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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A25315	A discourse concerning the divine dreams mention'd in Scripture together with the marks and characters by which they might be distinguish'd from vain delusions : in a letter to Monsieur Gaches / by Moses Amyraldus ; translated out of French by Ja. Lowde ...; Discours sur les songes divins dont il est parlé dans l'Escriture. English	Amyraut, Moïse, 1596-1664.; Lowde, James.; Gaches, Raymond, d. 1668.	1676 (1676)	Wing A3034; ESTC R16142	63,942	221

Heathens and others who were only led by Humane Reason did absolutely despise as seeming foolishness unto them nor could they by any Study of their own come to the knowledge of them for they were only to be had by understanding the prophesies of Scripture and other such means as depend upon Divine Revelation so that the Christian doth receive and believe the Gospel and the things therein contained by arguments drawn from the Scriptures themselves by prophesies and miracles and other evidences of Divine Revelation afforded therein and by the assistances of the Spirit of God deriv'd therefrom but then this doth not exclude but include Reason for grace is not a super addition of a new faculty but a new power and principle to the old Now I see no reason why those who are Baptis'd into the same Faith and live in the same Christian Communion and give all due obedience to the Laws of God and Man according to their power why any such should be suppos'd to act from a Principle of meer Natural Reason and not also from that of a truly Divine and in its own nature Saving Grace and that for no other Reason but only because some few men who are highly conceited of themselves and censorious of others who pretend to a monopoly of the Spirit and as it were to a Commission from Heaven to pass sentence on all who differ from them only because these men are pleas'd to vote whomsoever they will Formal Moral and meer Rational Men. But indeed those who are thus particular in describing how far a meer Rational Man may go in matters of Religion what sins he may avoid and what duties he may perform and yet have nothing of the true Spirit of God and Saving Grace these men however they may pretend and perhaps really are great enemies to Pelagianism yet they seem herein to be too great exalters of the power of Nature and in all probability too uncharitable censurers of Divine Grace whilst they attribute all the good works perform'd by those meer Rational Men either to the Power of Nature or to Common Grace as they call it which according to their interpretation and explication of it is little better seeing it is neither in it's own nature sufficient nor by Gods appointment intended to bring any one to Salvation that distinction therefore betwixt Common and Saving Grace as Grace doth signifie those inward motions of the Divine Spirit by which we are enabled to believe and practise aright according to this acceptation it hath no foundation in Scripture for all such Grace is in its own nature sufficient and by Gods appointment design'd to bring Salvation if we by our own fault do not hinder the event though it be granted that this also may differ in degrees Among other grounds and reasons of this their mistake this seems not the least that they entertain too mean apprehensions of that Covenant which God hath made with Christians and their Children and also of the Sacrament of Baptism by which they are admitted members of Christs Church Yet notwithstanding both these they look upon a man before a certain critical moment of conversion as they suppose it little better then an heathen and that all the good works that they have or can perform before it stand them in little or no stead in order to their Conversion and that after this all the wickedness that they do or can commit shall do them no prejudice in reference to their Salvation which opinion is of very bad consequence to the concernments of a Christian Life But here we must also know that there is need of a continued course of Sanctification throughout our whole lives both to compleat and perfect that holiness first begun in us and also by reason of those many sins and infirmities which we are all subject to which are to be turned from by repentance and reformation And as this opposition betwixt the Spiritual and meer Rational Man is without any warrant from Scripture so is it very difficult if at all possible to assign the exact limits betwixt Grace and Reason in our selves and then much more in others 1. In our selves it is very hard to say that this was an Action of our Reason only that an Act of the more immediate assistance of the Divine Spirit Joh. 3.8 the wind bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound thereof but canst not tell whence it cometh and whether it goeth so is every one that is born of the Spirit thus he that is born anew is discernably another kind of man then he was before thus his new birth is seen by the fruits though the beginnings and the modes of procedure and the means of conveying this to him be undiscernable Mark 4. 26. 27. so is the kingdom of God that is the kingdom of Grace as if a man should cast feed into the ground and should sleep and rise night and day and the seed should spring and grow up he knoweth not how These are the more ordinary methods of the Divine Spirit but then when God calls out some particular persons on some great and eminent employments either to do or suffer in his service he frequently confers more sensible influences of his Grace and Spirit on such Neither is this spoken in the least to oppose the joys and consolations of the Holy Ghost nor the sober and well-grounded experiences of Pious Men. And as we cannot distinguish betwixt these in our selves much less can we do it in others for if a man be outwardly pious and give no just occasion of suspecting his real honesty and sincerity whether such an one be notwithstanding an hypocrite this is best known to God and his own conscience yet we by the Laws of Charity are to judge the best but if such an one under all this be an hypocrite this is that which a man may also be under the highest pretences to the Spirit so that it is only the event that must determine the truth and sincerity of men's professions The sum of what I here intend is this that provided we become new men if we cease to sin and learn to do well if we turn from wickedness and perform real and sincere obedience to the Laws of God as the Divine Spirit indeed is so must it be acknowledg'd to be the principal cause of this change in us yet we need not here trouble our selves too nicely to determine the exact limits how far our Reason as a less principal cause either might or might not be instrumental herein But the proper use and just extent of Reason will further appear by considering it's object which is the knowledge of God and the Divine Will the knowledge of our selves and the nature of things so far as these or any of these come under humane cognisance so far as they are either our perfection to know or our duty to practise so that nothing but either the impossibility or the unlawfulness of the

Imprimatur Ab. Campion R mo D no Arch. Car. à Sacris Domest Feb. 12 ' 167● Ex AEdib Lamb. A DISCOURSE CONCERNING THE Divine Dreams MENTION'D IN SCRIPTURE TOGETHER With the Marks and Characters by which they might be distinguish'd from vain Delusions In a Letter to Monsieur Gaches by Moses Amyraldus Translated out of French by Ia. Lowde Fellow of Clare-Hall in Cambridge LONDON Printed by A. C. for Walter Kettilby at the Bishops-head in S t Paul's Church-Yard 1676. TO THE Right HONOURABLE JOHN Earl of Bridgewater Viscount Brackley Baron of Elsemere Lord Lieutenant of the County of Bucks and one of His Majesties Most Honourable Privy Council MY LORD THE first Fruits by the Law of Moses were due to God yet is it no violation now of the Laws of heaven in some proportion to shew our just esteem of those who are so much like it here on earth Hence it is that I presume to Dedicate these my first endeavors of this kind to Your Lordships Patronage and Protection and I could wish that the first productions of Art and Study were like those of Nature that is the best and most perfect in their kind that so the Present might more resemble it's Patron I do not present this to Your Honor as if you stood in need of Translations for in this respect You perhaps are the most improper Person in the Kingdom to make such Dedications to being Your self so Great a Master not only of the French but also of the more Ancient and Learned Languages But I look upon my self under some obligation of justice to return that to Your acceptance which was the result of some few hours which I should have counted stoln from Your Lordships Service but that such is your Candour and benign Temper such Your great love and affection to all commendable Studies that You and they seem to have the same Ends and the same Interests thus what ever time is employ'd in them You are pleas'd to look upon it as spent in Your own Service But this is not all the right You may justly challenge to this Translation Your Title to it seems yet more particular wherein such was your Favour and Condescension that as it would be Ingratitude to conceal so would it be almost Arrogance to acknowledge them wherein pardon the pride of the expression I had the Honour to be instructed by Your Lordship in the French Tongue You being pleas'd not only to peruse but in many places to Correct it so that I cannot now so properly challenge any thing therein my own as the Imperfections And now I hope you will pardon this my innocent Ambition if I desire to publish my Gratitude and that sense of my Obligations which is too big to be confin'd in a private breast How acceptable this Treatise may be to the World I know not yet this I know that I should have sufficiently oblig'd the Age if in the Dedication I had given it Your Lordship's just Character this being the most probable way to provoke men to the love and imitation of Vertue not to represent it in Idea and Speculation only but as it appears both more amiable in it self and more prevalent on others when thus incorporated in the lives and practices of Noble Persons But this though a true and just Relation would be as uneasie for You to hear as it would be difficult yea above the power of my Pen to perform Thus among other things Your own Temper concurs in this to make You Heroically Vertuous that is a follower of Vertue merely for Vertues sake since Your modesty will not endure the common cheap Reward of a due Praise and just Commendation But yet I could wish that I had not so much to plead for the seasonableness of the Discourse in an Age where Infidelity on the one hand Fanatical Enthusiasm on the other seem to divide the greater part of the World where some men look upon all Divine Revelations to be mere Dreams others mistake their mere Dreams for Divine Revelations Now what more proper and seasonable in these circumstances then that which is the design of this Discourse that is to evidence the Grounds and Reasons why we receive those that are truly Divine and reject the vain pretences of others And to whom could the Dedication be more suitable then to one whose Principles and Practices at once confirm and adorn the Religion you profess whose well-settled judgment and understanding of Your Religion in general and Your great affection to the Church of England in particular render You equally distant from the Superstition of the Romanists and the Novelties of later Enthusiasts My Lord I shall not any further by a tedious address misemploy those precious minutes which are usually spent either in Your serious and private Studies or in more publick Employments I shall only beg that God would long continue You amongst us and bless Your endeavours in settling and securing the Kingdom by Your Counsel and supporting the Church by Your constant Affection which is the hearty Prayer of Your Humbly Devoted Servant Ja. Lowde THE PREFACE TO THE READER I Shall not go about to make any tedious Apologies for the publication of this Treatise being conscious to my self of the innocence of my intentions that however I may be mistaken in my apprehensions or have fail'd in my design yet I did intend herein not to offend but to serve thee for I am not of the temper of those who would rather commit a deliberate crime then want an occasion of Apologizing the reasons then inducing me hereunto were principally these two 1. Because those who have not stock enough of their own to trade withall are not altogether unserviceable to the Commonwealth by becoming Carriers and conveyers of other men's goods and Translations I conceive bear some resemblance hereunto and if it be for the benefit and advantage of a Kingdom to bring in the Riches of Forreign Countries then certainly can it not be disserviceable to the Commonwealth of Learning to make the works of other Nations intelligible to our own and whatever Law there may be in particular against other things of the French Nation yet there is none against the Importation of their Learning 2. This Treatise if we consider the whole Series and Method of it's mannagement seems a sufficient vindication of the sober use of Reason in matters of Religion if we reflect upon those natural and necessary deductions which the Learned Author makes from certain and undoubted Principles and those other rational motives of credibility which he makes use of to prove those dreams he there treats of to be truly Divine Yet not so as to exclude that secret sense and inward consciousness which was the immediate result of the Divine Impression made upon their minds by the Spirit of God especially in those dreams and visions where particular and personal commands were convey'd to any of his Servants as to Joseph to convey our

the proper place for such things nor under the Infancy of the Church where such were necessary for its establishment And if I may here speak my own thoughts of a certain kind of people of both Sexes who both in Poland and Germany have pretended to Divine visions in these latter days I will not accuse them of imposture for that they have given sufficient testimony of their Piety but I dare be bold to say that in their actions they had some transport of the understanding which proceeded from some other cause then what was truly Divine They were persons who partly out of devotion partly out of great curiosity did extraordinarily give themselves to the reading of the Apocalypse and the other Prophesies the constancy they us'd herein and the great affection they did it with imprinted in their memories the Idea's of those things they there saw and the Copies of those fair tables where future events were represented having given a tincture to their Spirits two or three things have hereupon superven'd which have contributed to their perswasion that their very dreams and the things they imagin'd they saw in their extasies they sometimes fell into were real and Divine visions First they suffer'd themselves to be carried away by the hopes of those who expect in due time a great prosperity of the Church of God on earth and a terrible subversion of all those States and Powers which now oppose the establishing the kingdom of Christ and since they desir'd this with a great deal of zeal and passion they hereupon easily imagin'd it to be certain and indubitable For on the one hand divers Texts of Scripture have some seeming appearance of some such promises made to the Church of Christ and on the other hand it is one of the frailties of Humane Nature easily to believe what we desire should be true Besides the melancholy humour which was naturally predominant in them the afflictions hardships and anxieties they underwent as well from the publick affairs which did not go well to their satisfaction as from their own private concerns which did not much more please them all these concurring together made them very ready to receive all impressions of phansy which might show them either any hope of deliverance or of any mitigation of their troubles To conclude their bodies were so affected with the passions of their souls and with the quality of the humours which were predominant in them that they fell into some black melancholy indispositions which all the world knows to be capable of very strange accidents Be it then that they either meerly dream'd or that waking they were surpris'd with some transport of phansy in which their soul was perfectly abstracted and separated from their body and from all commerce with the senses for that doth sometimes happen in Hypocondriack distempers these Apocalyptical Images were thus put into a violent motion and fram'd in their imaginations these pretended visions which they have since related to us To which might be added the operation of some evil Angels who seek all imaginable occasions to deceive both the sound and the sick and who help'd to joyn together and to paint these representations in the brains of those poor people And we have seen in a great part by experience that those images which they saw in their pretended Enthusiasms did either signifie nothing at all or if they did yet their vanity and falseness have been confuted by the events As for those people beyond the Sea which now boast of Visions Revelations Divine Inspirations the extraordinary gifts of the holy Spirit of extasies and strange transportations who by their tremblings and quakings would represent the motions of the Enthusiasts and Prophets I should very much wonder if honest and understanding men should favour their frenfies The Spirit of Christ is a Spirit of understanding and prudence and of sober and well setled sense and not a smoak which fills empty brains with dark and phantastick imaginations the grace of the Gospel puts the faculties of the soul into a grave and sober constitution which gives both joy within to it self and edification to others without and doth not expose the true Religion to the laughter of its enemies and to the scandal of sober and intelligent men by its indecent and unnatural motions As for those dreams which may proceed meerly from the impression and operation of Angels I will not deny but that there may be yet some examples of that nature to be seen for as for evil Angels they may concern themselves in those illusions which happen to men sleeping whether it be to imprint upon them some false opinions in matters of Religion and to incline them to Superstition or thus more to excite and inflame their passions and to put them into more disorder And as for good ones although the dispensation of the Law under which they were more especially employ'd in things relating to Religion be now pass'd yet they still continue to be Ministers and Instruments of Divine Providence in what relates to civil life and humane society and especially the protection of the faithful and the defense of the Church of Christ. And as then it is not impossible but that they may sometimes appear to men waking so is it not incredible but that God may make use of them from time to time to convey the notices of some things by dreams there are many examples of both kinds in the books of those who have made collections of such memorable instances to which I shall refer the Reader I have heard the late Monsieur Cameron a Person whose memory will be ever blessed in our Churches say that he had from the mouth of Monsieur Calignon Chancellor of Navarre a man of singular vertue a memorable passage that befel him in Bearne He went into a certain Town in the Country either for diversion or for some reason relating to his health for he did not acquaint me either with the place or the occasion of the journey one night as he was asleep he heard a voice which call'd him by his name Calignon hereupon waking and hearing no more of it he imagin'd that he had dream'd and fell asleep again a little after he heard the same voice calling him in the same manner which made a greater impression upon him then before so that being awaken'd he call'd his wife who was with him and told her what had happen'd so that they both lay waking for some time expecting whether they might hear the voice again and whether it would say any thing more to them At last the voice awaken'd him the third time calling him by his name and advis'd him to retire presently out of the Town and to remove his family for that the plague would rage horribly in that place within few days to which he added that it was very well that he followed this direction for as much as within few days after the plague began in the Town and