THE CREPLES Complaint: Or, A SERMON Preached Sept. 29. 1661.  
At AKLY near BUCKINGHAM, upon some sad OCCASION.  
In which, among many Motives unto LOYALTY And other Religious DUTIES, is proved, by lamentable Experience, That good things are better known when they are not, than when they are enjoyed.  
By THOMAS PHILPOT, D.D.  
LONDON, Printed for William Leake, at the Crown in Fleetstreet, between the two Temple Gates. 1662.   

To him that readeth.  
WOuld I address my weak endeavours unto any one, it should be to Him who is most worthy to wear the Diadem, and is most willing to relieve all those that are distressed, but— Haud equidem tali me dignor honore, such honour is too high for my humility. Shall His Highness but be pleased to cast a favourable eye on this poor cripple as he passeth, I shall say with aged Jacob, It is enough, for than I shall see one happy day again before I die.  
READER adieu.   

Junii 27. 1662.  
IMPRIMATUR,  
Robertus Pory S. T. P. Reverend. in Christo Patriac Domino Domino Archiepiscopo Cantuar. Sacella.   

The CREPLES Complaint.  John 5.7. I have no man to help me. 
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 Map, as it were, of God's mercies, and manifest it unto the world. Did so much admire the matter, that they forgot the form: Finding also by David's 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 God's 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 God's mercies being above all his works, where should we find or know the sum of them, unless 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 Physic garden, in which are as many Salutary Simples as there are several Creatures under the Sun, and as some suppose, not one more or less, 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 virtue in each Vegetable than Solomon's universal Herbal ever heard of. So there is not a Butterfly, or the least of any Flies 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 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 Serpent's 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 caused us all to be accursed, but there was an Ave the cause of bearing an Adam whereby 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 Satan's Kingdom was enriched, so near a garden there was a dead tree by which his Kingdom was impoverished, for so at Christ's descension 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 nearer home, the manifestation of God's 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 Stem being cut off, but Bud and Blossom, 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 Gauntlet was quite forgot. Thirdly, when the Lily 
* The 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 Nightingale— 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 Abraham's Lamb in the briars 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 cried unto God, being destitute of all help, as this poor cripple 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 want of it the people sat in darkness, 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 Cannon, where before there was nothing but Gall and Vinegar to drink. And now as this poor cripple had no help but what came from heaven, so but for these helpers each of us might still have lain languishing, and cried, I have no man to help me. In the three following points, observe, 

1. Who this cripple was, an individuum vagum, a diseased man.  
2. How cured, by Christ, all other Physicians having forsaken 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 helped in a year. Secondly, diuturnal, such as Sciaticas, who like wantoness, feed upon Jellies got betwixt the joints, 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 feel 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 custom taketh away the sense of feeling of what is suffered, but when custom 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 intent not to meddle with Officers either in Court or Country, yet I hope it will be no ill office to tell them what Officers there are. There are first Ostiarii, such doorkeepers 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 than he should be more sure to be Porter of Heaven-gate, than St. Peter; for,— Domus Dei est Porta Coeli: The house of God is the gate of Heaven. Secondly, Ostiaerii, not that their doors are brass, but that the Doorkeepers 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 Doorkeepers will have ears, but will not hear; hands, but not as much as heave up a latch, unless 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 backdoor, 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 doorkeepers should be wary in receiving such sops, knowing who it was, that entered into Iscariot so soon as the sop was received. Fifthly,— Bifores valva— Two-leafed doors which are said to move— Argenti limine— hangging on silver hooks, shutting also, and opening on silver thresholds; such doors hang heavy on the hinges, and if they be not well oiled, the Doorkeepers will out of their affected ignorance mistake the meaning of their honest Masters, for when this is their rule—  Porta patens esto, nulli clauderis honesto. 
Let your door be open to all Petitioners, especially to honest men. The Doorkeepers 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 Physician. 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 ourselves, 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 lameness, or rather laziness 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, clothed in soft raiment? But what shall we see, a company of jacob's particoloured Kids or spotted Lambs? Yea, we shall see many of your fine Rufilli, who but for their— Pastilli and powders would be Gorgonii. The Poet doth speak it plainer— Pastilloes Rufillus olet Gorgonius hireum.— That is, as all 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  of his brother, whose smell was as the sweet smell of a field which the Lord had blessed. So all their— Essences as they term them, and other effeminate Odours 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 Aaron's 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 wantonness in the weaker Sex alone, their weakness 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. Can 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 lameness in coming to the Church, and careless carriage in the Church. Which— 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or lazy 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 fare 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 enjoined a Pilgrimage to travel as far as from Dover to Saint david's, 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 Orcadeses from St. David's, that they may go in their Pilgrimage twice from thence to St. David's, that they may thereby save their going once to Rome. For this is their Rule  Roma semel quantum bis dat Menevea tantum. 
and that we may learn obedience of them, and yet not be partakers of their Sacrifices, or of their sufferings; you in plainer terms may understand how their sufferings are qualified—  
What Pilgrim to Saint david's twice doth come,  
Doth save his penance going once to Rome.  
There are another sort of Claudicants or haulters in devotion crept into the Country, who scorning to go upon Crutches, or our Common Prayers, as they term them; are divers times in such pain in producing their— Perissologies or homespun 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 persuaded to pray in that form 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 form. 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 Mongrels, 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 unless 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.  
Grana molenda gerit Moses Legem tribuendo,  
Paulus grana terit vim legis discutiendo.  
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 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 Coloquintida 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 man's 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 Turtles 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 dreamt of; and now because those Lupercalia, Carmentalia, Paganalia, and the rest of them were Jubilees and feasts of joy, and because on such days 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 Victory, 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,— Victimae integrae aris impositae, perfect, without any imperfection, if but one limb be lacking, it will be a lame oblation; and if all the 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  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 environing the Vineyard; and Solomon saith, If thou take away the hedge, the Serpent will by't thee. So then, Ceremonies not entrenching 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, than Sacrifice of necessity must be bettered by obedience; and this is showed 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 Palsy 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 Hierogliphics 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 Salient, 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 God's 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 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 ourselves alone, and so goeth on,— Partem Patria, our Country will expect a part, which part is Constancy in our Countrymen, who when they travel with the Prodigal into strange Countries, 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, Zwinglians, 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 Heresies. 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 Governor, they will take off his HEAD. And this is the Practice of Piety which of late hath been brought over into our Country, 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, 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 Countrymen 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 itself without mixture, is not inferior to any Language that seemeth to be of a higher nature. First, The Hebrew, Siriak, Called, 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 dependence 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 syllables, that some of them will make an Hexamiter or long verse. Yet our true English consisting but of one syllable 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 syllable you may find 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 groan 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  
Fleers si scires totum tua tempora mensem  
Rides cum non sit for sitan una dies.  
The men of Ninive hearing that forty days should end their days, made a Quadragessima or Fast of those forty days; not having one day of feasting in it, unless it were— Festum cineris, a feast of ashes, considering how soon to ashes they might be turned, But we with those in the days 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 Britain's 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 altered since first it was spoken, as appeareth by an ancient Manuscript, being one of David's Psalms written in Welsh, 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 Country 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, than he must with Nicodemus, come by night and show 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 outroar each other, we must not like cowards, creep into our Cabins, or get within the gable; but with Saint Paul's 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 outfly 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 Country 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 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 Aristotle's 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 Pylades and Orestes, a Jonathan and a David. Yet he must be— alter idem— & ad arras, 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 seem, had but one soul betwixt them, for the firstborn was lively, cheerful, and fell to the ter, the other lay like a child stillborn, 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 firstborn, she began to enter into the other, and then the firstborn began to droop, and the later grew as lively as the former did before, and so continued in their vicessitudes and strange intercourses six days 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 days is not unto the end, but for ends.— 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, who hath a friend, hath a 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 separateth a man's 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 Abraham's 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 alluding 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 sense 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 persuaded 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 battle, 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 Jesuits out of Rome. Secondly, such flatterers Ahab and Jehosapha: had, persuading them to go up to Ramoth Gilead, promising prosperity, but Ahab being wounded, found that all the balm 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 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 Council 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 lameness 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 God's hands are open unto us, and nor Logicians, with such clutched fists and withered hands that— Citius fust 'em ex manu Herculis— men should sooner wrest a club 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 hidebound members, who prescribing abstinence to the appetite, and debarring the belly of its due, within a small time— Paller in o'er sedit macies, in corpore toto— their froward faces grew formidable, and each member grew macilent and lean, insomuch that they all looked like Pharaoh his lean kine, as all malicious men will do that pine away with repining at other men's prosperity. Of which Envy thus  
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Envy, 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 herself; 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 Sovereign. 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 to Aristotle, who was his Tutor to instruct him, or to Philip his father that did beget him? It was held Affirmative on the Tutor's 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 God's 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  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 PUBLICK-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 ask: 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 Jews, 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: 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 earrings, and other silverlings, to set up again some golden Calf. But if they had ever heard of— Ibice grues, or Solomon's 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 Achitophel's, or brethren without grace and wisdom, as their names do signify, 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 prejudicial to His Person, or His Prerogative. Pilate did not only wash his hands, as being innocent of Christ's 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 judgements 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 College, Liola and his Disloyalists, Parnel and his Partners in New England's Conclave, do daily cry— Nolumus Carolum, volumus Olivarum, We will have no Barsabas, no Bar-jonas, 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, daily 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, Viz. Vasago in the one, and Viago in the other. First, In Vasago there is— Vas— the vessel of wrath, the head hatching mischief by counsel at home. Secondly, In— Viago there is— Vis, force of Arms, acting violence by the hand abroad; and 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 offenders, 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 Sums: 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 CAESAR'S friends. And now what did they purchase by those large loans, 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 enjoyed, and good men best looked on when their places are void. Aristides some say was banished from Athens because he was— Virtutis verae custos regidusque satelles, so just, that men thought themselves injured by his equity; but when Justice was banished with him, than Aristides was a good man— 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, saith the Kiliadist, a Brews 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 ask 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 highway, 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. 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— Erinys 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 days were shortened; and as the days 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 Haltion days began to lengthen; nor as the days lengthened, was the cold strengthened, but— Diffugere nives— the hoary frosts of frozen Charity began to fly;— Rediunt jam gramina campis— the store of Corn, Oil and Wine again increased, which made us all have cheerful countenances, because our hearts were glad. For now our Sun hath passed through all the surly signs of the Zodiac, 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 venomous Tail, if it had but touched 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 surprise 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  
Qui Leo de Juda est, qui Flos de Jesse, Leones  
Protegat & stores, Carole Magne tuos.  
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—  
Who Judas Lion is, and Flower of Jesse  
Thy Lions and Thy Flowers CHARLES ever Bless.  
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 Proceed. And now we come to our poor Cripple 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 Prophet's impossibility to pass, 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 less 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 David's solitariness, as to God's sufficiency; for David's 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 Goliath; 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 Lunatic 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 always 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. Augustine's was good, or else in his zeal he would not have made such havoc of the Church as he did. Nor had Saul the son of Kish sought to have killed David his best friend, if the Spirit of the Lord had not forsaken him, and a foul Spirit entered in his room; 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 myself; The reason is, that if he should be left alone to his hot nature, and not have grace to qualify it, he should be left in a sad condition. When a Rabbi saith— Marbe abadim, marbe gazel— Who hath many servants, hath many thiefs, it need not be meant of household 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 homebred senses siding with— Epithumia, or our natural concupiscence, who as St. Paul saith— 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉— work stratagems against the soul. Secondly, When Christ saith, A man's enemies are they of his own household; as the words may be spoken of a reviling Ziphora, or a rebellious Absalon, 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 hewn, or the hole from whence we are digged, we should not much glory in our Genealogy; for should we derive our Pedigree from the ancient— Umbri which were before the Flood, and did not perish with other sinners (as Pliny would persuade us) yet unless we could find a former Creation, and an Adam— ex mediori luto— framed of some better mould than hitherto hath been form, it would be never the better for us, since still that would be spoken of us, which Ezekiel should seem to say—  
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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 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, than 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 Satirist— 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 Diamonds, 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, Derive Adam from Adma, the true Anagram of Adam, which was a City of Pentapolis, as red a soil 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-eyed generation: Nor is this drought 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 devour more than Bell or the Dragon, or whom St. Peter's sheet would not serve for a second course, was not so hungry as we are thirsty: Our drought exceedeth the drought of Summer, or of the drought of Synosura, whose Bears about the Northern Pole would drink up the Sea, as some suppose, if they could come at it. Nay, our drought or thirst is greater than the thirst of Tantalus, who— Quaerit aquas in aquis— suffereth drought in a deluge, for we are dry while we drink, like unto the Horseleech— 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 fervour 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 show in what miserable condition man is, where he is left to his own nature, grace having forsaken him. Therefore saith Solomon— We soli— Woe 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 woe 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 woe with his warmth. First, had not Sechem felt the warmth of Dina, Dina might have been still a chaste 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 Musicians can tell you, that— Solus cum sola— is a sweet melodious tune, but the music 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 gore 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 wilderness 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 showeth 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 tautology, 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 David's meaning, Why should he say so soon 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, dareth unto the Lord, and he will see it paid again? Nor can I see any reason why our seeming religious men should be so hardhearted to the poor, unless 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 fire in their tails to kindle the coals 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 Bulls of Basan, the lean 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 virtue of his Father was visible in his Son, who restored all things that were ruined, both in Jerusalem and in Zion, and grew in favour daily both with God and godly men. Last of all, our poor cripple might seem to be forsaken, being diseased thirty and eight years, but he was not forsaken, for— Medicus & medecina— Christ being his physic 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 leisure to inquire 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, (unless 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 bathe 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 quarrelled, 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 Charybdis, and do as St. Paul saith, fearing Idolatry, commit Sacrilege, 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 and Satyrs, or such unclean creatures as themselves, and yet they that set up those pictures, did not intent 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 Idolising or worshipping of them, that he gave this Caution to the contrary.  
Essigiem Christi cum spectes, pronus adora,  
Sed non Effigiem, sed quod designat honora.  
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 Lot's house had been an Inn, 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 Idolise 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 Hierogliphics (as is already said) and that we were to show 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 Veil nor Wizard; 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 show their nakedness, but 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 fancy within, which doth malificiate and bewitch the imagination; for divers times Deformity supposeth herself 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 venom 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 itself 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 nakedness do not appear so much, that we may be glad of fig-leaves to cover it, if we could find 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 wantonness, 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 show 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, unless we make it; For the Image is as you imagine it. According to which imagination, have been the various opinions about this Bethesda, 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 itself could not cure the Leprosy 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 sanctify 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 virtue 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 turned, no more than he knows how the bread is turned into Christ's 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— Ubiquitary body or not; and yet it is improbable, that it should be Ubiquitary, 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 showed 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 Cross. Secondly, that body was fixed unto the Cross, 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. Can Mercury be fixed (as your Chimicks term it) and still remain Mercury; or could gold be made fluid or subtle, and again be made solid, than that Stone which should make gold, would be feasable, which only is fantastical; and by that stone, gold might be multiplied, which hitherto hath been only diminished. But as neither of these have ever been brought to pass, so Christ's body being still the same, and in the state of perfection, cannot admit any alteration, for than it might be subject to corruption, and so the Spirit of God would be contradicted, which saith, Thou wilt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thirdly, Christ's 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 daily used in the Sacrament; I speak it with reverence, there would be nothing but a Skeleton to sit at the right-hand of God. But that may not be: For he ascended with that body in which he risen, 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 manner as ye see him go into heaven. Now as we may allow a real, but not a corporeal presence in Christ's 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 Christ's 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 spoke it;  
He took the Bread and broke 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 baptise you with water unto Repentance, but he that cometh after me, will baptise you with the Holy Ghost, and with sire; The one saying, Repent and you shall be baptised; the other, Be baptised 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 Lion and the Lamb have lain together; the Cockatrice 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 Almanac quite out of date, and set behind the door, both in respect of the matter, and of the form. First, Baptism itself being the  of the Elect, and such a Patrimony of Grace, that a child may claim his admission unto it so soon as he is eight days 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 Calendar. Secondly, For the form: The Font so termed, from being the fountain of grace, is like an old Fabric, or house of Hospitality, quite out of fashion, and in such disgrace, that a Barber's Basin 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 Judaisme, 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 baptise children, be as convenient for the same use still (as of late) in a Basin, unless it were because as the blood was in the Basin at the Passover, which was sprinkled upon the door-posts, so the water must be in a Basin which is to be sprinkled on the children which are to be baptised. But did we look into the Greek word— 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉— or the Latin word— Immergo— both being to duck under water, or to dip, signifying, That sin is drowned, and the sinner saved. We would imagine that the dimensions of a basin would be too shallow for so deep a mystery. But as— Dato uno absurdo sequuntur mille, one 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 Judaisme, 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 always contending— De lana caprina— seeking knots in Bulrushes, always complaining, because we have no cause to complain. First, the Altar must not stand Alterwayes, nor the Common Prayer be said at it, unless 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 Litany; 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 Litany: 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 cripple 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 Sovereign 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 David's tears into bottles, foreseeing that he should find but few in future times. But I suppose that the Son of man found some tears in our poor Creples eyes, or else he would have spoken to some of the rest, as well as unto him, when he said— Vis 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, unless such Lice as Herod and some other near home had sent unto them as a judgement 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 find 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 Earthquake▪ 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 Croesus 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 Countryman, but if Homer grow poor, his Poems must be turned into Proverbs— Si nihilattuleris, ibis Homer foras— Homer must be no longer a Poet, but a Peripatetic, 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 oil, by reason of his fat pastures, and multitude of milch  depastured in them, than 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, than each boy did abuse him; yea, and such boys, as he did scorn that their fathers should have eaten with his Shepherd's 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, than the Druids, 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 Wine, do think that the Church, the State, and every man's 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 pretty 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 satisfy 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 Lycaon's lineage, 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 British 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 abiram's 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 canceled— 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉— 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 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 Sowthistle did sway the Sceptre. 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 days should be dishonoured, and as it was wont to be said— Mors Sceptra ligonibus aequat— Death only did shuffle Sceptres and Shovels together, than the Shovels began to make themselves equal with those Sceptres that then were, perceiving that there was no inequality in men's 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 Salic Law, if any Law, was then in force. When as a Joanna was John, or a Aaron among the Romans, when Diana was— Dea, or a goddess among the Ephesians, when Delilae was Samson, 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— Inque 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 cowed, 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 Lantern, 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 God's Servants, or of their own Souls, if it were any any where, was Raraavis in terris, a rare Phoenix, which seldom of any man hath been seen, since as in St. Paul's time, so now we were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, such as love to please ourselves 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 Prophecies 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 days, 
2 Tim. 3.  the particulars whereof (that I may avoid all suspicion 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 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 solicitude: who having also the knowledge of the voice (as Wisdom speaketh) doth know that the Spirit of God is as weary with wrestling with man's flesh as he was before the stood, 
kissed. 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 Axletree of heaven break, and all the weight of the Wain 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 compass of the Line, they must shoot the Gulf, though they be never seen again. There was a great Gulf betwixt Abraham's bosom 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 God's favours, will fall away from them so far, that he cannot be renewed again by repentance, 
●br. 6.6.  not but that he might be pardoned if he could repent, 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 persuasion, 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 far 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 seem 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, unless 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 Cripple 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 likely 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 lameness that might come within the compass of Physic or Chirurgery, they would have killed or cured him within less 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 precedent of one that was sick of the like, if not the same disease. He that was sick of the Palsy, and not of poverty, had four men to attend on him, who carried him farther in his bed than the Text doth tell, and were so industrious, or rather audacious, that they did interrupt Christ in his Sermon, and broke up the house upon him while he was preaching, which thou durst not have done unless they had been well paid for their pains, which could not have been expected of a poor man. But before I proceed any farther, we may inquire why Christ should suffer such disorder and damage 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 Palsy lay. It is answered, that in those hot Countries 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 damages 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 Mimic 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 Saviour's words, saying, That which is spoken now in private, shall be preached on the housetops. 
●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 Echo 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 Echo formerly hath found the way even into Solomon's 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 Solomon's Porch we cannot promise, or what in St. Peter's 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 sins 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 Solomon's Porch, or any thing reflecting upon the Person of solomon's 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 Physician may search into the nature of the disease, that if it cometh by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or fullness, it may be cured by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, abstinence or emptiness, but if he inquire 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 cripple 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 happened 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— Vltimum refugium, or last refuge to fly unto, and it was well for him that he had this refuge: For as every disease is a Scourge, and every Scourge is— Plaga— or a Plague; so many have been scourged and plagued, and yet not so soon cured as this cripple was. First, The Jews that dwelled in India, delighting in Mummi, or man's flesh, because they might not eat Swine's 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 too bold with the Ark of God, were plagued with Emeralds 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:  
Fit cruor ex undis conspurcant omnia rana  
Dat pulvis siniphes, Postea musca venit  
Dein pestis, post ulcera, grando, locusta, tenebrae,  
Tandem Prototocos ultima plaga necat.  
First, Tears of compassion turned to bloody execution. Secondly, Bufones, venomous beasts billeted in the King's Chambers. Thirdly, Backbiters, noisome 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 Jealousies, and fears frighting men and women out of that little wit they had. Sixthly, Blains 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 Scourges, 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 Scourge, or one Plague more in Egypt, which hath not yet been mentioned: Those— Urinatores, or divers under water, who, as David saith, be God's 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, and it is thus described— Posterior nono est, undecimoque 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 rob 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,— Vasos 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 Country. In this condition was this cripple, 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 Cross upon the door without, but not a Cross 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 Cross, 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 stonewalls: And although this is not always 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 Soldiers should part Christ's 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 Soldiers are, something must be had. Prevention, say the Politicians, is the principal point of Policy: And to meet a disease at the door, say the Physicians, is the best way to keep him out of the house. Let some Remora, say the Oculists, stay the rushing of the rheums, and we shall not need to cup the Catarrhs, 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 Cockatrice's Eggs had been hatched, on which Satan as the old Brood-Hen sat 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 soon consume Israel; and the Church and Commonwealth 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— Vbi 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 firebrand was the greater offender— Exturbasse sacrum conatus uterque senatum est, both undertaking to do that in few days, which the Devil had been five thousand years devising. The one, by Sulphur to blow up the Parliament; the other, by a Parliament to blow up the Sceptre; 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 Aetna, 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 Tenants as shall add fuel 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 Cornerstone 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 Machiavelli, therefore to keep myself within compass, and confine my discourse to the method of— Quoth medicorum est, this I may safely say, First, St. Paul saith that we are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or called before we are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, or chosen. Next, our Saviour's 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 Country, 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 Dissension, and not tear in pieces all at once. Secondly, As good Physicians knowing that there is— Pleura pura, as impute a Pleurisy 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 Country Coleincloutes Cloak, 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— Cram his posita mors est— that a second Sessions may seem as death to those that deserve it, yet— Decies repetita placebunt, the oftener 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 wool. But they do as their shears do teach them, who as plainly as they c●n speak, cry 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Clepte, not only steal, steal, but teach them Sacrilege, the greatest Theft of all. Now lest such disturbers of the Times should find better enrertainment in distempered affections, than those that tend unto tranquillity, Christ in his 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 yourselves 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 itself, 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, disastrous 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 despitefully done by Nebuchadnezer. There also St. Luke's Passenger lost all that he had: being wounded, and left half dead; and all that pass that way, may fear, lest they far 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 Confederacies, will give them their first wound, then— 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Consultation, Inquisition, Election and Preparation for Practice, will, like Caesar's 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 quisque 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 man's repenting: but Ninevi will deny that, and David will affirm, That as man feareth, so is God's pleasure or displeasure; nay, God is so pitiful, 
96.  that upon man's Petitions he will rather please him than himself; yea, and so merciful, that man shall have his own will, though it be against 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,  
Saepe Jovem vidi, cum jam sua mittere vellet  
Fulmina, thure d●●to sustinuisse manum.  
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 entreaty, 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 showing 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 Meds' and Persians, with whom no persuasion could make alteration, but to Mos●s and the Prophets, who teach, That by amendment there may be atonement. 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 scarce as many as— Thebarum portae vel Divitis ostea Nili; yea, and so few, that a poor man may number them without a cipher, 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 squeeze 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— Quicunque vult, saith, That who ever will be saved, must believe it; and Enoch the seventh from Adam, saith St. Judas, Prophesied to the same purpose; and all that were before Enoch, set their names unto a Prophecy 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, METHUSELAH, That by his death he would send LAMECH, to the humble and afflicted, NOAH rest and peace, SHEM and impose, HAM his high displeasure, JAPHET to those that were haughty and highminded. 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 ourselves. 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 cripple 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 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 cripple— Christus tollit peccatum, claudus tollit grabbatum, Christ taketh off the sin, the cripple 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 Toils, 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 cripple, 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.  
FINIS.