to another Come and hee commeth to a third Doe this and hee doth it then all the members obserue the Heart if it say to the eye See it seeth to the eare Heare it hearkeneth to the tongue Speake it speaketh to the foot Walke it walketh to the hand Worke it worketh If the Heart lead the way to God not a member of the body not a facultie of the soule will stay behinde As when the Sunne ariseth in the morning Birds rise from their nestes Beastes from their dennes and Men from their beds They all say to the Heart as the Israelites did to Ioshuah All that thou commandest vs Iosh 1.16 wee will doe and whither soeuer thou sendest vs wee will goe onely the Lord bee with thee Therefore the penitent Publican smote his heart Luk. 18.13 as if hee would call vp that to call vp all the rest It cannot command and goe without No part of man can sinne without the heart the heart can sin without all the rest The Wolfe goes to the flocke purposing to deuoure a Lambe and is preuented by the vigilancie of the Shepheard yet Lupus exit Lupus regreditur hee went foorth a Wolfe and comes home a Wolfe The heart intends a sinne which is neuer brought into action yet it sinnes in that very intention The hand cannot offend without the heart the heart can offend without the hand The heart is like a Mill if the winde or water bee violent the Mill will goe whether the Miller will or not yet hee may chuse what kind of graine it shall grind wheat or darnell If the affections bee strong and passionate the heart will bee working yet the Christian by grace may keepe out lustes and supply it with good thoughts The Heart is Gods peculiar the thing hee especially cares for My sonne giue mee thy heart and good reason for I gaue my owne Sonnes heart to death for it Non minus tuum quia meum It is not lesse thine for being mine yea it cannot be thine comfortably vnlesse it bee mine perfectly God requires it principally but not onely giue him that and all the rest will follow He that giues me fire needs not bee requested for light and heat for they are inseparable Non corticis sed cordis Deus Ambr. God doth not regard the rinde of the lipps but the root of the heart It was the Oracles answere to him that would bee instructed which was the best Sacrifice Da medium Lunae Solem simul canis iram which three characters make Cor the Heart Mans Affection is Gods Hall mans Memorie his Library mans Intellect his Priuie Chamber but his Closset Sacrary or Chappell is the Heart So Saint Augustine glosseth the Pater noster Quies in coelis which art in heauen that is in a heauenly Heart All outward workes an hypocrite may doe onely hee failes in the Heart and because hee failes there he is lost euery where Let the flesh looke neuer so faire the good Cater will not buy it if the liuer bee spak'd Who will put that timber into the building of his house which is rotten at the heart Man iudgeth the heart by the workes God iudgeth the workes by the heart All other powers of man may be suspended from doing their offices but onely the Will that is the Heart Therefore God will excuse all necessary defects but onely of the Heart The blinde man cannot serue God with his eyes hee is excused the deafe cannot serue God with his eares hee is excused the dumbe cannot serue God with his tongue hee is excused the creeple cannot serue God with his feete hee is excused But no man is excused for not seruing God with his Heart Deus non respicit quantum homo valet sed quantum velit Saint Chrysostome seemed to bee angrie with the Apostle for saying Math. 19.27 Behold wee haue left all and followed thee What haue you left an angle a couple of broken nettes and a weather beaten Fish-boat a faire deale to speake of But at last hee corrects himselfe I crie you mercie Saint Peter you haue forsaken all indeed for he truly leaues all that leaues Quod vel capit mundus vel cupit that takes his Heart from the world and giues it to Christ All other faculties of man apprehend their obiects when they are brought home to them onely the Will the Heart goes home to the obiect Colour must come to the eye before it can see it sound to the eare before it can heare it the obiect to bee apprehended is brought home to the vnderstanding and past things are recollected to the memory before either can doe her office But the heart goes home to the obiect Vbi thesaurus ibi cor Not where the heart is there will be the treasure but where the treasure is there will be the heart Blessed are the pure in heart Math. 5.8 for they shall see God Of all the pure heart is beholding to God and shall one day behold God Therefore Dadid prayes Psal 51.10 Cor mundum crea in me Deus Create in mee a cleane heart O God The Lord rested from the workes of his Creation the seuenth day but so dearely hee loues cleane hearts that hee restes from creating them no day As Iehu said to Iehonadab Est tibi cor rectum 2 King 10.15 Is thy heart right Then giue mee thy hand come vp into my charriot So this is Gods question Is thy heart vpright Then giue mee thy hand ascend my triumphant Charriot the euerlasting glory of heauen To conclude because there is such difference of hearts and such need of a good one they put it to Him that knowes them all and knowes which is best of all For howsoeuer Nature knowes no difference nor is there any Quorum praecordia Titan De meliore luto finxit yet in regard of grace the sanctified heart is of purer metall then common ones A little liuing stone in Gods building is worth a whole Quarrey of the world One honest heart is better then a thousand other the richest Mine and the coursest mould haue not such a disproportion of value Man often failes in his Election God cannot erre The choise heere was extraordinary by lots yours is ordinary by Suffrages Gods hand is in both Great is the benefit of good Magistrates that wee may sit vnder our owne Vines goe in and out in peace eate our bread in saftie and which is aboue all leade our liues in honest libertie for all this wee are beholding vnder God to the Magistrate first the Supreme then the subordinate They are Trees vnder whose branches the people build and sing and bring vp their young ones in religious nourture That Silence in heauen about halfe an houre Reuel 8. when the golden vialls were filled with sweet odours and the prayers of the Saints ascended as pillars of smoke and Incense is referred by some to the peace of the Church vnder Constantine It is the King of Mexico's Oath when hee takes his Crowne Iustitiam se administraturum effecturum vt Sol cursum teneat Nubes pluant Rivi currant terra producat fructus that hee will minister Iustice hee will make the Sunne holde his course the Cloudes to raine the Riuers to runne and the Earth to fructifie The meaning is that the vpright and diligent administration of Iustice will bring all these blessings of God vpon a Countrey If wee compare this Citie with many in forraine parts how ioyfully may wee admire our owne happines Those murders and massacres rapes and constuprations and other mischiefes that bee there as common as nights be rare with vs. I will not say that all our people are better then theirs I dare say our Gouernment is better then theirs Merchants make higher vse and are more glad of calme Seas then common passengers So should Christians more reioyce in peace then can the heathen because they know how to improoue it to richer ends the glory of God and saluation of their owne soules Proceed yee graue and honourable Senatours in your former approoued courses to the suppressing of vice and disorders and to the maintenance of Truth and Peace among vs. It is none of the least renownes of this famous Citie the Wisedome and Equitie of the Gouernours To repeat the worthy acts done by the Lords Maters of London were fitter for a Chronicle they are too large for a Sermon But it is high time to blesse you with a Dismission and to dismisse you with a Blessing That Almightie God that knowes the hearts of all sanctifie your hearts to gouerne and ours to obey that wee all seeking to doe good one to another He may doe good vnto vs all To this blessed and eternall God the Father the Sonne and the Holy Ghost bee all glory and praise for euer Amen
that hath ordained such honour for you vpon earth that so in all things wee may glorifie his blessed Name Omniscience it is Gods peculiar to bee the searcher of the heart The heart of man is deceitfull aboue all things and desperately wicked who can know it Iere. 17.9.10 Who Ego Dominus I the Lord search the heart Hee hath made no window into it for man or Angel to looke in onely it hath a doore and he keepes the key himselfe But why the Heart Here was an Apostle to bee chosen now wisdome learning eloquence memorie might seeme to bee more necessary qualities then the Heart No they are all nothing to an honest Heart I denie not but Learning to diuide the Word Elocution to pronounce it Wisdome to discerne the truth Boldnesse to deliuer it bee all parts requireable in a Preacher But as if all these were scarse worth mention in respect of the Heart they say not Thou that knowest which of them hath the subtiler wit or abler memory but which hath the truer heart not which is the greater Scholer but which is the better man Thou that knowest the Heart Samuel being sent to annoynt a sonne of Iesse when Eliab the eldest came foorth a man of a goodly presence fit for his person to succeed Saul he thinkes with himselfe This choyce is soone made sure this is the head vpon which I must spend my holy Oyle The priuiledge of Nature and of Stature his primogeniture and proportion giues it him This is hee But euen the holyest Prophet when hee speakes without God runnes into errour Signes and apparances are the guides of our eyes and these are seldome without a true falshood or an vncertaine truth Saul had a goodly person but a bad heart hee was higher then all many were better then hee It is not hard for the best Iudgement to erre in the shape Philoxemenes a magnanimous and valiant Souldier being inuited to Magyas his house to dinner came in due season but found not his Host at home A seruant seeing one so plaine in clothes and somewhat deformed in bodie thought him some sorry fellow and set him to cleaue wood Whereat Magyas being returned wondering he receiued from him this answere Expendo paenas deformitatis meae I pay for my vnhandsomnesse All is not valour that lookes bigge and goes braue Hee that iudgeth by the inside checked Samuel for his misconceit 1 Sam. 16.7 Looke not on his Countenance or Stature for I haue refused him for the Lord seeth not as man seeth Dauids countenance was ingenuous and beautifull but had it promised so much as Eliabs or Abinadabs hee had not been left in the field while his Brethren sate at the table Iesse could find nothing in Dauid worthy the competition of honour with his brethren God could finde something to preferre him before them all His father thought him fit to keepe sheepe thought his Brethren fit to rule men God thinkes him fit to rule and his Brethren to serue and by his owne immediate choyce destines him to the Throne Here was all the difference Samuel and Iesse went by the outside God by the inside they saw the composition of the body hee the disposition of the mind Israel desires a King of God and that King was chosen by the Head God will chuse a King for Israel and that King is chosen by the Heart If in our choyce for God or for our selues wee altogether follow the eye and suffer our thoughts to be guided by outward respects we shall be deceiued Why doe they not say Thou that knowest the estates of men who is rich and fit to support a high place and who so poore that the place must support him I heare some call Wealth Substance but certainly at best it is but a meere circumstance It is like the Planet Mercury if it bee ioyned with a good Heart it is vsefull if with a bad and corrupt one dangerous But howsoeuer at the Beame of the Sanctuary money makes not the man yet it often addes some mettall to the man makes his Iustice the bolder and in lesse hazard of being vitiated But pauperis sapientia plus valet quam diuitis abundantia Eccles 9.13 If the poore man haue Wisedome to deliuer the Citie hee is worthy to gouerne the Citie I yeeld that something is due to the State of Authoritie Ad populum Phaleras So Agrippa came to the Tribunall with great pompe and attendance This is requisite to keepe awe in the people that the Magistracie bee not exposed to contempt But Magistratus non vestitus indicat virum Wise gouernment not rich garment shewes an able man It was not riches that they regarded Why doe they not say Thou that knowest the Birth or Blood of men I know it is a reuerend thing to see an ancient Castle or Palace not in decay or a faire Tree sound and perfect timber But as foule Birds build their nests in an olde forsaken house and doated trees are good for nothing but the fire so the decay of Vertue is the ruine of Nobilitie To speake morally Actiue worth is better then Passiue this last we haue from our Ancestors the first from our selues Let mee rather see one vertue in a man aliue then all the rest in his pedigree dead Nature is regular in the bruite Creatures Eagles doe not produce crauens and it was a monstrous fable that Nicippus his Ewe should yeane a Lyon But in man shee failes and may bring forth the like proportion not the like disposition Children doe often resemble their Parents in face and features not in heart and qualities It is the earthly part that followes the seed wisedome valour vertue are of another beginning Honour sits best vpon the backe of merit I had rather bee good without Honour then Honourable without goodnesse Cottages haue yeelded this as well as Palaces Agathocles was the sonne of a Potter Bion of an infamous Curtisan In holy Writ Gideon was a poore Thrasher Dauid a Shepheard yet both mightie men of valour both chosen to rule both speciall Sauiours of their Countrey Farre bee it from vs to condemne all honour of the first head when noble deseruings haue raised it though before it could shewe nothing but a White Shield Indeed it is not the Birth but the new Birth that makes men truely Noble Why doe they not say Thou that knowest the wisedome and policie of men Certainly this is requisite to a man of place without which hee is a blinde Polyphemus a strong arme without an eye But a man may bee wise for himselfe not for God not for the publike good An Ante is a wise creature for it selfe but a shrewd thing in a Garden Magistrates that are great louers of themselues are seldome true louers of their Countrey All their actions bee motions that haue recourse to one Center that is themselues A cunning head without an honest heart is but like him that can packe the Cards yet
when hee hath done cannot play the Game or like a house with many conuenient Staires Entries and other passages but neuer a faire roome all the inwards bee sluttish and offensiue It is not then Thou that knowest the Wealth or the Birth or the Head but the Heart as if in an Election that were the maine it is all if the rest be admitted on the By. Heere then wee haue three remarkeable obseruations 1. What kind of Hearts God will not chuse and we may guesse at them 2. What Hearts hee will chuse and himselfe describes them 3. Why hee will chuse men especially by the Heart First what kind of Hearts hee will not chuse and of these among many I will mention but three 1. Cor diuisum a distracted Heart part wherof is dedicated to the Lord and part to the world But hee that made all will not bee contented with a piece Aut Caesar aut nihil The seruice of two Masters in the obedience of their contrary commands is incompetible sensu composito Indeed Zacheus did first serue the world and not Christ afterward Christ and not the world but neuer the world and Christ together Many diuisions followed sinne 1. It diuided the heart from God Esai 59.2 Your sinnes haue soperated betweene you and your God 2. It diuided heart from heart God by Marriage made one of two sinne doth often by preuarication make two of one It diuided the tongue from the heart So Cain answered God when hee questioned him about Abel Am I my Brothers keeper As if hee would say Goe looke 4. It diuided tongue from tongue at the building of Babell that when one called for Bricke his fellow brings him morter and when hee spake of comming downe the other falles a remoouing the ladder 5. It diuided the heart from it selfe They spake with a double heart The originall is Psal 12.2 A heart and a heart one for the Church another for the Change one for Sundayes another for working dayes one for the King an other for the Pope A man without a heart is a wonder but a man with two hearts is a monster It is said of Iudas There were many hearts in one man and wee read of the Saints There was one heart in many men Dabo illis cor vnum Actes 4.32 a speciall blessing Now this diuision of heart is intolerable in a Magistrate when hee plyes his owne cause vnder the pretence of anothers and cares not who lose so hee bee a gayner Saint Ierome calles this Cor malè locatum for many haue hearts but not in their right places Cor habet in ventre gulosus lasciuus in libidine cupidus in lucris Naturally if the heart bee remooued from the proper seare it instantly dyes The eye vnnested from the head cannot see the foote sundered from the body cannot goe so spiritually let the heart bee vncentred from Christ it is dead Thus the Coward is sayd to haue his heart at his heele the timorous hath his heart at his mouth the enuious hath his heart in his eyes the Prodigall hath his heart in his hand the foole hath his heart in his tongue the couetous locks it vp in his chest He that knowes the hearts of all men will not chuse a diuided or misplaced heart 2. Cor lapideum a hard or stony heart This is Ingratum ad beneficia infidum ad consilia inverecundum ad turpia inhumanum ad bona temerarium ad omnia A Rocke which all the Floods of that infinite Sea of Gods mercies and Iudgements cannot soften A Stitthy that is still the harder for beating It hath all the properties of a stone it is as cold as a stone as heauie as a stone as hard as a stone as senselesse as a stone No perswasions can heate it no prohibitions can stay it no instructions can teach it no compassions can mollifie it Were it of yron it might bee wrought were it of lead it might bee molten and cast into some better forme were it of earth it might bee tempered to another fashion but being stone nothing remaines but that it bee broken What was Pharaohs greatest plague was it the murraine of Beastes was it the plague of Boyles was it the destruction of the Fruits was it the turning of their Riuers into Blood was it the striking of their First borne with death No though all these plagues were grieuous yet one was more grieuous then all Cor durum his hard heart Hee that knowes all hearts knowes how ill this would be in a Magistrate a heart which no cryes of Orphans no teares of Widowes no mourning of the oppressed can melt into pitie From such a Heart good Lord deliuer vs. 3. Cor eupidum a couetous heart the desires whereof are neuer filled A handfull of corne put to the whole heape encreaseth it yea adde water to the Sea it hath so much the more but hee that loueth Siluer Eccles 5.10 shall neuer bee satisfied with Siluer One desire may bee filled but another comes Crescit amor nummi quantùm ipsa pecunia creseit Naturall desires are finite as thirst is satisfied with drinke and hunger with meate But vnnatuall desires bee infinite as it fares with the body in burning Feuers Quò plus sunt potae plus sitiuntur aquae So it is in the couetous heart Vt cùm posideat plurimae plura petaet Grace can neuer fill the purse nor wealth the heart This vice is in all men iniquitie but in a Magistrate Blasphemie the roote of all euill in euery man the rot of all goodnesse in a great Man It leaues them like those Idoles in the Psalme neither eyes to see nor eares to heare but onely hands to handle Such men will transgresse for handfulls of barley and morsells of bread and a very dramme of profite put into the Scole of Iustice turnes it to the wrong side There is not among all the charmes of Hell a more damnable spell to inchant a Magistrate then the loue of Money This turnes Iudgement into Wormewood or at least into vineger for if Iniustice doe not make it bitter as Wormewood yet shifts and delayes will make it sowre as vineger O how sordid and execrable should bribes bee to them and stinke worse in their nostrils then Vespasians tribute of vrine Let them not onely binde their owne hands and the hands of their seruants that may take but euen binde the hands of them that would offer Hee that vseth Integritie doeth the former but hee that constantly professeth Integritie doth the latter It is not enough to auoyde the fault but euen the suspition It is some discredit to the Iudge when a Clyent with his bribe comes to bee denyed for if his vsuall carriage had giuen him no hope of speeding hee would not offer A Seruant that is a fauourite or inward giues suspition of corruption and is commonly thought but a by-way some posterne or back-dore for a gift to come in when the broad
fore-gates are shut against it This makes many aspire to Offices and great places not to doe good but to get goods as some loue to bee stirring the fire if it bee but to warme their owne fingers Whatsoeuer affaires passe through their hands they crooke them all to their owne endes and care not what becomes of the publike good so they may aduance their owne priuate and would set their neighbours house on fire and it were but to rost their owne egges Let them banish Couetousnesse with as great a hatred as Amnon did Thamar first thrust it out of their hearts then shut and locke the dore after it for the couetous heart is none of them that God chuseth Next let vs see what kinde of hearts God will chuse and they be furnished with these vertues fit for a Magistrate 1. There is Cor sapiens a wise heart and this was Salomons suite An vnderstanding heart 1 Kings 3.9 Hee saw hee had power enough but not wisedome enough and that Royaltie without wisedome was no better then an eminent dishonour a very Calfe made of golden Eare-rings There is no Trade of life but a peculiar wisedome belongs to it without which all is tedious and vnprofitable how much more to the highest and busiest vocation the gouernment of men An ignorant ruler is like a blind Pilot who shall saue the vessell from ruine 2. Cor patiens a meeke heart what is it to difcerne the cause and not to bee patient of the proceedings The first Gouernour that God set ouer his Israel was Moses a man of the meekest spirit vpon earth How is hee fit to gouerne others that hath not learn'd to gouerne himselfe He that cannot rule a Boat on the riuer is not to bee trusted with steering a Vessell on the Ocean Nor yet must this patience degenerate into cowardlinesse Moses that was so meeke in his owne cause in Gods cause was as resolute So there is also 3. Cor magnanimum a heart of fortitude and courage The rulers and squares that regulate others are not made of lead or soft wood such as will bend or bow The principall Columnes of a house had need be heart of Oke A timorous and flexible Magistrate is not fit for these corrupt times If either threatnings can terrifie him or fauour melt him or perswasions swerue him from Iustice hee shall not want temptations The Braine that must dispell the fumes ascending from a corrupt liuer stomach or spleene had need bee of a strong constitution The couragious spirit that resolues to doe the will of heauen what malignant powers soeuer would crosse it on earth is the heart that God chuseth 4. Lastly there is Cor honestum an honest heart Without this courage will prooue but legall Iniustice policie but meere subtiltie and abilitie but the Deuills Anuile to forge mischiefes Priuate men haue many curbes but men in authoritie if they feare not God haue nothing else to feare If hee bee a simple Dastard hee feares all men if a head-strong commander he feares no man like that vniust Iudge that feared neither God nor Man Luke 18.2 This is the ground of all fidelitie to King and Countrey Religion Such was Constantines Maxime Hee cannot bee faithfull to mee that is vnfaithfull to God As this honourable place of the Kings Lieutenāt-ship hath a Sword bearer so the Magistrate himselfe is the Lords Sword-bearer Rom. 13.4 saith Saint Paul And as hee may neuer drawe this Sword in his priuate quarrell so hee must not let it bee sheathed when Gods cause calls for it It is lenitie and conniuence that hath inuited contempt to great places Did Iustice carrie a seuerer hand they durst not traduce their Rulers in Songs and Satyrs the burden whereof will bee their owne shame Magistrates are our ciuill Fathers and what deserue they but the curse of Cham that lay open the nakednesse of their Fathers When Alexander had conquered Darius and casually found his slaine bodie lying naked hee threw his owne coat ouer him saying I will couer the destinie of a King It is God alone that casteth contempt vpon Princes which that hee may not doe let them preserue Cor mundum a cleane heart not conscious of ill demerits Such a one sits on the Iudgement-Seat as one that neuer forgets that hee must appeare before the Iudgement-Seate of Christ So hee executeth Iustice as neuer losing the sense of Mercy so hee sheweth Mercie as not offering violence to Iustice Hee can at once punish the offence and pitie the offender Hee remembers his oath and feares to violate it to an enemie hee is not cruell to a friend hee will not bee partiall And if euer hee haue but once cut the skirt of Iustice as Dauid the lappe of Sauls garment his Heart smites him for it Hee minds no other clocke on the Bench but that of his owne Conscience Hee will not offend the Iust nor affoord a good looke to varlets nor yet doth hee so disregard their persons as to wrong their causes Hee will maintaine Pietie but not neglect Equitie In Court hee lookes not before him on the person nor about him on the beholders nor behind him for bribes nay hee will not touch them in his Closset or Chamber lest the timber and stones in the wall should witnesse against him So hee helpes the Church that the Common-wealth bee no loser so hee lookes to the Common-wealth that the Church may not bee wronged The lewd feare him the good praise him the poore blesse him hee hath been a Father to Orphans a Husband to distressed Widowes Many prayers are layde vp for him in Heauen and when hee dies they with the assistance of Angels shall beare him vp to blessednesse Lastly let vs see why God will chuse men by the heart I denie not but wisedome and courage moderation and patience are all requisite concurrences but the Heart is the Primum Mobile that sets all the wheeles a going and improoues them to the right end When God begins to make a man good he begins at the heart as Nature in forming so God in reforming begins there As the eye is the first that begins to die and the last that begins to liue so the heart is the first that liues and the last that dies It is said of the Spider that in the morning before shee seekes out for her prey shee mends her broken webbe and in doing that she alwayes begins in the midst Before wee pursue the profits and baits of this world let vs first amend our life and when wee vndertake this let vs bee sure to begin at the heart The Heart is the Fort or Citadell in this little I le of man let vs fortifie that or all will bee lost And as naturally the heart is first in being so here the Will which is meant by the Heart is chiefe in commanding The Centurions seruants did not more carefully obey him when hee sayd to one Goe and he goeth Math. 8.9