ^he  World  Drowned  in  Sin, 

WHEN  the  Holy  Ghost  hath  brought  us  into  the 
Ark  from  whence  we  may  see  all  the  world  without, 
sprawling  and  gasping  in  the  flood,  (the  flood  of  sinfull 
courses  in  the  world,  and  of  the  anger  of  God)  when  we 
can  see  this  violent  flood,  (the  anger  of  God)  break  in 
at  windowes,  and  there  devoure  the  licentious  man  in 
his  sinfull  embracements,  and  make  his  bed  of  wanton- 
nesse  his  death-bed  ;  when  we  can  see  this  flood  (the 
anger  of  God)  swell  as  fast  as  the  ambitious  man  swels, 
and  pursue  him  through  all  his  titles,  and  at  last 
suddenly,  and  violently  wash  him  away  in  his  owne 
blood,  not  alwayes  in  a  vulgar,  but  sometimes  in  an 
ignominious  death  ;  when  we  shall  see  this  flood  (the 
flood  of  the  anger  of  God)  over-flow  the  valley  of  the 


The  World  Drowned  in  Sin.  igi^ 

voluptuous  mans  gardens,  and  orchards,  and  follow  liim 
into  his  Arbours,  and  Mounts,  and  Terasses,  and  carry 
him  from  thence  into  a  bottomlesse  Sea,  which  no 
Plummet  can  sound,  (no  heavy  sadnesse  reheve  him)  no 
anchor  take  hold  of,  (no  repentance  stay  his  tempested 
and  weather-beaten  conscience)  when  wee  finde  our 
selves  in  this  Ark,  where  we  have  first  taken  in  the  fresh 
water  of  Baptisme,  and  then  the  Bread,  and  Wine,  and 
Flesh,  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ  Jesus,  Then  are 
we  reproved,  forbidden  all  scruple,  then  are  we  convinced, 
That  as  the  twelve  Apostles  shall  sit  upon  twelve  seatSy 
and  judge  the  twelve  bribes  at  the  last  day  ;  So  doth  the 
Holy  Ghost  make  us  Judges  of  all  the  world  now,  and 
inables  us  to  pronounce  that  sentence.  That  all  but  they, 
who  have  sincerely  accepted  the  Christian  Religion,  are 
still  sub  peccato,  under  sin,  and  without  remedy. 

121.  J  he  Hand  of  God, 

THE  hand  of  God  shall  grow  heavy  upon  a  silent 
sinner,  in  his  body,  in  his  health  ;  and  if  he  con- 
ceive a  comfort,  that  for  all  his  sicknesse,  he  is  rich,  and 
therefore  cannot  fayle  of  helpe  and  attendance,  there 
comes  another  worme,  and  devours  that,  faithlesnesse 
in  persons  trusted  by  him,  oppressions  in  persons  that 
have  trusted  him,  facihty  in  undertaking  for  others, 
corrupt  Judges,  heavy  adversaries,  tempests  and  Pirats 
at  Sea,  unseasonable  or  ill  Markets  at  land,  costly  and 
expensive  ambitions  at  Court,  one  worme  or  other  shall 
devoure  his  riches,  that  he  eased  himselfe  upon.  If  he 
take  up  another  Comfort,  that  though  health  and  wealth 
decay,  though  he  be  poore  and  weake,  yet  he  hath  learnings 

2025-3  o 


194  The  Hand  of  God. 

and  philosophy,  and  morall  constancy,  and  he  can  content 
himselfe  with  himselfe,  he  can  make  his  study  a  Court, 
and  a  few  Books  shall  supply  to  him  the  society  and  the 
conversation  of  many  friends,  there  is  another  worme 
to  devoure  this  too,  the  hand  of  divine  Justice  shall  grow 
heavy  upon  him,  in  a  sense  of  an  unprofitable  retirednesse, 
in  a  disconsolate  melancholy,  and  at  last,  in  a  stupidity, 
tending  to  desperation. 

122.  The  Sick  Soul. 

HE  shall  suspect  his  Religion,  suspect  his  Repentance, 
suspect  the  Comforts  of  the  Minister,  suspect  the 
efficacy  of  the  Sacrament,  suspect  the  mercy  of  God 
himselfe.  Every  fit  of  an  Ague  is  an  Earth-quake  that 
swallows  him,  every  fainting  of  the  knee,  is  a  step  to  Hell ; 
every  lying  down  at  night  is  a  funerall ;  &  every  quaking 
is  a  rising  to  judgment ;  every  bell  that  distinguishes 
times,  is  a  passing-bell,  and  every  passing-bell,  his  own  ; 
every  singing  in  the  ear,  is  an  Angels  Trumpet ;  at  every 
dimnesse  of  the  candle,  he  heares  that  voice.  Fool,  this 
night  they  will  fetch  away  thy  soul;  and  in  every  judge- 
ment denounced  against  sin,  he  hears  an  Ito  maledicte 
upon  himselfe,  Goe  thou  accursed  into  hell  fire, 

123.   Sleep. 
Ephes.  4.     ^  /  HE  Sun  must  not  set  upon  my  anger ;   much  lesse  will 
^^  -^    I  let  the  Sun  set  upon  the  anger  of  God  towards  me, 

or  sleep  in  an  unrepented  sin.  Every  nights  sleep  is  a  Nunc 
dimittis ;  then  the  Lord  lets  his  servant  depart  in  peace. 
Thy  lying  down  is  a  valediction,  a  parting,  a  taking 
leave,  (shall  I  say  so  ?)  a  shaking  hands  with  God  ;   and, 


Sleep.  195 

when  thou  shakest  hands  with  God,  let  those  hands  be 
clean.  Enter  into  thy  grave,  thy  metaphoricall,  thy 
quotidian  grave,  thy  bed,  as  thou  entredst  into  the  Church 
at  first,  by  Water,  by  Baptisme  ;  Re-baptise  thy  self 
every  night,  in  lobs  Snow  water.  .  .  .  Sleep  with  cleane 
hands,  either  kept  cleane  all  day,  by  integrity ;  or 
washed  cleane,  at  night,  by  repentance  ;  and  whensoever 
thou  wakest,  though  all  lobs  messengers  thunder  about 
thee,  and  all  lobs  friends  multiply  mis-interpretations 
against  thee,  yet  lobs  protestation  shall  be  thy  pro- 
testation, what  end  soever  God  have  in  this  proceeding, 
It  is  not  for  any  injustice  in  my  hands,  and  the  other 
part  of  his  protestation  too,  Also  my  prayer  is  -pure, 

124.  The  Gate  of  Death. 
AS   he  that    travails  weary,  and  late  towards  a  great 
XjL  City,  is  glad  when  he  comes  to  a  place  of  execu- 
tion, becaus  he  knows  that  is  neer  the  town  ;  so  when 
thou  comest  to  the  gate  of  death,  glad  of  that,  for  it 
is  but  one  step  from  that  to  thy  Jerusalem.    Christ  hath 
brought  us  in  some  neerness  to  Salvation,  as  he  is  vere 
Salvator  mundi,  in  that  we  k7tow,  that  this  is  indeed  the  Jo.  4.  42. 
Christ,  the  Saviour  of  the  world :    and  he  hath  brought 
it  neerer  than  that,  as  he  is  Salvator  corporis  sui,  in  that  Eph.  5.  23. 
we  know.  That  Christ  is  the  head  of  the  Church,  and  the 
Saviour  of  that    body-.    And  neerer  than  that,  as  he  is  Esay.43.3. 
Salvator  tuus  sanctus.  In  that  we  know.  He  is  the  Lord 
our  God,  the  holy  One  of  Israel,  our  Saviour  :  But  neerest 
of  all,  in  the  Ecce  Salvator  tuus  venit.  Behold  thy  Salvation  Esa.62. 11. 
commeth.    It  is  not  only  promised  in  the  Prophets,  nor 

02 


196  The  Gate  of  Death. 

only  writ  in  the  Gospel,  nor  only  seaPd  in  the  Sacraments, 
nor  only  prepared  in  the  visitations  of  the  holy  Ghost, 
but,  Ecce,  behold  it,  now,  when  thou  canst  behold  nothing 
else  :  The  sun  is  setting  to  thee,  and  that  for  ever  ;  thy 
houses  and  furnitures,  thy  gardens  and  orchards,  thy 
titles  and  offices,  thy  wife  and  children  are  departing 
from  thee,  and  that  for  ever ;  a  cloud  of  faintnesse  is 
come  over  thine  eyes,  and  a  cloud  of  sorrow  over  all 
theirs ;  when  his  hand  that  loves  thee  best  hangs 
trembhngly  over  thee  to  close  thine  eyes,  Ecce  Salvator 
tuus  venit,  behold  then  a  new  hght,  thy  Saviours  hand 
shall  open  thine  eyes,  and  in  his  light  thou  shalt  see  light ; 
and  thus  shalt  see,  that  though  in  the  eyes  of  men  thou 
lye  upon  that  bed,  as  a  Statue  on  a  Tomb,  yet  in  the 
eyes  of  God,  thou  standest  as  a  Colossus^  one  foot  in  one, 
another  in  another  land  ;  one  foot  in  the  grave,  but  the 
other  in  heaven  ;  one  hand  in  the  womb  of  the  earth, 
and  the  other  in  Abrahams  bosome  :  And  then  vere  prope^ 
Salvation  is  truly  neer  thee,  and  neerer  than  when  thou 
believedst,  which  is  our  last  word. 

125.  Our  Prison, 

WE  are  all  conceived  in  close  Prison ;  in  our 
Mothers  wombes,  we  are  close  Prisoners  all ;  when 
we  are  borne,  we  are  borne  but  to  the  liberty  of  the 
house  ;  Prisoners  still,  though  within  larger  walls ;  and 
then  all  our  life  is  but  a  going  out  to  the  place  of  Execu- 
tion, to  death.  Now  was  there  ever  any  man  seen  to 
sleep  in  the  Cart,  between  New-gate,  and  Tyborne  ? 
between  the  Prison,  and  the  place  of  Execution,  does 
any  man  sleep  ?     And  we  sleep  all  the  way ;    from  the 


Our  Prison.  197 

womb  to  the  grave  we  are  never  throughly  awake ;  but 
passe  on  with  such  dreames,  and  imaginations  as  these, 
I  may  hve  as  well,  as  another,  and  why  should  I  dye, 
rather  then  another  ?  but  awake,  and  tell  me,  sayes 
this  Text,  Quis  homo  F  who  is  that  other  that  thou 
talkest  of  ?  What  man  is  he  that  liveth,  and  shall  not  see 
death  ? 

126.  All  must  Die. 

DOTH  not  man  die  even  in  his  birth  ?  The  breaking 
of  prison  is  death,  and  what  is  our  birth,  but  a  break- 
ing of  prison  ?  Assoon  as  we  were  clothed  by  God,  our 
very  apparell  was  an  Embleme  of  death.  In  the  skins  of 
dead  beasts,  he  covered  the  skins  of  dying  men.  Assoon 
as  God  set  us  on  work,  our  very  occupation  was  an 
Embleme  of  death  ;  It  was  to  digge  the  earth  ;  not  to 
digge  pitfals  for  other  men,  but  graves  for  our  selves. 
Hath  any  man  here  forgot  to  day,  that  yesterday  is  dead  ? 
And  the  Bell  tolls  for  to  day,  and  will  ring  out  anon  ; 
and  for  as  much  of  every  one  of  us,  as  appertaines  to  this 
day.  Quotidie  morimur,  iff  tamen  nos  esse  ceternos  putamus, 
sayes  S.  Hierome ;  We  die  every  day,  and  we  die  all  the 
day  long;  and  because  we  are  not  absolutely  dead,  we 
call  that  an  eternity,  an  eternity  of  dying  :  And  is  there 
comfort  in  that  state  ?  why,  that  is  the  state  of  hell  it 
self,  Eternall  dying,  and  not  dead. 

But  for  this  there  is  enough  said,  by  the  Morall  man ; 
(that  we  may  respite  divine  proofes,  for  divine  points 
anon,  for  our  severall  Resurrections)  for  this  death  is 
meerly  naturall,  and  it  is  enough  that  the  morall  man  sayes. 
Mors  lex,  trihutum,  officium  mortalium.    First  it  is  lex,  you  Seneca. 


198  All  must  Die. 

were  born  under  that  law,  upon  that  condition  to  die : 
so  it  is  a  rebellious  thing  not  to  be  content  to  die,  it 
opposes  the  Law.  Then  it  is  Tributum,  an  imposition 
which  nature  the  Queen  of  this  world  layes  upon  us, 
and  which  she  will  take,  when  and  where  she  Hst ;  here 
a  yong  man,  there  an  old  man,  here  a  happy,  there  a 
miserable  man  ;  And  so  it  is  a  seditious  thing  not  to  be 
content  to  die,  it  opposes  the  prerogative.  And  lastly. 
It  is  Officiiim,  men  are  to  have  their  turnes,  to  take  their 
time,  and  then  to  give  way  by  death  to  successors  ;  and 
so  it  is  Incivile,  inofficiosum^  not  to  be  content  to  die,  it 
opposes  the  frame  and  form  of  government.  It  comes 
equally  to  us  all,  and  makes  us  all  equall  when  it  comes. 
The  ashes  of  an  Oak  in  the  Chimney,  are  no  Epitaph  of 
that  Oak,  to  tell  me  how  high  or  how  large  that  was  ; 
It  tels  me  not  what  flocks  it  sheltered  while  it  stood, 
nor  what  men  it  hurt  when  it  fell.  The  dust  of  great 
persons  graves  is  speechlesse  too,  it  sayes  nothing,  it 
distinguishes  nothing  :  As  soon  the  dust  of  a  wretch 
whom  thou  wouldest  not,  as  of  a  Prince  whom  thou 
couldest  not  look  upon,  will  trouble  thine  eyes,  if  the 
winde  blow  it  thither ;  and  when  a  whirle-winde  hath 
blowne  the  dust  of  the  Church-yard  into  the  Church,  and 
the  man  sweeps  out  the  dust  of  the  Church  into  the 
Church-yard,  who  will  undertake  to  sift  those  dusts 
again,  and  to  pronounce,  This  is  the  Patrician,  this  is 
the  noble  flowre,  and  this  the  yeomanly,  this  the  Plebeian 
bran.  .  .  . 

Novissi-         Death  is  the  last,  and  in  that  respect  the  worst  enemy. 

mus  hosits.  jj^  ^^  enemy,  that  appeares  at  first,  when  we  are  or  may 
be  provided  against  him,  there  is  some  of  that,  which 


All  must  Die.  199 

we  call  Honour  :  but  in  the  enemie  that  reserves  himselfe 
unto  the  last,  and  attends  our  weake  estate,  there  is 
more  danger.  Keepe  it,  where  I  intend  it,  in  that  which 
is  my  spheare,  the  Conscience  :  If  mine  enemie  meet 
me  betimes  in  my  youth,  in  an  object  of  tentation,  (so 
Josephs  enemie  met  him  in  Putifars  Wife)  yet  if  I  doe 
not  adhere  to  this  enemy,  dwell  upon  a  delightfull 
meditation  of  that  sin,  if  I  doe  not  fuell,  and  foment 
that  sin,  assist  and  encourage  that  sin,  by  high  diet, 
wanton  discourse,  other  provocation,  I  shall  have  reason 
on  my  side,  and  I  shall  have  grace  on  my  side,  and  I  shall 
have  the  History  of  a  thousand  that  have  perished  by 
that  sin,  on  my  side  ;  Even  Spittles  will  give  me  souldiers 
to  fight  for  me,  by  their  miserable  example  against  that 
sin  ;  nay  perchance  sometimes  the  vertue  of  that  woman, 
whom  I  sollicite,  will  assist  me.  But  when  I  lye  under 
the  hands  of  that  enemie,  that  hath  reserved  himselfe 
to  the  last,  to  my  last  bed,  then  when  I  shall  be  able 
to  stir  no  limbe  in  any  other  measure  then  a  Feaver  or 
a  Palsie  shall  shake  them,  when  everlasting  darknesse 
shall  have  an  inchoation  in  the  present  dimnesse  of  mine 
eyes,  and  the  everlasting  gnashing  in  the  present  chatter- 
ing of  my  teeth,  and  the  everlasting  worme  in  the  present 
gnawing  of  the  Agonies  of  my  body,  and  anguishes  of 
my  minde,  when  the  last  enemie  shall  watch  my  remedi- 
lesse  body,  and  my  disconsolate  soule  there,  there,  where 
not  the  Physitian,  in  his  way,  perchance  not  the  Priest 
in  his,  shall  be  able  to  give  any  assistance.  And  when  he 
hath  sported  himselfe  with  my  misery  upon  that  stage, 
my  death-bed,  shall  shift  the  Scene,  and  throw  me  from 
that  bed,  into  the  grave,  and  there  triumph  over  me. 


200  All  must  Die. 

God  knowes,  how  many  generations,  till  the  Redeemer, 
my  Redeemer,  the  Redeemer  of  all  me,  body,  as  well  as 
soule,  come  againe  ;  As  death  is  Novissimus  hostis,  the 
enemy  which  watches  me,  at  my  last  weaknesse,  and  shall 
hold  me,  when  I  shall  be  no  more,  till  that  Angel  come. 
Who  shall  say,  and  sweare  that  time  shall  he  no  more,  in 
that  consideration,  in  that  apprehension,  he  is  the 
powerfuUest,  the  fearefulest  enemy ;  and  yet  even  there 
this  enemy  Abolebitur,  he  shall  be  destroyed. 


127.  Death  Inevitable, 

/TDAM  might  have  liv'd,  if  he  would,  but  /  cannot, 
^y^  God  hath  placed  an  Ecce,  a  marke  of  my  death,  upon 
every  thing  living,  that  I  can  set  mine  eye  upon  ;  every 
thing  is  a  remembrancer,  every  thing  is  a  Judge  upon 
me,  and  pronounces,  I  must  dye.     The  whole  frame  of 

Heb.  9.  27.  the  world  is  mortall.  Heaven  and  Earth  passe  away  :  and 
upon  us  all,  there  is  an  irrecoverable  Decree  past,  statutum 
estf  It  is  appointed  to  all  men,  that  they  shall  once  dye. 
But  when  ?    quickly  ;    If  thou  looke  up  into  the  aire. 

Job  7.  7.  remember  that  thy  life  is  but  a  winde,  If  thou  see  a  cloud 
in  the  aire,  aske  St.  James  his  question,  what  is  your 

lam.  4.  14.  life  ?  and  give  St.  James  his  answer,  It  is  a  vapour  that 
appeareth  and  vanisheth  away.  If  thou  behold  a  Tree, 
then  Job  gives  thee  a  comparison  of  thy  selfe  ;  A  T^ree 
is  an  embleme  of  thy  selfe  ;  nay  a  Tree  is  the  originally 
thou  art  but  the  copy,  thou  art  not  so  good  as  it  :   for, 

Job  14.  7.  There  is  hope  of  a  tree  (as  you  reade  there)  if  the  roote  wax 
old,  if  the  stock  be  dead,  if  it  be  cut  down,  yet  by  the 
sent  of  the  waters,  it  will  bud,  but  man  is  sick,  and  dyeth,  and 


Death  Inevitable.  201 

where  is  he  ?  he  shall  not  wake  againe,  till  heaven  be 
no  more.  Looke  upon  the  water,  and  we  are  as  that, 
and  as  that  spilt  upon  the  ground  :  Looke  to  the  earth, 
and  we  are  not  like  that,  but  we  are  earth  it  self :  At 
our  Tables  we  feed  upon  the  dead,  and  in  the  Temple  we 
tread  upon  the  dead  :  and  when  we  meet  in  a  Church, 
God  hath  made  many  echoes,  many  testimonies  of  our 
death,  in  the  walls,  and  in  the  windowes,  and  he  onely 
knowes,  whether  he  will  not  make  another  testimony  of 
our  mortality,  of  the  youngest  amongst  us,  before  we 
part,  and  make  the  very  place  of  our  biiriall,  our  deathbed, 

128.  7he  Expectation  of  Death, 

NOW  the  general  condemnation,  which  is  upon  all 
mankind,  that  they  must  dye,  this  alone  scarce  frights 
any  man,  scarce  averts  any  man  from  his  purposes.  He 
that  should  first  put  to  Sea  in  a  tempest,  he  might  easily 
think,  it  were  in  the  nature  of  the  Sea  to  be  rough  always. 
He  that  sees  every  Church-yard  swell  with  the  waves 
and  billows  of  graves,  can  think  it  no  extraordinary  thing 
to  dye  ;  when  he  knows  he  set  out  in  a  storm,  and  he  was 
born  into  the  world  upon  that  condition,  to  go  out  of 
it  again. 

129.  7 he  Death-bed, 

ITT  in  finem,  he  loved  them  to  the  end.  It  is  much 
-^-^that  he  should  love  them  in  fine,  at  their  end  ;  that 
he  should  look  graciously  at  last  ;  that  when  their  sunne 
sets,  their  eyes  faint,  his  sunne  of  grace  should  arise,  and 
his  East  should  be  brought  to  their  West ;  that  then, 
in  the  shadow  of  death,  the  Lord  of  life  should  quicken 


202  The  Death-bed. 

and  inanimate  their  hearts  ;  that  when  their  last  bell 
tolls,  and  calls  them  to  their  first  and  last  judgement, 
which  to  this  purpose  is  all  one  ;  for  the  passing  bell 
and  the  Angels  trump  sound  all  but  one  note  :  Surgiu 
qui  dormitis  in  pulvere,  Arise  ye  that  sleep  in  the  dust, 
which  is  the  voice  of  the  Angels  ;  and,  Surgite  qui 
vigilatis  in  plumis,  Arise  ye  that  cannot  sleep  in  feathers, 
for  the  pangs  of  death,  which  is  the  voice  of  the  bell, 
is  in  effect  but  one  voice  :  for  God  at  the  generall  judge- 
ment, shall  never  reverse  any  particular  judgement, 
formerly  given  ;  that  God  should  then  come  to  thy  bed 
side  Ad  sibilandum  populum  suum,  as  the  Prophet  Ezechiel 
saith,  to  hisse  softly  for  his  childe,  to  speak  comfortably 
in  his  eare,  to  whisper  gently  to  his  departing  soul,  and 
to  drown  and  overcome  with  this  soft  musick  of  his  all 
the  clangour  of  the  Angels  trumpets,  all  the  horrour  of 
the  ringing  bell,  all  the  cries,  and  vociferations  of  a 
distressed,  and  distracted,  and  scattering  family ;  yea 
all  the  accusations  of  his  own  conscience,  and  all  the 
triumphant  acclamations  of  the  devil  himself :  that 
God  should  love  a  man  thus  infne,  at  his  end,  and  return 
to  him  then,  though  he  had  suffered  him  to  go  astray 
before,  is  a  great  testimonie  of  an  inexpressible  love. 
Butt  this  love  is  not  in  fine,  in  the  end ;  but  infinem,  to 
the  end, 

130.  The  Death  of  Ecstasy. 

Prov.    18.  CT\EATB.  and  life  are  in  the  power  of  the  tongue,  sayes 

■^-^ Solomon,  in  another  sense ;  and  in  this  sense  too,  If 

my  tongue,  suggested  by  my  heart,  and  by  my  heart 

rooted  in  faith,  can  say,  Non  moriar,  non  moriar  ;    If 


21. 


The  Death  of  Ecstasy.  203 

I  can  say,  (and  my  conscience  doe  not  tell  me,  that 
I  belye  mine  owne  state)  if  I  can  say.  That  the  blood 
of  my  Saviour  runs  in  my  veines.  That  the  breath  of 
his  Spirit  quickens  all  my  purposes,  that  all  my  deaths 
have  their  Resurrection,  all  my  sins  their  remorses,  all 
my  rebelUons  their  reconciliations,  I  will  harken  no  more 
after  this  question,  as  it  is  intended  de  morte  naturali, 
of  a  naturall  death,  I  know  I  must  die  that  death,  what 
care  I  ?  nor  de  morte  spirituali,  the  death  of  sin,  I  know 
I  doe,  and  shall  die  so  ;  why  despaire  I  ?  but  I  will  finde 
out  another  death,  mortem  raptus,  a  death  of  rapture,  and  2  Cor.  12. 
of  extasie,  that  death  which  S.  Faul  died  more  then  once,  Acts  9. 
The  death  which  S.  Gregory  speaks  of,  Divina  contem-  Greg. 
-platio  quoddam  sepulchrum  animcey  The  contemplation  of 
God,  and  heaven,  is  a  kinde  of  buriall,  and  Sepulchre, 
and  rest  of  the  soule ;  and  in  this  death  of  rapture,  and 
extasie,  in  this  death  of  the  Contemplation  of  my  interest 
in  my  Saviour,  I  shall  finde  my  self,  and  all  my  sins 
enterred,  and  entombed  in  his  wounds,  and  like  a  Lily 
in  Paradise,  out  of  red  earth,  I  shall  see  my  soule  rise 
out  of  his  blade,  in  a  candor,  and  in  an  innocence,  con- 
tracted there,  acceptable  in  the  sight  of  his  Father. 

131.  The  Dead  with  Us, 

1ITTLE  know  we,  how  little  a  way  a  soule  hath  to 
-i  goe  to  heaven,  when  it  departs  from  the  body ; 
Whether  it  must  passe  locally,  through  Moone,  and  Sun, 
and  Firmament,  (and  if  all  that  must  be  done,  all  that 
may  be  done,  in  lesse  time  then  I  have  proposed  the  doubt 
in)  or  whether  that  soule  finde  new  light  in  the  same 
roome,  and  be  not  carried  into  any  other,  but  that 


204  The  Dead  with  Us. 

the  glory  of  heaven  be  diffused  over  all,  I  know  not, 
I  dispute  not,  I  inquire  not.  Without  disputing,  or 
inquiring,  I  knovi^,  that  when  Christ  sayes,  7hat  God  is 
not  the  God  of  the  dead,  he  saies  that  to  assure  me,  that 
those  whom  I  call  dead,  are  ahve.  And  when  the  Apostle 
£3eb.  11.16.  tels  me,  ^hat  God  is  not  ashamed  to  be  called  the  God  oj 
the  dead,  he  tels  me  that  to  assure  me.  That  Gods  servants 
lose  nothing  by  dying. 
Menander.  He  was  but  a  Heathen  that  said,  If  God  love  a  man, 
Tbraces.  jj^^g^is  tolUtur,  He  takes  him  young  out  of  this  world  ; 
And  they  were  but  Heathens,  that  observed  that  custome. 
To  put  on  mourning  when  their  sons  were  born,  and  to 
feast  and  triumph  when  they  dyed.  But  thus  much  we 
may  learne  from  these  Heathens,  That  if  the  dead,  and 
we,  be  not  upon  one  floore,  nor  under  one  story,  yet  we 
are  under  one  roofe.  We  think  not  a  friend  lost,  because 
he  is  gone  into  another  roome,  nor  because  he  is  gone 
into  another  Land  ;  And  into  another  world,  no  man 
is  gone  ;  for  that  Heaven,  which  God  created,  and  this 
world,  is  all  one  world.  If  I  had  fixt  a  Son  in  Court, 
or  married  a  daughter  into  a  plentiful!  Fortune,  I  were 
satisfied  for  that  son  and  that  daughter.  Shall  I  not  be 
so,  when  the  King  of  Heaven  hath  taken  that  son  to 
himselfe,  and  maried  himselfe  to  that  daughter,  for  ever  ? 
I  spend  none  of  my  Faith,  I  exercise  none  of  my  Hope,  in 
this,  that  I  shall  have  my  dead  raised  to  hfe  againe. 

This  is  the  faith  that  sustaines  me,  when  I  lose  by  the 
death  of  others,  or  when  I  suffer  by  Hving  in  misery 
my  selfe.  That  the  dead,  and  we,  are  now  all  in  one 
Church,  and  at  the  resurrection,  shall  be  all  in  one  Quire. 


Mourning.  205 

132.  Mourning, 

HERE,  in  this  world,  we  who  stay,  lack  those  who  are 
gone  out  of  it  :  we  know  they  shall  never  come  to 
us  ;  and  when  we  shall  go  to  them,  whether  we  shall 
know  them  or  no,  we  dispute.  They  who  think  that  it 
conduces  to  the  perfection  of  happinesse  in  heaven,  that 
we  should  know  one  another,  think  piously  if  they  think 
we  shall.  For,  as  for  the  maintenance  of  pubhque  peace. 
States,  and  Churches,  may  think  diversly  in  points  of 
Religion,  that  are  not  fundamentall,  and  yet  both  be 
true  and  Orthodoxall  Churches  ;  so  for  the  exaltation 
of  private  devotion  in  points  that  are  not  fundamentall, 
divers  men  may  think  diversly,  and  both  be  equally 
good  Christians.  Whether  we  shall  know  them  there, 
or  no,  is  problematicall  and  equall ;  that  we  shall  not 
till  then,  is  dogmaticall  and  certain  :  Therefore  we  weep. 
I  know  there  are  Philosophers  that  will  not  let  us  weep, 
nor  lament  the  death  of  any  :  And  I  know  that  in  the 
Scriptures  there  are  rules,  and  that  there  are  instructions 
convayed  in  that  example,  that  David  left  mourning 
as  soon  as  the  childe  was  dead  ;  And  I  know  that  there  are 
Authors  of  a  middle  nature,  above  the  Philosophers,  and 
below  the  Scriptures,  the  Apocryphall  books,  and  I  know 
it  is  said  there.  Comfort  thy  selfe,  for  thou  shalt  do  him 
no  good  that  is  dead,  Et  te  ipsum  pessimabis  (as  the  vulgat  EccIus.  33. 
reads  it)  thou  shalt  make  thy  self  worse  and  worse,  in 
the  worst  degree.  But  yet  all  this  is  but  of  inordinate 
lamentation  ;  for  in  the  same  place,  the  same  Wise  man 
sayes.  My  Son,  let  thy  tears  fall  down  over  the  dead  ; 
weep  bitterly  and  make  great  moane,  as  he  is  worthy. 


2o6  Mourning. 

When  our  Saviour  Christ  had  uttered  his  consummatum 
est,  all  was  finished,  and  their  rage  could  do  him  no  more 
harm,  when  he  had  uttered  his  In  manus  iuas,  he  had 
delivered  and  God  had  received  his  soul,  yet  how  did 
the  whole  frame  of  nature  mourn  in  Eclipses,  and  tremble 
in  earth-quakes,  and  dissolve  and  shed  in  pieces  in  the 
opening  of  the  Temple,  Quia  moriuus,  because  he  was 
dead. 

Truly,  to  see  the  hand  of  a  great  and  mighty  Monarch, 
that  hand  that  hath  governed  the  civill  sword,  the  sword 
of  Justice  at  home,  and  drawn  and  sheathed  the  forraigne 
sword,  the  sword  of  war  abroad,  to  see  that  hand  lie 
dead,  and  not  be  able  to  nip  or  fillip  away  one  of  his  own 
wormes  (and  then  Quis  homo,  what  man,  though  he  be  one 
of  those  men,  of  whom  God  hath  said,  Te  are  gods,  yet 
Quis  homo,  what  man  is  there  that  lives,  and  shall  not  see 
death  ?)  To  see  the  brain  of  a  great  and  rehgious 
Counsellor  (and  God  blesse  all  from  making,  all  from 
calling  any  great  that  is  not  religious)  to  see  that  brain 
that  produced  means  to  becalme  gusts  at  Councell 
tables,  stormes  in  Parhaments,  tempests  in  popular 
commotions,  to  see  that  brain  produce  nothing  but 
swarmes  of  wormes  and  no  Proclamation  to  disperse 
them  ;  To  see  a  reverend  Prelate  that  hath  resisted 
Heretiques  &  Schismatiques  all  his  life,  fall  Hke  one  of 
them  by  death,  &  perchance  be  called  one  of  them  when 
he  is  dead.  To  re-collect  all,  to  see  great  men  made  no 
men,  to  be  sure  that  they  shall  never  come  to  us,  not 
to  be  sure,  that  we  shall  know  them  when  we  come  to 
them,  to  see  the  Lieutenants  and  Images  of  God,  Kings, 
the  sinews  of  the  State,  rehgious  Counsellors,  the  spirit 


Mourning.  207 

of  the  Church,  zealous  Prelates,  And  then  to  see  vulgar, 
ignorant,  wicked,  and  facinorous  men  thrown  all  by  one 
hand  of  death,  into  one  Cart,  into  one  common  Tide- 
boate,  one  Hospitall,  one  Almeshouse,  one  Prison,  the 
grave,  in  whose  dust  no  man  can  say.  This  is  the  King, 
this  is  the  Slave,  this  is  the  Bishop,  this  is  the  Heretique, 
this  is  the  Counsellor,  this  is  the  Foole,  even  this  miserable 
equality  of  so  unequall  persons,  by  so  foule  a  hand,  is 
the  subject  of  this  lamentation,  even  Qtiia  mortuus, 
because  Lazarus  was  dead,  lesus  wept. 

133.  A  Quiet  Grave. 

HOW  low  soever  God  be  pleased  to  cast  you.  Though 
it  be  to  the  earth,  yet  he  does  not  so  much  cast  you 
downe,  in  doing  that,  as  bring  you  home.  Death  is  not 
a  banishing  of  you  out  of  this  world  ;  but  it  is  a  visitation 
of  your  kindred  that  He  in  the  earth  ;  neither  are  any 
nearer  of  kin  to  you,  then  the  earth  it  selfe,  and  the 
wormes  of  the  earth.  You  heap  earth  upon  your  soules, 
and  encumber  them  with  more  and  more  flesh,  by  a  super- 
fluous and  luxuriant  diet  ;  You  adde  earth  to  earth  in 
new  purchases,  and  measure  not  by  Acres,  but  by  Manors, 
nor  by  Manors,  but  by  Shires  ;  And  there  is  a  Httle 
Quillet,  a  Httle  Close,  worth  all  these,  A  quiet  Grave. 
And  therefore,  when  thou  readest.  That  God  makes  thy 
bed  in  thy  sicknesse,  rejoyce  in  this,  not  onely  that  he 
makes  that  bed,  where  thou  dost  He,  but  that  bed  where 
thou  shalt  He  ;  That  that  God,  that  made  the  whole  earth, 
is  now  making  thy  bed  in  the  earth,  a  quiet  grave,  where 
thou  shalt  sleep  in  peace,  tiU  the  Angels  Trumpet  wake 
thee  at  the  Resurrection,  to  that  Judgement  where  thy 


2o8  A  Quiet  Grave. 

peace  shall  be  made  before  thou  commest,  and  writ, 
and  sealed,  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb. 


Wi 


134.  Eternal  Damnation, 
'HEN  we  shall  have  given  to  those  words,  by  which 
hell  is  expressed  in  the  Scriptures,  the  heaviest 
significations,  that  either  the  nature  of  those  words  can 
admit,  or  as  they  are  types  and  representations  of  hell, 
as  Jire,  and  brimstone,  &  weeping,  and  gnashing,  and 
darknesse,  and  the  worme,  and  as  they  are  laid  together 

Esay3o.33.  in  the  Prophet,  ^ophet,  (that  is,  hell)  is  deepe  and  large, 
(there  is  the  capacity  &  content,  roome  enough)  It  is 
a  pile  of  fire  and  much  wood,  (there  is  the  durablenesse  of 
it)  and  the  breath  of  the  Lord  to  kindle  it,  like  a  streame  of 
Brimstone,  (there  is  the  vehemence  of  it  :)  when  all  is 
done,  the  hell  of  hels,  the  torment  of  torments  is  the 
everlasting  absence  of  God,  and  the  everlasting  impossi- 
bility of  returning  to  his  presence  ;   Horrendum  est,  sayes 

Heb.10.31.  the  Apostle,  It  is  a  fearefull  thing  to  fall  into  the  hands 
of  the  living  God.  Yet  there  was  a  case,  in  which  David 
found  an  ease,  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  God,  to  scape  the 
hands  of  men  :  Horrendum  est,  when  Gods  hand  is  bent 
to  strike,  it  is  a  fearefull  thing,  to  fall  into  the  hands  oj 
the  living  God ;  but  to  fall  out  of  the  hands  of  the  living 
God,  is  a  horror  beyond  our  expression,  beyond  our 
imagination. 

That  God  should  let  my  soule  fall  out  of  his  hand,  into 
a  bottomlesse  pit,  and  roll  an  unremoveable  stone  upon 
it,  and  leave  it  to  that  which  it  finds  there,  (and  it  shall 
finde  that  there,  which  it  never  imagined,  till  it  came 
thither)  and  never  thinke  more  of  that  soule,  never  have 


Eternal  Damnation.  209 

more  to  doe  with  it.  That  of  that  providence  of  God, 
that  studies  the  Hfe  of  every  weed,  and  worme,  and  ant, 
and  spider,  and  toad,  and  viper,  there  should  never, 
never  any  beame  flow  out  upon  me  ;  that  that  God,  who 
looked  upon  me,  when  I  was  nothing,  and  called  me  when 
I  was  not,  as  though  I  had  been,  out  of  the  womb  and 
depth  of  darknesse,  will  not  looke  upon  me  now,  when, 
though  a  miserable,  and  a  banished,  and  a  damned 
creature,  yet  I  am  his  creature  still,  and  contribute 
something  to  his  glory,  even  in  my  damn.nion  ;  that  that 
God,  who  hath  often  looked  upon  me  in  my  foulest 
uncleannesse,  and  when  I  had  shut  out  the  eye  of  the 
day,  the  Sunne,  and  the  eye  of  the  night,  the  Taper,  and 
the  eyes  of  all  the  world,  vnth  curtaines  and  windowes 
and  doores,  did  yet  see  me,  and  see  me  in  mercy,  by 
making  me  see  that  he  saw  me,  and  sometimes  brought 
me  to  a  present  remorse,  and  (for  that  time)  to  a  forbearing 
of  that  sinne,  should  so  turne  himselfe  from  me,  to  his 
glorious  Saints  and  Angels,  as  that  no  Saint  nor  Angel, 
nor  Christ  Jesus  himselfe,  should  ever  pray  him  to  looke 
towards  me,  never  remember  him,  that  such  a  soule 
there  is  ;  that  that  God,  who  hath  so  often  said  to  my 
soule,  Quare  morieris  ?  Why  wilt  thou  die  ?  and  so 
often  sworne  to  my  soule,  Vivit  Dominus,  As  the  Lord 
liveth,  I  would  not  have  thee  dye,  but  live,  will  nether 
let  me  dye,  nor  let  me  live,  but  dye  an  everlasting  life, 
and  hve  an  everlasting  death  ;  that  that  God,  who,  when 
he  could  not  get  into  me,  by  standing,  and  knocking,  by 
his  ordinary  meanes  of  entring,  by  his  Word,  his  mercies, 
hath  applied  his  judgements,  and  hath  shaked  the  house, 
this  body,  with  agues  and  palsies,  and  set  this  house  on 


210  Eternal  Damnation. 

fire,  with  fevers  and  calentures,  and  frighted  the  Master 
of  the  house,  my  soule,  with  horrors,  and  heavy  appre- 
hensions, and  so  made  an  entrance  into  me  ;  That  that 
God  should  frustrate  all  his  owne  purposes  and  practises 
upon  me,  and  leave  me,  and  cast  me  away,  as  though 
I  had  cost  him  nothing,  that  this  God  at  last,  should  let 
this  soule  goe  away,  as  a  smoake,  as  a  vapour,  as  a  bubble, 
and  that  then  this  soule  cannot  be  a  smoake,  a  vapour, 
nor  a  bubble,  but  must  lie  in  darknesse,  as  long  as  the 
Lord  of  light  is  light  it  selfe,  and  never  sparke  of  that 
light  reach  to  my  soule  ;  What  Tophet  is  not  Paradise, 
what  Brimstone  is  not  Amber,  what  gnashing  is  not 
a  comfort,  what  gnawing  of  the  worme  is  not  a  tickling, 
what  torment  is  not  a  marriage  bed  to  this  damnation,  to 
be  secluded  eternally,  eternally,  eternally  from  the  sight  of 
God  ?  Especially  to  us,  for  as  the  perpetuall  losse  of  that 
is  most  heavy,  with  which  we  have  been  best  acquainted, 
and  to  which  wee  have  been  most  accustomed  ;  so  shall 
this  damnation,  which  consists  in  the  losse  of  the  sight 
and  presence  of  God,  be  heavier  to  us  then  others,  because 
God  hath  so  graciously,  and  so  evidently,  and  so  diversly 
appeared  to  us,  in  his  pillar  of  fire,  in  the  light  of  pros- 
perity, and  in  the  pillar  of  the  Cloud,  in  hiding  himselfe 
for  a  while  from  us  ;  we  that  have  seene  him  in  all  the 
parts  of  this  Commission,  in  his  Word,  in  his  Sacraments, 
and  in  good  example,  and  not  beleeved,  shall  be  further 
removed  from  his  sight,  in  the  next  world,  then  they  to 
whom  he  never  appeared  in  this.  But  Vincenti  i^ 
credenti,  to  him  that  beleeves  aright,  and  overcomes 
all  tentations  to  a  wrong  beliefe,  God  shall  give  the 
accomplishment  of  fulnesse,  and  fulnesse  of  joy,  and  joy 


Eternal  Damnation.  211 

rooted  in  glory,  and  glory  established  in  eternity,  and  this 
eternity  is  God  ;  To  him  that  beleeves  and  overcomes, 
God  shall  give  himselfe  in  an  everlasting  presence  and 
fruition,  Amen, 

135.  Death  of  the  Good  and  the  Bad  Man, 

TRULY,  if  the  Death  of  the  wricked  ended  in  Death, 
yet  to  scape  that  manner  of  death  were  worthy 
a  Religious  hfe.  To  see  the  house  fall,  and  yet  be  afraid 
to  goe  out  of  it  ;  To  leave  an  injur'd  world,  and  meet  an 
incensed  God  ;  To  see  oppression  and  wrong  in  all  thy 
professions,  and  to  foresee  ruine  and  wastefulnesse  in 
all  thy  Posterity  ;  and  Lands  gotten  by  one  sin  in  the 
Father,  molder  away  by  another  in  the  Sonne  ;  To  see 
true  figures  of  horror,  and  ly,  and  fancy  worse  ;  To 
begin  to  see  thy  sins  but  then,  and  finde  every  sin  (at 
first  sight)  in  the  proportion  of  a  Gyant,  able  to  crush 
thee  into  despair  ;  to  see  the  Blood  of  Christ,  imputed, 
not  to  thee,  but  to  thy  Sinnes ;  to  see  Christ  crucified, 
and  not  crucifyed  for  thee,  but  crucified  by  thee  ;  To 
heare  this  blood  speake,  not  better  things,  then  the  blood 
of  Abel,  but  lowder  for  vengeance  then  the  blood  of 
Abel  did  ;  This  is  his  picture  that  hath  been  Nothing, 
that  hath  done  nothing,  that  hath  proposed  no  Stephen, 
No  Law  to  regulate.  No  example  to  certifie  his  Conscience : 
But  to  him  that  hath  done  this.  Death  is  but  a  sleepe.  .  .  . 

Now  of  this  dying  Man,  that  dies  in  Christ,  that  dies 
the  Death  of  the  Righteous,  that  embraces  Death  as 
a  Sleepe,  must  wee  give  you  a  Picture  too. 

There  is  not  a  minute  left  to  do  it ;  not  a  minutes 
sand  ;    Is  there  a  minutes  patience  ?     Bee  pleased  to 

p  2 


212  Death  of  the  Good 

remember  that  those  Pictures  which  are  delivered  in 
a  minute,  from  a  print  upon  a  paper,  had  many  dayes, 
weeks,  Moneths  time  for  the  graving  of  those  Pictures 
in  the  Copper  ;  So  this  Picture  of  that  dying  Man,  that 
dies  in  Christ,  that  dies  the  death  of  the  Righteous,  that 
embraces  Death  as  a  Sleepe,  was  graving  all  his  life  ;  All 
his  publique  actions  were  the  lights,  and  all  his  private 
the  shadowes  of  this  Picture.  And  when  this  Picture 
comes  to  the  Presse,  this  Man  to  the  streights  and  agonies 
of  Death,  thus  he  lies,  thus  he  looks,  this  he  is.  His 
understanding  and  his  will  is  all  one  faculty  ;  He  under- 
stands Gods  purpose  upon  him,  and  he  would  not  have 
God's  purpose  turned  any  other  way  ;  hee  sees  God  will 
dissolve  him,  and  he  would  faine  be  dissolved,  to  be  with 
Christ ;  His  understanding  and  his  will  is  all  one  faculty  ; 
His  memory  and  his  fore-sight  are  fixt,  and  concentred 
upon  one  object,  upon  goodnesse ;  Hee  remembers 
that  hee  hath  proceeded  in  the  sinceritie  of  a  good 
Conscience  in  all  the  wayes  of  his  calling,  and  he  foresees 
that  his  good  name  shall  have  the  Testimony,  and  his 
Posterity  the  support  of  the  good  men  of  this  world  ; 
His  sickness  shall  be  but  a  fomentation  to  supple  and 
open  his  Body  for  the  issuing  of  his  Soule  ;  and  his  Soule 
shall  goe  forth,  not  as  one  that  gave  over  his  house,  but 
as  one  that  travelled  to  see  and  learne  better  Architecture, 
and  meant  to  returne  and  re-edifie  that  house,  according 
to  those  better  Rules  :  And  as  those  thoughts  which 
possesse  us  most  awake,  meete  us  again  when  we  are 
asleepe ;  So  his  holy-thoughts,  having  been  alwaies 
conversant  upon  the  directing  of  his  family,  the  education 
of  his  Children,  the  discharge  of  his  place,  the  safety  of 


and  the  Bad  Man.  213 

the  State,  the  happinesse  of  the  King  all  his  life  ;  when 
he  is  fain  a  sleepe  in  Death,  all  his  Dreames  in  that  blessed 
Sleepe,  all  his  devotions  in  heaven  shall  be  upon  the  same 
Subjects,  and  he  shal  solicite  him  that  sits  upon  the 
Throne,  &  the  Lamb,  God  for  Christ  Jesus  sake,  to  blesse 
all  these  with  his  particular  blessings  :  for  so  God  giveth  Ps.  127,  a 
his  beloved  sleep,  so  as  that  they  enjoy  the  next  world 
and  assist  this. 

136.  l^he  Northern  Passage. 

NO  man  kills  his  enemy  therefore,  that  his  enemy 
might  have  a  better  life  in  heaven  ;  that  is  not  his 
end  in  killing  him  :  It  is  Gods  end  ;  Therefore  he  brings 
us  to  death,  that  by  that  gate  he  might  lead  us  into  hfe 
everlasting  ;  And  he  hath  not  discovered,  but  made  that 
Northerne  passage,  to  passe  by  the  frozen  Sea  of  calamity, 
and  tribulation,  to  Paradise,  to  the  heavenly  Jerusalem. 

137.  J  he  Resurrection. 

THE  dead  heare  not  Thunder,  nor  feele  they  an  In  demon; 
Earth-quake.  If  the  Canon  batter  that  Church 
walls,  in  which  they  lye  buryed,  it  wakes  not  them,  nor 
does  it  shake  or  affect  them,  if  that  dust,  which  they  are, 
be  thrown  out,  but  yet  there  is  a  voyce,  which  the  dead 
shall  heare  ;  The  dead  shall  heare  the  voyce  of  the  Son  of  John  5,25. 
God,  (sayes  the  Son  of  God  himself)  and  they  that  heare 
shall  live  ;  And  that  is  the  voyce  of  our  Text.  It  is  here 
called  a  clamour,  a  vociferation,  a  shout,  and  varied 
by  our  Translators,  and  Expositors,  according  to  the 
origination  of  the  word,  to  be  clamor  hortatorius,  and 
suasorius,   and  jussorius,   A  voyce   that   carries   with  it 


214  The  Resurrection. 

a  penetration,  (all  shall  heare  it)  and  a  perswasion,  (all 
shall  beleeve  it,  and  be  glad  of  it)  and  a  power,  a  command, 
(all  shall  obey  it.)  Since  that  voyce  at  the  Creation, 
Fiat,  Let  there  be  a  world,  was  never  heard  such  a  voyce 
as  this,  Surgite  mortui,  Arise  ye  dead.  That  was  spoken 
to  that  that  was  meerely  nothing,  and  this  to  them,  who 
in  themselves  shall  have  no  cooperation,  no  concurrence 
to  the  hearing  or  answering  this  voyce. 

138.  The  Awakening, 

C'CEMITERU  are  Dormitoria,  Churchyards  are  our 
beds.  And  in  those  beds,  (and  in  all  other  beds  of 
death)  (for,  the  dead  have  their  beds  in  the  Sea  too,  and 
sleepe  even  in  the  restlesse  motion  thereof)  the  voyce 
of  the  Archangel,  and  the  Trumpet  of  God  shall  awake 
them. 

139.  The  Resurrection  of  the  Body, 

THERE  are  so  many  evidences  of  the  immortality 
of  the  soulc,  even  to  a  naturall  mans  reason,  that  it 
required  not  an  Article  of  the  Creed,  to  fix  this  notion  of 
the  Immortality  of  the  soule.  But  the  Resurrection  of 
the  Body  is  discernible  by  no  other  light,  but  that  of 
Faith,  nor  could  be  fixed  by  any  lesse  assurance  then  an 
Article  of  the  Creed,  Where  be  all  the  sphnters  of  that 
Bone,  which  a  shot  hath  shivered  and  scattered  in  the 
Ayre  ?  Where  be  all  the  Atoms  of  that  flesh,  which  a 
Corrasive  hath  eat  away,  or  a  Consumption  hath  breath'd, 
and  exhal'd  away  from  our  arms,  and  other  Limbs  ? 
In  what  wrinkle,  in  what  furrow,  in  what  bowel  of  the 
earth,  ly  all  the  graines  of  the  ashes  of  a  body  burnt 
a   thousand   years   since  ?      In    what    corner,   in    what 


The  Resurrection  of  the  Body.  215 

ventricle  of  the  sea,  lies  all  the  jelly  of  a  Body  drowned 

in  the  generall  Jlood  ?    What  cohasrence,  what  sympathy, 

what  dependence  maintaines  any  relation,  any  corres- 

spondence,  between  that  arm  that  was  lost  in  Europe, 

and  that  l^gg^  that  was  lost  in  Afrique  or  Asia,  scores  of 

yeers  between  ?    One  humour  of  our  dead  body  produces 

worms,   and   those   worms   suck   and    exhaust   all   other 

humour,  and  then  all  dies,  and  all  dries,  and  molders 

into  dust,  and  that  dust  is   blowen  into  the  River,  & 

that  puddled  water  tumbled  into  the  sea,  and  that  ebs 

and   flows   in   infinite   revolutions,    and   still,   still   God 

knows  in  what  Cabinet  every  seed-Pearle  lies,  in  what 

part  of  the  world  every  graine  of  every  mans  dust  lies  ; 

and,   sibilat  popuhm   suum,    (as   his   Prophet   speaks   in  Zech.io.  8. 

another  case)  he  whispers,  he  hisses,  he  beckens  for  the 

bodies  of  his  Saints,  and  in  the  twinckling  of  an  eye,  that 

body  that  was  scattered  over  all  the  elements,  is  sate  down 

at  the  right  hand  of  God,  in  a  glorious  resurrection. 

140.  The  Last  Day, 

THE  grave  it  self  shall  be  open  againe  ;  and  Aperti  Mat.2'i.s2. 
coeli,  The  heavens  shall  be  open,  and  I  shall  see  the  '^  '^*  5  • 
Sonne  of  man,  the  Sonne  of  God,  and  not  see  him  at 
that  distance,  that  Stephen  saw  him  there,  but  see  him, 
and  sit  down  with  him.  I  shall  rise  from  the  dead,  from 
the  darke  station,  from  the  prostration,  from  the  proster- 
nation  of  death,  and  never  misse  the  sunne,  which  shall 
then  be  put  out,  for  I  shall  see  the  Sonne  of  God,  the 
Sunne  of  glory,  and  shine  my  self,  as  that  sunne  shines. 
I  shall  rise  from  the  grave,  and  never  misse  this  City, 
which  shall  be  no  where,  for  I  shall  see  the  City  of  God, 


21 6  The  Last  Day. 

the  new  Jerusalem,    I  shall  looke  up,  and  never  wonder 

when  it  will  be  day,  for,  the  Angell  will  tell  me  that 
Apocio.  6.  tirne  shall  be  no  more,  and  I  shall  see,  and  see  cheerefully 

that  last  day,  the  day  of  judgement,  which  shall  have  no 
Dan.^.g.    night,  never  end,  and  be  united  to  the  Antient  of  dayeSy 

to  God  himselfe,  who  had  no  morning,  never  began. 


n: 


141.  The  Day  of  Judgement, 
OW,  in  respect  of  the  time  after  this  judgement, 
(which  is  Eternity)  the  time  between  this  and  it 
cannot  be  a  minute  ;  and  therefore  think  thy  self  at  that 
Tribunal!,  that  judgement  now :  Where  thou  shalt 
not  onely  heare  all  thy  sinfuU  workes,  and  words,  and 
thoughts  repeated,  which  thou  thy  selfe  hadst  utterly 
forgot,  but  thou  shalt  heare  thy  good  works,  thine  almes, 
thy  comming  to  Church,  thy  hearing  of  Sermons  given 
in  evidence  against  thee,  because  they  had  hypocrisie 
mingled  in  them  ;  yea  thou  shalt  finde  even  thy  repent- 
ance to  condemne  thee,  because  thou  madest  that  but 
a  doore  to  a  relapse.  There  thou  shalt  see,  to  thine 
inexpressible  terror,  some  others  cast  downe  into  hell, 
for  thy  sins  ;  for  those  sins  which  they  would  not  have 
done,  but  upon  thy  provocation.  There  thou  shalt 
see  some  that  occasioned  thy  sins,  and  accompanied 
thee  in  them,  and  sinned  them  in  a  greater  measure 
then  thou  didst,  taken  up  into  heaven,  because  in  the 
way,  they  remembred  the  end,  and  thou  shalt  sink  under 
a  lesse  waight,  because  thou  never  lookedst  towards  him 
Bernard,  that  would  have  eased  thee  of  it.  Quis  non  cogitans 
heec  in  desperationis  rotetur  abyssum  ?  Who  can  once 
thinke  of  this  and  not  be  tumbled  into  desperation  \ 


Joy.  217 

142.  Joy, 

IF  you  looke  upon  this  world  in  a  Map,  you  find  two 
Hemisphears,  two  half  worlds.  If  you  crush  heaven 
into  a  Map,  you  may  find  two  Hemisphears  too,  two  half 
heavens  ;  Halfe  will  be  Joy,  and  halfe  will  be  Glory  ; 
for  in  these  two,  the  joy  of  heaven,  and  the  glory  of  heaven, 
is  all  heaven  often  represented  unto  us.  And  as  of  those 
two  Hemisphears  of  the  world,  the  first  hath  been  knowne 
long  before,  but  the  other,  (that  of  America,  which  is 
the  richer  in  treasure)  God  reserved  for  later  Discoveries  ; 
So  though  he  reserve  that  Hemisphear  of  heaven,  which 
is  the  Glory  thereof,  to  the  Resurrection,  yet  the  other 
Hemisphear,  the  Joy  of  heaven,  God  opens  to  our  Dis- 
covery, and  delivers  for  our  habitation  even  whilst  we 
dwell  in  this  world.  As  God  hath  cast  upon  the  unre- 
pentant sinner  two  deaths,  a  temporall,  and  a  spirituall 
death,  so  hath  he  breathed  into  us  two  Hves  ;  for  so, 
as  the  word  for  death  is  doubled,  Morte  morierisy  Thou  Gen.  2.  17. 
shalt  die  the  death,  so  is  the  word  for  life  expressed  in 
the  plurall,  Chaiim,  vitarum,  God  breathed  into  his 
nostrils  the  breath  of  lives,  of  divers  lives.  Though  our 
naturall  life  were  no  life,  but  rather  a  continuall  dying, 
yet  we  have  two  lives  besides  that,  an  eternall  life  reserved 
for  heaven,  but  yet  a  heavenly  life  too,  a  spirituall  Ufe, 
even  in  this  world  ;  And  as  God  doth  thus  inflict  two 
deaths,  and  infuse  two  Hves,  so  doth  he  also  passe  two 
Judgements  upon  man,  or  rather  repeats  the  same 
Judgement  twice.  For,  that  which  Christ  shall  say  to 
thy  soule  then  at  the  last  Judgement,  Enter  into  /^^  Matt.25.23e 
Masters  joy,  Hee  sayes  to  thy  conscience  now.  Enter  into 


21 8  Joy. 

thy  Masters  joy.  The  everlastingnesse  of  the  joy  is  the 
blessednesse  of  the  next  life,  but  the  entring,  the  inchoa- 
tion  is  afforded  here.  .  .  . 

Howling  is  the  noyse  of  hell,  singing  the  voyce  of  liea  ven ; 
Sadnesse  the  damp  of  Hell,  Rejoycing  the  serenity  of 
Heaven.  And  he  that  hath  not  this  joy  here,  lacks  one 
of  the  best  pieces  of  his  evidence  for  the  joyes  of  heaven  ; 
and  hath  neglected  or  refused  that  Earnest,  by  which 
God  uses  to  binde  his  bargaine,  that  true  joy  in  this 
world  shall  flow  into  the  joy  of  Heaven,  as  a  River  fiowes 
into  the  Sea  ;  This  joy  shall  not  be  put  out  in  death,  and 
a  new  joy  kindled  in  me  in  Heaven  ;  But  as  my  soule, 
as  soone  as  it  is  out  of  my  body,  is  in  Heaven,  and  does 
not  stay  for  the  possession  of  Heaven,  nor  for  the  fruition 
of  the  sight  of  God,  till  it  be  ascended  through  ayre,  and 
fire,  and  Moone,  and  Sun,  and  Planets,  and  Firmament, 
to  that  place  which  we  conceive  to  be  Heaven,  but 
without  the  thousandth  part  of  a  minutes  stop,  as  soone 
as  it  issues,  is  in  a  glorious  light,  which  is  Heaven,  (for 
all  the  way  to  Heaven  is  Heaven  ;  And  as  those  Angels, 
which  came  from  Heaven  hither,  bring  Heaven  with 
them,  and  are  in  Heaven  here.  So  that  soule  that  goes 
to  Heaven,  meets  Heaven  here  ;  and  as  those  Angels 
doe  not  devest  Heaven  by  comming,  so  these  soules  invest 
Heaven,  in  their  going.)  As  my  soule  shall  not  goe 
towards  Heaven,  but  goe  by  Heaven  to  Heaven,  to  the 
Heaven  of  Heavens,  So  the  true  joy  of  a  good  soule  in 
this  world  is  the  very  joy  of  Heaven  ;  and  we  goe  thither, 
not  that  being  without  joy,  we  might  have  joy  infused 
lohn  16.24.  into  us,  but  that  as  Christ  sayes,  Our  joy  might  be  full, 
'  perfected,  sealed  with  an   everlastingnesse  ;    for,  as  he 


Joy.  219 

promises,  ^hat  no  man  shall  take  our  joy  from  us,  so  neither 
shall  Death  it  selfe  take  it  away,  nor  so  much  as  interrupt 
it,  or  discontinue  it.  But  as  in  the  face  of  Death,  when  he 
layes  hold  upon  me,  and  in  the  face  of  the  Devill,  when 
he  attempts  me,  I  shall  see  the  face  of  God,  (for,  every- 
thing shall  be  a  glasse,  to  reflect  God  upon  me)  so  in 
the  agonies  of  Death,  in  the  anguish  of  that  dissolution, 
in  the  sorrowes  of  that  valediction,  in  the  irreversiblenesse 
of  that  transmigration,  I  shall  have  a  joy,  which  shall 
no  more  evaporate,  then  my  soule  shall  evaporate, 
A  joy,  that  shall  passe  up,  and  put  on  a  more  glorious 
garment  above,  and  be  joy  superinvested  in  glory.    Amen, 

143.  The  Joy  of  Heaven. 

HUMILIATION  is  the  beginning  of  sanctification  ; 
and  as  without  this,  without  holinesse,  no  man 
shall  see  God,  though  he  pore  whole  nights  upon  the 
Bible  ;  so  without  that,  without  humiUty,  no  man  shall 
heare  God  speake  to  his  soule,  though  hee  heare  three 
two-houres  Sermons  every  day.  But  if  God  bring  thee 
to  that  humiHation  of  soule  and  body  here,  hee  will 
eraprove,  and  advance  thy  sanctification  abundantius, 
more  abundantly,  and  when  he  hath  brought  it  to  the 
best  perfection,  that  this  life  is  capable  of,  he  will 
provide  another  abundantius,  another  maner  of  abundance 
in  the  Ufe  to  come  ;  which  is  the  last  beating  of  the 
pulse  of  this  text,  the  last  panting  of  the  breath  thereof, 
our  anhelation,  and  panting  after  the  joyes,  and  glory, 
and  eternity  of  the  kingdome  of  Heaven  ;  of  which, 
though,  for  the  most  part,  I  use  to  dismisse  you,  with 
saying  something,  yet  it  is  alwaies  little  that  I  can  say 


220  The  Joy  of  Heaven. 

thereof  ;  at  this  time,  but  this,  that  if  all  the  joyes  of  all 
the  Martyrs,  from  Abel  to  him  that  groanes  now  in  the 
Inquisition,  were  condensed  into  one  body  of  joy,  (and 
certainly  the  joyes  that  the  Martyrs  felt  at  their  deaths, 
would  make  up  a  far  greater  body,  then  their  sorrowes 
would  doe,)  (for  though  it  bee  said  of  our  great  Martyr, 
Apoc  I.  5.  or  great  Witnesse,  (as  S.  lohn  calls  Christ  Jesus)  to  whom, 
all  other  Martyrs  are  but  sub-martyrs,  witnesses  that 
Lam.  3. 12.  testifie  his  testimony,  Non  dolor  sicut  dolor  ejus,  there  was 
Heb.  12.  2.  never  sorrow  like  unto  his  sorrow,  it  is  also  true,  Non 
gaudium  sicut  gaudium  ejus,  There  was  never  joy  hke 
unto  that  joy  which  was  set  before  him,  when  he  endured 
the  crosse  ;)  If  I  had  all  this  joy  of  all  these  Martyrs, 
(which  would,  no  doubt,  be  such  a  joy,  as  would  worke 
a  hquefaction,  a  melting  of  my  bowels)  yet  I  shall  have 
it  abundantius,  a  joy  more  abundant,  then  even  this 
superlative  joy,  in  the  world  to  come.  What  a  dimme 
vespers  of  a  glorious  festivall,  what  a  poore  halfe-holyday, 
is  Methusalems  nine  hundred  yeares,  to  eternity  ?  what 
a  poore  account  hath  that  man  made,  that  sales,  this  land 
hath  beene  in  my  name,  and  in  my  Ancestors  from  the 
Conquest  ?  what  a  yesterday  is  that  ?  not  six  hundred 
yeares.  If  I  could  beleeve  the  transmigration  of  soules, 
and  thinke  that  my  soule  had  beene  successively  in  some 
creature  or  other,  since  the  Creation,  what  a  yesterday 
is  that  ?  not  six  thousand  yeares.  What  a  yesterday 
for  the  past,  what  a  to  morrow  for  the  future,  is  any  terme, 
that  can  be  comprehended  in  Cyphar  or  Counters  ? 
But  as,  how  abundant  a  Hfe  soever  any  man  hath  in  this 
world  for  temporall  abundances,  I  have  Hfe  more  abun- 
dantly then  hee,  if  I  have  the  spirituall  life  of  grace,  so 


The  Joy  of  Heaven.  221 

what  measure  soever  I  have  of  this  spirituall  life  of  grace, 
in  this  world,  I  shall  have  that  more  abundantly  in  Heaven, 
for  there,  my  terme  shall  bee  a  terme  for  three  lives ; 
for  those  three,  that  as  long  as  the  Father,  and  the  Son, 
and  the  holy  Ghost  live,  I  shall  not  dye. 

144.  Little  Stars. 

IN  that  glistering  circle  in  the  firmament,  which  we 
call  the  Galaxie,  the  milkie-way,  there  is  not  one 
starre  of  any  of  the  six  great  magnitudes,  which  Astrono- 
mers proceed  upon,  belonging  to  that  circle :  it  is 
a  glorious  circle,  and  possesseth  a  great  part  of  heaven, 
and  yet  is  all  of  so  little  starres,  as  have  no  name,  no 
knowledge  taken  of  them  :  So  certainly  there  are  many 
Saints  in  heaven,  that  shine  as  starres,  and  yet  are  not 
of  those  great  magnitudes,  to  have  been  Patriarchs,  or 
Prophets,  or  Apostles,  or  Martyrs,  or  Doctours,  or  Virgins  ; 
but  good  &  blessed  souls,  that  have  religiously  performed 
the  duties  of  inferior  callings,  and  no  more. 

145.  Heirs  of  Heaven. 

H EI  RES  of  heaven,  which  is  not  a  Gavel-kinde,  every 
son,  every  man  alike ;  but  it  is  an  universall  primo- 
geniture, every  man  full,  so  full,  as  that  every  man  hath 
all,  in  such  measure,  as  that  there  is  nothing  in  heaven, 
which  any  man  in  heaven  wants.  Heires  of  the  joyes  of 
heaven  ;  Joy  in  a  continuall  dilatation  of  thy  heart, 
to  receive  augmentation  of  that  which  is  infinite,  in  the 
accumulation  of  essentiall  and  accidentall  joy.  Joy 
in  a  continuall  melting  of  indissoluble  bowels,  in  joyfuU, 


222  Heirs  of  Heaven. 

and  yet  compassionate  beholding  thy  Saviour  ;  Rejoycing 
at  thy  being  there,  and  almost  lamenting  (in  a  kinde 
of  affection,  which  we  can  call  by  no  name)  that  thou 
couldst  not  come  thither,  but  by  those  wounds,  which 
are  still  wounds,  though  wounds  glorified.  Heires  of 
the  joy,  and  heires  of  the  glory  of  heaven  ;  where  if 
thou  look  down,  and  see  Kings  fighting  for  Crownes, 
thou  canst  look  off  as  easily,  as  from  boyes  at  stool-ball 
for  points  here  ;  And  from  Kings  triumphing  after 
victories,  as  easily,  as  a  Philosopher  from  a  Pageant  of 
children  here.  Where  thou  shalt  not  be  subject  to  any 
other  title  of  Dominion  in  others,  but  lesus  of  Nazareth 
King  of  the  lews,  nor  ambitious  of  any  other  title  in 
thy  selfe,  but  that  which  thou  possessest,  To  he  the  childe 
of  God.  Heires  of  joy,  heires  of  glory,  and  heires  of  the 
eternity  of  heaven  ;  Where,  in  the  possession  of  this  joy, 
and  this  glory,  The  Angels  which  were  there  almost 
6000.  yeares  before  thee,  and  so  prescribe,  and  those 
soules  which  shall  come  at  Christs  last  comming,  and  so 
enter  but  then,  shall  not  survive  thee,  but  they,  and  thou, 
and  all,  shall  live  as  long  as  he  that  gives  you  all  that  life, 
as  God  himselfe. 

146.  Seeing  God. 
4LL  the  world  is  but  Speculum.,  a  glasse,  in  which  we 
XjL  see  God  ;  The  Church  it  self,  and  that  which  the 
Ordinance  of  the  Church  begets  in  us,  faith  it  self,  is 
but  anigma,  a  dark  representation  of  God  to  us,  till 
we  come  to  that  state.  To  see  God  face  to  face,  and  to  know, 
as  also  we  are  hnowen. 
Sphara.  Now,  as  for  the  sight  of  God  here,  our  Theatre  was  the 


Seeing  God.  223 

world,  our  Medium  and  glasse  was  the  creature,  and  our 
light  was  reason,  And  then  for  our  knowledge  of  God 
here,  our  Academy  was  the  Church,  our  Medium  the 
Ordinances  of  the  Church,  and  our  Light  the  Hght  of 
faith,  so  we  consider  the  same  Termes,  first,  for  the  sight 
of  God,  and  then  for  the  knowledge  of  God  in  the  next 
life.  First,  the  Sphear,  the  place  where  we  shall  see  him, 
is  heaven  ;  He  that  asks  me  what  heaven  is,  meanes  not 
to  heare  me,  but  to  silence  me  ;  He  knows  I  cannot  tell 
him  ;  When  I  meet  him  there,  I  shall  be  able  to  tell  him, 
and  then  he  will  be  as  able  to  tell  me  ;  yet  then  we  shall 
be  but  able  to  tell  one  another.  This,  this  that  we  enjoy 
is  heaven,  but  the  tongues  of  Angels,  the  tongues  of 
glorified  Saints,  shall  not  be  able  to  expresse  what  that 
heaven  is  ;  for,  even  in  heaven  our  faculties  shall  be 
finite.  Heaven  is  not  a  place  that  was  created  ;  for,  all 
place  that  was  created,  shall  be  dissolved.  God  did  not 
plant  a  Paradise  for  himself,  and  remove  to  that,  as  he 
planted  a  Paradise  for  Adam,  and  removed  him  to  that  ; 
But  God  is  still  where  he  was  before  the  world  was  made. 
And  in  that  place,  where  there  are  more  Suns  then  there 
are  Stars  in  the  Firmament,  (for  all  the  Saints  are  Suns) 
And  more  light  in  another  Sun,  The  Sun  of  righteous- 
nesse,  the  Son  of  Glory,  the  Son  of  God,  then  in  all 
them,  in  that  illustration,  that  emanation,  that  effusion 
of  beams  of  glory,  which  began  not  to  shine  6000.  yeares 
ago,  but  6000.  miUions  of  millions  ago,  had  been  6000. 
millions  of  millions  before  that,  in  those  eternall,  in  those 
uncreated  heavens,  shall  we  see  God.  .  .  . 

The  light  of  glory  is  such  a  Hght,  as  that  our  ^ch.oo\-  Lux  Glcrlct. 
men  dare  not  say  confidently.  That  every  beam  of  it, 


224  Seeing  God. 

is  not  all  of  it.  When  some  of  them  say,  That  some  soules 
see  some  things  in  God,  and  others,  others,  because  all 
have  not  the  same  measure  of  the  light  of  glory,  the  rest 
cry  down  that  opinion,  and  say,  that  as  the  Essence  of 
God  is  indivisible,  and  he  that  sees  any  of  it,  sees  all  of 
it,  so  is  the  light  of  glory  communicated  intirely  to  every 
blessed  soul.  God  made  light  first,  and  three  dayes 
after,  that  hght  became  a  Sun,  a  more  glorious  Light  : 
God  gave  me  the  light  of  Nature,  when  I  quickned  in 
my  mothers  wombe  by  receiving  a  reasonable  soule  ;  and 
God  gave  me  the  light  of  faith,  when  I  quickned  in  my 
second  mothers  womb,  the  Church,  by  receiving  my 
baptisme  ;  but  in  my  third  day,  when  my  mortaUty 
shall  put  on  immortahty,  he  shall  give  me  the  hght  of 
glory,  by  which  I  shall  see  himself.  To  this  light  of 
glory,  the  Hght  of  honour  is  but  a  glow-worm  ;  and 
majesty  it  self  but  a  twihght  ;  The  Cherubims  and 
Seraphims  are  but  Candles  ;  and  that  Gospel  it  self, 
which  the  Apostle  calls  the  glorious  Gospel,  but  a  Star 
of  the  least  magnitude.  And  if  I  cannot  tell,  what  to 
call  this  light,  by  which  I  shall  see  it,  what  shall  I  call 
that  which  I  shall  see  by  it,  The  Essence  of  God  himself  ? 

147.  ^he  Sight  of  God, 
Deum.  "X  TO  man  ever  saw  God  and  liv^d  ;   and  yet,  I  shall  not 

-^  '  live  till  I  see  God  ;  and  when  I  have  seen  him 
I  shall  never  dye.  What  have  I  ever  seen  in  this  world, 
that  hath  been  truly  the  same  thing  that  it  seemed  to 
me  ?  I  have  seen  marble  buildings,  and  a  chip,  a  crust, 
a  plaster,  a  face  of  marble  hath  pilld  off,  and  I  see  brick- 
bowels  within.    I  have  seen  beauty,  and  a  strong  breath 


The  Sight  of  God.  225 

from  another,  tels  me,  that  that  complexion  is  from 
without,  not  from  a  sound  constitution  within.  I  have 
seen  the  state  of  Princes,  and  all  that  is  but  ceremony  ; 
and,  I  would  be  loath  to  put  a  Master  of  ceremonies  to 
define  ceremony,  and  tell  me  what  it  is,  and  to  include 
so  various  a  thing  as  ceremony,  in  so  constant  a  thing, 
as  a  Definition.  I  see  a  great  Officer,  and  I  see  a  man  of 
mine  own  profession,  of  great  revenues,  and  I  see  not  the 
interest  of  the  money,  that  was  paid  for  it,  I  see  not  the 
pensions,  nor  the  Annuities,  that  are  charged  upon  that 
Office,  or  that  Church.  As  he  that  fears  God,  fears 
nothing  else,  so,  he  that  sees  God,  sees  every  thing  else  : 
when  we  shall  see  God,  Sicuti  est,  as  he  is,  we  shall  see  i  John  3. 2. 
all  things  Sicuti  sunt,  as  they  are  ;  for  that's  their  Essence, 
as  they  conduce  to  his  glory.  We  shall  be  no  more 
deluded  with  outward  appearances  :  for,  when  this 
sight,  which  we  intend  here  comes,  there  will  be  no 
delusory  thing  to  be  seen.  All  that  we  have  made  as 
though  we  saw,  in  this  world,  will  be  vanished,  and  I 
shall  see  nothing  but  God,  and  what  is  in  him  ;  and  him 
I  shall  see  In  came,  in  the  flesh,  which  is  another  degree 
of  Exaltation  in  mine  Exinanition. 

I  shall  see  him.  In  came  sua,  in  his  flesh  :  And  this  was  In  came. 
one  branch  in  Saiiit  Augustines  great  wish.  That  he  might 
have  seen  Rome  in  her  state.  That  he  might  have  heard 
S.  Paul  preach,  That  he  might  have  seen  Christ  in  the 
flesh  :  Saint  Augustine  hath  seen  Christ  in  the  flesh  one 
thousand  two  hundred  yeares  ;  in  Christs  glorifyed 
flesh  ;  but,  it  is  with  the  eyes  of  his  understanding, 
and  in  his  soul.  Our  flesh,  even  in  the  Resurrection, 
cannot  be  a  spectacle,  a  perspective  glasse  to  our  soul. 


226  The  Sight  of  God. 

We  shall  see  the  Humanity  of  Christ  with  our  bodily 
eyes,  then  glorifyed  ;  but,  that  flesh,  though  glorifyed, 
cannot  make  us  see  God  better,  nor  clearer,  then  the  soul 
alone  hath  done,  all  the  time,  from  our  death,  to  our 
resurrection.  But  as  an  indulgent  Father,  or  as  a  tender 
mother,  when  they  go  to  see  the  King  in  any  Solemnity, 
or  any  other  thing  of  observation,  and  curiosity,  delights 
to  carry  their  child,  which  is  flesh  of  their  flesh,  and  bone 
of  their  bone,  with  them,  and  though  the  child  cannot 
comprehend  it  as  well  as  they,  they  are  as  glad  that  the 
child  sees  it,  as  that  they  see  it  themselves  ;  such  a  glad- 
nesse  shall  my  soul  have,  that  this  flesh,  (which  she  will 
no  longer  call  her  prison,  nor  her  tempter,  but  her  friend, 
her  companion,  her  wife)  that  this  flesh,  that  is,  I,  in 
the  re-union,  and  redintegration  of  both  parts,  shall  see 
God  ;  for  then  ;  one  principall  clause  in  her  rejoycing, 
and  acclamation,  shall  be,  that  this  flesh  is  her  flesh  ; 
In  came  med,  in  my  flesh  I  shall  see  God. 
Mea.  It  was  the  flesh  of  every  wanton  object  here,  that  would 

allure  it  in  the  petulancy  of  mine  eye.  It  was  the  flesh 
of  every  Satyricall  Libeller,  and  defamer,  and  calumniator 
of  other  men,  that  would  call  upon  it,  and  tickle  mine  ear 
with  aspersions  and  slanders  of  persons  in  authority. 
And  in  the  grave,  it  is  the  flesh  of  the  worm  ;  the  posses- 
sion is  transfer'd  to  him.  But,  in  heaven,  it  is  Caro  mea, 
My  flesh,  my  souls  flesh,  my  Saviours  flesh.  As  my  meat 
is  assimilated  to  my  flesh,  and  made  one  flesh  with  it ; 
2  Pet.  I.  4-  as  my  soul  is  assimilated  to  my  God,  and  made  partaker 
lCor.6.l^.  of  the  divine  nature,  and  Idem  Spiritus,  the  same  Spirit 
with  it ;  so,  there  my  flesh  shall  be  assimilated  to  the 
flesh  of  my  Saviour,  and  made  the  same  flesh  with  hiro 


The  Sight  of  God.  227 

too.     Verhum  caro  factum,  ut  caro  resurgeret ;    Therefore  Athanas. 

the  Word  was  made  flesh,  therefore  God  was  made  man, 

that  that  union  might  exalt  the  flesh  of  man  to  the  right 

hand  of  God.    That's  spoken  of  the  flesh  of  Christ  ;   and 

then  to  facihtate  the  passage  for  us,  Reformat  ad  immorta-  Cyril. 

litatem    suam   farticipes    sui ;     those   who    are   worthy 

receivers  of  his  flesh  here,  are  the  same  flesh  with  him  ; 

And,  God  shall  quicken  your  mortall  bodies,  by  his  Spirit  Rom.  S.ii. 

that  dwelleth  in  you.     But  this  is  not  in  consummation, 

in  full  accomphshment,  till  this  resurrection,  when  it 

shall  be  Caro  mea,  my  flesh,  so,  as  that  nothing  can  draw 

it  from  the  allegiance  of  my  God  ;    and  Caro  mea,  My 

flesh,  so,  as  that  nothing  can  devest  me  of  it.     Here  a 

bullet  will  aske  a  man,  where's  your  arme  ;    and  a  Wolf 

wil  ask  a  woman,  where's  your  breast.     A  sentence  in 

the  Star-chamber  will  aske  him,  where's  your  ear,  and 

a  months  close  prison  will  aske  him,  where's  your  flesh  ? 

A  fever  will  aske  him,  where's  your  Red,  and  a  morphew 

will  aske  him,  where's  your  white  ?     But  when  after 

all  this,  when  after  my  skinne  worms  shall  destroy  my  body, 

I  shall  see  God,  I  shall  see  him  in  my  flesh,  which  shall 

be  mine  as  inseparably,  (in  the  effect,  though  not  in  the 

manner)  as  the  Hypostaticall  union  of  God,  and  man,  in 

Christ,  makes  our  nature  and  the  Godhead  one  person 

in  him.    My  flesh  shall  no  more  be  none  of  mine,  then 

Christ  shall  not  be  man,  as  well  as  God. 

148.  ^he  State  of  Glory. 

IF  Origen  could  lodge  such  a  conceit,  that  in  heaven 
at  last  all  things  should   ebbe  back  into  God,  as  all 
things  flowed  from  him  at  first ;    and  so  there  should 

0  2 


228  The  State  of  Glory. 

be  no  other  essence  but  God,  all  should  be  God,  even 
the  devil  himself  :  how  much  more  may  v;re  conceive 
an  unexpressible  association  (that  is  too  farre  off)  an 
assimilation  (that  is  not  neare  enough)  an  identification 
(the  School  would  venture  to  say  so)  with  God  in  that 
state  of  glorie  !  Whereas  the  sunne  by  shining  upon  the 
moon,  makes  the  moon  a  planet,  a  starre  as  well  as  itself, 
which  otherwise  would  be  but  the  thickest,  and  darkest 
part  of  that  sphere  :  so  those  beams  of  glorie  which  shall 
issue  from  my  God,  and  fall  upon  me,  shall  make  me 
(otherwise  a  clod  of  earth,  and  worse,  a  dark  soul,  a  spirit 
of  darknesse)  an  angel  of  Hght,  a  starre  of  glorie,  a  some- 
thing that  I  cannot  name  now,  not  imagine  now,  nor 
to  morrow,  nor  next  yeare ;  but  even  in  that  particular, 
I  shall  be  Uke  God  :  that  as  he  that  asked  a  day  to  give 
a  definition  of  God,  the  next  day  asked  a  week,  and  then 
a  moneth,  and  then  a  yeare  ;  so  undeterminable  would 
my  imaginations  be,  if  I  should  go  about  to  think  now, 
what  I  shall  be  there  :  I  shall  be  so  like  God,  as  that  the 
devil  himself  shall  not  know  me  from  God,  so  farre  as 
to  finde  any  more  place  to  fasten  a  temptation  upon  me, 
then  upon  God  ;  not  to  conceive  any  more  hope  of  my 
falling  from  that  kingdome,  then  of  Gods  being  driven 
out  of  it  ;  for  though  I  shall  not  be  immortall  as  God, 
yet  I  shall  be  as  immortall  God.  And  there  is  my  image 
of  God  ;  of  God  considered  altogether,  and  in  his  unitie, 
in  the  state  of  grace. 

I  shall  have  also  then  the  image  of  all  the  three  persons 
of  the  Trinitie.  Power  is  the  Fathers  ;  and  a  greater 
power,  then  he  exercises  here,  I  shall  have  there  :  here 
he  overcomes  enemies,  but  yet  here  he  hath  enemies ; 


The  State  of  Glory.  229 

there,  there  are  none  :  here  they  cannot  prevail ;  there 
they  shall  not  be.  So  Wisdome  is  the  image  of  the  Sonne  ; 
and  there  I  shall  have  better  wisdome :  the  spirituall 
wisdome  it  self  is  here  :  for,  here  our  best  wisdom  is, 
but  to  go  towards  our  end ;  there  it  is  to  rest  in  our  end  : 
here  it  is  to  seek  to  be  glorified  by  God ;  there  it  is  that 
God  may  be  everlastingly  glorified  by  me.  The  image 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  Goodnesse.  Here  our  goodnesse  is 
mixt  with  some  ill ;  faith  mixt  with  scruples,  &  good 
works  mixt  with  a  love  of  praise,  and  hope  of  better  mixt 
with  fear  of  worse  :  there  I  shall  have  sincere  goodnesse, 
goodnesse  impermixt,  intemerate,  and  indeterminate 
goodnesse  ;  so  good  a  place,  as  no  ill  accident  shall  annoy 
it  ;  so  good  companie  as  no  impertinent,  no  importune 
person  shall  disorder  it ;  so  full  a  goodnesse,  as  no  evil 
of  sinne,  no  evil  of  punishment  for  former  sins  can  enter  ; 
so  good  a  God,  as  shall  no  more  keep  us  in  fear  of  his 
anger,  nor  in  need  of  his  mercie ;  but  shall  fill  us  first, 
and  establish  us  in  that  fulnesse  in  the  same  instant,  and 
give  us  a  satietie  that  we  can  wish  no  more,  and  an 
infallibilitie  that  we  can  lose  none  of  that,  and  both 
at  once.  Whereas  the  Cabalists  expresse  our  nearnesse 
to  God,  in  that  state,  in  that  note,  that  the  name  of 
man  and  the  name  of  God,  Adam,  and  Jehovah,  in  their 
numerall  letters  are  equall  :  so  I  would  have  leave  to 
expresse  that  inexpressible  state,  so  farre  as  to  say,  that 
if  there  can  be  other  worlds  imagined  besides  this  that 
is  under  our  moon,  and  if  there  could  be  other  Gods 
imagined  of  those  worlds,  besides  this  God  to  whose 
image  we  are  made,  in  Nature,  in  Grace,  in  Glorie  ;  I  had 
rather  be  one  of  these  Saints  in  this  heaven,  than  of  those 


230  The  State  of  Glory. 

gods  in  those  other  worlds.  I  shall  be  like  the  angels 
in  a  glorified  soul,  and  the  angels  shall  not  be  like  me  in 
a  glorified  bodie. 

149.  Justice. 
AS  it  is  said  of  old  Cosmographers,  that  when  they  had 
Jl\.  said  all  that  they  knew  of  a  Countrey,  and  yet  much 
more  was  to  be  said,  they  said  that  the  rest  of  those 
countries  were  possesst  with  Giants,  or  Witches,  or  Spirits, 
or  Wilde  beasts,  so  that  they  could  pierce  no  farther  into 
that  Countrey,  so  when  wee  have  travell'd  as  farre  as 
wee  can,  with  safetie,  that  is,  as  farre  as  Ancient,  or 
Moderne  Expositors  lead  us,  in  the  discoverie  of  these 
new  Heavens,  and  new  Earth,  yet  wee  must  say  at  last, 
that  it  is  a  Countrey  inhabited  with  Angells,  and  Arch- 
angells,  with  Cherubins,  and  Seraphins,  and  that  wee 
can  looke  no  farther  into  it,  with  these  eyes.  Where 
it  is  locally,  wee  enquire  not  ;  We  rest  in  this,  that  it 
is  the  habitation  prepar'd  for  the  blessed  Saints  of  God ; 
Heavens  where  the  Moone  is  more  glorious  than  our 
Sunne,  and  the  Sunne  as  glorious  as  Hee  that  made  it ; 
For  it  is  he  himselfe,  the  Sonne  of  God,  the  Sunne  of 
glorie.  A  new  Earth,  where  all  their  waters  are  milke, 
and  all  their  milke,  honey  ;  where  all  their  grasse  is  corne, 
and  all  their  corne,  Ma?ma  ;  where  all  their  glebe,  all 
their  clods  of  earth  are  gold,  and  all  their  gold  of  innumer- 
able carats  ;  Where  all  their  minutes  are  ages,  and  all 
their  ages.  Eternity  ;  Where  every  thing,  is  every  minute, 
in  the  highest  exaltation,  as  good  as  it  can  be,  and  yet 
super-exalted,  &  infinitely  multiplied,  by  every  minutes 
addition ;     every   minute,   infinitely    better,    then   ever 


Justice.  231 

it  was  before.  Of  these  nezu  heavens,  &  this  new  earth 
we  must  say  at  last,  that  wee  can  say  nothing ;  For,  the 
eye  of  Man  hath  not  seene,  nor  eare  heard,  nor  heart  con- 
ceived, the  State  of  this  flace.  We  limit,  and  determine 
our  consideration  with  that  Horizon,  with  which  the 
Holy  Ghost  hath  Hmited  us,  that  it  is  that  new  Heavens, 
and  new  Earth,  wherein  dwelleth  Righteousnesse, 

Here   then   the   Holy    Ghost  intends   the   same    new  Righteous- 
Heavens,  and  new  Earth,  which  he  doe's  in  the  Jpocalyps,  ^^^^^-^  ^ 
and  describes  there,  by  another  name,  the  new  Jerusalem, 
But  here,  the  Holy  Ghost  doe's  not  proceed,  as  there,  to 
enamour  us  of  the  place,  by  a  promise  of  improvement 
of  those  things,  which  we  have,  and  love  here  ;    but  by 
a  promise  of  that,  which  here  wee  have  not  at  all.    There, 
and  elsewhere,  the  holy  Ghost  appHes  himselfe,  to  the 
naturall  affections  of  men.     To  those  that  are  affected 
v^th  riches,  he  sales,  that  that  new  City  shall  he  all  o/Verg.  18. 
gold,  and  in  t\i&  foundations,  all  manner  of  precious  stones; 
To  those  that  are  affected  with  beauty,  hee  promises  an 
everlasting  association,  with  that  beautifull  Couple,  that 
faire  Paire,  which  spend  their  time,  in  that  contempla- 
tion, and  that  protestation,  Ecce  tu  pulchra  dilecta  mea  ;  Cant.  1. 15, 
Ecce,  tu  pulcher  ;   Behold,  thou  art  fair,  my  Beloved,  says  ^  ' 
he  ;    and  then,   she  replies.   Behold,   thou  art  fair  too  ; 
noting  the  mutuall  complacencie  betweene  Christ  and 
his  Church  there.     To  those  which  delight  in  Musicke, 
hee  promises  continuall  singing,  and  every  minute,  a  new 
song :     To   those,   whose   thoughts   are   exerciz'd   upon 
Honour,  and  Titles,  Civill,  or  Ecclesiastic  all,  hee  promises 
Priesthood,  and  if  that  be  not  honour  enough,  a  Royall 
Priesthood ;     And    to    those,    who    looke    after    military 


23  2  Justice. 

honor.  Triumph  after  their  victory,  in  the  Militant  Church  ; 
And  to  those,  that  are  carried  with  sumptuous,  and 
magnifique  feasts,  a  Mariage  supper  of  the  Lamhe,  where, 
not  onely  all  the  rarities  of  the  whole  world,  but  the 
whole  world  it  selfe  shall  be  serv'd  in  ;  The  whole  world 
shall  bee  brought  to  thatjSr^,  and  serv'd  at  that  Table. 
But  here,  the  holy  Ghost  proceeds  not  that  way  ;  by 
improvement  of  things,  which  wee  have,  and  love  here ; 
riches,  or  beauty,  or  musicke  or  honour,  oi  feasts  ;  but  by 
an  everlasting  possession  of  that,  which  wee  hunger, 
and  thirst,  and  pant  after,  here,  and  cannot  compasse, 
that  is.  Justice  or  Righteousnesse  ;  for  both  these,  our 
present  word  denotes,  and  both  those  wee  want  here, 
and  shall  have  both,  for  ever,  in  these  new  Heavens,  and 
nezv  Earth, 

What  would  a  worne  and  macerated  suter,  opprest  by 
the  bribery  of  the  rich,  or  by  the  might  of  a  potent 
Adversary,  give,  or  doe,  or  suffer,  that  he  might  have 
Justice  ?  What  would  a  dejected  Spirit,  a  disconsolate 
soule,  opprest  with  the  weight  of  heavy,  and  habituall 
sinne,  that  stands  naked  in  a  frosty  Winter  of  desperation, 
and  cannot  compasse  ouQfig  leafe,  one  colour,  one  excuse 
for  any  circumstance  of  any  sinne,  give  for  the  garment 
of  Righteousnesse  ?  here  there  is  none  that  doe's  right, 
none  that  executes  Justice  ;  or,  not  for  Justice  sake. 
Hee  that  doe's  Justice,  doe's  it  not  at  first ;  and  Christ 
Luk.  1 8.  2,  doe's  not  thanke  that  Judge,  that  did  Justice,  upon  the 
womans  importunity.  Justice  is  no  Justice,  that  is 
done  for  fear  of  an  Appeale,  or  a  Commission.  Tliere  may 
bee  found,  that  may  doe  Justice  at  first ;  At  their  first 
entrance  into   a   place,   to   make  good  impressions,   to 


Justice.  233 

establish  good  opinions,  they  may  doe  some  Acts  of 
Justice ;  But  after,  either  an  Uxoriousnesse  towards 
the  wife,  or  a  Solicitude  for  children,  or  3,  facility  towards 
servants,  or  a  vastnesse  of  expense,  quenches,  and  over- 
corn's  the  love  of  Justice  in  them ;  Non  habitat,  In  most 
it  is  not :  but  it  dwels  not  in  any.  In  our  new  Heavens,  and 
and  new  Earth,  dwelleth  justice.  And  that's  my  comfort ; 
that  when  I  come  thither,  I  shall  have  Justice  at  God^s 
hands. 


150.  Knowledge  in  Heaven, 

SOME  things  the  Angels  do  know  by  the  dignity  of 
their  Nature,  by  their  Creation,  which  we  know 
not  ;  as  we  know  many  things  which  inferior  Crea- 
tures do  not ;  and  such  things  all  the  Angels,  good 
and  bad  know.  Some  things  they  know  by  the  Grace 
of  their  confirmation,  by  which  they  have  more  given 
them,  then  they  had  by  Nature  in  their  Creation  ;  and 
those  things  only  the  Angels  that  stood,  but  all  they,  do 
knov/.  Some  things  they  know  by  Revelation,  when 
God  is  pleased  to  manifest  them  unto  them  ;  and  so 
some  of  the  Angels  know  that,  which  the  rest,  though 
confirm'd,  doe  not  know.  By  Creation,  they  know  as 
his  Subjects  ;  by  Confirmation,  they  know  as  his  Servants  ; 
by  revelation,  they  know  as  his  Councel.  Now,  Erimus 
sicut  Angeli,  says  Christ,  ^here  we  shall  be  as  the  Angels  : 
The  knowledge  which  I  have  by  Nature,  shall  have  no 
Clouds  ;  here  it  hath  :  That  which  I  have  by  Grace, 
shall  have  no  reluctation,  no  resistance  ;  here  it  hath  : 
That  which  I  have  by  Revelation,  shall  have  no  suspition. 


234  Knowledge  in  Heaven. 

no  jealousie  ;  here  it  hath  :  sometimes  it  is  hard  to  dis- 
tinguish between  a  respiration  from  God,  and  a  suggestion 
from  the  Devil.  There  our  curiosity  shall  have  this 
noble  satisfaction,  we  shall  know  how  the  Angels  know, 
by  knowing  as  they  know.  We  shall  not  pass  from 
Author,  to  Author,  as  in  a  Grammar  School,  nor  from 
Art  to  Art,  as  in  an  University  ;  but,  as  that  General 
which  Knighted  his  whole  Army,  God  shall  Create  us 
all  Doctors  in  a  minute.  That  great  Library,  those 
infinite  Volumes  of  the  Books  of  Creatures,  shall  be 
taken  away,  quite  away,  no  more  Nature  ;  those  reverend 
Manuscripts,  written  with  Gods  own  hand,  the  Scriptures 
themselves,  shall  be  taken  away,  quite  away  ;  no  more 
preaching,  no  more  reading  of  Scriptures,  and  that  great 
School-Mistress,  Experience,  and  Observation  shall  be 
remov'd,  no  new  thing  to  be  done,  and  in  an  instant, 
I  shall  know  more,  then  they  all  could  reveal  unto  me. 
I  shall  know,  not  only  as  I  know  already,  that  a  Bee-hive, 
that  an  Ant-hill  is  the  same  Book  in  Decimo  sexto,  as 
a  Kingdom  is  in  Folio,  That  a  Flower  that  hves  but 
a  day,  is  an  abridgment  of  that  King,  that  lives  out  his 
threescore  and  ten  yeers  ;  but  I  shall  know  too,  that 
all  these  Ants,  and  Bees,  and  Flowers,  and  Kings,  and 
Kingdoms,  howsoever  they  may  be  Examples,  and 
Comparisons  to  one  another,  yet  they  are  all  as  nothing, 
altogether  nothing,  less  than  nothing,  infinitely  less  than 
nothing,  to  that  which  shall  then  be  the  subject  of  my 
knowledge,  for,  it  is  the  knowledge  oj  the  glory  of  God. 


Eternity.  235 

151.  Eternity, 

HOW  barren  a  thing  is  Arithmetique  ?  (and  yet 
Arithmetique  will  tell  you,  how  many  single  graines 
of  sand,  will  fill  this  hollow  Vault  to  the  Firmament) 
How  empty  a  thing  is  Rhetorique  ?  (and  yet  Rhetorique 
will  make  absent  and  remote  things  present  to  your 
understanding)  How  weak  a  thing  is  Poetry  ?  (and  yet 
Poetry  is  a  counterfait  Creation,  and  makes  things  that 
are  not,  as  though  they  were)  How  infirme,  how  impotent 
are  all  assistances,  if  they  be  put  to  expresse  this  Eternity  ? 

152.  Eternity. 

IF  I  had  Methusalems  yeers,  and  his  yeers  multiplyed 
by  the  minutes  of  his  yeers,  (which  were  a  faire  terme) 
if  I  could  speak  till  the  Angels  Trumpets  blew,  and  you 
had  the  patience  of  Martyrs,  and  could  be  content  to 
heare  me,  till  you  heard  the  Surgite  Mortui,  till  you  were 
called  to  meet  the  Lord  Jesus  in  the  clouds,  all  that  time 
would  not  make  up  one  minute,  all  those  words  would 
not  make  up  one  syllable,  towards  this  Eternity,  the 
period  of  this  blessednesse. 

153.  Eternity. 

A  STATE  but  of  one  Day,  because  no  Night  shall 
over-take,  or  determine  it,  but  such  a  Day,  as  is  not 
of  a  thousand  yeares,  which  is  the  longest  measure  in  the 
Scriptures,  but  of  a  thousand  millions  of  miUions  of 
generations  :  Qui  nee  prceceditur  hesterno,  nee  excluditur  August 
crastino,  A  day  that  hath  no  pridie,  not  postridie,  yesterday 
doth  not  usher  it  in,  nor  to  morrow  shall  not  drive  it 
out.     Methusalem,  with  all  his  hundreds  of  yeares,  was 


236  Eternity. 

but  a  Mushrome  of  a  nights  growth,  to  this  day,  And  all 
the  foure  Monarchies,  with  all  their  thousands  of  yeares, 
And  all  the  powerful!  Kings,  and  all  the  beautifull 
Queenes  of  this  world,  were  but  as  a  bed  of  flowers, 
some  gathered  at  six,  some  at  seaven,  some  at  eight,  All 
in  one  Morning,  in  respect  of  this  Day.  In  all  the  two 
thousand  yeares  of  Nature,  before  the  Law  given  by 
Moses,  And  the  two  thousand  yeares  of  Law,  before  the 
Gospel  given  by  Christ,  And  the  two  thousand  of  Grace, 
which  are  running  now,  (of  which  last  houre  we  have 
heard  three  quarters  strike,  mere  then  fifteen  hundred 
of  this  last  two  thousand  spent)  In  all  this  six  thousand, 
and  in  all  those,  which  God  may  be  pleased  to  adde, 
In  domo  patris,  In  this  House  of  his  Fathers,  there  was 
never  heard  quarter  clock  to  strike,  never  seen  minute 
glasse  to  turne. 


r 


154.  Joy  in  Heaven, 

T  is  time  to  end  ;    but  as  long  as  the  glasse  hath  a 

gaspe,  as  long  as  I  have  one,  I  would  breathe  in  this 

ayre,  in    this  perfume,  in   this   breath    of  heaven,   the 

P5G/.89.15.  contemplation  of  this  Joy.    Blessed  is  that  man,  qui  scit 

juhilationem,  says  David,  that  knozoes  the  joyfull  sound  : 

August.      For,  Nullo  modo  heatus,  nisi   scias   unde  gaudeas ;    For 

though  we  be  bound  to  rejoyce  alwayes,  it  is  not  a  blessed 

joy,  if  we  do  not  know  upon  what  it  be  grounded  :    or 

if  it   be   not   upon   everlasting   blessednesse.      Comedite 

Cant.  5. 1,  antici,  says  Christ,  bibite  ^  inebriamini.    Eat  and  drink, 

and  be  filled.    Joy  in  this  life,  Vbi  in  sudore  vescimur,  where 

grief  is   mingled   with   joy,   is   called   meat,   says   Saint 

Bernard.     Bernard,  and  Christ  cals  his  friends  to  eat  in  the  first 


Joy  in  Heaven.  237 

word.  Potus  infuturo,  says  he,  Joy  in  the  next  life,  where 
it  passes  down  without  any  difficulty,  without  any  opposi- 
tion, is  called  drink  ;  and  Christ  calls  his  friends  to  drink  : 
but  the  overflowing,  the  Ebrietas  animce,  that  is  reserved 
to  the  last  time,  when  our  bodies  as  well  as  our  souls, 
shall  enter  into  the  participation  of  it  :  Where,  when  wee 
shall  love  every  one,  as  well  as  our  selves,  and  so  have 
that  Joy  of  our  owne  salvation  multipHed  by  that  number, 
wee  shall  have  that  Joy  so  many  times  over,  as  there 
shall  bee  soules  saved,  because  wee  love  them  as  our 
selves,  how  infinitely  shall  this  Joy  be  enlarged  in  loving 
God,  so  far  above  our  selves,  and  all  them.  Wee  have 
but  this  to  add.  Heaven  is  called  by  many  pretious  names ;  Matt.  9. 15. 
Life.  Simply  and  absolutely  there  is  no  Hfe  but  that.  Luc.  12. 32. 
And  Kingdome  ;  Simply,  absolutely  there  is  no  Kingdom,  Esay  66.23. 
that  is  not  subordinate  to  that.  And  Sahbatum  ex 
Sabbato,  A  Sabbath  flowing  into  a  Sabbath,  a  perpetuall 
Sabbath  :  but  the  Name  that  should  enamour  us  most, 
is  that,  that  it  is  Satietas  gaudiorum  ;  fulnesse  of  Joy.  Psal.i6.ii. 
Fulnesse  that  needeth  no  addition ;  Fulnesse,  that 
admitteth  no  leake.  And  then  though  in  the  Schoole 
we  place  Blessednesse,  In  visione,  in  the  sight  of  God,  yet 
the  first  thing  that  this  sight  of  God  shall  produce  in 
us  (for  that  shall  produce  the  Reformation  of  the  Image 
of  God,  in  us,  and  it  shall  produce  our  glorifying  of  God) 
but  the  first  thing  that  the  seeing  of  God  shall  produce 
in  us,  is  Joy.  The  measure  of  our  seeing  of  God  is  the 
measure  of  Joy.  See  him  here  in  his  Blessings,  and  you 
shall  joy  in  those  blessings  here  ;  and  when  you  come  to 
see  him  Sicuti  est,  in  his  Essence,  then  you  shall  have 
this  Joy  in  Essence,  and  in  fulnesse  ;   of  which,  God  of 


238  Joy  in  Heaven. 

his  goodnesse  give  us  such  an  earnest  here,  as  may  binde 
to  us  that  inheritance  hereafter,  which  his  Sonne  our 
Saviour  Christ  Jesus  hath  purchased  for  us,  v^ith  the 
inestimable  price  of  his  incorruptible  blood.    Amen, 

155.  Donne^s  Last  Sermon. 

IN  all  our  periods  and  transitions  in  this  Hie,  are  so 
many  passages  from  death  to  death  ;  our  very  birth 
and  entrance  into  this  life,  is  exittis  a  morte,  an  issue 
from  death,  for  in  our  mothers  wombe  wee  are  dead  so,  as 
that  wee  doe  not  know  wee  live,  not  so  much  as  wee  do  in 
our  sleepe,  neither  is  there  any  grave  so  close,  or  so  putrid 
a  prison,  as  the  wombe  would  be  unto  us,  if  we  stayed  in 
it  beyond  our  time,  or  dyed  there  before  our  time.  In 
the  grave  the  war  me  s  doe  not  kill  us,  we  breed  and  feed, 
and  then  kill  those  wormes,  v/hich  we  our  selves  produc'd. 
In  the  wombe  the  dead  child  kills  the  Mother  that 
conceived  it,  &  is  a  murtherer,  nay  a  parricide,  even 
after  it  is  dead.  And  if  wee  bee  not  dead  so  in  the 
wombe,  so  as  that  being  dead  wee  kill  her  that  gave  us 
our  first  hfe,  our  life  of  vegetation,  yet  wee  are  dead  so, 

Psal.  115.    as  Davids  Idols  are  dead.    In  the  wombe  we  have  eyes  and 
vers.  6.  ,  .  _,.  .       .  ,       -^ 

see  not,  eares  and  heare  not ;  There  m  the  wombe  wee  are 

fitted  for  workes  of  darkenes,  all  the  while  deprived  of 

light  :    And  there  in  the  wombe  wee  are  taught  cruelty, 

by  being  fed  with  blood,  and  may  be  damned,  though  we 

be  never  borne.  . . . 

Wee  have  a  winding  sheete  in  our  Mothers  wombe, 

which  growes  with  us  from  our  conception,  and  wee 

come  into  the  world,  wound  up  in  that  winding  sheet, 

for  wee  come  to  seeke  a  grave  ;  And  as  prisoners  discharg'd 


Donne's  Last  Sermon.  239 

of  actions  may  lye  for  fees  ;  so  when  the  wombe  hath 
discharged  us,  yet  we  are  bound  to  it  by  cordes  of  flesh 
by  such  a  string,  as  that  wee  cannot  goe  thence,  nor  stay 
there  ;  wee  celebrate  our  owne  funeralls  with  cryes,  even 
at  our  birth  ;  as  though  our  threescore  and  ten  years  life 
were  spent  in  our  mothers  labour,  and  our  circle  made 
up  in  the  first  point  thereof  ;  we  begge  our  Baptisme, 
with  another  Sacrament,  with  teares  ;  And  we  come  into 
a  world  that  lasts  many  ages,  but  we  last  not.  .  .  . 

This  whole  world  is  but  an  universall  churchyard,  but 
our  common  grave,  and  the  Hfe  &  motion  that  the  greatest 
persons  have  in  it,  is  but  as  the  shaking  of  buried  bodies 
in  their  grave,  by  an  earth-quake.  That  which  we  call  life, 
is  but  Hehdomada  mortium,  a  weeke  of  death,  seaven  dayes, 
seaven  periods  of  our  life  spent  in  dying,  a  dying  seaven 
times  over,  and  there  is  an  end.  Our  birth  dyes  in  infancy, 
and  our  infancy  dyes  in  youth,  and  youth  and  the  rest 
dye  in  age,  and  age  also  dyes,  and  determines  all.  Nor 
doe  all  these,  youth  out  of  infancy,  or  age  out  of  youth 
arise  so,  as  a  Phcenix  out  of  the  ashes  of  another  Phoenix 
formerly  dead,  but  as  a  waspe  or  a  serpent  out  of  caryon, 
or  as  a  Snake  out  of  dung.  Our  youth  is  zvorse  then  our 
infancy,  and  our  age  worse  then  our  youth.  Our  youth  is 
hungry  and  thirsty,  after  those  sinnes,  which  our  infancy 
knew  not ;  And  our  age  is  sory  and  angry,  that  it  cannot 
-pursue  those  sinnes  which  our  youth  did  ;  &  besides,  al 
the  way,  so  many  deaths,  that  is,  so  many  deadly  calamities 
accompany  every  condition,  and  every  period  of  this 
L'fe,  as  that  death  it  selfe  would  bee  an  ease  to  them  that 
suffer  them  :  Upon  this  sense  doth  Job  wish  that  God 
had  not  given  him  an  issue  from  the  first  death,  from  the 


240  Donne's  Last  Sermon. 

10. 18.  wombe.  Wherefore  hast  thou  brought  me  forth  out  of  the 
wombe  ?  O  that  I  had  given  up  the  Ghost,  and  no  eye  scene 
me  ?  I  should  have  beene  as  though  I  had  not  beene. .  . . 
But  for  us  that  dye  now  and  sleepe  in  the  state  of  the 
dead,  we  must  al  passe  this  posthume  death,  this  death 
after  death,  nay  this  death  after  buriall,  this  dissolution 
after  dissolution,  this  death  of  corruption  and  putrefaction, 
of  vermiculation  and  incineration^  of  dissolution  and 
dispersion  in  and  from  the  grave,  when  these  bodies  that 
have  been  the  children  of  royall  parents,  &  the  parents 
of  royall  children,  must  say  with  Job,  Corruption  thou  art 
my  father,  and  to  the  Worme  thou  art  my  mother  i^  my  sister. 
Miserable  riddle,  when  the  same  worme  must  bee  my 
mother,  and  my  sister,  and  my  selfe.  Miserable  incest, 
when  I  must  be  marled  to  my  mother  and  my  sister,  and 
bee  ho\}[i  father  and  mother  to  my  own  mother  and  sister, 
beget  &  beare  that  worme  which  is  all  that  miserable 
penury  ;  when  my  mouth  shall  he  filed  with  dust,  and  the 

Vers.24.20.  worme  shall  feed,  and  feed  sweetely  upon  me,  when  the 
ambitious  man  shall  have  no  satisfaction,  if  the  poorest 
alive  tread  upon  him,  nor  the  poorest  receive  any  content- 
ment in  being  made  equall  to  Princes,  for  they  shall  bee 

fob  23. 24.  equall  but  in  dust.  One  dyeth  at  his  full  strength,  being 
wholly  at  ease,  &  in  quiet,  and  another  dyes  in  the 
bitternes  of  his  soul,  and  never  eates  with  pleasure,  but 
they  lye  downe  alike  in  the  dust,  and  the  worme  covers 

Vers.14.11.  them  ;  In  Job  and  in  Esay,  it  covers  them  and  is  spred 
under  them,  the  worme  is  spred  under  thee,  and  the 
worme  covers  thee.  There's  the  Mats  and  the  Carpets 
that  lye  under,  and  there's  the  State  and  the  Canapye,  that 
hangs  over  the  greatest  of  the  sons  of  men  ;   Even  those 


Donne's  Last  Sermon.  241 

bodies  that  were  the  temples  of  the  holy  Ghost,  come  to 
this  dilapidation,  to  ruine,  to  rubbidge,  to  dust,  even  the 
Israel  of  the  Lord,  and  Jacob  himself  hath  no  other 
specification,  no  other  denomination,  but  that,  vermis 
Jacob,  Thou  zvorme  of  Jacob.  Truely  the  consideration 
of  tliis  posthume  death,  this  death  after  buriall,  that  after 
God,  (with  whom  are  the  issues  of  death)  hath  deUvered 
me  from  the  death  of  the  wombe,  by  bringing  mee  into 
the  world,  and  from  the  manifold  deaths  of  the  world, 
by  laying  me  in  the  grave,  I  must  dye  againe  in  an 
Incineration  of  this  flesh,  and  in  a  dispersion  of  that 
dust.  That  all  that  Monarch,  who  spred  over  many 
nations  alive,  must  in  his  dust  lye  in  a  corner  of  that 
sheete  of  lead,  and  there,  but  so  long  as  that  lead  will 
laste,  and  that  privat  and  retired  man,  that  thought 
himselfe  his  owne  for  ever,  and  never  came  forth,  must 
in  his  dust  of  the  grave  be  pubhshed,  and,  (such  are 
the  revolutions  of  the  graves)  bee  mingled  with  the  dust 
of  every  high  way,  and  of  every  dunghill,  and  swallowed 
in  every  puddle  and  pond  ;  This  is  the  most  inglorious 
and  contemptible  vilification,  the  most  deadly  and 
peremptory  nullification  of  man,  that  we  can  consider. 


3025 '3 


NOTES 

No.  1.  The  Preacher.  I,  p.  338.  Sermon  XXXIV.  *  Preached  upon 
Whitsunday.'' 

I  5.  '  red  earth  *.    Cf.  The  Litanie^  i. 

From  this  red  earth,  O  Father,  purge  away 
All  vicious  tinctures. 

{Poems,  ed.  Grierson,  i,  p.  338.) 
Donne  was  extremely  fond  of  this  pun  on  the  Hebrew  word  Adam 
or  red  earth — a    pun,  Coleridge   remarks,  which  was  common  in 
Donne's  age,  but  unworthy  of  him  {Coleridge,  p.  148). 

p.  2,  1.  7.  'a  little  parke  in  the  midst  of  a  forest  *.  In  a  prayer 
printed  at  the  end  of  his  Essays  in  Divinity,  Donne  writes,  '  I  am 
a  man  and  no  worm,  and  within  the  pale  of  Thy  Church  and  not  in 
the  wild  forest '  (Gosse,  Life,  ii,  p.  103). 

1.  II.  '  Sancerraes '.  Sancerre  in  France  was  a  stronghold  of 
Protestantism  during  the  religious  wars.  In  1 573  it  was  besieged  by 
the  Catholics  for  nine  months,  and  its  defenders  suffered  extreme 
privations.  In  his  Elegie,  viii,  1.  10,  Donne  refers  to  '  Sancerra's 
starved  men'  {Poems,  i,  p.  91,  and  note  ii,  p.  74). 

2.  When  1  consider.  I,  p.  223.  Sermon  XXII.  *  Preached  at  S, 
Pauls,  upon  Easter-day,  1627  '  (March  25). 

3.  /  am  Not  all  Here.  II,  p.  116.  Sermon  XIV.  *  Preached  at 
Lincolns  Inne.'  Donne  was  Reader  at  Lincoln's  Inn  from  October 
1616  to  February  1622. 

4.  Imperfect  Prayers.  I,  p.  820.  Sermon  LXXX.  *  Preached  at 
the  funerals  of  Sir  William  Cokayne  Knight,  Alderman  of  London, 
December  12.  1626.'     See  note  on  No.  47. 

5.  Powers  and  Principalities.  I,  pp.  452-3.  Sermon  XLV. 
'  Preached  upon  All-Saints  Day.' 

S.  Infecting  God.  I,  pp.  589-90.  Sermon  LVIII.  *  Preached  upon 
the  Penitentiall  Psalmes.' 

1.  Forgiveness  of  Sins.  I,  p.  31 1.  Sermon  XXXI.  *  Preached  at 
S.  Pauls,  upon  Whitsunday.  1629'  (May  24). 

8.  Forgive  my  Sins.  II,  p.  224.  Sermon  XXVI.  *  Preached  to 
the  King,  at  White-Hall,  the  first  Sunday  in  Lent.'  Probably  1627 
(E.  M.  Spearing,  A  Chronological  Arrangement  of  Donne's  Sermons, 
Mod.  Lang.  Review,  October  19 13). 

R  2 


244  Notes. 

9.  Let  Me  Wither.  I,  pp.  665-6.  Sermon  LXVI.  *  The  second 
of  my  Prebend  Sermons  upon  my  five  Psalmes.  Preached  at  S.  Pauls, 
January  29.  1625*  (1626).  'This  Second  Prebend  Sermon,  which 
is  a  long  poem  of  victory  over  death,  is  one  of  the  most  magnificent 
pieces  of  religious  writing  in  English  literature'  {Gosse,  ii,  p.  239). 
For  Donne's  Prebend  Sermons,  see  note  on  No.  20.  For  other  passages 
from  tliis  sermon,  see  Nos.  20,  41,  80,  142. 

10.  Donne  and  the  Worm.  II,  p.  7.  Sermon  I.  *  A  Sermon 
Preached  At  the  Earl  of  Bridgewaters  house  in  London  at  the  mariage 
of  his  daughter,  the  Lady  Mary,  to  the  eldest  sonne  of  the  L.  Herbert 
of  Castle-iland,  Novemb.  19.  1627.' 

This  Earl  of  Bridgewater  was  John,  first  Earl,  1 579-1649,  son 
of  Donne's  former  patron  Sir  Thomas  Egerton,  Lord  EUesmere. 
Donne's  wife,  Mary  More,  was  a  niece  of  the  second  Lady  Egerton. 
It  was  this  Lord  Bridgewater's  children  who  acted  in  Comus  in  1634. 
His  daughter  Mary  married  Richard,  son  of  Edward,  Lord  Herbert 
of  Cherbury  {D.  N.  B.). 

11.  Preaching  Consolation.  I,  p.  745.  Sermon  LXXIII.  'Preached 
to  the  King  in  my  Ordinary  wayting  at  White-hall,  18.  Aprill  1626.' 

In  Donne's  Divine  Poems  there  is  one  addressed  *  To  M''  Tilman 
after  he  had  taken  orders  '  in  which  several  phrases  occur  similar  to 
phrases  in  this  extract : 

Chang'd  onely  Gods  old  image  by  Creation, 
To  Christs  new  stampe,  at  this  thy  Coronation. 

(11.17,18.) 
Maries  prerogative  was  to  beare  Christ,  so 
'Tis  preachers  to  convey  him,  for  they  doe 
As  angels  out  of  clouds,  from  Pulpits  speake  ;     (11.  41-3.) 

(Poms,  i,  pp.  351-2.) 

12.  The  Beauty  of  the  Soul.  II,  p.  367.  Sermon  XL.  'Preached 
at  Saint  Pauls.' 

13.  Spiritual  Liberality.  I,  pp.  762-3.  Sermon  LXXV.  'Preached 
to  the  King  at  White-hall,  April  15.  1628  '  (Easter  Sunday). 

h  21.  *  that  Meteor  '.  Donne  used  meteor  in  the  sense  of  a  body 
in  mid-air,  between  heaven  and  earth.  Thus  he  writes  in  a  letter  to 
Sir  H.  Goodyer,  '  Our  nature  is  Meteorique,  we  respect  (because  we 
partake  so)  both  earth  and  heaven  '  (Letters,  1651,  p.  46). 

p.  15,  1.  12.  *  To  bow  downe  those  Heavens  '.  Cf.  Donne's  verse- 
epistle  To  M**  Tilman  after  he  had  taken  orders, 

How  brave  are  those,  who  with  their  Engine,  can 
Bring  man  to  heaven,  and  heaven  againe  to  man  ? 

{Poems,  i,  p.  352.) 


Notes.  245 

14.  Eagle's  Wings.  I,  pp.  435-6.  Sermon  XLIV.  *  Preached 
at  S.  Dunstanes  upon  Trinity-Sunday.  1627.' 

p.  16,  1.  12.  *  He  flings  open  the  gates  of  Heaven  '.  Cf.  To  M^ 
Tilman,  11.  39-40: 

To  open  life,  to  give  kingdoms  to  more 

Than  Kings  give  dignities  ;   to  keepe  heavens  doore  ? 

{Poems,  i,  p.  352.) 

15.  The  Hour-Glass.  HI,  p.  61.  Sermon  V.  *  A  Lent-Sermon 
Preached  to  the  King,  At  White-hall,  February  12.  1629'  (1630). 

1.  14.  '  stare  ',  i.  e.  a  starling. 

16.  Preaching.  I,  pp.  692-3.  Sermon  LXVUI.  '  The  fourth  of 
my  Prebend  Sermons  upon  my  five  Psalmes  :  Preached  at  S.  Pauls, 
28.  January,  1626'  (1627). 

17.  Applause.    II,  p.  371.     Sermon  XL.    Ante,  No.  12. 

p.  20,  1.  6.  '  murmurings  '.  *  The  sermons  of  this  time  seem  to 
us  now  to  be  overloaded — too  long — artificial,  and  sometimes  in 

bad  taste That  they  were  listened  to  with  great  attention,  and  often 

produced  very  great  effect  upon  the  audience,  we  know.  Frequently 
the  preacher  was  interrupted  by  expressions  of  dissent  or  by  loud 
applause  '  {Jessopp,  pp.  137-8). 

In  an  elegy  '  In  memory  of  Doctor  Donne  ',  by  R.  B.  (Richard 
Brathwaite  ?)  the  author  states  that  the  old-fashioned  *  doctrine- 
men  '  did  not  like  or  approve  of  Donne's  preaching,  and  *  humm'd 
against  him '  {Poems,  i,  p.  386). 

18.  The  Bellman.  Ill,  p.  205.  Sermon  XV.  *  A  Sermon  Preached 
at  White-hall.  February  29.  1627'  (1628). 

p.  2 1,  1.  6.  *  that  good  Custome  in  these  Cities ',  i.  e.  the  *  Waits  ', 
or  wind-instrumentalists  maintained  by  the  city,  who  perambulated 
the  streets,  often  in  the  morning. 

19.  Favourite  Scriptures.  II,  pp.  159  (correctly  151)-!  52.  Sermon 
XIX.     *  Preached  at  Lincolns  Inne.' 

p.  22,  1.  II.  'such  forms,  as  I  have  been  most  accustomed  to*. 
Donne  almost  never  refers  to  himself  as  an  author  in  his  sermons. 
He  once,  however,  says,  '  Adams  sin,  6000  years  agoe,  is  my  sin ; 
and  their  sin,  that  shall  sinne  by  occasion  of  any  wanton  writings 
of  mine,  will  be  my  sin,  though  they  come  after '.    (II,  p.  171.) 

20.  The  Psalms.  I,  p.  663.  Sermon  LXVI.  See  ante,  No.  9. 
The  Sermon  was  on  Psalm  Ixiii.  7. 

p.  24,  1.  3.  *  third  obligation '.  Donne,  as  Dean,  was  one  of  the 
prebendaries  of  St.  Paul's.  *  The  Psalter  was  divided  up  among  the 
thirty  prebendaries,  each  of  whom  was  supposed  to  recite  his  five 
psahns  daily,  and  to  make  them  his  special  subject  of  meditation. 
Donne  took  his  place  in  the  Chapter  as  prebendary  of  Chiswick, 


246 


Notes, 


and  his  five  psalms  were  the  62nd  to  the  66th  inclusive  '  (Jessoppf 
p.  141).    See  note  on  No.  46. 

21.  Sanctified  Passions.  Ill,  pp.  257-8.  Sermon  XVIII.  *A 
Sermon  Preached  to  Queen  Anne^  ait  Denmarke-house.  December.  14, 
1 61 7.' 

22.  Style  and  Language.  I,  pp.  556-7.  Sermon  LV.  *  Preached 
upon  the  Penitentiall  Psalmes.' 

23.  Style  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  I,  p.  812.  Sermon  LXXIX.  'Preached 
at  S.  Pauls.' 

24.  Compliments.  I,  p.  176.  Sermon  XVIII.  'Preached  at  S. 
Pauls,  in  the  Evenings  upon  Easter-day.  162^  '  (April  13). 

1.  2.  '  Complement '  in  the  sense  of  the  more  modern  '  compliment '. 
First  instance  in  the  N.  E.  £>.,  1578. 
Donne  in  his  Fourth  Satire  writes, 

so  did  hee 
With  his  long  complementall  thankes  vexe  me. 

{PoemSj  I,  p.  164.) 

This  use  (not  noted  in  the  N.  E.  D.)  is  probably  the  first  appearance 
of  the  word  in  this  sense,  if  the  Satire  was  written  in  1597. 

25.  Lying  at  Aix.  II,  p.  183.  Sermon  XXI.  *  Preached  at  Lincolns 
Inne.' 

1.  I.  *  Aquisgrane '.  The  Roman  name  for  Aix-la-Chapelle  was 
Aquisgranum.  This  visit  to  Aix  was  no  doubt  in  1612,  when  Donne 
accompanied  Sir  Robert  and  Lady  Drury  to  France,  and  afterwards 
to  Spa. 

26.  Farewell  on  Going  to  Germany.    Ill,  p.  280.     Sermon  XIX. 

*  A  Sermon  of  Valediction  at  my  going  into  Germany^  at  Lincolns- 
Inne^  April.  18. 161 9.'  Donne  was  appointed  to  go  as  King's  Chaplain 
with  Viscount  Doncaster  on  his  mission  to  the  German  Princes. 
In  Donne's  Divine  Poems  there  is  A  Hymne  to  Christy  at  the  Authors 
last  going  into  Germany  {Poems,  i,  p.  352).  In  his  Bibliography 
of  John  Donne,  Mr.  Geoffrey  Keynes  mentions  a  volume  Sapientia 
Clamitans,  by  William  Milbourne  Priest  (1638),  which  includes 
(pp.  251-319)  a  different,  and  probably  earlier,  text  of  this  farewell 
sermon.  I  have  not  been  able  to  examine  this  book,  as  the  copy 
said  to  be  in  the  British  Museum  could  not  be  found  there. 

27.  The  Vicar  of  St.  Dunstan's.     II,  pp.  424-5.     Sermon  XLV. 

*  Preached  at  Saint  Duns  tans  Aprill  11.  1624.  The  first  Sermon  in 
that  Church,  as  Vicar  thereof.'  In  March  1624  Donne  was  presented 
to  the  living  of  St.  Dunstan's  by  Richard  Sackville,  Earl  of  Dorset. 
This  first  sermon,  Dr.  Jessopp  says,  was  '  a  kind  of  manifesto  setting 


Notes.  247 

forth  the  preacher's  view  of  the  reciprocal  duties  of  the  pastor  and 
his  flock'  (Jessopp,  p.  164). 

28.  Funeral  Serjnon  on  Magdalen  Herbert^  Lady  Danvers.  *A 
Sermon  of  Commemoration  of  the  Lady  Dduers,  late  Wife  of  S^. 
John  Dduers.  Preach'd  at  Chilsey,  where  she  was  lately  buried. 
By  John  Donne  D.  of  S^  Pauls,  Lond.  1.  July  1627'^  (London,  1627), 
pp.  1-4,  126-70.  This  sermon  was  not  reprinted  in  the  folios,  but 
is  included  in  Alford's  edition  (vi,  p.  244)  and  was  printed  in  Picker- 
ing's edition  of  Devotions  by  John  Donne,  D.D.  (1840),  pp.  158-97. 

Lady  Danvers  was,  by  her  first  husband,  Richard  Herbert,  of 
Montgomery  Castle,  the  mother,  among  other  children,  of  Lord 
Herbert  of  Cherbury,  and  George  Herbert.  In  1608  she  married 
'  Sir  John  Danvers,  an  intelligent  and  wealthy  young  man  not  quite 
half  her  age  '  (Gosse,  ii,  p.  228).  For  her  friendship  with  Donne,  see 
ibid., I,  p.  162  f.,  Poems,  ii.,  pp.  xxivf.,  and  Walton's  '  Life  of  George 
Herbert '.  For  Donne's  poems  to  Mrs.  Herbert,  see  Poems^  i,  pp.  61, 
92,  216,  317. 

Lady  Danvers  lived  at  Danvers  House,  Chelsea,  where  Donne 
took  refuge  during  the  plague  of  1625  (see  No.  35).  Lady  Danvers 
died  in  the  first  days  of  June  1627,  and  was  buried  in  Chelsea  Church 
on  June  8.  Donne  had  undertaken  to  preach  her  funeral  sermon, 
but  it  was  postponed  to  July  i  {Gosse,  ii,  p.  247).  Walton  in  his 
Lije  oj  Mr.  George  Herbert,  says  '  I  saw  and  heard  this  Mr.  John 
Donne  (who  was  then  Dean  of  St.  Pauls)  weep,  and  preach  her 
Funeral  Sermon,  in  the  Parish-Church  of  Chelsey  near  London^ 
where  she  now  rests  in  her  quiet  Grave'  (Walton's  Lives,  1670, 
'  The  Life  of  Mr.  George  Herbert',  p.  19).  Donne's  *  affection  to  her 
was  such,  that  he  turn'd  Poet  in  his  old  Age,  and  then  made  her 
Epitaph  ;  wishing,  all  his  Body  were  turn'd  into  Tongues,  that  he 
might  declare  her  just  praises  to  posterity  '  {ibid.,  p.  16). 

29.  Death  oJ  Elizabeth  and  Accession  of  James  1.  HI,  p.  351. 
Sermon  XXIV.  *  A  Sermon  Preached  at  Pauls  Cross  to  the  Lords 
of  the  Council,  and  other  Honorable  Persons,  24.  Mart.  1616  [161 7]. 
It  being  the  Anniversary  of  the  Kings  coming  to  the  Crown,  and  his 
Majesty  being  then  gone  into  Scotland.' 

'  When  James  I  started  on  his  memorable  "  Progress  "  to  Scotland 
on  the  15th  March  161 7,  he  appears  to  have  ordered  that  Donne 
should  preach  at  Paul's  Cross  on  the  24th  of  March,  the  anniversary 
of  his  coming  to  the  Crown  '  {Jessopp,  p.  122).  This  was  Donne's 
first  appearance  in  the  famous  open-air  pulpit,  which  stood  at  the 
north-east  corner  of  old  St.  Paul's.  *  Paul's  Cross  was  the  pulpit  not 
only  of  the  Cathedral ;  it  might  almost  be  said,  as  preaching  became 
more  popular,  and  began  more  and  more  to  rule  the  public  mind, 
to  have  become  that  of  the  Church  of  England.  .  .  .  Excepting  the 
King  and  his  retinue,  who  had  a  covered  gallery,  the  congregation. 


248 


Notes, 


even  the  Mayor  and  the  Aldermen,  stood  in  the  open  air  *  (H.  H. 
Milman,  Annals  of  S.  PauVs  Cathedral.^  1869,  pp.  163-4).  For  Donne's 
Sermon  on  this  occasion,  see  Jessopp,  pp.  122-3;  Gosse,  ii,  pp.  1 14-16. 
On  March  29,  1617,  John  Chamberlain  wrote  to  Sir  Dudley  Carleton, 
'  1  had  almost  forgotten,  that  on  Monday,  the  27th  [24th]  of  this 
month,  being  the  king's  day,  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  the  lord 
keeper  [Bacon],  lord  privy  seal,  the  Earl  of  Arundel,  the  Earl  of 
Southampton,  the  Lord  Hay,  the  comptroller.  Secretary  Winwood, 
the  master  of  the  Rolls,  with  divers  other  great  men,  were  at  Paul's 
Cross,  and  heard  Donne,  who  made  there  a  dainty  sermon  upon  the 
nth  verse  of  the  22d  of  Proverbs,  and  was  exceedingly  well  liked 
generally,  the  rather  for  that  he  did  Queen  Elizabeth  great  right, 
and  held  himself  close  to  the  text,  without  flattering  the  time  too 
much  '  (C.  &  T.  Jas.  7,  ii,  p.  4).  On  May  10  Chamberlain  writes, 
*  I  know  not  how  to  procure  a  copy  of  Dr.  Donne's  sermon  if  it  come 
not  in  print,  but  I  will  inquire  after  it  *  {ibid.^  p.  10). 

p.  48, 1.  8.  'recognitions'.  Misprinted  'recognitious'  in  the  folio. 
A  few  other  obvious  misprints  have  been  silently  corrected. 

30.  The  Gunpowder  Plot.  II,  pp.  402-3.  Sermon  XLIII.  *A 
Serynon  upon  the  fijt  o/Novemb.  1622.  being  the  Anniversary  celebra- 
tion of  our  Deliverance  from  r^^  Powder  Treason.  Intended  lot  Pauls 
Crosse,  but  by  reason  of  the  weather,  Preached  in  the  Church.^ 

On  December  i,  1622,  Donne  wrote  to  Sir  Thomas  Roe,  James  I's 
Ambassador  to  the  Ottoman  Porte,  and  after  mentioning  his  sermon 
at  St.  Paul's  Cross  on  September  14,  1622  (which  was  printed  by 
royal  command  in  1622)  he  adds :  *  Some  weeks  after  that  I  preached 
another  at  the  same  place,  upon  the  Gunpowder  Day  ;  therein  I  was 
left  more  to  mine  own  liberty,  and  therefore  I  would  I  could  also 
send  your  Lordship  a  copy  of  that,  but  that  one,  which  also  by 
commandment  I  did  write  after  the  preaching,  is  as  yet  in  his 
]\Iajesty's  hand,  and  I  know  not  whether  he  will  in  it,  as  he  did  in 
the  other,  after  his  reading  thereof,  command  it  to  be  printed  ;  and 
whilst  it  is  in  that  suspense,  I  know  your  Lordship  would  call  it 
indiscretion  to  send  out  any  copy  thereof  ;  neither  truly  am  I  able 
to  commit  that  fault,  for  I  have  no  copy  '  {Gosse,  ii,  pp.  174-5). 

31.  Preached  to  the  Honourable  Company  of  the  Virginian  Plantation, 
1622.  '  A  Sermon  upon  the  VIII  Verse  of  the  I.  Chapter  of  the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles.  PreacVd  to  the  Honourable  Company  of  the 
Virginian  Plantation.  13°.  Novemb.  1622.  By  lohn  Donne  Deane  oj 
S^  Pauls,  London  1622'  (London,  1622),  pp.  11-13,  18-22,  42-6. 
This  sermon  is  not  in  the  folios  ;  it  was  re-issued  in  Four  Sermons  1 625, 
and  Five  Sermons  1626,  and  reprinted  by  Alford,  vi,  pp.  223-41.  In 
1622  the  Earl  of  Southampton  was  chosen  treasurer  of  the  Virginia 
Company,  and  Nicholas  Ferrar,  afterwards  of  Little  Gidding, 
deputy  treasurer.    *  It  must  have  been  at  their  invitation  that  Donne 


Notes.  249 

was  invited  to  preach  before  the  Company,  and  to  impress  upon  the 
adventurers^  who  included  among  them  a  large  number  of  bishops, 
clergy,  and  devout  laity,  an  appeal  from  the  missionary  point  of 
view  '  (Jessopp,  p.  149).  '  This  sermon  may  with  truth,  be  called 
the  first  missionary  sermon  ever  preached  in  England  since  Britain 
had  become  a  Christian  land'  (ibid.,  p.  148).     See,  however,  next. 

32.  The  Mission  of  England.  Ill,  p.  195.  Sermon  XIV.  'A 
Second  Sermon  Preached  at  White-hall.  April  2.  1621.' 

1.  6.  '  Islands  ,  .  .  Islands,'  misprinted  *  Island  .  .  .  Island '  in 
the  folio. 

33.  James  I.  II,  p.  406.  Sermon  XLIII.  See  ante,  No.  30, 
Donne's  *  Gunpowder  Plot  *  Sermon.  Now  that  James  I  was  nego- 
tiating for  the  Spanish  Marriage,  and  had  released  from  prison 
a  large  number  of  Roman  Catholics,  there  were  many  rumours  that 
the  King  intended  to  make  a  change  of  religion  (C.  &  T.  Jas.  /,  i, 
pp.  300,  326,  356). 

3^.  Death  of  James  I.  II,  p.  303.  Sermon  XXXIII.  'Preached 
at  Denmark  house,  some  few  days  before  the  body  of  King  James, 
was  removed  from  thence,  to  his  huriall,  Apr,  26.  1625.'  James  I 
died  at  Theobalds  on  March  27.  His  body  was  embalmed  and  taken 
on  April  4  to  Denmark  House,  where  it  lay  in  state  until  the  funeral 
on  May  7  [C.  &  T.  Charles  I,  i,  pp.  3,  22).  On  April  3  Donne  delivered 
his  first  sermon  before  Charles  I  at  Saint  James's  (see  No.  75). 

35.  The  Plague,  162^.    Ill,  pp.  293-6  (Qqq  1-2  v).    Sermon  XXI. 

*  A  Sermon  Preached  at  St.  Dunstans  January  15.  i625[i626].  The 
First  Sermon  after  Our  Dispersion,  by  the  Sickness.'  During  the  great 
plague  of  1625,  when  London  was  almost  deserted,  Donne  withdrew 
to  Sir  John  Danvers's  house  in  Chelsea,  where  he  spent  his  time 
writing  out  and  revising  his  sermons.    (Gosse,  ii,  pp.  222,  225.) 

36.  Difficult  Times.  II,  p.  158  (correctly  150).  Sermon  XVIII. 
'Preached  at  Lincolns  Inne.'  Donne  resigned  his  divinity  reader- 
ship at  Lincoln's  Inn  on  February  11,  1622.  This  undated  sermon 
was  probably  preached  shortly  before  his  resignation,  during  the 
negotiations  for  the  Spanish  Match. 

p.  62, 1.  30.  *  hull  it  out '.  To  '  hull '  is  an  obsolete  nautical  term, 
meaning  '  to  float  or  be  driven  by  the  force  of  the  wind  or  current 
on  the  hull  alone  ;  to  drift  to  the  wind  with  sails  furled  ;  to  lie 
a-huU '  {N.  E.  D.).  Cf .  Richard  III,  iv.  iv.  439,  and  Henry  VIII, 
II.  iv.  197  *  thus  hulling  in  The  wild  Sea  of  my  Conscience  \ 

37.  Polemical    Preaching.      I,   pp.    778-9.      Sermon    LXXVII. 

*  Preached  at  S.  Pauls,  May  21.  1626.'  In  1622,  during  his  negotia- 
tions with  Spain,  James  I  had  forbidden  polemical  preaching,  and 
Donne  had,  by  royal  command,  delivered  a  Sermon  at  Paul's  Cross 


250  Notes. 

on  September  15,  to  explain  to  the  populace  the  King's  Instructions 
to  Preachers  (Gosse,  ii,  p.  160).  *  He  gave  no  great  satisfaction  '  ; 
Chamberlain  writes,  *  or,  as  some  say,  spoke  as  if  himself  were  not 
so  well  satisfied '  (C  <Sf  T.  Jas.  7,  ii,  p.  333).  Now  that  England  was 
at  war  with  Spain  and  fighting  to  help  the  German  Protestants, 
what  Donne  calls  *  the  beating  of  our  Drums  in  the  Pulpit '  was 
again  allowed. 

38.  The  World  Decays.  I,  p.  357.  Sermon  XXXVI.  *  Preached 
upon  Whitsunday.*  Donne,  as  Dean,  was  required  to  preach  the 
Whitsunday  Sermon  at  St.  Paul's.  For  the  letter  of  St.  Cyprian, 
see  Ramsay,  p.  86.     Cf.  Donne's  First  Anniversary,  11.  201-4: 

So  did  the  world  from  the  first  houre  decay, 
That  evening  was  beginning  of  the  day. 
And  now  the  Springs  and  Sommers  which  we  see, 
Like  sonnes  of  women  after  fiftie  bee. 

{Poems,  1,  p.  237.) 

39.  Imperfection.  I,  pp.  823-4.  Sermon  LXXX.  See  ante,  "No.  4. 
The  *  new  philosophy '  is  of  course  the  Copernican  hypothesis. 
*  Copernicus'  displacement  of  the  earth,  and  the  consequent  distur- 
bance of  the  accepted  mediseval  cosmology  with  its  concentric 
arrangement  of  elements  and  heavenly  bodies,  arrests  and  disturbs 
Donne's  imagination  much  as  the  later  geology  with  its  revelation 
of  vanished  species  and  first  suggestion  of  a  doctrine  of  evolution 
absorbed  and  perturbed  Tennyson  when  he  wrote  In  Memoriam  and 
throughout  his  life'  (Grierson,  Pofwjs,  ii,  pp.  188-9).  In  his  First 
Anniversary  Donne  writes  : 

And  new  Philosophy  calls  all  in  doubt, 

The  Element  of  fire  is  quite  put  out ; 

The  Sun  is  lost,  and  th'  earth,  and  no  mans  \nt 

Can  well  direct  him  where  to  looke  for  it. 

{Poems,  i,  p.  237.) 

^0.  Man.  I,  pp.  64-5.  Sermon  VII.  *  Preached  upon  Christmas 
day."*    Probably  1629  {Spearing). 

41.  Afflictions.  I,  pp.  664-5.  The  Second  Prebend  Sermon 
(LXVI).    See  ante,  Nos.  9,  20. 

42.  Discontent.  I,  p.  45.  Sermon  V.  '  Preached  at  Pauls,  upon 
Christmas  Day.  1627.' 

43.  The  World  a  House.  I,  p.  146.  Sermon  XV.  '  Preached  at 
White-hall,  March  8.  1621  *  (1622).  Coleridge,  referring  to  this 
extract,  writes,  *  This  is  one  of  Donne's  least  estimable  discourses  .  .  . 
yet  what  a  Donne-like  passage  is  this  that  follows  ! '  {Coleridge,  p.  132). 

44.  Mundus  Mare.     I,  pp.  735-7.     Sermon   LXXII.     'At  the 


Notes.  251 

Haghe  Decemb.  19.  161 9.  I  Preached  upon  this  Text  [Mat.  Iv.  18-20]. 
Since  in  my  sicknesse  at  Ahrey-hatche  in  Essex,  1630,  revising  my 
short  notes  of  that  Sermon,  I  digested  them  into  these  two.*  LXXII 
is  the  second  of  these  two  sermons.  Donne  arrived  with  Lord 
Doncaster  (see  ante,  No.  26)  at  The  Hague  in  December  161 9.  In  his 
will  Donne  bequeaths  to  his  friend  Henry  King  *  that  medal  of  gold 
of  the  synod  of  Dort  which  the  estates  presented  mc  withal  at  the 
Hague  *.     {Gosse,  ii,  p.  360.) 

^^.  The  Indifference  of  Nature.  H,  p.  37.  Sermon  V.  ^Preached 
at  a  Cbristning.' 

1.  4.  *  hoise  '  is  the  older  form  of  *  hoist '. 

46.  Wealth.  I,  p.  659.  *  The  first  of  the  Prebend  of  Cbestvicks  five 
Psalmes ;  which  five  are  appointed  for  that  Prebend ;  as  there  are 
five  other,  for  every  other  of  our  thirty  Prebendaries.  Serm.  LXV. 
Preached  at  S.  Pauls,  May  8.  1625.' 

47.  A  London  Merchant.  I,  pp.  824-6.  See  ante,  Nos.  4,  39. 
Funeral  Sermon  of  Sir  William  Cokayne,  who  was  Lord  Mayor  of 
London,  1619-20  {Diet.  Nat.  Biog.).  He  was  'a  merchant  of  great 
consequence,  reputed  to  be  one  of  the  richest  men  in  England.  Lady 
Cokayne's  father,  Richard  Morris,  had  preceded  Donne's  father  as 
Master  of  the  Ironmongers'  Company.'   (Gosse,  ii,  pp.  237-8.) 

p.  78, 1.  7.  *  A  publique  heart '.  Publique  is  here  used  with  the 
meaning  of  the  later  '  public-spirited  ',  first  found  in  1677  {N.  E.  D.). 

p.  80,  1.  17.  '  this  Quire  '.  It  is  plain  from  this,  that  (as  Mr.  Gosse 
remarks)  *  the  Aldermen  of  the  City  had  been  lately  admitted  by 
the  Dean  and  Chapter  to  seats  in  the  choir  of  St.  Paul's.  .  .  .  From 
this  it  appears  that  until  that  date  the  choir  had,  as  in  Catholic  times, 
been  reserved  for  the  clergy '  (Gosse,  ii,  p.  238). 

4^,  Sickness.   II,  p.  167.  Sermon  XX.   *  Preached  at  Lincolns  Inne.' 

49.  Public  Opinion.    I,  p.  589.    Sermon  LVIII.    See  ante.  No.  6. 

50.  Joy.  II,  p.  467.  Sermon  L.  *  A  Sermon  Preached  in  Saint 
Dunstans.' 

^1.  Women.  I,  pp.  242-3.  Sermon  XXV.  '  Preached  at  S.Psiuh, 
upon  Easter-day.  1630'  (March  28). 

52.  Cosmetics.  I,  p.  642.  Sermon  LXIV.  *  Preached  upon  the 
Penitentiall  Psalmes.' 

53.  The  Skin.    II,  p.  113.    Sermon  XIV.    See  ante,  No.  3. 

54.  Mud  Walls.    II,  pp.  168-9.    Sermon  XX.    See  ante,  No.  48. 

S^.  Ignorance.  I,  p.  287.  Sermon  XXIX.  '  Preached  at  S.  Pauls 
upon  Whitsunday.  1628.' 


252  Notes. 

56.  The  Imperfection  of  Knowledge.  I,  p.  818.  Sermon  LXXX. 
See  ante,  Nos.  4,  39,  47. 

57.  Change  of  Mind.  I,  p.  483.  Sermon  XLVIII.  '  Preached  at 
S.  Pauls  in  the  Evening,  Vpon  the  day  of  S.  Pauls  Conversion.  1628' 
(January  25,  1629). 

58.  Reason  and  Faith.  II,  pp.  324-7.  Sermon  XXXVI.  'Preached 
at  Saint  Pauls  upon  Christmasse  day,  1621.'  In  his  verse  epistle  to 
the  Countess  of  Bedford,  Donne  writes, 

Reason  is  our  Soules  left  hand,  Faith  her  right, 
By  these  wee  reach  divinity,  thats  you. 

{Poems,  \,  p.   189;    see  also  p.  267.) 

1.  I.  *  lamps  '.    In  his  Epithalamions,  xi,  Donne  writes, 

Now,  as  in  Jullias  tombe,  one  lampe  burnt  cleare, 
Unchang'd  for  fifteene  hundred  yeare, 

{Poems,  i,  p.  140  5  for  origin  of  this  legend,  see  note,  ibid.,  ii,  p.  98.) 
i.  15.  '  vanish  it  selfe  '.     In  his  Litanie,  vii,  Donne  writes, 

Let  not  my  minde  be  blinder  by  more  light 
Nor  Faith,  by  Reason  added,  lose  her  sight. 

[Poems,  i,  p.  340.) 

p.  102, 1.  1 1.  '  blow  that  coale  *.  Cf.  Devotions,  p.  3.  *  God,  who  as 
hee  is  immortall  himselfe,  had  put  a  coale,  a  beame  of  Immortalitie 
into  us,  which  we  might  have  blowen  into  a  flame,  but  blew  it  out, 
by  our  first  sinne.' 

59.  True  Knowledge.  I,  p.  165.  Sermon  XVII.  *  Preached  at 
White-hall,  March  4.  1624  '  (1625). 

60.  Terrible  Things.  I,  pp.  690-2.  Sermon  LXVIII.  See  ante. 
No.  16. 

61.  The  Fate  of  the  Heathen.  I,  pp.  261-2.  Sermon  XXVI. 
'  Preached  upon  Easter-day.'     Probably  1623  {Spearing). 

62.  The  Church  a  Company.    II,  p.  469.    Sermon  L.    See  No.  50. 

63.  God  Proceeds  Legally.  II,  pp.  230-1.  Sermon  XXVII. 
'  Preached  to  the  King,  at  White-Hall,  the  first  of  April,  1627.'  Laud, 
then  Bishop  of  Bath  and  Wells,  was  present  at  this  sermon,  and  seems 
to  have  suspected  from  it  that  Donne  was  preparing  to  support 
Abbot,  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  the  Calvinlstic  party,  in 
the  controversy  then  under  discussion,  about  Montague's  attack  on 
them.  Laud  wrote  to  Donne  at  once  commanding  a  copy  of  the 
sermon  to  be  sent  to  the  king,  greatly  to  Donne's  dismay.  But 
when  Charles  I  had  read  the  sermon  and  listened  to  Donne's  explana- 
tion, he  restored  him  to  favour.  For  Donne's  letters  about  this 
incident,  see  Gosse,  ii,  pp.  243-6.    Dr.  Jessopp,  quoting  the  end  of 


Notes.  253 

the  extract  as  given  In  this  volume  (p.  1 14,  1.  28  f.)  says,  *  after 
carefully  reading  the  sermon  several  times,  I  can  find  only  one  passage 
that  may  have  hurt  the  prejudices  or  irritated  the  susceptibilities 
of  some  of  the  audience  as  possibly  reflecting  upon  themselves ' 
(Jessopp,  p.  188). 

1,  7.  '  hisse  ',  misprinted  '  kisse  '  in  folio. 

Q^.  The  Cburcb.  I,  pp.  369-70.  Sermon  XXXVII.  *  Preached 
upon  Whitsunday.'' 

p.  116,  1.  13.  '  thou  art  a  little  world  '.    Cf.  Sacred  Sonnets, 

I  am  a  little  world  made  cunningly 
Of  Elements.  {Poems,  I,  p.  324.) 

For  this  notion,  which  frequently  recurs  In  Donne,  of  man  as  a 
microcosm,  or  little  world,  see  Ramsay,  p.  275. 

65.  Reverence  in  Church.  II,  pp.  470-1.  Sermon  L.  See  ante, 
Nos.  50,  62. 

66.  Going  to  Church.  I,  pp.  35-6.  Sermon  IV.  'Preached  at  S, 
Pauls  upon  Christmas  day.  1626.' 

1.  9.  '  mocke  us  '.  Coleridge  notes  *  What  then,  was  their  guilt, 
who  by  terror  and  legal  penalties  tempted  their  fellow  Christians  to 
this  treacherous  mockery  ?  Donne  should  have  asked  himself  that 
question.'    {Coleridge,  p.  112.) 

67.  Prayer.    II,  p.  366.    Sermon  XL.    See  ante,  Nos.  12,  17. 

68.  Prayer.  I,  p.  522.  Sermon  LII.  *  Preached  upon  the  Peni- 
tentiall  Psalmes.' 

1.  8.  *  his  Sister  '.    Donne  repeats  this  In  his  Devotions,  p.  255. 

69.  The  Time  of  Prayer.  I,  pp.  596-7.  Sermon  LIX.  'Preached 
upon  the  Penltentiall  Psalmes.' 

p.  123,1.  15.  'the  greatest  Christian  Prince'.  The  King  of 
France's  title  was  Roi  tres  chretien.  Donne  was  in  Paris  in  1612  with 
Sir  Robert  Drury,  but  Louis  XIII  was  then  only  eleven  years  old. 
In  a  letter  to  Sir  Henry  Wotton,  written  in  161 2,  Donne  refers  to 
a  previous  visit  to  France  during  the  lifetime  of  Henry  IV  {Gosse^ 
i,  p.  293).    The  above  reference  is  probably  therefore  to  Henry  IV. 

p.  124,  I.  13.  '  Bolls  ',  earlier  spelling  of  '  bowls  '. 

70.  At  Table  and  Bed.  II,  p.  88.  Sermon  XI.  '  Preached  at 
Lincolns  Inne,  preparing  them  to  build  their  ChappelL'  In  161 7,  when 
the  foundation-stone  of  the  new  chapel  v/as  laid.  On  Ascension  Day, 
1623  (May  22),  Donne  preached  at  the  consecration  of  the  chapel 
his  '  Encaenia  '  Sermon,  which  was  published  in  the  same  year, 
but  has  not  been  reprinted.  On  May  30  Chamberlain  wrote,  '  Lin- 
coln's Inn  new  chapel  was  consecrated  with  much  solemnity,  by 
the  Bishop  of  London,  on  Ascension-day,  where  there   was  great 


254  Notes. 

concourse  of  noblemen  and  gentlemen  ;  whereof  two  or  three  were 
endangered,  and  taken  up  dead  for  the  time,  with  the  extreme 
press  and  thronging.  The  Dean  of  St.  Paul's  made  an  excellent 
sermon,  they  say,  about  dedications  '  (C.  &  T.  Jas.  /,  ii,  p.  402). 

I.  5.  *  table '.  In  an  undated  letter  Donne  writes,  '  we  at  our  lay 
altars  (which  are  our  tables,  or  bedside,  or  stools) '.  (Gosse,  i,  p.  223.) 

71.  Unconscious  Prayer.  I,  p.  90.  Sermon  IX.  *  Preached  upon 
Candlemas  day.'    Probably  either  in  161 7,  or  1623  {Spearing). 

72.  Sermons.  I,  pp.  113-14.  Sermon  XII.  'Preached  upon 
Candlemas  day.' 

73.  New  Doctrines.  Ill,  p.  4.  Sermon  I.  *  A  Lent-Sermon 
Preached  at  White-hall,  February  20.  161 7.'  (161 8).  On  February  21 
Chamberlain  wrote  *  Dr.  John  Donne  preached  yesterday  at  White- 
hall ;  but  the  king  was  not  there,  being  weary  belike  of  the  former 
night's  watching  '  (C.  &  T.  Jas.  7,  ii,  p.  67). 

1.  4.  '  Resistibility,  and  Irresistibility  of  grace  '.  This  was  a  much 
disputed  point  between  the  Calvinist  and  Arminian  parties  ;  in  1622 
James  I  forbade  any  one  under  the  degree  of  a  bachelor  of  divinity 
to  *  presume  to  preach  in  any  popular  auditory  the  deep  points  of 
predestination,  election,  reprobation,  or  of  the  universality,  efficacy, 
resistibility  or  irresistibility  of  God's  grace  '  (Gardiner,  History  oj 
England^  1603 -1642,  iv,  p.  347).  For  Donne's  use  of  these  con- 
troversies in  his  secular  verse,  see  Poems,  ii,  p.  46. 

74.  Papist  and  Puritan.  I,  p.  493.  Sermon  XLIX.  *  Preached 
on  the  Conversion  of  S.  Paul.  1629  '  (January  25,  1630). 

75.  Theological  Dissensions.  '  The  First  Sermon  Preached  to 
King  Charles,  At  Saint  lames:  3°  April.  1625.  By  lohn  Donne, 
Deane  oj  Saint  Pauls  London  1625',  pp.  12-16.  This  sermon  has 
never  been  reprinted.  On  April  5  Sir  William  Neve,  after  describing 
the  removal  of  James  I's  body  to  Denmark  House,  wrote :  *  The 
King  kept  privately  his  bed,  or  chamber,  at  St.  James's  until  Sunday 
last,  and  then  dined  abroad,  in  the  privy-chamber,  being  in  plain 
black  cloth  cloak  to  the  ancle  ;  and  so  went  after  dinner  into  the 
chapel.  Dr.  Donne  preaching,  Lord  Davers  carrying  the  sword  before 
him,  his  majesty  looking  very  pale,  his  visage  being  the  true  glass 
of  his  inward,  as  well  as  his  accoutrements  of  external  mourning.' 
(C.  ©■  T.  Chas.  7,  i,  pp.  3-4.)  Donne's  letters  show  plainly  the  extreme 
agitation  caused  in  him  by  the  royal  command  to  preach  before  the 
new  king.  '  Towards  the  time  of  the  service,'  he  writes  to  Sir  Robert 
Ker  at  Court,  *  I  ask  your  leave  that  I  may  hide  myself  in  your  out- 
chamber  ' ;  and  in  another  note  he  refuses  an  invitation  to  dinner, 
Baying  *  after  the  sermon,  I  will  steal  into  my  coach  home  *.  {Gosse, 
ii,  p.  220.) 

p.  132,  1.  8.     *  Ejulations ',  old  word  for  wailing,  lamentation. 


Notes.  255 


76.  Despair.  II,  p.  363.  Sermon  XXXIX.  *  Preached  at  Saint 
Paul?.' 

77.  The  Sociableness  of  God.  II,  p.  280.  Sermon  XXXII. 
*  Preached  to  the  Earl  of  Exeter,  and  his  company,  in  his  Chappell  at 
Saint  Johns',  13.  Jun.  1624.'  William  Cecil,  son  of  Thomas  Cecil, 
first  Earl  of  Exeter. 

78.  God  a  Circle.  I,  pp.  13-14.  Sermon  II.  *  Preached  at  Pauh^ 
apon  Christmas  Day,  in  the  Evening.  1624.' 

In  a  verse-epistle  to  the  Countess  of  Bedford  Donne  wrote  '  In 
those  poor  types  of  God  (round  circles) '  {Poems,  1,  p.  220,  and  note 
ii,  p.  176).  See  also  Divine  Poems,  The  Annunciation  and  Passion 
{ibid.,  i,  p.  334),  and  Devotions,  p.  16,  *  O  Eternall,  and  most  gracious 
God,  who  considered  in  thy  selfe,  art  a  Circle.' 

79.  God's  Mirror.  I,  pp.  226-7.  Sermon  XXIII.  *  Preached  at 
S.  Pauls, /or  Easter-day.  1628'  (April  13). 

80.  God*s  Names.  I,  p.  670.  Sermon  LXVI.  See  ante,  Nos.  9,  20, 
41. 

SI.  God's  Mercies.    I,  pp.  12-13.    Sermon  II.    See  an^i?,  No.  78. 
1.  13.  '  ragges  of  time  '.     Donne  in  his  famous  poem  beginning 
'  Busie  old  foole,  unruly  Sunne  '  uses  this  phrase. 

Love,  all  alike,  no  season  knowes,  nor  clyme. 

Nor  houres,  dayes,  moneths,  which  are  the  rags  of  time. 

{Poems,  i,  p.  ii.) 

p.  139, 1.  9.  *  God  made  Sun  and  Moon'.  Professor  Saintsbury,  in 
quoting  this  passage,  describes  it  as  '  a  passage  than  which  I  hardly 
know  anything  more  exquisitely  rhythmed  in  the  whole  range  of 
English  from  iElfric  to  Pater.  .  .  .  The  Shakespearian  magnificence 
of  the  diction,  such  as  the  throng  of  kindred  but  never  tautological 
phrase  in  "  wintered  and  frozen  ",  etc.,  and  the  absolute  perfection 
of  rhythmical — never  metrical — movement,  could  not  be  better 
wedded.  It  has,  I  have  said,  never  been  surpassed.  I  sometimes 
doubt  whether  it  has  ever  been  equalled '  {A  History  of  English  Prose 
Rhythm,  1912,  pp.  162-3). 

82.  God  not  Cruel.    II,  p.  224.     Sermon  XXVI.     See  an'.e,  No.  8. 

83.  The  Voice  of  God.  I,  p.  465.  Sermon  XL VI.  *  Preached  at  S. 
Pauls,  The  Sunday  after  the  Conversion  of  S.  Paul.  1624.'  (January  30, 
1625). 

84.  God's  Language.  II,  pp.  359-60.  Sermon  XXXIX.  See 
ante,  No.  j6. 

p.  143,  1.  21.  'fall  into  some  such  sinne  *.  In  1608  Donne  wrote 
to  Sir  H.  Goodyer,  *  when  a  man  is  purposed  to  do  a  great  sin,  God 


256  Notes. 

infuses  some  good  thoughts  which  make  him  choose  a  less  sin'. 
{Gosse,  i,  p.  190.) 

85.  God's  Anger.    II,  p.  170.    Sermon  XX.    See  ante,  Nos.  48,  54. 

86.  Gods  Faults.  I,  pp.  726-7.  Sermon  LXII.  Preached  at 
The  Hague.     See  ante^  No.  44. 

1.  2.  '  qualities  and  affections  of  man  '.  Cf.  Devotions^  p.  178,  *  God 
is  presented  to  us  under  many  human  affections,  as  far  as  infirmities  : 
God  is  called  angry,  and  sorry  and  weary,  and  heavy.' 

p.  145,  1.  29.  *  enormious  '  ;    obsolete  form  of  '  enormous  *. 

87.  Gods  Judgements.  Ill,  pp.  82-3.  Sermon  VI.  *  A  Sermon 
Preached  at  White-hall,  April  21.  161 6.'  Donne  was  ordamed  in 
January  161 5.  His  earliest  dated  sermon  that  has  come  down  to 
us  was  preached  before  Queen  Anne  at  Greenwich  on  April  30,  161 5 
(the  Sermon  II,  No.  XXXV,  ascribed  to  February  21,  1611,  must  be 
wrongly  dated).  This  sermon  is  the  next  in  date  which  has  been 
preserved,  as  was  perhaps  his  first  sermon  at  Court,  after  his  appoint- 
ment as  Chaplain  to  the  King  in  the  summer  of  161 5.  Izaak 
Walton  says  of  his  first  sermon  at  Whitehall  *  though  much  were 
expected  from  him,  both  by  His  Majesty  and  others,  yet  he  was  so 
happy  (which  few  are)  as  to  satisfie  and  exceed  their  expectations  ' 
(Walton's  Lives,  1670,  p.  38).  Dr.  Jessopp  writes  of  this  sermon : 
'  On  the  2ist  April  1616  we  find  Donne  preaching  at  Whitehall  just  at 
the  time  when  the  horrible  revelations  connected  \vith  the  murder 
of  Sir  Thomas  Overbury  were  being  discussed  by  every  one  and  were 
the  subject  of  common  talk.  The  sermon  .  .  .  contains  some  fine 
passages  which  the  congregation  can  hardly  have  helped  applying  to 
the  dreadful  circumstances  uppermost  in  the  minds  of  all '  {Jessopp, 
p.  112).    For  other  passages  from  this  sermon,  see  also  Nos.  105,  108. 

1.  19.  *  infus'd  '.  In  a  verse-epistle  of  Donne's  to  Sir  Edward 
Herbert,  written  in  1610,  he  says, 

As  Soules  (they  say)  by  our  first  touch,  take  in 
The  poysonous  tincture  of  Originall  sinne. 

{Poems,  I,  ^.  194.) 

See  also  Donne's  letter  of  October  9,  1607  {Gosse,  i,  p.  176). 

88.  Terrible  Things.  I,  pp.  701-2.  Sermon  LXIX.  'The  fifth 
of  my  Prebend  Sermons  upon  my  five  Psalmes  :  Preached  at  S. 
Pauls.*  On  January  28,  1627,  Donne  preached  his  fourth  prebend 
sermon  (I,  LXVIII).  The  prebend  sermons  followed  one  another 
at  intervals  of  a  few  months,  so  this  sermon  may  be  safely  assigned 
to  1627  {Spearing). 

1.  17.  'spectacle',  old  use  of  the  singular  for  'spectacles*. 

89.  Gods  Malediction.    II,  p.  227.     Sermon  XXVI.     See  ante, 

Nos.  8,  82. 


Notes.  257 

90.  God's  Pozoer.  *A  Sermon,  Preached  to  the  Kings  W^^  at 
Whitehall,  24  Febr.  1625.  By  lohn  Donne  Deane  of  Saint  Pauls, 
London.  And  now  by  his  Maiestes  commandment  Published^'  London, 
1626,  pp.  16-18.  This  sermon  was  re-issued  in  Five  Sermons,  but 
has  not  been  reprinted  since. 

91.  Access  to  God.  I,  pp.  500-1.  Sermon  L.  *  Preached  upon  the 
Penitentiall  Psalmes.' 

92.  The  Image  of  God  in  Man.  *  The  Second  Sermon  preached 
before  King  Charles,  Upon  the  xxvi  verse  of  the  first  Chapter  of 
Genesis.  By  Dr.  Donne  Dean  of  Pauls  '  (Cambridge,  1634),  pp.  22-3. 
In  Six  Sermons,  No.  11 ;  reprinted  II,  No.  XXIX.  This  is  evidently 
a  continuation  of  II,  No.  XXVIII,  which  was  preached  to  the  King 
in  April  1629,  on  the  same  text  {Spearing).  For  the  origin  of  the 
idea  in  this  extract,  see  Ramsay,  p.  229. 

93.  Man  God's  Enemy.  II,  p.  372.  Sermon  XL.  See  ante,  Nos.  12, 
17,  67. 

1.  5.  '  as  the  Mouse  is  to  the  Elephant '.  See  Donne's  Progresse 
of  the  Soule,  11.  381-91  {Poems,  i,  pp.  310-11,  and  note,  II,  p.  223). 

94.  The  Atheist.    I,  p.  486.    Sermon  XL VIII.     See  ante,  No.  57. 

95.  The  Angels.    II,  p.  7.    Sermon  I.     See  ante.  No.  10. 

96.  The  Devil.  I,  pp.  65-6.  Sermon  VII.  See  ante.  No.  40. 
Miss  Ramsay  has  collected  many  passages  from  Donne's  sermons 
on  the  important  quesrion  of  the  possible  salvation  of  the  Devil. 
{r.amsay,  p.  210  f.) 

97.  The  Creation.    II,  p.  280.    Sermon  XXXIL    See  fl«r^.  No.  77. 

98.  The  Heavens  and  Earth.  Six  Sermons.  I,  pp.  1-3.  'Two 
Sermons  preached  before  King  Charles,  Upon  the  xxvi  verse  of  the 
first  Chapter  of  Genesis.'  Reprinted,  II,  No.  XXVIII.  *  Preached  to 
the  King,  at  the  Court  in  April,  1629.' 

99.  The  Creation  of  a  Harmonious  World.  Ill,  p.  20.  Sermon  II. 
*  A  Lent-Sermon  Preached  at  White-hall,  February  12.  1618  '  (161 9). 

1.  3.  '  an  Instrument,  perfectly  in  tune  '.  In  his  Obsequies  to  the 
Lord  Harrington  (1614)  Donne  begins  : 

Faire  soule,  which  wast,  not  onely,  as  all  soules  bee, 
Then  when  thou  wast  infused,  harmony. 
But  did'st  continue  so  5   and  now  dost  beare 
A  part  in  Gods  great  organ,  this  whole  Spheare  : 

{Poems,  i,  p.  271.) 

100.  God  and  Adam  and  Eve.  *  A  Sermon  Upon  the  xxii  verse  of 
the  v  Chapter  of  John.    By  D^'  Donne  Dean  of  Pauls  '  (Cambridge, 

2025-3  S 


258 


Notes. 


1634),  pp.  9-10.      This  Sermon  is  No.  V  of  the  Six  Sermons -j    r<« 
printed,  II,  No.  XII.    '  Preached  at  Lincolns  Inne.' 

1.  9.  *  Shall  we  *,  '  Shall  we  not '  in  original  quarto,  and  folio. 

101.  Tbe  World  since  the  Fall.  II,  p.  223.  Sermon  XXVI.  See 
ante^  Nos.  8,  82,  89. 

102.  Silkworms.  II,  p.  143.  Sermon  XVII.  *  Preached  at  Lincoln* 
Inne.* 

103.  Original  Sin.  II,  pp.  187-8.  Sermon  XXII.  '  Preached  at 
Lincolns  Inne.' 

104k.  Original  Sin.  Ill,  p.  183  (Bb  4).  Sermon  XIII.  *  A  Sermon 
Preached  at  White-hall,  April  19.  161 8.* 

105.  The  Heart  of  the  Sinner.  Ill,  pp.  86-7.  Sermon  VI.  Donne's 
first  sermon  at  Court.    See  ante,  No.  87. 

106.  Light  Sins.    I,  p.  164.    Sermon  XVII.    See  ante,  No.  59. 
p.  171,  1.  8.  *  gad  '  is  an  old  word  for  '  spike  '. 

107.  Tbe  Sin  of  Reason.  Ill,  pp.  89-92.  Sermon  VII.  'A  Sermon 
Preached  at  White-hall,  Novemb.  2.  161 7.' 

p.  173,  1.  15.  *  covercling ',  Alford's  emendation  of  *  coveraling' 
in  the  folio,  from  the  old  word  found  in  Chaucer,  '  covercle ',  a  cover, 
a  lid.  But  the  Bodleian  copy  of  the  folio  has  the  correction 
*  concealing  '  in  a  contemporary  hand. 

108.  Delight  in  Evil.  Ill,  pp.  84-5.  Sermon  VI.  See  ante,T^os.  87, 
105. 

109.  Excuses.     I,  p.  390.     Sermon  XXXIX.      *  Preached  upon 

Trinity- Sunday.^ 

110.  Rebuke  of  Sin.  II,  pp.  74-5.  Sermon  X.  '  Preached  at  the 
Churching  of  the  Countess  of  Bridge  water.'  Frances,  daughter  of 
Ferdinand  Stanley,  Earl  of  Derby.    See  note  on  No.  10. 

111.  Names  of  Sins.  I,  p.  584.  Sermon  LVIII.  See  ante,  Nos.  6, 
49- 

112.  Pride.    I,  p.  730.    Sermon  LXXII.    Preached  at  The  Hague. 

See  ante,  Nos.  44,  86. 

p.  181,1.  5.  '  boast  of  their  sinnes '.  Cf.  Devotions,  p.  z^^o.  'There 
are  many  sins,  which  we  glorie  in  doing,  and  would  not  do,  if  no  body 
should  know  them.' 

113.  Covetousness.  I,  pp.  714-15.  Sermon  LXX.  *  Preached  at 
White-hall,  April  8.  1621.' 

p.  1 83, 1.  8.  *  not  thimbles '  in  the  folio.  Corrected  to  '  but '  by  Alford. 

114.  Blasphemy.  I,  pp.  343  -4.  Sermon  XXXV.  Preached  upon 
Whitsunday. 


Notes.  259 


115.  The  Burden  of  Sin.  II,  pp.  193-4.  Sermon  XXIII. 
*  Preached  at  Lincolns  Inne.'' 

WQ.  The  Sinner.  I,  p.  634.  Sermon  LXIII.  *  Preached  upon  the 
Penitential!  Psalmes.' 

in,  7 he  Sorrows  oj  the  Wicked.  I,  p.  631.  Sermon  LXIII.  See 
ante^  No.  116. 

118.  The  Sins  of  Memory.  II,  pp.  462-3.  Sermon  XLIX.  'A 
Sermon  Preached  at  Saint  Dunstan's  upon  New-years-day,  1624.' 

119.  The  Eye  of  God.  n,pp.  336-7.  Sermon  XXXVII.  'Preached 
at  St.  Pauls  on  Midsommer  day.  1622.' 

120.  The  World  Drowned  in  Sin.  I,  pp.  365-6.  Sermon  XXXVII. 
'  Preached  upon  Whitsunday.' 

121.  The  Hand  of  God.  I,  p.  579.  Sermon  LVII.  '  Preached  upon 
the  Penitential!  Psalmes.' 

122.  The  Sick  Soul.    II,  p.  169.    Sermon  XX.     See  ante,  No.  48. 

123.  Sleep.  I,  p.  129.  Sermon  XIII.  'Preached  in  Lent,  to  the 
King.  April  20.  1630.'  This  date  must  be  a  mistalce,  as  Easter  fefl 
on  March  28  in  1630  {Spearing). 

A  few  sentences,  too  outspoken  for  modern  reprinting,  have 
been  omitted  from  this  extract. 

p.  195,  1.  2.  *  thy  metaphorical!,  thy  quotidian  grave'.  Cf. 
Meditations,  p.  44,  '  every  nights  bed  is  a  type  of  the  grave  '. 

1.  5.  *  lobs  Snow  water  '.     See  Job  ix.  30. 

124.  The  Gate  of  Death.  Ill,  pp.  294-5.  Sermon  XX.  *  Two 
Sermons,  to  the  Prince  and  Princess  Palatine,  the  Lady  Elizabeth, 
at  Heydelberg  when  I  was  commanded  by  the  King  to  wait  upon 
my  L.  of  Doncaster  in  his  Embassage  to  Germany.  First  Sermon  as 
we  went  out,  June  16.  1 61 9.'  The  other  sermon  has  not  been  preserved. 
The  Ambassador  and  his  party  arrived  on  June  10  at  Heidelberg, 
the  capital  of  the  Elector  Palatine  (afterwards  King  of  Bohemia) 
who  had  married  the  Lady  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  James  I.  Donne's 
epithalamion  beginning  '  Haile  Bishop  Valentine,  whose  day  this  is  ', 
was  written  for  the  marriage  of  the  Lady  Elizabeth.  {Poems,  i, 
p.  127.) 

1.  4.  '  glad  of  that ',  read  *  be  glad  of  that ".  P.  294  of  the  folio 
ends  *  becaus  he  knows  '  with  *  that '  as  catchword  ;  p.  295  begins 
*  be  that  is  '  with  '  glad  '  as  the  first  word  of  the  second  line.  The 
'  be  '  has  been  printed  at  the  beginning  of  the  first  line  instead 
of  the  second.  It  may  be  noted  that  '  glad  '  is  found  in  Elizabethan 
English  in  the  old  sense  *  be  glad  ',  '  rejoice  ',  but  '  is  glad  '  in  1.  2  is 
against  its  use  in  this  sense  here. 

125.  Our  Prison.    I,  p.  267.    Sermon  XXVII.    '  Preached  to  the 


26o  Notes. 

LL.  upon  Easter-day,  at  the  Communion,  The  King  being  then  danger- 
ously sick  at  New-Market.''  In  1619.  'On  the  28th  March  1619, 
being  Easter  Day,  he  was  called  upon  to  preach  before  the  Lords  at 
a  time  of  great  public  anxiety.  Queen  Anne  of  Denmark  had  died 
on  the  first  of  the  month,  and  James  I,  after  taking  his  leave  of  his 
Consort,  had  gone  to  Newmarket.  Here  he  had  himself  fallen 
seriously  ill,  and  on  the  day  when  Donne  preached  at  Whitehall, 
he  was  reported  to  be  "  dangerously  sick  "  '  (jessopp,  p.  124). 

126.  All  must  Die.  I,  pp.  147-9.  Sermon  XV.  'Preached  at 
White-hall,  March  8.  1621  '  (1622). 

p.  198, 1.  14.  'The  ashes  of  an  Oak  '.  Coleridge  quotes  the  passage 
that  follows,  adding,  *  Very  beautiful  indeed  '.     {Coleridge,  p.  130.) 

p.  199,  1.  13.     'Spittles',  i.e.  spitals  or  hospitals. 

1.  16.  '  when  I  lye  '.  Coleridge  quotes  this  passage  also,  remarking, 
*  This  Is  powerful  5  but  is  too  much  in  the  style  of  the  monkish 
preachers  :  Papam  redolet.  Contrast  with  this  Job's  description 
of  death,  and  St.  Paul's  sleep  in  the  Lord'  {ibid.,  p.  131). 

127.  Death  Inevitable.  II,  p.  270.  Sermon  XXX.  *  Preached  to 
the  Countesse  0/ Bedford,  then  at  Harrington  house.  January  7.  1620' 
(1621).  For  Donne's  friendship  with  Lucy,  Countess  of  Bedford, 
who,  as  Professor  Grierson  says,  '  occupies  the  central  place  among 
Donne's  noble  patrons  and  friends  ',  see  Poems,n,  p.  152.  A  study 
of  the  Countess  of  Bedford's  life,  with  that  of  the  other  ladies  who 
patronized  the  Elizabethan  poets,  would  be  of  considerable  interest 
for  the  light  it  would  throw  on  the  social  background  of  the  age  of 
Shakespeare — a  subject  about  which  we  have  really  very  little 
information. 

1.  2.   '  Ecce%  short    for  '  Ecce  signum*.     P.    201,   1.   5,  *  echoes* 
is  apparently  a  mistake  for  '  ecces  '. 
L  19.  sent,  old  form  of  *  scent '. 

128.  The  Expectation  of  Death.  Ill,  p.  13.  Sermon  I.  See  ante y 
No.  73. 

129.  The  Death-bed.  *  A  Sermon  Upon  the  xliiii  verse  of  the  xxi 
Chapter  of  Matthew.  By  D^*  Donne  Dean  of  Pauls  '  (Cambridge, 
MDCXXXIIII,  pp.  5-6).  In  Six  Sermons,  No.  IV.  Reprinted,  II, 
No.  XXXV,  where  it  is  dated  '  February  21.  161 1  ' — plainly  an  error, 
as  Donne  was  ordained  in  161 5. 

130.  The  Death  of  Ecstasy.  I,  pp.  273-4.  Sermon  XXVII.  See 
ante,  No.  125.  Professor  Grierson  quotes  this  passage,  remarking, 
'  This  is  the  highest  level  that  Donne  ever  reached  in  eloquence 
inspired  by  the  vision  of  the  joy  and  not  the  terror  of  the  Christian 
faith  '.   {Poems,  ii,  p.  liv.     See  also  Ramsay,  p.  260  f.) 

131.  The  Dead  with  Us.  I,  pp.  219-20.  Sermon  XXII.  See 
ante.  No.  2. 


Notes.  261 

p.  204,  I.  18.  'into  another  Land'.  In  1629  Donne  wrote  to 
Mrs.  Cockain,  consoling  her  for  the  death  of  her  son,  '  Since  I  am  well 
content  to  send  one  son  to  the  Church,  the  other  to  the  Wars,  why 
should  I  be  loth  to  send  one  part  of  either  son  to  heaven  and  the 
other  to  the  earth  ?  '  {Gosse,  ii,  p.  261). 

132.  Mourning.  I,  pp.  157-8.  Sermon  XVI.  *  Preached  at 
White-hall,  the  first  Friday  in  Lent.  1622  '  (February  28,  1623). 

1.  21.  'Authors  of  a  middle  nature'.  'A  whimsical  instance  of 
the  disposition  in  the  mind  for  every  pair  of  opposites  to  find  an 
intermediate, — a  mesothesis  for  every  thesis  and  antithesis.  Thus 
Scripture  may  be  opposed  to  philosophy  ;  and  then  the  Apocryphal 
books  will  be  philosophy  relatively  to  Scripture,  and  Scripture 
relatively  to  philosophy.'     {Coleridge^  p.  135.) 

133.  A  Quiet  Grave.    I,  p.  463.    Sermon  XLVL    See  ante,  No.  83. 
1.  12.  'Quillet'.     A  beautiful   old   word,  now   only  in   local   or 

antiquarian  use,  for  a  small  plot  or  narrow  strip  of  land. 

134.  Eternal  Damnation.  I,  pp.  776-j.  Sermon  LXXVI. 
*  Preached  to  the  Earle  oj  Carlile,  and  his  Company,  at  Sion.'  Probably 
after  1622,  when  Donne's  friend,  Viscount  Doncaster,  was  created 
Earl  of  Carlisle  [Spearing).  Syon  House,  Isleworth,  belonged  to 
Lady  Carlisle's  father,  Henry  Percy,  ninth  Earl  of  Northumberland, 

This  passage,  on  the  ground  that  Marston  also  wrote  sermons, 
which  have  perished,  while  those  of  Donne  have  been  preserved,  is 
quoted  by  Mr.  A.  H.  BuUen,  in  his  introduction  to  The  Works  of 
John  Marston,  1887,  i,  pp.  lix-lx.  I  must  express  my  debt  to 
Mr.  BuUen,  for  although  two  folios  of  Donne's  Sermons  had  stood 
for  years  on  my  bookshelves,  it  was  not  until  I  read  this  extract  in 
his  Marston,  that  it  occurred  to  me  that  it  might  be  interesting  to 
read  them. 

p.  209,  1.  28.  *  standing,  and  knocking  '.     Cf.  Holy  Sonnets,  xiv: 
Batter  my  heart,  three  person'd  God  5  for  you 
As  yet  but  knocke.  [Poems,  i,  p.  328.) 

135.  Death  oJ  the  Good  and  the  Bad  Man.  HI,  pp.  217-18. 
Sermon  XV.    See  ante.  No.  18. 

\3Q.  The  Northern  Passage.  I,  p.  463.  Sermon  XLVL  See  ante, 
Nos.  83,  133. 

137.  The  Resurrection.  I,  p.  257.  Sermon  XXVL  See  ante, 
No.  61. 

138.  The  Awakening.  I,  p.  263.  Sermon  XXVL  See  ante, 
Nos.  61,  137. 

139.  The  Resurrection  of  the  Body.  II,  p.  3.  Sermon  I.  See  ante, 
Nos.  10,  95.    In  an  undated  letter,  probably  written  in  1612,  in  which 


262  Notes. 

Donne  wrote  begging  some  favour  of  Lord  Rochester,  he  says,  *  And 
since  good  divines  have  made  this  argument  against  deniers  of  the 
Resurrection,  that  it  is  easier  for  God  to  unite  the  principles  and 
elements  of  our  bodies,  howsoever  they  be  scattered,  than  it  was  at 
first  to  create  them  out  of  nothing,  I  cannot  doubt  but  that  any 
distractions  or  diversions  in  the  ways  of  my  hopes  will  be  easier  to 
your  Lordship  to  reunite  than  it  was  to  create  them  '.  {Gosse,  ii,  p.  23.) 

140.  Tbe  Last  Day.    II,  p.  343.     Sermon  XXXVII.     See  ante. 
No.  119. 

1^1.  Tbe  Day  of  Judgement.  I,  p.  371.  Sermon  XXXVIL  See 
ante^  No.   120. 

1.  14.  *  for  thy  sins  '.    Cf.  A  Hymne  to  God  the  Father^  ii, 

Wilt  thou  forgive  that  sinne  which  I  have  wonne 
Others  to  sinne  ?  and,  made  my  sinne  their  doore  ? 

{Poems,  i,  p.  369.) 

142.  Joy.  I,  pp.  672-3.  Sermon  LXVI.  The  Second  Prebend 
Sermon.    See  ante^  Nos.  9,  20,  41,  80. 

143.  The  Joy  oj  Heaven.   I,  p.  75.    Sermon  VII.    See  ante.  No.  40. 

144.  Little  Stars.    Six  Sermons,  II,  pp.  9,  10.    See  ante,  No.  92. 

145.  Heirs  of  Heaven.  I,  p.  340.  Sermon  XXXIV.  See  ante, 
No.  I. 

146.  Seeing  God.    I,  pp.  230-1.   Sermon  XXIII.     Set  ante, 'No.  yg. 
1.  I.  Speculum.    This  is  an  earlier  instance  of  speculum  for  mirror 

or  reflector  than  the  one  given  in  the  N.  E.  D.  (1646). 

147.  The  Sight  of  God.     II,  p.  117.     Sermon  XIV.     See  ante, 

Nos.  3,  53. 

148.  The  State  of  Glory.  Six  Sermons,  II,  pp.  36-8.  Reprinted 
II,  p.  261.    See  ante,  Nos.  92,  144. 

149.  Immortality.  The  Chelsea  Sermon,  pp.  106-18.  See  ante, 
No.  28.    Reprinted  in  Alford,  vi,  pp.  265-7. 

150.  Knowledge  in  Heaven.  Ill,  pp.  389-90.  Sermon  XXV. 
*A  Sermon  Preached  at  the  Spittle  Upon  Easter-Munday,  1622' 
(April  22).  The  '  Spittle  '  was  the  old  priory  of  St.  Mary  Spital, 
Bethnal  Green,  where  there  was  a  pulpit  Cross,  something  like  St. 
Paul's  Cross,  where  sermons  on  the  Resurrection  were  preached  in 
the  afternoons  of  Easter  Monday,  Tuesday,  and  Wednesday. 

151.  Eternity.    I,  p.  266.    Sermon  XXVI.    See  ante.  No.  61. 

152.  Eternity.  II,  p.  413.  Sermon  XLIV.  ^  *  Preached  at  St. 
Pauls  Cro55<?,  Novemb.  22,  1629.'  'The  preaching  of  this  sermon 
overtaxed  Donne's  failing  strength ;  for  when  Christmas  day  came 


Notes.  263 

he  was,  for  the  first  time,  unable  to  appear  in  the  pulpit  of  St.  Pauls.' 
(JessopPf  p.  200.) 

153.  Eternity,    I,  pp.  747-8.    Sermon  LXXIII.    See  ante,  No.  11. 

154.  Joy  in  Heaven.  II,  pp.  473-4.  Sermon  L.  See  ante,  Nos.  50, 
62,  65. 

155.  Donne's  Last  Sermon.  *  Deaths  Duell,  or,  A  Consolation  to 
the  Soule,  against  the  dying  Life,  and  lluing  Death  of  the  Body. 
Deliuered  in  a  Sermon  at  White  Hall,  before  the  Kings  Maiesty,  in 
the  beginning  of  Lent,  1630  [163 1].  By  that  late  learned  and  Reuerend 
Diuine,  lohn  Donne,  D''*  in  Diuinity,  &  Deane  of  S.  Pauls,  London. 
Being  his  last  Sermon,  and  called  by  his  Maiesties  houshold  The 
Doctors  owne  Funerall  Sermon'  (London,  1632),  pp.  5-6,  9-12,  20. 
This  sermon  was  reprinted  in  the  third  folio,  No.  XXVI. 

p.  239, 1.  2.  *  flesh'.  This  is  the  reading  in  the  folio  for  *  bestee'  in 
the  quarto. 

p.  240,  1.  30.  *  state  '.  *  State  *  is  used  here  in  the  old  sense  of 
*  canopy '.     Cf.  Paradise  Lost,  x.  445  : 

Ascended  his  high  Throne,  which  under  state 
Of  richest  texture  spred,  at  th'  upper  end 
Was  plac't  in  regal  lustre. 


•  The  devices  on  the  hack  and  front  of  the  cover  represent 
Donne'' s  family  seal  {a  sheaf  of  snakes)  and  the  seal  designed 
fot  himself  {Christ  crucified  on  an  anchor). 

To  M^  George  Herbert,  with  one  of  my 
Seals,  of  the  Anchor  and  Christ. 

A  Sheafe  of  Snakes  used  heretofore  to  be 
My  Seal,  The  Crest  of  our  poore  FamiJy. 
Adopted  in  Gods  Family,  and  so 
Our  old  Coat  lost,  unto  new  armes  I  go. 
The  Crosse  (my  seal  at  Baptism)  spred  below, 
Does,  by  that  form,  into  an  Anchor  grow. 
Crosses  grow  Anchors ;   Bear,  as  thou  shouldst  do 
Thy  Crosse,  and  that  Crosse  grows  an  Anchor  too. 
But  he  that  makes  our  Crosses  Anchors  thus. 
Is  Christ,  who  there  is  crucifi'd  for  us. 
Yet  may  I,  with  this,  my  first  Serpents  hold, 
God  gives  new  blessings,  and  yet  leaves  the  old  ; 
The  Serpent,  may,  as  wise,  my  pattern  be  ; 
My  poison,  as  he  feeds  on  dust,  that 's  me. 
And  as  he  rounds  the  Earth  to  murder  sure. 
My  death  he  is,  but  on  the  Crosse,  my  cure. 
Crucifie  nature  then,  and  then  implore 
All  Grace  from  him,  crucified  there  before  ; 
When  all  is  Crosse,  and  that  Crosse  Anchor  grown, 
This  Seal 's  a  Catechism,  not  a  Seal  alone. 
Under  that  little  Seal  great  gifts  I  send. 
Wishes,  and  prayers,  pawns,  and  fruits  of  a  friend. 
And  may  that  Saint  which  rides  in  our  great  Seal, 
To  you,  who  bear  his  name,  great  bounties  deal. 

From  Izaak  Walton's  Lije  of  Donne, 


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In  the  same  Series 

CHARAC^tRS  FROM  THE  HISTORIES  AND 
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Selected  and  edited  by  D.  Nichol  Smith. 

ENGLISH  LYRICS  OF  THE  THIRTEENTH 
CENTURY.     Edited  by  Carleton  Brown. 

RELIGIOUS  LYRICS  OF  THE  FOURTEENTH 
CENTURY.  Edited  by  Carleton  Brown.  Second  edition 
revised  by  G.  V.  Smithers. 

RELIGIOUS  LYRICS  OF  THE  FIFTEENTH 
C  E  N  T  U  RY.     Edited  by  Carleton  Brown. 

FOURTEENTH-CENTURY  VERSE  AND  PROSE. 

Edited  by  Kenneth  Sisam.  With  a  Glossary  by  J.  R.  R.  Tolkien. 

SECULAR  LYRICS  OF  THE  XIVth  AND  XVth 
CENTURIES.  Edited  by  Rossell  Hope  Robbins.  Second 
edition,  1955. 

JONSON'S  'EVERY  MAN  IN  HIS  HUMOUR'. 
Edited  by  P.  Simpson. 

JEREMY  TAYLOR:  THE  GOLDEN  GROVE. 

Selected  Passages  from  his  Sermons  and  Writings.  Edited  by 

L.  Pearsall  Smith.  With  Bibliography  by  R.  Gathorne- 
Hardy. 

METAPHYSICAL  LYRICS  AND  POEMS  OF 
THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.  Donne  to  Butler. 
Selected  and  edited,  with  an  Essay,  by  H.  J.  C.  Grierson. 


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