1. WOrds are not the difference of good men and bad, for every man speaks well; therefore how noble thing is Virtue when no man dares professe any thing but it.

2 I love not one will never be angry; for as he that is without sorrow, is without gladnesse, so he that is without anger is without love.

3. There are degrees of men in respect of one ano­ther, but in respect of God all are equall; all are to use like dutie, like reverence towards him, all are like beg­gars at Gods doore.

4 We are departed no further from the Church of Rome, then they from their first Jesus.

5 Give me the heart of a man, and out of that all other his deeds shall be acceptable.

6 In clothes I would have a fashion should choose a man, and not a man a fashion.

7 It is one of the miseries of a man, that when he [Page 2] is full of dayes and neer his end, that he should love life most.

8 It hath like operation to make women learned as to make Foxes tame, which teacheth them onely to steal more cunningly; the possibilitie is not equall, for where it doth one good, it doth twenty harm.

9 Parents may forbid their children an unfit mar­riage, but they may not force their consents to a fit.

10 No Countrey can be called rich wherein there is warre; as in the Low Countreys there is much money, but the Souldiers have it in pay from the Governor, the Bores have it for victuals of the Souldiers, the Gover­nors have it again in taxes, so there is no center nor honour.

11 No man gains by warre, but he that hath not wherewithall to live in peace.

12 God accepts the intent before the deed, for if I do justice because I would be accounted a just King, and not for Gods glory, not because I stand answerable to God if I do otherwise; or if I punish a man rightly, but withall satisfie my own malice, both these are abo­minations. If I give almes onely for my reputation sake, this is a wicked deed because there is nullum me­dium, Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

13 No man shall do ill that thinks ere he under­takes what the end will be, not what his passion will have it to be.

14 Time is the essence of many Laws, so that a King may do well at divers times both in making and abro­gating the same Laws.

15 I desire not to live longer then I am accounted honest, reasonable, of honest and reasonable men: no longer to be a King then I use my power to maintaine reason, and not to overthrow it.

[Page 13] 16 I should think it a signe that God leaves me not if I should kill a man by chance, I would most unwilling­ly do that ill that lieth not in my power to mend.

17 I do not think the greatest Clerks, neerest hea­ven, much of their knowledge is superfluous: for Bel­larmine makes 400. Questions of Faith, and not ten of which toucheth our salvation to understand.

18 Many have attempted to make glasse malliable, and so gold artificiall, but both in vain; for God doth ever crosse the invention of man, lest he should rejoyce in his own works.

19 The persons of all men are like equall to us, and our hate or love should onely go according to their vir­tues or vices, these bonds of kindred should onely com­mand us in all civill duties, but not our judgements; and particular injuries should onely make us hate that particular deed, but not the doer in generall.

20 Men of high understandings as they do many things above the common streame, so they fall often into into greater errors then those of mean capacitie, which in all their actions will rather do nothing faul­tie then any thing extraordinarie, being of a temper better mixt then the former.

21 The Devil alwayes avoids the meane, and waits upon the extremities; so he hath sought to divide be­twixt Atheisme and superstition.

22 All extremities come round to one end, the sim­ple obedience of the Papists, and the no obedience of the Puritane: the one breeds confusion, the other igno­rance and securitie.

23 The end of the Law is to punish sin when it is committed, but to keep it from being committed it cannot as the Pope who thinks by allowing fornica­tion, to avoid adulterie.

[Page 4] 24 I will not reward any in matter of justice, for that is not mine, but Gods, and the peoples.

25. The wisdom of a King is known in the election of his Officers, as in places which requires a peculiar sufficiencie, not to chuse them whom he affects most, but to use every man according to his proper fitnesse.

26 Virtue is easier then vice; for the essentiall dif­ference betwixt vice and virtue is truth and falshood; and it is easier and lesse pains to tell truth then lie. As for vices in the sences, custome is all in all: for to one that hath lived honestly its as much pains to commit sin, as for another to abstain.

27 It is likely that the people will imitate the King in good, but it is sure they will follow him in ill.

28 I have been often deceived, yet will I never leave to trust, neither shall the falshood of some make me think there is none honest.

29 All that ever write of Christ said he was an ho­nest man, they had so much naturall sight as to see his civill goodnesse; but they wanted the supernaturall to see and perceive his Godhead.

30 The same sentence with divers relations may be both holy and divellish.

31 I wonder not so much that women paint them­selves, as that when they are painted men can love them.

32 Of all the number of men that have been slain in war, not the tenth part have been fighting, but flying.

33 Parsons erres in their resolutions in making the difficultie of our salvation, so lie in the hardnesse to find Gods mercie, when indeed it consists in the right seeking of it, for the other is sure.

34 God hath distributed his benefits so equall, that there is no countrey which excels not all other in some thing, so that as it borrowes, so it lendeth: so in men, [Page 5] there is none excelleth so in one thing, but he had need of anothers wit in some other: from these two proceeds all traffick and societie.

35 The art of Physitians is very imperfect, for I doubt not but for every disease there is in nature several simples if they could find it out: So that their com­pounds do rather shew their ignorance, then their knowledge.

36 The Devill where he cannot have the whole, seeks ever to get one part of the soul, either the will or the understanding which he may come easiest by; as in Protestants the will, in Papists the understanding: a learned Papist, and an ignorant of two Religions.

37 The Papists religion is like Homers Iliads of the siege of Troy, or Virgils Aeneides of the beginning of Rome, both of them had a foundation of truth; so had the Papist the Bible, but they have all added so much that the first truth is almost lost.

38 God never fails of his word but where he threatens ill to man, as in the punishing to Niniveh; but alwayes performs where he promiseth good, that, or better as he promised to Abraham, and his seed everlasting, earth­ly blessednesse, and instead of that gives them heavenly.

39 Not onely the deliverance of the Jews till they came into the Land of Promise, but even their daily preservation was miraculous: for there was never any noted plague in Jerusalem, though it stood in an hot climate, which had it been would indangered the whole Nation, it being to assemble thither every yeer of ne­cessitie.

40 Men are often in arguing carried by the force of words further asunder than their questions was at first, like to Ships going out of the same Haven, their [Page 6] journeys end is many times whole countreys distant.

41 Cowardise is the mother of crueltie, it was one­ly fear that made Tyrants put so many to death to se­cure themselves.

42 The fashion of the Romanes of killing them­selves, was falsly called fortitude, for it was onely to prevent the power of Fortune when indeed Virtue lv­eth quiet out of her reach. Nor can any man be over­come but of himself, and so most truly were they when they fled to death for a refuge against death.

43 Its easier to reclaime a man from heresie then to convert an Atheist to the truth, for to beleeve is the first degree common to Religion, and an Atheist is to be brought so far before he come to chusing.

44 All Gods miracles are above nature, but never against nature, for that were to destroy his own work which he cannot do; but he may excell it: therefore the miracles of the Papists Transubstantiation being against nature it self.

45 Types are the image of the mind which God al­lowed the Jews to keep them from images of the Se­nate, and to shew that his worship was to be in spirit and truth.

46 The Chu [...]ch of Rome fell at first from her puri­tie into i [...]firmities, then into corruption, then into er­rours, then into heresies, and lastly into abominations: God still punishing sin with sin.

47 Most heresies have proceeded from mingling Philosophy with Religion, from that and policie have all the Papists errours risen, when Christ tels them that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven.

48 We cannot conceive extremity but by faith, we cannot understand what God is, and of that ignorance [Page 7] comes all sin; for surely if we knew him we could not offend him.

49 Men as often fall out about small things as great, because after the first contradiction they maintain them­selves not the thing.

50 Before Christ came it was enough for the Fathers to beleeve onely, since they must beleeve and under­stand both.

51 Those Princes which think to secure themselves by blood, shall find that the more they kill, the more ever they have need to kill.

52 The Church is to be beleeved in the interpreta­tion of Scripture but not directly against it; for where it differs from that, it is no longer the Church.

53 There are three kinds of wisdoms that use to be in Kings, a sanctified wisdom; a politick wisdom, which often strains it self to a lesse evil so to avoid a greater; and a wisdom of falshood: The first is both lawfull and necessarie; the second is lawfull but not necessarie, the third is neither.

54 All governments is severed in their constituti­ons, in their practise tend to a Monarchy, and where­soever the better sort bear rule there is alwayes some one that resembleth a King amongst them. Yea though in the State of Venice the Duke is as it were a dead man, yet were it impossible that their Common-wealth should long uphold it self without him.

55 The preservation of the Bible is miraculous, that it should remain pure after it had passed the hands of Infidels which sought to destroy it, of Hereticks which sought to pervert it to their own advantage.

56 No indifferent gesture is so seldome done with­out-sin and laughter, for its commonly raised upon [Page 8] things to be pitied, therefore man onely can laugh, and he onely can sin.

57 God made one part of man of earth, the basest element to teach him humilitie; his soul proceeded from the bosome of Himself, to teach him goodnesse; so that if he looks downward nothing is viler, if he cast his eyes to heaven he is of a matter more excellent then Angels, the former part was a type of Adam, the second of Christ, which gives life to that which was dead in it self.

58 Much money makes a Countrey poore, for it sets a dear price upon every thing.

59 At what time the Gospel did flourish, all kinde of learning did ever abound; and upon the decay there­of there came alwayes a vail of darknesse upon the face of the earth; the reason is a part of Religion, but errour and superstition is safer by the ignorance.

60 A lie of errour is a fault of credulitie, not of falshood; but a presumptuous lie is that which a man makes, as God made the world of nothing.