people not strong but they are exceeding wise and they prepare their meat in the summer And now who would not at the first sight almost fansie this was a description of the State of Venice and a character of their wisdom and forecast in political matters rather than a commendation of the wisdom and providence of those little Insects which here are not inelegantly termed a people extreamly wise Sometimes we introduce mute and insensible Beings reasoning and discoursing after the manner of Men Judges 9. 8. See also 10 11 12 13 14 15. verses 2 Kings 14. 9. The Thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the Cedar that was in Lebanon saying Give thy daughter to my son to wife and there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon and trod down the Thistle How does Jehoash under this sensible representation deride the folly and the presumption of Amaziah King of Judah who being a petty and inconsiderable Prince in comparison of himself therefore styles himself the Cedar as if there was no less difference between them than there is between the Cedar the great Monarch of the forest and the Thistle a very mean and inglorious vegetable and therefore not without the highest indignation he scorns the very thoughts of such a poor and despicable Relation Song of Solomon c. 2. v. 7. I charge you O daughters of Jerusalem by the roes and by the hinds of the field that ye stir not up nor awaken my Love until he please How do these very expressions discover what a mighty tenderness Christ has for his beloved Church that he would not have the least thing to trouble and discompose her I charge you by the roes by the example of these fearfull Creatures which the Hunters endeavour to steal gently upon and not to terrifie and affright them and force them to fly and run away by noise and sudden surprizes Gen. 4. 10. The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the earth Thus when any sin is exceeding great as that of Murther most certainly is 't is an elegant way of speaking to give it a voice and language to speak and cry aloud to the God of heaven for justice and punishment upon the Author of it Verse 11. And now thou art cursed from the earth which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand Thus the earth it self though insensible yet by this Figure is said to curse as if she was in very great wrath and indignation upon this inhumane and barbarous action Psalm 108 2 Does not Holy David call upon his instruments of musick Awake lute and harp and 14. How does he desire the sun and the moon and the stars to praise the Lord and also the fire and bail snow and vapours which fulfill his word And again he calls upon the more sensible parts of the Creation upon the beasts and all cattel and creeping things and feathered fowl to sing their praises to God their Maker Psalm 77. 16. The waters saw thee O God the waters saw thee and were afraid the depths also were troubled Thus sight and fears and disquietness are applicable to things insensible to give us a lively sense of God's majesty and power which strike terror and amazement into all things Psalm 114. 3 The waters saw thee and fled as if they were under great fears and apprehensions of his coming and so with great precipitation retired suddenly Of Figures which we sometimes make use of in a way of Dialogue APORIA Aporia a word derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be doubtfull in mind when we reason and consider with our selves as if we were uncertain either what to say or doe Luke 16. 3. Then the unjust steward said within himself What shall I doe for my Lord taketh away from me the stewardship I cannot dig to beg I am ashamed Thus the steward debates with himself what course of life is most suitable to his own humour and disposition and that labour or poverty were equally disagreeable Mark 11. 31 32 And they reasoned among themselves saying If we say The baptism of John was from heaven he will say Why then did ye not believe but if we say Of men they feared the people for all men counted John that he was a prophet indeed and they answered We cannot tell ANACOENOSIS Anacoenosis from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to communicate with others This Figure teacheth us to advise deliberate or argue with others concerning the expedience of our actions Phil. 1. 22 23 24. What I shall chuse I wot not for I am in a strait between two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needfull for you How is our Apostle here very dubious and wavering in his mind Sometimes he debates within himself his own particular profit and presently concludes it was highly advantageous for him to die and to be with his dear Saviour And sometimes also he considers the good and benefit of the Church which seems yet to require his more immediate Care and personal presence and thus what was so expedient to his private interest was very inconsistent with the publick safety and prosperity of the Christian Church And these thoughts and these considerations sway his inclinations here and there to the great distraction of his mind Psalm 139. 7. Whither shall I go from thy spirit or whither shall I flee from thy presence The question perhaps seems to insinuate that God's presence was confined to time and place but if you observe 't is rather a stronger Confirmation that God is every where present to all persons in all manner of places and that no man can be where God is not Luke 11. 18. If Satan be divided against Satan how shall his king dom stand Thus from the evil Consequences of division and from the manifest absurdity that so wise a being as the Devil is should ever conspire to destroy himself our Saviour prooes his miracles to be performed by a divine power Acts 4. 19. But Peter and John said unto them Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than God judge ye And the Appeal it self was so just and equitable that even in their own partial opinion they could not but decide the question in favour of the Apostles Mal. 1. 6. If then I be a father when is my honour if I be a master where is my fear If then you grant me the antecedent why are you so absurd as to deny me the consequence Jerem. 23. 23. Am I a God at hand saith the Lord and not a God afar of Is not this the severest reprehension to those who conceive such narrow thoughts of God as to think the distance of places can hinder his knowledge or void his presence or render his power ineffectual PROLEPSIS Prolepsis anticipatio by this Figure we give a diversion to any
sometimes afraid to venture at a phrase or a fineness of a period lest they should deviate more from the true sence and signification of the Text and after all you will discover some elegant Turns and some Beauties of Rhetorick in the Translations which do not so clearly shine out in the very Original which I have purposely inserted sometimes to let my Reader see that if our Translators lose in one place yet they gain in another As to my own part I shall only tell you this that I was extreamly pleased when any Figure was lodg'd upon any Text of Scripture that seem'd to favour and countenance any false doctrines especially the Romish or the Socinian that I might take an occasion to make a little inroad into them and recover them from the unkind and false imprisonment of the enemy and when several other Texts of Scripture were in darkness and obscurity or under any difficulty I have endeavour'd to let in more light into them by an easie explication or a short paraphrase upon the words which perhaps were not always so very plain and obvious at least to every man's capacity and apprehension Sir I will now trouble you no farther but I hope you will receive it kindly as if in this Essay some things at least were tolerable Farewell Divine Eloquence OR AN ESSAY Upon the Tropes Figures Contained in the Holy Scriptures A TROPE A Trope is nothing else but the change of a word from its natural Signification into another whereby the Idea of any thing is more sensible to us Instance Matt. 4. 19. And I will make you Fishers of men that is Instruments of drawing and converting men unto God and our Saviour useth the term by way of allusion to them that being their former Employ Psal 65. 14. The valleys says our Psalmist shall stand so thick with Corn that they shall Laugh and Sing that is A very plentifull harvest is the occasion of joy and pleasantness laughing or singing are the proper expressions of a gay and chearfull Spirit and so those terms applied to other things by way of Analogy represent to us the excessive joy and pleasure of Plenty Luke 13. 32. Go and tell that Fox meaning Herod that crafty and politick Dissembler and the application of the term gives us a fuller notion of his Hypocrisie I shall here set down only three Affections belonging to a Trope leaving the fourth to those who are more industrious to find it out viz. Hyperbole Allegory Metalepsis HYPERBOLE Hyperbole from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to exceed This Figure represents things greater lesser or better than they are in their own natures and this sort of Trope is extremely usefull when our ordinary terms are so very weak that they carry in them no proportion with the notices of our mind and so the soul for fear of speaking too little presently flies out and enlargeth too much but let no one fansie that the use of this Figure is in the least unlawfull for if we sometimes express ourselves in the highest or in the lowest degree imaginable yet 't is no Lye for we have not the least intention to deceive any one but we only fly so extravagantly high that our discourse may come down with more force into the minds of our audience and give them such a sense of what we are talking as may oblige them to conceive 't is highly impossible or else to enlarge their thoughts about it 2 Sam. 1. 23. of the latter kind Saul and Jonathan were swifter than Eagles they were stronger than Lions and by such sensible Idea's and familiar Resemblances you conceive still but an higher notion of their mighty strength and activity Gen. 32. 12. Thy Seed shall be as the Sand of the sea which cannot be numbred for multitude and the Comparison only implies that his family should be exceeding numerous Psal 107. 26. The Waves of the sea Mount up to Heaven and go Down again to the Deep that is the foaming Waters are carried up exceedingly high and they tumble down again into the lowest places of the Earth See Luke 10. 15. to the same purpose Rom 9. 3. I could Wish that my self were Accursed from Christ and as One cut off from the Communion of his Church for my Brethren and Kinsmen according to the flesh which Wish was absolutely a thing impossible yet such a kind of Imprecation could not but give the Jews an infinite Assurance of St. Paul's excessive Love and Charity to them See John 21. 25. the World it Self could not Contain the books that should be written a figurative expression very large Gen. 11. 4. Let us Build a Tower whose Top may reach up unto Heaven that is rise up exceeding high and lofty There are two sorts of this Figure Hyperbole Auxesis and Meiosis Aaxesis James 4. 1. From whence come Wars and fightings among you Wars is a word that carries in the very sound of it a publick Dispute and Engagement of Nations against one another but the term here is only made use of by way of amplification and signifies the private quarrels and animosities of Christians among themselves Judges 5. 4 5. Lord when thou Marchedst out of Edom the earth Trembled and the heavens Dropped the clouds also Dropped with water the mountains Melted before the Lord Not that all these wonderfull Effects did then actually come to pass but they are here specified to give us a mighty notion of God's presence and how the most sacred Majesty of it strikes an universal Fear and Consternation every where Meiosis Meiosis a Figure of diminution when we use a less word or expression than the matter requires James 4. 17. To him that Knoweth to doe Good and doth it Not to Him it is Sin but not a sin of the least degree as the phrase at first sight seems to import but of a very great Aggravation being against Reason and Reflection and so a very dangerous and presumptive sin Matt. 5. 19. Whosoever shall break one of the least of these commandments and shall teach men so shall be the Least in the king dom of Heaven 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a very soft expression and much milder than such sort of false Teachers can pretend to deserve but indeed it signifies such shall be accounted as nothing and insignificant in the Church of God 1 Cor. 10. 5. But with Many of them God was not Well pleased A very soft and favourable expression God was not well pleased 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whereas it is very plain by the Consequence that he was extremely angry insomuch that in the fury of his displeasure they were presently cut off and destroyed in the wilderness Matt. 3. 11. But he that Cometh after Me is Mightier than I whose Shooes I am not Worthy to Bear This was spoken by St. John not without the greatest sense of his own unworthiness even to that degree that he thinks himself not worthy to perform the offices of the meanest Servant
garden and suffer thee no longer to be in a possibility of making thy self happy or to be in my presence Luke 19. 42. If thou even thou hadst known at least in this thy day the things which belong to thy peace but now they are hid from thy eyes which contain a most dreadfull denunciation of some future judgments that were to befall the Jewish Nation that the time for their repentance was now past beyond all recovery and therefore they were now to expect nothing else but ruine and desolation Psal 6. 3. My soul is sore vexed but thou O Lord how long The sence is imperfect and interrupted but thou O Lord how long that is shall thy wrath and infliction of punishments endure how long wilt thou delay to comfort and refresh my soul and take away the sad occasions of my grief Heb. 13. 1. I sware in my wrath if they shall enter into my rest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which words contain a mighty kind of resolution though the expression is more soft and gentle as if God should say in his high displeasure I will not be found to speak the truth if now they enter into my rest which is the highest asseveration that is possible APOSTROPHE Apostrophe a turning away or a dislike from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 verto 't is a diversion of our discourse to another person than we intended first person than we intended first of all to make our applications thus a Man who is in a violent transport of passion turns himself on all sides and makes his addresses from this to another person whom he thinks at least will be more favourable to the cause of his complaining nay sometimes he appeals to the most insensible things to the heavens to the earth and in the fury of his passion makes no difference and distinction and sometimes like a mere child quarrels with any thing without cause or reason 2 Sam. 1. 21. Ye mountains of Gilboa let there be no dew neither let there be rain upon you nor fields of offering How does Holy David in the violence of his sorrow and lamentation curse these very places with barrenness as if they were any way in the least accessory to the occasions of his mourning and therefore cruelly wishes them to be dry and fruitless without bringing forth any more fruit or offerings of sacrifice but what is all this expression what is this severe malediction but only a more pathetical instance or aggravation of David's infinite sorrow for the loss of his dearest friend Jonathan Vers 26. Thy love to me was wonderfull passing the love of women as if there was a more infinite tye of friendship than in the very affections of the husband to his wife Ibid. I am distressed for thee my brother Jonathan very pleasant hast thou been How does mournfull David discourse to his dearest Jonathan as if now he was sensible or could give attention to the voice of his mourning and how goes he on to recollect the past endearments of his conversation recalling to his mind the joys the complacencies and all those innocent familiarities which rendred his company most delightfull to him the sense of which had made such a very strong and mighty impression on his soul that to remember he was once so very happy in his dearest friendship and not to be always so makes him now but the more miserable and the more sensible of his infinite loss of his dearest friend Ye daughters of Israel weep over Saul Oh Jonathan thou wast slain in the high places very pleasant hast thou been Isai 1. 2. Hear O heavens and give ear O earth for I have nourished and brought up children and they have rebelled against me The thoughts of so much tenderness and so much indulgence and such ingratitude upon it so highly provokes the Prophet to that degree of wonder and amazement that in his transport of passion he seems to fansie the most sensless Creatures were capable to be judges of such strange ungratefulness and therefore appeals to them to make their remarks upon such extravagant and unnatural rebellions Sometimes for want of other objects we turn our discourse upon our own selves and so the same person reproves and is reproved by his own self Thus in Psal 43. 5. Why art thou cast down O my soul and why art thou so disquieted within me Oh trust in God Sometimes again we make our addresses and applications to insensible things as if it was in their power to hear and favour our petitions Then shall they begin to say to the mountains Fall on us and to the hills Cover us Luke 23. 30. And the apprehensions of their dangers and the extravagance of their fears may justifie in some degree at least such kind of applications though in themselves very vain and most unreasonable How does St. Paul triumph over death and the grave as if they heard his insulting eloquence or were sensible of their overthrow O death where is thy sting O Grave where is thy victory 1 Cor. 15. v. 55. Psalm 114. 5. What ailed thee O thou sea that thou fleddest or thou Jordan that thou wast driven back The Prophet asks the waters themselves what was the reason of the wonderfull ebb of the red-sea or the standing still or partitions of the river Jordan and in the vehemency of his passion seems to expect from them a suitable answer Why says he were you so very sensible of fear when like trembling and amazed persons you left your places and as it were made up a wall on either side as if you had forgot your natures and were no longer fluid and moving tell me then What ailed you PROSOPOPOEIA Prosopopoeia fictio personae derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 persona and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 facio This Figure supposeth another person speaking our sence and meaning and so we introduce him into our discourse Sometimes also this Figure makes inanimate things to hear or speak as if they were real persons Prov 8. 1. Doth not wisdom cry and understanding put forth her voice Unto you O men I call and my voice is to the sons of men Thus Solomon introduceth wisdom under the character of a person speaking and giving instructions how they should practise her kind admonitions Some though I think erroneously understand the Son of God the second person in the Trinity under this representation of Wisdom who is called the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But ask now the beasts of the field and they shall teach thee and the fowls of the air and they shall tell thee where holy Job adviseth his friends to go to the beasts and birds for better information and even they should be able to tell them that prosperity or afflictions were accidental to the pious or to the ungodly man and that no man ought to esteem any one wicked from the sufferance of any calamity Prov. 30. 24 25. The Ants are a
to us we might fansie there was some kind of truth in those impious and pernicious doctrines which tell us God design'd to make man to make him miserable even from all eternity but how unworthy are such notions of God who is infinite in goodness and mercy how contradictory to his loving-kindness to us Not willing that any should perish but that all should come and be saved Eph. 4. 30. Grieve not the holy Spirit of God where the Passion of sorrow is applied to the Holy Ghost as a personal act and cannot with any propriety be ascribed to a mere power or faculty as some fansie the Holy Spirit and not to be a real Person Grieve not then the Holy Ghost the third Person in the Blessed Trinity lest he withdraw his comfort his joy and consolation from your heart lest the blessed influence of his grace departeth from you as from an unpleasant conversation Gen. 6. 6. God is said to repent See also 1 Sam. 15. 11 29. Not that there is the least change or alteration in God but only in the object in the works of his hand which were once good but now are evil for God himself is unchangeable and always the same but 't is his eternal will and pleasure that wicked men should be miserable and good men happy either here in this world or at least in the world to come which always is accomplished in some respect or other though we are sometimes unable to make the discovery of it we cannot look into the hearts of men and there see their joys or their sorrows growing up in their minds and therefore how often do we make a false estimate of the condition of the ungodly man and fansie him to be at ease and quiet in his thoughts and to live with pleasure and satisfaction who upon reflection upon his past actions and upon expectation of death and judgment is often a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief full of trouble and anxiety and thinks himself unhappy and miserable even beyond all expression Thus when God is said to descend which implies a local motion a motion from one place into another yet the phrase by interpretation signifies that God did there reveal and manifest himself Gen. 11. 5. Gen. 18. 21. I will go down and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it which is come to me and if not I will know here God himself discourseth as a man to his neighbour as if he was not a Being of infinite knowledge but did receive his notice and information of worldly affairs by a gradual course of thinking and observation and by farther enquiries into second causes Thus God suffers himself to be discribed like a Judge who repairs to the place where the matter in question was transacted that by his personal appearance he may more fully and easily assure himself of the innocence or the guilt of the accused person and one reason why God makes use of such a form of speaking is to certifie us that there is not always one event to the righteous and to the wicked but that he rewards or punisheth man according to the rules and equity of Justice and not with unadviseable rashness and indeliberation And the Lord called unto Adam and said Where art thou Not that this kind of question in the least signifies that God possibly could be ignorant where Adam was but this way of speaking is rather a formal citation or a summons to Adam who seems unwilling to come and appear before his offended God being extreamly conscious of his sin and guiltiness and of his fall from the happy state of innocence and now beholding a mighty train of miseries which were to follow him as a just retribution for his disobedience One of the Fathers is of opinion this expression Where art thou is rather a severe kind of reprehension to Adam as if God said to terrifie him more exceedingly From what grace and innocence art thou fallen Come then and appear before me Where art thou and behold Adam was afraid And God blessed them saying Be fruitfull and multiply and fill the waters in the seas and let the fowl multiply in the earth which kind of phrases denote nothing else but his divine appointment of the encrease of his Creatures in their kind for certainly you can never be so unkind to your own sence and reason as to fansie God speaks to his irrational Creatures as if they were capable to hear and obey his pleasure but God rather dictates to their proper natures and by natural instinct and inclinations he has given them power and virtue and efficacy to propagate and preserve their kind Isai 5. 6. I will command the clouds that they rain no more upon it and now who supposes that God himself presently sent strict orders to the Clouds to keep back their fall of waters for the expressian imports no more but this that God by the course of natural causes so disposeth things in heaven and earth that at such a time the Clouds of heaven should be void of water so that he orders second causes and the operations of them not according to the present exigency but by his infinite prospect into futurity he does antecedently so manage every thing that nothing falls out unexpectedly but according to his will and pleasure Psalm 18. 10. He rode upon a Cherub and did fly yea God did fly upon the wings of the wind which expression conveys to our mind a more sensible notion of speed God did not ride but fly even upon the very wings of the wind which is the highest degree of speedy motion that possibly can be describ'd to frame in us an Idea of his incredible swiftness And now because God is so indulgent to submit himself to our Capacities must we presently pretend to describe him according to the narrow proportions of man How does God baffle us how does he put us to silence when he is pleas'd to ask us questions beyond the compass of our knowledge Hath the rain a Father or who hath begotten the drops of dew Job 38. 28. that is Am not I the Lord and the Author of these and is there any one besides Job 38. 19. Where is the way where the light dwelleth and as for darkness where is the place thereof that is No man knows the particular points of the Sun 's rising or setting and now that God may make us still more sensible of our ignorance Hast thou says God entered into the springs of the seas or hast thou walked in the search of the depth that is Thou art perfectly a stranger to the whole course of nature Vers 22 23. Hast thou entred into the treasures of snow or hast thou seen the treasures of hail which I reserved against the time of trouble against the day of war and battle All which assure us that we are unacquainted with the secret cause and origin use and production of these things and
how and when God lays in his mighty treasures of storm and tempest to confound his Enemies The falling of snow and rain may seem very accidental and according to the usual course of nature but I am satisfied that the wind and the waters are laid up as in a treasury and when God pleaseth he sends them abroad as well for the preservation of some as for the destruction of other people Thus do I conclude this Figure with these difficult and amazing questions to let you know that although God condescends to speak to us in a familiar way yet sometimes too he thinks it convenient to let us know our distance and our ignorance too when he proposeth such questions to us as declare his infinite power and greatness Such questions as are above our comprehension and so they should make us more sensible of our weakness and infirmity CHARIENTISMUS Charientismus a Figure when we return a very mild and gentle answer although we are not insensible of the provocation John 18. 23. Jesus answered him If I have spoken evil bear witness of the evil but if well why smitest thou me How does our Blessed Saviour not render evil for evil How does he patiently suffer the affront and meekly expostulate for the Injury he received and How does the soft Answer turn their wrath away Prov. 15. 1. When St. Paul was interrupted by Festus with a reproachfull language telling him that he was mad Acts 26. 24. How does our Apostle return a soft and submissive Answer to him not without the greatest deference But he said I am not mad most noble Festus v. 25. Matth. 15. 26 27. When the woman of Canaan importuned our Saviour to work a wonderfull Cure upon her daughter who was tormented with an evil spirit our Saviour tells her that It was not convenient to take the childrens bread and cast it to dogs that is It was not proper to work those Miracles among the heathen which were chiefly design'd for God's own peculiar People the Jews observe how they are here called the children and the heathen are termed the dogs And what expression can be more harsh more severe or more likely to provoke the meekest Soul to some undecent and passionate expression But how extreamly civil how courteous how very obliging is her Answer and she said Truth Lord and so still gives him the greatest Title of respect and honour 'T is true my Lord I cannot deny what you please to say Yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters table as if she had said The dogs do receive the remainders and scatterings which fall from the table so even I my self who am a Gentile or call me if you please by the vilest name so long as you will but suffer me to enjoy the same favour with the Jews I can easily dispense with any such infamous or reproachfull language Such humiliation such an humble disposition of Soul and such importunity can never be unacceptable to Almighty God and Heaven it self cannot but favour such desires And you find our Saviour himself was in no small admiration and mightily surprized with this meek and humble insinuation especially after so great a provocation for the very sound of the word so applied is very ignominious and so Christ presently tells her O woman great is thy faith be it unto thee even as thou wilt Thus an importunate Prayer accompanied with such a deep sence of our own unworthiness is still the nearest way to receive and enjoy all the blessed consequences of our Petitions and Heaven it self is overcome with such a pleasing violence Thus you see the woman was not insensible of the provocation and yet how very courtly how genteel is her Answer True my Lord yet the very dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters table and let me beg you to be so kind as to suffer me now with them to enjoy such a kind of favour such a superfluity and so Christ himself breaks out in amazement of such a most kind beseeching unexpected reply O woman great is thy faith thy belief is mighty strange and wonderfull to me and so very forcible so prevailing with me that I cannot possibly deny what you desire APODIOXIS Apodioxis This Figure not without scorn and indignation rejects any sort of argument as very absurd in it self and not reducible to practice Matth. 16. 23. How does Christ reprove St. Peter when he importunately desired our Saviour not to suffer persecution Get thee behind me Satan thou art an offence unto me for thou savourest not the things of God This is a reflection upon our Apostle of the highest nature and certainly nothing less than the greatest provocation could extort such expressions from Christ himself And now Who would think that St. Peter who was so extreamly displeasing to our Blessed Saviour and so highly condemned by him as to call him Satan a word of the greatest infamy and reproach should of all the Apostles be the only head of the Christian Church as if the rest were not as equally concerned in the foundation of Christianity as St. Peter himself whereas all the Preference that was given to this Apostle was rather with respect to his age than to any authority and power he received as an Apostle Indeed was there any preeminence among the Apostles I should think St. John deserves to be called the very chief of them all because he is remarkably distinguished by Christ himself and styled in the Gospel the disciple whom Jesus loved with more expression of kindness and affection than all the rest and Who can be so well qualified to be supream in the Church as that Person who was dearest to his Saviour And therefore certainly most deserving in himself Whereas St. Peter was guilty of the greatest Apostacy in his obstinate denial of Christ even to abjuration of him Matth. 26. 74. even when he had given his Saviour the highest kind of assurance that though all the Apostles did forsake him yet for his part he was resolved not to doe the like and yet was he the first deserter of him Acts 8. 20. But Peter said Thy money perish with thee because thou thoughtest that the gift of God may be purchased with money This was an imprecation of the highest nature Psalm 50. 21. Thou thoughtest that I was such a one as thy self but I will reprove thee for thy sins and set them before thee Matth. 7. 16. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles How then can you being evil speak good things Matth. 12. 34. and the very absurdity of the question was too manifest to require an answer LITOTES Litotes This Trope we make use of when we say not so much as we think yet such a way of speaking is often much more forcible and makes stronger impressions upon us 'T is in short a sort of Figure extreamly decent and never used without modesty and discretion What shall I praise you in