WHen Apelles was appointed by Alexander to take the pi­cture of the fair Campaspe a captive Lady, he was so in love with her beauty, that his affection mastering his fancy, when he went to work could make nothing of it. In like manner many rare Astists intending to make a Mappe, as it were, of Gods mercies, and mani­fest it unto the world. Did so much admire the matter, that they for­got the form: Finding also by Davids many hundred hills and multi­tude of mountains so often mentioned, that there were Lands not yet discovered, which might in time be found, did also imagine that there might be an America of Gods mercies, or a greater part of them yet unknown which in their Cosmography they could not yet find, and so forsook the work, all crying out, This knowledge is too wonderful for us, we cannot attain unto it. And well might they say so, for Gods mercies being above all his works, where should we find or know the summe of them, unlesse we should seek beyond the — Primum Mobile, where our brains would find a Vacuum. Where­fore omitting his merciful Providence and preordination before the Creation, let us with modesty speak of his mercy since the Creati­on until now. First, the whole earth is but a Salviary or Physick gar­den, in which are as many Salutary Simples as there are several Crea­tures under the Sunne, and as some suppose, not one more or lesse, and that there may be as many Confections made out of them as should cure all hurts, diseases or disasters incident unto them whatso­ever. And as a Spider or a Bee hath found out more vertue in each Vegitable than Solomons universal Herbal ever heard of. So there is not a Butterfly, or the least of any Flyes but hath found out some O­piated quality in each flower whereby they may take their rest and sleep all those eight months in which R. is in, and when R. is out be­gin to fly about again. And hath God such care for his Discecta or despicable creatures as we suppose them, and hath he not more care for us? O let us not be of so little faith, for you shall hear what he [Page 2]hath done for our souls. First, no sooner was there a Serpent that caused man to break the Ordinance of God, but there was a man ordained to break the Serpents head for the breach thereof. Second­ly, no sooner an Adam by whose disobedience came death, but there was an Adam by whose obedience came the resurrection from the dead. Thirdly, no sooner an Eva betraying an Adam, who caus'd us all to be accursed, but there was an Ave the cause of bearing an Adam wher­by again we all are blessed. Fourthly, no sooner a garden in which Adam first offended, but there was a garden in which to expiate the of­fence Christ must be apprehended. Fifthly, as in the garden there was a green tree by which Satans Kingdom was enriched, so near a garden there was a dead tree by which his Kingdom was impoverish­ed, for so at Christs descention the confused company all confessed, crying — Per lignum ditamur, per lignum evertimur. The tree by which man died enriched our store, the tree on which Christ died hath made us poor. Last of all, as by the fruit in the womb all our teeth were set on edge; so by the fruit of the womb that saying never shall be said again. But neerer home, the manifestati­on of Gods mercies hath been most eminent among us, though not deserving the least of them. First, when this Nation was an abomina­tion, when our Goshen was a Golgotha, when our Canaan was an Achel­dama. Secondly, when the Roses of this Relm, White and Red, were not only blasted in the Bud, their Stemme being cut off, but Bud and Blossome, root and branch were to be rooted up. When the house of Danchaster never so illustrious by a judicious and ingenuous Josiah Char. II. the joy of the Church, the incourager of the Clergy, the reviver of Religion was almost lost, when the house of York, never more glorious than by an high deserving and undaunted Dedan D. York. the cherisher of Chivalry, the gallantry of the Gantlet was quite forgot. Thirdly, when the LilyThe Church. of this Land, formerly, as rich as Solomon in all his royalty, taking her sweet repose among the Roses, was now the Lily in the Canticles indeed among the thorns, who with the Nitingale— Spinis cincta canit, being compassed about with calamity, did not dare to tune her notes but in the night, being also in the same condition as was Abrahams Lamb in the bryars ready for a Sacrifice. Last of all, when our Israel had been twenty years vexed very sore by Jabin and Sissera, when in this condition they cryed unto God, being destitute of all help, as this poor Creple was, who had no man to help him; Then God in his me [...]cy sent a blessed Barak D. Albe­marle., a light from heaven, as the word will bear it, to give light again unto our Goshen, where for [Page 3]want of it the people sate in darknesse, and in the shadow of death. He also in his mercy sent a discreet Deborah Madam Jane Lane., an industrious Bee as St. Jerom will have her, to bring sweet honey again into our Cannan, where before there was nothing but Gall and Vinegar to drink. And now as this poor Creple had no help but what came from heaven, so but for these helpers each of us might still have lain languishing, and cryed, I have no man to help me. In the three following points, observe,

• 1. Who this Creple was, an individuum vagum, a diseased man.
• 2. How cured, by Christ, all other Physitians having for saken him.
• 3. Why no sooner cured? Because he had no man to help him.

Diseases as they are divers, so are they dangerous, especially those that are diurnal or diuturnal. First, diurnal, such as Hectick-Fevers, who keeping daily their constant course, & usual hours, and as they are [...], or at an hour. So sometime they happen in an hour and are not holpen in a year. Secondly, diuturnal, such as Sciaticaes, who like wantons, feed upon Jellies got betwixt the joynts, and will not willing­ly change their diet, not easily be ejected; for so the Poet — Sero medicina paratur— Cum mala per longas convaluere moras, though that is not lost which comes at last, yet that is lost which comes too late. Hipocrates doth second the Poet, saying— Morbi s [...]nescentes medendi sunt difficiles— Diseases durable, are hardly curable. In all which diseases, as the Crisis, so the Cresis is to be considered; which Crisis is not the day when one doth feele himself sick, but when he doth— Succumbere morbo, find that he is sick, by reason that the dis­ease had gotten the dominion over him. Secondly, the Crisis is not when— Consuetudi tollit sensum, when custome taketh away the sence of feeling of what is suffered, but when custome being a second nature— Expellas furca licet, will not easily be repulsed, as may ap­pear by this poor man who had been diseased eight and thirty years, and could not be cured but by a miracle. And now as these habitual diseases are in distempered bodies, so are they also in disaffected dis­positions, especially in such claudicants or lame Lourdans, who when they are most diseased, have least care to be cured. First, such are— Claudicantes in officio, lame in their duties, or in their offices; and although I intend not to meddle with Officers either in Court or Countrey, yet I hope it will be no ill office to tell them what Officers there are. There are first Ostiarii, such door-keepers as David de­sired to be one, which was, to be a doot-keeper in the house of God, and he had good reason for to desire it, for then he should be more sure to be Porter of Heaven-gate, than St. Peter; for, — Domus [Page 4]Dei est Porta Coeli: The house of God is the gate of Heaven. Se­condly, Ostiaerii, not that their doors are brass, but that the Door-keepers do desire — Aes alienum numerare, to have some of the money at the door to be their own, and if not, should Christ himself stand at the door and knock, the Door-keepers will have ears, but will not hear; hands, but not as much as heave up a latch, unlesse they may handle what they would have. Thirdly, there are—Pseudothyra, back-doors, with this inscription—Postico falle clientem, if thou seest nothing coming to thee at the fore-door, get thee out at the back-door, and let thy Client knock till he be weary. Fourthly, Feo­dothyra such doors as Aeneas could not have opened unto him until he had given Cerberus a sop, but such door-keepers should be wary in re­ceiving such sops, knowing who it was, that entred into Iscariot so soone as the sop was received. Fifthly, —Bifores valva—Two-leafed doors which are said to move—Argenti limine — hang­ing on silver hooks, shutting also, and opening on silver thresholds; such doors hang heavie on the hinges, and if they be not well oyled, the Door-keepers will out of their affected ignorance mistake the meaning of their honest Masters, for when this is their rule—

Let your door be open to all Petitioners, especially to honest men. The Door-keepers mistaking the comma or point, make also a contra­ry construction, and write it thus — Porta patens esto nulli, clau­deris henesto. Let not your door be opened unto any Petitioner— Salvo feodo, especially to an honest man. So that the feeling of a Pulse may be as proper to a Porter as to a Physitian. There are other— Claudicants which are not Officers, and yet are lame in their offices and duties in a higher degree, and that is in coming to Church to serve God; and such are they who cannot keep the Sabbath without break­ing of the Sabbath, for when on that day our servants and our cattle should rest from all servile labour as well as our selves, and when the seventh day is a feast as well as a rest, yet on that day they must fast and not rest, and all to ease the lamenesse, or rather lazinesse of those who when they come to Church — Spectatum veniunt, veniunt spectentur ut ipsae. Come neither to hear nor to learn, but to see and to be seen. And what shall we see, Reeds shaking and waving with every wind? Or what shall we see, Males and Females,— In mollicie carnis, cloath­ed in soft rayment? But what shall we see, a company of Jacobs party-coloured Kids or spotted Lambs? Yea, we shall see many of your fine [Page 5] Rufilli, who but for their— Pastilli and powders would be Gorgonii. The Poet doth speak it plainer—Pastillos Rufillus olet Gorgonius hireum.— That is, as al the ill-sented skins of those Kids which Jacob had upon his hands and the smooth of his neck would have been offensive to his father, but for the cloths of his brother, whose smell was as the sweet smell of a field which the Lord had blessed. So all their—Essences as they terme them, and other effeminate Odors would be so offen­sive unto God that he would not endure them, were it not for the O­dours and Orisons of holy men, and for those Prayers and sweet per­fumes of their Aarons who are fain to stand betwixt the Porch and the Altar, and cry — Quis teneros oculus mihi facinat agnos— O ye foolish Galateaes, I would say Galathians who hath bewitched you. Now were this wantonnesse in the weaker Sex alone, their weak­nesse might be born with, but when men shall be —Ut faemina com­pti, of the same complexion, and in the same condition — Specta­tum admissi risum tineatis amici. Could you refrain laughing? Yes, but not weeping, for should Democratus himself come into some of our Churches, he would also change his countenance, and turn his smiling into mourning. Thus we may see their lamenesse in coming to the Church, and carelesse carriage in the Church. Which — [...], or lasie gout, the Physicians will tell you that it cometh from Bacchus or Venus, or from both, which being both hinderers of devo­tion, they that are devoted unto them, cannot, as is said, keep the Sab­bath without breaking of the Sabbath; When others, peradventure, not so great sinners as they, although the Tower of Saloe hath fallen on some of them, would be glad that not for pettilasonies, but petty lapses they might have no harder penance imposed on them than to go on foot, yea barefoot as farre unto their Parish Churches, though they were as far distant as from White-Hall to White-Chappel; For they for any offence concerning the Law of their God so that they may be freed from the fiery trial, shall be injoyned a Pilgrimage to travel as far as from Dover to Saint Davids, it being one of the directest Diami­ters of our Land, and above three hundred miles distant; Nay, some­time they must petition their Confessors, that though they do dwell as far as the Orcades from St. Davids, that they may go in their Pilgri­mage twice from thence to St. Davids, that they may thereby save their going once to Rome. For this is their Rule

and that we may learn obedience of them, and yet not be partakers of their Sacrifices, or of their sufferings; you in plainer termes may understand how their sufferings are qualified—

There are another sort of Claudicants or haulters in devotion crept into the Countrey, who scorning to go upon Crutches, or our Com­mon Prayers, as they terme them; are divers times in such pain in producing their — Perissologies or home-spun kind of praying, that their faces are disfigured, as the Pharisees are with fasting, being also in the same condition as the philosopher was, who having a Xanctippe to his wife, said, — Non possum cum te vivere nee sine te, I cannot well live with thee nor without thee. So these Battologists cannot be perswaded to pray in that forme which they are taught, and yet know not well how to pray without it; who presuming also on that saying of our Saviour — Dabitur in illa hora, it shall be given to you in that hour what you shall speak, do not care for an hour together what they do speak when they pray, as appeareth by their speaking; But had they that love unto Christ or to his Church as they do pretend, they would be glad to creep unto him with those Crutches, when well without them they could not go. Now as there is a Claudicancy or lameness in Officio, or in duty, both in slow coming to the Church, and slender serving of God in the Church. So our Sacrifices (which should be without blemish, since they are to be offered in the Church) are divers times lame and defective, both in the matter and in the forme. First, if our sacrifice be of meal, it being the material of many Levi­tical Sacrifices, it must be of the finest of the meal, it must not be Farrago, or course flower, but — Cribro decussa farina— well sifted, well searched, and the purest, for such Abraham provided for the three Angels which came unto him. Next, there must be no mes­seline, maslin or mixture in it.—Mixo barbari — were Mungrils, and not thought fit to be Priests or Sacrificers, neither among the Grecians nor Barbarians, nor are such—Hibrida sacrificia, part­ly Enthusiastical, partly phantasmatical, without premeditation or preparation; proper Sacrifices or Oblations to be offered unlesse on some — [...], or Heathen Altar, but not on any — [...], or Altar of God. Therefore if our Sacrifice be of meal (as is said) Mo­ses must make it ready for the Mill, and St. Paul must grind the grain when it is made ready, for so they agree.

The meal must be ground neither too high nor too low, too great nor too small, for so advantge may be made, and men may take more [Page 7]than is their due, and go beyond their allowance — Mediocria sirma, — Moderation must buswife it, and discretion must order it, and take away all the Bran out of it, — En chema en thora, saith the Rabbi, — If bran be in the meal, it will be as bad as corruption in the Law, or Colloquintida in the Pottage; and we may cry — Mors in olla, There is Death in the Pot, there is Sin in our Sacrifice. So then, whether our Sacrifices are [...], or [...], preparation for the Sacrifice, or the Sacrifices themselves, there must be no mixture, unless it be of Piety with Purity, and so they will be — Libamina, acceptable Sacrifices unto the Lord. Se­condly, If the Sacrifice be of flesh, it must not be of all flesh, espe­cially of mans flesh, for Mummy is an abomination, as I shall tell you anon; nor of fish, and yet we read of no curse they had to hin­der it; nor of birds, unless of Turtels or young Pigeons; nor of beasts, unless of such as chaw the Cud, and that was the reason that seven pair of such were preserved in the Ark, when but one pair of all the rest; nor of those clean beasts at all times, all the flesh, but the best and fattest of the flesh, that as Moses saith,Le. 3.1 [...]. it may be a sweet savour unto the Lord; and this Rule was among the religious, — Sacrum pingue dabo: non macrum Sacrificabo, I will make no feast unto my God, but what shall be of the fattest and the fairest that I have. And from this word — Maza, or fat, all feasts former­ly had their names, as Lammaze-day, Candlemaze-day, and the like; not that they came from the word — Missa or Mass, or dis­mission of the — Catechumeni, such as were not fit to be communi­cants; nor from the Hebrew word — Massah, a morning Sacrifice, which were more proper; but from — Maza — as is said, for Lam­maze-day was a feast of fat Lambs, dedicated to Luperca, that she might preserve their flocks from the Wolf, long before the Mass was ever dream't of; and now because those Lupercalia, Carmenta­lia, Paganalia, and the rest of them were Jubilees and feasts of joy, and because on such dayes the fattest of their flocks they though the fittest for their feasts, therefore Christmaze-day and Michaelmaze-day deserving such feasts, the one for Christ's Nativity, the other for Michael his Ʋictory, have their names from those feasts, as Ea­ster still retaineth its name from the Saxan goddess Eoster, who had her feast before the Resurrection. There is one thing more to be observed in the matter of these Sacrifices, they must be Holocausta, — Ʋictimae integrae aris impositae, perfect, without any imperfection, if but one limb be lacking, it will be a lame oblation; and if all the [Page 8]Sacrifices fatted on Hermon, should fall or be slain on Zion, (or else how could the dew of Hermon, being a low hill, fall upon Zion which was an high hill?Psal. 133.) I say, that if of an hundred Hecatombs but one hoof shall be wanting, they will all of them be but lame Sa­crifices; and therefore Moses told Pharaoh, that of all their Cattel they must not leave one hoof behind, for thereof must they Sacri­fice unto their God. Now as our Sacrifices may be lame in respect of the matter, so in the manner; and although Ceremonies (by ma­ny) are supposed to be superstitious, yet Selemo Jarchi saith that they are — Segil — or hedges invironing the Vineyard; and Solomon saith, If thou take away the hedge, the Serpent will bite thee. So then, Ceremonies not intrenching upon the Prerogative of Sub­stance, may be requisite in our Sacrifices, especially such as shall have any relation to obedience; and if Obedience be better than Sacrifice, as Samuel told Saul, then Sacrifice of necessity must be bettered by obedience; and this is shewed by bowing the body, and bending the knee, both being proper postures for expiating Sacrifices, and where this obedience is not performed, there is the [...], or gout in the knee, or a dead Palsie totally dispersed through an ill disposed body. When Carmenta had not yet invented letters, from whom cometh Carmen, or a Verse, and when she knew not where to write them, but-in libris— the barks of trees, from whence cometh— Liber—a Book, the ingenuous Egyptians did find a way by Hierogliphicks or Pictures, to express their minds in writing the one to the other, viz. a violent man by a Lion Rampant, a vinolent or swilling man by a Swine dormant, a lascivious man by a Goat Saliant, a meek man by a Lamb Couchant, and the like. Among which we find two pro­per for our present occasion. First, Abel and Delborah kneeling at their Sacrifice on both knees, signifying Gods acceptance or ap­probation. Secondly, Cain and his sister Calmana kneeling at their Sacrifice, but on one knee, intimating rejection and reprobation. If God then was so displeased that there was a knee, and not a knee, or but one knee, when two were too little; how will he be offended when at our Sacrifices we cannot afford him one knee, but sit as though we were sacrificing the Sacrifice of fools, and what is fit for the back of fools,Prov. 26.3. you may soon find. When the wise men came with their oblations to Christ the King of the Jews, as they supposed only, [...] saith Arius Montanus, Prostrantes, Procidentes, as St. Jerom and Erasmus, and the Genevaists themselves say, fell down and worshipped; The Original goeth farther, (if it be the [Page 9]Original, as Munster affirmeth it to be) using the Hebrew word Harets, They prostrated themselves to the Earth, and worshipped. What shall wise men think of those that at their Sacrifi­ces and Oblations sit or stand, and neither bow nor bend at all unto the King of the heavenly Jerusalem. This King himself when he was to sacrifice his soul for our sins, though he could neither bow his body, nor bend his knee, being both bound too fast to the Cross, yet at the offering of it up he bowed as much as he could bow, for he bow­ed his head, and gave up the ghost; and this may be sufficient to teach wise men both what belongeth to humility and civility in all our Sacrifices whatsoever. There are yet another kind of Claudicants who are lame in their Benevolences, tributes, or rather retributions, in which they should not be, if they were as they should be. First, Because St. Paul saith, That we have nothing but what we have recei­ved, and therefore on reasonable conditions may more willingly part from it. Secondly, Because Tully telleth us that — Non nobis solum nati sumus, we are not born for our selves alone, and so goeth on, — Partem Patria, our Countrey will expect a part, which part is Constancy in our Countrey-men, who when they travel with the Prodigal into strange Countreys, they should read the learned work of a reverend Divine, called — Quo vadis, that they may know whither they do go, before they go, and be careful in the first place they do not change their Religion, unless it be such a one as some of our new ones are, and then they need not fear, for no man will change with them. Next, they must be so far from Arminianism, that as judicious Zancheus saith, they must be neither Lutherans, Zuinglians, Calvinist, but Christians; and that they may so still continue, they must not read Mariana the Scot, who will have Kings to be deposed, if they be not of his pestilent opinions; nor must they meddle with Molanus, who will have no faith with He­riticks, and yet they that are the chiefest Heriticks, must be judges of the Herisies. And if a Prince shall dislike that which they have a liking unto, nor Loyalty, nor Allegiance shall oblige them to do any thing but what they list, who will also so limit His Prerogative, that rather than He shall be in all Causes, as well Ecclesiastical as Civil, Supreme Head and Governour, they will take off his HEAD. And this is the Practice of Piety which of late hath been brought over into our Countrey, either by such Tutors, or by their Disciples, for want of Constancy at their return; Insomuch that many men knowing what we have been formerly, and seeing what we are now, [Page 10]do admire to see our unconstancy: Gregory the Great looking on some of our English features which were taken captive, said — An­gli quasi Angeli, The English are as Angels; but now our Neigh­bour Countreymen looking into our nature, say, Angle terre bonne terre mauvais gens, England is a good Nursery, but the Nation is ill Nurtured. Nay, so unconstant are we, or rather careless, that we have forgot our own Mother Tongue, for our ancient Language which was — Lingua monosyllabica, a Language of one syllable, may now be termed — [...], or a confusion of Languages, where by putting new pieces of cloth into an old vesture, thinking to make it better, make it worse. For, English of it self without mixture, is not inferiour to any Language that seemeth to be of a higher nature. First, The Hebrew, Siriak, Calde, Arabek, In­dian, Egyptick, Saracen, and all the Oriental Languages, which may be so termed, as well because their letters look Eastward, as that they are Languages of the East, have all dependance one upon the other, and have been corrupted, as appeareth by that Hebrew which was before Esdras, and that which was after him. Secondly, the Illirick, Greek, French, Spanish, Roman, Italian, and all the Oc­cidental Tongues so termed as well because their Letters look unto the West as that they are Western Languages. I say, when in all these Languages there are so many — Sesquipedalia verba, or words of so many sillables, that some of them will make an Hexamiter or long verse. Yet our true English consisting but of one sillable for the most part (as the Hebrew Radixes do of three letters) is so significant, that it may well be termed our Mother tongue, because in one sillable you may finde not only the names of an innumerable company of crea­tures both by sea and land, but their natures also, as hot, cold, moist, dry, and all parts belonging to them, and to our own bodies, as a heart to sigh and groane for want of grace; a hand at hand to help a friend, and give his bread unto the poor, who pine and die for want of it; an eye to weep and send forth tears for time ill spent, when all the time we have to live may not be long enough to repent for the ill spending of it, as hath been said

The men of Ninive hearing that forty dayes should end their dayes, made a Quadragessima or Fast of those forty dayes; not ha­ving one day of feasting in it, unlesse it were — Festum cineris, a feast of ashes, considering how soon to ashes they might be turned, [Page 11]But we with those in the dayes of Noa, eat, drink, marry, and are merry, cast away all sorrow, and yet with Jerusalem, do not know whether the day of our Visitation may not be before to morrow. Now as our English are careless in keeping their Language from cor­ruption, so the true Brittans are as careful to keep theirs from being corrupted; and though the Dialect may differ, yet the Idiom is still the same, and not as much as an iota alter'd since first it was spoken, as appeareth by an ancient Manuscript, being one of David's Psalms written in Welch, and so long since, that we need not inquire for any other Original, it being as likely to be penned by David, and writ with his own hand, as any Psalm made by Moses, Assaph, or any o­ther; some of the words I have set down, and how they do agree with the writings of these times, any ingenuous Native shall be the Judge. Trugarog, a glas-lawn yw'r Arglwydd hwyrfrydic i lid a mawr o drugarogrwydd. The Lord is full of compassion, slow to anger, and of great mercy. Thus we may see, that how careful soever others are, yet we are careless of all such thin [...]s as do concern us, and all for want of constancy. And so we come to Courage, which is the se­cond thing that is required, which must be performed as often as any lawful cause is offered; concerning which Courage, though every man cannot be a — Mucius Scevola — to fly into the fire to save his Countrey from the flame, yet he must not be a — Mecius Cephesies, to sit still and be of no side, when there is occasion of side­ing: And if a man be a Mephiboseth, and not fit to fight, then he must with Nicodemus, come by night and shew his love unto his Lord with such accommodation as may be consonant to his condition. First, when flags of defiance are set up at Sea, when fire and water do strive which of them shall out-rore each other, we must not like cowards, creep into our Cabins, or get within the gable; but with Saint Pauls follow-passengers, every man must be doing something, that all may not be undone. Secondly, when bullets are flying in the field, we must not with the Ephraemites, turn our backs, and run away so fast, that we shall out-fly the bullets; but observe the word of Command given to the Ephesians, — [...], Stand, as a Statue, though the storm be never so tempestuous. And now as our Countrey hath ex­pected her part, so Tully hath appointed the next part for our Parents, to whom we must not with the Hypocrites, cry, — Corban, prefer­ring a feigned Sacrifice before a filial Obedience; but with the Stork, — [...], who when their Dams are aged, and not able to help themselves, do nourish them as they were nourished by them [Page 12]when they were young. But if we will not learn of birds, we may learn of men, Anchises when he was left in the Trojan flames, his son Aeneas did not fear the fire, but ran into it, bearing his father on his back, and bringing him out of it, having more smell of the fire about him than the three children had when they came out of the fiery furnace: We read also of a daughter, who when her father was to be starved in prison, did feed him so long with her breast-milk un­known to his enemies, that her piety at last being perceived, the daughter was praised, and the father pardoned. But many of us are so far from this piety, that we are like those Hippopotami, or savage creatures who are the death of their Sire for the insatiable desire they have of their Dam; or like Aristotles Spiders, or Saint John Bap­tists Vipers, who enjoy their life by the death of their genitors; or else why hath it been said as it is said in St. Matthew — Filius ante diens parrios inquirit in annos, Mat. 21. the children shall rise up against their Pa­rents, and cause them to die. The last part that is expected of us is from our friends, where although every man cannot be a Damon and Pythius, a Pilades and Orestes, a Jonathan and a David. Yet he must be — alter idem — & ad aras, both as one and one unto the end — Unas bodas, in Spanish signifieth a married couple, or a wedding. And though friends have not one body as man and wife have or should have,Joh. 2.1. yet they should have but one soul sympathising both in their sorrows, joys and sufferings. There were in the memory of a man two — Didymi or twins, who as it should seeme, had but one soul betwixt them, for the first-borne was lively, chearful, and fell to the ter, the other lay like a child still-born, having so much heat only that there was hope of life; and in those conditions they both continued about six hours, but when the soul had acted its part with the first-born, she began to enter into the other, and then the first-born began to droop, and the later grew as lively as the former did before, and so continued in their vicessitudes and strange intercourses six dayes to­gether, keeping life and death betwixt them; at last the soul being weary and tired as it were, with so many transmigrations, departed from them, laving them both dead in that order as she gave them life. Such a soul should be betwixt two friends, the one willing to leave his joy, that the other might not grieve; the other to lose his life, that the other might live — Nam sic Eurioli Perithoique fides, such formerly was the love of friends, and such should be their love unto the end. But the love of friends in these our dayes is not unto the end, but for ends. — [...], who hath a friend, hath a [Page 13]treasure, saith Periander; but he might as well have said, he that hath a treasure, hath a friend, for so saith Job, wealth maketh many fri nds, but poverty seperateth a mans neighbours from him. — Meander se­condeth both Job and Periander — [...]. — He that hath a table, hath a friend, but he that hath no ta­ble, hath no friend, and so saith Ben Sirach, Ecclus. 6.10. There is a friend at thy table, but he will not continue in the time of affliction. The birds would never have come unto Abrahams bare Altar, but when the Sacrifice was on, he could hardly beat them off: Where the bodies are, saith our Saviour, the Eagles will resort. Which words, as they have admitted sundry contrary constructions, some of them aluding to what hath been said, so it may admit this one construction more, that is, where bodies are subject unto sin, especially unto that silly sin of self-love, there the flatterers love to flock together. Who, as Carrain Crows, pick out the eyes of rotten sheep while they are yet alive; so the flatterers pick out the eyes of those that love to be flattered, insomuch that they have not sence to see how much they suffer in being so abu­sed, and as in the Epigram— [...]— the Crow and the Flatterer in Greek, as they differ but in a letter, Corax a Crow, Colax a Flatterer, so they differ not much in the matter, both by nature being devourers, the one when a man is dead, the other while he is alive. First, such flattering friends had A­lexander, who being fortunate in all his fights, was perswaded by his Sichophants that he was a God, and begot by the God Amos, and not of Philip King of Macedon; but being afterward wounded in a bat­tel, cried out — Hiccine sanguis — do the gods use to bleed such blood as this? and upon his recovery did banish all flatterers out of his Court, as Urbanus Octavus did all Jesuites out of Rome. Second­ly, such flatterers Ahab and Jehosapha: had, perswading them to go up to Ramoth Gilead, promising prosperity, but Ahab being wounded, found that all the balme in Gilead could not help him. Thirdly, such a friend had Faustus, if any faith may be given to his History, whose name was Mephaustophilus, who made him do more miracles than all Pharaoh his Magicians could do, but withal did cheat him by a Bill of exchange, which was much after this manner — [...]— giving him Brass for Gold, or making him enjoy the pleasures of this World for a season, and then seized on his Soul: But had Faustus looked into the nature of the name of his flattering Familiar, he would have found that — [...]— Mephaustophilus had been no friend to Faustus, no more than ma­ny [Page 14]are, who are Favourites unto many: That friend then that must have such a part as Tully speaketh of, must be such a one who by his Councel may cure all our claudicant and lame diseases. First, Of our Podagra, or Lameness in coming to serve God. Secondly, Of our Genogra, or Slovenly Behaviour in our Sacrifices, or serving God, considering also that the want of the wedding-garment in the Gospel may be want of this our sivility. Thirdly, to cure us of our Chiragra or lamenesse in our hands where by we cannot suppeditate or help those that support us, to whom we should be in our benevolences Rhetoricians with open hands, as Gods hands are open unto us, and nor Logicians, with such clutcht fists and withered hands that— Citius fust um ex manu Herculis— men should sooner wrest a clubbe out of the hand of Hereules, than any benevolences out of our hands that should come either to God or his Vicegerents. We read of a malevolent company of hide-bound members, who prescribing ab­stinence to the appetite, and debarring the belly of its due, within a small time— Paller in ore sedit macies, in corpore toto—their froward faces grew formidable, and each member grew macilent and leane, insomuch that they all looked like Pharaoh his leane kine, as all malicious men will do that pine away with repining at other mens prosperity. Of which Envie thus

Envie, though the most hatefulest sin of all the seven deadly ones, yet she hath one good quality in her—Suppliciumque suum est — she hurteth none but her self; And in such condition are all those who are costive in their contributions and benevolences, especially to those that are their best Benefactors. For on strict examination we shall find that a subject hath nothing that he can properly call his own, but what he hath from his Soveraign. First, it is true, that our Lord­ships do descend from our ancestors, but who doth defend them? doth not the ancient Law? and who doth defend the Law? doth not the King? Yes, nor doth he only defend the Law, our Liberties, our life, but our Religion also, for He is the Defender of our Faith. Second­ly, it is true, that we have our lives from our natural fathers and mo­thers, but what is nature without a Nurse? Kings and Queens are our nursing Fathers and nursing Mothers:Isa. 49.23. and Moses his life was not pre­served by his mother as she was his mother, but as she was the Nurse whom Pharaoh's daughter had provided for him. There was a question among the Moralists, Whether Alexander was more behold­ing [Page 15]to Aristotle, who was his Tutor to instruct him, or to Philip his fa­ther that did beget him? It was held Affirmative on the Tutors side. And thence it will follow, That we are more beholding to Him by whom our Estates are defended, than to them from whom they are descended. Such a Protector of our Estates, such an — Omen, or Foster-Father, as the Hebrew termeth Him, have we, who is a Nou­risher and Cherisher even of His Churlish Children, and well may He be termed an — Omen, who was Destined and Ordained for our Deliverance, when we were left as Perdues in Despair; from whom also we have received so many favours, and by Him do daily enjoy, by Gods great mercy, so many blessings, that we may justly say, — O for­tunatos nimium bona si sua norint — Angligines. — Our Lot is fallen in a fair ground; yea, our Fortunes, by the fruition of Him, are too fair, unless we had — some of us — more grace to con­sider it. Had we an Abimelech, an Usurping Bramble, who would Bathe and Imbrue his hands in the blood of his Brethren, or one, of whom it might be said, — Omnia te adversum spectantia nulla re­torsum — Conspicimus. — We see all Goods come to thee, but no Good come from thee. Than to have said, Nolumus hunc Regnare, This Man shall not Reign over us, had been a Noble Reso­lution: Then to have inquired whether the PƲBLICK-FAITH had any Executor or Administrator, who should secure those Sums which a man should lend, had been in earnest (as one asked in jest) a discreet question: Then with old Piso, to have said, — Parcatur sumptui? — To what end is this waste? had been worth the asking: Then with the ill Neighbour in the Proverbs, to have said, — Non sum, non possum, non libet, esse domi. — I cannot lend to day, come again to morrow, the Answer might have been tolerated; and if the morrow had been less apt to lend than the day, that day had been the better. But when there was a Man sent from God, yea, and by an admired Miracle; when a Cato — Nuper de Coelo. — Newly, as it were, come down from Heaven: when we had a King that sought not our Lives and Estates, but our Good; yea, and more than His own, What good man should think any thing too good for Him? The Jewes, questioning with Christ whether they should give Tribute to Caesar or not, yet when they saw Caesar's Image and Su­perscription, which was, — Augustus augusto Deo: Augustus giveth himself to God; the very sight of the Tribute-money made them silent, and silence gave consent that they should give Tribute unto Augustus, and yet there was never such a Tax as at that time: [Page 16]But we not only do daily see the Image of Caesar, but Caesar Himself, and in that Caesar, the Image of God; yea, and more visibly in Him, than in any other Man, by reason of his Vicegerency; who also is as much dedicated to God, as Augustus Caesar could be; and yet ma­ny of us, not only make a question whether we should give Tribute unto Him or not, but are ready with those foolish Israelites, to give away out ear-rings, and other silverlings, to set up again some gol­den Calf. But if they had ever heard of — Ibice grues, or Solomons birds in Ecclesiastes, the one by revenging the murder of Ibis, the other by revealing the very thoughts of any Conspiracies against a King, there would not be so many Achitophels, or brethren without grace and wisdom, as their names do signifie, who with Ahab ta­king counsel of more than four hundred false Prophets, make Israel to sin, and if not in contriving, yet by consenting, and if not in consenting, yet in conniving, and not preventing all such Plots as should be pre [...]udicial to His Person, or His Prerogative. Pilate did not only wash his hands, as being innocent of Christs blood, although he was a stranger unto him, but used all the means he might possible to prevent it, he knowing, that they who were not with Jehu, were with Jezebel; and what judgments God sent upon Jezebels juggling, in sending forged Letters up and down to have her bloody designs take effect, the portion of Jezreel will inform you, where the very Dogs did scorn to touch those hands of her, that had so great a hand in innocent Naboths blood. But for all this—Ambubaiarum Col­legia: Cotton and his Colledge, Liola and his Disloyalists, Parnel and his Partners in New Englands Conclave, do dayly cry—Nolu­mus Carolum, volumus Olivarum, We will have no Barsabas, no Bar­jonas, Not Him, but Barrabas; and if this were not the language of the Legion, for they are many, why should so many—Epicuri de grege porci, who for want of ringing, lie rooting and digging, as it were, at that dismal dormitary of them that deserved it, and cry with the Malevolent old man— Antigonum fodeo, I would have Mo­narchies Antagonist govern us again; which if it were not so, why should so many men of fair fortunes, dayly foment new Factions to make themselves unfortunate? They that are skilled in the Geo­manticks and Pyromanticks, can tell you that there are strange spirits in them both, Ʋiz. Ʋasago in the one, and Ʋiago in the other. First, In Ʋasago there is—Vas— the vessel of wrath, the head hatching mischief by counsel at home. Secondly, In—Ʋiago there is—Vis, force of Arms, acting violence by the hand abroad; and [Page 17]in what particular places they have been acted, God grant they never may be acted again; and that we may—Parcere personis, & dicere de vitus— not speak of the offendors, but of their offences, this we may safely say, That they have been bountiful in their Benevolences, but —Cui bono, or to what good end we cannot say: for what [...]id the Gi­vers gain by all their great Summes: not a freedom with the Centu­rion, but a thraldom; not their liberty, but a slavery; and this was, because they did not pay their Tributes unto CAESAR, but un­to those that were not CAESARS friends. And now what did they purchase by those large loanes, but a long LENT, and not of six-weeks, but of more than six years? For as Lent was wont to be known by lean cheeks, pale faces, and poor clothes; so in their streets some did appear like. Anatomies, or walking graves, others as walking to their graves, a third sort as newly risen from their graves, multitudes of men, women and children, walking half famished in the fields, all representing the Millinary's first resurrection, only still retaining a few rags. The consideration of which calamities, should make men understand the meaning of the Moralist in that of — Magis carendo, quam fruendo; that is, Good things are never known while they are enjoy'd, and good men best lookt on when their places are void. Aristides some say was banished from Athens because he was— Virtutis verae custos regidus (que) satelles, so just, that men thought themselves injured by his equity; but when Justice was banished with him, then Aristides was a good man— [...], saith the Kiliadist, a Brewes never tasteth so well, as when a man hath nothing but dry bread; and Darius never knew the taste of good drink, but when he drank stinking water out of a dirty ditch; nor did Israel ever know the comfort in having a King, but when there was no King in Israel; for when there was no King in Isra­el, and every man did what he listed, see what they did; Will was then reason, and yet there was no reason in their will, as appeared in that High Court of Justice, or rather horrid Inquisition of Cruel­ty, in which when a King asking whether there was any Court in which Reason might not be heard, answer was made Him by one of the Three Knights of the Road, who lieth buried by the high-way, This is that Court in which Reason shall not be heard. Secondly, When there was no King in Israel, — Dat veniam corvis vexat sensura Co­lumbas — Carrian Crows were preserved, and innocent Doves de­stroyed. Thirdly, When no King—Vivitur ex rapto — Harpies were the only Hawks, and no less than Princes were the Partridges. [Page 18]Fourthly, When no King in Israel,— Non hospes ab hospite tutus, the brother did betray the brother to death; the Land was full of Fratricides, Patricides, and Regicides — Astrea running— E­rinnis reigning, Virtue vanishing, iniquity abounding, and the love of many thereby growing so cold, that it was impossible— Quin la­niant mundum tanta est discordia fratrum— but for the Elects sake, that any flesh should be saved: But for the Elects sake those dangerous dayes were shortned; and as the dayes of the year do begin to lengthen at the Feast of St. Lucy, so when our Light, our Phoebus, our Apollo began to appear, our Halcion dayes began to lengthen; nor as the dayes lengthened, was the cold strengthened, but — Diffugere nives — the hoary frosts of frozen Charity began to flie; — Rediunt jam gramina campis— the store of Corn, Oyl and Wine again encreased, which made us all have chearful countenances, be­cause our hearts were glad. For now our Sun hath passed through all the surly signs of the Zodiack, and beginning with his Declining, He hath escaped Libra, who being weighed in the—Prudential Ba­lance, was found neither too light in His Religion nor Conversation. Secondly, The Scorpion, whose venemous Tail, if it had but toucht Him, He had died for it. Thirdly, The Sagitary, who bend their bow, and shoot their Arrows at Him that is true of heart, even bitter words. Fourthly, The Capricorn, who with his Horn pushed against the Host of Heaven, but in his greatest strength his Horn was broken. Fifthly, The Aquarius who laid wait in all the Sink-ports to surprize Him. Sixthly, The Piscis, the two Fishes, the one the Fleet, the other the Leviathan, who would have had his pastime in the wa­ter, if he could have made his flesh food for the Fowls of the Air, or Fishes of the Sea. But the Trident, or rather the Trientitie who stilleth the raging of the Sea, and the Madness of the People by Provi­dence did prevent it. Next for His Climax, or beginning to arise; He hath escaped the Aries at Gloucester, the Taurus at Worcester, the Gemine or Juncto at Westminster, the Cancer or Crooked Conven­ticles every where, who make Religion Retrograde, and Reward go backward: He is now in Leo, in His full strength, where we pray that

And that nothing may be obscure which should concern His honour, or His happiness, who is the cause of our Conservation, and the oc­casion whereby we are come to pray again with understanding, here [...] Prayer again —

And so we leave Him to His next Degree, to—VIRGO, Ratherina Teresa. where we also pray that the Beloved Son born of the Blessed Virgin, may prosper Him and Her in their Proceedings. And now we come to our poor Criple again, who was cured by Christ, when all other Physicians had forsaken him: which is my Second Part.

When my father and mother forsook me, saith David, the Lord ta­keth me up, not that his father was taxed with [...], or unnatural af­fection, or that his mother should bring the Prophets impossibility to passe, that a mother should forget her children; for David was not for­saken, when he said he was forsaken. First, forsaken he was, left alone to the wide world, as we say, yet he was not forsaken, because his pa­rents forsook the world before they forsook him. So that when he was left alone, he was — Nunquam minus solus, quam cum solus — never lesse alone, than when he was alone. And where it is said—Deus solus — The Lord alone sustained me — Solus—or alone hath relation as well to Davids solitarinesse, as to Gods sufficiency; for Davids father was not by him when he took the Lion by the beard, nor was his mother nigh him when he slew the Bear, and yet he was no more alone than he was when he went to fight against Goliah; for although Eliah and all his brethten left him, yet he had a sufficient Second to assist him, for he told Saul, that the Lord who had delivered him out of the mouth both of the Lion and the Bear, would also deliver him out of the hand of the Philistine. Now as it was well for David that he was not alone when he was alone, having the Lord to help him; so it may be ill with those that are alone, if their help cometh not from the name of the Lord, for they cannot be alone neither, though they are alone. First, the Lunatick in the Gospel was not a­lone, not because there is one beside himself, as some will have it, but because there is one ready to cast him into the fire, or into the water, and then most ready when he is alone. Secondly, a melancholy man is not alone because he is— Aut Angelus, aut Diabolus — he hath a good Spirit or a bad Spirit alway attending on him. Saint Austin had a good Spirit attending on him, when he was alone, or else his—Soli­loquia had not been so full of sanctity as they were. Saul had as bad a Spirit while he was Saul, as St. Austins was good, or else in his zeale he would not have made such havock of the Church as he did. Nor had Saul the sonne of Kish sought to have killed David his best friend, if the Spirit of the Lord had not forsaken him, and a foul Spirit entred [Page 20]in his roome; such a Spirit had Abimilech above named, unto whom the Spirit of hatred was sent, as it is in the—Septuagint, which Saint Hierom termeth—Non Spiritum malum, sed Spiritum pessimum, the Spirit of malice, which is the worst of Spirits. But if a man cannot be alone, why doth the Spaniard say — Guardami Dios de mi, Keep me O God from my self; The reason is, that if he should be left a­lone to his hot nature, and not have grace to qualifie it, he should be left in a sad condition. When a Rabbi saith—Marbe abadim, mar­be gazel— Who hath many servants, hath many thieves, it need not be meant of houshold servants, such as the cozening Steward, or the covetous Gehazi; the one robbing his Master of his Revenue, the other of his Reputation; but of home-bred sences siding with—Epi­thumia, or our natural concupiscence, who as St. Paul saith — [...]— work stratagems against the soul. Secondly, When Christ saith, A mans enemies are they of his own houshold; as the words may be spoken of a reviling Ziphora, or a rebellious Absolon, or the like; so may they be taken mystically of the Wife, which is the Will, af­fronting Reason, which should be the Husband; or of our corrupt affections, or fleshly lusts, which are at such enmity against the Spi­rit, that we cannot please God; which God foreseeing, thought it not good for man to be alone; upon which words Rabbi Nathanael said, —O habrutha, O mithutha, O let me die, rather than be left a­lone to be nurtured by my own nature. And if we should look back unto our—Unde domo—to the Rock from whence we are hewen, or the hole from whence we are digged, we should not much glory in our Genealogy; for should we derive our Pedegree from the anci­ent—Umbri which were before the Flood, and did not perish with o­ther sinners (as Pliny would perswade us) yet unless we could find a former Creation, and an Adam —ex mediori luto— framed of some better mould than hitherto hath been formed, it would be never the better for us, since still that would be spoken of us, which Ezekiel should seem to say —

That we are a froward and untoward Generation, hearing, and not hearing, because not regarding what we do hear, nor considering— Quo tendimus omnes— to what end our destiny may drive us, do divers times come to an untimely end. Travellers who may talk any thing by authority, will tell us, That in a Library in China there are extant some Records of more than Thirty Thousand years antiquity, and [Page 21]that in them we may chance to find a — Proprotoplastus, an Adam before Moses his Adam, and yet that shall be small help to our Ge­nealogy, unless we can find an elder Eve from whom that Adam should be born, if he were not created. But to spare this inquisition, we may examine what those years are, which are multiplied to so ma­ny thousands, and then upon the account we shall find that every month is an year; and so there being in every thousand years twelve thousand months, though their Records should be of forty thousand years antiquity, yet that Adam which Moses mentioned, will be as ancient as any other Adam that may be imagined; St. Luke saith, that there was an Adam who was the Son of God; St. Paul saith, there is an Adam which is the Son of Adam, and the Son of God; and if there should be an Adam before these, then it might be said, — Sic à Jove tertius Adam, that there is one nearer unto God, than either of the two which in Scripture are named, and so St. Paul also might be mistaken in his account, who saith, The first man Adam was made a living Soul, and the last man Adam was made a quickening Spi­rit: And again, The first man Adam is of the earth earthly, the se­cond man is the Lord from heaven heavenly. So then as — Sapien­tum octavus quis fuit nondum constat — the eighth wise man of Greece is not yet found: so that man only must be the man that must find out that Adam who shall be before the first. And all that are descended from him the mean while may say with the Satyrist — Stemmata quid faciant, or rather with David, What profit is there in my blood descended from my ancestors, when I, with those — Puteolani which are near — Avernus, go down into the Pit? And now taking Adam in his — Puris Naturalibus, he is but earth, and this earth of all the four Elements, is the coldest, and thence is it that man is cold in his devotion to God, cold in his charity to man, and cold in all com­fort that should come from him. Secondly, Take him from the A­damant or Diamo [...]d, as some will have him: there he is the hardest, as in the other he is the coldest. So that we are of Ba [...]tus his breed, or descended from Deucalion, or from such stones whereof children should be raised unto Abraham, or from any stone that might be harder than any of these, if there might be any: for — Gutta cavat lapidem — the least drop leaveth some impression upon the hardest stone, but many drops — Se [...]e cadendo— falling often from the eyes of Orphans, can leave no impression on our stony hearts, for if they could, we should cast our bread upon the waters of Mara, even bitter tears of those which at this day do weep for want of it. Third­ly, [Page 22]Derive Adam from Adma, the true Anagram of Adam, which was a City of Pentapolis, as red a soyl as that from whence Adam was descended; for it was a City built on blood; and yet as dry, as the Adamant was hard; for if there had been but one penitential tear in it, even that tear might have quenched the fire, and saved the City, and all the Citizens that were i [...] Adma. So then by the one we are — Genus frigidum, a frozen generation; by the other — Ge­nus durum, an obdurate generation; yea, and so hard, that as Saint Peter saith, And you as lively stones, are made a spiritual building; yet let us talk what we will of edifying, if we have not something to hold these stones together, — Duro conduro non fanno muro — saith the Italian, Hard to hard will never make a Wall. Fourthly, By Ad­ma we are—Genus sicoculum— a dry-ey'd generation: Nor is this drouth confined to our eyes, but it is Hydropically dispersed over all the parts of our body; yea, insomuch that Erisictho [...], whose [...] or hot digesture did devoure more than Bell or the Dragon, or whom St. Peters sheet would not serve for a second course, was not so hun­gry as we are thirsty: Our drouth exceedeth the drouth of Summer, or of the drouth of Synosura, whose Bears about the Northern Pole would drink up the Sea, as some suppose, if they could come at it. Nay, our drouth or thirst is greater than the thirst of Tantalus, who — Quaerit aquas in aquis — suffereth drouth in a deluge, for we are dry while we drink, like unto the Horse-leach—Nec missura cutem nisi plena cruoris hirudo, we being not satisfied, until we be suffocated; And what do we thirst after? not after the Wine, but after the Vine; nor after the Vine, but after the Vineyard: that was it that Ahab sought after, although it were the price of blood. But these — [...], or thirsters after blood, may know, that as drinking in the cold fit of a Fever increaseth the fervor or heat of the Fever. So those whose charity being cold, do long after this cup of cruelty, will increase the heat also of a greater fire. And now all that hath been said, is to shew in what miserable condition man is, where he is left to his own na­ture, grace having forsaken him. Therefore saith Solomon— Ve so­li— Wo unto him that is alone, not for want of warmth only, as in the text, but by reason of the warfare that is betwixt the willer and the worker, where the Spirit is willing, but the flesh, though weak, will not suffer the Spirit to do what he would. The wo to him then that is alone, is not for want of heat only, as in the text, for a man were bet­ter be alone than to have such a companion whereby he may—Calescere plus satis-have wo with his warmth. First, had not Sechem [Page 23]felt the warmth of Dina, Dina might have been still a chast Diana, and not an — indomita invenea—to go a gadding after may-games— quae non inventa reperta est, whom when Jacob found, found that she was lost. Secondly, had not Zimri found the warmth of Cosbi, but had been alone, all had been well; but Musitians can tell you, that — Solus cum sola—is a sweet melodious tune, but the musick is sad, mournful and melancholy withal, and so it was with Zimri, and Cosbi, or else the bed of Cosbi had not been the bloody bath of Zimri, nor Zimries goar had been the grave of Cosbi. So then, a man may be So­lus, but not — Solitarius; alone, but not so solitary alone, but he shall have associates: When Christ was in the wildernesse fasting alone, he was not long solitary alone; for — Silenus quamvis nemo vocaret adest, — Satan came tempting him to eat before his time: Again, when Christ was praying in the Mount of Olives alone, he was not long alone, though in a long Agony; for — Angelus en Christi solatus pectora— An Angel came from heaven comforting him in his agony. So then a man is not alone, when he seemeth to be alone; nor comfortless, when he seemeth to be comfortless; nor forsaken, when some think he is for­saken; for then some would be but in a sad condition. First, the poor are supposed by some to be forsaken when they beg their bread, because David saith, — Nunquam vidi — I never saw the righteous forsaken, nor their seed begging bread; which in a charitable constructi­on sheweth that they are not forsaken, though they beg their bread; for though the word — Derelictum-or forsaken, is not iterated or twice repeated, to avoid a tautologie, or words more than are neces­sary; yet this is the honest meaning of them, I never saw the righteous forsaken, nor their seed forsaken— in begging bread. And if this were not Davids meaning, Why should he say so soone after it, Blessed is the man that considereth the poor and needy, for the Lord will deliver him in the [...]ime of trouble; yea, and God himself will make his bed in all his sick­ness? Secondly, Why should Solomon second David, Psal. 41.1, 2, 3. saying— Qui dat egeno, mutio dat Domino; he that giveth to the poor, lendeth unto the Lord, and he will see it paid again? Nor can I see any reason why our seeming religious men should be so hard-hearted to the poor, un­lesse they be angry, because Christ said, That Lazarus the beggar was in heaven, and Dives the miser was in hell. So then those that are di­stressed, must not be by David thought to be forsaken, for then David himself would be in the same condition. When the Idumii began to rebel against David, and when the sons of Zervia were too hard for him; when the feminine faction, who like Sampsons Foxes, carried [Page 24]fire in their tailes to kindle the coles of contention, and foment the flames of faction and rebellion against him, then— Congregatio tauro­rum in vaccis populorum, not the best of the people, but the beasts of the people, the —Opifices faeces, the spear-men, the fat Buls of Ba­san, the leane kine of the Common, and all the horned heard compas­sed him about, crying, God hath forsaken him, persecute him, and take him, for there is no man to help him. But neither was the good King for­saken, nor his seed forsaken, for— Patrum virtus, the vertue of his Father was visible in his Son, who restored all things that were ruined, both in Jerusalem and in Sion, and grew in favor daily both with God and godly men. Last of all, our poor Creple might seeme to be forsa­ken, being diseased thirty and eight years, but he was not forsaken, for — Medicus & medecina— Christ being his physick and his Physician, did cure him when all other Physicians had forsaken him, saying, Take up thy bed and walk. And now since he is healed, we may have leasure to enquire how he had been healed, if there had been any man to help him, since there are so many opinions concerning the nature of this Bethezda or Lazures bath. First, some will have it natural only, as our waters are, either internal by potion, or external by lotion, which if it were so, there need be no Angel, (unlesse as a Fee) to be a visible Agent to stir the waters, for many are daily healed by the outward water, though few by the inward without any such Agent. Secondly, Others will have this Bath of Bethesda to be accidentally sanative, by reason of so many hundred Sacrifices as were usually washed against their Feasts in that water, where by the abundance of blood and other slimy substances residing as a sediment in the bottom of the Pool, the bathing in it might be as beneficial to a lame man, as the warm belly of a beast which is usual for any man to bath in that is lame; and then as there needed no [...] any Angel in the natural bath, so there must be no Angel in this accidental bath; For if the Angel were a Messenger sent by man as an officer to stir the waters, or to raise up the slimy sedi­ment that the water might be the stronger; then the servant was more to be blamed for doing such servile work upon the Sabbath day than Christ was, wi [...]h whom they quarreled, because be healed only on the Sabbath day: By which we may see, that curious inquisitors attributing more to nature than to grace, seeking to shun Silla, fall into Caribdis, and do as St. Paul saith, fearing Idolatry, commit Sacriledge, who by pulling down the pictures of Christ and his Apostles out of the Church-windows, break them all in such sort, that they make the Sanctuaries of God fit for nothing but to be habitations for Zim and Ohim, Ostriges [Page 25]and Satires, or such unclean creatures as themselves, and yet they that set up those pictures, did not intend to set up Idolatry, or at least Popery, because such pictures were up in many Churches before the name of Pope was ever known. But such curious impertinents may understand that a man may be neither — [...], a worship­per of Images; nor [...], a lover of Images; and yet he need not to be — [...] a breaker of Images. Damascen was a devout man, and loved Images▪ and his retired Cell was hung round with them; yet he was so far from Idolizing or worshipping of them, that he gave this Caution to the contrary.

Not the Picture present, but the Party represented (if any thing) is to be worshipped: there being a difference betwixt — Signum & Signatum — as much as is betwixt the Shadow and the Substance. Suppose that Lots house had been an Inne, and the Angel had been the Sign, the Angel without could not have secured Lot from the rage of the Sodomites, it was the Angel within that pulled him into his house, and saved him, or else he had been pulled all to pieces: so in like manner there must be a difference betwixt adornation, and ado­ration, betwixt adorning, and adoring: A man may adorn his House with Pictures, as Damascen did, and yet neither Idolize them, nor adore them, and if some naked Pictures be among them, which were better absent than present, yet if any idle imaginations should be in the beholders, it is — Ad intus, non ad extra — from within, and not without. First, Had we no way to express our minds but by Hierogliphicks (as is already said) and that we were to shew what Truth were, there would be no way to express it better, than by the Picture of a Naked Woman, she being termed — Nuda Veritas— The Naked Truth, having on her no Vail nor Visard; and if there should be any wandering or wanton thoughts in the Spectators look­ing on such a naked Picture, — Ita concipit intus, would be the cause of it; the immodest motions come from the mind; the fault is neither in the Picture, nor in him who hath the Picture. Secondly, The Motto or Inscription on the Garter, honoured be King Edward the Third, and Giver of the name to the chief King of Arms; when it saith — Honi soit qui mal y pense, Evil to him that evil think­eth, it wisheth evil to none but such as think evil: So that if there were not evil in the thinker, there would be no evil in the wisher. The supercilious Gimnosophists need not to shew their nakedness, but [Page 26]that they have a mind to be naked. The lascivious Adamites may be clothed if they please, but that they love to have their foul, uncome­ly parts to be discovered: A beauty may behold her face in a Glass, yet neither be proud of it, nor with Narcissus fall in love with it; — Non speculum, sed spectrum, it is not the face without, but the phancy within, which doth malificiate and bewitch the imagination; for divers times Deformity supposeth her self to be a beauty, all which is made good by a saying of our Saviour, Not that which is without, but that which is within, doth defile a man. And, if there were not venome in the Spider, he could not make poison of that whereof the Bee maketh honey: Alpharabius, Aristotle, and other Philo­sophers make it a question, Whether the sight cometh by sending forth the Spirits, or receiving in the Species; but this they may af­firm, That those eyes do send forth evil spirits, which make the ob­ject evil, which of it self is good. First, At the Bath —Hic sedit ig­noto juncta puella viro— here sitteth an Adonis, there a Delilah; here a naked man, and there a naked woman, which to a modest mind moveth no more; than when a man looketh on a Mermaid, or a Mer­maid on a man, and if any thought should arise, it should be, That either of them is— Introrsum turpis speciosus pelle decora—so fair with­out, and so foul within, that they need more washing within, than without. Secondly, The beholding of those naked Nymphs, to a religious man, is a representation of the Resurrection, and not only to consider that as we came naked into the world, Rev. 3.18. so naked we must re­turn; but to take care that the shame of our nakednesse do not appear so much, that we may be glad of fig-leaves to cover it, if we could finde them; but if fig-leaves cannot be found, our offences will: for then there shall be no — Latitats or Writs of — Non inven­tus—all must appear, and every man must answer at the Tribunal Seat of Christ, and receive a reward for whatever hath been done in those naked bodies, whether good or evil. When therefore in that Bath we shall see the water, we may not think on wantonnesse, but consi­der that the Sea must give up her dead, and so to have her discharge. When we shall smell the Brimstone, that Hell must give up her dead, and not as the Sea, to have a discharge, but only to shew them, and shut them up again. These should be the uses which men should make of Images, and not to imagine that there must be Popery in them, or in Pictures, for there can be no Superstition or Idolatry in them, un­lesse we make it; For the Image is as you imagine it. According to which imagination, have been the various opinions about this Bethes­da, [Page 27]which can be neither natural or accidental, as is already said, but supernatural, where, an Angel from heaven, and not an Officer sent by men, did make the water miraculous, as other waters in like manner have been made. First, the water turned into wine at the marriage in Cana, neither the drawer, nor the bearer of it was the cause of the al­teration, but Christ or his Angel was the cause of it. Secondly, the water of Jordan of it self could not cure the Leprosie of Naaman, for then the waters of Damascus might have done it as well. Thirdly, Silo having its name from being sent, could not have cured blind Bar­timeas, if some Angel had not been sent to sanctifie it. Fourthly, the waters of Egypt turned into blood, were neither turned by Moses his word, or by his rod, but by that Angel which made his rod to bud, which was as great a miracle, as turning the waters into blood. Fifth­ly, the wine in the Sacrament turned into purer blood, though aliena­ted by the word of the Minister, yet he is but [...], the voice, not the vertue of the Consecration, though after the Consecration it is converted; for the Minister is so far from knowing how to turn it,John 6.55 that he knows not to what it is turn'd, no more than he knows how the bread is turned into Christs body A real presence he may allow, because Christ said, My flesh is meat indeed; but a corporal presence he may not allow, because he was corporally present when he gave the Sacra­ment; Had those words been spoken after his Resurrection, there might have been a question with what body he might rise? whether with an — Ʋbiquitary body or not; and yet it is improbable, that it should be Ʋbiquitary, or in more places at once than in one. First, Christ himself affirmeth that his body was a physical or natural body, which might be seen, felt, and understood,Luk. 24.39. he shew'd it to his Disci­ples, that saw his hands, felt his feet, and by both understood, that it was that body which was wounded on the Crosse. Secondly, that bo­dy was fixed unto the Crosse, not a fugitive or fictitious body, as the Manichees and other mazed men imagine; and what is so confined to any one place, cannot be Ubiquitary. Could Mercury be fixed (as your Chimicks terme it) and still remain Mercury; or could gold be made fluid or subtile, and again be made solid, then that Stone which should make gold, would be feasable, which only is phantastical; and by that stone, gold might be multiplied, which hitherto hath been on­ly diminished. But as neither of these have ever been brought to passe, so Christs body being still the same, and in the state of perfecti­on, cannot admit any alteration, for then it might be subject to cor­ruption, and so the Spirit of God would be contradicted, which saith, [Page 28] Thou wilt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thirdly, Christs body is framed of flesh and bone, and not a spiritual body, as he him­self told his Disciples, and was the same after his Resurrection, as it was in his Passion, and should so much of his flesh be taken from his bones, as is dayly used in the Sacrament; I speak it with reverence, there would be nothing but a Skeliton to sit at the right-hand of God. But that may not be: For he ascended with that body in which he rose, having those wounds on it as were when he was crucified, and shall come again to judge the world with the same body wherewith he both suffered and ascended,Acts 1.11. for so the Angels told those that did see him when he did ascend, saying, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye ga­zing up unto heaven? This man shall come down again from heaven in the same mannner as ye see him go into heaven. Now as we may allow a real, but not a corporeal presence in Christs body; so in the Wine turned into Blood; we must believe, that though the Wine be not turned into Blood, yet we may believe that his Blood is in the Wine, because Christ also said, My blood is drink indeed; and yet we do not read of any Blood that he had lost before the words were spoken; wherefore omitting the multiplicity of opinions, as also the School­mens Praepositions of Trans, Sub, Con, and Super, we may believe that in the Elements before they are made Sacraments, there are some Transi [...]ients transcending the reach of humane reason, but — Quo mod [...]— or in what manner these transmissions are, or in what measure or manner Christs Body is in the Bread, or his Blood in the Wine, I think it modesty not to meddle, but to refer it to Christ, that at his coming he may resolve the question: Yet mean while, this we may say of this Sacred Sacrament.

• He was the Word that spake it;
• He took the Bread and brake it;
• His Body he did make it;
• So I believe and take it.

And he that so taketh it, unless judicious men are mistaken, take this not amiss. Now as there are diversities of gifts by the same Spirit, as saith St. Paul; so there are diversities of operations wrought by such Ministers as God hath ordained by the same Spirit to work his Miracles, for the waters (as before hath been said) have not only been turned into blood, but into fire, and that fire again into water; for — Baptismus fluminis, the Baptism of water, and — Baptismus flamminis, the Baptism of fire, are both one Baptism. First, John baptizeth with water unto Contrition. Secondly, Christ baptizeth with fire unto Remission, as may best be expressed by St. John Ba­ptists own words, I indeed baptize you with water unto Repentance, [Page 29]but he that cometh after me, will baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with sire; The one saying, Repent and you shall be baptized; the o­ther, Be baptized and you shall be saved. Which Aequitollence of contrary Elements, maketh a reconciliation of greater contrarieties. For Nature and Grace being in a Diametrical opposition, the Spirit and the flesh at open defiance one against the other, yet now Grace, by this Baptism, beginneth to supply the defects of Nature, and the Spirit is willing to support the weakness of the flesh — Alterous sic, — Altera poscit opem res & conjurat amicè—the Lyon and the Lamb have lien together; the Cocatrice and the Child have kissed each other. And yet for all this, that Sacred Sacrament of Baptism, which hath reconciled so many Millions of souls unto God who have been separated from him by Original sin, is now, among many, like an old Almanack quite out of date, and set behind the door, both in respect of the matter, and of the form. First, Baptism it self be­ing the Free-hold of the Elect, and such a Patrimony of Grace, that a child may claim his admission unto it so soon as he is eight dayes old, must now be— Ad libitum Domini—deferred until the child be come to the years of discretion; who, if he doth — Paetrisare—or be like the Parents, will be — Ad Graecas Calendas, or never, since there was never any such day in the Kalender. Secondly, For the form: The Font so termed, from being the fountain of grace, is like an old Fabrick, or house of Hospitality, quite out of fashion, and in such disgrace, that a Barbers Bason is preferred before it; which is only fit for a Midwife in a Chamber in a case of necessity, but far un­fit for a Minister in the Church, unless he want a Font or Conformity. In all which—Dum stulti vitant vitia in contraria currunt, we strain at Gnats, and swallow Camels; stumble at straws, and leap over blocks; who fearing Superstition, fall into Judaism, as well in the Administration of Baptism, as of the Lords Supper. First, Why should not the Font, having been so many hundred years used in the Church to baptize children, be as convenient for the same use still (as of late) in a Bason, unless it were because as the blood was in the Ba­son at the Passover, which was sprinkled upon the door-posts, so the water must be in a Bason which is to be sprinkled on the children which are to be baptized. But did we look into the Greek word— [...]— or the Latine word— Immergo— both being to duck under wa­ter, or to dip, signifying, That sin is drowned, and the sinner saved. We would imagin that the dimensions of a bason would be too shallow for so deep a mystery. But as—Dato uno absurdo sequuntur mille, one [Page 30]absurdity granted, you may grant a thousand; So from one Judaisme we fall into so many, that decency and order once laid aside, we shall think that all things are done decently that are done out of order, and so we shall stand when we should kneel, sit when we should stand, and sit at the Sacrament when we should neither sit nor stand, which is also done in a way of Judaism, supposing that the Disciples did either sit or stand when they did receive the Sacrament, or eat the Passeover. But— Lectis discumbentes—was not sitting on their beds, which usually served them for tables, but leaning on their beds▪ & this leaning might be done with more ease if they did kneel, but if they did not kneel, they could not well lean without bending the knee. But well may we dislike the Ceremonies of the Church, when we do not like any thing that is substantial in the Church; for we are alway contending— De lana caprina—seeking knots in Bulrushes, alway complaining, be­cause we have no cause to complain. First, the Altar must not stand Alterwayes, nor the Common Prayer be said at it, unlesse we may al­ter both as we please. But the quarrel against the Book of Common Prayer, is not because there is swearing and conjuring in the Letany; for we can swear, and forswear it again, without any great scruple of conscience, & with Ligatures (if you read Agrippa) so bewitch one an­other, that we need no other conjuration. There is one other thing in the Common Prayers which doth trouble us more than any thing that is in the Letany: We may find that in the Introduction to the Com­mination ordained to be used on Ash-wednesday, that Confession and Penance is much to be desired,Psal. 53 5. which being desired, we may fear that in time it may be required: but to any one so fearing, he may say, — Quid timeam ignoro tim [...]o tamen omnia demens— which David doth English, They were in great fear, where no fear was. Now in this long digression, lest we should forget our poor Creple who is not yet gone from the Bath of Bethesda, I must tell you, that there is one Bath more, in which the Angel must move the waters: It is a Bath of Brine, which is a singular good medicine for any Ache in the body, and as Soveraign for any Agony of the soul; it is not an ordinary brine, but distilled from the Alimbicks of the eyes; and as the Angel stri­king the Rock, the waters ran in dry places; so also he striking or clea­ving our petrated hearts, the tears may make long furrows in our cheeks, but our cheeks are so much smoothed, that no such furrows can be found in them; and tears are so precious, that God was fain to put Davids tears into bottles, foreseeing that he should find but few in future times. But I suppose that the Son of man found some tears [Page 31]in our poor Creples eyes, or else he would have spoken to some of the rest, as well as unto him, when he said —Ʋis sanus fieri— Wilt thou have help? wilt thou be healed? Thou shalt have help, thou shalt be healed, perceiving also that he had lain a long time lame, and was not made whole, Because he had no man to help him; which is my third part.

When men are dying, saith Plutarch, the Lice will begin to leave them, unlesse such Lice as Herod and some other near home had sent unto them as a judgment to devour them. When houses are falling, saith Pliny, the Militia of Mice so termed in Batrocomiama hia, or the furious fight betwixt the Hilander and the Hollander will be upon their march to finde fresh quarters. The reason of the former is, they feeling the blood to grow cold, find small comfort in their longer continuance: The reason of the other is, they feeling the wind got into the rotten holes of the walls, perceive as it were, an Earth-quake▪ in the walls, and think it high time▪ to take their walk: Both which have an allusion to that of Euripides, — [...]— When the Birds are flown, no man re­gardeth the Feathers in the Nest: And when Fortune is on her wing, Friend­ship will soon find wings to follow after. First, If Craesus become Codrus, and Poverty pinch the Prodigal, they both shall be esteemed as they are, not as they were. Secondly, If Dives become Lazarus, Dives must leave his delicates, and be contented to dine with Lazarus among the Dogs. Last of all, When Homer with his Iliads and Odices did fit every man in his humour, then — Smyrna, Rhodos, Colophon, Salamis, Chi­os, Argos, Athenae, seven Cities were in contention who should have him to be their Countrey-man, but if Homer grow poor, his Poems must be turned into Proverbs — Si nihilattuleris, ibis Homere foras — Homer must be no longer a Poet, but a Peripatetick, and walk about the Streets: which fortune hath befallen men of greater note, than have been named. First, When Job washed his paths with butter, and his feet in oyle, by rea­son of his fat pastures, and multitude of milch Cattel depastured in them, then no sooner did he appear, but the young unmannerly Courtiers be­gan to fly to corners; but when he scraped his sores with the Potsherds which the Sabeans had broken, then each boy did abuse him; yea, and such boyes, as he did scorn that their fathers should have eaten with his Shepherds Dogs. Secondly, When David was young and active the Dam­sels danced about him, and sang, Saul slew his thousand, but David his ten thousand; but when David grew aged and diseased, then the Druides, Bards and Bachides abused him in their Ballads, or using his own words, The very Drunkards made Songs of him. Such abusive Bachides do every where abound, whose brains being intoxicated more with wind, than with [Page 32]Wine, do think that the Church, the State, and every mans estate stands tottering, and that all things are turning upside down, when the —Vertigo is in —Vertice, and circulatio est in cerebro, the tottering and turning is not in the house, but in the head; and although the circulation of the blood hath been found out of late as a prety fancy, yet the circulation of the brain hath been long time found out, and not a fancy: which Circu­lation cannot —quadrare, or agree with regularity; for then there would be—Quadratura circuli—which never was yet found out either in Phi­losophy, or in Divinity; for if the world being a circumference, cannot satisfie or fill the heart (as Divines say) being a triangle, how shall a cir­cumference fill a quadrangle, which hath more corners than a triangle? So then as the Philosophers cannot make that round which is square; so nei­ther can the Divines make that square which is round: Of which discor­dant dispositions are those Aethiopian Cynocephali of Lycaons linage, which are sent from Anticera into the Land of Moria, and here are taught to fetch, but not to carry; who will fetch fire from heaven not with Promethius, or a peaceable spirit, but with the sons of Thunder, to consume the Samaritans, and yet will carry no coals themselves: which kind of creatures are derived (as some will have them) from the Greek fire — [...], and the Brittish fire Tan, but they may as properly be deri­ved from — [...], which is a Flint, which Flint is hard and cold, and yet on any collision or affront, will cast forth fire, not only to burn the Sa­maritans, but the Sanctuaryes of the good Samaritan, or as the Psalmist saith, To burn up all the houses of God in the Land: Such are some of A­birams brood, who think that Moses and Aaron, and all the lawful sons of Levi do take too much upon them; supposing also, that any Phae­ton is as fit to rule the day as Phoebus; yet—Finge datos currus quid aget — if he had the disposing of it, what would he do? His History will tell us — Non scit qua sit iter — go he must, yet could not know which way to go: For when a Phaeton had —Jus & moderamen aequorum— yea,—& aquorum— the ruling of the unruly, and government of the giddy both by Sea and Land, what was then Right? the Anagram will tell you—Jus is vis, and vis is might, and might was right, and when might was right, he that was wise would take the advice of Christ, who bid him that had two Coats, sell one and buy a Sword, or else he might chance to have nor Coat, nor Sword: For the Law of Nations was annihilated, our Magna Charta which was to maintain Monarchy, was cancelled— [...]— the Commons did command in chief, [...]. 31. the Prognosticators prophesied lies, and as the Prophet saith, the people delighted to have it so: But if they looked to the end of the Verse, they might have prevented [Page 33]the end thereof. Next, The Law of Nature, which was to nourish the na­tural Branches both of the Olive, and of the Vine, was then neglected, and in their room — I [...]foelix lolium & steriles dominantur avaenae — the Wild Olive and the Sow-Thistle did sway the Scepter. Thirdly,Char. 1 [...] Henere [...] Maria gina. The Civil Law which was to support the honour both of the Subject and Supreme, must not then defend the Court of honour, for fear that the Honourable of those dayes should be dishonoured, and as it was wont to be said — Mors Sceptra ligonibus aequat— Death only did shuffle Scepters and Shovels toge­ther, then the Shovels began to make themselves equal with those Sce­pters that then were, perceiving that there was no inequality in mens qua­lities, for h [...]w could one be better than the other, when they were all alike? Fourthly, The Talick Law was quite laid by, for evil was repaied with good, and good with evil. Fifthly, The Salick Law, if any Law, was then in force. When as a Joanna was John, or an Aaron among the Romans, when Diana was —Dea, or a goddess among the Ephesians, when Delilae was Sampson, or a Judge among the Israelites: So the Masculine gender in general, was less worthy than the Feminine in England. Last of all, That Law which at that time was Law, was not —Jus legis, but jus tempo­ris — not the Law according to Law, but to the Times, which were law­less, and yet that Law was — In (que) diem—for no longer than a day, for what was Law this day, would the next day be out of date: In which times also, Valiant men were cow'd, and Cowards crowed on their dung­hills: Learned men were silenced, and the illiterate had liberty to speak any thing but what tended unto Loyalty; so that he was homo perpaucorum hominum, a man that must be found out by Diogenes his Lanthorn, and not by the light of the day, who had any humility or humanity in his dealing. [...], or self-love was every where, [...], the love of Gods Servants, or of their own Souls, if it were any where, was Raraavis in terris, a rare Phaenix, which seldom of any man hath been seen, since as in St. Pauls time, so now we were [...], such as love to please our selves more than to please God. Nor let any one be so uncharitable as to think, that any man should tripudeate or glory in this our shame—sed pudeat should be ashamed that our glory should be turned into shame. Nor should we impute these our imperfections to any thing, but to Predictions and Prophesies which must be fulfilled. First, To that of St. Paul, who saith, that by reason of distractions and desperate designs, In the last times there shall be dangerous dayes, 2 Tim. 3. the particulars whereof (that I may avoid all suspition of spleen) I refer you to the Text. Second­ly, To that of the Psalmist, where the froward affections of the Aged Creature, or Apolonius his old man regulating our actions, maketh too [Page 34]many of the like condition, for it is said of him — Jiblu abbad tacala­phim, be groweth old, aged, and decrepit, declining to corruption; who being also as St. Paul saith, subject unto vanity and violence, maketh man the object of them both by reason of his influence, in whom there is not only — [...], but [...], not hope, but a serious sollici­tude: who having also the knowledge of the voice (as Wisdome speaketh) doth know that the Spirit of God is as weary with wrestling with mans flesh as he was before the stood, [...]isd. 1. so that not only the creature, but we must expect a fire before we can be refined, and therefore every good man should be a Moses to stand in the gap betwixt his brethren and Gods anger, that it might not proceed any farther; and though he be not so zea­lous as to be blotted out of the book of life, as Moses would have been for the safety of his brethren, yet he should stand in the breach with that reso­lution that — Si fractus elabatur Orbis, should the Axeltree of heaven break, and all the weight of the Wayne fall on him — Impavidum ferient ruinae, he should not fear the fall thereof, hoping that mercy would fall down with it. Every man also should be an Aaron—Duplices tendens ad sidera palmas — holding his hands as an evening sacrifice, and say — Parce pre [...]r fulmenque tuum fera tela reconde, Spare thy people O Lord, spare thy people whom thou hast redeemed with thy most precious blood, and be not angry with us for ever, for, hinc ille lachrimae, here is our misery, that what is amiss will not be amended; it is so revealed unto us, He that is un­just, will be unjust still, [...]v. 22.11 and he that will be filthy, will be filthy still. This is an age not to alienate any thing from worse to better, but from better to worse. The ages fell from gold to silver, from silver to brass, from brass to iron, and from iron to rust. Our Swords which were turned into Mattocks, are turned into Swords again; our Spears which were turned into pruning-hooks, are, as they were. Our souls that by grace were made the vessels of honour, are made by sin the vessels of dishonour. Nor are here the Hercu­les pillars of our impiety; Man will have a — Plus ultra, though he pe­rish in his pride. The Bridge cannot confine our little Coricles, they will shoot the Bridge though thereby they sink: Our greater vessels cannot be kept within the compasse of the Line, they must shoot the Gulf, though they be never seen again. There was a great Gulf betwixt Abrahams bo­some and Dives his dark Dungeon, the passage through which Abraham in his navigation never could find out, but Dives did, or else he never had been, where God grant none of us may be— Gens, humana ruit per vetitum nefas. Man that hath tasted of the heavenly gift, and hath been partaker of Gods favors, will fall away from them so far, that he cannot be renued a­gain by repentance, [...]br. 6.6. not but that he might be pardoned if he could repent, [Page 35]but he shall not find grace to repent whereby he may be pardoned; for al­though graces are— [...], graces in their proper places, graces ascending and descending. Yet no grace descendeth so low as to be found in such a fall. And now for all this falling-sickness is so fatal, and infe­ctious, yet few follow the advice of St. Paul, which is, Let him that standeth, take heed lest he fall; and yet when he is falling, no man that loveth his own quietness will advise him to stand, for man is—Cereus in vitium flaecti moni­toribus asper, as pliable as wax to leave any impression of sin on him, but to take off the impression by perswasion, will be as hard, as to wash a­way the blood of some murder, which is done with so much difficulty, that though it be slubbered over, would appear, as the blood of many murders do until this day. Imperfections of nature are divers times so prevalent in the parents, that their children do fare the worse for them; as when there is any deformity or crookedness in the father, it doth commonly come un­to the child, and there is no doubt but that a child may be like the father in condition as well as in proportion; and seldom also shall we see any ble­mish in the body, but there's some ill condition attending on it. Venus is said to have a mole in her face, which mole did seeme to be a badge of beauty, but they that are skilled in physiognomy will tell you that it is a mark of some ill quality; for Mohal in Hebrew is — litura, or a blot that should fall upon clean paper, and it is to be admired that any beauty should make those blots upon their faces by Art, which they have not by nature, unlesse they would make wise men think worse of them than they are. More­over, we daily see that deformities come unto fair features naturally want­ing no Auxiliaries of Art for augmentation; If we will use Art, it should be to prevent deformity and other misfortunes, and not to augment them. For our Criple may teach us that harms come to us sooner than helps, who had been long diseased, and yet had no man to help him, nor was likly ever to have, having such an adjunct to his ache as may easily be imagined; for if his disease had been the Podagra, the Sciatica, or any lamenesse that might come within the compass of Physick or Chirurgery, they would have killed or cured him within lesse time than so many years as he lay lame. So that it is evident that he did—Magis paupertate quam paralisi laborare— Suffer more by his poverty, than any other infirmity; and this will appear by a president of one that was sick of the like, if not the same disease. He that was sick of the Palsie, and not of poverty, had four men to attend on him, who carried him farder in his bed than the Text doth tell, and were so industrious, or rather audacious, that they did interrupt Christ in his Ser­mon, and brake up the house upon him while he was preaching, which thou durst not have done unlesse they had been well paid for their pains, [Page 36]which could not have been expected of a poor man. But before I proceed any farder, we may enquire why Christ should suffer such disorder and dam­mage to be done to the house in which he was entertained, for the Text saith; That when they had broken up the roof of the house they let down the bed whereon the sick of the Palsie lay. It is answered, that in those hot Countreys their houses were made with Peripats and walks on the tops of them, having decks instead of roofs, as they have in ships. So that the breaking up of the roof was but breaking of a lock at the most; and there­fore Christ perceiving that their faith was great, and their offence small, gave them a — quietus est for the disquieting the house, and a general ac­quittance of all dammages done, with a Noverint universi, that all men may know, that not only — [...], these incivilities, but — [...], all sins whatsoever were forgiven, making good his word by a deed, saying, Take up thy Bed, and go to thy own house: And now that the house in which he was healed, was in the Form aforesaid, shall appear by parciculars. First, Histriones, or Mimick Actors personated whom they pleased on the tops of such houses. Second­ly, Orators pleaded on them as our Lawyers do, according as they are paid. Thirdly, The Expounders of the Law, and such Preachers as then were, preached unto their Auditories. — Vulgi stante Corona, All standing, not one sitting, unless he were a Senator, Suffragant, or some such superi­or person; and that preaching was in that manner, also is made plain in our Saviours words, saying, That which is spoken now in private, shall be preached on the house-tops. [...]at. 10.7. And now also when we shall gather up all the fragments and broken pieces together of what hath been said, we shall find only this, That both were diseased; the one rich, the other poor; one had friends, the other none, and that made him say, I have no man to help me. And how helpless man shall be that is poor, appeareth by a report of an Eccho answering to a voice in this manner — Si offeras pecu­niam — uniam — at si non habeas — abeas — To him that hath it shall be given; but where nothing is, nothing can be expected: And it may be supposed that this Eccho formerly hath found the way even into Solomons Porch, or else why should St. Peter say, when no man said any thing to him, Silver and gold have I none. What hath been in Solo­mons Porch we cannot promise, or what in St. Peters Porch, or in the house is, we cannot say, because it hath been said that there — Venalia sunt omnia, [...] Lamb [...] the [...]se, W. [...]on, [...]nt. — such sinnes are venial, but this we may say, That no such thing is in the Porch of St. Paul, nor in the house, nor in the house of the Lamb, or concerning the Lamb of the house, nor in our Solomons Porch, or any thing reflecting upon the Person of Solomons [Page 37]For, he is not a receiver, but a giver — Nec dat quia abundat, nor doth he give out of his abundance, as they did which cast into the Treasury, but rather with the poor Widow, who giveth all that he hath, and more too: For it is well known, that he hath been fain to borrow the very gold, Those outward and visible signs of that invisible grace which God hath given unto him, to give unto those many thousands of diseased souls whom he hath cured. And it is to be wished, that if ever Jove should descend again in golden showers into the lap of any one, it might be into his, who hath so bountifully bestowed it, and where so great a blessing is given unto all those on whom it is bestowed: In which course of curing he followeth the pra­ctice of Aesculapius, or his Tutor Christ, who looketh not on the [...], or cause why one is sick, but on the [...], considering only that he is sick. A Physitian may search into the nature of the disease, that if it cometh by [...], or fulness, it may be cured by [...], abstinence or emptiness, but if he enquire after the Pourquoy, or cause why he is sick, that is Ultra Crepidam, beyond his Crisis or inquisition. Socrates being blamed for gi­ving an Alms unto a wanderer, his answer was, I look upon his want, not on his wandering. When Christ cured Bartimeus of his blindness, he did not with the Pharisees, question whether it came by original or actual sin, but said unto him, Receive thy sight. It is true, that sickness and diseases are the sequels of sin; and that is the reason why our Saviour was never sick, because he could not sin — Nil ille nec ausus — Nec potuit patrare nefas; and if his Omnipotency failed in any thing, it was because he could not sin, and yet it doth not follow, that the greatest sinners are most sickly, for then Phy­sicians would have so many Patients, that it might well be said — Dat Gale­nus opes, let him that would be rich, be a Physician, for who would then be so rich and opulent as they? And now if you should think it strange that this our poor Creple should lie eight and thirty years, and have no man to help him? It is answered, That he did not lie all that while at Bethesda, but that it hapned to him as unto the woman which had the bloody issue, who spent all that she had among Physicians, as many have done, and are rather worse than better: So that he made the Bath his —Ʋltimum refugi­um, or last refuge to fly unto, and it was well for him that he had this re­fuge: For as every disease is a Scurge, and every Scurge is — Plaga— or a Plague; so many have been scurged and plagued, and yet not so soon cu­red as this Creple was. First, The Jews that dwelled in India, delighting in Mummi, or mans flesh, because they might not eat Swines flesh, were plagued with the — Mark of the Beast, that — Lues veneria, or the ve­rola, which Disease, though it were long before it came into our Land, yet it came to some purpose at the last. Secondly, The Philistines for being [Page 38]too bold with the Ark of God, were plagued with Emralds and Mice in their hinder parts with a perpetual shame, so that not cured at all. Third­ly. Pharaoh and his family had ten plagues sent unto them, for making Moses and Aaron to attend on them, wh [...]n they should have attended on their God, as here in brief:

First, Tears of compassion turned to bloody execution. Secondly, Bu­fones, venomous beasts billited in the Kings Chambers. Thirdly, Back­biters, noysome creatures creeping up and down in every corner. Fourth­ly, Tarantula, the troublesome Fly making men sottish and mopish, and yet not enduting melody and harmony, the only means to help them. Fifthly, The Plague of Jelosies, and fears frighting men and women out of that little wit they had. Sixthly, Blaines and blemishes upon the repu­tation of honest men, and botches and Buboes upon the beasts that did a­buse them. Seventhly, Fire and hail, fiery Zeal and frozen Charity running together, grievous to behold. Eighthly, Locusts, not Bishops, Doctors and all learned men taking degrees in any University, as it is in the Geneva note, but Genevaists themselves, who did eat up all the good in the Land. Ninthly, Darkness, Error, Ignorance, even in the Directories which should lead unto the light. Last of all, No elder brother in any house which was not dead in duty either to Father or Mother, Nursing or Natural. These are the ten Plagues which were in Egypt, yea and in our Israel when it was Egypt, and Pharaoh had the governing of it. All which were to teach us that God doth punish our offences with the Rod, and our sins with Scurges, so that according to the quality of our sin, there will be, as we may say, the quantity of our punishment. First, Those transgressions which are in — Transitu, or in passing to and fro, shall not have punishments answera­ble to those that are in — Tentoriis, in the Tents of the ungodly. Second­ly, They that walk in the counsel of the wicked, who turn and return, as Ca­to going in to the Senate to come out again, are not so great offenders, as they that stand in the way of sinners. Thirdly, Those that stand in the way of sinners are not so much to be blamed, as they that sit and set up their rest in the seat of Scorners, for the Chair-men deserve the chiefest scurging. There was one Scurge, or one Plague more in Egypt, which hath not yet been mentioned: Those — Urinatores, or divers under water, who, as Da­vid saith, be Gods wonders in the Deep, do find that there is one wave in the Sea, which is more dangerous and obnoxious to Mariners than any o­ther, [Page] [Page] [Page 39]and it is thus described — Posterior nono est, undecimo (que) prior — it cometh after the ninth wave, and is before the eleventh, which must be the tenth, but the greatest Plague in Egypt was neither the ninth, nor the tenth, but the eleventh — Quae venit haec pestis pestes supereminet omnes; for it comes like an After-reckoning, which vexeth one more than the to­tal sum of all the particulars. And though — Decimation was the last of our Egyptian plagues while our Israel was Egypt, as is already said; yet if that Plague by Providence had not been prevented from farther proceeding, there would have been nothing left to be Decimated, for we should have been robbed or spoiled, as the Egyptians were, who making a Bridge of gold for their enemies to pass over, left not a penny in their purse; and not to trouble you with the Hebrew, the Spanish Text saith, They lent to Israel, — Ʋasos de plata, y vasos de oro y vestidos —not only their money, but their plate and their apparel, and so brought on themselves the plague of Poverty, which was the plague Paramount of all plagues. When the Fa­mine was in Canaan, they had money in their Sacks to buy food in Egypt; but the Famine being in Egypt, and having no money, nor plate, nor ap­parel to pawn, there would be cold comfort in coming to Canaan, or in­to any other Countrey. In this condition was this Creple, who being sick of this poverty, shall neither, as David saith, have kindred or acquaintance come near him, but stand afar off.Psa. 38. [...] They see the Crosse upon the door with­out, but not a Crosse within; they see the superscription over the Cross, [...], Lord have mercy upon us; But if it were not for him, whose Superscription Pilate set on his Crosse, there would be no Lord, nor any other man to help them; and that which is worst of all, when the Plague­sore breaketh, there is hope of recovery; but when this sore breaketh, there is no recovery. This is that — Ingens telum, as the Adage termeth it, That breaketh not men, but battereth down Batteries, and with the help of hunger, breaketh through stone-walls: And although this is not alway true, That — Necessitas cogit ad turpia; Necessity should make noble Spirits to conspire with any ignoble actions; yet this is true, That — Dura ae­gestas Spiritus altos domans. — Insuet a facere cogit. Necessity sometime goeth beyond the bounds of Civility; and David when he was hungry, was more bold with Abiathars bread, than at another time he would have been; not that he intended — Sacra prophanis, That the Souldiers should part Christs garments among them again, as it were; but foresee­ing that an inconvenience was better than a mischief, gave unto them some of the consecrated Cakes, that they might not be their own Carvers, know­ing also, that where Souldiers are, something must be had. Prevention, say the Polititians, is the principal point of Policy: And to meet a disease at the [Page 40]door, say the Physitians, is the best way to keep him out of the house. Let some Remora, say the Oculists, stay the rushing of the rhumes, and we shall not need to cuppe the Catarrs, nor couch the Cataract. The best way to shun the Cockatrice, is to crush him in the shell. If a Basilisk come to see, his eye may make a slaughter. And if those Cockatrices Eggs had been hatch­ed, on which Sathan as the old Brood-Hen sate so long, hoping to have brought a March brood. The taking of Abiathars bread, which was lawful only for the Priest to eat, would have been but a small offence, for all the Children of God would have been eaten up, as if a man should eat bread. But some will say—Caveat Ecclaesia— This concerneth the Church, it shall never trouble us. It is confessed, and yet the Clergy may give this Caveat to the Laity — Jam tua res agitur paries cum proximus ardet — If the fire be kindled in Jacob, [...] 78.21 the flame will soone consume Israel; and the Church and Common-wealth being one contignation, though there should be a parti­tion wall betwixt them, yet if either bay of the building be on fire, the other hath reason for to fear. For, as David saith, High and low, rich and poor, one with another will perish altogether. Now since fire cannot distinguish betwixt man and man, every wise man should strive to extinguish the fire— Fax is a firebrand, from whence cometh Faction; and Tully can tell us, that—Ʋbi est Fax, non est Pax, for saith he—Pax cum Antonio non est Pax, sed pactio belli, which the Prophet doth English for us, There is no peace saith my God with the ungodly. There was a question whether Faux the fire-man, or Fax the fire-brand was the greater offender — Exturbasse sacrum conatus uterque senatum est, both undertaking to do that in few dayes, which the Devil had been five thousand years devising. The one, by Sulphure to blow up the Par­liament; the other, by a Parliament to blow up the Scepter; and if we shall judge by the effect, the later was the worse; for the fire of the former (God be praised) came to light before it came to light, but the fire of the later, hath like Etna, burned a long time, and God knoweth when it will be quenched; For some Salamanders who live by this fire, are as careful to keep it still burning, being fomented by the ignoblest of the people, as the Virgins of Vesta were to keep their fire, being founded by Numa Pompilius; which Salamanders also at their private fires do frame such Tenents as shall adde fewel to their fire. First, that a Parliament being chosen by the peo­ple, shall not be dissolved but by the consent of the people, and so build a Castle in the air, casting away the Corner-stone of the building; for [...], the people, can make no building without [...], which is the foundation; and [...] the King, is [...], the foundation or establishment of the people. But Cinthius aurem vellit. Divines in taking their degrees, are admitted to read St. Paul, and not Machiavel, therefore to keep my self [Page 41]within compasse, and consine my discourse to the method of — Q [...]od medicorum est, this I may safely say, First, St. Paul saith that we are [...], or called before we are [...], or chosen. Next, our Saviours rule is, that there must be a [...], before [...], a power given to act, before we can make any Acts. Last of all the Universi y teacheth, That— Ejus est segregare, cujus est congregare; that he who hath power to call a Convo­cation, hath also power to discontinue it, or dissolve it at his pleasure; and we have at this time a holy Convocation, and a royal Priesthood; whom — Non vox populi, sed vox Dei Convocavit, the King hath called, the peo­ple hath chosen, but God gave the word, and great and gracious was the company which were called and chosen. They need not trouble themselves about the point who shall dissolve them, for they proceeding in that peace­able way as they hitherto have done, may sit till no one will be weary of their sitting, except themselves; and when they are weary, we wish that they may — Geminasque resumere vires, go into the Countrey, take breath, and to it again, since to our comfort this is the, course they take. First, They do — Dissuere, not Disrumpere, unstich the seams of Schism and Dissention, and not tear in pieces all at once. Secondly, As good Physitians knowing that there is—Pleura pura, as impute a Plurisie of pure blood, as well as overplus of gross and impure blood, and therefore will let out that blood which will weaken the Body, and cherish all such blood as will strengthen it. Thirdly, They remember that the Sun with his bright beams did get away the Countrey Coleincloutes Cloke, when Boreas with his blustering was glad to go without it. This is the way in which they walk, and therefore all that love the peace of Jerusalem, and the prosperity of Zion, will say,— Ite bonis avibus, Ride on and prosper, and we will wish you good luck in the Name of the Lord. And though —Crambe his posita mors est— that a second Sessions may seem as death to those that deserve it, yet— Decies repetita placebunt, the oftner Your Re­journings and returnings shall be, the more delightful they will be to those that are Deserving: The next Tenent of these Salamanders, is, That the Sheep shall sheet the Shepherds, and yet the Shepherds shall have no share with the Sheep; and although it be the part of a good Shepherd to sheer his Sheep, and not to clip them, yet they will not only clip them, but sheer them so close, that in the coldest weather and Winter of adversity, they shall have no warmth of their own wooll. But they do as their sheers do teach them, who as plainly as they c [...]n speak, cry [...], Clepte, not only steal, steal, but teach them Sacriledge, the greatest Theft of all. Now least such disturbers of the Times should find better enrertainment in dis­tempered affections, than those that tend unto tranquility, Christ in his [Page 42]own language saith, — Alta amenu, Say not Amen to them, or believe them not. And not only so, but in his Gospel bids us beware of them; and though the Hebrew, Greek and Roman Texts say only, Beware of men; yet the French, Spanish, and Italian Texts do all say, Guard your selves from them: And the Dutch saith plainly, Shut your doors against them. St. Paul also adviseth us, To have nothing to do with them; and telleth Timothy, That they are deceivers, and at last will be deceived; who gadding betwixt Jerusalem, which is built at unity within it self, and Jericho a City subject to Lunacy, as its name importeth, will find in the Prophet Jeremy his Cosmography, that there is a dangerous Desert betwixt them, disasterous unto Passengers; for there Zedechia lost his Army, being all taken Priso­ners; there he lost his sons, being slain before his face; there he lost his eyes, all being dispitefully done by Nebuchadnezer. There also St. Lukes Passenger lost all that he had: being wounded, and left half dead; and all that pass that way, may fear, lest they fare as the other did; for [...], Truth will strip off their Jesuitical long Robes, and leave them naked, then — [...], their own Recorder calling to mind their many Consederacies, will give them their first wound, then — [...] and [...], Consultation, Inquisition, Election and Prepara­tion for Practice, will, like Caesars Senators, wound them all at once, and leave them in despair, as bad as dead. And as a Deer, once wounded, all the Herd will forsake him; so their Levites may look on them, but leave them, and let them lie. Their Priests may look on them too, and perad­venture pity them, but will pass by them; so that— Miseretur aliquis succurrit nemo. Some man may pity them, but there will be no man to help them: Since then — Frigescit charitas foris, calescat domi: Since, as David saith, No man careth for my soul, let every man be more careful of his own soul; and whatever our Acts are, let us look unto our Exits, for we shall come from this earthly Stage with a — Plaudite, an Applause, or with such a — Sibile, as shall hiss us off from the Stage. Let us not then with a — Cras moriemini, or careless course of life, say with Hester, If I perish, I perish; for we deal not with man, as Hester did, but with an Emanuel, and with him there is mercy; in the mean while, the Moralist will tell us, that— Suae quis (que) faber est fortunae, fear and trem­bling will frame a good Fortune, but Fate and Destiny have nothing to do with Divinity; for then with God there would be no — Anthropopathy, or relenting on mans repenting: but Ninevi will deny that, and David will affirm, That as man feareth, so is Gods pleasure or displeasure; nay, God is so pitiful,96. that upon mans Petitions he will rather please him than him­self; yea, and so merciful, that man shall have his own will, though it be a­gainst [Page 43]Gods own Will: Nay, God was fain to petition Moses that he him­self might be at quiet, saying, Let me alone; ye [...],Ex. 32. [...] and promised to make him a great man, and what could he have more? but Moses would not let him alone, nor have his will, but made him alter his Will, and reverse his Order, and delivered Israel from destruction when God had fully determi­ned and resolved to destroy it; and the Poet, as if he had seen the passage betwixt God and Moses, saith thus,

I have not seen Jove (as he might say) but Jeh va to be overpowered by Prayer, since man may not only— Perorare—obtain by intreaty, but— Prece cogere— compel God, as it were, to be pitiful, for when Phinehas stood up,Ps. 106.3 and prayed, the plague ceased: And now, as Destiny hath nothing to do with Divinity, so neither with Eternity, for it is confined to Mortality; — Statutum est—it is Decreed, that we must all die, and that we must all come to judgement; but it is not Decreed, that any man shall be condem­ned before he come to judgement; and Festus told Agrippa, that it was an unreasonable thing, that Paul should be condemned before his Case was heard; and how much more is it an unreasonable thing, that any man shall be condemned before he come to the Tribunal Seat of justice! A­gain, If there were any condemnation before judgement, to what end should Christ come to judgement? First, The souls of the righteous are in the hands of God, and no torment shall touch them; and why should they come? Secondly, The souls which are predestinated to condemna­tion are condemned already, and what should they do there? So that as the King was fain to bring in High-way-men, and such as lay under hedges, to furnish his Table at the Wedding: So when Christ shall come to judge­ment, he must also seek out such as are in the old — Limboes, or in the aerial — Ergastulaes to fetch out the — Ixionists from their wheels, and the Bel­lides from their bottomless buckets, to be in a — Parado, or readiness a­gainst the general Appearance, and consequently, Predestination will be the principle Argument to prove that Third place wherewith the Predesti­narij are so much off nded. But a day of Dome there must be; the place, saith David, is prepared already— Dome is a Saxon word, and not Doom, and so is Home; both shewing that we must all go to our— Ultimum do­mum, to our last, and our long home: Which Dome in the Anagram, or in the same letters is Mode, and according to the Mode and manner of our living shall be our Dome, and not according to our Destiny, but our de­sert. Abraham, for the prevention of destruction, or coming to the place of Torment, as Dives did term it, did not refer Dives his brethren to the [Page 42] [...] [Page 43] [...] [Page 44] Meds and Persians, with whom no perswasion could make alteration, but to Mos [...]s and the Prophets, who teach, That by amendment there may be atonem [...]nt. At which day of Dome also the Books will be opened, both of our Delinquences, and our Acquittances. Our Delinquences will be—in numero, many?—in pondere, heavy; Our Acquittances will be few, and scarse as many as—Thebarum portae vel Divitis ostea Nili; yea, and so few, that a poor man may number them without a Cypher, if they be an­swerable to our payment, either of our vows unto God, or promises unto man. In like manner, when the Books are opened, the Balances will be brought, where our ill actions will overpose our good; and though Mercy may help in holding the Scales, yet Abraham told the Judge unto his face, That he which doth hold the Balance, must be just. So then —P [...]rditio tua dete, Gen. 18.15 O Israel, God did as much unto his Vineyard as he could do, and was sorry that the Vineyard was not sensible of it; wherefore the Vine­yard, and the Husbandmen of the Vineyard, may drink the wine or the dregs thereof as they please: For it is not in the Text, Faeces quas expres­serit hibent impij; God did not squeese out the dregs for the ungodly of the earth to drink;Ps 75.8. but it is — Faeces quas expresserint, The ungodly did wring them out themselves for themselves to drink, as saith Pagnine, and all the three English Translators: So that still our Dome will be no other­wise than as we do; and Athanasius in his — Quicun (que) vult, saith, That who ever will be saved, must believe it; and Enoch the seventh from A­dam, saith St. Jude, Prophesied to the same purpose; and all that were before Enoch, set their names unto a Prophesie to confirm it, as you may read,— ADAM man, SETH being put, ENOSH into a desperate condition,Chr. 1.1 KENAN by his own occasion MAHALALEEL, the light of God, JERED did descend from heaven, ENOCH teaching us, METHƲSELAH, That by his death he would send LAMECH, to the humble and afflicted, NOAH rest and peace, SHEM and impose, HAM his high displeasure, JAPHETH to those that were haughty and high-minded. These Predictions should prepare us for our appearance, and to consider again that — Nemo laeditur nisi à seipso, our sorrows and our sufferings are from our selves. God made nor sin, nor death, nor would that any one should die,Vis. 1. we have his Word for it, we have his Oath for it, and Cautions that we should nor sin, nor die — Nolite zelare mortem, Seek not death in the error of your life, and pull not down destruction upon your own heads with the works of your own hands. St. Jerom saith, that this Creple was so long lame, because he had been long a sinner, and that Christ could not cure him of his sickness, until he had cleansed him of his sin: It is so in the body natural, first take away the cause, and then come unto the [Page 45]cure. It is so in the body spiritual, first — [...] cast out foul spirits, then — [...], heal all diseases. It is so in the body Political. There must be a casting out, before there can be a curing: It was so in healing this poor Creple — Christus tollit peccatum, claudus tollit grabbatum, Christ taketh off the sin, the Creple taketh up his Couch. And now whither (Morally) must he go? —In domum suam, non alienum; into the house of strangers he must not go, we have a Home to go unto, though it be home­ly, and it is our shame that it is so homely that no man careth to come to us: There are houses more neatly garnished, but consider what spirits come unto them, we shall not want hunting to be brought into their Toyles, but when the Hunter hath caught us,—Capta relinquit, he will not care for us. It was so with the Passenger, he had no man to help him: It was so with this poor Creple, he had no man to help him: It will be so with us all, if we want help. There will be no man to help us, but our E­manuel, who is both God and man, Christ Jesus. Cui gloria. Amen.