HONOUR is the World's great Diana, the Idol whereunto it Sacrifices.

There are none of such poor and pusillanimous Spirits, as would not say (at least) with Saul to Samuel, Honour me before the People. Every Man would have a good Name that desires not a good Conscience, the Sinner be­ing ashamed to be accounted what he is not asham'd to be: Absalom having no Virtues to eternize his Memory,2 Sam. 18 18. erects a Pillar, and calls it after his own Name. The Heathens were so [Page 2] drunk with a giddy desire of Ho­nour, that they would be con­tent to exchange their Lives for a dead Statue. Empedocles will Sacrifice his Life to the Idol of Honour, and cast himself into the flames of Aetna; In a word, there is no such flatness and po­verty of Spirit, that hath not one spark of Ambition in him, to aspire to Honour: As there are none but desire it, so few that deserve it; many, they would be great, they will not be good; Glorious, but not Gracious; they would be Honourable, but will not be Holy.

Many would rise to Honour, but they quite mistake the Foot­stool; And seek it rather any where than in Holyness; nay, some think they cannot be Ho­nourable enough, unless Godless. Holyness is posted over to Col­ledges [Page 3] and Hospitals, &c. and thought by some to be fit only for those, that are little bet­ter (as they think) than meer Posts, It is enough, say they, for dry Divines, Men of low and poor Spirits (as they errone­ously judge such) of grave, sub­dued, mortifi'd and retir'd Minds: it is not for them that stand upon their Punctilic's and Tearms of Honour, height of Place, subli­mity of Spirit, nobleness and ge­nerous Disposition: do not most Men glory in their Shame, as most asham'd of that which is the only Honour of a Christian his Crown and Garland? It is Reason that makes us Men, but Holyness Christians; and better no Men, if not Christians. 'Tis the Badge of Christianity that makes us Ho­nourable, for that is the Livery of the King of Kings. The Ho­nour [Page 4] the World bestows is but the Livery the worst sort of People generally give those that commonly pay dear for its trim­ming, must seem their Servants,Cui ser­vire est Regnare. nay indeed be real slaves to their humours that gets into popular applause or worldly preferments, which some think the greatest Dignity. But what says the Psal­mist, that Kingly Prophet, inspired from above, ‘This Honour have all his Saints,’

Holyness and Honour God hath ever knit together with a Chain of Adamant,Psal. 149. 9. a Bond of such in­seperable and individual combi­nation, as that the Oracle from Heaven hath pronounced it, Them that honour me I will ho­nour. 1 Sam. 2. 30. As shame of Sin, so Ho­nour is the natural Off-spring of [Page 5] Grace; As the shadow of the Bo­dy to the light of the Sun, so Honour is always an inseperable attendant of Holiness, like some officious Serviter still at his Ma­sters Elbow. Holyness and Ho­nour, like a pair of Turtle Doves, where you see the one, the other cannot be far; or the two Cheru­bims upon the Mercy-seat, by a reciprocal and mutual prospect continually interview each other. The true Jacob's Ladder, or Stair of Ascent to Glory, is no other than Grace, and the high way to Honour, Holyness: no way to become great but by being good, nor truly honourable, but by be­ing holy, yea even in God's stile, Optimus goes before Maximus, as if God himself, who is essentially great, could not be great, if not good, or not so great, if not so good, or not the greatest of [Page 6] all, if not the best of All.

Only the truly Holy, are the truly Honourable:

1. Because Honour is nothing else but an attestation of the worth and worthiness that is in any Man; whence Aristotle tells us, ‘Honor est in honorante, non in honorato.’

He means the outward perfor­mance of such respective Cere­monies and Complements of Ho­nour, as the worth and quality of the person honoured deserveth.

Now the Spirit of God, the best Herald that ever was, and therefore knows best how to give Names and Titles, never makes mention of the Saints but with Titles full of Honour and Grace; as Abraham, the Father of the Faithful, and God's Friend; [Page 7] Moses my Servant,Heb. 3. 2. faithful in all the House of God.1 Sam. 13. 14. David a Man after the model of God's own heart. Zachary a holy and just Man. John Baptist a shining and burning Lamp: none greater than he born amongst Women. If Achilles were happy, because he had Homer to be the Trumpeter of his Praises, how much more they, that have God himself to be the Blazoner and Herald of their Honour.

It is not unworthy observation how regardless God is of Great­ness without Goodness, Honour without Holiness; such an one was Dives in that Historical Parable in the Gospel shall go nameless; the Spirit of God will not so much as vouchsafe him a Name; there was a quidam, &c. a certain Man, &c. So Jeconiah of the Seed-Royal, and the last of the Kings that [Page 8] ever swayed the Scepter of Judah, God will not do him the honour to give him the length of his Name, but instead of Jeconiah, he cuts off and curtails a piece of it, and calls him not Jeconiah, but in disdain, Coniah. But when God would grace and honour Abraham, Jer. 22. 24, & 28. as if Abram was not enough, he spins out his Name to the full length, and not willing to part with it too soon out of his Mouth, and calls him Abra­ham. Scripture tells us, that Saul Reigned only two years, and yet it is manifest by the Story that he Reign'd more than two Years: what doth the Spirit of Truth mistake in matters of Chronology and Calculation of Times? No, he takes notice of Saul's Reign no farther than he Reigned well; and therefore Saul only Reigned two years, because two years well. [Page 9] The Tribe of Dan, 1 Sam. 13. 1. both in Chro­nicles and Apocalyps, is not reck­on'd: amongst the Tribes: did the Spirit of God mistake his ac­count therein? No! but Dan was the first of all the Tribes, that fell to Idolatry, and therefore unworthy to be honoured with a Name in God's Register.

The World indeed is a very unskilful Herald, and then oft­times graceth when God disho­noureth, advanceth greatness without goodness: But God em­blazoning the Coat of Arms of his honourable ones, only prizeth goodness without greatness, if they be his Saints they are honou­rable. All the Honour that comes from the World, is but like the reflexion of a deceitful Looking-Glass, that represents to the be­holders view, nothing less than the true proportion of the Face, [Page 10] yea happily to a distorted and deformed Countenance, giveth Grace and Beauty. But that is the true Honour indeed, without all stain or taint, that comes down from him, who alone is the God of honour, and therefore alone can give it; He that is from Heaven is above all, and therefore his Testimony is so too; not he who Commends himself is allowed, but he whom God Commends; He is the true worth whose praise2 Cor. 10. 18. is not of Men,Rom. 2. 29. but of God: and therefore Honor si quaeratur, St. Austin. illic quaeratur, ubi nemo indignus hono­ratur.

2. Because they only are the most Royally descended, from the noblest Stock, the honoura­blest Blood that ever the Sun saw, sc. the Blood of Christ: hence it is that they have Styles given [Page 11] them so full of Honour by the ex­actest Herald, the Spirit of God; for is it not an honourable pre­ferment, only to serve him, whom to serve is to Reign? Methinks, saith St. Jerome, when I hear St. Paul begin every Epistle with Paulus Apostolus servus Jesu Chri­sti, he is more proud of this Title, than if he had said, Prefect us pre­torii, aut exercitus Imperiatoris Tiberii; Captain of the Guard, or General of Tiberius his Army. David, tho' a King, was ambi­tious of no greater Preferment in his Service,Psal. 84. 10. than to be a poor Door-keeper: Here Solomon's Servants happy that stood in his presence, and not those that stand continually in God's presence? who is a greater than Solomon? but as if to be a Servant were not honourable enough, he makes us Friends.Joh. 15. 14. Thus Abraham is called [Page 12] God's friend. But as if to be a friend were not honour enough, they are not only admitted to God's Court, but to his Privy Council. Thus was Abraham God's Privy Counsellor.Gen. 18. 17. Shall I hide from Abraham the thing I mean to do.Amos 3. 7. Surely the Lord God will do nothing but he re­vealeth his Secrets unto his Ser­vants the Prophets.Psal. 25. 14. And the Secrets of the Lord are revealed to them that fear him. But as if here were not honour enough, he makes them all Sons and Daugh­ters to himself, and what is it no­thing to be Son and Daughter in Law to a King? but as if to be Sons and Daughters were not ho­nour enough, he makes them his Heirs, Co-heirs with Christ, to share and divide the Inheritance with the natural Son of God, yea such an honour it is to be God's [Page 13] heir, that as each Son is an heir, so an heir to the whole inheri­tance, the whole Kingdom; but as if all this were not yet honour enough he hath drawn us yet nea­rer to him by Marriage, he hath Married us to himself, with an everlasting Covenant. And in that day I will make a Covenant for them, Hosea 2. 18. &c.

And I will betroth thee unto me for ever,19. yea I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness and in judgment, and in loving kindness and in mercy.

I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness,20. and thou shalt know the Lord.

And then the Rule is in Civil Law, ‘Mulier fulget radiis mariti.’

[Page 14] The Wife shines with the Beams of her Husband, the Wife cannot be base where the Husband is ho­nourable; by this Marriage Knot he hath made them bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh, nay parts and members of him, and if one member be had in honour, doth not every member share in it; yea the honour that is done one, is done to each one, be­cause all the members are but parts of and make up one body.

Thus we see how full of ho­nour holy men are, and what glorious things are spoken of them; which made good Theo­dosius, one of the best of the Ro­man Emperors, count it greater honour to be Membrum Ecclesiae quam Caput Imperii, a Member of the Church than Head of the Em­pire.

[Page 15] 3. Because their Attendance and Guard is honourable, no less than a Royal Guard of Angels, like so many heavenly Janizaries to keep them in their ways, that they dash not their feet against stones: so far doth God honour them, that he makes even his Angels themselves those glorious and excellent Spirits,Heb. 1. 7. to be mi­nistring Spirits for their sakes that shall be heirs of their salvation.

4. Their Reward is honou­rable; it is no petty Farm, or minor Cottage, nor inferior Of­fice, nor vanishing dignity, but a Kingdom, and that a Kingdom of Glory, so called to kindle in us a more ardent desire after it: Glo­ry being a thing whereof we are naturally ambitious; what an ho­nourable estate then is this, which is attended with such a glorious reward. It was an unjust Asper­sion [Page 16] that those Hypocrites in Ma­lachy went about to cast on the the Service of God:Mal. 3. 14. It is a vain thing to serve the Lord, and what profit? What profit is there we can desire, that is not to be had in God's Service? whoever ser­ved this Master and went not al­ways away Royally rewarded! other Masters take Servants, but it is as well for their own benefit as their Servants, but God takes his meerly for the benefit and ho­nour of those that serve him, to dignifie them with special Ho­nour. Hence is it we find such glorious things attributed to the Saints in Scripture; they are cal­led Kings and Priests, and Temples of the Living God,1 Cor. 6. 3. Hag. 2. 23 Jer. 22. 24. Judges of the World, yea Angels too: The Signet upon God's right hand: The Apple of his Eye:Deut. 32. 10. His Crown of Glory,Zech. 2. 8. Isa. 62 3. and Diadem in God's [Page 17] right hand. Oh what glorious and goodly things are spoken of the Saints of God? what a happy confluence of Honour attends them at every turn? Such and such Honour have all his Saints.

What is the most that an Earth­ly Monarch can bestow upon his Favourite and Minion, when he sets his Wits on work to honour him, why! to cloth him in Purple and Royal Apparel, to set a Princely Diadem on his Head, to put a Chain of Gold about his Neck, a Ring upon his Finger, to set him in a Tryumphant Cha­riot, with proclamation of the Kings favour; this is all that earthly Caesars can bestow upon their Favourites; But what is this to the Honour of God's Saints, what is the shadow to the sub­stance? instead of fine Linnen and Royal Apparel, they have the [Page 18] Royal Robes of Grace, the Kings Daughter is all glorious within.Ps. 45. 13. They shall not have a fading, but a flourishing; not a mortal, but an immortal Crown, not of Gold, but of Glory; instead of a Chain of Gold,2 Pet. 1. 5, 6, 7, 8. St. Peter's Chain of Heavenly Graces; instead of a Ring they are planted as Rings and Signets on Christ's right hand. And thus shall it be done to the man whom God honours.

And thus 'tis apparent that on­ly the Holy ones are truly honou­rable, the only men that excel upon the Earth.Ps. 16. 3. Prov. 12. 26. They are more excellent than their Neighbours. They are the only men, the men of a thousand; they are as Da­vid's Servants told him,Job 33. 23. worth thousands of others. And it must needs be so, for the Garland of true Honour is only twisted and woven of the Flowers of Spiri­tual [Page 19] Graces, that alone which makes us Holy, makes us Honou­rable, nothing mends the Name, but what mends the Conscience. A holy and a gracious Life hath a far fairer prospect in the Field of Honour, than all worldly advan­tages besides.

A Field of Sincerity, charged with Deeds of Piety, cannot but be accomplished with a Crest of Glory.

The Heathens themselves, that Lighted all their Divinity at Na­tures Candle, whom Saint Peter calls purblind, that cannot see a far off, could say that Honour was the proper reward of Vir­tue.

The Egyptians amongst their Mystical and Hierogliphical Em­blems, painted Honour next to Humility, averring what Solo­mon hath since recorded, be­fore [Page 20] Honour goes Humility. Prov. 15. 33. 18. 12. And the ancient Romans so con­trived their Temple,Honour is like a Pa­lace with a low Door, in­to which no man can enter but he must first stoop. that a Man must unavoidably pass through the Temple of Virtue, before he touched the Stair of Honour.

Thus it stands good both in God's and Man's account, that Grace is the Highway to Glory, and Holyness to Honour. And here I dare be bold to Challenge all Ages and Times, who ever was there, that honour'd God, and was not honoured again. Yea even whilst the Saints live on earth, they want not honour, they are honour'd by God him­self, Angel, Good men, nay by Evil men. Holiness strikes an im­pression of Reverence, even into the hearts of those that hate it, that those that have not hearts to love it, are forced to admire it. Herod Reverenced John Baptist, [Page 21] not because a great or learned, but because a holy and just man; holiness hath such a daz'ling and sparkling Lustre, even in the Consciences of the worst of Men, that they cannot but in their own Bosoms give it an honourable Testimony.

To what purpose then, doth the Wicked Man brag of his House, and Herauldry, derive his Line of Honour from never so noble Progenitors, since God honours him not, he hath not one drop of honourable Blood in him, his Honour is but like some Pillar of Smoke, that vanishes and dissolves of it self, it is but like a blazing Star, the very Mat­ter of it, is nothing else but a gross and Terrestrial Exhalation, that at last perishes with self-ruin. Well may he while he lives com­mand the outward Ceremony, [Page 22] but never the honour of the heart: well may he make a blaze, and shine in the World while he lives, but when his Candle is out, he ends like a Snuff that causes a Noisom Smell in the Nostrils both of God and Man; when he dyes, all his Honour is interr'd in the Dust, his Name and himself is buried together: and at his Fune­ral hath more in Black than in Mourning; and never till then satisfi'd the living so well, as by his dying, they rejoice at his bu­rying, but with this allay of grief, That it was no sooner; never do­ing so good a deed to his Coun­trey before as to leave it.

[Page 23] At the Birth of such Men we ought to mourn rather than at their Funerals, were we but Astro­logers good enough to Calculate the truth of their ensuing ill Con­ditions; but not as the Thracians at the Birth of their Children, because they are born to misery, but because a misery is born to us, and rejoice at their death, not because they are taken from evil to come, but because an evil is taken from us, and those that are to come.

Who then would not endea­vour by their holiness to live the peoples wish, and not by their wickedness their fear, and by their passing Bell to sadden, not rejoice them as for a deliverance. Nay, Jehoiakim, Jer. 22. 19. though a King, shall be buried with the burial of an Ass. Joash shall not have any honourable Sepulture a­mongst [Page 24] amongst the Kings of Judah, whereas Jehoiada, tho' a Priest, shall be buried amongst them, be­cause he had done good to Israel and God's House, but Joash to neither, he had no care to honour God whil'st he lived, and God will not honour him when he is dead. Not all the Balm of Gilead, nor the sweetest Arabian Odours, nor the costliest Spices of India, nor the richest Boxes of Spikenard, nor the most fragrant and deli­cate Perfumes, compounded of the rarest Ingredients, with all the Skill and Art of Apothecaries, or Embalmers, are able to pre­serve a wicked Man's Name from rottenness and putrifaction. Those that honour God shall be ho­nour'd, but those that despise him shall be despised.

'Tis Goodness not Greatness that holdeth out to the last, and [Page 25] therefore Goodness more ho­nour'd than Greatness: When a wealthy Merchant bragged to Lycon, a wise Phylosopher, of the multitude of his great Ships and Furniture for Sea, being able to trade into all parts; the wise man made this answer, I esteem not that to be Felicity which hangs upon Ropes and Cables. Thus when a man is at the last cast, it is Piety and true Godliness, the fear of God, the pleasant Eccho sounding from that Murus Ahe­neus, Brazen wall of an upright Conscience: not Plenty and Pro­sperity, Earthly Honours (which are but transitory) that shall stand a man in stead. The Smoak of a great Man's Sacrifice smells ne­ver the sweeter before God, be­cause he is clothed in Silk, or like the Bird of Paradice, adorned with Plumes and fine Feathers. [Page 26] No! it is the inside that God re­gards; he looks on Man's Obe­dience, requires his Service, loves his Thankfulness, respects his Ho­liness, and will reward his Faith­fulness.

Alas! what is the honour and greatness of worldly men, but empty vanity. It was told to Agrippina, Nero's Mother, that her Son should be Emperour, and that he should afterwards kill his own Mother, to which Agrippina replyed, Occidat modo imperet. Let my Son be so, and then let him kill me and spare not: so Thirsty was she of Honour.

Tell me what are swelling Titles, but as so many Rattles to still childish mens Ambitions? And what is Honour and Greatness in the World! Honour is like the Meteor that lives in the Air, so doth these in the breath of other [Page 27] men; it is like a Gale of Wind which moves the Ship, sometimes Wind is down, a man hath lost his honour, and lives to see himself intombed; sometimes this Wind is too high, how oft have many been blown to Hell, while they have been sailing with a brisk wind of Popular Applause! So that Honour is but Magnum nihil, a glorious fancy, seemingly great, a real nothing, it doth not make a man really the better, but too often the worse: for a man swell'd with Honour (wanting Grace) is like a man in a Dropsie, whose Bigness is his Disease. But Holi­ness is an excellent thing, the true Basis of right Honour. Alexan­der coming with his Army against Jerusalem, Jaddus the High Priest went out of the City to meet him, adorned with his Priestly Robes, an upper Garment of [Page 28] Purple embroidered with Gold, and a golden Plate on the fore side, wherein the Name of God was writtten; the sight was so grave and solemn, that the Empe­rour fell to the ground, as Reve­rencing the Name that was in­scribed thereon. Thus it is that in holiness there is such a spark­ling Lustre, that whosoever be­holds it, must needs be astonished at it: holiness is a beautiful thing, it carries a graceful Majesty along with it, wheresoever, or in whom­soever it is truly and sincerely pro­fessed, so that none but such are truly honourable.

Than surely none shall (or should) be honour'd, but those whom God honours, and God honours none but those that ho­nour him, and none honour him but those that are holy; if a man would be honourable indeed, let [Page 29] him tread the paths of the Lord, for they lead to lasting, ever­lasting honour:2 Chron. 1. 12. In the hands of wisdom is honour as well as wealth.

The wise shall inherit glory,Prov. 3. last vers. &c. be but so wise as to honour him in all the passages of his Worship, and you shall have his Word for your preferment; true honour it comes neither from the East nor West, from South or North, but from above, and there resteth where the God of honour pla­ceth it; therefore seek to be ap­proved of him: who alone is able to set the Crown of true and last­ing glory round your Temples: be but a Saint and you shall be honour'd whil'st you live, but when you are dead much more: Honour is compared to a shad­dow, which sometimes goes be­fore and sometimes follows the [Page 30] Body: so the Houour of the Saints, if it go not before them while they live, it shall be sure to follow them when they are dead. Those that dye in the Lord, Rev. 14. 13. their works shall follow them. i. e. To be rewarded with Glory in Hea­ven, and with Honour upon Earth, when even the Saints of God remove out of the room of this World, they leave a sweet perfume of a good Name behind them, that smells most graciously in the Nostrils both of God and Man: a good Man, tho' he dye childless, yet leaves a good Name behind him, as his Heir; a Name better than that of Son and Daughter. The memory of the just is blessed. Prov. 10. 6. Solomon says not Benedictio adest Capiti justi, in the Singular Number, a blessing, as if some single or scatter'd bles­sing only did befal him; but Be­nedictiones, [Page 31] a Collection and Con­currence of Blessings; and those Adsunt capiti, they are upon the Head; put indeed by an usual, tho figurative form of Speech, for the whole Man, yet import­ing, that these Blessings as they are manifold and various for Number, so are they for their Nature, Eminent and Conspicu­ous. Adsunt, he hath these blessings not in hope or reversion onely, jus ad rem, but jus in re, blessings are upon the head of, &c. even in this life he stands or actually seized, or undoubtedly assured and assertain'd of them: and one of the blessings that be­fals a holy Man, is, that he shall leave a good Name behind him, and that is rather to be chosen,Prov. 22. 1. than to leave great Riches behind him:Eccles. 7. 1. a good Name is better than precious Oyntment. The Wo­man [Page 32] in the Gospel that poured out the Oyntment on our Sa­viour's Head, shall be spoken of where ever his Gospel is Preach­ed, the smell of the costly Spike­nard quickly perished in the Air, but the perfume of that gracious Action shall smell fresh and plea­santly for ever, as a good Poet concludes on the like subject:

Not like Flowers which blossom from the Earth for a day or two, till the heat of the Sun drys up their moisture, (which maintains their beauty) and withers them again into the lap from whence they sprang, But their memory shall spread blossoming in sweet perfumes, which shall not lose, [Page 33] but encrease their beauty and scent in open Air, which the Sun shall not wither, but make to smell the sweeter.

God will never have any to be losers by him, but if they do him the least honor, he will be sure to requite it; yea, they shall receive in this life an hundred fold, and in the life to come, an infinite, an ineffable recompence in Hea­ven.

We see with what a great deal of eagerness Earthly Honours and Offices, rich Prizes and great Places, are sought and persued after: Balaam's Ass ne­ver Gallops fast enough to fetch in Profit and Preferment; set but a Wedge of Gold in sight, and Joshua that could stop the Course of the Sun,Joshua 7. 21. cannot stay Achan from courting and catching at it. And yet what are Riches but the Gol­den [Page 32] [...] [Page 33] [...] [Page 34] Gives, the noble Miseries of this wretched life: and what do they that are set upon them (with the neglect of holiness, heavenly honours, and the wealth of a better World) but prefer the Onyons of Egypt, before the Bread of Angels, paltry Pibbles, before precious Pearls, thick Clay before pure Gold, counterfeit Coin be­fore true Treasure. O see and bewail this so great a folly in your selves and others, and for the future learn to covet Spirituals, to be greedy of Grace, to practice holiness, without which none can be truly honourable. However, the holy ones of God here in this life receive many hard measures, yea, when they live best many times hear the worst. Therefore must we take Virtue with a sweet or sour Breath; 'tis naturally sweet, sour only through the [Page 35] corruption of the Air we live in, being putrifi'd by the infected Lungs of those that are wicked despisers of her, and ignorant of her worth to take Virtue as she is naturally, with a sweet Breath, is pleasanter, tho' with a sour more meritorious: for Regium est male audire cum bene feceris: it is Kingly to be ill spoken of for good Deeds, and whilst we have our Actions warranted by the great seal of Virtue, we verifie the saying of one constant to such.

A well grounded self justificationOvid. 4. fast. scorns the dispraise of the Vulgar, [Page 36] whose commendation is not au­thentick enough to call Persons or Actions good, such infamy hath its delight, and we must be just meerly out of love to it, not for Glory by it, and be content to be ill spoken of for being so;'Tis good for a man to have Praise when he deserves it; but better to deserve Praise when he hath it. few know the pleasure of a well got ill report, but many the pains and pricks of Conscience for the ill getting a good report: That rai­sing themselves by over witting, out reaching and fair promising others, never intending perfor­mance, not being set by God as Joseph, but setting themselves over their elder Brethren. They that place Honour in honorante, honour in the bestower, exile it as well from our care as power. That passage through good and bad re­port, gone through by that great adventurer for Heaven,St. Paul. leadeth to a Haven of such inward rest, [Page 37] as fears not the blasts of mispri­sion, nor the mire and dirt the wicked in their ragings cast up; but can solace themselves in St. Paul's words,2 Cor. 1. 12. Our rejoycing is this, the Testimony of our conscience; that in simplicity, and godly since­rity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the World. And this musick surpasseth all the Gingles of Fame; not that we should slight a good Report, but rather covet it, especially from the best sort of men, i. e. good men; To contemn Fame, is but a security of doing ill: He that would not be thought good, ca­reth not for being so.Tac itus. Contemptu famae, contemni virtutes: He that contemneth a good report, despiseth the goodness deserving it; yet if we miss it whilst our Actions are regulated by the [Page 38] square of Religion and Justice, it is not Arrogance, but well beco­ming Confidence, to scorn the in­jurious World, when it denyeth Merit its due: Let us not be good on the salary of its praise, nor suffer their scorn to spoil good purposes in their conception, by damping our resolutions, or by frights abortive their execution, or smother our joy at their birth. For when God hath once by the hand of Death drawn a Curtain between good men, and the eyes of the World, and remov'd them out of sight, then is every one rea­dy to bless their Memories, and follow them to Heaven with a loud Peal of gratulatory Accla­mations. After death, martyr'd Names, as well as Men, are Kalen­der'd, even to an unquestionable repute of merit, and that in those faithful Registers of Impartial [Page 39] History. The Living may be Tenants at will to reputation: but it is the possession of the dead, and when the Grave dust is flung on our Chronicles, envy it self cannot blur them.

Animis hominum manet, Tacitus of Agricola. in Aeternitate Temporum Fama re­rum. While some are buried in oblivion, others in the memory of men survive even Posterity. This is the condition of us all, evil things we feel them before we fear them, but good things we lose them before we know them: De bonis judicamus a tergo; 'Tis the want that commends the worth of a thing: even those we see by experience, that could not endure the Saints whilst they li­ved, yet when once gone, they never speak of them without a preface of reverence.

[Page 40] Herein do the Saints of God resemble an excellent Picture, or a curious piece, or Cloth of Ar­ras, that looks well when ye are near it, but fairer and smoother when farther off. The wicked are compared to Hawks, of great esteem whilst living, but after­wards nothing worth; but the Saints to tamer Fowls, (often Prey to such Hawks) that are husht away, and little esteem'd whilst living, but after death, brought to the Lords Table. God will look to their honour when they are dead, that so much look­ed to his while they lived. Rather than Moses should not be ho­nour'd, God himself will make his Funeral Sermon; Josiah and Hezekiah, that honourable pair of Kings, how were they honour'd by all Judah and Jerusalem at their death; Such honour have all his Saints.

[Page 41] And if they are so honourable, let us know how to prize them and give them their due; Let us not fear to Imitate the Church in her Ancient Practice herein, the Celebration of our Annual and standing Festivals in the Ho­nour of the Saints; A Custom in the Church from time to time Traditionary, of so long a standing and Antiquity in the Church, that now even by prescription, 'tis grown gray headed and vene­rable. Certainly God must lose a great deal of his Honour, if we bury the Honour of his Saints: Laudate Dominum, saith David, in Sanctis, if God be to be praised in all the Works of his Hands, from the Cedar to the Shrub, from the glorious Cheru­bim to the despicable Worm; is he not to be honour'd in the [Page 42] Saints, those whom he raised up to be horoical Instruments for the propagation of the Go­spel.

But as many things are good in the intent, which are not al­ways so in the event, good in the Institution, not always in the Execution; as there are many things excellent in their first birth and original, which in tract of time gather soyl and rust, and so degenerate from the purity of their first Institution; even so it is with the honour of the Saints, for whilst Men out of too strong a bent and overplus of inordi­nate affection towards the Saints, thought they could never honour them enough, at last they be­came flat Idolaters, turning Cha­rity into Piety, Affection into [Page 43] Superstition, Veneration into Adoration. When the People first met together at the Monu­ments of the Martyrs, (an An­cient and Yearly Custom of the Eastern Churches) to praise God for his Martyrs, at last they for­got their Arrand, and turned their Worship of God into the Worship of the Martyr; at first their Reliques were pretious, at last they grew holy; first the Saints were honour'd, but after worshipped; at first they but commend, but afterwards en­shrined; so hard it is to subsist in a Golden Mediocrity: we ei­ther shoot under, or over; not do, or over do; either not ho­nour the Saints at all, or too much: being right English-men, (too many in this point) never think we mend the matter, till [Page 44] we marr it. God gave the Is­raelites an express inhibition, not to take his Name in vain, at last the Jews, out of a superstitious Reverence, durst not so much as name the [...], the Name Jehovah; they ought not to name him in vain, therefore af­terward they would not name him at all: the Brazen Serpent at first erected by God's Institution, for Historical Commemoration, onely of their delivery from fiery Serpents, at last from Hi­storical Commemoration, it was translated to Religious Adora­tion; so the Saints were first honour'd out of Affection, at last worshipped out of Supersti­tion.

The Persians, in policy, (as Xenophon tells the story) taught [Page 45] their Children to lye and not to lye, but with this distinction, to lye to their Enemies, but to tell truth to their Friends: but Xe­nophon tells us the issue of this Persian Education, their Chil­dren forgot their distinction, and made bold even to lye to their best Friends. So the Roman Clergy teach the People to Wor­ship the Saints, and not to Wor­ship them, so long till they for­get their distinction, and entitle the Saints themselves to the same honour that is due to God; but welfare St. Austin, Sancti sunt honorandi propter immitationem, non adorandi propter Religio­nem. That is the truest honour­ing of the Saints which is a re­turning of their honour to God's greater honour. The Saints that are alone to be honoured in Deo, [Page 46] and propter Deum, must be ho­nour'd without impeachment and derogation of God's honour, to be a follower of the Saints, as they be (or were) of Christ, is the truest Worship of the Saints.

It is most certain, that the Blessed Virgin receives not so much Indignity from her Ene­mies that deny her, as from such her Friends that Deifie her; it is a Sin to give the Saints more than their due, as it is to give them less: to de­prive them of all honour, was the Errour of Vigilantius, and many of this last Age; to give them too much, was first the Errour of the Colly­ridians, and at this day of the Papists, whereby they do not [Page 47] so much honour the Saints, as dis­honour God.

The truth is, we honour the Saints triumphant in Heaven, but we give them only honor Charitatis, not honor Religionis; we give them Veneration, but not Adoration; we honour their Memories, but we erect no Ido­latrous Shrine; we honour them as fellow Servants now glorifi'd, but not as demy Gods half deifi'd; we honour them as Patterns for imitation, not as Patrons for pro­tection; we know no Reliques, but their Graces; we observe their Festivals, by the Anniver­sary Revolutions of the Year, but we dedicate no Days to the Saints, but only to the God of the Saints. What is there no mean in giving honour to the [Page 48] Saints, but we must deny them, or deifie them? Is it not enough to Commend, but we must Adore them? Is there no mean, but we must be either ungrate­ful or Idolatrous, or that we must make them either less than Saints, or little less than Gods? Is it not a dangerous thing to ob­trude that honour upon them, which must needs bring them into Emulation with God; with aspiring Lucifer, to be similes Altissimo? Hath not God so­lemnly protested?Isa. 42. 8. saying, I am the Lord, that is my Name, and my Glory I will not give to ano­ther, neither my praise to graven Images. He that touches the least spark of God's Glory, does he not touch the Apple of his Eye? Of all other things, God and the Throne brook no Cor­rivals. [Page 49] Is it not the general Voice of the Church, Non nobis Domi­ne? Not unto us, O Lord. Do not the Saints in the Apocalips, cast down their Crowns at the feet of the Lamb? And in their Doxology, ascribe all Honour, Glory, Praise, to him that sits upon the Throne? So Religi­ously Tender are they in this Point, that they will not suffer the least of God's Honour to stick to their fingers, but still shake it off with a non nobis Do­mine. Let God have his due above all, and the Saints their due; give unto God the things that are Gods; and to the Saints the things that belong to them: Let the Saints have their due honour, but so that by a ne­cessary reflex and resultance it redound to God's Honour; for [Page 50] else it is no honour to the Saints, to share in their Maker's honour, whose chiefest honour it is with denying of their own, to bring Glory to God.

Thus have we discover'd the true Dignity of the Saints; and if Saints, tho' in Rags, they are rich and honourable, how ho­nourable then are Saints in Silks that are all glorious within and without too, both to Spiritual and Temporal Beholders; that are rich in Graces, as well as Garments; in inward worth, as well as outward wealth; high in God's, as well as the Kings fa­vour; where goodness and great­ness joyn hands; whose outsides belye not the furniture within; that are not like rich Cabinets with empty Drawers, or rather [Page 51] fill'd with filth, or that which they are asham'd to own, tho' not to keep; but are richer with­in than without, having their Caskets fill'd with the richest Ru­bies, drops of Christ's Blood, to adorn their Souls; Repen­tance Tears shed for past Sins, turned into the rarest Pearls; the sparkling Diamonds of Grace set in the Golden Lockets of pure and refined Hearts, having to their Faith, Virtue; and to their Virtue,2 Pet. 1. 5, 6, 7. Knowledge; and to Know­ledge, Temperance; to Tem­perance, Patience; and to Pa­tience, Godliness; to Godliness, Brotherly-kindness; and to Bro­therly-kindness, Charity; St. Pe­ter's choicest Collection of Hea­venly Jewels, which none but a Saint can possess: those that have such Rarities within, (which [Page 52] God himself is delighted in the beholding) and encompassed with outward Riches and Preferments too, are those whom only the Spirit of God can to the full de­clare how glorious and honour­able they are, the finest Rheto­rick too course to see their Beau­ty through, and will rather cloud than shew their Lustre, which can never be truly inspected by mortal eye.

But what shall we say to many of the Gallants of this Age, whose honour hath no other Ba­sis but the Herauld or Taylor, or some Office that gives them liberty to Rant and Swagger in the newest Terms and Mode,It is a base thing to erect Trophies of Honour to themselves, upon the ruins of another's Reputation. who make it their business, if possible, [Page 53] to unsaint others (being such Devils themselves) and bring Holiness into discredit, by scof­fing at and deriding it; but sure it takes with none but what are as of little credit as themselves, who race out Holiness and Saint out of the Titles of Honour, and instead thereof practice Drink­ing, Whoring, Swearing, Cur­sing and Scoffing at the Saints, as Qualities of a Gentile stamp, and think the ascent of a pair of stairs in a Bawdy-house, as neces­sary and equivolent, as those of Virtue, to arrive at the Temple of Honour, and as Authentick, being Licensed by the Imprima­tur of the Times. What shall I say? why thus to such, That God hath blotted their Names out of the number of those that shall possess Eternal Honour, and [Page 54] marvel they are not ashamed to let them remain in the Church-Register, so much to the dis­grace of Christianity; but where shame's laid aside, no wonder they commit all manner of Sin with Greediness and Glory in their shame, brag of their De­baucheries, and would as fain stifle the Repute of Holiness, as they have done the Checks of their own Consciences, scorn­ing that Men of their Parts and Knowledge should be prescribed Holiness by any, nay, even by God himself, being spiced with that Pride that was in Lucifer, and his fellow-aspiring Angels, that made the first Schism and Separation in the purest Church, even in Heaven it self, among the Angels that were wholly per­fect: But let such know, a Dram [Page 55] of Holiness, is above a Talent of Parts; a Drop of Grace, above a Sea of Knowledge: Though in Knowledge we are said to be as Angels of God, yet in Holiness, like God him­self. Therefore so much as God is above an Angel, so much is Holiness above Knowledge, and the more so, because Knowledge may be without Holiness, but never Holiness without Know­ledge: pluck therefore off the Plumes of your Pride and Self-conceitedness, the deplorable Errour of most of our Sepe­ratists, and really is the Pest of the Church and Bane of Re­ligion, which is best preserved in Unity and Humility.

Who then is Wife, and would have his Name, Person and [Page 56] Estate flourish, let him purge himself from Original Corrup­tion, Actual Transgression, by Faith in the Blood of Christ: Shame is the consequent of Sin, but Honour ever attends on Ho­liness; wherefore acquaint your selves with the Ways of Christ, follow his steps, walk as he walked, stamping your Actions in the Mint of Virtue,He that Sails by the Star of Virtue, shall in time land himself upon the Shore of Honour. your Names shall be writ in Heaven, and your Fame be Current, if not in this lower, in that upper Court of Honour, and had in everlasting Memory, while others are bu­ried in Oblivion, yours shall survive even Posterity. If Ho­nour be your Aim, and Holiness the Path that you tread towards it, you shall then indeed be right worshipful, right honour­able; [Page 57] when such as by their Pur­ses purchase Titles, not by their Virtues, shall be base and ig­noble.

Would we have others that we esteem, that are near and dear to us, our Relations and Friends truly Honourable, en­deavour we by our Example and Advice to make them truly Holy, doing as Zacharias and Elizabeth, Luke 1. 6. They were both Righteous before God, walking in all the Com­mandments and Ordinances of the Lord blameless, endeavour­ing to Walk (constantly) in All the Commandments of God (in­differently,) before God (sin­cerely,) and as much as in us lieth, before Men, unblameably.

[Page 58] Teaching our Children the Trade of Holiness betimes, whilst they are Young, that they may not forget it when they are Old, resolving whatsoever others do, that we and our Houses will serve the Lord; that they and us living holi­ly here, may be truly honourable, and eternally happy hereafter.