yet blessed Marie should bee a God if shee could at once attend all her Suiters One solicites her at Halle another at Scherpen-heuuell another at Luca at our Walsingham another one in Europe another in Asia or perhappes another is one of her newe Clientes in America Tenne thousande deuout Supplyants are at once prostrate before her seuerall shrines If shee cannot heare all why pray they If shee canne what canne GOD doe more Certainely as the matter is vsed ther cannot bee greater wrong offered to those heauenly spirits then by our importunate superstitions to be thrust into Gods throne and to haue forced vppon them the honours of their Maker There is no contradiction in heauen a Saint cannot allowe that an Angell forbids See thou doe it not was the voyce of an Angell if all the miraculous blocks in the world shall speake contrarie wee knowe whome to beleeue The olde rule was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Either that rule is diuelish or this practice And if this practice bee ill GOD deliuer mee from the immediate authour of these miracles Change but one Idoll for another and what differ the wonders of Apolloes Temples from those of these Chappelles Wee reuerence as wee ought the memorie of that holy and happie Virgin Wee hate those that dishonour her wee hate those that deifie her Cursed bee all honour that is stollen from God This short satisfaction I giue in a long question such as I dare rest in and resolue that all Popish miracles are either falsely reported or falsely done or falsely miraculous or falsely ascribed to heauen To Mr. WILLLIAM BEDELL at Venice EP. 7. Lamenting the death of our late Diuines and inciting to their imitation WE haue heard how full of trouble dāger the Alpes were to you and did at once both pittie your difficulties and reioyce in your safetie Since your departure from vs Reynolds is departed from the World Alas how many worthy lightes haue our eyes seene shining and extinguisht How many losses haue wee liued to see the Church sustaine and lament of her childrē of her pillers our own and forraine I speake not of those which being excellent would needs be obscure whom nothing but their owne secrecie depriued of the honor of our teares There are besides too many whome the world noted and admired euen since the time that our common mother acknowledged vs for her sonnes Our Fulk ledde the way that profound readie and resolute Doctor the hāmer of heretickes the champion of Truth whome our younger times haue heard oft disputing acutely and powerfully Next him followed that honour of our schools Angel of our church learned Whitakers then whom our age saw nothing more memorable what clearnes of iudgemēt what sweetnes of stile what grauity of person what grace of cariage was in that man Who euer saw him without reuerēce or heard him without wonder Soone after left the world that famous and truly illuminate Doctor Francis Iunius the glory of Leiden the other hope of the Church the Oracle of Textuall and schoole-diuinity rich in languages subtil in distinguishing in argument inuincible and his cōpanion in labours Lu. Trelcatius wold needs be his cōpanion in ioyes who had doubled our sorrow loss but that he recōpenced it with a son like himself Soon after fell old reuerend Beza a long-fixed star in this firmament of the Church who after many excellent monuments of learning and fidelity liued to proue vpon his aduersaries that hee was not dead at their day Neither may I without iniury omit that worthie payr of our late Diuines Greenham and Perkins whereof the one excell'd in experimentall diuinity and knew well how to stay a weake conscience how to raise a fallen how to strike a remorse-lesse The other in a distinct iudgement and a rare dexterity in clearing the obscure subtilties of the schoole and easie explication of the most perplex discourses Doctor Reynolds is the last not in worth but in the time of his losse Hee alone was a well-furnisht librarie full of all faculties of all studies of all learning The memorie the reading of that man were neere to a miracle These are gone amongst many more whom the Church mournes for in secret would God her losse could be as easily supplied as lamented Her sorrowe is for those that are past her remainder of ioy in those that remaine her hope in the next age I pray God the causes of her hope and ioy may bee equiualent to those of her griefe What should this worke in vs but an imitation yea that word is not too bigge for you an emulation of their worthinesse It is no pride for a man to wish himselfe spiritually better then he dare hope to reach nay I am deceiued if it be not true humility For what doth this argue him but lowe in his conceite high in his desires onely Or if so happy is the ambition of grace and power of sincere seruiceablenesse to God Let vs wish and affect this while the world layes plots for greatnesse Let me not prosper if I bestowe enuie on them He is great that is good and no man me thinks is happy on earth to him that hath grace for substance and learning for ornament If you knowe it not the Church our mother lookes for much at your hands shee knowes how rich our common father hath left you shee notes your graces your opportunities your imployments she thinks you are gone so farre like a good Merchant for no small gaine and lookes you shal com home well laded And for vent of your present commodities tho our chiefe hope of successe bee cut-off with that vnhoped peace yet what can hinder your priuate traffique for God I hope and who doth not that this blow wil leaue in your noble Venetians a perpetuall scar that their late irresolution shal make them euer capable of all better counsels and haue his worke like some great Eclipse many yeares after How happy were it for Venice if as she is euery yeare maried to the sea so shee were once throughly espoused to Christ In the meane time let mee perswade you to gratifie vs at home with the publication of that your exquisite Polemicall discourse wherto our cōference with M. Alabaster gaue so happy an occasion You shall heereby cleare many truthes and satisfie all Readers yea I doubt not but an aduersary not too peruerse shall acknowledge the Truthes victorie and yours It was wholsom counsell of a Father that in the time of an heresy euery man should write Perhaps you complaine of the inundations of Francford How many haue been discouraged from benefiting the world by this conceit of multitude Indeed we all write and while we Write cry out of number How well might many be spared euen of those that complaine of too many whose importunate babbling cloyes the world without vse To my Lord the Earle of ESSEX EP. 8. Aduise for his Trauailes MY Lord both my duty and
her knees vppon their owne Shee laments you not for that shee feares shee shall misse you but for that shee knovves you shall want her See you her teares and doo but pittie your selfe as much as shee you And from your Mother to descende to your Nurse Is this the fruit of such education Was not your youth spent in a societie of such comely order strict gouernment wise lawes religious care it vvas ours yet let mee praise it to your shame as maie iustlie challenge after all bragges either RHEMES or DOVVAY or if your Iesuites haue anie other denne more cleanlie and more worthie of ostentation And coulde you come out fresh and vnseasoned from the middest of those salt waues Could all those heauenlie showers fall beside you vvhile you like a Gedeons fleece want moisture Shall none of those diuine principles which your youth seem'd to drinke in check you in your new errours Alas how vnlike are you to your selfe to your name Jacob wrestled with an Angell and preuailed you grapple but with a Iesuite and yield Jacob supplanted his brother an Esau hath supplanted you Jacob changed his name for a better by his valiant resistance you by your cowardlie yielding haue lost your owne Jacob stroue with God for a blessing I feare to saie it you against him for a curse for no common measure of hatred nor ordinarie opposition can serue a reuolter Either you must be desperatelie violent or suspected The mightie one of Israel for hee can doo it raise you fallen return you wandred and giue you grace at last to shame the Diuel to forsake your stepmother to acknowledge your true Parent to satisfie the world to saue your owne soulē If otherwise I will say of you as Ieremie of his Israelites if not rather with more indignation My soule shall weepe in secret for your reuolt and mine eyes shall drop down teares because one of the Lords flocke is carried away captiue To my Lord and Patron the Lord DENNY Baron of Waltham EP. 2. Of the Contempt of the world MY Lord my tongue my penne and my heart are all your seruants when you cannot heare mee through distance you must see me in my Letters You are now in the Senate of the Kingdom or in the concourse of the City or perhaps tho more rarely in the royal face of the Court. All of them places fit for your place From all these let mee call off your minde to her home aboue and in the midst of businesse showe you rest If I may not rather commend then admonish and before-hand confesse my counsell superfluous because your holy forwardnesse hath preuented it You can afford these but halfe of your selfe The better part is better bestowed Your soule is still retired and reserued You haue learned to vouchsafe these worldly things vse without affection and knowe to distinguish wisely betwixt a Stoicall dulnesse and a Christian contempt haue long made the world not your God but your slaue And in truth that I may loose my selfe into a bold and free discourse what other respect is it worthy of I would adore it on my face if I could see any Maiestie that might commaund veneration Perhaps it loues me not so much as to showe me his best I haue sought it enough And haue seene what others haue doted on and wondred at their madnesse So may I look to see better things aboue as I neuer could see ought heere but vanitie vilenesse What is fame but smoke and metall but drosse and pleasure but a pill in suger Let som gallants condemne this as the voice of a Melancholike scholler I speake that which they shall feele and shall confesse Tho I neuer was so I haue seen som as happy as the worlde could make them and yet I neuer saw any more discontented Their life hath beene neither longer nor sweeter nor their heart lighter nor their meales hartier nor their nights quieter nor their cares fewer nor their complaints Yea wee haue knowen some that haue lost their mirth when they haue found wealth and at once haue ceased to be merrie and poore All these earthly delights if they were sound yet how short they are and if they could be long yet how vnsound If they were sound the◠are but as a good day betweene two agues or a sunne-shine betwixt two tempests And if they were long their hony is exceeded by their gall This ground beares none but maples hollow and fruitlesse or like the bankes of the dead sea a faire apple which vnder a red side containes nothing but dust Euery flower in this garden either prickes or smells ill If it be sweet it hath thornes and if it haue no thorns it annoies vs with an ill sent Go then ye wise idolatrous Parasites erect shrines and offer sacrifices to your God the World and seeke to please him with your base and seruile deuotions It shall be long enough ere such religion shall make you happy You shall at last forsake those altars empty and sorrowfull How easie is it for vs Christians thus to insult ouer the worldling that thinkes himselfe worthy of enuie How easie to turne off the World with a scornefull repulse and when it makes vs the Diuels proffer All these will I giue thee to returne Peters answer Thy siluer thy gold perish with thee How easie to accoūt none so miserable as those that are rich with iniurie and growe great by being conscious of secret euils Wealth and honor whē it coms vpon the best terms is but vain but when vpō ill conditions burdensom When they are at the best they are scarce friends but when at the worst tormentors Alas how ill agrees a gay coate and a festered heart what auailes an high title with an hell in the soule I admire the faith of Moses but presupposing his faith I wonder not at his choice He preferred the afflictions of Israel to the pleasures of Egypt and chose rather to eate the Lambe with sowre herbs then all their flesh-pots For how much better is it to be miserable then guilty and what comparison is ther betwixt sorrow and sinne If it were possible let mee bee rather in hell without sinne then on earth wickedly glorious But how much are wee bound to God that allowes vs earthlie fauours without this opposition That GOD hath made you at once honourable and iust and your life pleasant and holy and hath giuen you an high state with a good heart are fauours that looke for thanks These must bee acknowledged not rested in They are yet higher thoughts that must perfect your contentment What God hath giuen you is nothing to that he meanes to giue He hath beene liberall but hee will be munificent This is not so much as the taste of a full cup. Fasten your eyes vpon your future glory and see how meanly you shall esteeme these earthly graces Here you command but a little pittance of mould great indeede to vs little to
the whole there whole heauen shall bee yours Heere you commaund but as a subiect there you shall raigne as a King Heere you are obserued but sometimes with your iust distaste There you shall raigne with peace and ioy Heere you are noble among men there glorious amongst Angels Here you want not honour but you want not crosses there is nothing but felicity Here you haue some short ioyes there is nothing but eternity You are a stranger heere there at home Here Satan tempts you and men vexe you there Saints and Angels shall applaud you and God shall fill you with himselfe In a word you are onely blessed here for that you shall be These are thoughts worthy of greatnesse which if we suffer either imployments or pleasures to thrust out of our doores wee doe wilfully make our selues comfortlesse Let these still season your mirth sweeten your sorrowes euer interpose thēselues betwixt you the world These only can make your life happy and your death welcome To my Lord HAY H. and P. EP. 3. Of True Honour MY Lord It is safe to complaine of Nature where Grace is and to magnifie Grace where it is at once had and affected It is a fault of Nature and not the least that as she hath dim eies so they are mis-placed Shee lookes still either forward or downward forward to the obiect she desires or downward to the meanes Neuer turnes her eyes either backward to see what she was or vpward to the cause of her good Whence it is iust with God to with-hold what hee would giue or to curse that which he bestowes and to besot carnall minds with outward things in their value in their desire in their vse Whereas true wisedome hath cleare eyes and right set and therefore sees an inuisible hand in all sensible euents effecting all things directing all things to their due end sees on whom to depend whom to thanke Earth is too lowe and too base to giue bounds vnto a spirituall sight No man then can truely knowe what belongs to wealth or honour but the gracious either how to compasse them or how to prize them or how to vse them I care not how manie thousand wayes there are to seeming honour besides this of vertue they all if more still leade to shame Or what plots are deuised to improue it if they were as deepe as hell yet their end is losse As there is no counsell against God so there is no honour without him Hee enclines the hearts of Princes to fauour the hearts of inferiours to applause Without him the hand cannot moue to successe nor the tongue to praise And what is honour without these In vaine doth the world frowne vpon the man whom hee meanes to honour or smile where hee would disgrace Let mee then tell your L. who are fauorites in the Court of heauen euen whiles they wander on earth Yea let the great King himselfe tell you Those that honour mee I will honour That men haue the grace to giue honour to God is an high fauour but because men giue honour to God as their duty that therfore God should giue honour to men is to giue because hee hath giuen It is a fauour of God that man is honoured of man like himselfe but that God alloweth of our endeuours as honour to himselfe is a greater fauour then that vvherewith hee requires it This is the goodnesse of our God The man that serues him honours him and whosoeuer honours him with his seruice is crowned with honour I challenge all times places persons who euer honour'd God and was neglected VVho wilfully dishonoured him and prospered Turne-ouer all Records and see howe successe euer blessed the iust after manie daungers after manie stormes of resistance and left their conclusion glorious how all godlesse plots in their loose haue at once deceiued shamed punished their Author I goe no further Your owne brest knowes that your happie experience can heerein iustifie GOD. The world hath noted you for a follower of vertue and hath seene howe fast Honour followed you VVhiles you sought fauour with the GOD of heauen hee hath giuen you fauour with his Deputie on earth Gods former actions are patternes of his future Hee teaches you what hee will doe by what hee hath done Vnlesse your hand be wearie of offering seruice hee cannot either pull-in his hand from rewarding or hold it out empty Honour him still and God pawnes his honour on not failing you You cannot distrust him whom your proofe hath found faithfull And whiles you settle your heart in this right course of true glorie laugh in secret scorne at the idle endeuours of those men whose policies would out-reach God and seize vpon honour without his leaue GOD laughes at them in heauen It is a safe and holie laughter that followes his And pittie the preposterous courses of them which make religion but a foote-stoole to the seat of aduancement which care for all things but heauen which make the worlde their standing marke and doe not so much as roue at GOD. Manie had sped well if they had begun well and proceeded orderlie A false method is the bane of manie hopefull endeuours God bids vs seek first his kingdome and earthly things shall find vs vnsought Foolish nature first seekes the world and if she light on God by the waie it is more then she expects desires cares for and therfore failes of both because she seekes neither aright Manie had been great if they had cared to bee good which now are crossed in what they woulde because they willed not what they ought If Salomon had made wealth his first suite I doubt he had been both poore and foolish now he asked wisdome and gained greatnesse Because he chose well he receiued what he asked not O the bountie and fidelitie of our God! because we would haue the best he giues vs all Earth shall wait vpon vs because wee attende vppon heauen Go-on then my Lord go-on happily to loue religion to practice it let God alone with the rest Be you a Pattern of vertue hee shall make you a Precedent of glory Neuer man lost ought by giuing it to God that liberall hand returnes our gifts with aduantage Let men let God see that you honour him and they shall heare him proclaime before you Thus shalt it bee done to the man whom the King will honor To Mr NEVVTON Tutor to the Prince EP. 4. Of Gratulation for the hopes of our Prince with an aduising apprecation SIr God hath called you to a great and happy charge You haue the custody of our cōmon Treasure Neither is there any seurice comparable to this of yours whether wee regard God or the world Our labours oft-times bestowed vpon many scarce profit one yours bestowed vpō one redounds to the profit of manie millions This is a summarie waie of obliging al the World to you I incourage you not in your care you haue more comfort in the successe of
vppon the place and saw the number and the neede of the people together with their hunger and applause meeting with the circumstances of Gods strange conueyance of this offer to mee I saw that was but as the fowlers feather to make mee stoope and contemning that respect of my selfe I sincerely acknowledged hyer motiues of my yeelding and resolued I might not resist You are deare to mee as a Charge to a Pastor If my paines to you haue not proued it suspect mee Yet I leaue you God calls mee to a greater worke I must followe him It were more ease to mee to liue secretly hidden in that quiet obscuritie as Saul amongst the stuffe then to bee drawen out to the eye of the world to act so hye a part before a thousand witnesses In this point if I seem to neglect you blame me not I must neglecte and forget my selfe I can but labour wheresoeuer I am GOD knowes how willingly I do that whether there or here I shall dig and delve plant in what ground soeuer my Maister sets mee If hee take mee to a larger fielde complaine you not of losse while the Church may gaine But you are my owne charge No wise father neglectes his owne in compassion of the greater neede of others yet consider that euen carefull Parentes when the Prince commaundes leaue their families and go to warfare What if God had called mee to heauen would you haue grudged my departure Imagine that I am there where I shall bee altho the case bee not to you altogether so hopelesse for now I may heare of you visit you renue my holy counsels and bee mutually comforted from you there none of these Hee that will once transpose mee from earth to heauen hath now chosen to transpose mee from one peece of earth to another what is heere worthy of your sorrow worthy of complaint That should bee for my owne good this shall bee for the good of many If your experience haue taught you that my labours doe promise profit obtaine of your selfe to deny your selfe so much as to reioyce that the losse of a fewe should bee the aduantage of many soules Tho why do I speake of losse I speak that as your feare not my owne and your affection causes that feare rather then the occasion The God of the haruest shal send you a Laborer more able as carefull That is my prayer and hope and shall bee my ioy I dare not leaue but in this expectation this assuraÌ„ce What-euer become of me it shall be my greatest comfort to hear you coÌ„mend your change and to see your happy progress in those wayes I haue both shewed you and beaten So shal wee meete in the ende and neuer part Written to Mr. I. B. and Dedicated to my father Mr. I. HALL EP. 10. Against the feare of Death YOu complaine that you feare Deathe Hee is no man that doth not Besides the paine Nature shrinkes at the thought of parting If you would learne the remedie knowe the cause For that shee is ignorant faithlesse She would not be cowardly if shee were nor foolish Our feare is from doubt and our doubt from vnbeliefe and whence is our vnbeleefe but chiefly from ignorance Shee knowes not what good is else-where shee beleeues not her part in it Get once true knowledge and true faith your feare shall vanish alone Assurance of heauenly things makes vs willing to part with earthly He cannot contemne this life that knowes not the other If you would despise earth therefore thinke of heauen If you would haue death easie thinke of that glorious life that followes it Certainely if we can indure paine for health much more shall we abide a fewe pangs for glorie Thinke how fondly wee feare a vanquisht enemy Lo Christ hath triumpht ouer Death hee bleedeth and gaspeth vnder vs and yet we tremble It is enough to vs that Christ died Neither would he haue died but that we might die with safetie and pleasure Thinke that death is necessarily annexed to nature Wee are for a time on condition that wee shall not be wee receiue life but vppon the tearmes of redeliucrie Necessitie makes somethings easie as it vsually makes easie things difficult It is a fond iniustice to embrace the couenant and shrinke at the condition Thinke there is but one common rode to all flesh There are no by-paths of any fairer or neerer way no not for Princes Euen companie abateth miseries and the commonnesse of an euill makes it lesse fearefull What worlds of men are gone before vs yea how many thousaÌ„ds out of one field How many crownes and scepters ly piled vp at the gates of death which their owners haue left there as spoyles to the Conqueror Haue wee beene at so many graues so oft seene our selues die in our friends and do wee shrinke when our course commeth Imagine you alone were exempted from the common law of mankinde or were condemned to Methusalahs age assure your selfe death is not now so fearefull as your life would then bee wearisome Thinke not so much what Death is as from whom hee comes and for what Wee receiue euen homely messengers from great persons not without respect to their maisters And what matters it who hee bee so hee bring vs good newes what newes can bee better then this That God sends for you to take possession of a kingdome Let them feare death which knowe him but as a pursuiuant sent from hell whome their conscience accuses of a life wilfully filthy and bindes-ouer secretly to condemnation Wee knowe whither wee are going and whom wee haue beleeued Let vs passe on cheerefully through these blacke gates vnto our glory Lastly knowe that our improuidence only addes terrour vnto death Thinke of death and you shall not feare it Do you not see that euen Beares and Tigres seeme not terrible to those that liue with them Howe haue wee seene their keepers sport with them when the beholders durst scarce trust their chaine Bee acquainted with Death though hee looke grimme vppon you at the first you shall finde him yea you shall make him a good companion Familiaritie cannot stand with feare These are receites enow Too much store doth rather ouerwhelme then satisfie Take but these and I dare promise you securitie FINIS The second Decade of Epistles To Sr. ROBERT DARCY EP. 1. The estate of a true but weake Christian IF you aske how I fare Sometimes no man better and if the fault were not my owne Alwayes Not that I can commaund health bid the world smile when I liâ—t How possible is it for a man to bee happie without these yea in spight of them These thinges canne neither augment nor empaire those comforts that come from aboue What vse what sight is ther of the starres when the sunneshines Then onely can I finde my self happy when ouer-looking these earthly things I can fetch my ioy from heauen I tell him that knowes it the contentments that earth
mouth It ioyes me yet to think that his pietie as it euer held friendship in heauen so now it wins him friends in this our other world Lo euen from our Iland inexpected deliuerance takes a long flight and blesseth him beyond hope yea rather from heauen by vs. That GOD whom hee serues will be knowen to those rude and scarce humane Christians for a protector of innocence a fauourer of truth a rewarder of Pietie The mercy of our gratious King the cōpassion of an honorable Councellor the loue of a true friend and which wrought all and set all on worke the grace of our good God shal now loose those bonds and giue a glad welcome to his libertie and a willing farewel to his distresse Hee shall I hope liue to acknowledge this in the meane time I do for him Those Russian affaires are not more worthie of your records then your loue to this friend is worthie of mine For neither cold this large Sea drowne or quench it nor time and absence which are wont to breed a lingring consumption of friendship abate the heat of that affection which his kindnesse bred religion nourished Both rarenesse and worth shall commend this true loue which to say true hath beene now long out of fashiō Neuer times yeilded more loue but not more subtle For euery man loues himselfe in another loues the estate in the person Hope of aduantage is the loadstone that drawes the yrō harts of men not vertue not desert No age afforded more Parasites fewer friends The most are friendly in sight seruiceable in expectation hollow in loue trustlesse in experience Yet now Buchinski see cōfesse thou hast found one friend which hath made thee many on whome while thou bestowedst much fauour thou hast lost none I cannot but thinke how welcome Libertie which tho late yet now at last hath lookt backe vpon him shall bee to the Cell of his affliction whē smiling vpon him shee shall lead him by the hand and like another Angel open the yron gates of his miserable captiuitie and from those hard Prestaues and sauage Christians carry him by the haire of the head into this paradise of God In the meane time I haue written to him as I could in a knowen language with an vnknowen hand that my poor Letters of gratulation might serue as humble attendants to greater For your work I wish it but such glad intertainment as the profit yea the delight of it deserues and feare nothing but that this long delay of publicatiō will make it scarce newes Wee are all growen Athenians and account a strange report like to a fish and a guest Those eyes and hands staid it which might do it best I cannot blame you if you thinke it more honored by the stay of his gratious perusall then it could be by the early acceptatiō of the world Euē the cast garments of Princes are pretious Others haue in part preuented you whose labors to yours are but as an Eccho to a long period by whom we heare the last sound of these stirs ignorant of the beginning They giue vs but a taste in their hand you lead vs to the open fountaine Let the Reader giue you but as much thank as you giue him satisfaction you shal desire no more Finally GOD giue vs as much good vse as knowledge of his iudgements the world helpe of your labors your selfe incouragement Buchinski libertie To STANISLAVS BVCHINSKI late Secretarie to DEMETRIVS Emp. of Russia EP. 7. Of the comfort of Imprisonment THe knowledge that the eie giues of the face alone is shallow vncertaine imperfect For what is it to see the vtmost skin or fauour of the visage changeable with disease changeable with passion The eare mee thinks doth both most clearely disclose the mindes of others and knit them faster to ours which as it is the sense of discipline so of friendship commaunding it euen to the absent and in the present cherishing it This thing we haue lately proued in your selfe most noble Stanislaus neerer examples wee might haue had better we could not How many how excellent things haue wee heard of you from our common friend tho most yours which haue easily won our beleefe our affections How oft how honourable mention hath hee made of your name how frequently how seruētly haue we wisht you both safety and libertie And now Lo where she comes as the Greekes say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 visites her forlorne Client Altho I would not doubt to say that this outwarde durance of the body hath seemed more harsh to the behoulders then to your selfe a wise man and which is more a Christian whose free soule in the greatest straights of the outer man flies ouer Seas and Lands whither it listeth neither can by any distance of place nor swelling of waues nor height of mountaines nor violence of enemies nor strong barres nor walles nor guards bee restrained from what place it selfe hath chosen Lo that enioyes God enioyes it self and his friends and so feedes it selfe with the pleasure of enioying them that it easily either forgers or contemnes all other things It is no Paradoxe to say that A wise Christian cannot bee emprisoned cannot bee banished Hee is euer at home euer free For both his libertie is within him and his home is vniuersall And what is it I beseech you for you haue tried that makes a prison Is it straitnesse of walls Then you haue as many fellowes as there are men For how is the soule of euerie man pent within these clay-walles of the body more close more obscure◠whence shee may looke oft through the grates of her busie thoughts but is neuer released in substance till that God who gaue vs our Mittimus into this Gaole giue vs our Deliuerie with a Returne yee sonnes of Adam Thus either all men are prisoners or you are none Is it restraint How many especially of that other sexe in those your Easterne partes chamber vp themselues for state so as they neither see the Sunne nor others them How many superstitious men for deuotion How many obscure Aglai for ease and carelesnesse keepe themselues in their owne Cottage in their owne village neuer walke foorth so much as to the neighbour townes And what is your Russia to all her inhabitants but a large prison a wide Gally yea what other is the world to vs How can hee complaine of straitnes or restraint that roues all ouer the world and beyond it Tyranny may part the soule from the body cannot confine it to the bodie That which others do for ease deuotion state you doe for necessitie why not as willingly since you must do it Do but imagine the cause other your case is the same with theirs which both haue chosen and delight to keepe close yet hating the name of prisoners while they embrace the condition But why do I perswade you not to mislike that which I pray you may forsake I had rather you should bee
this difficulty that you haue all this while beene a Christian in earnest I knowe these euents haue not surprised you on a suddain you haue suspected they might com you haue put-cases if they should come Thinges that are hazardous may be doubted but certaine things are and must bee expected Prouidence abates griefe and discountenances a crosse Or if your aâ—â—â—ction were so strong that you 〈◊〉 not fore-thinke your losse take it equally but as it falls A wise man and a Christian knowes death so fatall to Nature so ordinary in euent so gainfull in the issue that I wonder hee can for this either feare or grieue Doth GOD onely lend vs one another and doe wee grudge when hee calls for his owne So I haue seene ill debters that borrow with prayers keepe with thankes repay with enmitie Wee mistake our tenure Wee take that for gift which GOD intendes for loane Wee are Tenants at will and thinke our selues owners Your wife and childe are dead Well they haue done that for which they came If they could not haue died it had beene worthy of wonder not at all that they are dead If this condition were proper onely to our families and friends or yet to our climate alone how vnhappy should we seeme to our neighbours to our selues Now it is common let vs mourne that wee are men Lo all Princes and Monarchs daunce with vs in the same ring yea what speake I of earth The God of Nature the Sauiour of meÌ„ hath trod the same steps of death And doe wee thinke much to follow him How many seruants haue wee knowen that haue thrust themselues betwixt their Maister death which haue died that their master might not dy and shall we repiâ—e to die with ours How truly may we say of this our Dauid Thou art worth ten thousand of vs yea worth a world of Angels yet he died and died for vs. Who would liue that knowes his Sauiour died who can be a Christian and would not be like him Who can bee like him that would not die after him Thinke of this and iudge whether all the world can hire vs not to die I need not aske you whether you loued those whoÌ„ you haue lost Could you loue them and not wish they might bee happy Could they be happy and not die In truth Nature knowes not what shee would haue Wee can neither abide our friends miserable in their stay nor happy in their departure Wee loue our selues so well that we cannot be content they should gaine by our losse The excuse of your sorrow is that you mourn for your selfe True but compare these two and see whether your losse or their gain be greater For if their aduantage exceede your losse take heed least while you bewray your loue in mourning for them it appeare that you loue but your selfe in them They are gone to their preferment and you lament your loue is iniurious If they were vanished to nothing I could not blame you tho you tooke vp Rachels lamentation But now you knowe they are in surer handes then your owne you knowe that he hath taken them which hath vndertaken to keep them to bring them againe You knowe it is but a sleepe which is miscalled Death and that they shall they must awake as sure as they lie down and wake more fresh more glorious then when you shut their eyes What do we with Christianitie if we beleeue not this and if wee doe beleeue it why doe wee mourne as the hopeless But the matter perhaps is not so heauie as the circumstance Your crosses came sudden and thicke You could not breathe from your first losse ere you felt a worse As if hee knew not this that sent both As if he did it not on purpose His proceedings seeme harsh are most wise most iust It is our fault that they seeme otherwise then they are Doe we thinke wee could carue better for our selues O the mad insolence of Nature that dares controll where she should wonder Presumptuous clay that wil be checking the Potter Is his wisedome himselfe Is he in himselfe infinite is his Decree out of his wisedom and doe wee murmur Doe wee foolish wormes turne againe when he treads vpon vs What doe you repine at that which was good for you yea best That is best for vs which God seeth best and that he sees best which he doth This is Gods doing Kisse his rod in silence and giue glory to the hand that rules it His will is the rule of his actions and his goodness of his will Thinges are good to vs because he wills them He wills them because they are good to himselfe It is your glory that he intends in your so great affliction It is no praise to wade ouer a shallow Ford but to cut the swelling waues of the Deepe commendes both our strength and skill It is no victorie to conquer an easie and weake crosse These maine euils haue crownes answerable to their difficulty Wrestle now and goe away with a blessing Bee patient in this losse and you shall once triumph in your gaine Let God haue them with cheerefulnesse and you shall enioy God with them in glory To Mr. I. A. Merchant EP. 10. Against Sorrowe for worldly losses IT is fitter for mee to begin with chiding then with aduice what means this weake distrust Go on and I shall doubt whether I write to a Christian You haue lost your heart together with your wealth How can I but feare least this Mammon was your God Hence was Gods iealousie in remoouing it and hence your immoderate teares for losing it If thus God had not loued you if he had not made you poore To some it is an aduantage to leese you could not haue beene at once thus rich and good Now heauen is open to you which was shut before could neuer haue giuen you entraÌ„ce with that lode of iniquitie If you be wise in menaging your affliction you haue changed the world for GOD a little drosse for heaueÌ„ Let me euer lose thus and smart when I coÌ„plain But you might haue at once retained both The stomach that is purged must bee content to part with some good nourishment that it may deliuer it selfe of more euill humors God saw that knowes it you could not hold him so strongly while one of your hands was so fastened vpon the world You see many make them selues wilfully poore why cannot you be content God should impouerish you If God had willed their pouerty he would haue coÌ„manded it If he had not willed yours he would not haue effected it It is a shame for a ChristiaÌ„ to see an Heathen philosopher laugh at his owne shipwracke while himselfe houles out as if all his felicity were imbarked with his substaÌ„ce How should we scorn to think that an heathen man should laugh either at our ignorance or impotence ignoraÌ„ce if we thought too highly of earthly things impoteÌ„ce if we ouer-loued them The feare of