phansie for one of his great Lords gave our Merchants there twelve hundred pounds sterling for one Pearle which was brought out of England The Pearle was shaped like a Pare very large beautifull and Orient and so its price deserved it should be Now the Mogol having such an abundance of Jewels wears many of them dayly enough to exceed those women which Rome was wont to shew in their Starlike dresses who in the height and prosperity of that Empire Were said to wear The spoils of Nations in one ear Or Lollia Paulina who was hid with Jewels For the great Mogol the Diamonds and Rubies and Pearls which are very many dayly worn by him are all of an extraordinary greatnesse and consequently of an exceeding great value And besides those he wears about his Shash or head covering he hath a long Chain of Jewels hanging about his Neck as long as an ordinary Gold Chain others about his wrists and the Hilts of his Sword and Dagger are most curiously enriched with those precious Stones besides others of very great value which he wears in Rings on his fingers Ventilat aestivum digitis sudantibus aurum Nec sufferre queat majoris Pondera gemmae Ju. Sat. 1. He airs his sweaty fingers with rings freight And Jewels as if burdened with their weight The first of March the Mogol begins a royal Feast like that which Ahasuerus made in the third year of his Reign Esth 1. wherein he shewed the riches of his glorious Kingdom This feast the Mogol makes is called the Nooroos that signifies nine dayes which time it continues to usher in the new year which begins with the Mahometans there the tenth day of March. Against which Feast the Nobles assemble themselves together at that Court in their greatest Pomp presenting their King with great gifts and he requiting them again with Princely rewards at which time I being in his presence beheld most immense and incredible riches to my amazement in Gold Pearls Precious stones Jewels and many other glittering vanities This Feast is usually kept by the Mogol while he is in his Progresse and lodges in â—ents Whether his Diet at this time be greater than ordinary I know not for he alwayes eats in private among his Women where none but his own Family see him while he is eating which Family of his consists of his Wives and Children and Women and Eunuchs and his boyes and none but these abide and lodge in the Kings houses or Tents and therefore how his Table is spread I could never know but doubtlesse he hath of all those vanities that Empire affords if he so please His food they say is served in unto him in Vessels of Gold which covered and brought unto him by his Eunuchs after it is proved by his Tasters he eats not at any set times of the day but he hath provision ready at all times and calls for it when he is hungry and never but then The first of September which was the late Mogols birth day he retaining an ancient yearly Custom was in the presence of his chief Grandies weighed in a Balance the Ceremony performed within his House or Tent in a fair spacious Room whereinto none were admitmitted but by special leave The Scales in which he was thus weighed were plated with Gold and so the beam on which they hung by great Chains made likewise of that most precious Metal the King sitting in one of them was weighed first against silver Coin which immediately after was distributed among the poor then was he weighed against Gold after that against Jewels as they say but I observed being present there with my Lord Ambassadour that he was weighed against three several things laid in silken Bags on the contrary Scale when I saw him in the Balance I thought on Belshazzar who was found to light Dan. 5. 27. By his weight of which his Physicians yearly keep an exact account they presume to guesse of the present estate of his body of which they speak flatteringly however they think it to be When the Mogol is thus weighed he casts about among the standers by thin pieces of silver some of Gold made like flowers of that Countrey and some of them are made like Cloves and some like Nutmegs but very thin and hollow Then he drinks to his Nobles in his Royal wine as that of Ahasuerus is called Esth 1. 7. who pledge his health at which solemnity he drank to my Lord Ambassadour in a Cup of Gold most curiously enameled and set all over the outside with stones which were small Rubies Turkesses and Emeralds with a Cover or Plate to set it in both of pure Gold the brims of which plate and the cover were enameled and set with stones as the other and all these together weighed twenty four ounces of our English weight which he then gave unto my Lord Ambassadour whom he ever used with very much respect and would moreover often ask him why he did not desire some good and great gifts at his hands he being a great King and able to give it the Ambassadour would reply that he came not thither to beg any thing of him all that he desired was that his Countrey-men the English might have a free and safe and peaceable trade in his Dominions the Mogol would answer that he was bound in honour to afford them that we coming from the furthermost parts of the world to trade there and would often bid the Ambassadour to ask something for himself who to this would answer that if that King knew not better to give then he knew to ask he must have nothing from him upon these terms they continually both stood so that in conclusion the Ambassadour had no gift from him but that before mentioned besides an horse or two and sometimes a Vest or upper Garment made of slight Cloath of Gold which the Mogol would first put upon his own back and then give it to the Ambassadour But the Mogol if he had so pleased might have bestowed on him some great Princely gift and found no greater misse of it than there would be of a Glasse of water taken out of a great Fountain yet although the Mogol had such infinite Treasures yet he could finde room to store up more still the desires of a covetous heart being so unsatiable as that it never knows when it hath enough being like a bottomlesse purse that can never be fill'd for the more it hath the more still it covets See an image hereof in Alcmaeon who being will'd by Craesus to go into his Treasure house and there take as much Gold as himself could carry away provided for that purpose a long Garment that was double down to his ankles and great bootes and fill'd them both nay he stuffed his mouth and tied wedges of Gold to the locks of his head and doubtlesse but for killing himself he would have fill'd his skull bowels therewith Here was an heart set upon Gold
stayed a time to gain the company of a Caravaâ— which consists of a great mixt multitude of people from divers parts which get and keep together travelling those parts for fear of the incursions and violences by Thieves and Murtherers which they would undoubtedly meet withall if they travelled single or but few together With these he after set forwards towards and to that City antiently called Nineveh in Assyria which we find in the Prophesie of Jonah was sometimes a great and excellent City of three daies journey Jonah 3. 3. but now so exceedingly lessen'd and lodg'd in obscurity that passengers cannot say of it this was Nineveh which now hath its old name changed and is called Mozel From hence they journied to Babylon in Chaldaea situated upon the River Euphrates once likewise so great that Aristotle called it a Countrey not a City but now it is very much contracted and 't is called Bagdat From this place they proceeded through both the Armeniaes and either did or else our Traveller was made to believe that he saw the very Mountain Ararat whereon the Ark of Noah rested after the Flood Gen. 8. And from hence they went forward towards the Kingdome of Persia and there to Uzspahan the usual place of residence for that great King then called Sha Abbas or King Abbas And after they went to Seras antiently called Shushan where the great King Ahasuerus kept his Royal and most Magnificent Court Est 1 From hence they journied afterwards to Candahor the first Province North east under the subjection of the Great Mogol and so to Lahore the chiefest City but one belonging to that great Empire a place as I have been often told by Tom Coryat and others of very great trade wealth and delight lying more temperately out of the Parching Sun than any other of his great Cities do And to this City he wanted not Company nor afterwards to Agra the Mogol's Metropolis or chief City And here it is very observable that from Lahore to Agra it is four hundred English miles that the Countrey betwixt both these great Cities is rich even pleasant and flat a Campania and the rode-way on both sides all this long distance planted with great Trees which are all the year cloathed with leaves exceeding beneficial unto Travellers for the shade they afford them in those hot Climes This very much extended length of way 'twixt these two places is called by Travellers the Long Walk very full of Villages and Towns for Passengers every where to find Provision At Agra our Traveller made an halt being there lovingly received in the English Factory where he staid till he had gotten to his Turkish and Morisco or Arabian Languages some good knowledge in the Persian and Indostan Tongues in which study he was alwaies very apt and in little time showed much proficiency The first of those two the Persian is the more quaint the other the Indostan the vulgar Language spoken in East-India In both these he suddenly got such a knowledge and mastery that it did exceedingly afterwards advantage him in his Travels up and down the Mogol's Territories he wearing alwaies the Habit of that Nation and speaking their Language In the first of these the Persian tongue he made afterwards an Oration to the Great Mogol bringing in that Story of the Queen of Sheba 1 King 10. in which parts of that Sacred Historic the Mahumetans have some knowledge and he told him that as the Queen of Sheba having heard of the fame of King Salomon came from far to visit him which when she had done she confessed that though she had heard very much of him and many things beyond her belief yet now seeing what she did acknowledged that she had not heard half of that which she now saw concerning the Wisdome and Greatness and Reâ—inue and Riches of Salomon So our Orator told the Mogol that he had heard very much of him before he had the Honour to see him when he was very far off in his own Countrey but now what he beheld did exceedingly surmount all those former Reports of him which came to his ears at such a distance from him Then larding his short Speech with some other pieces of Flattery which the Mogol liked well concluded And when he had done the Mogol gave him one hundred Roopus which amounts to the value of twelve pounds and ten shillings of of our English Money looking upon him as a Derveese or Votary or Pilgrim for so he called him and such as bear that name in that Countrey seem not much to care for money and that was the reason I conceive that he gave him not a more plentiful Reward After this he having got a great mastery likewise in the Indostan or more vulgar Language there was a woman a Landress belonging to my Lord Embassadors house who had such a freedome and liberty of speech that she would sometimes scould brawl and rail from the Sun-rising to Sun-set one day he undertook her in her own language and by eight of the clock in the morning so silenced her that she had not one word more to speak I shall have occasion to say more of this man in some passages of this following Discourse and therefore shall not wrap all I have to speak of him in this although it be a very long digression Yet because I must now shortly bring you to his journies end I shall take the freedome to enlarge my self a little further concerning him here in this place before I leave him for the present and to give thee Reader a piece of his Character it speaks thus That he was a man of a very coveting eye that could never be satisfied with seeing as Salomon speaks Eccles 1. 8. though he had seen very much and I am perswaded that he took as much content in seeing as many others in the enjoying of Great and Rare things He was a man that had got the mastery of many hard Languages as before I observed to the Latine and Greek he brought forth of England with him in which if he had obtained wisdome to husband and manage them as he had skill to speak them he had deserved more fame in his generation But his knowledge and high attainments in several Languages made him not a little ignorant of himself he being so covetous so ambitious of praise that he would hear and endure more of it than he could in any measure deserve being like a Ship that hath too much Sail and too little Ballast Yet if he had not fall'n into the smart hands of the Wits of those Times he might have passed better That itch of Fame which engaged this man to the undertakings of those very hard and long and dangerous Travels hath put thousands more and therefore he was not alone in this into strange attempts onely to be talked of One long ago built a Temple to Diana in hope of Glory intending it for one of the Great Wonders of the
last all appear and that upon equal tearmes But I shall here degress no further but return again to that people I mean those of quality amongst them who out of Pride or Idleness or both are thus carried up and down or by some other meanes I named before though they remove never so little way from one place to another accounting it very dishonorable for them to go on foot And so much of this I shall now proceed having made mention of their huge multitudes of Horses and Elephants c. to take notice SECTION VII Of their numerous Armies Their Ammuniton for war How they lade themselves with weapons How terriribly they appear yet how pusillanimous and low spirited they are WHere first for their numerous Armies it will appear to be no strange thing if we consider the Great Mogol to be what he is an overgrown Prince as before described in the vast extent of his large territories being like a huge Pike in a great Pond that preys upon all his neighbours who therefore purchase and keep his favour by very great Presents given him by any of homage and a submiss acknowledgment of his mighty Power And besides the Mogol is a master of unknown treasure having Silver as 't is written of Solomon 1 K. 10. 27. Like stones in the streets And certainly in far greater abundance than ever Solomon had Though I must tell my Reader that all metals there are not silver and gold nor all stones precious Now he that can command what treasure he will may likewise command what men he please as the Mogol doth besides his own people Many Persians and Tartars before spoken of very valiant men who serve him as Souldiers on horse-back and so the major part by far whether Natives or strangers are mounted for his service in his wars Hence it is that the Armies there consist of incredible multitudes they talk of some which have exceeded that mightie Host which Zerah King of Ethiopia brought against King Asa 2 Chron. 14. 9. but they having not well learned that horrid bloody art of war as the Europeans have and wanting Commanders and other Officers to manage their great Companies are not so skilfull to destroy as otherwise they might be it is a phrase most properly and fitly applyed unto savage and absurd and brutish and unreasonable man to the Enemies of God and of his Church by the Prophet Ezekiel 21. 31. Where Almighty God threatens that he will deliver them into the hands of brutish men and skilfull to destroy The weapons they use in their Wars are Bowes and Arrowes Swords and Bucklers short Lances having excellent good steel-heads short peeces like unto Carbines besides those carried upon Elephants before described some footmen in their warrs carry those lesser Guns with Bowes and Arrowes Swords and Bucklers and they are excellent Marks-men They make good Gun-powder for their own use and fire their Guns with March or Touch-wood Their swords are made crooked like Falchons and are very sharp but for want of skill in those that temper them will easily break but not bend And therefore we sell at good rates our English Sword-blades that will bow and become strait again They have and they say that for many generations past have had great Ordnance though they seldom make use of them in their Wars Their warlike musick are some Kettle-drums carried on horse-back with long winde Instruments which make not Musick but noyse so harsh and unpleasing that it is enough to fright away their enemies They say that in their military engagements they make at the first very furious onsets which are too violent long to continue for the Scale quickly decides the Controversy when that side which happens first to be worsted and to be put into disorder knowes better to Run than to Rally again There are some of the Mogols own subjects which are men of courage those of note among the Mahometans are called Baloches inhabiting Haiacan adjoyning unto the Kingdom of Persia spoken of before and there are others called Patans taking their denomination from a Province of that name in the Kingdom of Bengala These will look an enemy boldly in the face and maintain with their lives their reputation and valour Amongst the many Sects of Hindooes or Gentiles after spoken of which are subject to this King there is but one race of fighters called Rashboots a number of which live by spoyl who in troops surprize poor passengers for the most part murthering those whom they get under their power These excepted the rest of the Mogols natives for the generality of them had rather eate than quarrel and rather quarrel than fight I say quarrel for I have several times observed there that when two of them have been both well armed and have most shamefully abused one another in baser language than I can express yet durst not draw their weapons in conclusion when one of them hath caught the other by the throat and forced him up against some wall the sufferer would cry out pitiously and the standers by would admire the other for his valous saying Sha-Abas a proverbial speech amongst them relating to the late King of Persia called Sha-Abas a Prince much renowned for valour and when any man did a thing they thought gallantly they cryed Sha-Abas as much to say it was done as well as the Persian King could have done it Yet however the people here in general are Cowardly they appear men of very terrible aspects having great long Mustachos upon their upper lipps their Chins continually kept bare by the rasor which makes them all to look like the Pictures of our old Britaines or like those our rude Painters daub upon clothes and call them the Nine-worthies And further to make them the more formidable they will appear on horse-back as if they were surrounded with an Armorie or carrying an whole Armorie about them thus appointed At their left sides swords hanging on belts under them sheaves of many arrowes on their left shoulders broad Bucklers fastned and upon their backs smal Gunns like to Carbines fixed likewise at their right sides Bowes hanging in cases and Lances about two yards and an half long hanging in loops neer their stirrops when they carry them not in their hands yet for all this Harness the most of them are like those Ephramites Psal 78. 9. Who being armed and carrying bowes turned their heads in the day of battell For they dare not look a man of courage in the face though they be thus fortified with such variety of weapons for their defence Nay a man of resolution will beat one of these out of all his weapons with a small stick or cane So that I shall do the Natives of that Countrey no wrong if I say of them that they are Solâ Libidine fortes most strong and valiant in their base lusts and not otherwise The base Cowardise of which people hath made the great Mogol sometimes to use this Proverb
and Gold over-lading an heart for the Man stowing so much about him as that he could not stir with it forfeited what he might have had and was turned out of the Treasury as poor and empty as he came into it He is a rich man whatever he hath be it more or lesse that is contented He is a poor man who still wants more in becoming poor by plenty wanting what he hath as well as much as what he hath not and so do very many who are the greatest engrossers of the worlds wealth But certainly there is no heart more poor and barren than that which is set upon abundance and as a the ground wherein there are Mines of Gold and Silver and the most precious Stones is most barren so the hearts of such as are most violently carried on after the desire of these things are most barren likewise Therfore almighty God in wisdom hath laid up Treasures in the bowels of the earth secretly and basely secretly that they should not be to much sought after and basely that they should not be too much desired nor valued Hence the Prophet Habak 2 6. speaks thus to covetous men woe be to him that lades himself with thick clay how long where riches are compared to thick clay because they are but the very self-same earth we tread on better hardened and coloured and because they are many times a burden unto him that hath them how long saith the Prophet is there no end of encreasing how long hath the Sea bars and bounds and the desires of man in this case without all moderation how long can any ever hope to fill and satisfie their hearts with this let them know that the barren womb and the unmercifull grave and unsatiable death will sooner be satisfied than the hearts set upon riches find satisfaction from them for he that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver Eccles 5. 10. and therefore they who can come up to a right understanding of themselves in this case will have a far greater cause to fear than to desire abundance Which that great Emperour hath yet still would have more This covetousnesse carries men very far and ambition which is a refin'd or rather an heightned covetousnesse still further I have observed much of the Riches and Pomp and Greatnesse and Glory of the great Mogol So in the book of Esth Chap. 1. we may read of the goodly Tabernacle of King Ahasuerus in the Garden of his Palace where were white green and blue hangings fastned with Coards of fine linnen and purple and silver rings and pillars of Marble the Beds were of Gold and Silver upon a Pavement of Porphyre and Alabaster and Stone of blue-colour and he gave those whom he there feasted drink in changes of vessels of Gold royal wine in abundance according to the state of the King We may further read there of his hundred and seven and twenty Provinces and his Princes and Captains thereof his Throne and his Palace at Shushan c. So of the Treasures of Hezekiah Esa 39. his Silver and Gold his spices and precious Oyntments and Armory and all the store of his house which he and his Fathers had laid up c. So of Belshazzar his thousand Princes Wives and Concubines Dan. 5. O what shadows do these hundreds and thousands cast over the heads of men to give comfort unto them for the present and to make them say under these coverts will we sit and be at rest and forget that some sudden messenger from the Lord either sicknesse or death or the like can presently deprive them of all their present enjoyments and comforts But the Mogol takes a course to put the remembrance of death as far from him as possibly he can and therefore there is no man that at any time wears any blue thing in that Kings presence which is there the colour of mourners neither is the name of death at any time mentioned in that Kings ears but when any one is dead of whom his Majesty must have intelligence the message is delivered unto him in milde soft flattering terms to this purpose such or such a one hath made himself a Sacrifice at your Majesties feet ô Mors quam acerba est memoria tua homini Pacem habenti in Possessionibus suis O death how bitter are thy thoughts to one Who â—ase enjoyes in his possession No losse he deemes so great as losse of breath Death 't is to such a one to think of death Certainly if death when it comes to strike would take money be gone it would in short time engross the wealth of the whole world but it will not for no wit nor wisdom nor wealth nor policy nor strength nor any thing beside can keep off the impartial wounding hand of death That mighty Prince we speak off who did all he could to stave off the thought of dying and since dead though while he lived he denied himself nothing that might please his corrupted nature not high richly compounded wines not strange flesh nor any thing beside that might for the present give some seeming content to his brutish sensual appetite ut ipsum voluptas potius quam ipse voluptatem c. that pleasures did possesse him rather than he pleasures which will further appear if we consider more SECT XXV Of his pastimes at home and abroad and where something of his quality and disposition NOw what he doth and how he behaves himself amongst his house-full of Wives and Women cannot be known and therefore not related but when he shews himself as before thrice openly to his people every day he had alwayes something or other presented before him to make him sport and to give him present content As sometimes he delighted himself in seeing Horses ridden the Natives there as before being very excellent in their well managing of them Sometimes he saw his great Elephants fight And at other times he pleased himself in seeing wrestling or dauncing or jugling and what else he liked And it happened that but a few years before our abode there a Juggler of Bengala a Kingdom famous for Witches and men of that profession brought an Ape before the King who was ever greedy to please himself with Novelties professing that he would do many strange feats the Mogol was ready presently to make a trial of this and forthwith called some boyes about him which he was conceived to keep for such a use as I dare not name plucking a Ring from his finger gave it one of them to hide that he might make a trial whither or no the Ape could finde it out who presently went to the boy that had it The Mogol made some further trials like this where the Ape did his part as before And before the Ape was taken out of his presence this strange following and unexpected thing came into the Kings thought There are said he many disputes in the World about that true Prophet which
by many and the reason is because they do and will contradict it we have cause therefore to bless God for good Laws to direct and lead some as to constrain and bind others for there is no hope in this case to work Convictions upon many such as the Psalmist calls the beasts of the people who would defraud us if they could of all our just rights For doubtless if we were left wholy to their curtesie we might expect no more probably not so much from them as Micha gave his Levite Judg. 17. 10. ten Shekels of Slver by the year and a little clothing and victuals Now those Shekels were rated diversly some at fifteen pence others at twenty pence and the highest rate of them was two shillings and six pence the Shekel but which of these Micha gave his Chaplen I cannot tell neither can I say what our people in this Nation left to themselves would generally give their Minister by a voluntary gift But doubtless it would go very hard with many with most who if they were left altogether unto their peoples feeding would speed little better than a yong Welsh-man of the university of Oxford somtimes did and I am very certain that the relation is true who after he had gotten a lambe-skin upon his Shoulders being Bacheler of Arts presently went into the Countrey for preferments as he said and what he found was but four Pounds a year as he told me for reading prayers in a Church with liberty in the Belfary to teach a few Children out of which he was to provide himself of food and cloathing and all other necessaries I meeting him some half year after he told me how he sped and that it was but small but small I asked the poor man further how he did make a shift to live he told me that he had been sick of an Ague the greatest part of that time could take but little food and if it had not been so with him his preferment would have starved him And thus certainly would it be with many others if they were left for their livelihood meerly to mens curtesies Who think the bread of the Church sweet and therefore would eat it up all from us and leave us with their good will no part thereof and happily they may find or imagine it sweet in their mouths but in their stomacks it will proove hard of digestion Honey in the one Gravel in the other we leave these to God the righteous judge who complaines that he is rob'd and wrong'd in the injury done to us Mat. 3. 8. And will find a time to reckon with men for all these arrerages and therefore if repentance and restitution in this case when wrong hath been done and after-reformation prevent it not they will one day find enough mould in the grave and enough fire in Hell The Athenians as Valerius reports though they were Heathens yet when Phydias was to make for them the jmage of Minerva which Goddesse as they call'd her was in very high esteem amongst them and when that work-man told them that he would make it for them either in Marble or Ivory they heard him thus far but when he further advised them to have it made in Marble because that would be cheapest they presently commanded him silence and put him out of doores And if Heathens could not endure to entertain the thoughts of cheapness though but in the making of an Idoll let them of this Nation blush and have their faces covered with shame whosoever they be that love to serve God as they call it but to be at as little cost in that service as possibly they can as if they studied Jeroboams Politicks whose Policie eat up his Religion who after he had usurped his Kingdom did invent this taking snare to fasten the people unto him in giving them some seeming immunity in the profession of Religion telling them that it was too much for them to go to Jerusalem to sacrifice 1 King 12. 28. though they were commanded so to do by Almighty God and therefore he set up Calves one in Dan and the other in Bethel that they might stay at home and serve God better cheap with more ease and doubtlesse as they were perswaded with no less safety Again further for that people they do so highly prize those books in which their lawes are written that they know not how sufficiently to esteem and value them and therefore will not presume to touch them without much reverence What shall I say as to this unto very-very many of this Nation and such as have long lived under the Ministry of the word but having profited nothing by it know not how to put any valuation on it and therefore esteem it a trouble a burden rather then a blessing or benefit and consequently would be very well content so they might be freed from all charge to the publishers thereof if the whole book of God were served as that roll was written by Baruch from the mouth of Jeremiah the Prophet Jer. 36. Cut all in peaces and burnt in the fire Such as these will never be perswaded to follow that most excellent counsel which Solomon gives Prov. 23. 23. Buy the truth but sell it not Buy it of God by Prayer buy it of Books by reading buy it of Orthodox men by hearing buy it of other good Christians by conferring buy it over and over again you cannot over buy it Non Priamus tanti There is nothing in the world to be weighed against it to be compared with it But sell it not for a world Yet there are a great many dunghil men of the earth who with Aesops cock prefer a Barly Corne before the Pearle and therefore are most unwilling to part with a Penny for that most rich commodity It is strange further to consider as I observed before and is very true that Mahometans should never see their Alcoran though but a fardle of falshoods and fooleries or hear any part of it read without a shew of great attention affection and reverence and Heathens do so likewise at the hearing of their precepts and all of them give honour and maintenance which is comfortable and without grudging unto those that be their Teachers though they lead them quite out of the way and men dare to usurp the names of Christians and yet would be content I would not be uncharitable in this sad assertion would be content I say so they might be at no charge for hearing the truths of God If there were no book of God at all extant no Gospel no Minister to declare and publish it But the time will one day come when people if ever they return to a right knowledge of themselves who have manifested so much thrift in the profession of Religion shal rue and repent the time that ever they did so When they may desire to see one day more of the Son of man one day more of the Gospels which they so slighted
commands or not to do it at their perill But secondly if in our whole course we manifest Zeal for God Zeal joyned with knowledge and carried on with discretion If we propose the honour of God as our principal aim and end and make Love Charity Long-suffering Gentlenesse Goodnesse meeknesse modesty temperance to shine in our lives that it may be said of us in Particular non tantum praedicat sed vivit that we live as well as preach for then do we preach the truths of God as we should when we endeavour to live up unto those duties our selves which in our exhortations we commend to others Briefly if we live though not without failings yet without scandal in not giving any just cause of offence unto others whatsoever they may say or think of us and thus we must labour to live we deserve to suffer without pitty if we do not so that we may be inculpabiles though not inculpati not meriting the least blame though we must look to be blamed by some who will not passe a right judgment of us how good soever our deservings are the way to heaven being as well through evil as good report and hence it comes to pass that many times while we are most faithful we are most foully used by scornes and contumelies put upon us which we must gather up and keep together as so many jewels hereafter to adorn our Crowns In the mean time be very well content to be the drunkards songs rather then their Companions To suffer any wrongs from others rather then do the least unto any To carry chearfully the reproaches of wicked men to heaven rather then their applauses to hell In a word if we be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 blamolesse though not sinlesse for so we cannot be while our bodies are cloathed with flesh but if we walk by rule evenly carefully Circumspectly we are most injuriously dealt withal if we be denyed any of those respects and encouragements which are due unto us And further if there be no way to attain Salvation but only in and through the merits of Jesus Christ all those who presume to name the Name of the Lord Jesus should behold much beauty in the face of them which proclame these glad tydings especially if they consider what fair Characters are put upon them by Almighty God both in the old and new Testament In the Old Testament called the strength of a Kingdom and the excellency of their strength The Chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof 2 King 13. 14. see Ezek. 24. 21. so it is said of the godly Levites the Ministers of that time that they strengthned the Kingdom of Judah and made Rehoboam strong 2 Chron. 11. 17. and so they do all places besides wheresoever they are In the new Testament they are called Ministers of Christ and stewards of the Mysteries of God 1 Cor. 4. 1. Ambassadors for Christ 2 Cor. 5. 20. c. and God hath promised to be with his faithful Ministers and Messengers alway unto the end of the world Mat. 28. 20 to be with them in respect of themselvs by his presence and assistance and to be with them either in mercy or judgement in respect of others which do or do not entertain their Messages and he that heareth you heareth me and he that despiseth you despiseth me saith Christ Luk. 10. 16. All which promises well considered and duly regarded might remove far from us many causes of just complaining which now we have and may make us take up the complaints of one of the Ancients and say ad quae tempora reservati sumus and to repeat it over and over again Oh to what times are we reserved In what daies do we live For that people in East India two principal causes of their more accurat walking compared with others may be these First because they keep close unto those principles most of them founded in the book of Nature which are given them in charge to walk by And secondly because the currant of justice run very quick in these parts as I have observed before But for us of this Nation I need not enquire into the causes and reasons of the most fearful miscarriages and of the many many evils committed amongst us they lye so open unto every knowing and observing mans understanding and therefore they want no great discovery Only I shall take liberty to repeat some of them which are first more general and then those which are more special and particular And first the general and Principal cause of all the evil in this and consequently of every nation under heaven hath its Original from that masse of Corruption that poysoned fountain which hath infected the whole world or from that leaven which hath sowred the whole lumps of mankind Ne mali fiant times Nascuntur Every one is born bad as well as becomes soâ— Sin sticking more close to mans nature then his skin doth to his flesh And that Original guilt like a fretting leprosie hath eaten into the manners of all corrupting the whole man in all the parts of his body and in all the faculties of his Soul The Persons of our first Parents defiled their Nature But ever since the Nature of every one defiles his person Whence the hearts of all are evil from their youth estranged from the womb and go astray assoon as they are born Now secondly for those causes which are more special and particular of the increase and groweth of wickednesse in this Nation they proceed much from the want of restraint upon people who are so naturally apt to wander out of the way that dare take any unfit and unlawful liberty they please to take An eye and a sword make a fit embleme to expresse Magistracy an eye to observe and watch and a sword to chastise some and to support and defend others But when this eye is dim or sleepy then justice must needs faintly draw her breath When Canker and râ—st growes upon the sword of Authority for want of use and thence cries out against him who should otherwaies manage it for bearing the sword in vain as Canker and rust doth from the covetous mans silver and Gold Ia. 5. 3. and is a witnesse against him it is a principal cause why the qualities and dispositions of so many people amongst us who cannot go without a Reine are so invaded and vitiated nay quite overthrown It is a good and a true saying Qui non vetat peccare cum possit jubet those which are in Power contract the guilt of all those sins upon themselves which they might restrain in others but do not The great sin of Eli otherwise a good man for which he paid dear because when his sens made themselves vile he restrained them not 1 Sam. 3. 13. All which the poor indulgent Father there saith unto his lâ—wde sons was why do ye such things for I hear of your evil doings by all the people nay my sons